Tag Archives: fitting a stem

I was not hoping for much with this poor Malaga Second Oval Shank Brandy

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

For the next little while I am working on some Malaga Pipes. I have several in queue to work on so I tend to pick them by what catches my eye. The next pipe is the last of the latest batch of Malaga Pipes. This one is a Oval Shank Brandy with a ¼ bent vulcanite stem. Jeff saw it on eBay and purchased it on 09/30/2023 from a seller in Cape Fair, Missouri, USA. The grain on this pipe is quite nice. Once again it was obviously someone’s favourite smoker. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads MALAGA [over] Second. The smooth briar bowl and shank were dirty and worn. There were tars and oils ground into the surface of the briar. The bowl had a very thick cake that flowed over the top of the inwardly bevelled rim in a thick lava coat. The cake in the bowl was thick right up to the top of the rim. It was hard to fully assess the condition of the inner edge. It looked like the rim top had some burn marks and chips on the back and the front side. The inner edge was also damaged. The condition of the rim edge and top would become clear in the cleaning process. The outer edge also had some damage. The saddle stem was vulcanite and had light tooth marks on the top and the underside of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipes before he started his clean up work. Jeff took photos of the rim and bowl to show the heavy cake and lava on the rim top and edges. You can also see the damage on the rim top. The back top and outer edges appear to have been knocked against some hard surface given the amount of damage. The inner edge of the rim showed thick cake coming up to the top and flowing over the edge. It was a dirty pipe but still a beauty. The vulcanite saddle stem had tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside of the stem ahead of the button. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show some stunning and unique grain all around the pipe. The oil curing/finish makes the grain really stand out on the bowl and shank. Jeff took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It read “Malaga” [over] Second. The stamping was clear and readable as noted above.Jeff took photos of the flaws in the briar on the underside of the shank. There are fills in place in the shank but they are shrunken and are quite tactile. I am sure that this is what made the pipe a Malaga Second.For those of you who are unfamiliar with the brand, I am also including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/2013/02/09/george-khoubesser-and-malaga-pipes/. That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. If you are interested to learn more then I invite you to follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

I am also am including a link to some printed material on the Malaga brand that came to me from the daughter of George Koch (we purchased George’s pipes from his daughter) to help identify the particular stamping on the pipe. The link takes you to the entire collection of materials that were sent to me (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/02/27/malaga-pipes-catalogue-of-pipes-and-tobaccos/).

This particular pipe was a second and it is not listed in the catalogue.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe using his usual procedure. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime from around the bowl sides. It looked much better. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. The stem looked much better and the light tooth marks on both sides were still visible and would need a little work. I took photos of the pipe once I received it.  I took a photo of the rim top and the stem to show their condition. Jeff was able to clean up the cake and the lava overflow that was shown in the rim and bowl photos above. The rim top was clean but there were chips, nicks burned areas around the rim top and the edges of the bowl. There was also some darkening on the flat surface of the rim and the edges. It is visible in the first photo below. The stem looked better, though there were tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is quite readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of what the pipe looks like.I started my work on the pipe by addressing the damage to the rim top and outer edge of the bowl. I topped it with a topping board and 220 grit sandpaper. I cleaned up the inward bevel on the bowl edge with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I brought it back to the same inward bevel that it had before I topped it. I turned my attention to the flaws and fills in the heel and the underside of the shank. I filled these in with clear CA glue. I smooth out the repairs with a folded pipe cleaner to smooth them out.I sanded the bowl top and the repaired fills on the shank and heel with a 320 grit sanding pad to blend them into the surrounding briar. They looked significantly better. From there I chose to sand the entire bowl and shank with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. This removed the darker areas and blended the repairs into the bowl and shank. It also took care of the roughness to the finish and some of the marks on the outside of the bowl and shank. The grain really began to stand out on the pipe. From there I went on to polish the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad. The pipe really began to have a rich shine and some beautiful grain that minimized the repaired fills. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it in with my fingers to get it into the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration, it is a beautiful bowl. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks with the flame of a lighter and was able to lift them significantly. I filled in what remained with a black CA glue. Once it cured I used a small file to flatten the repairs and start the process of blending them into the surrounding vulcanite. Once the repairs cured I straightened out the stem a bit to give it a more gentle bend. To me the previous bend was to abrupt and made the stem hang from the mouth poorly. I adjusted it so that in the mouth it sits comfortably.Once the bend was corrected I sanded the repairs smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I was able to further blend it into the surrounding vulcanite.I started the polishing of the stem with 2 x 2 inch sanding pads – dry sanding with 320-3500 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad. I was able to remove the light tooth marks and chatter on the stem surface on both sides. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil.  I did a final hand polish of the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. I put the pipe back together – the bowl with its new stem. This restored Malaga Second Long Shank Brandy turned out surprisingly to be a real beauty. I did not hold out much hope for it when I started on it but boy was I surprised. The grain on the bowl is quite beautiful came alive with the buffing. I used Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel on both the bowl and stem. I gave both multiple coats of carnauba wax on the wheel then buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The Malaga Second Brandy feels great in the hand. It is lightweight and the contrast in the browns of the briar and the polished vulcanite stem is quite amazing. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.90 ounces/54 grams. It really is a beauty. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the American (US) Pipe Makers section shortly if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restemming and the restoration with me. Cheers.

Still Some Wow Factor Left in this Royal Danish 992 Ukulele Sitter

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe is one that Jeff and I picked up at an antique shop in Bozeman, Montana, USD on 10/28/2017. It is another pipe that has been in my box of pipes to work on for a very long time. The pipe was similar to the Stanwell Vario Finish with sandblast finish around the bowl and shank and a smooth panel on the left and right sides of the bowl and a smooth inner edge on the mixed finish rim top. The stamping on the bowl is readable. On the underside of the shank it reads 992, the shape number [followed by] Royal Danish in script [over] Made in Denmark. The shape is quite unique and beautiful with great grain on the smooth panels and deep sandblast grooves around the bowl sides. The briar is very dirty with grime and oils in the grooves of the sandblast and on the smooth panels. The rim top and inner and outer edges showed darkening and wear.  The vulcanite saddle stem was stamped with a Royal Danish Crown logo on the topside. The stem was oxidized and had some deep tooth marks on the top and underside and on the button surface itself. Jeff took photos of the pipe to show you what it looked like before he started his cleanup. Jeff took photos of the bowl and stem. The bowl had a thick cake on the walls and overflowing onto the rim top and edges. It was thickly caked as well and hard to assess its condition. The airway in the shank and stem were dirty with tars and oils. The vulcanite stem was oxidized and calcified on both sides of the stem. There were deep tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button and on the button surface itself.He took photos of the grain on the smooth panels and the depth of the blast around the bowl and the shank. The grain was quite beautiful and the ruggedness of the blast is quite stunning. He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank and it was clear and readable as noted above. He also took a photo of the logo stamp on the top of the stem. Regardless of when this specific briar was made, the shape is very much a 1960s Danish one. I turned to Pipephil’s site and quickly scanned the article on Stanwell getting a great overview of the history. I went through the photos and did not find the shape of the pipe that I was working on (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-r6.html). There was one that showed the mixed finish of the Royal Danish line – sandblast with smooth patches on each side of the bowl. I have included a screen capture of that section below.I then turned to Pipedia and found that the Royal Danish was also listed as a second or a sub-brand made by Stanwell (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell#Sub-brands_.2F_Seconds). I have included the list of seconds from the site below. I have highlighted the Royal Danish in blue in the text.

Sub-brands / Seconds – Bijou (discontinued), Danish Quaint, Danish Sovereign, Danske Club,    Henley (discontinued), Kong Christian (discontinued), Majestic, Reddish (discontinued),  Royal Danish, Royal Guard, Royal Sovereign, Sailor (discontinued), Scandia, Sorn (discontinued), Svendson.

There was also an interesting advertising page on the Danish Briars by Stanwell. The first one on the list was the Royal Danish. The description of the line is clear and concise, be sure to read it below.

I followed one of the links at the end of the site to an article on rebornpipes written by Bas Stevens on the shape numbers and the designers who originally carved those shapes for Stanwell (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). The Royal Danish line adds a 9 before the 92 making the number 992. I quote from it as it specifically refers to the shape 92 as being a design by Sixten Ivarsson.

  • 92. Same as shape 91 but smaller by Sixten Ivarsson.

I have also included the information on the shape 91 and 91 R as referred to in the quote above.

  • 91. Slightly bent wide, flattened volcano with an oval shank and a short, standard saddle, trapezoidal saddle, or tapered stem, by Sixten Ivarsson. Nicknamed the ‘Ukulele’ (pictured, left, in its reissued design).
  • Sixten Ivarsson’s shape 91 ‘Ukulele’ for Stanwell, seen here in its reissued form as the 91R. Another signature design in the Danish style from Ivarsson, and a pioneering exploration of the limits of horizontality. Image courtesy Mike at Pipes Pens and More.
  • 91R. A reissue of the shape 91 ‘Ukulele,’ marketed as part of Stanwell’s ‘Giants’ line (see 1960s catalog below; pictured, right).

I now knew that the shape 992 was another Sixteen Ivarsson design. It was a flattened volcano that was nicknamed the Ukulele. It is an interesting shape. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the smooth bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the rim top and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in a bath of Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took a close up photo of the rim top and stem surface to show the condition after the clean up. The bowl was in good condition though the rim top showed some damage toward the front of the bowl. It was worn and had some darkening at the front. The stem surface showed the tooth marks on both sides. They were quite deep on the surface and on the button edge itself.The stamping on the shank was readable as noted above. The stem had a Danish Royal Crown logo on the top of the saddle. I took the stem off the pipe and took a photo of the pipe in proportion. It is a beautiful pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe. I started by using a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inwardly bevelled edge and clean up the darkening and damage to both. It was significantly better when I started. I used a Walnut stain pen to touch up the sanded rim top and inner edge of the bowl. I polished the smooth portion of the bowl sides and the inner edge of the rim with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. The smooth portions and bevelled inner edge looked much better at this point. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm working it into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed the surface down with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation from the surface and particularly from the deep tooth marks on the stem.I “painted” the tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button with the flame of the lighter. I was able to lift them significantly but there were still tooth marks left in the edge of the button and on the surface. I filled in the remaining marks with black CA glue. I set it aside to cure overnight.In the morning I used a small file to recut the edge of the button and to flatten the repairs on the surface of the stem. I smoothed out the repairs further with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It was starting to look better. I touched up the stamping in the vulcanite on the top of the saddle portion of the stem. I used white acrylic fingernail polish to rewhiten the Crown on the top of the saddle. Once it hardened I sanded it with 320 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with Obisidian Oil and set it aside.I used the sanding pads I purchased recently – 320-3500 grit regular pads to smooth out the finish and remove the light tooth and chatter marks in the stem. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil to finish the preliminary work after the 3500 grit pad.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the Sixten Ivarsson design Stanwell Royal Danish Made in Denmark 992 Ukulele back together and it is a beauty. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl. This Royal Danish 992 Ukulele/ Volcano was a great pipe to spruce up. It is a very comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 38 grams/1.34 ounces. I will be putting this pipe on the Danish Pipe Making Companies Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by email or message. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

Now I know that this Royal Danish 992 is a Ukulele Design by Ivarsson

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe is one that Jeff and I picked up off eBay way back on 04/19/2016. It is another pipe that has been in my box of pipes to work on for a very long time. The pipe, like the previous 992 was similar to the Stanwell Vario Finish with sandblast finish around the bowl and shank and a smooth panel on the left and right sides of the bowl. The stamping on the bowl is readable. On the underside of the shank it reads 992, the shape number [followed by] Royal Danish in script [over] Made in Denmark. The shape is quite unique and beautiful with great grain on the smooth panels and deep sandblast grooves around the bowl sides. The sandblast and on the smooth panels looked very good. The rim top and inner edges were in great condition. The vulcanite saddle stem was lacking the Royal Danish logo on the topside. The stem was heavily oxidized and had some tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem. Jeff took very few photos of the pipe in these early days but the one below shows you what it looked like before he started his cleanup.Jeff took a photo of the bowl and rim top. The bowl had been reamed somewhere along the way and the bowl was quite clean. It also seemed to be quite clean on the finish as well. The vulcanite stem was heavily oxidized on both sides of the stem. There were tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took a close up of the rim and bowl and the topside of the stem.Regardless of when this specific briar was made, the shape is very much a 1960s Danish one. I turned to Pipephil’s site and quickly scanned the article on Stanwell getting a great overview of the history. I went through the photos and did not find the shape of the pipe that I was working on (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-r6.html). There was one that showed the mixed finish of the Royal Danish line – sandblast with smooth patches on each side of the bowl. I have included a screen capture of that section below.I then turned to Pipedia and found that the Royal Danish was also listed as a second or a sub-brand made by Stanwell (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell#Sub-brands_.2F_Seconds). I have included the list of seconds from the site below. I have highlighted the Royal Danish in blue in the text.

Sub-brands / Seconds – Bijou (discontinued), Danish Quaint, Danish Sovereign, Danske Club, Henley (discontinued), Kong Christian (discontinued), Majestic, Reddish (discontinued),  Royal Danish, Royal Guard, Royal Sovereign, Sailor (discontinued), Scandia, Sorn (discontinued), Svendson.

There was also an interesting advertising page on the Danish Briars by Stanwell. The first one on the list was the Royal Danish. The description of the line is clear and concise, be sure to read it below.I followed one of the links at the end of the site to an article on rebornpipes written by Bas Stevens on the shape numbers and the designers who originally carved those shapes for Stanwell (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). The Royal Danish line adds a 9 before the 92 making the number 992. I quote from it as it specifically refers to the shape 92 as being a design by Sixten Ivarsson.

  • 92. Same as shape 91 but smaller by Sixten Ivarsson.

I have also included the information on the shape 91 and 91 R as referred to in the quote above.

  • 91. Slightly bent wide, flattened volcano with an oval shank and a short, standard saddle, trapezoidal saddle, or tapered stem, by Sixten Ivarsson. Nicknamed the ‘Ukulele’ (pictured, leftt, in its reissued design).
  • Sixten Ivarsson’s shape 91 ‘Ukulele’ for Stanwell, seen here in its reissued form as the 91R. Another signature design in the Danish style from Ivarsson, and a pioneering exploration of the limits of horizontality. Image courtesy Mike at Pipes Pens and More.
  • 91R. A reissue of the shape 91 ‘Ukulele,’ marketed as part of Stanwell’s ‘Giants’ line (see 1960s catalog on the site link above).

I now knew that the shape 992 was another Sixteen Ivarsson design. It was a flattened volcano that was nicknamed the Ukulele. It is an interesting shape. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had cleaned up the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the rim top and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. This was in the early years when Jeff did not do his now very thorough clean up. The stem was still very oxidized. I took photos of the pipe when it arrived. I took a close up photo of the rim top and stem surface to show the condition when I started my work on it. The bowl was in good condition though the rim top showed some damage toward the front of the bowl. It was worn and had some darkening at the front. The stem surface showed the tooth marks on both sides. They were quite deep on the surface and on the button edge itself.The stamping on the shank was readable as noted above. The stem did not have the Danish Royal Crown logo on the top of the saddle. I took the stem off the pipe and took a photo of the pipe in proportion. It is a beautiful pipe.Now it was time to work on the pipe. I polished the smooth panels on the bowl sides with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm working it into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed the surface down with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation from the surface and particularly from the deep tooth marks on the stem.I “painted” the tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button with the flame of the lighter. I was able to lift them significantly but there were still tooth marks left in the edge of the button and on the surface. I filled in the remaining marks with black CA glue. I set it aside to cure overnight.In the morning I used a small file to recut the edge of the button and to flatten the repairs on the surface of the stem. I smoothed out the repairs further with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It was starting to look better. I used the sanding pads I purchased recently – 320-3500 grit regular pads to smooth out the finish and remove the light tooth and chatter marks in the stem. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil to finish the preliminary work after the 3500 grit pad.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry.As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the Sixten Ivarsson design Stanwell Royal Danish Made in Denmark 992 Ukulele back together and it is a beauty. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl. This Royal Danish 992 Ukulele was a great pipe to spruce up. It is a very comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 40 grams/1.41 ounces. I will be putting this pipe on the Danish Pipe Making Companies Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by email or message. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

Cleaning Up a Unique Stanwell Selected Briar Hand Made 13 Bent Pear

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe is one that is another intriguing one to me for multiple reasons. Neither Jeff or I have any memory of finding it or trading for it. It has been in my box of pipes to work on for a very long time but I have no sense of when or where I got it. It had been reamed but not cleaned or sanitized. The stamping on it is readable. On the topside of the shank it reads Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 969-48 [over] Hand Made. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Selected Briar [over] the shape number 13 [over] Made in Denmark. The shape is quite unique and beautiful with great grain around the bowl sides. The shape 13 was a Sixten Ivarsson design called a Pear. The briar is very dirty and faded. The rim top and inner and outer edges are covered with darkening and tars. The vulcanite saddle stem was stamped with a Crown S logo on the topside and on the underside with the words Hand Cut. The stem was oxidized and has some tooth marks on the top and underside and on the button surface itself. I took photos of the pipe to show you what I saw. The bowl had been reamed recently but it had not been cleaned. The airway in the shank and stem were dirty with tars and oils. The mortise had tars and oils on the walls and the pipe smelled heavily of English tobacco. The vulcanite stem is also dirty on the inside as well as oxidized on both sides of the stem. There were tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button and on the button surface itself.I took a photo of the stamping on the top and the underside of the shank. It was stamped as noted above and was clear and readable on both sides. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the parts. At this point I started my cleanup on it. I worked over the top and the inner and outer edges of the bowl with a 320 grit sanding pad. I worked to remove the darkening and lava on the bowl surfaces. It was looking much better.I cleaned out the internals of the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I was able to remove the tars and oils and once finished the smell of the pipe was much cleaner.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I used 1500-12000 grit pads to dry sand the briar around the bowl and shank. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. By the end the briar began to take on a real shine. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horse hair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button with the flame of the lighter. I was able to lift them significantly but there were still tooth marks left in the edge of the button and on the surface. I filled in the remaining marks with black CA glue. I set it aside to cure overnight. In the morning I used a small file to recut the edge of the button and to flatten the repairs on the surface of the stem. I smoothed out the repairs further with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It was starting to look better. I paused in the polishing process to touch up the stamping in the vulcanite on the top and underside of the saddle portion of the stem. I used white acrylic fingernail polish to rewhiten the Crown S on the top and the Hand Cut on the underside. Once it hardened I sanded it with 320 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with Obisidian Oil and set it aside. I used the sanding pads I purchased recently – 320-3500 grit regular pads to smooth out the finish and remove the light tooth and chatter marks in the stem. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil to finish the preliminary work after the 3500 grit pad.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the Sixten Ivarsson design Stanwell Selected Briar Hand Made in Denmark 13 Pear with a Regd. No. back together and it is a beauty. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl. This Stanwell Select Briar 13 Pear was a great pipe to spruce up. It is a very comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 44 grams/1.59 ounces. I will be putting this pipe on the Danish Pipe Making Companies Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by email or message. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

An Intriguing Sandblast Danish Oval Shank Bulldog

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe is one that is very intriguing to me for multiple reasons. First, neither Jeff or I have any memory of finding it or trading for it. It has been in my box of pipes to work on for a very long time but I have no sense of when or where I got it. It had been reamed but not cleaned or sanitized. Second, the stamping on it was strange in that all it said was MADE IN DENMARK. There were no other marks, faint or otherwise on either the stem or the shank. So, we had no hint as to the maker. I do know that I have worked on a few other pipes with the same stamping. Third, the shape which I call a Danish Bulldog or Rhodesian is different. It has some smooth panels (almost smooth) on both sides of the shank above the carved band. The sandblast is quite deep and rugged and it is a pretty looking pipe. I took photos of the pipe to show you what I saw. I mentioned above the pipe had been reamed recently but it had not been cleaned. The airway in the shank and stem were dirty with tars and oils. The mortise had tars and oils on the walls and the pipe smelled heavily of English tobacco. The vulcanite stem is also dirty on the inside as well as oxidized on both sides of the stem. There was light tooth chatter on both sides but the top and underside were unmarked by tooth damage.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It was stamped Made in Denmark as noted above and there was no other stamping visible on the shank or stem. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the parts.At this point I started at the beginning of the cleanup on it. I worked over the sandblast rim top with a brass bristle wire brush to knock off the grime in blast. It looked better but there was more to do on this one.I cleaned out the internals of the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I was able to remove the tars and oils and once finished the smell of the pipe was much cleaner. I scrubbed the externals of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I was able to clean out the grime in the sandblast finish and the oils left from the pipe smoker’s hands. I cleaned out the ring around the bowl at the same time as it was a fairly deep groove. I rinsed off the pipe with warm water to remove the debris in the soap. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horse hair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I used the sanding pads I purchased recently – 320-3500 grit regular pads to smooth out the finish and remove the light tooth and chatter marks in the stem. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil to finish the preliminary work after the 3500 grit pad.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry.As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the Made in Denmark Bulldog back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl. This Made in Denmark Bulldog was a great pipe to spruce up. It is a very comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 41 grams/1.45 ounces. I will be putting this pipe on the Danish Pipe Making Companies Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by email or message. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

Restoring an Irish Made K & P Peterson’s Sterling X86 Straight Apple

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen to work on is a Peterson’s Sterling X86 Apple. The pipe belongs to a fellow in Texas that I have restored pipes for in the past. He contacted me a few weeks ago about this pipe and asked it I would work on it for him. I said yes, he shipped it and I received it yesterday. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [over] Sterling. On the right side it is stamped with the shape number X86 next to the bowl/shank junction and behind that near the band it is stamped Made in Ireland in a circle with “in” centred in the circle around the stamp. It has a Sterling Silver band around the shank that is stamped K&P in three shields [over] Sterling [over] Silver [over] Peterson [over] Dublin. It is lightly tarnished and oxidized. The bowl had a moderate cake but the rim top and inner edge were clean with no damage. The outer edge looked to be in good condition. The finish on the bowl was dirty with oils around the sides and shank but the mixed grain was quite nice. The stem was lightly oxidized and has very light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. It should clean up very well. I took photos of the pipe before I started working on it. I took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl has a moderate cake with a hard layer of carbon on the chamber surface. You can see the excess glue squeezed out from under the band leaving behind some shiny, dried glue on the shank ahead of the band. The stem looks quite good with a little bit of oxidation on the surface and light tooth marks and chatter on both sides.I took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe under the grime on the outside of the bowl.   I took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. I also took a photo of the band. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to try to capture the overall look and proportion of the pipe. It is a beauty.I checked on Pipephil’s website to see what I could learn about the stamping on the pipe. I found the following information that I quote:

The country of manufacture stamp changed from “Made in Eire” to “Made in Ireland” (In circle) about 1945. Later (1947-49) it became “MADE IN IRELAND” (block letters) stamped in one or two lines (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-peterson.html).

I turned to Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes to see what I could garner from that information. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson#1950_-_1989_The_Republic_Era). In a section on

Prior to 1920 it was rare for a country of origin to be stamped on the pipe, just Peterson’s Dublin on the band. After 1921/22 if it is stamped “MADE IN IRELAND” and the “Made in” is stacked over “Ireland” or “MADE IN EIRE” or several other forms, it was made between 1922 and 1938. A considerable number of Peterson pipes were stamped “Irish Free State”. From about 1930 to 1949, most of the pipes (those which were stamped) were stamped “Made in Ireland”.” If the stamp reads “MADE IN IRELAND” in a circle, the pipe was made between 1939 and 1948. These are all “prerepublic” pipes.

I then turned to the book I should have consulted first, The Peterson Pipe, by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg. On page 155 I found some information on the line.

Peterson’s US distributor during the early Republic era was Rogers Imports, Inc., a New York firm whose catalogs offered all varieties of smoker’s products. Rogers was the exclusive wholesale dealer for several prominent European pipe manufacturers, they also marketed accessories under their own name. On behalf of Kapp & Peterson they registered the Killarney, Shamrock and Sterling trademarks with the US Patent Office in the 1950s, and their catalogs also featured the System, Premier Selection and Supreme.

On page 156-157 in the same book there is a catalogue page with the Sterling shown on it. It sold for $7.50 in 1953. It read:

As the name implies the Sterling quality of this fine pipe is distinguished in a careful selection of its fine Mediterranean Bruyere, its careful workmanship and sparkling finish. Banded with a Sterling Silver band – a Hallmark of quality – the pipe is available in a handsome natural or dark rich walnut finish. Patent P-lip stem. Individually boxed.

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping on the pipe. It is a Pre-republic era pipe. The Made in Ireland stamped in a circle on the right side of the shank tells me it was made between 1922-1938.

Now, on to the restoration of this beautifully grained Peterson’s Sterling 406 Prince. I began the work by reaming the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. I scraped out what remained with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the walls of the bowl with a piece of dowel wrapped with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth the out. The walls looked to be in excellent condition with no checking or heat damage. I scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. I worked on the bevelled inner edge to try to remove the darkening and was able to remove some. I scrubbed off the excess glue behind the silver band on the shank with a folded pipe cleaner and some acetone to remove the glue. I scrubbed the inside of the mortise and shank along with the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. The pipe was looking better than when it arrived. I decided to start the process by addressing the damage on the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to sand the top and to clean up the darkening and the damage on the edge. It was still slightly present on the front of the bowl but looked much better.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl surface down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. Once I finished the exterior of the briar looked much better and had taken on a shine. I paused sanding the rim top after the 2400 grit micromesh pad and used a Cherry stain pen to touch up the rim top to match the rest of the pipe.I went back to the micromesh sanding pads – starting with the 3200 grit pad and working my way through the 15000 grit pad. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on. I polished the silver band on the shank with a jewelers cloth to remove the existing oxidation and tarnish and to protect the band from further tarnish. It looks so much better than when I started. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I used the sanding pads I purchased recently – 320-3500 grit regular pads to smooth out the finish and remove the light tooth and chatter marks in the stem. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil to finish the preliminary work after the 3500 grit pad.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the Made In Ireland Peterson’s Sterling X86 Apple back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. I polished the silver with a jeweler’s cloth. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl. This Peterson’s Sterling 86X Apple was a great pipe to spruce up. It is a very comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 43 grams/1.55 ounces. This pipe will be going back to my friend for him to enjoy. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

Can this Danmore 3090 Be Brought Back to Life?

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

Sometimes I look at a pipe we purchased and wonder what we were thinking when we went for it. That was the case with this Danmore 3090 freehand. We purchased it from an online auction in Los Fresnos, Texas, USA on 01/10/2018. You can see from the fact that it has been sitting here in a bag since 2018. When Jeff received it, the pipe was in pieces and he put it together for these photos. The bowl was intact with no cracks or serious nicks. The horn shank extension had come unglued and looked like it might have some delaminating happening on the long portion that held the stem. The pipe was stamped on the underside of the shank with the shape number 3090 followed by Danmore [over] Handmade Denmark. The stem had a rubber tube fit on the end that had originally been in the shank extension but was now stuck on the stem. The stem itself had been chewed or broken off and was probably missing at least ½ inch of its length. It still had the Danmore Logo on the top of the taper but that was all it had going for it. The bowl was thickly cake and there was a thick lava coat on the rim top obscuring the edges of the bowl. It had obviously been someone’s favourite pipe and had been smoked to death. The finish was filthy with grime and hand oils ground into the smooth panels and the sandblast making it all almost smooth to touch. It was impossible to know if the rim top was smooth or sandblast as there was so much tar on it. The inside of the shank that held the extension was filled with tars and oils and the inside of the horn shank extension was the same. Jeff got some good photos of the pipe before he did his clean up work and I have to hand it to him it looked pretty interesting. The question in my mind really was whether it was redeemable. The bones were nice but what was underneath once it was cleaned remained a haunting question. He took photos of the rim top and bowl and you can see what I mean by the thickness of the cake in the bowl and the lava on the rim top. It is so thick that it is flaking off in chunks only to reveal another layer! You can also see the broken off/chewed off condition of the stem in the photos he included. He included photos of the sides of the bowl and the contrasting patches on the bowl sides along with an interesting sandblast. The only thing that can be said is that the stamping on the underside of the shank is clear and readable as noted above and the Danmore D logo is very readable on the chewed off stem. You can also see the separation of the horn shank extension for the shank end in these photos. Lots of work to be done in the resurrection.The horn shank extension was originally lined with a Delrin or rubber liner to stabilize the horn from the inside. It would have been glued in place in the horn and not moved when the stem was removed. In the photo above and those that follow you can see that the liner piece has crept up the stem to where there is very little that is actually in the horn itself. I am hoping that once it is here I can work it off the stem and reinsert it in the horn again. We shall see.Jeff let the pipe fall back into its parts and took photos of it. You can see the bowl and its filthiness, the stem with the creeping rubber insert from the horn and the tired looking horn extension. In the second photo you can see the filth in the inside of the horn and into the shank itself… lots of work in cleaning it and not making things worse.I knew that the pipe was a Danish Made pipe but it has been awhile since I worked on a Danmore pipe. I turned first to Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-d2.html). There was a very short clip there with one photo of a pipe very different from the one I am working on. It simply states that the factory is closed and that the pipes are made by third parties. Not too much helpful information there that is for sure.I then turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Danmore) and was much more successful. The article is short and succinct but very helpful. I have included it below for ease of reference.

Danmore was founded by Hans Sørensen in the early 1970s, and produced pipes from that time until the early 1980s, at one point having up to 30 employees. The pipes were sold in the first Dan Pipe catalog. In the early 1980’s, however, production ceased in Denmark due to labor costs, and the company’s production was outsourced to Italy and Spain, and they began to also make pipecleaners and smokers articles.

Sørensen focused on the pipecleaner side of the concern, and eventually bought a share in the factory in the Far East making them. Today the company, owned by Hans’ sons Jesper and Lars Sørensen, no longer makes pipes, and instead makes only pipe cleaners under the name Danmore Hobby Aps, selling only to hobby and craftshops in Denmark and Scandinavia.

Hans Sørensen passed away in 2012. The Sørensen family continues to own the trademarks for the use of the Danmore name in relation to pipes, matches, and tobacco.

Now I knew that the pipe was made by Hans Sorensen and was made between the early 1970s and early 1980s when production ceased in Denmark due to labor costs. From that point on the pipes were outsourced to Italy and Spain. So, I guess the pipe was made during the 10 year or so window when the pipes were handmade in Denmark. All of that info makes me a bit more interested in resurrecting this pipe.

When it arrived here it was in a plastic sandwich bag and I promptly put it aside in a drawer of pipes to work on. Periodically I would take the bag out and dump out the parts and look it over. Everytime other than today I have just put it back in the drawer, shaking my head. I think it could be fixed but did I want to was the serious question that haunted me each time I looked at it. From 2018-2024 my answer was categorically, NOT INTERESTED! So, what changed today? Got me! Last evening, I took it out of the baggie and looked it over, put the pieces together and took some photos. Something about it caught my eye this time around and I wanted to see if I could bring it back to life. I sent Jeff a note and he sent me the photos above.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the horn shank extension and the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show how good it looked. The sandblast rim top was clean and the inner edges aw also in good condition. The stain had faded some but it would not be too much to bring it back. The shank extension was very loose with nothing holding it in place in the shank. The stem was another story. The end had been either gnawed off or broken off and still smoked that way. It cleaned up well for sure – looked much better. It would need to be replaced.Though the photo below is a bit blurry the stamping is very clear on the underside of the shank. I removed the stem from the shank end and took a photo of the pipe and extension with the stem below to get a sense of what was there now.Now it was time to put the pieces back together again. For me this is the challenge that I enjoy. Will I be able to reconstruct the pipe back to functionality without changing the plan that crafted it originally? I love that challenge. In this case I decided to start with regluing and rebuilding the shank extension. I am very thankful that it was not delaminating. The horn was dry but still very stable which took away a very time-consuming part of the work. I worked on removing the old glue from the shank end and the tenon of the extension. I used a dental spatula and small blade to scrape the surfaces and then scrubbed them with 99% isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I also worked on the airway in the mortise of the briar so that the extension would have a very clean surface to bond with.Once the mortise was dried out I used some all-purpose white glue and painted the inside of the mortise and the tenon on the extension with it. I pressed the parts together and held them with pressure until the glue cured. Once it had hardened sufficiently to take the pressure off and wiped off the excess glue that had squeezed out with a damp cotton pad. I took photos of the pipe at this point. I cleaned up the Delrin/rubber ring that fit in the shank end and gave it a thin coat of all-purpose glue. I pressed it into the shank extension end and set it aside to cure. Once the glue hardened I polished the joint of the horn extension and the briar with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the horn down after each sanding pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. The horn began to take on a shine. I polished the smooth panels on the bowl sides and the horn shank extension with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the horn down after each sanding pads with Obsidian Oil. It began to take on a shine as I worked through the pads. I used a Walnut Stain Pen to touch up the spotty finish around the bowl and shank and on the faded rim top. It looked significantly better once the stain cured. The colour looked much better. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes while I worked on the stem. After the time passed I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I went through my collection of stems to find one that would work on the pipe. The one I found is identical to the broken one. It has the same shape as the broken one with the fishtail button. It was about ½ inch longer that accommodated the broken portion of the stem. It would need to be cleaned up and polished but it was a good match.I cleaned out the internals of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. It smelled and looked much better.I started working on polishing the stem with my 320-2500 grit sanding pads. I was able to remove the scratches and light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. It looked much better at this point in the process.  I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. This beautiful sandblast Danmore 3090 Freehand with a horn shank extension and a military mount stem turned out very nice. It came together amazingly well – far better than when I began. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain around the bowl sides and bottom. The rim top and edges look very good. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Danmore 3090 Freehand is very nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 48 grams/1.69 ounces. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store, in the Danish Pipe Makers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring a Family Heirloom Brigham Select Canada Two Dot 289 Bent Acorn

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The pipe on the table is a rusticated Brigham Bent Acorn that came to me for restoration from a Alex who shipped it to me from Quebec. He had written recently to ask about restoring the pipe. Here is what he wrote at that point.

Hello,

I was gifted a Brigham from my grandfather who passed away in 1982.

The pipe still has the filter and had tobacco that I tossed out. It has heavy cake, the bottom of the bowl is now V shape and not U shape.

Also, I can’t get a pipe cleaner to pass the shank and get into the bowl, yet I can get air when I sip it.

How much would it cost to restore this pipe?

Thanks, Alex

We discussed what it would cost and chatted back and forth through emails. I asked him to send me some photos of the pipe so I could see what I would be dealing with. He sent the photos that I have included below that really give a clear picture of the pipe and what needs to be done with it. I told him I would take it on and he dropped it into the post for me to work on. The pipe arrived in Vancouver in this morning’s post. I opened the box and I examined the pipe carefully and no additional issues arose that I had not seen in the photos that Alex sent. I wrote Alex an email regarding what I saw. Here is my assessment:

  1. The bowl is thickly caked as you noted and it is hard cake. No issues that I can see there though. Once I ream it I will know what the briar is like on the inside.
  2. Rim top has a thick lava overflow on the top along the back and the inner edge. Will know more about the condition of the edge once I ream it.
  3. The finish on the bowl was very dirty with grime and grit ground into the rustication on the finish. The smooth portions had sticky spots of tars and oils on the surface.
  4. The stem fit very tightly due to a thick tar coating on the inside of the shank but no issues there. No cracks in the shank.
  5. The filter is as you guessed garbage but once I have cleaned the pipe I will replace it with a new one.
  6. Aluminum tenon/holder for the filter is dirty and has some oxidation at the stem end.
  7. The inside of the stem is filthy but easy to clean.
  8. Stem is badly oxidized but the tooth marks are very light and the tooth chatter is also very light.

This Brigham is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank and reads 289 (shape number) followed by Brigham in script (over) Canada. There was a thick cake in the bowl leaving it almost conical as Alex noted. There was a lava overflow on the smooth rim top that was heavier on the back side of the top. The inner edge of the bowl were in good condition with a few small nicks and some darkening. The rusticated finish is dirty and dusty. The stem was oxidized and spotty on the top and underside and around the shank end. The stem did not have tooth marks or chatter. There were two brass dots on the left side of the taper stem. I took photos of the pipe before I started my cleanup work on it. I took a close-up photo of the bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl. The rim top shows the thick lava on the back half of the rim top. The inner edge of the bowl shows an overflow of thick lava and cake. I took photos of the top and underside of the stem surface and button to show its general condition. It looked very good under the spotty oxidation. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank on the smooth patch. It is very clear and readable.I removed the stem from the shank and was not surprised to see the Brigham Hard Maple filter in the metal tenon. You can see the two brass dots on the left side of the stem in the photo below. I thought it would be helpful to give you all the background of the brand for those unfamiliar with the brand. I am including the information from Pipedia on Brigham pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history and background on the pipes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Pipes). Charles Lemon (Dadspipes) has recently published a book on the history of the brand. If you can get a hold of a copy it is a great read. The Pipedia article is a good summary. I have included it below.

Roy Brigham, after serving an apprenticeship under an Austrian pipesmith, started his own pipe repair shop in Toronto, in 1906. By 1918 the business had grown to include five other craftsmen and had developed a reputation across Canada for the high quality of workmanship. After repairing many different brands of pipes over the years, Roy noted certain recurring complaints by pipe smokers, the most common referred to as “tongue bite”. Tongue bite is a burning sensation on the smoker’s tongue, previously thought to be due to the heat of the smoke (i.e. a “hot smoking pipe”).

He soon began manufacturing his own pipes, which were lightweight, yet featured a more rugged construction, strengthening the weak points observed in other pipes. The problem of tongue bite intrigued him, and he decided to make overcoming it a future goal.

About 1938, Roy’s son Herb joined him to assist in the business. The business barely survived the great depression because pipes were considered to be a luxury, not a necessity, and selling pipes was difficult indeed. In approximately 1937 [1], after some experimentation, Roy and Herb discovered that tongue bite was in fact a form of mild chemical burn to the tongue, caused by tars and acids in the smoke. They found that by filtering the smoke, it was possible to retain the flavour of the tobacco and yet remove these impurities and thereby stop the tongue bite.

Just as Thomas Edison had searched far and wide for the perfect material from which to make the first electric light bulb filaments, Roy & Herb began experimenting with many materials, both common and exotic, in the quest for the perfect pipe filter. Results varied wildly. Most of the materials didn’t work at all and some actually imparted their own flavour into the smoke. They eventually found just two materials that were satisfactory in pipes: bamboo and rock maple. As bamboo was obviously not as readily available, rock maple then became the logical choice.

They were able to manufacture a replaceable hollow wooden tube made from rock maple dowelling, which when inserted into a specially made pipe, caused absolutely no restriction to the draw of the pipe, yet extracted many of the impurities which had caused tongue bite. The result was indeed a truly better smoking pipe…

Charles Lemon has also written a great article on the stamping and marking on the Brigham pipes that fit into a time line that he has drafted. It is well worth a read and is fascinating. (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Pipes_%E2%80%93_A_Closer_Look_at_Dots,_Dates_and_Markings). I quote from the pertinent section on the time frame for this pipe.

I have dubbed the decades between 1980 and 2000 the Late Canadian Era, a period that saw several changes at Brigham that are of note to the collector. First, the traditional 8-grade pinning system (the famous Brigham “Dots” which denoted the quality of the pipe) was changed to a 7-grade system to simplify pinning (more on this below), and the Norsemen and Valhalla series were merged to form the President Series, which represented the very finest pipes coming out of the Toronto factory. Early pipes from this era (left, below) are stamped with a shape number and “Brigham” over “Canada”; later pipes (late 1980s+, on right below) are stamped simply with a shape number and the Brigham logo.

This solidly places the pipe I am working on in the period of Brigham production that Charles calls the Late Canadian Era (1980-2000). It is a great looking pipe with a slightly different rustication pattern than some of the early Brighams I have worked on.

Charles also put together a chart that helps the restorer to understand the Brigham dot system. I quote from the same link on Pipedia as noted above. Since this pipe could be from the 1980s I have included the chart below.

The Original Brigham Dot System 1938 – 1980

Brigham pipes are renown in the pipe world for their famous “Brigham Dots”, a system of brass pins inset in the stem to denote the grade of each pipe. The original 8-grade pinning system, used for 42 years between 1938 and 1978 (spanning the Patent, Post-Patent and Canadian Eras) looked like this:

With the information from Charles’ article and the chart above I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping and the age of this pipe. The pipe was made between in 1970-1980 because of the style of the stamping noted above. The 2 dots on the pipe told me that it was a Brigham Select. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I began my work by reaming the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer using the third cutting head to take the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. The walls were clean and showed no damage from heat. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and the rim a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. It looked much better and the dust and debris was gone. I used a brass bristle wire brush to cleanup the thick cake on the rim top. It worked very well to remove the remnant on the top of the rim. It looks much better.I scrubbed out the internals with 99% isopropyl alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the shank and the airway into the bowl and the stem were clean. I worked on the rim top and inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage and marks.I polished the smooth rim top and smooth patches on the bowl sides with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad. The rim top and patches took on a deep shine that highlighted the grain. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. With that done, the bowl was finished other than the final buffing. I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed the surface of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation on the surface of the vulcanite. It came out looking much better.I sanded out the remaining oxidation and the tooth marks with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. They take the surface from rough to shiny by the time I use the 3500 grit pad. Before polishing the stem further, I decided to fit it with a new Rock Maple Distillator.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem. I am excited to finish this Brigham Canada 289 Bent Acorn. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the rusticated finish. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem with the shining brass pins was beautiful. This mixed grain on the rusticated Brigham Select 2 Dot 289 Bent Acorn is nice looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.69 ounces/48 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be heading back to Alex to smoke in memory of his Grandfather. Thanks for walking through the cleanup with me as I worked over this pipe.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring a Chonowitch Designed Stanwell Bordeaux 148 Canadian

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table to work on is one that was purchased on 01/26/2023 in a lot of pipes that came to us from Copenhagen, Denmark. This is a oval shank Canadian with a smooth finish and a thin brass band on the shank. It is another Made in Denmark Stanwell. The smooth finish on this pipe, around the bowl and shank has a mix of grain highlighted by the reddish brown stain. The pipe is stamped on the topside of the shank and reads STANWELL [over] Bordeaux. On the underside of the shank the shape number 148 is stamped [over] Made In Denmark. The pipe was a well used pipe when Jeff received it. There was dust and grime ground into the finish on the sides of the bowl. The mixture of brown stains highlights some mixed grain under the dirt. The bowl was moderately caked and there was an overflow of lava on the smooth rim top. The condition of the inner edge was hard to know due to the lava coat. The saddle stem is vulcanite and was dirty, oxidized and had light tooth marks, chatter and scratches on both sides ahead of the button and on the button itself. There is a brass Crown S logo inlaid on the topside of the saddle stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before his clean up. You can see the cake in the bowl and the lava on the rim top and inner edges. It is hard to know what the condition of the inner edge looks like. He also took some of the stem to show the condition of both sides. There are tooth marks on the surface of the stem ahead of the button and on the button surface itself. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the grain around the bowl and shank. The mixture of brown stains adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a real beauty. The stamping on this one was around the bamboo horizontally and is shown in the photo below. It is clear and readable as noted above. The second photo shows the white stamped crown S on the stem side. Before I started my work on the pipe I wanted to see if I could find any information that would help me get a sense of the line. I turned to Pipephil to see if there was any listing on the Bordeaux Line (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html). There was nothing listed.

I then turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell) for more information. The article is great and gives a lot of history on the brand. There were also links to a shape article by Bas Stevens that I originally published on rebornpipes. I looked up the 148 shape number to see who had designed that shape (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). I quote the information below.

  1. Canadian, short saddle mouthpiece by Jess Chonowitsch.

Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime and calcification. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here in Vancouver. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim and the stem. You can see the damage and the darkening on rim top and inner edge. The vulcanite saddle stem is in good condition with light tooth marks and some chatter as noted above. There are some deep tooth marks on the button surface as well.I took photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. The briar is quite beautiful and the dark and medium stains really make it stand out. I worked on the damage to the inner edge and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bring the edge back into round and smooth out the scratches on the top. By the end it looked much better.I polished the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit for 10 minutes and the Balm did its magic. It enlivens, cleans and preserves the briar. It certainly brought this bowl back to life. I buffed it off with a clean cloth and took the following photos. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the tooth marks on the surface and in the button edges. I used black CA glue and rebuilt the deep tooth marks on both side and on both top and underside button. I set the stem aside to cure. I used a small file to flatten the repair and to also cut the sharp edge of the button. I started sanding it smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I polished the vulcanite stem surface and repairs near the button with a new product I am using. I ordered a set of 2 inch sanding pads for 320-3500 grit sanding pads from Amazon. They work amazingly well and are easy to manage and sand close to the sharp edge of the button. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Stanwell Bordeaux 148 Canadian with a vulcanite saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The mix of stains once cleaned up really highlights the grain and the polished sandblast finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Stanwell Bordeaux 148 Canadian fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 31 grams / 1.09 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the Danish Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in purchasing this pipe send me a message or an email.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us. 

Spiffing Up a Handsome Churchwarden

Leave a reply

Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

Next on the chopping block is a charming bent Dublin churchwarden (ten inches long), commissioned for a priest friend of mine. He expressly asked for a churchwarden (of course, he did). Fortunately, I had one on hand and I did a nifty restoration job on it. This is just a quick-and-dirty report for two reasons. First, I lost most of the photos I took of the restoration. Grrr. Second, this pipe has literally no markings on it, so I have no information to provide on its origins.The pipe was in decent condition. It had been well-smoked, but the bowl and shank were fairly clean. The bowl had notable cake on the inside and some lava on the rim. I felt that some burning was possibly there too. On the bottom of the stummel, there was a strange, hard, brown substance – possibly wood glue or putty. Not sure what it was, but it wasn’t supposed to be there! Similarly, the stem was relatively clean – not much oxidation to speak of, and what I would describe as “typical” tooth marks on the bit. The stem was slightly bent out of shape (in the yaw and roll axes) and would need to be corrected. The stem was first on my list. I wiped the outside down with Murphy’s Oil Soap on some cotton pads. I cleaned out the insides with lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol and some churchwarden pipe cleaners.

I then heated the stem with my heat gun and gently worked the twisted stem back into place. I have bent many stems before, but churchwardens always seem trickiest – perhaps because they’re so long. In the end, I got it looking just as it should.

I scrubbed the stem with SoftScrub on some cotton pads. I built up the remaining marks on the stem with black cyanoacrylate adhesive and then cured it with the aid of some CA glue accelerator. I then carefully sanded the adhesive down with 220- and 400-grit sandpapers to meld seamlessly into the stem. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing (from 3,600 onward).

Now for the stummel. I reamed out the bowl to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper taped to a dowel to eliminate as much as I could. I took the chamber down to bare briar, as I wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the wall. Fortunately, there were none.

I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. There was quite a bit of filth inside this stummel and it took a fair amount of cotton to get it clean. I used cotton rounds and some Murphy’s Oil Soap to scrub the outside of the stummel. I followed that up by cleaning the insides of the stummel with some Castile soap and tube brushes.

Next, I decided to de-ghost the pipe in order to remove any lingering smells of the past. I thrust cotton balls into the bowl and the shank and saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused any remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton. The bowl was nice and clean after this.

In order to safely remove the damage on the rim, I “topped” the pipe – that is to say, I gently and evenly sanded down the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. This effectively removed the damage, without altering the look of the pipe. I used some 220-grit sandpaper to remove the brown stuff on the bottom. No harm done. Then I sanded the stummel down with all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit).

Finally, I applied some Before & After Restoration Balm and buffed it with a microfiber cloth. During the restoration, I noticed some previously repaired damage to the end of the shank. The repair was sound but ugly, so I decided to add a charming band to the shank. I think it suits the pipe quite well and brings a bit of “bling”.

I then took the pipe to my bench polisher and buffed it with White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax. Wow – the pipe really looks lovely.

This churchwarden will suit my priest friend very well and I know that he will enjoy smoking it for many years to come. I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe as much I as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.