by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that Jeff picked up from a pipe lot in Nampa, Idaho, USA in November of 2023 for so it has been sitting here almost a year. It is a Bent Billiard with a mix of rusticated and smooth finishes. The smooth portions are carved like water coming down from the rim top and up from the underside of the shank and shank end. The stem is a fancy saddle that looks very good. The stamping on the underside of the shank is in a circle read Nording Made in Denmark. The stem has a Nording “N” clearly stamped in gold on the top side. There was some dust in the rusticated portions of the finish and general dullness on the smooth portions of the bowl. I am not convinced the pipe has been smoked or if it has been it is very lightly smoked. The bowl coating is still present in a portion of the bowl and the rest is scraped off and bare briar. The fit of the stem in the shank was smooth and flawless. The stem was vulcanite and it was lightly oxidized but there were not tooth marks or chatter on either side of the stem. Jeff took the following photos of the pipe before he did a clean up. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the lack of cake in the bowl and the remnants of the bowl coating. The smooth rim top looked very good with no damage or scratching. He took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the light oxidation and the lack of tooth marks or chatter. It is a pretty clean looking stem. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish. You can see the well done shape and the interesting combination of finishes on the bowl and shank. It looked very good. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above. The honey coloured finish and black rustication looks good.I turned first to Pipephil to get a quick review of the brand (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-n2.html). The pipe was carved by Erik Nording. Nording is a prolific carver who continues to make pipes and sell them globally. The screen capture below shows a Nording with stamping like the one I am working on. The one here is lacking the shape number in the middle of the circle but otherwise it is the same.I then turned to Pipedia to have a look at the history of the Nording brand and see if there were any pipes like the one in hand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%B8rding). The history was worth a read, though there were no photos of the pipe that I had.

With the information I learned in the above articles I had the background on the pipe. Now it was time to work on it.

I am really happy to have Jeff’s help on cleaning up the pipes that we pick up along the way. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks much better and the rim top was actually very visible and it looked good. There were also remnants of varnish or shellac on the exterior of the bowl (more on the right than front and left side).  Jeff scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub All Purpose Cleaner to remove the majority of the grime. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver it looked very good. I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. The rim top looked very good and the rustication on the sides was clean. I took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the surface and button. The stem was very clean on both sides with some light oxidation. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable.  I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe. It is a good looking pipe and has an interesting finish on the bowl and shank.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and I polished the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. It is fun to come to end of the restoration of the Nording Mixed Finish Danish Bent Billiard. It turned out to be a nice-looking pipe. The finish came alive with the work I had done on it. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the shiny black vulcanite saddle stem. It really was beautiful. This Nording Bent Billiard is nice looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions 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 52grams/1.83ounces. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon put on the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe trustees who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next pipeman or woman.