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Resurrecting A Loewe “Sloane”

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

The next pipe is also from my inheritance and is similar to the “THE GOLDEN ARROW” that I had worked on earlier. This too is a large Canadian with an oval shank and flat stem. The stummel is covered in dirt and grime accumulated over the long years of uncared for storage. Through all the grime, beautiful cross grains and swirls can be seen and are waiting to be unraveled. This pipe is stamped on the top flat surface of the oval shank as “L & Co” in a lozenge while the right side of the shank edge is stamped as “LOEWE” over “LONDON. W”. The bottom of the oval shank is stamped “SLOANE”. The stem is sans any stampings.  I have worked on Loewe & Co. pipes before and also have many in my personal collection and I am fairly well versed with this brand. However, I visited pipedia.org and refreshed my memory with the history of the pipe, dating guide and shape names. The 1930s Loewe catalog is an interesting read and also has a  pipe stamped exactly as the one currently on my work table. Here is the link to the catalog: (https://pipedia.org/images/8/88/Loewe_pipes_1930.pdf).

However, further down on pipedia.org is a link to the 1967 Loewe catalog and it has no mention of the shape name SLOANE!

I have reproduced the details relevant to dating this pipe as found on pipedia.org below.

1920-1955 middle Haymarket era

Left shank: – L & Co. (in oval)

Right shank: – Loewe London W.

Underside of shank: – shape name Made in England (encircled) this may just have been on export pipes

*Prior to 1955 Loewe had no series, stamping only the shape name on the underside of the shank.

Thus, the pipe currently on my work table dates to pre-1955.

Initial Visual Inspection
The entire pipe is covered in dirt and grime and is sticky to the touch. There are dark patches on either sides of the bowl that would need to be checked thoroughly. There is a thick layer of cake in the chamber with lava overflowing the rim top surface. The inner rim edge is chipped and damaged giving the chamber an out of round appearance. The outer rim edge too has a number of minor chipped surfaces. The mortise is clogged and the vulcanite stem is deeply oxidized with deep tooth indentations in the bite zone. The button edges are damaged due to bite marks and would need to be rebuilt and reshaped. The pictures below would give you the general idea as to the condition of the pipe. Detailed Inspection
The chamber has a thick layer of even cake with overflow of carbon over the rim top surface. The condition of this Loewe, like all other Loewe pipes that I have inherited, has seen extensive use. Such extensive use, without proper care and maintenance, may cause heat related issues along the chamber walls. Here, the condition of the chamber wall will be known once the cake is taken down to bare briar. The inner rim edge is uneven and has suspected charring at 6 o’clock direction and between 9 o’ clock to 11 o’ clock on the left and also between 1 o’ clock and 3 o’ clock directions on the right side. The inner rim damage is encircled in yellow. The outer rim edge too has not been spared any punishment. There are minor dents/ dings and chipped surfaces all along the outer rim edge, likely as a result of knocking against a hard surface to remove the dottle. The outer rim damage is encircled in red. The extent of the damage to the chamber walls and rim of this pipe will be clear once the cake is completely taken down to the bare briar and the rim top surface is free of all the accumulated crud. The ghost smell are very strong and would need to be addressed.The stummel surface is covered in dirt/ grime and feels sticky to the touch. The surface has darkened considerably on either side of the bowl (enclosed in pastel blue) and at the rear and would need to be examined up close once the stummel is thoroughly cleaned both internally as well as externally. I suspect there is a crack (encircled in green) on the right side of the bowl within the darkened area (or it could even be a scratch) and needs to be verified. However, beneath the dull grime layer, beautiful cross and bird’s eye grain await being brought to the fore. Heavy accumulation of old oils, tars, ash and gunk is seen in the mortise as expected. The tapered vulcanite stem is heavily oxidized and has deep bite marks on both the lower and upper surface in the bite zone. The button edges are deformed as a result of these tooth indentations and would need to be reconstructed. My last project had thrown up some bad experiences about the end results of using the Gorilla superglue that I had recently purchased and will try it out again this time around. If the results are not up to standard, this and the other tubes will find their way out the door. The slot and tenon end show presence of dried gunk and would need to be thoroughly cleaned. The Process
I started the process of restoration by first cleaning the stem internals with anti-oil dish cleaning soap and thin shank brushes. I scrubbed the stem surface with the soap using a Scotch Brite pad, firstly to rid the surface of old oils and gunk and secondly to remove the loose surface oxidation. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners through the stem airway to remove all the traces of soap and dry out the stem internals.Next, I moved to external cleaning of the stem surface by dunking the stem into “Before and After Deoxidizer” solution developed by my friend Mark Hoover. The solution helps to draw out heavy oxidation to the surface making it’s further removal a breeze while the minor oxidation is eliminated to a very great extent. I usually dunk stems of 5-7 pipes that are in-line for restoration and the LOEWE SLOANE is marked in blue arrow. I generally allow the stems to soak in this solution overnight for the solution to do its work.The next afternoon, Abha fished out the stem from the deoxidizer solution and scrubbed it with a Scotch Brite pad to get rid of the loosened oxidation from the surface. She followed this scrub with a second scrub using 0000 grade steel wool and this helped in further removal of raised oxidation from the surface and even out the minor scratches resulting from using the Scotch Brite pad. She rinsed the stem under warm running water to completely remove the solution from the airway and slot end. She ran a couple of pipe cleaners to remove the last traces of residual deoxidizer solution from the airway and dry out the airway.  With the external and internal cleaning of the stem completed, Abha handed over the stem to me to complete the repairs. Continuing with the stem refurbishing, I heated the bite zone with the flame of a lighter to raise the tooth indentations to the surface. Though the results were not what were expected, the vulcanite was raised a little leaving behind two deep tooth compressions on either surfaces. The button edges and deeper tooth indentations on either surfaces of the stem were filled with a mix of CA Gorilla superglue and activated charcoal powder and set aside for the fill to cure. I really hope that this time around I get better results with using this new CA glue. Once the stem fills had cured completely, I moved ahead with the process of filing and shaping the button end with a flat head needle file. For a better blending, I further sanded the entire stem with 220. However, my worst fears came true…..I saw grey patches with air pockets, just as I had observed earlier while working on The Golden Arrow. I think the Gorilla glue does not work for me and I shall discard it after I get my regular brand of superglue in next few days. I continued to dry sand the entire stem with a folded piece of 400 followed by 600 and 800 grit sandpaper and further progressed to wet sanding with 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sand papers. However, the fills still appear dirty grey and a closer look showed the entire filled surface peppered with numerous tiny air pockets. I refilled the patches with a fresh mix of CA superglue gel and activated charcoal and set the stem aside. After the stem refills had cured completely, I went through the complete process of sanding and shaping the fills using a needle file followed by sanding with sandpapers as described above. Though the finish is better this time around, the coloration of the patch still remains a light shade of grey and easily discernible against the rest of the stem surface. It should be noted here that just like The Golden Arrow that I had restored earlier, I had to go through the complete repairs six times before this attempt and for the sake of brevity, I deliberately kept it short. Yet, the results are not what I expected and have been achieving consistently with other brands of superglue. I rubbed a small quantity of EVO into the stem surface and set it aside for the vulcanite to absorb and hydrate. With the stem repairs completed, save for the polishing cycle, I started with the stummel repairs. I started with reaming the chamber with my PipNet pipe reamer using head size 1 of the PipNet reamer blade and progressed through to head size 2. I used my fabricated knife to remove cake from areas inaccessible to the reamer blades and completed the process by sanding the walls smooth with a folded piece of 180 grit sandpaper. I wiped the chamber with a cotton swab wetted with alcohol to clean the residual carbon dust. The reasons for darkened sides of the bowl that I had noted during my detailed inspection were now evident. There are signs of charring to the walls of the chamber on the sides and at the bottom of the bowl. Also there are a few heat lines along the walls of the chamber. All these issues are indicated by green arrows.I gave a preliminary cleaning to the mortise and shank internals using q-tips and pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol. I shall continue with thorough cleaning of the shank internals during the external cleaning of the stummel. Next, I cleaned the external surface of the stummel with undiluted Murphy’s oil soap and a hard bristled toothbrush. I cleaned the smooth rim top surface with the soap and Scotch Brite pad. The darkened areas over both sides of the stummel and the rim top surface are now clean, exposing the gremlins hidden beneath the layer of dirt. I followed up the external cleaning of the stummel with internal cleaning of the mortise and shank using anti oil soap and shank brushes.  This external cleaning of the stummel has now clearly defined the suspected crack that I had noted during my detailed inspection (encircled in yellow). Also the internal cleaning of the chamber has brought the charring of the sides of the chamber walls to the fore (encircled in green). I now need to ascertain if this external crack is a direct result of the observed damage to the walls of the chamber. If it is so, it’s a clear sign of this crack developing into a burn out due to the thinning of the chamber walls.   Continuing with the internal cleaning of the chamber and mortise and also to ascertain if the external crack over the stummel surface is a result of the damage to the chamber walls, I subjected it to a salt and alcohol bath. I used cotton balls which is an at par substitute as I have realized over the years. I drew out a wick from the cotton and along with a folded regular pipe cleaner; inserted it into the mortise and through the draught hole and further into the chamber. Thereafter, I packed the chamber with cotton balls to about quarter of an inch below the rim inner edge and soaked the cotton balls with isopropyl alcohol up to the brim. About half an hour later, the level of alcohol had gone down, having being absorbed by the cotton. I observed that the alcohol had seeped out from the crack (encircled in yellow) as can be seen from the picture below. This needs to be addressed. However for now, I topped it up once again and set it aside overnight.By next afternoon, the cotton and alcohol had drawn out all the remaining oils/ tars from the chamber and mortise and loosened out any residual cake and tar build up, fulfilling its intended task. I removed the cotton balls and ran pipe cleaners through the mortise to clean out all the loosened tars and gunk. Using my fabricated tool, I scraped out the entire loosed gunk from the mortise and further cleaned it with alcohol and q-tips.While I was working on the stummel, Abha polished the stem by wet sanding the surface with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. She applied a little EVO to the stem surface for it to be absorbed in to the rubber. Though the grey repair patches are visible in the pictures, it is not so glaring in person.Staying with the stummel repairs, I first decided to stabilize the crack. I marked the end points of the cracks and drilled counter- holes using 1 mm drill bit mounted on a hand held rotary tool. I filled the crack and counter-holes with clear CA superglue and set it aside to cure.A while later, once the crack fills had sufficiently hardened; I addressed the rim top darkening and unevenness by topping the surface on a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I frequently checked the progress being made as I hate to lose briar more than what is absolutely necessary. The chamber now appears more out of round than before and would be addressed by creating a bevel over the inner rim edge.With a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper pinched between my forefinger and thumb, I imparted a nice bevel to the inner rim edge. This masked the out of round appearance of the chamber and also eliminated the minor charring over the edges.   Next, to protect and isolate the chamber walls from coming into direct contact with the burning tobacco and prevent a burn out, I coated the walls of the chamber with an even layer of J B Weld. J B Weld is a two-part epoxy Cold Weld in two tubes; hardener and steel which are mixed in two equal parts (ratio of 1:1) with hardening time of 5-6 minutes and complete curing time of 6-8 hours. I poured the contents of the two tubes on to a plastic sheet and mixed it well. I inserted a petroleum jelly coated regular pipe cleaner through the draught hole to prevent it from getting blocked due to the J B Weld mix. I applied this mix, as evenly as possible, over the entire chamber wall surface. I worked fast to ensure an even coat over the chamber walls before the weld could harden and set the stummel aside for the application to harden and cure overnight. The J B Weld coat had hardened completely by next day evening. I mounted a sanding drum onto my hand held rotary tool and setting the speed to half of the full RPM, I sanded the excess coat from the chamber walls. To further fine tune and keep the coat to a minimum thickness, I further sanded the coat with a 220 grit sand paper till I had a coat of a thickness that was just sufficient to protect the briar underneath. Here is how the chamber appeared at this stage.At this same stage, I also sanded and evened out the fills over the crack with a flat needle file and further matched it by sanding it with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. Unfortunately, I missed out on taking pictures of this process.

Abha completed the polishing of the stummel by wet sanding the surface with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. She wiped the stummel with a moist cloth in between the pads to gauge the progress being made. She massaged a small quantity of Before & After Restoration balm and set it aside for 10 minutes for the briar to rehydrate. Thereafter, she gave a rigorous hand rub using a microfiber cloth. The stummel now has a nice vibrant shine to it with the beautiful cross grains and bird’s eye grains resplendent in all their glory. I just can’t thank Abha enough for her help in polishing the stems and stummel of all the pipes that I restore. After I had protected the heel and the walls of the chamber with a coat of J B Weld, it was necessary to prevent this coat from coming into contact with the burning tobacco. I addressed this by mixing activated charcoal and plain yogurt to a thicker consistency, just enough that it would spread easily and applied it evenly all along the chamber walls after inserting a folded pipe cleaner through the draught hole to keep it open. Once dry and set, this will not only protect the walls but also aid in faster buildup of cake. I set the bowl aside for the bowl coat to cure for 72 hours.72 hours later, to apply the finishing touches, I mounted a cotton cloth buffing wheel onto my hand held rotary tool and applied a coat of Blue Diamond to the stummel and the stem to polish out the minor scratches. Next, I mounted a cotton cloth buffing wheel and setting the speed to ¼ of the full power, I applied a coat of carnauba wax over the stummel and the stem. I worked the complete pipe till the time all the wax was used up for polishing the stummel and the stem. The pipe now boasts of a beautiful and lustrous shine. I vigorously rubbed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine and also to clean away any residual wax that had been left behind. I am very happy with the way this beauty has turned out. P.S. – I am personally not happy with the way the stem repairs have turned out and will surely rework on it once the CA glue that I regularly use reaches me in next couple of weeks.  A big thank you to all the readers of this write up for sparing your valuable time and hope for your continued patronage. Until the next write up, be safe and healthy…

Cleaning Up a Lovely French Made GBD Sandblast Avoriaz 816 Oval Shank Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

Over the years Jeff and I have picked up many different GBD pipes from a variety of lines that all have a very English look and feel to them. We have also picked up quite a few that are from the French factory before the move to England. This pipe was purchased from an estate on 06/13/22 from Fort Myers, Florida, USA. The finish on the pipe is a sandblast that is deep but smooth and follows the grain around the pipe. The mix of black and brown stains of the briar looks very good with the black of the saddle stem. The rim top is crowned with a bevel inward and has some great grain. It was hard to know if there was damage with the thick cake in the bowl and the veritable eruption of lava over the top of the rim. The finish was quite dirty with grit, grime and oils ground into the surface of the bowl and shank. The shank is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank and reads GBD in an oval [over] Avoriaz. Next to the shank/stem junction there is the shape number 816 [over] France. The vulcanite saddle stem was lightly oxidized and well dented with tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There is a GBD brass oval roundel on the top of the saddle stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe to capture its condition when it arrived at his place. It was going to take some work to bring this one back to life. But both of us thought that it would be worth it. Jeff took photos of the rim top and bowl that show the cake and overflowing lava on the top and edges of the bowl. It is really hard to know what it looks like under all of that. We have learned that it will either be badly damaged or it will have been well protected. Only cleaning it off would reveal which result was on this pipe. The stem had a lot of tooth chatter and marks that are clear in the photos that follow. There is some oxidation and the calcification on the stem surface. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show condition of the briar. You can see the dust and debris ground into the bowl. The rim edge and top have some very nice grain. The sandblast is actually quite different. I wonder if it isn’t manipulated when blasting. It has a unique look to it. He took photos of the stamping on the underside shank. It was clear and readable as noted above. The brass GBD roundel looked good as well.   I always like to be able to set the pipe I am working on in its historical setting so I turn to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD) and read through the brand history. Toward the middle of the article I found what I was looking for. I quote below:

The Paris factory moved to Saint-Claude in 1952. Since 1981 the majority of GBD pipes come from the English factory.

The premium lines of GBD offered very good values, and are considered amongst the most affordable high end pipe of the 1960’s and earlier and a rival in quality, design, and price to Dunhill. Smokers’ Haven was the main retail supplier for GBD’s in the US until the early 1980’s.

GBD produced consistently well made pipes, almost entirely of Algerian or Grecian briar. In the late 1960’s to late 1970’s, they introduced the “Collector” and “Unique” lines, made primarily by Horry Jamieson, who had carved for Barling for many years, and was skilled in freehand design. Older GBD pieces are excellent smokers and unique in design. They did an excellent executions of classic pipe shapes, as well as some beautiful freehands in the “Unique” line. [2]

The following list comprises the better grades in descending order:

The pipe I am working on was stamped Avoriaz (not listed in the GBD line list) and with a shape number that is not on the list either. It is stamped France, thus I knew that it was made either in Paris before 1952 or in St. Claude after that date and before 1981 when production moved to England.

I wondered about whether Avoriaz was a French word or a region. I did a quick search on Wikipedia and found what I was looking for (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoriaz). I quote the introduction to the article on Avoriaz, a French Mountain Resort.

Avoriaz (French: [avoʁija], Franco-Provençal: [aˈvɔʁja, aˈvɔʁi])[1] is a French mountain resort in the heart of the Portes du Soleil. It is located in the territory of the commune of Morzine. It is easily accessible from either Thonon at Lake Geneva or Cluses station on the A40 motorway between Geneva and Chamonix. Either way one follows the D902, Route des Grandes Alpes,[2] to Morzine and then the D338 running from Morzine to Avoriaz. Snow chains are often necessary. Avoriaz is built on a shelf high above the town of Morzine, which is among the pioneering towns of skiing with its first lifts dating back to the early 1930s. Today Avoriaz is one of the major French ski destinations catering for all standards of skiing and ranks among the top snowboarding destinations of the world. Apart from snow-based pursuits, Avoriaz is also a centre for trekking, golf, VTT (mountain biking) and other outdoor activities during the summer. Cars are forbidden in Avoriaz. The resort is designed to be fully skiable. Other transport around the resort includes horse-drawn sleighs and snowcats during winter.

Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual focus on detail. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of the cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush and was able to remove the thick lava build up on the rim top. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He rubbed down the stem with Soft Scrub – an all purpose cleaner that works well to remove oxidation and calcification on a vulcanite stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. The rim top cleaned up really well. The crowned rim top, inner and outer edges of the bowl looked very good. The rim top and inner edge has some darkening on the back side of the bowl but there was no burn damage. The stem surface looked good with some small, deep tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It was readable as noted above.I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole.  I polished the crowned rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and dust.  I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips. I worked it into the deeper parts of the blast with a horse hair shoe brush. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a lighter to lift the tooth marks. It worked very well and many of the marks lifted. I filled in the remaining marks with clear CA glue and let the repairs cure. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to blend the repairs into the stem surface. I started the polishing with 400 grit sandpaper.    I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.  This French Made GBD Avoriaz 816 oval shank saddle stem Billiard is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The rich contrasting brown stained finish around the bowl is quite beautiful and highlights the sandblast grain. The stain and finish works well with the polished vulcanite stem. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished GBD Avoriaz 816 sits nicely on the desk top and in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inch, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 56 grams/1.98 ounces. I will be putting it on the French Pipe Maker section of the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Restemming and Reclaiming a worn and tired Portland Bruyere Garantie Canted Egg

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Blog by Steve Laug

Though I am not currently not taking on new work but trying to catch up on my backlog of pipes I have a commitment to doing repairs for customers of our local pipe shop. I have worked on several pipes for the pipeman who dropped this pipe and two others off at my house on Tuesday morning. All three had the tenons snapped off in the shank and two with broken or damaged stems. All three were heavily smoked with cakes almost completely filling in the bowls. It always make me wonder how one can fill a bowl when cake is so thick my finger would not fit in the bowl. The exterior of all three bowls were heavily caked with tars, oils and grime ground into the finish. The pipes reeked of the aromatic tobaccos that had been smoked in them. My wife bagged the three pipes and sealed them until I could get to them.

I decided to work on one of two oval shank canted eggs with oval saddle stems next. I opened the bag and removed both the bowl and the broken stem. I took photos of the bowl to show its condition before I started on it. I took photos to show the heavy grime on the bowl sides, the cake in the bowl and the heavy lava and damage to the rim top and inner edge. Somewhere along its journey the pipe had been banded. It was a real mess. I tried to pull the broken tenon and was not surprised that it was stuck in the shank. I put the bowl in the freezer and let it sit for 30 minutes. Once I removed it I used a screw turned into the airway to wiggle the tenon out of the shank. It actually came out quite easily. I went through my stems and found a new one that matched the broken piece of the previous stem. I took a photo. I would need to turn the cast tenon and remove the casting marks on the sides and the button on the pipe to get a fit. Here is a photo of the bowl with the new stem. Now it was time to clean it up so I could work on it. I like restoring clean pipes so that was going to be a lot of work but worth it to me to get rid of the grime. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer using the largest cutting head. I cleaned up the reamer with a Savinelli Fitsall PipeKnife. I sanded the walls of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. There was a small mountain of carbon. I scrubbed the externals of the pipe to remove the heavy oils and tar build up on the bowl. It took a lot of elbow grease using a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap. I worked on it until the grime washed away with running water. It looks much better at this point.  With the externals cleaned I turned my attention to the internals. I scrubbed the shank and the airway in the bowl with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol until it was clean. It was a mess. The stem was brand new and was very clean.I topped the bowl to prepare it for reworking the damage to the inner edge of the bowl. I wanted to smooth it out before working on the inner bevel of the bowl. I used a wooden ball and 220 grit sandpaper to give the bowl a bevel. The final photo of the four below shows the repaired and reshaped rim edge.  I set the bowl aside and worked on the fit of the stem. I drilled out the airway with a bit the same size as the guide pin on the tenon turning tool. I then used the tenon turning tool to remove and reduce the diameter of the tenon. I smoothed out the tenon with a sanding drum on my Dremel. I used a flat file and a smaller file to remove the casting marks on the sides of the stem and the end of the button. Once finished with the file it was looking much better. I put the stem on the shank and took photos of the look of the fit of the stem to the shank. I will need to do some shaping around the shank end but the fit in the shank is perfect. It is a snug fit. I went back to the bowl to finish the cleanup and restoration of it. I polished the it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad with a damp cloth. It looks far better than it did before even with the many fills in the briar around the bowl.   I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips. The balm works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then buffed it off with a soft cloth. It is a beautiful pipe.  I turned back to the stem. I shaped the stem and adjusted the saddle portion of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper. I removed excess vulcanite all around the top, bottom and underside to shape and get the fit next to the shank and brass band. I started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. The fit looked very good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with some Obsidian Oil. I finished hand polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – Fine and Extra Fine. I rubbed it down with another coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry. The stem really was beginning to look very good.   This was a very beat up Portland Bruyere Garantie Canted Egg and now with its newly fit black vulcanite saddle stem it looks far better than when I started. The reworked rim top works very will with the rest of the bowl. I polished the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The brown stain makes the grain just sing and it works well with the polished vulcanite stem. Have a look at the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 46 grams/ 1.62 ounces. Once I finish restemming the last of the pipes the three will be going home with the fellow who dropped them off. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe.

Restemming and Reclaiming a worn and tired No Name Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

Though I am not currently not taking on new work but trying to catch up on my backlog of pipes I have a commitment to doing repairs for customers of our local pipe shop. I have worked on several pipes for the pipeman who dropped this pipe and two others off at my house on Tuesday morning. All three had the tenons snapped off in the shank and two with broken or damaged stems. All three were heavily smoked with cakes almost completely filling in the bowls. It always make me wonder how one can fill a bowl when cake is so thick my finger would not fit in the bowl. The exterior of all three bowls were heavily caked with tars, oils and grime ground into the finish. The pipes reeked of the aromatic tobaccos that had been smoked in them. My wife bagged the three pipes and sealed them until I could get to them.

I decided to work on this billiard first. I opened the bag and removed both the bowl and the stem. It was a real mess. I took photos of the bowl to show its condition before I started on it. I took my normal foursome of photos and then added a few extra to show the heavy grime on the bowl sides, the cake in the bowl and the snapped tenon in the shank. Somewhere along its journey the pipe had been banded. Something about it makes me think it may well have been that I had banded and restemmed for the fellow quite a few ago. I did a bit of searching on rebornpipes for the blog but could not find it. In the big picture is did not matter but I am always very curious. I tried to pull the broken tenon and was not surprised that it was stuck in the shank. I put the bowl in the freezer and let it sit for 30 minutes. Once I removed it I used a screw turned into the airway to wiggle the tenon out of the shank. It actually came out quite easily. I went through my stems and found one that matched the broken one that had been included in the bag. I took a photo. I would need to reduce both the length and the diameter of the tenon to get a snug fit in the shank. It had a lot of potential but would take work to lift the dents in the stem and fit it to the pipe. Here is a photo of the bowl with the broken stem and the new one.Now it was time to clean it up so I could work on it. I like restoring clean pipes so that was going to be a lot of work but worth it to me to get rid of the grime. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer using the largest cutting head. I cleaned up the reamer with a Savinelli Fitsall PipeKnife. I sanded the walls of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. There was a small mountain of carbon. I scrubbed the externals of the pipe to remove the heavy oils and tar build up on the bowl. It took a lot of elbow grease using a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap. I worked on it until the grime washed away with running water. It looks much better at this point.  With the externals cleaned I turned my attention to the internals. I scrubbed the shank and the airway in the bowl and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol until it was clean. It was a mess.I topped the bowl to prepare it for reworking the damage to the inner edge of the bowl. I used briar dust and super glue to build up the heavily damaged areas around the edge. I layered it in place in the damaged area with a dental spatula. The second photo below shows the repair.I cleaned up the rough edge of the inner edge with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I wanted to smooth it out before working on the inner bevel of the bowl. I used a wooden ball and 220 grit sandpaper to give the bowl a bevel. The final photo of the four below shows the repaired and reshaped rim edge. I stained the rim top and edges with an oak stain pen to match the colour of the bowl. With the micromesh polishing it would be a good match.I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad with a damp cloth. It looks far better than it did before even with the many fills in the briar around the bowl.   I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips. The balm works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then buffed it off with a soft cloth. It is a beautiful pipe. The bowl looks surprisingly good when you consider what it looked like when I started. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the surface of the stem and then “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks and scratches. I was able to lift many of them. I used clear super glue to fill in those that remained. I sanded the surface of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the repairs and started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I also sanded the tenon with 220 grit sandpaper to reduce the diameter of the tenon and get a snug fit. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with some Obsidian Oil. I finished hand polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – Fine and Extra Fine. I rubbed it down with another coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry. The stem really was beginning to look very good.   This was a very beat up No Name Straight Billiard and now with its newly fit tapered black vulcanite stem it looks far better than when I started. The reworked rim top works very will with the rest of the bowl. I polished the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The brown stain makes the grain just sing and it works well with the polished vulcanite stem. Have a look at the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 60 grams/ 2.12 ounces. Once I finish restemming the other two pipes the three will be going home with the fellow who dropped them off. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe.

Reconstructing The Rim And Sprucing Up a 1961 Dunhill Bruyere Billiard

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

It’s been a long while since I have posted any write ups here and the primary reason is my laziness. I know and accept that these are very useful as references and as records of the work done till date and yet I enjoy restoring pipes more than doing the write ups.

One of my friends here is an avid collector of pipes and he expressed a desire to expand his collection restricted only to English made pipes. He wanted a Dunhill with crisp stampings (that is always a challenge!) and so began my hunt for one. I found one on eBay Germany, which had a seriously damaged rim edge but otherwise in great condition for a 61 year old pipe. I discussed this piece with my friend and soon the pipe made its way to India and is now on my work table. It’s a classic Billiard with a fishtail stem and a flat bottom that makes it a sitter. The briar is flawless and without any fills or imperfections as expected from Dunhill. The pipe is stamped on the left near the bowl and shank junction as “59” followed by “F/T” followed by “DUNHILL” over “BRUYERE”, all in capital letters, towards the shank end. The right side of the shank is stamped as “MADE IN” over “ENGLAND” with suffix 1 after letter D and followed by an encircled “4” and letter “A”. The upper surface of the stem bears the trademark White Dot of the brand.    The brand Dunhill is well researched and documented and pipedia.eu has reams of information on the same. However, of interest to me here is the dating of this pipe, which is fairly straight forward. The shape code 59 denotes Dunhill’s Billiards shape with tapered stem while F/T denotes fish tail style stem. The suffix numeral 1 after letter D denotes 1961 as the make year because firstly, the numeral is not underscored; secondly, it is the same size as the preceding letter D and finally, the letter ‘A’ denoting the finish is slightly larger than the circle enclosing the group size. The encircled letter 4 denotes the group size as 4 and the letter ‘A’ points to the Bruyere finish on this pipe.

With the dating conclusively established, I moved ahead with the initial inspection of the pipe.

Initial Visual Inspection
The first thing that one notices is the damaged rim edge, both aft and at the front. The chamber appears to have been reamed and is sans any cake. There is no lava overflow atop the rim surface. The stummel surface is dull, dirty and lackluster. Being a Bruyere finish, the stummel does not boast of excellent grains but it does prove its quality by being a flawless piece of briar without having a single fill or imperfection. There is a slight ghosting smell and would need to be addressed. The shank bottom is flattened making it a sitter. The stem is in fairly great condition with only a few bite marks over the button edges and some minor tooth chatter in the bite zone. Overall, it’s a very decent pipe and I hope to repair and restore this pipe to its former glory. Detailed Inspection
The chamber appears to have been reamed before the pipe was designated for sale by the previous owner and thus the chamber is devoid of any cake. All that remains is some dust and fine carbon particle accumulation along the walls of the chamber. The rim top is darkened but without any overflowing carbon. However, it’s all together a different ball game when it comes to the rim edges. The most significant damage is to the aft outer rim edge where a large chunk of briar has chipped away, most likely the result of a fall from some height. Similarly, the front of the rim outer edge too has a small chunk of briar missing and appears to be the result of knocking against a hard edge. Both these damages are encircled in yellow. The inner rim edge shows signs of charring in the 6 o’clock and 12 o’clock directions. These areas have been encircled in red. The chamber odor is light but present and would need to be completely eliminated. The stummel feels solid in the hand and the surface is sans any dents and dings. However, the surface is dull and dirty with the finish fading out from over the surface. A nice cleaning and polish of the stummel should make things interesting. The mortise and shank walls are clean. The tapered fishtail vulcanite stem is in good condition. There are some tooth indentations on the button edge on the upper surface with tooth chatter in the bite zone on either surface. The stem surface shows some minor oxidation that would be easily addressed. The stem airway is open but would benefit from a thorough internal cleaning.   The Process
I started the process of restoration by first cleaning the stem internals with anti-oil dish cleaning soap and thin shank brushes. I scrubbed the stem surface with the soap using a ScotchBrite pad, firstly to rid the surface of old oils and gunk and secondly to remove the loose surface oxidation.I dunked the stem into the deoxidizer solution overnight for the oxidation to be pulled out to the surface. I generally allow the stem to soak in the deoxidizer solution overnight. While the stem was sat aside in the deoxidizer solution, I moved ahead to deal with the stummel repairs. I started with reaming the chamber with a size 1 head of the PipNet reamer and progressed to size 2 head. Using my fabricated knife, I gently scrapped away the cake which could not be reached by the reamer head. I further cleaned the chamber with a folded piece of 180 grits sand paper to sand out the remaining traces of cake and expose the walls of the chamber to ascertain that there were no cracks/ heat fissures. I wiped the chamber with a cotton pad dipped in isopropyl alcohol to remove the carbon dust left behind by all the reaming and sanding process. This also reduced traces of old smells from previous usage. The walls of the chamber were solid with no damage.I cleaned the shank walls and mortise with a hard bristled pipe cleaner dipped in alcohol. I used a specifically fabricated scoop to scrape out the gunk from the shank walls and face of the mortise wall. There was not much to clean though!  Prior to moving ahead with the rim repairs, I decided to address the strong ghost smells from the chamber. To eliminate the ghost smells from the pipe, I decided to treat it with salt and alcohol. I used cotton balls which is an at par substitute to Kosher salt as I have realized over the years. I drew out a wick from the cotton and along with a folded regular pipe cleaner; inserted it into the mortise and through the draught hole in the chamber. Thereafter, I packed the chamber with cotton balls to about quarter of an inch below the inner rim edge. I soaked the cotton balls with isopropyl alcohol up to the brim. About half an hour later, the level of alcohol had gone down, having being absorbed by the cotton. I topped it up once again and set it aside overnight. By next afternoon, the cotton and alcohol has drawn out all the remaining oils and tars from the chamber and mortise and the cotton and alcohol had fulfilled its intended task. I removed the cotton balls and ran pipe cleaners through the mortise to clean out all the loosened tars and gunk. The chamber now smelled clean and fresh. I set the stummel to dry out naturally. The next day, I fished out the stem and cleaned it under running warm water and scrubbed the raised oxidation from the stem surface using ScotchBrite pad. I further removed the oxidation by scrubbing the stems with 0000 grade steel wool and applied a little olive oil to rehydrate the stems and set the stem aside for the oil to be absorbed.  I heated the surface of the stem with the flame of a lighter to raise the tooth indentations to the surface and followed it up by sanding with a piece of folded 220 grit sand paper. This helps to even out the raised surface, address minor tooth chatter and also remove the deep seated oxidation. I wiped the stem with a cotton swab and alcohol to remove the raised oxidation and the resulting sanding dust. The tooth indentations over the button edge, though greatly reduced, were still prominent and would need to be addressed.    Next I filled these tooth indentations with a mix of organic charcoal and clear superglue and set the stem aside for the fills to cure.   Once the fills had cured nicely, I moved ahead and began the process of filing and shaping the button end with a flat head needle file followed by further sanding the repair with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper.  To achieve a better blending of the repaired surface with rest of the stem as well as to polish the stem, I dry sanded the entire stem with 320, 600 and 800 grit sand papers followed by wet sanding using 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sand papers. This progressive use of higher grit sandpapers helps to reduce the sanding marks left behind by the more abrasive ones while completely eliminating the oxidation and imparting a clean shine to the stem surface.  To bring a deep shine to the vulcanite stem, I went through the dry sanding with 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads, and wiped the stem with Extra Virgin Olive oil to rehydrate the vulcanite. The repairs have blended in very well and the stem now looks shiny black and beautiful. The finished stem is shown below.  With the stem repairs and polishing now completed, I turned my attention to the stummel repairs and refurbishment. Using a hard bristled tooth brush dipped in undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap; I very deliberately scrubbed the surface of the stummel and the rim top. I also cleaned the mortise and shank internals using anti-oil dish washing soap and shank brush. I rinsed the stummel under warm running water and dried it using paper napkins and soft cotton cloth. The original reddish dye was also washed away to some extent, but that was not worrisome as I would be re-staining it after repairs. Next, I filled up the large areas of missing briar from the front and back of the outer rim edges with CA superglue and briar dust using the layering method. The only disadvantage of this method is the presence of large number of air pockets which necessitates repeated refilling with glue and briar dust. Once I was satisfied with the repairs, I set the stummel aside for the mix to cure completely.  The next evening, the repairs to the edge had completely cured and I moved ahead by filing and rough shaping with a flat head needle file. I further fine tuned the blending by sanding it down with a 150 grit sand paper. Here is how the repaired area appears at this stage. I am very pleased with the way this repair has progressed.    Thereafter, I took the stummel to the topping board with the aim of making the rim top surface smooth and even as the rim top was also rebuilt along with the edge. I topped the rim surface on 220 grit sandpaper with even circular rotations and frequently checked the progress being made. This step also helped to minimize the charring to the inner rim edge. I shall further mask the damage by creating a slight bevel to the inner edge. I am very pleased with the progress being made thus far. Once the repairs to the stummel were completed, it was time to polish and stain the stummel. I dry sanded the entire stummel with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads, wiping the stummel with a moist cloth after every pad. I massaged a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” into the briar with my finger tips and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works it’s magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance. I further buffed it with a microfiber cloth. I had hoped that the balm would work it’s magic on the filled area and help in blending it a bit, but unfortunately that did not happen. Well, moving on to the staining process after this step… While refreshing my readings about Dunhill lines, I remember having read that Dunhill achieved the trademark Bruyere color by having an undercoat of dark brown stain followed by deep red color stain. And that’s exactly what I decided to follow with a slight modification. I would first stain wash the stummel with DB stain and thereafter stain it deep red.

I mixed a small quantity of Fiebing’s Dark Brown Leather Dye with isopropyl alcohol to dilute it and applied it to the stummel with a folded pipe cleaner after heating the stummel with a heat gun. I let this stain wash set for a few minutes and vigorously wiped it down with a clean cotton swab. I repeated this process a couple of times till I was satisfied with coloration of the stummel. The next afternoon, I again heated the stummel surface with a heat gun and applied Fiebing’s Oxblood stain with a folded pipe cleaner. As I painted the stummel with stain over sections at a time, I lit the dye using a lighter which burns the alcohol in the aniline dye and sets the dye pigmentation in the wood. After fully saturating the stummel and covering the whole surface, including the rim top, I set the stummel aside to rest for several hours for the stain to set. A few hours later, I wiped the stummel with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl alcohol to remove any excess stain from the stummel surface and dry polished the stummel with 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. The repairs seem to have blended in pretty well to the naked eye, but under a camera, the repairs mark their presence. Yeah, I am pretty happy with the end result. This now gets me to that part of the process where I get to savor the fruits of my labor until this point, that being the final polishing with Blue Diamond and Carnauba wax!

I began the final polishing cycle by mounting a cotton cloth buffing wheel onto my hand held rotary tool and applied a coat of Blue Diamond to the stummel and the stem to polish out the minor scratches. With a cotton buffing wheel that I use for carnauba wax, I applied a coat of carnauba wax and continued to work on it till the complete coat of wax had been polished out. I mounted a clean cotton cloth buffing wheel and gave the pipe a once over buff. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buff using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. The finished pipe is as shown below and will soon make it’s way to my friend here for many more years of happy smokes. Thank you for reaching thus far with the write up and really appreciate you being part of my journey in the world of pipe repairs.

A GBD Mystery Pipe – Unreadable Shape Number and Line Information

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a nice looking oval shank Billiard with an oval saddle stem. The shape number and line information is worn off with buffing. The stem has the GBD brass rondelle in the top of the saddle. There is a very faint GBD stamp in a logo on the top of the shank and some very faint stamping on the top and underside. This pipe was purchased from a antique seller on 04/07/18 in Pocatello, Idaho, USA. The finish was very dirty but the briar shows some beautiful grain on the bowl and shank sides. The bowl had a thick cake and heavy lava overflow onto the rim top. It looked like the edges and top were damaged but we would know more once it was cleaned. The stem did not show oxidation but had bite marks on the top and underside of the stem surface of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe to show what it looked like before he cleaned it up. He captured the thick cake in the bowl and the heavy lava cake on the rim top. It really was a mess. I really wondered what the rim would look like under that. There appeared to be an inner bevel on the rim top. The photos of the stem show the tooth marks on the top and underside of the button surface. He captured the grain around the bowl sides and heel in the next photos. You can see the grime in the finish and a flaw in the briar on the lower front of the bowl. The stamping on the shank is very faint. It appears that there is a GBD in an oval and the faint numbers on the shank that are not clear. The brass oval on the stem top is in good condition. I did some digging on Pipephil and found that a French made GBD that was shown on the site was the same shape as the one I am working on (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-gbd.html). I have included a screen capture of the section below. The stamping on the one in hand is unreadable so I cannot be certain but it certainly looks like the same pipe. I turned to Pipedia to read about the French made GBD (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD). I have included the following information on the French made GBD. It gives me a possible date for the making of this pipe if it is indeed a French made pipe. That date is somewhere between early 1950s and the time the pipes moved to be made in England (1981). I quote:

The Paris factory moved to Saint-Claude in 1952. Since 1981 the majority of GBD pipes come from the English factory. At about that same time GBD merged with Comoys, since then all production for both GBD and Comoy comes from a single factory.

I then turned to a section on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD_Shapes/Numbers) where the shape numbers are listed. I went through the list and looked for an oval shank Billiard. I found the following listing that fits the pipe.

Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the lava, oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove lava build up on the rim top and you could see the great condition of the bowl top and edges of the rim. There was still some darkening to the rim top toward the back of the bowl. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it.  I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the condition of the bowl and rim after Jeff had cleaned up the grime and lava. The beveled rim top had some darkening on the whole rim top though darker on the backside of the rim and there were cuts, dings and nicks in the surface. The stem photos show the tooth marks and chatter on the stem and the button surface. It appears that the brass GBD rondelle is slightly crooked.I took photos of the faint stamping on the top and underside of the shank. The GBD oval is barely visible on the top of the shank. There are also remnants of the shape number on the underside.  I decided to address the damage on the rim top and edges. To begin I sanded the top of the rim on a topping board to smooth out all the cuts and ridges on the rim top.    I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to start the bevel on the inner edge of the rim. The goal would be to restore the original one. I then used a wooden ball wrapped with 220 grit sandpaper to work over the rim top and give the inner edge a bevel.  I filled in the flaw in the briar on the front of the bowl heel with clear CA glue. I set it aside to cure. I carefully filled it so I could polish it off with 1500 grit micromesh once it cured.I polished the bowl and rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad to remove the sanding debris. After the final sanding pad I hand buffed it with a cotton cloth to raise a shine.   I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into finish of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Restoration Balm really makes the grain stands out beautifully.   I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I used some black CA glue to rebuild the button top and bottom. I set it aside to let it cure.  Once it cured I used a small file to redefine the button edge and flatten out the surface of the stem. Once I had removed the largest part of the fills I used clear CA glue to fill in the air bubbles and work on the repaired edge shape.  I then used the file to flatten and reshape those repairs.  I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to blend the repairs into the surface of the stem. I started polishing the stem with a folded piece of 400 grit sandpaper. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil.    I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and gave it a final coat and set it aside to dry.     I put the stem back on the GBD Mystery Oval Shank Saddle Billiard and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I polished the briar and the vulcanite of the stem until there was a rich shine. This classic oval shank Billiard shape and finish really highlights some amazing grain on a proportionally well carved pipe. Once I buffed the pipe the briar came alive and the mixture of grain – straight, flame and birdseye – popped with polishing. The repaired black vulcanite stem had a rich glow. This GBD Oval Shank Billiard fits well in the hand and sits right in the mouth. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.23 ounces/35 grams. This beauty will be going on the rebornpipes online store in the French Pipemakers Section. If you are interested let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as it was a pleasure to work on.

Restoring 1953 Parker Super Bruyere Patent 63/F Lovat

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table was purchased on 08/16/17 from the same estate in Portland, Oregon, USA as the other Parker I worked on. This one is a beautiful little Parker Lovat. The stamping on the left side of the shank reads Parker over Super in a diamond over Bruyere. To the left of that next to the shank bowl junction is the shape number 63/F. On the right side of the shank the stamping reads Made in London over England with an underlined superscript 3 following the D in England that is the date stamp 1953. The date stamp was easily read after the previous 1954 Parker Super Bruyere Cherrywood that I restored and added to my collection (https://rebornpipes.com/2022/07/16/restoring-my-birth-year-1954-parker-super-bruyere-patent-cherrywood-281-f/). Further stamping under that reads PAT NO. 116989/17 which should also help with dating the pipe. The finish on the pipe was filthy with grime ground into the briar. There was a thick cake in the bowl that flowed out on top of the crowned rim top and down the outer edge of the rim. The cake was thick so it was hard to know what the edge of the rim looked like. The stem was heavily oxidized and calcified with tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button. There was a Diamond P logo on the top of the stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he cleaned it up. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the pipe. You can see the cake in the bowl and the thick lava build up on the inner edge and the rim top. The stem photos show the oxidation and tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. He took photos of the bowl and the heel to capture a sense of the grain around the bowl. It is a really nice piece of briar.   He took photos of the stamping on sides of the shank as well as the logo stamp on the top side of the saddle stem. All are clear and readable as noted above.    I have worked on quite a few Parkers over time but this is the second one stamped with both a date stamp and a Patent number. The superscript 3 after the D in England and a Patent Number under that. The pipe was a 1953. I found a picture of a pipe that had the same stamping on both sides of the shank as the one I am working on but it has a different shape number and date after the D (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-parker.html). I have included a screen capture of the section showing pipe. At the top of the listing there was a short summary of the history of the brand. I quote from it below.

Parker Pipe Co. was created in 1923 by Dunhill. After Dunhill acquired Hardcastle the two companies were merged (1967) in the Parker-Hardcastle Ltd.

Patent number 116989/17 is the only one which may appear on a Parker pipe prior to 1954. This was the year Parker and Dunhill both stopped stamping pat#.

On the side bar next to the listing for Parker Super Bruyere the following information was available.

Like Dunhill pipes, Parkers were also date coded but had a independent cycle.

  • From 1925 through 1941 the date code of Parker pipes runs from 2 to 18.
  • From 1945 through 1949 the date code runs from 20 to 24.
  • From 1950 through 1957 (at least) date suffix run from an underlined and raised 0 to 7.

Pat n° 116989/17 is the number corresponding to the Inner Tube patent (with flange).

I turned to Pipedia and did a bit more reading on the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Parker). I quote in part below:

In 1922 the Parker Pipe Co. Limited was formed by Alfred Dunhill to finish and market what Dunhill called its “failings” or what has come to be called by collectors as seconds. Previous to that time, Dunhill marketed its own “failings”, often designated by a large “X” over the typical Dunhill stamping or “Damaged Price” with the reduced price actually stamped on the pipe.

While the timing and exact nature of the early relationship remains a bit of mystery, Parker was destined to eventually merge with Hardcastle when in 1935 Dunhill opened a new pipe factory next door to Hardcastle, and purchased 49% of the company shares in 1936. In 1946, the remaining shares of Hardcastle were obtained, but it was not until 1967 when Parker-Hardcastle Limited was formed.

It is evident through the Dunhill factory stamp logs that Parker and Dunhill were closely linked at the factory level through the 1950s, yet it was much more than a few minor flaws that distinguishing the two brands. Most Dunhill “failings” would have been graded out after the bowl turning process exposed unacceptable flaws. This was prior to stoving, curing, carving, bit work and finishing. In others words, very few Parkers would be subjected to the same rigorous processes and care as pipes destined to become Dunhills. Only those that somehow made it to the end finishing process before becoming “failings” enjoy significant Dunhill characteristics, and this likely represents very few Parker pipes.

After the war, and especially after the mid 1950s the differences between Parker and Dunhill became even more evident, and with the merger of Parker with Hardcastle Pipe Ltd, in 1967 the Parker pipe must be considered as an independent product. There is no record of Parker ever being marketed by Dunhill either in it’s retail catalog or stores.

Parker was a successful pipe in the US market during the 1930s up through the 1950s, at which point it faded from view in the US, while continuing to be popular in the UK. It was re-introduced into the US market in 1991 and is also sold in Europe…

…Prior to Word War II, the possessive PARKER’S stamp was used. However, at least some pipes were stamped with the non-possessive as early as 1936.

Like Dunhill, Parker pipes are date stamped, but differently than Dunhill. The Parker date code always followed the MADE IN LONDON over ENGLAND stamping. The first year’s pipes (1923) had no date code; from 1924 on it ran consecutively from 1 to 19.

There is no indication of a date code for the war years. Parker was not a government approved pipe manufacturer, while Dunhill and Hardcastle were. During the war years Parker manufactured the “Wunup” pipe made of Bakelite and clay. A Parker pipe with a 19 date code has been reported, indicating there was perhaps some production of briar pipes as well, but no dating record.

From 1945 through 1949 the Parker date code runs from 20 to 24 and from 1950 through 1957 it runs from an underlined and raised 0 to an underlined and raised 7.

A little help here from anyone with date code information beyond 1957 would be most appreciated.

The site did give me a lot of information about the Parker brand and its connection to Dunhill. It confirmed without a doubt that the pipe that I was working on was made in 1953 from the date stamp underlined superscript 3 following the D in England. The Patent Number 116989/17 is the only one which may appear on a Parker pipe prior to 1954. This was the year Parker and Dunhill both stopped stamping Patent Numbers. The patent refers to an inner tube with a flange.

Jeff cleaned the Parker up really well. He reamed it with a Pipnet Reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife.  He had scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush and rinsed it off with warm water to remove the grime from the finish. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners to remove the tarry residue and oils from the airway in the shank and stem. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the stem surface. When it arrived here on my work table I took photos of the pipe before I started my part of the restoration. The pipe looked very good with a light oxidation still remaining on the stem surface. The Diamond P stamp was clean but had no colour left in the stamping.   The inner and outer edges were in good condition. There was some darkening on the back of the rim top and around the inner edge. There was some light marks or nicks on the front edge. The stem looked good but there was still some oxidation and there were tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping is clear and readable and reads as noted above.  I took the stem off the pipe and took a photo of the parts to show the look of the pipe as a whole. I started my work on the inner edge of the bowl and rim top with a folded piece of sandpaper to clean up the darkening and damage. It looked much better after the work.   I polished the rim top and bowl with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads to polish the briar. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad.   I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. You can see the grain showing through the deep glow. I “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a Bic lighter. I was able to lift the dents and then sanded out the remnants of chatter and marks with 220 grit sandpaper. I started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.      I touched up the Diamond P stamp with White Acrylic Fingernail Polish. I pushed it into the stamping with a tooth pick. I scraped it off with the tooth pipe and a cotton pad to remove the excess and still leave some in the stamping.  Afterwards I used a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad to remove the remaining acrylic.    I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad.    This 1953 Parker British Made Super Bruyere 68F Lovat is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The medium reddish brown stain highlights the grain and works well with the polished vulcanite bent taper stem. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Lovat fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are; Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ inches. The weight of the pipe is 1.20 ounces/34 grams. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the British Pipemakers Section. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

Reclaiming a Beautiful Grain de Luxe Prince

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe is a really nicely grained Prince with a slender vulcanite taper stem. The classic Prince was made to hold in your hand and has a flat bottom on the bowl and shank so it can be a sitter as well. It is another light weight pipe with a taper stem and looks comfortable. We picked up this pipe off eBay on 02/10/18 from Manchester Township, New Jersey, USA. Jeff cleaned the pipe in 2018 and now I am working on it in 2022 so it has been sitting around here for over four years. The stamping is on the left side and reads Grain de Luxe and on the right side reads Algerian Bruyere. The exterior of the briar was filthy and had ground in dust and grime in the finish but the grain shone through the dirt. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a thick overflow of lava on the inner edge and rim top. It was hard to know what the edge looked like underneath the lava but the cleaning would make it very clear! The stem was oxidized, calcified and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe to give a clear picture of what we were up against with this pipe. He captured the cake in the bowl and the debris and lava on the rim top and edges in the next photos. It was very clear that it was another exceptional smoker! The stem is oxidized, calcified and shows the tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There is an oval shaped mark on the top of the stem in the photos. It appears that there was a decal of something on the top of the stem that had long since disappeared. Jeff captured some of the beauty of the shape and the grain in the next photo. The mix of grains in the smooth portions and the rustication is quite lovely as can be seen in the photo of the heel. The second photo below shows the large flaw in the briar on the heel.    He took a photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clearly stamped on the right and left and reads as noted above.    I am enjoying a nice artisan Red Ale made by Luppolo Brewing here in Vancouver as I work on this next pipe. It is really a unique short snorter. Jeff had done a great cleanup on the pipe. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the bowl exterior with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the grime on the finish of the bowl and the lava from the rim top. He rinsed it under running water. One of the benefits of this scrub is that it also tends to lift some of the scratches and nicks in the surface of the briar. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He cleaned the internals and externals of the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water and cleaned out the airway in the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I took photos of the pipe as it looked when I put it on the table.   I took photos of the rim top and stem to show the condition. The rim top had some darkening and there was damage on the inner edge of the bowl. There were also some small nicks in the outer edge at the back of the bowl. The stem was vulcanite and there were tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The oval mark on the top of the stem was no longer visible.   I took photos of the stamping on the left and right side of the bowl to show the stamping that was there. It was clear and readable as noted above.    I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the proportions of the bowl and stem.I started my work on pipe by dealing with the roughening of the inner edge of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper. I also smoothed out the damage and the darkening on the rim top and was able to smooth it out and remove the damage. The finished bowl top and inner edge looked much better.   I filled in the flaws in the bottom of  the bowl and left side with clear CA glue. Once it cured I sanded the spots smooth with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surface of the briar.   I polished the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down between pads with a damp cloth to remove the debris. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes, then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Balm did its magic and the grain stood out on the briar.  I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks with the flame of a lighter and was able to lift all of them. I sanded out the remaining chatter with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper and then started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.  I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I finished the polishing with Before & After Polishes – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final rub down with Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry.  I checked the fit of the stem in the shank and found that it was a bit loose. I checked out the shank end and found some small cracks – multiple hairline fissures on the shank end but none worked their way up the shank. I went through my bands and found one that was the right size for the shank. I pressed it on to the shank end by pressing it against the place mat that I worked on. It tightened up the fit of the stem in the shank and added a nice touch to the pipe.    I took photos of the pipe with the stem on the shank end. The look works well with the wood and the vulcanite. It was a great final touch with this restoration.   This Grain de Luxe Algerian Bruyere Prince with a polished brass band and a vulcanite taper stem has beautiful grain around the bowl and shank. The rich browns and blacks of the contrasting stain makes the grain come alive with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Grain de Luxe Prince really is unique looking and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.13 oz./32 grams. This pipe will soon be on the American Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Restoring a Patent Dunhill Shell Briar 253 Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is another Dunhill Group 4 size Shell Briar Billiard with a taper stem that is proportionally well done. It has a three digit the shape number that I will define below. This is another pipe from the group which Jeff and I purchased on 04/26/2022 from a woman who contacted us from Cleveland, Ohio, USA. They had belonged to her husband’s father. We spent time chatting with her and arrived at a price and she sent the pipes to Jeff. It included 28+ pipes along with this one.

This Dunhill Billiard is stamped on the underside and reads 253 on the heel of the bowl followed by Dunhill followed by what I think is Shell Briar though it is very faint. The Made in England stamp is not present and there is no date stamp. The remnant of a circle and what I think would be a 4S by comparative size. Underneath the Dunhill stamp there is a partial stamp PATENT No…. with everything following gone. The finish was very dirty with spots of grime and debris stuck on it. The bowl had a thick cake in the bowl and heavy lava overflowing onto the rim top. The rim top appeared to have burn on inner edge. It was hard to know what was under the lava at this point. The stem had calcification, oxidation and tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The button itself appeared to be in good condition. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and rim top and edges. The lava is so thick that is hard to know what the edges and top look like underneath. The sandblast on the rim top is also completely filled in with tar and lava. The stem was heavily oxidized, calcified and has tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The white spot on the stem was missing as well. Overall the pipe is a real mess. Jeff took a photo of the sandblast finish around the bowl side and heel. It was nice looking if you can see through the grime ground into the rugged, deep blast. He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the bowl, shank and stem. The stamping is quite worn, but is partially readable. It reads as noted above. Now it was time to begin to work on the stamping on the pipe. The stamping was very faint but some of it was readable. I knew it was a Dunhill Shell or maybe Shell Briar (not sure). I knew the shape number was 253 a billiard. I knew there was a partial Patent No. Stamp but the number itself was not visible. I turned to Pipedia for some help with what I could ascertain from the partial stamping (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Bruyere). The first quote below give the short version of the finish. I quote from it below.

Shell – A deep craggy sandblast with a black stain finish (usually made using Algerian briar) – the color of the stain used has varied over the years. Although there is some doubt as to them being the first to sandblast pipes, Dunhill’s Shell pipes, and the sandblasting techniques developed to create them are considered one of Dunhill’s greatest and most lasting contributions to the art of pipe making.

The documented history of Dunhill’s inception of the Shell is largely limited to patent applications — there are no catalog pages or advertisements promoting blasted pipes at the time. The preliminary work on the English patent (No. 1484/17) was submitted on October 13, 1917. The patent submission was completed half a year later, on April 12, 1918, followed by the granting of the English patent on October 14, 1918. This was less than a month before the end of The Great War on November 11th.

In 1986 Dunhill released a line of premium Shell finish pipes – “RING GRAIN”. These are high-quality straight grain pipes which are sandblasted. Initially only Ring Grain, but now in two different finishes. In 1995 the “Shilling” was introduced with Cumberland finish – it is an extremely rare series. These pipes exhibit a deeper blast characteristic of that of the 1930’s – mid-1960’s (and the limited ‘deep blast’ pipes of the early 1980s) and show a fine graining pattern. These are considered the best new Dunhills by many enthusiasts today and are very rare. The finish is sometimes described as tasting like vanilla at first, with the taste becoming more normal or good as the pipe breaks in.

With that information clear for me I wanted to identify the shape number and try to pin that down (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill_Shape_Chart). I turned to the section on the 3 digit Shape Numbers and read it. I quote it below.

A 3-digit system (“Interim”) was developed that showed a logical approach to identify pipes in terms of size, mouthpiece, and shape, with the 1st digit being the size, the 2nd digit the mouthpiece, and the 3rd digit the shape, i.e. the old “85” became a “321” which was a group 3 Apple with taper mouthpiece. This was soon to be replaced by a more detailed, formal 4- and 5-digit system around 1978.

With the information on the 3 digit stamp not making clear enough the meaning of the number I turned to another link on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill_Shapes_List) to a shape list that Eric Boehm put together for Dunhills. It is amazing to see the sheer number of variations on the Billiard shape. I copied several 3 digit numbers in the list as it includes the shape 253.

  • 252 Billiard, tapered bit 4 5¾” 1950, 1969 3
  • 253 Billiard, tapered bit 4 57/8″ 1950, 1969 3 (This is the pipe I am working on. It is a tapered bit Billiard.)
  • 260 Billiard, tapered bit 2 5½” 1950, 1969 3

I knew that the pipe shape number locked in a time period 1950, 1969 – a  time span that I probably would not be able to narrow down further due to the missing date stamp.

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Before he sent it to me, Jeff had done an amazing job cleaning the pipe. It almost looked like a different pipe after his work. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and then rinsed it off with warm water. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and a tooth brush and rinsed it off with warm water. It looked amazing when I took it out of the package of pipes he shipped me. I forgot to take photos before I started my work on the stem so the top down photo shows the start of my repair to the missing white spot. I took photos of the pipe when I remembered.  The rim top was cleaner and the inner and outer edge of the bowl showed some damage. The rim top had smooth spots that would need to be worked on and the sandblast surface had been worn off. The stem surface looked good with the oxidation gone and light but visible tooth chatter on either side of the stem. The White Spot was also missing from the stem top. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is faint and barely readable as noted above.I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the parts of the pipe. It is another great looking Dunhill Shell Briar with a craggy blast. I started my portion of the work on this pipe by addressing the damage to the inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the edge and give it a slight bevel to deal with the chipping and cutting on the inner edge. I also lightly topped the bowl to give it a smooth working surface and to remove the deep cuts and chips.I used a series of burrs on my Dremel to copy the finish that was on the good spots on the rim and sides. I took a photo of the burrs and the rim top once I had finished the rustication process. It looked better and once stained to match the bowl it would look very good.I used a Mahogany, Cherry and Black Stain Pen to restain the rim top and the inner bevel of the rim edge. Once it dried I worked it over with a brass bristle wire brush. The rustication I did on the top of the rim approximated the depth of the sandblast around the sides of the bowl and gave the rim top a very tactile feel.The bowl looked good at this point so I rubbed it down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl and shank with my fingertips and a horse hair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about 10-15 minutes and buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I decided to build up the missing White Spot on the stem top. I used some acrylic white spots and acrylic white fingernail polish to fill the hole. I layered in the spots and fingernail polish. I continued until the spot was smooth and set it aside to cure. Once the acrylic hardened I sanded it smooth and put a drop of clear CA glue on it to seal it and make the surface smooth. I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil to finish it. This Sandblasted Patent Dunhill Shell Briar 253 Taper Stem Billiard is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The rich Shell Briar sandblast finish that highlights the grain and works well with the polished vulcanite stem. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Dunhill Shell Briar 253 Billiard is a Group 4 size pipe that will be a great smoker. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ 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 28 grams/1.02 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the British Pipemakers Section of the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection be sure to let me know. I take a moment to remind myself and each of us that we are trustees of pipes that will outlive us and the lives of many other pipe men and women who carry on the trust of their care and use. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring My Birth Year 1954 Parker Super Bruyere Patent Cherrywood 281/F

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table comes from —. This one is a beautiful little Parker Cherrywood. The stamping on the left side of the shank reads Parker over Super in a diamond over Bruyere. To the left of that next to the shank bowl junction is the shape number 281/F. On the right side of the shank the stamping reads Made in London over England with an underlined superscript 4 following the D in England (a date stamp). The date stamp gave me an idea. I have a hunch about the date but I would do a bit more work to make sure my hunch was correct. If it was then this beauty would be staying with me. Further stamping under that reads PAT NO. 116989/17 which should also help with dating the pipe. This pipe was purchased on 08/16/17 from an estate in Portland, Oregon, USA. The finish on the pipe was filthy with grime ground into the briar. There was a thick cake in the bowl that flowed out on top of the crowned rim top and down the outer edge of the rim. The cake was thick so it was hard to know what the edge of the rim looked like. The stem was heavily oxidized and calcified with tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he cleaned it up. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the pipe. You can see the cake in the bowl and the thick lava build up on the inner edge of the rim top. The stem photos show the oxidation and tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. He took photos of the bowl sides and the heel to capture a sense of the grain around the bowl. It is a really nice piece of briar.   He took photos of the stamping on sides of the shank as well as the logo stamp on the top side of the taper stem. All are clear and readable as noted above.    I have worked on quite a few Parkers over time but have not seen one stamped like the one I have now. The superscript 4 after the D in England and a Patent Number under that. My hunch was that this was a 1954 pipe and thus it was one from my birth year. I found a picture of a pipe that had the same stamping on both sides of the shank as the one I am working on but it has a different shape number (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-parker.html). I have included a screen capture of the section showing pipe. The information in the capture confirms the 1954 date for me.At the top of the listing there was a short summary of the history of the brand. I quote from it below.

Parker Pipe Co. was created in 1923 by Dunhill. After Dunhill acquired Hardcastle the two companies were merged (1967) in the Parker-Hardcastle Ltd.

Patent number 116989/17 is the only one which may appear on a Parker pipe prior to 1954. This was the year Parker and Dunhill both stopped stamping pat#.

On the side bar next to the listing for Parker Super Bruyere the following information was available.

Like Dunhill pipes, Parkers were also date coded but had a independent cycle.

  • From 1925 through 1941 the date code of Parker pipes runs from 2 to 18.
  • From 1945 through 1949 the date code runs from 20 to 24.
  • From 1950 through 1957 (at least) date suffix run from an underlined and raised 0 to 7.

Pat n° 116989/17 is the number corresponding to the Inner Tube patent (with flange).

I turned  to Pipedia and did a bit more reading on the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Parker). I quote in part below:

In 1922 the Parker Pipe Co. Limited was formed by Alfred Dunhill to finish and market what Dunhill called its “failings” or what has come to be called by collectors as seconds. Previous to that time, Dunhill marketed its own “failings”, often designated by a large “X” over the typical Dunhill stamping or “Damaged Price” with the reduced price actually stamped on the pipe.

While the timing and exact nature of the early relationship remains a bit of mystery, Parker was destined to eventually merge with Hardcastle when in 1935 Dunhill opened a new pipe factory next door to Hardcastle, and purchased 49% of the company shares in 1936. In 1946, the remaining shares of Hardcastle were obtained, but it was not until 1967 when Parker-Hardcastle Limited was formed.

It is evident through the Dunhill factory stamp logs that Parker and Dunhill were closely linked at the factory level through the 1950s, yet it was much more than a few minor flaws that distinguishing the two brands. Most Dunhill “failings” would have been graded out after the bowl turning process exposed unacceptable flaws. This was prior to stoving, curing, carving, bit work and finishing. In others words, very few Parkers would be subjected to the same rigorous processes and care as pipes destined to become Dunhills. Only those that somehow made it to the end finishing process before becoming “failings” enjoy significant Dunhill characteristics, and this likely represents very few Parker pipes.

After the war, and especially after the mid 1950s the differences between Parker and Dunhill became even more evident, and with the merger of Parker with Hardcastle Pipe Ltd, in 1967 the Parker pipe must be considered as an independent product. There is no record of Parker ever being marketed by Dunhill either in it’s retail catalog or stores.

Parker was a successful pipe in the US market during the 1930s up through the 1950s, at which point it faded from view in the US, while continuing to be popular in the UK. It was re-introduced into the US market in 1991 and is also sold in Europe…

…Prior to Word War II, the possessive PARKER’S stamp was used. However, at least some pipes were stamped with the non-possessive as early as 1936.

Like Dunhill, Parker pipes are date stamped, but differently than Dunhill. The Parker date code always followed the MADE IN LONDON over ENGLAND stamping. The first year’s pipes (1923) had no date code; from 1924 on it ran consecutively from 1 to 19.

There is no indication of a date code for the war years. Parker was not a government approved pipe manufacturer, while Dunhill and Hardcastle were. During the war years Parker manufactured the “Wunup” pipe made of Bakelite and clay. A Parker pipe with a 19 date code has been reported, indicating there was perhaps some production of briar pipes as well, but no dating record.

From 1945 through 1949 the Parker date code runs from 20 to 24 and from 1950 through 1957 it runs from an underlined and raised 0 to an underlined and raised 7.

A little help here from anyone with date code information beyond 1957 would be most appreciated.

The site did give me a lot of information about the Parker brand and its connection to Dunhill. It confirmed without a doubt that the pipe that I was working on was made in 1954 from the date stamp underlined superscript 4 following the D in England. The Patent Number 116989/17 is the only one which may appear on a Parker pipe prior to 1954. This was the year Parker and Dunhill both stopped stamping Patent Numbers. The patent refers to an inner tube with a flange.

Jeff cleaned the Parker up really well. He reamed it with a Pipnet Reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife.  He had scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush and rinsed it off with warm water to remove the grime from the finish. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners to remove the tarry residue and oils from the airway in the shank and stem. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the stem surface. When it arrived here on my work table I took photos of the pipe before I started my part of the restoration. The pipe looked very good with a light oxidation still remaining on the stem surface. The Diamond P stamp was clean but had no colour left in the stamping. The inner and outer edges were in good condition. There was some darkening on the back of the rim top and around the inner edge. There was some light marks or nicks on the back right side. The stem look good but there was still some oxidation and there were tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping is clear and readable and reads as noted above. I took the stem off the pipe and took a photo of the parts to show the look of the pipe as a whole. I started my work on the inner edge of the bowl and rim top with a folded piece of sandpaper to clean up the darkening and damage. It looked much better after the work.   I polished the rim top and bowl with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads to polish the briar. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad.      I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. You can see the grain showing through the deep glow. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed the surface of the stem with Soft Scrub all-purpose cleanser to remove the oxidation that remained on the stem surface.I “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a Bic lighter. I was able to lift the dents and then sanded out the remnants of chatter and marks with 220 grit sandpaper. I started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.   I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I touched up the Diamond P stamp with White Acrylic Fingernail Polish. I pushed it into the stamping with a tooth pick. I rubbed it off with a cotton pad to remove the excess and still leave some in the stamping.  Afterwards I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I gave it a final rubdown with Obsidian Oil and set it aside.       This 1954 Parker British Made Super Bruyere 281F Cherrywood is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The medium reddish brown stain highlights the grain and works well with the polished vulcanite bent taper stem. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Bent Cherrywood fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are; Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ inches. The weight of the pipe is 1.59 ounces/45 grams. With a 1954 date on it matching my birth year I will be adding this pipe to my collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.