Restoring a Viggo Nielsen Hand Finished Freehand

Another Athens find: Renewing a Stout Peterson System Standard 313 Republic of Ireland

Blog by Dal Stanton

Athens, Greece, has been fertile ground for me in landing some nice pipes in the Athenian ‘wild’. An area very close to the well-known Acropolis summit and near-by Mars Hill, where the Apostle Paul gave his defense of the Christian faith, is the Monastiraki market area. I have found several keepers in this area. I was drawn to one antique shop that spilled out onto the sidewalk of a typically narrow, crowded street. As I looked over the plethora of paraphernalia in the shop, my eye caught sight of two lonely pipes among statuettes, ash trays, jars and lamps. Immediately I knew one was a definite possibility – a Pete. I looked quickly to determine if it was Pre-Republic or Republic of Ireland. It was a Republic, but seemed to carry some weight of years. What also caught my attention was that it was on the smaller side as far as I’ve seen of Petersons. The shape number on the right side of the shank was 313. The other pipe keeping company with the Pete was a Bewlay London Made ‘Reject’. Interesting. I’m always interested in pipes with the mark, ‘Reject’. The shop owner was all business and I wasn’t as happy with the bundled deal as I had wished, but I wanted the Pete and he’s now with me here in Sofia, Bulgaria. This Peterson System Standard 313 has been in my ‘Help Me!’ basket for some time until my brother-in-law, Greg, commissioned it to be restored along with a Comoy’s Pebble Grain Modern Poker. He and his wife, Sarah, my wife’s sister, were visiting us here in Bulgaria, and Greg trolled through my buckets of pipes until he found these two – he commissioned both when he couldn’t decide! The Pete and the Comoy’s both benefit the Daughters of Bulgaria, helping women and girls that have been trafficked and sexually exploited. Thanks, Greg!

With this being the first Peterson System Pipe on my worktable, I’m looking forward to learning what I can. The first thing I did was to identify the shape number of this Peterson. Not long-ago Steve posted on rebornpipes a very interesting Peterson of Dublin Pipe Catalogue which he thought was dated about 2010. I enjoyed looking through it then and tucked it away in my mind for when I would bring a Peterson to the worktable. I found the shape 313 in the Standard Quality Smooth section of the catalogue which I included below. It’s on the far right of the first row. The description of the Standard Quality was helpful.What I also found interesting and helpful was the description of the Peterson System Pipe. When this design hit the market in the late 1800s it was innovative then and continues to be popular today. Two design innovations were the focus: a trap (or sump) that collected the moisture in the mortise and the well-known ‘P-Lip’ stem, which stands for ‘Peterson’. This design was supposed to be superior by directing the smoke to the upper part of the mouth rather than burning the tongue. It is also engineered to compress the air as it moves toward the button. I’ve included the description and a cutout showing the design from the same catalogue.I love working on vintage pipes – I only wish they could talk and tell their stories while I restore them! With this Peterson now on my work table, I take some pictures to chronicle his condition and to get a closer look. The nomenclature is clear. On the left side of the shank is stamped in arched fashion, ‘PETERSON’S’ over ‘SYSTEM’ over ‘STANDARD’ in straight letters. Above this stamp, on the nickel ferule is ‘K&P PETERSON’S’. The right side of the shank bears the ‘MADE IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND’ placing it in the Republic Era – from 1949 until the present (from the Pipedia article: A Peterson Dating Guide; A Rule of Thumb, by Mike Leverette).I’ve also been curious about the ‘faux’ hallmarks stamped under the K&P on the ferrule. From the same helpful Pipedia article I read this:

Before we close this section on silver hallmarks, we must address the marks that many people refer to as hallmarks. Peterson uses three marks on some of their pipes that are not silver hallmarks but are rather another Peterson logo (See Enclosure 4).

These marks are:

A Shamrock for the many shamrocks found in Ireland
A Prone Fox representing the famous fox hunts in Ireland’s history, and
A Stone Tower for the many hundreds of stone towers spotted throughout Ireland

Again, these are not genuine silver hallmarks. I’m indulging in a bit of history to better appreciate the K&P Peterson’s on my worktable. Another question, “K&P”? Again, Mike Leverette’s Dating Guide article helps with a concise history along with pictures from Pipedia’s main Peterson article:

The history of Ireland is an old and honorable one; steeped in warfare, family, racial and religious traditions. No other country can compete in comparison. However, the first couple of millennia of Irish history have no relevance to this dating guide. Should you wish to read more on the history of the Irish, I recommend “The Story of the Irish Race” by Seamus MacManus who gives a very vivid, and near as we can tell, an accurate portrayal of their history.

History pertinent to our purposes began in the year 1865; the year Charles Peterson opened a small tobacco shop in Dublin. Later in 1875, Charles Peterson approached the Kapp brothers, Friedrich and Heinrich, with a new pipe design and with this, a very long-lived partnership was formed, Kapp & Peterson. This new pipe design is the now famous Peterson Patented System Smoking Pipe. By 1890, Kapp & Peterson was the most respected pipe and tobacco manufacturer in Ireland and rapidly gaining followers in England and America. In 1898 another of Peterson’s remarkable inventions became available, the Peterson-Lip (P-Lip) mouthpiece, also known as the Steck mouthpiece. So, for the purpose of this dating guide, we will study Irish history, relevant to our pipe dating needs, from 1870s until now.

Before we start with this Peterson dating guide, an observation; the Kapp Brothers originally came from Nuremberg, Germany. They were making pipes at least as early as the 1850s (their Dublin shop opened in 1855) and in many of the shapes we now associate with Peterson since the Kapp Brothers simply took their existing shapes and incorporated Charles Peterson’ s patented design into them. From their inception, Kapp & Peterson’s goal was to make a good smoking pipe that the ordinary, common working man could afford, and we believe they have, very admirably, lived up to this.

With a great admiration for the pioneering businessmen and pipe men, Kapp and Peterson, I now turn to the Peterson System Standard 313 on my table – really a quintessential working man’s pipe. It gives that kind of persona. The chamber is still loaded with the former steward’s tobacco! Whenever I see this I wonder if this was the last bowl enjoyed on this side of life. I’ll never know, and the Pete still isn’t talking! The chamber has moderate cake build-up and the rim has some lava flow and some scorching. The stummel generally is in good shape with typical marks of wear, but nothing too serious, and it is darkened with grime. There is one fill I detect on the front, right of the stummel which I record with a picture. The nickel ferrule has some dark areas on it which will hopefully clean up and shine up. The System P-Lip stem has a good collection of tooth chatter, but I don’t detect any clench dents. I begin the restoration of this Peterson by first adding the stem to a soak of Before and After Deoxidizer along with a Peretti and Comoy’s stem that are in the queue along with their respective stummels. Before I place the stem in the Deoxidizer, I clean the internals of the System Stem P-Lip for the first time, and I now understand some of what I’ve read about the difficulty in cleaning these stems! They are engineered to narrow down toward the button and the P-Lip draft hole is smaller than usual. I read from the Pipedia Peterson article above that Falcon pipe cleaners are thinner and can be used well with these stems. Good to know! With pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95% I clean the stem and this keeps the Deoxidizer from becoming soiled as quickly. I let the stem soak for several hours. After removing the stem, I let it drain of the Deoxidizer and then wipe off the raised oxidation using cotton pads wetted with light paraffin oil. The oxidation wipes off as a nasty brown goo. The System stem looks good after it is wiped down well.Putting the stem to the side, with the stummel now in hand, I clean the old baccy out of the chamber. The tobacco still has a sweet aroma to it – I’m not a tobacco blend expert or else I might hazard a guess! Using the Pipnet Reaming Kit, I start with the smallest blade and ream the chamber removing the carbon cake down to the fresh briar. Since the bowl diameter is smaller, I only use the first blade. I then utilize my Savinelli Fitsall Tool, which I find to be very handy. It can remove some carbon at the floor of the chamber missed by the Pipnet blade and it scrapes the walls more closely giving me greater control. Wrapping a piece of 240 grit sanding paper around the Sharpie Pen, I sand the chamber walls removing even more carbon residue and getting down to the briar for a fresh start. Finally, I use a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95% and clean the chamber of the carbon dust. Looking at the chamber, I see no problems – it looks great. Turning to the externals, I use undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with cotton pads to scrub the grime off the bowl and rim. I also use a brass brush on the rim which is dark from some scorching. After this, I rinse the stummel with tap water. While I was doing this, I allowed the water to run over the nickel ferrule and rubbed it with cloth to see if this would help clean it up. There is still what looks like corrosion on the nickel-plated surface. I’ll do some Google research later to see what the next step might be to clean the nickel safely. I also am not able to remove the darkened briar on the rim. I’ll need to give it a gentle topping to remove it. While I think about these challenges, I clean the internals of the stummel. Using pipe cleaners, cotton-buds and shank brushes dipped in isopropyl 95%, I go to work. Well…, some time later, I’m still not 100% satisfied with the cleaning of the Peterson ‘sump’ and draft hole. The old tar and oil gunk is thick and only after employing many weapons in the arsenal is it starting to shape up. The sump has collected the moisturized gunk as designed. Along with pipe cleaners, cotton buds and different sized shank brushes, I also use both a dental spatula and probe to stir up and scrape the mortise and sump walls. I take a picture to show this frontal attack – it isn’t pretty. Now, to continue the cleaning I’ll use the kosher salt and alcohol approach. Using kosher salt, which does not leave a taste as iodized salt does, I fill the chamber with salt, cup the top of the bowl with my palm and give it a shake to displace the salt. I then set it in an egg crate to keep it stable. Using a cotton ball, I create a wick to stuff down the mortise to act as a wick drawing more of the oils and tars out of the briar. I make the wick by stretching and twisting the cotton ball and then guiding the end down into the draft hole as far as I can get it – I use a piece of thin metal coat hanger wire to push the cotton through the draft hole. I also push the cotton down into the sump. Once that is done, using a large eye dropper, I fill the bowl with alcohol until it surfaces over the salt. After a few minutes – after it’s been absorbed, I top it off again. I set the stummel aside to soak through the night. The next morning, the salt-alcohol soak did the job! The salt is soiled, and the cotton wick is full of tars and oils. After dumping the expended salt in the waste basket, I wipe the bowl out with a paper towel and blow through the mortise to loosen and left-over salt. I run a pipe cleaner and alcohol through the draft hole and a cotton bud as well in the sump and the mortise walls to make sure all is clean and I’m happy to report that it is! From this cleaning, I think a wise practice for any Pete steward would be to clean your pipe often! Don’t allow too much gunk to collect in the sump.Turning to the Peterson-Lip stem, I use 240 grit paper to sand focusing on the tooth chatter on P-Lip button and the upper and lower bit. I also refresh the lines of the button contours using a flat needle file. To erase the scratches made by the file and 240 paper, I use 470 paper. I then employ 600 grade paper sanding the entire stem and follow this with 0000 steel wool which begins the buffing up of the vulcanite. Before moving on to using micromesh pads on the stem, I use Before and After Fine and Extra Fine Polish on the stem to enrich the vulcanite. For each polish successively, I place a bit on my finger and work it into the vulcanite. I then wait a few minutes and wipe each successive polish off with a cotton cloth which also buffs up the vulcanite gloss.I put the stem aside and look again at the Peterson stummel. I have two initial challenges to solve. The rim’s dark ring from it being scorched. Secondly, the small fill on the right-front quadrant of the stummel. I use a dental probe and dig at it a bit to see how solid the fill is. Some of the fill material flaked off and left a small indentation as a result. This needs to be filled again and masked. I will patch it before moving ahead with the stummel surface. But first, I work on the rim. I use a chopping board with 240 grade paper on it. To top the inverted stummel, I use uniform, easy circular motions and I don’t need to take much off – just enough to remove the scorched wood. Switching the paper on the chopping board to 600 grade paper, I top the stummel a bit more to smooth out the 240 scratches. I take pictures to show the progress. I notice that there is still a bit of dark wood on the outer rim lip. I’ll take care of that when I’m sanding the stummel rounding off the edge slightly. I’ll stain the rim’s bare briar a bit later to match the stummel’s surface. Now, to address the fill. I again use a dental probe to scrape the old fill and to remove what is not solid. To darken the old, remaining fill, I use a cherry stain stick to darken and color the fill so that it will blend with the briar grain better – I hope! I then apply a small drop of clear super glue to the hole. I use a toothpick to guide the super glue to the patch – while I was doing this, the power went out and I had to finish using the sunlight coming into the open window! I put the stummel aside and wait for the CA glue to cure and the lights and internet to come back on! I decide to work on the stem using the micromesh pads. Starting with pads 1500 to 2400 grade, I wet sand the System stem. Then, using 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000 I dry sand the stem. Following each set of 3 pads, I apply Obsidian Oil to revitalize the vulcanite. I never grow tired of watching the pop in the vulcanite when it turns to that glassy gloss! The Peterson-Lip System stem is looking good. I put it aside to dry and absorb the Obsidian Oil. I turn back to the stummel. The CA glue has cured on the patch and I begin the process of removing the patch mound by using a flat needle file. The most important part of this process is to keep the file on the hardened glue and not slide off and to impact needlessly the neighboring briar. I want to keep the area needing repair and refinishing as small as possible! I file the glue mound down until it’s almost at the level of the briar surface. Then, using a tightly rolled piece of 240 grit paper, I sand the mound further, so it is flush with the briar. Finally, I use 600 grade paper to smooth the patch out preparing it for dye stick to blend the patch. I think its going to blend very well with the briar. Now, to the rim. I use 240 grit paper rolled tightly and I run it around the outer rim edge to give it a slight rounding to remove the remnants of damage on the rim. I gently pinch the rolled paper over the rim edge with my thumb, so I create the slight bevel. I also do the same, very lightly, to the inside rim edge. I follow by doing the same with a rolled piece of 600 grade paper. Finally, I take the stummel back to the topping board once more on 600 grade paper simply to redefine a crisp line around the rim after the beveling. I think it looks great and ready for the next step. I’m hoping that I can match the dye stick color correctly! I read on rebornpipes, Steve was restoring a Peterson System Standard and needed to use a dye stick on the rim. He used cherry and said that it matched the Peterson schema well. I’ll do the same and see how it goes! I apply dye to the both the fill patch and the rim. I wait a while for the dye to thoroughly dry before proceeding.I then sand the stummel with micromesh pads. I wet sand using pads 1500 to 2400, and then dry sand with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000. To protect the Peterson’s nomenclature, I stay clear of the until the later pads – and even then, a very light touch. As you can see in the pictures above and the focused one immediately below, the nickel ferule of this Pete needs help dealing with the corrosion – it is an eyesore. Care must be given because metals can be a bit tricky. One approach that works for silver might turn another metal black! After doing some quick ‘How to clean/polish nickel plating’ searching on Google, the approaches I found were helpful. The general theme is to start conservatively and then to work more aggressively – that is, simply washing the nickel with warm water (every source warned about the need to use warm water with nickel – not hot nor cold) and a mild liquid dish detergent. I do this to begin, and it does brighten the ferule but does not help with the corrosion. The next step is to make a paste using baking powder (a mild abrasive and acidic) with water. This I do next with better results. At first, I have too much water, but eventually I find the ratio to create a thicker paste. I then apply the paste with my thumb and work it in around the entire ferule but concentrating on the corrosive spots – the main one being over the ‘Peterson’s’ stamp. Afterwards, I gently rinse the ferule with warm water. I like the progress, but I return to the paste and this time use a cotton pad dipped a bit into the paste and use it in a circular motion over the spot and then rinse. I buff the ferule with a cloth and I like the results! The corrosion on the nickel is greatly reduced and the ferule looks shinier – but not pristine, still holding some scuffs from life. I think this is good because he is an older Pete after all! The Pete is looking great. Before moving to the final stages using abrasive compounds on the stem and stummel, I apply Before and After Restoration Balm to the stummel which has a way of enriching and deepening the briar. In keeping with the product’s name, I take some before pictures to compare with the after pictures – that always interests me. I put some on my finger and work the Balm into the briar. The Balm starts more liquidy and gradually firms up into a thicker, wax-like consistency. After applying, I prop the stummel on an egg crate and let it sit for some minutes to absorb the Balm. Then, after about 20 minutes, I wipe the Balm off, buffing up the shine with a cloth. Then I take the ‘after’ pictures which are below for comparison. I like the results. Because of the military style stem, I leave the stummel and stem separated as I apply compounds and wax. I begin by mounting a cotton cloth buffing wheel to the Dremel dedicated to the application of Blue Diamond compound. With the Dremel set to the slowest speed, I apply the compound to the stummel in a slow, patient, methodical manner. I use the sheen created on the briar by the overhead lamp to see the compound as I move it and direct it over the surface. For the System stem, I switch cotton cloth buffing wheels and apply White Diamond, which is a finer abrasive than Blue Diamond. For both compounds, I don’t apply much pressure to the wheel but allow the speed and the abrasive compounds to do the work. After the compounds, I wipe stummel and stem with a felt cloth to remove compound dust before applying the wax. Then, again changing to another cotton cloth buffing wheel, and increasing the Dremel to about 40% power, I apply a few coats of carnauba wax to both stummel and stem and complete the process with a rigorous hand buffing with a micromesh cloth to raise the shine.

Oh my! The image that comes to my mind as I look at this Republic of Ireland Peterson, is that of a leprechaun, smoking his newly shined up pipe, doing a jig as he dances down the street! This is the first Peterson on The Pipe Steward worktable and I’m pleased with the results and appreciate more the history of this well-known, proud Irish pipe name. The grain of this Peterson System is surprisingly expressive and eye catching for a ‘Standard’ grade – a workingman’s pipe. The nickel ferule came out great providing a classy transition for the military styled P-Lip System stem. I’m pleased with the results! Greg commissioned this Peterson System Standard 313 and he will have first dibs on it in The Pipe Steward Store. This pipe will benefit the work of the Daughters of Bulgaria – women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited. The pictures start with a before and after! Thanks for joining me!

Refreshing a Lattice Work Meerschaum Bent Billiard

Restoring a Beautiful Brass S Stanwell Rhodesian

I have never seen a Jobey like this Dansk 2SM before

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

My brother Jeff picked up this interesting looking freehand pipe on one of his adventures pipe hunting. It had really nice grain and plateau on the top of the rim and a mix of plateau and carving on the end of the shank. There was something familiar about the style of carving that reminded me of other Danish Freehand pipes I have worked on. The finish was dirty with dust and lava on the plateau top. The bowl was lined with a thick cake that was flaking and soft. There was thick dust in the shank end. The smooth finish was also dirty and dull looking. The stem is a turned chairleg style stem. The fit of the stem to the shank was very snug. There were no tooth marks on either side of the stem at the button. It was a very clean stem. The next two photos that Jeff took of the pipe show the overall condition of the bowl and stem. Jeff took close up photos of the rim top and the grain on the bottom and sides of the bowl. It is a beautiful piece of briar.The next photo shows the stamping on the underside of the shank – Jobey Dansk over Handmade in Denmark with the shape number 2SM underneath. The second photo shows the debris and dust in the carving and plateau on the shank end.The last two photos Jeff took before cleaning up the pipe show the condition of the stem. There are no bite marks or damages to the stem surface on either side.I wanted to look at who had carved the Jobey Dansk line to confirm some suspicions I had about it. I had a feeling that the pipes were carved by a Danish carver known as Karl Erik. I looked up the Jobey listing on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Jobey) and found the following information. I quote a portion of the article that is pertinent as follows.

English – American – Danish – French… Information about the brand Jobey are only to be found in form of smithereens…

Probably established in England around 1920(?) the brand hiked into the USA later. In the course of time owner, distributor and manufacturer changed repeatedly. As far as known:
George Yale Pipes & Tobacco, New York (1942)
Norwalk Pipe Co., New York (1949)
Arlington Briar Pipes Corp., Brooklyn (when?)
Hollco International, New York (1969).
Weber Pipe Co., Jersey City, NJ (1970’s)
The Tinder Box, (1970’s – 80’s).

Throughout decades Jobey pipes were mainly sold in the USA, Canada and England but remained almost unknown in continental Europe. The bulk of Jobeys was predominantly made according to classical patterns and mainly in the lower to middle price range. The predominant judgment of the pipe smokers reads: “A well-made pipe for the price.” So there is hardly anything very special or exciting about Jobey pipes although a flyer from ca. 1970 assures: “The briar root Jobey insists upon for its peer of pipes is left untouched to grow, harden and sweeten for 100 years. […]Jobey uses only the heart of this century old briar and only one out of 500 bowls turned measures up to the rigid Jobey specifications.” 99.80% of cull… that makes the layman marveling!

That gave some background information followed by a group of photos of these classically shaped pipes. There was not any mention of the Dansk line in the early paragraphs of the article. However, following the photos there a short paragraph that gave me the details that I was looking for on the line. I quote it in full.

Yet then there are…really exciting Freehands mainly in the seventies, that Jobey – Weber owned back then – bought from Danish pipe genius Karl Erik (Ottendahl). These pipes were offered as Jobey Dansk – ’70’s pure! (BTW waning sales caused Ottendahl to discontinue exports to the United States in 1987.)

From that information, my suspicions were confirmed. The pipe that I was working on was carved by Karl Erik Ottendahl. The shape was similar to the Karl Erik pipes that I have worked on in the past. The dating of the pipe line in the article fits well with the pipe I have in hand. The stamping on the underside of the shank that is shown in the photos following the paragraph is identical to the ones on my pipe. Here is that photo.Armed with that information I turned back to the pipe in hand. Before he sent it to me, Jeff had reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the remnants of the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the bowl, rim and shank. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. The lava mess on the rim was thoroughly removed without harming the finish underneath it. Without the grime the finish looked really good. The stem was in great condition and would only need to be polished. I took photos of the pipe before I started working on it. I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition it was in after the cleanup. Jeff was able to remove all of the lava on the rim top and edges. You can see the contrast the heights and ridges of the plateau top on both the top of the bowl and the end of the shank. The inner edge of the bowl is in great condition with no damage to the inside edge. It is a nice looking finish. The briar is dry and in need of polishing. The stem was clean with no tooth chatter or marks on either the top or underside of the stem near the button.I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the briar and particularly plateau areas. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I hand rubbed it with my fingers and worked it into the plateau areas on the rim top and shank end. I buffed it in with a horsehair shoe brush and wiped it off with a soft cloth. I used the brush to buff the bowl and polish it. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with Obsidian Oil. When I finished with the final sanding pad I wiped it down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. It really shone now that it was polished. I polished the stem and the smooth portions of the bowl with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I gave the bowl and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 5/8 inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 inches. I will be posting this one on the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection send me an email to slaug@uniserve.com or a message on Facebook. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me.

Restoring a Unique Comoy’s Pebble Grain 603 Modern Bent Poker

3 Replies

Blog by Dal Stanton

When I saw this pipe on the eBay auction block, I wanted it! I was drawn initially by two factors – first, it was a Comoy’s Pebble Grain. Secondly, I had never seen a Comoy’s with this shape – a very nice Bent Poker and classy to boot! Or was it a Poker? The seller’s tagline said: Details about Comoy’s Pre-Cadogan Pebble Grain Lightweight OOM Paul 609 Made In England. Uh, Oom Paul? Here is what I saw: Despite the confusing information which I decided I would sort out later, I was able to dodge last second bidders and land this beautiful, blasted Comoy’s Pebble Grain Bent Poker. This Comoy’s has been in my ‘Help Me! Basket’ here in Bulgaria for some time waiting to unravel the confusion. Now, fast forward to a recent visit to Bulgaria of my wife’s sister and her husband, Sarah and Greg. It was great having family visit! As is often the case, when people visit, they know about my sideline activity of restoring pipes for the Daughters of Bulgaria and often, people visiting our home are interested in the process of restoring, etc. And VERY OFTEN, people desire to help the Daughters, too, and go through the MANY pipes I have in the ‘Help Me!’ basket and pick out a special pipe for them that will also benefit the Daughters. Well, Greg caught the bug and wanted to choose ‘a’ pipe for himself which became two pipes because he couldn’t decide between the two! He chose this Comoy’s as well as a K&P Peterson’s Republic of Ireland – both now in the queue for restoration to benefit the Daughters. Thanks, Greg!

The one thing the eBay seller had right about this Comoy’s is that it is Pre-Cadogan, which means that it is pre-1981 the year of the merger. The origins of Comoy from Saint-Claude, France, started in the 1820s by Francois Comoy. His son, Henri, started the London extension of the Comoy name in 1879 with not much more than the tools of his trade – making pipes. He is cited by Pipedia as being the author of the appellation, “London Made”. In 1929 the company merged with the macro-concern, Oppenheimer Pipes. With this, albeit brief history, Pipedia’s describes the present summation:

Comoy’s remained a family owned company until it was finally taken over by Cadogan Investments during the early 1980’s. Cadogan have continued to manufacture Comoy pipes to the present day and, under Michael Adler, the Comoy brand is their flagship and efforts are being made to once more re-instate the well-known quality of the brand.

Time to sort out the confusion. I did a simple Google search for a Comoy’s pipe shapes chart which brought me PipePages.com where I found the actual shape 603 (not 609 on the eBay block), described as a ‘Modern – Bent Poker’. The page provided information associating the Comoy’s pipe chart with the corresponding 1975 Comoy’s of London Catalog which I looked at. The 603 is on the right, second down in the chart below. I remember 1975! I was in college, driving my red ‘68 VW Bug, Gerald Ford was President of the US, and it was the year Jaws hit the cinema (I think!). The catalog described the Pebble Grain line’s qualities and also provided a price list that I found interesting to see how the various Pebble Grain line shapes ranked in monetary value in 1975 – not a cheap pipe! It was tied for second in value with Comoy’s Golden Grain, behind number 1 – Comoy’s Diplomat line (See below). With the confusion dispensed, I take the 1975 Comoy’s Pebble Grain, Modern – Bent Poker, to the worktable and take additional pictures to get a closer look at this classy Comoy’s Pebble Grain Modern Poker. The heel of the Poker contains the nomenclature: ‘COMOY’S’ over ‘PEBBLE GRAIN’ over ‘MADE IN LONDON’ over ‘ENGLAND’ over ‘603’, the shape number. According to Pipedia’s article, A History Of Comoy’s and A Guide Toward Dating the Pipes, the ‘Made in London England’ was used after WW2. According to the same article, the ‘Inlaid C’ which this Poker has, was stopped with the Cadogan era in 1981. So, this Comoy’s is placed after WW2 to the 1970s – the 1975 Comoy’s catalog siting seems to be confirmed. I found this information about the inlaid C interesting:

“C” was first inlaid in the side of the mouthpiece around 1919. This was a complex inlay needing three drillings. First, a round white inlay was inserted, then the centre of the white was drilled out, and a smaller round black inlay was inserted. Finally, another drilling was made to remove the open part of the “C,” and an even smaller black inlay was inserted. This inlaid “C,” known as the “three-piece C,” was continued until the Cadogan era in the 1980s. However, the “C” in the 1920s and early 30s is much thinner and more delicate than the one post-war. Cadogan first changed the “C” to a single drilling with an inlay that had the “C” in the centre, and more recently it became a laser imprint. I have a cased pair of early 1920’ “Par Excellence” where the “C” is on top of the mouthpiece.

The picture above shows the ‘three-piece C’ detected by the drilling if you look closely. Very cool!

The condition of the Comoy’s Pebble Grain ¾ Bent Modern Poker is pretty good. The blasted finish is exceptional, which seems to be a hallmark of the Comoy’s name. The surface is dirty and needs to be cleaned. The rim has significant lava flow over it and the chamber is sporting some moderate cake buildup. The stem has a good bit of tooth chatter but no dents that I detect. The oxidation is deep. I want to keep my eye that – not to progress too far finishing the stem and discover oxidation! That is not fun. I begin the restoration of the Comoy’s Pebble Grain by first cleaning the internals with pipe cleaners and isopropyl 95%. I then add the stem to a Before and After Deoxidizer bath along with other stems. After some hours, I fish out the Comoy’s stem and after allowing it to drain a bit, I wipe off the raised oxidation using cotton pads and light paraffin oil, Bulgaria’s version of mineral spirits. The oxidation wipes off and then I buff the stem clean with the cotton pad. I run a pipe cleaner through the stem to rid the airway of Deoxidizer fluid. I follow the Deoxidizer bath by applying Before and After Fine Polish and then Extra Fine Polish to further remove oxidation and revitalize the vulcanite stem. I put a little of the polish on my finger and work it into the vulcanite until it has absorbed well. I do the same with the Extra Fine Polish. I wipe off each application with a cotton pad. I take a close look and I can still see the deep greenish haze of oxidation – ugh! Instead of immediately turning to sanding, I decide to utilize the method I’ve used in the past – an OxiClean bath. I cover the Comoy’s ‘C’ with petroleum jelly to protect it and I put the stem in the bath with a pipe cleaner inserted in it for easier retrieval. I leave the stem in the OxiClean bath over nite. With the stem soaking, I turn to the Comoy’s Poker stummel. I begin by reaming the chamber to remove the moderate carbon cake buildup. Uncovering fresh briar enables me to examine the chamber walls for cracks or crevices. Using the Pipnet Reaming Kit, I start with the smallest blade after putting paper towel down to ease on cleanup. I use 3 of the 4 blades available to me in the Pipnet Kit – I’m surprised how large the bowl is for a smaller sized pipe. I then scrape more carbon out of the chamber using the Savinelli Fitsall tool which is great for getting hard to reach places. Using a Sharpie Pen, around it I wrap 240 grit paper and sand the fire chamber to expose the fresh briar. I finish with cleaning the chamber of carbon dust with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95%. The chamber has no cracks or crevices upon inspection. Next I attack the lava flow on the rim and cleaning the stummel surface. I use undiluted Murphy’s Oil soap with cotton pads to do the cleaning. The rim requires the use of a brass brush which doesn’t harm the briar. I then rinse the stummel using cool tab water careful to keep water out of the internals. The Murphy’s cleaned the surface well – it was grimy and the old finish was lightened at different places – especially around the rim. I take a few pictures below to show what I’m seeing. I like working on a clean pipe so I decide to do the dirty work now. Using pipe cleaners and cotton buds dipped in isopropyl 95%, I work on cleaning the mortise and draft hole. I find the internals pretty dirty but finally the pipe cleaners and buds are coming out fairly clean. I like to make sure the internals are clean so I will also use the more subtle approach – kosher salt and alcohol soak. I use kosher salt because, unlike iodized salt which leaves a taste in the wood, kosher does not. I fill the chamber with salt and cover the top and give it a shake to move the salt around. Then I use a cotton ball to create a wick by stretching and twisting it. I stuff it down the mortise and place the stummel in an egg carton for stability. Using a large eyedropper, I then fill the chamber with isopropyl 95% until it surfaces over the salt. After a few minutes, I will top the alcohol again. The night is late, I leave the stummel to soak over nite and I call it a day. The next morning before heading out for my workday, I need to tend to the kosher salt and alcohol soak. The salt was discolored and the wick was wonderfully colored – it did the job that was asked of it! I dump out the used salt in the waste basket and wipe the bowl with paper towel and a bristled brush to remove the leftover salt. I also blow through the mortise to purge any left over salt in the mortise. I finish by running a few pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95% through the airway and I’m satisfied. The bowl is clean!I also fish the Comoy’s stem out of the OxiClean bath. The bath has raised more oxidation from the vulcanite. I adjust the aperture on the iPhone camera to show better what I’m able to see with the naked eye.I attack the oxidation by wet sanding with 600 grade paper. When it’s time to head to work, I’m still not satisfied that the oxidation was conquered and will continue tonight!I continue working on the oxidation when I return in the evening. I continue sanding using 600 grade paper but change to dry sanding. I also utilize a disc I fashioned to wedge up to the shank end of the stem to avoid the sanding creating a ‘shoulder’ on the stem – a rounding of the edge. I think I’m making progress. I follow the 600 paper by buffing the stem with 0000 grade steel wool. Through out I take a very light approach to sanding on the Comoy’s 3 piece ‘C’, though since it is an inlay, it’s not fragile – at least that is my hope! At this point, I’m feeling better about the oxidation being subdued for the most part!Now, taking a close look at the bit area to determine tooth chatter needing to be taken care of, I see that the work dealing with the oxidation has almost cleared all the chatter. There is still a little that will easily sand out. I take pictures of the minor issues and then use 470 grade paper on the upper and lower bit areas removing the chatter. I then return to 600 grade paper then 0000 steel wool to erase the tracks of the coarser papers. The pictures show the progress. Next, using micromesh pads, I wet sand the stem using pads 1500 to 2400. Following this I dry sand using pads 3200 to 4000 then 6000 to 12000. Following each set of 3 pads, I apply Obsidian Oil which the vulcanite drinks up. I think that stems require more time than any other part of the restoration process – they take lots of patience and this Comoy’s stem looks good – he’s really popping! Turning to the Pebble Grain Poker stummel, I’m looking forward to seeing how he will shape up! The Comoy’s Pebble Grain blasted finish is second to none in my opinion – the three-dimensional perspective of the grain revealed in the blasting process gives a different kind of enjoyment. I love to see the grain emerge in smooth briars, but a quality blasted surface, as this Comoy’s is, gives a unique grain look and touch all in one package. Earlier when I cleaned the stummel with Murphy’s Soap, I felt like it lightened the finish at places. With this classic pipe I want to keep it as close to the original as I can – only refreshing it where its tired. I reached out to Steve with all his rebornpipes experience to get his input which was helpful as expected! The working plan is to touch up areas that are worn more and exposed briar is showing. This is especially true of the outer rim lip – through wear, the finish is thin. I take a few pictures to mark the start. With a Cherry dye stick, which seems to be a good, subtle match, I touch up the rim as well as a few spots around the base of the shank and on the shank end. I then apply Before and After Restoration Balm, Steve’s suggestion, by placing Balm on my fingers and working it into the crevices of the Comoy’s Poker blasted finish. The Balm starts off more liquidy then firms up into a wax-like substance that continues to be supple. It takes a few applications to my finger to cover the surface well. I set it aside for a while to allow the Balm to do its thing! I take a picture with the Balm on the stummel. After about ten minutes, I wipe the Balm off with a cotton cloth towel until it start shining up. I’m very pleased with the results – the Balm brought the blasted briar to a rich brown hue with the light reddish flecks that give the briar surface depth and character.I reunite the stem to the Modern Poker stummel and mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel dedicated to White Diamond compound to the Dremel. With the speed set at the lowest for the Dremel, I apply the compound to the stem to bring out the gloss. I don’t press hard on the wheel but allow the speed, the wheel and the compound to do the work. After completing the application of compound to the stem, I mount a cotton cloth wheel on the Dremel to apply Carnauba wax to both the blasted stummel and stem. What I have grown to enjoy is the up close and personal approach that I have developed with the Dremel. I am able to apply the carnauba wax by changing the orientation of the wheel to correspond to the terrain of the blasted surface. This allows me to apply the wax strategically and to avoid too much or too little. After completing a couple of applications of the wax, I give the Comoy’s Poker a rigorous hand buffing with a mircromesh towel dispense any leftover wax and to raise the shine.

Oh my! What a classic presentation of this Made in London England, Comoy’s Modern ¾ Bent Poker. The blasted surface is beautiful – I love the 3 dimensional perspective of the grain. The process of blasting is different from rustification. When I started restoring pipes it took me a while to figure this out. The blasting technique, which Comoy’s has certainly perfected over the years, gently removes the soft wood and leaves the contours of the harder wood of the grain peeks. This leaves an intricate mosaic of grain pattern to enjoy by sight and by touch as one enjoys his (or her) favorite blend. This vintage Comoy’s Pebble Grain 603 Bent Modern Poker is a keeper and I’m reluctantly giving him up! A unique addition to anyone’s pipe collection. Since Greg commissioned the Poker, he has first dibs on it when I put it into The Pipe Steward Store. This Comoy’s Pebble Grain benefits the work of the Daughters of Bulgaria – helping women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited. Thanks for joining me!

Refreshing a NOS 2012 Peterson’s Pipe of the Year Diplomat

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Blog by Steve Laug

Not too long ago I went for coffee with a friend of mine who used to own a pipe shop. He had some pipes to sell and wanted me to have a look. He wanted me to offer them for sale on rebornpipes. This is the third pipe of the lot that he sent home with me. It was a New Old Stock (NOS) unsmoked, Peterson’s Pipe of the Year for 2012. The 2012 Peterson Pipe of the Year continues the tradition of using the then new “B Line” shapes. It is a bit of hybrid shape that combines a stout bodied Brandy shape with a Diplomat shape. It has a flattened bottom on the bowl that enables the pipe to sit. It features a squat bowl with oval shank. This smooth finished pipe has the traditional Peterson reddish brown staining and the use of higher graded briar shows through. The vulcanite, saddle stem is matched with a (0.925 sterling) silver band embossed with the Peterson “P” on the top side and embossed hallmarks identifying the year of the pipe on the underside of the band. The smooth finish version is numbered and comes packaged in the 2012 grey box. The vulcanite stem was a fishtail style stem rather than a P-lip. The pipe is highly collectible. The photos below show the packaging and what I saw when I opened the box and removed it from the green Peterson’s of Dublin pipe sock. I took it out of the box and took photos to show the condition. You can see that the finish is flawless with some nice grain around the bowl. The silver band is tarnished but undamaged. It has a large cursive Peterson’s P on the top of the oval band and hallmark stamps on the underside that matches the 2012 year. The bowl inside was polished and smooth. It was indeed unused. The stem was flawless and there was no oxidation or discolouration to be detected. There were no marks on the stem also showing that it was unused. The airway in the shank and the stem were clean and polished. It is stamped on the topside of the shank Peterson’s with the old forked P arched over Dublin. On the underside it is stamped LIMITED EDITION over 534/1000 indicating that this is the 534 pipe out of a total of 1000 pipes that had been made for the POY 2012. The pipe is a beauty and the silver will really stand out once it is polished and cleaned.

The measurements of the pipe are as follows – Length: 5.47 in./138.94 mm, Weight: 1.90 oz./53.86 g, Bowl Height: 1.56 in./39.62 mm, Chamber Depth: 1.25 in./31.75 mm, Chamber Diameter: 0.78 in./19.81 mm, Outside Diameter: 1.79 in./45.47 mm. I took some close up photos of the rim, bowl and underside of the bowl to show the condition of the pipe. You can see the tarnish on the band but you can also see the P on the topside and the hallmarks on the underside. I would be better able to read the hallmarks once I had removed the tarnish on the silver. The fishtail stem was in perfect condition and had a rich shine to vulcanite. I polished the silver band using a jeweler’s cloth and rubbed the band until the silver shone and the tarnish was gone.I took some close up photos of the shank and band to show the stamping on both. I did some hunting for information on the 2012 POY and could not find any hallmark charts that went beyond 2010. I am working with the assumption that the markings on the silver band match the stamping on the pipe and the mark on the box. The pipe has the standard Peterson’s Hallmarks. The first mark is the Hibernia which identifies the country of origin as Ireland. The second mark is .925 which is the fineness mark denoting the quality of the silver used. The third mark is the date mark which in this case is the cursive A which I am assuming identifies the year of manufacture as 2012 to match the date on the box and the POY 2012 designation.This beautiful pipe is a worthy addition to a Peterson’s Collector’s rack. It has stunning grain and polished silver. The combination looks really good with the black of the stem. The pipe is new old stock (NOS) and has never been smoked or even handled much since 2012. The measurements of the pipe are as follows – Length: 5.47 in./138.94 mm, Weight: 1.90 oz./53.86 g, Bowl Height: 1.56 in./39.62 mm, Chamber Depth: 1.25 in./31.75 mm, Chamber Diameter: 0.78 in./19.81 mm, Outside Diameter: 1.79 in./45.47 mm. I am adding it to the rebornpipes store shortly. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know via email to slaug@uniserve.com or send me a message on Facebook. Thanks for looking.

Refreshing a Pair of NOS Peterson’s Silver Caps from 2000

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Blog by Steve Laug

Not too long ago I went for coffee with a friend of mine who used to own a pipe shop. He had some pipes to sell and wanted me to have a look. The first of the pipes was a pair of Peterson’s Silver Caps from 2000. These were brand new pipes – unsmoked and really never put out in his store. They were still in their original boxes. One of the boxes had the $600 price tag still intact on the end. The pipes included a 106 Billiard and a 150 Bulldog. Each pipe was boxed and included the original Peterson’s of Dublin Established 1865 Pipe Sock in the box. These pipes are both clean and unsmoked. The only issue with them was that the silver rim cap, band and P on the stem were tarnished and blackened from sitting. The Bulldog had a P-lip style stem while the Billiard had a fishtail stem with a removable adapter in place in the tenon so that it could be smoked with the Peterson’s 9mm filters that were included in the box.I took each pipe out of the box and took pictures of it to show its general condition. The Bulldog was first. You can see the finish is flawless with some nice grain around the bowl. The silver cap and band are tarnished but undamaged. Both have hallmark stamps on them so I should be able to identify the year of manufacture of the pipe. The silver P on the left side of the saddle stem is also tarnished but undamaged. When I opened the cap the bowl inside was polished and smooth. It was indeed unused. The stem was flawless and there was no oxidation or discolouration to be detected. There were no marks on the stem also showing that it was unused. The airway in the shank and the stem were clean and polished. It is stamped on the left side of the shank Peterson’s with the old forked P arched over Dublin. On the right side it has the shape number 150 and reads Made in the Republic of Ireland. The pipe is a beauty and the silver will really stand out once it is polished and cleaned. I took some close up photos of the rim cap and the stem to show the condition. You can see the tarnish on the rim cap and the deep shine on the stem. The cap also bore hallmarks that I would be better able to read when I had cleaned up the silver. The band also bore hallmarks that would be readable as well.The Billiard was second. You can see the finish is flawless with some nice grain around the bowl. The silver cap and band are tarnished but undamaged. Both have hallmark stamps on them so I should be able to identify the year of manufacture of the pipe. The silver P on the left side of the tapered fishtail stem is also tarnished but undamaged. When I opened the cap the bowl inside was polished and smooth. It was unused as well. The stem was flawless and there was no oxidation or discolouration to be detected. There were no marks on the stem also showing that it was unused. The airway in the shank and the stem were clean and polished. It is stamped on the left side of the shank Peterson’s with the old forked P arched over Dublin. On the right side it has the shape number 106 and reads Made in the Republic of Ireland. This pipe is a beauty as well and the silver will really stand out once it is polished and cleaned. I took some close up photos of the rim cap and the stem on the billiard to show the condition. You can see the tarnish on the rim cap and the deep shine on the stem. The cap also bore hallmarks that I would be better able to read when I had cleaned up the silver. The band also bore hallmarks that would be readable as well.The Billiard came with an adapter in the tenon that was removable allowing the pipe to be smoked with or without the 9MM Absorba Filters. The pictures below show the adaptor in and out of the tenon. I polished the silver on both pipes with a jeweler’s polishing cloth that removes tarnish and protects silver. I worked over the bands and caps on both pipes as well as the silver P on the stems.I did some hunting for information on the pipes in a Peterson’s Catalogue I have on rebornpipes (https://rebornpipes.com/2015/05/15/a-beautiful-peterson-of-dublin-pipe-catalogue/). I have copied several pages from the catalogue for use here. The first page shows the Silver Cap series. The two pipes in this blog are Natural Finished pipes – shape number 150 and number 106. I have circled both of them in the picture below.The second page I have included is a hallmark chart below that helps date the pipes. Both pipes have the standard Peterson’s Hallmarks. On both pipes each hallmark is the same. The first mark is the Hibernia which identifies the country of origin as Ireland. The second mark is the Crowned Harp mark is the fineness mark which denotes the quality of the silver as 925. The third mark is the date mark which in this case is the cursive Q identifying the year of manufacture as 2000.Here are photos of the finished pipes. The first is the Dublin Silver Cap 150 Bulldog. The first picture shows the box end with the shape number and the pipe shop price of the pipe new. The dimensions of the pipe are: Length: 5 1/2 inches, Height: 2 inches (including the cap) Diameter of the Bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Diameter of the Chamber: 3/4 inches. This is a beautiful pipe and will be going on the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in adding it to your collection have a look there. The second pipe is the Dublin Silver Cap 106 Billiard. The first picture shows the box end with the shape number and the pipe shop price of the pipe new. The dimensions of the pipe are: Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 1/8 inches (including the cap) Diameter of the Bowl: 1 1/2 inches, Diameter of the Chamber: 3/4 inches. This is another beautiful pipe and it will also be going on the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in adding it to your collection have a look there. Both of these are beautiful pipes and will be worthy additions to a Peterson’s Collector’s rack. They have stunning grain and polished silver. The combination looks really good with the black of the stem and silver inset P on the left side of the stems. They are new old stock (NOS) and have never been smoked or even handled much since 2000. If you would like to add one of both to your collection let me know via email to slaug@uniserve.com or send me a message on Facebook. Thanks for looking.

Breathing New Life into a B.P. Jum War Club

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Blog by Steve Laug

In one of the boxes of pipes that my brother Jeff sent me was a large, hefty carved pipe that was stamped BP Jum. It had a carved finish very similar to the carving on Custombilt pipes made by Tracy Mincer. The shape is also similar to the CB pipes. It is a large pipe – 5 ½ inches long, 1 ½ inches tall, outside wall diameter 2 inches and the chamber diameter 1 inch. The shank diameter is 7/8 inches. The stem is 2 ¼ inches long. The briar was very dirty with grit and grime in the depths of the carvings. The rim top was also dirty with lava and tars in the carving of the rim. There was cake built up on the walls of the bowl. The briar has a log of putty fills underneath the rustication with a large one on the left side of the shank. The stem was oxidized and dirty and there were tooth marks and chatter on both the top and underside of the stem near the button. The internals of the both the airway in the stem and shank and the mortise were very dirty with tars and oils. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took photos of the rim top and inside of the bowl to show the condition. You can see the cake – not terribly thick but still visible and flaking nonetheless. It was not hard but was flaky and soft. He also took photos of the sides and underside of the bowl and shank. I have included those here. There was a smooth portion of briar on the underside of the shank that was stamped BP JUM over IMPORTED BRIAR. There were fills in the shank that are visible in the photo below.He took photos of the stem to show the tooth marks and the oxidation on the stem.I did some research to try to find out information on the BP Jum brand. There was a lot of conjecture as to whether the brand was made by Tracy Mincer of Custombilt fame. There is no definitive proof other than the common shapes, sizes and look of the pipes. Bill Unger, of Custombilt fame and author of a history of the brand, mentions BP Jum but cannot definitively connect the two. So the maker remains a mystery that is still unsolved. Do any of you reading this have information on the brand? Send me a message or an email if you can help. Thanks ahead of time.

Jeff had reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the bowl, rim and shank. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. The lava mess on the rim was thoroughly removed without harming the finish underneath it. Without the grime the finish looked good. The stem would need to be worked on. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the rim top that shows the clean bowl and the small nicks and dents in the smooth portion of the finish. The stem was clean and Jeff had used Before & After Deoxidizer to soak and remove much of the oxidation. He rinsed out the inside of the stem and rinsed off the exterior as well. The photos of the stem show the tooth marks and chatter on both sides.The BP JUM stamp is very clean. You can see the putty fills on the left side of the photo as well as on the shank sides and the bowl itself. I used a Mahogany stain pen to touch up all of the fill areas on the pipe and blend them into the texture of the briar.I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to sand out the nicks and damage on the smooth parts of the rim. I polished them with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the rim down after each sanding pad to remove the sanding dust. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the briar and particularly the sanded areas. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I hand rubbed it with my fingers and wiped it off with a soft cloth. I buffed the bowl with a horsehair shoe brush to polish it. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. I used clear super glue to fill in the large fill on the left side of the shank. I scored it with a knife to match the marks in the rustication. I stained the fill with a mahogany stain pen to match the briar and rubbed the area down with the balm to blend it.I waxed the cleaned and polished bowl with Conservator’s Wax and worked it into the rusticated finish. I buffed it with a shoe brush and a soft cloth. The bowl is finished other than the final buffing that I will do once the stem is finished. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I used a Bic lighter to paint the tooth marks with the flame and try to lift them. I was able to remove the lighter tooth chatter and lift the deep tooth marks partially. I sanded the stem and the surface of the button with 220 grit sand paper to remove the remaining tooth marks and reshape the surface and edges of the button. There were two tooth marks that were too deep and did not lift when heated. I filled them in with clear super glue. Once it had cured I sanded it down with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surface of the vulcanite. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I used the Before & After Pipe Polish to remove the small minute scratches left in the vulcanite. I finished by wiping the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I polished the stem and bowl with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is an interesting looking pipe that may have been carved by Tracy Mincer. It certainly bears a lot of resemblance to Custombilt/Custom-Bilt pipes.The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 1/2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection email me at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a message on Facebook. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this BP Jum.

Restoring my grandfather’s Custom-Bilt pipe

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

Now that the WDC Bulldog with Bakelite stem and gold band has been sent to Mr. Steve along with one Linkman’s with Pat Number and one Barling Ye Olde Wood, I suddenly feel relieved off the pressure of messing up with the restoration of these sentimentally valuable old pipes of my grandfather. It always pays to have someone experienced to fall back on in case something goes awry, the way it did with the WDC mentioned above. I am sure that those of who have previously read about the restoration of the Pete System # 31 will be curious to know what exactly went wrong with the WDC that I have mentioned it twice!!! Well, I definitely intend to share this story with you, but all in good time!!!!!

The next pipe from the collection which I decided to work on was a huge Custom-Bilt briar pipe. The large size of the bowl, thick shank and large saddle stem, lends this pipe a weight which I particularly enjoy holding in my hand.The pipe has deep and large vertical rustications along the entire length of the shank and height of the bowl. Within these large vertical rustications are very thin, closely stacked horizontal lines which give this pipe its unique appearance and are its trademark!!! I absolutely loved this pipe. These large rustications end half a centimeter below the outer rim of the bowl giving it the semblance of a rim cap. The rim top is covered with the same thin, closely stacked lines as seen between the vertical rustications.The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank as “Custom-Bilt” on a plane surface. There is also a five-pointed star on the right side of the shank where the shank and stem meet (this star was revealed later after cleaning the pipe!!!).I searched the internet for information in order to date this pipe. Pipedia has a lot of information about this pipe and just typing in Custom-Bilt in the search bar of the site will reveal the required information. There is an interesting review given by Richard Esserman on a book written by William E. Unger, Jr., PhD, which deals with the study of Custom-Bilt pipes. The author authoritatively states, after a lot of research and study that the stamp as seen on this particular pipe dates it from between 1938 – 1946!Initial inspection of the pipe revealed the following:

There is a thick layer of cake in the bowl. Though the cake appears thin, the sheer size of the bowl makes it appear so.The rim is covered in the overflow of lava, dirt and grime. The outer edge of the rim appears to be in good condition with no damage. The condition of the inner edge will be determined only after removing the cake.

The large vertical rustications are filled with dust, oils, dirt and grime to such an extent that the horizontal lines lying within are barely visible. Same goes for the rim top. The stem is firmly stuck to the shank and will not budge. However, there is only one light bite mark below and above the stem near the lip. This is a big surprise since all the other pipes are heavily chomped up!THE PROCESS

Before I could start the work of cleaning the pipe, I kept it in the freezer overnight so as to separate the stem from the shank. Come morning, I removed the pipe from the freezer and tried to remove the stem, but it still did not budge! I let it rest outside for an hour and after applying considerable force, the stem came free, revealing an aluminum tenon fixed permanently into the shank.My first impression was that of having broken and ruined the stem. Further examination of this protrusion confirmed two airways, a larger one above a smaller one, both with the same draught hole at the other end.There is also a gap between the end of this aluminum protrusion and the airway hole inside the stem. This gap is covered in oils, tars and gunk. My guess is that the smoke drawn is swirled and the turbulence results in a cool and dry smoke. Any confirmed inputs will be highly appreciated.Using a Kleen Reem pipe tool, Abha, my wife removed all the thick cake from the bowl. She further cleaned the bowl down to the bare briar using a knife that I have especially fabricated for cleaning pipes. It may not be as classy as a Savinelli Fitsall knife, but performs efficiently to our satisfaction.A sanding down of the insides of the bowl by a 220 grit sand paper made the inner surface of the bowl nice and smooth. Abha had sanded down the inside of the bowl down to its briar. On close scrutiny of the insides of the bowl, I saw what appeared to be cracks in the bowl and that had me in sweats!!! Immediately forwarded pictures of the same to my mentor and Guru, Mr. Steve who laid my fears to rest by assuring these were not cracks and that further sanding should take care of these things. These lines which appeared like cracks disappeared after sanding down with a 220 grit sand paper.Thereafter, using Murphy’s oil soap ( undiluted ) and a hard bristled toothbrush on the exterior of the bowl, shank and rim, the pipe was thoroughly cleaned and rinsed under running tap water. I immediately wiped it down with a soft cloth. The long vertical rustications and the horizontal lines within were now clean and the briar looked clean and solid. I then left the briar to dry out. This product, I find to be very easy to use and the results are really amazing. The briar takes on a new look and a new shine. While the briar was drying out, I turned my attention to the stem. Since there is only one small, light bite mark on both the sides of the stem near the lip, I felt that it can be addressed by holding it over a Bic lighter and during sanding down using a 220 grit paper followed by micromesh sanding pads. Since there is no stamping on the stem, the work progressed relatively faster. After a 220 grit sanding, I wet sanded it with 1500 – 3200 micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded with 3400 – 12000 grit sand paper. In between each micromesh pad, I wiped it down with extra virgin olive oil, which I find is a perfect substitute for Obsidian oil which is not available in India and olive oil also tastes great! The stem is now nice and shiny. However, the light bite marks on both upper and lower sides can still be seen even after the using the Bic lighter and the sanding down process. This should have been addressed right at the beginning by either filling it with black super glue (which I do not have) or by using activated charcoal as suggested by my Guru, Mr. Steve. Well, this was a lesson learnt during this project.

Once the briar had dried out completely, I rubbed in Before and After Restoration Balm deep into the rustications as well as the rim top. The bowl was then wiped vigorously with a soft cloth and buffed with a horse hair shoe brush. The result is very pleasing and satisfying to the eyes! I am happy with this progress. This balm is a fantastic product for infusing a new life into the briar and giving it a new lease of life.While on a FaceTime call with Mr. Steve, I had conveyed that I do not have a buffing wheel and other waxes. He advised me to use boot wax which is readily available with us, it being an inescapable requirement in my profession and believe you me, it works wonders. I can rely on his vast experience to come up with such simple, uncomplicated and practical solutions, specifically tailor-made for you. Thank you, Sir.

The finished pipe is as shown below. I enjoyed working on this large Custim-Bilt pipe belonging to my grandfather. There are still a number of pipes which I have to work on and the next one is an old Stanwell, de-Luxe # 482 with Regd number 969-48 and a KRISWILL “CHIEF” #20. I have to work really hard and fast so as to complete as many pipes as possible before my leave ends!!!!