Tag Archives: Bowl – refinishing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Figure 13 Heating up the vulcanite stem.

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

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

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

Figure 16 Shank preparation for staining.

Figure 17 Shank preparation for staining.

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

Restoring an L.J. Perretti Deluxe Prince

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LJ Perretti Straight Grain Rejuvenated

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Blog by Steve Laug

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New Life to an Aarhus?? Unique

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I have no idea what the final letters of the name on this pipe are supposed to be. The shank had been poorly cut off and there were two cracks, one on each side. It is stamped Aarhus over Made in France on the left side of the shank and the number 6 on the right side. The walls of the shank were quite thin. The bowl top was caked and dirt. The bowl was caked and needing cleaning. There was no stem on the bowl. The finish on the pipe was worn and dirty. There were two small sandpits that had been patched with white putty that had fallen out and left two white spots on the bowl. The shape of the pipe is what interested me. It has a pencil shank and the bowl tapers to a ridge on the front and the back. The bowl is also canted toward the front similar to a cutty and from the top is almond shaped. It is a uniquely interesting shape. The grain on this one is quite nice – birdseye front and back and cross grain on the sides. It does not quite align with the cut of the bowl but is very close. The pipe was a part of the lot that I have been working on lately – a purchase from EBay of 12+ pipe bowls that needed to be stemmed. The first series of four photos below show the state of the bowl when I began. The final photo of the four gives a closer look at the mortise and the thinness of the walls of the shank. Note the notches out of the end that give evidence of the shortening of the shank. In the photo I also included the stem that I took out of my can of stems and turned the tenon on.

The next three photos show the stamping on the shank and the angle of the cut of portion. It actually cut off the last letter or letters of Aarhus (pipe brand) and the E of France. The third photo shows the crack on the left side of the shank. There was a matching crack on the right side as well.

I reamed the pipe and then topped the bowl to remove the damage to the rim and smooth out the surface. I was intending to refinish the pipe anyway so I started with fine grit emery paper to clean off the thick tars on the surface (Photos 1 &2). I then used a medium grit sanding sponge to clean up the surface from the scratches of the emery paper (Photo 3).

I worked on the tenon in order to get a good smooth fit in the mortise. In Photo 1 below you can see how I used the stem to open the crack so I could repair it. I dripped in some superglue and squeezed it back together. You can see in Photos 1 and 2 the fit of the stem against the shank. The gap between stem and shank shows the angular cut that had been done on the shank. There were also small pieces of briar missing on the bottom edge of the shank. The end was rough and with the cracks left no choice but to band it. (In the photos there are some chunks of briar. These were inside of a band that I was cleaning up to reuse on the tenon of this pipe.)

I set up my heat gun and placed the band on the end of the shank. It was a tight band and I was able to just insert the edge in the band so that I could heat the band for pressure fitting it on the shank. The next four photos show the heating of the band and the metal plate that I use to press it into place on the shank. I heated it and pressed it on in three different increments as the band cooled before it would go all the way into place.

The next two photos show the newly banded shank. In the second photo you can also see the white putty fill about half way down the side of the bowl.

I finished fitting the stem on the pipe and sanded down the slag from the edges and end of the stem. I also wiped down the bowl with acetone. It had a coating of varnish on it that was crackling and also did not allow me to rework the fills properly. Once I had it wiped down I picked out the white putty in the two fills that were present with a dental pick and wiped down the bowl again with the acetone. The fills were on the right side mid bowl and on the left side at the bottom of the shank bowl junction.

I sanded the bowl and shank with 320 grit sandpaper and then a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the finish completely. The next three photos show the sanded bowl and shank. The grain was quite nice on the pipe. The dark stain had hidden it pretty well. I was beginning to think about not restaining the bowl but leaving it with the remaining colour and polishing and buffing it. Time would tell.

I packed briar dust into the clean sandpit areas on the pipe and then dripped superglue on top of the briar dust. The next two close up photos of the bowl show the patches before I sanded away the excess and cleaned them up to match the surface of the briar.

I used 320 grit sandpaper to remove the excess that was shown in the above photos and smooth out the surface. I followed that by sanding with a fine grit sanding sponge. The next four photos show the replaced fills. There were also some dark stains on the bowl that I wanted to work on. I continued to sand the bowl as a whole with the sanding sponge to minimize the dark stain marks on the briar. The colour of the briar is really starting to look great.

I then sanded the bowl and the stem with micromesh sanding pads. I wanted to remove the scratches and begin to develop a shine. I wet sanded with the 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and then went on to dry sand with the 3200-12,000 grit sanding pads. The next 9 photos show the developing shine on the bowl and the stem. I also sanded the nickel band with the micromesh pads.

By the time I finished sanding with the 12,000 grit micromesh sanding pad the bowl looked really good. I decided against restaining it and instead reinserted the stem and took the pipe to the buffer. I buffed the entirety lightly with White Diamond to remove any remaining light scratches and to brighten up the shine on both bowl and stem. I then wiped down the stem with Obsidian Oil, and buffed the pipe with carnauba and a soft flannel buff. The final five photos show the finished pipe. It is ready to use. The only remaining question is, “What is the brand? What letters follow Aarhus???” Can any of you help me with that information? It is an unfamiliar brand to me and I can find nothing on the Pipephil Logos and Stampings website or in Who Made that Pipe. Thanks ahead of time for your help.

Restoring a Unique Edition of the Keyser Hygienic System Pipe

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I picked up this Keyser Hygienic on EBay because it caught my eye. I have three other Keyser Hygienic pipes and they are all very similar in terms of the system. They are briar bowls and shanks with an aluminum mortise with a tube in the centre running to the airway in the bowl. This is matched with a military mount stem with a tube with a down turn on it that fits into the airway in the mortise. The swirling smoke rolls around the inside of the mortise where the moisture in the smoke condenses on the sides of the aluminum mortise. The cooled air is drawn into the down turned tube in the stem and it delivers a cool, dry smoke. The system is fairly straightforward and simple. The genius of the design is that any stem fits any pipe of the same size. Replacement stems are easily purchased and all that is necessary is the size of the pipe and the replacement will be a ready fit.

But this new Keyser was unique in all ways. The system design seems like a prototype of the original or maybe a step toward the ones that I have. It is composed of a short shanked briar bowl and a metal tube that has a normal vulcanite tenon. This sits in the shortened shank. Inside the tube is a second tube that extends ¾ of the way up the barrel. The inner tube is the extension of the airway in the tenon. The stem is a short pressure fit stem with a shoulder that allows it to ride on the end of the outer tube. On the end of the stem is a down turned short tube that draws air in to the mouth piece from the condensing chamber of the tube. It is a fascinating design. It is that uniqueness that caught my eye – that and the stamping/engraving on the outer tube which reads as follows:

KEYSER HYGIENIC PIPE
Made By
Keyser Manufacturing Co.
Brighton England
Pat Appns Brit 34B20/47
US 6067474/48
Can 581101

The next series of seven pictures shows the pipe as it appeared in the EBay webpage. The seller did a great job describing the current state of the pipe and the areas of concern. The seller notes some of the scratches on the outer tube and the darkening of the rim. He also noted the tooth chatter and scratch marks on both the top and underside of the stem.

When the pipe arrived I unpacked it and examined it. There were indeed tooth chatter/marks on both the top and bottom of the stem. There was a cigarette burn mark on the bottom of the shank where it meets the bowl. It was not a deep burn and there was no charred wood just a dark mark. The rim itself also had some issues. While the surface was not charred there was a burned area on the front inside of the bowl and on the front outside of the bowl. It looked to be damage from a lighter used in the same place repeatedly over time. The remainder of the finish was in pretty good shape but the entire pipe would need to be stripped in order to address the burn marks on the rim and the side of the shank. The inside of the bowl and shank were very clean. The pipe had not been reamed but there was a light cake that smelled like an aromatic. The barrel was tight on the shank but I carefully was able to remove it. The vulcanite tenon on the end of the barrel was undamaged but the airway was closed in with tars. The way the tenon was attached to the barrel was interesting. The end of the barrel was bonded to a circular plug of vulcanite with the tenon an integral piece of the part. The stem was frozen in the barrel and could not be removed. The button on the stem was unmarked and the tooth marks were actually mid stem on the top and bottom sides. The vulcanite stem was oxidized and would need to be cleaned. The next four photos show the items that I have pointed out in this paragraph.

I was able to remove the barrel and tenon from the shank of the pipe by carefully twisting the barrel free of the shank. I always hold tightly to the shank with one hand right next to the shank and then twist with the other hand. I try to maintain equal pressure on all points so that the shank is not strained or cracked in the process. The next photo shows the tenon on the barrel. It is almost the same length as the shank and the airway is lined up very closely to the airway in the bottom of the bowl. I cleaned out the mortise with cotton swabs and Everclear and found that it was quite clean. I also cleaned out the barrel from both ends but was not able to get a pipe cleaner to go all the way through the pipe from button to tenon.

The next three photos show the front of the bowl and the extent of the burn marks on the front outside of the bowl and the front inside of the rim. These were two areas that would need to be worked over to minimize the burn marks on the finished pipe.

I used my PipNet reamer to ream out the soft aromatic cake in the bowl and then recleaned the shank and the inside of the bowl with pipe cleaners and Everclear to remove the carbon dust that came from the reaming process (Photo 1 below). I wiped down the outside of the bowl and shank with a cotton pad and acetone to remove the finish on the pipe (Photo 2 below).

The next series of fourteen photos show the topping of the bowl to remove the burned area on the inside of the rim and the front outside edge. The burn had rounded the outside edge and made it appear out of round when looking at it from the top. I wanted to top the bowl enough to bring the top view back into round, minimize the wood damage in both spots and clean up the sharp edge of the bowl. I used two different sanding sponges – medium grit (black coloured sponge) and a fine grit sponge (yellow coloured sponge) both pictured below to start the process. I went on to use medium grit emery paper on the hard board to further top the bowl and ended with 320 grit sandpaper on the board. I polished the finish of the topped pipe bowl with the fine grit yellow sanding sponge. I also worked on the burned area that extended down the front of the bowl with the two sanding sponges.

While I was working on the bowl I put the barrel and stem unit in the freezer to try to break loose the stuck stem. I have found that the varying contraction time of the metal and vulcanite will often loosen the stem. Once it was in the freezer for 30 minutes I could easily remove the stem and give the inside of the barrel and the stem a thorough cleaning with pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in Everclear. I cleaned them until both came out clear. The next five photos show the broken down stem and the tube on the end of the stem that I was talking about above. There is one photo of the barrel but it is too dark to see the inner tube.

Once the stem and barrel was clean it was time to deal with the tooth marks and chatter on the stem itself. I sanded the top and the bottom with 320 grit sandpaper to remove the marks and the chatter. None of them were too deep. They were more of a ripple like effect on the surface of the vulcanite. I sanded them flat to the surface of the stem and then went on to sand the stem with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-12,000 grits. The next four photos show the progress of the shine.

After shining the stem with the micromesh I took it to the buffer and buffed the stem with White Diamond and then rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil and finished it with a coat of carnauba wax. I put the stem back in the barrel and lined up the stem with the stamping on the side of the barrel. I gave the entire barrel and stem another coat of carnauba wax and hand buffed them. The next three photos show the assembled barrel and stem unit polished and ready to put on the bowl once it was restained and ready.

I sanded and resanded the bowl with fine grit sanding sponges and then sanded it with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-3200 grit. I wiped it down with acetone between sandings and again when I was finished to prepare it for staining. The next three photos show the prepared pipe ready for staining. The burn mark on the bottom of the shank is gone with very little sanding and no change to the shank surface itself. The one on the front of the is minimized and the one on the rim is also virtually gone. The bowl is ready for a new finish coat.

I restained the bowl with an oxblood aniline stain, flamed it and restained and reflamed it. I rubbed it down with a cotton terry cloth to smooth out the stain and then took it to the buffer. I always buff with my thumb in the bowl to ensure that the buffer does not grab the bowl from my hand and launch it against the wall. I rotate it slowly in my hand and with a light touch buff the shank. I am careful not to apply too much pressure and round the shoulders on the shank. I normally do not buff with the stem off the bowl but in this case I did not want to risk buffing off the black paint on the barrel so I chance the buffing on the bowl alone. The next three photos show the buffed bowl before polishing.

I reassembled the pipe and then hand buffed it with multiple coats of carnauba wax and polished it with a shoe brush. The stem and bowl have a great shine and the bowl has some beautiful grain on it. I look forward to smoking this one and comparing it with my other Keyser Hygienic pipes. The final four photos below show the finished pipe. I have yet to do the research on the patent information on the barrel but I am hoping to find out a bit of history on this piece.

From the photo of the bottom of the bowl and shank above you can see that the burn mark there is eliminated in its entirety. Also in the photo of the rim above and the one of the front of the bowl below you can see that the burn mark is gone and what remains is blended into the stain.

Irwin’s (GBD Second) 9448 Refurbished

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Blog by Greg Wolford

I picked this Irwin’s 9448 up not too long ago expecting it to be an easy clean up, which was partly right and partly wrong, and knowing it was a GBD second it should be a great pipe for the money. From the seller’s photos I figured a little heat to lift the tooth dents, some light sanding and then micro meshing and the stem would be good to go. The stummel I figured would need to be cleaned, soaked in an alcohol bath and retained. Here are the photos from the seller:

Seller’s Photo

I forgot to take my own photos when the pipe arrived and during the process so only the seller’s before and my after photos will be shown. The process went as follows though:

The stummel was in better shape than I anticipated: it was dirty and did have a few dents to raise but was in really good condition overall. The stem was another story: the tooth dents were much deeper than the photos showed or than I had expected. I knew that this stem was going to require filling the dents and thought over a few options, which I have more to say on later here. So, I decided to start with the stummel.

After reaming the bowl and cleaning the shank, I began by wiping the pipe down with acetone on disposable cotton pads, and went through many of them. After get most of the dirt and wax off, I took some cotton swabs dipped in 91% isopropyl alcohol and began to work off the heavy build up on the rim. It was a slow process but as the layers came off I could see the rim was in very nice shape and didn’t need topped. Once all the gunk was off, I took a few more passes over the entire stummel with a couple more cotton pads wet with alcohol to make sure all the finish and dirt was removed. I then turned my attention to the dents: one on the front of the bowl, two on the bottom near where the curve of the bowl met the flat “sitter” area, and a couple on the rim.

I used my heat gun to heat up the end of an old kitchen “butter knife” and a wet scrap rag to produce the steam to raise the dents. All of them came out fairly easily except for one on the “sitter” portion and it took several applications of steam to get it out. But it did finally raise.

At this point I went to the buffer to see what the stummel looked like. I buffed it with some Tripoli and then again my hand with an old t-shirt. I saw then that the pipe had good color under all the dirt, it had just been hidden. And the steam had done its job very nicely, too, giving me a pretty well smoothed out stummel. There was one fill on the left side of the bowl but not a large one and it didn’t really stand out to my eye so I decided to leave it alone. I wiped it down with one more alcohol pad to remove any trace left from the Tripoli and then decided to not sand or re-stain it; the color was really nice and the grain showed in a nice contrast. So I set the stummel aside to work on the stem.

I began by heating the stem, with a pipe cleaner inserted to make holding, moving and not damaging the airway easier. The dents lifted some but, as I expected, were too deep to come anywhere near level. So now it was time to try some patching or filling of the dents.

A while back Al, another contributor here on the blog, had mentioned he had used cigar ash to fill in a few dents but that they were still visible repairs. I have been experimenting with a couple of ideas that so far have not made any great improvements over just using super glue alone. I thought that on this one I would try to make a patch with carbon reamed from the pipe. The carbon is much darker, a real black, than ash so I thought this might make a better repair. I worked in layers, packing in the carbon, applying a drip of super glue, allowing it to dry, sanding it back down with an emery board and repeating; I think I did three rounds on each side of the stem, trying raise the dents slowly and make them stronger in the long run. After the last application on the underside, I began to work with my needle files, then emery boards, 320 grit wet sand and finally onto micro mesh, wet sanding 1500-2400. I then applied the Novus 2 plastic polish, rubbing it on and off with cotton pads. The remaining grits of micro mesh I used dry through 12,000. Finally I used the Novus 2 again, applied the Mother’s Back to Black with my fingers and let it dry before buffing it off with another cotton pad. The final step was to polish it with the Novus 1 plastic polish. Now it was time to reassemble the pipe and take it back to the buffer. At this point I knew the patch wasn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be: it was better, I think, but it was also still noticeable.

I buffed the stummel with Tripoli again before I reassembled the pipe and buffed the entire pipe with white diamond. I then applied several coats of carnauba wax to the pipe and buffed it out with a new soft cloth wheel. This is what the pipe looks like now, cleaned up (except for the fact I smoked it before I took the photos) but without any new staining done to it.

After

The bit area does look a lot better and it is smooth, almost; apparently the layering technique wasn’t my best idea as a small piece of the top patch came off at some point, probably on the buffer. Next time I will not work in layers but more like a briar-dust fill and do it all at once, which be faster, too. I do wish it were less noticeable on the whole,though.

Before and After

I have a few other ideas about trying to get a less visible patch that I may pursue. However, now that I know I can get black super glue, already made, that may be my future course. But the “can I do it myself ” part of me wants to keep experimenting so we shall see. If any of you readers have any ideas on making these repairs less visible I’d be most appreciative if you would share them in the comments section.

Reclaiming an EPW Bulldog – Restoring it Twice

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Blog by Steve Laug

This old time long shanked bulldog was a mess when I got it. At first glance it looks pretty good. But it was not. The shank had previously been banded and that band was lost. It was a deep band and filigreed so it left marks. There were also two large cracks in the shank that extended about an inch into the length. The rim was clean but the top portion of the bulldog shape – above the double rings was also stained and filled with holes from the nails that had held the decorated rim cap in place. There were four holes – back, front and both sides. There were also deep gouges where the decorative border had cut into the briar. The stamping was faint and read EPW in an oval. There was no stem with this one either so it would need to have one made. The overall finish on the bowl was not too bad in that it was not dented or burned or damaged on the sides and undersides of the bowl. I decided to try banding the shank and see what I could do about the cracks on the top right side of the shank and the lower left side of the shank. They would in all likelihood be an issue. I did not have a deep band so I tried with a narrower band (about ½ inch deep). I shaped a round band with a flat blade screwdriver and a hammer until it was the right shape to fit the shank. I heated the band and pressed it into place.

The next three photos show the band in place. If you look close in the photos below you can see the crack on the top of the right side shank. The one on the left underside of the shank did not come out in the photos. You can also see the nail holes in the bowl above the double rings.

The next series of three photos shows the fitting of a new tenon. I drilled the stem and then used a tap to thread the stem so that I could screw in the new tenon. In the photos below you can see the tap in the stem and the new threaded tenon just above the bowl at the centre of the picture. The third photo shows the hole in the stem threaded and ready for the new tenon.

Once the stem was ready I dripped a little superglue on the tenon and screwed it into the stem. The next two photos show the tenon in place. I still needed to turn it with the Pimo tenon turner to reduce the size to fit the shank of the pipe.

I used the tenon turner and reduce the diameter of the tenon until it was close to fitting and then hand sanded it until it fit correctly. With the cracked shank the fit was critical. I did not want the tenon too big as it would open the cracks. The two photos below show the tenon after turning. It still needed a bit more hand sanding to make a perfect fit.

The next four photos below show the restemmed pipe. The stem fit perfectly against the band and the look was exactly what I was aiming for. The issue that remained was the two cracks that extended further than the band.

The next three photos show the work of patching the nail holes and the cracks with briar dust and superglue. I packed in the briar dust with my dental pick until they were filled and then I dripped the superglue into the spots. Once they were dry I sanded them down to remove the excess and blend them into the surrounding bowl. I wanted them to be less visible and be able to be blended in with the stain when I got around to staining it.

With the nail holes filled on the front and back of the bowl I was finished with the patching for now. I still was bothered by the ones on the sides of the bowl but would deal with them later. I sanded down the patches one more time with a fine grit sanding sponge and then wiped the bowl and shank down with an alcohol dampened cotton pad to remove the dust and remaining finish. The next series of eight photos shows that process as I prepared the bowl to be restained.

I restained the pipe with an oxblood aniline stain. The next series of four photos shows the pipe after staining. The nail holes and small holes on both sides of the bowl really bothered me. The cracks, while well bonded stood out clearly and made me wonder about how well they would hold up. I laid the pipe aside for a couple days to think about some solutions to the problem. I mulled over whether I should order a deeper band for the shank or whether I should cut down the shank and make it a normal sized bulldog. I did nothing to the pipe for two days and then on the third evening I came home and went to my work table to see what I could do to deal with the damage on the old pipe.

I decided to cut off the shank at the inside edge of the nickel band. I wanted to use the nickel band as the straight edge for the saw. I have seen too many pipes where the cut off shank was poorly cut and at an angle. So I used a hacksaw that has a perfect blade for working with briar. The teeth are fine so they do not chip the wood as they cut it. The cut when completed is clean and smooth with no chips. The next three photos show the set up for cutting and the cutting process itself. (I apologize for the second photo – it is hard to saw and take a photo!) But you can get the idea. The third photo below shows the finished cut.

I took the two pieces back to my work table and removed the cut off piece of briar shank from the band. When they fell out they were in two pieces. I cleaned up the band and straightened out the angles to make sure it would fit the shortened shank. It was just a bit too deep and when in place would cover the W of the stamping but it would do a good job on the cracks. With the piece cut off the cracked shank had two very small cracks left that would easily be repaired by the band. I smoothed out the cut end with a piece of emery paper. In the second photo below you can see the cut off shank piece. It is cracked all the way through and in two pieces. Note also that the mortise was threaded for the older original screw tenon.

I put the band in place on the end of the shank. It was a good tight fit but would not slide all the way in place. So I set up my heat gun and heated the band (Photo 1 below). I then pressed it into place on the shank by squarely pushing the shank and band on a metal plate (Photo 2 below). The final three photos below show the shank with the newly fitted band in place. The shank is ready to be drilled deeper to fit the tenon.

I matched the drill bit to the mortise in the cut off piece of shank. I used a drill bit one size lower and drilled the mortise to the depth of the tenon. I then used the proper sized drill bit and drilled it a bit larger. Once I had the drilling down I sanded down the tenon with some emery cloth to make a clean tight fit and inserted the stem. Once the stem fit well I decided to rework the nail holes and holes in the sides of the top half of the bowl above the double rings. I packed in briar dust and dripped super glue in to them. The next two photos show the repaired/filled holes.

The glue and briar dust dried quickly so I sanded them with 320 grit sandpaper to smooth them out to the surface of the briar. The next four photos show the sanded patches and also the sanded stem. I used the same sandpaper to sand off the oxidation on the stem and clean up the surface of the stem so that I could work on it with the micromesh to bring out a deep black shine. (In the background of the photos I left the piece of cut off shank for a sense of the size of the piece I removed from the length of the pipe.)

At this point in the process I was ready to work the stem with micromesh sanding pads to remove all of the scratches and bring back the deep black. The shorter stem gave the pipe a great look in my opinion. The finished length is 5 inches as opposed to 5 ½ inches but it looks more balanced to me. The loss is the long shanked look of the original bulldog. The gain is a more solid pipe with less chance for the breakage to continue and render the pipe irreparable.

The next series of photos show the progress of sanding with the micromesh pads from 1500 – 12,000 grit. The first four photos show the stem after I wet sanded with the 1500, 1800 and 2400 grit micromesh. After wet sanding I polished the stem with some Maguiar’s Scratch X2.0 and then took it to the buffer and buffed the stem with Tripoli and White Diamond.

I then dry sanded with 3200 -12,000 grit micromesh sanding pads. The next series of seven photos show the progress of the developing shine on the stem. Once I finished with the 12,000 grit pad I wiped down the stem with Obsidian Oil and when dry buffed it with White Diamond for a final time. The only thing remaining was a final buff with carnauba wax.

The final four photos below show the finished pipe. I applied several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe and stem with a soft flannel buff to give it the final shine. When I started on this pipe I would have never guessed that I would refurbish it twice, band it twice, stain it twice, work the stem twice, and on goes the list of second times on this one. But the end product speaks for itself. I like the look of the shortened shank and tight band. This one will outlast me in its service to pipemen in the days ahead.

Meerschaum Bowl Refurbished and Polished

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Blog by Steve Laug

I got this meerschaum bowl in the same pipe lot as the older CPF bowls and the meerschaum bowl I adapted to fit a Kirsten barrel. It is an intact meerschaum bowl from a gourd calabash pipe. I am not sure what I am going to do with it yet but I am brainstorming a few ideas. Sid Stavros has done some interesting looking pipes by converting a briar bowl to hold the meerschaum cup. Have a look at his blog and you will see what I mean. Here is the link: http://pipe-smoke.blogspot.ca/2010/02/meerschaum.html Anyway there is no end to the ideas that I am working on with regard to this bowl. Time will tell! In the meantime here is the cleanup process with photos.

When I received the bowl it looked like this. You can see the scratches and damage to the inner rim and the buildup of cake and tars in the bowl and on the rim itself.

The underside of the bowl was darkened but not tarred and caked. The airway was caked and reduced in size and would need to be opened up.

I sanded the rim of the bowl with 320 grit sandpaper to remove the tars and to minimize the scratches in the surface of the bowl.

I followed up by sanding it with a medium grit sanding sponge – pictured behind the bowl.

I then sanded it with a fine grit sanding sponge. The marks and scratches are beginning to disappear.

Then it was time for the micromesh sanding pads. Pictured above are the 1500-2400 grit sanding pads.

I sanded the inside edge of the rim with the 320 grit sandpaper. I wanted to minimize the chipping of the inner edge of the bowl.

I then continued sanding with the micromesh sanding pads – 3200 – 3600 grit. The bowl top is beginning to be very smooth and uniform in texture and look.

I sanded the bowl top with the remaining grits of micromesh sanding pads – 4000-12,000 grit. The chipped edge is still visible but not as rough. The inner edge of the bowl is also smoothed out.

I applied some white beeswax to protect the cleaned surface. The shine is very evident in the bowl. Now I have to determine what briar bowl it will grace.

rebornpipes

reclaiming old and worn estate pipes

Tag Archives: Bowl – refinishing

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

Restoring an L.J. Perretti Deluxe Prince

LJ Perretti Straight Grain Rejuvenated

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

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

New Life to an Aarhus?? Unique

Restoring a Unique Edition of the Keyser Hygienic System Pipe

Irwin’s (GBD Second) 9448 Refurbished

Reclaiming an EPW Bulldog – Restoring it Twice

Meerschaum Bowl Refurbished and Polished

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