Monthly Archives: May 2023

Restoring a Stanwell Regd. No. 969-48 Hand Made Military Mount Billiard

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen to work on is a nice looking smooth brown bent Billiard with a silver ferrule and a vulcanite military mount stem that I picked up in a lot of 10 pipes from a fellow on Vancouver Island who was selling his collection. The stamping on the left side of the shank reads Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 969-48 [over] Hand Made [over] In Denmark. On the right side it was stamped with the shape number 27. The silver ferrule is stamped Stanwell on the left side. The saddle military saddle stem has a stamped with a white Crown S Stanwell logo on the left side. The pipe is a nice looking pipe with some nice cross grain on the sides of the bowl and shank. It has a medium brown finish. It is light weight and comfortable pipe to hold. I removed the pipe from the Stanwell pipe sock and turned it over in my hands. It was in good condition.This is what I saw when I over the pipe.

The finish was very good with only some hand oils on the sides of the bowl and light dust and grime ground into the finish around the bowl sides. The brown stain is dull but the it really highlights the grain around the bowl sides and shank
The smooth rim top looked very good and the inner and outer edges look very good. There was no lava build on the top and the edges. There was some grime on the rim top but the rest looked clean and undamaged.
There was a light cake in the bowl. It held the aroma of the tobaccos smoked in it – fortunately not aromatic. The walls looked to be undamaged but once I removed the light cake I could confirm that.
The silver Stanwell ferrule on the shank end is undamaged and clean. There is some tarnish on the silver and it is dull but still looks good overall.
The thin, fancy saddle stem has a white Crown S logo stamped on the left side that identifies it as a Stanwell pipe. It is in excellent condition with just some light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button.

To summarize what I saw – this Stanwell Hand Made Regd. No. military mount Billiard is a well made pipe. It is a dirty but otherwise in good condition. The stem is lightly tooth marked but otherwise undamaged. There does not appear to be any calcification or oxidation on the stem surface. The look and feel of the pipe in the hand is great. It is going to clean up very well. Here are photos of the pipe before I started my clean up. The bowl of the pipe looked very good. The rim top is clean but there is some darkening on the top back of the rim. There does not seem to be any damage to the smooth finish. The edges of the bowl were undamaged and looked very good. I see no warning signs in the rim top or the edges of the bowl. I took photos of the stem to show the condition. Though hard to see there is light tooth chatter on the surface of both sides ahead of the button but it should clean up easily with polishing. The next photos capture the stamping on the shank and the saddle stem. It read as I have noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of it to give a sense of proportion. As is my practice when working on pipes I researched the provenance of the pipe. I turned first to Pipephil (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html) to see what I could find. I found a side bar note on the stamping on the pipe. I found there that the company had begun in 1942 and that the “Regd. No.” stamping was discontinued in late 1960s to very early 1970s. So now I knew that the pipe was made after 1942 and before the late 1960s or early 1970s. I wanted to see if I could pin down the date a bit more.

I then turned to Pipedia to learn more about the pipe (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell). I read through the article by Smoking Pipes.com there and would recommend it as being a good read. In the material there I found no additional information. I scrolled through the photos and the included catalogue pages and there I found something helpful. There was a late 1950s catalogue shown there that had the description of the pipe I have and also the shape 27 shown in the pages. I have included a screen capture of the page below. I have circled the shape in the photo below. With that information I had learned that this pipe was available in the late 1950s in the shape that I had in hand. The Regd. No. stamping on Stanwell pipes ended in the late 1960s or early 1970s. My guess would place this pipe in the period between 1958-1965. It is a real beauty.

Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. I started my work on the pipe by cleaning the internals. The cake was quite thin but it can hold residual oils from previous tobaccos and I wanted to check the bowl walls for burn damage or checking. I reamed it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife and took the cake back to bare briar. I sanded the walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I worked on them until they were smooth. There was no checking or burn damage to the bowl walls. It was quite clean. I cleaned out the internals of the shank and the airway in the stem with 99% isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I also cleaned the adapter that had come with the pipe. I worked them over until they were clean. I scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils in the sides of the bowl. I used a tooth brush to work it into the briar. I rinsed it off with warm running water to remove the soap and the grime. It looked much better once I dried it off. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I choose to dry sand the briar rather than wet sand it. Again it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer to use the pads dry and find they work very well on the briar. I sand with each pad (9 in total) and group them by threes for ease of reference. I wipe the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and check the briar. I love seeing the developing shine on the briar as I move through the pads which is why I include so many photos of this step. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the finish on the bowl and shank. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. 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 light sandblast finish looks very good and has a real touch of beauty. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I dry sanded both sides of the stem with 1500-12000 grit pads to polish it further. I wiped it down with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I find that it still adds depth to the final shine on the stem which grew deeper with each sanding pad. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I wiped the stem down with some Obsidian Oil afterwards and buffed it with a soft microfiber cloth. I took the Stanwell Hand Made Military Mount 27 Billiard to wax and polish. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond polish on the wheel to polish out the scratches in the vulcanite. I gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax on the wheel and then buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The stains used on the briar bring out the grain and the bowl looks excellent with the shine of the polished silver ferrule and the vulcanite Military mount saddle stem. The rich finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and gives the pipe an incredible look. The Stanwell Hand Made 27 Billiard is a beautiful pipe and one that will be a great smoking pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below with each of the stems. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the large pipe is a light and comfortable 34 grams/1.20 ounces. This is a great looking Hand Made Billiard. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipe Makers Section. If you want to add it to your rack let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. Cheers.

Restoring a Italian Made Savinelli Sistina 606 Bent Billiard with a Filter Stem

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen to work on is a nice looking smooth brown bent Billiard with a brass and orange acrylic band/adornment on the acrylic stem that I picked up in a lot of 10 pipes from a fellow on Vancouver Island who was selling his collection. The stamping on the left side of the shank reads Savinelli [over] Sistina. On the right side it was stamped with a Savinelli Shield followed by the shape number 606 [over] Italy. The twin brass bands sandwiching a piece of golden acrylic on the stem has no stamping. The acrylic taper stem has a stamped gold shooting star on the left side. The pipe is a nice looking pipe with a black understain on the grain and a medium brown finish. It is light weight and comfortable pipe to hold. I picked up the pipe and turned it over in my hands. It was in good condition.

This is what I saw when I over the pipe.

The finish was very good with only some light dust and grime ground into the finish around the bowl sides. The matte brown/black stain is dull but the it really highlights the grain around the bowl sides and shank
The smooth rim top looked very good and the beveled inner edge and outer edges look very good. There was no lava build on the top and the edges were clean and undamaged.
There was a light cake in the bowl. It held the aroma of the tobaccos smoked in it – fortunately not aromatic. The walls looked to be undamaged but once I removed the light cake I could confirm that.
The band on the stem is twin brass bands sandwiching an amber/orange yellow piece of acrylic and looks to be good condition. It is undamaged and clean. The band looks really good with the finish on the bowl and the black acrylic taper stem.
The acrylic taper stem has a gold shooting logo stamped on the left side that identifies it as a Savinelli pipe. It is in excellent condition with just some light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button.

To summarize what I saw – this Savinelli Sistina 606 Bent Billiard is a well made pipe. It is a little dusty but otherwise in good condition. The acrylic stem is lightly tooth marked but otherwise undamaged. The tenon has a converter taking it from a 9mm to a standard unfiltered stem. There does not appear to be any calcification on the stem surface. The look and feel of the pipe in the hand is great. It is going to clean up very well. Here are photos of the pipe before I started my clean up. The bowl of the pipe looked very good. The rim top is clean does not seem to have any damage to the smooth finish. The edges of the bowl were undamaged and looked very good. I see no warning signs in the rim top or the edges of the bowl. I took photos of the stem to show the condition of each one. Though hard to see there are light tooth chatter on the surface of both sides ahead of the button but it should clean up easily with polishing. The next photos capture the stamping on the shank. It read as I have noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of it to give a sense of proportion. Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. I started my work on the pipe by cleaning the internals. The cake was quite thin but it can hold residual oils from previous tobaccos and I wanted to check the bowl walls for burn damage or checking. I reamed it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife and took the cake back to bare briar. I sanded the walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I worked on them until they were smooth. There was no checking or burn damage to the bowl walls. It was quite clean.I cleaned out the internals of the shank and the airway in the stem with 99% isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I also cleaned the adapter that had come with the pipe. I worked them over until they were clean. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I choose to dry sand the briar rather than wet sand it. Again it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer to use the pads dry and find they work very well on the briar. I sand with each pad (9 in total) and group them by threes for ease of reference. I wipe the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and check the briar. I love seeing the developing shine on the briar as I move through the pads which is why I include so many photos of this step. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the finish on the bowl and shank. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. 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 light sandblast finish looks very good and has a real touch of beauty. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I dry sanded both sides of the stem with 1500-12000 grit pads to polish it further. I wiped it down with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. Though I know that it does not do much with the acrylic I find that it still adds depth to the final shine on the stem which grew deeper with each sanding pad. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I wiped the stem down with some Obsidian Oil afterwards and buffed it with a soft microfiber cloth. I took the Savinelli Sistina 606 Bent Billiard to wax and polish. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond polish on the wheel to polish out the scratches in the acrylic. I gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax on the wheel and then buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The contrast of the dark understain on the briar brings out the grain and the medium brown stain looks excellent with the shine of the polished acrylic stem is quite stunning. The rich finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and gives the pipe an incredible presence. The Savinelli Sistina Bent Billiard is a beautiful pipe and one that will be a great smoking pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below with each of the stems. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the large pipe is a light and comfortable 53 grams/1.87 ounces. This is a great looking Bent Billiard. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section. If you want to add it to your rack let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. Cheers.

Restoring a Stubby Italian Made Savinelli Pocket 106 Billiard with a Filter Stem

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen to work on is a nice looking smooth black and brown Billiard with a thin silver band/adornment on the acrylic stem that I picked up in a lot of 10 pipes from a fellow on Vancouver Island who was selling his collection. The stamping on the left side of the shank reads Savinelli [over] Pocket. On the right side it was stamped with the Savinelli Shield followed by the shape number 106 [over] Italy. The thin silver band on the stem has no stamping. The acrylic taper stem has a stamped silver Savinelli S shield. The pipe is a nice looking dark finish. It is short, light weight and comfortable to hold. I picked up the pipe and turned it over in my hands. It was in good condition.

This is what I saw when I over the pipe.

The finish was very good with only some light dust and grime ground into the finish around the bowl sides. The dark brown/black stain is dull but the it really highlights the grain around the bowl sides and shank
The smooth rim top looked very good with some spots on the inner bevel and the out edge where the finish had lightened. There was no lava build on the top and the edges were clean and undamaged.
There was a light cake in the bowl. It held the aroma of the tobaccos smoked in it – fortunately not aromatic. The walls looked to be undamaged but once I removed the light cake I could confirm that.
The band on the stem is silver in colour and looks to be good condition. It is undamaged and clean. The thin band looks really good with the finish on the bowl and the acrylic taper stem.
The acrylic taper stem has a silver Savinelli Shield logo stamped on the topside that identifies it as a Savinelli pipe. It is in excellent condition with just some light tooth chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button.

To summarize what I saw – this Savinelli Pocket 106 Billiard is a well made pipe. It is a little dusty but otherwise in good condition. The acrylic stem is lightly marked but otherwise undamaged. The tenon has a converter taking it from a 9mm to a 6mm stem. There does not appear to be any calcification on the stem surface. The look and feel of the pipe in the hand is great. It is going to clean up very well. Here are photos of the pipe before I started my clean up. The bowl of the pipe looked very good. The rim top is clean does not seem to have any damage to the smooth finish. The edges of the bowl were undamaged and looked very good. I see no warning signs in the rim top or the edges of the bowl. I took photos of the stem to show the condition of each one. Though hard to see there are light tooth chatter on the surface of both sides ahead of the button but it should clean up easily with sandpaper.The next photo captures the stamping on the shank. It read as I have noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of it to give a sense of proportion.Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. I started my work on the pipe by cleaning the internals. The cake was quite thin but it can hold residual oils from previous tobaccos and I wanted to check the bowl walls for burn damage or checking. I reamed it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife and took the cake back to bare briar. I sanded the walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I worked on them until they were smooth. There was no checking or burn damage to the bowl walls. It was quite clean. I cleaned out the internals of the shank and the airway in the stem with 99% isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I worked them over until they were clean. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I choose to dry sand the briar rather than wet sand it. Again it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer to use the pads dry and find they work very well on the briar. I sand with each pad (9 in total) and group them by threes for ease of reference. I wipe the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and check the briar. I love seeing the developing shine on the briar as I move through the pads which is why I include so many photos of this step. I used a Walnut stain pen to touch up the faded spots on the rim top and edges. I set it aside to let the stain cure. It matched the rest of the stain on the bowl top and sides. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the finish on the bowl and shank. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. 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 light sandblast finish looks very good and has a real touch of beauty. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I dry sanded both sides of the stem with 1500-12000 grit pads to polish it further. I wiped it down with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. Though I know that it does not do much with the acrylic I find that it still adds depth to the final shine on the stem which grew deeper with each sanding pad. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I wiped the stem down with some Obsidian Oil afterwards and buffed it with a soft microfiber cloth. I took the Savinelli Pocket 106 Billiard to wax and polish. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond polish on the wheel to polish out the scratches in the acrylic. I gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax on the wheel and then buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The contrast of the dark stain on the briar with the shine of the polished acrylic stem is quite stunning. The rich finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable. The Savinelli Pocket 106 Billiard is a beautiful pipe and one that will be a great smoking pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below with each of the stems. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the small pipe is a light and comfortable 35 grams/1.23 ounces. This is a great looking Savinelli Pocket Billiard. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section. If you want to add it to your rack let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. Cheers.

Restoring a Black Falcon Base with a Meerschaum Bowl and a Dental Bit

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen to work on is a nice looking Meerschaum Bowl Black Falcon with a a vulcanite dental bit stem that I picked up in a lot of 10 pipes from a fellow on Vancouver Island who was selling his collection. The stamping on a heel of the bowl reads Falcon [over] Made in [over] England. The vulcanite dental taper stem has a stamped Falcon logo on the topside. The pipe is a nice looking Meerschaum. It is light weight and comfortable to hold. I brought pipe to the work desk and turned it over in my hands. It was in good condition.

This is what I saw when I examined it.

The finish on the smooth meerschaum was very good with a light patina developing around the rim top of the bowl. The fit and finish on the bowl and stem is very good.
The smooth rim top looked very good with some light patina developing. There was no lava build on the top and the edges were clean and undamaged.
There was no cake in the bowl. It held the aroma of the tobaccos smoked in it – fortunately not aromatic. My guess is that when I remove the bowl from the base that will be solved. The walls looked to be undamaged but once I removed the light cake I could confirm that.
The bowl sits snug in the base with no gaps or signs of leakage around the joint.
The vulcanite dental bit has a Falcon stamped on top that identifies it as a Falcon pipe. It is in excellent condition with no tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside ahead of the button.

To summarize what I saw – the Black Falcon Meerschaum Bowled pipe is in excellent condition. It is a little dusty but otherwise looks good. The vulcanite dental bit is clean and no marks are on the ridges of the bit. The look and feel of the pipe in the hand is great. It is going to clean up very well. Here are photos of the pipe before I started my clean up. The bowl of the pipe looked very good. The rim top is clean does not seem to have any damage to the smooth finish. The edges of the bowl were undamaged and looked very good. I took photos of the stem to show the condition of each one. Though hard to see there was light tooth chatter on the surface of both sides ahead of the button but it should clean up easily with micromesh pads.The next photo captures the stamping a smooth patch on the underside of the base. It read as I have noted above. I took a photo of the logo on the topside of the stem as well.I removed the bowl from the base and took some photos. There was a pipe cleaner ring in the bottom of the base that was used as a Falcon filter ring. It absorbed the tars and oils from the smoke. It was stiff and dirty. The base underneath is also dirty.I took photos of the bowl to show the condition. The top looked very good in the photos and it has some developing patina. There were no nicks or scratches in the meerschaum bowl – top, sides or base. The base is quite unique and not one I had seen before. There was a nylon threaded ring around the meerschaum end. Around the top of the nylon base there was a rubber “O-ring”. I took photos of the base. The painted black base and shank is clean and undamaged. Like other Falcons I have worked on the stem is pressed into place and is not easily removable. It looks to be in good condition.I used a dental pick to remove the pipe cleaner ring from the bottom of the base. Once it was out of the bowl you can see the oils and debris in the base. I cleaned it out with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I used pipe cleaners to clean out the shank and the stem. I polished the meerschaum rim top and bowl sides with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the meer down after each sanding pad using a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. It took on a rich shine. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. It was new so it only needed to be polished. 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. I took the Black Falcon with a Meerschaum bowl to wax and polish. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the scratches in the acrylic. I gave the bowl and stem several coats of carnauba wax on the wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The contrast of the natural colour of the meerschaum bowl with the shine of the polished black base and stem is stunning. The smooth finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and gives the pipe a beautiful look. The Falcon Meerschaum is a nice looking pipe and one that will be a great smoking pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below with each of the stems. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the large pipe is a light and comfortable 35 grams/1.23 ounces. It is an interesting Freehand that I wish I could learn more about but as it is it should be a fun smoke. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Makers Section. 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.

Restemming and Restoring an Unsmoked 1951 Linz Handcarved Freehand Sitter Bowl

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Blog by Steve Laug

I still remember the day that Jeff called me from an antique shop on the Oregon coast and showed me the next pipe on the table. It was such a unique pipe, a carved bowl with oak leaves around the sides and bark like carving around those. He showed me the pipe. It was different and it was missing a stem. There was a brass semi circle ring on the back of the shank for holding a cord. The bowl was quite small, about the diameter of my little finger. The mortise and the airway into the shank is tapered like a Peterson’s System pipe. It is stamped on the foot of the shank and reads LINZ and above that 1951. I don’t know if Linz is the name of the carver but I assume so. The date 1951 is the year it was made. I was intrigued enough that I told him to grab it and bring home. When Irene and I went to visit Jeff and his wife Sherry in Oregon I picked up the pipes and brought it home with me. Here is what I saw when I looked at it.

1. It is definitely hand carved and is hard wood. I wonder if it is briar. The bowl sides, top and bottom are rusticated and on the sides of the bowl and the shield shield of the bowl there are some oak leaves.
2. The rim top and shank end are also carved. The rim top is smooth and the shank end is carved with geometric lines and marks.
3. The bowl was unsmoked for sure but it was quite small. The diameter is about ½ inch. The shank was drilled conically similar to a Petersons System Pipe.
4. The left corner of the shank end sitter was chipped and missing a chunk that will need to be cleaned up and smoothed out and recurved to match the rest.
5. There is a brass ring on the back side of the shank that I think probably held a decorative cord that was attached to the stem.

I would need to find a stem that would work. I could probably used a cherry wood piece like that used on Black Forest Tyrolean. I took photos of the bowl and rim top showing the interesting carving on the front of the bowl. The oval rim top and light edge on the front of the bowl look great. The shank end of the bowl is also well carved. It has a hatch pattern and a groove from the bottom up the shank end. It also included a brass ring for connecting a cord between the stem and the bowl. The lower left hand corner of the shank base was chipped and damaged. It will need to be repaired and recurved to set the base even.On the base of the shank/the foot the pipe was stamped LINZ and the year 1951 was above that. It is clear and readable. I am wondering if the name was a personal carver’s name and the year 1951 was certainly the year the pipe was made.I picked out a stem from my can of stems. It is a Peterson’s P-Lip clone that fits the shank very well. The airway comes out on the end of the stem though rather than on the top. It looks very good. I took a photo of the bowl with the newly fitted stem. I started my work on the bowl by rebuilding the chipped portion on the shank base. I rebuilt it with clear CA glue and briar dust. I layered it in place with dental spatula and shaped it at the same time. Once I had enough layers built up I used a wire brush to clean up the surface of the wood. I flattened it out with a filing stick. I sanded it and smoothed out the shape to look good. I like the overall look of the repair. I took a photo of the bowl and the new stem to give a sense of the look of the parts. I think that the stem would work very well.I used Cherry Stain pen to touch up the repair on the shank end/base. The stain matched quite well and when the bowl was polished it would match even better.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the smooth rim and the rusticated finish on the bowl and shank. I worked it into the surface of the wood 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. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. It was new so it only needed to be polished. 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. I took the Linz Hand Carved Freehand bowl to wax and polish. I don’t buff the rusticated bowl on the wheel as it leaves a lot of grit in the deep grooves of the finish. I gave the bowl and shank multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush to raise the shine. The wax is great protection and I love using it on sandblast finishes because it does not build up in the grooves and valleys like carnauba wax does. I buffed it by hand with a microfiber cloth to finish the shine. I polished the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the scratches in the acrylic. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The contrast of the natural colour of the wood with the shine of the polished stem is stunning. The rich rusticated finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and gives the pipe an incredible tactile presence. The Linz Freehand is a nice looking pipe and one that will be a great smoking pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below with each of the stems. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 7 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ x 2 inches, Chamber diameter: 5/8 of an inch. The weight of the large pipe is a light and comfortable 85 grams/2.96 ounces. It is an interesting Freehand that I wish I could learn more about but as it is it should be a fun smoke. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the American Pipe Makers Section. 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.

Restemming and Restoring a Brigham Voyageur 165 Bent Acorn

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is another that the Vancouver pipe man dropped off for me to work on for him. It was stamped Brigham Voyageur 165 and had a mixed finish of smooth top and rusticated bowl and shank. It is a Bent Acorn that was finished in a brown stain. It needed restoration on the bowl which was moderately caked and the shank was dirty. It also needed new stem as the current push stem was chewed and broken at the button. It was another pipe that I had previously repaired for him back in 2017. At that point it needed had done a complete restoration and fitted a regular push stem as requested. It had a thick cake at that point as well and was well used. The original stem had nylon Brigham system tenon that was broken as well. Here is the link to that restoration. (https://rebornpipes.com/2017/04/02/restemming-and-reconditioning-a-brigham-voyageur-165/). Here are some photos of the pipe when he picked it up in 2017 to give a bit for context for my work. When I took the pipe out of the bag of pipes he brought for me to work on it last evening this is what I saw. The finish on the briar looked very good. It was dirty but the colour had stayed true. It had a bit of patina on the bowl but it was beautiful. The bowl had a moderate cake and the airway in the shank was dirty. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had a large chunk of vulcanite missing on the underside. I took photos of the rim top and the thick cake in the bowl to show how it looked. There was also tobacco debris on the walls. The rim top had some darkening and there were nicks around the inner edge of the bowl. It will clean up pretty well. The photos of the stem show the condition of the stem. You can see the tooth marks and chatter under the calcification on the stem surface.I took a photo of the stamping on the smooth panel on the left side of the shank. You can see it is clear and readable and reads as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank to give a sense of the flow of the pipe.Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. I started my work on the pipe by cleaning and reaming the bowl The cake was quite thick but it can hold residual oils from previous tobaccos and I wanted to check the bowl walls for burn damage or checking. I reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer to cut cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the remnants of the cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife. I sanded the walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I worked on them until they were smooth. There was no checking or burn damage to the bowl walls. It was quite clean. I cleaned out the internals with 99% isopropyl alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I worked over the shank and the airway in the stem. It took some work but once finished it was clean and smelled fresh.I polished the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It took on a real shine by the time I finished with the last sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the smooth rim and the rusticated finish on the bowl and shank. 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. Now it was time to deal with the replacement stem. I went through my can of stems and found an interesting bent taper vulcanite stem that was a perfect fit. It was a 6 dot Brigham stem that someone had cut off to be a push stem. It would not hold a filter so it was relegated to my can. Since the pipeman wanted a replacement push stem I would be able to modify it to work perfectly. Because the modified Brigham stem was made for the Hardrock Maple filter it was a wide open draw. I used a piece of Delrin tubing to make a converter to fit in the tenon and change it to a regular bore. I used a Dremel and sanding drum to reduce the diameter of the Delrin so that it would fit into the tenon. It worked well as can be seen in the second photo below. It is longer than necessary in the photos below but I cut it and shaped the end like other converters that have been used on Savinelli pipes.I build up the damage to the button edge on the top and the marks in the top and underside of the stem with black CA rubberized glue. Once it had cured I used a small file to recut the button edged and flattened the repairs. I smoothed out the repairs and worked on the stem diameter at the shank with 220 grit sandpaper to get a good seat. I started polishing the stem with 600 grit wet dry sand paper. 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.I took the Brigham Voyageur 165 Bent Acorn bowl to wax and polish. I don’t buff the rusticated bowl on the wheel as it leaves a lot of grit in the deep grooves of the finis. I gave the bowl and shank multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush to raise the shine. The wax is great protection and I love using it on sandblast finishes because it does not build up in the grooves and valleys like carnauba wax does. I buffed it by hand with a microfiber cloth to finish the shine. I polished the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the scratches in the acrylic. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The contrast of the dark stain on the briar with the shine of the polished acrylic stem is quite stunning. The rich sandblast finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and gives the pipe an incredible tactile presence. The Brigham Voyageur Bent Acorn is a nice looking pipe and one that will be a great smoking pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below with each of the stems. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the large pipe is a light and comfortable 51 grams/1.80 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and the fourth of the five pipes left with me for work. Once I am finished with the lot 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.

Restoring a Beautiful Stanwell Relief 12 Sandblast Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen to work on is a nice looking sandblast black and brown Billiard with a thin silver band/adornment and an acrylic stem that I picked up in a lot of 10 pipes from a fellow on Vancouver Island who was selling his collection. The stamping on a smooth patch on the underside of the shank reads Stanwell [over] Relief in script. The shape number 12 is on the right side of the stamp toward the top of the smooth panel. The thin silver band on the shank has stamping. The acrylic taper stem has a silver Stanwell Crown S inlaid. The pipe is a nice looking sandblast. It is light weight and comfortable to hold. The pipe came in a pipe sock stamped with a horse and carriage in an oval [over] Stanwell. I took the pipe out of the sock and turned it over in my hands. It was in good condition.This is what I saw when I took it out of the pipe sock.

The finish was very good with only some light dust in the grain around the bowl side. The dark brown/black stain is dull but the it really highlights the grain around the bowl sides and shank
The smooth rim top looked very good with some light darkening but not much. There was no lava build on the top and the edges were clean and undamaged.
There was a light cake in the bowl. It held the aroma of the tobaccos smoked in it – fortunately not aromatic. The walls looked to be undamaged but once I removed the light cake I could confirm that.
The band is silver and looks to be good condition. It is undamaged and clean. The thin band looks really good with the “Relief” finish and the smooth rim top.
The acrylic taper stem has a silver Crown S logo that identifies it as a Stanwell pipe. It is in excellent condition with just some light tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside ahead of the button.

To summarize what I saw – this Stanwell Relief Sandblast 12 Billiard is a well made pipe. It is a little dusty but otherwise in good condition. The acrylic stem is lightly marked but otherwise undamaged. There does not appear to be any calcification on the stem surface. The look and feel of the pipe in the hand is great. It is going to clean up very well. Here are photos of the pipe before I started my clean up. The bowl of the pipe looked very good. The rim top is clean does not seem to have any damage to the smooth finish. The edges of the bowl were undamaged and looked very good. I see no warning signs in the rim top or the edges of the bowl. I took photos of the stem to show the condition of each one. Though hard to see there are light tooth marks and chatter on the surface of both sides ahead of the button but it should clean up easily with sandpaper.The next photo captures the stamping a smooth patch on the underside of the shank. It read as I have noted above. I took a photo of the logo on the left side of the stem as well. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of it to give a sense of proportion.Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. I started my work on the pipe by cleaning the internals. The cake was quite thin but it can hold residual oils from previous tobaccos and I wanted to check the bowl walls for burn damage or checking. I reamed it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife and took the cake back to bare briar. I sanded the walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I worked on them until they were smooth. There was no checking or burn damage to the bowl walls. It was quite clean. I cleaned out the internals of the shank and the airway in the stem with 99% isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I worked them over until they were clean. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the rusticated finish on the bowl and 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 rings around bowl cap. 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 light sandblast finish looks very good and has a real touch of beauty. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I dry sanded both sides of the stem with 1500-12000 grit pads to polish it further. I wiped it down with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. Though I know that it does not do much with the acrylic I find that it still adds depth to the final shine on the stem which grew deeper with each sanding pad. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I wiped the stem down with some Obsidian Oil afterwards and buffed it with a soft microfiber cloth. I took the Stanwell Relief 12 Sandblast Billiard bowl to wax and polish. I don’t buff the sandblast bowl on the wheel as it leaves a lot of grit in the deep grooves of the finis. I gave the bowl and shank multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush to raise the shine. The wax is great protection and I love using it on sandblast finishes because it does not build up in the grooves and valleys like carnauba wax does. I buffed it by hand with a microfiber cloth to finish the shine. I polished the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the scratches in the acrylic. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The contrast of the dark stain on the briar with the shine of the polished acrylic stem is quite stunning. The rich sandblast finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and gives the pipe an incredible tactile presence. The Stanwell Relief 12 Sandblast Billiard is a beautiful pipe and one that will be a great smoking pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below with each of the stems. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the large pipe is a light and comfortable 46 grams/1.62 ounces. This is a great looking Stanwell Relief 12 Billiard. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipe Makers Section. If you want to add it to your rack let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. Cheers.

Restoring a Lightly Smoked Peterson’s Donegal Rocky 150 Straight Bulldog with 2 stems

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen to work on is a nice looking rusticated reddish brown straight Bulldog with a silver band/adornment and a P-lip and a Standard vulcanite stem that I picked up in a lot of 10 pipes from a fellow on Vancouver Island who was selling his collection. The stamping on a smooth patch on the underside of the shank reads Peterson’s [arched over] of Dublin [over] Donegal [over] Rocky [over] the shape number 150. The silver band on the shank is stamped Peterson [arched over] P [over] of Dublin. The pair of vulcanite saddle stems have no stamping or marks. The pipe is a nice looking rusticated one. It is light weight and comfortable to hold. The pipe came in a pipe sock stamped Peterson of Dublin. I took the pipe out of the sock and turned it over in my hands. It was in good condition.This is what I saw when I took it out of the pipe sock.

The finish was dusty in the grooves and valleys of the rustication. Otherwise it looked very good.
The rusticated rim top looked very good other than the grime in the sandblast. There was no lava build on the top and the edges were clean and undamaged.
There was a light cake in the bowl. It held the aroma of the tobaccos smoked in it – fortunately not aromatic. The walls looked to be undamaged but once I removed the light cake I could confirm that.
The band is silver coloured and the stamping is very clear. I don’t think that it is silver more probably nickel. It is undamaged and clean.
The two vulcanite saddle stem had no identifying logos or stamping. There was light tooth chatter and marks on both sides of both stems.
The P-lip stem does not fit correctly in the shank. The tenon is too large to fit into the shank of the pipe clearly.

To summarize what I saw – this Peterson’s of Dublin Donegal Rocky 150 Bulldog is a well made pipe. It is dusty but otherwise in good condition. The two stems are lightly marked but otherwise undamaged. There does not appear to be any oxidation or calcification on the stem surface. The look and feel of the pipe in the hand is great. It is going to clean up very well. Here are photos of the pipe before I started my clean up. The first four photos show it with the standard fishtail stem. I took a photo of the pipe with the P-Lip style stem and the way it fit in the shank. The tenon was large at the back half of the tenon at the stem junction. I sanded the tenon with so a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to reduce it for a snug fit.I put the stem on the shank and took photos of the pipe with the P-Lip stem. I like the way it looks better with this stem! The bowl of the pipe looked very good. The rusticated rim top is clean does not seem to have any debris in the rustication. The edges of the bowl were undamaged and looked very good. I see no warning signs in the rim top or the edges of the bowl. I took photos of the stems to show the condition of each one. Though hard to see there are light tooth marks and chatter on both pipes on the surface of both sides ahead of the button but it should clean up easily with sandpaper. The next photo captures the stamping on the left underside of the diamond shank. They read as I have noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of it to give a sense of proportion. Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. I started my work on the pipe by cleaning the internals. The cake was quite thin but it can hold residual oils from previous tobaccos and I wanted to check the bowl walls for burn damage or checking. I reamed it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife and took the cake back to bare briar. I sanded the walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I worked on them until they were smooth. There was no checking or burn damage to the bowl walls. It was quite clean.I cleaned out the internals of the shank and the airway in the stem with 99% isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I worked them over until they were clean. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the rusticated finish on the bowl and 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 rings around bowl cap. 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 Donegal Rocky finish looks very good and has a real touch of beauty. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stems. I sanded out the tooth marks and chatter with 220 grit sandpaper. I started polishing it with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. The stems certainly looked much better. I dry sanded both sides of the stems with 1500-12000 grit pads to polish it further. I wiped them down with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. The shine grew deeper with each sanding pad. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I wiped the stem down with some Obsidian Oil afterwards and buffed it with a soft microfiber cloth. I put the Peterson’s Donegal Rocky 150 Straight Bulldog back together. I don’t buff the rusticated bowl on the wheel as it leaves a lot of grit in the deep grooves of the finis. I gave the bowl and shank multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush to raise the shine. The wax is great protection and I love using it on sandblast finishes because it does not build up in the grooves and valleys like carnauba wax does. I buffed it by hand with a microfiber cloth to finish the shine.I polished the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the scratches in the acrylic. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The contrast of the browns and reds of the stain on the briar with the shine of the polished vulcanite stems is quite stunning. The rich rusticated finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and gives the pipe an incredible tactile presence. I polished the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the scratches in the acrylic. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The contrast of the browns and reds of the stain on the briar with the shine of the polished vulcanite stems is quite stunning. The rich rusticated finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and gives the pipe an incredible tactile presence. The Peterson’s Donegal Rocky 150 Bulldog is a beautiful pipe and one that will be a great smoking pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below with each of the stems. The dimensions of the pipe with the P-Lip stem are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the large pipe is a light and comfortable 45 grams/1.62 ounces. The dimensions of the pipe with the fishtail stem are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the large pipe is a light and comfortable 47 grams/1.66 ounces. This is a great looking Peterson’s Donnegal Rocky pipe. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you want to add it to your rack let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. Cheers.