Tag Archives: Bowl – finishing

A Ropp La Montagnarde Deposee 298 Horn-Cherrywood-Briar

Blog by Steve Laug

I have been cleaning up a lot of pretty standard pipes lately, whether metal, meerschaum or briar. It has been a while since I took on a unique looking piece that captured my interest. In the current box of pipes my brother sent there are some great one of a kind pipes that I have not seen before so I turned my attention to one of them. The first one that I decided to work on just called out my name. The combination of rustic cherrywood with the bark on, really nicely striated horn and beautifully grained briar just called out to see what I could do with a restoration. I have no idea of the age of the pipe but the horn stem with the orific button speaks of some age. The pipe is stamped on the left side La Montagnarde over Deposee and on the right side it is stamped with Ropp in an oval with the 298 shape number next to it. The brass band on the shank and the small wedding ring brass band on the cherrywood extension give the pipe a touch of class. The next two photos were the seller’s photos. The pipe looked to be in really good condition. When the pipe arrived at my brother’s house it was not nearly as clean as it appeared. The finish was spotty and worn. It had been waxed or maybe shellacked to give it a shine. The stem screws into the cherrywood and then the wood end is pressure fit into the shank of the pipe. It was very loose and would not stay in place. My brother cleaned the internals and scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap. It took off the soiled finish and the remnants of the polish. When I got it the pipe was very clean. The brass bands were tarnished and the horn was dull. I took some close up photos of the rim and the stamping to have a better look. The top of the rim had a burn mark on the inner edge of the right side. It did not go deep into the surface of the briar so a light topping would remove the damaged area.The second close up shows the stamping on the shank. La Montagnarde Deposee is what it reads. La Montagnarde translates from French as “The Mountain” and Deposee translates as “Filed” or “Registered”.I topped the bowl with 220 grit sand paper on a topping board. Once the bowl was topped I used a rolled piece of sand paper to sand out the bowl and smooth out the inner edge of the rim. The internals were pretty clean. My brother had done a good job scrubbing out the mortise and shank. I used a few cotton swabs and pipe cleaners and alcohol to remove and of the dust left behind by my sanding.I stained the bowl with dark brown aniline stain and flamed it. I repeated the process until the bowl was covered.I wiped the bowl down with a cotton pad and alcohol to thin the stain and make the grain stand out better.I buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond and gave it a light coat of olive oil. I rubbed down the cherrywood bark with oil as well to bring some life to it. In the photo below you can see the way in which the pipe is held together.The cherrywood insert has a threaded wooden tenon on the outer side which the horn stem threads onto. The other end is a wooden stinger apparatus that fits into the shank of the pipe and holds the stem in place on the bowl.I polished the brass bands with a tarnish polish to bring back the shine.I cleaned out the threads in the end of the stem with cotton swabs and alcohol.I sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil between each set of three pads. What appears to be chips along the end of the stem are not actually chips but striations that run through the rest of the stem. I sanded the bowl with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. As I sanded it the grain really began to pop and some of the scratches in the briar disappeared. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond. I avoided buffing the cherrywood insert as I did not want to risk peeling the bark. The finish began to take on a rich glow. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The first four photos show the pipe as a whole. The rest of the photos show the various pipe parts. Thanks for looking.

The box said it was a BBB Peacemaker

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Blog by Steve Laug

I learned something this afternoon as I worked on a Peacemaker. The stem bears the Dr. Plumb stamp and red dot but the box says BBB. So who made this pipe? What I found inside the box may well explain that question. The brochure reads The Peacemaker Pipe. There is no Dr. Plumb or BBB on the brochure. This got me thinking that the pipe was probably made by a third manufacturer and sold under a variety of labels. Somewhere along the way a Dr. Plumb version got placed in a BBB box. The interesting thing about the box was that it had peal and stick logos on circular marked areas. It was missing a sticker on one side. I looked on-line and found a BBB version of the pipe. It was stamped identically to mine with the only difference being on the top of the stem. Where my pipe had the Plumb and red dot it had the BBB Diamond on the top. I tried to find out who made them but everything pointed to them being made by Peacemaker. I am wondering if they were not made by the Cadogan Group after they had bought out both GBD and BBB. Maybe some of you know some of the history about the brand. Don’t be shy let us all know.

When my brother received the pipe and opened the box it was an interesting discovery. The pipe definitely did not read BBB and it was in pretty decent condition. The metal was in great shape as was the stem. There was some minor tooth chatter on the top and bottom sides of the stem. The finish on the bowl was in good condition. There was a cake in the bowl and the rim top was dirty and the inner edge of the bowl had some nicks that made it slightly out of round. The box had a Peacemaker brochure inside and a pipe cleaner sleeve for the Smokin’ Bowl, a pipe shops in Charleston, Beckley and Vienna West Virginia. My brother took the above photos and also some close-up photos to show the condition of the pipe before he cleaned it up.The bottom of the metal base is stamped Peacemaker England in a Circle and the number 1 in the centre of the circle.He took a close up photo of the rim top and bowl. It shows the chips and nicks on the inner edge of the rim.He took the bowl off of the base and took a photo of the bottom of the bowl and the inside of the base that both reveal the tars and oils built up in both places.When the pipe arrived here it was in the BBB box. I took some photos of the box because I had not seen one of them before. It is an interesting box. The BBB logo is a sticker on the top and on one side of the box. I opened the box and inside was the pipe and a brochure for Peacemaker pipes. It shows the various bowl shapes and finishes that are provided. The pipe looked pretty good. My brother had done the hard work of cleaning up the bowl and the base. He had reamed it and scrubbed the finish and rim. He had also washed the base to remove the hardened oils and tars.I took the pipe out of the box and took some photos of it showing where it stood when I started my clean up. I took a close up photo of the rim and bowl. I still needed to do some light reaming with the Savinelli pipe knife and the bowl would need to be topped to remove the damage to the inner edge of the bowl.I took the bowl off the base to see what I would need to do to clean out the inside of the base. The threads and the entry of the airway into the shank needed to be cleaned up. I removed the stem from the shank and used pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to clean out the base and the entrance of the airway into the base. I cleaned out the airway in the stem with pipe cleaners and alcohol. I took a photo of the cleaned up parts of the pipe. It is a simple and yet effective design that is very similar to the Falcon pipe in basic concept.I topped the bowl on the topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage to the rim and the inner edge. I sanded until the rim was smooth and the rim was round once again.I cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a Savinelli Pipe Knife to remove the light cake that still was in the bowl. I smoothed out the walls and the base of the bowl.The stem had tooth chatter on the top and the bottom sides near the button. These plastic stems are not too hard to sand smooth but it is an issue to get the shine back. It takes a lot of sweat equity investment to bring a shine back to the stem. I sanded it with 220 grit sand paper and then with a series of 400-600 grit wet dry sandpaper to smooth out the scratches. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I gave it a rub down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads, gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I sanded the rim with 1500-4000 grit micromesh sanding pads to smooth out the scratches left behind when I topped the bowl. I used a dark brown stain touch up pen to restain the rim to match the sides of the bowl. I touched up the outer edge of the rim as well making sure that all the stain matched the bowl. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and then used a shoe brush to buff it. I also buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine (The second photo was taken when I had coated the bowl with the third coat of wax).I lightly buffed the aluminum base and the stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel. I put the pipe back together and then buffed the pipe with a light touch giving it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a great example of the Peacemaker Pipe. I have several of these so I will not be keeping this one either. If any of you want to have a Peacemaker for your metal collection, contact me and this one can be yours. Thanks for looking.

A Butz-Choquin Millesime Limited Edition 1986 Pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

One of the pipes that my brother sent me was a Butz-Choquin that was in a large presentation box. It was stamped Butz-Choquin on the bottom of the shank and had a silver disk on the left side of the shank with 1986 engraved on it. On the right side of the shank it was stamped MILLESIME with C in a circle and 215 underneath. The box was satin lined and the pipe was held in place by an elasticized band. The stem bore the acrylic inset BC logo. In the lid of the box was a Butz-Choquin pipe sock and a certificate stating that this pipe was a limited edition and bore the number 215 of 1200 pipes made.On the satin lining of the box it was stamped BC and the Butz-Choquin logo. Underneath was Millesime. Underneath that to the left it read Limited Edition, central it read Maitre Pipier a Saint Claude – France, and to the right it read edition numerotee. A little research on Google told me that Millesime translated Year and the Millesimei line was composed of the BC pipes of the year. Thus I had in my hands a 1986 Pipe of the Year.I took the pipe out of the box and laid it on the pipe sock and took a photo of it. It is a beautifully grained piece of briar with a shiny Lucite stem.The certificate has the BC Butz-Choquin logo and Millesime. Then it reads:

This year we have carefully selected this model B.C. Millesime 1986. This year is engraved on a silver plate inlaid in the briar and the edition is limited to 1200 pieces.

We have created the B.C. Millesime for the special and individual taste of pipe lovers. Those who appreciate their pipe will be able to savour this new B.C. shape and start a new collection.

The distribution has been intentionally limited and great attention has been given to it production.

This has made this B.C. Millesime 1986, with the No. 215, a pipe that caters to the pipe smoker’s enjoyment.

This certificate which accompanies this pipe guarantees its authentic and unique character and justifies its prestige.

Jacques et Jean-Paul Berrod, Maitres Pipiers a Saint-Claude. The certificate bears his signature below the name and title.I took the pipe to the work table and took some photos of it before I started to clean it up. The first four photos show the various views of the pipe. The grain on the pipe is quite a stunning mixture of flame, cross grain and birdseye. The pipe had obviously been lightly smoked as the tobacco chamber still the bowl coating on the bottom two-thirds of the bowl. I think that the most disturbing feature of this pipe to me was that the sanding marks were still visible on the rim and bowl. I am not sure if those were original or if the entire pipe had been brushed with a coat of varnish. In the close up photos you can see the marks that I am talking about. Each of the photos shows a different portion of the pipe from the rim to the stamping on the sides and bottom of the shank. I cleaned out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners until they were clean.The Lucite stem had scratches and small nicks in the surface so wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cotton pad between each set of three grits. I sanded the briar with the same sequence of micromesh pads to remove the scratches. The more I worked with them the more convinced I became that the surface had a brushed on coat of varnish or shellac. I don’t think it came that way originally but had probably been done by the eBay seller to make the pipe look shiny.When I finished sanding it with the micromesh sanding pads I buffed the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. The sanding pads and the buffing wheel took out the scratches and polished the finish. The grain really stands out after the buffing. I gave the pipe and stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The Lucite stem looks great with the newly polished bowl and shank. The silver inlaid disk engraved 1986 also shined up nicely with some silver polish.

A Nice Looking Drucquer & Sons Berkeley DRUKE 187 Pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

My brother sent me an eBay link that had a few pipes from Drucquer & Sons Ltd, Tobacconists for sale. We bid on several of them and this was one of the ones we won. It is a lot like the Pipo shaped pipes that are still made today. This one is English made and I have no idea what to call the shape. The photos taken on top of the pipe sock came from the seller.The pipe is stamped on the underside “DRUKE” over Drucquer & Sons Ltd. Underneath that it is stamped Berkeley with a shape number 187 below and toward the stem. Next to the shank/stem junction it is stamped Made in England. I have done some searching but cannot find either the shape or the number on the various English pipe brand charts. When the pipe came to my brother he took some photos to capture the condition of the pipe before he cleaned it up for me. The next photo shows that the overall condition of the pipe is quite good. The finish is not too bad though there are some sand pits or nicks on the back side of the bowl. The rim is dark and oily. The bowl had a thin cake. The stem was oxidized and there was some tooth chatter on the top and bottom sides near the button. He took a close up photo of the top of the bowl that shows the cake and the condition of the rim. It was covered with lava over flow but there appeared to be little rim damage other than a few shallow nicks on the outer edge of the rim.He reamed the pipe and scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He was able to remove the majority of the rim darkening and all of the cake. The soap took off the grime on the finish so that when he sent me the pipe it was clean. The stem oxidized a bit more after the cleaning but it was not too bad. The pipe has some excellent grain around all sides of the bowl and shank. The next photos show the pipe as it was when it arrived in Vancouver. I took a close up of how the rim looked after my brother had cleaned it up. It was in decent shape with just some darkening and a few pieces of tar stuck to the surface.I wiped down the rim with a cotton pad and alcohol to remove the remnants and then sanded it with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded it until the rim was clean and the bevel was smooth to touch. I sanded it with 1500-3200 grit micromesh sanding pads to remove any scratches left behind by the sandpaper.I wiped the pipe down with a light coat of olive oil and polished it by hand. The grain began to really stand out and the virgin finish looked good (the pipe had never been stained so the oil approximated what would have been there when the pipe was new).I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of oil. I set the stem aside to dry. I buffed the entire pipe with Blue Diamond on the wheel to polish the stem and the bowl. I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect and give it shine. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to shine it and then hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Does anyone know what to call this shape? Does anyone have a similar pipe or even the same one from Drucquer’s & Sons Ltd.? Thanks for looking.

Restoring an Old Bruyere Extra Floral Carved Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

This interesting old pipe is unique in many ways. The first and most obvious is the floral pattern carved on the bowl sides and bottom. It is well carved and the petals and the leaves flow around the bowl. They sit against a rusticated finish in the gaps of the leaves and around the top of the bowl. There was one burn spot on the bottom of the shank where it looked as if the pipe had been set down in an ashtray and was burned. The second visible uniqueness is the horn stem with the orific button on the end. It had a little damage on the right edge of the stem but it was fixable. The third unique feature was not visible until I removed the stem. The stem had a large chamber in the saddle portion as did the shank. There were also two tubes at the end of the mortise and a collecting chamber or sump. The pipe was in pretty decent shape for its age. I can only hope that when I reach that age, if I am still around I will look as good.My brother Jeff had reamed the bowl and done the initial clean up. He had scrubbed the surface of the bowl and the shank. It is great that he is doing that part of the job for me as it speeds up the process that I do in the restoration. The rim had some hard cake built up on the surface. There was a burn spot on the bottom of the shank that is visible in the second photo below.I took some close up photos of the areas that needed work. The first photo shows the burned spot. Fortunately the burn had not softened the wood too much. It was hard when I probed it with a dental pick. The second photo shows the hard cake on the rim. It is quite thick but the rim appears to be undamaged and the inner and out edges of the rim are in great shape. The third photo shows the damaged portion of the right edge of the stem. I have seen these often on horn stems and have always wondered if it was not damage done by a worm eating the horn.I took several more close up photos. The first photo shows the two inner tubes that enter the bowl in two spots at the bowl bottom. It is a twin bore airway. The second photo shows the stamping on the left side of the shank – it reads Bruyere Extra. The right side of the shank is stamped with the shape number 6185. The band has three hallmarks and EP in a diamond. The hallmarks are letters, each in a car-touche. My guess is that these signify the maker.

The letters are JBF and look like the ones I have pictured to the left.

The inside edge of the briar was thin in several spots. The two that were the most problematic can be seen on the bottom edges of the shank on the right side of the photo below. I have circled the two spots in red. The top one was missing a wedge of briar and the bottom was a half circle of briar. Both were repairable with briar dust and wood glue.I decided to work on the stem repair first. I cleaned the area on the horn with alcohol and a cotton swab and then filled it in with clear super glue. For some reason this time around the repair turned white. That has never happened for me. Generally the glue dries clear and the underlying colour of the horn shines through. I set the stem aside to let the glue cure.The tars and oils were almost petrified on the top of the rim. I had soaked the rim with alcohol to try to soften them with no success. I decided that the best option was to lightly top the bowl until the hard tars were gone. I used a topping board and 220 grit sandpaper to remove the buildup. I sanded the burned area on the bottom of the shank at the same time to remove the surface damage to the briar. I sanded it until the briar was darkened but solid.Once the rim was clean I sanded it with 1500-3200 grit micromesh sanding pads to smooth out the scratches left behind by the topping of the bowl. I scrubbed out the sump and the open mortise with cotton swabs and alcohol until it was clean. I cleaned out the twin bore tubes with pipe cleaners and alcohol. I used an all purpose wood glue and briar dust to build up the two spots on the inside of the shank and sanded them smooth. They are circled in red in the photo below.I sanded the repair to the horn with 220 grit sandpaper and sanded the tooth marks and chatter on the top and bottom of the stem until it was smooth. I cleaned out the chamber in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until it was clean. I had to do two full cleanings remove the tars in the chamber. The first photo below shows the stem after the first cleaning. The second photo shows the second cleaning. It took a lot of cotton swabs to clean out the chamber. I don’t like to boil hot alcohol through horn stems with the retort as I do not want to damage the stem.With the inside of the stem clean I sanded the exterior with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit pads and rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I polished the Electro-Plated silver end cap with silver polish to remove the tarnish and restore the shine. I stained the rim with a light brown stain touch up pen to match the colour of the rest of the bowl.I gave the bowl several coats of Conservators Wax and hand buffed it with a shoe brush. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel and then gave the bowl and stem several coats of carnauba. I had a light touch on the bowl so it did not clog up the carvings. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to shine it and then hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Have any of you seen a pipe with plumbing like this one? Do you recognize the hallmarks or the brand or shape number? Let me know as I am curious. Thanks for looking.

Cleaning up a No Name Lattice Meerschaum Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

When my brother first showed me this bent lattice meerschaum pipe in a Pioneer box I was excited. I have never found a boxed Pioneer Meerschaum pipe before. I thought maybe, just maybe this was the first. I have learned never to assume that just because something is in a box it is necessarily that product. In this case at least we were talking the same material. When I brought it home with me and finally opened it up to work on it I was impressed by the beautiful lattice-work carving that left a series of tear drop shaped windows over an inner bowl. The yellow Lucite stem was also well made and looked good. The rim on the pipe was darkened and dirty with a tar build up on the back side. There was a small chip (maybe it was made when the pipe was carved, I am not sure) on the front right side of the rim. I say maybe because the carving is also in the groove of the small chip. The right side of the bowl had a dark soiled area where someone’s thumb had left a lot of dark grime. It was in the grooves around the tear drop but not inside the hole. There was some nice colouring happening all around the shank. I took a close up photo of the rim to show the tar and the indented/chipped area. It can be seen in the centre of the red circle in the photo below.The stem was loose so when I took it apart I was a bit surprised to find that it had the Jobey Link system in the shank and stem. I wonder if that is original or if someone restemmed the pipe and decided to use the Link and stem from a Jobey pipe. I probably will never know for sure but I would hazard a guess that this is what happened on this pipe. They did a great job in fitting the connector in the shank and aligning the stem and shank.The stem is an interesting mix of yellows and brown swirls that is hard to capture in the photos. There was also some tobacco staining in the airway of the stem and the button. Differentiating between the stain and the colour was an interesting problem. I figured that the straight airway from button to shank was stained and the other parts were part of the swirled pattern. I worked on the airway with alcohol and soft scrub cleanser and pipe cleaners until I removed as much of the stain in the airway as possible. I also worked on the area where the end of the Jobey Link sat in the stem using cotton swabs and alcohol. The stain did not come out all the way but it is clean. The brown swirl in the stem runs alongside of the airway which makes the stain interesting. The cleaned stem is shown in the photo below.I took the Jobey Link out of the shank and cleaned out the airway with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I scrubbed the rim and the soiled spot on the left of the bowl with alcohol and cotton swabs and was able to remove much of the dirt. I sanded the rim top with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads to further remove the buildup. The cleaned rim and left side of the bowl can be seen in the photos below. I put the stem in place and took the following photo to show how good the soiled area on the left side of the bowl came out after cleaning.The stem was rippled and wavy to touch. It felt as if someone had overdone the buffing and left behind the waves of too much pressure against the buffing wheel. I sanded the top and bottom surfaces of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the waves and ripples. I sanded both sides until the surface was smooth to touch. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads to polish out the scratches left behind by the sandpaper. Each successive grit of micromesh left the stem more shiny and smooth. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond and lightly buffed the bowl as well. I gave the stem several coats of carnauba wax and then buffed the pipe and stem with a clean buffing pad to polish it. I wish I could have gotten more of the stain out of the stem but it is what it is. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is quite nice but I am still not sure whether it is a Pioneer Meerschaum or not and I am not sure that I will ever know. It is a beauty. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know in the response below or via messenger or email. We can make a deal.

Cleaning up a Butz-Choquin Chombord Rhodesian

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Blog by Steve Laug

The Rhodesian is one of my favourite shapes and recently I stumbled on the BC 1025 that really captures the Rhodesian shape well. It is right up there with the GBD 9438 and the Peterson 999. So when my brother and I saw this one on Ebay we of course were smitten with PAD. I wanted that pipe. The Cumberland stem is definitely a plus because I like that as well and to have the two combined in one pipe was bonus. This one is stamped on the left side of the shank Butz-Choquin over Chombord. On the right side it is stamped St Claude in an arch over France over the shape number 1025. The silver band is stamped Sterling Silver. It was dirty – the rim had a tarry top coat and there was a cake in the bowl. The silver was tarnished and the Cumberland stem was oxidized. It also bore some calcification on the stem where it looked as if the stem had borne a softee bit. The good thing about the softee bit is it often prevents tooth marks or in some cases hides them. The stem bore the BC logo encased in clear resin and set in the left side. This pipe came with the box, the original pipe sock and a BC brochure. When the pipe arrived in Vancouver it came in its original box and sock. I couldn’t wait to open it up and check it out.Inside the lid was the brochure that gave the variety of BC pipe shapes along with a simple guide on pipe care called “The Minor Art of Pipe-Smoking”.I took the pipe sock out of the box and took the pipe out to see it. Once again my brother did an incredible job cleaning and reaming this one. It came to me in really great shape. The finish was actually pristine on the bowl after the clean up. The stem was clean and lightly oxidized. The silver was tarnished. All of these were minor clean up issues. The rim had a very light coat of tar that had not come off in the scrubbing. The next two photos are close up pics. The first is of the bowl and stem separated and shows the tarnish on the silver. The second photo shows what is left on the rim top. Neither issue would actually take a lot of work.I used 1500 grit micromesh sanding pads and also a cotton pad and alcohol to remove the remaining tars.I cleaned off the tarnish with some silver tarnish remover and a cotton pad. I scrubbed it until the silver shone.I wet sanded the Cumberland stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit sanding pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding the stem with 6000-12000 grit sanding pads, gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad and by hand with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Thanks for looking.

A Large Ben Wade Royal Grain Freehand brought back to life

A Picadilly Brand Genuine French Rustique Briar Pipe

Another for the strange but true hunt for a Cooler/Drier Smoker Collection

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Blog by Steve Laug

My brother sent me the links to this sale on EBay and I was hooked. It is probably the oddest pipe contraption I have seen in the many pipes that formed the pipeman’s dream of a cooler, drier smoke. There have been many over the years that vied for the oddest looking contraption but to date this one takes the prize. I have a few in my own oddity collection that would give this one a fair run for its money but I think this one is still by far the strangest. The T shaped look of the pipe is one thing but once it taken apart it is even odder. The only normal part of the pipe is the vulcanite stem. The Bakelite shank ends in a dropped down base that is part of the shank. It is as big as the briar bowl on the top.Inside the base is a metal canister contraption that has six wedge shaped holes around the edges and a single hole in the crowned centre. The crowned centre meets the hole in the bottom of the threaded briar bowl which is indented to hold the contraption in place.The Bakelite shank on the pipe is the only part of the pipe that bears any identification marking. It reads Filtre T with PAT. to the left of the name and PND. to the right. Thus the stamping is Filtre T Patent Pending. The Bakelite base is quite thick with threads extending into it to hold the bowl in place. The diameter of the opening is ¾ inches and the exterior 1 inch. The length of the base and stem is 5 1/8 inches. With the bowl in place the height is 2 ½ inches tall. The hang down base is 1 ¼ inches. The bowl itself is 1 ¼ inches. The filter canister is stamped with the same stampings as the shank PAT. over FILTRET over PND. and is made of aluminum.I did some hunting for a Patent on the US Patent site and found a written patent. The pipe seems to have been made by FILTRET Inc. of Seattle, Washington and the patent filed by George E. Baldwin, President on May 5, 1930. I cannot find the attached specimens mentioned in the document but this at least identifies the name and gives me a base date.

When the pipe arrived in Idaho my brother took some photos of it. The stem was slightly oxidized and it was stuck in the shank. It was underturned to the left and could not be straightened out. The rim was dirty with a tar build up and there was a cake in the bowl. The bowl itself was slightly out of round. The briar had a few small fills in it and the finish was dirty. When my brother Jeff took the bowl off the base the interior of the base was very dirty with tars and oils. The metal basket was also covered with debris of tars, oils and saliva. It looked to me that the way the pipe worked was that the air was drawn through the single hole in the top of the canister and then it came out through the wedges and into the airway in the shank. This pipe was a pleasure to work on because Jeff did the lion’s share of work on it. He reamed and cleaned the bowl. He cleaned out the stem with pipe cleaners and alcohol and the base with cotton swabs and alcohol. He flushed out the canister with alcohol and then water. He flushed it until it was clean. He scrubbed the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and removed the finish and the debris from the surface of the bowl. He was able to remove much of the tar and oil on top of the bowl. The next set of four photos show the way the pipe looked when I unpacked it this afternoon. Thanks Jeff this was an easy clean up. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the damage to the inner edge of the rim. It is darkened and also has some burned areas on the top and inner edge.I also took a close up photo of the stem – it was stuck tight in the shank and it was underturned to the left. I tried to heat it with hot water to try to loosen it. It would not move. After taking this photo I put it in the hot water to soak and see if it would loosen the tars and oils in the shank that were holding it tight.I turned my attention to the bowl and the base while the stem soaked. I cleaned out the airway in the bottom of the bowl with a cotton swab and alcohol to remove the “gunk” that was clogging the airway and reducing the air flow.I topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. I topped it until I had removed the damaged areas on the rim surface.I rolled a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to sand the bowl and the inner edge to clean up the damaged inner edge and bring it back to round.I sanded the bowl and rim with a medium and a fine grit sanding block to remove the scratches in the briar. Once it was clean of scratches I stained it with a dark brown stain thinned by half with alcohol. I flamed it and repeated the process.I wiped the bowl down with cotton pads and alcohol to make the stain more transparent and to make the grain show through.I took the stem and base out of the hot water and wiggled it until the stem turned. I removed the stem so that I could clean the inside of the shank and base.I used a dental spatula inside the tube of the shank to scrape away some of the thick build up on the walls of the shank. I then scrubbed it down with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners until they finally came out clean. I also scrubbed down the inside of the base with them to remove the grime in the base.I used the micromesh sanding pads to polish the Bakelite base and the shank. I sanded it with 1500-12000 grit pads and then wiped it down with some Obsidian Oil.I scrubbed out the canister one more time and found that it was very clean. I dropped it in place in the base.With the canister in place I screwed the bowl onto the base and took some photos. It was ready to buff with Blue Diamond so I took it to the wheel and buffed the bowl and the base. I gave bowl several coats of carnauba wax and then buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. Once I finish the stem I will give it several more coats of wax. I cleaned out the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. After heating it with the hot water to loosen the stem a lot of grime came loose in the shank and ran down the stem.The stem had some tooth chatter along with the oxidation that I brought out with the hot water bath. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to remove both the chatter and the oxidation. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I buffed it on the buffer with Blue Diamond polish and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I put the pipe back together and gave it a final buff with Blue Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then by hand with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a true oddity but the more I worked on it the more I am intrigued with it. I wonder how the contraption works in real-time. Well, I may have to give it a try one day soon. Thanks for looking.