Tag Archives: article by Kenneth Lieblich

Cleaning Up a Beautiful Peterson 314 Sterling Silver Meerschaum

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by Kenneth Lieblich

Next on my workbench is a very attractive pipe, which I recently acquired by auction. It was a pleasure to work on it and I hope you will enjoy it. This is a ruggedly-rusticated block meerschaum pipe from Peterson. It is a shape 314, medium bent billiard, although it doesn’t include that number on the pipe. The band or cap around the shank is made in sterling silver, and that certainly adds a touch of class. The stem, as expected, has the traditional P-lip of the Peterson brand. The pipe was very well cared for by its previous owner, and it even comes with its own Peterson-branded pipe sock. The meerschaum itself doesn’t hold any markings – nor does the stem. All the markings are on the sterling silver band. To start, the band says Peterson’s [over] Dublin. To the right of that, it reads Sterling [over] Silver. To the right of that, it has a set of proper silver hallmarks: Hibernia, which indicates that it was made in Dublin. Next is the Harp Crowned, which indicates sterling silver. Third is the date letter. In this case, it’s a stylized letter I. Checking the Irish hallmarks chart tells me that this pipe dates from 1976. This pipe is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year! Moving on. The stummel was in nice shape. The outside had only seen some minor wear-and-tear, but there were no major issues. Sure, it was a bit dirty inside, but nothing more than what would be expected. Meanwhile, the stem was also in good condition. It was oxidized and calcified, but the tooth marks were very minor. The sterling silver band was fine – just heavily tarnished. The stem’s calcification was notable. I used an old butter knife and gently scraped some of the thicker accretion off. Doing this now helps later in removing the oxidation.I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result was a hideous, ochre-coloured mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface of the vulcanite. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew out the stem from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush.As the stem was now clean and dry, I set about fixing the marks and dents in the vulcanite. This was done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber. I left this to cure and moved on.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the vulcanite. Following that, I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done. As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the stummel. The first step was to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. Normally, at this point, I would use a reamer to remove the built-up cake inside the bowl, but meerschaum has the potential to crack in those circumstances. Instead, I used a pipe knife, and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensured that all the debris was removed.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I did it carefully because too much soaking can cause meerschaum to soften. In this case, I moved quickly, nothing softened, and everything turned out well.I also took a brush to the rusticated surface of the bowl. There were a few bits and pieces of debris and my brushing removed them. It looked much better. I then applied some Clapham’s Beeswax Finish to the meerschaum and let it sit for about 30 minutes. As meerschaum pipes don’t do well on a bench-polisher, I then buffed it with a microfibre cloth. I repeated this process and left it – it sure was pretty! I also polished the silver with my jeweller’s cloth and made it shine. For the final step, I took the stem to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it with a blue diamond compound.

All done! This Peterson 314 Sterling Silver Meerschaum bent billiard looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Irish’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5¾ in. (147 mm); height 3⅞ in. (97 mm); bowl diameter 1½ in. (38 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (18 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1⅞ oz. (54 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

A Pair of Stunning Savinelli Hand-Made Pipes

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by Kenneth Lieblich

When these beauties came into my possession, I was gobsmacked. What an amazing set of pipes this is! These are two Savinelli Hand-Made, Mixed-Finish pipes. One is a Dublin shape, the other is a Horn shape. These were clearly the prized possessions of a distinguished pipe man who has left them behind for the next person to take them on. I am offering them as a pair (and I hope they go as a pair), but I will also sell them separately, if desired. Are you familiar with the meme below? That was my reaction when I saw these pipes. As you can see, both pipes have an incredible sandblast over most of the stummel, with a gorgeous straight-grain accent. You can see why I think these are a pair. The horn has an oval, handmade, vulcanite saddle stem. The Dublin has a round, handmade, vulcanite, combination saddle-and-taper stem (with a subtle 6 mm filter, but it also includes a Savinelli adaptor so you can ignore the filter if you wish). Beautiful! The markings on these pipes are quite interesting. On the underside of both stummels are the words Hand [over] Made – and to the right of that, Italy. On the stem, is a crowned snake logo used by Savinelli – reminiscent of the city crest of Milan. There was some suggestion, in certain circles, that the Hand Made line was below the Autograph line, but Steve is not convinced of that – and neither am I. These two pipes are near-flawless. Pipedia had some very illuminating things to say on the Hand Made line:

These handmade pieces are shaped much like traditional Danish Freehands: they are shaped first and drilled second. Using this method, Savinelli’s team of artisans is able to showcase their own creativity, as it maximizes flexibility and facilitates a more grain-centric approach to shaping. The resulting Freehand designs are at once both a departure from the marque’s classical standard shapes, yet very much still “Savinelli” in their nature—i.e. proportioned so that the bowl is the visual focus when viewed from the profile, juxtaposed by the comparatively trim lines of the shank and stem. To provide a little more insight into the differences between Savinelli’s standard production and freehand lines, Luisa Bozzetti comments:

“When we choose to make Freehand pipes we must stop production on the standard shapes. The process for Freehands is much more involved and takes much more time. Finding the best people from the production line and pulling them to make Freehands is challenging since it’s not an assembly line, but rather a one or two man operation. After the rough shaping of the stummel, we must get together and brainstorm which style of stem will be paired before the pipe can be finished since we do not use pre-shaped stems. All accents and stems for the Freehands are cut from rod here in the factory. A lot of care goes into the few pieces lucky enough to make the cut; to end up with a certain number of Autographs, for instance, means that many, many more will be made, and only the few will be selected.”

The quality control process for Savinelli handmades is even more rigorous than that employed in the standard lineup. Many blocks are started and later discarded because of pits or defects. While Savinelli’s briar sourcing is a constant process, working with some of Italy’s top cutters to ensure only the finest and most suitable blocks make their way to the factory, it’s impossible to source plateau briar that’s completely free from flaws. That’s just nature. Savinelli creates the standard for quality by working through the rough (a very high-quality rough, mind you) to find that shining diamond with the potential to become a Savinelli handmade.

In addition, Pipephil had a brief write-up on the Hand Made line:We’ll move on. The pipes are in generally great condition. Both stummels are relatively clean inside and have no notable blemishes. The stems have a lot of oxidation and calcification, but very little in the way of tooth marks, etc. Let’s get into it. Both stems’ calcification was quite substantial. I used an old butter knife and gently scraped some of the thicker accretion off. Doing this now helps later in removing the oxidation. I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stems to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stems with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure both interiors were very clean.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stems to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result was a hideous, ochre-coloured mess – but better off the stems than on them.Once the stems were reasonably clean, I soaked them overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stems to the surface of the vulcanite. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew out both stems from their bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush.Despite masking the logos when cleaning and soaking the stems, the colour of the logos was surprisingly fugitive and came off despite my efforts. So, I touched up the logos on the stems with some enamel nail polish. I let this fully set before proceeding. This didn’t turn out perfectly, but it was still pretty good. As the stems were now clean and dry, I set about fixing the small marks in the vulcanite. This was done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber. I left this to cure and moved on.The penultimate step for the stems is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the vulcanite. Following that, I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surfaces. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to both stems when I was done.As the stems were (nearly) complete, I moved on to the stummels. The first step was to ream out both bowls – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowls. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowls and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowls and determine if there was damage or not. I used a pipe knife and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensured that all the debris was removed.Similar to the stems, I then cleaned the stummels with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. They were dirty, but not too bad.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipes – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowls and the shanks with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummels sit overnight. This caused the remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I wiped down the outside, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. I also used a toothbrush in the sandblast crevices. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the stummels with the same mild detergent and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting both pipes clean.I used several of the micromesh pads to sand the smooth sections of the stummels and finish them off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let them sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the stummels with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipes to my bench polisher and carefully buffed them – first the stems with a blue diamond compound, then the stummels with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipes look their best – the stummels sing and the stems glow.All done! This pair of Savinelli Hand Made pipes (horn and Dublin) are ready to be enjoyed by their next owner. I am pleased to announce that these pipes are for sale! If you are interested in acquiring them for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Italian’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the horn are as follows: length 6⅛ in. (157 mm); height 2¼ in. (58 mm); bowl diameter 1½ in. (38 mm); chamber diameter ⅞ in. (22 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1⅝ oz. (47 g). The approximate dimensions of the Dublin are as follows: length 5¾ in. (145 mm); height 2½ in. (63 mm); bowl diameter 1⅔ in. (42 mm); chamber diameter ⅞ in. (22 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1⅞ oz. (56 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of these pipes’ restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring them. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring an Elegant Savinelli Punto Oro 104

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by Kenneth Lieblich

What a handsome pipe this is! When I first saw it, I thought, ‘Oh, someone’s going to love this pipe’. As you can see, this is a Savinelli Punto Oro 104. It is a beautifully sandblasted billiard, with a sterling silver band, and a vulcanite military mount stem. I acquired it in a recent auction and was pleased to get it. It’s a wonderful pipe and it deserves to be part of someone’s collection again. This pipe promises to be a great smoker. Let’s look at the markings. The underside of the shank reads Savinelli [over] Punto Oro. Savinelli, of course, is an Italian pipe company, and the words Punto Oro mean, literally, ‘gold point’. To the right is the Savinelli coat of arms, showing a stylized ‘S’ on a shield, topped by two pipes. Next to this are the marks 104 [over] Italy. Naturally, the number refers to the shape – a billiard – and the three digits tell us that the pipe dates from the 1970s or later. The sterling silver mount on the shank also has markings. On one side it reads 925 [over] Savinelli, and on the other side it reads Sterling [over] Mounted. The photos show an almost gold look to this mount, but that’s just the coating on top of the silver. The coating is peeling off. Finally, there is a gold-coloured dot on the stem (made of brass) – a very nice touch. Savinelli is one of the most recognized names in pipe smoking and they have a long and storied history. You can read about them from their own website or from Pipedia’s article about them. I was particularly interested in learning more about the Punto Oro line. Sadly, Pipedia had nothing on this subject. I checked with Pipephil and they did have a bit of information, which I display below.I also found a bit of information on the Punto Oro line from Savinelli’s own website. They write:

PUNTO ORO pipe was the first pipe created by Achille Savinelli after the opening of the factory in 1958; a pipe that has always distinguished the Savinelli brand, its elegance, reliability and tradition. It is a top quality pipe with a wonderful grain. It is important to know it is very difficult to find a briar piece suitable to become a PUNTO ORO: just 1,2% of the whole choice is selected for this series, therefore not all our shapes are always available for these pipes.What’s the condition of the pipe? Very good, I’m pleased to say. The stummel is in beautiful shape – no damage or significant lava. There’s some cake in the bowl, but nothing of note. The silver mount looks like it has scratches – but it doesn’t. This is where the old coating on the silver was coming off. The stem is a bit oxidized and heavily calcified, but we can sort that out. The stem’s calcification was quite substantial. I used an old butter knife and gently scraped some of the thicker accretion off. Doing this now helps later in removing the oxidation.I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result was a hideous, ochre-coloured mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface of the vulcanite. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew out the stem from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done.As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the stummel. The first step was to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. I used a reamer, a pipe knife, and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensured that all the debris was removed.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. It took quite a while and much cotton to clean.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I wiped down the outside, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. I also used a toothbrush in the crevices. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the stummel with the same mild detergent and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the stummel with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it – first the stem with a blue diamond compound, then the stummel with three coats of conservator’s wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows. When I was done, I use my jeweller’s cloth and buffed the silver mount – wow!

All done! This Savinelli Punto Oro 104 billiard looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Italian’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5⅔ in. (144 mm); height 1¾ in. (45 mm); bowl diameter 1⅓ in. (34 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (18 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1⅛ oz. (33 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Putting the Shine on a Bari Excellent 7054 Freehand Egg

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by Kenneth Lieblich

I recently got my hands on a few pipes, and this one caught my eye right away: it’s a Bari Excellent 7054 freehand egg. It’s a Danish beauty and it’s in lovely condition to start. It has a very attractive shank extension and sumptuous curves. I couldn’t help but think that this pipe deserves a new home and someone to light it up. Many of the pipes I just received came with their own pipe socks – and this is one of them. So if you want this pipe, you also get your very own Bari-branded pipe sock! On the underside of the shank, we see the following markings: Bari [over] Excellent [over] Made in [over] Denmark [over] 7054. Along the top of the stem, we also see the Bari logo, prominently placed.I have worked on Bari pipes before, but it is worth it to review the background of the maker. From Pipedia, here is a very brief history of the Bari company:

Bari Piber was founded by Viggo Nielsen in Kolding around the turn of 1950-51. Viggo’s sons Kai Nielsen and Jørgen Nielsen both grew into their father’s business from a very young age and worked there till 1975. Bari had very successfully adapted the new Danish Design that had been started mainly by Stanwell for its own models. When Viggo Nielsen sold Bari in 1978 to Joh. Wilh. von Eicken GmbH in Hamburg, Bari counted 33 employees. From 1978 to 1993 Åge Bogelund and Helmer Thomsen headed Bari’s pipe production. Thomsen bought the company in 1993 re-naming it to Bari Piber Helmer Thomsen. The workshop moved to more convenient buildings in Vejen. Bari’s basic conception fundamentally stayed the same for decades: series pipes pre-worked by machines and carefully finished by hand. Thus no spectacular highgrades but solid, reliable every day’s companions.Let’s take a look at the state of the pipe. The stummel is in great condition. Minimal wear to the rim and the sides of the bowl. There are a couple of small fills, but nothing to worry about. The inside looks quite good, with only a small amount of cake. The stem is also in good shape – just some oxidation and calcification. But that just goes with the territory. First things first. The stem’s calcification needed to be removed. I used an old butter knife and gently scraped some of the thicker accretion off. Doing this now helps later in removing the oxidation.I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result was a hideous, ochre-coloured mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface of the vulcanite. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew out the stem from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush.I then used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done.As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the stummel. The first step was to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. I used a reamer, a pipe knife, and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensured that all the debris was removed.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. It was fairly dirty, but nothing extraordinary.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I wiped down the outside, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. I also used a toothbrush in the crevices. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the stummel with the same mild detergent and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.I used some of my micromesh pads to sand the outside of the stummel (and the acrylic shank extension) and finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the stummel with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it – first with a blue diamond compound, then with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows.

All done! This lovely Bari Excellent 7054 Freehand Egg looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Danish’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 6⅛ in. (155 mm); height 1⅞ in. (48 mm); bowl diameter 1½ in. (38 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (19 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1½ oz. (46 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring a Quirky Kaywoodie 179R Bent Billiard

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by Kenneth Lieblich

It’s been a while since I worked on a Kaywoodie and the time has come again. This is an interesting pipe and a type that I haven’t seen before. It is a craggy Kaywoodie 179R sandblast and it is a fully-bent billiard, with a crown as a rim. It’s almost an Oom Paul – almost, but not quite. I could only find one other example of this same pipe online, so I suppose it’s a little unusual. This pipe’s logo is a black cloverleaf in a white circle. On the underside of the stummel, we can see this pipe’s markings. First, we see Kaywoodie [over] Relief Grain. Then, to the right, is the shape number: 179R. The R, of course, refers to relief grain. Three-digit shape numbers seem to date from the 1970s and 80s, so it’s safe to assume that this pipe is from that time period. It’s also worth noting that the ‘Drinkless Filter’ (i.e. the stinger) on this pipe is fully intact and has three holes (not four).Kaywoodie is a venerable institution in the United States, and has a long and interesting history. I encourage you to read the Pipedia article here and the Pipephil article here.Let’s look at this particular pipe’s condition. The stem is dirty and quite heavily chewed. It is made from acrylic, so there is no issue with oxidation. The tenon screws into the mortise in the stummel and is also quite dirty. The stummel looks to be in decent shape. It’s been well loved, so it’s quite dirty – inside and outside. The craggy blast on the briar has a few flecks of white paint, but that should be easily removed. On with the work! I started by using isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean.Even thought the stinger was now clean, it still looked a bit drab. So I sanded it with some 0000-grit steel wool – not to make it shine, but to make it look decent again.As the stem was now clean and dry, I set about fixing the marks and dents in the acrylic. This was done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber. I left this to cure and then sanded. I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the acrylic, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done.As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the stummel. The first step was to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. I used a reamer, a pipe knife, and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensured that all the debris was removed.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. With a pipe this dirty, it took quite a while and much cotton to clean.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I wiped down the outside, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. I also used a toothbrush in the crevices. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the stummel with the same mild detergent and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the stummel with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it – first with a blue diamond compound, then with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows.

All done! This handsome Kaywoodie 179R Relief Grain looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘American’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 4¼ in. (108 mm); height 5½ in. (141 mm); bowl diameter 1⅓ in. (34 mm); chamber diameter ⅞ in. (21 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1½ oz. (44 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Cracking the Mystery of an Alluring Gourd Calabash

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by Kenneth Lieblich

This is a wonderful gourd calabash with a long history, and I hope that one of you will fall in love with it. There is an elegance to the lines of this pipe, with its swan-like curves. It is a classic, and looks (and feels) satisfying in one’s hand. It had been well-loved by its previous owner, and understandably so. This calabash hid a big secret and it was my job to uncover and repair it. Sometimes I bite off more than I can chew and this might be one of those times. Maybe this should have been called Kenneth’s Krazy Kalabash Kure. No markings at all on this pipe, but no matter. Let’s take a closer look at it. The gourd has a deep, rich colour that I really like. The size is really pleasing too. It is more modestly sized than most calabashes – and that’s a positive. I bought this pipe in an auction and, because the auction was away from my home, I didn’t get to inspect the pipe closely beforehand. Boy, was I in for a surprise! The pipe was in dirty but decent condition. The vulcanite stem had quite a bit of wear: lots of tooth marks, oxidation, calcification, etc. The acrylic shank extension was dirty, but otherwise fine. The gourd, similarly, was dirty, but in good shape. BUT, as soon as I removed the meerschaum bowl from the gourd, I saw the problem. At some point in the past, the bowl had cracked in half: northern and southern hemispheres, if you like. That’s a big deal! This was a tough repair, but I am pleased with the results and the pipe is good to go now.As the photo above shows, the bottom part of the bowl was embedded into the gourd. I gave a preliminary and somewhat half-hearted attempt to pry it out with a dental tool. That didn’t work and it’s probably just as well. In attempting to pry it out, I was quite concerned about either cracking the gourd or cracking the bowl further – or both. I ended up heating the gourd and bowl with my heat gun – hoping that ancient tars were holding it in place. And that did the trick: I was able to extract the bottom bowl chunk (plus a few fragments) safely from the gourd without causing further damage to either. You can see the results below.At this point, I figured that I would restore the stem while I thought about what to do with the bowl. I used a disposable lighter and ‘painted’ the stem with its flame. The gentle heat of the flame can cause the dents in the vulcanite of the stem to expand back into shape. In this case, some improvement occurred – but not a lot. The stem’s calcification was quite substantial. I used an old butter knife and gently scraped some of the thicker accretion off. Doing this now helps later in removing the oxidation. I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean. The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result was a hideous, ochre-coloured mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface of the vulcanite. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew out the stem from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush. Due to the severity of the oxidation, I then repeated the scrubbing with the cream cleanser for maximum effect.While the stem was soaking, I also cleaned the acrylic shank extension. I followed the same cleaning procedure as with the stem. It took a while, but I got it clean.As the stem was now clean and dry, I set about fixing the marks and dents in the vulcanite. This was done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber. I left this to cure and moved on.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the vulcanite. Following that, I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done. I did the same with the shank extension. I moved on to the gourd. I cleaned the exterior of the gourd with some pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, on a few cotton rounds. I cleaned inside of the gourd gently by scraping with my reaming knife, tube brushes, and some other tools. I was pleased with the results. I gave the gourd a thorough going-over with some beeswax polish and let that sit. I buffed it with a microfibre cloth and then, much later, I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the gourd and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. I then buffed the gourd again with a microfibre cloth. On to the bowl. Meerschaum is too fragile for a proper reamer, so I used 220-grit sandpaper on the end of a wooden dowel to clean out the bowl and it turned out well. One of the frustrations of cleaning meerschaum is that once smoked, the stains never go away – and this pipe was heavily smoked. However, I did what I could and it definitely improved.Now with the stem, shank extension, gourd, and meerschaum cleaning done, it was time to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Before repairing the separated chunks of the bowl, I needed to secure the two hemispheres together. This was not intended to be the critical attachment point, but just a solid method of marrying the two pieces. I used an adhesive for ceramics and clay – not because meerschaum is ceramic or clay (it isn’t) – but it does mimic certain characteristics of those insofar as it is very porous. This adhesive worked perfectly – it did exactly what I wanted it to. I was also able to attach the small shards of meerschaum that were left over (as seen in photos above).Now to go ‘all in’ on the repair of those missing chunks. I taped off the areas of the bowl that I didn’t want affected by the repair medium. This was a long and challenging repair and went through several failed attempts (which I won’t bore you with). Some failures included plaster of Paris, amalgams involving primarily calcium carbonate, and other ingredients (like leather dye). In the end, I came up with a good solution that maintains the integrity of the bowl shape, gives an incredibly resilient (and hard) repair, is resistant to high temperatures, and is completely inert when cured. After much trial and error, I settled on a particular type of epoxy mixed with a combination of the aforementioned calcium carbonate and briar dust. You might reasonably ask, ‘Why calcium carbonate?’ Good question. It is a material that best acts as a repair medium for meerschaum and I encourage you to read an important article I wrote about the issue here. You may also ask, ‘Why briar dust?’ Also a good question. This provided a slight brownish tint to the epoxy and CaCO3 mixture. Matching the surrounding colour was always going to be an impossibility, but I wanted to do the best I could.

I mixed my concoction and applied it liberally to the affected areas. During this process, the epoxy mix was much less viscous than I had hoped it to be. This was a big problem as it was oozing in ways that I didn’t want it to! However, like the trooper I am, I fiddled and fixed and floundered until I got it just right. It needed a full 24-hour cure and I was only too happy to leave the frustrating thing alone for a while!In the meantime, I glued the shank extension back into place in the gourd. Looks great.On the morrow – no surprise – the bowl was pretty darn ugly, but I can fix ugly. I donned a tight-fitting dust mask and went to work. My goal, of course, was to sand down excess epoxy and bring it to the level of the surrounding meerschaum, while simultaneously not reducing the bulk of the meerschaum. This took a lot of hard and careful work (plus a few touch ups), but we got there in the end. I am satisfied with the results, since the repair was never going to look invisible. The benefit of this pipe is that the repair is hidden from view, below the rim of the gourd. I then sanded down the entire piece of meerschaum with my Micromesh pads. I also rubbed two different beeswax polishes into the meerschaum. Then I let it sit for 20 minutes, buffed it with a microfiber cloth and then repeated the beeswax process. Worked like a charm! Before I went off to the buffer, I gave the meer and the gourd another going over with Clapham’s beeswax rub. This really worked well. I only took the stem to the buffer, as meerschaum and gourds don’t tolerate those high speeds very well!

This gourd calabash was a delightful can of worms right from the start and its beauty only increased through the restoration process. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Calabash’ pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 6½ in. (165 mm); height 4½ in. (115 mm); bowl diameter 2⅛ in. (54 mm); chamber diameter ⅞ in. (21 mm). The weight of the pipe is 2⅜ oz. (68 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring an Old and Rare C.P.F. Egg and Claw Beauty

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by Kenneth Lieblich

It isn’t often that I get to work on pipes that are more than a century old. It does happen from time-to-time, but – regardless – it is a delight when it does happen. This pipe came to me from an auction and it immediately caught my eye. First, I saw the initials, C.P.F., and I knew that meant the pipe was very old. Second, the shape of the pipe was unusual: an egg and claw. This is something that one sees in meerschaum pipes occasionally, but less so in briar pipes. Third, I could tell that the rim cap was lost to time and that the stem seemed … odd – but I couldn’t (yet) put my finger on why. A special thanks is due to Steve for his help on this restoration. The pipe is absolutely charming and a wonderful example of the pipe-making of a different era. As mentioned, the markings of the pipe included the initials C.P.F. on the left side of the shank. No other markings were in the briar. However, the brass (or nickel) band also had some markings. First, there were a set of faux hallmarks (anchor, star, bird?) above another engraving of C.P.F.C.P.F. stands for Colossus Pipe Factory and is one of those 19th century pipe firms that is shrouded in mystery. Perhaps the mystery is simply a paucity of documentary records. There are entries for Colossus at both Pipedia and Pipephil, but the information is scant. Here’s a quotation from the Pipedia article:

There is not much known about the Colossus Pipe Factory. By the mid 1890’s it was owned by Kaufmann Bros. & Bondy. Bill Feuerbach has an old invoice from KB&B dated 1898 that has “C.P.F.” in the upper corner, with Trademark underneath. So they owned the brand by then. It could have been a company that was acquired by KB&B or possibly even founded by them. Bill Feuerbach is a VP at S. M. Frank & Co. (Kaywoodie) and has also provided the evidence to the name Colossus below. I have always been under the impression that the initials C.P.F. stood for Consolidated Pipe Factory. Many pipe collectors that I know believe the same thing. However only this week I had that cleared up. A pipe collector friend in Seattle emailed a scan of a page from a trade magazine called “The Jeweler’s Circular”, dated August 23, 1899. A reader wrote in the following question, “Please inform us who manufactures briar pipes with trademark, C.P.F.?” The answer was, “These letters stand for Colossus Pipe Factory, the business being conducted by Kaufmann Bros. & Bondy, 129 Grand Street, New York.” I have seen pipes with both the C.P.F. logo and KB&B logo on them that date to pre-1900. This may have been a way to let the public now that the companies were affiliated. As far as I can tell, the C.P.F. brand was discontinued sometime in the 1910-1920 range.

Steve has restored a few C.P.F. pipes and, quite frankly, this article he wrote about their history is probably the best place to look. You can also see some of his restorations of C.P.F. pipes here and here and here. From everything I can gather, this pipe is well in excess of 100 years old and might be much older than that. How about the condition of this pipe? Let’s talk about the stummel first. It was dirty – very dirty. The briar was in good shape, but more than a century’s worth of dust and debris have been ground into the pipe’s crevasses. I was pleased to see how few scratches were in the wood and that made me hopeful. The inside of the bowl, however, was full of cake and seemed heavily smoked. As I mentioned earlier, the rim cap was missing. Meanwhile, the stem was the thing that made me pause. I asked Steve about it and, after a thorough chat with him about this pipe, he was of the view that this stem was not the original. It didn’t fit quite right and looked a bit too long. That made a lot of sense because this stem seemed cheap and unusually brittle. There was a bone tenon connecting stem and stummel and, although it seemed sound, I wasn’t sure it was original either. The first item on my agenda was to extricate the tenon from the stummel – it was stuck. I opted to warm the area with my heat gun and this provided just enough softening of the internal goo to allow me to extract it.Since the stem was both not-the-original and badly damaged, I elected to set it aside for now and figure out what to do with it later. For now, I decided to remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. I used a reamer, a pipe knife, and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensured that all the debris was removed. However, it was clear that the walls of the bowl had been heavily smoked, excessively reamed, and showed signs of char and craze lines. I would have to address that later.My next step was to remove the lava on the rim. For this, I took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim.I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. With a pipe this dirty, it took quite a while and much cotton to clean.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I wiped down the outside, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. I also used a toothbrush in the crevices. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the stummel with the same mild detergent and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.Back to the damaged interior of the bowl. To repair the craze lines, etc., I used an epoxy adhesive that is extremely hard, resistant to high temperatures, and completely inert when cured. It worked superbly. I lined the affected area with the epoxy and let it cure for a full 24 hours. I forgot to take photos of this step, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. The next day, I roughened up the epoxy’s surface with 220-grit sandpaper for the next step. I thinly coated the inside of the bowl with a mixture of my wife’s homemade yogurt and activated charcoal. Once hardened, this provided a good, faintly rough surface for a new cake to build. I used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand the outside of the stummel and finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood.Steve and I both have a few very old rim caps, specifically for C.P.F. pipes. We scoured both of our piles and found a perfect one in his collection. It fits correctly and is just the sort of piece that a C.P.F. pipe of that era would have had. I gave it a quick buffing with some old MicroMesh pads.Now to address the stem issue. Similar to the rim cap, I went to my collection of stems and found an ideal replacement, based on Steve’s recommendation. I have several, very old, Bakelite stems that would be just right. The one I selected dates from the same time period as the pipe and, best of all, was unused – never smoked. The stem was marked Germany, the place of manufacture. I married the stem and stummel, and both Steve and I agreed that it looked perfect. I also had to hunt in my stores for an old bone tenon. This took a long time, but I finally found one that fit both the new stem’s mortise and the existing shank’s mortise. I quickly cleaned and polished up the stem (didn’t take long, as it was new) and put it aside.Next, I polished the brass (or nickel) band with a few grey sanding pads. This made it shine beautifully. I took the band and the rim top and glued them in place with pH-neutral adhesive. I was very pleased with the results.I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the stummel with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the stem (only) to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it – first with a blue diamond compound, then with carnauba wax. I chose not to buff the stummel on the bench polisher, as there were too many points for the wheel to catch on the stummel. Instead, I polished it by hand with conservator’s wax.All done! This C.P.F. Egg and Claw looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. It was a tough restoration, but this pipe is a trophy and worth having in your collection. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘American’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5⅓ in. (135 mm); height 2 in. (52 mm); bowl diameter 1⅝ in. (41 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (18 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1⅜ oz. (42 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring a Terrific GBD-made Dr Plumb 753 Author

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by Kenneth Lieblich

Here is a handsome and unusually-shaped pipe, which caught my eye as soon as I saw it. It is solid and chunky and thick – and feels so satisfying in the hand. It is a Dr Plumb 753 author, made by GBD. Although Dr Plumb was a sub-brand of GBD, it is a fantastic pipe and is looking for a new home. When I took possession of it, it looked rather worse-for-wear, but I managed to recapture its beauty. Read on and learn more about this nifty pipe. The markings are clear and (mostly) understandable. On the stem, we read the word Plumb above the traditional red dot logo seen on their pipes. On top of the shank, we read Dr Plumb [over] Saint-Claude. On the underside of the shank, we see France [over] 753 – and, to the right, an image of an airplane. I have no idea what the airplane represents, as it is not associated with either Dr Plumb or GBD. It reminds me of the airplane seen on tins of Hi-Plane Tobacco – similar but not the same. It might be connected to whichever pipe shop sold it (in an airport, perchance?). Anyway, the last of the following photos shows the airplane after I’d cleaned off the dirt. If you have any idea of what this airplane represents, please let me know in the comments below. Let’s learn a bit about the brand. The man, Dr Plumb, wasn’t a doctor at all! Leslie Watts Plumb was a chartered accountant and a director of Maréchal-Ruchon, one of the most venerable pipe companies of France. The history of Dr Plumb is quite interesting. I encourage you to read the article at Pipedia here and at Pipephil on this page. Here is an extract from the Pipedia article:

The Dr. Plumb’s brand name is owned by A. Oppenheimer & Co., Limited, owners of Cadogan Investments, Ltd. J.B. Rubinovich, GBD’s Parisian sales manager, created this brand in 1925. The pipes was produced by the Ruchon & Verguet and also Ropp factories (Saint-Claude, France). These pipes have long been advertised as Dr. Plumb’s Perfect Pipe, that name coming from an aluminum tube system designed to keep the smoke cool and dry while at the same time permitting the “cooling chamber” to be cleaned by simply twisting the stem. While Dr. Plumb’s pipes were long made in France and stamped accordingly, they are now British made.

Here are some photos of old Leslie Watts Plumb:In that article, they quote from a letter by John Edward Plumb, son of the eponymous Dr Plumb:

I am the son of the late Leslie Watts Plumb, FCA. Before World War II, he managed the business affairs of a smoking pipe factory Verguet Freres/ Marechal Ruchon at St Claude in the French Jura Mountains… where his Plumb Family lived in a flat adjacent to the factory premises. He lent his name to the Dr Plumb Smoking Pipe & I had always understood that he played a part in its promotion & design of the pipe’s unique aluminum cooling filter system.

This pipe is an earlier, French-made, Dr Plumb, coming before Cadogan took over the works. Based on the information I gleaned from an article that Steve wrote on a GBD Coronet 753, I date this pipe to between 1951 and 1976. You can read Steve’s article here. His was exactly the same shape of pipe, albeit with a slightly different stem from mine. Steve’s article has lots of good information, and I quote just a brief passage:

From all of that information I had learned that the pipe was a French Made GBD Coronet made in St. Claude France between 1951-1976. It was made with a matte finish and a recessed platform style stem. I also learned that it was an AUTHOR shape with a 1/8th bend to the stem. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I did look up the shape number 753 on a GBD pipe shape chart and found (as Steve did) that the 753 is described as

753   author   one-eighth bend   round stem shape

Well, ‘author’ I can understand, ‘one-eighth’ is certainly accurate, but I can’t help wondering if ‘round’ is a typo – as neither Steve’s nor my pipe have round stems. They are decidedly oval.

Let’s have a look at the condition of the pipe. Overall, the condition was good – just remarkably dirty! The stem was well-chewed and had lots of tooth scratches. It was oxidized and calcified, and had a haze of dust on it. Meanwhile, the stummel was sound – it had only a few minor nicks and lots of dirt and grime. There was also a large, hideous stain on the bottom. Only time would tell if I could get rid of that stain. This stem had a stinger in it – and it was being quite stubborn about coming out of the tenon! I opted to warm the stem and stinger with my heat gun and this provided just enough softening of the internal goo to allow me to extract it. It then went for a soak in some lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let it sit for several hours and then cleaned it off and it looked much improved. I then finished it with some 0000-grit steel wool and moved on.I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result was a hideous, ochre-coloured mess – but better off the stem than on it.While I was cleaning the stem, the red dot logo popped out! Thank goodness that it landed on my work cloth and didn’t disappear into nothingness. Later, once the stem was fully clean, I glued it carefully back in place.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface of the vulcanite. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew out the stem from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush. After this, I painted the logo on the stem with some enamel nail polish. I restored the logo carefully and let it fully set before proceeding.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the vulcanite. Following that, I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done.As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the stummel. The first step was to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. Since this bowl was not too dirty inside, I only used a pipe knife and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensured that all the debris was removed.My next step was to remove the lava on the rim. For this, I took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. It took quite a while and much cotton to clean.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I wiped down the outside, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. I also used a toothbrush in the crevices. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the stummel with the same mild detergent and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean. However, it would take sanding for all of the large stain to be removed.Having completed that, I was able to address the nicks on the underside of the bowl. I dug out my iron and a damp cotton flannel cloth. By laying the cloth over the affected areas and applying the iron to it, the hot and moist steam can cause the wood to swell slightly and return to shape. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked in this case. I used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand the outside of the stummel and finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. It also removed the stain once and for all. I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the stummel with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it – first with a blue diamond compound, then with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows.All done! This handsome Dr Plumb 753 author looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘French’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5¾ in. (146 mm); height 1⅜ in. (35 mm); bowl diameter 2 in. (51 mm); chamber diameter ⅞ in. (22 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1⅞ oz. (54 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

New Life for a Hard Life Peterson System 301

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by Kenneth Lieblich

Perhaps this pipe has seen better days in its past, but I think its best days are still ahead. It’s a handsome, rugged Peterson 301 System Standard rusticated bent pot with a P-lip. This pipe came from an old gentleman, now deceased, who lived on Vancouver Island. I have no idea what he did with this pipe, but boy-oh-boy, it is pretty rough. No problem – it’s my job to sort things out. The only markings to be found on this pipe are the 301 found on the underside of the stummel and the K&P [over] Peterson on the nickel ferrule.Mark Irwin of Peterson Pipe Notes has written a few good articles about the 301s on his blog and I recommend reading one here and another one here. Of course, Steve has also written restoration blogs about the 301, including this one and it contained an important tidbit of information that I quote here:

I learned previously that the shape 301 was not introduced until 1975. Considering the Republic stamp, this one would likely date between 1975 and 2000.

This was significant because, due to the markings being almost entirely worn on this pipe, there was nothing on the wood other than the number 301 – and I couldn’t tell an age from that. Charles Lemon from Dad’s Pipes also has a post about a 301, which he describes as coming from the “1970’s era”. Now, what’s interesting about Steve and Charles’ pipes is that the patch of briar which shows the marks is quite different from mine. Below are Steve’s, Charles’, and my pipes, respectively. The first two are sort of freeform oval-ish shapes. Third (mine) is a rectangle and I wonder if that indicates a different era. I don’t know, but if any of you reading this do, please let me know! This pipe is filthy beyond description – but must have been smoked frequently and with great affection. The stem has dirt everywhere, severe toothmarks aplenty, and calcification as I have seldom seen. Meanwhile, the stummel looks as though dirt has been ground into the grooves of the rustication. The rim is coated in lava and the bowl is clogged with cake. The old fellow must have really loved his pipe. I began by cleaning some of the calcification on the outside of the stem. I took a blade (an old butter knife, actually) and began gently scraping at all that build-up. Obviously, I took it easy, as I did not want to damage the stem’s vulcanite any further. The butter knife worked quite well and I got a good amount loose. I followed that up with some oil soap on some cotton rounds to try and scrub the rest away.I broke out the isopropyl alcohol and pipe cleaners, and got to work on the inside of the stem. Predictably, it was unbelievably dirty and I went through a good number of pipe cleaners in order to clean it up.As I mentioned, there were quite a few dents in the stem. Some were obviously tooth marks, but other dents looked like blunt force trauma! Time to break out the BIC lighter to see if it could raise some of them. Quite frankly, it did not do much – this repair was going to require some considerable sanding etc. Before that, however, the stem went for an overnight soak in the deoxidizer. The following day, the oxidation had migrated to the surface and would be fairly straightforward to remove. I scrubbed vigorously with some cream cleanser to remove the leftover oxidation.Once clean, I set about repairing the dents. Before I moved on to the Micromesh pads, I built up the dent damage on the stem with black cyanoacrylate adhesive and let it fully cure. I sanded the lumps down with my needle files and my grey pads, to make the stem look sort of normal. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each of the last five pads. On to the stummel – this is where the lion’s share of the work was. The insides (both bowl and shank) were overwhelmed with cake and tar and anything else you’d care to mention. The bowl really needed to be reamed, so I used a reamer to scrape off as much built-up cake as possible. Generally, I prefer to sand the chamber down to bare briar. When restoring, it is important to ensure that there is no damage to the briar under the cake. There are a few situations when I might leave some cake in the bowl, but not today. There were definitely some craze lines in the interior walls of the briar. I’ll come back to that later.Just like the bowl, the shank was absolutely disgusting. It had never been cleaned – or, not for many decades. I started cleaning the inside with isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs, and pipe cleaners. This took a while. The inside was very dirty and required an extraordinary number of cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. Eventually some cleanliness came to it.I decided to de-ghost the pipe. I thrust cotton balls into the bowl and the shank and saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused even more oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton. The bowl was nice and clean after this.I scrubbed the stummel with some pH-neutral soap and a toothbrush. This made things much better, but it’s a case of two steps forward and one step back: sure, it’s clean, but a bit of colour has faded. No problem – I can bring that back with wood balm.On to the ferrule – which was bashed and discoloured from years of mistreatment. Somewhat to my surprise, the ferrule came off very easily and required no special effort. I began by cleaning the metal with some cleanser on cotton rounds. This was quite good at removing the unsightly bits. I used my finer MicroMesh pads to eliminate some of the minor scratches on the metal. It also gave a nice shine which clearly hadn’t been seen for decades. I used a jewelry cloth to give the final polish to the nickel. This ferrule will always retain some small dents etc. from its hard life, but it looks much improved.I now wanted to address the heat crazes inside the bowl. I prepared some heat-resistant epoxy and filled the cracks and gouges, ensuring that the epoxy was thinly and evenly spread throughout the bowl. Of course, I did plug the draught hole with a folded pipe cleaner (coated in petroleum jelly) to make sure none of the epoxy made its way up there. Once done, a good 24 hours was needed to ensure that the epoxy was properly cured. The next day, I roughened up the epoxy’s surface with 220-grit sandpaper for the next step. I thinly coated the inside of the bowl with a mixture of my wife’s homemade yogurt and activated charcoal. Once hardened, this provided a good, faintly rough surface for a new cake to build. I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the stummel with a microfibre cloth. It was at this point that something funny happened. The P-lip stem, which fit when this project began, no longer fit! All of the filth and goo was holding it in place. Now that the yuckiness was gone, I realized that the stem was actually not right – it had been replaced at some point in the past. Annoyingly, it was clearly not the right size. Fortunately, Steve had another Peterson factory stem (a fishtail, this time) and donated it to make this pipe look wonderful again. Unfortunately, I don’t have photos of the old stem looking loose, but the new stem is a Peterson original and looks so good in place.

At long last, I was off to my bench buffer to put the final touches on this pipe. Several coats of conservator’s wax created a beautiful, glossy seal on the pipe and moved closer to closure for this long and involved repair. At this point, I glued the ferrule back in place.All done! This handsome Peterson System Standard 301 rusticated bent pot looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Irish’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5⅓ in. (136 mm); height 1⅞ in. (46 mm); bowl diameter 1½ in. (37 mm); chamber diameter ⅞ in. (22 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1½ oz. (46 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

The Interesting History of a Borkum Riff Bent Billiard

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by Kenneth Lieblich

Rummaging through a bucket full of pipes resulted in finding some interesting odds and sods. This handsome bent billiard caught my eye because of the attractive shape and some amazing grain. It was very dirty, to be sure, but I could see the potential it held. Indeed, it turned out to be a beautiful pipe and I am happy to make it available to you. The markings were, shall we say, not immediately helpful, but they resulted in an interesting history. On the left side of the shank were the letters BR. These initials had a very particular look to them. On the underside of the shank, right near the end, was the word Israel. In fact, the pipe was so dirty that I only discovered the word Israel after cleaning the stummel. There were no other marks. There was a very attractive band around the stem: two rings of brass sandwiching a bright red acrylic ring. In order to determine what the ‘BR’ referred to, I went to Pipephil and found the exact same ‘BR’ on a pipe there. That led me to this entry:Aha! So, there were pipes made under the Borkum Riff name. To be clear: the reference to Savinelli above is specifically related to the pipe in the photos – not to all Borkum Riff-branded pipes (as we will soon see). Unfortunately, there was no mention of Israel.

The connection between Borkum Riff and tobacco is obvious, but less so the connection between Borkum Riff and pipes themselves. I went and looked up the Pipedia article on Borkum Riff and found that, in fact, the Wikipedia article is slightly more thorough:

Borkum Riff is a brand of pipe tobacco manufactured in Denmark for the Scandinavian Tobacco Group. ‘Borkum Riff’ tobacco was launched in Sweden in 1962, named after a lighthouse of the same name, located at 53° 58′ N, and 6° 22′ E in Heligoland Bight off the Dutch coast in the North Sea. It was a landmark for seafarers and was well-known to Swedish radio listeners, as weather reports mentioned Borkum Riff several times a day. The former lightship was used from 1960 to 1964 as the first radio ship of Radio Veronica, which became the first offshore radio station in the Netherlands.

The tobacco was a rough-cut blend of Virginia and Burley and had been developed by Bertil Sandegård with an eye on the US pipe tobacco market. Initial sales were slow-moving, but when Borkum Riff’s Bourbon Whiskey blend was successfully introduced in the US in 1969, sales increased. Since then, new flavours and new packaging have been introduced. Today, Borkum Riff is also sold in India, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Norway, Spain, New Zealand, Japan, France, Italy, and Germany as well as in several other markets around the world. Borkum Riff’s biggest market, however, is still the United States.

Today, the Borkum Riff, which is manufactured in Denmark for Swedish Match, is the third-largest tobacco producer on the Swedish market. In 2011, Borkum Riff’s ownership changed to Scandinavian Tobacco Group. The ship in the Borkum Riff’s company logo originates from a 17th-century engraving made by Johann Baptist Homann.

The tobacco is manufactured on behalf of Swedish Match at the Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s Orlik factory in Assens, Denmark. Formerly, it had been produced by Mac Baren on a dedicated production line.This article had interesting information, but none of it directly related to pipes, per se. I was immediately reminded of a blog post I wrote about a year ago on an ‘Old Port’-branded pipe (made by Brigham). I wondered if it was a similar situation: could it be that when you bought a tin of Borkum Riff tobacco, you received a coupon and when you collected a sufficient number, you could redeem them for a pipe? It’s a reasonable assumption, given how many tobacco companies did similar things. You can read that article here. If you have any Borkum Riff brochures, etc. that describe this, I would love to hear from you.

So, I started searching. Not much was coming up in my searches until I found a tiny nugget that connects things together. Back in 2022, Steve wrote a blog post on a Burl King freehand pipe (you can read that post here). In that article, Steve quotes from the Pipedia post on Burl King:

We can confirm that it was at one time a pipe used for promotion of Borkum Riff tobacco, as reported by Bob Taylor of the Seattle Pipe Club, who mailed in a coupon and received the pipe with a postmark of Jan. 11, ’78, and a return address of Sparta, N.C., which indicates it may have come from the Dr. Grabow / Sparta Industries plant. Bob recently noticed his “Burl King” was also marked, made in Israel, so it was likely made by the Shalom Pipe Factory, though apparently distributed through Sparta Industries. The box shipped for 50 cents and the return address said “After 5 days return to P. O. Box 21882 Greensboro, N. CC. 27240.” So apparently these pipes were made by Shalom, but distributed for Borkum Riff by Sparta Industries.

If further confirmation was needed that Borkum Riff offered coupon pipes, then it can be found at the Baccy Pipes blog. In 2017, Troy posted an entry on Borkum Riff pipes (named Wimbledon) made by the Dr Grabow/Sparta Industries plant. I encourage you to read that post here. Thanks to Troy also for the photo below.

Eureka! Now the thread seemingly runs through everything. This information lends itself to what I suspected: Borkum Riff had coupon pipes that were made by the Shalom Pipe Factory in Israel and this is a particularly nice example of such a pipe. I’m not able to date it accurately, but an educated guess would be that it comes from the 1970s or 80s.

Let’s look at the condition. Yikes! This was one dirty pipe. Who knows where it’s been living for the past few decades? The stem was a bit scraped and dented. It had quite a bit of oxidation and the band seemed to be a bit corroded. The stummel was incredibly filthy. There was cake inside the bowl and a bit of lava on the rim. However, one side of the stummel had the most unsightly stain all over it. It wasn’t immediately apparent what the stain was, but I did wonder if I could get it off. I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with pipe cleaners dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean. I used a lot of pipe cleaners – it was so dirty.As I was disassembling the pipe, the band came off the stem and then promptly separated into pieces. This wasn’t such a bad thing, as it simplified my restoration. I wiped the pieces down with alcohol, then sanded them with some 0000-grit steel wool. This served to both clean the pieces and slightly roughen them for gluing back together. This I did with some regular white glue. I also (eventually) glued the whole thing back in place on the tenon of the stem.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result was a hideous, ochre-coloured mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface of the vulcanite. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew out the stem from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush. Due to the severity of the oxidation, I then repeated the scrubbing with the cream cleanser for maximum effect.As the stem was now clean and dry, I set about fixing the marks and dents in the vulcanite. This was done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber. I left this to cure and moved on.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the vulcanite. Following that, I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done. And doesn’t the band complement the stem beautifully?As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the stummel. The first step was to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. I used a reamer, a pipe knife, and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensured that all the debris was removed.My next step was to remove the lava on the rim. For this, I took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim.The inside of the stummel needed to be cleaned thoroughly. However, this pipe was so clogged, that I first needed to open the horribly occluded airway. So, I took a long drill bit, held in a drill chuck, and hand-cranked it to dislodge the dreadful detritus inside. Hand cranking is essential because it provides a precision and caution that a power drill cannot provide.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. With a pipe this dirty, it took quite a while and much cotton to clean.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I wiped down the outside, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. I also used a toothbrush in the crevices. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar – but it most certainly didn’t affect the ugly stain on the bowl. So, I used some acetone to wipe the area down. This worked a bit, but not much – I would have to sand this area down. The last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the stummel with the same mild detergent and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.I used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand the outside of the stummel and finish it off. It also removed the dreadful stain and the pipe looks terrific now. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the stummel with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it – first with a blue diamond compound, then with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows.All done! This handsome Borkum Riff bent billiard looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Various Makers’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5¼ in. (133 mm); height 2 in. (51 mm); bowl diameter 1⅝ in. (40 mm); chamber diameter ⅞ in. (21 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1¾ oz. (52 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.