Tag Archives: Bowl – refinishing

I Believe I Found an Undercover Lorenzo of Some Sort

Guest Blog by Robert M. Boughton
Member, International Society of Codgers
Member, North American Society of Pipe Collectors
http://www.naspc.org
http://www.roadrunnerpipes.net/ (Opening soon)
http://about.me/boughtonrobert
Photos © the Author

INTRODUCTION
In late October of 2014, I wrote a blog here about a Lorenzo second with the name Spitfire Mille (Italian for thousand, just as Starbuck’s large drinks are designated by Venti, meaning 20 – for the number of ounces, including the ice in my With Room Raspberry Iced Americano right now). Lorenzo, an Italian brand that has been around since 1946, makes an assortment of traditional shapes and styles but is, among my local pipe friends at least, best known for its lines of, well, enormous proportions. Take this Spitfire, not all versions of which are so large. You can’t tell by these pictures, but although the length was near the limit of the norm at about 6”, the chamber diameter was something like 1” x 2” when I checked before adding the Spitfire to my old business website. That’s about 6/8 (¾”) x 1” larger than usual. Then I measured less common specifications, including the diameter of the entire rim across, bowl height and the top half of the shank leading into the bit. Here is where the numbers became astounding: from one side of the rim to the other was a little under 2”; the height of the bowl was close to 3”, and the shank was 1” across.

If those numbers don’t sound impressive, consider three of my largest pipes, the Peterson 150^th Anniversary smooth bent billiard, the Digby Six-Panel and the Soborg Danish Panel. The Pete’s length is 7”; chamber diameter is ⅞” x 1¾”; the full rim is 1⅜”; the bowl height is 2¼”, and the shank is 1½”. The Digby’s length is 5¾”; chamber 1” x 1¾”; rim 1½”; bowl height 2½” and square shank 1” at the halfway point. The Soborg’s length is 7”; the chamber is ¾” x 1½”; total rim is 1¼”; bowl height is 2”, and the shank is 1”.

And so, it seems, not counting the length, the Spitfire is the overall “winner,” if size really counts. All of this is to introduce the no-name Italian Dublin XM (by way of indicating extra monster, for lack of a better description). This pipe without a name, perhaps the more so for that most unfortunate social status, has all the earmarks of a Lorenzo reject. It looks like a Lorenzo; comports itself like the portlier brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts and so on and on of its fertile familia, and as it was stamped with the single word “Italy” to boot, so it must be a Lorenzo by birth if not legitimacy.

RESTORATION Once again the troubles the marvelous pipe faced before it could be presented to a new owner who would cherish it were greater than met the casual eye. The rim was just a tad crusty and therefore offered itself as the place to begin. I chose super fine 0000 steel wool to commence the task. Most times now I have at last embraced more popular techniques such as the wet micro mesh method, but on this occasion I did it with steel wool before I performed a little sanding with 320-grit paper with the goal of ridding the fair and rounded rim of scratches attendant to burning. There are still other means to this end. Yet with gentle ministration, I have found the finest steel wool an excellent first step in the process in some situations. This was one of them.At that juncture of the growing adventure, I considered the dull state of the bit and the small but numerous scratches and dings through the original stain to the excellent Mediterranean briar beneath. Perceiving an unusual thickness to the lovely red coating, I arrived at the clear and positive efficacy of an OxiClean bath for the bit and a concurrent but somewhat longer soak of the stummel in Everclear. I slipped the bit and stummel into their respective Tupperware containers and the sequel to the prequel of the not only continuing but never-ending adventures of the Starship Enterprise (“Into Darkness”) in the desktop PC’s DVD player to watch – once again for me – with my new roommate. He had somehow managed never before to see the movie, and we had some time to relax and smoke our pipes. The roommate, Darren, became convinced by someone that he could give up the doubly negative costs of cigarettes with the far lesser expenses and greater merits of a good tobacco pipe. Of course, he will gladly pay me tomorrow, figuratively speaking, for the pipe he savors today.

Furthermore, no less, his eyes became misty and enamored at the sight of the Albertson Belgian black rustic small bent billiard that is scheduled to be the culmination of my seven part series on ladies pipes and, despite his professions to the opposite, I knew he had to have it – oh, how I know that dewy look! Picture this: a guy who looks and dresses and has tats like a gang banger, getting misty for a tiny little pipe that, although not specifically made for ladies, certainly fits the bill! The fantastic sci-fi epic aside, I could only imagine what Darren must have thought of the no-doubt perplexing acts I surely appeared to be perpetrating against the once whole but weathered Dublin XM.

Here is the bit following its bath and then after sanding with 220-grit paper and wet micro meshing all the way from 1500-12000. The stummel had the thickest stain I have ever encountered other than with some Chinese pipes on which I’ve labored. It took longer than the 2 hr. 12 min. movie, with Darren or me (he’s decided he wants to learn about this esoteric occupation) flipping the big piece of briar over in the alcohol now and then to keep it soaking evenly, for the Everclear to eat through the barrier enough to sand the stummel lightly, also with 220. I only found one small spot where a hole was filled. In an email later, Steve, who had expressed some doubt that the pipe was a Lorenzo reject but suggested it might be a second, wrote that Lorenzo seconds are known for fills. To me, given the similarity of style, stain and huge proportions of the ostensible Italian no-name (the single word ITALY was stamped almost flush with the steel band, on the underside), my theory of a Lorenzo connection was cinched in my mind at least. By a stroke of good luck, as I always see it, the band came off at the end of the sanding, and I was able to make the area under it match the rest. I got on with the next step, micro meshing from 1500-12000. This is where the real challenge came. Forced to strip the stummel of its original stain to get at the scratches without creating more damage using sandpaper, I wanted to re-stain the wood as close as possible to the bright reddish tone it had, knowing that was impossible with the stains I had on hand. I opted to mix Lincoln Marine Cordovan about three-to-one with Fiebing’s Brown alcohol-based boot dyes. When flamed with a lighter or matches, the stain is fixed to the stummel without running as the light char is micro meshed off and again later with waxes and compounds buffed on.I also knew this combination, or even using only the burgundy color, would be so dark that none of the grain would show through. Applying the mix liberally, I used a couple of good strong wooden kitchen matches from a box of 250 I bought at Walmart for about a dollar to flame the pipe, but the result was not the usual impressive blue flash I expected. Still, it did the trick. I think the alcohol in my liquid stains is evaporating with age. I told Victor Rimkus, a successful pipe crafter/engineer here, how I needed to buy a new supply as well as other colors. He said I could mix what was left with alcohol, which sadly only struck me as obvious when I heard the idea, or, as he does, buy the powder and mix it as needed with alcohol. I had never heard of this powder stain before but found it online at a very affordable price. There are even some great discounts for buying the complete kit with every color made – and the variety of colors and shades is staggering. You know I can’t pass up a good discount.The light coat of residual char came off with 2400 and 3200 micro mesh. Super fine 0000 steel wool gradually lessened the dark combination of stains until I concluded the color mix was still a bit off. I deliberately took the stain down a notch lighter to add another quick layer of the brown, and when it cooled after flaming again I wiped off the char as before. The result was much better. I used a couple of dabs of Super Glue spread thin around the inside of the band to reattach it. In one of the emails I exchanged with Steve regarding the chance of this pipe being a Lorenzo relative, he pointed out that in the photo of the band I attached with a plea for help in identifying the hallmarks, the band had been placed unevenly. Trying first to determine the meaning of the marks on my own, I had found a site that was clearly not the best. The closest I came was a reference to a pair of brothers named Edwin and John Power, known naturally as Power Brothers, who ran a tobacconist shop and seem to have made pipes in 1900. They marked their bands with an EP in an oval which, given the site’s other shortcomings, I considered might be – but given the year, likely was not – a misnomer for the diamond on this band. Steve identified it as an Electro-Plate band that he thought could be an after-addition. Studying the band and the one item of nomenclature on the bottom side of the shank – the block lettered word ITALY near the opening but above the band – I was doubtful it was indeed an afterthought.

But by that time, the restoration had progressed to the point where I had already corrected the problem.

The time to retort the odd Dublin had come, but looking at the wider than wide mouthpiece of the bit, I knew that of the three rubber tubes I have, none would work. And so, as I have done in past situations like this, I rummaged around my spare bits until I found one from a Ropp natural cherry wood that matched the tenon size – at least halfway in. As always, I was happy I retorted the pipe thoroughly, as this one had more than usual use on it. I had to run six alcohol soaked regular cleaners through the shank before the last came out clean. After buffing the bit with red and white Tripoli, White Diamond and carnauba, and the nice smooth reddish-brown wood with the same progression (I laid on a heavy coat of the red Tripoli to approximate the original color somewhat closer), here is the result.
CONCLUSION
I have to say, this was nowhere near the most difficult restore I’ve ever done, but the research into Lorenzo, in my attempt to establish whether or not it is one of their rejects or a second of some sort, made the process one of the most exciting of my projects. In my mind now, there is no doubt this conundrum of a pipe, is in fact a Lorenzo reject. This conclusion is not based on an overwhelming desire to make the pipe more than it may be. It is based on the evidence: the undeniable similarity of design between the Spitfire by Lorenzo Mille second; the identical color of each that has the appearance of being created specially by the maker, and the presence of somewhat erratic grain and even the single fill I found after stripping the original stain, given that Steve wrote of Lorenzo seconds tending to be known to present these defects. Although, with due respect to Steve, I doubt this is a second because of the lack of any such nomenclature, the same standards would apply to outright rejects. I did my best to make it once more the beautiful pipe it was when first created, but the grain certainly is less than perfect, and there is one place where briar shavings were mixed with some clear bonding element to fix a ding. But now, neither of these facts detracts from the pipe’s allure and good fit in a large hand, which its new owner certainly has.

The Spitfire awaited a new home for months after I finished the restoration, and in the end was purchased by a New World gentleman, from Raymore, Missouri to be specific, who read my blog of another pipe and found the massive Lorenzo (second) on my site. The lovely example of Italian flair and craftsmanship in this blog, on the other hand, was reserved prior to its restoration by a visitor to my pipe club’s monthly meeting. His name is Evan, and here he is at the tobacco shop with his “new” pipe. See how snug it is in Evan’s big mitt. When Evan, who resides in the much smaller town of Placitas about a half-hour’s drive from the relative metropolis of Albuquerque (close enough to commute to and from where he works here), talked to me alone in the big back room of the Moose Lodge where our official monthly pipe meeting is held, I asked if he had seen any of my pipes he found interesting. I assumed he had not located one he wished to buy but also wanted to get an idea of what he looks for in a pipe, other than the Dunhill with its distinctive dot on the bit he enjoyed for the meeting. I admit to thinking I might have something I put off restoring that I could perhaps expedite.

Evan was courteous enough to tell me the truth: none of the pipes I had displayed was big enough for his general taste. That remark turned out to be the exact sort of intelligence I hoped to receive from my question, for I knew I had just what he was looking for, at my humble home and small business, waiting to be cleaned up. I inquired if he had heard of Lorenzo pipes and added that I had restored and sold one but had another pipe like it that I believed was a reject by that company, although there was nothing wrong with its looks or quality. Evan had not heard of Lorenzo but was intrigued by my description of the large pipe.

After getting a look at the photos I emailed to him showing the restored Spitfire and the no-name as it was before cleaning up, the good man replied with considerable enthusiasm. In fact, considering the low price I offered him, he asked me to name the time and place he could pick it up! I had the pleasure of presenting Evan with the finished Lorenzo or second or whatever it is Monday morning at the tobacconist shortly after the comfortable little shop opened at 10. With any sale, online or in person, and in particular when the buyer has requested a pipe that was not yet restored, I always wonder if it – or, rather, I – will match the new owner’s expectations. I observed at once that Evan had pondered his reverse version of the same scenario from his reaction of unconcealed surprise. In short, the pipe was just the kind he loves most – big enough to fit in his large hand, solid, possessed of an unusual shape and beautiful to behold. I add the last part not to pat myself on the shoulder but due to Evan’s appraisal. To my way of thinking, pipe restoration is very much the same as newspaper editing, with which I have had more experience than working on pipes: the flaws in the pipe or article are unimportant so long as all of the necessary information is there to put in order. The best word to describe Evan’s reaction to his latest acquisition – which went on for close to a half-hour – is effusive.

SOURCES
https://www.smspipes.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/catalog.listProducts/catId/4/Lorenzo_Pipes.htm
http://vermontfreehand.com/product/powdered-dye/
http://www.pipes.ws/Lorenzo
http://www.silvercollection.it/DICTIONARYTOBACCONISTE.html Power Bros. hallmark

A Mystery Bent Apple Pipe Turned out to be an Oldenkott

Dunhill White Dot Repair

12 Replies

Lance Leslie

I received an email from Lance this afternoon with a blog submission. In his email he states that he thought that this would make a good blog for the site. He has been restoring pipes for a few years and has learned some valuable tips on rebornpipes. He sent along a restoration he completed that had a repair tip he had not seen addressed on the blog. While I have inserted dots on Dr. Plumb pipes and an odd variety of others I have not dedicated a blog to this repair so I agreed that it would be good to have his process spelled out here. Welcome to rebornpipes as a contributor Lance. It is good to have you here. Hopefully this will be the first of many contributions that you bring to the site. — Steve

I have been restoring pipe for a few years now and have learned some valuable tips from rebornpipes. I have a restoration to share and unless I have missed it, I have not seen this issue addressed on this blog. The issue being, adding the infamous white dot to new replacement stem. Or…in my case, a blank replacement stem.

I recently won this Dunhill on eBay and noticed that the White Dot was missing. After asking all the right questions to be sure I WAS bidding on a Dunhill, I made my offer and won. The owner did not know much about pipes so he did not know if it was a replacement stem. I have seen the white dot covered by soot only to be revealed during the cleaning, but this was not the case. This was listed as a 1982 Dunhill Bruyere but it turned out to be a 1977. Here is the pipe as it looked when it arrived.The rim was covered with lava and the bowl was thick with cake. There were some dings in the bowl that would need to be addressed. The stem had some dents and would need a White Dot added. What is a Dunhill without the White Dot? The stem was also heavily oxidized. I placed the stem in an Oxyclean bath and let the stummel soak in an alcohol bath to loosen the lava. After I removed the lava I saw significant damage to the rim of the piped and the rim was scorched in two places. This could only be fixed by topping the bowl. Rats! I removed the stem for the Oxyclean bath and polished it with Meguiar’s scratch X 2.0. I didn’t want to go too far with the stem because I would be adding the dot later. I then took the bowl and my sanding bit and topped the bowl. As you can see, it is now clean and sharp. The scorching was also gone. Thank goodness it was not too deep. Next I wanted to address the dents in the sides of the bowl. Thanks to rebornpipes I knew a simple way to do this. And yes, my wife is missing a dish towel. With said dish towel wet, I heated a kitchen knife with a lighter. I pressed the knife against the dish towel and steamed the dent right out. Works every time. Now I needed to stain the top of the bowl. I mixed up some leather dye to match color of the bowl and gave the top several coats until it matched.Now the fun part!! It was time to add the White Dot to the stem. I had recently acquired a quad copter (Syma X5SW) and remembered the propeller protectors that came with the copter.
These are added for beginners to help protect the blades while you learn to fly. I no longer needed these so I checked the size and knew it would be a perfect match. BTW, you can order these blade protectors off of Amazon. Just type in replacement parts for Syma X5SW. They are cheap! See photos below… The ends of the blade protectors would do nicely. They are even conical shaped!!! I clipped off one end and sat it to the side. I then took some old stems and did a practice run before trying it on the Dunhill. It worked like a charm. I did not take pictures of my practice run, sorry. I then went to my drill bits and chose the correct size. I lined up another Dunhill beside this one to get the proper distance for the White Dot on the stem. After I found the distance and center, I carefully drilled about 3 mm down. (Start your drill out slow if you use a hand-held drill. I would suggest a drill press if you have one.) I added some black super glue to the hole and placed the little white rod into the hole. Then using a rubber hammer, I hammered it into the hole.Then I clipped the plug as close as I could using scissors, and sanded down the rest with my sanding bit. The rest of the plug was sanded down with 220 sandpaper.Then it was a trip through the micro-mesh sanding/polishing pads. The pipe was married to its stem once again and polished with carnauba wax. Here is the finished pipe.

This one was just plain ugly it was such a mess

9 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

When my brother sent me the link for this one and I scrolled through the pictures the seller included, I almost said to pass on it. It was such a mess that the ugliness made me not want to even deal with this one. But there was something challenging about the pipe and through the gunk it looked like it might have some interesting grain. I know in the early days of my estate buying on EBay I did not pay attention to the measurements on the pipe. I figured it would be a moderately sized Banker or Author with an oval shank. I also ignored the brand stamping on the pipe. It read La Strada Forte on the top of the shank which also should have been a bit of a giveaway. Even the photos below that the seller included of the pipe in a rest should have been a clue. But I missed the clue because I was blown away by the sheer disaster of the pipe. As you look at it below try to catalogue the issues that you see. Let me tell you what, no matter how much I prepared myself by cataloging the issues I saw in the pictures they in no way captured the reality of the mess this pipe was in. It was actually quite unbelievable. First off, I should have read the measurements. This pipe was huge. The length was average really, at 5 ½ inches long. The width of the shank was a bit bigger at 1 1/8 inches wide. The diameter of the bowl exterior was 2 1/8 inches. The chamber appeared to be an inch in diameter but the cake in it reduced it to about ¾ inch. The cake was thick and it was hard. It overflowed onto the top of the bowl and part way down the sides. The inner edge of the rim looked like someone had hacked at it with a knife so underneath the thick cake I could see the chop marks of the knife in the edges of the bowl. The finish was more than shot – it was gone and in its place was thick oily grime ground into the briar. The stamping was black with the oils. It was thick enough that the grime was flaking off on the bottom of the bowl. The stamping was readable and said LA STRADA over FORTE on the top side. On the underside was the shape number 538 and next to the shank stem junction was stamped Italy. The stem was not only oxidized but really worn. The top edge of the button was almost flattened and there were tooth marks in the top of the stem. The underside was another story – there was a chunk of vulcanite missing and the button was gone. The airway was collapsed and the inside surface was gouged with file marks. This poor pipe was looking pretty desperate and I thought about cannibalizing it for briar and parts.Then I looked at the briar through the grime. The bottom of the bowl had some really nice grain – a few fills popping through – but still really nice. The sides of the bowl also had some promise under the grime. And, I liked the shape of the pipe even though it was a war club. Maybe…just maybe…I took a close-up photo of the top of the bowl and the cake inside. I still shake my head when I see the state of the bowl and the damage to the inner rim. It was really in bad shape. Just look at the hack job that had been done to that inner edge.I also took a couple of close-up photos of the stem to show the extent of damage that had been done to it as well. It was in very rough shape.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer starting with the smallest cutting head to clean up the walls of the bowl slowly. I worked through all four reaming heads ending with the largest one. I used the Savinelli Pipe Knife to do some clean up to the edges and try to smooth out some of the rim damage. Between the largest PipNet cutting head and the pipe knife I was able to do a lot of redeeming work on the inner edge of the rim.I topped the bowl on the topping board to remove the damaged finish and to reduce the damage to the inner edge of the rim.I scrubbed the surface of the briar with acetone on cotton pads to remove the dirt and grime in the grain as well as the oils. It was amazing how much grit came off the bowl. Once the surface was clean I worked on the inner rim. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bevel the edge inward and clean up the cuts and nicks in the edge. I did not take a picture at this point but you will see the cleaned up rim in the pictures that follow the work on the stem.

I set the bowl aside to work on the stem. To take care of the damaged stem I made a wedge out of cardboard and covered it with clear strapping tape so that the super glue mixture I was going to use would not stick to it. I wanted it thick enough to leave an airway/slot in the stem. I mixed up a paste of charcoal powder and black super glue. The glue has a slow drying time so I was able to mix a thick paste with the combination. I used a dental pick and spatula to put the mixture in place on the top and the bottom of the stem and build up the area that would become the button on the top side and the repair and button on the underside. I also built up a slope on the stem underside to give me a bit more thickness over the airway. At this point I sprayed the repair with an accelerator to harden the surface of the glue. I set it aside to let the glue repair cure/harden.Once the repair had hardened I used the sanding drum on the Dremel to smooth out the repair. I would still need to sand it by hand but the Dremel took a lot of the heavy spots out of the mix and also allowed me to rough shape the button.The next photos show the repairs after a lot of filing and sanding. The shape is very clear and distinct. The repair is rock solid. You can also see the inner rim bevel on the rim of the bowl in the first photo.The slot was really tight in the button. It was partially closed off and need to be reopened. I used different shaped needle files to open the slot and to reshape it. I also reshaped the button with the needle files. The three photos below show the development of the slot and the button.I reshaped the button edges with needle files and reshaped the taper of the stem from the saddle to the button. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surface of the vulcanite stem. The photos show the progression in the shaping. There is still a lot of sanding to do to finish the shaping and polishing of the stem but I set it aside and worked on the bowl for a while. I cleaned out the inside of the mortise and the airway in the shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It took a lot of scrubbing to clean out the airway and mortise.I heated the briar with a blow dryer and then stained it with a dark brown aniline stain mixed 50% with isopropyl. I used a black Sharpie to darken the fills on the bowl and shank then applied the stain with a cotton swab and flamed it with a lighter to set it in the grain.I wiped the bowl down with alcohol cotton pads to blend the stain and to make it more transparent. The photos below show the bowl after the wipe down. The scrubbed bowl looks quite a bit lighter but once it is waxed it will darken again. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 micromesh sanding pads and rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of oil and let it dry. (The photos below show both sides of the stem with each set of micromesh pads.) I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the wheel and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to polish the wax. I buffed it by hand with a microfibre cloth to add depth to the shine. I am pleased with the overall look of the pipe and considering what it was like when I first looked at it the improvement is vast. The stem repair is quite extensive. It has cured and is hard now and I am curious as to how it will hold up over time. The pipe looks good and should have a long life ahead of it. Thanks for looking.

What grain under the Candy Apple Red Paint –- A Television Churchwarden

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

This Churchwarden is stamped Television on the left side of the shank and Imported Briar over Italy on the right side. From two earlier Television pipes I had restored and restemmed I remembered that Jose Manuel Lopes – Pipes Artisans and Trademarks had helped me identify the original manufacturer. Here is what Lopes says: The brand was sold by A. Grunfield Co. and was produced by Gasparini. They were known to be an English brand with long stems. I have written more about the brand at the following links: https://rebornpipes.com/2014/08/04/restoring-and-restemming-the-first-of-two-television-pipes-a-pot/
https://rebornpipes.com/2014/08/05/restoring-and-restemming-a-second-television-pipe-a-prince/

I took some photos of the pipe before I started working on it. The pipe was in decent shape – no dings or burn marks on the bowl. I just have never really liked candy apple red pipes. This was no exception, as it was almost a painted surface. The combination of a very opaque stain and a urethane topcoat left the bowl looking almost plastic. The rim was dirty and had some lava on it so I knew that in removing that I would not be able to keep the thick red coat on the rim so it would look different from the rest of the bowl. The bowl had a light cake inside. The stem was oxidized and had light tooth chatter near the button on the top and the bottom sides. Through the opaque stain and the urethane coat I could see some interesting grain on the pipe. I also was well aware that this kind of heavy stain and topcoat often hid a multitude of fills.I reamed the bowl with the Savinelli Pipe Knife to scrape out the light cake.I weighed my next move with fear and trepidation wiped down the bowl with acetone to see if I could dent the urethane coat. No such luck with that. I sanded the bowl with a medium grit sanding block and in some spots with 220 grit sandpaper. The finish was hard as rock and it took quite a while to remove the finish. The urethane and the stain coat came off together. It was almost as if it was not in the grain but rather sat on top. I wiped it down with acetone on cotton pads. The results of stripping the bowl can be seen in the next photos. To my amazement the number of fills was not as bad as I expected. There were actually two – yes just two. Now the bad news was that they were both larger than the average ones I deal with. The first was on the front of the bowl and was centered over the two rings around the bowl. The second was on the back side of the cap. The front one was visible but I could live with it. The putty was brown and was tight and smooth. The one on the back was well blended into the grain on the bowl. It too was tight. I would not need to pick them out and repair them. I cleaned out the shank and airways in the bowl and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was actually quite clean.I buffed the bowl with red Tripoli on the wheel and was able to remove some of the stubborn paint/stain spots on the bowl cap and the shank. I then gave the bowl a light rub down with olive oil to get a feel for the grain on the pipe. You can see from the photos below that the mix of grain is quite stunning. The right side of the bowl has some tight birdseye. The rest of the bowl is a mix of grains. I gave the bowl several coats of medium cherry Danish Oil to raise the level of red from the briar. I let it dry and buffed it between coats. I gave it a final coat and let it dry while I worked on the stem. When the stain coat was dry I buffed the pipe with a coat of carnauba wax. I worked on the stem. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the light oxidation and tooth chatter and then with a medium grit sanding sponge to smooth out the scratches. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of oil. I set it aside to dry. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond to finish the polishing. I gave the bowl and the stem several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to add depth to the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I like the transparent stain on this one far better than the heavy urethane coated pipe I started with. The pipe is going with me to Bulgaria on an upcoming trip I am making there. The pipe man in Sofia is looking forward to adding this to his collection. Thanks for looking.

Spotlight: Ladies Pipes, Part 4/7, a Real Briar Bounty

1 Reply

Guest Blog by Robert M. Boughton
Member, International Society of Codgers
Member, North American Society of Pipe Collectors
http://www.naspc.org
http://www.roadrunnerpipes21.com
http://about.me/boughtonrobert
Photos © the Author

And old Boughton, if he could stand up out of his chair, out of his decrepitude and crankiness and sorrow and limitation, would abandon all those handsome children of his, mild and confident as they are, and follow after that one son whom he has never known, whom he has favored as one does a wound, and he would protect him as a father cannot, defend him with a strength he does not have, sustain him with a bounty beyond any resource he could ever dream of having.
— Marilynne Robinson (b. 1943), U.S. novelist and essayist, in “Gilead” (2006). She is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction, both this year.

BLOGGER’S NOTE: ALTHOUGH I READ AN EVELYN WAUGH NOVEL WHEN I WAS 17 AND COULDN’T HELP NOTICING THE MENTION OF A VILLAGE CALLED BOUGHTON, WHICH YEARS LATER I CONFIRMED EXISTS IN DEVENTRY, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, “GILEAD” IS THE ONLY WORK OF FICTION IN WHICH I HAVE SEEN A CHARACTER WITH MY LAST NAME. BUT THE PART THAT TRULY GAVE ME THE WILLIES WAS FINDING WE (THE FICTIONAL PASTOR BOUGHTON AND I) SOMEHOW SHARE THE SAME GIVEN NAME AS WELL! I ALSO LIKE THE USE OF “BOUNTY.” ALL OF THE NAMES AND EVENTS IN “GILEAD” ARE FICTIONAL, AND NO RESEMBLANCE TO ACTUAL PERSONS, LIVING OR DEAD, IS INTENDED.

INTRODUCTION
The Real Briar Bounty billiard marks the over-the-hump point of my series on ladies pipes, and a cursory examination of the well-crafted implement of exquisite pleasure as it looked when it came in the mail shows it appears almost good to go. But everyone knows the frequent truth about appearances. I bought the pretty, shiny little Bounty, light in the hand and with a corresponding semblance of fragility, in 2014 among one of the many pipe lots I snatched up that single year. The brand name itself was an excellent use of the adjective, whether in the more plausible sense of a generous gift or bestowal, or the bigger mouthful, “Goodness shown in giving, gracious liberality, munificence, usually attributed to God, or to the great and wealthy….” [Oxford English Dictionary.]

I still have more than a few of those pipes in need of restoration, although I’ve made quite good headway. Most of the 2014 parade of pipe lots, selling for an average of about $20 per pipe, included one, or more, good looking big brand names. For the most part the rest were nice or odd enough to warrant the purchase. There were, to be sure, a few total losses, with fatal cracks or burnouts, but little more than I could count on a hand. Take, for examples of both name brand and just plain interesting pipes, the following picture of 11 I acquired together, containing a Kaywoodie Rustic Silhouette bent apple [top row left] and a Spitfire by Lorenzo Mille [Italian for a thousand, appropriate considering its massive size, third row left). Then there’s the gigantic no-name Lorenzo pretender [by itself at the bottom], which may in fact be a reject from that Italian maker known for outrageous sizes. As I sit here editing the text of the finished blog, I hear a chime on my laptop and check the email. There is a new message from a gentleman I met last night who visited our monthly pipe meeting. I gave him a couple of samples of excellent new flakes I had and asked if he saw any of my restored pipes he likes. Alas, none of them was big enough for his taste! And so I recalled the Spitfire and its look-alike and described both to him, promising to send email photos for his information or consideration. Well, the gentleman just replied and accepted my bountiful offer of a very low price for the no-name. That, to my way of thinking, speeds past any notion of coincidence and stops on the dime at downright mysterious. We have arranged to meet Monday morning for the transaction.This photo is extraordinary to me on several levels more appealing than its dingy back-drop and utilitarian lack of artfulness. Have a gander at it yourselves, ladies and gentlemen, and if you have read the prior parts of this set of blogs you will hopefully recognize two of the pipes restored in them.

When you’re finished looking, they are, in order of their appearance in the photo: the Clinton Real Briar straight oval [top row, right] that sold to a young lady overcoming the social and medical blight known as cigarettes; the Real Briar Bounty billiard [fourth row, left] that I put on reserve for one genuine character of an older woman who belongs to a non-pipe related club of which I am a member and informed me in a Dr. Lecter sort of voice that her husband “used to smoke them all the time – but not anymore,” as well as how she quit cigarettes with the aid of her old misplaced pipe that she “also” learned to live without except for missing the feel of it in her mouth. The rather Faulknerian run-on segment of this passage begs the questions of whether the poor husband is not among the living at all and if not, why, or just not with the good lady, and other issues I dare not approach in this medium. And there is the Frasa, or FRASA as an acronym, French bent billiard [next to the Bounty], which I sold to my pipe club friend, Ashley. Another lady I caught smoking cigarettes was persuaded to purchase the Medico straight natural tiny acorn.

Wow! I just had a thought, the kind that makes me feel like an utter fool. Here I have been, wracking my brain to track down and interview unknown lady pipers in addition to Liz, and all along the obvious has been right in front of me: Ashley, the first female pipe smoker I met, in my own pipe club! Not that I don’t still need to collect some data that will allow me to get a handle on any patterns of experiences and difficulties faced by women who dare presume to invade one of the last existing perceived instances of a traditional male bastion; it’s just that now I understand I can simply post a thread on Liz’ Facebook forum asking for the input I seek from women, and then sit back and let it all pour in – or even chat with a few of the undaunted freedom fighters.

None of the ladies pipes in these blogs was picked by me for this project by looking at old photos, but rather by tunneling through the chaotic clutter on my work desk in search of diminutive pipes. Still awaiting restorations are a Willard Aristomatic rustic pot with U.S. Patent No. 2,461,905 issued in 1949, a Dr. Grabow Duke six-sided rustic panel and, last and least (in terms of length), la pièce de résistance, an Albertson Belgian bent black billiard. Try that five times fast.

Unconsidered by me at the moment of conception of the underlying theme of these blogs was any idea of ever writing such a series as this concerning the presence of women around the world who enjoy pipes every bit as much as men do, including the all-important contemplative aspect of the deeply personal experience. And so, while the details of inner visions of our most inviolate thoughts as we puff a pipe and tobacco may differ somewhat between the genders, the basic dynamic is a twin.

I do have a few words about Real Briar Bounty pipes. There are, in fact, few words I can write about the maker of these beautiful and varied works, samples of which I have found all over the Internet, for the most part members of sundry forums asking for information on the Bounty’s pedigree and receiving no coherent answer. [See Sources.] This omission of mine is not for lack of research but because of the apparent utter dearth of information. Based on the designs available for sale online, many were made for 9mm filters and some have originals included with the purchase. Then there are the references to separate ships in English history, both called The Bounty, each of which met with disastrous ends.

The few but important clues (9mm filters, an unusual number of the sources being in Europe – particularly several ebay.uk sellers – and the name itself, Bounty) embolden me to go out on a limb and suggest that the maker of this pipe is British.

A TEASER OF THINGS TO COME IN THE FINAL THREE BLOGS
For various reasons about which nobody still reading this would care to hear, I have yet to chat with any of the New Jersey Ladies of the Briar concerning their no doubt varied introductions to the wonderful world of pipes, but as I noted earlier I now have the solution to that I promise to get on it while preparing my fifth blog on the topic. To be more accurate, I should amend my previous statement with the note that my Smokers Forums U.K. friend, Liz, who founded the group, has been my sole source of information related to feminine tastes in the choices of pipes and tobaccos.

Our first few email exchanges were a bit odd. While Liz was open to my idea, at first proposing a single blog I soon knew would either turn into a New Yorker-length piece much longer even than my “The Young Man and the Pipe” tribute to Ernest Hemingway involving the restoration of a Thinbite. And so I decided upon a series. In those early emails, I remember describing, several times in different ways, the kind of information I wanted and any ideas how to go about getting it.

My mistake, a common one but inexcusable of someone with a reporter’s experience, was not asking specific questions of Liz. And so I at last understood and re-commenced with three questions.

The reply I received from Liz was candid, and also revealing of double standards and injustices I could never have dreamed up. My interests are eclectic, but there are certain areas to which I find myself constantly drawn. They include history, political science, law and, it goes without saying, everything related to pipes. I consider myself well versed in the real atrocities Mankind has committed against itself and the rest of the planet and the everyday varieties of rudeness and general foul play that abound daily. I just never considered the possibility that such attitudes had infiltrated our beloved pipe world to a real extent. Here is that first, ice-breaking, bare bottoms basic email Q&A.

Q: I know you have a penchant for minis, but what are some of your favorite pipes that you smoke regularly?
A: Currently, my go to pipe is a Dr. Plum mini Prince which I only smoke Lakelands in. Other pipes I tend to stick with are a huge Savinelli 320, Savinelli Lollo, Jirsa horn shape, Brebbia author shape and a no-name bent meer and corn cobs.

Q: What kind of pipe blends do you like?
A: I will smoke anything! But I love Lakelands and latakia blends the most. Aro[matic]s that I favor are mocha/coffee blends (McClelland 620 mocha black is my favorite) and also maple blends (Wilki Vermont Maple is my favorite). I tend to shy away from perique because it gives me a scratchy throat but I will smoke one bowl occasionally.

Q: When did you start smoking a pip? Were there any special circumstances?
A: I always wanted to smoke a pipe even when I was a child. I had seen photos of my dad smoking a pipe but he had quit smoking by the time I was born. I started smoking cigarettes in my early teens and the desire to smoke a pipe became stronger once I became an adult and started to do a lot of camping. I thought it would be very nice to sit by the campfire and smoke a pipe. But as a woman, I never felt comfortable or confident enough to go in a store and buy one. Finally in 2004 I got the nerve to go in the tobacco shop and buy a pipe. I used the excuse that I was buying it for my brother. I selected a 3/4 bent no-name Italian briar. I still have that pipe today although I don’t smoke it often since my taste is pipe shapes have changed. I had no one to teach me anything about smoking the pipe so what I learned I found on the internet. [Emphases added.]

RESTORATION
Earlier, I alluded to the smooth, fairly clean pipe with its nice glossy finish and unusually good though not thorough cleanliness. I also noted, during my first critical examination of the pipe, the bad gash on the rear of the bowl and other small scratches over the surface area. Out of nowhere, I had a bad feeling about the possibility that something other than a conventional alcohol-based stain might have been used, such as the bad habit in China of laying on Earl Scheib applications of regular varnish and – it hurts me to write this – even Shellac and, I’ve heard, paint! These coatings cause various serious damages, some of them being the destruction of the pipe’s ability to breathe, or to take in air, not to mention the inhibition of the wood’s natural expansion when it heats from use. The bit was freckled with discoloration.The obvious starting point was tossing the bit in an OxiClean bath and the stummel in Everclear.Then again, without the bit or the stummel, I had nothing whatsoever to do except to partake of a nice bowl of Mac Baren Bold Kentucky Flake in my Peterson’s silver band orange meerschaum Dublin. These are the times when pipe restoring can be so trying.

But I weathered the next half-hour with the stoic determination of an ancient mariner awash with kelpy brine, and got back to work. The bit was every inch a fright to behold, as I expected after its bath.Nevertheless, I made it better with a bit of a makeover using 320-grit paper and the full progression of micro mesh.About that time, I removed the stummel from the Everclear and stuck a pair of small soft cotton cloth squares into the chamber to twist and shout out some of the loosened mess there. I ran two more cotton cloth squares over the stummel, sanded the outside with 220-grit paper taking care to avoid the nomenclature and micro meshed all the way. The chamber was too small to fit a reamer, and so I sanded it (using a pinkie) with 150- and 320-grit paper before using a tiny edge of 0000 steel wool to finish smoothing. I put a touch of Everclear on a two-ply cotton cloth square and scrubbed out the remaining soot. Micro meshing with my full set of pads was fun as usual and gave the wood a very nice natural shine. But as you can see, part of the big ding on the back side of the bowl remained. I spot-sanded the ding with little pieces of 320- and 500-grit paper and a lot of elbow grease, re-micro meshed it, then micro meshed the little light but smooth spot all the way again. The time to re-stain had arrived, but what color? Why, Lincoln Marine Cordovan! I flamed the quickly drying alcohol-based boot treatment and set it aside to cool.With 2400 and 3200 micro mesh, I removed enough of the stain-concealed grain to make out faint lines, but the pads could not do more than that. Several light applications of four-ought steel wool brought out the grain where I wanted it. After an easy but necessary retort, the time to repair to the electric buffers had come. I used the red and white Tripoli, White Diamond and carnauba on the bit, and all but the red Tripoli on the stummel. The last step was to touch up the circle B bit imprint with a white grease pencil as well as I could.

CONCLUSION
Close your eyes for a moment. I want you to imagine yourself standing just outside your favorite neighborhood tobacconist. You know there’s a pipe inside that you’ve always wanted. A pipe with your name, as it were. You may never have seen the pipe, but you know it’s in there. Waiting for you to buy it. For your own use. Whispering, “Come save me. I’ll be yours forever.” Maybe you remember your father or grandfather with it, relaxed and comfortable between his teeth. He’s smiling, laughing, and in his mirth has to take the pipe from his mouth for a moment. You watch as the beautiful pipe in his hand moves down in front of his chest, where the smoke subsides, but there are still faint wisps curling gently upward. And your eyes are still glued to the mysterious object of art when the hand moves up again and almost magically, without the man even looking at it, the pipe finds its way back between his happy, content lips. You reach for the doorknob to go inside.

Now, imagine you’re a woman.

SOURCES
http://www.pipetrader.de/artikelauswahl.php?kat=Estate+Pfeifen~Bounty
http://www.bestsmokingpipes.com/beautiful-real-briar-bounty-meerschaum-lined-smokers-smoking-estate-pipe-8-39
https://www.willhaben.at/iad/kaufen-und-verkaufen/d/pfeife-real-briar-bounty-157047822/
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/026-bounty-real-briar-bent-estate-463731513 9mm
http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/12/us/hms-bounty-tall-ship-sinking-investigation/
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mutiny-on-the-hms-bounty
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Bounty/bountyaccount.html The true story of the 1789 mutiny on the Bounty
http://globalnews.ca/news/1390913/hms-bounty-sinking-coast-guard-blames-owners-captains-decisions/

Something About This Lorenzo Canadian Caught My Eye

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

A few weeks ago my family took my wife down to the US from Vancouver for her birthday. After a huge breakfast celebration the ladies went shopping and I hit a few favourite antique shops. I found a nice handful of old pipes. One of the lot was sandblast Lorenzo Canadian. It had a nice looking blast and I could see underneath the high gloss, grit and ruined rim what looked like a great pipe. It was in pretty rough shape. The bowl had a thick cake of sweet smelling aromatic tobacco. It was soft and crumbly but it was thick. There was a significant lava flow of tars over the rim to the point it was hard to see what the rim looked like. The back right outside edge of the rim was worn away, rough and rounded. The finish looked as if it had been coated in urethane as a sealer. It almost looked as if that had been done after the grime and build up on the bowl. It was a mess. There was a nickel band on the shank that was stamped Lorenzo across the top face. The underside of the shank was smooth and stamped Lorenzo in script over AMELLO-ORO (at least that is what it looks like as the blast goes across the stamping. There is also the shape number 348 below the stamp ITALY. The stem was oxidized and dirty but seemed to have a cursive L mid stem on the top side. I picked it up for $12 US. The photo below shows the five pipes I picked up that day. The Lorenzo is in the oval at the top of the photo.I took the next series of photos to show the condition of the pipe when I brought it to the work table. It has clean lines but is in sad shape. Can you see the beauty under the grime on this one? I took a close-up photo of the rim to give you a clear picture of the state of the bow and the rim when I started working on it. It needed a lot of work on the bowl and rim before it would be usable again. The second photo below shows the stamping on the pipe. You can see where the sandblast covered portions of the stamping.I started by reaming the bowl with a PipNet reamer. I used the smallest cutting head and worked my way up to one that had the same diameter as the bowl. I finished cleaning up the inside of the bowl with a Savinelli Pipe Knife. The rim was not only heavily covered with lava but also was worn down on the back right side of the outer edge.I topped the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper on the topping board and took off the damage to the rim as much as possible without changing the profile of the pipe.I wiped the bowl down acetone to try to break down the urethane top coat that had been applied. It the bowl had not been sandblasted it would have been easy to sand off the top coat. In this case it was going to be a combination of things that I would have to use to break through the coating and remove it.While the acetone removed a lot of the coating I decided to let the bowl soak overnight in an alcohol bath. My experience was that what the acetone softened the alcohol bath loosened.In the morning I took the bowl out of the bath and dried it off. The coating was definitely much less shiny and in many places was gone altogether. I used a brass bristle wire brush to scrub the surface and get into the crevices and grooves in the blast. I wiped it down afterwards with acetone on cotton pads. I repeated the process until the finish coat was gone and I was left with the stain on the briar.With the finish removed it was time to rusticate the topped rim to match the finish on the bowl more closely. I used an assortment of burrs with the Dremel to make a random pattern on the rim top. I wanted the grooves and cuts to be at different depths and in different styles to approximate the look of the sandblast on the bowl and shank. The photos below show the progression of the rustication and each burr that was used. I used the brass bristle wire brush to knock off any loose pieces of briar and to further rusticate the rim surface. The finished rustication is shown in the photo below.I used a black Sharpie pen to colour in the grooves and crevices in the rim and to add some depth to the finish. I stained over the top of it with a medium brown stain pen for contrast.With the rim finished I restained the entire bowl with a dark brown aniline stain thinned by 50% with isopropyl alcohol. I applied it with a cotton swab and then flamed it to set it in the grain of the pipe.I wiped down the bowl with alcohol on cotton pads to further thin it down and make it more translucent. I wanted the dark stain in the grooves and crevices of the blast to show through the top coat of stain and approximate the colouring I had done on the rim surface.I scrubbed the interior of the airway and mortise with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to begin the cleanup. The condition of this pipe and the heavy aromatic tobacco that had been smoked in it demanded a more drastic measure. I used the drill bit that is part of the KleenReem reamer to clean out the airway from the mortise to the shank. A huge amount of thick tars and grit came out on the bit. It took quite a bit of push to get the bit through the buildup in the airway. It was virtually clogged. I twisted the bit in until the airway was clean and then used the retort on the pipe. I set up the retort and boiled three tubes of alcohol through the shank before I was able to get one tube that was clean. I wanted to see how the stain on the bowl and rim looked at this point so I buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond on the wheel. I polished the metal band on the shank with a jeweler’s cloth to remove the oxidation on the surface and give it a shine. I liked the look of the finish and knew that with a little more effort I would be able to finish the pipe and have it look far better. I dropped the stem in Oxyclean before I went to work and in the evening when I came home took it out of the bath. The oxidation had softened and risen to the surface. I used a coarse towel to scrub it off. The majority of it came off leaving the stem almost clean. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining oxidation on the stem and ran some pipe cleaners through the airway to clean it out. I was careful as I sanded around the cursive L on the stem face so as not to damage it. I went on to wet sand the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I gave the stem a coat of Obsidian Oil and then dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads. I gave it another coat of oil and finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of oil and let it dry.At this point in the polishing of the stem I paused to address the faded logo on the top of the stem. I used a small #4 artist’s brush and some white acrylic paint to fill in the cursive L logo. The white paint made the logo stand out and added a finishing touch to the stem.I finished sanding the stem with 6000-12000 grit micromesh pads and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I set the stem aside to let the oil soak in and dry.I buffed the pipe – lightly on the bowl and shank, normally on the stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel and then gave the stem several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the stem with a clean buffing pad. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush between each coat. I lightly buffed the bowl with a clean buffing pad and then hand buffed the whole pipe with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It has definitely come a long way from the mess I started with but the “good bones” I saw when I picked it up at the antique shop proved to be truly present. The pipe is restored and ready for a long life. Thanks for looking.

Breathing New Life into a Jobey Stromboli 500 Bent Sitter

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

It’s funny how some brands escape my attention. I cannot explain it or give some rationale for not being interested in Jobey pipes. But I know that until my brother, Jeff started picking them up because he liked the looks of them they did not appear much on my radar. I know that a few years back I picked up a Stromboli ¼ bent author because I liked the look of the rustication but that was the long and short of my interest. Now since my brother has been buying pipes more of them are crossing my work table and I am gaining a new appreciation for them.

In the case of this pipe, I know that the blue stem on this Stromboli is what caught my brother’s eye. It is a gorgeous shade of blue that stands in stark contrast to the dark deep rustication of the bowl and shank of the pipe. He sent me the link to the eBay sale and I too took an interest in the stem and the shape. From the photos I could see that the finish on this pipe was in decent shape overall. There was some wear on the rim. It appeared that some of the finish had chipped off and there were some worn spots on the front and the back outer edges of the bowl. The cake was uneven (varying thicknesses from the photos) in the bowl and an overflow of lava on the rim top and edges. The stem had some stains or dark substance on the grooves of the turned portions. The pipe is stamped on the smooth bottom of the sitter bowl with the words Jobey over Stromboli and the number 500. The stem also has some wear and tooth marks on and in front of the button on the top and bottom sides. All in all, I was looking forward to receiving this pipe and seeing what I could make of it. I have included the seller’s pictures below to show some of the issues that I mentioned above. When the pipe arrived it looked precisely as the pictures had shown it. The dirty finish was a little worse than the photos showed. There was more grime in the grooves of the rustication. The stamping on the bottom of the bowl had a wax buildup in it that made it appeared blurred and double stamped. The stem was also a bit more of a mess than I had originally thought. The brown areas around the grooves and lines on the stem were actually thick and hard and did not come off by scraping. I am not sure what the substance was but it seemed to be stubbornly permanent. There were also tooth marks on stem on both the top and the underside of the stem near the button. The top of the button was also worn down on the inner sharp edge. The slot was almost closed off with grime and debris. The stem was loose and easily fell of the Jobey Link in the mortise. I took some photos of the pipe before I started working on it. I took a close-up photo of the rim and also the bottom of the bowl to show the stamping. The rim was dirty with tars and oil and some lava in the grooves. The bowl had a light cake remaining even after I had field reamed it when I was visiting in Idaho. The stamping on the bottom of the bowl is visible in the second photo. It had wax and grime in the grooves so it looked almost blurred and out of focus. I removed the stem from the Jobey Link and then used a flat blade screw driver to turn the link out of the shank of the pipe. I took a photo of the parts of the pipe to show the size and shape of the link. (You can also see the brown buildup on the grooves and ridges of the stem).I scrubbed the rustication with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the deep grooves. I also used a brass bristle brush to scrub the rim and the grooves there. The bristles of the brass brush easily removed the tars and lava from the rim surfaces. Once the bowl was scrubbed I rinsed it under warm running water to remove the soap and grime and then dried it on a soft towel. I used a dark brown stain pen to touch up the worn areas on the outside edge of the rim and the top surface as well. The dark brown perfectly matched the stain on the rest of the bowl. With the link removed from the shank I was able to clean out the mortise with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I worked on the threads as well to remove the buildup on them. I clean out the airway on the stem with pipe cleaners and alcohol and picked the slot clean with a dental pick. I used a pipe cleaner to also clean out the airway in the link. With the inside of the stem clean the link fit snugly in place and the stem was no longer loose. With the inside of the stem clean it was time to work on the rock hard substance on the grooves of the turned stem. The substance was impermeable to alcohol and was also on the flat diamond sides of the saddle portion of the stem. I wrapped a metal tube that was approximately the same diameter as the grooves with 220 grit sandpaper and worked on cleaning out the grooves and an emery board to sand the flat surfaces. I used a needle file to redefine the edges of the button on both sides of the stem and to also smooth out the tooth chatter and marks. I sanded the stem at the button and grooves with 150, 280, 320, 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper to smooth out the scratches left behind by the 220 grit sandpaper. I took photos of all sides of the stem to show how well the sanding removed the hard substance on the stem in the affected areas. I cleaned out the stamping with a dental pick and then used a black Sharpie Pen to colour in the text of the stamping. I buffed the bowl bottom lightly on the buffer to blend the black pen into the rest of the bowl bottom. I turned the link back into the shank and gave the bowl a light coat of Conservator’s Wax. I buffed it with a shoe brush to raise the shine. I did a final scrape of the interior of the bowl with a Savinelli Pipe Knife to remove the remaining cake on the bowl walls.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and then wiped down the stem with a clean cloth to remove the dust. I dry sanded the stem with 3200-12000 grit pads to continue to polish and shine the stem.

I lightly buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. It is important with Lucite to keep a light touch as you move the stem against the wheel as you can easily melt the stem and make more work for yourself. I hand gave the stem several coats of carnauba and buffed it with a clean buff. I brought the pipe back to the work table and buffed the bowl with the shoe brush and also with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a beauty. I love the contrast between the dark brown/black of the craggy rustication and the smooth deep, royal blue of the stem. Thanks for looking.

This Beauty is a Peer Import Danish Handmade Dublin Stack 20

A fun pipe to restore – a Straight Grain Algerian Briar Horn

4 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

There has always been something intriguing to me about horn shaped pipes. This old timer is stamped on the left side of the shank with the words Straight Grain in script with a swirled underline. On the right side it is stamped Algerian Briar also in script. The finish was dark and dirty with a lot of grime ground into the bowl sides. The stamping was readable but faint in the middle on both sides of the shank. The rim was rounded and covered with a thick coat of tar and lava. There was a light cake in the bowl as I had field reamed it when I was in Idaho with my brother. He picked this old timer out on eBay and he did a good job picking it. The stem had some interesting oxidation – a thick brown on the top of the stem and little on the underside. There was a about an inch of calcification on the surface of the underside near the button. The top of the stem had tooth marks that were sanded out and the surface had a slight ripple. The button edges were no longer distinct and sharp but had been dented and worn down. The slot on the button was clogged with debris. The overall look of the pipe was pleasing and the shank and stem were thick at the middle. I scrubbed out the inside of the mortise and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol.I reamed out the remaining cake in the bowl with a Savinelli Pipe Knife and took it back to bare wood. I scrubbed the bowl with acetone to remove the finish and the grime. There was some really nice straight grain on the bowl sides, back and front as well as some nice birdseye on the bottom and on the rim. I scrubbed the rim with acetone on cotton pads as well I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper and 1500 grit micromesh sanding pads to remove the lava on the rounded/crowned rim. I sanded the bowl with micromesh sanding pads to smooth out the finish and remove the fine scratches that were present in the finish. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation on the top side of the stem and to smooth out the tooth marks on the top side near the button. The stinger was stuck in the tenon so I heated the metal stinger with a lighter to loosen the gunk that held it in place. I wrapped it with a cotton pad and pulled it with some pliers. I cleaned out the airway in the stem with pipe cleaners and alcohol. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads, gave it another coat of oil and then finished sanding with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of oil and let it dry. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then with a microfibre cloth to add depth to the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I really like the way it came out. The carver followed the grain exceptionally well as the straight grain flows with the shape of the bowl. Thanks for looking.