Post by rectifythis on Sept 2, 2022 15:44:06 GMT -5
A year or 2 back, I found a pipe on offerup which I couldn't Identify from the pics, but the fact that it was sitting on top of a Savinelli box gave me hope that it wasn't junk and it had a burl rim. It was listed for 5 bucks. I scooted across town and picked it up. It had been found by the people operating a storage unit company and I assume a unit had been abandoned. When I got home I realized it was a Tim West. Good start. But this thing was boring, had some chatter and seemingly many small pits and small flaws which I assume the maker didn't want to fuss with any more.
I boiled out most of the chatter and got the stem in good condition. As I started working on it, I realized that I didn't want to sand out or fill that many little pinholes, so I opted to draw a line from each pinhole to form patterns (and included the areas in which the grain was less than optimal) and sandblasted those areas. It was a lot of work, but in the end I was very pleased. I love a partially blasted pipe. As for the rim, it was begging for a contour. I contoured by hand. Stained the entire thing black, and sanded it back to reveal the grain. Finished with top color, coats and polish and this is the end result. I even retrofitted a churchwarden for the option (not pictured). These pictures aren't that great, someday perhaps I will take better ones.
I boiled out most of the chatter and got the stem in good condition. As I started working on it, I realized that I didn't want to sand out or fill that many little pinholes, so I opted to draw a line from each pinhole to form patterns (and included the areas in which the grain was less than optimal) and sandblasted those areas. It was a lot of work, but in the end I was very pleased. I love a partially blasted pipe. As for the rim, it was begging for a contour. I contoured by hand. Stained the entire thing black, and sanded it back to reveal the grain. Finished with top color, coats and polish and this is the end result. I even retrofitted a churchwarden for the option (not pictured). These pictures aren't that great, someday perhaps I will take better ones.
