Monthly Archives: June 2015

Midterm Exam #2: Repairing the Leaky Airway on a Champion Deluxe

Blog by Anthony Cook

It’s exam day again. I didn’t get much sleep, but I did have a good breakfast of Pop-Tarts and leftover ramen. So, let’s do this! This time, the exam is based on a bent brandy shaped Champion Deluxe.

PipePhil provides a little info on the Champion brand: The pipe I’m working with has shank stamping and a stem logo that is identical to the middle pipe in the above graphic. The country of origin for the brand is listed as Switzerland, but there must be some French connection. The word “FRANCE” is stamped across the bottom of the shank-end of the stem on my pipe. You can see the pipe for yourself in the photos below, which were taken shortly after its arrival. I was really pleased with this one when it arrived. I really liked the size, shape, and rustication pattern. As I turned it over in my hands, it seemed to be in pretty good condition. There were no major cracks or gouges, only a generous amount of grime on the stummel, one or two nicks on the rim, and a little oxidation on the stem. I thought it would clean up nicely and was beginning to look forward to working on it.

Then, I pulled the stem out to check the internals and cringed… The airway was drilled so high that it actually penetrated the top of the mortise and only a very thin layer of briar remained between it and the surface of the shank. In fact, the wood was so thin that it had either cracked from heat/moisture expansion or had been punctured by the rustication tool. If you look closely, you can see in the second image that the alcohol from a dampened pipe cleaner would seep out of the airway to the surface of the shank.

I didn’t have the confidence at the time to attempt to repair something as essential and delicate as an airway. So, I reamed the bowl, scrubbed the inside of the shank and stem clean, and then dropped it back into the box where it’s been withering away for several months. So, today I pulled it back out for my second midterm exam.

The airway needed to be sealed before doing anything else. If that wasn’t successful any other work would be pointless. So, I clamped the stummel upside-down in my bench vise using a couple of foam strips to cushion it. I tried to make sure that the airway was as level to the ground as possible. Then, I applied super thin CA inside the airway with an applicator bulb. Since I couldn’t really see inside the shank and bowl, I had previously measured the length of the airway and marked it off on the applicator with a strip of tape. This, along with a slow and steady hand, kept me from dribbling the CA into the bowl. Once I was sure that the glue was completely dry, I used 240-grit and 320-grit sanding needles to smooth out any lumps and bumps that the glue may have created in the airway. Then, I prepared my initial test of the patch. I dampened a pipe cleaner with alcohol and inserted it into the airway. I couldn’t see any seepage, but just to be sure I pulled out my jeweler’s loupe to give it a closer inspection. Still nothing. The patch had passed its first test. I set up a retort for the next test. If there were any open fissures in the shank, the evaporation from the boiling alcohol would surely seep through. I flushed the shank 10-12 times before setting the pipe aside to cool. The color of the alcohol in the tube is a testament to the merits of a retort. It’s not filthy by any means, but remember, this is a pipe that I once thought was clean.

While the pipe rested, I closely inspected the shank to see if the patch had held. Success! I found no moisture seepage at all. The patch was doing its job and the worst part of the exam was over! After another dozen or so flush with the retort the alcohol in the tube was almost completely clean. I let the pipe cool, and then gave it a final, quick scrub the wrap up the internal cleaning. I placed the stem into a bath of warm water and Oxyclean and let soak for about an hour before I scrubbed it down with cubes cut from a Magic Eraser pad to remove the oxidation. Once the stem was clean, I applied a black CA glue patch to the remaining dents. I put a drop of activator on the patches to speed up the drying and they were ready to be worked again in about ten minutes. I sanded out the patches with 220-grit (the bottom image in the picture below), 320-grit, and 400-grit paper. Then, I gave the entire stem a light sanding with 600-grit paper to remove any minor scratches. The paint in the stem logo was cracked and flaking. So, I picked out the loose paint, and then I began to fill in the area around the logo with a grout pen begin restoring the logo. I was a little worried about how well this was going to turn out since the recessed stamp was very narrow and shallow. I let the “paint” dry for about 20 minutes before carefully sanding it down with 1200-grit paper and I thought that it came out surprisingly well in the end. I finished up work on the stem by lightly sanding it with 1200-grit paper to even everything out, and then polished with micro-mesh pads 1500-12000. The stem was finished and the clock on the wall was ticking. Some of the other guys were already turning in their papers. So, it was time to start wrapping things up. I mixed up a 3:1 stain solution of isopropyl alcohol and Fiebing’s black dye and applied it to the stummel. Then I buffed the entire stummel with red Tripoli before sanding out the scratches around the stamping with 400-grit, 600-grit, and 1200-grit sandpaper. Then, I applied a 3:1 dilution of Fiebing’s cordovan before polishing the stamping area with micro-mesh pads 3200-12000. I reattached the stem and gave the entire pipe a light buff with white diamond, and waxed the pipe with Halcyon II for the stummel and a few coats of carnauba for the stem. Finally, I applied a bowl coating to promote cake growth, and then turned the exam in with my fingers crossed.

The photos below show how it finally turned out. For some reason, in these photos the cordovan and black blend together in the rusticated areas making them appear much darker. When you have the pipe in hand the cordovan is much more evident. I don’t know why that is. Man, I hope we aren’t being graded on our photography skills as well.

But, wait..!

Okay, I realize that this is a little unusual for an exam, but I’d like to make a bit of a revision. You see, when I ran my first bowl through this Champion the draw was extremely poor and it gurgled so badly that it sounded like an aquarium. To be honest, this wasn’t unexpected. The misalignment of the airway between the mortise was so extreme that it couldn’t help but create a lot of turbulence, and therefore a lot of moisture. I couldn’t let that stand. So, I took the stem back to the worktable to tweak it a little.

I clamped the stem in the vice and used a Dremel to cut off the stepped end of the tenon. You can see the piece I removed lying on top of the vice in the photo below. After that, I sanded the face of the tenon smooth and level, and then used a tapered abrasive point in the Dremel to begin funneling the airway. I kept the airway lubricated with mineral oil to prevent the friction from burning or melting the vulcanite. The abrasive point opened up the end of the airway to a 3/16” diameter but transitioned it down to the 1/8” diameter of the original airway. Then, I used 240-grit and 320-grit sanding needles to make sure the transition was smooth. Finally, I used a round abrasive point to create a ¼” diameter chamfer on the tenon face around the airway and the sanding needles again to round off any of the sharp edges. In the picture below, the left image shows the step that I removed balanced on top of the stem for comparison; the right image shows the completed tenon after being reworked. I was eager to try it out and the results were amazing for such a simple modification. The bowl smoked all the way to the bottom with no gurgle at all; even when I intentionally tried to build up steam by puffing rapidly (it was for the sake of science). After the pipe had cooled, I removed the stem and found a lot of moisture in the mortise. So, the extra space below the airway was acting like the sump/well of a system pipe. Very cool. The pipe was once again looking good and smoking well. My second exam was in the bag.

Spiffing up a KBB Blue Line Bakelite Poker 1908-1914

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Blog by Troy Wilburn

Here is my old KBB I got from EBay after some light cleaning and buffing. I had found out these were quite rare and was lucky to win the bid on it.

I was thinking after some initial research that these pipes were from around 1910 – early 1920s. Seems it’s a little older than I thought. I got this info from a Kaywoodie and early KBB collector who has had several Blue Lines.

“Your pipe is made by Kaufman Brothers and Bondy, or KB&B, which later (1915) created the Kaywoodie line we all know. But this pipe is Pre-Kaywoodie, as they were making pipes under the KB&B branding from about 1900 to 1914. Bakelite was invented in 1907, so this pipe was likely made from 1908 to 1914, as the Bakelite was quite the technological wonder of the time, and was used in many products (still in use today). These “Blue Line Bakelite” pipes are rare pieces, seldom seen.”

All Blue Lines came with a case but sadly the one for this one is missing. Most pics I’ve seen so far of the Blue Lines, the metal banding has stampings of Sterling Silver and KBB. Mine has none and I don’t believe it’s silver (I think nickel as I could not get all the discoloration from it). Mine may be a lower priced model.

The pipe as it arrived. The pipe was in remarkable shape for its age. It was not caked up and the pipe was nice and clean, ready to smoke. All I did was go over it very lightly with some 2500 grit and 000 steel wool over the banding lightly. Then I applied some light buffing and a new coat of wax. The pipe was too original to mess with much .The stem has a gorgeous red color that was bought out with a little brown and then white Tripoli before waxing.

The stampings are very nice for a 100 year old pipe. As you can see it looks like it was repaired once. The repair looks quite old in person and don’t think it was done anytime recently.

It’s a smaller poker. It is in between the size of a Medico Poker and a Dr.Grabow 85 Poker. It’s around 4 11/16 inch long with a 1 1/2 tall bowl. I will probably dedicate it to my new favorite flake tobacco.

Reworking one of my own

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I don’t remember when I carved this pipe I do know it was one of the first I carved. It was a kit and the plateau was on the bottom of the bowl. I did the work with a Dremel and sanding drum. The stem was the one that came in the kit and I just used it. Over the years, probably in the neighbourhood of ten years, I smoked it infrequently but enough to know that it delivered a decent smoke. Looking at it the other day I noticed that it had a thin cake in the bowl so I obviously smoked it more than I remember. When I took it out of the rack the fit of the stem to the shank irritated me. It was a sloppy fit and slightly rounded at the shoulders. The diameter of the shank and the stem were not matched. On and on went the list of imperfections that stood out to me when I looked at it. I love the shape of the bowl, my odd rustication on the bottom of the bowl and shank and the look and feel of the bowl in my hand. But the stem had to go.

I had a little time on my hands so I went through my can of stems and found a stem that was thicker looking and about ½ inch shorter. I fit the tenon in the mortise and the fit against the end of the shank was tight and clean. Personally I liked the chubbier stem and the compact look it gave the pipe. To me it just seemed to work with this bowl. The stem was larger in diameter than the shank so it needed to be brought down to a clean transition between the two.

I worked on the stem diameter with emery cloth and sandpaper taking off the excess material and adjusting the fit to the shank.

When the fit was better I sanded the stem and the shank with medium and fine grit sanding sponges to minimize the scratches.

Once I had the fit correct and the transition smooth I took the photo below. I needed to restain the shank when I was finished to match the bowl. I used a light brown stain pen to match the stain on the bowl. I stained it and hand buffed it out to blend it in. Once the stain was buffed I set up my heat gun and heated the stem to adjust the bend slightly. In the original stem there was an abrupt down turn that did not work for me. I heated the stem and rebent it. Afterward I took the next series of photos to show the state of the pipe after the rebend.

With the stem bent the angle I wanted it was time to polish the stem. I sanded it with a fine grit sanding sponge and the used micromesh sanding pads to finish it. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and then rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. When the oil had been absorbed I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads. Each successive grit of pad raised more shine in the vulcanite. I rubbed it down again with oil and then continued dry sanding it with 6000-12,000 grit pads. When I finished I rubbed it down a final time with the oil and let it dry.

When it dried I took it to the buffer and buffed it with Blue Diamond Plastic polish and then gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax. I finished by buffing it with a clean flannel buff to give it a finished shine. This one is going as a birthday present to a friend of mine. I gave him a choice of pipes that I had made and he chose this one. It is a great smoking pipe and I think he will enjoy it.

It seems that the work never seems to be finished on the pipes I have carved. I always seem to see one more adjustment, one more tweak to get it just right. Ah well, at least I am done with this one. Thanks for looking.

Restoring a 1967 Dunhill Oom Paul 591

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next one to my work table was a Dunhill Oom Paul 591. It was a Dunhill shape that I had not seen before. The stamping on the left side showed the shape number 591 next to DUNHILL over BRUYERE. On the right side of the shank it was stamped Made in England7 and next to that Circle 4A designating the size of the pipe. From several sources I was able to ascertain that the pipe was made in 1967. The finish on this one was in good shape. There was a light build up on the top of the rim and there was an uneven cake in the bowl. There were some small dents in the sides of the bowl but not enough for me to steam them out and risk harming the original finish. The stem would not fit down into the shank. In the pictures below you can see how far it would go into the mortise. I removed the stem and the mortise was dirty and black. The stem was oxidized and had some minimal tooth chatter on the underside near the button. There was also a shallow tooth mark on the underside amidst the chatter.

I cleaned out the shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol until the swabs came out clean. I cleaned the airway to the bowl and gave the bowl a light reaming to remove the uneven build up. I scrubbed down the rim and removed the light build up that was there and polished the bowl with carnauba on the buffer. I lightly sanded the stem with a medium grit sanding sponge to loosen the oxidation and with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth chatter and small dent.

I mixed up a batch of oxyclean and put the stem in the bath to soak overnight. In the morning I took the lid off the container and removed the stem. The water had turned amber coloured. The oxidation had risen to the surface of the stem and I rubbed most of it off with a coarse cloth. I cleaned out the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners and used the dental pick to clean out the slot on the stem. I sanded it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the softened oxidation. Then it was time to polish it with the micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil between each set of three pads. I buffed the stem with red Tripoli after I finished with the 2400 grit pad and with White Diamond after the 12,000 grit pad.

There were still some scratches that showed up in the bright light of the flash so I worked it over again with the last set of pads and then buffed it with Blue Diamond Plastic Polish on the wheel. I finished by giving the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and then buffing it with a clean, soft flannel buffing pad to raise the shine. The finished pipe is shown below. Somehow in the photos the fluorescent lights lend the photo a yellow tint that I normally do not get. The stem is absolutely shiny and black and the bowl is a rich oxblood red. It is ready to be smoked and enjoyed.

Thanks for looking.

Peterson 9BC “Kapruf” (Pre ’59)

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This isn’t a restoration, but I hope you will indulge my fascination with the Peterson 9BC shape.

I enjoy collecting different finishes for my preferred shape and recently, the Peterson 9BC has caught my attention as of late. I found this “Kapruf” finish pipe on Ebay (via infamous seller Shinypipes…) and made an offer that was accepted. 9BC shapes don’t show up that often, but curiously, the seller had not identified the model in the ad, which was to my advantage. They had the pipe incorrectly listed as a “Pre-Republic, 1940’s-1950 era pipe. The stamping is worn but completely legible with the naked eye. The round “Made in England” stamp was reportedly used up to 1959, at least by the Pipepedia article.

I didn’t know much about the Kapruf line. It is described in a 1960’s catalog as:

Quote :
A fine sandblast finish distinguishes this range of light natural grained pipes with their distinctive red colouring. Very popular with sportsmen.

The second page shows the 9BC shape.

This one has a little grain and some flaws that would have otherwise been fills on a smooth pipe. It has plenty of character, that is for sure.

Compared with my other 9BC (Premiere Selection), this one is incrementally smaller in all dimensions and 67 grams vs. 72 for the smooth pipe. The P on the stem is long gone (as were most I’ve come across, save my smooth) but the robust p-lip button has the same profile as the smooth pipe.

Restoring an Ascorti Business KS Bent Brandy with a broken stem

4 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe that I have on my work table was an Ardor Business KS Bent Brandy with severe damage to the end of the stem. The bowl still had some unsmoked tobacco in the bottom half and the cake was crumbly and concentrated around the middle of the bowl. The top portion of the bowl had a light cake. The bottom portion was fairly clean. The shank and stem were dirty with a lot of black tars and oils. The mortise was black and the airway from the bowl entered the mortise quite high. Part of it was actually above the mortise – very different angle of drilling. The tenon was flared on the end so that the smoke was funneled into the stem. The finish was in excellent shape – the rustication had a reddish top coat over a dark brown/black undercoat. Even the rim was clean and undamaged.

The stem has the same stepped look as the Caminetto Business pipe that I just completed. The saddle portion of the stem was flawless. The top of the stem and the underside were damaged near the button. There was a large chunk of the Lucite missing on the underside and there were some deep tooth marks on the top side. The button itself was gnawed on as well on the top side. I had some choices to make with regard to this stem. Should I try a patch on the large missing chunk from the stem or should I cut of the stem and reshape a new button? That was the big question on this stem. I took the next two close-up photos to give a clear idea of how badly the stem was damaged.

I measured the length and took pictures to get a feel for the look of the pipe with the present stem length and with the shortened length. When I had a good picture in my mind of how it would look I used my Dremel and sanding drum to remove the damaged portion of the stem and cut it back to where the undamaged stem material would allow me to shape a new button and slot.

I took the next photos of the pipe with the shortened stem to see what it looked like with 1/2 of an inch cut off the length.

I took the next two photos of the cut off end to show how I had worked the Dremel to give it a straight edge. Once I took it back to the work table I would work on cutting in the edge of the button and start giving it shape.

I used some black super glue to fill in the deep tooth marks that remained on the stem and also ran a small band of super glue along the area where the button would eventually be cut.

When the glue dried I used a flat blade needle file to cut the sharp edge of the button on the end of the cut back stem.

I used a knife edged needle file to carve back the thickness of the stem to the newly cut straight edge. I wanted a taper from the bend back toward the sharp edge. It takes some work to carve back Lucite, as it is significantly harder than vulcanite.

As I examined the end of the stem I realised that I did not have enough thickness to the material on the top and bottom of the airway. It would not allow me to go deep enough to have a good edge on the button. I decided to build it up and created the button thickness I needed. I used a mix of activated charcoal dust mixed with black super glue to make a putty like substance that would stick to the stem. Using a suggestion from Andrew Selking, I wrapped the end of the stem with scotch tape to create a straight edge to work against when I put the putty on the stem. I then gave the stem a light coat of black super glue and then used the dental pick to press the charcoal and super glue mix on the stem end against the scotch tape. I used a flat dental trowel to flatten the material in place and save some sanding for myself. When the repair was hard to the touch I removed the scotch tape and found that I had a fairly thick button built up on the stem end and that it had a pretty sharp edge to it.

I sanded the newly built button with 220 grit sandpaper to begin shaping it. I would have to use the needle files to sharpen the edge of the button and then sand the new button to shape it more like the one on the Caminetto stem that I had worked on previously. I was using it as the pattern for the shape and look of this one.

When I had it shaped as much as I could without damaging it I set it aside to cure over night and then worked on the bowl. I used the dental pick to remove the remaining third of a bowl of tobacco that was in the pipe. Once that was gone the bowl needed a good reaming. The shape and detail of the cake in the bowl can be seen in the next photo. I used the PipNet Reamer with the smallest cutting head to start reaming the bowl and worked my way up to the third cutting head which was the closest I had to the diameter of the bowl. It was a deep bowl and took time to remove all of the cake. The middle portion of the bowl had a hard cake. I worked it with the second cutting head until I finally was able to cut through it. I used the third head to work the cake back to bare briar. I also used a sharp pen knife to clean out the area in the bottom third of the bowl where the cutting head left behind a ridge of cake.

The next day I did not get to work on the stem as it was a heavy day at work and we had meetings into the late evening so the stem sat for two days. When I finally got the time to work on it I decided to start with shaping the slot and the button from the end view. I started by sanding the end of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the end and give me a flat canvas for cutting the slot with needle files. I began to work on the airway with an oval shaped needle file to begin to open the airway and create a flare in the slot. I also used and fatter oval needle file and a round file to further open the lot and the flare in the end. It took a lot of file work to get it to the place that is shown below. You can begin to see the Y shaped slot taking form. There is still a lot of filing and sanding to do at this point. I worked on the slot area with the needle files for probably 1 hour at this point and the photo below shows the result of the methodical filing and shaping. It is coming along but needs to be more open and the top and bottom edges of the slot need to be smoothed out around the air hole. I folded a piece of 220 grit sandpaper when I was able to insert it in the newly cut slot and worked on the shape and smoothness of the Y. I also sanded the face of the button to remove the scratches and marks that were there. The second photo below shows the shape of the slot and the button. It is very close to the one I was copying on the Caminetto.

I finished the end of the stem and the slot with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I buffed the end of the stem with White Diamond. The finished slot is shown below. After I finished shaping the button and the slot from the end view it was time to work on the top and bottom edges and the overall look of the new button from both points of view. I sanded them with 220 grit sandpaper to shape and flatten them and then used a flat needle file to sharpen the edges on both sides. I really wanted the new button to look seamlessly part of the stem. It took a bit of work to sculpt it to the right shape. I then sanded it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge. When I was finished with the shaping and sanding I began to work on it with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads concentrating on the flat surfaces and the sharp edges first and finishing with the end of the button and slot. The wet sanding revealed more scratches and a bit more shaping that was needed to the edge of the button so I worked it over again with the medium and fine grit sanding sponges before going back and repeating the wet sanding with the first three grits of micromesh pads. I rubbed the stem down with some Obsidian Oil and when it dried, I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit micromesh. I dry sanded with the last three grits of micromesh – 6000, 8000 and 12,000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and let it dry before taking it to the buffer. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond plastic polish on the wheel and then gave the stem several coats of carnauba wax. I finished by buffing it with a soft, clean flannel buff to raise the shine. I gave the bowl a light buff with the carnauba and also with the soft flannel buff. The finished pipe and reshaped button is shown in the photos below.