Tag Archives: bowl – finishing

The Christmastime Joy of Refurbishing an Old Peterson

Guest Blog by Robert M. Boughton
Member, North American Society of Pipe Collectors
http://www.naspc.org
http://www.roadrunnerpipes.com
http://about.me/boughtonrobert

Photos © the Author

“Smoke your pipe and be silent; there’s only wind and smoke in the world.” – Irish Proverb

INTRODUCTION
Many of the pipe lots I purchased during the past few months were to spruce up and sell at my online restored pipe site, although I admit to liberating a few of the choicer finds here and there for my own collection. However,this fine example of a vintage classic Peterson and a number of other brands I bought as singles in more recent weeks were intended with lust a forethought for my own ultimate and lifelong use. As far as the Pete I just received is concerned, my decision to keep it was not based on the Peterson brand name, 22 of which I already owned.

In fact, I expected to add one of the Pete’s I ordered near the end of November to the trove, which seems to increase at an exponential rate and counts 23 now of this brand alone.I chose instead to list the fine pipe for sale for disparate reasons even I find difficult to explain. My penchant for anything Peterson is so well known that my announcement on the Smokers Forums of my plan to sell the K&P System Standard brought a humorous reply: “I thought you’d never say ‘Enough Petersons.’ ”

My decision to sell the basic K&P System Standard full bent which, when I at last held it in my hands, was similar to some I already have, was based in part on that factor but, more to the point, it somehow lacked the certain element of instant overwhelming attraction which is too complicated to describe in this forum, and besides, I am sure anyone who reads this already knows the butterfly effect all too well. I am also adding higher-end pipes to my site and concluded a shiny new-looking Peterson would provide a nice incentive to someone out there in Cyberland who possess the essential sense of captivation to give it the loving home it deserves and not enjoy it once or twice only to put it in the rack and almost never again give it a serious thought.

And I should add how any potential rarity or value of the engaging pipe shown here pre-restored is irrelevant to my sentiments for it. No, I reserved the Peterson Dublin Republic Era straight billiard for my own caring use even despite its mixed grain because it, well, possesses the right stuff as defined by my personal sensibilities. Who knows? Maybe the System Standard full bent is an extraordinary find. I just don’t have eyes for every pipe that comes my way as I do for the subject of this blog.

Perhaps the strongest tug at the curious side of me was the stem, which is perfect except for one tell-tale sign that it is not the original for this Made in the Republic of Ireland Peterson. Clear as day on the left side is the symbol that identifies it as a Peterson stem made for a pipe manufactured in France:

Now that’s one kind of oddity that always endears a pipe to me on first sight.

REFURBISH
First, as the word refurbish suggests, this was, for the most part, not a difficult task. The only actual problem was removing the cake buildup from the chamber, where I started.

For the most part, in my experience at least, even cake this bad comes free without a fight and leaves the chamber relatively smooth. The third photo above does not do service to the way the cake tapered downward from more to less. This turned out to be one of the ordeal varieties, not a piece of cake at all. (I know, and tender my apology now.) I started with the 19mm reamer since most of the carbon mess was at the top, and it fit about halfway down with snugness. Several laborious full turns later, applying just enough force to see the reamer moving a bit lower, I paused to dump the carbon dust. Seeing the huge amount that fell out, I took another close look into the chamber and was amazed to see not only that the upper bowl needed much more work, but that the bottom was unfazed.

And so I switched to the 21mm reamer that was barely able to clear the inner diameter and gave the entire area a go with several more intense turns, using pressure again to reach the real bottom. Another massive amount of carbon fled the chamber as I turned it upside-down over a proper receptacle. Then, sticking with the bigger reamer, I engaged the entire enemy for the first time. The biggest load of carbon so far emptied out, and after I blew through the shank, a thick dark cloud of dust flew through the air, reminiscent of Victorian Era London skies as described by Charles Dickens with much greater skill.

I soaked a couple of small squares of cotton cloth with Everclear and folded them around my middle finger to insert into the chamber and scrub away much of the residual grime. I did this with both sides of the cloths. Waste not, want not and all that. Of course the wet cotton came out soaked solid black along with part of my finger, but I allowed the alcohol to dry a little as I halfway cleaned my begrimed digit before sticking my clean index finger all the way in and feeling the walls. They were pocked all over.

Reattaching the 19mm blades, I angled them first against the upper half of the chamber before adjusting them to favor the lower half. Much more carbon was loosened, and more alcohol-soaked cotton cloths wiped away the excess. Again I inserted a clean finger and used it to dig out little chunks of carbon. The chamber was better but still needed work.

I turned to a small piece of 200-grit sandpaper long enough to reach the bottom of the chamber with a little above the rim and wide enough to cover half of the wall. With whatever finger fit inside the chamber leaving enough room to press down against the paper and turn it with roughness 360 degrees a few times, I heard that old familiar fingers-on-chalkboard screech the entire time. But I felt the wall smoothing. The paper came out black, and I wiped it over a rag to remove the dust. Still again, a small mountain of carbon fell from the inverted chamber. Feeling the wall with a bare finger, I knew I had to get rough at last.

A perfect old piece of 150-grit paper presented itself for my use, and I went at the chamber again with real gusto. The fact that another pile of carbon was removed dismayed and discouraged me. I repeated the process several times, cleaned the chamber with cotton cloths and Everclear, and believe it or not, got the reward I had awaited with a clean, smooth finger inspection. So that’s my page and a half on fixing the dang chamber.

Next up on my itinerary was beginning the cleaning process of the shank. After about ten minutes of running a wire-handled bristle cleaner dipped in alcohol over and over through the inner shank, I saw it was having an effect and stopped to prepare for the retort.

At this point I remembered the small stem was Lucite, which can be warped and ruined by alcohol. However, finding the task of attaching the rubber tube of the retort kit directly over the wide shank opening, and also locating no suitable temporary stem, I saw no choice but to take a chance. And so I connected the rubber over the lip of the stem and commenced the retort process.

Several test tubes of Everclear later, the shank at last came clean. Removing the stem as fast as I could and inserting a stem cleaner into it, where I let it stay long enough to dry, I found that it was intact. I completed the retort by removing the cotton balls from the chamber and using more cotton cloth to scour the chamber clean and dry and doing the same to the shank with a soft cleaner.

The stem, as nice as it was, still had a couple of minor bite marks and other blemishes I might have ignored with a pipe I was keeping, but I couldn’t do it.The ease of removing the bitemarks and other marks with 400-grit paper came as a happy surprise. While the sandpaper was handy, I cleaned the shank opening, as you will see below. After that all I needed to do was micromesh the bowl and shank with 1500, 2400 and 3200.

I was more reluctant than ever before to remove any of the original stain, but had no choice with the rim, which was blackened beyond the help of purified water, steel wool or micromesh. I chose 400-grit paper, which eliminated the blackening, before a three-step micromesh using 1500, 2400 and 3200. That done, I considered which of my modern day stains would best approximate the original, and decided to go with the medium brown. I flamed it and set it aside to cool. After a few minutes, I took out my 2400 micromesh pad and gently rubbed away the ash, followed by a quick wipe with a soft rag.

I’d have to say the greatest surprise with this old pipe was the flawless condition of the bowl and shank, with the exception of the rim as described. Based on the general design, the less familiar shade of brown and the grain that is not as uniform as pipe enjoyers today expect, I estimate that this pipe dates to the 1940s or 1950s. At first I believed the pipe was never waxed until I gave it a good wash with purified water and cotton cloth and was able to make out a couple of thin, shiny streaks on the top of the shank, where it appears its long-time previous owner seldom if ever touched the faithful companion.

Still, to assure its readiness for a smooth buffing, I prepared the wood with micromesh progressing from 1500 to 2400 to 3200 and at last 4000.

Eager to try out this wondrous pipe that, as I noted, was created before I was, I found myself filled with more excitement than usual as the moment to buff the beauty with waxes arrived. Leaving the stem behind, having waxed it with red and white Tripoli followed by White Diamond while the new rim stain dried, I carried the smooth piece of old briar into my workroom. Wanting to bring out as much of the varied grain as possible, I decided to use the whole ball of wax. (I know, I know! Again, I apologize.) Starting with the red Tripoli wheel, I coated it with an easy, light touch before moving to the white Tripoli, followed by White Diamond, and to finish it off, carnauba.

CONCLUSION
I could never describe what it is about a pipe that attracts me to it. My tastes are too eclectic. But when I see it, it is always like love at first sight. I mean that in the literal sense, as with two or three times in my life when I took one look at someone and was instantly light-headed with my stomach full of butterflies and found myself tongue-twisted. Alas, none of those relationships worked out in the end. With pipes, at least, love is forever – and perhaps a bit lecherously, I have quite the stable of mistresses.

The author enjoying the pipe.

The Little Champion 057 Horn Reborn

7 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

When I saw this old timer it reminded me of a Dunhill shape that I had seen though that one had had a taper stem. The seller was from Germany and the only photo included is the one below. The stem was badly oxidized in the photos and the finish on the bowl that showed was worn. I had no idea what the rim or the rest of the pipe looked like. The seller did not include any information on the stamping on the pipe so it was a bit of a blind bid. I decided to go for it and put in a low bid and won the pipe. The pipe arrived this week and I was nervous when I saw the package that the postie delivered. It was totally smashed with the corners blown out on two sides. Someone had reconstructed the box with strapping tape but the crushed box was not repaired. I cut the tape and opened the box with fear and trembling. I was wondering if the pipe inside would be in pieces of if it would be unscathed. Inside the box were many crumpled newspaper pages. I dug through the pages and in the very middle was a bubble wrapped object. The stem was still in the shank of the pipe and looking through the bubble wrap it appeared unbroken. I cut the tape on the wrapping and took out the pipe. What I found is shown in the next four photos below.

The finish was much worn with much of the black overstain worn off. Someone had put a coat of varnish over the worn finish so it was very shiny. There was very little of the sandblast that was not worn. The odd thing was that the blast was still quite rugged and not flattened in the worn portions. The stem was oxidized and dirty. There was a faint logo on the stem of the pipe – a rising sun over a wavy line like a sun over water. On the bottom of the shank it was stamped “The Little Champion”. The bowl had some remnants of broken cake in the V shaped bowl. The rim had a build up tars and oils that had filled in the blast. The rim was slightly slanted inward and gave a dapper look to the old pipe. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer. For the upper portion of the bowl I used the second cutting head in the set and the smallest cutting head for the lower portion of the bowl. I evened out the section where the two cutting heads over lapped with a small pen knife. Once the bowl was reamed I put the stem in jar of oxyclean to soak and the bowl in an alcohol bath to soak. I wanted to loosen the oils on the rim top and also see if the alcohol would begin to remove the varnish coat.

Later in the day, after the bowl had soaked in the bath for several hours I took it out of the bath and dried it off with a cotton cloth. I used a soft bristled brass tire brush to scrub the rim and loosen the buildup.

I wiped down the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to further remove the varnish. Using the acetone I was able to take of the varnish coat and prep the bowl for restaining.

I took the stem out of the oxyclean and dried it off. I put it back on the bowl and then set up a pipe retort to boil out the shank and stem. I put a cotton ball in the bowl and the surgical tube over the mouth piece. I heated the alcohol with a tea light candle. The first boil through came out brown. The photo below shows the colour of the alcohol after the first tube boiled through. I dumped the alcohol out of the test tube and refilled it and repeated the process.

I removed the stem and cleaned out the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. It took very little time to clean out what remained. I put a plastic washer in place between the shank and the stem and then sanded it lightly with 220 grit sandpaper to loosen the oxidation. I followed that by sanding with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil when finished. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and again rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I buffed the stem with red Tripoli and then finished sanding with 600-12,000 grit micromesh pads. I rubbed the stem down a final time with Obsidian Oil and then when dry buffed it lightly with White Diamond.

I stained the bowl with a mix of 50/50 alcohol and dark brown aniline stain. I applied it with a cotton swab, flamed it and then wiped it down with a cotton pad. The dark brown stain settled deeply into the blast. Some of the higher spots remained a lighter brown. The contrast came out looking quite nice.

Once the stain had dried I buffed the bowl and stem lightly with White Diamond. I then gave both the stem and the bowl several coats of Halcyon II wax and buffed it with a shoe brush to raise the shine. The finished pipe is shown below. The pipe is ready to load and enjoy. I am planning on loading it up on Christmas morning with a bowl of Pilgrim’s Muse from the Country Squire shop in Jackson.

The final photo shows the bottom of the shank and the stamping is very readable. Anyone with information on the brand please let us know in the comment section below and I will add it to the blog. Thanks ahead of time.

UPDATE:
Yohanan sent me a note that he had found the same logo on PipePhil’s Logo site http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-e3.html and once I checked it out it matches the stem logo exactly. Here is a photo.

My First Solo Pipe Restoration – A Hand Made Preben Holm IIS – PART 1

9 Replies

Blog by John Ferguson

My friend John Ferguson, who I wrote regarding our pipe hunt and his learning to clean up estates, sent me an email a few days ago. In it he included some photos of a pipe that he picked up and was working on currently. He asked about the brand of the pipe so I did a bit of research on the pipe and found out that it was a Preben Holm pipe – the IIS stamping identifies it as such. Later he sent me a piece that he wrote about the find and his restoration work. Here are his words on this first restoration. It is great to have you posting regarding this pipe on rebornpipes John. Keep up the good work.

Ever since my friend, Steve, showed me how to restore my first estate pipe that I found in a batch of pipes at an antique store in Bellingham, WA, I’ve been itching to do some more hunting for pipes that would intrigue me.

I had the opportunity to do so on a recent trip to Texas to visit my family. One beautiful afternoon towards the end of November, my mother and I headed out to some antique stores to spend some time together. And of course, hunt for some pipes.

I found this pipe that intrigued me.

It was stamped with the words, “Handmade in Denmark” with a “IIS” below it. I did a quick search on my smart phone, but couldn’t find any info quickly. With some help from Steve, we discovered that this was a Preben Holm Pipe.

It was only $10, and since my 19 year old son loves all things Scandinavian, and since it looked like something out of Lord of the Rings (another favourite of his), I decided to get it and restore it, and to give it to him as a Christmas gift this year.

It definitely needed some help. The stem had tooth marks plus calcification.

And the bowl had what looked like paint chips embedded in the texture.

There was a lot of cake built up on the inside of the bowl, so I took my grandfather’s pocket knife and began to ream it. Gently. I was careful not to damage the bowl.

I followed that up with pipe cleaners and alcohol to clean the shank. I used regular pipe cleaners, bristled pipe cleaners, and a pipe cleaning brush and worked until no more gunk came out and the pipe cleaners came out clean. The next step was to clean the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and an old toothbrush. I took several rounds of scrubbing to get most of the ‘paint flecks’ off of it, and what the brush didn’t get the tip of my pocket knife did. I think it turned out beautifully.

Next came the cotton ball soak with alcohol on the inside of the bowl. Then I turned to work on the stem. I began working on smoothing out the bite mark and removing the calcification by using 240 grit paper, followed by 180 grit. Then I began using micromesh pads working from the 1500 pad to the fine 12000 pad. After about an hour of work, I had a brand new looking stem.

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Carrying on the story of a 1905 Imperial ITC Bent Billiard

4 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

The seller had marked this little pipe an Imperial ITC Silver Mount Birmingham 1934. Something about the gentle bend of the stem and shank, the shape and wear on the bowl made me want to have this diminutive pipe as my own. I bid on it and was the only bidder picking it up for about $22 Canadian. I think the seller wet down the stem and bowl for the photos because it is far too shiny looking. When I see an old pipe like this I immediately begin to wonder about the gent who owned the pipe. What was he like? What did he smoke in it? When did he purchase it and what did he smoke in it? Many of those questions can of course be answered by the pipe itself. The date in this case was suspect and would be formalized once I had it here. The vulcanite stem appeared to have an older rounded button that let me to surmise that it has an orifice button – a single round hole in the end of the button rather than a flared airway. The bowl was obviously well smoked telling me that it was a good smoking pipe. The stem unchewed telling me that the owner had cared for it well. Other than that I was left wondering about the last owner, was he the purchaser? How had the seller come into possession of the pipe? Questions for which I will not have an answer. When the pipe arrived I opened the box and excitedly cut through the layers of tape that held the pipe captive in the bubble wrap that protected it. I was proven correct in my assumption regarding the state of the pipe. The finish was indeed wetted for the photos of the seller as the pipe did not glisten like the photos. The bowl was in decent shape, the finish worn and tired. The rim was shot with built up tars and damage from tapping the bowl out. The silver had multitudes of dents and pock marks in it that showed its carriage in a coat or vest pocket and was tarnished. The stem was clean a lightly oxidized but showed no tooth damage. The bowl was caked with a thick build up of carbons but did not have a sweet or smokey smell so it was likely a Virginia pipe. The curve of the stem matched the curve of the bowl. The stamping was clear and readable – Imperial in script at an angle with ITC underneath the underline of Imperial. There was no other stamping on the briar.

I wanted to check out the date given by the seller as I suspected it was somewhat earlier than the 1934 date given by the seller. The stem and button shape and the threaded bone tenon all pointed to an earlier date in my opinion. The hallmarks on the silver band would allow me to do that with some precision as they were not badly worn. I wiped down the band with a silver polishing cloth to remove the tarnish enough that I could read the stamping. To the naked eye it appeared to have a W.H. in an oval followed by an anchor, a lion and a lower case k. I brought home a magnifying glass from work that had a built in light. I put the pipe under the lens and turned on the light. I lifted it to get the clearest magnification I could get on the silver hallmarks and what I had seen was indeed correct. It was a WH in two interlocking circles and the three hallmarks were correct.

I took this information to one of my favourite websites to process the information and gather what I could from the stamping http://www.silvercollection.it/englishsilverhallmarks.html. There I found the following data. The anchor stamp told me that the pipe or at least the silver band came from Birmingham, England. The lion told me I was dealing with sterling silver. And the k told me the date – 1905 not 1934. The pipe was significantly older than the seller had noted. That excited me as I love these older briar pipes. I also wanted to know what the W.H. in the oval could tell me about the pipe. I dug a little deeper on the English silver marks page and found more information. The maker of the silver band was a William Harrison who was active in London. Various copies of Harrison’s marks in Chester Assay Office were registered by Imperial Tobacco Co between 1907 and 1916. The mark above shows a Birmingham 1908 hallmark. From that information I gathered that the W.H. was William Harrison and that the Birmingham Assay Office had stamped the band in 1905.

I unscrewed the stem from the shank in order to work on the bowl. The cake was thick and crumbling in the bowl so I reamed it back to bare wood with a PipNet reamer.

The rim would take some serious work to get it back to workable condition. I set up a topping board and carefully worked the top of the bowl against the sandpaper. The surface of the rim was not even so this took some care so as not to angle the rim. I sanded the rim until the surface was flat and the damage was removed. There was still some darkening to the briar but I chose to leave that rather than to remove more of the briar from the rim.

To remove the spotty and damaged finish on the bowl I wiped it down with acetone on cotton pads and was able to take it back to the unfinished briar. The brown patina of the briar was not removed in the process and once finished would clean up well and still show some age. I wanted to take photos of the stem and tenon so that you could see the age and shape it was in. It was a bone tenon, threaded to match the threads in the shank. The end of the tenon has a funnel or tube that is part of the tenon to capture the smoke and bring it into the airway. The other end of the stem is the rounded orific button that I have come to expect on pipes from this time period.

Once the exterior surfaces were clean it was time to work on the interior of the shank and stem. I put the pipe back together and set up a retort. I filled the test tube with 99% isopropyl alcohol and put the stopper and apparatus in place. I stuffed a cotton ball in the bowl to keep the alcohol that was boiled through the pipe in the pipe and not all over the desk top. I use a small tea light candle to heat the alcohol and boil it through the pipe. I repeat the process twice, changing the alcohol between procedures to remove the tars and oils from the shank and stem. Once I removed the retort I cleaned out the shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. It takes far less pipe cleaners once the retort has finished its work.

I decided to stain the briar using the stain pens instead of the usual aniline stains. I wiped down the surface of the bowl with alcohol and then used the stain the medium brown stain pen to stain the bowl. When applied the stain is streaked but that is easily taken care of with a quick buff with a cotton cloth. I also cleaned the silver with a silver polish and a jeweler’s polishing cloth to remove the tarnish and bring up the shine. I removed the stem and sanded it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to address the light oxidation. I then sanded it with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed down the stem between each set of three pads with Obsidian Oil. When I finished sanding with the 12000 grit pad I also gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and when dry took it to the buffer and buffed it with White Diamond and then carnauba wax to protect the stem.

I decided to rub down the bowl with a light coat of olive oil. I find that on these older pipes it brings out the patina nicely. I put some oil on a paper towel and then rub down the pipe, wipe off the excess and repeat the process until it shines.

When the olive oil was absorbed and the bowl was dry to touch I took the pipe to the buffer and lightly buffed it with White Diamond. I gave the entire pipe several coats of carnauba wax, buffing the silver with a very light touch so as not to damage the hallmarks and stamping. I finished by buffing it lightly with a soft flannel buffing pad to raise the shine. The finished pipe is shown below. It is ready to go back into service. I intend to enjoy it for many more years. I always enjoy smoking these old timers and only wish they could tell their stories. It is amazing to be able to load a bowl and smoke a pipe that is almost 110 years old. Speak to me, I am listening I want to hear your stories… and add my own to the saga you could tell.

A Unique Town and Country Squat Round Bottom Rhodesian – Robert M. Boughton

4 Replies

Guest Blog by Robert M. Boughton
Member, North American Society of Pipe Collectors
http://www.naspc.org
http://www.roadrunnerpipes.com
http://about.me/boughtonrobert
Photos © the Author

The pipe with solemn interposing puff,
Makes half a sentence at a time enough;
The dozing sages drop the drowsy strain,
Then, pause and puff – and speak, and pause again. — William Cowper (1731-1800), English poet, in “Conversation,” 1782

INTRODUCTION
When this odd little pipe arrived in the mail a couple of months ago, as part of an estate lot, it stood out, to be sure. Amongst a beautiful Kaywoodie Standard mixed Sandblast/Smooth Grain Billiard, an elegant LHS Park Lane DeLuxe Dublin, a vintage WDC Full Bent Billiard with 14K ring, an Ehrlich Rusticated Billiard and two others – yes, it stood out. I will leave it to the reader to determine the nature of the deviation.

Still, it did force me to reconsider the true form and figure of a Rhodesian, and to imagine the turmoil I could incite if I threw this pipe as an example into the ongoing brouhaha that is the Bulldog versus Rhodesian debate. I do have a touch of Old Nick in me that way (and I don’t mean St. Nick).

Yet how else can I describe this weird pipe, at its basest, but as a Rhodesian, despite the squatness of its stature and the roundness of the bottom of the bowl? The fact is that this Town and Country (made by the Bradberry Briar Pipe Corp. of New York) has a rounded bowl with two slits carved into its upper end below the rim and a round shank.

RESTORATION
Part of me did not want to mess with the original stain, but some impulse screamed at me, “Drown this thing in Everclear and see what lies beneath!” And so, that I did. As it turned out, the voice was right. All kinds of scratches and other flaws became apparent where they were obscured before.

Beginning the process of removing the various blemishes with a thorough sanding (except for the nomenclature)using 220-grit paper, I was careful to make smooth, even runs in the directions of the grain. After some time at this task, rubbing the fine briar dust away with a rag as I progressed, I was at last satisfied with the results.

To prep the wood for staining, I brushed the surface with super fine steel wool, which returned the natural color of the briar and created a light sheen. Then I commenced a thorough de-wrinkling treatment with micromesh pads, starting with 1500, then 1800, 2400, 3200 and 4000. Again, I rubbed the wood clear of any residue between each micromesh pad.

The obvious next step seemed to be a full cleaning of the pipe’s interior. Expecting to find the usual massive buildup of crud associated with the shanks of most estate pipes, I was in fact shocked to see the wire-handled, heavy-duty bristly cleaner, dipped in Everclear, emerge from the exercise almost un-befouled the first time and spotless the second.

Still wary, I sanded the pinky-sized circumference of the chamber with a Lilliputian-sized scrap of 220-grit paper and succeeded in removing a fair amount of carbon. Then I inserted an alcohol-soaked square of gun cleaning cotton cloth and twirled it with the aforementioned pinky until most of the carbon residue was cleared from the chamber.

Despite the failure of the wire cleaner to dig up more than trace elements of old tobacco, and determined to assure the shank was truly ready to pass anyone’s test, I employed my newly acquired proficiency in retorting. To my utter dismay, despite my certainty that I had performed the retort without error, the remainder of the boiling alcohol – which had surged all the way into the chamber and left the cotton there somewhat dirtier than it started – returned to the Pyrex test tube clear enough to drink, if I were so inclined. Disbelieving the unheard of result, I re-boiled the alcohol in a second and sent it packing again whence it had returned once empty-handed, so to speak. The second try came back as clean as the first.

At last, my mind exploded in dizzying exultation, a clean shank at the outset!

I turned to the stem, which, other than being a uniform military green, was all but devoid of scratches or chatter. There was one small ding, but given the usual mauling of stems I encounter, this one was a gift from Heaven. As I have yet to come up with a formula for a solution in which to treat stems, I was compelled to do it the old fashioned way: by hand, using 320-grit paper to restore the stem from green to black. This step required several passes, more and more localized each time.

Next I turned to micromesh and gave the stem the same care I provided the wood: 1500, 1800, 2400, 3200 and 4000. I tend to enjoy re-staining the wood of a pipe when necessary, and my biggest question so far had been what shade of brown to use if not marine (burgundy) red. This pipe I wanted to do as a two-tone, with the beautiful natural color and grain of the rounded rim left unchanged and the rest of the bowl and shank dark enough to show the difference. And so the only question was whether to use medium brown, which is darker than it sounds, or marine? I admit to having a fluttery, nervous feeling in my stomach when I opted for the marine. Although the result was better than okay, I won’t be showing it here for reasons that will soon be apparent.

Having stained the majority of the wood marine and left the round rim plain, I flamed out the alcohol from the boot stain, buffed the greater part of the wood with its resulting ash using 3200 micromesh and then waxed the wood and stem – from which I had removed the superfluous metal tenon extension by heating it with my Bic and yanking it out – and achieved a definite high contrast. The grain still showed through the stain, but I knew it wasn’t right.

Therefore, wishing to have a little fun and test my mentor, Chuck Richards, I took the “almost finished” product to him for his opinion. True to form, Chuck scrutinized every angle of the pipe through his glasses and handed it back to me. His critique was like the ultimate New Yorker bad book review: no comment. He still has no idea how good that made me feel!

Pleased with myself, I later returned home with the dark red body of the pipe topped by a blond head and with care again applied the super fine steel wool to remove the wax and stain on all of the wood but the rim. Ready for the correct approach, I re-stained most of the wood medium brown, went through all of the steps as before to prepare it for waxing on my two buffer machines, and applied white and red Tripoli, White Diamond and carnauba. The result was much more satisfying, and I felt no need to run it by Chuck again before submitting this blog, as I had already messed with him enough, albeit unbeknownst to my good friend.

CONCLUSION
All fun and pranks with my big-hearted but not coddling mentor aside, I ended this restoration with more work than was necessary. I should have learned by now not to disregard the advice of that little fluttery feeling of unease I had in my stomach when I chose marine over medium brown. In the end, the stomach almost always wins in all matters over the mind.

Restoring a KB&B Doc Watson – Andrew Selking

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Blog by Andrew Selking

My wife and I enjoy browsing antique shops and last weekend checked out a new shop. They didn’t have many pipes, most were worn out drug store pipes, but this one little pipe stood out. The first thing I notices was the fantail stem and interesting inlay on the stem. I picked it up and discovered that it was a rusticated panel billiard shape, unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I pulled the stem from the shank and saw a very unusual stinger/tube apparatus. The stem looked like it was hand cut, very thin and the button had nice clean angles. From what I found out about KB&B pipes, the clover leaf without the ampersand was from the 1930s. The best part was the price, $4.95! Here is what the pipe looked like, thick cake, but otherwise not too bad.

I missed some of the documentation process, but I cleaned the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a toothbrush. I decided to remove the stinger, which I accomplished with a heat gun, but still save it for the historical value. I then soaked the stem in Oxyclean. It had a lot of tar build up as you can see from this picture. Next I turned my attention to the bowl. This is a very small bowl, my smallest reamer didn’t fit, so I ended up using a pen knife to carefully remove the cake.

With the bowl clean and the stem started, it was time for the retort. Normally when I put cotton balls in the bowl I can fit three or four, this bowl only fits one. Although the stinger allowed for a lot of tar build up, it kept the shank much cleaner than most. After a few q-tips it was clean. The stem was just as dirty as the shank, but the retort made the job of removing tar a breeze. You can see from what boiled out just how much tar the stem had. The first couple of fuzzy sticks dipped in rubbing alcohol came out very dirty, but it was mostly tar and it didn’t take long before they came out clean.

Since the outside of the bowl was already clean, I used a progression of micro mesh pads, starting at 6000 and worked up to 12,000 to polish the bottom of the shank and the high spots on the bowl. I used 400 grit wet/dry with water to remove the oxidation from the stem then switched to micro mesh pads (1500-2200) with water. I finished the stem with the full progression of micro mesh pads through 12,000 grit to get a nice polished finish to the stem. I tried something different this time. Rather than use the buffing wheel I just used the Halcyon II wax and a soft cloth. We’ll see how that holds up. Here’s what the finished pipe looks like.

Restoring a Patent-era Dunhill 137 – Andrew Selking

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Blog by Andrew Selking

I stumbled across this Dunhill while browsing eBay. A little bit of research indicated this was a desirable patent-era pipe from the collector’s range, which used a better of briar. The pictures indicated a lot of tar build-up (I actually don’t mind tar, it seems to protect the rim from some of the abuse of knocking out the pipe) and some dark spots that might hide scorch marks or burn through. The stem looked decent, free of significant chatter or bite through, so I decided to take a chance.

Here’s what the pipe looked like when it arrived.

The first order of business was to loosen the tar and heave cake, so I dropped the bowl in the alcohol bath. Next I turned my attention to the stem with the Oxyclean bath (yes it is taking a bath with another Dunhill stem, which I will write about later). After a good long soak, I broke out my Castleford reamer and removed the cake back to the wood. After cleaning the inside of the bowl, I used some 0000 grade steel wool in an attempt to remove the tar. Usually that works, but there was some rim damage that necessitated topping. I use a piece of glass that I found to ensure an even surface when topping. I also use a relatively fine grit (400 grit) paper when doing something like this. I find that it makes the final sanding easier and I don’t inadvertently remove more than I wanted to. Here is what the bowl looked like after topping. Next I tackled the inside of the shank using the retort. There is nothing like boiling alcohol to loosen up built up tar and tobacco. This is what the brush looked like after the first pass. In case you’re wondering what I do to clean the brush in between passes, I swish it in the jar I use for soaking the bowls. The sediment settles to the bottom and since soaking in alcohol is only one step in the process, I don’t worry too much about it.

Once the brush no longer captured a bunch of gunk, I moved on to q-tips dipped in rubbing alcohol. In my opinion, rubbing alcohol works fine for general cleaning, but it does not work well for mixing with stain or for doing the retort. As you can see, it took a good amount of q-tips before the shank came clean. Next I used the retort on the stem. As always, I made sure to plug the end to ensure the dirty alcohol didn’t boil over and shoot out the end (that’s always hard to explain to your significant other). The stem was pretty nasty, as you can see from the residual alcohol in the test tube. After using a pile of fuzzy sticks (I get them in the craft section at Wal Mart, they’re cheaper than pipe cleaners and longer), the inside of the stem was finally clean. Starting with the stem, I used 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper with water to remove the oxidation. I then moved on to 1500-2400 grit micro-mesh pads with water. I find that the wet sandpaper does a good job getting into the little crease on the underside of the button. It’s also helpful to occasionally dry the stem off and see if there’s still any oxidation left, it’s easy to overlook when the stem is wet. I use the same progression of micromesh on both the bowl and the stem, although I don’t use water with the bowl. Here is the pipe after going through the entire progression 15000 through 12,000. I stained the bowl with Pimo Pipe Supply’s mahogany stain, diluted with denatured alcohol and flamed to set.

Next I took the bowl and stem to the buffing wheel, where I used some white diamond and a couple of coats of carnauba wax. Here is the finished result.

The Resurrection of an old KBB Yello-Bole Premier Panel

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Blog by Steve Laug

In a recent trade with Andrew Selking I received an older KBB Yello Bole Paneled billiard. When I removed it from the box there was something about the older KBB Panel that grabbed my attention. It was stamped on the left side of the shank with the familiar KBB logo and the Yello-Bole next to it. Underneath that it bore the stamp Reg. US Pat. Off. Directly below that was stamped Premier over Cured with Real Honey. The pipe had been repaired at some time in its ragged existence with what appeared to be a homemade repair job. The tenon had broken somewhere along the line and a previous owner had drilled out the stem and used a piece of stainless steel tubing to make a new tenon. The metal tenon was stuck in the shank of the pipe and the stem just sat loosely on it. The fit of the stem to the shank was off with the stem sitting high and to the right. The previous owner had tried to compensate for the off centered stem by sanding flat spots on the stem sides and bottom that broke the smooth lines of the square shank and stem. There were two small hairline cracks on the shank – top right and bottom left that would need to be repaired once the tenon was removed. The bowl was out of round with damage to the inner edge of the rim and a tarry build-up on the surface. The outer edge rim crown of the bowl was also compromised and would need some work. The stem was not too badly oxidized but it had tooth marks on the top and bottom near the button.

Background Information
I wrote about the history of the KBB stamped Yello-Bole Pipes. The following link will give you the details: https://rebornpipes.com/2014/07/21/renewing-an-old-kbb-yello-bole-honey-cured-briar-billiard/
Yello-Bole pipes are one of my favorite older US brands doing the research would be enjoyable. As with other early brands made in the states I have found that older is better. A KBB in a cloverleaf stamp will date them back to the ’30’s. I have found through my reading that the 4 digit shape numbers are older than 2 digit ones. The pipes with the logo on top of the stem are older than ones that have them on the side. That is just some of the information that I found with a cursory read through the forums and a variety of websites.

The SM Frank website http://www.smfrankcoinc.com/home/?page_id=2 gives a wealth of historical information on Kaywoodies, Yello-Boles and the merger between KBB and SM Frank and later Demuth. It was a great read and I would encourage others to give the website a read. I also wanted to find some help in dating my old Yello-Bole Pipes and I came across this link to the Kaywoodie Forum: http://kaywoodie.myfreeforum.org/archive/dating-yello-bole-pipes__o_t__t_86.html . I am including some of the information I found there as it gives the only information that I found in my hunt to this point.
“…there isn’t a lot of dating information for Yello-Bole pipes but here is what I have learned so far.

– If it has the KBB stamped in the clover leaf it was made 1955 or earlier as they stopped the stamping after being acquired by S.M. Frank.
– From 1933-1936 they were stamped Honey Cured Briar.
– Pipes stems stamped with the propeller logo they were made in the 30s or 40s no propellers were used after the 40s.
– Yello-Bole also used a 4 digit code stamped on the pipe in the 30s.
– If the pipe had the Yello-Bole circle stamped on the shank it was made in the 30s this stopped after 1939.
– If the pipe was stamped BRUYERE rather than briar it was made in the 30s.”
Given the above information I discovered that the pipe I was working on was made sometime between 1930 and 1940. Thus it was an early Yello-Bole from the 1930s or 40s.

Restoration Process
I took the stem off the bowl and tried to remove the inserted metal tenon. It was firmly stuck in place and I could not move it even with pliers. I put the bowl in the freezer overnight hoping that the cold would contract the metal and briar differently (as is the case with the varied material and density). In the morning I took it out of the freezer and was able to turn the tenon out of the shank with pliers. Once it was removed it was clear to see that it had not been glued in the shank but merely stuck with the tars and oils of the tobacco in the shank. I found a threaded Delrin tenon in my box of tenon parts and it was a workable replacement for the metal tenon. I tapped the drilled out hole in the stem and screwed the threaded tenon into the hole. It was a perfect fit. I removed it once again and put some glue on the threads and screwed it into place and let the glue set. The diameter of the tenon would need to be adjusted as it was too big for the mortise. This was actually ideal in that I would be able to adjust the fit against the shank on the sides and the top. The bottom of the shank would take work to make a smooth transition.

I sanded the tenon with a Dremel and sanding drum to remove the excess Delrin. I hand sanded it with 180 grit and 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out and fine tune the fit. I spread the hairline cracks with a dental pick and dripped superglue along the cracks and pressed them together until the glue set. The stem fit in the shank nicely. The photos below show the damage that had been done to the stem in the previous repair. It is especially visible in the photos of the pipe from the side and the bottom. The stem had been modified to the misfit of the previous tenon so work would need to be done to realign the fit against the end of the shank.

I sanded the bottom, top and right side of the shank until the transition between the briar and the vulcanite was smooth. The left side was touchier in that I did not want to damage the stamping. I sanded this area while covering the stamping. The trick was to smooth out the transition without making a drastic dip in the briar – it just needed to be re-tapered until it flowed naturally into the stem. Sanding the top of the stem also took care as it had the insert of the white propeller. Too much sanding on the top would damage and compromise the insert. The photos below show the newly sanded and tapered shank/stem. I sanded with 220 grit sandpaper, medium and fine grit sanding sponges and a fine grit sanding block. I sanded the rim and curves of the rim with the same sandpapers. I folded a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and worked on the out of round bowl to clean it up as much as possible.

I wiped the bowl and shank down with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the finish from the bowl.

I cleaned out the bowl and shank with isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I cleaned out the stem as well at the same time. I sanded the bite marks on the top and bottom of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to minimize the damage and remove the tooth chatter. There were still some tooth marks that needed to be repaired.

I scrubbed the areas around the bite marks with alcohol to clean the sanding dust and grit from around them. I then used black superglue to fill the bite marks and sprayed it with and activator/accelerator to harden it.

When it dried I sanded the filled areas with 220 grit sandpaper to level them out with the surface of the stem. I sanded the stem with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge and a fine grit sanding block to further blend the patches into the stem surface. In the next two photos the patches are blended into the stem but the blackness of the super glue and the blackness of the unpolished stem do not match so they show up as spots on the stem.

I stained the bowl and shank with a medium brown aniline stain thinned 50/50 with isopropyl alcohol. I wanted a medium brown wash to highlight the grain and show contrast in the finish. The wash provided just what I was looking for.

I sanded the stem further with fine grit sanding blocks and also sanded the flat areas on the transition between the shank and stem to work towards a more seamless look. The next photos show the smooth transition and the smooth stem. The patches are fading more into the vulcanite of the stem as well at this point in the process.

I moved on to sand the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed down the stem between each set of three pads with Obsidian Oil and then continued sanding. I have found that sanding the stem while the oil is freshly applied allows the grit on the pads to cut into the finish and raise a shine.

The next two photos show the finished stem. After the final sanding I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil and let it soak in before polishing it with the buffer. I gave it several coats of carnauba wax. The patches on the stem by this point are fully blended into the vulcanite and cannot be identified.

The next photo shows the reworked inner edge of the rim to show my repairs on the out of round bowl. I sanded until it was as close to round as I could get it by hand. I bevelled the inner edge of the bowl with the sandpaper to make the transition smooth. The finished pipe is shown below. Thanks to Andrew for sending me this challenge. I really enjoyed bringing this old timer back to life. It will occupy a special spot in my older American pipe maker collection and join my other KBB Yello-Boles as favourites that I enjoy smoking. I buffed it with White Diamond and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax and finished by buffing it with a soft flannel buffing pad to raise the shine. All that remains is to sit back and enjoy a bowl of an aged Virginia tobacco and read a good story!

In Retort to Claims of Unclean Restored Pipes – Robert M. Boughton

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Guest Blog by Robert M. Boughton
Member, North American Society of Pipe Collectors
http://www.naspc.org
http://www.roadrunnerpipes.com
http://about.me/boughtonrobert
Photos © the Author

“A thick skin is a gift from God.” —Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967), first Chancellor of West Germany

INTRODUCTION
During the course of my serious restorations, and by that I mean the short period of time since I created an online store with the primary goal of selling estate pipes I repair, direct feedback from my local customers has been 100% positive. That, of course, is always gratifying, and I did appreciate it.But those who have read my previous blogs know I am not in the business to be gratified by elliptical, kind words of others. The real motivation is my love of all things tobacco-related and in particular returning a well-used or even battered pipe to its original beauty, or as close as I can come.But being somewhat more thick-skinned than most folks (if everyone grew up in my dysfunctional household, the whole world would have my hide), I always prefer the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help me God. That last phrase might better be read, God help me.

In the last couple of months, you see, word has reached me of an alleged problem with the cleanliness of pipes I sold. Now, don’t get me wrong. I only use the word alleged because, having as thick of a head as my dermis and consequent confidence in my work with pipes or on any other subject for that matter, until proven wrong, my impulse was to resist the claim. The problem was that I was not hearing any complaints from customers. Such forthright criticisms might have been disappointing, but being constructive would have been treated as any direct reports: with the professionalism I apply to the daily conduct of my business.

The most unpleasant part of this experience, which as I mentioned went on (and on and on) for a couple of months, was that the feedback I kept getting was not from any friends or fellow pipe club members to whom I sold pipes, but instead from my good friend and mentor, Chuck Richards, who, to my great surprise and initial sadness, was the only person my customers, without exception, seemed to trust with such vital information.

Thus I received the first “word” that I needed to be more careful cleaning my pipes. I can tell you, my pipes almost cleaned themselves when that was all Chuck could say before he was distracted and had to tend to something, giving me just enough time to become more than a tad miffed. Being familiar with Chuck’s occasional terseness, I knew he was only passing on the information and had my interests at heart. Still, my breath grew short, and the heat rose under my collar. Soon enough, I got more details, including the first name of the customer, which I didn’t recognize, and then a description of the pipe – a Londoner black rusticated bent bulldog – that I connected right away to a different first name because I had bent a rule by accepting his check. I realized he went by his second name. Yes, I recalled the pipe and its delighted new owner, when he bought it, with clarity. The nice, rough little black bulldog was one of the few I took from my private collection, having enjoyed it for a while and then allowed it to fall back into a corner, unused and not of particular interest to my personal tastes. Could I have forgotten to clean it? The possibility existed, and although I wanted to remember following my usual routine of cleaning and sanitizing the pipe, I had no blog on which to fall back and check since it was in good condition when I decided to sell it for my growing business and dwindling selection.

Therefore, I explained this scenario to Chuck, and, having the address of the nice older gentleman who had purchased it, went to my bank for a cashier’s cheque in full refund and put it in the mail with a letter of sincere apology. I wrote that I also wished for him to keep the pipe and offered a 20% discount on his next purchase should he choose to give me a second chance. I even asked Chuck, who lived in the same neighborhood and was friends with the man, to tell him not to return the refund, as I knew where he banked and would only deposit it myself.

And so I thought the issue settled – but no. Word of my well-restored pipes with unclean shanks kept coming in, via Chuck. I think it is understandable that my mood simmered until, in time, the situation boiled over. When at last, one afternoon at the tobacconist’s, I grew so heated that I broke out in a sweat, I regret to admit I snapped at Chuck, the only person with the nerve to tell me to my face that a problem indeed appeared to exist. Of course, Chuck was only going by the words of others, but enough instances of the same complaint from a sufficient number of witnesses would convince almost anyone.

“I’m just telling you what I’ve been hearing, and not from one or two people but a good number now,” he said, and the grin, which had never left his face during my account of how many bristly cleaners soaked in Everclear I average per pipe until they come out clean, broke into his full gale force smile. I have always been, was then and suspect I ever will be defenseless against that wonderful expression of delighted amusement. It was, indeed, the best retort to my argument he could have made.
And that is how Chuck came to explain to me the relative inefficacy of bristles versus the boiled alcohol retort method that he had demonstrated to our pipe group a couple of years ago before I would have even thought of taking notes.

But enough of all that. This blog also concerns the restoration of a Kaywoodie Signet Bent Billiard, including a validation of the retort method by Chuck on the pipe I had thought was finished. I will describe and illustrate that process when the time arrives.

RESTORATION
I started this restoration under the impression that it would be just a typical exercise on a better than average estate pipe I bought, with the rim and chamber seeming to be the greatest challenges, except that the other problems (some minor scratches that disappeared with 1500-grade micromesh and deeper blemishes I fixed with high-grit sandpaper) were far fewer than usual.

I bought a new Castleford five-piece reamer set (with a T-handle and four attachable reamers ranging from 17-23mm) to see if it might be up to filling the boots of my old Senior Reamer, which fell in action during a restoration I blogged not long ago. Choosing the 17mm reamer, I went to work at a slower than usual pace to test the tool that was new to me, and seeing it worked quite well, I finished its part on the chamber.

Then I switched to 220-grit paper and sanded the inner wood to a smoothness relative to the mess it was in when I began, tamped out most of the remaining carbon, blew through the shank to clear some of the rest and rubbed a couple of small cotton squares soaked in Everclear around the chamber to pick up all but particles of the remainder. To the touch of a finger that I ran around the walls, the surface was still rough but could be finished later.

The rim burn came off with super fine steel wool, and scratches and pits uncovered from beneath the blackness were easy to deal with using 400-grit paper followed by 600, then micro-meshing using new 1500, 2400 and 3200 pads. After finishing the chamber with 500-grit paper, dumping most of the carbon as I went, I blew through the shank to clear more and soaked a couple of thin squares of cotton cloth in Everclear to scrub the chamber. Only a small amount of residue remained, and to the touch of my finger the sides of the chamber felt silky and polished.

That was when I commenced what was my old way of cleaning the pipe. One after another, I dipped first one end of a bristly cleaner in Everclear and ran it through the shank, then the other end. After more than a dozen cleaners lay filthy in a pile and two more came out white, I repeated the process with the stem, except that it only seemed to require two or three cleaners.

To mix things up, compared to my usual routine, I followed my impulse to finish the stem and be done with it. I started with 600-grade micromesh on both sides just below the bit, and switched to 800, 1000, 1800, 2400 and 3200 micromesh. I buffed it on the wheel with red Tripoli and White Diamond. I sanded small areas of the bowl with 400-grit paper to remove the deeper scratches, dings and pits.

To remove the marks of sanding from the wood, I used super fine steel wool followed by my normal progression from 1500-3200 micromesh. I followed the same micromesh procedure on the entire bowl and shank.

Finishing the wood with a buff of white and red Tripoli, White Diamond and carnauba, here is what I handed over to Chuck.

The time, at last, has arrived for Chuck’s brilliant demonstration and invaluable contribution to the restoration of this Kaywoodie Signet Bent Billiard, and my further education in pipe restoring, shown step-by-step in the following nine photos: 1) Chuck has prepared the pipe by filling the chamber with a piece of a paper towel, having no cotton available. He has also connected the retort’s Pyrex test tube, almost filled with 190-proof Everclear, and plugged with a stopper. The stopper leads to a copper tube which in turn attaches to a rubber passage that is connected to the pipe’s stem. 2)Chuck begins to heat the alcohol in the test tube at the base. 3) The alcohol begins to boil. 4) As the alcohol soon reaches full boil, Chuck tilts the test tube slightly to allow the hot liquid to bubble through the retort apparatus and into the pipe stem, and from there all the way to the chamber. The paper towel begins its rapid transformation from white to nasty brown. 5) When the test tube is empty, Chuck tilts the pipe back enough for the remaining, filthy alcohol to drain back into the test tube. 6) The lighter product of a second run with fresh Everclear. 7) After wiping dry the chamber, this is the residue. 8) Chuck snakes the other end of the piece of paper towel into the shank and twists it.
9) The residue from that.

And I take a close look inside the chamber of the Kaywoodie that is clean all the way to the bottom. CONCLUSION
Although my skin is tough, like a fault on the mail of a dragon of legend, my weak spot was pierced. The wound was neither superficial nor deep but still stings a bit, being inflicted as it was by so many of my friends’ and associates’ lack of trust to confide in me. Had my experiences selling restored estate pipes until now been a scientific experiment, an analysis of the data would support the conclusion that friends are unwilling to express their findings of any serious flaws to the one person who could prevent the same mistakes from being repeated.

This reluctance, of course, is created by the risk of hurting the feelings of the friend whose sensibilities the paying customers would rather spare. Such a reaction by the person on the receiving end of the message is indeed real but necessary for a demonstration of true friendship. An unfortunate fact is that too few people understand how criticism is a two-sided razor, one cutting for the positive and the other for the negative. My mind has always been open to constructive, helpful criticism while it shuts like a steel trap against anything senseless and cruel.

Now, thanks to the good but misguided intentions of some of my friends, I am compelled by dual senses of honor and good business to contact everyone who has purchased a pipe from me, in person or online, with a carefully written explanation of the error and an offer of a free correction, postage included. But also thanks to these friends, and in particular my good friend and mentor, Chuck, I now have a backlog of “completed” restores on which I can practice retorting.

So far, they’re coming along well, with some new restores thrown in.

Reviving a Peterson Dunmore 79 with my Son in Law

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Blog by Steve Laug

This past weekend my son in law came over with the Peterson Dunmore pipe that he had purchased on a recent pipe hunt in the US. He picked it up for $15USD so it was a good purchase. We finally got around to working on it. In a previous post on the Dunmore line I had found that the line from Peterson really is a stripped down pipe. The one that we worked on this weekend was in essence a system pipe. The lack of a ferrule is made up for by a stylized carving around the shank end. The stem sits snugly against the end of the shank but is not flush with the diameter of the shank. The saddle on the stem has a slightly different flair than a regular Peterson pipe. It had a Plip stem. It bore the stamping Peterson’s over “Dunmore” on the left side of the shank and Made in the Republic of Ireland and the number 79 on the right side of the shank.

The pipe was in pretty decent shape under the grime and tars on the bowl and rim. It had some beautiful birdseye grain under the grime that would really stand out with a bit of work. The rim was damaged along the back outer edge with small nicks. The build up on the rim was hard and uneven. The bowl itself was out of round and would need to be adjusted. The stem was oxidized but under the oxidation on the saddle it bore the stylized P stamp. The top of the stem near the button had a few small bite marks and some tooth chatter. The underside of the stem near the button had a pin hole in it that would need to be patched.

While my son in law, Lance worked on the bowl scrubbing and cleaning it I worked on the stem. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the tooth marks. I wiped it down with alcohol to clean the areas around the hole. I daubed Vaseline on a pipe cleaner and inserted it from the tenon end of the stem and then used black superglue to repair the hole. I gave it several coats of glue to build up the repair, sprayed it with accelerator and let it dry between applications. Once I had the patch solidly in place I set it aside and let it cure. After curing for about 30 minutes I sanded the patch with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surface of the stem. I sanded it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches and further blend it.

Lance worked on the bowl while this was going on. He washed down the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to remove the grime and the remaining finish on the pipe. He softened the buildup on the rim surface and then lightly topped the bowl to remove the damage and the buildup. Once it was smooth, he sanded it with a fine grit sanding sponge and then wiped the bowl down with another wash of acetone. We gave the bowl a coat of medium walnut stain mixed with Danish Oil and rubbed it onto the bowl and off again with a soft cotton pad. The bowl looked good when I had finished wiping it down and buffing it with a shoe brush. The grain is quite stunning.

I buffed the stem with red Tripoli and White Diamond to remove more of the oxidation. I rubbed it down with some Obsidian Oil and set it aside for the pictures below. At this point in the refurbishing the stem is looking quite good. I still need to sand with micromesh pads and then reapply the gold in the P stamp on the left side of the stem.

I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh pads and then dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit pads. In between each set of three pads I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I finished by buffing the stem with White Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a soft flannel buffing pad.

After sanding it with 3200-4000 grit pads I used a gold paint and applied it to the P logo on the stem and then sanded it again with the same three grits of pad.

I put the stem back in the shank and buffed the entire pipe with carnauba wax and with a soft flannel buffing pad. The finished pipe is shown below. The first four photos give a close up look at the bowl so that you can appreciate the beautiful grain on the pipe. The last four photos show the pipe in its entirety. It is truly a stunning piece of briar with no fills or pits. It is ready for its inaugural smoke by my son in law. It looks as good as new and the stunning birdseye grain gives the pipe a rich look. I look forward to hearing what he thinks of his restored pipe and even more what he thinks once he has smoked it.