Tag Archives: buffing

A Desirable REJECT London Made

Blog by Dal Stanton

When I came across this classic half bent billiard while I was trolling through 100s of offerings on eBay’s auction block, I paused. The first thing that claimed my attention was its size. If there was ever a ‘meat lovers sized’ pipe, to use the American burger sound bite, this would be it. The UK seller simply described it as a ‘superb large bowl’. When the pipe arrived, I measured it and it is: length 6 5/16 inches, height 2 3/8 inches, chamber diameter 7/8 inches, chamber depth 1 13/16 inches, and the full stummel width is 1 3/4 inches – 68 grams for those who weigh pipes. A fist-full of stummel! Here is the eBay picture of the Billiard.The other interesting thing about the eBay offering was its marking. The left shank side reads “REJECT” over “LONDONMADE”. The only lead I found for this “REJECT” stamping was in ‘Who Made That Pipe?’ by Herb Wilzak and Tom Colwell, which provided only one reference to “Reject” as belonging to the W. H. Carrington Co. started in 1891 by William Henry Carrington in Manchester, England. This came from the brief Pipedia article which also states that after a century of operation it went out of business. I found more information in a Pipes Magazine Forum thread but the source of the information was not cited.

WH Carrington as an entity dates back at least to the late 1880s. It continued to exist for about a century, with liquidation notices appearing in the London Gazette in 1987. Whether or not the business remained in the family that whole time is another matter; I doubt it, but have no evidence one way or the other.

Most threads I read commenting on WHC pipes were about earlier turn of the century pipes with hallmarks – a much earlier vintage. I came up empty finding information that would confirm that the Reject before me is indeed a WHC pipe except for Wilczak and Colwell’s reference. With a very nice looking Reject on my work table now, I take additional pictures to fill in the gaps. The question that begs asking is what is ‘Reject’ about this pipe? Overall, it’s in good shape. The chamber has very mild cake build up, and the stummel surface shows some small fills and usual dents of wear. The stem has been cleaned, it seems, very little chatter or oxidation. I only detect two issues as I look at the Reject London Made. First, the finish on the stummel is shiny and acrylic-like, which, to me, hides the natural briar. It is cloudy and I’ll remove it and work on the broad landscape of this stummel real estate to bring out the briar. I like this challenge! The other issue is the stem – it is under-clocked and a bit catawampus. I will heat the vulcanite and restore a good bend in alignment with the pipe. The reason this pipe was stamped ‘Reject’ coming out of the factory is a mystery to me unless it was destined to be a higher end pipe and the briar had too many imperfections…. Only conjecture and I would appreciate anyone’s input on this.

I begin by plopping the stem in an Oxy-Clean bath even though the oxidation seems very light. While the stem is in the bath, I use the Savinelli pipe knife to clean up the chamber walls which takes little time. I follow by sanding the chamber wall with 240 grit paper wrapped around a Sharpie Pen. To clean the carbon dust residue, I wipe the chamber with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95%. The pictures show the progress. I like working on a clean pipe so I work on the internals using cotton swabs and pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95%. With very little effort the mortise and draft are clean.Moving to the external stummel surface, I use Murphy’s Soap undiluted with cotton pads and a bristled tooth brush to clean the grime off. The Murphy’s Soap does a good job removing the old shiny finish.Looking closely at the surface, the dent I saw earlier I want to remove using the iron approach, that I have yet to try, but this dent looks like a good candidate. I’ve read several other restorations where this method was used. Using a heated clothes iron, I use a wet wash cloth and lay it over the dent area and then I apply the iron to that point. The concept is based upon the water content of wood being heated and absorbing the water and expanding the dented area – wood is a sponge-like material when wet. I apply the iron several times and gradually I see the severity of the dent lessening with each heat application. I can still see the dent but it should be more easily removed using a sanding sponge. Using a medium and light grade sanding sponge I work on the stummel to remove the minor wear nicks and dents on the surface. I like a softer edge on the inner rim lip so I introduce a gentle bevel both to give it a softer look and to remove some scorched areas. I think an inner bevel adds a bit of class as well. I first use a coarser 120 grit paper to cut the bevel then I follow with 240 grit and 600 grit paper to smooth and blend the bevel. The pictures show the progress. I now turn to the micromesh pad cycles. Using pads 1500 to 2400 I wet sand the stummel followed by dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and then 6000 to 12000. Throughout the sanding, I’m careful to avoid the Reject markings. The grain is looking good. The pictures show the progress. I put the stummel aside and fish the stem out of the Oxy-Clean bath. Very little oxidation has surfaced. I use 600 grit paper and wet sand the stem followed by sand buffing the stem with 0000 steel wool. The pictures show the progress.Before I proceed further with the internal cleaning of the stem and the external polishing, I want to correct the bend of the stem. With great difficulty, I am able finally to pass a smooth pipe cleaner through the stem. The pipe cleaner helps to maintain the airway integrity while I heat and re-bend the stem. Using the heat gun to heat the stem, I turn the stem to apply the heat evenly over the stem to soften the vulcanite making it pliable. I then straighten both the stem clock-wise to correct the under-clocking. While still pliable I re-establish the bend over a block of wood and set the new shape under cool tap water. The first time around, the button was still not ‘clocked’ to my satisfaction. I reheated and made the additional adjustment and again, set the shape under cool tap water. I reattach stem and stummel to eyeball things and the newly aligned stem bend and clocked button look good. I take pictures to chronicle the progress with the stem. I now clean the internals of the stem using pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95%. The stem is clean but I find that even though I’ve re-bent the stem the pipe cleaners will not move through the bend of the stem. I decide to open the slot area with a round pointed needle file moving it back and forth in the slot. After this, I take a drill bit, smaller than the slot opening, and insert it into the airway rotating it against the edges of the airway hoping to expand the internal airway area as it enters the slot. This seems to help yet the bend is still tight on the pipe cleaners, but they are passing through. The stem is clean. The pictures show the progress. Time to bring out the micromesh pads to finish the stem. With pads 1500 to 2400 I wet sand the stem. I follow by dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and then 6000 to 12000. With each set of 3 I apply Obsidian Oil to the stem to revitalize the vulcanite, and I love to see the pop of the vulcanite as it moves through the micromesh cycles! I put the stem aside to dry. The pictures show the progress. Turning back to the stummel, I decide to apply Fiebing’s Dark Brown Leather Dye to the Reject London Made to emulate the darker hues of the original finish. Since it is an aniline dye, I can lighten the finish to taste by wiping the stained stummel with cotton pads wetted with isopropyl. The large stummel has a lot of briar real estate to show off with a smattering of different grains – pleasing to the eye and a handful of stummel to boot! I just acquired Fiebing’s Black Leather Dye and I decide to experiment. I will add a touch of it to the dark brown to create the blend. The first snag I run into is that this is the largest stummel I’ve worked on and my usual corks that I use to prop the stummel on the candle stick during the staining process were too small. I rummaged through our cork supply and found only one large enough. I warm the stummel to expand the briar enabling the dye to absorb better into the grain. I apply the dye liberally over the surface with a pipe cleaner folded over. Then I fire the wet dye and the alcohol content burns off setting the stain. I repeat the process again to assure total coverage and set the stummel aside to rest. After several hours, I ‘unwrap’ the fired stummel using the Dremel mounted with a felt buffing wheel. With the Dremel at its slowest speed, I move methodically over the stummel applying Tripoli compound to remove the crusted fired surface. I don’t apply too much downward pressure on the briar but I allow the RPMs and the compound to do the work for me. After completed, I use cotton pads wetted with alcohol to wipe down the stummel to lighten the stained finish and to blend the dye. After this, I mount a cotton cloth wheel on the Dremel and apply Blue Diamond compound and methodically work the wheel over the entire surface. After completed, I again wipe the stummel with cotton pads wetted with isopropyl 95%. I follow this by doing another quick tour over the stummel with the Blue Diamond. The use of black dye with the dark brown has the effect of darkening the grain which I’m liking as I see the grain surfacing through the compound cycles. The pictures show the progress.To remove the compound dust, I hand buff the stummel with a flannel cloth. After mounting the Dremel with a cotton cloth wheel and increasing the speed to 2, one notch over the slowest, I apply several coats of carnauba wax to the stummel and reattached stem. I follow this with a rigorous hand buffing with a micromesh cloth. When I experimented by adding black dye to the dark brown I didn’t anticipate the unique hue that would result. The briar grain veins seem to have latched on to the black and the lighter grains came out with a golden/copper kettle blend that is striking – very interesting and attractive. If this REJECT – LONDON MADE is a product of the W. H. Carrington Co., I cannot say why it received this factory stamp. For those who like huge pipes that fill the hand, this big boy, bent billiard fits the bill and needs a new steward! All the profits of pipes I sell help the Daughters of Bulgaria, an organization we work with that helps women and children who have been trafficked and sexually exploited. If you’re interested in this REJECT, hop over to my blog site, The Pipe Steward. Thanks for joining me!

Comoy’s Royal Falcon Bent Bulldog

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Blog by Dal Stanton

The eBay seller from UK gave a decent, though brief, accounting of the origins of Comoy from Saint-Claude, France, and started in the 1820s by Francois Comoy. His son, Henri, started the London extension of the Comoy name in 1879 with not much more than the tools of his trade – making pipes. He is cited by Pipedia as being the author of the appellation, “London Made”. In 1929 the company merged with the macro-concern, Oppenheimer Pipes. With this, albeit brief history, Pipedia’s describes the present summation:

Comoy’s remained a family owned company until it was finally taken over by Cadogan Investments during the early 1980’s. Cadogan have continued to manufacture Comoy pipes to the present day and, under Michael Adler, the Comoy brand is their flagship and efforts are being made to once more re-instate the well known quality of the brand.

The half-bent Bulldog I rescued from my “Help Me!” basket is marked on the left shank, “Royal” over “Falcon” (curved). The right shank is marked, “Made In London” (circled) over “England”. The eBay seller’s listing indicated there was a shape number “13” which I cannot see. The stem is stamped with the image of a falcon perched on a branch. Here are the pictures of the Royal Falcon on my worktable: A quick trip to the Pipe Phil site confirms that Royal Falcon appears to be a prominent second of Comoy’s showing an example of the interesting stem stamping of a falcon perched on a branch – much busier than most stamps.

What drew me to bid on this Bulldog was the stem. Within the Bulldog classification, is seems that most Bulldogs sport straight saddle stems, where the diamond shaped shank culminates in the saddle and the stem is then flat from the saddle to the button. Rarer still, it seems are the bent Bulldogs which most often are fitted with a saddle stem as above. Most rare, it seems is what I see now with this Comoy’s Royal Falcon – a half-bent stem that carries the characteristic diamond shaped shank into the stem and then gradually tapers out along the stem – giving the impression that the stem is much longer than perhaps it is with the bow of the diamond shaped shank/stem. The tapered diamond stem is very nice and will look nice restored with the Falcon perched on his branch! The chamber as a lite cake residue which I will remove down to the briar for a fresh start. The rim has hardened crusted lava needing attention. The front upper dome of the stummel has a nice dent along with several dents and cuts marking both sides of curved part of the stummel transitioning into the diamond shaped shank – an obvious result of the natural placement of the Bulldog on the table or counter. There are several fills that have lightened and are showing through the old clouded finish. The stem is heavily oxidized with moderate teeth chatter on the upper and lower bit. The first thing I do to restore and recommission the Royal Falcon Bulldog is to place the stem in an Oxi-Clean bath after putting petroleum jelly over the falcon stamp.With the paper towel, down to catch the carbon dust and fragments, I use the Pipnet Reaming Kit to ream the chamber. I use only the smallest blade in the Bulldog chamber and remove the lion-share of carbon. I follow the reaming blade using the Savinelli Pipe Knife to scrape the chamber wall and remove more carbon. Using a piece of 240 grit paper I fold it over a Sharpie Pen and sand the chamber wall and finish by wiping the chamber with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95%. The chamber looks good. The pictures show the progress. Turning directly to the internals of the stummel, using cotton swabs and pipe cleaners wetted with isopropyl 95%, I work on cleaning the stummel. I also utilize a spade dental tool to scrape the mortise walls to stir up the old tars and oils. There was a good bit of gunk, but the swabs and pipe cleaners started coming clean. Later I’ll use a salt and alcohol soak to clean further.Now, I clean the external surface of the stummel using undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a cotton pad and bristled tooth brush I work on the crusted rim as well as the grime on the stummel surface. Using a tooth pick I scape the grooves circling the stummel. The crust on the rim is not moving so I use a brass bristled brush which removes most of the hard lava crust, but not all. Using my pin knife, I carefully scrape the rim removing the last crusted carbon holdouts. After cleaning, I then rinse the stummel in warm tap water to rinse off the grime. The Murphy’s Soap well removed the thin finish and I’m looking a bare briar for the most part. Doing a quick inspection of the surface, there are several cuts and some fills in the briar surface. The pictures show the progress and the inspection. I use a medium grade sanding sponge to sand out the nicks and cuts. I focus especially on the ‘keel’ of the Bulldog where most thumps and bumps occurred. On some deeper cuts, I strategically use a rolled piece of 240 grit paper where more abrasion was needed. I also give the rim a ‘semi-topping’ with the firmer coarser sponge. I follow by sanding with a lite grade sanding sponge to smooth more. The inner ring of the rim has a bevel and it is darkened. Using a piece of 120 grit paper I clear out the damaged briar and reestablish a crisp inner bevel. I follow this with 240 grit paper and finish with sanding sponges. The pictures show the progress.I put the stummel aside and pluck the stem out of the Oxi-Clean bath. I start by wet sanding with 600 grit paper to work on the raised oxidation but soon switch to 240 grit paper. The oxidation is stiff. I’m careful to avoid abrasion on the Falcon stem stamping. I’m hopeful that there is enough definition left in the stamping to restore it later with white acrylic paint. After using 240 grit paper, I then wet sand 600 grit paper then 0000 steel wool. The oxidation is left over the falcon stamping and I hope that Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser will help remove the oxidation without damage to the stem stamp. I think it helped, but there is still discoloration over the area but the stamping is still intact. The pictures show the progress dealing with the oxidation. Before I forget it, I now turn to the stem internals cleaning it with pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95%. Without too much resistance, the pipe cleaner come through clean without too much effort.Moving ahead straight away with the stem, I use micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 and wet sand the stem. Following this I dry sand using pads 3200 to 4000 then 6000 to 12000. Following each set of 3 I apply Obsidian Oil to the stem to revitalize the vulcanite. With the last cycle, I set the stem aside to dry. The pictures show the progress. With the stem completed except for the final polishing phase and repainting the Falcon stem marking, I turn to the stummel using micromesh pads 1500 to 12000. With the first set of three, 1500 to 2400 I wet sand the stummel, then with the following sets, 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000 I dry sand. Throughout, I avoided the markings on the shank panels. The pictures show the progress. With the original color leaning toward the darker brown side, I will use Fiebing’s Dark Brown Leather Dye and then lighten as I see need using a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95%. To prepare the stummel, I use a sharp dental probe to trace the twin grooves to remove any leftover briar dust from the sanding. Then I wipe the stummel with a cotton pad and isopropyl to clean away any dust. Placing my ‘stain board’ down on my work station I put a cork in the shank to act as a handle and then heat up the stummel with a heat gun. This expands the briar and allows for a better absorption of the dye. I use a folded over pipe cleaner to apply the dye liberally over the surface. I fire the aniline dye and the alcohol burns off immediately, setting the hue in the briar. To make sure the coverage is complete, I repeat the process above including the firing of the dye. I then set the stummel aside to rest. The pictures show the fire crusted stummel. With the stummel on the sidelines a while, I look at the falcon stem marking. Pipe Phil’s example shows a lot of lines and contours shaping the bird and his perch. I’m not sure my falcon has that much detail left after wear and sanding over the years. After a closer look, it appears that the imprinted falcons are slightly different – my falcon appears that he’s looking up more than the other. For comparison, I’ve placed the two together below. I’ll see what I can do with white acrylic paint. The first approach was to apply paint and then, before drying, to carefully wipe it away, leaving paint in the grooves. This did not work – seems like there was not enough groove to hold the paint. Next, I applied more paint and let it dry. That did not work either. I’m not sure if this is usually done in pipe restorations, but the problem is that the lines of the falcon stamping are too thin and will not hold the acrylic paint. I decide to take the point of my pocket knife and attempt to sculpt the lines that are there to deepen them. It took several iterations of sculpting, then applying paint, drying and scraping off with a toothpick, before I arrive at the best I can do at this point! The pictures show some of the process. With the falcon stem marking completed, it’s time to ‘unwrap’ the fire crusted stummel. I use Tripoli compound with a felt buffing wheel mounted on the Dremel and use the slowest speed available and rotate the wheel over the surface, without too much down pressure on the briar, but allowing the RPMs of the Dremel and the compound to do the work. I take a picture into this process. When completed with the Tripoli, I use a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95% to wipe down the stummel to lighten the dark brown dye as well as to blend the dye. When satisfied (forgot to take a picture!) with the shade, next I mount a cotton cloth wheel and turn the speed up half a notch, to 1.5 and apply Blue Diamond compound in the same manner as with Tripoli. After the Blue Diamond I give the stummel a good buffing with a flannel cloth to remove the compound dust from the stummel before application of the wax. After joining stem and stummel, I then mount a cotton cloth wheel on the Dremel and apply carnauba wax to the stummel. I give the stummel 3 coats of carnauba and then finish by giving the stummel and stem a hand-buff with a micromesh cloth.I’m very pleased with the results. The Comoy’s Royal Falcon is an attractive Bent Bulldog. I like the lines of the diamond shank flowing into the tapered stem. The Royal Falcon looks good re-perched on his branch. The briar grain is rich and deep. I sell my restorations with the profits helping the work we do with the Daughters of Bulgaria – those sexually exploited and trafficked. This Bulldog is ready to serve a new steward. If you’re interested in adopting him and helping the Daughters, check out The Pipe Steward Store. Thanks for joining me!

‘Gramps’ – A Redonian Deluxe London Made 26 Rescued

11 Replies

Blog by Dal Stanton

I know exactly where I was when Charles Lemon, of Dad’s Pipes, posted his blog Family Heirloom Comes in from the Cold on December 22. I was dutifully, pushing the shopping cart at the Target in Golden, Colorado, while my wife and I were engaged in last-minute Christmas shopping. Well, my wife was shopping and I was catching up on pipe blog reading with my iPhone 6s. The story Charles told was of a pipe (without a stem) discovered on a stroll in a pasture, how it arrived there was a mystery, which, after some research looking at old photos, was determined to belong to a great-great uncle. The restoration was to be a Christmas gift for the great-great nephew, the pipe finder’s step-father…. It was an excellent restoration on Charles’ part, but the story itself, the condition of the pipe, the fact that it was found after how many years – contributed to one of the core reasons I love restoring pipes. As I read Charles’ heart-warming story, I found myself rooting for the pipe to make it and to again be restored to the lineage of the steward. While I continued faithfully to keep pace with the shopping cart, dodging frantic shoppers and kids on too much sugar and reading Charles’s post, ‘Gramps’ came to mind. The first time I saw the pictures of ‘Gramps’ and read the eBay seller’s comments, I determined to place my bid to rescue the old, worn out, tossed aside, pipe. Why did I immediately name him ‘Gramps’? Here is what the eBay seller said:

Vary rare REDONIAN Pipe. Found at the Estate Auction of a 98-year-old man. (Who said smoking will kill ya?…no way). So the pipe has some ware marks up by the mouth piece, see pictures. Pipe is marked bowl piece is marked 26 on one side and SARDINIAN de Luxe Made in London on the other. It is a used pipe. Ready to be Enjoyed, Gifted or Resold…ENJOY!

With a smile on my face while looking at Gramps’ pictures, notwithstanding the ‘mild’ exaggeration of the seller’s sales bravado, “Ready to be Enjoyed, Gifted or Resold…ENJOY!”, this is what I saw: I have no idea if I can bring Gramps to drink of the Fountain of Youth or not, but I’m now looking at him on my worktable here in Sofia, Bulgaria. The markings on the left shank are Redonian Deluxe over London Made. The right side of the shank bears the mark, 26, which I assume is the shape number. Surprisingly, the stem stamping is legible – a red ‘R’ ensconced in a circle. A look at Pipedia and I discover that the Redonian was made by the John Redman Ltd./British Empire Pipe Co. in London, the same company that was a possible manufacturer of the L. J. Perretti I restored not long ago – the Perretti Co. is based in Boston and the second oldest Tobacconist in the United States. According to the Pipedia article, John Redman Co. pipe lines, along with Redonian, include Aristocrat, Buckingham, Buckingham Palace, Canberra, Captain Fortune, Dr John, Golden Square, Richmond (not Sasieni), and Twin Bore. I take some additional pictures of ‘Gramps’ for a fresh look. Like Charles’ patient, this pipe looks to have been left outside or exposed in a barn or something, as half of it seems to be colored differently – laying on its side for some time. The stem has the heaviest oxidation I’ve seen to date – perhaps something else is going on – it appears to be leprous! The surface is so soiled and the cake so thick – there appears to be a spider web in the fire chamber – I really can’t determine the condition of either the stummel or stem, so after taking some pictures from my work table, I plop the stem in Oxi-Clean to start dealing with the stem leprosy and I plop the stummel along with spider web, in an alcohol bath – isopropyl 95% to soften the ages of crud clinging to the stummel – inside and out.About 24 hours later, I retrieve the stem from the Oxi-Clean bath and the oxidation was raised to the vulcanite surface as hoped and expected. I first attack the oxidation by wet standing the stem with 600 grit sanding paper. I’m very careful to stay clear of the Redonian ‘R’ stamping and work around it. I sand for quite some time. After making some progress, I switch to using 0000 steel wool to take off more oxidation and smooth in the process. Again, I’m steering clear of the ‘R’ stamping. I wish I would have taken a picture at this point. The stem is looking much improved except for the circle ‘R’ stamping – still encased in thick oxidation. I know that taking anything abrasive to the stamping will erode it and for me, this is anathema. I try another tack – I think I remember reading somewhere about using Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I brought it to Bulgaria from the US and hadn’t used it yet. The sponge that emerges from the box would not be abrasive – I hope. So, I wet the sponge and start working on the area of the stamping. I start very cautiously and gingerly apply pressure with the sponge Magic Eraser. When I discover that it is not eating away at the stamping I apply more pressure. Before long I was working on the area aggressively. Very gradually, and without perceptible damage to the ‘R’, the oxidation disappeared – or at least, in very large measure. The last picture in the set below shows the magic brought by the Magic Eraser! I’m pleased with the progress cleaning up a once, leprous stem! Satisfied with the progress on the stem, I fish the stummel out of the alcohol bath. I use several pipe cleaners attempting to open the airway between the mortise and draft hole – unsuccessfully. I then use about a 6-inch length of hanger wire as a probe and to ream the airway gently. After a while, I finally push through the ancient muck and reconnect the mortise and bowl. After this, I put the stummel back in the alcohol bath to soak further after stirring up and opening the internals. Out of the bath again, I take Q-tip cotton swabs and pipe cleaners and clean the gunk out of the mortise and draft airway while it is still loosened. It’s cleaning up well, but I need to ream the bowl to remove the softened cake and the old residues. I want Gramps to have a new start down to the fresh briar. I use the Pipnet reaming kit using the two smaller blades of the four available. The cake comes easily. I fine tune the reaming more using the Savinelli pipe knife. I then take 240 grit sanding paper, wrapped around a Sharpie Pen and sand the chamber walls to remove the remaining carbon. I finish by cleaning the bowl using cotton pads wetted with isopropyl 95%. The fire chamber looks good – no problems, no burn throughs detected visually. The pictures mark the progress. With the bowl reamed and cleaned, I now turn to the stummel externals. I take another critical look at the stummel surface and lava flow on the rim and take a few pictures to show the condition of the briar before I use Murphy’s Oil Soap. I want to mark the progress moving from the desperate condition in which the Redonian Deluxe started. I use undiluted Murphy’s Soap and scrub the rim and stummel surface with cotton pads. I also use a bristled tooth brush to scrub the surface. After cleaning, I rinse the stummel with warm tap water careful not to allow water into the stummel internals. The rim cleans nicely and it looks good. Looking at the briar surface, not surprising I detect several pits which need to be either sanded or filled. What is emerging from underneath the gunk, grime and grunge is a piece of briar holding much potential to shine with the gradual appearance of some nice-looking grain. With my work day ending, I decide to apply olive oil to the stummel to hydrate the very dry wood – letting it absorb the oil through the night. The pictures show the progress. The next morning, I decide to further clean and purify the stummel using the salt/alcohol soak. I fill the bowl with Kosher Salt and cover the opening with my palm and shake the stummel to distribute the salt. I then place the stummel in an egg carton to give stability, and fill the stummel with isopropyl 95% until it surfaces over the salt. I then cork the mortise and let it sit and do its thing – letting the salt absorb the crud. I then turn to the stem. I clean the stem internals using pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol. Using a sharp dental probe, I dig gunk out of the slot to clean it. It takes a while to work a pipe cleaner all the way through the stem. Once I do accomplish this, I use a bristled pipe cleaner with alcohol to run it back and forth several times to clear and clean the airway – hopefully allowing a pipe cleaner easier passage. After cleaning the internals of the stem, I now look at the condition of the button area. The 98-year-old grandpa that owned the Redonian did not leave teeth marks (is that a clue to his dental condition??) but the upper and lower bits are almost flush with the stem surface. This is not good – the button edges are necessary to hang the pipe properly on the teeth so that one does not bite the stem leaving the teeth chatter and dents one must remove when restoring a pipe! I will use charcoal/superglue putty to build up the button area. I form a wedge made of index card and fit it into the slot of the stem to keep putty from covering the opening. I open a capsule of activated charcoal and pour the powder on an index card. I then put a small puddle of Hot Stuff Special ‘T’ CA glue (extra thick glue) next to the charcoal powder. With a toothpick, I draw charcoal into the glue, mixing it as I go. I continue to add charcoal powder until I reach a thickness like molasses. When I reach this viscosity, I then dollop the putty around the button area – more than is needed to provide excess to sand down to the proper button proportions. I use an accelerator to set the putty. I then remove the wedge from the slot and put the stem aside to cure. The pictures show the process. Several hours have passed since the stummel began its salt/alcohol soak. The salt has darkened some, so I assume it’s done its work! I dump the used salt from the stummel and thump it on my palm to remove lodged salt crystals. I take a paper towel and wipe out the bowl. Using a bristle brush, I clean the mortise to remove any salt lodged in the internals. I want to be sure all the salt is purged. I then return to using Q-tip cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and isopropyl 95% to complete cleaning the internals. With 2 Q-tips, the verdict is in – the Kosher Salt and alcohol soak did a great job drawing out the muck and freshening the mortise. I complete the job by wiping the chamber with a cotton pad with isopropyl 95%. Done. The pictures show the result!With the stummel now clean, I take a close look at the stummel surface to be reminded of the question areas. I take a few pictures to show these. The stummel is in surprisingly good condition for what it looked like when I started. I find some pitting on the surface that I will fill with superglue. I also detect a rim ‘skin’ on the front end of the stummel. There are also other nicks around the rim from normal wear and tear. I start preparing the stummel surface by sanding with a medium grade sanding sponge to remove a layer off the finish – to determine where fills are needed. After using the medium grade sanding sponge, I apply super glue to the 3 places on the stummel I detected earlier to fill the larger pits and a small crevasse and put the stummel aside for the superglue fills to cure. The pictures show the progress. Now to return to the stem’s button rebuild. The charcoal superglue putty has fully cured and ready for shaping. I take pictures of the upper and lower bit to mark the progress.The technique I’ve developed for button shaping is to start at the end of the stem, using a flat needle file I file to establish the vertical – perpendicular slot area – that it’s flat. This establishes a base-line for the end of the button and shaping the rest (I forgot to document this in a picture!). I then start with the upper button area with the flat needle and begin filing from the stummel-side toward the end to establish the straight edge of the button’s ‘lip’. I gradually file this toward the stem’s end until it appears a good depth for the upper button. I then file top of the bit’s lip to shape in further. When I’m satisfied with the upper button shaping, I then flip the stem over doing the same with the lower button seeking to match the upper. When the basic filing is completed, I use a pointed needle file to enlarge the slot. The pictures show the button rebuild process. To remove the roughness of the files, I then use 240 then 600 and finally 0000 steel wool to further perfect the shape and to cover the treads left by the files. Which often is the case, air pockets encased in the charcoal/superglue are exposed during the shaping and sanding process. I apply some CA glue to the button surface and paint it with a toothpick to cover the pin-sized air pocket holes and then spray an accelerator on the glue to cure it more rapidly. After a while, I return with 240, 6000 paper and then 0000 steel wool to remove the excess CA glue on the button and complete the button rebuild. The pictures show the completion of the button rebuild. With stem internals cleaned, and new button completed, I transition to the externals. Using micromesh sanding pads 1500 to 2400, careful to guard the Redonian ‘R’ stamping, I wet sand the stem and follow the set by applying Obsidian Oil. I then use micromesh pads 3200 to 4000 and after, pads 6000 to 12000 following each set with an application of Obsidian Oil. I set Gramps aside to soak in the Obsidian Oil. All I can do is to say, ‘Oh, my!’ Gramps is responding well to the TLC. The pictures tell the story – I can’t but help to throw in a reminder of how far we’ve come! With a reborn stem waiting, I turn to the stummel. The 3 pit-holes that were filled with superglue are cured. Using 240 grit paper I sand the excess glue to the surface and blend the patches. I take a close-up picture of the rim and inspect the rim more closely. Along with nicks, I can see that rim lines are not sharp. There is evidence of a bevel on the inside ring of the rim which is scorched. I decide to mildly top the stummel and reestablish a crisp bevel. The bevel will also remove the scorching I see. I use 240 grit paper on a chopping board and rotate the inverted stummel in an even, circular motion to remove old briar. I stop and check things after every couple of revolutions to make sure I’m staying level. I only take off enough to leave the former bevel more distinct. To recut the inner bevel, I use 120 grit paper rolled very tightly to create a hard-sanding surface. I want the bevel to be straight and uniform. I follow the 120 using 240 grit also tightly rolled to remove the coarser lines. The topping and bevel look good. The bowl is in-round. After completing the rim and bevel, I take a medium grade sanding sponge and then a light grade sanding sponge and sand the stummel to blend the superglue fills – careful to work around the Redonian Deluxe London Made markings on the stummel. Then, using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 I wet sand the stummel, followed by dry sanding using micromesh pads 3200 to 4000 and then 6000 to 12000. I never tire seeing the grain emerge during this process. After I complete the micromesh cycles, I unite stummel and stem to get a look at where we are. Gramps is looking good. The pictures show the progress – woops, I forgot to take a picture after the first micromesh cycle! I’m liking very much the progress of the Redonian Deluxe London Made – aka, Gramps. I decide to use Fiebing’s Dark Brown Leather Dye with Gramps. I think the rich depth of the leather dye will create the subtle expression of the straight grain hugging the bottom of the stummel as it expands into horizontal patterns and scattered bird’s eye on top. I give the surface a quick wipe with a cotton pad to clean and remove any leftover briar dust. I use my wife’s hair dryer to warm the stummel to expand the wood to help the grain to be more receptive to the dye. I use a cork in the shank as a handle and I then take a folded over pipe cleaner and apply the dark brown dye over the entire surface. After this, I fire the wet dye which immediately burns the alcohol and sets the dye in the grain. In a few minutes, I repeat the process concluding with firing the wet dye. I put the crusted stummel aside to rest. I decide to do the same and call it a day. The pictures show the progress.The next day, after a full day’s work, I’m anxious to look at Gramps, and with the Dremel I begin unwrapping the fired dye crust. After mounting a dedicated felt wheel for applying Tripoli, I set the Dremel’s speed for 1, the slowest possible, and first purge the wheel with the sharp edge of the Dremel’s tightening wrench – to rid it of old compound and to soften the felt wheel. I apply very little pressure on the briar surface, allowing the RPMs and compound to do the work for me. To reach the inside of the bent shank elbow with the Tripoli compound, I switch to a smaller, pointed felt wheel to get in the tight angles. With the Tripoli finished, I rejoin the stem to the stummel and I mount a Blue Diamond dedicated felt wheel and again buff stem and stummel. When completed, I hand buff the pipe with a cotton cloth to remove the compound dust left over. The pictures show the progress. With the abrasive application of the compounds finished, before I apply carnauba wax to the stummel and stem, I want to dress up Gramps’ stem stamping. The original appears to have been red so I take red acrylic paint and apply a dab over the Redonian ‘R’ and circle and let it dry thoroughly – overnight. When dry, I gently rub/scrape off the excess with the flat side of a toothpick which protects the paint in the indentations. After this, I rub it well with a cotton pad to clean the remainder of the excess – gently leaving a rebranded stem – very nice, a refreshed stem stamping. The pictures show the results. With the Redonian stem stamp completed, I reunite stem and stummel and mount the cotton cloth Dremel wheel and apply several coats of carnauba wax to the pipe. I increase the speed of the Dremel to 2. I follow the carnauba wax with a vigorous hand-buff using a micromesh cloth to dissipate wax that was not spread evenly and to deepen the gloss of the shine.

When I think about the 98-year-old steward from whose estate this Redonian Deluxe London Made came, I cannot believe he would have dreamt his pipe would one day start a new lifetime serving another steward. I gave this old, worn pipe the nickname, ‘Gramps.’ Bear with me one more time to put a picture of ‘Gramps’ in front of the younger man he has now become. I’m amazed at the transformation and it is why I love this hobby – the pictures speak for themselves. I sell my restorations with the profits helping the work we do with the Daughters of Bulgaria – those sexually exploited and trafficked. This Redonian Deluxe London Made is ready to serve a new steward. If you’re interested in adopting him and helping the Daughters, check out ‘Gramps’ at The Pipe Steward Store. Thanks for joining me!

One of my favourite GBD Shapes and Finishes – a Prehistoric 269 Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

After refurbishing a lot of pipes over the years I have come to opinions about pipe brands and shaped. To my eye certain brands really get a certain shape and really nail it perfectly. To me the GBD Bulldog, shape 269 is one of those shapes. To me it is the quintessential straight shank bulldog. Others do it well but GBD absolutely gets the shape. Add to that fact that certain finishes have also grown on me over the years and one of those is the GBD Prehistoric sandblast. You combine the finish and the shape components on this pipe and I have a real beauty on the restoration table today. My brother is also becoming a die-hard GBD fan so when he saw this one he decided it was one to go after. Needless to say he got it. He took some photos of the pipe before he cleaned it up to send up to me in Vancouver. I have included those below.The finish on the pipe looks to be in excellent condition. Later close-up photos will show the grime and dust in the grooves and crevices of the sandblast but there are no chips or nicks in the briar. The bowl had remnants of tobacco in the bottom and the cake had overflowed on to the rim top. The curved bevel of the Prehistoric smooth rim was thickly tarred and caked. It was hard to tell from the photos if there were any nicks or deep scratches in the rim. I have found that the thicker the cake and tars on the rim the more likely it is that I will find the rim to be pretty pristine underneath. The stem was deeply oxidized and the GBD logo insert on the stem had been buffed to death but the fit of the stem to the shank was perfect. There was only light tooth chatter and a few scratches on the top and underside of the flat portion of the stem. The photo below gives a clear picture of the condition of the rim and the cake in the bowl.The sand blast on the heel of the bowl was deep and craggy and the contrast of browns in the stain really highlighted the layered look of the blast.The stamping on the left underside of the shank in a smooth panel is very readable and sharp. It reads GBD in the oval over Prehistoric in Germanic script. Next to that it reads London England over the shape number 269. The second photo below shows the over buffed roundel in the stem. It is still readable but is quite flattened and broadened. I will have to see if I can clean that up a bit in the process of the restoration – or at least not damage it any further.The next two photos show the top and underside of the stem. The oxidation is quite heavy and deep in the vulcanite. There is some light tooth chatter and scratches on the stem near the button and on top of the button on both sides but no deep tooth marks.My brother is getting really good at cleaning up these old timers and I have to say I am getting spoiled at getting pipes that I don’t have to ream and scrape to clean before I can start the restoration process. In this case he scrubbed the briar with Murphy’s Oil Soap and got rid of the grime and dust in the crevices and removed most of the buildup on the rim top. He reamed the bowl and scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. When I received it the pipe was clean and ready to restore. The briar was dry from the scrubbing and the removal of all of the oils. It appears to have lost some of the rich colour but I have learned that once I begin to work on it the life begins to come back to the briar so I was not too concerned. The oxidation had also really risen to the surface of the stem and looked ugly. I took the next four photos to show what the pipe looked like when it arrived. I took a closeup photo of the rim top to show what it looked like when I received it. He had been able to remove the buildup and caking on the rim but there was still some darkening that needed to be dealt with. I also took closeup photos of the stem to show how the pitted and oxidized surface looked before I started. This was going to be a tough stem to clean up. I decided to start with the rim top. I started polishing it by wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped it off with a damp cotton pad and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. The rim began to take on its original sheen and the darkening and rim damage was removed.I gave the bowl a light rub down with olive oil and it absorbed it quickly into the dry and lifeless feeling briar. I buffed it by hand with a soft microfiber cloth and took the next set of photos to show what a little oil will do to a dry and thirsty finish. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper being very careful around the GBD roundel on the stem. I was able to remove much of the surface oxidation on the stem and I started to see the black stem peeking through.I decided to try several of the stem polishes I have around here to try to break through the oxidation. I started with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish which is a very gritty and cuts through the oxidation and helps polish the stem. I followed that with the Before & After Polishes which are also gritty but each of them the Fine and the Extra Fine are less so than the Denicare polish. While they worked well overall and cut through a lot of oxidation it took much scrubbing with cotton pads to polish it to the place the stem is in the photo below.I still needed to polish the stem further with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed it down after each set of three pads with Obsidian Oil. After the last set of pads I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I buffed the bowl rim and the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to shine it further. I gave the stem and the bowl rim multiple coats of carnauba wax on the wheel and hand applied Conservator’s Wax to the sandblast bowl sides and shank. I buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad, carefully buffing around the stamping and the brass roundel on the stem. The finished pipe is shown in the photos that follow. The overall appearance of the pipe is very good. In some of the close up photos the light shows me some spots along the crease of the button where the stubborn oxidation did not all come clean. Ah well. It is one of those that I think I will revisit repeatedly over the course of its life with me. Thanks for journeying with me on this troublesome oxidation removal process. Thanks for reading.

An Unsullied (once the paint was removed) Dunhill 5113 Bent Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

Wikus mentioned in his comment on the post I did on the latest Stanwell Copenhagen Calabash (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/12/17/a-gold-banded-stanwell-copenhagen-calabash/comment-page-1/#comment-19995) that my brother was the MVP of pipe finders. I have to tell you that you all don’t know the half of it. In all the years I have been pipe hunting and sorting and digging through old pipes I have never had the kind of luck or fortune or whatever you want to call it as he does. He has found a total of three Dunhill pipes, a Castello, some great Barlings, a batch of astonishingly beautiful Stanwells and a lot of other amazing pipes in his hunts. The pipe I am working on now at the work table is one he picked up at a St Vincent De Paul Thrift Store in Boise, Idaho on a recent trip to visit an estate sale that had some promising pipes. The amazing thing is he picked up this paint speckled Dunhill for only $9.99. Now that is some great hunting fortune. I can hardly believe the photos that he sends me sometimes.

The next group of photos show the pipe as it was when he picked up. There was a lot of debris and grim in the deep blast grooves and on top of that quite a bit of white house paint on the left side of the bowl and spattered around the shank and a bit on the right side of the bowl. It makes me wonder who paints their house smoking a Dunhill pipe. The first three photos show the overall look and condition of the pipe. Jeff also took some closer photos of the right side of the bowl and the rim. These were done to give a clear picture of the great sandblast finish that was on the pipe. It really has some deep and craggy looking grooves and ridges. The second photo shows the cake in the bowl and the overall clean look of the rim. The pipe had not been smoked that often and it certainly had not been oversmoked.The stamping on the bowl is readable and clear. It reads Dunhill Shell over Made in England with a superscript underlined 24 following the D of England. To the left of the paint spot on the underside of the shank is the four digit shape number 5113. On the Pipephil Logos and Stamping website there is a helpful key to interpreting the shape stamps on Dunhill. Here is the link: http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/shapes.html. He writes:

Dunhill pipes are stamped with a four digit code. Digit 1: (from 1 to 6) denotes the size of the pipe (the group). Digit 2: denotes the style of the mouthpiece (0, 1=tapered, 2=saddle). Digit 3 and 4: denote the generic pipe shape. Thus 5113 can be interpreted this way: (5 = size | 1 = tapered stem | 13 = Bent Apple. The dating on these four digit pipes can be determined by starting with the base date of 1960 and adding the superscript underlined number after the D of England. Thus 1960+24 makes this a 1984 pipe. The next two photos show the stamping from a lightly different angle accentuating the year stamp in the second photo.The stem was in absolutely perfect shape though there were a few paint flecks on the surface. Underneath those the stem was flawless. There were no tooth marks or chatter at all and no oxidizing either. Along with the condition of the bowl (unsmoked briar at the bottom half of the bowl and a clear briar mortise with no darkening) this stem points to a pipe that was hardly used.The next two closeup photos show the rim top with some of the tars and paint flecks in the grooves of the blast and the paint flecks on the bowl side on the left of the second photo of the underside view.My brother did a miracle job cleaning up the paint that was all over this beautiful Dunhill. He was able to get it out of all of the deep crevices and crags of the sandblast without damaging the Shell finish. The rim grime and build up also came off and the flecks of paint on the stem came off without oxidizing the stem. He reamed the bowl and cleaned out the internals in the stem and the mortise and shank with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. The pipe smelled clean and was clean. It came to me and looked like the four photos below. I took a photo of the rim top to show how clean it was when I received it.The stem looks to be in great shape. The surface was very smooth and clean. The internals were also clean. I ran a pipe cleaner through the airway in the stem and the shank as well as the mortise. They were spotless.I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and the buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and gave it several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It was an easy clean up in terms of many of the pipes that cross my table but the finished pipe is quite stunning. This certainly was quite an amazing find and an incredible purchase for a little under $10. My brother certainly has luck and a good eye for pipes. Thanks for looking.

Breathing Life into a Huge KBB Yello-Bole 3068C Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

A good friend of rebornpipes, Jim emailed me about a pair of pipes that he had that he wanted me to have a look at. The first of them is on the work table and it is going to take a bit of work to bring back to life. The second is the one I just finished and it is a beautiful pipe. It is a Yello-Bole like none I have seen before and I have worked on many of them over the years. This one is a large KBB Yello-Bole bent billiard similar in style to the WDC Wellington big pipes. This one is 10 inches long and 2 ¼ inches tall. The bowl is 7/8 inches in diameter and 1 ¾ inches deep. The stem was in decent shape other than oxidation and light tooth chatter on the top and bottom sides near the button. The button itself was very clean with a few tooth marks but the airway was in perfect condition. The stem has the older style inlaid Yello-Bole logo of the yellow circle on the top side. The stem appears to be a P-lip but it is the faux P-lip that has the airway coming out straight at the end of the P.

The finish on the bowl was dirty and the varnish coat was peeling away and flaking off around the bowl. There was a deep, rich oxblood colour to the stain underneath the peeling finish. The rim was dirty but otherwise it was pretty clean with no dents, dings or nicks in the surface or in the inner or outer edges of the rim. In the photos it appears that the bowl was meerschaum lined but I assure you that it was not – it is merely coated with the famous Yello-Bole Honey Curing yellow mixture. The bevel on the rim shows the yellow as does the bottom of the bowl. In fact, though the pipe was smoked it appears that it was never smoked all the way to the bottom of the bowl and the lower 1/4^th of the bowl still shows the yellow bowl coating. There was a light cake that was spotty around the inside of the bowl but it was not thick of overflowing onto the rim.

The stamping on the left side of the shank reads KBB in a cloverleaf/club and next to it Yello-Bole over Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. Under that it is stamped Imperial in script and below that the fourth line of the stamp reads Cured With Real Honey. The nickel ferrule on the shank end is stamped with the KB&B Cloverleaf and underneath reads Nickel Plated. It is interesting to me to see this stamping on the band. Typically the Yello-Bole pipes bore the KBB stamp without the ampersand (&) between the two “b’s” which is true on the logo on the left side of the shank. It simply reads KBB in the leaf. On the band however the logo has the KB&B stamp which is usually reserved for the better quality Kaywoodie pipes of the time. The right side of the shank is stamped Algerian Briar over 3068C which I assume is the shape number.

I took the photos below to show what the pipe looked like when it arrived and I had unpacked it on my work table. I took some close up photos of the bowl, rim and stem to show the condition of those areas when I received the pipe. You can see the clean bevel on the rim with the slight darkening of the yellow bowl coating and the light, uneven cake in the bowl. You can also see the yellow bowl coating on the bottom portion of the bowl. The stem shows the oxidation and the light tooth chatter on the top and underside near the button. You can also see the airway exiting the stem at the end rather than the top of the “P-lip”. I reamed the bowl with the Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to clean the cake back to bare briar. I used that tool as I wanted to leave the yellow bowl coating intact in the bowl to leave it as original as possible.I scrubbed off the peeling finish with cotton pads and acetone (fingernail polish remover) until the surface of the briar was smooth and the oxblood stain coat shone through. I used 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads to work on the rim top and the inner bevel of the rim until they also were clean. Once I had removed the varnish coat there were a lot of dings and dents in the rim and the sides of the bowl. I used a hot butter knife and a wet cloth to steam out the dents. It took some time but I continued to steam the dented areas on the bowl until I had removed all but the small nicks on the bowl. I took photos of the bowl after I had steamed it and you can see from the photos that the briar looked far better after steaming. I took some close up photos of the stamping on the shank and the nickel ferrule to show what I talked about in the earlier paragraphs. The nickel-plated ferrule had a lot of scratches in the surface of the nickel. You can also compare the KBB stamp on the shank with the KB&B stamp on the ferrule in the photos. I polished the nickel ferrule with micromesh sanding pads to remove the scratches. I started with 1500 grit and worked my way up to 12000 grit. It removed the scratches and also polished the nickel. I cleaned out the interior of the mortise, the sump at the bottom of the shank and the airways in the shank and the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. The first photo below shows the clean briar in the shank.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation on the surface of the stem. I scrubbed it with the Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to lift more of the oxidation. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded with 3200-12000 grit pads. After sanding with each set of three pads I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. After sanding with 12000 grit micromesh I gave the stem a final coat of the oil and set it aside to dry. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to further polish the bowl and the stem. I was seeking to remove even the micro scratches left behind in the vulcanite by the micromesh sanding pads and the remaining scratches in the briar as well. I gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect the pipe. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad on the wheel and raise a shine. I personally do not like the high gloss look of a pipe when it first comes off the wheel so I hand buff it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine and give it a rich look. The finished pipe is shown in the photos that follow. I look forward to hearing from Jim as to his thoughts regarding this “rare to me” older KBB Yello-Bole. Thanks for walking with me through the process.

ADDENDUM:

Andrew commented below regarding the size of the pipe. I have added this photo of the pipe in my hand to give an idea of the size.

Restoring another Classic Find – a Dunhill 4R Root Briar Canadian EC

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Blog by Steve Laug

When my brother was cleaning up the pipe he called me and let me know that he had found a Dunhill on his recent hunt. He was excited and surprised by the find. The pipe obviously had a replacement stem as there was no white dot. The stamping had been buffed so much that it was unreadable except with a bright light and a lens. He read me the stamping on the shank. Near the bowl on the left side of the top of the shank it was stamped EC and mid shank on the left it read Dunhill over Root Briar. On the top right side mid-shank it read Made in over England with a 6 next to the D. That would make it a 1966 pipe if I am not mistaken. Next to the bowl shank junction on the same side it read circle 4R. The EC stamping told me that I was dealing with a Canadian. The R following the circle 4 told me that the pipe was a Group 4 sized Root Briar. He had found a good one. The only thing that would have been better was if it had come with the original stem. My brother took the photos that follow. They show the pipe before he cleaned it up and sent it to me. It had some nice grain on the bowl and shank.He took some close up photos of the bowl and stem. The first one below shows the condition of the rim. It had some tars on the surface but otherwise appeared to be in great shape. The inner and outer edge both looked good. There was a light cake in the bowl as well. The second and third photos show the oxidized and calcified stem. There was some light tooth chatter on both sides near the button. The replacement stem appeared to be well made. The next two photos show the condition of the stamping on the top of the shank from both the left side and the right side. It was faint and over buffed but with a light and lens still readable.My brother carefully cleaned the externals of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and was careful in the process to not further damage the stamping. He reamed the bowl and scrubbed the rim to remove the tars and oils. He cleaned out the interior of the pipe with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol leaving the mortise and the airways in the shank and the stem clean. The next photos show what the pipe looked like when it arrived in Vancouver. While the rim was free of debris there was still a lot of darkening and thin coat of tar on it. It would not take too much to clean off the surface. He had been able to remove much of the calcification on the stem and clear up some of the scratches on the stem. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and removed the oxidation and the tooth chatter. There were some light tooth marks as well that I was able to sand out and leave the surface of the stem smooth.I gave the stem a light buff with Tripoli to polish it lightly and then drill it for a replacement dot on the top side. I used an ivory/white coloured knitting needle that I trim down to fit as a dot. I chose to make the dot larger than the normal white dot on these pipes to make it clear that it was a replacement. I marked the spot on the top of the stem with an awl and started the hole. I drilled it with a Dremel.I painted the shaped end of the knitting needle with clear super glue gel and then inserted it in the drilled hole in the top of the stem. I cut it close to the stem with a pair of nippers and then sanded it with the Dremel to get as close as I could to the surface of the stem and then finished sanding it with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it in with the stem surface. You can see from the second photo that it is slightly larger than the standard Dunhill dot. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. After the final set of three pads I gave it a final rub down with the oil and set it aside to dry. In the photos below the dot looks like it has a blue tint but in person it is a bright white. I sanded the bowl and the shank with the micromesh sanding pads, avoiding areas where the stamping resided so as not to further damage it. I worked on the rim with the pads to further remove the darkening and light oils that still remained. I gave the bowl a light rubdown with olive oil to bring some life back to the natural finish of the Root Briar.I carefully buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel and gave them both several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad and hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. While the stem obviously cries out that it is a replacement and the white dot says the same the overall look of the pipe is beautiful. The warm glow of the root briar finish looks really good. This old classic should be good to deliver a great smoking experience for many years to come. Thanks for walking with me through the process.

Restoring a Classic Find – a Sasieni Four Dot London Made Pembroke

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Blog by Steve Laug

My brother and I recently purchased some pipes from an estate sale from an old pipeman named Gene in Pocatello, Idaho. There were a lot of great pipes in the lot. I have written about the pipes on a previous blog: https://rebornpipes.com/2016/10/07/a-good-day-hunting-orchestrated-between-british-columbia-and-idaho/ . On his way home my brother stopped at an antique shop and found pipes that were by far the most prestigious of the finds. These included a Charatan’s Make Canadian Sandblast 0121, the Four Dot Sasieni Pembroke with a patent number, Pat.No. 150221/20, a Dunhill Bruyere Canadian EC 4R and a Jost’s Supreme Diamond Shank bent billiard. My brother took the photos that follow. They show the pipe before he cleaned it up and sent it to me.He took some close up photos of the rim top. The top and the inner beveled edge of the bowl had a thick cake of tars and oils that had overflowed from the cake in the bowl. The outer edge of the rim appeared to be in good shape but the inner edge was hard to assess because of the lava buildup on the top.The finish was very dirty but underneath the soiled grain there was some nice flame grain and birdseye that flowed around the bowl and on bottom and up the sides of the bowl and shank. The shank was stamped on the left side near the bowl Made in England in a rugby ball shaped circle. Also on the left side next to that it reads Sasieni in clean and not a flowery script over FOUR DOT over LONDON MADE over PAT.N^o. 150221/20. On the right side of the shank it is stamped “Pembroke” (enclosed in quotation marks).The stem was badly oxidized and was calcified from the button forward about an inch. I have seen this on pipes that generally had a softee bit. There were light tooth marks and tooth chatter on the both sides of the stem near the button. The four dot pattern is clear on the left side of the tapered stem. It may well be a light blue in colour but at this point in the process it was very hard to be sure.I wanted to try to establish a date for the pipe based on the Patent Number stamping, the style of the stamping of Sasieni on the shank and the pattern of the four dots. I went to my go to source of information Pipedia and looked for the article on Sasieni pipe. Here is the link: https://pipedia.org/wiki/Sasieni. There I found some helpful information. I quote the relevant paragraphs in full: “All Sasieni One, Four, and Eight Dot pipes made before W.W.II and destined for the U. S. market carried a patent number on the shank which usually started with the numbers “15″, with 150221/20 and 1513428 being representative of the group. Also, the name “Sasieni” was stamped on the shank in a very florid manner, with the tail of the last “i” sweeping underneath the name forming a shape which has been compared to a fish by more than one collector. This script was discontinued by Alfred almost immediately after he took over the company, so this alone tells you your pipe is pre W.W.II. Underneath in block lettering are the words “London Made”, with the patent number making the third line…”

The pipe I had in hand had the 150221/20 stamping which told me that my pipe had been made for the American market. I also learned that the florid script Sasieni with tail of the last “i” sweeping underneath was discontinued after WWII. The arrangement of the stamping however is identical to the description above. The only difference was the stamping of the script Sasieni. My pipe did not have the florid “i” at the end. I read further in the article and found what I was looking for.

“Once Alfred took over the company in 1946, these elements changed in fairly rapid succession. The first thing to be changed was the nomenclature itself. In place of the elaborate “Sasieni” stamp of pre-war pipes, a simpler, though still script style, “Sasieni” was used. This can be seen on patent pipes which have the small, old style dots.”

I learned that Alfred Sasieni changed the script of the Sasieni stamp from the older florid stamp after 1946 to the simpler script. The paragraph says that it can be seen on patent pipes which had the small, old style dots. Now I knew that the pipe I had was made for the American market after WWII and after 1946. I had the window for the age of my pipe and knew that I had a pre-transition period pipe made during the time in which the Sasieni family still owned the business.

I turned to the Pipephil website to have a look at the time chart that is shown there with the time frames of the Sasieni pipes. Here is the link: http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/infos/sasieni-timechart.html. I use a screen capture to copy the relevant section regarding the dating of my pipe. The red box around the years 1941-1947 shows the features that make up my assessment of the date of this pipe.

The passing of Joel Sasieni and his replacement by his son Alfred Sasieni in 1946.
The reissue of Four Dot pipes that had previously stopped during the war years.
The increase of the dot size and the rearrangement of the dots into an equilateral triangle. (While the one I have is in the same arrangement of dots, the size of the dots is small as noted above for pipes bearing the patent numbers.)
The simplified Sasieni stamping.

My brother scrubbed down the bowl ad removed grime on the finish. He reamed the bowl with PipNet reamer and took the cake back to bare briar. The stem was stuck in the shank so he was unable to remove it and clean out the inside of the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem. There was still some darkening and build up on the rim. The stem damage, oxidation and calcification still remained. I took photos of the pipe when it arrived in Vancouver and I brought it to my work table. sas9 I took a close up photo of the rim. There were still some chips of tar and some stain remaining on the rim of the pipe. The beveled inner edge was still dirty and caked.The stem was worn and dirty. The oxidation and calcification were quite thick on top and bottom of the stem.I was able to remove the stem from the shank by carefully twisting it slowly. It came out and left behind a thick tar that held it in place in the shank. I think that the change of altitude and humidity from Idaho to here made the stem removable. Once it was out of the shank I worked on the bowl. I scrubbed the rim of the pipe with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the remaining finish. I sanded the top with 1500-2400 grit pads to smooth out the damage. I wiped down the bowl with the acetone as well. The photos below show the pipe after scrubbing. I cleaned up the remnants on cake on the inside walls of the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I scraped the remaining cake completely out of the bowl.I worked on the inside of mortise with a dental spatula and scraped away the tarry buildup that had held the stem in place. I scrubbed the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until the inside was clean and the cleaners came out without more darkening. It took a lot of cleaning and scrubbing.I sanded the stem to remove the oxidation and the calcification with 220 grit sandpaper. I was able to sand out the tooth marks and blend them into the surface of the stem. I worked on the button edge with needle files and sandpaper to sharpen the look of the button.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. After each set of three pads I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I gave the stem a final coat of the oil after using the last set of pads. I set the stem aside to dry. (There was still a light oxidation around the stem at the shank junction but the buffing would take care of that.) I gave the bowl a light coat of olive oil and buffed it with a soft cloth. I took the following photos to show the look of the pipe before I buffed it with Blue Diamond or gave it coats of carnauba. I lightly buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful around the stamping on the shank. I gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad. I finished by hand buffing it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It really is a well-made pipe that is laid out well with the pattern of the grain. It certainly came out looking better than its age for a pipe made in around 1946. Thanks for walking through the restoration process with me.

An Italian Thompson Briar Cherry Wood

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Blog by Robert M. Boughton

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Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun
I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ comes
Watchin’ the ships roll in
Then I watch ’em roll away again, yeah
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watchin’ the tide roll away, ooo
I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time.

— Otis Redding (1941-1967), U.S. singer, songwriter, arranger, record producer, talent scout, in “Dock of the Bay.” 1968

In the late great soul singer’s relaxed, heartfelt poetry, I have ventured upon a quintessential pipe quote. To me the words evoke certain clear and happy memories of my childhood and the highest objective of all pipe enthusiasts: to sit in peaceful, easy contemplation of life and enjoy its passage with thoughts that may or may not be as eloquent as those of the lyric and stylistic artist, but nevertheless belong to us. Only fitting, therefore, is the fact that this refurbish concerns a lovely sitter, made of briar but fashioned in the cherry wood shape.

Having the Dutch pipe maker E. Gubbels B.V. of the Netherlands on the brain in recent days, I thought I had an unusual shape of one of its brands, another Thompson. My first clue that this might be incorrect came upon my initial inspection of the fine specimen, whereupon I discovered a made in Italy stamp under the brand. Turning to Pipephil, I noted the slight but nevertheless clear difference in the cursive style of the name. Unless anyone comes up with a better answer, I conclude this beautiful briar pipe with almost seamless birds-eye grain was made for the Thompson Cigar Co., established in 1915, of Tampa, Florida.

I have owned several cherry wood style pipes, and only one that I recall was, to me at least, a dud. That’s why I let it go to a collector of the brand, which shall remain unnamed despite the fine reputation it enjoys for good reason. The gentleman snagged the little beauty, with its excellent dark red and orange vertical grain, from my first online business site the day after I blogged and posted it, and wrote to let me know how happy he was in every respect with his purchase. This anecdote illustrates how the pleasures derived from these diminutive wonders for partaking of the sundry blends of tobaccos are of an intense and personal nature, and every functional pipe is destined, in a way, for a loving keeper.

Here are three of the many examples I have owned and come to know on an intimate basis. The first and last are briars.And here is the Thompson I have had the pleasure of cleaning up and savoring on a frequent basis ever since.The sitter had few signs of wear and tear other than chatter and general abrasions on the bit, and so I commenced the refurbish there with an OxiClean bath. I followed that step by sanding with 320-grit paper and wet micro meshing from 1500-12000.

The superfluous system tenon, which was of a variety so popular back in the day when every pipe maker and his brother was in the mad competitive habit of patenting such idiotic devices, was stuck so tight inside the push section that I had to heat and remove it first. Then I reamed the chamber and sanded it smooth with 150-, 220- and 320-grit paper before running some preliminary Everclear-soaked cleaners through the shank. As I was keeping the pipe for my own use, I tucked away the unnecessary system nuisance.

The full micro mesh treatment of the stummel was enough to clear away the insignificant blemishes on the wood. Still, more light work was needed on the rim with 320-grit paper, then another round of micro mesh on that narrow area.Retorting the pipe necessitated several more cleaners through the shank.This is where a phenomenon I never before saw occurred. Thinking the stummel ready for waxing, I couldn’t help noticing the inexplicable appearance of a dark red patch that appeared to be an old stain, seeming to have no logical origin, on the top front of the bowl, under the rim. Blast me for not snapping a shot of the spooky manifestation before I corrected it with spot sanding, again using 320 paper! I had already applied Halcyon II to the surface and had to spot wax the narrow spot again.Following the 15-minute soak-in stage and vigorous buffing with a soft thick cotton cloth, all that was left was a quick spin on the clean electric buffer wheel. SOURCES
https://www.thompsoncigar.com/section/PIPES/8394.uts
https://wordpress.com/post/roadrunnerpipes.wordpress.com/219

Another Denicotea – a tough one from Plovdiv, Bulgaria

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Blog by Dal Stanton

When southerners in the US invoke the phrase, “Bless his heart….”, I’ve learned that it usually means that there is some problem or abnormality associated with the person that usually isn’t something he can control, or can’t be explained, or perhaps, even better, should be left without too much comment. When I received these emailed pictures from Gary, my colleague in Plovdiv, and set my gaze on the two pipes he had purchased at a local antique shop and was gifting me, my reaction was to invoke, “Bless their hearts….” Here are Gary’s finds that summoned forth my southern invocations. I would like to say how much I appreciate Gary – the stories we have shared and life we’ve experienced together – he with a choice cigar, I with a favorite blend and a named pipe – all my rotation pipes have names! I also appreciate how he has kept his eyes alert to possible pipe reclamations and restorations for me on the Plovdiv front, about 2 hours away from Sofia. After he sent me these pictures, I emailed back saying that I wasn’t sure how much I could do to help the little brother, but the big boy had potential. How much? I couldn’t say, but I was indeed attracted to what appeared to be a meerschaum lined, large volcano shaped stummel which seemed to be hopeful of again being nestled in someone’s palm! A week or so later, I found the gifted pipes waiting for me in my office in Sofia. When they made it to my work desk at home, I added these pictures of the Denicotea volcano to fill in the gaps. This is the second Denicotea I’ve worked on in as many weeks! The Denicotea Curling turned out to be a beautifully detailed grained pipe but the filtration internals were interesting. I’m wondering what filtering wonders this one holds! The left side of the shank has what appears to be a newer script of Denicotea stamped over Trend. The right side of the shank has a very worn stamp Bruyere Extra over shape number 1152. Bless its heart…the bowl finish is in bad, bad shape. It appears to have had a thick shellac varnish on it that has simply worn away and chipping presenting shiny spots of the haggard finish hanging on. I’ll need to clean the surface thoroughly to see fills that might need attention. The rim is majorly scraped and dented yet, for what I can see of the meerlining, it looks like it might be intact, not having any cracks. I’m hopeful! The bowl itself is heavily caked and I’ll need to clean it carefully. This will be my first meerschaum to work on so I’ll be reading up on other blogs’ meerlined clean-ups and restores. The stem has some oxidation but only minor teeth chatter. The button has some tooth bites/dents that need attention. Most interesting about the stem is that it is comprised of two pieces. When I disassemble the stem for the first time, I discover that the main slightly bent stem, has an interlocking twist mechanism connecting it to the stem’s filter extension. The shorter vulcanite filter extension inserts normally into the mortise and has a normal looking air restricting tenon. Nice – you can use the pipe with or without filters. My first impression of the interlocking twist action of the stem is that it is ingenious and seems to work quite well. I took some pictures to show the stem assembly.While playing with and admiring the stem interlocking mechanism, which I discovered would only engage at the correct alignment between stem and filter insert, I looked down the vacated mortise. Denicotea did not disappoint – had I any doubt? I could see a deeply implanted metal insert. Again, as with the Denicotea Curling I had just finished, is this a rogue stinger of sorts that dropped out of the filter insert tenon or is this another filtration machination? At first glance I’m guessing, rogue stinger, but…. By palm thumping the mortise and a little help from my handy dental probe and tweezers the stinger is extracted. The end of the stinger appears to have broken off shortening the inserted portion that would grip the vulcanite tenon. This stinger becomes history.With this being my first meerlined project, I read different entries to make sure I was moving through the learning curve. Unlike briar, I know that a cake is not needed with meerschaum which is a stone (German for ‘sea foam’). I found Steve’s essay (Link) helpful as he dealt with the two major questions I have about this Denicotea: First, how to approach cleaning out the cake? Secondly, how to approach the rim surface which combines/intermingles the repairs of both briar and meerschaum? Can I top meer as I would a briar rim? How do I approach applying stain later with the meerschaum in the mix – sharing the rim surface? These are some of the questions as I approach the Denicotea Trend, ‘Bless his heart’, I don’t want to make things worse than they already are! Attacking the cake, with the cake as thick as it is, I could employ my Pipnet blades to start the reaming and finish up with the Savinelli pipe knife for the fine tuning, but on the maiden voyage with ‘sea foam’ I resolve to take a slower voyage with the Savinelli knife. Also, since it is a new tool in my chest, I’m anxious to hone in on the techniques of its use. I take another close-up of the bowl to mark the progress. After taking the picture and taking a closer look, I decide first to clean the rim area with Murphy Oil Soap using the brass brush. I want to see the meer more clearly to inform the reaming process of possible cracks. I also decide to wash the entire stummel with Murphy while I was at it. Using cotton pads, I apply Murphy Soap undiluted and scrub the stummel surface and rim. With a brass brush, I work at loosening and cleaning up the lava and cake build up to see the rim better. The Murphy Soap doesn’t make much of a dent on the stummel – it is looking more like residue varnish left over on the surface. But, progress is made on the rim and I can see the meerlining much better. It seems to be in good shape, but the rim will need topping to restore clean, healthy briar to the rim. Satisfied with my improved perspective, I take the stummel with Savinelli pipe knife in hand to the 10^th floor ‘Man Cave’ balcony to ream the pipe. The additional sunlight helps me see the internal bowl surface as I bring the knife into contact with the cake. The technique that develops is that I start from the rim, where the actual meerschaum surface is more evident, and work down gradually into the bowl where the cake thickens. As I work with the knife, I also can detect a difference in the sound and feel of the knife as it has contact with the cake or with the meerschaum surface. Using the knife, it became more difficult to judge what was going on when I was at the floor of the fire chamber around the draft hole. I take a picture at the completion of the knife reaming. I then take 240 sanding paper rolled around my finger as well as around the thinner end of a plastic toothbrush handle and continue to clean the meer surface of cake residue. Even though the meerschaum is dark colored, it is smooth to the touch and the cake is eliminated! I wipe out the chamber with a damp cotton pad. I’m pleased and relieved. The pictures show the progress. With the bowl reamed and cleaned, I take Q-tips and pipe cleaners and clean the internals of the stummel using isopropyl 95%. As I work on the internals with the Q-tips and pipe cleaners I watch the growing pile of used Q-tips and pipe cleaners change from being a hopeful small pile to a frustrated virtual Mt. Everest of expended Q-tips and pipe cleaners with no ‘gunkless’ end in sight. From what I can see with my iPhone light down the mortise and what I can detect from the touch of the many Q-tips that have made the plunge, there seems to be a cavity of sorts between where the meerschaum lining terminates with the draft hole (as it transitions into the shank) and a tightening or closing of the mortise about ¾ in from the tenon side formed when the shank was factory bored. This cavity seems to be a natural gunk reservoir that Q-tips pass over.

My first thought is to pull out the retort, but after a quick email to Charles Lemon (Dad’spipes.com) my concerns that the meerlining might not stand up to the boiling alcohol were confirmed. Instead Charles recommended:

Without using the retort, I would suggest using a flat-ended tool (the square end of a flat needle file?) or an appropriately sized drill bit turned by hand to scrape out as much of the old tars and gunk as possible and then going at it again with swabs and cleaners dipped in alcohol.

I grab my flat spoon and pointed dental probes and reach in over the ‘hump’ in the mortise to scratch up the muck cavity and it does stir things up – following again with Q-tips which are saturated with fresh, loose muckness that had been scraped up by the dental probes. As I scrape and Q-tip plunge repeatedly, the reality of what I believe is a design flaw with this Denicotea Trend forms in my mind. It will be nigh impossible to keep this pipe clean with normal use and cleaning with the cavity existing deep within the mortise. Therefore, a plan starts formulating, using the drill approach that Charles recommended above, I decide to take it one step further and attempt to re-engineer the internals of the mortise by removing the ‘hump’ in the mortise as much as I am able. Since it is beyond (deeper) the reach of the tenon’s full insertion point within the mortise, widening the mortise by removing the hump (or some of it) should not impact the tenon’s fit. My goal would be to create a straightened mortise that would expose a more uniform interior for cleaning. I put down the dental probes and Q-tips and put the stummel aside to give more consideration to this plan. The pictures below show the lack of progress with the cleaning job and a diagram I couldn’t resist creating to conceptualize the obstacle (yellow line) and solution (white dashed line)! While reflecting on the emerging stummel game plan, I fish the multi-pieced stem out of the Oxi-clean bath and remove the oxidation that has emerged on the vulcanite surface with 320 sanding paper followed by 000 steel wool. The stem surfaces look good so I turn to cleaning the internals of the two stem pieces. I use Q-tips, cotton balls and pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95%. Not nearly as much resistance as the stummel is putting up. The final picture shows more clearly tooth dents and button biting work that need to be tackled. Back to the stummel, I decide to take a drill bit just at the size needed to match the narrow hole created by the tapered factory bore in the mortise – creating the ‘hump’ forming the cavity beyond it collecting the gunk. I turn it by hand without impacting the mortise wall. It’s not easy maintaining a straight approach with the bit by hand. I turn the bit only at the hump not going deeper and potentially impacting the meer. That seems to work as briar ‘saw dust’ drops out of the mortise. I then take the next larger bit and do the same thing – not as easy as it bites into the briar hump more. After doing this a few minutes I realize that this approach is not going to work to the degree I had hoped. To do this properly, I need a stationary drill press and a secure way to position the stummel and re-bore or deepen the mortise. So, I take a semi-circular needle file and with nerves of steel, attack the hump without touching the mortise walls. This was helpful in bringing the hump down a bit, but my hope for a straightened mortise was evaporating. Putting away the file, I return to the scape and clean technique I began with and I make some progress! The partial hump removal did help with the cleaning angles. Finally, clean Q-tips start emerging and I take a final picture of ‘Cleaning Job Done!’ Then I recalled Charles’ suggestion of using a ‘flat’ edged file to scrape. Hmm. So, I take my flat end needle file and scrape – unbelievable! More muck! Thankfully, not too many more Q-tips were expended and I can say, to the best of my ability and understanding: Clean! When I put this pipe on eBay to find it a new home, I do not want to put forward a ‘hypocrite pipe’ – looking good on the outside but nasty on the inside! Pipes often remind me of people and how God’s work starts on the ‘internals’ and then moves to the ‘externals’! With ‘internals’ of both stummel and stem now in good shape, I move to the externals. The next step is to work on the rim. When I look at the rim I discover a place in the meerschaum that has cracked (ugh!) at about 6:35 o’clock in the picture below and what might be a hairline crack running from in. Even though I plan to top the rim, I apply some superglue to the chipped area hopefully to add a bit of strength. It’s late, I’m tired from the longest muck cleaning contest in my record book, so I put the stummel down to allow the superglue to cure overnight. The next day, I take a picture of the rim to show the spot on the rim where I applied superglue the night before and to show the progress as I top the rim. I have not topped a meerlined pipe before, so I proceed cautiously and I want to see how it turns out before moving to the stummel external finishing (Thought: “O ye of little faith!”). With 240 grit sanding paper on a chop block I go out on the 10^th floor Man Cave balcony and begin the topping process. I move the stummel around in a circular motion for a few rotations and stop to check to make sure I’m staying true – not dipping into soft spots and checking out the meerlining. I take pictures along the way to show the progress. As they say, all was going so well until it wasn’t! The chipped area in the meerschaum that I reinforced with superglue crumbled under the stress of the topping. In the last picture above you can see the fault line developing. What to do? After looking at the new damage, I decide to continue to top the rim a bit more to increase the solid meer bordering the briar and to reduce the area in need of repair (3^rd picture below). I’m thankful that the volcano cone stummel has some space to give up to the topping process! Another email is sent with the pictures above to Steve for his input. So far, a ‘Two Email’ restoration…another record. I’m thankful for willing mentors! With Steve’s response in hand describing plaster of Paris and superglue options, I elect to rebuild the chipped area using superglue. I apply it to the area and balance the stummel to allow the superglue to settle in place and I go to bed. The next morning, I look at the patch and realize another layer of superglue is needed to build up the surface further. After lightly sanding the patched area to smooth the first layer of glue I carefully apply another coat to the needed patch area. Again, I balance the stummel allowing the second application of superglue to cure is the desired place. My goal is to rebuild the meerschaum rim chip enough to be able to sand the wall side of the patch smooth, hopefully blending the patch with the meerlining. I will probably again lightly top the stummel with a finer grit sand paper to bring the rim surface in sync with the patched area. Finally, I will carefully cut a bevel on the meerschaum lining to minimize the patched area. From earlier pictures, it appears that the pipe had a light bevel texturing the meerschaum lining look – I like it. After several hours, I return to the Denicotea Trend anxious to make some progress. The superglue patch has hardened to touch but I want to give it more time to cure thoroughly. I decide to start a thorough removal of the old finish to coax the hidden briar grain into the light – I like this part! I take another look at the stummel surface. The old finish looks very much like the ‘shellacy’ candy apple varnish sheen which often is a bear to remove. With cotton pads and acetone, I scrub down the stummel to loosen up the old finish careful to avoid the ongoing rim repair. After a lot of elbow grease and cotton pads as expected, the old finish is not giving up easily. I decide to use 000 steel wool with acetone and lightly rub the surface with the wool and that does the trick. Utilizing the spittle test to moisten the bare wood, I get a sneak peak of the briar’s potential. Now to the complete the rim. The picture directly above and below show the superglue patch for the chip in the meerschaum lining of the bowl. With 240 grit sanding paper, I sand the patch down to the meer surface rounding it to blend with the curvature of the bowl. I concentrate only on the wall area of the patch leaving the rim surface for later. When the surface of the patch wall is smooth and blends with the curvature, I sand the patch on the rim surface to bring it down to blend. I had intended to return to the topping board for a few revolutions, but decide that it would be better to work directly on the patch instead of removing more of the bowl on the topping board and stressing the patch more than needed. It didn’t take long to sand the patch bump down to the rim surface. At this point, also with 240 grit sanding paper, I cut a bevel on the inside of the meer rim to help blend the patch but also simply to soften the meer’s rim edge. I’m satisfied with the patch even though the patch has a different hue from the surrounding meer. It’s the best I can do and I’m thankful it seems strong and I’m hopeful it will hold up well for many bowlfuls of tobacco to come. Turning back to the stem, I take close-up of the repair needed with a tooth dent and a bite on the button lip. I decide to try the heating technique to address these problems. Another first for me on the restore! With a butane lighter, I gingerly place the flame over the areas – remembering Steve’s description when he did this – ‘painting the surface’ with the flame. Well, I’m not sure if it was a success or not. After the flame, I use 240 grit sanding paper and finish removing the tooth dent and smooth out the button lip. I also refine the button lip above and below with the straight edge of a needle file. Pictures show the progress. Satisfied with how the repairs look, I begin the micromesh sanding/polishing cycles on the stem. Reattaching the reassembled stem to the stummel, using micromesh pads 1500-2400 I wet sand the stem follow with applying Obsidian Oil. Following the wet sand, I dry sand using micromesh pads 3200-4000 and then 6000-12000, following each cycle with an application of Obsidian Oil. I love the vulcanite pop after the micromesh polishing. The pictures show the progress on the stem polishing. With the stem work completed, I return to the stummel and take a medium sanding sponge and use it to lightly top the rim rotating it in a circular motion over the sponge. I do this to finish the sanding of the rim preparing for the micromesh polishing. With a light grade sanding sponge, I sand the rim as well as the stummel removing small nicks on the briar surface. Using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 I wet sand the stummel and rim followed by dry sanding with pads 3200-4000. After completing this cycle, I notice two small pits that looked like they had been fills on the front bottom of the volcano shape. I didn’t notice them before and the question in my mind is, do I fill them and then spot sand the area and repeat the micromesh process? My answer was, ‘Yes’. I applied a couple drops of super glue to the pits and set the project aside and because its late, I go to bed! Pictures show the stummel progress and stoppage of progress! The next morning, I played patch catchup! Folding a small piece of 240 grit sanding paper into a knife edge, I strategically sanded the patch bumps down to the briar surface (pictured). Then, repeating use of the light weight sanding sponge, followed by repeating the micromesh cycles 1500-4000, I can then bring the patched area back in pace with the rest of the stummel. I complete the micromesh polishing process using pads 6000 to 12000. I notice a few other fill areas that simply need to be darkened with a stain stick. The pictures show the catch up and completion! Decision time. Do I stain this Denicotea Trend or simply bring the briar up to full glow directly with the polishing process? The question that I had since the beginning with the meerschaum lining was how to approach staining the briar that shared the rim surface with the meer? With input from Steve (Oh my, a 3-email restoration!), patience, a steady hand and a Q-tip was the advice. After this, still unsure of a direction, I pulled in the ultimate authority and did a ‘Wife Taste Test’. I explained to her that if I did stain, I wanted to use Fiebing’s Dark Brown and cut it by half with alcohol to lighten it. With options spelled out, her choice was to leave the Denicotea as is. Rationale: “Most all my pipes have a dark hue – you need a lighter one.” Good enough for me! After applying Dark Walnut to a fill on the shank with an Italian brand stain stick, I take my Dremel tool with a felt wheel and I apply Tripoli compound to the stummel surface. I use the slowest speed available and keep the wheel moving across the surface. I don’t apply much pressure on the wheel allowing the speed of the Dremel and the compound to do the work. Most blogs I’ve read that describe the use of polishing compounds warn against loading the wheel up on too much compound. So, when I reload the wheel, I lightly touch the compound block. After completing the Tripoli, I apply Blue Diamond compound with its own felt wheel, same speed and technique as with Tripoli. Then, switching to a cotton cloth wheel and increasing the speed of the Dremel by one number, I apply several coats of carnauba wax on both stummel and stem, watching the wax as it liquefies and spread it evenly over the surface. Following the carnauba application, I Dremel buff the entire pipe with a clean cloth wheel. Completing the restoration, I hand buff the pipe vigorously with a microfiber cloth. I started this restoration with, “Bless his heart….” Now, this old boy stands on his own and though he has some scars of battle in the form of a meerschaum patch, he looks good. My wife’s input to maintain the natural briar hue was spot on. The beautiful caramel coloring blends well with the meerschaum lining and the depth of grain on this Denicotea has been liberated from being encased under the nasty shellac varnish. I’m very pleased – especially with the last view below – the steward’s perspective. The lateral fire grain will be a great view for the pipe man that adds this rescued Denicotea to his collection. I couldn’t help starting off with pictures before (“Bless his heart….”) and after (“Dang!”). If you would like to add this pipe to your collection, leave me a note in the comments. Thanks for joining me!