Daily Archives: September 16, 2012

A Mystery Dragon Pipe and Its Journey

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I had this old Dragon pipe sitting around in my box of pipes to be refurbished for a long time. I had no idea where it had come from but it seemed like a folk art pipe to me. It was solid wood and for a long time I thought it might be Manzanita wood or the like. I cleaned up the outside but never smoked it. The drilling on the bowl was not completed and the airway was blocked as well. So it sat forever. The shank had a crack in it that seemed to have developed as the pipe was made and I figure that the original maker just stopped working on it at that point. The tenon was metal and screwed into the mortise and the stem. The stem was also wood and was very comfortable in the mouth – thin, large, flat blade with an open flared slot in the button.

I cleaned out the dust and grit that had built up in the dragon’s scales and wings and also filled the crack in the shank with briar dust and super glue. Once it had dried I sanded the joint down to remove the excess glue and dust and then waxed the pipe with carnauba to give it back its shine.

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I was chatting with T-bear (Ted Haviland) one day and decided to send it his way. Like me he is a collector and lover of the unusual. Unlike me he is a pipe maker with a lot of talent and the tools to give this pipe a work over. I sent it to him and he drilled out the shank to open it up. When he did he found that the shank had been plugged with rubber and once it was out he could blow through the airway. He used his lathe and drilled the bowl out the rest of the way to meet the airway in the bottom. Once he had done that he set it aside as a keepsake I guess. I called him and encourage him to give it a smoke. He did and wrote back to me to tell me what a great smoker it is. But he wanted to know what kind of wood it was. I had no idea and told him so but it continued to bug me. Image

One evening I was chatting with Chuck Richards about the pipe and mentioned that I thought it was Manzanita wood and he wondered if it might be Rhamnus Wood from China. I sent him pictures of it and he quickly fired back this reply:

Steve, there is no doubt that your pipe is an example of the Northern Chinese Tribal Rhamnus Wood Pipe.  If I get a chance to get some photos of mine, you will see immediately…..the shape of the bit, the scallops overlapping the junction of the bit and shank, the flow of the dragon’s mane and the shape of his nose.  Now for the fun news.  There are currently none available on the Chinese Ebay, and while the smaller plain pipes sell inexpensively, the Dragon pipes are a hefty $350.00 now. Do and advanced search for Rhamnus completed listings, and you will get a good look at the range of color in this wood.

With that news digested I sent Ted an email to finally answer his question. He was as excited as I was and sent me an immediate reply.

Steve
How interesting! Like you, I would never have guessed that this rascal had such a fascinating provenance. A Chinese Tribal pipe…wow!

The piece’s value to me is not a monetary one, but lies in the thoughtfulness of a friend who cared enough to notice my penchant for the unusual, and the generosity to gift this lovely pipe to such a grumpy old curmudgeon. It is even more special for all of that, and will remain always in my collection….when it’s not in my rotation!

Thank you for a fine smoking pipe, a great collector’s piece, and a wonderful tale to tell my friends!

T-
PS…this will be great fun to smoke at next year’s Pipe Show!

Well, it just goes to show you, you never know what you might find in a box of estate pipes. I really wish that pipe could talk so it could tell of its travels from tree to carver to whoever sold it, to the east coast of the US and then to Canada where it sat in my collection for awhile and now it is in Missouri. What tales that pipe could tell. Smoke it in health Ted. It is a beauty and to me one of a kind.

Reborn Kaywoodie Super Grain Long Shank Billiard

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I have grown in my love of the older Kaywoodies. The ones I have worked on are made of some great briar and have classic English shapes. The stems are comfortable and well engineered. The finishes are usually above average and they smoke great – even with the four-hole stingers! I picked this one up on a recent trip to the US. My wife and I were on our 37th Anniversary trip and we always visit antique shops and malls as well travel. This one was one of about 8 that I picked up on that trip. The briar under the grime was quite nice and the pipe showed some promise.

The bowl was in good condition and still round. No one had gone made with a knife or a reamer and ruined the bowl shape. The finish was shot and there were dark places on the wood from ground in dirt and grime. The stem was oxidized and there was some rippling along the stem for the first inch back from the button. I am still wondering if the stem had been trimmed and a new button cut on it. There are some conflicting signs regarding that. The slot is the typical KW slot in the button and the stem is meaty around the button. The taper looks right so I am not sure. The bowl had some caking but oilier tar rather than carbon cake – it reeked of cherry tobacco! The rim was damaged on the front from tapping out the dottle. This one would need some TLC and work to bring it back. ImageImageImageImage

I reamed the bowl and cleaned out the tars and oils that were in it. I also put it in the alcohol bath to soak for a half an hour while I worked on the stem. When I took it out of the bath I dried it off and then wiped down the bowl with acetone to remove the remaining stain and finish that the bath did not remove. I really like the way the acetone removes the finish and leaves the pipe clean and ready to stain. You can see in the four pictures below the shiny spots and dark spots on the briar where I needed to concentrate the work to remove the finish and grime with the acetone. ImageImageImageImage

The damage to the front of the bowl and rim required that the bowl be topped. I removed about 7mm from the height of the bowl to remedy the damage to the front. If I had not done that the bowl looked out of round. The damage made the front rim seem thin. It was not as the curve of the damage accounted for the apparent thinness. I topped it as pictured below using medium grit emery cloth to remove the damage and then following that up with 240 grit sandpaper and finally sanding with a fine grit sanding pad to remove the scratches left behind. ImageImage

When I finished the work on the rim I wiped the bowl down one last time with the acetone to clean off the dust and grime of the sanding and prepped the bowl for staining. In the photos below you can see the state of the bowl as it stood ready for staining. The grain is very nice. The grime was removed and the dark spots lightened. The rim was back to a clean and sharp state and ready to stain. The darkened spots on the right side of the bowl influenced the choice of stain used on the bowl.

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I chose to use a medium brown aniline stain to give some coverage to the dark spots but still allow the grain to come through. I applied the stain with the dauber and then flamed it to set the stain in the briar. Then I repeated the staining and flaming a second time. Once it was done I wanted to remove a bit of the opacity of the stain so I used some acetone on a cotton pad and wiped the pipe down until it had the saturation that I was looking for. In the next series of four photos below you can see the colour and the saturation levels. At this point I had not buffed the pipe or polished it on the buffer. In the third photo you will note that the stem was under turned and would not line up straight with the shank. ImageImageImageImage

To correct the under turned stem I heated the stinger apparatus with my heat gun – avoiding heating the vulcanite. I wanted to soften the glue in the stem holding the stinger in place so that I could readjust the turn on the stem. Once the glue is heated and softened I screw the stem back in place and twist the stem in the shank until it aligns. I have to repeat it often to check on the softening of the glue. Once it is aligned I cool the stem and shank with running water and then dry quickly so as not to cause oxidation or damage to the finish. ImageImageImage

I continued to sand the stem to remove the oxidation and waves in the surface near the button using various grits of sandpaper. I started the process with medium grit emery cloth to level out the waves and remove tooth marks. Then I used 240 grit sandpaper to smooth out the scratches left by the emery cloth and level the stem. I followed that up with 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper to smooth it more and remove more of the scratches. I finished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12,000 grit to bring the stem to a shine. I coated it with Obsidian Oil and let it sit, repeated the application and wiped it down. I then gave the whole pipe a buff with White Diamond and then several coats of carnauba wax for protection and shine. ImageImageImageImage

Piet Binsbergen “Hot Rods” – Piet Binsbergen

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Well I am known as the visual artist, the mad man, the cowboy with a drill bit! This story is about my custom pipes offering you some history and the reasons why I do what I do.

I enjoy pushing boundaries at times and do so due to my training in the arts up to masters’ level. I do pipe repair and still hold firm that pipes need to brought back to life as close to their original state as possible. I would never dream of doing a custom job on a Dunnie shell for instance, or a pipe that remains in a repairable state.

My “Hot Rods” are custom renditions which I keep in my own collection. These are pipes lying in ICU close to flat line. They are in a poor state, often with busted shanks or missing or broken stems. You name it, these pipes have a terminal diagnosis.  From here on I have fun. I tend to push myself a little further each time with the challenge being to save the pipe at all costs. Some I have won and others lost but no matter how bad they are, I give them my best shot.

Now a bit of Pipe lore history from the dark continent, South Africa. Smokers here are few and far between. As RSA is no bigger than the state of Texas our smokers per capita will never service the demand for good pipes and tobacco. We have but a few collectors. The majority are smokers who pride themselves in workhorses such as the famous Keyser pipe smoking OTC heavily doused aro’s in them. Now, we were a British colony until the mid-1960’s so it is not uncommon to find older GBD’s, Pete’s and even antique Dunnies floating around here. As a matter of fact most British pipe makes are here in their dozens with the American and European pipe manufacturers taking a back seat.

During the apartheid years most countries in the world imposed sanction on South Africa reducing the inflow of pipes to a trickle. Being a commonwealth country we were still able to obtain Brit pipes. America and the most of Europe would have nothing to do with us. Most imported tobacco ground to a halt with South African tobacco farmers inventing the most hideous blends the world has ever seen. During the late 80’s and 90’s the South African rand lost plenty of value and after the new ANC Government took charge in 1994 we have been experiencing a slippery slope with the current exchange rate. An example of this is the pound stirling sitting at 12 to 1  and the US dollar close to 9 to 1.

The abolishment of Apartheid and the emergence of the New Democratic South Africa meant that the world re opened trade relations with South Africa. This meant that the tobacco shops locally were now again stocking Italians, Danish and American pipes. Great you may say. Think again! With the current exchange rate, expect to pay an average of $250-00 for a mid-range Savinelli which has established itself well here during the post-apartheid years. So what do we do? The solution is simple. Hunt ebay, import good tobacco and say your prayers that your orders and purchases arrive in one piece and that Mr Import Duty Officer does not sniff you out.

My journey into pipe restoration was born from a need to survive. I needed to learn the trade with speed if I was going to dabble in this pass time. It took years of experimentation and thank the Pope for the internet indeed. I found pipes in barns, begged friends and ex pipe smokers and family members for their boxed pipes to experiment on. I made headway and met some great people along the way. Mike Mitchely “Muddler”, David Peterson from the Virtual Smoking Lounge, Steve Laug, Jan Pietenpauw, Alan Philips from Sturks tobacconist in Cape town, Charl Goussard, Dean Swanepoel and the list goes on. I made friends not only locally but worldwide. We traded, gifted and swopped pipes and tobacco. My friends sent me pipes as gifts with the result being that I have to date Lee von Erck, Rad Davis, Mark Tinsky, Chris Askwith pipes in my collection to name just a few. For this I am eternally grateful.

As soon as my skills were honed I put up a website (www.binsbergenpipes.co.za) in the hope that I may meet fellow smokers and collectors around the world. I was surprised! I met people who wanted pipes cleaned, repaired, restored etc. My client base now reaches the far corner of the globe. What seems to be happening is that most of my friends locally and abroad, shop on ebay and send the pips to me for restoration.  The result is that I am paid for my services with pipes, tobacco, etc. as I simply cannot accept money from friends.  The regular Jo Soap down the road however, is billed for my services which to date keeps this pass time self-sufficient. I am not making any profit and I am happy with this arrangement as this life style now pays for itself.

A big pipe enthusiasm injection for South Africa came with the inception of the Brotherhood of International Pipe Smokers forum in December 2010. In conversation with a fellow pipe smoker from Cape Town, Dean  Swanepoel who is a web designer, we bounced around the idea of the first South African based Pipe Forum. The first question was who would join this forum? After all we are up against the big guns, Pipe Chat, Tamp and Puff, Brothers of Briar, Smokers Forum and many more. We took the leap of faith and soon friends made on other forums came to the BIPS campfire. It was decided to keep BIPS a closed forum holding membership low in order to keep a sound brotherhood medium. Members are recruited on an “invite in” basis only, not that we are snobs but in order to keep a tight nit community of brothers who care for one another. It has become a cyber-home for all the members, a place to kick up feet and enjoy the pleasures of wood and leaf.

In returning to my “hot Rod” pipes, it was important to offer the background history in order for the reader to understand the viewpoint of a South African repairman. Now, where do I find the pipes? Well, I scout antique markets over weekends and public holidays. South African’s seem to be patriotic buggers at heart and such markets are well attended with buyers seeking out Afrikana memorabilia of years past. This is where I find the gems at give-away prices. Make no mistake, they are near dead and price says it all. I pay on average for the pipes you will see here a mere average of R 30-00 ($ 5.00 to $8.00). It was here I noticed the inflow of many Brit pipes, especially GBD’s. These are entry level pipes from the 50’s and 60’s, nothing special at all.  GBD Populars and New Standards seem to be in overflow. Also Sasieni seconds destined for international markets stick their heads out once in a while. I have found some big scores too, a 1959 Dunnie Shell in mint condition in its box with booklet and sock, some Peterson’s,  BBB’s and Comoy’s either carrying the original names or their second lines. Either way, this makes little difference as we are after old wood which become reborn.

What you are about to see are the finished pipes. Some have made their way into my smoking rotation; others are yet to get there. Either way, welcome a part of my crazy world. In conclusion, most of the pipes were found at markets, others come from friends as far north as Michigan and down south in Mexico City. Unfortunately I do not have before pictures but you may get the idea.

Most of the pipes come to me looking like this, and trust me, this is a good one with a solid heart beat!Image

The Green Mamba

Pipe: GBD Canadian (Cadogan era, 1980’s) Shape 262

Location: Mexico City

Price: Gift from Eric Hyland (Mr. E)

Diagnosis: Broken Clear Lucite Stem

Sandblasted the stummel. Stained the pipe green. Fabricated a green Lucite stem. Image

The Fire Starter (Blitzkrieg)

Pipe: GBD Popular, Shape 3781

Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Price: Gift from Alan Philips (Sturks Tobacconist)

Dignosis: Ugly chubby Lovat, a perfect candidate

Sandblasted the stummel as it was full of putty fills. Replaced the stem adding an olive wood shank ring. Sanded the shank and shaded the stem to go from yellow through red to black using leather dye hence the name fire starter. The process is time consuming as the stains go on and sanded with 1200 grit paper, restained and so on in order to obtain the shading in colour. Image

The Hippo

Pipe: Carey Magic inch Pipe

Location: Michigan, USA

Price: Gift from Chuck Rewalt (Velveteagle)

Diagnosis: Smooth bowl full of fills and dents. Chewed mouth piece. Heavily smoked and caked.

Sandblasted the stummel. Stained it black. As this is a “magic inch” pipe the stem needed to be salvaged. I sanded the teeth marks out and reshaped the bit. This was difficult as the stems are plastic castings. I added a hippo bone shank ring stained green that I got from the pipe maker Jan Pietenpauw. Image

The Black Beauty

Pipe: GBD Popular, shape unknown

Location: Johannesburg, South Africa (antique market)

Price: R 20-00 (ZAR)

Diagnosis: Snapped stem, heavily smoked, Burn mark on bowl from leaving the pipe in an ashtray next to a burning ember or cigarette. This was a major eyesore.

Replaced the stem. Did not opt for any shank adornments here. Sanded the bowl and stained it black to hide the burn mark in the wood. Image

The Red Head

Pipe: GBD Popular, shape 3781

Location: Pretoria, South Africa (antique market)

Price: R20-00 (ZAR)

Diagnosis: Broken stem. Heavily smoked, dings on rim from knocking pipe on hard surface.

Under all the dirt, grime and dents the wood on this one was good. I lost 0.5 mm on the rim to remove dents. Sanded the bowl and restained it. Replaced the stem adding an olive wood flush shank ring and contrasting it with a blue raised Lucite ring. Image

The Reject

Pipe: GBD, Cadogen era Billiard, shape unknown, stamped RJ (I take it that GBD stamped the pipe reject as it carries no marking on the stummel but has GBD printed on the stem)

Location: Pretoria, South Africa (antique market)

Price: R 50.00 (ZAR)

Diagnosis: Cracked shank. Stem was intact but it was a yellow Lucite saddle with restricted draw.

Heavily smoked. Dings on bowl.

A tough call. Repaired cracked shank by spinning brass sleeve to fit flush on the shank. Added olive raised shank ring. Sanded and restained the bowl. Image

The Half & Half Virgin

Pipe: GBD Virgin, Shape Unknown

Location: Ghana, Africa.

Price: Gift, Duncan Nebbe (Rhodesian). Scored in a lot of GBD pipes on Ebay. Most were cleaned, this one flat lined.

Diagnosis: The lot of pipes were in a barn or some place exposed to the elements for many years (we suspect). Fine cracks appeared on the outside of the bowl. Stem broken. In a shocking state. It lay around the in the trash box for some weeks before it called to me.

We all know GBD Virgin are not blasted pipes due to the quality of the wood. This one needed to be blasted to remove the surface cracks in the wood. I masked the shank in order to retain some faint nomenclature and the word ‘Virgin’.  Bowl restained and a new stem fitted. Tambotie shank ring added. Image

The MOERSE Billiard

Pipe: Byford/Orlik, shape unknown

Location: Pretoria, South Africa (Hospice charity shop)

Price: R15.00 (ZAR)

Diagnosis: Heavily smoked. Dings on rim from knocking pipe on hard surface. Dings and fills on the bowl. Stem clogged and chewed.

The Byford was a system pipe in its heyday.  The stem consisted of 3 tubes running back and forth in the stem in order to cool and purify the smoke. If it is not cleaned regularly the system gets clogged and there is nothing one can do to save it. I replaced the stem. The alu butt on the shank comes standard with the pipe. It was cleaned and polished. Buckeye Burl shank ring added. Bowl sanded and stained. Image

LOJ se Vlieg Masjien (Lord Oom Jan’s Flying Machine)

Pipe: Keyser Hygienic patent, shape Unknown.

Location: Pretoria, South Africa (Antique market)

Price: R10-00 (ZAR)

Diagnosis: Cracked shank. Broken Stem. Heavily smoked.

For those of you who are familiar with the Keyser pipe, this looks nothing like it. I may get shot for tampering with tradition South African pipe lore but this is how it came out. Named after the South African carver Jan Pietenpauw (LOJ) as parts for the pipe were salvaged from his reject box in order to fix the pipe. Brass shank ring added to repair the crack in the shank. Buckeye burl extension added to seat the shank extension. Stem was replaced by spinning down a pre mould to create a military mount fit. Image