Tag Archives: fitting a stem

Breathing life into a Stubby Brakner Antique 1041 Pot Nose Warmer

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

Once again I want to take you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. Jeff has set up a spread sheet to track where the pipe came from, the date of purchase and what we paid for it so that we know what we have invested in the pipe before we even work on it. This takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. This particular pipe was purchased on 10/03/2022 from a seller in Copenhagen, Denmark. I also want you to understand why we take the photos we do. If you have followed for a while then you will see the familiar pattern of the photos we include both in the before and midstream process of working on a pipe. It is not accidental or chance as the photos have been taken to help me make an assessment of the pipe Jeff sees before he starts his clean up work. We do this to record the condition that the pipe was in when received it and to assess what kind of work will need to be done on. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

  1. The first thing I see is a classic stubby rusticated Pot with a short vulcanite stem. It is well proportioned and well made with a Brakner style rustication and stamping.
  2. The finish is dirty and there is grime and grit ground into the rustication on the sides of the bowl and shank. It is dusty and dull looking but under the grime the pipe looks good.
  3. The rim top has some lava and debris in the rustication on the top and the edges. It is dirty looking but cleaning will reveal a real beauty. The bowl is quite large and the walls thin.
  4. The bowl has a thick cake and debris on the walls that hides the walls and some grime on the inner edge of the bowl but once it is clean we will know what the bowl and edges really look like. The outer edges look good and there does not appear to be any obvious burn damage to the top or bowl edges.
  5. The vulcanite stem is in good condition – dirty and has light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of button. I am pretty certain it is a replacement stem and it is a bit larger in diameter than the shank.

Overall my impressions of this pipe is that it is a beauty that once cleaned up will be another one that will look pretty amazing. Brakner’s shape and rustication are readily identifiable when you see them so I knew what the pipe was even before looking at it in person. The photos below confirm the assessment above. Jeff took close up photos so that I could have a clearer picture of the condition of the bowl, rim edges and top. The rim top photos confirm my assessment above. The cake in the bowl is thick with tobacco debris stuck on the walls. The rim top has some lava, grime and debris in the rusticated surface. You can also see the condition of the outer edge and the inner edge is in great condition. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. There is no visible burn damage at this point. The bowl is still round and other than being in a used condition it is in great shape. The photos of the vulcanite stem surface from various angles confirm my assessment of its condition. You can see the dirty/sticky substance on the stem in the first photo below. There are scratches in the stem surface light tooth chatter, but no deep marks. The stem is quite dirty but otherwise undamaged. The fit of the stem to the shank is off a bit, the diameter is larger on the stem. Instead of telling you what I see in the next photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel I want to hear from you. Tell me what you see? What does the finish look like to you? Are there any visible problems or issues that stand out to you? Are the cracks or scratches in the valleys of the rustication or the high spots? Are there visible flaws or fissures in the briar? How random does the deep rustication look? Is there a pattern to it? Any visible issues on the heel of the bowl? These questions should help you to see what I am looking for when I see these photos.  He took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is stamped Brakner Antique. On the right side it is stamped HAND-CUT followed by the shape number 104 with the 1 a little higher than the 104. We do not have a photo of that yet. What stands out for you in the photos of the stamping? What do you look for in the stamping? It is dirty but what do you see underneath the grime on the surface of the briar? If you have been following the blog for any length of time you have come to know that when I am working on interesting old pipes (even sometimes those not so interesting). I like to know a bit about the background of the brand. I like to “meet” the carver to get a feel for their work and style.

I looked first on the Pipephil website (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-b7.html) to see what I could find. I have found through the years that it gives me a good summary of the information available and some pictures of some of the pipes from the brand. I have included a screen capture of the first pipe in the listing as it shows the logo on the stem and a bit of the stamping that is on the underside of the shank. There was not much information on the site regarding the history of the maker. It did tell me that most Brakner’s pipes had the carver’s “micro-rustication” finish. He made few smooth pipes. Next I turned to Pipedia for more information and detail (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Brakner). I quote in part:

Peter Micklson (†) started his career at the Teofil Suhr workshop, Suhr’s Pibemageri, in Copenhagen, where Sixten Ivarsson was the foreman. He brought in Poul Rasmussen and taught him the two or three important things about pipemaking in a six weeks crash course, before he went off to join Poul Nielsen, the later Mr. Stanwell.

Micklson, who later changed his last name to Brakner, cannot have worked under Rasmussen too long before he felt to be good enough to go off on his own. Indeed he carved himself quite a good name as it was proudly announced 1955’s World Championship of Pipe Smoking was won by a smoker who employed a Peter Brakner pipe. His fame based fairly on developing a unique and very special “micro-rustication” he called Antique. According to Kai Nielsen, Brakner kept this technique as a secret and only once he showed it to one person – Kai’s mother. Both have passed away, so this secret technique is lost. Kent Rasmussen was recently inspired by Brakner’s Antique finish when he created his new technique of rustication. Brakner was a close friend of Ole Larsen, the proprietor of the famous W.Ø. Larsen tobacco shop and sold a lot of his pipes there, before Larsen hired his own indoor carvers…

The pipes came in three different series.

Antique series. Antique finish in tan or black. Smooth pipes also. Each pipe 7.50 $.
Bella Danica series. Antique finish in tan or black. Each pipe 10.00 $.
Royal Danois series. Antique finish in tan or black. Each pipe 12.50 $.\
The latter were named after the Royal Danish Guard Regiment, founded in 1689.

Brakner was one of the first high-end carvers from Denmark to enter the US market and was considerably successful there in the early 1970’s. After his sudden death Peter Brakner’s name faded back from the forefront, but his pipes speak to the injustice of that. His body of work has earned him a place in the important history of Danish pipemaking.

That gives a good picture of the history and development of the Brakner brand and the connection to some of the great carvers of Danish pipe history. Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe in hand. I started my cleanup of this pipe by working on the internals. I reamed out the cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and took the cake back to the bare briar. I sanded the walls in the bowl with a piece of dowel wrapped with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth the walls.

Now I had more information to work with. The Brakner Antique in my hands that probably came out in the early 1970s before his death.

I am sure many of you will shake your head and ask maybe even out loud, “Why is he including this again?” However, please remember that the point of these blogs is not to wow your with the work or make you shake your heads but I want you to know the details of the work we do so you can do your own. Back in 2020 Jeff wrote a blog about his cleaning process. I am including a link to that now so you can see what I mean about his process. Do not skip it! Give it a read (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/01/20/got-a-filthy-estate-pipe-that-you-need-to-clean/). Here is the introduction to that blog and it is very true even to this day.

Several have asked about Jeff’s cleaning regimen as I generally summarize it in the blogs that I post rather than give a detailed procedure. I have had the question asked enough that I asked Jeff to put together this blog so that you can get a clear picture of the process he uses. Like everything else in our hobby, people have different methods they swear by. Some may question the method and that is fine. But it works very well for us and has for many years. Some of his steps may surprise you but I know that when I get the pipes from him for my part of the restoration they are impeccably clean and sanitized. I have come to appreciate the thoroughness of the process he has developed because I really like working on clean pipe!

For the benefit of some of you who may be unfamiliar with some of the products he uses I have included photos of three of the items that Jeff mentions in his list. This will make it easier for recognition. These three are definitely North American Products so you will need to find suitable replacements or order these directly on Amazon. The makeup pads are fairly universal as we were able to pick some up in India when we were with Paresh and his family.

In the blog itself he breaks his process down into two parts – cleaning the stem and cleaning the bowl. Each one has a large number of steps that he methodically does every time. I know because I have watched him do the work and I have seen the pipes after his work on them. He followed this process step by step and when the pipe got to me it was spotlessly clean and ready for my work. The inside of the stem, shank and bowl were clean and to me that is an amazing gift as it means that my work on this end is with a clean pipe! I cannot tell you how much difference that makes for my work.

When the pipe arrives here in Vancouver I have a clean pipe and I go over it keeping in mind my assessment shared in the opening paragraph above. Now that I have it in hand I am looking for confirmation of what I saw in the photos as well as any significant structural changes in the bowl and finish as I go over it.

  1. The first thing I see is a classic stubby rusticated Pot with a short vulcanite stem. It is well proportioned and well made with a Brakner style micro rustication and stamping.
  2. The finish is clean and the grime and grit have been removed from the finish on the bowl. The rustication has just come alive around the bowl sides.
  3. The lava, grime and dust on the rim top has been removed and it looks to be in good condition on the top and edges of the bowl.
  4. The walls of the bowl are clean and I do not see any checking or burn damage. The inner edge of the bowl looks good. The outer edges look good and there does not appear to be any obvious burn damage there. Even though the bowl walls are thin they are sufficient to protect pipe as it is smoked.
  5. The vulcanite stem is clean and has very light tooth chatter and marks on both sides. The stem is definitely a replacement. The fit to the shank is off with the stem larger in diameter and a bit of rounding on the shoulders. It is also a 6mm filter stem I believe and not the original.

Hopefully the steps above show you both what I look for when I go over the pipe when I bring it to the work table and also what I see when I look at the pipe in my hands. They also clearly spell out a restoration plan in short form. My work is clear and addressing it will be the next steps. I took photos of the whole pipe to give you a picture of what I see when I have it on the table. This is important to me in that it also shows that there was no damage done during the clean up work or the transit of the pipe from Idaho to here in Vancouver.  I carefully went over the bowl and rim top to get a sense of what is happening there. In this case once the rim top and edges were cleaned, they looked very good. There was no damage on the edges or the top of the rim. The thin rim edge and top are clean and should polish up well. I also go over the stem carefully. The stem had some issues as noted. The diameter of the stem was larger than the shank and the end had been rounded giving it shoulders. That would need to be addressed. There were some faint tooth marks chatter on the surface of the stem. I took photos of the rim top and stem sides to show as best as I can what I see when I look at them. I always check to make sure that the clean up work did not damage the stamping on the shank in any way. It is in excellent condition and is very clear and readable. Brakner’s micro rustication is unique and readily recognizable. To me it different and I like the feel of it.. I love just looking at the beauty of the lay of the pipe and the proportion of the hand made pipes. I like to remove the stem from the shank to get a sense of what was in the mind of the pipe maker when he crafted the pipe. The photo shows its beauty in flow and shape. The second photo below shows the 6mm filter tenon. When a rusticated finish is in as nice a condition as this one is immediately apply Before & After Restoration Balm to the briar. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar and the plateau. The product works to deep clean the nooks and crannies of finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush. I let it sit for 10 minutes to do its work. I wiped it off with a soft cloth then buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine in the briar and the grain shone through. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. It is a gorgeous pipe. I set the bowl aside and turn to work on the stem. I decided to address the rounding on the shoulders of the stem and reduce the diameter. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to do the work. Once I finished with the work the fit of the stem against the shank looked better. I sanded the chatter on the stem and reshaped the button edge with 220 grit sandpaper as well. I started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I continued polishing the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pads. But I find it does two things – first it gives some protection to the stem from oxidation and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection.  The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I don’t buff a rusticated pipe with Blue Diamond as it can build up in the deep grooves of the finish. I used it on the stem and find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the vulcanite. I moved on to buffing the pipe – I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I follow up the wax buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished vulcanite stem. It really is a nice little pipe. The micro rusticated finish around the bowl sides and shank looks great with the rich black and dark brown stains. The Brakner Antique 104 Pot feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inch, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.27 ounces/36 grams. It is a beautiful pocket sized pipe that I will soon be adding to the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipemakers section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. It should be a great smoking pipe.

Hopefully the style of writing of this blog is helpful to you in some way. In it I wanted to show both what I am looking for and how I move forward in addressing what I see when work on a pipe. Let me know if it is helpful to you. It is probably the most straightforward detailed description of my work process that I have done. 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.

New Life for a Petite Sasieni Four Dot Natural London Made Wingate Pot

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

I thought it might be helpful to take you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. Jeff has set up a spread sheet to track where the pipe came from, the date of purchase and what we paid for it so that we know what we have invested in the pipe before we even work on it. This takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. This particular pipe was purchased on 04/09/2022 from seller in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. I also want you to understand why we take the photos we do. If you have followed for a while then you will see the familiar pattern of the photos we include both in the before and midstream process of working on a pipe. It is not accidental or chance as the photos have been taken to help me make an assessment of the pipe Jeff sees before he starts his clean up work. We do this to record the condition that the pipe was in when received it and to assess what kind of work will need to be done on. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

  1. The first thing I see is the small/petite Pot shaped pipe with a generous bowl. It is well proportioned and well made with a classic English shape.
  2. The finish is dirty and there are oils from the smoker’s hands on both side of the bowl. There is grime ground into the finish as well but even so there is also some great grain peeking through.
  3. The rim top had a thick lava overflow from the cake in the bowl, particularly thick on the back side of the top. There is some burn damage on the front inner edge and top but it is hard to know if there is darkening or damage under the lava. Sometimes the lava protects the rim top and edges and sometime it hides issues. Its is very dirty looking.
  4. The bowl has a thick cake in it that hides the walls and the inner edge of the bowl but once it is clean we will know what is going on in those spots. There are a some possible nicks in the inner edge of the bowl at the back but that too will become clearer when the pipe is cleaned. The outer edges look good and there does not appear to be any obvious burn damage to the top or bowl edges.
  5. The vulcanite saddle stem is in good condition – dirty, oxidized, calcified and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides. There 4 Dots of the Sasieni Logo are visible on the left side of the saddle.

Overall my impressions of this pipe is that it is a beauty that once cleaned up will look pretty amazing. The exterior of the bowl does not show any hot spots or darkening. The pipe is very English looking and is a classic short Pot shape that I have seen on other Sasieni pipes. The photos below confirm the assessment above. Jeff took close up photos so that I could have a clearer picture of the condition of the bowl, rim edges and top. The rim top photos confirm my assessment above. The cake in the bowl is quite thick and the rim top has lava and debris on it. You can also see the condition of the outer edge but the inner edge is a bit of a mystery at this point. There appears to be some burn damage at front inner edge and rim top. The bowl is still fairly round. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. The photos of the stem surface from various angles confirmed my assessment of its condition. You can see the oxidation and the fit against the shank end. The stem surface though dirty does not appear to have tooth marks on the bit surface – chatter yes, but no deep marks. There is some damage to the button surface on the top right side and lesser damage on the underside. The stem is quite dirty but otherwise undamaged. The next photos show the amazing grain around the heel and the sides of the bowl. Tell me what you see? Are there any visible problems that stand out to you? Are the cracks or scratches? Are there visible flaws or fissures in the briar? What kind of grain stands out around the bowl and heel? Any visible issues on the heel of the bowl? Even the questions should help you to see what I am looking for when I see these photos. You have read it a few times now in the previous blogs. What am I looking for when I look at the shank stamp? In this case it is stamped on the left side and reads Sasieni[over] Four Dot Natural [over] London Made in three lines. To the left next to the bowl is the classic Sasien Made in England stamp. On the right side it is stamped Wingate. How does the stamping look to you? Is it clear and readable? Is it faint in spots or is it uniform? I know you are looking at photos but so do I at this point in the process. There is also a FRANCE stamp on the underside of the stem. The same questions apply here as well. I decided to do some work on the stamping of this pipe to get an idea of the time period it was carved. I turned first to Pipephil’s site to see what I could learn (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-sasieni.html). I found a pipe that was stamped the same way as the one I am working on. I is stamped on the left side of the shank like the one in the screen capture photo below. Mine is stamped the same way Sasieni in script without the fish tail. Underneath it is stamped FOUR DOT NATURAL [over] London Made. Next to the shank is also the Made In England Stamp like the one below. On the right side mine does not have the “Danzey” stamp but rather the Wingate stamp in the same place. It also does not have the XS stamp. I included the side bar notes below the picture. From that I knew that the pipe was made during Pre-transition Period 1946-1979.Pre-transition, 1946 – 1979. Four dot. Natural: Name for a smooth finish

I then turned to Pipedia for more detailed information (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Sasieni). I quote a section of that article below. It refers to the Patent Number that is on the pipe I have on the table. The underlined  portion below is particular pertinent to this pipe.

To begin with, there are three main elements to dating the Sasieni pipe, the patent number, the style of the name “Sasieni” as it appears on the shank, and the Dots themselves. Naturally, there are exceptions to these rules (this hobby would be boring without them), but for the most part these guidelines apply better than 95% of the time. All Sasieni One, Four, and Eight Dot pipes made before W.W.II and destined for the U. S. market carried a patent number on the shank which usually started with the numbers “15″, with 150221/20 and 1513428 being representative of the group. Also, the name “Sasieni” was stamped on the shank in a very florid manner, with the tail of the last “i” sweeping underneath the name forming a shape which has been compared to a fish by more than one collector. This script was discontinued by Alfred almost immediately after he took over the company, so this alone tells you your pipe is pre W.W.II. Underneath in block lettering are the words “London Made”, with the patent number making the third line.

The dots will help you narrow this down further. As we mentioned, the short lived U. S. market One Dot was introduced around 1920, and was replaced by the early to mid 1920’s by the Four Dot. The 1920’s Four Dot is distinguishable by the florid Sasieni script, a patent number, and four blue dots, which are quite small compared to the pipes of post war years. Furthermore, by 1935 Sasieni began stamping pipes, based on the shape, with their own names, which were usually, but not always, English towns. For example, apples were stamped “Hurlingham”, bulldogs were “Grosvenor” or “Danzey”, and panels were “Lincoln”. One rare and interesting variation of this was the large bent, dubbed “Viscount Lascelles”. Even in this soft Sasieni market, these pipes regularly sell for $150 in their rare appearances in mailers.

The pipe I have is one does not have a patent number so it was not made for the US market. The flourished “i” was discontinued by Alfred so that confirms that the pipe was made Pre-transition, 1946 – 1979. The third line stamped is London Made in block lettering. With all that information I knew that my pipe was from the period before the transition (Pre Transition) so it was an older one.

I am sure many of you will shake your head and ask maybe even out loud, “Why is he including this again?” However, please remember that the point of these blogs is not to wow your with the work or make you shake your heads but I want you to know the details of the work we do so you can do your own. Back in 2020 Jeff wrote a blog about his cleaning process. I am including a link to that now so you can see what I mean about his process. Do not skip it! Give it a read (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/01/20/got-a-filthy-estate-pipe-that-you-need-to-clean/). Here is the introduction to that blog and it is very true even to this day.

Several have asked about Jeff’s cleaning regimen as I generally summarize it in the blogs that I post rather than give a detailed procedure. I have had the question asked enough that I asked Jeff to put together this blog so that you can get a clear picture of the process he uses. Like everything else in our hobby, people have different methods they swear by. Some may question the method and that is fine. But it works very well for us and has for many years. Some of his steps may surprise you but I know that when I get the pipes from him for my part of the restoration they are impeccably clean and sanitized. I have come to appreciate the thoroughness of the process he has developed because I really like working on clean pipe!

For the benefit of some of you who may be unfamiliar with some of the products he uses I have included photos of three of the items that Jeff mentions in his list. This will make it easier for recognition. These three are definitely North American Products so you will need to find suitable replacements or order these directly on Amazon. The makeup pads are fairly universal as we were able to pick some up in India when we were with Paresh and his family.

In the blog itself he breaks his process down into two parts – cleaning the stem and cleaning the bowl. Each one has a large number of steps that he methodically does every time. I know because I have watched him do the work and I have seen the pipes after his work on them. He followed this process step by step and when the pipe got to me it was spotlessly clean and ready for my work. The inside of the stem, shank and bowl were clean and to me that is an amazing gift as it means that my work on this end is with a clean pipe! I cannot tell you how much difference that makes for my work.

When the pipe arrives here in Vancouver I have a clean pipe and I go over it keeping in mind my assessment shared in the opening paragraph above. Now that I have it in hand I am looking for confirmation of what I saw in the photos as well as any significant structural changes in the bowl and finish as I go over it.

  1. This small Petite Pot has a generous bowl and the pipe is well proportioned. It has a classic English Sasieni shape.
  2. The finish is clean and the oils have been removed from both sides of the bowl. The grime ground into the finish is gone and there is some great grain around the bowl sides.
  3. The thick lava coat on the rim top has been removed and there is some nicks and burn damage on the top and inner edges of the bowl (particularly toward the front). There is some darkening and damage on the back side of the inner edge and top as well but not as extensive.
  4. The cake had been totally removed and the walls of the bowl are clean. There is not any checking or burn damage on the interior walls of the bowl.
  5. The vulcanite saddle stem is clean and has light tooth chatter and marks on both sides. The four dots (Sasieni logo) on the left side of the saddle look very good. There is also an aluminum stinger in the tenon that is very clean.

Hopefully the steps above show you both what I look for when I go over the pipe when I bring it to the work table and also what I see when I look at the pipe in my hands. They also clearly spell out a restoration plan in short form. My work is clear and addressing it will be the next steps. I took photos of the whole pipe to give you a picture of what I see when I have it on the table. This is important to me in that it also shows that there was no damage done during the clean up work or the transit of the pipe from Idaho to here in Vancouver.    I carefully went over the bowl and rim top to get a sense of what is happening there. In this case once the lava was removed damage to the edge and top was revealed. It is burn damage to the front inner beveled edge and rim top. There is also some damage on the back inner edge and darkening on the rim top. It is clean but will need to be worked on to bring it back to normal. I also go over the stem carefully. There were no tooth marks or dents other than on the button edges on both sides of the stem. I took photos of the rim top and stem sides to show as best as I can what I see when I look at them.I always check to make sure that the clean up work did not damage the stamping on the shank in any way. It looks good but is faint in some parts – particularly the edges of the stamp. I always appreciate the handiwork of the carvers at Sasieni who turn a piece raw briar into a beautiful pipe. I love just looking at the beauty of the lay of the pipe with the grain and the proportion of the pipes. I like to remove the stem from the shank to get a sense of what was in the mind of the pipe maker when he crafted the pipe. It is a beauty in flow and shape. By this time you should know that I almost always start with the bowl in my restoration because I truly do not like the tedious work of stem repairs and polishing. I always leave that until last even though I know that it needs to be done. For me the encouragement of seeing a rejuvenated bowl is the impetus I need to attack the stem work.

Today I started working on this pipe by turning to the bowl. I chose to deal with the darkening and burn damage on the rim edges and top. I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and a wooden sphere to reshape and remove the damage on the top and the inner edge. It took a little work but I was able to remove most of the damage. I used a folded piece of 220 grit paper to work on it some more. There is a little left at the back side of the inner edge. The front edge looks much better. It is a beautiful piece of briar with some great grain.  I forgot to take a photo of the rim top after the clean up but it looked much better. You can see it in the stained rim top photo below. I stained it with an Oak stain pen to match the surrounding briar. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I choose to dry sand the briar rather than wet sand it. Again it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer to use the pads dry and find they work very well on the briar. I sand with each pad (9 in total) and group them by threes for ease of reference. I also work over the sanded rim top and edges with the pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and check the briar. I love seeing the developing shine on the briar as I move through the pads which is why I include so many photos of this step. For the past few years now I have been using a product developed by Mark Hoover called Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar. The product works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips and let it sit for 10 minutes to do its work. I wiped it off with a soft cloth then buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to shine and the grain shone through. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. It is a gorgeous pipe. Now it was time to address the part of the restoration I leave until last. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I heated the stinger and removed it from the shank. I would put it back in after clean up. I fit the stem in the shank to take get measurements of the pipe. When I finished I removed the stem from the shank the tenon shattered in the shank and was stuck. This is great – just what I needed. Now I would need to replace the tenon and refit it. I pulled the broken tenon from the shank with a knife blade. I went through my tenons and chose one that was close to the diameter of the broken tenon. I flattened the broken portion on the stem surface with a Dremel and sanding drum. I chose not to drill it out for the stinger as it made the walls of the tenon very thin. I sanded the diameter of the new tenon with a Dremel and sanding drum to reduce it for a snug fit in the shank.I drilled out the stem to receive the new tenon. I used a series of drill bits from one the size of the airway in the stem and up to the point it fit in the stem. I glued it in place in the stem with super glue and set aside to cure. I gave the tenon a light coat of clear CA glue to smooth it out. Once I sanded it would be smooth. I examined the shank end and saw that when the tenon broke it left a nick in the surface of the shank end. I decided to use a thin brass band to flatten the shank end and clean up the fit against the shank. I glued the band on the shank end and it looked very good. The bonus was that the stem fit very well. I stated with the tooth marks. I “painted” the surface dents with a Bic light flame and was able to lift them significantly I paused at this point and put the stem in the shank. It was at this point the tenon broke. With the new tenon in place I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend them into the vulcanite. I started the polishing of the stem with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem and tenon with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rubbed the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection from oxidizing quickly.The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I buff the stem and the briar with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. It is a plastic polish but I find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the vulcanite and the briar. I work the pipe over on the wheel with my finger or thumb in the bowl to keep the pipe from becoming airborne. I buffed the pipe with multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I follow up the wax buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I follow that up with a hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished vulcanite stem. It really is a beautiful pipe. The smooth finish around the bowl sides and shank show the grain shining through the rich brown stains of this Pre-Transition Sasieni Four Dot London Made Wingate Pot. The thin brass band on the shank fits well and looks classy. The finished 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: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .99 ounces/28 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Maker section.

Hopefully the shape writing this blog is helpful to you in some way. In it I wanted to show both what I am looking for and how I move forward in addressing what I see when work on a pipe. Let me know if it is helpful to you. It is probably the most straightforward detailed description of my work process that I have done. 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 pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restemming and Restoring a Stanwell Danish Star 64 Freehand Dublin

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is the last of the five pipes that the Vancouver pipe man dropped off for me to work on for him. It was stamped Stanwell Danish Star and had a great flame and straight grain around the bowl and shank with plateau finish on the rim top. It is a Bent Dublin that was finished in a brown stain. It needed restoration on the bowl which was moderately caked and the shank was dirty. It also needed new stem as the current push stem was chewed and broken at the button. It was another pipe that I had restored back in 2016 and he had purchased at that time. I had done a complete restoration and removed the thick cake at that point. The stem had a small hole in the top that was about half the size it is now. The repair worked for at least 6-7 years so I am pleased with that. It is obviously another of his favourites as it is well used. The stem on it was original so I kept it and repaired it the first time. Here is the link to restoration (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/11/30/a-stanwell-danish-star-64/). Here are some photos of the pipe when he picked it up in 2016 to give a bit for context for my latest work. When I took the pipe out of the bag of pipes to work on this afternoon, this is what I saw. The finish on the briar looked very good. It was dirty but the colour had stayed true. It had a bit of patina on the bowl but it was beautiful. The bowl had a moderate cake and the airway in the shank was dirty. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had a large chunk of vulcanite missing on the topside. I took photos of the rim top and stem to show their condition. You can see the moderate cake in the bowl how it looked. The plateau rim top had some lava in the grooves of the finish and some build up around the inside edge of the rim. It will clean up pretty well. The photos of the stem show the condition of the stem. You can see the tooth marks and the large hole on the top of the stem surface. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping on the left side of the shank reads Stanwell [over] Danish Star. On the right side it is stamped with the shape number 64. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Made in Denmark. There was a Crown S stamp on the left side of the saddle I removed the stem from the shank to give a sense of the flow of the pipe.  Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. I started my work on the pipe by cleaning and reaming the bowl The cake was quite thick but it can hold residual oils from previous tobaccos and I wanted to check the bowl walls for burn damage or checking. I reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer to cut cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the remnants of the cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife. I sanded the walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I worked on them until they were smooth. There was no checking or burn damage to the bowl walls. It was quite clean.  I cleaned out the internals with 99% isopropyl alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I worked over the shank and the airway in the new stem. It took some work but once finished it was clean and smelled fresh.  I used a brass bristle wire brush to clean up the plateau and knock off the lava and debris from the grooves and high spots on the rim top. It looked much better.I scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush to remove the oils and grime from the finish. I rinsed the bowl with warm water to rinse off the soap and grime. I dried it off with a soft cloth. I stained the plateau rim top with a Black stain pen. I stained the entire rim top in the valleys and in the plateau. I knock of the stain on the high spots sanding and polishing process I sand off the high spots.I polished the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I sanded the stain off the high spots on the plateau rim top. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It took on a real shine by the time I finished with the last sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the smooth bowl and the plateau rim top. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. I used a horse hair shoe brush to work it into the crevices and the valleys of the plateau. Once the bowl was covered with the balm I let it sit for about 15 minutes and buffed it off with a soft cotton cloth and the shoe brush. I polished it with a microfiber cloth. I took photos of the pipe at this point in the process to show what the bowl looked like at this point. Now it was time to deal with the replacement stem. I went through my can of stems and found a bent saddle vulcanite stem that was a close fit. It was more bent than the original but with a little straightening it would be perfect. I would also need to remove a little of the diameter of the tenon to get a snug fit in the shank. I put it in the shank as far as it would go before I fitted it correctly but you can see what the pipe will look like with the new stem. It is going to work very well.  To correct the bend in the stem to match the rim top I “painted” it with the flame of a Bic lighter until the vulcanite was flexible. I bent it to the angle of the shank and rim top until I had the right look I was waiting for. It looked good.I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to reduce the diameter of the stem and flatten the bottom of the saddle portion to match the shank. I also sanded out the casting marks on the new stem and also the scratches in the vulcanite at the same time. I started polishing the stem with 600 grit wet dry sand paper. I used micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine Polish. I finished the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection from oxidizing quickly. I took the finished Stanwell Danish Star 64 Freehand Dublin bowl to wax and polish. I don’t buff the plateau rim top on the wheel as it leaves a lot of grit in the deep grooves of the finish. I polished the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the scratches in the briar and vulcanite. I buffed it and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect and give it a shine. 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 contrast of the dark stain on the briar revealing the grain with the shine of the polished vulcanite saddle stem is quite stunning. The rich finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and the plateau rim top gives the pipe an incredible tactile presence. The Stanwell Danish Star 64 is a nice looking pipe and one that will be a great smoking pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below with each of the stems. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the large pipe is a light and comfortable 56 grams/1.98 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and the last of the five pipes left with me for work. They are finished and ready for him to pick them up and enjoy once more. 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.

Restemming and Restoring an Unsmoked 1951 Linz Handcarved Freehand Sitter Bowl

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I still remember the day that Jeff called me from an antique shop on the Oregon coast and showed me the next pipe on the table. It was such a unique pipe, a carved bowl with oak leaves around the sides and bark like carving around those. He showed me the pipe. It was different and it was missing a stem. There was a brass semi circle ring on the back of the shank for holding a cord. The bowl was quite small, about the diameter of my little finger. The mortise and the airway into the shank is tapered like a Peterson’s System pipe. It is stamped on the foot of the shank and reads LINZ and above that 1951. I don’t know if Linz is the name of the carver but I assume so. The date 1951 is the year it was made. I was intrigued enough that I told him to grab it and bring home. When Irene and I went to visit Jeff and his wife Sherry in Oregon I picked up the pipes and brought it home with me. Here is what I saw when I looked at it.

    1. It is definitely hand carved and is hard wood. I wonder if it is briar. The bowl sides, top and bottom are rusticated and on the sides of the bowl and the shield shield of the bowl there are some oak leaves.
    2. The rim top and shank end are also carved. The rim top is smooth and the shank end is carved with geometric lines and marks.
    3. The bowl was unsmoked for sure but it was quite small. The diameter is about ½ inch. The shank was drilled conically similar to a Petersons System Pipe.
    4. The left corner of the shank end sitter was chipped and missing a chunk that will need to be cleaned up and smoothed out and recurved to match the rest.
    5. There is a brass ring on the back side of the shank that I think probably held a decorative cord that was attached to the stem.

I would need to find a stem that would work. I could probably used a cherry wood piece like that used on Black Forest Tyrolean. I took photos of the bowl and rim top showing the interesting carving on the front of the bowl. The oval rim top and light edge on the front of the bowl look great. The shank end of the bowl is also well carved. It has a hatch pattern and a groove from the bottom up the shank end. It also included a brass ring for connecting a cord between the stem and the bowl. The lower left hand corner of the shank base was chipped and damaged. It will need to be repaired and recurved to set the base even.On the base of the shank/the foot the pipe was stamped LINZ and the year 1951 was above that. It is clear and readable. I am wondering if the name was a personal carver’s name and the year 1951 was certainly the year the pipe was made.I picked out a stem from my can of stems. It is a Peterson’s P-Lip clone that fits the shank very well. The airway comes out on the end of the stem though rather than on the top. It looks very good. I took a photo of the bowl with the newly fitted stem. I started my work on the bowl by rebuilding the chipped portion on the shank base. I rebuilt it with clear CA glue and briar dust. I layered it in place with dental spatula and shaped it at the same time. Once I had enough layers built up I used a wire brush to clean up the surface of the wood. I flattened it out with a filing stick. I sanded it and smoothed out the shape to look good. I like the overall look of the repair. I took a photo of the bowl and the new stem to give a sense of the look of the parts. I think that the stem would work very well.I used  Cherry Stain pen to touch up the repair on the shank end/base. The stain matched quite well and when the bowl was polished it would match even better.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the smooth rim and the rusticated finish on the bowl and shank. I worked it into the surface of the wood with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. I used a horse hair shoe brush to work it into the crevices and keep from building up in the valleys and crevices of the finish. Once the bowl was covered with the balm I let it sit for about 15 minutes and buffed it off with a soft cotton cloth and the shoe brush. I polished it with a microfiber cloth. I took photos of the pipe at this point in the process to show what the bowl looked like at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. It was new so it only needed to be polished. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine Polish. I finished the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection from oxidizing quickly. I took the Linz Hand Carved Freehand bowl to wax and polish. I don’t buff the rusticated bowl on the wheel as it leaves a lot of grit in the deep grooves of the finish. I gave the bowl and shank multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush to raise the shine. The wax is great protection and I love using it on sandblast finishes because it does not build up in the grooves and valleys like carnauba wax does. I buffed it by hand with a microfiber cloth to finish the shine. I polished the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the scratches in the acrylic. 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 contrast of the natural colour of the wood with the shine of the polished stem is stunning. The rich rusticated finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and gives the pipe an incredible tactile presence. The Linz Freehand is a nice looking pipe and one that will be a great smoking pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below with each of the stems. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 7 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ x 2 inches, Chamber diameter: 5/8 of an inch. The weight of the large pipe is a light and comfortable 85 grams/2.96 ounces. It is an interesting Freehand that I wish I could learn more about but as it is it should be a fun smoke. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the American Pipe Makers Section. 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 pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restemming and Restoring a Brigham Voyageur 165 Bent Acorn

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is another that the Vancouver pipe man dropped off for me to work on for him. It was stamped Brigham Voyageur 165 and had a mixed finish of smooth top and rusticated bowl and shank. It is a Bent Acorn that was finished in a brown stain. It needed restoration on the bowl which was moderately caked and the shank was dirty. It also needed new stem as the current push stem was chewed and broken at the button. It was another pipe that I had previously repaired for him back in 2017. At that point it needed had done a complete restoration and fitted a regular push stem as requested. It had a thick cake at that point as well and was well used. The original stem had nylon Brigham system tenon that was broken as well. Here is the link to that restoration. (https://rebornpipes.com/2017/04/02/restemming-and-reconditioning-a-brigham-voyageur-165/). Here are some photos of the pipe when he picked it up in 2017 to give a bit for context for my work. When I took the pipe out of the bag of pipes he brought for me to work on it last evening this is what I saw. The finish on the briar looked very good. It was dirty but the colour had stayed true. It had a bit of patina on the bowl but it was beautiful. The bowl had a moderate cake and the airway in the shank was dirty. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had a large chunk of vulcanite missing on the underside. I took photos of the rim top and the thick cake in the bowl to show how it looked. There was also tobacco debris on the walls. The rim top had some darkening and there were nicks around the inner edge of the bowl. It will clean up pretty well. The photos of the stem show the condition of the stem. You can see the tooth marks and chatter under the calcification on the stem surface.I took a photo of the stamping on the smooth panel on the left side of the shank. You can see it is clear and readable and reads as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank to give a sense of the flow of the pipe.Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. I started my work on the pipe by cleaning and reaming the bowl The cake was quite thick but it can hold residual oils from previous tobaccos and I wanted to check the bowl walls for burn damage or checking. I reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer to cut cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the remnants of the cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife. I sanded the walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I worked on them until they were smooth. There was no checking or burn damage to the bowl walls. It was quite clean. I cleaned out the internals with 99% isopropyl alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I worked over the shank and the airway in the stem. It took some work but once finished it was clean and smelled fresh.I polished the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It took on a real shine by the time I finished with the last sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the smooth rim and the rusticated finish on the bowl and shank. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. I used a horse hair shoe brush to work it into the crevices and keep from building up in the valleys and crevices of the finish. Once the bowl was covered with the balm I let it sit for about 15 minutes and buffed it off with a soft cotton cloth and the shoe brush. I polished it with a microfiber cloth. I took photos of the pipe at this point in the process to show what the bowl looked like at this point. Now it was time to deal with the replacement stem. I went through my can of stems and found an interesting bent taper vulcanite stem that was a perfect fit. It was a 6 dot Brigham stem that someone had cut off to be a push stem. It would not hold a filter so it was relegated to my can. Since the pipeman wanted a replacement push stem I would be able to modify it to work perfectly. Because the modified Brigham stem was made for the Hardrock Maple filter it was a wide open draw. I used a piece of Delrin tubing to make a converter to fit in the tenon and change it to a regular bore. I used a Dremel and sanding drum to reduce the diameter of the Delrin so that it would fit into the tenon. It worked well as can be seen in the second photo below. It is longer than necessary in the photos below but I cut it and shaped the end like other converters that have been used on Savinelli pipes.I build up the damage to the button edge on the top and the marks in the top and underside of the stem with black CA rubberized glue. Once it had cured I used a small file to recut the button edged and flattened the repairs. I smoothed out the repairs and worked on the stem diameter at the shank with 220 grit sandpaper to get a good seat. I started polishing the stem with 600 grit wet dry sand paper. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine Polish. I finished the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection from oxidizing quickly.I took the Brigham Voyageur 165 Bent Acorn bowl to wax and polish. I don’t buff the rusticated bowl on the wheel as it leaves a lot of grit in the deep grooves of the finis. I gave the bowl and shank multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush to raise the shine. The wax is great protection and I love using it on sandblast finishes because it does not build up in the grooves and valleys like carnauba wax does. I buffed it by hand with a microfiber cloth to finish the shine. I polished the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the scratches in the acrylic. 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 contrast of the dark stain on the briar with the shine of the polished acrylic stem is quite stunning. The rich sandblast finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and gives the pipe an incredible tactile presence. The Brigham Voyageur Bent Acorn is a nice looking pipe and one that will be a great smoking pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below with each of the stems. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the large pipe is a light and comfortable 51 grams/1.80 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and the fourth of the five pipes left with me for work. Once I am finished with the lot he will get them back to enjoy once more. 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 pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring a Lightly Smoked Peterson’s Donegal Rocky 150 Straight Bulldog with 2 stems

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen to work on is a nice looking rusticated reddish brown straight Bulldog with a silver band/adornment and a P-lip and a Standard vulcanite stem that I picked up in a lot of 10 pipes from a fellow on Vancouver Island who was selling his collection. The stamping on a smooth patch on the underside of the shank reads Peterson’s [arched over] of Dublin [over] Donegal [over] Rocky [over] the shape number 150. The silver band on the shank is stamped Peterson [arched over] P [over] of Dublin. The pair of vulcanite saddle stems have no stamping or marks. The pipe is a nice looking rusticated one. It is light weight and comfortable to hold. The pipe came in a pipe sock stamped Peterson of Dublin. I took the pipe out of the sock and turned it over in my hands. It was in good condition.This is what I saw when I took it out of the pipe sock.

  1. The finish was dusty in the grooves and valleys of the rustication. Otherwise it looked very good.
  2. The rusticated rim top looked very good other than the grime in the sandblast. There was no lava build on the top and the edges were clean and undamaged.
  3. There was a light cake in the bowl. It held the aroma of the tobaccos smoked in it – fortunately not aromatic. The walls looked to be undamaged but once I removed the light cake I could confirm that.
  4. The band is silver coloured and the stamping is very clear. I don’t think that it is silver more probably nickel. It is undamaged and clean.
  5. The two vulcanite saddle stem had no identifying logos or stamping. There was light tooth chatter and marks on both sides of both stems.
  6. The P-lip stem does not fit correctly in the shank. The tenon is too large to fit into the shank of the pipe clearly.

To summarize what I saw – this Peterson’s of Dublin Donegal Rocky 150 Bulldog is a well made pipe. It is dusty but otherwise in good condition. The two stems are lightly marked but otherwise undamaged. There does not appear to be any oxidation or calcification on the stem surface. The look and feel of the pipe in the hand is great. It is going to clean up very well. Here are photos of the pipe before I started my clean up. The first four photos show it with the standard fishtail stem. I took a photo of the pipe with the P-Lip style stem and the way it fit in the shank. The tenon was large at the back half of the tenon at the stem junction. I sanded the tenon with so a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to reduce it for a snug fit.I put the stem on the shank and took photos of the pipe with the P-Lip stem. I like the way it looks better with this stem! The bowl of the pipe looked very good. The rusticated rim top is clean does not seem to have any debris in the rustication. The edges of the bowl were undamaged and looked very good. I see no warning signs in the rim top or the edges of the bowl. I took photos of the stems to show the condition of each one. Though hard to see there are light tooth marks and chatter on both pipes on the surface of both sides ahead of the button but it should clean up easily with sandpaper. The next photo captures the stamping on the left underside of the diamond shank. They read as I have noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of it to give a sense of proportion. Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. I started my work on the pipe by cleaning the internals. The cake was quite thin but it can hold residual oils from previous tobaccos and I wanted to check the bowl walls for burn damage or checking. I reamed it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife and took the cake back to bare briar. I sanded the walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I worked on them until they were smooth. There was no checking or burn damage to the bowl walls. It was quite clean.I cleaned out the internals of the shank and the airway in the stem with 99% isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I worked them over until they were clean. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the rusticated finish on the bowl and shank and the rim top. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. I used a horse hair shoe brush to work it into the crevices and rings around bowl cap. Once the bowl was covered with the balm I let it sit for about 15 minutes and buffed it off with a soft cotton cloth and the shoe brush. I polished it with a microfiber cloth. I took photos of the pipe at this point in the process to show what the bowl looked like at this point. The Donegal Rocky finish looks very good and has a real touch of beauty. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stems. I sanded out the tooth marks and chatter with 220 grit sandpaper. I started polishing it with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. The stems certainly looked much better. I dry sanded both sides of the stems with 1500-12000 grit pads to polish it further. I wiped them down with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. The shine grew deeper with each sanding pad. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I wiped the stem down with some Obsidian Oil afterwards and buffed it with a soft microfiber cloth. I put the Peterson’s Donegal Rocky 150 Straight Bulldog back together. I don’t buff the rusticated bowl on the wheel as it leaves a lot of grit in the deep grooves of the finis. I gave the bowl and shank multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush to raise the shine. The wax is great protection and I love using it on sandblast finishes because it does not build up in the grooves and valleys like carnauba wax does. I buffed it by hand with a microfiber cloth to finish the shine.I polished the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the scratches in the acrylic. 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 contrast of the browns and reds of the stain on the briar with the shine of the polished vulcanite stems is quite stunning. The rich rusticated finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and gives the pipe an incredible tactile presence. I polished the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the scratches in the acrylic. 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 contrast of the browns and reds of the stain on the briar with the shine of the polished vulcanite stems is quite stunning. The rich rusticated finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and gives the pipe an incredible tactile presence. The Peterson’s Donegal Rocky 150 Bulldog is a beautiful pipe and one that will be a great smoking pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below with each of the stems. The dimensions of the pipe with the P-Lip stem 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 large pipe is a light and comfortable 45 grams/1.62 ounces. The dimensions of the pipe with the fishtail stem 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 large pipe is a light and comfortable 47 grams/1.66 ounces. This is a great looking Peterson’s Donnegal Rocky pipe. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you want to add it to your rack let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me. Cheers.

Restemming a Radford Ravel Rhodesian

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is another that the Vancouver pipe man dropped off for me to work on for him. It was stamped Radford Ravel and had a mixed finish of smooth top and sandblasted shank and bottom part of the bowl. It is a Rhodesian and the cap is smooth and the rest is a light sandblast. It was finished in a brown stain. It needed restoration on the bowl which was heavily caked and the shank was almost clogged. It also needed some work on the fit of the stem to shank. It was a pipe that I had previously repaired for him back in 2017. At that point it needed banding and repair on a cracked shank. It had a thick cake at that point as well and was well used. Here is the link to that restoration (https://rebornpipes.com/2017/03/19/banding-and-restoring-a-radford-ravel-rhodesian/).The stem had a brass washer on the tenon and glued against the shank. When I received the pipe back from him the stem did not fit tightly. There were tooth marks, tooth chatter and a lot of oxidation on the stem. Here are some photos of the pipe when he picked it up in 2017 to give a bit for context for my work. When I took the pipe out of the bag to work on it last evening this is what I saw. The finish on the briar looked very good. It was dirty but the colour had stayed true. It had a bit of patina on the bowl but it was beautiful. The shank band was damaged along the edge where it had been bent and dented. The stem was very loose in the shank and the brass spacer on the stem was very loose. The bowl had a very thick cake and the airway in the shank was almost clogged with tars and oils. I would need to be cleaned up before I worked on tightening the fit in the shank. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took photos of the rim top and the thick cake in the bowl to show how it looked. There was also tobacco debris on the walls. The rim top had some darkening and there were nicks around the inner edge of the bowl. It will clean up pretty well. The photos of the stem show the condition of the stem. You can see the tooth marks and chatter under the calcification on the stem surface.I took a photo of the band and how much of the stamping it covered on the shank. You can also see the damage to the band between the shank and the stem. You can see the poor fit of the stem to the shank. I took the stem off the shank and photographed the look of the pipe as a whole. It is a nice looking Rhodesian that has a definite Chacom look to it. I went back and reread the previous restoration blog that I written on the restoration the previous time I had worked on the pipe. I also was very interested to read the back story and history on the brand. I quote from the blog below.

There was something about the brand on the pipe that rang a bell for me. I have a tin of their Sunday’s Fantasy Tobacco in my cellar and I wondered if they might have made pipes as well.

I did a bit of digging and found the picture on the left that showed some of the tobaccos made by the company and also a great figurine with the name Thomas Radford mild premium pipe tobacco on the base. On Pipedia I found that Radford’s Private Label Pipes were crafted by Chacom for the Pöschl Tabak GmbH & Co. in Germany. This information was from “Pipes, Artisans and Trademarks”, by José Manuel Lopes. The pipes were mass produced with ebonite and acrylic stems and were introduced by Butz-Choquin, Chacom, and Nording. On the stem there is generally an embossed logo that was a stylized R. The pipes were made to use 9mm filters and are moderately priced and very attractive. The following three links were the sources I used for this information.

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Radford%27s

http://www.poeschl-tobacco.com/en/products/

http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-r1.html

I also looked on another website (http://cigar.supersmokers.biz/radfords/) and got a little more information on the brand.

The Radford’s pipe appears in 6 models in 3 variations 1x time a year in autumn. The so called Radford’s Depot contains a minimum of 1 dozen pipes of the actual running collection. Connected to the Depot is a listing of the Depot holder in Radford’s News.

This particular brand RADFORD’S SERIE RAVEL was a series of 6 elegant models within Radford’s Collection. They are made from good briar wood, sandblast, black/brown with a polished head’s border in dark-red shade. Very nice rich-in-contrast ring at the shaft’s finish. Mouthpiece from Acrylic for 9 mm filter.

Now I knew the background on the pipe. I knew that the stem was a replacement and that the original 9MM filter stem had long since disappeared. It was time to work on the pipe!

I decided to examine the fit of the stem to the shank first. I removed the stem and could see that it was loose. The brass spacer was also loose and seem to take space on the tenon that could otherwise be used in the shank. Once the brass spacer was gone I could also see that the tenon was no longer straight from the end to the saddle portion. There were dips in the surface of the vulcanite just ahead of where the band had been sitting. The photos below show the condition of the tenon at this point. I tried the stem with the spacer removed and it fit snug in the shank. The thickness of the tenon at the saddle portion was perfect so I would need to build up the rest of it to match that portion.The band was bent at the shank end in various places around the diameter. I used a tool I have here with a sharp end and a rounded end. I worked it around the inner edge of the band to smooth it out as much as possible. I used my topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to top off the damage on the shank end edge. It looked considerably better once I had finished and the stem fit more snug against the shank end. I turned my attention to the internals at this point. I reamed the bowl back to bare briar with a Pipenet Pipe Reamer using the second cutting head. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I finished the bowl clean up with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. The walls were smooth and there was no sign of burning or checking. It looked very good.   I cleaned out the internals with 99% isopropyl alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I worked over the shank and the airway in the stem. It took some work but once finished it was clean and smelled fresh.I polished the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It took on a real shine by the time I finished with the last sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the smooth rim and the sandblast finish on the bowl and shank. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. I used a horse hair shoe brush to work it into the crevices and keep from building up in the valleys and crevices of the finish. Once the bowl was covered with the balm I let it sit for about 15 minutes and buffed it off with a soft cotton cloth and the shoe brush. I polished it with a microfiber cloth. I took photos of the pipe at this point in the process to show what the bowl looked like at this point. Now it was time to address the part of the restoration I leave until last. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the deep grooves in the tenon to build it up and make it even. Once the repair cured I sanded it smooth to make it round and even once more. Once finished it looked better and the fit in the shank was very good. I also sanded the stem surface to smooth out the tooth marks and chatter. I also sanded it to remove the oxidation and calcification off the surface of the stem. I build up the damage to the button edge on the top and the marks in the underside of the stem with black CA rubberized glue. Once it had cured I recut the button edge and flattened the repairs. I smoothed out the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing the stem with 600 grit wet dry sand paper. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine Polish. I finished the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection from oxidizing quickly. The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I first buff the stem and the briar with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. Blue Diamond is a plastic polish but I find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the vulcanite and the briar. I work the pipe over on the wheel with my finger or thumb in the bowl to keep it from becoming airborne. It works well and I am able to carefully move forward with the buffing. The briar and stem just shone! I finished with the Blue Diamond and moved on to buffing with carnauba wax. Once I have a good shine in the briar and vulcanite I always give the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I following up the wax buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I follow that up with a hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished vulcanite and acrylic combination stem. It really is a beautiful pipe. The smooth finish around the bowl sides and shank show the grain shining through the rich brown stains of this Radford Ravel Rhodesian. The finished 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: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.90 ounces/53 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and the second of the five pipes for restemming I have ahead of me. Once I am finished with the lot he will get them back to enjoy once more. 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 pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restemming an Italian Made Mayfair 1005 Poker Sitter for a Local Pipe Man

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

Last week I received a call from a Vancouver  pipeman that he had some pipes he wanted restemmed and restored. As we spoke on email and then in person when he dropped them off it became very clear that all the five pipes he brought were ones he had purchased from me quite a few years ago now. They had served him well and he wanted new stems for most of them as they were gnawed and broken off at the button edges. The first of these that I am working on is one that he said was a favourite of his. He loved the shape and the weight of. It was what he called his hunting pipe. It was stamped Mayfair [over] 1005 on the underside of the shank. It was also stamped next to the stem/shank union and read Italy.

Before I started the restemming and restoration of the pipe I wanted to reacquaint myself with it and gather the background information on the first restoration. I turned to the blog and found it there (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/12/24/redemption-of-a-mayfair-1005-bent-tree-stump-pipe/). I remember it very well as it was what I called a Bent Tree Stump Pipe when I first picked it up. It was in very rough shape and back in 2016 I restored it and gave the bowl a serious repair of JB Weld and then a bowl coating to protect it from the serious burn damage that was on the walls of the bowl. I have never been sure how long those repairs last but at least I know that this one is about 7 years old and the bowl is in great shape. I have included some photos of the pipe when it left here 7 years ago. It is a unique and interestingly carved rusticated pipe. I took some photos of the pipe today before I started working it. The briar is dry and faded but is still quite clean. The rim top still has some darkening and debris on it. There is a flaw in the front of the bowl mid way down the bowl. It is not too deep but still visible. The stem is oxidized, calcified and chewed off to the degree that it needs to be replaced. There is a light cake and debris in the bowl but it does not cause grief thanks to the underlying coat of JB Weld that I used seven years ago to flush out the damaged walls and checking. I took photos of the rim top and the light cake in the bowl to show how it looked. There was also tobacco debris on the walls and some lava on the rim top. The lava on the rim top is not to thick and should come off quite easily. The photos of the stem show the necessity of the replacement.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the parts of the pipe to give a sense of the proportion of the pipe.I went through my can of stems and found one that was similar in style and roughly the same length. The saddle portion is a little larger but I think it will work well. There is some oxidation on the stem and it is dirty so all of that will need to be cleaned up and the stem will need to be bent to the proper angle. The diameter of the saddle is a bit larger on the right side than the shank so it will need to be adjusted.I used my Dremel and sanding drum and finished tuning the fitting with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bring the shank and stem to the same diameter and to clean up the fit. I think it is going to look great once it is finished. I set the stem aside at this point and turned my attention to the bowl. I sanded the walls of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I wanted to check the condition of the walls and smooth out the cake that was present. I did not remove all of the cake but rather smoothed it out so it is ready for him to continue to build a solid base. The bowl is looking very good inside. I ran some pipe cleaners and alcohol through the shank and it was surprisingly quite clean inside.I examined the nooks and crannies of the rustication and found a flaw on the front of the bowl that concerned me. It was not deep but it was very present – mid bowl on the front in the photo below. I have drawn a red box around it in the photo. I filled it in a bit with clear CA glue and some briar dust. Once dry I used a brass bristle wire brush to roughen the finish to match the other rusticated parts of the bowl.The rim top had some debris and build up so I used the brass bristle wire brush on it as well and cleaned it. I took a photo of it after I had put some Before & After Restoration Balm on it to see how it looked. It still is slightly dark but looks much like it did when it went home with the buyer. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the rusticated finish on the bowl, shank and the rim top. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. I used a horse hair shoe brush to work it into the crevices and keep from building up in the valleys and crevices of the finish. Once the bowl was covered with the balm I let it sit for about 15 minutes and buffed it off with a soft cotton cloth and the shoe brush. I polished it with a microfiber cloth. I took photos of the pipe at this point in the process to show what the bowl looked like at this point. The portion of the lightly sanded shank that I did to adjust the fit of the stem looked perfect and matched the rest of the finish very well. Now it was time to address the part of the restoration I leave until last. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the blade with the flame of a Bic lighter to soften the vulcanite so I could bend it. I bent it to the angle needed to match the angles of the briar. It looked pretty good and sanding it would make it better. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the marks in the surface of the saddle and remove the remaining oxidation. I started the polishing of the stem with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine Polish. I finished the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection from oxidizing quickly.The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I first buff the stem and the briar with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. Blue Diamond is a plastic polish but I find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the vulcanite and the briar. I work the pipe over on the wheel with my finger or thumb in the bowl to keep it from becoming airborne. It works well and I am able to carefully move forward with the buffing. The briar and stem just shone! I finished with the Blue Diamond and moved on to buffing with carnauba wax. Once I have a good shine in the briar and vulcanite I always give the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I following up the wax buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I follow that up with a hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished vulcanite and acrylic combination stem. It really is a beautiful pipe. The smooth finish around the bowl sides and shank show the grain shining through the rich brown stains of this Mayfair Italian Made 1005 Poker Sitter. The finished 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: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.31 ounces/37 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and the first of the restemming I have ahead of me on five pipes from this pipeman. Once I am finished he will get them back to enjoy once more. 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 pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring a Vauen Luxus 4234 Filter Billiard

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

I thought I would take you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. This is one that I am working on for a friend so it is not a purchase. When I am working on a pipe from the start I take the same photos. By now you should now why I included these photos. Even when I am starting from scratch myself I take the photos because they tend to show things clearly in a way that I might miss when I am looking at it in person. Combing the two gives a good view of what is going on with the pipe. I also take the photos to record the condition that the pipe was in when I received it and to assess what kind of work will need to be done on. When I look at the pipe along with these photos this is what I see.

  1. The finish is dull and very dirty with dust ground into the grooves of the sandblast finish around the bowl. There oils from holding the pipe on the sides of the bowl. The blast is rugged and shows some interesting grain patterns.
  2. The rim top is dirty with grime and lava all around the bowl and filling in much of the sandblast on the rim top. There was also darkening on the top and on the edge of the rim.
  3. The bowl has a thick cake in it and it had overflowed onto the inner edge of the bowl. It actually looks to be undamaged from what I can see at this point. There is a trough carved in the bottom of the bowl from either overdrilling or more likely from zealous use of pipe cleaners. There does not appear to be any burning or reaming damage to the inner edges of the bowl. There were some nicks in the briar on the outer edge.
  4. The stem is vulcanite and has the Vauen white dot logo inlaid into the vulcanite on the saddle stem. It fits the shank very well. It is made for a filter but significantly smaller than a 9mm. Could well be the Vauen 6mm filters would fit.
  5. The vulcanite stem had oxidation, calcification and tooth chatter and some deeper marks ahead of the button that are visible in the photos below. Nothing to deep but nonetheless present.

Overall my impressions of this German made Billiard was that it was in solid shape with no significant damage to the briar on the bowl sides and rim. The cake does not seem to hide any burns or checking and the exterior of the bowl does not show any hot spots or darkening. My examination of the bowl and what I see in the photos below confirm the assessment above. I took close up photos so that I could have a clearer picture of the condition of the bowl and rim edges and top. The rim top photos confirm my assessment above. The cake in the bowl is quite thick and the rim top is filled in with lava and is dirty. You can also see the darkening on the inner edge and the rim top. You can also see the condition of the outer edge of the rim and see that nicks toward the back of the bowl. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. The photos of the stem surface confirmed my assessment of the condition. You can see that the stem is dirty – oxidized and calcified. You can also see the tooth chatter and marks on the surface. The white dot logo on the top of the saddle stem is in great condition. I took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl. While this definitely shows the grain patterns around a bowl it also allows me have a different look at the of the condition of the briar and the finish. I look at the finish to make sure there are no nicks and damage. The stain on the bowl is spotty but highlights the grain.There were no cracks or splits following the grain or coming down from the rim edges. There were no cracks in the shank. I also look for flaws in the grain as those can also hide cracks or damage. In this case the bowl exterior is darkened on the sides by hand oil but is still sound and should clean up very well. The grain patterns are nice. I took photos of the stamping so I can see if it is faint in any spots or double stamped or unclear. It often takes several photos to capture what I am looking for. The stamping on the underside of the shank are clear and readable in the pictures below. It reads Vauen [over] Luxus. It is followed by the shape number 4234 followed by the stamp of crossed pipes. As usual I do some background reading to remind myself of the background on the Vauen brand before I started my work on the pipe. It is an important part of the restoration to me as it adds colour to the pipe I am working on. I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-v1.html). I did a screen capture of the information on the site. There was a great sidebar that gave some history of the brand. I include both of them below. In 1848, Karl Ellenberger and his partner Carl August Ziener establish a pipe factory in Nuremberg. In 1901 they merge with Gebhard Ott an other factory in town and they create a firm named Vereinigten Pfeifenfabriken Nürnberg (abbreviated : VPFN*). Shortly after Ernst Eckert, a member of the Ott family became manager of the society. During the 20th century Adolf, Ernst (jr) and Alexander Eckert (CEO in 2012) followed one another at Vauen’s head.* VPFN : “V” is said VAU in German (pronounce faou) and “N” becomes EN. Hence VAUEN.

Dal Stanton (Pipesteward.com) wrote a great piece on the history of the brand on a Vauen pipe that he worked on. I reread that and quote a section from the blog below that gives a great sense of the history of the German brand and some photos from the website (https://rebornpipes.com/2021/04/27/breathing-new-life-into-a-german-vauen-6294-p-lip-saddle-billiard-for-a-special-young-lady/).

… I turn to the question of the history of the VAUEN name? I look to the History section of the VAUEN website and again, I am impressed with the presentation. Whenever I work on a pipe, and especially when a pipe name is new to me, I enjoy looking at its history to appreciate the pipe more fully now on my worktable. From VAUEN’s website:Quality and a wealth of ideas have a long tradition at VAUEN. 160 years of VAUEN: that means 160 years of skilled workmanship and modern technology and 160 years of experience in fulfilling the individual wishes of today’s pipe lovers, and those of tomorrow.

In Nuremberg in 1848, Karl Ellenberger and his partner Carl August Ziener turned an idea into reality: Germany’s first pipe manufacturer produced tobacco pipes for connoisseurs around the world using a selection of the best wood. In an amalgamation with the Gebhard Ott pipe factory, which was founded in 1866 in Nuremberg, the Vereinigten Pfeifenfabriken Nuremberg (United Pipe Factories Nuremberg, or VPFN) was born in 1901.  Under the management of Ernst Eckert, a descendent of the founding Ott family, a company was born whose products and services would shape the tobacco and smoking culture in Europe and overseas for the next 160 years and counting.

The question about the name, VAUEN, not being a name of a person and why it is capitalized throughout is explained:

In his search for a name that would be easily remembered by all pipe lovers, Ernst Eckert’s son, Adolf Eckert, coined a new name for the company in 1909: VAUEN – a composition of the first letters V (pronounced vow) of Vereinigte Pfeifenfabriken and N (pronounced en) of Nuremberg. A brand for the future was born.

Knowing that about me you can guess that I started working on this pipe by turning to the bowl. I turned to the bowl and started working on the cake to remove it. I reamed back the cake on the bowl walls with a PipNet Pipe reamer and  cleaned it up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the walls smooth with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I used a brass bristle wire brush to remove the debris in the sandblast of the rim top. I scrubbed the sandblast exterior of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I rinsed it off with warm water to remove the grime and the soap. It looked much better once it was clean. Once the bowl had dried the finish was very spotty. There were dark places on the bowl and the rim top was dark. The spottiness really had to go. I generally start with this kind of thing by wiping the bowl down with acetone on cotton pads. I was able to get a lot of the spots off but there were still dark spots on the sides and rim top. It would need to be restained. It dried out and it was much better even though the spots were bothersome to me. There were also some putty fills that were visible in the finish. I mixed up a wash of light brown stain and isopropyl alcohol. I stained the bowl and shank with the stain was using a dauber. I lit the stain on fire with a lighter and flamed the stain to set it in the grain. I repeat the process until I am happy with the look of the finish.I set the bowl aside to let the stain cure. It was a bit dark to my liking but it was no longer spotty looking. Usually the stain will dry to the point of being able to work on it in about 40 minutes. I wanted to get a bit more opacity to the stain coat and show the various layers in the grooves and high points of the finish. I wiped it down with some isopropyl alcohol to remove the  heaviness of the stain coat. I really like the way it is looking at this point. Then I remembered I had not cleaned out the shank and stem. I went back and cleaned out the mortise and airway into the bowl and the stem with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol until they came out clean. It looked much better.I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the finish with my fingers and used a shoe brush to press it deep into the crevices of the sandblast. The product works to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank and enliven and protect the briar. After it sat for 15 minutes I wiped it off with a soft cloth. The briar really came alive with 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 will need to buff the bowl to finish the shine. I decided to address the “overdrill” or overzealous pipe cleaner damage to the inside front bottom and wall of the bowl by mixing a batch of cigar mud – a mixture of fine cigar ash and water to form a paste (I added a bit too much water so it needed to sit for a while to evaporate). Once it was the right consistency I put a pipe cleaner in the airway entry to the bowl and pressed the mud into the trough. I used a dental spatula to lay the mud in place and pressed it against the wall and bottom of the bowl. I layered it into the groove and set it aside to harden. I set it aside in the evening and in the morning when I checked on the bowl to make sure the bowl had cured. I was happy to see that the repair had cured very well.I set the bowl aside to let the repair to the bowl bottom cure. It is wet and dark but will dry hard and a light grey. I turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift them all to the point that I would be able to sand the remnants of them out. I sanded the stem surface with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing the stem with 600 grit wet dry sand paper. I wiped it down with some Obsidian Oil and moved on to polishing the stem. I polish the stem to remove the light chatter and scratches. Over the years I have developed my own process for this. It is all preparation for the buffing that will come last. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the stem and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I always rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the acrylic. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem by wiping it down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil dissipate. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection for the stem surface.Once I finish a filter stem I like to fit it with a clean filter. In this case I do not have the filters to fit it. My thinking is that it is a Dr. Perl Junior 6mm filter. The pipeman I am restoring it for will have to pick some up. I have included a photo of what I think the filters will be.The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I first buff the stem and the briar with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. Blue Diamond is a plastic polish but I find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the acrylic and the briar. I work the pipe over on the wheel with my finger or thumb in the bowl to keep it from becoming airborne. It works well and I am able to carefully move forward with the buffing. I finished with the Blue Diamond and moved on to buffing with carnauba wax. Once I have a good shine in the briar and vulcanite I always give the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I following up the wax buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I follow that up with a hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished stem. It really is a beautiful pipe. The bowl coating and build up of cigar mud should harden and provide a base for the build up of new cake. The sand blast finish around the bowl sides and shank show the grain patterns underneath the rich brown stains of this Vauen Luxus 4234 Filter Billiard and the polished vulcanite stem is a great addition. The finished 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: 5 ¾ 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 1.10 ounces/31 grams. It is a beautiful pipe that I will be sending to a friend of mine who is collecting older Vauen pipes. I look forward to hearing what he thinks of it.

Hopefully this tack of writing this blog is helpful to you in some way. In it I show both what I am looking for and how I move forward in addressing what I see when work on a pipe has been helpful to you. It is probably the most straightforward detailed description of my work process. 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 pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring a Vauen Luxus 3284 Filter Billiard

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

I thought I would take you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. Jeff has set up a spread sheet to track where the pipe came from, the date of purchase and what we paid for it so that we know what we have invested in the pipe before we even work on it. This takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. This particular pipe was purchased on 01/12/2023 in a group of pipes picked up in a trade from a fellow. I want you to know why we take the photos we do. It is not accidental or chance as the photos have been chosen to help me make an assessment of the pipe as Jeff sees it. I want to see it before he starts his clean up work. We do this to record the condition that the pipe was in when received it and to assess what kind of work will need to be done on. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

  1. The finish is dull and very dirty with dust ground into the finish around the bowl. There oils from holding the pipe on the sides of the bowl. Underneath there appears to be some nice grain.
  2. The rim top is dirty but otherwise clean. There is no lava on the rim top but there is some darkening on the inner edge of the rim.
  3. The bowl has a thin cake in it but the inner edge of the bowl actually looks to be undamaged from what I can see at this point. There does not appear to be any burning or reaming damage to the edges of the bowl.
  4. The stem is acrylic and has the Vauen white dot logo inlaid into the acrylic on the saddle stem. The fit of the stem to the shank is very poorly done. It is smooth on the right side but it is significantly larger than the shank on the top, bottom and left side. It will need to be re-fitted to make a smooth transition.
  5. The acrylic stem had light tooth chatter and marks ahead of the button that may not be visible in the photos below. Nothing to deep but nonetheless present.

Overall my impressions of this German made Billiard was that it was in solid shape with no significant damage to the briar on the bowl sides and rim. The cake does not seem to hide any burns or checking and the exterior of the bowl does not show any hot spots or darkening. The photos below confirm the assessment above.Jeff took close up photos so that I could have a clearer picture of the condition of the bowl and rim edges and top. The rim top photos confirm my assessment above. The cake in the bowl is quite thin and the rim top is clear of lava. You can also see the slight darkening on the inner edge and the damage to the edge on the right front of the bowl. You can also see the condition of the outer edge of the rim and see that it is in good condition. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. While there is some damage and darkening there is no visible burn damage at this point and the previous reaming has left minimal damage. The bowl is slightly out of round but is definitely workable. His photos of the stem surface confirmed my assessment of the condition. You can see that the stem is good condition and that other than light scratches and tooth chatter on the surface. From the photos of the logo on the top of the saddle stem is in great condition. It is hard to see in the first photo but the fit on the top, left and underside of the stem to the shank is very poorly done. I always ask Jeff to take photos of the sides and heel of the bowl. While this definitely shows the grain patterns around a bowl it also allows me to do a more thorough assessment of the condition of the briar and the finish. I look at the finish to make sure there are no nicks and damage. The stain on the bowl highlights the grain.There were no cracks or splits following the grain or coming down from the rim edges. There were no cracks in the shank. I also look for flaws in the grain as those can also hide cracks or damage. In this case the bowl exterior is darkened on the sides by hand oil but is still sound and should clean up very well. The grain patterns are nice. I also ask him to take photos of the stamping so I can see if it is faint in any spots or double stamped or unclear. It often takes several photos to capture what I am looking for. The stamping on the left and underside of the shank are clear and readable in the pictures below. On the left it reads Vauen [over] Luxus. The stamping on the underside reads 3284 (shape number) followed by the stamp of crossed pipes. As usual I do some background reading to remind myself of the background on the Vauen brand before I started my work on the pipe. It is an important part of the restoration to me as it adds colour to the pipe I am working on. I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-v1.html). I did a screen capture of the information on the site. There was a great sidebar that gave some history of the brand. I include both of them below.In 1848, Karl Ellenberger and his partner Carl August Ziener establish a pipe factory in Nuremberg. In 1901 they merge with Gebhard Ott an other factory in town and they create a firm named Vereinigten Pfeifenfabriken Nürnberg (abbreviated : VPFN*). Shortly after Ernst Eckert, a member of the Ott family became manager of the society. During the 20th century Adolf, Ernst (jr) and Alexander Eckert (CEO in 2012) followed one another at Vauen’s head.* VPFN : “V” is said VAU in German (pronounce faou) and “N” becomes EN. Hence VAUEN.

Dal Stanton (Pipesteward.com) wrote a great piece on the history of the brand on a Vauen pipe that he worked on. I reread that and quote a section from the blog below that gives a great sense of the history of the German brand and some photos from the website (https://rebornpipes.com/2021/04/27/breathing-new-life-into-a-german-vauen-6294-p-lip-saddle-billiard-for-a-special-young-lady/).

… I turn to the question of the history of the VAUEN name? I look to the History section of the VAUEN website and again, I am impressed with the presentation. Whenever I work on a pipe, and especially when a pipe name is new to me, I enjoy looking at its history to appreciate the pipe more fully now on my worktable. From VAUEN’s website:Quality and a wealth of ideas have a long tradition at VAUEN. 160 years of VAUEN: that means 160 years of skilled workmanship and modern technology and 160 years of experience in fulfilling the individual wishes of today’s pipe lovers, and those of tomorrow.

In Nuremberg in 1848, Karl Ellenberger and his partner Carl August Ziener turned an idea into reality: Germany’s first pipe manufacturer produced tobacco pipes for connoisseurs around the world using a selection of the best wood. In an amalgamation with the Gebhard Ott pipe factory, which was founded in 1866 in Nuremberg, the Vereinigten Pfeifenfabriken Nuremberg (United Pipe Factories Nuremberg, or VPFN) was born in 1901.  Under the management of Ernst Eckert, a descendent of the founding Ott family, a company was born whose products and services would shape the tobacco and smoking culture in Europe and overseas for the next 160 years and counting.

The question about the name, VAUEN, not being a name of a person and why it is capitalized throughout is explained:

In his search for a name that would be easily remembered by all pipe lovers, Ernst Eckert’s son, Adolf Eckert, coined a new name for the company in 1909: VAUEN – a composition of the first letters V (pronounced vow) of Vereinigte Pfeifenfabriken and N (pronounced en) of Nuremberg. A brand for the future was born.

I am sure many of you skip my paragraph on the work Jeff has done before the pipe gets here in my many blogs but it is quite detailed in its brevity. I know some laugh at my opening line Jeff did a thorough cleaning of this pipe. However, I want you to know the details of the work. Back in 2020 Jeff wrote a blog about his cleaning process. I am including a link to that now so you can see what I mean about his process. Do not skip it! Give it a read (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/01/20/got-a-filthy-estate-pipe-that-you-need-to-clean/). Here is the introduction to that blog and it is very true even to this day.

Several have asked about Jeff’s cleaning regimen as I generally summarize it in the blogs that I post rather than give a detailed procedure. I have had the question asked enough that I asked Jeff to put together this blog so that you can get a clear picture of the process he uses. Like everything else in our hobby, people have different methods they swear by. Some may question the method and that is fine. But it works very well for us and has for many years. Some of his steps may surprise you but I know that when I get the pipes from him for my part of the restoration they are impeccably clean and sanitized. I have come to appreciate the thoroughness of the process he has developed because I really like working on clean pipe!

For the benefit of some of you who may be unfamiliar with some of the products he uses I have included photos of three of the items that Jeff mentions in his list. This will make it easier for recognition. These three are definitely North American Products so you will need to find suitable replacements or order these directly on Amazon. The makeup pads are fairly universal as we were able to pick some up in India when we were with Paresh and his family.

In the blog itself he breaks his process down into two parts – cleaning the stem and cleaning the bowl. Each one has a large number of steps that he methodically does every time. I know because I have watched him do the work and I have seen the pipes after his work on them. He followed this process step by step and when the pipe got to me it was spotlessly clean and ready for my work. The inside of the stem, shank and bowl were clean and to me that is an amazing gift as it means that my work on this end is with a clean pipe! I cannot tell you how much difference that makes for my work.

When the pipe arrives here in Vancouver I have a clean pipe and I go over it keeping in mind my assessment shared in the opening paragraph above. I am looking for any significant structural changes in the bowl and finish as I go over it.

  1. The finish cleaned up really well and the oils, dust and grime in the finish were gone. It was very clean and was undamaged. With all the grime removed there was some nice grain.
  2. The rim top is very clean and there was damage on the right front of the top and edge and some slight darkening on the edge.
  3. The bowl was very clean and the inner edge of the bowl shows some damage as noted above. The bowl walls are also very clean and smooth with no checking or burn marks on the inside or out of the bowl. The walls were undamaged.
  4. The acrylic stem with the Vauen white dot logo in the acrylic on the top side of the saddle looks much better. The fit is very bad as I noted above and will need some refitting and shaping to mark it right.
  5. The acrylic stem had a rich shine. There was light tooth chatter ahead of the button that is visible in the photos below. Nothing to deep but nonetheless present.

Hopefully the steps above show you both what I look for when I go over the pipe when I bring it to the work table and also what I see when I look at the pipe in my hands. They also clearly spell out a restoration plan in short form. My work is clear and addressing it will be the next steps. I took photos of the whole pipe to give you a picture of what I see when I have it on the table. This is important to me in that it also shows that there was no damage done during the clean up work or the transit of the pipe from Idaho to here in Vancouver. I then spent some time going over the bowl and rim top to get a sense of what is happening there. The bowl looked very good and the walls were smooth. There was no damage internally. The rim top was clean. The inner edge had some damage on the right front side and the bowl was slightly out of round in that direction. It would need to be smoothed out but otherwise looked good as did the outer edge. I also went over the stem carefully. The stem was in excellent condition with light chatter and tooth marks. The biggest issue was the fit of the stem and contrary to my usual practice of working on the bowl first I had already started working on it as soon as I picked it up! You will note in the photos that it has been sanded but there is a lot more to do. I took photos of the rim top and stem sides to show as best as I can what I see when I look at them.I always check to make sure that the clean up work did not damage the stamping on the shank in any way. I take a photos to show what I see when I examine it. In this case it has not changed at all from the pictures I included above. You can also see the way the stem fits in these photos and see how poorly it fit the shank. I also remove the stem from the shank and check the tenon and lay the parts of the pipe out to get a sense of the proportion that was in the mind of the pipe maker when he crafted the pipe. It is a beauty in flow and shape. The question of where to begin the restoration work is always a matter of personal preference. I start with the bowl because it gives me hope that this pipe is really a beauty. So if you are restoring your pipes choose where you want to start and go from there. Just know that it all will need to be done by the end. The encouragement of seeing a rejuvenated bowl is the impetus I need to attack the stem work.

Knowing that about me you can guess that I started working on this pipe by turning to the bowl. But as I have already hinted the fit of the stem bugged me enough to start with the stem this time. I know it is very unusual for me to start there but I did. There are many ways to address the fit of the diameter of the saddle and the fit to the shank but I tend to choose the least intrusive and sand it by hand to ensure that I get the adjustment correct. I work on it off the shank with constant reinserting to check progress and make sure that I have not gone to far. I used 220 grit sandpaper to work on the fit. I sand the stem surface lengthwise as I find the scratching is easier to deal with than going cross ways. Once I get the fit close I put it on the shank to finish it. That helps me from rounding the edges of the stem or shank. I polished the sanded portion of the stem with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper to smooth out the scratches from my refit of the saddle portion and also the tooth chatter and marks. It is starting to look like it should have when it left Germany many years ago! Over the years I have developed my own process for the final polishing of a stem. It is all done in preparation for the buffing that will come last. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the stem and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I always rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the acrylic. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem by wiping it down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil dissipate. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection for the stem surface.Once I finish a 9mm filter stem I like to fit it with a clean filter. I have a small bag of charcoal filters that I believe were made by Vauen so it is fitting that this stem receive a filter made for it. Now I set the stem aside and turned to work on the bowl. What a strange feeling is for me to do this backwards – the stem first then the bowl! I rework the damaged inner edge of a bowl using a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the inner edge and smooth out the damage to the edges and rim top. I give it a light bevel to help hide the damage.From there I moved to polishing the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sand the briar rather than wet sand it. Again it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer to use the pads dry and find they work very well on the briar. I sand with each pad (9 in total) and group them by threes for ease of reference. I wipe the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad to remove the sanding debris and check the briar. I love seeing the developing shine on the briar as I move through the pads. I include the many photos of various angles of the bowl so you can see the change. Pay attention to the changes in the briar in these photos as you work through them. When I get the bowl to this point in the process I use Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I work it into the briar with my finger tips to make sure that it covers every square inch of the pipe. I set it aside for 10 minutes to let it do its work. Once the time has passed I wiped it off with a soft cloth then buff it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. You see the shine that the briar has taken on and the way the grain just pops. It is a gorgeous pipe. The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I first buff the stem and the briar with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. Blue Diamond is a plastic polish but I find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the acrylic and the briar. I work the pipe over on the wheel with my finger or thumb in the bowl to keep it from becoming airborne. It works well and I am able to carefully move forward with the buffing. I finished with the Blue Diamond and moved on to buffing with carnauba wax. Once I have a good shine in the briar and acrylic I always give the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I following up the wax buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I follow that up with a hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished stem. It really is a beautiful pipe. The smooth finish around the bowl sides and shank show the grain shining through the rich brown stains of this Vauen Luxus 3284 Filter Billiard and the polished acrylic stem is a great addition. The finished 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: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.20 ounces/34 grams. It is a beautiful pipe that I will be sending to a friend of mine who is collecting older Vauen pipes. I look forward to hearing what he thinks of it.

Hopefully this tack of writing this blog is helpful to you in some way. In it I show both what I am looking for and how I move forward in addressing what I see when work on a pipe has been helpful to you. It is probably the most straightforward detailed description of my work process. 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 pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.