Blog by Al Jones

If you have followed my previous posts, you’ve noticed that I am a fan of the GBD 9438 shape. There is just something about the chubby Rhodesian shape that appeals to me. All of the 9438’s in my collection are excellent smokers and feel great in the hand. For the past two years, I’ve been on the lookout for one of the highest grades in that shape, the Virgin. I found this somewhat tattered 9438 Virgin with a Perspex stem on Ebay.

The pipe showed some bruising and nicks on the bowl, but the top looked in decent shape as did the Perspex stem. Photographing details of a Perspex stem is never easy, but this seller had plenty of good photographs.

Below are the pictures posted by the seller.  You can see the handling marks on the bowl in the first shot.

The bowl had a light cake, which I reamed close to the briar with my Castleford reamer. I soaked the bowl overnight with Everclear and sea salt. I use a champagne cork to plug the shank end and try to work a little of the salt/Everclear slurry into the shank.

The stem was in pretty good shape, but had a tooth indention on the lower side and some scratches. I tried to lift the tooth mark with some heat, but the Perspex isn’t as resilient as Vucanite. I removed the scratches with some 1500 then 2000 grit wet 3M automotive grade wet sandpaper. Next I completed the stem work with 8,000 and then 12,000 grit micromesh sheets. I buffed it lightly with some automotive plastic polish. The draft hole isn’t heavily stained, which is a fortunate find on a Perspex stem. The tooth mark is on the bottom and the clear Perspex hides it nicely. (and makes it difficult to photograph)

My biggest concern about the briar was what appeared to be handling pinprick marks in several spots, probably from banging around in a drawer/box for a few decades. Using a torch, wet cloth and a pirated kitchen knife, I was able to lift a majority of the marks. The nomenclature was light, so I carefully buffed the bowl with first White Diamond then two coats of carnuba wax. That helped even out the color and hide some of the bruising. It’s not perfect, but has a nice level of patina.

With this addition of this Virgin, I now have five different grades of the 9438 shape.

Fantasy

Tapestry

Prehistoric

New Standard

I include this Seventy-Six Colossus as it is an oversized 9438 (stamped 9676) and clearly the 9438 chubby Rhodesian shape.