Tag Archives: Bowl – finishing

Restoring the third of 5 pipes for an old pipeman – a Large Ed Burak Connoisseur Bent Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

Earlier in June I received an email regarding restoring some pipes for her husband. Here is here email.

I have one Calich and one Dunhill pipe which my husband destroyed using a torch lighter on. I am wondering if it is possible to get them restored somehow. If you want to have a look I can send pics.

I wrote and asked for photos of the pipes. She wrote that there were actually 5 pipes not two and included photos of all five. I asked her if she was wanting to sell them or just repair them. Here is her response.

No… I don’t want to sell (yet) he’s 86 and has taken up smoking his pipes again. He was using a torch lighter until I discovered and replaced with proper pipe lighters. For now, I’m wondering if it’s possible or even wise to restore them. – Kathleen.

I replied to Kathleen and invited her to send the pipes to me in Vancouver. They arrived just before I left for my visit with my Dad in Idaho. Here is what I found when they arrived. There were three Caliches, a Dunhill, and an Ed Burak Connoisseur. The Calich Pipes included a rusticated straight Opera, a bent Rhodesian with an octagonal rim cap and an acrylic stem. The Dunhill was a sandblast Billiard with a repair band on the shank. The Ed Burak Connoisseur was a bent Bulldog. All had rim top damage from being lit with a torch lighter. Some were in worse condition than others. The worst were the Calich Opera and the Dunhill Billiard which had torch damage on the left side of the rim and down the bowl side. The others had varying degrees of burn damage. I set them aside until I returned home from my visit. Here are the photos that Kathleen sent me of the third pipe – a large Bent Bulldog. I took the pipes out of the box and laid the group out on my worktable. I took some photos of the group to show their condition. The photo of the left side of the shank shows the damage I mentioned in the earlier paragraphs. The right-side photo looks very good. The photos from the rim top show a lot of damage and the overall condition of the pipes very clear. After looking through the remaining group of three pipes I decided to work next on the Burak Connoisseur. This one is a smooth Bent Bulldog with a single ring below the rim cap. It is stamped Connoisseur on the left side of the shank. On the right side it is stamped with the signature of Ed Burak in script. The smooth finish Bulldog had a very thick cake in the bowl and there was a lava overflow on the top. There was heavy burn damage under the lava like the other two pipes I have worked on. There was one on the front edge of the bowl toward the front right as well as much heavier burn damage on the left back edge. The bowl was out of round. The finish had a lot of oils and tars built up on the sides and the cap. It was oily and sticky to the touch while I held it. The shank had a thick coat of tars and oils and the stem had a thick tar build up as well so its fit in the shank was very sticky and dirty. The stem is a vulcanite saddle without any stamping on it at all. It was oxidized, calcified and had tooth marks on the stem ahead of the button. There were overflowing tars on the smooth shank end around the fit of the tenon in the mortise. A lot would be revealed once I had cleaned it. I took photos of the pipe before I started my cleanup work. I took a close-up photo of the bowl and rim top to show its condition. The inside of the bowl was heavily caked with a wet oily tobacco. The rim top had damage on the front right in the photo below as well as on the back left. The back left side is the worst as it is quite thin and the bowl is out of round. It left a mess for me to clean up. The stem was also is a mess. There was some tooth marks and dents on the top and underside ahead of the button. There was a thick coat of calcification and oxidation on the stem.I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe showing the shape and flow of the pipe. It is a nice looking pipe that shows a lot of damage from burning. I decided to have a look at the history of the brand. Over the years I have had a few Connoisseur pipes but none of them were stamped like this one with the Ed Burak signature on the left side. I wondered about the stamping. It was my guess that it somehow helped with dating the pipe to a particular time in Ed Burak’s pipe making career but I did not know for sure. I decided that before working on this particular pipe I would do a little research on the brand and the maker on Google. I always check Pipedia to see what they might have on a maker. In this case I was not disappointed. There as a great article on the site. The link to that is: http://pipedia.org/wiki/Burak.

On that site I found not only some history on Ed Burak and the brand. I also found some great information on the site regarding Ed Burak. I quote from that article below. If you should wish to read it in its entirety click on the link noted above. The article is entitled, The Art of Edward F. Burak, Dean of American Pipe Designers.

“Ed Burak is the dean of American pipe designers whose work has had a worldwide influence on the thinking and the work of contemporary pipe makers.”

“…he met and subsequently began working with Meerschaum master Paul Fisher, with whom he stayed 5 years. During that time he produced a small number of Meerschaum pipes, a few of which are still extant in collections. He also worked for Wally Frank as a pipe designer. In 1968 he bought the Connoisseur Pipe Shop, where he was able to concentrate on his own designs. Burak’s pipes have been carved by a number of well-regarded pipe makers, among them Joe Corteggione and Tony Passante. Several of his freehands are in the Museum of Modern Art in New York and have been part of a traveling exhibit of the American Craft Museum.”

“Burak’s work is best known as pipe design as fine art. He admires pays tribute to the classic English designs of the old Barlings and Comoy’s and offers a line of “Classics” which begin with these traditional values yet reflect his own interpretations.”

“Because these pipes are different, so carefully crafted, they not only please the eye, but educate it. Most pipe makers will start with an idea and work the wood toward that goal, but will change their original design to accommodate the briar. Burak does not allow the medium to modify the intent. Minor surface flaws are left on the pipes. No staining is permitted; all Connoisseurs have a natural finish, with only carnauba was added.”

“As a significant footnote, the reader should note that Ed Burak’s pipes are NOT made by Paul Perri, nor Weber, nor Jobey, as erroneously stated in Lopes’s book “Pipes: Artisans and Trademarks.” Burak prefers not to disclose the name of his current pipe carver.”

I also learned on Pipephil’s website, http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/about-en.html that the stamping did indeed give some information that helped in identifying the period that a particular pipe was made. There I found that one may generally separate Connoisseur pipes date of manufacture into three periods.

From late 1960’s until 1974: no stampings
From 1974 until 1981: CONNOISSEUR over N.Y.C.
From 1981 on: CONNOISSEUR over N.Y.C. and Ed Burak’s signature

The pipe I was working on was stamped like the photo below. It had the Connoisseur stamp on the left side and Ed Burak’s signature on the right side. That dated the pipe to the time period from 1981 to the time that the Connoisseur Pipe Shop in Manhattan closed in 2009 on Ed’s retirement.

I did some further searching and foun that on the Puff.com Pipe Forums was a thread on Connoisseur pipes that confirmed how the pipes were finished when they were originally made. http://www.puff.com/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/299824-ed-burak-pipes-man.html. There in the latter part of a post by a member identified as Mr. Rogers was the information that I was seeking confirmation about.

“His premium pipes were like nothing I had seen before. He finished all of his pieces with only wax, no stain. He incorporated blemishes into his designs and made no attempt to hide these flaws with fillers. I frequented the CPS (Connoisseur Pipe Shop) as a high school, college, then grad school student, never really having the funds to purchase his premium pieces. As luck would have it, once I became established in my work/field, the CPS was long gone…”

Now that I had a pretty good idea of when the pipe was made and what the stamping meant, it was time to go to work cleaning up this beauty. I knew that the pipe in hand was made between 1981- 2009. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet Pipe reamer using the first cutting head. I took the cake back to bare briar so that I could check out the inside walls. I used a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to scrape back the remaining cake. I finished my cleanup of the walls by sanding it with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I scraped off the lava buildup on the rim top with the edge of a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I was able to remove the majority of the build up leaving the burn damage very clear.I worked on the internals next. I cleaned out the airway to the bowl, the mortise and the airway in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. When I finished the pipe smelled very clean.I scrubbed the briar with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush and rinsed it off with warm running water. I scrubbed the rim top with a tooth brush and warm running water at the same time. I dried the bowl off with a soft microfiber cloth and gave it a light buffing. I also cleaned out the shank, mortise and airway in the stem and shank with Murphy’s Oil Soap and shank brushes to clean out the oils and tars on the inside. You can see the darkening or burn damage on the top of the rim and the outer edge of the rim cap. I am hoping it is removable. Once it was clean I turned my attention to the rim top. To smooth out the damage on the cap I topped the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the top. I took a photo of the rim top at this point. The burn damage on the back left is very visible and will need to be rebuilt.I rebuilt the back left inner edge up to match the rest with briar dust and clear CA glue. I put a drop of glue on the briar and pressed some briar dust onto the edge with a dental spatula. I carefully topped the repaired rim top with 220 grit sandpaper and took a photo of the rim at this point in the process.I worked over the inner edge of the bowl with a wooden ball/sphere and 200 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge a slight bevel that would help blend in the repair that I had made to the top and inner edge. It began to look much better at this point. I touched up the rim top with a Cherry Stain Pen to match the colour on the bowl. It looked pretty good considering where it started.I sanded the bowl and cap with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to smooth it out and blend in the restained cap. I wiped the bowl down between each pad with a damp cloth. When I finished it wiped it down with a cotton pad and alcohol. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp alcohol cotton makeup pad after each sanding pad. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for ten minutes then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. The stem had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Before I could work on them I needed to remove the oxidation and the calcification on the surface. I scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub on cotton pads to remove them both.Once it was clean, I painted the tooth marks and chatter with the flame of a lighter to try to lift the marks. Many of them were lifted thanks to the memory of vulcanite. I filled in the remaining marks with black super glue and set it aside to dry.Once the repairs cured I used two small files to flatten them and started process of blending them into the surface. I sanded the repairs with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper and they were removed. The surface was smooth. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to smooth out the remaining marks and begin polishing the stem. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a soft cloth. It began to look good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. This is the third of five pipes from Kathleen that I am working on. It is a beautifully shaped Ed Burak Connoisseur Bent Bulldog. It has the kind of beauty I have come to expect from other pipes of Ed’s I have worked on. I put the bowl and stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The smooth finish is well done and the reshaped rim cap look really good with the variegated acrylic stem. This Burak Connoisseur Bent Bulldog was a fun pipe to bring back to life. It is a comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 61 grams/2.12 ounces. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. Once I finish the other three pipes in the lot I will be sending them back to Kathleen for her husband to enjoy once again.

Another Danish Beauty Designed by Sixten Ivarsson

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by Kenneth Lieblich

This wonderful pipe is a Danish Sovereign 64 Freehand with a smooth finish, a plateau rim and a stylized saddle stem. The more I look at this pipe, the more I like it. It is a short and stocky pipe (like an MMA fighter) and it feels strong and rugged (also like an MMA fighter). It feels wonderful in the hand and was clearly a much-loved pipe. It came from the same collection of pipes, here in Vancouver, that my recently restored freehand canted egg came from. Let’s look at the pipe’s markings. On the left side of the shank are the words Danish [over] Sovereign. On the right side of the shank is the number 64 – that’ll be the shape number. On the underside of the shank are the words Made in Denmark. On the left side of the stem are three letters: XXX. These are used to designate Danish Sovereign, specifically. I’m not sure why – there doesn’t appear to be anything smutty about these pipes. Sorry – dad joke. From previous restorations, I learned that ‘Danish Sovereign’ is a sub-brand of the esteemed Danish pipemaker, Stanwell. Pipephil lists Danish Sovereign as such, and also mentions that this brand was marketed specifically for North America.Pipedia equivocates a bit about Danish Sovereign. They list the company under its own name and that the pipes “appear to be Stanwell seconds”. However, the Stanwell page lists it clearly as one of their brands. Pipedia has a good amount of information on the Stanwell brand and its history. I certainly recommend looking it over: https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell.

With the number 64 on the shank, I went to check the list of Stanwell shapes, here on Rebornpipes, and I found a match. Shape 64(a) is listed as “Freehand, Plateau top, saddle mouthpiece, by Sixten Ivarsson”. To further confirm this, here is a page from an old 80s Stanwell catalogue which clearly shows the same shape of pipe with the matching shape number.Anyway, this really is a good-looking pipe. Just a few issues to resolve. The stem was oxidized and calcified, and had some small bite marks. The plateau rim on the stummel was a bit encrusted with lava, but not too bad. The insides were fairly dirty and would need some work to clean out. The main issue with the stummel, however, is a strange mottling of the stain. The last of this series of photos shows an example of the ruined finish. The stem was first on my list. I wiped down the outside of the stem with oil soap on some cotton pads. I also took a BIC lighter and ‘painted’ the stem with its flame in order to lift the bite marks and dents. Unfortunately, this didn’t really work, but I have ways of sorting this out. Then, I cleaned out the insides of the stem with pipe cleaners and 99% isopropyl alcohol.Once this process was done, I used some cleanser and cotton pads to wipe down the stem before throwing it in the pipe stem oxidation remover overnight. The following day, I cleaned all of the de-oxidizing mess and again scrubbed with the cleanser on some cotton pads to remove the leftover oxidation. This worked well.I used some nail polish to restore the letters XXX on the stem. I painted the area carefully and let it fully set before proceeding.Before I moved on to the Micromesh pads, I built up the dents on the stem with cyanoacrylate adhesive and let them fully cure (forgot to photograph this). I sanded the adhesive down with my needle files to meld seamlessly into the stem. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing, from 3,600 on.On to the stummel, and the usual cleaning procedures were in order for this pipe. I used both the KleenReem and some 220-grit sandpaper taped to a dowel to remove the built-up cake and take the bowl down to bare briar. I wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the walls of the bowl. Fortunately, there were none.I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners, and 99% isopropyl alcohol. There was some filth inside this stummel, but it wasn’t too bad. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some dish soap and tube brushes.I then moved on to cleaning the outside of the stummel with oil soap, some cotton pads, a toothbrush, and a wire brush. That removed any latent dirt. However, it didn’t remove the odd, mottled stain. That needed to be sorted out straight away.In order to remove the existing mess, I opted to begin with my grey sanding pads. Those greys start out with more aggression than my Micromesh pads. That aggression was necessary to strip the wood down. I gave the wood a thorough going-over before shifting to the usual Micromesh pads. I was satisfied, as the wood came out smooth, clean, and pale. Now what? Here’s the plan. The grain in this briar was so attractive, that I wanted to make a special effort to emphasize it. I took some black leather dye and coated the stummel with it (excluding the plateau). After applying the dye, flaming it, and letting it set, I wiped those areas down with isopropyl alcohol to remove most of the dye. The goal here was to accentuate the grain with only residual amounts of black dye.The next step was to bring back the lovely rich colour that was always supposed to be there. In similar fashion, I coated everything – bar the plateau – with some light brown dye. Again, after flaming and setting, I wiped everything down with isopropyl alcohol on cotton rounds. I was so pleased with the results – the pipe looks absolutely fantastic.Naturally, I then applied the Before & After Restoration Balm to the stummel and let it sit for 20 minutes or so. There is some beautiful wood on this Danish pipe and I mimed a chef’s kiss in approval. Then it was off for a trip to the bench polisher. I buffed with gusto by applying the finishing touches of white diamond compound and carnauba wax. I had to be especially careful with the bench polisher, since the plateau edge had a tendency to catch on the buffing wheels.

This Danish Sovereign 64 Freehand was a delight from the start and its beauty only increased through the restoration process. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Danish’ pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the Stanwell are as follows: length 4⅞ in. (124 mm); height 2 in. (50 mm); bowl diameter 1⅔ in. (42 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (19 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1⅞ oz. (55 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring the second of 5 pipes for an old pipeman – a Calich Hand Made Grade 11 Rhodesian

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Blog by Steve Laug

Earlier in June I received an email regarding restoring some pipes for her husband. Here is here email.

I have one Calich and one Dunhill pipe which my husband destroyed using a torch lighter on. I am wondering if it is possible to get them restored somehow. If you want to have a look I can send pics.

I wrote and asked for photos of the pipes. She wrote that there were actually 5 pipes not two and included photos of all five. I asked her if she was wanting to sell them or just repair them. Here is her response.

No… I don’t want to sell (yet) he’s 86 and has taken up smoking his pipes again. He was using a torch lighter until I discovered and replaced with proper pipe lighters. For now, I’m wondering if it’s possible or even wise to restore them. – Kathleen.

I replied to Kathleen and invited her to send the pipes to me in Vancouver. They arrived just before I left for my visit with my Dad in Idaho. Here is what I found when they arrived. There were three Caliches, a Dunhill, and an Ed Burak Connoisseur. The Calich Pipes included a rusticated straight Opera, a bent Rhodesian with an octagonal rim cap and an acrylic stem. The Dunhill was a sandblast Billiard with a repair band on the shank. The Ed Burak Connoisseur was a bent Bulldog. All had rim top damage from being lit with a torch lighter. Some were in worse condition than others. The worst were the Calich Opera and the Dunhill Billiard which had torch damage on the left side of the rim and down the bowl side. The others had varying degrees of burn damage. I set them aside until I returned home from my visit. Here are the photos that Kathleen sent me of the second Calich pipe – the Rhodesian with the octagonal rim cap. This morning I took the pipes out of the box and laid the group out on my worktable. I took some photos of the group to show their condition. The photo of the left side of the shank shows the damage I mentioned in the earlier paragraphs. The right-side photo looks very good. The photos from the rim top show a lot of damage and the overall condition of the pipes very clear. After looking through the remaining group of four pipes I decided to work on the second of the Calich pipes. This one is a smooth Rhodesian with an octagonal rim cap. It is stamped CALICH [over] Hand Made [over] 11 and just above that is the number 87. The smooth finish Rhodesian had a very thick cake in the bowl and there was a lava overflow on the top. There was heavy burn damage under the lava on the front edge of the bowl toward the front right as well as much heavier burn damage on the left back edge. The bowl was completely out of round. The finish had a lot of oils and tars built up on the sides and the cap. It was oily and sticky to the touch while I held it. There was some burn damage on the front of the bowl on one of the octagonal panels. The shank had a thick coat of tars and oils and the stem had a thick tar build up as well so its fit in the shank was very sticky and dirty. The stem itself is variegated gold acrylic with a single silver dot on the topside of the saddle. It was dirty and had some deep gouges on the surface of the stem ahead of the button. There were overflowing tars on the smooth shank end around the fit of the tenon in the mortise. A lot would be revealed once I had cleaned it. I took photos of the pipe before I started my cleanup work. I took a close-up photo of the bowl and rim top to show its condition. The inside of the bowl was heavily caked with a wet oily tobacco. The rim top had damage on the front right in the photo below as well as on the back left. The back left side is the worst as it is quite thin and the bowl is out of round. It left a mess for me to clean up. The stem was also is a mess. There was some tooth marks and dents on the top and underside ahead of the button. There was a thick coat of calcification and oxidation on the stem. The silver dot on the stem top was tarnished but very visible.I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe showing the silver dot on the top of the saddle. It is a nice looking pipe that shows a lot of damage from burning. Once again I am including a bit about John Calich the pipemaker as I have loved John Calich’s pipes for over 25 years now and have collected a few of them. I have restored quite a few of them and written blogs about them that can be read if you are interested in seeing the kind of pipes that John made. They are unique and beautiful. Each of his pipes are a work of art to me. I am including the links to the previous blogs that have written about his pipes.

https://rebornpipes.com/2015/03/03/one-of-my-john-calich-pipes-a-calich-ee-billiard/

https://rebornpipes.com/2019/01/23/i-am-the-happy-owner-of-an-unsmoked-pipe-by-the-late-john-calich/

https://rebornpipes.com/2015/03/03/one-of-my-john-calich-pipes-a-calich-ee-billiard/

https://rebornpipes.com/2014/03/21/reflecting-on-my-collection-of-john-calich-pipes/

Each of the blogs reflects on John’s pipes if you want to get a feel for them take a few minutes and read them.

When John was living I spoke with him several times via phone and had him make some new stems for some of his pipes that I picked up off eBay. He was a very kind gentleman and was always helpful when I spoke with him. He was always ready with encouragement and when I needed to know how to do something when I was first learning to repair pipes he was willing to help. He was one of the old guard of Canadian Pipe makers. I miss him. I am including a short piece from Pipedia on John to give details on his work and the grading of his pipes. The second paragraph below is highlighted in blue as it gives some information on the Grade 12 Apple that I am working on with the single silver dot now. I am also including a photo of John Calich, courtesy Doug Valitchka

John Calich was one of Canada’s finest carvers. He died in July 2008. John was a full-time pipe maker for the last 40 years. Calich pipes were mostly traditional shapes. His signature style is rustication and smooth on the same pipe along with his unique skill to stain a pipe in contrasting colors. He used only top-quality Grecian and Calabrian briar. The mouthpieces are hand finished Vulcanite “A”. Each pipe was entirely made by hand. John Calich was featured in the summer 2005 issue of Pipes & Tobacco.

His pipes are graded 3E – 7E. Retail prices range from$ 145.00 to $ 500.00 Each pipe is stamped “CALICH” 3-8E, his earlier pipes were graded from 3-14, and a single, tiny silver dot is applied to the top of the stem (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Calich).

I summarize the dating information from those blogs now: From my research and conversations I learned that John’s his later pipes were graded 3E – 8E. The retail prices for them ranged from $145.00 to $500.00. Each pipe was stamped “CALICH” and given an E grade. His earlier pipes were graded from 3-14 and had a single, tiny silver dot applied to the top of the stem. More information can be found at the Pipedia article above. All of this information told me as expected that the pipe I had was an earlier one.

Armed with the information about John’s grading system I knew that the pipe in hand was an earlier Calich Hand Made Grade 11 made in 1987 and it was time to work on the pipe. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet Pipe reamer using the first cutting head. I took the cake back to bare briar so that I could check out the inside walls. I used a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to scrape back the remaining cake. I finished my cleanup of the walls by sanding it with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I decided to top the burned bowl. I used a topping board to flatten the rim top and remove the damage. I would still need to work on the rim more but I wanted it flat before I did my clean up and scrubbing.I scrubbed the briar with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush and rinsed it off with warm running water. I scrubbed the rim top with a tooth brush and warm running water at the same time. I dried the bowl off with a soft microfiber cloth and gave it a light buffing. I also cleaned out the shank, mortise and airway in the stem and shank with Murphy’s Oil Soap and shank brushes to clean out the oils and tars on the inside. You can see the darkening or burn damage on the front panel of the rim cap in the third photo. I am hoping it is removable. I worked on the internals. I cleaned out the airway to the bowl, the mortise and the airway in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. When I finished the pipe smelled very clean. Once it was clean I turned my attention to the rim top. I cleaned up the inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. There was a damaged divot on the rear left inner edge of the bowl. I filled it in with briar dust and clear CA glue to built it up even with the rest of the edge and the rim top. I topped the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the top. I used a wooden ball and sanded the top edge and inner edge of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper. I gave the top and inner edge a slight bevel. To remove some of the dark marks – both burn and tars/oils, I wiped the front edge of the cap with a mix of Oxalic Acid and water to try to lighten the surface of the briar. While it removed some, it did not work completely.I sanded the bowl and cap with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to smooth it out before I restained the bowl. I wiped the bowl down between each pad with a damp cloth. When I finished it wiped it down with a cotton pad and alcohol. I restained the bowl with a Cordovan Fiebing’s stain and flamed it with a lighter. I repeated the process until I was happy with the coverage on the bowl. I wanted to use a darker stain to hide the burn damage on the inner edge and top of the cap as well as those on the front of the cap. It would be darker but I thought it would work very well. I wiped the stain down with some acetone and cotton pads to remove the excess stain and make the grain stand out more on the surface of the briar. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp alcohol cotton makeup pad after each sanding pad. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for ten minutes then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. The stem had some deep marks from what looked like pliers’ marks on the top and underside just ahead of the button. These marks were rough and very visible. I painted them with the flame of a lighter to try to lift the marks then sanded them out with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper and they were removed. The surface was smooth.I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to smooth out the remaining marks and begin polishing the stem. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a soft cloth. It began to look good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. This is the second of five pipes from Kathleen that I am working on. It is a beautifully shaped John Calich Hand Made Grade 11 Smooth Bent Rhodesian. It has the kind of beauty I have come to expect from John’s pipes. I put the bowl and stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The smooth finish is well done and the reshaped rim cap look really good with the variegated acrylic stem. This Calich Hand Made Bent Rhodesian was a fun pipe to bring back to life. It is a comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 61 grams/2.12 ounces. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. Once I finish the other three pipes in the lot I will be sending them back to Kathleen for her husband to enjoy once again.

Restoring the first of five pipes for an old pipeman – a Calich Hand Made Grade 12 Bent Ball

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Blog by Steve Laug

Earlier in June I received an email regarding restoring some pipes for her husband. Here is here email.

I have one Calich and one Dunhill pipe which my husband destroyed using a torch lighter on. I am wondering if it is possible to get them restored somehow. If you want to have a look I can send pics.

I wrote and asked for photos of the pipes. She wrote that there were actually 5 pipes not two and included photos of all five. I asked her if she was wanting to sell them or just repair them. Here is her response.

No… I don’t want to sell (yet) he’s 86 and has taken up smoking his pipes again. He was using a torch lighter until I discovered and replaced with proper pipe lighters. For now I’m wondering if it’s possible or even wise to restore them. – Kathleen.

I replied to Kathleen and invited her to send the pipes to me in Vancouver. They arrived just before I left for my visit with my Dad in Idaho. Here is what I found when they arrived. There were three Caliches, a Dunhill, and an Ed Burak Connoisseur. The Calich Pipes included a rusticated straight Opera, a bent Rhodesian with an octagonal rim cap and an acrylic stem. The Dunhill was a sandblast Billiard with a repair band on the shank. The Ed Burak Connoisseur was a bent Bulldog. All had rim top damage from being lit with a torch lighter. Some were in worse condition than others. The worst were the Calich Opera and the Dunhill Billiard which had torch damage on the left side of the rim and down the bowl side. The others had varying degrees of burn damage. I set them aside until I returned home from my visit. Here are the photos that Kathleen sent me of the pipe. This morning I took the pipes out of the box and laid the group out on my worktable. I took some photos of the group to show their condition. The photo of the left side of the shank shows the damage I mentioned in the earlier paragraphs. The right-side photo looks very good. The photos from the rim top show a lot of damage and the overall condition of the pipes very clear. After looking through the entire group of five pipes I decided to work on the first of the Calich pipes. This one is a rusticated ball that is stamped CALICH [over] Hand Made [over] 12. It had a smooth rim top, shank end and a rectangle on the left shank side for the stamping. The pipe had a very thick cake in the bowl and there was a lava overflow on the top. There was some burn damage under the lava on the front edge of the bowl toward the front right as well as much heavier damage on the left back edge. The shank had a thick coat of tars and oils and the stem had a thick tar build up as well so its fit in the shank was very sticky and dirty. The stem itself is vulcanite with a single silver dot on the topside just ahead of the bend. It was oxidized and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem just ahead of the button. There were overflowing tars on the smooth shank end around the fit of the tenon in the mortise. The finish was dusty and tired but had some nice grain under the grime and the finish appeared to be in good condition. A lot would be revealed once I had cleaned it. I took photos of the pipe before I started my cleanup work. I took a close-up photo of the bowl and rim top to show its condition. The inside of the bowl was heavily caked with a wet oily tobacco. The rim top had damage on the front right in the photo below as well as on the back left. The back left side is the worst as it is quite thin and the bowl is out of round. It left a mess for me to clean up. The stem was also is a mess. There was some tooth marks and dents on the top and underside ahead of the button. There was a thick coat of calcification and oxidation on the stem. The silver dot on the stem top was tarnished but very visible.I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the silver dot on the stem top.I decided to include a bit about John Calich the pipemaker as I have loved John Calich’s pipes for over 25 years now and have collected a few of them. I have restored quite a few of them and written blogs about them that can be read if you are interested in seeing the kind of pipes that John made. They are unique and beautiful. Each of his pipes are a work of art to me. I am including the links to the previous blogs that have written about his pipes.

https://rebornpipes.com/2015/03/03/one-of-my-john-calich-pipes-a-calich-ee-billiard/

https://rebornpipes.com/2019/01/23/i-am-the-happy-owner-of-an-unsmoked-pipe-by-the-late-john-calich/

https://rebornpipes.com/2015/03/03/one-of-my-john-calich-pipes-a-calich-ee-billiard/

https://rebornpipes.com/2014/03/21/reflecting-on-my-collection-of-john-calich-pipes/

Each of the blogs reflects on John’s pipes if you want to get a feel for them take a few minutes and read them.

When John was living I spoke with him several times via phone and had him make some new stems for some of his pipes that I picked up off eBay. He was a very kind gentleman and was always helpful when I spoke with him. He was always ready with encouragement and when I needed to know how to do something when I was first learning to repair pipes he was willing to help. He was one of the old guard of Canadian Pipe makers. I miss him. I am including a short piece from Pipedia on John to give details on his work and the grading of his pipes. The second paragraph below is highlighted in blue as it gives some information on the Grade 12 Apple that I am working on with the single silver dot now. I am also including a photo of John Calich, courtesy Doug Valitchka

John Calich was one of Canada’s finest carvers. He died in July 2008. John was a full-time pipe maker for the last 40 years. Calich pipes were mostly traditional shapes. His signature style is rustication and smooth on the same pipe along with his unique skill to stain a pipe in contrasting colors. He used only top-quality Grecian and Calabrian briar. The mouthpieces are hand finished Vulcanite “A”. Each pipe was entirely made by hand. John Calich was featured in the summer 2005 issue of Pipes & Tobacco.

His pipes are graded 3E – 7E. Retail prices range from$ 145.00 to $ 500.00 Each pipe is stamped “CALICH” 3-8E, his earlier pipes were graded from 3-14, and a single, tiny silver dot is applied to the top of the stem (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Calich).

I summarize the dating information from those blogs now: From my research and conversations I learned that John’s his later pipes were graded 3E – 8E. The retail prices for them ranged from $145.00 to $500.00. Each pipe was stamped “CALICH” and given an E grade. His earlier pipes were graded from 3-14 and had a single, tiny silver dot applied to the top of the stem. More information can be found at the Pipedia article above. All of this information told me as expected that the pipe I had was an earlier one.

Armed with the information about John’s grading system I knew that the pipe in hand was an earlier Calich Hand Made Grade 12 and it was time to work on the pipe. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet Pipe reamer using the first cutting head. I took the cake back to bare briar so that I could check out the inside walls. I used a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to scrape back the remaining cake. I finished my cleanup of the walls by sanding it with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I worked on the internals. I scraped the inside of the mortise with a dental spatula to remove the hardened tars and oils that lined the walls of the shank. Once I had that done I cleaned out the airway to the bowl, the mortise and the airway in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. When I finished the pipe smelled very clean. I scrubbed the briar with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush and rinsed it off with warm running water. I scrubbed the rim top with a tooth brush and warm running water at the same time. I dried the bowl off with a soft microfiber cloth and gave it a light buffing. I also cleaned out the shank, mortise and airway in the stem and shank with Murphy’s Oil Soap and shank brushes to clean out the oils and tars on the inside. Once it was clean I turned my attention to the rim top. I cleaned up the inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I topped the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper on a topping board to give a the rim top a smooth surface. I then used a wooden ball and sanded the top edge and inner edge of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper. I gave the top and inner edge a slight bevel. I touched up the sanded rim top with a Cherry stain pen. The match on the rim with the shank end and shank end is perfect. Once it is polished it will be perfect. I polished the smooth rim top with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad.I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for ten minutes then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I wiped down the stem surface with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the oxidation and grime on the surface. Once I finished it looked significantly better.I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to break up the remaining oxidation. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a soft cloth. It began to look good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. This is the first of five pipes from Kathleen that I am working on. It is a beautifully shaped John Calich Hand Made Grade 12 Rusticated Ball. It has the kind of beauty I have come to expect from John’s pipes with a smooth rim top and shank end. I put the bowl and stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The rusticated finish is well done and the polished smooth finish on the shank end and rim top look really good with the black vulcanite stem. This Calich Hand Made Bent Ball was a fun pipe to bring back to life. It is a comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 54 grams/1.94 ounces. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. Once I finish the other four pipes in the lot I will be sending them back to Kathleen for her husband to enjoy.

Bringing a Dunhill Tanshell 59 Billiard Back to Its Best

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By Kenneth Lieblich

Dunhill is a name that inspires awe and warms the cockles of the hearts of many pipe smokers worldwide. Today, I am pleased to show the restoration of a wonderful tanshell briar. I acquired it in an auction last year. Other than that, I don’t know much of its provenance. Its colour and cragginess are very handsome, and I have no doubt that it was a much-loved pipe. I instinctively have a certain reverence for Dunhill pipes, and I am especially keen to restore this one so that the next pipe smoker can enjoy it. As I mentioned, this is a Dunhill Tanshell and the markings confirm this. It is a beautiful, classic billiard shape. Pleasingly, those markings are very clear and well-cut on the bottom of the shank. On the left-hand side is the model number, 59. Immediately to the right of this is Dunhill [over] Tanshell. Then, to the right of that, is Made in [over] England12. To the right of that is an encircled 4, followed by a T. Finally, the stem, of course, has the iconic white spot of Alfred Dunhill’s company. Here is a photo of Alfred, followed by the markings. Let’s have a closer look at what all of these markings mean. The model number 59 is one of the classic Dunhill shapes – that number first appeared all the way back in 1928. The page on Pipedia about Dunhill shapes says this:

The original skus/model numbers from the 1920’s until the early 1970’s stood for very specific shapes and bowls. For example, the codes 31, 34, 59, 111, 113, 117, 196, LB, LBS… were all different types of Billiard shaped pipes and there were about 50(!), such codes for the Billiard shape alone.Let’s have a closer look at what all of these markings mean. The model number 59 is one of the classic Dunhill shapes – that number first appeared all the way back in 1928. The page on Pipedia about Dunhill shapes says this:

The original skus/model numbers from the 1920’s until the early 1970’s stood for very specific shapes and bowls. For example, the codes 31, 34, 59, 111, 113, 117, 196, LB, LBS… were all different types of Billiard shaped pipes and there were about 50(!), such codes for the Billiard shape alone.Furthermore, John Loring’s fine book, The Dunhill Briar Pipe: The Patent Years and After, says this about the Tanshell:

The TanShell was Dunhill’s fourth finish and its first major post-war line addition. Introduced in 1951/1952 the TanShell was a naturally stained sandblasted pipe made exclusively from Sardinian briar through the 1960s. The TanShell apparently was not simply a light stained Shell but rather was also the product of “certain processes [unrevealed] not previously employed.” Initially, it appears that the pipe was to be named the Root Shell and a stamp to that effect was ordered and received by Dunhill in May 1951. Ultimately, however, the name TanShell was settled upon but the stamp for the TanShell name was not received by Dunhill until the beginning of December. Thus while the Tanshell was in production in 1951 it appears that most if not all TanShells made in that year did not enter into retail distribution until 1952 and were given a 1952 date code.The markings Made in [over] England12 give us an indication of when this pipe was manufactured. The number is the date suffix and provides us the information we need to figure out the date. I already knew the answer, but allow me to walk you through the process. I went to Pipephil’s Dunhill Dating Key (which you can find here) and I have reproduced (below) the two charts they use to date Dunhills. In the first image below, we are asked if our pipe has a date suffix. It does, so we follow the arrow and the chart asks if our pipe has a patent number. It does not, so we proceed. Then we are asked if our pipe reads Dunhill [over] London – again, it does not. As a result, we know that our pipe dates from after 1954.On to the second chart – and it is much more straightforward. The chart asks for the digits in our date suffix. In our case, it is 1 and an offset 2, so we know that the date of our pipe is the result of simple addition: 1960 + 1 = 1961 and the 2 identifies the date of sale for the Dunhill guarantee. Now we know that the year of manufacture is 1961! (thanks for the help Al). Is this your birth year? If so, have I got a pipe for you!Next, the encircled 4 and the capital T. This tells us about the size and finish of the pipe. Pipedia says:

The encircled group number indicates the size of the bowl (1, for example, is the smaller bowl). It is usually followed by a letter corresponding to the pipe finish. This number/letter code has been introduced about 1950 and was discontinued about 1976 replaced by a 4 or 5 digits code. They were reintroduced in March 2012, but only for commemorative versions.

In this case, the 4 indicates a medium/large size bowl and the T naturally refers to Tanshell.Finally, the white spot. Have you ever wondered about it? Well, very briefly, here is the origin of the famous white spot (from Pipedia):

In 1912, the famous white spot was introduced for very practical concerns. With straight pipes, customers had trouble knowing which way to insert the handmade vulcanite mouthpieces. So Alfred Dunhill ordered white spots to be placed on the upper side of the stem. This very practical solution would become a definitive trademark of Dunhill pipes. The “white spot” soon became known as a symbol of quality.

Now let’s get on with restoring this beautiful pipe!

This pipe was in generally good condition – nothing outstanding and no significant damage. As you can see, the stem had the usual wear-and-tear – some scratches, tooth dents, etc. There was some calcification, but not much oxidation. Meanwhile, the stummel was in lovely condition, but a bit dirty. The shank was dark and the bowl had lots of cake and lava. The sandblast looked rich and beautiful. I began by making an attempt at lifting some of those tooth marks. I “painted” the stem with the flame of a lighter – this can sometimes raise the vulcanite back into place. There was definitely progress, but I would need to repair the more significant dents.I wiped the stem with oil soap on some cotton pads. There was calcification there and I needed to remove it. Meanwhile, the stem was pretty dirty inside. I cleaned out the inside with various pipe cleaners and 99% isopropyl alcohol. There was quite a pile afterwards. I then wiped down the stem with cleanser to remove some surface oxidation. Once this process was done, the stem went for an overnight soak in the oxidation remover. As the name suggests, this liquid removes oxidation, but, more than anything, it helps draw oxidation to the surface of the vulcanite. This allows me to clean the oxidation off in a couple of ways: both by applying a mild abrasive cleaner to the surface, then by sanding the stem. The following day, I cleaned all of the de-oxidizing mess off with alcohol, pipe cleaners, et cetera. The oxidation had migrated to the surface and would be fairly straightforward to remove. I scrubbed with the cleanser again on some cotton pads to remove the leftover oxidation.Next step was to address the remaining tooth marks. I filled those dents with some black cyanoacrylate adhesive that is infused with carbon and rubber. This makes a better repair than regular CA glue, as it more closely mimics the original material. When the adhesive was cured, I used my needle files to remove the excess and bring it down to the level of the vulcanite.Then I used a set of nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) which gradually erased the ravages of time and brought out the stem’s lovely black lustre. For the last five pads, I also lightly coated the stem with Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each scrubbing. At last, I set the finished stem aside. Off to work on the stummel! The outside looked very well cared-for. No notable damage and the blast maintained its great appeal. Alas, the rim had plenty of lava, but first things first. The bowl needed a thorough reaming, so I used the KleenReem to scrape off the built-up cake and I followed that with 220-grit sandpaper taped to a dowel to eliminate as much as possible. Generally, I prefer to sand the chamber down to bare briar. When restoring, it is important to ensure that there is no damage to the briar in the bowl, under the cake. I was pleased to see that the walls were sound.Next up, I needed to clean the shank and bowl thoroughly. I proceeded to use Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and 99% isopropyl alcohol. Holy moly – this was a dirtier pipe than I had initially anticipated. There was quite a pile of Q-tips and pipe cleaners left behind.Then, to further clean the inside of the pipe, I opted to “de-ghost” the pipe. I put some cotton balls in the bowl and in the shank, and then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let that sit overnight to exorcize any evil spirits (i.e. bad smells and oils) from the old pipe.Time to deal with that rim. I gently scraped as much debris as I could with a piece of machine metal. However, given the craggy blast, that only worked so well. I moved on to cotton rounds and some oil soap to clean the outside of the stummel and a toothbrush with oil soap for the lava on the rim of the pipe. This worked a treat. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some Castile soap and tube brushes. At this point, I rubbed some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and left it to sit for 15 minutes or so. I brushed it with a horsehair brush and buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The balm does wonderful things to the wood, and I really like the sheen on the sandblast. Then it was off for a trip to the bench polisher. A few coats of conservator’s wax (from Lee Valley) were just what this pipe needed. Boy – that wax really makes this pipe pop! The lovely shine made the wood look absolutely beautiful. The sandblast looks fantastic and is ready to be enjoyed again by the next owner.

I thoroughly enjoyed bringing this Dunhill Tanshell 59 Billiard back to life and I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the “British” pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the Dunhill are as follows: length 5⅜ in. (137 mm); height 1⅞ in. (46 mm); bowl diameter 1¼ in. (33 mm); chamber diameter ⅔ in. (18 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1¼ oz. (36 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring a Gorgeous Danish Freehand Canted Egg

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by Kenneth Lieblich

Wow – this is one breathtaking pipe. I acquired this beauty from a kind lady in the Vancouver area who sold me her late husband’s pipes. He had good and modest taste, and I immediately took a liking to this pipe. The combination of smooth and sandblasted briar is very attractive and the blast itself is really craggy and wonderful. The restoration was good fun too. This is a Royal Guard 535M freehand canted egg – or, at least, that’s what I’m going to call it. I learned from previous research that “Royal Guard” is a Stanwell sub-brand (in this case). I believe there was also a full Stanwell line called Royal Guard too, but that’s a topic for another time. It’s all a bit confusing, but this pipe is definitely of the sub-brand variety. As is typical of Stanwell sub-brands, the quality is immaculate and it’s not at all obvious why this wasn’t a full-blown Stanwell. This canted egg is a very attractive shape and it really makes an impression. It has beautiful, partially-sandblasted briar from the bowl and down the shank to the vulcanite shank extension. It also has a lovely flared push stem. The underside of the shank reads 535M [over] Royal Guard [over] Made in Denmark and, on the stem, the letters RG, indicating the Royal Guard make. Both Pipedia and Pipephil list Royal Guard as being a Stanwell sub-brand or second (and not much else), as per the photo below.I did some searching for that “535M” shape number, but came up empty. Stanwell does not have a 535 shape number. Sometimes a digit can be added to a shape number, but the Stanwell 35 shape does not correspond to this pipe at all. I learned that some of the Stanwell sub-brands used the Stanwell shape numbers and some used their own. Apparently, Royal Guard uses their own. Meanwhile, Pipedia has a good amount of information on the Stanwell brand and its history. I certainly recommend looking it over: https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell.

Anyway, this really is a good-looking pipe. No major issues to resolve – just a few minor ones. The stem was a bit dirty, and had some small dents. There was also some oxidation on the vulcanite. The rim on the stummel was a bit blackened, but not seriously. The insides were dirty and would need some work to clean out. The stem was first on my list. I wiped down the outside of the stem with oil soap on some cotton pads. I also took a BIC lighter and ‘painted’ the stem with its flame in order to lift the bite marks and dents. This worked reasonably well, but I would still need to sort out the dents. Then, I cleaned out the insides of the stem with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. Once this process was done, I used some cleanser and cotton pads to wipe down the stem before throwing it in the oxidation remover overnight. The following day, I cleaned all of the de-oxidizing mess and again scrubbed with the cleanser on some cotton pads to remove the leftover oxidation. This worked well. I used some nail polish to restore the letters “RG” on the stem. I painted the area carefully and let it fully set before proceeding.Before I moved on to the Micromesh pads, I built up the dents on the stem with black, carbon-and-rubber-infused cyanoacrylate adhesive and let them fully cure.I sanded the adhesive down with my needle files to meld seamlessly into the stem. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used pipe stem oil in between each pad scrubbing (from 3600 on up). I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners, and isopropyl alcohol. There was some filth inside this stummel, but it wasn’t too bad. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some dish soap and tube brushes.I decided to de-ghost the pipe, so I thrust cotton balls into the bowl and the shank and saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused any remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton. The bowl was nice and clean after this.At this point, I turned my attention to the vulcanite shank extension. This, like the stem, needed to be cleaned and deoxidized. However, I did not want to soak the whole shank in the deox fluid. Similarly, I couldn’t risk getting any of the powerful cleanser on the beautiful briar. So, I took some clear hockey tape and carefully, precisely masked the briar with it, as protection. I then proceeded to clean the vulcanite safely with the cleanser. I’m glad I did – boy, was it dirty!I then moved on to cleaning the outside of the stummel with oil soap, some cotton pads, and a toothbrush. That removed any latent dirt hidden in the lovely recesses of the sandblast.As I mentioned earlier, there were some very minor burn marks on the rim of the stummel that also needed to be addressed. Fortunately, I was able to resolve this by gently sanding the interior rim edge to remove any remnants that remained. This worked perfectly and didn’t affect the pipe at all. Since this was a partial sandblast, I only needed to use the Micromesh pads on the smooth sections near the rim and shank. Of course, I also sanded the vulcanite shank extension and, like the stem, I used pipe stem oil on it. A light application of Before & After Restoration Balm brought out the best in the stummel. The balm does wonderful things to the wood and really emphasizes how beautiful this pipe is. I’m going to be sorry to see it go.


I took the pipe to my bench polisher and gave it a thorough going-over with my buffing compound and carnauba wax. This pipe was a delight from the start and its beauty only increased through the restoration process. This Royal Guard 535M freehand canted egg is elegant, light, and incredibly comfortable to hold. Finally, I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Danish’ pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5½ in. (142 mm); height 2⅛ in. (54 mm); bowl diameter 1½ in. (39 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (19 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1⅜ oz. (41 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

New Life for a NOS French Churchwarden

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by Kenneth Lieblich

Next up is a charming apple churchwarden that I found in one of my bins and it piqued my interest. It’s got the typical shape and feel of a regular churchwarden, but this one is a bit smaller – and perhaps a bit more manageable. It’s hard to know how old this one is, but it feels old and it has certainly seen better days. I’m looking forward to this one.

Frankly, this one didn’t look like it had been smoked at all. It was certainly filthy, but that seemed to be from questionable storage rather than smoking. The only markings were on the left side of the shank: Bruyère [over] Garantie which translates to ‘Genuine Briar’. The words Bruyère Garantie on a pipe are the bane of my pipe restoration existence. They are found on a plethora of different pipes, usually without any other identification. Ugh. One comment on the old Pipes Magazine forums confirms exactly what my meagre research has uncovered:

“Lots of French and German pipes, even pre-war ones, were given the label “Bruyere Garantie.” At least the ones I’ve seen for sale were listed as being from the 1920s and 30s. But I suspect that is a genuine date for those because many of them had horn stems, which are much rarer in post-war pipes and some of them definitely had an Art Deco/Art Nouveau look about them as well as old-fashioned rounded buttons.” — pitchforkThis pipe doesn’t have the old orific button, but it might date from just after that time period. Anyway, time to get to work! I started by sending the stinger for a soak in some lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. I let it sit for several hours, cleaned it off and gave it a quick polish. Good as new!The shank had a lovely, thin band around it – but it was quite encrusted. I removed it, looked closer, and saw that there was rust! Interesting – the band must have some iron in it. I dropped the band in a little plastic bowl of plain white vinegar and let it soak overnight. I scrubbed with some 0000-grit steel wool and that worked a treat. Gave it a quick polish with my Micromesh pads and it looked good as new.Next, I went to work on the long stem. It appears to be acrylic – definitely not vulcanite. I gave it a good wipe-down with some soap on cotton rounds and that helped. As mentioned earlier, I don’t think this pipe was smoked and, though I can’t be sure about that, the stem’s insides had dust-type filth rather than tobacco debris. Regardless, I cleaned it out with pipe cleaners and 99% isopropyl alcohol. It wasn’t too dirty.Fortunately, the stem was in good enough shape that it didn’t show any tooth marks/dents. So, I skipped the cyanoacrylate treatments and jumped straight to the Micromesh pads. I used all nine pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing (from 3,600 onward).Now for the stummel. As the photos show, the finish on the wood has crackled and/or degraded somewhat over the years. It looks terrible and I’ll have to address that. First, I decided to ream out the bowl – but there wasn’t anything to ream! This is another clue that suggests an unsmoked pipe. It was certainly dusty inside – very. I cleaned out the insides with pipe cleaners and 99% isopropyl alcohol. I also cleaned the insides with some soap and tube brushes. It was nice and clean after this.Now to deal with the finish on the stummel. I grabbed some Murphy’s and rubbed the surface to clean things up. This did precious little. Since there was a fill that also needed to be fixed under this finish, I took some acetone and thoroughly cleaned the surface – that was the best decision I made! The pipe looked so much better with the old finish removed. There was actually some very nice wood under there.I examined the nicks in the briar. I took my iron and a damp cloth to try to raise them. The hot and moist steam can often cause the wood to swell slightly and return to shape. This worked well – I was pleased with the results. However, some lumps and bumps remained on the rim and a big fill to boot. In order to safely remove the marks on the rim, I “topped” the pipe – that is to say, I gently and evenly sanded down the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. This effectively removed the damage, without altering the look of the pipe. Then, I made a mix of cyanoacrylate and briar dust and filled the fill. I sanded the repair down with 400-grit sandpaper, then proceeded to use the Micromesh pads over the whole thing. Oh boy, it really looked good. I glued the band back on the shank and applied some Before & After Restoration Balm. I let it sit for 20 minutes or so. It does lovely things to the wood. I polished it with a microfibre cloth and it shone. Wow – the pipe really looks lovely.

Off to the bench polisher I went. I applied some White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax and they added the finishing touch. This old Bruyere Garantie churchwarden was in need of a new lease on life. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the “French” pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 7⅜ in. (185 mm); height 1⅛ in. (28 mm); bowl diameter 1¼ in. (32 mm); chamber diameter ⅔ in. (15 mm). The weight of the pipe is ¾ oz. (23 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring a Bari Ruby Made in Denmark 8042 Rhodesian

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By Steve Laug

The next pipe on the worktable is a Danish made pipe from the workshop of Viggo Nielsen. It is a great looking long shank ¼ Bent Rhodesian. The pipe came to us from eBay on 01/22/2024 from a seller in Jordan, Minnesota, USA. It has great grain around the bowl and shank with some small fills on the bowl and the shank that are a bit swollen. The pipe is stamped on the left side and clearly reads BARI [over] Ruby and on the right side it reads Made in Denmark [over] 8042. The finish was dirty with dust and grime ground into the briar but great grain still shone through. The pipe is very dirty with a thick cake in the bowl and lava on the rim top. The rim top is thin and looks like the bowl might be slightly out of round but it was hard to know what was under the lava coat on the top and edges. There was a coat of varnish on the bowl that was spotty and uneven. The vulcanite taper stem was oxidized and dirty and had some light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took these photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the rim and bowl to show the condition of the bowl and rim top. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and a thick coat of lava on the rim top. He also took photos of the stem surfaces to show its overall condition when it arrived. It was oxidized and dirty and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the grain showing through the finish around the bowl and shank sides. The rich reddish stain adds depth to the finish. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It was clear and readable as noted above. He also took a photo of the BARI stamp on the left side of the stem. Before I started working on it I did a bit of research on the brand to remind myself of the maker. I have worked on quite a few Bari’s in the past so rather than rework all of that I am including the information I found while working on a Bari Special Handcut Made in Denmark Dublin Freehand (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/07/22/cleaning-up-a-danish-made-bari-special-handcut-b-dublin-freehand/). I quote below from that blog.

I quoted a section from Pipedia on Bari pipes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Bari). It is good to be reminded of the fact that Viggo Nielsen was the pipe maker.

Pipedia states that Bari Piber was founded by Viggo Nielsen in Kolding, Denmark around the turn of 1950/51. His sons Kai and Jørgen both grew into their father’s business from a very young age and worked there till 1975. Both have become successful pipe makers.

Bari successfully adapted the new Danish design that had been started mainly by Stanwell for its own models. Bari was sold in 1978 to Van Eicken Tobaccos in Hamburg, Germany though the pipes were still made in Denmark. From 1978 to 1993 Åge Bogelund and Helmer Thomsen headed Bari’s pipe production.

Helmer Thomson bought the company in 1993 re-naming it to “Bari Piber Helmer Thomsen”. The workshop moved to more convenient buildings in Vejen. Bogelund, who created very respectable freehands of his own during the time at Bari got lost somehow after 1993. Bari’s basic conception fundamentally stayed the same for decades: series pipes pre-worked by machines and carefully finished by hand – thus no spectacular highgrades but solid, reliable every day’s companions were what they turned out. The most famous series are the smooth “Classic Diamond” and the blasted “Wiking”.

I did a quick look at Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-b1.html) and did a screen capture of the section on Bari pipes.Now that I was reminded about the Viggo Nielsen connection it was time to work on the pipe on my end. Jeff had done a great clean up of the pipe. He had reamed it with a PipNet reamer and took the cake back to bare briar. He cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and a shank brush. He cleaned the exterior of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and the lava on the rim top. There were several fills on the bowl and the shank that were swollen and needed to sanded smooth. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the debris that had accumulated on it. The stem was soaked in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and then rinsed clean. The pipe looked clean and ready for the next step in the process. Here are some photos of it when I brought it to the table. I took photos of the rim top and the top and underside of the stem. You can see the clean bowl and rim top. The rim top showed some light damage on the top and the inner edge of the bowl. The inner edge was slightly out of round with nicks in the briar. The stem has light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. It is a nice looking pipe.The next photos show the stamping on the left and right sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. The Bari stamp on the left side of the stem is visible in the first photo below. I also took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the pipe to show its parts. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the damage on the rim top and the inner edge with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It looked much better once finished.To remove the damaged and spotty varnish coat I wiped the bowl down with alcohol on cotton pads. I was able to remove the spotty coat and the briar looked much better. The fills showed clearly on the shank the bowl. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I worked over the damaged fills at the same time. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It really began to take on a shine. I rubbed the bowl down with some Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, renew and protect briar. I let it do its work for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a soft cloth. The pipe is really quite a beauty. I set the bowl aside and I polished the stem on both sides using micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded the stem with the 1500-12000 grit pads, then wiped it down with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After stem polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. This is another pipe I am excited to finish. It is a beautiful Bari Ruby Made in Denmark Bent Rhodesian. I put the pipe back together and buffed it lightly with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished stem with the golden acrylic spacer. It really was a beautiful pipe. The sandblasted grain shining through the rich browns/black stain on this Bari Ruby Bent Rhodesian is nice looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.66 ounces/47 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be on the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipe Makers Section soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the cleanup with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring and Repairing a Larsen Copenhagen Handmade Made in Denmark Rustica

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By Steve Laug

The next pipe on the worktable is a Danish made pipe from the workshop W.O. Larsen. It is a combination of rustication and smooth portions and a horn shank extension. The bowl is a classic Danish looking Canadian. The pipe came to us from eBay on 01/22/2024 from a seller in Jordan, Minnesota, USA.  The pipe is very dirty with a thick cake in the bowl and lava on the rim top. The rim edge looks like it might be slightly out of round but it was hard to know what was under the lava coat on the top and edges. It is stamped on the underside of the bowl and shank on a smooth panel. It reads Larsen [over] Copenhagen [over] Handmade [over] Made in Denmark. On the top side it is stamped Rustica. The finish was dusty and there were oils and grime ground into the rusticated and the smooth finish around the sides of the bowl. The horn shank extension had a metal insert to protect it from cracked and a tube inside connecting the extension to the shank. The stem fit well and was oxidized and dirty with tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Jeff took a photo of the rim top to show the thick build up of lava on the rim top. It is also built up on the inner edge of the bowl. The thick cake in the bowl is very visible. He captured the oxidation and tooth marks on both sides of the stem ahead of the button as well. He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to show the combined smooth and rusticated finish on the pipe. It is a unique finish that really gives depth to the rustication and shows the grain in the smooth portions. He took two photos to capture the stamping top and underside of the shank just ahead of the horn extension. Each one moves down the shank to the horn shank extension. It is clear and readable as noted above. You can also see that the horn extension is loose from the shank end.Once the stem was removed the shank extension came off in his hand. He took a photo of the parts.I turned to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-l2.html) to get a quick view of the brand once again. I did a screen capture of the site’s information and have included that below. The pipe I am working on is a Larsen as it is stamped similarly to the ones in the photos. It is interestingly stamped with a lot more detail than any of the ones shown in the screen capture below.I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/W.%C3%98._Larsen) for a quick read. The site is worth reading the history of the shop and the brand and its influence on Danish pipe carving. There was no additional information on the unique stamping on this pipe.

What I learned from the research is that the pipe is a Larsen made pipe that could have been designed by W.O Larsen himself or at least one of the shop carvers. It is a beauty that uses a unique finish to give definition to the shape. It is very similar to a previous Larsen that I restemmed and repaired (https://rebornpipes.com/2024/06/09/argggh-sometimes-the-easiest-restoration-becomes-a-real-nightmare/).

With that information I moved forward to work on the pipe itself and see what I had to do with it. Jeff had done an amazing job in removing all of the cake and the lava on the sand blast rim top. He had reamed the bowl with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He took the cake back to bare briar so we could check the walls for damage. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime on the bowl and rim and was able to remove the lava and dirt. The finish on the bowl and rim top looked very good showing a unique and beautiful combination of smooth and rusticated finishes. He cleaned out the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until they came out clean. He cleaned the stem with Soft Scrub on the outside and alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs on the inside. He soaked it in Briarville’s stem deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. It certainly looked better when it arrived.  I took photos of the pipe before I started my part of the restoration.  I took some close up photos of the rim top showing the inner edge of the bowl – damages and nicks in the edge. I took photos of the stem to try and capture the tooth marks but they are hard to see in the photos.I took photos of the stamping on the top and underside of the shank to show the condition after the cleanup. This stamping is clearer than the photos show. I took a photo of the bowl with the stem next to it to show the overall look of the pipe. I decided to start my work on this pipe by regluing the horn shank extension to the briar. I have used different types of glue in the past but I have gone back to using Weld Bond all purpose glue. It gives me lots of time to fine tune the fit to the shank. Once I have it in place I push the parts together to squeeze out the excess glue and let it start to cure. I wiped down the excess glue on the briar and horn and set it aside to cure over night. Once the repair cured I went on to address the chipping and marks on the inner edge of the rim. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage. I gave the rim a very subtle bevel and the damage disappeared.I polished the briar and the horn shank extension with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the smooth and the rusticated finish of the bowl, rim top and shank with my fingertips and a shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I find that the balm really makes the briar come alive again. The contrasts in the layers of stain and the contrasting finish really made the grain stand out. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth and shoe brush to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. This Larsen Copenhagen Handmade Rustica Canadian is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The shape is elegant and flowing with a thin, fitted taper vulcanite stem. I put the stem on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the rusticated parts of the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the smooth portions and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Larsen Copenhagen Rustica Canadian fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 7 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.98 ounces/56 grams. I will be putting it on the Danish Pipe Maker Section of the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Fresh Life for a Mastercraft Standard Calabash with a Bakelite Bowl

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By Steve Laug

I don’t know what it is but there is something about these Campaign style pipes that captures my eye and my imagination. They are really quite ugly in terms of aesthetics so it can’t be that so I am not sure. It is basically a briar calabash pipe with a Bakelite bowl. I have had a few over the years so I know that they smoke very cool much like a gourd calabash. The bowl is screwed into the briar base with threads on both. The entrance of the airway is at the top of the bowl so the entire briar bowl is a cooling chamber to allow the settling of tars, oil and debris from the smoke before it rises to be drawn into the stem and your mouth. This pipe came to us on 12/07/2023 from a seller in Milwaukee, Oregon, USA. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Mastercraft [over] Standard in the Mastercraft logo shield. On the right side it reads IMPORTED BRIAR with the letter I missing on the shank end. There is no other stamping on the bowl, the insert or the vulcanite stem. The externals of the bowl and stem are quite dirty with oils and tars ground into the briar and light oxidation and chatter on the stem surface. The Bakelite bowl insert has a heavy cake in it with some lava on the rim top. The pipe was obviously someone’s favourite. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started to clean it up. I have included them below. Jeff took close-up photos of the bowl and rim top to show its condition. The bowl had a thick cake on the walls of the Bakelite and some lava overflow on the rim top. The edges looked very good at this point under the lava. The stem was lightly oxidized and showed some tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the condition of the bowl at this point. It was dirty as can be seen. There appear to also be a few small fills on the right side of the bowl near the top. It will be interesting to see how well this cleans up.He took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. You can see that it is clear and readable as noted bove. You can also see the letter “I” is missing on the right side of the shank. It probably was stamped in the gap between the stem and the shank.Jeff unscrewed the Bakelite bowl from the briar bowl and took photos. You can see the rubber gasket at the top of the inside of the Bakelite cap. You can also see the three holes in the bottom of the Bakelite cup. This kind of Briar Calabash has been made by many companies – WDC, Kaywoodie, Mastercraft, Dunhill and others. They have come out with different names. They have been branded as Campaign pipes, Captain Warren pipes, Lyon Pipes, the General Dawes pipes and other names. Obviously, the concept of the inserted bowl is quite popular and has been around for a long time. The bowl insert has been made of different things in various pipes – the bowls could be meerschaum, briar or as in this case Bakelite. It really is a true calabash that acts to filter out tars, oils and debris and deliver a smooth smoke.

I have restored several of them over the years and always enjoyed working on them. They are also some good smoking pipes. Here are some links to a few of the pipes I have worked on over the years.

https://rebornpipes.com/2017/07/02/loving-the-old-wdc-campaign-pipe/

https://rebornpipes.com/2018/02/03/61583/

https://rebornpipes.com/2021/04/04/resurrecting-a-briar-wdc-campaign-pipe/

I found an excellent article on Pipedia on the Campaign style of pipes and two particular brands that were issued. It has some great history on the General Dawes and the Captain Warren pipes and the men behind them both. Give the article a read and take time to take a trip back in time. (https://pipedia.org/wiki/The_General_and_the_Captain:_Two_Period_Pipes_of_the_Early_Twentieth_Century).

The pipe I am working on is a little different than these because of the Bakelite Bowl that screws into the briar bowl. The others above were typically briar bowls and even a meerschaum bowl occasionally but I had not seen one of these with a Bakelite cup. It was now time to do my part of the work on the pipe.

Jeff reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish on the bowl looked really good when I got it. The rim top and edges looked very good. He soaked the twin bore stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer bath to remove the oxidation. The stem looked better and the deep tooth marks and chatter on the surface were also visible. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked much better than when he found it. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took photos of the condition of the rim top and stem before I started working. The rim top looks very good and the bowl is spotless. The stem is much better but still shows some oxidation and tooth chatter and deep marks on both sides near the button.   I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping was clear and readable as noted above.I took the bowl and stem apart and took a photo of the pipe to show the look of the pipe. The first one shows the bowl unscrewed and the threads on both. The other photos show the parts with the stem removed.Now it was my turn to work on the pipe. The bowl was in very good condition so I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the finish of the bowl, rim top and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I find that the balm really makes the briar come alive again. The contrasts in the layers of stain really made the grain stand out. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The bowl really looks good at this point. I polished the Bakelite cup top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the rim top down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. It really took on a shine. I wiped the threads down on both the cup insert and the briar bowl with Vaseline. I rubbed it deep into the threads of the briar and on the threads of the insert. I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry. This Mastercraft Standard Calabash with a Bakelite Bowl Cup and a vulcanite taper stem has a beautiful, uniquely grained outer bowl that houses the threaded Bakelite cup. The polished vulcanite taper stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Mastercraft Standard Calabash is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.45 ounces/41 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store in the American Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for your time.