Sandblasted Briar

[Lostmason]

I tried undoing the sandblasting on one of the billiards, then finishing it:



I did some tricks to try to amplify the grain, which worked somewhat. On close inspection, I see that I didn't do such a good job smoothing it out - there are still a lot of pits. Live and learn...

I like this one,,,I had a thought of trying the same thing,but it will have to wait until next spring.

[AndyCAYP]

I'm always up for a project. Let's get us some and split 'em.

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How's the drilling, construction and fit? Good?

Sounds great! I'll put in a bid when I see a decent lot.

Hey @Bruck , care to do the dirty work for me and let me know what stains, waxes, and stem polishing compounds I need to order?

[Bruck]

I'm always up for a project. Let's get us some and split 'em.

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How's the drilling, construction and fit? Good?

Yes, the stems fit quite firmly in the clavicle (sorry, I know there's a word for it, but I'm not up on pipe anatomy). You have to drill the hole that connects to the bowl, but that's simple. I use about a 3/32" bit. You just have to drill slowly to avoid overshooting when it pokes thru.

[Bruck]

Sounds great! I'll put in a bid when I see a decent lot.

Hey @Bruck , care to do the dirty work for me and let me know what stains, waxes, and stem polishing compounds I need to order?

What I use for color is powdered aniline dye; picked some up on the amazing amazon, a small sample pack - you only need a little. Most of the colors mix directly with water, but the blue requires alcohol then water (instructions are included). If I want the color to stand out more, I bleach the briar a bit first.

For wax, I use straight carnuba; I think I got this on amazon as well. To apply the wax, I use buffer wheels connected to a variable speed hand drill - full speed is a little too fast; I use about half speed. I tried using a buffer wheel on my grinder, but that's way too fast - it tends to darken the briar, which you might actually want to do, depending on your goal for color.

There are a few more adept pipe finishers on the forum, including one @JustTroItIn , who may be able to share more expertise on the subject.

[JustTroItIn]

@Bruck is being a bit generous. I'm more of a hack than adept. I polish my pipes in the same manner as him but the dyes I have played around with are alcohol based leather dye made by Fiebings. I gave Bruck a bit of playful joshing in his other thread where he showed the green pipe, but I'm glad he posted it as it's good to see the difference in dyes. Here is one I dyed green using the Feibings. http://www.cigarbum.com/forum/the-do...eavy-3763.html

[Bruck]

Some more pipe-refinishing pron for y'all...

Working on rehabilitating a sandblasted unfinished dublin. Here's one in its native form (it's not the same one as the pix below, but is representative):



Not sure why it's upside down. I don't recall taking the pic that way Here's the bowl after a few rounds of sanding, with 60, 150, and 600 grit:



I'm employing a 2-step dyeing process to bring out the grain, first a dark color, in this case black, to soak in to the briar, both the soft and hard grain thereof:



Then I give it a light sanding to expose the surface of the harder grain, as the dye will have soaked more deeply into the softer grain. Unforch, it also has the effect of emphasizing the imperfections - this is not exactly high quality briar I'm working with:



Next, I overdye it with a lighter, brighter color, which shows up on the harder grain and just gets buried with the black in the soft grain. In this case, the lighter color is red:



I'm currently waxing this with carnuba to seal it and give it a little shine. I'll post pix of the finished product later.

[Lynn]

I tried undoing the sandblasting on one of the billiards, then finishing it:



I did some tricks to try to amplify the grain, which worked somewhat. On close inspection, I see that I didn't do such a good job smoothing it out - there are still a lot of pits. Live and learn...

when it has its character, I find interest....as in this one with the artistic framin of the big bottom woman, on the bowl.....

[GWBowman]

Bruce, have you done anything that lightens those heavy dark areas, other than sanding them out?

Thanks for taking the time to post this pic heavy thread. I'm really enjoying it.

[Bruck]

Bruce, have you done anything that lightens those heavy dark areas, other than sanding them out?

Thanks for taking the time to post this pic heavy thread. I'm really enjoying it.

Nope, I just sand them out. Not sure what the dark areas are - fills? sap? I dunno. Anyway, the mostly just sand out.

[Bruck]

& here's the final product of the red dublin:



Someday I'll figure out how to make them really shiny, but for now a dull matte will have to suffice.