GBD Tapestry 9438 K

This is my latest eBay buy.

You can see that this is in need of more of a good cleaning than a reserection. The bowl is in good shape and the stem, while very oxidized, has no major dents or scrapes and the emblem is in good shape as well.

First up was to ream the bowl and give it an alcohol cleaning with pipe cleaners and Everclear. The stem I inspected and covered the logo with Vaseline to soak in an Oxyclean / water solution to loosen the oxidation. The next step was to immerse the bowl in isopropyl alcohol and let it soak for a couple of hours. When I took it out it went into a rice container to help dry it. The rice will pull out the moisture and dry it nicely. This is a trick electronics techs use when they get wet and you want to make sure it is dry before you power it up. Good to know if you drop a cell phone in water. When doing a salt and alcohol bath the rice also allows me to sit the bowl at the best angle to maximize the alcohol and not have it leak out.

The next several pictures show the progress on the stem, bringing it back to a nice shine. Starting with 220 grit flexible sandpaper and moving through the entire range of sponges up to 12000 grit you can see the finish come back. I used care not to get too close to the logo and damage it. I needed to use the pick to clear out some stubborn tar out of the bit.

I was thinking how I might give this a nice contrast to go with the finish contrast. I used the sanding sponges on the smooth areas that have geometric shapes. On the rusticated area I went with Black leather dye. I have long admired this combination in a number of pipe makers offerings. I still need to work on my technique to get the lines cleaner.

As I continue to learn more and more via experience I am encouraged by reading the blogs of Steve Laug and Upshallfan to see how veterans approach their work. A contributor to Reborn Pipes, Troy, has shown that you can be daring in reworking a pipe and get great results. Thanks to you all for the fine work you post.