Pipe Stem Polishing Test

All photos can be enlarged (click once to open in a new window and then again to enlarge to full size)

These are more thoughts than conclusions, this page is not really intended to be a how to.....

Green oxidized pipe stem before any treatment.

This is  a VERY thin slice (thin section)  of ebonite photographed under a microscope. The color here is accurate, this is not a white balance issue. Only when the section is very thin does the  reddish-yellow color appear.

I thought I would try testing some different polishing methods to see how they compared.  To do this, I used a 1500 grit wet/dry piece of sandpaper (wet) to remove all the oxidation on one side of the stem. All the scratches were kept parallel to the length of the pipe stem.  3 pieces of clear tape were placed on the surface to separate the test patches. Care was taken that all the polishing with the test compounds was made perpendicular to sanding marks so there is no confusion over the scratch source. After polishing the tape was removed and the surface cleaned with soap and water followed by alcohol to make sure no residues remained. The photos were taken with light shining on a white card placed next to the stem providing an even indirect light. The bottom photo, at a slightly different scale, has some nose oil applied (didn't have olive oil on hand) to the lower half. BEFORE Making too many conclusions, look at the close-ups further down...

It seems that the Magic Eraser did the best job at removing the scratches left from the sandpaper, but the Brebbia polish resulted in the best looking surface. The toothpaste actually did a fairly good job. The oil, although fading with time, made the surface look good, actually better than than this photo would suggest, but it is still a temporary finish (oiled surface begins just under the white text on the bottom photo).  I did all this fairly quickly, the Brebbia really does remove all the larger scratches given a little time and elbow grease; it would go faster had finished with finer sandpaper. I use the Brebbia pipe stem polish on my pipes and like the results, its not really expensive, and the small tube is not empty after going through a dozen pipes....

Bar Keeper's Friend on the right, 1500 grit left. Note that the tooth marks were not sanded completely out, with a heaver sandpaper they could have been removed, ignore them for this test, but note that the Bar Keepers Friend did round them and make them less noticeable.

Toothpaste on the left, 1500 grit on the left. I used Colgate "cavity protection" different pastes have different kinds and sizes of abrasives to results may differ. The toothpaste finish really was not that bad. 

Brebbia pipe stem polish on the left, 1500 grit on the right. Again, ignore the pits, those could have been removed with more sanding. Brebbia really did produce the best finish.

Mr Clean Magic Eraser on the left, 1500 grit on the right. The eraser did the best job removing the scratches from the sandpaper, but was not as shiny as the Brebbia or toothpaste. Also, you can't see it here, but it did create some relief on the surface because it seemed to remove the ebonite matrix faster than the ebonite particles... For the pipe stems I cleaned I used the 1500 grit paper, then the magic eraser, followed by the Brebbia, the results were very good, but I might in the future use the 1500 grit, followed by a finer paper and then the Brebbia.....

The left half was soaked in undiluted bleach for about two hours. Note that the bleach removed the green (oxidized sulfur ?) but created a surface of high relief. This roughness needs to be removed with sandpaper. I'm note sure if the bleach is worth it or not, as some sanding must take place and the oxidized stuff will therefor get removed either-way.