Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I am working on was purchased on 01/26/2023 as part of a group of pipes from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark. This was a beautiful and a dirty pipe with a lot of wear and tear and obviously it had been someone’s favourite smoker. The Liverpool shaped pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Stanwell [over] Flame Grain. On the right side of the shank it is stamped with a 97 shape number. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Made in Denmark. The dirty smooth finish was not able to hide the beauty of the grain around the bowl and shank. 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 smooth rim in a spotty lava coat. The inner edge was heavily coated with lava at the back of the bowl so it is hard to assess its condition. The stem was a black vulcanite taper stem with an inlaid Gold Crown S. It had some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. Jeff took photos of the rim and bowl to show the heavy cake and the lava on the rim top. The inner edge looked good but was caked at the back of the rim so it was not possible to know with certainty the 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 finish on the pipe and makes the grain really stand out on the bowl and shank. He also took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and reads as noted above. I knew that the Flame Grain line was toward the top of the Stanwell hierarchy but was not sure where. I turned to PipePhil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html) to see what I could learn. The site had a Flame Grain but it was much older than the one that I am working on. The stamping is different and mine is not stamped Hand-Made so it really did not help clarify things much.I cannot find anything definitive on any of the sites on the internet however most agree that the Flame Grain series pipes display beautiful flame grain around the bowl underneath a gorgeous, light contrast stain. I guess it does not hurt to state the obvious, eh? So now it is time to work on the pipe itself.

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 any remaining grime on the surface and inside. The vulcanite taper stem had a Brass Crown S Stanwell logo on the left side. 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. 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 both looked very good. The stem had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank 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. The pipe looked so good that I started my work by polishing the smooth rim top and bowl with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The pipe began to take on a rich shine and grain was beginning to stand out. I sanded with all of the pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a soft cloth. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it in with my fingers to get it into the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. It is a beautiful bowl. I used the sanding pads I purchased recently – 320-3500 grit regular pads to smooth out the finish and remove the light tooth and chatter marks in the stem. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil to finish the preliminary work after the 3500 grit pad.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 the stem 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.I put the stem back on the Stanwell Flame Grain Made in Denmark 97 Liverpool and took it to the buffer. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the vulcanite. Blue Diamond does a great job on the smaller scratches that remain in both. I gave the bowl and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. I am amazed at how well it turned out. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is a beautiful Stanwell Flame Grain Liverpool 97 – the vulcanite taper stem and smooth finish combine to give the pipe a great look. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inch, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.34 ounces/38 grams. This is another pipe that I will be putting on the rebornpipes online store in the Danish Pipe Pipemaking Companies Section shortly, if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this beauty!

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.