By Steve Laug

When I came home after a month and a half hospital stay and open heart surgery it took some time to even break through the anaesthesia fog and do anything. Walking was hard and navigating stairs was next to impossible so I was not able to get to the basement work table. At least a month after I came home – probably around end of July I made it down stairs and went through a box of pipes that Jeff had sent me to see if any caught my eye and fit my current capacity for working on them. I found a nice looking Rhodesian. It was stamped The Medallion on the left side of the round shank and 184 over Imported Briar on the right side. The black, round tapered hard rubber stem was unique and quite beautiful. It came to us from a seller on eBay in Akron, Ohio, USA on 12/18/25. The carver did a great job of shaping the pipe to follow the grain on the briar. The bowl top is smooth and slightly beveled inward. The rim top had spotty lava, dents, marks and had some burn damage on the top and inner edge. The bowl had a thick cake and an overflow of lava onto the rim top. The sides of the bowl and shank are very dirty with grime and oils from prolonged use. There are some dark marks on the left side of the bowl and shank. I took photos before the cleanup work on the pipe. I did the early work on it on my front porch. I continued to take photos of the pipe while I sat on my porch. I used an old oak table as the background and I like the look of it. A close up photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before I started my part of the cleanup work. The rim top had some lava overflow and some darkening. It was dirty but you could see that there was rim damage on the inner edge of the bowl. You can also see damage on the topside of the shank near the stem. The stem photos show the condition of the surface of the vulcanite with tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button.I also took photos of the sides of the bowl and shank to show the beautiful straight and cross grain around the bowl. The photos show the general condition of the bowl and wear on the finish. They also show the stamping on the shank sides. You can also see the silver circle inlaid on the left side of the hard rubber taper stem. The stamping reads The Medallion on the left side and 184 over Imported Briar on the right side. It is very dirty but this is another beautiful pipe.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts.My mobility left pretty much sitting in one place and for most of the work on this pipe I worked on it on my front porch with some short time in my recliner with my feet up. I was not only pretty immobile but also very weak with very little strength in my hands and arms. I started sanding the bowl sides and rim to and the top and underside of the shank with a medium grit sanding block. I worked over the inner edge of the rim to smooth it out. It began to look much better. I worked over the rim top and beveled inner and outer edge with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I was able to move this process to the inside of the house. The sanding process took a lot of time – more than usual due to my recovery. It is getting there. I sanded the briar with 300-3500 grit sanding pads to further remove the scratches left in the briar by its journey and the sandpaper. I worked it over with each sanding pad and wiped it down with a oil cloth to remove the sanding debris.I polished the briar with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads to raise a shine and remove remnants of the scratching that remained. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. HomeI worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. It took some time to really get it into rings separation the cap from the bowl. I was able to work it in. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The reworked rim top looks really good and matches the colour of the rest of the pipe. I am very happy with the results. With the bowl finished I turned to the stem. The hardened rubber of the stem surface had some dents and tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. I sanded it with some 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out a bit. Then I filled in the deeper marks in the surface black super glue. I set it aside to let the repairs hardened and cure.Once the repairs had cured I sanded the repaired areas with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the hard rubber. It began to look very good on both sides.I set the bowl aside and turned to the stem. I sanded the stem with 2×2 inch 320-3500 grit pads. Each pad smoothed out the surface more and blended them into the surrounding rubber. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a Obsidian Oil saturated cloth.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.

This is a beautiful The Medallion 184 Imported Briar Rhodesian and the solid rubber taper stem gives it a nice touch of class. It was a great pipe for me to make a return to restoration after my open heart surgery. I enjoyed working on it. The rim top and the cut of the briar work well to highlight the mixed grain around the bowl sides. I polished the stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple 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 Medallion 184 Imported Briar Rhodesian polished up pretty nicely. The pipe came back to life with the last work and the grain took on some dimensionality in its appearance with the buffing. The rich oil cured colour works well with the polished black hard rubber stem. The finished pipe has a rich look that is quite catching. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 5 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 1.27 ounces/35 grams. I will be adding the pipe to the rebornpipes store in the American Pipemakers Section if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the process with me.