Blog by Steve Laug

When I saw this one on EBay I immediately put in a bid that would make it mine. When it arrived this is what it looked like. The bowl was relatively clean and easy to work on. The rim had a pretty serious burn on the inside and the outside edge of the bowl on the right side. It is visible in the second photo below. The bowl was also slightly out of round due to reaming with a sharp blade. The stem was oxidized and was an uneven brown tone. There were two small tooth marks on the stem one on top near the button with a match on the underside near the button. The first picture is a bit blurry but I include it as it gives an idea of the shape of the pipe and why I compared it to a GBD 9242. This one is stamped Genod on the left side of the shank and on the right side Iwan Ries & Co (in script) over the shape 271. 

I cleaned the bowl and reamed it carefully to remove the carbon build up and uneven cake. I then used sand paper to smooth the inner edges of the bowl and bring it back as closely as possible to round. I topped the bowl minimally to remove the burn damage on the flat surface and minimize it on the outer edge of the bowl. For the most part it came out but left a little darkening on the surface of the rim. The right edge also has some remaining darkening and a small divot out of the edge.  I cleaned the shank with isopropyl alcohol and many pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and a shank brush. I then place the bowl in an alcohol bath to soak while I worked on the stem.

The stem is very hard vulcanite. The tooth dents are more cuts than dents and one day I may fill them with super glue but decided to leave them at this point. I sanded the stem with 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper and water to remove the oxidation. It was not terribly deep so it came off very easily. I then used micromesh sanding pads from 1500-6000 grit to polish the stem. When it was finished I rubbed it down with some Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry.

I took the bowl out of the alcohol bath and dried it off. I used some medium brown aniline stain mixed 50/50 with isopropyl alcohol to lighten and thin it. I rubbed it on with the dauber and then flamed it and buffed it. I put the stem on it before buffing and gave the entirety a buff with Tripoli and White Diamond. Once it was finished it was given multiple coats of carnauba wax.