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Breathing Fresh Life into a Peterson’s System Standard 307 Rusticated

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is Rusticated Peterson’s System pipe that we purchased from our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark on 01/08/2024. It was stamped Peterson’s System Standard on the underside side of the shank in a smooth panel. It was stamped Peterson’s [arched over] System [over] Standard. That is followed by Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines). After that stamping is the shape number 307. It has a rugged, tactile rustication around the bowl and shank that is filled with a lot of oils, debris and grime. There was a thick cake in the bowl with remnants of tobacco stuck on the walls. There was a lava overflow on the rim top that was heavier toward the back side. The top and edges of the rim were well hidden under the tars and lava. There was a very beautiful pipe underneath all of the buildup of years of use. The nickel ferrule on the shank end was oxidized and is stamped on the left side K&P [over] three faux hallmarks. That is followed by Peterson’s. It is not dented or damaged. The stem was oxidized and calcified toward the end with some tooth chatter and marks ahead of the button on both sides. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the thick, hard cake in the bowl with remnants of tobacco stuck on the walls of the bowl. There was a lava build up on the top of the rim and the edges of the bowl. The rim top looked pretty good but it was hard to know for sure if there was damage under the thick lava. Only clean up would tell the full story. Jeff took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the tooth chatter, scratching and oxidation on the stem surface and wear on the edges of the button. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish. You can see the grime in the rustication around the sides of the bowl and shank. Even under the dirt and debris of the years it looked very good. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the underside of the bowl and shank. The stamping was faint but readable as you can see from the photos. It read as noted above. The nickel ferrule on the shank end is stamped on the left side K&P Peterson’s over three Peterson marks used on nickel ferrules.I have included the information on the shape number on this pipe that I picked up on researching the previous pipes with the 307 shape number. I have included a page from a Petersons Catalogue that I have on rebornpipes (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/peterson-hallmark-chart/). I have put a red box around the 307 shown in the catalogue page shown below. That should give a clear picture of the size and shape of the pipe.I am also including the information from Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). I have included a bit of the pertinent history here.

1950 – 1989 The Republic Era  – From 1950 to the present time, the stamp for this era is “Made in the Republic of Ireland” in a block format generally in three lines but two lines have been used with or without Republic being abbreviated.

During the 1950’s and 60’s the Kapp & Peterson company was still in the ownership of the Kapp family. However 1964 saw the retiral of the company Managing Director Frederick Henry(Harry) Kapp.

Pipedia also included a section of information on the System pipes including a diagram of the systems look (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson#Republic_Era_Pipes). I quote a section of the article in part and include a link to another article on Pipedia on the System pipe.

The Peterson System pipes are the standard bearers of the Peterson pipe family, famous for the excellent smoking pleasure they provide. Often imitated but never equaled, the Peterson System smokes dry, cool and sweet, thanks to the scientific effectiveness of the original design. The heart of the System is the unique graduated bore in the mouthpiece. This makes the suction applied by the smoker 15 times weaker by the time it reaches the tobacco chamber. The result is that all the moisture flows into the reservoir and, thus cannot reach the smoker’s mouth. The Peterson Lip further enhances the effectiveness of the graduated bore by directing the flow of smoke upwards and away from the tongue. This achieves a uniquely even distribution of smoke and virtually eliminates any chance of tonguebite or bitterness. Furthermore, the shape is contoured so that the tongue rests comfortably in the depression under the opening. Each “PLip” mouthpiece is made from Vulcanite. For the Peterson System pipes to work properly, the stem/tenon has to have an extension, the tip of which will pass by the draft hole from the bowl and into the sump. Upon the smoker drawing in smoke, this extension then directs the smoke down and around the sump to dispense a lot of the moisture before the smoke enters the extension and stem. On the System Standards and other less expensive systems, this extension with be made of Vulcanite turned integrally with the stem. On the more expensive System pipes this extension will be made of metal which screws into the Vulcanite stem. This extension on the earlier pipes will be of brass and the newer pipes will be of aluminium. Most smokers not knowing this function of the metal extension, assumes that it is a condenser/stinger and will remove it as they do with the metal condensers of Kaywoodie, etc. Should you have a System pipe with this metal extension, do not remove it for it will make the System function properly and give you a dryer smoke (https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_closer_look_at_the_famous_Peterson_Standard_System_Pipe).

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping and the age of this pipe. I knew from the information that the pipe was made during the Republic Era between 1950 and 1989. My guess is that the pipes is a 1960s era System pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff cleaned this filthy pipe with his usual clean up process. This one was a real mess and I did not know what to expect when I unwrapped it from his box. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners, shank brushes and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks very good with great looking grain around the bowl and shank. Jeff soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the vulcanite. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour I was amazed it looked so good. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show what an amazing job Jeff did in the cleanup of the rim top. The rim top was and inner edge were in excellent condition. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the vulcanite. It was quite clean other than some slight oxidation at the edges of the button. There were tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button.One of the things I appreciate about Jeff’s cleanup is that he works to protect and preserve the nomenclature on the shank of the pipes that he works on. The stamping on this one was faint to start with so I was worried that it would disappear altogether with the cleanup. He was not only able to preserve and maintain its condition in the process. I took some photos to show the clarity of the stamping. I have noticed that many restorers are not careful to protect the stamping in their cleaning process and often by the end of the restoration the nomenclature is almost destroyed. I would like to encourage all of us to be careful in our work to preserve this as it is a critical piece of pipe restoration! I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the pipe.I decided to start my work on the pipe by cleaning up the debris left in the rustication on the rim top. I worked it over with a brass bristle wire brush to remove the crud in the finish. The photo shows the progress.I rubbed the bowl and rim down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the rusticated surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horse hair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I really like watching the Balm do its magic and bring the briar alive. With briar polished with the Restoration Balm I moved onto the metal. I polished the nickel ferrule with a jeweller’s cloth to raise the shine and to protect the ferrule from further oxidation. I set the bowl aside to address the issues with the stem. I painted the surface of the stem with the flame of a lighter to lift them. I was able to lift them quite a bit. I filled in the remaining tooth marks with clear CA glue. Once it had cured I used a file to smooth out the repairs and blend them into the surface. I sanded repairs with 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the oxidation that remained in the vulcanite and also the light tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. It looked much better once I finished it.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. Once again at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when the Republic Era Rusticated Peterson System 307 is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I lightly polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The depths of the rustication really pop with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl and thick shank and nickel ferrule. This Peterson’s System Standard 307 Bent Billiard was another fun pipe to work on. It really is a quite stunning piece of briar whose shape follows the flow of the briar. The pipe is tactile in the hand and should feel great as it is warmed up when smoking. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.19 ounces/62 grams. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section if you would like to add it to your rack and carry on the previous pipeman’s legacy. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

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

Restoring an old timer 1912 BBB Own Make Silver Band England Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe that I am working on came from an estate sale in Oregon City, Oregon, USA we purchased on 03/21/24. It was very dirty and was a reddish, brown coloured pipe when it started. The smooth finish around the bowl was dirty and had hand oils ground into the grooves. The bowl had a thick cake a spotty coat of lava on the rim edge and top of the bowl. The outer edge and top of the bowl were battered and damaged with chips and nicks deep in the briar. It was a mess. The stem was oxidized, very dirty and had light tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. The pipe was stamped on the left side of the shank with the BBB logo in a diamond and underneath and to the side of the point it read Own Make. On the underside of the shank it was stamped England and had been double stamped. The Sterling Silver band on the shank was oxidized but was also stamped with the BBB in a diamond logo and to the left of it was stamped AF&Co in a rectangular stamp [over] three hallmarks – an Anchor, a Rampant Lion and the letter “n”. All were in shield style cartouches. The Anchor is the mark for Birmingham, the Lion is the mark for .925 Silver and the “n” is the date stamp. Jeff took photos of the pipe so I could have a sense of what it looked like before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the bowl. The rim top is dirty with lava and deep nicks in the surface of the rim. There is a thick cake in the bowl. The silver band on the shank is oxidized and stamped as noted above. The stem is oxidized and is very dirty from the shank to the button. There are light tooth marks and chatter on the stem on both sides ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish and the grain around the pipe. It has some great grain showing through the grime. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and on the silver band on the shank. It reads as noted above. It is faint in spots but is still very readable. The Sterling Silver band on the shank was oxidized but was also stamped as noted above. The BBB in a diamond logo identifies the pipe brand of this pipe. The AF&Co in a rectangular stamp to the left of the BBB logo identifies the silversmith as Adolf Frankau and Company who was the owner of the BBB brand. Underneath that stamp there were three hallmarks – an Anchor, a Rampant Lion and the letter “n”. All were in shield style cartouches. The Anchor is the mark for the city of Birmingham where the silver was assayed. The Lion is the mark for the quality of silver used – in this case .925 Silver. The letter “n” is the date stamp. I turned to a link on a British Hallmark site to look for the date code. I found a listing for Birmingham silver dates (https://www.925-1000.com/dlc_birmingham.html). I did a screen capture of the chart and have included it below. The letter “n” is in the same shape cartouche as the section I have marked in the picture below. That identifies the pipe as having been made in 1912.Now it was my turn to work on the pipe. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked, rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked very good when I received it. I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. You can see the clean bowl. The bowl is in excellent condition and is clean. The rim top and the inner edge showed damage with nicks and scratches on the top and roughness to both the inner and outer edges. The stem came out looking clean. There were some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took photos of the stamping on the shank. It is faint but still very readable. There was also a very faint stamp on the stem but I am still not certain it is the correct stem because of the fit and shape of the stem. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. I began my work on the pipe by addressing the issues with the rim top and the rim edges both inner and outer. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge and work to bring it back to round.The rim looked much better at this point thought there was still damage at the front of the inner edge of the bowl. I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and a wooden ball to give the inner edge and rim top a slight bevel. It looked much better.I built up the large chip in the outer edge of the bowl at the front with clear CA glue and briar dust. I put a spot of glue on the area and dipped the bowl into the briar dust. It stuck to the glue and came of the rest of the bowl. Once it dried I sanded it smooth with a 320 grit sanding pad to smooth out the repair on the top and the front of the bowl. It looked very good. I used a Cherry stain pen to touch up the repaired areas of the bowl. I stained the rim top with the same pen at the same time. It looked much better.I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to smooth out the nicks and scratches in the bowl sides, rim and heel of the bowl. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust and debris. The pipe had cleaned up so well that I turned to polish the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. By the final pads the briar really had a shine. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. Next, I moved on to further smooth out the surface of the vulcanite. I sanded it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further clean up the scratches and file marks on the surface of the stem.I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. It really took on a shine and I knew that once it was buffed it would look amazing. I put the stem back on the 1912 BBB Own Make Billiard with a Vulcanite Stem and took it to the buffer. I worked it over with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I gave the bowl and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up really well and the rim top looked good. I was happy with the look of the finished pipe. The photos below show what the pipe looks like after the restoration. The 1912 BBB Own Make Billiard is a beautiful and unique take on a classic shape. The polished, hard rubber taper stem looks really good with the browns of the briar. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.45 ounces/41 grams. This is another old time BBB pipe that I will be adding to my BBB Collection. I love these old time English Pipes by BBB as they are a real pleasure to smoke. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me.

Cleaning up a Wayward Republic Era K&P Peterson’s System Standard 314

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Blog by Steve Laug

Sometimes there is benefit to being a pipe rescue location. Although I am not sure my wife and daughters would agree with that. But I have to say it does keep this old guy busy rejuvenating old pipes and giving them life. If you were to come into my basement office/workshop (but mind you few do) I think you would be surprised by two things – the number of books on the shelves and the number of pipes in the storage bins behind my desk! There are a lot of pipes that still need attention. Most have been reamed and cleaned so that part is finished. But many still need a lot of attention to make them smokable again. Ah well, enough of that. This post is about a pipe I received in the mail today. Several weeks ago I received an email from a friend, Dave in Nova Scotia regarding a pipe he had that he thought I might enjoy having. I have included a portion of his email as it sets the stage for this interesting old Peterson’s System Standard 314.

Hi Steve,

Dave in Nova Scotia. Hope you’re enjoying the spring!

If you’re interested and want to send postage for a Canada Post small box, I’ll send you this Peterson system standard, 314.

Was my brother-in-law’s. He bought it Ireland many years ago. Needs some TLC. 

Yours is the home for wayward pipes!

So, I knew that the pipe was a Peterson’s System Standard 314 that had originally belonged to his brother-in-law who had purchased it directly from Peterson’s in Ireland. He included two photos of the Peterson for me to have a look at. I have included them below. The pipe was in desperate need of a restoration that is for sure. But I have truly worked on pipes in worse condition than this one. The box arrived on Friday this past week and I unpacked it to examine it carefully. The pipe was very dirty and tired looking. The finish was dirty and the nickel ferrule on the shank end was very corroded in spots on the left and underside and covered in thick grime. There were some dark spots on the left and right side toward the bottom of the bowl. The rim top had a thick lava coat that flowed up from the thick cake in the bowl. It was stamped on the left side vertically under the ferrule and read Peterson’s with the forked leg on the P [arched over] System [over] Standard. On the right side of the shank the stamping is horizontal and reads Made in the Republic of Ireland [in three lines] with the 314 shape number underneath that. The nickel ferrule was stamped under the grime and read K&P over Peterson’s. The stem is covered in a thick build up of dirt and oils. There is some oxidation on the stem surface and surprisingly there are no tooth marks. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the bowl. You can also see the condition of the nickel ferrule with all of the corrosion and grime completely removing the shine of the nickel ferrule. The stem is dirty around the insert in the ferrule. It is lightly oxidized and is very dirty on the stem and the button. There are light tooth marks and chatter on the stem service on both sides ahead of the p-lip.I took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. It is faint but still very readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. You can also see the dark spot on the right side of the bowl ahead of the stamping. I started my working on the pipe by addressing the corrosion and oxidation on the nickel ferrule. I sanded it with 320 grit sanding pads to remove the corrosion. I was utterly surprised that the nickel ferrule cleaned up and had a rich shine to it. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to remove remnants of cake. I sanded the walls of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I scrubbed the externals bowl and shank with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I rinsed it off with warm water to remove the grime and debris from the scrubbing. I scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners to remove the grime in the shank and sump of the Pete. I also scrubbed the airway on the inside of the stem at the same time. The pipe was very dirty but it cleaned up well.I cleaned off the remaining darkening on the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It cleaned up very well and looked good. There was no damage to the inner or outer rim edges.I worked over the briar bowl sides and rim top with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I sanded down the dark spots on the surface and was able to remove the damage. Thankfully they were not burn marks. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the dust and sanding debris left behind. The pipe had cleaned up so well that I turned to polish the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. By the final pads the briar really had a shine. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I set aside the bowl and turned my attention to the stem. To help remove the oxidation I scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub Cleanser and cotton pads. It took some elbow work but the stem definitely looked better and the sulphur smell of the oxidation is gone!I sanded the surface with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further clean up the spots of oxidation on the surface of the stem. I wiped it down with a soft damp cloth following each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris.I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. It really took on a shine and I knew that once it was buffed it would look amazing. This Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 314 Bent Billiard with a vulcanite stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful grain around the bowl sides stands out very well with the contrast of the polished nickel ferrule. The polished finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Peterson’s System Standard 314 fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 45grams/1.59oz. This one has been reserved for first refusal. If you are interested in being in the queue for this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Cleaning up one of my restorations from many years ago

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have always liked the GBD 9438 shaped pipe and this one was one of the first that I picked up many years ago when I first started working on pipes. I found it at an antique shop. It was in the early days when I picked up most every pipe I found. I believe that like others I found in the early days this pipe cost me about $6CDN. Just remembering that reminds me how much things have changed over the years. It became a favourite shape of mine and over the years I have purchased many more 9438 pipes made by GBD for their main and their seconds lines such as Irwin and Dr. Plumb. I have added them to my collection. Here is a link to a blog I did on my collection back in 2013 (https://rebornpipes.com/2013/12/12/my-gbd-9438-saddle-stems-and-tapered-stem-rhodesians/). I have 12 – some were in rough shape and others not so bad. I have been sorting through my pipe collection and thinning out pipes that I am willing to part with. I have sold many already and others are currently on the store. For the most part these pipes have been early restorations and all need a bit of work to bring them up to my current standard. I have set aside three 9438 pipes that I decided to rework. The first of them is stamped on the left side Dr. Plumb [over] London Made. On the right side it is stamped London England [over] 943810. While it was very workable and I had actually smoked it quite a bit over the years I knew that original restoration on it was less rigorous than my current standards. So, before I listed it for sale I wanted to work it over again. I took photos of the pipe to give a sense of the beauty and the work that needed to be done. I took photos of the pipe’s bowl and rim top to show the moderate cake in the bowl and some damage to the inner edge of the bowl. There was also burn damage on the rim top and darkening on the rear and front right top of the bowl. I also took photos to capture the condition of the stem. You can see in the first photo below the dark dot on the top of the saddle. It was originally a Dr. Plumb style logo but over time it had darkened. Fortunately, I am not a biter or stem chewer so there were no deep tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem. There was some oxidation on the vulcanite stem and some chatter around the button.I took photos of the stamping on each side of the shank. It is readable and clear as noted above.I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the look of the pipe. It really is a beauty.I decided to address the damage to the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. To deal with the burned inner edge of the rim and the rim top damage I lightly topped it on a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper on a wooden ball to give the rim top a light bevel. It took a bit of work to smooth out the damage and lightly bevel the inner edge of the bowl. I used a Cherry stain pen to restain the rim top and begin the process of blending it in. I reamed the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to take out the cake. I removed ti back to bare briar. I sanded the bowl walls with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel to smooth out the walls. It looked very good. No burn damage or checking on the bowl walls.I scrubbed out the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. The shank was dirty though the stem airway was not too bad. It cleaned up well. I sanded the bowl and rim top to clean up the damage and repairs to the edge and start the polishing of the bowl. I used 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. It really began to take on a shine. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris on the surface. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth and shoe brush to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned to address the stem. It was in good condition other than the light tooth chatter so I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. This Dr. Plumb London Made 943810 Bent Rhodesian cleaned up much better this second time around and looks very good. The Before & After Restoration Balm brought the colours and grain out in the smooth finish on the pipe. It works well with the polished vulcanite saddle stem. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Dr. Plumb London Made Rhodesian 943810 fits nicely in the hand and I think it will feel great as it heats up with a good tobacco. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.76 ounces/50 grams. I will be adding this one to the British Pipemakers Section of the rebornpipes store shortly. If you want to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring a Nicely Grained Churchill 999 Imported Briar Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

Last week I received a text from Robert about restoring three pipes his brother had found in Eastern New York. There were two Kaywoodies and a Churchill. The Kaywoodies included a small apple stamped Campus and an octagonal pipe stamped Kaywoodie Standard. The Churchill was a 999 Pot shaped pipe. He sent along two photos of the pipes. You can see the condition of the three pipes. They are dirty and worn. The last pipe in the photo, the Campus has what appears to be a broken shank and a potential repair. It looks to be poorly done. Robert said that he was fairly certain that the stem was glued onto the shank with the repair. On Saturday he brought the pipes by for me to look at. I now had three more pipes to clean up and repair. The Churchill 999 Pot and the Kaywoodie Standard Oxagonal 44 Apple were dirty but were in good repair. I had finished the little KW Campus repair and the pipe looked good (https://rebornpipes.com/2024/04/21/repairing-and-restoring-a-kaywoodie-campus-apple/). I also cleaned up the second Kaywoodie, the Octagonal Apple and it looked good. Here is the link to that blog (https://rebornpipes.com/2024/04/22/restoring-a-kaywoodie-standard-octagonal-44-apple/). There was a moderate cake in the bowl with tobacco debris. There was a coat of lava on the rim top that was quite thick and the inner edge showed some damage. The outer edge looked very good. The finish was dirty but otherwise showed some nice grain underneath. The stamping on the pipe is very simple. On the left side of the shank it is stamped Churchill’s arched over 999 with Imported Briar underneath. The stem was very oxidized and there was light tooth chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The stem was also plugged with tars and debris in the slot and airway was narrowed down.

I have worked on several Churchill pipes over the years and have done research on the brand when I worked on them. Here is a link to one of them that I had worked on. Here is the link to the blog (https://rebornpipes.com/2013/09/08/churchills-bent-pot/). I am including that information below.I am fairly certain that the pipe came from Churchill’s Tobacco Shop in Norwich, England. I found the following information on the Pipes and Logos website http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c4.html On the site there is a small paragraph which I have copied as follows: “Churchill’s Tobacco shop is situated in St Andrew’s Street at the corner of Bridewell Alley in Norwich, England. The shop was next to a church and at the bottom of two hills, and that’s how it became “Churchill’s”. Former manager: John Elvin (retired on May, 31 2008). Current owner (2008): Keith Garrard.” I have included these pictures from that website as they show the stamping on both the shank and stem that is identical to the pipe that I have just refurbished.According to the Churchill’s website it is the last remaining specialist tobacconist in Norwich, originally standing at 32 St Andrews Street for over 23 years. http://www.churchillsofnorwich.com/index.php?_a=viewDoc&docId=1 The site also notifies the shop’s clients that Keith Garrard, who had a wealth of knowledge and was an avid pipe and cigar smoker himself, passed away on 23rd March 2012. His wife Coral continues to maintain the business in his honour.

I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the worktable. I wanted to show the general condition of the pipe before I started my work on it. You can see the cake in the bowl and the lava on the rim top. The rim top appears to be good under the lava. The stem is dirty and heavily oxidized as noted and light tooth marks are on the top and underside ahead of the button. I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. I wanted to show the condition of both more closely. The rim top and the inner and outer edges of the bowl heavily cake in lava and you can see the marks on the inner bowl edge. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the oxidation and the light tooth marks on the stem surface. I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank and it is clear and readable. It is stamped as noted above. I removed the stem for the shank and took a photo of the bowl and stem to give a picture of what it looked like. Now it is time to clean up the pipe. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and the second cutting head. It cleaned up most of the cake. I used a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and cleaned up the remaining cake leaving bare briar. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grip sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I smoothed out the bowl walls and they looked very good. There was no heat damage or checking on the walls. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. It works exceptionally well to remove unwanted oils from the briar and also the grime on the rim and the bowl sides. I rinsed it in warm water while scrubbing with the tooth brush. The pipe looks very good at this point. The rim top is clean enough to know the condition it is in and what I need to do to deal with it. There are scratches and nicks on the rim top and they are very visible now that the lava has been removed. I scrubbed out the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol.
I gently topped the bowl to remove the damage on the rim top and to minimize it on the rear edge where the most damage was. I used a topping board and 220 grit sandpaper.There was some damage and wear on the front outer edge of the bowl. Built it up with CA glue and briar dust to fill in the damage. I smoothed out the damage with 220 grit sandpaper and reshaped it to follow the flow of the bowl. I sanded it further with 320 grit sandpaper to smooth out the repair. It really started to look very good.I touched up the stain on the rim top and on the front of the bowl with a Walnut stain pen. It is a little streaky at this point. It will work better when I finish the sanding and polishing of the rim and bowl.I sanded the bowl and rim top to clean up the damage and repairs to the edge and start the polishing of the bowl. I used 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. It really began to take on a shine. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris on the surface. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth and shoe brush to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned to address the stem issues. I scrubbed the stem oxidation with Soft Scrub and cotton pads. I was able to remove the majority of the oxidation. Then, I sanded it with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It looked much better at this point. To remove the remnants of oxidation from the vulcanite I sanded it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. By the final 3500 grit sanding pad the rim top had a shine.The stem was in good condition so I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. This Churchill 999 Imported Briar Pot cleaned up really well and looks very good. The Before & After Restoration Balm brought the colours and grain out in the smooth finish on the pipe. It works well with the polished vulcanite taper stem. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Churchill 999 Pot fits nicely in the hand and I think it will feel great as it heats up with a good tobacco. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¼ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.13 ounces/32 grams. I know Robert is going to enjoy this last pipe of the three once I return them to him. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring a Kaywoodie Standard Octagonal 44 Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

Last week I received a text from Robert about restoring three pipes his brother had found in Eastern New York. There were two Kaywoodies and a Churchill. The Kaywoodies included a small apple stamped Campus and an octagonal pipe stamped Kaywoodie Standard. The Churchill 999 Pot shaped pipe. He sent along two photos of the pipes. You can see the condition of the three pipes. They are dirty and worn. The last pipe in the photo, the Campus has what appears to be a broken shank and a potential repair. It looks to be poorly done. Robert said that he was fairly certain that the stem was glued onto the shank with the repair. On Saturday he brought the pipes by for me to look at. I now had three more pipes to clean up and repair. The Churchill 999 Pot and the Kaywoodie Standard Oxagonal 44 Apple were dirty but were in good repair. I had finished the little KW Campus repair and the pipe looked good (https://rebornpipes.com/2024/04/21/repairing-and-restoring-a-kaywoodie-campus-apple/). I looked second Kaywoodie, the Octagonal Apple over carefully and this is what I saw. There was a thick cake in the bowl with tobacco debris. There was a coat of lava on the rim top that was quite thick but the inner edge looked very good. The outer edge had some damage on the back side above the shank bowl union. The finish was dirty but otherwise showed some nice grain underneath. The stem was dirty with light tooth chatter on both sides ahead of the button.

Dal had worked on a Kaywoodie Standard, but shape 33 and done a fair bit of research on the pipe (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/03/23/new-life-for-a-kaywoodie-standard-apple-for-a-special-pipe-woman/). I have included the link above if you would like to read it. I have copied the pertinent portion on the 2 digit shape numbers and dating of the pipe below.

The next picture in this set shows the Kaywoodie shape number ‘33’ on the right flank of the shank which points to the designation of a ‘Large Apple’ from the US production of Kaywoodie pipes (LINK).  According to this discussion on Tapatalk.com, the 2-digit system, employed from 1927 to 1972 when the system was changed to a 3-digit system, was when pipe production (for Kaywoodie, Yello-Bole and Medico) was moved to the Medico factory in Richmond Hill Queens NY as plans for new plant were in process.  The 3-digit numbers was used during this period for all Kaywoodie and Medico pipes, from 1972 to 1980.  The same article indicated that the 2-digit numbers were only for Kaywoodies produced in the US – that Kaywoodie of London (Cadogan) had their own three-digit system.  Putting all the information together, this Kaywoodie Apple is most likely a 1960s vintage.  According to the Kaywoodie Discussion at MyFreeForum the ‘Standard’ line of Kaywoodie started in the 1950s, but with the 2 digit shape number and the 3 hole stinger, the evidence points to the 1960s dating.

I included a portion of the shape number chart from Pipedia and the link to the chart as well (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Kaywoodie_Shape_Numbers). I did a screen capture of the section with the shape 44 number. It is interesting in that the shape was available for only a few years – 1965 to 1970. That helps narrow down the date on the pipe I am working on. It also identifies it as an Octagon Apple.I also have included a portion of a chart with the pipe line names and the approximate date of manufacture below (https://pipedia.org/images/3/3d/Kaywoodie_Pipe_Names.pdf). It identifies the date of the Standard line production between 1950 and the present.I learned that the line was introduced in 1950 and the specific shape I had in hand was made between 1965 and 1970. The tenon/stinger was a typical Drinkless type and was threaded to screw into the fitment in the shank. From that I knew that I was working on an older pipe.

I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the worktable. I wanted to show the general condition of the pipe before I started my work on it. You can see the cake in the bowl and the lava on the rim top. The damage on the back edge of the rim top is also visible. The stem is dirty and lightly oxidized as noted and light tooth marks are on the top and underside ahead of the button. I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. I wanted to show the condition of both more closely. The rim top and the inner and outer edges of the bowl heavily cake in lava and you can see the marks on the back outer edge. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the general dullness of the stem and the light tooth marks on the stem surface. I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank and it is clear and readable. It is stamped as noted above. The right side has the shape number but it is almost filled in with dirt. It is still readable but I could not capture it in a photo. I removed the stem for the shank and took a photo of the bowl and stem to give a picture of what it looked like.Now it is time to clean up the pipe. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and the second cutting head. It cleaned up most of the cake. I used a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and cleaned up the remaining cake leaving bare briar. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grip sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I smoothed out the bowl walls and they looked very good. There was no heat damage or checking on the walls. I scrubbed out the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I cleaned up the stinger with pipe cleaners, cotton pads and alcohol.I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. It works exceptionally well to remove unwanted oils from the briar and also the grime on the rim and the bowl sides. I rinsed it in warm water while scrubbing with the tooth brush. The pipe looks very good at this point. The rim top is clean enough to know the condition it is in and what I need to do to deal with it. I gently topped the bowl to remove the damage on the rim top and to minimize it on the rear edge where the most damage was. I used a topping board and 220 grit sandpaper.I repaired the outer edge of the rim at the back with clear CA glue and briar dust. I sanded it smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to start blending the repair into the rest of the briar. It was smooth to touch and did not stand out as a dark repair.I sanded the bowl and rim top to clean up the damage and repairs to the edge using 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. It really began to take on a shine. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris on the surface. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth and shoe brush to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned to address the stem issues. I “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a lighter. I filled in the deep tooth marks with black CA glue. Once it cured I sanded it flat to the stem surface with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It looked much better at this point. To blend the repairs into the surface of the vulcanite I sanded it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. By the final 3500 grit sanding pad the rim top had a shine. The stem was in good condition so I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. This Kaywoodie Standard Imported Briar 44 Octagonal Apple cleaned up really well and looks very good. The Before & After Restoration Balm brought the colours and grain out in the smooth finish on the pipe. It works well with the polished oval vulcanite taper stem. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Kaywoodie Standard 44 Octagonal Apple fits nicely in the hand and I think it will feel great as it heats up with a good tobacco. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.34 ounces/38 grams. I know Robert is going to enjoy this second pipe of the three once I return it to him with the other pipes he dropped off. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring a Beautiful Ropp Pneumatic Brevete S.G.D.G # 9105

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

This pipe now on my work table came to me from a lot of 40 pipes that I had purchased from a French seller on etsy.fr just before the outbreak of the pandemic. It’s a beautiful classic billiard shaped pipe with a bone stem and beautiful flame grains along the sides of the stummel and bird’s eye grain over the rim top and the foot of the stummel.

This perfectly proportioned light weight pipe has a medium sized bowl, equivalent to a size 4 Dunhill. The piece of briar is without a single fill and oozes very high quality. The copper band at the shank face adds a classy bling to the appearance of the pipe. The stampings on this pipe is one of the most elaborate that I have come across with “PNEUMATIC” over “BREVETE S.G.D.G” stamped across the left side of the shank at an upward angle. This is followed by “ROPP” in an oval towards the shank end. The right side of the shank is stamped as “RACINE” over “DE VIEILLE SOUCHE” in a downward incline. The shape code “9105” is stamped at its end on the right surface of the shank. The shank opening is lined by a metal ring that extends inside the mortise and is stamped on the metal face as “ROPP” over the upper portion and the lower surface bears the stamp “BREVETE S.G.D.G.”.I had worked on ROPP pipes before and had a fair idea of this French marquee. But it was the stampings which intrigued me and I also knew that I was working on a very early era ROPP and had to know more specific details of this line from ROPP.

I searched the internet and came across this site that had the exact same pipe for sale. The information I got from the description with a link to the website is reproduced below:

https://www.delcampe.net/en_US/collectibles/tobacco-related/pipes-accessories/heather-pipes/tres-rare-pipe-ropp-pneumatic-brevete-s-g-d-g-virole-en-argent-date-1897-ou-1898-a-loccasion-de-linstallation-a-baume-1103869216.html

VERY RARE PIPE ROPP PNEUMATIC patented S.G.D.G silver ferrule dates 1897 or 1898, on the occasion of the installation in Baume

This “Pneumatic” model dates from the very last years of the 19th century: 1897 or 1898, on the occasion of the installation in Baume.

I decided to break down my search parameters to get a better understanding of the stampings as seen on the pipe. I searched for BREVETE S.G.D.G and this is what Wikipedia revealed:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brevet%C3%A9_SGDG

Breveté SGDG was a French type of patent that ceased to exist in 1968. The name was a common abbreviation for “Breveté Sans Garantie Du Gouvernement“ (patent without government guarantees).

In France, the law of 1844 states that patents are issued “without prior examination, at the risk of the applicant and with no guarantee of function, novelty and merit of the invention also in terms of precision or accuracy of the description”.

I also visited various forums to know more about this line of pipes from ROPP. Here is an interesting conversation that I chanced upon on placedelours.superforum.fr and contained a thread discussing a ROPP pipe with similar stampings that were stamped in the exact same way as seen on the pipe currently on my worktable. I have reproduced an English translation of the thread below:-

http://placedelours.superforum.fr/t33004-pipe-ropp-pneumatic

vidu52
Hello to all of you,
For a long time I have been looking for this ROPP brand pipe, marked : PNEUMATIC patented S.G.D.G and with a diamond-shaped punch.

The ROPP brand I find many, but not a single marked “PNEUMATIC” ??
Long : 14 cm approx High 4.5 cm approx, Weight: 42 Grams
I turn to you to try to help me identify this pipe and if possible its degree of rarity.
In advance Thank you….

Nucingen
Very nice pipe, with silver ferrule

this “Pneumatic” model dates from the very last years of the XIXe century: 1897 or 1898, on the occasion of the installation in Baume.
You will know everything about the “Pneumatic” by reading pages 21, 29 and 34 of this very beautiful and interesting book :
https://issuu.com/romainbassenne/docs/ropp_livre_maquette_issuu

However, the link is either no longer active or may not be accessible from my location. In any event, if anyone is able to access it, it is requested to share the information therein on Pneumatic line of pipe from ROPP for info of readers.

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ropp

Eugène-Léon Ropp (1830 – 1907) had acquired a patent for a cherrywood pipe (wild cherry, lat.: Prunus avium) in 1869. In 1870 he established a workshop to manufacture such pipes in Büssingen (Bussang, Vosges mountains). Around 1893 the business moved into the former mill of Sicard (part of the community of Baume-les-Dames – Département Doubs, Upper Burgundy – from 1895 on).

The pipes were a big success in the export as well. Shortly before 1914 Ropp designated A. Frankau & Co. (BBB) in to be the exclusive distributor in the UK and it’s colonies.

Probably in 1917 a workshop in Saint-Claude in the Rue du Plan du Moulin 8 was acquired to start the fabrication of briar pipes. In 1923 a small building in the environment of Saint-Claude, serving as a workshop for polishing, was added.

Even though cherrywood pipes were the mainstay of Ropp until the company finally closed down in September 1991. The company was taken over by Cuty-Fort Entreprises (Chacom, Jeantet, Vuillard, Jean Lacroix…) in 1994.

I was still not satisfied with the research of this pipe. This pipe has some of the most detailed stampings that I have seen on any pipe. I have deciphered the stampings of ROPP, PNEUMATIC and BREVETE S.G.D.G. The stampings of RACINE, DE VIEILLE SOUCHE yet remains to be understood. Now, my French is what my mother tongue Marathi is to you. I searched the internet for translation and this is what I found.

(a) RACINE: – Root.

(b) DE VIEILLE: – Old stock.

(c) SOUCHE: – Stump.

These stampings together do make sense implying that the briar used to carve this pipe is an old stock briar root stump.

Though the discussion thread and description of the similarly stamped pipe stated above places this pipe to be from the period 1897/ 98, the lack of pictures of the tenon on that pipe and being unable to access the link leading to the book on the PNEUMATIC line of ROPP, I cannot conclusively place the pipe on my work table to be from the period 1897/ 98.

The aluminum tenon in a bone stem with an elliptical slot makes me inclined to place this pipe from during the WW II era, which is from 1940 to 1945/ 6.

That said this pipe is definitely an old timer and is being added to my personal collection.

Initial Visual Inspection
The pipe, as it sits on my work table, is dirty with a thin layer of cake in the chamber, a stummel that is covered in dust and grime and a tapered bone stem that has tooth indentations on either surface in the bite zone. Here are a few pictures of the pipe before I proceed with a detailed visual inspection of each part of the pipe. Detailed Visual Inspection
A thin layer of cake lines the walls of the chamber. There is no accumulation of overflowing crud over the rim surface but slight darkening is seen to the aft of the rim surface. The rim edges, both outer and inner, are sans any dents and dings. The rim top surface, however, shows a number of dents and dings likely caused due to either strikes against a hard edge or due to uncared for storage of the pipe.The stummel surface has attracted dust and dirt giving it a dull lackluster and lifeless appearance. There are a few scrub marks over the surface but these should be easily addressed during the polishing process. The briar wood has taken on a nice dark patina from the years of handling and smoking. It will be my endeavor to preserve and highlight this aspect. The stampings on the shank surface are all crisp and clearly discernible. The shank end of the stummel is adorned with a copper band. The unique feature of this pipe is a metal spacer that is stamped on the face as BREVETE and S.G.D.G as mentioned above. This spacer extends in to the mortise and is lined with cork extending up to an inch or so. The mortise is relatively clean with minor traces of residual ash and oils/ tars. The horn stem has a nice light and bright appearance with bite marks and tooth indentations on either surface in the bite zone. There are a couple of superficial cracks over the stem surface and should be addressed once the stem is sanded and polished. I think these superficial cracks are primarily the result of drying of the bone material. The long aluminum tenon is tapered and cinched at the tenon end to match the mortise opening. The tenon surface is clean but would benefit from some cleaning and polishing. The elliptical slot and tenon end shows traces of old residual oils and gunk. The button edges show a couple of minor teeth marks and would need to be sharpened. The Restoration Process
Whether to start with stem or the stummel refurbishing has always being a source of conflict for me as stem repairs and refurbishing almost always takes the longest time and efforts and hence prudent to be worked on first while the allure of unrevealing the beautiful grains of the briar weighs in favor for its refurbishing first. Well in ibid case, the lovely patina and straight grains won and I decided to start working on the stummel.

I started the process of refurbishing by reaming the chamber first. Using reamer head sizes 1 and 2 of the PipeNet pipe reamer, I took the cake down to the bare briar. The amount of carbon that was dislodged from the chamber was really surprising as I had appreciated a thin layer of carbon and the quantity of carbon that was removed was anything but a thin layer. With my fabricated knife, I removed all the cake and took it down to the bare briar. I further sand the chamber wall with a folded piece of 180 grit sandpaper to smooth out the wall and remove the last bit of stubborn carbon that remained stuck to the chamber. To finish the reaming process, I wiped the chamber walls with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol to clean the last traces of residual carbon dust. I was happy to note a clean and well seasoned solid chamber.Next, I cleaned out the shank internals. Early on, I realized that I could not pass a pipe cleaner trough the draught hole due to blockages in the shank airway. I used a modified poker tool to push through and dislodge this block of dried oils and gunk. I further scraped out all the dried and crumbly oils and tars from the walls of the mortise with my dental tool. I cleaned out the mortise and shank walls with pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol. I shall continue further cleaning of the shank and mortise while going through the other processes.Now on to de-ghosting the pipe…. I packed the chamber with cotton balls and drew out a wick from the cotton and along with a folded regular pipe cleaner, inserted it into the mortise and through the draught hole into the chamber. I tightly packed cotton balls in to the remaining portion of the mortise. Thereafter, I soaked the cotton balls with isopropyl alcohol up to the brim. About half an hour later, the level of alcohol had gone down, having being absorbed by the cotton. I topped it up once again and set it aside overnight. By next afternoon, the cotton and alcohol had drawn out all the remaining oils and tars from the chamber and mortise. I removed the cotton balls and ran pipe cleaners through the mortise and draught hole to clean out all the loosened tars and gunk that was lodged in the draught hole and mortise. The chamber and mortise now smelled clean, fresh and looked it too. I set the stummel to dry out naturally.With the night still being young and not wanting to break the momentum of work as the stummel soaked in cotton and alcohol bath, I decided to use the time to address the stem issues. I first ran a few pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol through the stem airway and they came out very dirty. To conserve pipe cleaners, I put off further cleaning of the airway and would continue the internal cleaning using shank brushes and oil soap under warm water. With a sharp dental tool, I scraped out the dried oils and gunk from the slot end and tenon face. I also cleaned the aluminum tenon surface with a cotton swab wetted with isopropyl alcohol.Continuing with the stem cleaning, I followed the internal cleaning of the stem with cleaning the airway using thin shank brushes and anti oil dish cleaning soap. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners to clean and dry out the airway. Using Scotch Brite pad and oil soap; I cleaned out the entire gunk from the aluminum tenon, elliptical slot end and the stem surface.The last agenda for the day before I turned in for the night was to address the bite marks on either surface in the bite zone. I cleaned the surface with alcohol on a cotton swab in preparation of the surface for a fill. I filled the deep tooth indentation in the bite zone on the upper stem surface with clear medium CA superglue. Once the fill had hardened sufficiently, I similarly filled the tooth indentation in the lower stem surface. I set the stem aside for the fills to cure.By the time I again sat at my work table the next evening, the alcohol and cotton had leached out all the old oils from the chamber walls and the stem fills had cured too.

Next, I proceeded to clean the exterior of the stummel. I used a hard bristled tooth brush, Scotch Brite pad and Murphy’s Oil soap to scrub the stummel and rim top. For this stummel cleaning, I used Murphy’s Oil soap as I wanted to preserve the old patina that had developed on the stummel and this product really helps in cleaning the briar surface. After the scrub with oil soap, I washed the stummel under running warm water with anti oil dish washing detergent till the stummel surface was clean and dried it using paper towels and soft cotton cloth. I simultaneously cleaned the shank internals with the detergent and hard bristled shank brush and set the stummel aside to dry out. That the shank end is internally lined with cork is now apparent after the cleaning and this further restricts the cleaning process, adding caution to the equation while further cleaning the shank internals. I was fortunate that the alcohol bath has not loosened and removed this cork lining. To aid in the drying process, I heat the stummel under a 100 watt filament bulb as it is very important that the briar is completely dry as presence of slight moisture leads to growth of fungus over the surface subsequently.With the stummel set aside for drying, I used a needle file to sand the stem fill to achieve a rough match of the filling with the rest of the stem surface. To achieve a better blend, I sand the fill with a folded piece of 180 grit sandpaper. I also worked the button edges to a crisp edge with the file. By no means is the blending complete and shall be continued with during the sanding and polishing process.To bring a deep shine to the horn stem, I went through the complete set of micromesh pads, wet sanding with 1500 to 12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem with moist cloth after each pad and rubbed it down with Extra Virgin Olive oil to rejuvenate the horn which is very prone to drying and developing cracks over the surface. The finished stem is shown below.Remember the stummel that had been set aside to dry out under the bulb? Well, in the while that I completed the repairs and initial polishing of the stem, the briar had completely dried out and was ready to be worked on further.

The issue that needed immediate attention was the number of dents and dings over the rim top surface. To address it, I topped the surface over a piece of 220 grit sandpaper till these damages all but disappeared. I am quite pleased with the appearance of the rim top at this stage.I followed it by wet sanding the entire stummel with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads, wiping frequently with a moist cloth to check the progress. I really like the looks of the stummel at this point in restoration. The grains and the clean lines of this piece of briar is really appreciable. Next, I rubbed a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” deep in to the briar with my finger tips and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works its magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance with the beautiful grain patterns displayed in their complete splendor. I further buffed it with a horse hair brush. The contrast of the dark browns of the Bird’s eye and straight grains with the dark natural patina of the rest of the stummel adds an interesting dimension to the appearance of the stummel that cannot be insufficiently described in words and be rather seen in person. I have now reached the homestretch in this restoration project. To complete the restoration, I mounted a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and polished the stummel and stem with Blue Diamond compound. This compound helps in polishing and also in removing the minor scratch marks that remained from the sanding process. I mounted another cotton buffing wheel that I have earmarked for carnauba wax and applied several coats of the wax. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. The finished pipe looks amazingly beautiful and is ready to join my collection. I only wish it could share with me its life story of the past years while I enjoy smoking my favorite Virginia blend in it or maybe an English blend or maybe just keep admiring it!!!! Big thank you to all the readers who have joined me on this path by reading this write up as I restored and completed this project. P.S.: I came across an interesting flyer/ advertisement bearing the stamp  “RACINE, DE VIEILLE SOUCHE” in French language. I have included the same here and would be happy to receive any information on the pipe in English for the sake of enhancing my knowledge on this pipe.Thank you once again for your time and assistance.

ADDENDUM – Pages 21,29 and 34 of the French Ropp Book (Ropp, ça ne fume plus). Kenneth Lieblich scanned the pages and translated them for Paresh.

Translation of the highlighted parts of page 21

Trademarks were registered for each of his creations: La Cosaque, La Pneumatic and La Norvégienne appeared at the beginning of the century, between 1904 and 1908. According to the INPI records, these brands were intended to be affixed to the pipes, smoking accessories and other handmade items as well as cases, boxes, packaging of pipes… The reasons for choosing most of these names are unknown.

Regarding La Pneumatic, we can see a link with current events. In fact, the tire was invented in 1888 by Irishman John Boyd Dunlop and the removable tire by Michelin in 1891. Its use became widespread at the beginning of the 20th century. Another pipe was named Pipe des aviateurs (1909) when, on July 25, 1909, Louis Blériot succeeded in crossing the Channel by plane for the first time.

Each pipe had several varieties of shapes, sizes and ornaments. La Pneumatic could be fitted with a fancy band: gold, silver or other metal; in straight or bent models; of medium to very large size; and with oval or round bowls. Then, the types of briar evolved with the appearance in 1910 of Cum-mer root, Cum-mer briar, blood briar and blood root, recalling both the raw material used and its particular red grain.Translation of the highlighted parts of page 29

To explain the changes, Ropp cited three main reasons: moving towards thinner pipes, the choice of raw materials and the improvements made to the different systems. These developments had made the pipe a “clean, practical and elegant” accessory. The fact that the brand sought to constantly modernize itself, while paying attention to consumer demand, was also an important selling point. The ads spoke of “the important technical research” which allowed the factory to frequently employ new manufacturing processes or new models. La Pneumatic system, developed when the company set up in Baume-les-Dames, was one of the manufacturing processes most appreciated by smokers.Translation of the highlighted parts of page 34

At the start of the 20th century, system pipes and other inventions aimed at better health were very popular with French smokers. Concerns about the harmful effects of tobacco and nicotine were in vogue, as were concerns about hygiene: pipes were sometimes difficult to clean and maintain. These were different from filter pipes since the piece inserted into the stem did not absorb the condensation but only stopped it. These system pipes, with different variations, appeared healthier and more hygienic. La Pneumatic is one of the system pipes that Ropp put on the market and patented. A separate ferrule was housed inside the stem while a piece of cork, providing friction, made it easier to separate the stem from the stummel and also made cleaning easier.

Revisiting an Iconic American Pipe Carver John Bessai and Restoring One Of His Creations.

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

Just last year, while surfing etsy.fr, I came across a pipe lot that contained some interesting pipes and included this John Bessai Zulu shaped sandblasted pipe. I had worked on a John Bessai pipe about six years ago and had also studied its history. In order to refresh my memory and reacquaint myself with John Bessai and his work, I browsed through rebornpipes.com. Given below is the link to the write up that I had done on John Bessai pipe about 6 years ago.

https://rebornpipes.com/2018/12/09/a-fresh-breath-of-life-for-a-unique-creation-by-john-bessai/

This and other article on John Bessai make for an interesting read. I now recollect that he was a pipe maker, repairman and tobacconist from Cleveland, Ohio, USA who opened his shop in 1898. He died before 1969.

All John Bessai pipes were stamped with large letters “JB” either on shank or stem or both. The pipe on my work table is stamped as above on the stem.Pipes made by John were stamped on the shank or on the stummel with small “JB” since 1950 and the same is missing on this piece. However, “JOHN BESSAI” in full in block capital letters is stamped over the flat smooth surface on the bottom of the shank.The bull’s-eye stamping was abandoned since pre-1960s whereas the same can be clearly seen on the pipe that I am working on in the above picture.

Thus, based on the above information, with an amount of certitude, I can place this John Bessai creation to be from pre- 1950s.

Initial Visual Inspection
The shallow sandblasted Zulu shaped pipe looks clean and solid with no outwardly apparent damage/ issues. There is a thick layer of even cake in the chamber. The rim top surface appears darkened with small amounts of ash and oils accumulated in the 6 ‘O’ clock direction. The stummel surface is dull and dirty with hand oils and dust ground in to the shallow sandblast. The stem has minor tooth chatter in the bite zone with a couple of tooth indentation/ bite marks to both the button edges. Pictures of the pipe, as it sits on the work table, are shown below: Detailed Inspection
There are few pipes that I get to work on that are in such a decent condition and well looked after by the previous pipe man/ woman and this is one such pipe. There is a thick layer of cake in the chamber and it appears that it has been reamed to maintain it at the thickness of a dime. The rim surface flows inwards ever so slightly with a bevel to the inner rim edge and shows minor accumulation of lava overflow and darkening at 6 o’clock direction (encircled in yellow). The damage to the inner bevel here will be ascertained when the cake and rim surface is all cleaned up. The rim top is smooth and even with no signs of mishandling. The outer rim edge is also in good condition with a couple of very minor dents that were probably caused during the course of handling of the pipe. Presence or absence of heat fissures/ lines will be evident once the chamber walls are rid of all the cake.The stummel has some beautiful shallow sandblast with mixed grains visible over the surface. The stummel appears dull and lackluster as the hand oils had attracted some dust and grime that has accumulated over the surface and in to the grooves of the shallow blast. The stummel surface is solid to the touch and hence I do not anticipate any damage to the chamber walls. The mortise shows traces of accumulation of old oils and tars and would need to be cleaned. The smells from the shank and chamber are very strong and pungent. The high quality vulcanite stem has minor tooth chatter in the bite zone on either surface. Also a few tooth indentations (encircled in red) over the button edges on either side are discernible and would need to be rebuilt. Some dried gunk is seen over the tenon and in the horizontal slot. All in all, this is a clean stem with no major issues.The Restoration Process
I started the restoration with cleaning of the stummel as I was keen to know the condition of the walls of the chamber. I worked on the stummel by first reaming the chamber with size 1 PipNet reamer head. With my fabricated knife, I further scraped the chamber walls to remove the remaining carbon deposits and also from areas inaccessible by the reamer head. I also scraped out the lava overflow from the rim top surface. Once the cake was reamed back to the bare briar, I used a 150 grit sand paper followed by 220 grit sand paper to remove all the traces of remaining cake and also to smoothen out the inner walls of the chamber surface. Finally, to remove the residual carbon dust, I wiped the chamber with a cotton pad wetted with 99.9% pure isopropyl alcohol. As expected the chamber walls are solid with no damage whatsoever.Next, I cleaned out the internals of the shank and mortise. Using my dental tool, I scraped out all the dried oils, tars and gunk that had accumulated in the draught hole and on the walls of the mortise. I finished the cleaning by running a few pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl alcohol through the mortise. I shall continue with further cleaning of the shank internals using the cotton and alcohol bath. I had expected that after this initial cleaning of the chamber and shank internals, the ghost smells would have been greatly reduced, but that was not so. I decided to subject the chamber and mortise to cotton and alcohol bath. I packed the chamber with cotton and drew out a wick from the cotton and along with a folded regular pipe cleaner, inserted it into the mortise and through the draught hole into the chamber. I tightly packed cotton balls in to the remaining portion of the mortise. Thereafter, I soaked the cotton balls with isopropyl alcohol up to the brim. About half an hour later, the level of alcohol had gone down, having being absorbed by the cotton. I topped it up once again and set it aside overnight. By next afternoon, the cotton and alcohol had drawn out all the remaining oils and tars from the chamber and mortise. I ran pipe cleaners through the mortise and draught hole to clean out all the loosened tars and gunk that was lodged in the draught hole and mortise. The chamber and mortise now smelled clean, fresh and looked it too. I set the stummel to dry out naturally.With the bowl internals clean, I moved to clean the exterior of the stummel. I used a hard bristled tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil soap to scrub the stummel and rim top. I rinsed the stummel under running warm water with anti oil dish washing detergent till the stummel surface was clean and dried it using paper towels and soft cotton cloth. The surface is now clean but appears bone dry.I simultaneously cleaned the shank internals with the detergent and hard bristled shank brush and set the stummel aside to dry out naturally. The strong ghost smells are history and the stummel now smells clean and fresh.While the stummel was drying out, I worked on the stem. I began the refurbishing process by scraping out the dried gunk from the tenon end using a thin sharp knife and dental tool. I then ran a couple of pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol through the stem airway to clean it up. I shall be continuing the cleaning of the airway subsequently. This cleaning has revealed remnants (indicated by blue arrows) of an aluminum stinger that was cut during it’s time with the previous owner. I fail to understand the reason for this as the previous owner could have completely removed this stinger instead of cutting it at the tenon end. Well, there is no way that I can remove the remaining embedded portion of the stinger and since it does not interfere with either the smooth and effortless passage of a pipe cleaner or airflow through the airway, I let it be. However, I did open up and smooth out the cut face of the stinger with a round needle file.Next, I cleaned the stem airway using thin nylon shank brushes and anti oil soap. This helps in conserving pipe cleaners which are hard to come by here in India. I further scrubbed the stem surface with a Scotch Brit pad and soap to remove superficial oxidation from the surface. I rinsed the stem airway and surface under running tap water.I continued with external cleaning of the stem surface by dunking the stem into “Before and After Deoxidizer” solution developed by my friend Mark Hoover. The solution helps to draw out heavy oxidation to the surface making its further removal a breeze, while the minor oxidation is eliminated to a very great extent. I usually dunk stems of couple of pipes that are in-line for restoration and the Bessai is marked in green arrow. I generally allow the stems to soak in this solution overnight for the solution to do its work.With stem soaking in the deoxidizer solution, I turned my attention back to the stummel refurbishment. I lightly topped the rim surface on a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. This helped to address the few minor dents over the rim outer edges, address the darkened rim top in 6 o’clock direction as well as further define the inner edges and bevel edges.Using a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper pinched between my fingers, I sand the inner rim edge to remove the slight darkening seen in the 6 o’clock direction.I rubbed a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” into the briar with my finger tips and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works it’s magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance with the beautiful sandblast patterns on full display. I have been using this balm ever since I embarked on this journey and it is this part of restoration that I always look forward to. I further buffed it with a horse hair shoe brush. This pipe really oozes of a very high quality. Now that the stummel refurbishing was nearly done and also the stem had now been soaking for more than 24 hours, I removed the stem from the solution. I first scrubbed the stem surface with a Scotch Brite pad, always being mindful of the stem logo on the left side. I followed this scrubbing with a nice cleaning of the surface using a 0000 grade steel wool. I rinsed the stem under running water to rid the stem of the thick solution. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners to remove the deoxidizer solution from the airway.In order to address the tooth chatter in the bite zone on either surface, I flame the bite zone with a Bic lighter. The heat helps the vulcanite to expand and raise the chatter to the surface. Thereafter, through the sanding process, the surfaces will be matched with the rest of the stem surface. This step was able to address 90% of the tooth chatter and those that are not addressed here will need to be rebuilt.Continuing with the stem repair, I mixed superglue and activated charcoal powder and generously applied it over the bite zone on either side, including over the buttons and set it aside to cure.Using a flat head needle file, I reshaped the button and roughly matched the fills in the bite zone with the rest of the stem surface. I sand the bite zone in the stem surface with a piece of folded 220 grit sandpaper to even out the fills as well as remove the oxidation from the stem surface.I wet sand the stem progressing through 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sand paper. I wiped the stem after each grade of sandpaper to view the progress being made and also identify areas on the stem surface that were still covered with traces of oxidation. I wiped the stem with EVO at the end of 2000 grit sanding and set the stem aside.Using a soft white graphite pencil, I freshened up the stem logo of JB.A polish by wet sanding using all 9 micromesh pads (1500 to 12000 grit pads) brought out the deep black shine of the vulcanite. I rubbed a small quantity of EVO to hydrate the stem and deepen the shine.I have reached that stage in this project which can be considered as the home run. I polished the rim top and the entire stem with blue diamond using a cotton wheel mounted on to my hand held rotary tool. The blue diamond compound helps to eliminate the minor scratches that remain after the use of micromesh pads.I completed this project by hand polishing the stummel with Halcyon II wax. I rubbed this polish deep into the rustications and after a couple of minutes, vigorously hand buffed the stummel with a microfiber cloth to a deep shine. I polished the stem with carnauba wax using my hand held rotary tool. This is a gorgeous classic looking Zulu and I consider myself fortunate to have the opportunity to work on this beauty and, as my Guru Steve says, carry forward the trust in this pipe till it is time to pass it on to the next pipe man or pipe woman. Here are a few pictures of the completed pipe for you to appreciate while I take the opportunity to thank you each of you for sparing your valuable time in joining me on this journey.

An Interesting Project : Resurrection Of a Pre-1920 KB&B Pembroke

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

The next pipe is stamped as “PEMBROKE” over KB & B” on the left shank surface and came to me as part of inherited pipes that predominantly constituted pipes from various English brands, most notably LOEWE, BBB, COMOY’S, PETERSON’S, BARLING’S etcetera. However, this lot did also contain many pipes from American pipe makers like WDC, KB & B/ KAYWOODIE and others. I have researched and worked on a few of the KAYWOODIE pipes from this collection and recollect that KB & B changed their name to KAYWOODIE in 1920s to promote their Kaywoodie line of pipes or was it for some other reason? For clarification and recollection of history of this renowned brand from USA, I re-read the history from https://pipedia.org/wiki/Kaufmann_Bros._%26_Bondy#Brands and have only reproduced that information that helps to date the pipe:-

Early History

Kaufmann Bros. & Bondy (KB&B), Kaywoodie has been making pipes since well before the Civil War – around 1851. They peaked in the late 1950’s along with most American Briar works. In the early 20th century, their pipes were the standard others were measured by, along with Sasieni, Charatan and Comoy’s. There were few other world-class American pipe-crafters (William Demuth Company, early L & H Stern). Their pipes were as good as any of the renowned British firms. Kaywoodie just did not merely produce quantity, they provided quality: in the 1920’s they bought the exclusive rights to some of the choicest briar fields in history, hauling out 250 year-old roots the size of 27″ TVs and fashioning masterpieces out of this spectacular-grained ancient briar.

Early KB&B (non Kaywoodie)

Kaywoodie was the name a pipe offered by Kaufmann Bros. & Bondy Company (KB&B), first appearing in February of 1919.

The origin of the name Kaywoodie is a combination of the K from Kaufmann and wood, as in briar. Not much is known of the original KB&B company other than it was started in 1851 by the German born Kaufmann brothers when they opened a small pipe shop in the Bowery section of New York City.

When one of the men from the New York office got “gold fever” he carried a large supply of pipes with him to California that he sold along the way. This early “national distribution” did much to build the reputation of KB&B. By the late 1800’s, branches of KB&B were opened in Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco and St. Louis with family and friends acting as agents. The trademarks, for the inlaid cloverleaf and the cloverleaf with the KB&B initials inside, were issued in 1881.

Pre-Kaywoodie KB&B

According to Hackert, the firm of Kaufmann Bros. & Bondy (KB&B) began producing the Kaywoodie Pipe in 1915.

Business thrived and in 1854 the Kaufmanns took in a partner named Bondy. … The three partners retired in 1898, but their relatives continued on with the firm, which had begun to manufacture their own briar pipes under the KB&B trademark. In 1915 the Kaywoodie brand was created as a marketing umbrella for a new briar pipe which the KB&B Company introduced. …”

Hacker concludes his history of Kaywoodie Pipes by noting that: “The KB&B briar pipe brand existed from 1900 until just after World War I (with some overlapping with the Kaywoodie from 1915 — 1917), and collectors refer to the KB&B as a Kaywoodie transition pipe.

The pre-Kaywoodie KB&B pipes were marked on the shank with a cloverleaf around KB&B. 

In March of 1955, when S.M. Frank & Co. Inc. bought Kaufmann Bros. & Bondy, The Kaywoodie Company, Reiss-Premier Corp., The New England Briar Pipe Co. and – of course – Yello-Bole.

Thus, comparing literature notes with the stampings as seen on the pipe that I am working on, I am certain that it dates as to being pre- 1920. Another pointer is the orific slot which was gradually replaced by more elliptical slot from 1920 and progressed further to the horizontal slot that we see on pipes today.

Here are the pictures of the stampings as seen on the PEMBROKE: Initial Visual Inspection
The PEMBROKE, currently on my worktable, is a medium sized classic bent billiards with a decent sized bowl in dark reddish brown color. The well seasoned briar is covered in dirt, dust and grime from decades of use. There are a couple of deep scratches on the stummel surface. There is a thick cake in the chamber with heavy overflow of cake, oils and tars over the rim top surface. The inner rim edge is uneven and charred. The outer rim edge, likewise, is peppered with dents and dings. The high quality hard rubber stem is oxidized with flattened bite zone on either surfaces of the stem. The tenon has a narrow extension at the end and is covered in dried oils and tars. The round orifice slot is similarly clogged with dried gunk. The stem does sit flush with the shank face and the seating is too damn tight within the mortise. Following pictures will give the readers a general idea of the condition of the pipe before I start to work on the pipe. Detailed Inspection
The chamber has a thick hard cake that has spilled over the rim top surface. The cake is thicker around the upper half of the chamber. The outer rim edge has dents and dings all around but is most severely damaged along the front half portion (encircled in yellow), a damage that can result only due to repeated strikes against a hard edged surface. The inner rim edge, prime facie, is sans any damage. The condition of the inner walls of the chamber can be commented upon after the cake has been taken down to the bare briar. There is a strong ghost smell in the chamber which is all pervading. There are remnants of un-burnt tobacco at the bottom of the chamber.The stummel surface is covered in dust, dirt and grime giving a dull, lifeless and lackluster appearance to the pipe. However, the briar has taken on a nice dark patina which has been a result of more than 100 years of usage and would be worth preserving. However, eliminating/ addressing the deep scratches (encircled in green) on both side of the stummel and the few dents and dings would entail sacrificing the patina. This is a call that I would need to take at some stage in the restoration process. The mortise is chock-a-block with old oils, tars, ashes and grime making for a laboured draw. The thick cake and blocked mortise hides the draught hole from the view. These issues need to be addressed. The high quality hard rubber stem is deeply oxidized. The unique feature of the stem is that the stem surface is flattened in the bite zone on either surface with defined cut edges. Now, the question that came to my mind was if these flattened surfaces were original to the stem or carved out by the piper who owned it, probably for ease of clenching? Well, to me it appears that this unique carving of the bite zone is machined and not handmade since the edges are too well defined and sharp to be handmade using home tools. But that the flattening of the bite zone makes it comfortable for clenching is unquestionable. There are no significant bite marks or chatter in the bite zone or over the button edges. The orifice slot shows dried accumulated oils and tars that would need to be cleaned. The tenon has a stepped hard rubber (?) extension similar in shape to the ones seen on Peterson’s Deluxe line of pipes. The tenon and extension too is covered in a thick layer of dried crud. The stem does not seat flush in the mortise and is fit is very tight. I think the seating issues would address itself once the tenon and mortise is cleaned.The Process
I began the repair and refurbishing process with reaming of the chamber. I reamed the chamber with head sizes 1 and 2 of the PipNet pipe reamer. I removed the carbon from the areas where the reamer head could not reach with my fabricated knife. To completely remove the residual carbon from the walls of the chamber and smooth out the walls, I sanded the chamber walls with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper followed by cleaning the chamber with a cotton swab wetted with isopropyl alcohol. The chamber walls are in pristine condition. I gently scrapped off the lava build up over the rim top using a sharp knife to avoid damage to the surface. I cleaned the mortise and shank walls of the pipe using dental tool. I scraped out the dried oils and tars from the walls of mortise and shank walls. The pile of crud that was scraped out is indicative to the amount of gunk that was lodged in the mortise and shank internal. At the end of this step, I still was not able to pass a pipe cleaner through the mortise. Out came one of the many modified tools in my arsenal and after some deft use of this poker, I was able to dislodge the blockage from within the mortise. I ran a bristled pipe cleaner and q-tip dipped in alcohol through the mortise and out through the draught hole further clearing the passage. I will continue this further cleaning during the course of refurbishing of this pipe.Next, I decided to subject the chamber and mortise to cotton and alcohol bath. I packed the chamber with cotton and drew out a wick from the cotton and along with a folded regular pipe cleaner, inserted it into the mortise and through the draught hole into the chamber. I tightly packed cotton balls into the remaining portion of the mortise. Thereafter, I soaked the cotton balls with isopropyl alcohol up to the brim. About half an hour later, the level of alcohol had gone down, having being absorbed by the cotton. I topped it up once again and set it aside overnight. By next afternoon, the cotton and alcohol had drawn out all the remaining oils and tars from the chamber and mortise. I removed the cotton balls and the dirt can be gauged by the appearance and coloration of the cotton balls and the pipe cleaner. I ran pipe cleaners through the mortise and draught hole to clean out all the loosened tars and gunk that was lodged in the draught hole and mortise. The chamber and mortise now smelled clean, fresh and looked it too. I set the stummel to dry out naturally.Once the internals of the chamber and shank were cleaned, I cleaned the external surface of the stummel with Murphy’s Oil soap and cotton swabs followed by scrubbing the surface with a toothbrush and dish washing soap. This rid the stummel surface of all the accumulated dust, dirt and grime. Using a piece of Scotch Brite scrub, I deliberately cleaned the rim top and removed the crud from the surface. The damage to the rim edges is now amply evident.Simultaneously, I also cleaned the shank internals with dish washing soap and a shank brush. I set the stummel aside to dry out naturally while I worked the stem.I began the process of refurbishing the stem by first scraping off the dried gunk from the tenon and tenon end extension using a sharp thin knife. I was careful not to damage or break the extension or the stem face. I cleaned the tenon extension with a cotton swab moistened with alcohol and ran a pipe cleaner through the airway to check if the airway was clear of any blockage. Fortunately, it was.Using thin shank brushes and anti-oil dish washing soap, I cleaned the stem airway. I have modified this process of cleaning the stem airway by doing away with pipe cleaners and alcohol as it saves me a ton of pipe cleaners, which is a precious commodity for me here in India. I continued this cleaning till only white clean foam came out of the stem airway, indicating that the airway was nice and clean. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol through the airway to dry it out and make sure that there are no traces of soap and gunk hidden in the airway. I also scrubbed the stem surface to remove surface oxidation and rubbed a small quantity of EVO in to the stem surface. Since there were no damages to the stem, I set it aside and shall return to polishing the stem after I am done with the stummel repairs.Next, I got around to addressing the rim top damage. The extent of the damage to the outer edge, caused due to banging against a hard surface, would necessitate heavy topping off of the rim surface, and I for one, absolutely wish to avoid any loss of briar. Also topping to the extent that was required to eliminate the dents/ dings and chipped areas would completely alter the original shape and symmetry of this pipe.  So, I planned on first filling up these dents and dings on the rim edge using briar dust and superglue to roughly match the surrounding intact rim surface and some more and then topping it to achieve a smooth even surface. Theoretically, this sounds logical.

I resorted to the layering method again; first I layered superglue along the damaged surfaces of the rim followed by sprinkling of briar dust, another layer of superglue followed by a final layer of briar dust. This final layer of briar dust reduces the probability of air pockets (or so I thought). In the second picture, you can see that the layering has not been done to the level of the rim surface but above the surrounding intact rim surface as I would be sanding the rim subsequently. I set the stummel aside to cure. I revisit the stummel the next evening after the repairs are completely cured and hard. Using flat needle files, I sand the repairs to achieve a rough match with the surrounding briar surface. Once I had achieved a rough match, I top the rim surface over a 220 grit sandpaper to even out the surface and achieve a perfectly even rim top surface. The inner and outer rim edges are still slightly uneven and shall be addressed next.To get the inner and out rim edges back to round, I created a bevel over the edges with a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper. I am pretty pleased with the progress being made thus far. It was now that I decided to address the numerous scratches over the stummel surface and the process of steaming these out is the best way forward. I assembled the items that are essential to this process; a wet Turkish towel, a knife and a candle. I heated my fabricated knife over the flame of the candle till it was really hot. I covered the scratched surface with the wet towel and placed the hot knife over it. The steam that is generated expands the briar raising the scratches to the surface. I repeated the process over the areas till the issue of scratches was addressed over the entire stummel surface. Though these scratches were pulled to the surface, I would still need to sand the stummel to eliminate them.Using a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper, I sand the scratched surfaces till these were completely eliminated. I followed the 220 grit sandpaper by sanding the surface with a piece of 800 grit sandpaper. However, here I also realized that this also resulted in losing the patina that I so dearly wanted to preserve. You win some and lose some, that’s how it always is!To further clean and highlight the grains, I sand the stummel with micromesh pads, wet sanding with 1500 to 12000 grit pads. I wiped the stummel after each wet pad with a moist cloth to remove the resulting dust and note the progress being made. I rub a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” in to briar and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works its magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance. I further buff it with a horse hair shoe brush. I set the bowl aside and took to working on the stem. I once again cleaned the stem surface using the Scotch Brite sponge and followed it up by a scrub with 0000 grade steel wool. This helps in further removing the oxidation from the surface. I also ran a thin shank brush through the stem airway to ensure that it was clean and clear of all the soap deposits. I rubbed the stem with some EVO to hydrate the surface.To impart a deep black shine to the stem while getting rid of the oxidation from the stem surface, I wet sand the stem surface with 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sand papers. I again rub the surface with some EVO to hydrate the stem and prevent oxidation from again creeping over the surface due to exposure to natural elements and set the stem aside.To bring a deep shine to the hard rubber stem, I polished the stem, wet sanding with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. I rubbed it down with Extra Virgin Olive oil to rejuvenate the hard rubber. The finished stem is shown below.With the stem refurbishing nearly completed, I took a long hard look at the stummel now bereft of the patina and the original dark reddish brown stain. I discussed with Abha about the difference in the appearance of the stummel at this stage in restoration from the way it appeared at the start. The unanimous decision was to stain the stummel to its original color or as close to it as possible and with the decision made; I decided to stain wash the stummel using Feibing’s Cordovan leather dye.

Using a heat gun, I warm the stummel to open the pores in the surface to accept the stain. I mix a small amount of alcohol with the dye to dilute it and apply it over the heated surface with a folded pipe cleaner. I set the stain by flaming it with the flame of a lighter as I went ahead to different self designated zones of the surface. This helps in the setting of the stain into the grain of the briar and set the stummel aside. The next evening, approximately 18 hours later, as Dal describes, I began to unwrap the stain in the hope to see beautiful grains. I mount a felt cloth buffing wheel on my hand held rotary tool and setting the tool at its slowest speed, I began to peel off the stain from the stummel surface first using Red compound. The stain was peeled out gradually revealing a nice shining surface and grains underneath the stain.Next, I mount a fresh felt cloth buffing wheel and polish the stummel with White Diamond compound. This further lightens the stain, highlighting the grains while imparting a nice shine to the stummel surface. The similar coloration achieved at this stage to the original color, uplifted my spirits sky high. I shall continue the polishing regime further using Blue diamond and finish off with carnauba wax polish.I have now reached the homestretch in this restoration project. To complete the restoration, I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and polished the stummel and stem with Blue Diamond compound. This compound helps to remove the minor scratch marks that remain from the sanding while further highlighting the grain and lightening the stain. I mount another cotton buffing wheel that I have earmarked for carnauba wax and applied several coats of the wax. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. The finished pipe looks amazingly beautiful and with the Cordovan stain, as good as original. In fact, the pipe looks much more endearing and beautiful in person than it does in the pictures below. It shall find a place of pride in my “American pipe makers” section of my personal collection. P.S. – This then is one project which has given me greatest of satisfaction that I have experienced after it’s completion.

I am not too concerned with successes or failures of any project. What matters to me is the journey.

A Rather Sad, Well Used Peterson March 17, 2009 B2 Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

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

Jeff went to the house and looked through the racks, pipe bags, tobacco – both bulk and tinned as well as a variety of pipes. All the pipes were well smoked and needed serious cleaning. Another one of the pipes that he picked up was this Peterson March 17 2009 with a black vulcanite taper fish tail stem. It was very dirty and was a reddish, brown coloured pipe when it started. The smooth finish around the bowl was dirty and had hand oils ground into the grooves. The bowl had a thick cake that overflowed in lava onto the rim edge and top of the bowl. The bottom of the bowl was flattened so the pipe could be set on a desktop. The stem was vulcanite that was very dirty and had the marks of a rubber Softee Bit on the end. It had become discoloured and there was a line where the debris from smoking had accumulated along the edge and under the bit protector. The good news was that there were only light tooth marks or chatter. The rest of the stem was dirty and had lost the characteristic shine. The pipe was stamped on the polished nickel band on the shank and read Peterson [arched over] a Shamrock with March 17 2009 arched underneath. On the right side of the shank it was stamped with the shape number B2. Jeff took photos of the pipe so I could have a sense of what it looked like before he started his work on it.Jeff took photos of the stem surfaces and the bowl and rim to give a sense of condition of the pipe. You can see the thick cake in bowl and the lava overflow on the edges and rim top of the bowl. It is had to know if there is any damage as the cake and lava is quite thick. The stem surface is very dirty and you can see the area on the end of the stem where the Softee Bit had protected it from chewing but had left it dirty and discoloured. The stem no longer fit in the shank correctly. He also took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the interesting grain that went around the bowl. There were a few spots on the right side of the bowl that seemed to have a flaw or a shrunken fill. The grain is beautiful and you can see the oils and debris in the grooves of the rim cap.  He took photos of the stamping on the nickel band on the left side of the shank. He did not capture shape number on the right side. The stamping on the band is clear and readable as noted above.I did a bit of searching on the internet to see what I could find. Interestingly turning to Peterson’s Pipe Notes I found the pipe I have in my hand (https://petersonpipenotes.org/tag/st-patricks-day-pipe-2009/). Note that in Mark Irwin’s information below the date he gives for the shape I have is 2010 but the band on mine is definitely marked 2009. Ah well another Peterson anomaly. Either way it is a nicely shape Irish Bulldog.Now it was my turn to work on the pipe. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the light cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked very good when I received it. I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. You can see the clean bowl. The bowl is in excellent condition and is clean. The rim top has a small burn mark on the front inner edge and darkening on the back of the rim top and edges. The stem came out looking good. There were definitely light tooth marks and chatter on both sides. I took a photo of the stamping on the shank. The first photo shows that there is no stamping on the briar but the nickel band stamp is very clear. The shape number, B2 on the right side of the shank is also very clear. There was a faint remnant of the P stamp on the left side of the stem.  I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. I also took photos of the pipe with the longer Churchwarden stem in place. It is a nice looking pipe. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the damage on the inner edge of the rim. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the roughness. I then used 220 grit sandpaper and a wooden ball to give the inner edge of the bowl a slight bevel. It looked much better at this point in the process. I touched up the stain on the rim top with a Cherry Stain Pen and the match to the rest of the bowl is perfect. Once the bowl is finished it will blend very well.I sanded the briar rim top and the sides of the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. By the time I finished with the 3500 grit pad the briar had taken on a rich glow. The pipe had cleaned up so well that I turned to polish the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. By the final pads the briar really had a shine. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to work it into the nooks and crannies of the sandblast finish. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe really comes alive with the balm. I set aside the bowl and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a lighter. I was able to lift the tooth marks significantly. Those that remained were more like waves in the stem surface. I filled them in with a coat of clear CA glue and spread it across the surface with a dental spatula. Once the repairs cured I sanded it with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to flatten it further. I sanded it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further blend them in and smooth out the surface of the stem.The P stamp on the left side of the stem was faint but I thought I would give it a shot and see how it work. I painted the stamp with white acrylic fingernail polish and let it dry. Once it had dried I scraped off the excess and polished it with a worn 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad. It was faint though it is still readable.I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I put the stem back on the Peterson March 17 2009 B2 Bulldog and took it to the buffer. I worked it over with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I gave the bowl and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up really well and the rim top looked good. I was happy with the look of the finished pipe. The photos below show what the pipe looks like after the restoration. The Peterson St. Patrick’s Day March 17, 2009 Irish Bulldog is a beautiful and unique take on a classic shape. The polished vulcanite taper stem looks really good with the browns of the briar. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.08 ounces/60 grams. This is another pipe that I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section shortly, if you are interested in adding it to your collection. The long shank and tall bowl look and feel great in the hand. This one should be a great smoker. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this beauty!