One of my hobbies is “refurbishing” vintage/estate pipes.I’m not in it to become rich and famous but rather to fund my pipe smoking. This is what I do: I buy lots of estate pipes for cheap on ebay, then I “refurbish” them and then resell on ebay for a small profit which I use to buy good pipe tobacco.
I’m not expert, just a self-taught enthusiast that enjoys cleaning up old pipes. Most of the ones I/m buying are vintage Dr. Grabows that are from as early as 1930 and need lots of TLC. I think patina gives these old pipes character so I rarely try to buff out imperfections like bite marks and scratches. It’s made me appreciate the resiliency of these pipes and I try to do my best to celebrate them. Wondering if anyone from the pipe smoking community has dabbled in this pleasant past time.