Dr. Grabow Freehand 03 Estate (NOS)
Aug 18, 2019 12:25:40 GMT -5
Legend Lover, roadsdiverged, and 4 more like this
Post by insignia100 on Aug 18, 2019 12:25:40 GMT -5
I bought what appears to be an unsmoked Dr. Grabow Freehand on eBay. As you can see from the before photos, the vulcanite stem was severely oxidized. This little note was still in the bowl when it arrived.
This morning I spent about two hours getting the stem back into serviceable condition, starting with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper and working up to 1500 grit, using canola oil as a lubricant. I then followed it up with some Flitz polish applied by hand, and polished the interior surface of the stem with a Flitz-covered pipe cleaner. I then set about polishing the briar. In retrospect I probably should have just left it matte, as the finish was very thin and even just the Flitz polish I used wore through the finish. Over all I'm pretty happy with how it turned out though.
While restoring the stem I noticed, on the underside, the image of a price sticker had been "burned" into the vulcanite -- $9.95. I'm curious as to the rough age of this pipe, and was wondering if anyone could give me any idea on when Grabow pipes were $10.
This morning I spent about two hours getting the stem back into serviceable condition, starting with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper and working up to 1500 grit, using canola oil as a lubricant. I then followed it up with some Flitz polish applied by hand, and polished the interior surface of the stem with a Flitz-covered pipe cleaner. I then set about polishing the briar. In retrospect I probably should have just left it matte, as the finish was very thin and even just the Flitz polish I used wore through the finish. Over all I'm pretty happy with how it turned out though.
While restoring the stem I noticed, on the underside, the image of a price sticker had been "burned" into the vulcanite -- $9.95. I'm curious as to the rough age of this pipe, and was wondering if anyone could give me any idea on when Grabow pipes were $10.
