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I tried to make my first dress ebony pipe yesterday. The grain wasn't spectacular, but instead of rusticating it I thought I would turn it into a dress pipe.

I had hell trying to get a consistent black finish. I applied Fiebing's black pretty thick, applied a thin layer of shellac, but when I took it to the tripoli buffer I kept removing too much finish so the grain would show up underneath.

Any tips on creating a nice smooth black finish?

Don't do it. Seriously I have never yet managed a good dress finish that wasn't a bitch to apply and polish. Gave up trying a long time ago, now I just blast if the grain isn't good enough.

I'm not really satisfied with that, Chris. We know it can be done, but we dont know how to do it. Come on, guys. Surely someone has finished a dress pipe before!

Maybe if I put a lot of black stain on the pipe and then mixed some black stain in the shellac before applying it? I think I understand now why all the dress pipes marketed by Dunhill, Stanwell, and Peterson are more expensive than a normal grade smooth.

How about darkening the surface with a flame (probably quite difficult to do evenly and safely) to the point of getting it black without burning, then light sanding, additional black staining just to be sure, then buffing and polishing?
I have never tried that on my pipes, but a long time ago I did some quite stupid experimenting with scrap estate bowls and I noticed that you right before you burn the briar, you can get a jet black surface that is pretty smooth, not burnt.
Maybe I'm terribly wrong, but it may be worth a try...

The thought crossed my mind, but I wasn't willing to try it on that pipe. I guess I should experiment on some scraps.

Ocelot55 wrote:I'm not really satisfied with that, Chris. We know it can be done, but we dont know how to do it. Come on, guys. Surely someone has finished a dress pipe before!

Maybe if I put a lot of black stain on the pipe and then mixed some black stain in the shellac before applying it? I think I understand now why all the dress pipes marketed by Dunhill, Stanwell, and Peterson are more expensive than a normal grade smooth.

Yeah I know it isn't a great answer but the only way I know to achieve a truly black and shiny finish is to laquer the pipe, not only does this require an airbrush etc but it's also not a finish I care for nor do most who buy artisan pipes. As far as I am aware I know of no artisan makers that use a dress finish.

It's goddam hard, but here's how I've had pretty good success.

Take your Feibing's black and stain the raw pipe black at about 320 or 400. The pipe's gotta be smooth, ready for a finishing process.

Let the pipe dry.

Mix 5 lb cut shellac (I use orange to counteract the slight blue of the Feibings black) with Feibings black at about 50/50. This will give you black shellac.

Apply a very thin coat of black shellac to the pipe, and walk away. Let it get really dry. Then sand the pipe with 500 grit, just knock the rough spots off, try not to penetrate the finish.

Shellac again (black). Dry again.

At this point you'll have a pipe that's glossy black with a few little lumps. A super light sanding, like 800 grit, and a very gentle buff (diamond rather than tripoli) will work, or you can spray the pipe with a very thin coat of cabinet lacquer, just from a spray can, and it will just glow deep black. Then you can polish/wax on top of that. Yes, it's a lacquer finish. That's what "dress black" is, as far as I can tell.

Anyway, that's the finish I use on the smooth parts of black rusticated pipes, and it works good enough that no one has complained to me.

Who would have thought black would be so hard! Thanks for the advice guys. I think this will require some experimentation.

Sharpie.

Not joking.

SimeonTurner wrote:Sharpie.

Not joking.

So... you've done this before?

Yes. I wouldn't do it again, but black on black on black with a sharpie base and ultra gentle buffing works.

It looks good, but I wouldn't ever do another one.

The one "dress black" I've made was a bit of a pain. I used a leatherworker's trick and did the base coat of stain in Fiebing's navy blue, then did a couple coats of black oil dye on top of that. Shellac is your friend for these, after all that you could still see grain if you held it in the light the right way.

SimeonTurner wrote:Yes. I wouldn't do it again, but black on black on black with a sharpie base and ultra gentle buffing works.

It looks good, but I wouldn't ever do another one.

I've never heard that leather trick before. It might work on a pipe as well...

I'm determined to get this one down! I love dress pipes!

Wow, reading this makes me want to try a dress pipe.

I saw on a woodworking program on TV awhile back how they achieved a 'faux' ebony finish - they used India Ink. In theory it should give a true black finish as opposed to the greenish/blue tinge you get from Fiebings black.

I've been meaning to experiment with it on some old basket pipes, but haven't been able to find it locally. Supposed to be obtainable at art stores, but Aaron Bros. doesn't carry it anymore.

Frank wrote:I saw on a woodworking program on TV awhile back how they achieved a 'faux' ebony finish - they used India Ink. In theory it should give a true black finish as opposed to the greenish/blue tinge you get from Fiebings black.

I've been meaning to experiment with it on some old basket pipes, but haven't been able to find it locally. Supposed to be obtainable at art stores, but Aaron Bros. doesn't carry it anymore.

I picked up some India Ink in a local arts and crafts store a couple of weeks ago. This is in Canada of course, so my guess is that the one brand selection up here will automatically be at least 10 brands in the US ..

I've done a few test pieces with it and it seems to work pretty good. Makes stuff black ... pipes, fingers, forehead (after scratching), etc.

I'm not sure how well it would work in this application, but it's definitely worth a try. Might be good for the base coat.


Chris

Rustoleum

Sasquatch wrote:It's goddam hard, but here's how I've had pretty good success.

Take your Feibing's black and stain the raw pipe black at about 320 or 400. The pipe's gotta be smooth, ready for a finishing process.

Let the pipe dry.

Mix 5 lb cut shellac (I use orange to counteract the slight blue of the Feibings black) with Feibings black at about 50/50. This will give you black shellac.

Apply a very thin coat of black shellac to the pipe, and walk away. Let it get really dry. Then sand the pipe with 500 grit, just knock the rough spots off, try not to penetrate the finish.

Shellac again (black). Dry again.

At this point you'll have a pipe that's glossy black with a few little lumps. A super light sanding, like 800 grit, and a very gentle buff (diamond rather than tripoli) will work, or you can spray the pipe with a very thin coat of cabinet lacquer, just from a spray can, and it will just glow deep black. Then you can polish/wax on top of that. Yes, it's a lacquer finish. That's what "dress black" is, as far as I can tell.

Anyway, that's the finish I use on the smooth parts of black rusticated pipes, and it works good enough that no one has complained to me.

Hello Sas, are you sure that 5 lb cut is possible to make?

I try to disolve 50gr of shellac into 50ml of 95% alcohol for 3 days.....

5 pounds per gallon is roughly 1.25 pounds per liter, which is roughly 566 grams per liter, so that's roughly speaking 50 grams per 100 ml, right? Sounds like you are trying a 10 lb cut to me. And EVERYONE knows you can't do that, Arch.

I bought a pre-mixed container that claims to be a 5 lb cut. I haven't tried to make a 5 lb cut myself for probably 10 years, and like you, when I tried dissolving flakes, I was astonished at how long they took.

Some solvents are better than others - are you using ethyl or methyl alcohol? I think there's special shellac thinners that contain other stuff too - toluene most likely.

Patience young Skywalker!

Peterson, Dunhill, Castello, etc.. all use some sort of black lacquer for dress finish. I do not think there is another way to get a solid smooth black finish on a pipe.