Category Archives: Pipe Refurbishing Essays

Essays and pictorial essays on the art of refurbishing

A Rescue Dog – Restoring a Chadwick “Supreme” Rhodesian

Blog by Steve Laug

The third pipe my brother Jeff picked up in the lot from the Montana was one of my favourite shapes. In the photo below of the pipes at the seller’s antique shop it is the pipe on the far right of the picture. Looking at it in the photos I wondered if it was a Peterson 999 or a GBD 9438 two of my all time favourite pipe shapes. I was pretty excited to see what it was once he got the pipes. Everything about that pipe shape made me think that my guess was not far off. When the pipes arrived in Idaho my brother called and read me the stamping. The pipe was stamped on the left side of the shank Chadwick over “Supreme”. On the right side it was stamped Imported Briar. At that point I was scratching my head. It still looked like an English-made pipe to me but I had not heard of the Chadwick brand. When the pipe arrived in Canada I looked it over and was still convinced it looked English-made. I looked in Who Made that Pipe and it was listed there as made by Wally Frank in the US and England. The next photos show what the pipe looked like when it arrived here. There is a lot of promise underneath all the grime. There was a thick cake in the bowl and the rim was covered with the overflow of tars and oils down the sides to the double ring. The finish was dirty and almost gone. I am not sure if the pipe had a natural finish or was stained but it was no longer clear what the original had been like. The double ring had a large chunk missing on the front of the bowl. There were two fills on the bowl front that were shrunken and looked like dents. The shank was dirty. The stem was chewed and gnawed on to the point that the button was virtually gone on the top side. There was a chunk missing from it on the top middle of the button. There were deep tooth marks on the top and bottom of the stem near the button. The stem was oxidized and scratched and had a build-up of calcification about an inch up the stem toward the shank. Inside the stem and shank was very dirty. The airway to the bowl was clogged and I was not able to blow air through it. It looked to me that there had originally been a stinger in the tenon but it was no longer present.

I took some close up photos of the stamping and the condition of the bowl, rim and stem before I went to work on restoring it. You can clearly see the stamping on the left side of the shank – Chadwick Supreme. The rim is in nasty condition. I am not sure how the last pipe man had ever fit much tobacco in the bowl. All I know is that it must have smoked really well because it looked as if he had never laid it down. The stem condition is also clearly shown with tooth marks and gnawing on the button top and bottom.

Before I started cleaning it up I wanted to learn a bit more about the brand. I have cleaned and used quite a few Wally Frank pipes over the years and knew that other companies in Europe often made their pipes for them. It was highly likely that this was a British made pipe. I checked on Chris Keene’s Pipe Pages and found the Chadwick name in the Wally Frank Catalogue for 1939. None of the other catalogues would open but at least I had the information that I needed. The first photo below is of the whole page. The second is of the right top corner where the Chadwick line is mentioned. The third is of a Chadwick Display Cabinet that was provided to tobacconists and stores that sold the line.

Now I knew that the Chadwick line was indeed made in England. My guess was correct and I would go one step further and guess that they were made by Comoy’s or GBD. The advertisement says that the pipe was “custom-made in London with the deliberate precision of English master pipemakers. The Chadwick is our sincere effort to present a fine quality London made pipe from sweet smoking Algerian Briar Root at a modest price.”

What interested me was that the pipe came in three different finishes – Rough-Rugged, Natural and Dark. I am pretty sure that the one I had was originally dark finished as the dark finish would hide the fills on the bowl and they would be blended into the briar. That gave me the direction that I would go in restaining the pipe once I got to that point in the restoration process.

I love reading these old catalogues and seeing the life time warrantee on the pipes and the fact that the pipe originally cost $2.50 with postage paid from the Wally Frank factory.

Armed with that confirmation of British origin for this old pipe I went to work to restore it to its former glory. I worked on the bowl first. I wanted to ream back the cake to bare wood to see what I was dealing with in the bowl. I set up the PipNet reamer with the smallest head first and found that the cake was incredibly hard. The cutting head barely made a dent in the cake. I took the largest sized cutting head – same diameter as the bowl and work on it and with a lot of force was able to begin to make a dent on the cake. It was just too hard to go too deep with the tool. I used a pen knife to try to cut back the lower portion of the cake but could not even cut into it because it was so hard.

I decided to soak the bowl and soften the cake in an alcohol bath. I dropped the bowl into the bath and left it overnight to soak and soften the cake. In the morning I took it out of the bath and dried it off with a coarse cotton towel. The soak also had the effect of softening the lava on the rim and cap so that when I dried the bowl most of it came off in the process. I was able to ream it back to bare wood with the use of a PipNet reamer and a KLEENREEM reamer. I used the drill bit part of the KLEENREEM tool to open the airway into the bowl and remove the clog. With that gone I could freely blow air through the bowl. The final photo in this set shows the conical bowl on the reamed pipe.

I wiped the bowl down with acetone on a cotton pad to clean off the remaining finish and the grime left behind after the soak and the reaming process. The damaged rings on the front of the bowl are visible in the photos as is the damage to the rim top.

I lightly topped the bowl on a topping board using 220 grit sandpaper to flatten the rim top and to remove some of the rounding to the outer edge of the bowl. I used a dental pick to remove the fills that had shrunk on the bottom front of the bowl in preparation for replacing them. I packed briar dust into the holes and then dripped super glue onto the packed briar dust. I packed briar dust into the missing section of the double rings on the front of the bowl. I put super glue on top of the briar dust fill to build up the repair. I added more briar dust on top of the fills on the bowl front and on the repair to the rings. I sanded the patches on the bowl front with 220 grit sandpaper and smooth it out to match the surrounding briar. I sanded the patch on the ring repair with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out. There were still some low spots on that repair so I refilled the area with some more super glue.

I set the bowl aside to let the repair on the rings cure before I cut the new rings into the bowl front. While it was sitting I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation and the calcification. I wanted to clean up the stem before I worked on repairing the tooth marks and gnawed button. I cleaned the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners.

I scrubbed out the tooth marks on the stem and the button with a cotton swab and alcohol in preparation for the repair I would do there. I mixed the patching material using finely crushed charcoal capsules and black super glue. I mixed the two to blend the materials. I use super glue that gives me 45 seconds of time before it hardens so I have to work quickly.

When I had the paste mixed well I applied it to the tooth marks and built up the button with a dental pick and dental spatula. The repair is anything but beautiful at this point but the mixture adds strength to the repair that the glue by itself does not give with tooth marks and damage of this magnitude.

I set the stem aside to cure and went back to the bowl. I used a Buck Knife, a pen knife and a sharp-edged needle file to cut the lines in the patch on the bowl front. I wanted the new lines to connect seamlessly to the lines on either side of the repair. These three blades always have worked for me to get a good straight line match. When I had finished cleaning up the lines on the bowl the stem repair had cured enough to begin to shape the button and clean up the tooth repairs. I sanded them with 220 grit sandpaper to begin to shape and smooth out the repairs.

When I had the basic shape of the button set up the surface was quite porous on the button surface and in one spot on the tooth repair on top of the stem so I gave them a top coat of clear super glue to fill in the pores left behind by the super glue/charcoal mixture. I set that aside to dry.

I cleaned the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was one dirty shank. It took a lot of scrubbing to clean out the grime. I scrubbed until the cleaners came out clean and white. I wiped the bowl down with alcohol to remove any last dust or grime in preparation for staining the briar.

I decided to stain the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain that I had thinned by half to give it a medium brown colour. I wanted to aim for the dark stain that was noted in the Wally Frank Catalogue above. I figured it would give me good coverage on the fills and the repair to the rings. I applied the stain with a cotton swab and then flamed it with a lighter to set the colour in the grain. I wiped down the freshly stained bowl with alcohol on cotton pads to even out the stain and to give it more transparency so that the grain shows through. When I was through I was happy with the colour and with the way it hid the fills on the bowl and the repair to the ring on the front of the bowl.

By that time the stem repair had dried and I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the stem patch and do more shaping on the button.

I filed the slot in the stem to smooth it out and shape it. I also sanded the stem with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to further shape the button. I wet sanded the stem and button with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit micromesh pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished by sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I set it aside for the oil to dry.

I sanded the bowl with the micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit to polish the briar – bowl, shank and rim, to bring out the grain. When the grain began to pop I buffed the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel and then gave both multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean flannel buff and then with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a far cry better looking than when I started. This one is a keeper. Thanks for looking.

Carey Magic Inch Freehand Briar Pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

In the batch of pipes my brother purchased from an antique shop in Montana for me to clean up was the pipe pictured in the photo below – on its side on the pipe rack on the left of the photo bearing a $19 price tag. Turns out it is a Carey Magic Inch Freehand Pipe. It is stamped on the left side of the shank: Free Hand over Carey over Magic Inch. Underneath that is stamped a PAT. No. 3267941. On the right side it is stamped: Mediterranean over Briar Israel. The stem has three horizontal vents on the top and on the underside of the stem. There is a logo – a C in a box on the top of the stem behind the vents. I did some research on the “Magic Inch” System and found out that it has been a Carey’s tradition for over 50 years. On their website they say that they have sold over 1,000,000 pipes. They describe the “Magic Inch” as: “an air chamber inserted between the imported briar bowl and the vented mouthpiece which allows cool outside air to enter and mix with the warm tobacco smoke inside the “Magic Inch” chamber. Tobacco tars, oils and moisture, are squeezed out of the smoke. The residue drops to the bottom of the chamber and is absorbed by the Papyrate sleeve.” http://www.eacarey.com/magicinchinfo.html

They provide the following diagram on their website and I have included it here to show the unique system. I found a second diagram on the English Carey website. http://www.eacarey.co.uk/2010/10/the-carey-magic-inch/

I quote from their site as it gives some interesting history on the system: “A Carey pipe looks better and feels better than any ordinary pipe. It also smokes like no other pipe you’ve ever known, and that’s mostly thanks to the patented ‘Magic Inch’, an invention that revolutionised pipe smoking. Designed and patented by EA Carey in 1948 it was the result of a dedicated pipe smoker seeking a cooler, drier smoke whilst not detracting from the fulsome flavour of choice tobaccos. After years of research and the discarding of many ‘good ideas’ Carey settled on the basic design of the system and set about refining that design into the simple but highly effective device that is the basis of Carey Magic Inch pipes over 60 years later. Even today, more than 30 years after it was first introduced into Europe and particularly the UK, we have many seasoned pipesmokers who are still discovering the amazing difference and improvement in smoking pleasure they obtain from the Magic Inch system. It is not a trap or filter or other such sludge forming gadget. In fact, like all great discoveries and inventions, the secret is simple. By cooling, condensing and evaporating moisture with every puff, it prevents the tar, sludge, bite and bitterness that you may find in other pipes, ever reaching your mouth.”

They go on to describe the system in a classically English way: “The system has been designed to allow a precise amount of outside air into each puff of smoke. Unique moisture ports then dissipate wetness, tar and nicotine into the 2 ply Papyrate sleeve, protecting the smoker from unwanted materials. The Papyrate itself provides excellent absorbency for dryer smoking and increased durability. Subsequently the Magic Inch chamber releases moisture through evaporation during resting periods between smokes. Neither a filter nor a standard ‘push bit’, a true innovation.” All Carey Magic Inch pipes are made from top quality Mediterranean briar designed, crafted and inspected by experts who take pride in their craft.

With this background information I started to work Carey Magic Inch Freehand that my brother had picked up for me. The bowl was quite clean on the inside – a light cake had formed. The rim had some darkening but was also very clean. The carved patterns on the pipe were very similar to some of the Alpha pipes that also had similar Frankenstein-like stitches on the worm trails carved into the sides and bottom of the bowl and shank. I would not be surprised if it was actually carved in the old Alpha Pipe Factory in Israel. The finish on the pipe was in very good shape and did not need to have anything done to it but clean it. The shank bears the stamping of Israel on the right side. The shape is a block/poker shape that never really was my cup of tea. I always look at them and feel like the carver stopped somewhere along the way and never finished carving the pipe. The rustication on the rim matched that on the shank end. The stem was typical Carey plastic and would be hard to work on. It had tooth chatter on the top and the bottom sides of the stem and some tooth marks that also went onto the button itself.

The next close up photos show the rim and the cake in the bowl as well as the stamping on the sides of the shank.

I took the stem off the pipe to get a picture of the Carey Magic Inch system. The stem sits over a mortise insert with a one inch long perforated tube that extends into the stem when it is in place on the shank. The stem was dirty on the inside and the tooth chatter and dents marred the top and bottom sides near the button.

I scrubbed down the exterior of the bowl with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed it with lukewarm water. I dried off the bowl exterior with a soft cloth.

I scrubbed out the stem and the shank with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol until the pipe cleaners and swabs came out clean. I find the plastic material used on these stems to be a challenge to clean up and remove the damaged areas. Once it is sanded all of the polishing has to be done by hand. The heat of the buffer pads can seriously damage the stem by melting it. I sanded the tooth marks and chatter with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage. There was one spot on the top of the stem near the button that needed to be patched with clear super glue. It was a deep tooth mark that no amount of sanding would remove.

When the patch cured I sanded it with the 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out with the surface of the stem. I sanded it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches. Normally I wet sand the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads but with this material it only gets muddy and makes a mess. I used some Obsidian Oil to rub down the stem between each pad and sanded it until the scratches began to disappear. I continue the process with 3200-4000 grit pads with the oil between each pad giving me some bite on the plastic stem. I forgot to take a picture of this step (I had already spent over 1 ½ hours on the stem at this point). I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and the oil. When I had finished I rubbed it down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry.

I hand waxed the bowl and the stem with Conservators wax and buffed it with a shoe brush. I finished by buffing it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is cleaned, restored and ready for whoever wishes to purchase it from me. It is not my style of pipe but I am sure it will make some pipe man very happy. Just email me if you are interested and make me an offer at slaug@uniserve.com Thanks for looking.

My Courtship of a Comoy’s Pebble Grain Panel Brandy

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Guest Blog by Robert M. Boughton
Member, International Society of Codgers
Member, North American Society of Pipe Collectors
http://www.naspc.org
http://www.roadrunnerpipes.biz (Coming soon)
http://about.me/boughtonrobert
Photos © the Author

For there are moments in life, when the heart is so full of emotion,
That if by chance it be shaken, or into its depths like a pebble
Drops some careless word, it overflows, and its secret,
Spilt on the ground like water, can never be gathered together.
― From “Priscilla” in The Courtship of Miles Standish (1858), by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), U.S. poet and author

INTRODUCTION
I suppose I should consider myself fortunate to have had many such moments in life as Longfellow described, and can only hope to be blessed with frequent more, yet when each occurs, the awareness never fails to strike like a suffering pleasure. Call me a sentimentalist, or a romanticist as were the poets who influenced Longfellow, or make of it what you will.

Several years ago, when I first began buying up numerous fine examples of restored pipes by my friend and mentor, Chuck Richards, I fell in love with the beautiful Comoy’s Pebble Grain Panel featured in this exercise in refurbishing. As I might as well admit at this point, my reaction to the coloring and fine pebbles adorning the panels and the unusual shapeliness of the pipe itself was as the great American poet described. Many other works of art created for the enjoyment of pipe tobacco, some of which I have had the pleasure of acquiring and quite a few more remaining on my wish list, affected my sensibilities (in the philosophical sense) in a similar manner.

Still, the persistence of my attraction to this singular pipe has never lessened. Perhaps this reaction was a result of the fact that, in a moment of largess, I promised the special pipe to a friend who prefers cigars but was interested in taking up the fairer form of smoking – and on frequent occasions since then, I have been able to appreciate its allure, albeit in the hands of another man.

With that chemistry in mind, I have on a few occasions, with permission from my friend of course, again held the full-figured darling in my own appreciative embrace to ensure that she has been given the care and respect deserved. I am happy to report that the lovely creature has received excellent if frequent attention.

That said, and recognizing that when I first cleaned the Comoy’s a few years back for my friend, Mike Brasel, I knew even less about restoration and refurbishing than I do now, I knew I could make the lovely pipe better than when I gave it away. If anyone detects a touch of regret in those last words, it is only because… well, it’s the truth! There. I got that confession out of the way. I also had taken no photos of the pebble grain before I turned it over to the care of Mike, and concluded that one easy way to correct that mistake was to get it back in my hands long enough to give the pipe a little needed cleaning. Machiavellian? Somewhat. Sneaky? Definitely. Regrets? None.

My primary solace for the loss of the pebble grain is two-fold: other than getting to see it on a regular basis, I can observe its regular upkeep. I knew Mike was in the good habit of running bristly cleaners through it but had no idea he must do so after every smoke until I at last was able to convince Mike to entrust me with the Comoy’s a few days ago. He actually paid me for a sweet, vintage Kaywoodie Signet bent smooth billiard I restored about a year ago (my first experience cleaning a pipe properly with a retort). I believe it dates to the 1960s if not a little earlier. Mike therefore had a substitute to use in the other pipe’s absence.

The reason I chose the Comoy’s for Mike in the first place was his comment that he had been unable to find a big, thick, sturdy enough pipe that would never overheat at a price he could afford. I knew the pebble grain would be perfect for his needs and fit his personality at the same time. But based on his standards for appreciating the thick-skinned Comoy’s, I was surprised and more than a little concerned when he picked the Kaywoodie from my restores available for sale. Nevertheless, while enjoying his first bowl of McClellands 2015 Christmas Cheer in his new Signet, Mike told me it smokes great and is easier to control without holding. The photo below was snapped just as he was about to remove it from his mouth.

Mike trying out his Kaywoodie the first time

Mike’s new pipe

REFURBISH

AN ASIDE
I see Mike at our local tobacconist almost every time I’m there, and for the most part he smokes the cigars he still loves. On occasion, I’ll even buy one and light it up myself. It’s true, I enjoy a good candela on special occasions, in particular when I can get my hands on a genuine Havana, which is a treat I have savored only five times: twice on trips to visit my mother when she lived in Cozumel, Mexico; once with another onto which I slipped a Nicaraguan band and smuggled back to the States (although the Customs agents at the border picked it right out from the little humidor box I handed them, which otherwise had legal varieties, and smiled at each other before letting me get away with my attempt at subterfuge); again with a gift from a former co-worker in grocery store deli merchandising, this one being, I was certain, a fake – until I held it and noted the unique paleness and skin-like suppleness of the green wrapper, and the last that I bought from a friend in England who was a true gentleman to mail to me along with three more I purchased for Mike and a couple of other cigar aficionados I know. All of the Cubans I’ve smoked required hours to finish and left me with an almost illicitly pleasant, light-headed giddiness.

BACK TO THE REFURBISH
And so I was somewhat amazed to see from tell-tale signs on the Comoy’s that it had been used far more often than I suspected. The rim, of course, was the first hint, blackened as it was. Then there were the slight dents on both sides of the top of the shank, visible in the third photo above, and some minor scratches on the rest of the wood. However, the most revealing symptoms of frequent use were the general grime on the outer briar and the lip end of the bit. I also discovered, without even removing the bit from the shank, that the thin brass band that had been connected to the bit had come loose.

That was a repair I never had to ponder before. Tossing the bit into an OxiClean solution for a nice long soak, I decided to tackle the rim first. I was able to remove the majority of the charring safely with superfine steel wool before shifting to micromesh, using 1800, 2400 and 3200. The rim as shown in the last shot below, I knew, was not finished, but more about that later, in its order.

Removing the bit from the OxiClean wash, I rinsed it and with haste, while it was still wet, started micro-meshing, from 1500-12000. There was no need for sandpaper, other than the narrow edge around the tenon where the thin brass band still needed to be replaced. To eliminate the residue of the original adhesive, I made fast work of it with 150-grit paper followed by 320, then micro-meshed all the way through my pack of pads. Not having to sand any of the regular surface of the bit was such an extremely rare event that I was truly struck by Mike’s high degree of care for the Comoy’s. Here is the band before I cleaned it up easily with my steel wool, and after I reattached it with a small amount of Super Glue.

Less than a minute’s more work with the steel wool made the tenon opening like new.

I considered the bowl and shank and how to clean them. Six small, thin cotton squares, used two-ply and wetted with purified water, took off much of the dirt with serious scrubbing both vertically and horizontally to get around the pebbles as thoroughly as possible, but that was not enough. With the wood wet, I returned to the three micromesh pads and made more progress, but the task called for something else. After serious consideration, I opted to go all-out with a couple more two-plies using Everclear, again rubbing both directions. At last I found the exact lighter shade I sought.

At this point, I finished the rim, using 320-grit paper with two of the gentlest swipes possible, one around the top and the other covering the rounded inside where it borders with the beginning of the actual chamber. I finished that step with the same micromesh progression as before.

While I still had the 320-grit paper and micromesh pads out, I saw no reason not to tackle the two dings in the shank and the sundry scratches. Again, most of these blemishes were mended with the micromesh. Almost all of the very slight imperfections remaining came off with light, focused application of the 320-grit followed by – you probably guessed – the same three micromesh pads. With an uncommon sense of caution, given that this pipe already belonged to my friend Mike – someone I had reason to suspect I never want to see really mad – I settled for the results I had achieved, except for a quick turn or two of 150-grit paper followed by 320-grit on some excess cake buildup in the chamber, and to clean out the loose soot from the sanding, a wipe with another cotton cloth piece wet with purified water.

I only needed a few seconds to consider a retort and dismiss the notion, realizing it would remove too much of the cake that I had promised Mike I would not ruin. But I did dip a bristly cleaner in Everclear and ran it through the shank, turning it briskly as I did so, and saw it came out filthy. After using a dry cleaner that brought out more grime, I repeated the process, still finding some unnecessary old smoke, tobacco and other accreted matter. The third cleaner soaked with Everclear was almost white.

I left the shank as it then was and proceeded to the bit’s air hole, at which point I was amazed to find that one alcohol-soaked cleaner came back with minimal blackness. One more dry cleaner paved the way for another dipped in Everclear, which was clean, ending that step.

The hard parts of the job complete, the time came to open my jar of Halcyon II wax and dip a finger in for a dab of the stuff. The single dab was enough to coat the bowl and shank until they shone with a wet brightness and set it aside for about 15 minutes while it soaked into the smooth rim, bottom of the bowl and shank, and every crevice of the pebbled area.

When I could stand the wait no longer, I carried the two pieces of the pipe into the spare bedroom of my new apartment that I will use as an office/shop when it is furnished. Of course, I had already set up my buffers on their sturdy stand and had only to plug them in for the first time in that setting. I buffed the bit with red Tripoli, white Tripoli and White Diamond, using the clean cloth wheel after each, and wiped it down with a big soft cotton cloth. Setting it aside and taking a deep breath, exhaling slowly, I stuck my left index finger in the chamber and, with complete calm and a firm grip on the precious briar, buffed the Halcyon II on the clean wheel. Rubbing it down with the cotton cloth, I concluded a final run with the carnauba wheel and then the clean buffer was in order.

Studying every angle of the briar while I rubbed it with the cloth, I was a tad disappointed that the waxing and buffing process had made it almost as dark as it started. I had wanted to finish with a lighter shade of wood and a high sheen of wax, but decided against another coat of Halcyon II.

CONCLUSION
A few words about why the first three photos of the finished Comoy’s Pebble Grain have a different background: when I went to the tobacconist to see if Mike was there, he wasn’t, and I sat down to enjoy a bowl while I took the pipe out for what I thought would be a final quick exam. I was horrified to see what appeared to be bad blemishes on the right side of the bit and shank, and on the top and bottom of the bit. Fortunately, I had my cotton cloth with me and discovered that the problems were only smudges of excess wax. And so I wrapped the rag around the entire pipe and gently turned it round and round for five minutes or so, while I puffed away at one of the tobacco samples on hand.

When I at last stopped rubbing the pipe, I handled the pipe as I would if I were checking out a new purchase, and found no more smudges. Relieved, I wiped it quickly one last time before taking the pictures of the first three angles again.

Knowing I couldn’t take it home with me, I put it back in the leather pouch I included for Mike, so that he could carry it with him with added protection, and left the Comoy’s of which I remain so fond with Chuck at the counter. Cheers, then, old gal.

Refreshing an old Peterson’s X105P

Cleaning up a Dr. Grabow Cherry Red Viscount Adjustomatic

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Blog by Steve Laug
My brother found a group of pipes for sale in a Montana antique shop and negotiated a deal for sixteen of them. They arrived here in Canada yesterday. The first one I tackled was a Dr. Grabow Viscount in the colour line – it is kind of a pick axe shape and it is painted a bright cherry red. It is stamped on the left side of the shank Viscount over Dr. Grabow and on the right side Imported Briar over Adjustomatic and the patent number 2461905. In the picture to the left it is the fourth pipe down. I knew from an earlier Viscount that I had restored that the shape number of this one was #39, a unique Dr. Grabow shape!

When it arrived the painted surface was in excellent shape. There were no chips or nicks in the paint which is what I normally find in these pipes. The rim was clean of damage though there were some tars on the back edge of the flat rim. There was no rim damage however and the paint, even on the rim was in great shape. The stem was overturned and the Adjustomatic feature did not work. It seemed to be stuck in the position in which it arrived. The stem was oxidized and there was some tooth chatter and tooth marks on both the top and the bottom of the stem. The spoon stinger was dirty and slightly corroded. It was a pressure fit in the tenon so I would be able to remove it from the stem to clean out the inside of the stem. The shank was dirty and there was a light cake in the bowl. The photos below show the condition of the pipe and the overturned stem.

I did a quick Google search to get an idea of the era of this pipe. I knew I could ask on the Dr. Grabow Collectors Forum but thought I would see if I could hunt down some information. I found the following advertisement for a Christmas pipe. The advertisement comes from the 1970s so I am guessing that the pipe I have is also a 70’s era pipe. I heated the spoon stinger and was able to pull it out of the tenon. It was a pressure fit rather than threaded so it was quite simple once it was heated and the grit softened. I heated the metal tenon in the stem to try to loosen the build up that held it tight. Normally the Adjustomatic can be reclocked without resorting to heating the tenon. In this case it was stuck. I heated it with a lighter until it was loose again. I screwed it into the mortise and was able to move it freely and adjust the fit of the stem to the shank.

I cleaned out the stem and the shank with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol. I scrubbed the stinger and tenon with 0000 steel wool and alcohol.

I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth chatter and tooth marks and remove the oxidation. I followed that by sanding with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches. I scrubbed the rim with cotton pads and saliva to remove the tars without damaging the painted rim.

I sanded the sponge with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and then rubbing the stem with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I buffed the stem with White Diamond and then finished sanding with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of the oil and let it dry.

I lightly buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel and then gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean flannel buffing pad and then hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I was unable to remove all of the darkening on the back side of the rim but it is smooth to touch. Thanks for looking.

Reviving a Family Era Hardcastle’s Jack O’London Blasted Billard

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Charles is getting proficient at the stem rebuilds and this is another fine example of his craft. Well done.

I managed to squeeze one more restoration in before heading away for a bit of Christmas R & R with the family. The pipe was sent to me by a fellow member of the Brothers of Briar pipe forum. He had been given this old Hardcastle but needed the stem repaired before he could use it. I offered to help, and before too long, the pipe arrived in my mailbox. I took this series of pics to show the pipe’s original condition.

As you can see, it arrived in well-used vintage condition. The finish was worn and spotty, with much of the tan/natural undercoat exposed where the black topcoat had been rubbed off by years of handling. The rim was tarry but otherwise looked okay, with no major dings or dents to the sandblast finish. The bowl had a light layer of cake, with a thicker ring of carbon about two-thirds of…

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Restoring An Eagle Cool-Dry Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The pipe was another gift pipe sent to me by Pam. It is in decent shape. The stem is oxidized and has some tooth marks on the top and bottom side of the stem near the button. The tooth mark is like a vertical slit on the top and bottom side about ½ inch up the stem from the button. There is also a small tooth dent near the button. The metal part of the stem and tenon were integrated into the stem rather than in the shank of the pipe. The finish on the pipe was shiny and showed that the lacquer or varnish that had been used was peeling in spots on the front of the bowl. The stamping was deep and readable. There were quite a few fills on the bottom of the bowl. The largest was on the bottom front edge of the bowl. It had shrunken and was a large pit that ran across the front of the bowl. The bowl was heavily caked and the buildup on the beveled rim was hard and chipped looking. There were some nicks on the outer edges of the rim from when the bowl had been tapped out. The shank was not too dirty and the mortise appeared to be lined with a white tube of some sort. The Eagle Cool-Dry has some unique plumbing in terms of system pipes. It is different from any of the other pipes like this in my collection. The rest of the ones that externally look like this one, the Keyser Hygienic and the Millard Perfect Pipe are actually very different in terms of design. They have a metal insert at the end of the shank that acts as a condenser area with a tube extending from the airway into the condensation chamber. The stem also has a metal tube insert and no tenon but is a military mount stem that inserts into the chamber. The two tubes either meet in the chamber or sit in the chamber. The Eagle is very different in terms of design from the other two mentioned above. The shank is lined with either clay or meerschaum – hard to tell by just looking. My tendency is to assume it is clay. The porous tube is inserted into the shank forming the mortise of the pipe and extending to the end of the shank (see photo below). The metal tenon integrated into the vulcanite stem sits snuggly into the lined mortise. Once I clean it up I may be more certain what the material that makes up the mortise lining. As I worked on cleaning up the pipe I took a little time to see if I could ferret out any information on the brand and the manufacturer of the pipe. I looked for Cool-Dry pipes and found a metal Falcon like pipe that uses the same threaded bowls as Dr. Grabow Vikings. I looked for Eagle Pipes and found a clay pipe manufacturer in Montreal, Quebec in the late 1890s but nothing on a briar pipe maker of that name. I searched for patent information on the internals of the pipe under both the Eagle and the Cool-Dry name and found nothing specific on the system in this pipe. The one thing I did find was that the pipe was made by the Hudson Universal Pipe Co. who also made the brands Excelsior, Harrington Park, and Hilex. This information came out through some notes I found while Googling the brand.

Having that information in hand I looked for the pipe on the Pipephil Stampings and Logos website and interestingly found the following picture and short information. The brief notes under the picture confirm that Hudson Universal Pipe Co. was one of the makers of the pipe. The pipe I received has the same stamping as the one pictured below. The one I have does not have the stem logo but rather is stamped ITALIA on the underside of the stem next to the metal portion of the stem.

When I brought the pipe to my work table I took the following photos to give an idea of the condition it was in when I started. I have spoken of the finish and the general worn condition of the bowl. The rim and cake issues have also been mentioned. The photos show the oxidized stem and aluminum. The bowl has an attractive shape and there is something about the old pipe that drew me to it.

The next two photos are close up shots. The first shows the large shrunken fill on the bottom front part of the bowl. The second shows the thickness of the build up on the rim and the cake in the bowl.

I took the pipe apart to show the nature of the tenon and stem apparatus. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation on the stem and to prepare it for the repairs that needed to be done to the tooth marks on both sides of the stem. I sanded it and removed much of the oxidation and minimized the tooth chatter. I then scrubbed the stem with alcohol to remove the dust and debris in the tooth marks. I filled them with a bubble of clear super glue – both the two spots next to the button (1 on top and 1 on the underside) and the two vertical cuts or marks (one on each side). I set the stem aside to let the glue cure.

While the glue dried I worked on the bowl. I sanded the top of the rim with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the cake that had built up on that surface. I would need to continue to reshape the rim. I reamed it back to bare wood with a PipNet reamer.

I continued to sand the rim and also sanded the inside edge of the rim with the 220 grit sandpaper. I scrubbed the bowl with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the varnish coat and the grime that collected on the briar through the years.

The next photo shows the clay/meerschaum insert in the shank that lined the mortise on the pipe. I cleaned it with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol. I picked out the large fill on the front of the bowl with a dental pick until the sandpit was clear of the white putty. I wiped the bowl down with alcohol on a cotton swab to clean out any remaining debris. I used the dental pick to press briar dust into the sandpit and packed it in. I dripped a couple of drops of glue into the dust. Unfortunately the glue ran down the face of the bowl. I am using a new kind of glue and it is very thin and dries slowly. I sanded the surface of the bowl to remove the heavy overdone patch until it was smooth with the surface of the bowl. I then added a little more briar dust to the patch and used the tip of the pick to put some more glue on the repair.

When the glue dried I sanded the patch until it was smooth. I sanded the entire bowl with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches. I wet sanded the bowl with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper and then with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with alcohol and cotton pads to remove the sanding dust in preparation for restaining the pipe.

I gave the bowl a coat of dark brown aniline stain and flamed it with a lighter. I gave the pipe several more coats of stain and flamed each one. When the stain had dried I hand buffed it with a cloth and then gave it a light buff on the wheel with White Diamond. The first two side view photos of the bowl show it with a red tint that really is not as prevalent as it appears. The photo of the bottom of the bowl is more accurate in terms of the colour of the pipe.

I sanded the repaired stem with 220 grit sandpaper to blend the repair into the surface of the stem. I sanded it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches in the surface of the stem.

The stem was quite clean on the inside so it took only one pipe cleaner to take out the sanding dust that had collected inside. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and then rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and then gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry.

I buffed the pipe and stem on the wheel with Blue Diamond. I gave the aluminum a light buff so as not to darken the buffing pad and carry the metallic colour onto the vulcanite or the briar. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and then buffed the pipe with a clean flannel buff. I finished by buffing it by hand with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The glow of the briar and the vulcanite are really set off by the burnished aluminum portion of the stem. It is truly a beautiful pipe. Thanks for the pipe Pam it is a keeper. Thanks also to each of you who are reading this blog.

A Simple Mistake Forced a Restem on a Meerschaum Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

I found these two no name meerschaum billiards on one of the web forums that I frequent. The seller gave me a decent price on the two. The top pipe was older than the bottom one and I chose to work on it first. The stem was Bakelite and had a metal tenon. It did not fit in the shank either in terms of the diameter of the tenon or the diameter of the stem. It fit very loosely and wobbled in the mortise. The stem itself was about 1/8 inch in some places and 1/16 inches in others smaller than the shank of the pipe. The pipe was dirty and in need of some effort to clean it up and restore it. The next three photos show the pipe from different vantage points.

Once the pipe arrived I was able to have a clear look at it. The rim on the bowl was tarred and the outer edge was chipped. The bowl surface itself was dirty and spotty looking. It had a light brown patina under the dirt. The tars on the rim ran down the outside of the bowl. The shank also was dirty on the outside. The inside of the bowl had been reamed and cleaned. There was some wax in the bottom of the bowl. The airway entering the bowl was damaged and had been worn upward about ½ an inch to form a trough along the back wall of the bowl. The inside of the shank was clean and still undarkened by smoke. There were no threads or marks on the inside of the shank so I was pretty sure that the original stem had been a push stem. It may even have been a Bakelite stem like the one that had been substituted on this pipe. But I was pretty certain that I was working with a replacement stem and poorly fitting one at that.

The close up photo of the rim shows the rim damage and the damaged airway in the bottom of the bowl. The next photo shows the oxidized aluminum tenon on the stem. I thought about adding a coating of superglue to the tenon to tighten the fit but that would not do anything for the diameter issue. I was pretty sure that I would have to restem this pipe to get a good fit on the stem and shank union. In the mean time I cleaned up the bowl. I should have paid attention to my initial thoughts here and just set the stem aside but I did not and would regret it soon enough. In the mean time I cleaned up the bowl. I used a medium grit and a fine grit sanding block to remove the tars and deposits on the rim. I scrubbed the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the grime on the surface and leave as much of the patina intact as possible.

I decided to put a coat of superglue on the tenon and see if I could build it up for a snug fit. I should have left well enough alone. Needless to say my “quick fix” did not work. I got the fit correct or what I thought was correct and when I removed it from the shank I heard a popping sound and noticed that I a small chunk of meerschaum had cracked and come out of the shank. I was sick with having broken a chunk out of the shank because I had not gone with my first instinct of cutting a new stem. Now I had made work for myself. I glued the chunk back in place on the shank with some epoxy and then cleaned up the repair so I could band it. I had used some brass pressure fittings on some meerschaum pipes I had restemmed earlier and like the look of them so I found one that was the right diameter for this shank as well. I heated it with a heat gun and pressed it in place on the shank. I covered the majority of the repaired shank and protected it from breaking further.

I found a stem that was the right diameter for the shank of the pipe in my can of stems. I sanded the tenon to get a snug fit in the shank and put it in place. The photos below show the stem before I had put the finishing touches on it and cleaned it up. They do give a good idea of how the new stem will look with the band.

The stem style is wide at the button and more tapered than the one that had probably graced the pipe originally but I liked the new look of it. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth chatter and tooth marks at the button. I also sanded to remove the oxidation. I sanded it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge. I sanded the bowl with micromesh sanding pads- 1500-12000 grit and polished it by hand.

I sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit sanding pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down after each set of three pads with Obsidian Oil and then kept sanding. When I finished with the 12000 grit pad I gave it a final coat of oil and let it dry.

When it was dry I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel until it shone. Then I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it by hand with a microfibre cloth. I gave the bowl several coats of white beeswax paste that I have here and then buffed it as well. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I am actually happy how the finished pipe turned out. The issues that arose during the clean up worked out better than I had expected. For that I am thankful.

The meer polished up nicely and the spotty brown colouring was a nice contrast with the brass and the black vulcanite. I like the look of the band on the shank and only wish that I had not cracked the shank and made it necessary and not just cosmetic. Ah well it is nearly invisible and it will still give a good smoke. I need to figure out some way to repair the airway on the inside of the bowl. I am still puzzling over several options but will probably use a natural plaster of Paris to build up the groove on the back wall of the bowl. Time will tell. I will add that repair to the end of this blog once I decide how to do it. Thanks for looking.

An Interesting Welsh Pipe Find: A C.A. Sander Sandhurst Bent Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

I came across this beautiful sandblast bent bulldog on Ebay and put a bid in for it. I was the sole bidder and won it for a decent price plus reasonable shipping from Great Britain. The pipe is stamped on a smooth spot on the bottom left side of the shank. It reads SANDHURST #16 and next to that it is stamped C.A. SANDER over SWANSEA. The seller stated that the pipe was in a good used condition, and had some wear. He also said that the measurements of the pipe are 135mm or 5.5 inches long, bowl size 35mm or 1.4 inches x 28mm or 1.10 inches. From the photos he included in the sale the finish on the bowl looked to be in excellent shape. The rim was very clean. I could not see the inside of the bowl but the way the rim looked I was guessing that it was very clean. The sandblast was nicely done with some deep craggy ring grain. There was no ring around the cap on the bowl. The stamping on the shank was clear but was weak in spots. The stem was lightly oxidized but had no tooth chatter or bite marks.

I knew next to nothing about the maker of the pipe. I could ascertain from the stamping that the pipe was made by a C.A. Sander in Swansea. I remembered that Swansea is in Wales so I had something to start with. I looked in Who Made that Pipe and also in Lopes book and could find nothing listed for that maker. I used Google to see if I could find any information on the company and looking a company of that name in Swansea, Wales. I actually found out that the company started in 1977 and closed in 1998. It appears from the information that I found to have been a family owned and operated company with broad interests. There was no mention of pipes in any of the company documents that I could find. I wonder if the brand was not just one of many avenues for the company to expand its horizons. I found two pipes online with the CA Sander stamping these included the Oxford and the Sandhurst. Both the Oxford and the Sandhurst are sandblast finish pipes with a dark stain. There was no other information available that I could find listed online. Does anyone have any information on the brand? (I have included a photo of the stamping on a stemless Oxford Bulldog that I just purchased on eBay for comparison.) When the pipe arrived it was in far better shape than the seller intimated. The bowl was lightly smoked if at all. There was no cake and the darkening did not extend to the bottom of the bowl. I ran a pipe cleaner through the shank and the stem and it came out clean. There was dust in the shank that came out but no tobacco oils or tars. The stem was actually less oxidized than I expected and would clean up very easily. There were some tiny tooth chatter next to the button on the top and the bottom side of the stem. There were some small nicks in the vulcanite on the top right side midstem.

I took a close up photo of the rim and bowl to show the excellent condition of the rim and bowl. The second photo below shows the nicks in the stem that I spoke of above. This should be an easy clean up.

The slot in the button was very thin and I was unable to get a pipe cleaner into the airway from that end. I used three different needle files to open it wide enough to take a thick pipe cleaner easily. Once it was open I sanded the inside of the slot to make it smooth. The draw on the pipe is much better after opening the slot. The narrowness of the slot makes me wonder if that is why the pipe was not smoked more.

I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation, smooth out the tooth chatter and the two nicks on the right side. Once they were gone and the stem was smooth I used a medium and fine grit sanding sponge to begin to minimize the scratching. I put a plastic washer between the stem and the shank to keep the shoulders sharp and protect the shank while I was sanding.

I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and then rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. The oxidation is disappearing and the dark black of the rubber is beginning to stand out. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit micromesh pads, gave it another coat of oil and finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and then set it aside to dry.

I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel and then gave them multiple coats of carnauba wax. I polished the pipe with a clean flannel buff and then gave it a final buff by hand with a microfibre cloth. The stem cleaned up amazingly well. The pipe is ready for a inaugural smoke. The draw is wide open and easy! Thanks for looking.

Addendum: 06/06/18 I received an email from Andrew in answer to a question I asked in my two blogs on CA Sander pipes. I quote in full his email because of the information that it includes.

Comment: You asked about C A Sander

C A Sander were tobacconists based in Wind Street Swansea. I don’t know exactly when the business started but it it passed to my Grandfather from his father (both were C A Sander) and by the 1920 was a successful and well established retail business with shops all over south wales. They were importers and blenders (if that is the term) of tobacco and the shops sold smoking paraphernalia. At my grandfathers retirement late 60’s to business went to my uncle again C A Sander but known generally as Jim. He developed a business supplying cigarette machines around South Wales and moved out of retail he eventually sold the business to Rothermans and went into other business ventures, I expect that was when the limited company you found was formed. Uncle Jim has now retired but still lives in the area.

Hope this helps with your research.

Andrew I received this followup email from someone who would like to get in touch with you. Here is her email

Hi there – I stumbled upon your website when looking for anything to do with C.A. Sander tobacco shop and I saw the pipe you restored – which is amazing! and then saw the comment below left by Andrew. Since that shop was owned by my grandfather, and Andrew’s grandfather – it would seem that we are cousins – but we have never met. I would love to get into contact with Andrew. Would you be able to assist in that? If possible, could you ask him to contact me at my email address pianokey88@hotmail.com?
Many thanks for your help! Georgina

Reworking a Lucite stem on a Sasieni Litewate Deluxe 71F Long Shank Dublin

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

This pipe caught my eye as I was browsing through the for sale section of the Dr.Grabow Collectors Forum. It was in very clean condition. The finish on the bowl and rim were like new. The pipe was stamped Made in England in a circle on top of the shank next to the stem and in the center of the shank it was stamped Litewate over De Luxe. On the underside of shank near the stem was the shape number 71F. The pipe was barely smoked and was very clean. The stem was obviously a replacement Lucite stem in a bright yellow swirl pattern. In the photos it looks more green than it truly is. In reality it is very yellow.

I looked up the brand on the pipedia site and found that the Litewate was produced by Parker and also sold by R.M. Littaur & Co. Ltd. It was also made by Sasieni. The circular com stamp on the shank and the shape number identified this particular pipe as a Sasieni made pipe. http://pipedia.org/index.php?title=Litewate I copied the next photos from the PipePhil stamping and logos site. The stamping on the pipe I have is exactly like that on these photos. He also noted there that brand was solely distributed in the US Market. When the pipe arrived I was surprised by the sheer size of it – I knew it was small but I had no idea that it would be this small. It was very light weight and reminded me in both the size and the weight of the Stanwell Featherweight series. I unpack it and looked over the stem. It was chunky and thick. The descent of the slope to the button was not even and had a slight flat spot about ½ inch from the stem/shank joint. The button was sloppily cut and the stem was very thick in front of the button. The button itself was thick both in terms of height and in terms of width from the outer edge to what should have been a sharp angle to the slope of the stem. It did not have that angle but was rather another slope to the top of the button. Where there should have been a slot in the stem there was merely an airway – a single hole in the end. This is the way that stem blanks arrive before they have been shaped and fit to the pipe. Overall it looked like a quickly done stem to make the pipe useable. I took some photos of the pipe when it arrived. The next photos show the stamping on the top of the shank and the rim. Whoever did the restem did a great job fitting the stem against the shank. It is a great snug fit that shows no light. The bowl is clean and lightly smoked. I took a few photos of the stem that shows the chunkiness of the button and the thickness of the angle from shank to button. The third photo below shows the single hole airway in the end of the button. I used three different needle files to cut a slot in the end of the button and shape it and the Y in the airway. I used a round, a slight oval and a flat oval file to cut and shape the slot. I straightened the edge on the button and thinned out the button with a flat needle file. I wanted a 90 degree angle rather than the slope that was there originally. I sanded out the newly cut slot with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I reworked the taper on the stem and thinned it out with 220 grit sandpaper. In the photo above you can see the overall thickness of the stem and the short taper from the hip of the stem to the button. This needed to be thinned and the taper increased. I sanded and shaped the button and cleaned up the straight edge against the stem body. I sanded the stem with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge and finish the initial reshaping with 400 grit sandpaper. I sanded out the inside of the slot with a folded piece of 400 grit wet dry paper.

I polished the Lucite with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads.

I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave the pipe several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean flannel buff and then by hand with a microfiber cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The newly shaped stem is far more comfortable in the mouth now that the taper is more flattened and the thickness reduced. Thanks for looking.