Tag Archives: finishing

Checkered History and Heritage of an East German Howal Old Briar Rustified Dublin

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Blog by Dal Stanton

Finally, a ‘simple’ clean up!  Or, so I hope.  The Howal has been in my ‘Help Me!’ basket for some time.  I bought him from a vendor in an antique market, in the shadow of Nevski Cathedral in downtown Sofia, Bulgaria.  It was from the same young man I purchased, out of his bag of pipe parts, an orphaned stummel which became my maiden restoration project published on Reborn Pipes.  I titled it, A Newbie Restore of a Dr. Plumb 9456 Oom Paul – only it wasn’t an Oom Paul.  Al Jones’ (aka, Upshallfan) comment to my first blog observed correctly: “the 9456 is a classic GBD shape, although it is considered to be a Bent Billiard (rather than a Oom-Paul).”  I’m thankful for much ‘newbie’ grace I have received!  Though, the pipe’s name is still Chicho Pavel, Bulgarian for Uncle Paul!  He continues to be a favorite in my rotation and a special friend.  The Howal (over Old Briar) Rustified Dublin now before me is of interest to me partly because of its origins.  The pictures from my work table give an overview of the pipe itself.howal1 howal2 howal3 howal4 howal5 howal6The Howal name is of interest to me because it originated from behind the former ‘Iron Curtain’ in East Germany during a geopolitical climate rife with change and human tragedy.  My wife and I have spent over two decades living behind what was formerly the Iron Curtain and this is the second Howal I’ve found in the same Antique Market here in Bulgaria.  The question that comes to my mind is whether Howals are more commonly found in Eastern Europe where perhaps, they were circulated under the old USSR in an enforced socialist, command economy?  Pipedia’s article was both interesting and helpful in understanding the predecessor of and origins of the Howal name:

C.S. Reich howal7was founded by Carl Sebastian Reich in Schweina, Germany in 1887. By its 50th jubilee in 1937 C.S. Reich was the biggest pipe factory in Germany.  In 1952, however, the owners of the company were imprisoned and the company itself was nationalized as Howal, an abbreviation of the German words for “wood products Liebenstein” or “Holzwaren Liebenstein”.  By the 1970’s Howal, after acquiring many other smaller pipe making firms, was the sole maker of smoking pipes in East Germany. In 1990, with the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of the Germanys, the company was closed.

While helpful for a broad sweep, I discovered much missing from this summary and it raises more questions.  From another interesting source, Edith Raddatz’s lecture on tobacco pipe production in Schweina at the Tobacco Pipe Symposium in 2003, it describes a history of pipe production in this central German village that was reminiscent of my research into France’s pipe mecca, St. Claude.  A strong development of the pipe making industry can be traced in the 1800s to the apex of the C.S. Reich Co. being Germany’s largest pipe producer in 1937, but Raddatz’s lecture reveals that other producers of pipes were also based in the German village of Schweina.  Pipedia’s article above describes how the owners of the C.S. Reich Co. were arrested and imprisoned followed by the nationalization of the Reich Co. and becoming ‘Howal’, an acronym for “Wood Products Liebenstein” – Bad Liebenstein was the town that bordered and absorbed the village of Schweina. The question begs to be asked – which, unfortunately introduces the human tragedy wrapped around the name ‘Howal’ – Why were the owners arrested?  In an unlikely source, the website of the ‘Small Tools Museum’ adds the names of those imprisoned: shareholders Robert Hergert and Karl Reich.

Edith Raddatz’s lecture (referenced above) brings more light to the difficult geopolitical realities these people faced (Google translated from German – brackets my clarifications):

By 1945 the company, which had meanwhile [passed to] the next generation – Kurt Reich And Walter Malsch – [had] about 100 employees.   Among them were many women who mainly did the painting work.  At the beginning of the 1950s, an era ended in Schweina. The first [oldest] tobacco pipe factory in Schweina closed their doors. There were several reasons for this. Kurt Reich passed away in 1941, [and] Walter Malsch [in] 1954.  The political situation in the newly founded GDR made the conditions for private entrepreneurship difficult. The heirs of the company “AR Sons” [Reich family] partly moved to West Germany. The operation was nationalized and later toys were made there.

howal8In post WWII occupied Germany, the Soviet occupied section was declared to be a sovereign state and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was established in 1949 (See link).  With a rudimentary understanding of Marxism and the economic philosophy undergirding it, it is not difficult to deduce what brought the demise of the C. S. Reich Co. and the formation of Howal.  Solidification of the FDR’s hold on power paralleled the necessity to nationalize private ownership and to institute a State-centered command economy.  These efforts gained momentum and forced companies/workers to work more with no additional pay.  In 1952, the year that the owners of C. S. Reich Co., were arrested, this edict was advanced (See link):

In July 1952 the second party conference of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) took place in East Berlin. In SED General Secretary Walter Ulbricht‘s words, there was to be the “systematic implementation of Socialism” (planmäßiger Aufbau des Sozialismus); it was decided that the process of  Sovietization should be intensified and the importance of the state expanded. The party was acting on demands made by Soviet premier Joseph Stalin.[2]

howal9As a result, Germany remembers the Uprising of 1953 which started in East Berlin, as factory workers revolted against the repression of the GDR, and spread to all East Germany.  Many lost their lives as Moscow responded to squelch the unrest with tanks on the streets.  In play also, was the mass exodus of people fleeing to West Germany, which included, per Edith Radditz’s lecture, the Reich family, who would have been heirs of the family’s legacy and company – pipe making.  Also in 1953, completing the State forced abolition of any Reich claim, the largest pipe making company of Germany was seized, nationalized, and changed from C. S. Reich Co. to Howal.  As ‘Howal’, pipes continued to be produced, undoubtedly with the same hands and sweat of the people of Schweina, along with other wooden products, such as toys.  In the Pipedia article I quoted above, it said:

By the 1970’s Howal, after acquiring many other smaller pipe making firms, was the sole maker of smoking pipes in East Germany. In 1990, with the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of the Germanys, the company was closed.

My curiosity piqued, what does it mean when it says that Howal acquired many other smaller pipe making firms?  Should we question whether these words can be understood in the normal free market enterprise way we are accustomed?  Doubtful.

As I now look at this Howal before me, it is with a greater connection to its checkered past, the people of Germany’s pipe making heritage, and specifically, to the hands that drilled, shaped and finished the pipe.  The possible dating of this Howal spans from 1953 to 1990, when the Howal factory was closed for good with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the old USSR (See link).  The Howal markings on the left side of the shank are in very good shape.  The rustification is very attractive in the Dublin style – definitely an ‘olde world’ feel.  There are some marks on the rim.  The bowl is totally free of cake – someone did some clean-up work before coming to me.  The dark color of the stummel appears to be paint or a black stain – I can see brown around the nomenclature on the shank.  I will clean the stummel with Murphy’s and see what happens.  There is no oxidation on the stem nor teeth chatter or dents.  So, could this Howal be only a simple cleaning and freshening?

I start by taking a picture of the rim and markings to take a closer look at areas of question.  Then using Q-tips and pipe cleaners with isopropyl 95% I start cleaning the stummel internals.  After only one plunge of a Q-tip, I see that the mortise is full of the black finish that is also on the external surface.  I find no tobacco gunk in the mortise, only black dye – or whatever it is.  After several Q-tips and some pipe cleaners, I decide simple to fill the mortise with isopropyl and let it soak for a few hours.  This did the trick.  After pouring off the dirty isopropyl the Q-tips, after the soak, started coming out clean very quickly.  Stummel done.  The stem required very little effort.  The pictures show the progress.howal10 howal11 howal12 howal13 howal14 howal15I take undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and scrub the stummel surface with cotton pads and a bristled brush. I want to test the finish to see how solid it is as well as clean the grime out of the rustification ridges.  After a good scrub, I rinse the soap of the stummel with tap water, careful not to allow water inside. howal16After drying, I have two impressions of the black finish.  First, the splotched glossy areas left over from the Murphy’s scrub remind me of the acrylic finishes that I’ve seen on smooth briars.  Secondly, the finish now is speckled where the briar is coming through.  Decision time.  A plan starts formulating in my mind.  I like the rustification of the Howal Dublin and I very much like the feel of the Dublin in my hand – it has a good ‘meditation’ appeal, which is a good quality for a pipe J.  Yet, truth be known, I’m not a fan of the black finish.  To me it is plain and stark – it lacks depth and interplay with the tight, crisp rustification patterns.   I decide to continue scrubbing the surface with Murphy’s Soap to remove the remaining glossy spots but to leave the black hue in place.  After Murphy’s, I use some isopropyl 95% with a cotton pad and work on the glossy areas.  While not 100% gloss free, the last picture shows sufficient progress.  I will give more thought to the plan at this point.  The pictures tell the story.howal17 howal18 howal19With a night of rest now fueling the thoughts, I decide to use the dark stain on the stummel as a back coat for a subtle Oxblood over-coat.  My goal is to create more depth in the rustification by introducing another hue.  I begin preparation of the stummel by very lightly sanding the top peaks of the rustification ridges with a 1500 grade micromesh pad.  I do this to create entry points for the new dye in raw briar opened by the sanding.  I’m thinking of the restoration I did with the classic rustified Lorenzo Rialto for the basic approach I’m now employing.  I want the surface to be clean so I follow the sanding by wiping the surface with a cotton pad and isopropyl 95%. I use a black Sharpie pen to darken the worn ring of bare briar around the rim of the Dublin for better blending.  I included a picture of the Lorenzo Rialto to get an idea of where I’m hopefully heading!howal20 howal21 howal22 howal23In preparation to apply the stain, I cover the Howal gold lettering stamping with a bit of Petroleum Jelly to protect it. Using my wife’s hair dryer, I warm the stummel to open the briar to the new dye. Using a cork inserted in the bowl as a handle, I liberally apply Fiebing’s Oxblood Leather Dye to the surface of the stummel with a doubled pipe cleaner – careful to cover the entire stummel and rim.  After the initial application, I fire the aniline dye and the alcohol burns off quickly setting the hue in the briar.  After a few minutes, I repeat the process to assure an ample coverage and put the stummel aside to rest. The pictures show the progress.howal24 howal25With the newly dyed stummel resting, since the Howal’s stem came to me in good condition – no tooth chatter or dents, I start wet sanding the stem using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400.  I follow the wet sanding with an application of Obsidian Oil on the hungry vulcanite.  I then dry sand with micromesh pads 3200 to 4000 and then 6000 to 12000 – following each set with an application of Obsidian Oil.  The stem looks great – that newly polished vulcanite pop is very nice.  I put the stem aside to dry.  The pictures show the progress.howal26 howal27 howal28Time to ‘unwrap’ the fired, crusted Oxblood dye I applied to the dark stummel.  I mount a new felt polishing wheel on the Dremel and set the speed to the slowest setting and utilize the fine abrasion of Tripoli compound to take the crusted layer off.  Patiently, I move the wheel across the surface in a circular motion, allowing the RPMs of the Dremel and the compound to do the work – I apply little downward pressure on the briar.  As the results started to appear, I see the Oxblood speckling I was hoping to see, but not as much.  I decide to follow by lightly sanding the rustified surface with a 1500 micromesh pad.  This resulted in the direction I wanted to go, but I wanted the Oxblood hints, beginning to peek out, to be a few shades darker, richer.  Even though I had already put away the stain and cleaned up, I decide to repeat the staining as before – hopefully to realize the results I can envision in my mind.  The bottom picture in the set shows the stummel after the second staining with Frieberg’s Oxblood Leather Dye – not looking much different than before but simply to chronicle my procedure.  The first picture, after the Tripoli then after, the sanding show the developing motif with the Oxblood and the rustification. howal29 howal30 howal31After several hours, admittedly, I was a bit impatient to unwrap the fired crust the second time around.  In the time in between, I had some time to think about the next step. My usual approach is to use a felt polishing wheel with the application of Tripoli compound to smooth briars.  A felt wheel is flatter and firmer than a cotton cloth wheel and therefore, more abrasive than the cotton cloth wheel.  With use on a rustified surface, I’m thinking that the felt wheel might possibly ride more naturally on the peeks of the raised ridges and possible do its work unevenly – at least in theory.  My usual approach with the Dremel is to use a cotton cloth wheel when coming to the carnauba wax polishing stage.  I decide to mount a cotton cloth wheel for both compounds I employ, Tripoli and Blue Diamond, and see how it goes.  With the new cotton cloth wheel mounted on the Dremel, I’m ready to put theory into practice first with the Tripoli compound.  The only problem breaking in a new cotton cloth wheel is that loose fibers run amuck and I’m covered!  I continue to use the slowest speed the Dremel can offer for the compound.  After the Tripoli, again with a new cotton cloth wheel, I apply Blue Diamond compound.  I am truly amazed at the subtle Oxblood texturing that emerges – it is working!  I find that I spent more time with the Tripoli as the Tripoli was the abrasive that created the effects of the Oxblood speckles.  Where there were none or few Oxblood accents, I focused the Tripoli wheel at that area and the highlights would begin to appear.  With the Blue Diamond I spend much less time as it was shining what was already revealed not bringing out more.  I take a picture after the compound phase.howal32 After the compounds, I hand buff the stummel with a cotton cloth, not so much as to shine the stummel but to remove residue compound powders left over.  I do this before the application of carnauba wax, also with a cotton cloth wheel, but with the Dremel increased to number 2 of 5 (being the fastest).  After reuniting the stummel and stem, I give both several applications of carnauba wax.  The only difference in technique with the wax is that with a small, Dremel polishing wheel, I am able strategically to apply the wax so it doesn’t get gunked up in the ridges of the rustification.  I keep the wheel parallel with the grain and follow the ridges/valleys as I apply the carnauba.  With the compounds, you are still sanding and ‘taking off’ from the finish, even though it’s shining things.  With the wax, you’re not taking but leaving something behind – the wax has the purpose of polishing and protecting the finish. After applying the carnauba, I decide to do one more thing to recommission the rustified Dublin.  With Rub ‘n Buff European Gold Wax Metallic Finish, which I just acquired during my Christmas visit to the States, I spruced up the Howal nomenclature.  I applied the Rub ’n Buff with a pointed Q-tip and carefully wiped the excess.  After dried, again I spruced up the area with a few passes of the carnauba wax wheel.  A few pictures show the before and after.howal33 howal34To finish, I give the stummel and stem a rigorous hand buffing with a micromesh cloth to bring out and deepen the shine.

I have a deeper appreciation for the name this rustified Dublin carries.  Understanding the past helps us to stay rooted in the present.  I appreciate better the legacy of the Howal name and the journey of the Carl Sebastian Reich family beginning in Schweina, Germany in 1887.  I’m very pleased with the results of the Oxblood finish.  In the presentation pictures below, I had to take some unusually close shots to see the subtle Oxblood highlights hidden by the reflection of the light.  To me, the finish adds depth and texture to the attractive rustified Dublin.  If you would like to add this Howal Old Briar to your pipe collection and stories, see my blog at The Pipe Steward.  Thanks for joining me!howal35 howal36 howal37 howal38 howal39 howal40

 

A Gold Banded Bent Dublin Eldorado Lucite of Italy

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Blog by Dal Stanton

When I first saw this Eldorado Lucite, I believed it to be a Zulu or Woodstock, the Dublin’s smaller cousin.  In the end, I settled on it being a bent Dublin because the stummel was larger than I would expect a Zulu’s to be.  When I saw the Eldorado Lucite bent Dublin on the eBay auction block, two things, no, three things drew my attention motivating me to slog through the bidding and bring this pipe home to Bulgaria.  First, the shape is very attractive – I like the curve of the Dublin’s natural ‘nose-forward’ stummel flowing to and through the stem; an attractive pipe, I wanted to try it out in my palm.  Secondly, the briar’s potential.  I love taking smooth briars and bringing out the grain to encourage a double-take.  The straight grain of the Eldorado is nice.  Thirdly, the band – a touch of class for any pipe, but for this pipe, also raises some questions. The following eBay photos from the seller show what I saw.el1 el2When I retrieved this pipe out of the “Help Me!” basket in Sofia, I take a fresh look at the Eldorado over Lucite – stamped distinctly on the left shank.  The right shank shows Imported Briar over Italy.  Both stamps are obstructed/hidden somewhat by the band which immediately brings into question the possibility of the band being part of a cracked shank repair.  I would not think the original design would include a band hiding part of the nomenclature, but I might be wrong!  After removing the stem, I inspect the mortise and conclude that a crack may be there, but it’s not conclusive – at least to me.  The band is gold and stamped with hallmarks of 1/20 14KT (ensconced in a diamond) G.F.  Looking on the internet, I discover from  RareGoldJewelry.com these hallmarks indicate the ratio of gold in the band is at about 1 to 20.  Rated at 14 karats means that it’s approximately 58% gold and the band is ‘gold filled’ rather than ‘gold plated.’  Regarding gold filled and gold plated, eBay’s buyers’ guide jewelry describes the difference:

Gold-filled jewelry is much more valuable than gold-plated. In fact, there is almost 100 percent more gold in gold-filled items than is found in gold-plated items. Just as gold-plated jewelry is plated with gold, gold-filled jewelry is as well, but there is a big difference between the ways these products are made.  Gold-filled items have a much thicker layer of gold on them, and the gold is a much higher quality. In fact, it is just a step down from solid gold when it comes to quality and value. Speaking of solid gold, pure gold is very soft and is not a good choice for jewelry; that is why an alloy is almost always used for gold jewelry items, even in jewelry pieces worth an incredible amount of money.

If this band is part of a cracked shank repair, which doesn’t appear to be the case, it seems that whoever had this pipe valued it quite a bit to add a gold band.  Another question is raised regarding the name – Eldorado Lucite.  According to the compilation of Herb Wilczak & Tom Colwell (3/3/97) ‘Who Made That Pipe’ (Yes, Santa brought this!) lists Eldorado as Maker or Seller as the Linkman Co./ Parker Pipe and country USA/ENGL.  My subsequent research into Linkman turned up the connection to Dr. Grabow pipes – ‘Eldorado’ is a high-end pipe of Dr. Grabow – which doesn’t fit the pipe before.  Dr. Grabow pipes are usually marked as such.  Parker Pipe Company turned up nothing too.  This pipe is also stamped, Italy, but does this mean country of manufacturer or source of the briar in this case? – as the right shank has the marking ‘IMPORTED BRIAR’ over ‘ITALY’.   Would the ‘Imported Briar’ indicate a US manufacturing – the usual US marking and spelling?  But this, I found is not always the case.  One more question that doesn’t find answers in my research – Eldorado Lucite – does ‘Lucite’ refer to a unique pipe name or is it referring to the stem material with which it was originally outfitted?  If this is the case, is the stem now with this Dublin a replacement because it certainly isn’t Lucite but vulcanite?  Yet, as I look at the stem, it works VERY well with the stummel and shape – it doesn’t appear to be a replacement stem.  So are the many questions this beautiful pipe creates, but now I turn to the pipe itself and take more pictures to fill in the gaps!el3 el4 el5 el6 el7 el8 el9 el10 el11 el12The stummel appears to be in good condition except I detect what might be an acrylic finish with normal wear marks and scratches on top of it.  I’ll want to clean the old finish off.  The bowl has moderate cake build up and old dottle flakes left in the bottom.  I’ll remove the cake bringing the bowl down to the briar for a fresh start.  The rim looks to be in good condition structurally, but has light lava flow and possibly some scorching.  I need to clean the rim to assess this fully.  The stem is attractive.  I’m not sure if it has a special name, but it flays out from the shank and the button is fanned – a fish tail?  It has minor oxidation.  There are tooth dents on the upper and lower button area and a possible crack on the slot side through the button lip pictured above.  I’ll need to look closely at this.  The band is in good shape – I’ll polish it simply with a clean cloth, no more!

I begin the clean-up of the Eldorado Lucite by plopping the stem into the Oxi-Clean bath to work the oxidation to the surface of the vulcanite.  I take the Pipnet reaming kit out and discover that the conical chamber is too tight and angled in the Dublin’s shape to employ the reaming blades.  I’ll use the Savinelli pipe knife instead to ream the bowl.  With the Savinelli pipe knife I make good progress removing the cake in the tight quarters of this chamber.  Following the reaming, I sand the chamber walls with 240 grit paper wrapped around a Sharpie pen and then finish by wiping the chamber with cotton pads and isopropyl 95% to remove the carbon dust.  The chamber looks good.  The pictures show the progress.el13 el14 el15 el16 el17Before continuing with cleaning the external stummel, I tackle the internals with pipe cleaners and Q-tips and isopropyl 95%.  The cleaning job proves to be a bit more than I expected. I’m not positive about the internal layout and drilling of the mortise but it ‘feels’ like there is a gunk trap slightly below the air passage leading out toward the draft hole in the chamber.  After building a good mountain of expended Q-tips and pipe cleaners, and after looking at the lateness of the hour, I decide to give the stummel a salt soak, and let the Kosher salt and alcohol do some of the work for me.  I put the stummel in an egg crate to keep it stable, and fill the bowl with kosher salt which is not iodized – iodine can leave a taste (Thanks to Charles Lemon of Dad’s Pipes for this information).  I cover the bowl with my hand and give it a bit of a shake to displace the salt.  After corking the shank side, I fill the bowl with isopropyl 95% and turn out the light.  The next morning I see that the salt has darkened a bit and I toss the used salt into the waste basket.  I take a paper towel and wipe out the remaining salt from the bowl and use a bristle bush both in the bowl and the mortise making sure that salt residue is purged.  I then return to cleaning with Q-tips, pipe cleaners and isopropyl and finish the internals very quickly. Done! The pictures show the progress.el18 el19 el20 el21Time to retrieve the stem from the Oxi-Clean bath and I see that the oxidation has risen to the vulcanite surface which is shown very nicely in the first picture below. I attack the oxidation by wet sanding with 600 grit paper.  I follow this by using 0000 steel wool to remove more oxidation and begin the smoothing process as well.  Following this, I work on cleaning the internals of the stem with pipe cleaners and isopropyl.  It was going so well until it wasn’t!  Earlier, you recall, as I was doing the initial inspection of the stem, I identified what appeared to be a crack on the left side of the button.  The pressure exerted by the pipe cleaners exacerbated this crack and now I see fissures developing in the vulcanite – not only at the original crack sighting but now also on the right side of the button.  It would not be difficult to project the path of the fault line and the ultimate stem break if not addressed. Ugh! The pictures tell the story.el22 el23 el24 el25 el26Oh, ‘the best laid plans of mice and men’ – my plan is to apply thin CA Instant Glue to the cracks to seal them and hopefully to stop the fissure’s progress.  I fold a piece of index card and cover it with tape and insert it in the slot to keep glue from possibly entering the airway.  It also serves to ‘torque up’ a bit, and opening the cracks a hair to allow better glue penetration.  After this, I will build up the button with a mixture of charcoal dust and super glue and redefine the bit hopefully to reinforce the area.  I put the stem aside for the glue to cure.  The pictures show the progress.el27 el28After the initial CA glue cures, I start the button rebuild.  I use 240 grit sanding paper to rough up the button area, upper and lower.  Then I clean the area with a cotton pad and isopropyl to prepare for the charcoal/glue putty.  While in the States for Christmas, I picked up a bottle of activated charcoal capsules.  In the past, using a mortar and pestle, I had to grind up granulated charcoal which was sold for an aquarium filtration application for use with charcoal patches.  Generally, I was not satisfied with the results.  After the patches were applied, sanded/shaped, and polished, etc., I found a very porous and speckled result – not smooth as I wanted.  I suspected the cause was that the charcoal grade was not fine enough.  So, we’ll see if better results are realized with current charcoal powder.  I decide to re-use the ‘slot insert’ that I earlier made from an index card.  With the crack going through the lip of the button, I make sure I have sufficient ‘overage’ of charcoal putty to cover the crack.  After opening a charcoal capsule, I empty it onto the index card and then add a puddle of Hot Stuff Special ‘T’ CA glue next to the charcoal.  The ‘T’ stands for extra thick.  Using a toothpick, I begin to draw the charcoal into the glue puddle to form the putty.  I’m aiming at a honey-like viscosity for the putty – not to thin that it won’t remain where I put it and not to thick that it doesn’t shape well.  When I arrive at what looks good, I use the toothpick as a trowel and apply the putty to the button – the top receiving the most attention.  With charcoal putty applied to the button, I put the stem aside giving time for the curing process.  The pictures show the progress.el29 el30 el31 el32I return to the stummel to clean the externals.  I’ve not worked before with a gold band and I don’t believe that any cleaning agents I use will deface the gold, but to stay on the safe side, I cover the band with a few layers of masking tape.  I then take undiluted Murphy’s Soap and cotton pad and clean the stummel surface and rim.  With the help of a brass brush, which will not scratch the briar, the light lava flow on the rim becomes history.  I rinse the stummel with warm tap water keeping the internals dry.  After the Murphy’s Soap, I still can detect the acrylic shine of the finish which is not what I like (2nd picture below).  I prefer the shine of the natural briar and not what I have referred to as a ‘candy apple’ shine finish.  To remove the finish, I use acetone with a cotton pad.  After a few unsuccessful rounds of this, I utilize 0000 steel wool to add a little abrasion to the acetone removal process.  This does the trick, though the candy apple finish did not come off easily.  The pictures show the progress.el33 el34 el35To remove nicks and some pitting in the briar I use a medium grade sanding sponge on the stummel and rim.  I follow this with a light grade sanding sponge.  To remove some damage in the inner rim edge and to clean it up, I use 240 grit sanding paper rolled tightly.  I again follow the 240 grit paper and use the light grade sanding sponge on the rim to smooth things out.el36 el37 el38Before I move forward with sanding and finishing the stummel, I return to the stem and the shaping and repair of the button and slot.  I take another close-up of both the top and bottom to mark the progress.  I begin using a flat needle file and a pointed half-circle needle file to re-shape the slot and to redefine the end of the stem.  I will work from stem end, having established a base line.  When I finish the basic shaping with the needle files I then continue shaping the button with 240 grit paper then 0000 steel wool.  The pictures show the progression.  Near the completion of the button rebuild, I use K-150 Black Medium glue to fill pockets and unevenness in the upper bit area.  After cured, I re-sand the area with 240 grit, then 600 grit papers then complete the process with 0000 steel wool.  The last two pictures show the finished button rebuild.  It took some time, but I think it looks good as well as refortifying a formerly, weak and cracked button.el39 el40 el41 el42 el43 el44 el45 el46 el47 el48With button rebuild completed, I begin the micromesh sanding process first by wet sanding the stem with pads 1500 to 2400 and follow with an application of Obsidian Oil over the entire stem.  I then dry sand the stem using pads 3200 to 4000 and again with pads 6000 to 12000, following each set with a fresh application of Obsidian Oil.  The stem looks great and the button repair has blended well.  I put the stem aside to dry.  The pictures show the progress.el49 el50 el51Turning again to the stummel, I wet sand the surface with micromesh pads 1500 to 2400, then 3200 to 4000, and then 6000 to 12000, taking a picture after each set to show the progress.  The micromesh pads’ work is spectacular by teasing out the beautiful briar straight grain. The briar on this Eldorado Lucite is very nicely showcased cascading down the elongated Dublin canonical stummel.  A very nice choice of briar for this pipe style.el52 el53 el54As I moved through the micromesh cycles, my usual thought processing is to ponder the finish and what approach will best showcase the briar.  Should I leave the natural grain color and apply carnauba wax or apply a stain?  With the 14K gold band on this sleek Dublin, I decide to leverage toward a darker brown than the original.  I think the black stem and the darker stummel will give the gold band an extra pop – standing out very nicely.  To expand the briar and enabling the grain to be more receptive to the dye, I warm the stummel using my wife’s hair dryer.  Then, using a pipe cleaner folded in two, I apply Fiebing’s Light Brown Leather Dye liberally to the stummel and rim.  I cover the surface thoroughly.  When covered, I flame the wet dye using a lit candle and the alcohol in the dye immediately evaporates setting the dye hue in the grain.  After a few minutes, I repeat the process including flaming the dye.  I set the stummel aside for the night to rest.  The picture shows the dye-crusted stummel.el55The next morning, I’m anxious to ‘unwrap’ the crust of the fired dye from the night before.  Since I live in a flat on the 10th floor of former Communist block apartment building, I do not have a lot of room for my work shop.  The Dremel high speed rotary tool is how I solve the problem of not having regular high speed buffing wheels.  To unwrap the stummel, I mount the Dremel with a felt polishing wheel and set the speed of the Dremel to the slowest speed.  The felt material is abrasive and I don’t want to over-heat the wood with the higher speeds.  Each polishing wheel is dedicated to a specific compound used in the buffing process.  I mount the Tripoli wheel, and after purging it from old compound with the edge of the metal wrench, used to tighten the wheels on the Dremel, I apply Tripoli compound to remove the flamed residue of the light brown dye.  I rotate the wheel around the surface of the stummel slowly, not applying much vertical pressure on the surface but allowing the RPMs, felt and compound to do the work.  I use the sheen created on the surface of the briar (reflecting the bright overhead work lamp) to observe the compound’s behavior, which enables me to distribute the compound evenly over the surface.  See my essay, ‘My Dremel Polishing Technique’ if you want more detail.  I took a picture of the ‘unwrapping’ with the Tripoli compound and wheel.  You can see the before and after comparison very easily which demonstrates my typical approach.el56I follow the Tripoli compound with Blue Diamond.  Again, using a dedicated Blue Diamond wheel mounted on the Dremel, I work the compound into the surface in the same manner as Tripoli.  After the Blue Diamond cycle, I hand-buff the stummel with a cotton cloth simply to remove the powdery residue of the compounds from the briar surface.  I do this before applying carnauba wax. Next, I mount the cotton cloth polishing wheel onto the Dremel, increase the speed of the Dremel from 1 to 2 (5 is the fastest) and apply several coats of carnauba wax to both stummel and its reunited stem.  I finish with a rigorous hand-buffing with micromesh cloth not only to deepen the shine but to distribute any pockets of unintegrated carnauba wax.

I was hoping to create a pop with the classy gold band linking a slim, gently curving stem with the rich darker brown hues of the Dublin’s cascading briar patterns.  I think what I now see before me effectively does just that!  This gold banded Eldorado Lucite of Italy is an elegant Dublin which feels very comfortable in the hand.  It will be a great addition to some new steward’s collection.

Below, in the comments, I reposted this blog of Reborn Pipes to my new blog site, http://www.ThePipeSteward.com This site is serving not only as a ‘store front’ for pipes I’m selling, but it also describes the work we do in Bulgaria with the Daughters of Bulgaria Foundation – rescuing and restoring women and children who have been trafficked and sexually exploited. To help with this work, the profits of my sales go to the Daughters.  So, if you’re interested in adding this Eldorado Lucite Bent Dublin of Italy to your collection, jump over to The Pipe Steward, and check it out!  Thank you for joining me!el57 el58 el59 el60 el61 el62 el63 el64 el65 el66

Savinelli Capitol Bruyere 6001

7 Replies

Blog by Johan Viviers

I received an email not too long ago while I was traveling in India for work from Johan. He wrote of his love or pipe restoration and how he had come across rebornpipes. After replying to his email about his work I asked him to send me a few photos of what he had done. He promptly did so. I asked him to submit a blog for the site and what follows after his brief introduction is his first blog for rebornpipes. Welcome Johan. It is great to have you here.

Introduction

I am Johan Viviers. I was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. As a child I was surrounded by pipe smokers. All of them had a Kaiser, because a man was not a man without a Kaiser!. My one grandfather though had a rotation.

I bought my first pipe at 28 from a Belgium man who had shop in Pretoria. He sold me a Peterson and sample tobaccos at first until we discovered my preference… and then after a further twenty or so years of wandering (a bit like Parsival did), I made a home in Portugal; and a home is not a home without a pipe being smoked in it.

So, the Why and the How of getting into pipe sanitation, recovery and refurbishment… I suppose I evolved into it. Maybe there are a “few roots” to be found in my dream of opening a pipe smokers’ lounge. Then too, the rest of the “roots” may also probably be found in the creativity that is born from the curiosity and wonder that surfaces when smokes a new tobacco blend or from a new pipe.

Last summer whilst sipping a beer on the local esplanade with a fellow piper, I told him that it is time for me to plant tobacco, figure out the bit between harvesting and blending and then to explore and create a blend. All for personal consumption of course. A 78 year old friend who’s a pipe smoker too, offered some land in exchange for a share of smoking tobacco.

I then spent most of my free time reading everything I could find on tobacco.  And on a day my favourite pipe broke. It happened on the same day that I discovered Dad aka Charles Lemon, which led me to rebornpipes. Well, all your stories filled me with such curiosity and excitement that I somewhat altered my priorities. As I am in the habit of recovering vintage furniture, floors in old buildings etc., it seemed that pipe refurbishing may deliver an even greater level of happiness and satisfaction.

So I set out by first buying three pipes at the local flea market and experimenting to find a “studio practise”. I had to discover for myself the materials and mechanisms of a pipe and also determine whether the natural products I work with every day is suited to briar. Well three experimental pipes later and I made my first refurbishment, the Capitol 6001. I worked on it for five days and on day six I sold it and reinvested the profit in other estates. I now own seventeen estates that are either refurbished or at various stages of recovery. And I have to confess that I do not wish to sell any of them because I am still marveling at their transformation, whether it being the sweet smell of the briar when I rendered it, or the smoothness of its surface before I finish it or its final transformation/outcome that I want to hold onto a little longer.

Even so, I will continue and grow the seventeen estates I have acquired and if I sell none of them now, I will put them to good use when I find the capital to open the Pipe Smoker’s Lounge that I am thinking of naming Maria do Purificacão: Where Ladies Without Beards Smoke Pipe.

The Restoration

Sand blasted and stamped Capitol over Bruyere with 6001 to the right on the underside of the bowl with no stem markings.

This Capitol according to both Savinelli and the young lady who sold me this pipe, is a 50’s production. The pipe belonged to her grandfather Fernando a property developer and it was his “thinking aid” she told me, hence the tooth chatter on the stem. He passed away ten years ago and since then this pipe remained in his desk drawer. Fernando’s home remained unoccupied for ten years, where this pipe remained until now.

Lisbon being a very humid city left it’s mark on both the bowl and stem. The stem was greenish yellow due to oxidation and the outside of the bowl was soft in places due to what I belief to be exposure to moisture in the air. There was no cake in the chamber, but the unevenness to the rim of the bowl made wonder whether Fernando may have been a “pipe knocker” like my friend Adam or whether it was the actual design by Savinelli. The tenon, however, was a snug fit regardless.

Given that this was my second attempt at an actual recovery of a smoking pipe I though long and hard as to how i will approach its recovery and given my fascination with “the story” an estate pipe arrives with, I decided to keep the uneven organic shape to the rim and even the tooth chatter on the stem.

To start I hung the bowl out in a an area that receives no direct sunlight and a natural flow of air until felt the bowl has expelled all the surface moisture it had collected. At the same time the stem was soaking in a solution of cider vinegar and coarse salt to loosen up oxidation.

I then filled the bowl with salt and alcohol and let it stand overnight as I have seen you guys do and the next morning I reamed the chamber a little and gave it a light sanding with 400 grit paper until I could detect the sweet smell of the briar. Once this was done I cleaned out the airway of the stummel with a dental tool to remove the oils and tars after which I passed 400 grit  paper rolled into a tube through the airway to be certain it is clean. Once this was done I washed the bowl and chamber down with a lukewarm solution of natural Marseille soap (a method to raising the grain and open the pores of the wood when I restore furniture) and rinsed it down with clean lukewarm water. I then filled the chamber and airway with tissue paper to absorb the excess water and wiped the outside of the bowl dry before I hung it out to dry for a couple of days (again in an area that receives no direct sunlight with the temperature constant at between 15 to 20 degrees Celsius).edfedfedf

I then took to the stummel and sanded it wet with 500 grit paper. I finished the stem with 00000 steel wool and then cleaned the airway by passing pipe cleaners dipped in a clean solution of the Cider vinegar and coarse salt after which I also washed the stem down with a solution of lukewarm water and Marseilles soap flakes, finishing it with clean water.

To complete I prepared a prepared Carnauba Wax emulsion with 15% natural Green Umber pigment and entered the solution with a lint free cloth into the bowl, stummel and chamber and hung it out to dry. An hour after application, I passed a clean lint free cloth to remove any excess. Then I rubbed the Carnauba wax emulsion into the stem and hung it out to dry alongside the bowl.

Twenty-four hours later I hand rubbed both the bowl, chamber and stem to bring out its lustre and then I got so excited that I had to fill the pipe with Hal O’ The Wynd and smoke it. What a sweet smoke, so much so that I named this here pipe Fernanda

Later that day, Fernanda and I sat in a coffee shop savouring another bowl of Hal O’ The Wynd and I sold her to a fellow piper there and then. This sale financed a purchase of nine other estate pipes.

Love the shape of this Savinelli Classica 904KS Horn

5 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I have been cleaning up and restoring quite a few pipes over the holidays. I have had some free time and needed the space to relax and pipe refurbishing has always done that for me. Tomorrow I go back to the normal work week and then do some more traveling so my pipe work time will slow down considerably. I am hoping to finish a couple of more pipes this afternoon but we shall see. My brother picked up another interesting pipe for me to work on. The box he sent me before Christmas had a lot of unique and interesting pipes. This one is no exception to the pipes he sent me. I would call the shape of this Savinelli pipe a horn. It is a sandblast version that had a dirty finish and some overflow of cake and darkening on the rim. The pipe is stamped on a smooth part of the underside of the shank. It reads Savinelli in an oval over Classica. Next to that is the Savinelli S in a shield and next to that it is stamped 904KS over Italy. The stem is oxidized and there are tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside near the button. There is a crown logo stamped on the left side of the saddle shank. My brother took photos of the pipe when it arrived in Idaho Falls and before he cleaned it. The first four photos show the overall condition of the pipe.  class1class2He took a close up photo of the bowl and rim. Note the light cake in the bowl and the tars and oils built up on the back side of the rim top. The crevices of the sandblast are filled in but the inner and outer edge of the bowl look to be in good condition.class3The next three close up photos, show the stamping on the underside of the shank. The stamping is clear and readable. The S shield and the Italy stamp are the most hard to read but they are still readable. The fourth photo shows the gold crown on the side of the stem is also very clear.class4 class5The last two photos he sent to me show the tooth marks and chatter on the stem near the button. The oxidation is light but in the curves of the saddle they are darker.class6My brother scrubbed the exterior of the pipe and stem with Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed it with running water. He scrubbed the rim top to remove the oils and tars from the grooves and crevices. He reamed the bowl, cleaned out the inside of the shank, mortise and airway in the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. When I received the pipe in Vancouver I took photos of what it looked like. The oxidation came to the surface of the stem and the finish looked washed out.class7 class8I took a close up of the rim top and the bowl. The bowl was very clean and my brother had been able to clean up the crevices in the sandblast. The stain was worn on the sides and top of the rim.class9I took close up photos of the stem. There are some dents in the top edge of the button and along the sharp edge of the button. There were tooth marks on both sides of the stem and some tooth chatter.class10I started the restoration process by working on the bowl. I wiped it down with alcohol and cotton pads to remove and dirt or grime. After it was cleaned off I restained it with brown aniline stain, flamed it and repeated the process until the coverage and colour were even and what I was looking for on this particular blast.class11 class12When the finish was dry I lightly buffed it with a shoe brush. I took photos of the bowl after the staining.class13 class14I hand waxed the bowl with Conservator’s Wax and buffed it harder with a shoe brush. I was able to raise the shine on the bowl and it was beginning to look better and better.class15 class16I sanded out the tooth marks and chatter with 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded the remainder of the stem at the same time to break up the oxidation. I was careful around the crown logo on the stem side. While the gold stamp was light the stamping itself was deep in the vulcanite and would be easy to restore once the stem was clean.class17I decided to scrub the stem with the Before & After Stem Deoxidizer and pipe stem polish starting with gritty DeniCare polish and then using Before & After’s Fine and Extra Fine Stem polish. While it cut through the oxidation on the flat and round portion of the stem it did not work as well in the curves of the saddle. I took photos of the stem after spending about an hour scrubbing the stem with the polishes. You can see the shadows of oxidation that still needed to be dealt with.class18 class19I used Rub’n Buff European Gold to rework the stamping in the crown on the side of the stem.class20I worked over the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. After the last set of pads I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry.class21 class22 class23I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and gave the stem several coats of carnauba wax. I gave the bowl another coat of Conservator’s Wax and buffed the bowl and stem with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a great looking pipe that has a lot of life in it. It should be a good addition to someone’s rack and provide years of good smokes. Thanks for looking.class24 class25 class26 class27 class28 class29 class30 class31 class32

A Simple Cleanup – A Tobacco Taverne Bulldog

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I reached into the last box my brother sent and pulled out a black sandblast bulldog with a saddle stem. I was in the mood for a simple cleanup today so this one would fit the bill. The blast and finish on it was very nice. The stain was clean though there was dust and debris in the crevices of the blast. The rim was very clean and the outer and inner edges of the bowl were undamaged. There were several spots that were light nicks in the sandblast and showed raw briar through the stain. These would be easy to deal with as the sandblast finish is very forgiving. The pipe was stamped on the left underside of the shank in a smooth portion. It read Tobacco Taverne (both T’s are in Germanic Script) under that it was stamped Made in London over England in an uppercase font. The next photos are ones that my brother took before he cleaned it.bull1He took a close up photo of the rim to show what it looked like when he got it. The inner edge of the bowl had a few nicks back to bare briar but overall the edges were in great shape. There was a light cake in the bowl.bull2He also took some close up photos of the great sandblast on the bowl sides. The blast is deep and rugged with deep crevices and grooves along with the ridges. It truly is a beautiful sandblast that really shows the ring grain on the piece of briar.bull3He took a photo of the stamping on the shank and the crown logo on the left side of the saddle shank. The stamping is readable and sharp.bull4Both sides of the stem are in great shape. There was some light oxidation and some pitting from the oxidation. There was tooth chatter but no tooth marks in the vulcanite on either side.bull5My brother reamed and cleaned the pipe. He scrubbed the surface of the stem and briar with Murphy’s Oil Soap and removed all of the dust and grime in the grooves and crevices. He cleaned the shank, mortise and internals of the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I took photos of the pipe when I received it in Vancouver. The first four photos of the pipe show why I thought it was going to be an easy cleanup.bull6 bull7I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to show the condition of both. The bowl is very clean and looks to be unsmoked in the bottom half of the bowl. The inner edge of the bowl shows a few nicks that will need to be touched up.bull8The stem is oxidized but the surface is quite clean. It should be a pretty easy task to polish it clean.bull9There was an odd stinger in the tenon that was easily removed. It was aluminum with four fins on the pointed end. There is a hole in the top side of the stinger that takes the air that whirls around the inside of the shank, flows up the fins and into the airway in the stem. The photo below shows the three parts of the pipe.bull10I sanded the surface of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation on the surface of the stem. I was careful sanding around the crown logo on the shank side.bull11I ran a folded pipe cleaner and alcohol through the shank and another through the airway in the stem. Both were very clean and took very little cleaning. All that came out of the shank and stem was the dust from the sanding.bull12I used a black Sharpie Pen to touch up the chipped spots on the inner edge of the rim and shank end. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed the bowl with a shoe brush. The photos below show the finished bowl.bull13 bull14 bull15I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit sanding pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads and after the last set of pads I gave it a final coat of oil and set the stem aside to dry.bull16 bull17 bull18I lightly buffed the bowl with a clean buffing pad to shine it. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond and gave it 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 microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a well-made bulldog and the Made in London England stamp points to a pipe made by GBD. The lack of a definitive shape number makes it impossible to be 100% certain as to the origin but I am pretty sure that it is a GBD made pipe. The Tobacco Taverne stamping is from a tobacco shop but I was unable to identify the shop. There are shops near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and one it Houston, Texas that have that name and there are several others in the US that are called Tobacco Tavern. Maybe some of you who are reading this may have some information on the shop or the brand. Let us know what you know. Thanks for looking.bull19 bull20 bull21 bull22 bull23 bull24 bull25 bull26

Great Grain – a Triangle Shank Grabow Westbrook Billiard

6 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

Wikus asked me in a comment on the blog I wrote on the KBB Yello-Bole Churchwarden why I don’t give the pipe a coat of either varnish or shellac after I have refinished them. I wrote a response in which I said I don’t like that finish and want the pipe to be able to breathe. I have found that the varnished bowls get hot when smoked so that is another reason. But probably the biggest reason is that I really like a more matte finish instead of the high gloss that some like. I have to be honest – to me the matte finish that lets the grain pop and hides nothing behind the shine really is my preference. It does not mean I don’t like a shine but rather that I like the shine of a good wax and buff over the other options.

The pipe I worked on next is a prime example of what lies beneath the varnish coat. This one is a unique (at least to me as I have not seen one before) triangular shank billiard made by Dr. Grabow. It is stamped on the left side of the shank WESTBROOK over Dr. Grabow (the bottom edge of the lower stamp is faint as it is very close to the ridge on the angle of the side). It is stamped on the right side Imported Briar (faint stamp) over Adjustomatic in script. Underneath both lines it reads PAT.2461905. My brother picked this one up because the grain and shape caught his attention. He took the following photos before he cleaned it up.grab1 grab1aFrom the above photos you can get a general idea of the shape and condition of the pipe. It is sound and has no cracks or burns on the surface. The finish is pretty well shot – the varnish is crackled and checked looking on the sides of the bowl and shank. The overall look is cloudy and muddied by the varnish going. There is a pretty thick cake in the bowl and it overflows onto the rim top. The bowl however appears to still be in round both on the inner and outer edges as far as can be seen in the slightly out of focus third photo. The stem looks good at this point with light oxidation and some tooth chatter and marks on the topside near the button. The orange Grabow spade logo is in place on the left side of the stem. More will be revealed through his close up photos.

The first photo shows the rim condition up close. My initial observation about the edges need to be modified somewhat. The inner edge looks good but it will be better determined once the thick and uneven cake is removed from the bowl (good news is that this one must have been a good smoker to have developed this kind of cake). The outer edge looks good other than some slight damage to the front right side where there appears to be a chip and some wearing.grab2The next close up photos show the stamping and stem logo. I have recorded the condition and content of the stamping above. I include these for you to see the overall condition of them and the finish on the shank and stem.grab3The last photos he included show the condition of the stem. There is a visible line that covers the separates the first inch of the stem from the rest which looks to me that the stem had a Softee bit on it for most of its life. There is tooth chatter on both sides of the stem and on the top side (second photo below) there are visible tooth marks that need to be dealt with. This is why I think the bit protector came after the initial tooth marks or they would have been far worse. On the underside of the stem there is a small tooth mark that is quite deep. Both sides will need some work to smooth out the damage.grab4I did a US Patent search to see what I could find out about the patent number on the side of the shank. I was able to find out that the patent was filed on Jan. 25, 1946 but was not issues until February 15, 1949. I learned that the inventor of the Adjustomatic system for Grabow was D.P. Lavietes. I know nothing about him but I do know that Dr. Grabow used the mechanism in their pipes. With this information I know that the pipe was made after 1949 because the patent stamp says that the mechanism is patented not patent applied for. I have included the entire patent below for those who may be interested. I enjoy the descriptions, rationale and drawings that the inventor includes in these old patents. They are a pleasure for me to read through them. If you want you can skip over the next four photos and read about the pipe’s restoration.grab5 grab6 grab7 grab8My brother did his usual thorough cleaning of the pipe. He reamed the bowl and cleaned the internals of the shank, mortise and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the rim and was able to remove all of the tars and oils that had built up there. He cleaned the exterior of the bowl and stem with Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the grime and build up in those areas. When I received the pipe in Vancouver it was clean. The only thing that he had not been able to do was remove the stinger from the threaded tenon to clean behind it. The next four photos give a clear picture of what the pipe looked like when it arrived.grab9 grab10The close up photo below shows how well the rim and bowl cleaned up. The inner rim was in pretty decent shape other than a little burn on the front edge almost in line with the chip on the outer edge.grab11The stem was in better condition than I expected as in the cleaning process a lot of the chatter seems to have been removed with the calcification.grab12I took photos of the condition of the stinger apparatus because it was looking really good. In the past when I got these they were black and looked awful. They were bad enough that if I did not like stingers before, the general grime and grit would have sealed the deal. This one however was sparkling.grab13I heated the stinger with a Bic lighter and the tars that held in the tenon released it. With the stinger removed I was able to clean out the buildup behind it in the stem. I used pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to clean out that area of the stem. I cleaned out any remaining debris in the mortise at the same time.grab14I sanded the tooth marks and the rest of the stem to deal with the oxidation using a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. The tooth marks came out of the top side of the stem with no problem. There was still one small almost pin hole tooth mark on the underside that I would need to deal with and repair. I cleaned the surface of the stem with alcohol and filled in the mark with clear super glue. Once it dried I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it in with the rest of the stem surface.grab15 grab15aI buffed the stem with Red Tripoli on the buffing wheel and brought it back to the work table to polish it with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. After each set of three pads I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. After the last pad I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry.grab15b grab15cAfter polishing with the 1500-2400 grit pads I wiped down the tenon with an alcohol wet cotton pad to remove some of the darkening in the threads. In doing so I got some alcohol on the end of the stem and it brought out a bit more oxidation to the surface. This is one of those frustrations but also a good thing as I was able to then back track and sand the stem again with 1500-4000 grit pads and then buff it with some Blue Diamond on the wheel and I removed the rest of the oxidation. I then went back to polishing the stem with 6000-12000 grit pads to bring the shine to the surface.grab15dWith the stem polishing done I set it aside and turned to the bowl. I examined it and decided that the best way to deal with the crackling varnish coat was to remove it. My choice for removing varnish coats is to scrub the finish with acetone on a cotton pad until it is gone. The first wipes will leave the surface gummy and rough. You have to scrub the surface until it is smooth to touch. The next four photos show the bowl with the crackled finish.grab16 grab17It took four cotton pads and acetone to remove this crackled varnish finish. Underneath the cloudy varnish coat there was some really stunning grain.grab18 grab19Once the finish was gone and I had wiped the pipe with a paper towel with a little bit of olive oil I took photos of the pipe. There was some scratching in the briar that would need to be polished and there were some nicks that would need to be lifted if they did not polish out but the overall appearance of the pipe was stunning.grab20 grab21I worked on the bevel of the inner edge to smooth out and remove the damage on the front side. I used 180 grit and 220 grit sandpaper to bevel the rim a little to accommodate the edge damage. I polished the briar on the rim with 2400 grit micromesh sanding pads to remove the scratching left behind by the beveling. I polished the bowl and rim with 3200-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads to raise a shine in the briar and make the grain stand out.grab22 grab23I put the stem and bowl back together again and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the wheel to further polish it. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect it and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It has come a long way from the worn and tired pipe that came to my brother in Idaho. The depth of the shine, the look of the grain and the flow of the pipe all work together to make this a beautiful Dr. Grabow pipe. It is one of the earliest pipes of the RJ Reynolds era. It was a fun pipe to work on and the results just multiplied as each step I took in the cleaning and polishing process brought more of the beauty of this piece of briar alive. Thanks for looking.grab24 grab25 grab26 grab27 grab28 grab29 grab30 grab31

Cleaned an 80+year old KBB Yello-Bole Churchwarden 2095

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

After the last challenge of the cracked bowl on the WDC Wellington House Pipe it was time to take on something that would go quickly and have some real beauty as well when finished. My brother had included just the pipe in the latest shipment that came to Vancouver from Idaho. It is a twelve inch long churchwarden. The bowl had the typical varnish coat over a oxblood stain that was peeling. There was a light cake in the bowl and the rim was dirty but the Yello-Bole Honey Cured Coating was very visible on the inner bevel of the rim top. The stamping on this one is the classic older Yello-Bole. It had the KBB cloverleaf on the left side of the shank and next to that it read YELLO-BOLE over Honey Cured Briar. ON the right side of the shank it has the shape number 2095. The stamping is in excellent shape. The stem was lightly oxidized and had the yellow circle on the top side near the shank/stem junction. There were single cut marks on both the top and underside of the stem about three inches forward from the button. There was also minimal tooth chatter and tooth marks on the stem on either side. The stem did not fit all the way into the shank when the pipe arrived in Idaho. (I have included the photos of the pipe that my brother took before he started to clean up the pipe.)cw1 cw2From a comment on a blog I wrote on the various Yello-Bole logos in my collection of these pipes I was able to narrow down a date for the pipe. Here is the link to the post and the comments on the blog: https://rebornpipes.com/2013/01/25/yello-bole-logos-from-my-collection-of-old-yello-bole-pipes/. The comment came from Troy who I consider my go to guy for Yello-Bole informantion (who has written on rebornpipes and also has a blog of his own). Troy wrote as follows on dating Yello-Bole pipes by the stamping and logos.

“I have a large KBB Yello-Bole collection, They are some of my most favorite pipes and the best smokers for the money (briar wise) you can find in my opinion. I have restored and researched them quite a bit. I have several listed on my blog that I have cleaned or restored. I own about 30-40 KBB Yello-Boles now.”

“Here is a little guide to dating KBB Yello-Boles. If it has the KBB stamped in the clover leaf it was made 1955 or earlier as they stopped the stamping after being acquired by S.M. Frank. From 1933-1936 they were stamped Honey Cured Briar. Pipes stems stamped with the propeller logo they were made in the 30s or 40s no propellers were used after the 40s. Yello-Bole also used a 4 digit code stamped on the pipe in the 30s. If the pipe had the Yello-Bole circle stamped on the shank it was made in the 30s this stopped after 1939. If the pipe was stamped BRUYERE rather than briar it was made in the 30s.”

From that information I ascertained the following. The churchwarden I had was stamped with KBB in the cloverleaf on the shank side which told me that the pipe was made before 1955. It is also stamped under the YELLO-BOLE name stamp with the words Honey Cured Briar which put its manufacture between 1933 and 1936. Further the four digit shape code 2095 also put the date in the 1930s. With all of that collected I knew the pipe was made between 1933 and 1936 which means that this old Churchwarden has seen a lot of life. I wish it could tell its story.

My brother included some close up photos of the rim top and the peeling varnish on the bowl sides and bottom for information. You can also see some peeling of the varnish on the rim top along with the darkening and overflow of cake.cw3 cw4 cw5The next photo shows the stamping on the left side of the shank. The stamping is clear and readable.cw6The next two photos show the condition of the stem. You can see the tooth chatter and marks on the stem surface on both sides. None of them are deep and all should be able to be polished out.cw7The next photo shows the cut mark on the top side of the stem. There is a matching mark on the underside.cw8My brother cleaned up the pipe – reaming the bowl, cleaning out the shank, airway in the shank and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. The inside was clean. He scrubbed the briar and stem with Murphy’s Oil Soap and cleaned out the buildup on the rim and the grime on the sides of the bowl. The next four photos show what the pipe looked like when it arrived in Vancouver. It was ready to clean up and bring back to life.cw9 cw10I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim. The beveled inner edge shows the Yello-Bole coating. It is also visible on the inside of the bowl.cw11I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and worked on the tooth chatter on each end with the same sandpaper.cw12 cw13I took closeup photos of the Yello-Bole stinger apparatus. The first shows the topside of the stinger and the second the underside.cw14I took closeup photos of the existing finish on the bowl to show the peeling varnish and the speckled finish.cw15I wiped down the bowl with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the varnish coat and I was surprised by the grain that came through once the varnish was gone.cw16 cw17I waxed the bowl with Conservator’s Wax so that I could see the scratching and spots that needed more attention on the briar. A bit of a shine makes issues in the briar stand out.cw18 cw19I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cotton pad to remove any polishing dust left behind.cw20 cw21I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. After the last set of pads I rubbed it down with a final coat of oil and set the stem aside to dry.cw22 cw23 cw24I buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the last of the scratches in the briar. I gave the bowl multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed the bowl with a clean buffing pad. The next photos show the finished bowl.cw25 cw26 cw27 cw28I put the stem on the bowl and buffed the entirety again with Blue Diamond and gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and hand buffed the pipe with a microfibre cloth to deepen the polish. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is cleaned, all varnish has been removed from the bowl and shank and it has been waxed and buffed. The finished pipe has a rich shine and all of the grain is visible through the finish. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me.cw29 cw30 cw31 cw32 cw33 cw34 cw35 cw36

Sprucing up a Home Doctored WDC Wellington House Pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

Have you ever been pipe hunting in an antique shop and in your conversation with the clerk at the checkout have them tell you that they have a pipe at home that they would love to have you see? If not I assure you that you will. It seems to happen to me and certainly to my brother. Sometimes going back to see the pipe is a good thing and sometimes it is not worth the trip. My brother recently went through this very thing in a shop on the Oregon Coast. The clerk said that he had an old pipe – thought it was a churchwarden – at home and he would love to see it go to someone who would restore it. He said it was interesting but it was in rough shape. He told my brother that he would bring it to the shop the next day. He lived a fair ways away from the shop so he could not go and get it at the moment. My brother left the shop knowing that he would need to go back and have a look at the pipe. Two days later he made the drive back to the shop. The seller had left it behind the counter for him. The person at the counter took the pipe out and handed it to him. The clerk had been right – it was in rough shape but it was not a churchwarden but old WDC Wellington House Pipe. (I have included the photos that my brother took of the pipe before he cleaned it and sent it to me in Vancouver.)mess1Even at first glance it was rough but he did not expect what he found as he went over it. As he turned it in his hands he saw that the bowl had a large crack on the back side of the bowl that went from the rim to the shank bowl junction. It went all the way through and ran down the inside back of the bowl to a spot just above the airway. This was not good.mess2The bowl was caked and dirty and the cake had flowed over the top of the rim leaving a hard rough surface. Even through the grit he could see that there were a lot of nicks, scratches and dents in the rim top. On top of that the left side of the bowl was rough and seemed like it had road rash. It appeared that someone had tried to smooth it over but it was till rough to touch.mess3 mess4The Wellington ferrule was gone and had been replaced with a piece of what appeared to be a cut off piece of pipe glued and pressed onto the shank end. Looking at the pipe from the shank end you could see why the band had been as a lot of small cracks could be seen that extended down into the mortise. The cut off piece of pipe literally bound the shank together tightly with no give. The stem was the only part of the pipe that was in excellent condition. It bore the Solid Rubber stamp on the underside but the topside was missing the WDC Wellington stamp. It was obvious to me that someone had loved this old pipe and that they had done whatever was necessary to keep it functioning. The repair work was solid but it really was a mess. After the fellow had gone to the effort to bring the pipe to the shop my brother felt obligated to buy it. The deal was struck and the pipe came home with him.mess5The next two photos show the stamping on the shank. It reads Wellington under the WDC triangle on the left side of the shank. There are a lot of nicks and scratches around the shank that look like damage done when the band was glued in place. The Solid Rubber stamping on the can be seen in the second photo below.mess6The stem was actually in the best condition of the entire pipe. There was very little tooth chatter and marks near the button. There were some marks on the ridge on the underside and there was a spot of metal shining through the rubber there as well. The entire stem was lightly oxidized and pitted.mess7My brother did his usual thorough clean before sending it to Vancouver. He reamed the bowl and removed the cake that was built up on the walls and had overflowed onto the rim of the bowl. He cleaned out the mortise, the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and was able to remove the grime and dirt and the chipped and damaged finish. The next four photos show what the pipe looked like when it arrived.mess8 mess9I took some close up photos of the shank band. It is obvious to me that the repair on the shank was home done and involved cutting a piece of pipe and gluing and pressing it onto the shank. The third photo shows the shank end and there are at least 4-6 cracks showing that previous owner had glued and repaired with the cut off piece of pipe as a band. The band repair had been finished off with a bevel of glue banked against the band and shank. The piece of pipe that functioned as the band was striated and copper colour peeked out from under the surface oxidation. The crack on the back of the bowl is visible in the second photo below.mess10 mess11I took a close up photo of the left side of the bowl to show the rash on the side of the bowl. It was very rough and scored. It would need to be sanded smooth to repair the amount of damage.mess12I took photos of the crack in the bowl. It is on the back side as noted above. It extends down the back of the bowl to the shank/bowl junction (photo 2). What was interesting to me was that there were two small holes drilled at the twin ends of the crack in the bend of the junction. They had been filled in with glue and sanded smooth. I have circled them in red in the photo below (photo 1). I don’t why the previous repair had not continued with filling in the crack on at least the outside of the bowl but it did not. Possibly it was because the crack went through the bowl and extended down to a spot just above the entrance of the airway in the bowl (photos 3-4). There appeared to be burn damage on the back wall of the bowl on both sides of the crack. The rest of the interior walls of the pipe were solid with no damage.mess13 mess14As I mentioned before the best part of this pipe was the stem. In fact at one point I considered throwing the bowl away and saving the stem for a future repair.mess16With so much work to do on the bowl it was hard to decide where to begin. I turned it over in my hands for a few moments and decided to start by sanding out the rough side of the bowl. I would try to remove all of the damage that had been done in that area. The next two photos show the damaged area after the first sanding with 180 grit sandpaper. You can see how extensive this rash was on the bowl side.mess17I decided to top the bowl to deal with the damaged portion of the rim. I used the topping board and 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damaged rim surface and clean it in preparation for the crack repair. You can see that I needed to do some more reaming in the bowl to clean it up.mess18With the rim finished I went back to sanding the bowl side with 220 grit sandpaper. I worked to remove the damage on the side and worked over the curve of the bowl shank junction. When I finished with the 220 grit sandpaper the bowl side was smooth. The roughness and damage had been removed. The briar needed to be sanded with higher grit sandpapers and sanding sponges to remove the scratches.mess19I topped the shank end with 220 grit sandpaper on the topping board to smooth out the sharp edge of the metal band and prepare the shank end for some repairs.mess20I filled in the chipped areas on the shank end with briar dust and super glue. When the glue dried I topped it further and added a little glue on the long chipped area on the left of the second photo below.mess21I scraped away the excess glue along the edge of the band on the shank with a sharp knife. Once I finished the transition was smoother. I would sand the area along the band to clean up the scratches but the thick glue was removed.mess22There were some deep nicks on the lower front side of the bowl that needed to be filled. I filled them with super glue and briar dust and sanded them smooth to match the surface of the surrounding briar. I sanded around the shank band at the same time to smooth out the scratches and nicks.mess23I moved to the back of the bowl and filled in the exterior part of the crack with super glue and briar dust. The twin drilling at the bottom of the crack by the previous owner had done a good job stopping the crack from going further so I did not need to deal with that issue. There was no movement in the crack when I squeezed it together. It was stable so I moved on to do the surface repair. I put super glue in the crack and then pressed briar dust into the glue to seal the surface of the crack. mess24It was time to address the internal crack at this point. I needed to join the two sides of the crack together inside and also address the burned areas around both sides of the crack. I scraped out the inside of the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to remove the remaining excess cake. I made sure to remove all of the cake. I worked on the area around the crack to remove all of the carbon and picked the area with a dental pick to see how badly the area was burned. I sanded the inside of the bowl with a rolled piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the walls.mess25I sanded the repair on the exterior of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the excess patch material on the exterior of the crack. I smoothed it out to match the surrounding briar. The repair is looking really good on the exterior and the sanded interior of the bowl (also visible in the photo) was in better shape than I expected.mess26I wiped down the inside of the bowl with damp cotton swabs to remove the dust and debris from the bowl sides. With all of the preparations finished the inside crack was ready for repair using JB Weld. I have used it before following the directions from Charles Lemon on Dadspipes blog and had good results. I mixed the two parts of the “goop” together and applied the mixture to the inside of the bowl with a dental spatula. I pressed the mix into the crack and then spread it over the surface of the back wall on both sides of the crack. Once I had good coverage on the wall and in the crack I set the bowl aside to let the glue set.mess27 mess28While the repair in the bowl interior cured I turned to deal with the minimal damage to the stem. I sanded the light tooth chatter and small bite marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button using 220 grit sandpaper. I reshaped the button edge and the straight edge on the underside of the stem at the same time.mess29When the internal repair had dried to touch I could turn my attentions to the sanded exterior once again. I wiped the bowl down with a light coat of olive oil to make the scratched areas stand out and show me where I needed to do more sanding.mess30 mess31I polished the briar and the metal band with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads to smooth out all of the scratches and areas that showed up with the olive oil rubdown. The more I sanded it the more the grain began to stand out. There was some great birds-eye and cross grain in the briar. The third photo shows the JB Weld repair on the inside of the bowl very clearly. Once it turns black it will have cured enough to sand.mess32 mess33I continued to polish the briar and band with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads until the bowl shone.mess34I stained the pipe with a dark brown aniline stain thinned 50/50 with isopropyl alcohol. I applied the stain, flamed the stain to set it and repeated the process until the coverage was even around the bowl and rim.mess35I gave the bowl several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I took the following photos to show what the bowl looked like now that it was stained and waxed. It is a pretty piece of briar and a far cry from the mess I started with.mess36 mess37I set the bowl aside and polished the stem. I buffed it with red Tripoli to remove as much of the light oxidation as possible. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. (For some reason the last photo of the stem has a yellow tint and makes it look oxidized. It actually shone at this point in the process with no oxidation left. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. After the final rubdown I set the stem aside to dry.mess38 mess39 mess40By this point in the process the JB Weld had hardened. It had been about 4-5 hours. It was time to smooth out the inside of the bowl and remove the excess JB Weld. I used the Dremel with a sanding drum to smooth out the back side of the bowl. You can see the spots on the bowl wall where I left the material to fill in the damaged areas on the wall. I went on to sand the interior wall with 180 and 220 grit sandpaper to further smooth out the repair and minimize the JB Weld. The repairs had stabilized the cracked bowl and it was usable once again.mess41I have one final step to take to before I can close the book on this repair. I need to mix a bowl coating to paint the inside of the bowl with. It is a mixture of sour cream and activated charcoal powder. I had to order some more as I ran out of the charcoal capsules and my local pharmacy was also out of stock. It may take a while to get some so for now the bowl is finished. Once the bowl coating is applied and has cured the pipe will be ready to smoke and carry on a long life.

At this point in the process when all is basically finished I can honestly say that I am glad I did not scrap bowl to the junk box. It has some beautiful grain and I think it looks good with the scar on the back side of the bowl where the crack used to be. The metal pipe band polished up nicely with hints of copper and silver mingled together giving it a bit of a sparkle. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It has been buffed with Blue Diamond a final time and given multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then by hand with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The write up is longer and the photos are many this time around. It was a lot of work to give this old timer another chance but I think it was worth the effort. Thanks for bearing with me. mess42 mess43 mess44 mess45 mess46 mess47 mess48 mess49 mess50 mess51

Restoring Another Unique Windy Perpetual Drysmoker

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Blog by Steve Laug

Today I have been working on the second Windy Perpetual Dry Smoker that has come across my work table. The first was a gift from Troy who writes here on rebornpipes. I have written the description of the restoration on a previous blog. You can read about the cleanup and restoration on that blog: https://rebornpipes.com/tag/windy-perpetual-drysmoker-pipe/ . In that blog I did some research on the brand, as prior to the first pipe I was gifted I had never heard of or seen one of these pipes. I decided to repeat a portion of that first blog here to give some background on the brand.

Here is the link to one of my favourite informational sites on metal and unique system style wooden pipes. The link will take you to the article as a whole and some photos that show the pipe quite well: http://www.smokingmetal.co.uk/pipe.php?page=508

“WINDY PERPETUAL DRYSMOKER by Stan Wolcott”

“In my travels I recently came across this intriguing pipe on which very little information appears online by Google search. The left side (?) is stamped “Windy Perpetual Drysmoker” and on the right side (?) “Imported Briar/Italy”. The stem has a small round gold medallion on the left side bearing an “R”. Although several similar pipes are pictured online here in the USA and UK, no explanatory information is included with those images. Floyd Norwood of Tennessee, who restored the pipe for me, also had no idea how the pipe was to be smoked. Tony Pringle of the UK, who has one pictured on his website, believes there may be other pieces which are missing from the four present in the images—flat cap, rounded cap with five vent holes (presumably the wind cap) and the pipe bowl and stem. As can be seen from the images, the flat cap has female threads and screws into the bottom (?) onto male threads on the bowl. The wind cap has male threads and screws into the top (?) of the bowl. I have placed the question marks in parentheses following the terms top, bottom, right and left, since I’m not even sure whether the flat cap is intended to be the bottom. Can someone out there enlighten me and the NASPC readership about this “mystery pipe”, its manufacturer and the proper way of smoking it?”

“The “Perpetual” part of the name seems to come from the ability to actually load more tobacco from the bottom of the pipe whilst still alight and of course the dottle etc. gets burnt as the smoking progresses. Rather ingenious. There are at least two possible for makers from the logo, REGIS and EMPIRE STATE and nothing seems to be known of these either.

Tony Pringle of smokingmetal then includes the following photos of the pipe. There is no doubt that it is the same pipe that I have. There are a few variations between the two but the overall design is the same. He shows photos of the pipe as a whole, taken apart and of the stamping.dry1I have only included the first photos as the pipe I have is virtually identical to this one. Mine also has the gold circle R on the logo on the side of the stem. The only difference is that mine is has a brass spacer on the stem that forms a thin band between the shank and stem. Mine is also in better condition than the one in the photos with no cracks or breaks in the bowl, caps or threads. I believe along with Tony from smokingmetal that the pipe was crafted in the late 1940s. Many things about the briar quality, the rubber that is used in the stem etc. point to manufacture of the pipe occurring during or after the conclusion of World War II.

The stamping on the one above and the one I have is simply WINDY over PERPETUAL over DRYSMOKER in caps on what is the left side of the shank. On the right side of shank it is stamped Imported Briar over Italy. The pipe is meant to be smoked with the perforated, rounded cape pointing downward. That is why the stamping is the way it is. If the pipe is held otherwise the stamping is upside down. If the pipe is inverted it can be set upright on a desk or table on the flat top cap and act as a sitter pipe. The pipe is 5 ¼ inches from the front of the bowl to end of bit. The diameter of the outer bowl is 1 3/8 inches. The chamber diameter is just over 5/8 inch and depth is over 1 ¼ inches with both the top and bottom cap removed. The pipe is lit from the bottom and the wind cap cover is screwed in place. I think that more tobacco can be fed in from the top of the bowl with the flat cap removed thus making the pipe a PERPETUAL DRYSMOKER.

The pipe my brother Jeff picked up is shown in the next photos that he took of it before cleaning it and sending it to me in Vancouver. You can see some darkening in the finish around the flat cap on the bowl and some general wear and tear to the finish as a whole. The bowl has quite a few fills in the shank, the left and right front sides and the crowned perforated bottom cap. The stem was oxidized quite heavily and the diameter of the shank and the diameter of the stem did not match.dry2Jeff took some great photos of the bowl taken apart. Contrary to what Tony and Stan mention in the quote article from the website all the parts are present with the pipe. There are no additional pieces needed to make the pipe functional. The first two photos show the rounded bottom cap and the flat top cap removed from the bowl. You can see the wooden threads on the inside of the bowl in the first photo where the bottom cap screwed into it. The second photo shows the threads on the outside of the bowl where the flat top cap screwed onto it. The completed pipe resembled a salt or pepper shaker to my mind – a unique and interesting smoking device. Both caps were darkened by smoking but appeared to be clean. There was a small crack in the rounded bottom cap but it did no effect the fit in the bowl.dry3He also took some photos with the parts laid out together to give an overall idea of what the pipe looked like.dry4My brother also included some close up photos of the sides of the bowl to show the condition of the finish and what would need to be done to clean it up. He included a photo of the flat top cap to show the remarkable grain underneath the staining and grime.dry5 dry6The next two photos show the stamping on both sides of the shank. The third photo shows the brass circle R logo on the stem and also the brass spacer in between the stem and the shank.dry7 dry8The final two photos Jeff included showed me the condition of the stem. It looked really good other than the oxidation. There was no tooth chatter or tooth marks in the surface. The only issue I would need to address was the mismatched diameter of the shank and the stem.dry9My brother did a really thorough job cleaning up this old pipe. When it arrived in Canada the inside of the bowl and both caps was really clean. He had scraped out the light cake in the bowl and cleaned out the mortise and airway in the stem and shank with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He cleaned off the exterior of the bowl and was able to remove much of the grime on the surface. The brass space was oxidized but would clean up easily when I worked on the diameter of the stem. I took the next four photos to show the condition I found the pipe in when I unpacked it here in Vancouver.dry10 dry11I took the pipe apart and took photos of the parts of the bowl – the centre core, the rounded bottom cap and the flat top cap. In the photos the core is flat side up in the first one and rounded side up in the second one. The bowl and caps were very clean and you could see raw briar inside all of the parts which led me to think that the pipe had not been smoked often.dry12I took some close up photos of the stem to record its condition as well.dry13The fit of the crowned bottom cap to the edge of the core part of the pipe had some damage to it that did not allow the cap to seat tightly against the edge of the core. I topped it with 220 grit sandpaper on the topping board until the cap fit snugly.dry14I put the cap back in place and wiped the bowl down with acetone on cotton pads to remove the finish. The fills on the bowl were dimpled so they would need to be repaired with briar dust and super glue.dry15 dry16With the finish removed I could better assess the darkened areas around the sides and bottom of the flat cap. I could also see areas that needed to be sanded around the edges of the rounded bottom cap also. I sanded the entire pipe with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damaged areas and smooth out the transitions between the core and the caps. I also smoothed out the edges of the fills to prepare them for repair later in the process.dry17 dry18With that part finished I needed to rework the shank/stem diameter. The right side of the shank was narrower than the right side of the stem. With the stem removed it was easy to see why. That side of the briar shank was thinner in terms of the thickness of the walls of the shank than the left side. The red circle shows the side that needed to be taken down.dry19I used the Dremel with a sanding drum to take down the excess vulcanite and brass of the spacer.dry20I cleaned out the areas around the fills and removed any of the loose debris around them. I rebuilt the areas around the fills with a mixture of clear super glue and briar dust. I overfilled the repairs to allow for shrinkage. I sanded the repairs smooth to match the surface of the bowl.dry21I sanded the repairs smooth and then polished the areas with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded the repaired areas with 1500-2400 grit sanding pads and dry sanded them with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth. I stained the bowl and the caps with dark brown aniline stain and flamed it to set it. I repeated the process until the coverage was even.dry22 dry23I buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing pen. I gave it several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it to a shine.dry24 dry25I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the scratch marks on the vulcanite. I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. After the final coat of oil I set it aside to dry.dry26 dry27 dry28I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond once more and then gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to polish it and then by hand with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Some of the character marks of the pipe that came to me still show and I am sure could tell a story if they were able to speak. I like the finished look – the marks and all give the pipe a sense of history and time. It is not a bad looking old pipe considering that it has traveled from the 1940s into 2016 and who knows how much longer. Thanks for looking.dry29 dry30 dry31 dry32 dry33 dry34 dry35 dry36

One of my favourite GBD Shapes and Finishes – a Prehistoric 269 Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

After refurbishing a lot of pipes over the years I have come to opinions about pipe brands and shaped. To my eye certain brands really get a certain shape and really nail it perfectly. To me the GBD Bulldog, shape 269 is one of those shapes. To me it is the quintessential straight shank bulldog. Others do it well but GBD absolutely gets the shape. Add to that fact that certain finishes have also grown on me over the years and one of those is the GBD Prehistoric sandblast. You combine the finish and the shape components on this pipe and I have a real beauty on the restoration table today. My brother is also becoming a die-hard GBD fan so when he saw this one he decided it was one to go after. Needless to say he got it. He took some photos of the pipe before he cleaned it up to send up to me in Vancouver. I have included those below.gbd1The finish on the pipe looks to be in excellent condition. Later close-up photos will show the grime and dust in the grooves and crevices of the sandblast but there are no chips or nicks in the briar. The bowl had remnants of tobacco in the bottom and the cake had overflowed on to the rim top. The curved bevel of the Prehistoric smooth rim was thickly tarred and caked. It was hard to tell from the photos if there were any nicks or deep scratches in the rim. I have found that the thicker the cake and tars on the rim the more likely it is that I will find the rim to be pretty pristine underneath. The stem was deeply oxidized and the GBD logo insert on the stem had been buffed to death but the fit of the stem to the shank was perfect. There was only light tooth chatter and a few scratches on the top and underside of the flat portion of the stem. The photo below gives a clear picture of the condition of the rim and the cake in the bowl.gbd2The sand blast on the heel of the bowl was deep and craggy and the contrast of browns in the stain really highlighted the layered look of the blast.gbd3The stamping on the left underside of the shank in a smooth panel is very readable and sharp. It reads GBD in the oval over Prehistoric in Germanic script. Next to that it reads London England over the shape number 269. The second photo below shows the over buffed roundel in the stem. It is still readable but is quite flattened and broadened. I will have to see if I can clean that up a bit in the process of the restoration – or at least not damage it any further.gbd4The next two photos show the top and underside of the stem. The oxidation is quite heavy and deep in the vulcanite. There is some light tooth chatter and scratches on the stem near the button and on top of the button on both sides but no deep tooth marks.gbd5My brother is getting really good at cleaning up these old timers and I have to say I am getting spoiled at getting pipes that I don’t have to ream and scrape to clean before I can start the restoration process. In this case he scrubbed the briar with Murphy’s Oil Soap and got rid of the grime and dust in the crevices and removed most of the buildup on the rim top. He reamed the bowl and scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. When I received it the pipe was clean and ready to restore. The briar was dry from the scrubbing and the removal of all of the oils. It appears to have lost some of the rich colour but I have learned that once I begin to work on it the life begins to come back to the briar so I was not too concerned. The oxidation had also really risen to the surface of the stem and looked ugly. I took the next four photos to show what the pipe looked like when it arrived.gbd6 gbd7I took a closeup photo of the rim top to show what it looked like when I received it. He had been able to remove the buildup and caking on the rim but there was still some darkening that needed to be dealt with. I also took closeup photos of the stem to show how the pitted and oxidized surface looked before I started. This was going to be a tough stem to clean up.gbd8 gbd9I decided to start with the rim top. I started polishing it by wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped it off with a damp cotton pad and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. The rim began to take on its original sheen and the darkening and rim damage was removed.gbd10I gave the bowl a light rub down with olive oil and it absorbed it quickly into the dry and lifeless feeling briar. I buffed it by hand with a soft microfiber cloth and took the next set of photos to show what a little oil will do to a dry and thirsty finish.gbd11 gbd12I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper being very careful around the GBD roundel on the stem. I was able to remove much of the surface oxidation on the stem and I started to see the black stem peeking through.gbd13I decided to try several of the stem polishes I have around here to try to break through the oxidation. I started with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish which is a very gritty and cuts through the oxidation and helps polish the stem. I followed that with the Before & After Polishes which are also gritty but each of them the Fine and the Extra Fine are less so than the Denicare polish. While they worked well overall and cut through a lot of oxidation it took much scrubbing with cotton pads to polish it to the place the stem is in the photo below.gbd14I still needed to polish the stem further with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed it down after each set of three pads with Obsidian Oil. After the last set of pads I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. gbd15 gbd16 gbd17I buffed the bowl rim and the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to shine it further. I gave the stem and the bowl rim multiple coats of carnauba wax on the wheel and hand applied Conservator’s Wax to the sandblast bowl sides and shank. I buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad, carefully buffing around the stamping and the brass roundel on the stem. The finished pipe is shown in the photos that follow. The overall appearance of the pipe is very good. In some of the close up photos the light shows me some spots along the crease of the button where the stubborn oxidation did not all come clean. Ah well. It is one of those that I think I will revisit repeatedly over the course of its life with me. Thanks for journeying with me on this troublesome oxidation removal process. Thanks for reading. gbd18 gbd19 gbd20 gbd21 gbd22 gbd23 gbd24 gbd25