All I know about these pipes is they came from "an old tracker". I'm guessing late 19th or very early 20th century. Of course, they were covered in 100 year's worth of dirt, soot, and grime. I started by wiping them down with a well-wrung-out wash cloth and some diluted Murphy's Oil Soap. I was very careful not to get anything too wet for fear of warping the wood. I was especially careful around the flue opening.
Next, I marked the exact position of the lower lip and removed the three screws holding it in place. Apparently the pipes had been in a church with a coal furnace. The blower was probably located in the furnace room judging by the amount of soot in the flue. I gave each surface a gentle scrub with an old, dry, toothbrush while running the shop-vac nearby to suck away the soot. Some of the nicking in the flue was partially clogged with soot, so I'm thinking the pipes will sound better for the cleaning. I put the lower lips back in exactly the same place they were originally. I then removed the stopper to clean inside the pipe body. I used the shop-vac and brush combo with success on most pipes. Some of them had residue from the stoppers caked on as well. I think it may have been lamb tallow or some other such lubricant but I'm not sure. Most of it came off with a putty knife, but I had to resort to some gentle sanding on a few of them. I also repaired a few loose feet and loose stopper handles.Finally, I wanted to protect the wood somehow. The original finish was very thin. So thin that I wondered of some pipes were finished at all. I didn't want to try stripping whatever was there, but I was worried that any varnish or other finish would not adhere. The pipes won't see any physical wear after they're installed so they didn't need a thick finish. I decided to go with a simple, light coat of furniture wax, buffed to nice sheen.
Gedeckt Cleaning Album
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