significance between tripoling and applying carnauba

clifton · Post by **clifton** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 4:27 pm

new at pipe crafting... just finished shaping and sanding my first freehand... so i am ready to stain it... my question however is the process of finishing ... i just ordered some buffing wheels, carnauba wax and brown tripoling to finish my pipe... what is the tripoling for and how do you do it? also i am just about finished shaping my stem... what do i do to finish it? any responce would be very helpful? thanks for your patience, i am definetly a rookie at all this, still learning, but it is so much fun

kkendall · Post by **kkendall** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 4:59 pm

When you think you're all done sanding, you can use the tripoli (using a linen buffing wheel) to polish it. (install the stem in the pipe before using the buffing wheel) After that, I spray it with denatured alcohol. (Tripoli is an abrasive in a grease matrix, the alcohol removes any residual grease & abrasive left on the surface)

You can make sure you have all the fine scratches out by going back with a 600 (or higher) grit paper and give it a once over. Look at it in the sunlight (or other good lightsource), if there are any fine scratches in the wood, you'll see them because the fine dust from the sanding will deposit into the scratches.

When you are satisfied, you can stain. Then spray it with alcohol again after applying the stain and wipe it down. That evens out the stain and raises the grain a bit. Some repeat this step twice.

Then another round on the tripoli wheel (install the stem into the pipe before using the buffing wheel) to develop the grain 'pop'. You can go back for a different (contrasting color) stain (same steps as above).

Then when you're all done, carnuba using a flannel buff.

Oh, did I mention - when you use the buffing wheel, reinstall the stem before buffing.

The stems can be polished using the tripoli after shaping/sanding. When done with the stem, you can use a white diamond, or blue tripoli using a linen/flannel wheel. (every other ply is flannel)

There are different processes that folks use. Maybe they have a better way than this (I'd sure like to hear about it, too).

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 7:00 pm

I've tried a similar routine to Kim's, but the finish didn't please me.

I'm happier with the results from a routine based on Kurt's:
1. Sand to 220 grit
2. Stain
3. Sand 320 or 400
4. Stain
5. Buff medium aggresive with medium coarse compound (my variation - Kurt sands 500 grit)
6. Wipe with grain alcohol
7. Sand 1500 Flexigrit (approx. 500 grit American, but less aggresive due to slightly padded backing)
8. Stain/overstain
9. Buff w/ final finish compound
10. Carnauba wax w/ loose flannel wheel
11. Hand rub wax to a shine w/ soft cloth or buff w/clean loose flannel wheel

Correction: Micro-Mesh not Flexigrit.

Somewhere in there Kurt uses a couple more much finer grits, but that's his "Ancient Chinese/Panzer Headbanger Secret", the bugger.

Experiment with various routines until you find one or more that work for you.

clifton · Post by **clifton** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 3:43 pm

thanks for the help... one question for clarification, when you use tripoli compound, do you apply it to the buffing wheel the same you would carnauba, and then tripoli?

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:02 pm

clifton wrote:thanks for the help... one question for clarification, when you use tripoli compound, do you apply it to the buffing wheel the same you would carnauba, and then tripoli?

You apply the compound (tripoli or any other) to the spinning buffing wheel. Don't overload the wheel with compound. Then buff the pipe against the spinning wheel. Keep a good grip on the pipe. The wheel sometimes "grabs" it away.

LexKY_Pipe · Post by **LexKY_Pipe** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:29 pm

Clifton, polishing techniques are like opinions and belly buttons. Every body has one.

Best to try different methods until you find one that works for you. I use an inbetween step of White Diamond Polishing compound between the brown tripoli which is approx 400 grit and carnauba wax. BTW Green Tripoli is about 320 grit. Both are in an animal fat compound. The White Diamond helps to polish that off the wood.

kbadkar · Post by **kbadkar** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:59 pm

The signifcance between sandpaper, compounds, and wax:

Progressively higher grits of sandpaper gets you finer and finer scratches, until they all but disappear.

Next

Buffing wheels with compound, which also comes in coarse to fine grits (black emery, brown tripoli, red rouge, white diamond, blue plastic, for example), remove the fine scratches left behind by the finest grit sandpaper you last used.

Next

Carnuba wax is applied with a buffing wheel to add a thin layer of "protective" gloss. The wax on the wheel is not used like the abrasives in sandpaper or buffing compounds. The friction and heat melt the wax on to the surface, so use a light steady pressure.

clifton · Post by **clifton** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:19 am

i just want to say thank you for all of your help... this forum is amazing as far as people being more than willing to help each other out... i look forward to many more discussions... when i get my pipe done i will post it to get additional feed back...

clifton · Post by **clifton** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 5:26 pm

will the carnauba wax allow the pipe to keep a good shine or how do yu keep a good shine on your pipe

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 5:58 pm

clifton wrote:will the carnauba wax allow the pipe to keep a good shine or how do yu keep a good shine on your pipe

Carnauba will put a good shine on the pipe. As to how long it lasts, that depends on how much the pipe is used and/or abused. After all, it's just wax, albeit a very hard wax.

To get a longer lasting shine, you would have to either shellac, laquer or varnish it.

clifton · Post by **clifton** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 6:05 pm

so can you rewax it if begins to grow dull...
shelac, varnishing, are those good alternatives

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 6:31 pm

clifton wrote:so can you rewax it if begins to grow dull...
shelac, varnishing, are those good alternatives

It's like waxing your car. You can rewax as often as you want.

As for the other finishes, I'm still experimenting. I'll leave those answers to the guys who've had success with that.