Tag Archives: bite marks

This one is strangely beautiful – a Smooth Bowled Brial System Pipe

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

This particular style of system pipe always reminds me of the tadpoles we used to catch when I was younger. We would get a jarful and watch them become frogs. The pipe has that same look to me. Or you might compare it to an inflated puffer fish. Either way it is an odd pipe and yet there is something strangely beautiful about it. We purchased this smooth bowled one from an antique mall on 10/28/17 in Bozeman, Montana, USA. I have worked on one other of these Brial pipes and have found them hilariously interesting. The base tube that receives the stem is made to be stuffed with wads of toilet paper or tissue to filter out the moisture in the smoke. The one I had before still had that in it. Fortunately, this did not as it is quite smelly and messy. This one had a fairly thick cake in the bowl  and some dings in the rim top and light lava on the inner edge of the bowl. The briar bowl was dirty with ground in oils and the tubular shank was dusty and dirty as well. The brass coloured ends of the tube were also lightly scratched and dirty. The tube has two small bumps on the bottom that act as feet making the pipe a sitter. The stem had tooth chatter and marks on both sides. I think the stem is a plastic product rather than vulcanite. It is quite different feeling and the marks in it are much like what I have seen on Medico pipe stems. The brass end plate on the stem end of the tube read Brial [over] Pats Pend. When removed there was a nickel nut on the inside holding the stem in place and a wire to wrap the tissue paper filter around. Jeff took these photos before he started his clean up of the pipe. Jeff took some photos of the rim and bowl to give a sense of the cake and lava situation. You can also see the nicks and scratches in the briar. It is still a nice looking piece of briar. The stem is also shown. You can see the tooth marks and chatter on the surface. Even the marks look different than the ones that are in vulcanite or acrylic. Jeff took a photo of the side of the bowl to give a glimpse of the grain on the briar. It is quite nice. He also captured the etching on the brass stem end of the tube. It reads as noted above.I mentioned above about the earlier Brial pipe that I had worked on. I turned to that blog now and reread the information that I had gathered on the brand. Here is the link to the blog if you would like to have a look at it (https://rebornpipes.com/2017/07/17/a-messy-cleanup-on-a-brial-system-pipe/). I quote the section from the blog on the brand itself. It is quite interesting.

I remember when I first started looking at getting a Brial pipe I Googled and found a write up on the brand on the Smoking Metal Website. It was that brief description, the photos and printed advertisement that hooked me and set me on the hunt to acquire one of them. I have included that write up for you. If you wish to read it on the website here is the link – http://www.smokingmetal.co.uk/pipe.php?page=70.

The BRIAL pipe is basically an alloy cylinder to which the briar bowl is screwed through the base of the bowl. The front end is permanently sealed with an alloy endpiece. The cylinder is filled with a tissue to act as an absorption media. This can be tamped in or extracted by means of the probe attached to the mouthpiece plate.

To enable the pipe to stay upright on a table, two dimples have been made in the underside of the cylinder to act as ‘feet’ as shown in my photos.

Brials were available in natural aluminium, brass anodized finish or black… The pipe was patented and manufactured by Salimar Oden in Jefferson Historic District, Muskegon, Michigan. It is believed he continued to market them until his move to Florida in 2000.

Smoking Metal also had a copy of this advertisement sheet on their site. Personally, I love the wording and descriptions on these older advertising flyers. The way they speak of the pipes and what they deliver always gives me cause to laugh. This one is no exception. I include it below. Make sure to give it a read.I posted a note on the Facebook Metal Pipe Smokers Group asking about information on the pipe and potential patent information. One of the members, Cody Easom posted some pictures of a new old stock, unsmoked Brial with the various inserts that came with the pipe. The first photo shows the new pipe with the box and the insert. The second photo shows the insert itself. The third and fourth photos show the inside of the new pipe. Now, the goal is in front of me – to get the old pipe on my table to look like this one. My brother did an amazing job cleaning out the inside of the pipe. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and took the cake back to bare briar. He cleaned out the inside of the tube/cooling chamber and the airway in the screw in the bottom of the bowl and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. He scoured out the inside of the chamber with steel wool, cotton swabs and alcohol until the inside shone. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer. He rinsed it with warm water to remove the excess Deoxidizer. When I finally brought it to my work table I took photos of the pipe. The black matter chamber is very nice with a few small nicks on the sides. The briar bowl is very nice.    I took some close up photos of the bowl, rim and stem surfaces to show how well it had cleaned up and what would need to be addressed. The bowl looked very good. There was some darkening around the inner edge of the bowl and some burn damage on the back side. The stem had a lot of tooth marks and chatter on both sides and looks very different from its vulcanite counterparts with tooth chatter.I took a photo of the stamping on the brass end of the barrel. It is clear and readable as noted above. The brass is in great condition. I took the pipe apart and took photos of the parts. The first one shows the stem removed from the shank and the wire that holds the tissue filter paper. The others show all the parts. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the darkening and burn damage on the inner edge of the rim. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out and give it a light bevel. I decided to polish out the nicks and scratches with the micromesh sanding pads and to leave behind what remained as a part of this pipe’s journey. I polished the briar bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The bowl and rim began to take on a rich shine by the end of the cycle. 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 touched up the nicks in the matte black finish of the sides of the barrel with a black Sharpie pen. It worked surprisingly well.I rubbed the finish down with some Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the finish and let it sit for 10 minutes then buffed it off with a soft cloth. It looked really good.With that finished I turned my attention to the plastic/nylon/strange material stem! I sanded out the tooth chatter with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I spent more time than usual with the wet dry sandpaper as the stem material was very porous looking and I wanted to smooth it out.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 Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine.This is one that I am excited to finish the restoration on. Metal pipes can be a bear and painted ones even more so. But, this Brial Pat Pend System Pipe was actually an exception. I put the pipe back together and gently buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished  matte black shank tube and the black stem. This is truly beautiful in a very odd way. It actually feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 50 grams/1.76 oz. It is an interesting pipe and one that will be added to the American Pipe Makers section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Rebirthing a Lovely Republic Era Peterson’s Kapet 25 Billiard

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is a smooth Peterson’s pipe, a straight Billiard. It was also incredibly dirty. This Billiard is a real beauty under the grime with some great grain around the bowl. The grime was ground into the finish on the bowl sides. The contrast of the brown stains gave the grain a sense of depth. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [over] Kapet. The right side had the shape number 25 stamped near the bowl. Centered on the right side of the shank is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines). There was a moderate cake in the bowl and a light overflow of lava on the inner edge of the rim at the back. There was also burn damage on the inner edge of the rim at the back of the bowl. The stem was lightly oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks, chatter on the top and underside near the button. There is a P stamped on the left side of the taper. It was in great condition. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is moderately caked and the rim top has some lava and you can see the burn damage on the back inner edge. The photos of the stem show that it was oxidized and has light tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. Jeff took a photo of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe.      He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable and reads as noted above.   I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Kapet line. On page 305 it had the following information.

Kapet (1925-87) Line first described in 1925 brochure and featured in occasional catalogs through ’87. Early specimens will be stamped IRISH over FREE STATE. Described in 1937 catalog as available in dark plum or natural finish. Featured an aluminum “inner tube” or stinger until ’45. Mid-century specimens may be stamped MADE IN over IRELAND. Specimens from 1970 on may have mounts with hallmarks.

I knew that I was dealing with a Republic Era Kapet. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

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 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 Before & After Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived.  I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top photo looks good but there is some burn damage on the inner edge at the back of the bowl and all around the inner edge there is darkening. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth marks and chatter on the surface near the button. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable.     I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe. It is a good looking pipe and has some great cross grain on the sides of the bowl.I decided to address the rim top damage first. I lightly topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to minimize the damage to the top and inner edge of the bowl. I then used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the edge a slight bevel to further minimize the damage to the rim. I think that it is definitely better once I finished. I polished the briar rim top and edges along with the rest of the briar with micromesh sanding pads –dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and using a damp cloth after each pad.       I combined a Mahogany and a Cherry stain pen to restain the rim top to match the rest of the bowl. It would match even better once it was buffed and polished.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 filled in the tooth marks on the underside of the stem with clear super glue. I let the repairs cure. Once they had cured I sanded the repairs on the underside and the chatter on the topside with 220 grit sandpaper. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I wiped it down with some Obsidian Oil.I touched up the “P” stamp on the stem with an acrylic white fingernail polish. I worked it into the stamp with a toothpick. I let it sit for a few minutes then scraped off the excess. 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 Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I am always excited to finish a restoration and this Peterson’s Kapet 25 Billiard is no exception. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished black vulcanite stem. This Classic looking Peterson’s Kapet Billiard feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 26 grams/.92 oz. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be on the Irish Pipe Makers section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Restoring a Republic Era Peterson’s De Luxe XL9S Bent Billiard

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is a Peterson’s De Luxe XL9S sandblast bent Billiard. It came to us from an antique store in Pocatello, Idaho, USA back in 10/20/17. The finish is deeply sandblasted and dirty but there is some great grain around the bowl sides and shank. The finish is otherwise in great shape. It was stamped on the underside of the shank and read Peterson’s [over] De Luxe [over] the shape number XL9S. That is followed by a three line stamp MADE IN THE [over] REPUBLIC [over] OF IRELAND. It was filthy when Jeff brought it to the table. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a thick overflow of lava on the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. It was hard to know what the condition of the rim top and bowl were under that thick lava coat. The Sterling Silver band is heavily tarnished. It is stamped as well and reads Peterson’s [over] Dublin on the top left. Further down the left side of the band it is stamped Sterling Silver. On the underside and starting up the right side it has three hallmarks – Hibernia, a Harp and the lower case letter “n”. The stem had a “P” stamped on the left side of the saddle and was oxidized and had tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. Jeff 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 stem is lightly oxidized and has tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe. The blast is quite deep and attractive. He took photos of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. He also captured the stamping on the silver band.    I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Deluxe Line. On page 297 it had the following information.

De Luxe (1915-) Introduced in newspaper advertising in 1916, production of this high-grade smooth finish model may have been stalled by the Great War and domestic disturbance. It will not appear in Peterson catalogs until ’37. Specimens documented from 1915 to the thirties are extremely rare and confined to extra-large house pipes and occasionally medium sized pipe with unconventional shapes. Specimens from 1930-1950 appear in a wide selection of Classic Range shapes, often as Canadians. Catalogs from 1937-50 list it as the ‘the finest possible quality obtainable.’ After ’50 the Supreme would supplant the De Luxe as the top of the line model, and to this day the De Luxe is a high quality pipe but not the highest. Early models often have no COM. Models from the twenties until the sixties will be stamped IRISH over FREE STATE, EIRE, LONDON MADE over ENGLAND, MADE IN over IRELAND (forming a circle) or MADE IN THE over REPUBLIC over OF IRELAND. The last three COM stamps, used from ‘38 through ’68 when no hallmarks were stamped on Peterson mountings, can never be precisely dated. If a De Luxe was made in ’69 or later it will be hallmarked with a date designator and always have a Republic COM. See also Special De Luxe.

 Judging from the description above, the pipe I am working on is stamped with the stamp noted in red above. It reads MADE IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND in three lines which narrows the date to between approximately 1938 and the present. It also has a silver Hallmark that make it a pipe made after 1969. Now it was time to narrow down the date further.

I turned to a blog I wrote on rebornpipes that had a Peterson’s catalogue and a hallmarking chart (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/peterson-hallmark-chart/). I have included it below. On the chart I looked for a lower case “n” in a hexagonal cartouche. I also included a enlargement of the chart and drawn a box around the “n” in red. It dates the  pipe to 1979. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up this 1979 Peterson’s De Luxe pipe. 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 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 Before & After’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the work table. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top and inner edges around the bowl looked very good. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks on the surface near the button. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It reads as noted above.  I also took a photo of the band and the stamp on the left side of the saddle stem.   I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look.I decided to address the tarnish on the silver band of the pipe first. I scrubbed it with some tarnish remover and finished with a jeweler’s cloth. The silver looked very good.  I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process.    I scrubbed the surface of the stem with Soft Scrub Cleanser to remove the oxidation on the surface of the vulcanite. I “painted” the tooth marks on the vulcanite with the flame of a lighter and was able to lift all of them on the topside. There was one against the edge of the button on the underside that did not lift all the way. I filled it in with a drop of clear CA glue and set it aside to cure.     I used a folded piece of  220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the repair and then started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I painted the “P” stamp on the left side of the saddle stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. I scratched off the excess acrylic with the tooth pick and a fingernail. It looked better though the curve of the right side of the “P” was faint. 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 Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine.     I am excited to finish this Republic Era Peterson’s Deluxe XL9S Bent Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond 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 the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with deep sandblast all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem was beautiful. This sandblast De Luxe XL9S is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with 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 61grams/2.15oz. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will soon be on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section of the store. If you want to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Breathing Life into a Custom-Bilt Panel Billiard

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to us on 06/01/19 from an auction in New Castle, Indiana, USA. The pipe is a classic Custom-Bilt piece – a rusticated Panel Billiard shaped pipe with some nice grain around the bowl. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Custom-Bilt. Next to the stem on the underside is a triangle that appears on many of the Custom-Bilt pipes. There was a lot of grime ground into the smooth and rusticated portions of the finish on the briar. The bowl was heavily caked with an overflow of lava on the rusticated top and inner edge of the rim. The inside edges looked to be in good condition. The stem was dirty and lightly oxidized. It had tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside near the button and on the button edge. There were not markings or a logo on the taper stem. It had promise but it was very dirty. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the thickness of the cake and tobacco debris as well as the lava on the rim top rustication. He also took photos of the top and underside of the stem to show the light oxidation and the chatter and tooth marks. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar looked like. The rustication pattern around the bowl is instantly recognizable as done by Custom-Bilt. It is hard to see that the front, back, right and left side are flat which is what I call a panel. The stamping on the left side of the shank is clear and readable and read as noted above. I turned to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c8.html) to get a quick view of the brand once again. I knew that I was working with one of the older pipes and probably made by Tracy Mincer himself. He stopped making the Custom-Bilt pipes in the early 1950s. The screen capture I included below shows a brief history of the brand. I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/File:CustomBilt_Stamp1.jpg) for a quick read. The majority of the information there was two book reviews of the Custom-Bilt Story by Bill Unger.

The one line I culled was the following: “Tracy Mincer started the original Custom-Bilt pipes it appears in 1934”.

I did a screen capture of the stamping that matched the stamping on the pipe that I am working on. What I learned from that is that the stamp was used by Tracy Mincer in Indianapolis in the US from 1938-1946 and possibly in Chicago before 1938 as well. There were also some metal bits in the vulcanite and the Imported Briar stamp which made think WW2 or shortly after. So now I had a possible date for this pipe. It was an old timer and it was well worth working on.

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself.  Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. 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 and pipe cleaners. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe before I started my part of the restoration work. The rim top cleaned up really well. The rim top and outer edge of the bowl look very good. The stem surface looked very good with a few small tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There was a deep tooth mark on the topside of the button. The stamping on left side of the shank is clear and readable. It is stamped as noted above.I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. The tapered stem is very nice.I cleaned up the darkening on the back side of the rim top and the grooves in the rustication with a brass bristle wire brush. I was able to clean it up nicely and it looked very good.   The bowl was in excellent condition so started by rubbing the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about 10-15 minutes and buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The grain came alive. I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I sanded out the tooth chatter and light tooth marks with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the vulcanite. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.  I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Custom-Bilt Panel Billiard is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The style of rustication that is used around the bowl is quite beautiful and works well with both the shape and the polished vulcanite taper stem. 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 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 Custom-Bilt is another pipe that 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: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches x 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 61g/2.15oz  I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Refurbishing a Petite Savinelli de Luxe Milano 701 Lovat

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen to work on was purchased from an online auction on 03/21/19 in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, USA. The shape and design caught my eye as I was going through the pipes in the queue. The shape is what I would call a Lovat but it has a thin pencil shank and saddle stem that makes it delicate looking. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Savinelli [over] de Luxe [over] Milano. On the right side it is stamped with the Savenilli Shield S logo followed by the shape number 701 [over] Italy. The finish is very dirty with dust and grime. There were nicks around and scratches around the sides. There were two burn marks – one on the front of the heel of the bowl and one on back of the heel going onto the shank. They appeared to be burns from an ashtray. They were dark but not charred. The bowl had been reamed and was quite clean. The inner and out edge of the bowl had some dark spots on them. The rim top was quite clean. The stem is oxidized, calcified and has light tooth chatter and marks on both sides near the button. The surface of the button looks very good on both sides. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The conditions noted above are evident in the photos. Jeff took close up photos of the rim top from various angles to show the general condition of the bowl and rim. The first photo shows the clean bowl and light cake and the clean rim top. The edges look good. There appears to be a little darkening on the inner edge and a few burn marks on the outer edge on the left side. The stem has light oxidation and quite a few dents and tooth marks on both sides. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the beauty of the grain and the condition of the bowl.   The pipe is stamped on both sides of the shank and reads as noted above. The stem has a single brass bar inlaid in the left side of the saddle.  I turned to Pipedia to have a look as I knew there were some advertising flyers on the de luxe Milano (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Savinelli). I love the older Ads descriptions of the pipes. Give a careful read of the descriptions on these pipes as once I read them I want one! The pipe I am working on is described by the ads as a smooth Golden Walnut. The site also has a shape chart of the lines of Savinelli. The pipe I am working on is a 701 and the one pictured in the chart below is exactly like this one.Armed with that information I turned my attention to the pipe itself. Jeff had cleaned the pipe with his usual thoroughness that I really appreciate. He had reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar. The finish looks very good with good looking grain around the bowl and shank. The burn marks were present but not deep. Jeff soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked very good. I took photos before I started my part of the work. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. The bowl and the rim top look good. The inner edge of the rim was rough and there were some nicks in the edge. I also took close up photos of the stem to show how clean the stem was. Once it was cleaned up there were no tooth marks or chatter on either side of the stem.    I took photos of the stamping on the shank. It is very readable but faint in some spots on the sides. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the look of the pipe. It is really a great looking pipe that really follows the briar. I decided to start my work on the pipe by addressing the burn marks on the bowl heel and bottom and the inner and outer edge of the bowl. I sanded the burned areas with 220 grit sandpaper to try to minimize them and smooth them out. Though still present they look better.  I worked on the inner edge of the rim and the spots on the outer edge with 220 grit sandpaper.I filled in the deep nick/goudge in the right side of the bowl with clear super glue. I sanded it smooth and blended it into the surrounding briar with 220 grit sandpaper and smoothed it with 400 grit sandpaper.  I wiped the bowl down with 99% Isopropyl Alcohol and a cotton pad to remove the remnants of varnish and top coat on the bowl. I dry sanded the briar with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl surface down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding dust. Once I finished the exterior of the briar was clean and the grain really stood out.  I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes then buffed the pipe with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on.   I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the vulcanite with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift many of them. I filled in the remaining marks with clear super glue. Once it cured I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing it with 400 grit sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet 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 oil and set it aside to dry.    I am excited to be on the homestretch with beautiful petite Savinelli de luxe Milano 701 Lovat. This is the part I look forward to when it all comes back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. 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 beautifully grained finish looks really good with the interesting grain patterns standing out on the shape. The grain and the polished black vulcanite went really well together. This de luxe Milano Lovat was another fun pipe to work on even with the burn marks. Pipedia describes the classically shaped Savinelli pipes as having an English look that catches the eye. That certainly is true of this one. It is a comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. Even with the burn marks the pipe is still a beauty. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 31 grams/ 1.09 ounces. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your rack it will be on the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section soon. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

New Life for a Marxman (M, C) Jumbo Imported Briar Apple

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I chose to work on was a unique one in many respects. It was a rusticated Apple with a thick shank and saddle stem. It was purchased on 11/09/18 from an auction in Corning, New York, USA. The pipe was clearly stamped on the heel of the bowl and reads “M” in script [over] Marxman (a logo stamp with an arrow going through it), followed by a “C”, followed by Imported Briar with a shield in between the two words. It has a unique style of rustication that I have become accustomed to on Marxman Jumbo pipes. It includes Tracy Mincer style worm trails but in all different directions with a lot of cross hatching inside the trails. On this pipe the rustication is on the shank and on the left and front and back of the bowl with a smooth patch on the right side of the bowl. It is flat bottomed so that it was a sitter. There was a thick cake in the bowl and an overflow of lava on the rim top. The inner and outer edges looked okay but we would know more once it was cleaned up. It had a vulcanite saddle stem that was oxidized and calcified. It had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took  photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. Jeff took close up photos of the rim top from various angles to show the general condition of the bowl and rim. The first photo shows the thickness of the cake in the bowl and the lava build up on the back inner edge. The edges look like they have been protected by the thick cake so they will probably be fine once the bowl is reamed. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had light tooth chatter on both sides. Jeff took a photo of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the beauty of the grain on the smooth right side and the condition of the bowl.The stamping on the underside of the shank is clear and readable and reads as noted above.Jeff had done his usual thorough clean up of the pipe. He had reamed it with a PipNet reamer and finished with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap and the interior with isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He worked on the vulcanite stem with Soft Scrub then let it soak in Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. It has light tooth marks and chatter on both sides. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work. I took some close up photos of the bowl/rim top and the stem to show the condition they were in at this point. The rim top and edges looked good and the bowl was clean. There was some darkening on the top of the rim and the inner edges. The stem had light chatter on both sides near the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the heel of the bowl. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank to give a sense of the pipe. You can see that it has a chubby shank and saddle stem. I wanted to refresh my memory of the brand so I turned to Pipephil first to get a short summary of the history (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-m2.html). The site had a side note that the brand was created in 1934 and merged with Mastercraft Pipes in 1953.I then turned to Pipedia to find out more information on the brand and the maker of the pipe (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Marxman). The site quote from Pipes, Artisans and Trademarks, by José Manuel Lopes. I include a portion of that information below.

Marxman (Marxman Pipe Company) was created by Robert (Bob) L. Marx in 1934, when he was 29, and after he had worked for the William Demuth Company. His pipes were not outstanding because of the quality of their wood (probably Algerian), but Bob started making unique sculpted pieces, which brought the brand fame in the World of Hollywood cinema. Actors like Zachery Scott, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, Joel McRae, and Ronald Reagan were some of the faces that appeared on the bowls.

Bob knew how to innovate and took full advantage of marketing and press advertising in order to sell the brand–one of his slogans being “Relax with a Marxman”.

From the information on the two sites I learned that the pipe was made between 1934 when the company started and 1953 when the company was taken over by Mastercraft. I have included an advertisement for the Marxman Jumbo that was included on the article (1946 Ad, Courtesy Doug Valitchka). It includes the following information. “A rare treat for the pipe connoisseur is the Marxman Jumbo, distinguished by a carved bowl that is in perfect balance for easy, comfortable smoking. From the thousands of pieces of briar that flow into our factory we select the perfect and unusual. These are reserved only for the Marxman Jumbo – and are fashioned into truly elegant pipes of exclusive designs – unique in appearance and superior in smoking qualities. Each pipe is an individual artistic creation following the natural shape of the briar. No two pipes are alike. They are priced according to size.”

From the leaflet above I knew that I was working a Size “C” pipe – one of the larger ones. Now it was time to work on the pipe. I worked on the darkened rim top and the inner edge of the rim. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. After working on it the rim top and bowl edge looked much better.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The finish bowl and shank look very good.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a shoe brush to get into the valleys and crevices of the rustication. The product is amazing and works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let it sit on the briar for 10 or more minutes and then buff it off with a soft cloth. It really makes the briar come alive and look quite rich. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. There were some deeper tooth dents on the topside of the stem surface. I painted them with the flame of a lighter and was able to lift them. What remained would smooth out with the micromesh sanding pads.I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth and Obsidian Oil. I finished the polishing with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I put the “M” Marxman Jumbo Apple “C” back together and buffed it on the buffing wheel with Blue Diamond. It raise a shine on the briar and the stem and gave some depth to the look of the carved grooves. I gave both the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the wheel 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 turned out to be a unique beauty in its own rugged way. Flat bottom Apple shape make it very different from most of the other Marxman Jumbos I have worked on. I like the look of the thick shank and saddle on the stem. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.01 ounces/57 grams. It really is a uniquely beautiful pipe. I will soon be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the American (US) Pipemakers Section. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. Cheers.

Replacing a Broken Tenon on a Capri Warlock Sandblast

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

Last week I received a call from a fellow who was referred to me by our local pipe shop. He had a churchwarden that was stamped Capri [over]Warlock [over] Made in Italy on the underside of the shank. He had broken off the tenon and was not sure how to proceed. We talked about replacing the tenon on the stem and he breathed a sigh of relief. We discussed how to get it to me to work on. He decided he would mail it to me. On Monday this week that package arrived with his pipe. It was a nice looking pipe in many ways. The shank was clear of the broken tenon and the bowl was quite clean. The shank and stem were filthy inside and it is quite clear that he had not cleaned it often. The stem had an acrylic adornment ring on the end that was glued in place. The tenon had broken off just ahead of this ring. It was sharply broken and the airway in the previous tenon had not been centered in the tenon. It was significantly thinner on one side than the other which I think probably was part of the reason for a break. The stem had some light tooth chatter on both sides near the button. I took some photos of the parts of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It was clear and read as noted above.I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the bowl when it arrived. I also took a photo of the broken tenon end on the stem.The pipe smelled really strong even though the bowl was clean and had no cake. It was filthy in the shank and the airway in the stem. I cleaned both out with 99% isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. It took some work but it is finally clean and smells fresh.I used my Dremel and sanding drum to flatten out the end of the shank and remove the remainder of the broken tenon in preparation for the new tenon. I chose a new tenon from my assortment of them. It was a little large both in terms of the mortise and the shank end but it would work.I drilled out the airway in the stem with a bit on my cordless drill. Before I drilled it I used a sharp knife to center the airway in the stem and remove the off-center nature. I was able to center it then drilled. I started small and worked my way up to the maximum size the airway would take without weakening the walls of the stem. I used my Dremel and sanding drum to reduce the diameter of both ends of the tenon replacement. I checked it frequently for fit in both the stem and the shank. It took a bit of work but it finally was the right size.I checked the fit in the stem one final time then glued it in place in the airway with black CA glue. I set it aside over night to let the glue cure.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads to remove the tooth chatter and slight damage that had happened to the ring and the stem when the tenon broke. I dry sanded with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil to protect and preserve the vulcanite.I put the pipe back together – the bowl with its repaired stem. This restemmed and restored Capri Warlock (Churchwarden) is a real beauty and I think that the fit of the new tenon works very well. The grain on the bowl came alive with the buffing. I used Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel on both the bowl and stem. I gave both multiple coats of carnauba wax on the wheel then buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The Capri Warlock feels great in the hand. It is lightweight and the contrast in the blacks of the briar, the brown swirled acrylic ring and the polished vulcanite stem looks quite nice. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 10 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.50 ounces/71 grams. It really is a beauty. I will be packing it up this evening and mailing it out to the fellow soon. I think he will be excited to get it back.Thanks for walking through the replacement of the new tenon and the restoration with me. Cheers.  

Restoring a Sandblast Canadian – Hand Made Designed by W.O. Larsen Super Tan 65

4 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is one that we don’t remember where we found it or actually when we found it. It is an interesting Danish style Canadian with an almost Brandy shaped bowl. The well shaped pipe has a nice sandblast around the bowl. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Hand Made [over] Designed by W.O. Larsen [over] Super Tan [over] 65. The bowl looked like it had been well cleaned. The inside edge and outer edge appear to be in decent condition. The taper vulcanite stem had tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside near the button and on the button edge.

From what I could tell the pipe had been cleaned by Jeff as it had all the telltale signs. I don’t know why it has taken me this long to get to this pipe as it really is a beauty. He had reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. 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 and pipe cleaners. He soaked the stem in a Before & After Deoxidizer bath and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe before I started my part of the restoration work.   The rim top cleaned up really well. The rim top and outer edge of the bowl looked very good. The inner edges showed some darkening on the back of the bowl. The stem surface looked very good with a few tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. The stamping on the underside of the shank is clear and readable. It is stamped as noted above.I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. The short taper stem is nice and the photo gives a sense of what the pipe looks like.I turned to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-l2.html) to get a quick view of the brand once again. I did a screen capture of the site’s information and have included that below. The pipe I am working on is a W.O. Larsen as it is stamped similarly to the ones in the photos. It is interestingly stamped with a lot more detail than any of the ones shown in the screen capture below. With the “Designed By W.O. Larsen” addition it is a bit unique.I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/W.%C3%98._Larsen) for a quick read. The site is worth reading the history of the shop and the brand and its influence on Danish pipe carving. There was no additional information on the unique stamping on this pipe.

What I learned from the research is that the pipe is a W.O. Larsen made pipe that was evidently designed by W.O Larsen himself or at least one of the shop carvers. It is a beauty though.

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself.  I turned my attention to the damage on the inner edge of the rim. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the darkening.    I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about 10-15 minutes and buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The grain came alive and the fills while visible look better than when I began. I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a lighter and was able to lift out all of the tooth marks and chatter on the surface. The little that remained I sanded out with 220 grit sandpaper. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.   I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.    This Larsen Hand Made Designed By W.O. Larsen Super Tan 65 is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The shape is elegant and flowing with a thin turned vulcanite stem. 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 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 W.O. Larsen Super Tan Canadian 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: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. I will be putting it on the Danish Pipe Maker section of the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Restemming & Restoring a Comoy’s Christmas 1987 Shape 42 Bent Billiard

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

This morning I went through my box of stummels (bowls) again and picked out a Bent Billiard bowl that had some promise. I went through my can of stems and found a taper stem that needed some work but was a good fit. The pipe I chose to work on is an interesting Comoy’s Bent Billiard with a mixture grain around the sides. The rim top was had some darkening and some roughness on the front outer edge of the bowl. The inner edge of the bowl looked good. The interior of the bowl was clean without chips, cracks or checking on the walls. The finish was dirty and tired but still quite redeemable. The stamping on the pipe was clear and readable. On the left side it read COMOY’s [over] Christmas [over] 1987. On the right side it had the normal circular Comoy’s COM stamp Made in London in a circle [over] England below that was the shape number 42. I took some photos of the bowl before I started to work on it. I took a photo of the stamping on the left and right sides of the shank. It reads as noted above and is clear and readable.I went through some of stems and found a taper vulcanite stem that had been used previously. It had some calcification and oxidation on the surface and had tooth marks on both sides near the button.The tenon would need to be shortened slightly but I put it on the shank and took some photos of what it looked like at this point.I started my work on the bowl by dealing with the damage to the rim top and outer edge of the bowl. I lightly topped the rim on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. I worked over the inner beveled edge of the rim with a folded piece of sandpaper to remove some of the darkening. It was definitely an improvement. I polished the rim top and the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth between each pad. The bowl began to take on a shine as I went through the various pads. I stained the top of the bowl with a Cherry stain pen to blend in better with the rest of the bowl colour. It will definitely blend well once the pipe is buffed and polished.I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The grain really came alive. It looks better than when I began. With the bowl finished it was time to focus on the stem. I took out the stem and worked on the fit in the tenon. I shortened the length with a Dremel and sanding drum and it fit very well. I used a heat gun to soften the vulcanite enough to give it the proper bend.While I was bending the stem I also heated the bite marks in the stem. I was able to lift many of the tooth mark. I filled in the remaining tooth marks on the button surface and just ahead of it on the underside with clear super glue and set the stems aside to let the repairs cure.    Once the repairs cured I smoothed them out with a small file and started blending them into the surface of the stem. I sanded the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend it into the stem surface. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I don’t know if this ever happens to you but I was so busy fitting and shaping the stem that I forgot to clean out the inside!! I paused now to do that. I scrubbed out the airway with 99% isopropyl alcohol and pipe cleaners. It was really dirty! Not any more.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth and Obsidian Oil. I finished the polishing with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I put the pipe back together – the bowl with its new stem. This restemmed and restored Comoy’s Christmas 1987 Shape 42 Bent Billiard is a real beauty and I think that the chosen stem works well with it. The grain on the bowl came alive with the buffing. I used Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel on both the bowl and stem. I gave both multiple coats of carnauba wax on the wheel then buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The Comoy’s Bent Billiard feels great in the hand. It is lightweight and the contrast in the browns of the briar, the Silver band and the polished vulcanite stem with the popping grain on the mixed brown stained bowl is quite amazing. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.41 ounces/40 grams. It really is a beauty. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the  British Pipe Makers section shortly if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restemming and the restoration with me. Cheers.  

Restoring a Lovely Barling 5959 Regency Oom Paul

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I chose to work on an interesting looking Oom Paul shaped briar pipe that Jeff picked up from an online auction on 11/08/18 in Romney, West Virginia, USA. It was an interesting Oom Paul that has some great grain around the bowl and shank. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Barling [over] 5959 [over] London England. On the right side it is stamped Regency in script [over] EXEL [over] T.V.F. So it is a Barling pipe. I will need to do a bit of work on the stamping to identify when it was made. The stem is a vulcanite saddle stem that had a rotting and cracking rubber Softee Bit on the end. The briar was very dirty and the front of the bowl had been knocked against a hard surface and was damaged and rough. There was a thick cake in the bowl and an over flow of lava covered the rim top. The stem was oxidized, calcified and the rubber Softee bit was worn. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. He took some photos of the bowl, rim top and edges to show the condition of the pipe before he started. There appeared to be some damage on the inner edge at the back of the bowl. The outer edge at the front was a real mess. He took photos of the stem with the Softee Bit in place and with it removed. It really is a mess with oxidation, calcification and tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem.He took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. It is clear and readable as is noted above.He took a photo of the side and heel of the bowl to show the grain that was on this particular piece of briar. It was a beauty.I checked the usual sources for information on the Barling Regency and did not come up with much. I am pretty certain it is a Post Transition Era pipe from the late 1960s to 1970s. I cannot narrow it down much further than that so I know that it is a new pipe (still over 50years old at least). Now it was time to move on to the pipe itself.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe in his usual manner. He had reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed that up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife afterward. He took the cake back to bare briar and the bowl looked very good. He scrubbed the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs to remove the oils and tars. He scrubbed the externals with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the briar. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in a bath of Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed it off with warm water and dried it with a coarse cloth to remove the remaining oxidation. The tooth marks are visible in the photos of the stem surfaces below. The pipe looked very good once it arrived here in Vancouver. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work. I took a photo of the rim top and bowl to show the condition of the briar. You can see the damage on the outer edge of the bowl on the front side. The top surface is scratched and marred. The inner edge of the bowl shows some burn damage on the back of the bowl. The stem looked good but the tooth marks are very visible.The next photos show the stamping on both sides of the shank. It is clear and readable though faint. The grain is also quite stunning.I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to give a sense of the proportion of the bowl and the stem.I decided to start by dealing with damage to the inner and outer edge of the bowl and clean up the rim top. I began with the inner edge and used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage there and begin a slight bevel on the edge. I topped the bowl to clean up the top and to deal with the damage on the front outer edge. I took photos of the refreshed rim top and edges. It looked much better. I polished the rim top and the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth between each pad. The bowl began to take on a shine as I went through the various pads. I stained the top of the bowl with a Maple stain pen to blend in better with the rest of the bowl colour. It will definitely blend well once the pipe is buffed and polished.I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. If you look you can see the many small fills in the briar but they actually blend in surprisingly well. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the stem on both sides with the flame of a lighter. I was able to lift many of the tooth mark. I filled in the remaining tooth marks on the button surface and just ahead of it on the underside with clear super glue and set the stems aside to let the repairs cure.    Once they cured I smoothed out the repairs with a small file and started blending them into the surface of the stem (I forgot to take photos of that part of the process). I sanded the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend it into the stem surface. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. This Barling Regency 5959 Oom Paul with a vulcanite saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The rich browns and blacks of the contrasting stains came alive 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 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 Barling Regency Oom Paul is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 4 inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 64 grams/2.26 ounces. I will be putting this Barling on the British Pipe Makers section of the rebornpipes store shortly if you want to add it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!