Tag Archives: Bowl – finishing

Cleaning up a Peterson’s De Luxe System 8S Bent Billiard with a Sterling Silver Ferrule

Blog by Steve Laug

I have a few pipes that I am working on for local folks who either have dropped them off or who are friends that I am catching up with. The next pipe on the worktable is the second of two that belongs to an old friend of mine who is in the process of moving. He stopped by and asked me to clean up a couple of his favourite pipe. This first one I worked on was a Savinelli de luxe Milano 607KS (https://rebornpipes.com/2022/10/23/new-life-for-a-savinelli-de-luxe-milano-sandblast-607ks-bent-billiard/). This second on is a Peterson Deluxe with a Sterling Silver Ferrule. It is stamped faintly on the left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [over]De Luxe. The stamping on the right side was buffed off. The ferrule on the shank is clear and readable under the tarnish. It reads Peterson’s [over] Dublin. That is followed by Sterling [over] Silver. That was followed by three hallmarks – The Hibernia stamp, the Crowned Harp stamp and finally the letter “m”. It has some stunning grain around the bowl and shank under the grime. There was a thin cake in the bowl and the top and edges of the rim had some scratches and damage on both. The stem was lightly oxidized but there were no tooth marks on the surface. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my work. I took photos of the rim top and the stem to show their condition. The top and edges showed some damage and was out of round and had darkening. The stem had oxidation though there was not any tooth marks of damage on the surface. I took photos of the stamping on the shank and the Sterling Silver ferrule to capture its condition. The stamping on the shank is faint but readable as noted above. The stamping on ferrule is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the bowl and took a picture of the pipe to show the general look and proportion of the pipe. It also shows the metal condenser tube in the tenon end. To help identify the shape number that had worn off I turned to a Peterson Catalogue that I have on rebornpipes and looked up the System Deluxe pipes (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/peterson-hallmark-chart/). I compared the shape of the pipe in hand with the shape chart show below. I have put a red box around the 8S pipe shown in the catalogue page shown below. So now I knew it was an 8S Bent Billiard.I turned first to Pipephil’s site to reacquaint myself with the DeLuxe. Unfortunately there was no information to be found on this specific line. I then turned to Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes to see what I could garner from that information. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). I have included a bit of the pertinent history here.

1950 – 1989 The Republic Era – From 1950 to the present time, the stamp for this era is “Made in the Republic of Ireland” in a block format generally in three lines but two lines have been used with or without Republic being abbreviated…

…With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping on the pipe. It is a 1978 Republic Period pipe. I also wanted to be able to interpret the hallmarks on the silver band. I have captured a portion of the chart that include below that helps to clarify the meaning of each of the three hallmarks. I like the Hallmark feature on the higher end Peterson pipes with Sterling silver bands. It helps to pin down the date even further.

“Hibernia” seated, arm on harp represents Ireland (country of manufacture). There have been minor design changes over the years.
The “Harp Crowned” is the fineness mark denoting the high quality (purity) of the silver, and was used in a variety of designs until October 1992 when it was replaced by the new European Standard or Millesimal mark which gives the purity or quality of the silver in parts per thousand.
The Date Letter Code for the year in which the silver was hallmarked (see the chart below). In certain years a fourth hallmark is applied – for example 1966 – a Sword of Light for the 50^th anniversary of the Easter Rising 1973. There were also other marks used for the fourth hallmark.

The pipe on my table had the Hibernia seated mark (Ireland) followed by the Harp Crowned signifying Sterling Silver percentage and finally in this case a lower case “m”. Each of the hallmarks was in an octagonal cartouche. The chart below helps me identify the date mark to 1978. I have drawn a red arrow to point out the 1978 mark in the chart below.

I have included the entire Hallmark chart for ease of reference show any of you be looking to date the pipes that you are working on at present.I worked over the rim top and the inner edge with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage and to bring the bowl back to round as much as possible. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – polishing it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I rubbed down the Sterling Silver with a silver polishing cloth. By the time I was finished both the briar and the silver ferrule they both had a great shine. The grain on the pipe is quite beautiful. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the finish with my fingers. After it sat for 15 minutes I wiped it off with a soft cloth. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. It is a beautiful bowl. I polished the silver ferrule with a jeweler’s cloth to remove the rest of the tarnish on the silver. It is treated with a product that protects the silver and removes the remaining tarnish. It has a rich, beautiful shine. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I used the Before & After Pipe Polish to remove the small minute scratches left in the vulcanite. I finished by wiping the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl and thick shank. This Peterson’s DeLuxe 8S Bent Billiard was another fun pipe to work on. The Sterling Silver Ferrule works as a contrast between the stem and the briar and binds it all together. It really is a quite stunning piece of briar whose shape follows the flow of the briar. The pipe is comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.52 ounces/44 grams. This beautiful pipe will be going back with the Savinelli De Luxe Milano to my friend. He will enjoy smoking it once again in his new place. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

New Life for a Savinelli de luxe Milano Sandblast 607KS Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have a few pipes that I am working on for local folks who either have dropped them off or who are friends that I am catching up with. The next pipe on the worktable belongs to an old friend of mine who is in the process of moving. He stopped by and asked me to clean up a couple of his favourite pipe. This first one I have chosen to work on is a deep craggy, sandblast Bent Billiard. It is stamped on the underside of the shank Savinelli [over] de luxe [over] Milano. That is followed by the Savinelli S shield then the shape number 607KS [over] Italy. I believe the vulcanite saddle stem is a replacement. The pipe was in good condition with a light cake in the bowl and some darkening on the back side of the rim top. The stem was lightly oxidized and had some tooth chatter and tooth marks on both sides of the stem at the button. I took photos of the rim top and the stem to show their condition. The top looked quite good with some light to moderate cake in the bowl and some darkening and grime on the back top side. The stem had oxidation and light tooth chatter on both sides near the button. I took photos of the stamping to capture the clarity and readability. The brand and the shape number are very readable. I removed the stem from the bowl and took a picture of the pipe to show the general look and proportion of the pipe.The interior and exterior of the bowl was clean and in good condition when my friend dropped the pipe off. I decided to give the rim top a good scrubbing with a dry brass bristle brush to knock of some of the darkening in the valley’s of the sandblast on the rim top. I was able to get it a little bit cleaner and ready for the next step.I scraped out the ragged thin cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and wiped out the bowl with a pipe cleaner and alcohol and cleaned out the shank and the airway in the stem with the same. Both were quite clean so I moved on to treat the finish. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the sandblast finish with my fingers to get it into the nooks and crannies. After it sat for a little while I wiped it off with a soft cloth. I buffed the bowl with a horsehair shoe brush to polish it. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. It is a beautiful bowl. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem at this point in the process. I sanded tooth chatter and all of the oxidation with folded pieces of 220 to remove the marks and the brown colouration on the stem surface. I sanded them with 400 grit sandpaper until the marks were gone and the oxidation was gone. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I used the Before & After Pipe Polish to remove the small minute scratches left in the vulcanite. I finished by wiping the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the pipe and worked the stem over with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up really well with the repairs disappearing into the new finish. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The style of the blast and the look of the stain colours remind me of some of the Dunhill Shell Briar pipes or Tanshell pipes that I have repaired and restored over the years. It is quite stunning. The photos just do not capture the textures. The polished black vulcanite looks really good with the browns of the briar. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.48 ounces/42 grams. I have a second pipe to clean up for my friend then they will be going back to him to enjoy in his new place. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this beautiful sandblast billiard made by Savinelli. It was a fun one to work on.

Restoring a Kriswill Comfort Handmade Denmark Saddle Stem Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

One of the local pipe shops drops by pipes for me to restore from time to time. This one is a thin shank Billiard with a saddle stem. It is stamped on the left side and reads Kriswill [over] Comfort [over] Handmade. The stamping is covered by an oxidized Sterling Silver shank band. Upon examining the shank I could see that a large chunk of the briar under the band (almost half the shank diameter) had been replaced with wood putty that had been drill perfectly. The repair was very well done and the putty was rock hard and invisible under the band. The thin shank and the thin saddle band are separated by a beautiful and necessary band that will really highlight the shape and add a touch of bling to the pipe. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a heavy lava overflow on the rim top and beveled inner edge of the rim so it was hard to know if there as damage on the inner edge or top. It would be revealed during the clean up. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had tooth marks ahead of the button on both side of the stem. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took photos of the rim top and bowl as well as both sides of the stem to show the condition of the pipe when it arrived. It is a mess but still is quite elegant. I am looking forward to seeing what is under all the grime and debris.I took a photo of the stamping that was visible on the left side of the shank. It is faint but still readable. What is visible on the first line is Kriswi [over] Com [over] Handmade D. The shape number is under the silver band on the underside of the shank and is not visible.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts of the pipe to give a sense of the delicate look it has. It really is a great looking pencil shank lightweight.Before I started my clean up work on the pipe I did some reading on Pipedia on the Kriswill Brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Kriswill) to see if I could find anything on the Comfort Handmade Denmark line. There was nothing specific there but I found the following general information that helped to pin down a time period for the pipe.

Kriswill was one of the large pipe manufacturers in Denmark during the 1960s and 1970s, and I believe closed around 20 years ago. Their catalog cover read “By Appointment to the Royal Danish Court, KRISWILL, Kriswork Briar Trading, Briar Pipes Hand Made in Denmark.”

I also went to the PipePhil site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-k3.html) and found more on the date of the brand. It also had no specific photos or mention of the Comfort Handmade Denmark line that I had but it was interesting nonetheless.

Kriswill is a brand of Kriswork Briar Trading, in Kolding (Denmark) established about 1955. Some of Kriswill pipes were designed by Sigvard Bernadotte, Swedish prince and brother to the late Queen Ingrid of Denmark. He collaborated with his Danish partner Acton Bjørn. When the company went bankrupt in the late 1970s it was on a level with Stanwell. Dan Pipe Cigar & Company (Hafenstrasse 30 D-21481 Lauenburg/Elbe, Ge) bought the rights to use the name and it is Holmer Knudsen and/or Poul Winsløw who make the Kriswill line. Nørding, on its side, bought the plant and introduced a Kriswell line.

I knew now that the pipe I was working on was made between 1955 when the brand opened and some time in the 1970s when the company went Bankrupt. I know that it is not one of the pipes made at a later date by Dan Pipe or by Nording. It is a bit of an old timer.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and the smallest cutting head. I took it back to bare briar to check on the condition of the bowl walls. They looked very good. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and then sanded the walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel.I cleaned up the remaining grime on the rim top with a damp cotton pad and was ready for the next steps in the cleaning process. I scrubbed the bowl with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I worked on the rim top and edges. I rinsed the bowl with warm running water and dried off the bowl. It looked much better and was clean and well grained. There were some gaps in the putty fill between the band and the shank. I filled in these areas with clear super glue applied by a tooth pick.I cleaned out the inside of the shank and stem with pipe cleaners and cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. It was a filthy mess and with a lot of alcohol and pipe cleaners run through it the pipe is quite clean.I worked over the rim top and inner bevel with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper and removed the darkening very well. It came out very clean and looks very good.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed the stem surface with Soft Scrub cleanser and wiped it down. I was able to remove the oxidation, calcification and grime from the surface of the stem.I “painted” the tooth marks on the surface with the flame of a lighter to lift them as much as possible. I was able to lift many of them but a few still remained. I filled in the remaining tooth marks with clear CA glue and set it aside to cure. I sanded the repairs smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to begin blending them into the stem surface. I started the polishing with some 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Kriswill Comfort Handmade Denmark Pencil Shank Billiard with a Sterling Silver band and a vulcanite saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful grain that shines through the polished finish is stunning. As the pipe is smoked the patina should develop and look even better. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Kriswill Comfort Pencil Shank Billiard fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 27 grams/.95 ounces. I will be sending the pipe back to the pipe shop soon and look forward to hearing what he thinks. If you are interested in purchasing this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring a Victim of a Sharp Knife – A Peterson’s of Dublin System Standard 313

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Blog by Steve Laug

While I was traveling in Europe I received a call from a fellow here in British Columbia who was referred to me by the local cigar shop. I call him when I returned home and it turned out that he had a pipe that he wanted me to work on. He sent it to me and it came on Friday. He said that the stem was clogged and he wanted me to clean up the airway and make it usable again. When it arrived I unpacked the box and found it was a Peterson’s 313 System pipe. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [arched over] of Dublin [over] System [over] Standard followed by the shape number 313. It had once been a beautiful pipe with an acrylic stem but it had long before lost its charm. The sides of the bowl were beat up and the rim top was also beat up. There was a thick cake of lava on the rim top and the bowl was out of round. The cake in the bowl was also out of round and heavier on the left side than the rest. There was a lot of grime on the briar that made it sticky feeling. There was a hole in the bottom of the bowl that punctured the heel. The pipe was a mess. The stem was plugged as well and I could not blow any air through it. The nickel ferrule was oxidized and dirty with grime on it and an overflow of oils from the sump. It was a mess.I called the fellow who sent the pipe and told him about the hole in the bottom of the bowl. He laughed and said he did not notice it. He said it was probably the result of constant reaming with a pocket knife. I am pretty sure that is what caused the damage as it was very much of a cut. I would know more once I reamed the bowl.

I reamed it with a PipNet reamer to take the cake back to bare briar. I scraped the remnants of the cake off with a Savinelli Fits All Pipe Knife. I sanded the walls with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of briar. What I found in the bottom of the bowl confirmed the issues I noted above. Repeated scraping of the cake around the bottom of the bowl had left a trough all the way around the bottom and a nipple standing in the bottom of the bowl. I spoke with the owner and he wanted a fix that I have done often. I would repair the exterior with briar dust and clear CA glue. The inside bottom of the bowl would be filled in with JB Weld and once cured would be sanded and given a bowl coating of sour cream and charcoal powder. Before I could start the repair work I would need to clean up the external and the internals. I topped the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper on a topping board. It looked better at this point in the process. I sanded out the scratches on the sides of the bowl and around the rim top. It was quite damaged. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the marks in the bowl side in preparation for scrubbing it. I scrubbed the bowl with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap. I rinsed it off with warm running water to wash away the grime and debris. It was beginning to look much better. The first step in the repair was to repair the small hole in the bowl bottom. It was about the size of a pencil lead. I coated the edges with clear CA glue and packed in some briar dust. I repeated the process until the hole was repaired. Once it had hardened I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surrounding briar. I mixed up a batch of JB Weld with the stick and then built up the bottom of the bowl. I put a pipe cleaner in the airway so as not to cover it in the process of the repair. I coated bottom of the bowl and layered it on top of the trough around the bottom and built it up until it was smooth. I raised the bottom of the bowl about 1/8^th of and inch. I applied several more coats of the mixture with a folded pipe cleaner and also filled in some of the deep gouges in the sides of the bowl left behind by the knife. I set it aside to cure overnight. This morning with the internals hardening I decided to clean out the sump and the airway into the bowl with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. The pipe was a filthy one so it took a lot of cleaners. The stem was clogged but once I started working on it I could seen why. The fit of the pipe cleaner in the airway was tight and there was a lot of tars build up closing off even the small airway that was still open. Many pipe cleaners later the stem was open and the draught was perfect. I had previously cleaned out the stem with pipe cleaners and alcohol.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is going to be a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit for 10 minutes and the Balm did its magic. It enlivens, cleans and preserves the briar. It certainly brought this bowl back to life. I buffed it off with a clean cloth and took the following photos. As I looked at the rim top and the inner edge I still was not happy with the way it looked. Part of the issue was that the outer edge was out of round as well and there was not much that could be done with that without changing the 313 shape so I was pretty well stuck with the outer edge. I decided to work some more on the inner edge and give it a slight bevel. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper and worked on it until I was happier with it. It is now as good as it can be with the condition of the pipe. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the deep gouges on the topside with clear CA glue and set it aside to cure. Once the repairs cured I sanded them smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I mixed up a batch of bowl coating with sour cream and activated charcoal powder to form a protective coat over the repair. I applied it with a folded pipe cleaner. I wiped off the grime on the rim top and set it aside to cure. This coating will facilitate cake formation and protect the bowl until it forms. This Made in Ireland Peterson’s System Bent 313 with a nickel Ferrule and an acrylic P-lip stem is a better looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful grain that shines through the polished finish is stunning. As the pipe is smoked the patina should develop and look even better. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Peterson’s System 313 Bent Billiard fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 43 grams/ 1.52 ounces. I will be sending the pipe back to the owner once the bowl coating dries. It should give him a few more years of good service. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Who made this La Torre Personal N1 Freehand?

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Blog Steve Laug

A friend of mine sent me a link to this pipe on EBay US and thought I might be interested. He said he thought it was made by a fellow who carved for Castello but was not certain. The pipe was in decent condition and the seller said it had been thoroughly cleaned and restored. It had some amazing grain around the bowl and shank with some rugged plateau on the rim top. There were remnants of a black stain in the grooves around the plateau and some darkening and lava still in the grooves on the back side of the rim top. I sent the photos to Jeff and he put a bid on the pipe and we made the winning bid. The pipe was sent to Jeff who forwarded it to me. I am including the photos that were included by the Ebay seller below. I found a picture online of the stamping that is on the pipe I am working on. On the left it is stamped with Tower logo followed by La Torre [over] Personal (both in script). On the right side it is stamped with an N1.

That gave me what I needed to do some searching on the brand. But before I do that here are some more photos of the pipe from the seller. They really show its beauty and from them you can see why we were interested in this pipe. The next two photos show the front and the right and left sides of the pipe. The grain is quite stunning. He also included some close up photos of the bowl sides and rim top that really capture the condition of the pipe. The briar is very nice. The plateau on this one is beautiful but has some lava on the back edge and inner edge of the bowl. There is some remnants of black stain in some of the grooves around the bowl top that I can replicate in the cleanup. He also included a photo of the bowl with the stem removed that shows the well made and shaped tenon and stem. The fit on the shank is perfect.I wanted to verify my friend’s thoughts about the connectin to Castello so I did some searching online to see what I could find out about the brand. I turned first to Pipephil’s site as he generally has a good brief summary regarding most brands (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-l1.html). I found a short listing and did a screen capture of the section. I have included it below. In the side bar it included this information:
Artisan: Ernesto Ossola, pipemaker between 1970 and 1990

I also turned to Pipedia to see if there was more information. There was a bit more but still no link to Castello (https://pipedia.org/wiki/La_Torre). There was also a link to an article by an Italian Bloger Gusto Tobacco that was very helpful. I quote both below:

La Torre pipes were made by Ernesto Ossola, a pipemaker about the 1970’s.

Stamping: Tower logo + “La Torre” + “Personal” (both in script) + (usually) “N1”. Or “La Torre” + “DIAMANTE”

Mr. ERNESTO OSSOLA WAS A CRAFTSMAN THAT MADE PIPES WITH HIS “LA TORRE” LOGO UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 2010.

Italian pipe blogger, Gusto Tobacco, did some fairly detailed original research into Ernesto Ossola and La Torre pipes, which is available here: Ernesto Ossola’s tower: a story to remember. This is the Google translation, which leaves a bit to be desired, but it’s readable. Contributors, it would be great to expand our article here on Pipedia based on this research. Please feel free to dive in and do that if you are interested.

https://www-gustotabacco-it.translate.goog/storia/2652-la-torre-di-ernesto-ossola-una-storia-da-ricordare/?_x_tr_sl=it&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc

…On Pipedia, but also on the Fumare la Pipa forum, it is claimed that Ossola would have been a worker from Castello, set up on his own in 1978, but nothing else was reported, if not the year of his death, 2010: unfortunately, these data would soon prove completely wrong… (NOW I KNEW THE CASTELLO INFORMATION WAS INCORRECT)

The first step in my research was to consult the Castello di Cantù company: Franco Coppo has categorically denied having had a working relationship with Ossola. So I contacted the very kind Luigi Radice, who told me he had never heard of him: my little investigation was getting unexpectedly complex. So I started to annoy friends and acquaintances of the sector all over Italy: Damiano and Dorelio Rovera have no memory of it; Bollito, Fincato and Musicò, while remembering the brand, have no idea who the owner was; the very courteous Amorelli either, as well as Mauro Cosmo and Ascorti. Indeed, I have lost count of all the unfortunates I have bothered to find out something: I even wrote to the linguist Carlo Ossola who, with unusual kindness, told me that the name Ernesto is not part of his family branch. On the tower depicted in the trademark , assuming it is a realistic representation, to identify at least one geographical area on which to focus the investigations? Many hypotheses, but no certainty. In the end, it was my friend Gerti (former admin of Fumare la Pipa) who helped me: according to him, Ernesto Ossola was certainly Lombard, a conviction also supported by the map of the spread of the surname in Italy. At least I was able to narrow the field, but since Lombardy is big I had to get better…

So I thought of consulting the Paronellis, in the hope that they could be of help and, in fact, they put me on the right path: Ariberto explained to me that in Groppello di Gavirate he remembered someone, with the surname Ossola, who for a certain period of time had produced their own brand pipes. At his suggestion, therefore, I tried to write and call other historical artisans in the area: in the end, Stefano Santambrogio finally managed to tear the veil of oblivion that had fallen on the pipemaker career of the mysterious Ernesto Ossola .

I hope to contribute with this paper to finally shed light on the short history of this brand and to do justice to the work of a craftsman who, albeit for a short time, has contributed to enrich the world of the pipe that I love so much.

Santambrogio told me that he knew Ossola well, but he is absolutely certain that her first name was not Ernesto at all, but Oreste! This curious circumstance is confirmed by a notarial document in the possession of the Gavirate craftsman and dating back to 1995. Most likely, Ossola began to be called Ernesto later, perhaps by way of a nickname: the fact is that his adoptive parents lived right in front of Santambrogio’s workshop, who therefore knew them quite well. From the same document it is clear that Oreste was born on 5 February 1943 in Varese: grew up in the pipe district, like many of his peers he had begun to work the briar on behalf of third parties, in particular collaborating with Gardesana Pipe (a circumstance, this, confirmed by Fiorenzo Rovera). Oreste is described as a good person, but very original and of a very restless nature: precisely this restlessness of his drove him to frequent wanderings.

At the end of the 1960s, Ossola moved to Livorno with his French-born wife and two children, Pierrick and Letizia, and Santambrogio lost track of him: we know, however, that in the Tuscan city he first worked as a subcontractor (probably for Barontini) and then he set up on his own, creating the brand La Torre di Ernesto Ossola . Friends who tried to identify it together with me say that the tower reproduced in the logo, in all probability, is the 16th century Torre del Marzocco from Livorno. here, gradually, all the pieces of the puzzle were finding their right place. While attempting the way of the artisanal pipe, Oreste (now evidently known as Ernesto) presumably began to cultivate another passion, thanks to which he would have acquired greater notoriety among the professionals: the research and trade of minerals. In 1969, in Livorno, his third son, Gianclaudio, was born, destined to follow in his father’s footsteps in the world of mineralogy. After trying with little luck to make his way as a pipemaker, at the end of the seventies Ernesto decided to throw in the towel and devote himself only to minerals: he abandoned the briar and moved permanently to France, perhaps consenting to a wish of his wife. He returned for a short period to Gavirate only at the end of the nineties, when he put up for sale some properties of the adoptive parents, who had recently passed away. In love with North Africa, he went there quite often in search of minerals and, due to a mocking fate, precisely in Morocco, in 2007, he met his death in a completely accidental way.(appears to be due to fumes from a faulty heater). His legacy was collected by his son Gianclaudio, who unfortunately also tragically died last year, at the age of 45, due to an accident. Thus ends this story made of passions, travels and pipes.

I conclude my writing while I am about to re-light my La Torre , which died out of distraction, and I realize that the smoke has become strangely bittersweet: a taste that is certainly not due to tobacco, nor to the pipe.

Now I had the background I was lacking on the brand and a clear picture of the pipe maker Ernesto Ossola. Timing could not have been better as the pipe arrived in the mail that afternoon. It is a real beauty with some stunning grain. The internals and the stem are very clean but the rim top has some lava and darkening in the plateau and some of the black stain in the grooves has washed out. The bowl had been coated with a thin varnish coat that in my opinion needed to go so I could enjoy the briar itself. I took photos of the pipe to give a sense of the whole before I started my work on it. I took a photo of the rim top to show the lava on the plateau on the back side and the general darkening around the edges. This will take some work to remove the darkening and the lava. I took a photo of the stamping on both sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of pipe to give a sense of the proportion of the pipe and its parts. It is a beauty. You can also see the heavy varnish coat on the briar.I worked over the plateau briar with a brass bristle wire brush to remove the lava in the grooves of the finish. I then washed down the rim top and the rest of the briar with acetone and cotton pads to further remove the grime in the plateau as well as remove the varnish on the bowl and shank. Once I had removed the varnish I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is going to be a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips and into the plateau rim top with a horse hair shoe brush. I let it sit for 10 minutes and the Balm did its magic. It enlivens, cleans and preserves the briar. It certainly brought this bowl back to life. I buffed it off with a clean cloth and took the following photos. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Italian Made La Torre Personal N-1 Freehand by Ernesto Ossola is a better looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful grain that shines through the cleaned and polished finish is stunning. As the pipe is smoked the patina should develop and look even better. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Ossola Made La Torre Personal fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 57 grams/ 2.01 ounces. It is a beauty and still one I am deciding on what to do with – keep it or sell it! Keep an eye on the store. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring a Peterson’s of Dublin Donegal Rocky 999 Rhodesian

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table came to us from one of our pipe hunts or a trade I just cannot remember. It is a rusticated Peterson’s Donegal Rocky 999 Bent Rhodesian. The finish is quite nice with at that classic Peterson’s rustication pattern. The pipe was filthy with the rusticated exterior filled in in spots with grime and debris. The bowl had a light cake and some roughening on the inner edge of the rim. There was darkening on the rim top but otherwise it looked good. The pipe is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank and reads Peterson’s [arched over] of Dublin [over] Donegal [over] Rocky with the shape number 999 to the right of that. On the oxidized Sterling Silver band it is stamped K&P in shields over Sterling Silver on the left side. On the right side there are three hallmarks: 1. a seated woman (Hibernia) – the city stamp for Dublin, 2. .926 for the quality of the silver, 3. An upper case “Y” – the date identification of the pipe. The stamping is clear and readable on the pipe and band. The stem was dirty, calcified and oxidized. There were light tooth marks and chatter on the stem near the button on both sides and some on the surface of the button as well. There was the Peterson’s “P” on the left side of the taper stem. I took photos of the pipe before I worked on it. I took photos of the rim top to show the cake in the bowl, the lava rim top and the damage to the inner edge. The stem was dirty, oxidized, calcified and had chatter and marks on both sides. The stamping on the underside of the shank read as noted above. The photo shows that they are faint but clear and readable. The stamping on the silver is also readable. The P on the left side of the stem is faint but in good condition. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe. It is a great looking pipe.I am including the information from Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). I have included a bit of the pertinent history here.

During the 1950’s and 60’s the Kapp & Peterson Company was still in the ownership of the Kapp family. However 1964 saw the retiral of the company Managing Director Frederick Henry(Harry) Kapp.

In 1966 a “Jubilee ” fourth hallmark was introduced, only for that year, to commemorate the ﬁftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising of 1916. Designed as a hand holding a ﬂaming sword in Irish “an clÃ¡iomh solais” or “sword of light” the mark bears the date 1916 to the right above and 1966 to the left below. An Claidheamh Soluis (Old Irish spelling), this was hallmarked with the letter Y. This very unusual and special date mark has in recent years become very scarce, mainly because it was only used for that year. Pipes that were marked thus, are much sought after by Peterson pipe collectors.

The stamping on the band was different than what I had seen before it is three marks as noted above. I do not see the “Sword of Light” stamp though perhaps that is what is in the left stamp in the threesome before the .926 stamp.

I turned then to deal with the Hallmarks. I turned to Pipephil’s site for his quick reference charts on the Peterson’s Hallmarks (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/infos/hallmark-dublin.html). I have included the pertinent charts below. The first chart defines the first two hallmarks on the Sterling Silver Band. The Hibernia/Lady is the Dublin Town Mark. The Harp identifies the fineness of the metal.The second chart pins down the date that this particular pipe was made. The upper case “Y” mark identifies the pipe as being made in 1966. I have drawn a red box around the “Y” on the chart below. With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping and the age of this pipe. I knew from the information that the pipe was made during the Republic Era between 1950 and 1989. Pipedia then qualifies the dating as follows: From 1950 to the present time, the stamp for this era is “Made in the Republic of Ireland”. The “Y” hallmark sets the date at 1966 in the center of the time period. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

The Sterling Silver Band was upside down and would need to be corrected. I used some acetone on a folded pipe cleaner to soak the glue between the band and the briar. I repeated the process until it suddenly came free. I cleaned off the shank with acetone and reset the band on the shank with the stamping on the correct sides of the shank. I reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. I cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I finished it by sanding the walls smooth with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of briar. I cleaned up the debris and lava on the rim top rustication with a brass bristle wire brush. It looked better than before.I scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. I rinsed it off with warm running water to remove the soap and the grime from the finish of the bowl. I worked over the inner edge of the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I gave it a slight bevel and was able to blend in the damaged areas. It looked much better. I scraped the inside of the shank with a dental spatula and was able to take out a large amount of this build up in the shank. It was a real mess. I then scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to further remove the tars and oils. I polished the Sterling Silver band on the shank with a jeweler’s cloth to remove the tarnish and protect it. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I decided to deghost the pipe while I worked on the stem. I filled the bowl with cotton boles and twisted one into the shank. I filled the bowl with 99% isopropyl alcohol using an ear syringe. I set the bowl aside for 5-6 hours while I worked on the stem. After 6 hours the cotton was stained with oils and with some purple stain from the inside of the bowl. The pipe smells clean and fresh. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed it with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation on the stem surface. I worked it over the surface of the stem with cotton pads and removed the deep oxidation on the top side of the stem. I sanded the tooth marks and the remaining oxidation with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I used white acrylic nail polish to touch up the “P” stamp on the left side of the stem. It came out looking very good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I am excited to finish this Republic Era Peterson’s “Donegal” Rocky 999 Rhodesian. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the rugged rustication all around it. Added to that the polished Sterling Silver band and the black vulcanite stem was beautiful. This rusticated Classic Peterson’s 999 shape is nice looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 51 grams/ 1.80 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be on the Irish Pipe Makers section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Restoring and Restemming a Made in Ireland Peterson’s System 313 Bent

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Blog by Steve Laug

Jeff and I often purchase pipe bowl/stummels of brands that we like and want to restore. These have included a lot of different bowls. If you have followed us for long you know that some of these have included Peterson’s, Dunhill’s, and a wide range of Danish and English pipes. Awhile ago Jeff and I were sorting through the bowls in our collection and pulled out eight Peterson’s bowls that were dirty and stemless. A friend referred us to a contact named Silas Walls, of Walls Pipe Repair in Wallace, Idaho, USA as he seems to have a good supply of original Peterson’s stems. Our friend has had him fit stems for some of his Petes and was very happy with the work. We made contact with him and sent him eight bowls for restemming.

In the photo above I show the 8 restemmed pipes. I have marked the 6 I have worked on already with a red X). This seventh one that we cleaned up before mailing them out was a bowl that we purchased on 08/31/2019 from an auction Nyack, New York, USA. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [arched over] System. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Made in Ireland (two lines) followed by the shape number 313. The ferrule is stamped K&P [over] Sterling Silver. Next to that it reads Peterson [over] Dublin. The bowl was dirty with lava on the rim top and a moderate cake in the bowl. The Sterling Silver ferrule was quite dirty and worn with some small dents in the surface. Jeff took photos of the bowl before he did his cleanup work in preparation for sending them to Walls Pipe Repair for their new stem. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. There is also some great grain around the bowl and shank. I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson) and read through the article there. I found an interesting note in the middle of the page. I quote the pertinent section below and have highlights some important information in red below.

As usual when trying to get accurate facts in regard to Peterson history, something will jump up and get in the way. They are missing many of their records. The following is the best that we can do for a guide to the myriad markings during the period 1922 – 1949. Prior to 1920 it was rare for a country of origin to be stamped on the pipe, just Peterson’s Dublin on the band. After 1921/22, if it is stamped “MADE IN IRELAND” and the “Made in” is stacked over “Ireland” or “MADE IN EIRE” or several other forms, it was made between 1922 and 1938. A considerable number of Peterson pipes were stamped “Irish Free State”. From about 1930 to 1949, most of the pipes (those which were stamped) were stamped “Made in Ireland”.” If the stamp reads “MADE IN IRELAND” in a circle, the pipe was made between 1939 and 1948. These are all “pre-republic” pipes. I can tell you that the mark “Irish Free State” was adopted in 1922;and replaced by “Eire” in 1937 and then by “Republic of Ireland” in 1949.

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s System 0 Made in Ireland stamp. On page 126 it had the following information

The stamp reads IRISH over FREE STATE, in small letters, usually perpendicular to the line of the shank, very close to and parallel to the seam where the shank meets the mouth piece. On banded pipe, this often hidden under the band itself. At the same time, they issued a smaller number of pipes stamped MADE IN over IRELAND. Today’s collector may encounter specimens of these with mountings hallmarked for every year from 1922-1937.

The information was very helpful. I have highlighted the pertinent reference to regarding the stamping. I knew that I was dealing with a Pre-Republic period pipe stamped Made in Ireland made between 1922-1938.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. It looked much better. I took pictures of the bowl without the new stem from Silas Wall. It is a great looking piece of briar and the sterling silver ferrule looks very good. When the pipes came back to Jeff with their new stems they looked great. When the pipe arrived here this week I took photos of it with its stem so you can see what I see. The first six pipes from the lot were flawless and quite beautiful. The last two – this 313 and a 314 looked great at first glance but upon further examination the stems were not correct. The draught on the P-lip portion of the stem usually was on the top of the stem in all Peterson’s pipes but in the case of these two pipes the airway came straight out the end of the stem. Here are the photos of the pipe and stem. I took photos of the flawed stem next to a properly drilled stem. You can see in the photos where the airway exits the stem. In the photos below the new stem is on the left side and an original is on the right side. It is a little hard to see but in the new stem the airway exits at the end of the button and on the original it is on the top. The hole is the same size but the position is wrong. The shape of the button/p-lip is also quite different and more flat. It is obviously the wrong stem. I contacted Walls Pipe Repair about the problem and sadly it took many months to get some resolution. I suggested that they send me two unfinished stems and I would fit them myself. The problem was that these two were also not quite correct. You can see that the shape is very different and the blade itself was significantly thinner that the stem that had been fitted to the bowl. I took a photo of the pair below.I put the two stems aside and went through my cans of stems and found a stem that is quite similar. The blade is slightly longer and thinner than the one from Wall but the shape of the button and the shank end of the stem would work well with a few adjustments. Here are some photos of the stem I chose from a variety of angles. I used a topping board to shorten the extended end of the stem to match the length of the stem fitted by Wall. I fit the new stem to the shank and took photos of the pipe as it looks now. The fit is good but I will need to polish it and give it a slight bend. With the new stem chosen I turned to work on the out of round and damage inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the inner bevel of the rim edge and remove the damage and bring it back into round. It looked much better. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is going to be a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit for 10 minutes and the Balm did its magic. It enlivens, cleans and preserves the briar. It certainly brought this bowl back to life. I buffed it off with a clean cloth and took the following photos. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Made in Ireland Peterson’s System Bent 313 with a Sterling Silver Ferrule and a vulcanite P-lip stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful grain that shines through the polished finish is stunning. As the pipe is smoked the patina should develop and look even better. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Peterson’s System 313 Bent Billiard fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 37 grams/1.31 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the Irish Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in purchasing this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring a Payne to Its Former Glory

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

Next on the chopping block is an interesting pipe of Leonard Payne’s making. I acquired this pipe from an “antique” shop in Cloverdale (just outside Vancouver) – although it is doubtful how many genuine antique things were in the shop. Here’s a photo of me in situ, with the pipe.I love the prince shape, and I was excited to work on this pipe. The gentleman who commissioned this pipe is a regular customer of Steve’s, so I was all the more delighted.

On to the pipe itself! It was certainly a charming pipe, but it was grungy and had an unholy quantity of tooth marks, dents, lava, cake, and just general filth. The markings on the left side of the shank read Leonard Payne [over] Original. On the left side of the stem, there was a faint capital ‘P’.I little while back, I detailed my restoration of another Payne pipe, in a tale I entitled, The Frog Prince. I will repeat the information I wrote there about Leonard Payne. He was born in England, moved to Canada in the 1950s, and died in the Vancouver area within the last few years. Payne was, to put mildly, an idiosyncratic pipe maker. I can do no better than quote Mike Glukler of Briar Blues (found on Pipepedia):

“Leonard Payne was based in B.C. for many years. He came to Canada from England. He had shops in Surrey, B.C. and Kelowna, B.C. Interesting fellow. Gruff as the day is long. When you bought a pipe, it was handed to you in a paper bag. No sock, no box. Most of his pipes carried a ‘carburetor’ system at the shank/stem junction. Another Payne idea was his shanks. Almost all his pipes were two pieces. He’d turn the bowl and shank, then cut off the shank and reattach with glue (not always with the same piece of briar, so many did not match grains). His thinking was that the shank being the weakest link, if cut and glued would never break and thus ‘correcting’ the weakest link”.In addition, there was a photograph that Steve found of Payne on Reddit that appears to date from the 1960s. The original poster on Reddit told me that the photo comes from the City of Surrey archives. I have no idea why it is in French (or why it’s in the Surrey archives), but here is my translation of the text on the right:

“Pipe makers are not on every street corner in Canada! Leonard Payne, originally from England, didn’t know the challenges he would face and that’s probably what influenced his decision to come and try his luck in Canada. After his arrival in 1957, he and his family settled in Vancouver, where he first found work as a tool maker – and made pipes in his free time. In 1959, he decided to become a full-time pipe maker, and since then he has had department stores in all parts of Canada among his clients. He imports briar blocks from Italy and pipe stems from England.”My customer selected this pipe because (a) he wanted a prince manufactured by Leonard Payne, and (b) he wanted a Payne that didn’t have a carburetor system or the reattached shank. Providentially, this pipe fit the bill on all counts.

The stem on this pipe was in decent shape, with a small draught hole. But most remarkably, the button had been decapitated or stolen by a goblin. At any rate, the button was not there, and I knew that I would have quite a job on my hands. Well, to work! I briefly considered finding a new stem for this pipe, but I believed I should try to work with the original parts before seeking a different solution. So, first on the list was constructing a new button for this pipe. I started by sanding off the end of the stem with some 220-grit sandpaper to smooth out the bottom. In order to fashion a new button, I needed to minimize the rounding on the end of the stem and make the face even. Then I took out some small files and began cutting into the vulcanite, carving out a new button. This was a tricky business and it took some real patience and effort to make it work. After much nerve-wracking work, I had successfully carved out a new button and smoothed it with files and sandpaper. The following is a tedious series of photos showing the progress of the stem! Next, I used a thin file to widen the draught hole. The end result is better than what these photos show. Finally, I could move on to the regular cleaning procedures for the stem. First, I cleaned out the inside with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. Fortunately, it wasn’t overly dirty, and it only needed a handful of pipe cleaners.Then, I wiped down the stem with SoftScrub, before sending it off for a bath in the Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. The following day, I cleaned all of the de-oxidizing mess off with alcohol, pipe cleaners, et cetera. The oxidation had migrated to the surface and I could easily remove it. Then I scrubbed with more SoftScrub on some cotton pads to remove the leftover oxidation. After this, I used nail polish to restore the logo on the stem. I painted the area carefully and let it fully set before proceeding. I worried that this wouldn’t work, as the ‘P’ was so faint. Fortunately, I ended up being wrong and some of the ‘P’ came back to life.I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing. Hey – this looks like a real stem! I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. I always want to use the original parts of a pipe, if possible, and I’m glad this worked. Setting the stem aside, I moved on to the bowl. I started by reaming it out. I used the PipNet Reamer and the KleenReem to remove the built-up cake inside and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper taped to a dowel to eliminate as much as I could. I took the chamber down to bare briar, as I wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the wall. Fortunately, there were none. After that, I used cotton rounds and some Murphy’s Oil Soap to scrub the outside of the stummel and a toothbrush with Murphy’s for the lava on the rim of the pipe. Oddly, there appeared to be shiny bits of a previous coating on the stummel, left over from some other time; I figured my sanding would remove these marks, so I ignored them for the time being. I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. There was quite a bit of filth inside this stummel and it took a fair amount of cotton to get it clean. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some dish soap and tube brushes. Next, I decided to de-ghost the pipe to remove any lingering smells of the past. I thrust cotton balls into the bowl and the shank and saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused any remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton. The bowl was nice and clean after this. Here are the “before” and “after” photos: Having completed that, I was able to address the small nicks on the rim and the bowl. I dug out my iron and a damp cloth to try to raise the nicks. The hot and moist steam can often cause the wood to swell slightly and return to shape. There was some movement – not a lot, but it was better than doing nothing. The repair was not perfect, but the remaining scratches would be improved by sanding. To remove the remaining burns and nicks on the rim, I “topped” the pipe – that is to say, I gently and evenly sanded down the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. This effectively removed the damage, without altering the look of the pipe. After this, I used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to remove the frustrating scratches in the wood and make everything smooth. Additionally, a light application of Before & After Restoration Balm brought out the best in the stummel’s grain. At the buffer, a dose of White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax were just what this pipe needed. The lovely shine made the wood look beautiful. I am pleased with this pipe – it was tricky work, but thoroughly enjoyable for me. Best of all, I know that the new owner will enjoy it for many years to come. I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe as much I as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring a Republic Era Peterson’s “Kildare” 254 Canadian

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is another one of those pipes that has been here for a long time and I have no memory where it came from. I had been cleaned somewhere along the way so I am guessing that Jeff had cleaned it. The bowl had been reamed somewhere in the journey and was quite clean inside. The shank and internals had all been cleaned and there was no residual stench to the pipe. The smooth rim top had some damage and darkening. The inner edge had some damages by burning and the bowl was slightly out of round. The smooth finish was quite clean other than the dust of sitting in my box. The stamping on the shank is clear and readable. The top side is stamped Peterson’s [over] “Kildare”. On the underside it was stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (3 lines). On the right of shank near the bowl it is stamped with the shape number 254. The stem was lightly oxidized and has light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and the stem. You can see the reamed bowl and the darkening on the rim top and the front edge. The stem surface was clean but there are light tooth marks and chatter on both sides on and ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the top, underside and right side of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. It is really quite nice looking. I am including the information from Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). I have included a bit of the pertinent history here.

During the 1950’s and 60’s the Kapp & Peterson Company was still in the ownership of the Kapp family. However 1964 saw the retiral of the company Managing Director Frederick Henry(Harry) Kapp.

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s System Line. On page 314 it had the following information.

Kildare (1965-) First issue of line with matte-finish in Classic Range shapes, P-Lip and fishtail mouthpiece. Second issue C.1979 as Kildare Patch, with rusticated patches on pipe surface. Third issue 2010, matte-brown, P-Lip or fishtail mouthpiece, no band. Fourth issue 2011-, burgundy sandblast finish, nickel army mount, fishtail mouthpiece, exclusive to smokingpipes.com.

Judging from the description above I believe that I am working on a First Issue of the line in the time period of 1965-1979. It is a late Republic Era Classic Shaped pipe with a matte-finish and a P-Lip stem. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I decided to address the damage to the front rim top and inner edge of the bowl first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge of the bowl a slight bevel on the inner edge to remove burned areas and blend them into the surrounding briar. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips. It works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let it sit for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a soft cloth and raised the shine. The bowl looks great at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the stem and button surface with the flame of a lighter to lift the tooth marks. It worked amazingly well and I was able to lift them completely or significantly. I sanded what remained with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the vulcanite. I started polishing the stem by wet sanding it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and gave it a final coat and set it aside to dry. I am excited to finish this Republic Era Peterson’s “Kildare” 254 Canadian. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful flame grain all around it. Added to that the polished Sterling Silver band and the black vulcanite stem was beautiful. This smooth Classic Peterson’s “Kildare” 254 Canadian is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 32 grams/1.13 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and I will soon be putting it on the rebornpipes store in Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collections let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Restoring a Republic Era Peterson’s System 31 Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is another one of those pipes that has been here for a long time and I have no memory where it came from. I had not been cleaned so it is not one that ever went to Jeff for clean up. It was a dirty but appeared to have some great grain under the grime. The bowl had been reamed somewhere in the journey and was quite clean inside. The smooth rim top was damaged and had some darkening. The edges – both inner and outer had some damages by burning and the bowl was out of round. The smooth finish is dirty with grime and grit deep ground into the sides of the bowl and shank. There were some deep nicks in the briar on the right side and heal of the bowl. The pipe stinks like heavily cased aromatics. The stamping on the shank is clear and readable. The left side is stamped Peterson’s [arched over] System. On the right side it was stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (3 lines). To the right of that stamp is the shape number 31. The nickel band is oxidized and dirty but it has the K & P stamp over three symbols. Next to that it was stamped Peterson’s. It had some nicks and dents around shank end of the ferrule. The stem was quite clean and has deep tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button and on the topside of the button. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and the stem. You can see the reamed bowl and the darkening and light lava on the rim top. The bowl reeked of aromatic tobaccos. The stem surface was clean but there are deep tooth marks and chatter on both sides on and ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the bowl and shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. It is really quite nice looking.I am including the information from Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). I have included a bit of the pertinent history here.

During the 1950’s and 60’s the Kapp & Peterson Company was still in the ownership of the Kapp family. However 1964 saw the retiral of the company Managing Director Frederick Henry(Harry) Kapp.

I found a great description of the System 31 shape on smokingpipes.com (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/peterson/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=192182). I am including a portion of that below.

Peterson’s “31” shape is the only straight pipe featured in the System Standard line, yet it still features system drilling. Featuring a push-style tenon and a long, tapering metal tube, it houses a condensation chamber just under the bowl itself — providing the same gurgle free smoke you’d expect of a bent System configuration.

I did a search on Google about the Peterson System 31 Straight Billiard to see if I could learn any specific information on the shape. I found a link to a pipe for sale on Smokingpipes.com. I quote:

Paresh had worked on System 31 pipe so I went back and reread his work on that smooth pipe. It was very helpful for the background information included (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/peterson-system-31-pipe/).

I knew that I was dealing with a Republic Era pipe made between 1950-1989. The K&P mark on the nickel band ties to Kapp & Peterson brings the date to the time between 1950-1964. It was a smooth Straight billiard with a unique shape and chamber beneath the bottom of the bowl. The finish was stained with a combination of rich reddish brown stains. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

The bowl had been reamed and cleaned. I started working on the pipe by cleaning out the inside of the shank and the airway into the bowl and the stem. I scraped the shank out with a small pen knife to remove the thick tars. I then cleaned it with a isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners until it was clean. I topped the damaged rim top on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage on the rim top and edges of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge of the bowl. I gave the inner edge of the bowl a slight bevel. I filled in some of the deep gouges in the briar on the right side and heel of the bowl with some clear CA glue. Once the repairs cured I sanded the briar surface with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out and blend it into the surrounding briar.I stained the sanded area on the bowl side and the rim top with a Cherry stain pen to lay a base coat and then did a top coat of Mahogany stain pen. I polished the rim top and edges with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads to raise a shine. I wiped it down with a damp cotton pad to wipe off the debris after each sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips. It works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let it sit for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a soft cloth and raised the shine. The bowl looks great at this point. The nickel ferrule was out of round and dented. It was solidly connected to the shank end so I did not want to removed it. Instead I fit a dowel into the end of the ferrule that was round and heated the nickel with a lighter to soften it. Once it was softened I used a small furniture hammer to bring the ferrule end back to round. I repeated the process until the opening in the ferrule was round and the stem fit well. It was not perfect but it was better than when I started. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I “painted” the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks in the stem. I was able to raise them slightly. I filled in the remaining marks with Black CA glue. Once the repairs cured I sanded it smooth with 120 grit sandpaper and started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I unscrewed the extension tube from the end of the stem. I cleaned up the threads on the extension and inside the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. It did not take long to clean it. I coated the threads on the extension with Vaseline and screwed the extension back into the stem. I worked on the stem to further smooth and reshape the button and stem with the 220 grit sandpaper and the 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and gave it a final coat and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the Peterson’s System 31 Straight Billiard and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I polished the briar and the vulcanite of the stem until there was a rich shine. This classic Peterson’s shape and finish really highlights a proportionally well carved pipe. Once I buffed the pipe the briar came alive and popped with polishing. The black vulcanite stem has a rich glow. This Peterson’s System Straight Billiard fits well in the hand and sits right in the mouth. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of and inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.23 ounces/35 grams. This beauty will be going on the rebornpipes online store in the Irish Pipemakers Section. If you are interested let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as it was a pleasure to work on.