Tag Archives: bowl topping

A New Solution to an Old Problem

Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

Welcome to my first meerschaum restoration! In fact, it is not just a meerschaum pipe, but it is also a Peterson pipe. This came out of lot of pipes from eBay some months ago, but it took me a while to get to it – I was a bit daunted. Even though it looked rough to start, it ended up as a very handsome pipe. Please read on… This is a rusticated, African block meerschaum, made on the Isle of Man. The stem has a push-style tenon. Like many of the meerschaum pipes of this era, this one has a factory-stained rim – to give it that sort of ‘broken in’ look. How do I know it is a Peterson? Because it has the distinctive, stylized ‘P’ on the left side of the stem, near the shank. Similar to other pipes that Steve has restored, this one seems likely to have been produced by Laxey Pipes Ltd. on the Isle of Man for Peterson Pipes. Here is the Pipedia article about them (I hasten to add that the various errors below are in the original text and are not mine):

Laxey Pipes Ltd. resided in a historical 19th century four-storey Man stone building at The Quay, Old Laxey, Isle of Man, which thankfully has been preserved.

The company specialised in the production of meerschaum pipes using the Meerschaum mined by the Tanganyika Meerschaum Corporation in the Amboseli basin in Tanganyika (since 1964 part of the United Republic of Tanzania).

Please note: you may often find names like “Manx Pipes Ltd.”, “Man Pipe Co.” and others more, but there is no indication of another Isle of Man pipe producer other than Laxey Pipe Ltd. at any time!

Laxey Pipes Ltd. marketed own brands like “Manxpipe”, “Manxman”, “Manxland” e.c. Names like “John Bull”, “White Knight” (unwaxed), “Domino” (black, or lined) indicated some shapes / colours of Laxey’s own series. The stems either showed the astronomical sign for “male” or “man” (circle + arrow), or the crest of the Isle of Man, the 3-legged X in a circle. Manxpipes and Laxey’s other brands were available through pipe retailers in general, but also were sold (mainly) to tourists through their own shop in Laxey.

Furthermore Laxey Pipes Ltd. manufactured the meer bowls for Peterson, Barling, Nørding and others from the later 1960’s until 2001. Man Pipe e.g. was a brand distibuted by Comoy’s. The bowls usually showed no nomenclature indicating the orderer. “Genuine Block Meerschaum” was engraved frequently. Often, just the stems were different, while bowls were the same.

Supply of meerschaum from East Africa run out (Kenya / Tanzania exhausted, Somalia inaccessible), and thus the last Laxey meers were supplied to trade in May, 2001. Laxey Pipes Ltd. tried to survive continuing with briar pipes – mainly in the Danish style -, but to no success. It closed down business in July, 2002.

Anyway, on to the pipe – and what a mess it was. The stummel had the following problems: a nasty ghost, filth embedded in the rustication, a creepy and unnatural yellow tinge to the meerschaum, lots of lava on the rim, lots of cake in the bowl, and – worst of all – chunks missing from the rim. Meanwhile, the stem had its own set of problems: the ‘P’ logo was nearly obliterated, heavy oxidation and calcification, and tooth marks and dents. In fact, even my wife commented that this pipe might be the proverbial ‘bridge too far’ – but, like the stereotypical, stubborn husband, I was not to be deterred! I decided to start on them stem, as I still was not sure how to resolve the chunks missing from the rim. I broke out the isopropyl alcohol and pipe cleaners, and got to work on the inside of the stem. Predictably, it was pretty dirty and I went through a good number of pipe cleaners in order to clean it up. Then I had to tackle the overwhelming oxidation and calcification – yuck. I took a blade (an old butter knife, actually) and began gently scraping at all that build-up. Obviously, I took it easy, as I did not want to damage the stem’s vulcanite any further. The butter knife worked quite well and I got a good amount loose. I followed that up with some lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol on some cotton rounds to try and scrub the rest away. This worked quite well and I noted some improvement. There were quite a few dents in the stem. Some were obviously tooth marks, but other dents looked like blunt force trauma! Time to break out the BIC lighter to see if it could raise some of these dents. Quite frankly, it did not do much – this repair was going to require some considerable sanding etc. Before that, however, the stem went for an overnight soak in the Before & After Hard Rubber Deoxidizer. The following day, I cleaned all of the de-oxidizing sludge off with alcohol, pipe cleaners, et cetera. The oxidation had migrated to the surface and would be fairly straightforward to remove. I scrubbed vigorously with SoftScrub to remove the leftover oxidation.Before I moved on to the Micromesh pads, I built up the dent damage on the stem with cyanoacrylate adhesive and let it fully cure. It turned out that this was not as straightforward as I had hoped. It took more than one application of adhesive to sort this problem out. I then sanded it down with 220-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpapers to make the stem look normal. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing.

The stummel was next, and the usual cleaning procedures were in order for this pipe. I used both the PipNet Reamer and the KleenReem to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper to remove as much as I could. The meerschaum cannot take the usual de-ghosting process of soaking cotton balls in isopropyl alcohol, so sanding was a way to reduce the old ghost in the pipe. I also wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the interior walls of the meerschaum. Fortunately, there were none. Truth be told, I actually also tried to use a bit of ground coffee in the bowl to remove the ghost, but that was not very successful.I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and isopropyl alcohol. There was quite a bit of nastiness inside this stummel – it took a lot of pipe cleaners etc. to sort that out. I then moved on to cleaning the outside of the stummel with Murphy’s Oil Soap and some cotton pads. That worked very well at removing any latent dirt and that weird yellow tinge that I mentioned earlier. I followed that up by quickly cleaning the insides with some dish soap and tube brushes. The meerschaum cannot be left wet for long – it will turn to mush otherwise. Before & After Restoration Balm does not make the same kind of difference on meerschaum as it does on briar, but it still works – so light coating was applied, followed by my horsehair shoe-brush. On to the inevitable repairs: this is where the nightmares begin. Honestly, it was not immediately clear to me how I was going to make the stummel look decent. Sure, I had cleaned it, etc., but what about the obvious chunks missing from the side? I considered sanding it all down, but I feared this would alter the shape of the pipe beyond reason and repair. I figured that, at very least, this pipe needed to be topped. That is to say, the rim had to be inverted and sanded down on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. By doing this, it would remove some of the lighter damage altogether and would improve the state of the heavier damage. But the old problem remained: how was I going to repair the chunks of missing meerschaum on this pipe?I then realized that the solution was as obvious as the nose on my face: I would take a piece of meerschaum from another pipe and fashion a repair. I grabbed one of my sacrificial meerschaum pipes (a dreadfully ugly horse’s head) and used a pair of end-cutting nippers to break off a couple of pieces. Having done that, I used cyanoacrylate adhesive to fix them in place on the stummel. I was feeling pretty good about this solution, but knew that there was still a long row to hoe. Obviously, I needed to sand down and shape the new pieces of meerschaum, but I also needed to make the rim as rusticated as the rest of the stummel. Enter the Dremel (with accompanying angelic voices). Yes, I first used a sanding drum on the Dremel to remove excess material from the repair (but not too much), then I used a high-speed engraving cutter to rough up the surface of both the rim and the repair. So far, so good. The engraving cutter had worked – to a point – but it had not really resulted in the sort of rustication I was looking for. My solution came from the Dremel again, but only indirectly. Steve reminded me of his trick of using an old Philips-head screwdriver as a rustication device (you can read about that here). Whereas Steve used Dremel grinding stones to make his rustication device, I used a metal cutting disc on the Dremel. As you can see, my screwdriver came out looking quite good and the stummel came out looking even better. I was definitely pleased with the roughened surface of the stummel, but I next needed to address the lack of colour. This, of course, was a direct result of my topping of the rim – it removed the patina. The solution must have come to me in the mid-afternoon: tea. Yes, I used black tea to provide a beautiful stain to the meerschaum that gave it a really good look. I went and added some more Before & After Restoration Balm and, once again, used my horsehair shoe-brush to work it in.Meerschaum does not really do well on a high-speed buffer, so I used a microfibre cloth to achieve the same effect. I did, however, take the stem to the buffer, where I applied White Diamond and some wax to give it that lovely shine.

In the end, what a beauty this pipe is! It is back to its old glory and ready to be enjoyed again by the next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Irish’ pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 154 mm; height 47 mm; bowl diameter 34 mm; chamber diameter 20 mm. The mass of the pipe is 40 grams. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Reworking a Damaged French Made GBD Speciale Standard 9465 Liverpool

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

Jeff and I purchased the lovely long shank GBD Liverpool from a fellow in Brazil, Indiana, USA. The grain on the pipe is a nice mix of flame, swirled and birdseye that works well with the brown stains of the briar and the black of the saddle stem. The rim top is crowned with a bevel inward and has some significant damage on the front right outer edge and top. The repeated burning of that area with a lighter flame has left behind a deep dip and burn that will need to be dealt with. It was hard to see with the thick cake in the bowl and the veritable eruption of lava over the top of the rim but it was very present. The finish was quite dirty with grit, grime and oils ground into the surface of the bowl and shank. The shank is stamped on both sides and on the left it reads GBD in an oval [over] Speciale [over] Standard. On the right side it reads France [over] the shape number 9465. The vulcanite stem was lightly oxidized and well dented with tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. The button area was worn as well. There is a GBD brass oval roundel on the left side 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 with either be badly damaged or it will have been well protected. Only cleaning it off would reveal which result was on this pipe. You can also see the burn damage on the right front outer edge. 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 burn damage on the outer rim edge of the right front is more apparent from the side view in the first photo. The grain is still quite nice. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It was faint but was still 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:

Pedigree, Pedigree I, Pedigree II, Straight Grain, Prodigy, Bronze Velvet, Virgin, Varichrome, Prestige, Jubilee, New Era, Prehistoric, International, Universe, Speciale Standard, Ebony, Tapestry, New Standard, Granitan, Sauvage, Sierra, Penthouse, Legacy, Concorde.

Since the pipe I was working on was made in France 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 also new that I was dealing with one of the better grade pipes with the Speciale Standard stamp.

I then followed the links included to a listing of the shapes and numbers on the GBD pipes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD_Shapes/Numbers). The pipe I was working on was labeled by GBD as a 9465 which is a Liverpool with a round shank. 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 soaked the stem 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 rim top, inner and outer edges of the bowl other than the burn damage on the front right were in good condition. The crowned inner edge also has some rim darkening and burn damage on the front right as well. The stem surface looked good with some large and deep tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It was faint but readable as noted above.I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. Now it was time to do my work on the pipe. I decided to begin by dealing with the damage on the front of the rim top and bowl. I sanded it slightly to give a clear picture of the damage in the photo below. I have marked it in red to help identify the damaged area.Now I had a decision to make on this repair. I could top the bowl and shorten the height of the entire bowl to accommodate the damage on the front of the rim. To me this would look awkward as the dip is quite deep. The other option to me was to build up the dip in the rim top and edge with briar dust and clear CA glue (super glue) to the same height as the rest of the bowl. I decided to build up the bowl top. To begin the process I topped the bowl to give me a flat surface and to remove the other damage to the rim top.I wiped off the burned area with alcohol on a cotton pad to clean off any debris. I layered on the first batch of CA glue and then used a dental spatula to put briar dust on top of the glue. I repeated the process until I had the rim top level. Once the repair cured I topped it once again to make sure that the repaired area matched the rest of the rim top. I used a topping board and 220 grit sandpaper.I took photos of the rim top and bowl front to show the repair. It is dark and still needs a lot of work but it is at least the right height and is smooth. You can also see the slight bevel that was on the inner edge of the rim on the rest of the bowl. I would need to continue that on the repaired area to match.I worked on the inner beveled edge with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give it a deep bevel. I also sanded the rim top repair to further smooth it out. The repair is starting to look good at this point. I polished the briar 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 restained the rim edge and top with a combination of Maple and Walnut stain pens to blend the colour to the rest of the bowl. The rim top looked darker but it looked much better than when I started the repair.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 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 used a small file to flatten out the repairs. 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 Speciale Standard 9465 Liverpool 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 a finish that 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 Speciale Standard Liverpool 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: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ of an inch, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 35 grams/1.23 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!

A Well Done Rogers Rarity 220 Bulldog

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe is a really neat looking chubby Bulldog with a vulcanite saddle stem. The thick shank and stubby looking pipe was made to hold in your hand. It is quite light weight for its size and the blade on the stem is thin and looks comfortable. We picked up this pipe from an auction back 2018 in Beaumont, California, USA. He cleaned the pipe in 2019 and now I am working on it in 2021. It is stamped on the top left side of the shank and reads Rogers [over] Rarity in an oval. On the top right side it is stamped Imported [arched over] 220 [over] Bruyere. The title of the blog is a play on the term rarity as this particular pipe came to us extremely well done – tired and worn. The exterior of the bowl had a thick coat of dark heavy grime ground into the finish. It was oily and dark looking. The single ring around the cap on the bowl was filled in with grime. There was a heavy cake in the bowl and an eruption of thick lava on the rim top. It was hard to know the condition of the rim top and rim edges because of the grime and thickness of the cake and lava. The cleaning would make it very clear! The stem was dirty and lightly oxidized with light tooth marks and chatter on both sides but nothing like what I was expecting from the condition of the bowl. 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 thick eruption of lava on the rim top and edges exceptionally well in the next photos. It was very clear that the pipe had not been seriously cleaned since the first smoke. But it is also very clear that it was an exceptional smoker! The stem is oxidized, calcified and shows the took marks on the button surface and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff somehow captured some of the beauty of the shape and the grain in the next photos. You can certainly see what lies beneath the grime and even paint on the briar.He took photos of the stamping on the top left and right of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above.From reading Bill Unger’s book on Custom-Bilt Pipes I remember “Rogers Rarity” was made by the same company as one of it non-sculptured or rusticated pipes. I did a Google search to see if I could confirm that online. I found a pipe labeled Rogers Rarity for sale on Worthpoint, an online sales site (https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/rogers-rarity-custombilt-large-briar-1821532853). In the description they made the link to Custombilt. I quote:

Rogers Rarity briar pipes were made by Custombilt, and show all the beauty and originality of the brand.

I searched further and found a conversation asking about the brand on Pipesmagazine online forum. There was a great conversation about the brand.

(https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/help-with-dating-a-pipe.62314/). I found a particular response by Jon Guss of the Seattle Pipe Club particularly helpful. I quote from Jon in full.

First, “Rodgers” is a misspelling; it was always spelled “Rogers”. Three generations of the Rogers family ran one of the leading importers of pipes (including Petersons for a number of years) and resellers of pipes and smokers articles; they also did a bit of manufacturing. The name of the company was Rogers Imports, Inc.

Second, for several reasons I also believe that Rogers Rarity pipes were made for Rogers Imports by CustomBilt.

The Rogers Rarity line was introduced by the company in late 1945. The advertising copy from the spring of 1946 described Rogers Rarity pipes as “The height of pipe luxury and enjoyment”, and claimed that they were “Carved by hand of Algerian bruyere over 150 years old”. Was it true? I would guess not, but age fabrication regarding the briar from which pipes were made was a kind of industry trope for generations. While most of the Rarity pipes apparently sold for $5, the listed price range stated various models cost from $5-25. The $5 pipes were available in natural and grain finishes; there was also a $10 version called the Rogers Rarity Deluxe that was sterling banded and meerschaum lined.

I can’t be sure when the line ceased production, but believe it was by the end of 1949. Certainly Rogers Rarity pipes are no longer listed in the RTDA Almanac from 1950 on, and mentions of the pipe in advertisements to consumers become thin on the ground. More tellingly newspaper ads from 1951 show the pipe heavily discounted, suggesting that excess inventory of an obsolete line was being flushed through the channel…

Now I knew that my memory was correct. The pipe was made by CustomBilt for Rogers Imports. I also knew that it was made between 1945-1949 when the line was no longer made. It was a bit of an old timer… Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I was amazed at how clean and new the pipe looked when I took it out of the box. It is really a beautiful piece. 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. I took photos of the pipe as I saw it when I put it on the table. I took photos of the rim top and stem to show the condition. The rim top looked pretty good but the inner edge of the bowl showed some damage and was out of round. There was also some burn damage to the outer edge of the bowl on the front. The stem was vulcanite and there were light tooth marks on the button and some light marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The stamping on the top left and right sides of the diamond shaped shank are clear and readable. It reads as noted above.I started my work on this pipe by dealing with the damage to the inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge and give it form once again. The cleaned up rim edge looked very good. I sanded the darkening/burn damage on the front outer edge of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper as well. I finished the cleanup of the rim top by gently topping it on a topping board to smooth out the damage and minimize it on the edges. The result was actually quite good. I polished the briar with 1200-1500 micromesh sanding pads and wiping it down with damp cloth after each sanding pad. As I worked through the cycle of pads the shine developed with each change of pad. The pipe looks very good. 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 polished it with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. This Chubby 1945-49 Rogers Rarity 220 Straight Bulldog with a vulcanite saddle stem is a well grained pipe with a flowing shape that looks great . The rich browns of the darkened natural finish 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 Rogers Rarity Bulldog really is a beauty 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: 5 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.52oz./43grams. This old timer 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 Cracked 1911 MRC (Marechal, Ruchon & Cie) Military Bit Billiard

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

Every so often Jeff and I make an effort to meet somewhere and do a bit of pipe hunting. Back in October of 2019 we met in Southern Alberta and drove along the Queen Elizabeth Highway up to Edmonton. We stopped a lot of different antique shops and malls along the way to see what kind of luck we would have finding estate pipes. We picked up this pipe along with a few others at several Antique Malls in Edmonton. This one was a real mess with a very thick cake and heavy lava pouring from the bowl over the rim top. The was a crack in the right side of the bowl from the rim top down about 1/3 of the depth of the bowl. It was a hairline crack but it was visible even in the filthy condition we found the pipe in. However even with the grime ground in to the briar and the tarnished silver I knew that we were dealing with an old timer. I knew that MRC was related to GBD pipes so I was hooked. The stem was heavily oxidized and had tooth grooves on both side of the stem ahead of the button. There was wear on the button edges as well. The button itself also spoke of the pipe being an old timer because it was an orific button with a hole instead of a slot. Jeff took photos early in 2020 when he got to cleaning it up for us. The photos of what he saw are included below. There was a lot of damage to the outer edge of the rim and it was not clear what the rim top or inner edge truly looked like because of the thick cake and lava overflow. There was also a crack on the right side of the bowl about 1/3 of the depth of the bowl. It was hard to know at this point if it went through the bowl and on the rim top. Cleaning would reveal all! The stem was oxidized, calcified and had some deep tooth grooves on both sides from the button forward. There was also some damage on the top and under edge of the button itself. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the overall look of the grain and the condition of the bowl. In the first photo below I have encircled the crack in red on the right side so you can see it clearly. He took photos of the stamping on the shank and on the sterling silver ferrule. It is clear and readable. The MRC logo in the shield is on the left side of the shank and it is also on the ferrule. There is also an AO stamp followed by three hallmarks on the ferrule – an anchor, a rampant lion and an “m”. These help to date the pipe and identify the maker and city.I turned to Pipedia to help date the MRC (Marechal Ruchon & Cie) and connect the dots with GBD pipes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Marechal_Ruchon_%26_Cie). I quote the section below that is pertinent form the site.

Marechal Ruchon & Cie. was a company owned by Auguste Marechal and Ferdinand Ruchon (“& Cie” is the French equivalent of “& Co”) which owned the GBD brand from the end of the 19th century until 1902 when they sold Marechal, Ruchon & Cie. to Oppenheimer Pipe, which in turn changed the name of the company to Marechal, Ruchon & Co., Ltd.. Upon the creation of Cadogan, however, the brand was no more, remembered only in the name of the GBD Marcee pipes made until just after the Second World War.

I then turned to the Pipedia article on GBD history to further the connection information I had above (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD). I quote:

…August Marechal and Ferdinand Ruchon led the firm into the 20th century. They were in charge of the company for more than 50 years…

…There is a very simple explanation for GBD’s program to turn more “British”: GBD became a British company soon after the turn of the century! In 1902 Marechal and Ruchon sold GBD to A. Oppenheimer & Co. in London. Charles Oppenheimer had founded this successful trade business in 1860 as an import-/export house. His brothers David and Adolphe and brother-in-law Louis Adler soon joined him. Adolphe took over when Charles went to Germany as British ambassador. Briar pipes were among the first products traded. The business relation to GBD in Paris began as early as 1870. Being the most important customer in the English speaking world, Oppenheimer & Co. were designated as sole distributor for Great Britain, the USA and Canada in 1897. Especially Adolphe Oppenheimer had a burning interest in the pipe business, and Louis’ son James Adler shared that. He should play the most important role in the amicable merger of GBD. A. Marechal, Ruchon and Cie. in Paris was now Marechal, Ruchon & Co. Ltd. (see Marechal Ruchon & Cie. page) – a British firm with four directors: Adolphe Oppenheimer and James Adler had their seat in the head office in London while Auguste Marechal and Ferdinand Ruchon went on leading the GBD factory in the Rue des Balkan in Paris, which was considerably extended and modernised. Ruchon acted as CEO.

I knew that the pipe I was working on came out after the sale MRC to Oppenheimer and it became a British Company. It ceased to be Marechal, Ruchon & Cie and became Marechal, Ruchon & Co. Ltd. The principals (Marechal & Ruchon) continued to lead the GBD factory. I would need to do a bit of work on the Silver Hallmarks to pin down the date but I know the rough time frame.

The hallmarks on the silver ferrule were as follows:

An anchor – a symbol for the city of Birmingham, England
A rampant lion – a symbol for .925 Sterling Silver
A lower case “m” in a squarish cartouche which was the year of manufacture.
An AO which was the maker’s mark. I link that to Aldophe Oppenheimer as noted above. He played an important role in the merged GBD British Company.

I turned to the British Silver Hallmark page to try and pin down the date for this silverwork (https://www.925-1000.com/british_marks.html). I have marked it with a red box on the chart that is below. The lower case “m” in the cartouche on the silver matches the one for 1911. So now I knew that I was working on a 1911 MRC pipe that was made for sale in England and bore the Birmingham silver. It really is a crossover pipe – French made by Marechal, Ruchon and Company Ltd. in Paris with British silver work made in Birmingham!Armed with the information that I had gleaned from my research, I turned my attention to the pipe itself. 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. The damage on the rim top and inner and outer edges is very visible in the photos below. 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. When I received it the pipe looked very good. I took a photo of the rim top and stem to show the condition. The rim top and the inner edge of the bowl were in rough condition. The top of the rim was beat up pretty badly with nicks and chips. The inner and outer edges were rough and the bowl was out of round. It was also clear that the crack on the right side of the bowl went onto the top. The stem was vulcanite and there were deep tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.The stamping on the pipe and the silver ferrule is 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 whole.I started my work on this pipe by dealing with the damaged rim top and inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge and bring it back to round. I topped the bowl to smooth out the damage on the rim top. I did not remove much of the briar but conservatively dealt with the damage. The cleaned up rim top looked very good. Now it was time to deal with the crack in the bowl on the right side. I marked the end of the crack on the briar with a Sharpie pen as I viewed it through a lens. I used the mark to guide me when I drilled the end of the crack with a microdrill bit on the Dremel. I filled in the drilled hole with briar dust and clear CA glue. I spread it over the entirety of the crack on the side and the rim top. Once the repair had cured I used a small flat file to flatten out the repair and bring it down to the surface of the briar. I blended it into the surface of the briar with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I was happy with the look of the repair.I polished the briar with 1200-1500 micromesh sanding pads and wiping it down with damp cloth after each sanding pad. As I worked through the cycle of pads the shine developed with each change of pad. The pipe looks very good. I polished the silver ferrule with a jewelers cloth to give it a sheen and protect it from further tarnishing. 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/grooves with the flame of a lighter. I was able to lift them considerably. I filled in the remaining marks with clear CA glue. Once the repair cured I used a small file to flatten it out and begin the blending process to make it disappear into the surrounding vulcanite. I followed that by sanding the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished it 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. The photos below show the polished stem. This 1911 MRC (Marechal, Ruchon & Cie) Military Bit Billiard with a vulcanite stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The rich browns of the stain made 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 1911 MRC Billiard really is a beauty 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: 5 ¼ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.34oz./38grams. I am still debating on whether to keep this one or sell it… It fits nicely in my collection of older pipes. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

A Tale of the Rebirth of a Comoy’s Tradition 206 Long Billiard

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to us from an online auction Hatboro, Pennsylvania, USA. It is a nice looking long shank billiard in a classic British and Comoy’s shape. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Comoy’s [over]Tradition. On the right side is the shape number 206 near the bowl/shank union followed by the circular COM stamp Made in London [over] England. It is a beautiful mixed grained Comoy’s small billiard that really is a pipe of Pipe Smoking History. The finish had a lot of grime ground into the smooth finish on the bowl and some darkening around the sides of the bowl. The bowl had a heavy cake there was an overflow of thick lava on the top of the rim and on the inner bevel of the bowl. It was hard to know what the rim top and inner edge of the bowl looked like under the grime. The stem was oxidized and there were a lot of tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was a three part inlaid C on the left of the taper stem. The pipe had promise but it was very dirty. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the rim top to show the condition of the top and edges of the bowl. It is a heavily smoked pipe with a lot of build up and tar. The lava overflow on the inner bevel of the rim is also quite think. The stem was heavily oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain around the bowl and the condition of the pipe. It is going to be a great looking pipe. He took photos of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. He did not take a photo of the shape number and COM stamp on the right side.He also took photos of the 3 part C insert on the left side of the taper stem. I looked on Pipephil’s site for information on the Comoy’s Tradition and found the following information I have included a screen capture (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-comoy.html). It has the three part C which dated it to 1946 and following. The stamping is the same as the one I am working on. I turned to the article on Pipedia about dating Comoy’s pipes but the style of the stamping (https://pipedia.org/index.php?title=Comoy%27s_Dating_Guide#1917_to_the_end_of_the_1930.27s_.28at_least_1938.29). I have include the section in the screen capture below that date this pipe to the 1950s.

Now the Comoy’s stamp can be found in three variants in the 1950s

A simple block-letter style without serifs but with the C larger than the other letters and the apostrophe before the “S”.
A return to the slightly more fancy block letters with serifs and the apostrophe. (It seems that some grades carried different stamps, or at least that the stamping changed in different years for some grades.)
A simple block-letter style without serifs and without the apostrophe and with the “C” the same size as the rest of the letters. This stamp was probably not used very long.
A simple block-letter style without serifs but with the apostrophe before the “S” and with the “C” the same size as the rest of the letters.

Inlaid “C”

“C” was first inlaid in the side of the mouthpiece around 1919. This was a complex inlay needing three drillings. First, a round white inlay was inserted, then the centre of the white was drilled out, and a smaller round black inlay was inserted. Finally, another drilling was made to remove the open part of the “C,” and an even smaller black inlay was inserted. This inlaid “C,” known as the “three-piece C,” was continued until the Cadogan era in the 1980s. However, the “C” in the 1920s and early 30s is much thinner and more delicate than the one post-WW II.

That article gave me some helpful information regarding the pipe that I was working on. I knew that the stamping and logos identified the pipe as having been made in following WW2 and from what I can see from the above information it is a 1950s era pipe.

Reminded of the above information on the Comoy’s Tradition line it was now time to turn to the pipe itself and do my part of the work. As usual Jeff had done a thorough 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 exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. 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. When it arrived here the pipe looked good. I took a photo of the rim top and stem to show the condition. The rim top and the beveled inner edge of the bowl were in excellent condition. The long vulcanite taper stem looked good and the oxidation was gone. There were light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on both sides of the shank. They read as noted above. I also included a photo of the 3 part C logo on the left side of the taper stem. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. It is a nicely grained and well shaped billiard. Once the stem was off you can see the step down tenon that was on these older Comoy’s pipes.I polished the bowl and the rim top, sides and shank with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad with a damp cloth. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank so as not to damage the stamping. 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 a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I set aside the bowl and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the remaining repairs with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend it into the stem surface. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This 50s era Comoy’s Tradition 206 Long Billiard with a vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The rich browns and blacks of the contrasting stains came 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 Comoy’s Tradition Billiard is a beauty 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 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .95oz./27grams. This beauty will be going on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Makers section. Let me know if you are interested in adding 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 Butz-Choquin C’est bon 1689 Apple with an amber acrylic stem

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table – a Butz-Choquin Apple with a smooth finish purchased from Mandy Valsinger about a year ago when she was closing her husband’s estate. It came to us from Australia. The shape of the bowl is an apple with an acrylic stem. The pipe was in overall good condition but was very tired and dirty. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Butz-Choquin at an angle [over] C’est bon. On the right side of the shank it is stamped St. Claude France [over] the number 1689. The finish was dull and lifeless and a little dirty from sitting around. There was a thick cake in the bowl and an overflow of lava on the rim top toward the back. There were scratches around the sides of the bowl where it appeared that the pipe had been dropped. The amber acrylic stem had a deep tooth marks on both sides with a bit through on the underside ahead of the button. The BC logo inset in black acrylic and set on the left side of the taper stem. Jeff took the following photos before he started his cleanup work on the pipe. Jeff took close-up photos of the bowl and rim top from various angles to capture the condition of the bowl and rim top edges. You can see the cake in the bowl and the lava on the inner of the rim and the top at the back of the bowl. The photos of the stem show the general condition of the stem. He took the stem out of the shank and revealed a Delrin tenon with a lot of tars and oils on on the end of the tenon.He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show condition of the briar. You can see the swirls of grain in the smooth bowl – both birdseye and cross grain around the sides and shank. There are scratches on the right side of the bowl. The stamping is very clear on both sides of the pipe. The third photo shows the BC inlay on the left side of the taper stem.I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Butz-Choquin) and found a great read of the history of the brand. I did find a shape chart however, that had the 1689 shape. I have included that below.Now it was time to look at it up close and personal. Jeff had great job in cleaning up this BC C’est bon Apple. He had reamed the bowl with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He took the cake back to bare briar so we could check the walls for damage and also see the condition of the inner edge of the rim. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime on the bowl and rim and was able to remove much of the grime and dirt. He cleaned out the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until they came out clean. The rim top looked much better. The bowl looked very good. He cleaned the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime on the interior and the exterior and rinsed it off with warm water to remove the product. He cleaned out the airway with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I took some photos of the pipe as I saw it. To show how clean the rim top and stem really was I took a close-up photo of the rim and stem. The bowl was clean and cake free. The rim top is quite clean the inner and outer edges were darkened. The surface and the button edge of the stem had tooth marks and chatter on the top near the button on both sides. What I thought was a hole all the way through the stem on the underside turned out not to be that deep.I took some photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe from the left side to give a clear picture of the beauty of this particular pipe.I turned to Pipephil (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-butzchoquin.html) and found the C’est bon pipe shown below. I did a screen capture of the of the listing and have included it below.I started working on the pipe by dealing with the damage and darkening to the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage.I used to some clear CA glue to fill in the deep scratches on the right side of the bowl. Once the repairs cured I sanded them smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I started polishing the areas of the repair with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I stained the sanded area with a Maple Stain pen. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the dust and debris. The began to take on a deep shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl with my finger tips. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I greased a pipe cleaner with Vaseline and inserted it in the button. I did not see the hole going through the stem but I put a pipe cleaner in just in case there was. I then built up the tooth marks and chatter on both sides with clear CA glue. I used a small file to reshape the button edge on both side and smooth out the repairs. I then sanded the repaired areas with 220 grit sandpaper until they were smooth and blended it into the surrounding acrylic. I started the polishing with a 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I am really happy with the way that this Butz-Choquin C’est bon Apple with an Amber Acrylic Stem turned out. It really is a great looking pipe with character. The rich brown stains gave the grain a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. The grain really popped. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch. I gave the bowl and the acrylic stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Butz-Choquin C’est bon Apple really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. 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 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 44 grams/1.55 oz. The pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store soon. It will be in the section on French Pipe Makers 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. It was a fun one to work on!

The Italian Swan

2 Replies

Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

I have seen a great many pipes now, but this Brebbia is among the most filthy that I have ever worked on. This pipe came from Sudbury, Ontario – in the same lot of dirty pipes as the one that Steve and I dubbed ‘The Sudbury’. You may recall that I wrote about that pipe last time and you can read about it here. It was obvious from the start that this was a great pipe that just needed some attention and TLC – an ugly duckling, if you will. And just like the Hans Christian Andersen story, this pipe clearly spent a long time in misery and disdain before its true beauty was revealed. This pipe is a Golden Brebbia Natural 8006. It is a slightly bent billiard with an oval shank and stem. The Brebbia pipe company is named after the locality of Bosco Grosso di Brebbia in Lombardy, Italy. The company was founded by Enea Buzzi and Achille Savinelli in 1947, but they parted ways in 1953. Mr Savinelli went on to form his eponymous company, while Mr Buzzi kept the factory and created Maniffatura Pipe Brebbia. His family still run it today.

The stem of this pipe was badly oxidized and thoroughly chewed. In fact, the button had been chewed to the point that there was hardly any left – it would have to be rebuilt. The stummel was covered in grime. Perhaps hand oils or other stuff mixed with dirt over the years to leave the muck you can see in the photos. Furthermore, there were scratches in the wood, gouges in the rim, and an ugly putty fill that needed to be addressed. Well, the usual cleaning procedures were in order for this pipe. I used both the PipNet Reamer and the KleenReem to take it down to bare briar, as I wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the walls of the bowl. Fortunately, there were none. I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and isopropyl alcohol. There was a lot of nastiness inside this stummel and – boy-oh-boy – it took a lot of cotton to get this thing clean! I then moved on to cleaning the outside of the stummel with Murphy’s Oil Soap and some cotton pads. What a difference that made! A light application of Before & After Restoration Balm brought out the best in the stummel’s grain. There is some beautiful wood under the grime! A de-ghosting session seemed in order to rid this pipe of the foul smells of the past. This de-ghosting consisted of thrusting cotton balls in the bowl and the shank, and saturating them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit for 24 hours. This caused the oils, tars and smells to leech out into the cotton. Finally, a relatively clean and fresh-smelling bowl emerged.

While the de-ghosting was going on, I moved on to the stem. I took a BIC lighter and ‘painted’ the stem with its flame in order to remove the tooth marks. This was moderately successful in raising the dents. Then, I cleaned out the insides of the stem with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. Once this process was done, the stem went for an overnight soak in the Before & After Hard Rubber Deoxidizer. The following day, I cleaned all of the de-oxidizing sludge off with alcohol, pipe cleaners, et cetera. The oxidation had migrated to the surface and would be fairly straightforward to remove. Before I moved on to the Micromesh pads, I built up the squashed button on the stem with cyanoacrylate adhesive and let it fully cure. I used my miniature files to do a proper cutting of the new button –this ensures that it keeps its shape and looks like it should. I then sanded it down with 220-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpapers to meld seamlessly into the stem. I did the same to the remaining tooth marks. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing. Back to the stummel – the banged up rim needed some serious attention. In order to minimize the impact of the damaged, I “topped” the pipe – that is to say, I gently and evenly sanded down the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. This successfully eliminated the damage, without altering the look of the pipe. Then I took a solid wooden sphere, wrapped sandpaper around it, and sanded thoroughly. This was to achieve on the inner part of the rim the same thing that I achieved by “topping” on sandpaper. Furthermore, there was an ugly blotch of pink putty in a fill on the shank. What made this more complicated was that part of the fill went into the markings. Naturally, I intended to remove the pink putty, but if I removed it all, I would also remove part of the word “natural” on the shank. I had to decide which was worse (or better): a bit of putty with the marking intact or no putty with a wrecked marking. I opted for the former. I left a bit of putty, added some colour from my furniture markers, and filled in the remaining hole with cyanoacrylate adhesive. Neither option was perfect, but I think I made the right choice. After this, I used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to remove the frustrating scratches in the wood and make everything smooth. All of the work I had done to this point had taken its toll on the colour of the wood. In order to bring back some life to this pipe, I opted for aniline dye. I applied some of Fiebing’s Medium Brown Leather Dye and then applied flame in order to set the colour. Worked like a charm! Since it is an alcohol-based dye, I was able to adjust the colour to my liking by applying my own isopropyl alcohol to the colour. I applied more Before & After Restoration Balm, then took it to the buffer. A dose of White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax were just what this pipe needed. This Brebbia was in need of a reminder of its Italian beauty. The pipe began its journey looking though it had been dropped down the mines. Now, it can show its true self – a real beauty from Italy. Not an Ugly Duckling, but an Italian Swan. In fact, it turned out so well that this pipe has already sold! I know that the new owner will enjoy smoking it for many years to come. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restemming & Restoring a Peterson’s Product – a Made in Ireland Shamrock X105 Billiard

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen to work on came to me as a referral from a local pipe shop here in Vancouver. While I am not taking on work via mail I am still doing the repairs for this pipe shop. This one was a smooth finished Peterson’s Billiard bowl. It needed to have a stem fit to the shank so the fellow could smoke it again. It had not had a stem since the 70s. He decided it was time to get it back in order. He says he is a bit older than me and in our conversation it turns out that we are pretty close to the same age. He does not drive, no computer and no cell phone. We chatted a bit on his land line and decided a regular slotted stem would work for the pipe as I did not have any straight (or bent for that matter) Peterson’s stems. It had originally been offered with a choice of stems anyway. The finish is was dirty. I can see sand pits on the left side of the bowl but other than that it was in decent condition. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and read SHAMROCK. It was stamped to the right of the shank and reads “A PETERSON’S [over] PRODUCT” over MADE IN IRELAND (3 lines) with the shape number X105 next to the bowl. The bowl had been reamed recently and the inner edge was nicked in several spots. The rim top was covered with a lava coat. I took a few photos of the pipe when I removed it from the shipping envelope. I took a close up photo of the rim top and bowl to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl looks to have been reamed recently but the rim top and edges have some lava overflow. I took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Shamrock Pipe. On page 312 it had the following information.

Shamrock (c1941-2009) Originally stamped SHAMROCK with no brand name, an inexpensive line first described in George Yale (New York) mail order booklet in 1941, imported by Rogers Import. The line was actively promoted beginning in ’45, aggressively promoted in US by Rogers from early ‘50s when they registered the Shamrock logo with US Patent Office, claiming propriety since ’38. Over the years offered with P-lip or fishtail mouthpiece, with or without nickel band, with or without shamrock logo on the band, with or without S stamped in white or later in gold on mouthpiece. Appearing in 2008 as unstained smooth and rustic, fishtail mouthpiece with gold impressed P on the stem. COMS of MADE IN over IRELAND (C1945-1965), MADE IN IRELAND forming a circle (c1945-1965), “A PETERSON’S PRODUCT” over MADE IN IRELAND (c1945-1965), MADE IN THE over REPUBLIC over OF IRELAND9c1948-1998). Model is always difficult or impossible to date.

Judging from the description above, the pipe I am working on is stamped with the stamp noted in red above. It reads “A Peterson’s Product” over Made in Ireland which narrows the date to between approximately 1945-1965. It is just stamped SHAMROCK with no brand name and no stem.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. I went through my can of stems and found a fishtail stem that would work with a little adjustment to the diameter at the band. The stem was in very good condition. I laid aside the stem and turned my attention to the bowl. I worked on the thickly lava coated rim top and edges with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I was able to remove the lava and I worked over the inner edge with the sandpaper. Once finished I reamed the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife to remove the remnants of cake in the bowl. I scrubbed the externals of the bowl and rim with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I rinsed the bowl with warm running water to remove the soap and the grime. The scrubbing left the surface very clean. I decided to leave the sandpits on the bowl side and filling them seemed unnecessary to me. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I sanded the diameter of the stem at the shank end with 220 grit sandpaper to take down the left side so that it matched the side of the band on the shank. I worked it over until the flow between the nickel band and the stem was smooth. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I set the bowl aside and polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I am excited to finish this Nickel Banded Older Peterson’s Shamrock X105 Straight Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful flame grain all around it. Added to that the polished Sterling Silver band and the black vulcanite stem was beautiful. This smooth Classic Shamrock X105 Billiard is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 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 46 grams/1.62 oz. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will be packing it up on the weekend and getting it ready to go back to the pipeman who sent it to me to be restemmed. Thanks for your time and as Paresh says each time – Stay Safe.

What a Tired and Worn Pair of Cased 1919 Charles Mass Pipes – Part 2: An Exhausted Billiard

5 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

This restoration is Part 2 of one that started with an email from a reader of the blog name Tim. He had written the following email to me with a request. I have included that email below.

Hello Steve, I have a cased set of 1919 Charles Maas pipes that have been smoked hard and put away wet. Can I send them to you to have them restored? I’m a huge fan of your work and use your site often as inspiration, but these are outside my ability. – Tim

I finished the restoration of the Bulldog first and have written about the work on the blog already. Here is the link (https://rebornpipes.com/2021/05/30/what-a-tired-and-worn-pair-of-cased-1919-charles-mass-pipes-part-1-a-weary-bulldog/).

I am including the photos that Tim Sent me so you can see them if you have not read Part 1 of the blog on the Bulldog. Tim’s package arrived on Thursday and when I got home from work I opened it to have a look at the pipes first hand. I took the case out of the well packed box and this is what I saw. The case was suede with a fine leather edge around the sides. There was a thin gold line around the case edges. When I opened it I saw Tim’s 1919 label and the two pipes. There was a gold banded Bulldog and a nice stubby billiard. Both were nicely carved bowls and both had been heavily used and worn.

I sent Tim the following list summarizing the damages on the Billiard (a similar list is on the blog about the Bulldog). There is a lot of work to do to bring these back to life.

The billiard:
1. The rim top is badly damaged leaving the top uneven and thicker/taller toward the back of the bowl and more damaged than even the Bulldog.
2. The inner edge of the bowl is thicker than the bulldog but still thinner on the front side than the rest of the bowl. It is still thick enough.
3. The outer edge is chipped and uneven on the bowl front showing some burn marks.
4. The finish is worn and damaged with paint marks on the surface.
5. The bowl is slightly out of round with chips and marks on the inner edge
6. The stem has deep compressions from tooth marks on both sides at the button. 7. The inside of the bowl is badly checked and will need to examined for integrity.

Both pipes had been reamed and they were quite clean inside. It appeared that previous earlier reaming somewhere along the way had left the inner edge chipped and damaged. That is the assessment of the Billiard and it is clear from the list that there is a lot of work to do on it.

For background on the Charles Maas brand read the previous blog to get a clear idea of the history of the company. I will not include it again at this point. Here is another copy of the link for ease of reference (https://rebornpipes.com/2021/05/30/what-a-tired-and-worn-pair-of-cased-1919-charles-mass-pipes-part-1-a-weary-bulldog/).

It was time to work on the second pipe – the Billiard. It was surprisingly clean. The bowl had been reamed and the airways cleaned. (I later found out that Tim had done the clean up for me. Thanks Tim!)There was no stamping on the shank of the pipe. There was no gold band to identify it as a Charles Maas pipe like the one on the Bulldog. However it was obvious that the case was custom fitted to this little Billiard so that is proof enough for me. I took some photos of the pipe before I began, to catalogue what I saw before I started. I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem surfaces. You can see the chipping and damage to the top and inner edges of the bowl. The top is significantly lower on the front of the bowl with burn marks and charring to the top and front of the bowl. The stem shows some deep tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button.I took some photos of the rim from various angles to show the serious damage to the bowl top and edges. It really is a mess and will be an interesting challenge to rebuild.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the left side of the pipe as it really gave a good picture of what the pipe must have looked like when new.I decided to start work on this pipe by addressing the damaged rim top and edges. I built up the front edge of the bowl with briar dust and clear CA glue. My goal was to bring it up as close as possible to the height of the bowl on the left side. It took a bit of layering to get there. I also filled in the damage on the front outer edge of the bowl at the same time. Once I had the height as even as possible I would top the bowl on a topping board with 180 grit sandpaper to smooth out the rim top.Once I had it close to even I topped it on a topping board with 180 grit sandpaper. I took a few photos of the front and sides of the bowl to show what the repair looked like at this point in the process. There is still work to do but it is definitely getting there. I sanded the repair on the front of the bowl a bit as well. Much work to do! I worked over the top and edges of the bowl – both inner and outer edges, with 220 grit sandpaper to capture the original shape as much as possible. You can see the repaired areas on the rim top and edges from the photos below. I am pretty pleased with the overall appearance of the cap and top at this point in the process. The repairs are very clear at this point. I still had work to do on the rim top and outer edges but I also wanted to work on the inner edge. I repaired the damage there with the super glue and briar dust as well. I was not looking to build it up too much but to take care of the deep cuts and gouges on the left front of the edge. I sanded the repair with 180 and 220 grit sandpaper and I was happy with what I was seeing at this point in the process. I worked some more on the inner edge of the bowl with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I wanted to smooth out the inside of the bowl and the inner edges of the rim.I decided to give the repaired edge and top a quick coat of Walnut stain to see what it looked like. I find that doing this often shows flaws that need to be addressed in the repair and makes it easier to see where I am with the top and edges. I started the polishing process with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded with the pads in preparation for restaining the bowl. After each pad I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth. My goal was to remove the scratching left behind by the repairs to the rim top and cap. I was able to remove them. Once it was smooth the briar was ready for staining. I stained it with a Feibing’s Light Brown aniline stain. I applied it and flamed it with a lighter to set it in the grain. I repeated the process until the coverage of the briar was good. I set it aside to let the stain cure.I buffed pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to remove the crusty coat of stain. I then polished it with the remaining micromesh pads -3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar of the bowl with my finger tips. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I “painted” the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to try to lift the tooth marks in the surface on both sides. I was able to lift it some but not completely. I filled in the remaining dents with clear CA glue and set it aside to cure. Once they cured I used a small file to recut the button edge and flatten the repairs to blend them into the surface. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining oxidation on the saddle and also to further blend in the repairs. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing the surface with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I gave the stem a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry. I am really happy with the way that the rebuild of the rim and cap worked on on this Charles Maas Billiard (the second of two in a cased set). It really is a great looking pipe with lots of character. The old style hard rubber mouthpiece really look good with the brown of the briar. The grain really came alive with the buffing and a sense of depth came out 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. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Charles Maas Billiard really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 4 ¼ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 27 grams/.95 oz. The pipe will be going back to Tim with the Bulldog that I have finished. I think this little cased set is a real beauty.Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

What a Tired and Worn Pair of Cased 1919 Charles Mass Pipes – Part 1: A Weary Bulldog

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

This restoration started with an email from a reader of the blog name Tim. He had written the following email to me with a request. I have included that email below.

The first thing that caught me was the age of the pipes. I am a real sucker for old briar. The next thing that grabbed my attention was the brand – Charles Maas. That is a brand that I have not worked on and not heard of and it is English! The third thing that grabbed my attention was that they were a cased pair – which can often mean matching briar. All of those things conspired against my resolve to not add more work to the queue right now because of the demands of my day job and my own large number of restorations awaiting attention. I wrote him back and asked for pictures of the pipes to see if that would save me or draw me in further. Tim responded with photos and the magic words – I am not in a hurry!

Hi Steve, Here are the pictures. I’m not in a hurry.

I looked through the photos and assessed what needed to be done and took the plunge. I had Tim mail them to me. I was hooked and completely drawn into the project.Tim’s package arrived on Thursday and when I got home from work I opened it to have a look at the pipes first hand. I took the case out of the well packed box and this is what I saw. The case was suede with a fine leather edge around the sides. There was a thin gold line around the case edges. When I opened it I saw Tim’s 1919 label and the two pipes. There was a gold banded Bulldog and a nice stubby billiard. Both were nicely carved bowls and both had been heavily used and worn.I took the pipes out of the case and took pictures after I examined each of them to assess what needed to be done. They really are a classic set that should look great once finished. I made the following list summarizing the damages on the pipes and sent it to Tim. There is a lot of work to do to bring these back to life.

The Bulldog:
1. The rim top is badly damaged leaving the top uneven and thicker/taller toward the back of the bowl.
2. The inner edge of the bowl is quite thin on the front side from burning and over reaming of the bowl.
3. The outer edge is chipped and uneven on the bowl front.
4. The finish is worn and damaged with signs of burn darkening all around the rim cap.
5. The band has a ragged edge on the top, rear corner of the diamond shaped band.
6. The stem has deep compressions from tooth marks on both sides at the button
7. The inside of the bowl has some checking but they are not as deep as those on the billiard.

Both pipes have been heavily reamed and they were quite clean inside. It appeared that previous earlier reaming somewhere along the way had left the inner edge chipped and damaged. That is the assessment of both bowls and it is clear from the list that there is a lot of work to do on both of them.

It was time to work on the pipes. I chose to deal with the Bulldog first (Part 1). If you were to ask me why I actually have no idea even though it is first above. I took some photos of the pipe before I began, to catalogue what I saw before I started. It was surprisingly clean. The bowl had been reamed and the airways cleaned. There was no stamping on the shank of the pipe. The gold band had hallmarks on it that Tim had said led him to the 1919 date for the pipes. The hallmarks are CM in an oval which is the mark for Charles Maas. To the right of that is a “6” in s diamond followed by 375 which is the mark for 37.5% or 9 carat gold. That is followed by a “d” and another mark that could be a lion’s head which indeed identifies the pipe as London Made and “d” identifies it as a 1919 pipe.

I turned to an English silver and gold hallmark guide to see if I could find information on the maker CM (http://www.silvercollection.it/ENGLAMAAS.html). Sure enough it was very clear that the CM in and oval linked to Charles Maas. I have included the information from the site on the brand.

Charles Leopold Maas was active in London from 1883 at 13 Jewin Crescent, EC as manufacturer and importer of smokers’ pipes of various types, including “recherché” and “meerschaum”.

The firm entered various silver hallmarks as pipes were often silver-mounted as were manufactured in precious metal many of its smokers’ accessories and walking sticks.

In 1890 (London) and 1910 (Chester) Charles Maas entered a conjoined hallmark with Marcus Maas (manager).

In 1910 the firm removed to 1A Aldermanbury Avenue. Interesting to note that from 1891 the firm used a hallmark “CM surmounted by a crown” to characterize its “Unsurpassed quality Corona Mounts”. The punches with the crown were cancelled on request of Charles Maas having the Sheffield Assay Office written on 28 February 1896 that the crown represents their hallmark and is objectionable. The firm was converted into a limited liability company in c. 1915. I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem surfaces. You can see the chipping and damage to the top and inner edges of the bowl. The left side is thin toward the front of the bowl. The stem shows some deep tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the left side of the pipe as it really gave a good picture of what the pipe must have looked like when new.I decided to start work on this pipe by addressing the damaged rim top and edges. I built up the front edge of the bowl with briar dust and clear CA glue. My goal was to bring it up as close as possible to the height of the bowl on the left side. It took a bit of layering to get there. I also filled in the damage on the front outer edge of the bowl at the same time. Once I had the height as even as possible I topped the bowl on a topping board with 180 grit sandpaper.Once I had it topped I took a few photos to show what it looked like at this point in the process. There is still work to do but it is definitely getting there. I sanded the repair on the front of the bowl a bit as well. Much work to do!I worked over the shape of the rim cap and rim top with 220 grit sandpaper and small files to capture the original shape as much as possible. You can see the build up on the rim top and edges from the photos below. I am pretty pleased with the overall appearance of the cap and top at this point in the process. The repairs are very clear at this point.I still had work to do on the rim top and cap but I also wanted to work on the inner edge. I repaired the damage there with the super glue and briar dust as well. I was not looking to build it up too much but to take care of the deep cuts and gouges on the left front of the edge. I sanded the repair with 180 and 220 grit sandpaper and I was happy with what I was seeing at this point in the process.I decided to give the repaired edge and top a quick coat of Walnut stain to see what it looked like. I find that doing this often shows flaws that need to be addressed in the repair and makes it easier to see where I am with the top and edges. There was still a long way to go to get it the way I wanted but it was truly beginning to take shape. I used a knife blade small file to clean up the twin rings around the repair on the front of the bowl. I started the polishing process with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded with the pads in preparation for restaining the bowl. After each pad I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth. My goal was to remove the scratching left behind by the repairs to the rim top and cap. I was able to remove them.Once it was smooth the briar was ready for staining. I stained it with a Feibing’s Light Brown aniline stain. I applied it and flamed it with a lighter to set it in the grain. I repeated the process until the coverage of the briar was good.I buffed pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to remove the crusty coat of stain. I then polished it with the remaining micromesh pads -3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar of the bowl with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to work it into the grooves around the bowl cap. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I “painted” the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to try to lift the tooth marks in the surface on both sides. I was able to lift it some but not completely. I filled in the remaining dents with clear CA glue and set it aside to cure. Once they cured I used a small file to recut the button edge and flatten the repairs to blend them into the surface. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining oxidation on the saddle and also to further blend in the repairs. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing the surface with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I gave the stem a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry. I am really happy with the way that the rebuild of the rim and cap worked on on this Charles Maas Bulldog (the first of two in a cased set) turned out. It really is a great looking pipe with lots of character. The old style hard rubber mouthpiece and the gold band really look good with the brown of the briar. The grain really came alive with the buffing and a sense of depth came out 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. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Charles Maas Bulldog really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 4 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 23 grams/.81 oz. The pipe will be going back to Tim once I have finished the little billiard. I think this little cased set is a real beauty.Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!