I love a good deal, and this is one of my favorites. I call it...The MacArthur. I got this pipe for $4 at an antique dealer in Illinois. I soaked in in whiskey for about a week to clean it out and cure it. Whiskey gives the wood a nice flavor. If you're working with a pipe you have to keep in mind anything that goes into the pipe will eventually go into you. So the whiskey is a no-brainer, but that also goes for any stains or varnishes--they all need to be alcohol based. I went to a local woodworking shop in Atlanta, told the guy what I was doing, and he let me just borrow a bottle of stain and bring it back when I was done. Free is even better than $4.
The results were great but I still needed something to make it shine. You can buy wax and buff it hot enough to melt the wax and give it a nice shiny coating, or you can do it by hand for free. My new friend at the wood shop showed me just rubbing the pipe with your bare hands gives the wood enough oil to shine. Someone also told me that Native Americans would rub their pipes with their oily noses to get the same effect. That's gross, but just as effective.
