Removing Varnish/Fixing Bubbles

[LandonColby]

The Bjarne Viking I have is a small bowled, and relatively thin walled pipe.
about 2 years ago while driving with the windows down, I let some Orlik Golden Sliced get away from me and the wind stoked it up pretty good. The result was a couple bubbles in the finish.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/06/1c8e2774c0d056b71418de6583726b7f.jpg

They inevitably flaked off and are now just little eye sores.

Has anyone used any varnish stripper or sanding techniques that worked well for them? It'd be nice if I could just stick a cork in the bowl and smear on some stripper and be done but I don't know if any residual chemicals would seep into the briar and affect the smoking qualities of the pipe.
I also want to removed the varnish on my Omega, I kind of like the matte finish.

Thanks for any tips.

[El Whedo]

I've sanded the varnish off two of my pipes, and they both smoke better now.

[Branzig]

Sand the sucker down. If you want to keep it raw briar, then use finishing techniques and wax that sucker.

If you want to re-stain it, then pick up some leather dye and have fun!