Monthly Archives: October 2025

Pipe Socks for YOU!

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by Katharina and Juliana Lieblich

Hello, readers of rebornpipes. We are Katharina and Juliana, the teenage daughters of Kenneth Lieblich, and pipe-sock seamstresses of Knights of the Pipe. Last year, Mr. Laug kindly let us write an article, introducing our soft, 100% wool felt pipe socks (and Etsy shop). We are back to thank you all for your gracious support over the last year. Our little business has taken off, and we have been blown away by your generosity.

For those who weren’t aware of our pipe socks and Etsy shop, you can read our previous article here. We happily accept bulk orders and custom-size orders too. We have also added a number of vintage pipe stands (racks, rests, whatever you want to call them) to our Etsy shop. We frequently add more – so please check back on a regular basis!

If pipe socks and/or pipe stands interest you, we would love to hear from you. You can buy directly from us at emporium@knightsofthepipe.com or visit our Etsy shop: https://knightsofthepipe.etsy.com. You can also email our dad at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you for reading, and again, thank you to Mr Laug for giving us this opportunity!

Restemming and Restoring a Unique Venezia Bruyere Garantie Thick Shank System Billiard

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by Steve Laug

Once again, I am breaking the rhythm of restoration of pipes that Jeff has sent to me work on a bowl that I have in a very big box of bowl without stems. There are probably about 100 bowls that I have been chipping away at for a long time now. Yesterday I had to urge to restem a few of the bowls. The next bowl I chose was this interesting thick shank Billiard bowl that was a system style pipe that had two airways entering the bowl and shank. I ran a pipe cleaner through each airway in the shank and the came out in the bowl bottom. The shank end had a thick step-down brass fitting that was oxidized and greenish coloured. The stamping on the left side of the shank was an oval that reads Bruyere [over] Garantie. The front of the bowl was carved with the word VENEZIA (smooth) in a rusticated oval. Somewhere along the way Jeff had reamed and cleaned the bowl and it was waiting a new stem. The briar was dirty from sitting in my box for years. The rim top had a bit of debris and darkening on the surface that was probably present after Jeff’s previous cleanup. I examined the brass shank end for any stamping and there was nothing in the brass as it was unmarked.

I found the VENEZIA carving interesting, which is what drew me to it in the first place. I have worked on Savinelli pipes that were in a line called VENEZIA and I have worked on a folding pocket pipe from my late friend Chuck (https://rebornpipes.com/2012/09/05/chucks-gift-pipes-part-1-venezia-vogini/) that also bore that name along with Vogini. I have done a bit of digging and I cannot put a finger on the maker other than it is separate from the Savinelli Line. The one thing I know is that they have certainly made some unique pipes. This System Pipe is certainly another unique and special looking pipe. My guess is that it probably had a horn stem with a plunger in the centre of the tenon and an airway on the top left and right of the centre dropping the smoke into the rest of the airway in the stem as cool and dry. I took a photo of the carving on the front of the bowl and the left side of the shank. They are clear and readable as noted above.I took a photo of the airways as they entered the shank. You can see one at the top right and top left. There is also fitment at end of the mortise that looks like it held a pin in the centre as a condenser that fit in the mortise.I went through my stems and found an interesting white acrylic saddle stem that would look good with this bowl and the brass shank end. I would need to reduce the diameter of the tenon to fit in the large mortise and would also need to reduce the diameter of the saddle portion to reflect the diameter of the shank.I used a Dremel and a sanding drum to take down the diameter of the saddle portion of the stem and also the tenon. I decided to try something a bit different – to fit the end of the stem with a reversed shank band/ferrule. I reduced the stem diameter enough to press the band onto the end of the stem.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the marks from the Dremel. I followed that by sanding it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further blend down the sanding areas. I wiped the stem down between pads with an Obsidian Oil cloth to remove the sanding debris from the stem.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 set the stem aside and turned my attention to the bowl. I wiped down the bowl with alcohol to remove the spotty finish and the debris on the bowl sides. It began to look much better. I sanded the bowl with 320-3500 grit 2 x 2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. It began to take on a rich shine. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. By the end of the process the pipe bowl looked very good. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with a shoe brush to get into the carving on front of the bowl and my fingertips on the smooth. The product works 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. This Unique Vezania System Bowl with the new White Acrylic stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The rich finish gives the shape an elegant look. The flow of the bowl and the new stem have a great hand feel. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Vezana System Bowl and new stem fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 59 grams/2.08 ounces. This is unique enough that for the time being I am going to hold on to it and enjoy its look, feel and smoke it! Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

New Life into a Handmade by Erik Nording Made in Denmark Freehand

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe is on the table is an interesting looking sandblast Freehand shaped pipe with a vulcanite saddle stem with a twist. Jeff and I purchased it on 09/12/2021 from a seller in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, USA. The pipe is well shaped and has nice grain showing through the sandblast around the bowl. It has a crowned rim top with plateau on the top of the rim. The shank end has a black acrylic spacer. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Hand Made [over] By [over] Erik Nording [over] Made in Denmark. There was grime and dust ground into the sandblast finish of the bowl and shank as well as in the plateau on the flat portion of the rim. The bowl was heavily caked with lava on the rim top and edges. The inside edge looks like it may actually be undamaged under the lava coat. The twisted vulcanite saddle stem was oxidized, calcified and had tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside near the button and on the button edge. There was a Nording “N” logo stamped on the stem top after the twists. The pipe showed a lot of promise but it was very dirty. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the thickness of the cake and tobacco debris as well as the lava in the plateau on the rim top. He also took photos of the top and underside of the stem. The photos show the overall condition of the stem. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the sandblast on the briar looked like. It truly has some nice grain highlighted with the blast around the bowl and shank. The stamping on the underside of the shank is clear and readable and read as noted above. Jeff took a photo to capture the stamping on the underside of the shank and the “N” logo on the top of the stem.I turned first to Pipephil to get a quick review of the brand (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-n2.html). The pipe was carved by Erik Nording. Nording is a prolific carver who continues to make pipes and sell them globally. The screen capture below shows a Nording with stamping like the one I am working on. The one here is lacking the shape number in the middle of the circle but otherwise it is the same.I then turned to Pipedia to have a look at the history of the Nording brand and see if there were any pipes like the one in hand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%B8rding). The history was worth a read, though there were no photos of the pipe that I had.

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

I am really happy to have Jeff’s help on cleaning up the pipes that we pick up along the way. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish on the shank and bowl sides was quite coated with varnish and was shiny. The rim top was heavily burned and the inner edge was badly burned. The lightly rusticated portion on the right side was almost smooth from the burn damage. It was a huge mess. Jeff scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub All Purpose Cleaner to remove the majority of the grime. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver it looked very good. I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. The rim top looked quite good. You can see the plateau on the rim surface and the contrast with the smooth crown of the rim. I took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the surface and button. The stem was very clean on both sides with some light oxidation.I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe. It is a good looking pipe and has an interesting finish on the bowl and shank.I stripped the varnish coat on the bowl and shank with acetone on cotton pads. I was able to remove the full shiny coat and it looked significantly better. I sanded the rim top and smooth portions of the shank with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. It really started to be smooth and looked amazing. I polished the smooth briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. By the end of the process the pipe bowl looked very good. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with a shoe brush to get into the carving on the rim top and shank end and my fingertips on the smooth. The product works 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 vulcanite stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the tooth marks and chatter against the button edge. I wiped the stem down between pads with an Obsidian Oil cloth to remove the sanding debris from the stem. I touched up the “N” logo stamp on the top of the stem surface with white acrylic fingernail polish. Once it cured I scraped off the excess and sanded over the surface with a worn 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad to remove the excess. 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 gave it another wipe down with Obsidian Oil. This Sandblast Erik Nording Handmade Freehand with a plateau rim top is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The rich finish gives the shape an elegant look. The flow of the bowl and stem are well done make for a great hand feel. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Erik Nording Freehand fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 50 grams/1.69 ounces. It is a great looking and light weight pipe. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipemaking Companies Section shortly. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restemming and Restoring a GBD Prehistoric Bulldog with a Cracked Shank

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table was another bowl I had sitting in the box. This one was a nice-looking bulldog with beveled rim top and a sandblast finish on the bowl. There was a very faint stamp on the left underside of the shank. It had the GBD oval logo [followed by] Prehistoric [over] Made in England. The bowl had been reamed and cleaned. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned it before it went in the box. The rim top was smooth and other than a few small nicks was in good condition. The twin rings around the cap were also perfect. The sandblast finish was worn and the stain was faded. The shank had a crack on the right and the left top side. I had an old silver band that would fit the diamond shank well. I was so excited to fit the band on the shank that I did not take any before photos. I did however take photos of the band once it was in place on the shank. I heated it with the flame of a lighter and pressed it onto the shank end. The band is oxidized and is stamped with three hallmarks – an anchor, an M and a rampant lion [over] Sterling. I went through my can of stems and found a nice diamond taper stem that was unused. The tenon had been worked on but the rest of the stem still had the casting marks and debris on the angles and the button. Only later did I figure out that it was a twin bore or bite proof stem. I really liked the look of it and with the banded bulldog it worked well. The photos also show the condition of the bowl at this point in the process. I started on the bowl. I polished the smooth portions of the rim with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. It really began to take on a rich shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a shoe brush to get into the depths of the sandblast on the bowl and shank. The product works 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 silver band with 1500-3000 grit micromesh sanding pads and then finished with a jeweller’s cloth to raise the shine and protect it from further oxidation.I set the bowl aside and turned to the stem. I used the Dremel and sanding drum to clean up the tenon angles and smooth them out. I also used it to remove the excess vulcanite on the shank end of the diamond stem. I was excited and totally forgot to take any photos of the process. For that I apologize.

Once finished I sanded out the marks from the Dremel and the scratches with 220 grit sandpaper. I worked on it for quite a while to smooth out the surface and get the fit to the shank correct. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil cloth. I sanded it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further blend down the sanding areas. I wiped the stem down between pads with an Obsidian Oil cloth to remove the sanding debris from the stem.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. This Sandblast GBD Prehistoric Bulldog is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored and restemmed. The rich finish and Sterling silver give the pipe an elegant look. The Twin Bore stem works with the pipe and is unique. The flow of the bowl and stem make for a great hand feel. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished GBD Prehistoric Bulldog fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 47 grams/1.62 ounces. It is a great looking and light weight pipe. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipemakers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Bringing Some Honour Back to a Dunhill 59 Billiard

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by Kenneth Lieblich

A gentleman in England contacted me recently about repairing a handsome, old Dunhill Root Briar billiard he had. He communicated to me that the pipe was in dire condition, but was such a good smoker that he needed it brought back to life. As always, I was game, but needed to see the pipe in order to assess the situation. Well, the situation was grave indeed – if this pipe was a person, I might have called a priest to administer Extreme Unction. In this case, however, I opted to be the ‘surgeon’ and I needed to operate. Let’s look at the markings on the pipe, so we know what we’re dealing with. On the left side of the shank, we can see the number 59 (the shape number). Next to that is F/T (which stands for ‘fish tail’ – the type of bit on the stem). Next to that is Dunhill [over] Root Briar. On the right side of the shank, we see Made in [over] England5. At least, I think it’s a five – it could be a six – and this indicates that the pipe was made in either 1965 or 1966. Next to that we see ④ R, which indicates the size of the bowl (group 4) and the R indicates that it is root briar.Oh boy – where to begin? There are very many issues with this pipe. The stem has about as much oxidation as any stem could handle. There is some calcification, and several tooth dents, scratches, and marks. Extra work will be required on this stem. Meanwhile, the stummel is really where the action is. It is very dirty inside and the bowl has a thick layer of cake. There are many scratches in the briar, a few nicks, and some notable chunks missing. There are also six burn marks on the outside of the bowl – that’s pretty impressive. There is grime everywhere on the briar and it has a grungy feel. Furthermore, there is a major and unsightly flat spot (likely an old burn) on the part of the bowl nearest the shank. Finally, there are no fewer than two substantial cracks in the bowl that run quite a distance. I say ‘…no fewer than two…’ because more cracks would be revealed in due course. Naturally, there was considerable damage to be found on the inside of the bowl too.This is an epic repair – it isn’t really restoration or conservation. Regardless, it was fun, nerve-wracking, and educational. Let’s get started! First of all, I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean. Fortunately, the inside wasn’t too dirty at all – it’s just the outside that needs serious help.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result was a hideous, brownish mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface of the vulcanite. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew out the stem from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush. Due to the severity of the oxidation, I then repeated the scrubbing with the cream cleanser for maximum effect.As the stem was now clean and dry, I set about fixing the marks and dents in the vulcanite. This was done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber. I left this to cure and moved on.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the vulcanite. Following that, I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, 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, deep black shine to the stem when I was done. Quite frankly, the stem is now incomparable with how it started – just look at those photos!As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the stummel. The first step was to ream 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. I used a reamer, a pipe knife, and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensured that all the debris was removed. However, there was considerable damage, heretofore undiscovered, to the walls of the bowl. We’ll come back to that in a bit.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. With a pipe this dirty, it took quite a while and much cotton to get clean. I also used a dental tool to remove the gunk, old glue, and other detritus from the cracks in the bowl.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I wiped down the outside, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the stummel with the same mild detergent and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.Now it was time to get serious. I performed a close examination of the many burn marks on the outside of the bowl. The good news was that they were all quite superficial – there was no deep burning of the wood. The bad news was that there were so many, and they would remain as an interesting detail in this pipe’s history. The two original cracks were now clean – and there were now two more cracks on the opposite side of the bowl. Coupled with the major flat spot I mentioned earlier, this was severe damage and was going to require significant work to salvage. Here is a photographic survey of what I was dealing with. I decided to repair the tiny cracks in the briar next. Before anything else, it is imperative that I ensure that the cracks do not continue to creep after I repair them. To that end, I took a micro-drill bit, inserted it in my rotary tool, and very carefully drilled a hole right through the wall of the shank. That hole will stop the crack from progressing. As you can see, the drill bit is incredibly thin and quite prone to snapping if great care is not taken.The next step is to line these cracks with clear cyanoacrylate adhesive. To prevent the adhesive from dripping into the bowl, I lined it with a piece of duct tape – because cyanoacrylate adhesive does not stick well to it. Applying the adhesive neatly and cleanly is not important at this stage – but being thorough is!Having completed that, I moved on to repairing the grievously damaged interior of the bowl. Prior to my customer’s ownership, this pipe was heavily smoked and not cared-for as it should have been. There are heat fissures throughout the bowl and have resulted (obviously) in the cracks migrating to the outside. To fill damage like this, I used an epoxy adhesive that is extremely hard, resistant to high temperatures, and completely inert when cured. It worked superbly. I filled the affected area with the epoxy and let it cure for a full 24 hours.I had a long discussion with my customer in England about how to proceed in addressing the large flat spot, the remnants of the cracks, the chunks missing, etc. – in other words, how do we want the pipe to look in the end? The fact is that there isn’t any all-encompassing solution to this pipe’s aesthetic woes. Having said that, the best of a bad set of options was to round off the top of the pipe and make it look even all around. We know that the cracks will always be there; we know that the burns will always be there; but we can at least do this and make the pipe better. I used my rotary tool and removed some material. I progressed with sandpaper and, below, you’ll see a series of photos which document some of this procedure. Following that, I roughened up the epoxy’s surface (inside the bowl) with 220-grit sandpaper for the next step. I thinly coated the inside of the bowl with a mixture of my wife’s homemade yogurt and activated charcoal. Once hardened, this provided a good, faintly rough surface for a new cake to build. I used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand the outside of the stummel 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 stummel with a microfibre cloth. The gentleman from England and I did discuss the possibility of staining the briar – but ultimately decided against it. We felt that stain would not hide the damage well anyway, so why not lean into the scars and accept them. This isn’t quite kintsugi, but it did remind me of it. So, for the final step, I took the pipe to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it – first with a blue diamond compound, then with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – despite the difficult circumstances.

All done! This Dunhill Root Briar 59 billiard pipe has had a remarkable transformation and it’s hard to believe that it’s the same pipe – perhaps some would say that it isn’t. I am pleased and proud of the work and the results – I certainly hope my customer will be pleased too. 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.

Restemming and Restoring a Savinelli Extra Lumberman

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by Steve Laug

My brother and I have picked up a lot of bowl without stems over the years and boxed them for potential restemming at a later date. Unfortunately, we did not record where we picked them up. This one was a long shanked Canadian. Jeff had reamed and cleaned the pipe before we boxed it so it was clean, just needing finishing and restemming. It spots of rustication around the bowl sides and the shank. There was also a joint mid shank that was “hidden” under the rustication. The pipe was stamped on the underside of the bowl and shank and read Savinelli [over] Extra on the bowl heel [followed by] LUMBERMAN [followed by] Italy. The briar was clean and the rustications were also clean. The rim top had damage on the bevelled inner edge and some darkening on both. The joint of the two parts was well done and the rustication did a great job hiding it. There is a silver band on the shank is a repair band I believe that was added after carving. It is stamped with an arched Sterling Silver on the topside. I took some photos of the bowl before I started working on it. I took photos of the rim top and inner edge to show the condition of the bowl and rim. I also took photos of the junction of the two parts of the shank. Note the condition of the union of the two parts of the long shank. It is very well done and the connection is clean and undamaged.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It was clear and readable as noted above. I did a google search on a Savinelli Extra Lumberman and found one on MBSD’s Instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/p/DBu1kPTPCFF/). I captured one of the photos from the site and also the pertinent descriptive information that was in the side bar for the pipe.….…This is an interesting Savinelli. Though technically a Canadian, this extra long Lumberman model is not one you’ll find on Savinelli’s contemporary shape chart. In fact, I think this is a shape from before 1970 and the advent of the chart that Savinelli uses as standard today. It also features something that Savinelli has not done for a long time: spot carving. I.e., partial rustication, which lends the pipe a slightly rugged look, juxtaposed nicely with its virgin blonde stain. Finally, the pipe has vulcanite stem, which is also not very common on Savinellis anymore.

Now it was time to restem the pipe. I went through my can of stems to find a stem that would fit this pipe both in terms of the airway and the shank fit. I found a nice taper stem that would work well with this long shank Canadian. With a bit of work it would fit very well. It was close to a fit so I used a Dremel and sanding drum to reduce the diameter of the tenon for a shank fit. I adjusted it further with some small flat files. Once I completed the clean up of the tenon I fit it in the shank on the pipe and took photos of the pipe at this point in the process. I still needed to adjust the width of the stem at the shank as well as the overall shape to match the shank end.I used 220 grit sandpaper to shape and adjust the stem to match the shank end. It took a lot of sanding and shaping but it began to look very good.I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad to check the progress of the fit to the shank. It began to look 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 set the stem aside and turned my attention to the bowl. I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and a half sphere to work over the inner bevelled edge on the bowl. Then I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge some more. It started to look very good at this point. I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to smooth out the scratching in the surface. I wiped the briar down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the dust and debris. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I worked over the inner and outer edge of the rim as well. After each pad I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. It really took on a shine by the last three sanding pads. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a shoe brush to get into the carving on the bowl and shank. The product works 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 silver band on the shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a jeweller’s cloth to remove the debris and to polish the silver and remove the oxidation and prevent more from developing. I am excited to finish restemming and restoring this Savinellil Extra Lumberman. 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 mixed grain all around it with just a few small flaws in the briar. The polished grain on the pipe looks great with the black vulcanite stem. This smooth Savinelli Extra Lumberman with spot rustications 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: 7 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 45 grams/1.55 ounces. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will soon be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Pipes by Italian Pipe Making Companies Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know.

Remember we are the next in a long line of pipe men and women who will carry on the trust of our pipes until we pass them on to the next trustee. Thanks for your time reading this blog.

Restoring a No Name Rusticated Long Shank Scoop

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a No Name Rusticated Freehand Scoop with unique carving around the bowl. We picked it up from a seller in Ogden, Utah, USA on 12/12/2024. The rim top was smooth as was rounded shank end. It is a unique and strangely pretty pipe. The bowl had a moderate cake and there was some lava on the rim top and some darkening on the inner edge but no real damage. The rusticated grooves that ran with the curves of the bowl and shank were rusticated on both the high parts and in the valley of the grooves. The briar was dirty from use and the bowl looked dull. The stem is a short fancy saddle style – rounded first then tapering into a triangle and flat blade to the button. It was oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. It was short and fit the long shank very well. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. He took photos of the rim top and the stem to show the condition. You can see the moderate cake in the bowl and darkening and grime on the rim edge. The photos of the stem show the tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the finish around the bowl sides to show flow of the rustication around the bowl and shank. You can also see the dust and debris in the finish. Now it was my turn to work on the pipe. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked, rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked very good when I received it. I took photos of the bowl and the rim top as well as both sides of the stem to show the condition of the pipe before I started my work. The rim top was very clean and the inner edge and top look much better. The stem showed light tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. I took the stem off the bowl and took a photo of the parts. It is an interesting pipe. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the rim top darkening and the light damage to the inner edge of the rim. It looked better.I sanded the smooth portions of the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I dry sanded with each pad and wiped it down with a damp cloth afterwards.I used a Maple Stain pen to touch up the shank end and rim top and bring a good match to the two parts and reflect some of the undercolor of the bowl sides. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the smooth rim top and shank end with my fingertips. I worked it into the rustication around the bowl and the shank with a shoebrush. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth chatter and also smoothed out the remnants of tooth damage with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with Obsidian Oil.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This nice looking No Name Freehand Scoop with a fancy turned saddle vulcanite stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The briar is clean and the grain really came alive on the rim top and heel of the bowl. The rich stains gave the finish a sense of depth on the rustication with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. 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. The finished No Name Freehand Scoop really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 38 grams/ 1.34 ounces. This beautiful Freehand pipe will soon be on the rebornpipes store in the American (US) Pipemakers Secton. It should make a great smoker for the next trustee. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on.

Restoring a Kaywoodie Mandarin with Bamboo shank and loose stem

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe is on the table is a great looking Pot shaped pipe with a Bamboo\d shank and a vulcanite taper stem. Jeff and I purchased it from an auction in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The pipe is well shaped and has nice grain around the bowl. It has a flat thin rim top and a rounded heel on the bowl. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Kaywoodie [over] Mandarin. There was grime and dust ground into the smooth finish of the bowl and shank. The bowl was heavily caked with thick lava on the rim top and edges. The inside edge looks like it may actually be undamaged under the lava coat. The outer edge looks very good. The vulcanite taper stem was oxidized, calcified and had tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside near the button and on the button edge. The tenon was a Kaywoodie style metal screw tenon, without a stinger apparatus. It was loose in the stem and stuck in the shank. There was no logo or stamping on the stem at all. The pipe showed a lot of promise but it was very dirty. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the thickness of the cake and tobacco debris as well as the inner edge of the rim. You can see the thick lava coat on the rim top and inner edge. It is obviously a well loved and heavily smoked pipe. He also took photos of the top and underside of the stem. The photos show the overall condition of the stem. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar looked like under the grime on the surface. It truly has some nice grain around the bowl and shank. The stamping on the underside of the shank is clear, though faint in spots. It is still readable and read as noted above. Jeff took a photo to capture the stamping on the underside of the shank.I wanted to confirm a possible date for both of these pipes. I turned to Pipephil to see what he had to say about the brand (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-kaywoodie-2.html). I have included a screen capture of the listing on the site as well as the sidebar notes. The Mandarin line was produced from 1958 to 1967.

I turned next to Pipedia to check out the Kaywoodie Collector’s Guide to see if I could get some more information on the Mandarin line. I found an interest monograph there called Notes on Kaywoodies Introduced between 1955 and 1968. It included reference to the Mandarin line. I include that in part below (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Collector%27s_Guide_to_Kaywoodie_Pipes). I have highlighted and underlined the Mandarin in the list below. Both of the pipes I am working on are the smooth versions.

NOTES ON KAYWOODIES INTRODUCED BETWEEN 1955 AND 1968

The material presented in this monograph is extracted from 1936, 1947, 1955, 1968-69, and four undated Kaywoodie catalogs. Based on a comparison of prices in the 1955 and 1968-69 catalogs, the four undated catalogs appear to span the period from the late 1950’s to the late 1960’s (i.e., after 1955 but before 1968). This section presents a brief summary of the Kaywoodie Pipes that appeared in these undated catalogs, but did not appear in either the 1955 or 1968-69 catalogs…

Here is a list of pipes from this time period.

…Hi-Bowl. Tall, tapered bowl in six shapes (see Table 5). Available in smooth or “rough” finish ($10).

Mandarin. Smooth or relief grain finish with burnished-bamboo shank ($10).

Setter. No shank, just a ridged hole for a slender, filter-free, push-bit. Available in “flat bottom” (hence, “Setter”) panel, billiard, and poker shapes. Smooth or textured finish ($10).

Tuckaway. The 1955 catalog shows a Drinkless Tuckaway that was simply a smaller version of other Kaywoodie styles. The Tuckaways of the 1955-1968 period had military mountings, filter-free see-thru bits, and were packaged in a leatherette case. Available in Standard, Relief Grain, and Super Grain grades ($6-$8, depending on grade). Miniatures. Two-inch miniature replicas of “their big brother”, complete with the Drinkless fitment and Synchro Stem. The catalogs show these as individually-cased pipes but multiple pipe sets were apparently available. Price: $5.

Miniatures. Two-inch miniature replicas of “their big brother”, complete with the Drinkless fitment and Synchro Stem. The catalogs show these as individually-cased pipes but multiple pipe sets were apparently available. Price: $5.

Colossal Super Grains. Available in three “oversize” shapes (see Section 3.2) in hand-carved or smooth finishes ($5).

Now I knew that the pipe came from this time period. It was made between 1955-1968. Somewhere along the way I assumed the stinger disappeared and only the threaded portion was present. There was also no logo on the side of the stem though it appears to be original.

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 each mortise and the airway in the shanks and the stems with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exteriors 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 of each pipe and bamboo shank. He rinsed them under running water. He dried them off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed it off with warm water and ran pipe cleaners through it once again. It looked much better.  I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. It really has a great look and the patina on the bamboo shank crackles and looked aged. It is a pretty pipe. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem on the pipe. You can see the condition of the rim top and bowl in the first photo of each pipe. Jeff was able to remove all of the lava but there was darkening on the rim top. The vulcanite stem had some chatter and several deep tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button.The stamping on the underside of the shank is faint in spots but is nonetheless readable. It is stamped as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. The taper stem is nice and the photo gives a sense of what the pipe looks like.I needed to free the threaded tenon from the bamboo shank so I could glue it in place in the stem. It had long ago come free of the stem and it would no longer hold the stem in place. I heated the tenon with a lighter flame until the goop in the shank loosened and then unscrewed it with needle nose pliers. It came out quite easily and the threads from the bamboo were covered with debris. All looked good in the shank and the tenon.I cleaned up the thread on the tenon with a brass bristle wire brush and greased it with some Vaseline to make the threads turn more easily into the shank. I screwed it in place. Once it was snug I painted the stem end with black, rubberized CA glue and push the stem in place and aligned it on the shank. I set it aside to allow the glue to cure before unscrewing the stem. Last evening after the glue had cured holding the tenon in the shank I unscrewed the stem from the shank. The bond was very well done and well cured. It was solid and the stem lined up well when it was screwed onto the shank.I filled in the deep tooth marks on both sides of the stem ahead of the button with black rubberized CA glue. I set it aside to cure. Once cured I used a file to recut the button edge and flatten out the repairs in the surface. I sanded them smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. They blended into the stem surface very well. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further blend the repairs into the surface. I wiped the stem down between pads with an Obsidian Oil cloth to remove the sanding debris from the stem.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 set the stem aside and turned my attention to the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage to the rim top and the inner edge and to remove the darkening. It started to look very good at this point.I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to smooth out the scratching in the surface. I wiped the briar down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the dust and debris. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I worked over the inner and outer edge of the rim as well. After each pad I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. It really took on a shine by the last three sanding pads. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips where it works to clean, restore and preserve the briar. I let it do its magic for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The pipe looks incredibly good at this point in the process. I am excited to finish this Kaywoodie Mandarin Pot with a Bamboo shank. 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 mixed grain all around it with just a few small flaws in the briar. The polished grain on the pipe looks great with the black vulcanite stem. This smooth Kaywoodie Mandarin Pot 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: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 39 grams/1.38 ounces. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will soon be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the US/American Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Remember we are the next in a long line of pipe men and women who will carry on the trust of our pipes until we pass them on to the next trustee. Thanks for your time reading this blog.

The Golden Beauty

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by Kenneth Lieblich

I’ve mentioned several times that I have an interest in French pipes and pipemaking. In recent decades, French pipes have received a fair amount of derision – and deservedly so. However, old French pipes are often very beautiful, well-made, and wonderful models of early pipe history. In my own small way, I am aiming to resurrect the reputation of early French pipes. There are superb pipes to be had from France. This blog post is about the restoration of a pipe that really attracted me and is going into my ‘French Collection’. This is an attractive bent billiard, with the brand name La Belle d’Or – which literally means ‘The Beauty of Gold,’ but is better translated as ‘The Golden Beauty’. It has strong, thick, briar walls, a classic, brass ferrule, and a long, luxurious, horn stem. The left side of the stummel’s shank reads, La Belle d’Or [over] Vieille Bruyère. The stamping is clear, albeit a bit worn through the middle. The right side of the stummel’s shank reads, Vieille Bruyère [over] “Double Or”. The words vieille bruyère can be literally translated as ‘old briar,’ but are probably best understood as ‘aged briar’. Why those words are mentioned on both sides of the pipe is unknown to me. The words double or literally mean ‘double gold’, and this phrase is meant to imply something extra special – not just gold, but double gold.Before examining the background of this pipe, I want to take a moment and reflect on its aesthetics. To my taste, this pipe is just sublime. The shape is an admirable exemplar of what a bent billiard should be. The proportions are right. The curves are alluring. The grain in the wood is lovely. The brass ferrule complements the thick briar perfectly. The size is comfortable (around a Dunhill ④, for comparison). The draught hole is perfectly drilled. In short, whichever pipemaker made this, he did an excellent job. As is the case with so many early French pipes, there is next-to-no information about the name, La Belle d’Or. I have access to quite a few resources on French pipes – books and websites – and I could not establish any definitive information on the brand. I do know that the pipe dates to approximately 1900, so it’s about 125 years old. I know this because the Amsterdam Pipe Museum has a pipe of the same brand, with similar features, that they date to 1900. Back in 2021, Steve restored a La Belle d’Or pipe (to my knowledge, the only one he’s done) and, unfortunately, he didn’t find any background information either. I have to assume that, based on the ample size of the bowl and the quality of the construction, this was probably an expensive pipe in its day.

This pipe was clearly well-loved by its historic owner. The horn stem is solid, but thoroughly chomped by teeth of ages past. The stem has a bone tenon which is sound, but dirty. It also has an orific button. For more information on the orific button, please take the time to read Steve’s interesting article on the subject. The stummel is charming and dirty. As I mentioned, one can see the wonderful wood grain peeking through the grime. The bowl is thoroughly caked and obviously hasn’t been cleaned in aeons. There is also some light burning to the rim. I am excited to get this pipe cleaned up and back to its best.I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with pipe cleaners dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean. I used a lot of pipe cleaners! As the stem was now clean and dry, I set about fixing the dings and nicks in the surface of the horn. This was done by filling those divots with clear cyanoacrylate adhesive. I left this to cure and moved on.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the horn. Following that, I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the horn, 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, variegated shine to the stem when I was done.As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the stummel. The first step was to ream 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. I used a reamer, a pipe knife, and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensured that all the debris was removed. Fortunately, the inside walls looked very good.The inside of the stummel needed to be cleaned thoroughly. However, this pipe was so clogged, that I first needed to open the horribly occluded airway. So, I took a long drill bit, held in a drill chuck, and hand-cranked it to dislodge the dreadful detritus inside. Hand cranking is essential because it provides a precision and caution that a power drill cannot provide.My next step was to remove the lava on the rim. For this, I took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. With a pipe this dirty, it took quite a while and much cotton to get clean.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I wiped down the outside, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. I also used a toothbrush in the crevices. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the stummel with the same mild detergent and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.The brass ferrule is quite tarnished and needs to be cleaned up. In order to protect the wood, I taped the shank off and then created a paste of powdered salt and lemon juice. This worked very well and the metal cleaned up nicely.Next, I took a closer look at the markings in the briar. Most of them are deep and sharp, but there’s a substantial part which is thin and rubbed out. I used some Rub’n’Buff, a wax metallic pigmented finish, to recreate the original gold colour of the markings.I then used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand the outside of the stummel and finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. I then used some micromesh pads that I have saved solely for metal work and buffed the ferrule up to a lovely shine. 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 stummel with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it – first with a blue diamond compound, then with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows.

This La Belle d’Or Vieille Bruyère bent billiard is a beauty and has been added to my collection. It was a pleasure to work on. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5⅞ in. (150 mm); height 2¾ in. (70 mm); bowl diameter 1⅔ in. (42 mm); chamber diameter ⅞ in. (21 mm). The weight of the pipe is 2⅛ oz. (61 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.

Restemming and Restoring a Neidlinger Imported Briar Rhodesian Bowl

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by Steve Laug

Once in a while I break the rhythm of restoration of pipes that Jeff has sent to me work on a bowl that I have in a very big box of bowl without stems. There are probably about 100 bowls that I have been chipping away at for a long time now. Yesterday I had to urge to restem a few of the bowls. The first of them was this interesting rusticated Rhodesian bowl that looked a lot like some of the rustication on Custombilt pipes though with a bit of variation that separates it from them. It bears an oxidized Sterling Silver band on the shank that will need some attention. The stamping on the left side of the shank reads NEIDLINGER [over] Imported Briar. Somewhere a long the way Jeff had reamed and cleaned the bowl and it was waiting a new stem. I examined the silver and it was stamped across the top of the band and read STERLING. I took a photo of the stamping on the shank side. It was clear and readable as noted above.I went through my can of stems and found one that that was close to the diameter I needed and the tenon would need a slight adjustment for it to fit in the shank. I used a file to reduce the diameter of the tenon. I cleaned up the tenon diameter with my Dremel and a sanding drum. It did not take much for the stem to fit well in the shank. I put it in place and took photos. You can see in the photos that the stem diameter will need to be adjusted as the shank is not round and the stem is. I worked on the adjustment of the outside diameter of the stem with my Dremel and a sanding drum. I took off the majority of the excess vulcanite that way. The rest would need to be done with files and sanding pads. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the marks from the Dremel. I followed that by sanding it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further blend down the sanding areas. I wiped the stem down between pads with an Obsidian Oil cloth to remove the sanding debris from the stem.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 set the stem down and turned my attention to the clean bowl. I used a brass bristle wire brush to work over the rim top and remove the debris in the carving. It looked cleaner.I polished the silver band with 1500-3000 grit micromesh sanding pads and then finished with a jeweller’s cloth to raise the shine and protect it from further oxidation. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a shoe brush to get into the carving on the bowl and shank. The product works 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. This Rusticated Neidlinger Imported Briar Rhodesian is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored and restemmed. The rich finish gives the shape an elegant look. The flow of the bowl and stem are well done make for a great hand feel. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Neidlinger Rhodesian fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 64 grams/2.26 ounces. It is a great looking and light weight pipe. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.