Finishing a Rusticated Pipe

[d6monk]

Hi everyone,

I've done some searches on here and couldn't really find what I was looking for, but I was wondering what the recommended procedure is for finishing a rusticated pipe. The way I usually finish a smooth pipe is staining/sanding, then a light coat of shellac (about 1/3 lb cut), then buffing with red and white (and sometimes tan) tripoli using unstitched wheels, then a coat of carnuaba wax, and finally a light buff with a clean wheel. How does this change for a rusticated pipe? No buffing with compounds? No wax? A stronger cut of shellac? Does anyone use a nylon bristle wheel to buff etc.? If someone could help me out with the procedure the "pros" usually use I would really appreciate it.

Thanks!

[tritrek]

I haven't done this yet, but a fellow pipemaker advised me to rub with carnauba, melt the wax with a heatgun, buff up... repeat until perfect.

[Sasquatch]

I slap shellac on it and walk away. Looks great. Might depend on the rustication... but if it's real craggy, you'll never buff it well.

[d6monk]

Hmm, thanks guys... So Sasquatch, you rusticate, stain, and then put shellac on and thats it? Nothing else? What cut do you use?

[Sasquatch]

I have some orange shellac mixed up in a can. So the cut is... uh,,,, um..... orange.

Seriously, I'd guess it's a pretty heavy cut, and if I want to "spit coat" a pipe I cut it down a lot with methyl alcohol. That's a different application.

But for heavily rusticated pipe, and craggy plateaux tops, I just get a q tip and throw the shellac on. Shines up wonderful. It will deepen the color, but i don't find that it makes a radical difference in the final color.

[d6monk]

Well, I've tried quite a few things and I'm still not happy...

1. Just going through normal buffing with compound and wax: I didn't have any problems with compound or wax building up in the crevices (I think this is probably a problem with people putting too much on their buffing wheels), and the tops of all the rusticated areas came out beautifully, but the lower areas did not shine up as well, and I don't like the semi-buffed look. Different speeds or pressures when using the wheels didn't seem to make any difference.

2. Shellac: I tried my usual ~1/3lb cut but it didn't shine up the pipe as much as I wanted so I tried with stronger and stronger cuts. I'm a little nervous about going higher than a 1lb cut since it seems pretty thick and a little experimenting with a heat gun getting the pipe to "hot smoker" temperature showed a lot of darkening and some shellac bubbling on the briar at around a 1lb cut.

3. Plastic bristle wheel: I tried using a soft plastic bristle wheel that I had (one used in polishing jewelry) in combination with the shellac (i.e. buff with plastic bristle wheel, apply 1lb cut, buff with plastic bristle wheel again), and although it was a little better I'm still not satisfied--not as shiny or uniform as many of the rusticated or sandblasted pipes I see online or in person.

I have a feeling that I'm going to be finishing lots of rusticated pipes in my future and a lot of sandblasted ones as well once I get the proper setup, so I want to get this procedure under my belt.

Anyone have any ideas on what I'm missing/doing wrong?

Thanks again for the help!

[Sasquatch]

Try a 5 lb cut. I'm serious. The stuff I use is 4 lb from about 10 years ago. Maybe 15. It's thick as snot and leaves a lovely finish in 1 pass.

It won't bubble after it dries thoroughly. Slap some on a pipe, come back tomorrow and torture the hell out of it. It's hard stuff.

On a really craggy pipe, I literally brush it on and walk away. If I am using it in some other capacity, I will apply it (possibly cut down) to the pipe, and then follow with a rag soaked in thinner (Methyl Hydrate - wear gloves) to prevent uneven application.

The nice thing about this kind of finish is you can add more where you need and "rub it out", blend it into old finish.

What are you thinning with?

[d6monk]

Well I'm going to be out of town for a couple of days, but I'll start dissolving a 5lb cut before I leave and test it out when I get back. I'll let it really dry well and then put it through some tests. Also, I'm thinning with denatured alcohol.

Thanks again sasquatch, I really appreciate your help!

[Sasquatch]

I would think that denatured ethanol probably doesn't evaporate quite as fast as methyl alc, but it should go pretty fast. I usually leave it about an hour or two before I handle the pipe again. You can knock any excess "splotches" back off with a buffing wheel, so I tend to do the rusticated part with shellac, and then do the final polish and waxing, trying not to get the rusticated parts messed up again.

Good luck - I'm sure it'll work for you.