how will you be restoring the hand-built pipe? if you dont mind sharing a secret or two. thank.
john
To be honest I'll probably just leave it be till I figure out a successful method on another less valued pipe. This one still kinda has an okay used patina, and sometimes that's better left alone. I've heard of a few reasonably sound methods of "restoration", but mastered none. You have to reheat (retrace) all the fusion weld lines to replicate the natural bluing in the metal if you strip the original heated look (from blasting or wire wheeling). Honestly, I'm not sold on doing all that yet. To me they are simply nice when virgin new. I'd rather run this or my other two well used Roberts/Selvy pipes and buy a new one from Kenny for display purposes. Heck, I'd like to buy a few just to hang on the wall. They are an investment though
Like a raw cooking pan or skillet that's oiled or sprayed before use a pipe will develop a similar patina if you oil it before/after each use. Here is my new 200R pipe from Kenny (oiled-not cleared). The detail is beautiful, but will flash rust quite easily if left raw & not oiled up. The second ATC pipe is an old one with plenty of use. It's not really rusty (okay, a little bit), but more of a natural cooked in patina.
I've seen the retracing method done, but only on a far less intricately sectioned pipe (far less seam lines to trace), and yet was told it was a ton of work.
I'm also concerned retracing could make the metal brittle
I'm no metallurgist.... Another method I've been told, is to strip the rust with acid. That might work better, possibly leaving the natural bluing look intact...??
