Daily Archives: August 1, 2025

Restoring a Lightly Smoked Handmade by Erik Nording Bulldog

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a lightly beauty. It is dusty and dirty from sitting and smells lightly of tobacco.  We purchase it from a seller on Facebook marketplace on 04/30/25 in Portland, Oregon. It is a smooth Bulldog with a diamond shank. The Bullcap top is rusticated to look like plateau. The shank end has a light bevel and the stem is a military style bit. It is stamped on the left underside of the diamond shank and reads Handmade [over] By [over] Erik Nording. There is no shape number stamped on it. There is a light carbon bowl coating and the bowl was clean and had a light smell of tobacco in the bowl which led me to the conclusion that the bowl had been smoked. The rim top and the inner edge of the bowl looked very good. The mortise was also clean with no oils or tars darkening it. The finish on the bowl and shank was dull but otherwise in great condition and the acrylic stem was new looking. There were not any tooth marks or chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. There was a Nording “N” logo stamped on the top side of the stem. I took photos of the pipe before I started my cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. I took a photo of the rim top and bowl to show the current condition. The rusticated “plateau style” rim top is in perfect condition with no nicks or flaws. The bowl photo shows the light carbon coating on the walls. The walls do not have any tobacco debris or ash on them at all. The stem photos show how clean the stem is other than scratching on the surface.I took photos of the heel of the bowl to capture the stamping. It is faint but readable as noted above but a bit hard to capture in the photos. I removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the overall look of the pipe. It is a beautiful pipe.I turned my attention to the pipe itself. I wiped out the inside of the bowl with a paper towel to lightly remove the dust in bowl coating on the pipe. It looked much better at this point. The bowl still smelled like light tobacco. I am pretty certain the pipe has been lightly smoked. I scraped off the loose coating with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. The bowl is smooth now but I left a smooth coat on the walls for protection.I cleaned out the shank and airway using alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners – both bristle and clean ones. The shank was clean though there was some stain from the briar and some light tars and oils that came out of the shank and some bowl coating out of the entry of the airway in the bowl. I cleaned the airway in the stem at the same time and the airway had some tobacco debris and oils that came out.I scrubbed the briar and the inside of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I rinsed the bowl with warm running water. The bowl was clean and it smelled fresh. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding the briar with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the debris left behind by sanding. 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 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 finished hand polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped it on with my fingers and buffed it off with a soft cloth. The stem really began to have a deep glow. I gave it a final wipe down with Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I am excited to finish this Nording Handmade Smooth Bulldog with a polished military bit style 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 grain on the sides of the bowl with the black vulcanite stem. This smooth Nording Handmade 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: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 49 grams/1.73 ounces. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Danish 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 joining me in my work on this pipe.

Unplugging the airway in a Savoy’s Bent Billiard 710 Bowl

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by Steve Laug

Last week I received an email from my local pipe shop about a pipe that a customer brought in with a plugged airway in the bowl. I wrote and we arranged to have the pipe dropped off for me to work on. It was a small Bent Billiard that was stamped Savoy in an oval on the left side of the shank and the shape number 710 on the right side. Joe from the pipe shop said he thought it had a filter broken off in the shank. We looked at it in the sunlight and I could not tell. When I took it to the worktable I used a bright light to examine the shank further. It was dirty but I could see that the shank had a sump like a Peterson’s bowl and that the airway was drilled at the top of the sump. There was no broken filter in the shank and the pipe was not drilled for one. The shank was plugged in the airway rather than the sump. Now I knew what I needed to do. I fit a small drill bit in the chuck of my cordless drill. I set the drill at a slow speed and pushed the bit through the clog in the airway. It was open. You can see the “crud” on the place mat under the bowl. The plug was composed of rock-hard tars and oils. I cleaned up the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. There was not much cake in the bowl and it was obvious that it had been recently reamed.The inside edge of the rim was damaged from the reaming and was slightly out of round. I used a piece of folded 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the edge a bit.I cleaned out the shank and airway in the pipe with 99% isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners – both bristle and regular. It had been cleaned somewhere along the way so I removed the remaining debris from drilling out the clogged airway. I took the bowl to the buffer and buffed it with multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect the briar and give it a shine. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to polish the wax. I then buffed it by hand with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. It is ready to go back to the pipe shop to be reunited with its stem. Here is the finished bowl.

Fitting a stem on an UNSMOKED Freehand bowl from the estate of Byron Harwood

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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 Freehand was one of Byron’s own handmade pipes. It is a lovely piece of plateau briar (rim top and shank end) that was shaped with an apple bowl that highlighted the grain. The bowl and shank were smooth and highlighted some beautiful grain. The airway in the mortise and shank are well executed and the draught is very good. The bowl was unsmoked and other than dusty when we received it, the pipe was in excellent condition. The stem that came with it really did not fit – more of a Lovat style saddle stem on a midsized freehand. It looked like it had just been put in the shank before shipping. Everything about the stem said “restem me” to this repair guy. 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 I brought it home from Jeff’s place. I took some photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the condition of the rim top and bowl. You can see the drilling and the plateau. It is an unusual pipe. I also took photos of the stem to show its condition also the general look of it and why I don’t think it is a good fit.I sanded the 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 went through my stems and found an acceptable acrylic saddle stem. It had been used for a short time and the airway was stained with dark tobacco stains. I would be able to remove some of the stain but not all. I took a photo of the two stems together. I put it in the shank of the bowl at hand and took a photo of the look with a new stem. The combination works very well.I cleaned the airway in the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners – smooth and bristle. I followed up on that by cleaning it again with Soft Scrub cleanser. I gave it a quick rinse of alcohol to remove the residue of the cleanser and the swirls of tans, creams, ivory, browns and black look very good. There is some heavy darkening stain that I cannot remove but the stem is very clean.I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I filled in the tooth marks in the acrylic with clear CA glue. Once they cured I flattened the repairs with a small file and then sanded the repairs smooth with 220 grit sandpaper. 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 add shine to the acrylic. 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 Freehand Apple and new stem 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 Freehand Apple 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: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.26 ounces/64 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.