Author Archives: rebornpipes

Repairing a Burned Through Bowl

Blog by Steve Laug

There are many times I take on the challenge of repairing a pipe totally for the learning experience. When I begin working on it there is nothing of redeeming value in the pipe itself. It is not beautiful or worthy of keeping. Rather it provides a unique learning opportunity for me to work on a skill in my refurbishing hobby. The pipe below is exactly that kind of pipe. Mark Domigues sent it to me along with other bowls when I was working on the shank repair on his old Peterson pipe. It is a no name pipe with a rustication pattern that I did find particularly attractive. In fact I put off working on it as it just did not appeal to me. I can’t tell you how many times I picked the bowl up and carried it to the recycle bin (a bin I used for briar parts) and then carried it back to the “to be refurbished” box.

Finally, Monday the challenge called me. I took the bowl out of my box and looked it over. As I looked at it, the shape kind of grew on me. It is a brandy glass shape and the shank actually has a flare to it as well. The rustication is a bit striated but as I cleaned up the exterior it is a lot like tree bark. The stain is a contrast stain – a black undercoat in the grooves and a brown top coat. It was worn but could be salvaged. The shank stem junction was also worn but a band would clean up that part of the pipe. The interior bowl sides were clean and solid. The rim was in good shape. But the glaring problem is visible in the photo below – a large, ½ inch diameter burnout on the flat bottom of the pipe. The surrounding briar was solid. The burnout was very focused. The burn did not extend into the rest of the bottom of the pipe. In fact the wood around the edges of the hole was clean and solid. There was none of the darkening around edges of the burnout or on the bottom of the bowl. It looked like it might be a great candidate for practicing a repair. I have done one other repair on a burn out which involved inserting a briar plug and this looked like it was another candidate for that repair. The difference in this one was the solidness of the briar around the hole.

As I worked up the chutzpah to tackle this repair I decided to work on the shank. I sanded the shank smooth in preparation for the band. I like to have a smooth surface under the band rather than a rusticated pattern. I find it gives a good smooth fit to the band. I sanded out the rustication to the width of a nickel band. Once it was sanded smooth, I heated a band over a heat gun and then pressed it into place. I liked the finished look of the band.

I am sure that you can tell at this point that I am procrastinating in addressing the main issue of the bowl with all of the other random work on the pipe but that went on a little longer. I found a stem in my stem box that fit the shank quite well. The mortise had originally had a screw in fitment so it was threaded. The threads were well worn so I decided to use a regular style push stem. I sanded the tenon to get a good tight fit on the stem and then sanded the stem to get a good fit against the shank and band. The slight bend in the stem looked good but it was a bit crooked so I would address that issue later. The finished look of the stem and band with the bowl was quite nice…maybe there was something redeemable about the bowl after all.

I have a few pieces of scrap briar that I have scavenged from pipe maker friends that I had put away for this kind of repair. So I found one that had enough briar left that I could carve it into a plug for the bottom of the bowl. I trimmed it with a hack saw to reduce the size of the plug.

In the first photo below you can see what the hole looked like after I had cleaned it up with a pick and Everclear. I had also reamed the inside of the bowl to remove all of the cake from the sides and the bottom of the bowl. The second photo shows the hole after I had drilled it out. I used a cordless drill with a ½ inch drill bit to round out the damage area and remove any further damage around the burnout. I chose the ½ inch bit as that was the diameter of the hole at the widest part of the hole.

I shaped the briar plug with a Dremel and sanding drum. The next series of photos show the progress of the shaping. I took the rough briar from a wedge to a circular plug and then shortened it to a round plug. I shaped a cap on the plug to the inner diameter of the bowl. Also originally I envisioned pushing the plug through from the inside of the bowl and then cutting off the portion that extended beyond the bottom of the bowl. I would then redrill the airway to finish the repair.

I continued to reduce the diameter of the plug until it was the same size as the hole in the bowl. The inside bowl bottom was hard to match with the cap of the plug. I continued to shape it until it was cup shaped. It seemed no matter how I shaped it however, it would not fit in the bowl bottom as the burnout was not centered in the bowl bottom. It was toward the front of the bowl bottom. I finally decided to use a different tact. I would forgo inserting it from the inside and go the other direction. I would insert it from the outside in. I measured the thickness of the bowl bottom (which was actually in good shape other than the burned portion). I then shortened the plug until it was relatively flush with the bottom of the airway. I coated the plug with superglue gel which gives me a bit more time before it sets and pushed it into the drilled hole. I pressed it against the table top to get the plug in place solidly.

Once the glue set I sanded away the excess briar with a Dremel to match the surface of the bowl. I was not worried about the rustication as I would duplicate that after I finished working the plug into place. The next two photos show the plug and the bowl surface are smooth and the plug is tightly in place.

The next photo shows the interior of the bowl. The plug is even with the entrance of the airway. There is difference in bowl depth around the left edge. I plan to give the bottom of the bowl a thick coating of pipe mud to both protect the new plug and to even out the slight trough on the left front edge of the plug.

I rusticated the bottom of the bowl with the Dremel to match the tree bark look of the rustication on the bowl (Photo 1 below). I stained it with a dark brown aniline stain and then also gave the bottom of the bowl a second coat with black stain to emulate the effect of the stain coat on the rest of the bowl (Photos 2 and 3 below).

I stained the rest of the bowl with the dark brown stain to freshen it up and blend in the stain on the bottom of the bowl. I buffed it with red Tripoli and White Diamond to raise a shine and then gave it several coats of carnauba wax on the buffer. The finished exterior is visible in the first close up below and the following four photos of the pipe.

With the repair finished on the exterior of the pipe I worked on the stem. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper and then with a medium grit sanding sponge to clean up the oxidation and scratches on the vulcanite. I heated the stem with a heat gun to straighten it and then rebent it over a rolling-pin to give it a slight bend. I set the bend under cool water and then gave the stem a quick buff with Tripoli before taking it back to the work table to further sand the stem.

I continued to sand the stem with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-12,000 grit to bring a shine to the vulcanite. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit sanding pads. When I finished sanding with the pads I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and let it dry then buffed it with White Diamond and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax.

With the externals repaired and finished it was time to make up some pipe mud to coat the bottom of the bowl and give a protective coat over the bowl plug. I sacrificed a nice little Cohiba Cuban cigar for the purpose of making the mud of the ash. When the cigar was finished I had a nice bowl of clean ash.

I mixed the ash with a small amount of water to make a paste. I inserted a pipe cleaner into the airway and then applied it to the bottom of the bowl, tamping it into the crevices around the plug and building up the bowl bottom. As the pipe mud dried I added additional layers of mud to the bottom of the bowl and around the lower sides of the bowl. The next series of three photos show the progressive build up of the mud in the bottom of the bowl.

When the mud had dried to touch I buffed the pipe a final time with White Diamond and then gave the entire pipe several coats of carnauba wax to protect and give it a shine. I then used a clean flannel buff for the final buffing. The restored pipe is pictured below. I will let the pipe mud cure and harden for a few days before loading up the pipe and smoking the inaugural bowl.

Pipe Time: A discourse on pipe smoking & the question of time – Eric Boehm

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I want to take this time to thank Eric Boehm for his contributions to the rebornpipes blog. I am posting this contemplative piece written by Eric some time ago for your reading pleasure. It is great to have some of the pieces that Eric has written available for each of us to read and enjoy. Thanks again Eric.

I’ve often wondered what makes pipe smoking special. Why writers, thinkers, contemplatives and philosophers advocated so strongly for the pipe. Was it simply Lady Nicotine calling or was there something deeper in the act of smoking a pipe?

Physicists tell us that the fourth dimension (after the three coordinate spatial dimensions of x, y & z) is time. Man’s preoccupation with time is all-consuming and dominates center stage of the human experience. Work, money, science, religion, war – indeed, human history itself – all share time as the central paradigm. Einstein and modern physics are obsessed with time. Time cognition or time awareness in humans therefore is central to the human condition. Therefore, any substance or human activity that alters our perception of time is of great interest. In my opinion, the ability to alter the perceived rate of time as experienced by pipe smokers is perhaps the true gift given from the New World Amerindian to the Old World European.

The consumption of tobacco in a pipe, being a protracted affair, forces you to stop normal activities related to work and play. And during this temporary cessation of daily activity, one is afforded the opportunity to look towards the horizon, ponder, and think on the larger picture. In this sense, protracted tobacco consumption in a pipe allows one to slow down – to cheat time in a sense.

This ability to slow time perception also is related to life span, I believe. In that animals and plants with longer life spans grow slower. If we measure animal life span by heartbeats, we realize that both the elephant and the mouse have the same number of heartbeats – about a billion and a half. It’s just that there is a greater interval of time between the beats in an elephant (28 beats/min.) with a corresponding lengthening of its life span as compared to the mouse (500/min.).
Doctors tell us a slower resting heart rate is the key to a longer life. It’s counter-intuitive that exercise which temporarily elevates the heart rate, in fact helps to lower the overall heart rate when the body is at rest, between exercise events, thus extending life. Of course time doesn’t really stop in the objective sense because of tobacco. But to the pipe smoker it seems to, in the subjective sense. And perhaps that’s all that really matters.

Doctors tell us anything that increases the distance between heart beats – anything that slows down the resting heart rate – lengthens life. Maybe when Ponce de León was searching for the Fountain of Youth in Florida in the early 1500s, he didn’t realize he had the gift of life in hand already. It was called tobacco. The Indians smoking on the sidelines already knew this.

Pipe smoking eases you into the present moment – savor your pipe & you’ll savor your life.

Restemmed and Restored Imported Genuine Briar Billiard

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This is another bowl from my refurbishing box. It is stamped Imported in an arc over Genuine Briar on the left side of the shank. The finish was varnished and dirty. I intended on stripping it so when I restemmed it I block sanded the stem fit. I had an old Erhlich stem that fit very well and gave the pipe a nice line. The rim had a strange rustication pattern on it that did not match the carvings on the front of the bowl. It was tarred and the varnish coat had bubbled on it. So I decided I was going to top it and give the bowl a smooth rim to match the smooth portions of the bowl. I sanded the shank and stem junction to make sure that the transition was smooth. I sanded with 220 grit sandpaper, a medium grit sanding sponge and then a medium grit sanding block.

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and cleaned out the old stem and the shank with cotton swabs and pipe cleaners dipped in Everclear. I cleaned it until both came out white. I then continued to sand the union of the stem and shank with the 220 grit sandpaper until the transition was very smooth. I was careful around the stamping as I wanted to leave that intact and clear. Some nice grain began to come out once I had the finish removed at the junction. It bode well for what would be under the varnish coat once I stripped that away.

I used my usual method for topping the bowl – a piece of 220 grit sandpaper on a board and twisted the bowl rim into the sandpaper being careful to keep the rim flat against the board. I kept sanding until all of the carved grooves on the rim were gone and the rim was smooth. I also sanded the rim with a medium grit sanding sponge and then a medium grit sanding block to smooth out the scratches left by the 220 grit sandpaper. I finished the rim sanding with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads in preparation for the new stain coat.

I wiped the bowl and shank down with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the varnish coat and as much of the stain as possible so that blending the stain on the sanded areas into the overall finish would be simpler.

With the finish removed I restained the bowl with a medium walnut stain in a linseed oil mixture. I think it was Mark who asked in a comment on the Dr. Grabow Royal Duke write up why I did not use the aniline stains on the past few pipe restorations. The answer is quite simply that I am out of brown aniline stain so I have been using this walnut stain until I can get time to replenish my supplies. I used cotton pads to apply the stain to the bowl and wiped it down until it was an even colour on the pipe. I repeated the process until it met my expectations. When it had dried I took it to the buffer and buffed the bowl and rim with White Diamond.

I then worked on the stem with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with the 1500-2400 grit sanding pads and then dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit pads. Each of the photos below shows the progressive shine to the vulcanite becoming more pronounced.

With the bowl finished and the stem polished I took the pipe to the buffer and buffed it with White Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I finished by buffing it with a clean flannel buff. The finished pipe is pictured below. The colour on the rim appears lighter than the bowl in the photos. In real life it is a good match. The new look of the pipe is much better than the original in my opinion. This one should make someone a great smoking pipe in the future. The stem is a comfortable one and the light weight of the briar will make it a good yard pipe.

Restemmed Dr. Grabow Royal Duke Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

I am getting close to the bottom of the box of pipes to refurbish so I pulled out this Dr. Grabow bowl to restem and to refinish. It is stamped Royal Duke over Dr. Grabow on the left side of the shank and Imported Briar on the right side. I like taking the sealer coat of varnish off of these old Grabows and seeing what they look like refinished. I reamed the bowl with the PipNet reamer and cutting heads. I found a stem blank in my box and turned the tenon with a Pimo Tenon Turning Tool until it was close and then finnished the fit by hand. I ran a Dremel with a sanding drum on it down the sides where the overflow from the casting of the stem blanks left the sides and end rough. The next six photos show the fit of the new stem and the look of the pipe with its new stem.

I wiped the bowl down with acetone to remove the finish (photos 1-3 below). I then sanded the smooth surface of the bowl with a medium grit sanding sponge to break up the varnish finish on the rim and sides. I then wiped it down with acetone a second time and was more successful removing the varnish coat (photos 4-9 below). As can be seen from the progress of the photos the finish came off nicely and the rim darkening and bubbled varnish was also removed.

I decided to stain the pipe with a medium walnut stain in a linseed oil mixture. I rubbed it on the bowl and rubbed it off until the colour was solid and even over the bowl. The next series of three photos show the freshly stained bowl of the pipe. I was able to get into the grooves of the rustication with the cotton pads dipped in stain so that all surfaces were covered.

I rubbed off the stain and took the pipe to the buffer. I buffed it with White Diamond to polish the surface of the bowl and rim. The fibres from the pad also polished the grooves of the rustication as well. I put the stem back on the bowl and sanded it down with 220 grit sandpaper and a medium grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches left behind by the Dremel. I particularly worked on the shank stem union to make sure it was a smooth transition. I sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit and dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit sanding pads. The progress of the sanding with micromesh pads is visible in the next series of three photos below. When I finished sanding the stem I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil and let it dry. I rubbed it down and buffed it with White Diamond on the buffing wheel.

The finished pipe is pictured below. I buffed the pipe with multiple coats of carnauba wax and then polished it with a clean flannel buff. This old timer is ready to go back into service and will be a nice addition to someone’s pipe rack.

A Review – A Cody Huey Moustache Man Pipe Tamper

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Blog by Steve Laug

A few days ago during my lunch break I was glancing through my twitter feeds and came across a tweet by Cody Huey showing some tampers that he had carved that looked a lot like Tiki carvings. I was intrigued with his work and had not heard of him before so I tweeted him and asked the cost. He responded quickly with gracious thanks and sent me a link to his website and store. I scrolled through his tampers that were up for sale and placed an order for a new tamper. Here is a link to his website if you are interested in his work http://codyhuey.com/

I am always interested in learning about the artisan that I am buying from so I read through his website with interest. I spent some time on the page where he wrote about his carving and his life. The part where he wrote about the connection to his granddad and his carving was fascinating to me. It seemed like he was truly continuing the family tradition. I have included his words and a picture of the two of them from his site below to give you an idea of the carver.

“I started carving right after hurricane Ike. We were without power for 14 days so I had to find something to keep me occupied. I would carve fish, shamrocks, and hearts. My grandfather was a avid wood worker. I can remember him making me rubber band guns and yo-yos when I was just a youngster. He was always cutting pieces of wood and making beautiful things out of it. He made shelves, stools, and things like that. I was working on a Texas Star for him just before he passed away. After his passing I put it down for a couple of years. I have now finished it and it is in my shop. The mustache men came from me wanting to carve something a little more detailed. At the same time I was just getting back into pipe smoking and found that the faces I was carving fit perfectly into my pipe as a tamper. After talking to my dad and showing him some of my work he said that I have the talent of my grandfather but with a lot more creativity. I really enjoy carving because it is a way for me to relax and still feel somewhat connected to my PaPa.”

The picture below is one I copied from Twitter. It shows some of the tampers that he has carved – his daughter calls them the moustache men. There is a rustic and interesting quality to each of them that makes them unique.

My tamper arrived yesterday and I have to say Cody packs a great package. He included a note card with a sketch of a Samurai tamper! It is very unique looking. He also included a handful of Werther’s Original Coffee flavoured toffees. He had no idea that those are one of my favourites. I then removed the well wrapped tamper to see which one he had sent me. I peeled off the wrapping and it revealed that he had sent the tamper on the far right in the above photo.

Through Twitter I asked him to include some information regarding the wood he used in these tampers. Cody sent along the following information. “Each tamper is hand carved out of Pecan trimmings. Each one is a little different depending on how the Pecan limb is. They are carved, lightly oiled and buffed with carnauba wax.”

I could not be happier with my tamper. It fits well in my hand. The wood is gently curved with a slight notch below the moustache that fits perfectly against my finger when I holding it to tamp my pipe. The carving is well executed and is kind Cody’s take on Tiki carvings. The tamper is cleaned of the bark and then carved. The majority of the tamper is the clean yellowish wood that has been smoothed after carving. Cody left the layer under the bark on the last ¾ inches or so of the tamper at the bottom edge. It thus has the dark colour in the area that will spend its time in the bowl of my pipe. I think this is an ingenious idea as on my other wooden tampers this part darkens quickly due to the ash and tars of the burning tobacco.

Those who read this review have a look at Cody’s site and join me in enjoying these uniquely carved tampers. I know that you will not be disappointed.

Thank you Cody for a well made tamper with individualized and unique carving, nicely done! Your craftsmanship is evident in the finished product. Thank you for the nicely done finish on the piece and the well packed shipping. It came promptly through the mails without any problems. The card and the candies was a nice touch. I will enjoy this tamper for a long time to come. Glad to have been your first international order.

Restoring an Older GFB Three Star Horn Stem Bent Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

The pipe below is one I bought off EBay because it looked like a challenge, that and the fact that it was another GFB pipe. This is the third GFB that I have in my collection. I love the way they feel in the hand and the elegant look of the curves and angles they have. I went back and reread my previous two posts on the GFB pipes I had refurbished to remind myself of their history. There I described the process of hunting down information on the brand. I summarize that here for those may not have read the other two posts. (https://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/2013/06/07/restemming-and-reclaiming-an-older-unsmoked-gfb-briar-calabash/ , https://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/restoring-a-gfb-bent-billiard-another-reclamation-project/)

The first thing I found was information that the GFB brand was an older French Trademark and that it came from Saint Claude, France. A more focused search for GFB French Briar Pipes led to information that the stamping GFB stood for Great French Briar – something about that did not seem right to me so I continued to look and finally came across the following advertisement from a Sears Catalogue. It shows a full page of GFB pipes and the header says GENUINE FRENCH BRIAR. That made much more sense to me, and all three of my GFB pipes match the pipes in the catalogue. It was good to be reminded of the old brand. I am pretty sure that all three of my GFB pipes come from either the late 1890’s or the early 1900’s.

This third pipe was a charmer to me. When I saw the photos I decided I would bid to win it. The elegance of the old pipe caught me. The bowl appeared to be in good shape and it had a horn stem. The striations and colour of the stem was beautiful even in its oxidized state. The three photos below were included in the EBay sale. The third photo shows the underside of the stem and the damage to the underside near the button. It looked to be more than tooth marks or chewing. It actually looked like “worm” damage. From the photos it appeared to be localized to that part of the stem and was worth a chance. Worst case scenario, I would sacrifice the stem and restem the old pipe with a vulcanite stem.

I find that photographing stem damage is difficult and my photos can be out of focus. But I now have a tripod to help with the clarity of the photos (did not get it until after I had started the repairs on this stem. Ah well sorry about the clarity of some of these). When the pipe arrived I took it apart and examined the holes on the end of the stem. Under the lens it was clear that it was not a worm hole at all. Rather it had been bitten and the stem had crumbled in that area. It did not go through into the airway so I think that the previous owner had scraped out the crumbled area of the horn stem for cleanliness and just kept smoking it. That was encouraging to me as it meant that I could repair and not worry about an old “worm” somewhere in the horn stem chewing his way out later! The next two photos show the extent of the damage to the area

I cleaned out the open area with cotton swabs and Everclear, careful to not use too much of the alcohol on the horn stem. Once it was clean of debris and dust I decided to fill the area with a superglue gel rather than the usual liquid superglue I generally use (Photo 1). My thinking was that the gel would sit better in the large area without running all over the stem. There were also nicks on the sharp edges near the shank that I also repaired with the superglue gel (Photo 2). I layered the glue into the hole to build it up gradually (Photo 3) as each previous layer dried.

Once the glued cured over night I sanded the area with medium grit emery paper to remove the high spots and smooth out the surface (Photo 1). I refilled the low areas on the fill to further level out the area. There was also a deep nick on the sharp edge of the shank. I cleaned that out and used the superglue to fill that as well. It would dry black but with the staining of the bowl that could be minimized and I wanted it smooth to the touch rather than the sharp cut of the nick that was previously present (Photo 2).

With everything glued I set the bowl and stem aside and went to work for the day. I would work on the patched areas when I returned home in the evening.

When I returned in the evening, the patches were dry and the pipe was ready to be worked on. I reamed the bowl with the PipNet reamer. On this particular pipe the bowl was conical so it took three different cutting heads on the T handle to ream the bowl to the bottom. With down I cleaned the bowl, shank and stem with Everclear, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I wanted the pipe cleaned out before I worked on the exterior.

The next two photos show the stem after the patches had hardened. Though the photos are a bit blurry, the shininess of the spots where the superglue patches were applied is very clearly visible. Those areas would need to be sanded smooth to match the surface of the surrounding horn.

I sanded the patch on the shank of the pipe with 220 grit sandpaper and also medium grit sanding sponge to remove the excess glue from the patch. Then I wiped the bowl down with Everclear on a cotton pad. I decided not to use acetone as the stamping on the shank was filled with a gold paint and was still visible. I did not want to damage that stamping. I carefully worked the Everclear around the stamping so as not to get any in the grooves of the stars and GFB stamp.

I sanded the patch on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and then a medium grit sanding sponge to smooth out the patch. I continued to sand it with the micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit and dry sanded with the remaining grits up to 12,000.

I buffed the stem with White Diamond on the buffer and the finished stem is shown below. The patch still shows some small holes that need to be repaired with superglue. The sanding and polishing made them very apparent in the first photo below. The patch at the sharp edge near the shank came out very well and is invisible. The horn of the rest of the stem has a deep sheen to it after all the sanding and polishing.

I unscrewed the stem and set it aside while I stained the bowl. I used a medium walnut stain mixed with linseed oil to stain this pipe. The colour is a rich brown with a slight red in certain lights. It matches the colour of the other GFB pipes that are in my collection. I buffed the bowl with White Diamond on the buffing wheel. Then I gave it a coat of carnauba wax and set it aside to work some more on the stem.

I was not completely satisfied with the stem patch so I sanded it next to the button some more and cleaned it out. I put some more of the superglue in the low spots and set it aside to cure while I went to work for the day.

When I returned the glue was hard and the patch a solid bubble on the surface of the stem. I sanded it with the medium grit emery paper and then 220 grit sandpaper to remove the over fill. I always over fill the spots as the glue shrinks as it dries. I have learned that it is easier to remove the excess than to continue to fill and sand repeatedly. I sanded it with a medium grit sanding sponge and then went through the grits of micromesh sanding pads again from 1500-12,000 grit. When I had finished I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and set it aside to absorb. Once done I buffed it on the wheel with multiple coats of carnauba wax.

After buffing and polishing the horn stem I buffed the entire pipe with White Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish it then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax to restore and preserve the shine on the horn and the briar. The finished pipe is back to usable with the stem patch taking care of the deep holes that were previously in the stem. The striated horn stem looks like new and the colouration of the horn goes amazingly well with the medium brown walnut stain. Other than the slightly visible patch the pipe looks like new. I intend to enjoy a bowl of some aged tobacco in a pipe that is far older than I am. I look forward to the day when I pass it on in trust to the next pipeman who will care for and cherish it. Sentimental? I don’t think so, just a realist who knows that this pipe has lived and will live longer than I.

Restemming and Refurbishing an Arlington Imported Briar Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have a box with a few pipe bowls in it that need restemming. When I get low on pipes for refurbishing I take one of these bowls and restem it. Generally they are not even midrange pipes. Rather they are an odd assortment of no name bowls or low end bowls that I have picked up along the way somewhere. Each of these provides me with something to practice on in terms of staining, bowl topping, repairing fills, rustication or restemming. The one I worked on last evening is stamped Arlington over Imported Briar on the left side of the shank and no other numbers. The bowl was dirty and tarred with a thick and crumbly cake. The rim was tarred and dented but no roughening from hitting against something. The shank was full of tars and even a few cobwebs. The rustication was deep on the bowl toward the bottom at the bowl shank junction. The finish was gone and the briar was dirty.

There is not much information available on the brand. A search on Google did not turn up much other than some information from Pipedia. The Brooklyn, New York Company known as Arlington Briar Pipe Corporation mainly operated as a sub-contractor for other brands. Jobey pipes are said to be made by Arlington at an unknown point of time. Arlington’s own pipes are seldom seen. The article also included the following advertisement from the RTDA Catalogue.

I used the PIMO tenon turning tool to fit a tenon on a stem blank that I had in my can of stems. I fine-tuned the fit with sand paper until it fit well.I took the next series of four photos to show the state of the pipe before I worked on it.

I cleaned the inside of the shank and bowl with cotton swabs and pipe cleaners dipped in Everclear. The alcohol removed the grime from the shank. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer. The bowl is quite large – so I used the largest cutting head on the reamer. I wiped down the tars on the rim with alcohol wetted cotton pads to clean off the buildup as much as possible.

To clean up the rim damage I lightly topped the bowl with a medium grit sanding block. I also sanded the burn spot on the side of the shank to try to minimize it and see how deeply the damage went. It was still hard and not too badly damaged but to remove it I would change the profile of the shank so I left it as a character mark.

After topping the bowl I wiped the entirety down with acetone on a cotton pad. I wanted to remove as much of the remaining finish as possible to make a match between the rim and the rest of bowl easier to achieve.

I then sanded the stem to bring the diameter to match the shank. I also wanted to remove the entire casting overflow on the sides and the end of the stem. I used a Dremel with a sanding drum to remove the initial excess and to bring the diameter close to that of the shank. Then I used 220 grit sandpaper to finish the fitting. I cleaned up the scratches left behind by the sandpaper with a medium grit sanding sponge and then finally used a sanding block to sand the shank and stem to good smooth fit and flow. The next seven photos show the progress to a proper fit of the new stem.

I stained the bowl with a medium walnut stain in a linseed oil base. I rubbed it on the bowl with a cotton pad and then wiped it off with a soft cloth. I reapplied the stain until I had good coverage to the bowl. The bowl has some great grain in places and the deep grooves looked good with the new stain coat. Once the stain was dry to touch I buffed it on the wheel with White Diamond and set it aside to work on the stem.

I sanded the stem with my usual stack of micromesh sanding pads from 1500-12,000 grit. I wet sanded with the first three grits of micromesh and dry sanded with the remaining grits. Once I had finished the sanding I gave the stem a coat of Obsidian Oil and rubbed it into the vulcanite.

When I had finished with the stem I reinserted it in the shank and took the pipe to the buffer again. I buffed the pipe and stem with White Diamond and then gave the entirety multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean flannel buff to give it a shine. The next four photos show the finished pipe.

A Book Review – Our Family Business by Mary Dunhill

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Blog by Steve Laug

I just finished reading Our Family Business by Mary Dunhill (pictured to the left). The book is written in the style of personal reminiscences of the author. It is quite engaging. She starts with her memories of the family from birth and moves through the various business developments as they happened and as she saw them in her growing up years. She gives a brief glimpse at the history of the Dunhill family and their settlement and house building efforts that ran parallel to the family business. It is an inside glimpse of the making of the Dunhill business groups and the people and family behind the development.

After reading the book I believe that the words written on the fly-leaf of the cover summarize the book really well: “At the age of seventeen Mary Dunhill joined her father’s pipe making and tobacco business, starting at the bottom as an assistant cashier. 38 years later she became the chairman of the Dunhill group of companies, a job she held through fourteen years of international expansion. Her book demonstrates the demands that a professional career make on a woman as well as the skill that women can bring to the problems of management. Yet this is more than a career story, more than a history of an enterprise unlikely to be rivalled in the economic conditions of today. It is a candid portrait of the Dunhill family, of their beginnings as harness makers and of the very different personalities that went into the building of a rare quality and character.”

Like most books or reminiscence the book does not have a table of contents. There are no simple headings on the chapters to give the reader an idea of the content of that chapter. It is written in a flowing style that proceeds from the early years to the later years of the writer. It is as if the reader is taken inside the head of the writer and given an intimate glimpse of her life. Mary had done a masterful job in being transparent about what she when through in a way that I have seldom seen in personalities of this ilk.

To help potential readers make a decision on whether to purchase and read the book, I have summarized the content of each chapter below.

Preface – pages 5-7 – a note from Mary Dunhill on the flow and content of the book as she tells the story of her life within the Family Business.

Chapter 1 – pages 9-13 – Mary’s birth into the Dunhill family in Edwardian London. The development of her father’s move into the tobacco business is introduced. The opening of the shop in Jermyn and Duke Street stocked with pipes, tobaccos and cigars.

Chapter 2 – pages 14-21 –The early history of the Dunhill family and the related trades and businesses they engaged in. The development of the Dunhill Motorities. The chapter ends with a description of the early work of Mary’s father prior to opening his tobacco shop.

Chapter 3 – pages 22-29 –The life of Mary’s family in Harrow before the WWI. The hard times of the tobacco business on Duke Street. Her father began to make a name as a blender of the My Mixture blends. She also introduces the reader to her mother.

Chapter 4 – pages 30-38 – The life in the new house in Woodlands with a look at her school and social events. She met Rex, the man she married forty years later. Inserted into this chapter are a collection of family photos. Each is labelled and gives a clear picture of life in those times.

Chapter 5 – pages 39-46 – The development of the Dunhill pipe and the rise of that pipe to fill the need for pipes that did justice to Alfred’s blends of tobacco. A brief history of briar pipes and the way Dunhill pipes were made and the number of pipe makers employed to meet the demand.

Chapter 6 – pages 47-54 – The prosperity of the Dunhill’s is explored and their move into a life of maids, cooks and butlers is described.

Chapter 7 – pages 55-61 –Mary’s life in boarding school and how it led her to leave school and enter the family business as a junior clerk.

Chapter 8 – pages 62-72 – Her work at the Notting Hill Gate factory. Notting Hill factory turned out several thousand Dunhill pipes per week. The history of the Dunhill lighter is introduced toward the end of the chapter.

Chapter 9 – pages 73-83 – Another move to another house – the “Barn” is described and detailed. Mary explains the start of her own small cosmetics business that introduced her to customer service and business management (later it became a lucrative part of the Dunhill label).

Chapter 10 – pages 84-92 – A second photo section. The details of business development in US, Canada, France and England are mentioned and some of the famous clients of Dunhill products. The chapter ends with the birth of her first daughter, Kay.

Chapter 11 – pages 93-102 – Beginning with the birth of her second daughter, Tessa and exploring the development of the Dunhill Company during Hitler’s rise to power in Germany and the war years. She describes the bomb damage to the Jermyn Street frontage of the Duke Street shop and the destruction of much stock. Reflections on how they survived the war years.

Chapter 12 – pages 103-109 – Post war growth of the Dunhill Company. The global developments of the business are detailed. The changes in the family are also noted with the deaths of many of the older Dunhill family members of Mary’s first husband Geoffrey.

Chapter 13 – pages 110-119 – Mary’s growing involvement in the work of the Board. Her responsibility of management of the struggles of the Company in the late 50s is detailed. Her line of Mary Dunhill cosmetics had expanded across the US. The chapter ends with her marriage to Rex.

Chapter 14 – pages 120-126 – Mary’s role as Chairman of the main Dunhill board beginning in 1961. This chapter details her role on the board and the changes and developments that occurred in the early years.

Chapter 15 – pages 127-133 – The Far East marketing of the Company with significant development in the Japanese Market added to a Far East boom period. The company was also in a boom in Europe and the US. As Dunhill continues to develop, Mary’s daughter Tessa killed herself in hospital.

Chapter 16 – pages 134-140 – Summarizes the business of the Dunhill Company from 1912 through 1975 when her nephew, Richard took over the company – pipes, tobacco, lighters and accessories, jewellery, leather goods, watches, writing instruments. A diversified portfolio of products was sold.

Chapter 17 – pages 141-146 – Summarizes some of the lessons learned in her life in the family business. She describes the happiness that she experienced in leading the company during its growth years.

This book is autobiographical in nature but at the same time given the length of Mary Dunhill’s involvement in the family business it gives an intimate picture of the history of the Dunhill Company with all of its constituent parts. The inner workings of the company and the development of the tobacco blending and later pipe making aspects are rich with history for the pipeman who loves to understand the ins and outs of his/her hobby. Well worth the read. The style and manner of the writing is clear, concise and also full of revelations about Mary’s own feelings and struggles both in life and as the head of a large company.

A Book Review – The Pipeman’s Companion by Ogden’s of Liverpool

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My copy of this book was published by Interfocus Publishing, Bristol, England. It is marked a First Edition and dated 2000. The cover of this of my edition is seen to the left and is the publisher’s original illustrated card wrap cover [softback]. It contains 59 printed pages of text with colour illustrations and photographs throughout.

On the inside cover there is a dedication that reads: To Pipe Men Everywhere from Ogden’s of Liverpool.
Across the page from the dedication is a Welcome from the editors that reads as follows:

“The Pipeman’s Companion is an unashamed celebration of the pleasures of the pipe and pipe smoking. It is brought to you by Ogden’s of Liverpool – Britain’s leading pipe tobacco manufacturer, whose world renowned brands include Gold Block, Amphora and the best-selling St. Bruno. The Pipeman’s Companion is also an invaluable reference work that all discerning pipe men will want to return to time and again. We have attempted to cover every fascinating facet of the history and practice of pipe smoking, with the aim of enhancing every pipe smoker’s understanding and enjoyment of this most satisfying of pastimes – be they experienced by pipe men, or eager new recruits. Ogden’s of Liverpool, with its distinguished past, looks forward to remaining a trusted companion to pipe men for many years to come.”

A brief glance at the table of contents gives a clear idea of what is included in the pages of the book.
Chapter One – pages 2-11 – The Smoking Story, Five Hundred Years of Pipe Smoking
Chapter Two – pages 12-20 – The Tobacco Story, Blended to Perfection
Chapter Three – pages 22-33 – The Pipe Story, Crafted with Devotion
Chapter Four – pages 34-39 – The use and Maintenance Story, A Friend for Life
Chapter Five – pages 40-47 – The Ogden’s Story, Sweet Smell of Success
Chapter Six – pages 48-53 – The Antiques Story, Bringing the Past to Life
Chapter Seven – pages 54-57 – The World Story, Pipe Smoking Across the Globe
The Glossary – pages 58-59 – Pipe Smoking, Tobacco and Pipe Terminology

The book is a beautiful table top sized book filled with highly readable text and many photos of pipes, etchings, artwork and photos of antique pipe and tobacciana. The sidebars of each page are filled with historical pictures and short notes on all things pipe and tobacco related. These side bars run next to the main body of the text and are a pleasure to read by themselves. In Chapter Three there is a great photo spread and short side bar expanded over several pages about Bill Ashton Taylor and his Ashton pipes. It has some great photos of Bill turning bowls, filing stems and flaming stain on newly made pipes. Include are charts of pipe shapes and the anatomy of a pipe etc. The pipe chapter includes not just briar but also Clay and Meerschaum with some great photos of carving and shaping Meerschaum pipes.

Chapter Four on pipe maintenance is well written and includes material on pipe lighters, matches, pipe reamers and tampers. This chapter has charts on reaming correctly and on common pipe problems solved. It is interestingly written with a great wealth of information in the space of a few pages generously interspersed with colour photos of pipes and pipe tools.

Chapter Five is a history of Ogden’s of Liverpool from its beginning to the early years of the 2000’s. It is again richly written and there are some amazing photos included of tins from the Ogden Tobacco line as well as great photos of the factory and production floor. The side bars in this section continue the tradition of the previous chapters in including tidbits of information and historic photos and artwork. For instance there is a full page of advertisements and posters for St Bruno. These alone are fascinating.

Chapter Six is on Antique Pipes and gives a collection of photos of all kinds of pipes. There is a front spread of carved Meerschaum pipes that is beautiful. Some of the pipes are huge while others are delicate and unusual. There is for instance a cased set of a Victorian couple lying in bed – two pipe bowls inserted under the “Covers” with stems set in the cover of the pipe case.

Chapter Seven is a quick world tour through word and photographs of the state of pipe smoking. It is well written and captures the universal appeal of the pipe and tobacco.

The book ends with a useful glossary of terminology. It covers pipe shapes, pipe anatomy, pipe repairs and types of tobacco and cuts of tobacco. It also covers pipe accessories and how they are used. It is a helpful list with short definitions.

The Pipeman’s Companion is a well written book that is a great read and visual display of all things pipe related. It is easily a book that could be read as you smoke your favourite bowl of St. Bruno’s or as you sit and read by the fire on a cold winter’s evening. It will provide hours of enjoyment and is a great refresher to the long time pipeman as well as important information to the new pipe smoker. It truly welcomes us into the world of pipemen throughout history. Well done Ogden’s of Liverpool for a well crafted book on the world of the pipe. Thank you for your work in producing this book.

A Book Review – Barling’s International Exhibition, London 1851 Pipe Catalogue

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I purchased this facsimile/reproduction catalogue of 28 pages on EBay a bit ago. It cost approximately $20 USD and the seller had quite a few available at the buy it now price.

They printed a run of 200 copies and this one is 010 of 200. It is copyrighted by Jesse Silver. There is an email address included inside the cover should you want to order a copy of the catalogue noblebrush53@yahoo.com

Included with the catalogue is a print of the Barling’s Factory. The inside is nicely done and indeed looks vintage. The type is in two colours – a reddish brown and a black. There are also nice etchings of the various pipes. Each page shows four pipes, each one number and named. The names are quite catching. Here are a few for interest sake: The Goodwood, Birkenhead, Savernake, Aberdeen, Nymph, Bent Army, Corinthian, Sydney, Elegant, Trojan and Victorian. The names don’t always reflect the shape of the pipe but sometimes do as in the Bent and the Straight Army. Some of the short chubby pipes also have unique names: The Gordon, Sporting, Hunt, Jap are just a few of the names. The overall feel of the book is like a trip back in time to a simpler and quieter era. The catalogue opens with the words: these are just a few of the many shapes that are available in Barling’s Celebrated Pipes.

I wanted to include the opening page of the catalogue for your reading pleasure. It is a note from B. Barling & Sons, London and reads as follows:

“We have much pleasure in presenting our New Catalogue illustrating some of the principal shapes and specialties in our celebrated EB/WB Briar Pipes.

Our pipes being so well and universally known (without artificial aid of advertisements), we will not here dwell on their perfection, but would ask you to kindly peruse this book, which will no doubt introduce to you some new patterns.

If you are not already a smoker of our pipes, we hope that it will lead to your giving them a trial and thus testing their quality and workmanship, we ourselves being confident of your ultimate judgment and satisfaction.

Every department of our factory being under our own practical and personal supervision, ensures every pipe turned out by us coming under our direct notice. This fact, coupled with the excellence of the materials used in their manufacture, has given our pipes a reputation second to none in the smoking world, a reputation we firmly intend to maintain and strengthen.”

I find the introduction to the catalogue a fascinating read and one that has proven to be true even in our day over 150 years later. Barling’s Pipes are still seen as quality pipes that deliver a great smoke. I have Pre-transition, Transition and Post-transition pipes and though there are certainly differences in quality of workmanship in the later pipes they nonetheless are good smokers. The pages of the catalogue are full of information both in the form of the photos and shape names and numbers but also in the stampings on the pipes and the linking of certain shapes to others with a note on the size. For instance, the Hunt, No. 344 a diamond shank billiard, is a parallel shape to shape #324 which is larger and shape #566 which is smaller.

After the main shapes portion of the catalogue the pages turn toward specialty items such as Crocodile and Morocco cases which are noted to be “unsurpassed for durability and finish” and can be obtained for any Barling pipes as a Single or a Companion case. There are several pages o of pipes with unique covers – with shapes from flat to domed, with hinges and with chains holding them in place. These are truly beautiful looking pipes. Something I was unaware of was that Barling’s made Meerschaum lined pipes as well. They show three examples with a note that they can be made for any shape of Barling’s pipes. I had to laugh at the note (so contrary to much I read today on the forums regarding meer lined pipes) that “Our Meerschaum Lined Pipes we can recommend for cool and sweet smoking. They are suitable for hard smokers and also for those who do not like briar…”

The catalogue ends with what for me has become a bit of a wish book – Specialties in Companions and Cased Amber Briars. These are the beautiful cased singles and pairs of pipes – one with a vulcanite stem and one with an amber stem on matching pipes. Others have a bent pipe and straight pipe with a military bit with two sets of stems – vulcanite and amber. Some have stem extensions made out of albatross wing bone and others have three pipes in a case. These cases are the Crocodile and Morocco cases spoken of above. The economy of size and shape make these great pocket cases for the pipes they contain. I am forever on the prowl for a set like these to add to my collection.

If you want to have a piece of history in the form of a catalogue that gives you a real feel for a time long gone you could not do better than pick up a copy of this facsimile. It is a treat for the Barling’s pipe collector and smoker and would also be a great piece for anyone who wants a nostalgic glimpse at the past.

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