Tag Archives: bowl topping

Restemming and Reworking a Rembrandt Bulldog

Blog by Steve Laug

Another bowl that was sent to me was a nice bent bulldog shape that needed a stem. It was in good shape. The bowl needed to be reamed and the top of the rim lightly topped. It was stemless so I needed to make a stem for it. It was stamped on the left side of the shank Rembrandt over Imported Briar. In researching it on the web I found that the company that made the pipe was The National Briar Pipe Co. It was homed in Jersey City, New Jersey. They produced several brands that I have seen over the years: Biltmore, Forecaster, Honeybrook, King Eric, Kleenest, Mayflower, Rembrandt, Sir Sheldon, The Doodler (created and formerly produced by Tracy Mincer, †1966). Typically the original stem of Rembrandt pipes bore a logo on the left side of the stem – a capital “N” in italics. This bowl had some ding marks on the cap on the left side. There was some damage to the briar between the double rings on the cap.

I sorted through my stem can and found a nice amberoid acrylic stem that would look great with the bulldog bowl. It needed a tenon so I used a piece of white Delrin that was a perfect fit in the hole in the stem. I scored the Delrin with a hack saw so that the glue would have a surface to stick to. I swabbed then tenon down with superglue and pressed it into the stem.

Once the glue had set in the stem and the tenon was firmly in place I sanded the tenon down with a folded piece of sandpaper to get a snug fit. I pushed it into the shank and it fit nicely against the shank. The diamond shank was smaller than the diamond saddle on the stem so I needed to sand it down to fit the shank.

I used 220 grit sandpaper to start the process of shaping the stem and then a sanding drum on a Dremel to bring down the sides of the diamond close to the shank dimensions. I finished the fit with sandpaper and a sanding sponge.

I sanded the stem and the shank with sandpaper and a sanding block until the transition between them was smooth to touch. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and took the cake back to the wood.

I set up my topping board and sandpaper and lightly topped the bowl to remove the nicks and cuts in the surface of the rim. I followed up on the sanding board with a sanding block laid on the board and once again turned the bowl into the sanding block to smooth out the scratches left behind by the sandpaper.

I wiped the bowl down with acetone and cotton pads to remove the finish and make the restaining of the bowl more consistent. I have found that when I have sanded the shank and the rim it is easier to remove as much of the finish as possible before I restain the pipe.

I sanded the stem with my usual array of micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and then did some more work on the bowl.

I stained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain thinned 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol. I stained and flamed the stain and repeated the process until the coverage on the shank and the rim matched the bowl. I hand buffed the pipe with a soft cotton cloth to see where I stood with the finish on the bowl.

I gave the pipe another coat of the stain and then took the pipe to the buffer and buffed the bowl and stem with White Diamond. When I had finished I buffed it with multiple coats of carnauba wax and then with a soft flannel buff to finish the shine. The completed pipe is shown in the photos below. I really like the way the stain and the striations in the stem work together. I think that this one may well stay I my own collection!

Plugging a Burnout on a Peterson’s Irish Whiskey 999

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Blog by Steve Laug

Lately several of the pipes that I have refurbished were part of a trade with Mark Domingues for work on this pipe. It is a beautifully grained Peterson’s Rhodesian 999 – one of my favourite shapes. The grain on this thing is beautiful. The photo below shows what drew Mark to bid on this pipe in the first place. What the photo does not show however, is the incredibly horrible shape that this pipe was in when it came to Mark.

The problem with the pipe became obvious when Mark took it out of the shipping package to enjoy the “new” Peterson that he had purchased. The pipe had a serious burn through on the front right side of the bowl toward the bottom. That damage was quite extensive and either the pipe could be thrown away or the burn through drilled out and the damaged briar replaced with a briar plug.

Mark decided to drill out the damaged portion of the bowl. We talked back and forth via email about the steps to take to fix it. He toyed with it and then one day asked if I wanted to do the work on it. He would send the pipe, a chunk of briar some pipes that he thought I might enjoy working on in exchange for the repair. After emailing back and forth we agreed to the terms and he sent the bowl on to me to do the repair in exchange for a few pipes for my refurbishing box. Here is what the pipe looked like when it arrived in Vancouver. Mark had cleaned up the exterior of the pipe and also the interior and drilled out the burnout. The brass/gold band on the shank was loose and the stem was in decent shape with two minor tooth marks.

The top view of the pipe, shown in the photo below, also highlights several others issues with the pipe. First, the bowl itself was not drilled straight into the briar but at a slight angle from left to right. Second, the stem was totally out of round and the right side of the stem fit against the band far differently than the left side. Looking at the stem from the tenon end it was clear that the stem was not round but rather oblong. The small block of briar in the photo was sent along by mark for me to use in cutting a plug for the bowl.

I used a small hacksaw to cut off a small chunk of briar. I then shaped the briar chunk into a cylinder. I always cut the plug long to give me something to hold onto when I am shaping it. I am sure others do it differently but I shape the plug with a Dremel by hand and I hold the piece of briar with my fingers while I shape it. The next series of eight photos show the progressive shaping of the cylinder to fit the drilled out hole in the bowl of the pipe.

The next four photos show the final shape of the cylinder. I left a slight handle on the top of the plug to hold onto while I turned the cylinder with the Dremel. I tapered the plug slightly so that it would fit into the hole but not extend to far into the bowl itself. Once I had the shape correct and the piece extending into the bowl smoothed to fit the shape of the bowl I glued it in place with superglue.

I used the hacksaw to trim off the excess briar in the plug as close as possible to the surface of the bowl.

Once I had it trimmed back to that place I used the Dremel and sanding drum to sand it down to the surface and then hand sanded with 220 grit sandpaper to make the surface of the plug and the bowl match. I used superglue around the circumference of the plug to hold it tightly in place.

I washed down the surface of the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to remove the grit and the remaining finish on the bowl. I also sanded the plug and the rim with 220 grit sandpaper and then medium and fine grit sanding sponges to smooth out the scratches. I sanded the inner rim with a folded piece of sandpaper to remove the damage to that portion of the bowl. In the photos below the fit and finish of the plug is clearly visible. The grain on the plug and that on the bowl did not match but the fit was nearly perfect.

Mark and I had talked about rusticating the whole bowl but I could not bring myself to do that to such a beautiful piece of briar. I marked the area that I planned on rusticating with a black permanent marker to give myself an outlined area that I would rusticate. I find that setting up parameters and boundaries for the rustication helps me to keep it in a defined space more easily.

I used the modified Philips screwdriver with the four points to rusticate this part of the bowl. The next two photos show the rusticated portion of the bowl. The area of the older briar showed dark spots in the rustication and the new fresh plug showed almost white after rustication.

I decided to try and use a dark brown aniline stain thinned 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol on the whole pipe to see what would happen with the rustication. I wanted to see if the dark areas on the rustication would blend into the briar of the lighter parts. I did not really expect it to work but thought I would give it a try.

The dark portions of the old briar still showed dark after staining. I decided to use a black aniline stain on the rusticated portion of the bowl and leave the smooth part of the bowl the brown colour. I applied the stain with a cotton swab and flamed it, reapplied it and reflamed it until the coverage was even.

The inside of the bowl then needed to be addressed. The drilling of the bowl was not only angled from left to right but the airway entered the bowl over 3/8 inches above the bottom of the bowl. Whether this was caused by drilling or over reaming is not clear to me. My problem was that the angle of the patch on the side did allow me to shape the patch to provide a new bottom for the bowl. I could have cut another piece of briar and inserted it into the bottom of the bowl but the strange angles of the bowl made that a task that I did not want to tackle. I opted to build up the bottom of the bowl with Plaster of Paris instead of pipe mud because of the depth of the buildup. My fear was that the pipe mud would have to be almost ½ inch thick and I was not sure if it would hold. I have used Plaster of Paris to repair meerlined pipes and it is durable and gives a solid base. I intend to use pipe mud on top of the repair and also reshape the bowl sides.

I glued the band on the shank with wood glue before I restained it with another coat of the medium brown aniline stain. I flamed it and then buffed it with White Diamond. I gave the smooth portions of the bowl several coats of carnauba wax and hand buffed the rusticated portion with Halcyon II wax.

I sanded the tooth marks and chatter out of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and a medium grit sanding sponge. I reshaped the stem to fit more proportionally against the band. I made it round instead of oblong so that the fit against the band was even all the way around giving it a more finished look. I then sanded it with my usual array of micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and when it was dry buffed it with White Diamond. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax to finish and protect it.

The next series of five photos show the finished exterior and stem of the pipe. The stain and the patch rustication are completed. The interior of the bowl still only bears the plaster repair. Once it cures for several days I will give it a coating of pipe mud to finish the job.

The pipe is finished other than the pipe mud and soon it will go back to Mark for its inaugural smoke. I am looking forward to hearing his response once the pipe is in his hands and he has smoked it.

UPDATE: I applied the pipe mud to the bowl last evening. It was a great day to fire up a Cohiba Habana and save the ash to mix. I use a shot glass to collect the ash and add the water with an ear syringe. Once the mix is the right consistency I apply it with a folded pipe cleaner. I apply it and let it set and then follow up with a second or third coat as necessary.

For this particular pipe mud application I built up the right side of the bowl toward the bottom to compensate for the angular drilling of the bowl. I was able to smooth out the wall and that side is as straight as possible.

Rustication & Rebirth of a Racine de Bruyere Author

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Another pipe that Mark included in the trade was stamped Racine de Bruyere. I have no idea about the maker or the time period of the pipe. The stem is an older style orific button (round hole in an end cap style button). Ron had stripped the finish off of the bowl and also had picked out the fills. The flaws in the briar that remained behind sans fills were deep crevices. The stem was stuck in the shank and would not insert the whole way. The stem itself was in great shape – good, hard older vulcanite. There was minor tooth chatter at the button on the top and the bottom of the stem. Once I had removed the stem the tenon was in great shape with a Dunhill style inner tube that extended all the way from the tenon into the airhole in the bowl. The photos below show the extent of the damage to the bowl in terms of the serious flaws in the briar. On top of the shank, on the left side and on the front of the bowl there were deep holes. There were also minor holes in other areas around the bowl. The shape is actually one of my favourite shapes so it would of course be worked on and brought back to life.

I used a dental pick to scrape away the debris in the pits. There were loose bits of briar and dust build up. I wiped the bowl down with acetone on a cotton pad to remove surface grit. I packed briar dust in layers alternating with superglue into the pits. Once they were filled to the top I tamped them down and then dripped superglue into the briar dust. I added more briar dust and also more superglue.

The sandpits, even with the fills, were large and there were many other small pits around the bowl. It made it an easy decision to rusticate the bowl. I used the modified Philips screwdriver to rusticate the bowl. I wrapped several layers of tape around the end of the shank so that I could leave a smooth band there making a stem fit more simple. I also put a piece of tape over the stamping on the left side of the shank. The next series of thirteen photos shows the progressive rustication of the bowl. I decided to do a deep rustication so I worked the tool deep into the wood of the bowl.

When the rustication was complete I used a brass tire brush on the surface of the briar to knock off the sharp points and loose pieces of debris from the work of the tool. My aim was to leave behind some smooth spots that would end up have a contrast stain on them when I was finished.

In order to get the stem to seat properly in the shank I used a knife and beveled/chamfered the inside edge of the mortise so that the stem would sit well. I also found in measuring the tenon that it was slightly too long for the mortise and the original manufacturer had left the end slightly at an angle so that it did not seat well in the mortise. I used a file to reseat the tenon and then put the stem in place. The fit was good, but the diameter of the stem was slightly more than the diameter of the smooth band on the shank so I sanded the band and the stem with 220 grit sandpaper. I was able to remove the excess diameter and bring the stem into line with the shank. I finished sanding it with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge to remove scratches.

With the sanding finished the fit was tight and the transition was smooth. I scrubbed down the shank and the stem with some Everclear on a cotton pad to get rid of the sanding dust from the stem. With that done the pipe was ready to stain.

I decided to use a black aniline stain as the undercoat of the pipe. The stain would hide the repaired flaws well as they were also dark. I applied the stain with a cotton swab and made sure that it went into all the nooks and crannies of the briar.

Once the stain was applied I flamed it with a lighter to set the stain and then took it to the buffer to see if I could buff away the stain on the higher parts of the rustication. I used red Tripoli to do the buffing. I kept a pretty light touch as I did not want the Tripoli to build up in the rustication. With that done, the finish was closer to what I was aiming for. I still wanted a few more of the high spots showing.

I wiped the bowl down with Everclear on a soft cloth to remove some more of the black and then buffed it with White Diamond. I then gave it a top coat of oxblood stain to bring out the contrast and highlight the high portions of the rustication. I buffed it again with White Diamond.

To remove the tooth chatter and the scratches from fitting the stem to the shank I used my usual array of micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with the 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and let it dry.

Once the stem was done I used 2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded the high spots on the rustication on the bowl and the shank to further accentuate the contrast. I buffed the bowl lightly with White Diamond and then buffed the pipe as a whole with White Diamond yet again. Once it was done, I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I also gave the bowl a very light buff with the carnauba wheel – too heavy a touch and the wax fills in the crevices of the rustication. I then hand buffed it with a shoe brush to finish the shine. The completed makeover is shown in the photos below. The pipe is ready to enter into a new chapter of its life.

Since posting this I have found out some information about the stamping. Racine de Bruyere means Genuine Briar. It was stamped on pipes coming out of St. Claude. The stamping does not define the maker but the region. The pipe was probably made in late 20’s to early 30’s. I found the original eBay sale description that showed the pipe as it was when Mark received it. I have included those pictures below. Note the gold leaf/paint in the stamping.

Restoring an Old Hardcastle Dryconomy Shape 69 Bulldog – Chiz Szymanski

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Chiz has followed rebornpipes for quite a while now and shown his refurbishing work on Pipesmokers Unlimited. When I saw his step by step work of reclaiming this old bulldog I wrote and asked if he would mind writing up the process for us on the blog. He was happy to do so. His words and photos follow. I hope this is the first of many refurbs he writes about and posts here on the blog. Thanks Chiz.

This project was first documented on pipesmokerunlimited.com where under the member name of Peter Piper, I am an active contributor. A relative newcomer to the hobby of pipe restoring, my ambition is to encourage others: “If a manually challenged clod like me can do it, so can you!”

I recently bought a job lot of Hardcastle estate pipes on eBay and decided that I should document the experience of restoring one of them. Which one? Why, the grottiest one of course, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

I am delighted at the opportunity to share my experience here. Steve and this blog have been far and away my biggest influences and sources of help when it has come to learning how to restore a pipe, so I feel honoured to be asked for a contribution.

OK, let’s get down to it.

Superficially it doesn’t look too bad, but the rim is badly charred and uneven and I fear I am going to have to risk compromising the shape in order to make the bowl look presentable. The stem/shank fit and alignment has somehow become slightly out of kilter, perhaps it is not the original stem, so that too will need attention.

But more pressing problems first, feast your eyes on this cake.

Sleeves rolled up…

Cleaning the chamber out proved to be quite a job. I had to pick away at it with the nail from a 3 in 1 before I could even get the spoon in there, let alone a reamer. And the smell, ugghh. But at least it looks more like a pipe bowl again now. And happily there was no hidden damage within.

Once the chamber was clear I packed the bowl with salt and saturated it with isopropyl alcohol (99.5%). Additionally, I folded a pipe cleaner in half and twisted that into the shank so that it would soften the gunk in there and wick some of it out. I topped up the alcohol regularly and then left it to do its thing overnight.

Meanwhile, I gave the stem a soak in a bath of oxy solution to help bring out the discolouring. I also find that this helps soften whatever gunk lurks within and I don’t even attempt to do any cleaning on the airway before then.

What I have finally managed to get hold of, after failing to find anything suitable locally, are some long, bristled brushes narrow enough to fit inside the stem. What a boon! Whereas in the past I have struggled with countless regular pipe cleaners, this little beauty made short shrift of cleaning out the innards. It took just a couple of pipe cleaners soaked in isopropyl after that and they were coming out clean. Thank you to our friends in China!

Overnight the salt and alcohol worked their magic, you can see the brown crust as well as the darkened pipe cleaner here:

After chiseling out the crusted salt and a quick rinse under warm running water, I set to with my new super brush in the shank. This soon cleaned the conspicuous debris, but the muck of past smoking clearly ran much deeper. It took many, many pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl before they started to emerge anything other than black, the previous owner had clearly been a recidivist of the worst order. Even when the pipe cleaners began to emerge light, the niff from within the bowl was still rank. So I have resorted to a further treatment only used in extremis: stuff some cotton wool wadding into the bowl and soak it in lemon juice. I have the germ of an idea forming for what to do with this pipe when I have finished with it and that does not include someone sucking on it and going green around the gills.

After all that effort the pipe is now sweeter than it must have been for quite some time. The next challenge was the misshapen rim, how on earth it got into this state I honestly cannot imagine.

First I roughly flattened the top with a Dremel with sander attachment. I don’t have a workshop with bench grinders and buffers, different kinds of polishing compound etc.just a very basic Dremel – which is of limited use; you really don’t want to go near a pipe with one unless you absolutely have to! – and the rest is all done by hand. So for anybody reading this wondering whether they should have a go at a similar job: if I can do it then anyone can, truly.

After the brief bit of machine work, I set to with the time-honoured and laborious technique of sanding the rim by hand, inverted on a perfectly flat horizontal surface with mostly circular/twisting motions. I also took the opportunity to give the stummel an overall rub with 800 grade sandpaper and then a quick scrub with a tiny dab of oil soap under running water.

Whilst obviously having to sacrifice a bit of height on the bowl, I am relatively pleased with the result of the “haircut.”

The stem cleaning was a matter of routine i.e. oxy solution to lift the grime and loosen the dirt inside and internal cleaning as mentioned earlier. Finally an application of good old elbow grease with MicroMesh 4 way flexi files, going through the colours in sequence: BLACK 180MX; PINK 2400; WHITE 4000; GREY: 12000, used wet.

After all this I was still scratching my head about the stem/shank fit, though. There is a just-about-discernible “H” on the stem, so I know it is aligned the right way. Yet it just didn’t seem quite right. It’s a bit loose to boot, so I will have to deal with that as well. I was grateful at this stage, whilst documenting this in “real” time on the forum, to get some reassurance from others regarding tricky diamond shaped stems. Never underestimate the benefit of soothing words from your peers when things look problematic!

Moving on, here are the first stages of colouring the stummel back up. I use Rustin’s Wood Dyes, which are naphtha based. Whilst you have to exercise some care, the evaporation is almost instant and the drying time is quite short, so two to three coats can be applied in relatively quick succession. I do like it to rest for at least 24 hours until finishing, so that’s it for now.

Oh, nearly forgot, one more tip: I wrap the stem in clingfilm (plastic wrap in the States?) and use that as a handle whilst applying the dye.

I wasn’t able to resolve the stem/shank problem to my complete satisfaction, I could have tried sanding away, but there is always a risk that one ends up removing too much material with no visible improvement. So I settled for heating the tenon in boiling water, inserting the nail from the 3 in 1 and very gently applying outward rotary pressure. I also applied some beeswax to the tenon, these steps together have at least ensured a more snug fit.

To finish off there is just the matter of giving the pipe a good polish to show off your handiwork at its best. As mentioned earlier, I am not fortunate enough to have an array of spinning buffer wheels and various compounds, so as throughout most of the process I rely on a manual approach: Renaissance Wax, applied by dabbing on and rubbing with finger tip and then buffed off with a lint-free cloth.

This will not, of course, produce the glassy shine so beloved of certain eBay sellers. But bear in mind that such a shine starts to disappear the moment you touch the pipe and I kind of like my less exaggerated finish. That’s my argument anyway and I’m sticking to it!

For ease of comparison, I am posting “before” and “after” pictures here next to each other:

A couple more pics of the finished article followed by some final thoughts:

You can see that the rim is out of round at the front edge, this is where the damaged, lowered area was. I was loathe to attempt shaving any more off, but after some input from Steve, I gave the inner edge of the rim a gentle rub with 800 grit paper, it does make it look better.

The shank/stem issue which I have banged on about so much remains clearly visible. At the end of the day, perfection was not in my view possible with this job, certainly with the limited tools at my disposal.

Ultimately one has to ask oneself: what is my aim here? To restore a distinctly banged up specimen to a decent, smokable condition? Well, I hope I have achieved that and, while the pipe still shows signs of age and use, I think that is as it should be. Like an old movie star looking attractive and dignified in a nice set of new threads. But without an OMG facelift.

Restoring a Chacom Festival Billiard

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I have had this Chacom Billiard for quite a while and never done any work to it. It had a lot of rim damage and the outer edge had been rounded over. Looking at the brand online I could not find any with a rounded top so I decided to rework the top. It also had many dents and dings in the surface of the briar all around the bowl. It seemed like there were too many to be a onetime drop of the pipe but rather seemed like the pipe had been bumped around in a drawer or glove box in a car and picked up the dents. I have not smoked the pipe so I have no idea how it smokes but I have been in a mood to clean up many I have around that need a little more TLC. This one was also filthy inside the shank and the stem to the point that the airway in the stem was a black line like a stripe from the shank to the button. The stamping on the pipe is Chacom over Festival on the left side of the shank and Chapuis Comoy on the right. On the underside near the shank stem junction it bears the stamped numbers 291 – the shape designation. The 291 shape is a Comoy’s number. The acrylic stem is stamped CC on the left side near the shank. I am not clear on the relationship between Comoy’s and Chacom other than a few vague memories regarding the company separating and the Comoy’s moving to London and a portion staying in France and taking on the name Chacom. I do not recall the history or the connection.

I decided to do some research on the web to check out my vague recollections and gather details on Chacom pipes. I found a timeline for the brand on the Chacom website with a short history abbreviated. (http://www.pipechacom.com/en/pipes-traditionnelles/history.htm). It turned out that I was partly correct in my information regarding the connection but the timeline gives details to the name and the changes that it went through. I had no idea that Chacom was a combination of the first three letters of the Chapuis name and the first three letters of the Comoy’s name. I also had no idea of the detailed ongoing use of the two names that are stamped on my pipe. It appears that the dual name was stamped for many years and generations. I have copied some of the pertinent dates that give me data in understanding the stamping on this pipe. I have incluced portions that give a glimpse into the history of the brand. For more information or to follow-up on this I have also included the website above.

1870: Henri COMOY, prisoner of war in Switzerland met his cousins the Chapuis and together they consider the idea of an association.

1879: Henry COMOY immigrated to London with some of his technicians from Saint-Claude and establishes the first English pipe factory in England – H. COMOY & C° LTD. The Saint-Claude factory supplied them with briar and pipe bowls…

1922: After the First World War the association COMOY and CHAPUIS is realised and the Saint-Claude factory becomes CHAPUIS COMOY & Cie.

1924: Death of Henri COMOY. His sons Paul and Adrien assume the direction of the factories in Saint-Claude and London assisted by their cousins Emile and Louis Chapuis.

1928: London was able to produce their own pipes, and in order to develop the Saint-Claude factory, the brand CHACOM was created, using the first three letters of the COMOY and CHAPUIS family names. Up till 1939 CHACOM was offered only in France, Belgium and Switzerland in order not to cause confusion with the COMOY pipes which had the same shapes and qualities.

1932: The world economic crisis reached Saint-Claude. To weather this problem Chapuis Comoy & Cie joined with another company under the name of LA BRUYERE, forming the biggest pipe concern in the world with 450 workers. Big trucks were needed to transfer the briar blocks from the drying shed to the factory.

1945: After the Second World War CHACOM assumed its entire commercial liberty and launched a complete and modern range of pipes.

1946: Chacom became the principal brand in France and Belgium…

1957: In face of the commercial preponderance of the brand CHACOM the company La Bruyère returned to the name of CHAPUIS COMOY & Cie.

1964: Death of Adrien COMOY. His son Pierre succeeded him in London. Mr. REED was the Chairman and Managing Director in Saint-Claude…

1971: Having recovered its independence from COMOYS of London, Yves GRENARD, second cousin of Pierre COMOY, took over the Direction of Chapuis Comoy & Cie and at the same time the exclusive sale of H. COMOY & Ltd, in France…

1994: Chapuis-Comoy integrated ROPP Company.

As can be seen in the next series of photos below the rim was damaged and the outer edges were rounded over instead of sharply defined and the surface flat.

I set up my topping board and sandpaper and sanded the top of the bowl. I generally use a circular motion while pressing the top onto the sandpaper. I find that this minimizes the scratches and makes the easier to sand later. The next photo below shows the top after just a few rotations on the board and highlights the damages rim edges.

I continued to sand the top until the surface was smooth and the edges sharp and defined. I wanted to remove all of the rounding that was present on the outer edges of the bowl. When I finished with the sandpaper I sanded the top with a medium and a fine grit sanding block to further smooth out the surface and remove the scratches left behind by the paper.

I wiped down the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to remove the finish. In this case there were so many dents in the briar that I wanted to remove the finish before I steamed out the dents in the sides of the bowl.

I took the pipe up to the kitchen to use the gas stove to heat a knife for steaming the dents. I generally try to do this when my wife is away as I use an old butter knife, a dish cloth and her stove for the work. I have found her hovering to make sure I don’t ruin her stove or knife or cloth for that matter, hard to deal with while I am focusing on the work at hand. It is far easier to do it when she is away – I avoid her concern and I find it goes more quickly!

The next photo below shows the tools I used. I put the wetted dish cloth on a plastic lid so that I do not damage the counter tops. The knife on the right side of the photo is my weapon of choice in this process as the blade is long and wide so it covers a lot of dents.

The next photo shows the blade being heated with the gas flame. For some reason the flame is not visible in the photo but it is present. It does not take long to heat the knife to the temperature that works with the cloth to create steam.

The next photo shows the next step in the process. When it is hot enough I place it against the wet cloth that I have placed over the dents and hold the hot knife blade against the cloth and pressed against the dented briar. The application of heat to the wet cloth creates the steam that is needed to raise the dent in the briar.

The next series of photos show the bowl after steaming out the dents in the surface. The majority of the marks are gone after the process. Those that remain were minimal and I dealt with them by sanding the bowl. I used a medium grit sanding sponge and a fine grit sanding block to sand the briar of the bowl and smooth out the surface dents that remained.

The airway on the acrylic stem was black. I thought at first this was a part of the striations in the acrylic but that turned out to be wrong. I cleaned the stem with a shank brush, many pipe cleaners and Everclear until the pipe cleaners finally came out clean. The shank brush cleans up easily with soap and water when I am finished. The airway looked far better when cleaned.

The next three photos show the pipe, cleaned and ready to be stained. I wiped it down a final time with Everclear to remove any dust or grease from my hands and took it to my work table to restain it.

I stained the pipe with MinWax – using a Medium Walnut stain first and then applying a Red Mahogany stain over that. The photos below show the bowl after I have stained it with Medium Walnut. Once applied the Red stain it blended very nicely with the darker colours in the acrylic of the stem.

I buffed the bowl with White Diamond and then stained it with the red stain. I buffed it a second time with White Diamond. I buffed the stem and pipe again with White Diamond and then gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax to give it a shine. I liked the way the finish is almost matte and does not have a high gloss to it. The addition of the red stain brought out the red tones in the briar and they match those in the acrylic exceptionally well. The acrylic stem is one of the most comfortable ones that I have seen or experienced and that is a pleasant surprise. The following photos show the finished pipe ready to fire up and enjoy.

Giving an Ugly, Worn Billiard a Makeover

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I was given this older, truly ugly pipe a bit ago. It is stamped Astoria De Luxe on the left side of the shank and on the underside the number 8 is stamped near the shank/stem junction. The stem has the letter “A” stamped in the vulcanite. The bowl was coated with a thick coat of something like urethane that gave it a plastic feel. It also seemed to be an opaque coating that was a yellow tan colour. The coating complete hid the grain and the numerous fills on the sides of the bowl. The rim had been damaged from a knife wielding person who tried to ream the bowl. The inner edge had a slight bevel that was damaged and the outer rim had damage from a torch lighter. This time the heavy coating on the bowl protected it from charring but the coating had darkened to black and was pitted. The top of the rim was badly damaged from tapping the bowl out against something hard. This pipe was certainly one that normally I would not have bothered to work on, but there was a challenge there to see if I could do something with it. This one will also go in the box of pipes for the Vancouver Pipe Club.

I took a close-up photo of the top of the bowl to highlight the rim damage before I went to work on repairing it.

I set up my topping board and sandpaper and sanded the top of the rim. I press it against the board and work it in a circle to remove the damaged briar. I continue until the top is once again flat and the damage minimized. In doing so I was able to remove much of the gouging of the inner edge of the rim and flatten the rim. It also removed the burn damage to the outer edges of the bowl. However, it also revealed a flaw in the top of the rim. I filled the flaw with briar dust and superglue and when dry topped it slightly more to remove the excess fill that I had made.

I scrubbed bowl down with acetone on cotton pads but the coating did not come off. I sanded the bowl with a sanding sponge and broke the top seal on the coating and then continued to wipe it down with acetone and then sand repeatedly until the finish was virtually gone.

Last evening when I finished for the night I dropped the bowl in an alcohol bath overnight to further remove some of the stubborn spots on the coating. These were at the bowl shank union and at the end of the shank. There were spots on both sides of the bowl and the front that also resisted the combination of sanding and acetone. When I took it out of the bath this morning the finish was gone. I rubbed the bowl dry and gave it a quick buff with Tripoli to remove any remnants of the coating. I cleaned out the shank with cotton swabs and Everclear to remove the tars and oils that were inside. When it was clean, I wiped it down a final time with a cotton pad and Everclear and prepared it for staining. I decided to once again use the MinWax and gave the bowl a coat of Red Mahogany and then a coat of Medium Walnut stain. I hand buffed the bowl and then took it to the buffer and buffed it with Red Tripoli and White Diamond.

The combination of the two stains worked well and minimized the ugly fills that stood out around the bowl. Combined they gave the pipe a light reddish brown hue. The stem had some damage around the shank area so I sanded it lightly with a medium grit sanding sponge to remove those markings.

I further sanded the stem with the usual array of micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and then buffed it with White Diamond.

I reinserted the stem in the pipe and gave the entire pipe a final buff with the White Diamond and finished by giving it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean flannel buff to raise a shine in the stem and bowl. The result of the work can be seen in the photos below. The old, ugly duckling billiard had a facelift and now was far more attractive than previously in my opinion. It is ready to go in the box for the pipe club. Hopefully the pipeman who takes it home eventually will get good use out of it and enjoy the Astoria De Luxe. The challenge was worth doing and in doing so I learned some more tricks on removing a thick urethane coating.

Topping a Badly Damaged Georg Jensen Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

In the process of going through the box of pipes for the Vancouver Pipe Club to put back the ones I had worked on, I found another that really needed attention. I just could not leave it in the box as the damage looked awful and I knew it could look so much better. It is an oddly shaped bent billiard to me but it had a quaint quality about it that I liked. It is stamped Georg Jensen over Made in Denmark Pipes on the left side and Zenta on the right side. On the underside of the shank it is stamped 525. I am assuming that is a shape number. The stem was oxidized around the shank. The bowl had been coated with varnish – even over the grit on the surface. There were also finger prints in the varnish. The worst part of the pipe was the rim. It was worn down on the front side and the varnish had covered the rough surface of the beat up briar. It was also burned on the back inner edge of the rim and onto the rim surface. The inner edge of the rim was also damaged and nicked and gouged out of round. The stem had one tooth mark on the topside near the button.

I have included the next two close-up photos to show the rim damage. The front edge is very worn, the back inner edge is burned and the inner edge of the rim is clearly gouged and marked. Fortunately the damage did not extend deeply into the bowl was limited to the top 1/8th inch of the bowl top. The bowl had also been coated with a black rubbery bowl coating. I chose to leave it as the bowl also had some gouges in the bottom from the knife that someone used to ream the bowl.

I set up my board and sandpaper that I use for topping pipe bowls and sanded the top of the rim. This one was a little tricky in that the front slope was lower than the rest of the rim. I worked the back half of the rim first to bring the height down to the same place as the highest portion of the front slope. Once I had that done it was an easy matter to proceed with topping the rest of the rim. I worked until I had removed the burn damage and the rough front edge and had a flat, smooth and rim with an even circumference.

I wiped the bowl down with acetone on cotton pads to remove the varnish coat and the rest of the finish so that I could blend in the stain on the freshly topped rim with the rest of the pipe.

I used MinWax Red Mahogany stain to restain the pipe. I rubbed it on and then wiped it off several times until I had the even coverage I wanted on the bowl. I had buffed it with a cotton cloth to give it a slight shine and get a feel for the overall look of the stain on the bowl. I retouched the stain on the rim to darken it slightly. I lightly buffed the bowl with White Diamond and gave it an initial coat of carnauba wax.

The tooth mark on the top of the stem needed to be heated to lift it as much as possible and then I used some superglue to finish the repair. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to feather it into the surface of the stem. I followed that with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge. I finished the stem with my usual array of micromesh sanding pads – wetsanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and then buffed the pipe with White Diamond. I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax to finish. The completed pipe is shown in the photos below. I also included a photo of the top of the rim to show the repair. The pipe is now ready to join the rest of the ones heading to the Vancouver Pipe Club. It should provide years of service to the pipeman who takes it home.

Reclaiming a Mistreated Royal Danish 29 Billiard

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This is the last of the Vancouver Pipe Club pipes that I decided to rework. It is stamped on the bottom of the shank near the stem Royal Danish over Made in Denmark. On the right side of the shank, mid shank it is stamped 29 which I assume is the shape number. Like the others in this lot it was coated with a thick coat of varnish. The finish under the varnish was dirty and there were finger prints in the varnish coat – like it had been handled while wet. The rim looked like someone had used it for a hammer and had a thick coat of tars on the rim under the varnish. Not only were there marks on the surface of the rim but the inner and outer edges were also rough and damaged. The stem is a replacement and it was poorly fitted to the shank. The person who had restemmed it had left the shank pitted with small divots and out of round. The stem itself was no longer round but in different spots than the shank. It had not been sanded on the underside at the shank because of the close stamping on the end of the shank. Instead it had ripples and grooves left in the vulcanite that made it feel very rough in that portion of the stem. The bowl was coated with the same black rubbery substance.

The next photo shows the condition of the rim and what led me to top the bowl and refinish this pipe. It had great overall structure but needed some TLC to bring it to the next level and make it a pleasure to have and to hold.

I used 220 grit sandpaper to work on the stem shank junction and try to smooth things out. Though it is hard to see in the photos the transition was a mix of hills and valleys. It was very rough and uneven all around that portion of the top and sides of the shank. The stem itself was poorly finished as well at that point. There were sanding marks and gouges in its surface that paralleled the shank. The shoulders of the stem were rounded as well so the fit to the shank was odd. I worked on the shank stem fit before turning to the bowl rim.

The underside of the shank was quite tedious to work on as the stamping was faint at that point and very close to the end of the shank. I had to use a folded piece of sandpaper and carefully sand the stem and shank for a good clean fit. I worked to smooth out the transition as much as possible and minimize the rounded edges of the stem. I wanted the fit to be even and tight. Once the transition between the shank and stem were smooth and the feel seamless to touch I moved on to top the bowl. I set up my topping board and a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and began to work on the top of the bowl. I sanded it until it was flat and the outer edges of the bowl were clean and sharp. I used a folded piece of sandpaper on the inner edge to clean up some of the damage and sharpen the angles.

I wiped the bowl down with acetone on cotton pads to remove the varnish and the finish and bring the briar back to an even tone throughout the pipe. It always makes the staining easier when you rework the entirety of the bowl and the overall condition of this pipe demanded that kind of work.

I used a MinWax Red Mahogany stain on the bowl to approximate the reddish colour of the original stain. I rubbed it on and off with a cotton pad until I had the colour I was looking for. When the stain was dry I hand buffed it with a soft cloth to bring out a shine. I set the bowl aside while I worked on the stem.

I sanded the marks out of the stem on the underside near the shank and in several spots on the taper mid stem with 220 grit sandpaper and then with a fine grit sanding sponge. I then used my usual array of micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads.

After sanding with the final grit of micromesh pads I rubbed down the stem with Obsidian Oil and then when it had dried took the pipe to the buffer. I lightly buffed the stem and bowl with White Diamond and then gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax. The finished pipe is shown below and to my eye looks much better after the makeover. I think this is yet another pipe that will find a new home among the members of the Vancouver Pipe Club.

Restoring a Natural Liverpool

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The pipe was in good shape. The finish was covered with a coat of varnish and under that there were soiled marks on the sides of the bowl. The rim had burn marks on the outer front edge. And there was slight darkening on the surface of the rim. The stem was clean with some slight tooth marks on the top and bottom of the stem that had been sanded previously. The stem also had some scratches and gouges in the surfaces in the middle of the top taper. The pipe is stamped NATURAL over London Made on the left side of the shank and there are no shape stamp numbers on the right side or underneath. I believe that the original finish was unstained, hence the natural stamping.

I have included the close-up photo of the rim below to show the burn damage on the front edge and the other damage on the surface and inner edge of the bowl.

I topped the bowl with sandpaper on a flat board to remove the damage and the burn marks. Once that was finished the top looked like new with good sharp edges on the inside and outside of the rim.

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and took the cake back to bare wood. I wiped down the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to remove the varnish and the grime underneath. It took a few pads to clean off the finish, but once it was done the pipe looked good.

I used my usual array of micromesh sanding pads to clean up the stem – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads.

Once I had finished sanding the stem I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil and then buffed the whole pipe with White Diamond. I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean flannel buff. The finished pipe is pictured below. The grain stands out nicely on this old pipe and the natural finish highlights that.

Topping and Refinishing a No-name Worm Trail Billiard

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There are a few of the pipes in the Vancouver Pipe Club lot that just don’t do anything for me. One of them was this large billiard – no name. There are several others in the lot that have the same finish and bear the stamping of Partner. It has some nice wedges of smooth grained briar in between the rustication pattern on the bowl. That pattern is what really does not work for me – I call the pattern worm trails because that is what they look like to me. This old pipe has been restemmed somewhere along the way and the person who did the work sanded the shank down to fit the stem – one of my pet peeves! I think there is little that is more irritating in my work of restoration than working on pipes that have been “butchered” to make a stem fit. Why not hack the stem to fit the shank instead of the shank to fit the stem? Hmmm. I will never understand that really. But that is irreparable. The bowl itself had the standard coat of varnish over the bowl and rim – even over the buildup on the rim. The rim was a mess, lots of damage to the outer edge of the bowl and to the top and the bevel in the bowl.

I took several close-up photos of the damage to the rim to give a general idea of what I was starting with on this old pipe.

I topped the bowl with my sandpaper and board setup. I sanded until the top was flat and the majority of the damage was minized. I also evened out the bevel on the inner edge of the rim with folded sandpaper to match all the way around the bowl.

Once I finished with the 220 grit sandpaper I sanded the rim and bevel with a fine grit sanding block to smooth out the scratches. I wiped the bowl down with acetone on cotton pads to remove the varnish and the finish as much as possible. I also reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer to remove the black rubbery bowl coating.

When the finish was gone, I decided to highlight the “worm trails” and give them some character in the finished bowl. I used a cotton swab and some black aniline stain to paint the trails around the bowl. To dull them a bit and lighten them I wiped them down with a cotton pad and Everclear.

I stained the bowl with MinWax Red Mahogany and Medium Walnut. I wanted to highlight the reds in the briar but not have it an oxblood colour so I use the two stains. I applied the red first and then the walnut stain.

When the stain was dry I buffed the pipe with White Diamond on the wheel and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax to give it protection and a shine. The finished pipe is shown below. With the addition of this one to the Pipe Club box I am getting closer to finishing this project – I think maybe four or five left that desperately need some work and perhaps a few others that will need a touch up. Hopefully someone will like the “worm trails” more than I do.

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