Blog by Steve Laug

The second pipe I chose to work on from the gift lot of pipes I received was a long shank billiard that is stamped FALSTAFF over London England on the bottom left side panel of the diamond shank. The panel of the diamond with the stamping is smooth with the rest of the pipe being sand blasted. Next to the stem shank union there is a shape number on the same panel that reads 101. The photo below sows the stamping on the shaft. The pipe was relatively clean with no cake and the interior looked clean. The finish was natural though dirty, spotty and dry. The stem had some light oxidation and tooth chatter at the button. In my search for information I posted about the pipe on Pipe Smokers Unlimited and received a response from Dave (dmcmtk). Dave is a great source for information on British pipes so I was hoping he would have something to offer regarding the brand. To my eye the pipe had a bit of a Charatan look but I could not be sure. Dave did not let me down, here is his reply:

“The Falstaff looks like a nice pipe. My first thought, seeing the square shank and COM was Charatan’s. From Pipedia’s Charatan page
Sub-brands/Seconds
Mountbatten
London Straight Grain
Falstaff
Samirva
Vauxhall
Britannia”

The next series of four photos shows the pipe as it looked when I brought it to the worktable. I took some photos of the pipe right out of the work box. It has an interesting shape and blast to it. I like the intentional smoothing of the high ridges on the blast. I don’t think this is from wear as the pipe is virtually unsmoked.

There is a slight rim darkening but the bowl is not caked and there was bare briar from mid bowl down to the bottom of the bowl.

I took a close up photo to show the state of the bowl and rim. This was going to be a relatively easy clean up. I scrubbed the briar down with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to get into the crevices and remove the dust and grime that was deep in them. I rinsed the bowl off with running water from the tap and dried it off with a cloth. The clean bowl is shown below after the scrub and rinse. The oils and waxes are gone and the finish is clean and dry.

I gave the pipe a light buff with White Diamond.

I lightly rubbed the bowl and shank down with some olive oil on a soft paper towel to get deep into the grooves and bring some life back to the dry briar. Once the bowl is rubbed down I set it aside to let the oils penetrate and dry off before I rub it down with a soft flannel cloth and give it a coat of Halcyon II wax.

I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the surface oxidation and tooth chatter around the button on the top and bottom sides.

I followed that by sanding with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper and then a fine grit sanding sponge to remove more of the scratching.

I sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads next – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. Between each set of three pads I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil before sanding with the next three grits of pad. When I had finished with the 12,000 grit pad I rubbed it down a final time with the oil and let it dry.

Once the Obsidian Oil was dry I buffed the stem with White Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I gave the bowl several coats of Halcyon II wax and then buffed the pipe with a soft flannel buff. The finished pipe is shown below.

The next two photos give an idea of the shape of the pipe. It is quite unique in terms of the diamond shank but the diamond shape carries through the bottom of the bowl. The first photo below shows the shape of the pipe from the front. The second shows the shape from the rear, looking down the stem and shank.

I took the final two photos to give a close up view of the pipe and stem and show the blast finish on the pipe. It is a beautiful looking pipe and one that should serve well for many years to come. I don’t intend to leave it in its almost unsmoked condition but will break it in and enjoy the craftsmanship that made it what it is – a smoking instrument.