Restoring an Old Sea Slug or an Old River Chubby Bent Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

My brother Jeff picked up a pipe that is in one of my favourite shapes – the chubby apple. I love the feel of this pipe shape in the hand. It just fits perfectly and sits right in my opinion. This one was stamped on the underside of the shank with the words OLD RIVER. There is no shape number or country of origin stamped on the pipe. The rusticated finish is very tactile and feels great in the hand. To me it has the look and shape of a sea slug. Living in Vancouver, near on the ocean I have seen a lot of sea slugs and always found something endearing in their sheer ugliness. The finish on this one reminds me of those ugly sea slugs and yet the look captures me. The stem is a solid rubber of high quality as it was only minimally oxidized and it was very hard. I took the following photos when the pipe arrived to show you its condition. The finish is unique to my mind. It is almost a combination of sandblast and rustication. The deep grooves on the pipe were dirty with dust and debris lodged in them. The high spots were quite shiny and clean. The stem had mild oxidation on the surface but nothing deep. The shape of the stem was old style with a slot in the button but highly tapered as it made its way to the button.old1 Old2The rim was clean with nothing more than the same dust as the sides of the bowl. There was no build up on the flat surface of the rim and the inner and outer edges were in good shape. Someone had reamed it out and it looked to have been sanded clean. They did well in terms of keeping the inner edge of the bowl round and the distance between the inner and outer wall of the rim equidistant all the way around the bowl.old3 old4I searched on the internet to see if I could find any information on the brand or the maker of the pipe. I found many pictures of virtually the same pipe I had but little or no information. Finally looking at one photo of a pipe that is the obvious brother of the one I have on Smokershaven.com I found some information. I was dubious about the information as the pipe I have is certainly an older pipe and one that has an older style stem but the connection was worth checking out. Here is the link: https://www.smokershaven.com/old-river-estate-pipe-carved-chubby-bent-apple/. In the description of the pipe on the site it says that the Old River brand was made by Oliver Camphausen. Because of the uncertainty I wrote to Mr. Camphausen in Germany and asked him directly if he made that brand. His response is below.

Dear Mr. Laug,
No you’ re gone wrong. I’ m sorry but I never carved this pipe. Also never used this brand stamping my pipes.
Best regards
Oliver Camphausen

With that answer my sole clue as to the identity of the pipe was gone. Not only do I not know any information on the maker but I am not even certain if there were other shapes made under this name. Every picture of the brand that I have seen on the web was virtually identical in shape to the one I have. There is variation of course in the bend and shape of the stem (some had a replacement stem). There is also variation in the rustication pattern as all were done individually by hand but the overall bumpy chubby look of the pipe is the same. So the mystery remains and I will just enjoy the pipe.

I took two close-up photos of the pipe. The first is a photo of the underside of the shank with the stamping. The second is of the bowl and the rim.old5 old6The pipe was filthy inside the shank and airway in both the bowl and the stem. I cleaned out both with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners until they were spotless and the pipe smelled sweet once again.old7 old8I scrubbed down the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap, rinsed and dried it to give it a good cleaning and remove the dust and debris from the crevices. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and then buffed it by hand with a shoe brush.old9I sanded the stem with some 600 grit sandpaper to remove the surface oxidation and marks on the surface. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished by dry sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it sit until it was absorbed then hand buffed it.old10 old11 old12I buffed the pipe lightly with Blue Diamond and gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I gave the bowl several more coats of Conservator’s Wax and then buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad on the wheel. I gave it a final hand buff with a microfibre cloth to raise a deeper shine. The finished Sea Slug is shown in the photos below. There is just something endearing about the sheer ugliness of the slug. I like it! Thanks for looking.old13 old14 old15 old16 old17 old18 old19

22 thoughts on “Restoring an Old Sea Slug or an Old River Chubby Bent Apple”

  1. Pingback: New Life for a Czechoslovakian Gold Spot Rusticated Pot Sitter with a Horn Stem | rebornpipes

  4. Tomas's avatarTomas

    Hello Rebornpipes,
    I am your big fan from Czech republic in Europe.
    Old River pipes comes from Czechoslovakia, made in factory in “Prosec u Skutce”
    this factory still works under name BPK.

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      1. Alan D Learned's avatarAlan D Learned

        There is also an Old River Author style of this pipe which I own. Essentially it is similar to the Apple in that it has a big round bowl but it has an Author’s straight shank and a big fat stem. A previous owner started a burn-out near the bottom and I am trying to decide is if it requires repair or leave well-enough alone.

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      1. Tomas's avatarTomas

        I am glad when I can help 🙂
        this pipe is in Czech called “Czech bulldog”
        and it is made in straights and this little bent shapes.
        And of course smooth and rustic versions.

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    1. rebornpipes's avatarrebornpipes Post author

      Both of those are great finds Roland. I especially like the bulldog. That puts one of my questions to rest regarding the brand having other shapes. I wonder if the fact that these are coming from Europe is significant as to country of origin?

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    2. rebornpipes's avatarrebornpipes Post author

      Both of those are great finds Roland. I especially like the bulldog. That puts one of my questions to rest regarding the brand having other shapes. I wonder if the fact that the bulldog is coming from Europe is significant as to country of origin?

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    3. vendy's avatarvendy

      It is Czech made I found it few years ago and quite smitten by the shape

      Please Google vitek novy old river. The blog is in Czech, but the sure the tech would fix it.

      Thanks for your work mate, has help many of us out there. Still I could not found Murphy’s soap alternative after all this years 🙂 I’m in Australia, please suggest something if it comes across your mind.

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  8. Al's avatarAl

    That is one of the most unique pipes I’ve certainly ever seen. The carving looks like it is fashioned after pleateaux briar. I like that carving a lot. Great stuff, Steve

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  9. Troy W's avatarTroy W

    Author shapes is not a favorite of mine but i do like this one a lot. Its a very cool little pipe and if i was gonna have a author shape i would want this one with that rustication. I did a google image search and found two were on Ebay recently , one did not sale for 89 dollars and the other sold for 42.
    Maybe Old River is a name of a old B&M store that sold its own pipes or maybe a coupon pipe from a tobacco company?
    Again its a cool little pipe.

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