GBD Bulldog #549 New Standard Restoration


I picked up this New Standard GBD bulldog on Ebay recently.
They briar had quite a build-up of what I hoped was just tars on the bowl top and the stem had a small amount of chatter that I thought could be removed.

I reamed the bowl and soaked in in 91% isopropyl alcohol and sea salt.  The stem was soaked in a 3:1 solution of Oxyclean and water.  I put a dab of grease on the brass GBD rondelle.  Here is the bowl soaking in oxyclean.

After a few hours of soaking in the Oxyclean solution, the stem was ready for sanding.  I removed the teeth chatter with 800 grit wet paper. One tooth indention remained, but it was small enough I didn’t bother trying to fill it.  1500 and 2000 grit wet papers were used next to bring up the shine.  The stem looked like this after the 1500 grade paper:

I then buffed it on a machine with tripoli rouge which removed most of the oxidation.  Then, back to the micromesh papers, using the 8000 and 12000 grades of paper to bring up the shine.  The stem was then finished with white diamond on the buffer followed by an automotive plastic polish.

After the bowl was done soaking, I turned my attention to it.  It was buffed on the wheel with tripoli, white diamond and finally several coats of carnuba wax.  Despite the heavy cake and tar buildup, inside the  shank was really clean inside.  So, I anticipate no ghosting.
Below is the finished pipe, which is being enjoyed by its new owner who lives in Norway and happens to be a reader of this blog – Enjoy!

4 thoughts on “GBD Bulldog #549 New Standard Restoration

  1. rebornpipes

    Great job on that Al. I really like the idea of cutting down the wine cork to plug the shank. I use small corks that I picked up but that gives a bit of a handle. Nicely done. That cleaned up really well.

    Reply

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