Blog by Greg Wolford

Last week I wrote about restoring an old Medico VFQ (if you missed it the article is here. I mentioned that Steve was sending me a better stem – and boy did he!

It arrived Saturday and I spent a little time polishing it with micromesh 1500-12000 over the weekend. As you can see, it was almost pristine when it arrived.

Today I touched up the stem’s stamping with white paint to make it pop and then, after the paint cured, I gave it a light buff with white diamond and then a few coats of wax to finish it off. And I must say it really does complete the project.

As you can see, there’s a big difference in the stems. I also found they seem to be made of some different material; the original left a black looking sanding dust and the new one a white-looking dust, more like acrylic. Anyway, here’s the real completed project.

Again, thanks, Steve, for providing me with such a nice stem to top off saving this old pipe with. And, in case you’re wondering, I’ve had the chance to run a few bowls through her and she smokes great for me!