Uber wax finish
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 12:57 pm
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?
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?