Monthly Archives: August 2020

Cleaning up a Savinelli Made Antique Shell 515 Panel Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to us from and online auction from Ohio, USA. It is a rusticated Panel Billiard with a vulcanite saddle stem and a tight, unique rustication around the bowl. It has a brown and black finish that highlights the details of the rustication. I have worked on several Antique Shell pipes from Savinelli over the years and have always found the fit and finish very well done. This pipe is stamped on the flat underside of the heel and shank and reads Antique [over] Shell followed by the shape number 515 [over] Italy. The square, saddle vulcanite stem was oxidized, calcified and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem near the button. The pipe looks to be in decent condition under the grime. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup. He took photos of the rim top to show the cake and the dust in the rustication on the top. It is another dirty pipe. He also captured the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button.    He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the rustication around the bowl and the amount of grime ground into the surface of the briar.     He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank and the shooting star logo on the left side of the stem. It is faint but still present. I turned Pipephil’s section on Savinelli pipes and found the Antique Shell listed there with and an example of the stamping on both the shank and the stem. The stamping matches the one that I am working on (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-savinelli1.html). I turned to Pipedia and looked up the specifics of the Antique Shell line from Savinelli and read through the article. There were several pictures of the stamping but nothing on the details (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Savinelli).

I knew that I was working on a Savinelli Made Panel that had the unique Antique Shell rustication. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done his usual thorough cleanup on the pipe. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He cleaned the internals and externals of the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water and cleaned out the airway in the stem with alcohol. The pipe looked very good.   I took a photo of the rim top and stem to show the condition. They cleaned up really well and the top of the rim looked very good. The inner edge of the bowl was in great condition. The vulcanite saddle stem had tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button and on the button edges.  I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It read as noted above.  I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. It is a well shaped Panel Billiard that looks great. Now it was time to do my work on the pipe. Since it was clean and looked good I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the sandblast bowl sides and shank with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. It helped to give depth to the tight rustication around the bowl.  The final buffing would bring the pipe alive. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I painted the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to raise the tooth dents in the vulcanite.     I filled in the dents with black super glue to repair them. Once the repairs had cured I recut the button and smoothed out the repairs with a needle file.  I used 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the tooth chatter and marks and blend them into the stem surface. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.  I scrubbed off the remaining oxidation with Soft Scrub All Purpose Cleaner. I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.      This beautiful tightly rusticated Savinelli Made Antique Shell 515 Panel Billiard with a vulcanite saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The rich Antique Shell coloured finish came alive with the polishing and waxing. The dimensions of the rustication really popped. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Antique Shell Panel Billiard is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Restoring a Tired and Cobbled Dunhill Shell Patent Era Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to us from one of Jeff’s hunts. It is a Bent Bulldog with a copper/brown variegated acrylic stem and a rugged sandblast around the bowl. It has an oxblood/brown/black finish that highlights the grain in the sandblast. When I first took the pipe out of the box to work on it this morning I thought that the blast reminded me of early Dunhill pipes but the band and the acrylic stem made me not connect it to Dunhill. Later when I turned the pipe over to try to decipher the stamping with a light and lens I was surprised that it was indeed a Dunhill. It is stamped on the flat underside of the shank and reads P12 followed by Dunhill Shell [over] Pat. No. with the numbers and the rest of the stamping blurred out with what looks like the previous owner’s initials DAV or DAN carved by hand.  So it is a Patent Shell with no way of dating it and having an aftermarket band and acrylic stem. The acrylic stem and silver band were well fitted to the shank and matched the angles. From my experience it is unusual to see this kind of workmanship in an aftermarket stem and band. It is always a shame to me when a very old and well-made pipe is changed this much! Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup.He took photos of the rim top to show the thick cake and the heavy lava overflow on the top. It is an incredibly dirty pipe. He also captured the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button.    He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the deep blast around the bowl and the amount of grime ground into the surface of the briar. He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank and the carved initials near the stem/shank junction. He also took a photo of the stamping on the silver band on the shank. I turned Pipephil’s helpful Dunhill section to see if I could at least establish parameters for the age of the pipe (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/index.html).

From there I knew that the Dunhill Shell was introduced in 1917 and the Patent stamped lasted from 1920 until 1954.

From the shape lettering chart I learned that the P stamp was correct for a ½ Bent Bulldog (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/shapes-l.html_).

I turned to Pipedia and looked up the specifics of the Shell line. (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Shell)

Shell – A deep craggy sandblast with a black stain finish (usually made using Algerian briar) – the color of the stain used has varied over the years. Although there is some doubt as to them being the first to sandblast pipes, Dunhill’s Shell pipes, and the sandblasting techniques developed to create them are considered one of Dunhill’s greatest and most lasting contributions to the art of pipe making.

The documented history of Dunhill’s inception of the Shell is largely limited to patent applications — there are no catalog pages or advertisements promoting blasted pipes at the time. The preliminary work on the English patent (No. 1484/17) was submitted on October 13, 1917. The patent submission was completed half a year later, on April 12, 1918, followed by the granting of the English patent on October 14, 1918. This was less than a month before the end of The Great War on November 11th.

In 1986 Dunhill released a line of premium Shell finish pipes – “RING GRAIN”. These are high-quality straight grain pipes which are sandblasted. Initially only Ring Grain, but now in two different finishes. In 1995 the “Shilling” was introduced with Cumberland finish – it is an extremely rare series. These pipes exhibit a deeper blast characteristic of that of the 1930’s – mid-1960’s (and the limited ‘deep blast’ pipes of the early 1980s) and show a fine graining pattern. These are considered the best new Dunhills by many enthusiasts today and are very rare. The finish is sometimes described as tasting like vanilla at first, with the taste becoming more normal or good as the pipe breaks in.

I knew that the Dunhill Shell pipe I was working was made between 1920-1954. I probably would not get much closer than that for a date on the pipe. I also knew that the previous owner had not only personalized the pipe with his initials but had also added a Sterling Silver band for decoration (no cracks or damage to the shank visible) and a variegated acrylic stem that looked very 1970s. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done his usual thorough cleanup on the pipe. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He cleaned the internals and externals of the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I took a photo of the rim top and stem to show the condition. They cleaned up really well and the burn damage on the top of the rim at the front and left side are visible. The rest of the rim top is worn with the sandblast smoothed out. The inner edge of the bowl had some low spots and damage that would need to be addressed. The acrylic replacement stem was well crafted and fit very well with the shank and angles of the shank. The stem surface looked very good with light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button.  I took a photo of the stamping on the left and underside of the shank. It read as noted above.  You can see the wear on the stamping and the DAV initials just ahead of the tarnish silver band.I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. It is a well shaped bent Bulldog shape that looks craggy and inviting.Now it was time to do my work on the pipe. I cleaned up the inner edge of the bowl and gave it a slight bevel to minimize the damage. It also brought the bowl back into round.   Since it was clean and looked good I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the sandblast bowl sides and shank with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. It helped to give depth to the stain around the bowl.  The final buffing would bring the pipe alive. I polished the Sterling Silver band with a jeweler’s cloth to remove the remaining oxidation that was on the silver.  I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I used 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the tooth chatter and marks and blend them into the stem surface. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.   I polished the acrylic stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This beautifully sandblasted Dunhill Shell Bent Bulldog with a variegated copper and brown acrylic replacement saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. I was able to minimize damages on the edge of the bowl and rim. I gave a bevel to the inside edge of the bowl to remove the burn damage and out of round bowl. The rich Shell coloured finish came alive with the polishing and waxing. The dimensions of the sandblast really popped. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Dunhill Shell Bulldog is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Even though the stem and band are aftermarket it still looks good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Restoring a Tiny Bonnie Brier Rhodesian

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is a tiny little straight Rhodesian with a fancy band on the shank and a vulcanite stem. The pipe reminds me of a small size Salesman’s pipe that was carried as a sample by pipe salesmen. It has a brown smooth finish that highlights the grain around the bowl sides and shank. When I first took the pipe out of the box to work on it this morning I was surprised by how small of a pipe it really was. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Bonnie in an arch [over] Imported [over] Brier arched below it.  The tiny pipe had definitely been smoked and the stem had tooth marks in the vulcanite. The finish was very good around the bowl sides but the rim top had some darkening. There was a lot of grime ground into the bowl and in the rings around the cap. The bowl was heavily caked and there was a lava coat on the top of the rim. The inner edge of the bowl was covered with thick lava but it appeared to me that there was damage and burning around the edges. The vulcanite taper stem was oxidized and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. The tiny pipe had promise but it was very dirty. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the thickness of the cake and the condition of the rim top and edges. To me it is unbelievable that a pipe this tiny was smoked this much! The pipe is only 3 ½ inches long and 1 inch tall. He also took photos of the top and underside of the stem to show the horrible condition of the chatter and tooth marks.   Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar around the pipe looked like. There is some interesting grain under the grime and nicks on the bowl sides. Jeff took a photo of the stamping on the side of the shank. It read as noted above.  I turned Pipephil’s section on Bonnie Brier Pipes to see if I could get a sense of the brand before I started working on it (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-b6.html). These are all regular sized pipes while the one on the table is a mini!I turned to Pipedia and looked up the specifics on the Bonnie Brier pipes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_Brier).

Bonnie Brier is a trademark of Finsbury Products, Inc. of Elmsford, NY. The trademark was registered in November of 1976, and expired in August of 1997. The pipes are signed “Bonnie Brier” in script with the name of the model line underneath and “Imported Briar” below. There are several model lines with different makers marks on the stem or shank: Matterhorn (a crown), Standard, Highlands (script “H”), Interlude (stylized “JB” in an oval) and Willow Ridge (script “W R”).

I knew that the tiny Bonnie Brier Imported Rhodesian pipe I was working was made between 1976-1997. I probably would not get much closer than that for a date on the pipe. It may well have been a salesman’s pipe that was carried as a sample of the brand carried by salesmen. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Since Jeff follows the same pattern of work in his cleanup we do not include photos but rather just a simple summary. Jeff reamed the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He cleaned the internals and externals of the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. The stem was clean and you could clearly see the tooth marks on the top and underside. I took photos of what the pipe looked like when I brought to my worktable. The bowl and rim top cleaned up really well. The edges look good with just a few nicks on inner edge. The rim top has some darkening and nicks in the surface. The small short vulcanite stem surface looked very good with light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button.  I took a photo of the stamping on the left and underside of the shank. It read as noted above.  I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. It is a well shaped Rhodesian that is proportionally well done.Now it was time to do my work on the pipe. I cleaned up the inner edge of the bowl and gave it a slight bevel to minimize the damage.     I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded it with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth. I decided to leave the nicks and pits in the bowl as part of the story of the pipe. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. It helped to give depth to the stain around the bowl.  The final buffing would bring the pipe alive. I polished the band with a jeweler’s cloth to remove the remaining oxidation that was on the metal.     I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the deep tooth marks with black super glue and set the stem aside to let the repairs cure.    I used 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the repairs on the surface and the tooth chatter and marks and blend them into the stem surface. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the acrylic stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.     This tiny, well constructed Bonnie Brier Imported Rhodesian with a black and gold band on the shank and the taper vulcanite stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. I was able to minimize damages on the edge of the bowl and rim. The rich brown stain came alive with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Mini Rhodesian Salesman Pipe is a beauty and looks very good for a tiny pipe. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 3 ½ inches, Height: 1 inch, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ½ inch. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Yes indeed another Bertram Washington DC Pipe – a Grade 20 Lovat

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to me from one of our estate purchases. Between us we pick up quite a few pipes for restoration. I try to work them into the restoration queue so that I can keep them moving. We picked up over 120 Bertram pipes from an estate that a fellow on the east coast of the US was selling. The post card below was sent to me by one of the readers of the blog. It is a nice memento of the old shop. I thank him for thinking of us.This next one is from that estate – a beautifully grained large bowl Lovat Grade 20 Bertram with a vulcanite saddle stem. The pipe is stamped on the top side and reads Bertram [over] Washington D.C. centered on the shank. On the underside of the shank is the Grade 20 number. The finish had a lot of grime ground into the smooth finish on the bowl and some darkening around the sides of the bowl. The bowl was caked with an overflowing lava coat on the top of the rim, heavier toward the back of the bowl. The rim top had a slight crown that gave it a unique look. The edges looked okay other than some potential burn damage on the back inner edge. The stem was lightly oxidized, dirty and had light tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside near the button. There were not markings or a logo on the taper stem. Like the rest of the Bertrams in this lot the pipe had promise but it was very dirty. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the thickness of the cake and the lava on the rim top. The lava was thicker toward the back of the rim and there were remnants of tobacco on the walls of the thickly caked bowl. He also took photos of the top and underside of the stem to show the chatter and tooth marks. Otherwise the stem is quite clean. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar around the pipe looked like. There is some stunning grain under the grime.   He took photos of the stamping on the left and underside of the shank. It reads as noted above and is clear and readable. The grade number is 20.  You can also see the scratch on the side of the shank.As I have worked on Bertrams I have written on the brand and have included the following information. If you have read it in past blogs, you can skip over it. If you have not, I have included the link to Bertram history and information. I would recommend that if you don’t know much about them take some time to read the background. I include a link to the write up on Pipedia (http://pipedia.org/wiki/Bertram). Bertram pipes were based out of Washington DC. They were popular among famous politicians and celebrities of the time. They made many products for them from FDR’s cigarette holders to Joseph Stalin’s favorite pipe. They were considered some of the best America had to offer till they finally closed their doors in the 70s. Bertram graded their pipes by 10s and sometimes with a 5 added (15, 25, 55 etc.), the higher the grade the better. Above 60s are uncommon and 80-90s are quite rare. I have worked on one 120 Grade billiard. I have several blogs that I have written on rebornpipes that give some history and background to Bertram pipes. (https://rebornpipes.com/2015/06/16/an-easy-restoration-of-a-bertram-grade-60-217-poker/).

I have included the following link to give a bit of historical information on the pipe company. It is a well written article that gives a glimpse of the heart of the company. http://www.streetsofwashington.com/2012/01/bertrams-pipe-shop-on-14th-street.html#

From this information I learned that all of these Bertrams were made before the closure of the shop in the 1970s. This Bertram large bowl Lovat has a stunning a mix of grain around the bowl. This pipe has a 20 Grade stamp on it which I am sure explains the quality of the briar. There are fills in the shank and at the bowl/shank junction. But like many of these Bertrams the Grading system is a mystery to me.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. The crowned rim top cleaned up very well. The fills in the briar are visible but are solid and well blended. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. The crowned rim top looked very good. The inner edge of the rim also looked surprisingly good. There was no damage to the edges. The stem surface looked very good with a few small tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. I took photos of the stamping on the shank. The Bertram Washington DC is on the  left side mid shank. On the underside of the shank it is stamped with the Grade 20 number.  I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. The stem is a saddle style with a flared button.Now it was time to do my work on the pipe. I polished the bowl and the rim top, sides and shank with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad with a damp cloth.  I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I sanded out the tooth marks with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.    I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Bertram Washington DC Grade 20 Large Bowl Lovat with a vulcanite saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Bertram 20 Lovat fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¼ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Breathing Life into a Talamona Romana Large Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to us from a seller in Troy, Michigan on 01/06/19. It has been around waiting to be worked on. Jeff did the original photographs of the pipe in on January 18, 2019. It is a large billiard with an acrylic stem and some nice grain around the bowl. It has a rich cherry red finish that is transparent enough that you can see the grain. The stamping is the clear and readable. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads the Talamona [over] Romana. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Made In Italy. The finish was very good around the bowl sides but the rim top is rough. There was a lot of grime ground into the bowl and some darkening around the sides of the bowl. There was some damage on the rim top where it was nicked and dented. The bowl was heavily caked and there was a lava coat on the top of the rim. The inner edge of the bowl was covered with thick lava but it appeared to me that there was damage and burning around the edges. The black, taper acrylic stem was a mess. There were tooth marks and chatter on both sides and damage on the button surface. The stem had red dot in a white circle insert on the top side of the taper. The pipe had promise but it was very dirty. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the thickness of the cake and the condition of the rim top and edges. You can see the damage on the crowned top and edges of the bowl. He also took photos of the top and underside of the stem to show the horrible condition of the chatter and tooth marks.    Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar around the pipe looked like. There is some interesting grain under the grime and heavy scratching of the bowl sides. There are a few small fills that also evident. The third photo shows the burn mark toward the front bottom of the bowl.   Jeff took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It read as noted above.     I searched on Pipephil for the brand and found the stamping and logo on a similar looking pipe (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-t2.html). It gave me information on the carver – Cesare Talamona. It is fascinating information as this is not a brand that I have worked on before. The last pipe in the photo before is the same as the one I am working on – a Talamona Romana, Made in Italy. The logo on this pipe is the same as the third pipe in the photo below.Artisan: Cesare Talamona is the son of Cornelio Talamona who founded the brand in 1929 in Oltrona di Gavirate (Varese). Most of Talamona pipes have a 9mm filter. The business closed down in December 2000 after Cesare’s wife had passed away. See also (second): Caesar

I turned to Pipedia for information on the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Talamona). I quote the article below.

Those weren’t good times in Italy when Cornelio Talamona, a carpenter by trade, began to manufacture pipes in his bottega in 1929 to earn an additional income.

When his son Cesare left school in 1945 at the age of 15, times were worse. There was neither a place for an apprenticement nor another job to be found in the destitute and war-torn country. And Cesare felt no desire to a continuing school attendance which moreover would have costed money. So the father, beset by worries, decided the boy might lend him a helping hand in the workshop where at that time in priority furniture pieces of the indispensable kind were made – and repaired above all. And then… Time would tell.

Gradually Italy recovered from the consequences of the war – above all thanks to enormous aid by the United States. Cesare Talamona remained in the workshop and became pipe maker. And Talamona Pipes made their way first to some important pipe shops in northern Italy where they gained a considerable good reputation for the small brand. This helped a lot to sell pipes in Germany since the later 1960’s as well, where the circle of customers admittedly remained manageable but affectionate due to a very good quality at moderate prices. Almost all of these pipes were made for 9mm filter.

In fact, Cesare Talamona never became one of the real great names of Italian pipe making. Though during the best years, in the 1980’s, there were even some auxiliary crafts, and also Cesare’s son and his two daughters earned their livelihood for a while in the family business. On the 31st of December 2000, the firm was closed officially. The main reason was that Cesare’s wife had passed away. But even though Cesare Talamona came back to the old workshop often, where he gladly made pipes for good friends and casual visitors. “As long as heart and hands still tag along” as he used to say.

I knew that the pipe I was working came from Cesare Talamona between the 1980s and the closure of the shop in 2000. While most of his pipes were made for a 9mm filter the one I am working does not have a filter tenon. The pipe is a well made briar with shiny red coat. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Since Jeff follows the same pattern of work in his cleanup we do not include photos but rather just a simple summary. Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He cleaned the internals and externals of the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. The stem was clean and you could clearly see the damage on the top and underside. I took photos of what the pipe looked like when I brought to my worktable. The bowl and rim top cleaned up really well leaving the nicks and scratches on the crown visible. The inner edge of the bowl was rough and had some burn damage. The stem surface looked very good the tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button and on the button surface very visible.     I took a photo of the stamping on the left and underside of the shank. It read as noted above.   I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. It is a well shaped tall Brandy shape that looks elegant.Now it was time to do my work on the pipe. To minimize many of the nicks and scratches on the sides, bottom and top of the bowl I steamed them out. I heat a butter knife on our gas range and use a damp cloth to cover the nicks around the bowl. I heat the knife until it hot and then place it over the cloth. I creates steam which lifts many of the scratches in the briar. I was able to remove many of them. The few that remain are a part of this pipe’s journey. I cleaned up the inside edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give it a slight bevel and bring it back to round and remove the burn marks.The third photo below show the stemed dents and the repaired edge of the bowl. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine.  It helped to blend the stain into the rest of the bowl.  The final buffing would bring the pipe alive.  I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the tooth marks on the topside and the underside of the stem with black super glue. I also rebuilt the button surface on both sides.  Once the repairs cured I used a needle file to flatten the repairs and recut the button. I used 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the repairs further and blend them into the stem surface. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.    I polished the acrylic stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.     This classic Italian Made Talamona Romana Cherry Red Billiard with a black acrylic stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. I was able to remove and minimize the scratches around the bowl and rim. I gave a bevel to the inside edge of the bowl to remove the burn damage and out of round bowl. The rich red finish came alive with the polishing and waxing. The grain really popped. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Talamona Romana Billiard is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Converting a Damaged Metal Filter Tenon to a Delrin Push Tenon on a Medico Conqueror

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is the second one that came to me from a reader of the blog in Eastern Canada. This is the pipe that he originally contacted me about repairing. It was his first pipe and it had been well loved and well smoked. Over time the metal Medico tenon had become misshapen and had damaged the inside of the mortise. This Medico shape is one I have not seen before and I am unfamiliar with the Conqueror line. The grain is quite nice. The finish has some worn spots on the sides and bottom of the bowl. The varnish is worn off in several spots and on the beveled edges of the rim. The bowl had a light cake lining the walls and the rim top had some lava on the top and wear on the edges. The stem was very loose in the shank and literally wobbled when in place. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Medico [over] Conqueror [over] Select Briar. The stamping is clear and readable on the pipe. The stem looked good and there was a Softee Bit on the stem end. Under the Softee Bit there were light tooth marks and chatter on the stem near the button on both sides and some on the surface of the button as well. I took photos of the pipe before I worked on it.  I took photos of the rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the overflow of lava on the rim top. It appears that there may be some damage on the inner edge of the bowl. There was some wear on the sides of the bowl that would need to be worked on. The stem was in relatively good condition with light tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside near the button underneath the Softee Bit. I am not sure what the stem is made of as it does not appear to be vulcanite.The stamping on the left side of the shank read as noted above. The photo shows that it is quite readable. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe. It is a great looking pipe. I turned first to Pipephil’s site as it is always a quick source of information on this line of the Medico Brand (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-medico.html). I looked for the Medico Conqueror Select Briar pipe. The line was listed on Pipephil and I have included a screen capture of the section.I then turned to Pipedia to do a bit more digging on the history of the brand and to see if there was any information on the line (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Medico). I quote in part below:

Medico was created in 1933, and is still produced by S.M. Frank. The brand is famous for its pipe filters, which were launched in the same year. Since 1966, some models have been made in Brylon, a synthetic material, and others in briar. The brand was also sold by the English company Cadogan and Oppenheimer Pipe

When you trace the Medico tobacco pipes history, you have to trace it back to the origins of the company that created it. The company that originated the Medico brand is the S.M. Frank & Co. This company dates back to the year 1900. In that year, a man named Sam Frank began selling pipes and related tobacco products. Eventually, the company began making its own line of pipes. With the help of an experienced pipe manufacturer, Ferdinand Feuerbach, the company produced the popular Royal DeMuth and Hesson Guard Milano tobacco pipes. The company continued to grow well into the early part of the 1930s.

By the early 1930s, there were some concerns about the tars and nicotine found in tobacco smoke. In order to mellow out the flavor of hot tobacco smoke as well as to capture the tars and nicotine, the S.M. Frank & Co. introduced the Medico pipe filter. This is an absorbent paper filter that many people still use to this day. In order to accommodate the new filter, the company developed an accompanying brand of pipes known as Medico. That line of pipes continues in production today.

The company ended up buying some of their main competition in 1955. That year the Kaywoodie brands came under the S.M. Frank Company. The Medico brand continued production through this transition without many changes. The next big change for the brand came in the late 1960s. In 1966, the company developed a synthetic material that combined the traditional briar wood with resins. It is known as Brylon. At that time, all Medico pipes were made from imported briar wood. In order to keep production costs down, the company began offering some lines with Brylon. Today, that is still true.

Today, the Medico brand of pipes is still a top selling one for the S.M Frank & Co. This line of pipes comes in thirteen different finishes with five made of briar wood and the rest from Brylon. All come with the push bit with a filter inside. The filter is easily changed out when the smoker desires. In the briar wood finishes, this line includes the Silver Crest, Premier, Bold Rebel, Kensington, and Windsor. In the Brylon, the line includes the Lancer, Apollo, Standard, Varsity, Conqueror, Medalist, Cavalier, and V.F.Q. As far as price, the briar wood pipes tend to be higher in cost that the Brylon ones.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. I was excited to remove the chipped and nicked varnish coat on the bowl and see what was underneath the overly shiny varnish coat. Sometimes this is a good thing and sometime a bit of a surprise in the unveiling of fills. I lightly sanded the bowl with a 1500 grit micromesh pad to break up the varnish topcoat. Once I had done that I wiped the bowl down with acetone and was able to remove the entire coat. The finish looked pretty good – spotty and a few small fills but overall it was going to clean up very well.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads to remove the remaining varnish and shiny coat on the bowl. I wet sanded it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh pads and wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad. The grain really began to show. This was going to be a beautiful looking pipe.  I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes while I worked on the stem. After the time passed I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The grain came alive with the balm.  I am loving the look of this bowl, the grain, the shape everything looks better to me. It certainly appears to be an upgrade in the finish quality. At this point I caught myself as I looked at the bowl. I had been so intent on removing the finish and cleaning the exterior of the bowl that I had forgotten to deal with the internals. I am glad I remembered. So a little out of the normal pattern but I reamed the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and then sanded the inside of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel.  Then I went back and cleaned the shank out with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. There was some thick tars on the walls on the walls of the shank. I scraped it with a pen knife before cleaning it with alcohol. The walls of the shank were quite damaged from the damaged metal tenon and were roughened and uneven.With the bowl cleaned and finished all that remained was to convert the ruined metal tenon on the pipe to a Delrin push tenon. That would also take care of the unevenness and roughness of the mortise. I cut off the tenon at the metal base plate with a hacksaw.   Once I had cut off the tenon and flattened the sharp edges I cleaned out the airway in the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners.The airway into the stem was already ¼ inch so it did not take much to open it a little further. I set up my cordless drill and drilled the stem end open enough to take the new threaded Delrin tenon that I had chosen for the pipe.Before I glued the new tenon in the shank I have learned that it is important to turn it down enough to properly fit in the shank. I used a Dremel and sanding drum to reduce the diameter of the new tenon to match the mortise dimensions. Once I had a snug fit I glue the new tenon in place in the stem using black super glue. Its drying time gives me a bit more wiggle room to adjust the fit to the shank and align things before the glue sets. With that done I waited for the glue to set. I took some photos of the new tenon to show the progress at this point. Still a lot of work to do but you can see the direction I am heading.    The diameter of the new tenon was perfect but it was longer than the depth of the mortise. I decided to shorten the tenon length to match the depth of the mortise. I measured the depth of the mortise and then sanded the tenon length to that depth. I polished the tenon end with a soft cloth to knock off any rough edges and took the following photos of the new stem.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth chatter and marks near the button. I started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.   I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.    This Refinished and “Re-tenoned” Medico Conqueror Apple turned out to be a great looking pipe. The clean finish – sans varnish allow the grain to pop out around the bowl sides and shank and gives the pipe a more elegant look in my opinion. The finish on the pipe is now in excellent condition and the contrasting stains work well to give some contrast to the polished black fancy taper stem. The pipe is really quite eye-catching. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel, carefully avoiding the stamping on the shank. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Medico Conqueror Apple is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that like the other pipes I am working that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another interesting pipe. Now that this pipe is finished I can put it and the Birkdale back in the box and send them back to the fellow in Eastern Canada. I am looking forward to hearing what he thinks of the reworking of his first pipe! Thanks for your time.

 

Breathing Life into a Birkdale Custom Sandblast Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table came to me from a reader of the blog in Eastern Canada. He contacted me about repairing his first pipe and in the meantime picked up a rack and the fellow he bought it from threw in this pipe as well. It is a very nice looking sandblast Billiard with great grain showing through the deep blast finish. The finish is quite nice with a classic English look to the pipe. The bowl had a light cake lining the walls though the rim top was clean and undamaged. The bottom of the bowl was still raw briar showing that it had not been smoked much. The exterior of the pipe was dusty but otherwise clean. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Birkdale [over] Custom. That was followed by rugby ball shape Made in England COM stamp that is normal on Comoy’s Made pipes. The stamping is clear and readable on the pipe. The stem was dirty, calcified and lightly oxidized. There were light tooth marks and chatter on the stem near the button on both sides and some on the surface of the button as well. There was a hole in the left side of the taper stem where a spot/dot had originally been found. I took photos of the pipe before I worked on it.  I took photos of the rim top to show the light cake in the bowl and the relatively clean rim top. There was some wear on the finish on the shank end that would need to be worked on. The stem was in relatively good condition with light tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside near the button. The oxidation was minimal as it is very high quality vulcanite.  The stamping on the underside of the shank read as noted above. The photo shows that they are quite readable.I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe. It is a great looking pipe. You can also see the missing dot on the left side.I turned first to Pipephil’s site as it is always a quick source of information on any brand (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-comoy.html). I looked for the Birkdale brand and could not find anything. On a hunch about the COM stamp I turned to the section on Comoy’s as noted in the link above. In that section I found what I was looking for. I quote:

Made in London (in oval) England. Note the rugby ball shape of the “Made in London” stamping which is usually in a circle from 1950.

That helped me know that the maker of this pipe was probably Comoy’s and the Made in London Rugby shaped stamp made me assume that the pipe was made prior to 1950.

I turned to a previous blog that I wrote https://rebornpipes.com/2013/10/12/refurbed-birkdale-canadian-made-in-london-england-shape-296/

I have not heard of the Birkdale brand so I Googled it on the net to see what I could find out about it. There was not much there in terms of solid information. There were numerous posts on various forums requesting information. The information on the brand showed some confusion. From Pipedia Birkdale is a brand of the German pipe company named Wolsdorff. In turn Pipephil pegs Wolsdorff as a chain of tobacconists that had their pipes made by different German companies like Design Berlin and Oldenkott. However, the one I found has the made in London England stamping that removes the German connection. Something about the shape and shape number made me do a search in the Comoy’s shape and number charts available online. I found that the 296 shape for Comoy’s is an oval shanked Canadian, exactly like this one. Thus it appears that the pipe was made by Comoy’s. I am wondering if the Birkdale (which is a region in England) is not one of a line of English regionally named pipes made by Comoy’s.

Thus the Birkdale that I worked on and restored in 2013 also lead me to conclude that that earlier pipe was made by Comoy’s in much the same manner I have concluded with this one. The difference is that this one does not have a shape number. If you are reading this and can shed some light on the brand please leave a message in the comments.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. I started my work on it by reaming the bowl. I reamed it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and then sanded the inside of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I cleaned the shank out with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. There was some thick tars on the walls on the walls of the shank. I scraped it with a pen knife before cleaning it with alcohol. I touched up the stain on the pipe to match the previous colours – I used a Walnut and a Mahogany Stain Pen to blend the colours. The finished bowl looked very good. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes while I worked on the stem. After the time passed I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The grain came alive with the balm.   I decided to address the missing dot on the left side of the stem first. I used a piece of acrylic knitting needle to make the  dot. I used a Dremel and sanding drum to strip down the excess material on the needle end. I used a file to take off the last bit of material so that the peg fit in the hole. I clipped off the piece from the needle with a pair of pliers.I put a drop of clear superglue in the hole and pressed the peg into the hole. Once the glue set I used the Dremel and sanding drum to take down the excess material to the approximate height of the stem. I sanded the rest of the excess off with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surface of the stem.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend dot into the stem surface and remove the tooth chatter and marks near the button. I started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.  I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.      This Birkdale Custom Sandblast Billiard is a great looking pipe. The sandblast finish and contrasting black and oxblood stains around the bowl sides and shank make the grain just pop. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition and the contrasting stains work well to give some contrast to the polished black vulcanite taper stem. The light blue/ivory coloured dot on left side of the stem worked very well and looked very good. The pipe is really quite eye-catching. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel, carefully avoiding the stamping on the shank. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Birkdale Custom Billiard is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that like the other pipes I am working that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another interesting pipe. This Birkdale is almost certainly made by Comoy’s and will be heading back to the fellow in Eastern Canada once I finish his other pipe. I am looking forward to what he thinks of this beauty. Thanks for your time.

Beautification for an American Made Bertram Washington DC Grade 30 Zulu

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to me from one of our estate purchases. Between us we pick up quite a few pipes for restoration. I try to work them into the restoration queue so that I can keep them moving. We picked up over 120 Bertram pipes from an estate that a fellow on the east coast of the US was selling. This next one is from that estate – a beautifully grained Zulu Grade 30 Bertram with a tapered vulcanite stem. The pipe is stamped on the left side side near the bowl with the Grade 30 number. On the top side it is stamped Bertrams [over] Washington D.C. centered on the shank. The finish had a lot of grime ground into the smooth finish on the bowl and some darkening around the sides of the bowl. The bowl was caked with an overflowing lava coat on the top of the rim, heavier toward the back of the bowl. The edges looked okay other than some potential burn damage on the back inner edge. The stem was lightly oxidized, dirty and had light tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside near the button. There were not markings or a logo on the taper stem. Like the rest of the Bertrams in this lot the pipe had promise but it was very dirty. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the thickness of the cake and the lava on the rim top. The lava was thicker toward the back of the rim and there were remnants of tobacco on the walls of the thickly caked bowl. He also took photos of the top and underside of the stem to show the chatter and tooth marks. Otherwise the stem is quite clean. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar around the pipe looked like. There is some stunning grain under the grime.   He took photos of the stamping on the top and underside of the shank. It reads as noted above and is clear and readable. The grade number is 30.     As I have worked on Bertrams I have written on the brand and have included the following information. If you have read it in past blogs, you can skip over it. If you have not, I have included the link to Bertram history and information. I would recommend that if you don’t know much about them take some time to read the background. I include a link to the write up on Pipedia (http://pipedia.org/wiki/Bertram). Bertram pipes were based out of Washington DC. They were popular among famous politicians and celebrities of the time. They made many products for them from FDR’s cigarette holders to Joseph Stalin’s favorite pipe. They were considered some of the best America had to offer till they finally closed their doors in the 70s. Bertram graded their pipes by 10s and sometimes with a 5 added (15, 25, 55 etc.), the higher the grade the better. Above 60s are uncommon and 80-90s are quite rare. I have worked on one 120 Grade billiard. I have several blogs that I have written on rebornpipes that give some history and background to Bertram pipes. (https://rebornpipes.com/2015/06/16/an-easy-restoration-of-a-bertram-grade-60-217-poker/).

I have included the following link to give a bit of historical information on the pipe company. It is a well written article that gives a glimpse of the heart of the company. http://www.streetsofwashington.com/2012/01/bertrams-pipe-shop-on-14th-street.html#

From this information I learned that all of these Bertrams were made before the closure of the shop in the 1970s. This Bertram Zulu has a stunning a mix of grain around the bowl. This pipe has a 30 Grade stamp on it which I am sure explains the quality of the briar. There are a few small fills in the shank. But like many of these Bertrams the Grading system is a mystery to me.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. The rim top looked very good. The inner edge of the rim had some damage on the back side and there was darkening on the top of the rim at the back. The stem surface looked very good with a few small tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button.   I took photos of the stamping on the shank. The Bertram Washington DC is on the topside mid shank. On the left side of the shank it is stamped with the Grade 30 number.  I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. The stem is tapered and narrow.I started my work on the pipe by reworking the inside edge of the bowl to clean up the burn damage on the back of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper.Now it was time to do my work on the pipe. I polished the bowl and the rim top, sides and shank with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad with a damp cloth.    I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I sanded out the tooth marks with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.    I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. It was in very good condition so I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.   This Bertram Washington DC Grade 30 Zulu with a vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Bertram 30 Zulu fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Restoring a “Restored” Malaga Hand Made Ras Kassa Dublin

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to me as a trade for work on pipes from Alex. I have worked on quite a few of his pipes and this pipe was one that he bought and was disappointed with when it arrived (I will spell out the issues below). It is a beautifully grained Malaga Hand Made Ras Kassa Dublin that is really quite nice. The Ras Kassa is the top of the line for Malaga pipes and very few receive that premium stamping. The grain on this one is a mix of straight and flame grain around the bowl with some mixed grain as well. The stamping is the readable. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads the Malaga [over] Hand Made [over] Ras Kassa. The Malaga Oil finish had a coat of varnish on it that I really find irritating. To me it defeats the quality oil finish on these Malaga pipes. The bowl was clean however the inner edge of the bowl had a lot of damage and was out of round. The biggest issue thought was there appeared to have been a shank repair done where it met the bowl. There was a visible crack that was tight. The repair was well done but whoever sanded it left a dip over the crack which resulted in a hump on the top of the shank. It took a very flowing shank and ruined the geography and flow of it. The fancy turned Freehand stem was clean but there was still oxidation on the turned areas, in the creases of the button and even on the smooth surfaces. It was polished over the oxidation. I took a trade because I thought I might be able to improve on it. It was such a nice piece of briar and the shape was stellar. I wanted to give it a go! We shall see how it works. I took a couple of photos of the problem area. I have drawn a red box around it. The repaired crack is in the valley of the photos noted by a blue arrow in the pictures below. The hump is very noticeable in person and you can feel it when you run your finger over it. The crack is tightly repaired and sound so that is not an issue. It is the sanding of the valley above it that is the issue.I also took a photo of the rim top to show the damage to the inner edge of the bowl. I know many folks do not like to do any work on this but to me it makes a big difference in the finished pipe. You can see the darkening on the edge and the notches and nicks clearly in the photo. It is hard to see the oxidation on the rings on the stem and surface in the photos but it is present and annoying to me.    I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. While it is faint it is still very readable. I also took the stem off and took a photo of the bowl to try and capture the beauty of the pipe. Again the issue for me on it is the thick coat of varnish on the oil cured bowl masks the finish that was originally there.I am also including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. I have written an earlier blog to give a little history of the Malaga Brand and the pipemaker, George Khoubesser. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/tag/malaga-pipes/. That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. Follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker if it is new to you.

I started my work on the pipe by addressing the dip above the repaired crack and the hump on the shank top behind it. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the hump and transition to the dip. It did not take too much effort to remove the damage. I started the polishing of the area with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. The photos below tell the story. To deal with the damage to the inner edge of the bowl I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper and smoothed out the edges and remove the burn and damaged areas. I was able to bring the bowl back to round. I polished it with some 400 grit wet dry sandpaper before using micromesh to polish the bowl.I wiped the bowl down with alcohol to remove the varnish coat and of course forgot to take a photo of that work. The varnish came off with some scrubbing and what was left was the oil cured Malaga briar. I polished the bowl and the rim top, sides and shank with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad with a damp cloth. I carefully avoided the stamping on the top and underside of the shank so as not to damage the already faint stamping.     I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides, plateau top and shank end with my fingertips and a horse hair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I scrubbed the stem surface with Soft Scrub All Purpose cleanser to remove the remaining oxidation. The oxidation was strongest in the twists and turns of the lower portion of the stem. It took quite a bit of elbow grease to remove the oxidation but when I was finished it looked very good.     I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad.   This beautiful Malaga Hand Made Ras Kassa with a fancy turned vulcanite stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The rich oil finish that Malaga used came alive with the polishing and waxing. The repair on the shank/bowl joint looks very good and the transition is smooth. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Malaga Ras Kassa is a beauty with the great grain and flowing lines. It fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Refurbishing An Interesting “Royal Oak” # 207 Apple

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Blog by Paresh

I love classic shaped pipes and one such pipe is now on my work table. It’s a classic tapered stem Apple with an interesting rustication style on the stummel surface. I feel that the stummel was subjected to shallow rustication making for an interesting finish to the stummel surface. The first thought that came to my mind was that this pipe was British, what with the classic shape, nomenclature and the twin bore tapered stem that pointed me in that direction. The unique finish on the stummel, quality of the twin bore stem and the briar all oozed quality.

The pipe is a classic Apple shaped sitter with nice rusticated stummel that feels tactile in the hand. This pipe is stamped on the bottom smooth surface of the shank at the foot “ROYAL OAK” in block capital letters followed with shape code # 207. The stampings are crisp and clear. The high quality vulcanite twin bore tapered stem is bears the logo of two white bars on the left side towards the tenon end. The second white bar stamping has faded and is only about discernible.  I searched rebornpipes to see if I could find any information on this pipe, as I invariably do, to save time in digging out information about the brand. But this time around, though I came up with many brands/ lines of pipes that started with ROYAL, there was nothing on ROYAL OAK!!

My next go to site is pipedia.org and sure enough, I found what I had been looking for. The Royal Oak finds a mention under Savinelli! That did come as a surprise as all along till this point, I was thinking this pipe had to have a British connection. I visited Savinelli page on pipedia.org and went through the entire information on the brand. Along the way, I picked up snippets of information that pertains to the pipe on my table that I have reproduced below.

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Savinelli

1876 was a year of breakthroughs: Thomas Edison patented the mimeograph, Julius Wolff-Eastport canned sardines for the first time, Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call,

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky completed Swan Lake, Melville Bissel patented the first carpet sweeper, Mark Twain published Tom Sawyer, and in Milan, Italy, Achille Savinelli opened one of the first shops exclusively focused on tobacco and smoking accessories.

It may not have been obvious in 1876, but Achille Savinelli’s commitment to briar pipes would prove to be visionary.

He soon began designing his own pipes (different from the styling we associate with Savinelli today) and arranged their manufacture by local pipemakers in the Varese district of north-west Italy. The pipes became so popular that some were exhibited at the 1881 Esposizione Industriale Italiana (Italian Industrial Exposition)—the precursor to today’s Milan Fair, one of the largest trade fairs in the world.

Achille Sr. spent 14 years cultivating the company and building a strong customer base before passing the reigns to his son, Carlo, who ran the store for the next 50 years.

The store’s success kept Carlo and his wife occupied during business hours, leaving their son, Achille, to his own devices. Much like his father, and his grandfather before him, his “own devices,” as it turned out, were pipes.

As the Second World War began to sweep across Europe, however, Achille Jr.’s experimentation was cut short: he left his beloved workshop for five years of military service, and the experience provided him a new perspective on the role of Italy in the world marketplace. At the time the best-selling pipes in Italy were made abroad, despite the country’s steadfast reputation for producing the finest quality briar. There were Italian pipe makers, make no mistake, but these workshops and factories seemed to focus on maintaining high production numbers rather than on the quality of the product.

He knew it would take more than sheer customer loyalty and rapport to shift the pipe making reputation of his country. It would take a superior product, with a unique aesthetic and the capability to withstand high levels of production without sacrificing quality, to shatter the mold. With this in mind, he decided not to return to his father’s shop. He needed to make his own pipes.

With his two best friends, Amleto Pomé and Mario Vettoruzzo, he assembled a team of fifteen employees to start a new business in the Varese region—the same area of northwest Italy in which his grandfather, Achille Sr., commissioned his own designs more than 60 years before.

Savinelli Pipes began production in 1948 and, although the pipes were of a superior quality and unique in their aesthetic, the brand wasn’t an immediate success.

Aesthetics

Savinelli’s aesthetic is unique. When Achille Jr. first started the company, the best-selling pipes in Italy were made abroad, mostly in England and France. Rather than trying to generate an entirely new style, he capitalized on this trend by following a classical approach to shaping similar to the English style, only tweaking the proportions slightly to produce designs that at once could both satisfy customers looking for classical shapes and be readily recognizable as a Savinelli. As such, a number of designs within Savinelli’s lineup hold closer to this tradition than others. The 207 straight Apple and the 106 straight Billiard both feature classical lines and shank and stem proportions, with just a touch of extra visual weight lent to the bowl.

Savinelli made sub-brands, seconds & order productions

  • Riviera– Made for the international market only in the 9mm version
  • Roley– Vest pocket pipe; almost identic to “Rolex” by Brebbia
  • Roma
  • Royal Oak– Distributed in US

I visited pipephil.eu to find if there was any other additional information on this sub-brand from Savinelli. There is no additional information on this site other than that the same two bar logo is also found on Bent Bob’s and King’s Cross pipe, both Savinelli sub-brands. Here is the link to the web page.

http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/motifs/mo-nbarres.html#2b

From the above, it is safe to assume that this pipe was made during the era of Achille Jr. for the American markets. This, then, is definitely an older pipe to come out of Savinelli Pipe Factory!!

With the provenance of this pipe established, I move ahead with my visual inspection of the pipe.

Initial Visual Inspection
The interestingly rusticated tapered stem sitter is covered in dirt, dust and grime. There is a decent layer of cake in the chamber and the flow of air through the mortise is not very smooth and full. The twin bore stem is heavily oxidized and the bite zone is peppered with deep bite marks and tooth chatter on both the surfaces. Here is how the pipe appears as it sits on my work table.Detailed Inspection Of The Pipe And Observations
The bowl is a nicely round typical Apple shape with a slight narrow at the rim with a depth of about 1 2/3 inches. The chamber has an even layer of medium cake. The rusticated rim top surface is covered in lava overflow and dirt and grime from previous usage and subsequent storage. The inner and outer rim is in pristine condition. The condition of the inner walls of the chamber can be commented upon after the cake has been taken down to the bare briar. The chamber has strong smells from the old tobaccos. The draught hole is dead center and at the bottom of the chamber and that makes me believe that it should smoke smooth. The stummel all around appears solid to the touch and hence I do not foresee any serious damage to the walls in the form of burnout/ deep heat fissures/ lines or pits. I may have to resort to the salt and alcohol treatment of the chamber if the ghost smells are not reduced after the cake has been removed and the shank internals are thoroughly cleaned. As is commonly seen on rusticated or sandblasted pipes with some serious age on them, the crevices in such surfaces are always filled with dust, dirt, oils, tars and grime from all the years of smoking and storage. This one is no exception to this observation. The grooves of the rusticated stummel surface are filled with dust while the smooth bottom shank which bears the stamping is covered in dust and grime. The fact that the grooved patterns are dusty and filled with dirt is accentuated more due to the light brown and black hues on the stummel and the shank. The briar is looking lifeless and bone dry and has taken on dirty grey hues. I need to be careful while cleaning the shank bottom surface to preserve the stampings on this pipe. Thorough cleaning and rising under warm water of the stummel surface should highlight the beauty of the shallow blasticated patterns.  The mortise shows accumulation of oils, tars and gunk and the air flow is not full and smooth. The high quality twin bore tapered vulcanite stem is so heavily oxidized that it appears brownish green in color! Some minor tooth chatter and deep bite marks are seen on both surfaces of the stem. This issue should not be a major headache to address. The lip edge on both sides has bite marks and would need to be reconstructed and reshaped. The tenon has accumulated ash and oils/ tars that have dried out on the inside as well as on the outside. The twin orifice has calcium deposits which will have to be cleaned. The tooth chatter and the bite marks will be raised to the surface by heating and the deeper tooth indentations will be filled using charcoal and CA superglue mix. The Process
I started the restoration of this pipe by first reaming the chamber with with my fabricated knife to remove the carbon deposits. Once the cake was scraped back to the bare briar, I used a 150 grit sand paper followed by 220 grit sand paper to remove all the traces of remaining cake and also to smooth out the inner walls of the chamber surface. Finally, to remove the residual carbon dust, I wiped the chamber with a cotton pad wetted with 99.9% pure isopropyl alcohol. The chamber walls are sans any damage. The smells from the chamber have greatly reduced. The walls are nice and stout and should provide a cool smoke.   This was followed by cleaning the mortise with pipe cleaners and shank brush dipped in isopropyl alcohol. I scraped the walls of the mortise with my dental tool to remove the dried oils and tars. The mortise was not very dirty and I further clean it with anti-oil dish washing detergent and shank brush. This helps me in saving a heap of pipe cleaners, which is a very precious commodity here in India. This further eliminated trace of old smells from previous usage, however, I must admit that I was still not very happy with the internal cleaning of the stummel and shank. With the bowl internals clean, I move to clean the exterior of the stummel. I generously applied Murphy’s oil soap with a hard bristled tooth brush and scrubbed the stummel and rim top with the soap. I washed the stummel under running warm water with anti oil dish washing detergent till the stummel surface was clean and dried it using paper towels and soft cotton cloth. I deliberately cleaned the rusticated rim top with a bristled brass wired brush and set the stummel aside to dry out naturally. I simultaneously cleaned the shank internals with the detergent and hard bristled shank brush. The stummel surface has cleaned up nicely with the intricate rusticated patterns on full display. The brown hues of the raised portions of the rustications contrast beautifully with the black of the rest of the stummel. These brown hues will darken considerably once the stummel briar is rehydrated and rejuvenated using the balm and subsequent wax polishing. The ghosting is completely eliminated and the pipe now smells fresh and clean. A closer examination of the stummel revealed the reason for this pipe to be designated as a sub brand/ seconds of Savinelli. There is a fill on the right side of the stummel (encircled in yellow), right at the bowl and shank junction which was revealed once the stummel surface was thoroughly cleaned.   The fill had loosened up and there was a necessity to refresh the fill. With my sharp dental tool, I gouged out the old fill and cleaned the area with isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab. I filled the gouged out spot with a mix of briar dust and superglue. I was ultra careful not to allow the mix from spilling over the stampings on the bottom smooth surface of the shank. I set the stummel aside for the fill to cure.   With the stummel fill set aside for curing, I turned to address the stem issues. Using a lighter, I flamed the surface of the stem. This helped in raising some of the tooth chatter and bite marks to the surface as vulcanite has a property to regain its original shape on heating. I used a 220 grit sand paper to sand the stem and removed all the oxidation from the surface. This step further reduced the tooth chatter and bite marks present on the stem. I wiped the stem with Murphy’s Oil soap on a cotton swab. This helps in cleaning the stem surface while removing the loosened oxidation. The remaining deeper tooth chatter and bite marks would be addressed subsequently.  I addressed the deeper tooth chatter and bite marks by filling them up with a mix of activated charcoal and CA superglue. I applied a slightly thick layer over the lip which I will later sand down to create a defined edge. Once I had applied the mix, I set it aside to cure overnight. Once the fill has hardened, I shall file and sand the fills to match the surface of the stem and sharpen the button edges on either surface. By next afternoon, the stummel fill had hardened nicely. I used the edge of a flat head needle file to sand the fill and match it to the rest of the stummel surface. With a folded piece of 180 grit sandpaper, I further sand the fill to achieve a perfect blending of the fill with the rest of the stummel surface.Next, I rubbed a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” in to the briar with my finger tips, working it deep in to the rustications and let it rest for a few minutes. I generously rubbed the balm in to the rim top surface. The balm almost immediately works its magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance with the beautiful rusticated patterns displayed in their complete splendor. The contrast of the dark browns of the raised rustications with the dark black of the rest of the stummel adds an interesting dimension to the appearance of the stummel which may be insufficiently described in words and be rather seen in person. I further buffed it with a horse hair brush. With the stummel rejuvenation almost complete, save for the final wax polish, I worked the stem. The fill had cured and with a flat head needle file, I worked on the filling till I had achieved a rough match with the surrounding surface and had sufficiently sharpened the button edges. For a better blending, I further sand the entire stem with 220 followed by 400, 600, 800 and 1000 grit sand paper. This helps to reduce the scratch marks left behind by the more abrasive 220 grit paper. To bring a deep shine to the vulcanite stem, I went through the complete set of micromesh pads, wet sanding with 1500 to 2000 grit sandpapers and dry sanding with 3200 to 12000 grit pads. At the end of micromesh cycle, I polished the stem with “Before and After Fine & Extra Fine” paste. The finished stem is shown below. In my exuberance to complete the restoration and see the finished look of this pipe, I completely forgot to clean the stem internals. I ran a couple of hard bristled / regular pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol. Lucky me, the stem internals were clean and just a couple of cleaners were required freshen up the stem airway.To complete the restoration, I mounted a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and applied several coats of carnauba wax. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further and remove any residual wax from in between the rustications. The finished pipe looks amazingly beautiful and is now ready for its long second innings with me. I only wish it could share with me its life story of the past years while I enjoy smoking my favorite Virginia blend in it or maybe an English blend!! The finished pipe is as shown below. P.S. I wish to thank each one for sparing their valuable time to read through this write up while also praying for the health and safety of entire mankind. Stay home…stay safe!!