Ok, I found my good camera and took some final photos today.
The first seven photos represent the pipe after 3 light coats of "
Kramer's Best Antique Improver" applied 24 hours apart from each other.
I think you'll agree that the Kramer's brought out the natural grain in the briar quite beautifully.
A big thank you Ed (Pugman) for turning me on to and providing me a sample of Kramer's and to John Kramer himself, the maker of the product, who called me personally in response to an e-mail and discussed with me at length how to use the product to achieve the best results on my pipe.
And finally, the finished pipe after buffing it out
I will now begin the slow process of seasoning the bowl.
All in all this was a very enjoyable project. It was not as difficult as I first thought it might be and I'm looking forward to creating another!
Thanks for following along with me on this and I hope you enjoyed it.
Danny