Uber wax finish

[Bryan Johnson]

I've accidently come across an interesting method of finishing and wanted to know if anyone has any advice on how to replicate it.

When I finally stopped tortuing a kit pipe, I gave it a medium walnut stain, sanded it with 600#, restained it, added a little wax and buffed it. Not very impressed with the finish, but still... As it turned out, the pipe turned out to be a really nice smoker, and I found myself using it as a first-pipe-in-the-morning choice. When the bowl became warm, I started rubbing it with a wax bar I had in reach from my desk and, after about two weeks of this sort of treatment, I discovered that when the bowl became warm it actually started "sweating" wax (sort of an oily gleam). I left off adding wax and, instead, used a shoeshine buffing cloth to rub it while it was still warm.

Now, the danged thing glows like a 300-year-old waxed table in a museum. It's beautiful.

The grain is nothing to write home about, but if I ever come across a kit or (let's hope) make a pipe from scratch with a decent block of briar that begins to show great grain, is there a way to duplicate this without actually smoking it? Does warming the wood open up the grain enough to accept the wax and permiate the wood? How would I be able to go through the process with some hope of duplicating my accidental discovery?

Any thoughts?

[wdteipen]

I did a similar thing with a Savinelli Duca Carlo of mine. I decided to buff it up for practice a long time ago and was having trouble getting the carnauba to stay on so I rubbed carnauba directly on the pipe then heated it with a heat gun to even it out then I buffed it up. That was three years ago and it's retained it's shine. When it heats up while smoking I can feel the oiliness of the carnauba "sweating" out of it but it always retains it's shine.

[Bryan Johnson]

Thanks, Wayne. I haven't tried using carnauba yet, because I was afraid that it would make my pipes look too shelacked/hard-shiny sort of thing. I'm so ignorant, I don't know how to tell the diffence in the pipes I've purchased between (among?) the various types of finishes. Hmm... some investigation there.

Anyway, I'l try the heat gun trick and try carnauba. I suppose it's not practical for production work, but then I'm not intending to go into production.