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Just curious, what would be recommended to polish the stem on an estate pipe?
I've scrubbed it down with denatured alcohol, inside and out to sanitize it.
It's hardly been smoked at all, whoever did smoke it the few times it was used, added a "pipe screen" and didn't use tobacco (the bastards)
When I cleaned the airway with the alcohol it came very clean, but then it reaked of "wacky baccy"! Thankfully that went away once it dried.
The only thing I'm really wanting to know is;
1) is cleaning estate stems wit denatured alcohol recommended/okay?
2) suggestions on polishing the stem; as in what to use, etc.
Thanks in advance gang!
Oh, the pipe is an Amphora X-tra 815, (rusticated pot I think? Slightly bent tapered stem) I'll post before and after pics when I'm done.

Both the alcohol and the denaturant are highly volatile, and will evaporate quickly. Other than that, I personally have no desire to taste or smoke the wacky tabaccy, so I'd be redrilling the airway and reaming the bowl, and even then I don't know if I'd smoke it. However, perhaps soaking it in some Everclear will leach out the badness? I don't know though, I have no experience in this regard...

Forgive my ignorance here, but it's a good thing that they dissolve quickly?
I know it cleaned very well.
This is my first estate, and I've found how some people clean the stem, but was just curious as to if I could just buff it afterward or if there's an extra step I was missing?
I did ream the bowl very briefly, and hardly any cake/buildup was on the wall of the pipe. I used doubled over stiff bristled pipe cleaners chucked up in a drill. Sounds dumb, but worked great. Once I removed the screen, I realized this pipe had been used very little, the briar benath looked great even though there was no cake.
As for the "wacky backy" smell, I think I was smelling the denatured alcohol, because once it dried completely the smell was gone

I'm working on my "break in smoke" now for cake, smokes great! She ain't no Cadillac, but she smokes like one.Another first for myself and another stepping stone for the path
I feel like an idiot after thinking that "funk" was something else though

Dixie_piper wrote:Forgive my ignorance here, but it's a good thing that they dissolve quickly?

Do you mean evaporate? All it means is that the poisons they denature the alcohol with won't stick around for more than a few minutes.

Sorry, I did mean evaproate.

Oh, don't apologize to me. I'm guilty of more than one errant word substitution.

Thanks:)
Here's another idiotic beginners question I can't seem to find an answer for;
I got myself 3 buffing wheels for my drill today, and they came with emory, tripoli and white compounds.
I tinkered with them for a brief while before work today and just wanna make sure that I'm not screwing up from the "get go"
1) While applying compound, shouldn't the color (of the compound) transition to the buffing pad?
2) Is it normal to see the white cotton fuzz everywhere while buffing or is this a sign of a shoddy pad?
3) Is there an actual "tripoli pad" I should be looking for rather than the method I'm using?

After just a lil "spit shine" I've come to realize this first estate pipe was practically new and unused. But it does lack the "luster" so I wanna buff it up.. And after the second smoke from it today, I will be reaming the bowl (properly) and cleaning the shank. My mom looked at it and she claims it still smells "funny," like I'd feared before. Thanks in advance, and sorry for the "newbie-Q&A":)

The fluff is normal until the wheel "breaks in". It will stop over time.

When applying compound to the wheel, it should transfer the color. If it doesn't, be sure you're spinning fast enough to generate enough heat to transfer some compound. Go light though, you don't want the wheel too loaded up with compound. And basically any single-sewn cotton buffing wheel will be suitable.

Ok, thanks!
I realized that I had it set torque heavy at low rpm's, set the speed higher and it worked beautifully. I did get a little over zealous with the red compound because it transferred from the pipe to the white compound wheel when I switched up.
I'm going to try buffing most of the compound off of my white wheel to some personal projects that could use either/or.
What I tried today was using a raw buffing wheel in between red & white. Very littte transfer, and much better results.
Thanks again

For me cleaning up a stem of an estate pipe with alcohol and some pipe cleaners is far from being enough (from the hygienic point of view).
As most estate pipe I buy have highly oxidized stems anyway I put the stems in a bleach bath for 1 hour or so. This mean hand sanding before you can polish them but I accept the burden.
If you think that the stem doesn't need to be deoxidized at least put it in an Everclean bath overnight, I don't use denature alcohol the price difference is small and denature alcohol is full of poisonous stuff.

Have any of you ever used "Barbicide"? I use that when cleaning up old razors. It should kill any germs. Would that be overkill on a pipe stem? I've got a few old pipes I'd like to clean up, so I have some of the same questions as you...

After chatting with some people far more experienced in this than I am, I used rubbing compound for the oxidation on my latest pipe. Worked like a charm!
As far as sanitizing, there's a system that involves boiling alcohol and allowing it to vaporize through the stem (or something along those lines) and it's apparently "numero uno" in sanitizing.
With the chamber, I generally scrape out what I can, then use the salt and "potent alcohol" method (everclear, moonshine, etc, etc) and thus far it's helped me greatly.
I sanded the oxidation off my first stem, it worked, but removed a noticable amount of material.
I have set my denatured alcohol aside for glass cleaning after the numerous warnings of the poisons in it, for safety measures.
Hope some of this helps!

P.S.- the "alcohol vaporizing" system is commercial, search the web for "cleaning estate pipes" and it'll be somewhere in the results. Round about $20, I'm ordering one momentarily
*EDIT* it's a pipe cleaning retort, on ebay - $24.95 w/S&H

I hope it's ok to dig up an old topic. I was looking if anybody has any secrets for cleaning estate pipes with vulcanite stems and found this topic. I don't have a buffing wheel, so most of the suggestions aren't helpful for me but I thought I'd share what I'm currently doing.

After bleach bathing, I use 400 grit sandpaper to take off the rough parts then work down to 0000 steel wool and use the paper side of sand paper. This leaves the stem dull, so I rub on chapstick and wipe it off with a paper towel. It gives it a nice shine and puts a protective layer on it so air can't oxidize it.

I didn't come up with the idea, I found it on YouTube but thought it was clever and might help somebody else.

Those Mr. Clean white sponges do a pretty damn good job on oxidized stems. I also do recommend getting the pipe cleaning retort.

Products to clean this kind of cooks

(sorry, I don't know the name in english) do the work very well.
You cannot use bleach or sands.
It removes the oxidation and polish the stem.

Why not just give it a bump on the buffing wheel with some 1200 compound?

JeremyV wrote:Why not just give it a bump on the buffing wheel with some 1200 compound?

'cos you can melt the mouthpiece faster than you imagine

True, but with a little finesse on an 1800 rpm baldor, I had no trouble.

R.H.: I'm not sure what that is. Is it some sort of scrubber pad for cleaning dishes? I tried to have google translate the webpage, but it made it sound like a hot plate for cooking?

JeremyV: I don't have a buffing wheel, which is why I was asking for tips on how to take oxidation off and polish an estate stem without one.

I meant cook cleaners, best of them is this:

http://www.adbrands.net/uk/cif_uk.htm
but I don't know if this can be found in the states or whether is there any equivalent.

Well, it's not a game. You'll have to polish hard with a cloth, but it works.

Another option is toothpaste.