I had a pair of Brigham pipes sent to me for some work, a 2-Dot Sportsman model bulldog and a 318 billiard. The owner had found the pipes in a local antique shop. The price was right but the pipes had a few issues to contend with, most notably stem fit.

The pipe stems were original as far as I could tell, but both suffered from opposite fit problems – the stem on the 318 was loose enough to fall out, and the bulldog’s stem seemed to be glued into the mortise. I had been asked to address the stem issues and give the pipes a general cleanup in the process.

Here’s how the pipes looked on arrival. They were pretty clean on the outside, and the 318 had been cleaned internally as well. I’d have to get the stem off the bulldog before any real internal cleaning could take…