Monthly Archives: April 2025

Restoring a Beautiful Redmanol Old Timer

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by Kenneth Lieblich

A fine gentleman (and regular customer) from Seattle recently sent a box of pipes for me to restore for him. Various and sundry reasons prevented me from photographing most of the pipe restorations, but I did snap some shots of this one and it is worth checking out. This is a nifty bent Dublin made primarily from Redmanol (more on that later). The stem and most of the stummel are made entirely from Redmanol and are two separate pieces. In this case, the mortise and tenon are reversed from most pipes: the screw tenon is in the shank and the mortise is in the stem. The bowl is made of briar and screws into the Redmanol bowl. Separating the briar from the Redmanol is a ring of brass. This restoration was quite a bit of work, but I could not be more pleased with how it turned out in the end. The pipe is really quite charming and reminiscent of a different era. The pipe has no markings at all, so I cannot describe the maker to you with any authority. However, Steve has written up several blog posts on Redmanol pipes from makers such as MLC, WDC, and KB&B. Here is one of his articles on a pipe not too dissimilar from the one I’m restoring. So, what is Redmanol? It is an early 20th century type of plastic – a sort of Bakelite, if you will. On Pipedia, there is an excellent article on Redmanol (and gutta percha) written by the doyen of pipe literature, Ben Rapaport. I highly encourage you to read the whole article here, but here is an excerpt:

Then came Redmanol. In 1913, Lawrence V. Redman established the Redmanol Chemical Products Company in Chicago to produce a plastic, similar to Bakelite, made from the action of formin on carbolic acid. “Redmanol. Perfect molding material. Redmanol Chemical Products Co., 644 West 22nd Street, Chicago, was initially advertised as a molding compound to replace metal, rubber, fibre, wood, porcelain and other plastic materials. … suited to make pencils, buttons, pool triangles, acid containers” (Factory. The Magazine of Management, July 1923, 393). “’Redmanol,’” the new substitute for amber, a Chicago invention, seems to be making a hit from the start” (“Chicago Factories Await Readjustment,” United States Tobacco Journal, November 14, 1914, 13).

What is Redmanol? Here are a couple definitions, the first from the Redmanol company: “REDMANOL. The Material of a thousand uses. REDMANOL is sold as TRANSPARENT REDMANOL which has every physical property of Baltic amber, except that REDMANOL is more lustrous and has perfect transparency. The transparent REDMANOL is used for dental and surgical instruments and electrical insulation and is the material which has largely replaced amber in smokers’ supplies” (Directory. Chicago Section. American Chemical Society, 1911).

The second is from a tobacco industry leader. “Redmanol is a secret compound, the result of years of experiment and research work to find a substance for cigar and cigarette holders and stems which would possess the beauty of natural amber but none of the frailties. It is, in fact a man-made amber, being chemically known as synthetic amber, and has proved so admirable a substitute for natural amber that it is doubtful that the later [sic] will ever again be used to the extent it formerly was. …All in all Redmanol makes use of the most perfect and satisfactory mouth-pieces yet devised. Our customers are evidently aware of this fact as is amply demonstrated by the enormous increase in sales in our stores this year of Redmanol cigar and cigarette tubes” (“Pipe Points Worth Remembering. Redmanol,” The United Shield, November, 1919, 13).

And the third is from a journal article. “Redmanol, a similar substance [to Bakelite], is made using formin instead of formaldehyde, and on melting this with phenol it gives a clear, amber-colored, transparent substance that is plastic and can be bent and worked into shape. On further heating it becomes hard and insoluble and similar to bakelite except for its color and transparency. Redmanol, by virtue of its resemblance to real amber and its many desirable properties of insolubility, non-inflammability, the ability to mold easily before hardening, and its imperviousness to corrosive substances, is used for making hundreds of useful and ornamental objects, some of the most familiar being pipe stems, cigar and cigarette holders, and knife handles” (J. Maple Wilson, Jr., “The Relation of Chemistry to the Home,” Journal of Chemical Education, Vol. 3, No. 6, June, 1926, 670).Then later in the same article:

According to Steve Laug who has studied this much more than I: “Original Bakelite, whatever the color, still looked like plastic, while deep red, translucent Redmanol was so close to amber of the same color that it often requires an expert to differentiate the two. Bakelite was produced in at least these colors: golden yellow, ruby, emerald, amethyst, and jet. Real amber comes in several colors: non-reflective deep-cherry red, golden, and yellow. Most often, Redmanol was a clear or translucent red. Deep-red Redmanol was so close to amber of the same color that it often required an expert to differentiate the two. It certainly didn’t help when ads for Redmanol products stated: “Odorless, taste-less, unbreakable, non-inflammable, and retains its amber color.”

It’s difficult to be accurate on the date of this pipe, but anywhere from the 1910s through the 1930s is a safe bet. Basically, this beauty is about a century old.Let’s take a closer look. The pipe is in terrific condition for its age! The Redmanol parts have a few minor scratches and dents, but no cracks or structural problems. The screw tenon is as dirty as anything, but that’s no big deal. The brass ring is similarly dirty, but not damaged at all. Finally, the briar bowl is also dirty and has a few minor nicks. It should clean up very nicely.

I used oil soap on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem and stummel to provide an initial cleaning before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of both stem and stummel with pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean. I paid particular attention to the tenon and cleaned it further with some 0000-grit steel wool.The next step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of both stem and stummel with some soap and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.

As the stem was now clean and dry, I set about fixing the tooth marks in the Redmanol. This was done by filling those divots with clear cyanoacrylate adhesive. I left this to cure and moved on. The next step is sanding and I’m not going to sugar coat this: sanding Redmanol is pretty dreadful. First, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the Redmanol. I had to focus especially on a tricky area of the stummel where there were some deep scratches. I taped that area off, so it could be done properly. Following that, I used all nine grey sanding pads and all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the Redmanol, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, clear, amber-like glow to the stem and stummel when I was done. I then grabbed the brass ring with both hands – sorry, couldn’t resist. This was quite straightforward. I tried cleaning it with some lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol on cotton rounds. This didn’t really do anything, so I switched over to polishing with 0000-grit steel wool. This worked very well and the ring looked lovely again. Next on to the briar bowl. First, I reamed out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. As the bowl was fairly clean already, I used only a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. This ensured that all the debris was removed. I also took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away from the rim. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim.To tidy up the briar, I also wiped down the outside with some oil soap on cotton rounds and used a toothbrush in the crevices. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. Just like the stem and stummel, the last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the bowl with some soap and tube brushes. I also scrubbed the aluminum bottom of the bowl with 0000-grit steel wool. Looked fantastic.I used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand the outside of the bowl and finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the bowl with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench buffer and carefully polished it – first with a blue diamond compound, then with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best. All done! This no-name Redmanol bent Dublin pipe looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by my friend in Seattle. It was a pleasure to work on. It’s a gorgeous pipe. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5¼ in. (134 mm); height 1⅞ in. (48 mm); bowl diameter 1⅜ in. (35 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (20 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1⅝ oz. (47 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Breathing Life into a Peterson’s 2012 St. Patrick’s Day 80S Bent Bulldog

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is another Peterson’s Pipe. We recently purchased it from a seller in Wellsville, Kansas, USA on Facebook Pipe Exchange on Facebook on 12/09/2024. It is a nicely grained Bent Bulldog with mixed grain on the sides and birdseye on the front and the back of the bowl. The capped rim top also had mixed grain across the top. It is stamped on the left underside of the diamond shank and reads St. Patrick’s [over] Day and on the right underside it is stamped with the shape 80S. The nickel band is stamped with a shamrock on the left side and around the outside of the leaf it is stamped Peterson arched over the top and the date March 17, 2012 arched underneath. There was a moderated cake in the bowl and some darkening around the inner edge and light lava spots on the rim top. The mortise smelled of oils and tars but surprisingly there was little darkening in it. The stem had some oxidation, some white/sludge built up ahead of the edge of the button. There were some light tooth marks or chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. He took a photo of the rim top and bowl to show the current condition. The inner edge and the rim top showed darkening and spots of lava as mentioned above. The photos of the bowl walls show the moderate cake on the walls. The stem photos show the oxidation and light marks on the rim top on both sides. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a sense of the condition of the bowl and the grain around the bowl. It is a beauty.He took photos of the shank sides to capture the stamping on the shank and the band. The white “P” logo on the left side of the stem is also very clean. On Mark Irwin’s Petersonpipenotes blog he gives a great history of the St. Patrick’s Day pipes. It is a great read and includes a pictorial tour of the line. It is very helpful. Here is the link (https://petersonpipenotes.org/84-a-visual-history-of-the-st-patricks-day-pipes-1998-2018/).

He includes the following information and a photo of the pipe that is very similar to the 80S I am working on. It is notable that he comments that the shape is a classy, English-style 80s bent bulldog: perfect for your favorite Latakia bomb!Now it was time to work on the pipe. Since Jeff always follows the same pattern of work in his cleanup we do not include photos but rather just a simple summary. Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the spotty lava build up on the rim top and you could see the damages to the top and edges of the rim. I think this pipe may well been before we worked with Mark Hoover’s Before & After Deoxidizer so he cleaned the internals and externals. The stem was clean but lightly oxidized. I took photos of what the pipe looked like when I brought to my worktable. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim top and stem to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was clean and the rim top and the inner edge looked good. On the rim top on the right side there was a nick that upon examination was a spot where a fill had come out. I breathed a sigh of relief as when I first saw it I though it was a crack! I am thankful that is the case. The stem was clean and there were light tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is faint in spots but still readable and read as noted above. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts. I decided to deal with the flaw, or missing fill on the right side of the rim top first. It was very clean so I blew out any dust or debris the put a spot of CA glue and some briar dust in the area. I sanded it smooth with a small piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl surface down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding dust. Once I finished the exterior of the briar was clean and the grain really stood out. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips 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 turned my attention to the stem. I touched up the stamp on the left side of the stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I scraped the excess off. The stamp looked much better however, part of the P is missing on the right side. The pictures below show what it looks like.I set the bowl aside and turned to the stem. 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 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 oil and set it aside to dry. I am excited to finish this Peterson’s 2012 St. Patrick’s Day 80S Classic Bent Bulldog with a polished nickel band and a taper vulcanite stem. 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 beautiful birdseye and cross grain on the sides of the bowl. Added to that the polished nickel band and the black vulcanite stem was beautiful. This smooth Peterson’s St. Patrick’s Day 2012 80S Bent Bulldog is great 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 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 50 grams/1.76 ounces. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers section. If you are interested in adding it to your rack let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time reading the blog. I appreciated it.

Restoring a Peterson’s K&P Dublin Made in Ireland Canadian

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by Steve Laug

Last weekend Kenneth and I went to an antique show in New Westminster, BC. It is our third year going but still we have no idea what we are going to fine each time we go. It is always a part of the fun to wander through the various stalls and see what the vendors are offering on their tables. There are always surprising things – items that I grew up with that are now called antiques or at least collectibles. If only my foresight had been as good as my memory is now I could have sold many of the things I played with and ate from! But I digress. Back to the pipe hunting. We saw the usual offerings of things Grabow and Medico that were in very rough shape. I think we both have become much more selective over time and we passed on spending time with them. I did a few items that I picked up to restore. I took a picture of the group of fout pipes. In the left column from top to bottom there was a Peterson’s System Standard 1307 (Canadian number on a 307 shape), a Bulldog that was stamped Fraser Valley Made in Canada with a white dot stem and at the bottom was another Peterson – a K&P Dublin Made in Ireland Canadian with a Sterling Silver Band. The one on the right side is an older GBD Nosewarmer with an orific button on the short stem. Not a bad group of pipes to bring to the work table.The first of them I chose to bring to the table was the K&P Canadian at the bottom of the above photo. It is a pretty pipe and bears the stamping on the top of the shank that reads K&P [over] Dublin. On the underside the COM stamp is Made in Ireland in a circle. That format for the stamp made the pipe one that was made between 1945-1972. On the worn and oxidized Silver band it is stamped K & P in three shields [over] Sterling [over] Silver. The bowl has a light cake but the rim top and edges are very clean. The shank looks to be clean also. The stem is heavily oxidized and will take some work to bring it back to black. There does not appear to be any stamping or logo on the stem. It is an original P-lip style stem and it is in surprisingly good condition under the oxidation. I took photos of the pipe before I started my clean up work on it. I took a close-up photo of the rim top to show the condition of the bowl and inner edge of the bowl and the stem. You can clearly see the cake in the bowl and the darkening and lava on the rim top. The stem photos show the deep oxidation on the stem and the silver band.I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the parts of the pipe. It is a pretty little pipe.Now it was time to work on the pipe. I cleaned up the silver band with a jeweller’s cloth so that I could read the stamping clearly. It read as noted above and the characters were slightly worn under the oxidation. But it is a great addition to the pipe. I reamed the pipe with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to remove the thin cake in the bowl and check the bowl walls. I sanded the bowl with a piece of dowel wrapped with 220 grit sandpaper. It looked much better at this point.I moved on to clean up the internals. I cleaned out the airway and mortise with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I cleaned out the airway in the stem at the same time. I was surprised at how clean the internals were. I scrubbed the externals of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime in the finish and on the rim top. I worked on it until it looked much better and then rinsed it off with warm water. I dried it off with a soft cloth. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down between pads with a damp cloth. It really began to take on a deep shine. There is a dark spot on the right side of the bowl. It is solid so it is not a fill. My guess is that it is where a root or such came out of the briar. The exterior of the bowl looks better after sanding. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar 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 briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the oxidation. I was able to rid the surface of the majority of the brown and what was left would be able to be sanded off.There were no deep marks or chatter so I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads and wiped it down with Obsidian Oil to remove the sanding dust.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 to further protect the vulcanite surface. I finished the polishing with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped the stem down a final time with Obsidian Oil and a cloth. It really looks very good. I am always excited to finish working on a pipe. This K&P Dublin Made in Ireland Canadian made between 1945-1972 is no exception. 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 buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with polished silver and the black vulcanite taper stem. This Classic looking Peterson’s K&P Dublin Canadian feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 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 31 grams/1.09 ounces. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly in the Irish Pipe Makers Section if you are interested in it. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Restoring a Handcut Antique Briar Made in Denmark Twisted Long Shank Pot

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that we picked up in the lot from our connection in Copenhagen, Denmark on February 16/2023. The smooth finish on this Danish made pipe and the twist in the bowl and shank shape is what caught our eye. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads handcut [over] 1651. On the right and underside, it is stamped Antique Briar running from the mid shank toward the bowl. Underneath that and running the other direction it reads Made in Denmark. It has a Reddish, Brown stain on the smooth finish that is a great contrast to vulcanite taper stem. The Pot shaped bowl was moderately caked and the inner edge and the top had some darkening and spots of lava on them. The stem was lightly oxidized and had tooth chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was a Crown logo stamped on the left side of the shank and also in gold on the top side of the taper. I feel like it points to a connection with Preben Holm but I cannot verify that yet. 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. The thick cake in the bowl is visible below. There is some darkening and lava on the rim top. He included photos that show the top and underside of the stem. It is as described above. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos showed the nice grain around the bowl and shank even with the grime in the finish. It is a great looking piece of briar. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It was clear and readable as noted above. I did some searching on Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-a6.html) and found a listing for Antique pipes. They were stamped Handmade instead of Handcut. However, the two shown below were made in France and possibly Germany. However, the sidebar had a note that some pipes were of Danish origin.Antique is a brand of Hans Richter (†), a German pipe importer and dealer. He particularly used to distribute under the “Antique” label pipes crafted by Pierre Morel Senior. Some pipes were also of Danish origin.

While this did not definitively give me any direction on the maker of the pipe. Somewhere in the recesses of my memory there a faint niggling that the Antique pipe was possibly made by Preben Holm but I could not be sure. The mystery shall remain. With that I turn back to working on the pipe itself.

Since Jeff always follows the same pattern of work in his cleanup we do not include photos but rather just a simple summary. Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the damages to the top and edges of the rim. I think this pipe may well been before we worked with Mark Hoover’s Before & After Deoxidizer so he cleaned the internals and externals. The stem was clean but lightly oxidized. I took photos of what the pipe looked like when I brought to my worktable. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim top and stem to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was clean and the rim top and the inner edge showed darkening but no damage. The stem was clean and there were light tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is very clear and readable and read as noted above. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl surface down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding dust. Once I finished the exterior of the briar was clean and the grain really stood out. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips 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. It looks quite nice at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I touched up the circle Crown stamp on the top of the taper stem with Rub’n Buff Antique Gold. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. Once it cured I buffed off the excess with a soft cloth. It looked better but there were some spots that were faint.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 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 oil and set it aside to dry. I am excited to be on the homestretch with beautiful Handcut 1651 Antique Briar Long Shank Twisted Pot. I look forward to the moment when it all comes back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem 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. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The beautifully grained finish looks really good with the interesting grain patterns standing out on the shape. The grain and the polished black vulcanite went really well together. This Handcut 1651 Antique Briar has that classic Danish look that catches the eye. The combination of various brown stains really makes the pipe look attractive. It is another comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. Who made it? Is it a Bari? A Preben Holm? Don’t know but it is a beauty. 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 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 32 grams/1.13 ounces. I will be posting it for sale in the Danish Pipemaking Section on the rebornpipes store very soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This was an interesting estate to bring back to life.

Restoring a Father’s Legacy of 10 Brigham Pipes Gathered throughout his life #3

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by Steve Laug

Early this month I was contacted by Donna to see if I knew anyone interested in purchasing her father’s pipes. She wrote as follows: “I am wondering if you would be interested in my father’s collection of Brighams.” She further spelled out what he had in the collection. He had 1 – 2 dot pipe, 3 – 3 dot pipes, 2 – 4 dot pipes and 4 – 5 dot pipes. There was a total of 10 pipes. I asked for a photo of the pipes and she sent the photo below. I was very interested.We emailed back and forth and the short story is that I paid for the collection and she shipped the pipes to me. On Tuesday after Easter the box arrived and I was happy to be able to see them up close. They were obviously well-loved pipes and in varying degrees of needing work. I wrote her and told I received them and that I was pleased with the lot. I was looking forward to working on them. She asked me to send her photos along the way as I finished the pipes. I will be sending her the links to the blog so she can see the work and the process of bringing them back to a semblance of their original beauty. Thanks Donna for the opportunity to work on your Dad’s pipes.

The third of the pipes I have chosen to work on from the lot was the one sitting alone on the left side of photo above. I would call the pipe a Rhodesian shaped pipe with a vulcanite stem. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Brigham in script. To the left, mid shank it has the shape number 527. The stamping will help me date the pipe. From the cake in the bowl and the other pipes I could tell her Dad love aromatic tobaccos. This pipe was heavily caked with an overflow of lava on the rim top and on the inner and outer edges of the bowl. The shank end even that had a coating of tar build up. The stem did not sit all the way in the shank so I assumed it was very dirty in the shank. I removed the stem and found a Hard Rock Maple Distillator in the aluminum tenon. The shank was black, tarry and oily. The stem was dirty and oxidized with thick oil and tar in the airway from the tenon to the button. There were light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The left side of the taper stem bore five brass pins in a cross format with a larger pin in the centre. That would also help with identifying the pipe. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl. The rim top looked to have a coat of lava overflowing down the crown with some possible damage around the inner edge. I took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the light tooth chatter on the vulcanite stem surface. It is heavily oxidized and calcified and is quite dirty on the surface of the vulcanite.The stamping is very clear and it reads as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts to show the look of the pipe. I have captured the pattern of the four brass dots on the stem. For the needed background I am including the information from Pipedia on Brigham pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Pipes). Charles Lemon (Dadspipes) has written book on the history of the brand. This article is a good summary. I have included it below.

Roy Brigham, after serving an apprenticeship under an Austrian pipesmith, started his own pipe repair shop in Toronto, in 1906. By 1918 the business had grown to include five other craftsmen and had developed a reputation across Canada for the high quality of workmanship. After repairing many different brands of pipes over the years, Roy noted certain recurring complaints by pipe smokers, the most common referred to as “tongue bite”. Tongue bite is a burning sensation on the smoker’s tongue, previously thought to be due to the heat of the smoke (i.e. a “hot smoking pipe”).

He soon began manufacturing his own pipes, which were lightweight, yet featured a more rugged construction, strengthening the weak points observed in other pipes. The problem of tongue bite intrigued him, and he decided to make overcoming it a future goal.

About 1938, Roy’s son Herb joined him to assist in the business. The business barely survived the great depression because pipes were considered to be a luxury, not a necessity, and selling pipes was difficult indeed. In approximately 1937 [1], after some experimentation, Roy and Herb discovered that tongue bite was in fact a form of mild chemical burn to the tongue, caused by tars and acids in the smoke. They found that by filtering the smoke, it was possible to retain the flavour of the tobacco and yet remove these impurities and thereby stop the tongue bite.

Just as Thomas Edison had searched far and wide for the perfect material from which to make the first electric light bulb filaments, Roy & Herb began experimenting with many materials, both common and exotic, in the quest for the perfect pipe filter. Results varied wildly. Most of the materials didn’t work at all and some actually imparted their own flavour into the smoke. They eventually found just two materials that were satisfactory in pipes: bamboo and rock maple. As bamboo was obviously not as readily available, rock maple then became the logical choice.

They were able to manufacture a replaceable hollow wooden tube made from rock maple dowelling, which when inserted into a specially made pipe, caused absolutely no restriction to the draw of the pipe, yet extracted many of the impurities which had caused tongue bite. The result was indeed a truly better smoking pipe…

I then turned to a second article by Charles Lemon called, “A Closer Look at the Dots, Dates, and Markings of Brigham Pipes” to be able to pin down the time frame that the pipe was made in and to help interpret the stampings and shape number on the pipe. Here is the link to his article (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Pipes_%E2%80%93_A_Closer_Look_at_Dots,_Dates_and_Markings).

I have dubbed the decades between 1980 and 2000 the Late Canadian Era, a period that saw several changes at Brigham that are of note to the collector. First, the traditional 8-grade pinning system (the famous Brigham “Dots” which denoted the quality of the pipe) was changed to a 7-grade system to simplify pinning (more on this below), and the Norsemen and Valhalla series were merged to form the President Series, which represented the very finest pipes coming out of the Toronto factory. Early pipes from this era (left, below) are stamped with a shape number and “Brigham” over “Canada”; later pipes (late 1980s+, on right below) are stamped simply with a shape number and the Brigham logo.

I read further in the article to the section entitled Revised Dot System 1980. I quote from that below.

Brigham changed the Dot system in 1980, adding a 7 Dot at the top of the line, dropping the names of each series and eliminating the confusing vertical and horizontal 3 Dot configurations. The Norsemen and Valhalla series were combined to form the President series of freehand pipes, which adopted a 3 Dot pattern with a larger dot on the right as shown below. The 7- grade pinning system stayed in place from 1980 to 2001.

With the information from article and the chart above I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping and the age of this pipe. I learned that this Late Canadian Era was made between 1980-2000. The pipe is a Brigham (5-Dot) 527, a Rhodesian to my mind. The Canada stamping pins it down to the period between 1990-2001 when the aluminum tenon was replaced.

I started my work on the pipe by reaming the bowl with a PipNet reamer. I used the first and second cutting heads and took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and removed all the remnants of the cake. I scraped the rim top with the flat edge of the blade at the same time and removed most of the thick lava build up. I sanded the walls of the bowl with a piece of dowel wrapped in 220 grit sandpaper. The walls look very good at this point in the process. I cleaned out the shank, the airway and the deep mortise with alcohol, cotton swabs, hard bristle and soft bristle pipe cleaners. It was a very dirty pipe which just meant that Donna’s Dad had really enjoyed and used this pipe. I cleaned the inside of the aluminum tenon and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners in the same way as I did the shank. It also was very dirty. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I scrubbed the lava on the rim top and overflow on the outside of the bowl with the soap. I rinsed  the briar with warm water to remove the grime and debris of the scrubbing. It looked significantly better after the scrubbing. I used a Walnut stain pen to touch up the depths of the rusticated portions of the bowl on the sides, the rim cap and the patch on the side of the shank. I used a dental tool with a thin blade to scrape out the twin rings around the bowl cap. It had a lot of debris in it but looked better when I finished. I cleaned up the inner edge of the rim and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I removed the darkening as much as possible and smoothed out the top of the cap.I sanded the smooth portions of the bowl and rim with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the marks, scratches and darkening on the rim top. I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1200-15000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. The grain really started to rise to the surface as I polished it. 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 turned my attention to the stem. The fit of the stem to the shank was off – it was wider in diameter than the end of the shank. I measured and looked and found out it was the wrong stem. I found the other 5 dot stem and checked the fit of the stem to the shank and it was the correct diameter. I will need to clean it up and fit it to the shank.I cleaned out the new/correct stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. It took quite a few cleaners to get rid of the tars and oils. It looked much better.I scrubbed the oxidation on the stem with Soft Scrub cleanser and was able to remove a large amount of it. I sanded the area around the button edge and the remaining oxidation with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. Progress was happening! I sanded the surface of the vulcanite with the 2 inch sanding pads – 320-3500 grit pads. I dry sanded the surface until I have removed all of the oxidation and the stem started to really shine.I refit the aluminum tenon with the new Brigham Rock Maple Distillator. It is a unique and cool smoking experience. 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. The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the light scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I follow up the wax buff with a buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished stem. It really is a nice pipe. The smooth tall bowl sides and the rusticated blaze on the left shank side looks great with the yellow acrylic stem. The Brigham 527 Bent Rhodesian with a vulcanite taper stem feels great in my hand. It is a well balanced pipe. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.29 ounces/65 grams. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be adding to the rebornpipes store in the Canadian Pipemakers Section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. It should be a great smoking pipe.

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.

Rogers Rarity Brochure

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A friend, Josh on Facebook purchased a Rogers Rarity that came with this interesting brochure. I asked him for a scan of the brochure that I could post here. I have included it below. Have a look. Make sure to read the details of the document as it is very interesting.

Restoring an Elegant Sandblast Rebild de Luxe Made in Denmark 020 Tall Cutty

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that we picked up in the lot from a good friend in Denmark on May 22/2024. The sandblast finish on this Danish made pipe and the shape is what caught our eye. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads REBILD [followed by] de [over] Luxe. Next to that it is stamped Made in [over] Denmark. Next to that it is stamped with the shape number 020. It has a Reddish, Brown stain on the sandblast finish that is a stark contrast to fancy vulcanite saddle stem. The Cutty shaped bowl was lightly caked, though it also seems to have been recently reamed. The inner edge and the top look good though there is some darkening and some spots of lava in the sandblast on the top. The stem was lightly oxidized and had tooth chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was a GJ logo stamped on the left side of the saddle. It points to a Georg Jensen connection. 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. There is some darkening and lava on the rim top but the bowl itself is lightly caked. He included photos that show the top and underside of the stem. It is as described above. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos showed a nice sandblast around the bowl and shank even with the grime in the finish. It is a great looking piece of briar. He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It was clear and readable as noted above. I was pretty sure I was dealing with a Georg Jensen pipe so I did a google search for REBILD Made in Denmark pipes. I found a great discussion by a fellow on Pipemagazine.com about his collecting of Georg Jensen pipes (https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/georg-jensen-pipes-models-shapes-info-and-mysteries.87932/). In the post he gave a list of the model names of the Jensen pipes. There was some great information and scrolling through the list I found what I was looking for. I quote from the post below:

The model names were generally in all capital letters… but there were plenty of GJ pipes that had no model name stamp at all. Here are the model names that I have seen:

-SUNRISE

-GOODWILL

-REBILD [named after Danish woodland region]…

I did a bit more digging and found an esty listing for a Rebild pipe by Georg Jensen. I have included the link and the description of the pipe that was being sold below (https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1728913413/rebild-georg-jensen-hand-cut-niceclean?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details). It was also very helpful information. I also included a photo of the pipe.

From the good folks at Georg Jensen, this gorgeous straight Chimney or Stack, offers a nice tall bowl as part of their “Rebild” series. It’s rather obvious that Jensen’s Rebild (the name of a wooded region) series is an attempt to capitalized on the huge success of their competitor/fellow pipe makers, the Pipe Dan “Reformed”, with the same very Danish tall pipe legacy. This is a Georg Jensen higher end pipes as it was “hand cut”, while much of their line is machine made. The briar has a nice mélange of briar including birds-eye grain, in a dark honey colored finish. The short “pencil” shank leads to a long straight, tapered, fantail Vulcanite stem that is in excellent condition with no tooth marks. A really nice long/elegant, lightweight Dane to add to your collection of pipes. Cleaned, refreshed, sanitized, and ready to enjoy right out of the box.I knew that I was definitely dealing with a Georg Jensen made Rebild pipe which appeared to be tall and quite unique pipes. It was named after a wooded area in Denmark and came out about the same time as the Danpipe Reform pipes.

Armed with that information I was ready to work on the pipe. Since Jeff always follows the same pattern of work in his cleanup we do not include photos but rather just a simple summary. Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the damages to the top and edges of the rim. I think this pipe may well been before we worked with Mark Hoover’s Before & After Deoxidizer so he cleaned the internals and externals. The stem was clean but lightly oxidized. I took photos of what the pipe looked like when I brought to my worktable. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim top and stem to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was clean and the rim top and the inner edge showed darkening but no damage. The stem was clean and there were light tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is very clear and readable and read as noted above. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts.The exterior of the bowl was in excellent condition. I did not need to sand or do anything in preparation on the pipe. I set the stem aside and 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 turned my attention to the stem. I tried to raise the tooth marks as much as possible by “painting” the surface with a lighter flame. It lifted the marks completely on the underside but did not lift the deeper one on the topside. I filled in the deep mark with rubberized black CA glue. Once it had cured I flattened the repair and recut the button edge with a small file. I further flattened and blended in the repairs with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It was a big improvement but still more work to go!I continued the sanding process with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. The repairs began to disappear into the surface of the vulcanite and the stem began to take on a smooth new look. Progress for sure. I touched up the GJ stamp on the left side of the saddle stem with white acrylic nail polish. I worked it into the stamping with a tooth pick. Once it dried I scrapped off the excess acrylic with my fingernail and then sanded it lightly with a 1500 grit micromesh pad to remove the excess.I polished the surface of the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the surface down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. It is really shining. I polished it further with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil to finish this step. 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 Georg Jensen Rebild 020 Cutty 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. The sandblast shows depth and really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite saddle stem is a beautiful contrast to the reddish browns of the bowl. This Georg Jensen Rebild Cutty 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: 7 inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 29 grams/1.02 ounces. This pipe will be going on the Danish Pipe Maker section of the rebornpipes store if you are interested in adding it to your collection. 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.

Restoring a Father’s Legacy of 10 Brigham Pipes Gathered throughout his life #2

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by Steve Laug

Early this month I was contacted by Donna to see if I knew anyone interested in purchasing her father’s pipes. She wrote as follows: “I am wondering if you would be interested in my father’s collection of Brighams.” She further spelled out what he had in the collection. He had 1 – 2 dot pipe, 3 – 3 dot pipes, 2 – 4 dot pipes and 4 – 5 dot pipes. There was a total of 10 pipes. I asked for a photo of the pipes and she sent the photo below. I was very interested.We emailed back and forth and the short story is that I paid for the collection and she shipped the pipes to me. On Tuesday after Easter the box arrived and I was happy to be able to see them up close. They were obviously well-loved pipes and in varying degrees of needing work. I wrote her and told I received them and that I was pleased with the lot. I was looking forward to working on them. She aske me to send her photos along the way as I finished the pipes. I will be sending her the links to the blog so she can see the work and the process of bringing them back to a semblance of their original beauty. Thanks Donna for the opportunity to work on your Dad’s pipes.

The second of the pipes I have chosen to work on from the lot was the last one at the bottom of the right column in the photo above. I would call the pipe a Poker/Cherrywood Sitter pipe with an amber acrylic stem. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Brigham in script. On the under of the shank near the flat heel of the bowl it has the shape number 482L. The stamping will help me date the pipe. From the cake in the bowl and the other pipes I could tell her Dad love aromatic tobaccos. This pipe was heavily caked with an overflow of lava on the rim top and on the inner and outer edges of the bowl. The shank end even that had a coating of tar build up. The stem did not sit all the way in the shank so I assumed it was very dirty in the shank. I removed the stem and found that the Hard Rock Maple Distillator was missing from the aluminum tenon. The shank was black, tarry and oily. The stem was dirty and dull with thick oil and tar in the airway from the tenon to the button. There were light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The left side of the taper stem bore four brass pins in a triangle format. That would also help with identifying the pipe. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl. The rim top looked to have a coat of lava overflowing down the crown with some possible damage around the inner edge. I took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the light tooth chatter on the acrylic stem surface. The airway in the stem is also heavily stained with tars and oils.The stamping is very clear and it reads as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts to show the look of the pipe. I have captured the pattern of the four brass dots on the stem. For the needed background I am including the information from Pipedia on Brigham pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Pipes). Charles Lemon (Dadspipes) has written book on the history of the brand. This article is a good summary. I have included it below.

Roy Brigham, after serving an apprenticeship under an Austrian pipesmith, started his own pipe repair shop in Toronto, in 1906. By 1918 the business had grown to include five other craftsmen and had developed a reputation across Canada for the high quality of workmanship. After repairing many different brands of pipes over the years, Roy noted certain recurring complaints by pipe smokers, the most common referred to as “tongue bite”. Tongue bite is a burning sensation on the smoker’s tongue, previously thought to be due to the heat of the smoke (i.e. a “hot smoking pipe”).

He soon began manufacturing his own pipes, which were lightweight, yet featured a more rugged construction, strengthening the weak points observed in other pipes. The problem of tongue bite intrigued him, and he decided to make overcoming it a future goal.

About 1938, Roy’s son Herb joined him to assist in the business. The business barely survived the great depression because pipes were considered to be a luxury, not a necessity, and selling pipes was difficult indeed. In approximately 1937 [1], after some experimentation, Roy and Herb discovered that tongue bite was in fact a form of mild chemical burn to the tongue, caused by tars and acids in the smoke. They found that by filtering the smoke, it was possible to retain the flavour of the tobacco and yet remove these impurities and thereby stop the tongue bite.

Just as Thomas Edison had searched far and wide for the perfect material from which to make the first electric light bulb filaments, Roy & Herb began experimenting with many materials, both common and exotic, in the quest for the perfect pipe filter. Results varied wildly. Most of the materials didn’t work at all and some actually imparted their own flavour into the smoke. They eventually found just two materials that were satisfactory in pipes: bamboo and rock maple. As bamboo was obviously not as readily available, rock maple then became the logical choice.

They were able to manufacture a replaceable hollow wooden tube made from rock maple dowelling, which when inserted into a specially made pipe, caused absolutely no restriction to the draw of the pipe, yet extracted many of the impurities which had caused tongue bite. The result was indeed a truly better smoking pipe…

I then turned to a second article by Charles Lemon called, “A Closer Look at the Dots, Dates, and Markings of Brigham Pipes” to be able to pin down the time frame that the pipe was made in and to help interpret the stampings and shape number on the pipe. Here is the link to his article (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Pipes_%E2%80%93_A_Closer_Look_at_Dots,_Dates_and_Markings).

I have dubbed the decades between 1980 and 2000 the Late Canadian Era, a period that saw several changes at Brigham that are of note to the collector. First, the traditional 8-grade pinning system (the famous Brigham “Dots” which denoted the quality of the pipe) was changed to a 7-grade system to simplify pinning (more on this below), and the Norsemen and Valhalla series were merged to form the President Series, which represented the very finest pipes coming out of the Toronto factory. Early pipes from this era (left, below) are stamped with a shape number and “Brigham” over “Canada”; later pipes (late 1980s+, on right below) are stamped simply with a shape number and the Brigham logo.

I read further in the article to the section entitled Revised Dot System 1980. I quote from that below.

Brigham changed the Dot system in 1980, adding a 7 Dot at the top of the line, dropping the names of each series and eliminating the confusing vertical and horizontal 3 Dot configurations. The Norsemen and Valhalla series were combined to form the President series of freehand pipes, which adopted a 3 Dot pattern with a larger dot on the right as shown below. The 7- grade pinning system stayed in place from 1980 to 2001.

With the information from article and the chart above I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping and the age of this pipe. I learned that this Late Canadian Era was made between 1980-2000. The pipe is a Brigham (4-Dot) 482L, a Poker Sitter to my mind. The Canada stamping pins it down to the period between 1990-2001 when the aluminum tenon was replaced.

I wrote to Charles Lemon to see if he could help to narrow down the date a bit more. I also wanted to know about the acrylic stem and the shape. He wrote me back with this answer:

Brigham put out a limited run of System pipes with Acrylic stems in the early 1990s. Available stem colours were yellow, green and chocolate swirl. There is a short paragraph on Page 54 of the book on this limited run, but there’s not a great deal of information available. 

I paused reading the email and turned to Charles’ book, Brigham Pipes, A Century of Canadian Briar, page 54 as noted above and quote:

In the early 1990s a small number of Brigham pipes were made with acrylic stems instead of the traditional rubber stems. These were available in several colours – yellow, green and chocolate swirl. Due to the short production runs, these acrylic-stemmed pipes are quite rare on the estate market.

I went back to the email – Charles further wrote about the shape number.

In the Shape Chart, I’ve identified Shape 82 (b) as a “1/4 Bent Pot Sitter”. The “L” in the shape code refers back to bowl size options available in the mid to late 1960s, where any standard pipe shape could be ordered in S, M, ML, L, XL sizes. I suspect your early 1990s pipe was made using a New Old Stock stummel originally produced some 20 years earlier.

Hope that helps. It’s a lovely pipe! – Charles

I now knew that I was dealing with a pipe made only in the early 1990s in a short production run and was quite rare on the estate market. The shape number 82 was for a bent Pot Sitter. The 4 preceding the 82 referred to the 4 Dot mark of the pipe. What was interesting to me is Charles’ comment that it could have been New Old Stock Stummel produced 20 years earlier.

I started my work on the pipe by reaming the bowl with a PipNet reamer. I used the first and second cutting heads and took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and removed all the remnants of the cake. I sanded the walls of the bowl with a piece of dowel wrapped in 220 grit sandpaper. The walls look very good at this point in the process. I scrubbed off the surface of the bowl and shank with acetone and cotton pads. The surface was coated with a shiny varnish coat. I wanted it to be gone so that I could see the briar underneath. It looked very good once the varnish coat was gone. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I scrubbed the lava on the rim top and overflow on the outside of the bowl with the soap. I rinsed  the briar with warm water to remove the grime and debris of the scrubbing. It looked significantly better after the scrubbing. I cleaned out the shank, the airway and the deep mortise with alcohol, cotton swabs, hard bristle and soft bristle pipe cleaners. It was a very dirty pipe which just meant that Donna’s Dad had really enjoyed and used this pipe. I cleaned the inside of the aluminum tenon and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners in the same way as I did the shank. It also was very dirty. I sanded the smooth portions of the bowl and rim with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the marks, scratches and darkening on the rim top. I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1200-15000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. The grain really started to rise to the surface as I polished it. 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 turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the surface of the acrylic with the 2 inch sanding pads – 320-3500 grit pads. I dry sanded the surface until I have removed all of the oxidation and the stem started to really shine.I refit the aluminum tenon with the Brigham Rock Maple Distillator. It is a unique and cool smoking experience. 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. The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the light scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I follow up the wax buff with a buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished stem. It really is a nice pipe. The smooth tall bowl sides and the rusticated blaze on the left shank side looks great with the yellow acrylic stem. The Rare Brigham 482L Poker/Sitter with an acrylic stem feels great in my hand. It is a well balanced pipe. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.29 ounces/65 grams. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be adding to the rebornpipes store in the Canadian Pipemakers Section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. It should be a great smoking pipe.

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 James Upshall B Tilshead England Made by Hand Dublin

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a Peterson Rusticated Meerschaum Bulldog. We picked the pipe up from a seller in Ogden, Utah, USA on 12/12/2024. Probably the fact that it is a James Upshall pipe and has the JU stamp on the stem caught our eye on this one. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads B followed by James Upshall in an oval. On the left is stamped Tilshead [over] England [over] Made by Hand. It is a B Grade smooth, walnut finished pipe. The B grade is the “entry” level for the Upshall Straight Grains and retail new at about $1500. The finish is a bit dull and dirty with dust and grime. The bowl has a light cake and the rim top has some darkening and some damage around the inner edge on the front. The stem is oxidized and has tooth chatter and light tooth marks on both sides near the button. The surface of the button looks very good on both sides. The circle JU logo stamp on the top side of the saddle is deep looks good. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is lightly caked and the rim top looks good. The inner edge of the bowl has some burn damage and darkening. The stem is oxidized, calcified and has tooth chatter and tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the condition of the smooth finish around this bowl. The grain is quite beautiful and it is a nice looking pipe.He took photos of the stamping on the shank sides and the top of the stem. It is clear and readable as noted above. Before I started my work on the pipe I looked up the Upshall listing in Pipedia to remind myself of the background on the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/James_Upshall). I read through the article and found the section on Grading & Sizing Information really helpful. I have included that below. I have highlighted the pertinent text in red below.

James Upshall pipes are graded by various finishes, i.e. bark, sandblast, black dress and smooth etc. Then by cross grain, flame grain, straight grain and, last but not least, the perfect high grade, which consists of dense straight grain to the bowl and shank. The latter being extremely rare. In addition, the price varies according to group size, i.e. from 3-4-5-6 cm high approximately Extra Large. We also have the Empire Series which are basically the giant size, individually hand crafted pipes which come in all finishes and categories of grain. All our pipes are individually hand carved from the highest quality, naturally dried Greek briar. In order to simplify our grading system, let me divide our pipes into 4 basic categories.

  1. It begins with the Tilshead pipe, which smokes every bit as good as the James Upshall but has a slight imperfection in the briar. In the same category price wise you will find the James Upshall Bark and Sandblast finish pipes, which fill and smoke as well as the high grades.
  2. In this category we have the best “root quality” which means that the grain is either cross, flame or straight, which is very much apparent through the transparent differing color finishes. This group will qualify as the “S”- Mahogany Red, “A” – Chestnut Tan and “P” – Walnut. The latter having the straighter grain.
  3. Here you have only straight grain, high grade pipes, which run from the “B”, “G”, “E”, “X” and “XX”. The latter will be the supreme high grade. Considering the straightness of the grain the latter category is also the rarest. Usually no more than 1% of the production will qualify.
  4. Lastly, we have the Empire Series. These are basically Limited Edition gigantic individually hand crafted pieces, which again are extremely rare due to the scarcity of large, superior briar blocks.

There was a link at the bottom of the article that led to a 1984 Catalogue. I have included a page from that catalogue below (https://pipedia.org/images/a/a6/James_Upshall_1984Catalog.pdf). The pipe at the bottom left of the photo marked as a Semi-bent Dublin is similar in shape to the one I am working on.I turned to the James Upshall of England website and looked up the guarantee on their pipes. I have included it below because of the commitment to quality that is spoken of in the description (http://www.upshallusa.com/products.htm).I also copied the section from the website on the B-Grade pipe and the description about the nature of the briar used in that pipe (http://www.upshallusa.com/html/JUB-Grade.htm).Armed with that information I turned my attention to the pipe itself. Jeff had cleaned the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness that I really appreciate. He reamed it 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 very good with good looking grain around the bowl and shank. Jeff soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked very good. I took photos before I started my part of the work.   I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. The bowl and the rim top look good. The inner edge of the rim showed some damage from burn marks on the front of the bowl and darkening on the back side. There was some wear in the finish on the rim top.  I also took close up photos of the stem to show how clean the stem was. There were very light tooth marks or chatter on both sides of the stem. I took photos of the stamping on the shank. On the left side of the shank it reads B (Grade stamp) at the shank/bowl junction. That is followed by the James Upshall stamp in an oval. There is a JU logo on the left side of the stem. The stamping was very clear. The right side of the shank was stamped Tilshead over England over Made by Hand. The grain on this pipe was highlighted by the shaping of the pipe. I took the stem off the bowl and took a picture of the parts of the pipe to give a sense of the parts of the pipe. It really is a beautifully grained pipe. I decided to clean up the inner edge of the bowl and straighten out the damage to the rim edge with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and a wooden sphere to smooth out the damage. It did not take too much to give the edge a light bevel and remove the damage. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl surface down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding dust. Once I finished the exterior of the briar was clean and the grain really stood out. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips 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. It looks quite nice at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the stem with the flame of a lighter to try and lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift all of them. I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surrounding vulcanite. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the tooth marks and chatter against the button edge and sand the logo. It worked well on the tooth marks but did little on the logo on the stem top.I touched up the circle JU stamp on the saddle side with Rub’n Buff Antique Gold. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. Once it cured I buffed off the excess with a soft cloth. It looked very good.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 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 oil and set it aside to dry. I am excited to be on the homestretch with beautiful James Upshall B-Grade Crowned Dublin. I look forward to the moment when it all comes back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem 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. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The beautifully grained finish looks really good with the interesting grain patterns standing out on the shape. The grain and the polished black vulcanite went really well together. This James Upshall Dublin has that classic English look that catches the eye. The combination of various brown stains really makes the pipe look attractive. It is another comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 51grams/1.76 ounces. I will be posting it for sale in the British Pipemaking Section on the rebornpipes store very soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This was an interesting estate to bring back to life.

Fresh Life for a Peterson’s Meerschaum Bulldog

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a Peterson Rusticated Meerschaum Bulldog. We picked the pipe up from a seller in Ogden, Utah, USA on 12/12/2024. Probably the fact that it is a meerschaum and that it bore the P stamp on the stem caught our eye. There is no stamping on the shank or anywhere else on the pipe. It is the shape and the P stamp on the stem that tell us that it is a Peterson pipe. It is great looking rusticated pipe that is commonly seen on these meerschaums. The bowl appears to be lightly caked and quite clean. The inner edge and the top show some light lava overflow. And let’s talk about that stem. It is oxidized and calcified which is quite normal for what I see. There are some tooth marks and chatter on the stem surface and button. The P stamp on the top left side of the saddle is deep but has lost the colour. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is lightly caked and the rim top and edges have lava overflowing on to them. There are also some spots where the finish is worn off. The stem is oxidized, calcified and has tooth chatter and tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the condition of the rusticated finish around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe. He took a photo of the “P” stamping on the left side of the saddle stem. It is clear and readable but has lost the colour that was originally there. I took some time to remind myself of the provenance of these Peterson’s Dublin Meerschaum pipes. I am pretty sure the pipe was made by the Laxey Pipe Ltd. on the Isle of Man for Peterson’s in Ireland (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Laxey_Pipes_Ltd). I quote from the Pipedia article in full:

Laxey Pipe Ltd. resided in a historical 19th century four-storey Man stone building at The Quay, Old Laxey, Isle of Man, which thankfully has been preserved. The company specialized in the production of Meerschaum Pipes using the Meerschaum mined by the Tanganyika Meerschaum Corporation in the Amboseli basin in Tanganyika (since 1964 part of the United Republic of Tanzania). Please note: you may often find names like “Manx Pipes Ltd.”, “Man Pipe Co.” and others more, but there is no indication of another Isle of Man pipe producer other than Laxey Pipe Ltd. at any time!

Laxey Pipe Ltd. marketed own brands like “Manxpipe”, “Manxman”, “Manxland” e.c. Names like “John Bull”, “White Knight” (unwaxed), “Domino” (black, or lined) indicated some shapes / colours of Laxey’s own series. The stems either showed the astronomical sign for “male” or “man” (circle + arrow), or the crest of the Isle of Man, the 3-legged X in a circle. Manxpipes and Laxey’s other brands were available through pipe retailers in general, but also were sold (mainly) to tourists through their own shop in Laxey.

Furthermore Laxey Pipe Ltd. manufactured the meer bowls for Peterson, Barling, Nørding and others from the later 1960’s until 2001. Man Pipe e.g. was a brand distributed by Comoy’s. The bowls usually showed no nomenclature indicating the orderer. “Genuine Block Meerschaum” was engraved frequently. Often, just the stems were different, while bowls were the same.

Supply of meer from East Africa run out (Kenya / Tanzania exhausted, Somalia inaccessible), and thus the last Laxey meers were supplied to trade in May, 2001. Laxey Pipe Ltd. tried to survive continuing with briar pipes – mainly in the Danish style -, but to no success. It closed down business in July, 2002.

I know that the pipe was made on the Isle of Man by Laxey Pipe Ltd. out of African Meerschaum. It was made for export for Peterson’s of Dublin. The flumed top on the bowl and the rustication around the bowl and shank make me think that it is a 1970s era pipe. That was as much as I could figure out.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare meerschaum. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, shank brushes, 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 very good when it arrived. I took close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top and edges looked very good. There was still some debris in the rustication on the rim top. I took photos of the stem to show the condition it was in. There was light chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on side of the stem. You can see that it is stamped as noted above and is clear and readable. I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe. It is a good looking pipe with great grain.I used a brass bristle wire brush to cleanup the debris in the rustication on the rim top. I knocked out the debris with the brush and the top looked much better and the rustication showed clearly.I worked some Clapham’s Beeswax/Carnauba wax into the finish of the bowl. I used a horsehair show brush to work it into the rusticated finish. I set it aside to allow the wax to dry. I buffed the pipe with a soft cotton cloth to raise the shine on the meerschaum. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the stem with the flame of a lighter to try and lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift some of them. I filled in the remaining tooth marks in the stem surface with black CA glue. I set the stem aside to let the repairs cure. Once the glue cured I used a small file to flatten the repairs on the surface of the stem. I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surrounding vulcanite. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the tooth marks and chatter against the button edge and sand the logo. It worked well on the tooth marks but did little on the logo on the stem top.I touched up the P stamp on the saddle side with white acrylic fingernail polish. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. Once it cured I scraped off the excess then ran some 1500 grit micromesh over the surface. It looked very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry 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 put the stem back on the Rusticated Peterson’s Block Meerschaum Bulldog and took it to the buffer. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond to polish the vulcanite. Blue Diamond does a great job on the smaller scratches that remain on the surface. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Clapham Wax 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 Peterson’s Genuine Meerschaum Bulldog with a rusticated finish and the vulcanite saddle stem has a great look. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.31 ounces/37 grams. This is another pipe that I will be putting on the rebornpipes online store in the Irish Pipemakers 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.