Tag Archives: bowl topping

Making a Brigham Voyageur Just a Bit Spiffier

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

Next on the chopping block is a good-looking 1-dot Brigham Voyageur. I acquired it (with some other stuff) from a local gentleman and, subsequently, a friend of mine said he wanted me to clean it up for him. No problem – the pipe was in good shape to begin with. This pipe really feels good in the hand. It has that look – no one could mistake it for anything but a Brigham. This is one of the newer Brigham system pipes – one can tell it’s newer because of the Delrin tenon (the old ones were aluminum). The markings on the pipe are as follows: on the left side of the shank are the words Brigham [over] Voyageur. Beside that is the shape number: 129. Also, on the left side of the stem is the classic dot of the Brigham company.I read through the article on Pipedia on Brigham Pipes. You can read it here. It’s a good article and contains lots of helpful information. I have included the chart below from the site as it shows the Standard (1 Dot) pipes and includes the Voyageur and the shape number, 29. The one dot pipes identify the pipe as part of the 100 series and the series shape is #29. Therefore, the shape number stamping is 129.As Steve has done in his restorations of Brighams, I am including information below from Charles Lemon’s website on the dating etc. of Brigham pipes. Check it out here. I quote from both Charles’ article below:

The Transition Era (2001 – 2006). The biggest change to hit Brigham since the advent of the Rock Maple filter occurred in 2001 when Brigham moved production from Toronto to Italy. The product lineup was, not surprisingly, heavily impacted, with the most obvious change a sharp decrease in the number of pipe shapes available.

Daniel More, President of Brigham Enterprises Inc. explains the move to the EU: Admittedly the hardest decision we ever needed to make. With an aging skilled work force we were losing the skills required at an alarming rate. We made attempts to bring in new people but we were not effective in staving off the atrophy. We were fortunate though to be able to move by increments allowing us control and comfort throughout the process. For example, instead of turning our own bowls we began to purchase turned bowls; then we had stems added with sanding at 100-grit ; then sanding to finer degrees; then staining and so on. The last bit of control was grading.

 I still visit the manufacturing facility in the EU at least once a year to discuss QC and pick shapes and designs. The shift [to the EU] resulted in fewer shapes. However, one of the biggest benefits was access to a wider variety of finishes. We had never been able to offer a sandblasted pipe and the access to accessories like rings and different colours, I think, allowed us to make the line more interesting

Coincidental with shifting production to the EU was the move from the original aluminum tenon/filter holder to one made of a composite material. Daniel More provides insight into the switch:

Principally there were two catalysts for the change. We were using a very specific OD for our Aluminum Tenons. In fact, we were one of only two companies in North America using this OD, the other being an aircraft manufacturer in California. When this aircraft company shifted to an alternative, it left us and us alone purchasing this specific size. To stay with Aluminum, our only alternative was to purchase an oversized OD and tool this down to our requirements results in significant expense due to the wasted material costs.

We had, for many years, experimented with a number of composite materials for both the tenons and Distillator Tips. The issue was always heat resistance. Technology having advanced as it did by the 1990’s presented us with a selection of alternatives. We tested 10 different compositions before landing on the formula we still use today.

Cost saving aside, the Composite Tenon virtually eliminated the breaking of shanks. That is, when a pipe shank would break due to leverage (think, in the pocket and sitting down), we could not repair this. The Composite Tenon would now break away rather than the shank allowing for an inexpensive repair versus having to throw out “an old friend”. Without a doubt, there were many cries about the inferior Composite Tenon breaking but with our offer to provide no cost tenon repairs we assuaged this concern. We still offer to this day no charge repairs for broken Composite Tenons – no questions asked.

During the Transition Era, the 100 – 300 series pipes looked very similar to Canadian-made pipes and continued to be recognized by their traditional brass pin patterns. These lower series pipes were offered in 9 shapes. The 400 series disappeared temporarily, while the 500 to 700 series pipes, available in only 8 shapes, lost their brass pins and were identified only by their 3-digit shape numbers.On the whole, the pipe was in very nice shape. It didn’t appear to have been smoked too much.
The stem had a few tooth marks/scratches – nothing too serious. The stummel had some lava on the rim, small marks on the rim, and some light caking in the bowl.
I began by wiping the outside down with Murphy’s Oil Soap on some cotton pads. I then took some lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol and pipe cleaners, and cleaned out the internals. Fortunately, the pipe had been well-maintained, so this wasn’t too dirty.I managed to address the tooth scratches with some 220- and 400-grit sandpaper. 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. Then to the stummel. Firstly, I decided to ream out the bowl. I used the KleenReem to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper taped to a dowel to eliminate as much as I could. I took the chamber down to bare briar, as I wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the wall. Fortunately, there were none. I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. There was a bit of filth inside this stummel and it took some cotton to get it clean. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some dish soap and tube brushes.
I 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 rim of the pipe.
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.Having completed that, I was able to address the lava and small nicks on the rim and the bowl. I used a piece of tool steel to gently scrape away the burn residue. I then took a solid wooden sphere, wrapped a piece of 220-grit sandpaper around it, and sanded the inner side of the chamber. This removed the lava on the inner edge of the rim, smoothed out the nicks.I then sanded the smooth parts of the stummel with all nine Micromesh pads. Naturally, I added a light application of Before & After Restoration Balm. This made the wood shine beautifully. I let it sit for about fifteen minutes and then buffed it with a microfibre cloth. In sanding the rim, some of the lovely burgundy colour was removed, so I next set about correcting that. I opted for two aniline dyes: Fiebing’s Black and Fiebing’s Oxblood. I had to approach this mix carefully, to ensure that it matched the pre-existing colour. As usual, I applied flame from a BIC lighter in order to set the colour. What a difference that made! It looked so much better with a fresh coat of stain.I applied some more Before & After Restoration Balm and then it was off for a trip to the buffer. A very precise use of White Diamond and a few coats of Conservator’s Wax made all the difference. The lovely shine made the wood very attractive. This is a very handsome pipe and will provide many years of smoking pleasure for my friend. 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.

Caminetto 08. R.18 Hand Made Cucciago, Italy Rusticated Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

Once again I want to take you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. Jeff has set up a spread sheet to track where the pipe came from, the date of purchase and what we paid for it so that we know what we have invested in the pipe before we even work on it. This takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. This particular pipe was purchased on 10/20/2022 from an Antique Store in Vancouver, Washington, USA. I also want you to understand why we take the photos we do. If you have followed for a while then you will see the familiar pattern of the photos in the before and midstream process of working on a pipe. It is not accidental as the photos have been taken to help me make an assessment of the pipe Jeff sees before he starts his clean up work. We do this to record the condition that the pipe when received it and assess the work needed to be done. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

  1. The first thing I see is a pipe that has a classic bent Italian Billiard shape.
  2. The finish is dirty and there is grime and grit ground into the rusticated finish. The rustication is very nicely done in a classic Caminetto style.
  3. The rim top has thick lava on both the top and the edges. The cake makes it quite hard to know whether there is any damage to the top or the edges.
  4. The bowl has a thick cake and debris on the walls that hides the walls and edges. The outer edges have some darkening and potential damage on the front smooth portion.
  5. The acrylic stem is in excellent condition – dirty and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of button. The diameter of the stem is off from that of the shank. There is a Caminetto white mustache logo inlaid in the stem top.

Overall my impressions of this pipe is that it is a great looking Bent Billiard with a mix of rustication and smooth finishes that once cleaned up will be another pretty pipe. The photos below confirm the assessment above.  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 very thick and almost clogging the bowl. The rim top has thick lava, grime and debris covering it. The inner and outer edges are hard to assess at this time. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. It is unclear if there is any burn damage at this point. I look forward to viewing it in person after the clean up work. The photos of the acrylic stem surface from various angles confirm my assessment of its condition. You can see the dirty/sticky substance on the stem in the first photo below. The stem is quite dirty but the fit of the stem to the shank is good. The white mustache logo on the top is in good condition. 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 the valleys of the rustication or the high spots? Are there visible flaws or fissures in the briar? How random does the deep rustication look? 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 a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The underside reads “Caminetto” [over]  08.R.18. That is followed by Hand Made [over] Cucciago – Italy. The acrylic stem has an inset white mustache. 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? If you have been following the blog for any length of time you have come to know that when I am working on interesting old pipes (even sometimes those not so interesting) I like to know a bit about the background of the brand. I like to “meet” the carver to get a feel for their work and style.

I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c1.html) to see what I could find. I did a screen capture of the entry there and have included the side bar information below then the photo. It reads

Brand created in 1968 by Giuseppe Ascorti († 1984), Luigi Radice and Gianni Davoli as distributor.

    • 1979 : End of the first Caminetto period. Luigi Radice left the company. Giuseppe Ascorti produced the Sergio pipes (a short time) and moved into his new workshop with his son Roberto. (See also Capitello)
    • 1986 : New Caminetto period by Roberto Ascorti

From the information there I am fairly certain that the pipe was made after 1986 when the New Caminetto period began by Roberto Ascorti. The pipe is probably crafted by Ascorti.

From there I turned to Pipedia for more detailed information about the Caminetto brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Caminetto). I quote below:

Caminetto’s history started in 1959 when Guiseppe Ascorti, from Cucciago, and known to his friends as “Peppino”, was hired by Carlo Scotti to work at Castello, located in nearby Cantu. Since it’s foundation in 1947 Castello had contributed substantially to regained glory for Italian pipemaking.

Talent and assiduity soon made Ascorti one of Scotti’s most notable pipemakers – a man he counted on for the future. But, Ascorti had his own far reaching plan: He wanted to work as a self-employed pipemaker! After his wife, Paola, had taken over her parent’s small greengrocery in the early 1960’s this plan became more concrete. The additional income from the shop enabled him to buy tools and machines little by little to furnish his own workshop. By the end of 1968 he was ready and left Castello. Ascorti also persuaded his co-worker, the young and highly-talented pipemaker Luigi Radice (born 1939), to join him – the two were neighbors in Cucciago. Carlo Scotti, whom is known as a perfect gentleman, is reported to have spoken unreservedly about this development.

Ascorti & Radice started to manufacture pipes on their own. One of the first who agreed to market their pipes was Gianni Davoli, proprietor of a tobacco shop in Milan. The situation was perfect–two pipemakers in search of a distributor, and a pipe merchant in search of a mainstay brand to market. Davoli – via friends and relations in the States – had made flourishing contacts with US pipe wholesalers and traders. He shipped some pipes across the pond for inspection and received excellent feedback for the very high quality of the pipes. He, shortly after, offered to be the sole distributor worldwide, and Ascorti & Radice happily accepted.

Then came the legendary evening when Ascorti, Radice and Davoli gathered around the fireplace after a hard day’s work enjoying their pipes, a glass of wine, and humorous conversation. Davoli is said to be the one who associated the pipes with the fireplace or chimney, which is “camino” in Italian. Hence “Caminetto”, the diminutive (smaller) singular version of camino, was coined as the brand’s name. Ascorti, Radice and Davoli later became famous as “I tre Camini” – the three chimneys. Maybe, they had more than one glass of wine each, but it’s not certain whether the distinctive mustache logo on the stem and the Caminetto slogan “La Pipa del Baffo” – “the pipe with the mustache” – was created the same night. In fact, Ascorti and Radice both wore impressively large mustaches, and a pharmacist in the neighborhood had been kidding them about that. (Davoli, for reasons of corporate identity, later wore a big mustache, too.)

Now, Davoli concentrated on marketing the Caminetto brand in the United States. His strategy was as simple as it was brilliant. There was a remarkable Castello hype at the time. Castello pipes were highly sought after but hard to get due to limited production. Davoli filled the gap, promoting the Caminetto to be absolutely equal to the Castello in terms of quality, while asking only half the price. And best of all: the Caminetto pipes were consignable! The Tinder Box International would be under contract with successful nationwide distribution. The brand’s success was overwhelming – far beyond any expectation, with the rusticated Business line becoming the most popular.

Ironically enough, the increasing demand soon drove Ascorti and Radice to the limits of their production abilities. The brand had been introduced successfully in Germany, and in Italy to some extent. By the end of 1970 more hands were needed. Even Ascorti’s elder son, Roberto Ascorti (born 1958; and the current owner) helped with stamping and shipping the pipes when he was just a schoolboy. The most important employee is Cesare Vigano, who has worked for Caminetto /Ascorti for more than thirty years. To bring about more stability and higher production, Davoli invested a considerable amount of money in modern pipemaking machinery, and in doing so went from distributor to co-owner of Caminetto. By 1973 he held the vast majority of the company’s capital.

The boom continued strongly – especially in the US. Production increased steadily, from 3,000 to 5,000 and then 7,000 pipes being made per year, placing Caminetto at the top of US sales in their market segment. The 1974 Tinder Box catalog celebrated Gianni Davoli as “master pipe maker and designer” and “sole creator of Caminetto” without a single mention of Ascorti or Radice!

Dating Caminetto pipes is very difficult. However the way the pipe is stamped can narrow it down some and the look of the mustache logo also helps. Pipedia has a helpful article on the process (https://pipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_Caminetto_(shapes,_stamping,_articles,_etc.). I quote from it below.

First off, dating earlier Caminetto’s is nearly impossible. Nevertheless, there were three phases, some in which were much earlier, of development that occurred in the stamping process of Caminetto. Before that though, every pipe had the stamp of Caminetto in one of two ways: Caminetto in script or Caminetto within quotation marks in block letters (I do not know how it was decided which pipe got which stamp, as I have had EARLY Caminetto’s with both). The stampings:

      1. ASCORTI

RADICE

CUCCIAGO

CANTU-ITALY

      1. HAND MADE IN ITALY

CUCCIAGO (Co)

      1. MADE IN ITALY

CUCCIAGO (CANTU)

In addition to the above stampings, there was always the trademark mustache on the stem. The earlier models (1968/69-1974/75) had the iconic gold, sometimes white, “bird-in-flight” mustache and the later models (1975-1979/80/81) had a gold, or white, “double comma” mustache. Tinder Box often stamped their shield on the pipes as well. Now I wanted to understand the stamping 08.R.18. How was that to be interpreted. The same article above gave the following information on the stamping.

The newer model Caminetto stampings are quite different and easy to date. Roberto upgraded the stamping technique of Caminetto so that it was possible to figure out when the pipe was made. There are two different types of stamps, one in which is not in use anymore. The first is the traditional “Caminetto” stamp in script, followed by a 4 part grid with numbers. The second is a 3 part stamp (two numbers and one letter, which is most of the time an “L”)

The first number in the old stamp of the grid refers to the shape of the pipe. The second number, which is the first in the stamp most are familiar with refers to the grade or of the pipe:

0 standard smooth (red or orange stained)
1 highest grade natural straight-grain smooth (realllllly rare)
2 smooth natural.
6 sandblast
7 New Dear
8 Business finish.

The third number in the old grid stamp is the series.

And the fourth number, which is the third in the newer stampings, refers to the year it was made in. For instance, if one has a 54/6/2/01, they would have a pipe made in the first year of production of the newer Caminetto line (i.e. 1985-86). I include the 85 because some hold that Ascorti was making Caminetto’s in 1985, but the majority of who I have talked to and the information I have researched claim official production and retail sale did not begin until 1986.

The second part of the newer stamp is a letter, usually L, which I have no idea what it stands for, but there are others I have seen “B” on. In short, the old stamp has a 2×2 grid specifying the shape, finish, series, and year (in that order), while the newer stamp only shows the finish, the letter ‘L’, and the year.

With that information I knew that the 08.R.18 gave me quite a bit of information. It is to be read as follows:

08 – the grade or the finish of the pipe in hand is a Business Finish.

R – unclear what it stands for.

18 – is the year of manufacture which I believe would make this one 2018

Now it was time to work on the pipe.

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 first thing I see is a pipe that has a classic bent Italian Billiard shape.
      2. The finish is clean and the grime and grit have been removed from the finish on the bowl. The rustication looks very good as well.
      3. The thick lava, grime and dust on the rim top has been removed and it has revealed that the inner edge is damaged and has some burn marks. The outer edge of the bowl is also in good condition other than the burn damage on the front smooth ring on the outer edge of the bowl
      4. The walls of the bowl are clean and they look very good with no checking or burn damage to the walls.
      5. The acrylic stem is in excellent condition – dirty and has light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of button. The diameter of the stem is off from that of the shank on both sides and will need to be adjusted for a decent fit. There is a Caminetto white mustache logo inlaid in the stem top.

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 top and edges showed a lot of damage on the top, inner and outer edge of the bowl. There was burn damage all around the inner edge, on the top at the back and front as well as on the outer edge of the bowl at the front. I also go over the stem carefully. The stem had some minor issues as noted. The fit to the shank is noted in the photo below circled in red with arrows pointing out the issues. There were some light tooth marks and chatter on the surface of the stem and the button. 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. You can also see the misfit stem in the first photo. I love just looking at the lay of the pipe and the proportion of the hand made pipes. I like to remove the stem from the shank 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.Now it was time to start working on the pipe. I decided to address the fit of the stem to the shank first. I sanded the shank and stem on the right side until the transition was very smooth. You will notice in the photos of the top and the right side of the pipe that the shank has been sanded and will need to be restained. On the left side I sanded the stem to remove the excess acrylic and make the transition smooth. You will note in the photos that the surface of the stem shows the sanding on the acrylic. Once finished the fit was perfect and the transition was smooth. Once the transition was smooth I took photos of the stem/shank transition. It is very smooth and there is no longer a lip on either the stem or the shank.I polished the sanded briar with micromesh sanding pads and then restained the portion with an Oak Stain Pen to match the rest of the bowl and the shank. With that portion finished I turned to address the darkening on the rim top and edges I started by topping the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper on a topping board. I need to remove the darkening to be able to see the damage. The damage is very evident on the top of the bowl and the inner edge on the right front. To deal with the rim damage on the top and the inner edge I used a wooden ball and a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge a slight bevel and remove the damage. Now I was getting somewhere. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to fine tune the shape. I topped it once again with 220 grit paper. I am happy with the end result. I stained the rim top with a oak stain pen to match the rest of the bowl and shank colour. It as a little dark but once it was polished and waxed it would be a perfect match.I polished the smooth portions of 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.   After polishing it with the micromesh pads I rubbed it down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar and the plateau. The product works to deep clean the nooks and crannies of finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips and into the rustication with a horse hair 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 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 turn to work on the stem. 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. 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 buffed the stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the light scratches in the acrylic. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax 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 mix of smooth and rusticated finishes around the bowl sides and shank looks great with the rich black and brown stains. The Caminetto 08.R.18 Bent Billiard 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: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.73 ounces/49 grams. It is a beautiful pocket sized pipe that I will soon be adding to the rebornpipes store in the Italian 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.

Resurrecting a Karl Erik Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

Once again I want to take you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. Jeff has set up a spread sheet to track where the pipe came from, the date of purchase and what we paid for it so that we know what we have invested in the pipe before we even work on it. This takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. This particular pipe was purchased on 12/27/2021 from a seller in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. I also want you to understand why we take the photos we do. If you have followed for a while then you will see the familiar pattern of the photos we include both in the before and midstream process of working on a pipe. It is not accidental or chance as the photos have been taken to help me make an assessment of the pipe Jeff sees before he starts his clean up work. We do this to record the condition that the pipe was in when received it and to assess what kind of work will need to be done on. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

  1. The first thing I see is a classic Danish take on a Pot shaped pipe that had been well used. It was obviously someone’s favourite pipe if the cake in the bowl is any indication.
  2. The finish is dirty and there is grime and grit ground into the finish. Underneath the grime it looks like the bowl and shank have some amazing grain.
  3. The rim top has a heavy coat of lava that flowed from the cake in the bowl. It was thick and it was impossible to know what the edges of the bowl – both inner and out. I am hoping that the thick lava had protected the top and edges from burn damage.
  4. The bowl has a very thick cake and debris on the walls that hides the walls. The outer edges look good and there does not appear to be any obvious burn damage to outer bowl edges.
  5. The acrylic stem is in excellent condition – dirty, scratched and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of button. There were deeper tooth marks on the underside. There was a worn and partial KE logo on top of the blade portion of the saddle stem.

Overall my impressions of this pipe is that it is a great looking Danish style pot shaped pipe with some beautiful grain hidden under the grime that once cleaned up will be another pretty pipe. The photos below confirm the assessment above. 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 with tobacco debris stuck on the walls. The rim top has heavy lava, grime and debris covering it. The inner and outer edges are so covered it is hard to know what is under them. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. It is unclear if there is any burn damage at this point. I look forward to viewing it in person after the clean up work. The photos of the acrylic stem surface from various angles confirm my assessment of its condition. You can see the grime on the stem in the first photo below. The stem is quite dirty and a bit of a mess. The fit of the stem to the shank is good. There is a partial logo on the top visible in the photo. 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 the valleys of the rustication or the high spots? Are there visible flaws or fissures in the briar? How random does the deep rustication look? 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. (One note is that there appears to be burn damage on the front outer edge of the bowl shown in the second photo below.)  He took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The underside reads Karl Erik in an oval (Karl [over] Erik. Following the length of the shank it is stamped Made In Denmark. 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? If you have been following the blog for any length of time you have come to know that when I am working on interesting old pipes (even sometimes those not so interesting) I like to know a bit about the background of the brand. I like to “meet” the carver to get a feel for their work and style.

I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-k1.html) to see what I could find. I did a screen capture of the entry there and have included the side bar information below the photo. Brand created in 1965-66 by Karl Erik Ottendahl (1942 – 2004 †). In the best years he employed up to 15 craftsmen among which Bent Nielsen (see Benner) and Peder Christian Jeppesen. Former grading (ascending): from 4 to 1, and “Ekstravagant” (entirely hand made)

I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Erik) and reread the history of the brand. Give the article a read.

Now it was time to work on the pipe.

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 first thing I see is a classic Danish take on a Pot shaped pipe that cleaned up pretty well. There was damage that I will note in the numbers below but it was a nicely shaped pipe.
  2. The finish is clean and the grime and grit have been removed from the finish on the bowl. The grain is quite amazing looking.
  3. The lava, grime and dust on the rim top has been removed and it has revealed that there is some burn damage on the front outer, top and inner edge. There was some burn damage around the inner edge of the bowl as well
  4. The walls of the bowl are clean and there are some ridges in the walls of the bowl from someone reaming it with a knife.
  5. The acrylic stem is clean and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides. The marks on the underside of the stem are deeper than on the topside. The logo is partially visible but worn. The fit to the shank is well done with no damage.

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 top and edges showed lots of burn damage on the top front right and middle as well as around the inner edge of the bowl. There was also some damage on the front outer edge of the bowl. I also go over the stem carefully. The stem had some issues as noted. There were some deep tooth marks on the underside and lighter on the topside. 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 like to remove the stem from the shank 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.  Now it was time to start working on the pipe. To address the darkening on the rim top and edges I started by topping the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper on a topping board. I need to remove the darkening to be able to see the damage. The damage is very evident on the top of the bowl and the inner edge on the right front. To deal with the rim damage on the top and the inner edge I used a wooden ball and a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge a slight bevel and remove the damage. Now I was getting somewhere. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to fine tune the shape. I topped it once again with 220 grit paper. I am happy with the end result. I wiped the bowl down with some acetone to remove the darkening in the stain around the bowl. I wanted to even out the stain coat and the look of brown on the bowl and rim. I could not remove much more of the damage on the front and sides of the bowl without changing the profile of the pipe. I stained the rim top with a walnut stain pen to match the rest of the bowl and shank colour. It was a little dark but once it was polished and waxed it would be a perfect match.I polished the bowl and rim with a medium and fine sanding sponge to blend the finish together and smooth out the briar. 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.  After polishing it with the micromesh pads I rubbed it down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar and the plateau. 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 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 turn to work on the stem. I filled in the deep tooth marks on both sides of the stem with black CA glue. I used a small file to flatten the repaired area. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface. I started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. 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 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 polished finish around the bowl sides and shank looks great with the rich brown stains. The Karl Erik Made in Denmark Danish Pot 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 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inch, Chamber diameter: 7\8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.19 ounces/62 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.

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.

New Life for a Petite Sasieni Four Dot Natural London Made Wingate Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

I thought it might be helpful to take you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. Jeff has set up a spread sheet to track where the pipe came from, the date of purchase and what we paid for it so that we know what we have invested in the pipe before we even work on it. This takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. This particular pipe was purchased on 04/09/2022 from seller in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. I also want you to understand why we take the photos we do. If you have followed for a while then you will see the familiar pattern of the photos we include both in the before and midstream process of working on a pipe. It is not accidental or chance as the photos have been taken to help me make an assessment of the pipe Jeff sees before he starts his clean up work. We do this to record the condition that the pipe was in when received it and to assess what kind of work will need to be done on. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

  1. The first thing I see is the small/petite Pot shaped pipe with a generous bowl. It is well proportioned and well made with a classic English shape.
  2. The finish is dirty and there are oils from the smoker’s hands on both side of the bowl. There is grime ground into the finish as well but even so there is also some great grain peeking through.
  3. The rim top had a thick lava overflow from the cake in the bowl, particularly thick on the back side of the top. There is some burn damage on the front inner edge and top but it is hard to know if there is darkening or damage under the lava. Sometimes the lava protects the rim top and edges and sometime it hides issues. Its is very dirty looking.
  4. The bowl has a thick cake in it that hides the walls and the inner edge of the bowl but once it is clean we will know what is going on in those spots. There are a some possible nicks in the inner edge of the bowl at the back but that too will become clearer when the pipe is cleaned. The outer edges look good and there does not appear to be any obvious burn damage to the top or bowl edges.
  5. The vulcanite saddle stem is in good condition – dirty, oxidized, calcified and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides. There 4 Dots of the Sasieni Logo are visible on the left side of the saddle.

Overall my impressions of this pipe is that it is a beauty that once cleaned up will look pretty amazing. The exterior of the bowl does not show any hot spots or darkening. The pipe is very English looking and is a classic short Pot shape that I have seen on other Sasieni pipes. The photos below confirm the assessment above. 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 quite thick and the rim top has lava and debris on it. You can also see the condition of the outer edge but the inner edge is a bit of a mystery at this point. There appears to be some burn damage at front inner edge and rim top. The bowl is still fairly round. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. The photos of the stem surface from various angles confirmed my assessment of its condition. You can see the oxidation and the fit against the shank end. The stem surface though dirty does not appear to have tooth marks on the bit surface – chatter yes, but no deep marks. There is some damage to the button surface on the top right side and lesser damage on the underside. The stem is quite dirty but otherwise undamaged. The next photos show the amazing grain around the heel and the sides of the bowl. Tell me what you see? Are there any visible problems that stand out to you? Are the cracks or scratches? Are there visible flaws or fissures in the briar? What kind of grain stands out around the bowl and heel? Any visible issues on the heel of the bowl? Even the questions should help you to see what I am looking for when I see these photos. You have read it a few times now in the previous blogs. What am I looking for when I look at the shank stamp? In this case it is stamped on the left side and reads Sasieni[over] Four Dot Natural [over] London Made in three lines. To the left next to the bowl is the classic Sasien Made in England stamp. On the right side it is stamped Wingate. How does the stamping look to you? Is it clear and readable? Is it faint in spots or is it uniform? I know you are looking at photos but so do I at this point in the process. There is also a FRANCE stamp on the underside of the stem. The same questions apply here as well. I decided to do some work on the stamping of this pipe to get an idea of the time period it was carved. I turned first to Pipephil’s site to see what I could learn (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-sasieni.html). I found a pipe that was stamped the same way as the one I am working on. I is stamped on the left side of the shank like the one in the screen capture photo below. Mine is stamped the same way Sasieni in script without the fish tail. Underneath it is stamped FOUR DOT NATURAL [over] London Made. Next to the shank is also the Made In England Stamp like the one below. On the right side mine does not have the “Danzey” stamp but rather the Wingate stamp in the same place. It also does not have the XS stamp. I included the side bar notes below the picture. From that I knew that the pipe was made during Pre-transition Period 1946-1979.Pre-transition, 1946 – 1979. Four dot. Natural: Name for a smooth finish

I then turned to Pipedia for more detailed information (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Sasieni). I quote a section of that article below. It refers to the Patent Number that is on the pipe I have on the table. The underlined  portion below is particular pertinent to this pipe.

To begin with, there are three main elements to dating the Sasieni pipe, the patent number, the style of the name “Sasieni” as it appears on the shank, and the Dots themselves. Naturally, there are exceptions to these rules (this hobby would be boring without them), but for the most part these guidelines apply better than 95% of the time. All Sasieni One, Four, and Eight Dot pipes made before W.W.II and destined for the U. S. market carried a patent number on the shank which usually started with the numbers “15″, with 150221/20 and 1513428 being representative of the group. Also, the name “Sasieni” was stamped on the shank in a very florid manner, with the tail of the last “i” sweeping underneath the name forming a shape which has been compared to a fish by more than one collector. This script was discontinued by Alfred almost immediately after he took over the company, so this alone tells you your pipe is pre W.W.II. Underneath in block lettering are the words “London Made”, with the patent number making the third line.

The dots will help you narrow this down further. As we mentioned, the short lived U. S. market One Dot was introduced around 1920, and was replaced by the early to mid 1920’s by the Four Dot. The 1920’s Four Dot is distinguishable by the florid Sasieni script, a patent number, and four blue dots, which are quite small compared to the pipes of post war years. Furthermore, by 1935 Sasieni began stamping pipes, based on the shape, with their own names, which were usually, but not always, English towns. For example, apples were stamped “Hurlingham”, bulldogs were “Grosvenor” or “Danzey”, and panels were “Lincoln”. One rare and interesting variation of this was the large bent, dubbed “Viscount Lascelles”. Even in this soft Sasieni market, these pipes regularly sell for $150 in their rare appearances in mailers.

The pipe I have is one does not have a patent number so it was not made for the US market. The flourished “i” was discontinued by Alfred so that confirms that the pipe was made Pre-transition, 1946 – 1979. The third line stamped is London Made in block lettering. With all that information I knew that my pipe was from the period before the transition (Pre Transition) so it was an older one.

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.

When the pipe arrives here in Vancouver I have a clean pipe and I go over it keeping in mind my assessment shared in the opening paragraph above. Now that I have it in hand I am looking for confirmation of what I saw in the photos as well as any significant structural changes in the bowl and finish as I go over it.

  1. This small Petite Pot has a generous bowl and the pipe is well proportioned. It has a classic English Sasieni shape.
  2. The finish is clean and the oils have been removed from both sides of the bowl. The grime ground into the finish is gone and there is some great grain around the bowl sides.
  3. The thick lava coat on the rim top has been removed and there is some nicks and burn damage on the top and inner edges of the bowl (particularly toward the front). There is some darkening and damage on the back side of the inner edge and top as well but not as extensive.
  4. The cake had been totally removed and the walls of the bowl are clean. There is not any checking or burn damage on the interior walls of the bowl.
  5. The vulcanite saddle stem is clean and has light tooth chatter and marks on both sides. The four dots (Sasieni logo) on the left side of the saddle look very good. There is also an aluminum stinger in the tenon that is very clean.

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 lava was removed damage to the edge and top was revealed. It is burn damage to the front inner beveled edge and rim top. There is also some damage on the back inner edge and darkening on the rim top. It is clean but will need to be worked on to bring it back to normal. I also go over the stem carefully. There were no tooth marks or dents other than on the button edges on both sides of the stem. 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 in any way. It looks good but is faint in some parts – particularly the edges of the stamp. I always appreciate the handiwork of the carvers at Sasieni who turn a piece raw briar into a beautiful pipe. I love just looking at the beauty of the lay of the pipe with the grain and the proportion of the pipes. I like to remove the stem from the shank to get a sense of what was in the mind of the pipe maker when he crafted the pipe. It is a beauty in flow and shape. By this time you should know that I almost always start with the bowl in my restoration because I truly do not like the tedious work of stem repairs and polishing. I always leave that until last even though I know that it needs to be done. For me the encouragement of seeing a rejuvenated bowl is the impetus I need to attack the stem work.

Today I started working on this pipe by turning to the bowl. I chose to deal with the darkening and burn damage on the rim edges and top. I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and a wooden sphere to reshape and remove the damage on the top and the inner edge. It took a little work but I was able to remove most of the damage. I used a folded piece of 220 grit paper to work on it some more. There is a little left at the back side of the inner edge. The front edge looks much better. It is a beautiful piece of briar with some great grain.  I forgot to take a photo of the rim top after the clean up but it looked much better. You can see it in the stained rim top photo below. I stained it with an Oak stain pen to match the surrounding briar. 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 also work over the sanded rim top and edges with the pads. I wiped 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. For the past few years now I have been using a product developed by Mark Hoover called 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 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 shine 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. Now it was time to address the part of the restoration I leave until last. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I heated the stinger and removed it from the shank. I would put it back in after clean up. I fit the stem in the shank to take get measurements of the pipe. When I finished I removed the stem from the shank the tenon shattered in the shank and was stuck. This is great – just what I needed. Now I would need to replace the tenon and refit it. I pulled the broken tenon from the shank with a knife blade. I went through my tenons and chose one that was close to the diameter of the broken tenon. I flattened the broken portion on the stem surface with a Dremel and sanding drum. I chose not to drill it out for the stinger as it made the walls of the tenon very thin. I sanded the diameter of the new tenon with a Dremel and sanding drum to reduce it for a snug fit in the shank.I drilled out the stem to receive the new tenon. I used a series of drill bits from one the size of the airway in the stem and up to the point it fit in the stem. I glued it in place in the stem with super glue and set aside to cure. I gave the tenon a light coat of clear CA glue to smooth it out. Once I sanded it would be smooth. I examined the shank end and saw that when the tenon broke it left a nick in the surface of the shank end. I decided to use a thin brass band to flatten the shank end and clean up the fit against the shank. I glued the band on the shank end and it looked very good. The bonus was that the stem fit very well. I stated with the tooth marks. I “painted” the surface dents with a Bic light flame and was able to lift them significantly I paused at this point and put the stem in the shank. It was at this point the tenon broke. With the new tenon in place I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend them into the vulcanite. I started the polishing of the stem with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem and tenon with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rubbed 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 from oxidizing quickly.The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I buff the stem and the briar with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. It is a plastic polish but I find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the vulcanite and the briar. I work the pipe over on the wheel with my finger or thumb in the bowl to keep the pipe from becoming airborne. I buffed the pipe with multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I follow up the wax buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I follow that up with a 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 vulcanite stem. It really is a beautiful pipe. The smooth finish around the bowl sides and shank show the grain shining through the rich brown stains of this Pre-Transition Sasieni Four Dot London Made Wingate Pot. The thin brass band on the shank fits well and looks classy. The finished pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .99 ounces/28 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Maker section.

Hopefully the shape writing 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 pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Fixing Up a Hardcastle Apple

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

Next on the chopping block is a handsome and gently-bent Hardcastle Lightweight apple, acquired from a local gentleman who’d sadly given up the hobby. It was well used, but it had a certain charm and I felt I could tease out its beauty from under the grime. The markings read as follows. On the left side of the shank: Hardcastle’s [over] British Made [over] Lightweight. On the left of the stem is the stylized “H”, of the Hardcastle company.The Hardcastle name has been around for 120 years and has an interesting history. As usual, I went to Pipedia and Pipephil to see more. Pipepedia has a good article, which I recommend you read here. Meanwhile, Pipephil provided the following information:On to the pipe. There was plenty of cake and lava on the stummel, and the opening of the bowl was slightly out of round, possibly due to bad reaming. The outside of the bowl had a couple of fills, and numerous scratches and nicks. It’s clearly been roughly manhandled during its life. The stem was in far worse shape than the photographs show – the mouthpiece had calcification and some oxidation, and there were many tooth marks and scratches, a deep tooth dent on the underside, and the bit was also badly dented. Time to get this pipe cleaned up. The stem was first on my list. I cleaned out the inside with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. It was fairly dirty but didn’t take too long to clean out. Then 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 few bite marks and dents. This was moderately successful in raising some of the damage. I then wiped down the stem with SoftScrub cleaner to remove surface oxidation. Once this process was done, the stem went for an overnight soak in the Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. The next day, I used SoftScrub again with some cotton rounds. After this, I used some nail polish to restore the logo on the stem. I painted the area carefully and let it fully set before proceeding. I also built up the dents on the stem with black cyanoacrylate adhesive and let them fully cure. Forgot to snap a picture of that.I then sanded the adhesive down with 220- and 400-grit sandpapers and 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. This stem has had a hard life, and the result was not perfect – but it is a vast improvement on its condition when I got it.Now for the stummel. Firstly, I decided to ream out the bowl. I used 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 I could. I took the chamber down to bare briar, as I wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the wall. Fortunately, there were none. I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. There was 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 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 rim of the pipe. Having completed that, 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 I could tackle the burn on the rim. I used a piece of tool steel to gently scrape away the burn residue, but the burns were more serious than I’d hoped. So, 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.Due to the burning on the rim of the pipe, I used my wood sphere, wrapped in 220-grit sandpaper, to create a beautiful, chamfered edge on the rim. This also helped return the opening of the bowl to round.  I think the results turned out very nicely. Unaccountably, I ran out of cotton balls with which to ghost the pipe. So, in a pinch, I used the old trick of replacing it with salt (in this case, pickling salt). Long ago, Steve had told me that he much preferred cotton balls to salt, and I simply took him at his word, not knowing any better. Having now used salt myself, I am wholeheartedly in agreement with Steve. What a pain in the gluteus maximus! Oh, it works just fine, but it’s a mess and the salt can (potentially) damage the wood. Now it was time to repair the tiny 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. As you can see, I made a mess, to begin with, but I sanded the repair down with 200- and 400-grit sandpaper until it was 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. Much improved. I applied some Before & After Restoration Balm to moisturize the wood and draw out its beauty. Finally, I took it to my bench buffer. A dose of White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax were just what this pipe needed. This Hardcastle much improved and is ready to be enjoyed again by the next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the British pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5⅜ in. (137 mm); height 1⅜ in. (35 mm); bowl diameter 1¼ in. (32 mm); chamber diameter ⅝ in. (16 mm). The weight of the pipe is ⅝ oz. (20 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restemming and Restoring a Brigham Voyageur 165 Bent Acorn

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is another that the Vancouver pipe man dropped off for me to work on for him. It was stamped Brigham Voyageur 165 and had a mixed finish of smooth top and rusticated bowl and shank. It is a Bent Acorn that was finished in a brown stain. It needed restoration on the bowl which was moderately caked and the shank was dirty. It also needed new stem as the current push stem was chewed and broken at the button. It was another pipe that I had previously repaired for him back in 2017. At that point it needed had done a complete restoration and fitted a regular push stem as requested. It had a thick cake at that point as well and was well used. The original stem had nylon Brigham system tenon that was broken as well. Here is the link to that restoration. (https://rebornpipes.com/2017/04/02/restemming-and-reconditioning-a-brigham-voyageur-165/). Here are some photos of the pipe when he picked it up in 2017 to give a bit for context for my work. When I took the pipe out of the bag of pipes he brought for me to work on it last evening this is what I saw. The finish on the briar looked very good. It was dirty but the colour had stayed true. It had a bit of patina on the bowl but it was beautiful. The bowl had a moderate cake and the airway in the shank was dirty. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had a large chunk of vulcanite missing on the underside. I took photos of the rim top and the thick cake in the bowl to show how it looked. There was also tobacco debris on the walls. The rim top had some darkening and there were nicks around the inner edge of the bowl. It will clean up pretty well. The photos of the stem show the condition of the stem. You can see the tooth marks and chatter under the calcification on the stem surface.I took a photo of the stamping on the smooth panel on the left side of the shank. You can see it is clear and readable and reads as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank to give a sense of the flow of the pipe.Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. I started my work on the pipe by cleaning and reaming the bowl The cake was quite thick but it can hold residual oils from previous tobaccos and I wanted to check the bowl walls for burn damage or checking. I reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer to cut cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the remnants of the cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife. I sanded the walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I worked on them until they were smooth. There was no checking or burn damage to the bowl walls. It was quite clean. I cleaned out the internals with 99% isopropyl alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I worked over the shank and the airway in the stem. It took some work but once finished it was clean and smelled fresh.I polished the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It took on a real shine by the time I finished with the last sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the smooth rim and the rusticated finish on the bowl and shank. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. I used a horse hair shoe brush to work it into the crevices and keep from building up in the valleys and crevices of the finish. Once the bowl was covered with the balm I let it sit for about 15 minutes and buffed it off with a soft cotton cloth and the shoe brush. I polished it with a microfiber cloth. I took photos of the pipe at this point in the process to show what the bowl looked like at this point. Now it was time to deal with the replacement stem. I went through my can of stems and found an interesting bent taper vulcanite stem that was a perfect fit. It was a 6 dot Brigham stem that someone had cut off to be a push stem. It would not hold a filter so it was relegated to my can. Since the pipeman wanted a replacement push stem I would be able to modify it to work perfectly. Because the modified Brigham stem was made for the Hardrock Maple filter it was a wide open draw. I used a piece of Delrin tubing to make a converter to fit in the tenon and change it to a regular bore. I used a Dremel and sanding drum to reduce the diameter of the Delrin so that it would fit into the tenon. It worked well as can be seen in the second photo below. It is longer than necessary in the photos below but I cut it and shaped the end like other converters that have been used on Savinelli pipes.I build up the damage to the button edge on the top and the marks in the top and underside of the stem with black CA rubberized glue. Once it had cured I used a small file to recut the button edged and flattened the repairs. I smoothed out the repairs and worked on the stem diameter at the shank with 220 grit sandpaper to get a good seat. I started polishing the stem with 600 grit wet dry sand paper. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite 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 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 from oxidizing quickly.I took the Brigham Voyageur 165 Bent Acorn bowl to wax and polish. I don’t buff the rusticated bowl on the wheel as it leaves a lot of grit in the deep grooves of the finis. I gave the bowl and shank multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush to raise the shine. The wax is great protection and I love using it on sandblast finishes because it does not build up in the grooves and valleys like carnauba wax does. I buffed it by hand with a microfiber cloth to finish the shine. I polished the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the scratches in the acrylic. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The contrast of the dark stain on the briar with the shine of the polished acrylic stem is quite stunning. The rich sandblast finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and gives the pipe an incredible tactile presence. The Brigham Voyageur Bent Acorn is a nice looking pipe and one that will be a great smoking pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below with each of the stems. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the large pipe is a light and comfortable 51 grams/1.80 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and the fourth of the five pipes left with me for work. Once I am finished with the lot he will get them back to enjoy once more. 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 pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Life for a Chunky, Lane Era Charatan’s Make Belvedere 402 Canadian

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Blog by Steve Laug

Once again in this write up and I will take you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. Jeff has set up a spread sheet to track where the pipe came from, the date of purchase and what we paid for it so that we know what we have invested in the pipe before we even work on it. This takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. This particular pipe was purchased on 07/22/2021 from an Antique Shop in Vancouver, Washington, USA. I also want you to understand why we take the photos we do. If you have followed for a while then you will see the familiar pattern of the photos we include both in the before and midstream process of working on a pipe. It is not accidental or chance as the photos have been taken to help me make an assessment of the pipe Jeff sees before he starts his clean up work. We do this to record the condition that the pipe was in when received it and to assess what kind of work will need to be done on. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

  1. The first thing I see is the chunky shank and large size of the bowl. It is well proportioned and well made with a classic English shape.
  2. The finish is dirty and there are oils from the smoker’s hands on both side of the bowl. There is grime ground into the finish as well but even so there is also some great grain peeking through.
  3. The rim top had a thick lava overflow from the cake in the bowl. There is some damage on the front inner edge and top but it is hard to know if there is darkening or damage under the lava. Sometimes the lava protects the rim top and edges and sometime it hides issues. Its is very dirty looking.
  4. The bowl has a thick cake in it that hides the walls and the inner edge of the bowl but once it is clean we will know what the edges look like. There are a some nicks in the inner edge of the bowl that will become clearer when the pipe is cleaned. The outer edges look good and there does not appear to be any obvious burn damage to the top or bowl edges.
  5. The vulcanite taper stem is in good condition – dirty, oxidized, calcified and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides. There appears to be a CP logo on the top of the stem – it is faint but still present.

Overall my impressions of this pipe is that it is a beauty that once cleaned up will look pretty amazing. The exterior of the bowl does not show any hot spots or darkening. The pipe is very English looking and is a classic oval shank Canadian that has the distinctive cut of a Charatan. The photos below confirm the assessment above. 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 quite thick and the rim top has lava and debris on it. You can also see the condition of the outer edge but the inner edge is a bit of a mystery at this point. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. While there is lava and darkening there is no visible burn damage at this point. The bowl is still fairly round. The photos of the stem surface from various angles confirmed my assessment of its condition. You can see the oxidation and the fit against the tarnished silver band on the shank end. The stem surface though dirty does not appear to have tooth marks – chatter yes, but no deep marks. The stem is quite dirty but otherwise undamaged. The next photos show the amazing grain around the heel and the sides of the bowl. Tell me what you see? Are there any visible problems that stand out to you? Are the cracks or scratches? Are there visible flaws or fissures in the briar? What kind of grain stands out around the bowl and heel? Any visible issues on the heel of the bowl? Even the questions should help you to see what I am looking for when I see these photos. You have read it a few times now in the previous blogs. What am I looking for when I look at the shank stamp? In this case it is stamped on the left side and reads Charatan’s Make[over] London England [over] Belvedere in three lines. How does the stamping look to you? Is it clear and readable? Is it faint in spots or is it uniform? I know you are looking at photos but so do I at this point in the process. The topside is also stamped near the shank/stem junction and reads 402 which is the shape number for a Canadian. The same questions apply here as well. An added part of pipe restoration for me is to try to gather as much background on a brand and maker as I can find. With Charatan that is an enjoyable web to untangle. There is a lot of information and it can lead to understanding what era a pipe was made in. To try to figure out the era of the Charatan’s pipe I was working on I turned to the Pipephil website, Logos and Stampings (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-charatan.html). There is some really helpful information on each of the lines of Charatan’s Make pipes that entered the market. There is an alphabetical listing of the lines but the Belvedere they showed had a stem made for a 9mm filter while the one I have is a nonfiltered pipe. The site did give a short history of the brand. I quote the portion that is most pertinent.

The brand was founded in 1863 by Frederik Charatan. When his father retired in 1910, Reuben Charatan took over the family business. All the pipes were handmade until 1973. The brand name has been overtaken by Dunhill in 1978 and sold in 1988 to James B. Russell Inc.(NJ, USA). During the period 1988-2002 Charatans were crafted by Butz Choquin in St Claude (France). Dunhill re-purchased Charatan brand name in 2002 and Colin Fromm (Invicta Briars, Castleford) followed up on freehand production.

Next I turned to Pipedia to see if I could find more information on the brand and possibly a link to the Belvedere line (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan) but once again in the general article it was not listed. It did give a little more historical information. I quote the pertinent parts that give information on this particular pipe.

In 1950 Herman G. Lane, striving to expand his business in Great Britain, made contacts with the Charatan family. Apparently Lane got a certain influence soon, but it was not until 1955 that Lane Ltd. became the sole distributor for Charatan’s in the United States superseding Wally Frank. This can be documented in a “biography” written for Herman G. Lane titled “Leaves from a Tobaccoman’s Log”.

Thanks to Herman G. Lane’s dedicated labor Charatan became hugely popular in the States. As reported by Ken Barnes in an interview with Rick Newcombe, Reuben Charatan passed away in 1962, and his widow sold the firm to Herman Lane 1 or 2 years after his death.[1] In the early 1960s Charatan pipes were the first to overstep the $100 Dollar line in US pipe sales. In 1978 Lane’s heirs sold the Charatan company to Dunhill. The Prescot Street factory was closed in March 1982. Thereafter the fame and quality of the make declined.

The pre-Lane period (prior to 1955) and the Lane era pipes (1955 to until sometime between 1979 – 1984) are of primary interest the collector. The Lane era is often quoted as beginning about 1950.

Charatan records are almost non-existent before Lane due to a factory fire, making it difficult to date pre-Lane pipes. Charatan used 4 basic grades prior to 1950: Supreme, Selected, Executive, and Belvedere. After 1950 Herman Lane’s influence began, and the grades started to expand. In 1955 Lane took over sole distributorship of Charatan in the US. In 1957 he introduced the Supreme S. Most of his other introductions were from the 1960s and early 1970s.

From this I am fairly certain I am dealing with a Lane pipe made after 1955 and because of the Belvedere stamp it could potentially go back as far as before 1950. There is also a circle L script mark that is a Lane stampings on the pipe which also supports this.

I continued digging further into the dating of the pipe, but what I had found above was a good start for me. If some of you would like to try your hand at dating it more accurately as to the time period it came out you might want to check out the article on Pipedia on Dating Charatans (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dating_of_Charatans).

I also reread the article on Pipedia by the Italian fellow who contributed some really helpful information on the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan_-_Milan_2014). I quote the section on the Second period: Reuben Charatan 1910 – c. 1962. I have highlighted a portion of the section on the shank in red to point out some more helpful dating information.

– In 1962 Herman Lane took over the business from the Charatan family, although he had already influenced production from the 1950s.

– The pipes were mostly larger than the previous ones and corresponded in size to Dunhill group 5. These are slightly less rare, but still difficult to find.

– Stem: Usually in ebonite, saddle shaped or tapered, bearing a fine “CP” stamp, underbore system (see below) used when necessary.

– Shank: The shape code is stamped on it together with the nomenclature “CHARATAN’S MAKE LONDON ENGLAND” arranged in two lines. From 1955 onwards on the models marketed for the USA there is also a serif and circled capital “L” (but not all models bear this) which resembles the pound sterling symbol. The “L” is for Lane, the importer.

From 1958, Lane changed the nomenclature for models marketed for the US to clarify the message: “MADE BY HAND”.  In this period the underbore was introduced. Its manufacturing period ranged between 1920 and c.1930. This model was equipped with a duralumin plunger trap fitted in the stem, which served to clean the residue more easily. This particular model bore a special stamp on the stem, and also had its own catalogue…

QUALITY GRADES…The stem did not only display the stamps mentioned above. Another stamp that can help dating is the one referring to the quality of the pipe. Until Herman Lane arrived on the scene there were four quality grades. Starting with the lowest: Belvedere, Executive, Selected, and Supreme. Lane went on to add higher grades from time to time: Supreme S, Supreme S100, S150, S200, S250, S300, Coronation, Royal Achievement, Crown Achievement, and Summa Cum Laude; these last three are extremely rare and almost impossible to find. He also invented other, different grades, even changing the previous pipe classification standards. We will not go into detail here, but it means that if we find an S100 or Coronation the pipe was manufactured following Herman Lane’s acquisition. In particular, the FH mark, or Freehand pipe was commissioned to the famous Danish craftsman, Preben Holm.

Nomenclature

The Lane Trademark serif and circled L indicates the pipe is from the “Lane Era” (approx. 1955 to 1979 -1984?), however it appears that both the English factory or Lane themselves sometimes, or perhaps even often forget to stamp the L on a pipe. The Charatan factory was known for inconsistencies, especially in stampings. Therefore, although an L on the pipe definitely defines it as a Lane Era pipe, the lack of it could simply mean the pipe missed receiving the stamp from the factory. The lack of the trademark could also mean the pipe was destined for the European market.

Charatan pipes were not well distributed prior to the Lane Era, so very few pre-Lane pipes exist today. Herman Lane greatly grew the brand in the U.S., which caused corresponding growth in Europe.

Generally, when the pipe is stamped with the BLOCK letters “MADE BY HAND” it means the pipe was probably made between 1958 and 1965”

Generally, block letters “MADE BY HAND” and some of the other nomenclature in script (i.e. City of London or Extra Large next to the MADE BY HAND) means the pipe was made sometime between 1965 and the mid 1970s. The total script nomenclature “Made by Hand in City of London” evolved over this period of time, so many pipes had variants, such as Made By Hand in block letters and City of London in script, or some other variation of the terms or stampings.

It is believed the FH was used on Charatan pipes between 1957 and 1967-68. Three different sizes were used. The Charatan Logo (CP) on the pipe bit was changed over the year

Now I knew I was working on a pre-Lane pipe which actually means it was between 1950- 1955 as shown by the stamping.

I followed a link to a catalogue listing for the shape 402 which is the shape number for an Outsize Lumberman/Canadian. Here is the link (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan_Models_%26_Shape_Information_for_the_Collector) 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.

When the pipe arrives here in Vancouver I have a clean pipe and I go over it keeping in mind my assessment shared in the opening paragraph above. Now that I have it in hand I am looking for confirmation of what I saw in the photos as well as any significant structural changes in the bowl and finish as I go over it.

  1. The chunky shank and large size of the bowl look very good and are well proportioned and have a classic English Charatan shape.
  2. The finish is clean and the oils have been removed from both sides of the bowl. The grime ground into the finish is gone and there is some great grain around the bowl sides.
  3. The thick lava coat on the rim top has been removed and there is some nicks and damage on the top and inner edges of the bowl.
  4. The walls of the bowl are clean and I do not see any checking or burn damage. The inner edge of the bowl had some nicks and burn damage on the edges. There was damage on the front inner edge and some on the back edge as well. The outer edges look good and there does not appear to be any obvious burn damage there.
  5. The vulcanite taper stem is clean and has light tooth chatter and marks on both sides. There is a CP logo on the top of the stem – it is faint but still present.

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 lava was removed damage to the edge and top was revealed. Originally I thought it looked like reaming damage but I don’t think so as I examine it closely. I think it is actually burn damage to the edge that extends around the inner edge though it is heavier at the front and back of the bowl. The rim top also shows some damage. It is clean but will need to be worked on to bring it back to normal. I also go over the stem carefully. There were no tooth marks or dents in the stem. I could not see any sign of remaining CP stamping on the stem so no real clue as to whether it is original or a replacement. 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 in any way. It looks good but is faint in some parts – particularly the edges of the stamp. I always appreciate the handiwork of the carvers at Charatan who turn a piece raw briar into a beautiful pipe. I love just looking at the beauty of the lay of the pipe with the grain and the proportion of the hand made pipes. I like to remove the stem from the shank to get a sense of what was in the mind of the pipe maker when he crafted the pipe. It is a beauty in flow and shape. By this time you should know that I almost always start with the bowl in my restoration because I truly do not like the tedious work of stem repairs and polishing. I always leave that until last even though I know that it needs to be done. For me the encouragement of seeing a rejuvenated bowl is the impetus I need to attack the stem work.

Today I started working on this pipe by turning to the bowl. I chose to deal with the nicks, darkening and burn damage on the rim edges and top. I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and a wooden sphere to reshape and remove the damage on the top and the inner edge. It took a little work but I was able to remove all of the darkening. It is a beautiful piece of briar with some great grain.     Once rim top was reshaped and reworked I needed to blend them into the rest of the briar. I stained it with an Oak stain pen to match the surrounding briar.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 also work over the plateau areas at the same time. 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. For the past few years now I have been using a product developed by Mark Hoover called Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar and the plateau. The product works to deep clean the nooks and crannies of finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips and 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. Now it was time to address the part of the restoration I leave until last. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I wiped the stem down with Soft Scrub cleanser to remove the light oxidation on the surface. The CP stamp was very faint and would not hold any paint or colour. It was pretty clear that it was more or less gone. I stated with the tooth marks. I “painted” the surface dents with a Bic light flame and was able to lift them significantly. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend them into the vulcanite. I started the polishing of the stem with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite 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 from oxidizing quickly.The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I first buff the stem and the briar with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. Blue Diamond is a plastic polish but I find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the vulcanite and the briar. I work the pipe over on the wheel with my finger or thumb in the bowl to keep it from becoming airborne. It works well and I am able to carefully move forward with the buffing. The briar and stem just shone! I finished with the Blue Diamond and moved on to buffing with carnauba wax. Once I have a good shine in the briar and vulcanite I always give the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I following up the wax buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I follow that up with a 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 vulcanite and acrylic combination stem. It really is a beautiful pipe. The smooth finish around the bowl sides and shank show the grain shining through the rich brown stains of this Lane Era Charatan’s Make London England Belvedere 402 Canadian. The finished pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.98 ounces/55 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Maker section.

Hopefully the shape writing 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 pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

London meets Copenhagen – Charatan’s Make Belvedere 110X Bent Billiard with a S.Bang Band

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Blog by Steve Laug

Once again in this write up and I will take you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. Jeff has set up a spread sheet to track where the pipe came from, the date of purchase and what we paid for it so that we know what we have invested in the pipe before we even work on it. This takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. This particular pipe was purchased on 11/10/2022 from Copenhagen, Denmark from a seller we buy a lot of pipes from. I also want you to understand why we take the photos we do. If you have followed for a while then you will see the familiar pattern of the photos we include both in the before and midstream process of working on a pipe. It is not accidental or chance as the photos have been taken to help me make an assessment of the pipe Jeff sees before he starts his clean up work. We do this to record the condition that the pipe was in when received it and to assess what kind of work will need to be done on. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

  1. The first thing I see is a unique Sterling Silver band on the shank that has become familiar from the pipes we have purchased from Copenhagen. Each one is much the same and all were made by S. Bang. I am pretty certain this is one as well. The question is if it is cosmetic like the others have been or does it take care of a crack in the shank. We shall see.
  2. The finish is dirty and there is oils from the smoker’s hands on both side of the bowl. There is grimed ground into the finish as well but even so there is also some great grain peeking through. From the exterior it does not appear that there is a crack in the shank but when Jeff examines it he will confirm either the presence or absence of a crack.
  3. The rim top had a moderate lava overflow from the cake in the bowl. It was thicker on the back half of the rim top but present all the way around. It is hard to know if there is darkening or damage under the lava. Sometimes the lava protects the rim top and edges and sometime it hides issues. Its is very dirty looking.
  4. The bowl has a thick cake in it that hides the inner edge of the bowl but once it is clean we will know what the edges look like. The outer edges look good and there does not appear to be any obvious burn damage to the top or bowl edges.
  5. The vulcanite taper stem is in good condition – dirty, lightly oxidized and has light tooth chatter on both sides. There does not appear to be a CP logo on the stem but the fit to the shank end is well done. It is hard to know with certainty if it is an original stem or a replacement.

Overall my impressions of this pipe is that it is a beauty that once cleaned up will look pretty amazing. The oxidized S. Bang fancy Sterling Silver Band adds a touch bling even though tarnished that does not detract from the beauty of the pipe. The exterior of the bowl does not show any hot spots or darkening. The pipe is very English looking and is a classic Bent Billiard that has the distinctive cut of a Charatan. The photos below confirm the assessment above.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 quite thick and the rim top has lava and debris on it. You can also see the condition of the outer edge but the inner edge is a bit of a mystery at this point. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. While there is lava and darkening there is no visible burn damage at this point. The bowl is still fairly round.The photos of the stem surface from various angles confirmed my assessment of its condition. You can see the oxidation and the fit against the tarnished silver band on the shank end. The stem surface though dirty does not appear to have tooth marks – chatter yes, but no deep marks. The stem is quite dirty but otherwise undamaged. The next photos show the amazing grain around the heel and the sides of the bowl. Tell me what you see? Are there any visible problems that stand out to you? Are the cracks or scratches? Are there visible flaws or fissures in the briar? What kind of grain stands out around the bowl and heel? Any visible issues on the heel of the bowl? Even the questions should help you to see what I am looking for when I see these photos. You have read it a few times now in the previous blogs. What am I looking for when I look at the shank stamp? In this case it is stamped on the left side and reads Charatan’s Make[over] London England [over] Belvedere in three lines. How does the stamping look to you? Is it clear and readable? Is it faint in spots or is it uniform? I know you are looking at photos but so do I at this point in the process. The right side is also stamped and reads 110X which is the shape number. The same questions apply here as well.The next photos show where London Meets Copenhagen. The stamping on the stylized silver band are simply BANG in one box and 325S in the second box. I love this kind of backstory on a pipe. How did an English made pipe from London connect with an S.Bang Sterling Silver Band? I know it happened in Copenhagen as that is where we bought the pipe. We asked the seller the story on it and he said that the older gentleman who owned this pipe took it along with several others from his collection to the S. Bang workshop and had them add bands to his pipes. They were not necessary as the shank was not cracked but the old pipeman just wanted some decorative bands on his pipes (he may well have been my age so old is such a relative term). However that happened it is a great story of the meeting of this London pipe with a Danish silvermaker. I have to say that I really like the result! The only issue with this band is that it covers some of the stamping on the left side of the shank. An added part of pipe restoration for me is to try to gather as much background on a brand and maker as I can find. With Charatan that is an enjoyable web to untangle. There is a lot of information and it can lead to understanding what era a pipe was made in. To try to figure out the era of the Charatan’s pipe I was working on I turned to the Pipephil website, Logos and Stampings (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-charatan.html). There is some really helpful information on each of the lines of Charatan’s Make pipes that entered the market. There is an alphabetical listing of the lines but the Belvedere they showed had a stem made for a 9mm filter while the one I have is a nonfiltered pipe. The site did give a short history of the brand. I quote the portion that is most pertinent.

The brand was founded in 1863 by Frederik Charatan. When his father retired in 1910, Reuben Charatan took over the family business. All the pipes were handmade until 1973. The brand name has been overtaken by Dunhill in 1978 and sold in 1988 to James B. Russell Inc.(NJ, USA). During the period 1988-2002 Charatans were crafted by Butz Choquin in St Claude (France). Dunhill re-purchased Charatan brand name in 2002 and Colin Fromm (Invicta Briars, Castleford) followed up on freehand production.

Next I turned to Pipedia to see if I could find more information on the brand and possibly a link to the Belvedere line (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan) but once again in the general article it was not listed. It did give a little more historical information. I quote the pertinent parts and have highlighted in red the sections that give information on this particular pipe.

In 1863 Frederick Charatan, a Russian/Jewish immigrant, opened a shop in Mansell Street, located in the borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, where he began to carve Meerschaum pipes. These pipes got very popular soon, and thus Charatan moved to a bigger workshop in Prescot Street, just around the corner. Here he began to make briar pipes which should make the name famous the world over. Charatan was the first brand to make entirely hand-made briars from the rough block to the finished pipe including the stems. The nomenclature “Charatan’s Make” refers to this method of production and was meant to differentiate Charatan from other brands who “assembled” pipes from pre-drilled bowls and delivered mouthpieces.

Being the undisputed No. 1 in English pipemaking, Charatan was approached by Alfred Dunhill who was unsatisfied with the quality of the pipes he imported from France. During 1908 – 1910 Dunhill bought pipes from Charatan paying exorbitant prices to ensure he had some of the very best pipes for sale in England. In 1910 he lured away Joel Sasieni, one of Charatan’s best carvers, and opened his own small pipe workshop on 28 Duke Street. On the retirement of his father in 1910 Reuben Charatan took over the family business…

…The pre-Lane period (prior to 1955) and the Lane era pipes (1955 to until sometime between 1979 – 1984) are of primary interest the collector. The Lane era is often quoted as beginning about 1950… Charatan records are almost non-existent before Lane due to a factory fire, making it difficult to date pre-Lane pipes. Charatan used 4 basic grades prior to 1950: Supreme, Selected, Executive, and Belvedere. After 1950 Herman Lane’s influence began, and the grades started to expand. In 1955 Lane took over sole distributorship of Charatan in the US. In 1957 he introduced the Supreme S. Most of his other introductions were from the 60’s and early 70’s…

From this I am fairly certain I am dealing with a pre-Lane pipe made prior to 1955 and because of the Belvedere stamp it could potentially go back as far as before 1950. There are none of the expected Lane stampings on the pipe which also supports this.

I continued digging further into the dating of the pipe, but what I had found above was a good start for me. If some of you would like to try your hand at dating it more accurately as to the time period it came out you might want to check out the article on Pipedia on Dating Charatans (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dating_of_Charatans).

I also reread the article on Pipedia by the Italian fellow who contributed some really helpful information on the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan_-_Milan_2014). I quote the section on the Second period: Reuben Charatan 1910 – c. 1962. I have highlighted a portion of the section on the shank in red to point out some more helpful dating information.

– In 1962 Herman Lane took over the business from the Charatan family, although he had already influenced production from the 1950s.

– The pipes were mostly larger than the previous ones and corresponded in size to Dunhill group 5. These are slightly less rare, but still difficult to find.

– Stem: Usually in ebonite, saddle shaped or tapered, bearing a fine “CP” stamp, underbore system (see below) used when necessary.

– Shank: The shape code is stamped on it together with the nomenclature “CHARATAN’S MAKE LONDON ENGLAND” arranged in two lines. From 1955 onwards on the models marketed for the USA there is also a serif and circled capital “L” (but not all models bear this) which resembles the pound sterling symbol. The “L” is for Lane, the importer.

From 1958, Lane changed the nomenclature for models marketed for the US to clarify the message: “MADE BY HAND”.  In this period the underbore was introduced. Its manufacturing period ranged between 1920 and c.1930. This model was equipped with a duralumin plunger trap fitted in the stem, which served to clean the residue more easily. This particular model bore a special stamp on the stem, and also had its own catalogue…

QUALITY GRADES…The stem did not only display the stamps mentioned above. Another stamp that can help dating is the one referring to the quality of the pipe. Until Herman Lane arrived on the scene there were four quality grades. Starting with the lowest: Belvedere, Executive, Selected, and Supreme. Lane went on to add higher grades from time to time: Supreme S, Supreme S100, S150, S200, S250, S300, Coronation, Royal Achievement, Crown Achievement, and Summa Cum Laude; these last three are extremely rare and almost impossible to find. He also invented other, different grades, even changing the previous pipe classification standards. We will not go into detail here, but it means that if we find an S100 or Coronation the pipe was manufactured following Herman Lane’s acquisition. In particular, the FH mark, or Freehand pipe was commissioned to the famous Danish craftsman, Preben Holm.

Now I knew I was working on a pre-Lane pipe which actually means it was made before 1955 as shown by the stamping. I wanted to now see if I could find any information the shape 110X number as it was not listed in any shape charts I could find.

I did a Google search of the Charatan’s Make London England Belvedere 110X and was taken to on rebornpipes to a booklet I have there. It is a list shape numbers with images. Sure enough on the second row was the pipe I am working on a 110. I am not clear what the X means on the shank of this one though so that remains a mystery (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/08/03/a-charatan-pipe-booklet/).There was also a picture from the booklet with the various lines described. The Belvedere is listed and described as “Richly finished an discretely elegant.” It captures the look of the pipe very well.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.

When the pipe arrives here in Vancouver I have a clean pipe and I go over it keeping in mind my assessment shared in the opening paragraph above. Now that I have it in hand I am looking for confirmation of what I saw in the photos as well as any significant structural changes in the bowl and finish as I go over it.

  1. I was correct in my thoughts that the band was a Bang. It is clearly stamped Bang along with the 325S silver quality designation. It is for cosmetic purpose only as there are no visible cracks in the shank as I go over the exterior and the internal end of the shank. It is clear and it is a beauty. The oxidation is gone and the band looks very good.
  2. The finish is very clean and darkening from oils on the bowl sides is gone. The grain stands out on the surface of the clean briar. There are no cracks showing up in the grain lines or in the flaws under the grime. It is sound on the outside. I will need to polish the briar and buff it to bring back the shine.
  3. The rim top is clean of the lava but there is still some darkening on the top and edges of the bowl. The inner edge is ragged and shows both burn damage and also some previous reaming damage. It is still fairly round but not smooth. The good news for me is that there are no cracks showing up in the rim top. The rim top and edges were sound.
  4. The bowl was very clean and smelled clean. The clean walls did not show evidence of checking or cracking. There were no hot spots or damage on the walls or around the entrance of the airway into the bowl. It was clean and smooth which is great news for me. Both the shank and the bowl were very clean showing no debris on a clean pipe clean run through them. I would need to give it a final cleaning with pipe cleaners and alcohol once I had finished with the external work to remove the debris that may have collected there in the process.
  5. The vulcanite taper stem is in good condition – it cleaned up very well. All oxidation is gone. It is a little rough to the touch and the light chatter is not deep at all. There is not a CP logo on the stem but the fit to the shank end is well done. It is hard to know with certainty if it is an original stem or a replacement. (I lean toward it being a replacement stem added when the pipe was banded in Copenhagen.)

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 on the pipe is spelled out clearly 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 lava was removed, damage to the edge and top was revealed. I think there is actually burn damage to the edge that extends around the inner edge though it is heavier at the front and back of the bowl. The rim top also shows some damage. It is clean but will need to be worked on to bring it back to normal. I also go over the stem carefully. There were no tooth marks or dents in the stem. I could not see any sign of remaining CP stamping on the stem so no real clue as to whether it is original or a replacement. 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 in any way. It looks very good still. I also took a photo of the silver. I always appreciate the handiwork of the carvers at Charatan who turn a piece raw briar into a beautiful pipe. I love just looking at the beauty of the lay of the pipe with the grain and the proportion of the hand made pipes. I like to remove the stem from the shank to get a sense of what was in the mind of the pipe maker when he crafted the pipe. It is a beauty in flow and shape.By this time you should know that I almost always start with the bowl in my restoration because I truly do not like the tedious work of stem repairs and polishing. I always leave that until last even though I know that it needs to be done. For me the encouragement of seeing a rejuvenated bowl is the impetus I need to attack the stem work.

Today I started working on this pipe by turning to the bowl. I chose to deal with the darkening and burn damage on the rim edges and top. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to reshape and remove the rim top and damage. It took a little work but I was able to remove all of the darkening. It is a beautiful piece of briar with some great grain.Once rim top was reshaped and reworked I needed to blend them into the rest of the briar. 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 also work over the plateau areas at the same time. 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. For the past few years now I have been using Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a “waxy” paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar and the plateau. The product works to deep clean the nooks and crannies of finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips and let it sit for 10 minutes to do its work. I wiped it off with a soft cloth and buffed it with a cloth. The briar really took on a deep shine 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. Now it was time to address the part of the restoration I leave until last. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. The stem was in good nick other than the light oxidation on the top side. There were no tooth marks or chatter so it was simply a matter of polishing the stem and bring back a shine. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite 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 from oxidizing quickly.The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I first buff the stem and the briar with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. Blue Diamond is a plastic polish but I find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the vulcanite and the briar. I work the pipe over on the wheel with my finger or thumb in the bowl to keep it from becoming airborne. It works well and I am able to carefully move forward with the buffing. The briar and stem just shone! I finished with the Blue Diamond and moved on to buffing with carnauba wax. Once I have a good shine in the briar and vulcanite I always give the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I following up the wax buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I follow that up with a 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 vulcanite and acrylic combination stem. It really is a beautiful pipe. The smooth finish around the bowl sides and shank show the grain shining through the rich brown stains of this Charatan’s Make London England Belvedere 110X Bent Billiard with an S. Bang Silver Band. The finished pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.31 ounces/37 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Maker section.

Hopefully the shape writing 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 pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Having Fun with a Peterson System Pipe

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

What a handsome pipe! I found this republic-era Peterson Standard System 307 at a local antique fair and I was charmed by it right away. It’s quite a large pipe and the look of it gives one a feeling of confidence. It is satisfying and comfortable in the hand. Despite its rather shabby appearance when I found it, the pipe held great promise – and I was sure that I could tease out its beauty with a little TLC. 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_PipeOn to the pipe itself: the stem was in average condition – not especially dirty, but it had been well used. It had some notable dents, though. There was some damage to the top side of the P-lip and a tooth dent on the underside of the mouthpiece. I also noticed (but failed to photograph) that there were significant scratches at the shank-end of the stem, where I assume the stem had rubbed against the nickel mount on the shank. The bowl was moderately dirty and had quite a bit of lava which concealed some burn marks, and there was plenty of cake. Aside from some small fills, the outside of the bowl was fine. The nickel mount was in good shape – no dents or scratches of note – but it was dull and needed some polishing. 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 few bite marks and dents. Sadly, however, this did not do much. 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 – first with a small file – then with 220-, 400-, and 600-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. 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 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.I then 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. Now I could address the burn on the rim. I used a piece of tool steel to gently scrape away the burn residue, but I didn’t get the results I hoped for. So, 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. 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 it was time to address the tiny 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. As you can see, I made a mess to begin with, but I sanded the repair down with a file and 200- and 400-grit sandpaper until it was 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. This included buffing up the nickel mount to a beautiful shine! Off to the bench polisher! A dose of White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax were just what this pipe needed. Boy-oh-boy, this is one good-looking pipe! I’m pleased with the results.This Peterson Standard System 307 looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the Ireland pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. 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 2½ oz. (72 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

London meets Copenhagen – A Charatan’s Make Belvedere Lovat with an S Bang Silver Band

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Blog by Steve Laug

Once again in this write up and I will take you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. Jeff has set up a spread sheet to track where the pipe came from, the date of purchase and what we paid for it so that we know what we have invested in the pipe before we even work on it. This takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. This particular pipe was purchased on 11/10/2022 from Copenhagen, Denmark from a seller we buy a lot of pipes from. I also want you to understand why we take the photos we do. If you have followed for a while then you will see the familiar pattern of the photos we include both in the before and midstream process of working on a pipe. It is not accidental or chance as the photos have been taken to help me make an assessment of the pipe Jeff sees before he starts his clean up work. We do this to record the condition that the pipe was in when received it and to assess what kind of work will need to be done on. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

  1. The first thing I see is a unique Sterling Silver band on the shank that has become familiar from the pipes we have purchased from Copenhagen. Each one is much the same and all were made by S. Bang. I am pretty certain this is one as well. The question is if it is cosmetic like the others have been or does it take care of a crack in the shank. We shall see.
  2. The finish is dirty and there is oils from the smoker’s hands on both side of the bowl. There is grimed ground into the finish as well but even so there is also some great grain peeking through. From the exterior it does not appear that there is a crack in the shank but when Jeff examines it he will confirm either the presence or absence of a crack.
  3. The rim top had a thick lava overflow from the cake in the bowl. It was thicker on the back half of the rim top but present all the way around. It is hard to know if there is darkening or damage under the lava. Sometimes the lava protects the rim top and edges and sometime it hides issues. Its is very dirty looking.
  4. The bowl has a thick cake in it that hides the inner edge of the bowl but once it is clean we will know what the edges look like. The outer edges look good and there does not appear to be any obvious burn damage to the top or bowl edges.
  5. The vulcanite saddle stem is in good condition – dirty, lightly oxidized and has light tooth chatter on both sides. There does not appear to be a CP logo on the stem but the fit to the shank end is well done. It is hard to know with certainty if it is an original stem or a replacement.

Overall my impressions of this pipe is that it is a beauty that once cleaned up will look pretty amazing. The oxidized S. Bang fancy Sterling Silver Band adds a touch bling even though tarnished that does not detract from the beauty of the pipe. The exterior of the bowl does not show any hot spots or darkening. The pipe is very English looking and is a classic Lovat that has the distinctive cut of a Charatan. The photos below confirm the assessment above.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 quite thick and the rim top has lava and debris on it. You can also see the condition of the outer edge but the inner edge is a bit of a mystery at this point. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. While there is lava and darkening there is no visible burn damage at this point. The bowl is still fairly round. The photos of the stem surface from various angles confirmed my assessment of its condition. You can see the oxidation and the fit against the tarnished silver band on the shank end. The stem surface though dirty does not appear to have tooth marks – chatter yes, but no deep marks. The stem is quite dirty but otherwise undamaged. The next photos show the amazing grain around the heel and the sides of the bowl. Tell me what you see? Are there any visible problems that stand out to you? Are the cracks or scratches? Are there visible flaws or fissures in the briar? What kind of grain stands out around the bowl and heel? Any visible issues on the heel of the bowl? Even the questions should help you to see what I am looking for when I see these photos. You have read it a few times now in the previous blogs. What am I looking for when I look at the shank stamp? In this case it is stamped on the left side and reads Charatan’s Make[over] London England [over] Belvedere in three lines. How does the stamping look to you? Is it clear and readable? Is it faint in spots or is it uniform? I know you are looking at photos but so do I at this point in the process. The right side is also stamped and reads 1014 which is the shape number. The same questions apply here as well. The next photos show where London Meets Copenhagen. The stamping on the stylized silver band are simply BANG in one box and 325S in the second box. I love this kind of backstory on a pipe. How did an English made pipe from London connect with an S.Bang Sterling Silver Band? I know it happened in Copenhagen as that is where we bought the pipe. We asked the seller the story on it and he said that the older gentleman who owned this pipe took it along with several others from his collection to the S. Bang workshop and had them add bands to his pipes. They were not necessary as the shank was not cracked but the old pipeman just wanted some decorative bands on his pipes (he may well have been my age so old is such a relative term). However that happened it is a great story of the meeting of this London pipe with a Danish silvermaker. I have to say that I really like the result!An added part of pipe restoration for me is to try to gather as much background on a brand and maker as I can find. With Charatan that is an enjoyable web to untangle. There is a lot of information and it can lead to understanding what era a pipe was made in. To try to figure out the era of the Charatan’s pipe I was working on I turned to the Pipephil website, Logos and Stampings (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-charatan.html). There is some really helpful information on each of the lines of Charatan’s Make pipes that entered the market. There is an alphabetical listing of the lines but the Belvedere they showed had a stem made for a 9mm filter while the one I have is a nonfiltered pipe. The site did give a short history of the brand. I quote the portion that is most pertinent.

The brand was founded in 1863 by Frederik Charatan. When his father retired in 1910, Reuben Charatan took over the family business. All the pipes were handmade until 1973. The brand name has been overtaken by Dunhill in 1978 and sold in 1988 to James B. Russell Inc.(NJ, USA). During the period 1988-2002 Charatans were crafted by Butz Choquin in St Claude (France). Dunhill re-purchased Charatan brand name in 2002 and Colin Fromm (Invicta Briars, Castleford) followed up on freehand production.

Next I turned to Pipedia to see if I could find more information on the brand and possibly a link to the Belvedere line (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan) but once again in the general article it was not listed. It did give a little more historical information. I quote the pertinent parts and have highlighted in red the sections that give information on this particular pipe.

In 1863 Frederick Charatan, a Russian/Jewish immigrant, opened a shop in Mansell Street, located in the borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, where he began to carve Meerschaum pipes. These pipes got very popular soon, and thus Charatan moved to a bigger workshop in Prescot Street, just around the corner. Here he began to make briar pipes which should make the name famous the world over. Charatan was the first brand to make entirely hand-made briars from the rough block to the finished pipe including the stems. The nomenclature “Charatan’s Make” refers to this method of production and was meant to differentiate Charatan from other brands who “assembled” pipes from pre-drilled bowls and delivered mouthpieces.

Being the undisputed No. 1 in English pipemaking, Charatan was approached by Alfred Dunhill who was unsatisfied with the quality of the pipes he imported from France. During 1908 – 1910 Dunhill bought pipes from Charatan paying exorbitant prices to ensure he had some of the very best pipes for sale in England. In 1910 he lured away Joel Sasieni, one of Charatan’s best carvers, and opened his own small pipe workshop on 28 Duke Street. On the retirement of his father in 1910 Reuben Charatan took over the family business…

…The pre-Lane period (prior to 1955) and the Lane era pipes (1955 to until sometime between 1979 – 1984) are of primary interest the collector. The Lane era is often quoted as beginning about 1950… Charatan records are almost non-existent before Lane due to a factory fire, making it difficult to date pre-Lane pipes. Charatan used 4 basic grades prior to 1950: Supreme, Selected, Executive, and Belvedere. After 1950 Herman Lane’s influence began, and the grades started to expand. In 1955 Lane took over sole distributorship of Charatan in the US. In 1957 he introduced the Supreme S. Most of his other introductions were from the 60’s and early 70’s…

From this I am fairly certain I am dealing with a pre-Lane pipe made prior to 1955 and because of the Belvedere stamp it could potentially go back as far as before 1950. There are none of the expected Lane stampings on the pipe which also supports this.

I continued digging further into the dating of the pipe, but what I had found above was a good start for me. If some of you would like to try your hand at dating it more accurately as to the time period it came out you might want to check out the article on Pipedia on Dating Charatans (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dating_of_Charatans).

I also reread the article on Pipedia by the Italian fellow who contributed some really helpful information on the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan_-_Milan_2014). I quote the section on the Second period: Reuben Charatan 1910 – c. 1962. I have highlighted a portion of the section on the shank in red to point out some more helpful dating information.

– In 1962 Herman Lane took over the business from the Charatan family, although he had already influenced production from the 1950s.

– The pipes were mostly larger than the previous ones and corresponded in size to Dunhill group 5. These are slightly less rare, but still difficult to find.

– Stem: Usually in ebonite, saddle shaped or tapered, bearing a fine “CP” stamp, underbore system (see below) used when necessary.

– Shank: The shape code is stamped on it together with the nomenclature “CHARATAN’S MAKE LONDON ENGLAND” arranged in two lines. From 1955 onwards on the models marketed for the USA there is also a serif and circled capital “L” (but not all models bear this) which resembles the pound sterling symbol. The “L” is for Lane, the importer.

From 1958, Lane changed the nomenclature for models marketed for the US to clarify the message: “MADE BY HAND”.  In this period the underbore was introduced. Its manufacturing period ranged between 1920 and c.1930. This model was equipped with a duralumin plunger trap fitted in the stem, which served to clean the residue more easily. This particular model bore a special stamp on the stem, and also had its own catalogue…

QUALITY GRADES…The stem did not only display the stamps mentioned above. Another stamp that can help dating is the one referring to the quality of the pipe. Until Herman Lane arrived on the scene there were four quality grades. Starting with the lowest: Belvedere, Executive, Selected, and Supreme. Lane went on to add higher grades from time to time: Supreme S, Supreme S100, S150, S200, S250, S300, Coronation, Royal Achievement, Crown Achievement, and Summa Cum Laude; these last three are extremely rare and almost impossible to find. He also invented other, different grades, even changing the previous pipe classification standards. We will not go into detail here, but it means that if we find an S100 or Coronation the pipe was manufactured following Herman Lane’s acquisition. In particular, the FH mark, or Freehand pipe was commissioned to the famous Danish craftsman, Preben Holm.

Now I knew I was working on a pre-Lane pipe which actually means it was made before 1955 as shown by the stamping. I wanted to now see if I could find any information the shape 1014 number as it was not listed in any shape charts I could find.

I did a Google search of the Charatan’s Make London England Belvedere 1014 and was taken to one link. Interestingly it was on smokingpipes.com US website and it is the exact pipe I am working on sans the Bang band on the shank. The stamping the shape of the stem and all parts even the stain matches the one that I have in hand. I am also including a screen capture of the pipe (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/england/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=314515).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.

When the pipe arrives here in Vancouver I have a clean pipe and I go over it keeping in mind my assessment shared in the opening paragraph above. Now that I have it in hand I am looking for confirmation of what I saw in the photos as well as any significant structural changes in the bowl and finish as I go over it.

  1. I was correct in my thoughts that the band was a Bang. It is clearly stamped Bang along with the 325S silver quality designation. It is for cosmetic purpose only as there are no visible cracks in the shank as I go over the exterior and the internal end of the shank. IT is clear and it is a beauty. The oxidation is gone and the band looks very good.
  2. The finish is very clean and darkening from oils on the bowl sides is gone. The grain stands out on the surface of the clean briar. There are no cracks showing up in the grain lines or in the flaws under the grime. It is sound on the outside. I will need to polish the briar and buff it to bring back the shine.
  3. The rim top is clean of the lava but there is still some darkening on the top and edges of the bowl. The inner edge is ragged and shows both burn damage and also some previous reaming damage. It is still fairly round but not smooth. The good news for me is that there are no cracks showing up in the rim top. The rim top and edges were sound.
  4. The bowl was very clean and smelled clean. The clean walls did not show evidence of checking or cracking. There were no hot spots or damage on the walls or around the entrance of the airway into the bowl. It was clean and smooth which is great news for me. Both the shank and the bowl were very clean showing no debris on a clean pipe clean run through them. I would need to give it a final cleaning with pipe cleaners and alcohol once I had finished with the external work to remove the debris that may have collected there in the process.
  5. The vulcanite saddle stem is in good condition – it cleaned up very well. All oxidation is gone. It is a little rough to the touch and the light chatter is not deep at all. There is not a CP logo on the stem but the fit to the shank end is well done. It is hard to know with certainty if it is an original stem or a replacement.

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 lava was removed damage to the edge and top was revealed. Originally I thought it looked like reaming damage but I don’t think so as I examine it closely. I think it is actually burn damage to the edge that extends around the inner edge though it is heavier at the front and back of the bowl. The rim top also shows some damage. It is clean but will need to be worked on to bring it back to normal. I also go over the stem carefully. There were no tooth marks or dents in the stem. I could not see any sign of remaining CP stamping on the stem so no real clue as to whether it is original or a replacement. 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 in any way. It looks very good still. I also took a photo of the silver. I always appreciate the handiwork of the carvers at Charatan who turn a piece raw briar into a beautiful pipe. I love just looking at the beauty of the lay of the pipe with the grain and the proportion of the hand made pipes. I like to remove the stem from the shank to get a sense of what was in the mind of the pipe maker when he crafted the pipe. It is a beauty in flow and shape. By this time you should know that I almost always start with the bowl in my restoration because I truly do not like the tedious work of stem repairs and polishing. I always leave that until last even though I know that it needs to be done. For me the encouragement of seeing a rejuvenated bowl is the impetus I need to attack the stem work.

Today I started working on this pipe by turning to the bowl. I chose to deal with the darkening and burn damage on the rim edges and top. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to reshape and remove the rim top and damage. It took a little work but I was able to remove all of the darkening. It is a beautiful piece of briar with some great grain.Once rim top was reshaped and reworked I needed to blend them into the rest of the briar. 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 also work over the plateau areas at the same time. 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. For the past few years now I have been using a product developed by Mark Hoover called Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar and the plateau. The product works to deep clean the nooks and crannies of finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips and 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. Now it was time to address the part of the restoration I leave until last. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. The stem was in good nick other than the light oxidation on the top side. There were no tooth marks or chatter so it was simply a matter of polishing the stem and bring back a shine. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite 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 from oxidizing quickly.The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I first buff the stem and the briar with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. Blue Diamond is a plastic polish but I find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the vulcanite and the briar. I work the pipe over on the wheel with my finger or thumb in the bowl to keep it from becoming airborne. It works well and I am able to carefully move forward with the buffing. The briar and stem just shone! I finished with the Blue Diamond and moved on to buffing with carnauba wax. Once I have a good shine in the briar and vulcanite I always give the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I following up the wax buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I follow that up with a 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 vulcanite stem. It really is a beautiful pipe. The smooth finish around the bowl sides and shank show the grain shining through the rich brown stains of this Charatan’s Make London England Belvedere 1014 Lovat with an S. Bang Silver Band. The finished pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.31 ounces/37 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Maker section.

Hopefully the shape writing 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 pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.