Monthly Archives: March 2025

Marshall Field & Co (Comoys) Author Restoration

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By Al Jones

One of my favorite British shapes is the 256 Author made by Comoy’s. I’ve owned several of this shape, including some seconds lines. This Marshall Field & Co made pipe caught my eye on eBay. We have seen another Marshall Field & Co. pipe on these pages in the past. This one is the Field DeLuxe grade. It has a Marshall Field logo on the stem and a signature on the shank.

Marshall Field & Company was a large retail department store that originated in Chicago. They were owned by for a short time in the 1980’s by British-American Tobacco group but later sold to Target and eventually Macy’s in 2005. They had catalogs like Sears, but I was unable to find one showing their pipes.

This example is definitely made by Comoy’s, from the distinctive 256 shape and stamp and the Comoy’s country-of-manufacture stamp (COM) . The pipe as delivered was in very good condition and appeared to have been lightly smoked. There were some teeth pricks on the stem, a very light cake in the bowl and a heavily oxidized stem. The Made In London, England COM was used from the 1950’s to the merger point in 1981.

I removed the oxidation from the stem with 600, 800, 1,500 and 2,000 grade wet sandpaper. I used a Magic Eraser pad around the shield stem logo. The stem was then buffed with White Diamond rouge and Meguiars Plastic Polish.

I buffed the briar lightly with White Diamond, then several coats of Carnuba wax. The bowl was soaked with alcohol and sea salt.

Here are the other Comoys 256 shapes that I have owned.

The Guildhall

Lions Head

Comoys Old Bruyere

Selected Straight Grain

And finally pictures of the finished Marshall Field pipe

Restoring a 1923 cased Finest H.G. London Quality Briar Bulldog

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by Steve Laug

One of the things I love about pipe hunting – whether in person in a shop or online at a sale. This is one of those interesting pipes that we picked up on 12/09/2024 from a seller on Facebook Pipe Exchange. It came from Wellsville, Kansas, USA. It is a smooth Bulldog with a Sterling Silver Band on the shank. It is faintly stamped on the top left side of the diamond shank and reads H.G. in an oval [over] London. The silver band is stamped H.G. in a lozenge followed by three hallmarks. The first cartouche holds an anchor which is the mark for Birmingham. The second cartouche holds a rampant lion which is the mark for Sterling Silver. The third cartouche holds a lower case y which gives the date of the pipe. The pipe was in good condition in terms of the finish on the bowl. The bowl had been reamed quite recently and there was some slight checking on the bowl walls. The rim cap was quite clean with some wear around the top and on the inner edge. Otherwise it was a beautiful pipe. There vulcanite saddle stem had light oxidation on the surface and some tooth marks and chatter on the surface. Jeff took photos of the case which bears a stamp that reads Finest Quality Briar in the outer ring of the oval. On the inside of the oval it is stamped H.G. He also took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up to capture the condition of the pipe when it arrived. It is a real beauty. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the damage on the top and inner edge of the bowl. It looks like a combination of burn damage and over reaming damage on the front and back mid bowl. The stem was very dirty with grime and sludge build up from the button forward on both sides of the stem. Jeff captured the smooth finish around the bowl sides of the bulldog and it is stunning. There are twin bands below the rim cap. The bowl shows some great grain. He captured the stamping on the top left side of the shank. The stamping is faint but readable. It read as noted above.  He took a photo of a the silver band on the shank with the hallmarks that I noted above.I did some checking online on Pipedia and Pipephil for the HG brand and could not find anything about the stamping. I did however, find a silver Hallmark chart. I have included that below. I drew a red box around the section that includes the year stamp “y” on the band. It identifies the date as 1923. This is an old timer.Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The bowl walls looked very good. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show how clean it was. The top and the inner edge of the rim show the damage that I mention above. It definitely has burn damage and also reaming damage on the front and back inner edge. The stem looks clean of debris and grime. The tooth marks and chatter are clear in the photos of each side ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the top left side of the shank – it was faint but it read as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank to show the look of the pipe.I set the stem aside and started working on the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the nicks on the inner edge of the bowl and the top of the cap. It was looking better when I finished.I sanded briar bowl with 320-3500 sanding pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It began to look very good. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. The grain of the briar began to shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface with my finger tips. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the wood while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks with the flame of a lighter to lift them. They come up very little. I filled in the remaining two deep marks with black rubberized CA glue and set it aside to cure. I recut the button edge with a small file and sanded the repairs smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I continued to sand the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad. The stem looked better at this point. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding 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. I buffed the stem with a soft cloth to raise the shine. I gave it a final wipe down with Obsidian Oil to protect the stem from UV and slow down future oxidation. I don’t know what it is about finishing a restoration but I have to tell you that it is my favourite part of the process. It is the moment when everything that I have worked on comes together. I can compare it to where I started and there is always satisfaction that it does indeed look better than when we picked it up. As always, I put this Cased 1923 H.G. London Finest Quality Briar Bulldog 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 buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad and hand buffed it to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like along with the polished clear acrylic stem. This 1923 H.G. London Bulldog is a great looking pipe and I am sure that it will be comfortable in hand when smoking as it is light and well balanced for a pipe of this size. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions 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 .92 ounces/26 grams. It is another beautiful pipe and one that will be on the rebornpipes store soon. You can find it in the section of Pipes by British Pipe Makers. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

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.

Restoring a Stanwell S. Bang Designed Sandblasted Horn (205) (9mm)

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by Steve Laug

One of the things I love about Stanwell other than being great smokers is that they were able to draft some of the world-renowned Danish Pipe Carvers to design pipes for them and some how machine their equipment to make the shapes in duplicate. This is one of those interesting pipes that was designed by S. Bang, in other words Per Hansen and Ulf Noltensmeier. It is a sandblast horn that is stamped on the underside of the shank and clearly reads Stanwell [over] Made in Denmark. On the top of the shank it bears a brass oval that is stamped S. Bang. We purchased this pipe on 05/22/2024 from a friend in Denmark. The pipe was in good condition in terms of the finish on the bowl. The bowl had a thick cake on the walls and the rim cap had some lava overflow. The inner edge had lava buildup and also was out of round from either burn damage or reaming damage. Otherwise it was a beautiful pipe. There 9mm acrylic saddle stem was in good condition with light tooth chatter but no deep tooth marks on the surface. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up to capture the condition of the pipe when it arrived. It is a real beauty.He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the damage on the top and inner edge of the bowl. It looks like a combination of burn damage and over reaming damage on the front and back mid bowl. The stem was very dirty with grime and sludge build up from the button forward on both sides of the stem. Jeff captured the sandblast finish around the bowl sides of the horn and it is stunning. There is a smooth rim cap and a smooth band around the shank end. The stamping is on the smooth panel on the underside of the shank end. He captured the stamping on the underside of the shank. The stamping is clear and readable. It read as noted above.  He took a photo of the brass S. Bang emblem on the topside. Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The bowl walls looked very good. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show how clean it was. The top and the inner edge of the rim show the damage that I mention above. It definitely has burn damage and also reaming damage on the front and back inner edge. The stem looks clean of debris and grime. The tooth chatter more or less disappeared with the cleaning.I took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank – it was clear and read as noted above. The second photo below shows the S. Bang logo on the topside. It is also very clear and undamaged.I removed the stem from the shank to show the look of the pipe and to also show the 9mm tenon on the stem.I started working on the pipe by addressing the rim edge and top damage first. I started using a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge and remove the nicks and chips. I topped the rim top lightly on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper.I used a small sphere and a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to work on the inner edge of the bowl. It preserves and cleans up the inner bevel on the rim edge. I used a Mahogany stain pen to touch up the rim edge to match the rest of the rim cap. I polished the rim cap and top with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It looks very good now and the bowl is back in round. The pipe was clean and free of debris. I rubbed the bowl and smooth cap down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips and a horsehair shoebrush to make sure that it covered every square inch of the pipe. I set it aside for 10 minutes to let it do its work. I buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. 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. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I fit the stem with an adapter to convert it from a 9mm tenon to a regular tenon. It is removable so it can be used either way – filter or with the adapter. The adapter is Delrin and slides into the tenon and is held by the ring in the middle.This S. Bang Design Stanwell 205 Horn with a 9mm Acrylic Filter Stem has a beautiful, classic sandblast finish that highlights the grain. The polished black acrylic saddle stem adds to the mix. I fit the saddle stem with an adapter that allows it to be either a 9mm filter stem or a regular stem. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Stanwell Made in Denmark 205 Horn is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.29 ounces/65 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipe Makers Section. If you would like to add it to your rack let me know.

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.

Restoring a Byron Harwood Olivewood Apple Shaped Churchwarden

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe I chose to work on was one that we purchased on 12/28/2024 from as part of an estate that belonged to a pipeman and carver, Byron Harwood from Missoula, Montana, USA. This Olivewood pipe was one of Byron’s own handmade pipes. It is a lovely piece of olivewood that was shaped with an apple bowl that highlighted the grain. The bowl and shank were smooth and highlighted some beautiful grain around the bowl sides and shank. The airway in the mortise and shank are well executed and the draught is very good. The bowl was lightly smoked and there was debris in the bowl. There was some darkening around the inner edge of the bowl and top. The stem is a clear acrylic with spots or bubbles of white that look quite intriguing. It has a great fit to the shank, has been bent to fit the angles of the pipe. The tenon is a white Delrin that is screwed into the stem. The button is fishtail and well finished. The pipe fit well in the hand and had a small bowl but there was a charm to it! Here is what it looked like when Jeff received it. He took some photos of the rim top and bowl from various angles to give me a clear picture of the condition of the rim top and bowl. You can see the light cake in the bowl and the darkening and light lava coat on the inner edge and rim top. He also took photos of the stem. It is dirty and has light tooth chatter on both sides at the button. Jeff took some photos of the sides of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos showed grain around the bowl sides. Under the oils and grime it was a nice looking bowl. It is a large pipe with a smooth rim top and heel. Jeff did his usual thorough job cleaning the pipe which I really appreciate because of the freedom it gives me in dealing with pipes. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and got rid of the cake. He cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife so that we could see the walls of the bowl and assess for damage. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and alcohol. He scrubbed the exterior with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He rinsed the pipe under warm water. He dried it off with a cloth and then let it air dry. The stem was scrubbed with Soft Scrub and had a soak in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. One it was rinsed off, it came out looking very good. The finish on the bowl and the rim top cleaned up nicely. I took pictures of the pipe to show how it looked when I unpacked it. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim top to show how clean the pipe was. The stem looked good just some light tooth chatter and marks near the button. Overall the pipe is a beautiful looking piece.I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts. The stem is long but the pipe is mini Churchwarden.I sanded the olivewood bowl with 320-3500 sanding pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It began to look very good. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. The grain of the olivewood began to shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface with my finger tips. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the wood while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I sanded out the light tooth marks and chatter with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad. The stem looked better at this point. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding 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. I buffed the stem with a soft cloth to raise the shine. I gave it a final wipe down with Obsidian Oil to protect the stem from UV and slow down future oxidation. I don’t know what it is about finishing a restoration but I have to tell you that it is my favourite part of the process. It is the moment when everything that I have worked on comes together. I can compare it to where I started and there is always satisfaction that it does indeed look better than when we picked it up. As always, I put this Byron Harwood Olivewood Mini Churchwarden 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 buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad and hand buffed it to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like along with the polished clear acrylic stem. This Byron Harwood Olivewood Churchwarden is a great looking pipe and I am sure that it will be comfortable in hand when smoking as it is light and well balanced for a pipe of this size. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 7 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 5/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.80 ounces/52 grams. It is another beautiful pipe and one that will be on the rebornpipes store soon. You can find it in the section of Pipes by American Pipe Makers. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

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.

Restoring an A. Curtz 13 Amber Stemmed Churchwarden Sitter

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is a long flat-bottomed pipe with a long amber acrylic stem. We picked the pipe up from a seller in Ogden, Utah, USA on 12/12/2024. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads A. Curtz 13. I had heard about the name in connection with Jeanie’s Smoke Shop in Salt Lake City when I worked on the brand in the past. The finish is deeply rusticated and has some great grain on the top and bottom of the bowl and shank. It was quite dirty but still had a charm about it. The bowl was caked and there was a light lava coat and spots on the top and the inner edge of the rim. The stem was amber acrylic and was a tapered. There were light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem. There was an interesting 2 circle logo on the topside of the taper that looked like a large white circle with an offset red circle inside of it. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up.He took some photos of the rim top and bowl from various angles to give me a clear picture of the condition of the rim top and bowl. You can see the cake in the bowl and the darkening and lava coat. It is hard to tell if there was any damage to the edge at this point. The next two photos show the top and underside of the stem. It is dirty and has calcification on both sides at the button. There is also some tooth chatter and some light tooth marks. The third photo shows the condition of the slot while the final photo shows the curve of the full stem. Jeff took some photos of the sides of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos showed deep rustication around the bowl sides. Under the oils and grime it was a nice looking bowl. It is a large pipe with a smooth rim top and heel.He took some photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. The stamping was clear and readable. My guess at this point is that the “13” is a grade stamp but I will do some digging into that. He also took a photo of the inset dual circle logo on the stem top. To learn a bit more about the brand I turned to Pipephil to see what I could find out (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c8.html). It turns out the pipe was made by an artisan named Arley Curtz who was from Utah. I did a screen capture of the photo and have included that below. I also included the side bar information below the photo.Artisan: “Arley” Curtz, Utah (USA).The stems of the A. Curts pipes are also marked with 2 dots (a red and a white).

I then turned to Pipedia to find out some more dedtail (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Curtz). The information was brief but helpful. I have included that article below.

Arley G. Curtz retired the director of the Bountiful Davis Art Center (Bountiful, Utah) and is now a pipe repairman and pipe maker. He was formerly the pipe repairman at Jeanie’s Smoke Shop, and has been making pipes ever since.

He makes about 70 pipes a year using Greek and Italian briar. His pipes are available at Edward’s Pipe & Tobacco Shop in Denver, CO, at the Tinderbox in Salt Lake City, on the web at The Pipe and Pint, and at Curtz Handmade Pipes and Pipe Repair in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I did a bit more searching to learn more about the repairman/pipe maker. I came across a 2018 article on a site called Utahstories (https://utahstories.com/2018/05/arley-curtz-pipe-making-and-memory-collecting/). The article included a photo of Arley Curtz that I have inserted below. I am also including a short section of the article that makes me want to meet this gentleman.

For Arley Curtz, a pipe is more than just a way to smoke tobacco. It summons up a time when pipe smoking was both acceptable and part of a gentler civility in our culture.

Curtz is a pipe maker and collector of smoking pipes. He has over 300, ranging from simple corn cobs to handmade antiques. Each one has a story. As the smoke from a pipe curls upwards, it allows Curtz a time to pause and reflect. “A pipe,” he says, “is a keeper of memories.”

Just as a pipe cannot be smoked in haste, a handmade pipe requires patience to craft. Curtz forms his pipes from briarwood, which grows in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

I only wish I had found this earlier before I met my brother in Salt Lake City and visited Jeanie’s Smoke Shop. I would have certainly made a point to visit Arley at his own shop and gotten to meet him. Until my next trip to Idaho to visit my Dad and brother I will leave this on my wish list. Now to get on with working on his pipe.

Jeff did his usual thorough job cleaning the pipe which I really appreciate because of the freedom it gives me in dealing with pipes. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and got rid of the cake. He cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife so that we could see the walls of the bowl and assess for damage. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and alcohol. He scrubbed the exterior with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He rinsed the pipe under warm water. He dried it off with a cloth and then let it air dry. The stem was scrubbed with Soft Scrub and had a soak in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. One it was rinsed off, it came out looking very good. The finish on the bowl and the rim top cleaned up nicely. I took pictures of the pipe to show how it looked when I unpacked it. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim top to show how clean the pipe was. There was some spotty varnish on the rim top and darkening on the inner edge of the rim on the back of the bowl. The stem looked good just some light tooth chatter and marks near the button. Overall the pipe is a beautiful looking piece.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It read as noted above. It is very clear and readable. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts. The stem is long but the pipe is really not a full Churchwarden, perhaps it is a mini warden.I decided to address the issues with the rim top first. I worked on the darkening on the inner edge of the rim. I worked over the edge to smooth out the rim edge and remove the darkening.I wiped down the rim top and the heel of the bowl with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the spots of varnish that remained.With the varnish removed a flaw in the heel of the bowl. It was a small flaw that followed the grain mid-bowl. I filled it in with some clear CA glue and set it aside to cure. Once cured I sanded it with 220 girt sandpaper to smooth it our and blend it into the surrounding briar.I sanded the smooth portions of the rim top and the heel of the bowl with 320-3500 sanding pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It began to look very good.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping down the briar after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. The briar began to shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips and a horsehair shoe brush. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I sanded out the light tooth marks and chatter with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad. The stem looked better at this point.  I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding 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. I buffed the stem with a soft cloth to raise the shine. I gave it a final wipe down with Obsidian Oil to protect the stem from UV and slow down future oxidation. I don’t know what it is about finishing a restoration but I have to tell you that it is my favourite part of the process. It is the moment when everything that I have worked on comes together. I can compare it to where I started and there is always satisfaction that it does indeed look better than when we picked it up. As always, I put this A. Curtz 13 Rusticated Churchwarden back together and buffed it 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 and hand buffed it to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like along with the polished amber acrylic stem. This Arley Curtz Rusticated Sitter CW is a great looking pipe and I am sure that it will be comfortable in hand when smoking as it is light and well balanced for a pipe of this size. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 8 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.80 ounces/53 grams. It is another beautiful pipe and one that will be on the rebornpipes store soon. You can find it in the section of Pipes by American Pipe Makers. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

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.

Cleaning up a Dunhill Tanshell Quaint Tomato

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that came to us from the group of pipes that Jeff and I purchased from a seller of an estate collection in Superior, Montana, USA on 12/28/2024. It is another Dunhill sandblast that is in good condition. It is stamped on a smooth panel on the heel of the bowl with the Group size of the pipe 4 in a circle. Underneath is a Dunhill in an oval [over] Tanshell. Under that it is stamped Made in England with the date number 05 after the D in England. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above. The original box bears the label Tanshell 4 QNT. The pipe has a mix of tan and brown stains on a sandblast finish and some amazing grain that the shape follows well. The finish was dusty around the nooks and crannies of the sandblast but otherwise fairly clean. The rim top was in excellent condition with a little darkening around the inner edge. The bowl had a moderate cake and there was lava on the sandblasted rim top or edges. The taper stem was lightly oxidized, dirty and had light chatter ahead of the button. It came with the original double box, a pipe sock and original paperwork that came in the box. Jeff took photos of the pipe to show what it looked like before he started working on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition. There is a moderate cake in the bowl and darkening around the inner edge of the bowl. He also captured the condition of the stem when it arrived. There is a tooth mark on each side ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the beautiful grain in the sandblast around the bowl. It really is a beautiful piece of briar that has a shape that follows the grain. The finish is nice but it also dirty with dust ground into the finish.Jeff took photos of the stamping on the heel of the bowl. It is clear and readable and reads as noted above.One of the first things I like to do is to unpack the stamping and understand each element in it. I turned to Pipephil helpful site (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/tanshell1.html). The stamping is interpreted as follows: The pipe has no shape number on it but the box is stamped with QNT which means QUAINT. The Tanshell stamp refers to the finish. The size of the pipe is given by the 4 in a circle making it a Group 4. The 05 following the D of England gives the date the pipe. Pipephil also has some helpful dating keys on the site that are basically flow charts that you can walk through to date your pipe (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1.html). I turned to Part 1 of the Dating Key and followed the chart. This pipe has a superscript 05 following the D in England. The chart below (column one) instructed me that the pipe could be dated as being made posterior to 1954. I followed the link following the “Your pipe is posterior to 1954. Narrow down your dating”. That took me to Page 2 of the dating key (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1a.html).   The fourth column (suffix 00, 01, 02…) led me to the section with a 0 followed by a number after the D in England that is the raised above the D. It is a 05. There was a directive for dating the pipe spelled out as follows: 2000 + suffix which gives the pipe a date of 2005.I then turned to Pipedia’s section on Dunhill Root Briar to get a bit of background on the Dunhill finishes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Root_Briar). I quote:

Tanshell

The first lot was distributed in 1952 (usually made using Sardinian briar). The prototype was called “Root Shell “, produced in 1951. The Tanshell is a light tan sandblast. Sardinian briar was used for this sandblast. There is a distinct contrast in the sandblasts using Sardinian as opposed to Algerian briar. The Sardinian is much denser and much harder. The resulting pattern, when blasted, is far more even and regular both in terms of the surface texture and the finish.

The TanShell was Dunhill’s fourth finish and its first major post-war line addition. Introduced in 1951/1952 the TanShell was a naturally stained sandblasted pipe made exclusively from Sardinian briar through the 1960s. The TanShell apparently was not simply a light stained Shell but rather was also the product of “certain processes [unrevealed] not previously employed.” Initially, it appears that the pipe was to be named the Root Shell and a stamp to that effect was ordered and received by Dunhill in May 1951. Ultimately, however, the name TanShell was settled upon but the stamp for the TanShell name was not received by Dunhill until the beginning of December. Thus while the Tanshell was in production in 1951 it appears that most if not all TanShells made in that year did not enter into retail distribution until 1952 and were given a 1952 date code. Loring, J. C., The Dunhill Briar Pipe, The Patent Years and After (self-published, Chicago, 1998).

I have also included a chart from the site from Dunhill spelling out the Standard Pipe Finishes and giving short information and a timeline. Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The bowl walls looked very good. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. The photos show the box within the box and the pouch and pipe itself it is a beauty. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show how clean it was. The top and the inner edge of the rim look very good. The stem looks clean of debris and grime. There are two tooth marks – one on each side of the stem ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the heel of the bowl. The stamping is clear and readable. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe. The pipe was in excellent condition with a deep blast around the bowl. It was clean and free of debris. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips and a horsehair shoebrush to make sure that it covered every square inch of the pipe. I set it aside for 10 minutes to let it do its work. I buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the two deep marks on the stem surface with black CA glue. I set it aside to cure. Once cured I smoothed out the repairs with a small file. I sanded it further with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to break up the remaining oxidation. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. It began to look good.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. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. This 2005 Dunhill Tanshell QNT Group 4 Tomato with a Taper Stem has a beautiful, unique Dunhill Sandblast finish that was deep and craggy and crisp. The Tanshell finish highlights some great grain around the bowl and shank through the depths of the blast. It has some great rugged sandblast that Dunhill specialized in making. The polished black vulcanite taper stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Dunhill Tanshell QNT Tomato is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.34 ounces/38 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I have a friend who has the right of first refusal for this pipe. It is totally in his wheelhouse.

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.

Restoring a Strangely, Unique Metal Pipe – a Regal Poker

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by Steve Laug

In the latest box of pipes, I received from Jeff was interesting and somewhat strange Pipe to work on. The pipe on the table has a briar bowl with the shank going through it. The shank has cooling fins and the briar bowl has rustication. It is a shape that I would call a Poker with a crowned rim top and unique rustication pattern. We purchased it on 12/12/24 from a seller in Ogden, Utah, USA. The grain on the smooth portions of this pipe is beautiful on the crowned rim top and the heel of the bowl. It was obviously a favourite of the previous pipeman. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and read Regal. The finish was dirty and worn. There were tars and oils ground into the surface of the briar. The bowl had a moderate cake that flowed over the top of the rim top. There was lava flowing over the inner edge. It was hard to clearly assess the damage to the inner edge. The condition of the rim edge and top would become clear in the cleaning process. The vulcanite fancy saddle stem was oxidized, calcified and there was chatter and heavy tooth marks on the top and the underside of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up on the pipe. You can see the condition and the uniqueness of the pipe in the photos below. Jeff took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a sense of the thickness of the cake and the lava overflow on the rim top. It should clean up well as the edges do not seem damaged. The stem photos also show the tooth chatter and marks on the stem. I think it is vulcanite but I am unsure. He took photos of the rustication around the Poker shaped bowl sides. Both the rim top and heel of the bowl were smooth. The rustication is almost “Tracy Mincer” like in it patter in each groove. It is a unique finish. Jeff took a photo of the stamping on the metal shank Barrel of the pipe. It is readable though the RE are a bit faint. The next two photos show the part of the pipe. It has some unique plumbing. There is a plunger tube not unlike the plunger in Kirstens. However, the end of the plunger has a fitting that serves to close off the shank and has two rubber o-rings around it. It is quite different. The plunger and o-rings are very tarry and grimy.Before I started my clean up work on the pipe I wanted to know more about the brand. I turned to my go to site on metal pipes – Smokingmetal to see if they listed it and what information they gave on it (http://www.smokingmetal.co.uk/pipe.php?page=137). I have included the photos and the information below.

REGAL – Department : METAL STEM & Plug in bowls

Whilst not strictly speaking an easily replaceable bowl pipe, the principle is the same for cooling the smoke, a two cycle radiator stem of machined Dural with cooling vanes. The pipe is cleaned after the manner of the Spiral Kool, i,e, the bit is pulled out and with it comes a plunger with neoprene wedge shaped piston rings, cleaning the cylinder in one movement.

The Sportsman, in the lower image advert is a version that incorporates its own lighter. Jeff had cleaned up the pipe using his usual procedure. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime from around the bowl sides. It looked better but the rim top and outer edge was darkened and burned. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. The stem looked better but there were a lot of tooth marks on both sides were still visible and would need work. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. 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 edges looked very good. The stem looked better, though there were many tooth marks and much chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I removed the stem and plunger and took photos of it from various angles. It is truly unique with the rubber o-rings on the end of the plunger. It is very clean now. The barrel has some darkening and wear on the inside but is clean. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the bowl. I sanded the rim top and inner edge with 320-3500 sanding pads. I wiped the briar down after each sanding pad. By the end it looked very good and the rim top really had some great grain. I polished the bowl sides and the smooth rim top with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh pads. I wiped it down after each pad. It really began to be beautiful. 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 worked it into the plateau on the rim top and shank end with a shoe brush to get deep in the valleys. 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 turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem surface with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the stem.I sanded the stem with the 2 inch square 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the remnants of oxidation on the vulcanite. I wiped down the stem after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I was able to remove the majority of the oxidation on both sides with the pads. The stem looked very good.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 did a final hand polish of 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 further oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. I put the stem and plunger back on the Regal Metal Poker with a rusticated Briar Bowl 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 beautiful smooth finished Regal Metal Poker, the metal barrel, and vulcanite saddle stem combine to give the pipe a great look. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.55 ounces/44 grams. This is another pipe that I will be putting on the rebornpipes online store in the American Pipe Makers and 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.

Restoring a Magnum Sized “Malaga” Custom Carved Freehand

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by Steve Laug

In the latest box of pipes I received from Jeff was a large Malaga Freehand Pipe to work on. The pipe on the table is an interesting Malaga I would call a large Freehand with a plateau finish on the shank end and rim top. We purchased it on 10/23/2024 off eBay from a seller in Madison, Indiana, USA. The grain on the smooth portions of this pipe is beautiful and there are some small rustications on the heel of the bowl and the underside of the shank. It is a pattern of rustication that I have seen before on the Malaga pipes that I have worked on. It was obviously another favourite of the previous pipeman. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and read “MALAGA” [over] Custom Carved. The finish was dirty and worn. There were tars and oils ground into the surface of the briar. The bowl had a moderate cake that flowed over the top of the plateau rim top. There was lava flowing over the edges down the first 1/4 inch of the bowl. It was hard to clearly assess the damage to the inner edge. The condition of the rim edge and top would become clear in the cleaning process. The vulcanite fancy saddle stem was oxidized, calcified and there was chatter and tooth marks on the top and the underside of the stem ahead of the button. I have included photos that the seller provided on the pipe that caught our attention. You can see the condition and the amazing grain around the bowl. When the pipe arrived, it was in pretty much the condition that we expected and as I noted above. Jeff took photos of the pipes before he started his clean up work. It is even bigger in person than in the photos.Jeff took photos of the rim and bowl to show the cake and lava on the rim top and edges. The inner edge of the rim showed thick cake coming up to the top and flowing over the edge. The pipe was a dirty one but still a beauty. The vulcanite fancy saddle stem had tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside of the stem ahead of the button. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl hint at the damage around the bowl sides from the rim top downward. The briar is quite nice all around the pipe. The oil curing/finish makes the grain really stand out on the bowl and shank. Jeff took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It read as noted above “MALAGA” [over]Custom Carved. The stamping was faint but still readable. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the brand, I am also including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/2013/02/09/george-khoubesser-and-malaga-pipes/. That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. If you are interested to learn more then I invite you to follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

I am also am including a link to some printed material on the Malaga brand that came to me from the daughter of George Koch (we purchased George’s pipes from his daughter) to help identify the particular stamping on the pipe. The link takes you to the entire collection of materials that were sent to me (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/02/27/malaga-pipes-catalogue-of-pipes-and-tobaccos/).

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe using his usual procedure. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime from around the bowl sides. It looked better but the rim top and inner edge was darkened. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. The stem looked much better and the light tooth marks on both sides were still visible and would need a little work. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. 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 edges looked very good and the plateau was very clean. The stem looked better, though there were tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the shank to show that the clean up had not damaged it at all. It looked was faint but still readable. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of what the pipe looks like. To try and capture a sense of how large this pipe is I put a Rhodesian next to it. The Rhodesian is an average Group 4 sized pipe. It is dwarfed by this large Malaga. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth and sanded it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the surface scratches in the finish. I carefully avoided the stamping so as not to damage it. The briar began to have a rich shine and the bowl looked very good. I polished the bowl sides and the smooth rim top with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh pads. I wiped it down after each pad. It really began to be beautiful. 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 worked it into the plateau on the rim top and shank end with a shoe brush to get deep in the valleys. 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 turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks with the flame of a lighter to lift them. I was able to lift them significantly. Even the ones on the button surface and edges lifted. I reshaped the button and sanded the stem surface with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them further into the stem. I sanded the stem with the 2 inch square 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the remnants of oxidation on the vulcanite. I wiped down the stem after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I was able to remove the majority of the oxidation on both sides with the pads. The stem looked very good.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 did a final hand polish of 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 further oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the Magnum Sized “MALAGA” Custom Carved Freehand 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 beautiful smooth finished “MALAGA” Custom Carved Freehand and the fancy vulcanite saddle stem combine to give the pipe a great look. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 8 ½ inches, Height: 3 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 4.30 ounces/122 grams. This is another pipe that I will be putting on the rebornpipes online store in the American Pipe Makers and 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.

Restemming a Petite Apple with a vulcanite ferrule

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by Steve Laug

Before I move on to another of the pipes I have to work on from Jeff I decided to do a quick restem on a nice petite apple bowl with a vulcanite ferrule. It did not have a name on the bowl but the shank and the ferrule made for a beautiful little pipe. The bowl had been reamed and cleaned by Jeff somewhere along the journey. It had been sitting here in a box of bowls for a few years now. There was a fill on the front of the bowl that had fallen out and left a divot in the briar. Other than that the bowl was in excellent condition. I repaired the divot on the front of the bowl with some black CA glue and a little bit of briar dust. I flattened out the repair with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surface of the briar.I wiped the bowl down with some isopropyl alcohol and cotton pads to remove the opacity of the stain and make it a bit more transparent. The grain began to stand through with a lot of clarity. I like the look of the grain around the bowl. The repair on the bowl was a bit lighter than the rest of the bowl and would need to be stained. I stained the repair on the front of the bowl with a Walnut stain pen. It blended into the surface of the bowl with the stain pen. The match was very good.I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grits sanding pads. Once again, I wiped it down with a damp cloth following each pad. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips to make sure that it covered every square inch of the pipe. I set it aside for 10 minutes to let it do its work. I buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. I went through my stems here and found a nice looking military bit stem that would look great with the pipe.It was clean and unused so I only need to polish it. I did that with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave a final wipe down with Obsidian Oil. I put the No Name Apple pipe together and took it to the buffer. I buffed both the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel and then gave both multiple coats of Carnuaba Wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I further polished it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is a beautiful petite pipe that should be a great smoker. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 3/8 inches, Bowl diameter: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .67 ounces/19 grams. If you wish to add it to your collection let me know. I will be putting it in the rebornpipes store shortly in the American Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for taking time to read this restoration and restem. As always I appreciate questions and comments.

PipaCroci fatta a mano Manitova-Italia Amica Dublin

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by Steve Laug

The pipe was a nice little Pipa Croci smooth, nicely grained Dublin. The bowl and rim were smooth. We purchased it 12/09/2024 via Facebook’s Pipe Exchange from a seller in Wellsville, Kansas, USA along with the other two previous Pipa Croci pipes I have written about. It is stamped on the left underside of the shank and reads Pipa Croci [over] Fatta A Mano [over] Mantova – Italia. Underneath and toward the bowl it is stamped Dal 1983 – the year that the company started. On the right underside it is stamped with the PC logo [over] Amica. It is a light weight well-made pipe with an amber/tan – coloured acrylic half saddle stem that fits against the shank end. The stem has the insert bar and dot logo on the top side. There were light tooth marks on both sides at the button but otherwise the stem was in good condition. The black Delrin tenon was in excellent condition. The tenon was made for a 9mm filter. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on the pipe. I have included those below. Jeff took photos of the rim top to show the condition. There is some darkening around the inner edge of the bowl and spots of lava on the rim top. He also captured the condition of the stem when it arrived. He took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the beautiful grain around the bowl. It really is a beautiful piece of briar that has a shape that follows the grain. The finish is nice but it also very dirty with grime and oils ground into it.Jeff took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. It is clear and readable and reads as noted above. Before I started working on my part of the restoration I decided to do a bit of research on the Pipa Croci brand. I wanted to clearly understand the stamping and possibly get date for the pipe and some background on the brand. I turned to Pipephil first to see what I could learn from there (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c8.html). I have included a screen capture from the section on the brand and a few of the sidebar notes below that.Artisans: Paolo & Gianni. Grading (ascending): Pipa Croci, Amica, True, True I, Quality Street, Starlight, Golden Flame. Production (2007): ~ 3000 pipes/year. Pipa Croci is part of the Molina Group (2012)

I knew from that information that I was working on a grade two Amica pipe. I also learned that the pipe was made by Paolo and Gianni Croci. It is a great looking pipe and I was looking forward to seeing what Pipedia added to the information.

I turned to the link on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Pipa_Croci). I have included the article in part below.

Pipa Croci pipes are created by Paolo & Gianni Croci from Mantova, Lombardia. The company was founded in 1983 and on each pipe you will find the nomenclature reads “dal 1983”. Each and every pipe is hand crafted from aged Italian Plateau Briar. This is a company that makes no two pipes alike and they truly create some masterpieces. In their own words:

“The Pipa Croci is an artisan enterprise. The pipes which are born from our hands are all differnt from each other. This means that the owner of a Croci pipe possesses something totally unique. Keeping up with the avant-garde in styling and marketing, in addition to our Free Hand we have created the Classical Models. Furthermore, we produce several hand-carved objects related to the pipe smoker and made of briar.”

The quality classification of the pipes is as follows (ascending): Pipa Croci; Amica; True; True 1; Quality Street; Starlight; Golden Flame.

So the “Pipa Croci” is the least expensive and the “Gold Flame” the most costly, but the most exceptional. The classification takes place in a careful and accurate manner and the criteria for these choices are form, character of the briar and beauty of its grain.

The pipes are divided into groups according to their design; these groups or series have been given the following names: Normale; Artistica; Gran Camino; Gran Camino Artistica; Calumet; Calumet Artistica; Calumet Gran Camino; Calumet Gran Camino Artistica; Calumet 2000; Calumet 2000 Artistica; Calumet 2000 Gran Camino; Calumet 2000 Gran Camino Artistica.

The Classical models are hand-made reproductions of the traditional shapes. These well-known shapes have the following letter-number references: Billiard = A1; Apple = F1; Dublin = H1, etc…

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The bowl walls looked very good. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show how clean it was. The top and the inner edge of the rim look very good. The stem looks clean of debris and grime. There are light tooth marks and chatter on both sides.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of shank. The stamping is clear and readable. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe. I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grits sanding pads. Once again, I wiped it down with a damp cloth following each pad. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips to make sure that it covered every square inch of the pipe. I set it aside for 10 minutes to let it do its work. I buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to break up the remaining oxidation. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. It began to look good.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. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I fit the stem with a 6mm filter and put it back on the shank. It fit well but if the next pipeman wishes, the pipe could be smoked filterless though it would have a wide-open draught.I put the Pipa Croci Hand Made, Manitova, Italia, Amica Dublin Freehand bowl and 9mm filter stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the acrylic. 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 rich brown stains worked amazingly well with the polished acrylic saddle stem. The grain around the bowl and shank and looks quite remarkable. This is truly a beautiful Pipa Croci Amica Dublin. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches wide x 2 inches long, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.87 ounces/54 grams. This beautiful, Italian Hand Made Pipa Croci will be added to the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. Cheers.

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.