Tag Archives: contrast staining

Restoring a Zettervig Kolding Bamboo Shank Scoop

By Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that we picked up in the lot from our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark on 02/16/2023. The shape/size, grain, finish and the bamboo caught our eye. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Zettervig [over] Kolding. The shape is a scoop with a two knuckle bamboo shank extension. It is capped on both ends with a black acrylic spacer. The bowl has a smooth finish that is stained reddish/brown that highlights the beautiful grain around the bowl and short shank. Both go well with the acrylic saddle stem. The bowl is conical and the airway enters at the bottom. It appears to be moderately caked and the inner edge and the top show some lava overflow and damage. The acrylic stem is dirty and there are light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. There is no stamping or logos on the stem. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up. He took some photos of the rim top and bowl from various angles to give me a clear picture of the condition of the rim top and bowl. You can see the lava and damage on the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. The cake is visible as well but is thicker on the top half of the bowl. He included photos that show the top and underside of the stem. It is as described above. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos showed some great grain around the bowl and shank under the dirt and grime of use. It is a great looking piece of briar. He took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. The stamping was clear and readable as noted above.I turned to Pipedia to see what I could find out about this stamping. It is a very short article and I have included the link and the article in its totality (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Zettervig).

In the 1960s and into the early 1970s Ole Zettervig had a shop in Copenhagen, Denmark where he was carving high quality pipes equal to Stanwell, Jørgen Larsen, Anne Julie, Bjørn Thurmann, Bang and others. These early pipes were marked “Copenhagen” and are very collectible. He sold his shop at some point in the 1970s and moved to Kolding and continued to produce pipes as a hobby, but the quality of briar and workmanship is said to not equal the early production. The later pipes he now marked as Kobenhaven rather than Copenhagen, and these were sold by Ole at flea markets throughout Europe.

The stamping on the pipe told me it came from the shop that Ole started in Kolding and was one that he had produced as a hobby. However, that being said it is a beautiful pipe nonetheless.

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The rim top and the inner edge of the bowl look much better. The damage on the inner edge and top are visible. The bowl walls looked very good. The conical bowl is clean. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, shank brushes, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The stem looked good with only light chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim top and stem to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was clean and the rim top and the inner edge show some damage. The inner edge is rough and the top has some marking that need to be cleaned up. The stem was clean and the light tooth marks and chatter can be seen in the photos.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is very clear and readable for the most part. The last letters of the Zettervig are faint as are those of Kolding. However, it clearly read as noted above. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts.I started my work on the pipe sanding the bowl and rim top with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The pipe cleaned up very well with the sanding and the grain began to stand out. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down between pads and was happy with the rich shine. The exterior of the bowl look better after the polishing with micromesh. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and the bamboo with my finger tips. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. It set the bowl aside and turned to the stem. I really like Zettervig’s stems as they are comfortable and thin to my liking – not chunky as can often be the case with acrylic stems. I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the surface down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. It is really shining. I polished it further with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil to finish this step. I put the Zettervig Kolding Bamboo Shank Scoop back together and worked the pipe over on the buffing wheel using Blue Diamond to lightly polish the stem. I buffed the bowl with a light touch so as not to get any of the buffing compounds in the grooves of the bamboo. I buffed the stem to raise the gloss on the acrylic. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Zettervig Bamboo Scoop looked beautiful with the briar, the bamboo and the black of the acrylic stem. The dimensions of the pipe are: Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside Diameter: 1 ¼ inches, Diameter of the chamber: ¾ inches. The weight of the pipe is 1.20 ounces/34 grams. This on will be joining the other Danish Made pipes in the Danish Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store. If you want to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me.

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 1979 Comoy’s Virgin Straight Grain 66 Large Liverpool with a silver band

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that we picked up in the lot from a good friend in Barrington, Rhode Island, USA on 08/22/2024. The smooth finish on this English made pipe and the Comoy’s stamping are what caught our eye. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Comoy’s [over] Virgin [over] Straight Grain. On the right side it is Made in London in a circle [over] England. It is stamped with the shape number 66 near the bowl shank joint. There is an uppercase G on the underside of the shank ahead of the silver band. It has a classic Walnut Brown stain on the smooth finish that is a stark contrast to ornate silver band and vulcanite stem. The silver band gives the shank a length that added to the taper stem makes for a Liverpool shaped pipe. The bowl was lightly caked, though it also seems to have been recently reamed. The inner edge and the top look good though there is some darkening and some spots of lava on the top. The stem was lightly oxidized and had tooth chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The Comoy’s C logo looks to be one piece and was inset on the left side of the stem and looks to be in good condition. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up. He took some photos of the rim top and bowl from various angles to give me a clear picture of the condition of the rim top and bowl. It is quite clean and the inside of the bowl is lightly caked. He included photos that show the top and underside of the stem. It is as described above. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos showed some great grain around the bowl and shank even with the grime in the finish. It is a great looking piece of briar. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It was clear and readable as noted above. He did not capture a photo of the G stamp on the underside of the shank. He also captured the stamping on the silver band on the shank end. It is also clear. The silver is hallmarked which should help with dating this pipe. I looked on Pipephil’s site for information on the Comoy’s Virgin Straight Grain line and found the following information on pipes stamped Virgin Briar. I have included a screen capture below (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-comoy.html). It is interesting that the Virgin Briar originally came out in 1933 and by 1965 was no longer listed in the Comoy’s catalogues. It is different from the one I have as it is not stamped Virgin Briar and the Comoy’s is not arched but the C on the stem is similar in terms of thinness.I also went to the the Comoy’s article on Pipedia and found nothing in the great historical article that was pertinent. I did find a shape chart that listed the 66 as a Large Liverpool. I have included a screen capture of the page that included that shape number. I have outlined it in red in the photo included below(https://pipedia.org/images/d/d7/Shape_Chart_1975_1.jpg).I turned to the article on Pipedia about dating Comoy’s pipes but the style of the stamping (https://pipedia.org/index.php?title=Comoy%27s_Dating_Guide#1917_to_the_end_of_the_1930.27s_.28at_least_1938.29). I have included the section in the screen capture below that date this pipe to the 1930s.

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

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

Made in London England

Appears in two versions. This is again stamped in a circle with “MADE” at the top, “IN” in the middle, and “LONDON” at the bottom, with “ENGLAND” in a straight line beneath. It can be assumed that this stamp was first used in the export drive in the early 1950s. On a Bulldog Sandblast from the early 50s the Comoy name no. 2 above was used together with “MADE IN LONDON” over “ENGLAND”. There are no known examples of pre-WW II Comoy’s stamped in this way. The second version is the same as above but in a “rugby ball ” shape. This shape is verified on Comoy´s “Extraordinaire” pipes.

That article gave me some helpful information. I knew that the pipe the stamping on the shank of the pipe dated as post 1950. The 1950s stamping of the Comoy’s stamp was as noted above. The 66 shape number was tied to a Large Liverpool with a taper stem. I still needed to check on the Silver hallmarks but so far I had some progress.

Now to look at the silver hallmarks. The hallmarking system in England comprises a series of symbols and numbers, including letters, numbers, and symbols that indicate the silver’s purity, the date of manufacture, and the location where the item was hallmarked. Each hallmark includes several symbols, such as the maker’s mark, standard mark, assay office mark, and date letter. The first on this silver band is the Rampant Lion which signifies the quality of the Sterling Silver in the band. The second is a leopard’s head which signifies the city of London, England as the location of the assay office. The third hallmark is the letter E in an italicized cursive style script that helps establish the date of the silver. The HC in the box above the hallmarks is the silversmith’s initials and in this case are those of Henri Comoy.

I turned to a blog on Historic Hallmarks – London 1678-2019 to determine the date of this pipe (https://huntvintage.co/blog/how-to-identify-silver-marks). I drew a red box around the date on this one – it is from 1979 as the hallmark matches the style of the E below.Since Jeff always follows the same pattern of work in his cleanup we do not include photos but rather just a simple summary. Jeff 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. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the damages to the top and edges of the rim. I think this pipe may well been before we worked with Mark Hoover’s Before & After Deoxidizer so he cleaned the internals and externals. The stem was clean but lightly oxidized. I took photos of what the pipe looked like when I brought to my worktable. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim top and stem to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was clean and the rim top and the inner edge look beautiful. The stem was clean and the tooth marks on the topside are visible. The chatter is light and hardly visible.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is very clear and readable and read as noted above. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts.I polished the bowl and shank with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pad – dry sanding it with the pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. It began to take on a deep shine. The exterior of the bowl look better after sanding. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I polished the silver band with a jeweller’s cloth to remove the tarnish and protect the silver from further tarnishing. It really took on a rich shine. I set the bowl aside and turned to the stem. I sanded the it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads and wiped the stem down after each pad with some Obsidian Oil on a cloth. The shine is coming back beautifully.I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the surface down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. It is really shining. I polished it further with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil to finish this step. This Comoy’s Virgin Straight Grain 66 Liverpool with a vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautifully grained finish really works well with the shape and the polished finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the bowl and the stem 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. I wiped down the Sterling Silver band with a jeweller’s cloth to protect and polish it. The finished 1979 Comoy’s Virgin Straight Grain Liverpool fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 36 grams /1.23 ounces. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Makers Section shortly. Let me know via email or a message if you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection.

Resurrection of a Well-Loved, Tired Old Dunhill Shell 4106 Billiard

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by Steve Laug

Sometimes when we get around to working on a pipe I am struck with asking why we picked this one up. That is the case with the next poor old Dunhill. It has been either well loved or abused depending on your perspective. We picked the pipe up from a seller in Ogden, Utah, USA on 12/12/2024. Probably the Shell finish and the Dunhill stamp is what caught our eye. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads 4106F on the heel of the bowl. That is followed by Dunhill Shell [over] Made in England²⁵. It has a classic Shell briar dark brown/cordovan/black finish sandblast that is a stark contrast to the two silver coloured inlaid rings in the stem. From the side view it is a great looking sandblast pot. However, when you turn it over and examine it from the top down that can begin to see the abuse or love. The bowl appears to be moderately caked at first glance but it is actually quite thick at the bottom half of the bowl and hard as aged concrete. The inner edge and the top show lava overflow and it is hard to know if there is rim damage at this point because of the lava. And let’s talk about that stem. It is oxidized and calcified which is quite normal for what I see. However, the deep tooth marks and chomp marks on the stem surface and button edges are deeper than they first appear. You can picture the old pipe man (or maybe a young one though I doubt it) chomping down on the stem while concentrating on whatever his hands were doing in the shop. Cleaning it up will truly reveal the depth of the mess but first impressions are not good! There were two inlaid metal rings in the taper stem – sandwiching a piece of vulcanite. This is something I have not seen before on a Dunhill stem. The classic white spot is on the top of the stem and looks to be in good condition. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up. What are your impressions? Would you have bought it or left it? He took some photos of the rim top and bowl from various angles to give me a clear picture of the condition of the rim top and bowl. You can see the lava on the rim top and edges as well as part of the cake in the bowl. It is thicker starting about half way down the bowl. The next photos show the top and underside of the stem. It is actually far worse than even the photos show. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos showed a great sandblast. It is a great looking piece of briar at least on the outside at this point! He took some photos of the stamping on the underside of the bowl and shank. The stamping was clear and readable as noted above. There was some faintness to the stamping of the shape number on the heel of the bowl but it was still readable.As is my regular practice, before I started my work on the pipe, I turned to Pipedia’s section on Dunhill Shell Pipes to get a refresh the information I know regarding the Dunhill finishes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Root_Briar). I quote:

Shell

A deep craggy sandblast with a black stain finish (usually made using Algerian briar) – the color of the stain used has varied over the years. Although there is some doubt as to them being the first to sandblast pipes, Dunhill’s Shell pipes, and the sandblasting techniques developed to create them are considered one of Dunhill’s greatest and most lasting contributions to the art of pipe making.

The documented history of Dunhill’s inception of the Shell is largely limited to patent applications — there are no catalog pages or advertisements promoting blasted pipes at the time. The preliminary work on the English patent (No. 1484/17) was submitted on October 13, 1917. The patent submission was completed half a year later, on April 12, 1918, followed by the granting of the English patent on October 14, 1918. This was less than a month before the end of The Great War on November 11th.

In 1986 Dunhill released a line of premium Shell finish pipes – “RING GRAIN”. These are high-quality straight grain pipes which are sandblasted. Initially only Ring Grain, but now in two different finishes. In 1995 the “Shilling” was introduced with Cumberland finish – it is an extremely rare series. These pipes exhibit a deeper blast characteristic of that of the 1930’s – mid-1960’s (and the limited ‘deep blast’ pipes of the early 1980s) and show a fine graining pattern. These are considered the best new Dunhills by many enthusiasts today and are very rare. The finish is sometimes described as tasting like vanilla at first, with the taste becoming more normal or good as the pipe breaks in.

See more examples here: Dunhill Shell
See more about this incredible pipe here: The History of Dunhill’s Shell
See more about the patents applied here: Shellbriar & Tanshell, Patents 1917-1954

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 superscript suffix ²⁵ after the D in England it points to the 1960 line on the chart below. To date it just add 1960 +25 for a date of 1985. I have drawn a red box around the pertinent section in the chart.I now knew that I was working on a Shell that came out in 1985. The shape of the pipe is called a Pot with a 4106 Shape number on the heel of the bowl.

I turned to Pipephil’s shape list (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/shapes.html). At the bottom of the list of shapes (with the 06 being a pot) is a key for interpreting the digits in the stamp I have included that below.

Dunhill pipes are stamped with a four digit code.
Digit 1: (from 1 to 6) denotes the size of the pipe (the group).
Digit 2: denotes the style of the mouthpiece (0,1=tapered, 2=saddle)
Digit 3 and 4: denote the generic pipe shape (in yellow in the chart on top)

Example: 5102
(5 = size | 1 = tappered stem | 02 = Bent)

When 5 digits occur, the meaning of the 4 first remain the same

The 4106 was thus a Group 4 size, with a taper mouthpiece, and in an 06 or Pot shape.

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The bowl walls looked very good but there was a thick ring at the bottom of the bowl. The question was whether it was more cake or damage to the bowl bottom. The airway appears to be drilled at the bottom. This will take some more work. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. Now the damage to the stem was very clear. Overall, the pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim top and stem to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was clean but if you look closely you can see the thick ring toward the bottom of the bowl. The stem was clean but the tooth damage is very visible on both sides of the stem and button. The pipe has potential but it will be a lot more work to bring it back.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It read as noted above. It is very clear and readable even though it is faint in spots. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts.It did not take long to decide where I would start with this pipe. I tried to raise the tooth marks as much as possible by “painting” the surface with a lighter flame. It did very little to lift the marks in the stem. I forgot a photo of this but you have seen them before. I filled in the deep marks by layering in the rubberized black CA glue. Once it had cured I flattened the repairs and recut the button with a small file. I reshaped the button top and edges and further flattened and blended in the repairs with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It was a big improvement but still more work to go! I continued the sanding process with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. The repairs began to disappear into the surface of the vulcanite and the stem began to take on a smooth new look. Progress for sure.It was ready for the next step. I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the surface down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. It is really shining. I polished it further with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil to finish this step. I fit the polished stem with a Vauen Dr. Perl Junior 6mm filter in the tenon. It fit perfectly and as normal the filter reduced the draught on the pipe. The pipe can easily be smoked without the filter.I set the stem aside and worked on the bowl. I worked on the thick “concrete” like build up at the bottom of the bowl. It was very hard and thick. I used a PipNet Reamer to work on it a bit and a lot came out of the bowl. I chipped away at it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to remove the build up until the bottom and walls were clean.I cleaned the shank and the bowl again with alcohol and pipe cleaners to remove the dust and debris from the work on the bowl bottom. The exterior of the bowl was in excellent condition. I did not need to sand or do anything in preparation on the pipe. I set the stem aside and worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips and a horsehair shoe brush. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I am excited to be on the homestretch and look forward to finally seeing the 1985 Dunhill Shell 4106 Billiard put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together and lightly polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish them. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe on the wheel with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The depths of the sandblast really pop with the wax and polish. The repaired and polished vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the combination of Shell stains on the bowl and shank. This Dunhill Shell 4106 Billiard was a lot of work to bring back to life. The pipe is tactile in the hand and should feel great as it is warmed up when smoking. The finished pipe is shown 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 1.31 ounces/ 38 grams. I will be putting this one on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipemakers Section soon. Let me know if you wish to add it to your collection.

Breathing new life into a BBB Own Make Made in London England 636 Billiard

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is a BBB pipe with a silver shank band and a vulcanite taper stem. We picked the pipe up from a seller in Ogden, Utah, USA on 12/12/2024. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads BBB in a Diamond with Own on the left side of the Diamond and Make on the right side. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Made in London [over] England [over] 636. The silver band is stamped Sterling Silver under BBB in a Dimaond on the left side of the band. It is oxidized and scratched. The finish is a reddish-brown colour that really highlights the grain around the bowl and shank. The bowl colour is a stark contrast to the silver band and the black taper stem. There is a BBB Diamond brass logo inlaid on the top of the stem. The bowl was moderately caked and there was some lava on the inner bevelled edge of the rim and the top. The vulcanite stem had some oxidation and some chatter and light tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button. It also looks like it had a softee bit on the stem at one time as it left a defined line. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up. He took some photos of the rim top and bowl from various angles to give me a clear picture of the condition of the rim top and bowl. You can see the moderate cake in the bowl and the lava on the rim edge and top. The next photos show the top and underside of the stem. It is oxidized and appears to have had a Softee bit on it at one time. Jeff took photos of the sides of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos showed some great grain. It is a pretty piece of briar. He took some photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank and the Sterling Silver band. The stamping was clear and readable on both shank sides and the band as noted above. He also took a photo of the BBB logo on the topside of the taper stem. Jeff did his usual thorough job cleaning the pipe which I really appreciate because of the freedom it gives me in dealing with pipes. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and got rid of the cake. He cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife so that we could see the walls of the bowl and assess for damage. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and alcohol. He scrubbed the exterior with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He rinsed the pipe under warm water. He dried it off with a cloth and then let it air dry. The stem was scrubbed with Soft Scrub and had a soak in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. One it was rinsed off, it came out looking very good. The finish on the bowl and the rim top cleaned up nicely. I took pictures of the pipe to show how it looked when I unpacked it. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim top to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was very clean and showed that the inner tube sitting in the bottom of the bowl. The stem looked good with very light tooth marks and chatter. Overall the pipe is a beautiful looking piece.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It read as noted above. It is very clear and readable. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts. I decided to start my work on the bowl by polishing 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 polished the silver band with a jeweller’s cloth to remove the tarnish and oxidation. It took some elbow grease but the cloth works to clean and protect the silver from further tarnishing. It looks significantly better than when I started. 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. 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 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 BBB Own Make 636 Made in London England Billiard turned out to be a great looking pipe. With polishing, the grain shines through clearly. The black vulcanite stem is in excellent condition and works great with the polished briar. The polished silver is a touch of class. 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 BBB Own Make 636 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: 6 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 British 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.

Restoring a Sandblast Handmade in Denmark Freehand

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that came to us from the group of pipes that Jeff and I purchased from our connection in Copenhagen, Denmark on 10/17/2022. It is clearly a Danish Freehand style sandblast that is in good condition. It is stamped on a smooth panel on end of the shank and reads Handmade in Denmark stamped diagonally across the shank end. There is no other stamping on the pipe so it is unclear who made it. The rim top and shank end are plateau briar and quite rugged. Everything about the pipe suggests that it is a Preben Holm made pipe but of course I cannot prove that. The pipe has a mix of black and brown stains on a sandblast finish and some amazing grain that the shape follows well. The finish was dusty around the nooks and crannies of the sandblast but otherwise fairly clean. The rim top had a thick lava cake on the top in the plateau that was heavier on the left side. There was also lava on the inner edge flowing from thick cake in the bowl. The fancy saddle stem was oxidized, dirty and had light chatter ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe to show what it looked like before he started working on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition. There is a thick cake in the bowl and a thick lava in the plateau on the rim. He captured the condition of the stem when it arrived. The stem has light chatter ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the beautiful grain in the sandblast around the bowl. It really is a beautiful piece of briar that has a shape that follows the grain. The finish is nice but it also dirty with dust ground into the finish. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable and reads as noted above.Once again it is on pipes like this that I really appreciate Jeff’s thorough cleaning process. It gives me real freedom in dealing with pipes when they arrive here. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and got rid of the cake. He cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife so that we could see the walls of the bowl and assess for damage. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and alcohol. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He rinsed it under warm water. He dried it off with a cloth and then let it air dry. He soaked the vulcanite stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and once finished rinsed off the remaining product when he removed it from the mixture. I took pictures of the pipe to show how it looked when I unpacked it. Look at the amazing sandblast grain on this beauty. I took photos of the bowl and rim top from a closer angle to show how good it looked. The darks stain on the rim stop is slightly washed out and will need to be restained. The stem photos show how good the stem looks and even the tooth chatter is gone. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the look of the parts of the pipe to give a sense of size and perspective.I tried to capture the diagonal stamp on the underside of the shank. It is clear but I did not capture it well. It reads as noted above.I touched up the stain on the plateau on the rim top and shank end with a black stain pen. It looked much better after staining. I went over it with a brass bristle brush to knock off an loose pieces in the plateau.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a shoe brush to get it into the nooks and crannies of the plateau and blast. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the wood while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I set the bowl aside and turned to the vulcanite stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the remnants of oxidation on the and finish blending in the chatter. It looked very good once finished.I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I buffed the stem with a soft cloth to raise the shine. I gave it a final wipe down with Obsidian Oil to protect it. I don’t know what it is about finishing a restoration but I have to tell you that it is my favourite part of the process. It is the moment when everything that I have worked on comes together. I can compare it to where I started and there is always satisfaction that it looks better than when we picked it up. As always, I put this Handmade in Denmark Freehand back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad and hand buffed it to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like along with the polished fancy vulcanite saddle stem. This Handmade in Denmark Freehand is a great looking pipe and I am sure that it will be comfortable in hand when smoking as it is light and well balanced for a pipe of this size. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.26 ounces/65 grams. It is another beautiful pipe and one that will be on the rebornpipes store soon. You can find it in the section of Pipes by Danish Pipe Makers. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Restemming a Petite Apple with a vulcanite ferrule

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by Steve Laug

Before I move on to another of the pipes I have to work on from Jeff I decided to do a quick restem on a nice petite apple bowl with a vulcanite ferrule. It did not have a name on the bowl but the shank and the ferrule made for a beautiful little pipe. The bowl had been reamed and cleaned by Jeff somewhere along the journey. It had been sitting here in a box of bowls for a few years now. There was a fill on the front of the bowl that had fallen out and left a divot in the briar. Other than that the bowl was in excellent condition. I repaired the divot on the front of the bowl with some black CA glue and a little bit of briar dust. I flattened out the repair with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surface of the briar.I wiped the bowl down with some isopropyl alcohol and cotton pads to remove the opacity of the stain and make it a bit more transparent. The grain began to stand through with a lot of clarity. I like the look of the grain around the bowl. The repair on the bowl was a bit lighter than the rest of the bowl and would need to be stained. I stained the repair on the front of the bowl with a Walnut stain pen. It blended into the surface of the bowl with the stain pen. The match was very good.I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grits sanding pads. Once again, I wiped it down with a damp cloth following each pad. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips to make sure that it covered every square inch of the pipe. I set it aside for 10 minutes to let it do its work. I buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. I went through my stems here and found a nice looking military bit stem that would look great with the pipe.It was clean and unused so I only need to polish it. I did that with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave a final wipe down with Obsidian Oil. I put the No Name Apple pipe together and took it to the buffer. I buffed both the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel and then gave both multiple coats of Carnuaba Wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I further polished it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is a beautiful petite pipe that should be a great smoker. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 3/8 inches, Bowl diameter: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .67 ounces/19 grams. If you wish to add it to your collection let me know. I will be putting it in the rebornpipes store shortly in the American Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for taking time to read this restoration and restem. As always I appreciate questions and comments.

PipaCroci fatta a mano Manitova-Italia Amica Dublin

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by Steve Laug

The pipe was a nice little Pipa Croci smooth, nicely grained Dublin. The bowl and rim were smooth. We purchased it 12/09/2024 via Facebook’s Pipe Exchange from a seller in Wellsville, Kansas, USA along with the other two previous Pipa Croci pipes I have written about. It is stamped on the left underside of the shank and reads Pipa Croci [over] Fatta A Mano [over] Mantova – Italia. Underneath and toward the bowl it is stamped Dal 1983 – the year that the company started. On the right underside it is stamped with the PC logo [over] Amica. It is a light weight well-made pipe with an amber/tan – coloured acrylic half saddle stem that fits against the shank end. The stem has the insert bar and dot logo on the top side. There were light tooth marks on both sides at the button but otherwise the stem was in good condition. The black Delrin tenon was in excellent condition. The tenon was made for a 9mm filter. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on the pipe. I have included those below. Jeff took photos of the rim top to show the condition. There is some darkening around the inner edge of the bowl and spots of lava on the rim top. He also captured the condition of the stem when it arrived. He took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the beautiful grain around the bowl. It really is a beautiful piece of briar that has a shape that follows the grain. The finish is nice but it also very dirty with grime and oils ground into it.Jeff took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. It is clear and readable and reads as noted above. Before I started working on my part of the restoration I decided to do a bit of research on the Pipa Croci brand. I wanted to clearly understand the stamping and possibly get date for the pipe and some background on the brand. I turned to Pipephil first to see what I could learn from there (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c8.html). I have included a screen capture from the section on the brand and a few of the sidebar notes below that.Artisans: Paolo & Gianni. Grading (ascending): Pipa Croci, Amica, True, True I, Quality Street, Starlight, Golden Flame. Production (2007): ~ 3000 pipes/year. Pipa Croci is part of the Molina Group (2012)

I knew from that information that I was working on a grade two Amica pipe. I also learned that the pipe was made by Paolo and Gianni Croci. It is a great looking pipe and I was looking forward to seeing what Pipedia added to the information.

I turned to the link on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Pipa_Croci). I have included the article in part below.

Pipa Croci pipes are created by Paolo & Gianni Croci from Mantova, Lombardia. The company was founded in 1983 and on each pipe you will find the nomenclature reads “dal 1983”. Each and every pipe is hand crafted from aged Italian Plateau Briar. This is a company that makes no two pipes alike and they truly create some masterpieces. In their own words:

“The Pipa Croci is an artisan enterprise. The pipes which are born from our hands are all differnt from each other. This means that the owner of a Croci pipe possesses something totally unique. Keeping up with the avant-garde in styling and marketing, in addition to our Free Hand we have created the Classical Models. Furthermore, we produce several hand-carved objects related to the pipe smoker and made of briar.”

The quality classification of the pipes is as follows (ascending): Pipa Croci; Amica; True; True 1; Quality Street; Starlight; Golden Flame.

So the “Pipa Croci” is the least expensive and the “Gold Flame” the most costly, but the most exceptional. The classification takes place in a careful and accurate manner and the criteria for these choices are form, character of the briar and beauty of its grain.

The pipes are divided into groups according to their design; these groups or series have been given the following names: Normale; Artistica; Gran Camino; Gran Camino Artistica; Calumet; Calumet Artistica; Calumet Gran Camino; Calumet Gran Camino Artistica; Calumet 2000; Calumet 2000 Artistica; Calumet 2000 Gran Camino; Calumet 2000 Gran Camino Artistica.

The Classical models are hand-made reproductions of the traditional shapes. These well-known shapes have the following letter-number references: Billiard = A1; Apple = F1; Dublin = H1, etc…

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The bowl walls looked very good. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show how clean it was. The top and the inner edge of the rim look very good. The stem looks clean of debris and grime. There are light tooth marks and chatter on both sides.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of shank. The stamping is clear and readable. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe. I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grits sanding pads. Once again, I wiped it down with a damp cloth following each pad. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips to make sure that it covered every square inch of the pipe. I set it aside for 10 minutes to let it do its work. I buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to break up the remaining oxidation. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. It began to look good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I fit the stem with a 6mm filter and put it back on the shank. It fit well but if the next pipeman wishes, the pipe could be smoked filterless though it would have a wide-open draught.I put the Pipa Croci Hand Made, Manitova, Italia, Amica Dublin Freehand bowl and 9mm filter stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the acrylic. 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 rich brown stains worked amazingly well with the polished acrylic saddle stem. The grain around the bowl and shank and looks quite remarkable. This is truly a beautiful Pipa Croci Amica Dublin. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches wide x 2 inches long, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.87 ounces/54 grams. This beautiful, Italian Hand Made Pipa Croci will be added to the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. Cheers.

Pipa Croci fatta a mano Manitova-Italia dal 1983 Diamond Shank Billiard

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by Steve Laug

The pipe was a nice little Pipa Croci smooth Diamond Shank Billiard. The bowl and rim were smooth. We purchased it 12/09/2024 via Facebook’s Pipe Exchange from a seller in Wellsville, Kansas, USA. It is stamped on the left underside of the shank and reads Pipa Croci [over] Fatta A Mano [over] Mantova – Italia. Underneath and toward the bowl it is stamped Dal 1983 – the year that the company started. On the right underside it is stamped with the PC logo. It is a light weight well-made pipe with a rose/amber – coloured acrylic stem that fits like a military bit into a matching shank extension. The stem has the insert bar and dot logo on the top side. There were light tooth marks on both sides at the button but otherwise the stem was in good condition. The black Delrin tenon was in excellent condition. The tenon was made for a 9mm filter. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on the pipe. I have included those below.Jeff took photos of the rim top to show the condition. There is some darkening around the inner edge of the bowl and spots of lava on the rim top. He also captured the condition of the stem when it arrived. He took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the beautiful grain around the bowl. It really is a beautiful piece of briar that has a shape that follows the grain. The finish is nice but it also very dirty with grime and oils ground into it. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. It is clear and readable and reads as noted above. Before I started working on my part of the restoration I decided to do a bit of research on the Pipa Croci brand. I wanted to clearly understand the stamping and possibly get date for the pipe and some background on the brand. I turned to Pipephil first to see what I could learn from there (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c8.html). I have included a screen capture from the section on the brand and a few of the sidebar notes below that.Artisans: Paolo & Gianni. Grading (ascending): Pipa Croci, Amica, True, True I, Quality Street, Starlight, Golden Flame. Production (2007): ~ 3000 pipes/year. Pipa Croci is part of the Molina Group (2012)

I knew from that information that I was working on a grade one Pipa Croci pipe. I also learned that the pipe was made by Paolo and Gianni Croci. It is a great looking pipe and I was looking forward to seeing what Pipedia added to the information.

I turned to the link on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Pipa_Croci). I have included the article in part below.

The quality classification of the pipes is as follows (ascending): Pipa Croci; Amica; True; True 1; Quality Street; Starlight; Golden Flame.

The Classical models are hand-made reproductions of the traditional shapes. These well-known shapes have the following letter-number references: Billiard = A1; Apple = F1; Dublin = H1, etc…

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The bowl walls looked very good. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show how clean it was. The top and the inner edge of the rim look very good. The stem looks clean of debris and grime. There are light tooth marks and chatter on both sides.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of shank. The stamping is clear and readable. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe. I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grits sanding pads. Once again, I wiped it down with a damp cloth following each pad. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips to make sure that it covered every square inch of the pipe. I set it aside for 10 minutes to let it do its work. I buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to break up the remaining oxidation. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. It began to look good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I fit the stem with a 9mm filter and put it back on the shank. It fit well but if the next pipeman or woman wishes, the pipe could be smoked filterless though it would have a wide-open draught. I put the Pipa Croci Hand Made, Manitova, Italia, Diamond Shank Bent Billiard bowl and stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the acrylic. 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 rich brown stains worked amazingly well with the polished acrylic saddle stem. The grain around the bowl and shank and looks quite remarkable. This is truly a beautiful Pipa Croci Hand Made Bent Billiard. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.27 ounces/36 grams. This beautiful, Italian Hand Made Pipa Croci will be added to the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. Cheers.

Restoring a Pipa Croci fatta a mano Manitova-Italia – True – Dublin

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by Steve Laug

The pipe was a nice little Pipa Croci smooth Dublin. The bowl and rim were smooth. We purchased it 12/09/2024 via Facebook’s Pipe Exchange from a seller in Wellsville, Kansas, USA. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Pipa Croci [over] Fatta A Mano [over] Mantova – Italia. Underneath and toward the bowl it is stamped Dal 1983 – the year that the company started. On the right side it is stamped with the PC logo [over] TRUE. It is a light weight well-made pipe with a rose-coloured acrylic stem with a black thin line around the end next to the shank. The stem has the insert bar and dot logo on the top side. There were light tooth marks on both sides at the button but otherwise the stem was in good condition. The black Delrin tenon was in excellent condition. The tenon was made for a 6mm filter. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on the pipe. I have included those below.Jeff took photos of the rim top to show the condition. There is some darkening around the inner edge of the bowl and spots of lava on the rim top. He also capture the condition of the stem when it arrived. He took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the beautiful grain around the bowl. It really is a beautiful piece of briar that has a shape that follows the grain. The finish is nice but it also very dirty with grime and oils ground into it. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. It is clear and readable and reads as noted above. Before I started working on my part of the restoration I decided to do a bit of research on the Pipa Croci brand. I wanted to clearly understand the stamping and possibly get date for the pipe and some background on the brand. I turned to Pipephil first to see what I could learn from there (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c8.html). I have included a screen capture from the section on the brand and a few of the sidebar notes below that.Artisans: Paolo & Gianni. Grading (ascending): Pipa Croci, Amica, True, True I, Quality Street, Starlight, Golden Flame. Production (2007): ~ 3000 pipes/year. Pipa Croci is part of the Molina Group (2012)

I knew from that information that I was working on a grade three TRUE pipe. I also learned that the pipe was made by Paolo and Gianni Croci. It is a great looking pipe and I was looking forward to seeing what Pipedia added to the information.

I turned to the link on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Pipa_Croci). I have included the article in part below.

The quality classification of the pipes is as follows (ascending): Pipa Croci; Amica; True; True 1; Quality Street; Starlight; Golden Flame.

The Classical models are hand-made reproductions of the traditional shapes. These well-known shapes have the following letter-number references: Billiard = A1; Apple = F1; Dublin = H1, etc…

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The bowl walls looked very good. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show how clean it was. The top and the inner edge of the rim look very good. The stem looks clean of debris and grime. There are light tooth marks and chatter on both sides.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of shank. The stamping is clear and readable. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe. I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grits sanding pads. Once again, I wiped it down with a damp cloth following each pad. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips to make sure that it covered every square inch of the pipe. I set it aside for 10 minutes to let it do its work. I buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to break up the remaining oxidation. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. It began to look good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I fit the stem with a 6mm filter and put it back on the shank. It fit well but if the next pipeman wishes, the pipe could be smoked filterless though it would have a wide-open draught.I put the Pipa Croci Hand Made, Manitova, Italia, True Dublin Freehand bowl and stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the acrylic. 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 rich brown stains worked amazingly well with the polished acrylic saddle stem. The grain around the bowl and shank and looks quite remarkable. This is truly a beautiful Pipa Croci True Dublin. 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 ¾ inches wide x 2 inches long, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.12 ounces/61 grams. This beautiful, Italian Hand Made Pipa Croci will be added to the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. Cheers.

Restemming a Beautiful, Sandblast WDC Milano Ripple Briar Hesson Apple

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by Steve Laug

Time for another break from the repairs that I am working on for Rob. I had a couple of bowls in my box that needed to be restemmed. I chose to work on the first of them which is a beautifully sandblasted Apple bowl. The blast is very deep the rim top is thin and flows directly down the sides. The pipe was stamped on the underside of the shank and read WDC in a triangle followed by Milano [over] Ripple Briar [over] Hesson [over] Patd. Dec. 22, 192(6?). The last digit of the date is covered with a Sterling Silver band on the well repaired shank that is cracked on the left side. The bowl had been reamed and cleaned and was in great shape. There were a few worn spots on the top of the rim on the front and the right side. The shank on the left side had a long crack that had been repaired and banded with a sterling silver band. The band was clean with just a few scratches and the words Sterling curved on the topside. The shank was threaded but the threads were worn and it was missing a stem so I needed to find another one. I took photos of the bowl and have included them below. It shows the pipe before I started my work on it. I took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. It is quite clear and readable as noted above. I also tried to capture the Sterling Silver stamp o the band.I went through my stems and found one that was close to the right diameter to the shank and had a small diameter tenon. It would need some adjusting but it would fit very well. I took photos of it showing the look with the bowl.I started work on this pipe by polishing the bowl. The bowl was very clean and had little wear on it. The cracked shank had been banded and repaired somewhere in its journey. The silver band was very clean with some small scratches in the surface. It was in great condition so I started by staining the rim top faded and marks spots with a Walnut stain pen to blend them in and clean up the damage. It looked very good.After the touch up stain cured, I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips to make sure that it covered every square inch of the pipe. I set it aside for 10 minutes to let it do its work. I buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem I had chosen for the pipe. I cleaned up the tenon and shortened it slightly to fit the shank of the pipe. I sanded the diameter with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to fully match the shank diameter. I sanded out the tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem.I put the stem on the shank and took photos of the fit of the stem to the bowl and the new look of this deeply sandblast pipe. I am liking the looks of the new stem. I removed the stem from the shank and sanded it further with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. By the time I finished with the 3500 grit pad the stem really looked good. I also sanded out the rough spot on the underside of the silver band to smooth it out.I polished the stem with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with each pad. I wiped the stem down after each pad with an Obsidian Oil cloth. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish and wiped it down a final time with the oil cloth. The finished WDC Milano Ripple Briar Hession Apple looks great with its new stem. The taper stem brings out the contrast of the silver band and dark nooks and crannies of the sandblast. I buffed the pipe with a light coat of White Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of Carnauba Wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing wheel and it is a real beauty. The dimensions of this WCD Milano Ripple Briar Apple are length: 5 ½ inches, height: 1 ½ inches, outside bowl diameter: 1 inch, chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .67 ounces/19 grams. This is a beauty that will be going on the American Pipemakers Section of the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for giving the blog a read.