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Restoring a Charatan’s Make Special 4 Made By Hand City of London Sitter

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen to work on is a nice looking straight grain Billiard with the front heel flattened making it a sitter. It has a smooth rim top and a double comfort saddle stem. We picked it up on 04/09/2022 from a seller in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The stamping on the left side of the shank read Charatan’s Make [over] London, England [over] Special. On the right side it is stamped Made By Hand [over] in [over] City of London. That is followed by the number 4 stamped next to the bowl shank junction. On the topside of the shank at the shank/stem junction is a cursive L in a circle identifying it as a Lane Pipe. The black vulcanite saddle stem is a Charatan’s Lane Era Double Comfort Stem with a CP stamped on the left side of the saddle. The pipe is a nice looking pipe with a reddish brown finish that highlights the grain on the bowl sides and shank. It is light weight and comfortable pipe to hold. Jeff sent me the following photos of the pipe to show the condition it was in before he worked on it.

This is what I saw when I looked over the pipe.

  1. The finish is dull with hand oils on the sides and some thick grime ground into finish around the bowl sides. The stain is dull and the grain patterns though visible under the grime are obscured around the bowl sides and shank
  2. The rim top was very dirty with darkening and a heavy lava coat on it. It is heavier on the back side. The inner edge of the bowl is hard to see under the thick build up of cake that has overflown the bowl top.
  3. There was a thick cake in the bowl. The bowl itself was very dark and dirty. Once the bowl was cleaned up we could confirm the condition of the bowl walls.
  4. The vulcanite stem was filthy, oxidized, calcified and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides. There were some deeper tooth marks on the underside ahead of the button.
  5. There is a Charatan CP logo stamped on the left side of the shank. It is faint but still readable.

To summarize what I saw – this Charatan’s Make London, England Special Sitter, Made by Hand in City of London is a well made pipe. The bowl and stem are very dirty which says to me that the pipe was someone’s favourite pipe. The look and feel of the pipe in the hand is great. It should clean up very well. Here are photos of the pipe taken before Jeff started the clean up.  Jeff took close up photos so that I could have a clearer picture of the condition of the bowl, rim edges and top. The rim top photos confirm my assessment above. The cake in the bowl is thick – covering the walls of the bowl. The rim top has thick lava coat overflowing and covering the inner edge. It is heavier toward the back of the bowl. It is hard to know the condition of the inner edge in this condition. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. I look forward to viewing it in person after the clean up work.The Double Comfort vulcanite saddle stem is dirty, oxidized and calcified. There are tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The marks on the underside are deeper than on the topside. Instead of telling you what I see in the next photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel I want to hear from you. Tell me what you see? What does the finish look like to you? Are there any visible problems or issues that stand out to you? Are there cracks or scratches in smooth finish of the bowl? Are there visible flaws or fissures in the briar? What does the finish look like? Is there a pattern to it? Any visible issues on the heel of the bowl? These questions should help you to see what I am looking for when I see these photos. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is stamped as noted above on the right and the left sides. The vulcanite stem shows a CP stamp on the left side of the saddle. What stands out for you in the photos of the stamping? What do you look for in the stamping? It is dirty but what do you see underneath the grime on the surface of the briar? I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-charatan.html) to look up information on the Special line. There was a listing there but there was no photo in the listing. I have included the screen capture below.I am sure many of you will shake your head and ask maybe even out loud, “Why is he including this again?” However, please remember that the point of these blogs is not to wow your with the work or make you shake your heads but I want you to know the details of the work we do so you can do your own. Back in 2020 Jeff wrote a blog about his cleaning process. I am including a link to that now so you can see what I mean about his process. Do not skip it! Give it a read (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/01/20/got-a-filthy-estate-pipe-that-you-need-to-clean/). Here is the introduction to that blog and it is very true even to this day.

Several have asked about Jeff’s cleaning regimen as I generally summarize it in the blogs that I post rather than give a detailed procedure. I have had the question asked enough that I asked Jeff to put together this blog so that you can get a clear picture of the process he uses. Like everything else in our hobby, people have different methods they swear by. Some may question the method and that is fine. But it works very well for us and has for many years. Some of his steps may surprise you but I know that when I get the pipes from him for my part of the restoration they are impeccably clean and sanitized. I have come to appreciate the thoroughness of the process he has developed because I really like working on clean pipe!

For the benefit of some of you who may be unfamiliar with some of the products he uses I have included photos of three of the items that Jeff mentions in his list. This will make it easier for recognition. These three are definitely North American Products so you will need to find suitable replacements or order these directly on Amazon. The makeup pads are fairly universal as we were able to pick some up in India when we were with Paresh and his family.

In the blog itself he breaks his process down into two parts – cleaning the stem and cleaning the bowl. Each one has a large number of steps that he methodically does every time. I know because I have watched him do the work and I have seen the pipes after his work on them. He followed this process step by step and when the pipe got to me it was spotlessly clean and ready for my work. The inside of the stem, shank and bowl were clean and to me that is an amazing gift as it means that my work on this end is with a clean pipe! I cannot tell you how much difference that makes for my work.

  1. The finish is clean and the oils and grime in the finish shows the beautiful straight grain around the sides. The medium brown stain highlights the grain.
  2. The rim top was clean but there were still damage on the top and the inner edge of the bowl. It is clean and with a little work will look very good.
  3. There cake in the bowl has been removed and the bowl is very clean. The walls of the bowl are smooth and appear to be undamaged and show no checking or burn damage.
  4. The vulcanite saddle stem looks better though the tooth marks and chatter on both sides are visible. There were some deeper tooth marks on the underside ahead of the button.
  5. The Charatan CP logo stamped on the left side of the stem looks very clean but is faint and readable.

Hopefully the steps above show you both what I look for when I go over the pipe when I bring it to the work table and also what I see when I look at the pipe in my hands. They also clearly spell out a restoration plan in short form. My work is clear and addressing it will be the next steps. I took photos of the whole pipe to give you a picture of what I see when I have it on the table. This is important to me in that it also shows that there was no damage done during the clean up work or the transit of the pipe from Idaho to here in Vancouver. I carefully went over the bowl and rim top to get a sense of what is happening there. In this case once the rim top and edges were cleaned the rim top looked better. The inner edge was in good condition and looked good with the rusticated plateau style rim top. I also went over the stem carefully. The fit of the replacement to the shank is snug and the transitions are smooth. There were some tooth marks and chatter on the surface of the stem and the button on the underside. The acrylic stem surface was clean and looked better. I took photos of the rim top and stem sides to show as best as I can what I see when I look at them. I always check to make sure that the clean up work did not damage the stamping on the shank sides in any way. It is in excellent condition and is very clear and readable. I love just looking at the lay of the pipe and the proportion of the hand made pipes. I took the pipe apart to get a sense of what was in the mind of the pipe maker when he crafted the pipe. The photo shows its beauty in flow and shape. I started working on this pipe by turning to the bowl. I chose to deal with the darkening on the inner edge and top of the rim. I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the darkening on the inner edge and the damage on the top. It took a little work but I was able to remove most of the damage. It looks much better after I worked it over.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I choose to dry sand the briar rather than wet sand it. Again it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer to use the pads dry and find they work very well on the briar. I sand with each pad (9 in total) and group them by threes for ease of reference. I wipe the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and check the briar. I love seeing the developing shine on the briar as I move through the pads which is why I include so many photos of this step. I rubbed down the bowl and shank with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar. The product works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit for 10 minutes then wiped it off with a soft cloth then buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine in the briar and the rustication showed depth. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. It is a gorgeous pipe. I set the bowl aside and turned to the stem. I “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift them some. While they were better they were still there. I filled in what remained with black rubberized CA glue. I used a small file to flatten out the repairs and start to blend them into the surface of the vulcanite. I finished my work on the repairs by sanding them smooth with 220 grit sandpaper. I started the polishing of the stem with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I wiped the stem down with Soft Scrub cleanser to remove the remaining oxidation on the stem surface. It looked much better. I touched up the faint CP stamping on the left side of the stem. The logo is readable though the P is missing the curve of the right side of the P.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pads. I know that many say Obsidian Oil does nothing for acrylic stems, but I find it does two things – first it gives some protection to the stem from buildup and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the acrylic. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection.The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the light scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I follow up the wax buff with a buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished stem. It really is a nice pipe. The smooth finish around the bowl sides and shank looks great. The vulcanite saddle DC stem works well with the pipe. The Charatan’s Make Special Made by Hand in City of London Billiard Sitter feels great in my hand. It is a well balanced pipe. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.01 ounces/57 grams. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be adding to the rebornpipes store in the British Pipemakers Section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. It should be a great smoking pipe.

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.

Another Piece Of Pipe History Restored To It’s Former Glory; A c.1901 Samuel Mclardy”

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

During the summer of last year while browsing on Pinterest, I came across pictures of some beautiful pipes and following the links led me to an old gentleman from the UK who was willing to sell these pipes either single or as a lot. There were around 60 odd pipes. I went through the pictures that were sent along with the rates and selected 10 pipes. After a prolonged and interesting interaction, we managed to arrive at a price point. Soon these pipes landed on the shores of India and went in to Customs hold for nearly a month. Finally, it was released and I laid my hands on these pipes after a wait of nearly 3 months! Here is a picture that I had taken moments after opening the parcel.I had restored a BARLING’S MAKE pipe from this lot earlier (indicated with a yellow pointer) and the next pipe that I have selected, again from this lot is a SMcL (indicated with a fluorescent green pointer) bent billiards with squared shank and horn stem.The pipe is a classic Bent Billiards with a square shank and a saddle horn stem with a threaded tenon. It is a typical English shaped quaint sized pipe with a nice hand feel and a light weight that makes it comfortable for clenching. It has a hallmarked silver band with filigree at the shank end. The silver filigree is stamped as “SMcL” in a triangle over three sterling silver hallmarks. From right to left the first cartouche is with a date code letter “b” followed by a cartouche with LION PASSANT certifying silver quality and the last cartouche contains the “Anchor” of the Birmingham Assay Office. The shank is likewise stamped with SMcL in a triangle in golden color while the horn stem is devoid of any stampings.This brand though faintly familiar to me through various reads and mentions, I haven’t ever worked on a pipe from this manufacturer and neither researched this old British marquee. I decided to follow the trail along the silver filigree ferrule at the shank end bearing the hallmarks. I visited www.silvercollection.it and upon searching through the index, I came across a maker’s mark that was as seen on the pipe in my hands. The maker’s mark was described as SAMUEL McLARDY & Co. Here is the link and screen shot of the details and relevant details are highlighted.

https://www.silvercollection.it/englishsilvermarksXS3.htmlThe next step was to date this pipe with the help of the hallmarks as seen on the silver filigree band at the shank end. The Birmingham City mark was easy to identify. The letter “b” perfectly matched up with the letter that identified it as being assayed by the Birmingham Assay office in 1901. Given below is the link that will take the readers to the relevant section of dating and the picture that I have taken with the date code letter marked in red.

https://www.silvercollection.it/englishsilverhallmarksBIR.html

I visited pipedia.org to know more the brand Samuel McLardy & Co. Given below is the link to the article on pipedia.org and have reproduced relevant information about the brand.

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_McLardy

The McLardy company thanks its existence to the entrepreneurial spirit of 1 person: Samuel McLardy, born in Glasgow in 1842. He was the son of a tobacconist who also produced his own clay pipes. In the paternal shop he must have learned the profession of pipe-maker. Shortly after his 20th birthday he decided to move to Manchester to start his own company. There is remarkably little known about the history of the factory. On an old advertisement it says “established 1865” so since then there must have been a steady growth. Within a couple of decades there was a massive production of clay pipes. Around 1895 the factory owned over 500 moulds which meant yearly production was around 5 million pipes! Similar to that of Dutch factory P. Goedewaagen & Zoon in that period. Over time we find Samuel McLardy at different locations. Before 1880 that was Miller Street number 16 in Manchester and it is there where the shop grew to the size of a factory. In 1890 the company moved to Shudehill number 67 where it remained active until after 1910.

The production of clay pipes was a large part of the McLardy operation and this interesting Pipe Manufacturers Catalogue shows several clay models displayed for sale. Duco’s article, referenced above, examines the historical realities impacting the Samuel McLardy Co., (typical of other UK pipe companies) by navigating through relatively prosperous years leading up to the turn of the century, the decline of interest in clay pipes, diversification of other product lines to cope with falling revenues, WWI, the growing economic bubble of the 20s leading ultimately to the collapse of the McLardy, Co., soon after the stock market crashes in September (for UK) and October (for US), 1929. I found this last statement regarding the Samuel McLardy, Co., as a matter of public record published in archives of The London Gazette regarding the liquidation of the company. Reflective of the times, there were several companies listed in the Gazette which were being “wound up”:

The Companies Act, 1929.

Special Resolution of SAMUEL McLARDY & CO. Limited.

Passed 13th January, 1930.

AT an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Members of the above named Company, duly convened, and held at No. 20, Swan-street, Manchester, on the 13th day of January, 1930, the following Resolution was duly passed as a Special Resolution: –

” That the Company be wound up voluntarily; and that Mr. George Elder, Chartered Accountant, of Edwin Collier & Co., 3, York-street, Manchester, be appointed Liquidator for the purposes of such winding-up”.

Thus to summarize, Samuel McLardy & Co. was established in 1865 by Mr. Samuel McLardy at the age of 23. This company was an established clay pipe maker and produced about 5 million pipes a year. By 1920s, the business was no longer profitable due to WW I, declining interest in clay pipes and financial meltdown of 1929. Samuel McLardy & Co was “wound up” on 13 Jan 1930 after 65 years of its existence.

With the provenance of the pipe established beyond doubts, it was logical for me to move ahead with restoration proper of this pipe.

Initial Inspection
This pipe has the quintessential quaint size and shape that is nearly always seen on old British made pipes. 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 horn stem is in good condition with minor tooth chatter on both surfaces in the bite zone. The draw through the pipe is labored and constricted. This project should be an easy restoration, unless some gremlins are lurking unbeknown to me around the corner! Here are a few ‘before’ pictures of 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 red), a damage that can result only due to repeated strikes against a hard edged surface. The inner rim edge is unevenly gouged, probably due to use of a sharp knife to clean up the rim of the charring damage (encircled in yellow). The rim appears thinned out in a couple of places and is encircled in green. 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. 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, a result of more than 120 years of usage which would be worth preserving. However, eliminating/ addressing the deep scratches (indicated with yellow arrows) on both side of the stummel and the few dents and dings (encircled in green) 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 labored draw. The thick cake and blocked mortise hides the draught hole from view. These issues need to be addressed. The horn stem itself appears dull and lifeless and has some minor tooth chatter on both the surfaces of the stem. The slot is perfectly round and correct for the time period of the pipe and shows accumulation of dried tars and dirt. The threaded bone tenon also shows traces of deposition of gunk and grime within the threads and at the tenon end. The button edges are sharp and sans any major damage with a little dirt embedded at the bottom of the edges and some minor tooth chatter over the lower and upper button in the bite zone. The dark and light hues taken on by the stem over the years should polish out nicely and will add an additional touch of class to this already classy pipe. The Process
I first tried to remove the silver filigree band to check for any hidden gremlins over the shank end surface. The band came off quite easily and it was a relief to note that there were no cracks or chipped areas underneath the band as evidenced from the shank end face.Since the stummel is where maximum restoration efforts are needed, this was where I started my process to restore this pipe. I began the process of refurbishing this pipe by reaming the chamber with a PipNet reamer tool, using the second head. Using my fabricated knife; I further took the cake down to the bare briar. With a 220 grit sand paper, the walls of the chamber were rid of all the remnants of the cake, revealing smooth chamber walls. I further wiped the chamber with a cotton swab wetted with isopropyl alcohol to completely remove the sanding dust. I gently scraped the lava overflow from the rim top. Close observation of the chamber after the clean up revealed that the draught hole is not centered (centre position encircled in white) but towards the left side (indicated with green arrows). This being a manufacturing issue, there is nothing that I can do to right this wrong and even if there is something that can be done, I wouldn’t recommend it as it had previously over the last century served its owner well as can be seen from the thick cake in the chamber. The damage to the front outer edge (encircled in blue) and the out of round chamber due to damaged inner rim edge (encircled in green) can now be seen clearly and would need to be addressed. Using cotton buds, bristled and regular pipe cleaners wetted with 99.9% pure alcohol, I carried out the preliminary cleaning of the mortise. I shall continue deeper cleaning of the chamber and mortise with salt and alcohol treatment.Moving on to deeper cleaning of the chamber and the mortise…….. I use cotton balls which is an at par substitute to Kosher salt as I have realized over the years. I draw out a wick from the cotton and along with a folded regular pipe cleaner; insert it in to the mortise and through the draught hole in to the chamber. Thereafter, I pack the chamber with cotton balls to about quarter of an inch below the rim inner edge and soak 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. It was here that I noticed seepage on the right side of the stummel through what I had initially assumed to be a scratch. However, this patch of seepage points to a through crack which if left unattended would lead to a burn-out.  I topped it up once again with alcohol 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, fulfilling its intended task. I removed the cotton balls and ran pipe cleaners through the mortise to clean out all the loosened tars and gunk. I set it aside to dry out naturally. It is such unexpected curve balls that are thrown at you which make any restoration a challenging one. Once the stummel had dried out completely, using my fabricated tool I scraped out the entire loosened gunk from the mortise and further cleaned it with alcohol and q-tips. I cleaned out all the debris and gunk in the crack from the outside (encircled in yellow). I also scraped the chamber walls to remove all the loosened cake and charred briar; especially form the corresponding insides of the external crack. A closer examination of the chamber walls shows the extent of damage (indicated by red arrows) and most likely this is a result of some flaw in the briar wood which was exposed during previous use and reaming to maintain cake. I would love to hear about your opinions on what had caused this damage. This issue needs to be addressed immediately to avoid ruining this 122 year old specimen of pipe history.Before moving on to addressing the above, I decided to clean the exterior surface of the stummel. I used a hard bristled tooth brush and Murphy’s oil Soap, to scrub the stummel, chamber walls and rim top. 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. The deep scratch on the left and the ‘now determined’ through crack on the right (indicated by green arrows) are all too clearly visible. I simultaneously cleaned the shank internals with the detergent and hard bristled shank brush and set the stummel aside to dry out naturally.With the stummel now clean both internally and externally, it was time for me to address the issue of the through crack on the right stummel surface. Using a sharp dental tool, I removed the charred and damaged briar from along the chamber wall until I reached the hard solid briar underneath. Similarly, I cleaned out the crack from the outside by clearing out the debris and grime and the damaged briar using the sharp dental tool. Next, I drilled counter holes at either ends of the crack using a 1mm drill bit. These counter holes will prevent spread of the crack any further in either direction. I was careful in ensuring that the counter holes are drilled at the exact end points of the crack and that these holes were not drilled through and through. I filled this crack and counter holes with a mix of briar dust and CA superglue and set it aside to cure.Next I decided to fill only the heat fissure from where I had removed the charred briar with layer of J B Weld. J B Weld is a two-part epoxy Cold Weld in two tubes; hardener and steel which are mixed in two equal parts (ratio of 1:1) with hardening time of 5-6 minutes and complete curing time of 6-8 hours. I poured the contents of the two tubes and mixed it well. I applied this mix, pressing as deep and as evenly as possible, over the heat lines in the chamber wall surface. As I was applying the mix, I decided to apply this coat over the entire chamber surface as I had some of the mix remaining and it wouldn’t harm in any which way. I worked fast to ensure an even coat before the weld could harden. I set the stummel aside for the application to harden and cure overnight. Once the external crack fill had cured completely, using a flat head needle file, I sand this fill to achieve a rough match with the rest of the stummel surface. I further fine tuned the matching of the fill by sanding fill surface with folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. The stummel surface was now clean and even.Next, with a folded piece of 150 grit sandpaper, I sand the coat of J B Weld from the internal walls of the chamber keeping just a thin layer of coat along the wall; just enough to provide an inert and heat resistant layer between the burning tobacco and the damaged briar. I shall further enhance this separation by adding a bowl coat of activated charcoal and yogurt.Next I addressed the issue of the uneven rim top, damaged outer rim edges and out of round chamber. I began with topping the rim over a 220 grit sand paper, frequently checking for the progress being made. I stopped once the damaged outer rim edge was evened out to an acceptable- to- me level and the thickness of the rim top was close to even all round. To get the chamber back to round, I created a bevel over the inner and outer edge with a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper. I am pretty pleased with the progress being made thus far. I followed it by sanding the entire stummel surface using a piece of 320 grit sandpaper to address the scratches and the dents and dings. This was a decision which I had deliberated for a while. One of the major considerations in favor of sanding was the deep scratch on the left side which could be minimized by using sandpaper to sand it down to an acceptable level. Sanding will also help in addressing the few dents and dings and minor scratches from the surface. I had decided that the sanding would be kept to bare minimum and the scratches, dents and dings that remain shall be maintained as part of the pipe’s journey thus far. To remove the sanding marks and bring a deeper shine, I polished the stummel with micromesh pads, dry sanding with 1500 to 12000 pads. I wiped the surface with a soft cloth at the end of the micromesh cycle. The stummel looks amazing with a deep shine. Next, I rub a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” 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 darkened grain patterns on full display. I further buff it with a horse hair shoe brush. Now that the stummel repairs/ refurbishing are completed save for the final polish, it was time to work the stem. I cleaned the internals of the stem with a thin shank brush and anti-oil dish washing soap. This ensures a thorough cleaning of the stem airway while saving me number of pipe cleaners, elbow grease and most importantly, time. With the stem internals cleaned, I scrubbed the external surface with the dish soap and Scotch Brit pad. I was particularly careful while cleaning the threaded tenon surface as the old residual oils and tars were deeply embedded in to the threads. I rinsed the stem under warm running water and wiped it with a paper napkin to dry it.I addressed the minor tooth chatter in the bite zone by sanding the bite zone with a folded piece of 400 grit sand paper. I could have filled the tooth indentation with clear superglue, sanded and polished the stem, but decided against this since the stem was thick and the tooth chatter was superficial enough to be addressed just by sanding it out. To eliminate the sanding marks and also bring a deep shine to the bone stem, I wet sanded the entire stem surface with 600, 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sandpapers. I rubbed a small quantity of EVO in to surface and set it aside to be absorbed by the bone stem. 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.   I completed the mundane but equally important task of polishing the Sterling Silver filigree band. I used a local product that is available only in India to polish the band. The liquid polish was applied to the band and wiped it out after a few seconds. The polish completely removed the oxidation and gave a nice shine to the band which was further improved by polishing it with a jeweler’s cloth. Using CA superglue, I reattached the band at the shank end.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. 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!! P.S. There was only one more issue that needed to be addressed and one that could not be ignored, being a functional issue. After I had applied and sanded down the JB WELD to a thin coat, I wanted to further protect the chamber briar while adding another layer between the JB WELD and burning tobacco. I addressed this by mixing activated charcoal and plain yogurt to a thicker consistency, just enough that it would spread easily and applied it evenly all along the chamber walls after inserting a folded pipe cleaner through the draught hole to keep it open. Once dry and set, this will not only protect the walls but also aid in faster build up of cake.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.

Restoring A Beautiful Family Era “Barling’s Make” Bulldog To Its Former Glory

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

During the summer of last year while browsing on Pinterest, I came across pictures of some beautiful pipes and following the links led me to an old gentleman from the UK who was willing to sell these pipes either single or as a lot. There were around 60 odd pipes. I went through the pictures that were sent along with the rates and selected 10 pipes. After a prolonged and interesting interaction, we managed to arrive at a price point. Soon these pipes landed on the shores of India and went in to Customs hold for nearly a month. Finally, it was released and I laid my hands on these pipes after a wait of nearly 3 months! Here is a picture that I had taken moments after opening the parcel.Save for four pipes, remaining pipes came with Amber stems that were in fairly decent condition. The next pipe that I decided to work on is from this lot. It has that classic English bulldog shape and size that I like the most. That it’s a Barling’s Make meant that it will be added to my Barling collection. This pipe is indicated by a yellow arrow in the picture below.From the above picture it is amply evident that this pipe is small when compared to the group 4 sized Dunhill that is seen in the picture, but the bowl is medium sized and holds a decent quantity of tobacco. The stummel boasts of some beautiful mix of bird’s eye and cross grains along the entire surface. It is stamped as “BARLING’S MAKE” on the left shank surface in small simple capital letters while the right shank face bears the stampings “JAMES & Co.” over “BIRMINGHAM”. These stampings are a bit different than the ones I have come across in that there is no model number and neither is there any size stampings e.g. SS, S-M, L, EL etc.I have worked on quite a few Barling’s pipes and have read up as much material as I could lay my hands on anything related to Barling’s pipe. A simple look at the stampings on the left shank surface indicates that this pipe is from the Family Era. There are certain pointers like, the small font size, simple capital letter, lack of stamp denoting the size of the pipe and the minimalistic stamping, which place this pipe between 1930s and Pre-WW II period, 1941 to be precise.

According to Tad Gage, Pre-1946 stampings are minimal. Pre WW2 pipes rarely have size, shape or grading. Thus, I can confidently date this pipe to the Family era and to have been roughly made during the period 1930 to 1941.

You may consider visiting the under mentioned link for a detailed read about the Barling company and dating guide.

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Barling#The_Company

The stampings on the left side shank surface has provided all the clues to establish the provenance of this beautiful classic British pipe, but what about the JAMES & Co over BIRMINGHAM stampings?

An internet search threw a number of businesses and Business houses with the name James & Co, including variations of the searched name, from Birmingham and nearby areas. However, nothing concrete came up that strongly connected the Barling’s pipe to any business house.

However, when I searched for James & Co. after including 1930s, my screen was flooded with images and information about JAMES CYCLE & Co.!!!! The connection between this Barling pipe and the company somehow felt logical. Here is what I found out about JAMES MOTORCYCLES……

The James Cycle Co Ltd., Greet, Birmingham, England, was one of many British cycle and motorcycle makers based in the English Midlands, particularly Birmingham. Most of their light motorcycles, often with the characteristic maroon finish, used Villiers and, later, AMC two-stroke engines.

James were prolific bicycle and motorcycle manufacturers from 1897 to 1966. The company was taken over by Associated Motor Cycles in 1951 and combined with Francis-Barnett in 1957. In 1966 the company became one of the many British motorcycle companies forced out of business by Japanese competition.

In early twentieth century, it was a popular promotional practice amongst business houses to give away quality pipes that were commissioned from reputed pipe makers like Comoy’s, Charatan, GBD, Barling’s etc, as gifts to their clients with the firm name duly stamped on the pipe.

In this instance, the time period of making this pipe matches with the period of the existence of James Cycle & Co and also pipes and motorcycles are supplementary to masculinity. Is it possible that this Barling pipe was commissioned by James & Co of Birmingham as complimentary gift to their client? Please comment and let me know.

With the vintage of the pipe established with certainty and speculations about the connection of this particular pipe with motorcycle manufacturer, James & Co. Birmingham, it’s time to move ahead with the process of restoration.

Initial Visual Inspection
This pipe has the classic straight Bulldog shape with a diamond shank and a medium sized bowl. The stummel boasts of some beautiful bird’s eye and cross grains all over the bowl and shank. The stummel surface is covered in dirt and grime of the overflowed lava. There is not a single fill in the briar which speaks of high quality of the briar. The chamber appears out of round and has a thick layer of cake. The saddle vulcanite stem is heavily oxidized with tooth chatter and very light tooth indentations on button edges on either surface in the bite zone. Detailed Inspection And Observations
The overall proportion of this pipe is small with a decent sized chamber. The draught hole is at the bottom dead center of the chamber. The chamber has an even layer of very thick hard cake with remnants of un-burnt tobacco seen at the heel of the chamber. The rim top surface is covered with thick lava overflow and is pretty banged up along the right side (encircled in pastel blue). The inner rim edge is charred and damaged between 10 o’clock and 12 o’clock directions (encircled in yellow) which make the chamber appear out of round. The outer rim edge has dents and dings all around but is most severely damaged towards the front and back of the bowl (encircled in green), a damage that can result only due to repeated strikes against a hard edged surface. The condition of the inner walls of the chamber can be commented upon after the cake has been taken down to the bare briar. The strong ghost smell in the chamber is all pervading. The stummel appears solid to the touch all around and hence I do not foresee any serious damage to the walls in the form of burnout/ deep heat fissures/ lines or pits. The dark inner rim edges may be charred further than anticipated and the same will be confirmed after the surface has been thoroughly cleaned. I need to resort to topping the rim top in order to address the damage to the surface. The ghost smells should reduce once the cake from the chamber is removed and the shank has been cleaned. There are a few scratches that can be seen on the sides and on the shank surface of the stummel. Both the stummel and the shank are covered in grime and dust from years of use and subsequent storage, giving it a dull and a lackluster appearance. The surface has taken on a nice patina which I intend to preserve. Through all the dirt and grime, beautiful mixed grains peek out from the stummel surface. A nice clean and polish will further accentuate this play of grains over the stummel surface. Given the condition that the chamber was in, it was no surprise that the mortise was chock-a-block with accumulated oils, tars and residual gunk. This is also the major cause of the strong ghost smells from the pipe. This would need a very thorough and deliberate cleaning.The diamond saddle vulcanite stem is oxidized with calcification observed in the bite zone. The entire stem surface is covered in patches of sticky substance/ grime. The button edges on either surface has minor tooth indentations which should raise to the surface once heated. The minor bite marks in the bite zone, likewise, should be completely addressed by heating the surface and sanding thereafter. Traces of dried accumulated gunk can be seen at the round slot end and the step tenon opening.The Restoration Process
I decided to tackle the damaged stem at the start. Before I could proceed with actual repairs, I cleaned the stem internals first. Using a thin shank brush and anti-oil dish washing soap, I cleaned the stem airway. The airway was filthier than I had imagined as can be judged from the following pictures. I took me a considerably long time, but eventually the airway was clean. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners through the stem to confirm that the airway was clean and also to dry it out. With the stem internals now clean, I moved to 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 let the stem soak in the solution overnight.

Progressing ahead, I reamed the chamber with head size 1 and 2 of my PipNet reamer blade. I used my fabricated knife to remove cake from areas inaccessible to the reamer blades and completed the process of removing the cake by sanding the walls smooth with a folded piece of 180 grit sandpaper. I wiped the chamber with a cotton swab wetted with alcohol to clean the residual carbon dust. The chamber walls are solid and the minor thin veins that are visible over the walls are not heat fissures but an ultra thin layer of carbon which will be addressed once the cake is loosened up after a salt and alcohol bath, or at least that is what I hope for.I cleaned the internals of the mortise by scrapping the mortise walls using dental tools. The amount of dried oils and crud that was scrapped out, on one hand is indicative of uncared and rough use of this beauty by the previous Piper while on the other, a testimony of this pipe being one of his/ her favorite and one that he/ she reached out for quite often. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners through the airway to clear away the loose debris that would have lodged itself in the draught hole. I shall continue the internal cleaning by subjecting the stummel to a salt and alcohol soak.Now that the internal cleaning of the stummel 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 deoxidizer solution. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners to remove any residual deoxidizer solution from the airway.I followed it up by wet sanding the entire stem surface using 600, 800, 1000, 1500 and finally with a piece of 2000 grit sand paper. This serves to reduce the sanding marks of the more abrasive sand papers. I also sharpened the button edges while sanding. I wiped the stem with a moist cotton swab to remove all the oxidation and sanding dust from the surface. I applied a little Extra Virgin Olive oil over the stem and set it aside to be absorbed by the vulcanite.I went through the 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads to dry sand the stem. The stem now has a nice deep shine with no traces of oxidation around the entire stem surface. The stem appears a tad dull at this stage; however, after a good polish using Blue diamond and carnauba wax, the shine will deepen further.With the stem nearly completed, it was time to work the stummel again. Continuing with the internal cleaning of the chamber and shank, I subjected it to a salt and alcohol bath. I used cotton balls which is an at par substitute of Kosher salt as I have realized over the years. I 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 and further into the chamber. Thereafter, I packed the chamber with cotton balls to about quarter of an inch below the rim inner edge and 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/ tars from the chamber and mortise and loosened out any residual cake and tar build up, fulfilling its intended task. I removed the cotton balls and ran pipe cleaners through the mortise to clean out all the loosened tars and gunk. Using my fabricated tool, I scraped out the entire loosed gunk from the mortise and further cleaned it with alcohol and q-tips. I also scraped the moist cake from the chamber using my knife and sanding it smooth with 180 grit sandpaper. The chamber now smelled clean and fresh and the tiny veins observed in the chamber were eliminated. I set the stummel to dry out naturally. I cleaned the external surface of the stummel with undiluted Murphy’s oil soap and a hard bristled toothbrush. I cleaned the smooth rim top surface with the soap and Scotch Brite pad. I thoroughly cleaned the mortise with shank brush and anti-oil dish washing soap. The few scratches (indicated by yellow arrows) and minor dings over the stummel surface are now plainly visible while the damage to the rim top, rim inner edge (encircled in red) and outer edge (encircled in blue) is clearly defined. These issues need to be addressed.  I followed up the external cleaning of the stummel with internal cleaning of the mortise and shank using anti oil soap and shank brushes.Using a folded piece of 320 grit sandpaper, I diligently sand the entire stummel surface and thus addressed the issues of scratches and minor dings. To address the damage to the rim inner and outer edge, I topped the rim surface on a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I limited my topping to the extent that the damage was just adequately addressed. With a folded strip of 220 grit sandpaper pinched between my thumb and index finger, I created a smart thin bevel over the inner and outer rim edges to mask the damage that remained after topping. I am quite pleased with the progress this far.   Next, I polished the stummel with micromesh pads, wet sanding through 1500 to 12000 pads. I polished the freshly topped rim surface to a nice luster, wiping the surface with a soft cloth at the end of the micromesh cycle. The stummel looks amazing with a deep shine and beautiful grains popping over the stummel surface. I am surprised that the rim top surface has the same deep brown coloration as the rest of the stummel surface and that the use of a stain pen was not required. I massaged a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” with my fingers into the briar. The immediate and incredible transformation that takes place is a worthy reward for all the efforts!!! I let the balm sit on the surface to be absorbed in to the briar for about 20 minutes. The bowl now looks fresh and attractive with the grains popping out any which way you look at the briar. I polished off the balm with a soft cloth to a lovely shine. To apply the finishing touches, I mounted a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and applied a coat of Blue Diamond to the stummel and the stem to polish out the minor scratches. With a cotton buffing wheel that I use for carnauba wax, I applied a coat of carnauba wax and continued to work on it till the complete coat of wax had been polished out. I mounted a clean cotton cloth buffing wheel and gave the entire pipe a once over buff. 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 beautiful and is ready to be added to my collection of inherited pipes. There was only one more issue that needed to be addressed and one that could not be ignored, being a functional issue. After I had reamed and sanded the chamber walls, I had observed very minor and superficial web of thin heat fissures/ pits all along the chamber walls. I addressed this by mixing activated charcoal and plain yogurt to a thicker consistency, just enough that it would spread easily and applied it evenly all along the chamber walls after inserting a folded pipe cleaner through the draught hole to keep it open. Once dry and set, this will not only protect the walls but also aid in faster build up of cake.Thanks to all readers of rebornpipes who have spared a moment of their invaluable time in reading through this write up and as is always, your suggestions and advice are always welcome.

Writing Straight with Crooked Lines

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By Kenneth Lieblich

A few weeks ago, I posted a blog about a Peterson Standard System 307. That pipe sold quite quickly and a kind gentlemen contacted me to say that if I came across another, he would be interested. As it happened, I did have another 307 in my pile of pipes, so I was only too happy to get working on that one. The 307 is a good-sized pipe and the look of it gives one a feeling of confidence. It is satisfying and comfortable in the hand. This particular pipe had some serious issues, but I was confident that I could still make it beautiful again. I guess I was trying to make virtues out of vices (or something like that) – hence writing straight with crooked lines.Let’s have a closer look. This Peterson 307 pipe has the classic “System” look: bent shape, nickel mount, and tapered, army-style stem. Of course, it also had the traditional Peterson P-lip stem. The markings on the left side of the shank are Peterson’s [over] System [over] Standard. The right side of the shank showed Made in the [over] Republic [over] of Ireland [over] 307. The nickel mount on the shank had K&P [over] Petersons. There were no markings on the stem. The Peterson System pipes are well-storied among Peterson collectors/admirers. I took the opportunity to read the article on Pipedia, specifically about the System pipes, by Jim Lilley. There is lots of good information there and I encourage you to read it: https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_closer_look_at_the_famous_Peterson_Standard_System_Pipe On to the pipe itself: it was in rough shape – very dirty and harshly treated. The stem was thoroughly calcified and oxidized. It also had some major dents: one on the top and one on the bottom. Most notably, however, there was some significant wear to the side of the P-lip. The bowl was very dirty and had quite a bit of lava and plenty of cake. The front edge of the rim had been heavily bashed in – presumably from banging out dottle etc. The outside of the bowl had some small fills and some very deep scratches – much deeper than the photos convey. The nickel mount was in rough shape – stained, corroded, and heavily chipped along the top edge. To work! The stem was first on my list. I wiped the outside down with Murphy’s Oil Soap on some cotton pads. I also took a BIC lighter and ‘painted’ the stem with its flame to lift the bite marks. Sadly, however, this did not do much, as the dents were much too deep. Then I cleaned out the inside with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. I used some SoftScrub on the outside of the stem to remove some oxidation. Then, the stem went for an overnight soak in the Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. The following day, I cleaned the de-oxidizing mess off with alcohol, pipe cleaners, et cetera. The oxidation had migrated to the surface and would be fairly straightforward to remove. I scrubbed again with SoftScrub on some cotton pads to remove the leftover oxidation. I built up the dents on the stem with black cyanoacrylate adhesive and let them cure. I then sanded the adhesive down with 220- and 400-grit sandpapers to meld seamlessly into the stem. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to polish it and highlight the black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing. What about the worn side of the P-lip? I decided to leave that as it was. I did not have a spare Peterson stem to replace this one and I always like to use original parts whenever possible. The stem shows that wear, but it is part of the history of the pipe and so it shall stay.

Moving on to the stummel, I first decided to ream out the bowl. I used both the PipNet Reamer and the KleenReem to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper taped to a dowel to eliminate as much as possible. I took the chamber down to bare briar to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the wall. Fortunately, there were none.I proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. There was quite a bit of filth inside this stummel, and it took a fair amount of cotton to get it clean. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some dish soap and tube brushes.I then used cotton rounds and some Murphy’s Oil Soap to scrub the outside of the stummel and a toothbrush with Murphy’s for the lava on the pipe’s rim. At this point, I opted to remove the nickel mount before moving on. It wasn’t well attached to the stummel anyway. It would need some special work, as there was a crack in the edge of the shank – hidden by the mount. The first step in dealing with this was to ensure that the crack would not continue to creep after I had repaired it. To that end, I took a micro-drill bit, inserted it in my Dremel, and very carefully drilled a hole right through the wall of the shank, into the mortise. I then needed to apply cyanoacrylate adhesive in order to seal and repair it. I carefully applied a tiny bead of adhesive to the hole and the length of the crack. Finally, I clamped it shut and let it cure. This was a great success and the mount would hide the repair going forward. I decided to de-ghost the pipe in order to remove any lingering smells of the past. I thrust cotton balls into the bowl and the shank and saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused any remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton. The bowl was nice and clean after this. Now I could address the roughness on the rim. I “topped” the pipe – that is, I gently and evenly sanded the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. This effectively removed the damage without altering the look of the pipe.Then I was able to address the small nicks on the rim and the bowl. I dug out my iron and a damp cloth to try to raise the nicks. The hot and moist steam can often cause the wood to swell slightly and return to shape. This worked very well and many of the scratches were corrected with this method.Now it was time to address the remaining fills on the bowl. I repaired them with a mixture of briar dust and cyanoacrylate adhesive. This ensures a strong repair and one that looks similar to the surrounding wood. I sanded the repairs down with 200- and 400-grit sandpaper until they were level with the surrounding briar.Then, I used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) on the stummel to finish it off. I opted to turn the bashed-in front edge of the rim into a rounded front edge. This was possibly an odd choice, but I am very pleased how it turned out in the end. However, the deep, parallel scratches on the side of the stummel were not going anywhere. Unfortunately, they were too deep to be sanded out and too narrow to be filled with briar and glue. The scratches were sanded with the Micromesh pads, and looked much improved. The nickel mount also needed serious help. I wanted to keep as much of the metal as possible, but didn’t want to leave a purely jagged edge. I sanded this edge to ensure a proper balance between keeping the maximum amount of metal and taking away a possible hazard. Then, I used some SoftScrub on cotton rounds to clean the metal and remove some corrosion. I used some of my MicroMesh pads (only 3,600-12,000) to eliminate some of the minor scratches on the metal. It also gave a nice shine. I used a jewelry cloth to give the final polish to the nickel. This mount would always retain some small dents etc. from its hard life, but it looks much improved. I used some white glue to reattach it to the stummel. At this point, I rubbed some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and left it to sit for 15 minutes or so. I brushed it with a microfibre cloth. The B&ARB does wonderful things to the wood, and I really like the natural colour of the briar. Off to the bench polisher to put the final touches on this pipe. I first gave it a thorough going-over with White Diamond compound. Following that, several coats of carnauba wax created a beautiful, glossy seal on the pipe. This Peterson Standard System 307 looks fantastic again and I know that the new owner will enjoy smoking it for many years to come. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 6¼ in. (158 mm); height 2 in. (51 mm); bowl diameter 1⅝ in. (41 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (20 mm). The weight of the pipe is 2¼ oz. (66 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe as much I as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring Grandfather’s Figural Briar Napoleon Pipe for a Local Pipe Man

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that came to me from a Vancouver pipe man who I have worked on pipes for in the past. This one came to him from his Grandfather who passed away in the 1970s, and has not been smoked since he last smoked it. It is an interesting figural pipe that is a carved head of Napoleon Bonaparte I believe. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Real Briar in an oval over Made in France. It was well smoked and quite dirty. The finish was mixed rusticated on the base and shank and smooth around the carving on the face and on the hat. The carving was nicely done with well defined features around the face. The pipe had a lot of grime ground into the finish and hand oils in the briar. It was dirty. The rim top was thickly coated with tars and lava that had overflowed from the cake in the bowl. The inner edge of the bowl was also thickly covered with lava. The bent taper stem was oxidized with light calcification at the button. There was light tooth chatter on the top and underside of the stem ahead of the button. The button was in excellent condition. It was going to be a fun clean up. I wanted to capture the condition when I was given it. I took photos of the pipe before I started my clean up on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the cake and the lava overflow on the top. You can also see some potential damage on the inner edge of the rim. There is darkening on right back edge of the hat and on the left front edge of the hat. It was a mess. The cake is hard and thick. The photos of the stem surface show the oxidation, calcification and tooth chatter. I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It reads as noted above – REAL BRIAR in an oval [over] Made in France. It is clear and readable. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of overall look of the pipe. There was also a metal stinger in the tenon that was covered in tars and oils.I took photos of the carving all around the bowl sides beginning with the facial features. It is a well carved beautiful pipe. I started my clean up work on the pipe by reaming the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer. I used the second cutting head to take the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and then sanded the bowl smooth with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. The bowl walls looked very good once sanded showing no burn damage and checking. They were smooth. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the inner edge and smooth out the damage as well as to remove the lava build up on the rim top. It looked much better though there was still work to be done.I heated the metal stinger on the end of the tenon with the flame of a lighter. Once it was warm I was able to unscrew it from the tenon. Now that it was out I could clean out the airway in the stem and in the shank more easily.I cleaned out airway and mortise in the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol (99%). I cleaned the metal stinger with alcohol and a cotton pad to clean off the grime and tars. Once I had cleaned out all the parts, the pipe smelled significantly better. With the internals clean I turned my  attention to the exterior of the bowl and all the nooks and crannies of the carvings. I scrubbed it with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap, I rinsed off the soap suds and grime with warm running water and repeated the process until the surface was grime free. The photos show the pipe at this point in the process. Once clean the surface had some spots of varnish or shellac on the surface leaving shiny spots on the surface of the carving. I wiped it down with acetone on a cotton pad until the surface was clean and the shininess was removed. It was looking good. I worked over the rim top, cap edges and the grooves between the cap and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It looked much better.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I choose to dry sand the briar rather than wet sand it. Again it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer to use the pads dry and find they work very well on the briar. I sand with each pad (9 in total) and group them by threes for ease of reference. I wipe the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and check the briar. I love seeing the developing shine on the briar as I move through the pads which is why I include so many photos of this step. I rubbed down the bowl and shank with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar. The product works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips and a horsehair shoe brush. I let it sit for 10 minutes then wiped it off with a soft cloth then buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine and the carving showed depth. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. It is a gorgeous pipe.   I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pads. I find it does two things – first it gives some protection to the stem from buildup and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process.     After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection.The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I carefully buffed the figural bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the light scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I follow up the wax buff with a buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished stem. It really is a nice pipe. The carved face and cap work well with the vulcanite stem. The Carved Napoleon Figural is a beauty and feels great in my hand. It is a well balanced pipe. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 ¾ inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.54 ounces/73 grams. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon sending home to the pipeman who dropped it off. I have one more pipe to finish for him then he can enjoy them and the memories they hold.

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.

Refurbishing a beautiful classic billiard from Peterson’s – a Kapet # 150, London Made, England

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

The next pipe that I selected to work on is a beautiful classic billiard shaped Peterson’s pipe with a P-lip tapered stem. The very appearance of this pipe shouted “ol’ timer” to me even before I saw the stampings. The size also indicated that this pipe was from an era when large bowl were not in vogue, specifically the English made.

The pipe boasts of some beautiful mixed grains of bird’s eye and cross grains hidden beneath the layer of dirt and grime. That this pipe is from a quality pipe maker is evident from the quality of fit, finish and the briar used. There are only a couple of small fills that I could identify. The tapered P-lip vulcanite stem also oozes quality and points it to be a Peterson’s pipe. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank as “PETERSON’S” with a forked P over “KAPET”, all in capital letters. The left side of the shank is stamped as “LONDON MADE” over “ENGLAND” and followed by shape code “150” towards the shank end. The stem has the trademark letter P in cursive hand over the left side.I have worked on quite a few Peterson’s from pre-1960s and from those researches; I know that this pipe is from the classic range of pipes from Peterson’s and belongs to the period when Peterson’s had an office in London up to late 1950s when the shop was closed. I referred to pipedia.org just to refresh my knowledge about the history of Peterson’s pipes. It always does make for an interesting read and is highly recommended. Given below is the link to this detailed history of the brand Peterson’s.

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson

Given below is the link to the Dating Guide for Peterson’s pipes at the end of the article on pipedia.org.

https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_Peterson_Dating_Guide;_A_Rule_of_Thumb

To summarize, this pipe is from the classic range of Peterson’s, an entry level Pete pipe. This is evidenced from the KAPET stampings and a couple of fills in the briar surface. The COM stamp points to a period between 1895, when Peterson’s opened a shop in London, and late 1950s when this shop was closed. Thus this pipe definitely dates to pre-1960s.

INITIAL VISUAL INSPECTION
The chamber of this classic billiard shaped pipe has a thick coat of even cake with small traces of lava flow over the rim top surface. The rim top itself has a few dents and dings along its surface. The stummel surface is dull, dry and covered in grime giving it a lackluster appearance. The shank shows accumulation of old oils, tars and gunk. The vulcanite stem does not sit flush with the shank face. The stem bite zone has signs of deep tooth indentations over the button edges and around the round slot end. Here is how the pipe appears as it sits on my work table. Detailed Inspection
The chamber has a decent layer of even cake that lightly overflows over the rim top surface. The condition of the chamber walls can be commented upon once the cake has been completely taken down to the bare briar. The inner rim edge is charred in 6 o’clock and 11 o’clock directions (encircled in yellow). The rim top itself is dotted with dents and dings. The outer rim edge too has a few minor chipped areas, but nothing serious.The stummel is covered in dust and grime of all the years of use. There are a couple of fills (marked by green). The shank is filthy with the accumulated old oils, ash and grime. This clogging could be the reason for the seating of the stem not being flush with the shank face.  Other than these issues, the stummel is in a decent condition. The P-Lip straight vulcanite stem is oxidized with severe tooth indentations on the button edge on either surfaces of the stem in the bite zone to the extent that the round slot at the top is completely deformed. The step tenon end shows heavy traces of dried oils and tars and remnants of ash and the heavy draw through the stem airway convinces me that there is heavy accumulation of gunk throughout the airway.The Process
I started the process of restoration by first cleaning the stem internals with anti-oil dish cleaning soap and thin shank brushes. The stem air way was filthy to say the least. I further cleaned the stem internals with hard bristled and regular pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. A lot of elbow grease and a pile of pipe cleaners later, the pipe cleaners emerged white and I knew that the stem internals were now clean and fresh. I dunked the stem into the deoxidizer solution have overnight for the oxidation to be pulled out to the surface. I usually have around 4-5 pipes lined for restoration and this Pete is indicated by a green arrow.The next afternoon, Abha fished out the stem from the deoxidizer solution and scrubbed it with a Scotch Brite pad to get rid of the loosened oxidation from the surface. She followed this scrub with a second scrub using 0000 grade steel wool and this helped in further removal of raised oxidation from the surface and even out the minor scratches resulting from using the Scotch Brit pad. She rinsed the stem under warm running water to completely remove the solution from the airway and slot end. She ran a couple of pipe cleaners to remove the last traces of residual deoxidizer solution from the airway and dry out the airway.With the external and internal cleaning of the stem completed, Abha handed over the stem to me to complete the repairs. Continuing with the stem refurbishing, I heated the bite zone with the flame of a lighter to raise the tooth indentations to the surface. Though the results were not what were expected, the vulcanite was raised a little leaving behind deep tooth compressions over the button edge on either surfaces. These surfaces of the stem were filled with a mix of CA Gorilla superglue and activated charcoal powder and set aside for the fill to cure. I really hope that this time around I get better results with using this new CA glue. With the stem repairs set aside to harden, I started with the stummel repairs by reaming the chamber with the smallest of the PipNet reamer blade. I used my fabricated knife to remove cake from areas inaccessible to the reamer blade and completed the process by sanding the walls smooth with a folded piece of 180 grit sandpaper. I wiped the chamber with a cotton swab wetted with alcohol to clean the residual carbon dust. The chamber walls are solid with decades of residual service life. However, the rim has slightly deformed due to charring at 6 and 12 o’clock directions and encircled in green. I cleaned the external surface of the stummel with undiluted Murphy’s oil soap and a hard bristled toothbrush. I cleaned the smooth rim top surface with the soap and Scotch Brite pad. The darkened inner rims edge in the 6 o’clock direction is now clearly visible (marked in red) and confirms a charred rim edge. Simultaneously, I thoroughly cleaned the mortise with shank brush and anti-oil dish washing soap. This ensured that the stummel now smells clean and fresh. I dried the stummel internals and externals with paper towels and soft absorbent cotton cloth and set it aside overnight to completely dry out before I worked on it any further.By next afternoon, the stummel had dried out and I decided to address the issue of fills over the surface. With a sharp dental tool, I extracted the old and loosened fills and cleaned the area with a cotton swab and alcohol. Using clear CA superglue, I filled up the pits over the stummel surface and set it aside to cure. Once the fill had hardened, I first sand the fills with a needle file to roughly match the fill with the rest of the surface followed by sanding with a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper to further blend in the fills with the rest of the briar surface.Next, I moved on to address the charred edges over the rim top surface. I topped the rim over a piece of 220 grit sand paper by slowly rotating the rim over the sand paper. I hate to lose briar any more than absolutely necessary and so frequently checked the progress I was making. I was quite pleased with the appearance of the stummel at this stage in restoration.With a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper pinched between my forefinger and thumb, I imparted a nice bevel to the inner rim edge. This eliminated the minor charring that had remained over the inner rim edges.Now that the stummel repairs were complete, Abha took over the bowl to work her magic and bring alive the grains over the briar surface. She went through the complete set of micromesh pads, wet sanding through 1500 to 12000 grit pads. Next, she 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 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. While Abha was polishing the stummel, I worked on the stem repairs. The fill had cured and with a flat head needle file, I worked on the filling till I had achieved a rough match with the surrounding surface and had sufficiently sharpened the button edges. For a better blending, I further sand the entire stem with 320.Next, to impart a nice shine, I dry sanded the entire stem with 320, 600 and 800 grit sand papers followed by wet sanding using 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sand papers. This progressive use of higher grit sandpapers helps to, firstly,  reduce the sanding marks left behind by the more abrasive ones, secondly, completely eliminates the oxidation while imparting a clean shine to the stem surface. Thirdly, this also helped to even out the minor imperfections from the bite zone. I applied a little EVO and set the stem aside for a few minutes for the oil to be absorbed in the stem surface. To bring a deep shine to the vulcanite stem, I went through the dry sanding with 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads, and wiped the stem with Extra Virgin Olive oil to rehydrate the vulcanite. The repairs have blended in very well and the stem now looks shiny black and beautiful. The finished stem is shown below.To refresh the stem logo, I coat the stem logo with white correction ink and let it dry out completely. Once the ink had dried out, with a toothpick, I gently removed the excess ink from the surrounding surface. Though the logo is not very crisp, this is the best that was possible given how worn out the stamping was to start with.This is that part in pipe refurbishing that I love and enjoy the most. I began the final polishing cycle by mounting a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and applying a coat of Blue Diamond to the entire pipe to polish out the minor scratches. With a cotton buffing wheel that I use for carnauba wax, I apply a coat of carnauba wax to the stummel and stem and continued to work on it till the complete coat of wax had been polished out. I mount a clean cotton cloth buffing wheel and gave the entire pipe a once over buff. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine further. This classic Billiards shape pipe from Peterson’s oozes a solidity and beauty that draws you to it. Here are a couple of pictures of the pipe at the end of the restoration process. P.S. I shared the pictures of this pipe on our club’s WhatsApp group and was immediately snatched up by one of the members. As I completed the write up, I have received a fantastic feedback on the smoking qualities and aesthetics of this pipe…..and this is truly the most satisfying experience of the entire process!!

There are some interesting pipes that I have lined up next…..keep following rebornpipes for the write ups. Stay safe and keep the pipe lit.

Rebirth of a Charatan Executive Hand Made in City of London Dublin

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen to work on is a nice looking straight grain Dublin with a plateau rim top and a replacement acrylic stem. We picked it up on 03/30/2022 from an estate in Plano, Texas, USA. The stamping on the left side of the shank read Charatan’s Make [over] London, England [over] Executive. On the right side it is stamped Made by Hand [over] in [over] City of London. The acrylic, black saddle stem is a replacement. The pipe is a nice looking pipe with a medium brown finish that highlights the straight grain on the bowl sides and shank. The rim top has a plateau style rustication. The acrylic stem works very well with the bowl. It is light weight and comfortable pipe to hold. Jeff sent me the following photos of the pipe to show the condition it was in before he worked on it.

This is what I saw when I looked over the pipe.

  1. The finish shows darkening of hand oils and some thick grime ground into the finish around the bowl sides. The medium brown stain is dull and the grain is obscured around the bowl sides and shank
  2. The plateau style rusticated rim top was very dirty with darkening and lava ground into the rustication to point that it was almost smooth. The inner edge of the bowl was unclear but seemed to show some damage under the lava coat.
  3. There was a moderate cake in the bowl. The bowl itself was very dark and dirty. Once the bowl was cleaned up we could confirm the condition of the bowl walls.
  4. The acrylic taper stem was filthy and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides. There were some deeper tooth marks on the underside ahead of the button.
  5. There is no marking or logo on the stem but it is a well fit replacement stem.

To summarize what I saw – this Charatan’s Make London, England Made by Hand Executive is a well made pipe. The bowl and stem are very dirty which says to me that the pipe was someone’s favourite pipe. The look and feel of the pipe in the hand is great. It should clean up very well. Here are photos of the pipe taken before Jeff started the clean up.   Jeff took close up photos so that I could have a clearer picture of the condition of the bowl, rim edges and top. The rim top photos confirm my assessment above. The cake in the bowl is thick – covering the walls of the bowl. The rim top has thick lava coat and has some darkening on the inner edge and is heavier toward the back of the bowl. The inner edge looks like it might be damaged. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. I look forward to viewing it in person after the clean up work. The acrylic stem is dirty and has grime all over the surface. There are tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Instead of telling you what I see in the next photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel I want to hear from you. Tell me what you see? What does the finish look like to you? Are there any visible problems or issues that stand out to you? Are the cracks or scratches in rusticated finish of the bowl? Are there visible flaws or fissures in the briar? What does the finish look like? Is there a pattern to it? Any visible issues on the heel of the bowl? These questions should help you to see what I am looking for when I see these photos.  He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is stamped as noted above on the right and the left sides. The acrylic stem shows no logo or CP stamping on the saddle portion of the saddle. What stands out for you in the photos of the stamping? What do you look for in the stamping? It is dirty but what do you see underneath the grime on the surface of the briar?I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-charatan.html) to look up information on the Executive line. There was a great photo of the line and a blow up picture of the side and rim top. It also describes the rim top of the pipe I am working on. I have included the photos below as well as the noted below the first screen capture.

After 1965, some Executive had a carved top to resemble plateau briar (see detailed view below).The carved plateau top tells me that the pipe was made after 1965. The rim top is definitely hand carved and is clearly an indication of the date of its carving.

I am sure many of you will shake your head and ask maybe even out loud, “Why is he including this again?” However, please remember that the point of these blogs is not to wow your with the work or make you shake your heads but I want you to know the details of the work we do so you can do your own. Back in 2020 Jeff wrote a blog about his cleaning process. I am including a link to that now so you can see what I mean about his process. Do not skip it! Give it a read (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/01/20/got-a-filthy-estate-pipe-that-you-need-to-clean/). Here is the introduction to that blog and it is very true even to this day.

Several have asked about Jeff’s cleaning regimen as I generally summarize it in the blogs that I post rather than give a detailed procedure. I have had the question asked enough that I asked Jeff to put together this blog so that you can get a clear picture of the process he uses. Like everything else in our hobby, people have different methods they swear by. Some may question the method and that is fine. But it works very well for us and has for many years. Some of his steps may surprise you but I know that when I get the pipes from him for my part of the restoration they are impeccably clean and sanitized. I have come to appreciate the thoroughness of the process he has developed because I really like working on clean pipe!

For the benefit of some of you who may be unfamiliar with some of the products he uses I have included photos of three of the items that Jeff mentions in his list. This will make it easier for recognition. These three are definitely North American Products so you will need to find suitable replacements or order these directly on Amazon. The makeup pads are fairly universal as we were able to pick some up in India when we were with Paresh and his family.

In the blog itself he breaks his process down into two parts – cleaning the stem and cleaning the bowl. Each one has a large number of steps that he methodically does every time. I know because I have watched him do the work and I have seen the pipes after his work on them. He followed this process step by step and when the pipe got to me it was spotlessly clean and ready for my work. The inside of the stem, shank and bowl were clean and to me that is an amazing gift as it means that my work on this end is with a clean pipe! I cannot tell you how much difference that makes for my work.

  1. The finish is clean and the oils and grime in the finish shows the beautiful straight grain around the sides. The medium brown stain highlights the grain.
  2. The plateau style rusticated rim top was clean but still had some darkening in the rustication. The inner edge of the bowl is clean and appears to be in excellent condition.
  3. There cake in the bowl has been removed and the bowl is very clean. The walls of the bowl are smooth and appear to be undamaged and show no checking or burn damage.
  4. The acrylic taper stem looks better though the tooth marks and chatter on both sides are still visible. There were some deeper tooth marks on the underside ahead of the button.
  5. There is no marking or logo on the stem but it is a well fit replacement stem.

Hopefully the steps above show you both what I look for when I go over the pipe when I bring it to the work table and also what I see when I look at the pipe in my hands. They also clearly spell out a restoration plan in short form. My work is clear and addressing it will be the next steps. I took photos of the whole pipe to give you a picture of what I see when I have it on the table. This is important to me in that it also shows that there was no damage done during the clean up work or the transit of the pipe from Idaho to here in Vancouver.  I carefully went over the bowl and rim top to get a sense of what is happening there. In this case once the rim top and edges were cleaned the rim top looked better. The inner edge was in good condition and looked good with the rusticated plateau style rim top. I also went over the stem carefully. The fit of the replacement to the shank is snug and the transitions are smooth. There were some tooth marks and chatter on the surface of the stem and the button on the underside. The acrylic stem surface was clean and looked better. I took photos of the rim top and stem sides to show as best as I can what I see when I look at them. I always check to make sure that the clean up work did not damage the stamping on the shank sides in any way. It is in excellent condition and is very clear and readable. I love just looking at the lay of the pipe and the proportion of the hand made pipes. I took the pipe apart to get a sense of what was in the mind of the pipe maker when he crafted the pipe. The photo shows its beauty in flow and shape. I started my work on the pipe by dealing with the darkening on the top of the bowl. I used a brass bristle wire brush to work over the rim top rustication. It looked much better when I had finished. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I choose to dry sand the briar rather than wet sand it. Again it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer to use the pads dry and find they work very well on the briar. I sand with each pad (9 in total) and group them by threes for ease of reference. I wipe the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and check the briar. I love seeing the developing shine on the briar as I move through the pads which is why I include so many photos of this step. I rubbed down the bowl and shank with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar. The product works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit for 10 minutes then wiped it off with a soft cloth then buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine in the briar and the rustication showed depth. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. It is a gorgeous pipe.   I set the bowl aside and turn to work on the stem. I used a pottery saw and files to reshape the airway in the end of the button. It was a small round hole that is often found on replacement stems and I shaped it into a slot. I filled in deep marks on the underside of the stem with black CA glue. I set the stem aside for the repairs to cure. Once hardened I used a small file to flatten out the repairs. I sanded them smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing it with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pads. I know that many say Obsidian Oil does nothing for acrylic stems, but I find it does two things – first it gives some protection to the stem from buildup and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process.     After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the acrylic. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection. The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the light scratches in the briar and the acrylic. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I follow up the wax buff with a buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished stem. It really is a nice pipe. The smooth finish around the bowl sides and shank looks great with rusticated plateau style crowned rim. The acrylic stem works well with the pipe. The Charatan’s Make Executive Made by Hand in City of London Dublin feels great in my hand. It is a well balanced pipe. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.69 ounces/48 grams. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be adding to the rebornpipes store in the British Pipemakers Section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. It should be a great smoking pipe.

Hopefully the style of writing of this blog is helpful to you in some way. In it I wanted to show both what I am looking for and how I move forward in addressing what I see when work on a pipe. Let me know if it is helpful to you. It is probably the most straightforward detailed description of my work process that I have done. 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.

Major Repairs to a WDC Wellington Jumbo

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

There are some pipes that are so rough that they are an entire pipe-restoration course in and of themselves. This is one of those pipes. It is a WDC Wellington Jumbo and it came to me in a lot of pipes from the USA. Recently, a customer of mine commissioned me to restore this pipe I readily agreed – because I didn’t know what I was getting myself into! The story of this pipe’s repair is a long one and it includes so many different elements that one can learn a lot just by reading. This pipe also reminded me that sometimes the wear-and-tear of the years needs to remain on a pipe as part of its story. I managed to bring great beauty back to this pipe, but it would always retain signs of its harsh past. This is one Wellington that did NOT win at Waterloo. The pipe in question was made by the William Demuth Company of New York (hence, WDC). I read a blog Steve wrote on a Wellington Jumbo back in 2020 to learn more about the pipe’s background. I was directed to the Pipedia page on WDC and it has a lot of good information, including a great flyer which had a photo of some of the Jumbos.From Pipedia is a Wellington ad and another from 1915, courtesy of Pipephil: The Wellington is a charming pipe, but it had a number of significant issues. It might be most clear for you, dear reader, if I enumerate the issues, one-by-one, and we can address them in due course. There was a tremendous amount of work to do on this pipe, so I got to it. I divided up the problems into three categories: the stem, the ferrule/band, and the stummel.

1.  I began by cleaning some of the filth on the outside of the stem with some Murphy’s Oil Soap on cotton rounds. This removed some of the surface staining.
2. The stem’s insides were absolutely clogged with filth. Steve told me that the Wellingtons are notorious for this, and I learned the hard way just how true that was. I actually used a drill bit (by hand) to break into the encrusted gunk in the stem. Then, I started cleaning the inside with isopropyl alcohol, Q-tips, and pipe cleaners. This took a long while. The inside was terribly dirty and it took an awful lot of cotton. 3. Due to the size of the stem, I had to use churchwarden-size pipe cleaners, but this was just not doing enough to progress the process. I decided to plug up the bore-end, filled the stem with alcohol, and let it sit for a while – in the hope that it would loosen some of the gunk. This was mildly successful but insufficient. So, I then opted to use my tube brushes with alcohol and this worked quite well, dislodging some of the filth I couldn’t otherwise get to. It was clear that the pipe would require a retort, but that would have to wait until later. 4. The tenon end was burnt to a crisp from overuse and, more specifically, overheating. I sanded this down in order to even it out. I didn’t want to over-sand it, but I couldn’t just leave it as it was. 5. There was considerable oxidation, but the stem was too large to fit in my deoxidation fluid container. As a result, I had to do this by hand. I used SoftScrub with some cotton rounds and, as you can see, lots of revolting colour came off the stem. As expected, this took a lot of elbow grease, but I got it to a reasonable state.6. The area of the stem just above the button was chomped as badly as I’ve ever seen and the vulcanite had actually ruptured at some point. Also, the bore hole was damaged. I used a BIC lighter to try and lift some of those dents, but very little (if anything) was lifted. I brought out my cyanoacrylate adhesive and I applied it liberally to the affected areas – including the bore. I used some accelerant to get the glue going, and then moved on. 7. I began the lengthy process of sanding and shaping the cyanoacrylate repairs. I used small files and both 220- and 400-grit sandpapers to remove the excess adhesive. Once I had shaped it the way I wanted it, I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing. Hey –we’re finally making some progress!8. Halfway through the MicroMesh process, I paused to fix yet another problem with the stem: it had straightened over time and needed to be bent back into its correct shape. Essentially, I wanted the end of the stem to be close to parallel with the rim of the bowl. I brought out my heat gun and heated the vulcanite stem in order to make it malleable. The heat gun is very powerful – it does not take long! When it was soft, I gently curved the stem over a wooden dowel. The dowel provides a firm surface and a proper curve. Once I had the bend I wanted, I left the stem to cool and set itself in place.9. On to the ferrule – which was thoroughly corroded and discoloured from years of mistreatment. Somewhat to my surprise, the ferrule came off very easily and required no special effort. I began by cleaning the metal with some SoftScrub on cotton rounds. This was quite good at removing the unsightly bits.10. I sanded the inside of the ferrule with 220-grit sandpaper in order to remove the old glue and debris that came from the shank. This would provide a better surface for re-gluing later.

11. I used some of my MicroMesh pads (only 3,600-12,000) to eliminate some of the minor scratches on the metal. It also gave a nice shine which clearly hadn’t been seen for decades.

12. I used a jewelry cloth to give the final polish to the nickel. This ferrule would always retain some small dents etc. from its hard life, but it looks much improved.

13. On to the stummel – this is where the lion’s share of the work was. The insides (both bowl and shank) were overwhelmed with cake and tar and anything else you’d care to mention. The bowl really needed to be reamed, so I used the KleenReem too to scrape off as much built-up cake. Sadly, this just wasn’t sufficient – I had to go to the next step to get things moving.14. I threw the stummel in my alcohol bath in the hope that it would loosen some of the incredibly hard residue inside the bowl. After 24 hours, this worked a bit, but not enough. It was time for the nuclear option.15. I put a sanding drum (and a couple of other bits) on my Dremel and carefully began removing the old stuff. This is not an option that I use regularly. The risk of oversanding is high and that can be an even bigger problem. However, I worked slowly and cautiously. Generally, I prefer to sand the chamber down to bare briar. When restoring, it is important to ensure that there is no damage to the briar under the cake. There are a few situations when I might leave some cake in the bowl, but not today. Sadly, there were definitely some hidden flaws to the briar on this pipe. I’ll come back to that later.16. Just like the bowl, the shank was absolutely disgusting. It had never been cleaned – or, not for many decades. I started cleaning the inside with isopropyl alcohol, Q-tips, and pipe cleaners. This took a while. The inside was very dirty and required and extraordinary number of Q-tips and pipe cleaners. Eventually some cleanliness came to it.

17. I decided to de-ghost the pipe in order to remove any lingering smells and dirt of the past. I thrust cotton balls into the bowl and the shank and saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton. The bowl was supposed to be nice and clean after this, but this was no ordinary pipe.18.  At this point, it seemed sensible to set up a retort and further clean this whole pipe out. I put the stem and stummel back together and used my pipe retort system. This system uses boiling isopropyl alcohol and a vacuum (a void, not the household appliance) to clean the interior of a pipe. As you can see by the brownish colour of the alcohol, the retort worked well – although it took many changes of alcohol to get it clean. I managed to extract lots of otherwise inaccessible filth from inside the pipe. 19. Now that the pipe was clean, I wanted to have a closer look at the state of the briar, inside and out. For this, I scrubbed the outside of the stummel with Murphy’s Oil Soap on some cotton pads. That removed any latent dirt that blighted the wood. No surprise: there was lots.20. Several tiny cracks appeared on the outside of the stummel and I needed to address them. The first step in dealing with this was to ensure that the crack would not continue to creep after I had repaired it. To that end, I took a micro-drill bit, inserted it in my Dremel, and very carefully drilled a hole at the ends of the cracks. Since the cracks were not deep and did not go right through the wood, I did not drill all the way through. I then repaired the cracks by allowing cyanoacrylate adhesive to seep into them and then letting the glue cure. 21. Alas, there were also cracks inside the bowl. But beyond that, significant gouges were there from some prehistoric reaming tool. Removing the cake in the bowl did feel like an archaeological dig, so there were bound to be some surprises in the briar. The solution to this problem is always a tricky one: epoxy. I prepared some J.B. Weld epoxy and filled the cracks and gouges, ensuring that the epoxy was evenly spread throughout the bowl. Of course, I did plug the draught hole with a folded pipe cleaner (coated in Vaseline) to make sure none of the epoxy made its way up there. Once done, a good 24 hours was needed to ensure that the epoxy was properly set. 22. Burn marks and an uneven surface blighted the rim of the pipe and it needed to be redone. There was a lot of damage to the rim and the front edge had been bashed in, presumably from banging out dottle over the years. In order to remove the damage, I “topped” the pipe – that is to say, I gently and evenly sanded down the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. This is always a tricky business – I want to find the balance between removing old burns and maintaining as much of the pipe as possible.23. The rim needed some more help since the bowl opening was badly out of round. To fix this, I took a solid wooden sphere, wrapped some 220-grit sandpaper around it, and sanded the inner edge of the rim. In addition to this, I also sanded down the outside of the bowl, near the rim, so as to minimize the visual effect of the bashed edge. I sand all the way around to ensure that the pipe retains its look.24. As mentioned earlier, there were a few dents in the briar. I dug out my iron and a damp cloth to try to raise the nicks. The hot and moist steam can often cause the wood to swell slightly and return to shape. There was some movement in the wood, which was good. The repair was not perfect, but the remaining wounds would be improved by sanding.25. There were two significant fills on the bowl. They were large enough that I would not be able to make them disappear entirely, but I wanted to make them solid and smooth, and meld into the rest of the wood. I fixed them up with a mixture of cyanoacrylate adhesive and briar dust.

26. Next, I used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) all over the stummel to make it lovely and smooth. 27. Having completed that, it was time for staining. My customer wanted a deep, dark burgundy colour. First, I brought out my heat gun and spent a couple of minutes thoroughly heating the wood, so it would be as receptive as possible to the stain, to give the best results. I applied Fiebing’s Black Leather Dye with a cotton dauber. I flamed it with my BIC lighter and let it set. This dye is alcohol-based, so I used isopropyl alcohol to wipe down the pipe and remove excess stain. I coated it again with Fiebing’s Oxblood Leather Dye, flamed it again, and let that set too. I stained and flamed the pipe another two times (once with black, once with oxblood), always making sure I warmed the pipe with my heat gun first. 28. Now that the epoxy had fully cured, I gently sanded the inside of the bowl to provide a rough surface for what was to come next. I coated the entire inside of the bowl with a mixture of activated charcoal and my wife’s homemade yogurt. Once hardened, this provided a good, slightly rough surface for a new cake to build. 29. At long last, I was off to my bench buffer to put the final touches on this pipe. I first gave it a thorough going-over with White Diamond compound. Following that, several coats of carnauba wax created a beautiful, glossy seal on the pipe and some closure to this long and involved repair. The lovely shine made the wood look beautiful! I know that the new owner will enjoy smoking it for many years to come. I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe as much I as I did restoring it. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 9½ in. (240 mm); height 6½ in. (165 mm); bowl diameter 1⅝ in. (41 mm); chamber diameter 1 in. (25 mm). The weight of the pipe is 3 oz. (86 g). If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring a Stanwell Royal Briar Regd. No 689-48 Dublinesque Freehand 189

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Blog by Steve Laug

Not long ago I worked a trade with a fellow for these five pipes in exchange for one that I had here. He sent me photos of the pipes and the deal was struck. The pipes he sent are as follows from bottom to top. There is a W.O. Larsen sandblast oval shank Brandy with a hairline crack in the shank and with tooth marks on the button on both sides, a Bertram Cutty that I had traded with him earlier, a Kriswill sandblast Canadian with a cracked shank, a Viby pencil shank Billiard and a Stanwell Royal Briar wide oval shank Dublinesque Freehand with burn damage on the rim edges and top around the bowl and deep tooth marks on the stem.The next of these I chose to work on today is the Stanwell Royal Briar 189 at the top of the photo above. It is a classic Stanwell shape with a some nice grain around the bowl and the shank. The rim top was in good condition and there was some darkening and burn damage on the front inner edge. The outer edge of the rim is in good condition. The bowl had a light cake in the bowl and smells of good Virginia tobacco. There was some grime and grit ground into the surface of the finish. The stamping on the topside of the shank reads Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 689-48 [over] Royal Briar. On the underside it is stamped Made in Denmark [over] the shape number 189. The stain is light/medium brown and goes well with the oval vulcanite saddle stem. Once it is cleaned up and polished the grain around the bowl and shank will shine. The stem is in good condition with some tooth marks on it. The surface just ahead of the button is damaged with some deep bite marks on both sides. The button edge looks good on both sides. I am including several of the photos that were sent to me for viewing. The first shows the front of pipe and the grain around the front. It also gives a look inside the bowl and shows the cake. The second shows the marks on the stem surface that I spoke of above. The third photo shows the pipe from the button forward on the bowl. I took photos of the pipe before I did my clean up work on it to show its condition. The photos confirm what I noted above regarding the condition of the bowl and the stem. It a nice looking pipe that will look better with a bit of work on the stem and bowl.   I took close up photos so that I could have a clearer picture of the condition of the bowl, rim edges and top. The rim top photos confirm my assessment above and show that while there is some darkening and burn damage  on the front top and inner edge. The cake in the bowl is quite moderate and smooth. You can also see the condition of the outer and the inner edge. They appear to be in great condition. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. The bowl is still round and other than being in a used condition it is in great shape. The issues with the stem are visible in the photos on both sides ahead of the button and on the button itself. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above.I took the stem off the bowl and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of proportion of the pipe. You can also see shape of the pipe and some interesting grain around the bowl and shank.Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. I started my work on this one by reaming the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I followed that up by sanding the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel.    I cleaned the internals of the shank and the stem with 99% isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I scrubbed it until the shank was clean and the smell was much cleaner smelling.  Before scrubbing the bowl exterior I decided to clean up the darkening and the burn damage on the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. I used some 220 grit sandpaper and a wooden ball to give the bowl a light inward bevel and remove the darkening and the damage. I finished by cleaning it up a bit further with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It looks much better. I scrubbed the external surface of the briar with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I scrubbed it until the finish was clean and then rinsed it off with warm running water to rinse off the soap and the grime from the finish. I dried it off with a soft cloth and took photos of the pipe. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I choose to dry sand the briar rather than wet sand it. Again it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer to use the pads dry and find they work very well on the briar. I sand with each pad (9 in total) and group them by threes for ease of reference. I wipe the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and check the briar. I love seeing the developing shine on the briar as I move through the pads which is why I include so many photos of this step.     I applied some Before & After Restoration Balm to the briar. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar. The product works to deep clean finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit for 10 minutes to do its work. I wiped it off with a soft cloth then buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine in the briar and the grain shone through. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. It is a gorgeous pipe. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the issues with the vulcanite stem. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic Lighter to lift the tooth marks in the stem surface on both sides as well as the button edges where the marks were deepest. I was able to lift the marks significantly and filled in the remaining marks with clear CA glue. I set the stem aside to allow the repairs to cure. Once the repairs cured, I used a small file to reshape the button edge and flatten them. I sanded them smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. The stem surface and button looked much better. I touched up the Crown S stamping on the top of the saddle portion of the stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. I scraped off the excess with the tooth pick. It was ragged looking but readable. When I started polishing, it would clean up well. I continued polishing the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pads. But I find it does two things – first it gives some protection to the stem from oxidation and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process.    After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection. The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I put the Stanwell Royal Briar 189 Freehand back together and lightly buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the finish. I polished the vulcanite stem at the same time to polish out the scratches. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I follow up the wax buff with a buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished stem. It really is a nice pipe. The finish around the bowl sides and shank looks great with the rich combination of brown stains. The Stanwell Regd. No. 689-48 Royal Danish Freehand feels great in my hand. It is a well balanced pipe. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.55 ounces/45 grams. It is a beautiful pipe that functions as a sitter due to the wide heel on the bowl. I will soon be adding to the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipemakers section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. It should be a great smoking pipe. 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.

Moving another one of my own – a silver banded BBB Own Make 522 Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is another pipe that I have taken out of my personal collection as I just do not use enough to warrant keeping it. This pipe was one that I purchased long ago but have no memory where it came from. I don’t think I ever smoked it to be honest. It is a pipe I should have smoked as it is attractive enough but did not. It is time to move it on to someone who will enjoy it. The airway in the shank and the mortise are very clean. The smooth finish and rim top were in good condition but it is dull and lifeless looking. The inner edge of the rim has a bit of damage on the right side toward the front. The stamping on the pipe on the left side of the shank reads BBB in a diamond flanked on either side by Own (left) and Make (right). On the right side it is stamped Made in London [over] England followed by the shape number 522. There is a Sterling silver band on the shank that is cosmetic as there are no cracks. It is stamped with the BBB in a diamond logo [over] Sterling Silver. It is tarnished and has some small dents in the surface. The finish is a medium brown. Once it is polished the grain will show clearly. The colour of the stain goes well with the black vulcanite stem. There is a BBB Diamond brass inset logo on the top of the stem. The stem is in excellent condition with no tooth chatter or marks on it. It is dirty form sitting in my cupboard but otherwise looks goo. I took photos of the pipe before I did my clean up work on it to prepare it for you.    I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to verify the description above. The rim top looks good other than the burn mark on the inner edge at the right front of the bowl. The Sterling band is also very tarnish and dark in the photos. I also took photos of the stem surface showing how clean it was on both sides.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. The stamping on the Sterling Band though dirty and tarnish is also very readable. I took the stem off the bowl and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of proportion of the pipe. You can also see shape of the pipe and some interesting grain on the briar. I decided to start my work on the bowl by dealing with the burn damage on the front inner edge of the bowl. I used a piece of folded 220 grit sandpaper to give the edge a slight bevel all the way around the bowl to blend in the damage. Once finished, it looked quite good. The shank and mortise were very clean and a quick run through with a pipe cleaner proved all that was necessary. I polished the rim top and the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. There was a small sandpit on the front of the bowl about mid-bowl. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the dust and debris. I gave the bowl and shank a coating of Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I polished the silver band with a jeweler’s cloth to remove the tarnish and oxidation. It took some elbow grease but the cloth works to clean and protect the silver from further tarnishing. It looks significantly better than when I started. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pads. But I find it does two things – first it gives some protection to the stem from oxidation and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process.   After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finished polishing the stem with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection.  This BBB Own Make 522 Pot turned out to be a great looking pipe. With polishing, the grain shines through clearly. The black vulcanite stem is in excellent condition and works great with the polished briar. The polished silver is a touch of class. 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 stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and 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 BBB Own Make Pot 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: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 43 grams/1.52 ounces. It is a great looking pipe that I will soon be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the British Pipemakers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.