Category Archives: Pipe Refurbishing Essays

Essays and pictorial essays on the art of refurbishing

Restemming and Restoring a GBD International London Made Colossus 264

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is long and classic looking smooth finish long shank possible Canadian. It is stamped on the topside of the shank and clearly reads GBD in an oval [over] International [over] London Made [over] Colossus in script. On the underside of the shank it is stamped London England [over] the shape number 264. It came from a lot we purchased on 03/21/2024 from an estate in Oregon City, Oregon, USA. It is Canadian/Lumberman shaped pipe with some great grain and only lacking the original vulcanite stem. The shape of the new stem would be determined by the what I could find out about the shape 264. If a Canadian then it would have a new taper stem. If it was a Lumberman then it would have a short saddle stem.The bowl has a thick cake and some lava overflow in the finish on the rim top and inner edge. The finish looked quite good in terms of wear and tear but there was dirt and hand oils in the finish. But under the grime the finish looked very good and highlights some beautiful grain. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup. He took photos of the pipe’s bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the lava coat overflowing onto the top and over the edges. It is another dirty pipe. He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to give a sense of the condition of the pipe and the interesting grain around the sides and heel. It really is a beautiful pipe bowl. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the top and underside of the shank and it is clear and readable as noted above. It is a bit faint on the top edges of the stamp and the lower edges on both the top and bottom shank.I remembered that Kenneth had restemmed a GBD International London Made Colossus and generally he does some work on the brand to understand the background of the pipe that he is working on. I googled and found the link to the blog he had written on rebornpipes about his Calabash pipe (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/gbd-international-london-made-pipes/). I followed the link to his blog and reread his work on it. I quote the interesting info on the line that he had included. I quote below:

This pipe is a calabash-shaped GBD Colossus. As the photos show, it is stamped on the left side of the shank with GBD [over] International [over] London Made [over] Colossus. On the right side it is stamped Made in London [over] England [next to] 9552 – this, of course, is the shape number. There is quite a bit of information on GBD on the Internet – they have a long and storied history in pipemaking. In this case, I was curious about International and Colossus. The main Pipepedia article on GBD tells us about their origins:

In 1850 three gentlemen got together in Paris to establish a firm dedicated to the fabrication of Meerschaum pipes – a courageous step in politically restless times. Ganneval probably came from the area of Saint-Claude where he had learned making wooden pipes. Bondier’s family obviously came from Paris and had emigrated in 1789 to Geneva. He himself had worked as a wood turner in the clay and china pipe industry in and around Saint-Claude making stem extensions etc. Donninger was an Austrian or Swiss and had worked in Vienna, the world’s center of the Meerschaum pipe. They agreed on the acronym GBD selecting the initials of their surnames.

The Pipedia article provides a lot more information on their interesting history. I would encourage you to read on here. The shape number 9552 corresponds correctly with GBD’s identification of this pipe as a calabash. The page on GBD models states the following concerning the International line and the Colossus size:

International – France and England made: medium brown smooth, carved top rim, rim stained black. In addition to the pipe line and shape information stamped on the pipe, GBD also had codes for plus sized pipes. These codes in ascending order of size were Conquest, Collector, Colossus.

He also included a screenshot from Pipephil:I did some more work on the shape 264. Without the stem I was not sure I was dealing with a Canadian or a Lumberman – same family different stem. I did a Google search on the GBD shape number 264. I did not find the shape number on the shape list so I did a bit more digging. I found a link on Smokingpipes.eu to a GBD Premier Colossus Lumberman (264) (O) (pre-1980)(https://www.smokingpipes.eu/pipes/estate/england/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=168478). The one I am working on is an International while this one is a Premier but the shape number is identical. The pipe is identified as a Lumberman 264 and the photo below (from that site) tells me that the pipe had a saddle stem. Now I knew what I needed for a new stem on the pipe.I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and shank brushes. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He was able to remove the lava on the rim top and edges and the grime from the bowl. The pipe looked better when I received it. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on the restoration and restemming. I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. It looks good with the tars and oils removed from the rim top. The condition of the bowl and rim top were very good. There was some damage on the inner edge at the back of the bowl. I took photos of the top and underside of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is very clear and reads as noted above. It was hard to capture in the photos.I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge of the rim. I gave the rim a slight bevel to minimize the burn damage. It looked much better once it was smoothed out.I polished the briar on the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the briar down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it 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. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on. With the bowl finished it was time to find a stem. Earlier today I assumed the pipe was a Canadian so I fit a taper stem to the shank. I liked the look of the pipe with the taper stem. Then on a whim I looked up the information I quoted above on the shape 264. It made it immediately clear to me that the pipe was not a Canadian but was a Lumberman. I started over to find one like that in the photo of the GBD 264 from Smokingpipes above. I would completely need to start over. Oh well! I went through my stem bins and found an oval saddle style stem that would work for this one. I needed to fit the stem to shank. With a little adjustment the tenon fit perfectly to the shank end. It was a snug fit. The diameter of the stem is slightly larger all the way around and would need to be reduced. I used my Dremel and sanding drum to start the process of shaping the saddle portion of the stem to fit the shank. Once I had it close I continued the fitting with a file. I also smoothed out the ridges and casting marks on the blade of the stem to round them out and shape them to be similar to the one on the photo that I found. I put it back on the shank and continue to shape the saddle portion of the stem. It is starting to look much better. I fine tuned the fit with 220 grit sandpaper. I removed all of the remaining excess with the sandpaper. Once I finished the transition between the stem and the shank it was smooth and the fit was snug in the shank. I put the stem and took photos of the pipe with the fit. It looks very good. I touched up the stain on the shank end to cover the lighter areas and match it to the rest of the shank. I used a Cherry Stain Pen to match it. The stain was a perfect match. It looked good.I sanded the stem with 320-1500 grit sanding pads. I dry sanded and after each pad wiped the stem down with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. By the final pad the stem looked very good and the fit was perfect.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I finished by wiping it down with Obsidian Oil and buffing it to a shine. I always look forward to this part of the restoration when all the pieces are put back together. I put the GBD International London Made Colossus 264 Lumberman back together and carefully buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a soft cloth to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the new black vulcanite saddle stem almost glowing. This GBD International London Made Colossus Lumberman is nice looking and feels great in my hand. It is one that could be clenched and smoked while doing other things as it is very light weight and well balanced. It must have been a fine smoking pipe judging from the condition it was when I received it. Have a look at it in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 7 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 1.52 ounces/43 grams. I will be putting it in the English Pipemakers Section of the rebornpipes store soon. This will make a great addition to someone’s pipe collection. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next pipeman or woman.

Look at this stunning Sandblast Bank 133 Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is an interesting and classic looking sandblast Billiard. It is stamped on a smooth flat panel on the underside of the shank and reads BANK [followed by] Made in England [over] the shape number 133. It came from a lot we purchased from a seller on eBay on 03/21/2024 from an estate in Oregon City, Oregon, USA. It is classic shaped Sandblast Billiard with a vulcanite taper stem. The bowl has a thick cake and some lava overflow in the finish on the rim top and inner edge. The finish looked quite good in terms of wear and tear but there was grime and hand oils in the finish. The stem had an upper case “B” stamped on the left side of the taper. It is dirty and has light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup. He took photos of the pipe’s bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the lava coat overflowing onto the top. It is another dirty pipe. He also took photos to capture the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button. He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to give a sense of the depth of the rugged sandblast around the bowl and shank sides. It really is a stunning blast that reminds of many of the English made sandblast pipes! Jeff took photos of the stamping on the heel of the bowl and it is clear and readable as noted above. The stamped “B” logo on the left side of the stem is in good condition, though lacking colour.I did some digging in my usual sources for the brand “BANK” and it was not listed on either Pipe Phil’s site or Pipedia. I learned nothing more about the BANK pipe. The shape number rang some bells for me. The 133 shaped Billiard sent me on a search of Google for that shape number and to see if I could link it to a brand. I found a lot of entries on the web that linked the 133 Billiard shape to GBD. I have worked on several GBD Billiards and at least one 133 Billiard (https://rebornpipes.com/2022/03/16/restoring-a-newer-gbd-london-made-c133-billiard/). The link takes you to a blog I wrote on a GBD 133 Billiard.

I also found a link to Smokershaven (https://www.smokershaven.com/gbd-estate-pipe-virgin-133-smooth-billiard-1960s/). It had another GBD 133 Billiard.

There were many other links to the same shape number and to GBD made pipes. Now I knew that that pipe was made by GBD and that the shape number 133 was for the GBD Billiard and thus the pipe in my hands was a GBD Made pipe.

I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and shank brushes. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked for awhile he rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked better when I received it. I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. It looks good with the tars and oils removed from the rim top. The condition of the bowl and rim top were very good. The stem came out looking quite good with some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is very clear and reads as noted above. I also took the pipe apart and took a photo to give a sense of the shape of the Billiard.I started my work on the pipe by cleaning up the rim top with a brass bristle brush. I worked on it to remove the debris in the sandblast. It looked much better once I had finished. It was clean but dried out a bit so I wet it and checked and it looked much better.I rubbed the sandblast bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a shoe brush 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. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I touched up the B logo stamp on the left side of the taper stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. When it had dried I sanded off the excess with a 320 grit sanding pad. It looked very good.I sanded out the light tooth marks and the remaining oxidation with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I finished by wiping it down with Obsidian Oil and buffing it to a shine. I always look forward to this part of the restoration when all the pieces are put back together. I put the BANK Made in London 133 Sandblast Billiard back together and carefully buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservators Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a soft cloth to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the black vulcanite taper stem almost glowing. This BANK Made in London 133 Billiard is nice looking and feels great in my hand. It is one that could be clenched and smoked while doing other things as it is very light weight and well balanced. It must have been a fine smoking pipe judging from the condition it was when I received it. Have a look at it in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.13 ounces/32 grams. I will be putting it in the English Pipemakers Section of the rebornpipes store soon. This will make a great addition to someone’s pipe collection. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next pipeman or woman.

New Life for a Rusticated African Meerschaum Opera Pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is a pipe that Jeff and I bought from an antique store on Victoria Day, May 4, 2024 in Bellingham, Washington, USA. It was one that came from an antique shop that I have visited for over 20 years and come to know the owner. We generally have a great chat on our visits and that day spent some time chatting and catching up on life. By the time we finished chatting and dickering we came away with five additional pipes to the hunt bag. These included a Savinelli Sherwood Rock Briar 316KS, a Sir Winston Bellingham WA, a Kensington Made in London England Pot, Genuine Block Meerschaum Opera pipe, and last of all an Oval shank 1/4 Bent pot Sir Winston’s Own with great grain. Great additions to the hunt bag (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/bellingham-pipe-hunt/).I decided to take a break from the pipes in my queue of pipes to work on and deal with the Meerschaum Opera Pipe shown above next. The rim top and shank end are smooth and are stained to match the browns and blacks of the bowl sides. The sides of the bowl and shank are rusticated with a finish that approximates a sandblast finish. It came out with a very tactile feeling. It is stained with black and brown stains that highlight the rustication valleys and high spots. The stem is a tapered vulcanite stem with a lot of oxidation on the surface. The tenon is a threaded metal tube that screws into the mortise. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank in a smooth panel and reads 9 Genuine Block [over] Meerschaum. It is clear and readable. The bowl had a thick cake in it a lava coat on the rim top and edges. The finish was dirty. The stem was a taper that sat against the shank end. It was dirty, oxidized, calcified and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took some photos of the pipe before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl, rim top to show the thickness of the cake in the bowl and the light lava coat on the rim top. The inner edge had some darkening and some build up of tars and oils. I took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. It is quite oxidized and I could not see any stamping on the sides or top. You can also see the gap between the shank end and the stem end.I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It was clear and readable. It read as noted above. I unscrewed the stem from the shank and the tenon came out of the shank. On previous pipes like this I have seen the threaded tenon in the shank end and then the stem was pushed on to it as a friction fit. This could possible explain the gap between the shank and the stem. I took a photo of the parts and it is a pretty looking meerschaum Opera pipe.Now I was ready to start the work on the pipe. I reamed the oval bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl walls with sandpaper wrapped my finger to smooth them out. The inside walls were clean and looked very good.I removed the tenon from the stem. I was surprised to see that the portion that sat in the stem was slotted and was made to be turned with a screw driver. This confirms what I thought regarding the threaded tenon being screwed into the shank and then the stem friction fit onto the smooth tenon end. I cleaned the threads on the tenon with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol followed by a brass bristle wire brush to remove the debris on the threads. Once cleaned I rubbed the threads down with some Vaseline to protect the threads and to make screwing it into the shank much easier.I screwed the tenon into the shank and turned it in fully with a screw driver. The fit against the shank end is snug and when I slipped the stem onto the tenon the gap was gone. I removed the tenon from the shank and cleaned out the mortise and airway in the tenon with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I cleaned it until the pipe cleaners and cotton swabs came out clean. Once they were cleaned I cleaned the airway in the tenon and put it back in the shank. The bowl smelled clean. I set the bowl aside and cleaned out the airway in the stem and the button with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I wanted the end that fit on the tenon to be very clean so that it would be a smooth fit.I polished the rim top and the aluminum tenon with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped both down between the pads with a damp cotton pad. The rim begn to shine and matched the colour of the bowl and shank end. The aluminum tenon became smooth with the scratches and nicks smooth out. I worked some Claphams Beeswax/Carnauba Wax into the surface of the bowl and shank with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the smooth surfaces of the meerschaum. I let the wax dry for about 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed it with Soft Scrub all-purpose cleaner to remove the oxidation and calcification on the stem surface. I was beginning to look better. I sanded the oxidation, calcification, tooth marks and chatter smooth with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. It looks significantly better! With the bowl and the stem finished I put the unique rusticated #9 Genuine Block Meerschaum Rusticated Opera Pipe back together and buffed it lightly on the wheel using Blue Diamond to give it a shine. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the wheel. I buffed the bowl with a horsehair shoe brush to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The carved surface of the bowl and shank is a great looking. The dimensions of the pipe are – Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches x 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ½ of an inch x ¾ of an inch. The weight of this large pipe is 1.31 ounces /37 grams. This Rusticated Meerschaum Opera Pipe is another great find. It is much more beautiful in person than these photos can capture. I will be adding it to the Meerschaum Pipe section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you want to add it to your collection it will make a fine smoking addition. This is another pipe that has the possibility of transporting the pipe man or woman back to a slower paced time in history where you can enjoy a respite. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me.

Restoring a 1914 BBB Pencil-Shank Billiard

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

For those of us who hunt for lost pipes, there are always peculiar tales of acquisition – but this one might be my most peculiar location of acquisition. A couple of weeks ago, my wife was out shopping with one of my daughters and they decided to go into an old-time ice cream parlour. While there, my wife spotted a jar for sale on the counter that read ‘Jar with parts + pipes’. That seemed quite odd for an ice cream joint, so she texted me the photo below and asked if I wanted it. It was very inexpensive, so I said, ‘Sure’. What an unusual spot for a jar of pipe parts!Well, there were some interesting bits and bobs in the jar – including a couple of items that particularly caught my eye. This lithe and comely pipe is one of them – and it will enter my pipe collection. As the title says, it is a 1914 BBB pencil-shank billiard with a sterling silver band and vulcanite, tapered, orific stem. How do I know it is from 1914? Well, let us take a closer look at that sterling silver band.Amidst the heavy tarnish, we can see three distinct marks. From left to right, they are an anchor, a lion passant, and a letter ‘P’. What do these marks mean? The anchor is the city mark and indicates the English city of Birmingham. The lion passant is the silver standard mark and indicates sterling – that is to say, 92.5% pure silver. The letter ‘P’ is the date letter and, as shown in the chart below, indicates the year 1914.That information was definitive in establishing a time period for the pipe. The other marks are perhaps slightly less helpful. The left side of the shank, the left side of the stem, and the silver band each have the recognizable logo of BBB inside a diamond shape. There are no other markings – although the absence of a model name etc. tells its own story. Read on. Let’s learn a bit about BBB. The article on Pipedia is bizarre insofar as the vast majority of the text is an egregious translation (from the French) of a good history of BBB on the Fumeurs de Pipe website. I speak French and the Babelfish translation that Pipedia uses is not helpful to anyone. I intend to make my own translation of that history one day. In the meantime, here is the non-translated text at the start of that article:

The initials once stood for Blumfeld’s Best Briars after Louis Blumfeld, who took over the management of the Adolph Frankau Company in 1856. After his death, the BBB gradually became known as Britain’s Best Briars. Soon to be the oldest English trademark in current use and the first pipe ever to have a registered trade mark. “Britain’s Best Briars”, often called BBB, is one of the oldest brands still in production and has always been the most popular foreign brand in Denmark. Earlier pipes included a metal rondel with a diamond shape including BBB imbedded in the stem top, and later post-Cadogan went to a stamped on logo, similar to the GBD pipes.

One detail that is of note from this time period of BBB pipes is that they only had two grades/models of pipe. One was ‘BBB Own Make’ (which later became BBB Best Make) and the other being simply ‘BBB’. This pipe is clearly in the latter category. Below is a page from a 1910 Harrods catalogue, showing some BBB pipes for sale. I have circled the one that most closely resembles the pipe I have and showed a close-up of it. Let us move on to the restoration. This pipe is 110 years old and I suppose it has fared well in that time. Certainly, I have seen much newer pipes in much worse condition. As I mentioned earlier, this stem is tapered, made of vulcanite, and concludes with an orific button. For more information on the orific button, please take the time to read Steve’s interesting article on the subject. As you can see, the stem is coated with calcification and oxidation. It has a few tooth marks, but nothing too serious. Sadly, however, the stem’s tenon has broken off inside the stummel’s mortise. More about the tenon in a bit. The stummel is in rougher shape. The wood shows wear and tear, including the odd nick and a significant gouge at the rim edge. The bowl is pretty thoroughly coated with cake and lava has erupted on to the rim. There is also some evidence of burned wood under that lava. I will have to excavate to learn more. Fortunately, this stummel does not look over-smoked (which was a real possibility), despite it clearly being a favourite of the previous owner. The sterling silver band (as you have already seen) is in fairly good physical condition, although it clearly has been heavily tarnished.I began my restoration of this pipe by cleaning the stem. I wiped it down with some oil soap on some cotton rounds in order to remove some calcification. I then cleaned the insides with pipe cleaners and 99% isopropyl alcohol. Although it was a bit dirty, it was much cleaner than I had expected after all these years.In order to address the oxidation, I dropped the stem in an oxidation removing fluid and left it to sit overnight. This mixture tends to draw the stem’s oxidation to the surface, where it can be more easily removed. When the stem was done soaking, I scrubbed the stem with some surface cleanser squirted on cotton rounds. This worked very well at removing the unsightly oxidation.I took a closer look at the diamond-shaped logo – it had been heavily worn over the past century or so. I hemmed and hawed about adding gold paint back to the logo on the stem. In the end I did it and figured that I can always remove later if I so desire.In my desire to keep original components wherever possible, I perfunctorily decided to not replace the tenon at this time. I knew that I could superglue it back in place – but I also knew that that would not hold in the long term, due to its poor shear strength. This would only be a cosmetic solution. Ultimately, however, I will replace the tenon at a later date. For now, I just want to see this thing restored!

In order to smooth and shine the beautiful black surface of the stem, I used my nine Micromesh pads to sand everything down gradually and delicately. For the last five of these pads, I also use some oil, both as a lubricant and as a method of inhibiting the return of oxidation. It is a lovely stem and it complements the stummel perfectly. On to the stummel – and my first task was reaming the cake out of the bowl. This was surprisingly challenging work, as the cake had become very hard over the years. There was a lot of debris and the narrowness of the bowl made it all the more tricky. I was also conscious of not wanting to crack the briar as I was doing this. In the end, a lot of carbonized material came out and the bowl remained perfectly intact. Next, I wanted to address the thick layer of lava on the rim. I put some oil soap in a shallow, plastic lid and soaked the rim in it for about a dozen minutes. This softened things up and I attacked it with a toothbrush. This allowed me to clean the rim very well, also using a piece of machine metal as a gentle scraping device. There was still damage, but it was much improved. As with the stem, I cleaned the insides of the stummel with pipe cleaners and 99% isopropyl alcohol. It was among the dirtiest pipes I have ever dealt with. Wow. The filth seemed as though it would never end. Obviously, it did at some point and I put the pipe down for a while – I was sick of seeing it!Of course, I came back to it and used some cleaner and tube brushes to scrub the insides clean. My efforts had not been in vain however, as the pipe looked so much better when I was done. I removed some of the burn marks on the rim with an aqueous solution of oxalic acid. I took some cotton swabs and rubbed and rubbed. The burns did improve but never fully disappeared. I took solace from the fact that the burns were superficial and did not affect the structural integrity of the wood. Alas, I neglected to take photographs of this step.

I also opted to leave the large wounds in the briar without filling them. They are part of this pipe’s long life and I am happy for them to remain as they are. The sanding will soften the edges of these wounds and that is sufficient. With that in mind, I set about sanding the stummel with my Micromesh pads. With each pad, the wood got smoother and the pipe got prettier. One product that always makes things better is the restoration balm that I use on the wood. It provides protection and revivification to the wood grain. I applied the stuff lightly but thoroughly, and then let it sit for 15 or 20 minutes. I then buffed it with a microfibre cloth and set it aside. What a beauty! After the Micromesh pads, but before the restoration balm, I cleaned up the sterling silver band. I worked very hard and very gingerly to remove the tarnish without damaging the antique silver. I reglued it in place, back on the shank, and finally buffed with my jewellery cloth.

Last step: off to my bench polisher! Here, I gave both the stem and stummel a thorough going over with the White Diamond compound and followed that up with a coat (only one this time) of carnauba wax. The pipe is absolutely beautiful and is truly reminiscent of an earlier time.All finished! This is a wonderfully crafted pipe and has a very jaunty feel to it. It took some work, but I am proud of it. It retains some wounds from battle, but, as Steve would say, they are part of this pipe’s story. This is one pipe that I am keeping for myself and adding to the ‘Lieblich Collection’. I am sure that I will be enjoying this one for many years to come. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 6 in. (153 mm); height 1½ in. (37 mm); bowl diameter 1 in. (27 mm); chamber diameter ⅔ in. (17 mm). The weight of the pipe is ⅝ oz. (18 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe as much I as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring a Ropp Deluxe Octagonal Cherrywood 804

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is an interesting and classic looking Cherrywood pipe with smooth and bark covered panels. It is stamped on the heel of the bowl and reads Ropp in an oval [over] De Luxe [over] France [over] 804 the shape number. It came from a lot we purchased from a seller on eBay on 03/21/2024 from an estate in Oregon City, Oregon, USA. It is very well shaped octagonal bent poker with a vulcanite taper stem. The bowl has a thick cake and some lava overflow on the rim top and bevelled inner edge. The finish looked quite good in terms of no tears or worn spots in the bark portions of the finish. It is dirty with grime and hand oils in the finish. The stem had a silver Ropp oval inset on the left side of the taper. It is dirty and has tooth chatter and tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup. He took photos of the pipe’s bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the lava coat overflowing onto the top. It is another dirty pipe. He also took photos to capture the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button. He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to give a sense of bark and smooth portions of the finish. There are some paint flecks on the finish but it still is a beauty! Jeff took photos of the stamping on the heel of the bowl and it is clear and readable as noted above. The metal inserted Ropp logo on the left side of the stem is in good condition. I wanted to refresh my memory on the brand so I turned for a short, quick summary to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-ropp.html). I have included the pertinent information from that site below:

Brand created by Eugène-Léon Ropp (1830 – 1907) and continued throughout 3 generations. “GBA Synergie” run by Bernard Amiel (†2008) bought back Ropp in 1988 and owned it until 1991. The company was taken over by Cuty-Fort Entreprises (Chacom, Vuillard, Jean Lacroix…) in 1994.

I also turned to Pipedia to see if there was any additional information that would be helpful (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ropp). I quote the portion of the article on the Cherrywood pipes.

Eugène-Léon Ropp (1830 – 1907) had acquired a patent for a cherrywood pipe (wild cherry, lat.: Prunus avium) in 1869. In 1870 he established a workshop to manufacture such pipes in Büssingen (Bussang, Vosges mountains). Around 1893 the business moved into the former mill of Sicard (part of the community of Baume-les-Dames – Département Doubs, Upper Burgundy – from 1895 on)… Even though cherrywood pipes were the mainstay of Ropp until the company finally closed down in September 1991. The company was taken over by Cuty-Fort Entreprises (Chacom, Jeantet, Vuillard, Jean Lacroix…) in 1994.

The pipe thus was made in France sometime prior to the closure in 1991. It is made from wild cherry and was a specialty of Ropp. I have worked on quite a few over the years but I had forgotten all the dates and information. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and shank brushes. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked better when I received it. I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. It looks good with the tars and oils removed from the rim top. The condition of the bowl and rim top were very good. The stem came out looking quite good with some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took a photo of the heel of the bowl to show the stamping. The stamping is very clear and reads as noted above. I also took a photo of the logo insert on the left side of the taper stem.I carefully took the pipe apart. The shank and stem unscrewed as a single unit from the bowl. I checked the fit of the stem in the shank and from my memory of other Ropp pipes I was pretty certain it was a push stem. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. Everything looked good both inside the mortise and on the tenon. It is a well shaped and was a nice looking pipe.With the bowl and shank cleaned it was time to put those parts back together. I have learned that the threaded tenons on the Cherrywood work better when lubricated with some Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. It makes it easy to turn them together without damaging or cracking the shank or bowl. I screwed it into the bowl and took photos of the pipe at this point. I wet sanded the rim top and the smooth portions on the bowl sides with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl surface down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding dust. Once I finished the bowl looked good. I rubbed the Cherrywood bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the Cherrywood 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. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the light tooth marks and the remaining oxidation with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I finished by wiping it down with Obsidian Oil and buffing it to a shine.  I always look forward to this part of the restoration when all the pieces are put back together. I put the Ropp De Luxe Cherrywood 804 back together and carefully buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservators Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a soft cloth to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the smooth Cherrywood set off by the strips of bark contrasting well with the black vulcanite stem almost glowing. This Ropp De Luxe 804 Cherrywood is nice looking and feels great in my hand. It is one that could be clenched and smoked while doing other things as it is very light weight and well balanced. It must have been a fine smoking pipe judging from the condition it was when I received it. Have a look at it in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.57 ounces/73 grams. I will be putting it in the French Pipemakers Section of the rebornpipes store soon. This will make a great addition to someone’s pipe collection. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next pipeman or woman.

Restoring and Refinishing a Damaged Rim on a Psychedelic Painted Paronelli 02 Rhodesian

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is an interesting almost psychedelic yellow Bulldog/Rhodesian shape with swirling, almost moving lines in the finish that seemed to move when you stared at it. It is stamped with a gold coloured stamping. On the left side it read Paronelli in script. On the right side it had the shape number 02 and, on the underside, it is stamped Italy. It came from a lot we purchased from a seller on eBay on 01/22/2024 from a seller in Jordan, Minnesota, USA. It is very nicely shaped Rhodesian/Bulldog shaped bowl with an acrylic saddle stem. It has a painted finish as noted above with a yellow undercoat and a pattern of swirling lines almost moving around the bowl sides and cap. The bowl has a thick cake and some lava overflow on the rim top and inner edge. The painted rim top was damaged and the paint was worn off. There was some burn damage on the front right top and inner edge. The stem had a three ring brass band and a gold P logo stamp on the left side of the saddle. It is dirty and has tooth chatter and tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup. He took photos of the pipe’s bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the lava coat overflowing onto the top. You can also see the burn damage to the front right inner edge of the bowl, the missing paint coat and the thick lava coat on the top. It is another dirty pipe. He also took photos to capture the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button. He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to give a sense of the painted finish on this one. Even under the grime and wear finish still has the ability to make you dizzy! Jeff took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and it is readable. It reads as noted above. I turned first to Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-p1.html) to gather some initial information on the brand. I did a screen capture of the section on the site that gave some pictures of the styles of pipes that were made by Paronelli.From there I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Paronelli) in order to add to my information on the brand. I quote the article below.

The brand Paronelli collects inside a family passion that was born in 1945 when Jean-Marie Alberto Paronelli decided to give free rein to his artistic side. The continuous search for quality and perfection brought Alberto Paronelli to create unique pieces prized and sought after worldwide. The ideas and the canons of the founder have been handed down from generation to generation and even now all the pipes are handmade with Italian first choice briar. His grandson, Ariberto Paronelli, which has succeeded over the years at the helm, continues with passion and dedication to the work started by the founder of designing and creating classics models with a modern twist. Annual production is around 1000 pieces. Ariberto also works on commission. If you have in mind a pipe of your dreams he will be happy to achieve it. For Paronelli family the pipe is a matter of the heart.

Jean Marie Alberto Paronelli was born in Gavirate on 21st December 1914. After studying in Switzerland and Italy, he went to London at the age of 18 to complete his vocational training. He turned out to be cut out for foreign languages, so much so that he spoke and wrote English, French, German and Spanish fluently. He studied and became fond of humane letters and people’s history. In London he used to hang out at the Savoy Hotel and got to know Pipe art, as he used to go to Burlington Arcade’s shops regularly. He first became collector and then consultant for other collectors. After he came back to Italy he started to work for Leonida Rossi and established an office in Milan to trade Rossi pipes. In the Sixties he bought the beautiful directory style sample room of the factory, which had just closed down. He regularly corresponded with the major living intellectuals passionate about pipe art, and he founded the magazine “La Pipa”.

Alberto Paronelli was a unique and fantastic personality in pipe’s world, as defined in the presentation of the great designers from Brebbia, for which he designed an egg-shaped curved model. He believed in human relations and friendship above all. Even now enthusiasts from all over the world meet in his house and in the near Museum of the Pipe. He used to tell lots of pleasant anecdotes. You felt like a child in a fairyland and began to understand that Alberto told a different story to everyone to teach them something. What struck most was his vitality, typical of those who have never worked a day, because he did work with great passion. In his museum of the Pipe, open to new and old friends, you can still find journalists looking for an interesting subject to write about, sculptors and friends, ceramists. His creativity expressed in words but also in painting and sculpture. He enjoyed painting very much, but he also enjoyed modeling clay. After studying the Mayan culture he modeled a beautiful series of statuettes.

I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and shank brushes. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. The rim top had some remaining paint damage and a burned area on the right front top and edge that would need to be worked on. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked better when I received it. The issues that remained on the pipe were very clear in the photos that follow. I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. It looks good with the tars and oils removed from the rim top. The rim top shows paint that has been worn off the top and outer edges of the rim. There is also some burn damage on the right front top and edges. The bowl itself was very clean. The stem came out looking quite good with some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The photo shows the stamping and is actually more readable in person. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. It is a well shaped and strangely mesmerizing pipe. I started my work on this pipe by addressing two issues that were glaringly present. The first of these was some white paint that was on the shank face when I removed the stem. I carefully sanded the paint of with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It looked very good once I had finished.The second issue was the damage to the rim top and the chipped and missing paint. I lightly topped the bowl on 220 grit sandpaper and a topping board. I wrapped a wooden ball with some 220 grit sandpaper and gave the inner edge of the bowl a light bevel. It remove the burn damage and the chipping paint on the surface. I used a Mahogany and a Walnut stain pen try to match the darker portion of the colour on the bowl surface. It looked very good. I rubbed the exterior of the bowl and rim top down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe really comes alive with the balm. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. By the final 3500 grit sanding pad the stem had a had a shine.I used some Rub’n Buff Antique Gold to fill in the “P” stamp on the left side of the stem. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick and buffed off the excess with a cotton pad. It looked better.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Italian Made Paronelli 2 Rhodesian with an acrylic saddle stem has a unique and oddly psychedelic yellow and dark painted finish. The pipe has a classic shape with a very 70’s finish. The polished acrylic saddle stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe by hand to avoid removing any of the finish. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and followed that by hand buffing it with a soft cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Paronelli 2 Rhodesian is quite unique and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.36 ounces/67 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for your time.

Rebirthing a worn and obviously favourite 1976 Dunhill Shell 341 Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is a lovely Dunhill small sandbast apple shaped briar pipe. It is similar in terms of shape number and finish to another apple I recently worked on but it is definitely more worn (https://rebornpipes.com/2024/05/26/restoring-a-1976-dunhill-shell-341-apple-a-beautiful-sandblast-pipe/). It also came from our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark on 02/02/2024. It is a classic Dunhill Sandblast Apple shaped bowl. It has a sandblast, rich brown stained bowl that really highlights the grain in the briar. The worn sandblast bowl is dirty with grime in the finish. There are also some flecks of white paint in the grooves of the sandblast. The bowl had been recently reamed but there was still lava in the blast on the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. The stamping on the pipe is faint but still readable on the underside of the shank. It reads 341 (the number is worn but I believe it is a 341) the shape number [followed by] Dunhill Shell [over] Made in England the date number 16 is stamped after the D in England. The stem had a white spot on the top side of the taper. It is oxidized, calcified and has tooth chatter and tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup. He took photos of the pipe’s bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the dark spots and the lava coat overflowing onto the top. It is another dirty pipe. He also took photos to capture the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button. He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to give a sense of the sandblast finish on this one. Even under the grime and wear on the finish the blast is quite beautiful. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is faint but still readable. It helps to have worked on a Dunhill Shell Briar 341 Apple previously as it gives some clarity to otherwise faint stamping. The shape number on this one is worn but the tails on the numerals match those on the previous one I worked on. The date stamp is also worn but again the tails and curves on the numbers match the previous one exactly. I wanted to unpack the Dunhill stamping on the shank and work to understand each element of the stamp. I generally use the Pipephil site to gather as much initial information as possible (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/shell-briar1.html). The stamping is interpreted as follows: The number 341 is the shape number for a taper stem Apple. The Shell Briar stamp refers to the finish. The number 16 following the D of England would give the date the pipe. The photo below is of the stamping on a Don shape but the stamping is similar on this one.Pipephil also has some helpful dating keys on the site that are basically flow charts that you can walk through to date your pipe (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1.html). I turned to Part 1 of the Dating Key and followed the chart. This pipe has 16 following the D in England. There was no patent number so that took me to the section on the chart below (column one) which instructed me that the pipe could be dated as being made “posterior to 1954”. I followed the link under “Your pipe is posterior to 1954. Narrow down your dating”. That took me to Page 2 of the dating key (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1a.html). The second column (suffix 1…4) or (11…39) led me to the section with 16 after the D in England. There was a directive for dating the pipe spelled out as follows: 1960 + suffix 16 which gives the pipe a date of 1976.I then turned to Pipedia’s section on Dunhill Shell Briar to get a bit of background on the Dunhill finishes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Root_Briar). I quote:

Shell

A deep craggy sandblast with a black stain finish (usually made using Algerian briar) – the color of the stain used has varied over the years. Although there is some doubt as to them being the first to sandblast pipes, Dunhill’s Shell pipes, and the sandblasting techniques developed to create them are considered one of Dunhill’s greatest and most lasting contributions to the art of pipe making.

The documented history of Dunhill’s inception of the Shell is largely limited to patent applications — there are no catalog pages or advertisements promoting blasted pipes at the time. The preliminary work on the English patent (No. 1484/17) was submitted on October 13, 1917. The patent submission was completed half a year later, on April 12, 1918, followed by the granting of the English patent on October 14, 1918. This was less than a month before the end of The Great War on November 11th.

In 1986 Dunhill released a line of premium Shell finish pipes – “RING GRAIN”. These are high-quality straight grain pipes which are sandblasted. Initially only Ring Grain, but now in two different finishes. In 1995 the “Shilling” was introduced with Cumberland finish – it is an extremely rare series. These pipes exhibit a deeper blast characteristic of that of the 1930’s – mid-1960’s (and the limited ‘deep blast’ pipes of the early 1980s) and show a fine graining pattern. These are considered the best new Dunhills by many enthusiasts today and are very rare. The finish is sometimes described as tasting like vanilla at first, with the taste becoming more normal or good as the pipe breaks in.

I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and shank brushes. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. There was still some general darkening on the rim top that would need to be worked on. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked very good when I received it. I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. It looks good with the tars and oils removed from the rim top though there is still some darkening. The inner edge of the bowl was in excellent condition though there was some wear on the front inner and outer edge. The bowl itself was very clean. The stem came out looking quite good with light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The photo shows the stamping and is actually more readable in person. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. The shape is a classic apple.I started my work on this pipe by addressing the darkening on the rim top. I began by working over the rim top with a brass bristle wire brush to remove the grime in the sandblast finish. It looked better but I still needed to do some work on the darkening of the rim top. I then scrubbed the rim top with some of Mark Hoover’s Before & After Briar Cleaner. I worked it into the rim top and edge of the bowl with my finger tips. I let it set for a few moments then scrubbed it off with cotton pads. Each step made it look better but still the top was too dark to my liking. I wiped it off again with some acetone on a cotton pad and finally I could see the briar with the brown tone of the stain. The rim top showed some burn damage to the top that was not completely removable. There was some damage on the front outer edge where the pipe had been knocked out. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to work it into the nooks and crannies of the sandblast finish. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe really comes alive with the balm. The rim top damage is visible in the photos below especially to the front outer edge of the bowl. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. By the final 3500 grit sanding pad the stem had a had a shine.I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This 1976 Dunhill Shell Briar 341 Apple with a vulcanite taper stem has a beautiful, unique Dunhill Sandblast finish that is very deep and craggy. The Shell Briar mixed brown finish highlights some great grain around the bowl and shank. It has a unique sandblast that Dunhill specialized in making. The polished vulcanite taper stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Dunhill Shell Briar 341 Apple is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .95 ounces/.27 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store in the English Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for your time.

Peterson 1950’s House Pipe Restoration

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By Al Jones

This large, oom-Paul Peterson shape caught my eye on eBay. It had what appeared to be pre-Republic stamping, and it appeared to be in very good condition. It was a Premier Selection grade, which are always stunning. I learned many years ago, from Mark Irwin, that the Premier Selection grade was just below the Deluxe. I was a bit surprised to discover that I won the auction. I’ve always had good luck with auctions ending during a holiday, and this was a good example.

Peterson fans, aka “CPG = Certified PeteGeeks”, are fortunate to have Mark Irwin brand expertise just an email away. Mark’s blog, “Peterson Pipe Notes” is a must-read for Peterson or briar pipe enthusiasts and it has a world-wide following. I emailed Mark about this pipe and sent him my finished photos. I received a speedy reply and he shared as below:

On the 02 Premier. First, it’s a fully-functioning System pipe, which many folks don’t appreciate. It’s got all the engineering and in spades: deep reservoir, 1st-rate condenser with cross vents, P-Lip with graduated bore airway. Second, the MADE IN IRELAND probably tells us that it’s a Rogers Imports pipe, as that was the usual stamping on the high-grade lines requested by Rogers. The brass P is another indication of the high tier, but it also suggests (in conjunction with the bone condenser) that the pipe was made during the first decade of the Early Republic era. So anytime during the 1950s would be my estimate.

Mark has a blog entry on the 02 House pipe shape and it’s various iterations, if you have further interest:

https://petersonpipenotes.org/tag/peterson-02-shape/

The pipe had some buildup on the bowl top and the stain was faded in one area. The stem had some oxidation, but the P-lip features were undamaged. There was a very slight cake in the bowl. The nomenclature was very strong. Below is the pipe as it was received. I discovered that photographing this shape was not easy!

There were some handling marks on the bowl. I was able to steam most out, with a wet cloth and an electric iron. I reamed the slight cake with my Pipe-net reamer and used a piece of 320 sandpaper to finish inside the bowl, which was in excellent condition. The bowl was then soaked with alcohol and sea salt. Following the soak, I used a bristle brush dipped in alcohol to clean the system shank.

The stem was mounted and I removed the oxidation with 600, 800, 1500 and 2,000 grade wet paper, taking care around the brass inlaid P logo. The stem was then buffed with White Diamond and Meguiars Plastic polish.

In the decade, I’ve owned over 40 Petersons, but oddly, none were true system pipes (well, condensor & P-Lip). It took me a minute to locate the draft hole after the inaugural smoke. The draft hole was far above the well!

The bowl was buffed lightly with White Diamond and several coats of carnuba wax.

Below is the finished pipe, which weighs a healthy 64 grams. Mark Irwin promised me that I was in for a treat with a true system pipe and he was right! It hangs effortless, despite the weight and really was a wonderful smoking experience. I can see now why this shape was a favorite of since-passed CPG Jim Lilley.

Breathing Life into a Challenging Dunhill Shell Briar 126 Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is a lovely Dunhill small sandblast Billiard shaped briar pipe. We purchased it from our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark on 01/22/2024. It is a classic Dunhill Sandblast Billiard shaped bowl. It has a sandblast, rich brown stained bowl that really highlights the grain in the briar. The bowl is dirty with grime in the finish. There also appears to be a shiny varnish coat over the grime in the sandblast. There appears to be a varnish coat on the stem as well. The bowl has a moderated cake and a light lava overflow on the sandblast rim top and edges. The stamping on the pipe is clear and readable and on the under side it reads 126 the shape number [followed by] Dunhill [over Shell Briar. That is followed by Made in England the superscript date number 0 is stamped after the D in England. There is a circle #S following the date stamp that identifies the pipe as a group 3 sized pipe in a Shell finish. The stem had a white spot on the top side of the taper. It is lightly oxidized and has tooth chatter and deep tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup. He took photos of the pipe’s bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the lava coat overflowing onto the top. It is another dirty pipe. You can see the shiny coat on top of the finish and the grime in the photos. He also took photos of the stem to capture the tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to give a sense of the sandblast finish on this one. Even under the grime and shiny varnish coat in the grooves the blast is quite beautiful. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable though it is faint in some spots. I wanted to unpack the Dunhill stamping on the shank and work to understand each element of the stamp. I generally use the Pipephil site to gather as much initial information as possible (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/shell-briar1.html). The stamping is interpreted as follows: The number 126 is the shape number for a taper stem Billiard. The Shell Briar stamp refers to the finish. The underlined, superscript number 0 following the D of England would give the date the pipe. The circle 3S tells me that the pipe is a group 3 sized pipe and the S is for the Shell finish. The photo below is of the stamping on a Don shape but the stamping is similar on this one.Pipephil also has some helpful dating keys on the site that are basically flow charts that you can walk through to date your pipe (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1.html). I turned to Part 1 of the Dating Key and followed the chart. This pipe has 16 following the D in England. There was no patent number so that took me to the section on the chart below (column one) which instructed me that the pipe could be dated as being made “posterior to 1954”. I followed the link under “Your pipe is posterior to 1954. Narrow down your dating”. That took me to Page 2 of the dating key (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1a.html). The first column (0) led me to the next section with a question whether the suffix is smaller and raised. Since the 0 after the D in England the date of the pipe spelled is 1960. I then turned to Pipedia’s section on Dunhill Shell Briar to get a bit of background on the Dunhill finishes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Root_Briar). I quote:

Shell

A deep craggy sandblast with a black stain finish (usually made using Algerian briar) – the color of the stain used has varied over the years. Although there is some doubt as to them being the first to sandblast pipes, Dunhill’s Shell pipes, and the sandblasting techniques developed to create them are considered one of Dunhill’s greatest and most lasting contributions to the art of pipe making.

The documented history of Dunhill’s inception of the Shell is largely limited to patent applications — there are no catalog pages or advertisements promoting blasted pipes at the time. The preliminary work on the English patent (No. 1484/17) was submitted on October 13, 1917. The patent submission was completed half a year later, on April 12, 1918, followed by the granting of the English patent on October 14, 1918. This was less than a month before the end of The Great War on November 11th.

In 1986 Dunhill released a line of premium Shell finish pipes – “RING GRAIN”. These are high-quality straight grain pipes which are sandblasted. Initially only Ring Grain, but now in two different finishes. In 1995 the “Shilling” was introduced with Cumberland finish – it is an extremely rare series. These pipes exhibit a deeper blast characteristic of that of the 1930’s – mid-1960’s (and the limited ‘deep blast’ pipes of the early 1980s) and show a fine graining pattern. These are considered the best new Dunhills by many enthusiasts today and are very rare. The finish is sometimes described as tasting like vanilla at first, with the taste becoming more normal or good as the pipe breaks in.

I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and shank brushes. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. His scrubbing removed the majority of the varnish on the bowl with just a few spots remaining. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The soak did not penetrate the varnish on the stem at all but it certainly looked better. Other than the shiny spots in the finish where the varnish remained, the pipe looked very good when I received it. I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. It looks good with the tars and oils removed from the rim top. You can see the shiny spots of varnish remaining on the right front side of the rim top in the first photo below. The inner edge of the bowl was in excellent condition. The bowl itself was very clean. The stem came out clean but the varnish coat discoloured the white spot and gave the whole stem an artificial shine that hid the tooth marks and chatter underneath.I took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The photo shows the stamping and is actually more readable in person. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. I think once the varnish is removed the pipe will be a nicer looking piece.I decided to use some of Mark Hoover’s Before & After Briar Cleaner to see if it would break through the remaining shiny spots of varnish in the grooves of the sandblast on the rim top and around the bowl. I shook up the mixture to make sure all was blended then used a tooth brush to work it into the surface of the briar. I worked it until is foamed then rinsed it off with warm water and dried it with a soft cloth. It did the job and the shiny varnish had vanished! I set the bowl aside and let the briar dry out completely then I rubbed it down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to work it into the nooks and crannies of the sandblast finish. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe really comes alive with the balm. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the varnish coat that covered it. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. By the final 3500 grit sanding pad the stem had a more normal shine and the varnish, tooth marks and chatter were gone.I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This 1960 Dunhill Shell Briar 126 Billiard with a vulcanite taper stem has a beautiful, unique Dunhill Sandblast finish that is very deep and craggy. The Shell Briar mixed brown finish highlights some great grain around the bowl and shank. It has a unique sandblast that Dunhill specialized in making. The removal of the varnish left a depth to the briar and a clearness to the stem surface. The polished vulcanite taper stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Dunhill Shell Briar 126 Billiard is quite nice and feels great in the hand. 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 1.09 ounces/31 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store in the English Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for your time.