by Steve Laug

This Sandblast Peterson’s Style Bent Billiard with brass ferrule and a modified Peterson’s stem is a beauty. It was one of a lot purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It is a Sand Blast Bent Billiard System Pipe with a smooth panel on the underside of the shank. The stem is a fancy vulcanite system style similar to a P-lip but with the airway exiting at the end of the button. The bowl is stained with a contrast of browns that give depth to the blast around the bowl and shank. It is stamped on the smooth panel on the underside of the shank and reads Duncan [over] Drysmoker. This second word under Duncan is faint in the middle but with Jeff’s help it is definitely a Drysmoker. Underneath it is stamped England [over] the shape number 40. It is definitely Duncan’s version of a Peterson’s System Standard pipe. The shape, the drilling, the ferrule and the stem style are similar. The button on the Peterson’s has the airway on the top while the Duncan has it on the stem end. The bowl had a thick cake and some tobacco debris on the walls. There was an overflow of lava and debris in the inwardly bevelled rusticated finish of the rim top. There was grime ground into the finish which left the bowl and shank dirty and dull. The vulcanite saddle P-lip style stem has light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it.   Jeff took photos of the rim top and bowl to show the condition. It had a thick cake and there was darkening on the inner edge and lava in the sandblast rim top. The photos of the stem also show the light tooth chatter and marks on both sides. Jeff took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the condition and the debris in the low places of the sandblast. It also shows the oils that are ground into the finish. The brass ferrule looked good and was also oxidized. Jeff also took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank and it was faint in the middle of the stamp but the top line and the bottom line were very clear. The shape number is also a clear stamp. With some help from Jeff the middle word is identified as Drysmoker. The pipe came from Jeff clean and the finish had life. 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. It was in good condition. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with cotton swabs, 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. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and soaked it in Briarville’s Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off with a soft cloth. 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 some photos of the rim top and stem to show the condition of them both when the pipe arrived. Overall it looked good. The rim top had some faded spots that would need to be restained to match the bowl sides but it was good. The stem looked much better and should polish up very well. I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. The top line and two bottom lines are readable. The middle line under Duncan is Drysmoker. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to show the look of the pipe.The bowl was in great condition. I touched up the rim top with a Cherry Stain pen to match the surrounding colour of the briar. The match worked very well.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and into the deeper parts of the sandblast with a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to remove the remnants of oxidation and the scratches from sanding it. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. It began to look better.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off an Obsidian Oil cloth. This beautiful mixed finish Duncan Drysmoker 40 Sandblast System Pipe, that is an obvious take on a Peterson’s System Pipe with a bent vulcanite stem has a great look and feel. I polished the stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish 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 to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The rich combination of browns and blacks in the smooth, rusticated and plateau finish took on life with the buffing. The rich colour of the briar works well with the polished vulcanite stem. I like the sandblast grain and finished look of this Duncan Drysmoker 40 Sandblast System Pipe. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ wide, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 60 grams/2.12 ounces. This Duncan English Made Drysmoker System pipe is a real beauty. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipes Makers Section shortly if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for your time.