Tag Archives: Bowl – finishing

Londoner London England Bent Cherrywood BB&S 6969

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is large smooth finished Bent Poker/Cherrywood. We purchased it from an Antique Store in Missoula, Montana, USA on 07/25/2023. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Londoner [over] London England. On the right side of the shank it is stamped BB&S 6969. On the left side of the saddle stem it is stamped BB&S which stands for Bill Barling & Sons. The rim was in good condition other than a lot of lava in the finish overflowing from the thick cake in the bowl. There were oils and grime ground into the bowl sides gives the finish a flat look. The stem is oxidized and calcified. It had light tooth marks on both the top and underside of the stem just ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. I have included them below. He took photos of the rim top to show the cake and the dust on the top. It is another dirty pipe. He also captured the light tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain around the bowl and the amount of grime ground into the surface of the briar.   He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and quite readable. The BB&S stamp on the left side of the saddle stem was also readable. I remembered that Dal had written about a BB&S Challenger he had restored on the Pipesteward blog so I looked it up to see what he had learned about the  brand when he had worked on it and written his blog. Here is the link (https://thepipesteward.com/2022/07/13/renewing-a-barling-bbs-challenger-london-england-5589-billiard/). Here is a photo of the BB&S Challenger that he worked on finished and looking good. I am using his research on the brand and the stamping and have included it below. Thank you Dal for your work and the time it saved me in redoing it! He wrote:

BB&S is noted in Pipedia with this brief entry (https://pipedia.org/wiki/BB%26S).

BB&S, which stood for Bill Barling & Sons, was a transition era Barling sub-brand. Among their lines were the Challenger, Rallye and Londoner. For more information see Barling.

He then turned to the section on Barling:

The history of the Barling name goes back to the 1700s when the Barling name was associated with silversmiths in England.  Benjamin Barling, according to the Pipedia Barling article, applied the silversmith trade to “outfitting meerschaum bowls with exquisite silver mountings.”  The founding of the B. Barling and Sons followed in 1812.  The Barling history is full as it developed and grew through the 1800s and into the 1900s.  The family-owned business continued until October 3, 1960, when the business was sold to the largest client of the Barlings, Finley.  The Pipedia article drills in more detail describing and defining the ‘eras’ of the Barling name.  Here is what is said about the eras, but the author makes the disclaimer that it’s not as straightforward as it appears:

Pre-Transition: 1812 (or 1815) thru October 3rd, 1960.
On that date, the Barling family sold their business to Finlay, their largest client.

Transition: Late 1960 thru February 1963.
Finlay was 40% owned by Imperial Tobacco. Imperial Tobacco had an option to purchase the remaining shares of Finlay, which it did in February of 1963. When Finlay was absorbed, Barling came under direct control of Imperial Tobacco.

Post-Transition Era: Early 1963 and later.
Imperial ran the business; some say into the ground. They closed the Barling factories in 1970 and outsourced the production of pipes, first to several English makers, and then later to Nording, etc. In 1980 Bucktrout purchases the rights to the Barling name and Barlings have shown up as relatively cheap pipes made by Peterson.

Though we now have Eras whose duration is linked to the *public record, it’s still not simple and here’s why.

The author of the Pipedia Barling article goes on to describe how when the Barlings sold the business to Finlay in 1960 ushering in the beginning of the ‘Transition Era’, the Barlings continued to operate the business for Finlay.  During this period of 20 months, pipes continued to be produced with no changes to the nomenclature.  The result of this was having no way of determining which pipes were produced under the Barling ownership before the transition period and those pipes produced during the transition, under new ownership.

For this reason, the Pipedia author proposes an alternative method of dating Barling pipes:

  • Family Era 1912 – 1962: Pipes made by the Barling family while it either owned or managed B. Barling & Sons.
  • Corporate Era 1962 – the Present: Pipes made after the family left off managing the company, beginning with the revised product grades and revised nomenclature that were introduced in the 1962 Dealers’ Catalog.

It is interesting also to note that the Pipephil.eu Barling entry identifies the transition period from the Barling family era to the later corporate era as dated from 1961 to 1967. There are differences in era dating from different sources, but with the B.B&S Challenger on the table now, which is not a Barling stamped pipe but a second brand line most likely put out by Barling during the early transition period dating this pipe somewhere from 1960 to 1962. In the Pipedia entry quoted above for BB&S, there are 3 lines put out during this time: Challenger, Rallye, and Londoner.

Pipephil has a helpful entry on BB&S with the panel.The ‘Challenger London England’ pictured on the top of the panel, matches the Challenger on the table.  The nomenclature on the panel is crisp showing what cannot be seen clearly on the Challenger on the table.

The author of the Pipedia Barling article makes one additional observation that helps to corroborate the sense that the BB&S Challenger on the table was indeed in the transition period, but more likely in the earlier part of the transition era – under the Finlay ownership commencing in 1960:

Initially, Finlay’s management used the remaining stock of bowls that were turned by the original family run company, and then proceeded to turn more bowls with old wood remaining in inventory, and at least initially, this work was performed by many of the same craftsman. Under Finlay’s management the factory continued to turn out a quality product. Production was expanded to produce a greater number of own name brands for Finlay and Bewlay, as well as the production of pipes for other pipe firms such as Colibri, Falcon, and Ronson. Also, several lines of “seconds” were developed, amongst them Portland, BB & S, Cragmoor, and London Brand.

Here, the ‘seconds’ are described during the Finlay ownership included ‘BB&S’. It would seem, therefore, that ‘Challenger’ is a line of the second, BB&S.

One last additional piece of information that is of interest. The Barling 4-digit numbering system was introduced in the June 1962, publication of the 150th Year Anniversary Catalogue which was still under Barling management, but owned by Finlay.

Here the number system is explained:

It is in the 150th Anniversary catalog that the new numbering system first appears. The new numbering system was introduced while the Barling family managed the business. The price list explains that the new number designates size.

The BB&S Challenger ‘shape number’ reflects this new Barling system. The first digit represents the size followed by a shape designation. The ‘Barling Pipe Reference Number Chart’ (https://pipedia.org/wiki/File:1962_Barling_Retailers%27_Cat_size_chart.jpg) below was taken from the ‘Retailers Catalogue’ which was also published in 1962, but later in the year. Note in the chart below, going horizontally, the sizes are from 1 to 6 representing an increasing size designation (‘1’ was introduced in this later catalogue)…The BB&S pipe I am working on is a 6969 which is not listed in the chart above. However, from the chart I learned that the pipe was a Size 6/King size. The Cherrywood/Poker is not listed as a shape however. Thanks Dal for the help on this! Now it was time to work on the pipe!

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the smooth bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the rim top and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in a bath of Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took a photo of the rim top and stem to show the condition. They cleaned up really well and the top of the rim and inner looked very good. There were some scratches and some spots of varnish on the rim top. The inner edge of the bowl looked quite good. The vulcanite saddle stem had light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button and on the button edges.I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It read as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. It is a well shaped Cherrrywood. I polished the smooth rim top, the inner edge and the sides of the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad to remove the debris. The bowl took on a rich glow. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips and into the rustication with a shoe brush. The product works to clean, revive and protect the briar. I let it sit on the pipe for 10 minutes then buffed it off with a soft cloth. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with the 2 inch square 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped down the stem after each sanding pad. I was able blend in the repairs on both sides with the pads. The stem looked very good.I touched up the BB&S stamp on the left side of the saddle stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. Once it cured I used a worn 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad to remove the excess. It is faint on both ends of the stamp but is still readable. I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.   This is another pipe that I am really happy about the look of the finished restoration. This reborn BB&S Londoner 6969 Bent Cherrywood turned out really well. I think that it is a great looking pipe with a great shape and grain. The unique grain pattern and the vulcanite saddle stem goes well together. The polished black of the stem works well with the briar. The rich reddish brown stains of the finish make the grain really pop with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished BB&S Londoner 6969 Bent Cherrywood really feels great in the hand and it looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 44 grams/1.55 oz. The pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store soon. It will be in the British Pipe Makers Section if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

Breathing New Life into an Antique Shell 1021 EX Rusticated Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is large rusticated finished Pot. We purchased it from an Antique Mall in Ogden, Utah, USA on 07/23/2023.The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank on a smooth panel and reads Antique [over] Shell followed by the shape number 1021 EX. The rim was in good condition other than a lot of lava in the finish overflowing from the thick cake in the bowl. There was grime ground into the bowl sides. The rusticated finish was oily and dirty. The stem is oxidized and calcified. It had light tooth marks on both the top and underside of the stem just ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. I have included them below.He took photos of the rim top to show the cake and the dust in the rustication on the top. It is another dirty pipe. He also captured the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button. There is also a spot of blue paint on the top of the stem. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the rustication around the bowl and the amount of grime ground into the surface of the briar.   He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and quite readable. I turned Pipephil’s section on Savinelli pipes and found the Antique Shell listed there with and an example of the stamping on both the shank and the stem. The stamping on the bowl matches the one that I am working on (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-savinelli1.html). I turned to Pipedia and looked up the specifics of the Antique Shell line from Savinelli and read through the article. There were several pictures of the stamping but nothing on the details (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Savinelli).

I knew that I was working on a Savinelli Made Pot that had the unique Antique Shell style of rustication. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done his usual thorough cleanup on the pipe. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He cleaned the internals and externals of the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water and cleaned out the airway in the stem with alcohol. The pipe looked very good. I took a photo of the rim top and stem to show the condition. They cleaned up really well and the top of the rim and inner looked very good. Some of the stain lightened around the top and inner edge of the bowl. The vulcanite saddle stem had tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button and on the button edges.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It read as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. It is a well shaped large Pot in the Antique line with the EX stamp.Now it was time to do my work on the pipe. I started by restaining the rim top and inner edges of the bowl. I used a Walnut stain pen to match the rest of the bowl colour.Since it was clean and looked good I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the rusticated bowl sides and shank with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. It helped to give depth to the tight rustication around the bowl. The final buffing would bring the pipe alive. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I painted the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to raise the tooth dents in the vulcanite. I filled in the dents that remained with CA glue to repair them. I sanded the stem with the 2 inch square 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped down the stem after each sanding pad. I was able blend in the repairs on both sides with the pads. The stem looked very good.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.   This beautiful tightly rusticated Savinelli Made Antique Shell 1021 EX Pot with a vulcanite saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The rich Antique Shell coloured finish came alive with the polishing and waxing. The dimensions of the rustication really popped. I put the stem back 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 bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Antique Shell 1021 EX Pot is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.22 ounces/63 grams. I will be adding it to the Italian Pipe Makers Section soon. 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!

A Dominik Sandblast Black Bamboo with a Plateau Top, Ring Grain Poker

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Blog by Steve Laug

The pipes that I will be posting over the next month from this lot that Jeff and I purchased are fascinating pipes. They were quite stunning but altogether unknown to me. I did not recognize the name of the maker. All the pipes were unsmoked other than the Stanwell Pipe of the Year. We purchased them from a fellow in Kalundborg, Denmark on 02/03/2024. He said that they were all unsmoked and when they arrived they were. They were relatively clean and merely dusty with a little light debris on the stem surfaces. The shapes, sandblasts, shank extensions, and stems were all unique and very well done. The pipes were very beautiful and I could not wait for Jeff to refresh them a bit and get them up to me to do my part. Here are some of the photos of the pipes that we purchased provided by the seller.Here is a photo of the pipe that was sent to us by the seller. It is the one that I chose to work on next. It is a beautiful sandblast plateau rim top Poker with a black bamboo shank and a taper vulcanite stem. The bamboo shank has a black acrylic spacer between the bamboo and where the shank joins the bowl as where the bamboo met the vulcanite stem. It was lightweight with a vulcanite taper stem with a stainless steel tenon. The tenon is acrylic grey. The blast is very well done. The stem is also well cut and other than dusty and lightly oxidized is in great condition. The bowl is unsmoked. The bowls all have a carbon bowl coating that is well done on the walls of the bowl. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the bamboo shank with the etched name of Dominik. It is there but because of the dark bamboo it is more visible with a lens and bright light. I look forward to working on it as it will take very little work and will be a fun break.I am including what I learned when I worked on the first pipe of this brand. When I started I knew nothing about the carver other than he did beautiful work so I turned to Pipedia to see what I could find (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dominik_Pipes). There was a listing for Dominik Pipes. He is a Polish Carver and I have included the short article in its entirety below.

Dominik pipes are made by Dominik Kobryń. His journey with pipes began in 1993 at a flea market, where he bought his first pipe. From that time his collection has grown a lot. He made his first pipe in December 2016. Dominik credits Wojtek Pastuch as his mentor, and is very grateful for that!

Dominik uses briar from Mimmo Romeo. He makes his stems by hand, mainly from Ebonite and Cumberland rods, but occasionally acrylic. He focuses on unique pipes that are well done technically.

From there I clicked on a link at the bottom of the page that took me to his Pipe sales website (http://www.dominikpipes.com/). Interestingly the site contained almost word for word the information that I had found on Pipedia.

My name is Dominik Kobryń. My journey with pipes began in 1993 on a flea market, where I bought my first pipe. From that time my collection has grown a lot.

I made my first pipe in December 2016. Wojtek Pastuch has taught me a lot about pipemaking and I am very grateful for that!

I use briar from Domenico Romero (Mimmo). I make stems by hand, mainly from ebonite rods and cumberland, sporadically acrylic. I pay much attention to create unique pipes, well done technically.

If you are interested in my work do not hesitate to contact me.

I have been following Wojtek Pastuch for some time now and really like what he is doing. It is fascinating that Dominik considers him his mentor. In chatting with Jeff, he sent me a link to Dominik’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/dominikpipes). It is worth a look to see his current pipes.

Now it was time to “work” on the pipe. For his part, Jeff had simply rinsed the pipe off with warm water and dried it. He soaked the stem in deoxidizer to remove the grime and the light oxidation near the shank joint. The pipe came here a few days ago and it is beautiful. The craggy plateau rim on the Poker bowl shows the blast that is really in rings around the bowl. The two-knuckle black bamboo shank looks very good. The bamboo is joined to the briar bowl with a black acrylic spacer between the bamboo and the bowl and the stem and the bamboo. The vulcanite stem has an acrylic tenon. I tried to capture the beauty in the photos that follow. I took photos of the rugged plateau rim top and bowl along with both sides of the vulcanite stem to show the condition of the pipe. It is clearly unsmoked and new.I took a photo to try to capture the etching of Dominik on the underside of the bamboo shank. It wrapped around the bamboo and is readable in person. It is hard to capture in a photo. I also removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts of the pipe.The bowl was in excellent condition so skipped ahead to applying the Balm to the briar. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to work it into the nooks and crannies of the sandblast finish. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I polished the short vulcanite saddle stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Dominik Ringblast Poker with a rugged Plateau rim top, black Bamboo shank and vulcanite taper stem has a beautiful, unique ringblast finish that is deep and craggy. The rich dark finish highlights some great grain around the bowl and the black colour of the bamboo shank. There is a black acrylic spacer between the bowl and the end of the bamboo. It has some great rugged sandblast that I am enjoying looking at on the Dominik pipes I have picked up. I put the stem back on the bowl and lightly buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping and have a lighter touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and bamboo shank multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax 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 Ringblast Dominik Plateau Poker with a Black Bamboo shank is quite stunning and feels great in my hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: 5/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .85 ounces/24 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be adding to the rebornpipes store in a new section for Polish Pipe Makers. If you wish to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for your time.

New Life for a beautiful “Malaga” Algerian Briar Pot

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I have another Malaga Pipe that Jeff sent me to work on. It is a Malaga shape I would call a Pot. Jeff saw it on eBay and purchased it on 07/12/2023 from a seller in Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey, USA. The grain on this pipe is quite nice. Once again it was obviously someone’s favourite smoker. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and read “MALAGA” and on the right side it is stamped Algerian Briar. The smooth bowl and shank were dirty and there were tars and oils ground into the surface of the briar. The bowl had a thick cake that flowed over the top of the smooth rim in a thick lava coat. It was hard to clearly assess the condition of the inner edge. The condition of the rim edge and top would become clear in the cleaning process. The outer edge looked very good. The taper stem was vulcanite. There were light tooth marks on the top and the underside of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipes before he started his clean up work. Jeff took photos of the rim and bowl to show the cake and the lava on the rim top and edges. The inner edge of the rim showed thick cake coming up to the top and flowing over the edge. The outer edge showed some deep damage on the back side of the bowl. It was a dirty pipe but still a beauty. The vulcanite taper stem had light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside of the stem ahead of the button. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show some stunning and unique grain all around the pipe. The oil curing/finish makes the grain really stand out on the bowl and shank.Jeff took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. On the left it read “MALAGA” as noted above. He did not take a photo of the right side but it read Algerian Briar. The stamping was clear and readable.For those of you who are unfamiliar with the brand, I am also including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/2013/02/09/george-khoubesser-and-malaga-pipes/. That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. If you are interested to learn more then I invite you to follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

I am also am including a link to some printed material on the Malaga brand that came to me from the daughter of George Koch (we purchased George’s pipes from his daughter) to help identify the particular stamping on the pipe. The link takes you to the entire collection of materials that were sent to me (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/02/27/malaga-pipes-catalogue-of-pipes-and-tobaccos/).

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe using his usual procedure. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime from around the bowl sides. It looked much better. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. The stem looked much better and the light tooth marks on both sides were still visible and would need a little work. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. I took a photo of the rim top and the stem to show their condition. Jeff was able to clean up the cake and the lava overflow that was shown in the rim and bowl photos above. The rim top was clean and looked good. There was some darkening and damage on the rim top and inner and outer edges of the bowl (particularly on the back side of the bowl). The grain on it was quite nice. The stem looked better, though there were deep tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the shank to show that the clean up had not damaged them at all. It looked good. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of what the pipe looks like. I started my work on the pipe by sanding the rim top and the finish around the bowl with the 2-inch square 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped down the briar after each sanding pad. The bowl began to look very good. I polished the bowl sides and the smooth rim top with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh pads. I wiped it down after each pad. It really began to be beautiful. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it in with my fingers to get it into the briar. I worked it into the twin rings in the bowl cap with a shoe brush to get deep in the grooves. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. It is a beautiful bowl. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. There were several deep tooth marks that I filled with CA glue. Once the glue hardened I recut the button edge and flattened the repairs with a small file. I sanded the stem with the 2 inch square 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped down the stem after each sanding pad. I was able blend in the repairs on both sides with the pads. The stem looked very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I did a final hand polish of the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the “MALAGA” Algerian Briar Pot and took it to the buffer. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the vulcanite. Blue Diamond does a great job on the smaller scratches that remain in both. I gave the bowl and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. I am amazed at how well it turned out. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is beautiful smooth finished “MALAGA” Algerian Briar Pot and the vulcanite taper stem combine to give the pipe a great look. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.09 ounces/31 grams. This is another pipe that I will be putting on the rebornpipes online store in the American Pipe Makers and Pipemaking Companies Section shortly, if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this beauty!

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Finishing Touches for a Lovely Gourd Calabash

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

I recently came upon this calabash pipe and thought it was terrific. There is an elegance to the lines of this pipe, with its swan-like curves. Really nice looking, and in good shape. This one had obviously been seldom smoked – maybe a couple of times only. And maybe this is the pipe for you! Let’s take a closer look at it. The bowl is beautifully-shaped meerschaum. It has some minor signs of wear, but nothing serious. Similarly, the gourd is in lovely condition. No wear to speak of and the cork gasket is perfect. The gourd also has a wood shank extension in nice shape. Finally, the stem is also great. It has some notable oxidation and some small signs of wear, but nothing to worry about. The stem was first on my list. I wiped down the outside of the stem with Murphy’s Oil Soap on some cotton pads. Then, I cleaned out the insides of the stem with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. Once this process was done, I used SoftScrub and cotton pads to wipe down the stem before throwing it in the Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. The following day, I cleaned all of the de-oxidizing mess and again scrubbed with SoftScrub on some cotton pads to remove the leftover oxidation. This worked well.Before I moved on to the Micromesh pads, I built up the dents on the stem with cyanoacrylate adhesive and let them fully cure.I sanded the adhesive down with 220- and 400-grit sandpapers 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. On to the bowl. Meerschaum is too fragile for a proper reamer, so I used 220-grit sandpaper on the end of a wooden dowel to clean out the bowl and it turned out very well. I sanded down the entire piece of meerschaum with my Micromesh pads. One of the frustrations of cleaning meerschaum is that once smoked, the stains never go away. However, I did what I could and it definitely improved. I also rubbed some Clapham’s Beeswax into the meerschaum. Then I let it sit for 20 minutes, buffed it with a microfiber cloth and then repeated the beeswax process. Worked like a charm!

I cleaned the exterior of the gourd with some Murphy’s Oil Soap on a few cotton rounds. I cleaned inside the gourd gently by scraping with my reaming knife and some tube brushes. I was pleased with the results. I sanded down the wooden shank extension (but not the gourd) with my Micromesh pads. I also cleaned out the inside with cotton swabs and alcohol. It wasn’t very dirty. I then coated the gourd and shank extension with Restoration Balm and let it sit for 20 minutes. After that, I buffed it with the microfibre cloth. Finally, I applied some Vaseline to the cork gasket. Even though the gasket was in perfect shape, it’s a good idea to lubricate it in this way in order to maintain its elasticity. I set it aside to absorb and moved on.Before I went off to the buffer, I gave the meer and the gourd another going over with Clapham’s beeswax rub. This really worked well. I only took the stem to the buffer, as meerschaum and gourds don’t tolerate those high speeds very well! This gourd calabash 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 ‘Calabash’ 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 6¼ in. (160 mm); height 4½ in. (115 mm); bowl diameter 2¾ in. (70 mm); chamber diameter 1⅛ in. (28 mm). The weight of the pipe is 3 oz. (88 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.

Cleaning up a Trade – a BBB *** Three Star 602 Billiard with a Fancy Vulcanite Stem

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is another one that I took in on a trade from a fellow in the Netherlands. It is a great looking smooth Billiard. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and read BBB in a Diamond [over] *** [over] Three Star. On the right side it is stamped London England [over] the shape number 602. The pipe is shaped to highlight the grain around the bowl. The finish is quite clean with just a bit of grime and oil in bowl sides. The smooth rim top is worn and shows scratches and lava on the top and the inner edge. The inner edge shows some damage and roughening from previous reaming. The bowl has a moderate cake that I will ream out but otherwise looks very good. The vulcanite taper stem has two turned rings against the shank end. There is the BBB in a diamond logo on the topside of stem. There is light oxidation and calcification on the stem surface and there are tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took photos of the rim top and the stem surfaces to give a sense of the condition of the pipe. You can see the light lava on the rim top and other than that top is in good condition. There is a light cake in the bowl that I will ream to make sure the walls are in good condition. The stem photos show the oxidation, calcification, tooth marks and the chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank, both the left and the right sides. It is faint in spots but still readable. It reads as noted above. There is also a faint BBB diamond logo on the top of the stem. I removed the stem and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe.I knew that the pipe was probably a newer one as it did not have the brass logo on the stem and the fancy turned stem was used much later. I am fairly certain that the pipe is a Cadogan made one.

Now, on to the restoration of this pretty BBB *** Three Star Billiard. I began the work by reaming the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. I scraped out what remained with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the walls of the bowl with a piece of dowel wrapped with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth the out. The walls looked to be in excellent condition with no checking or heat damage. I scrubbed the inside of the mortise and shank along with the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. The pipe was looking better than when it arrived. I scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. I worked on the rim top and edge to try to remove the grime and was able to remove it. I worked on the finish on the bowl and the rim top removing scratches in the sides of the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each pad. It is beginning to look very good. I polished the smooth briar rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl surface down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. Once I finished the exterior of the briar looked much better and had taken on a shine. 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 15 minutes and 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 the stem down with Soft Scrub cleanser to remove the oxidation and the calcification on the stem. It really did a great job removing the oxidation and the stem is starting to look very good.I “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift some of them and filled in the rest with clear CA glue. I set it side to let the repairs cure. I sanded the repairs flat with a small file to begin to blend them into the surface. I used the sanding pads I purchased recently – 320-3500 grit regular pads to smooth out the finish and remove the light tooth and chatter marks in the stem. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil to finish the preliminary work after the 3500 grit pad. 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 finished polishing 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.As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the BBB *** Three Star London England 602 Billiard back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the reddish, browns of the bowl. This BBB *** Three Star 602 Billiard was a great pipe to spruce up. It is a very 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 27 grams/.95 ounces. This pipe will be going on the British Pipe Maker Section of the rebornpipes store if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

Restoring a Digby Collector London Made London England 9539 Bent Poker

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is large smooth finished Bent Poker. We purchased it from an Antique Store in Missoula, Montana, USA on 07/25/2023.The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Collector in script [over] Digby [over] London Made. On the right side of the shank it was stamped London England [over] 9539. The rim top is shaped like an eye or football. There was grime ground into the bowl sides. The pipe had been smoked and there was a thick cake in the bowl with a thick lava overflow on the rim top. The is a D logo stamped on the top of the saddle stem. The stem is oxidized and calcified. It had light tooth marks on both the top and underside of the stem just ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. I have included them below. Jeff took photos of the rim top, bowl and the surfaces of the stem to give a sense of the condition of the pipe. The walls of the bowl had a thick cake which overflowed over the rim edges and onto the rim top making a mess. The stem is oxidized, calcified and dirty. There are light tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a clear picture of the way the shape follows the grain. The grain is quite beautiful. There are some fills and flaws in the right side of the bowl. He took photos of the stamping on the sides the shank. It is clear and readable and read as noted above. The D logo on the top of the stem is faint but it is readable.I knew that Digby was a second made by GBD but I wanted to do some digging to confirm that I turned first to Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-d6.html) to see what I could find. The screen capture below links Digby to GBD quite clearly.From there I turned to Pipedia and looked up Digby pipes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Digby). I quote below what I found there as it confirms the link.

Digby pipes were made by GBD as a second line for pipes with too many flaws to carry the primary brand. They appeared, in the 1976 catalog, in either a smooth walnut finish or a dark sandblast. Digby pipes were openly sold as being made “By the Makers of the Famous GBD”. For more information see GBD.

I followed the link in the Digby article on Pipedia to the GBD article that is noted in the quote above (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD_Model_Information). I read through the article and found the listing I was looking for below. I quote:

In addition to the pipe line and shape information stamped on the pipe GBD also had codes for plus sized pipes. These codes in ascending order of size were…

  • Conquest
  • Collector
  • Colossus

Now it was my turn to work on the pipe. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the light cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked very good when I received it. I took photos of the bowl and the rim top as well as both sides of the stem to show the condition of the pipe before I started my work. The rim top was very clean and the edges looked good. The clean up had removed some of the stain on the top the outer edges of the bowl. It really looked remarkably good.I took a photo of the stamping on the shank. The photo of the stamping is clear and readable. I also removed the stem and took a photo of the parts of the pipe. It is a unique piece of pipe history.I started my work on the pipe by addressing the damage to the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 sandpaper to smooth out the roughness of the rim edge. I then used a wooden sphere and 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the top and give the edge an even bevel. I touched up the rim top with a Cherry stain pen. It matched the colour of the rest of the bowl. I set it aside to dry.I sanded the rim top and edges with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad. The rim top began to really look good and take on a shine. The sanding marks were well blended in by the final pad. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. By the final pads the briar really had a shine. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I set aside the bowl and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth damage with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth. I was able to remove the damage and the stem looked better.I touched up the D logo on the left side of the stem with white acrylic nail polish. Once it dried I used a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad to remove the excess acrylic paint. The white acrylic that remained filled in the letter on the stem.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Collector Digby London Made 9539 Bent Poker has a beautiful, reddish brown finish that highlights some beautiful grain. The polished vulcanite 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 Collector Digby 9539 Bent Poker is quite stunning and feels great in my hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches x 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.15 ounces/61 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I am going to putting the pipe on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for your time.

What a Beauty under the Mess of this Peterson of Dublin Aran 106 Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

In January Jeff found out about an estate sale in Pocatello, Idaho, USA. It turned out that the sale was for a fellow Jeff and I had purchased pipes from in the past, Gene. He had been the owner of Outwest Tobacco in Pocatello (long closed now) and I bought tobacco and other smoking items from him in the past. As I think about it now, it seems that I had known Gene for over 30 years Jeff and I had been to his home and enjoyed coffee and a few pipes together. I have no idea how many pipes we bought on those visits as well as to the antique shop of his daughter. I know that there were many pipes. When we heard that it was Gene’s personal collection that was for sale and that he had passed away we decided for Jeff to go to the house and have a look. He went on January 25, 2024 to scope it out as we had seen his personal collection of pipes and there were definitely some among those well smoked old warriors that would be great to pick up. Perhaps there would even be one that could join my own collection in memory of Gene.

Jeff went to the house and looked through the racks, pipe bags, tobacco both bulk and tinned as well as a variety of pipes. All the pipes were well smoked and needed serious cleaning. One the pipes he picked up was this Peterson of Dublin Aran with a black vulcanite taper stem. It was very dirty and was a natural coloured pipe when it started. The smooth finish around the bowl was dirty and had hand oils ground into the sides and shank. The bowl had a thick cake that overflowed in lava onto the rim edge and top of the bowl. The stem was vulcanite and taper style. It was very dirty and had the marks of a rubber Softee Bit on the end. It had become discoloured and there was a line where the debris from smoking had accumulated along the edge and under the bit protector. There were light tooth marks or chatter. The pipe was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson [arched over] of Dublin [over] Aran and was clear and readable. On the right side of the shank it had the shape number that read 106. The polished nickel band on the shank was turned to the left too far and was stamped K&P [over] Peterson. Jeff took photos of the pipe so I could have a sense of what it looked like before he started his work on it.Jeff took photos of the stem surfaces and the bowl and rim to give a sense of condition of the pipe. You can see the thick cake in bowl and the lava overflow on the edges and rim top of the bowl. It is had to know if there is any damage as the cake and lava is quite thick. The inner edge of the rim showed nicks and damage. The stem surface is very dirty and you can see the area on the end of the stem where the Softee Bit had protected it from chewing but had left it dirty and discoloured. He also took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the interesting grain that went around the bowl. The grain is beautiful and the polished nickel band on the shank end is quite nice. You can see the oils and debris on the bowl sides. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. The stamping on the nickel band is also very readable. I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Aran line. On page 294 it had the following information.

Aran (1965-) First issue of line described as “handhewn” (rusticated) with black semi-matte finish, in P-lip and fishtail mouthpiece. Second issue 1975, red sandblast, XL shapes. Third issue circa ’97, gold hot-foil P stamped on the mouthpiece, brown semi-matte smooth finish, no band. Fourth issue after 2010, with nickel band, no P stamped on the mouthpiece. Mounted and unmounted versions are available concurrently.

I knew that I was dealing with an Aran from the Fourth Issue of the Aran line that came out after 2010 because of the nickel band and unstamped stem. As such it was a newer pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe. (Applicable information noted in red above.)

Now it was my turn to work on the pipe. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the light cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked very good when I received it.  I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. You can see the damage to the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. The rim top is rough to the touch and the edge was nicked and cut in many places from a life of poor reaming. The stem came out looking quite good. There were light tooth marks in the surface that I think will polish out with sanding. I took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The photos clearly shows the stamping on the shank and the band. It is actually more readable in person. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. I also took photos of the pipe with the longer Churchwarden stem in place. It is a nice looking pipe. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the damage to the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 sandpaper to smooth out the roughness of the rim edge. I then used a wooden sphere and 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the top and give the edge an even bevel. I sanded the rim top and edges with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad. The rim top began to really look good and take on a shine. The sanding marks were well blended in by the final pad.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. By the final pads the briar really had a shine. The band was twisted to the bottom left side with the stamping not visible on top or bottom or even on the sides. I tried to turn it and it would not move. I tried heating the band with no success so I put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes and when I took it out it turned easily. I moved it to the top of the shank and let it set. I like the looks much better.I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I set aside the bowl and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth damage with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth. I was able to remove the damage and the stem looked better.I touched up the P logo on the left side of the stem with white acrylic nail polish. Once it dried I used a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad to remove the excess acrylic paint. The white acrylic that remained filled in the letter on the stem.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Peterson of Dublin Aran 106 Billiard has a beautiful, reddish brown finish that highlights some beautiful grain. The shorter and longer polished stems add to the mix. I believe the stems are acrylic and have a rich shine to them. 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 stems 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 Peterson of Dublin Aran 106 is quite stunning and feels great in my hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe with the two stems are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.76 ounces/50 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I am going to putting the pipe on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for your time.

Dunhill Shell Briar R, Made in England5 4S Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table came to us from a group of pipes that Jeff and I purchased from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark on 02/02/2024. It is another Dunhill’s Shell Pot that is in good condition. It is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank. On the heel of the it is stamped with the shape letter R followed by Dunhill [over] Shell Briar [followed by] Made in [over] England. The date number 5 is after D and is the same size. The stamping ends with 4 in a circle followed by S which tells us it is Shell Briar in a Group 4 size. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above. The pipe has a mix of black, cordovan and brown stains on a sandblast finish and is browner than the newer Shell finish pipes. There is some amazing grain that the shape follows well. The finish was dusty around the nooks and crannies of the sandblast but otherwise fairly clean. The bowl had a heavy cake, tobacco debris and there was thick lava on the sandblasted rim top or edges. The vulcanite taper stem was oxidized, dirty and had tooth marks and chatter ahead of the button on both sides. Jeff took photos of the pipe to show what it looked like before he started working on it. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show their condition and of the stem to show the condition of both sides of the stem. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and the heavy overflow of lava on the sandblast rim top. It is hard to know the condition of the inner edge of the bowl at this point because of the lava. The stem shows heavy oxidation with scratches and tooth marks on both sides. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the deep sandblast grain on the pipe. You can also see the browner colour of this older Shell Briar in comparison to the newer ones of the 80s and 90s. It is a beauty. The stamping on the underside of the shank is shown in the photo below. It looks very good and faint but readable. It reads as noted and explained above. Jeff captured the detail in the photos below. I turned to Pipedia’s section on Dunhill Shell Briar Pipes to get a bit of background on the Dunhill finishes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Root_Briar). I quote:

Shell

A deep craggy sandblast with a black stain finish (usually made using Algerian briar) – the color of the stain used has varied over the years. Although there is some doubt as to them being the first to sandblast pipes, Dunhill’s Shell pipes, and the sandblasting techniques developed to create them are considered one of Dunhill’s greatest and most lasting contributions to the art of pipe making.

The documented history of Dunhill’s inception of the Shell is largely limited to patent applications — there are no catalog pages or advertisements promoting blasted pipes at the time. The preliminary work on the English patent (No. 1484/17) was submitted on October 13, 1917. The patent submission was completed half a year later, on April 12, 1918, followed by the granting of the English patent on October 14, 1918. This was less than a month before the end of The Great War on November 11th.

In 1986 Dunhill released a line of premium Shell finish pipes – “RING GRAIN”. These are high-quality straight grain pipes which are sandblasted. Initially only Ring Grain, but now in two different finishes. In 1995 the “Shilling” was introduced with Cumberland finish – it is an extremely rare series. These pipes exhibit a deeper blast characteristic of that of the 1930’s – mid-1960’s (and the limited ‘deep blast’ pipes of the early 1980s) and show a fine graining pattern. These are considered the best new Dunhills by many enthusiasts today and are very rare. The finish is sometimes described as tasting like vanilla at first, with the taste becoming more normal or good as the pipe breaks in.

I have also included a chart from the site from Dunhill spelling out the Standard Pipe Finishes and giving short information and a timeline.I turned to Pipephil to establish a date for a Dunhill with the stamping that was on this pipe. The date stamp 5 (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1b.html) I have marked the box below with a red box around the part of the date key that is applicable. The date can be established using the chart below. It has a date suffix after the D that is the same size so that dates it to the 1960s. Adding the suffix 5 to that makes this a 1965 Dunhill Shell Briar.Now it was my turn to work on the pipe. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the light cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked very good when I received it. I took photos of the bowl and the rim top and edge of the bowl. It looks very good with a little damage on the front inner edge that is minimal. The photos the stem to show its condition at this point. It is clean and has light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The pipe looked remarkably good for its age.I took a photo of the stamping on the shank. The photo of the stamping is clear and readable. I also removed the stem and took a photo of the parts of the pipe.The bowl was in such good condition that I had to do some minimal work with it. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to work it into the nooks and crannies of the sandblast finish. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe really comes alive with the balm. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift them all significantly, I sanded the marks that remained on the surface of the stem smooth with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. They worked well to smooth things out and remove the tooth marks. When finished the stem looked much better. 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. This 1965 Dunhill Shell Briar R Pot has a beautiful, unique Dunhill Sandblast finish that is deep and craggy. The rich brown/black finish highlights some great grain around the bowl and shank. It has some great sandblast that Dunhill developed and specialized in making. The polished vulcanite taper stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. It is critical to avoid buffing the stamping and to have a lighter touch on the sandblast briar. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax 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 Dunhill Shell Briar R Pot is quite stunning and feels great in my hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.27 ounces/36 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I am going to add it to the rebornpipes store in the British Pipemakers Section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for your time.

Dunhill Shell 4106 Pot Made in England 34

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table came to us from a group of pipes that Jeff and I purchased from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark on 02/11/2024. It is a Dunhill’s Shell Pot that is in good condition. It is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank. On the heel of the it is stamped with the shape number 4106 followed by Dunhill Shell [over] Made in England with a superscript 34 after D. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above. The pipe has a mix of black, cordovan and brown stains on a sandblast finish and some amazing grain that the shape follows well. The finish was dusty around the nooks and crannies of the sandblast but otherwise fairly clean. The bowl had a light cake, tobacco debris and there was some lava on the sandblasted rim top or edges. The vulcanite taper stem was lightly oxidized, dirty and had light tooth marks and chatter ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe to show what it looked like before he started working on it. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show their condition and of the stem to show the condition of both sides of the stem. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the deep sandblast grain on the pipe. It is a beauty. The stamping on the underside of the shank is shown in the photo below. It looks very good and faint but readable. It reads as noted and explained above. Jeff captured the detail in the photos below. I turned to the dating key on Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1a.html) to establish a date for the pipe. I drew a red box around the pertinent information below. It fits the criteria of a Sandblast with a year suffix and a Non possessive form Dunhill. The suffix is the number 34 which puts in the section below which notes 1960 + suffix to establish a date. In this case it is 1960 + 34 making the pipe a 1994.From there I turned to the Dunhill shape chart to unpack the shape number stamp 4106 on the heel of the bowl (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/shapes.html). This gave me the information I needed to interpret the 4106 shape stamp. The first digit 4 is the size of the pipe – a Group 4. The second digit is the style of the stem which in this case is a 1 telling me that the stem is a tapered stem. The last two digits the 06 tell me that the pipe is a Pot. I have included the shape below and encircled it with a red box.Now it was my turn to work on the pipe. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the light cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked very good when I received it. I took photos of the bowl and the rim top as well as both sides of the stem to show the condition of the pipe before I started my work. It really looked remarkably good.I took a photo of the stamping on the shank. The photo of the stamping is clear and readable. I also removed the stem and took a photo of the parts of the pipe. The bowl was in such good condition that I had to do some minimal work with it. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to work it into the nooks and crannies of the sandblast finish. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe really comes alive with the balm. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the surface of the stem smooth with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. It worked well to smooth things out and remove the tooth marks and the remnants of oxidation. When finished the stem looked much better.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 polished the aluminum inner tube with the micromesh sanding pads. Once finished I inserted it in the tenon in the stem.This 1994 Dunhill Shell 4106 Pot has a beautiful, unique Dunhill Sandblast finish that is very deep and craggy. The rich brown/black finish highlights some great grain around the bowl and shank. It has some great rugged sandblast that Dunhill developed and specialized in making. The polished vulcanite taper stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. It is critical to avoid buffing the stamping and to have a lighter touch on the sandblast briar. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax 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 Dunhill Shell 4106 Pot is quite stunning and feels great in my hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.41 ounces/40 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I am going to add it to the rebornpipes store in the British Pipemakers Section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for your time.