I have been kept busy this summer with repairs and restorations for other pipe smokers and collectors, so when I finally had a bit of free shop time, I decided to work on one of my own. This Peterson-esque full bent stummel came to me in a lot of about a dozen loose bowls. My eye was drawn to the flowing curve of the bowl and the Army mount shank, and I thought I detected some attractive grain hiding under what seemed like decades of dirty and grime.

This series of pics shows the stummel as it looked when I started working on it. Visibly dirty everywhere, the exterior needed a good cleaning, and the chamber was packed nearly solid with old cake in the bottom half of the bowl. I was pretty sure that the airway and any moisture sump in the shank were completely blocked up with old…