Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to me from Robert, a friend here in Vancouver. Robert’s brother picked it up for him on his journey’s in upstate New York, USA. He dropped it by yesterday for restoration. The pipe is an elegant squat Bulldog with a tight rusticated finish that looks a lot like a sandblast. It is very well done. On the underside of the heel and shank it is stamped with the John Redman [over] London Made. That is followed by Special in script [over] Best Briar. The stain is a mix of browns that makes the rustication look multidimensional even with the grime ground into the finish. It was very dirty with dust and debris in the grooves of the rustication. There was a thick cake in the bowl and the rim top and edges look to be in good condition. The stem was oxidized and there were light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. The stem had a JR stamped in white on the top left side of the diamond taper. I took photos of the pipe before I started working on it. I include those below.  I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the condition of both. It was thickly caked and the rim top and edges look very good. I took photos of both the top and underside of the stem showing the oxidation and tooth marks on the stem surface and button.The stamping on the underside of the shank is clear and readable as noted above. The JR stamp on the left topside of the diamond stem is slightly faded but still deep enough to be readable. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts of the pipe. It is a beauty.I have a copy of a John Redman Leaflet on the blog and have included the link and the cover below. It is an interesting read. Here is the link (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/02/04/john-redman-leaflet/).I have also included a link to a previous blog that I have written on a John Redman apple that I restored (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/10/26/new-life-for-a-john-redman-root-grain-apple/). I quote below:

I did a search on Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-j3.html#johnredman) and looked for the specific stem logo – JR. The pipe I am working on is stamped like the third one below in the screen capture. It read John Redman over London Made followed by Special over Best Briar. The JR logo on the stem is shown in the screen capture of the section below.Armed with the facts that I knew what was dealing with and it was time to get back to work on the pipe. I started my work on the pipe by reaming the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer to take the cake back to bare walls. I followed that by using a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to scrape back the remnants of the cake back to briar. I finished my cleanup of the walls by sanding it with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I cleaned the internals of the pipe with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. I used them to clean out the tars and oils in the airway in the shank and the stem. I also cleaned the inside and the outside of the aluminum inner tube that was in the tenon.I scrubbed the grime and oils off the briar on the smooth, plateau and rusticated portions of the briar with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. The briar looked much cleaner. I worked over the grime and tars on the rim top at the same time and was able to remove much of the build up. The bowl is beginning to take on a fresh look.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the finish of the bowl, rim top and shank with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I find that the balm really makes the briar come alive again. The contrasts in the layers of stain and the separate finishes really made the grain stand out. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The bowl really looks good at this point. I set it aside and worked on the stem. I set aside the bowl and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed the stem down with Soft Scrub All-purpose Cleaner to remove the oxidation. I touched up the stamping on the stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I worked it into the stamping with the brush/applicator to cover the stamp clearly. Once it cured I sanded it off with a 1500 grit micromesh sanding 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. Once again, I am at the part of the restoration that I always look forward to – the moment when all the pieces are put back together. I put the pipe back together and lightly buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond. I buffed the stem with a heavier touch with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax 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. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the rusticated finish and the black vulcanite taper stem. This richly stained John Redman London Made Special Best Briar Squat Bulldog is light weight and ready for Robert to load up a tobacco of preference and enjoy breaking it in for himself. Have a look at it in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 1/4 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 30 grams/1.06 ounces. I will be calling Robert so he can pick it up and enjoy it. 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 the next generation.