Tag Archives: buffing

Restoring a Friar London Made by Sasieni 52SG Made in England

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is a large saddle stem Apple with a smooth finish that was stained with a rich brown colour around the bowl and shank. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and reads FRIAR [over] London Made [over] By Sasieni. The right side of the shank is stamped with the shape number next to the bowl that reads 52SG. Next to the shank end it read Made in England. The stamping was readable. The pipe was purchased as part of an estate from Australia on 07/27/2020. It was dirty with grime ground into the finish around the bowl and shank. The bowl had a moderate cake with darkening on the inner edge of the bowl and an overflow of lava on the rim top. It was heavier on the backside of the rim top. There were some nicks on the front rim top. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had some chatter and deep tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. There was a logo stamped on the left side of the saddle that bore a faint shield with an “F” in it. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show their general condition. You can see the cake in the bowl and the thick lava coat on the top of the rim and inner edge of the bowl. The finish on the bowl is very dirty with grime and oils ground into the bowl, but still very stunning. The round saddle stem is oxidized, calcified and has chatter and tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the grain around the bowl and shank. It is amazing and I cannot wait to see what it looks like once it is polished and waxed. He took some photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank to capture it for me. It is clear and readable as noted above. He also included a photo of the faint shield F logo on the left side of the saddle stem. I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Sasieni) to see what I could find out about the Friar line of pipes by Sasieni. The write up there is a concise history of the brand that gives a sense of the background and development of the Sasieni brand. I quote a section of the article that specifically refers to the Friar line. I have highlighted that in bold text.

Through the post war years, Sasieni added shapes and lines. While the Four Dot remained their most famous product, the company also sold lines of “seconds” under various names, such as Mayfair, Fantail, Olde English, and Friar. These were pipes made of good wood, but possessed of some flaw, usually filled with putty. Pipes that were almost, but not quite, good enough to be a Four Dot were sold as Two Dots. I have two of these pipes in my collection. Both pipes are quite striking, exhibiting exquisite shapes and exceptional grain. At first I wondered why they were not Four Dots. Eventually, after long inspection, I discovered each pipe contained one very small filled flaw. In spite of this they remain two of my favorite pipes. However, it is clear Sasieni was determined to put the Four Dot logo on only the most perfect pipes.

Caption: Sasieni Friar Stinger marked ‘RUM 850’, and shaped like a Rum bottle. Some Sasieni pipes including this one were Rum cured. Courtesy Brian Robertson collection.

I also have included a shape chart that was included. The number 52s in the chart below is a Hurlingham. The pipe I am working on is a 52SG which I cannot find on the charts. I am thinking that because of the size of the pipe the 52 is an apple shaped pipe, the “S” is possibly a notation for a Saddle style stem. The “G” is possibly the notation for a Giant or a large sized pipe.There was also an interesting photo of the Sasieni Friar pipe and a comment about it being a rum cured pipe. It had a bottle shape stinger apparatus in the tenon. The pipe I am working on does not have that apparatus and the logo on the stem top of that one is quite different. I am including them for reference. Here is the link: (https://pipedia.org/wiki/File:Sasieni-Friar-Stinger-Rum850.jpg).

Caption: Sasieni Friar Stinger marked ‘RUM 850’, and shaped like a Rum bottle. Some Sasieni pipes including this one were Rum cured. Courtesy Brian Robertson collection.

The pipe I am working on is stamped with a unique 52SG shape number as noted above. It is a Sasieni that was called a second but for the life of me the grain on this one is quite beautiful and there are possibly some fills. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here in Vancouver. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show how clean the bowl and the rim top and inner edges of the bowl. You can see the darkening around the inner edge and on the crowned rim top. I took photos of the stem surface to show the condition and tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts. It is quite a stunning piece. I started my work by cleaning up the darkened inner edge of the rim and burned area on the back of the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. The crowned rim top cleaned up nicely. I polished the bowl and the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a shoe brush to get it in the grooves. It works to clean, restore and preserve the briar. I let it do its magic for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The pipe looks incredibly good at this point in the process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I painted the tooth marks in the vulcanite with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift them. I was able to raise them a little. What remained, I filled in with black rubberized CA glue. Once it hardened I flattened the repairs out with a small file. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the rest of the vulcanite stem and started the polishing them with 600 wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem. This Friar London Made by Sasieni 52SG Made in London Apple is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The brown stains really highlight the grain on the smooth portion and the rusticated portion. Once it was polished the finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Sasieni Made Friar 52SG Apple fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 67 grams/2.36 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the British Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in purchasing this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Cleaning up a Canadian Era 1970-1980 Brigham 343 Made in Canada Prince

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is an interesting looking mixed finish Prince that was stained with a rich brown colour on both the smooth upper portion and rusticated lower portion of the bowl and shank. It was stamped on the smooth underside of the shank. The stamping was readable. The shape number 343 is on the bowl side of the shank. That is followed by the stamping Brigham in script [over] Made in Canada. The age on this one is Canadian Era, nominally 1970-80. The pipe was purchased form a Facebook DND auction on 11/11/2021 from a sell in Salmon Creek, Washington, USA. It was dirty with grime ground into the finish around the bowl and shank. The bowl had thick cake with darkening on the inner edge of the bowl and an overflow of lava on the rim top. It was heavier on the backside of the rim top. The internals were dirty though there was no filter tube in the aluminum tenon. I would need to replace the Maple Distillator once I was finished. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had some chatter and deep tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show their general condition. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and the thick lava coat on the top of the rim and inner edge of the bowl. The finish on the bowl is very dirty with grime and oils ground into the bowl, but still very stunning. The round saddle stem is oxidized, calcified and has chatter and deep tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the grain around the bowl and shank. It is amazing and I cannot wait to see what it looks like once it is polished and waxed. Jeff removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the aluminum tube that held the Distillator. It was obviously removed from the tube but the inside was quite dirty.He took some photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank to capture it for me. It is clear and readable as noted above. He also included a photo of the three dot triangle brass pins in the left side of the saddle stem.Before starting my clean up work on the pipe I turned to a chart that Charles Lemon of Dad’s Pipes sent to me on the Dot system on Brighams until 1980. As the pipe I am working on is a fits in this time frame, it’s more accurate to refer to its grade by name (the post 1980 grading scheme refers to Dots). Here is the chart that Charles sent me. The pipe I am working on is thus a Brigham Exclusive with the 3 brass pins arranged in a triangle. For historical background for those unfamiliar with the brand I am including the information from Pipedia on Brigham pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history and background on the pipes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Pipes). Charles Lemon (Dadspipes) is currently working on a book on the history of the brand. Until that is complete this article is a good summary. I have included it below.

Roy Brigham, after serving an apprenticeship under an Austrian pipesmith, started his own pipe repair shop in Toronto, in 1906. By 1918 the business had grown to include five other craftsmen and had developed a reputation across Canada for the high quality of workmanship. After repairing many different brands of pipes over the years, Roy noted certain recurring complaints by pipe smokers, the most common referred to as “tongue bite”. Tongue bite is a burning sensation on the smoker’s tongue, previously thought to be due to the heat of the smoke (i.e. a “hot smoking pipe”).

He soon began manufacturing his own pipes, which were lightweight, yet featured a more rugged construction, strengthening the weak points observed in other pipes. The problem of tongue bite intrigued him, and he decided to make overcoming it a future goal.

About 1938, Roy’s son Herb joined him to assist in the business. The business barely survived the great depression because pipes were considered to be a luxury, not a necessity, and selling pipes was difficult indeed. In approximately 1937 [1], after some experimentation, Roy and Herb discovered that tongue bite was in fact a form of mild chemical burn to the tongue, caused by tars and acids in the smoke. They found that by filtering the smoke, it was possible to retain the flavour of the tobacco and yet remove these impurities and thereby stop the tongue bite.

Just as Thomas Edison had searched far and wide for the perfect material from which to make the first electric light bulb filaments, Roy & Herb began experimenting with many materials, both common and exotic, in the quest for the perfect pipe filter. Results varied wildly. Most of the materials didn’t work at all and some actually imparted their own flavour into the smoke. They eventually found just two materials that were satisfactory in pipes: bamboo and rock maple. As bamboo was obviously not as readily available, rock maple then became the logical choice.

They were able to manufacture a replaceable hollow wooden tube made from rock maple dowelling, which when inserted into a specially made pipe, caused absolutely no restriction to the draw of the pipe, yet extracted many of the impurities which had caused tongue bite. The result was indeed a truly better smoking pipe…

Charles Lemon has also written a great article on the stampings and marking on the Brigham pipes that fit into a time line that he has drafted. It is well worth a read and is fascinating. (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Pipes_%E2%80%93_A_Closer_Look_at_Dots,_Dates_and_Markings). I quote from the pertinent section on the time frame for this pipe.

Around the late 1960s or early 1970s, at the beginning of what I’ve called the Canadian Era (roughly 1970 – 1980), the stampings changed again as Brigham moved to modernize its logo. Pipes are stamped with the 3-digit shape number and “Brigham” over “Made in Canada”. Note these two variants of this stamping. The pipe I am working on is stamped with a three-digit shape number as noted above. The cursive Brigham stamp over Made is Canada (like the first photo above) tells me that the pipe was made between 1970-1980. It is made in the period Charles has designated it as the Canadian Era. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here in Vancouver. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show how clean the bowl and the rim top and inner edges of the bowl. You can see the darkening around the inner edge and the burn damage on the back topside of the rim. I took photos of the stem surface to show the condition and tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank’ It is readable as noted above and though faint is clear. I took a photo of the three dot brass pins on the left side of the stem as well. It is in excellent condition. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts. It is quite a stunning piece.I started my work by cleaning up the darkened inner edge of the rim and burned area on the back of the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. The rim top cleaned up nicely. I had to give the inner edge a slight bevel to accommodate the damage on the rim edge. It worked well to minimize the damage at the back of the rim edge. I stained it with an oak stain pen to blend it in. I polished the smooth portions on the rim top and top half of the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a shoe brush to get it in the grooves. It works to clean, restore and preserve the briar. I let it do its magic for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The pipe looks incredibly good at this point in the process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I painted the tooth marks in the vulcanite with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift them. I was able to raise them a little. What remained, I filled in with black rubberized CA glue. Once it hardened I flattened the repairs out with a small file. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the rest of the vulcanite stem and started the polishing them with 600 wet dry sandpaper. At this point in the process of polishing the stem I stopped to fit the stem with the Rock Maple Distillator. I took one out of the box I have of the Distillators and fit it in the tenon tube.I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem.  This Brigham Made in Canada 343 Prince is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The brown stains really highlight the grain on the smooth portion and the rusticated portion. Once it was polished the finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Brigham Made in Canada 343 Prince fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 37 grams/1.31 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the Canadian Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in purchasing this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Tinsky American Long Shank Brandy Reg. No.11/90 over 9 over JBH 502

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Blog by Steve Laug

In the last box of pipes Jeff sent me there was an American Smoking Pipe – a Long Shank Brandy. I am a sucker for Mark’s Pipes and Jeff knows it so we pick up every one of them we can find. This particular pipe came to us from a seller in Clarkesville, Virginia, USA on 07/25/2020. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads American in an oval [over] Regd. No. [over] 11/90 MT [over] 9 [over] JBH 502. It was a beautiful pipe but another dirty pipe when we received it. The finish on the bowl and shank were beautiful but the grime and oils were ground into the sides. There was a thick cake in the bowl that overflowed as lava on the bevelled rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. It was hard to evaluate the condition of the edge or top with the thickness of the lava. The acrylic saddle stem was dirty and there were deep tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button and on the button surface itself. It had an inlaid logo on the left of the saddle – a silver star set in clear acrylic with what looks like a briar ring around it. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show their general condition. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and the thick lava coat on the top of the rim and inner edge of the bowl. The finish on the bowl is very dirty with grime and oils ground into the bowl, but still very stunning. The round saddle stem is dirty and has chatter and deep tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button and on the button surface. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the grain around the bowl and shank. It is amazing and I cannot wait to see what it looks like once it is polished and waxed. He took some photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank to capture it for me. It is clear and readable as noted above. He also included a photo of the star logo inlaid in clear acrylic in the left side of the stem.I have collected and smoked Mark Tinsky’s pipes for over 30 years now and thoroughly enjoy them. I cannot speak highly enough about the quality and craftsmanship of his pipes. I have pipes made by Mark and by Curt Rollar in my collection and both are great smokers and pipes that reach for regularly in my choice of pipes. I turned to his website for a quick summary of the history of the brand (http://www.amsmoke.com/Index%20Folder/PipeHist.html). I quote from the site as it is a short, concise history.

The American Smoking Pipe Co. was formed in 1978 by Mark Tinsky and Curt Rollar. Both started making pipes for Jack Weinberger ( JHW Pipes ) while in high school and throughout college. Determined to blaze their own path, they formed their own company- its goal to create unique pipes, lightweight and comfortable, where attention to detail was the rule not the exception. Exulting in their new freedom, they carved out new shapes that were balanced between the radical freehand era of the 70’s and the board pipe look of other conservative companies. Hungry for recognition, they stormed the Eastern and Southern shops looking for markets to sell their pipes. Many hidebound retailers refused to try something new, preferring to sell, well, what has always sold before. However, their pipes did take root in many shops and the business thrived.

They continued expanding their pipe making capabilities, adding employees to help finish the pipes. In 1990, over a disagreement over how much to expand, Curt Rollar left the company. This put a break on expansion and coupled with a U.S. recession and rising anti-smoking fervor served to limit production to supplying existing retailers, thus ending a decade of growth. With pipes sales in decline, we turned to pipe repair as a way to supplement revenues. Finding that we liked fixing things, American concentrated on pipe repair. While working hard at repair and manufacture American is ready once again to expand its markets through its existing network of shops serviced by pipe repair.

The pipe I am working on is stamped with a Reg. No. 11/90 MT9 as noted above. The stamp tells me that the pipe was made in November of 1990. The MT stamp signifies that the pipe was carved by Mark Tinsky. The 9 could be a size or even quality designation. There is also a JBH 502. This make me wonder if the pipe was a shape made for John B. Hayes, tobacconist. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here in Vancouver. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show how clean the bowl and the rim top and inner edges of the bowl. I took photos of the stem surface to show the condition and tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank and the logo on the left side of the stem. It is readable as noted above and though faint is clear. I took a photo of the Silver Star with a black background logo on the stem as well. It is in excellent condition. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts. It is quite a stunning piece.I started my work by polishing the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a shoe brush to get it in the grooves. It works to clean, restore and preserve the briar. I let it do its magic for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The pipe looks incredibly good at this point in the process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the deep marks in the acrylic stem with black rubberized CA glue. Once it hardened I flattened the repairs out with a small file. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the rest of the acrylic stem and started the polishing them with 600 wet dry sandpaper. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem. This American Reg. No. 11/90 MT 9 JBH 502 Brandy is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The brown stains really highlight the grain and the polished finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished American Mark Tinsky Brandy fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 77 grams / 2.72 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the American (US) Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in purchasing this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Refreshing a Piece of American Pipemaking Craftsmanship – a Lakatosh 6-83 Acorn

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Blog by Steve Laug

In the last box of pipes Jeff sent me there two Lakatosh freehand pipes. The first I have chosen to work on came to us from an online auction in Gonzales, Louisiana, USA on 09/04/2020. It is engraved by hand on the underside of the shank and reads Handmade [over] Lakatosh [over] 6-83. It was a beautiful pipe but a dirty pipe when we received it. The finish has a unique smooth finish on the bowl and shank with a ribbon of rustication around the top of the bowl and up the topsides of the shank on both sides. There was a moderate cake in the bowl that darkened the inner edge with a light coat of lava onto the topside. The vulcanite, fancy saddle stem was oxidized, calcified and there were light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work.He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show their general condition. You can see the moderate cake in the bowl and the slight lava coat on the top of the rim and inner edge of the bowl. The finish on the bowl is very dirty with grime and oils ground into the bowl, but still very stunning. This pipe has a Danish Freehand look to me with a bit of an American flair. The round saddle stem that has some oxidation, calcification on the surface of the vulcanite. There is chatter and tooth marks on the top and underside. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the grain and the rustication around the bowl and shank. It is amazing and I cannot wait to see what it looks like once it is polished and waxed. He took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank to capture it for me. It is hand etched and is clear and readable as noted above.I remembered that Paresh had worked on three of these pipes in India and I believed they were from his Grandfather’s collection. We had chatted about them wondering how they had traveled from Pennsylvania to India. I turned to the blog that he wrote on the restoration to have a look at the information that he had gathered when he worked on the pipes (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/12/30/a-tribute-to-an-american-pipecarver-john-l-lakatosh/). I was not disappointed… the old memory still held onto a few things. I quote from his blog for the history of the brand. He also included a photo of the pipemaker that is great.

… All these pipes bear the stamping “HANDMADE” over “LAKATOSH” over the “MONTH AND YEAR” in which they were made. These stamps are in engraved in a script hand on the shank end of each pipe.

I was keen to know more about John Lakatosh, the carver, his pipe making techniques and philosophy. I searched pipedia.com and there is a very brief write up on him. I reproduce the information available on pipedia.com for a quick read. [Editor: He quotes]

John Lakatosh was a carver from New Columbia, Pennsylvania. He made pipes in his home workshop in the Susquehana Valley up above Sunbury. John made pipes during the week and sold most of them at craft fairs in Central and Southern Pennsylvania. He retired from carving, to go back to bus mechanic work after the tobacco industry took a decline. He now lives with his wife in Lewisburg Pennsylvania, where he now crafts furniture for family and friends. He recently passed on March 8th 2018. (Primary/Familial Source)

As I was surfing the net for more information on Mr. John Lakatosh, I came across his obituary. Here is the link (https://www.heffnercare.com/obituaries/obituary-listings?obId=3010702)

With that information at hand I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation and calcification as possible. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe once I started to work on it.  I took some photos of the rim top and stem. The rim top and bowl looked very good. The cake and lava overflow were gone and the rim edge was very clean. Jeff had been able to get rid of all of the lava and tars. The rim top looked good with light marks and scratches on the surface. The closeup photos of the stem shows that it is a much cleaner and looks good. The light tooth marks and chatter were still present on both sides.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank to show the condition after the cleanup. It was very readable and undamaged. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe.I started my restoration work on this pipe by addressing the darkening around the inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the inner edge and the rim top with the same sandpaper. The finish rim top looked very good. I started my polishing regimen on the bowl. I used nine micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded the bowl with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. The bowl really shines by the final three pads.  I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and sanded out the tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage. I started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped them down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem. I don’t know how many times I have said this but I love it when I come to the end of a restoration and all of the parts come together and the pipe looks better than when we started the cleanup process. I put the stem back on the Lakatosh 6-83 Acorn and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank sides during the process. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is a real stunning example of a Lakatosh 6-83 Handmade Acorn. Once again, the grain and the way the shape follows the grain is amazing. Give the finish pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.69 ounces/48 grams. This Lakatosh Freehand is a great piece of pipe history that is in exceptional condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be putting this one on the rebornpipes store in the American Pipemakers Section. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for your time.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Life-Support for a Butz-Choquin Oom Paul Egg

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

Another pipe in my ongoing “French Collection”, this new addition came in a lot of pipes from France (appropriately). I pulled it out of the pile of filthy pipes and found it quite charming. This pipe is an Oom Paul Egg shape. It was made by the famous and long-standing French pipe maker Butz-Choquin and is a small, wounded, but very attractive pipe. On the left side of the shank, it reads Butz-Choquin [over] Cocarde (which is the model name). On the right side of the shank, it reads St Claude [over] France [over] 1307. On the left side of the stem is the company’s logo, a “BC”. The logo is badly worn and will be difficult to restore.Both Pipedia and Pipephil have good write-ups on the history of Butz-Choquin and I encourage you to read both. Also, Steve has restored quite a few and it’s worth having a look at his writings too. For the moment, here is some information from Pipedia:

The pipe, from Metz to Saint-Claude.

Jean-Baptiste Choquin of Metz started out as a tobacconist. This enterprise was prosperous; he had several employees. Among those, there was a certain Gustave Butz who was its first workman and who became his son-in-law by marrying Choquin’s daughter Marie in 1858.

In 1858 Jean-Baptiste Choquin created, in collaboration with Gustave Butz, the Choquin pipe. This bent pipe with a flat-bottomed bowl was finished with an albatross-bone mouthpiece, fixed with silver rings.

In 1858, still in Metz, Gustave Butz built an establishment for the manufacture of the Choquin pipe which took the name of . In 1951, the Berrod-Regad company bought the trademark, continuing manufacture until 2002. Departing from Metz, the workshop was relocated to Saint-Claude, then also called “the world capital of the briar pipe”, under the Berrod-Regad group. The Berrod-Regad group would go on to completely rebuild the network of representatives until finally entering the export market in 1960 and has since won several prizes, as well as the Gold Cup of French good taste.

In a few years, the brand’s collection increased from ten to seventy series. 135 years after it was founded, the pipe is still well-known not only in France but throughout the world. In 2002, the Berrod family, wishing to preserve manufacture of pipes in Saint-Claude, handed over the company to Fabien Guichon, a native of the area, who will continue to develop the brand during the 21st century.

Meanwhile, Pipephil says this:

The origin of the brand reaches back to 1858 when Jean-Baptiste Choquin in collaboration with his son-in-law Gustave Butz created their first pipe in Metz (France). Since 1951 Butz-Choquin Site officiel Butz Choquin, pipes de Saint-Claude jura. BC pipe de bruyere luxe is a brand of the Berrod-Regad group (Saint-Claude, France).

Jean Paul Berrod managed the company from 1969 to 2002 when he retired and sold the corporate to Mr Fabien Gichon. Denis Blanc, allready owner of EWA, took over the S.A. Berrod-Regad in 2006.

In an old Butz-Choquin catalogue, I found the pipe shape in question, listed with its requisite number:This is an older pipe, and is heavily used, though the stem is in reasonably good shape, compared to the stummel. There are a few minor tooth marks, some oxidation and calcification, but nothing too serious. Additionally, over the decades, the stem has straightened somewhat, so it will need to be bent back into place. The stummel is a different kettle of fish. The wood is very nice, but it has several fills on the outside of the bowl, there are nicks around the rim, the wood is filthy, and there are scratches around the bowl. It just looks tired and worn. The stem was first on my list. . .  This stem has a stinger in it – and it was being quite stubborn about coming out! The goo had glued the stinger into the tenon, so I opted to warm the stem and stinger with my heat gun and this provided just enough softening of the internal gunk to allow me to pull it out. It then went for a soak in some lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. I let it sit for several hours and then cleaned it off and it looked much improved. I then finished it with some metal cleanser and moved on. Next, I wiped the outside down with Murphy’s Oil Soap on some cotton pads. I also took a BIC lighter and ‘painted’ the stem with its flame in order to lift the few bite marks and dents. Then I cleaned out the inside with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. It was pretty dirty, and I went through a good amount of pipe cleaners. I then wiped down the stem with SoftScrub cleaner to remove surface oxidation. Once this process was done, the stem went for an overnight soak in the Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. This allows me to clean the oxidation off in a couple of ways: by applying a mild cleaner to the surface and sanding the stem. The next day, I used SoftScrub again with some cotton rounds. After this, I used some nail polish to restore the logo on the stem. I painted the area carefully and let it fully set before proceeding. I built up the dents on the stem with black cyanoacrylate adhesive and let them fully cure. I then sanded the adhesive down then with 220-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpapers to meld seamlessly into the stem. As I previously mentioned, the stem had straightened itself out over the years; so I used my heat gun to warm the stem and return it to its original shape.I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing.On with the stummel! I decided to ream out the bowl. I used the PipNet Reamer and the KleenReem to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper taped to a dowel to eliminate as much as I could. I took the chamber down to bare briar, as I wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the wall. Fortunately, there were none. I used cotton rounds and some Murphy’s Oil Soap to scrub the outside of the stummel and a toothbrush with Murphy’s for the lava on the rim of the pipe.I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. The shank was absolutely caked with debris and I went through an extraordinary amount of cotton to clean it out. With all the filth in this pipe, I opted for an alcohol bath to clean it thoroughly. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some dish soap and tube brushes. I decided to de-ghost the pipe in order to remove any lingering smells of the past. I thrust cotton balls into the bowl and the shank and saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused any remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton. The bowl was nice and clean after this.Having completed that, I was able to address the blemishes to the outside of the bowl. First, I repaired the half-dozen fills with CA glue and briar dust. For the nicks on the rim and bowl, I dug out my iron and a damp cloth to raise the nicks. The hot and moist steam can often cause the wood to swell slightly and return to shape. A little unusually, this technique worked brilliantly and the next two photos (before and after) show a good example of what the iron can do. Now I could address the burn on the rim. I took some sandpaper and my Micromesh pads to sand and smooth everything out. After that, a light application of Before & After Restoration Balm brought out the best in the stummel’s grain, then took it to the buffer. A dose of White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax were just what this pipe needed. This little pipe looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed again by the next owner! I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘French’ pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 4 in. (100 mm); height 3¾ in. (94 mm); bowl diameter 1⅜ in. (36 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (19 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1⅜ oz. (41 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring a Peterson’s De Luxe 8S Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

In the last box of pipes Jeff sent me there was a Peterson’s De Luxe that came to us from our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark on 04/11/2023. This one is a Peterson’s De Luxe Bent Billiard. It is stamped on the left side of the shank Peterson’s [over] Deluxe and on the right side it reads Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines) [over] 8S. It was a dirty pipe when we received it. The walls of the bowl and shank had tars and oils ground into finish and it was quite grimy. There was a thick coat of lava on the rim top and the inner edge of the rim. There was a thick cake in the bowl that had remnants of tobacco stuck in it. The ferrule on the end of the shank was Sterling Silver. It was stamped K&P each in a cartouche [over] Sterling [over] Silver. Next that it reads Peterson’s [over] Dublin. There is no date stamping/hallmarks on the Silver Ferrule. The stem was oxidized and there were tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. When the stem was removed the tenon had a bone chimney screwed into the end that was damaged and pitted. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show their general condition. You can see the thick tars and lava on the bevelled inner edge and the rim top. The cake in the bowl is quite thick and there is tobacco debris on the walls of the bowl. The finish on the bowl is very dirty with grime and oils ground into the bowl, but still very stunning. This pipe has a classic Peterson’s P-lip stem that has some oxidation, calcification on the surface of the vulcanite. There is chatter and tooth marks on the top and underside. He took a photo to show the damage to the bone chimney in the tenon end that is a part of the system design by Charles Peterson. It is threaded and turned into the tenon.Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the grain on this particular piece of briar. It is amazing and I cannot wait to see what it looks like once it is polished and waxed. He took photos of the stamping on both sides of the shank to capture it for me. The first photo shows the left side of the shank and the stamping as noted above. The second shows the right side of the shank with the Made in the Republic of Ireland stamp and shape number 8S.Jeff took photos of the stamping on the silver ferrule. It is oxidized and worn looking but the stamping is very clear and readable. He also took a photo of the Hand Cut stamp on the underside of the stem. I did a bit of work on Google to gather background on the DeLuxe line of pipes when I worked on the 4S recently. I decided to quote that here as well.

The first information I found was on the Peterson’s website (https://www.peterson.ie/pipes/system/deluxe-system-smooth/). I quote from the description of the line below. I have highlighted several key portions in bold black for emphasis.

While the Deluxe stamp first appeared on our System pipes in 1940, the design itself dates to our 1896 and 1906 catalogues and, with the exception of the Supreme, has always marked our highest tier of System pipe. Like the System Standard and System Spigot lines, the Deluxe System pipe incorporates Charles Peterson’s patented System design, including a deep reservoir to collect excess moisture from the smoke; a graduated-bore mouthpiece that funnels the smoke and allows moisture to collect within the reservoir; a sturdy sterling silver military mount, which allows the pipe to be broken down and cleaned without damage or warping; and our patented P-Lip bit, which draws the smoke upward, thus reducing tongue bite. The Deluxe differs from those aforementioned lines, comprised of bowls with only the finest grain patterns and featuring a sterling silver mount and a push-gap stem, which was never designed to be flush-fitting, the space between the mount and stem base gradually decreasing with prolonged use. The Deluxe also elevates the System pipe by fixing each stem with a traditional chimney, an aluminum fitment that extends the tenon past the chamber’s airway for optimal System performance. Created for Peterson enthusiasts interested in acquiring the finest System pipe on the market, the Deluxe System will serve as the crown of any collection. Seen here in the Smooth finish.

From that information I knew how the De Luxe fit in the hierarchy of Peterson’s pipes. It was always the highest tier of the System pipes. It also was made with the gap in the fit of the stem to the shank on purpose with the idea that the distance would decrease over time with prolonged use. The attachment of a chimney at the end of the tenon was to maximize System performance.

From there I also turned to Pipedia. I quote from an article by Jim Lilley and have included much of it below. (https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_Closer_Look_at_The_Peterson_Deluxe_System_Pipe). Once again I have highlighted pertinent sections in bold below.

By Jim Lilley

The version of the system pipe for our closer inspection is one of Peterson’s more recognisable series, the handsome and very distinctive Deluxe system pipes, which include the Darwin and Mark Twain. These pipes are at the top of the ‘system’ series in terms of quality and finish.

Each Peterson Deluxe is made from carefully selected, age mellowed root briar. In matte finish with hallmarked sterling silver mounts and a unique space fitting mouthpiece to allow for years of wear. They are available in a wide range of shapes numbered, as follows 1s,2s,3s,4s,5s,8s,9s,11s,12.5s,20s,XL5s, 20FB and 11FB.

The pipes are well carved, construction, engineering and workmanship, is outstanding. The stems are well drilled and aligned. Silver work is excellent, finish very good, and the often maligned briar is of outstanding quality.

The design is a very typically Peterson classic shape. Apart from the Darwin, the balance can be stem heavy, the bit is thick and chunky, especially in the larger versions. I also enjoy the sense of presence they give to the pipe, particularly if smoking in company with friends or strangers. They have a sophistication about them.

The smoking qualities are excellent, dry and cool. The draw is good, and the flavour is particularly great in new pipes. The Mark Twain’s are outstanding in this department.

As for the aesthetics and ergonomics, I find some shapes much more attractive than others. Favourites for me are the 1s,2s,3s,the Mark Twain’s and the Darwin deluxe. As a clencher most are very good to hang, except the beautiful Darwin which is more of a ‘hand holder.’

The one weakness I find is the modern orange/golden colour, (the so called natural) it is, in my opinion, less attractive than that found in the older Walnut finish of the eighties.

As far as value and cost is concerned, for the excellent quality finish, these are competitively priced at around $135 to $250 depending on size and briar grade.

For what it is worth, I reckon the Deluxe s are probably the best value range of pipes that Peterson produce, both in terms of functionality and value. There is not a thing wrong with these pipes. Those who malign the brand because they’re made by the hundreds using machines, are very wrong, IMHO. I like them a lot and the bang for the buck is the best I’ve ever seen for new pipes of this quality.

The De-luxes are all excellent smokers. The Darwin, of course, is a truly outstanding pipe, its only “flaw” being that it’s not a clencher. One particular aspect of this pipe, that appeals to me most is its physical beauty and presence, they are a pipe like no other. For me, they also offer a bowl capacity that I like and a balance in the hand that I appreciate. They are well named Deluxe s for giving that special experience.

With that information at hand I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation and calcification as possible. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe once I started to work on it.   I took some photos of the rim top and stem. The rim top and bowl looked very good. The cake and lava overflow were gone and the inward bevelled rim was very clean. There was also some darkening on the bevelled inner rim edge and light damage on the edge of the top and the bevel. Jeff had been able to get rid of all of the lava and tars. The rim top looked good with light marks and scratches on the surface. The closeup photos of the stem shows that it is a much cleaner and better looking stem. The tooth marks and chatter were still present with deeper ones on the button and on the underside of the stem next to the button. There was some white debris at the joint of the tenon and the stem.I took some photos of the stamping on the shank sides and the silver on the ferrule to show the condition after the cleanup. Often the stamping takes a hit with the cleaning and is lessened in its clarity. Jeff does a great job in leaving the stamping looking very good. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe at this point. Like other Peterson’s Deluxe pipes that I have worked on this stem had chimney threaded into the tenon to extend into the lower part of the mortise and provides a funnel for drawing the smoke into the mouth of the smoker. This time it was a bone chimney that had a chipped portion on the top of the chimney.I started my restoration work on this pipe by addressing the darkening around the inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the bevelled inner edge and the rim top with the same sandpaper. The finish rim top looked very good. I started my polishing regimen on the bowl. I used nine micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded the bowl with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. The bowl really shines by the final three pads. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I polished the Sterling Silver ferrule with a jewellers polishing cloth to remove the tarnish and protect it from further tarnishing. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the chipped bone chimney. It was stuck in the tenon end and I could not unscrew it. I carefully wiggled it and got a little give. I painted the area where it sat against the tenon with isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab. After a few applications I was able to unscrew the chimney. In the photo below, it is shown. The chipped area is on the top of the chimney and the sides are in solid condition. I cleaned out the tenon and the area behind the chimney and the chimney itself with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol. It was quite dirty but I was able to clean it thoroughly.I greased a pipe cleaner with Vaseline and inserted it in the chimney under the damaged area. I carefully applied rubberized KMS Black Super glue to the cracked area with a tooth pick. I filled in the damage. I sprayed it with accelerator to harden it and applied several more coats until it was smooth and round.Once the repair cured screwed into the tenon to give me something to hold onto. I sanded it with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to shape it to match the remaining sides of the chimney.I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads to smooth out and shape the repairs. I was happy with the finished product. I screwed it back into the tenon and took a photo of the end. It looked good.I took photos of the rebuilt chimney after I had polished it with the remaining micromesh sanding pads – 3200-12000. The repair came out looking very good.I turned to address the tooth marks in the stem next. I filled in the deep tooth marks with black CA glue and set it aside to let the repairs cure. I started the smoothing process with a small flat file to begin blending them in. I further blended in the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper and started to polish it with a folded piece of 600 wet dry sandpaper. Once it was finished it was smooth. I touched up the Hand Cut stamp on the underside of the saddle portion of the stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I sanded off the excess with a worn piece of 1500 grit micromesh. It looked much better.I screwed in the bone chimney to the tenon and polished it and the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped them down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem. I don’t know how many times I have said this but I love it when I come to the end of a restoration and all of the parts come together and the pipe looks better than when we started the cleanup process. I put the stem back on the Peterson’s DeLuxe 8S System and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank sides during the process. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is a real stunning example of an Republic Era Peterson’s DeLuxe 8S Bent Billiard. Once again, the grain and the way the shape follows the grain is amazing. Give the finish pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.55 ounces/44 grams. This Peterson’s De Luxe 8S is a great piece of pipe history that is in exceptional condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be putting this one on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for your time.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Fresh Life for an Early Republic Era Peterson’s Dublin2 Pot 608

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is another Peterson’s pipe that came to us from our connection in Copenhagen, Denmark on 04/11/2023. It is a nice classic Pot with a military style vulcanite stem. This pipe was quite well cared for by the previous trustee. It had been well smoked and there was a thick cake in the bowl but some light lava overflowing onto the rim top. The lava was heavier on the back and left side of the rim top and there was some darkening on the inner edge of the bowl. The pipe was dirty with grime and dirt ground into the finish on the bowl sides and heel. The stamping on the shank is clear and readable. The left side is stamped Peterson’s [arched over] Dublin 2. On the right side it was stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (3 lines) and near the bowl it is stamped with the shape number 608. The Silver ferrule on the shank is stamped Peterson’s [over] Dublin followed by Sterling [over] Silver. Next that there are three silver hallmarks. The first was Hibernia seated, arm on a harp for the country of manufacture. The second was a Crowned Harp designating sterling quality. The third mark was a date stamp and, in this case, a lower-case cursive “l” which dated the pipe as a 1977. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it.  Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl has a thick cake and the rim top and edges have a thick coat of lava around the inner edge and the rim top. The photos of the stem shows oxidation, calcification, tooth marks and chatter at the button. Jeff took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the amazing grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe.  He took photos of the sides of the shank and the silver ferrule to show the stamping. The stamping is clear and readable in the photos below and is as noted above. I turned to an earlier blog on a similar pipe with the same stamping that I had restored. I am quoting from what I learned in writing that blog. I quote:

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Dublin 2. On page 298 it had the following information.

Dublin (1906-2003) Although DUBLIN appears under PETERSON’S on many pipes over the decades, it has served mostly as part of the brand name. The word first appeared on pipes hallmarked 1906-11, stamped PETERSON’S over PATENT over DUBLIN. The simpler PETERSON’s over DUBLIN first appeared on pipes hallmarked 1912 after the expiration of the patent. Illustrations of pipes in the ’37 catalog show a random dispersion of the stamp PETERSON’S over OF DUBLIN together with the ordinary PETERSON’S over DUBLIN on every model offered. Specimens of the former will bear either and Irish COM or LONDON MADE over ENGLAND COM and almost certainly date from 1945-62. It was first mentioned as part of a model name in the ’68 price list, as K&P DUBLIN, in ’92 for a Danish market line and in 2017 (see below).

“Dublin” (1992-2003) An orange-brown smooth line with a brass-nickel-brass sandwich band, vulcanite fishtail mouthpiece, consisting mostly of D shapes released for the Danish market. Stamped PETERSON’S in script over “DUBLIN”. A tenth anniversary pipe for the line was produced with a sterling band stamped 2001. Market demand fell shortly thereafter and several pipes stamped “DUBLIN” were released in ’03 for the Fourth of July commemoratives for the US market.

I wrote to Mark Irwin again and asked for his help in clearing up the mystery and helping to date this pipe. I also asked him to provide any additional information for me. He responded with the following:

Steve…It’s first decade of the Early Republic (1948-1958). The 2 and 3 numbers were discontinued in 1958. Great little pipe! The “2” = today’s Premier grade.

I had forgotten to include the hallmarks on the silver so that left me even more in a quandary. So, I wrote Mark back about the date stamp on the silver and the conflicting stamping on the pipe.

How does that work with date on the ferrule seeming to point to 1975 (in this case 1977)? It has the standard stamping – woman on chair, harp and the letter “h” (in this case “l”)

Mark responded as follows with regard to that pipe (the material fits very well with the 1977 pipe that I am working presently).

Haha! I love it. You have just entered the Twilight Zone of Peterson pipes, because the “2” and the small “h” for 1975 cancel each other out. I would prefer to leave it there: “a dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge.” If, however, you want to get mundane about it, there are only two possibilities: it was rebanded in 1975 (highly unlikely but not impossible) or someone picked up the old stamp (and they have dozens and dozens) who was new to the hand-stamping job. For myself, I’d rather leave it in the imponderables, but there are always skeptics who prefer the easy explanation to the miracle.

I could not have said it any better! The Twilight Zone of Peterson’s Pipes. So I have a pipe made between 1948-1958 with a silver ferrule that is dated 1977! What a great mystery! Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top had some looked quite good and the inner edge had some darkening and damage. It should clean up really well. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks on the surface near the button. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and on the Sterling Silver Ferrule. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable. I took the stem off the bowl and took a photo to give a sense of the proportion and beauty of this pipe.I decided to address the damage to the edge of the bowl and the rim top first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge of the bowl a slight bevel to blend them into the surrounding briar.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I polished the silver ferrule with silver polishing cloth to remove the tarnish. Once it was clean the silver really shined. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the light tooth marks and chatter ahead of the button with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the vulcanite. I started polishing the stem by wet sanding it with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem.  I am excited to finish this Peterson’s Dublin 2 Pot 608. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful flame grain all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl and made a stunning pipe. This smooth Classic Older Peterson’s Dublin 2 Pot is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¼ inches, Height: 1 3/8 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 29 grams/1.06 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe that I will be putting this one on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for your time. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Fresh Life for a cross grain Peterson’s “Kildare’ 440 Long Stem Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is another Peterson’s pipe that came to us from our connection in Copenhagen, Denmark on 04/11/2023. It is a nice long-stemmed Billiard with a taper vulcanite stem. This pipe was quite well cared for by the previous trustee. It had been well smoked and there was a thick cake in the bowl but little or no lava overflowing onto the rim top. The lava was light on the back side of the rim top and there was some darkening on the inner edge of the bowl. The pipe was dirty with light grime and dirt ground into the finish on the bowl sides and heel. The stamping on the shank is clear and readable. The left side is stamped Peterson’s [over] “Kildare”. On the right side it was stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (3 lines) and near the bowl it is stamped with the shape number 440. The stem was lightly oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The “P” logo stamp on the left side of the stem was clear but the white paint in the stamp was all washed off. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it.The next photos show the bowl and rim top as well as the stem condition. The bowl had a thick cake that is very visible. The rim top and edges have some darkening but the lava is very light on the top with a little on the back top. The stem looked good with some tooth chatter and marks on both sides and the button. Jeff took the stem off the pipe and took a photo of the aluminum inner tube that was in place in the tenon. It is dirty but it is in good shape.He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl and shank to show birdseye and cross grain around the briar. It is unique and quite beautiful. I can’t wait to see it once it is cleaned and polished. The stamping on both sides of the shank were clear and very readable. It read as noted above. The stamping on the side of the taper stem is also clear and the “P” logo looks good. I am including the information from Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). I have included a bit of the pertinent history here.

1950 – 1989 The Republic Era  – From 1950 to the present time, the stamp for this era is “Made in the Republic of Ireland” in a block format generally in three lines but two lines have been used with or without Republic being abbreviated.

During the 1950’s and 60’s the Kapp & Peterson Company was still in the ownership of the Kapp family. However 1964 saw the retiral of the company Managing Director Frederick Henry(Harry) Kapp.

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s System Line. On page 314 it had the following information.

Kildare (1965-) First issue of line with matte-finish in Classic Range shapes, P-Lip and fishtail mouthpiece. Second issue C.1979 as Kildare Patch, with rusticated patches on pipe surface. Third issue 2010, matte-brown, P-Lip or fishtail mouthpiece, no band. Fourth issue 2011-, burgundy sandblast finish, nickel army mount, fishtail mouthpiece, exclusive to smokingpipes.com.

Judging from the description above I believe that I am working on a Third Issue of the line in 2010. It is a late Republic Era Classic Shaped pipe with a matte-finish and a fishtail stem. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

With that information at hand I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation and calcification as possible. He soaked the stem in Briarville Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe once I started to work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and the stem. You can see the reamed bowl and the cleaned rim top and the edges. The stem surface was clean but there are light tooth marks and chatter on both sides on and ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. There is also a “P” stamp on the right side of the stem. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. It is really quite nice looking. I started my work on the pipe by polishing the briar and the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. You can see the grain around the bowl and shank in the photos below. The bowl looks great and took on a shine as I finished the polishing. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes, then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I touched up the “P” stamp on the left side of the taper stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I applied it and worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. I scraped off the excess and sanded it with a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad. It looks great.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – I dry sanded with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pads. I find that the Oil gives some protection to the stem from oxidation and second it gives the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rubbed the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection. This nice looking Peterson’s Kildare 440 Long Stem Billiard with a classic Peterson’s fishtail vulcanite stem looks much better now that it has been restored. The rim top and edges cleaned up very well. The rich brown stains on the bowl came alive with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Peterson’s Kildare Billiard is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 34 grams/1.20 ounces. I will be putting the pipe on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section soon. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring a Peterson’s Dublin Ebony Silver Spigot 6 Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is a Peterson’s pipe that came to us from our connection in Copenhagen, Denmark on 11/10/2022. It is a nice Ebony Billiard with a Sterling Silver ferrule and a spigot stem with a Sterling Silver fitting on the end of tenon end of the stem. This pipe was obviously a favourite of the previous trustee. It had been well smoked and there was a thick cake in the bowl and thick lava overflowing onto the rim top. The lava was heavier on the back side of the rim top. It was hard to know clear the condition of the rim top and edges because of all of the lava. The pipe was dirty with grime and dirt ground into the finish on the bowl sides and heel. The black finish around the bowl and shank looks good other than the heavier on the top. The stamping on the shank is clear and readable. The left side is stamped Peterson’s [arched over] Dublin. On the right side it was stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (3 lines) and near the bowl it is stamped with the shape number 6. The Sterling Silver ferrule is stamped and reads Peterson’s [over] Dublin followed by Sterling [over] Silver. That is followed by three hallmarks. The first was Hibernia seated, arm on a harp for the country of manufacture. The second was a Crowned Harp designating sterling quality. The third mark was a date stamp and, in this case, an upper-case cursive “Q” which dated the pipe as made in 2001. The silver was tarnished on the stem and ferrule and the stem was oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. The next photos show the bowl and rim top as well as the stem condition. The bowl had a thick cake that is very visible. The rim top and edges have a heavy coat of tar. It is hard to know what the rim edge looked like underneath the lava. The rim top also had some darkening. The stem looked good with some oxidation, calcification, tooth chatter and marks on both sides and the button. The silver work on both were tarnished. Jeff took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl and shank to show the condition of the black paint around the briar. It is unique and quite beautiful. I can’t wait to see it once it is cleaned and polished. The stamping on the shank sides and the Sterling Silver band was clear and very readable. It read as noted above. I did a Google search on the Peterson’s Dublin Ebony line of pipes and specifically shape 6 billiards. There was nothing on Pipephil or Pipedia on the line but there were links to other sites. There was a great description of the line on smokingpipes.com that I quote in part below (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/peterson/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=192289).

The ‘6’ shape is one of Peterson’s most iconic, classic straight Billiards. In the classic Peterson style, the shank is fairly large relative to the bowl and the tapered stem carries the same visual weight as the shank. While the pipe adheres rigorously to the classic definition of the Billiard (shank length to bowl height ratios etc.), it’s still unmistakably Peterson. It’s presented here as part of the Ebony Spigot series: a smooth black finish matched to a classic silver spigot mount.

It was a description of a pipe that was on the site for sale. I did not include the photos of the pipe that were included following the description.

I turned also to the Peterson’s Dublin site and found a photo and a lengthy description of the shape 6, the Ebony series and the range of the pipe (https://www.peterson.ie/pipes/high-grade/ebony-spigot/moreinfo.cfm?pd_product_Id=685). I have included a photo from the site of the pipe and the description below. About The Shape

Striking an agile balance between the traditional archetype and our signature House Style, this medium-sized, straight Billiard shape houses a respectable fire hole with some fairly muscular proportions throughout while still cutting a lean silhouette.

About The Series

The pinnacle of our traditional dress pipes, the Ebony Spigot presents our Classic range shapes in a sleek, sophisticated palette, combining black semi-matt smooth finishes with bold, sterling silver, Face-style spigot mounts, each applied by the skilled hands of our most experienced silversmiths.

About The Range

Representing the pinnacle of our regular production, our High Grade designation is reserved for only the very best pipes to leave our factory. Each pipe in this range is distinguished by its plentiful grain, either smooth or sandblasted, and expert metal fitments, shaped and applied by the hands of our most experienced craftsmen. Our silversmiths are among the most talented in the world, having undergone traditional five-to-eight-year apprenticeships under a senior craftsman; each smith has engineered his own mandrel, meaning that every metal fitment is imprinted with the subtle, personal style of the one who machined it.

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping on the pipe. It is a Republic era pipe. The three line Made in the Republic of Ireland stamp on the right side of the shank along with the K&P stamp with hallmarks tell me it was made in 2001. The Ebony finish was one of the higher end lines and was well worth the cleanup. It is a beautiful pipe in a classic thick shank billiard.

Now, on to the restoration of this beautiful Peterson’s Ebony Silver Spigot 6 Billiard. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation and calcification as possible. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. About this time in the process I did a video chat with Kenneth and as usual don’t seem to be able to write, talk and work on pipes at the same time so I totally forgot to take the photos of the pipe before I started working on it. It was very clean but there was some residual tar on the backside of the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl was out of round with some damage on the edge. I also used some 600 wet dry sandpaper to sand off the tar that remained on the top. It looked significantly better with these two issues addressed.I polished the silver ferrule and the silver stem cap with a jeweller’s cloth to remove the tarnish and to protect the stem from further oxidation and tarnishing. It looks quite good at this point.I rubbed down the bowl with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips. The product works to deep clean, restore and protect the briar. I let it sit on the bowl surface for 10 minutes to let it do its work. I buffed it off with a soft cloth and it took on a deep shine in the Black/Ebony finish. It looks very good at this point in the process. I set the bowl aside and polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. I finished the hand polishing of the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian oil and set it aside to dry.This nice looking Peterson’s Dublin Ebony Silver Spigot 6 Billiard with a classic Peterson’s military or spigot stem looks much better now that it has been restored. The rim top and edges cleaned up very well. The rich ebony colour finish on the bowl came alive with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar so as not to damage the colour. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Peterson’s Dublin Ebony Silver Spigot is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 36 grams/1.27 ounces. I will be putting the pipe on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section soon. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Putting Grandfather’s Genuine Amber Stemmed Meerschaum Bulldog back together again

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Blog by Steve Laug

I decided I needed a change of pace in my restoration/clean up work. I went through my pipes waiting in the queue and chose the last one from a group of four pipes that were given to us by a woman in Columbus, Ohio, USA. It had belonged to her Grandfather who lived from 1882 to 1977. There were four pipes that she sent us from his estate – the metal bowled apple, a cased meerschaum Bulldog with a broken amber stem, a Whitehall rusticated apple and a BBB Glokar Fraternity Pipe.The cased Meerschaum Bulldog is the last of the lot and one that should be fixable and clean up well. I could see that it was an old timer and that it had been one of her Grandfather’s favourites like the other three. The pipe was dirty and well used. The finish had deep grime ground into the smooth meerschaum rim cap and the sides of the bowl. The rings around the cap are dirty with grime in the grooves. It had a moderate cake in the bowl that flowed onto the rim edges and rim top as a thick cake. It hard to assess the inner and outer edge of the rim there were thick spots of grime on the cap and bowl sides that should come off with work. The stem was amber and had been cleanly broken in half about mid stem. It was screwed on to a metal threaded tenon in the shank. It had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He started with the black leather case which was in good condition though missing the pin in one of the hinges. He opened the case and took photos of the pipe sitting in the case. He took a photo of the label on the inside of the case. It read Genuine Meerschaum around the outside of the black and gold octagonal label. On the inside of the label it reads Real Amber.He took photos of the condition of the bowl and rim top. You can see the cake in the bowl and the lava on the rim top. There are also nicks and scratches around the top and outer edge particular o the front right side of the bowl.He took photos of the broken stem. You can see the break is about halfway down the stem and is clean with no rough edges on the pieces. When the two parts are put together the fit is very clean and smooth. The fit against the shank end is smooth and undamaged. It should clean up well. Jeff also took photos of the tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. They are not deep but are very visible in both photos. Even these marks are not flaking or showing too much depth in the damage.He took photos of the bowl sides and heel to give a sense of the condition of the pipe before clean up. I think it will clean up well. Jeff cleaned up the pipe with his usual regimen and when I received it the bowl had been reamed and washed with Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed clean. He was able to remove the lava on the rim and the grime around the bowl. It looked much better. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He carefully cleaned the pieces of the broken stem and the fit together was still smooth. The pipe was ready for the next step in the process. I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the work table. I decided to start my work on this pipe by rejoining the two parts of the stem. I looked at putting a metal tube inside but the amber is brittle and the airway was not big enough to accommodate even the smallest tube I had. I chose inside to glue the parts together with clear rubberized CA glue. I carefully painted the ends of each piece and then pressed them together. They aligned well and I held them until the glue set. I set the stem aside and let the repair cure.I took the family to breakfast and when I returned I put the stem on the shank and took photos of the repaired stem in place. I still needed to sand and smooth out the repairs but you can see the overall look of the pipe.I removed the stem and set it aside. I turned my attention to the bowl. I polished it with micromesh – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove sanding debris. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. You can see the patina around the bow and the shank. Now it was time to wax the bowl. I melted some beeswax on the stove top and painted it onto the meerschaum bowl. I apply the wax quite heavily as I plan on heating the bowl and wiping it off. I worked it into the twin rings around the bowl cap with the pipe cleaner. I took a few photos of the heavily waxed bowl. I set it aside and called it a night. I would heat and polish it in the morning. This morning I used the heat gun to melt the wax on the bowl. I held it by the metal tenon and carefully moved it over the heat gun. The wax dripped back in the bowl and I also wiped it down with a paper towel. The patina really came alive. You can see it nicely developed on the shank and moving up the bowl sides to the cap. It looks very good at this point and will only look better with buffing and with use. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to blend the repairs into the surrounding amber. I wanted it smooth and with no lumps of glue on the crack or tooth mark areas. I started polishing the stem with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I was happy with how the shine was developing.I polished the amber with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit micromesh pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil to further polish and give some teeth to the pads. It came out looking very nice. I polished the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine an Extra Fine. I rubbed them on with my finger tips and polished them off with soft paper towel. I finished by rubbing the stem down with some Obsidian Oil on a soft impregnated cloth. It looked better.I don’t know how many times I have said this but I love it when I come to the end of a restoration and all of the parts come together and the pipe looks better than when we started the cleanup process. I put the stem back on the Genuine Meerschaum Real Amber Cased Bulldog and carefully buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of beeswax as shown above and the stem multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax by hand and buffed it by hand with a soft cloth. I also buffed it again with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is a real stunning example of a classic Meerschaum Bulldog with an Amber Stem. It is beautiful and comfortable in hand. There was developing patina around the bowl and shank and was darker on the shank and the rim top. Give the finish pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .95 ounces/27 grams. This meerschaum pipe is a great piece of pipe history that is in great condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be keeping this one in my collection and enjoying it. Thanks for your time.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.