Another Pipe from the Eastern Canada Lot – A Hand Carved Bjarne Freehand

Blog by Steve Laug

I decided to work on another pipe from the fellow in Kitchener, Ontario who sent me some pipes he needed cleaned up. He had been referred to me by my local pipe and cigar shop. While I am not currently adding more pipes to my queue of repairs I have made a commitment to the shop to work on pipes for their customers. Generally they have one or two pipes that need a bit of work. This fellow sent me the following email:

I just came across my smoking pipes that I’ve had in storage for about 40 years. I’m wondering what you’d charge to have them refurbished. There are 17 in total (11 are Brighams and 6 are various).

Bjarne Nielsen (1941 – † 2008) distributed his own “Bjarne” brand and pipes carved by Danish pipemakers (Mogens Johansen, Tonni Nielsen or Ph. Vigen). High grade pipes were stamped “Bjarne Nielsen” without any logo on the mouthpiece and graded A, B, C and D. Bjarne second brand: Viking.

I have included a screen capture of the section on the brand below.I turned to Pipedia and looked up the brand for a bit more information on the pipes that were stamped like the one that I am working on (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Bjarne). Toward the end of the article I found what I was looking for. I quote:

Among the pipemakers that worked for Bjarne were Johs (for the lower priced high volume pieces), and makers like Ph. Vigen, Ole Bandholm and Tonni Nielsen for high grade pieces. The cheaper line was stamped “Bjarne” while the highest grades were stamped “Bjarne Nielsen” (never with the pipemakers’ name) and graded, from highest to lowest, by the letters: AX, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J.

Now I knew that I was dealing with the cheaper line of pipe made by the company. It was stamped Bjarne while the higher grade pipes were stamped Bjarne Nielsen with a grade stamp. Now that I had the background information on the brand I went to work on the pipe.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer using the second and third cutting head to take the cake back to bare briar so I could inspect the walls. I cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper on a piece of dowel to smooth them out and further examine them. I was happy that the walls looked very good. I also scraped off the lava on the rim top and edges with the Fitsall Knife and a brass bristle wire brush to begin to break down the hard coat in the plateau. I scrubbed the surface of the bowl and the plateau areas on the shank end and rim top with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit from the briar. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the darkened areas on the rim top and inner edge of the rim. I was able to remove the darkening and the remaining lava. I also sanded the high spots on the plateau to clean those up. I finished by using the brass bristle brush on the rim top and shank end. I polished rim top and sides of the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad to remove the dust and debris from the sanding. The bowl was looking very good after the final polishing pad. I interrupted the polishing to stain the plateau on the rim top and the shank end with a Maple stain pen before I polished the bowl with the last set of three pads – 6000, 8000, 12000. The pipe is looking very good at this point in the process. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horse hair 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. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I rubbed the stem down with Soft Scrub on with a cotton pad and it removed the oxidation and the calcification build up. It looked a lot better. Once the surface was cleaned off I found the Bj stamp on the top of the flat blade. Up until that point I was wondering if the stem was a replacement. It was at this point that I remembered that I had not cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank and stem. I paused and cleaned them with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I am glad I remembered now because it was very dirty – as I would have guessed by the condition of the rim top. Now that I had cleaned the pipe internally I went back to working on the stem. I sanded out the remaining tooth chatter and oxidation with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I rubbed down the stem with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish, a red gritty paste and a cotton pad to remove the remnants of oxidation and to blend in the sanding. The stem is starting to show promise at this point in the process.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cotton pad to remove the sanding debris. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I finished by wiping it down with Briarville’s No Oxy Oil and buffing it to a shine. I finally feel like I am making progress on this 19 pipe lot from Eastern Canada. With the completion of this one I have finished 13 of the pipes. I put Bjarne Hand-Carved Freehand back together and buffed it 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 clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the grain on both sides and the plateau on the rim top and shank end looked amazing. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem was beautiful. This nicely grained Bjarne Freehand is nice looking and feels great in my hand. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. Once again I am looking forward to what the pipeman who sent it thinks of this restoration. Only 6 more of these pipes to do in this lot! 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 the trust to the next pipeman or woman.

Another Change of Pace – The Everyman London Pipe 291 Smooth Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

When I unwrapped it the pipe it was a smooth finish Billiard. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and read The Everyman London Pipe. On the right side of the shank it was stamped with the circular Made in London England COM stamp. Near the shank bowl junction on the right side it also had the shape number 291. The finish was dull and dirty looking but had nice grain under the grime. The rim top had some darkening on the top and the beveled inner edge. There was also a lava overflow from the cake in the bowl. The tapered stem was oxidized and had tooth marks and chatter near the button on both sides. There was also some calcification for about an inch up the stem. The stem also had the standard Everyman three silver bars on the left side. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the bowl and thick lava on the top and the beveled rim edge as well. You can also see the cake in the bowl. It is hard and quite thick. I also took close up photos of the stem to show its condition as mentioned above. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank to show what I was speaking about above. It is very faint but readable. It reads The Everyman London Pipe on the left side and Made In London, England in a circular COM Stamp on the right. That is preceded by the shape number 291. There is some nice grain around the bowl and shank. I am including the information I also included on the sandblasted Canadian I just finished (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/03/06/time-for-a-change-of-pace-the-everyman-london-pipe-296-canadian/). I turned my favourite go to sites on background of brands. The first is Pipephil’s site ( http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-e4.html). There I looked up the Everyman brand and confirmed what I remembered about it being made by Comoy’s. From there I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s). I went directly to the section on Comoys pipes. I found this shape chart. The shape number 291 is shown as a Basic Billiard. I have drawn a green rectangle around it in the photo below. (The red boxed pipe in the photo below was The Everyman London Pipe Canadian that I had finished prior.With this pipe I am working on another of this pipe man’s non-Brigham pipes from the nineteen pipe installment. I went to work on it immediately.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer using the second and third cutting head to take the cake back to bare briar so I could inspect the walls. I cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper on a piece of dowel to smooth them out and further examine them. I was happy that the walls looked very good. I also scraped off the lava on the rim top and edges with the Fitsall Knife to begin the cleaning process. I scrubbed the surface of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit from the briar. I cleaned out the mortise area and airway to the bowl and shank as well as the airway in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I scraped it with a dental spatula and followed up with the cleaners. It was obvious that this had been another one of his favourite pipes as it was heavily smoked. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the darkened rim top and beveled rim edge. I was able to remove the darkening and the remaining lava. I polished rim top and sides of the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad to remove the dust and debris from the sanding. The bowl was looking very good after the final polishing pad. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horse hair 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. It really gives depth to the sandblasted finish on the briar. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I rubbed the stem down with Soft Scrub on with a cotton pad and it removed the oxidation and the calcification build up. It looked a lot better. I sanded out the remaining tooth chatter and oxidation with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I rubbed down the stem with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish, a red gritty paste and a cotton pad to remove the remnants of oxidation and to blend in the sanding. The stem is starting to show promise at this point in the process. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cotton pad to remove the sanding debris. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I finished by wiping it down with Briarville’s No Oxy Oil and buffing it to a shine. I finally feel like I am making progress on this 19 pipe lot from Eastern Canada. With the completion of this one I have finished 12 of the pipes. I put The Everyman London Pipe Billiard back together and buffed it 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 clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the grain on both sides and rim standing out with stark clarity. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem with the shining silver coloured bars was beautiful. This nicely grained The Everyman 291 Billiard is nice looking and feels great in my hand. It is another light and well balanced pipe. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 7/8 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. Once again I am looking forward to what the pipeman who sent it thinks of this restoration. Only 7 more of these pipes to do in this lot! 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.

Time for a Change of Pace – The Everyman London Pipe 296 Canadian

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I picked out is also from the fellow in Kitchener, Ontario who sent me some pipes he needed cleaned up. He had been referred to me by my local pipe and cigar shop. While I am not currently adding more pipes to my queue of repairs I have made a commitment to the shop to work on pipes for their customers. Generally they have one or two pipes that need a bit of work. This fellow sent me the following email:

When I unwrapped it the pipe it was a sandblast finish Canadian. It was stamped on the flat underside of the oval shank. It was stamped The Everyman London Pipe followed by Made in London England and the shape number 296. It had a rugged sandblast finish on the bowl and shank with a smooth panel on the heel and the shank. The rim top had a light lava overflow from the medium cake in the bowl. The bowl was in good condition and the beveled inner edges of the bowl were in good condition. It was a dirty pipe but the finish appeared to be in okay condition under the grime. The short, oval tapered stem was oxidized and had tooth marks and chatter near the button on both sides. There was also some calcification for about an inch up the stem. The stem also had the standard Everyman three silver bars on the left side. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the bowl as well as the cake and lava overflowing onto the rim top. I also took close up photos of the stem to show its condition as mentioned above. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank to show what I was speaking about above. It is very clear and readable. It reads The Everyman London Pipe, Made In London, England and the shape number 296.Before starting my clean up work on the pipe I turned my favourite go to sites on background of brands. The first is Pipephil’s site ( http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-e4.html). There I looked up the Everyman brand and confirmed what I remembered about it being made by Comoy’s. From there I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s). I went directly to the section on Comoys pipes. I found this shape chart. The shape number 296 is shown as a Large Canadian. I have drawn a red rectangle around it in the photo below.With this pipe I am taking a break to work on this pipe man’s non-Brigham pipes from the nineteen pipe installment. I went to work on it immediately.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer using the second and third cutting head to take the cake back to bare briar so I could inspect the walls. I cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper on a piece of dowel to smooth them out and further examine them. I was happy that the walls looked very good. I cleaned out the mortise area and airway to the bowl and shank as well as the airway in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was obvious that this had been one of his favourite pipes as it was heavily smoked. I scrubbed the surface of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit from the briar. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horse hair 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. It really gives depth to the sandblasted finish on the briar. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I rubbed the stem down with Soft Scrub on with a cotton pad and it removed the oxidation and the calcification build up. It looked a lot better. I sanded out the remaining tooth chatter and oxidation with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I rubbed down the stem with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish and a cotton pad to remove the remnants of oxidation and to blend in the sanding. The polish is a red gritty paste that works wonders on removing stubborn remnants of oxidation in the crease. The stem is starting to show promise at this point in the process. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cotton pad to remove the sanding debris. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I finished by wiping it down with Briarville’s No Oxy Oil and buffing it to a shine. I finally feel like I am making progress on this 19 pipe lot from Eastern Canada. With the completion of this one I have finished 11 of the pipes. I put The Everyman London Pipe Canadian back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the deep sandblast high spots and crevices showing through multi coloured brown finish. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem with the shining silver coloured bars was beautiful. This sandblast finish The Everyman 296 Canadian is nice looking and feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with 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. Once again I am looking forward to what the pipeman who sent it thinks of this restoration. Only 8 more of these pipes to do in this lot! 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.

Breathing Life into a Can Pat Brigham Exclusive 316 Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

Not too long ago I received an email from a fellow in Kitchener, Ontario regarding some pipes he needed cleaned up. He had been referred to me by my local pipe and cigar shop. While I am not currently adding more pipes to my queue of repairs I have made a commitment to the shop to work on pipes for their customers. Generally they have one or two pipes that need a bit of work. This fellow sent me the following email:

It turns out he said he had 17 pipes. That was certainly more than I expected but I communicated that there was a large queue ahead of him and I would have to fit them in as I could. He was fine with whatever time it took. He sent me the following photos of his collection that he wanted restored. The first photo shows his eleven Brigham pipes – all very interesting shapes. The second photo shows the six various pipes in the collection – A Republic Era Peterson’s System 1312 (Canadian Import), A Bjarne Hand Carved Freehand, a Comoy’s Everyman London smooth billiard, a GBD Popular Dublin 12, an English made Kaywoodie Rustica 72B, a Kriswill Bernadotte 60 with a broken tenon. When the box arrived there were two additional pipes included for a total of 19 – a Ropp 803 Deluxe Cherrywood Poker and a Comoy’s Sandblast Everyman Canadian 296. It was a lot of pipes! I have been randomly choosing the next pipe to work on and chose the Brigham that I have drawn a red box around in the first photo below. When I unwrapped it the pipe it was a Petite Classic Bulldog. It was stamped on the flat left underside of the Diamond shank. It was stamped 316 which is the shape number. That is followed by the Brigham Script over Can. Pat. 372982. It had a rusticated lower half of the bowl and shank with a smooth top half. The rim top had a lava overflow from the medium cake in the bowl. The bowl was out of round with damage and some darkening around the top and inner edges of the bowl. It was a dirty pipe but the finish appeared to be in okay condition under the grime. The 3 Dot tapered stem was oxidized and had tooth marks and chatter near the button on both sides. There was also some calcification for about an inch up the stem. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the bowl and damage to the rim edge as well as the cake and lava overflowing onto the rim top. I also took close up photos of the stem to show its condition as mentioned above. I took a photo of the stamping on the left underside of the diamond shank to show what I was speaking about above. It is very clear and readable. It reads 316 followed by Brigham in script over Can Pat. 372982.I removed the stem from the shank to reveal the aluminum tube/tenon that held the Rock Maple Distillator. The distillator was present and looked almost new. It would need to be cleaned a bit but it would be very usable.Before starting my clean up work on the pipe I turned to a chart that Charles Lemon of Dad’s Pipes sent to me on the patent era Brighams. There were made from 1938-1980. As the pipe I am working on is a Patent pipe, it’s more accurate to refer to its grade by name (the post 1980 grading scheme refers to Dots). Here is the chart that Charles sent me. The pipe I am working on is thus a Brigham Exclusive with the 3 brass pins arranged in a triangle. The pipe I am working on has a 3XX shape number.With this pipe I am returning to work on a Can Pat Brigham pipe from the nineteen pipe installment. I went to work on it immediately.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer using the second and third cutting head to take the cake back to bare briar so I could inspect the walls. I cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper on a piece of dowel to smooth them out and further examine them. I was happy that the walls looked very good. I used the Savinelli Fitsall knife to scrape off the lava coat on the rim top. I worked on the darkening on the rim top and the rough inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the darkening and smooth out the inner edge of the bowl. I cleaned out the mortise area and airway to the bowl and the interior of the metal tube and airway in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. The aluminum tube was dirty but the distillatory had been changed before the pipe was stored so once again it was not as bad as I expected. I scrubbed the surface of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit as well as the remnants of the shiny finish on the smooth portions of the bowl. 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 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. It really makes the grain stand out on this pipe. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I rubbed the stem down with Soft Scrub on with a cotton pad and it removed the oxidation and the calcification build up. It looked a lot better. The tooth dents in the surface of the stem were not deep – more dents that bites. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic Lighter to lift the dents from the vulcanite. The process worked really well and the dents were virtually invisible. I would be able to sand the surface to remove what remained. I sanded out the remaining tooth chatter and oxidation with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I rubbed down the stem with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish and a cotton pad to remove the remnants of oxidation and to blend in the sanding. The polish is a red gritty paste that works wonders on removing stubborn remnants of oxidation in the crease. The stem is starting to show promise at this point in the process. Before I finished the polishing stem I decided to fit it with a new Rock Maple Distillator. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cotton pad to remove the sanding debris. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I finished by wiping it down with Briarville’s No Oxy Oil and buffing it to a shine. Once again I was at one of favourite parts of the restoration process. It is that moment when all the pieces are put back together. I put the pipe back together and buffed it 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 clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the grain popping through on the rim top and the rustication coming to life. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem with the shining brass pins was beautiful. This mixed smooth and rusticated finish Brigham Exclusive 316 Bulldog is nice looking and feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. This is the tenth of the pipes sent to me from Eastern Canada for restoration. Once again I am looking forward to what the pipeman who sent it thinks of this restoration. Lots more to do in this lot! 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.

Breathing Life into a Brigham 325 Squat Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

It turns out he said he had 17 pipes. That was certainly more than I expected but I communicated that there was a large queue ahead of him and I would have to fit them in as I could. He was fine with whatever time it took. He sent me the following photos of his collection that he wanted restored. The first photo shows his eleven Brigham pipes – all very interesting shapes. The second photo shows the six various pipes in the collection – A Republic Era Peterson’s System 1312 (Canadian Import), A Bjarne Hand Carved Freehand, a Comoy’s Everyman London smooth billiard, a GBD Popular Dublin 12, an English made Kaywoodie Rustica 72B, a Kriswill Bernadotte 60 with a broken tenon. When the box arrived there were two additional pipes included for a total of 19 – a Ropp 803 Deluxe Cherrywood Poker and a Comoy’s Sandblast Everyman Canadian 296. It was a lot of pipes! I have been randomly choosing the next pipe to work on and chose the Brigham that I have drawn a red box around in the first photo below. When I unwrapped it the pipe it was a Brigham 325 Squat Bulldog with a mixed finish – rusticated bowl and shank with a smooth cap and rim top. It was stamped on the left underside of the shank and reads 325 (shape number) followed by Brigham in script over Made in Canada. The rim top had a lava overflow and a thin cake in the bowl and some darkening around the top and edges of the bowl. The finish was dull and it was a dirty pipe but appeared to be in okay condition under the grime. The 3 Dot saddle stem was oxidized and had tooth chatter and marks on the surface near the button on both sides. There was also some calcification for about an inch up the stem. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the bowl and rim as well as the cake and lava overflowing onto the rim top. I also took close up photos of the stem to show its condition as mentioned above. I took a photo of the stamping on the left underside of the diamond shank to show what I was speaking about above. It is very clear and readable. It reads 325 followed by Brigham in script over Made in Canada.I removed the stem from the shank to reveal the aluminum tube/tenon that held the Rock Maple Distillator. The distillator was present and looked almost new. It would need to be cleaned a bit but it would be very usable.This is the second Brigham pipe that I am working on the nineteen pipe installment that is not a Can Pat pipe. It is a newer Brigham but I do not know the era. I went to work on it immediately.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer using the second and third cutting head to take the cake back to bare briar so I could inspect the walls. I cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper on a piece of dowel to smooth them out and further examine them. I was happy that the walls looked very good. I cleaned out the mortise area and airway to the bowl and the interior of the metal tube and airway in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. The aluminum tube was dirty but the distillator had been changed before the pipe was stored so once again it was not as bad as I expected. I scrubbed the surface of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit as well as the remnants of the shiny finish on the smooth portions of the bowl. 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 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. It really makes the grain stand out on this pipe. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I rubbed the stem down with Soft Scrub on with a cotton pad and it removed the oxidation and the calcification build up. It looked a lot better. I sanded out the tooth chatter and the remaining oxidation with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I rubbed down the stem with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish and a cotton pad to remove the remnants of oxidation and to blend in the sanding. The polish is a red gritty paste that works wonders on removing stubborn remnants of oxidation in the crease. The stem is starting to show promise at this point in the process. Before I finished the polishing stem I decided to fit it with a new Rock Maple Distillator. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cotton pad to remove the sanding debris. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I finished by wiping it down with Briarville’s No Oxy Oil and buffing it to a shine. Once again I was at one of favourite parts of the restoration process. It is that moment when all the pieces are put back together. I put the pipe back together and buffed it 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 clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the grain popping through on the rim top and the rustication coming to life. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem with the shining brass pins was beautiful. This mixed smooth and rusticated finish Brigham 325 Bulldog is nice looking and feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. This is the ninth of the pipes sent to me from Eastern Canada for restoration. Once again I am looking forward to what the pipeman who sent it thinks of this restoration. Lots more to do in this lot! 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.

Breathing Life into a Smooth Finish Brigham 221 Dublin

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

It turns out he said he had 17 pipes. That was certainly more than I expected but I communicated that there was a large queue ahead of him and I would have to fit them in as I could. He was fine with whatever time it took. He sent me the following photos of his collection that he wanted restored. The first photo shows his eleven Brigham pipes – all very interesting shapes. The second photo shows the six various pipes in the collection – A Republic Era Peterson’s System 1312 (Canadian Import), A Bjarne Hand Carved Freehand, a Comoy’s Everyman London smooth billiard, a GBD Popular Dublin 12, an English made Kaywoodie Rustica 72B, a Kriswill Bernadotte 60 with a broken tenon. When the box arrived there were two additional pipes included for a total of 19 – a Ropp 803 Deluxe Cherrywood Poker and a Comoy’s Sandblast Everyman Canadian 296. It was a lot of pipes! I have been randomly choosing the next pipe to work on and chose the Brigham that I have drawn a red box around in the first photo below. When I unwrapped it the pipe it was a Brigham Natural Finish 221 Dublin. It was stamped on the flat shank/heel Made in Canada and Brigham in a script. It had a smooth finish on the bowl and shank. The rim top had a lava overflow from the thick cake in the bowl and some darkening around the top and edges of the bowl. The finish was dull and it was a dirty pipe but appeared to be in okay condition under the grime. The 2 Dot saddle stem was oxidized and had tooth chatter and marks on the surface near the button on both sides. There was also some calcification for about an inch up the stem. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the bowl and rim as well as the cake and lava overflowing onto the rim top. I also took close up photos of the stem to show its condition as mentioned above. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank to show what I was speaking about above. It was faint but readable. It reads Made in Canada then Brigham in script.I removed the stem from the shank to reveal the aluminum tube/tenon that held the Rock Maple Distillator and removed the Distillator from the tenon.This is the only Brigham pipe that I am working on the nineteen pipe installment that is not a Can Pat pipe. It is a newer Brigham but I do not know the era. I went to work on it immediately.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer using the second and third cutting head to take the cake back to bare briar so I could inspect the walls. I cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper on a piece of dowel to smooth them out and further examine them. I was happy that the walls looked very good. I used the Savinelli Fitsall knife to scrape off the lava coat on the rim top. I cleaned out the mortise area and airway to the bowl and the interior of the metal tube and airway in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. The aluminum tube was dirty but the distillator had been changed before the pipe was stored so it was not as bad as I expected. I scrubbed the surface of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit as well as the remnants of the shiny finish on the smooth portions of the bowl. I worked on the darkening on the rim top and the rough inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the darkening and smooth out the inner edge of the bowl. 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 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. It really makes the grain stand out on this pipe. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I rubbed the stem down with Soft Scrub on with a cotton pad and it removed the oxidation and the calcification build up. It looked a lot better. I sanded out the tooth chatter and the remaining oxidation with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I rubbed down the stem with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish and a cotton pad to remove the remnants of oxidation and to blend in the sanding. The polish is a red gritty paste that works wonders on removing stubborn remnants of oxidation in the crease. The stem is starting to show promise at this point in the process. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cotton pad to remove the sanding debris. Before I finished the last polishing touches on the stem I decided to fit it with a new Rock Maple Distillator. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I finished by wiping it down with Briarville’s No Oxy Oil and buffing it to a shine. Once again I was at one of favourite parts of the restoration process. It is that moment when all the pieces are put back together. I put the pipe back together and buffed it 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 clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the popping through with new life and added to that the polished black vulcanite stem with the shining brass pins. This smooth finished Brigham 221 Dublin is nice looking and feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. This is the eighth of the pipes sent to me from Eastern Canada for restoration. Once again I am looking forward to what the pipeman who sent it thinks of this restoration. Lots more to do in this lot! 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.

Breathing Life into a Petite Patent Era Brigham Exclusive 308 Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer using the second and third cutting head to take the cake back to bare briar so I could inspect the walls. I cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper on a piece of dowel to smooth them out and further examine them. I was happy that the walls looked very good. I used the Savinelli Fitsall knife to scrape off the lava coat on the rim top. I cleaned out the mortise area and airway to the bowl and the interior of the metal tube and airway in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. The aluminum tube was really dirty since it had been smoked frequently without the distillator in place. It took a lot of work to clean out all of the grit and tars. I scrubbed the surface of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit as well as the remnants of the shiny finish on the smooth portions of the bowl. I worked on the darkening on the rim top and the rough inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the darkening and smooth out the inner edge of the bowl. 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 bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair 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. It really makes the grain stand out on this pipe. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I rubbed the stem down with Soft Scrub on with a cotton pad and it removed the oxidation and the calcification build up. It looked a lot better. I sanded out the tooth chatter and the remaining oxidation with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I rubbed down the stem with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish and a cotton pad to remove the remnants of oxidation and to blend in the sanding. The polish is a red gritty paste that works wonders on removing stubborn remnants of oxidation in the crease. The stem is starting to show promise at this point in the process. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cotton pad to remove the sanding debris. Before I finished the last polishing touches on the stem I decided to fit it with a new Rock Maple Distillator. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I finished by wiping it down with Briarville’s No Oxy 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 pipe back together and buffed it 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 clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the smooth portion and the rusticated portion contrasting well and added to that the polished black vulcanite stem with the shining brass pins. This Brigham Exclusive 308 Apple is nice looking and feels great in my hand. The pipe is one that is light enough that it could be clenched and smoked while doing other things as it is very light weight and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. This is the seventh of the pipes sent to me from Eastern Canada for restoration. Once again I am looking forward to what the pipeman who sent it thinks of this restoration. Lots more to do in this lot! 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 an Anscot Bullmoose

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Blog by Steve Laug

I just finished working on the Marxman Jumbo Bench Made Poker for the fellow in Quebec. I wrote a blog about it (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/02/28/restoring-an-obstinate-marxman-jumbo-war-club/). When he sent the Marxman he included another pipe that he wanted to donate for the support of the SA Foundation. I am always glad to work on those and pass them on to others who not only want a good pipe but want to donate to a worthy cause – the restoration and recovery of women and children who have escaped sexual exploitation and trafficking. It’s a large pipe stamped on the left side of the shank in script and read Anscot. On the right side it is stamped Mediterranean Aged Briar. The stamping is clear and readable. The stem did not seat in the shank completely and was very tight. The finish was shiny and dirty like it had been coated with varnish or shellac. There was one large fill on the front of the right side mid-bowl. The bowl had been cleaned and there was a small bit of cake in the base of the chamber near the entrance of the airway. The rim top had some burn damage on the inner edge of the bowl toward the front of the bowl. The inner edge of the chamber was out of round and damaged. The stem was high quality vulcanite and had tooth chatter and marks on both sides near the button. The stem would not seat against shank. The photos show what I saw as I examined the pipe. I took close up photos of the rim top and the stem. The photos confirm the condition of the pipe that I described in the paragraphs above. You can see the darkening on the inner edge of the rim top. There were also scratches and nicks all around the rim top. The stem is also lightly oxidized and has some deep tooth marks on the top and underside near the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is stamped Anscot in script with the leg of the A extended in a swirl under the whole word. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Mediterranean Aged Briar.I looked up the brand on Pipephil and found nothing there. I did a search for the brand and found a link to a connection between Abraham & Straus, Inc. to Anscot in Brooklyn, New York. There was also a link to picclick (https://picclick.com/Superb-Lh-Stern-anscot-Large-Bull-Moose-Vintage-302658878312.html) where the author linked the brand to LH Stern. That link was tenuous as the photo on the link showed the same stamping that I showed in the photos above.

From the search I did the most I could find out was the link to the pipe shop in Brooklyn, New York. The tie to LHS was not reliable as I could not see any link to the LHS Company. I looked up LH Stern on Pipedia and read through that article but there was no link to Anscot. So the mystery remains. Now it was time to clean up the pipe and restore it. I removed the stem from the shank and saw an interesting stinger inserted in the shank. I took a photo of the pipe at this point.I took the bowl to the work table and reamed it. I used a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to clean up the light cake in the bowl. I cleaned up the inner edge of the rim with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I was able to remove the damage to the inner edge and the top of the bowl.I wiped the bowl down with acetone on a cotton pad to break through the thick varnish coat on the bowl. It took a bit of scrubbing but it looked far better. I cleaned the interior of the shank/mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I removed the stinger from the tenon so that I could clean the airway in the stem. The airway in both and the mortise were dirty and after I had scoured them the pipe was clean and smelled better. With that finished I moved on the polishing the bowl and the rim top with micromesh sanding pads. I polished them with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiped the bowl down with damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I used a Maple stain pen to touch up the sanded rim top and edges. Once the stain had dried I polished the rim top with micromesh sanding pads to blend it into the rest of the bowl. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the finish with my fingertips. I set it aside to absorb into the briar for ten minutes. Once it had been sitting I polished the bowl surface with a soft cotton cloth. At this point in the process the briar is looking very good. I set the bowl and I turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and a cotton pad to remove the oxidation and debris on the stem surface. The tooth marks were clearer and the chatter was ready to be polished out.The tooth marks on the top were light and would sand out later. There was one deep tooth mark on the underside of the stem. I cleaned it out with alcohol and a cotton swab. I filled it in with black super glue and let it cure.Once the glue repair cured I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surface of the vulcanite. I sanded out the tooth chatter and marks on both sides with 220 grit sandpaper and 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the stem with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish to remove the light scratching and the light oxidation on the stem surface. The product is a red paste that is gritty and when rubbed with a cotton pad it removes many of the scratches and remaining oxidation.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – polishing it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped it down with cloth between each sanding pad. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a rub down with Briarville’s No Oxy Oil to protect the stem from oxidizing. It was looking very good at this point. I was looking forward to this part of the restoration when all the pieces are put back together so I can send a photo back to the fellow in Quebec. I put the pipe back together and buffed it 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 clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished black vulcanite stem. This Anscot Mediterranean Aged Briar Bullmoose looks far better than it did when I started. The fill on the right side is present but has blended in very well. The rim top looks much better than when I began. The stem fits well in the shank. The pipe is nice looking and feels great in my hand. The pipe is a sitter so that it can be laid down on a desk top while the pipeman is working on something else. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: 1 1/8 inches. This old Anscot is a beauty and I look forward to what the pipeman buys it thinks of it. 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 Patent Era Brigham Select Billiard Sitter

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Blog by Steve Laug

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer using the first and second cutting head to take the cake back to bare briar so I could inspect the walls. I cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper on a piece of dowel to smooth them out and further examine them. I was happy that the walls looked very good. I cleaned out the mortise area and airway to the bowl and the interior of the metal tube and airway in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I scrubbed the surface of the bowl with acetone to remove the varnish coat from the bowl. When I had finished it looked far better. I worked on the darkening on the rim top and the rough inner edge of the bowl by first lightly topping the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the darkening and smooth out the inner edge of the bowl. 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 bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair 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. It really makes the grain stand out on this pipe. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. When I was in the US visiting Jeff and his wife I picked up some Soft Scrub. Jeff swears by this stuff as the first tool to use to remove a lot of the oxidation on the stem. I rubbed it on with a cotton pad and sure enough it removed the oxidation and the calcification build up. It looked a lot better. I cleaned out the marks with alcohol and a cotton swab. I filled them in with clear super glue and set the stem aside to cure. I smoothed out the repairs and sanded out the remaining oxidation with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cotton pad to remove the sanding debris. Before I finished the last polishing touches on the stem I decided to fit it with a new Rock Maple Distillator. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I finished by wiping it down with Briarville’s No Oxy 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 pipe back together and buffed it 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 clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished black vulcanite stem and the shining brass pins. This Brigham Select Billiard sitter is nice looking and feels great in my hand. The pipe is one that is light enough that it could be clenched and smoked while doing other things as it is very light weight and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 5/8 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. This is the sixth of the pipes sent to me from Eastern Canada for restoration. Once again I am looking forward to what the pipeman who sent it thinks of this restoration. Lots more to do in this lot! 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 an Obstinate Marxman Jumbo War Club

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Blog by Steve Laug

Not long ago I was emailing back and forth with a reader of the blog in Quebec about a pipe that he had purchased online. He said that it was a Marxman Jumbo Bench Made and it was huge. He said the photos of the pipe online were far better than what the pipe looked like when he received it. The pipe was marked on Etsy as follows: 1940s Rustic Tobacco Pipe Jumbo Marxman Carved Briar Root Wood Smoking Pipe OAK Handcarved Vintage Pipe Large Oversize Pipe. You and I know that the pipe was not OAK but Briar. Here are the photos that he sent me the link for. In the photos you can see the unique shape of this War Club/Hammer. It is quite big and I was expecting it to be much bigger than it actually is. The finish looks pretty good in the photos as well. The cake and lava on the rim looks negligible but present. It looks like a great deal but even in these photos you can see the large fills around the shank and bowl. We talked back and forth a bit and finally decided that the pipe should be sent to me in Vancouver. He wrote in the email that he sent before the pipe was mailed: “The stem seems stuck while the cake is relatively thick in the chamber. Also, the finish of the pipe seems stained and uneven. It’s a massive pipe but I’m confident it will look good”. With that I awaited the arrival of the pipe. Canada Post was efficient and it arrived three days after it was shipped. I opened the box and took photos of the pipe as it was when it arrived. He was right in saying it looked very different from the pipe in the Etsy seller’s photos.

The stem was solidly stuck in the shank and was upside down. The finish was flat and dirty with no life to it. There were large fills on the front and back sides of the bowl and all the way around the shank. The fills were what gave an uneven appearance to the finish on the pipe as they were a light tan/pink. The bowl had a thick, uneven cake and the pipe smelled musty and dank. The rim top had a coat of lava on the top around the bowl and the inner edge of the chamber was out of round and damaged. The stem was high quality vulcanite and had tooth chatter on both sides near the button but there were not any deep tooth marks in the vulcanite. The photos show you what I saw as I examined the pipe. I took close up photos of the rim top and the stem. The photos confirm the condition of the pipe that I described in the paragraphs above. You can see the damage to the inner edge of the rim top. It had been hacked and damaged with what looked like a knife.I took a photo of the stamping on the flat heel of the bowl. It is stamped with a letter C at the top of the heel. Under that is reads Jumbo in script over Bench Made. Underneath at the bottom it is stamped with the Marxman logo inside an arrow.I wanted to refresh my memory of the brand so I turned to Pipephil first to get a short summary of the history (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-m2.html). The site had a side note that the brand was created in 1934 and merged with Mastercraft Pipes in 1953.I then turned to Pipedia to find out a bit more information on the brand and the maker of the pipe (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Marxman). The site quote from Pipes, Artisans and Trademarks, by José Manuel Lopes. I include a portion of that information below.

Marxman (Marxman Pipe Company) was created by Robert (Bob) L. Marx in 1934, when he was 29, and after he had worked for the William Demuth Company. His pipes were not outstanding because of the quality of their wood (probably Algerian), but Bob started making unique sculpted pieces, which brought the brand fame in the World of Hollywood cinema. Actors like Zachery Scott, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, Joel McRae, and Ronald Reagan were some of the faces that appeared on the bowls.

Bob new how to innovate and took full advantage of marketing and press advertising in order to sell the brand–one of his slogans being “Relax with a Marxman”.

From the information on the two sites I learned that the pipe was made between 1934 when the company started and 1953 when the company was taken over by Mastercraft. I have included an advertisement for the Marxman Jumbo that was included on the article (1946 Ad, Courtesy Doug Valitchka).

It includes the following information. “A rare treat for the pipe connoisseur is the Marxman Jumbo, distinguished by a carved bowl that is in perfect balance for easy, comfortable smoking. From the thousands of pieces of briar that flow into our factory we select the perfect and unusual. These are reserved only for the Marxman Jumbo – and are fashioned into truly elegant pipes of exclusive designs – unique in appearance and superior in smoking qualities. Each pipe is an individual artistic creation following the natural shape of the briar. No two pipes are alike. They are priced according to size.” The prices are noted in the ad that I included below.I went on to read the remainder of the article on Pipedia and include the pertinent portion below.

Bob also produced other brands, such as the “Bench Made”. The company lasted until 1953, the year in which it merged with Mastercraft, then the USA’s biggest pipe importer. Marxman Pipes Inc., was located at 27 West 24th St. New York 10, NY.

I had put the pipe in the freezer before I went to bed and in the morning I took it out and with a little effort I was able to remove the stem from the shank. It was very tight but it came out with patience.I took the bowl to the work table and reamed it. I used a PipNet pipe reamer with the second cutting head to remove the thick cake in the bowl. I removed the remnants of the cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and finished the bowl with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I used a dental spatula to scrape out the inside of the mortise and remove the thick lacquer that had built up there from much smoking. I cleaned the interior of the shank/mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. They were very dirty and after I had scoured them the pipe was clean and smelled better. I would still need to do a cotton ball alcohol soak to draw out the rest of the mustiness.I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I scrubbed the grooves of the rustication to remove the grime with the tooth brush. I rinsed the pipe off with warm running water and dried it off with a cotton cloth. The finish looked clean but you could see the fills very clearly now. I have circled them in red in the photos below. Now it was time to deal with the out of round bowl edges. I gently topped the bowl. I did not want to flatten the crowned rim just smooth out the top edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of sandpaper to work a slight bevel to the inner edge to clean up the damaged edge and bring back to round. I also sanded the darkening on the rim edge to remove it as well. With that finished I moved on the polishing the smooth portions of the bowl and the rim top with micromesh sanding pads. I polished it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiped the bowl down with damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I used a Walnut stain pen to touch up the fill areas and the lighter areas on the briar bowl. I covered all of them and set the bowl aside to dry. The stain actually hid the fills very well. Once the stain had dried I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the grooves of the finish with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush. I set it aside to absorb into the briar for ten minutes. Once it had been sitting I polished the bowl surface with a soft cotton cloth. At this point in the process the briar is looking very good. I filled the bowl with cotton balls and used and ear syringe to fill it with alcohol. I fit a folded pipe cleaner in the shank to keep the alcohol in the bowl. I left the alcohol and cotton ball in the bowl while I worked on the stem. It sat for over an hour and then I removed it from the bowl and took the photo of the cleaned pipe. I turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth chatter and marks with 220 grit sandpaper and 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the stem with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish to remove the light scratching and the light oxidation on the stem surface. The product is a red paste that is gritty and when rubbed with a cotton pad it removes many of the scratches and remaining oxidation.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – polishing it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped it down with cloth between each sanding pad. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a rub down with Briarville’s No Oxy Oil to protect the stem from oxidizing. It was looking very good at this point. I was looking forward to this part of the restoration when all the pieces are put back together so I can send a photo back to the fellow in Quebec. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the smooth portion and the rusticated portion contrasting well and added to that the polished black vulcanite stem. This Marxman Bench Made Jumbo looks far better than it did when I started. The fills are present but have blended in very well. The stem fits well in the shank. The pipe is nice looking and feels great in my hand. The pipe is a sitter so that it can be laid down on a desk top while the pipeman is working on something else. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 1/8 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. This old Marxman Jumbo is a beauty and I look forward to what the pipeman who sent it thinks of this restoration. 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.