Making an Alcohol Bath

Blog by Steve Laug

I use an alcohol bath for a lot of my pipe refurbishing work, particularly if I plan on restaining the pipe. The alcohol bath allows the pipe to soak submerged in isopropyl alcohol. This soak loosens the grit and grime in the finish and also removes the topcoat of wax and the stain. I have found it indispensable in loosening old finishes and allowing me fairly easy access to the briar beneath the finish. I have also found that it softens the old putty fills on pipes I plan on removing the fills from and reworking them with briar dust and superglue. I have referred to it often in the pages of the rebornpipes blog so I figured it was time to write about how I go about making the bath.

Equipment

Screw top plastic storage container

CONTAINER – You will need a container with a lid that seals tightly. I fill my alcohol bath and reuse it over and over again. You can use any container that has a screw top lid such as a Mason jar, jam jar, plastic container with a screw top, or any other lid that seals tightly. I have found that a one quart jar or container works best as I often have more than one pipe in the soak at the same time. I use a recycled Oxyclean plastic jar. The screw top lid keeps the liquid from evaporating as well as splashing when you shake it a bit in the process of cleaning the bowl. I have included pictures of several types of jars that I have used. I think the strengths and drawbacks of each are readily clear. I generally use the plastic jars as I have dropped the glass ones in the past or knocked them off the work bench and found a mess that needed to be cleaned up.

Mason Jar with a screw top. I have used wide mouth Mason jars as they give more room for me to get my hand in the jar to add or remove pipe bowls

Wide mouthed plastic storage container

ALCOHOL – For the alcohol I fill the bath with I use the highest percentage isopropyl alcohol that I can get through my local pharmacy. Most of the time I am able to purchase 99% Isopropyl alcohol or Rubbing Alcohol but have also used 91% Isopropyl with no ill effects. I just purchased a bottle of Everclear while traveling and will be trying it out as well. The water content in the 99% Isopropyl is 1% and I find that it evaporates quite quickly once I remove the pipe from the bath and does not saturate the briar. Much has been written about using an alcohol that is not a human consumable form. Many have spoken of the danger of using it in the pipe bowl or in cleaning the stem of a pipe that is going to be put in the mouth. However, I have found that once the pipe has been removed from the alcohol it air dries very quickly. Once I am done working on it there is no remaining alcohol in the bowl.

CLOTH – I use a piece of cotton cloth (a piece of an old tee shirt) to filter the alcohol when I clean the bath monthly or bimonthly. I pour the alcohol through the cloth into an old bowl I have here and then clean out the jar and return the filtered alcohol to the jar.

Setting up the alcohol bath

I wash the new jar or container with hot soapy water and rinse it well. I am not sure that is necessary but it is a habit that I have with any new jars or containers. Once it is dried off I fill the bowl with the isopropyl alcohol up to one inch from the rim. I leave room for displacement as the level rises when I place the bowls in the bath. From experience I have learned that this amount of space leaves room in my container for two or three pipe bowls. Once the alcohol is in the container the bath is ready to go. I put the lid on tightly and set it aside until I need to use it.

Using the alcohol bath

When I have a pipe bowl that I want to soak in the alcohol bath I clean it well before putting it into the bath. I set aside the stem and then ream the bowl and clean out the bowl and shank until the pipe cleaners are clean. There is no need in dropping dirty pipes into the soak. The exception to the cleaning is that I will often leave a caked and tarred rim as found because the alcohol bath will loosen and soften the residue and make removal much easier. Once the pipe is clean I drop it in the bath to soak. It is always fascinating to me to see whether the briar floats or sinks. I have seen both and it is fairly unpredictable. I used to think that lightweight briar floated and by and large it does but there are exceptions. I leave the bowls to soak for a minimum of two hours and a maximum of 8 hours (overnight). Once the soak is over I remove the bowl from the bath, dry it off with a soft cloth and set it aside. The alcohol evaporates quite quickly. If the finish is still spotty or the rustication or sandblast surface still dirty I will scrub it quickly over the bath with a brass bristle tire brush or a tooth brush – dipping it into the alcohol of the bath and scrubbing the surface until it is clean. Once it is clean and the way I want it I dry it off and set it aside. Bowls that have been soaked and cleaned are ready to be sanded or stained within minutes of drying off. I have had no residual effects from soaking the bowls. Once they dry and the pipe sits for a couple of days before smoking there has been no ill effects.

Life expectancy of the alcohol in the bath

I have often been asked how often I change the alcohol in the bath and have to say that I probably don’t do it as much as most people think. I will filter the alcohol either monthly or bi-monthly by pouring it through the cloth that I mentioned above in the equipment portion of this post. I tighten the lid and shake the alcohol bath for several minutes to loosen any sediment in the bottom of the bowl and then pour it. I find that the filtering removes the sediments and floating particles in the alcohol. I then wash the container with warm soapy water to remove grime on the inside of the container and then dry it off and pour the alcohol back in the container. Over time the alcohol changes colour and takes on a rich dark brown patina. It still works very well and I find that the bath will also work well to give the pipe a nice even under patina to whatever stain I want to use on the finished pipe. I suppose that if I wanted to soak a virgin or light coloured bowl I would start with clean, clear alcohol but I have not done that to this point.

Here is a picture of my current alcohol bath and you will note the rich brown colour of the alcohol.

George Khoubesser and Malaga Pipes

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Blog by Steve Laug

A few years ago I came across the pictures of George Khoubesser, the principal behind Malaga Pipes. I believe I was researching the pipes as I had come across a rusticated bulldog in a junk shop and wanted to know what I had. I sold that pipe and have kicked myself repeatedly for getting rid of it. I have been looking for just the right Malaga pipe since then. I thought I would share the photos and the old Malaga catalogue I have as an electronic copy.

Here are the photos of George Khoubesser

And here is the old catalogue

To Use or Not to Use – the Salt and Alcohol Treatment

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have been weighing the pros and cons of writing about the salt and alcohol treatment for a while now. It is a topic that is fraught with a lot of emotion from both sides of the table – those who swear by the method (proponents) and those who are vehemently against it (opponents). Much contradictory material has been posted and written on the use of salt and alcoholto sweeten a sour pipe bowl or to remove ghosting. Some swear by the method and have had no ill experience to speak of in their use of the method for what adds up to many years in many places. Others have untold numbers of horror stories of split shanks, cracked bowls and ruined pipes. The whole drama has taken on urban myth proportions. I decided to enter the fracas with my own experience – testing and proving or disproving the myth with my own stories of success. Here is a post that describes the tools and the process I have used for over 15 years with no problems of split shanks or other bad experiences of that kind.

The tools

Coarse Kosher Salt

SALT – I always use a Kosher Coarse ground salt. I never use iodized salt as I do not want the iodine to leach out into the briar. I have found that coarse ground salt has several features that keep me coming back to it. The first feature is that it does not dissolve in the bowl when the alcohol is poured over it and left to sit. The second is that it provides multiple surfaces onto which the oils and tars that are leached out migrate. Over the years I have never had a problem with this form of salt. I have never had a shank or a bowl crack or split after it has been cleaned with the salt and alcohol treatment.

Isopropyl Alcohol

ALCOHOL – I use the highest percentage isopropyl alcohol that I can get through my local pharmacy. Most of the time I am able to purchase 99% Isopropyl alcohol or Rubbing Alcohol but have also used 91% Isopropyl with no ill effects. I just purchased a bottle of Everclear while traveling and will be trying it out as well. The water content in the 99% Isopropyl is 1% and I find that it evaporates quite quickly and does not saturate the briar. Much has been written about using an alcohol that is not a human consumable form. Many have spoken of the danger of using it in the pipe bowl or in cleaning the stem of a pipe that is going to be put in the mouth. However, I have found that once the salt and alcohol medium has been removed from the bowl and the pipe air dries there is no remaining alcohol in the bowl. I have even used a match to light the inside of the bowl to burn off any remaining alcohol but had no success in getting the alcohol to flame. This and the fact that the bowl is dry to the touch cause me to believe that the alcohol that was used in the bowl is no longer present. I am sure others will say that the chemical components of the isopropyl are somehow compromising the integrity of the briar but I cannot find proof from that in my experience. All I know is that is some inexplicable way the combination of the alcohol and salt seems to provide a medium that causes the oils to leach out of the briar and come to rest on the salt crystals.

Ear Syringe

EAR SYRINGE – I stumbled on this tool that has become my go to tool for putting the alcohol in the bowl of the pipe. It is the humble bulbous ear syringe that is readily available at pharmacies for use with infants and adults. It is rubber and works incredibly well at keeping the alcohol off the outer finish of the pipe. By squeezing the bulb you can draw alcohol into the syringe and then be squeezing it again over the bowl of the pipe the alcohol is poured into the bowl quickly and without a mess. I have used the same syringe for over 12 years without little wear and tear on the bulb. I rinse it out with warm water after each use to keep it clean and fresh.

The method

I remove the stem from the bowl and then dip the bowl into my jar of kosher coarse salt. I usually lay the bowl on top of the salt and with a finger load the bowl with salt in much the same manner I load a bowl with tobacco. The photo below shows the bowl being filled. The second photo below shows the filled bowl. I fill the bowl leaving it a bit below the edge of the bowl. I don’t want the salt to be above the rim so that when I put the alcohol in the bowl it does not spill out onto the rim and spoil the finish.

Coarse Kosher Salt

Bowl filled and ready for the Isopropyl

Once I have the bowl filled I lay it in an old ice cube tray. I have found this is a great rest for a lot of the work I do in refurbishing pipe bowls. I then fold a pipe cleaner in half and insert it into the shank as far as the airway. I do this to keep the salt from coming up the shank. It also keeps the airway free of pieces of the coarse salt. The alcohol does wick up the pipe cleaners and I find that as the alcohol works in the bowl and evaporates it also works in the shank and leaches out the oils and tars. The next photo below shows the bowl with the pipe cleaner inserted and the bowl ready to receive the isopropyl alcohol.

Pipe Cleaner Inserted

I pour Isopropyl alcohol into the cap of the alcohol bottle and get the ear syringe and the bowl ready for work. The first photo shows the tools ready to use. The next two photos show the filling of the ear syringe with Isopropyl alcohol. Once it is filled I put the tip of the syringe in the top of the bowl and fill it with the alcohol. The next three photos show the filling of the bowl.

Tools of the Treatment

Filling the Ear Syringe

Filing the Ear Syringe 2

Adding the alcohol to the bowl

The alcohol filled bowl

Adding a bit more alcohol

Once the bowl is filled with isopropyl I place the filled bowl in the ice cube tray and let it sit while the alcohol and salt draw out the tars and oils. The process works quite quickly and the salt begins to darken with the oils and tars within a few moments. The next series of photos shows the salt turning brown beginning with the edges and working toward the centre of the bowl.

Setting the bowl in the ice cube tray

After sitting for 2-3 minutes

After sitting for 15 minutes

After sitting an hour

A final photo before I left it for the night. The pipe cleaner is rich brown from the oils and tars leached from the shank

What awaited me in the morning

This morning the salt was darkened and the alcohol was evaporated. I dumped out the salt and pulled out the pipe cleaner. The shank and the bowl were dry and the salt fell out easily. I wiped out the remaining crystals from the bowl and cleaned the shank with a folded pipe cleaner. If the bowl had still been wet I would have flamed it with a lighter or a match to quickly burn out the remaining alcohol. This time that was not necessary. The photo below shows the clean bowl. The pipe smells clean and fresh. When I have finished cleaning the pipe I set the bowl aside and let it dry for several days before smoking it.

A fresh and dry bowl

Restemmed and Reworked an Old Yello Bole Acorn

Restored a Pair of Older Real Briar Bent Billiards

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The last two pipes I received in the gift package from a friend on Smokers Forums were these two older rusticated bent billiards. The pipes are both stamped Real Briar in an Oval on the shank. There is no other stamping to help identify country of origin or maker. The rustication on the pipe on the left is more refined and almost like a sandblasted look and feel. The rustication on the other one is rustic and less refined. The pipe on the left has an aluminum tenon with a thin aluminum wafer built into the stem itself and has a blade like stinger attachment. The pipe on the right has a push stem with a sterling silver band. The rims on both were chamfered into the bowl and both were heavily caked with tars and resins. The bowls were in need of a ream. The shanks were dirty and tarry. The finish on both was dirty with dust and grime set into the rustication on the bowl. The aluminum and the silver band were tarnished. The stems were both oxidized and both had matching tooth dents on the top and bottom of the stem about a quarter inch from the button. The first series of four photos shows the state of the pipes when they arrived to my work table.

I removed the stems and placed them in an Oxyclean bath and placed the bowls in an alcohol bath (99% isopropyl alcohol). I scrubbed the bowls in the bath with a soft bristle brass tire brush as seen in the pictures below. The bowls and stem soaked overnight to let the bath do its work. When I took them out the next morning I scrubbed the bowls some more with the brass brush and dried the bowls off. I also sanded the rims with 320 grit sandpaper to remove the tars and the damage to the surface of the rim. The rims were chamfered so this was done by hand with a small folded piece of sandpaper held at the angle of the chamfer. The next series of five photos show the bowls after the scrubbing and rim work.

I finished my work in cleaning the bowls by wiping down the bowl surfaces with acetone on a soft cotton pad. With that work they were ready to be stained. I chose a dark brown aniline stain thinned with alcohol 2:1. I applied it with the dauber and then flamed it to set the stain. Stained it a second time and flamed it. Then I took it to my buffer to buff with a light touch on a White Diamond wheel. The next six photos show the developing shine that the bowls and the rims took on with the buffing. I still needed to clean the sterling silver band on the one bowl.

At this point in my process I set the bowls aside and worked on the stems. The first two photos below show what they looked like when I took them out of the Oxyclean bath and dried them off. The oxidation was by no means gone but it had softened considerably and was easier to remove. The four photos that follow show the stem in the process of polishing it with Maguiar’s Scratch X2.0. I applied the scrub by hand and rub it into the stem surface and then wipe it and polish it with a cotton pad. I find on this kind of oxidation it works to remove the surface material that the Oxyclean raised and gives me a clean surface to work on with the micromesh sanding pads. The last two of the four photos show the stems after the polish with the cotton pads.

At this point I reinserted the stems in the bowls and worked on the stems in the bowl with fine grit sanding sponges to remove the remaining oxidation. I then removed them from the bowl and continued sanding them.

The next two photos show the stem after sanding with the sanding sponge and then reapplying the Maguiar’s polish. The remaining oxidation is very clear around the button and at the end of the stem near the tenon. I used the Bic lighter method and ran flame along the surface of the stem from front to back while really working over the button area and the tenon end of the stem with the flame. The idea is to move the flame fairly quickly along the surface of the stem while be careful not to burn or heat the stem too much. It burns off the oxidation and is easier to work with using the micromesh sanding pads afterwards.

After all the preliminary cleaning of the stems and removing the oxidation I worked on the stems with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-3200 grit micromesh pads. I found that the water gives the pads a bit of bite in the sanding process. I have a small cup of water that I dip the edge of the pad in when sanding. I then finished by dry sanding with 4000-12,000 grit micromesh pads. I then polished it a last time with Maguiar’s Scratch X2.0 and then coated the stem with Obsidian Oil and finally multiple coats of carnauba wax.

The final series of six photos shows the finished pair of Real Briar Pipes. I polished the silver band with some silver polish before giving them all a quick buff with carnauba wax and a soft flannel buff for polishing. Both pipes are cleaned, polished and ready to smoke.

Restored Golf Old Briar Billiard

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This Golf Old Briar Billiard is the fourth pipe of the six that a friend from Smokers Forums sent my way. This one was the kind of challenge I enjoy. The briar was in pretty good shape under all the dirt and paint and black tarry deposits on the rim and the sides of the bowl. The pipe is stamped Golf in script over Old Briar in block type. On the underside of the shank near the stem it is also stamped with the shape number 1304. I am not sure who made the Golf brand of pipes but I saw several on Pipephil’s site with the name and different logos. It is an interesting piece and quite hefty. It is not large in terms of length or height but in terms of bulk. The finish was shot as you can see and would take some work to remove all the stains and paint flecks on the bowl. There were also some very visible fills on the bowl sides. The stem was very oxidized and had some odd oil like patterns on it that remain a mystery to me as to the cause. There was also a script G on the stem but it was merely applied to the surface rather than stamped into the stem material.

In the photo below I wanted to show the unique stinger apparatus in the stem. It was removable but seems very tiny in proportion to the size of the pipe. It is a needle point with a slot in the top surface that the smoke is drawn through. There is not much surface area to collect the moisture so I am not altogether sure of the effectiveness of the stinger. The stem was stuck so I had to put it in the freezer for several hours before I could remove it from the shank without breaking things. Once I took it out of the freezer it was fairly easy to remove.

I put the stem in the Oxyclean bath with the one from the figural pipe. I also put the two bowls in the alcohol bath overnight before giving them a once over. The two photos below show the pipe after I took it out of the bath to begin working on it. You can see that some of the grime was removed but the paint flecks remained as did the black stains on the bowl. These would take more work.

I used some acetone on a cotton pad to scrub down the bowl. The next series of two photos show how well the acetone removed the finish. It made short work of the paint and dark stains on the briar. I scrubbed it until the surface was clean. You can also see the presence of the fills that I spoke of earlier.

The rim of the bowl was rough so I decided to top it a slight amount to remove the damage and to clean up the surface. Since I was staining the pipe anyway there would be no problem in trying to match bowl and rim. I used my normal sandpaper on a board system and sanded the bowl in a clockwise motion to smooth out the surface. I first used a fine grit emery cloth and then followed that with 320 grit sandpaper. The first two photos below show that process and the effectiveness of it.

The next series of four photos show the bowl after I wiped it down with acetone again after the topping of the rim. The cotton pads show the sanding dust and surface grit that still remained on the surface of the bowl. I wanted to give it a final wash before staining it. I decided to not remove the fills on this bowl. I wanted to see if I could blend them in with the stain coat rather than replace them with the superglue briar dust patches that I generally use.

I chose to restain this pipe with a dark brown aniline stain thinned 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol. It is the same stain I used on the figural pipe that I posted about earlier. The next series of four photos show the process of the staining. I had my daughter help me with the photos and she was able to capture the flaming process in the last photo in this series. The flame burns quickly and blue. It burns off the alcohol and sets the stain in the grain of the briar. I love the way that flame dances on the surface of the pipe.

I set the bowl aside once the flame had died and worked on the stem. The next series of photos show the stem as it appeared after I removed it from the Oxyclean bath. It needed a lot of work. I had to sacrifice the painted G script as it would not survive the clean up. I used my Bic lighter technique to burn the oxidation. The process is very simple as I just move the flame over the surface of the stem never letting it stay in one place too long. I repeat the process until the surface is clean and black. I then polished the stem with the Maguiar’s Scratch X2.0 scrubbed on by hand then polished off with cotton pads. I repeated that process twice and then sanded the stem with the micromesh sanding pads 1500-12,000 grit. I finished by once again applying the Maguiar’s before putting the stem back on the pipe and taking it to my buffer to buff with White Diamond.

The next four photos show the finished pipe. It has several coats of carnauba wax applied by my buffer and buffed out to a shine with soft flannel buffing pads. The stain is a bit lighter than it appears in the photos and you can see the grain through the finish. The fills are all but invisible at a quick glance. Before I stained the fills I drew over them with a black permanent marker and then stained them. They covered very well with the marker and the dark stain.

Restored a Carved Figural

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I received this figural pipe in the lot of six that came to me from a friend on Smokers Forums. It is a tiny pipe – measuring just over 3 ½ inches in length. It is stamped only Real Briar in a band around the shank. The carving of a First Nations Leader (as we call them here in Canada) or Native American (US) is nicely done. The bowl was cake with a rough layer of cake. The finish was dirty and some of the top coat was damaged. The rustication around the bowl rim inside the head dress was almost smooth with tars. The grooves in the feathers and facial features were dirty as well. The stem was rough and badly oxidized. There were no tooth marks or chatter on the stem. The button was very tight and I could not put a pipe cleaner through it to clean it out. Pushing a cleaner in from the tenon end only let me get about ¾ of the way up the stem. The first series of four pictures show the pipe as it arrived to my work table.

I removed the stem and put the bowl in an alcohol bath overnight and the stem in a bath of Oxyclean for the same duration. When I took the bowl out the next morning it was definitely cleaner however I needed to scrub it with a soft bristle toothbrush to remove the grime from deep in the grooves in the face and feathers. I also wiped the bowl down with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the remaining finish on the bowl. I reamed the bowl with my T handle PipNet reamer to get the bowl cleaned out. I also cleaned the shank with cotton swabs and Everclear and then pipe cleaners as well. I used the drill bit on the handle of my KleenReem reamer to remove the build up from the airway between the mortise and the bowl. Once the pipe was cleaned inside and out it was ready to be stained. The next series of three photos show the pipe ready to be restained.

I restained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain that I thinned down 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol. I used the dauber that comes with the stain. I applied it heavily, flamed it and then restained it until the coverage was the way I wanted it. The next three photos show the bowl during the staining process.

The stem needed a lot of work to get the roughened surface smooth again and the oxidation off of it. I began by working on the slot in the button. I could not get a pipe cleaner through it so it would need to be opened with my needle files before I could really clean the inside of the airway. The next four photos show the progress of the slot reshaping and opening from start to finish. Once the slot was the right openness and took a pipe cleaner easily I sanded it out inside with a folded piece of 320 grit sandpaper to smooth out the file marks.

Once the slot was open I cleaned out the inside of the stem with Everclear and pipe cleaners and a shank brush. It took a lot of pipe cleaners as I don’t think the stem had ever been cleaned since it was first smoked. I then sanded the surface of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to loosen the remaining oxidation and smooth out the rough surface. I then used a medium grit sponge backed sandpaper to remove the scratches left behind by the sandpaper. I used the Bic lighter technique on the stem and then sanded it with micromesh sanding pads 1500-2400 grit and then polished it with Maguiar’s Scratch X2.0 applied and rubbed off with a cotton pad. I finished sanding the stem with the remaining micromesh pads from 3200-12,000 grit, buffed it with White Diamond on my buffer and then coated it with Obsidian Oil and then multiple coats of carnauba. I also gave the bowl a buff with carnauba.

The finished pipe is pictured in its new finish in the next five photos. It is a proud figural that has interesting carving and a great feel in the hand. I am not much for figural pipes but this one has some endearing features for me. Thanks Bill for the gift and the opportunity to try my hand on this one.

Some Observations on Briar by Country of Origin

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I wrote this piece a while ago now but have since worked on many more refurbs. Many are made of briar that is unidentified in the stamping. But some of them are stamped as the lot below were. Here are some of my observations that I noted back then, today as I am reworking this piece I still find the thoughts of those days interesting and decided I would post it here on the rebornpipes blog and get feedback from all of you. Have you found any of these observations to be true or have you found other observations that you could write about? I know I am not alone in saying that I would appreciate the information and the insight that many of you could add to this discussion. Here is the piece I wrote about a year or more ago…

Yesterday and today I refurbed more than 20 pipes and all of them are made from briar that comes from different countries. The country of origin was stamped on them and that is what got me noticing. It was not something I had given much thought before today. Now I wonder about it. The observations that I note are things that were true of all the pipes that bore that country’s stamping. I am sure others may have things that could be added and some may even disagree with me but this is what I found in the process of the last two days.

The pipes that were made of Algerian briar – I found that this particular briar was hard and light weight. I hada reddish tint to it even under the stain. I know that the stain once applied is never removed totally but even as I topped the bowls the briar dust was reddish. I also picked out some fills in some of the bowls and under the putty the briar was also reddish in hue. That makes me at least question whether it is just the effect of the stain because even when the putty fills and the stain are removed the briar is still reddish coloured. When I restain the bowls a reddish hue always seems to come through regardless of whether I use a brown or black stain. One of my tricks, learned from a pipe making friend of mine is to lick the briar to see what the grain looks like. When I did that with these pipes the briar seems to have a sweetish taste to the tongue. I checked that observation by also tasting a bit of the briar dust itself and it was confirmed for me.

The pipes that were made of Spanish briar – I found that this briar has a different weight and density to it than the Algerian. It is heavier than the pipes made of that briar that I have worked on these past days. It seemed to be softer and scratched and dented more easily. I found that on this lot I had to steam out quite a few dents in the wood. I did not find any uniform colour to the stripped briar so I cannot comment on the look of the wood before staining. However, it also seemed to take stain differently as well. The stain soaked into the grainat a rate much more quickly than the other briars and the grain was highlighted differently than in the harder briars from Algeria or Italy. When I performed my taste test on this briar I found that its taste is not as sweet to the tongue. It is more subdued and flat tasting.

The pipes made of Italian briar – The pipes made of this briar were very hard and light weight. Once the finish was stripped off the briar its colour was more yellow or white. When stain is applied to the pipe it does not soak in as deeply and appears a much lighter hue. Even a cherry or oxblood coloured stain comes out lighter and the yellow softens the reddish hues. Using my taste test on this briar I found that the taste is a bit more bitter and sharp on the tongue than either of the other two briars.

These are the observations that I came to as I worked on pipes from these three countries these past two days. I don’t know if I am dreaming or if it truly different. Has anybody else noticed this as you have worked on pipes? I am only noticing because I have been working eight hours each day at these refurbs and noting differences.

In the year plus that has passed since I first wrote these observations, nothing has changed in terms of what I observed and experienced in the briar I worked on. Many of the observations have been confirmed through work on other pipes that have come across my work table. I continue to note the things that I see as I work on these old pipes. I want to one day add Israeli briar to the list and that found in other countries as well. Feel free to post your thoughts in response to this blog post. I look forward to reading what you all have to say. Thanks ahead of time for your contribution to the work.

Refurb – Jarl Ribbon Acorn

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Blog by Steve Laug

This little pipe caught my eye when I was going through my box of pipes to be refurbished. It is stamped Jarl and is in what they call their Ribbon finish. It an acorn shape with what for all intents and purposes looks like a Celius style stem on it. It is light and clean.

The bowl needed a good reaming – a bit of a trick as it is a conical bowl. I used several of the PipNet bits on the T handle to ream the bowl. The finish was faded and dirty. The inside of the shank was tarry and dirty and the inside of the stem was the same. The stem was oxidized and the original owner had modified it by carving some horizontal lines (3x) on the top and bottom of the stem to make kind of a homemade dental bit. He had also used some Elmers Glue to repair the button where he cracked it trying to put a pipe cleaner through it. The glue was all over the top of the stem.

I scrubbed the bowl with some Murphy’s Oil Soap and a soft bristle tooth brush to clean out the grime and dirt from the sand blasted portions of the bowl and shank. I scrubbed the ribbon or smooth portions with a cotton pad and Oil Soap. It took a bit of scrubbing to remove the tars from the rim edge and restore the finish there to a clean colour. I ran it under a clear stream of warm water to wash away the soap and then dried it off with a microfibre cloth. Once it was dry I decided to restain it with an oxblood and black stain on the blast portion and a nice oxblood/cherry on the smooth parts. Before staining I cleaned out the shank and airway with cotton swabs/qtips and bristle pipe cleaners to remove the grime. I finished with fluffy pipe cleaners. Once clean it was ready to be stained. I first used a black aniline stain and then flamed it. I took it to the buffer and buffed it with Tripoli and White Diamond to remove the black stain from the smooth surfaces and from the high spots on the blasted portion. Then I restained it with a top coat of oxblood/cherry stain, flamed it and then buffed it with White Diamond to get a good contrast colour to the bowl.

The stem took some work. I was able to sand out the homemade cuts without compromising the thickness to much as they were fortunately not too deep. The cracked button was a challenge. I cleaned off the Elmers Glue and then scrubbed the crack clean with alcohol and a soft brush. I picked out the bits of glue that were in the crack with a dental pick. I dried the area and then repaired it with Super Glue. It came out looking like new. The stem was buffed with Tripoli and White Diamond after sanding. The entirety was given a coat of Halcyon II wax and buffed with a shoe brush.

Some sad news came back to me regarding this beautiful little acorn pipe. When I finished working on it I gave it away to Desertpipe as a gift. He loved the look and feel of it and appreciated it for what it is. Then one day after using it the cracked portion of the button broke off entirely. He sent the pipe out to be restemmed. I am looking forward to the day it is finished and he sends me some pictures.

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