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My Methods for Reworking a Bowl, Rim Top and Edges

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Blog by Steve Laug

I thought it might be worth taking time to talk about my methods of cleaning and restoring a rim top and edges of the bowl. I will address the process in the blog below by starting with the least intrusive method and work my way through the options and conclude with the most intrusive. I think if you were to just read the blogs you would default to topping a bowl and beveling a rim edge to deal with damage while there are actually several other options available to you. Obviously, some of the bowls that I have to deal with have a lot of rim top and edge damage so those restorations go into quite a bit of detail on that process. So if you are ready and interested let’s work through the process together.

1. I begin with the least intrusive method for smooth rim tops. For all intents and purposes this really is a cleaning and reconditioning process.

  • Ream the bowl and clean it up while carefully paying attention to the rim edges. You do not want to add damage to the shape of the bowl or edges by the reaming. I use a PipNet pipe reamer with four different cutting heads to fit a variety of bowls. I touch up that cleaning with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.
  • Carefully scrape off the thick lava coat on the rim top and edges with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife. I work to get the thick coating off as gently as possible with the knife.
  • Scrub the rim top and edges using Murphy’s Oil Soap (undiluted) and a Scotch Brite pad. It works well to remove buildup on the top without scratching the rim top. I use it to also scrub the inner edge of the rim to carefully remove the darkening and build up there. The goal is to keep the rim as round as possible and still smooth out the edge.
  • Scrub the entire bowl with the Murphy’s Oil Soap (undiluted) and a tooth brush to remove any residual grime on the bowl, rim top and edges.
  • Rinse bowl exterior and top with warm water to remove residue left behind by the soap and scrubbing.
  • Dry the bowl off and check for residue on the rim top and edges. Repeat to take care of those spots as necessary. Don’t worry too much about the lightening of the stain on the rim top at this point. We just want it clean.
  • If the stain has lightened considerably from the cleaning, buff the rim top to make sure the polishing does not bring the briar to match. If not, it can be restained to match the rest of the bowl using stain pens that are available on line.

2. We will look at modifications to the above procedure to arrive at the least intrusive method for plateau/sandblast/rusticated rim tops. Again, for all intents and purposes this is a deep cleaning process of the surfaces as described.

    • Ream the bowl and clean it up while carefully paying attention to the rim edges. You do not want to add damage to the shape of the bowl or edges by the reaming. I use a PipNet pipe reamer with four different cutting heads to fit a variety of bowls. I touch up that cleaning with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.
    • Carefully work over the rim top with a brass bristle brush (brass bristle brushes are much softer than a regular wire brush and do not do damage to the finish. These are available at most Walmart stores or small auto parts stores and are used for cleaning.) I use the brush dry and carefully work over the rim top with the goal of removing the thickest and most pervasive lava. Once it is finished the finish begins to take on its original appearance.
    • Scrub the rim top and edges using Murphy’s Oil Soap (undiluted) and a Scotch Brite pad. It works well to remove the remaining buildup on the top without damaging the plateau/sand blast/rusticated finish on the rim top. I use it to also scrub the inner edge of the rim to carefully remove the darkening and build up there. The goal is to keep the rim as round as possible and still smooth out the edge.
    • Scrub the entire bowl with the Murphy’s Oil Soap (undiluted) and a tooth brush to remove any residual grime on the bowl and rim top and edges.
    • Rinse bowl exterior and top with warm water to remove residue left behind by the soap and scrubbing.
    • Dry the bowl off and check for residue on the rim top and edges. Repeat to take care of those spots as necessary. Don’t worry too much about the lightening of the stain on the rim top at this point. We just want it clean.
    • If the stain has lightened considerably from the cleaning different procedures are used for the various surfaces.

a) Plateau surfaces if lightened generally will come back alive with polishing. I tend to stain the crevices in the plateau with a black Sharpie Pen to give some contrast to the rim top when polished. I will also often use the pen to colour the inner edge of the bowl.
b) Sandblast surfaces – I have found that a good buff will often bring this back to match the bowl. If not, it can be restained. I work to find a match the rest of the bowl with a variety of stain pens are available. These can be purchase online or at hardware stores.
c) Rusticated surfaces – Buff the surface to see what the finish looks like after buffing. It may well match the rest of the bowl with just that work. If not you can restain it in the same manner as the sandblast surfaces.

If the rim top and edges look good at this point proceed as usual to buff and wax them with the rest of the bowl.

3. Let’s move on to moderate intrusion when the above procedures do not work to address the issues on a smooth rim top and there is still damage to the inner edge of the bowl. The process below carries on from where you left off above in 1.

  • The rim top has been cleaned and the edges cleaned as noted above. The inner edge of the bowl is out of round and has darkening and burn damage that remains.
  • I use a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the edge a slight bevel and remove the damage from burning or nicks. The angle of the bevel varies depending on the depth of the damage, as the idea is to minimize it and bring the bowl back to round.
  • Sometimes that is all it takes -sand a slight bevel and bring the bowl back to round and clean up the edges.
  • Sometimes you have to decide how far to go – a bevel generally covers a lot of issues in shaping the edges of the bowl.
  • Polish the sanded rim edge with micromesh sanding pads to smooth it out.
  • Reclean the bowl and edge with a clean cloth. If the edge matches the rest of the bowl you are finished and can buff and wax the pipe.
  • If they do not blend in then use a stain pen and match the stain as much as possible to the rim top and bowl. Then buff, wax and polish on the wheel.

4. Let’s move on to moderate intrusion when the above procedures do not work to address the issues on a plateau/sandblast/rusticated rim top and there is still damage to the inner edge of the bowl. The process below carries on from where you left off in 2 above .

  • The rim top has been cleaned and the edges cleaned as noted above. The inner edge of the bowl is out of round and has darkening and burn damage that remains.
  • I use a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bevel the rim edge inward and remove the damage from burning or nicks. The angle of the bevel varies depending on the depth of the damage and the overall structure of the bowl. The idea is to minimize the damage and bring the bowl back to round.
  • Sometimes that is all it takes – sand a slight bevel and bring the bowl back to round and clean up the edges.
  • Sometimes you have to decide how far to go – a bevel generally covers a lot of issues in shaping the edges of the bowl.
  • Polish the sanded rim edge with micromesh sanding pads to smooth it out. Remember on all three of these types of finishes a smooth inward bevel can add a real touch of finesse to the rim top that is stunning.
  • Reclean the bowl and edge with a clean cloth. If the edge matches the rest of the bowl you are finished and can buff and wax the pipe.
  • If they do not blend in then use a stain pen and match the stain as much as possible to the rim top and bowl. Then buff, wax and polish on the wheel.

If the rim top and edges look good at this point proceed as usual to buff and wax them with the rest of the bowl. If the damage is even more extensive than originally thought after proceeding through the steps and procedures above then more intrusive measures will be required to bring the bowl back to round and the rim top to undamaged condition. Once again, how far you go with this process depends on choices that only you can make. As a general rule I will not change the visual profile of the pipe regardless of the work I do and that sets the limits for the degree of work I will do.

5. Let’s move on to the most intrusive methods when the above procedures do not work to address the issues on a smooth rim top and there is still damage to the inner edge of the bowl. The process below carries on from where you left off above in 1 and 3.

  • On a smooth rim top where there is damage to the top itself as well as the inner and outer edges several methods are available to try.
  • If you have cleaned up the edges already and the top has burn damage or is dented and nicked the first step is to steam out the dents with a damp cloth and a hot knife or small steam iron. I wet the cloth and lay it on top of the dent then apply the heat source that generates steam and lifts the dents. I repeat until the surface is smooth. That leaves the burn marks to address.
  • If the steaming has left behind damage that could not addressed using the method then it is time to move forward. If the damage is on the inner edge of the bowl then I generally use a wooden ball or darning egg wrapped with a piece of sandpaper (220 grit) to give the inner edge more of a bevel (deeper bevel) to accommodate the damage and minimize it. (both the bevel and the following topping will minimize burn damage).
  • If the damage is to the rim top itself then I use a topping board and 220 grit sandpaper to top the bowl and carefully remove the damaged part. Topping does not have to be too deep or drastic. I always proceed slowly checking often to see if the surface is smoothing out. Remember it is easier to remove than to put wood back. 😉
  • If all is done and you still feel the burn damage is too intrusive you can make a wash of oxalic acid and warm water and use a cotton pad or paper towel to apply it to the burn damaged area. Repeat until you are convinced that no more damage can be removed.
  • When finished smoothing out the rim top polish it and the edges with micromesh sanding pads (1500-12000 grit pads). You can either wet sand or dry sand. As you polish the rim top it should begin to shine. That may be enough if it matches the bowl sides and you can buff and wax it.
  • If it does not match then you will need to restain the rim top and edges to match the rest of the bowl. This can be down with an aniline based stain like Feibings or even with the small Stain Pens I have referred to above.
  • Buff the bowl and rim with a buffer and a polish like Blue Diamond and then generously wax the briar with carnauba wax and buff with a clean buffing pad.
  • At this point the rim top will likely look very good and match the bowl well. The damage from burn marks or nicks and dents will have disappeared and the edges will look like they were meant to be as they are now.

6. Let’s move on to the most intrusive methods when the above procedures do not work to address the issues on a plateau, sandblast or rusticated rim top and there is still damage to the inner edge of the bowl. The process below carries on from where you left off above in 2 and 4. Each of these take slight variations to accommodate the finish.

When the damage on a plateau rim top is beyond the work listed above in sections 2 and 4. If the damage is on the plateau top itself then I proceed as follows.

  • I used the brass bristle wire brush more aggressively than I did in previous sections above to remove all of the loose char and burn damage on the plateau itself. Once all is removed I wipe it down with a damp cloth.
  • I wipe down the damaged area with a mix of oxalic acid and water on cotton swabs and pads to get deeply in the grooves. I repeat until I am not getting any coloration on the cotton pads. I wipe it off with a damp cloth.
  • I work over the inner edge with 220 git sandpaper again to remove the damage that remains and reshape it. I stain it at the same time as the plateau.
  • Generally a plateau rim is darker than the bowl colour so it can be safely stained with a black or a dark brown stain. That will take care of most of the damage on the top of the bowl.
  • Buff and wax rim top and edges with a buffing pad and Blue Diamond and then coat generously with carnauba wax. Buff the top with a clean buffing pad to deepen the shine.

When the damage on the rusticated rim top remains after the work in sections 2 and 4 above.

  • I used the brass bristle brush more aggressively than I did previously above to remove as much of the loose char as possible. If that does not make better then and even more aggressive fix is needed.
  • I top the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage and even out the rim top. Sometimes it takes removing all of the rustication but sometimes it does not. Once I have it cleaned up I wipe it down with alcohol to remove the sanding dust.
  • I even out the inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I wipe it down with alcohol.
  • I use a Dremel and burrs to replicate the rustication pattern from the bowl sides on the rim top. I used several burrs – ball, cone and cylinder to work over the rim top to match the previous rustication. When I am happy with it I use a brass bristle wire brush to knock of the high spots and any loose debris.
  • I restain the rim top with a stain pen to match the bowl. Sometimes I darken the inner edge with a black stain pen.
  • Buff and wax rim top and edges with a buffing pad and Blue Diamond and then coat generously with carnauba wax. Buff the top with a clean buffing pad to deepen the shine.

When the damage on the sandblast rim top remains after the work in sections 2 and 4 above.

  • I used the brass bristle brush more aggressively than I did previously above to remove as much of the loose char as possible. If that does not make better then and even more aggressive fix is needed.
  • I top the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage and even out the rim top as I do with the rusticated rim top. Sometimes it takes removing all of the sandblast but sometimes it does not. Once I have it cleaned up I wipe it down with alcohol to remove the sanding dust.
  • I even out the inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I wipe it down with alcohol.
  • I use a Dremel and burrs to replicate the sandblast pattern from the bowl sides on the rim top. I used several burrs – ball, cone and cylinder to work over the rim top to match the previous blast. I use smaller burrs and work to keep the pattern close and tight like a sandblast. When I am happy with it I use a brass bristle wire brush to knock of the high spots and any loose debris.
  • I restain the rim top with a stain pen to match the bowl. Sometimes I darken the inner edge with a black stain pen.
  • Buff and wax rim top and edges with a buffing pad and Blue Diamond and then coat generously with carnauba wax. Buff the top with a clean buffing pad to deepen the shine.

That is the process I generally follow. As with any restoration, refurbishing you have to make a decision how far you want to go. My goal is to minimize the damage without changing the bowl profile or shape. I want the pipe to still retain the marks of its maker not me. Have fun in the process.

 

Brothers in Arms

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

Next on the chopping block is a lovely pair of pipes, formerly belonging to an old gentleman from Winnipeg. I acquired them in a lot of pipes from a relative of his here in Vancouver. The two pipes are both sub-brands of the famous Savinelli factory. The slightly bent Dublin is a Gulden Dansk; the stylized poker/sitter is a Silveren Dansk. They are really handsome pipes and clearly well-loved by their previous owner. The markings on these pipes are quite interesting. On the Dublin, the markings on the underside of the pipe read Gulden Dansk, followed by a model number which is obscured by the rustication. The number might be 4130, but it’s difficult to tell. On top of the stem are engraved the two letters GD, obviously referring to Gulden Dansk. Meanwhile, the Silveren Dansk’s underside shows the words Silveren Dansk, next to the model number 33 [over] Italy; the ‘s’ and ‘i’ have vanished into the rustication, however. Like its sibling, the top of the stem has the initials SD for Silveren Dansk, of course. These pipes were evidently cut from the same cloth (or block of wood?), as you can see in the pictures. The rustication and colour are the same on both. The rustication is actually quite well done, and there is a combination of both black and brown colour on the wood, which I will attempt to replicate.

The brands Gulden Dansk and Silveren Dansk are ones about which there is very little information. I cobbled together as much information as I could, and I will do my best to record that here. Both brands are sub-brands of Savinelli, according to smokingpipes.com. You can see in the photo below that smokingpipes.com states this clearly, and they are quite knowledgeable.Pipedia had no information at all regarding these brands. Meanwhile, pipephil.eu had precious little info (see below). One small clue is their reference to Italy in the Gulden Dansk image. Comments from some old pipe forums suggest that the brand(s) might be made for the Canadian market and came to full prominence in the early 1980s. See below.The newspaper ad above (sorry for the poor quality) is taken from the Montreal Gazette, November 1st, 1980. It shows that, in addition to pipes, they also sold tobacco.Furthermore, I found Canadian trademark registrations for both brands. I have shown some of that information below. For reasons unknown, the Silveren Dansk trademark is still active, whilst the Gulden Dansk one has expired. I also found an Australian trademark registration for the same, but it was noted on the Australian site that the origin of the application was Canada. In short, we can say a few things about both Gulden Dansk and Silveren Dansk. They were both made by Savinelli, probably for the Canadian market (and perhaps other markets). The Canadian connection obviously fits with the gentleman in Winnipeg. They made pipes and tobacco, and all the comments I could find on the quality of the pipes were very positive. If you have any further details on these brands, I would love to hear from you.

On to the pipes: both were in decent condition — they just looked a little shabby. Both pipes’ stems were dirty and had some oxidation, but the damage from tooth marks was minimal on both. Similarly, the bowls were dirty and definitely needed a cleaning, but there wasn’t any notable damage. The stems were first on my list. I wiped down the outside of the stem with Murphy’s Oil Soap on some cotton pads. I also took a BIC lighter and ‘painted’ the stems with its flame in order to lift the few bite marks and dents. Then I cleaned out the insides with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. They were fairly dirty, but not too bad and I only went through a handful of pipe cleaners to finish each one. Once this process was done, the stems went for an overnight soak in the Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. The following day, I cleaned all of the de-oxidizing mess off with alcohol, pipe cleaners, et cetera. The oxidation had migrated to the surface and would be fairly straightforward to remove. I scrubbed with SoftScrub on some cotton pads to remove the leftover oxidation on each stem. After this, I used some nail polish to restore the two letters on each stem. I painted the area carefully and let it fully set before proceeding. It’s worth noting that the GD ultimately emerged from the restoration far better than the SD. Presumably, the SD had been rubbed more over time and lost some of its groove (literally, not figuratively).Then I sanded the stems down with 220-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpapers. Finally, I used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stems. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing.On to the stummels, and the usual cleaning procedures were in order for these two. Firstly, I decided to ream out the bowls. I used the PipNet Reamer on Gulden and the KleenReem on Silveren to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper to eliminate as much as I could. I took the two chambers down to bare briar, as I wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the walls. Fortunately, there were none. I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the two shanks with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and isopropyl alcohol. There was quite a bit of filth inside these stummels, and it took a lot of cotton to get them clean. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some dish soap and tube brushes. I used a wire brush and some Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the lava on the rims of the two pipes. This worked very well. I then moved on to cleaning the rustication on the outside of the stummels with Murphy’s and a toothbrush. That removed any latent stains that blighted the wood. A de-ghosting session also seemed in order, so I thrust cotton balls into the bowls and the shanks and saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummels sit overnight. This caused the oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton. The bowls were nice and clean after this.I wanted to redo the finish on the pipes: it may have looked good once upon a time, but no longer. So, I opted to soak the stummels in isopropyl alcohol overnight. This will usually remove some of the deteriorating finish I was faced with. When I took the stummels out of the alcohol bath, I scrubbed the wood with a brush (to remove any remnants) and left it to dry. At this point, I rubbed some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and left it to sit for 10 or 15 minutes. It really does wonderful things to the wood. On to the staining. This turned out to be an unnecessarily laborious and error-strewn procedure. As I don’t want to bore you with the details of my minor blunders, I will simply give you the quick and dirty version of the staining procedure. I began by applying a layer of Fiebing’s Black Leather Dye to both pipes. After applying the dye, flaming it with a BIC, and letting it set for a few hours, I wiped the stummels down with isopropyl alcohol to remove much of the dye. I wanted to achieve a two-tone effect of black and brown to replicate what had been there originally. Then it was time for the second round of staining. To do this, I applied some of Fiebing’s Medium Brown Leather Dye over both stummels. As before, I applied flame from a BIC lighter in order to set the colour. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) on the stummels to polish the surface. I then added a second coat – just to make sure. It looked so much better with a richer colour. Once again, I wiped the stummels down with isopropyl alcohol to remove any excess. After that, a light application of Before & After Restoration Balm brought out the best in the stummels’ grain. These siblings are a good-looking pair and they feel great in the hand!  Then it was off for a trip to the bench polisher. A dose of White Diamond and a few coats of Conservator’s Wax (from Lee Valley) were just what these two pipes needed. Boy – that wax really makes these pipes pop! The lovely shine made the wood look absolutely beautiful. The Gulden Dansk and Silveren Dansk look fantastic and are ready to be enjoyed again by the next owner. I am pleased to announce that these pipes are for sale! You can buy them either individually or as a set (as you wish). If you are interested in acquiring them for your collection, please have a look in the “Italy” 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 Gulden Dansk Dublin are as follows: length 5⅛ in. (130 mm); height 1¾ in. (45 mm); bowl diameter 1⅜ in. (35 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (19 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1¼ oz. (35 g). The approximate dimensions of the Silveren Dansk poker/sitter are as follows: length 5⅝ in. (143 mm); height 2 in. (51 mm); bowl diameter 1⅛ in. (29 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (19 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1½ oz. (44 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this restoration as much as I did restoring them. 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.

Sidle Up to the Bari

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by Kenneth Lieblich

Next on the chopping block is a charming Danish pipe, likely by Bari. I say “likely” because it does not specifically name Bari on the pipe, but Steve assured me that he has seen other Bari pipes like it. He feels comfortable calling it a Bari and that is more than good enough for me. His imprimatur is worth its weight in gold!   There was only one marking on the pipe – the underside of the stummel read Made in [over] Denmark. There was no shape number or any other identifying marks.This freehand pipe is quite beautiful and many of its curves are reminiscent of ski slopes from my youth. It is a pretty pipe and feels light and comfortable in the hand.

From Pipedia, here is a very brief history of the Bari company:

Bari Piber was founded by Viggo Nielsen in Kolding around the turn of 1950-51. Viggo’s sons Kai Nielsen and Jørgen Nielsen both grew into their father’s business from a very young age and worked there till 1975. Bari had very successfully adapted the new Danish Design that had been started mainly by Stanwell for its own models. When Viggo Nielsen sold Bari in 1978 to Joh. Wilh. von Eicken GmbH in Hamburg, Bari counted 33 employees. From 1978 to 1993 Åge Bogelund and Helmer Thomsen headed Bari’s pipe production. Thomsen bought the company in 1993 re-naming it to Bari Piber Helmer Thomsen. The workshop moved to more convenient buildings in Vejen. Bari’s basic conception fundamentally stayed the same for decades: series pipes pre-worked by machines and carefully finished by hand. Thus no spectacular highgrades but solid, reliable every day’s companions.On to the pipe: it was in decent shape, but there were a few issues. The stem had a bit of oxidation and a LOT of calcification, though fortunately, very few bite marks. The stummel also had a few issues. The outside of the bowl had some dings and a couple of fills that needed to be addressed. The wood also had some stains and paint splatter. There was lava and debris on the rim, and a small burn mark. Most significantly, there was a chunk missing from around the mortise end of the shank. Some serious repair work was needed there! The stem was first on my list. I wiped down the outside of the stem with Murphy’s Oil Soap on some cotton pads. There was so much calcification on the stem that I decided to take a blade and gently scrape it all off. You can see in the photos how much came off! I also took a BIC lighter and ‘painted’ the stem with its flame in order to lift the few bite marks and dents. This was moderately successful in raising the damage. Then, I cleaned out the insides with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. It was pretty dirty and required quite a few pipe cleaners. Once this process was done, the stem went for an overnight soak in the Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. The following day, I cleaned all of the de-oxidizing mess off with alcohol, pipe cleaners, et cetera. The oxidation had migrated to the surface and would be fairly straightforward to remove. I scrubbed with SoftScrub on some cotton pads to remove the leftover oxidation on the stem. I built up the dents on the stem with cyanoacrylate adhesive and let them fully cure. Then I sanded the adhesive down with 220-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpapers to meld seamlessly into the stem. Finally, I 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 to the stummel, and the usual cleaning procedures were in order for this pipe. I first decided to ream out the bowl. I used both the PipNet Reamer and the KleenReem to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper to eliminate as much as I could. I took the bowl down to bare briar, as I wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the walls of the bowl. Fortunately, there were none. I used a small butter knife to gently chip away at the lava on the rim and used more Murphy’s with a scrub brush to remove any remainder. This actually worked quite well. I then moved on to cleaning the outside of the stummel with Murphy’s Oil Soap and some cotton pads. That removed any latent dirt that blighted the wood. I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and isopropyl alcohol. There was some filth inside this stummel and it took quite a bit of cotton to get it clean. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some dish soap and tube brushes.A de-ghosting session also seemed in order, so 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 the oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton. Now it was time for the serious work: to fix the large gouge in the mortise, at the end of the shank. There were several problems to be addressed: to ensure that the repair was structurally sound, so it could withstand the wear and tear of the tenon going in and out; to ensure that the repair looked reasonably consonant with the surrounding wood, and to ensure that the inside of the mortise was smooth and conformed perfectly to the shape of the tenon. The repair was made with a mixture of briar dust and cyanoacrylate adhesive. This ensures a strong repair and one that looks similar to the surrounding wood. As it turned out, I had to build up the repair more than once to achieve the results I wanted. It was fairly straightforward to sand down the flat end of the shank, but it was very difficult to ensure that the inside of the mortise matched perfectly with the tenon. Honestly, it took a bit of trial and error to get it right. I sanded the repair down with a file and 200- and 400-grit sandpaper until it was level with the surrounding briar. Having completed that, I was able to address the small nicks on the rim and the bowl. I dug out my iron and a damp cloth to try to raise the nicks. The hot and moist steam can often cause the wood to swell slightly and return to shape. There was some movement – not a lot, but it was better than doing nothing. The repair was not perfect, but the remaining scratches would be improved by sanding. Now I could address the burn on the rim. I took some oxalic acid, used several Q-tips, and rubbed. The burn improved quite a bit. The burn was very superficial and did not affect the integrity of the wood at all.After removing the burn and checking in on the mortise repair to ensure its integrity, I used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) on the stummel to finish it off. After that, a light application of Before & After Restoration Balm brought out the best in the stummel’s grain. This is a very elegant Danish pipe. At this point, I checked in with Steve to see what he thought of the restoration so far. He made the excellent suggestion of applying a layer of Fiebing’s Black Leather Dye to the rim and the mortise-end of the shank. After applying the dye, flaming it, and letting it set, I wiped those areas down with isopropyl alcohol to remove most of the dye. The goal here was to accentuate the grain on those particular areas of the pipe with only residual amounts of black dye. In order to further the external beauty of this pipe, I applied some of Fiebing’s Medium Brown Leather Dye over the entire stummel. As usual, I applied flame from a BIC lighter in order to set the colour. I then added a second coat – just to make sure. It looked so much better with a richer colour. I then used some isopropyl alcohol to wipe down the pipe and remove some excess dye. At this point, I chose to re-sand the stummel with all of the micromesh pads. I followed up with some more Before & After Restoration Balm. What a wonderful result! Then it was off for a trip to the buffer. A dose of White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax were just what this pipe needed. The lovely shine made the wood look absolutely beautiful. In fact, it turned out so well that this pipe has already sold! I know that the new owner will enjoy smoking it for many years to come. I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe as much I as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Breathing Life into a Custom-Bilt Long Shank Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to us on 10/14/2017 from now closed antique shop in Pocatello, Idaho, USA. The pipe is a classic Custom-Bilt piece – a rusticated long shank Pot shaped pipe with some deep carving around the bowl. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Custom-Bilt. On the heel of the bowl it is stamped Imported Briar. On the right side of the shank there is an “O” stamped at the shank/stem junction. There was a lot of grime ground into the smooth and rusticated portions of the finish on the briar. The bowl was heavily caked with a heavy overflow of lava on the rusticated top and inner edge of the rim. The inside edges looked to be in good condition. The finish was dirty and there appeared to be a burn mark on the right side toward the top that looked like the pipe have been set in an ashtray with cigarettes and suffered the consequences. The stem was dirty and lightly oxidized. It had tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside near the button. There were no markings or a logo on the saddle stem. It had promise but it was very dirty. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the thickness of the cake and tobacco debris as well as the lava on the rim top rustication. He also took photos of the top and underside of the stem to show the light oxidation and the chatter and tooth marks. Jeff took a photo of the heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar looked like. The rustication pattern around the bowl is instantly recognizable as done by Custom-Bilt.He took a photo of the burn mark on the right side of the bowl. The inside of the bowl is clear so it is not a burn through. It is an obvious burn from being laid in an ashtray.The stamping on the left side of the shank, the heel of the bowl and the right side at the shank/stem joint is clear and readable and read as noted above. I turned to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c8.html) to get a quick view of the brand once again. I knew that I was working with one of the older pipes and probably made by Tracy Mincer himself. He stopped making the Custom-Bilt pipes in the early 1950s. The screen capture I included below shows a brief history of the brand. I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/File:CustomBilt_Stamp1.jpg) for a quick read. The majority of the information there included two book reviews of the “Custom-Bilt Story” by Bill Unger.

The one line I culled was the following: “Tracy Mincer started the original Custom-Bilt pipes it appears in 1934”.

I did a screen capture of the stamping that matched the stamping on the pipe that I am working on. What I learned from that is that the stamp was used by Tracy Mincer in Indianapolis in the US from 1938-1946 and possibly in Chicago before 1938 as well. So now I had a possible date for this pipe. It was an old timer and it was well worth working on.Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and a tooth brush and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe before I started my part of the restoration work. The rim top cleaned up really well. The inner edge had some darkening and wear that would need to be addressed. The outer edge of the bowl look very good. The stem surface looked good with a few small tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. The stamping on left side of the shank is clear and readable. I failed to take photos of the stamping on the heel and right side but they to are clear. It is stamped as noted above.I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. It is a proportionally pleasing pipe.I started my work on the pipe by addressing the dark burn mark on the right side of the bowl in the worm trail toward the back. I worked over the burn mark the darkening on the rim top with a brass bristle wire brush. I was able to clean it up nicely and it looked better. I scrubbed the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the debris I had loosened with the wire brushes.   I filled in the burned spot on the right side with briar dust and super glue. Once the repair cured I worked over the area with the brass bristle wire brush to remove the excess. With that repair done the burned spot looked much better.    Next I worked on the damaged and darkened inner edge of the rim with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It looked much better.   With all the repairs and shaping finished I decided to stain the pipe to mask the darkening where the burn mark had been as well as on the rim top. I chose a light brown aniline stain, though once it was on the bowl it looked very dark to me. I would have to deal with that shortly.   To lighten the stain and make it more transparent I wiped the bowl down with alcohol on paper towels and cotton pads. I took a lot of the stain off the bowl but it still was too dark to my liking.  I sanded the high spots around the bowl with a 1200 grit micromesh pad to remove some more of the dark stain. I liked the overall effect of the new stain and the pattern the sanding created.    The bowl was in excellent condition so started by rubbing 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 and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about 10-15 minutes and buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine.    I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I sanded out the tooth chatter and light tooth marks with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the vulcanite. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.  I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Custom-Bilt Long Shank Pot is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The style of rustication that is used around the bowl is highlighted by the stain application and works well with both the shape and the polished vulcanite saddle stem. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax 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 Custom-Bilt is another pipe that 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 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 39g/1.38oz.  I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the American Pipemakers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Labour Intensive Restoration of a Peterson’s Sherlock Holmes Series Professor

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The next blog is one that has been submitted by Clint Stacey. We “met” via email to have a look at a pipe he was working on. It was a real challenge and one that demanded a lot of labour intensive work. Give his blog a read. He did a remarkable job on the pipe. Welcome to rebornpipes Clint and I hope this is the first of many blogs that you send to us.

Blog by Clint Stacey

I grew up around all sorts of stuff- from furniture and brick-a-brac to collectables and oddities coming into the house in all states of disrepair and leaving having been restored and reborn. My dad had a good eye and a passion for salvaging lost treasures sometimes it was his job, sometimes it supplemented his job, often it helped put food on the table.

I have followed in his footsteps, in terms of picking up all sorts of bits and bobs sometimes keeping them, other times passing them on to make room for the next thing. I don’t exactly remember when I first started picking pipes up – possibly about twenty five years ago. At that time, old pipes were plentiful at car boot sales, flea markets and junk and charity shops. Whilst I have picked up one or two nice examples I dread to think of the gems I’ve missed…

Now a days finding old or estate pipes is much trickier. The internet has educated people and quite often I will pick up some over priced wreck and be given chapter and verse of what it is by the seller.

As I have learnt more about pipes and become more discerning my real interest is in Petersons. I now have about forty.

Over the years I have picked up enough know how to do basic cleaning / tidying but little beyond that. I was seriously impressed when I discovered, about eighteen months ago, ‘rebornpipes’ and I saw some of the restoration work that was being carried out.

It had been a long time aim of mine to put together the Sherlock Holmes series of Petersons. I’ve started with the first series and having picked up three I was delighted to see a ‘Professor’ going cheap on EBay. It looked a bit rough but I thought it would clean up okay. There wasn’t much bidding (perhaps others knew more than me.)

When it arrived, I saw the real extent of the damage. It looked like somebody had taken great umbrage with the pipe and had attacked it with a carving knife before setting fire to it. I put it to one side uncertain of what I intended to do with it.About eighteen months ago I had come across rebornpipes. Having an interest in both pipes and restoration I was clearly in my element. How I hadn’t come across this before I don’t know. I decided to email Steve in the hope he could give some guidance with the Peterson.

I wasn’t sure if I would get a reply – after all we’re all busy people – and I wasn’t sure what he would be able to suggest. I was more than surprised by an almost instant response asking for photos. I sent these and Steve informed me that the pipe had been the victim of a torch lighter hitting the same point.

I had already given the pipe a clean – actually it wasn’t too bad beyond the lighter damage. Either it had been previously cleaned or possibly not actually smoked that much. A few cotton buds/pipe cleaners with some alcohol gave it a basic clean and the stem I scrubbed with warm water.

Steve suggested topping out the pipe armed with 220 sandpaper, a board and patience. I took it slowly at first carefully checking at points that I was keeping the pipe level. Working on it off and on I soon began to see some progress. I continued to take it down to a point where I had something to work it and began seeing some sign of hope. I kept checking in with Steve who continued to advise working slowly and patiently and keeping the pipe flat to the board in order to keep the top level.Although at this point it was greatly improved there was still a degree of difference in the thickness of the original and the pipe is well out of round. Steve asked for some side pictures just to check the height and suggested I kept going a bit further.Eventually I reached a point where I felt I had gone down as far as possible. Whilst I was pleased with the improvement it still didn’t look quite right. Steve had suggested that once I had got it sanded down I then used the technique of a ball in sand paper. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was doing at first but as I started to use this technique I saw both a bevel and shape starting to appear. Heartened I began working on smoothing out the inside as well as the top edge using fine grade sand paper. Finally, I reached a point where I was happy and felt that I could do little better. It had reached the point of staining the pipe to get the sanded area back to match the original colour. Steve’s advised a medium brown aniline stain. I used Feibing’s leather dye and was really pleased with how well this matched in with the original.I gave the pipe two coats and allowed it to dry. I then gave it a good polish with a carnauba wax. The stem had some oxidization so I worked on this with a fine grade wet and dry paper and then finished it with some carnauba wax. This will need a couple of coats to create a nice sheen. Throughout the process of working on this pipe Steve has been on hand offering help and guidance and I am really appreciative of both his time and knowledge. Often you come across pipes that are in a poor state through being ‘well loved’. Unfortunately, this one had just been abused. From the Hallmark H design, it appears to have been issued only in 2018. I amazed at how a pipe of such little age, and one that would have been expensive to buy, ended up in such a state. I am really happy to have been able to restore it and save it!

I have really enjoyed working on this and armed now with some knowledge and know how I intend to tidy up a few of the other pipes that I own.

Cleaning up a Crown Duke, Dr. Grabow Bent Billiard for a Memory Box of Dad

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Blog by Steve Laug

I received an email a while ago from a lady who wanted to have one of her Dad’s pipe cleaned and restored. As we emailed back and forth it was clear that it was one of those pieces that was filled with memories. I pressed to see if she was sure that she wanted it cleaned as it would remove the remnants of debris and tobacco from her Dad’s use of the pipe. She was clear that she wanted it cleaned up to look as good as possible because she was going to make a shadow box to hold the pipe and a photo and other memorabilia of her late Dad. When it finally arrived here in Vancouver I could see why she wanted it clean. The pipe was very dirty and there was a crack in the shank. The pipe had not been smoked for a long time and there was no tobacco smell in it at all. There was a hard thin cake in the bowl and lava on the rim top. The stem was oxidized and had calcification on the button end. It was a filter pipe that had been smoked without a filter so the insides were dirty. The pipe was stamped on the left side and read Crown Duke [over] Dr. Grabow. On the right side it read Imported Briar. There was a blue Grabow Spade on the left side of the taper stem. It was dirty and worn looking with some obvious fills around the bowl. I took some photos of the pipe before I started to work on it.    I took a photo of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of what I was dealing with. I also captured the crack in the top of the shank in the photo (I have outlined it in a red box). Other than being incredibly dirty the stem was in decent condition with light tooth chatter and light marks near the button edge.The stamping on the shank sides was faint but readable and reads as noted above.I took a better photo of the crack in the top of the shank and have included it below. It was quite wide open but came to an end in the squiggle at the end toward the bowl. I would need to glue and band it to make it solid again.I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to get a sense of the look of the Bent Billiard.I picked a band out of my box of bands. It is far too deep so I will need to take it down for a proper fit on the shank. I started the process by using a topping board. I then used my Dremel and sanding drum to remove the full amount I wanted gone. I finished the shaping of the band on the topping board.Once I had the fit correct, I removed it from the shank and cleaned up the area around the crack with alcohol and cotton swabs. I filled in the crack with clear super glue and clamped the crack shut. Once the glue cured I heated the band and pressed it onto the shank. I took some photos of the repaired shank and band. Now it was time to clean the bowl. I have often done the process in reverse but I really wanted to stabilize the crack before I worked on cleaning the exterior and interior of the bowl and shank. I did not want to chance making the crack worse. I reamed the cake out of the bowl with a Pipnet pipe reamer and took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife and sanded the bowl walls smooth with a piece of dowel wrapped with 220 grit sandpaper. I wanted the bowl to be smooth for the display. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I was able to remove the debris and grime around the bowl and clear off the lava on the rim top. I dried the bowl off with a cloth and took these photos. You can see the dark fills and spots around the bowl sides. The largest was a rough fill on the front of the bowl that was pink putty. I repaired the pink, rough fill on the front of the bowl with clear super glue. Once the repair cured I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper. It was now smooth to the touch. It would be interesting to try to blend it into the surrounding briar once I was staining it. I sanded the entire bowl with 1500 grit micromesh at the same time.I cleaned out the airway in the shank and the stem with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. It took quite a few to get the tars and oils out of the airways.I buffed the pipe on the buffer with Blue Diamond and then stained it with a light brown stain. I applied the stain and then flamed it to set it. I used a black and brown Sharpie pen to stain the pinkish fill on the front of the bowl.I set the bowl aside for the stain to cure and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth chatter and marks on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. It is actually beginning to look much better. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth to give the pads a little more bite. I polished it with Before & After Stem Polish both Fine and Extra Fine and gave it a final rub down with Obsidian Oil. I set the stem aside to dry and worked on the bowl again. By this time the stain was dry and I was able to tackle the bowl again. I wiped it down with alcohol on paper towels to make the stain more transparent. Because of the fills in the bowl I decided to leave it dark as it did a good job masking them. I buffed the bowl on the wheel with Blue Diamond to further aid the transparency. It is hard to see in the photos but in person the grain is there and not terribly hidden. The fills are hidden and other than the large one on the front of the bowl they look good. I put the stem on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I was careful when buffing around the stamping and the logo on the stem. I had decided to leave some of the nicks and marks in the briar as they were a part of the story of the pipe and its owner. I wanted it to still bear his definitive marks so that when it was in the shadow box those who knew him would remember the story of the pipe.  I did not want the pipe to look brand new as that would remove the story from it. The nickel band worked well to bind together the crack in the shank. The aluminum spacer on the stem sits up against it and looks quite nice as a joint with the band. It almost gives the band the look of a ferrule. The pipe came out quite well. The darker stain is very similar to what was originally on the pipe when it was new. It also did a good job of masking the fills around the bowl. I will soon be packing it up and sending it back to the pipeman’s daughter so she can build her tribute to her Dad. Thanks for reading the blog.

A Lightly Smoked  Pioneer Black Block Meerschaum Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table to refresh and refurbish is an interesting looking billiard that turns out to be rusticated black meerschaum. It has an acrylic shank extension that has the Pioneer “P” stamp on the left side and BLOCK MEERSCHAUM on the right side. We purchased it on December 7, 2021 from a fellow in Longview, Washington, USA. It is quite clean with some wear around the shank at the extension and on the rim top. The bowl and shank smell clean and there is no residual tobacco smell in the bowl or shank. The bowl is clean other her than dust in the rustication around the bowl and rim top. It is lightly smoked and the inside of the bowl is very clean. The fancy turned vulcanite stem is oxidized but there is no tooth chatter or marks which support the lightly smoked declaration. I took photos of the pipe before I started my refurbishing work. I took some photos of the rim top and bowl. You can see the scuffs on top of the rim at the front of the bowl and edges. There are also small scuffs at the joint the shank and the extension. The stem photos show the oxidation in the vulcanite and is coarse to the touch. It will need to be polished and buffed. I took photos of the stamping on the shank extension. The left side has a clear “P” stamp that is the log for Pioneer Pipes. The right side is stamped Block Meerschaum.I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the pipe. It really is a nice looking pipe.To me the pipe looked a lot like many of the black or dark meerschaum pipes that I have worked on from the Isle of Man made by Manxman or Laxley Pipe Company. Yet the stamping was clearly a Pioneer Pipes Co. pipe with the stylized “P” logo on the shank extension. I wanted to see if there was a connection between the two companies so I turned to my normal two sources to see what I could learn. I went first to Pipephil (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-p3.html). I have included a screen capture of the information there as well as further info from the sidebar.Probably a brand of Pioneer Pipes Co., a Meerschaum and Meerschaum lined pipes manufacturer and distributor. Address (about 1960): 1817 Putnam Avenue, Brooklyn 27, N.Y. Pioneer also used to import meerschaum pipes from the MANXMAN PIPES Ltd factory (Isle of Man, UK) as shown by the markings of this pipe. (See “Man“). Wilczak & Colwell, op. cit. mention pipes with this label from Duncan Briars Ltd, Oppenheimer Pipes or Delacour Brothers.

There was the link I was looking for – Pioneer Pipes Co. used to import Manxman Pipes from the Isle of Man. My eye had not failed me and I am sure this is one of those imported pipes.

I turned then to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer) to see what else I could find out about the brand. Unfortunately the site did not have very much information. I quote below what was on the site.

Pioneer Pipe Company was owned by Wally Frank, who trademarked the name Pioneer in 1940. At the time of the application the name was alleged to have been used in commerce in 1925. The company listed its location at 1817 Putnam Avenue, Brooklyn, New York. Pioneer sold Turkish and later African meerschaum through the Wally Frank, Ltd. Catalogs and elsewhere.

There were also and example of one of their meerschaum pipe and a page of a pamphlet shown on the site. Both of these come to Pipedia by the courtesy Doug Valitchka. Now I knew what I was working on with this pipe. It was an imported Manxman pipe probably distributed by Wally Frank through their catalogue sales. It was likely African block meerschaum from Tanganyika or nearby that had been fashioned my the Isle of Man company for Pioneer. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I started my work on the pipe by touching up the areas on the rim top and shank end where the stain was worn and damaged. I used a Black Sharpie Pen to restain them and blend them into the surrounding surface of the rustication. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the rusticated meerschaum with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I find that the balm really makes the bowl come alive again. The contrasts in the rusticated surface give the pipe a sense of depth. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The bowl really looks good at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. To deal with the oxidation on the stem I put it in Briarville’s Deoxidizer overnight and let the deoxidizer do its work. When I took it out in the morning and rubbed it down with a coarse towel you can see the difference in the surface of the vulcanite. While it looks significantly better there is still some remaining oxidation. I decided to run pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol through the airway in the stem and also the mortise and shank. It removed the residual deoxidizer as well as the dust and debris of years of sitting in storage.With the internals clean of debris and deoxidizer I turned back to the externals of the stem. I scrubbed it down with cotton pads and Soft Scrub Cleanser and was able to remove the remaining oxidation. It looked better once I finished with the cleanser. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry.    With a refurbishing the final moment when all the pieces come back together is the tell all! I put the pipe back together and buffed the meerschaum bowl with a shoe brush and the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the meerschaum several coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the those parts with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the black fancy vulcanite stem. This Rusticated Pioneer Black Meerschaum is light weight and it is ready for you to load up a tobacco of preference and enjoy breaking it in for yourself. Have a look at it in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 34 grams/1.20 ounces. This is one that will go on the Ceramic and Meerschaum Pipes section of the rebornpipes online store shortly. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next generation.

A Third Reincarnation for an Antique Trident System

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Blog by Robert M. Boughton

https://www.facebook.com/roadrunnerpipes

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.
— Oscar Wilde

In their definitive history of the Irish pipe maker and innovator, The Peterson Pipe: The Story of Kapp & Peterson, Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg describe the key features of the System pipe: “An army mount, an internal reservoir to collect moisture from the smoke and the graduated bore P-Lip mouthpiece.”  (Quoted from Peterson Pipe Notes.)  The Trident homage to the Peterson System has all three.  If pipes had nine lives as the ancient Egyptians were the first to impute to cats, then the Trident already would have used up four of them, at least that I know about, counting the two prior lives and now this latest I have restored to the interesting pipe.  Its continuing worthiness of restoration shows that not all imitations are mediocre.

Another indication of the Trident’s quality is its apparent lineage, which in my first two restorations of this well smoked pipe – read abused – I only found misleads to E. Deguingand & Son and Comoy’s, both of England, and even flowery carved pear wood things from Ukraine.  Here is my Trident system pipe as I first found and restored it and again just two months later after rescuing it from the trash, where my second roommate tossed it because “it didn’t work out.”  My best efforts to stifle the flush of outrage I felt as I hastened to my feet at the appalling admission and stomped outside to the garbage bins failed somewhat, to put it in the nicest light I can bring off even at this late date.  While I attribute fatal flaws such as burnouts or through and through cracks to over enthusiastic dedication to a pipe or pipes, I hope I never become inured to the wanton disrespect some pipe smokers unleash on these fine tools in the pursuit of self-gratification. This time, after scouring cyberspace for hours, I lighted upon a Reborn Pipes blog by Dal Stanton, the Pipe Steward, about another fine Trident, a sandblasted bent billiard. Dal’s work on that pipe is remarkable for his skill in enhancing its original beauty and his tireless quest for the Trident’s provenance. An arduous course of leaps, hops and steps led Dal to the conclusion, with little doubt, that the brand was a second of the William Demuth Co. of New York, which lasted from 1835-1911 – making the Trident an antique. Here are before and afters of Dal’s Trident and an early 20th century WDC Wellington Dal compared it to, the latter courtesy of Doug Valitchka and Pipedia. Now I offer one more photo I found, showing another Wellington with the same style of band Dal’s and mine had at our introductions.  This one, from Worthpoint, ends any reservation I had regarding the Trident’s WDC connection.RESTORATION The rounded end cap with which I replaced the original brass band was functional except for three hallmarks that were placed as a charade.  I never cared for the marks, which I considered distracting, but in a misguided fit to make the previous dress version more Petersonian, I went with it.  I have read other blogs discussing the meaning of EP in an oval on certain bands and understood it to stand for Electro Plated, a process of adding a thin layer of silver to the nickel.  I found an online dictionary of silver band makers that claims the EP on the end cap stands for Edward Powers, who with his brother John began operation as the Powers Brothers tobacconist in Dublin in 1900.  The end cap indeed could be called Petersonian (more or less, whatever the true meaning of EP!).  At any rate, the end cap had to go, and I was happy it came off with the 12-hour Isopropyl soak, which removed little else.  That’s the problem with a well-done black stain and shellac coat.My 120/180-grit pad removed all remnants of the dress finish faster and far easier on my hand and arm than paper and revealed the total erosion of the one word of nomenclature. I had checked before using the pad to avoid not leaving even a ghost of the block Trident letters. I did not yet grasp how flawed the wood was with almost bottomless scratches and some pits, so I continued with more of the sanding pad followed by 220-1000-grit paper progression. This turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg. There were some black blotches left on the right shank below the opening that took 60-grit paper to eliminate.  Nine micro mesh pads later, I accepted the fact that no amount of viable sanding magic would make the pits on both sides of the bowl disappear.I mixed some briar shavings with Super Glue, applied dabs (sort of) to the pits and let it dry. I had missed tiny spots of the pits on the right side the first time, so I added fine drops of Super Glue alone.The 320 paper took off the dried glue, and I followed with 400-1000 before a full micro meshing. Next came an Everclear retort.My Fiebing’s Dark Brown leather dye was evaporated from long disuse, so I fell back on the Moccasin Brown for the stain.  With a flick of my Bic, I achieved an excellent flambé effect.  After a cool-off, I got rid of the char and gave the briar a shine with micro mesh from 6000-12000.  As is apparent in the following shots, some areas were too light, although not all of the pics show just how light.  I spot stained under the rim, the difficult to reach space on the back side of the bowl in the curve of the shank and most of the right and front sides.  Okay-okay, I revise “some areas” to more or less all!  Re-flambéeing the corrected places (I know that wasn’t a word until I added it to my MS Word dictionary), and another four-pad micro mesh were easy.  I didn’t bother to memorialize with still more photos the steps that should have been unnecessary.  I think 75 will be quite sufficient.  Despite repeated staining of the small spot bordering the left side and right front views, I made it a tad better but not gone.Finding the best match for a replacement, straight-edged endcap turned out to be the most challenging aspect of this third reincarnation of the Trident, again as far as I know about. I pawed through way too many candidates from a comprehensive collection I obtained from a friend on the Facebook smokers forums a while back, and after much more time than I had anticipated, I found a match that fit snugly on the shank and needed no Super Glue. The good news is that they are all organized in four baggies now.I put off the stem because, for the first time in my pipe refurbishing life, it didn’t need any sanding – just an Oxi bath and micro mesh.I buffed the stem and stummel with Brown Tripoli and carnauba. While I am unhappy with the tiny flaw on the bowl that remains un-darkened, I am pleased with the overall results.  This Trident System, a WDC second made when Peterson’s System was still revolutionary, is a clear tribute to the folks in Dublin.  Maybe it was the giant Irish maker that put an end to Trident because of the matter of a little patent infringement technicality!  Who knows?

SOURCES
https://petersonpipenotes.org/2019/08/27/145-andy-wikes-guide-to-the-system-pipe/
https://pipedia.org/wiki/British_Pipe_Brands_%26_Makers_R_-_T
https://rebornpipes.com/2017/07/17/jens-trove-no-7-a-trident-blasted-bent-billiard-with-a-question-of-history/
https://pipedia.org/wiki/William_Demuth_Company
https://thepipesteward.com/about/
https://rebornpipes.com/2018/09/07/dressing-up-a-dinner-pipe-1-4-the-trident-experiment/
http://www.silvercollection.it/DICTIONARYTOBACCONISTE.html

A Decorated Veteran

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

Next on the chopping block is this superb Ropp Six. It comes from a group of pipes I purchased from France. I love this pipe. I have a particular interest in French pipes and pipeworks, and I grabbed this one to restore for my collection. This is an old, old pipe with a few wounds (i.e. a veteran pipe with decorations) and needs just a little help to come back to life. This pipe was made by the venerable French pipe company, Ropp. Ropp has been around for a long time and their early pipes are really quite wonderful (the less said about their modern pipes, the better). The markings on the left-hand side of the shank read Ropp [over] Six. The right-hand side of the shank reads 886, presumably the shape number. Also, on the stem, there is the Ropp logo: Ropp, encircled in an oval.This pipe shape is a Rhodesian – a variation of the classic Bulldog. A Rhodesian will have a cylindrical shaped shank, not a diamond shank like the Bulldog. This is a really pretty pipe and feels very comfortable in the hand.

From Pipedia, here is a very brief history of the Ropp company:

Eugène-Léon Ropp (1830–1907) acquired a patent for the cherrywood pipe in 1869. In 1870, he established a workshop to manufacture such pipes in Bussang, in the Vosges mountains. Around 1893, his business moved into the former mill of Sicard (part of the community of Baume-les-Dames in Upper Burgundy. The pipes were a big success in export as well. Shortly before 1914, Ropp designated A. Frankau & Co. (BBB) to be the exclusive distributor in the UK and its colonies. Probably in 1917, a workshop in Saint-Claude in the rue du Plan du Moulin was acquired to start the fabrication of briar pipes. In 1923, another small building in Saint-Claude, serving as a workshop for polishing, was added. Cherrywood pipes were the mainstay of Ropp until the company finally closed down in September 1991. The company was taken over by Cuty-Fort Entreprises in 1994. On to the pipe: it was in decent shape, but it had a few issues. The stem had a bit of oxidation and calcification, but – mostly notably – it had substantial bite marks, top and bottom. The stummel also had a few issues. The outside of the bowl had some scratches and a couple of fills that needed to be addressed. These are the “decorations” I referred to in the title of this article. There was lava and debris on the rim, and a few burn marks too. The inside was pretty dirty too – it would need a thorough cleaning. The stem was first on my list. This stem has a stinger in it – and it was being quite stubborn about coming out of the tenon! I opted to warm the stem and stinger with my heat gun and this provided just enough softening of the internal goo to allow me to pull it out. The stinger then went for a soak in some lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. I let it set for several hours and then cleaned it off and it looked much improved. I then finished it with some metal polish and moved on. I wiped down the outside of the stem 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 bite marks and dents. This was not successful at all in raising the damage. More work would need to be done. Then, I cleaned out the insides with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. Even the bore was clogged with debris! It took an awful lot of work to get this clean! Once this process was done, the stem went for an overnight soak in the Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. The following day, I cleaned all of the de-oxidizing mess off with alcohol, pipe cleaners, et cetera. The oxidation had migrated to the surface and would be fairly straightforward to remove. I scrubbed with SoftScrub on some cotton pads to remove the leftover oxidation. After this, I used some nail polish to restore the Ropp 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 cyanoacrylate adhesive and let them fully cure. On this occasion, I actually built up several layers of the glue over a few days. I must admit, it was an annoying and frustrating process because, at this stage, it never looked quite right. I then sanded the adhesive down – first with a small file – then with 220-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpapers to meld seamlessly into the stem. 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 to the stummel, and the usual cleaning procedures were in order for this pipe. This stummel was a bit of a mess inside, so I first decided to ream out the bowl. I used both the PipNet Reamer and the KleenReem to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper to eliminate as much as I could. I took the bowl down to bare briar, as I wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the walls of the bowl. There were some very thin craze lines inside the bowl, but they were small enough that I elected to leave them as they were. I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and isopropyl alcohol. There was considerable filth inside this stummel and it took a lot of cotton to get it clean. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some dish soap and tube brushes.

I used a small butter knife to gently chip away at the lava on the rim. I then used more Murphy’s with a scrub brush to remove any remainder. This actually worked quite well. I then moved on to cleaning the outside of the stummel with Murphy’s Oil Soap and some cotton pads. That removed any latent dirt that blighted the wood.

In order to remove the remaining burns and nicks on the rim, I “topped” the pipe – that is to say, I gently and evenly sanded down the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. This effectively removed the damage, without altering the look of the pipe.Having completed that, I was able to address the small nicks on the stummel. I dug out my iron and a damp cloth to try and raise the nicks. The hot and moist steam can often cause the wood to swell slightly and return to shape. There was some movement – not a lot, but it was better than doing nothing. The repair was not perfect, but the remaining scratches would be improved by sanding.I lined the fills with cyanoacrylate adhesive and briar dust. After letting them cure, I sanded the fill repairs down with 200-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpaper. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) on the stummel to finish it off. After that, a light application of Before & After Restoration Balm brought out the best in the stummel’s grain. There is some beautiful wood after all. It is a very handsome, decorated veteran. In order to accentuate the external beauty of this pipe, I opted for aniline dye. I applied some of Fiebing’s Medium Brown Leather Dye. As usual, I applied flame from a BIC lighter in order to set the colour. I then added a second coat – just to make sure. What a difference that made! It looked so much better with a fresh coat of stain. I applied some more Before & After Restoration Balm and then it was off for a trip to the buffer. A dose of White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax were just what this pipe needed. The lovely shine made the wood very attractive. This is a very handsome pipe and will provide many years of smoking pleasure. This is a wonderfully crafted pipe and has a very elegant feel to it. It took some work, but I am proud of it and the final product suits me to a T. It retains some wounds from battle, but, as Steve would say, they are part of this pipe’s story. This is one pipe that I am keeping for myself and adding to my collection. I am sure that I will be enjoying this one for many years to come. I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe as much I as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

The Poker Barrel

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by Kenneth Lieblich

Next on the chopping block is this charming Chacom Champion. It comes from the estate of a man from Winnipeg, whose relatives live here in Vancouver. I purchased several of the late gentleman’s pipes, along with this one. I have a particular interest in French pipes and pipeworks, so this was the first pipe I grabbed from the lot for restoration. It is an attractive pipe and needed just a little help to come back to life.This pipe was made by the French giant, Chacom. They are known for making very nice pipes, many of which were designed by such names as Pierre Morel, Claude Robin, and Erwin van Handenhoven. The markings on the left-hand side of the shank read Chacom [over] Champion. On the underside of the shank, the marking reads 157, which is the shape number. Also, on the stem, there is the Chacom logo: CC, encircled in a silver-coloured oval.This is a poker-shaped pipe (a flat bottom) – and a really pretty one too. I always felt that it looked a bit like an old oak barrel, hence the title of this article: The Poker Barrel. It feels very comfortable in the hand. It was obvious from the start that this was a great pipe that just needed some attention and TLC.

Chacom is a company that dates back, in its earliest form, to 1825. The name is a portmanteau of Chapuis Comoy. For a large part of the twentieth century, Chapuis Comoy was the largest pipe company in the world. For more on their history, please have a look at their website: https://www.pipechacom.com/en/history.htm. In fact, the shape number I mentioned above, 157, is a Comoy shape number and is designated as a straight-stemmed, flat-bottomed, billiard. But I am still going to call it a Poker Barrel anyway.

On to the pipe: it was in decent shape, but it had a few issues. The stem was mostly fine. There was a bit of oxidation, some tooth chatter and scratches, and that was about it. Meanwhile, the stummel had a few more issues. The outside of the bowl had some scratches and a couple of fills that needed to be redone. There was plenty of lava and debris on the rim and I suspected there would also be some burn marks. The inside was pretty dirty too – just how dirty it was became an event in itself.The stem was first on my list. I wiped down the outside of the stem 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 bite marks and dents. This was not particularly successful in raising the damage. During this process, I noticed that the inside of the tenon on the stem was threaded. There was clearly a stinger here once upon a time. Thankfully, it is long gone.Then, I cleaned out the insides with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. Look at that! Lots of work to get this clean! Once this process was done, the stem went for an overnight soak in the Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. The following day, I cleaned all of the de-oxidizing mess off with alcohol, pipe cleaners, et cetera. The oxidation had migrated to the surface and would be fairly straightforward to remove. I scrubbed with SoftScrub on some cotton pads to remove the leftover oxidation. I built up the dents on the stem with cyanoacrylate adhesive and let them fully cure. I then sanded the adhesive down with 220-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpapers to meld seamlessly into the stem. I did the same to the remaining tooth marks. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing. On to the stummel, and the usual cleaning procedures were in order for this pipe. This stummel was a bit of a mess inside, so I first decided to ream out the bowl. I used both the PipNet Reamer and the KleenReem to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper to eliminate as much as I could. I took the bowl down to bare briar, as I wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the walls of the bowl. Fortunately, there were none. I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and isopropyl alcohol. There was considerable filth inside this stummel and it took a lot of cotton to get it “clean”. I put the word clean in quotation marks for reasons that will be evident shortly. I used a small butter knife to gently chip away at the lava on the rim. I then used more Murphy’s with a scrub brush to remove any remainder. This actually worked quite well. I then moved on to cleaning the outside of the stummel with Murphy’s Oil Soap and some cotton pads. That removed any latent dirt that blighted the wood. A de-ghosting session also seemed in order, so I thrust cotton balls in the bowl and the shank, and saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the oils, tars and smells to leech out into the cotton.In order to remove the remaining burns and nicks on the rim, I “topped” the pipe – that is to say, I gently and evenly sanded down the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. This effectively removed the damage, without altering the look of the pipe. Then, to further clean the inside of the pipe, I put the stem and stummel back together and used my pipe retort system. This system uses boiling isopropyl alcohol and a vacuum (a void, not the household appliance) to clean the interior of a pipe. As you can see by the brownish colour of the alcohol, the retort worked well. I managed to extract lots of otherwise inaccessible filth from inside the pipe. At this point, I had a hunch that I should run another Q-tip or two through the shank. What I discovered was shocking: it took a truck load of Q-tips and pipe cleaners to actually clean this frustrating pipe! Look at the pile I used! I then finished cleaning up the insides of the stummel with some dish soap and tube brushes. Extraordinary, but I did it and it is now clean.Having completed that, I was able to address the scratches and fills. I took out my steam iron and a damp cloth to try and raise the nicks. The hot and moist steam created can often cause the wood to swell slightly and return to shape. Fortunately, there was considerable movement – I was really pleased with the results. The repair was not perfect, but the remaining scratches would be improved by sanding.After that, a light application of Before & After Restoration Balm brought out the best in the stummel’s grain. There is some beautiful wood after all. It is a very handsome pipe. The same was true with the fills. I lined the two fills with cyanoacrylate adhesive and briar dust. After letting them cure, I sanded the fill repairs down with 200-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpaper. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) on the stummel to finish it off. On to another problem: the colour. During the course of my vigorous cleaning, this pipe had lost some vibrancy of colour. So, in order to accentuate the external beauty of this pipe, I opted for aniline dye. I applied some of Fiebing’s Medium Brown Leather Dye. As usual, I applied flame from a BIC lighter in order to set the colour. What a difference that made! It looked so much better with a fresh coat of stain.   I applied some more Before & After Restoration Balm and then it was off for a trip to the buffer. A dose of White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax were just what this pipe needed. The lovely shine made the wood very attractive. This is a very handsome pipe and will provide many years of smoking pleasure.This Chacom Champion is back to its old glory and ready to be enjoyed again by the next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘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 5 in. (130 mm); height 1⅝ in. (40 mm); bowl diameter 1¼ in. (30 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (20 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1 oz. (29 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much I 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.