by Steve Laug

While I was travelling in Europe I received and email from James regarding a pipe repair that he had. He was referred to me by the local pipe shop. I have included his email below.

Hello,

My name is James and I have been informed of the excellent work you do restoring pipes to working condition. I’ve attached a few pics of a recent acquisition of mine…

As you can see there has been a tragic incident involving mine, the stem snapped and now it’s stuck like this. I’m not sure of the brand or make (bought it second hand) and it’s quite old, uses a filter less vulcanite stem material.

Do you think this is recoverable? The guy at the tobacco store (city cigar) spoke very highly of your ability and experience. Please let me know what you think, and whether you can help.

Thank you for your time

James

He included the following photos of the pipe he wanted worked on. It was a nice looking oval shank Apple with a snapped tenon. The pipe appears to have some nice grain from the photos. The stamping on the underside of the shank reads Made in Canada Trypis. I wrote James back and told him I could repair the pipe. James stopped by yesterday and dropped the pipe off for me. This is what I saw. It was stamped on the underside of the shank and read Made [over] In Canada [followed by] Trypis. The bowl was smooth with a rusticated patch on each side and one on the backside of the bowl toward the top. The rustication is very reminiscent of the rustication on Brigham pipes. The finish was dirty and had some grime ground into the valleys of the rustication and on the smooth part of the bowl but still looked to be in good condition. The bowl was thickly caked with some light lava on the top at the back and some darkening on the top and the inner edge of the rim. The saddle stem had some light tooth chatter on the top and underside near the button. It had promise but it was dirty. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my cleanup work. I took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the thickness of the cake and the overflow of lava on the rim top and inner edge. I also took photos of the top and underside of the stem to show the chatter and tooth marks.I took some photos of the stem end and the tenon in the shank. The tenon snapped almost smoothly against the stem surface. It was stuck in the shank but was certainly removable. I turned to Pipephil to confirm what I remembered about Trypis. I wanted to read a bit of the history (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-t8.html). I have included a screen capture of information on the site below. I have also included information from the sidebar below the screen capture.Artisan: Phillip Trypis first worked for Brigham as production manager. He continued to supply the Canadian brand when he was established on his own with his own Trypis label. Phillip Trypis had a pipe shop in Toronto.

I turned to the section on Pipedia about Trypis Pipes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Trypis_Pipes). I quote below.

Quoting Stefan Seles: “Phillip Trypis has been a pipe maker in Canada for well over 40 years. Originally from Greece, his experience ranges from cutting burls in a briar mill to making literally thousands of pipes out of his home in the hamlet of Oakwood, Ontario. Brigham pipes benefited from Phillip’s skills where he worked for a number of years. There he directed the pipe production of the company when it was producing over 50,000 a year. Even though he left to start his own pipe shop, he still imported briar and turned tens of thousands of bowls for Brigham not to mention produce a large number of his own branded pipes.

Just over a year ago, Phillip had a serious fall and although he is back making pipes, he is unable to travel around to sell them as he once did. He has asked me to help him in that effort.

The pipes listed below are some of his best work made from decades old MF and R ebuchauns as well as some recently purchased Italian plateau. The prices are excellent, especially given the age and quality of the briar used. In fact, I would venture to say that these pipes have no peers, especially below the $100.00 price. You must be the judge.

Many of the styles are traditional in form although Phillip has a number of freehand styles that are both familiar and off the beaten path. The vast majority of the higher priced pipes are very large pieces to be sure.”

I have worked on quite a few of Phillip’s pipes through the years and it is always a pleasure as they are well engineered and crafted.

I started my work on the pipe by pulling the broken tenon in the shank. I put the bowl in the freezer for a short time to loosen the fit in the shank. I used a screw that I turned into the airway to pull out the snapped tenon. I went through my tenons and found a match that I would use to replace the broken tenon. I began my work by reaming the bowl. It had a very thick hard cake that was like rock. I started with a PipNet Pipe Reamer using the first, second and third cutting heads to remove all of the cake. I cleaned up the remnants of the cake on the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I finished by sanding the bowl walls smooth with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I cleaned out the inside of the mortise, shank and the airway in the stem with isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners.I scrubbed the externals of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. I rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. The bowl and rim top cleaned up really well with the lava coat removed. The inner edge of the rim was in good condition. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage on the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. I wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. It looked much better once I had finished.I polished the rim top and the smooth briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. By the end of the last set of three the bowl took on a rich shine. 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 set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I flattened out the broken tenon on the stem surface with my Dremel and sanding drum. I then drilled the airway open with several drill bits to open the airway to receive the new tenon end. I used the Dremel and sanding drum as well as a flat file to reduce the threaded end of the tenon replacement until the fit was snug in the opened airway. I glued it in place in the stem with black rubberized CA glue and set it aside to cure. I filled in the deep tooth troughs ahead of the button on both sides with the rubberized CA glue I had used on the tenon fit. I set it aside to cure. Once they cured I flattened the repairs ahead of the button area with a flat file to begin blending them into the surface of the stem. I followed that by sanding them with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I further sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. The repairs blended in very well and I was able to remove all of the oxidation on the surface at the same time.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I polished the stem with Before and After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I rubbed it down with some more Obsidian Oil. It was great to finish the tenon replacement and the restoration of this Smooth Oval Shank Trypis Apple. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the rusticated patches on the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the smooth portions and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with deep sandblast all around it. Added to that the polished black, vulcanite, saddle stem was beautiful. This Trypis Apple 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: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 52 grams/ 1.83 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that James will soon pick up. I think he will enjoy smoking this beauty. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.