Tag Archives: acrylic stems

Restemming and Restoring a Danish Pride by Ben Wade Hand Made in Denmark Bowl

by Steve Laug

This particular mixed finished Freehand pipe was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is another beautiful smaller Freehand Bowl that combines a plateau rim top and smooth patches that flow up from the bowl sides. The shank end is sandblasted like the bowl and shank with a spot of plateau. It is stamped on a smooth panel on the left side of the shank and reads Danish Pride [over] by [over] Ben Wade [over] Hand Made [over] In [over] Denmark. The bowl is a mix of sandblast on the majority with some smooth grooves on the front and sides. The shank is also sandblasted with the underside being smooth for the stamping. The bowl had a moderate cake and some spots of lava overflow in the plateau rim top and inner edge of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish and dust and debris in the plateau valleys on the shank end. The finish was a rich oxblood colour that really highlighted the grain in the sandblast. The stem was missing so I would need to fit a suitable replacement. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the cake in the bowl and the spotty lava on the plateau rim top and inner edge of the bowl. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain in the sandblast and the smooth portions. It is a beautiful bowl. It is a smaller size freehand and one that catches my eye. Have a look. The next photos Jeff took show the stamping on a smooth portion on the underside of the shank. The stamping is faint in places but still readable as noted above. In a previous blog I had researched the brand quite a bit. I have included it below for information on this pipe (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/10/03/restoring-a-danish-pride-by-ben-wade-mixed-finish-handmade-freehand-sitter/). I quote:

I remembered that the Preben Holm pipes were marketed under the Ben Wade label in the US and imported through Lane Ltd. I turned to Pipedia and read the listing on the brand to refresh my memory and flesh out the knowledge of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Wade). I have included a photo from that site that was taken from a Tinderbox advertisement.I quote the portion of the article that summarizes the Danish period of the history of the brand:

Young Copenhagen master pipemaker Preben Holm had made a meteoric career heading a pipe manufacture employing 45 people at the age of 22! But around the turn of 1970/71 he was in major financial difficulties. His US distributor, Snug Harbour Ltd. in New York City, left him in the lurch. Holm had three unpaid invoices on his desk and another large shipment was ready for the USA, when Snug Harbour’s manager told him on the phone that there was no money at all on the account to pay him.

So the Dane went to New York for an almost desperate search for a new distribution partner. He made contacts with Lane Ltd. and met Herman G. Lane in February 1971. Lane Ltd. had no interest in Holm’s serial pipes produced at that time but so much the more in the hand-carved freehands because the hype for Danish freehands and fancies in the States was still on its way to the climax then. The meeting resulted in an agreement to start a cooperation. Lane insisted to improve the quality considerably and in return he assured to be able to sell essentially larger quantities.

Holm went back home to work on new samples with all-new designs and altered finishes for Lane. Both, Lane and Holm, agreed that it would be unwise to sell the pipes under Preben Holm’s name as long as Snug Harbour had a considerable stock of Preben Holm pipes and might sell them pipes at very low prices just to bring in some money.

So on Mr. Lane’s proposal it was determined to use the name Ben Wade belonging to Lane Ltd. Lane spent considerable amounts of money for advertising the new brand in the big magazines– the centerpiece being whole-page ads showing a very exclusive Seven Day’s Set.

The cooperation with Lane Ltd. proved to be an eminent business success for both partners. Within a very short time Ben Wade Handmade Denmark sold in much larger quantities and at higher prices than they had ever dreamed of. And the hype these freehands and fancy pipes caused went on unbroken long after Herman G. Lane deceased. Preben Holm – obviously much more brilliant in pipe making than in pipe business – was in major troubles again in 1986 and had to sack most of his staff. The Ben Wade production was significantly lowered but continued until his untimely death in June of 1989.

Up to now Preben Holm made Ben Wade pipes are cult and highly sought for on the estate markets.

With that information my initial thoughts were confirmed. This pipe was a Preben Holm made Freehand distributed in the US by Lane Ltd under the name Ben Wade. The freehand rage occurred in the late 70s and the pipes were made until Preben’s death in 1989. My guess would be that this pipe was made sometime during that time period and potentially in the late 70s.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the plateau rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the remaining oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were. The rim top and bowl look good. The shank end was sandblasted and had a spot of plateau on the top right.I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. You can see from the photo that it is faint but readable. It is clearer on the top half of the stamp than the lower but it is still readable. I went through my stems and found a variegated cream and brown acrylic taper that would work well with the bowl. It would take some work to fit it but I took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe. The bowl was in such good condition after the clean up that I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the crevices of the plateau and sandblast portions. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I set the bowl aside and started working on the stem. I used a flat file to shape the stem to fit in the shank. It took some work to shape it but it looked much better. I cleaned up the stem work with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to finish blending it into the surface of the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2-inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil cloth.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. I am happy with the way that this Preben Holm Made Danish Pride by Ben Wade Freehand turned out. It really is a beautiful looking pipe with a great shape and mix of smooth and sandblast finishes around the bowl and shank. The rugged plateau on the rim top and shank end are beautiful. The fancy original vulcanite saddle stem works well with the reddish brown of the stained briar. The pipe really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown stains of the finish gave the pipe a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Danish Pride by Ben Wade really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches wide x 2 inches long, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 48 grams/1.69 ounces. The pipe will be staying with me, at least for awhile as I appreciate the craftsmanship. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

New Life for a Caminetto Business KS 154 Handmade in Italy Cucciago (CO) Full Bent

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on my worktable is another Caminetto Business pipe but different from the others that I have worked on in that it is an Oom Paul (Full Bent). With each one that I have worked on I am increasingly impressed by the craftsmanship. The pipe has a rugged rusticated finish and a stepped variegated gold acrylic saddle stem. It had come to us from a seller in Macon, Georgia, USA. It was a filthy pipe with grime and oils ground into the rusticated finish on the bowl. The pipe had some rustic beauty shining through the dust and debris in the valleys of the rough finish. The rustication covered the rim top, bowl and shank with a smooth panel on each side of the shank. The finish was dull and lifeless and dirty from sitting around. There was a very thick cake in the bowl with lava flowing out of the bowl and over the rim top. The lava had filled in the deeper grooves of the finish on the rim top. The inner edge of the rim appeared to be in good condition under the lava coat but we would know more once it was cleaned. The stamping on the left side of the shank read Caminetto in script over BUSINESS. To the right of that toward the stem was the shape number 154 and below that it read KS. On the right side of the shank it was stamped HANDMADE IN ITALY [over] CUCCIAGO (CO). The saddle stem was variegated gold and had the larger Caminetto Moustache on the top side. The surface was dirty and there was light tooth chatter and marks on both sides near the button. Jeff took the following photos before he started his cleanup work on the pipe. He took close-up photos of the bowl and rim top from various angles to capture the condition of the bowl and rim top edges. You can see the lava overflow and debris in the rustication of the rim top. You can see the cake in the bowl. This was a dirty pipe but it was the finish was in great condition. The stem is also very dirty with light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the beautiful incredibly deep rustication around the bowl. It is similar to the rough finish on Castello Sea Rock and Savinelli Capri Pipes. You can see the oil, dust and debris in the finish on both sides of the bowl. Jeff took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It reads as noted above. The stamping is clear and readable. There is no photo of the stamping on the right side of the shank.I have worked on several Caminetto in the past so I turned to one of the restorations on the rebornpipes blog and reread the background information on the brand. I am including that info here with this restoration (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/04/19/pretty-tired-and-dirty-messy-restoration-of-a-caminetto-business-tomahawk-182/).

When the pipe arrived I turned to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c1.html) to see if he included not only information on this Caminetto Business 182. He gave some interesting information about the brand. It was created in 1986 by Guiseppe Ascorti, Luigi Radice and Gianni Davoli as the distributor. It states that in 1979 the first Caminetto period ended with Luigi Radice leaving the company. Guiseppe Ascorti continued making the pipe with his son Roberto. In 1986 the New Caminetto period began by Roberto Ascorti.I turned to Pipedia for more information on the Caminetto and how to date the pipe I had in hand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_Caminetto_(shapes,_stamping,_articles,_etc.). I quote a pertinent paragraph:

Stampings and dating: First off, dating earlier Caminetto’s is nearly impossible. Nevertheless, there were three phases, some in which were much earlier, of development that occurred in the stamping process of Caminetto. Before that though, every pipe had the stamp of Caminetto in one of two ways: Caminetto in script or Caminetto within quotation marks in block letters (I do not know how it was decided which pipe got which stamp, as I have had EARLY Caminetto’s with both)…

The stampings are shown in the photo to the left. The stamping on this pipe is like #2.

…Now, the question is which stamps are earlier and more likely to have been made by Ascorti and/or Radice. The answer is #1. The differences in #2 and #3 seem to be minute, as Cucciago is simply a suburb of Cantu. Pipes stamped like #1 are the most valuable Caminetto’s as they are the earliest production of the brand, as well as what some would claim the most perfect of Ascorti and Radice’s work. The last tidbit is, of course, debatable…

… There is also another factor in stamping, that is, which series the pipe falls in. The majority of Caminetto’s one sees are those of the “Business” series, which are stamped such with their collective shape (see photo of shapes below). Another stamp that sometimes follows the “Business” one is “KS,” which from what I know means “King-size” (this could be wrong, as there are pipes stamped with KS1, KS2, and KS3).

Now it was time to look at it up close and personal. Jeff had done an amazing job in removing all of the cake and the lava on the rim top. He had reamed the bowl with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He took the cake back to bare briar so we could check the walls for damage. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime on the bowl and rim and was able to remove the lava and dirt. He cleaned out the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until they came out clean. He cleaned the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime on the exterior and cleaned out the airway with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I took photos of the pipe before I started my part of the restoration. To show how clean the rim top and stem really was I took a close-up photo of the rim and stem. The bowl was clean and cake free. The rim top is very clean with no residual lava in the finish. The inner edges of the bowl look good. The variegated golden acrylic saddle stem cleaned up nicely. The surface had some light tooth marks but the button edge looked really good. I took a photo of the stamping on the smooth panels on each side of the shank. The stamping was clear and readable and reads as noted above. I took the stem off the bowl and took a picture of the pipe to give an idea of the look of the rustication and the stem. It is going to be a pretty pipe. The bowl looked very good so I did not need to do any further work on it. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it in with my fingers and with a horse hair shoe brush to get it into the nooks and crannies of the deep rustication of the finish on the bowl and shank. I let it sit for about 20 minutes to let it do its magic. I buffed it with a soft cloth. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. The bowl was finished so I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth marks on the surface ahead of the button with a folded piece of 200 grit sandpaper. It looked significantly better.There was a faint large moustache stamped on the top of the saddle portion of the gold acrylic stem. It was faint but I filled in what remained with some white acrylic. I pressed it into the stamping with a tooth pick. Once it cured I scraped it off and sanded the surface with a 1000 grit sanding pad to remove the excess. It was fain but identifiable.I sanded the stem with 320-23500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad. The stem began to take on a rich shine. This Caminetto Business 154KS Oom Paul with a variegated gold arylic saddle stem is a real beauty and has a lot of life left. I put the bowl and stem back together again and buffed the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I used a soft touch on the rusticated bowl so as not to fill it in with the polishing product. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem several coats of carnauba wax. I carefully buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I finished buffing with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe looks very good. The rustication is very tactile and feels great in the hand. It is comfortable and light weight. The finished Caminetto Business 154KS Oom Paul is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 81 grams/2.86 ounces. This great looking rusticated Caminetto turned out very well. It should be a great pipe. It will be going on the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restemming and Restoring a Sandblast Benaderet’s Coral 135 Billiard

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table was a bowl sans stem that I have had in my box of bowls to be restemmed. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Benaderet’s [over] Coral followed by London Made [over] the shape number 135. The sandblast highlights great grain around the sides of the pipe. The shape number said I was dealing with a GBD made pipe. It had been reamed and cleaned by my brother Jeff many years ago. The rim and the inner edge were clean and with some light areas on the front right of the bevelled rim top and inner edge. The finish had been scrubbed and was very clean. I took photos of the bowl before I worked on it. I found an acrylic taper stem in my can of stems that would work with some adjustments. The tenon would need to be reduced in diameter and the diameter of the shank end would also need to be reduced. The size and shape of the stem were perfect to start with. I took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. With the new stem in place it is going to be a beautiful pipe once it is completed.From the shape number on the shank I was pretty certain I was dealing with a GBD pipe. The stamping Benaderet’s Coral was a dead end but the shape number hit the mark. I turned to Pipedia’s shape number listing and found it (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD_Shapes/Numbers). I have included a screen capture of the listing below.

I did some more digging on the net and found that Benaderet’s was a pipe shop in San Francisco that closed in the 70’s. Their house pipes were made by Comoys or Sasieni although smokingpipes had one listed that was made by GBD once.

The other link was to a blog (http://theothersideofthelizard.blogspot.com/2018/11/benaderets-pipe-shop.html). That blog gave the original address of the shop in San Francisco and the names of the owners of the shop.

Benaderet’s Cigarette, Pipe and Tobacco Shop – 215 Sutter Street [Formerly at 566 California Street], San Francisco.

Owners: Robert and Edith Rashaw (Robert Rashaw: born 1916. Edith Edna Rashaw: born 1916.) Store still extant in the late seventies. No longer there by the eighties. At one point, they had Egyptian cigarettes made for them. Their house pipes were usually by Comoys. There are also Benaderet’s Sasienis. More research required.

Quote: “Benaderet’s Inc., was California’s oldest pipe and tobacco store when it went out of business in 1980. Sam Benaderet was a tobacconist from New York City who came to San Francisco in 1915 to work at the Panama Pacific International Exposition. An immigrant to the United States from Turkey, Mr. Benaderet decided that he liked the West Coast’s Mediterranean like climate. After the Exposition closed, he stayed to open his own tobacco business. This new firm produced custom private-label cigarettes for men’s clubs. A lavish retail store was opened in the late 1920’s that quickly became a mecca for tobacco connoisseurs.”

So what I could find out about the pipe is that it is a pipe made by GBD (Shape number confirms this). It turns out that the pipe was a GBD pipe made for Benaderet’s Cigarette, Pipe and Tobacco Shop in San Francisco, California. Since the shop went out of business in 1980 I now knew that the pipe was made before that time. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I decided to fit the shank with a thin polished brass band. The shank end was tapered slight and was no long round. It appeared to have been sanded for a stem somewhere in its journey. The thin band would smooth out the transition and square it off. It would also set off the briar and the new stem. I pressed it onto the shank and it was firmly in place. I stained the rim edges and top with a Walnut stain pen to match the rest of the bowl and shank colour. It looked very good. I worked some Before and After Restoration Balm into the finish of the briar with my finger tips. The product works to clean, enrich and restore the briar. The photos show the beauty that pipe really had at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I used the Dremel and sanding drum to reduce the diameter of the stem as much as I safely could do and then used a flat file to take it further. I cleaned up the diameter fit with a smaller flat needle file. It worked well to remove the excess acrylic to match diameter of the shank. It was getting there.I used a small hole saw and small round, oval and flat files to shape the round hole in the button into a slot with an oval. It looked much better once I finished it.I sanded out the files marks on the stem surface with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I becamse smooth to the touch and was ready to be sanded further with sanding pads.I moved on to sand the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped it down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. The stem began to look much better.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with 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. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil to protect the stem and slow down the oxidation. Once again, I am at the part of the restoration that I always look forward to – the moment when all the pieces are put back together. I put the Benaderet’s Coral 135 Billiard and new acrylic stem back together and buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond. I buffed the stem with a heavier touch with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished sandblast finish and thin brass band. The black acrylic stem stands out as a shiny black contrast to the colours of the bowl. The reddish brown stain on the Benaderet’s Coral Billiard looks absolutely great. It is nice to know that it has a west coast tie to the San Francisco area and a long-gone pipe shop. It must have been a fine smoking pipe judging from the condition it was when we received it. Have a look at it in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.41 ounces/41 grams. This is one that will go on the British Pipemakers section of the rebornpipes online store shortly. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next generation.

Restoring and Restemming a Clogged and Filthy Italian Lorenzetti Billiard

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by Steve Laug

A fellow in Victoria, Brian has had me work on a few of his pipes this past few months. The pipes are generally very dirty with plugged airways and a thick damp, tarry mess in the heel of each bowl. The airway in the shank was also clogged so there was no exchange of air going through the pipe. The pipe was stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Lorenzetti in script [over] Italy and on the right side it is stamped Augustus [over] Caesar. On the underside it is stamped 03. There is a thick cake in the bowl that is wet in the bottom 1/3 of the bowl. The rim top was quite clear of heavy lava. The finish on the bowl and shank has a thick peeling coat of varnish on the bowl that looks terrible. There is an acrylic shank end with an insert of briar between the acrylic pieces. The stem acrylic stem is a filter stem and the button end has a large chunk missing that is severely damaged. I will need to restem the pipe. But I have included photos of the pipe before I started working on it. I took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked and the rim top and edges have a thick lava overflow. The photos of the stem show the damage and broken part of the stem. It really is a mess and the acrylic is not repairable.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable and reads as noted above. I took a photo of the pipe without the stem to show the proportions of the bowl and stem. I also went through my stems and had a saddle stem that was made for a filter. I called Brian and asked if this would work for him and he was happy with the options. I wanted to gather some background information on the brand. I turned first to Pipephil’s site to see what I could learn (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-l6.html). I was able to get a screen capture of information on the brand. I have included that below along with the sidebar info.Brand created 1934 by Otello Lorenzetti.Currently (2009) the company is managed by Alessandro Lorenzetti. Address: via A.Giunta, 51, 62019 Recanati (MC) – Italy.

I turned to Pipedia to gather more information on the brand. It gives some great history of how the brand developed (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzetti). I quote some portions of the article below. There was also a photo of the same pipe that I am working on the site. I have included that below.

Smooth Pot, courtesy SmokersHaven.com

Otello Lorenzetti, the founder of our manufacture, was born in Castelnuovo, Recanati in 1911. He is the fifth of five children from a modest, but enterprising family, in fact they own a tavern where the young Otello, already at the age of seven, actively collaborates. He goes on his own, with a small handcart, to S. Agostino di Recanati where he purchases fizzy drinks and other soft drinks and then resells them with his mother in their small family run tavern….

After the precocious interruption of his studies he begins to work as an employee at “Catena Remigio” an old pipe manufacture in Recanati. The grand personality of Otello, who is inclined to make any art a passion, does not delay in emerging. In 1934, after having concluded 18 months of military service in Cividale, in Friuli Venezia Giulia, he decides to work on his own pondering the first bases of the actual pipe manufacture, that, in this period, operates under the company name “Otello Lorenzetti.” At that time the capital of our actual company, that was and still is his house, was constituted by: “A few rented tools and my own hands” – as Otello himself tells us. The production consists of 20-30 pipes per day. Every morning, in company of his bicycle, he tries to sell them to the tobacco shops in the area or as he says the “neighbouring shops”. With only the strength of his legs he goes to Macerata, San Severino and Civitanova Marche. His pipes are appreciated, so much so that he decides to work more than 12 hours a day to be able to increase the production. This does not constitute a sacrifice for him as his neighbours remember hearing him tirelessly working and singing everyday.

Two brisk interruptions mark the history of our pipe manufacture: the first was in 1935 -in the summer of this year Otello was enrolled in the army and then left for “the African Campaign” from which he returned in January of 1937; the second was in October of 1940, other long months spent in the service of the Italian Army after which he returned home in 1943 the year of Armistice. In 1940 Otello got married to Marinella who became, other than his wife, a great and indispensable business collaborator.

In 1947 Otello succeeded in building, alone, machines the same as the ones he used to rent up until that moment. Many of the pieces most difficult to mould by hand were designed by him and were made in a craftsman workshop in Civitanova Marche. Production increased and permitted Otello and Marinella to buy a “Vespa” helping them to, a part from the province of Macerata, also reach Abruzzo in order to successfully sell their pipes.

The Sixties-Seventies bring on the beginning of exportation abroad (Europe, Africa, America). The company begins to expand, now a part from Marinella, with the help of their children Luciano, Gabriella, Alessandro and some employees. The production begins to perfect itself to the point of being appreciated in almost all the world and by one of the biggest and most famous pipe collectors of all times: our ex-president of the Republic Sandro Pertini.

I knew that I was dealing with a Lorezetti that was probably a recent manufacture. It had some great shape and form and should clean up well once I have the varnish coat removed. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and the 2^nd and 3^rd cutting heads to remove the heavy cake. I took it back to bare briar and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl with a piece of dowel wrapped in 220 grit sandpaper. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. It took some scrubbing to clear off the debris on the rim top and the surface of the bowl and shank. I rinsed the bowl off with warm water to remove the grime and debris along with the soap on the pipe. It looked much better. To begin the process of breaking through the peeling varnish coat I wiped the bowl and shank down with acetone on cotton pads. It broke through a lot of the varnish and I began to see what was underneath the varnish. I sanded the bowl with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. By the final pad it was looking much better. I cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank as well as the airway in the newly chosen stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was a dirty bowl and shank.I polished the bowl and the shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 git sanding pads. I wanted to make the new stain coat a bit more transparent. I wiped it down with a cloth and some Obsidian Oil. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips 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 set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem to reduce the diameter of the saddle portion and give it a slight slope or taper. I used my Dremel and sanding drum to start the process. I cleaned up the sanding marks from the Dremel with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I smoothed out the marks and the stem started to look better.I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch pads to further smooth out the surface and remove the light residual oxidation. I wiped the stem down after each pad with an Obsidian Oil cloth to remove the debris and further protect the stem.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 Obsidian Oil.I polished the finished Lorenzetti Italy Augustus Caesar Billiard with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I gave the bowl and the newly fit saddle stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The smooth briar with the medium the brown stain wash works very well with the black stem. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I have worked on several Lorenzetti’s over the years and I have always been impressed by his ability to a craft a comfortable and functional smoking pipe. It looks far better with the varnish coat removed. The beautiful Lorenzetti Augustus Caesar had the following dimensions. The Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 inches. The weight of the pipe is 51 grams/ 1.69 ounces. I have two more of Brian’s pipes to work on and then they will go back to him. This is an interesting group of three pipes to bring back to life.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring a Bjarne Hand – Crafted Made in Denmark Freehand

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe came to us from an antique store in Vancouver, Washington, USA on 10/20/2022. It is mixed finish Freehand pipe that feels great in the hand. Even though it was dirty it had some charm showing through the grit and grime of the years. The grain on the smooth top half of the bowl and panel on the shank is quite nice. The sandblast is deep and revealing around the lower part of the bowl and shank. On the underside of the shank it was stamped Bjarne [over] Hand-Carved [over] Made in Denmark. The finish is filthy with dust and grit ground into the briar of the bowl and shank sides. The bowl had a thick cake and heavy overflow of lava on the plateau rim top and inner edge. The variegated brown acrylic stem dirty and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The interior of the stem and shank were quite dirty with tars and oils. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show its overall condition before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the good the pipe bowl looked inside. The rim and the inner edge were heavily coated with thick lava. It still appeared to be in good condition under the lava coat. The photos show the contrast of the bowl’s general condition with the overall condition of the fancy acrylic saddle stem surface. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl and shank to give a picture of what the mixed finish of sandblast and smooth looked like on the bowl. The grit and grime on the finish is very obvious in the photos below. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl and shank to give a picture of what the mixed finish of sandblast and smooth looked like on the bowl. The grit and grime on the finish is very obvious in the photos below.I turned to my favourite go to sites on the background of brands. The first is Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-b5.html). There I looked up the Bjarne brand. I have copied the pertinent information below.

Bjarne Nielsen (1941 – † 2008) distributed his own “Bjarne” brand and pipes carved by Danish pipemakers (Mogens Johansen, Tonni Nielsen or Ph. Vigen). High grade pipes were stamped “Bjarne Nielsen” without any logo on the mouthpiece and graded A, B, C and D. Bjarne second brand: Viking.

I have included a screen capture of the section on the brand below. I turned to Pipedia and looked up the brand for a bit more information on the pipes that were stamped like the one that I am working on (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Bjarne). It is a great history of the brand and a good read. Toward the end of the article I found what I was looking for. I quote:

Among the pipemakers that worked for Bjarne were Johs (for the lower priced high volume pieces), and makers like Ph. Vigen, Ole Bandholm and Tonni Nielsen for high grade pieces. The cheaper line was stamped “Bjarne” while the highest grades were stamped “Bjarne Nielsen” (never with the pipemakers’ name) and graded, from highest to lowest, by the letters: AX, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J.

Now I knew that I was dealing with the cheaper line of pipe made by the company. It was stamped Bjarne while the higher grade pipes were stamped Bjarne Nielsen with a grade stamp. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the debris on the plateau rim top and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I took photos of the pipe bowl once I received it. It really looked good. The bowl looked very good though there was some darkening and damage on the plateau rim top. The inner and outer edges of the rim looked to be in good condition. The stem looks really quite good. There were some tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It was clear and read as noted above. I took the stem off the shank and took a picture of the pipe to give a sense of its overall look. It is going to be a great looking pipe once the restoration is finished.I decided to begin my work on the pipe by dealing with the darkening and damage to the plateau rim top. I worked it over with a brass bristle wire brush to knock off the grit in the grooves of the plateau and the dark coat on the high spots. When I was finished it looked a lot better than when I started. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the smooth surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips and into the plateau rim top, shank end and the sandblast finish with a shoe brush. The product works 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. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the issues with the stem. I filled in the deep tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button with clear CA glue. I set it aside to cure. Once it cured, I flattened the repairs with two small files\. I smoothed out the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend them into the surface of the stem. It was looking very good. I sanded the stem surface further with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to smooth out the repairs and blend them into the stem surface. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and dust. It began to look very good.The stamping on the left side of the saddle stem was faint but I touched up what remained with white acrylic fingernail polish. I used a tooth pick to work it into the stamp. I sanded it with a worn 1500 grit sanding pad and buffed it with a soft cloth.I polished the scratches out of the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This smooth finished Bjarne Hand-Carved Mixed Finish Freehand is a great looking pipe. It is a pipe made in Denmark. The fancy, saddle brown variegated acrylic stem works well and goes nicely with the browns of briar. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Bjarne Plateau Rim top Freehand fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 49 grams/1.73 ounces. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store shortly in the Danish Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Restoring an il Ceppo Billiard E3702 Grade 3 Fancy Billiard Made by Hand in Italy

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is a beautifully grained and smooth finished Billiard with a slightly bent acrylic taper stem. It came to us on August 22, 2024 from a friend in Barrington, Rhode Island, USA. The contrast of the brown stains makes the grain stand out. It was stamped left side of the shank and read il ceppo. On the underside it is stamped E3702 [over] Made in Italy [arched over] In Italy (underlined). Next to the shank/stem junction it reads 3 in a triangle. The pipe was quite clean with some slight darkening inside the bowl. It had obviously been reamed recently. The bowl was clean and the smooth rim top was dirty but free of lava. The black acrylic saddle stem was in good condition other than being a bit dirty. The stem surface was free of chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. The il ceppo “C” logo on the top of the stem was in good shape. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl quite clean, perhaps freshly reamed and edges and rim top looked good. The stem was very clean and smooth. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain and around this bowl. Underneath all the light grime it is a nice looking pipe. The rustication or sandblasted portions of the bowl at the bottom really highlight the uniqueness of the finish. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. You can see that there is some shrinkage on the spacer on the stem end and the acrylic one on the shank end. This is puzzling at the moment to me.To remind myself about the brand I turned to Pipephil’ sites to read what he had written there in the side bar (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-i.html). I quote below and also include a screen capture of the pertinent section.

Brand founded by Giorgio Imperatori in 1977 (first period) and bought by Franco Corinaldesi Rossi (second period, about 1996) when Giorgio retired. Franco and his sister Nadia are the current (2011) Il Ceppo pipe makers.From the information above I knew that the pipe was from the first period of il ceppo pipe making (1977 until the second period began in 1996 when the pipe maker Giorgio Imperatori retired). It is confirmed first period by the notes on the grading system. It had the il ceppo stamping slightly curved, an E3702 (letter and 4-5 digit number), and a Group number in a triangle – in this case a 3.

I turned to Pipedia for more information (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Il_Ceppo). I quote below:

Il Ceppo by Giuseppe Cambioli – Courtesy of italianpipemakers.com

My passion was born casually and it moved me to consider and love the world of artisanship. Casually and overall luckily, I ran across the emblematic person of Franco Rossi, pipemaker and owner of the “Il Ceppo” factory. He gave me the useful key to opening the doors of the fascinating world of pipes.

“Il Ceppo” boasts of thirty years of history with successive and great satisfaction which helped to keep high the name of the Marchigiane factories. The most famous as Pesareses factories have always had reciprocal respect and admiration and this have and will take cooperations and sharing of their own art, to confirm the distinctive seriousness and high quality.

“Il Ceppo” factory focuses its manufacture into products which vaunt accurate processings and an excellent yield with prices kept amazingly convenient.

Process is completely handmade except for some passages made with the aid of machines to obtain perfect results. The briar used to make the pipes has been left resting and seasoning for at least two years before the sapient hands of the pipemakers could start their work. Our working politic is centred on the care for details, to obtain the best product as possible.

Our prices keep a high balance with the quality of the offered product; they reflect totally our careful and eager work. We’ve never forgotten that what we make could only be obtained if moved by an unconditional love for this work of the good old days.

(Editor’s note: I have tried to correct most grammar & spelling, but in some instances I do not have the vaguest clue what the author is trying to say)

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. 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 undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He rinsed it with warm running water and dried it off with a soft cloth. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft. He rinsed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. It looked very good when I brought it to the worktable other than the briar ring around the metal dot had darkened in the process. I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the work table. You can see that the spacer is gone but forget that! The briar is really very stunning! I took close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top and edges looked very good. The bowl itself was very smooth and clean. I took photos of the stem to show the condition it was in. It looked very good and the C logo was clean and in good condition.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. The stem is stamped on the underside Own Made. It is clear and readable. I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe. It is a good looking pipe with incredible grain. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. By the end of the process they looked very good. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips 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 Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. This Hand Made il ceppo E3703 Grade 3 Billiard was another fun pipe to work on and I was glad to be finishing it. I put the acrylic stem back on the bowl and polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The smooth grain and the sandblast patches give the pipe a great look. The pipe polished up really well. The polished acrylic stem seemed to truly come alive with the buffing. This pipe feels great in my hand and I am sure that the sandblast portions will feel even better radiating the heat of a good smoke. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.05 ounces/58 grams. This is one beauty that is eye catching. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection email or message me.

Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next pipeman or woman.

Restoring a Made in Ireland Peterson’s of Dublin Irish Harp 150 Straight Bulldog

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is another Peterson’s pipe with a red and black swirled acrylic stem. We picked the pipe up from a seller in Ogden, Utah, USA on 12/12/2024. It is stamped on a smooth panel on the left underside of the diamond shank and reads Peterson’s [arched over] of Dublin [over] Irish Harp. To the left of that it is stamped Made in Ireland and to the right the shape number 150. The Sterling Silver band is stamped on the left topside of the diamond shank and reads Peterson [arched over] a Harp with Sterling Silver arched underneath. On the right underside it bears the Peterson silver Hallmarks. It reads Peterson [over] the first hallmark, Hibernia seated arm on a harp for the country of manufacture. That is followed by .925 which help to date the pipe as after 2003 and designates the sterling quality. The final Hallmark is the date stamp and in this case is an italic upper-case I which dates it as made in 2019. The finish is a rich reddish-brown sandblast that is a stark contrast to the silver band the red and black streaked fishtail stem. The bowl had been recently reamed and there was tobacco debris in the bottom of the bowl. It was also lightly smoked. The fish tail stem was red acrylic with black swirls and was a tapered. The stem was lightly soiled and had light chatter on both sides There was an inlaid silver Peterson’s “P” logo on the left topside of the diamond taper. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up.He took some photos of the rim top and bowl from various angles to give me a clear picture of the condition of the rim top and bowl. You can see the tobacco debris in the bowl and the light cake. The next photos show the top and underside of the stem. It is looks very good. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos showed a great sandblast. It is a pretty piece of briar. He took some photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank and the silver band and its hallmarks. The stamping was clear and readable as noted above. He also took a photo of the “P” logo on the left side of the taper stem. Before doing my part of the work on the pipe I turned to see what I could find out about the line. I turned first to the Peterson’s website to see what they had listed. I quote below from that site (https://www.peterson.ie/pipes/premium/irish-harp/moreinfo.cfm?pd_product_Id=950).

One of the warmest finishes in our portfolio, the Irish Harp debuted in 2002 and combines an array of our Classic range shapes with deep, ruby-tinged walnut stains, cumberland-patterned acrylic fishtail stems, and bright bands of sterling silver, applied by the hands of our most experienced silversmiths.

I then turned to La Pipe Rit – St. Claude for their description of this particular Peterson’s line of pipes (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/peterson/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=608936). I quote from the description by Truett Smith l below.

Peterson’s “150” straight Bulldog is a pert, upright rendition that fits in perfectly with the Irish firm’s characteristically muscular shaping style. It’s quite the forthright take on the classic English shape, but in keeping with the marque’s tradition, it features an incredibly robust, crisp diamond shank… Marked by a concise sandblast, dark walnut stain, and acrylic stem to match, the Irish Harp line from Peterson poses an elegant aesthetic, the bowl and mouthpiece separated by a generous band of sterling silver. Peterson’s craftsmen spend years training under the factory’s senior smiths, and the Irish marque is esteemed for its use of sterling silver. In the Irish Harp series, Peterson pays tribute to one of Ireland’s most iconic symbols: the Celtic harp or cláirseach in Irish. The traditional instrument is here emblazoned on the silver accent, celebrating Peterson’s Irish origins while simultaneously showcasing their superlative silverwork.

Jeff did his usual thorough job cleaning the pipe which I really appreciate because of the freedom it gives me in dealing with pipes. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and got rid of the cake. He cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife so that we could see the walls of the bowl and assess for damage. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and alcohol. He scrubbed the exterior with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He rinsed the pipe under warm water. He dried it off with a cloth and then let it air dry. The stem was scrubbed with Soft Scrub and had a soak in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. One it was rinsed off, it came out looking very good. The finish on the bowl and the rim top cleaned up nicely. I took pictures of the pipe to show how it looked when I unpacked it. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim top to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was very clean and showed that the pipe was very lightly smoked. The stem looked good with no tooth marks or chatter. Overall the pipe is a beautiful looking piece.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It read as noted above. It is very clear and readable. I also took a photo of the stamping on the shiny nickel band. It was readable and clear. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts. The bowl was in excellent condition. I did not need to sand or do anything in preparation on the pipe. I set the stem aside and worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips and a horsehair shoe brush. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I polished the silver with a jeweller’s cloth to protect and polish the silver and keep the tarnish at bay. It looks very good at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned to the stem. There were no deep tooth marks and very little chatter on the stem surface so I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the surface down after each sanding pad. It is really shining. I am excited to finish this one and look forward to seeing the 2019 Made in Ireland Peterson’s of Dublin Irish Harp 150 Bulldog put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together and lightly polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish them. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe on the wheel with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The depths of the sandblast really pop with the wax and polish. The shiny red and black swirled acrylic stem is a beautiful contrast to the rich brown/red stain on the bowl, thick shank and Sterling Silver Band. This Peterson’s Dublin 03 Dracula Apple was a fun pipe to work on. The pipe is tactile in the hand and should feel great as it is warmed up when smoking. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.69 ounces/48 grams. I will be putting this one on the store in the Irish Pipemakers Section soon. Let me know if you wish to add it to your collection.

A Refresh of a Peterson’s Dublin 03 Dracula Bent Apple

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is a Peterson’s pipe with a red and black swirled acrylic stem. We picked the pipe up from a seller in Ogden, Utah, USA on 12/12/2024. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Peterson’s [arched over] Dublin [over] 03. The bright nickel band is stamped Dracula in a banner on top with a Bat before and after the name as well as underneath it. The finish is a dark coloured, almost black sandblast that is a stark contrast to the silver band the red and black streaked fishtail stem. The bowl was lightly caked and there was a tobacco debris in the bottom of the bowl. The fish tail stem was red acrylic with black swirls and was a tapered. The stem was very clean with no tooth damage. There was a white or silver Peterson’s “P” logo on the left side of the taper. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up.He took some photos of the rim top and bowl from various angles to give me a clear picture of the condition of the rim top and bowl. You can see the tobacco debris in the bowl and the light cake. The next photos show the top and underside of the stem. It is looks very good. Jeff took a photo of the side of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos showed a great sandblast. It is a pretty piece of briar.He took some photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank and the nickel band. The stamping was clear and readable as noted above. He also took a photo of the “P” logo on the left side of the taper stem. Before doing my part of the work on the pipe I turned to see what I could find out about the line. I turned first to the Peterson’s website to see what they had listed. I quote below from that site (https://www.peterson.ie/pipes/classic/dracula-sandblasted/moreinfo.cfm?pd_product_Id=303).

The Dracula line started as a special commemorative line of pipes, first released in 2012, celebrating the death centennial of fellow Irishman and esteemed author Abraham “Bram” Stoker. Characterised by jet-black sandblasted finishes, bright nickel bands, and black-and-red-swirled acrylic fishtail stems, the Dracula Sandblasted appeals not only to fans of gothic horror, but of quality classic pipes in bold presentations.

I then turned to La Pipe Rit – St. Claude for their description of this particular Peterson’s line of pipes (https://www.pipe.fr/en/peterson-dracula-pipes-417). I quote in full below.

Peterson must be the most famous pipe brand in the world. Since the late 19th century, the company began to hire and train Irish men and women (whereas some other manufacturers used to hire French craftspeople from Saint-Claude). Nowadays, Peterson pipes are made with a real know-how thanks to a team of passionate craftspeople that share their expertise. The company “Kapp & Peterson” creates traditional pipes of great quality. On this webpage, we present you the incredible “Dracula” collection. First released in 2012, this series was designed to pay tribute to the Irish writer Abraham “Bram” Stoker to mark the centenary of his death. With the red and black stem, this must be one of the favorite pipes of horror stories readers, and more generally Peterson pipe enthusiasts. To stick to the spirit of the novel, the pipe is designed with a black finish (lacquered or sandblasted), a “bloody” acrylic stem, and is decorated with a nickel band (on which is stamped “Dracula”)…

Jeff did his usual thorough job cleaning the pipe which I really appreciate because of the freedom it gives me in dealing with pipes. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and got rid of the cake. He cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife so that we could see the walls of the bowl and assess for damage. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and alcohol. He scrubbed the exterior with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He rinsed the pipe under warm water. He dried it off with a cloth and then let it air dry. The stem was scrubbed with Soft Scrub and had a soak in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. One it was rinsed off, it came out looking very good. The finish on the bowl and the rim top cleaned up nicely. I took pictures of the pipe to show how it looked when I unpacked it. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim top to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was very clean and showed that the pipe was very lightly smoked. The stem looked good with no tooth marks or chatter. Overall the pipe is a beautiful looking piece.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It read as noted above. It is very clear and readable. I also took a photo of the stamping on the shiny nickel band. It was readable and clear. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts. The bowl was in excellent condition. I did not need to sand or do anything in preparation on the pipe. I set the stem aside and worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips and a horsehair shoe brush. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I touched up the “P” logo with some white acrylic nail polish. I applied it with the brush and once it cured sanded off the excess with a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad.There were no deep tooth marks and very little chatter on the stem surface so I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the surface down after each sanding pad. It is really shining. I am excited to be on the homestretch and look forward to seeing the Peterson’s Dublin 03 Dracula Bent Apple put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together and lightly polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish them. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe on the wheel with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The depths of the sandblast really pop with the wax and polish. The shiny red and black swirled acrylic stem is a beautiful contrast to the black stain on the bowl, thick shank and Polished Nickel Band. This Peterson’s Dublin 03 Dracula Apple was a fun pipe to work on. The pipe is tactile in the hand and should feel great as it is warmed up when smoking. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.80 ounces/ 50 grams. I will be putting this one on the store in the Irish Pipemakers Section soon. I remember reading Dracula in High School so I had to pause and think about letting this one go, before putting on the store. Let me know if you wish to add it to your collection.

PipaCroci fatta a mano Manitova-Italia Amica Dublin

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by Steve Laug

The pipe was a nice little Pipa Croci smooth, nicely grained Dublin. The bowl and rim were smooth. We purchased it 12/09/2024 via Facebook’s Pipe Exchange from a seller in Wellsville, Kansas, USA along with the other two previous Pipa Croci pipes I have written about. It is stamped on the left underside of the shank and reads Pipa Croci [over] Fatta A Mano [over] Mantova – Italia. Underneath and toward the bowl it is stamped Dal 1983 – the year that the company started. On the right underside it is stamped with the PC logo [over] Amica. It is a light weight well-made pipe with an amber/tan – coloured acrylic half saddle stem that fits against the shank end. The stem has the insert bar and dot logo on the top side. There were light tooth marks on both sides at the button but otherwise the stem was in good condition. The black Delrin tenon was in excellent condition. The tenon was made for a 9mm filter. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on the pipe. I have included those below. Jeff took photos of the rim top to show the condition. There is some darkening around the inner edge of the bowl and spots of lava on the rim top. He also captured the condition of the stem when it arrived. He took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the beautiful grain around the bowl. It really is a beautiful piece of briar that has a shape that follows the grain. The finish is nice but it also very dirty with grime and oils ground into it.Jeff took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. It is clear and readable and reads as noted above. Before I started working on my part of the restoration I decided to do a bit of research on the Pipa Croci brand. I wanted to clearly understand the stamping and possibly get date for the pipe and some background on the brand. I turned to Pipephil first to see what I could learn from there (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c8.html). I have included a screen capture from the section on the brand and a few of the sidebar notes below that.Artisans: Paolo & Gianni. Grading (ascending): Pipa Croci, Amica, True, True I, Quality Street, Starlight, Golden Flame. Production (2007): ~ 3000 pipes/year. Pipa Croci is part of the Molina Group (2012)

I knew from that information that I was working on a grade two Amica pipe. I also learned that the pipe was made by Paolo and Gianni Croci. It is a great looking pipe and I was looking forward to seeing what Pipedia added to the information.

I turned to the link on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Pipa_Croci). I have included the article in part below.

Pipa Croci pipes are created by Paolo & Gianni Croci from Mantova, Lombardia. The company was founded in 1983 and on each pipe you will find the nomenclature reads “dal 1983”. Each and every pipe is hand crafted from aged Italian Plateau Briar. This is a company that makes no two pipes alike and they truly create some masterpieces. In their own words:

“The Pipa Croci is an artisan enterprise. The pipes which are born from our hands are all differnt from each other. This means that the owner of a Croci pipe possesses something totally unique. Keeping up with the avant-garde in styling and marketing, in addition to our Free Hand we have created the Classical Models. Furthermore, we produce several hand-carved objects related to the pipe smoker and made of briar.”

The quality classification of the pipes is as follows (ascending): Pipa Croci; Amica; True; True 1; Quality Street; Starlight; Golden Flame.

So the “Pipa Croci” is the least expensive and the “Gold Flame” the most costly, but the most exceptional. The classification takes place in a careful and accurate manner and the criteria for these choices are form, character of the briar and beauty of its grain.

The pipes are divided into groups according to their design; these groups or series have been given the following names: Normale; Artistica; Gran Camino; Gran Camino Artistica; Calumet; Calumet Artistica; Calumet Gran Camino; Calumet Gran Camino Artistica; Calumet 2000; Calumet 2000 Artistica; Calumet 2000 Gran Camino; Calumet 2000 Gran Camino Artistica.

The Classical models are hand-made reproductions of the traditional shapes. These well-known shapes have the following letter-number references: Billiard = A1; Apple = F1; Dublin = H1, etc…

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The bowl walls looked very good. 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 worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show how clean it was. The top and the inner edge of the rim look very good. The stem looks clean of debris and grime. There are light tooth marks and chatter on both sides.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of shank. The stamping is clear and readable. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe. I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grits sanding pads. Once again, I wiped it down with a damp cloth following each pad. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips to make sure that it covered every square inch of the pipe. I set it aside for 10 minutes to let it do its work. I buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to break up the remaining oxidation. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. It began to look good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I fit the stem with a 6mm filter and put it back on the shank. It fit well but if the next pipeman wishes, the pipe could be smoked filterless though it would have a wide-open draught.I put the Pipa Croci Hand Made, Manitova, Italia, Amica Dublin Freehand bowl and 9mm filter stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the acrylic. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The rich brown stains worked amazingly well with the polished acrylic saddle stem. The grain around the bowl and shank and looks quite remarkable. This is truly a beautiful Pipa Croci Amica Dublin. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches wide x 2 inches long, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.87 ounces/54 grams. This beautiful, Italian Hand Made Pipa Croci will be added to the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. Cheers.

Pipa Croci fatta a mano Manitova-Italia dal 1983 Diamond Shank Billiard

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by Steve Laug

The pipe was a nice little Pipa Croci smooth Diamond Shank Billiard. The bowl and rim were smooth. We purchased it 12/09/2024 via Facebook’s Pipe Exchange from a seller in Wellsville, Kansas, USA. It is stamped on the left underside of the shank and reads Pipa Croci [over] Fatta A Mano [over] Mantova – Italia. Underneath and toward the bowl it is stamped Dal 1983 – the year that the company started. On the right underside it is stamped with the PC logo. It is a light weight well-made pipe with a rose/amber – coloured acrylic stem that fits like a military bit into a matching shank extension. The stem has the insert bar and dot logo on the top side. There were light tooth marks on both sides at the button but otherwise the stem was in good condition. The black Delrin tenon was in excellent condition. The tenon was made for a 9mm filter. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on the pipe. I have included those below.Jeff took photos of the rim top to show the condition. There is some darkening around the inner edge of the bowl and spots of lava on the rim top. He also captured the condition of the stem when it arrived. He took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the beautiful grain around the bowl. It really is a beautiful piece of briar that has a shape that follows the grain. The finish is nice but it also very dirty with grime and oils ground into it. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. It is clear and readable and reads as noted above. Before I started working on my part of the restoration I decided to do a bit of research on the Pipa Croci brand. I wanted to clearly understand the stamping and possibly get date for the pipe and some background on the brand. I turned to Pipephil first to see what I could learn from there (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c8.html). I have included a screen capture from the section on the brand and a few of the sidebar notes below that.Artisans: Paolo & Gianni. Grading (ascending): Pipa Croci, Amica, True, True I, Quality Street, Starlight, Golden Flame. Production (2007): ~ 3000 pipes/year. Pipa Croci is part of the Molina Group (2012)

I knew from that information that I was working on a grade one Pipa Croci pipe. I also learned that the pipe was made by Paolo and Gianni Croci. It is a great looking pipe and I was looking forward to seeing what Pipedia added to the information.

I turned to the link on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Pipa_Croci). I have included the article in part below.

The quality classification of the pipes is as follows (ascending): Pipa Croci; Amica; True; True 1; Quality Street; Starlight; Golden Flame.

The Classical models are hand-made reproductions of the traditional shapes. These well-known shapes have the following letter-number references: Billiard = A1; Apple = F1; Dublin = H1, etc…

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The bowl walls looked very good. 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 worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show how clean it was. The top and the inner edge of the rim look very good. The stem looks clean of debris and grime. There are light tooth marks and chatter on both sides.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of shank. The stamping is clear and readable. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe. I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grits sanding pads. Once again, I wiped it down with a damp cloth following each pad. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips to make sure that it covered every square inch of the pipe. I set it aside for 10 minutes to let it do its work. I buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to break up the remaining oxidation. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. It began to look good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I fit the stem with a 9mm filter and put it back on the shank. It fit well but if the next pipeman or woman wishes, the pipe could be smoked filterless though it would have a wide-open draught. I put the Pipa Croci Hand Made, Manitova, Italia, Diamond Shank Bent Billiard bowl and stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the acrylic. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The rich brown stains worked amazingly well with the polished acrylic saddle stem. The grain around the bowl and shank and looks quite remarkable. This is truly a beautiful Pipa Croci Hand Made Bent Billiard. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.27 ounces/36 grams. This beautiful, Italian Hand Made Pipa Croci will be added to the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. Cheers.