WDC Waldorf Given a New Look and a New Stem

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Today I decided to pick one of the stummels in my box of pipes that needed to be restemmed. I had cut the tenon a while back when I was restemming a bunch of old pipes I had. This one was in rough shape but I like the general shape of it. It is stamped WDC in a Triangle (William Demuth Pipe Company) and next to that is stamped WALDORF over Imported Briar. There is no other stamping on the pipe. According to Phil’s Pipe Logos and Markings website, http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-w1.html the Waldorf is a second’s line of the WDC brand. Not sure but that is interesting to note. This one was in rough shape. The bowl was badly caked and the rim was tarry and charred with a notch out of the briar near the front of the bowl. The finish was rough, blackened and the varnish coat was peeling. The bowl also had a large number of fills on the front and both sides. These were the ugly pink putty fills. I cut a tenon and roughed a stem to fit the bowl. The four photos below show the state of the pipe when I began to work on it today.

I decided to work on the fit of the stem first and trim it down to size. I took it to my work table where I keep my Dremel. I have the larger sanding drum on the Dremel and I have found that run at a medium speed it works well to trim down the stems to fit the shanks. I work carefully so that I do not damage the shank or cut too deeply into the stem. The next seven photos show the work on the stem and the progress from the pictures above to the last photo in the seven. I always work to get the stem as close to the diameter of the shank as I can so that I have less work to do with the sandpaper. Note also the visible fills in the bowl. They would make it a natural candidate for rustication when I got to that point.

The next five photos show the sanding progress on the stem. I kept in on the shank to reduce the risk of rounding the edges/shoulders on the stem. I worked with a medium grit emery paper and 240 and 340 grit sandpaper. When I get to this point in the shaping of the stem I work to remove the excess vulcanite more slowly and work at removing the scratches left by the Dremel. The fills are very visible in these photos as is the shiny varnish finish on the pipe.

I am working on a block to hold the stem while I do the shaping sanding on them. I drilled out a small block of ebony that I have here to the size of the tenon and inserted the stem in the block. Then I can work the edge of the stem and not risk rounding the shoulders. This is still in the experimental stages and I have already decided on some significant improvements. I hold the stem tight against the block and work the folded sandpaper against the block to smooth out that part of the stem. The next three photos give the idea that is in its infancy stage. There will be more to come on this process in the days ahead.

Once the stem was round and even – there were no bulges or dips in the line of the stem – I moved to the bowl. I decided to top it to get rid of the gouged out spot and to clean up the tars and burn to the rim. I set up my sandpaper (medium grit emery paper in this case to start with) on my flat board and began to twist the bowl against the paper in a clockwise direction. The next seven photos show the progress of the topping. I clean off the sandpaper regularly throughout the sanding and collect it in the wooden box that is pictured in these photos. It is this briar dust that I use for replacing the putty fills in the pipes that I work on. The final photo in the set shows a sanding sponge (medium grit) that I use to finish topping the bowl and to remove the scratches left by the emery cloth.

After topping the bowl I wiped the outside of the bowl down with acetone on a cotton pad. I wanted to break up the crackled finish that is visible above and also remove the darkening and grime on the top edges of the bowl. The next five photos show the progress in removing the finish on the pipe. Once it is gone you can clearly see the fills and also understand why I have chosen to rusticate this pipe.

With the finish removed (maybe unnecessary for some, but I wanted a clean surface to rusticate) I brought out the tools that I use for rusticating a pipe. I will often use a small hack saw or coping saw to scar the surface of the bowl before using the modified Philips screwdriver that is my main rusticator. The first picture below shows the pipe and the tools ready to use. I used the saw for a few strokes and decided to skip that step and go with the screwdriver alone. The eleven photos following show the process and progress of the rustication. I generally work on one side at a time. I push the rim against the table top and rusticate the side from the rim edge to the bottom of the bowl. I work my way around the pipe, from the side to the back, to the opposite side to the front of the bowl. On this pipe I decided to leave the shank and the rim smooth as they had no fills and I liked the look of the partial rustication.

Once the rustication was done the first time I went over it a second time with the rusticator and removed more briar and made the cuts deeper. The next series of five photos show the finished rustication. At this point I was ready to work on the shank stem junction and smooth it out.

I sanded the rim, the shank and the stem with 240 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining finish on the bowl and to begin to even out the transition between the shank and the stem. I find it is easier when I am reworking a whole pipe to treat it as if it is a new pipe that I am working on fitting a stem. That way I can sand the entirety as a unit instead of in parts. You have to be careful during this process as the hardness of the briar and the hardness of the vulcanite are different and you can easily remove too much from the shank. The next four photos show the clean and unfinished pipe. The briar is clean and sanded. I used the 240 and 320 grit sandpaper and a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the finish and the scratches. I wiped the bowl and shank down with acetone dampened cotton pad to clean off the dust and ready the pipe for a new stain coat.

I decided to use a dark brown aniline stain for the finish on this pipe. I had learned from experience that I liked the way the dark brown settled into the crevices of the rustication and how it would be able to be washed to a lighter colour for contrast on the shank and the rim. I applied the stain with a dauber, as usual I start on the bottom of the bowl and let the stain run upward to the rim and finish with the rim. I flamed it, restained it, and flamed it again. I restain the rim several times to get good coverage and flow down the rusticated outer edges of the rim. The next five photos show the pipe after it has been stained and before I took it to the buffer.

The next series of three photos show the pipe after I buffed it with Tripoli and White Diamond. I also buffed the stem to get an idea of the depth of the scratches and the work that needed to be done. The stain on the rustication came out nicely with a flat finish at this point. I like the depth that it gives the finish. The shank and the rim are a shade lighter after buffing and there is a dark edge at the bowl shank angle. The shank and the rim would need some work to even out the stain and give it a uniform contrasting colour.

I then went to work on the stem with the micromesh sanding pads. The next nine photos show the progress in polishing the stem and the shank and rim using 1500, 1800 and 2400 grit sanding pads. I wet sanded with these grits, wetting the pad and then sanding and wiping the stem and shank down before going on to the next grit. I was able to even out the stain on the shank and the bowl rim and blend them well with the edges and also remove many of the scratches in the stem.

I went on to dry sand the stem with the rest of the micromesh sanding pads from 3200-12,000 grit. Each successive pad gave the stem more of a polish. When I had finished that I applied a coat of Maguiar’s Scratch X2.0 with my finger and scrubbed it off with a cotton pad and polished it to the shine that is shown below. Before finishing I sanded it a final time with the 12,000 grit micromesh pad and then gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil. The next four photos show the pipe just before I took it to the buffer for a final buff.

After buffing the pipe I was pleased that the original red stain came through the dark brown and gave the pipe a real contrast look. The finished pipe is pictured in the four photos below. It has a great feel in the hand and the rustication is tactile with the high spots showing dark and the valleys showing a lighter brown. The rim and the shank came out exactly how I wanted them and provide a contrast to the rustic bowl of the pipe. The stem is smooth and shiny and the pipe is ready for its new life.

Pipe Composition and Toward a Definition of Pipe Parts

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Blog by Steve Laug

I cannot tell you the number of times I have seen descriptions of pipes on EBay or at antique shops or flea markets and just started laughing. People come up with all kinds of creative descriptions that keep you guessing what the pipe is made of unless you have some basic guidelines to navigate.

The types of pipe bowl material:

Briar – this is the close grained burl joint between the trunk and the roots of the White Heath, a tree found on the hillsides of mainly Mediterranean countries. Underground, this burl is the briar wood – a tough, close grained, porous and heat resistant – wood that is used for making smoking pipes.
Alternative woods – Breezewood, Manzanita, Laurel wood, etc. are some woods that pipes were made of during the WWII years when briar was hard to come by. These woods are lighter and have a different grain pattern than the briar.
Hardwoods – pear, walnut, maple, olive and others have been used as alternatives for briar as well and each delivers a different kind of smoke. The grain patterns are singular to those woods.
Brylon – Medico and other US manufacturers made this product for pipes out of briar dust and resin. It is indestructible but is very hot to hold in the hands.
Other manmade materials – Hilson used some kind of resin (polymer) to craft a bowl and others have used graphite, or asbestos to form pipes. In my opinion these are less than optimal smoking materials.
Meerschaum – a German word meaning “sea foam” referring to the belief that it was compressed whitecaps of waves. Meerschaum is a mineral-hydrous silicate of magnesium (one of the most porous substances found in nature). It is thought to be composed of fossilize shells of tiny creatures that fell to the ocean floor millions of years ago. Meerschaum is found in red clay deposits. The deposits of the highest quality are found in central Turkey. Pipes carved out of this material can either be carved out of a single block or out of a compressed material made out of chips of meer and a binding agent. The block meers are by far the best.
African Block Meerschaum – This substance comes from Tanzania, Africa and is usualy stained in varying shade of brown, black and yellow. I have had pipes made of this from Manx, Peterson, Laxley, Nording and Barling. It is a heavier material than the Turkish Meerschaum mentioned above.
Missouri Meerschaum – Formed from a length of hollowed out corn cob. It is usually made from a special hybrid variety of corn and has a straight wooden shank with a plastic stem. It is commonly known as the corncob pipe.
Calabash – early versions of this pipe were made out of a South African gourd similar to a squash grown specifically for use in pipes. The shape is determined as the gourd grows by placing small blocks under the stem and forcing it into a gentle curve. The mature gourd is cut and dried, then fitted with a cork gasket to receive a meerschaum bowl. Other materials used for the bowls include clay, asbestos, and even plaster. Modern pipe makers are crafting calabash bowls from a variety of woods – I have seen Mahogany bowls that looked amazing.
Ceramic – I have several of these double walled ceramic pipes that are amazing smoking instruments. The double wall design keeps the exterior wall from overheating and enables the smoker to hold the bowl while smoking. Different Dutch companies such as Zenith and GoedeWaagen have made these pipes. In the USLepeltier makes them. Their website is:http://www.lepeltier-pipes.com/There are also antique porcelain pipes that have some beautiful paintings in the glaze of the bowl.
Clay pipes – clay or pottery pipes were popular on the continent before briar became readily available on the market. The finest were said to be made in Devon England. There are new clay pipe makers that are doing amazing work. The following website has some beautiful examples of the clay pipe makers craft available for purchase at reasonable prices. http://www.dawnmist.org/pipdex.htm

The type of stem materials:

Bakelite – Trade name for a synthetic resin widely used for lacquers and varnishes and as a plastic. A common material used for the stem, especially of mass produced pipes of last century. It was an alternative to vulcanite. Artisan pipemakers are using it today for handmade pipes.
Amber – brittle, feels like glass to the teeth. It can be a rich yellow, golden or even reddish orange colour. It was used as stem material on older briar and meerschaum pipes.
Vulcanite – A dark-colored variety of India rubber that has been subjected to vulcanization. It has also been called “hard rubber.” A common material used for the stems as it is durable and inexpensive. It comes in a variety of grades and from various makers.
Lucite/Acrylic – Trade name for a plastic. A common material used for the stems. It comes in a variety of colours and shades. It is a good replacement for older amber stems as it can be matched closely to the original colours. It is harder than rubber and feels quite different from Vulcanite.
Plastic – Corncob pipes often have a cast plastic stem that is cheap and I find that the edges are sharp. I replace these stems on my cobs with a stem that I transfer from cob to cob when they are worn out.
Horn – Animal horn shaped and polished for stem material on older pipes. Has a softer feel in the mouth than any of the other materials.
Bone – Animal born shaped and polished for stem material on some older briar pipes and meerschaum pipes.
Briar – wooden stems that can be either integrated into the bowl and make the pipe a single unit or can be a separate stem that has a wooden, bone, metal or Delrin tenon that attaches it to the pipe bowl.

The Parts of a Pipe:

Throughout the articles available on this blog the writers (including me) use a variety of terms when describing the parts of the pipes they are refurbishing. I thought it would be helpful to define terms so that we have a base from which to use our various descriptors of the part we are working on at the moment. I have grouped them below in terms of bowl and stem. I have also included a few pictures/diagrams that I have gotten off the internet to clarify terminology with pictures. I also have included a section on the materials that are used to make stems.

Bowl parts:

Stummel – the pipe minus the stem. This includes all parts of the pipe sans stem regardless of what material it is made of – briar, meerschaum, clay, corn cob.
Bowl/Chamber – the part of the pipe that holds the tobacco. Many use this term to describe the same thing that is meant by the word stummel.
Heel – the bottom of the inside of the pipe bowl. It is the area where the airway enters the bowl of the pipe. It has also been used to describe bottom outer edge of the pipe as it curves toward the bottom of the bowl.
Foot – the bottom of the pipe. This can be rounded or flattened to facilitate the bowl sitting flat on a table or desk top.
Rim – the top edge of the bowl. It can be flat or beveled (chamfered) in toward or out from the bowl. It can also be crowned or a thin edge from the inside of the bowl to the outer edge.
Draught (draft hole) – the opening in the bottom of the bowl that enters the shank of the pipe and opens into the airway. Typically these are on the back bottom edge of the bowl and centered at that point.
Airway – the drilled portion of the shank that extends from the bowl to the stem.
Sump/Well – in Peterson System pipes and others such as Wellington pipes this is the area below the entrance of the airway at the bottom of the shank. It extends as a well to collect moisture from the smoke before it moves in to the stem. In estates this area is often very dirty and takes particular work to clean.
Mortise – the portion of the airway that holds the inserted tenon. It is drilled larger than the standard airway as it is the size of the outer diameter of the tenon.
Shank – the part of the pipe that joins the bowl and stem.
Countersink – this is the area where the stem and shank join. It is often countersunk to accommodate the flare on the tenon where it joins the stem. It is this feature which allows the stem to seat well against the shank
Bands/Ferrules – are made of a variety of metals, some are decorative and some are functional as repairs for a cracked or damaged shank. They can be applied to the shank or actually in many new pipes, to the stem.
Shank extensions – exotic woods, vulcanite, or other materials that extend the length of the shank and give a decorative flair to the pipe. They can be added as decoration or later as a repair on a broken shank that needs to be extended. Lately I have seen these also added to the stem.

Stem parts:

Stinger/condenser – is either an insert into the airway of the tenon or is an integral part of the tenon and glued into the stem material. If it is an integral part it is often threaded and screws into a tapped insert in the mortise.
Tenon – the portion of the stem that is cut to fit within the mortise of the shank. It is smaller in diameter than the rest of the stem. It can be an integral part of the stem material or it can be an insert made of Delrin, bone, metal, wood. The metal, bone, wood tenons that I have seen are threaded on both ends. One end screwing into the shank and one end screwing into the stem.
Countersink – the end of the tenon can be countersunk to facilitate airflow into the stem. It can be visualized like this ) – kind of concave end which accommodates the opening in the airway at the end of the mortise. I have found that this kind of countersink drilling can be used to repair a misaligned airway where the airway in the pipe shank is either higher or lower than the airway in the tenon.
Shoulder – the portion of the stem that fits against the end of the shank. A well-made stem has the shoulders sitting tightly against the end of the shank with no rounding. It should be a smooth transition between the stem and shank.
Saddle – on some stems the first part of the stem after the shoulder extends to a slope on the top and the bottom of the stem. From that point it is flat and proceeds to the end of the stem.
Blade – the flattened portion of the stem after the saddle. This may well be a term that I have used to describe that part of the stem and is not universally used. To me it is a good description of the part of the stem that flattens out after the saddle.
Taper – a sloped stem tapering from the shank connection to the end of the stem. The slope varies in degree and decline from the shank to the end.
Button (tip/bit/lip/mouthpiece) – the portion of the stem that fits in the mouth. It generally has a sharp edge on the inner edge and then slopes neatly back to the end of the stem. It is the portion of the stem that sits in the teeth. The sharp edge provides a ridge for holding it in the mouth.
Slot – end of the button where the airway exits the stem. It is usually a straight line but can be shaped into an oval. It is usually flared inward into the shape of a Y into the airway of the stem.
Orific opening – on older pipes the slot is not present and an O shaped opening is the end of the airway at the button. Generally the button is shaped differently than on the slotted button. It is more crowned or rounded to the opening of the O.
Airway – describes the internals of the stem. Depending on how the airway is drilled it is either tapered or a straight line moving from the tenon into a flattened portion of the airway at the button end of the stem. Sometimes it is stepped down or threaded if a stinger apparatus has been in place in the past.

If others who are reading this have other terminology for the parts of the pipe or other materials that have been used for tobacco pipes please feel free to add them to this article through commenting on it. Input is sought and appreciated so please post your additions.

Comoy’s The Everyman Billiard Brought Back to Life

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is the third of the lot that I picked up on EBay that included the BR Israeli Apple and the Richmond Oddity. This one is stamped The Everyman over London Pipe on the left side of the shank. On the right side it is stamped Made in London in a circle over England and the shape number 291. This one came to me in rough shape. The bowl showed promise of great grain under the grime. The finish was shot but the briar was undented. The rim was caked with tars and oils but there were no dents or burns. Even the beveled inner edge of the bowl was clean under the grime. The bowl had a thick crumbly cake that reeked of the same sweet aromatic smell as the other two pipes in this lot. There was one rather large fill on the right side of the bowl that was hard and dark. The stem was oxidized and a major chunk of vulcanite had been chomped off. It was a large bite out of the top of the stem extending back along the stem about a ¼ inch or more. The fifth photo below shows the extent of the damage to the stem. Since the stem had the Comoy’s three bar logo I did not want to make a new stem for this old pipe but rather look for a way to keep it. The series of four photos below show the state of the pipe when it arrived to my work table.

I took the stem to the work area where I have my Dremel to cut off the broken part of the stem. I have the large sanding drum on the Dremel and use it at half speed to cut off the stem. I have learned that it works very well at that speed and allows me to control the angles of the cut to insure that the line is straight. This one was a bit of a challenge as the Y cut in the airway was very close to the surface of the stem. I needed to cut it back far enough to allow me to have enough material to work with to cut the new button. The next six photos show the process of cutting the stem back. There are several photos of the end of the stem showing the new airway and the amount of material available to cut the new button. From the point of the stem the airway dropped suddenly back to the normal straight drilling and would allow me room to do the shaping.

I took the pipe back to my work table and reamed the bowl back to bare wood. I then topped the pipe very slightly to remove the buildup on the rim and to smooth things out. The next series of four photos show the topping process and the results. In the fifth photo below I used a medium grit sanding sponge and then a fine grit sponge to finish the topping and remove any sign of scratching to the surface. I also used 320 grit sandpaper to clean up the beveled inner edge of the bowl.

Once the top was cleaned and smooth I wiped the bowl down with acetone (finger nail polish remover) on a cotton pad to clean off the grime and remnants of finish on the bowl. The next two photos show the bowl after I have wiped it down. There was some beautiful birdseye on one side of the bowl and some great flame grain on the other side. In the second photo you can see the fill that is visible on the bowl.

After cleaning the outside of the bowl it was time to clean the shank and bowl. I removed the stem and poured some Everclear into the cap to use to clean the airway. I used many cotton swabs to clean out the airway and the mortise. I also used a significant number of pipe cleaners in the process. The next three photos show the cleaning materials I use and the final photo of the threesome shows the pile of cotton swabs and pipe cleaners used to clean the shank.

I used a black permanent marker to draw the grain pattern over the fill to make it less obvious once I stained it. I stained the bowl next using a dark brown aniline stain (Feibings Shoe Dye) and applied the stain with the dauber in the box. I flamed it with a match to set the stain, restained it and then flamed it a second time. I paid particular attention to putting the stain on heavy on the rim. The next three photos show the pipe after staining.

After staining I set the bowl aside to thoroughly dry and went to work on reshaping/cutting the new button on the stem. I use needle files to cut the button and work to keep it even on both sides of the stem and to also modify the taper from the stem backward to the button. After cutting the edge with the files and working the slope to make a smooth transition with the files I use a fine grit emery paper to sand out the scratches left by the file and to remove the oxidation. I am careful as I near the stem shank joint to not remove too much material as I do not want to round the shoulders on the stem or reduce the diameter of the stem in the process. I follow that by sanding with 320 grit sandpaper to yet again reduce the scratching. The next eleven photos show the progress of shaping the button and modifying the stem.

Once the button is cut and the taper modified I set the stem aside to work again on the bowl. There is no logic to this in terms of timing. I just need to give my hands and wrists a rest after working on the vulcanite. I wipe the bowl down with some isopropyl alcohol as the dark brown stain is too dark and opaque for what I wanted the finished pipe to look like. I find that the alcohol will remove the surface stain while leaving the undercoat. I work at this carefully to get the finish to the colour I want and then set it aside to dry yet again. The next three photos show the bowl after the wash.

I went back to the stem and worked on it with 320 grit sandpaper again. I worked to remove the oxidation and the scratches. I also used 0000 steel wool to scrub the stinger apparatus that is present in the Everyman pipes.

I then put the stem back on the pipe to check the fit and the profile of the pipe. I wanted to make sure that the angles looked right on the slope and also that the shank and stem junction still was smooth. The next three photos show the look that I had been aiming for in the process of reshaping the stem.

I once again removed the stem and sanded it again with a fine grit sanding sponge (pink sponge backed sanding medium). The scratches and oxidation are becoming less pronounced. The next four photos show that progress.

I reinserted the stem and polished it with some Maguiar’s to see where I stood on the scratches. I also buffed the bowl and stem to get an idea of the finished look. The next series of four photos show the state of the pipe after that work. The fill on the right side of the bowl is almost invisible and the pipe is beginning to look like the final product. There still remained much to do to get the stem back to a new look.

I wet sanded the stem with 1500, 1800 and 2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and also dry sanded the bowl with the same pads. I wanted a bit lighter and translucent finish on the pipe. The next four photos show the bowl and stem after this treatment. The fifth and sixth photos below show the stem and bowl after I had once again polished the stem with the Maguiar’s. You can see the new look of the finish on the bowl. The grain really is beginning to pop through.

I continued sanding with 3200-12,000 grit micromesh to finish the stem work and then polished the stem a last time with Maguiar’s before taking it to the buffer and polishing the stem and bowl. I brought it back to the work table, wiped down the stem with Obsidian Oil and then applied multiple coats of carnauba wax to the stem and bowl. The first two photos below show the state of the pipe after the sanding, buffing and application of Obsidian Oil. The stem and bowl are looking very good in my estimation. The final four photos show the finished pipe with the newly adjusted stem and many coats of wax. It is ready for its inaugural smoke.

GBD New Standard Reborn

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Blog by Greg Wolford

I picked up the GBD New Standard recently because of its shape mostly: a thick-walled pot. It is stamped GBD in the oval over New Standard on the top of the shank. The bottom of the shank is stamped London England over 9682 with a “P” below and to the right of that.

When I got the pipe it was in pretty good shape: dirty, oxidized, the normal stuff. But it seemed lightly smoked with no cake and no real issues and only light chatter.

You can see in the top a pipe cleaner sticking through the drought hole, showing a well-drilled pipe.

The pipe has a few fills but the are mainly on the bottom – out of sight, out of mind – and I wanted to keep this pipe as original as I could so I didn’t bother with them.

I started with putting the stem into a OxiClean bath; I let it soak for about 45 minutes I believe. While the stems (I actually was doing two pipes at a time, as I often do) soak I did a cotton ball and alcohol treatment on the two bowls. Usually I use coarse salt, not cotton balls, for this but since this bowl appeared to be so lightly used and the second bowl was fairly gunky I thought this would be a good time to experiment with the new-to-me cotton ball treatment. I put one large cotton ball into each bowl, plugged the shanks with cotton swabs and set them up on a steel drainer I have in my kitchen. I then filled the bowls with 91% isopropyl alcohol, slowly, with an eye dropper.

The photos below show the progression of black “stuff” drawn out of the GBD bowl; you may also see some of the tars (brownish-yellow stuff) in the cotton ball from the other pipe. This process started within a minute, the first photo, and then each picture after is after about 15 minutes, with the final result at about one hour.

I don’t know what the black “stuff” was but it sure removed a lot of it in the treatment! As a side note, I found the cotton balls easier to deal with than the salt and it seems to have done as good a job, too. I will probably continue to us this method in the future.

The stems had been soaking for about an hour, maybe 45 minutes, at this time and were ready to come out of their bath. As you can see, quite a lot of oxidation was raised and loosened by this soak.

I then washed the stems in dish liquid and scrubbed them with Bar Keepers Friend and an old toothbrush; this took about an hour, making a paste of the powder and scrubbing, rinsing and wiping, then repeating. The results from that looked like this:

Still a lot of oxidation and work left to go. Next came sanding and polishing with wet/dry paper and micro mesh. I used 320 & 400 wet/dry paper before moving on to the micro mesh. Before the mesh, though, I used the Novus 2 plastic polish on the stem to take off some of the scratches and a little more left over oxidation. I wet sanded with micro mesh 1500-4000 and then polished with the Novus 2 again. I now dry sanded/polished with the remaining grits of 6000-12000, then polished with Novus 1 plastic polish to get to this look

Now I applied my “secret substance” before setting the stem aside to work on the bowl. This is how the stem looks at this point:

What, you may ask, is my “secret substance”? Obsidian oil maybe? No. It is Mothers Back-to-Black automotive polish.

The bowl was really very easy since I didn’t plan on totally refinishing it. I wiped it down several times with acetone to take off the old finish and get the grime off of it. I then wiped it down a few times with cotton pads dampened with alcohol. I lifted a small amount of stain in the process but not enough to really change the color of the pipe, only enough to let the grain pop a bit more. The most time-consuming part here was rubbing, with alcohol then saliva on cotton swabs, to clean the rim. There were a couple of small dents I lifted with steam ( I heat an old “butter” knife with a heat gun and apply it to a dampened cotton towel that is laying over the dent) but can’t actually recall how many or where they were they were so incidental. The next photos show the stummel before taking it to the buffer:

I then buffed the stummel with Tripoli before reassembling the pipe and buffing the whole thing with white diamond and then carnauba wax. Here is the finished pipe:

This photo is slightly over exposed

Experimenting with Alternative Oxidation Removal Techniques

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Blog by Greg Wolford

I’ve recently been involved in a conversation about removing oxidation on stems with steel wool. I have to be honest, at the first mention of steel wool being used on a stem made my jaw drop (literally, almost dropped my pipe). But these guys are long time pipe smokers and restorers so I didn’t just brush off the information.

They said that using 0000 steel wool, dampened with water, removes oxidation much more efficiently than miracle erasers, Bar Keepers Friend or any micro mesh/sandpaper treatments. The increased efficiency also reduces the time invested I am told, which makes sense and is appealing.

So I decided to try an experiment on two old stems. These stems weren’t in terrible condition but had some oxidation to them and they were nothing too valuable if I made a real mess of them: they are expendable so they became my test subjects.

I soaked them in a room temperature OxiClean bath for about four hours or so; I had to leave the house for a while so I made sure the water wasn’t too warm and left them to soak while I was gone. When I got home I washed them with dish detergent and a scrubby sponge until they no longer felt slick: about 2-3 minutes. They were the. Left to air dry on a drain board overnight.

Yesterday morning I went out and bought some supplies: a package of 0000 steel wool and some 400 grit wet/dry sanding sticks; the sticks, or pads, remind me of short wide emery boards.

I took a piece of the steel wool and dampened it and began to rub the stems. Every few minutes I would wipe off the stem on an old towel, rinse out the wool, and go back to rubbing. It took very little time to remove the signs of oxidation and the stems were much less matte finished than they usually are after initial sanding. So I turned my attention to the stem with the stinger to work on the chatter.

I used the new 400 grit pads to wet sand on the chatter, going back and forth, wiping and rinsing as I had with the wool. These pads seem like they will be very useful in getting into that hard (for me at least) to get bit area and is why I bought them to begin with. They did, indeed, reach into that area much more easily and they took out the chatter fairly fast. That area was now more matte than the rest of them stem so I went back to the damp steel wool. In a few minutes the shine came back up even across the stem, which actually surprised me.

The whole process, not including the soak and dry time, took less than 15 minutes; I was again impressed.

Will steel wool scrubs replace all the sanding and micro mesh polishing? I don’t think so. Will it reduce the amount of time and effort spend making an old stem look new again? I believe it can. I expect to explore with more stems just how effective this process can be and how much sanding and polishing can be avoided using the steel wool. One fellow said he can go straight to the buffer after the wool scrub. On some stems that may be a possibility but I think on most it won’t. Any chatter or deep marks I think are still going to require sanding. And if you have a rough stem after the oxidation is gone I think it’s still going to need sanding, too. But this is a (new to me) technique that I think needs more investigation and experimentation, one that potentially reduce the amount of time and labor spent on many stems, letting is be more productive overall.

Stem after using 400 grit pad and 0000 steel wool to remove chatter and bring back up some shine.

(Photo of the stem at the point I stopped along with the 400 grit pad I used and the packaging it cam in. By the way, my local Hobby Lobby has begun to carry a rather large line of Micro Mesh and Alpha Abrasives products. The prices are competitive and the selection good so if you have a local Hobby Lobby it would be worth your while to see if they are carrying these items in your area, too.)

Israeli Made Bent Ball Repaired and Refurbished

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This is the second of three pipes that I picked up in a lot from EBay. It included the Richmond, a Comoy’s Everyman, and this BR Israeli made ball. It is stamped BR in large block script on the left side of the shank. On the underside of the shank is stamped ISRAEL. I know nothing of the brand and would love to hear from any of you who might have some information. The stem had tooth chatter and bite marks. It looked like it had also had a rub bite guard on it because the white calcified build up on the top and the bottom of the stem was the same distance into the stem as the bite guard. There was a distinct line where the edge was. The coloured band is slid on to the tenon of the stem. It is a brass wheel with an inlaid acrylic. The finish was shot and the briar was full of fills. The right side was the only clean side on the pipe. The front had a large putty fill at the top near the edge and several on the lower portion, the left side had 3-4 fills and the underside also had two. Most of these were on the smaller side as far as fills go but the one on the front was huge and spanned the width of the bowl. The rim and downward curve of the bowl from the rim back was very tarred and oily. There was a gummy buildup that was like a lava flow down the bowl sides. The bowl was caked with an uneven and oily aromatic smelling cake. The first series of four photos shows the state of the pipe when it arrived on my worktable.

When I get a bowl that looks like this one I usually start by reaming the bowl. That aromatic, syrupy cherry smelling cake has to go in my opinion. I reamed it with my T handled Pipnet Reaming set. I generally start with a small cutting head and work my way up until I have removed most of the cake. The next two photos show the reaming process.

Once the bowl was reamed it was time to scrub the exterior with some acetone on cotton pads. I wanted to remove the tars and oils from the rim and bowl sides and also remove the embedded grime and surface dirt on the whole pipe. The next series of three photos show the process of the scrubbing and the look of the bowl once the grime and tars were removed. I would still have to sand the bowl down to remove the remaining buildup once I had washed it with acetone.

I cleaned out the shank and mortise with cotton swabs and Everclear. I dipped the cotton swab in some of the alcohol that I poured in the lid and used as a bowl for washing the shank. It took a lot of cotton swabs to clean out all the tars and oils in the shank. When I started it smelled like cherry cough syrup and as I added the alcohol it was stronger. The nice thing was that as it got clean the smell disappeared. I used fluffy pipe cleaners to clean out the airway to the bowl. When I was finished I put the stem back on the bowl for sanding so that I would not round any edges on the shank and also to protect the shank from any changes in shape from sanding. I find that when I do this I am more careful around the stem shank union than when I sand without the stem. I used a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge (pink foam sanding sponge in the pictures below). I sanded the entire bowl and spend a significant amount of time on the upper curves of the bowl so that I could get rid of all of the tar remnants. I also sanded the stem with the sanding sponges as well. The next series of four photos show the cleaned bowl and the oxidation and calcification beginning to be removed from the stem.

When I finished sanding the bowl I wiped it down with an alcohol dampened cotton pad to remove the sanding dust and remaining grime on the briar. Then I laid the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I sanded it with 320 grit sandpaper to get rid of the oxidation and remaining signs of calcification around the button. I also worked on the tooth marks with the sandpaper. The next three photos show the stem as I sanded away the tooth chatter and the oxidation.

After this initial sanding I decided to wet sand with the 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. The next series of five photos show that process and the ever blackening colour of the stem sans oxidation.

After the 2400 grit micromesh sanding I used Maguiar’s Scratch X2.0 and rubbed it onto the stem with my fingers and scrubbed it off with cotton pads.

I then dry sanded it with 3200, 3600 and 4000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I finished sanding with the remaining grits of micromesh from 6000-12,000 and then set the stem aside to work on the bowl.

I decided to stain the pipe with a Dark Brown aniline stain to see how it would cover the fills. I was a bit worried that they would not pick up the pigment of the stain. I warmed the bowl and then applied the stain with the dauber and then flamed it, restained it, reflamed it and let it dry. The next two photos show the stained bowl and the fills standing out from the stain.

I put the stem back on the pipe and took it to my buffer. I buffed it with Tripoli and White Diamond to a shine. The fills seemed to just pop from the surface of the bowls! They stood out like eyesores and really bothered me. In the first two photos below you can see them clearly. The stem also showed a bit more oxidation that I would need to address as I finished the pipe.

I decided to try lightening the colour to see if the fills would blend in any better. I wondered if the high contrast of the dark stain and the light fills made them more visible. I wiped the bowl down with an alcohol dampened cotton pad to remove excess finish and try to blend the fills into the finish. It worked to a degree and the next three photos show the softened colour of the stain. In person the fills were still way to visible for my liking.

I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil and set it aside while I worked on picking out the fills with my dental pick. The next series of three photos show the cleaned out fills. They are stark white after the removal of the putty. In actuality they are a natural briar colour. I picked them clean and then wiped down the area with the damp pad one final time before I went to work on filling them.

The next series of seven photos shows the process I use for replacing putty fills. After I have cleaned them out I fill them with briar dust that I have collected. I pack it into the fill holes with the end of my dental pick. I wet the end of the pick so that the briar dust sticks to the end when I dip it in the dust. I then scrape the dust into the hole and pack it in tightly. I work on one hole at a time as I don’t want the dust and superglue mix running all over the pipe. That is a real challenge on a ball shaped bowl. Once I have the dust packed in the hole I drip superglue into the dust. I also add a bit more dust if it is necessary and repack and reglue it. You can see from the photos that the result is a messy patch over the fill hole. The dust and superglue mix hardens quickly and forms a great patch for the holes. Once I had all the holes filled I then sanded the bowl.

The next eight photos show the sanded bowl. I use 320 grit sandpaper to sand off the excess superglue and briar dust and bring the surface of the patch smooth with the surface of the bowl. The finished patch is almost black in appearance. In the bare briar bowl the patches show up as black on the light coloured briar. I find that this dark patch actually is easier to blend in with the stain than the lighter putty patches. Once I have sanded the patches smooth I sand the entire bowl with the fine grit sanding sponge so that when I restain it I will be able to get an even coat. After sanding I wipe the bowl down with an alcohol dampened cotton pad to remove any remaining finish and the dust and grit from sanding the bowl. This prepares it for staining.

For the restain of the bowl I decided I would use an oxblood stain. It is an alcohol based paste stain that I have used in the past with good coverage over the replace fills. I applied with a dauber and rubber is into the surface of the pipe. Once I had the whole pipe covered I flamed it and then rubbed it off with a cotton towel I use for that purpose. The next four photos show the coverage of the stain before I wiped it off.

Once the stain was dry I buffed it on my buffer using White Diamond. The next four photos show the bowl after buffing. The fills are still dark and stand out to the eye. I have learned through experimenting that I can blend them into the stain a bit better by using a permanent marker and draw grain lines through the fills making them flow with the pattern of the grain on the bowl. The trick it not to have a heavy hand and to try to follow existing graining patterns. The black permanent marker stands out initially on the new stain but after is applied I restain the bowl with another coat of the oxblood stain, flame it and then rub it off.

The final series of five photos show the finished pipe. The fills are still visible if you look closely but they blend into the surface of the bowl and stain more nicely. I gave the pipe a final buff with White Diamond and then applied several coats of carnauba wax and buffed with a clean flannel buffing pad. The pipe is now ready to smoke and the medicinal cherry smell is gone. Though the fills are far from being invisible they are certainly better and the overall effect is a much nicer pipe.

An Odd Pipe Restored – Richmond London Made

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This old timer is an odd shaped pipe with the bowl hanging below the height of the shank. The line from the rim to the stem is straight and the bowl hangs below that. It is stamped Richmond over London Made on the left side of the bowl and on the right it is stamped Made in England. From the information that I can find the pipe was made by either Saseini or Comoys. Both stamped pipes with the Richmond label. The first series of four photos show the pipe as it was when it arrived here at my workbench.

I cleaned the bowl and shank with Isopropyl alcohol. I reamed out the cake in the bowl. I use a Pipnet T handle reamer. In this case I started with the smallest blade set and worked up to the one that is pictured below in the next two photos.

After reaming the bowl I scrubbed the outside of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap on a cotton pad. I wanted to remove as much of the old waxes and grime that was on the surface of the bowl and the rim.

After the scrubbing I worked on the inside of the shank. I scrubbed it out with alcohol on pipe cleaners and then scrubbed the mortise with cotton swabs dipped in isopropyl alcohol. The two photos below show the angle of the drilling from the shank to the bottom of the bowl. The drilling started at the bottom edge of the mortise and came out at the centre of the bottom edge of the bowl. It is a well drilled pipe.

The next three photos show the bowl after I had scrubbed it. I also used the Murphy’s on the stem to remove some of the surface oxidation. I wanted to preserve the Circle R stamping on the stem so I carefully worked around that area.

The next four photos show the stem after I had scrubbed it with the oil soap and then polished it with the Maguiar’s Scratch X2.0. The majority of the surface oxidation came off. What remained was deeply embedded in the stem and would require more work.

At this point I worked on the remaining oxidation on the stem using the micromesh sanding pads. The next series of six photos show the process. I wet sanded with 1500 and 1800 grit micromesh and then polished the stem with Maguiar’s Scratch X2.0 polish.

After polishing I stained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain mixed 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol to restore the finish to the bowl. I stained it, flamed it, restained and reflamed it to set the finish coat. The first two photos below show that process. I took it to my buffer and gave it a buff with White Diamond. The next three photos show the pipe after I had buffed it.

The finished colour was too dark to my liking and obscured the grain rather than highlighting it so I used acetone on cotton pads to reduce the intensity of the colour. The next series of three photos show the new look to the colour after wiping it down with acetone. Note the stain on the cotton pads in the photos.

I took the pipe to the buffer again and buffed it with White Diamond. The next series of photos show the finished look of the stain at this point. They also show the ongoing work on the oxidation on the stem using the further grits of micromesh. I dry sanded with 2400-12,000 grit micromesh to finish polishing the stem. After I had finished with the micromesh I used the Maguiar’s again to do a final hand polish. I rubbed the stem down with some Obsidian Oil.

The next five photos show the finished pipe. I took it to the buffer a last time and buffed the stem using White Diamond. I also lightly buffed the bowl. I gave the stem and bowl several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it lightly with a soft flannel buff to bring up the shine. You will note a little oxidation remaining around the logo on the stem. I decided to leave that and not damage the stamping on the stem.

Restemmed and Refurbish Savinelli Duca Carlo

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Blog by Steve Laug

I picked up a Duca Carlo in utter ignorance on EBay the other day. I was not familiar with the brand and only later found out it was a Savinelli. The seller’s photograph are worse than mine so I was not sure what I was getting but decided to take a chance on it. I picked it up for very little so I figured I had nothing to lose. The first series of out of focus photos show the pipe as it appeared in the seller’s advert on EBay. The grain looked like it had potential to me and the rest of the pipe appeared to be in workable shape. Once it got here I would have a better idea of what work would need to be done.

The first photo below shows the pipe after I took it out of the box it came in and put it on my work table. It was definitely in need of a ream and clean. The bottom of the bowl was dusty but had no cake on it. The upper portion of the bowl had an uneven cake. The rim was tarred and oily but there were no dents in the rim or on the rest of the bowl for that matter. The shank had a small hairline crack on the right side. It is next to the fill on the shank that is visible in the photo below. Fortunately this was the only fill I found in the bowl. It was not a bad piece of briar. There are a few bald spots on the bottom of the bowl but there is also some nice grain both birdseye and flame on the sides, front and back of the bowl and also on the shank. The shank and the bottom of the bowl had some cobwebs in it like it had been sitting in storage for a while. I blew out the dust bunnies and then pulled out a stem from my box of stems. It did not have a tenon so I screwed in a delrin tenon into the drilled out hole in the stem. The shank of the Duca Carlo was also drilled for a filter but I decided since I was restemming it and putting a new tenon on the stem I would make it fit without a filter.

I needed to remove a lot of the delrin from the diameter of the tenon to get a proper fit. The tenon was too large for my Pimo Tenon Turner so I had to do the shaping by hand with files and my Dremel. The next two photos show the shaping process of the tenon. I used a rasp to take of as much of the material as I thought practical. I then used the sanding drum on the Dremel to smooth out the tooth marks from the rasp. I finally used medium grit Emery paper to take down the remainder of the tenon.

Once I had it sanded to fit I inserted it in the mortise to check the hairline crack. In the photo below I have it partially inserted and the crack is visible next to the fill on the shank. It was not a large or serious crack but in inspecting it I found one on the underside of the shank as well on the opposite edge. This made it necessary for me to band the shank to maintain the integrity of the pipe.

I sorted through my box of bands and found one that would give a good tight fit to the shank. It is a nickel band and once heated and pressure fit on the shank it would give the strength to the shank. The next three photos show the banding process from choosing the band to pressure fitting it on the shank.

After banding the shank I inserted the stem in the shank and it fit well. It was snug and fit against the end of the shank cleanly. It was a bit larger in diameter than the shank so I sanded it with the emery paper to remove the excess material on the stem. The next three photos show the progress of fitting the stem against the shank.

I reamed the bowl with my T handle Pipnet reamer and blade heads. It was an easy ream as the bottom half of the bowl was clear briar. The Pipnet reamer must be carefully inserted and turned so as not to make the bowl out of round or damage the bowl.

After reaming I decided to clean off the tars and oils on the rim. I used a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the grime as seen in the first picture below. I then wiped down the bowl and rim with acetone on a cotton pad as can be seen in the second and third photo below. I found that cleaning off the grime and the dark parts of the bowl revealed some really nice grain on the pipe.

The next three photos show the bowl after the wipe down with acetone and the stem after sanding with the medium grit sanding sponge. The fit is getting very close to being what I was looking for. I am still not sure about the bend in the stem. It fits well in the mouth but I may heat and rebend it. I will see once I am finished with the pipe.

I restained the bowl and rim with dark brown aniline stain. I applied it with the dauber and then flamed it with a match, restained and reflamed it. The next three photos show the freshly stained bowl after I flamed it. Once it was dry I took it to my buffer and buffed the bowl with Tripoli to polish and remove the excess stain.

Even after buffing the stain was too dark for me. I wiped the bowl down with acetone on a cotton pad to lighten the stain. The next series of three photos show the bowl after I had wiped it down with the acetone. The colour was what I wanted. It would polish up very well.

I set the bowl aside after this and went to work on the stem with the micromesh sanding pads. The next nine photos show the polishing process with the micromesh pads and the Maguiar’s Scratch X 2.0. I began dry sanding the stem with 1500 grit micromesh sanding pads. After that I polished the stem with the Maguiar’s before working through the rest of the micromesh grits 1800-12,000. After the final sanding I polished it a second time with the Maguiar’s and then gave it a buff with White Diamond. I brought it back to the work table and wiped it down with Obsidian Oil and then coated it with some carnauba wax. For much of the final sanding I worked with the stem on the shank so as not to round the shoulders of the stem.

When I had the scratches worked out of the stem I buffed the entire pipe with White Diamond and then several coats of carnauba wax. The finished pipe can be seen in the photos below. I decided not to rebend the stem but to leave it for now and see how it feels when smoking it. I can rebend it at any time should I choose. The final four photos show the finished pipe. This was a pretty straightforward refurb, it took me about three hours to restem and refinish the pipe.

Wally Frank Shipmate

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Blog by Greg Wolford

The same trip out that I picked up the Dr. Grabow Freehand I also picked up this Wally Frank. It was in pretty good condition, really just needing a good clean up. I’d never had a Wally Frank before, like the Freehand, so that was part of my interest. But the real interest laid in its shape: a Rhodesian. The Bulldog and Rhodesian top my list of favorite shapes so this one had to come home with me.

The following photos show the Wally Frank and the aforementioned Dr. Grabow as they looked when I unwrapped them at home. You can see that the Frank was in much better condition than the Grabow, especially the stem!

There are some fills in the pipe but the only one that really bothered me was the one on the face of the bowl (last photo), though I’m not sure how well you can see it. That one irritation made me decide to refinish the pipe but to keep it as close to original as I could.

At the time I was working on this pipe I didn’t know I would be writing about the experience, so there are no in progress photos to share.

I started by dropping the stem into a OxiClean bath to loosen the gunk and oxidation. Since I didn’t want to remove all the stain I didn’t do an alcohol bath. I began by lightly reaming the bowl which was actually not bad at all; there was virgin briar still in there! After reaming, I began to clean the bowl with acetone on disposable cotton pads; I buy them in the make-up section of Wal-Mart. Once cleaned I then topped the bowl. For topping I used 320 wet/dry sandpaper laid out on my workbench which has a granite slab on it for my leather working. Once the bowl was sufficiently evened out to my satisfaction I began to work on the fill that annoyed me.

I used some 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper to touch up the area a but before I picked out the fill. I then cleaned the area with a isopropyl dampened cotton pad and then, using briar dust from the bowl topping, I packed the area with dust and dripped on some Super Glue. I let it penetrate for 30 seconds or so and then quickly wiped off the excess. The result looked nice, with little extra glue. I gave it another few minutes to set well and then moved on to sanding.

As I said, I wanted to preserve the original look as much as possible and the other smaller fills didn’t really bother me. I decided the best approach was to lightly sand the whole pipe with 400 grit wet/dry paper, avoiding the nomenclature completely. I would work over the entire bowl, wipe it with alcohol pads, evaluate, and repeat; I belive it took three passes to get it to where I liked it.

I then mixed up some Fiebing’s Medium Brown leather dye 50/50 with 91% isopropyl alcohol which I applied with a wool dauber and flamed in. I buffed it by hand to see what the color looked like, trying to blend the sanded briar with the mostly untouched stamped areas; it was a very close match but needed another application. The bowl rim needed more, too, due to the topping so I started by applying and flaming the dye to the rim only and then applying and flaming the entire bowl. Again I buffed it by hand and compared the two areas; I was happy with the results so it was time to move on to the stem.

After taking the stem out of the OxiClean bath I washed it well and scrubbed it with a Miracle Eraser, which removes a lot of the loosened oxidation. From there I began wet sanding with 320/400/800 grits; thankfully there were no holes, dents or even much chatter to work on with this stem. Next I applied the Novus 2 plastic polish. Sometimes I don’t use the plastic polish this soon but I wanted to get an idea of the shape of the stem at this point. The stem looked better than I expected so I then moved on to the micro mesh, wet sanding with 1500-4000 grits. I used another application of the Novus 2, which I work in with a cotton pad and then polish off with another clean one. I then polished with the micro mesh, dry, through 12000. At this point I switched to the Novus 1 plastic polish to bring up the shine.

I moved to the buffer and buffed the bowl with Tripoli. I then put the pipe and stem together and buffed the entire pipe with white diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe out to the final shine with my “mushroom” on my cordless drill.

The final result was one I am happy with. The pipe smokes much better than I’d anticipated; there is no more virgin briar in its bowl. The fit and feel of it are fantastic and now it looks more like it once did, when someone else loved it.

What to refurbish next?

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Generally, I never have to give much thought to which pipe I will refurbish next as I pick up only pipes that I like. I have an old box in my laundry room where I keep pipes that need to be refurbished. At times this box has had over three hundred pipes in it but has recently diminished to eleven. These are the tag end of a lot of pipes that I have had over the past years. Sometimes I buy a batch of pipes on eBay that will have many I don’t want for one or two that I am hunting for. Sometimes these unchosen ones end up in the bottom of the box. Other times friends will give me garage sale finds or flea market or auction finds – sometimes nice and sometimes junk to be honest with you. When I go to refurbish a pipe I pick through the box and select the ones that strike my interest and leave behind for later all the ones that for one reason or another just did not catch my attention. They can accumulate and I gradually chip away at them. I have now worked through even that leftover lot – the ones that did not catch my eye and am left with 11 more pipes that just don’t do anything for me. All of them need to be restemmed and refinished. All of them are in rough shape. They no name pipes stamped with such markings as Bruyere Garantie, Imported Briar, Real Briar and Genuine Briar. Not even their names are interesting because I can ferret out no history or brand to link them to. So you see these pipes are not worth much. They will probably end up being give away pipes for me but I am guessing that with a little work they can be made into great smoking pipes. I am sure they will be great pipes for someone just starting out or someone who needs a yard pipe. The interesting thing is that the drilling/mechanics on all of them are well done. The finish on all of them is pretty rough – either flaking, peeling, or chipped and there are huge fills in some of them and many little fills in others. They are truly utility pipes but they are the ones I am left with. So I am left to decide which one I will work on next. The photos below show the lot. Maybe one interests you.

So which one do I pick up first to work on? Should I cut the tenons for the three bowls that don’t have stems so that all have stems? Do I pick one and work the stem to a fit and sheen? Do I refinish a bowl? Do I really want to do anything with the lot at all? Inevitably I will pick up each on and fix it. Each of the 11 pipes will be a teacher of method and practice for me. Each one will give me the opportunity to hone a skill – staining, finishing, stem shaping, button opening, airway opening, topping, rusticating and the list can go on and on. I used to just give away the stummels to folks who wanted to learn to fit stems. I even sold a few by the dozen to thin down the lot but these remain – for better or worse. It is for the training value, the practise of the art of refurbishing alone, that I continue to tackle these pipes sitting at the bottom of the box. Each one gives me a valuable chance to learn something new or hone a skill to better use. It is from working on pipes like these that I have developed several rustication patterns, the patience and persistence in shaping stems and turning tenons. I have learned to apply contrast stains and practiced bending and straightening stems. I know that I can afford to mess things up on these without feeling any loss or disappointment. If I had not picked them up to work on they were destined for the firebox. So with that in my mind I will reach for another pipe from the box.

I tend to work on things systematically and so about a month ago I had an afternoon free so I restemmed 9 of them. I turned the tenons and stuck the new stems on the pipes. Some of them are reclaimed stems from my stem box and some of them are stem blanks that will take some work to finish. I have not worked on any of the stem fittings or squared them up to the shank at all. I have not worked on the diameter or taper of the stem as it meets the shank. I have not smoothed out the casting ridges or shaped the buttons or slots. I just turned the tenons and put the stems on the pipes and put them back in the box. That leaves three more to fit stems on and then the 12 of them to be customized and polished.

I heard footsteps on the front porch by the mail box. I figured one of my daughters was home from work or my wife so I just kept looking at the pipes to make a choice. What was that? Oh, the doorbell rang… The door opened and closed. My daughter just opened the door to the basement workshop and called down to tell me that I have a package. Maybe it is some of my EBay wins that have arrived. Ah, I can still postpone picking up one of the restems or turning the remaining three tenons. Good, they can wait for a little longer while I work on the new arrivals. After all they are ones that I chose to restore… so I close up my box and head upstairs to retrieve my package. I think I may as well have a bowl while I am upstairs…

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rebornpipes

reclaiming old and worn estate pipes

WDC Waldorf Given a New Look and a New Stem

Comoy’s The Everyman Billiard Brought Back to Life

GBD New Standard Reborn

Experimenting with Alternative Oxidation Removal Techniques

Israeli Made Bent Ball Repaired and Refurbished

An Odd Pipe Restored – Richmond London Made

Restemmed and Refurbish Savinelli Duca Carlo

Wally Frank Shipmate

What to refurbish next?

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