What do you use to shine up your pipes?

puros_bran · Nov 20, 2014

kaitlyn3837":aw4gnjue said:
I use my buffing wheel with tripoli on one pad and then carnuba on the other. But I haven't had/kept any pipes long enough to need to re-buff them. Most of the pipes I buff are refurbs that I sell instead of keep. This thread gave me some good ideas though!

I have a pipe refurbishing friend who does use shoe stain/polish to stain his pipes sometimes too, so that's another idea for pipes!

Where do you sell said pipes?

kaitlyn3837 · Nov 20, 2014

I sell them in the shop I work at: Outman Knife & Cigars. Soon I am hoping to build up enough stock/variety to sell on Ebay or possibly start a website like Viking Pipes has!

Thomas Tkach · Nov 20, 2014

Dutch":cygdopiy said:
While I do agree that nothing can compare to a buffing wheel and carnauba wax, this setup can create quite a bit of dust once the wax dries on your buffing wheel. Some folks find that is a problem, unless they have a shop environment to do thier buffing.

Paragon wax which is intended for smooth pipes works great, and it works even better when given several days to dry before buffing off the excess with a dry cloth. To get an optimal shine, just barely buff it enough to get a shine, and leave it alone. Excessive buffing will just take the wax back off, and disappoint you with the end result.

The reason these waxes usually don't maintain a great shine long term, is because they allow your pipe to breathe, which is important to the overall function of the briar. You could easily coat your pipes in polyurethane or shellac to maintain a fantastic long term shine, but these will inhibit the briars ability to breathe. Not only will such a coating slow down the process of the pipe drying after smoking, it will also make the pipe smoke hotter during smoking.

As for the Halcyon II wax, which is intended for rusticated pipes, I have not had as much luck with, simply because it can be difficult to polish the pipe in the crevices of the rustication or sandblast. To get the accumulation out of the crevices, I have used the heat of a flame to melt the wax, but again with minimal results.

For rusticated or sandblasted pipe polishing, I think your best bet is to go back the the tried and true buffing wheel with carnauba wax.

The whole 'briar needs to breathe' thing is a myth. Wax is not breathable. It is the opposite of breathable. It is used to make things not breathable. If briar's ability to breathe was important, then waxing a pipe would be awful. A thin coat of shellac is actually a great way to shine up a pipe that may high-grade makers use to no detriment.

Thomas Tkach · Nov 20, 2014

Guest":b5qk92ku said:
As concerns stummels, a pipe that's been competently waxed has a permanent finish unless there's some incredible environmental factor in play...

This is completely false. Wax rubs off and is not permanent at all.

Re: shining rustic/blasted pipes, as was noted above, the wax can collect in the crevices. Also, buffing can dull the texture over time. Jim Cooke mentioned some time that he'd hunt down and kill anyone who buffed one of his blasts (I'm exaggerating, but he was worked up about it). Since he spends hours getting a blast just right, he doesn't want anyone messing it up with a buffer.

I've probably been a little noncancerous on these last few posts, but I think there's a lot of misinformation out that that needs to be cleared up. No hard feelings intended.

puros_bran · Nov 21, 2014

kaitlyn3837":15ox2p98 said:
I sell them in the shop I work at: Outman Knife & Cigars. Soon I am hoping to build up enough stock/variety to sell on Ebay or possibly start a website like Viking Pipes has!

You know you could use our 'Trading Post' section here as 'your website' until you get your own website... Then you could share on our 'Towne Criar' section. Reasonably priced estates sell pretty good here... And if nobody buys them you are only out a few pics and a description.