Nice job. I find that working on the lesser known ones like you are doing lately is like going to school to hone the skills. Thanks John
Written and photographed by John M. Young The 1940s pipe restoration marathon continues. This time with another lesser known maker that found to be…
A Van Roy Bard Selected Grain Restoration
Blog by Steve Laug
The next pipes I am working on were purchased on 01/26/2023 as part of a group of pipes from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark. There both expectedly dirty and obviously they had been someone’s favourite smokers. The pipes are both stamped on the topside of the shank and read Stanwell [over] Made in Denmark [over] RM96. The RM96 stamp had me a bit mystified though I figured it was probably made for a smoking competition thanks to Jesper’s previous help. I would need to check that out. On the straight grain pipe (#1), 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 heavy lava coat in spots around the bowl. The inner edge was so heavily coated in those spots that it was hard to assess its condition. The stem was a black vulcanite saddle stem with a brass Crown S logo stamp. It had some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. On the mixed grain one (#2) the finish was about the same – dirty and covered with grime and oils ground into the bowl surface. There was a thick cake in the bowl and the lava coat on the rim top was heavier than on #1. The stem had matching tooth marks to #1 making me think it was probably from the same owner. Jeff took photos of the pipes before he started his clean up work.
PIPE #1
PIPE #2 
Jeff took photos of the rim and bowl of both pipes to show the heavy cake and heavy lava coat covering the rim top. The inner edge of the rim on both was so thickly caked that it was not possible to know with certainty the condition. They really were dirty pipes but still were beauties. He also took photos of the stem surfaces to show its overall condition when they arrived.
PIPE #1
PIPE #2
The photos of the sides and heel of the bowls show some beautiful grain around the bowl and shank sides. Pipe #1 has some great straight grain around the bowl and shank. Pipe #2 has a mix of birds eye, flame and swirled grain. The brown stain on both pipes adds depth to the finish on the pipes and makes the grain really stand out on the bowl and shank.
PIPE #1
PIPE #2
He also took photos of the stamping on the topside of the shanks. It is clear on both pipes and reads as noted above. You can also see the inlaid brass Crown S on the top of the saddle stems in the photos.
PIPE #1
PIPE #2
I decided before I started my work on the pipe to try and unravel the stamping on the topside of the shanks on each pipe. I did a Google search of Stanwell RM 96 and got no hits. I changed the search to hunt for a Stanwell Made in Denmark RM 96 still found no information.
I wrote to Jesper Klith on Facebook and asked he could help me out with information. He has been a very willing and knowledgeable help for these special pipes and city pipes. He replied quickly with an answer and an interesting personal note that I have included below.
It’s from my club Randers Pibeklub. The year I became a member and from my 2nd contest haha. I wonder how it ended up in Canada?
So now I knew! The RM 96 stamp was on a Pipe Club pipe (both of them in this case) and meant Randers Pibeklub. The pipes were made to be used in the competition and was also a commemorative piece. Now it was time to start my work on the pipes.
Jeff did his usual clean up on the two pipes. He reamed the bowls with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned them 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 tops. The cleaning had removed the grime on the rim tops. He cleaned up the internals of the shank, mortise and stem of both pipes with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove all of the oils and tars in the pipe. He soaked the vulcanite stems in Briarvilles Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and was able to remove any remaining grime on the surface and inside. The fit of the stems to the shanks looked great and the brass Crown S logo shone on each. When they arrived here in Vancouver they were clean pipes and I knew what I had to work with. I took photos of them before I started my part of the restoration. Please note that though they seem to show a size variation they are identical. The variation is caused by the angle of the camera. 
I took photos of the rim tops and the stems 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 on both looked very good but there seemed to be light damage and darkening to the top and inner edge of the bowl. The stem looked better, though there were light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. 
I took a photo of the stamping on the top of the shank on each pipe 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 pipes looked so good that I started my work by polishing the smooth rim top and bowl on both of them 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 used a horsehair shoe brush to work it into the sand blast. 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 set the bowl aside and worked on the stem at this point in the process. I polished the light tooth marks on the surface of both stems with the new regular grit sanding pads I purchased. I used 320-3500 grit sanding pads. They looked significantly better at this point.
I polished light tooth marks and chatter out of 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 stems back on the beautiful pair of Stanwell RM 96 Oval Shank Saddle Billiard 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. These are beautiful Stanwell Randers Pibeklub 96 Club Pipes – the vulcanite saddle stems and smooth finish combine to give the pipes a great look. The dimensions of Pipe #1 are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inch, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.16 ounces/34 grams. The dimensions of Pipe #2 are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inch, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.16 ounces/34 grams. I will be putting these pipes on the rebornpipes online store in the Danish Pipe Pipemaking Companies Section shortly, if you are interested in adding one or both of them 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.
Pipe #1
Pipe #2
Blog by Steve Laug
In the fall I received an email from a reader of the blog about a pipe she had questions about. She sent me photos of the pipe and the Diamond P logo on the metal rim cap and shank band. The band and the cap were polished brass. I did some looking and could not find anything that narrowed down the maker of the pipe. I wrote her back and offered to purchase the pipe from her. She sold it to me and shipped it to my brother Jeff. The base of the bowl is made out of Redmanol or Bakelite. The liner of the bowl held in by the brass rim cap is clay. The airway is in the bottom of the bowl and there is a chamber below that that feeds the smoke into the airway in the stem. The stem is also Bakelite and has tooth chatter on both sides ahead of the stem. Here are the photos she sent me of the pipe.
The next two photos show the Diamond P stamp on the band and the rim cap. 
Jeff took photos of the pipe when he received it in the mail. This was another dirty pipe with a lot of wear and tear. I love seeing those old uniques smoked so much. It is a good sign that it was a good smoker. The pipe has no stamping on the Bakelite shank or the bowl. The Brass rim top had a Diamond P on the front of the cap and on the right side of the brass band on the shank. I would need to check that out. The brass was oxidized is spot on both the rim and the band. The band had been bent somewhere along the way and would need to be flattened. The golden yellow Bakelite base was dirty and the you could see the grime in nicks on the surface. The bowl had a thick cake that flowed over the top of the smooth rim in a lava coat in spots around the bowl. The inner edge was also heavily coated in those spots that it was hard to assess its condition. The rim top seemed to be dented on the top surface and edges. The stem was a golden yellow Bakelite saddle stem that had oils that darkened and obscured the airway from the place where the stem hits the band through the airway in the button. It had some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipes before he started his clean up work.
He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of both. The tars/lava coat on the rim top is thick and needs to be removed. The cake in the bowl is quite thick and the airway in the bottom of the bowl seems to be plugged. He also captured the tooth marks in the surface of the stem on both sides ahead of the button.
He took photos of the bowl sides and heel of the bowl to capture the colour and the shape. You can also see the oxidation and wear on the brass rim cap and band.
Jeff sent photos of the logo on the right side of the band as well as a Patent stamp on the shank side that I had not seen in my earlier correspondence on this pipe.
I did a Google search and came upon this summary of the patent along with Patent application including descriptions in detail and drawings of the bowl and the insert inside as well as how it is held in place (https://patents.google.com/patent/US1542838A/en?oq=US+Patent+1542838). It is an interesting piece that seems to come from the period of 1921-1942. It appears that the application was granted in 1925. Here is the summary in full.
Inventor
Current Assignee
REISS PREMIER PIPE Co
REISS-PREMIER PIPE Co
Worldwide applications
1921 US
Application US434480A events
1921-01-03
Application filed by REISS PREMIER PIPE Co
1921-01-03
1925-06-23
Application granted
1925-06-23
1942-06-23
Anticipated expiration
Status
Expired – Lifetime
There was also a note on the summary that I have included below.
A24F1/22 – Tobacco pipes with arrangements for cleaning or cooling the smoke with arrangements for cooling by air, e.g. pipes with double walls.
With that new information, thanks to the patent number, I know what I am dealing with. It is an old timer – potential from the 1920s. The outer bowl is Redmanol or Bakelite and the inner bowl is clay. The rim cap has a cork gasket and is slid or pressed on to the top of the bowl. It was definitely a part of the ongoing search for a cooler and drier smoke. Now it was time to work on it.
From that information I had a couple of other things to check out. I wanted to see if there was a link for the Diamond P logo on the metal on the pipe and I wanted to learn more about Reiss-Premier Corp. I turned to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-r3.html) and looked for the logo. Interestingly it took me to a listing under the Redmanol name and a link to Reiss-Premier Corp as well. I have done a screen capture of the section on the site and have included it and the side bar information below.
Redmanol is not exactly a pipe brand but the name of a synthetic material, a phenol-formaldehyde resin very close to Bakelite, first developed in 1907 by Leo Hendrik Baekeland. Redmanol and also Condensite were competitors to Bakelite. The courts found that Redmanol and Condensite both infringed on Baekeland’s patents, and in 1922 the three companies merged as the “Bakelite Company”.
I next turned to Pipedia to look up information on the Reiss-Premier Corp and see what I could learn there (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Reiss-Premier_Co.). I have included a photo of their building in New York and the brief article from Pipedia below. The interesting point for me is that the original company was in Chicago and founded in 1922 by the merger of two companies. It is in that time frame that this Redmanol pipe was made.
The Reiss-Premier Corporation was founded on June 22, 1940 in New York as the successor to the Reiss-Premier Pipe Company of Chicago. That company was in turn founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1922 by Jacob D. Burger, again as a successor company to two former pipemaking concerns, Reiss Brothers of Chicago and Premier Briar Pipe Company. The company was located in the south half of the fifth floor at 32 to 40 South Clinton Street in Chicago. Four years later, in 1926 Reiss-Premier Pipe Co. was issued a trademark for the term “Drinkless”, made famous on so many Kaywoodie pipes, and for which they used the slogan “You can’t get a drink from a drinkless pipe”.
In August of 1926, Reiss-Premier Pipe Co. purchased Kaufmann Bros. & Bondy and a year later the Kaywoodie pipes began to sport the Drinkless stinger. By 1928 Reiss-Premier had moved their production to Union City, New Jersey, and in December of that year were granted a patent for a cigarette and cigar holder. The following month the company moved again, purchasing the factory building of Paul G. Mehlin & Sons, piano manufacturers and taking over a part of that four story building.
After Reiss-Premier Pipe Co. became Reiss-Premier Corporation they continued to innovate, and in 1947 trademarked the “Synchro Stem” system used on decades of Kaywoodie pipes.
The Reiss-Premier Corporation was purchased in March of 1955 by S.M. Frank but remains an active corporation in the state of New York.
Now it was time to work on the pipe. Jeff carefully reamed the bowl 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 brass rim cap. The cleaning had removed the grime on the rim top. He mentioned he could not remove the stem but he cleaned up the internals of the pipe as best he could with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove all of the oils and tars in the pipe. The inside of the stem was very clean. He scrubbed the stem surface with Soft Scrub to remove the grime and oils that were on it. The fit of the stem to the shank was very good, snug enough that Jeff was uncomfortable trying to remove it. It was hard to know if the tenon was friction fit or threaded with a pipe this old. 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 very clean with the oxidation and lava gone. There were a lot of dents and nicks in the surface and the outer edge of the bowl that told a story of its journey. The stem looked much better with a clean airway in the stem. The tars and oils that had been there are gone. There were tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. 
I took photos of the patent number stamp and the Diamond P logos on the metal of the band and the rim cap. They are all in good condition and readable as noted above.
I carefully wiggled the stem and figured out it was not threaded. I slowly turned it free of the shank to find that the tenon was metal. The shank and the tenon were very clean so Jeff had been successful in his clean up even without removing the stem. I ran several pipe cleaners through the mortise and the tenon and they came out spotless other than removing dust from those areas. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the tenon and the look of the parts. It is a great looking little pipe.
I started my work on the pipe by addressing the nicks and scratches in the brass rim cap and shank band. I polished them with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping them down after each sanding pad. While I could not remove them all I was able to smooth them out significantly.
Jeff’s clean up on the bowl and base had been excellent and I gave it a quick buff with a soft cloth and it was finished.
I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem at this point in the process. I filled in the tooth marks on the surface with clear CA glue. Once the repairs cured I smoothed them out with 2 inch sanding pads – dry sanding with 320-3500 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad.
I polished light tooth marks and chatter out of 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 Redmanol System Pipe with a Clay insert bowl and a Redmanol stem Made for Reiss-Premier and took it to the buffer. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the acrylic. 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 Redmanol System Pipe – the Redmanol saddle stem and smooth finish combine to give the pipe a great look. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 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 2.08 ounces/59 grams. This is a pipe that I will be hanging onto for my own collection of odd old timers. 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.
I am a fan of LHS pipes and that is a nice one. Good work
Written and photographed by John M. Young Well my interest in late 1940s pipes has yet to subside. Although there are a couple of samples that are …
A Ludwig and Hugo Stern (LHS) Sculptured Purex Dublin
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.
Blog by Steve Laug
The next pipe is one that Jeff and I picked up at an antique shop in Bozeman, Montana, USD on 10/28/2017. It is another pipe that has been in my box of pipes to work on for a very long time. The pipe was similar to the Stanwell Vario Finish with sandblast finish around the bowl and shank and a smooth panel on the left and right sides of the bowl and a smooth inner edge on the mixed finish rim top. The stamping on the bowl is readable. On the underside of the shank it reads 992, the shape number [followed by] Royal Danish in script [over] Made in Denmark. The shape is quite unique and beautiful with great grain on the smooth panels and deep sandblast grooves around the bowl sides. The briar is very dirty with grime and oils in the grooves of the sandblast and on the smooth panels. The rim top and inner and outer edges showed darkening and wear. The vulcanite saddle stem was stamped with a Royal Danish Crown logo on the topside. The stem was oxidized and had some deep tooth marks on the top and underside and on the button surface itself. Jeff took photos of the pipe to show you what it looked like before he started his cleanup.
Jeff took photos of the bowl and stem. The bowl had a thick cake on the walls and overflowing onto the rim top and edges. It was thickly caked as well and hard to assess its condition. The airway in the shank and stem were dirty with tars and oils. The vulcanite stem was oxidized and calcified on both sides of the stem. There were deep tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button and on the button surface itself.
He took photos of the grain on the smooth panels and the depth of the blast around the bowl and the shank. The grain was quite beautiful and the ruggedness of the blast is quite stunning.
He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank and it was clear and readable as noted above. He also took a photo of the logo stamp on the top of the stem.
Regardless of when this specific briar was made, the shape is very much a 1960s Danish one. I turned to Pipephil’s site and quickly scanned the article on Stanwell getting a great overview of the history. I went through the photos and did not find the shape of the pipe that I was working on (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-r6.html). There was one that showed the mixed finish of the Royal Danish line – sandblast with smooth patches on each side of the bowl. I have included a screen capture of that section below.
I then turned to Pipedia and found that the Royal Danish was also listed as a second or a sub-brand made by Stanwell (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell#Sub-brands_.2F_Seconds). I have included the list of seconds from the site below. I have highlighted the Royal Danish in blue in the text.
Sub-brands / Seconds – Bijou (discontinued), Danish Quaint, Danish Sovereign, Danske Club, Henley (discontinued), Kong Christian (discontinued), Majestic, Reddish (discontinued), Royal Danish, Royal Guard, Royal Sovereign, Sailor (discontinued), Scandia, Sorn (discontinued), Svendson.
There was also an interesting advertising page on the Danish Briars by Stanwell. The first one on the list was the Royal Danish. The description of the line is clear and concise, be sure to read it below.
I followed one of the links at the end of the site to an article on rebornpipes written by Bas Stevens on the shape numbers and the designers who originally carved those shapes for Stanwell (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). The Royal Danish line adds a 9 before the 92 making the number 992. I quote from it as it specifically refers to the shape 92 as being a design by Sixten Ivarsson.
I have also included the information on the shape 91 and 91 R as referred to in the quote above.
I now knew that the shape 992 was another Sixteen Ivarsson design. It was a flattened volcano that was nicknamed the Ukulele. It is an interesting shape. Now it was time to work on the pipe.
Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the smooth bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the rim top and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in a bath of Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. 
I took a close up photo of the rim top and stem surface to show the condition after the clean up. The bowl was in good condition though the rim top showed some damage toward the front of the bowl. It was worn and had some darkening at the front. The stem surface showed the tooth marks on both sides. They were quite deep on the surface and on the button edge itself.
The stamping on the shank was readable as noted above. The stem had a Danish Royal Crown logo on the top of the saddle. I took the stem off the pipe and took a photo of the pipe in proportion. It is a beautiful pipe.
Now it was time to work on the pipe. I started by using a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inwardly bevelled edge and clean up the darkening and damage to both. It was significantly better when I started. I used a Walnut stain pen to touch up the sanded rim top and inner edge of the bowl. 
I polished the smooth portion of the bowl sides and the inner edge of the rim with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. The smooth portions and bevelled inner edge looked much better at this point. 
I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm working it into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on.
I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed the surface down with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation from the surface and particularly from the deep tooth marks on the stem.
I “painted” the tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button with the flame of the lighter. I was able to lift them significantly but there were still tooth marks left in the edge of the button and on the surface. I filled in the remaining marks with black CA glue. I set it aside to cure overnight.
In the morning I used a small file to recut the edge of the button and to flatten the repairs on the surface of the stem. I smoothed out the repairs further with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It was starting to look better.
I touched up the stamping in the vulcanite on the top of the saddle portion of the stem. I used white acrylic fingernail polish to rewhiten the Crown on the top of the saddle. Once it hardened I sanded it with 320 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with Obisidian Oil and set it aside.
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 finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. 
As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the Sixten Ivarsson design Stanwell Royal Danish Made in Denmark 992 Ukulele back together and it is a beauty. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. 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 grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl. This Royal Danish 992 Ukulele/ Volcano was a great pipe to spruce up. It is a very comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 38 grams/1.34 ounces. I will be putting this pipe on the Danish Pipe Making Companies Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by email or message. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.
Blog by Steve Laug
The next pipe is one that Jeff and I picked up off eBay way back on 04/19/2016. It is another pipe that has been in my box of pipes to work on for a very long time. The pipe, like the previous 992 was similar to the Stanwell Vario Finish with sandblast finish around the bowl and shank and a smooth panel on the left and right sides of the bowl. The stamping on the bowl is readable. On the underside of the shank it reads 992, the shape number [followed by] Royal Danish in script [over] Made in Denmark. The shape is quite unique and beautiful with great grain on the smooth panels and deep sandblast grooves around the bowl sides. The sandblast and on the smooth panels looked very good. The rim top and inner edges were in great condition. The vulcanite saddle stem was lacking the Royal Danish logo on the topside. The stem was heavily oxidized and had some tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem. Jeff took very few photos of the pipe in these early days but the one below shows you what it looked like before he started his cleanup.
Jeff took a photo of the bowl and rim top. The bowl had been reamed somewhere along the way and the bowl was quite clean. It also seemed to be quite clean on the finish as well. The vulcanite stem was heavily oxidized on both sides of the stem. There were tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took a close up of the rim and bowl and the topside of the stem.
Regardless of when this specific briar was made, the shape is very much a 1960s Danish one. I turned to Pipephil’s site and quickly scanned the article on Stanwell getting a great overview of the history. I went through the photos and did not find the shape of the pipe that I was working on (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-r6.html). There was one that showed the mixed finish of the Royal Danish line – sandblast with smooth patches on each side of the bowl. I have included a screen capture of that section below.I then turned to Pipedia and found that the Royal Danish was also listed as a second or a sub-brand made by Stanwell (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell#Sub-brands_.2F_Seconds). I have included the list of seconds from the site below. I have highlighted the Royal Danish in blue in the text.
Sub-brands / Seconds – Bijou (discontinued), Danish Quaint, Danish Sovereign, Danske Club, Henley (discontinued), Kong Christian (discontinued), Majestic, Reddish (discontinued), Royal Danish, Royal Guard, Royal Sovereign, Sailor (discontinued), Scandia, Sorn (discontinued), Svendson.
There was also an interesting advertising page on the Danish Briars by Stanwell. The first one on the list was the Royal Danish. The description of the line is clear and concise, be sure to read it below.I followed one of the links at the end of the site to an article on rebornpipes written by Bas Stevens on the shape numbers and the designers who originally carved those shapes for Stanwell (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). The Royal Danish line adds a 9 before the 92 making the number 992. I quote from it as it specifically refers to the shape 92 as being a design by Sixten Ivarsson.
I have also included the information on the shape 91 and 91 R as referred to in the quote above.
I now knew that the shape 992 was another Sixteen Ivarsson design. It was a flattened volcano that was nicknamed the Ukulele. It is an interesting shape. Now it was time to work on the pipe.
Jeff had cleaned up the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the rim top and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. This was in the early years when Jeff did not do his now very thorough clean up. The stem was still very oxidized. I took photos of the pipe when it arrived. 
I took a close up photo of the rim top and stem surface to show the condition when I started my work on it. The bowl was in good condition though the rim top showed some damage toward the front of the bowl. It was worn and had some darkening at the front. The stem surface showed the tooth marks on both sides. They were quite deep on the surface and on the button edge itself.
The stamping on the shank was readable as noted above. The stem did not have the Danish Royal Crown logo on the top of the saddle. I took the stem off the pipe and took a photo of the pipe in proportion. It is a beautiful pipe.
Now it was time to work on the pipe. I polished the smooth panels on the bowl sides with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. 
I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm working it into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on.
I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed the surface down with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation from the surface and particularly from the deep tooth marks on the stem.
I “painted” the tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button with the flame of the lighter. I was able to lift them significantly but there were still tooth marks left in the edge of the button and on the surface. I filled in the remaining marks with black CA glue. I set it aside to cure overnight.
In the morning I used a small file to recut the edge of the button and to flatten the repairs on the surface of the stem. I smoothed out the repairs further with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It was starting to look better.
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 finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry.
As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the Sixten Ivarsson design Stanwell Royal Danish Made in Denmark 992 Ukulele back together and it is a beauty. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. 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 grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl. This Royal Danish 992 Ukulele was a great pipe to spruce up. It is a very comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 40 grams/1.41 ounces. I will be putting this pipe on the Danish Pipe Making Companies Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by email or message. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.
Blog by Steve Laug
The next pipe is one that is another intriguing one to me for multiple reasons. Neither Jeff or I have any memory of finding it or trading for it. It has been in my box of pipes to work on for a very long time but I have no sense of when or where I got it. It had been reamed but not cleaned or sanitized. The stamping on it is readable. On the topside of the shank it reads Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 969-48 [over] Hand Made. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Selected Briar [over] the shape number 13 [over] Made in Denmark. The shape is quite unique and beautiful with great grain around the bowl sides. The shape 13 was a Sixten Ivarsson design called a Pear. The briar is very dirty and faded. The rim top and inner and outer edges are covered with darkening and tars. The vulcanite saddle stem was stamped with a Crown S logo on the topside and on the underside with the words Hand Cut. The stem was oxidized and has some tooth marks on the top and underside and on the button surface itself. I took photos of the pipe to show you what I saw.
The bowl had been reamed recently but it had not been cleaned. The airway in the shank and stem were dirty with tars and oils. The mortise had tars and oils on the walls and the pipe smelled heavily of English tobacco. The vulcanite stem is also dirty on the inside as well as oxidized on both sides of the stem. There were tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button and on the button surface itself.
I took a photo of the stamping on the top and the underside of the shank. It was stamped as noted above and was clear and readable on both sides. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the parts.
At this point I started my cleanup on it. I worked over the top and the inner and outer edges of the bowl with a 320 grit sanding pad. I worked to remove the darkening and lava on the bowl surfaces. It was looking much better.
I cleaned out the internals of the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I was able to remove the tars and oils and once finished the smell of the pipe was much cleaner.
I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I used 1500-12000 grit pads to dry sand the briar around the bowl and shank. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. By the end the briar began to take on a real shine.
I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horse hair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on.
I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button with the flame of the lighter. I was able to lift them significantly but there were still tooth marks left in the edge of the button and on the surface. I filled in the remaining marks with black CA glue. I set it aside to cure overnight. 
In the morning I used a small file to recut the edge of the button and to flatten the repairs on the surface of the stem. I smoothed out the repairs further with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It was starting to look better.
I paused in the polishing process to touch up the stamping in the vulcanite on the top and underside of the saddle portion of the stem. I used white acrylic fingernail polish to rewhiten the Crown S on the top and the Hand Cut on the underside. Once it hardened I sanded it with 320 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with Obisidian Oil and set it aside.
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 finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. 
As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the Sixten Ivarsson design Stanwell Selected Briar Hand Made in Denmark 13 Pear with a Regd. No. back together and it is a beauty. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. 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 grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl. This Stanwell Select Briar 13 Pear was a great pipe to spruce up. It is a very comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 44 grams/1.59 ounces. I will be putting this pipe on the Danish Pipe Making Companies Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by email or message. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.
Blog by Steve Laug
The next pipe is one that is very intriguing to me for multiple reasons. First, neither Jeff or I have any memory of finding it or trading for it. It has been in my box of pipes to work on for a very long time but I have no sense of when or where I got it. It had been reamed but not cleaned or sanitized. Second, the stamping on it was strange in that all it said was MADE IN DENMARK. There were no other marks, faint or otherwise on either the stem or the shank. So, we had no hint as to the maker. I do know that I have worked on a few other pipes with the same stamping. Third, the shape which I call a Danish Bulldog or Rhodesian is different. It has some smooth panels (almost smooth) on both sides of the shank above the carved band. The sandblast is quite deep and rugged and it is a pretty looking pipe. I took photos of the pipe to show you what I saw.
I mentioned above the pipe had been reamed recently but it had not been cleaned. The airway in the shank and stem were dirty with tars and oils. The mortise had tars and oils on the walls and the pipe smelled heavily of English tobacco. The vulcanite stem is also dirty on the inside as well as oxidized on both sides of the stem. There was light tooth chatter on both sides but the top and underside were unmarked by tooth damage.
I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It was stamped Made in Denmark as noted above and there was no other stamping visible on the shank or stem. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the parts.
At this point I started at the beginning of the cleanup on it. I worked over the sandblast rim top with a brass bristle wire brush to knock off the grime in blast. It looked better but there was more to do on this one.
I cleaned out the internals of the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I was able to remove the tars and oils and once finished the smell of the pipe was much cleaner. 
I scrubbed the externals of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I was able to clean out the grime in the sandblast finish and the oils left from the pipe smoker’s hands. I cleaned out the ring around the bowl at the same time as it was a fairly deep groove. I rinsed off the pipe with warm water to remove the debris in the soap.
I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horse hair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on.
I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. 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 finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry.
As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the Made in Denmark Bulldog back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. 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 grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl. This Made in Denmark Bulldog was a great pipe to spruce up. It is a very comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe 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 pipe is 41 grams/1.45 ounces. I will be putting this pipe on the Danish Pipe Making Companies Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by email or message. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.
Blog by Steve Laug
The next pipe I have chosen to work on is a Peterson’s Sterling X86 Apple. The pipe belongs to a fellow in Texas that I have restored pipes for in the past. He contacted me a few weeks ago about this pipe and asked it I would work on it for him. I said yes, he shipped it and I received it yesterday. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [over] Sterling. On the right side it is stamped with the shape number X86 next to the bowl/shank junction and behind that near the band it is stamped Made in Ireland in a circle with “in” centred in the circle around the stamp. It has a Sterling Silver band around the shank that is stamped K&P in three shields [over] Sterling [over] Silver [over] Peterson [over] Dublin. It is lightly tarnished and oxidized. The bowl had a moderate cake but the rim top and inner edge were clean with no damage. The outer edge looked to be in good condition. The finish on the bowl was dirty with oils around the sides and shank but the mixed grain was quite nice. The stem was lightly oxidized and has very light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. It should clean up very well. I took photos of the pipe before I started working on it. 
I took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl has a moderate cake with a hard layer of carbon on the chamber surface. You can see the excess glue squeezed out from under the band leaving behind some shiny, dried glue on the shank ahead of the band. The stem looks quite good with a little bit of oxidation on the surface and light tooth marks and chatter on both sides.
I took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe under the grime on the outside of the bowl. 
I took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. I also took a photo of the band. 
I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to try to capture the overall look and proportion of the pipe. It is a beauty.
I checked on Pipephil’s website to see what I could learn about the stamping on the pipe. I found the following information that I quote:
The country of manufacture stamp changed from “Made in Eire” to “Made in Ireland” (In circle) about 1945. Later (1947-49) it became “MADE IN IRELAND” (block letters) stamped in one or two lines (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-peterson.html).
I turned to Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes to see what I could garner from that information. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson#1950_-_1989_The_Republic_Era). In a section on
Prior to 1920 it was rare for a country of origin to be stamped on the pipe, just Peterson’s Dublin on the band. After 1921/22 if it is stamped “MADE IN IRELAND” and the “Made in” is stacked over “Ireland” or “MADE IN EIRE” or several other forms, it was made between 1922 and 1938. A considerable number of Peterson pipes were stamped “Irish Free State”. From about 1930 to 1949, most of the pipes (those which were stamped) were stamped “Made in Ireland”.” If the stamp reads “MADE IN IRELAND” in a circle, the pipe was made between 1939 and 1948. These are all “prerepublic” pipes.
I then turned to the book I should have consulted first, The Peterson Pipe, by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg. On page 155 I found some information on the line.
Peterson’s US distributor during the early Republic era was Rogers Imports, Inc., a New York firm whose catalogs offered all varieties of smoker’s products. Rogers was the exclusive wholesale dealer for several prominent European pipe manufacturers, they also marketed accessories under their own name. On behalf of Kapp & Peterson they registered the Killarney, Shamrock and Sterling trademarks with the US Patent Office in the 1950s, and their catalogs also featured the System, Premier Selection and Supreme.
On page 156-157 in the same book there is a catalogue page with the Sterling shown on it. It sold for $7.50 in 1953. It read:
As the name implies the Sterling quality of this fine pipe is distinguished in a careful selection of its fine Mediterranean Bruyere, its careful workmanship and sparkling finish. Banded with a Sterling Silver band – a Hallmark of quality – the pipe is available in a handsome natural or dark rich walnut finish. Patent P-lip stem. Individually boxed.
With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping on the pipe. It is a Pre-republic era pipe. The Made in Ireland stamped in a circle on the right side of the shank tells me it was made between 1922-1938.
Now, on to the restoration of this beautifully grained Peterson’s Sterling 406 Prince. I began the work by reaming the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. I scraped out what remained with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the walls of the bowl with a piece of dowel wrapped with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth the out. The walls looked to be in excellent condition with no checking or heat damage.
I scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. I worked on the bevelled inner edge to try to remove the darkening and was able to remove some.
I scrubbed off the excess glue behind the silver band on the shank with a folded pipe cleaner and some acetone to remove the glue.
I scrubbed the inside of the mortise and shank along with the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. The pipe was looking better than when it arrived. 
I decided to start the process by addressing the damage on the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to sand the top and to clean up the darkening and the damage on the edge. It was still slightly present on the front of the bowl but looked much better.
I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl surface down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. Once I finished the exterior of the briar looked much better and had taken on a shine. 
I paused sanding the rim top after the 2400 grit micromesh pad and used a Cherry stain pen to touch up the rim top to match the rest of the pipe.
I went back to the micromesh sanding pads – starting with the 3200 grit pad and working my way through the 15000 grit pad.
I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on.
I polished the silver band on the shank with a jewelers cloth to remove the existing oxidation and tarnish and to protect the band from further tarnish. It looks so much better than when I started.
I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. 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 – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil.
I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. 
As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the Made In Ireland Peterson’s Sterling X86 Apple back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. 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. I polished the silver with a jeweler’s cloth. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl. This Peterson’s Sterling 86X Apple was a great pipe to spruce up. It is a very comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe 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 pipe is 43 grams/1.55 ounces. This pipe will be going back to my friend for him to enjoy. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.
rebornpipes 