Tag Archives: bite marks

Restemming and Refurbishing a Planter Opera Pipe

This is the fourth bowl that I chose to work on from the antique mall lot. It had some great potential to clean up well as it was by far one of the least damaged of the bowls. It is stamped Planter over Made in France on the left side of the shank. There is no other stamping on the bowl or shank. There is no shape size or numbering on the shank. The right side is unmarked. I looked it up online and did not find any maker for the pipe. Pipephil did not have in on his logos and stampings pages nor did any of the other sites I frequent when searching for info online. I turned to my books and found out from “Who Made That Pipe” that the brand was made by Comoy’s in France. I checked Lopes book and it was not listed. The bowl itself was pretty clean on the inside and the interior of the shank was also clean. It barely looked to have been smoked. There were a few remnants of unsmoked tobacco on the walls of the bowl. On the exterior, one side of the bowl was clean and the other was covered with a greasy, dirty buildup. There was some nice looking grain under the grit and grime – both birdseye and cross grain. It looked like it would clean up nicely. There was one small fill on the right side of the bowl. The metal band was tarnished and yellow. The bowl did not come with a stem when I bought it at the antique mall.

I went through my can of stems and found one that would fit with very minimal adjustments. I sanded the tenon with a folded piece of sandpaper and it fit well against the shank. There were some issues on the diameter of the stem. It appeared that it was slightly out of round on the right side. It would need to be sanded on the right side, top and bottom for a perfect fit.

The band was not totally in place on the shank. It had slid toward the end of the shank over the years so I needed to heat it and press it into place. The benefit to this was that it heated up the yellow buildup on the band and it came off quite easily with some silver polish/metal cleaner. I scrubbed the band with some Hagerty Tarnish Preventative Silver Polish that I bought years ago at a jewelry shop. It removed the tarnish and oxidation and with repeated scrubbing it cleaned out the tarnish in the hallmarks.

I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the greasy buildup on the right side of the bowl and shank. I followed that up with a wipe down of isopropyl alcohol to finish removing the grime. I sanded the stem on the right side to remove the excess vulcanite and make it line up with the band. I always look at the end view of the pipe and see if the diameter of the stem matches the edge of the band that it will sit against. I strive to make it the same all the way around as I think it looks better when done that way. I used 220 grit sandpaper and a medium and fine grit sanding sponge to get the fit right. In the photos below the pipe is shown after all the scrubbing and fitting of the stem.

You can see from the few steps taken with the pipe that it was a very simple clean up. It took more time to fit the stem that it did to clean up the bowl and band. I gave it a quick buff with White Diamond before working on the stem. I took it back to the work table and sanded the stem with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge (the pink square pictured above is one of those sponges). I then sanded the bowl and stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads.

I finished by rubbing down the stem with Obsidian Oil and when it had been absorbed into the stem I buffed the stem and bowl with White Diamond. I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect and give it a shine. I finish with a soft flannel buffing pad on the buffer. The finished pipe is pictured below. Sometime today I will load a bowl and give it a smoke.

Restoring an old Harlequin Pipe and Trying to Unravel the Mystery of its Origin

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When I saw this old pipe on eBay something about it caught my eye. I could see that it was structurally sound. There were no cracks or significant problems with the bowl or shank. The rim was dirty and the bowl very caked but there did not appear to be any damage to the surface of the rim. The outer edge had been tapped out a few times and showed some minor denting around the bowl. There were some gouges/scratches on the left side of the bowl. It looked as if a sharp instrument had scored the briar. There were some dark stains on the briar that easily could have been burn marks but did not appear to be so from the photos. These stains were on the underside of the shank near the junction of the shank and stem on the left side, on the lower right side of the right side and on the lower left side of the front of the bowl. It looked like stains in the grain rather than burns in the photos so I took a chance on it. The stem looked like it was grey/silver Lucite in the photos and that also intrigued me. The tobacco juices had stained the airway dark. Other than that the stem appeared to be undamaged and would be a pretty easy clean up.

The stamping on the shank was the mystery to me. I had never heard of Harlequin pipes and this one was clearly stamped Harlequin in block letters over Made in England. I wanted to see what I could find out about the brand so I went to my usual sources of information. I checked in “Who made that Pipe” by Wilczak and Colwell and “Pipes Artisans and Trademarks by Lopes to see if either of them identified the maker. Both books had nothing listed for the brand. I went on the British Trademark site and read through many of the listings for Harlequin and found that the name was used by many companies for things from wallpaper to graphics design. There were lines of greeting cards, children’s toys and clothing all bearing that name. I found nothing listed that hinted that the pipes were a registered name. I posted on several online forums that I frequent to see if anyone had any ideas. Several folks on the forums recalled that Gallaher’s Tobacco Limited in Ireland had made a tobacco for years called Harlequin. I did some research to see if they had made pipes.

As I dug through various sites on the hunt for information I received some responses on the forums. One person responded that several English tobacco brands also sold pipes – St. Bruno for one did that. Another respondent on Smokers Forums, Chris (flatticus) posted a couple of links to Gallaher’s that confirmed that they had not only made tobacco products but had made pipes or had them made. He included this information:

Ok, so Gallaher’s made at least some pipes into the early 70’s. And according to this link: http://books.google.com/books?id=LAO…20pipe&f=false

They made a Balkan Sobranie pipe. Or at least intended to enough to register the trademark, and along with the trademark for the tobacco itself. Certainly adds a bit of credence to the idea of a tobacco and pipe sharing the same brand name and stamp.

I have included the information cited above from the link to Google books – the Kenya Gazette and have posted it below. In correspondence from E.G. Bunyassi, Assistant Registrar of Trade Marks he clearly states under the heading of Balkan Sobranie that Gallaher’s Limited, a company organized under the laws of the UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland had made cigarettes, pipe tobacco and pipes.

I asked on the forum whether anyone knew whether the company made pipes. Chris (flatticus) responded again with the following information:

Interesting question, I don’t honestly know, but Gallaher’s used that trademark for like 70 years, and they were a big, big company. Actually from Northern Ireland, and had the biggest tobacco factory in the world in 1896 in Belfast, didn’t completely disappear until they were bought out by Japan Tobacco in 2007, but before that had a distribution conglomerate with RJ Reynolds for their cigarettes and were pretty gigantic. But they didn’t let the Harlequin mark until at least after 1963, when they last registered it. If I had to guess, they probably let it die after 1969 when American Brands, who I think owns Lucky Strike and similar brands, bought them out. They let the mark expire in 1980, but I see no record of anyone else buying it, and apparently it’s still available.

So, blindly guessing, I’d be surprised if anyone had the guts to use the same mark in a same or similar industry other than Gallaher’s. At least not in Ireland or the Commonwealth. But, that said, I can’t find a record or advertisement suggesting they ever made a pipe. However, I did find this thread, containing a quote from Gallaher himself talking about making pipes as a possible future avenue to address the “aging” nature of pipe smokers. http://christianpipesmokers.net/modu…wtopic&t=24081

Perhaps this was part of the “pipe renaissance” project he was talking about, made to get new pipe smokers interested. I checked harlequin ads, there a few vintage ones out there in images, but none of them referenced a pipe, just the tobacco. But the idea of a free pipe with tobacco, or at least a cheap or, as he put it, “disposable” pipe does seem to fit nicely with his intention there. Any way you slice it, though, it’s a nice bit of mystery to ponder. One of my favorite things about estate pipes, hands down.

In another link there was information on the Gallaher Company. I copied that information and have posted it below. It makes an interesting read in terms of history of this old brand. I have one chunk of Gallaher’s Irish Roll Cake here that is a good strong smoke. I also have some of their other tobaccos in my cellar but sadly it is no more. I think the likelihood is that the Harlequin pipe was made by them and matched the Harlequin Tobacco blend they sold.

Once the pipe arrived I unpacked it and took it to the work table to begin the clean up. I was surprised that the stem was not grey but in real life almost a light green with heavy black tars in the airway. There were also some tooth marks on the top and bottom of the stem that would need to be repaired. The fit of the stem to the shank was snug and smooth. The bowl was badly caked and the rim covered with thick tar. The bowl had some deep gouges that had appeared in the photos on eBay but they were not as deep as I expected. The grain was far better than I expected. Underneath the dark marks, which appear to be ink stains rather than burn marks was some beautiful cross grain and birdseye as well as mixed grain. It would look beautiful when it was cleaned up and refinished. There were several spots on the briar that had large sticky spots of a glue-like substance.

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer to remove the cake. It was surprisingly soft and crumbly. I took it back to a very thin cake to form the base for a new cake.

I set up a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to clean off the build up on the rim. It was hard and no matter how hard I scrubbed it, it would not come off. The outer edges of the rim were also damaged from knocking out the bowl after smoking. The light topping would smooth out the edge damage and minimize the effect without changing the look of the bowl.

I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl down with acetone on cotton pads to remove the ink and sticky build up on the finish. I also decided to remove the finish so I scrubbed it until the majority of the finish was gone.

I cleaned the stem with cotton swabs and pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. I was able to scrub out the airway and the slot in the button removing the stains. I also scrubbed the end of the tenon to clean out the staining there. I scrubbed the mortise with alcohol and cotton swabs as well until they came out clean. The internals were cleaned and smelled fresh rather than smelling like old aromatic tobacco.

Once it was clean, I tried to steam out the gouges in the bowl but they would not lift. I could have sanded them out but that would have changed the profile of the bowl so I opted on repairing them with super glue and briar dust.

I sanded the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper and then followed that by sanding with medium and fine grit sanding sponges to blend the surface of the fill with the rest of the surrounding bowl. After sanding the fills I sanded the entire bowl with the medium and fine grit sanding sponge to remove the rest of the finish on the bowl. I carefully worked around the stamping so as not to damage it.

I used clear superglue to repair the deep tooth marks on the top and bottom sides of the stem near the button. The bottom repair can be seen in the photo below. I later sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper and the sanding sponges to blend it into the stem surface.

I decided to use the contrast stain process I have been working on to highlight the grain on this beautiful pipe. I gave it an under coat of black aniline stain. I used a Delrin tenon for a handle in the shank to be able to turn the bowl while I was staining. I applied the stain, flamed it, applied it and flamed it again until the coverage was even.

When the stain had dried I sanded it with a medium grit sanding sponge to remove the surface stain while leaving the grain highlighted with the black. I wiped it down repeatedly with isopropyl alcohol on cotton pads to check and see what the grain was looking like after sanding. This process took far longer than the staining and initial preparation. I sanded and washed, sanded and washed the bowl and shank until the grain stood out against the briar.

I sanded the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit to further remove the black stain that was stubbornly sticking in the angles of the bowl and shank. I then gave the bowl a top coat of oxblood stain. My thinking was that the contrast between the black in the grain and the red in the other portions of the briar would make the grain stand out.

When the oxblood stain dried I dry sanded the bowl with micromesh sanding pads to remove some more of the dark stain and make the grain stand out even more. I rubbed the bowl down with olive oil and used it as a medium for the sanding. It worked well to remove the darker areas of the bowl near the shank and along the top edge and rim.

After sanding I took the pipe to the buffer and buffed the bowl and stem with White Diamond to polish the briar and the Lucite stem. I had previously sanded the stem repairs with the sanding sponges to remove the bump of the glue and blend it into the surface. I followed that with sanding the stem with all grits of micromesh from 1500-12000. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil and then gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect and polish it. I finished by buffing the pipe with a clean soft flannel buffing pad. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is cleaned, stained and ready to smoke. I am really pleased with the finished look of the pipe. The yellow mother of pearl looking stem works well with the contrast stain on the bowl.

Restoring a Princely Rhodesian Medico – New Stem and New Life

Some remarks on dealing with damaged stems of smoking pipes by Jacek A. Rochacki

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Blog by Jacek A. Rochacki

This is Jacek’s second article on pipe repairs. I appreciate the slant that Jacek brings to the work of pipe refurbishing. His art restoration background lends itself to some beautiful solutions to the challenges that face the pipe refurbisher that are far different from those that have been used by myself and others as we deal with the work we do. I am very appreciative of Jacek’s willingness to share his methodology with us here on rebornpipes. Thank you Jacek for taking the time to write-up these pieces and sending them to us. They are a significant contribution to our work and love of all things pipe.

We all have known many different ways in which the stems/mouthpieces of our pipes are damaged. Let me indicate some of them: – broken mouthpiece – sometime in the middle, often in the “lip”/”button”area – tooth dent – this is often at the lip/button area and it does not look so nice – different holes/losses, mostly in the lip/button area, often such holes are”bitten up” by willing smoker. – broken tenon (sometime it is stuck/jammed in the shank) Let me begin from few words on materials. In general we deal mostly with vulcanite/ebonite and transparent Perspex (some models of GBD). But those are not the only materials. There are some similar materials like Ashtonite invented by late William “Bill” Ashton Taylor and used in his Ashton pipes; it is a little harder than typical vulcanite/ebonite. In older pipes we often see mouthpieces in yellow color looking like and named “Amber”; these are seldom made of original amber, more often of yellow glass-like material and are hard and break easily. (There are also yellow stems of softer materials like vulcanite/ebonite, and I would proceed with them as I usually proceed with black or Cumberland vulcanite/ebonite). Their tenons are often made of different, more appropriate material for their function, possibly bone, and sometimes such tenons are of screw in type. In some briar pipes tenons are made of metal – aluminum. And I know cases when owner wanted such metal tenons to be removed and changed for tenons made of vulcanite, modern Teflon etc. in belief that these materials will “cooperate” better with briar wood. I mention this not as advice as it is “intrusion” into originality of the pipe but as some kind of curiosity. As a matter of fact I note that even in case of vulcanite mouthpieces there was/is tendency to remove original tenons and fit tenons of Teflon or other modern material. Here is list (partial to be sure) of some of the different kinds of vulcanite/ebonite materials that have been used for mouthpieces:

Ace – American Hard Rubber Co., USA
Super-Ace – American Hard Rubber Co., USA
Amcosite – Siemens Bros. & Co., UK
Bulwark – Redfern’s Rubber Works, UK
Cohardite – Connecticut Hard Rubber Co., USA
Dexonite – Dexine Ltd., UK
Endurance American Hard Rubber Co., USA
Gallia-Rubber – French ebonite
Keramot – Siemens Bros. & Co., UK
Level Chuck – American Hard Rubber Co., USA
Luzerne – Luzerne Rubber, USA
Mercury – American Hard Rubber Co., USA
Navy – American Hard Rubber Co., USA
Onazote – Expanded Rubber Co., UK
Permcol – British Hard Rubber Co., UK
Resiston – American Hard Rubber Co., USA
Rub-Erok – Richardson Co., USA
Rub-Tex – Richardson Co., USA
Solid Rubber – used by some English makers in 1914-1918 years

I have seen these names/markings on stems/mouthpieces of old pipes. Sometimes it is of help in dating and attributing a pipe that is so marked. Remember that vulcanization of natural rubber with sulfur was invented by Charles Goodyear in USA in 1839 and was patented in 1843; in the same year Thomas Hancock patented it in Great Britain. Here is have good source on vulcanite
http://www.seattlepipeclub.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=969877&module_id=16894

In the’30’s vulcanite of different mixed colors became popular in making pens and is similar to what we see in some mouthpieces of pipes named “Cumberland”.

As vulcanite consists of vulcanized natural rubber, it may be of help to mention that oil (like in old days was used in oil lamps) and/or turpentine may serve as solvents, helpful with restoration if needed be.

I said all this in order to point out the importance of recognizing the material that our mouthpieces are made of in order to find best matching material for making eventual repairs to missing elements etc. The practical solution seems to be making one’s own “stock” of repair materials – simplest would be to collect broken, unrepairable mouthpieces. But there other ways: I found vulcanite rods that were used in schools for experimenting with electricity to be good material for fixing damaged mouthpieces. In the field of transparent materials I have been using old fashioned artificial plastic glass (sometime named Plexiglas) that was used in aviation some half of century ago. It is also important to choose right type of glue.

Beside the matters of tenons, I would briefly divide our work into two categories:
– joining together broken elements
– filling in holes or broken areas.
Of course, in practice these categories will “mix up” together.

In the case of a repairing a stem or mouthpiece that broken in half, the solution is quite simple. What is to be done is to use a strengthening/enforcing invisible element that will serve as sort of “hard core” – constructional element. The simplest way would be to use thin tube of internal diameter corresponding with diameter of the air channel of our mouthpiece. “Walls” of such tube, if it is tube of metal, may be of 0.3 – 0.4 mm in thickness. In order for it be fitted properly, we have to drill a kind of “nest”/mortise/”channel” for it, drilling the air channel with drill bit of proper diameter making this “nest”/mortise as long as required by length of our tube. The choice of such tube is important as not only air but also condensate will be in contact with the tube, so I would avoid brass, copper etc. The best IMO would be a tube of pure silver or high percentage silver alloy, or some aluminum like that which was used by Dunhill for his Inner Tubes, just of larger diameter. Silver tubes may be available in goldsmith’s supply places.

After making proper strengthening/enforcing tube and making sure that all parts fit well, I use simple glue of cyanoacrylic type – kind of “super glue”.

A more advanced way would be to make the strengthening/enforcing/ element – a drilled tube/cylinder from vulcanite/ebonite. It is possible to make it without using a lathe, just the laborious and precise use of files. The starting material could be the broken tenon from unrepairable mouthpiece from our “stock” of materials. The “nests”/mortises in parts to be glued should be of larger/proper diameter, because it is practically impossible to hand make the vulcanite mini tube with walls of 0.3 or similar thickness, so the outer diameter of our vulcanite tube will be larger than in case of metal tube. We make “nests”/mortises/”channels” of required diameter using drill bits of proper diameter. If we are not sure about precision of our fingers necessary for hand making short tube of vulcanite, we may make just a small cylinder of vulcanite of desired size which would make/allow parts to be glued to fit perfectly, and after gluing all parts together, drill the air channel from the tenon side with a long drill bit of right diameter corresponding to diameter of the air channel and in delicate, secure direction-wise way, drill the inserted cylinder through the air channel so the air/draft channel will be “operational” again.

Summary: use the enforcing/strengthening elements and we may be surprised how many unrepairable looking elements may be repaired and then serve really well.

Now for filling in holes or broken areas.

The relatively simple thing seems to be filling in tooth dents. I begin by cleaning the surface of the dent with some sharp tool – scraper or blade of size of small pocket knife, better with rounded tip, such as those found on pipe knives. This is to remove oxidation from the surface that is to be filled. After “cleaning” the surface I take a needle, scraper or similar sharp tool with sharp pointed tip and “score”/”draw” delicate lines/”mini-groves” on the cleaned surface. This is the old trick used in enameling for better adhesion of filling material (extender) that will be “put” on the prepared surface. This material is simple and known us vulcanite dust – the result of filing a properly chosen piece of vulcanite, sometimes it is result of filing the stem that is to be repaired, sometimes we may use another piece of vulcanite from our “stock” if we are sure that it will fit well. Then I mix this dust with cyanoacrylic glue making my “filling material/paste” – kind of putty, and I apply it on scored dent. After some time – rather longer then shorter – say – good couple of hours depending on thickness of the filling, I use a file and sandpaper and finally polish on the patched stem – this is known as the finishing procedures.

After all this please, be prepared for unpleasant surprise at the first glance. The filled up area may be of different color than the color of the stem. Please do not worry! It is not without reason that I have mentioned before that oil (like in old days was used in oil lamps) and/or turpentine may serve as solvents that are helpful with restoration… so a drop of oil or turpentine applied on the repaired area and “distributed”/”smeared” all over will turn the surface of the glued parts to match the rest of the stem. When the surface dries, I would return to delicate polishing and be prepared for repeating such finishing operation as many times as necessary. At very end I would apply a wee drop of olive or proper mineral oil and smear it all over with soft cotton textile; this is old method of conservation of surfaces of objects made of vulcanite/ebonite – “hard rubber”.

This was an easy case. What about situations when the lip or end of the stem/mouthpiece is partly broken, “eaten up”, has holes, or part is missing? Please, take a look at illustrations published by our host at the beginning of his text “Cutting and shaping a new button on a severely damaged stem”
https://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/cutting-and-shaping-a-new-button/

Instead of cutting/removing the damaged part and carving the lip/button of what is left, I would proceed in different way. Keeping in mind my wish of keeping original dimension, proportions, form, I would try to reconstruct damaged stem/mouthpiece as following:

By using sharp cutting tools – engravers/burins, scrapers or in case of better equipped “workshop corner” – cutters, like those used by jewelers for stone settings, or even a sharp pocket knife, a frame saw and needle files I would work on the damaged area making it a proper shape a piece of the same material carved that I will later shape/carve to fit what is missing. The words “making it of proper shape”, may be a subject for another longer text. But as sort of inspiration may be the different ways dentists use to “elaborate” holes in teeth so that the filling will be kept securely in place. In a stem the situation is easier as we have good binding glues and are binding together the same kind of materials – vulcanite/ebonite to vulcanite/ebonite.

When the newly carved material is fixed into the missing area with glue, I work with files and drill bits to achieve desired missing shape. Then I proceed with finishing techniques. Let us look at the pictures:

In case of stems/mouthpieces made of transparent material I have been proceeding as described above, just choosing proper equally transparent material for making missing parts. After polishing the seams are invisible. I would use fast cyanoacrylic glue of kind that creates transparent seams.

In Steve’s article one commenter mentioned a missing lip on his Peterson P-Lip pipe. Again: in glue we trust: just proceed as described above and if the work is done properly, it should be impossible to distinguish reconstructed lip from the rest of the stem by the naked eye. In general, if the whole lip is missing, I would glue in a large piece of matching material and would shape it by files etc. The air channel can be easily drilled (easily as we are dealing with comparatively soft materials) with drill bits of proper diameter.

I would deal with problem with missing or broken tenon in ways described above, depending on particular situation. Sometimes I use the reinforcing “inner tube” glued in place as described above. Other times I drill the “nest”/mortise of a diameter corresponding with diameter of new tenon to let it fit tight and correct/straight then glued in place. The old and best known method of removing broken tenon from the shank is:
– use of strong alcohol to dissolve eventual dried condensate and/or residues that “glued” the broken part in the mortise.
– take a self-tapping screw often used in construction, by woodworkers etc. and screw it into the air channel of broken jammed part in the mortise.
– keeping the head of this screw firmly in place carefully use pliers to twist it out while at the same time pulling on the broken part. If it does not come out it often means that it is still “glued” in place by dried condensate, tars, etc., so go back to the strong alcohol and please, repeat over a couple of hours or even days.

In conclusion I would like to present some simple hand tools that I find useful in working with pipe restoration. I would like also to say, that for cutting vulcanite/ebonite I use the typical jeweler’s frame saw with proper blades, similar to this shown here together with workbench pin and set of blades.

Reworking a La Strada Staccato 213 Billiard

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The last of the bowls that came to me as a gift from Andrew was a La Strada Billiard bowl. It was stamped La Strada over Staccato on the left side of the shank and shape 213 on the right side. It needed a stem and it had a few minor issues that needed to be addressed. The finish was an interesting rope rustication pattern that went around the bowl like a lasso and the finish under the rope pattern was leatherlike in terms of colour and look. Over the top of the finish was a plastic clear coat that added a perma shine to the bowl. The rim was in very rough shape and had been hammered on to hard surface in tapping out the dottle. The build up on the rim covered the damaged roughness of the surface. The bowl was badly caked on only one side of the bowl. The shank was clean and looked undamaged. There was no stem with the bowl and the shank was very clean.

The La Strada was once again a brand with which I was unfamiliar. I had some vague memory of seeing them sold through Tinderbox but was not sure about that memory. I did a bit of research and found that indeed they had been sold there. They were Italian Made. Here is a page from a Tinderbox catalogue showing the brand. The catalog describes the pipe as “a gracefully conservative style that has today’s favoured matte finish, enhance by the unexpected touch of random routing.” The price was a princely $8.95-$10.00.

I sorted through my stems and found one that fit very nicely in the shank. When I inserted it there were two cracks revealed, one on top and one on the bottom of the shank. I honestly don’t know if they were present or if the happened when I put the stem in place. It was not a tight fit so I am unsure. It honestly did not matter as banding it would not be a problem. I found a silver band I had in my kit that was a good fit and pressed it into place on the shank. I heated the band with a heat gun and then pressure fit it onto the shank.

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer (this seems to be more and more my reamer of choice in refurbishing).

I set up my topping board and then topped the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper. I removed enough of the surface of the rim to take away the damage to the top and the front of the bowl. There were also some burn marks on the left side of the rim that I was able to sand out the majority of damage.

I wiped down the bowl with acetone to try to break up the plastic/shiny finish that was on the bowl and was not able to remove it. The thick coat had bubbles that were thick around the rope rustication areas on the left side of the bowl. I finally put the bowl into an alcohol bath and let it soak overnight to try to break up the finish.

I took the bowl out of the alcohol bath and sanded it with a medium grit and a fine grit sanding sponge and was able to break through the finish and finally remove it. I wiped the bowl down again with acetone on cotton pads and the bowl was clean. I stained it with a dark brown aniline stain mixed 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol and applied and flamed it until the coverage matched the rim to the rest of the bowl. I buffed the bowl with White Diamond on the buffing wheel and brought it back to the work table and set it aside to work on the stem.

I sanded the tooth marks on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and then a medium grit sanding sponge until they were no longer visible. I then used micromesh sanding pads to finish the stem. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed down the stem with Obsidian Oil and when dry buffed it with White Diamond.

I polished the silver band with silver polish and micromesh sanding pads and then buffed the pipe and stem with White Diamond. I gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it to a shine with a soft flannel buffing pad. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is ready for its initial and should make someone a good pipe in the long run.

Plugging a Burnout on a Peterson’s Irish Whiskey 999

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Blog by Steve Laug

Lately several of the pipes that I have refurbished were part of a trade with Mark Domingues for work on this pipe. It is a beautifully grained Peterson’s Rhodesian 999 – one of my favourite shapes. The grain on this thing is beautiful. The photo below shows what drew Mark to bid on this pipe in the first place. What the photo does not show however, is the incredibly horrible shape that this pipe was in when it came to Mark.

The problem with the pipe became obvious when Mark took it out of the shipping package to enjoy the “new” Peterson that he had purchased. The pipe had a serious burn through on the front right side of the bowl toward the bottom. That damage was quite extensive and either the pipe could be thrown away or the burn through drilled out and the damaged briar replaced with a briar plug.

Mark decided to drill out the damaged portion of the bowl. We talked back and forth via email about the steps to take to fix it. He toyed with it and then one day asked if I wanted to do the work on it. He would send the pipe, a chunk of briar some pipes that he thought I might enjoy working on in exchange for the repair. After emailing back and forth we agreed to the terms and he sent the bowl on to me to do the repair in exchange for a few pipes for my refurbishing box. Here is what the pipe looked like when it arrived in Vancouver. Mark had cleaned up the exterior of the pipe and also the interior and drilled out the burnout. The brass/gold band on the shank was loose and the stem was in decent shape with two minor tooth marks.

The top view of the pipe, shown in the photo below, also highlights several others issues with the pipe. First, the bowl itself was not drilled straight into the briar but at a slight angle from left to right. Second, the stem was totally out of round and the right side of the stem fit against the band far differently than the left side. Looking at the stem from the tenon end it was clear that the stem was not round but rather oblong. The small block of briar in the photo was sent along by mark for me to use in cutting a plug for the bowl.

I used a small hacksaw to cut off a small chunk of briar. I then shaped the briar chunk into a cylinder. I always cut the plug long to give me something to hold onto when I am shaping it. I am sure others do it differently but I shape the plug with a Dremel by hand and I hold the piece of briar with my fingers while I shape it. The next series of eight photos show the progressive shaping of the cylinder to fit the drilled out hole in the bowl of the pipe.

The next four photos show the final shape of the cylinder. I left a slight handle on the top of the plug to hold onto while I turned the cylinder with the Dremel. I tapered the plug slightly so that it would fit into the hole but not extend to far into the bowl itself. Once I had the shape correct and the piece extending into the bowl smoothed to fit the shape of the bowl I glued it in place with superglue.

I used the hacksaw to trim off the excess briar in the plug as close as possible to the surface of the bowl.

Once I had it trimmed back to that place I used the Dremel and sanding drum to sand it down to the surface and then hand sanded with 220 grit sandpaper to make the surface of the plug and the bowl match. I used superglue around the circumference of the plug to hold it tightly in place.

I washed down the surface of the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to remove the grit and the remaining finish on the bowl. I also sanded the plug and the rim with 220 grit sandpaper and then medium and fine grit sanding sponges to smooth out the scratches. I sanded the inner rim with a folded piece of sandpaper to remove the damage to that portion of the bowl. In the photos below the fit and finish of the plug is clearly visible. The grain on the plug and that on the bowl did not match but the fit was nearly perfect.

Mark and I had talked about rusticating the whole bowl but I could not bring myself to do that to such a beautiful piece of briar. I marked the area that I planned on rusticating with a black permanent marker to give myself an outlined area that I would rusticate. I find that setting up parameters and boundaries for the rustication helps me to keep it in a defined space more easily.

I used the modified Philips screwdriver with the four points to rusticate this part of the bowl. The next two photos show the rusticated portion of the bowl. The area of the older briar showed dark spots in the rustication and the new fresh plug showed almost white after rustication.

I decided to try and use a dark brown aniline stain thinned 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol on the whole pipe to see what would happen with the rustication. I wanted to see if the dark areas on the rustication would blend into the briar of the lighter parts. I did not really expect it to work but thought I would give it a try.

The dark portions of the old briar still showed dark after staining. I decided to use a black aniline stain on the rusticated portion of the bowl and leave the smooth part of the bowl the brown colour. I applied the stain with a cotton swab and flamed it, reapplied it and reflamed it until the coverage was even.

The inside of the bowl then needed to be addressed. The drilling of the bowl was not only angled from left to right but the airway entered the bowl over 3/8 inches above the bottom of the bowl. Whether this was caused by drilling or over reaming is not clear to me. My problem was that the angle of the patch on the side did allow me to shape the patch to provide a new bottom for the bowl. I could have cut another piece of briar and inserted it into the bottom of the bowl but the strange angles of the bowl made that a task that I did not want to tackle. I opted to build up the bottom of the bowl with Plaster of Paris instead of pipe mud because of the depth of the buildup. My fear was that the pipe mud would have to be almost ½ inch thick and I was not sure if it would hold. I have used Plaster of Paris to repair meerlined pipes and it is durable and gives a solid base. I intend to use pipe mud on top of the repair and also reshape the bowl sides.

I glued the band on the shank with wood glue before I restained it with another coat of the medium brown aniline stain. I flamed it and then buffed it with White Diamond. I gave the smooth portions of the bowl several coats of carnauba wax and hand buffed the rusticated portion with Halcyon II wax.

I sanded the tooth marks and chatter out of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and a medium grit sanding sponge. I reshaped the stem to fit more proportionally against the band. I made it round instead of oblong so that the fit against the band was even all the way around giving it a more finished look. I then sanded it with my usual array of micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and when it was dry buffed it with White Diamond. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax to finish and protect it.

The next series of five photos show the finished exterior and stem of the pipe. The stain and the patch rustication are completed. The interior of the bowl still only bears the plaster repair. Once it cures for several days I will give it a coating of pipe mud to finish the job.

The pipe is finished other than the pipe mud and soon it will go back to Mark for its inaugural smoke. I am looking forward to hearing his response once the pipe is in his hands and he has smoked it.

UPDATE: I applied the pipe mud to the bowl last evening. It was a great day to fire up a Cohiba Habana and save the ash to mix. I use a shot glass to collect the ash and add the water with an ear syringe. Once the mix is the right consistency I apply it with a folded pipe cleaner. I apply it and let it set and then follow up with a second or third coat as necessary.

For this particular pipe mud application I built up the right side of the bowl toward the bottom to compensate for the angular drilling of the bowl. I was able to smooth out the wall and that side is as straight as possible.

Refurbishing a Pipe for a New Pipe Smoker – A Straight Grain Apple

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This past weekend I was in Lethbridge, Alberta as the speaker at a retreat for a friend of mine. As usual I took along my pipe and some tobacco and planned to sit on his front porch and enjoy a few bowls during the course of the weekend. We were sitting one night in his living room enjoying good conversation and a pint when he commented that he had been thinking of smoking a pipe. He wanted to know if I would teach him the ropes. Of course I agreed and the next afternoon we visited a couple of antique shops in search of a pipe for him. My experience in helping a newbie start is to find a seasoned pipe that is in good shape and use it to introduce the art of pipe smoking. The seasoned or estate pipe is already broken in and if it has been cared for is not too difficult to clean up and restore. We found just the pipe at the third shop we visited. It is a nice apple shaped pipe that was in fairly decent shape. He paid the $9 price on the pipe and we took it home.

I asked him for some isopropyl alcohol, some cotton swabs, cotton makeup pads, and a sharp knife. I had some pipe cleaners with me so that we could field dress the pipe and clean it enough that he could smoke a bowl with me. The pipe had a slight burn on the front right of the bowl toward the bottom from having laid it in an ashtray and having it come in contact with a cigarette. The rim was caked and dirty with buildup but undamaged. The bowl was caked and had some burnt tobacco in it. The stem was lightly oxidized and there was light tooth chatter near the button. There was a stinger apparatus in the tenon of the stem. The stamping on the pipe was on the left side and read Straight Grain over Imported Briar. There was no other stamping on the pipe.

I carefully reamed the bowl with the pocket knife to remove a large portion of the cake. I scrubbed the top of the rim with the cotton pads and saliva until I removed the buildup on the rim. I cleaned out the inside of the shank with the pipe cleaners and the cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. I removed the stinger, threw it away and scrubbed the exterior and the interior of the stem to make it ready for him to smoke. Once finished we loaded a bowl of tobacco – a light English blend and headed to his front porch to have a bowl. It took some work to get the hang of lighting and keeping the bowl lit but it worked well after several tries. We enjoyed the visit and the smoke and then headed back inside.

When I headed back to Vancouver I took the pipe with me to give it a more thorough cleaning and polish. The photos below show the pipe when I put it on the work table to give it a thorough work over.

The next photo shows the cigarette burn mark on the bowl. It was not too deep and did not char the wood but it was deep enough that it could not be sanded out without damaging the shape of the bowl.

I sanded the burn mark and the rim to clean up the burn on the front inner edge. I used 220 grit sandpaper to start with and followed that with a medium grit sanding sponge.

I wiped the bowl down with acetone on cotton pads to remove the finish from the bowl and to prepare it for new staining.

The slot in the stem was tight and hard to get a pipe cleaner to pass through easily so I decided to open the slot open with needle files. I shaped it and opened it and then sanded it with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper.

I reamed the bowl and cleaned out the shank with isopropyl alcohol and then used pipe cleaners. I used the drill bit in the KleenReem pipe reamer to open up the airway into the bowl from the shank. The tars had clogged the airway so the drill bit opened it and cleaned up the buildup on the sides of the airway.

I decided to do a cotton boll and alcohol soak on the bowl. I stuffed the bowl with cotton and used an ear syringe to fill it with Everclear. I set the bowl in an old ice cube tray to let it soak while I was at work. The alcohol leaches out the tars in the bowl into the cotton and leaves the pipe fresh inside.

It sat in the tray for about 10 hours soaking. The cotton boll was soaked and brown coloured from the tars that leached out of the bowl.

I took the cotton out of the bowl and then lit the alcohol remaining in the bowl with a lighter. It quickly burned the alcohol out and left the bowl dry. I used a folded piece of sandpaper to work on the inner edge of the rim to remove the burned spot on the front inner edge. I also used a PipNet reamer to remove the remaining cake that I had missed earlier. I wiped the bowl down a final time with acetone on cotton pads to remove the grit and grime that came out with the cleaning of the bowl.

I stained the bowl with an oxblood stain as an undercoat. I applied it and then flamed it. I hand buffed the bowl once the stain was dry.

For the second coat of stain I used a dark brown aniline stain thinned 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol. I hand buffed the bowl with a soft cloth and then took the pipe to the buffer and buffed it with White Diamond.

Once the staining of the pipe was finished I worked on the stem with my usual array of micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and let it dry.

I took the pipe to the buffer and buffed it with White Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I finished by buffing it with a clean flannel buffing pad. The pictures below show the finished pipe. It is ready to send back to my buddy in Lethbridge. I think I will put a few samples of tobacco in the package with the “new pipe”. I think he will enjoy the improved version of his pipe.

A Renovation of a Good Companion London Made Billiard

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My wife and I went out for lunch on Saturday and there was an antique shop across the street from the restaurant. After eating we brave torrential downpours and ran across the street check out a shop we had not visited before. We looked through the various display cases and I found the pipe below along with a chewed up Yello-Bole billiard. The pipe was a small group 3 sized billiard. The finish was a dark brown stain on a sandblasted pipe. The left side had great grain pattern and showed deep grooves. The right side was a tight birdseye grain and the blast was shallow and close. The shank was rusticated to look like a sandblast. The stem had a slight bend but seemed be from sitting in the heat rather than intention. There was a bite through on the top surface of the stem that was large enough that it could not have been patched. The rim was originally smooth and beveled inward but the bevel had been damaged and needed to be reshaped and cleaned up. The stamping on the pipe is what ultimately made me spend the $10 to make the pipe mine. It read Good Companion over London Made on the underside of the shank. I just finished reading a new book by Mark Irwin called Pipe Companions. In it he wrote of the relationship between the pipe and the pipeman. I think it was a great coincidence to walk into a pipe stamped Good Companion. I wanted to clean it up and make it my own.

When I got home from the visit to the shop I took the pipe apart. The stem had a large spiral stinger apparatus in the tenon. The stem itself was badly chewed. I found a new stem for the pipe in my can of stems and worked on the tenon to make the tapered stem fit the shank.

I pushed the newly fitted stem into the shank to have a look at the shape with a taper stem. I liked the overall look of the pipe with the new stem. I sanded the stem to remove the calcification and the oxidation on it. I also worked on the fit of the stem to the shank. I wanted the transition to be smooth and seamless. I took the stem in and out several times while I worked on it. The last time I pushed it into the shank there was a crack! I don’t know if that has happened to you but when it happens there is a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Here the pipe was almost ready to refinish and the stem fit well and then crack. The frustration at that moment is high level. I laid the pipe down and had a coffee while I thought about my next steps.

I went through the box of nickel bands that I have here and I did not have any the correct size for the shank. All of them were either too huge or too small. I did remember however that I had some brass plumbing pressure fitting pieces that would make a great band on the pipe and create a totally different look on this old pipe. Before fitting the band I worked on the bevel of the inner edge of the rim. I used a folded piece of sandpaper to smooth out the rim damage and reshape the bevel.

I used a Dremel and sanding drum to sand back the shank so that the band could be pressure fit against the cracked shank. I took back the rustication until the finish was gone and the shank area was smooth. When the band fit tightly on the shank I heated the brass band with a heat gun and then pressed it into place on the shank.

I pressed the band into place on the shank and then hand sanded the area in front of the band smooth so that I could rework the taper of the shank and the finish to match the rest of the pipe.

I used the two Dremel diamond cutting heads pictured below to rusticate the finish on the shank. I used the cylinder first and then the ball. I worked it into the briar to make the smooth area match the rest of the bowl.

After rusticating the shank I stained it with a dark brown aniline stain and flamed it to set it deep within the grain. I stained the rest of the pipe as well and the rim with multiple coats of the dark brown.

Once the stain was dry on the bowl I hand buffed it with a cotton cloth and then stained it a second time with MinWax Red Mahogany stain. I rubbed it on and then rubbed it off. I repeated the process until I had the colour that I wanted.

I buffed the bowl on with White Diamond and to evenly distribute the stain coat and give the pipe a rich shine. When I had finished I worked on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper, a medium grit sanding sponge and micromesh sanding pads. I used my usual array – wet sanding with the 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with the 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed down the stem with Obsidian Oil and rubbed it into the vulcanite.

I sanded the bevel on the bowl and the brass band on the shank with the 1500-2400 grit micromesh pads.

I buffed the pipe with White Diamond and then gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I used Halcyon II wax on the sandblast finish of the bowl. I buffed the pipe with a clean flannel buff. I have to say though I would have liked to keep the pipe unbanded and pristine, the crack that happened in the shank made me try something a little different. I actually like the finished look of the pipe with the brass band. The combination of the two stains give the blast finish depth that changes with different lighting and the tapered stem adds some panache to this Good Companion.

Looking at the photos I decided to do a bit more work shaping the brass band. I sanded the band with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the ridges in the brass. I followed that by sanding with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge. I finished sanding the band with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-3200 grit polish it.

With the band finished I will give the pipe another buff to polish the handling that it received working over the stem.

Reworked Comoy’s The Guildhall London Pipe Stack – Shape 345

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Blog by Steve Laug

The pipe is stamped The in script over Guildhall over London Pipe on the left side of the shank and number 345 near the bowl on the right side of the shank and Made in London in a circle over England. This is the third of the pipes from the box my daughters found for me. The first two were the Orlik’s that I wrote about earlier. This one was in better condition than the other two. The top was beat up with outer and inner rim damage and also the same varnish coat over the uncleaned rim and the bowl and shank. The stem was original and has the three silver bars on the left side as expected in the Guildhall series. There were tooth dents that had been buffed out and left the stem with waves around the remaining marks. The grain was quite nice on this one – lots of cross grain and birdseye but it was obscured by the finish coat. The interior was filthy as were the others. In the side photos below the finish looks pretty good but the grain could stand out more clearly.

I took the next photo to show the damage on the rim. The inner edge was rough and the outer edge was also rough. There was tar build up under the varnish coat that had not been cleaned off before varnishing. The bowl was also coated with a black bowl coating.

I sanded the top and bottom side of the stem with 20 grit sandpaper to smooth out the ripples in the vulcanite and remove the remainder of the tooth marks. Once I had them removed I worked on the bowl.

I topped the bowl on the sandpaper and flat board as is my usual method. I took off enough briar to make the top smooth and the outer edge sharp as well. I sanded the inner edge with a folded piece of sandpaper to smooth out the damage there as well. The next two photos show the topping process and the sanding of the inner edge.

The interior of the shank and stem were filthy and needed a lot of work with Everclear, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. The photo below shows the first lot that was used but by the time I was finished cleaning the shank I had used about twice that number.

I wiped down the surface of the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to remove the varnish coat and the finish. I wanted to remove as much of it as possible so that when I restained the rim it would be easier to match.

I sanded the stem with a medium grit sanding sponge and then with my usual array of micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I buffed the stem in between the wet sanding and the dry sanding with red Tripoli because I wanted to see what I had to work with and if I had removed the rippling on the vulcanite. I had so I went on to the dry sanding. When I had finished I buffed the stem with White Diamond and then rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil and put it aside to dry.

I stained the bowl with MinWax Medium Walnut stain. I applied it with a cotton pad and rubbed it off with a cotton cloth. I repeated the process until I had the coverage that I wanted and the rim and bowl matched.

I reinserted the stem in the shank and took the pipe to the buffing wheel for a buff with White Diamond. I gave both the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and polished it with a soft flannel buff. The reworked Comoy’s Guildhall Stack is shown in the photos below ready and clean for its inaugural smoke.

Reworking a Couple of Pipes with my Son in Law on a Grey Vancouver Day

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On a recent pipe hunt my son in law went with me and picked up a couple of pipes of his own. The first one was an interesting little Medico VFQ apple with a red stem. The stem was not too badly damaged. It was a filter pipe and still had the old paper Medico tube in the shank. The bowl was a mess. The rim had been burned and chipped and the bowl was badly caked and it looked as if the previous owner had smoked gooey aromatics in it that left behind a heavy residue of tar in the bottom of the bowl. It had hardened into lava like material. He liked the stem colour and the shape of the old pipe so I said to go ahead and pick it up and the two of us could work on it and bring it back for him. So he shelled out the $12.50 for the pipe and it became his first estate purchase of the trip.

This old pipe took every trick I had up my sleeves to refurbish. The stem was nylon not rubber so it was fussy to clean up. Every scratch shows in nylon and it cannot be buffed except with a very gentle hand. Everything had to be done by hand. I worked on the stem while Lance worked on the bowl. I sanded the stem from the button up the stem for about an inch to remove the calcification on the end and remove the tooth chatter on the top of the stem. On the underside there were a couple of deeper tooth marks that needed attention. I heated the nylon carefully with a lighter to try to raise the dents in the stem. I moved quickly across the surface so as not to melt the nylon. All but one of them lifted nicely – it remained a stubborn part of the sanding process. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and then with a medium grit sanding sponge. I finished by sanding the stem with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-12,000 grit – wet sanding with the first three grits and then dry sanding with the remaining grits. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I also sanded the aluminum tenon with the 2400 grit micromesh pad to remove the oxidation on it. I polished it with a silver polishing cloth.

In the mean I had Lance top the bowl and flatten out the rim surface. Then he beveled the outer edge to give the pipe a rounded look like it had previously. He gave the inner edge a slight bevel as well. There were three flaws in the rim surface where the fills were missing. I had him repair these with briar dust and super glue. He then topped the bowl lightly a second time to smooth out the fill repairs. He wiped the bowl down with acetone and sanded it with the sanding sponge. He gave it a quick sand with 1500-2400 grit micromesh as well and then stained it with a black undercoat making sure that the stain went into the grooves that were carved in the bowl surface. He then wiped it down with acetone and sanded it again to remove the black stain from the surface of the bowl leaving it deep in the grooves and around the rim. The black feathered out down the bowl sides and at the tenon shank union. He sanded the aluminum band with a 3200 grit micromesh sanding pad to polish it and then restained the bowl with a red mahogany Miniwax stain. We buffed the pipe with White Diamond and then gave the stem very lightly making sure to not let it heat up. We gave the entirety several coats of carnauba wax. Here is the first pipe he had ever refurbished after it was finished.

The second pipe was less of a challenge and it was found second on the hunt. It is a Kirsten SX. With a little research we found out that the X designation added to the shape and size S usually meant Brass but that during the 1960’s there was a brief period of time where the SX was an antiqued black and silver finish. That is what he had! Thus we were able to date the pipe a bit for him. The bowl was unsmoked new stock and was probably a replacement. The stem was oxidized and covered with tooth chatter. The barrel was oxidized and much of the antiquing had worn of the finish. The valve at the end was stuck in place. The ramrod was oxidized and dirty. It would be a very easy refurbishing job. Considering the pipe cost him $15 it was well worth the effort.

Lance took the pipe apart unscrewing the bowl and removing the stem and ramrod from the barrel. The valve at the end was stuck so we had to drive it out with piece of rod I have here. Once it was apart we each went to work cleaning the parts. Lance worked on the barrel and the valve cleaning the outside and the inside of the parts. I worked on the ramrod and the stem. He cleaned out the valve with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and Everclear and also cleaned out the inside of the barrel with the same. He polished the barrel with silver polish to remove the oxidation and then we washed the barrel with a wash of black aniline stain to give it a bit of an antique look. I sanded out the tooth marks on the stem and polished the ramrod. Lance then sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-12,000 grit. Once the stem was polished he rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil and then we gave the stem a quick buff with White Diamond on the buffer. We rubbed Vaseline into the O-rings on the valve and the stem/ramrod then reassembled the pipe. We gave the entire pipe a light buff with carnauba wax and a soft flannel pad to polish it. Here is the finished pipe.

When we finished we filled a bowl with well aged Balkan Sobranie Virginian No. 10 and retired to the porch to have a bowl and a visit. It was a great way to spend a grey Vancouver day and get to know my son in law a bit better. We are already planning more hunts and pipe refurbishing sessions. It is great to have someone working with me who is interested in learning the tricks of the hobby living so close by.

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