Blog by Steve Laug

I received a contact message from the rebornpipes site regarding the sale of a pipe reamer. There was no message or information, just the link to the eBay sale item. I went to the item and had a look. It was listed as The Morabb Pipe Scraper. Since I collect old pipe reamers this would be another unique addition to the collection. It was interesting looking and enough of an oddity that I threw a bid on it. I was the only bidder which did not surprise me and this morning I won the item. It is on its way to me in Vancouver from England. Should be here in a week or two but in the mean time I thought since it was unique enough I would write a quick blog on it and post it in anticipation of its arrival.The seller described it as follows and his description set the hook for me. “This little item is a classic 1930s example of the Pipe Smoker’s paraphernalia and was used to ream out the bowl of the pipe to clean it. It is approximately 6cms long and is adjustable to different bowl sizes. A nice addition to a collection of smoker’s requisites. The piece is stamped on the handles as follows: The “Morabb” original vintage 1930s adjustable tobacco pipe scraper/reamer. Nickelled (nickel plated) metal. Made in England. It has a UK Patent Number: 177053/22. It is a rare collectible item in very good condition (vgc)… I had never seen one of these before and there was something charming about it in my opinion. I was glad to be able to add it to my collection.The seller included the above photos and these two of the piece looking at it from the top. It was and interesting looking piece of tobacciana and one that fit well into my reamer collection.Since I had not heard of the brand and was unfamiliar with how it worked I did a bit of hunting on the internet. I wanted to see if I could find more information. I tried a UK data base search and was unable to find anything of help. No matter how I entered the Patent number I did not find any listings. However, I did find several listings for the same kind of reamer on the web. There was one that was still boxed on Worthpoint and on eBay. I am pretty sure it was the same piece. I scrolled through the photos and did screen captures of one that showed the box that the scraper came in and the contents of the open box. I also found a photo of the instruction sheet that came in the original package. Now the wait begins while the pipe scraper makes its way across the pond to Canada. I am looking forward to trying it out and seeing how it works. The directions are quite clear so I suppose if I follow them I will have the success that they promise. Thanks for looking.