The Coming Calm after the Storm

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Guest Blog by Robert M. Boughton
Member, North American Society of Pipe Collectors
http://www.naspc.org
http://www.roadrunnerpipes.com
http://about.me/boughtonrobert
Photos © the Author

Dedicated to Louis Arthur Hille (February 14, 1969-October 8, 2015)

“Part of me is afraid to get close to people because I’m afraid that they’re going to leave.” ― Brian Hugh Warner (a.k.a. Marilyn Manson), U.S. singer/songwriter/
performer/rock journalist/painter/actor, born January 5, 1969

INTRODUCTION

Like a panther, the young man caught in this rare snap-shot had the edge of menace in his pensive yet calm and subtly wild gaze and the firm set of his jaws. Though he seldom permitted the opportunity to penetrate the murky depths of his intellect long enough to preserve the moment in a photo, it shone through anyway. We were best friends and roommates for the past 15 years; I was his certified, consumer-directed caregiver during the last seven, and, in 2009, when his health took a big dive and he needed someone to protect him more than ever, he reluctantly made me his agent under a durable power of attorney. At the risk of being misunderstood (a possibility that really doesn’t threaten my hardy sense of self-identity in the least), we were soulmates.

The term snap-shot itself, as I may have noted before, originated as a hunting term: “A quick or hurried shot taken without deliberate aim, esp. one at a rising bird or quickly moving animal.” [Oxford English Dictionary] The word used in that sense dates at least to 1808, whereas the adoption by photographers appears to have started around 1860.

Louis told me, more times than I have mentioned in my blogs here how my dad was fond of saying I have a mind like a steel trap, that I would never meet anyone like him again. Once was well worth the almost manic-depressive ups and downs in near constant close quarters and proximity, but enough, if you can grok me. If my mind is a steel trap, Louis’ could go off when an ant happened upon it. To say Louis did not handle strict, unyielding strangers well, in particular those who could violate the sanctity of his room at will and in the hospital did so more or less constantly, and with apparent delight, is a gross understatement. He could and usually did revert to his five-year-old self and throw the kind of tantrums of which only an adult is capable. I’m sure the sole reason he was never put in four-point restraints, before the last year and a half or so when his hip and leg contractures became so bad that his knees were frozen up to his chin and made the heart’s desire of many a nurse and tech impossible, was the hospital staff’s well-founded fear of what I would have done.

A little more than a year before the serendipitous snapshot above, Louis celebrated his thirty-sixth birthday, on Valentine’s Day 2005, in a bed and hooked up to IV bags and monitors, during the second of many extended hospital stays. Before the end came last week, at home where he wanted to be, with his cats and me, Louis was to spend two more birthdays in hospitals, the most recent this year, on his 46th, and last. Celebrated, of course, is a modifier for birthdays that is worn thin by convention, and not at all the best choice in this case. In fact, the only way he lasted three months in that place was my gift to him his first full day of a large but portable CD/DVD player with headphones, as well as a couple of Stephen King’s better audio books and the latest Marilyn Manson release. That last would have been “The Golden Age of Grotesque”; this was two years before “East Me, Drink Me.” Yes, even Manson grew on me thanks to Louis’ knowledgeable and fervent guidance.

When I suspended the above moment in time, Louis had just recently been released (or, to be more honest, sprung by me) from the hospital full of quacks, imbeciles and ninnies. In their vast wisdom, which so often fuels a God complex, they mused at first over the likelihood of multiple sclerosis, given their myopic failure to get to the truth, so few years ago, that is now taught to pre-med students and even EMTs. Then they turned to lupus and several other look-alike possibilities. They even tested Louis for A.I.D.S. – not once, but twice, in case they missed it the first time.

This was how he often looked, for a time, after that quarter-year exercise in trial-and-error experiments that ended with our hectic, A.M.A., wheelchair career down several flights on the elevator and thence straight for the exit.

I have another favorite snapshot of Louis, taken with my cellphone when he had grown his hair back the way he liked it, which is to say very long. This one was taken around 2009-’10.It’s a favorite for æsthetic or artistic reasons as well as the way it shows the almost trancelike way he could stop in the middle of a step, having fallen into a reverie of contemplation that required stillness. I was surprised and pleased that he enjoyed this photo when I showed it to him after the barber had sheared off his beloved hair again.

The next year sometime, returning to my previous train of thought and meaning 2006 – I don’t recall the date but believe it was Spring – brought a surprise telephone call from Louis’ primary care physician.

I will never forget the similarity of the one-sided conversations, as I heard it from Louis’ side, and one of Bob Newhart’s hilarious 1960s “phone calls” from dead people, such as Abe Lincoln’s entreaty for help writing the Gettysburg Address – and Newhart’s deadpan response to one unheard complaint with something about how 87 years ago really wasn’t very snappy. Except that from my perspective, being able to “hear” what his doctor was saying based on Louis’ verbal responses, and in particular seeing the changes of his facial expressions, there was nothing to inspire laughter.

“Okay, then, I guess I’ll take the good news first,” Louis said after a moment’s exchange of niceties. Pause. “It’s not MS.” Pause. “That’s the good news?” Pause. “So what’s – the – bad news?” The last part was spoken as one word. “Oh.” Swallow. “It’s something different.” Pause. “Wait: neuro-what?” Repeating what the doctor told him, sound by sound. “Neuro-mye-litis op-ti-ca.” Nervous breathing, by both of us. “Oh. Yes, I heard you. MS isn’t fatal, but this is.”

And so the doctor did the unthinkable in a time when the pop medical practice remains to downplay the negative if not outright lie to the patient: he told the truth. Using the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan photos from the big machine at the private hospital from which Louis escaped – the same kind of contraption that seemed to scare the devil out of Linda Blair in “The Exorcist,” only somewhat quieter – the head of the neurology department at our local university hospital spotted healed and unhealed wounds from the back of Louis’ neck and down his spine that gave her a good idea of what she was dealing with. She confirmed it with a blood test introduced the same year that differentiates the disease Louis had as a distinct and fatal entity from MS.

As it turned out, Louis was host to a genetic anomaly. In other words, the neuromyelitis optica (NMO, or Devic’s Disease) with which he was born – and which was just beginning, after 37 years of passing time slowly but methodically eating away at the myelin sheaths, fatty substances protecting Louis’ nerves, starting with those in the optic region, to thereby render him legally blind – had no precedence in his family. It was more along the lines of a ghastly fluke.

For those of you who have no idea where I’m going with this long account of Louis’ non-pipe-related demise (in fact, I even succeeded in getting him off cigarettes by supplying him with pipes and tobacco, although there was little chance he would ever live long enough to die of cancer), I will now clarify. Louis was by no means easy to get along with, but during the 15 years we were roommates, he – how should I put it? – grew on me as a good friend does, regardless of the many differences. Almost everyone who ever talked to him agreed on two points: one, he was a genius usually more capable than the listener to discuss complex issues of mathematics, science, world events, religious topics through the millennia, detailed weather phenomena and even the day’s stock market numbers. He was possessed of the ability to memorize the entire dialogues of movies, TV shows, commercials, popular and rock songs and more or less anything else – on a single viewing or hearing – and he could recite them for the rest of his life. The other general characteristic people who talked to Louis agreed on was that he could be a downright rude jerk. I’m not speaking ill of the dead, as should be apparent by the end of this unusual introduction; it was the simple truth, and he was never even aware of it despite my attempts to make him so. The fact is, he sounded like his mother, whom I knew. There was also the fact that his mind and spirit traveled at a speed comparable by mental comparison to the F-22 Raptor and was just as deadly with its offensive and defensive weapons loads. All of these factors tended to intimidate or just embarrass people.

Louis had theories far rarer than NMO, but as intricately informed as a spider’s web is spun, on such issues as the afterlife, prior lives, simultaneous lives, paranormal entities, abortion and other lively and nowadays popular and/or controversial concepts. Does a pattern emerge from these topics? Only now do I see it: Louis’ thriving thirst for life, before, during and after what most people would call his own. The thing about Louis is that he was out there way before it was cool to be out there.

The reason I stayed by Louis’ side almost as long as his parents, who kicked him out as an eighteenth birthday present, was that I could still see the same person I met the day after Thanksgiving in 2000. He was happy. He smiled and laughed and talked non-stop but coherently and cogently about almost anything, and when he couldn’t think of a name or a word or whatever, I was the only person who listened and understood where he was coming from and could fill in the missing spaces, and he could finish my thoughts, as well.

I miss those conversations at coffee houses or on buses or walking when I didn’t have a car, and he could still walk. I miss those good times not because we stopped having them after he grew sicker, but because they occurred less and less often, and now he is gone. All I ever wanted was to help him get better. Right now the only thing I have to replace that is working on pipes, trying to make them better.

This one, like Louis, was really messed up when I got it, and the consensus among my pipe restorer friends was to lop off about a half an inch from the top of the bowl and reshape it. But I thought: nah! Been there, done that. This time I wanted to try something a little different. Two previous restorations came to mind. One is a Ben Wade with an enormous crack down one side of the bowl that required emergency surgery to amputate about two thirds of the tall billiard, and is still in recovery as a squat pot shop pipe. The other is a no-name Italian freehand that I call the Beak and thought was someone’s first attempt at pipe making because of several mistakes I had to correct, including the unmissable in the following photos.

Louis, I know you’re listening, and this one’s for you.

RESTORATION

I am sure the reason my friends suggested the more drastic surgery is clear from these photos. Whoever put that gash in the rim ought to be brought up before the Pipe Court, have any other potential hostages he might be holding liberated and be forced to register as a pipe offender for the rest of his life, unless, of course, he can prove he is rehabilitated. The latter event is unlikely, as recidivism is high for this offense.

There are several not-so-easy to spot points. The traditional triangle with WDC, for William Demuth & Company (1862-1972), is missing, possibly from a previous owner gripping the bowl so tightly that it rubbed off altogether, or because of its original absence. Steve informs me that not all WDCs have the triangle. Also, the first few letters of Wellington are very faded, but the nomenclature type style is the same as other WDC Wellingtons, such as this System Billiard in the Peterson’s style that I restored a while back. Then there is the small STERLING mark on the close-up of the band, if you can make it out in the first group above.

At any rate, as much as the initial challenge appeared obvious – to see if I could pull off rounding the entire rim, thereby eliminating the horrid wound and hopefully leaving the rim even – I decided to clean and otherwise prepare the insides of the WDC first. The chamber appeared to have been well-cleaned, and all it needed was an easy sanding with 320-grit followed by 500. Then I remembered I needed a bit for the pipe and couldn’t even retort it until I found one! That’s okay, laugh all you like. I know I can be a bit spacey sometimes, and besides, laughing at the recollection now does me good.

What I wanted was about a three-inch tapered with the right diameter of the tenon end to fit flush with the shank, or a little bigger. Bigger, I can fix. In fact, considering I’m doing it the old-fashioned way, by hand and sand, so to speak, I’m becoming pretty adept. Of course, all I could find in tapered bits, even replacements (i.e., no brand marks) on other pipes awaiting restorations with which I am not above robbing Peter to pay Paul, had tenons that were way too small, or the diameters of the meeting points with the shank were too small. The pipe is banded, so neither of those options would do.

And so I turned to my sure supply of new saddle bits, which were just a touch shorter than I wanted but would do the trick. Here are shots of an uncut saddle bit next to the one I sanded down with coarse paper, identical except for the tenons, and the preliminary fit with the Wellington. Keep in mind that the condition of the pipe with the preliminary stem in it was taken after the next two steps, counting the basic fitting of bit to shank and the retort as finished.

I chose 200-grit paper for the task of rounding the rim so as to take more time and get the job done right with some extra work, but not overdo it with one fell swipe. I hope I’ve learned my lesson there! I was surprised at how easy it was to accomplish.

Here is the step I suggested above, under the photo of the pipe and bit, which made the wood look so inexplicably polished. Using 500-grit paper, I worked over the entire outer wood. I micro meshed from 1500-grit to 12000.

After a moment’s consideration of staining the wood below the rim a little darker, I concluded I would have to make it too dark for there to be any difference from the way it already was and opted to skip it. With that, I realized I only had to finish shaping the bit to the shank before buffing everything on the wheels.

That was when something really creepy happened. I had searched high and low for a tapered bit without luck, but in the meantime did a little straightening up in my office-shop. I had been working on the pipe in the living room with my mobile restoration cart handy and the couch much more comfortable. While looking for an upgrade DVD to an invaluable computer program that remains misplaced, I searched through a large plastic trash bag stuffed willy-nilly with papers, electronic gadgets and whatnot. I came across a nice, black wooden cigar display case with a hinged lid and clasp that I picked up at my tobacconist. No, there was nothing special in the box; it was empty, unfortunately. Then the thought occurred to me how it would make the perfect place to put my loose oddball bits scattered. Most of them were in one place on the bottom shelf, but I had come across some others all over the cart.

Back in the living room, I sat down on the edge of the couch with the box open on the floor in front of me and began to organize the bits in the box, tossing a few that could never be of any use as I went. At last I thought I had them all but checked the top shelf again, as I had before while looking for a tapered bit. I was about to call it quits when I spied two bit lips poking out from under a piece of sandpaper, and…well, I could not believe my eyes. One of them was tapered and appeared to have about the right size tenon. With near reverence, I tried it in the Wellington. The fit was a little loose – just enough to add a layer of black Super Glue, I figured. All it needed other than that was the slightest of sanding just below the lip with 320-grit paper, micro meshing and buffing on the wheel with red and white Tripoli.

Knowing it would be a perfect fit when the glue dried, I still could not stand having to wait another night to see. Of course that’s a figure of speech relating to patience, which I am normally all about, and so I physically survived the night. I was so worn out I even slept like a baby until morning came, and my first thought, like a kid at Christmas, was the present waiting for me on the cart. All I can add is that the black Super Glue had dried on the tenon in perfect shape, and the bit twisted to an exact, flush match with the shank.

Some of you may think this foolish, but I found breathing difficult. Emotion welled up in me again, and to fight it off I closed my eyes. I said out loud, “I’ll be darned [or another similar word]! Thank you, Louis.” He thought I didn’t believe in anything he ever talked about but told me many times he would be keeping an eye on me after he died. I believe he is.

Ready to finish this relaxing project, I buffed the bowl with red and white Tripoli, White Diamond and carnauba, using the dry wheel as usual between each, and then rubbed down the whole thing with a soft cotton cloth.

CONCLUSION

His vision, from the constantly passing bars,
has grown so weary that it cannot hold
anything else. It seems to him there are
a thousand bars; and behind the bars, no world.

As he paces in cramped circles, over and over,
the movement of his powerful soft strides
is like a ritual dance around a center
in which a mighty will stands paralyzed.

Only at times, the curtain of the pupils
lifts, quietly–. An image enters in,
rushes down through the tensed, arrested muscles,
plunges into the heart and is gone.
― Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), Austro-Hungarian poet, in “The Panther”

This was one of Louis’ favorite poems. I was surprised when he revealed this insight into his personality, oh so long ago it seems now, back in the happy autumn days that are no more, to paraphrase another poet’s description of the feeling of ennui. Louis liked those somewhat morose lines of verse, also, the first time I spoke them to him from memory, and several times later asked me to repeat them. I used to recite the words in gushy, over-dramatic tones dripping with the contempt I thought I had for them. But in verbal repetition, I overcame that bad habit, for there was a reason I could recall the brilliant if brief sample of prose from a high school sophomore lit class that really was a long time ago.

For most of the 15 years I knew him, Louis had an intense fear of dying appropriate to someone with an equally free spirit of the simple joy of living that was stolen from him. I tried to reassure Louis, over and over again, that he was not there yet based on my knowledge of the progressively more horrible stages of the disease he came to face almost every waking hour. My mistake was not expecting the unnatural, man-made obstacles that hastened, for him, the day no one truly wishes to see. I am beginning to be at peace with the knowledge that Louis no longer suffers as he did for so long – that he is in a better place, despite my best efforts; and I am still here, to enjoy my life the way my friend wanted me to do, and to fight the good battles. Now I understand that tears are seldom idle.

Just a few more words with some illustrations to sum up: compare the photos below, one antique and the other still fresh. That’s Rilke – somewhere.

And just one more photo of Louis, age 16, happy at home with his parents.

MARILYN MANSON LINKS
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/columbine-whose-fault-is-it-19990624

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vyZK_CKkZo Marilyn Manson’s first David Letterman appearance – yes, he was invited back…and back!

Ship-Shape: Refurbishing a Mokin Corsaire 7087

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Blog by Anthony Cook

The second pipe sent to me by my PSU friend for some work is a unique one. Let me introduce you to the Mokin Corsaire 7087. It’s a small pipe, just shy of five inches in length and about one and a quarter inches tall at the bowl. It has an author-ish shape, except that there is a spine that runs along the bottom like the keel on a ship. I suppose that’s where the “Corsaire” comes from, but despite the masculinity in that name, to my eye there is something distinctly feminine in the shape. The condition of this one was rough to put it mildly. The stummel had some fairly heavy scratches and dents. The rim was scorched and there was a divot on one side where the wood had been burned away. The briar was unstained but covered in a thick, tinted lacquer coating. I suppose this was done to help hide the many fills, but the lacquer wasn’t thick enough to prevent the black stain on the bottom from seeping through into the grain. Oh, did I mention the beautiful horn stem with the busted face and a crack that ran along half the length on the underside? Yeah, like I said, rough.

Here are some more triage photos:

Stamping detail: I gave the pipe a thorough internal cleaning, and then stripped off the lacquer finish with acetone and cotton pads. The lacquer lifted easily but it was a mess. It turned into a thick, sticky residue when it came into contact with the acetone. Once the stummel was clean, the grain became more apparent and it was stunning! I’m a bit of a grain-hound. So, I already knew that I was going to have to work that up as best I could.

I scrubbed at the dark stain on the bottom with the same acetone dampened pads to try to lift it or at least lighten it, but the attempt was in vain. The acetone didn’t even put a dent in it. I was fresh out of ideas and thought that I would probably have to sand them out, but before I did that, I shot Steve an email explaining the problem. He suggested that I try lemon juice. It seemed counterintuitive to me. What could lemon juice do to a stain that acetone couldn’t touch? Anything is worth a shot when you’re desperate though. So, I gave it a try and it worked amazingly well! The only stain that remained was what had set into the softest grain and that was something that I could work with. With the tinted lacquer removed, the fills were more evident than ever. There were seven of them in all and a couple of them were quite large. That’s a lot for any pipe, but especially so for a stummel this small. I picked each of them out and patched the pits with CA and a mix of fine briar dust and course briar file shavings. I find that the course shavings take the stain better, but the fine dust is a better mix with the CA. When mixed together, the resulting patch is still dark but it is mottled with lighter areas that will accept stain well.

I sanded out each of the patches with 220-grit and 320-grit paper and topped the bowl with the same grits until the majority of the burned wood around the rim was removed. Then, I gave a slight chamfer to the inner rim to soften the edge and lightly sanded the entire stummel with 320-grit paper to remove most of the scratches.

It was while I was sanding the stummel that I noticed that the carving was a little sloppy. The left side of the stummel was noticeably less rounded than the right, which made the stummel appear a little lopsided. It was obvious that it wasn’t intentional, but I debated with myself whether to try to correct it or preserve it as part of the personality of the pipe. In the end, I chose to split the difference and round off the upper and lower areas of the left side for a better match with the right. The stummel was ready for finishing. So, I moved on to address the damage to the stem. Usually, I would drill a small hole at the end of the crack to stop the run. In this case, however, that wasn’t really an option. The main crack that extended up from the stem face fractured into several short, stair-step cracks at the end. I decided that it would be best to just seal and stabilize them and hope for the best.

I wrapped clear tape around a thin bit of cardboard and cut a hole for the tenon to push through. This little contraption would serve a dual purpose as both a method for keeping the patched area of the stem face relatively flat and even, and also as stand to support the stem while the patches dried. I patched the cracks and holes with baking soda and CA in the same manner that I would apply a briar dust and CA patch on the stummel. I use super-thin CA for patches. It has about the same viscosity as milk and I think that it penetrates better into the dust than standard CA. It can be tricky to work with until you get used to it. Even though I’ve kind of gotten a handle on it by now, you can see in the photo below that it still got away from me a bit in the bend of the stem. I also filled a couple of bite marks on either side of the stem and when all the patches were fully dry, I sanded them out with 220-grit and 320-grit paper. The cracks were fairly tight. So, I didn’t get as much baking soda worked into them as I would have liked and they appear dark in the photo below. They are sealed and smooth to the touch though.

I continued to sand with 400, 600, and 1200-grit paper to smooth the surface. I used a drop of mineral oil between each grit. The oil allows the sanding dust to collect as slurry on the stem rather than build up on the paper. It also moisturizes the horn, which keeps the ends of the fine fibers from raising and splintering. A good polish with the full range of Micro-Mesh pads finished up the work on the stem. I knew from the beginning that I couldn’t leave the finish natural. There were just too many fills for that. I also knew that I couldn’t completely hide them. So, I hoped that I could give the grain enough “pop” with a bit of stain to draw the eyes away from them.

I applied four stains in all; dark brown, medium brown, light brown, and British tan. The first three were thinned with three parts isopropyl alcohol to one part stain. The last stain was thinned by eye until it was just a light wash. I applied the first stain, and then sanded with 400-grit paper. The second stain was applied before sanding with 600 and 1200-grit paper. After the third stain, I polished the stummel with 1500 through 4000-grit Micro-Mesh pads and gave the stummel a Tripoli buff on the buffing wheel. Then, I applied the stain wash and finished up the work on the stummel with the remaining Micro-Mesh grits. All sanding up to 3600-grit Micro-Mesh was wet sanded and the stummel was hand-buffed with a soft cloth after each stain to remove any excess.

Finally, I polished up the brass ferrule with Semichrome polish and used a bit of epoxy to affix it to the stummel. All that remained after that was to buff the pipe with White Diamond and apply several coats of carnauba wax before it was time for some photos.

I know that many may regard this one as just a novelty pipe, but despite the rough edges, it may be my favorite refurbishment work to date. The photos barely do justice to the color or the grain on this pipe. The credit for the transformation is not really mine though. This was one of the most cooperative pipes that I’ve ever worked with. It set on the bench and said, “Make me a star.” I was charmed and did the best that I could.

New Orleans “Black Eagle” Rides Again

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By Al Jones

Last week, my wife and I had the opportunity to visit our daughter and son-in-law who live in New Orleans. Our visit coincided with the first annual New Orleans Pipe Show, which was an outstanding event. While I was at the show, my family stopped at one of the flea markets in the city. At one shop, they found this “Black Eagle” bulldog, which had a faint “Made in London England” stamp as well. They knew that I loved the tapered stem bulldog shape and spied the “London England” stamp. I assume this was one of many basket pipes made as I can find nothing on the “Black Eagle” name, either via Google or in “Who Made That Pipe”.

The pipe had a heavy coating of tar on the bowl top and a few handling dings. Curiously, there appears to be a band mark on the edge of the shank. The diamond bulldog stem didn’t quite line up with the shank creases and it had a heavy cake build-up inside the bowl. There is one fill on the bowl

Below is the pipe as found. It is a generous Group 5 size and weighs 53 grams.

I reamed the bowl and discovered the interior was in very good shape. While completing that task, I soaked the mildy oxidized stem in a solution of Oxy-Clean.

I decided to remove the finish and restain the briar as part of the restoration. The handling marks were sanded smooth with 800 grit paper.

I reworked the angles of the stem with a fine, flat file than 800 grit paper. As I was completing this work, I concluded that someone had made replacement stem for this pipe. The vulcanite was of a good quality and it polished up nicely. I used 800>1500 and 2000 grit wet sandpaper to further improve the shine. Since I was restaining the bowl, I was able to mount the stem and do the file work from that position.

The bowl was soaked overnight in 91% isopropyl alchohol. I sanded the handling marks with 800 grit paper the 1500 in preparation for staining.

I decided to stain the pipe with Oxblood, as I only have one red stain bulldog in my collection. I lightened the stain with a little Medium Brown. I put on two coats of stain, and set them with a flame. The bowl was then buffed with White Diamond and several coats of Carnuba wax.

The stem profile still isn’t perfect, but the edges align. The one fill was made less visible by the oxblood stain. The pipe will be a nice souvenir from our New Orleans trip and my wife’s thoughtfulness.

Refreshing a Delicate Comoy’s Made Sunrise Amber Grain Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The last pipe that came to me in the Smokers Forum Donation Sale was a beautifully shaped little Sunrise Amber Grain Bent Billiard. The shape and the feel of this little pipe are very delicate. It is almost a bent pencil shank – in fact I am not sure how much thinner it would have to be to actually be called a pencil shank. The pipe is 5.5 inches long, 1.75 inches tall with a small bowl with a chamber diameter of .75 inches. It is stamped Sunrise over Amber Grain on the left side of the shank. On the right it is stamped Vintage Briar and shaped number 13. On the underside of the shank next to the stem junction it is stamped France. The Sunrise line was made by Comoy’s as is identified also by the shape number. As it was made in France it does not have the familiar Com stamp that appears on British made Comoy’s.

This pipe was in decent shape in terms of the exterior finish. There were no dents or dings in the surface of the bowl or shank. The stamping was light on the right side of the shank and the Sunrise stamp was lighter than the Amber Grain stamp. I would have to be careful in the clean up not to damage these already light stamps. The stem was oxidized and there was a small bite through with a crack going toward the button on the underside of the stem.

The rim was in great shape with some light scratching. The inner bevel was still present and darkened but there was no damage to it. The bowl was still in round. There was a rough cake in the bowl that was uneven and would need to be removed. I reamed the bowl with the PipNet reamer to take the cake back to the bare wood.

I cleaned out the shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was amazingly clean. I am guessing that the previous owner cleaned this one up before setting it aside. I cleaned out the bowl and lightly sanded the bevel on the inner edge of the rim to remove the light build-up that was present there. I wiped the bowl down with a cotton pad and some alcohol and then gave it a light coat of olive oil. I buffed it on the buffer to give it a shine. It has some great grain on the bottom of the bowl and the left side. The grain on the front of the bowl and the right side is mixed with a few bald areas. The sides of the shank are full of birdseye grain and the top and bottom are cross grained.

The stem was oxidized and the underside bite through and small crack needed to be addressed.

I picked the debris out of the crack and bite through and examined it with a lens. It was clear that the bite through was very small and that the crack ended at the bite through and went back to the button. The bite through effectively stopped the crack from spreading forward along the stem. I wiped the stem down with acetone on a cotton pad to clean it up. I then spread some black super glue on the crack and bite through with the tip of a dental pick. I set the stem aside to cure for about an hour.

Once the super glue had cured I sanded the repair and the rest of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to both remove the oxidation and to blend the patch into the surface of the stem. I sanded with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge to further remove the scratches and oxidation. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh pads and rubbed stem down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and then buffed it with White Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave it another coat of oil and then sanded with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry.

I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond polish on the wheel and then gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I polished it with a clean flannel buff and then hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Thanks for looking.

Breathing new life into an LHS Park Lane De Luxe Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

When I repaired Troy’s LHS Park Lane Lovat he gifted me this little beauty as a thank you. It is a small billiard and is stamped on the left side of the shank, Park Lane in an arch over the LHS Diamond and underneath the diamond it is stamped De Luxe. On the right side it is stamped with US Pat. 1,908,630. The shape number 19 is stamped on the underside of the shank. The finish was dirty and chipped all around the bowl. The rim had a buildup of tars and lava and the cake in the bowl left the bottom virtually conical. The stem was under clocked slightly. The stem (Bakelite?) was oxidized and had some small tooth marks near the button on the top and bottom sides. I love the swirl patterns of the stem material. They really give the pipe a look of class. When I removed the stem the stinger itself was black with tars and the inside of the shank was also dirty.

I looked up the patent number on the US Patent information website and found out that the patent was filed for the stinger and tenon apparatus in 1933. The one in the diagram is shorter and slightly different from the one in this pipe so I am thinking that it is a later modification that was introduced. That combined with the dates for Bakelite I would put the dates on this pipe in the late 1930s or early 1940s. It is in pretty decent shape for a 75-80 year old pipe.

I took the next three photos to give an idea of the state of the rim. I was uncertain of the condition of the inside edge of the rim because of the thickness of the build-up. The stamping was weak in the middle and the LHS diamond also quite weak. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer. I find that I use that reamer for almost all of the refurbs that I do. The four different sized cutting heads, the T-handle and the carbon steel blade make short order of the most difficult cake. In this case I reamed it back to bare wood. I really wanted to see what the interior looked like as there was significant darkening around the top half of the bowl. The rim itself was just slightly out of round so it would be no issue to clean up. I used a brass bristle tire brush on the long aluminum stinger to clean off the tars. I wanted it clean before I heated it to reclock the stem. With it clean I heated the stinger with the lighter to loosen the glue in the stem. Once it was loose I was able to align the stem correctly. I let it cool in place. With everything aligned I decided to try to pull the end of the stinger to get it to line up with the top of the stem. I wanted the slot in stinger to match the white bar in the stem material. I wrapped the jaws of a pair of needle nose pliers with cellophane tape to protect the aluminum from damage when I clamped them on it. I gently twisted on the end of the stinger and to my surprise the entire tenon unscrewed from the stem. That was a good thing by the way as it made cleaning the stem far simpler. I cleaned the inside of the stem and the stinger with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. I had already tested the stem material and I knew that it would not dissolve with the alcohol. With the inside of the stem clean I put the tenon back in place on the pipe and worked on the exterior. I sanded the surface and particularly the tooth marks with 220 grit sandpaper until they were smooth and blended into the stem surface. I decided to work on this pipe from the opposite direction of my normal practice and finished working on the stem first. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh pads and then rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and then gave it another coat of oil. I finished with 6000-12000 grit pads and a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I set the stem aside and let the oil dry.

I cleaned out the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until it was clean and smelled fresh. I thought about using the retort on it but I am just not certain what the hot alcohol will do with this stem material. Once the rim was cleaned I could see the chips and damage to the surface so I decided to lightly top the bowl. I decided to do some experimenting with Dave Gossett’s method of stripping a bowl finish. I read about it on the Dr. Grabow Collectors Forum. He uses Oxyclean and alcohol he said. I had no idea how he went about it and fired him an email. Due to my impatience I did not wait and just jumped in. I tried to mix the Oxy with the alcohol. It did not work! It made a grit paste but I decided to give that a try anyway. I scrubbed and scrubbed and succeeded in removing a lot of the finish. The mixture left a white/grey ghost on the briar.

I happened to check my email and saw that Dave wrote back. He said that he dissolved the Oxy in hot water and then added the alcohol. He said to be careful of the stamping as the mixture had a tendency to raise the stamping in the weak areas. Boy I wish I had not been impatient. I lost some clarity on the week areas of the stamping. I did the mixture as Dave suggested and wiped down the bowl with it and was able to get some more of the finish removed. There were some deep cuts in the surface of the bowl. I steamed out the dents but these did not raise. I repaired them with superglue and briar dust. I sanded the repaired areas smooth to match the surface of the bowl. I wiped the bowl down with alcohol to remove the dust. I heated the briar with a blow dryer and then stained it with a Dark Brown aniline stain thinned with 3 part alcohol to 1 part stain. I flamed the stain and set it in the briar. I buffed it with White Diamond and found that even with the thinning it was too dark to my liking. I wiped the bowl down with alcohol on cotton pads to remove some of the stain and make it more transparent. The grain showed through nicely and the colour once it was waxed would look good with the stem material. I buffed with Blue Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean flannel buff and then with a microfibre cloth by hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Thanks for looking.

Silver Linings: Restoring a Savinelli Silver 320KS

16 Replies

Blog by Anthony Cook

A friend from the Pipe Smoker Unlimited forum recently gifted me a batch of pipes that need a little TLC. In exchange, I offered to do some repair and restoration work on a couple of their own pipes. Believe me when I say that I received the better end of that deal. So, I wanted to go the extra mile on these if I could.

The first of my friend’s pipes that I chose to work on was this Savinelli Silver 320KS. I love the shape of the 320. When I hear “Savinelli,” this is the shape that I think of. Unfortunately, somebody had gotten to this one before me and it wasn’t better for it.

The initial request was just to repair the deep scratches that ran all the way around the rim. However, as I looked the pipe over, I could see that it had a few additional issues. The bowl rim was uneven and looked like it had been heavily buffed. The pipe should have had a deep, cherry red stain from the factory, but this one appeared to have been partially stripped and the stain was uneven and closer to the color of red clay. The silver shank band was loose and it had a couple of small dents on the right side. Finally, the shoulders of the stem face had been rounded with a buffer, which created a thin trench all the way around the stem where it met the band.

Oh, there was one more thing, but for reasons that I can’t explain, I hadn’t noticed it yet. I’m sure that you’ll see it in these photos of the pipe as it was on arrival.

Nomenclature and logo details (notice the “trench” on the stem next to the band): This 320 appeared to be pretty clean, but there’s no such thing as a pipe that’s too clean. So, I gave the internals of the stem and stummel a bit of a scrub with isopropyl alcohol, pipe cleaners, cotton swabs, a shank brush, and a percolator cleaner (the fat brush in the upper right). I’m glad that I did. As you can see below, there was still grime to be removed. After that, I gave the surface of the stummel a scrub with acetone on cotton pads to remove the old, spotty finish. I took a few photos of the rim damage, and after seeing them enlarged a few hundred times on the big screen, I noticed that the edges of the marks were rounded. That seemed to indicate that they were more like dents than scratches. So, I decided to see what a little bit of steam would do for them. I used a tea candle to heat the end of a flat-head screwdriver. Then, I placed a wet cloth over the dents and pressed it into the cloth. The steam worked well on the marks, although I had to repeat the process several times to lift the deeper ones. After I had worked my way all the way around the bowl, the rim was in much better shape. It would still need some sanding, but not nearly as much as it would have taken before to get it smooth. I sanded out the remaining dents with 220-grit paper before addressing a couple of small pits that were possibly missing fills on the bottom front of the stummel. I refilled them with a mixture of briar dust and CA, and then sanded them out with 220-grit as well. Three more fills were present on the front of the bowl, but they looked like they were in good shape and I had confidence that they would blend in with the final stain.
Next, I topped the bowl to level it out and chamfered the inner rim to match the original, factory shape with 220-grit paper. Then, I started cleaning up some of the light scratches and blemishes on the stummel with 320-grit. I then heated the stummel to open the grain and prep it for the first stain. I applied a mahogany stain thinned 3:1 with isopropyl alcohol. Mahogany is a nice dark color that gives contrast to the grain and it would play well with the red tones that would come later. After flaming the stain, I hand-buffed it with a soft cloth to remove the excess, and then wet sanded the stummel with 400-grit to remove most of the stain except for what had set into the soft grain.

To start bringing in those red tones I mentioned, I applied a 50/50 oxblood and medium brown stain thinned to the same ratio as the previous application. I again flamed and hand-buffed before lightly wet sanding with 600-grit and 1200-grit paper, and then polishing with Micro-Mesh pads 1500-2400.

I applied a third stain, red this time, and hand-buffed before giving the pipe a Tripoli buff on the buffing wheel. Then, I polished with Micro-Mesh pads 3200-4000. At that point, I didn’t like how bright the red was. So, I decided to darken it up with a thin stain wash. I can’t tell you the exact mix, because I just eyeballed it until it was what I wanted. I can say that it was at least 50% red mixed with a small amount of oxblood for richness and an even smaller amount of dark brown to darken it. I thinned it until it was about the same color density as Kool-Aid and applied it with cotton swab. After that, I hand-buffed the excess off and continued polishing with the remaining grits of Micro-Mesh pads. That finished up the work on the stummel. So, I thought I’d try to do something about those rounded shoulders on the stem face. In a scrap piece of wood, I drilled a hole large enough to easily accommodate the tenon. Then, I clamped a strip of sandpaper over the block and cut a matching hole with an X-Acto knife. I inserted the tenon into the hole and rotated it while applying firm but gentle pressure to keep the plane level. I started removing material with 220-grit and worked up to 600-grit. All in all, I probably removed 1/16 of an inch or less from the end of the stem. It wasn’t enough to completely correct the problem, but it did make it a great deal less obvious. The shoulders were nice and sharp again and I didn’t compromise the flow of the joint by creating a “step” down to a smaller diameter stem. You can see for yourself in the photos below. To be honest, I thought I was done at that point. It wasn’t until the pipe was reassembled and I was preparing to give it the final buff and wax that I noticed the glaring damage that I’m sure you’ve already seen. For the life of me I can’t figure out how it had escaped my attention, especially since I had just done work on the stem, but the button had been severely worn away by overbuffing. There was barely a button left at all. Of course, that wouldn’t do at all. So, after getting permission from the pipe’s owner to do some extra work, I began to create a new button.

I used 220-grit paper to rough up the surface of the damaged button and also a bit of the surrounding area. Next, I applied thin layers of black CA glue to the button to build it up. I lightly sanded between each layer with 220-grit to roughen them and ensure that the next layer had a good surface to cling to. Once the mound of CA was slightly higher than I wanted the button to be, I used 220-grit paper to start shaping the button, needle files and sanding files to carve a sharp edge at the back, and 320-grit paper to refine the shape. I continued to refine the shape and smooth the surface through 400, 600, and 1200-grit paper. Then I polished the button and the rest of the stem with the full range of Micro-Mesh pads and applied a drop of Obsidian oil to wrap up the stem work.

Before reassembling the pipe, I tried to lift the dents in the silver band by placing it over a wooden dowel, pressing firmly, and rotating it from side to side. My attempt was mostly in vain though. I was able to lift them slightly, mostly the one at the edge, but stopped when I began to worry about raising the stamping or tearing the band. I polished the band with Semichrome polish and placed it back on the shank with a small drop of CA to fix the looseness.

Finally, I put the pipe back together and buffed it with White Diamond on the buffing wheel. After buffing again with a clean wheel to remove any excess compound, I gave the pipe several coats of carnauba wax to complete the work on the pipe. The end results can be seen in the photos below.

I think the lines of a 320 are iconic and it is a fine example of the author shape. I’m glad that I was able to restore this one to at least a bit of its former glory and get it back into rotation. Thanks for looking!

Large Fills and Stem Work on a Small Well Pipe Bent

1 Reply

I love the ways the stain job subdued the look of the many fills in this little bent pipe. Really nice work.

This is one of the last pipes from my first estate lot purchase to hit my work table. It’s in the top right corner of the pipe lot pic below. Even from this poor shot, you can see that the stem needs some tweaking.

The pipe appeared to be in halfway decent condition when I pulled it from the refurb box – a bit of rim tars and surface grime on the stummel, but nothing major. The stem turned out to be a replacement, well fitted to the military-style mortise, but still showing the lines up the sides from the molding process. The amount of tooth chatter on the stem points to a DIY repair job – it was as if whoever had done the repair was only interested in making the pipe functional again, and left the stem in mostly its raw state. It can’t have been that comfortable…

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Will it still be there next time: Memories of the Pipetorium in Budapest Hungary

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Blog by Steve Laug

When I got opportunity to return to Budapest for work I was excited to revisit several of the pipe shops that I had “found” the last time I was there in October 2010. By far the one that I wanted to visit the most was the one where the owner and I had communicated through broken English and lots of gestures. I had come away with a Hungarian made pipe and some good tobaccos to sample. To me it was the epitome of the old European Tobacco Shop. It was small and packed with all kinds of pipes and pipe accessories. The back walls behind the counter were packed with tins and pouches of tobaccos and pipe cleaners and tampers and… the list could go on. Everything one needed for smoking – pipes, tobacco, cigars, cigarettes, even books for teaching how to use your pipe lined the shelves. The owner was a hobbitlike fellow that obviously enjoyed his shop and had a keen eye for all things pipe. If you could not figure out what you needed he was a master at it. Along the walls and in the display window were pieces of pipe history from a far removed time period that gave you a glimpse of the way things once were. It was the oldest independent pipe shop in Hungary founded in 1933 and still in operation when I was there in 2010. It was located at József krt. 38, Budapest, Hungary 1085 and was open from 10am to 6pm during the week. My hope was that the shop would still be there.

I arrived in Budapest and worked hard all week until Friday afternoon. Finally I had time to go and check out the Pipetorium. One of my Hungarian colleagues, who is also a pipe smoker was working with me and I asked him if the shop still existed. He said of course – it was his favourite pipe shop. It turned out to be a short walk from where our meetings were held. I could not wait to get to the shop and this time I was armed with my own Hungarian interpreter so we would have a great visit. For me this shop will always be a sweet memory to me of my last visit to Budapest. As we walked along I kept pestering my friend with questions about the shop and the owner. I had already had the disappointment of visiting the Galwitz Pipe Shop and seeing that the memories I had of that shop dashed as it was a mere shell of its previous glory. I was hoping that the unique little shop with its hobbit like shop keeper had not changed. The following three photos are pictures of what the shop looked like the last time I visited Budapest.

The building was cut stone and the arched doorway had the words Dohanybolt over the door. There was an awning that had flowers and copper tiles. When I had been there the first time in October 2010 the awning looked as it is in the first photo below. Before I left Budapest I went back for a visit and it was more like the second photo but still had the garland of flowers. The door itself occupied the right side of the archway and had the words PIPA painted on the glass. The left side of the archway was a display window that I spoke of above. There were pipes and racks, old tins and pouches and pipes from days gone by that I had never seen the likes of. There were old meerschaum and briars and decorative tins and jars of tobacco that no longer was sold. To the left side of the door on there was a rich red sign with a pipe in an oval that had the words Pipetorium across the bottom.

Above the Pipetorium sign on the wall was an elaborate sign that stood out from the wall on wrought iron braces. It was in Hungarian but left little doubt as to its meaning. The pipe in the middle made it clear that it was a pipe shop and the date at the bottom made clear the date it had been established. To me that sign became the singular memory that stuck in my mind of the outside of the shop. I was hoping it would still be there. My friend would not confirm that it was still there. All he said was that the owner had been going through a lot of struggles with is shop in light of the new laws regarding the sale of tobacco and the signage and frontage of tobacco shops. That made me wonder all the more as I had already visited several of the government sanitized shops and I was hoping that somehow this landmark spot for me still existed. We turned the corner on József krt came to the location of the shop. I was surprised. If I had come by myself hunting for the shop I would easily have walked right by without knowing that I had missed it. All of the unique, classic pipe signage was gone. The circular pipe sign and the rich red Pipetorium sign had been removed and in their place was the circular government tobacco shop sign. The display window to the left of the door and the window on the door itself had been painted over. The front of the shop looked like the photo below.I don’t know about you but the sanitized look was lacking all of the previous charm of the original shop. From the outside there was no reason to believe that the shop of my memories was still there. Everything I loved about the curb appeal of the place had been removed and in its place was this cold sanitized looking frontage. Even the awning had been removed and in its place above the door a motorized metal shutter had been installed so that when the shop was closed even the door disappeared and in its place was a steel door that made the place not only “safe” in the eyes of the government but also made it disappear. I just paused and shook my head trying to fathom the loss of another of my memories. All that I had been hoping for was shaken. I wondered what was behind the door. My friend just looked at me pushed open the door so we could enter.

Honestly, I was expecting the worst. Would the inside of the shop be but a memory of my last visit, like the Gallwitz shop? Would the sanitizing hand of governmental bureaucracy have even stripped away the inside of the shop too? I was not sure. The painted windows and door had darkened the inside but thankfully the rest of the shop remained much the same. I breathed a sigh of relief as my eyes adjusted to the dimly lit interior of what had once been a bright hobbit hole of a shop. I looked at the wall to the right of the counter – yes, it still had the display cases packed full of pipes. I looked at the one to the right and saw that the shelves of older pipes and museum like pieces were still present.

The hobbitlike owner who I had met previously still sat behind his counter. The difference this time is that I had a Hungarian with me so we could actually visit. The previous time we had managed with few words. This time we visited and talked about the state of his shop. He told me that he was saddened by the changes that had been forced upon him by the government regulations. He said that he was still surviving. I shared with him my memories of the way the shop had looked when I had been there previously and the special place it occupied in my mind from that first visit. I could tell that he too missed those days. Sitting in the darkened shop with none of the charm that drew people like me into it interior must have been very difficult. There was really nothing on the outside that said it was a pipe shop. He told me he had expanded onto the web and sold pipes and accessories there and that helped him keep the shop open. He was manufacturing pipe cleaners now so I purchased some pipe some of them to replenish my supply and I added some tobaccos to pass on to friends when I got home. before leaving the shop.

As I made my way back to the door and out to city beyond I took another look around at the interior of the shop. I took in the displays of pipes and tobaccos and wondered if this would be the last time I came to this shop. If things continued as they had in the previous five years then who could truly say if the marvelous Pipetorium would be here the next time I came to Budapest. Time would tell.

Reborn Pipes – Looking back 3 years ago to June 24, 2012

2 Replies

Blog by Neill Archer Roan

This piece originally was posted on Neill’s Blog – A Passion for Pipes (http://www.apassionforpipes.com/neills-blog/2012/6/24/reborn-pipes.html) not long after I had started rebornpipes. I had no idea that he was going to write this or what he would say. I was quietly starting the blog and the readership was really low. I did not know what I was doing I only knew that I wanted an online presence to put the pieces that I had written on refurbishing pipes and the extra ones that would come. I also wanted it to be a place that others could contribute to and share their work. I wanted a virtual community of amateur and otherwise pipe refurbishers. Now looking back three years or more after rebornpipes began I want to take time to thank Neill for his jump-start for rebornpipes. It was his publication of this piece on A Passion for Pipes that opened up a broader readership very quickly. I have read Neill’s blog for a long time now and when I read this piece he wrote it actually brought tears to my eyes. He got the point of rebornpipes. I can honestly say that it was his encouragement then and now that keeps me going. I want to take this venue to publicly thank you once again Neill. Your encouragement has meant the world to me. Thank you very much

As of my last researching the number, there are over 150 million blogs out there on the internet. By the time I finish typing this sentence there will probably be 160 million. It’s amazing how many people blog these days.

Steve Laug at breakfast at the Chicago Pipe Show

There is one new pipe blog out there that deserves your attention: Reborn Pipes, written by the Vancouver, BC pipe man Steve Laug. It is better than good. It is wonderful. Truly wonderful.

I became acquainted with Steve Laug through the popular Smokers Forums, an online pipes and tobacco forum. Steve serves as a moderator on that forum. Subsequent to my online introduction, I met Steve in real time at the Chicago Pipe Show quite a few years ago. I had already intuited Steve’s kindness and generosity; these things can be experienced in an online environment, but they are amplified in real time.

In real life, Steve is a member of the clergy. He is the sort of man whose flock I would immediately join if he lived within driving distance of my home. Thoughtful, quiet, and warm, Steve is, to my mind, an old-fashioned ministerial type in that his ministry emerges from serving others. I once learned of him bringing a homeless stranger back to his home and table for Thanksgiving dinner, an event inside his life that is probably so routine as to seem unremarkable. I’m sure he will be embarrassed to read these words, assuming he ever does. In other words, he actually lives the example of Jesus Christ as opposed to preaching the example.

I bring this up because that spirit of service comes across authentically in his writing.
In his pipe life, Steve brings homeless pipes to his workbench – pipes that have seen better days. In most cases, these are unremarkable pipes in brand or collectible terms. The one thing they seem to share is that they were once loved by someone. Most of them have had the tarnation smoked out them. As we would say of this kind of horse in Wyoming where I grew up, they were “rode hard and put away wet.”
Taking a gander at these pipes in Steve’s “before” pictures, most people would muse, “Why bother?” Why indeed?

It only takes looking at the “after” pictures to answer the question. When Steve applies his considerable refurbishment skills to these pipes, they are, in fact, reborn. Steve’s blog is aptly named because these pipes leave Steve’s bench more than refurbished. They are reborn to their purpose, ready to be smoked. Ready to be treasured.

In Reborn Pipes, Steve shares more than his refurbishment process, he shares his patience and his insights.

In practical terms, by reading Steve’s blog, you can learn how to restore your own pipes to their former glory. If you are new to the pipe world, or trying to build your rotation without draining your bank account, you can acquire skills that make it possible for you to buy estate pipes, spiff them up, and then enjoy them. By so doing, you’ll learn that you can buy and smoke much better pipes than you could otherwise afford. Plus, they will be yours – truly yours – in terms that you could never understand if you haven’t gone through this process.

I’ve bought many a fine pipe in my nearly 60 years, many of them high-grade, artisanal pipes. They have come to me in exquisite and pristine condition. It has surprised and perplexed me that a pipe’s beauty is not only an attribute that conjures desire, it can also be a barrier to my enjoyment of the pipe. All that newness, all that perfection defies defilement by putting match to tobacco within its little chamber of perfection. I have pipes in my collection that have remained unsmoked and unenjoyed for over a decade. I own these pipes, but they certainly do not feel like they are mine.

I’ve never felt this way when buying an estate. As I have assembled my Comoy Blue Riband collection, I have wound up with more than few pipes in need of refurbishment. When I’ve finished restoring the pipe, the work has created a bond of affection for that pipe that only time and labor can endow. I appreciate its qualities in deeper, more meaningful ways than I have ever felt for any of my brand-spanking-new treasures because I have had a hand in revealing its better qualities.

If you haven’t sussed out my point by now, let me state it outright: Steve’s blog addresses in metaphorical terms more than the refurbishment of pipes. He reveals that all things under heaven may be reborn through love, and not through love as it is so popularly and shallowly understood, but rather love as it is expressed by the farmer or the gardener.

The farmer and gardener express their love of the land by working it. They endow their land with purpose through the dignity of stewardship. There is not only affection here, but economy, thrift, and satisfaction that comes from the husbandry of more than oneself.

There aren’t many blogs out there that improve oneself by reading them. Reborn Pipes is special in this way. It deserves an audience. I invite you to join me as part of it. Navigate to Reborn Pipes by clickin here.

Article originally appeared on Pipe Blog (http://www.apassionforpipes.com/). Used by permission from the author. See website for complete article licensing information.

Reflecting on the illusive “magic” smoke and what makes it happen

8 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

In between traveling and working I had a day free in Budapest, Hungary. I had finished the work I had gone there to do and had some free time. I needed time alone after several weeks filled with people and meetings so I could recharge and regroup. So, I slept, wandered, ate and took time to write. I wrote a reflection on pipe smoking in Budapest that I posted earlier. I also wrote this reflection on what makes a magic smoke. I sat in a nice sidewalk café near my hotel with a pen and paper and wrote the outline for what later because this piece. I am sure that over the days ahead I will add to the thoughts I am expressing here and certainly invite you who read it to add to it as well using the comments box at the end of the blog.

Much has been written about how drilling and airflow dynamics affect the way a pipe smokes. And while that certainly is true there are other things that also affect a smoke. The reality is that the basic mechanics of a pipe are quite unremarkable. There is a furnace chamber for burning the tobacco and an airway on the bottom side of the bowl with a tube that runs out to a mouthpiece. The tobacco is lit; the air is pulled through the tobacco from the top of the furnace and is drawn through airway into the mouth. Diagramming it is quite simple. Think of a larger U or V with a line running from just above the bottom of the letter (U—–) and you have a pretty good picture of what the general furnace looks like. There are modifications of course such as bent pipes, partially bent pipes, system pipes etc. but even then the basic diagram is accurate.

I have been refurbishing pipes for over 15 years now – slowly, steadily learning more and more about the craft. One thing I have learned is that the basic mechanics of a pipe do not change. The externals may vary from pipe to pipe and maker to maker. The diameter and shape of the bowl differs. The diameter of the airway differs. The configuration of the airway in relation to the bottom of the bowl differs. The fit of the tenon into the mortise will either be tight or loose with arguments for both. However, the basic mechanics remain constant. The changes in bowl size and airway size affect burn and draw rates certainly. The larger the bore of the airway the easier it is to draw the air through the tobacco to the mouth. However the route is the same. I liken it to adjusting the flue on a woodstove. The more open the flue the more quickly and easily the wood burns. The more closed the flue the longer the burn. To some degree this is true of pipes as well. Kirsten pipes for example have a flue system to adjust the airflow in their bowl with a mere turn of the end cap. This controls the burn and openness of the airway.

I would say that while certainly the rate of burn, the flow of air and the ease of draw all contribute to a good smoke they are not alone in defining what makes a great smoke. They merely adjust the rate of burn of the tobacco and the duration of the smoke. Some of you might say that the bellows (the smoker) on the end of the mouth piece end also sets the cadence for the burn and the flow of air through the tobacco and draws the fire down into the bowl. But even this is still part of the mechanics. Think in terms of a bellows that draws air to the fire in a forge and intensifies the burn and the heat of the fire. It is part of the mechanics of the burn.

So if it is not just mechanics that make a good smoke then what is it that makes it happen? Is it the tobacco? Is it the cut and dryness of the leaf and the way the pipe man packs the bowl that makes a great smoke? Certainly these contribute. Add this to the mechanics of the pipe and you have another part of the answer to the question at hand. By itself, it also does not guarantee a good smoke. I am sure that many of us have experienced that accidental great smoke when we paid no attention to the pack of the bowl or to tamping correctly or applying the flame to the leaf. Most of us have experienced that magical smoke even in a poorly drilled and mechanically inferior pipe. So what is the deal? I know that one of my most magical smokes was in an old Medico Brylon billiard sans paper filter which made the draw wide open. I was packing it at a stop light and smoking it while I drove my car and the smoke was like a revelation of why I smoked a pipe. Nothing about the set up or the pipe precluded that I would have a magic smoke. In fact most of us would cynically have bet against it being a good smoke. So what is it that makes the magic? It is not mechanics alone. It is not your method of loading and tending the bowl alone. It is not the quality of the pipe alone. Though all of these contribute to the magic smoke to some degree but none of them, either alone or together, explains it.

I have read some who would say that the magic may reside in the briar or the meerschaum or the qualities of a particular piece of briar or meerschaum that is well seasoned. I am not convinced that this is altogether true. I have had both aged briar and new briar pipes that smoked both poorly and very well with no particular rhyme or reason. I have had the surprise of having Brylon and pressed meer pipes that have smoked really well and certainly a large proportion of them that smoked poorly. I have picked up cheap basket pipes or corn cobs when I was traveling on a short trip and left my pipe at home and found that some of them delivered amazingly great smokes. All of the curing, shaping, drilling did not guarantee a great smoke. I know that an aged piece of briar should deliver a better smoke but I have had older Algerian briar pipes that were well broken in and still burned both hot and sour. At the same time I have picked a newly carved pipe, loaded a bowl and was carried off by the magic. Certainly, quality briar and quality meerschaum that are well carved and well drilled increase the odds of a good smoke but they are not a guarantee.

Along with all of the things another contributing feature that comes to mind from my experience is the setting where I am smoking my pipe. It definitely contributes to the quality of the smoke for me. I know that when I find a good spot where I can relax and either disappear into a reflective state or sit and watch passersby both work well for me and they contribute in different ways to the nature of the smoke. I just came back from Berlin and Budapest where sidewalk cafes are everywhere and the amazing thing about these cafés and terraces is that they are smoker friendly spots. I spent quite a few late afternoons and evenings availing myself of the pleasure of the café. I was able to find the sweet spot on a few of those days and enjoy a magical smoke. In those cases I think I was able to disconnect from my busy day and slowly puff and slide into that space where pipe men go when they are alone with a good pipe. The quality of the smoke was definitely affected by the spot. But I have also enjoyed good smokes slowly walking through a park or down the street by my house as I head to an appointment or a meeting. So it seems that the setting contributes but it is not solely responsible for the moment.

That leads me to the last consideration of elements of the good smoke in this reflection – that of the internal state mind of the pipe smoker. What does it contribute? In my experience, my most magical smokes have oddly occurred during some of the hardest and most troublesome days of my life. The pipe allowed me to disconnect from the heat or weight of the moment and stand apart for a moment. It was that magical disconnect that allowed me to get lost in the smoke. It gave me a moment to move outside of the moment and just get lost in the smoke. In that quiet spot created by the pipe I was able to gain clarity and move forward with decisions and choices that had been weighed and considered with care. I know that some would argue that a calm spirit and quiet heart makes for a better smoke, but in my experience it is the ability of the pipe to take me to that place of calm and quiet that adds to the magic. For me the state of mind seems to come after the smoke has been entered into and not as a per-requisite for making the magic happen. I am sure for others this may well be the case but it alludes me when I seek for it and comes to me when I surrender to the quiet of the pipe.

I am sure there are other contributing features that can be added and certainly would love to have you add your own thoughts to these reflections in the comments section below. All I know is that for me it is that ever illusive but amazing magical smoke that keeps me coming back again and again to my pipe. Regardless of the circumstance I have learned that the mechanics, the tobacco, the setting and the reframed state of mind all contribute their part to the great smoke!

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