Peeling finish after 2 smokes: Adventure Bent Apple

[ontariopiper]

Hi folks,

I picked up an small Adventure bent apple pipe (9mm filter) back in December, mainly to have a pocket-sized nose-warmer type pipe in the pack when I wanted one. The Adventure is not an expensive pipe - paid $40CAD for it, so I didn't have huge expectations for it, but after only 2 smokes, the finish is starting to peel from the bowl.

The lacquer/shellac/?? can be picked off with a thumbnail - the rim is almost bare, with scratches/bare spots on the bowl and shank.

SO, I'm going to use this as an opportunity to try my hand at refinishing a bowl. Will not be replacing the lacquer; will go with a well-sanded briar and carnauba wax instead. What is the best/easiest to remove the rest of the peeling lacquer? Alcohol soak? Steel wool? Something else?

 

[RDPipes]

You should be able to remove all the lacquer finish with lacquer thinner.
It is the bast for removing any finish to tell ya the truth and evaporates quickly.
You shouldn't need to soak it, just a rag well saturated and start wiping. Of course
I'd suggest taking the stem off first and not getting any lacquer thinner near it.
You also might want to lightly sand the stummel, this will break the surface of the
finish and let thinner soak in easier to lift it.

 

[ontariopiper]

Thanks Cartaphilus. I'm hoping to get started on the refurb soon. Will post before and afters when done

 

[RDPipes]

Thanks Cartaphilus. I'm hoping to get started on the refurb soon. Will post before and afters when done

Sounds good sir! I'll be interested how it comes out

 

[ontariopiper]

A few pics of the pipe after lacquer thinner and wet/dry sand from 400 to 2000 grit. The red colour went with the lacquer, no stain on the wood as far as I can tell.  

The briar actually has fairly impressive tiger striping in the grain, at least to my eye, though I found 4 reasonably large filled areas (to be expected for the purchase price).

First, the disassembled pipe ready to strip. The "chrome" ring came off with a small tug.



And after stripping and sanding:









I think I'll leave the briar natural/unstained, as all I have around the house right now is basic wood stain, not the analine stains recommended. I also kind of like the lighter briar look. When wet, the grain really pops, so I'm hoping to keep that after polishing and waxing.

Question - how to deal with the factory fills? You can see in the last pic above that the fill isn't as complete as one might hope. Will a drop of CA glue do the trick?

 

[RDPipes]

CA will certainly work for the fills but, if you ever plan to stain it I don't know if it will take the stain.
You should be able to pick up Fiebing leather stain at a boot repair or even a major dept. store.

 

[ontariopiper]

I've seen the leather stain around here periodically, but have never actually LOOKED for it before. Now that I'm looking, it will probably hide from me! :lol:

 

[ontariopiper]

At the sure risk of opening a can of unending debate, is there any benefit to coating the INSIDE of the bowl when finishing a pipe?

I ask because the little Adventure pipe seems to have been dipped into the stain when factory finished - I found red stain under whatever black coating they put on the bare briar bowl. I'n not comfortable potentially eating stain (long shot, I know, but...), so I've sanded the bowl back to bare wood as far as I can reach with sandpaper on a dowel. The remnant at the very bottom of the bowl near the airway will stay, as I don't want to bugger up the bowl trying to gouge out the last little bits......

I'm inclined to leave it all natural, inside and out, for a number of reasons: I don't have a "naked" briar in the collection, and kind of like the way it looks. And it's cheaper - no need to order dyes, waxes, etc.

What I will look into is converting the stem from a 9mm charcoal filter to a filterless stem. I really don't like the filter very much. I see 9mm to 3mm adapters with stingers on ebay - coming from China (??). Do these work? I'd pull the stinger out, as I like to be able to actually clean a pipe after use!

 

[puros_bran]

The benefit is purely financial to the producer.. A machine can dip a strummel in a vat a lot cheaper than a man can apply stain with a brush.

 

[ontariopiper]

 The benefit is purely financial to the producer.. A machine can dip a strummel in a vat a lot cheaper than a man can apply stain with a brush.  

That's what I thought! Well said!

Also, a quick pic of the "finished" unfinished pipe after stripping the lacquer & stain, sanding to 2000 grit, taking the bowl back to bare wood and applying a (very) thin coat of mineral oil to bring out the grain. Overall, I'm quite pleased with my first foray into pipe refurbishment!



And a Before & After: personally I think the pipe look much more refined without the thick candy-apple factory lacquer 

 

[RDPipes]

At the sure risk of opening a can of unending debate, is there any benefit to coating the INSIDE of the bowl when finishing a pipe?

I ask because the little Adventure pipe seems to have been dipped into the stain when factory finished - I found red stain under whatever black coating they put on the bare briar bowl. I'n not comfortable potentially eating stain (long shot, I know, but...), so I've sanded the bowl back to bare wood as far as I can reach with sandpaper on a dowel. The remnant at the very bottom of the bowl near the airway will stay, as I don't want to bugger up the bowl trying to gouge out the last little bits......

I'm inclined to leave it all natural, inside and out, for a number of reasons: I don't have a "naked" briar in the collection, and kind of like the way it looks. And it's cheaper - no need to order dyes, waxes, etc.

What I will look into is converting the stem from a 9mm charcoal filter to a filterless stem. I really don't like the filter very much. I see 9mm to 3mm adapters with stingers on ebay - coming from China (??). Do these work? I'd pull the stinger out, as I like to be able to actually clean a pipe after use!

PB, already answered your stain question so I'll try an answer the filter question. You really don't need the filter adapter, I use one because it keeps the inside of the filter tenon cleaner and I don't see any other need for it because in my opinion it doesn't contribute to a better smoke. If you chose to go with an adapter anyway don't purchase that garbage from China. Send the pipe to me and I'll make one for it that fits it properly. Again, all this will do is keep gunk build up from collecting inside the filter area in the tenon.

 

[RDPipes]

 The benefit is purely financial to the producer.. A machine can dip a strummel in a vat a lot cheaper than a man can apply stain with a brush.  

That's what I thought! Well said!

Also, a quick pic of the "finished" unfinished pipe after stripping the lacquer & stain, sanding to 2000 grit, taking the bowl back to bare wood and applying a (very) thin coat of mineral oil to bring out the grain. Overall, I'm quite pleased with my first foray into pipe refurbishment!

And a Before & After: personally I think the pipe look much more refined without the thick candy-apple factory lacquer 

Looks real good sir but, I would hesitate to put anymore oil on the stummel. It may soak into the chamber and foul your smoke and hinder apply a good coat of wax to it. Now you know you shouldn't use just any wax because most all have a petroleum product in them. Pure Caranuba wax is the thing to use to give it a hard high gloss finish.

 

[monbla256]

THAT'S a job WELL DONE guy !! It's a whole different looking pipe now !! Now all it needs is to be smoked with an occasional application of "nose oil" while the bowl's still warm when you've finished smoking and a nice buff with a nice piece of flannel and your set for a lifetime !! :twisted:

 

[ontariopiper]

THAT'S a job WELL DONE guy !! It's a whole different looking pipe now !! Now all it needs is to be smoked with an occasional application of "nose oil" while the bowl's still warm when you've finished smoking and a nice buff with a nice piece of flannel and your set for a lifetime !! :twisted:

Thanks very much! I'm looking forward to many nights around the campfire this summer with this little bent apple.

 

[RobJ]

That looks like a job well done. Congrats and happy smokes!

 

[Jevverrett]

That looks great, I think. And the nose oil thing Monbla mentioned does work. If you're going to keep it as a pipe for out and about in the bush, it should be perfect. And I think unfinished it may darken with time as you smoke it maybe.

 

[kaitlyn3837]

Nice job on the removal of the stain! I have done this with a few pipes and it stills amazes me that some companies actually cover up BEAUTIFUL briar with stain/lacquer. Sometimes, companies that sold cheaper pipes would stain them super dark to cover up patches/pits and to hide poor briar. But I did this with a Bari pipe that had red lacquer on it and it was one of the most beautiful pipes I had ever touched after the lacquer was removed. The grain on the pipe was gorgeous and it reminds me of this pipe a little bit. Well done!

 

[Ozark Wizard]

Looks good enough, smoke it!

 

[ontariopiper]

Nice job on the removal of the stain! I have done this with a few pipes and it stills amazes me that some companies actually cover up BEAUTIFUL briar with stain/lacquer. Sometimes, companies that sold cheaper pipes would stain them super dark to cover up patches/pits and to hide poor briar. But I did this with a Bari pipe that had red lacquer on it and it was one of the most beautiful pipes I had ever touched after the lacquer was removed. The grain on the pipe was gorgeous and it reminds me of this pipe a little bit. Well done!

Thanks Kaitlyn! I agree wholeheartedly with your position on thick stains. I much prefer to see the wood underneath. I've got one pipe with a high gloss piano black finish, which I quite like, but if/when the back starts chipping off, I'll probably strip it down and see what's hiding underneath!