Tag Archives: Dr. Grabow Adjustomatic

Restoring a Dr. Grabow “Commodore” #39

Blog by Paresh Deshpande

After we bid our farewells to my Guru and Mentor, Steve Laug and his brother, Jeff, (Dal had left a couple of days earlier) I felt a void. All of a sudden there was nothing to look forward to, no pipe talks, no planned activities, nobody to share a smoke with and above all, their mere presence was being missed by Abha, my wife and both daughters, not to mention me too! It was my youngest daughter, Pavni, who suggested that we restore a pipe!! What a suggestion that was! Our spirits immediately soared and I pulled out my “MUMBAI BONANZA” pipe box to select one pipe.

The one that caught our collective attention was a pick axe shaped pipe that we had come to associate with Kriswill as I have inherited a few. However, this had a “Spade” stamped on its stem in white. It was a Dr. Grabow.

For those readers who have missed out on my previous work, I was fortunate enough to have heeded the advice of my dear friend and mentor, Steve, and struck a deal with a junk collector from Mumbai. He did not know what he was selling and I did not know what I was buying as we reside in different cities!! The argument that Mr. Steve presented was that if not anything, I shall at least have some spares and this was logical. I struck a deal and here are pictures of the pipes that I received in this lot. This lot contains some very nice collectible pipes, a few well known brands and some mediocre brands. Overall, with seven Dunhill pipes, a Preben Holm #1 FH, a couple of “Made in England” Pete System pipes, a couple of Charatan’s Belvedere, Custom-Bilt, Stanwell and other assorted pipes, I would say that I had struck a decent haul!!! This is indeed my “Mumbai Bonanza”.

The eleventh pipe that we decided to work on from this find is a pickaxe shaped pipe and is indicated in red colored arrow in the picture below. It is stamped on the right side of the shank as “COMMODORE” in block letter over “DR. GRABOW” again in block letter. The shape code “# 39” is also stamped on the right side towards the shank end and away in the middle of the two lines. The left side of the shank is devoid of any stamping, which is slightly unusual as most of carvers and makers prefer to stamp their pipes on the left. The stem bears the famous “Ace of Spades” logo in white, embedded on the left side of the stem. Now coming to the research of this brand and line/ model in specific, I referred to pipedia.org and as expected there is an extensive research on this pipe and even has a separate page on the dating of Dr. Grabow pipes, starting from the Linkman era to later pipe lines and numbers which makes for an interesting read and is highly recommended. This research has been done by Russell McKay, and is from his website DrGrabow-pipe-info.com. Here is the link to the page on pipedia.org:

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Grabow_Models_(Series,Line)_Names_Through_the_Years

I found what I was looking for in the list of most “newer” Dr. Grabow pipe names and is reproduced below;

COMMODORE (c1964) — First appears in a magazine ad for $7.95 as early as 1964. Like the Sculptura, later models were sandblasted in a “big” blast circa 1967-69 (See “Sculptura” for details.)

From the above information, it is evident that the pipe currently on my work table is from the period 1967-69, even though the line was first introduced in 1964 since the stummel is beautifully sandblasted. With this input on the vintage of this pipe, I move ahead with the restoration of this 50 plus years old pipe!

INITIAL VISUAL INSPECTION
I usually start my initial visual inspection by going over the chamber first. However, in this particular pipe, I was so drawn by the beautiful sandblast on the stummel that I decided to change the order and start with the stummel.

The stummel boasts one of the most beautiful sandblast patterns with the front of the bowl having circular blasted pattern and from the outer most part of this blast ring, the sandblast that radiates from the front of the stummel and moving around to the sides and back of the stummel with the cross grains and the straight grains forming an intricate crisscross patterns. It is a visual treat to say the least and difficult to explain in mere words! The following two pictures of the cleaned stummel will give the readers an idea of the sandblast patterns on the stummel.The sandblasted stummel is covered in dirt and grime of 50 plus years of its existence. This should clean up nicely. The stummel surface is solid with no damage to the external surface. The dark browns of the raised sandblast contrast beautifully with the black stain of rest of the stummel. A thick layer of cake can be seen in the chamber. The sandblasted rim top surface is covered in thick overflow of lava, dirt, dust and grime. The condition of the inner walls of the chamber and rim top surface will be known once the cake has been taken down to bare briar and the rim top crud has been scraped off completely (thankfully readers cannot see or hear me muttering silent prayers!!). The inner rim condition appears to be in good condition with no burn/ charred surfaces. Even the outer rim edge appears to be in a decent condition. Only once the stummel has been thoroughly cleaned that I can be sure of my initial appreciation. In spite of the thick cake, the chamber odor is, surprisingly, not strong and should be addressed once the cake has been taken down to the bare briar. The shank end has a metal band around the center and this metal band extends inside the shank with threads, over which the threaded stem stinger is seated in to the mortise. Thankfully, the band and threads are all intact. The mortise is blocked with dried gunk, adversely affecting the airflow. The metal band is dull and dirty in appearance.The stem is an “Adjustomatic” type (a patent for stem to shank threading system, later Patent #2461905 which was filed on 25th January 1946 by David P. Lavietes). This patent allows the stem to be turned in the shank for a perfect alignment without having to detach the two. The stem is attached to the shank by a threaded “tool” stinger (again patented by the brand way back in 1924 and upgraded over the years) and the stem can be turned over this stinger for alignment of the shank and stem. Unfortunately, the previous owner had this stinger cut ahead of the threaded portion so that the attachment of the stem to the shank is not affected at all. The vulcanite stem is heavily oxidized and has calcification deposits towards the button end. There are a few deep tooth marks on the lower and upper stem surface. The button edges also have bite marks. The stinger opening and the horizontal slot shows accumulated oils and tars. The threaded portion of what remains of the stinger is covered in dried dust, dirt and grime. The alignment of the stem and shank skewed with the stem being overturned to the right.THE PROCESS
I started the restoration with cleaning of the stummel as I was keen to know the condition of the walls of the chamber. With size 1 head of a Castleford pipe reamer, I took the cake down to bare briar. Using a folded piece of 180 grit sand paper, I sand out the last traces of cake and expose the walls of the chamber to ascertain that there are no cracks/ heat fissures. I wiped the chamber with a cotton pad dipped in isopropyl alcohol to remove the carbon dust left behind by all the reaming and sanding process. I was happy to note that the walls of the chamber are in pristine condition without any heat fissures or pits. The inner and outer edge of the rim are intact and without any burn or char marks. Next I decided to address the stem. I cleaned the internals of the stem using hard and normal bristled pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. The stem airway and the open ended stinger were filthy as can be made out from the number of pipe cleaners that were used up in the cleaning process. I cleaned the complete stem with a cotton swab and alcohol to remove the calcification from the button end and thereafter flamed the stem surface with the flame of a lighter to raise the tooth indentation to the surface. I scrubbed and cleaned the portion of the stinger that remained. I liberally applied petroleum jelly to the stinger to protect it and dropped the stem in to the “Before and After Deoxidizer” solution which Jeff had lugged all the way from Idaho, USA for me. This solution, which has been developed by Mark Hoover, has reduced my time in working on removing stem oxidation by ¼ and should form a part of the list of ‘must have’ items for restoring a pipe.While the stem was soaking in the “Before and After Deoxidizer” solution, I cleaned out the internals of the shank and mortise. Using my fabricated tool, I scraped out all the dried oils, tars and gunk that had accumulated in the shank airway and mortise. The amount of crud that was scrapped out leaves no surprise why air flow through it was restricted. I finished the cleaning by running a few pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl alcohol. I also wiped the metal band and the threads with cotton buds and alcohol. With this cleaning, all old smells in the pipe are history. The pipe now smells clean and fresh.With the internals of the stummel now clean, I cleaned the external surface using a hard bristled toothbrush and Murphy’s Oil Soap. I diligently scrubbed the crevices formed by the sandblast to remove all the dust and dirt that was embedded in between. With a soft bristled brass wired brush, I gently removed the overflowing lava from the rim top surface and rinsed it under running tap water. I wiped the stummel dry with an absorbent soft cotton cloth. I am very pleased with the way the stummel has cleaned up. The sandblast looks absolutely gorgeous. Next, I rub a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” in to the briar with my finger tips, work it deep in to the sandblasts and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works its magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance with the beautiful sandblast patterns on full display. I further buff it with a horse hair shoe brush. With this, I keep the stummel aside and turn my attention to the stem repairs. While I was working on the stummel, Abha, my wife had in the meanwhile fished out the stem from the ‘Before and After Deoxidizer’ solution after a soak of about 6 hours. She rinsed it under running tap water to remove all the sticky solution that remained on the surface. She also let the water run through the stem airway and blew through it to dislodge the solution that remained inside and followed it up with a thorough cleaning with Mr. Magiclean sponge and 0000 grade steel wool. She finished her part in cleaning of the stem with a vigorous rubbing with a microfiber cloth. This removed nearly all of the oxidation from the stem surface, however, the deep tooth indentations at the button edge and in the bite zone still needed to be addressed. And as is her habit, she did not take any pictures of this process.

I began my part of stem repairs by sanding the stem with a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper. This helps in getting rid of what little oxidation remained while providing a smooth surface for the intended fills to reconstruct the damaged bite zone on both surfaces and also the button edges. I wiped the stem surface, particularly the damaged areas, with a cotton pad and alcohol to remove any traces of dirt and grime. I prepared a mix of CA superglue and activated charcoal and carefully applied it over the damaged bite zone on both surfaces, and button edges and set it aside for curing over night. I had applied this mix in sufficient thickness which would help during the filing and sanding to match the fills with the stem surface and shaping the button. Once the fills had cured sufficiently, using a flat head needle file, I reshaped the button and roughly matched the fills with the rest of the stem surface. I followed it up by further sanding the stem with 320, 600 and 800 grit sand papers to achieve a perfect blending of the fills with the stem surface and a crisp button edge on either side of the stem. Using the micromesh pads, I complete the polishing cycle by wet sanding the surface with 1500 to 12000 girt pads. The stem looks great with the fills nicely matched with the rest of the surface. I rub a little quantity of Extra Virgin Olive oil in to the stem surface and set it aside to be absorbed by the vulcanite. The only issue that remains unaddressed at this stage is the issue of overturned stem. Being an adjustomatic stem, I fixed the stem in to the shank and tried to turn the stem to match the shank applying just adequate pressure. However, the stem would not budge. Not wanting to create further complications like broken stinger or wearing down of the threads, I unscrewed the stem from the shank. With the flame of a lighter, I heated the aluminum stinger to a point where the stem was just about able to rotate on the stinger. I reattached the stem to the shank while the stinger was still warm, and turned it till the alignment was perfect as I desired and set it aside to cool down. Actually the reasoning behind heating the stinger is that the gunk which accumulates on the stinger and further percolates inside is loosened, thus freeing the stem.

To complete the restoration, I mounted a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool. I set the speed at about half of the full power and applied White Diamond compound to the entire pipe. I wiped/ buffed the pipe with a soft cotton cloth to clear it of any leftover compound dust. With a cotton buffing wheel earmarked for Red Tripoli, which has a finer grit than White compound, I buffed the stem to a fine glossy finish. I then mounted another cotton cloth wheel on to the polishing machine and applied several coats of carnauba wax. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. The finished pipe looks amazingly beautiful and is now ready for its long second innings with me. I only wish it could share with me its life story of the past 50 plus years while I enjoy smoking my favorite Virginia blend in it!! P.S. I have to admit to the readers of this blog that I had completed this project in the month of May 2019 but I kept procrastinating on the write up. To be honest, I find doing the write up on any project more tedious and difficult than working on the project itself and Steve will bear with me on this fact. And the fact that English is not my first language further makes it all the more challenging. There are nine more pending write ups which I shall be tackling before I undertake any new restoration, God!! I don’t want to scare myself!! I wish to thank each one for sparing their valuable time to read through and any inputs or advice is always welcome.

Rebuilding a Dr. Grabow Regal Adjustomatic Patent Billiard

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One of the few pipes with a stem included in my gift box of bowls was a nice little Dr. Grabow Billiard. It had a long stem that clearly fit the shank of the pipe and gave it an elegant look and feel. At first glance I figured this one would clean up quite easily. The varnish finish on the bowl was worn and spotty with pieces of the varnish coat peeling off the surface of the briar. The rim was coated with a thick layer of tars and oils but looked sound. The bowl had a thick cake particularly from mid bowl to the bottom of the bowl. It was very hard and was not crumbling at all. It had however, closed the bowl to a large degree. The mortise was part of the aluminum band on the shank. It was a threaded cast piece that was fitted against the briar and was oxidized. The internals were quite clean. The bowl was stamped on the left side: REGAL over Dr. Grabow. On the right side it was stamped Imported Briar over Adjustomatic over PAT. 2461905. I have written about the patent on the Adjustomatic tenon/stem in an earlier post on rebornpipes: https://rebornpipes.com/tag/dr-grabow-adjustomatic/ I included patent information and diagrams on that page so I will not repeat that material in this post. The stem had thick calcification on the top and bottom sides of the stem and looked like it had one time sported a softie bit. When I turned the stem over there was a large hole in the underside from the button forward. I wiped down the bowl with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the damaged varnish and prepare the bowl for possible restaining once the rim had been cleaned off. It took some scrubbing but I was able to get rid of the varnish from the surface and out of the grooves in the carved leaves on both sides of the bowl. It turned out that underneath the peeling varnish there was some very nice grain on the pipe. The top and bottom of the shank and the front and back of the bowl were really nice cross grain. There was a small nick in the back of the bowl near the top of the rim that had a small fill otherwise the briar was flawless. The sides were very nice birdseye grain. This was going to be a stunning pipe once it was finished. I wiped down the buildup on the rim and was unable to even dent the hard tar. I lightly topped the bowl on a topping board to take of the buildup and not affect the rim itself. I carefully removed the tars, checking every move across the sandpaper to make sure that I was not damaging the surface of the rim. Once I had cut through the buildup the briar was in very good shape. I used a PipNet reamer with the smallest cutting head to remove the carbon cake in the bowl. Even the smallest head was hard to turn against the rock hard cake of this bowl. I carefully worked it back and forth, being careful not to tip the cutting head to either side and lose the roundness of the bowl. Once I had gotten the head in as far as possible I used a pen knife to work on the bottom portion of the bowl and then reworked the reamer in that area. I decided to try to patch the hole in the stem. I cleaned hole and put Vaseline on a pipe cleaner. I inserted it in the airway then sprayed accelerator on the stem, put black superglue on the hole and let it sit. The hole was quite large and I was not sure that the repair would hold. I applied the glue in several layers building up the patch until it was quite thick. I sprayed it with the accelerator each time to speed the drying time. I sanded the patched area with 150 and 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the patch and then reapplied more black super glue and accelerator. I set the stem aside and let it cure. In the morning I sanded the stem patch until it was smooth in the process my fingernail went through the stem above the patch. I explored the thickness of the stem up the stem and found that I could push through the airway quite a distance up the stem (Photo 1 below). After that fiasco I noticed that the patch was also quite unstable. I was able to push out the patch with my fingernail. The stem after patching and pushing through the repair is shown in Photo 2. At this point it was clear that a stem patch would not work on this stem. With the thinness of the vulcanite extending up the stem about an inch it was not clear how far that would go. I was going to need to do something different. I cut off the stem with a Dremel and sanding drum. After cutting it off I could see the problem – airway was drilled very high in the stem. There was no room for cutting a new button on the stem and opening up the slot. The top of the stem was thin for another inch toward the tenon. I had to come up with something very different to address this issue. I had an old Kaywoodie stem in my can of stems that was about the same diameter as the damaged one. It was missing the club logo in the side of the stem but had a club shaped hole. I heated the stinger on the KW stem with a lighter and then was able to remove it with a pair of needle nose pliers. I also heated the Grabow stem with the lighter and worked on it with the pliers. It came out slowly. I finally screwed it into the bowl and turned it until the stem came off. I then unscrewed the tenon from the bowl. I tried it in the KW stem and it was just a little bit bigger than the hole in the stem. I would need to drill it one size larger to get a fit. I used my cordless drill to drill it out. It had to be slightly larger and slightly deeper than the KW stinger apparatus. To make room for the lip on the aluminum piece I used a sharp knife to bevel the inner edge of the hole to accommodate the lip. The Grabow tenon/adjustomatic apparatus fit in the shank and I pressed it into place to see if the fit was correct. I then removed it and used a white all purpose glue to hold it in place. There was a removable stinger end for the tenon so I reinserted that in place and the new insert was ready. The fit of the stem against the shank was perfect. The diameter of the stem was slightly larger than the diameter of the shank so I would need to sand it to make them match. I tried to remove the Grabow insert from the old stem so that I could use it on the new stem. I tried to pick it out with a dental pick but was not able to remove it. I filled the club hole with black superglue and then sanded it smooth. I used 220 grit sandpaper to work on the diameter of the stem. I also sanded the end of the stem around the button to remove the tooth marks and chatter. The next series of four photos show the stem after all of the sanding and shaping. The new stem looked quite good with the bowl. The fit was perfect and the lines and flow of the angles was exactly what I was looking for when I started. I sanded the stem with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge and then refilled the small holes around the patched club logo with more superglue. I sanded the patch down with 220 grit sandpaper and resanded it with the sanding sponges until it was smooth. The photo below shows the two stem side by side. I sanded the stems with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil between each set of three grits of micromesh. I buffed the stem with White Diamond and then gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to work on the bowl. I buffed the bowl with White Diamond and carefully buffed around the stamping on the sides. I polished the aluminum shank band with the higher grades of micromesh pads and then a polishing cloth to remove the scratches and bring up the shine. The next series of four photos show the polished bowl before I worked on it with some 8000-12,000 grit micromesh pads. I gave the bowl a wiped down coat of Danish Oil and walnut stain. I wanted to give the briar a shine coat but not add much colour to the finish. It really made the grain pop on this one. Once the oil had dried I buffed the bowl with White Diamond and then gave it several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a soft flannel buff. I put the stem back in place and gave the bowl and stem several more coats of wax and buffed to a shine. The finished pipe is shown below. The look and feel of the pipe is like new. It is cleaned, restemmed, refinished and ready to fire up with its inaugural bowl of tobacco. It should last a long time and serve its owner well – whether I keep it or pass it on to another pipeman. (I decided to take these final photos on a piece of marble counter top to see if I could get a good contrast on the photos.)

Breathing New Life into a Dr. Grabow Riviera

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Blog by Steve Laug

When I am refurbishing pipes I take the same care on older factory made pipes as I do on the more collectible ones. To me this is part of the stewardship of refurbishing. It does not matter what the original price of the pipe was – it is worth redeeming and bringing back to life. The refurbishing of the next pipe is one of those. It is an older Dr. Grabow Riviera. It was given to me by a good friend in Ponoka, Alberta. He gave it to me as a gift when I visited him recently. It is stamped Riviera over Dr. Grabow on the left side of the shank and Imported Briar over Adjustomatic over a patent number – PAT. 2461905 on the right side of the shank. The stinger apparatus in this one is an insert into the metal tenon. It is tube with a scooped portion on top that has a hole in the bottom of the scoop. The air/smoke circulates in the shank and is drawn into the stem by the smoker. The surface area of the apparatus acts as a condenser and filter. The beauty of this design is that it can be removed. The stem was badly oxidized and also had tooth dents on the top and bottom near the button. The finish was shot and the varnish was peeling from the bowl and shank. The rim was darkened and dirty and had a small crack on the top left side. The four photos below show the state of the pipe when I brought it home.

I love doing research on old patents and with US made pipes it is very simple. The following website is a simple way to find data and diagrams. http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.htm In the search parameters you enter the patent number from the pipe and click on the search button. Generally, these older patents have been made into PDF files that can be downloaded. Here is a copy of the information I found there. It is a patent for the Adjustomatic connector. I always find reading through these patent application documents gives me a feel for why the designer came up with invention. This proved true of this application as well.

After reading through the patent information I was ready to restore this old pipe. It appeared to be made somewhere around the time of the Patent as it had the patent number stamped on it. That dated it somewhere around 1949 after the patent was given. I began by reaming the bowl with the PipNet reaming set to clear up the uneven and broken cake. I decided to work on the externals first. I wiped down the bowl and shank with acetone on a cotton makeup pad to remove the finish. There was some very nice grain poking through the mottled finish and very few tiny fills that made it even more attractive to me. The acetone removed the varnish very well and also took away the dirt and filth on the exterior. The first two photos below show the process of wiping down the bowl. The old finish is visible on the cotton pad.

Once the finish was removed from the bowl as much as possible with the acetone, I sanded it down with 340 grit sandpaper and a fine grit sanding sponge to further remove the finish. The next series of four photos show the bowl after the acetone wash and the sanding. The grain on this one is very nice. The inner rim would need to have some attention to smooth out the rough edges and the darkening.

I sanded the metal shank band as it had some deep scratches and gouges in it. I could not remove the damage but I minimized its look. I worked on the tooth marks in the topside and the underside of the stem surface. I heated the stem with a Bic lighter – passing the flame over the tooth marks to lift them to the surface. I then sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining marks that were present (Photos 1 – 4 below). I followed that by sanding with a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches left behind by the 220 grit sandpaper (Photos 5 – 6 below).

I sanded the entire stem with the sanding sponge to remove the oxidation from the vulcanite. I took the pipe apart and cleaned the stinger apparatus with a cotton swab and alcohol. The next two photos show that design of the stinger. It is a two part piece and the extended tube can be removed from the screw in metal tenon. I cleaned the inside of the stem and also the inside of the stinger to remove the buildup of tars and oils inside.

I sanded the bowl with 1500 – 12,000 grit micromesh sanding pads, being careful around the stamping on the shank. Once the scratches were removed and the bowl was smooth I restained it with a dark brown aniline stain thinned 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol. Doing this makes the stain less opaque and also several shades lighter. I wanted to highlight the grain not hide it so this was the perfect mix to do that. I applied the stain with a cotton swab, flamed it with a lighter to set the stain and then repeated the process a second time. The next three photos show that process. You will note that I also cleaned up the inner edge of the rim with the sanding process noted above. Most of the roughness is removed. A small crack remains on the top of the left side of the bowl rim.

I set the bowl aside and worked on finishing the stem. I sanded it with 1500 – 12,000 grit micromesh sanding pads until it was smooth and finished. I rubbed down the stem with Obsidian Oil to protect and remove the oxidation. I reattached it to the bowl and buffed the stem and bowl with White Diamond on the buffer. I gave the entirety several coats of carnauba wax to bring out the shine and protect it. The final four photos show the finished pipe – cleaned, restored and ready to smoke. The photos show tinges of brown/oxidation still remaining in the stem under the flash of the camera. To deal with that I polished the stem some more and gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil and let it soak in. Upon finishing I buffed it again with carnauba.