|
|
Post by Professor S. on Feb 1, 2021 19:32:49 GMT -5
I picked up a Medley bent bulldog estate pipe on the cheap from the Pipe Puffer. It turned out to have a cracked/broken bit/lip, a deformed/flattened stem, and a pretty badly burned bowl (about half the wall thickness burned away). After reading several articles on rebornpipes, I've repaired the vulcanite stem and am getting ready to sand out the extra JB Weld in the bowl. This has been a fun, low-key excursion into pipe restoration. I'm looking forward to giving this pipe a try!
|
|
|
|
Post by Gandalf on Feb 1, 2021 19:47:08 GMT -5
Interesting.
Post pictures.
|
|
|
|
Post by Professor S. on Feb 1, 2021 23:11:10 GMT -5
I've taken some. When it's all said and done and I've time to gather my thoughts into a cogent account I will post and update--with pictures.
|
|
|
|
Post by Legend Lover on Feb 2, 2021 9:00:19 GMT -5
I've taken some. When it's all said and done and I've time to gather my thoughts into a cogent account I will post and update--with pictures. I'm looking forward to that. |
|
|
|
Post by terrapinflyer on Feb 2, 2021 21:36:53 GMT -5
I'm interested, too.
|
|
|
|
Post by mrlunting on Feb 3, 2021 2:33:25 GMT -5
Bookmarked! Good on you. I am glad you are enjoying your venture. I am excited to see the pictures of how things progress!😀
|
|
|
|
Post by Ronv69 on Feb 3, 2021 12:03:29 GMT -5
I'll get interested when the pictures start.
|
|
joeman
Full Member
Posts: 566
First Name: Joe
Favorite Pipe: Grabow Hillcrest
Favorite Tobacco: Sutliff Barbados Plantation
Location:
|
Post by joeman on Feb 3, 2021 13:18:53 GMT -5
I must assume you're putting a healthy amount of food-grade bowl coating over that JB Weld, to keep from cooking and inhaling it.
|
|
|
|
Post by terrapinflyer on Feb 3, 2021 17:55:33 GMT -5
The JB Weld concerned me, too. I didn't mention it as I am neither a chemist nor a pipe restorer. I thought maybe using it was a thing.
I had a small char in a basket pipe years ago (luckily I tasted burning briar quickly and extinguished it). I debrided the wound and filled it with many thin layers of pipe mud. It seemed to work.
|
|
|
|
Post by Professor S. on Feb 3, 2021 21:31:45 GMT -5
I must assume you're putting a healthy amount of food-grade bowl coating over that JB Weld, to keep from cooking and inhaling it. JB Weld is extremely heat-resistant once it is cured. I knew a guy who used it to replace a blown head gasket on his Fiat Spyder during a more...exciting than expected...journey from Phoenix to Seattle. It's what the guys at Reborn Pipes swear by, so I'm just following their lead. I gave the entire bowl a pretty generous coating, and am currently using a Dremel to remove the excess and smooth out the interior. JB Weld doesn't breathe like briar does, and I want to maintain as much of the integrity of this pipe as I can. The next step is to coat the bowl with a mixture of charcoal and sour cream. Yeah, that one made me raise my eyebrows, too. These guys are either geniuses or their entire website is some sort of elaborate set up. I guess we'll all find out in the next couple days! |
|
|
|
Post by Ronv69 on Feb 3, 2021 21:40:49 GMT -5
I suspect that your friend used it in a different way than as a head gasket. If he did, that engine is never coming apart. I have seen it used to patch holes in block, heads and piston. Also transmission housings and third members cases. At any rate, it is very stable and heat resistant, so it should work.
|
|
|
|
Post by Professor S. on Feb 3, 2021 22:04:23 GMT -5
I suspect that your friend used it in a different way than as a head gasket. If he did, that engine is never coming apart. I have seen it used to patch holes in block, heads and piston. Also transmission housings and third members cases. At any rate, it is very stable and heat resistant, so it should work. No, he used it to replace the head gasket and said at the time that it was never coming apart. We had broken down in northern Arizona, and the little car ran phenomenally well for the rest of the trip |
|
|
|
Post by Ronv69 on Feb 3, 2021 23:02:41 GMT -5
I suspect that your friend used it in a different way than as a head gasket. If he did, that engine is never coming apart. I have seen it used to patch holes in block, heads and piston. Also transmission housings and third members cases. At any rate, it is very stable and heat resistant, so it should work. No, he used it to replace the head gasket and said at the time that it was never coming apart. We had broken down in northern Arizona, and the little car ran phenomenally well for the rest of the trip And he was right! |
|
|
|
Post by Professor S. on Feb 3, 2021 23:08:06 GMT -5
No, he used it to replace the head gasket and said at the time that it was never coming apart. We had broken down in northern Arizona, and the little car ran phenomenally well for the rest of the trip And he was right! It died as soon as we got to his parents' house right outside Seattle, but up until then it ran like a champ. Rather than put a new engine in it, he sold it for scrap |
|
|
|
Post by Ronv69 on Feb 3, 2021 23:10:05 GMT -5
I really wonder why he used that instead of permatex gasket compound? I guess it was only a hardware store with no auto parts. I remember having cars like that.
|
|
|
|
Post by urbino on Feb 3, 2021 23:25:31 GMT -5
I heard huffing JB Weld can actually cure COVID.
|
|
|
|
Post by Professor S. on Feb 4, 2021 0:51:34 GMT -5
I really wonder why he used that instead of permatex gasket compound? I guess it was only a hardware store with no auto parts. I remember having cars like that. As I recall (this was 35 years ago), we were near Horseshoe Bend or Lake Powell and it's all he had. |
|
|
|
Post by terrapinflyer on Feb 4, 2021 14:40:49 GMT -5
I haven't been to reborn pipes in a while. I didn't know he used JB Weld, but I figured you had done your research. Good luck and I await your account of the restoration.
|
|
|
|
Post by Professor S. on Feb 8, 2021 22:12:51 GMT -5
OK. Here goes... I bought this as an estate pipe from the bin at the Pipe Puffer. What at first just looked like a good cake (to my untrained eye) turned out to be pretty severe charring. I ended up scraping away about half the bowl thickness in some places   The bit was cracked, and when I tried to run a pipecleaner through it, the cracked portion snapped off.  I passed the ebonite stem over a candle flame until it opened back up a bit. Since my attempt with superglue didn't work and the break was on the underside, I decided to use JB Weld on it as well. I then gave it a good once-over with Wenol to remove what I could of the oxidation.  After scraping and dremeling the inside of the bowl down to clean briar, I gave the entire inside of the bowl a healthy coating of JB Weld.  The next day, I used the dremel to remove the excess JB Weld and smooth the bowl interior  After I had dremeled out the bowl interior to its original/proper diameter, I mixed up a batch of charcoal, cigar ash, and sour cream to create a base for future cake. I gave the bowl a good slathering and let it sit overnight  The next morning, it looked like this.  I turned the pipe upside-down and left it alone for the rest of the day and night. The coating was dry and stayed intact when I gently scraped at it with a pipe nail.  Because I had scarred the rim of the bowl with the dremel, and because I really like the 2-tone look I've seen on some other pipes, I gave the bowl a couple coatings of black Kiwi polish.  |
|
|
|
Post by urbino on Feb 8, 2021 22:32:19 GMT -5
Looks like a job well done, sir.
Also sounds like rehabbing a pipe is pretty similar to rehabbing a house. Once you get in there, there's no telling what you'll find wrong.
|
|
|
|
Post by Professor S. on Feb 8, 2021 22:57:31 GMT -5
Looks like a job well done, sir. Also sounds like rehabbing a pipe is pretty similar to rehabbing a house. Once you get in there, there's no telling what you'll find wrong. Thank you! Fortunately, this first attempt at pipe repair was pretty low key and inexpensive. I read on another repair site that maple syrup and activated charcoal makes a good base for future cake, so maybe I'll try that next time. |
|
|
|
Post by urbino on Feb 8, 2021 23:11:59 GMT -5
Looks like a job well done, sir. Also sounds like rehabbing a pipe is pretty similar to rehabbing a house. Once you get in there, there's no telling what you'll find wrong. Thank you! Fortunately, this first attempt at pipe repair was pretty low key and inexpensive. I read on another repair site that maple syrup and activated charcoal makes a good base for future cake, so maybe I'll try that next time. The sour cream slurry was a new one on me, but pretty much anything else would have been, too. |
|
|
|
Post by mrlunting on Feb 9, 2021 3:34:37 GMT -5
You did an amazing job repairing that pipe. The black polish was a good call, it really suits the pipe. Thanks for posting and I look forward to more projects!.
|
|
|
|
Post by terrapinflyer on Feb 9, 2021 9:14:28 GMT -5
That is impressive and you have given a good play-by-play with pictures. I'm far from handy, so that one would have gone to the metaphorical firewood pile in my house.
|
|
|
|
Post by Professor S. on Feb 9, 2021 13:01:20 GMT -5
I'm not mechanically inclined either. I frequently respond to my wife's requests for handyman repairs with the reminder that she married an academic, and not someone actually useful. I had to borrow the Dremel from the Chemistry/Biology teacher at our school, and it was the first time I'd ever used one. Give yourself some more credit. This was actually pretty easy, and if I can do it, just about anyone with 2 opposable thumbs can!
|
|
|
|
Post by terrapinflyer on Feb 9, 2021 16:43:04 GMT -5
I've thought about getting some cheap pipes on eBay and playing around with them. Maybe you have motivated me.
|
|
|
|
Post by Professor S. on Feb 9, 2021 17:58:45 GMT -5
I've thought about getting some cheap pipes on eBay and playing around with them. Maybe you have motivated me. Heck, yeah! Give it a try. It really was a lot of fun, and anymore I don't generally enjoy doing stuff that gets my hands dirty. You might surprise yourself and really enjoy it. Start with one and see how it goes. The trick is (and this is a trick for me) to take your time and be thorough. Don't rush. Enjoy the process. |
|
|
|
Post by Ronv69 on Feb 9, 2021 18:29:37 GMT -5
The great thing about fixing old pipes is that it doesn't require much equipment and it doesn't take over the house. And if you get tired of working on it, it easily fits in the back of the bottom drawer.
|
|
joeman
Full Member
Posts: 566
First Name: Joe
Favorite Pipe: Grabow Hillcrest
Favorite Tobacco: Sutliff Barbados Plantation
Location:
|
Post by joeman on Feb 10, 2021 11:20:35 GMT -5
You may want to get yourself a reamer, which will be far safer for removing just the cake while keeping the shape of the chamber intact. Using tools such as a dremel, file, or other tools won't keep the chamber in the shape of a cylinder (unless you execute perfectly), and will very often take you deeper into the chamber walls than you meant to go. Me personally...I'd rather have a bit of slightly charred briar remaining underneath my bowl coating, than to dig it all out and have to build it up with adhesive products which need to be carefully covered over. No intention to blow up someone else's repair method at all, but just sharing some thoughts after years of doing pipe refurb / restoration.
|
|
|
|
Post by Legend Lover on Feb 10, 2021 17:34:14 GMT -5
Great job there, brother!
|
|
