My daughter’s boyfriend found this neat little Dr. Plumb bulldog at a New Orleans shop and sent it to me for restoration. I thought Dr. Plumb had a connection to GBD and I believe they are now owned by the Cadogan group. The stem was in terrific shape, save for a heavy coat of oxidation. The top of the bowl was scorched and it had some dents and scratches.
Before:
I reamed the bowl with both my Castleford and Senor reamers. Someone in the pipes past had reamed it a little out of round, but it wasn’t too bad. I removed some of the dents with a knife heated by a flame and a wet towel. Most of the major ones popped back out nicely. The bowl has some fills, but they are hidden well by the factory finish. In order to remove the scorched top, it would have required a restain. I was afraid with the numerous fills, it would look better with the factory finish. “Character” as they say. I buffed the bowl with some Tripoli, White diamond and with a final buff using Carnuba. The stamping is very legible.
The stem was soaked in an Oxyclean solution overnight to soften the brown coating. Unfortunately, the stem logo proved very problematic. I could not get the oxidation off this part of the stem without removing the logo. The owner opted for me to leave the logo and brown patch.
Here is the finished product.
The pipe sure looks like it would be a good smoking piece and I hope the young man enjoys it for many years.
rebornpipes 
Look for reburb essays on another GBD Tapestry 9438 and a Seventy-Six bulldog to come!
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Very nice job on that one. Dr. Plumb is a GBD Brand, generally the shape numbers match the GBD shapes exactly.
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I checked the Jerry Hannah GBD page; but did not find tthatfive digit number (most GBD shape numbers are four digits)
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Hmmm, I figure that the 5 digit number makes it a Cadogan era pipe. That would make it newer Cadogan pipe rather than the older GBD era brand.
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I thought perhaps the same, but thought Cadogan era pipes moved production to France. But this one is stamped “London, England” and “Made In England” Someone also really opened up the draft hole; so I told him to really pack it firmly.
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That is wild. Another GBD mystery pipe! Got to love these. I was looking at the stamping up close and wonder if the fifth digit could refer to something other than the shape. On the GBD site you referenced I looked at combos of the first four digits and the last four digits to see if there was a bulldog shape that matches but no such luck…. ah well. Great job on it Al.
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