Restoring and Repairing a Damaged Stem on a Yves St. Claude Burgundy 55 Billiard

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by Steve Laug

Back in the end of February I received an email from a reader name John regarding a pipe of his that needed some work. I have included the email below.

Steve, I have this Ben Wade pipe that I bought new in the late 60’s early 70’s, was wondering if there was anyway to fix the crack in the shank? I just pulled my old pipes out of a drawer where they have been stored for over 40 years. Haven’t smoked them in quite some time.

Thanks for your reply, John

I received the pipe this week and also received a second pipe that he put in the box that he wanted me to repair and restore. This one was a Yves St. Claude Billiard. It is stamped on the left side Yves St. Claude [over] Burgundy. On the right side it was stamped with the shape number 55. The stem was stamped on the left side with the YSC logo stamp. On the right side it was stamped Hand [over] Cut. On the underside of the shank it read Made in France circular COM stamp It is a Billiard pipe with a dark finish over some great looking grain on the bowl and heel. The rim top is good condition with some grime and light spots of lava. The inner edge of the rim is in great condition. The pipe is lightly smoked with a clean bowl with no cake. The stem was a golden acrylic/plastic material that had tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem near the button. It had been sanded quite a bit and where sanded it was white where the gold was removed. The stem will be a challenge to bring back to life. It is virtually impossible to get that golden look back. I took photos of the pipe before I started my cleanup. I took some close-up photos of the rim top, bowl and stem surfaces. There was dust and debris from storage in the bowl and the stem surface showed some deep tooth marks and some sanding marks on the surface that had removed the colour a bit. There was a logo stamp on the left side and Hand Cut on the right side of the stem. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the stem and the shank They are clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the proportions of the pipe. It is quite nice. I turned first to a blog I had written on the restoration of previous YSC pipe that I received (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/04/23/next-on-the-table-an-yves-st-claude-marbre-75-bulldog/). I quote what I learned about the brand in that blog below.

In the previous blog that I cited above I had found several references to Yves Grenard, trained in Comoy’s England factory, purchasing the Chacom plant in St. Claude. He managed the factory and it passed on to his son afterward. I am pretty certain that this Yves St. Claude pipes was made by Chacom in France with the stamping bearing Yves name.

I turned back to Pipephil’s site to have a look at what was listed there and did a screen capture of the section (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-y.html). The first pipe in the photo below has the same stamping and same colour stem as the one I am working on. It is also stamped Burgundy which is the same.I turned to Pipedia and in the listing of French Brands and Maker I found a connection of the brand to Chapuis-Comoy and that the YSC brand was made primarily for Tinder Box (https://pipedia.org/wiki/French_Pipe_Brands_%26_Makers_U_-_Z). I followed that up by turning to the Chapuis-Comoy article from Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Chapuis-Comoy).

French factory, in St. Claude. It began with Francois Comoy who, in 1825, was making pipes in boxwood and other types, as well as in clay, for the armies of Napoleon. In 1856, the Comoy factory was the first to produce briar bowls at St. Claude. In 1870, Francois’s grandson, Henri Comoy (1850-1924) was taken prisoner in Switzerland whilst serving in the French army during the Franco-Prussian war, where he found his cousins, the Chapuis. This meeting produced the idea of an association, which only became a reality in 1922, with the creation of Chapuis-Comoy. After Henri’s death, his sons Paul and Adrien, took over the company with the support of their cousins, Emile and Louis Chapuis Sr., and in 1928 they created the Chacom brand.

In 1932, due to the economic crisis at Saint-Claude, the factory merged with La Bruyère, adopting that name, and becoming one of the biggest pipe companies in the world, with 450 workers. Louis Chapuis Jr., joined the company in 1938 and Pierre Comoy in 1947. The name Chapuis-Comoy returned in 1957 (125 workers), due to the success of the Chacom brand in France. In 1971, the London factory (see Comoy’s) became independent, and Yves Grenard, second cousin to Pierre, took over Saint-Claude, and is still running it. Between 1987 and 2001, the factory, which employed over 40 people, joined the Cuty-Fort Enterprises SA holding and, in 1994, included the Ropp brand it its catalog.

Reminded about both the Chacom connection and the Tinder Box connection for the YSC brand it was now time to turn to the pipe itself.   I cleaned out the airway in the shank, mortise and airway in the stem with a bristle pipe cleaner and regular smooth cleaners and alcohol. It removed a lot of oils and tars but it was not too dirty.I sanded the bowl and shank, carefully avoiding the stamping on the shank sides. I used 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to take out the deep scratches or at least smooth them. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth between pads to remove the sanding debris. One finish the bowl looked much better. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad and the bowl began to take on a deep shine and the scratches were minimized. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips to get into the finish of the briar. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I touched up the faint stamping on the sides of the stem with some Rub’n Buff Antique Gold. I worked the gold into the stamping on the stem sides with a tooth pick. I buffed the excess of with a soft cloth. I decided to do the repair with clear CA glue hoping that it would pick up the colour of the underlying material. In the best-case scenarios, it works very well. In this case it worked well and the tooth marks matched the stem surface. The previously sanded spots were a milky white colour. Once the repair cured I flattened it with a small flat file and recut the sharp edge of the button. I sanded the repaired areas with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. Interestingly the repairs cured golden and are smooth islands in the white/cream coloured previously sanded spots on the stem surface. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. It was smooth and looked much better once sanded.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. Even though the sanded area on the stem surface and stem from previous work is still visible it is smooth and the reshaped button works very well. This nice smooth finished Yves St. Claude Burgundy 55 Billiard with an amber coloured half saddle stem, even with the visible repairs is a great looking pipe. The rich finish gave the grain a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. The repairs on the stem are solid yet visible on the underside due to faded/sanded areas of the stem surface (I have yet to figure out an amber colour fill). I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished YSC Burgundy 55 Billiard is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.55 ounces/44 grams. It is a beautiful pipe even with the spotty stem. I will pack it up with John’s previous pipe it will go back to him to enjoy.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

The Aura of an Amazing Gourd Calabash

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by Kenneth Lieblich

I recently came upon this calabash pipe and it’s a bit of a stunner. It is so bountiful and robust – it’s one of the most attractive calabashes I’ve ever worked on. There is an elegance to this pipe, and its curves remind me of an alpine piste de ski. Really nice looking, and in good shape. Maybe this is the pipe for you! No markings at all on this pipe, but no matter. Let’s take a closer look at it. The bowl is beautifully-shaped meerschaum. It has some minor signs of wear, but nothing serious. Similarly, the gourd is in lovely condition. No wear to speak of and the cork gasket is perfect. The gourd also has an acrylic shank extension in nice shape. Finally, the vulcanite stem is also great. It has some oxidation and some small signs of wear, but nothing to worry about. I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean. The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result was a hideous, ochre-coloured mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface of the vulcanite. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew out the stem from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done.As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the bowl. The first step was to ream it out – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. Meerschaum is too fragile for a proper reamer, so I used 220-grit sandpaper on the end of a wooden dowel to clean out the bowl and it turned out very well. One of the frustrations of cleaning meerschaum is that once smoked, the stains never go away. However, I did what I could and it definitely improved.I sanded down the entire piece of meerschaum with my micromesh pads. I also rubbed some Clapham’s Beeswax into the meerschaum. Then I let it sit for 20 minutes, buffed it with a microfiber cloth and then repeated the beeswax process. Worked like a charm! I wiped down the outside of the gourd, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. I cleaned inside the gourd gently by scraping with my reaming knife and some tube brushes. I was pleased with the results. I sanded down the acrylic shank extension (but not the gourd) with only the finest of the micromesh pads. I also cleaned out the inside with cotton swabs and alcohol. It wasn’t very dirty. I then coated the gourd with LBE Before & After Restoration Balm and let it sit for 30 minutes. After that, I buffed it with the microfibre cloth. Finally, I applied some light lubricant to the cork gasket. Even though the gasket was in perfect shape, it’s a good idea to lubricate it in this way in order to maintain its elasticity. I set it aside to absorb and moved on.Before I went off to the buffer, I gave the meer and the gourd another going over with Clapham’s beeswax rub. This really worked well. I only took the stem to the buffer, as meerschaum and gourds don’t tolerate those high speeds very well!

This big gourd calabash was a delight from the start and its beauty only increased through the restoration process. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Calabash’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 7 in. (178 mm); height 5⅞ in. (149 mm); bowl diameter 2⅞ in. (75 mm); chamber diameter 1 in. (26 mm). The weight of the pipe is 4⅝ oz. (132 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Refinishing and Repairing a Cracked Shank on a Ben Wade 76 Canadian

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by Steve Laug

Back in the end of February I received an email from a reader name John regarding a pipe of his that needed some work. I have included the email below.

Steve, I have this Ben Wade pipe that I bought new in the late 60’s early 70’s, was wondering if there was anyway to fix the crack in the shank? I just pulled my old pipes out of a drawer where they have been stored for over 40 years. Haven’t smoked them in quite some time.

Thanks for your reply, John

I asked for some photos of the Ben Wade and John sent photos of the rim and the shank. I have included them below. The crack in the shank is very clean and obvious on the shank as can be seen in the second one above. It will need to be repaired and banded to repair the crack. From the photos the pipe is pretty clean but the finish is very scratched. It almost looks someone cleaned it off with steel wool and the briar is scratched from rim to heel and shank to shank end. The finish really is clean but a mess. I looked over the photos and John and I made arrangements to have him send it to me.

It arrived last evening. It was a well shaped Canadian with a thick shank and bowl walls. I took photos of what I saw and I turned it over in my hands. My assessment of the finish was correct, it was scratched on all of the briar surfaces. The scratches were not terribly deep but were very visible. The pipe is stamped Ben Wade [over] Made in [over] London England. On the right side of the shank it was stamped with the shape number 76. The bowl had a light cake and was dirty. The shank and airway were dirty as well. The vulcanite stem had some light stamping on the top side of the taper and it read BEN [over] WADE. It was faint but still readable. The stem was lightly oxidized and there were scratches on both sides much like those in the briar. There was some tooth wear on the button surface on both sides. I took some close-up photos of the rim top, bowl and stem surfaces. There was a light cake in the bowl and the stem surface showed scratches and wear. There was a faint stamp on the top side of the stem.I took photos of the stamping on the top of the stem and the shank as well as the upside-down stamp on the right side. They are scratched in spots but nonetheless still very readable. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the proportions of the pipe. It is quite nice.An added part of pipe restoration for me is to try to gather as much background on a brand and maker as I can find. With Ben Wade it is an enjoyable web to untangle. There is a lot of information and it can lead to understanding what era a pipe was made in. To try to figure out the era of the Ben Wade pipe I was working on I turned to the Pipephil website, Logos and Stampings (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-benwade.html). There is some really helpful information on the brand. There is an alphabetical listing of the lines and the first shown in the photo below matches the stamping both on the shank top and the stem top. The site did give a short history of the brand. I quote the portion that is most pertinent. Brand founded in the 1860’s at Leeds (GB). Lane Ltd. (NYC) bought the brand in 1962 and closed the factory in Leeds in 1965. The pipes were then manufactured in London at Charatan’s. During the period 1972 (about) – 1989 Ben Wade pipes were mass produced for Lane Ltd. by Preben Holm‘s workshop in his very personal style. Peter Wilson owner of Duncan Pipes bought the rights of the brand in 1998.

Next, I turned to Pipedia to see if I could find more information on the Ben Wade brand there (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Wade). The article gives a great sense of the history of the brand from its inception until the time Preben Holm made pipes for them. I quote a few sections from the article below.

In the second World War the factory was destroyed by German air raids on Leeds. But the Ben Wade family decided to re-build it immediately after the war and pipe production was re-started soon and successfully linked to the fame from the pre-war years.

Before the second war Ben Wade clustered their offerings into three price points: “Ben Wade” included the higher end pipes (eg the Larnix, Super Grain, Selected Grain, etc), “BW” included the mid-level pipes (eg Statesman, Natural Grain, County, etc), and “BWL” were the least expensive (eg Hurlingham, Adelphi, Tense Grain). Champion was in the last group, and in the 1930s at least retailed for 2/6.

The Champion disappeared during the War when the Ben Wade line was materially slimmed down, presumably to reflect difficulties of supply. The name continued to appear in brand directories at least through the early sixties, however it’s unclear whether production was actually resumed.

Even though the owner family decided to leave pipe business and sell off the firm. The family went into negotiations with Herman G. Lane, president of Lane Ltd. in New York at about the same time as the Charatan family. Lane Ltd. bought both firms in 1962.

Herman G. Lane had been Charatan’s US sole distributor since 1955 and Charatan always remained his pet child. But Ben Wade was treated in another way by it’s new owner. The fabrication of pipes was reduced and the factory in Leeds was closed in 1965 finally.

So, this was the end of Ben Wade pipes stamped “Made in Leeds, England”.

Lane had the pipe making machines brought from Leeds to London and used the well esteemed name Ben Wade to start the fabrication of entirely machine-made pipes at Charatan’s Prescott Street factory. (Some sources say “not earlier than 1973” but proven by catalogues this isn’t true.) Alas the “new” Ben Wades were quite usual series pipes, copies of well known standard shapes. The pipes often showed hardly masqued fillings and were processed quite coarsely with hardly polished pre-moulded Ebonite stems. Therewith Ben Wade degenerated definitively to a second brand. The stamping now read “Made in London England” or just “London”. Nothing was left from the quality of the pipes once made in Leeds!

Quotation of an American pipe dabster: “It’s a shame to see how a famous old family name can be dragged into the mud by people who want to capitalize on a good reputation earned by men who are long dead. This sad little story was not one of Charatan’s or Lane’s proudest moments!”

Herman G. Lane’s heirs had no special interest in either Charatan or in Ben Wade and sold it to Dunhill Pipes Limited in 1978. Now, Dunhill had no need of machine-made series pipes like the Ben Wade as performed by Charatan / Lane since their own Parker–Hardcastle factory in Walthamstow had abounding capacities to turn out secondary pipes. Thus this was Ben Wade’s second end. Charatan’s Prescott Street factory was closed by no later than March of 1982 and Charatan was allowed to languish and discontinued in 1988.

Now I had some parameters regarding the time frame of the pipe. It was made after the closing of the Leeds factory in 1965 and made in London as early as 1973. It was definitely made before Lane sold the factory to Dunhill in 1978. That is helpful to know the time frame as well as the connection to Charatan during that time period. Now it was time to work on the pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I tried to capture the crack in the shank in photos. The first photo shows the location of the crack and I have inserted a red arrow to identify it. I blew up that section of the stem in the second photo. It is pixilated but still you can see the crack clearly.I reamed out the cake in the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamed to take it back to bare walls. I followed that up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I remove all the rest of the cake remnants on the bowl walls. I was very clean.I cleaned out the airway in the shank, mortise and airway in the stem with a bristle pipe cleaner and regular smooth cleaners and alcohol. It removed a lot of oils and tars but it was not too dirty.With the internals clean I turned to work on the cracked shank. I had a nice EP (Electro Plated) oval band that fit the shank perfectly. I used a tooth pick to paint the shank end with some all-purpose glue. I pressed the band in place on the shank. The glue permeated the crack in the shank and the band brought the pieces back together again. It was a snug and clean repair. Once the glue hardened and the band was solid in place on the shank I decided to work on the scratching around the bowl and shank. I would need to be careful with the stamping while still trying to minimize the damage. I used 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to take out the deep scratches or at least smooth them. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth between pads to remove the sanding debris and to see if I could cause the scratches to swell and rise to the surface. One finish the bowl looked much better. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad and the bowl began to take on a deep shine and the scratches were minimized. The scratching was still present but not as visible as when I started. I wanted to keep as much of the original finish as possible and the process above made that possible. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips to get into the finish of the briar. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood.

Restoring a Classic Sixten Ivarsson Designed Stanwell Danish Reserve 19 Bent Dublin

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by Steve Laug

This particular Stanwell sandblast pipe was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is another beautiful Danish Bent Dublin with a gentle curve to the shank and stem. The bowl is smooth and stained with a contrast of browns. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Stanwell [over] Made In Denmark [over] Danish [over] Reserve. On the right side of the shank it is stamped with the shape number 19. The bowl had a moderate cake and some spots of lava overflow in the inner edge of the rim top. There was grime ground into the finish and dust and debris the sandblast. The vulcanite saddle stem has the White Stanwell Crown S logo stamped on the left side of the saddle. It was lightly oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl, crowned rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the cake and what looks like some bowl coating in the bowl and the spotty lava on the rim top and inner edge. He also captured the condition of the stem showing the light tooth chatter and oxidation. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain in the briar. It is a beautiful bowl. It is nice looking bent Dublin and is eye catching. Have a look. The next photo Jeff took shows the stamping on the underside of the shank. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above.I checked on my usual information sources on Pipephil and Pipedia and did not find any pertinent information on the Danish Reserve Line. They are still worth the read as they give a good sense of the history of the brand.

I then did a google search for the Stanwell Danish Reserve and the shape 19. There was not any clear information the Danish Reserve but Smokingpipes.com had some info on the shape 19. I quote (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/denmark/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=602630).

Stanwell’s “19” shape is a dynamic take on the bent Dublin shape, one originally designed by Sixten Ivarsson and which can take a few different forms. This particular iteration boasts a bowl punctuated by a firm panel at the fore, the panel comprising a pair of ridges that descend from the rim to the heel: lending the heel a spurred shape. The walls themselves take on an expressive flare out to a domed rim, their growth maintaining enough curvature for a comfortable feel in hand. Out back, a rather tight transition gives way to a sharply lifting shank that’s met by a curved saddle stem made from black vulcanite…

The pipe is a Bent Dublin 19 that was designed by Sixten Ivarsson. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the plateau rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the remaining oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were. The rim top and bowl look good. There is some slight damage in the blasted rim top on the back of the bowl.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank and the Crown S logo on the left side of the saddle stem. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe. I turned to work on the pipe itself. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – I dry sanded the briar with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the debris. It really took on a rich shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the crevices of the plateau and sandblast portions. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. It was in great condition after the cleanup so I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. This Sixten Ivarsson designed Stanwell Danish Reserve Bent Dublin 19 with a vulcanite saddle stem turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain around the bowl sides and bottom. The crowned rim top and edges look very good. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition. I put the stem back on the shank and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and 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 Stanwell Danish Reserve 19 is very nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches wide x 1 ¾ inches long, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 45 grams/1.59 ounces. 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 Danish Pipe Makers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring a Republic Era Peterson’s Irish Whiskey 338 Bent Billiard

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by Steve Laug

This particular Peterson’s sandblast pipe was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is another beautiful smaller Bent Billiard with a gentle curve to the shank and stem. The bowl is sandblasted and stained with a contrast of browns. It is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank and reads Peterson’s [over] Irish Whiskey [over] the shape number 338 [over] Made in the [over] Republic [over] of Ireland. The bowl had a thick cake and an overflow of thick lava in the sandblast rim top and inner edge of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish and dust and debris the sandblast. There was a triple ring band on the shank – two brass sandwich a flat yellow band. The vulcanite bent taper stem has the gold “P” logo on the left side. It was oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and the thick lava on the sandblast rim top and inner edge. He also captured the condition of the stem showing the oxidation, calcification and tooth chatter and oxidation on the top and underside ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain in the sandblast. It is a beautiful bowl. It is nice looking bent billiard and one is eye catching. Have a look. The next photos Jeff took show the stamping on a smooth portion on the underside of the shank. The stamping is faint in places but still readable as noted above.I looked in my usual spots on Pipephil’s Stamping and Logo site as well as Pipedia to see what I could find on the Irish Whiskey line. There was nothing on either of those sites that I could find on the line.

I googled the Peterson’s Irish Whiskey Line and found a link to the line on Mark Irwin’s Peterson’s Pipe Notes site (https://petersonpipenotes.org/sweet-petes-a-2015-gallery/). I turned to that and found the following information. I quote

The Irish Whisky line was available from 1997 to about 2005, and while the smooth finish was nice, the rustic has always popped for me and other Pete Nuts. When I saw not one but two of the rustic P-Lip Chubby 107s within a few weeks, I was amazed. Someday one will come around at the right time!

I then turned to The Peterson Pipe by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg. There on page 304 I found this information.

Irish Whiskey (1997-2005) Tan polished finish or sandblast line with brass domed double ring band, P-lip or fishtail mouth piece with brass P.

This gave me information regarding the date of the line. It was available between 1997-2005 and the description fit the pipe I have in hand. It is a sandblast pipe with the bands as described and a taper P-lip with a brass P logo on the left side of the stem.

I did find a shape chart on the Pipedia site (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson) that had the shape number 338 shown on it. I have drawn a red box around the shape on the second row of the chart below.Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and took it back to briar. He then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the remaining oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were. The rim top and bowl look good. There is some slight damage in the blasted rim top on the back of the bowl.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. You can see from the photo that it is faint but readable. I took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe.The bowl was in such good condition after the clean up that I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the crevices of the plateau and sandblast portions. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth chatter and light marks on the underside of the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad. It began to look very good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. This Republic Era Peterson’s Irish Whiskey 65 Bent Billiard with three rings on the shank and a vulcanite taper stem with a P logo on the left side turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain in the sandblast around the bowl sides and bottom. The rim top and edges look very good. The finish on the pipe is in `excellent condition. 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 stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and 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 Irish Whiskey 65 Bent Billiard is very nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions 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 46 grams/1.62 ounces. 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 Irish Pipe Makers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring a Republic Era Peterson’s Irish Whiskey 65 Bent Billiard

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by Steve Laug

This particular Peterson’s sandblast pipe was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is another beautiful smaller Bent Billiard with a gentle curve to the shank and stem. The bowl is sandblasted and stained with a contrast of browns. It is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank and reads Peterson’s [over] Irish Whiskey [over] the shape number 65. That is followed Made in the [over] Republic [over] of Ireland. The bowl had a thick cake and an overflow of thick lava in the sandblast rim top and inner edge of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish and dust and debris the sandblast. There was a triple ring band on the shank – two brass sandwich a flat yellow band. The vulcanite bent taper stem has the gold “P” logo on the left side. It was oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and the thick lava on the sandblast rim top and inner edge. He also captured the condition of the stem showing the oxidation, calcification and tooth chatter and oxidation on the top and underside ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain in the sandblast. It is a beautiful bowl. It is nice looking bent billiard and one is eye catching. Have a look. The next photos Jeff took show the stamping on a smooth portion on the underside of the shank. The stamping is faint in places but still readable as noted above. I looked in my usual spots on Pipephil’s stamping and logo site as well as Pipedia to see what I could find on the Irish Whiskey line. There was nothing on either of those sites that I could find on the line.

I googled the Peterson’s Irish Whiskey Line and found a link to the line on Mark Irwin’s Peterson’s Pipe Notes site (https://petersonpipenotes.org/sweet-petes-a-2015-gallery/). I turned to that and found the following information. I quote

The Irish Whisky line was available from 1997 to about 2005, and while the smooth finish was nice, the rustic has always popped for me and other Pete Nuts. When I saw not one but two of the rustic P-Lip Chubby 107s within a few weeks, I was amazed. Someday one will come around at the right time!

I then turned to The Peterson Pipe by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg. There on page 304 I found this information.

Irish Whiskey (1997-2005) Tan polished finish or sandblast line with brass domed double ring band, P-lip or fishtail mouth piece with brass P.

This gave me information regarding the date of the line. It was available between 1997-2005 and the description fit the pipe I have in hand. It is a sandblast pipe with the bands as described and a taper P-lip with a brass P logo on the left side of the stem.

I did find a shape chart on the Pipedia site (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson) that had the shape number 65 shown on it. I have drawn a red box around the shape on the second row of the chart below.Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and took it back to briar. He then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the remaining oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were. The rim top and bowl look good. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. You can see from the photo that it is faint but readable. I took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe.The bowl was in such good condition after the clean up that I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the crevices of the sandblast. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. This Republic Era Peterson’s Irish Whiskey 65 Bent Billiard with three rings on the shank and a vulcanite taper stem with a P logo on the left side turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain in the sandblast around the bowl sides and bottom. The rim top and edges look very good. The finish on the pipe is in `excellent condition. 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 stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and 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 Irish Whiskey 65 Bent Billiard is very nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 38 grams/1.31 ounces. 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 Irish Pipe Makers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

New Life for an Edward’s 20 Algerian Briar Bulldog

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by Kenneth Lieblich

Next on my workbench is a pipe that has been in my boxes for a long, long time. But there comes a time when a pipe calls out and wants to be restored. That’s what happened for this charming bulldog, made by the American pipe house, Edward’s. It has an interesting rustication on the bowl and a variegated acrylic stem which complements the stummel well. I always thought highly of this dapper pipe and I’m sorry to see it go, but happy to give it new life in someone else’s hands. Let’s look at the markings. On the right topside of the shank, we see Edward’s. On the left underside of the shank, we see Algerian Briar [over] 20. I can only assume that the number 20 is a shape number, but wasn’t able to find any official confirmation of that. No markings on the stem.I knew about Edward’s, but thought it was a good idea to refresh my memory. At Pipephil, they provided this tidbit of information:

Edward’s Pipes, headquartered in Tampa, FL, got its start importing pipes from France and continued to do so from 1958 to 1963 when it started producing pipes in Florida from prime Algerian Briar, a practice they continue to this day (2010). Randy Wiley, pipecarver in the USA, got his start at Edward’s.

At Pipedia, they write the following:

Edward’s pipes were originally produced in Saint-Claude, France when Francais [sic] actually was a world-class pipe maker with longstanding business & political connections to Colonial Algeria that allowed them to obtain the finest briar. During the tumultuous 1960’s, Edward’s created a business model to offer the finest briar available in both Classic and Freehand shapes – all at a fair price. They bought the company & equipment and cornered the market on the finest, choice Algerian Briar just before the supply vanished in political turmoil of Algeria’s independence. Edward’s packed up both machinery and briar-treasure to America, safely caching the essentials to create a new pipe-making dynasty. This was a coup, for the 70’s and 80’s were grim years for pipe smokers as quality briar all but disappeared. Edward’s Design Philosophy is hard to pin down, think of their style as the “American Charatan” with unique & clever twists all their own. Today, they fashion pipes in several locations across the USA. All of Edward’s pipes are Algerian Briar – a fact very few pipe companies can claim, and all are oil-cured utilizing natural finishes – no strange concoctions are used to interfere in your tastebud’s dance with the briar. Algerian, Calabrian, Sardinian, Corsican – take your pick, but Algerian Briar is generally considered the finest smoking briar ever used. When combined with oil-curing, Algerian takes on a magical quality that even Alfred Dunhill recognized as far back as 1918 as the choice for both his Bruyere and Shell.How about the condition? The stummel is in very good condition – the pipe was well maintained. There is a bit of cake in the bowl and lava on the rim, but truly not that much. There is a noticeable fill on the front of the bowl, but I am happy to leave that as it is. The stem is a bit trickier. It’s dirty – although no more than average. However, the previous owner must have been a clencher. There are some serious chomp marks in this stem, but I can resolve that. I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean. However, I also used some tube brushes and cream cleanser to really scrub the insides. That helped! Since this stem was made of acrylic, there’s no oxidation and I can skip those steps and go right to repair. I set about fixing the marks and dents in the acrylic – of which there were quite a few. This was done by filling those divots with clear cyanoacrylate adhesive. I left this to cure and moved on.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the acrylic. Following that, I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the acrylic, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful shine on the stem when I was done.As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the stummel. The first step was to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. This pipe was quite clean and needed very little reaming. I used a pipe knife and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensured that all the debris was removed.My next step was to remove the lava on the rim. For this, I took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim.

Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I wiped down the outside, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. I also used a toothbrush in the crevices. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the stummel with the same mild detergent and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.I used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand only the smooth (non-rusticated) parts of the stummel and finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the stummel with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it with three coats of conservator’s wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows.

All done! This Edward’s 20 Algerian Briar Bulldog looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘American’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5⅞ in. (148 mm); height 1½ in. (38 mm); bowl diameter 1⅔ in. (42 mm); chamber diameter ⅞ in. (23 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1⅛ oz. (34 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring a lovely Jess Chonowitsch Designed Stanwell Golden Danish 139

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by Steve Laug

This particular Stanwell sandblast pipe was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is another beautiful smaller Bent Billiard with a gentle curve to the shank and stem. The bowl is sandblasted and stained with a contrast of browns. It is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank and reads Golden [over] Danish [followed by] 139 [over] Stanwell [over] Made In Denmark. The bowl had a moderate cake and some spots of lava overflow in the sandblast rim top and inner edge of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish and dust and debris the sandblast. The vulcanite taper stem has the Stanwell Crown S logo on the left side. It was oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the cake in the bowl and the spotty lava on the sandblast rim top and inner edge. He also captured the condition of the stem showing the tooth chatter and oxidation. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain in the sandblast and the smooth portions. It is a beautiful bowl. It is nice looking bent billiard and one is eye catching. Have a look. The next photos Jeff took show the stamping on a smooth portion on the underside of the shank. The stamping is faint in places but still readable as noted above.I read the history of the brand on Pipedia and would recommend that you have a look at it. It is a great read (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell).

I then turned to an article on Pipedia on the shape numbers and designers by the late Bas Stevens to see if I could find any info on the shape number and the designer of the pipe bearing the number 139 (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). I found the shape number there.

  1. 1 Billiard, slightly bent, conical bowl, by Jess Chonowitsch

The pipe is a sandblast slightly bent Billiard that was designed by Jess Chonowitsch. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the remaining oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were. The rim top and bowl look good. There is some slight damage in the blasted rim top on the back of the bowl.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. You can see from the photo that it is faint but readable. I took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe.The bowl was in such good condition after the clean up that I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the crevices of the plateau and sandblast portions. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. This Jess Chonowitsch designed Stanwell Golden Danish 139 Bent Billiard with a vulcanite taper stem turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain around the bowl sides and bottom. The rim top and edges look very good. The finish on the pipe is in `excellent condition. 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 stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and 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 Stanwell Golden Danish 139 is very nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 36 grams/1.27 ounces. 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 Danish Pipe Makers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restemming and Restoring a Danish Pride by Ben Wade Hand Made in Denmark Bowl

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by Steve Laug

This particular mixed finished Freehand pipe was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is another beautiful smaller Freehand Bowl that combines a plateau rim top and smooth patches that flow up from the bowl sides. The shank end is sandblasted like the bowl and shank with a spot of plateau. It is stamped on a smooth panel on the left side of the shank and reads Danish Pride [over] by [over] Ben Wade [over] Hand Made [over] In [over] Denmark. The bowl is a mix of sandblast on the majority with some smooth grooves on the front and sides. The shank is also sandblasted with the underside being smooth for the stamping. The bowl had a moderate cake and some spots of lava overflow in the plateau rim top and inner edge of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish and dust and debris in the plateau valleys on the shank end. The finish was a rich oxblood colour that really highlighted the grain in the sandblast. The stem was missing so I would need to fit a suitable replacement. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the cake in the bowl and the spotty lava on the plateau rim top and inner edge of the bowl. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain in the sandblast and the smooth portions. It is a beautiful bowl. It is a smaller size freehand and one that catches my eye. Have a look. The next photos Jeff took show the stamping on a smooth portion on the underside of the shank. The stamping is faint in places but still readable as noted above. In a previous blog I had researched the brand quite a bit. I have included it below for information on this pipe (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/10/03/restoring-a-danish-pride-by-ben-wade-mixed-finish-handmade-freehand-sitter/). I quote:

I remembered that the Preben Holm pipes were marketed under the Ben Wade label in the US and imported through Lane Ltd. I turned to Pipedia and read the listing on the brand to refresh my memory and flesh out the knowledge of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Wade). I have included a photo from that site that was taken from a Tinderbox advertisement.I quote the portion of the article that summarizes the Danish period of the history of the brand:

Young Copenhagen master pipemaker Preben Holm had made a meteoric career heading a pipe manufacture employing 45 people at the age of 22! But around the turn of 1970/71 he was in major financial difficulties. His US distributor, Snug Harbour Ltd. in New York City, left him in the lurch. Holm had three unpaid invoices on his desk and another large shipment was ready for the USA, when Snug Harbour’s manager told him on the phone that there was no money at all on the account to pay him.

So the Dane went to New York for an almost desperate search for a new distribution partner. He made contacts with Lane Ltd. and met Herman G. Lane in February 1971. Lane Ltd. had no interest in Holm’s serial pipes produced at that time but so much the more in the hand-carved freehands because the hype for Danish freehands and fancies in the States was still on its way to the climax then. The meeting resulted in an agreement to start a cooperation. Lane insisted to improve the quality considerably and in return he assured to be able to sell essentially larger quantities.

Holm went back home to work on new samples with all-new designs and altered finishes for Lane. Both, Lane and Holm, agreed that it would be unwise to sell the pipes under Preben Holm’s name as long as Snug Harbour had a considerable stock of Preben Holm pipes and might sell them pipes at very low prices just to bring in some money.

So on Mr. Lane’s proposal it was determined to use the name Ben Wade belonging to Lane Ltd. Lane spent considerable amounts of money for advertising the new brand in the big magazines– the centerpiece being whole-page ads showing a very exclusive Seven Day’s Set.

The cooperation with Lane Ltd. proved to be an eminent business success for both partners. Within a very short time Ben Wade Handmade Denmark sold in much larger quantities and at higher prices than they had ever dreamed of. And the hype these freehands and fancy pipes caused went on unbroken long after Herman G. Lane deceased. Preben Holm – obviously much more brilliant in pipe making than in pipe business – was in major troubles again in 1986 and had to sack most of his staff. The Ben Wade production was significantly lowered but continued until his untimely death in June of 1989.

Up to now Preben Holm made Ben Wade pipes are cult and highly sought for on the estate markets.

With that information my initial thoughts were confirmed. This pipe was a Preben Holm made Freehand distributed in the US by Lane Ltd under the name Ben Wade. The freehand rage occurred in the late 70s and the pipes were made until Preben’s death in 1989. My guess would be that this pipe was made sometime during that time period and potentially in the late 70s.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the plateau rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the remaining oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were. The rim top and bowl look good. The shank end was sandblasted and had a spot of plateau on the top right.I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. You can see from the photo that it is faint but readable. It is clearer on the top half of the stamp than the lower but it is still readable. I went through my stems and found a variegated cream and brown acrylic taper that would work well with the bowl. It would take some work to fit it but I took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe. The bowl was in such good condition after the clean up that I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the crevices of the plateau and sandblast portions. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I set the bowl aside and started working on the stem. I used a flat file to shape the stem to fit in the shank. It took some work to shape it but it looked much better. I cleaned up the stem work with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to finish blending it into the surface of the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2-inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil cloth.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. I am happy with the way that this Preben Holm Made Danish Pride by Ben Wade Freehand turned out. It really is a beautiful looking pipe with a great shape and mix of smooth and sandblast finishes around the bowl and shank. The rugged plateau on the rim top and shank end are beautiful. The fancy original vulcanite saddle stem works well with the reddish brown of the stained briar. The pipe really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown stains of the finish gave the pipe a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Danish Pride by Ben Wade really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. 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 ½ inches wide x 2 inches long, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 48 grams/1.69 ounces. The pipe will be staying with me, at least for awhile as I appreciate the craftsmanship. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

Restoring a Lovely “Malaga” Custom Carved Bent Brandy Sitter

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by Steve Laug

In a recent box of pipes I received from Jeff were several Malaga Pipes to work on. The one on the table now is an interesting Malaga I would call a Brandy Sitter. It has a rope like rustication pattern on the left side of the bowl and the rest is smooth with a flat bottom. We purchased it on 03/20/25 off eBay from a seller in Howell, Michigan, USA. The grain on the smooth portions of this pipe is also quite nice. The rustication on the left side of the bowl is another pattern of rustication that I have never seen before on the Malaga pipes that I have worked on. The pipe was obviously another favourite of the previous pipeman. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and read “MALAGA” and on the right side of the shank it was stamped Custom Carved. The finish was dirty and worn. There were tars and oils ground into the surface of the briar. The bowl had a thick cake that flowed over the top of the rim top with some thick lava. It was hard to clearly assess the damage to the inner edge. The condition of the rim edge and top would become clear in the cleaning process. The vulcanite taper stem was oxidized, calcified and there was chatter and tooth marks on the top and the underside of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipes before he started his clean up work. Jeff took photos of the rim and bowl to show the cake and lava on the rim top and edges. The pipe was a dirty one but still a beauty. The vulcanite taper stem is very oxidized and had tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside of the stem ahead of the button. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the interesting rope like rustication and the birdseye smooth grain on the left side. The briar is quite nice all around the pipe. The oil curing/finish makes the grain really stand out on the bowl and shank. The heel is flattened. Jeff took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It read “MALAGA” and is clear as noted above. Jeff did captured the stamping on the right side reading Custom Carved. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the brand, I am also including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/2013/02/09/george-khoubesser-and-malaga-pipes/. That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. If you are interested to learn more then I invite you to follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

I am also am including a link to some printed material on the Malaga brand that came to me from the daughter of George Koch (we purchased George’s pipes from his daughter) to help identify the particular stamping on the pipe. The link takes you to the entire collection of materials that were sent to me (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/02/27/malaga-pipes-catalogue-of-pipes-and-tobaccos/).

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe using his usual procedure. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime from around the bowl sides. It looked better, even the darkened rim top and edges were improved. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. The stem looked much better and the light tooth marks on both sides were still visible and would need a little work. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. I took a photo of the rim top and the stem to show their condition. Jeff was able to clean up the cake and the lava overflow that was shown in the rim and bowl photos above. The rim top was better than when it started. There was some darkening around the bowl edges and top. The stem looked better, though there were light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the shank to show that the clean up had not damaged it at all. It looked good. It was faint in spots but still readable. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of what the pipe looks like. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth and sanded the smooth portions of the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. The finish began to have a rich shine. The work on the rim top made it certainly look better. The briar and the bowl looked very good. I polished the bowl sides and the smooth rim top with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad. It really began to be beautiful. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it in with my fingers to get it into the briar. I worked it into the rustication on the left side with a shoe brush to get deep in the grooves. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. It is a beautiful bowl. I sanded the stem with the 2 inch square 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped down the stem after each sanding pad. I was able to remove the tooth marks and chatter on both sides with the pads. The stem looked very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I did a final hand polish of the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the reshaped bowl of this “MALAGA” Custom Carved Bent Brandy Sitter and took it to the buffer. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the vulcanite. Blue Diamond does a great job on the smaller scratches that remain in both. 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. The grain popped and the depth of the rope rustication was stunning. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is beautiful smooth finished “MALAGA” Custom Carved Bent Brandy Sitter and rusticated patch combine with the vulcanite taper stem to give the pipe a great look. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.15 ounces/60 grams. This is another pipe that I will be putting on the rebornpipes online store in the American Pipe Makers and Pipemaking Companies Section shortly, if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this beauty!

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.