Tag Archives: bite marks

Restoring 16th Pipe from the Mumbai Bonanza Lot; an Amphora X-tra # 726

Blog by Paresh Deshpande

The next pipe that I had selected to work on was dictated by my desire to work on something that would be a simple and an easy project. I went through the lot that Abha, my wife, had sent me duly cleaned and selected one that came to us in a lot which I prefer to call as my Mumbai Bonanza!!

I was fortunate enough to have heeded the advice of my dear friend and mentor, Steve, and struck a deal with a junk collector from Mumbai. He did not know what he was selling and I did not know what I was buying as we reside in different cities!! The argument that Mr. Steve presented was that if not anything, I shall at least have some spares and this was logical. I struck a deal and here are pictures of the pipes that I received in this lot. This lot contains some very nice collectible pipes, a few well known brands and some mediocre brands. Overall, with seven Dunhill pipes, a Preben Holm #1 FH, a couple of “Made in England” Pete System pipes, a couple of Charatan’s Belvedere, Custom-Bilt, Stanwell and other assorted pipes, I would say that I had struck a decent haul!! This is indeed my “Mumbai Bonanza”.

This 16^th pipe that I decided to work on from this find is a medium sized straight billiards and is indicated in yellow color arrow. It has a very solid feel in the hand with top quality briar. The pipe in fact oozes of very high quality of craftsmanship with perfect proportions and classic design!! It is stamped on the left of the shank as “AMPHORA” in block capital letters over “X-tra – 726” in sentence form. The right side of the shank is stamped as “GENUINE BRIAR” over COM stamp “AMPHORA – Holland”. All the stampings are crisp and easily readable. The logo seen on this stem is letter ‘A’ embossed in a circle.Since this is the first Amphora pipe that I am working on, I was keen to know more about this brand and if possible, dating this pipe. I first turned to pipedia.org for information and the little information that I gained is reproduced below:-

Amphora pipes are made in Holland by the Jos. Gubbels organization, the same company which makes the very well known and loved Amphora Pipe Tobaccos. The pipes are produced in relatively small numbers to a high standard and not commonly found. They were used primarily in promotions and incentives for Amphora tobacco.

The Royal Dutch Pipe Factory Elbert Gubbels & Sons B.V. is the only manufacturer of briarroot tobacco pipes in the Benelux countries where pipes of high quality are made under the brands Big Ben, Hilson, Royal Dutch and Amphora. They also supply numerous smokers’ accessories of high quality.

I came across this shape chart posted on this site courtesy Doug Valitchka, which shows the shape # 726 as being a medium billiard and similar to the one on my table.Next I turned to pipephil.eu and the only additional information I learned was that its mother company, The Royal Dutch Pipe Factory went bankrupt in 2012.

Still not satisfied with the information gained so far, I turned to rebornpipes.com and sure enough, I came across this addendum by Robert M. Boughton which points to a connection of Amphora pipes to Dr. Grabow!! This does make for a very interesting read and is highly recommended. Here is the link to the write up:-

https://rebornpipes.com/2016/08/24/about-the-winner-of-an-amphora-bent-billiard-and-more-information-on-the-brand/

INITIAL VISUAL INSPECTION
The pipe came to us in a very well smoked state and a thick layer of cake build up is observed in the chamber. The rim top surface is covered in the thick overflow of lava and several dents and dings to the inner and outer rim edges can be seen, probably caused due to tapping it must have received at the hands of the previous owner to remove the dottle. This will need to be addressed.The smooth stummel surface has beautiful grain patterns with a mix of Bird’s eye, cross grains and nice swirls. The stummel surface has dulled a bit and appears lifeless due to accumulation of dust and dirt. The mortise and the draught hole are clogged with accumulation of oils and tars making the draw laborious.The straight vulcanite saddle stem has a slight flair out towards the slot end and is deeply oxidized with bite marks and tooth chatter on either surface in the bite zone, more so on the upper surface of the stem. The insides of the slot and tenon have heavy accumulation of oils and tars. The stem has calcification deposits towards the button end. The button edges also have bite marks; in fact, they are worn out at places. The embossed logo of ‘A’ has faded a bit.INITIAL CLEANING BY ABHA…
The initial cleaning on this pipe was done by Abha, my wife (she has cleaned up around 40-50 pipes and these have now reached me for further restoration). She reamed out the complete cake and further smoothed out the chamber walls with a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper. She further cleaned out the internals of the shank with pipe cleaners and alcohol and cotton buds. She followed the internal cleaning of the shank with external cleaning of the stummel using Murphy’s Oil soap and hard bristled tooth brush and dried it with paper napkins and cotton cloth.

Next she cleaned out the internals of the stem air way and immersed it in “Before and After Deoxidizer” solution along with the stem of other pipes in line for restoration. Once the stem had soaked overnight, she cleaned the stem under running warm water and scrubbed the raised oxidation from the stem surface using Scotch Brite pad. She further removed the oxidation by scrubbing the stem with 0000 grade steel wool and applied a little olive oil to rehydrate the stem.

The chamber is odorless and the walls are solid without any signs of damage. The smooth rim top surface with nicks and uneven surface is where all the action is on this pipe with an equally damaged inner and outer rim edge. This should be addressed to some extent when I top the rim surface.The stummel surface is without any fills or dents and dings. The only issue that I can figure is the dull and dry appearance of the stummel. This stummel will turn out beautiful and the grains will stand out once I have sanded and polished the surface. The mortise and shank internals are nice and clean.The oxidation on the vulcanite stem has been greatly reduced, thanks to all the efforts put in by Abha, clearly defining the deeper bite marks and the damage to the button edges on both surfaces of the stem. These tooth marks would be required to be filled with a mix of activated charcoal and superglue. A bit of sanding to match the fill and remove the deeper oxidation followed by micromesh polishing cycle should add a nice shine to the stem. The stem logo, unfortunately, appears to have worn out during the initial cleaning. I shall try and highlight it to the extent possible.THE PROCESS
The first issue I addressed was that of the stem repairs as this would take the maximum of my time to clean, repair and subsequently spruce up the stem. I flamed the damaged button edge and the tooth indentations with the flame of a lighter. This helps the vulcanite to rise to the surface as it has an inherent property to regain its original shape when heated. Once the vulcanite had risen to the surface, a few linear pits were observed right at the bottom of the button edge on both sides of the stem surface (marked in red semi circle). It appears as if the stem surface would break and cave in along these linear pits. To address this issue and also to sharpen the button edges, I mixed superglue and activated charcoal powder and diligently applied it over the pits in the bite zone on both upper and lower stem surface and over both the button edges and set it aside to cure.With the stem fill set aside to cure, I started with cleaning of the stummel surface. With a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper, I sand the entire stummel surface. This not only removes the stubborn dirt and grime that remained on the stummel but also evens out the minor dents and dings from the surface. I followed it up with sanding using a piece of 0000 grade steel wool. This helps reduce the sanding marks left behind by the coarser grit sand paper. These sanding marks will be completely eliminated once I am through with micromesh and Blue Diamond polish.Now that I had a fair idea of the extent of topping required to the rim surface, I top the rim on a piece of 220 grit sand paper to even out the rim surface dents and dings. I addressed the uneven inner edge by creating a light bevel to inner edge with a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper pinched between my thumb and index finger. To further smooth out the scratches left behind by the abrasive 220 girt sand paper, I top the rim surface on a piece of 400 grit sand paper. I had hoped that further sanding with a 400 grit paper will address the minor dings that remained on the outer edge, but that was not to be. Thus, with a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper pinched between my thumb and index finger, I created a light bevel over the outer edge. I am very happy at the way the chamber and rim top surface appears at this point in restoration.I subjected the stummel to a complete cycle of micromesh polish, wet sanding with 1500 to 12000 grit pads. I paid greater attention to polish the rim top surface and the bevels created on the inner and outer rim edges. I wiped the stummel with a moist cloth after every grit pad to remove the sanding dust left behind by the pads. This also helps in monitoring the progress being made and provides an opportunity to take early corrective action, if required. I am happy with the progress being made till now. Next, I rub a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” in to the briar with my finger tips and worked it deep in to the surface and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works its magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance with the beautiful swirl grain patterns on full display. The contrast of the dark browns of the grain with the light hues of the rest of the stummel adds an interesting dimension to the appearance of the stummel. I further buffed it with a horse hair brush to further deepen the shine. Turning my attention to the stem repairs in my home stretch, using a flat head needle file, I reshaped the button and roughly matched the fills with the rest of the stem surface. I sand the fills with a piece of folded 220 grit sand paper and followed it up by further sanding the stem with 320, 600, 800 grit sand papers and finally with a piece of 0000 grade steel wool to achieve a perfect blending of the fills with the stem surface and a build a crisp button edge on either surface of the stem. The repairs look good and the stem should polish up nicely.I completed the polishing cycle of the stem by wet sanding the surface with 1500 to 12000 girt pads. The stem looks great with the fills nicely matched with the rest of the surface. I gave a final rub with “Before and After Extra Fine” stem polish compound from Mark to remove fine scratches from the stem surface. I rub a little quantity of Extra Virgin Olive oil in to the stem surface and set it aside to be absorbed by the vulcanite. The stem polished up nicely and appears as good as when new. To complete the restoration, I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and applied a coat of Blue Diamond to the stummel and the stem to polish out the minor scratches. With a cotton buffing wheel that I use for carnauba wax, I apply a coat of carnauba wax and continue to work on it till the complete coat of wax had been polished out. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. The finished pipe with a natural finish to the briar looks amazingly beautiful and is now ready for a change of guard with a new piper. The pipe feels really light in the hand and has such a perfect balance in the mouth if you like to smoke your pipe clenched. I really appreciate your valuable time spent in walking the distance with me on this restoration.

Redeeming an English Made Flumed Meerschaum Author

Redeeming a Malaga Bent Volcano from Kathy’s Dad’s Pipes

New Life for a Malaga Egg Shaped Oom Paul for Alex

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have been working on a lot of different estate pipes and selling them for different families. I am continuing to work on the Malaga pipes that Alex put aside for restoration. He also brought other pipes to add to his box. I have a box of pipes from Alex that I am always working away at. He periodically drops more Malaga pipes into his box. There are quite a few of them to work on so I decided work on a few of them. The next one of these was another Malaga pipe. It is a beautiful Egg shaped Oom Paul that has a very tight grain pattern. It also has a fancy turned vulcanite stem. The pipe was dirty and caked when arrived. The rim top has a little lava and some small nicks on the left and front of the outer edge of the bowl. The bowl had a thin cake in it that was hard and dense. The exterior of the bowl and shank are very dirty with grime and oils from prolonged use. The stamping on the underside of the shank below the shank/stem junction was faint but readable and read MALAGA. The vulcanite stem was had tooth chatter on the top and the underside of the stem. There were tooth marks on both sides as well and the button was worn. I took photos of the pipe before I started the cleanup work. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before I started my cleanup work. The rim top had some lava and a few nicks on the outer front and left edge. The inner edge was slightly worn on the right inner edge where the rest of the inner edges was smooth and unbeveled. Other than being so dirty it was in great condition. The stem was dirty and there was tooth chatter on the top and underside near the button. There were tooth marks on the topside and underside ahead of the button and the sharp edge of the button was worn and damaged. The stem was also lightly oxidized.I took a photo to capture the stamping on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank near the stem/shank joint. The photo shows the stamping MALAGA on the underside of the shank is very readable.If this is the first of the Malaga restorations that you have read about then you should know the backstory of the brand. I am including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. I have written an earlier blog to give a little history of the Malaga Brand and the pipemaker, George Khoubesser. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/tag/malaga-pipes/.That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. Follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

I decided to start with the issues with the rim top first. I wiped down the rim top of the bowl with a damp cloth to remove the tars and lava. I topped the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper on a topping board to remove the damaged areas. Once the top was smoothed out I filled in the holes on the front and left outer edge with clear super glue. Once the repairs cured I sanded the top and edge smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper and 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I followed our regular regimen for cleaning estates. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. I sanded the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel to smooth out the inside walls of the bowl. I scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I restained the top of the rim and inner edge with an oak coloured stain pen to match the colour of the rest of the bowl. Once it had dried the match was very good.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to wipe of the dust. I scrubbed the briar with Before & After Briar Cleaner. I rubbed it into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and let it sit for about 10 minutes then rinsed it off with running water. I dried it off with a soft cloth. 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 it. I let the balm sit for a little while 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 wiped down the stem with alcohol and cleaned out the tooth marks and deep dents in the vulcanite. I filled them in with clear super glue and also built up the surface of the button on the top and underside. I set it aside and let the repair cure.Once the repairs had cured I used a needle file to cut button edge, reshape the button and also smooth out the repaired areas. I sanded out the tooth chatter with 220 grit sand paper and started to polish it with a folded piece of 400 wet dry sandpaper. Once it was finished it began to shine.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 a damp cloth. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. This is a beautiful Malaga Egg shaped Oom Paul with a fancy black vulcanite turned stem. It has a great look and feel. The shape is very tactile and is a beauty. I polished stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The rich oil cured briar took on life with the buffing. The rich brown colour of the briar works well with the polished vulcanite stem. The finished pipe has a rich look that is quite catching. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2 1/8 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 of an inch. I will be adding the pipe to the finished Malaga pipes that I have set aside for Alex. This will be a great addition to his collection of Malaga pipe. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another Malaga.

Refurbishing a Tired Looking Oom Paul from Steve’s Grab Box

Restoring a Beautiful Danish Pipe “MELBY” Acorn

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

This pipe had attracted my attention way back in 2017 when I first saw it on eBay and finally made it to me with a very small price tag, shipping included!! Subsequently as I started working on my inherited pipes under Steve’s guidance, the Barling’s, Dunhills, Peterson’s, Ben Wades, Nordings, Stanwells, Danish FH et al took center stage and the Melby got buried deeper and deeper down in the box. During his visit to India in May this year, Steve, Abha and I went through two of the three big cartons of pipes that I had inherited including a few pipes that I had purchased on eBay in earlier years. The aim of this exercise was to sort out pipes that could be sold and those that are to be added to personal collection. The Melby figured in the list of pipes “TO BE SOLD”!!

Well, after lying in wait for more than two years, the Melby has finally found its way on to my work table now.

This is a beautiful Acorn shaped pipe with a very subtle and delicate upturned bend to an equally delicate and thin shank. The stummel narrows down towards the foot from a nice broad and wide rim top. The pipe ends with a thin fancy vulcanite stem that has a slight bend at the slot end that carries forward the overall delicate profile of the pipe as a whole. The second aspect that struck me was how light the pipe was!!The pipe is stamped vertically towards the shank end bottom as “MELBY” over “MADE IN” over “DENMARK”. There is no other stamping on the stummel. The stem is also devoid of any stampings.The top notch quality of the briar, beautiful shape and overall high quality of finish and design screamed that this pipe had to be work of some really gifted artisan. To know more about this pipe, I visited pipedia.org. Sure enough, there was a mention of this brand under Danish pipes, but sadly nothing more than a mere mention. In my quest to unravel this mysterious brand, I surf the internet and the only reference that I could find out was on an aptly named site “VERY KEEN ON PIPES”. Here is the link to this interesting site; https://vkpipes.com/

Within this site I searched for Melby and here is what I learned; https://vkpipes.com/pipeline/melby/

An extraordinary Danish work! As every proper Danish pipe it’s made of a good briar, shows nice grain and has skillfully designed freehand shape. But the most of all we’re absolutely amazed with its sense of equilibrium – the pipe can surely balance just on its heel (back side of its bottom). Some signs (such as kind of briar) hint it might be a Karl Erik pipe but we don’t have a 100% proof so far.

With this information, I move ahead with my initial visual inspection.

INITIAL VISUAL INSPECTION
The pipe came to us in a very well smoked state, but, I have to admit that it was well taken care of by the previous owner. An even layer of heavy cake build up is observed in the chamber with overflow of lava on the rim top surface, notably at the back. Otherwise, the rim top surface and both inner and outer rim edges are in fairly good condition with slight darkening and unevenness to the inner rim edge. It is pretty strong sweet smelling pipe, I say!! I am not sure if by mere cleaning of the chamber and shank internals that these smells will be eliminated. The smooth stummel surface has beautiful Bird’s eye grain patterns on either sides of the stummel with beautiful densely packed cross grains on the front, back and the shank. The stummel surface has a dirty yellowish orange like stain to the briar that has darkened and dulled out due to accumulation of grime. Once it has been cleaned up, the grains should pop out after a nice polish. The mortise with shank internals is clogged and shows heavy accumulation of oils and tars. The chamber emanates a very strong sweet odor from previous usage. The draught hole is right at the bottom center and should be a great smoker!! The light weight and perfect shape make it a beautiful pipe to clench while you read your favorite book or while tending to your garden!! Reclaiming this piece of briar should be a fun project. The delicate fancy vulcanite stem is deeply oxidized, especially in the nooks and crannies. There are a few deep tooth indentations on either surface of the stem in the bite zone and over the upper button edge. The button edges would need to be sharpened and made crisp. The tenon and the slot show heavy accumulation of dried oils and gunk and the airflow through the stem is laborious.INITIAL CLEANING BY ABHA…
The initial cleaning on this pipe was done by Abha, my wife (she has cleaned up around 40-50 pipes and these have now reached me for further restoration). She reamed out the complete cake and further smoothed out the chamber walls with a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper. She scrubbed out the dried oils, tars and gunk from the mortise with a fabricated dental spatula and further cleaned out the internals of the shank with pipe cleaners and alcohol and cotton buds. She followed the internal cleaning of the shank with external cleaning of the stummel using Murphy’s Oil soap and hard bristled tooth brush and dried it with paper napkins and cotton cloth.

ONCE THE PIPE IS ON MY WORK TABLE…
The cleaned up pipes presents a very clear picture of what needs to be done to restore this pipe to a pristine and smokable condition. I really cannot thank Abha, my wife, enough for all the help and support that she extends me in my pursuance of this hobby. A clean pipe also helps in clearly identifying the work that would be required to restore a pipe. The pictures shows the condition of the pipe when it reached me after being cleaned. The chamber stills has the strong old odor and would need further intrusive methods to address this issue. The walls are solid without any signs of damage. The inward curving wide rim top surface has a flat smooth ring towards the chamber. The flat inner rim edge is slightly darkened towards the front and left of the stummel and would need to be addressed. The rounded outer rim surface is in perfect condition but shows signs of overzealous cleaning by Abha to remove the overflow of lava from the right and extending to the back side of the rim top. I am amazed at the cavernous size of the chamber. The stummel surface is sans any fills or flaws. A nice polish and the beautiful grains will pop out and will be on display in all their glory. The stummel has lost its old stain and further sanding followed with micromesh pad polishing will further bring out the natural finish of the bowl. Whether to stain it to accentuate the grains or to let it be, I shall decide once the micromesh cycle is complete. I think as the pipe is smoked, over a period of time, the briar will take on some nice dark coloration and patina. I am really looking forward to see the stummel after polish. The mortise and shank internals are also nice and clean now. The seating of the stem tenon in to the mortise is snug and flush with the shank end. The oxidation on the vulcanite stem has been removed, thanks to all the efforts put in by Abha. The slot and stem internals are all clean and fresh. The deeper tooth indentations on the upper and lower surface and on the upper button edge are now clearly visible. I intend to first raise these indentations to the surface by heating and sanding followed, if necessary, by filling it with a mix of activated charcoal and superglue. A bit of sanding to remove the deeper oxidation followed by micromesh polishing cycle should add a nice shine to the stem. THE PROCESS
Firstly, I heat the surface of the stem with the flame of a lighter to raise the tooth indentations to the surface and follow it up with a sanding with a piece of folded 220 grit sand paper. This helps to even out the raised surface, address minor tooth chatter and also remove the deep seated oxidation. I wiped the stem with a cotton swab and alcohol to remove the raised oxidation and the resulting sanding dust. The tooth indentations, though greatly reduced, are still prominent. I need to address this issue. I mix a small quantity of activated charcoal and CA superglue and spot apply it over the visible bite marks. I set the stem aside for the fill to cure overnight. If I had black CA superglue, that is what I would have used in this instance. Next, I start by sanding the entire stummel surface, including the rim top, with a piece of 220 grit sand paper. I also work the inner rim edge with the sandpaper to remove the darkened briar and even out the rim edge. This sanding helps in addressing all the minor dents, if any, from the surface while providing a smooth surface for the next stage which is polishing cycle using complete set of micromesh pads. I was especially very careful while sanding the bottom of the shank around the stampings, as it is very easy to miss out the stamp and one swipe of the sand paper is enough to ruin/ damage the stampings. Before I move to the next stage of polishing the stummel, I decided to address the issue of strong odor in the chamber. To eliminate the ghost smells from the pipe, I decided to treat it with salt and alcohol. I do not use Kosher salt as it is not readily available here and if available, it’s very expensive. I use cotton balls which is an at par substitute as I have realized over the last year or so. I draw out a wick from the cotton and along with a folded regular pipe cleaner; insert it in to the mortise and through the draught hole in the chamber. Thereafter, I pack the chamber with cotton balls to about quarter of an inch below the rim inner edge. I soak the cotton balls with isopropyl alcohol up to the brim. About half an hour later, the level of alcohol has gone down, having being absorbed by the cotton. I top it up once again and set it aside overnight. By next afternoon, the cotton and alcohol has drawn out all the remaining oils and tars from the chamber and mortise and the cotton and alcohol had fulfilled its intended task. I removed the cotton balls and ran pipe cleaners through the mortise to clean out all the loosened tars and gunk. The chamber now smells clean and fresh. I set the stummel to dry out naturally.While the chamber was soaking in the salt and alcohol bath, I worked the stem. The stem fills had cured and with a flat head needle file, I sand these fills to achieve a rough match. I further fine tuned the match by sanding the filled area with a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper pinched between my thumb and forefinger. I followed it up by sanding the entire stem surface using 400, 600, 800 grit sand papers and finally with a piece of 0000 grade steel wool. This serves to remove the deep seated oxidation and also reduces the sanding marks of the more abrasive sand papers. I also sharpened the button edges while sanding. I wiped the stem with a cotton swab and alcohol to remove all the oxidation and sanding dust from the surface. I applied a little Extra Virgin Olive oil over the stem and set it aside to be absorbed by the vulcanite. I followed up the sanding regime with micromesh polishing to bring a shine on the stem surface. Since my hand held rotary tool is out for repairs, I could not continue with my experimentation on use of Red Tripoli and White Diamond during the polishing regime. I wet sand the stem with 1500 to 12000 girt micromesh pads. I rub a small quantity of olive oil in to the stem surface to hydrate it and set it aside. The stem looks nice and shinning black.The stummel had dried out completely and I could now move ahead with polishing the stummel. To remove the sanding marks and bring a deeper shine, I polished the stummel with micromesh pads, wet sanding with 1500 to 12000 pads. I wiped the surface with a soft cloth at the end of the micromesh cycle. The stummel looks amazing with a deep shine and beautiful grains popping over the stummel surface. I shared pictures of the stummel at this stage in restoration with Abha for her opinion as to whether stain it in dark brown or otherwise. Prompt came the response to let it be. She really liked the patterns of grain and the look of the pipe. Also as the pipe is smoked, it will turn dark and develop a nice patina. So, natural finish to the stummel it is!! Next, I rub a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” in to the briar with my finger tips and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works its magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance with the beautiful darkened grain patterns on full display. I further buff it with a horse hair shoe brush. Unfortunately I just missed out on taking pictures of the stummel at this point in restoration process. But it looks beautiful, I say!!

By the weekend, my rotary tool stabilizer came back after repairs and I could finally move ahead with finishing the pipe. To apply the finishing touches, I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and apply a coat of Blue Diamond to the stummel and the stem to polish out the minor scratches. With a cotton buffing wheel that I use for carnauba wax, I apply a coat of carnauba wax and continue to work on it till the complete coat of wax had been polished out. I mount a clean cotton cloth buffing wheel and give the entire pipe a once over buff. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. This is truly a beautifully crafted pipe with gorgeous grains all around and the feather weight coupled with a large bowl will surely provide a long and leisurely smoke allowing ample time to admire the construction and grains on this pipe. P.S. This pipe was earmarked not for addition to my personal collection but for sale. However, the beautiful grains, the exquisite carving and very light weight coupled with a large chamber for a long and peaceful smoke has me enticed to an extent that I have decided to add it to my rotation. Such is the beauty of this pipe. Now all that remains is to load this bowl with my favorite G.L. Pease Virginia blend and puff contentedly for some time!!

Thanks to all readers of Reborn pipes who have spared a moment of their invaluable time in reading through this write up and as is always, your suggestions and advice are always welcome as this would not only help me but also help the new pursuers of this art.

A Fresh Lease on Life for a Barling T.V.F # 911, Made in Denmark

1 Reply

Blog by Paresh Deshpande

My pipe cleaning factory back home is churning out pipes galore and these cleaned pipes once they reach me are being liked by people who see them and sales are also improving, though restricted only to local customer, yes, you read it right, without an ‘s’, as only one colleague has been motivated to take up enjoying a pipe!! I am sure more will follow. Those readers who have been following my work on rebornpipes.com are well aware that here in India, pipe smoking culture died its natural death in 1970’s when old pipe shops and tobacconists were pushed out of business by cigarette manufacturers and people got used to the convenience of a ready-to-smoke cigarette. And to add to our woes, there is a ban on importing tobacco!! Well, wish me luck that I am able to revive this culture back here again…

The next pipe that I decided to work on, well not exactly by choice but out of economic considerations, is a lovely Brandy bowl shaped Barling’s Make pipe in a smooth finish. Through all the dark hues of Oxblood (not sure its Oxblood or Cordovan, as I have used neither in person) and darkened lacquer coat, beautiful mixed grains can be seen all around the stummel. The pipe is stamped on the left of the shank as “Barling” in cursive hand over “MAKE” over “INTERNATIONAL” in block letters. On the right of the shank, close to the shank end it is stamped as “T.V.F.” followed by the shape code (???) “# 911” over “MADE IN DENMARK”. The stampings are all crisp and prominent.I had previously worked on a couple of Barling pipes from my inherited pipe collection; here are the links to both the write up, https://rebornpipes.com/2019/03/26/a-simple-restoration-of-an-early-transition-era-barling-2639/, https://rebornpipes.com/2018/12/10/decking-out-my-grandfathers-battered-pre-transition-barling-1354/ and had researched this brand then. To refresh my memory, I revisited the write ups and also pipedia.org. Here is an interesting excerpt from pipedia.org……

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Barling

In the late 1970’s production of Barling pipes was shifted to Denmark where Eric Nording manufactured Barling pipes for Imperial. There may have been other factories, but as of this writing, none has been identified. Nording stated that he made approximately 100.000 pipes for Imperial.

Despite these attempts to diversify the line, Barling lost its market. These pipes just weren’t equivalent to the family era pipes. Finally, Imperial decided to close down the Barling operations entirely by 1980.

Thus from the above snippets of information, it is safely concluded that the pipe currently on my work table is from the period between late 1970’s to 1980 and most likely carved by master craftsman Eric Nording!!

INITIAL VISUAL INSPECTION
The pipe came to us in a very sorry state, to say the least. It was heavily smoked and a thick layer of cake build up is observed in the chamber. The thin rim top is covered in the thick overflow of lava and is severely damaged due to the repeated hammering it must have received at the hands of the previous owner to remove the dottle. This will need to be worked on.The smooth stummel surface has beautiful grain patterns with a mix of Bird’s eye, cross grains and nice swirls. The stummel surface has a dark lacquer coat that has dulled a bit and appears lifeless due to accumulation of dust and dirt and peeling of the lacquer coating in patches. The mortise is clogged with accumulation of oils and tars making the draw laborious. The straight, broad vulcanite saddle stem is deeply oxidized with bite marks and tooth chatter on either surface in the bite zone. The insides of the slot and tenon have signs of accumulated gunk. The crossed Barling logo on the saddle top of the stem is crisp and deep.INITIAL CLEANING BY ABHA…

The initial cleaning on this pipe was done by Abha, my wife (she has cleaned up around 40-50 pipes and these have now reached me for further restoration). She reamed out the complete cake and further smoothed out the chamber walls with a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper. She further cleaned out the internals of the shank with pipe cleaners and alcohol and cotton buds. She followed the internal cleaning of the shank with external cleaning of the stummel using Murphy’s Oil soap and hard bristled tooth brush and dried it with paper napkins and cotton cloth.

The chamber is odorless and the walls are solid without any signs of damage. The smooth and thin rim top surface is where all the action is on this pipe with an equally damaged inner and outer rim edge. The front and back of the outer rim edges and top surface has signs of charring. This should be addressed to some extent when I top the rim surface. The mortise and shank internals are nice and clean. Even though most of the lacquer coat was removed when the stummel was cleaned up by Abha, I could still see remnants of the peeling lacquer coat over some parts of the stummel. I shall have to remove this coat and thereafter decide on staining the stummel or otherwise. The stummel surface is sans any fills; however, the left side surface has some damage in the form of dents and dings, probably caused due rough handling of the pipe by the previous owner. The oxidation on the vulcanite stem has been greatly reduced thanks to all the efforts put in by Abha, clearly defining the deeper bite marks and the damage to the button edges on both surfaces of the stem. These tooth marks would be required to be filled with a mix of activated charcoal and superglue. A bit of sanding to match the fill and remove the deeper oxidation followed by micromesh polishing cycle should add a nice shine to the stem.THE PROCESS
The first issue I addressed was that of the stem repairs as this would take the maximum of my time to clean, repair and spruce up the stem. I flamed the damaged button edge and the tooth indentations with the flame of a lighter. This helps the vulcanite to rise to the surface as it has an inherent property to regain its original shape when heated. I sand the stem with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to even out the raised stem surface and address the minor tooth chatter. I mixed superglue and activated charcoal powder and diligently applied it over the deeper tooth indentations in the bite zone on lower stem surface and over the button edge on the upper stem surface and set it aside to cure. With the stem fill set aside to cure, I decided to address the issues on the stummel surface. I start by steaming out the dents and dings from the left side of the stummel. I heated my fabricated knife over a candle flame till hot. I spread a wet Turkish hand towel over the dents and dings on the stummel and placed the heated knife over the hand towel. The resulting sizzle produces steam which in turn expands the briar and evens out the dents. The results are exactly as I wanted them to be.The next stummel issue to be addressed was that of the rim top surface damage. I topped the rim on a piece of 220 grit sand paper, checking frequently till I was satisfied that the charred surface was addressed to a great extent and the rim top surface is nice, smooth and even. The inner edge is still uneven, though much better than before topping, and shall be addressed subsequently.Close observation of the rim top surface revealed remnants of charred inner rim edge on the right side and below it on the same side, a briar flaw (all encircled in red). This flaw, when polished would stand out like a sore thumb and hence I decided to address this by topping the rim top further. A few careful rotations of the rim top on a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and the issue of briar flaw was completely addressed and the charred inner rim edge was further reduced. The rim top looks significantly better at this stage. With a folded piece of a 220 grit sand paper pinched between my thumb and forefinger, I created a slight bevel on the inner edge of the rim top surface. This helped to mask and address the minor charred marks that had remained on the inner rim edge. Continuing with my work on the stummel, I sand the entire stummel surface with a piece of 220 grit sand paper. This helped to address all the minor dents from the surface and removed what little lacquer coating that had remained, while providing a smooth surface for the next stage of micromesh polishing cycle. To remove the sanding marks and bring a deeper shine, I polished the stummel with micromesh pads, wet sanding with 1500 to 12000 pads. I wiped the surface with a soft cloth at the end of the micromesh cycle. The stummel looks amazing with a deep dark shine and beautiful grains all around. I showed the stummel to the new owner and discussed if he wanted me to stain the stummel or preferred it the way it appeared at this stage. I took this opportunity to explain him that the stummel would darken further as I finished with the polishing regime. He liked the pipe without stain and that’s how it shall remain. As a result of all the topping and subsequent polishing, the rim top surface had a lighter hue as compared to the rest of the stummel surface. I matched the rim top surface with the rest of the stummel by staining the surface with a dark brown stain pen. I set it aside for the stain to cure and once I was satisfied, I wiped it with a microfiber cloth. The rim top is now perfectly matched with the rest of the stummel dark coloration. I am very pleased with the blend.Next, I rub a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” in to the briar with my finger tips and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works its magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance with the beautiful darkened grain patterns on full display. I further buff it with a horse hair shoe brush. Now that the stummel was nearly complete, I turned my attention to the stem repairs. The stem fills had cured completely by this time. With a folded piece of a 220 grit sand paper, I sand down the fills to achieve a rough match with the rest of the stem surface. I followed it up by sanding it with 400, 600, 800 grit sand papers and finally with a piece of 0000 grade steel wool. This serves to achieve a perfect blend of the fills with the rest of the stem surface, remove the deep seated oxidation and also reduces the sanding marks of the more abrasive sand papers. I wiped the stem with a cotton swab and alcohol to remove all the oxidation and sanding dust from the surface. I applied a little Extra Virgin Olive oil over the stem and set it aside to be absorbed by the vulcanite.I followed up the sanding regime with micromesh polishing to bring a shine on the stem surface. I wet sand the stem with 1500 to 2400 girt micromesh pads. Continuing with my experimentation that I had spelled out in my previous posts, I mount a cotton buffing wheel on my hand held rotary tool and polish the stem with Red Rouge polish as I had read that this polish has grit between 2400 to 3200 grit pads of the micromesh pads. Further, I mount a fresh buffing wheel on the rotary tool and polish the stem with White Diamond polish as it has grit equivalent to 3800- 4000 of micromesh pads. I finish the stem polish by wet sanding with 6000 to 12000 grit pads of the micromesh. I rub a small quantity of olive oil in to the stem surface to hydrate it and set it aside. I am really happy with this process of stem polishing as the results are excellent while saving me huge amounts of time and effort. The stem looks nice and shinning black, but there was something that I felt I had missed out. I realized that the stem logo is yet to be refreshed and highlighted. With a white fine tipped correction pen, I filled the crossed Barlings stamping and once it had dried a bit, with a toothpick, I scrapped off excess of the correction ink. The stamping is now completely refreshed and sits proudly on the top of the saddle.To apply the finishing touches, I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and apply a coat of Blue Diamond to the stummel and the stem to polish out the minor scratches. With a cotton buffing wheel that I use for carnauba wax, I apply a coat of carnauba wax and continue to work on it till the complete coat of wax had been polished out. I mount a clean cotton cloth buffing wheel and give the entire pipe a once over buff. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. The finished pipe looks beautiful and is ready to be handed over to the new piper. Hope he enjoys his leisure time with this beautiful and gorgeous looking pipe, smoking his favorite tobacco!! P.S. This is the third pipe that was selected by this gentleman to carry forward the trust posed in the pipe by the previous piper and I am sure that this pipe will provide the new piper many years of happy smokes and will remind him of our association. There is one more pipe which he has selected that I need to work on before I can get back to my choice of pipes to work on!!

I can never thank Abha, my wife, enough who not only supports my hobby of pipe restoration, but actively helps in this work by doing all the dirty work of initial cleaning and providing me a clean platform to work further. It is her work that helps potential buyers to select a pipe for themselves.

Thanks to all readers of Reborn pipes who have spared a moment of their invaluable time in reading through this write up and as is always, your suggestions and advice on my experimentation is always welcome as this would also help the new pursuers of this art.

A Custom Carved Malaga Acorn from Kathy’s Dad’s Pipes

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I have been working on a lot of different estate pipes and selling them for different families. Once in a while it is good to change things up a bit. Last week Alex came by and went through the Malaga pipes from George Koch’s estate. I have a box of pipes from Alex that I am always working away at he added a few more Malaga pipes to his box. There are quite a few of them to work on so I decided work on a few of them. The third of these Malaga pipes is a beautiful acorn shaped Custom Carved with a black acrylic fancy stem. It has a faux carved plateau rim top and shank end and combined with the stem make it a stunning pipe. It has some great cross grain on the front and back and birdseye on the sides of the bowl. The Custom Carved Acorn shaped pipe was just one of the many Malaga pipes that came to my brother and me in several shipments of pipes from George’s daughter Kathy. When Jeff got each box the pipes were well wrapped and packed. Jeff unwrapped them and took the following photo to give an idea of the volume of the pipes that we purchased. This Malaga came in mixed in a box of pipes much like the one below.In each of the previous blogs that I have written on the restoration of George’s pipes I have told his story. If you have followed the restorations you will have read the information and the background piece that Kathy did on her father. Here is a link to one of the previous blogs on his Malaga pipes where I included her tribute in full (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/01/26/back-to-kathys-dads-pipes-restoring-a-%c2%bc-bent-malaga-author/). You can also read the bio on her Dad, George Koch. It is an interesting read and one that shows just how far our pipe collecting passion can go when we find a brand of pipes that we enjoy. I am going to only include the portion on the Malagas at this point. If you wish to read the rest follow the link above.

The Malaga Custom Carved Acorn with the fancy turned black acrylic stem is next on the table. The carver did a great job of shaping the pipe to follow the grain on the briar. The faux plateau on the rim top and shank end looks really good. The bowl had a thick cake that overflowed with lava onto the rim so that it was impossible to see if there was damage on the edges. The sides of the bowl and shank are very dirty with grime and oils from prolonged use. The stamping on the left side of the shank read “MALAGA” with the quotation marks over Custom Carved. The fancy black acrylic stem had tooth dents and chatter on the top and the underside of the stem. Jeff took these photos before he started the cleanup work on the pipe. Jeff took close up photos of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The rim top had some lava overflow in the grooves of the faux plateau and some darkening on the back of the bowl. It was so dirty that it was hard to know if there was rim damage on the inner edge of the bowl. The pipe is incredibly dirty, even the externals of the bowl were covered with grime. He also took photos of the sides and bottom of the bowl and shank to show the beautiful straight and cross grain around the bowl. The photos show the general condition of the bowl and wear on the finish. It is very dirty but this is another beautiful pipe.He also took photos of the shank end and fancy stem. The plateau is filled in with dust and debris. The twin rings are also filled in with dust and debris.Jeff took a photo to capture the stamping on the top side of the shank. The photos show the stamping “MALAGA” on the left side of the shank and under that it is stamped Custom Carved in script. The stamping is very readable.The next two photos show the stem surface. There are tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There is also some wear on the sharp edge of the button.I am also including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. I have written an earlier blog to give a little history of the Malaga Brand and the pipemaker, George Khoubesser. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/tag/malaga-pipes/.That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. Follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the damage to the flat surface of the rim and the inner edge on the back side and on the outer edge toward the front of the bowl. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem. You can see the condition of the rim top and bowl in the first photo. Jeff was able to remove all of the tar and oils but you can now see the damaged areas on the surface clearly. The acrylic/Lucite stem had tooth chatter and some tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near and on the button surface.I took 2 photos of the stamping on the shank to show how good the condition is. The first one shows the “MALAGA” stamp. It is double stamped but is very legible on the topside. The second photo shows the second line of the stamp and reads Custom Carved in script.I decided to address the rim top first. I scrubbed the rim top with a brass bristle brush to clean off some of the darkening and minimize the damage on surface of the rim top. The damage to the rim top is minimized to some degree and the inner edge looks far better. The damage to the rim looks much better than when I began.I scrubbed the briar with Before & After Briar Cleaner. I rubbed it into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and let it sit for about 10 minutes then rinsed it off with running water. I dried it off with a soft cloth. I filled in the deep nicks on the right side of the bowl. I sanded the fills with 220 and 400 grit sandpaper to smooth out the repaired areas. I used a Maple stain pen to touch up the stain colour on the remainder of the bowl.I polished the rim top and the exterior of the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad to remove the dust. Each grit of micromesh gave it more of a shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. It took some time to really get it into the grooves and valleys of the rusticated faux plateau on the rim top and shank end. I worked in deeper with a horsehair shoebrush. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The reworked bowl looks really good and matches the colour of the rest of the pipe. I am very happy with the results. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. There were some deep tooth marks on the top and underside at the button that needed to be addressed. I also needed to do some work on the surface of the button on both sides. I cleaned the surface of the stem with alcohol on a cotton pad and filled in the damaged areas and built up the surface of the button with clear super glue. I set the stem aside until the repairs cured. Once the glue had cured I used a needle file to reshape the button and flatten out the repairs. The stem looked much better.I sanded both sides smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and 400 grit sandpaper to blend the tooth chatter and the repair into the surface of the stem. As I sanded and reshaped the button and stem surface the repaired areas and the tooth chatter disappeared.I polished the acrylic stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. This is a beautiful Malaga Freehand Acorn with a black fancy turned acrylic stem. It has a great look and feel. The faux plateau rim top and shank end and the cut of the briar work well to highlight the birdseye and cross grain around the bowl sides. I polished Lucite stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain took on life with the buffing. The rich oil cured colour works well with the polished black Lucite stem. The finished pipe has a rich look that is quite catching. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. I will be adding the pipe to the finished Malaga pipes that I have set aside for Alex. I am glad that he is carrying on the trust for George Koch. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another one of Kathy’s Dad’s Pipes.

A Long Stem Malaga Canadian from Kathy’s Dad’s Pipes

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I have been working on a lot of different estate pipes and selling them for different families. Once in a while it is good to change things up a bit. Last week Alex came by and went through the Malaga pipes from George Koch’s estate. I have a box of pipes from Alex that I am always working away at he added a few more Malaga pipes to his box. There are quite a few of them to work on so I decided work on a few of them. The second of these Malaga pipes is a beautiful long stemmed, nicely grained Canadian with a variegated brown, gold and copper Lucite stem. It has a slightly beveled rim top tipping inward toward the bowl and the grain combined with the stem make it a stunning pipe. The carver had carved a flourish on the back side of the bowl wrapping around part of the left side. Otherwise it has some great cross grain on the front and back and birdseye on the sides of the bowl. The Canadian shaped pipe was just one of the many Malaga pipes that came to my brother and me in several shipments of pipes from George’s daughter Kathy. When Jeff got each box the pipes were well wrapped and packed. Jeff unwrapped them and took the following photo to give an idea of the volume of the pipes that we purchased. This Malaga came in mixed in a box of pipes much like the one below.In each of the previous blogs that I have written on the restoration of George’s pipes I have told his story. If you have followed the restorations you will have read the information and the background piece that Kathy did on her father. Here is a link to one of the previous blogs on his Malaga pipes where I included her tribute in full (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/01/26/back-to-kathys-dads-pipes-restoring-a-%c2%bc-bent-malaga-author/). You can also read the bio on her Dad, George Koch. It is an interesting read and one that shows just how far our pipe collecting passion can go when we find a brand of pipes that we enjoy. I am going to only include the portion on the Malagas at this point. If you wish to read the rest follow the link above.

The Malaga Canadian with the variegated brown/gold/copper acrylic stem is next on the table. The carver did a great job of shaping the pipe to follow the grain on the briar. The added flourish to the back of the bowl curling onto the left side looks really good. The rim top is smooth and slightly beveled inward. The bowl had a thick cake that overflowed with lava onto the rim so that it was impossible to see if there was damage on the edges. The sides of the bowl and shank are very dirty with grime and oils from prolonged use. The stamping on the topside of the shank read MALAGA without the quotation marks. On the right side it was stamped Imported Briar. The swirled acrylic stem had tooth dents and chatter on the top and the underside of the stem. Jeff took these photos before he started the cleanup work on the pipe. Jeff took close up photos of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The rim top had some lava overflow and some darkening. It was so dirty that it was hard to know if there was rim damage on the inner edge of the bowl. The pipe is incredibly dirty, even the externals of the bowl were covered with grime. He also took photos of the sides and bottom of the bowl and shank to show the beautiful straight and cross grain around the bowl. The photos show the general condition of the bowl and wear on the finish. It is very dirty but this is another beautiful pipe.Jeff took a photo to capture the stamping on the top side of the shank. The photos show the stamping MALAGA on the topside of the shank. The stamping is very readable.The next two photos show the stem surface. There are tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There is also some wear on the sharp edge of the button.I am also including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. I have written an earlier blog to give a little history of the Malaga Brand and the pipemaker, George Khoubesser. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/tag/malaga-pipes/.That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. Follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the damage to the flat surface of the rim and the inner edge on the back side and on the outer edge toward the front of the bowl. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem. You can see the condition of the rim top and bowl in the first photo. Jeff was able to remove all of the tar and oils but you can now see the damaged areas on the surface clearly. There are damaged spots all around the top surface and on the front and the backside of the inner edge of the bowl. The acrylic/Lucite stem had tooth chatter and some tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near and on the button surface.I took a photo of the stamping on the shank to show how good the condition is. The MALAGA stamp is very legible on the topside.I decided to address the damage to the rim top first. I sanded the rim top with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper minimize the damage on surface of the rim top. I worked over the inner and outer edge of the rim with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage. The photos tell the story. The damage to the rim top is minimized to some degree and the inner edge looks far better. The damage to the outer edge looks much better than when I began.With sanding on the rim top and edges I did a thorough clean the insides once again. I did not want any of the sanding dust or debris to remain in the bowl or shank or the airway in the stem. I used alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners to clean up the mess I had made. I used an awl to make sure the airway into the bowl was wide open for maximum draw. I polished the rim top and the exterior of the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad to remove the dust. The damage on the rim is pretty much invisible after polishing and the rim top really looked good. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. It took some time to really get it into the grooves and valleys of the rustication but I was able to work it in. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The reworked rim top looks really good and matches the colour of the rest of the pipe. I am very happy with the results. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. There were some tooth marks on the top and underside at the button that needed to be addressed. I also needed to do some work on the surface of the button on both sides. I cleaned the surface of the stem with alcohol on a cotton pad and filled in the damaged areas and built up the surface of the button with clear super glue. I set the stem aside until the repairs cured.I sanded both sides smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and 400 grit sandpaper to blend the tooth chatter and the repair into the surface of the stem. As I sanded and reshaped the button and stem surface the repaired areas and the tooth chatter disappeared.I polished the acrylic stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. This is a beautiful Malaga long stem Canadian and the brown/gold/copper stem gives it a nice touch of class. The rim top and the cut of the briar work well to highlight the birdseye and cross grain around the bowl sides. I polished Lucite stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple 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 grain took on life with the buffing. The rich oil cured colour works well with the polished variegated Lucite stem. The finished pipe has a rich look that is quite catching. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 7 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 of an inch. I will be adding the pipe to the finished Malaga pipes that I have finished for Alex. I am glad that he is carrying on the trust for George Koch. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another one of Kathy’s Dad’s Pipes.

A Beautifully Grained “Malaga” Prince from Kathy’s Dad’s Pipes

4 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I have been working on a lot of different estate pipes and selling them for different families. Once in a while it is good to change things up a bit. Last week Alex came by and went through the Malaga pipes from George Koch’s estate. I have a box of pipes from Alex that I am always working away at he added a few more Malaga pipes to his box. There are quite a few of them to work on so I decided work on a few of them. The first of these Malaga pipes is a beautifully grained Prince with a variegated silver, grey and black Lucite stem. It has a crowned rim top tipping inward toward the bowl and the grain combined with the stem make it a stunning pipe. The Prince shaped pipe was just one of the many Malaga pipes that came to my brother and me in several shipments of pipes from George’s daughter Kathy. When Jeff got each box the pipes were well wrapped and packed. Jeff unwrapped them and took the following photo to give an idea of the volume of the pipes that we purchased. This Malaga came to us mixed in a box of pipes much like the one below.In each of the previous blogs that I have written on the restoration of George’s pipes I have told his story. If you have followed the restorations you will have read the information and the background piece that Kathy did on her father. Here is a link to one of the previous blogs on his Malaga pipes where I included her tribute in full (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/01/26/back-to-kathys-dads-pipes-restoring-a-%c2%bc-bent-malaga-author/). You can also read the bio on her Dad, George Koch. It is an interesting read and one that shows just how far our pipe collecting passion can go when we find a brand of pipes that we enjoy. I am going to only include the portion on the Malagas at this point. If you wish to read the rest follow the link above.

The “Malaga” Prince and variegated black/silver/grey acrylic stem is next on the table. The carver did a great job of shaping the pipe to follow the grain on the briar. The bowl top is smooth and slightly beveled inward. The rim top was thickly coated in lava so that it was impossible to see if there was some damage on the top and inner edge. The bowl had a very thick cake and an overflow of lava onto the thin rim top. The sides of the bowl and shank are very dirty with grime and oils from prolonged use. The stamping on the left side of the shank read “MALAGA”. On the right side it was stamped Imported Briar. The black/grey/silver swirled acrylic stem had tooth dents and chatter on the top and the underside of the stem. Jeff took these photos before he started the cleanup work on the pipe. Jeff took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The rim top had some lava overflow and some darkening. It was so dirty that it was hard to know if there was rim damage on the inner edge of the bowl. The pipe is incredibly dirty, even the externals of the bowl were covered with grime.He also took photos of the sides and bottom of the bowl and shank to show the beautiful straight and cross grain around the bowl. The photos show the general condition of the bowl and wear on the finish. It is very dirty but this is another beautiful pipe. Jeff took a photo to capture the stamping on the right and left side of the shank. The photos show the stamping “MALAGA” on the left side and Imported Briar on the right side. The stamping is weak but readable. The next two photos show the stem surface. There are tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There is also some wear on the sharp edge of the button.I am also including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. I have written an earlier blog to give a little history of the Malaga Brand and the pipemaker, George Khoubesser. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/tag/malaga-pipes/.That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. Follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the damage to the flat surface of the rim and the inner edge on the back side and on the outer edge toward the front of the bowl. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem. You can see the condition of the rim top and bowl in the first photo. Jeff was able to remove all of the tar and oils but you can now see the damaged areas on the surface clearly. There are damaged spots all around the top surface and on the front and the backside of the inner edge of the bowl. The acrylic/Lucite stem had tooth chatter and some tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near and on the button surface. I took a photo of the stamping on the shank to show how good the condition is. The stamp is faint but it is still legible on the left side and the right side.I decided to address the damage to the rim top first. I lightly topped the rim top on a topping board with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper minimize the damage on surface of the rim top. I worked over the inner and outer edge of the rim with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage. I gave it a slight bevel to hide the burn damage on the inner edge of the rim. The photos tell the story. The damage to the rim top is gone and the inner edge looks far better with the light bevel. The damage to the outer edge looks much better than when I began. After sanding the rim I cleaned the briar once again using Mark Hoover’s Before & After Briar Cleaner. I rubbed it into the briar and let it sit for about 5 minutes then rinsed it off under warm running water. The product does a good job drawing out the dust, debris and oils from the surface of the briar and leaving behind a clean exterior. With the exterior recleaned I also wanted to reclean the insides. I had noted a bit of hard lacquered tars on the wall of the shank so I scraped it with a dental spatula and was able to remove it. I then used alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners to clean up the mess I had made. I used an awl to make sure the airway into the bowl was wide open for maximum draw. I also ran pipe cleaners and alcohol through the stem and a dental pick to clear out the debris that was in the slot. I polished the rim top and the exterior of the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad to remove the dust. The damage on the rim is pretty much invisible after polishing and the rim top really looked good. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. It took some time to really get it into the grooves and valleys of the rustication but I was able to work it in. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The reworked rim top looks really good and matches the colour of the rest of the pipe. I am very happy with the results. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. There were some tooth marks on the top and underside at the button that needed to be addressed. I also needed to do some work on the surface of the button on both sides. I cleaned the surface of the stem with alcohol on a cotton pad and filled in the damaged areas and built up the surface of the button with clear super glue. I set the stem aside until the repairs cured.Once the repair had cured I used a needle file to smooth out the repairs and begin to blend them into the surface of the stem.I sanded both sides smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and 400 grit sandpaper to blend the tooth chatter and the repair into the surface of the stem. As I sanded and reshaped the button and stem surface the repaired areas and the tooth chatter disappeared.I polished the acrylic stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit sanding pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. This is a beautiful “Malaga” pipe and the silver/black/grey stem gives it a nice touch of class. The rim top and the cut of the briar work well to highlight the flame and straight grain around the bowl sides. I polished Lucite stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple 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 grain took on life with the buffing. The rich oil cured colour works well with the polished variegated black/grey/silver Lucite stem. The finished pipe has a rich look that is quite catching. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 1/2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 of an inch. I will be adding the pipe to the finished Malaga pipes that I have finished for Alex. I look forward to seeing what he thinks of this beauty. I am glad that he is carrying on the trust for George Koch. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another one of Kathy’s Dad’s Pipes.