Daily Archives: April 27, 2023

Restemming an Italian Made Mayfair 1005 Poker Sitter for a Local Pipe Man


Blog by Steve Laug

Last week I received a call from a Vancouver  pipeman that he had some pipes he wanted restemmed and restored. As we spoke on email and then in person when he dropped them off it became very clear that all the five pipes he brought were ones he had purchased from me quite a few years ago now. They had served him well and he wanted new stems for most of them as they were gnawed and broken off at the button edges. The first of these that I am working on is one that he said was a favourite of his. He loved the shape and the weight of. It was what he called his hunting pipe. It was stamped Mayfair [over] 1005 on the underside of the shank. It was also stamped next to the stem/shank union and read Italy.

Before I started the restemming and restoration of the pipe I wanted to reacquaint myself with it and gather the background information on the first restoration. I turned to the blog and found it there (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/12/24/redemption-of-a-mayfair-1005-bent-tree-stump-pipe/). I remember it very well as it was what I called a Bent Tree Stump Pipe when I first picked it up. It was in very rough shape and back in 2016 I restored it and gave the bowl a serious repair of JB Weld and then a bowl coating to protect it from the serious burn damage that was on the walls of the bowl. I have never been sure how long those repairs last but at least I know that this one is about 7 years old and the bowl is in great shape. I have included some photos of the pipe when it left here 7 years ago. It is a unique and interestingly carved rusticated pipe. I took some photos of the pipe today before I started working it. The briar is dry and faded but is still quite clean. The rim top still has some darkening and debris on it. There is a flaw in the front of the bowl mid way down the bowl. It is not too deep but still visible. The stem is oxidized, calcified and chewed off to the degree that it needs to be replaced. There is a light cake and debris in the bowl but it does not cause grief thanks to the underlying coat of JB Weld that I used seven years ago to flush out the damaged walls and checking. I took photos of the rim top and the light cake in the bowl to show how it looked. There was also tobacco debris on the walls and some lava on the rim top. The lava on the rim top is not to thick and should come off quite easily. The photos of the stem show the necessity of the replacement.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the parts of the pipe to give a sense of the proportion of the pipe.I went through my can of stems and found one that was similar in style and roughly the same length. The saddle portion is a little larger but I think it will work well. There is some oxidation on the stem and it is dirty so all of that will need to be cleaned up and the stem will need to be bent to the proper angle. The diameter of the saddle is a bit larger on the right side than the shank so it will need to be adjusted.I used my Dremel and sanding drum and finished tuning the fitting with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bring the shank and stem to the same diameter and to clean up the fit. I think it is going to look great once it is finished. I set the stem aside at this point and turned my attention to the bowl. I sanded the walls of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I wanted to check the condition of the walls and smooth out the cake that was present. I did not remove all of the cake but rather smoothed it out so it is ready for him to continue to build a solid base. The bowl is looking very good inside. I ran some pipe cleaners and alcohol through the shank and it was surprisingly quite clean inside.I examined the nooks and crannies of the rustication and found a flaw on the front of the bowl that concerned me. It was not deep but it was very present – mid bowl on the front in the photo below. I have drawn a red box around it in the photo. I filled it in a bit with clear CA glue and some briar dust. Once dry I used a brass bristle wire brush to roughen the finish to match the other rusticated parts of the bowl.The rim top had some debris and build up so I used the brass bristle wire brush on it as well and cleaned it. I took a photo of it after I had put some Before & After Restoration Balm on it to see how it looked. It still is slightly dark but looks much like it did when it went home with the buyer. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the rusticated finish on the bowl, shank and the rim top. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. I used a horse hair shoe brush to work it into the crevices and keep from building up in the valleys and crevices of the finish. Once the bowl was covered with the balm I let it sit for about 15 minutes and buffed it off with a soft cotton cloth and the shoe brush. I polished it with a microfiber cloth. I took photos of the pipe at this point in the process to show what the bowl looked like at this point. The portion of the lightly sanded shank that I did to adjust the fit of the stem looked perfect and matched the rest of the finish very well. Now it was time to address the part of the restoration I leave until last. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the blade with the flame of a Bic lighter to soften the vulcanite so I could bend it. I bent it to the angle needed to match the angles of the briar. It looked pretty good and sanding it would make it better. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the marks in the surface of the saddle and remove the remaining oxidation. I started the polishing of the stem with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine Polish. I finished the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection from oxidizing quickly.The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I first buff the stem and the briar with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. Blue Diamond is a plastic polish but I find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the vulcanite and the briar. I work the pipe over on the wheel with my finger or thumb in the bowl to keep it from becoming airborne. It works well and I am able to carefully move forward with the buffing. The briar and stem just shone! I finished with the Blue Diamond and moved on to buffing with carnauba wax. Once I have a good shine in the briar and vulcanite I always give the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I following up the wax buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I follow that up with a hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished vulcanite and acrylic combination stem. It really is a beautiful pipe. The smooth finish around the bowl sides and shank show the grain shining through the rich brown stains of this Mayfair Italian Made 1005 Poker Sitter. The finished pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.31 ounces/37 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and the first of the restemming I have ahead of me on five pipes from this pipeman. Once I am finished he will get them back to enjoy once more. As always I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.