Tag Archives: Bowl – finishing

Can a Cracked Bowl be Repaired? – Taking a Lesson from Gan Barber’s Work

Blog by Steve Laug

Many of you have read the piece that Gan wrote on “All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Men – A Peterson Adventure” https://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/2012/10/03/all-the-kings-horses-and-all-the-kings-men-a-petersen-adventure-gan-barber/ In it he described the process of reconstructing a Peterson that was in pieces. It arrived with cracks and he put the pieces back together. Since interacting with Gan on that pipe and rereading his article I have wanted to try my hand at repairing a cracked bowl. Finally I picked one up in an EBay lot that I purchased. It was an L. J. Perretti Smooth Bent Billiard. It was in rough shape and needed a stem. I figured I would practice some of the magic Gan used on the Peterson pipe he wrote about on this one.

This Perretti had some deep cracks that ran through the bowl from outside to the inside. Once I had reamed the extremely thick cake out of the bowl I could see that the cracks went all the way through the briar. There were deep gouged areas on the inner walls of the bowl directly behind the cracks. The wood was not charred so it was not a true burnout. I think that a combination of too thick a cake and possible flaws in the briar made these cracks appear. Interestingly the cracks follow the grain all the way through the pipe. I shined a light through the cracks and I could see light on the opposite wall of the pipe bowl. There were two large cracks on the left side and one running with the grain on the front of the bowl. The one on the front was not as open and it did not go all the way through the briar. The ones on the left side were quite open and cavernous.

The first series of seven photos shows the state of the bowl when I began the experiment. I figured I had nothing to lose on this one. If it fell apart or did not work out it was not a great loss at all, but it would fun giving it a try. I wanted to try out some of the methods that Gan used in his reconstruction of the Pete on this one and see what I could do with it.

After reaming thick cake back to the bare wood I sanded the exterior with 240 grit sandpaper to clean off the finish and get a better look at the nature and depth of the cracks. I wanted to be able to more clearly see how far across the bowl they stretched and if the cracks followed the grain. I had already seen the state of the inside bowl walls. The left side interior showed damage from the crack extending into the bowl. The front side was less damaged. It had some very minor cracks on the inside walls. I blew air through the shank into the bowl and plugged the top of the bowl to see where the air came through the walls. The only one that really allowed airflow was the larger crack on the left side toward the front of the bowl. The next three photos show the sanded bowl. I left sanding dust in the cracks to highlight their depth and the extent of damage.

I decided to put the bowl in the alcohol bath. I wanted to soften the remaining cake in the cracks and crevices inside the bowl and also soften the grime within the cracks. I had no idea what would happen to the bowl as it soaked. I almost expected it to come out of the bath in several pieces. I got busy with work and other demands and ended up leaving it in the bath for over 24 hours. When I finally removed it and let it dry for several days I figured that the drying would probably make the cracks worse.

When I removed the bowl from the bath it was not in pieces but the cracks did open a bit wider on the side of the bowl. The finish and grime was gone and I could clearly see what I had to do if I was going to repair this bowl. The end of the shank had also been damage and chipped so I decided to band it to give me a smooth edge for the new stem I was going to turn for it. I used a nickel band, heated it with the heat gun and pressure fit it on the shank of the pipe. The one bonus in the process was that the grain on this pipe was actually quite nice. The next three photos show the dried and banded bowl and shank. There was still a lot of sanding that would need to be done to prepare the bowl for the repairs and even more sanding once those were done.

I selected a stem that had the same diameter as the shank and turned the tenon on the Pimo Tenon Tool. I finished the fit by hand with a little help from the sanding drum on the Dremel. Once I had a good fit I set up the heat gun and heated the stem to bend it to match the bend of the bowl and bring the tip even with the top of the bowl. The next three photos show the heating and bending process as well as the finished look of the pipe with its new stem.

After I restemmed the pipe I did some more sanding on the bowl. I wanted a clean surface to work with when I did the patches on the cracks. I also cleaned out the inside of the bowl with sandpaper and a dental pick. I wanted to clean out the interior cracks in the bowl as well as the exterior ones. Each would use a different kind of patch but each needed a clean surface to work with. The next five photos show the cleaned exterior of the pipe and two photos of the interior. Still more work needed to be done to clean them up before I patched them.

For the exterior cracks I decided to use a patch mix of briar dust and superglue. I cleaned the cracks out with my dental pick and some Everclear. Once they were clean I packed them with briar dust, tamping it into the cracks with both the flat head of a tamper and also the tip of the dental pick. Once they were filled the first time I dripped the superglue into the cracks. The glue binds the dust and the surrounding briar and also compacts the briar dust. I then retamped in some more briar dust and repeated the process until it was filled. The next six photos show the process of filling the cracks around the bowl.

Once all the cracks were filled I sanded the bowl with 240 grit sandpaper to remove the excess material on the surface of the bowl. You will note the scratches in the surface of the briar. These would be removed in the successive sanding that still would be done to the bowl. The cracks are filled and the surface hard. The briar dust and superglue form a good bond with the crack and when dry are dark black in colour. They are hard to the touch even with the dental pick. The next four photos show the bowl after sanding. The surface is smooth to the touch.

The scratches on the bowl have been minimized with the fine grit sanding sponge pictured above. I continued to sand until the marks were gone using 320 grit sandpaper. Once I had the bowl to that point I wiped it down with Everclear on a cotton pad. The three photos below show the bowl after the wash.

I continued to sand the bowl with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-12,000 grit to smooth out the surface of the bowl. The micromesh left the surface ready to be stained. The cracks are still visible in terms of the black lines but the cavernous gaps are filled and repaired.

I decided to stain the bowl with a rich oxblood aniline paste stain. I applied it to the bowl, flamed it and applied it a second time and flamed it. Once it was dry I wiped it off and hand buffed the surface. My purpose was not to hide the flaws but to minimize the glaring nature of the repairs. The next six photos show the staining and rubbed down bowl. I was not happy with the coverage but I buffed it quickly with White Diamond to see what I had to work with. The final photos in the series of six show the buffed and polished look of the bowl.

I decided to give the bowl a second staining of a dark brown aniline colour. This was a mix of dark brown and alcohol 1:1. I applied it and flamed it. I repeated the process to darken the colour of the bowl. The four photos below show the result of the application of the brown stain.

After the stain had dried it was time to address the inside of the bowl. I sanded it out quickly with a Dremel with a sanding drum attachment. I was careful not to change the shape of the bowl but to merely remove any carbon cake that still remained. I wiped the inside down with Everclear and then flamed it to dry out the surface of any moisture. I then mixed a batch of JB Weld. This would be the first step in doing the interior repairs. I packed it into the cracks on the inside of the bowl using the spoon end of the pipe nail. I continue to pack it into the bowl cracks until they were smooth. The four photos below show the mix and the patch in the bowl. It has a drying time of 6 hours to dry to touch and 24 hours to cure.

While the bowl was drying I worked on the new stem. I sanded down the castings on the side of the stem and polished it with micromesh sanding pads. I used 1500-12,000 grit micromesh pads on the stem. I pictured three photos below to show the process.

The next series of eight photos show the patch after it had dried. I also reapplied the JB Weld after the initial 12 hours so that it filled in the places where it had shrunk as it dried. The patch dried a fine grey coloured. I sanded it down until it was only in the cracks themselves and not in the clean briar. I wanted to give the briar as much absorption area as possible as the JB Weld does not absorb moisture at all. It dries to a neutral, hard metallic material that has no taste.

Once the JB Weld was cleaned up and reduced to only filling the cracks it was time for the second step of the bowl interior renewal. I mixed a batch of bowl coating composed of activated charcoal powder and sour cream. I stirred the batch until it was a consistent blue/black grey colour. I applied it to the entire bowl from top to bottom with a folded pipe cleaner. Once it dries it is a solid black colour and neutral in taste. It gives the bowl an additional layer of protection until the cake builds up. The next three photos show the mix and the application in the bowl.

With that done, both the inside and the outside cracks are repaired and the pipe is back in service. I gave the entire pipe a final buff with White Diamond and then applied multiple coats of carnauba wax for protection. The final photos below give you an idea of how the pipe looks today. It is still curing from the bowl coating but I will load it and smoke it once that has cured. The finish of the two stains worked well to blend in the repairs but not hide them. The surface is smooth and the open cracks have been repaired. Now the ongoing test begins. Will the patches hold up or will the new heat from the fired tobacco open them a second time? Time will tell but it is worth the experiment in my opinion.

An OxyClean Experiment

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Blog by Greg Wolford

Not long ago I was involved in a discussion about what I do when I start restoring an estate pipe. The subject was on removing oxidation from stems so I stated that the first thing I do is an OxyClean bath, soaking for an hour to overnight. One of the folks involved thought I meant that I put stummel and all in the soak and asked what it did to the briar. I explained that I didn’t put the stummel in, only the stem. But this got me wondering what would happen if I put the whole pipe in … this this experiment.

I picked this little pipe up in a lot and thought at first it was just a “toy” but closer inspection showed it had been used by its former owner – a lot. The cake was surprisingly thick and I figured it must have been his short smoke pipe. This unmarked little guy would be my Guinea pig.

I dropped the separate pieces into the Oxy bath and left it overnight, doing no reaming, acetone wipe, or anything else before so. It sat overnight as the OxyClean did its work.

When I returned to it the next day I retrieved the stem first and saw the soak had done its job on bringing up the oxidation. And I was a bit surprised how much oxidation there actually was. But onto more pressing issues: What did the briar look like?

So I reached in and pulled out the stummel and immediately felt the slick, almost slimy feeling that an OxyClean soak gives stems was on the briar, too. I began wiping it dry and noticed immediately that almost all the finish and a fair amount of the stain was gone. There was one patch that didn’t seem to be too effected by the soak, maybe it was not fully submersed; I don’t know.

The next thing I noticed was the cake, or lack thereof. The OxyClean bath had removed pretty much all of the buildup in the bowl and on the rim, which wasn’t to bad to start with. It would most likely not need any reaming after it was dry from looking at it.

So, what do I think about soaking the whole pipe in OxyClean now? I think that of removing the finish and stain are your goal and it has a fair or greater build up of cake/tars, this probably a pretty viable option. I still need to get the rest of the finish off and sand the stem and stummel; it is nowhere near finished. But I am leaning toward this experiment being called a success. Of course after the pipe has dried well and I finish the work on it I’ll have a better idea of what the pros and unknown at this time cons are so more experimentation is needed to say for sure. But at this stage I think I have new weapon to use (really an old one in a new way) for certain situations. Time will surely tell.

A Renewed WDC Bakelite and Briar Pipe Restemmed

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I received the Bakelite bowl base in a lot that I picked up on EBay. At first glance I figured I would trash it and not worry about working on it at all. However, I tend to be drawn to working on things that others would throw away so I decided to see what I could do with it. The two bowls pictured below are threaded and both fit the base. The Dublin like bowl, once on the base, was too narrow for the base but the bulldog bowl fit well. It was packed with a cake and there were chips out of the double line band around the bowl. The bowl rim was damaged and the finish was absolutely shot with dark black stains in the briar all around the bowl where the thumb and fingers held the bowl. The Bakelite shank had the WDC in a diamond stamped on it. The ornate band that usually adorned the shank as well as the metal washer like band on the top of the bowl base was missing. The shank had a broken metal tenon stuck deep within it. The surface had scratches in it but none of them were too deep.

Bakelite bowl base and two potential bowls before beginning the process of refurbishing.

The bowl is pictured below. You can see the thickness of the cake and the rough surface of the rim where a previous owner had damaged it when emptying the bowl. The second photo shows the exterior damage and the finish on the pipe. I reamed the bowl to clean out the cake. I decided to take it back to bare wood and start over with the cake. I checked the bowl for cracks and damage but surprisingly there were none to be found. Eventually I would top the bowl.

SIde view of the bowl before refurbishing.

Top view of the unreamed pipe bowl showing its condition before cleaning

I wiped the bowl down with acetone on a cotton pad, used a dental pick to clean out the grooves and screwed bowl on the base to get an idea how the pipe would look. I also wiped down the bowl base with Everclear to clean off the grime and buildup on that surface. I went through my can of stems in search of a diamond shaped stem that would finish out the look of the pipe. I came up empty-handed so I chose a round stem of the right diameter and length that I could shape to fit the shank. I drilled out the shank to remove the metal tenon and also to open the diameter of the mortise. The original stem had been a screw on one and the metal mortise and the metal tenon were firmly welded together so the drill was the only way to remove it. I opened it as wide as possible while still leaving enough material on the shank to maintain strength. I turned the tenon with the PIMO tenon turning tool and then a Dremel to bring it to the correct size for the new shank. The next two photos show the stem and the fit of the stem to the shank.

WDC base in need of a diamond shaped stem. Necessity is the mother of invention. I used a round Lovat stem.

I turned the tenon to fit the mortise and then inserted the stem against the shank.

Now I needed to shape the stem and remove material to transform the round saddle bit to a diamond saddle bit. I used a Dremel to cut the basic shape in the stem. I proceeded from side to side with the stem on the shank to make sure to match the angles of the shank. I wrote a post on the process for the blog and posted that earlier. You can read about the details of that process on this link https://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/shaping-a-diamond-shaped-stem-from-a-round-one/ The next eleven photos give a quick look at the shaping work on the stem. It took time and I had to be careful to not damage the shank when I was using the Dremel and sanding drum on the stem.

Figure 3 I used a Dremel to shape the stem to match the diamond angles of the shank. I worked on one side at a time.

Figure 4 Pipe resting against the Dremel with a sanding drum. Shaping progressed quite quickly. This picture shows one side beginning to take shape.

5 Top view of the shank. Both sides of the round stem are beginning to take on the shape of the shank.

Figure 6 Top view after more shaping with the Dremel.

Figure 7 Bottom view before the Dremel did its work.

Figure 8 Left side view after the first side has begun to take shape.

Figure 9 Bottom view after both sides have begun to take shape.

Figure 10 Right side view of the stem after it began to take shape.

Figure 11 Back to the worktable and the hand sanding.

Figure 12 Hand sanding continues.

Figure 13 Hand sanding continues.

The original shank had sported an ornate band and the stain in the Bakelite showed the marks of the band. I did not have any ornate bands in my collection of bands so I chose instead to band it with a nickel band. I shaped the band to fit, beginning with a round band. This took a bit of fussing to get the shape and fit correct. I have written that process up in detail in a previous blog post as well. You can read about the process at this link https://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/shaping-a-round-metal-band-to-fit-a-square-or-diamond-shank/ Once the band was shaped correctly I heated it with a heat gun until it was pliable and then pressure fit it on the shank of the pipe. The next series of five photos show the process I used to pressure fit the band on the shank. Once it was in place I carefully used my furniture hammer to flatten the band against the shank.

The square is done

Fitting a nickel band on the shank

Nickel band fitted on the shank

The next series of four photos show the newly shaped stem in place on the banded pipe. There was still a lot of work to do on the pipe including cleaning the internals and reworking the bowl and rim but the overall look of the “new” pipe is intriguing.

New band and stem in place.

New band and stem in place

Bottom view of the newly banded and stemmed pipe

Top view of the new band and stem

I have included one photo below to give you an idea of the shape of the new stem. I remove a lot of vulcanite to get it from its original round shape to the diamond shape pictured below. The fit and the angles match the shank perfectly. These older pipes are tricky to fit a diamond stem on because none of the sides of the diamond are the same dimensions. Each one is just slightly different so you have to do the fitting work with the stem in place on the shank.

View from the tenon end of the diamond stem at this point in the process.

With the stem fitting correctly it was time to tackle the bowl. I set up my board and emery paper so that I could top the bowl. The first photo shows the set up. The second photo shows the state of the bowl rim when I started the process.

Set up for topping the bowl

Reamed and ready to top

Once I had it topped I decided to wipe it down with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the finish and the grime from the topping. The next three photos show the clean bowl and the topped bowl. The finish work would take some time but the bowl was ready to move on to the next stage of rejuvenation.

Wiping down the bowl with acetone

Wiping down the newly topped rim with acetone

Wiping down the bowl with acetone

I sanded the bowl with 240 and 320 grit sandpaper and finished sanding with a fine grit sanding sponge. The next two photos show the cleaned and prepped bowl ready for staining. The dark oil stains on the sides of the bowl would not come out. I wiped the bowl down with repeated washings of acetone and the surface was clean. I also sanded the stem with the sanding sponge while I worked on the bowl.

Bowl sanded, in place and ready to stain.

Bowl in place, sanded and ready to stain.

I decided to restain this old timer with an opaque oxblood aniline based stain. I wanted the opacity so that the dark stains would be minimized beneath the new stain and would eventually be blended in through smoking the pipe. I applied the stain and then flamed it. After flaming I hand buffed it to remove the excess stain. I also used a cotton pad and a dental pick to clean out the grooves on the bowl.

Stained with oxblood stain.

The next series of four photos shows the hand buffed bowl in place on the pipe base. The finish was matte at this point and still needed to be taken to the buffer to raise the shine. The third photo shows the rim. The surface is smooth but there is still damage to the inner edge of the rim. I chose to leave that without reworking it too much. I did not want to change the roundness of the inner bowl and decided that I could live with the nicks in the inner edge.

Left side of the pipe with a hand buff on the newly stained bowl.

Right side of the newly stained bowl with a hand buffed surface.

Top view of the hand buffed newly stained bowl.

View of the underside of the bowl and Bakelite bowl base.

The next three photos show the pipe after I had buffed it with White Diamond. The bowl shines and the dark marks around the bowl show faintly beneath the finish but add a flair of character to the old pipe.

Buffed with White Diamond

The next series of three photos are included to give an idea of the polishing process that went into bringing the stem work to completion. Again I invite you to read the post mentioned above on the transformation of a round saddle stem to a diamond shaped one to understand the full work that the shaping took to bring it to this place.

Stem sanded with 320 grit sandpaper

Stem sanded with micromesh sanding pads

Once I had finished polishing the stem with the various grades of micromesh from 1500-12,000 grit I took the pipe to the buffer once again and buffer the entirety with White Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect it and to give it a deep shine. The next series of four photos show the finished pipe. It is ready to load up with a favourite tobacco and be gently sipped in the solitude of an afternoon on the porch.

Shaping a Diamond Shaped Stem from a Round One

Shaping a Round Metal Band to Fit a Square or Diamond Shank

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I have been working on refining the process of shaping the nickel bands that I use in repairing cracked shanks. The pressure fitting of round or oval bands is relatively easy. The round bands merely need to be heated and then pressed into place. The oval bands need to be “squashed” to size. This is a bit trickier in that you need to figure out the diameter of the “unsquashed” circle of the shank and match that with the band size that will be used. Doing this has been a bit of an experimental process for me. I am getting to where I can estimate the size and when it is shaped accordingly it fits well. But that took time. I have no special tools to help with the measurements other than a tape measure that enables me to get close to the size I want to begin with.

Tools of the trade

The starting point – a round band

But when it comes to shaping a diamond shanked band or a square shanked band that is a different matter altogether. I begin with a band that has the same diameter as the shank of the pipe I am going to work on. I squeeze it to an oval and try to pinch both ends to get a fold. I then squeeze it into an oval the other direction and pinch the ends. This gives me a band that is in essence a square with a bulge on each side.

Squashed to an oval – step 1

Squashed to an oval the other direction – leaving an odd shaped almost square

Once I have the basic shape squared as it appears above, I use a flat blade screwdriver to square up the corners. I place the blade of the screwdriver flat against the inside edge from one side to the other and then push the outside edge with my fingertips working my way around the square on both sides. With this process I have roughly squared up the band and it is ready to be placed on the shank of the pipe.

I slide it on the shank of the pipe as far as it will go without binding and then use a small furniture hammer (picture above) to square the edges of the band. I then reverse the band and do the same thing a second time. I am very careful with the hammer as I do not want to crack the shank. I merely want to get the band as square as possible before I heat it and pressure fit it on the shank. The next two photos show the squared band after it had been put on the shank and tapped into shape with the hammer. I finished by reinserting the screwdriver and squaring off the corners.

The square is done

The band is squared and ready to be pressure fitted.

The new band is in place on the shank.

That is the journey in photos and words from a round to a diamond/square band. As you work with bands and improve upon my method keep us posted. I am always open to learning better and more efficient ways of working. One thought I have had is to get square blocks of various sizes of either hardwood or metal and use these inserted in the band to allow me to flatten the band more thoroughly and sharpen the corners. But until then what you see in this article is what I do and so far it works for me.

Banding and Stemming a Figural Pipe – A Carved Bull’s Head

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I have never been a big fan of carved animal pipes- whether birds, bulls, horses, etc. There is just something about them that always makes me shy away. Needless to say when I picked up this one in an EBay lot I put it in the bottom of the box of pipes to be refurbished and kept burying it lower in the box. A few weeks ago when I had very few left I decided to give it a go. There were a few challenges about it that made it look interesting. It was without a stem and the shank was damaged – several cracks in it. The angles of the shank made banding it a challenge and the thickness of the neck of the bull at the base of the shank made it formidable. Those attracted me to giving it a try. I also figured I could do some carving on the shank to make it possible to band it and then sand rework an old stem to fit the newly carved shank. The bowl has some kind of impermeable coating on it. Acetone will not cut it; Everclear will not cut it and even a soak in the alcohol bath will not cut it. It is like a coat of Urethane. All my attacks on it resulted in not even damaging the surface. Ah well it will stay as it is then.

I used my Dremel to sand back the shank area so that a band would fit it. I sanded back the neck of the bull to allow for a visible shank. I also had to sand the area at the back of the head to fit the band on the shank. I sanded it with some medium grit emery paper to remove the deep scratches from the Dremel and then worked it over with 240 and 320 grit sandpaper to smooth it out. I finished by wet sanding the shank with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-3200 grit. Once I had it cut back and ready, I heated a band with my heat gun and pressure fit it onto the newly formed shank. The next three photos show the newly banded shank. I left a little excess length on the band so that it would form a seat for the stem (visible in Photo 2). The shank end was so badly damaged that I could not get a smooth end on it. In Photo 3 you can also see the cracks in the shank that I repaired with superglue and pressure.

I had an old stem in my can of stems that was the right shape. It was also in rough shape. It was one of those I had held on to that should have probably been pitched. However, it was right for this shank and would be reparable with a bit of work. This pipe sat on my work table throughout the repairs I was doing on all the other pipes I have worked on in the past month. It was just sitting there and every so often I would pick it up and work on it. The next series of nine photos shows the stem that I was working on for the pipe.

Figure 1 Top view of the stem before I worked on it. There were bite marks, tooth marks and pieces missing.

Figure 2 I sanded down the stem and filled the deep pits with black superglue. The top side of the stem shows the shiny black glue patches.

Figure 3 The underside of the stem. I used a file to sand down the edges and the flat blade of the stem.

Figure 4 The stem is beginning to take shape after much filing and sanding on the sides and around the button. This is a photo of the topside of the stem.

Figure 5 The underside of the stem with the filing and shaping bringing it into shape.

Figure 6 The top side – note the left side dent on the edge of the stem. This would require more sanding, shaping and filling with black superglue.

Figure 7 Topside of the stem. I sanded it with 320 grit sandpaper and then medium grit sanding sponge. It is beginning to take shape.

Figure 8 Underside of the stem- again sanded and shaped. The dents and edges are starting to be cleaned up.

Figure 9 Underside finished with the majority of the shaping. Now a lot of fine tuning needed to be done.

Figure 11 The finished stem fit into the repaired shank. Right side view.

Figure 10 The finished stem shaped and inserted in the repaired shank. Left side view.

Once I had the stem cleaned up and repaired it was ready to be heated and bent to fit the flow of the pipe. I set up my heat gun and turned it on low heat. I held the stem over the heat at a distance of 2-3 inches and kept it moving back and forth to prevent the vulcanite from burning. When the vulcanite was pliable I used a wooden rolling pin and bent the stem over the curve of the rolling pin. I find that using this keeps the stem from bending at an angle.

Figure 12 Heat gun set up and ready to use to bend the stem.

Figure 13 Heating up the vulcanite stem.

Figure 14 Bending the stem over a wooden rolling pin that I scavenged from my wife’s thrift shop box.

Figure 15 The finished bend in the pipe. It is now ready to polish the stem and the shank.

I took it back to the work table and began to sand the stem and the shank with a fine grit sanding sponge. I continued to sand it and then worked on the shank with micromesh sanding pads from 3600-12,000 grit to prepare it for restaining.

Figure 16 Shank preparation for staining.

Figure 17 Shank preparation for staining.

Once the shank was prepared I stained it with a dark brown aniline stain. I flamed it and repeated the staining and flaming until the brown matched that of the rest of the bowl. I then gave it a coat of Danish Oil medium walnut to seal the shank and give it a shine that would match the head of the bull. I also finished sanding the stem with the remaining grits of micromesh (3600-12,000 grit). When I finished I buffed the stem and shank with White Diamond and gave it all several coats of carnauba wax. The next series of five photos show the finished pipe.

Restoring an L.J. Perretti Deluxe Prince

1 Reply

I learned from the last Perretti pipe that I worked on and subsequent replies that the Straight Grain was the top of the line of Perretti pipes. I have no idea where in the hierarchy this one sits but it is stamped L.J. PERRETTI over Imported Briar on the left side and DELUXE on the right side of the shank. It has a factory installed band that is stamped Sterling Silver in an arch. This pipe was a bit of a mess. Like some of the others I have had this one was marked with a swatch of paint – this time red paint. In the first photo below you can see it on the left side of the bowl near the shank bowl junction. The finish was rough but underneath was some great grain. Again there were no fills visible in this piece of briar. The bowl was caked and the lava had erupted over the edges of the rim leaving a thick hard cake on the rim of the bowl. The silver was badly tarnished and the stamping on the silver was not readable. The L.J. Perretti stamping on the left side of the shank ends with the “I” stamped on the silver band. The stem was oxidized and also had a buildup of calcification from the button up the stem about ½ inches. The stem was about a ¼ inch out of the shank and could not be pushed in from the buildup on tars in the shank. The first three photos show the state of the pipe when I brought it to the work table.

I wiped down the bowl with acetone on a cotton cloth. I find that the acetone quickly dispenses with paint spots and splashes on the briar. It seems to go beneath the paint and it easily is scrubbed off. It also removes grime and buildup on the finish and removes the remaining stain on the briar. I wiped down the caked rim to soften the hard surface before I moved on to top the bowl. The next four photos show the pipe after I had scrubbed it with acetone.

I set up my sanding board and placed the medium grit emery paper on the board. I rotated the bowl on the sandpaper in a circular motion to remove the grime on the rim. I also had seen that there was some burn damage on the rim that needed to be removed. I place the pipe with the rim firmly against the sandpaper and work it until the rim is clean and the damage is minimized. Photos 1 & 2 show the process of sanding on the emery paper. Once I had finished the rough work I moved on to use a medium grit sanding sponge in the same way. I place the sponge flat on the board and work the bowl in a circular motion on the flat surface of the sponge (Photo 3). I then used a fine grit sanding sponge to do the same (Photo 4). Each progressive sanding grit smoothed the scratches and marks left by the previous grit.

When I had finished topping the bowl I reamed the bowl and cleaned out the shank with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and Everclear. I also polished the silver band with some tarnish remover applied with a cloth and rubbed into the band. I finished by wiping down the pipe again using Everclear on a cotton pad. This removed the sanding dust and also the overrun of the silver polish on the briar. I reinserted the stem to make sure the fit was correct. The next two photos show the pipe at this point in the process.

The next series of six photos show the progressive work on the stem using 1500-12,000 grit micromesh sanding pads. Each degree of grit gave the stem a deeper shine and removed any remaining oxidation. Once I had finished with the micromesh pads I wiped down the stem with Obsidian Oil and then when dry I put the stem on the pipe and buffed it with White Diamond.

I stained the bowl with two different stains – dark brown aniline thinned 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol (Photos 1 – 3 below) and then followed up with an oxblood aniline stain. I flamed the stain, restained, reflamed and then gave the rim a third coat of the brown stain.

The final four photos show the finished pipe. I buffed the entirety a final time with White Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I finished by buffing it with a clean flannel buff to bring out the shine.

LJ Perretti Straight Grain Rejuvenated

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I picked up a seven pipe lot on EBay all because there were at least two of the pipes that were stamped LJ Perretti. One of them is the little pot/billiard pictured in this article. I say pot/billiard because the proportion of the bowl and shank more accurately fit a billiard but the height of the bowl is more like a pot. Ah well whatever it is it showed promise even in the seller’s photos on EBay. I bid and won. There is another Perretti that I will write about as I rework it but this one is stamped L.J. PERRETTI over IMPORTED BRIAR on the right side. It is stamped Straight Grain on the left side of the shank. The grain is quite nice and there are no fills in the briar that are visible. It was a dirty pipe – the finish was darkened and grit and oils were ground into the outside of the bowl. The rim had a serious cake of lava on it and the bowl was packed with a cake. The inside of the shank was so dirty and gritty that the stem would not sit all the way in the mortise. The stem was oxidized and had a rubber softy bit guard that was stuck on the stem. There was a cursive P on the left side of the stem. The Perretti pipes are shop pipes that may have been made by a variety of carvers or by Robert Perretti himself. These are old enough that they may well be done by Perretti. The stamping on the side of the shank that says Imported Briar seems to point to the pipe being American made. The first series of three photos shows the state of the pipe when I took it to my work table.

I cut off the rubber softie bit guard with a knife and peeled it free of the stem. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer to remove the buildup of carbon. I cleaned out the stem and the shank with pipe cleaners and Everclear until the pipe cleaners came out as clean as they went in. It never ceases to amaze me how many pipe cleaners it takes to clean out the inside of the pipe and stem. Once the internals were clean the stem fit into the shank with no interference.

I wiped won the outside of the bowl with acetone on a cotton pad (Photo 1 below). I wiped down the rim with acetone as well and then decided to lightly top the bowl (Photos 2 – 5). I used a medium grit sanding sponge to top the bowl on this one. I just wanted to remove the carbon build up on the rim and leave as much of the stain intact as I could. Once finished I wiped it a second time with acetone. I also used the drill bit from the Kleen Reem reamer to clean out the airway from the mortise to the bowl. I recleaned the shank with pipe cleaners and Everclear afterwards (Photo 6 below).

I set the bowl aside and then worked on the stem. I inserted it in the ebony block that I drilled as a mortise to work on the oxidation. I sanded it with 320 grit sandpaper to break up the oxidation and remove the calcium buildup that was under the softee bit. There were also some tooth chatter and marks that needed to be worked out. These were not deep so all I did was sand them with the 320 grit sandpaper. The next two photos show the work on the stem.

I reinserted the stem on the pipe and then continued to work on the stem and clean up the oxidation. I sanded around the edge of the stem/shank junction. I used 320 grit sandpaper and a medium grit sanding sponge.

I wet sanded the stem with 1500 and 1800 grit micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded with 2400-12,000 grit micromesh sanding pads. The next three photos show the progress of the sanding with the pads. I selected three to show the progress but could easily have shown the lot. The main idea is to show the development of the shine on the stem. I finished sanding with 12,000 grit and then wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil and buffed it by hand with some carnauba wax.

I restained the pipe with dark brown aniline stain thinned 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol. I flamed the stain and then restained it and reflamed it. I applied a third coat of the stain to the rim and flamed that again as well (Photos 1 & 2 below). I then sanded the bowl and the stem with the 6000, 8000 and 12,000 grit micromesh sanding pads (Photo 3 below) and then took it to the buffer and buffed it with White Diamond (Photos 4 – 6).

I finished by buffing the pipe with multiple coats of carnauba wax and then polished with a soft flannel buff on the buffer. The final series of four photos below show the finished pipe.

A No Name Bulldog Born Anew – New Look and New Stem

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This little bent bulldog is the last of the briar stummels in the EBay lot I picked up. It is a nice little dog and I saved it for last as I find that the diamond shank stems are a bear to fit correctly. Bent diamond shanks are even harder in my opinion. I had quite a few stems to choose from in my can of stems so a new stem was not a problem. The issue really was getting all the sides and angles to line up and look right. Restemming these is a tricky proposition. This one had crosshatched stamping on the left side of the shank that obliterated the stamping of the name on it. On the right side it is stamped Imported Briar which I am assuming makes it an American made pipe. It had some nice grain under the dark stain and varnish coat. The bowl had a very poorly formed cake with many chunks missing. The rim was thick with a tar and oil build up but surprisingly was not dented or damaged by burns or over reaming. The end of the shank which would butt up against the stem was pristine with no damage or cracks. I love it when I can work on a pipe that does not need banding. It is a challenge to get a good clean fit on the stem. This would thus be a double challenge.

I chose a diamond shank tapered stem for the pipe. I had saddle stem galore and only two of these tapered stems. I love the look of a tapered stem on a bulldog so I decided to go with that one. It would not require too much of a bend in it so it would work well and look classy. I drilled out the airway to fit the pin on the Pimo Tenon Turning Tool and then turned the tenon to a close fit on the stem. I had to reduce the length of the new tenon as it was longer than the mortise on the pipe. I hand sanded the tenon to get a good clean fit on the shank and inserted it in place. Externally, it would need to be reduced on all sides to match the flow of the shank so there was work to do in fitting the stem.

I used my Dremel with a sanding drum to bring the sides of the stem down to almost match the shank. This was a bit tricky in that I did not want to cause dips in the surface of the stem but reduce each side until it was a close fit to the shank. It takes a light touch on the sanding drum to keep it horizontal to the stem and also keep it from hitting the shank and doing damage to the briar. I held the bowl in hand and worked the sanding drum both vertically and horizontally to the stem to remove the excess vulcanite. I worked on one side at a time until the fit was close then turned the stem and did the next side. I began on the top side of the stem and worked both top sides before turning the stem over and doing the underside. The next three photos show the shaping done by the Dremel. After doing this initial work on the stem it was time to take to the table and do the rest by hand.

I began sanding with medium grit emery paper to remove the deep scratches left by the Dremel and to even out the surfaces of the stem. I sanded each side until they were smooth. I also sanded the peak of the stem on each side to make sure the peak matched the one on the shank of the pipe. The next seven photos show the progress of evening out the stem sides. When I finished with the emery paper I would go on to use various other grades of sandpaper and continue the process.

As the rim of the bowl was chamfered into the bowl I worked on it with a folded piece of medium grit emery paper first followed by 320 grit sandpaper. I wanted to keep the chamfer clean and even so I held the paper to the angle of the chamfer on the cleanest part of the rim toward to the front of the bowl. The next two photos show the cleaned rim.

I went on to sand the stem with a fine grit emery paper to continue to bring the size down to meet the shank on the pipe (Photos 1 & 2). After I had the stem fairly close I switched to 320 grit sandpaper and sanded down the stem, the shank and the bowl. I decided to remove the cross hatching on the shank and clean up the finish. I wiped it down with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the finish and sanded until the finish was stripped and the shank and stem was smooth. The flow between the stem and the shank was a good match when I finished with this part of the work (Photos 3, 4, 5, & 6). An amazing grain was beginning to break out on the bowl and shank.

Once I had finished the fit of the stem to the shank and cleaned off the bowl with the sandpaper I wiped it down a second time with acetone to remove the remaining remnants of stain and to clean off the dust of the sanding (Photos 1 & 2). The remaining photos show the pipe after it was cleaned and ready to stain (Photos 3, 4, 5 & 6).

At this point I decided to bend the stem to the angle I wanted on the finished pipe. I set up my heat gun and turned it on to the lowest setting and held the stem above the heat until it was pliable. I have a wooden rolling pin that I use as a guide to bend the stem evenly so once it was soft I bent it over the rolling pin until the angle of the stem bend aligned with the curve of the bowl. I wanted the bowl to be level when held in the hand. Once the angle was right I cooled the pipe stem in cool water to set the bend. The next four photos show the stem after it was bent according to the angles I was aiming for. The grain on this pipe was calling out to me to come up with a stain colour and process that highlighted the grain.

I decided to stain the pipe with an oxblood aniline stain. I like it because it sets deeply in the grain of the pipe and when it is buffed off it still allows the grain to be seen. I also planned on sanding the finish with micromesh sanding pads to further highlight the grain patterns on the bowl. The next five photos show the stained bowl. I still needed to buff the pipe and lift the stain a bit from the briar.

I reinserted the stem at this point in the process and hand buffed the bowl to get a good feel for the opacity of the stain (Photos 1 & 2). I then began to sand the stem and the bowl with the micromesh sanding pads. I began with 1500 and 1800 grit micromesh first. I wet sanded with these grits of micromesh (Photos 3, 4, & 5). The finish on the stem is smoothing out and the bowl finish is really beginning to show the grain and highlight the beauty of the piece of briar.

I continued wet sanding with 2400 and 3200 grit micromesh sanding pads (Photos 1 & 2) and the grain began to pop and the stem began to shine nicely. I dry sanded with 3600 and 4000 grit micromesh sanding pads as I sought to polish the finish and the stem more fully. Photos 3 & 4 give an idea of the polish work that had been done by this point in the process. I finished sanding the bowl and stem with the remaining micromesh dry sanding pads 6000, 8000 and 12,000 grits. The resultant effect on the stain of the bowl was exactly what I had hoped for. The grain stood out clearly on the sides and shanks. On the left side of the bowl there is a nice birdseye pattern that is not as visible in the photos as it is in person. The pipe came out very nicely. Photos 5 & 6 show where things stood after the final polishing with the micromesh pads.

I buffed the pipe with White Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax to finish it. The finish came out nicely in my opinion and the feel of the pipe in the hand was perfect. I had to load a bowl of tobacco and give it a new inaugural smoke. I chose to load it with some 2009 Barclay-Rex Barclay Slice. I packed the bowl, picked up a tamper and lighter and headed outside into the yard with my spaniel. While he ran around and chased sticks and chewed them I relaxed and had a bowl. It is a great smoking little pipe. It is comfortable in the mouth and has an open draught. I like it. Now I need to decide whether to keep it or pass it on.

Reworking and Reshaping an Old French Briar (CPF?) Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

This old timer was one of the pipe bowls that I picked up in that EBay lot that had others with the French Briar stamping. The others had the same stamping but also had been stamped CPF on the shank or on the end cap. This one was missing the end cap so it remains a bit of a mystery as to its maker. It was also stemless. From the photos below you can see that at one point in its life it also had a rim cap that was also missing. What was left was the line around the top of the bowl and a darkened rim where the silver cap had covered it. The end of the shank was in pretty good shape but the likelihood of finding another end cap that fit or in making one was pretty low for me. The four photos below show the general state of the pipe when it came to my desk top. The finish was gone. There were several visible fills that stood out. It was one that I had to give a little thought about how I was going to tackle it. I knew that I would have to modify the shank and rework the bowl. I would also have to redrill the mortise way and fit a stem for the newly formed pipe. Ah well… let’s begin the work.

After many failed attempts over the years to get a good straight cut on the shank and end up with a smooth and even mortise I finally figured out a way with my limited tools to accomplish that. I slip a nickel band on the shank to the place that I want to cut it off. I use the band as a guide for my hacksaw to follow. So far this method has worked for me and left me with some nice evenly cut shanks. The next three photos show the process from start to finish.

After cutting off the shank I sanded the area where the new band would be fitted. I used my Dremel with a sanding drum to begin the process of cutting back the shank to receive the band and finished by hand sanding it with medium grit emery cloth. I set up my heat gun on it end stand, slipped the band in place and set the heat on low to warm the band so that I could press it into place. The next two photos show that process.

With the band in place I wiped down the bowl with acetone on a cotton pad to clean off the grit and the remnants of the finish on the pipe. After I had cleaned the bowl I topped the rim with a medium and fine grit sanding pad to remove the damage to the rim edges. The next four photos show that process. During that time I also used superglue and briar dust to fill the obvious sand pits on the bowl (at the back of the bowl near the shank and on the underside). I sanded them once they were dry and was able to blend them into the bowl quite well. In the first photo below you can see the first large sand pit clearly. It was quite long and fortunately flowed with the grain so that it was easy to blend in with the briar dust and superglue. The one on the bowl bottom was a bit more difficult to blend in. In either case both are now smooth surfaces that the finish sanding would blend in as much as possible.

I sanded the bowl with a medium grit sanding sponge to remove the damage caused by the rim cap and to remove the darkened line around the top of the bowl. The next series of three photos show how the bowl is shaping up after initial sanding. The wood is stamped French Briar but as I work it I am wondering. It is very hard, dense wood with interesting grain. It is very light weight and the feel of the sanding dust and the wood itself calls this into question for me. Maybe it is only a question of age on the pipe as it is probably from the late 1800’s or early 1900’s.

I inserted the stem and took it to the buffer to see what it looked like at this point after buffing. I buffed it with Tripoli. The next four photos show the pipe after buffing. There was a natural reddish colour to the wood that came out more and more as I sanded it.

After buffing the pipe I reamed it with my PipNet reamer to clean out the crumbling and broken cake that was on the surface of the bowl (Photo 1). I sanded it some more and then wiped it down with an alcohol dampened cotton pad and prepared tit for restaining (Photos 2 & 3).

I receive regular tweets from Grant Batson, pipemaker. In one of the latest he wrote of experimenting with Danish Oil in finish the bowl of a pipe. I have several cans of that around from my refinishing furniture days so I decided to use some medium walnut coloured Danish Oil on this bowl. The next four photos show the stained pipe. I had yet to buff it or polish it at this point in the process. I just rubbed on the Danish Oil and then rubbed it off.

I set the pipe aside for the evening so that the finish had a chance to dry well. This morning I worked on the stem and the bowl with the micromesh sanding pads. I used all grits that I have available from 1500 – 12,000 grit to sand both the bowl and the stem. The next series of six photos shows the progressively developing shine on both the stem and the bowl.

After finishing with the micromesh sanding pads I took it to my buffer and buffed it with White Diamond. I find that this buffing with a light touch really sets the shine to a glossy finish. The next four photos show the pipe after buffing. I still had to put on the wax but the shine is very evident.

The final series of four photos show the finished pipe. I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a soft flannel buffing pad. I am pleased with the way it turned out. The pipe is ready for smoking and should provide service for many years to come.