pipemakersforum.com

So I met a very nice lady last week who used to work at a pipe factory that shut down in the 80's. I should have written down the name of the factory since I already forgot it

Anyway, when it was closing down she 'rescued' a handful of very nice plateaux blocks. They've been sitting in her shed for the past 20+ years. In a very nice move she just gave them to me. I offered her some cash, but she rather aggressively turned it down.

I now have my first plateaux. Fun stuff!

I searched the full forum and scrolled through all the Tool section posts, and cannot find any mention about how to properly clean up plateaux. What do you guys use to clean the loose material off? I don't want to use a wire brush since it seems like it will scratch and gouge the good material.

Are there any special tricks?

Before I got a sandblaster, I used a a combination of dental picks and a soft nylon wheel brush to clean it up. Now I just hit it with the sandblaster real quick.

I use a brass wire wheel on the drill press runing about 250 rpm. Takes the crap off without scratching anything.

I used to use a spinning wire brush, before I got my blasting setup. Briar is pretty tough stuff. Just don't get too aggressive.

Any small stuff left, you can pick at with a pocket knife.

Rad

RadDavis wrote:Any small stuff left, you can pick at with a pocket knife.

Rad

Or, if you're from south Alabama, you can use your toenails.

Todd

Not that I leave plateau on anything, but a dental pick works well after a wire wheel. I just like to zen out on the cleaning process sometimes.

I have found that toenails are a bad idea. Personally, trench rot tastes like shit to me, but then again, I'm from California.

-loose

Has anyone ever tried the wire brush attachment on a dremal tool?

Lance

it will work but a larger brush is preferred.

I use a wire brush on the press or hand drill. Pocket knife for the stubborn stuff. Might get a dental pick now though


Sent from my banana phone.

I use a soft metal brush on a dremel it works but it takes some time

Ok so I know I have read this somewhere on this forum but i cant seem to find it now. So out of curiosity at what point of your process do you clean the plateau. I thought about doing that first but was afraid of scratching during shapping so I decided to wait till after the files an before the sandpaper. What do you guys think?

Lance

I usually do it after rough cutting at the bandsaw. Sometimes though I will start turning the basic shape on the lathe and decide to leave some plateau so will clean it then carefully by hand. If the pipe is going to be sandblasted then I don't bother cleaning it at all. Basically you want to only clean the minimum amount of plateau possible and do it without damaging your bowl/chamber. No point cleaning a whole huge block of briar for 90% of it to be cut off

I like to scrape it clean almost right away. Reason being, sometimes that crust is 1/2" deep of bark and the shape you think the briar is is totally different than it actually is. You can look for fissures etc.

Sas after I did some shaping I figured I should have cleaned the plateau first. Plateau went deeper than origanal thought.

Lance

It's treacherous stuff in a number of ways.

Don't suppose asking your wife to do it because you're busy doing something else is cool [FACE SCREAMING IN FEAR][SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH AND COLD SWEAT].

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