Tag Archives: Bowls – refinishing

Re-staining Estate Pipes – A Pictorial Essay

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Blog by Steve Laug

I am often asked by other hobbyist pipe refurbishers how I go about re-staining the pipes that I refurbish. I have answered the question in different ways over the years as I have worked out my own process. This past weekend I had some time and a box of pipes to work on so I decided to document the process I use. I took photos of four old pipes that I was reworking; these photos take you through my methods from start to finish. I have added written commentary to explain what I have done. The method I describe is how I work with estate bowls like these. I am certain that there are other methods that can be used with equal success. This is the one I have arrived at over the past ten years as I have been reworking estate pipes. I am sure that it will continue to evolve in the years ahead as it has over the past years. Here it is for your perusal and use. Feel free to use it, enjoy the process of rejuvenating the finish of an old pipe, adapt it and modify it as you will. Email your modifications and additions to the method to as we work to keep the fire alive in the home based pipe restoring hobby – slaug@uniserve.com.

I need to make a final confession before I jump ahead to describe and document the process. I totally forgot to take pictures of the state these old pipes were in when I received them. As is often the case for me, the cleaning process took on a life of its own and once it is moving along I find it hard to slow it down. So, with that out of the way, I begin with pictures of the pipes after I removed them from an hour soak in an alcohol bath.

Out of the alcohol bath
Once I have chosen the pipes to restore I remove the stems and place them in a soak of Oxyclean and water while I work on the bowls. I place the bowls in an alcohol bath. I use a plastic jar with a screw on lid to hold the 99% isopropyl alcohol for the bath. It is roughly a large mouthed quart sized jar and will hold four bowls. The size also allows me to reach in and retrieve them when they are finished. I reuse the alcohol in the bath for a long time. I find that it turns dark from the stains and the sediment settles to the bottom of the jar. I pour off the alcohol regularly and wash the jar so that there is no sediment remaining. I also top up the jar with fresh alcohol to keep the levels high enough to cover the bowls.

The first two pictures below show the four bowls after they have been removed from the bath and have been dried. (In each photo the bowls will be in the same order for ease of recognition.) Starting at the top left and working left to right you will see the effects of alcohol bath in removing finish. I have found that it does not remove all the stain but it removes the finish, waxes and oils that are over the stain. When the bowls are removed they have a flat finish look to them. The top left bowl has a slightly yellow stain once the varnish coat was removed. The top right bowl has a reddish stain that was also under a coat of varnish. The bottom left is a prehistoric GBD finish/sand blast with a dark red/brown stain. The pipe on the bottom right has a dark brown stain and had a coat of shellac or varnish over it. The varnish on the last pipe had turned milky white even before I put it in the bath and increased when I took it out of the alcohol bath. The fourth bowl will take the most work to remove the finish. All will need more hand work with an alcohol soaked soft cloth and a soft bristle tooth brush to remove the residual finish. The smooth bowls will be sanded and further cleaned.
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Washed and sanded
The pictures below show the bowls after they have been washed in alcohol and sanded and rewashed and re-sanded repeatedly. The stain colour is removed as much as it will be at this point in the process. There is still a lot of work to do on each bowl before staining can be done. The top coat of varnish, wax and the grit and grime have all been removed at this point. From the pictures you can see that there is still some varnish on the bottom right pipe but the majority has been removed and the others are getting ready to go to the next step in the process. Once I finished this stage of sanding I washed them a final time with a tack (soft cotton material) cloth to remove dust and such and also let me see any remaining shiny spots on the finish.
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Two of my favourite tools are shown in the following pictures (I use both constantly in the process of refurbishing and always have them near at hand) – a tooth brush and a dental pick. The dental pick allows me access to the rings on the bulldogs. I carefully use it to follow the rings around the bulldogs and clean out the grit that gets stuck in them. I follow that up with the tooth brush which allows me to rub the alcohol into the rings and to scrub other places in the blast on the prehistoric and stubborn shiny spots on the smooth pipes. They both are used in cleaning rims and the dental pick also precedes my pipe cleaners in the shank. I have straightened one end to make access to the shank easier. These pictures show the bowls after the third sanding and alcohol wash. I also sand the rims with 400, 600 and then finally with 1200 to remove any grit or rough spots on the finish. All the bowls have been sanded with 1200 grit sand paper. I sand them one more time with the 1200 grit sandpaper and then I use micromesh pads to get a good smooth surface on the bowl. If you choose to go for a scratch-free finish you can examine the bowls with a jewellers loop under a bright light and re-sand as necessary to remove any noted scratches. For the majority of the old timers that I refurbish, I sand until they are scratch free to the naked eye in a bright light. To my mind some of the deeper nicks and such lend character to the old pipe and contribute to the look of age. My main requirement is that they are smokeable when I am finished and that they look good for their age. Should you choose to go further with the finish the choice is yours as you re-work them.
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The next picture shows the foursome after all the smooth pipe bowls and smooth rim on the sand blast have been sanded with 1800/2400/4000 micromesh pads. They are smooth to the touch and have a rich shine to them. This is a good time to give them an inspection for any marks or scratches that you want deal with further. After I inspect them this last time, I wipe them down with an alcohol damp cloth to get any residual grit or dust off the bowls and set them aside. The bowls are ready to be re-stained.
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Re-staining the bowl
In preparation for staining each pipe bowl, I insert folded pipe cleaners in the shanks to enable me to manipulate them with ease while I am applying the stain. This gives me some flexibility in turning the bowl at different angles to apply the stain coat. You will note the Fiebing’s stain in the previous picture – that is the stain I use. It comes in a variety of colours and is an aniline (alcohol based) stain. It works extremely well on wood. All of these bowls were given a first coat of Fiebing’s Dark Brown stain applied heavily. While it is still wet I use a match to light the stain to set it in the grain. It does not light the bowl on fire at all but only burns off the alcohol in the stain coat. For these four bowls, I started with the blast and liberally applied the stain to the bowl. I start with the bowl held bottom up and let the stain flow toward the tops. I follow the flow of the stain to ensure that I have thoroughly and evenly covered the entire bowl surface. I finish the first coat using the dauber pictured in the lid below to stain the rim. I reapply the stain to make sure the coat is even and not streaked.
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The picture below was taken after the second application and flaming of the stain. After the first coat of stain is dry to touch, I give each bowl a second coat of stain and set it aflame with a match or lighter. After flaming the stain the bowls are basically dry to the touch and I set them aside until they are thoroughly dry. (I often let the bowls sit over night to dry.) The next day (or later the same evening if I get impatient or curious) I take them to my buffers and see what they will look like with a light touch on the buffing wheel. I generally use the Tripoli buff with a light touch, though I have also used the White Diamond buff as well. For those who do not have a buffer I have also sanded the bowls at this point with 1200 grit sand paper or higher. If the stain is too dark to my liking I wipe the bowls with an alcohol damp cloth until I get the colour the way I want it on each pipe. That is one of the beauties of aniline stain! The briar in each pipe bowl will make them quite unique looking once the stain is buffed.
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While the bowls are drying I turn to work on the stems. Throughout the process described above, the stems have been soaking in an OxyClean bath. I put a mixture of once scoop of OxyClean into a one quart plastic covered jar and mix it with hot tap water. I shake it until the powder is all dissolved and the liquid is a milky white. Then I place the stems in the bath to soak. Generally I soak them a minimum of two hours but often will leave them in the wash over night. They remain in the bath the entire time I am working on the bowls.

With this foursome I grew impatient and was curious to see the finished product once I buffed the stain off the bowls. The bowls were dry so I took them to the buffer. The following pictures show the bowls – stained, buffed and polished. At this point in the process, I still need to wax them with carnauba but the pictures give you the idea of what they look like. Each pipe bowl took the dark brown stain in its own way. To me one of the joys of the process is arriving at this step and seeing the freshly stained bowls. I love the contrasting colours and grain that comes through in the pipes.
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The final pictures in this essay show the finished product using two of the pipes. I finished working on the stems while the stain was drying. They are both WDC pipes. The apple is an Aristocrat shape 11. The bulldog is a Royal Demuth shape 79. Both are screw mount stems with interesting diffusing apparatus in them.
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Rustication – A Pictoral Essay

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Over the years I have been developing a process for rusticating pipes. I have used it on old estates that I have been given or purchased where the finish did not work for me or it had too many fills or pits. The tools I use are pictured below. The one on the left is a variation of a tool that I made from plans on Tyler Lane’s Pipe making site. It is made of a piece of black 1 inch pipe. I packed it with galvanized nails and then a cap is put on the end of it. The cap is packed with steel wool to keep the nails from shifting. I plan to make another variation on this and use a T union that will serve as a handle. The current cap is hard on the palm of the hand as I twist it into the surface of the pipe. I also want to weld the nails in place to avoid any shifting of them as I use the tool. The second tool is a florist’s frog – it has a lead base with sharp spikes (watch your hands and fingers on this one) that is used in floral arrangements. I got this at an antique shop. I want to create a wooden handle for this one to give me a bit more distance from the surface of the briar when I am working it over the wood.

I start rusticating the briar with the large tool on the left and then finish with the smaller one on the right should I want to achieve a bit different pattern or rustication. Either individually or together they provide an interesting rustication. The larger tool does the gross work and the smaller one adds finesse to the rustication.

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For the sake of showing the process I have chosen the following old timer – a Dr. Plumb carved apple that had a finish that I did not like. It had a carved finish of lines around the bowl and then horizontally on the shank. The original pipe is pictured below in the first two pictures to give an idea of the original state of the pipe. I also include pictures of a Canadian that is riddled with fills. It smoked great but just looked awful in my opinion. I wanted to show pictures of both a previously carved finish and one with fills to show what I see as an improvement in both of these pipes after rustication. Each one has a slightly different rustication pattern to it as I was trying to achieve something different in each case. The pictures that follow will give you an idea of how the process works from start to finish. I conclude the essay with two added pipes that I rusticated to give a broad sampling of the finished look of my rustication method.

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To begin the process I want to work with clean pipes that do not have any finish on them other than the stain. I put the bowls in an alcohol bath for an hour to remove all the waxes, finishes and grime that is on the outside of the bowl. I also ream and clean the pipe as I will handle it pretty roughly as I rusticate it. I don’t want added grime on my work table and hands so for me a clean pipe is what I like to work with. On the Canadian I removed the band and set it aside so that it would not be damaged in the rustication process.

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For the purpose of this essay I will begin with the Dr. Plumb apple. I worked the rustication tool into the wood, twisting it back and forth until it had the rough look to it as can be seen below in the picture on the left. Once that was done I gave it a coat of black aniline stain. I find that the stain facilitates seeing any part of the wood that still needed to be worked or showed a pattern that was to uniform. I reworked the rustication with the larger tool to get it a bit more rough and random looking. Once I had the rustication the way I wanted it I stained the pipe a second time using a medium brown stain. This was to be the finish coat. I stained it, flamed it to set the stain, restained and set it a second time. The result was the matte finish pictured below on the right. In the light it showed some depth and variation in colour coming through from the earlier black stain that I put on after the first rustication. The third picture from taken from above shows the finished rustication before I buffed the stem and gave the entire pipe a light buff with white diamond.

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The next step is to take the pipe to my buffer. I buffed the stem with red Tripoli and then white diamond. I buffed the bowl with white diamond to knock off some of the rough edges and to soften the edges of the rustication a bit and polish the smooth areas to highlight them. From pictures below the effect of the buff can be seen. It helps to differentiate the smooth areas from the rusticated ones and give a nice contrast to the finished look. The smooth areas have been polished and have a sheen. The rough areas have a softer glow that highlights the depth of the rustication and the pebbled finish of the pipe. The tactile surface of the “new” pipe is pleasant to the hand. It also has a better look than the pipe that existed before with the carved finish.

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I have included the remaining pictures to show several other pipes that I have rusticated. These will give you an idea of the variety of finishes that can be achieved with the tools. It also shows a unique texture finish that I have developed that I like and repeat. The key here is to work the process repeatedly to develop your own distinctive look and feel. Rustication is an individual process as can be seen by the wide variety in rusticated pipes seen on the market. I continue to develop my method and try different patterns and also try to repeat the ones I like.

The first set of pictures show the finished Canadian that was pictured above before rustication. I used only the larger tool on this pipe. When I had finished rusticating it to my satisfaction I used a brass whitewall brush to smooth out the rustication. I took it to the buffer and used white diamond to soften and flatten out the roughness. I wanted to have a different look with this pipe which explains the process variations. I stained it with a medium brown aniline stain and was aiming for the look of old leather. The flaws and fills on this old Canadian are now hidden and a pipe that is much more pleasing to the eye is the result.

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The second pipe is a John Bessai bent apple. I cannot find the pictures of the pipe before rustication but I remember it well. It had many fills and flaws in the wood and was a light tan colour. The pink putty fills stood out against this nice tan backdrop. They made me always bypass this pipe in my rotation. It smoked well but it was just ugly. I would pick it up and then put it down and take another one in hand. I was going to sell it but thought I would rusticate the bowl and see what it would look like. Again I was going for a leathery look. I used only the larger tool on this one as well. Once I finished the rustication I again used the brass whitewall brush to soften the rustication and buffed it with white diamond. The final rustication before staining looked much as it does in the finished pipe. The colour of the pipe is achieved by a combination of an oxblood undercoat stain and then a buff followed by a medium brown topcoat. I left the shank smooth with the stampings still visible. To me the much improved look draws me to it and the tactile nature of the pipe in hand is a bonus. As it heats up the feel is very pleasant.    

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The final pipe pictured below is one I carved. It was a kit I picked up from eBay. It was a small block and stem stamped Caveman pipes. I carved the shape I saw in the block. As I did, the flaws and sand pits became visible. It became clear that once more rustication was the solution yet again. I used the larger tool followed by the brass whitewall brush to soften the rustication and give the pipe my favourite old leather look. The first two pictures below show the unstained pipe after rustication. Note that I wrapped the shank with electrical tape at the stem/shank junction to protect the stem and to give a band of smooth briar. The third two pictures show the pipe after the undercoat of black stain. The final colour (seen in the last two pictures) was achieved by a combination of a black undercoat of aniline stain and a top coat of medium brown. I buffed between coats of stain. All of the above pipes were then polished with Halcyon wax and buffed with a flannel buff.

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The above process is demonstrated in the four pipes pictured. It is very simple. I stained each of the pipes before I rusticated them so that I could easily see where I was working. I used the larger rustication tool on all of the pipes. For the first one I used the second tool to change the rustication and then applied stain. In the last three I used a brass whitewall brush to soften the rustication and give it a leathery texture. Once I got the desire rustication I stained the pipe again for the finished colouring. The first was merely buffed with a soft touch on a white diamond buff. The remaining three were polished by hand with Halcyon wax and then buffed with a flannel buff to give it a polished look.

Give the process a try and see what you can come up with. It is a creative outlet and a means of exercising some creativity. Let us know what the finished product looks like.