Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I am working on was purchased a year ago on 01/26/2023 as part of a group of pipes from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark. This was another dirty pipe but underneath it had some astonishingly beautiful grain. It was obviously it had been someone’s favourite smoker. The pipe was stamped on the left side of the shank that reads Stanwell [over] Royal [over] Prince. On the right side of the shank it was stamped with the shape number 51. The dirty finish was not able to hide the beauty in the grime. There were tars and oils ground into the surface of the briar. The bowl had a very thick cake that flowed over the top of the rim in a heavy lava coat. The inner edge looked to be in good condition and showed lava and darkening. The stem was a black vulcanite taper stem stamped with a faded white crown S on the left side. It had some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was some oxidation and calcification on both sides but it had a lot of potential. Jeff took photos of the pipes before he started his clean up work. Jeff took photos of the rim and bowl to show the heavy cake and heavy lava coat covering the rim top. The inner edge of the rim is caked but appears to be in good condition. It really was a dirty pipe but still a beauty. He also took photos of the stem surfaces to show its overall condition when it arrived. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowls show some beautiful grain around the bowl and shank sides. The brown stain on the briar adds depth to the finish on the pipe and makes the grain really stand out. It shows some promise. He also took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. It reads as noted above. He also took a photo of the Crown S stamp on the left side of the stem. I did some searching on Google and found a pipe very much like the pipe that I am working on  Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/danish-estates-stanwell-royal-prince-51-pre2010-unsmoked–6544361942508713/). It gives a great description of the 51 Billiard in the Royal Prince line. I quote it below.

A beautiful little classic Billiard from Stanwell, this “51” shape features a lot of iconic Danish cues — like the lower-set waistline of the bowl, the slight sweeping motion of the transition, and the clean, minimalist lines of the shank and stem. The chamber proportions are perfect for a bit of folded flake or some pure Virginias, and the flame grain on this Royal Prince edition is stunning.

Jeff cleaned up the pipe for me. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned it up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to clean off the grime off the finish and the overflow of lava on the rim top. The cleaning had removed the grime on the rim top. He cleaned up the internals of the shank, mortise and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove all of the oils and tars in the pipe. He soaked the stem in Briarvilles Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and was able to remove much of the oxidation, calcification. When it arrived here in Vancouver it was a clean pipe and I knew what I had to work with. I took photos of it before I started my part of the restoration. I took a photo of the rim top and the stem to show their condition once it arrived in Canada. Jeff was able to clean up the cake and the lava overflow that was shown in the rim and bowl photos above. The rim top and the inner edge of the bowl looked very good. The stem looked better, though there were light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. I took photos of the stamping on the shank sides to show that it was readable and undamaged by the cleanup work. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of what the pipe looks like. I started my work on the pipe by polishing the briar with micromesh because it was in such good condition. I polished it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. 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 briar really comes alive with the balm. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. The upper portion of the stem was in good condition so I started with touching up the white crown S stamp on the left side of the stem. I used white acrylic fingernail polish to rework the stamping. I applied it with the brush that came with it and when it dried scraped off the excess and polished it off with a 2000 grit sanding pad. I started working on polishing the stem with my 320-2500 grit sanding pads. I was able to remove the scratches and light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. It looked much better at this point in the process.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. This beautifully grained Danish Made Stanwell Royal Prince 51 Billiard with a taper vulcanite stem turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the great grain around the bowl sides and bottom. The rim top and edges look very good. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and 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 Stanwell Royal Prince 51 Billiard is very nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 34 grams/1.20 ounces. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store, in the Danish Pipe Makers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time.

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 pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.