Category Archives: Pipe Refurbishing Essays

Essays and pictorial essays on the art of refurbishing

Restemming an Unsmoked Royal Cherry 4 Made France Cherrywood

Blog by Steve Laug

Two of my daughters and I enjoy visiting our local Flea Market. They look for a lot of different things and I keep an eye out for pipes. Not long ago we were there and the girls found their things and I found these two Cherrywood Pipes – one is marked Royal Cherry [over] Made in France (top pipe in the photo below) and the other is marked Ropp in an oval [over] Deluxe [over] France [over] 804. Both are in good condition and both are without their stems. Here is what the pipes looked like when I brought them home. I decided to work on the Royal Cherry pipe first. The bowl was covered with uninterrupted bark and seemed to have a varnish coat as there is a shiny coat on the bowl, rim top and the heel. The shank is a branch that has been threaded and screwed into the back side of the bowl. The top end of the shank is slightly tapered behind a branch nodule. The shank is not varnished or shiny. The rim top was smooth and there is a pointed nose on the front of the bowl. It has a split in it on the top that has been filled with putty. The bowl is unsmoked but there is some darkening on front inner edge of the bowl. The heel of the bowl is also smooth. It is stamped Royal Cherry [over] Made in France. There was some sticky substance on the heel from a price sticker. I took a photo of the rim top to show the clean and unsmoked bowl. You can also see the putty fill in the rim top on the pointed nose of the bowl. It is solid and smooth to the touch.I took a photo of the stamping on the heel of the bowl. It is clear and readable under the sticky substance left behind by a price tag.I found a stem that would fit the shank but it would need to be bent to follow the flow of the shank and bowl. I also put a band in the photo but ended up not using it.I touched up the shank end on the shank with a Cherry stain pen so that the smooth portion would match the stain on the smooth rim top and heel of the bowl.I heated the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to soften the vulcanite and bend it to match the curves of the bowl and shank. Once it was soft I bent it and it looks much better.I sanded the diameter of the saddle portion to match the diameter of the shank. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to reduce it to match the shank. I started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the stem with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads – I dry sanded the chatter on the stem surfaces on both sides and the diameter of the saddle portion of the stem. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil on a cloth after the sanding pads. Once finished it looked very good. I finished the hand polishing of the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian oil and set it aside to dry. I am really happy with the way that this restemmed, unsmoked Royal Cherry Bent Cherrywood Pipe turned out. It is a nice looking pipe with a great shape and finished with bark on the bowl sides and shank and the rim top and heel of the bowl are smooth. The vulcanite saddle stem turned out very nice. The polished stem works well with the Cherrywood finish. The wood really came alive with the buffing. The bark finish gave the pipe a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. 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 wood. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax 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 Royal Cherry Bent Cherrywood 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: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 51 grams/ 1.80 ounces. I will be putting the pipe on the rebornpipes store in the French Pipemakers Section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restemming and Restoring a Barling’s Make Ye Olde Wood Fossil 1553 Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe is one that I have avoided working on for over a year. Not because it was particularly hard to work on but because of the fact that it is a Barling with a thin Dunhill Stem. The stem needed to be replaced and I was hoping I could replace it with a Barling stem that would match. I looked through all the stems that I have here and also have looked other places but no luck on the stem. So, I decided to shape a replacement stem for the pipe and finish the cleanup work on the bowl. It has only been sitting here for a year and a half. We purchased the Barling 04/09/2022 from an estate in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. It is stamped on the heel of the bowl and shank and reads Barling’s[arched over] Make [over] Ye Olde Wood [over] 1533. That is followed by Made in [over] England followed by Fossil in script. The letters TVF are at the end of the shank near the shank stem junction. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he did his cleanup work on the pipe.Jeff took a closeup photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The rim top had a thick lava overflow and darkening on the back of the bowl. There was some burn and reaming damage on the inside edge of the bowl at the front of the bowl. The Dunhill stem is oxidized and dirty and there are light tooth marks and chatter on the surfaces ahead of the button. He also took photos of the sides and bottom of the bowl and shank to show the beautiful grain in the sandblast around the bowl. The photos show the general condition of the bowl and wear on the finish. It is very dirty but this is another beautiful pipe. Jeff took a photo to capture the stamping on the shank. The photos show the stamping is clear and readable as noted above.I turned to Pipedia to refresh the details for a Family Era Pipe made between 1812-and late 1962 (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Barling). I am including portions of the article that are pertinent to this pipe. I have highlighted them in bold.

Family Era – 1812 – late 1962 Details

The Barling family-controlled production up till this point. Quality was excellent, however some sources indicate a marked inconsistency in quality starting as early as 1954. As stated earlier, Jonathan Guss suggests that the Algerian War for Independence played a role in the change in quality due to the lack of Algerian briar, which the company supplemented with briar sourced from other countries. (Guss)

Prior to 1954 Barling pipes were made from old growth “extra extra” grade Algerian briar, of a quality no longer available. Barling conducted their own harvesting operations, looking for roots that ranged from 80 – 150 years of age. Jonathan Guss indicates that Barling had a commercial investment in Algeria as far back as 1928, though the nature and extent of this investment is not currently known.

We do know that Barling conducted its own harvesting operations, as well as cutting and seasoning of their selected briar. These images from the 1920’s brochure, Romance Of The Barling Pipe, shows images of their Algerian ventures. Also, the copy states that Barling looked for briarroot that was about 50 years old.

While many find the grain to be beautiful, this was not the aim of the Barling Company, and many of their pipes have rather unremarkable grain. The Barling Company’s intent was simple, to create the finest smoking instruments in the history of the world. Many connoisseurs believe that they achieved that goal admirably.

In addition to the smoking qualities of their air-cured wood, the Barling Company outfitted their bowls with hand made stems that many consider to be the most comfortable ever created. Their engineering is beyond reproach. Their silver work remains unsurpassed.

As an interesting side note, the soft Algerian Briar was not initially prized, as it was prone to burnout. But Barlng took the time to properly age and season this carefully selected wood for between 3 and 5 years, before finishing. They also made pipes with thicker walls, which helped defend against burnout. The porous mature of this briar resulted in excellent heat dispersion and provided a cool smoke.

Family Era Nomenclature:

Before discussing the nomenclature of the Family Era pipes it is important to note that there are no absolutes. Barling pipes from this period show a remarkable degree of variation when it comes to nomenclature. The following information can be applied in a general fashion.

According to Tad Gage, Pre-1946 stampings are minimal. Pre WW2 pipes rarely have size, shape or grading. But pipes have surfaced, hallmarked as early as 1925 with size marks, and as early as 1926 with model numbers. There may be earlier examples, and when we see them we will revise the dates.

Examples with silver hallmarks illustrate that a distinct change in nomenclature occurred around 1938-40, although clearly the war and London bombings impacted production of silver-mounted and of all English pipes. A George Yale Pipes & Tobacco catalog from 1941 features the familiar stampings such as “YE OLDE WOOD”, “TVF”, and style names like “Fossil”, and these were not generally found on pre-1940 pipes, although “YE OLDE WOOD” did inconsistently appear on some earlier examples. (Gage)

Sandblasts:

Until recently it was believed that Barling didn’t produce sandblasts until the late 1930’s and didn’t list them formally as part of the product line prior to 1943. It’s possible that Barling may have been producing sandblasts much earlier, possibly as early as 1917, the same year Dunhill is credited with inventing the sandblast. More on that possibility in a moment.

Logo Nomenclature:

…Barling also provided sterling work for BBB until BBB established their own silver working capabilities in Birmingham England, and started crafting its own silver fitments circa 1910. (Gage) By the time that Barling was making sterling fitments for BBB the Barling makers’ mark had been changed to “EB” over “WB” for Edward and William Barling. Many Barling briar pipes made prior to 1906 lack any company markings except for the name of the shop that sold them. As was common practice at the time, the majority of bowls Barling used prior to 1906 were imported from Saint-Claude or Jura to be finished in the Barling factories. If there was anything to identify Barling as the maker it was their maker’s mark, EB over WB, stamped into a sterling fitment. During the late 1800’s the BARLING’S MAKE stamp appears on some pipes, evidence that Barling was manufacturing some of their product completely in-house. The “BARLING’S MAKE” has the word “BARLING’S” arched over the word “MAKE” in capital block letters. Barling used this block letter logo until late 1962.

In addition to the block letter logo, Barling used a script logo for special pipes as well as for advertising, and packaging art…

…During the 1930’s and early 1940’s the BARLING’S MAKE logo appeared in a small version with a simpler letter style. Following the War, the small “BARLING’S MAKE” logo was discontinued and a larger logo was used. The larger logo would continue to be in use until 1962, when the 1930’s style logo was reintroduced along with the new numbering system.
Over the years there were a number of changes and adjustments to the nomenclature, though the company logo stamps remained a constant….

Ye Olde Wood Stamp:

Sometime around 1913, the “Ye Olde Wood” stamp made its appearance on selected pipes. An example exists stamped on a 1913 date hallmarked pipe.

This logo will continue to be used in the decades to come. Initially it was used to designate a higher grade than the average, much as the “Special” grade would after the Second World War. Price lists show the “Ye Olde Wood” pipes as a separate grade from the basic BARLING’S MAKE pipe. Eventually, “Ye Olde Wood” came to represent the company to the world. The use of “YE OLD WOOD” as a stamp prior to 1940 was haphazard, at best, although the company used the slogan in advertising materials from the early teens onward. (Gage)…

Model Numbers:

Also according to Tad Gage, the only four-digit number that denotes a Pre-Transition piece begins with “1,” which was used for pipes sold in England. Any other four-digit Barling pipe is a Transitional piece– (Tad Gage in P & T magazine)…

Now I knew I was dealing with a Pre-Transition, Family Era pipe bowl as shown by the stamping and the four digit shape number. I also knew from the 1 preceding 553 shape designates that it was made for pipes sold in England. As best as I can tell it was made in the 1940s and no later than 1962.

When the pipe arrived in Vancouver it was very clean. The briar and stem were spotless. The long Dunhill stem fit well to the shank. It appears that when it was fitted the shank was sanded slightly and smoothed out some of the sandblast but as I work on it I will know with more certainty. The shank end had been tapered to the stem. Jeff had reamed the bowl with a Pipenet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the bowl walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the airway in the stem and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with Murphy’s Oil Soap (undiluted) and a tooth brush. He rinsed the exterior with warm running water and dried. He polished the briar and stem with a small drop of olive oil. The pipe really looked very good. It was going to be a fun one to work on for my part. I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the table for my work. This is what I saw. I took a photo of the rim and bowl to show the condition of the cleaned pipe. You can see the darkening and the damage on the front inner edge and the left side inner edge. The Dunhill stem is quite clean and I will be putting it in my can of stems for use on a Dunhill pipe in the future.I took a photo of the stamping on the heel of the bowl and the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the look of the bowl with the Dunhill stem. It looked interesting but was significantly longer than necessary.I went through my stems and found a nice saddle stem that was the right length in my mind and with some work would look great with the pipe.I set the Dunhill stem aside and turned my attention to the new stem. The tenon fit the shank perfectly so nothing needed to be done with that. The diameter of the saddle stem was larger than that of the modified shank. I used a file and 180 grit sandpaper to shape the stem. I put a plastic spacer between the shank and the stem so I could proceed without further damage to the shank. It worked well to shape the diameter of the stem to match the shank. I tried to match the diameter to the undamaged part of the shank. With the stem fit close I moved on to clean up the rim top and edge of the bowl to bring it back into round. I gave the rim a slight bevel to reduce the damage on the front inner edge of the bowl.I put the stem on the shank and took a photo to have a look at the sanded portion of the shank. It went from the end inward about ½ inches. The sandblast had been smoothed out to the point that it was virtually gone on the end. It is slightly tapered rather than the straight angle that should have been there along the top of the shank. I thought it might be worth put a small band on it to cover the damaged area and provide a straight angle. It would be cosmetic as there were no cracks to the shank end. I found a nice decorative band in my collection of bands that had some beading along the shank end. I took a photo of the band alongside the bowl to show what it looked like.I pressed the band on to the shank end and took photos of how it looked. It covered the damaged area well and took care of the tapered end of the shank. I like the way it looked.I took a photo of the pipe without the band and with the band in place. To me the band really helped with the tapered shank end. It gave a touch of bling to the pipe and cleaned up the flow from the bowl to the end of the stem. I like how it looked.I touched up the inner edge of the bowl with a Maple stain pen to blend the rim edges and top into the stain on the rest of the bowl. It really helped with blending the bevelled edge and giving the bowl a better sense of round.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into finish of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Restoration Balm really makes the sandblast grain stand out beautifully. I sanded out the file and 180 sanding marks on the stem surface and saddle portion with 220 grit sandpaper. I started polishing the stem with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. It was starting to look much better. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished the hand polishing of the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian oil and set it aside to dry.The Barling’s Make Ye Olde Wood 1553 Fossil Pot restemming and restoration was finished. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I used a very light touch so as not to damage the stamping on the shank. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax 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 pipe polished up pretty nicely. The depths of the sandblast came alive with the buffing and works well with the decorative brass band and the polished black vulcanite saddle stem. Altogether this Barling’s Make Ye Olde Wood Fossil Pot has a rich look. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and new stem work very well. The dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .99 ounces/28 grams. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipemakers Section soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me. I have one of these and they are a cool dry smoke. Thanks for walking through the restoration of this fine old Barling’s Make pipe. It was a pleasure to work on.

Replacing a ‘Shellac-Candy Apple Finish’ for a Machiavelli Cambio Ball of Italy

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The next pipe on the worktable was part of a Lot of 4 pipes that were on the online auction block from Giussago, Italy, in January of 2017. Three of…
Replacing a ‘Shellac-Candy Apple Finish’ for a Machiavelli Cambio Ball of Italy

A Second Pipe from the Old Gentleman’s Estate – A Cracked Shank Whitehall 1B Rustic Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

Whitehall pipes are frequently misunderstood to be a model rather than an actual pipe company, which has led collectors to mistakenly ascribe their manufacture to Civic and Ben Wade (Who Made That Pipe; Wilczak & Colwell, 1997). In fact, Whitehall refers to the pipe company (not a model), which itself produced models such as the Hialeah, Jumbos, London Hall, and Thermofilter. The history of the Whitehall Pipe Co., Inc. (Richmond Hill, NY), is a complicated one, involving several parent companies and subsidiaries including Whitehall Products, Inc. (Helmetta, NJ), The Bloch Bros. Tobacco Co. (Wheeling, WV), Helme Products, Inc., apparently all subsidiaries of Culbro Corp. (owner also of General Cigar). The “Imported Briar” stamp on many of the pipes, and the unmistakable Whitehall logo bearing resemblance to the American-made tobaccos of that brand strongly suggest that these are products made for the Whitehall Pipe Co., Inc., an American company. There is furthermore no evidence that Civic or Ben Wade outsourced any manufactory of pipes to Italy; nor did Ben Wade manufacture pipes with aluminum screw tenons, paper filter inserts and molded acrylic stems. For irrefutable proof that the American company Whitehall Pipe Co., Ltd., was, in fact, responsible for these brands, one need only consult the University of California, San Francisco “Truth Tobacco Archives” which clearly links these brands to the company (see image below) [on the Pipedia site]…

When the pipe arrived in Vancouver it was very clean. The briar and stem were spotless. The vulcanite stem looked much better and you can see the gouges in the top and underside behind the saddle. The crack in the shank was also very clean and ready to repair. Jeff had reamed the bowl with a Pipenet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the bowl walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the airway in the stem and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with Murphy’s Oil Soap (undiluted) and a tooth brush. He rinsed the exterior with warm running water and dried. He polished the briar and stem with a small drop of olive oil. The pipe really looked very good. It was going to be a fun one to work on for my part. I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the table for my work. This is what I saw. I took photos of the bowl and the rim top to show the condition. It is clean and the damage is quite extensive. The bowl is very clean and there were nicks, burn damage and cuts all around the inner edge and top. The bowl was out of round due to the damage. The crack on the top left of the shank is also visible in the photo below. The vulcanite stem is clean and the damage visible at the blade where it joins the saddle portion. The button and stem surface ahead of the button is clean and undamaged. I took a photo of the left shank side to capture the stamping on the briar. It is faint but it is still readable. I took a photo of the bowl and shank separated to show the condition of the pipe. It really is a great looking pipe.I started my work on the pipe by addressing the cracked shank. I smoothed out the end of the shank so that the band would fit smoothly and not be hampered by the rustication. I used the Dremel and a sanding drum to get it prepared for the band. I heated the band and pressed it onto the shank end. It fit well and bound the crack tightly together. With the shank repair complete I turned to address the issues with the rim top and edge. I started by smoothing out some of the damage with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to flatten on the damage on the rim top. I used a wooden ball and a piece of sandpaper to give the rim edge an inward bevel and smooth out the top. It looked much better! I filled in the damaged back inner edge of the bowl with clear CA glue and briar dust. The edge was damaged but it did not go deeply into the bowl. I sanded out the inside of the edge with a piece of 220 sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. I smoothed out the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper and bevelled the rim a bit more with the sandpaper. I stained the rim top with a Maple Stain Pen to match the smooth portions of the bowl. It was looking good. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I dry sanded the briar and then progressively brought a shine to the pipe. It looked really amazing – the combination of rustic and smooth portions of the briar. It is a beauty! I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the finish with my fingertips and a shoe brush. The product works to clean, preserve and protect the briar. I let it sit and absorb for 10 minutes. I buffed it off with a soft cloth and then gave it a rigorous buff to raise the shine. It looks good at this point. I filled in the gouges in the stem surface on both sides by the saddle with black CA rubberized glue. Once it cured I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing it with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished out the scratches left behind by the sandpaper on the stem surface with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil on a cloth after the sanding pads. I finished the hand polishing of the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian oil and set it aside to dry. I am really happy with the way that this Whitehall Rusticated Imported Briar 1B Apple turned out. It really is a beautiful looking pipe with a great shape and smooth finished on the upper half of the bowl and rusticated on the lower portion of the bowl and shank. The vulcanite saddle stem turned out very nice. The polished stem works well with the briar both the smooth and rusticated finish. The briar really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown stains of the finish gave the pipe a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. 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 multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax 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 Whitehall Rusticated Saddle Stem Apple 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 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 27 grams/ .95 ounces. I will be putting the pipe on the rebornpipes store in the American Pipemakers Section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. 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 Unique “Malaga” Custom Carved Fluted Bent Egg

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Blog by Steve Laug

Jeff and I have been picking up Malaga pipes for a very long time. It does not seem that long ago that we picked them up for $4 – $5USD each. We purchased an estate of more than 30+ Malaga pipes. It was not long before the brand had our attention. The pipes are very well made and all are oil cured with a “secret” recipe and process.

The next pipe on the table is a “Malaga” pipe that is made in a shape that I would define as a Twisted Bent Egg. We picked it up from a seller on eBay in Bristol, Indiana, USA. It has some great cross and birdseye grain and a tapered vulcanite bent stem. The grain around the bowl and shank combined with the stem make it a stunning pipe. The carver did a great job of uniquely shaping the pipe to follow the grain on the briar. The twists and turns in the bowl are well done and almost seem to be carved for fingers to fit against the bowl either left or right handed. The bowl had a thick cake that overflowed with lava onto the rim and there were scratches and nicks on the top and edges under the grime. The sides of the bowl and shank are very dirty with grime and oils from prolonged use. The stamping on the left side of the shank read “MALAGA” in quotations. On the right side it is stamped in script and reads CUSTOM CARVED. The vulcanite stem had light tooth dents and chatter on the top and the underside of the stem. The button was worn on both sides. Jeff took these photos before he started the cleanup work on the pipe.Jeff took a closeup photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The rim top had some lava overflow and darkening on the back of the bowl. There are nicks around the inner outer edges of the bowl and rim top. The stem is oxidized and dirty and there is tooth marks (dents) and chatter on the button edges and surfaces ahead of the button. The shank was too dirty for the stem to fit snugly and it looks like it is poorly fit. I will know more once I have it in hand. He also took photos of the sides and bottom of the bowl and shank to show the beautiful grain around the bowl. The photos show the general condition of the bowl and wear on the finish. It is very dirty but this is another beautiful pipe. Jeff took a photo to capture the stamping on the shank. The photos show the stamping “MALAGA” on the left side of the shank and CUSTOM CARVED on the right side. The stamping is very readable.I am including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. I have written an earlier blog to give a little history of the Malaga Brand and the pipemaker, George Khoubesser. Here is the link – (https://rebornpipes.com/2013/02/09/george-khoubesser-and-malaga-pipes/). That blog also includes a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. Follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

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 the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior 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. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and the flat surface of the rim looked very good. The inner edge of the rim has some serious burn damage on the front inner edge. The outer edge looked very good. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it with hot water. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. Note that I will need to bend the stem slightly to fit the bend of the shank. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem. You can see the condition of the rim top and bowl in the first photo. Jeff was able to remove all of the tar and oils but you can now see the on the rim top and edges. The vulcanite stem had tooth chatter on both sides near and on the button surface.I took a photo of the stamping on the shank to show how good the condition is. It shows the “MALAGA” stamp on the left side and CUSTOM CARVED on the right side. The stamping is very legible. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to give a clear picture of the character of the pipe. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the darkening on the inner edge of the bowl and the scratching and nicks on the rim top. It looked much better than when I started.I polished the rim top and the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded the bowl with 1500-2400 grit sanding pads to prepare the rim top for staining. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. 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. I am very happy with the results. I turned to the stem to address the issues on the surface of both sides at the button. I painted the surface of the stem with the flame of a lighter to lift the tooth marks from the surface. I was able to lift them to some degree but they would need to be repaired. I also heated the stem with the flame to soften the vulcanite and bend the stem to match the angles on the bowl. I filled in the tooth marks in the top and underside of the stem with black rubberized CA glue. I set it aside to cure. Once it cured I use a small file to flatten the repairs and blend them into the stem surface. I sanded the stem surface with 220 grit sandpaper to flatten the repairs and blend them into the surface. I started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I also cleaned up the tenon for a better fit to the shank. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished the hand polishing of the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian oil and set it aside to dry.This Malaga Custom Carved Twisted Fluted/twisted Bent Egg with a vulcanite tapered stem turned out to be a real beauty. It has great grain around the bowl and the carver really maximized that with the shape of the pipe. Everything about the pipe – the shape of the bowl, the thin flat rim top and the cut of the briar work well to highlight the grain around the bowl sides. I polished stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel and the grain just popped and came alive. I gave the bowl 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 pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain took on life with the buffing. The rich oil cured colour works well with the polished vulcanite stem. The finished Malaga Custom Carved Fluted Bent Egg 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: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. I will be adding the pipe to the rebornpipes store in the American Pipemakers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your rack send me an email or message on Facebook. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another estate pipe.

Restoring and Repairing a stem on The Everyman London Pipe 332 Sandblast Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

This next pipe is another that has been here for a very long time. I have no idea where I purchased it or whether it came to me in a trade for labour. I don’t remember. I have worked on quite a few of these Comoy’s made The Everyman Pipes over the years and find that they are well made and quite nice. The pipe is stamped on the underside and reads The [over] Everyman [over] London Pipe. That is followed by Made in London [over] England followed by the shape number 332. This particular pipe has a rugged and deep sandblast around the bowl and shank. It has been stained with a cordovan or dark brown stain. The bowl had been well reamed but there was some lava on the rim top blast. Internally it smelled quite clean with no residual aromatic smell in it. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had some tooth chatter and marks on the top and a chip out of underside in the stem and button. It was not large but it was very present. I took some photos of the pipe to give a sense of what I saw before I started my cleanup work. I took photos of the rim top and inner edge of the bowl to show the lava coat in the sandblast rim top and darkening on the inner edge of the bowl. The photos of the stem show the oxidation, calcification and the tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. You can also see the chip out of the button on the underside of the stem.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is faint but still readable as noted above. I took a photo of the three bars inserted on the left side of the stem. I also took a photo of the bowl and shank separated to show the condition of the pipe. It really is a great looking pipe. Before starting my cleanup work on the pipe I turned my favourite go to sites on background of brands. The first is Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-e4.html). There I looked up The Everyman brand and confirmed what I remembered about it being made by Comoy’s. From there I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s). I went directly to the section on Comoy’s pipes. This advertisement on the various lines of Comoy’s of London pipes as present. I copied the graphic and have included it here.There was also a shape chart that showed the 332 Large Billiard. I have drawn a red box around it for simplicity.With that done I started my restoration of the pipe. I worked on the lava build up on the rim top and the burn damage and darkening on the inner edge of the rim. I worked over the rim top with a brass bristle wire brush. I was able to clean up the debris that filled in the sandblast finish on the rim and remove the tars. I scrubbed the externals of the bowl and shank with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I rinsed the soap and debris off the bowl with running water. I repeated the process until the rim top and the externals were very clean. It looked very good at this point. Somewhere along the journey the pipe had been reamed and the bowl was smooth. There was nothing to do in terms of reaming the bowl or sanding the bowl. The bowl itself was clean of cake or debris. Just to check on the cleaning of the rest of the pipe I turned to clean the mortise and the airway in the shank and stem. It was quite dirty and needed a thorough cleaning. I scrubbed the out with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and Isopropyl 99% alcohol. Many pipe cleaners and much time passed and the draught was clean and open in both the stem and the shank. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into finish of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Restoration Balm really makes the grain stands out beautifully. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I cleaned up the oxidation on the stem surface around the button with 220 grit sandpaper to prepare for the repair to the button. I wanted a clean and non-oxidized surface to work with so that the glue would stick. I wiped it down with alcohol after each sanding until the surface was clean and has some slight roughening from the sanding.I coated the end of a folded pipe cleaner with Vaseline and inserted it into the slot below chipped section. The Vaseline would prevent the black CA glue from sticking to it in the stem when I put it on the stem. I filled in the chipped area with KMS rubberized super glue and repeated the layers of glue until it was built up.I removed the pipe cleaner from the slot and set the stem aside to cure. I took a photo of the repair on the button and a photo from the slot end. I would need to build the slot up a bit but it was starting to look very good.Once the repairs cured on the underside of the stem I filed them flat and recut the button edge with a small file. I used a small slot cutting tool to smooth out the slot in the button. I sanded and reshaped the button with a folded piece of 220 sandpaper and also worked over the oxidation that remained on the stem. I started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I took photos of the repaired stem after I had shaped it and it looked very good at this point. I need to polish it more but I like the looks of the repaired button and slot.I scrubbed the surface of the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the deep oxidation in the stem. It was a lot of oxidation but it came out with repeated scrubbing with the pads. It looked much better when finished.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished the hand polishing of the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian oil and set it aside to dry.The Everyman London Pipe 332 Sandblast Billiard was finished. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I used a very light touch so as not to damage the stamping on the shank. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax 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 pipe polished up pretty nicely. The depths of the sandblast came alive with the buffing and works well with the polished black vulcanite saddle stem. Altogether this The Everyman London Pipe 332 Billiard pipe has a rich look. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¾ 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 1.48 ounces/42 grams. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipemakers Section soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me. I have one of these and they are a cool dry smoke. Thanks for walking through the restoration of this fine old Comoy’s made pipe. It was a pleasure to work on.

A Welcome Mysterious Change of Pace – An Older Pipe with a Metal Cap and Horn stem

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Blog by Steve Laug

I decided I needed a change of pace in my restoration/clean up work. I went through my pipes waiting in the queue and chose pone from a group of four pipes that were given to us by a woman in Columbus, Ohio, USA. It had belonged to her Grandfather who lived from 1882 to 1977. There were four pipes that she sent us from his estate – the metal bowled apple, a cased meerschaum with a broken shank and an amber stem, a Whitehall rusticated apple and a BBB Glokar Fraternity Pipe.I chose the metal cap one because it seemed to call out to me with a voice of mystery. It is a very unique pipe with a briar base and silver rim cap. There seems to be a metal bowl insert under the inside lip of the cap. The bowl has five holes in the bottom of the bowl. The pipe has a silver ferrule on the shank end. It covers some of the stamping on the shank but what remains is readable. The partial stamp on the left side of the shank read… MID [over] LOND….The rest is covered by the ferrule. The stamp on the right side read BK4. The pipe was dirty and well used. The finish on the bowl was spotty showing damage to the varnish coat. The bowl had tobacco debris in it but little cake. The silver cap and ferrule were very tarnished. The stem was dark horn and there were some nicks in the edge where it sat against the ferrule. There was no button on the stem but was tapered down to a orific opening in the end of the stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work.Jeff took photos of the rim top and bowl to show the condition. You can see the tarnish on the silver and some scratching in the rim top. The bowl is almost copper coloured but it is not entirely clear at this point. The horn stem is quite clean and polished. There were scratches on the button end of the stem and some nicks on the shank end. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the composition of the pipe. You can see the damage to the varnish and the tarnish on the silver rim cap. He took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. You can see what is readable and what has been cut off by the placement of the ferrule on both sides. It is clear and reads as noted above.He took a photo of the chip out the end of the tenon end of the stem where it is inserted into the silver ferrule.When the pipe arrived in Vancouver it was very clean. The briar, the metal bowl insert and the rim cap/top and silver ferrule were spotless and shiny. The silver shone in both places. The horn stem looked very good. There was a small chipped area where it fit in the ferrule but otherwise it was clean and tooth marks and chatter were absent. He had cleaned out the bowl, base and the airway in the stem and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with Murphy’s Oil Soap (undiluted) and a tooth brush. He rinsed the exterior with warm running water and dried. He polished the silver, bowl and stem with a small drop of olive oil. The pipe really looked very good. It was going to be a fun one to work on for my part. I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the table for my work. I took photos of the bowl and the polished metal insert and cap. It is clean and it is beautiful silver work. The bowl is very clean and there are small dents and nicks in the surface of the rim cap and bowl sides. The horn stem is in great condition. It is fascinating to me that there were no button edges but the stem just ran flush to the end. There were no tooth marks or chatter on the stem surface on either side. I tried to take photos of the shank sides to capture the stamping on the briar. It is faint but it is still readable. I took a photo of the bowl and shank separated to show the condition of the pipe. It really is a great looking pipe. I started my work on the pipe by wiping down the briar with alcohol and a cotton pad. I was able to remove the spotty remnants of the finish from the bowl. I was able to remove all of the remnants of the varnish and it really looked much better without it. The grain shown through really nicely. With the polished silver the briar looks really good! I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I dry sanded the briar and then progressively brought a shine to the pipe. It looked really amazing – the combination of the silver and reddish briar. It is a beauty! I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the finish with my fingertips. The product works to clean, preserve and protect the briar. I let it sit and absorb for 10 minutes. I buffed it off with a soft cloth and then gave it a rigorous buff to raise the shine. It looks good at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I decided to give the stem a thinner profile and give it a button. I used needle files to shape the stem surface and give it a thin button. I like the new look for the stem.I sanded the filed areas and the area at the top of the stem near the tenon. I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper. I started the polishing of the stem by sanding it with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. It is starting to look much better.I polished out the chatter and marks on the stem surface with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil on a cloth after the sanding pads. I finished the hand polishing of the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian oil and set it aside to dry.I am really happy with the way that this Mystery Metal Insert Bowl with a Silver Cap and Ferrule and a Horn stem turned out. It really is a beautiful looking pipe with a great shape and smooth finished on the lower half of the bowl and silver rim cap. The original horn taper stem is really nice. The polished dark horn stem works well with the briar and the silver cap and ferrule. The briar really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown stains of the finish gave the pipe a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. 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 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 Silver Capped Mid…London BK4 Apple 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 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 31 grams/ 1.09 ounces. The pipe will be staying with me and joining my collection of older pipes. The horn stem, silver ferrule and rim cap look great with older dark briar. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

Mending Shank Cracks to Revive a Gourd Calabash – Austria

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Looks good Dal. Nice work.

The classic Gourd Calabash on the table came to me a few days before Christmas in 2018, when my wife and I were in the US from Bulgaria to celebrate …
Mending Shank Cracks to Revive a Gourd Calabash – Austria

Cleaning up a Republic Era Peterson’s 53 Straight Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

I purchased two Peterson’s pipes from a fellow in Eastern Canada. They are shown in the photo below. The top one is a Republic Era K&P Irish Made 53 Billiard. The second one is a 120 Dublin. You will note in the photo below that there is an extra stem included. It is an acrylic fishtail stem that was made for the 120. It is significantly longer (1 inch) than the original and the angles of the curve are more pronounced so the flow of the stem does not look at all the same. The acrylic stem is thicker and does not have the delicacy of the original.Today I decided to work on the second pipe, the Straight Billiard. It is stamped on the left side and reads K&P [over] Irish Made. On the right side of the shank it reads Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines) followed by the shape number 53. The grain is quite nice on the pipe. There is a nickel ferrule on the shank that is stamped with three symbols – a shamrock. a wolf hound and a tower. These makers marks put the pipe as pre-circa 1963. The briar was dirty with grime ground into the finish. There was a thick cake in the bowl with darkening and lava overflow onto the inner edge and the rim top. The pipe had a strong smell of the tobacco that had been smoked in it. There is a hint of aromatic to it. The shank was dirty with tars. The stem was an original fishtail made by Peterson. There was some oxidation, calcification and light tooth marks on both sides of the stem. I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the table to show its condition. I took photos of the rim top and bowl to show the condition of both. You can see the cake and tobacco debris in the bowl and the lava overflowing onto the back edge and rim top. The grain shows through and I think it will clean up very well. You can see the chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button and the oxidation and light calcification as well.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping is clear and readable. I also took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the look of the pipe and show its balance. It is a beauty. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the cake and the lava on the rim top and edges of the bowl. I reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the remaining cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl walls smooth with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. The pipe walls were clean and undamaged with no checking or cracking. I sanded the rim edge and the top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out and remove the darkening and the damage to the top and edge. It looked much better than when I started. I would still need to polish out the darkening.I scrubbed the externals of the bowl and shank with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I rinsed the soap and debris off the bowl with running water. I repeated the process until the rim top and the externals were very clean. It looked very good at this point. I cleaned out the internals of the shank, mortise and the airway in the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. It took a bit of time but it came out clean. There was still a residual smell, a ghost that I would need to work on. Now it was time to deghost the pipe. I stuffed the bowl with cotton bolls and twisted another boll into the shank. I filled the bowl with 99% isopropyl alcohol using and ear syringe. I set it aside to let the mix do its work wicking the oils and tars out of the bowl. It would sit for while I worked on the stem. After four hours I took photos of the bowl and the cotton. It had taken out a lot of tars and oils. I polished the outside of the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. The stain was uneven around the heal of the bowl and on the rim top so I touched up the stain with a Maple Stain Pen. It blended in with the surrounding stain on the upper portion of the bowl. I would need to buff it to further blend it into the surface.I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the finish with my fingertips. The product works to clean, preserve and protect the briar. I let it sit and absorb for 10 minutes. I buffed it off with a soft cloth and then gave it a rigorous buff to raise the shine. It looks good at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the oxidation on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to break it up. I started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. When finished I wiped it down with some Obsidian Oil. There was still some oxidation remaining on the stem so I would need to do more to remove it.I scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub cleanser and cotton pads to remove the remaining oxidation. It worked very well and removed all of the oxidation that remained on the stem.I polished out the chatter and marks on the stem surface with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil on a cloth after the sanding pads. I finished the hand polishing of the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian oil and set it aside to dry. I am really happy with the way that this Republic Era K&P Irish Made 53 Billiard with a Nickel Ferrule turned out. It really is a beautiful looking pipe with a great shape and smooth finished bowl and rim top. The original vulcanite taper stem is really nice. The polished black of the stem works well with the briar and the nickel ferrule. The briar really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown stains of the finish gave the pipe a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. 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 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 Republic Era K&P Irish Made Billiard 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 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 37 grams/ 1.31 ounces. The pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store soon. It will be in the section on Irish Pipe Makers Section if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

Cleaning up a Republic Era Peterson’s 120 & reworking a chopped off P-lip Stem

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Blog by Steve Laug

I purchased two Peterson’s pipes from a fellow in Eastern Canada. They are shown in the photo below. The top one is a Republic Era K&P Irish Made 53 Billiard. The second one is a 120 Dublin. You will note in the photo below that there is an extra stem included. It is an acrylic fishtail stem that was made for the 120. It is significantly longer (1 inch) than the original and the angles of the curve are more pronounced so the flow of the stem does not look at all the same. The acrylic stem is thicker and does not have the delicacy of the original.Today I decided to work on the shape 120 Dublin. It is stamped on the left side and reads Peterson’s [arched over] Dublin. On the right side of the shank it reads Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines) [over] 120. The grain is quite nice on the pipe. There is a silver ferrule on the shank that is stamped Peterson’s [over] Dublin followed by Sterling [over] Silver followed by three hallmarks – 1. Hibernia seated with a harp designating the country of origin, 2. A crowned harp designating the quality of the silver used, 3. A date letter which in this case is the italic letter Q which dates the pipe to 2001. The briar was dirty with grime ground into the finish. There was a thick cake in the bowl with darkening and lava overflow onto the inner edge and the rim top. The pipe had a strong smell of the tobacco that had been smoked in it. There is a hint of aromatic to it. The shank was dirty with tars. The stem had originally been a P-lip but someone had cut off the end of the stem removing the P-lip and leaving behind a single hole high in the button. There was some light oxidation and light tooth marks on both sides of the stem. I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the table to show its condition. I took photos of the rim top and bowl to show the condition of both. You can see the cake and tobacco debris in the bowl and the lava overflowing onto the back edge and rim top. The grain shows through and I think it will clean up very well. You can see the chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button and the oxidation and light calcification as well. The cut off P-lip looks good showing the button edges.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping is clear and readable. I also took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the look of the pipe and show its balance. It is a beauty. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the shape of the button and slot. It was a single round hole and was high in the button. I would need to reshape it. I used a slot saw to open up the slot. It took some work but it came out looking better. You can see from the photo below that the airway hole is below the slot. It is a round divot at the bottom edge of the slot. The slot looks better but will still need to be shaped more. I filled in the round divot in the first photo with black CA glue. I pressed it into the round divot with a tooth pick and layered it until the flow of the slot was even. Once the repair cured I used 220 grit sandpaper to shape the button edges and give the slot an oval look.I set the stem aside and turned my attention to the bowl. I reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the remaining cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl walls smooth with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. The pipe walls were clean and undamaged with no checking or cracking. I scrubbed the externals of the bowl and shank with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I rinsed the soap and debris off the bowl with running water. I repeated the process until the rim top and the externals were very clean. It looked very good at this point. I cleaned out the internals of the shank, mortise and the airway in the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. It took a bit of time but it came out clean. There was still a residual smell, a ghost that I would need to work on. I polished the outside of the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. Now it was time to deghost the pipe. I stuffed the bowl with cotton bolls and twisted another boll into the shank. I filled the bowl with 99% isopropyl alcohol using and ear syringe. I set it aside to let the mix do its work wicking the oils and tars out of the bowl. It would sit for while I worked on the stem. After four hours I took photos of the bowl and the cotton. It had taken out a lot of tars and oils. I cleaned out the shank and let the bowl dry. I rubbed it down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the finish with my fingertips. The product works to clean, preserve and protect the briar. I let it sit and absorb for 10 minutes. I buffed it off with a soft cloth and then gave it a rigorous buff to raise the shine. It looks good at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished out the chatter and marks on the stem surface with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil on a cloth after the sanding pads. I finished the hand polishing of the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian oil and set it aside to dry. I am really happy with the way that this Republic Era Peterson’s 120 Dublin with a Sterling Silver Ferrule turned out. It really is a beautiful looking pipe with a great shape and smooth finished bowl. The modified stem is really nice. The polished black of the stem works well with the briar and the silver ferrule. The briar really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown stains of the finish gave the pipe a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. 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 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 Republic Era Peterson’s 120 really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. The reworked P-lip to Fishtail vulcanite stem conversion cleaned up very well. It looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 47 grams/ 1.66 ounces The pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store soon. It will be in the section on Irish Pipe Makers Section if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!