Tag Archives: Acrylic Fancy Saddle Stems

Breathing Life into a Lightly Smoked Posella RN Fatta A Mano Rusticated 1/4 Bent Apple

by Steve Laug

I have always been intrigued by heavily rusticated pipes – the look, the weight and the tactile feel of each one is a story in itself. In a conversation with a seller in Ogden, Utah, USA via zoom Jeff and I were able to see this beauty and make a deal. The date we picked it up was 12/12/2024. It is a short compact apple with a full-sized bowl. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Posella RN [over] Fatta A Mano. There is also a stamped crossed horizontal “P” logo on the left side of the fancy saddle stem. The finish was a nicely heavily rusticated with an acrylic thin saddled stem. The pipe had been lightly smoked and there no cake in the bowl and no lava on the rusticated or the smooth portions of the rim top. The stem was dirty with what looked like grime from a softee bit on the stem. You can see the line where the bit had ended. The beauty was that there were not any tooth marks or chatter on the stem surface. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. I have included them below. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is very clean with some slight darkening in the bowl showing that it may have been smoked only once or twice. The stem looked surprisingly good under the dirt and grime on the surface of the acrylic. It should cleanup very well. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the unique and beautiful rustication that was around this bowl. There was some light grime in the finish but it was quite clean. He took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is clear and readable in the photos below as noted above. He also captured the “crossed horizontal Ps” logo on the left side of the saddle. It in excellent condition. I turned to Pipephil’s site to get a sense of the brand as it is a new brand to me. I had no sense of the details other than it is an Italian pipe (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-p4.html). The photo of the pipe that is included is very different than the one I am working on. The logo on the stem and the shamping on the shank is similar. It was also helpful to see the explanation of the grading on the pipe. In this case the pipe in hand is an “R” meaning rusticated. The “N” is for Natural finish. There were no tier numbers or stars. I have also included the side bar information below the photo below.Artisan: Vitaliano Posella is the son of Salvatore Posella who was a briar cutter. He started making pipes with his brother-in-law, Tonino Jacono and established on his own when Jacono moved to Jesi. Address: Via Umberto I, 183. 88067 San Vito sullo Ionio (Calabria)

I turned to Pipedia to gather some more information on the Posella brand and some history (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Posella). I have included a short piece of information from the site below.

Vitaliano Posella is a pipemaker in San Vito sullo Ionio (Provincia di Catanzaro, Regione Calabria). He found to the handicraft art of pipemaking after having acquired a lot of experience in the briar industry. His pipes are exclusively produced with Calabrian briar.

There was also a link to an article on the Posella Grading system. However, the link is not functioning and locks down. I will include below it as I hope that it will become available soon http://www.theitalianpipe.com/infowell/guides/posella.htm.

I googled for further information and found a link to a site that sells Posella pipes. It also gave a great bit of background to the brand and the pipemaker. Here is the link to the site and the information (https://tabaccherialentofumo.com/en/brand/posella-pipes-en/). I quote that information below.

The Posella family has a long history of sawing on their backs, dedicating themselves to the production of briar for pipes in Calabria, one of the most famous lands for the raw material of our precious products.

Vitaliano Posella has been making pipes for several decades, obviously using briar from the family. For this reason, their pipes are seasoned for at least 10 years, for a high quality in the mechanics and a greater fragance when smoking.

The Posella pipes have a great reception also abroad, in places like China or America. These pipes are manufactured entirely by hand, perforated with great precision, with 100% attention to details to offer a product who lives up the expectations of the demanding and expert smokers.

In hand-made mouthpieces, Posella uses methacrylate for its luster in time and resistance to scratches. In addition, from this material is made the tenon, with a custom work for each pipe.

The way to rustic a pipe is unique and captivating, with a long and meticulous process, making it very particular and valuable, being its baseline. Its forms are classic but with its own interpretation, being a recognizable and suitable style for any type of interested person in the subject.

Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. Surprisingly the walls looked unscathed from the heavy cake. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. When I examined the stem, it looked very good. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. I took some close up photos of the rim top and edges to show how well it had cleaned up and the edges around the bowl. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth chatter on the surface ahead of the button on both sides. I took a photo of the stamping on the heel of the bowl. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. This Posella RN Fatta A Mano Rusticated Apple was a pipe I was looking forward to seeing what it looked like when I put it back together. With the grime and debris gone from the finish and the bowl it was a beauty and the depths of the rustication just pop at this point. I put the acrylic stem back on the bowl and lightly buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank and stem during the process. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is quite beautiful and is a lovely large bowl apple shaped pipe. The natural colour of the rusticated briar is very well chosen and shows depth in the finish. Give the finished Posella RN Rusticated Apple a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 63 grams/2.22 ounces. I really like the unique rustication around the bowl and shank. This is a great looking pipe in great condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I may hold onto this one – at least for awhile! Thanks for your time.

Cleaning up an Ascorti Oak Sandblast Apple

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by Steve Laug

I have always been intrigued by Morta pipes – the look, the weight and the sense of age that each one carries as a block of bog oak. In a conversation with a seller in Ogden, Utah, USA via zoom Jeff and I were able to see this beauty and make a deal. The date we picked it up was 12/12/2024. It is a short compact apple with a full-sized bowl. It is stamped Ascorti followed by Oak on the heel of the bowl and the shank. There is also an inlaid Ascorti “A” logo on the left side of the saddle stem. The finish was a nicely grained sandblast apple with an acrylic saddle stem. The pipe had been smoked and there was a moderate cake in the bowl and some lava on the inward bevel of the rim top. The stem was dirty with what looked like grime from a softee bit on the stem. You can see the line where the bit had ended. The beauty was that there were not any tooth marks or chatter on the stem surface. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. I have included them below. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is moderately caked and there is a light lava overflow on the rim top. The stem looked surprisingly good under the dirt and grime on the surface of the acrylic. It should cleanup very well. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the sandblast grain that was around this bowl. You can see the grime but the grain showing through the sandblast bowl is beautiful. He took a photo of the heel of the bowl to show the stamping. The stamping is clear and readable in the photos below as noted above. He also captured the “A” logo on the left side of the saddle. It in excellent condition.I did a Google search on the Ascorti Oak line and came up with very little. They seemed to sell between $285 – $375 new though I found only one currently for sale at Mars Cigars and Pipes (https://www.marscigars.com/ascorti-oak.aspx). Further searching came up with a single line in the search on the Ascorti Oak came up with a simple sentence that gave information concerning the “Oak”. I quote: The former is a variety of oak, felled and fossilized over thousands of years in peat bogs (hence its other common name, bog oak).

All of that is helpful information. There were not many Ascorti Oak pipes readily available. The pipes were made of a variety of “felled and fossilized oak over 1000s of years in a peat bog” which accounts for the name bog oak.

From there I turned to the Ascorti section on Pipephil’s site to see if there was any information on the Oak line (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-a8.html). There was nothing shown on that in section on Ascorti but the information on the brand and short summary of history was helpful. I have included a screen capture of the section and the side bar information below.Brand established in 1980 by Roberto Ascorti (born 1958), son of Giuseppe aka Peppino. See Caminetto. Production (2007): ~ 1500-2000 pipes/year

I turned from there to Pipedia for more information (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ascorti). I have included pertinent sections of the article as well as a photo of the Ascorti brothers. It is interesting and helpful.

Roberto Ascorti, now 49, son of Giuseppe Ascorti, best known as “Peppino”, “met” the pipe when he was 10 years old, back in 1968, when his father started the new adventure as pipemaker.

He attended the Art Institute, but he continued with his passion for the pipe and decided to assist his father more and more. In 1980, when he was 22, Roberto decided to devote himself completely to creating pipes, but there was no room in his father’s factory; so he started by himself with his own name, ASCORTI, supported and helped by his father, his brother Pierangelo and by his girlfriend, Silvana. Then, when the historic Caminetto factory closed, its artisans entered the newborn Ascorti which had all the tradition, the experience, the power and quality that Peppino Ascorti had built in several years, but with innovations in the model making and in the technical solutions, brought by the young Roberto.

During those years Roberto suffered the early passing of his father and his brother. But with the help of his wife, Silvana, always by his side, he continued with love and experience to compete with a market which is extremely variable and ruled by accelerations(?) of the changes. Roberto is able to change the style of his design by revising old shapes, personally checking the progress and working side by side with his precious artisans.

Briar is personally selected by Roberto who controls the quality, dimensions, weight and the first seasoning, which is very important and done in the area where it is collected and cut. After the first scrupulous control, the briar is then aged for two years, to reach the seasoning that he thinks is perfect to create a pipe. Each pipe is designed by Roberto and it is initially crafted with small machines, made by hand by his father Peppino, with the help of his son, back in the 70’s. They are perfect to allow different processes as the artisanal tradition requires.

After the drilling of the bowl and shank, the pipe passes through an interminable series of handmade steps done only by Roberto and the irreplaceable Cesare (already aside of Peppino in 1968).

The mouthpiece, made in methacrylate (acrylic) is also completely handmade, obtained in sheets which are cut into bars, then drilled and shaped with files and sandpaper. There are 90 steps to the procedure, small or large, but everyone important, that Roberto requires before he considers his creations finished and ready to be shown to the customer.

I think that the love that Roberto flows into his pipes, absorbed by the workers and relatives, is perfectly understood by smokers all around the world, who never fail to give us satisfaction with praise and public or private lauds.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. Surprisingly the walls looked unscathed from the heavy cake. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. When I examined the stem, it looked very good. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. I took some close up photos of the rim top and edges to show how well it had cleaned up and the edges around the bowl. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth chatter on the surface ahead of the button on both sides.I took a photo of the stamping on the heel of the bowl. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the bog oak. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. This Ascorti Oak Sandblast Straight Apple was a pipe I was looking forward to seeing what it looked like when I put it back together. The pipe was a beauty and the grain of the bog oak and the sandblast depths just pop at this point. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank and stem during the process. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is quite beautiful and is a lovely large bowl straight apple shaped pipe. The dark colour of the Morta/Bog Oak and the sandblast give it depth. It is very well done. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 63 grams/2.22 ounces. I really like the way that Ascorti follows the grain in the bog oak with the sandblast. This is a great looking pipe in great condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section soon. If you want to add it to your collection send me an email or a message! Thanks for your time.

This Ascorti 01 Business Hand Made Must Be a Great Smoking Pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is an interesting Ascorti Business Bent Bulldog. I had passed over this one a few times in the past weeks but this morning I decided it would join the days queue. It is a great looking and obviously well-loved pipe from the previous pipeman. It was a really filthy and had some damage on the rim top and edges when we received it. The bowl had a thick cake and the lava overflow on the rim made it impossible to see in the inner edge of the bowl. The outer edge had damage and burns on the right side of the rim cap. The bowl was rusticated in the typical Ascorti Business rustication but the camp and shank were smooth. The finish had a lot of dust and debris in the deep pockets of the finish and some stains as well on the surface. The twin rings around base of the cap were also filled in with debris and dust. The smooth portions had some nice grain on them under the grime and the finish appeared to be in good condition. A lot would be revealed once Jeff had worked his magic on it. The stem was very dirty and had heavy tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. The button surface appeared to be unharmed. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Jeff tried to capture the condition of the bowl and rim top with the next series of photos. You can see the work that is ahead of us in the photos. It was obviously a well-loved and oft enjoyed pipe! Jeff took some great photos of the sides of the bowl and heel showing what is underneath the grime and debris of time and use. He captured the stamping on the sides of the shank and the left side of the tapered stem. They are clear and readable. The left side reads Ascorti over Business. On the right side it reads Hand Made over Italy. On the underside of the shank it is stamped 01 next to the shank/stem junction. The last photo below shows the Ascorti logo “A” on the left side of the saddle stem. The photos of the stem show the thick grime on the stem surface as well as the tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. It was probably one of the filthiest stems I have seen in a very long time. I have worked on a few Ascorti Business pipes in the recent months – two straight billiards so I turned to a blog on one of them to refresh the background information before I started my part of the work (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/03/18/repairing-banding-and-restoring-a-damaged-hand-made-ascorti-business-billiard/). I quote from that blog:

Before I started my part of the repair and restoration I wanted to have a clear picture of what the stem logo looked like on the Ascorti Business pipe. I turned to Pipephil as he often has some photos that give me the information that I am looking for (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-a8.html). Sure enough he had a photo showing the rough stamped A on the stem. It is white and it is rough which is exactly how this one looks. Hopefully in the restoration process I can get it back a bit. I did a screen capture of the picture on the site and include it below.With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping and the age of this pipe. I knew from the information from the section above that the pipe came out after 1980 when the company started. I could not get the date more focused so it was time to work on the pipe.

I was seriously wondering how this beast would clean up as it was such a mess. I was not sure Jeff would be able to get all of the grime out of the rustication and the rings. It really was in bad shape. But I should not have even worried about it. Jeff cleaned the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. When I took it out of the box I was amazed at how good it looked it really looked like a different pipe. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks far better than I expected and the rim top/cap damage was less than I thought it would be. Jeff scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime and it came out looking far better. There was definitely tooth damage to address but nothing otherwise. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked very good. I took photos before I started my part of the work. I took some photos of the rim top and stem. The inner edge shows some damage on the back right side and on the outer edge and top on the right side. The close up photos of the stem shows that is it very clean but you can see the tooth chatter and marks in the acrylic.I took photos of the stamping because they also cleaned up very well.I took the stem off the shank and took a picture of the pipe. It really is a nice looking pipe with great lines.The major issue with this pipe was the burn damage on the rim top and the inner and outer edges of the bowl. I started my restoration work on the pipe by addressing that damage. I topped the bowl to remove the burn damage on the top of the cap and to try and minimize the damage to the inner edge. I then used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge and bring the bowl back to round. I gave the inner edge of the rim a slight bevel to further mask the damage. The rim top looks much better and will polish out pretty well with the micromesh. I polished the smooth briar of the rim cap and the shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The grain really began to stand out and the finish took on a shine by the last sanding pad. The photos tell the story! I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the smooth and rusticated briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about twenty minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I laid the bowl aside and turned to deal with the stem. I sanded the tooth marks and chatter on the stem with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the stem and started polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with some Denicare Mouthpiece polish – a red gritty paste that feels a lot like the texture of red Tripoli. It works well to polish out some of the scratches. I find that it does a great job preparing the stem for polishing with micromesh sanding pads.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. This Ascorti Business Bulldog was a pipe I was looking forward to seeing what it looked like when I put it back together. The change in condition and appearance of the pipe was remarkable. With the grime and debris gone from the finish and the bowl it was a beauty and the grain and rustication just pop at this point. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank and stem during the process. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is quite beautiful and is a lovely bent Bulldog shaped pipe. The variegated finish on the bowl combines various stains to give it depth. It is very well done. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. I really like the way that Ascorti combines the rusticated finish with the smooth shank and rim cap. This is a great looking pipe in great condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store soon. If you want to add it to your collection send me an email or a message! Thanks for your time.