Tag Archives: Diplomat pipes

A Simple Elegance: Cleaning, Restemming and Restoring a Diplomat Billiard

5 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

On my recent Lethbridge trip I found the Diplomat pipe at an Antique Fair. It is a nice sandblast billiard with a dark undercoat and a brown over stain. The bowl was in decent shape. The sandblast was deep and quite beautiful to look at. The nooks and crannies caused in the process made for an interesting feel in the hand as well. The stain had worn off in spots on the sides of the bowl and along the outer edges of the rim. The finish was also generally dull and lifeless. The surface of the rim was dirty with tars and oils. The inner edge was slightly damaged and would need to be worked on. There was a thick cake around the middle of the bowl and light at bottom and on top. The stem was one that somebody had Gerry-rigged to fit. It was smaller in diameter and the tenon was too small. The previous owner had wrapped the tenon with thread and then with aluminum foil and pressed it into the shank. The stem had also been hacked up to repair a damaged button and grooves had been carved on the top and bottom sides of the stem to make it a dental bit.Dip1

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Dip5 I took close-up photos of the top of the bowl and the underside of the shank to give a clear picture of the state of the inner edge of the rim and the stamping on the pipe.Dip6

Dip7 The next two photos show the stem that came with the pipe and the “fancy” work that had been down to make it fit the shank and create grooves on the top and underside that would allow the pipe to be held in the mouth behind dentures.Dip8

Dip9 My first task was to go through my stem can and see if I could find a better stem for this pipe. I did not have a tapered stem that would readily fit but I did have a saddle stem that would look good after shaping and fitting it to the shank.Dip10 I lightly sanded the tenon to get a snug fit in the shank and pushed the new stem home to have a look at the fit. The stem would need to be sanded to bring the diameter at the stem/shank union down to match the shank. I took a few photos to see what the pipe looked like with this new stem.Dip10

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Dip13 I used a Dremel with a sanding drum to carefully reduce the diameter of the saddle portion of the stem. I have found that I can roughly shape the stem to fit better and then finish by hand sanding it (photo 1). Once I had the rough shape I sanded it with a coarse emery paper to remove the gouges and scratches left behind by the sanding drum (photo 2). I slipped a plastic washer on the tenon and put the stem back in place. I sanded it with 180 and 220 grit sandpaper to further shape it and remove the scratches (photo 3).Dip15

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Dip17 With the basic fit correct and only needing to fine tune it and polish the stem I decided to ream the bowl. I used a PipNet reamer and took the cake back to bare wood.Dip18

Dip19 I cleaned out the inside of the shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. Once it was clean I worked on the inner edge of the rim. I sanded it and reshaped it to make it smooth and round once again using a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper.Dip20

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Dip22 I sanded the stem some more with 220 grit sandpaper and flattened the bottom side to match the flat bottom of the shank. The next set of three photos show the fit and shape of the stem at this point.Dip23

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Dip25 The button was quite thin and I decided to build it up with black superglue. I also could see a repair that had been done on the stem before I used it so I worked on that to further blend it into the stem surface.Dip26 When the glue dried I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to feather it into the surface of the rest of the stem and also worked on shaping the button. In the second photo below you can see the end view of the built-up and reshaped button.Dip27

Dip28 I sanded the stem and button with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches and blend in the patches. I then wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and then rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and rubbed it down again with oil. I finished by sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave the stem a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I set it aside until the oil was dry.Dip29

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Dip32 I touched up the worn spots on the finish of the bowl with a dark brown stain pen and a black permanent marker and then buffed the bowl and stem with White Diamond on the wheel. I buffed it again with Blue Diamond and then gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax. I polished it with a clean flannel buff and then hand buff with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I like the looks of the saddle stem and the deep sandblast finish. The pipe has an understated elegance about it that I like.

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Home from Lethbridge, Alberta with a few Pipe Finds and Gifts

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Blog by Steve Laug

I was away for a little over a week and just returned from a week of rest and work in Lethbridge, Alberta with a good friend, Rohan. It was a great time. I am unable to visit somewhere without checking out antique shops or malls to see if I can find any pipes or tobacciana that interest me. So for sure I had to do a bit of that on this trip. On Saturday there was an Antique/Flea Market happening at the race track under the grand stands and we went to check it out. Over the years I have generally found something to take home with me on these expeditions. My friend’s wife found a nice wooden pipe rack with a humidor jar for him. I found a few items scattered around the market. The first of these was a rough old sandblast billiard that was stamped Diplomat and Italy on the bottom of the shank. The stem was not the original as it did not fit. Whoever owned it before had wrapped the tenon with thread and tin foil to hold it in place in the shank. They had also hacked up the stem with files to cut a new button and grooves on the underside to make it a dental bit. It was very rough. I paid $10 Cndn for it which for the American’s reading this is about $6. Not a bad deal.Leth1 I also found an unused Kleen Reem pipe tool in a hard shell case. All parts were there and the lining of the box was a little worn for wear. The tool itself was spotless and the band of pipe cleaner pieces was still present. I paid $20 for the tool which is a great deal for a vintage pipe tool that was still unused.Leth2 The third item shown in the photos is a pipe lighter. It did not have flints in the chamber so the wheel free spun. It is stamped Fisher Elite over Made in Canada. This little lighter was $10. It will take a bit of work to get it working well again but it is a nice piece of tobacciana and Canadian made to boot.Leth3 Rohan had made several trips recently and picked up some gifts for me. I thank him for his thoughtfulness. The first of these was a little hand carved pipe from Columbia. It is similar to the ones that friends have brought back for me from Nepal. I know it is not a tobacco pipe but it is interesting nonetheless and now sits on my book case with a pipe from Viet Nam, two from Nepal, two older Ropp Cherrywood pipe. The other gift was from a recent trip to Australia. He picked up this leather covered Butane torch lighter for me that will make a great addition to my lighters.Leth4

Leth5 It was a great trip in a lot of ways. My friend and I enjoyed many a bowl together on his front porch and on Monday afternoon visited a pipe man from England that lived down the street from Rohan. He invited the two of us to join him on his patio. We looked over his collection of pipes and tobacco. Then we sat outside and chatted while enjoying a few bowls together. His wife brought us each a cup of tea and some butter tarts to enjoy while we visited.

Sitting at home now and cleaning up the Diplomat pipe I want to say, “Thanks Rohan for the great time and the memories that I added both in terms of pipes and lighters and shared bowls. I look forward to the next time we meet.”