I picked up this old billiard pipe at a local antique market. The stampings were so far gone as to be unreadable, but the pipe seemed to be in decent shape otherwise. The stem was overclocked, and there were a few fills that would need replacing. The pipe was dirty overall, with a cake buildup in the bowl and a LOT of tars and other crud nearly filling the screw-on stem. This is what happens when you smoke a filter pipe without the filter in place. Ick.

I started things off by reaming out the bowl and checking the tobacco chamber for damage. So far so good – no burnouts or cracks!

Knowing I had fills to deal with, I dropped the reamed stummel into an overnight alcohol soak. The alcohol softens the pink putty fills, making them easy to pick out of the briar. The soak also dissolves the…