Tag Archives: contrast staining

Cleaning up a Republic Era Peterson’s 53 Straight Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

I purchased two Peterson’s pipes from a fellow in Eastern Canada. They are shown in the photo below. The top one is a Republic Era K&P Irish Made 53 Billiard. The second one is a 120 Dublin. You will note in the photo below that there is an extra stem included. It is an acrylic fishtail stem that was made for the 120. It is significantly longer (1 inch) than the original and the angles of the curve are more pronounced so the flow of the stem does not look at all the same. The acrylic stem is thicker and does not have the delicacy of the original.Today I decided to work on the second pipe, the Straight Billiard. It is stamped on the left side and reads K&P [over] Irish Made. On the right side of the shank it reads Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines) followed by the shape number 53. The grain is quite nice on the pipe. There is a nickel ferrule on the shank that is stamped with three symbols – a shamrock. a wolf hound and a tower. These makers marks put the pipe as pre-circa 1963. The briar was dirty with grime ground into the finish. There was a thick cake in the bowl with darkening and lava overflow onto the inner edge and the rim top. The pipe had a strong smell of the tobacco that had been smoked in it. There is a hint of aromatic to it. The shank was dirty with tars. The stem was an original fishtail made by Peterson. There was some oxidation, calcification and light tooth marks on both sides of the stem. I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the table to show its condition. I took photos of the rim top and bowl to show the condition of both. You can see the cake and tobacco debris in the bowl and the lava overflowing onto the back edge and rim top. The grain shows through and I think it will clean up very well. You can see the chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button and the oxidation and light calcification as well.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping is clear and readable. I also took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the look of the pipe and show its balance. It is a beauty. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the cake and the lava on the rim top and edges of the bowl. I reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the remaining cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl walls smooth with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. The pipe walls were clean and undamaged with no checking or cracking. I sanded the rim edge and the top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out and remove the darkening and the damage to the top and edge. It looked much better than when I started. I would still need to polish out the darkening.I scrubbed the externals of the bowl and shank with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I rinsed the soap and debris off the bowl with running water. I repeated the process until the rim top and the externals were very clean. It looked very good at this point. I cleaned out the internals of the shank, mortise and the airway in the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. It took a bit of time but it came out clean. There was still a residual smell, a ghost that I would need to work on. Now it was time to deghost the pipe. I stuffed the bowl with cotton bolls and twisted another boll into the shank. I filled the bowl with 99% isopropyl alcohol using and ear syringe. I set it aside to let the mix do its work wicking the oils and tars out of the bowl. It would sit for while I worked on the stem. After four hours I took photos of the bowl and the cotton. It had taken out a lot of tars and oils. I polished the outside of the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. The stain was uneven around the heal of the bowl and on the rim top so I touched up the stain with a Maple Stain Pen. It blended in with the surrounding stain on the upper portion of the bowl. I would need to buff it to further blend it into the surface.I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the finish with my fingertips. The product works to clean, preserve and protect the briar. I let it sit and absorb for 10 minutes. I buffed it off with a soft cloth and then gave it a rigorous buff to raise the shine. It looks good at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the oxidation on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to break it up. I started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. When finished I wiped it down with some Obsidian Oil. There was still some oxidation remaining on the stem so I would need to do more to remove it.I scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub cleanser and cotton pads to remove the remaining oxidation. It worked very well and removed all of the oxidation that remained on the stem.I polished out the chatter and marks on the stem surface with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil on a cloth after the sanding pads. 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. I am really happy with the way that this Republic Era K&P Irish Made 53 Billiard with a Nickel Ferrule turned out. It really is a beautiful looking pipe with a great shape and smooth finished bowl and rim top. The original vulcanite taper stem is really nice. The polished black of the stem works well with the briar and the nickel ferrule. The briar really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown stains of the finish gave the pipe a sense of depth 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. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Republic Era K&P Irish Made Billiard really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 37 grams/ 1.31 ounces. The pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store soon. It will be in the section on Irish Pipe Makers Section if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

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

Resurrecting a Large Dunhill Bruyere ODA 836 Panel Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

A few weeks ago I was contacted from a fellow in Montana who was selling his pipes as they had not been used for quite a few years. I asked him for a picture and he sent me the one to the left. It included the following brands (from the top to the bottom of the photo): Savinelli Autograph 5 Freehand, Mastro de Paja Ciocco 0C Bulldog, Mastro de Paja Media 1B Bent Billiard, Ser Jacopo Delecta Octagonal Bent Billiard, Caminetto Business KS 118 Canadian, Radici Rind Rhodesian, Dunhill Bruyere ODA 836 Panel Billiard, Barontini Straight Grain B3 Freehand and a Ben Wade Martinique Hand Made in Denmark Freehand.

Almost all of them were higher end pipes and all were hand made pipes. They were a mix of finishes – smooth, sandblast and also rusticated. They were a mix of shapes as well and the majority of them were Italian Made other than the Dunhill and the Ben Wade Martinique. They were beautiful pipes and after exchanging quite a few photos of the pipes from various angles to get a sense of what was there we struck a deal. We sent him the payment and the pipes arrived in Idaho a few days after I left for Vancouver.

Jeff cleaned them all and this week I received them in Vancouver. I am impressed with the way they cleaned up and the beauty of the brands. They truly are some beautiful pipes. I just need to put the final touches on each of them and address minor issues on the bowl rims and the stems and they should be good to go. I am really looking forward to working on each of them in the days ahead.

This warm, late afternoon I decided to continue working on the lot. I chose to work on the smooth Dunhill Bruyere Panel. This one is a bit different than any of the other Dunhill pipes that I have worked on. It is very nice looking piece of briar and has a square stem. The pipe is stamped on the sides of the shank. It was clear and readable. On the left side the shape number reads ODA [over] 836 followed by the stamping Dunhill [over] Bruyere. On the right side it is stamped Made in [over] England followed by an equal size 14. The reddish/brown stained finish was very dirty with grime ground in the finish all over the whole bowl and shank. Toward the bottom of left side of the bowl there was some road rash. It was rough and I would need to smooth it out some – though it would never truly be gone. The bowl had a thick cake and the rim top/inner edge had thick lava flowing up from the bowl. It appears that there is damage on the back side of the inner edge. It was hard to know its full condition with certainty until it was cleaned. The vulcanite taper stem is was dirty, oxidized, calcified and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was the inlaid Dunhill White Spot on the top of the stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the thickness of the cake and the darkening and lava overflow on the rim top. There were also nicks around the outer edge of the bowl. The photos of the stem show the oxidation, calcification and tooth marks and chatter on the surface on both sides. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the great grain on the pipe. It is a beauty under the grime and dust. The stamping on the underside of the shank is shown in the photos below. It looks very good and readable. It reads as noted and explained above. The third photo shows the white spot on the stem.  I turned to Pipedia’s section on Dunhill Bruyere Pipes to get a bit of background on the Dunhill finishes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Root_Briar). I quote:

Bruyere

The original finish produced (usually made using Calabrian briar), and a big part of developing and marketing the brand. It was the only finish from 1910 until 1917. A dark reddish-brown stain. Before the 1950s, there were three possible finishes for Dunhill pipes. The Bruyere was a smooth finish with a deep red stain, obtained through two coats, a brown understain followed by a deep red.

There was a link on the above site to a section specifically written regarding the Bruyere finish (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill_Bruyere). I turned there and have included the information from that short article below.

Initially, made from over century-old briar burls, classified by a “B” (denoted highest quality pipe); “DR” (denoted straight-grained) and an “A” (denoted first quality), until early 1915. After that, they became a high-end subset to the Dunhill ‘Bruyere’. The DR and B pipes, a limited production, they should be distinguished as hand-cut in London from burls as opposed to the Bruyere line which was generally finished from French turned bowls until 1917, when the Calabrian briar started to be used, but not completely. Only in 1920 Dunhill took the final step in its pipe making operation and began sourcing and cutting all of its own bowls, proudly announcing thereafter that “no French briar was employed”.

Bruyere pipes were usually made using Calabrian briar, a very dense and hardy briar that has a modest grain but does very well with the deep red stain.

“Before the 1950s, there were three possible finishes for Dunhill pipes. The Bruyere was a smooth finish with a deep red stain, obtained through two coats, a brown understain followed by a deep red. The Shell finish was the original sandblast with a near-black stain (though the degree to which it is truly black has varied over the years). Lastly, the Root finish was smooth also but with a light brown finish. Early Dunhill used different briars with different stains, resulting in more distinct and identifiable creations… Over the years, to these traditional styles were added four new finishes: Cumberland, Dress, Chestnut and Amber Root, plus some now-defunct finishes, such as County, Russet and Red Bark.”

There was also a link to a catalogue page that gave examples and dates that the various finishes were introduced (https://pipedia.org/wiki/File:Dunnypipescatalog-1.png). I turned to Pipephil’s dating guide to show how I arrived at the date of manufacture for this pipe (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1a.html). I am including the chart that is provided there for the dating a pipe. I have drawn a red box around the section. Since the pipe I am working on has a suffix 14 it points to the 1960 line on the chart below. I have drawn a red box around the pertinent section in the chart.On Pipedia they also have an ODA shape chart that was helpful. I have included that below (https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_DUNHILL_ODA_SHAPE_CHART).I now knew that I was working on a Bruyere that came out in 1974. The shape of the pipe is a Panel Billiard that Dunhill put out and that the #ODA 836 was a normal Panel Billiard shape with a taper stem.

I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had carried out his usual thorough cleanup of the pipe. He had reamed it with a PipNet reamer to remove the cake and cleaned the reaming up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and scrubbed it down with Soft Scrub All-Purpose cleaner to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked very clean when I received it though a light oxidation still remained on the stem surface. I took a photo of the rim top. Jeff had been able to remove the thick lava coat from the rim top and inner edge. There is some darkening and burn damage on the back inner edge and rim top and a burn spot on the front top and inner edge. The stem is clean but has some oxidation remaining on each end (ahead of the white spot and ahead of the button). There was also oxidation on the tapered sides of the stem.I took photos of the stamping on the right and the left side of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to get a sense of what the pipe looked like. It is quite a large bowl. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the burn damage on the inner edge of the rim and the rim top. I worked on the darkening on the inner edge with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to start the process. I worked on the burnt spot on the front top and the inner edge on the back top. I then used a wooden ball and a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge a slight bevel to hide the damage on the edges. I finished by working on it once again with a folded piece of sandpaper to smooth and shape it a bit more. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the dust and debris from the surface of the briar. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, preserve and protect the briar. I let it sit and work into the briar for 10 minutes then wiped it off with a cotton cloth. I buffed the briar with a clean cloth. The bowl is starting to look beautiful and there is a shine developing. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. The tooth marks were very light and shallow so I moved immediately to sanding it with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit pads to remove the remaining oxidation on both ends and the tooth chatter ahead of the button. I dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with some 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 oil and set it aside to dry.I put the Dunhill Bruyere ODA 836 Panel Billiard bowl and stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The reddish/brown stains worked amazingly well with the polished vulcanite taper stem. The grain around the bowl and shank and looks quite remarkable. This is truly a beautiful Dunhill Bruyere Panel Billiard ODA 836 pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.62 ounces/46 grams. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly in the British Pipemakers Section. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. Cheers.

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.

Barontini Straight Grain B3 Hand Made Freehand with a Variegated Orange Acrylic Stem

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Blog by Steve Laug

A few weeks ago I was contacted from a fellow in Montana who was selling his pipes as they had not been used for quite a few years. I asked him for a picture and he sent me the one to the left. It included the following brands (from the top to the bottom of the photo): Savinelli Autograph 5 Freehand, Mastro de Paja Ciocco 0C Bulldog, Mastro de Paja Media 1B Bent Billiard, Ser Jacopo Delecta Octagonal Bent Billiard, Caminetto Business KS 118 Canadian, Radici Rind Rhodesian, Dunhill Bruyere ODA 836 Panel Billiard, Barontini Straight Grain B3 Freehand and a Ben Wade Martinique Hand Made in Denmark Freehand.

Almost all of them were higher end pipes and all were hand made pipes. They were a mix of finishes – smooth, sandblast and also rusticated. They were a mix of shapes as well and the majority of them were Italian Made other than the Dunhill and the Ben Wade Martinique. They were beautiful pipes and after exchanging quite a few photos of the pipes from various angles to get a sense of what was there we struck a deal. We sent him the payment and the pipes arrived in Idaho a few days after I left for Vancouver.

Jeff cleaned them all and this week I received them in Vancouver. I am impressed with the way they cleaned up and the beauty of the brands. They truly are some beautiful pipes. I just need to put the final touches on each of them and address minor issues on the bowl rims and the stems and they should be good to go. I am really looking forward to working on each of them in the days ahead.

This quiet Sunday afternoon I decided to continue working on the lot. I chose to work on the smooth Barontini Freehand (possibly a Rhodesian). The Barontinis I have worked on generally are nice looking pieces of briar and have had acrylic stems. This one had a nicely grained finish and a plateau style rim top. The pipe is stamped around the sides of the bowl. It was clear and readable. On the left side it reads Barontini [over] Straight Grain. On the right side it is stamped with a B3 and vertically next to the stem it is stamped Italy. On the underside of the shank it reads Fatta [over] A Mano. The stamping is clear and readable. The medium brown stained finish was very dirty but seemed to have a shellac coat over the whole bowl and shank. The bowl had a thick cake and the plateau style rim top/inner edge had thick lava flowing up from the bowl filling in the grooves. The inner edge of the bowl was covered enough with lava that it was hard to know its condition with certainty. The saddle stem is variegated orange and cream acrylic and was dirty and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was an inlaid logo dot on the top of the stem. It was a red dot encircled with silver. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before the clean up. You can see the thick cake in the bowl overflowing as lava on the inner edge and rim top. He also took some photos of the stem to show the condition of both sides. You can see the tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside next to the button. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the beautiful grain around the bowl and shank. The stain adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a real beauty. The stamping on the sides of the shank are shown in the photos below. It is clear and readable as noted above. I looked up some information on the brand on the Pipephil website to get a quick overview of the history (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-b2.html). I did a screen capture of the listing for the brand. The fascinating thing that I learned in this quick overview was the connection to the entire Barontini family and to other companies like Aldo Velani. It is interesting to see the breadth of the brand in the following screen capture.Pipedia gives further history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Barontini,_Cesare). It is a very brief article with little information. I quote that article in full below.

In 1890 Turildo Barontini opened a factory for the production of briar. In 1925 his son Bruno began to produce the first pipes. Cesare Barontini, son of Bruno, started direction of the factory in 1955, and still runs it together with his daughters Barbara and Silvia.

Unfortunately, on neither site was there any pertinent information on the Barontini Straight Grain pipe. I decided to do a quick google search and found a listing for what appears to be the actual pipe I am working on (https://pipes.collectionhero.com/outer/view_item.php?id=55163). I include that information and photo below. Looks like the fellow I purchased the pipe from purchased it from this auction potentially? He got it for a steal at that price as they tend to run between $90 and $120 online. I guess I will never know for sure but at least I found the pipe online. It is now time to work on the pipe itself.

Jeff had reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. The rim was thoroughly cleaned and the damaged areas were obvious. Without the grime the finish looked really good. The Lucite stem would need to be worked on but I really like the profile it cast. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of both the rim top and the stem. Jeff had been able to get the grime and lava off of the rim top and it looked very clean. The stem looked very clean. The tooth marks and chatter were predominantly near the button.The stamping on the sides of the shank was readable as noted above. I took photos of the stamping to show the condition and readability. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to give an idea of the perspective and design of the pipe. I scrubbed the carved plateau rim top of the bowl with a brass bristle wire brush to remove the remaining darkening and debris in the nooks and crannies of the rim top. It looked much better once I finished.I wiped down the bowl with acetone to remove the shiny coat. It barely broke through the coat. I wiped it down repeatedly and then moved on to the micromesh pads. I polished bowl with micromesh sanding pads using 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiping it down after each sanding pad with a pad and acetone to remove the sanding dust and debris from the finish. I paused the polishing after the 4000 grit micromesh sanding pad to stain the lighter spots on the bowl and shank. I used an Oak Stain Pen to match the colour of the rest of the bowl and shank. The colour was a perfect match. I touched up the light spots on the shank end, the rim cap and spots around the bowl sides. It looks much better. I finished polishing it with 6000-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the finish of the bowl and shank with my fingers and into the plateau carved rim top with a horsehair shoe brush. I want the product to go deep into the finish because it works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. Once I was confident that it was deeply worked into the finish I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth to polish it. The pipe really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. The grain really stands out on the pipe in the photos below. I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I sanded the surface of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth marks and chatter. I started polishing the acrylic stem with a folded piece of 600 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I know many think it is useless to use the Obsidian Oil on acrylic stems but I find that it is a good lubricant when I am sanding with the micromesh pads. For me it works! 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 oil and set it aside to dry.I put the Barontini Straight Graini B3 bowl and stem back together. I polished the smooth part of the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the sandblasted bowl and shank several coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The medium brown stains worked amazingly well with the polished orange acrylic stem. The grain around the bowl and shank and looks quite remarkable. This is truly a beautiful Barontini Straight Grain Freehand pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.76 ounces/51 grams. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly in the Italian Pipemakers Section. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. Cheers.

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

New Life for a Ser Jacopo Delecta Octagonal Bent Billiard with a Black Acrylic Saddle Stem

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Blog by Steve Laug

A few weeks ago I was contacted from a fellow in Montana who was selling his pipes as they had not been used for quite a few years. I asked him for a picture and he sent me the one to the left. It included the following brands (from the top to the bottom of the photo): Savinelli Autograph 5 Freehand, Mastro de Paja Ciocco 0C Bulldog, Mastro de Paja Media 1B Bent Billiard, Ser Jacopo Delecta Octagonal Bent Billiard, Caminetto Business KS 118 Canadian, Radici Rind Rhodesian, Dunhill Bruyere ODA 836 Panel Billiard, Barontini Straight Grain B3 Freehand and a Ben Wade Martinique Hand Made in Denmark Freehand.

Almost all of them were higher end pipes and all were hand made pipes. They were a mix of finishes – smooth, sandblast and also rusticated. They were a mix of shapes as well and the majority of them were Italian Made other than the Dunhill and the Ben Wade Martinique. They were beautiful pipes and after exchanging quite a few photos of the pipes from various angles to get a sense of what was there we struck a deal. We sent him the payment and the pipes arrived in Idaho a few days after I left for Vancouver.

Jeff cleaned them all and this week I received them in Vancouver. I am impressed with the way they cleaned up and the beauty of the brands. They truly are some beautiful pipes. I just need to put the final touches on each of them and address minor issues on the bowl rims and the stems and they should be good to go. I am really looking forward to working on each of them in the days ahead.

This evening after work I decided to continue working on the lot. I chose to work on the smooth octagonal bent Billiard with a silver ferrule and tip on the stem. It has a classic Large Bent Octagonal Billiard shape with an Italian twist. The is smooth and well shaped.  There is a silver ferrule round the shank end as well as a silver band around the tenon end of the stem. The pipe is stamped on three sides of the shank. On the left side it Ser Jacopo [over] Fatta A Mano (made by hand). On the underside of the shank it is stamped Delecta. The stamping on the right side of the shank it read Per Aspera [over] Ad Astra. The silver ferrule is stamped on the top left side and reads Ser [over] Jacopo [over] Delecta. On the underside it is stamped 925 in an oval as the silver quality designation. There is a coral dot logo is on top side of the stem. The stamping is clear and readable. The reddish stained finish was very dirty with grime ground into the smooth briar. The bowl had a moderate cake and the rim top/inner edge had some lava flowing up from the bowl. The inner edge of the bowl was covered with some lava so it was hard to know its condition with certainty. The stem is black acrylic fancy saddle stem and was dirty with tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The silver ferrule and tenon end were oxidized and dirty. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before the clean up. You can see the cake in the bowl overflowing on the inner edge rim top. He also took some photos of the stem to show the condition of both sides. You can see the tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside next to the button. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the grain around the bowl and shank. The stain adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a real beauty. The stamping on the sides of the shank and on the silver ferrule is shown in the photos below. It is clear and readable as noted above. I turned to Pipephil (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-s5.html) to remind myself of the background of the brand. I also wanted to see what the single Coral dot meant on the stem. I knew that the Coral dot was on the older pipes but that was all I knew. I include a screen capture of the section on the brand below. The third photo below shows a similar Coral dot on the stem.I am also including the information that I found there in the sidebar on PipePhil. I quote that below. I have highlighted the R2 designation below in red.

Founder of the brand in 1982: Giancarlo Guidi (1943 – †2012). Production (2006): ~ 6000 pipes/year. Ser Jacopo seconds: Gepetto.

Finish mark: Rusticated pipes: R1 (dark brown) R2 (light brown); Sandblasted pipes: S (black), S1 (dark brown), S2 (light brown), S3 (tanshell); Smooth pipes: L (red), L1 (acceptable grain), L2 (nice grain), L3 (exceptional grain).

I then turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ser_Jacopo) to read some more about the brand and see if there were more details regarding the single Coral dot. I quote below.

Ser Jacopo (provided by Marble Arch Ltd., US importer and distributor of Ser Jacopo)

Smokingpipes.com has an excellent concise history available on their website Ser Jacopo History at Smoking Pipes.com

Ser Jacopo, better to say Ser Jacopo dalla Gemma, was started by Giancarlo Guidi in 1982 upon leaving Mastro de Paja.

Giancarlo Guidi and Bruto Sordini broke away from Mastro de Paja in 1981 in pursuit of their own company. Ser Jacopo was named after an Italian nobleman. Guidi and Sordini, having taken part in creating the now infamous Pesaro “school” of pipe making, wanted to expand further. To accomplish this, Ser Jacopo focused their efforts on the pairing of the briar with a seemingly endless variety of mounts. Through the use of precious metals and stones, horn, and exotic woods Ser Jacopo pipes are given unique characters that many collectors find quite aesthetically pleasing. Although Ser Jacopo pipes borrow heavily from classical shapes, they are indeed quite unique in style.

In addition to creative mountings, Ser Jacopo is also well known for making themed pipes, and the most famous of these themes is perhaps the Picta Series, where pipes are modeled after pipes seen in pictures by and of famous artists, such as Vincent Van Gough.

Ser Jacopo makes multiple grades of pipes, with the “entry” level being the Geppetto brand, and the highest grade being the “Gem” series.

The small Ser Jacopo shop produces approximately 6000 pipes per year. The pipes are known for using outstanding Italian briar, which is well seasoned. The pipes have earned a well-deserved reputation for having excellent smoking qualities, equal or better than any other fine Italian pipe maker (or, for that matter, any other pipe maker in the world).

Giancarlo Guidi passed away on August 6, 2012, leaving behind a great legacy. He was 64 years old.

Nomenclature – the section on the nomenclature helps understand the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is helpful and really quite interesting.

The standard nomenclature found on Ser Jacopo pipes is as follows:

Ser Jacopo Fatta A Mano In Italia Per Aspera Ad Astra – Fatta A Mano translates to “Made By Hand”. Per Aspera Ad Astra is a Latin phrase found on Ser Jacopo pipes and is the Ser Jacopo motto. It translates to “To the Stars Through Travails”, meaning that success comes through hard work. In the Summer 1997 Pipes and Tobaccos article Giancarlo Guidi translated this as “through a difficult way until the stars are reached”.

Ser Jacopo Pipes are generally found in one of three finishes (rusticated, sandblast, smooth) designated by a letter and number code:

R1: Rusticated, dark brown or plum finish.

R2: Rusticated, light brown finish.

S:  Sandblast, black

S1: Sandblast, dark brown

S2: Sandblast, light brown

S3: Sandblast, tanshell

L:  Smooth, red, usually with silver trim

L1: Smooth, flame grain, various finishes

L2: Smooth, straight grain, various finishes

L3: Smooth, straight grain extra, discontinued

Dating Pipes

In the photo to the left you can see the development of the stem inserts on the pipes.

Top: Early Red Coral Logo Middle: Coral Logo with Silver Ring Bottom: Modern Day Silver J Logo – Courtesy of Mike Ahmadi

Ser Jacopo pipes is somewhat difficult, because Ser Jacopo does not generally use date codes (the exception being the Diamond Gemma series pipes, which are dated coded). Early pipes (from 1983 to 1997) featured a red coral dot on the mouthpiece, sometimes found encircled in a silver ring. This was discontinued and changed to a sterling silver letter “J”. On the Gemma series of pipes, the mouthpiece logo is a precious stone surrounded by an 18k gold ring.

The pipe I am working on is one of the early pipes (1983-1997) with a coral dot in the top of the saddle stem. It is a lovely pipe with an L Red finish and silver trim. Now it is time to work on the pipe and bring it back to life.

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Before he sent it to me, Jeff had done an amazing job cleaning the pipe. It almost looked like a different pipe after his work. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of the cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. The finish looked very good and the rugged finish felt good in the hand. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and then rinsed it off with warm water. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and a tooth brush and rinsed it off with warm water. It looked good when I took it out of the package of pipes he shipped me. There were some shiny spots on the finish where the shellac coat had not all come off. It would need to be removed to even it out. I took photos of the pipe before I started my part of the restoration work.  I took close up photos of both the rim top and the stem. Jeff had been able to get the grime and lava off of the rim top and it looked very clean. You can see the spotty shellac coat that still remains on the bowl and rim top. The stem looked very clean. The tooth marks and chatter were much less than on the previous pipes in this collection and they were predominantly near the button. They should be easy to remove. The stamping on the sides of the shank was readable as noted above. I took photos of the stamping on each side to show the condition and readability. I also took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to give an idea of the perspective and design of the pipe. To deal with the spotty coat of shellac on the bowl and shank I used a cotton pad and alcohol to wipe down the briar. I was able to remove the shellac coat completely and the grain really showed through. Here is what it looks like at this point in the process. I polished the smooth bowl and rim top with micromesh sanding pads using 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiping it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust and debris. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the finish of the bowl and shank with my fingers. I want the product to go deep into the finish because it works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. Once I was confident that it was deeply worked into the finish I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth to polish it. The pipe really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. The grain really stands out on the pipe in the photos below. I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I sanded out the tooth marks in the acrylic surface of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with a folded piece of 600 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad.I polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. This Ser Jacopo Delecta Octagonal Bent Billiard with Silver Ferrule and an acrylic saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful finish really highlights the grain and the polished finish is stunning. The Silver Ferrule and Silver tenon space is also a great addition. 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 Ser Jacopo Delecta Octagonal Bent Billiard fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 87 grams /3.03 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the Italian 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.

Dipping a Toe into the Murky Waters of the BP Jum

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by Kenneth Lieblich

Next on the chopping block is a robust, rugged, rusticated pipe which I acquired in a lot of pipes from a gentleman living on Vancouver Island. He had quite an assortment of pipes and they ranged from the ridiculous to the sublime. This is not a Custom-Bilt – it is a BP Jum. They could easily be mistaken for one another. This is a very handsome pipe and promises to be a great smoker. It’s a bent pot (or a “War Club”, as Steve calls it), with a vulcanite, wide saddle stem. And what a wonderful rustication on this one! On the left side of the shank, the markings read BP Jum [over] Imported Briar. These are the only markings.The history of BP Jum, like many pipes of the same era, is shrouded in some mystery. The brand name has no mention on either Pipedia or Pipephil. Some pipe folks have proposed that BP Jum pipes are, in fact, Custom-Bilt seconds, but there is no direct evidence to support this. In previous restorations that Steve has done, he wrote the following: “There was a lot of conjecture as to whether the brand was made by Tracy Mincer of Custombilt fame. There is no definitive proof other than the common shapes, sizes and look of the pipes. Bill Unger, of Custombilt fame and author of a history of the brand, mentions BP Jum but cannot definitively connect the two. So the maker remains a mystery that is still unsolved.”

Well, I’ve taken up the mantle to see what else could be found. A gentleman who commented on one of Steve’s restorations said “BP Jum pipes are shown in a 1971 Kentucky club premiums [sic] catalog I have. They are not labeled in the text but I can see it stamped on shank of the picture of the pipe. The rustication on these is also very telling and looks the same on most of them.” I took it upon myself to see if I could find photos of the 1971 Kentucky Club Premium Catalog. I did find some online, but the images did not include the page with the BP Jums that were mentioned. Alas.Another potential source is a fellow named Tom, who goes by the handle, NWPipesmoker, on YouTube. As a devoted fan of both Custom-Bilt and BP Jum pipes, he has a few videos speculating on the origins of BP Jum pipes. In one video, he quotes from an unnamed correspondent of his who says that the BP Jum name comes from “Bilmore Pipes Jumbo”. Now, it is important to stress that there is only circumstantial evidence to support this. The information is enticing, but no more than indirect. The advertisement below (for Biltmore) displays some drawings of pipes that are very close (or identical) to BP Jum pipes. We don’t see the words “BP Jum” anywhere on the pipes or in the ad, but I am still impressed with this.As an aside, the connection between Tracy Mincer’s Custom-Bilt and Biltmore is circuitous, to be sure, but it exists. Briefly, both Bilmore pipes and Mincer pipes (specifically the Doodler) were either owned by or produced by National Briar Pipe Co. of New Jersey. In Bill Unger’s book, As Individual as a Thumbprint: The Custom-Bilt Pipe Story, he writes: “Apparently, both Tracy Mincer and the National Briar Pipe Co. continued to produce Doodlers concurrently until Mincer was no longer able to make pipes, sometime before his death in 1964. Bill Mincer then sold all rights to the Doodler to the National Pipe Co. in 1966.”Finally, NWPipesmoker has another video where he compares two pipes that he owns: one marked “Custom-Bilt” and the other marked “BP Jum”. He has entitled this video, “CustomBilt and BP Jum connection confirmed”. I think that’s overstating it a bit, but I am including the link to this video here, for your examination: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdsBYoydYu8

It is certainly possible (and perhaps even likely) that Custom-Bilt and BP Jum pipes are related in some way – even if we are not able to make a definitive statement about it. I feel comfortable in saying that there is a connection between the pipes, but this connection is not ironclad. To put it colloquially, they may be brothers but they are not twins.

Let’s move on…

This pipe had been well-loved and well-smoked, as it arrived with some marks and general wear. The stem was dirty and had lots of dents and tooth marks. Most of the stummel was in decent shape, but the rim was pretty nasty – the were burns and lava, and the rustication grooves were full of gunk. I took up the stem and cleaned it off with Murphy’s Oil Soap. It was quite dirty and needed some scrubbing. Following that, I used pipe cleaners and lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol to clean out the internals of the stem. As you can see, there was much muck to be removed! Next, I wiped down the stem with some SoftScrub cleanser and then put the stem in my container of deoxidizing fluid. This works to draw the oxidation to the surface of the stem, so that it can be cleaned off again with more SoftScrub. With the stem nice and clean, I needed to address the damage to the stem. To achieve this, I applied a type of black cyanoacrylate adhesive (impregnated with carbon and rubber) to the damaged area. I sprayed these areas with an accelerant to cure the adhesive immediately. I then had to shape these repairs so that they would look great! I began by taking a needle file and shaping the hardened adhesive. Continuing, I used 200- and 400-grit sandpapers on the repairs to smooth them out. I finished up by using all nine of my MicroMesh pads to sand the entire stem. I also used some pipe stem oil to assist with the sanding and protect the vulcanite.Having put aside the stem, I moved on to the charming, chunky stummel. First on the agenda was to ream out the bowl, as it was full of cake. The PipNet reamer made short work of this, and I followed up by sanding the walls down with some 220-grit sandpaper attached to a wooden dowel. This revealed a tiny bit of damage to interior wall – but this would be easily fixed.Next on the list, I thoroughly cleaned out the shank. Using a combination of Q-tips and pipe cleaners dipped in lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol, I removed all the awful filth in there. The photo shows a mere portion of the cotton used. As the girls in the 80s used to say, grody to the max!I always like to ameliorate the cleaning of the stummel by performing a “de-ghosting” on the stummel. I placed some cotton balls in the bowl and the mortise of the shank, then saturated them with straight isopropyl alcohol. I let this sit overnight while the oils and tars (and evil spirits) leeched into the cotton.I broke out the Murphy’s again and wiped down the outside with some cotton rounds. Once I felt the outside was clean, I then took out my two brushes and castile soap and washed both the inside and outside. The internals were lovely and clean after that – but there were still some issues on that rim.Even though I’d used both a toothbrush and a wire brush on the rim, there was still some filth to be dealt with – not to mention some burning. I began by “topping” the pipe – in other words, I placed the top of the pipe, level and flat, on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper and gently ground it down to smooth and even out the rim. The rim still required a bit more beautification. I took a small piece of sandpaper and evened out some rough parts that topping wasn’t able to address.I then went “next level” insane. I took a dental tool and individually excavated each groove on the rim to remove the crud. It took awhile, but the results were worth it.In order to address the burns, I dissolved some oxalic acid crystals in some hot water. Then, taking a Q-tip and tipping it in the acid, I rubbed and rubbed and rubbed until it removed most of the burning that was there. It didn’t all come off (it rarely does), but was much improved. Once I was satisfied with that, the finishing sanding was next, so I took all nine of my MicroMesh pads and sanded the whole stummel until it was super-smooth and handsome. The pipe had benefitted from a lot of work, but this wore out the colour of the wood. I decided to restain the pipe. First, I brought out my heat gun and spent a couple of minutes thoroughly heating the wood, so it would be as receptive as possible to the stain. I wanted the stain to penetrate well into the wood, to give the best results. I applied Fiebing’s Light Brown Leather Dye with a cotton dauber. I flamed it with my Bic lighter, let it set, then coated it again with dye, flamed it again, and let that set too. I decided to let the pipe sit overnight. This dye is alcohol-based, so I used isopropyl alcohol to wipe down the pipe and remove excess stain. I am very happy with the results.Earlier, I referred to a little hairline crack emanating from the draught hole. Steve recommended repairing it some pipe mud. This is made by mixing cigar ash (not pipe ash) with the merest bit of water to create a paste. I then applied the paste with a tiny spatula and let it set until dry. I then gently sanded it down. Later, I added some Before & After Restoration Balm to the stummel. This does good things to wood, enhances the grain, and brings out some lustre. Then it was off for a trip to the buffer. I applied a few coats of Conservator’s Wax and the pipe really popped. The lovely shine made the wood very attractive. This is a very handsome pipe and will provide many years of smoking pleasure.This BP Jum is much improved and is ready to be enjoyed again by the next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the American pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5⅜ in. (137 mm); height 1⅝ in. (41 mm); bowl diameter 1⅞ in. (48 mm); chamber diameter ⅞ in. (24 mm). The weight of the pipe is 2⅛ oz. (61 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.

Breathing Life into a Beautiful Stanwell Maron 32 Straight Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

Another hot day in Vancouver so I decided to go to the basement and work on another one that was purchased on 01/26/2023 in a lot of pipes that came to us from Copenhagen, Denmark. It included a group of Danish Made Stanwell pipes that are quite beautiful. The grain around the bowl and shank of this Bulldog has a mix of cross, birdseye and flame grain. The pipe is stamped on the left underside of the diamond shank and reads STANWELL 32 [over] Maron [over] Made in Denmark. The pipe was a well used pipe when Jeff received it. There was dust and grime ground into the finish. It is finished in the warm stain of the Maron finish, with some nice grain around the bowl and shank under the dirt. The bowl was moderately caked and there was an overflow of lava on the rim top. The inner edge shows some darkening around the bowl and on the rim top. There is a band on the shank. It has two brass bands with an orange piece of acrylic sandwiched between them both. The stem is acrylic and was dirty with light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button and on the button itself. There is no brass/gold crown S logo inlaid on the left side of the saddle stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before the clean up. You can see the darkening and light lava on the inner edge and top of the rim. He also took some photos of the stem to show the condition of both sides. You can see the light marks on the top and underside next to the button. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the grain around the bowl and shank. The stain adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a real beauty. The stamping on the lower left side the diamond shank is shown in the photo below. It is clear and readable as noted above. Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. 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 soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. It came in Stanwell Pipe Sock. I removed it from the sock and took photos of the pipe once I received it.   I took close up photos of both the rim top and the stem. Jeff had been able to get the grime and lava off of the rim top and it looked pretty incredible. There was some darkening and marks on the rim top on the right side and the back of the bowl. The stem looked very clean. The tooth marks and chatter were minimal and should be easy to remove.The stamping on the shank side was readable as noted above. I also took a photo with the stem removed to give an idea of the perspective and design of the pipe.I started my work on the pipe by addressing the damage to the inner edge and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bring the edge back into round and it looked much better. Over all the rim top and edges looked much better. Now it was time to do my work on the pipe. I polished the bowl and rim top with micromesh sanding pads using 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiping it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust and debris. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the finish of the bowl and shank with my fingers. I want the product to go deep into the finish because it works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. Once I was confident that it was deeply worked into the finish I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth to polish it. The pipe really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. The grain really stands out on the pipe in the photos below. I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I polished the acrylic stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. This Stanwell Maron 32 Straight Bulldog with an acrylic taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful finish really highlights the grain and the polished finish is stunning. The triple layer brass and orange acrylic shank extension is also a great addition. 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 Stanwell Maron Bulldog fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 38 grams /1.34 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the Danish 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.

Restoring a Beautiful Stanwell Pot with a Bamboo Shank and an acrylic taper stem

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Blog by Steve Laug

It is a hot day here in Vancouver so I decided to head to the basement where it is cool and work on another pipe. This one was purchased on 11/14/2022 in a lot of pipes that came to us from a seller in Copenhagen, Denmark. It included a group of Stanwell Bamboo pipe that are quite beautiful, combining a briar bowl, a bamboo shank and in this case an acrylic stem. The pipe is a nice looking pot shape. The grain around the bowl and short briar portion of the shank has a mix of cross and birdseye grain. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the bamboo and reads STANWELL vertically between the knuckles. The pipe was a well used pipe when Jeff received it. Someone had given it a coat of varnish so it was quite shiny but there was grime underneath. The mixture of brown stains highlights some beautiful grain under the dirt. The bowl had been reamed and it was clean.  There was some darkening and some nicks on the crowned rim top and one burn mark on the left rear. The inner edge had some darkening and some nicks around the edges. The outer edge on the front of the bowl had been damaged and someone had repaired it somewhere along the journey. It had been sanded smooth and changed the profile of the crowned rim at that point. I would need to rework that area. The stem is acrylic and was dirty with some deep tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button and on the button itself. There is a brass/gold crown S logo inlaid on the left side of the taper stem. I took photos of the pipe before I started the clean up work on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before the clean up. You can see the darkening on the inner edge and top of the rim. It is hard to see but there is damage that is well hidden at this point on the front outer edge of the bowl. I took some of the stem to show the condition of both sides. You can see the deep tooth marks on the top and underside next to the button. They will take some work.The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the uniquely stained grain around the bowl and shank. The mixture of black and brown stains adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a real beauty. The two knuckle bamboo shank has a nice patina on it that will only get better with time. It had a black acrylic spacer between the shank and the bamboo and the stem and the bamboo.The stamping on the left side the bamboo is shown in the photo below. It is clear and readable as noted above. It also shows the gold crown S on the stem side. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to show the flow and cut o the pipe. It is a beauty.I turned to several of the previous blogs that I have written on other Stanwell Bamboos that I have restored. I have included the information from those blogs on the line. I turned to Pipephil to get a quick review of the brand (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html). The Brass Crowned S inlaid logo on the stem is shown in the photo below. I have included a screen capture of the brand info there.I then turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell) for more information. The article is great and gives a lot of history on the brand. There were also links to catalogues at the bottom of the page. I am including a page from a catalogue on the site below that gives a bit of a glimpse into the brand. Here is the link (http://www.axeljeske.de/Pfeifen/Stanwell_Amager.pdf). The catalogue page gives a great description of the Bamboo line. It reads as follows: Top quality bowls perfectly fitted with porous bamboo shanks for casual elegance.

Armed with that information about the pipe it was time to work on the pipe. I scraped out the cake remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I scrubbed out the internals with 99% isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners to remove the oils and tars. While the pipe was fairly clean I was able to remove the remaining oils. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the damage to the inner edge and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bring the edge back into round and it looked much better. I worked over the burn mark on the back left outer edge and top and smoothed it out. I also worked on the previously repaired damage to the front of the bowl outer edge. It had been knocked against something hard and then smoothed out. I reshaped the crown on the outer edge of the bowl. Over all the rim top and edges looked much better.In order to clean up the grime under the varnish coat on the bowl I washed it down with acetone on a cotton pad. I was able to remove the shiny coat and remove the grime in the finish. Once the shiny coat was gone the pipe cleaned up very well. The photos below show the look of the pipe once it was cleaned. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad 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 briar with my finger tips and into the bamboo with a horsehair shoe brush. I let it sit for 10 minutes and the Balm did its magic. It enlivens, cleans and preserves the briar. It certainly brought this bowl back to life. I buffed it off with a clean cloth and took the following photos. I set the stem aside and turned my attention to the stem. The acrylic stem had deep tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. Heat would not lift them so they would need to be filled in with black rubberized CA glue. I filled them in and spread the repair with a dental spatula. Once the repair cured I used a small file to recut the button edge and to flatten out the repairs. I used 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the stem surface and started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. 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 used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry.This Stanwell Bamboo Pot with an acrylic taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful finish really highlights 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 Stanwell Bamboo Pot fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 37 grams /1.31 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the Danish 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.

Pipe Gods Smiled And I Got Not One But Three Les Wood Pipes….Restoring Second Of The Three Les Wood Pipes; A Bark Silver Spigot

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

I had purchased three Les Wood pipes from a gentleman and had restored the first of the three pipes and have added it to my personal collection. Given below is the link to the write up posted on rebornpipes and is a recommended read to know how I came to be in possession of this lot and brief research on husband wife duo of Leslie Wood and Dolly and the pipes they make.

https://rebornpipes.com/2022/08/05/pipe-gods-smiled-and-i-got-not-one-but-three-les-wood-pipes-restoring-a-les-wood-poker/

The second pipe that is now on my work table is a beautifully rusticated paneled Apple Half bent Silver Spigot. It is stamped on the bottom smooth surface of the shank as “FR LOUIS HESTON” over “FERNDOWN” in a slight arc over “BARK”. The sterling silver ferrule at the shank end bears the stamp “L & JS” in a rectangular cartouche over “.925”. The sterling silver mounting at the tenon end of the stem also bears similar stampings as seen on the ferrule. The vulcanite stem is stamped on the left side as “L J S”. Now this stamping varies significantly from the one that I had worked on earlier in that this pipe does not bear the stamping LES WOOD, HAND MADE IN ENGLAND and star (*) marking to denote the size. I referred back to pipedia.org to understand the variation in stamping. Here is what I found out and also the link to the write up is given below.

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ferndown

Due to the vagaries of international trademark law, he sold his earlier pipes as ” L.&J.S Briars”, “Ellwood”, “Les Wood” or “L. Wood”. Until recently, an average of 1500 – 2000 pipes a year were sold as “Ferndown” — named for the mansion he lives in — in the UK and US, but as “L. Wood” pipes in Germany.

From the above, I assume that this pipe is from the recent past while the poker was from the earlier period. Truth be told, I am not 100% convinced on this and would really appreciate input, clarifications and detailed information on this variation in stampings observed from learned readers of rebornpipes.

There was not much that I could find about Fr. Louis Heston. An internet search of the name threw up data about Rev. Edward Louis Heston who left for heavenly abode in 1973. This period definitely does not coincide with the time period when Leslie Wood started making pipes under the FERNDOWN! Well, this too then is a grey area and would request readers to fill us all on this name and establish a relation between the name Fr. Louis Heston and this Les Wood pipe.

Initial Inspection
As observed with the Les Wood Poker that I last restored, this half bent Apple Silver Spigot too is in excellent condition. There is an even layer of cake of medium thickness in the chamber that is very hard and completely dry. The smooth rim top is sans any crusting of lava over flow but darkened towards the front. The eight panelled rusticated stummel appears in good condition with no signs of hot spots or cracked surfaces. The stummel has a lot of dirt, dust and grime grounded in to the crevices of the rusticated surface. The black and dark brown stain is faded at places giving the stummel is dull appearance. The fishtail vulcanite stem is deeply oxidized with some tooth chatter on either surface of the stem in the bite zone. The stampings on the shank, silver spigot and stem are all crisp and easily readable. The following pictures will provide a visual description to supplement the description given above. I like the feel and heft of this large stummel in my hand. The rusticated panelled surface with it prominent ridges feels tactile in the hand and very comfortable to hold. There is a lot of dirt, dust and grime trapped in to the crevices of rusticated surface giving it a dirty grayish appearance. The entire stummel looks dull, dirty and lifeless. Heavy accumulation of dried oils, tars and gunk is seen clogging the mortise. The dark stain has faded in couple of spots further adding to the sorry appearance of the stummel. The sterling silver ferrule is oxidized and dull looking. However, once the stummel surface is cleaned up and rejuvenated, this will be one beautiful looking pipe. I like the feel and heft of this large stummel in my hand. The rusticated paneled surface with it prominent ridges feels tactile in the hand and very comfortable to hold. There is a lot of dirt, dust and grime trapped in to the crevices of rusticated surface giving it a dirty grayish appearance. The entire stummel looks dull, dirty and lifeless. Heavy accumulation of dried oils, tars and gunk is seen clogging the mortise. The dark stain has faded in couple of spots further adding to the sorry appearance of the stummel. The sterling silver ferrule is oxidized and dull looking. However, once the stummel surface is cleaned up and rejuvenated, this will be one beautiful looking pipe. The beautiful sterling silver mounted vulcanite stem is hand cut and oozes very high quality of material use and also craftsmanship of highest quality. The stem is heavily oxidized to an extent that it appears dirty green. Dark coloration and calcification is seen on either surfaces of the stem in the bite zone from prolonged use of rubber bit. Very minor tooth chatter and bite marks can be seen in the bite zone on both the upper and lower surfaces of the stem. These tooth chatter and tooth indentation should be easily addressed by heating the affected areas to raise the vulcanite and thereafter sanding it down to match the rest of the stem surface. The tenon end and the horizontal slot end shows accumulation of dried gunk and grime. The sterling silver mount is oxidized but shows no signs of any damage whatsoever.The Process
I started the refurbishing of this Les Wood by working the stem first. Since there were other stems that were ready to be put into the stem deoxidizer solution, I decided to clean the internals of this stem first so that it could be put in the solution with other stems. I cleaned the stem airway with a thin shank brush and anti oil soap. It took considerable time and elbow grease to get the stem airway clean. I used a sharp dental tool to clean the horizontal slot and further cleaned the internals with regular and bristled pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol.The stem was immersed in the Deoxidizer solution, a product that has been developed by Mark Hoover. This solution raises the oxidation to the stem surface and helps in easy removal and imparting a nice shine to the stem after polishing. The pipe is indicated with a red arrow. The stem is allowed to soak into this solution overnight.Now it was time for me to work on the stummel. I did this by first reaming the chamber with size 2 followed by size 3 and 4 PipNet reamer heads. I further scraped the chamber walls with my fabricated knife to remove the remaining carbon deposits where the reamer head could not reach. Once the cake was reamed back to the bare briar, I used a 220 grit sand paper to remove all the traces of remaining cake and also to smooth out the inner walls of the chamber surface. Finally, to remove the residual carbon dust, I wiped the chamber with a cotton pad wetted with 99.9% pure isopropyl alcohol. The huge pile of carbon dust that was reamed out is an indication enough to the amount of carbon that had accumulated in the chamber. The chamber walls are solid without any heat lines or fissures. However, the hard cake was getting increasingly difficult to dislodge. I shall try and remove residual the hard cake after it has been moistened during the salt and alcohol soak. I further cleaned the mortise by scrapping out the dried gunk with a dental tool. I ran a few pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol to moisten the dried gunk and assist in its removal. I shall further continue the internal cleaning of the chamber and mortise with cotton and alcohol soak.I continued the cleaning of the chamber and shank internals with a salt and alcohol bath. I use cotton balls which is an at par substitute to Kosher salt as I have realized over the years. I draw out a wick from the cotton and along with a folded regular pipe cleaner; insert it in to the mortise and through the draught hole in to the chamber. Thereafter, I packed the chamber with cotton balls to about quarter of an inch below the inner rim edge and soaked the cotton balls with isopropyl alcohol up to the brim. About half an hour later, the level of alcohol had gone down, having being absorbed by the cotton. I topped it up once again and set it aside overnight. By next morning, the cotton and alcohol had drawn out all the remaining oils and tars from the chamber and mortise, fulfilling its intended task. I removed the cotton balls and ran pipe cleaners through the mortise to clean out all the loosened tars and gunk and further cleaned it with alcohol and q-tips.The cotton and alcohol soak had softened the hard and stubborn cake in the chamber and the mortise. Using my fabricated tool, I scrapped out all the hardened cake from the chamber and gunk from the mortise. The chamber now smells clean and fresh.Once the internals of the shank were cleaned, I cleaned the external surface of the stummel with Murphy’s Oil soap and cotton swabs followed by scrubbing the rusticated surface with a toothbrush and dish washing soap. This rid the nooks and crevices of all the accumulated dust, dirt and grime from the rusticated stummel. With a copper soft wired brush, I cleaned the rim top surface of all the crud that had accumulated over it. I wiped the stummel with a soft cotton cloth and set the stummel aside to dry out naturally. The charred inner rim edge (encircled in red) is now clearly visible and would need to be addressed. I simultaneously cleaned the shank internals with dish washing soap and shank brush.Next, I decided to address the issue of charred inner rim edge and getting the chamber back to round. I topped the rim top over a 220 grit sandpaper to reduce the charred surface. I checked the progress frequently to ensure that the topping is just adequate. I addressed the darkened inner edge by running a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper pinched between my thumb and index finger along the inner edge and crated a smart bevel. This bevel also helped to get the chamber back to round.I polished the smooth rim top surface by dry sanding with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads.The polished rim top looks much lighter than the rest of the stummel because of the topping process to remove the charred rim edge. To match the dark browns and black stains over rest of the stummel surface, I decided to re-stain the rim top surface using dark brown stain pen. I applied a coat of brown stain using a stain pen and set it aside for some time. I wiped the rim top using a soft cotton cloth to check the stain color and found it to be a bit lighter. I repeated the process till I had requisite color match and set it aside for the stain to set in.I rubbed a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” into the briar with my finger tips and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works it’s magic and the briar now had a nice vibrant appearance with the beautiful rustication patterns on full display. I have been using this balm ever since I embarked on this journey and it is this part of restoration that I always look forward to. I further buffed it with a horse hair shoe brush. This pipe really oozes of a very high quality, in fact similar to the Les Wood Poker that I had worked on earlier. The consistent quality is awesome, to say the least. The rim top appears lighter hued, but that’s due to the lighting when I took pictures. Now that the stummel refurbishing was nearly done and also the stem had now been soaking for more than 24 hours, I removed the stem from the solution. I first scrubbed the stem surface with a Scotch Brite pad, always being mindful of the stem logo on the left side. I followed this scrubbing with a nice cleaning of the surface using a 0000 grade steel wool. I rinsed the stem under running water to rid the stem of the thick deoxidizer solution. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners to remove the deoxidizer solution from the airway. The beauty of a high quality vulcanite hand cut stem in shining black can now be appreciated once the heavy oxidation has been eliminated. There are spots/ areas where oxidation is still visible, but that will be eliminated once the stem is subjected to sanding and polishing using sand papers and micromesh pads. The beauty of this stem will be enhanced once it has been all polished and waxed. A polish by wet sanding using all 9 micromesh pads (1500 to 12000 grit pads) brought out the deep black shine of the vulcanite. I rubbed a small quantity of EVO to hydrate the stem and deepen the shine.This was followed by removing oxidation from over the sterling silverware seen on the pipe using a locally made compound that Abha, my wife, uses to polish her silver and gold jewellery and silver cutlery. This compound is a very fine powder and is least abrasive with fantastic results. The silver ferrule at the shank end and the silver spigot are now nice shining pieces of silver and provides a nice contrast to the shining black stem and the dark brown and black stummel. I painted the stem logo L J S using a Gold paint glitter pen and wiped off the excess paint. The stem logo is now nice and prominently visible.I have reached that stage in this project which can be considered as the home run. I polished the rim top and the entire stem with blue diamond using a cotton wheel mounted on to my hand held rotary tool. The blue diamond compound helps to eliminate the minor scratches that remain after the use of micromesh pads. I completed this project by hand polishing the stummel with Halcyon II wax. I rubbed this polish deep into the rustications and after a couple of minutes, vigorously hand buffed the stummel with a microfiber cloth to a deep shine. I polished the stem with carnauba wax using my hand held rotary tool. This is a gorgeous looking spigot and I consider myself fortunate to have the opportunity to work on this beauty and, as my Guru Steve says, carry forward the trust in this pipe till it is time to pass it on to the next pipeman or pipewoman. Here are a few pictures of the completed pipe for you to appreciate while I take the opportunity to thank you each of you for sparing your valuable time in joining me on this journey.

Moving another one of my own – a Mastercraft Weatherproof Sparkproof 59 Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is another pipe that I have taken out of my personal collection as I just do not use enough to warrant keeping it. This pipe was one that I purchased long ago but have no memory where it came from. I have picked up several of these over the years and this is one that I don’t think I ever smoked to be honest. It is a pipe I should have smoked as it is attractive enough but did not. It is time to move it on to someone who will enjoy it. The airway in the shank and the mortise are very clean. The smooth finish and rim top were in good condition but it is dull and lifeless looking. It has a Bakelite windcap that is integral to the pipe and flips back toward the bowl for loading and lighting. The inner edge of the rim is in good condition. The stamping on the pipe on the left side of the shank reads Mastercraft in a shield [over] Weatherproof [over] Sparkproof. On the right side it is stamped Algerian Briar [over] Made in France. On the underside of the shank is the shape number 59 next to the stem shank union. The finish is a medium brown and goes well with the brown Bakelite flip cap and vulcanite stem. Once it is polished the grain will show clearly. There is an oval on the left side of the stem that appears to be inlaid with a piece of turquoise in the area where there is typically a MC brass logo. There is an odd metal half circle in the tenon that is one I have never seen. It could be part of a stinger but it hard to know for certain. The stem is in excellent condition with no tooth chatter or marks on it. It comes with its own pipe sock which has kept it from getting dirty sitting in my cupboard, so it looks good. I took photos of the pipe before I did my clean up work on it to prepare it for you.   I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to verify the description above. The rim top looks good. There is a little darkening around the inner edge but otherwise it is in good shape. The vulcanite stem looks quite good on both sides. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above.I took the stem off the bowl and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of proportion of the pipe. You can also see shape of the pipe and some interesting grain on the briar. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the darkening on the inner edge of the bowl. Once finished it looked much better.The shank and mortise were very clean and a quick run through with a pipe cleaner proved all that was necessary. I polished the rim top and the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the dust and debris. I gave the bowl and shank a coating of Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it 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 polished it with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pads. But I find it does two things – first it gives some protection to the stem from oxidation and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process.       After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finished polishing the stem 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 Mastercraft Weatherproof Sparkproof 59 Apple turned out to be a great looking pipe. With polishing, the grain shines through clearly. The polished Bakelite wind cap looks very good. The vulcanite taper stem is in excellent condition and works great with the polished Bakelite and briar. 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 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 Mastercraft Weatherproof Spark Proof 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: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 43 grams/1.52 ounces. It is a great looking pipe that I will soon be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the American Pipemakers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Moving another one of my own – a Dr. Grabow Viscount 39 Pickaxe

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is another pipe that I have taken out of my personal collection as I just do not use enough to warrant keeping it. This pipe was one that I purchased long ago but have no memory where it came from. I don’t think I ever smoked it to be honest. It is a pipe I should have smoked as it is attractive enough but did not. It is time to move it on to someone who will enjoy it. The airway in the shank and the mortise are very clean. The smooth finish and rim top were in good condition but it is dull and lifeless looking. The inner edge of the rim is in good condition. The stamping on the pipe on the left side of the shank reads Viscount [over] Dr. Grabow. On the right side it is stamped with the shape number 39 next to the shank. That is followed by Imported Briar [over] Adjustomatic [over] Pat.2461905. The finish is a medium brown. Once it is polished the grain will show clearly. The colour of the stain goes well with the vulcanite stem. There is a white spade Grabow logo on the left side of the stem. There is a threaded metal tenon and stinger apparatus on the stem. The stem is in excellent condition with no tooth chatter or marks on it. It is dirty from sitting in my cupboard but otherwise looks good. I took photos of the pipe before I did my clean up work on it to prepare it for you.   I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to verify the description above. The rim top looks good. There is a little darkening around the inner edge but otherwise it is in good shape. The vulcanite stem looks quite good on both sides. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above.I took the stem off the bowl and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of proportion of the pipe. You can also see shape of the pipe and some interesting grain on the briar. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the darkening on the inner edge of the bowl. Once finished it looked much better.The shank and mortise were very clean and a quick run through with a pipe cleaner proved all that was necessary. I polished the rim top and the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the dust and debris. I gave the bowl and shank a coating of Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it 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 polished it with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pads. But I find it does two things – first it gives some protection to the stem from oxidation and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process.     After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finished polishing the stem 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 Dr. Grabow Viscount 39 Pickaxe turned out to be a great looking pipe. With polishing, the grain shines through clearly. The thin vulcanite taper stem is in excellent condition and works great with the polished briar. 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 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 Dr. Grabow Viscount Pickaxe 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: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 34 grams/1.20 ounces. It is a great looking pipe that I will soon be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the American Pipemakers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.