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I haven't changed how I final finish vulcanite for a long time, and have not recently changed compounds or anything.

Last night I completed a rod stock stem and while it shined glassy-smooth, there's a translucent cloudiness going on that I can't get rid of. Seemingly UNDER the shine.

I think---but am not positive---that the stock was from a previously unused length of rod. No idea of the source because I just throw it all together after purchase, but I am sure it isn't the Japanese stuff.

Does any of this sound familiar, and if so, how did the story end?

I can only think of two things. ONe, leftover build up of white diamond (unlikely). Two, a hair too much wax? IF I overload the wax wheel I get a milky area at the edge of the buffing zone... have to kind of grind it off.

What happens if you rub it with alcohol?

I see that at times after the white diamond too, I have wiped down the stem after the WD with a clean rag and then hit the wax, but I have also had to grab a piece of scrap wood and clean off the WD wheel, I also started to not apply the WD to the wheel before trying it on a stem, if it is buffing I don't reapply until it looks like it isn't doing anything. I have never over loaded the wax wheel (yet) but I am sure it would be similar

Slightly off topic but is waxing stems a common thing. I know that amateur restorers do it to help shine/protection but do makers do it on new stems as well?

I do, The wax should help seal them and slow down oxidation, I can't prove that but it should...LOL

I stopped being surprized at any flaws / changes in mechanical properties of ebonite, it seems both SEM and NYH (I haven't tried the Japanese stuff) have variations in their quality. I've seen soft ebonite, unpolishable ebonite, inclusions and I've only been making pipes for 3 years. So I guess the rod you used is from a new "blotchy and milky" batch.
If your process is the same I'd just throw that rod into the "tool handle material" pile. Too bad you made the mistake of not remembering which rod it came from...

I never wax my mouthpieces, in my opinion the wax dulls the shine you get on ebonite after a good polishing.

caskwith wrote:Slightly off topic but is waxing stems a common thing. I know that amateur restorers do it to help shine/protection but do makers do it on new stems as well?

Yep!

Cataracts. (I hope not!)

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Sounds like a quality control issue with the ebonite rod to me. Have you buffed another stem with your setup since this one? If you can narrow it down to just this stem then it's likely the rod and not your setup.

The only way I could replicate your problem was to overload a wheel with W.D. That had been used for carnuba. This was a haze under a finish. Possible?