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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2017 10:36:44 GMT -5
I recently acquired a Brakner pipe that had significant oxidation of the vulcanite stem. I remembered Rich Esserman saying he uses Tom's of Maine regular toothpaste for cleaning his vulcanite bits. Not having any of that on hand, it occurred to me that baking soda might be a component of the Tom's toothpaste. I probably should have tried it on a less valuable pipe first, but hindsight is 20/20. Anyway, it did the trick. I got the stem slightly damp and rubbed the soda around on the bit. A damp paste is what works best, barely any water. You could see the brownish green oxidation come off right away. After just a few minutes of this, the oxidation was completely gone. A very quick buff on the polishing wheel and it was done. I have some obsidian oil coming in the mail for keeping the vulcanite shiny.
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Post by peteguy on Aug 25, 2017 15:43:11 GMT -5
Sexcellent - I am going to have to try this method.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2017 16:33:06 GMT -5
Hadn't heard of that fix before, so will give it a try. I don't have a polishing wheel, so all these hints usually produce mixed results.
When you think the bottle of Obsidian Oil is empty, it really isn't. Simply dip a pipe cleaner in the seemingly empty bottle and you can wick up more Oil for weeks after.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2017 16:39:26 GMT -5
Hadn't heard of that fix before, so will give it a try. I don't have a polishing wheel, so all these hints usually produce mixed results. When you think the bottle of Obsidian Oil is empty, it really isn't. Simply dip a pipe cleaner in the seemingly empty bottle and you can wick up more Oil for weeks after. I will remember that, Mike. Thanks. I have also read that a Magic Eraser wil remove the oxidation. Baking soda is a lot cheaper than organic toothpaste, so I will try it on some more pipes later. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2017 20:19:54 GMT -5
Hadn't heard of that fix before, so will give it a try. I don't have a polishing wheel, so all these hints usually produce mixed results. When you think the bottle of Obsidian Oil is empty, it really isn't. Simply dip a pipe cleaner in the seemingly empty bottle and you can wick up more Oil for weeks after. I will remember that, Mike. Thanks. I have also read that a Magic Eraser wil remove the oxidation. Baking soda is a lot cheaper than organic toothpaste, so I will try it on some more pipes later. An Oxyclean bath and Magic Eraser have always been my go to but I'm definitely going to try baking soda, sounds promising. One other thing, I always give mine a flashlight test under dark conditions before applying Obsidian Oil. Let's me know pretty quick if I have more work to do before adding the finishing touch. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2017 20:24:39 GMT -5
Thanks for the flashlight tip, Mark. I think you were the source of the Magic Eraser idea that is now in my brain. I remember cleaning tarnish off of coins as a kid with baking soda. It works well, but what was I thinking? I don't want to think about how many good coins I killed the value of. Of course, they are all probably very tarnished again!💩
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kraken
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Post by kraken on Aug 25, 2017 21:22:02 GMT -5
The handful of stems I've cleaned I've used magic eraser dipped in soft scrub. But I'm game to try baking soda instead especially since it sounds like it cleaned up quickly.
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Post by antb on Aug 28, 2017 1:14:06 GMT -5
Good to know! Thanks for sharing, Don!
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Post by beardedmi on Aug 31, 2017 12:19:54 GMT -5
Food grade mineral oil for butcher blocks will net you 99% of the protection of obsidian oil. A fellar on psf put a stem in the window until something happened and mineral (baby oil) oil netted almost the exact same amount of oxidation as obsidian. I bought a bottle of food grade butcher block mineral oil at home depot for the same price of the tiny bottle of obsidian oil.
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Post by papipeguy on Aug 31, 2017 12:31:46 GMT -5
Tom's of Maine uses calcium carbonate in their toothpastes. You could also get away with using any cheap toothpaste with CaCO3 but do not use any product with diatomaceous earth as it's too abrasive.
I like the baking soda idea a lot and will give it a try. Thanks for the tip, Don.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2017 12:34:01 GMT -5
Food grade mineral oil for butcher blocks will net you 99% of the protection of obsidian oil. A fellar on psf put a stem in the window until something happened and mineral (baby oil) oil netted almost the exact same amount of oxidation as obsidian. I bought a bottle of food grade butcher block mineral oil at home depot for the same price of the tiny bottle of obsidian oil. Cool. I've been working with the same bottle of Obsidian Oil for the past three years, primarily on Peterson and GBD vulcanite stems. A few drops is all which is normally required. Any chance this would go rancid over time like olive oil? Thanks. |
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Post by trailboss on Aug 31, 2017 14:02:52 GMT -5
Food grade mineral oil for butcher blocks will net you 99% of the protection of obsidian oil. A fellar on psf put a stem in the window until something happened and mineral (baby oil) oil netted almost the exact same amount of oxidation as obsidian. I bought a bottle of food grade butcher block mineral oil at home depot for the same price of the tiny bottle of obsidian oil. Cool. I've been working with the same bottle of Obsidian Oil for the past three years, primarily on Peterson and GBD vulcanite stems. A few drops is all which is normally required. Any chance this would go rancid over time like olive oil? Thanks. And....The directions for Obsidian oil says to apply it and wipe it off 30 minutes later, do you do the same with food grade mineral oil? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2017 14:51:44 GMT -5
Just the light touch of heat from a candle will bring the sulfur to the surface. After that I have had good luck with Mentadent or Arm @ Hammer Truly Radiant. Scrub with a ultra soft tooth brush or Magic Eraser. Wipe clean with a paper towel then use a cloth of soft cotton. At all costs avoid touching the stem with your bare fingers after the cleaning. Coat the stem with Chap Stick and let is set for a few hours. Wipe off excess and enjoy. I don't have a buffing wheel and my method does not produce a super shiny stem but it does not oxidize, after a every couple of smokes I reapply Chap Stick. Poor boys have poor boy ways.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2017 15:07:22 GMT -5
Great - will definitely try the baking soda. The few pipes I've cleaned required many hours of elbow grease and toothpaste in front of the TV.
For oil I've used Howard's Feed-n-Wax, which I saw recommended on another forum and just happened to have lying around. It's a mix of bee's wax and orange oil, and works like a charm.
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Post by trailboss on Aug 31, 2017 15:17:22 GMT -5
I soak it in oxyclean at first...removes a lot of crud. Then micromesh pads..really nasty stuff, I use sandpaper first though...see article for grits. Instead of Flitz (mentioned in article), I use Autosol metal polish found on Amazon or Ebay...cheapest from China but takes forever to get here.  They do have a plastic polish, I might pick up a tube and check it out on a crappy pipe.
www.autosol.com/product_p/1910.htmGreat info here.... rebornpipes.com/2012/06/02/removing-oxidization-on-vulcanite-stems-2/Steve's advice on Walker Briar Works stem restore kit is worth heeding: I concur... FWIW, WalkerBriar works is separate from Walker pipe repair, Mike Myers doesn't sell the stuff at the pipe repair business.
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Post by beardedmi on Aug 31, 2017 20:23:13 GMT -5
Food grade mineral oil for butcher blocks will net you 99% of the protection of obsidian oil. A fellar on psf put a stem in the window until something happened and mineral (baby oil) oil netted almost the exact same amount of oxidation as obsidian. I bought a bottle of food grade butcher block mineral oil at home depot for the same price of the tiny bottle of obsidian oil. Cool. I've been working with the same bottle of Obsidian Oil for the past three years, primarily on Peterson and GBD vulcanite stems. A few drops is all which is normally required. Any chance this would go rancid over time like olive oil? Thanks. I've never heard of baby oil ever going bad. |
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Zach
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Post by Zach on Sept 1, 2017 3:39:49 GMT -5
I soak it in oxyclean at first...removes a lot of crud. Then micromesh pads..really nasty stuff, I use sandpaper first though...see article for grits. Instead of Flitz (mentioned in article), I use Autosol metal polish found on Amazon or Ebay...cheapest from China but takes forever to get here. They do have a plastic polish, I might pick up a tube and check it out on a crappy pipe.
www.autosol.com/product_p/1910.htmGreat info here.... rebornpipes.com/2012/06/02/removing-oxidization-on-vulcanite-stems-2/Steve's advice on Walker Briar Works stem restore kit is worth heeding: I concur... FWIW, WalkerBriar works is separate from Walker pipe repair, Mike Myers doesn't sell the stuff at the pipe repair business.
I wouldn't use chemicals on stems that go in your mouth. Organic compounds like oxyclean and scrubbing or baking soda, organic oils are the best methods. I'd be really skeptical of putting some chrome polish on stems. When I scrub my vulcanite with magic eraser I typically just use olive oil. Works just like obsidian enough for me. Doesn't matter if olive oil "eventually" spoils. I always have it around the house and you rub it on and let it soak in a bit and wipe it off again after a while. Shiny as new. Also, I don't worry about em too often. Most of my stems are oxydized on my daily smoking pipes except for the last few I've had restored or cleaned within the last year. I clean them maybe once a year. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2018 17:49:33 GMT -5
but what about when that 1/3 at the button end is worn off and there is no luster left to be restored?
I have seriously considered going to Amazon and getting a hobby airless sprayer and shooting stems with black lacquer.
Has anyone done this and/or is it feasible?
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Post by slowroll on Jan 12, 2018 11:15:20 GMT -5
but what about when that 1/3 at the button end is worn off and there is no luster left to be restored? I have seriously considered going to Amazon and getting a hobby airless sprayer and shooting stems with black lacquer. Has anyone done this and/or is it feasible? I'm very familiar with lacquer and it's properties from many non-pipe projects, so I have this observation. #1 and foremost is it's made from nitrocellulose and poison chemicals as solvents and thinner, so definitely don't want to put it in your mouth. #2, related to above, it will chip with use so you be eating poisonous lacquer chips besides it looking bad. Better to use increasing grades of sandpper and micro mesh to restore some luster if no buffer available. |
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Post by daveinlax on Jan 12, 2018 12:08:34 GMT -5
I use whitening toothpaste or 3m 05973 polishing compound. I think that's what's in the Walker kit.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2018 15:28:38 GMT -5
but what about when that 1/3 at the button end is worn off and there is no luster left to be restored? I have seriously considered going to Amazon and getting a hobby airless sprayer and shooting stems with black lacquer. Has anyone done this and/or is it feasible? I'm very familiar with lacquer and it's  properties from many non-pipe projects, so I have this observation. #1 and foremost is it's made from nitrocellulose and poison chemicals as solvents and thinner, so definitely don't want to put it in your mouth. #2, related to above, it will chip with use so you be eating poisonous lacquer chips besides it looking bad. Better to use increasing grades of sandpper and micro mesh to restore some luster if no buffer available. Okay. Thanks for the response and the caution. Oxidation is a thorn for me, as the pH content of my system is high. I even fogged an acrylic stem on a Savinelli. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2018 19:09:55 GMT -5
I'm very familiar with lacquer and it's properties from many non-pipe projects, so I have this observation. #1 and foremost is it's made from nitrocellulose and poison chemicals as solvents and thinner, so definitely don't want to put it in your mouth. #2, related to above, it will chip with use so you be eating poisonous lacquer chips besides it looking bad. Better to use increasing grades of sandpper and micro mesh to restore some luster if no buffer available. Okay. Thanks for the response and the caution. Oxidation is a thorn for me, as the pH content of my system is high. I even fogged an acrylic stem on a Savinelli. Maybe this is a dumb idea, but I wonder if high Ph water might help? Your system if not your pipes, anyway. |
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Post by lbepens1 on Jun 24, 2018 17:01:33 GMT -5
Okay. Thanks for the response and the caution. Oxidation is a thorn for me, as the pH content of my system is high. I even fogged an acrylic stem on a Savinelli. Maybe this is a dumb idea, but I wonder if high Ph water might help? Your system if not your pipes, anyway. I have been working with hard rubber for about 25 years now. I did not like the products out there that were used. Many of them did not work well or were toxic. I know that bleach has been used a lot. This is extremely bad for the rubber. I started to make my own products about 6 years ago. They are made to remove the oxidation without harming the rubber underneath. I then will polish with another product that has a number of anti-oxidants in it as well so that the rubber is also protected. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2018 17:17:32 GMT -5
If the oxidation is extreme I use a polishing compound called Tormex, hand buffing is required, DO NOT MACHINE BUFF!!! To give the vulcanite/ebonite stem it’s shine I finish off light buffing with White Diamond. To help prevent oxidation from returning I have a microfiber cloth with my mixture of bee’s wax and mineral oil nearby. My pipes get a hand buffing and cleaning after each use. Old school pepsodent tooth paste works well if the oxidation is at an average stage..
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