Love these classic Lovat shaped pipes. Great restoration John. Great example of why we do what we do. Thanks
Photographed and written by John M. Young The next pipe in que for the workbench is this cute little Bentley Lovat. Once again I have chosen a pipe …
A Bentley Lovat Restoration
Blog by Steve Laug
The next pipe that I am working on came from an estate sale in Oregon City, Oregon, USA we purchased on 03/21/24. It was very dirty and was a reddish, brown coloured pipe when it started. The smooth finish around the bowl was dirty and had hand oils ground into the grooves. The bowl had a thick cake a spotty coat of lava on the rim edge and top of the bowl. The outer edge and top of the bowl were battered and damaged with chips and nicks deep in the briar. It was a mess. The stem was oxidized, very dirty and had light tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. The pipe was stamped on the left side of the shank with the BBB logo in a diamond and underneath and to the side of the point it read Own Make. On the underside of the shank it was stamped England and had been double stamped. The Sterling Silver band on the shank was oxidized but was also stamped with the BBB in a diamond logo and to the left of it was stamped AF&Co in a rectangular stamp [over] three hallmarks – an Anchor, a Rampant Lion and the letter “n”. All were in shield style cartouches. The Anchor is the mark for Birmingham, the Lion is the mark for .925 Silver and the “n” is the date stamp. Jeff took photos of the pipe so I could have a sense of what it looked like before he started his work on it.
Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the bowl. The rim top is dirty with lava and deep nicks in the surface of the rim. There is a thick cake in the bowl. The silver band on the shank is oxidized and stamped as noted above. The stem is oxidized and is very dirty from the shank to the button. There are light tooth marks and chatter on the stem on both sides ahead of the button.
He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish and the grain around the pipe. It has some great grain showing through the grime.
He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and on the silver band on the shank. It reads as noted above. It is faint in spots but is still very readable.
The Sterling Silver band on the shank was oxidized but was also stamped as noted above. The BBB in a diamond logo identifies the pipe brand of this pipe. The AF&Co in a rectangular stamp to the left of the BBB logo identifies the silversmith as Adolf Frankau and Company who was the owner of the BBB brand. Underneath that stamp there were three hallmarks – an Anchor, a Rampant Lion and the letter “n”. All were in shield style cartouches. The Anchor is the mark for the city of Birmingham where the silver was assayed. The Lion is the mark for the quality of silver used – in this case .925 Silver. The letter “n” is the date stamp. I turned to a link on a British Hallmark site to look for the date code. I found a listing for Birmingham silver dates (https://www.925-1000.com/dlc_birmingham.html). I did a screen capture of the chart and have included it below. The letter “n” is in the same shape cartouche as the section I have marked in the picture below. That identifies the pipe as having been made in 1912.
Now it was my turn to work on the pipe. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked, rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked very good when I received it.
I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. You can see the clean bowl. The bowl is in excellent condition and is clean. The rim top and the inner edge showed damage with nicks and scratches on the top and roughness to both the inner and outer edges. The stem came out looking clean. There were some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. 
I took photos of the stamping on the shank. It is faint but still very readable. There was also a very faint stamp on the stem but I am still not certain it is the correct stem because of the fit and shape of the stem. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. 
I began my work on the pipe by addressing the issues with the rim top and the rim edges both inner and outer. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge and work to bring it back to round.
The rim looked much better at this point thought there was still damage at the front of the inner edge of the bowl. I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and a wooden ball to give the inner edge and rim top a slight bevel. It looked much better.
I built up the large chip in the outer edge of the bowl at the front with clear CA glue and briar dust. I put a spot of glue on the area and dipped the bowl into the briar dust. It stuck to the glue and came of the rest of the bowl. Once it dried I sanded it smooth with a 320 grit sanding pad to smooth out the repair on the top and the front of the bowl. It looked very good.
I used a Cherry stain pen to touch up the repaired areas of the bowl. I stained the rim top with the same pen at the same time. It looked much better.
I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to smooth out the nicks and scratches in the bowl sides, rim and heel of the bowl. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust and debris.
The pipe had cleaned up so well that I turned to polish the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. By the final pads the briar really had a shine. 
I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm.
Next, I moved on to further smooth out the surface of the vulcanite. I sanded it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further clean up the scratches and file marks on the surface of the stem.
I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. It really took on a shine and I knew that once it was buffed it would look amazing.
I put the stem back on the 1912 BBB Own Make Billiard with a Vulcanite Stem and took it to the buffer. I worked it over with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I gave the bowl and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up really well and the rim top looked good. I was happy with the look of the finished pipe. The photos below show what the pipe looks like after the restoration. The 1912 BBB Own Make Billiard is a beautiful and unique take on a classic shape. The polished, hard rubber taper stem looks really good with the browns of the briar. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.45 ounces/41 grams. This is another old time BBB pipe that I will be adding to my BBB Collection. I love these old time English Pipes by BBB as they are a real pleasure to smoke. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. 
Blog by Steve Laug
Last weekend on April 27 Kenneth and I went to an antique and collectible sale at an arena in New Westminster, BC, Canada. I wrote about the adventure and posted it in a previous blog last weekend (https://rebornpipes.com/2024/04/28/you-have-to-join-kenneth-and-me-on-a-great-morning-pipe-hunt/). On the hunt I picked up four pipes that I have listed below:
I have included photos of the foursome below. They are in the order of the list above. 
I chose to work on the first pipe in the above photos. It is shown in the photos below and is stamped Jeantet [over] Fait Main (Hand Made) on the left underside of the shank. On the right underside of the shank it is stamped with the number 4 (shape number perhaps) and with Made in France along the shank/stem junction. There is a Jeantet logo J in a silver oval on the left topside of the diamond stem. It is kind of a Freehand Bent Dublin with a Diamond shank. The pipe has some great grain around the bowl sides and shank. The rim top is flat and slightly oval. The bowl had a moderate cake on the walls and thankfully no lava on the rim top or edges of the bowl. The briar is dry and lifeless with some grime and grit ground into the briar. The stem was oxidized and had light toothmarks on the top and underside ahead of the button. The photos below show what I saw when I examined the pipe. 
I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the bowl. The rim top is clean with no lava and there is a moderate cake in the bowl. The stem is lightly oxidized and is very dirty from the shank to the button. There are light tooth marks and chatter on the stem on both sides ahead of the button.
I took photos of the stamping on the undersides of the shank. It reads as noted above. It is faint in spots but is still very readable. I took the stem off and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the size of the bowl.
I turned to Pipephil’s site to see what I could learn about Jeantet pipes (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-jeantet.html). There was nothing specific about that line though was a brief summary of the history. I quote from the top bar below:
The company joined the Cuty-Fort Entreprises group (Chacom, Ropp, Vuillard, Jean Lacroix…) in 1992. In 2010 it dropped out and the brand isn’t part of the group any more. The label is owned by the Jeantet family (Dominique Jeantet) again. The pipe production is discontinued. Dominique Jeantet retired in 2000. See also: Antidote, Duke of Kent, Grand Duke, Hermes, Sir Bruce, Sir Duke
I turned to Pipedia to get a more detailed history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Jeantet). There as a short history there that I have reproduced below.
The firm of the Jeantet family in Saint-Claude is first mentioned as early as 1775. By 1807 the Jeantets operated a turnery producing in particular wooden shanks for porcelain pipes and wild cherry wood pipes. The firm was named Jeantet-David in 1816, and in 1837 the enterprise was transformed into a corporation as collective name for numerous workshops scattered all over the city.
The manufacturing of briar pipes and began in 1858. 51 persons were employed by 1890. Desirous to concentrate the workers at a single site, the corporation began to construct a factory edifying integrated buildings about 1891 at Rue de Bonneville 12 – 14. This took several years. In 1898 Maurice Jeantet restructured the business. He is also presumed to enlarge Jeantet factory purchasing a workshop adjoining southerly. It belonged to the family Genoud, who were specialized in rough shaping of stummels and polishing finished pipes. (In these times it was a most common procedure to carry goods from here to there and back again often for certain steps of the production executed by dependant family based subcontractors. Manpower was cheap.)
Jeantet was transformed to a corporation with limited liability in 1938. By that time a branch workshop was operated in Montréal-la-Cluse (Ain), where mainly the less expensive pipes were finished. 107 employees – 26 of them working from their homes – were counted in Saint-Claude in 1948 and 18 in the Ain facility.
The Saint-Claude factory was considerably modernized by ca. 1950 installing (e.g.) freight elevators. In 1952 the southern workshop was elevated. 80 workers were employed in 1958. The factory covered an area of 2831 m²; 1447 m² of the surface were buildings.
The climax of the pipe production was reached around 1969, when thirty to thirty five thousand dozens of pipes were made by 72 workers (1969). But then the production continuously dwindled to only six or seven thousand dozens in 1987 and only 22 workers were still there. Even though, around 1979 a very modern steam powered facility for drying the briar had been installed in the factory’s roofed yard.
Yves Grenard, formerly Jeantet’s chief designer and a great cousin of Pierre Comoy, had taken over the management of Chapuis-Comoy in 1971. Now, to preserve the brand, the Jeantet family went into negotiations with him, and resulting from that Jeantet was merged in the Cuty Fort Group (est. 1987 and headed by Chacom) in 1988 along with the pipe brands of John Lacroix and Emile Vuillard. Chacom closed the Jeantet plant, and the City of Saint-Claude purchased it in 1989. After alternative plans failed, the buildings were devoted to wrecking. The southerly workshop was wrecked before 1992.
Today Jeantet pipes were produced as a sub-brand by Chapuis-Comoy who’s mainstay is Chacom of course.
I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl sides with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. The bowl walls showed no heat damage or checking.
I scrubbed the internals of the airway and mortise in the shank and the airway in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until the airways were clean and the pipe smelled fresh. 
I scrubbed the externals bowl and shank with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I rinsed it off with warm water to remove the grime and debris from the scrubbing. 
The pipe had cleaned up so well that I turned to polish the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. By the final pads the briar really had a shine.
I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm.
I set aside the bowl and turned my attention to the stem. To help remove the oxidation I scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub Cleanser and cotton pads. It took some elbow work but the stem definitely looked better and the sulphur smell of the oxidation is gone!
I sanded the surface with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further clean up the spots of oxidation on the surface of the stem. I wiped it down with a soft damp cloth following each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris.
I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. It really took on a shine and I knew that once it was buffed it would look amazing.
This Jeantet Fait Main Freehand Bent Dublin 4 with a vulcanite stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful grain around the bowl sides stands out very well with the contrast of the polished vulcanite stem. I carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Jeantet Fait Main Freehand fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 61grams/2.15 ounces. I will be adding this one to the French Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in adding it to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!
Blog by Steve Laug
Sometimes there is benefit to being a pipe rescue location. Although I am not sure my wife and daughters would agree with that. But I have to say it does keep this old guy busy rejuvenating old pipes and giving them life. If you were to come into my basement office/workshop (but mind you few do) I think you would be surprised by two things – the number of books on the shelves and the number of pipes in the storage bins behind my desk! There are a lot of pipes that still need attention. Most have been reamed and cleaned so that part is finished. But many still need a lot of attention to make them smokable again. Ah well, enough of that. This post is about a pipe I received in the mail today. Several weeks ago I received an email from a friend, Dave in Nova Scotia regarding a pipe he had that he thought I might enjoy having. I have included a portion of his email as it sets the stage for this interesting old Peterson’s System Standard 314.
Hi Steve,
Dave in Nova Scotia. Hope you’re enjoying the spring!
If you’re interested and want to send postage for a Canada Post small box, I’ll send you this Peterson system standard, 314.
Was my brother-in-law’s. He bought it Ireland many years ago. Needs some TLC.
Yours is the home for wayward pipes!
So, I knew that the pipe was a Peterson’s System Standard 314 that had originally belonged to his brother-in-law who had purchased it directly from Peterson’s in Ireland. He included two photos of the Peterson for me to have a look at. I have included them below. The pipe was in desperate need of a restoration that is for sure. But I have truly worked on pipes in worse condition than this one.
The box arrived on Friday this past week and I unpacked it to examine it carefully. The pipe was very dirty and tired looking. The finish was dirty and the nickel ferrule on the shank end was very corroded in spots on the left and underside and covered in thick grime. There were some dark spots on the left and right side toward the bottom of the bowl. The rim top had a thick lava coat that flowed up from the thick cake in the bowl. It was stamped on the left side vertically under the ferrule and read Peterson’s with the forked leg on the P [arched over] System [over] Standard. On the right side of the shank the stamping is horizontal and reads Made in the Republic of Ireland [in three lines] with the 314 shape number underneath that. The nickel ferrule was stamped under the grime and read K&P over Peterson’s. The stem is covered in a thick build up of dirt and oils. There is some oxidation on the stem surface and surprisingly there are no tooth marks. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it.
I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the bowl. You can also see the condition of the nickel ferrule with all of the corrosion and grime completely removing the shine of the nickel ferrule. The stem is dirty around the insert in the ferrule. It is lightly oxidized and is very dirty on the stem and the button. There are light tooth marks and chatter on the stem service on both sides ahead of the p-lip.
I took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. It is faint but still very readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. You can also see the dark spot on the right side of the bowl ahead of the stamping.
I started my working on the pipe by addressing the corrosion and oxidation on the nickel ferrule. I sanded it with 320 grit sanding pads to remove the corrosion. I was utterly surprised that the nickel ferrule cleaned up and had a rich shine to it.
I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to remove remnants of cake. I sanded the walls of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel.
I scrubbed the externals bowl and shank with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I rinsed it off with warm water to remove the grime and debris from the scrubbing.
I scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners to remove the grime in the shank and sump of the Pete. I also scrubbed the airway on the inside of the stem at the same time. The pipe was very dirty but it cleaned up well.
I cleaned off the remaining darkening on the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It cleaned up very well and looked good. There was no damage to the inner or outer rim edges.
I worked over the briar bowl sides and rim top with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I sanded down the dark spots on the surface and was able to remove the damage. Thankfully they were not burn marks. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the dust and sanding debris left behind.
The pipe had cleaned up so well that I turned to polish the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. By the final pads the briar really had a shine.
I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm.
I set aside the bowl and turned my attention to the stem. To help remove the oxidation I scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub Cleanser and cotton pads. It took some elbow work but the stem definitely looked better and the sulphur smell of the oxidation is gone!
I sanded the surface with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further clean up the spots of oxidation on the surface of the stem. I wiped it down with a soft damp cloth following each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris.
I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. It really took on a shine and I knew that once it was buffed it would look amazing.
This Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 314 Bent Billiard with a vulcanite stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful grain around the bowl sides stands out very well with the contrast of the polished nickel ferrule. The polished finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Peterson’s System Standard 314 fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 45grams/1.59oz. This one has been reserved for first refusal. If you are interested in being in the queue for this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!
John great job on this one. I have worked a few Denicotea pipes but is by far the best grained one I have seen. You brought it back to life. Thanks for all the background work as well
Photographed and written by John M. Young I blame Sascha Mertens, a friend in Germany, for my desire to restore a Denicotea pipe. Okay, maybe “blame…
A Denicotea 201 Restoration
Blog by Steve Laug
The next pipe that I am working on came from an estate sale in Oregon City, Oregon, USA we purchased on 03/21/24. It was very dirty and was a reddish, brown coloured pipe when it started. The smooth finish around the bowl was dirty and had hand oils ground into the grooves. The bowl had a moderate cake a spotty coat of lava onto the rim edge and top of the bowl. The stem was vulcanite that was very dirty and had tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. The stem might be a replacement stem as the fit to the shank is off in terms of stem diameter being larger than the shank. The pipe was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Bings Favorite. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Italy. On the underside of the shank it was stamped Savinelli Product. Jeff took photos of the pipe so I could have a sense of what it looked like before he started his work on it.
Jeff took photos of the stem surfaces and the bowl and rim to give a sense of condition of the pipe. You can see the thick cake in bowl and the spots of lava overflow on the edges and rim top of the bowl. The stem surface is very dirty, oxidized, calcified and tooth marks covered by the dirt and debris. The stem did not fit the diameter of the shank properly. It was larger than the shank and would need to be fitted. The stamp on the top of the shank is faint. 
He also took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the interesting grain that went around the bowl. The grain is beautiful and you can see the oils and debris in the surface of the briar. 
He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable on all the shank sides as noted above. Jeff did not capture the stamping on the right side of the shank.
I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-savinelli1.html) to get a sense of the Bing’s Favorite. It is a Savinelli Product and it is listed in the Savinelli pipe section. I did a screen capture of the section and included it below. The stamping on the stem confirms that the stem I have is a replacement.
I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Savinelli) and after reading through the history I focused on a section entitled Editions in the “Favorite” line. I have included that section below.
We are compiling a sub-list of known editions in the “Favorite” line of Savanelli pipes, starting with those in Fred Huening’s collection. If you know of others, or have additional information about this line of pipes, please add it here, or send them to sethile.pipes@gmail.com and we can add them for you:
Now it was my turn to work on the pipe. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked, rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked very good when I received it. 
I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. You can see the clean bowl. The bowl is in excellent condition and is clean. The rim top and the inner edge was in great condition. The stem came out looking clean. There were some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. 
I took photos of the stamping on the shank. It is faint but still very readable. There was also a very faint stamp on the stem but I am still not certain it is the correct stem because of the fit and shape of the stem. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with.
The pipe had cleaned up so well that I turned to polish the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. By the final pads the briar really had a shine.
I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm.
I set aside the bowl and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the stem with the flame of a lighter to soften the vulcanite and give the stem a slight bend like it must have originally had.
Next, I worked on the diameter of the stem. I needed to take off the excess so that the flow between the shank and the stem was smooth. I used a flat rasp and small file to quickly remove the excess vulcanite. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the file marks and smooth out the surface of the stem.
I moved on to further smooth out the surface of the vulcanite. I sanded it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further clean up the scratches and file marks on the surface of the stem.
I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. It really took on a shine and I knew that once it was buffed it would look amazing. 
I put the stem back on the Bings Favorite ¼ Bent Vulcanite Stem Long Billiard and took it to the buffer. I worked it over with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I gave the bowl and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up really well and the rim top looked good. I was happy with the look of the finished pipe. The photos below show what the pipe looks like after the restoration. The Bings Favorite Savinelli Product is a beautiful and unique take on a classic shape. The polished, reshaped vulcanite taper stem looks really good with the browns of the briar. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.27 ounces/36 grams. This is another pipe that I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section shortly, if you are interested in adding it to your collection. The long shank and tall bowl look and feel great in the hand. This one should be a great smoker. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this beauty!
Blog by Steve Laug
The next pipe on the table is a sandblast Dunhill Billiard. It had a taper, vulcanite stem with a white spot. We purchased it from a seller in Copenhagen, Denmark 01/22/2024. The pipe is stamped on the heel of the bowl and on the underside of the shank. On the heel of the bowl it is stamped with the shape number 252. That is followed with stamping on the shank Dunhill [over] Shell Briar. That is followed by Made in [over] England7. There is a 4 in a circle and an S which speak of the size of the pipe being a Group 4 and the finish S a Shell Briar. The rim has lava filling in the sandblast but the rim edges look very good. There is a moderate cake in the bowl. There were oils and grime ground into the bowl sides gives the finish a flat look. There was a sticky substance on the underside of the shank covering the Circle 4S stamp. There is a great sandblast showing through the grime. The vulcanite stem is quite clean with grime and grit on the surface. There were light tooth marks on both the top and underside of the stem just ahead of the button. The button edge had lost definition. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. I have included them below.
He took photos of the pipe’s bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the lava coat overflowing onto the top. It is another dirty pipe. He also took photos to capture the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button. 
He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the rugged sandblast around the bowl and the amount of grime ground into the surface of the briar. 
He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is faint in spots but still readable as noted above. 
I wanted to unpack the Dunhill stamping on the shank and work to understand each element of the stamp. I generally use the Pipephil site to gather as much initial information as possible (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/shell-briar1.html). The stamping is interpreted as follows: The number 252 is the shape number for a taper stem Billiard. The Shell Briar stamp refers to the finish. The superscript 7 following the D of England would give the date the pipe. The 4S is the size of the pipe and the finish. The photo below shows some similar stamping.
Pipephil also has some helpful dating keys on the site that are basically flow charts that you can walk through to date your pipe (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1.html). I turned to Part 1 of the Dating Key and followed the chart. This pipe has a superscript 7 following the D in England. There was no patent number so that took me to the section on the chart below (column one) which instructed me that the pipe could be dated as being made “posterior to 1954”. 
I followed the link under “Your pipe is posterior to 1954. Narrow down your dating”. That took me to Page 2 of the dating key (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1a.html). The third column (suffix 5…9) led me to the section with a 7 after the D in England. There was a directive for dating the pipe spelled out as follows: 1950 + suffix 7 which gives the pipe a date of 1957. 
I then turned to Pipedia’s section on Dunhill Shell Briar to get a bit of background on the Dunhill finishes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Root_Briar). I quote:
Shell
A deep craggy sandblast with a black stain finish (usually made using Algerian briar) – the color of the stain used has varied over the years. Although there is some doubt as to them being the first to sandblast pipes, Dunhill’s Shell pipes, and the sandblasting techniques developed to create them are considered one of Dunhill’s greatest and most lasting contributions to the art of pipe making.
The documented history of Dunhill’s inception of the Shell is largely limited to patent applications — there are no catalog pages or advertisements promoting blasted pipes at the time. The preliminary work on the English patent (No. 1484/17) was submitted on October 13, 1917. The patent submission was completed half a year later, on April 12, 1918, followed by the granting of the English patent on October 14, 1918. This was less than a month before the end of The Great War on November 11th.
In 1986 Dunhill released a line of premium Shell finish pipes – “RING GRAIN”. These are high-quality straight grain pipes which are sandblasted. Initially only Ring Grain, but now in two different finishes. In 1995 the “Shilling” was introduced with Cumberland finish – it is an extremely rare series. These pipes exhibit a deeper blast characteristic of that of the 1930’s – mid-1960’s (and the limited ‘deep blast’ pipes of the early 1980s) and show a fine graining pattern. These are considered the best new Dunhills by many enthusiasts today and are very rare. The finish is sometimes described as tasting like vanilla at first, with the taste becoming more normal or good as the pipe breaks in.
I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the light cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs,pipe cleaners and shank brushes. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked very good when I received it.
I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. It looks pretty good with the tars and oils removed from the rim top. The inner edge of the bowl looked to be in good condition. The bowl itself was very clean. The stem came out looking quite good with some chatter and some wear on the sharp edge of the button.
I took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The photo shows the stamping and is actually more readable in person. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. It is a nice looking pipe.
I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to work it into the nooks and crannies of the sandblast finish. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm.
I set the bowl aside and turned to address the stem issues. I recut the edge of the button with a small file. It took a bit of work to sharpen the edge and give it a better transition. I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the surface.
I sanded it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. By the final 3500 grit sanding pad the rim top had a shine.
I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.
This 1957 Dunhill Shell Briar 252 Billiard with a Vulcanite taper stem has a beautiful, unique Dunhill Sandblast finish that is very deep and craggy. The Shell Briar mixed brown finish highlights some great grain around the bowl and shank. It has a unique sandblast that Dunhill specialized in making. The polished vulcanite taper stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Dunhill Shell Briar 252 Billiard is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.34 ounces/38 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store in the English Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for your time.
Blog by Steve Laug
The next pipe on the table is a sandblast Dunhill Zulu. It had a taper, vulcanite stem with a white spot. We purchased it from an estate in Oregon City, Oregon, USA 03/21/2024. The pipe is stamped on the heel of the bowl and on the underside of the shank. On the heel of the bowl it is stamped with the shape number 21051. That is followed with stamping on the shank Dunhill Shell [over] Made in England11. The rim has a thick lava coat filling in the sandblast. The cake in the bowl has been trimmed recently but there is still a moderate coating. The inner edge of the rim actually looks quite good with little or no damage or burn marks. There were oils and grime ground into the bowl sides gives the finish a dullness. There is a deep sandblast showing through the grime. The vulcanite stem is oxidized and dirty with grime and grit on the surface. There are some light tooth marks on both the top and underside of the stem just ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. I have included them below.
He took photos of the pipe’s bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the lava coat overflowing onto the top. It is another dirty pipe. He also took photos to capture the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button. 
He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the rugged sandblast around the bowl and the amount of grime ground into the surface of the briar. 
He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is faint in spots but still readable as noted above.
I wanted to unpack the Dunhill stamping on the shank and work to understand each element of the stamp. I generally use the Pipephil site to gather as much initial information as possible (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/shell-briar1.html). The stamping is interpreted as follows: The number 21051 is the shape number for a taper stem Zulu. The Shell stamp refers to the finish. The number 11 following the D of England would give the date the pipe.
Pipephil also has some helpful dating keys on the site that are basically flow charts that you can walk through to date your pipe (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1.html). I turned to Part 1 of the Dating Key and followed the chart. This pipe has the number 11 following the D in England. There was no patent number so that took me to the section on the chart below (column one) which instructed me that the pipe could be dated as being made “posterior to 1954”. 
I followed the link under “Your pipe is posterior to 1954. Narrow down your dating”. That took me to Page 2 of the dating key (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1a.html). The second column (suffix 1…4) or (11…39) led me to the section with an 11 after the D in England. There was a directive for dating the pipe spelled out as follows: 1960 + suffix 11 which gives the pipe a date of 1971.
I then turned to Pipedia’s section on Dunhill Shell Briar to get a bit of background on the Dunhill finishes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Root_Briar). I quote:
Shell
A deep craggy sandblast with a black stain finish (usually made using Algerian briar) – the color of the stain used has varied over the years. Although there is some doubt as to them being the first to sandblast pipes, Dunhill’s Shell pipes, and the sandblasting techniques developed to create them are considered one of Dunhill’s greatest and most lasting contributions to the art of pipe making.
The documented history of Dunhill’s inception of the Shell is largely limited to patent applications — there are no catalog pages or advertisements promoting blasted pipes at the time. The preliminary work on the English patent (No. 1484/17) was submitted on October 13, 1917. The patent submission was completed half a year later, on April 12, 1918, followed by the granting of the English patent on October 14, 1918. This was less than a month before the end of The Great War on November 11th.
In 1986 Dunhill released a line of premium Shell finish pipes – “RING GRAIN”. These are high-quality straight grain pipes which are sandblasted. Initially only Ring Grain, but now in two different finishes. In 1995 the “Shilling” was introduced with Cumberland finish – it is an extremely rare series. These pipes exhibit a deeper blast characteristic of that of the 1930’s – mid-1960’s (and the limited ‘deep blast’ pipes of the early 1980s) and show a fine graining pattern. These are considered the best new Dunhills by many enthusiasts today and are very rare. The finish is sometimes described as tasting like vanilla at first, with the taste becoming more normal or good as the pipe breaks in.
I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the light cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and shank brushes. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked very good when I received it.
I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. It looks pretty good with the tars and oils removed from the rim top. The inner edge of the bowl looked very good and the bowl itself was very clean. The stem came out looking quite good with light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. 
I took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The photo shows the stamping and is actually more readable in person. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. The stem had an aluminum inner tube in the tenon. It is a nice looking pipe.
I cleaned up the rim top with a brass bristle wire brush to remove the dust that remained into the sandblast finish. It looked much better.
I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to work it into the nooks and crannies of the sandblast finish. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm.
I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. By the final 3500 grit sanding pad the rim top had a shine.
I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.
This 1971 Dunhill Shell 21051 Zulu with a Vulcanite taper stem has a beautiful, unique Dunhill Sandblast finish that is very deep and craggy. The Shell pipe’s mixed brown finish highlights some great grain around the bowl and shank. It has a unique sandblast that Dunhill specialized in making. The polished vulcanite taper stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Dunhill Shell 21051 Zulu is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .74 ounces /21 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store in the English Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for your time.
Blog by Steve Laug
The next pipe on the table is a sandblast Dunhill Squat ¼ Bent Bulldog. It had a taper, vulcanite diamond stem with a white spot. We purchased it off eBay from a seller in Jordan, Minnesota, USA on 03/21/2024. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads PO F/T followed by Dunhill [over] Root Briar. On the right side of the shank it reads Made in [over] England5. The is followed by 4 in circle followed by an R. The rim top has some lava on the top and thickly caked on the inner edge of the bowl. It is hard to assess the condition of the inner edge of the rim due to the cake and lava overflow. There were oils and grime ground into the smooth finish on the bowl sides gives the finish a flat look. There is some great grain showing through the grime. There is some damage to the twin rings around the bowl cap on the right side. The vulcanite stem is oxidized, calcified, and dirty with grime and grit on the surface. There were light tooth marks on both the top and underside of the stem just ahead of the button. The white spot on the on the left side of the stem was odd – it looked sunken and there was some glue over the top of it. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. I have included them below.
He took photos of the pipe’s bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the spotty lava coat on the rim top. It is another dirty pipe. He also took photos to capture the condition of the stem and the light tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button. 
He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the beautiful grain around the bowl and the amount of grime ground into the surface of the briar. 
Jeff also took a photo of the damage on the two rings and center ring around the cap on the bowl. It is heavy damage but I will see what I can do with it.
He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is faint in spots but still readable as noted above. He took a photo of the strange, almost soft white spot on the side of the stem.
I wanted to unpack the Dunhill stamping on the shank and work to understand each element of the stamp. I generally use the Pipephil site to gather as much initial information as possible (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/root-briar1.html). The stamping is interpreted as follows: The number PO the shape number for a ¼ Bent Bulldog. The F/T stamp is used to designate Fish Tail stem. The Root Briar stamp refers to the smooth finish. The number 5 following the D of England would give the date the pipe. The Circle 4R shows it is a Group 4 sized pipe and the R is the designation for a Root Briar. The photo below shows a pipe that is stamped similarly to the one that I am working on. 
Pipephil also has some helpful dating keys on the site that are basically flow charts that you can walk through to date your pipe (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1.html). I turned to Part 1 of the Dating Key and followed the chart. This pipe has a 5 following the D in England. There was no patent number so that took me to the section on the chart below (column one) which instructed me that the pipe could be dated as being made “posterior to 1954”.I followed the link under “Your pipe is posterior to 1954. Narrow down your dating”. That took me to Page 2 of the dating key (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1a.html). The third column (suffix 5…9) led me to the section with a 5 after the D in England. There was a directive for dating the pipe spelled out as follows: 1960 + suffix 5 which gives the pipe a date of 1965.I then turned to Pipedia’s section on Dunhill Root Briar to get a bit of background on the Dunhill finishes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Root_Briar). I quote:
Root Briar
Introduced in 1931 and highly prized because the grain is more pronounced in this finish (usually made using Corsican briar – was made exclusively from that briar into the 60s). The Root Briar finish requires a perfectly clean bowl with excellent graining. Therefore, it is the most expensive of the Dunhill pipes. Corsican briar was most often used for the Root finish since it was generally more finely grained. This is a rare finish, due to the scarcity of briar suitable to achieve it. These pipes are normally only available at Company stores, or at Principle Pipe Dealers. Straight grained pipes were formerly graded A through H, but are now only “Dr’s” and graded with one to six stars, with the letters G and H still used for the very finest pieces.
Dunhill introduced its third major finish, the Root finish, in 1931. Corsican mountain briar is characteristically beautifully grained and the Root was made exclusively from that briar into the 1960s. The pipe was finished with a light natural stain to allow the beauty of the graining to show through. Although always available with a traditional black vulcanite bit, the Root was introduced in either 1930 or more likely 1931 and fitted with a marble brown dark and light grained vulcanite bit that has since become known as the ‘bowling ball’ bit because of the similarity in appearance between the bit’s finish and that of some bowling balls of the time. With the war, however, the bowling ball bit was dropped from production. Through 1954 (and after) the Root pipe nomenclature (including shape numbers) was identical to that of the Bruyere except that instead of the “A” of the Bruyere, the Root was stamped with an “R”. In 1952 when the finish rather then LONDON was placed under DUNHILL, ROOT BRIAR rather then BRUYERE was used for the Root. Loring, J. C., The Dunhill Briar Pipe, The Patent Years and After (self-published, Chicago, 1998).
I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs,pipe cleaners and shank brushes. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. Whoever had repaired the stem had used a soft substance and wood glue to fill in the white spot. With the cleaning it fell out and when it arrived here was missing. I was in a hurry to get started with that so I filled in the spot with white acrylic and used some clear CA glue to seal it. I forgot to take photos of the stem without the white spot so use your imagination. Other than that the pipe looked very good when I received it.
I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. It looks pretty good with the tars and oils removed from the rim top. The inner edge of the bowl was slightly damaged and there was some darkening on the top. The bowl itself was very clean. The stem came out looking quite good with light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I would need to fix the white spot on the stem.
I took a photo of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The photo shows the stamping and it is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. It is a nice looking pipe.
I decided to start my restoration work on the pipe by addressing the missing white spot on the stem side. I filled in the hole with some white acrylic nail polish. It dries hard and cures. I filled it in and worked it into the hole. Once it had hardened I scraped off the excess and sanded it with a worn 320 grit sanding pad to remove the excess.
Once I smoothed it out I put a drop of clear CA glue on the dot to seal it. When the glue hardened I flattened it out with the 320 sanding pad. It was smooth and hard and looked perfect. I still needed to polish the stem but the base was good.
I set the stem aside to cure. I turned my attention to the bowl. I addressed the darkening on the inner edge of the rim and the damaged spots on the rim top by lightly topping the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. I used an oak stain pen to stain the newly sanded top to match the rest of the bowl.
I sanded the bowl and rim top with 3203500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The briar really took on a shine. The rim top matched the rest of the bowl very well.
I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris on the surface.
I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth and shoe brush to raise the shine.
I turned back to the stem and I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry.
This 1965 Dunhill Root Briar PO F/T ¼ Bent Bulldog with Vulcanite taper stem has a beautifully grained Dunhill Root Briar. It has a classic Dunhill Bulldog Shape that is perfect in the hand. The nicks in the twin rings around the bowl cap on the right side are present but not to obvious. The Root Briar mixed brown finish highlights some great grain around the bowl and shank. The polished vulcanite diamond taper stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Dunhill Root Briar PO F/T ¼ Bent Bulldog is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.27 ounces/3.6 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store in the English Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for your time.
Blog by Paresh Deshpande
This pipe too came to me in that lot of 40 pipes purchased from Etsy.fr of which I have restored a few, the ROPP PNEUMATIC being the latest project. This pipe is a large billiard with a swan neck like graceful bend to the shank that extends over to the horn stem. The stummel appears dull and lifeless and yet through this, beautiful cross grains can be faintly made out over the sides of the stummel with bird’s eye grain at the foot. A copper band adorn the shank end with it’s crimped shank end edges covering the shank face. It is stamped over the left shank surface as “BUTZ-CHOQUIN” over “A” over “METZ”. The copper band has minuscule cartouche with some mysterious stampings that are neither visible under bright light nor under magnification.
A couple of years ago, I had worked on an early Butz Choquin pipe that was very similarly stamped. I had studied the brand then and also before that when I had refurbished my inherited CHOQUIN PIPE from first era 1858. Given below is the link to the write up on the similarly stamped pipe. For the sake of brevity, I have avoided reproducing the information and implore readers to follow the link for better understanding the brand and establishing the provenance of the pipe (https://rebornpipes.com/2022/04/17/restoring-a-beautiful-older-butz-choquin-a-metz-pipe/).
After reading through the material and correlating the dates, I can, with certainty, claim that this pipe (broadly) is from pre 1951 when Berrod- Regad took over Butz Choquin and moved production from Metz to St. Claude as evidenced from the A METZ stamping.
Further narrowing down the period, I strongly feel that this pipe dates to pre 1920. This conclusion is based on the fact that; firstly, the stem and tenon material used is horn and bone respectively which were the preferred material after Amber during this period for making stems as hard rubber/ vulcanite gained prominence during 1920s. Secondly, the round orifice at the stem end was commonly used until 1920s when vulcanite/ hard rubber with elliptical slot end gained prominence subsequently. Thirdly, use of cork lining inside the mortise to firmly seat the bone tenon in to the mortise.
Any inputs and corrections to my above understanding are solicited and encouraged. Such healthy discussions not only promote interaction between us but also enhance knowledge about pipes and establishing its provenance by sharing information.
Initial Visual Inspection
The elegant swan neck shape of the shank that extends into the stem is the USP of this pipe. The chamber appears to have an even thin layer of cake that appears to have been meticulously maintained by the previous owner. There are a few minor dings to both the inner and outer rim edges. The stummel boasts of beautiful cross grains over the surface with bird’s eye grains at the foot of the stummel. The briar looks dull and lifeless. The mortise has residual old oils and gunk making the draw hard. The horn stem with bone tenon is dull, dry and shows signs of beginnings of cracks over the surface. Both the tenon and orifice slot are clogged with old tars and grime. This one will require a ton of work to spruce it up to its former glory. Following pictures should provide a better understanding of the condition of the pipe before I begin my work.
Detailed Visual Inspection
The first impression that I got at a glance of the chamber was an even well maintained layer of cake with practically no darkening of the rim surface or accumulation of carbon overflow. This definitely was either a well cared for pipe or the seller had done so for bargaining a better price. There a few dings on the right and left side of the outer rim edge (encircled in blue). The inner rim edge is intact save for some very minor divots that should be easily addressed with a couple of passes of a piece of 180 grit sandpaper along the edge. The rim top is nicely even and clean, requiring no topping, which I tend to avoid as much as possible.
The stummel is dull, lifeless and lacklustre. Under all the dullness and poor appearance, lurks some beautiful cross grains and bird’s eye over the feet of the stummel awaiting exposure. The stummel has developed a deep dark patina from all the years of smoking and handling. There is one fill (encircled in yellow) that would need to be refreshed. Also a couple of minor divots (encircled in red) mark the stummel surface. The mortise is chock-a-block with old oils, tars and gunk and this leads me to the conclusion that it was the seller who had reamed the cake and cleaned the rim surface to ask for a better price. The copper band at the shank end is dull and covered in dust, grime and oxidation.
The first issue that I noticed on close examination of the stem surface were a number of cracks all over the upper and lower surfaces. I drew out my magnifying glass and had a hard look at the cracks under bright light. Thankfully, almost all of these cracks were minor and very superficial, save for a few (encircled in red) over the upper surface and would need to be addressed. These cracks are caused because of drying of the horn material due to lack of usage and hot weather conditions. These cracks would need to be stabilized, repaired and hydrated. There are deep tooth indentations in the bite zone, very close to the button edges on either surface of the stem. The long bone tenon has darkened considerably and is covered in grime with the opening showing accumulation of oils, tars and gunk. This condition is similar at the orifice slot. The seating of the stem in to the mortise is very loose.
The Restoration Process
The process of this restoration started with stem repairs. I first cleaned the stem airway by running a few hard bristled and regular pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl alcohol followed by further cleaning with anti oil dish washing soap and thin shank brushes. The pipe cleaners pictured below and the gunk that was removed while cleaning with the shank brushes of which pictures were not clicked, tell a story of how dirty the stem internals were. I continued cleaning of the stem air way till white foam was seen coming out from the air way. I also scrubbed the stem surface with a Scotch Brite pad and soap.
The next step was to stabilize the cracks on the top surface of the stem. Using a 1 mm drill bit mounted on a hand held rotary tool, I drilled counter holes at the start and end points of these cracks. These counter holes prevent the further expansion of the cracks in either directions. I filled these holes, cracks and the tooth indentations in the bite zone with CA superglue and set it aside for the glue to harden.
I was still sometime away from hitting the sack and with the stem set aside for the repairs to cure; I decided to work the stummel. I began with reaming the chamber with size 1 head followed by size 2 head of the PipNet reamer. The heap of dislodged carbon did surprise me as I had anticipated a far less cake formation along the walls. I further scraped the chamber walls with my fabricated knife to remove the remaining carbon deposits where the reamer head could not reach. Once the cake was reamed back to the bare briar, I used a 220 grit sand paper to remove all the traces of remaining cake and also to smooth out the inner walls of the chamber surface. Finally, to remove the residual carbon dust, I wiped the chamber with a cotton pad wetted with 99.9% pure isopropyl alcohol. The chamber walls are solid without any heat lines or fissures.
While I was handling the bowl, the copper band at the shank end came loose and it was then that I saw the cork lining along the walls of the mortise that was in place to ensure a snug fit of the long bone tenon in to the mortise. This cork lining has dried and needs to be revitalized. This lining also means that I would have to be careful while I clean the mortise so as not to erode and break the cork thus disturbing the seating of the stem.
As observed above, the mortise is completely clogged with old oils, tars and ash resulting in a very hard and laborious draw. This was the issue that I addressed next. Using dental tools and fabricated poker, I scraped out the entire gunk from the walls of the mortise taking care that the cork lining is not damaged in the process. I used the drill bit from the Kleen Reem to remove and open up the shank airway. It was a tedious and time consuming work, but well worth the caution and efforts. The heap of crud extracted from the shank confirms the reason for the hard and laborious draw. I ran a few hard and regular pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol through the mortise and airway to remove residual gunk. The mortise is now clean with a much better open and easy draw. I shall continue with the cleaning process when I clean the stummel surface.
The last agenda for the night was the external cleaning of the bowl and further internal cleaning of the mortise. I cleaned the external surface with a hard-bristled toothbrush and concentrated Murphy’s oil soap. I scrubbed the rim top and stummel surface with the soap and Scotch Brit pad. I rinsed the stummel under warm running water and dried it with paper towels and soft cotton cloth. The grains are now clearly visible and awaiting a nice polish to pop out. This cleaning also brought a few dents and scratches over the stummel surface and outer rim edge to the fore that would need to be addressed and the fill observed near the foot has loosened that would need to be refreshed.
I extended my work time for a while and cleaned out the shank internals. I cleaned the shank walls by scrubbing it with shank brushes and anti-oil dish washing soap while being careful around the cork! The bowl is now clean and fresh. I set the bowl aside to dry under a heat lamp.
The next evening with the stummel now dry and the stem repairs completely cured, I had the option of either working on the stummel or the stem. There was this small step that was needed to address the fill that required to be refreshed and that is where I began. With sharp dental tool, I removed the old fill and cleaned the area with alcohol. Next, I mixed briar dust with CA superglue to form putty and applied this mix over the area to be filled. I set the stummel aside for an hour or so for the mix to harden, which is almost instantaneous over the surface.
I set the stummel aside and worked on the stem repairs next. The repairs had completely hardened and all that needed to be done was to blend in these repairs with the rest of the stem surface. I began by sanding the fills with a flat needle file to achieve a rough match followed by sanding the entire stem with a worn folded piece of 180 grit sandpaper. The button edges were also evened out and sharpened during the process. The fills will be further blended during the polishing cycle using various grit sandpapers and micromesh pads. I applied a generous layer of EVO and massaged it in to the horn stem to hydrate it and set it aside for the oil to be absorbed into the horn.
Using the same tools and sandpaper, I blend in the stummel fill with the rest of the briar surface. This blending of the fill will be further fine-tuned when I sand the stummel surface with 220 grit sandpaper to address the issue of dings and scratches over the surface.
I addressed the dents and dings to the outer rim edge by creating a bevel with a folded piece of 180 grit sandpaper pinched between fingers and running them evenly over the outer edge surface. I am quite happy with the appearance of the bowl with the bevelled outer rim.
Next, I cleaned the copper ferrule at the shank end with “Pitambari”, a powder that is available all across India that is used to clean and shine brass, copper and silver ware. This compound is a very fine powder and is least abrasive with fantastic results. The band is now a nice shining piece and will provide a nice contrast between the shining horn stem and the dark brown stummel. I attached the band at the shank end with all-purpose glue.
The next step was to sand the entire stummel surface with sandpaper to remove the scratches and dings that are visible. I used a well worn piece of 180 grit sandpaper to sand the surface. The sanding marks that are now visible will not be so once the bowl is subjected to polishing regime with micromesh pads and compounds. There are a couple of dings and scratches that are still visible, but I shall let them be as part of the pipe’s century old existence!
I followed it by wet sanding the entire stummel with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads, wiping frequently with a moist cloth to check the progress. I rubbed a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” deep in to the briar with my finger tips and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works its magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance with the beautiful grain patterns displayed in their complete splendor. The contrast of the dark browns of the Bird’s eye and cross grains with the natural patina of the rest of the stummel adds an interesting dimension to the appearance of the stummel which cannot be sufficiently described in words and be rather seen in person. I really like the looks of the stummel at this point in restoration. The grains and the clean lines of this piece of briar is really appreciable. 
With the stummel set aside, I polished the stem by wet sanding, starting with 400 and progressing through 600, 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sandpapers. I rubbed a good amount of EVO in to the stem surface and set it aside to be absorbed.
A few hours later, I wiped the stem surface with paper towels and began the polishing cycle using micromesh pads. I wet sanded the stem surface going through 1500 to 12000 grit pads. I set the stem aside after rubbing it down with EVO again.
To complete the restoration, I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and polished the stummel and stem with Blue Diamond compound. This compound helps to remove the minor scratch marks that remain from the sanding. With another cotton buffing wheel that I have earmarked for carnauba wax, I applied several coats of the wax. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. The finished pipe looks amazingly beautiful and is ready to join my collection. I only wish it could share with me its life story of the past years while I enjoy smoking my favorite Virginia blend in it or maybe an English blend or maybe just keep admiring it!
Big thank you to all the readers who have joined me on this path by reading this write up as I restored and completed this project.
rebornpipes 