Tag Archives: fitting a stem

A Tale of Three Churchwardens

Blog by Dal Stanton

The first of the 3 was true born, but of hobbit stature. He dreamed of walking in the world of men and of wizards – seeing eye to eye but anxious to serve. The second was bound to the first but he held no claim to royal lineage. He stood proud in the best sense of the word and cherished his Green Land’s heritage and history. The third of the 3, was free and bound to no man. He was born into humbler circumstances but found favor in the Maker’s eye and the Maker dubbed him The Wise – a valuable gift to any man. All 3 strong, bound together in one tale, bring hope to the Daughters of men.

I am sure that if J.R.R. Tolkien were to write this blog about the restoration and creation of 3 Churchwardens, he might begin the tale something like this. Every pipe man and pipe women, if they do not have a Churchwarden in their collections, are hoping one day to find one – each looking for that special bond. Why? Simply stated, Churchwardens are cool. I have a Churchwarden that I’ve named, Gandalf – there are probably many Churchwardens out there bearing that name. Why? Simply stated, Gandalf the Wizard – first The Grey then The White – is cool. He smoked a Churchwarden like no one else, packed with ‘Old Toby’ and who doesn’t want to be like Gandalf?

There’s A LOT of information on the internet easily obtained by a simple search of ‘Churchwarden’ and I don’t want to repeat what’s easily found. The short of it is this – ‘Churchwarden’ is an old shape as far as pipes go. Of course, they were prevalent throughout Middle Earth. As the story goes, there were men back in the days when they didn’t lock churches at night, who were employed as ‘wardens’ of the church – whose responsibility was to guard the premises. To be faithful to their charge, they were not allowed to leave the walls of the church. That created an unusual dilemma between guarding the holy confines and the desire to enjoy one’s evening smoke. The moral dilemma was creatively solved by a stem. The length of the stem enabled the church wardens to tend to their evening bowls as they stood vigilantly inside the church walls while the stems extended through the windows…so the story goes (see Pipedia’s article).

Another very interesting factoid about Churchwardens comes from Bill Burney’s Pipedia description of the Churchwarden that it is unique among all pipes:

I want to include one other interesting link for those of you who are Middle Earth and Churchwarden enthusiast. The question has always been asked by discerning folk, while Gandalf was smoking his Warden, or Bilbo, Merry and Pippen were puffing on theirs, what exactly was packed in their bowls?? Of course, we all know that the bowls had ‘Old Toby’ packed in them – or simply, ‘Pipeweed’. This link goes to a fun site that explores the minutia of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth including the story of pipe smoking and the mystery of what exactly inhabited the bowls of Middle Earth! Enjoy!

The first of the 3 was true born, but of hobbit stature. He dreamed of walking in the world of men and of wizards – seeing eye to eye but anxious to serve.

My ‘Tolkienesque’ opening, like Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings’, holds some truth in the telling. The ‘Tale of the Three Churchwardens’ started when I received an email from Toby – yes, I’m not making this up! Gandalf smoked ‘Old Toby’ and a younger Toby from Germany wrote me about commissioning the “Imperial Churchwarden” (the ‘true born’ Churchwarden with royalty) as a birthday gift for a friend which he discovered in my website’s section, For ‘Pipe Dreamers’ Only. We came to an accord and I put the Imperial Churchwarden from France in the queue to be restored in time for his friend’s birthday celebration. Later, when I found the Imperial in the “Help Me!” Basket, I was a little concerned. The stem was shorter than I had originally thought – it was more of ‘Hobbit stature’ – a miniature Warden. The stem was 5 ¾ inches beyond the shank or the total length of the pipe was about 8 ¾ inches or 22 cm – not really the coveted ‘Gandalf’ size. I wrote to Toby with a proposal of adding some stature to the Imperial with a longer Churchwarden stem I had on hand – it would be more of a ‘Gandalf statured’ Churchwarden as a result. I sent this picture with the proposed stem giving a total length of 11 inches or 28 ½ cm. My Gandalf was on top for comparison. Toby liked the idea and said that his friend was a huge ‘Lord of the Rings’ fan and that an extra 5 cms was a good investment for his friend to have a ‘Gandalf’ pipe.

The second was bound to the first but he held no claim to royal lineage. He stood proud in the best sense of the word and cherished his Green Land’s heritage and history.

Then Toby asked if I might have another long warden stem in my stores – he thought it might be good for him to add a Churchwarden to his collection – perhaps that both he and his friend could blow smoke rings into the air in proper wizard fashion on his friend’s day of celebration! I ordered 3 more 8.5” Churchwarden stems from Tim West at http://www.jhlowe.com and they arrived in Bulgaria from the US with a returning colleague. At this point I moved from restoring a Churchwarden (true born) to creating a Churchwarden with re-purposed bowls. I went through my stores to find potential bowls to be wedded to a Warden stem and transformed to a Churchwarden (thank you Bill Burney!). I sent two options next to the Imperial – a Dublin and a Rhodesian. Toby chose the Dublin with the canted bowl which to him was more ‘Gandalf-like’. And so, the Dublin will mast the Churchwarden stem – representing a strong and resilient people proud of their ‘Green’ heritage and history.

The third of the 3, was free and bound to no man. He was born into humbler circumstances but found favor in the Maker’s eye and the Maker dubbed him ‘The Wise’ – a valuable gift to any man.

All 3 strong, bound together in one tale, bring hope to the Daughters of men.

With two Churchwardens bound to Toby – one for his friend and one for himself, I was thinking, while I’m working on restoring and creating these Churchwardens, why not fashion another to put in The Pipe Steward Store for another steward to add to their collection. I found a small bowl that I really liked – a Yello Bole ‘Air-control’ Imported Briar. I looked at the Air-Control stem mechanism and my thought was that no one will ever want this Yelo Bole as he is now attached to his ‘high-tech’ stem, but I really liked the Apple shaped bowl. I think he’ll look great mounted on a long-bent stem – a third Churchwarden, a wise choice for anyone wanting to add a Churchwarden to his collection! All three Churchwardens will benefit the Daughters of Bulgaria – women and girls, the ‘Daughters of men’ who have been trafficked and sexually exploited.I want to thank Charles Lemon of https://dadspipes.com up front for his input that led me to add two new tools to my tool box and expanding my ‘restorative reach’ with pipes. The first is a PIMO Tenon Turning Tool that I ordered at Vermont Freehand after seeing the tool on Charles’ Worktable and Man Cave blog. Charles’ later restoration, Re-Stemming a Butz-Choquin Marigny Deluxe Hand-Made Calabash was very helpful providing a step by step description of its use in replacing a tenon and the use of the tool. The other wonderful tool that I coveted reading the same ‘Re-Stemming’ blog was the electronic caliper which Charles uses hand in hand with his many stem repairs. I hadn’t seen an electronic caliper in Bulgaria, but then, I had never looked for one either! Joy of joys, I found a German made electronic caliper in the local ‘Bricolage’ – I was a happy camper! My new toys – that is, tools 😊 pictured next. As I approach the restoration and creation of the 3 Churchwardens, I will try to work in the reverse – starting with the ‘Free Born’ Yello Bole, then the ‘Green Land’ Dublin and finally, the ‘True Born’ French made Imperial. Why this order? As I get used to my new tools, I would rather start with the ‘non-commissioned’ pipe first to hone in on the techniques, working toward the most important Churchwarden, the Imperial, destined to be a gift. To experiment and practice, I have already turned one stem with the PIMO tenon turning tool – a French Jeantet Jumbo which came to me without a matching stem and has been waiting patiently. Without description, this is what I did last night while watching the World Cup match between Sweden and Mexico (my wife rooted for Mexico where she grew up!). Sweden prevailed. The Jeantet Jumbo will be completed sometime in the future – he’s a ‘big boy’ pipe! Turning now to cleaning the stummels of the Churchwardens, I start first by reaming each with the Pipnet Reaming Kit. Each stummel uses only the smallest of the 4 blade heads available. I then fine tuning each with the Savinelli Fitsall tool, followed by sanding the chambers with 240 grade paper wrapped around a Sharpie Pen. Finally, each is cleaned with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95%. After clearing the light to moderate cake in each bowl getting down to the briar for a fresh start, the chambers look good in each – no problems I can see. Turning now to the external surface I use undiluted Murphy’s Oil soap and cotton pads to scrub each. The Dublin (center above) has the most lava over the rim, while the other two, not as much. In addition to cotton pads, I utilize a brass wire brush for the rims and use a knife blade carefully to scrape the Dublin rim. The Dublin and the Imperial will both need some sanding on the rim to clean them up. All 3 stummels’ finishes reveal that they are thin and worn. Murphy’s took much of the finish off but not all with the Yello Bole and Imperial bowls. The Dublin’s finish is gone. During the cleaning, I discover that I missed the remains of a broken off tenon in the mortise of the Dublin. I keep screws of different sizes on hand for just these occasions. Using a small diameter screw, I screw into the airway hole of the tenon just enough to grab some vulcanite and gently pull out. I don’t want to insert it too far into the broken tenon to not expand it and crack the shank. As hoped, a little pressure and thankfully, the tenon comes loose. With the mortise cleared in the Dublin, I proceed to clean the internals of all 3. I use pipe cleaners and cotton buds dipped in isopropyl 95% to do the dirty work. Here is a truism: Just because you’re cleaning a smaller stummel doesn’t mean it’s a smaller mess! Each stummel required boocoos of cotton buds, pipe cleaners – I also scrape the sides with a sharp dental probe as well as hand-turning drill bits down the mortises to excavate the tars and oils. The pictures show the finish line of sorts – later, before I turn out the lights, I’ll give each a kosher salt/alcohol soak through the night to provide more stealth cleaning.To remove the old finish from the stummels I wipe them down with isopropyl 95% and cotton pads. The alcohol fully removes the old tired finish off the Imperial and the Dublin, but the Yello Bole’s old finish is persistent. The first picture below reveals the sheen left on the Yello Bole but the others are dull. To deal with the ‘Candie Apple’ finish that remains on the Yello Bole stummel I use acetone on a cotton pad. This does the trick and now we’re down to the briar on all the stummels.With the stummels clean inside and out, the next step is fashioning the Churchwarden stems from the precast stems I acquired for the job. I start with the Yello Bole by making an outside measurement of the original stem’s tenon which, of course, fits perfectly. The measurement with the electronic caliper is 6.83mm. From Charles Lemon’s blog that I noted above, Re-Stemming a Butz-Choquin Marigny Deluxe Hand-Made Calabash, Charles recommended a conservative approach to using the PIMO tenon turning tool which I employed on my first run with the Jeantet Jumbo, to first do a test cut of the tenon at approximately 40mm more than the target measurement. This allows a more conservative sanding of the tenon to gradually bring it down to a good fit – not too snug and not too loose. The Pimo tool comes with a drill bit to pre-drill the tenon airway on the precast stem to serve as a guide for the guide pin on the tool. Adding my margin of error of 40mm to 6.83mm target size leaves me a practice cut of about 7.23mm to aim at for the conservative approach. The pictures move through the steps. The tenon turning tool is in the drill shock and when powered rotates at high speed. With the cast stem’s airway guided by the guide pin, I push the stem steadily against the revolving blade of the tool and it peels away the vulcanite. The blade peels the vulcanite in spaghetti-type curls. My first practice cut is measured, and it is 8.45. Another 1.20 mm can come off. With the enclosed allen wrench, I adjust the Pimo tool to remove more vulcanite and the next measurement is 7.34mm. That is a .51mm difference and places me in the conservative sanding zone. Now, I complete the cut of the entire tenon – all the way to the face of the stem. I haven’t figured out how to minimize the vulcanite shavings that spew out everywhere! I note that the original stem’s tenon is shorter. I use a sanding drum on the Dremel and take off the excess. The cut looks good and now it’s time to take file and sanding papers to gradually bring the tenon to size. Now, as I watch several episodes of Grimm which I discovered on Netflix here in Bulgaria, I gradually sand the tenon to a snug but not too tight fit. I use coarse 120 grade paper to start – always sanding around the tenon to maintain proper round. Then, using a flat needle file and 240 grit paper, I fine tune the tenon sanding – again, maintaining proper round by sanding around the tenon evenly. I must admit, when the tenon gets down to the target size – when it starts to marginally slide into the mortise, my stress level increases! I know how easily one can crack a shank by rushing the tenon’s entry into the mortise. It takes ‘100s’ of sanding cycles followed by testing the fit (carefully!) before the tenon safely and fully engages and finds a new home! Success!The tenon is snug and secure, and now I take some pictures to show the ridges that need to be removed and tapered through the shank and stem. Also, the precast stem has casting ridges down the length on both sides and the button is in very rough form. The entire Churchwarden stem needs to be sanded, smoothed and shaped along with the shank/stem transition.One picture to show the growth in stature this Yello Bole stummel now enjoys before retiring the old stem to the stem bucket.Several episodes of Grimm later, I’m satisfied with the rough sanding and shaping of the stem. I show the full length and then some closeups of the shank/stem transition and the button shaping. I like what I see. The next step is to introduce a gentle bend to the stem. This will aid the future steward of this ‘Free Born’ to know which way the stem is properly positioned – there is an up and down after the custom sanding and fit – there is no standard stem fit – echoing the words of Charles Lemon’s blog! To give me an idea of where and how much the bend should be, I used my Gandalf as a template on a piece of paper. I also draw an outline of the original, smaller Imperial stem for comparison. I mark the stem at the point that Gandalf’s stem’s bend began. Bends are very subjective, but this gives me an idea what to shoot for. After I insert pipe cleaners in both ends of the stem to guard the airway integrity during the bending, I heat the target area of the stem with a hot air gun and bend it when it becomes supple. I take the bend to the faucet with cool tap water to set the curve. At the start, I found that I was bending too much. Thankfully, vulcanite is very forgiving – to correct the bend all I do is re-heat the stem and it straightens on its own. After a few tries, I find a bend I’m happy with – a compromise between Gandalf’s slightly longer stem and the shorter, original Imperial. I put the Yello Bole ‘Free Born’ aside and now turn to the Dublin. The following pictures are lacking my standard background working mat – it needed to be cleaned! I start by doing an inside measurement of the mortise – 7.19mm. That is the target width of the tenon that is shaped. I use the drill bit provided and drill the airway to receive the PIMO guide pin. I then bring the blade down to just touching the tenon and cut a test like before and measure – 8.15mm. That leaves .96mm to the target size. I make a quarter turn of the wrench, closing the blade that much and take another cut – 7.46. The quarter turn took .69mm off the tenon. I now have .27 mm of ‘fat’ left on the tenon. Again, the pictures show the steps. Now, well within the conservative sanding zone, I use a flat needle file and 240 grit paper and sand the tenon down to fit with appropriate snugness. I then sand down the stem and button as before with the Yello Bole. I’m aiming for a fluid transition from shank to stem. The Dublin shapes up nicely!I use the same template to give the Dublin’s new fitted stem a gentle bend over the hot air gun. Now to the Imperial. The same methodology is employed as with the former 2. I fast track describing the process with each picture.I drill the airway to guide the Pimo guide pin.The mortise is measured for the target tenon size – 7.56mm.With the PIMO tool I cut a ‘fat’ initial tenon that measures about 40mm larger than the target – conservative sanding zone. I measure the length of the original Imperial stem tenon and shorten the precast Churchwarden tenon to match using the flat needle file as a saw.After sanding the tenon down to a snug fit, I’m left with filing and sanding the ridge and tapering the warden stem. I cover the Imperial’s nomenclature with masking tape to protect it from the shank sanding.After some filing with a flat needle file and sanding with 240 grit paper, the transition from the shank to the Warden stem is shaped and the button is shaped from the rough precast stem. As with the other two, I heated the Warden stem with a hot gun and when it became supple I give it a slight, gentle flowing bend and seal the bend under cool tap water.The 3 are looking good and the transformation is taking shape!I then take each of the Warden stems through a wet sanding with 600 grit paper and then used 0000 grade steel wool to continue the sanding but also buffing up the fresh vulcanite. To hydrate each of the 3 Wardens I wipe the stems and stummels with light paraffin oil (mineral oil in Bulgaria), which serves to give me a sneak peak at the finished Churchwarden pipes. I like what I see!With my day coming to a close, I utilize the night by allowing the stummels to clean further by using a kosher salt and alcohol soak. I fashion cotton ‘wicks’ from cotton balls and insert them down the mortises into the airways. They act to draw the additional tars and oils out of the briar. I then fill each bowl with kosher salt which leaves no aftertaste as iodized salt does. I then fill the bowls with isopropyl 95% until the alcohol surfaces over the salt. I top each stummel off in a few minutes and I turn out the lights.The next morning, I wasn’t disappointed. The salt in each bowl had darkened and each of the wicks had discolored indicating further extraction of the tars and oils. The salt went into the waste basket and I cleared the excess salt by wiping the bowls with paper towel and blowing with some force through the mortises. I also follow with pipe cleaners and cotton buds to make sure all was clean. Only the Dublin resisted further but soon pipe cleaners and cotton buds were coming out clean. Stummels are cleaned and ready for their future stewards! The picture shows the final carnage.Now, turning from the labor-intensive stem work, I look at the stummels. Starting with the ‘Free Born’ Yello Bole that drew my attention. The small Apple shape fits well the classic Churchwarden motif. The grain is active with lateral grain expressing in bird’s eye perspective on the sides. There are some fills in the stummel – one larger one on the right side of the stummel then a few pocket fills. The fills all seem solid, but I will keep my eye on them as I sand. The rim is darkened from tobacco lighting and the inner edge of the rim is scorched. I decide to give the rim a very light topping using 600 grade paper – more of a clean up to reestablish crisp lines and to remove the charring. I use a kitchen chopping board and put the 600 paper on it for the topping. It doesn’t take much. To address the normal nicks and dents on the stummel I use micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 and wet sand the stummel. After the wet sanding I again look at the old fills that caught my attention before to see if they softened. They remain solid, but I can see very small pockets that might benefit from repair. I do not dig out the fills but simply painted the fills with a very thin layer of thin CA glue with a tooth pick – like the repair to miniscule air pockets that emerge with a CA glue/charcoal patch on vulcanite stems. The painting is thin, so it cures very quickly, and I focus sand the spots again starting with the 1500 micromesh pad to the present was sufficient. There is no impact on the surrounding briar. I complete the micromesh cycles by dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000. I keep the Warden stem mounted on the stummel to guard against shouldering the shank face – keeping a nice seamless transition from shank to Warden stem.Here I picture the right side of the stummel to show the results of the ‘paint patching’ the larger fill and a few on the shank. It blended well. Now, the Dublin is next in line. This Dublin has ‘Selected Briar’ stamped on the left side of the shank. It has nice looking briar, but the finish has lost its luster – it’s dull, tired and bored. The rim is dark and has several dings on the edge. There is one noticeable fill on the right front of the Dublin stummel. The canted bowl of a Dublin has always attracted me and when Toby chose the Dublin to mast the Warden stem, I agreed it was a good choice – it will be an impressive looking Churchwarden. I take a few pictures to get a closer look. I start by taking the Dublin to the topping board using 240 grit paper. Removing the tired finish and re-establishing the lines of the rim will go a long way in sharpening this stummel. After turning the inverted stummel on the 240 paper a few revolutions, I switch too 600 grade paper and smooth out the scratches of the 240. Then, using 120 grit paper I cut an internal bevel on the rim followed by 240 and 600 grade papers. I also cut a very small bevel on the external edge of the rim with the 240 and 600 papers. I create the bevels to soften the look of the stummel and to me, it’s a classy touch.Next, I take the stummel through the full micromesh pad cycle by wet sanding with 1500 to 2400, followed by dry sanding using pads 3200 to 4000 and then 6000 to 12000. The Dublin’s attitude is shaping up nicely! Turning now to the ‘True Born’ Churchwarden, the nomenclature stamped on the left side of the shank is a cursive, ‘Imperial’ over ‘CHURCHWARDEN’ in full block letters. ‘Algerian Briar’ is stamped on the right. The COM is France, stamped in very small block letters on the lower shank along the shank face. These pictures show what I see. It did not take long to match the unique ‘Imperial’ nomenclature found in Pipedia’s very short article about the Imperial Tobacco Co. referencing Lopes:

From Pipes, Artisans and Trademarks, by Jose Manuel Lopés’

The Imerial Tobacco Co. (Imperial Tobacco Ltd.) was founded in 1901 through the merger of several British tobacco companies. In 1902 it went into partnership with the American Tobacco Company to found the British American Tobacco Company.

Brands involved: Comoy’s, Bewlay, Nording, Ogden’s, Salmon & Gluckstein, and Steel’s

This example was provided by the courtesy Doug Valitchka to let me know that I had locked into the right company.Pipedia’s article on Imperial Brands goes into more of the history of the multitude of acquisitions that happened in the early 1900s to maintain competitive edge. Today, Imperial Brands is an international consortium primarily involved in cigarette sales and is based in the UK. I found only one reference in the article to a French-based connection referencing the closure of a factory in Nantes, France, in 2016. The company website, http://www.imperialbrandsplc.com contains an extensive history of the company, but I found no references to pipe productions in France! In Pipedia and in Pipephil – Imperial, references to Imperial, the country of manufacturing is consistently the UK and no mention of France. So, the French connection to this True Born will remain shrouded in mystery!

The Imperial stummel has a dulled finish as the Dublin but promises a very nice briar grain beneath. The bowl and rim have normal wear nicks and dents. I also detect residue shininess of old finish that didn’t come off when I cleaned with Murphy’s Oil Soap. I quickly dispatch this using a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95%.Inspecting the surface I find on the left side of the shank, near the ‘Imperial’ stamping, a chip that needs patching. I mix a small batch of CA glue and briar dust to patch the chip – this will blend well after sanded down. I put a small mound of briar dust on an index card and place next to it a drop of regular CA glue. I mix a small bit of the briar dust into the glue and when I find the resulting putty about the consistency of molasses, I apply it to the chip and put the stummel aside to cure. While the patch is curing, the large job of continuing the sanding of the Churchwarden stems jumps to the fore. I decide to do all 3 Wardens together by first wet sanding using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400. I follow by dry sanding using pads 3200 to 4000 and then 6000 to 12000. After each set of three pads, I apply Obsidian Oil to each stem to vitalize the vulcanite. There’s a LOT of vulcanite real estate to sand with a Churchwarden stem! It’s also not easy taking pictures of the long Warden stems. Turning again to the bowls, and the Imperial’s cured patch of CA glue and briar dust, I carefully file the mound/excess down toward the briar surface. I’m careful to stay on the excess patch material so not to damage the nearby briar and nomenclature. I then switch to 240 paper, rolled tightly and then 600. The patch looks great. As I take a closer look at the Imperial stummel, the rim is blackened on the internal edge. I start by giving the bowl a very light topping with 600 grade sanding paper to clean it and to reestablish lines. I then bevel the internal rim edge enough to clean it up as well as giving the external rim edge a bevel to soften the rim and to ‘class it up’ a bit. I like how it’s shaping up. With the rim restoration complete at this level, I use micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 and wet sand the entire stummel. I follow with dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and finish with 6000 to 12000. I have noticed on the shank a lightened area that was a result of the stem/shank fitting process where more sanding was necessary. To darken and blend this area, I use an oak Furniture stain stick to do the job and it looks good. I take a picture.Now, to deepen and enrich the briar of the French made Imperial Churchwarden, I apply Before and After Restoration Balm to the briar surface. I put some on my fingers and work it into the surface. The Balm does an amazing job bringing out the richness and the luster of the briar grain that is already beautiful. After about 20 minutes, I wipe the Balm off the stummel with a clean cotton cloth. It buffs up nicely. I take a picture of the stummel with the Balm on it.Next in line is the Dublin bowl. As with the French Imperial, I take the Dublin through the full 9 micromesh pads, 1500 to 12000. I show the progress after each set of three pads – the first three wet sanding, the last 6, dry. As with the Imperial, I apply Before and After Restoration Balm to the Dublin bowl. I put some Balm on my fingers and work it into the briar. The Balm starts with the texture of light oil then as I rub it into the briar, is thickens into the texture of a thicker wax. After I work it in I set the stummel aside to absorb the Balm. After a time, I wipe off the Balm using a cotton cloth – it buffs up as I wipe the stummel.The final stummel is the Free Born Yello Bole. Since the stummel has already gone through the full micromesh pad sanding process, it is ready to receive the Before and After Restoration Balm to deepen and enrich the nicely emerging briar grain. As with the others, I apply the Balm with my fingers and after setting is aside for about 20 minutes, I wipe/buff off the Balm. I take a picture of the Balm on the stummel and afterwards. At this point, using the Dremel mounted with dedicated cotton cloth buffing wheels set at the slowest speed, each of the three bowls I apply Blue Diamond compound and White Diamond compound is applied to the stems. After the application of the compounds, I buff each Churchwarden with a felt cloth to remove the compound dust before applying wax. I then mount another cotton cloth wheel on to the Dremel, increase the speed to about 40% full power and apply carnauba wax to stems and stummels. After applying a few coats of wax, I give each Churchwarden a rigorous hand buffing with a microfiber cloth to raise the shine.

The Tale of the Three Churchwardens is now beginning. I am pleased with the results. Each bowl responded well displaying a myriad of grains and patterns. Each now displays that classic, long, graceful, wise aura of the Churchwarden genre. It is true, only one of the Churchwardens started has a Churchwarden – the True Born. He is now no longer of Hobbit stature and will walk with men and wizards. The other two re-purposed bowls look great – I’m pleased. Tobias of Germany commissioned the French made Imperial Churchwarden and the Dublin. He will have the first opportunity to secure these Churchwardens for his friend’s birthday present and for his own collection in The Pipe Steward Store. As ‘fate’ would have it, the third Churchwarden bound to no man, was claimed also by a person also living in Germany! A colleague was visiting Bulgaria and saw the 3 Churchwardens on my worktable. Thankfully, I was able to finish ‘The Wise’ to return with his new steward to Germany. I declare that Germany receives the Middle Earth Award! Each of these Churchwardens benefits the Daughters of Bulgaria – a noble cause of helping women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited. Thank you for joining me in the telling of the Tale of Three Churchwardens!

The first True Born Imperial Churchwarden of France The second was bound to the first, the proud Dublin Green Land Churchwarden The Third ‘Free Born’ Churchwarden

Adding some length to a Chimera Blowfish

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Blog by Steve Laug

I received a call from a fellow who lives nearby my house about working on some pipes for him. He happened to be packing them up to send to the US for repairs when he stumbled on the rebornpipes.com website. He stopped by with a box of pipes that he wanted to know if I could work on for him. Two were pretty straight forward – 1910 Calabash that needed a cleanup and a freehand that belonged to his dad that he wanted cleaned up so that he could send it back to him. The freehand was simple – buffing, touching up stain, cleaning the bowl and shank and removing tooth chatter and oxidation from the stem. I finished that one first and then moved on to this calabash. I have written about the calabash on a previous blog that can be found at the following link: (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/07/01/a-simple-restoration-of-a-1910-gourd-calabash/). The third pipe that he wanted me to work on was a different proposition – it was a Blowfish shaped pipe with the name Chimera etched on the underside of the shank. He did not like the stem and the way it looked on the shank. He was wondering if I could add some length to the shank and fit a different looking stem on it that better fit the shape and look of the pipe. I took photos of the pipe before I started working on it. I took a close up photo of the stamping on the shank. It is a brand that I don’t know much about. It is not listed on Pipedia or Pipephils site. I wrote an email to the owner to see what he could tell me about the pipe. He wrote back as follows:

The blowfish “Vincent” was made by Tedd Weitzman in Atlanta around 2010. He started making pipes out of the shop of a local amateur maker and this was his first sellable one… “Chimera” would have been his marque, but he hadn’t made a stamp yet, but as far as I know he never made another.The pipe had an interesting shape and worked with the grain very well. It seemed to have a clean and open draw. I took a few photos of the bowl from various angles to show the grain. Some of you may note that the shank end is not square and require that the saddle of the stem be cut at an angle. This will need to be addressed when I add the shank extension. I had an interesting faux horn (Lucite) shank extension here that I thought make an interesting contrast with the shape of the bowl. I also had a four sided, square vulcanite tapered stem that I thought would look good with the pipe. I laid out the pieces and took a photo of the proposed look of the pipe. I sent the photos to the owner and his response was to go with what I thought would look good. I was good to go on this one.I took the pipe apart and worked on the shank extension. I glued a threaded Delrin tenon in the shank end of the stem to join it to the shank of the pipe. The taper on the shank extension was not quite enough to make a smooth transition with the briar shank. I took it down with a Dremel and sanding drum and got it close. The rest of the fitting would have to be done by hand with files and sandpaper. The tenon would need to be cleaned up a bit but it was going to work nicely. I put the stem back together with the extension and took some photos. I put the stem and shank extension in place on the bowl and took some photos. You can see that the transition is getting close. I think the faux horn shank extension and new stem are going to look really good. It is quite unique looking as a whole. I like the longer shank and stem with the large blowfish shaped bowl. Once I had the transition sanded smooth with 220 grit sandpaper I polished it and the extension with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-4000 grit pads. I wiped the extension down after each pad with a damp cloth. Before I polished it with the 6000-12000 grit pads I stained the connection with an oak coloured stain pen to match the colour of the rest of the bowl. I finished by polishing the junction and the extension with the last three grits (6000-12000) of micromesh pads. I really like the look of the longer shank. The faux horn extension looks good with the rest of the pipe. I worked Before & After Restoration Balm deep into the briar on the smooth finish to clean, enliven and protect it. I wiped it off with a soft cloth. I buffed the bowl with a cotton cloth to polish it. It really began to have a deep shine in the briar. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. The grain on the bowl is really beginning to stand out and will only do so more as the pipe is waxed. I set the bowl aside and began to work on the stem that I had chosen. It was an interesting four sided taper stem with a flare at the bottom where it joined the shank. The tenon was rough so it would need to be worked on. I funneled the airway in the stem to give it a good open flow. I sanded out the tooth chatter on the top and underside near the button. I sanded out the scratches in the tenon and the underside of the disk between the tenon and the stem. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to do the shaping and smoothing work on the stem.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with Obsidian Oil and rubbed it into the surface. To finish the polishing I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and hand buffed it to a shine. This Chimera Blowfish has some really beautiful grain all around the bowl and shank. The grain really is quite stunning. The asymmetrical nature of the bowl and shank give it a really unique look. I can see why the original stem was a hard fit. The shank extension that has the look of faux horn looks really good in contrast between the briar and the stem. The panelled vulcanite stem is high quality and shined up well. I buffed the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond polish to raise the shine on the briar and the vulcanite. I was careful to not buff the stamping and damage it. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are: Length: 6 1/2 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside Diameter: 1 3/4 inches, Diameter of the chamber: 3/4 inch. This blowfish feels great in the hand and its light weight give it the potential of being a clencher. I have one more repair to do for this pipeman and I will give him a call soon and I know that he is looking forward smoking these pipes. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me.

A Harcourt Hand Carved Freehand – #7 of Anthony’s Dad’s Pipes

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is a continuation of the work that began with an email from Anthony, a reader of rebornpipes asking if I would be willing to help him clean up his Dad’s pipes. He wrote; “I have a few pipes (8 or so) that haven’t been smoked in 15 years. They were my dad’s. I would like to get someone to restore them”. We chatted back and forth via email and the long and short of the story is that I have eight of his Dad’s pipes in my shop now to work on. The photo below shows the mixture of pipes that he sent me. There are some interesting shapes and most are very dirty and have very little if any of the original finish left on the briar. All have an overflow of carbon on the rim top and all have chewed, damaged stems and buttons. Anthony remembers his Dad smoking them throughout the years he was growing up so they went from regular use to being boxed and stored. They will need a lot of TLC to bring life back to them but it should be fun to give it a go. I went through the pipes and assessed their condition and contacted him and got the go ahead to proceed on the lot.I have completed the restoration of six of the pipes. The next pipe I chose to work on was the tall freehand with plateau on the rim and the shank end. It too had a replacement vulcanite stem – it is the second pipe down on the left hand column in the above photo. I have circled it in red. It is a tall freehand with a 1/4 bent stem. It is a really pretty straight grain with patterns of rustication on the bottom portion of the bowl. It has plateau on the top and on the end of the shank. The plateau finish has what looks like mold or at least water damage on both the top and end of the shank. There is also water damage around the end of the shank. The stem that is on it is again a replacement twin bore/bite proof stem that is chewed and for all intents and purposes destroyed. The fact that most of these pipes have a replacement twin bore bite proof stem tells me a lot about Anthony’s Dad’s habitual gnawing on his pipes. The stem is ruined with large pieces tooth marks and holes on both the top and underside extending from the chewed button into the surface of the stem. I will need to find a different stem. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank with the number 0 and under that Harcourt over Hand Carved in Denmark. The bowl had a thick cake, and some lava overflow under the water damage. The finish was gone and very washed out looking. Even the dirt and grime were anemic. I took photos of the pipe to show its overall condition when it arrived at my work table. I took some close up photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show what I was going to be dealing with on this pipe. The plateau rim top was in rough condition – mold filled in the grooves and valleys of the plateau. There was also some lava overflowing from the bowl that had filled in the grooves. The plateau on the shank end was worse than the rim top (if possible). The finish worn off and there was water staining all around the shank end.The water damage around the end of the shank was darker than the rest of the finish. It was water stained and those are hard to remove. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It reads 0 over Harcourt. Underneath that are two lines reading Hand Carved over In Denmark.The stem was ruined you can see from the second and third photos below. The “bite proof” stem evidently was not bite proof. Anthony’s Dad had gnawed through the twin bore and left holes in the deep tooth marks on the stem. It would need to be replaced.I had some vague memory about the Harcourt brand that had a connection to Preben Holm and the stamping seemed a lot like the way that he stamped his pipes. I did a bit of research on the brand to see the connection. The first place I looked was on Pipedia at the following link: https://pipedia.org/wiki/Harcourt. There I found the following information which I quote in full.

The brand Harcourt was produced by Preben Holm (†) for Dunhill to secure a share of the Danish fancy boom for Dunhill’s principal pipe dealers. Later Erik Nørding made Harcourt pipes for a shorter period. These pipe are sometimes (partially) rusticated.

It had been reported that the second generation of Harcourt pipes were sold exclusively through Dunhill stores, but we now know through Rich Mervin that the Brick Church Pipe Shop, a chain of 3 stores in NJ sold Danish freehands in the 1970s and 80s including Knute, Ben Wade, and Harcourt. They were also an authorized Charatan and Dunhill retailer. So, apparently Harcourt freehands were sold through at least some Dunhill dealers as well as the Dunhill stores.

I then turned to the pipephil site at this link and found out some more information on the brand. http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/infos/harcourt1.html. I followed the links there to some photos of a boxed pipe and the stamping on the shank.

This box contains a pipe carved for Dunhill in the 1970s. Harcourt pipes were Dunhill’s answer to the passion Danish style raised during this period.There was also a photo of the stamping on Preben Holm’s designed Harcourt that is recognizable by the characteristic shape of the pipe as well as by the stampings on its shank. The stampings in the photo are identical to the pipe I am working on. It is stamped with an 0 over HARCOURT and underneath that it reads HAND CARVED over IN DENMARK.

From the two sites I was able to make the connection between the pipe I am working on and the Harcourt pipes that were made by Preben Holm. The connection between Preben Holm and Dunhill’s desire to tap into the Danish Freehand market in the US was also helpful as it gave me a potential date for the pipe. It was made in the 1970s – the height of the Danish period in the US.

So now I knew that Anthony’s Dad had purchased this pipe during the 1970s from a shop probably somewhere in California. Possibly even the pipe shop that Anthony’s Mom had written about called “Andre’s,” around 1969 or ’70. She said it was a unique shop, originally located in Los Gatos, or Campbell, California she thought. She said that it later moved to the Alameda area in San Jose. Anthony’s Dad also bought his favorite tobacco blends there so it makes sense to me that he may have also purchased the pipe there. Perhaps Anthony will let us know when he reads this.

Once again I am including the tribute that I asked Anthony to write about his Dad and his pipe smoking once again in case some of you missed that and wanted to have some background. Here is what Anthony sent: When my dad died 6 years ago, my mom asked if I wanted my dad’s old pipes. He was a long time pipe smoker, ever since I was a kid I can remember him sitting on the couch smoking his pipe inside. He worked at IBM and used to smoke his pipe in his office before they changed the laws in California. So you can imagine he had quite the collection over the years.

I took his pipes and put them in storage for a few years, I myself recently quit smoking cigarettes and decided to take up pipe smoking as it was easier on the wallet. I asked in /r/pipetobacco if anyone could recommend a pipe restoration service and someone told me about rebornpipes.com. I was hesitant but after looking at the blog I knew it would be a good place to send my dad’s pipes.

My dad loved smoking his pipes, sitting out by the pool in the sun taking a nap or in the garage wood working. The house was my mom’s area and the garage was my dad’s area. I spent hours sitting out in the garage as a kid watching the niners or a’s and giants on tv while doing woodworking projects. I hope to do the same with my kids these days.

I’m not sure if my dad smoked other tobacco but I remember Captain Black was the kind he smoked regularly. He had tins of it in the garage, full and empty and would turn the old tin jars into storage for odds and ends, like screws or washers or miscellaneous stuff.

I remember when I played little league my dad would sit in the stands and smoke his pipes. One of my teammates asked “What is that smell?” and I ashamedly said “Oh that’s my dad’s pipe…I’ll go tell him to put it out” and my teammate said “No man, it smells good!”. It’s funny how the little conversations over the years you remember.

Another time when I was in 3rd grade or so we learned how smoking was bad for you (this was back in the 80s). I remember I asked my teacher if smoking a pipe was bad for you too….and she hesitated and said “Not as bad as cigarettes, since you don’t inhale it”. After that I was no longer worried about my dad smoking.

Knowing my mom I have no idea how my dad pulled this off but he managed to smoke his pipe in the house. I guess she liked the smell of it. Recently when I was waiting for my girls to get out of school I was sitting on a side street smoking my pipe and someone walked by and thanked me for bringing the pipe back. He said his dad used to smoke a pipe and he loved the smell. As did mine. The only difference is my daughters complain constantly about the smell of my car, but that is mostly because I smoke cigars too.

Anyway, grab some fine tobacco, light up a bowl and sit back and relax. I don’t have a pool like my dad did but you can catch me working on my laptop sitting in my driveway smoking a nice pipe, especially one of these restored pipes from reborn pipes….I can’t wait to smoke them.

Thanks Anthony, that gives me a sense of who your Dad was and how he enjoyed his pipes. I was ready to turn my attention to this seventh pipe. I went through my can of stems and found a stem that I really like the looks of. There was something classic about it and simple that looked right with the pipe. It was about ½ inch longer than the replacement stem. The tenon was the right length for the shank and once it was cleaned up it would look good. I would need to put a slight bend in the stem to fit the flow of the shank and pipe. It was lightly oxidized but otherwise a pretty clean saddle stem. I took photos of the two stems together to show how they compared.I heated the new stem with a heat gun to soften the vulcanite enough to bend it. When it was flexible I bent it over the end of the buffing wheel to get the proper bend on the shank. I put the stem in the shank and took photos of the newly bent stem. The fit was good. I liked the look of the bend and the flow of the pipe. I sanded down the circumference of the tenon with 150 and 220 grit sandpaper. It did not take too much work to get the stem to fit well in the shank the way I wanted. I sanded the oxidation off the surface of the stem and sanded out the tooth chatter and light tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem at the button. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I polished the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to finish removing the light scratches that remained. I gave stem another coat of the oil after that and set it aside to let the oil dry. I set the stem aside and worked on the bowl. I reamed it back to bare briar using a PipNet pipe reamer to remove as much of the cake as I could. I finished with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife and then sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. There were some deep gouges and flaws in the briar on the left side toward the bottom half of the bowl. I cleaned the area and filled them in with drops of clear superglue. When the glue cured I sanded them back to blend into the surrounding bowl side.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the nooks and crannies of the sandblast finish on the rim top, bowl and shank. I worked it deeper into the grooves with a horsehair shoe brush. The balm works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I really like the way it brings life to the briar. When I wipe it off with a soft cloth it not only adds a shine but takes away the grime that is in the finish. I needed to stain the bowl to get some coverage on the water damaged areas. Even after sanding they were darker than the rest of the briar. I stained the pipe with Fiebing’s Tan stain. It seems the tan stain may be improperly labelled because everything seems to come out like it has been stained with oxblood or cordovan stain. It brought the red out of the briar. I applied the stain and flamed it with a lighter. I repeated the process until the coverage was even around the bowl. Once the stain had cured I buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond on thebuffing wheel to polish the stain and smooth out the finish. The pipe is looking good. The finish is a little too opaque for me so I will need to address that shortly. I decided to make the finish less opaque by polishing it with micromesh sanding pads. I sanded with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads to make the finish more transparent. The photos below show the process. I put the pipe back together and polished the bowl with multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem with multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it 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 finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is seventh of eight pipes that I am restoring from Anthony’s Dad’s collection. I am looking forward to hearing what Anthony thinks once he sees the finished pipe on the blog. Once I have the remaining pipe finished I will pack them up and send them back to him. It will give him opportunity to carrying on the trust from his Dad. The dimensions are Length: 7 inches, Height: 3 1/8 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 inches. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe from Anthony’s Dad’s collection. One more freehand pipe remains and will soon follow in the days ahead keep an eye out for it.

A Racine & Laramie Bent Apple – #6 of Anthony’s Dad’s Pipes

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

This is a continuation of the work that began with an email from Anthony, a reader of rebornpipes asking if I would be willing to help him clean up his Dad’s pipes. He wrote; “I have a few pipes (8 or so) that haven’t been smoked in 15 years. They were my dad’s. I would like to get someone to restore them”. We chatted back and forth via email and the long and short of the story is that I have eight of his Dad’s pipes in my shop now to work on. The photo below shows the mixture of pipes that he sent me. There are some interesting shapes and most are very dirty and have very little if any of the original finish left on the briar. All have an overflow of carbon on the rim top and all have chewed, damaged stems and buttons. Anthony remembers his Dad smoking them throughout the years he was growing up so they went from regular use to being boxed and stored. They will need a lot of TLC to bring life back to them but it should be fun to give it a go. I went through the pipes and assessed their condition and contacted him and got the go ahead to proceed on the lot.I have completed the restoration of five of the pipes. The next pipe I chose to work on was the A unique sandblasted bent apple with a ruined replacement vulcanite stem – it is the first pipe at the top of the right hand column in the above photo. I have circled it in red. It is a bent apple shaped 1/4 bent pipe with a sandblast finish on the bowl and the majority of the shank and some smooth portions on the side and around the end of the shank that provide contrast between the finish of the bowl and the black vulcanite stem. The stem that is on it is again a replacement twin bore/bite proof stem that is destroyed. The fact that most of these pipes have a replacement twin bore bite proof stem tells me a lot about Anthony’s Dad’s habitual gnawing on his pipes. The stem has a diameter is slightly less than the shank. The stem is ruined with large pieces missing from the button on both the top and underside extending into the surface of the stem. I will need to find a different stem. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank in a smooth band. It reads Racine & Laramie in an arc over Old Town San Diego. On the underside it reads Italy. The bowl had the least cake of any of the pipes, just a slight, uneven buildup on parts of the bowl. The biggest issue with the finish was just the dirt and grime ground all around the bowl. I took photos of the pipe to show its overall condition when it arrived at my work table. I took some close up photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show what I was going to be dealing with on this pipe. The rim top was din excellent condition with just some dust and debris in the grooves of the blast. The finish looked good other than the grime. The shank looked a little pinched in the smooth portion and makes me wonder if whoever restemmed the pipe did not do that to adjust the shank diameter to approximate the stem diameter. I find that a bit frustrating as it is not that hard to fit a decent stem without doing that. The stem was ruined you can see from the second and third photos below. The “bite proof” stem evidently was not bite proof. Anthony’s Dad had gnawed through the twin bore and left a gaping hole in the stem. The topside was cracked and missing chunks and the underside had a large chunk missing. It would need to be replaced.I had worked on a Racine & Laramie pipe before that also needed a stem. I went back and read the blog I did on that pipe. Here is the link: https://rebornpipes.com/2013/06/30/a-restemming-job-with-memories-of-the-past/. Like the previous R&L Italian Made pipe the look and feel of this one says it is made by Lorenzo. I quote from that blog now in part to remind you of the tobacco shop whose name is stamped on the shank of this pipe.

When I read the stamping is when the memory came back. I have been in the Racine & Laramie tobacco shop in Old Town San Diego, California. It is a museum like tobacco shop that has a wide range of tobaccos and pipes in an old California mission style village setting. You can almost imagine cowboys riding up and tying up their horse to go in and get a pouch of fixin’s. The picture below is what I remember of the shop. It is from the website http://www.racineandlaramie.com/

The following excerpt on the history of the shop comes from the website as well. I find it incredibly interesting reading.

History of Racine & Laramie

In 1868 Racine & Laramie became San Diego’s first Cigar Store. Having come from eastern Canada in the prosperity following the War Between the States, Messrs. Racine and Laramée sold cigars, tobacco, stationery, pipes, cutlery and gentlemen’s furnishings. The adobe they rented had been built in the 1820’s as the retirement home for leather-jacket soldier, Juan Rodriguez of the Royal Presidio. It was one of the first six buildings in the small pueblo, 500 registered voters, thousands of Kumeyaay. The Rodriguez family held ownership through periods of depression and Gold Rush boom, and their son, Ramon, was on the City Council. The widow Rodriguez had the building remodeled in 1867 and rented to Racine & Laramie and the Bank Exchange saloon. All was lost in the fire of 1872.

Using archeology, historic research and photographs this building has been reconstructed with the interior furnished and stocked as it may have been in that remote, frontier Pacific port. This picture gives a panoramic view of the interior of the shop looking at the cigar humidor.It was this shop that I visited many times over the years. It is like stepping back in time to enter the old town and then to walk into the shop itself. I think the last time I was there was about six years ago now. I took the train from the downtown harbor area to the old town site. I walked through the reconstructed village. I must have spent 3 or 4 hours wandering around the site and ending up in the old tobacco shop. I looked at pipes and tobaccos before settling on a couple of tins. I think I picked up some Dunhill EMP and maybe a tin of McClelland Dark Star before catching the train back into town.

That gives you an idea about the shop that this pipe came from. I can imagine Anthony’s Dad, a Californian, visiting this shop and like me picking up a pipe and some of his favourite tobaccos.

I want to include the tribute that I asked Anthony to write about his Dad and his pipe smoking once again in case some of you missed that and wanted to have some background. Along with the information on the Racine & Laramie Pipe Shop in Old San Diego I find that knowing a bit about his Dad helps to give me a sense of the previous pipeman when I work on a pipe from an estate. Anthony sent me this tribute: When my dad died 6 years ago, my mom asked if I wanted my dad’s old pipes. He was a long time pipe smoker, ever since I was a kid I can remember him sitting on the couch smoking his pipe inside. He worked at IBM and used to smoke his pipe in his office before they changed the laws in California. So you can imagine he had quite the collection over the years.

Thanks Anthony, that gives me a sense of who your Dad was and how he enjoyed his pipes. I was ready to turn my attention to this sixth pipe. I went through my can of stems and found a stem that was the right shape and would do the job. It was larger in diameter than the shank so I would need to work that down but once finished I think it would look better. It was oxidized but otherwise a pretty clean saddle stem. I took photos of the two stems together to show how they compared. I put the stem on the shank and used a Dremel and drum to take down the circumference of the new stem. I wanted to get as close as possible to the size of the shank without damaging the shank itself. It worked very well. I took photos of the stem after the Dremel work. There is still a lot of sanding to do but it is getting there. I sanded out the scratches and removed the rest of the excess material to match the circumference of the shank with 150 and 220 grit sandpaper. It was a bit of a challenge as the previous restemming had left the shank out of round – much narrower on the underside than the top. It took a lot of hand sanding and constant checking to make sure I had removed enough and not too much material. I took photos of the fit once it was what I wanted. I knew that the polishing with micromesh sanding pads would make the final adjustments to the fit. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I polished the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to finish removing the light scratches that remained. I gave stem another coat of the oil after that and set it aside to let the oil dry. I set the stem aside and worked on the bowl. I reamed it back to bare briar using a PipNet pipe reamer to remove as much of the cake as I could. I finished with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife and then sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. I cleaned up the mortise, shank and airway in the bowl. Remembering that I had not cleaned the stem, I cleaned airway and slot in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the nooks and crannies of the sandblast finish on the rim top, bowl and shank. I worked it deeper into the grooves with a horsehair shoe brush. The balm works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I really like the way it brings life to the briar. When I wipe it off with a soft cloth it not only adds a shine but takes away the grime that is in the finish. I decided this was a good time to take a break. I fired up a bowl of some gifted Uhle’s #44 in my “Malaga” rusticated Diplomat and sipped some coffee to look over the pipe to see if I was missing anything. It was great to be able to sit and work with a pipe in my mouth.I put the pipe back together and polished the bowl with multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem with multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it 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 finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is sixth of eight pipes that I am restoring from Anthony’s Dad’s collection. I am looking forward to hearing what Anthony thinks once he sees the finished pipe on the blog. Once I have the remaining two pipes finished I will pack them up and send them back to him. It will give him opportunity to carrying on the trust from his Dad. The dimensions are Length: 5 1/2 inches, Height: 1 1/2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/2 inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 inches. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe from Anthony’s Dad’s collection. Two freehand pipes remain and will soon follow in the days ahead. Keep an eye out for them because there are still some unique pipes in the lot.

A Heavily Smoked Sultan Meerschaum – #5 of Anthony’s Dad’s Pipes

Rescuing Another L. J. Peretti Oom Paul: An Upside-Down Stem and Other Hurdles!

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Blog by Dal Stanton

As with people, when you look at pipes, the way you look at them can be cursory – like walking down the sidewalk in the city center of Sofia. You see colors, fashions, groupings of people, a quick intake of information and not much of the information reaches longer term memory in our brains. I’ve been looking at the Peretti Lot of 10 that has been my focus over the past weeks as I’ve recommissioned each, one by one. Interestingly though, not until a pipe reaches the status as “the one” on the worktable do you really start seeing it. The difference might be like walking the city sidewalk as I described above and then comparing this to looking at your new granddaughters for the first time just after their births – which I’ve had the pleasure of in the past several months! Oh my, you look at toes, each one, fingers, how the ears hang and curl…. There is no end to the enjoyment of taking in the fulness of the detail! When looking at the ‘the one’ close-up – the detail of an estate pipe in need of restoration, the detail will not be tented with the rose-colored glasses affixed when looking at grandchildren! Here are the pictures I took from the city ‘side walk’ of the next Peretti Oom Paul now on my worktable when I was cataloging the Peretti Lot of 10 when they arrived here in Bulgaria together. After restoring several of these Perettis, all having the same steward, I’ve become familiar with what to expect. Each Peretti has the former steward’s ‘MO’. This Peretti falls in line. It has thick cake in the chamber and thick, crusty lava covering the rim. The left side of the chamber/rim is scorched and charred from the tobacco lighting habit of excessively pulling the fire over the side and damaging the briar. Even as I do what I can to correct it, this Peretti will also leave the worktable with the same limp as his 9 brothers and cousins did in different degrees – an imbalanced and out of round rim/chamber. Additionally, this Peretti Oom Paul’s stem is dented and chewed with almost the same ‘finger prints’ as the others. These are the issues stemming from the former steward’s pipe smoking practices. And yet, the stummel shows great potential – like the others, the grain on this large Oom Paul stummel is quite eye catching under the dirt and grime. I see normal nicks and bumps of being a faithful servant in the rotation – the briar will clean up well, I’m sure of this.

Unfortunately, there’s more to the story. In my previous write ups of the other Perettis, I had commented that some of the Oom Pauls’ stems were not aligned well with the shanks due to less than ideal drilling precision. I have never made a pipe and my hat is off to those whose interests and creativity take them in this direction – there are many beautifully done Free Style pipes I see all the time posted by fellow pipe men and women. I understand that the drilling of a stummel is one of the more complex parts of making pipes – especially when sharp angles require multiple drillings. When I took a closer look at the pipe my eyes focused on the fact that there was a huge ridge overhanging the shank. As I turned the pipe over looking at it from different angles, it appeared that somehow the wrong stem was mistakenly joined with this shank! I looked at the other Oom Paul I have left in the basket to restore, in the queue for a new steward, and it was obvious that the other stem was not matching this stummel. I came to the sad conclusion that this drilling job simply was shoddy. Here’s what I see of ‘the one’ on my work table: No matter which angle I chose or how I squinted my eyes it didn’t make what I was looking at any better! Oh my. The next thought I had was of Abraham, a Californian and fellow pipe man and member of the Facebook group, ‘The Gentlemen’s Pipe Smoking Society’. What would he think when he reads this blog after having commissioned this pipe, waiting patiently over the weeks as it slowly moved up in the queue! Fortunate for him, I AM a man of prayer and this pipe WILL benefit the Daughters of Bulgaria! I’m already wondering what I will do to rescue this ailing Oom Paul! I remembered my research on Peretti for my first Peretti restoration a few years ago. I wondered where the Boston-based L. J. Peretti Co., manufactured their pipes. I sent an email to the Peretti Tobacconist in Boston and was amazed that I received a response. Here is what I learned:

Hello Dal,

We have been sourcing our proprietary pipes from a number of different manufacturers. That said, it is most likely that Arlington Briars made the pipe you have in your possession. Photos would help us identify the pipe further. I will have to look through some of our old content and see what I can find.

Hope this helps, Tom LJP

Per Pipedia: Arlington Briar Pipes Corporation was founded in 1919 in Brooklyn, New York, and produced the Arlington, Briarlee, Firethorn, Krona and Olde London brands among dozens of others, primarily acting as a subcontractor making pipes to be sold under other brand names. Among others, in the 1950’s, Arlington turned pipes for the famed Wilke Pipe Shop in New York City. The corporation was dissolved by the State of New York as inactive on December 6, 1978.

I don’t know for certain that Arlington Briar Pipes produced the Peretti Lot of 10, but when I looked at the Pipedia page, this picture of Arlington’s own brand, this Oom Paul was staring at me. He looks very familiar! Well, we won’t know for sure, but the history of L. J. Peretti and the drilling of this Oom Paul interests me! In the back of my mind as I begin restoring this pipe, is the huge misalignment of the stem and stummel.

The first step in the restoration of this L. J. Peretti Oom Paul is to add the stem to a bath of Before and After Deoxidizer. After several hours in the bath with other stems, I take out the stem and drain it of Deoxidizer and wipe it down with a cotton pad wetted with light paraffin oil (mineral oil) to remove the oxidation that was raised during the soak. I then use Before and After Fine Polish followed by Extra Fine Polish to further condition the vulcanite and remove oxidation. I work the polishes in with my fingers and after a time, wipe them with a cotton cloth.Turning to the Oom Paul stummel, I see that there is still tobacco at the floor of the chamber. I clear that, and I ream the thick cake using the Pipnet Reaming Kit. I start with the smallest blade and working to the larger blades as the cake is incrementally removed. I use three of the four blades in the Pipnet Kit.I then turn to the Savinelli Fitsall Tool to fine tune the reaming job. This is the most painful part for me – carefully removing the charred briar on the rim and watching the rim grow thinner on the damaged side and out of round! The good news is that the chamber itself looks stellar. To clean the chamber further I use 240 grit paper wrapped around a Sharpie Pen and sand the chamber. Finally, I wipe the chamber out with a cotton pad wetted with alcohol to remove the carbon dust for all the reaming. The pictures show the process. With all the other Perettis, the basic cleaning of the external surface and the rim revealed beautiful grain underneath the grime. I have the same expectations for this Oom Paul stummel. Using undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a cotton pad I go to work on the briar surface and the lava on the rim. I also use a brass brush to work at removing the lava on the rim. To carefully scrape the rim, I utilize the flat sharp edge of the Savinelli Fitsall Tool. I rinse the stummel with tap water. The pictures show the progress, before and after. Quite a difference! My eye is drawn to a spider web grain pattern on the stummel’s left side – shown in the first two pictures – very nice! I turn now to clean the internals and it doesn’t take too much. I use pipe cleaners, cotton buds and a shank brush to work on the draft hole and mortise. Even though the internals are cleaning up nicely, I like to utilize a kosher salt and alcohol soak to freshen and clean even more thoroughly preparing the pipe for a new steward.To prepare the soak, I form a wick using a cotton ball. I stretch and twist it and then push it down the mortise and draft hole. I use a straight piece of an old wire clothes hanger to push and guide the wick. This wick acts to draw out the residual tars and oils as the salt and isopropyl 95% do their job. I then position the stummel in an egg carton for stability and fill the chamber with kosher salt. I asked the question when I first saw this method used, why kosher? The answer I received was that it didn’t leave an aftertaste as does iodized salt. Sounded reasonable to me. I then give the stummel a shake with the chamber cupped to displace the salt. Then, using a large eye dropper I fill the chamber with isopropyl 95% till it surfaces over the salt. After a few minutes I top it off with a bit more alcohol because it has absorbed into the fresh cotton wick and salt. I put the stummel aside and let the soak do its thing. The next morning as expected, the darkening of the salt and wick indicate that more tars and oils were pulled out of the internals. I thump the stummel on my palm releasing the expended salt in the waste. I wipe the bowl with paper towel, blowing through the mortise to dislodge remaining salt. I also use a multi-sized shank brush to do this. Finally, I run another pipe cleaner and cotton bud dipped in isopropyl 95% in the mortise and draft hole to finalize the cleaning. After reuniting the stem and stummel again, I take another long, hard look at the goblin stem that was lurking in my subconscious! I have been mulling over the stem/shank junction and what it would take to repair – counting the cost in sanding and lost briar. As I fiddled with the stem, twisting it around checking the looseness of the fit, I stumbled onto the solution to the alignment conundrum! When I reversed the stem, so that it was upside down, the saddle of the stem and the shank lined up almost perfectly! The old 70s song came to mind, “Oh happy day!” I have absolutely no idea what was going on in the production line of the Arlington Briar Pipes factory that day, if indeed it was there, but there was a breakdown in communication between the drill man and the stem bending man (or women!). My mind wonders whether they had a few beers over lunch…. I’m scratching my head, but this restoration was just made a little less difficult! The junction between the end of the shank and saddle stem shows a bit of gap (daylight) but that can be addressed. My plan: re-bend the upside-down stem, thereby turning the upside-down stem to right-side up! Did you follow that? The pictures show the discovery! To make sure I retain the same angle of bend, which seems to be on the money, I trace the stem’s angle on a piece of paper which I’ll use as a template for the reversing bend. I use a narrow-rounded glass bottle to provide the back-board for the bending. I then insert a pipe cleaner through the draft hole to help to maintain the stem’s integrity during the heating and bending. Using a heat gun, I gradually heat the stem in the bend area and when the vulcanite becomes pliable I bend it over the glass and size it up on the template. When I think I have it right, I place the stem under cool tap water to cool the vulcanite and set the bend. The first time through, I’m not satisfied that I create enough bend. I repeat the process again. The second time was the charm. I like the bend – the fit is now much, much better in the shank. While I’m on the stem adjustment, I now address the gaps or ‘daylight’ I can see between the shank base and the stem saddle. I start using by 600 grade paper on the topping board and I VERY gently top the shank base primarily to clean and start with a flat surface. I then use a piece of 600 grade paper, folded over once, inserting it between the shank base and saddle of the stem as a two-side sanding pad. I work on sanding down the high spots so that the gaps close. After a while, I’m not making progress too quickly, so I switch to 470 grade paper – a little coarser, and it does the trick. It takes quite a while sanding and testing repeatedly and making sure the stem stays in proper straight alignment during the sanding. I’m able to sand the high spots and achieve a much better, not perfect(!) union between the stem and shank. Another adjustment is needed with the fit of the tenon and mortise. The fit now is looser than I prefer. I will tighten the fit hopefully by heating the tenon while inserting a slight larger drill bit into the tenon’s airway and expanding it. I heat the tenon with a Bic lighter and gradually work the smooth end of the drill bit down the airway. I cool the vulcanite with tap water to hold the expansion and withdraw the bit and test in the mortise. The fit is now snugger and that is good. That completes the mechanical adjustments to the stem – its working well! Even after the stem was turned ‘upside down’ to achieve better alignment, the saddle of the stem is enlarged over the shank at different places creating a ridge as I move my finger toward the stem over the junction. To correct this, I use 240 sanding paper to work on these ridges of vulcanite. I keep the stem inserted into the shank to do this. As I sand at the edge, dealing with the ridge, I’m also sanding up the saddle to taper the angle. I don’t want a mound of vulcanite to circle the saddle, so I blend the angle through the entire saddle – rounding it as well. The first picture shows the evidence of a ridge with the vulcanite dust collecting. The rest of the pictures show the stem flush with the shank and the tapering work on the saddle. Of course, the ‘L. J. Peretti Co.’, stamping on the shank is carefully safe-guarded during the sanding. After the 240 grade paper, I go over the same area with 470 grit paper followed by 600 which goes much faster because the purpose is to erase the scratches of the previous sanding paper. I am truly amazed at the recovery of this Oom Paul’s shank/stem alignment issues. The entire structure of the pipe is now tighter and sharper. The pictures show the completion of this part of the restoration for which I am thankful! Now I remove the stem from the stummel and flip the stem over to the bit area to repair the tooth chatter and dents. I take pictures of the upper and lower bit as well as a severe dent on the lower button lip to mark the starting point. The first step is to employ the heating method. I use a Bic lighter and paint the vulcanite with the flame. As a rubber composite, the vulcanite expands with the heating and so the dents will rise reclaiming their original place in the whole – or almost. The dents have been lessened but not removed. The lower bit’s dents have almost vanished and will probably only need sanding. The upper bit and the button lip still have quite a bit of damage. I then take 240 grit paper and sand the bit and button to see what is left to patch. While I’m at it I sand the entire stem since it was re-bent in the extreme opposite, I want to remove any residual ripples in the vulcanite. The lower bit dents sanded out completely. The upper bit and button need to be patched. Pictures show the progress – first, upper then lower bit and button after sanding with 240 grit paper. Now I will patch the upper bit using BSI Maxi-Cure Extra Thick CA glue mixed with activated charcoal dust. I will patch the two dents as well as the left side of the button lip. It needs to be rebuilt. After I put a small amount of charcoal dust on an index card, I drop a little CA glue next to the activated charcoal dust. Then, using a tooth pick, I draw charcoal dust into the dollop of glue mixing it as I go. Gradually, as I draw more charcoal dust into the CA glue it begins to form a thicker putty. When it reaches the right consistency – like molasses, I use the tooth pick as a trowel and apply the patch putty to both dents and to the left side of the lower button lip to rebuild it. I put the stem aside to allow the patches to cure.With the stem patches curing, I now look to the rim damage. I take another close-up to get another look…. It’s amazing how things jump out – when I took the picture of the rim to begin working on cleaning it up, in the picture I notice what I hadn’t seen before – look beyond the rim to the shank….When I first saw it, I thought it might simply be a wet line left over from cleaning the stummel. But after closer examination with a magnifying glass it confirmed what I was hoping against! A crack in the shank emanating from the ‘crook’ or where the shank and bowl join. I had almost the same thing in a previous Peretti Oom Paul restoration (See: Two of Boston’s L. J. Peretti Oom Pauls Recommissioned) – a shank crack that came from the crook and worked up toward the stem but did not reach the shank end. I closely inspect the mortise for evidence of an internal crack and I see none. I really don’t know how this crack started – it appears to be trauma created from the inserted tenon pushing forcefully toward the top of the mortise because of a drop which forced the stem down – my guess. I would think if this were the case, you would expect more trauma on the back of the shank – as a reaction force. But I see no indication of this. I take a few close-ups of the crack to see it more clearly.The good news is that the crack is localized in the briar and has not crept all the way to the end of the shank. As I did before, to block the ‘crack creep’ I drill small holes at both ends of the crack which will arrest its growth. Drilling in the crook is not easy! With the aid of a magnifying glass, I mark the ends of the crack with the sharp point of a dental probe. I use these as a drill guide (first picture below). I then mount a 1mm drill bit into the Dremel and I VERY carefully drill the holes – not an easy feat holding the Dremel free hand! I wipe off the area with a cotton pad this apply thin CA glue to both holes as well as along the line of the crack. The thin CA glue will seep more deeply into the crack helping to seal it. I then sprinkle briar dust on the entire repair area to help blending later when I sand. I set the stummel aside to let the crack repair cure. While I’m working on the stummel, I also detect two places that have very small gaps in the briar that I want to fill. I apply a drop of regular CA glue to each gap. After applying the first drop, I wait an hour or so for the glue to set so that I can flip the stummel and apply the other patch. After the first patch sets, I apply the drop of glue on the other side and set the stummel aside to allow the CA glue patches to cure. With stummel patches curing I turn again to the stem and the charcoal dust and CA glue patches are ready to be filed and sanded on the bit and to reshape the button. I start by using a flat needle file to bring the patch mounds down to the vulcanite surface level. I also shape the new button with the file. The pictures show the filing progress. Switching to sanding paper, I first use 240 grit to bring the patch mounds down to the vulcanite surface and to blend, erasing the file scratches. I continue to shape and blend the button profile. Then I switch to 600 grade paper and sand the entire stem to erase the scratches left by the 240 grade paper. Finally, I use 0000 grade steel wool to sand/buff the entire stem to smooth out the scratches left by the 600 grade paper. I like the results. The reformed button looks good. With a closer look at one of the patches, I detect very small air pocket cavities in the patch which is common. To rectify this, using a tooth pick, I paint both patches, to be on the safe side, with a thin layer of thin CA glue to fill the cavities. I wait a few hours for the CA glue to cure and I sand the patch again with 600 grade paper and then again with the 0000 steel wool. I have sanding patch projects on the stummel to address. I start first with the crack repair on the shank. Using 240 grit paper I sand down the patch over both holes on each side of the crack as well as the crack itself. I then follow with 600 grit paper over the entire area. The repair looks good and will blend well as I finish the pipe. The main thing was to protect the pipe from a creeping crack – this is done.Turning to the patches on both sides of the stummel, I use a flat needle file, then 240 grit paper followed by 600 on both sides. As I file/sand, I try to stay on top of the patch mound to minimize impact on surrounding briar. Patches on the stummel are finished. Now I turn to the rim repair. I feel like I’ve been around the block a few times with the repairs to the stummel and now I’m finally looking at the rim repair. I take another picture to get a closer look and mark the starting point. In the picture below, the bottom of the picture is the left side of the rim that has sustained the most damage from burned briar because of the former stewards practice of lighting his tobacco over the side of the rim instead of over the tobacco. I cannot replace the lost briar but what I try to do as I remove the damaged briar is to restore the balance to the rim as much as possible. I do this through beveling. First, I take the stummel to the topping board which for me is a chopping board covered with 240 grit paper. After inverting the stummel, I rotate it over the board in an even, circular motion. I check the progress often to make sure I’m not leaning in the direction of the damaged area. It is especially a challenge topping an Oom Paul because his shank is extended beyond the plane of the rim. So, I hang the shank off the side of the board as I top. I utilize a flat sanding block as well to direct the topping in specific areas. When I’ve taken enough off in topping, I switch the paper to 600 grit on the topping board to give the rim a quick smoothing by removing the 240 scratches. You can see in the pictures below how I unintentionally nicked the shank in the process….Next, to remove the internal ring of scorched briar I use a tightly folded piece of coarse 120 grade paper to cut a bevel around the internal edge. I increase the bevel on the ‘fat’ areas of the rim seeking to balance the roundness a bit – even though nothing will solve it completely! The goal is to give the appearance of more balance. After completing the main shaping of the bevel with the coarser 120 paper, I continue using a rolled piece of 240 grit paper. I take a picture at this point to mark the progress.I take the stummel back to the topping board with 600 grit paper to define the rim lines again.One last step in the rim repair. The external edge of the rim is sharp because of the topping. To soften the appearance of the rim and to enhance the overall presentation of the rim, I cut a small, gentle bevel on the external edge. I do this with 240 grit paper rolled, then follow with 600 grit paper. I pinch the paper on the edge of the rim with my thumb and move methodically and evenly around the circumference. We live in a broken world and many people live their lives with a limp – it reminds us of our frailty. This Peretti Oom Paul will always have a limp of a bowl that is out of round because of the damage he sustained in the past. Despite this, the rim looks pretty good considering from where we’ve come! Anxious to move the stummel along, I now address the briar surface. Using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 I wet sand the stummel. I follow this with dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 then 6000 to 12000. I enjoy watching the briar grain emerge through this process! With the previous Peretti restorations, and with this one, I strive to maintain the original Peretti light, natural grain motif. I have used Before and After Restoration Balm to deepen and enrichen the natural grain color. I’ve been more than satisfied with the previous restorations and will apply the Balm to this Peretti Oom Paul as well. I apply Balm to my finger and then I work it into the briar surface with the ends of my fingers. The Balm starts with an oily feel then it gradually transforms into a thicker wax-like substance. After I work it in, I set it on the stand to allow the Balm to work. I take a picture of this and then after several minutes I wipe/buff the Balm off with a microfiber cloth. The results look great. With the stummel awaiting a stem to catch up, I turn to the stem. The CA glue painting of the air pocket cavities in the bit patch is ready for sanding and I use 240 grade paper to sand down to the stem surface. I then use 600 grade paper followed by 0000 grade steel wool to finish it out. The bit repair is done, and it looks good. All the air pockets have been removed.I move on to the micromesh pad cycles. First, I wet sand using pads 1500 to 2400. I follow by dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 then 6000 to 12000. After each set of 3 pads I apply Obsidian Oil to the stem which rejuvenates the vulcanite. I love the glassy shine of polished vulcanite! After reuniting stem and stummel, I mount the Dremel with a cotton cloth buffing wheel and apply Blue Diamond compound to the pipe. I set the Dremel to its slowest speed and apply the compound in a methodical way – not applying too much pressure to the wheel but allowing the speed of the Dremel and abrasiveness of the compound to do the work. I then wipe the pipe with a felt cloth to remove compound dust. Then, mounting another cotton cloth buffing wheel to the Dremel, and increasing the speed to about 40% full power, I apply a few coats of carnauba wax to the stem and stummel. I finish the process by giving the pipe a good hand buffing with a microfiber cloth to raise the shine.

I must admit, I was so occupied with the technical aspects of this restoration that I didn’t fully appreciate the beauty of this pipes color and grain until now. I especially like the ‘burst’ on the left side of the large Oom Paul stummel. Earlier I called it a spider web effect – now it looks more like a center of clustered circles, the bird’s eye grain, and sunburst expanding out from it. Very striking grain showcased on this classic Oom Paul shape. He’s overcome an upside-down stem, a crack in the crook of the shank, a chewed up bit and a burned up rim – I would say he’s looking good now for what he’s been through! This Peretti was commissioned by Abraham in California and he will have first dips on this L. J. Peretti Oom Paul when he goes into The Pipe Steward Store. This pipe benefits the work of the Daughters of Bulgaria – helping women and girls (and their children!) who have been trafficked and sexually exploited. Thank you for joining me!

Working on another of Paresh’s Grandfather’s pipes

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Blog by Steve Laug

Paresh, my friend in India reached out to me over Whatsapp to talk about a few more of his Grandfather’s pipes. He was confident in working on many of them but there were a few that he wanted me to try my hand on. His wife Abha would ream and clean them for me so I would be able to start with a relatively clean pipe. The first of these was a beautiful older WDC Bulldog with an amber coloured Bakelite stem. It was in rough condition when Paresh and Abha started working on it. They reamed the thick hard cake with a KleenReem pipe reamer and clean up the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap. They also cleaned the interior with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. The rim top had a thick over flow of lava that hid the briar that Paresh topped to smooth out. There was some darkening to the rim top and down the sides of the bowl cap. The briar was very dirty. There was a gold stamped WDC triangle on the left side of the shank and a brass decorative band that was loose. The stem was a mess. There was a large chunk of the Bakelite missing on the underside and deep tooth marks on the top and underside near and on the surface of the button. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition when it arrived.You can see the work that Paresh and Abha had done to the rim top to clean it up and remove the damage. He had also worked over the inner edge of the bowl to smooth out the damage to the edge. You can also see the extensive damage to the stem in these photos.I took some close up photos of the bowl and stem to give a better idea of what I was working with on this pipe. The rim top was clean but there was darkening down the edges of the cap for about a quarter of an inch. The stem was a mess. Paresh had tried to repair the damage and tooth marks with some clear super glue that he picked up in India. He found that it was inferior and did not harden quickly. Once it did the repair tended to fall out. It was very frustrating. He was able to patch the tooth marks on the stem but not the missing chunk at the stem/shank union.The bowl was the easiest part of the restoration on this old pipe so I started there. I worked on the darkening along the top edge of the cap and was able to remove it with micromesh sanding pads. I used 1500-2400 grit pads to remove the damage and then polished it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cotton pad after each pad to check out the progress. I polished the rim top at the same time. The photos tell the story. With the rim darkening removed and the rim and cap polished it was time to touch up the stain to blend it into the rest of the bowl. I used a Mahogany stain pen and stained the cap and the rim top. The match was a little darker than I wanted and not as transparent either. I wetted a cotton pad with alcohol and wiped down the cap to blend the stain and make it more transparent. This did the trick and I was happy with the finished colour. The photos show the process. I slipped the loose brass shank cap/band off the shank and used a tooth pick to put some all-purpose glue around the shank end. I pressed the band in place on the shank and wiped off the excess glue that squeezed out with a damp cotton pad.The briar was clean but dried out and in need of some deep cleaning. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the briar bowl and shank. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I hand rubbed it with my fingers, working it into the exterior of the pipe. I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth to polish it. The pipe really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I used a needle file to clean up the edges of the button on both sides. I also used the file to smooth out the repairs that Paresh had made to the tooth marks on the surface of the stem. He had done a good job and now it was time to blend them into the surface of the stem.I sanded the file marks out of the stem surface with 220 grit sandpaper and blended the repairs into the surface of the stem. I filled in the missing chunk of Bakelite with multiple layers of amber super glue. I could have used clear glue but I had the amber around and it is a thicker product so it used it. I use layers so that the repair does not get to thick. It makes the drying time shorter and I think it gives a better bond.I laid the stem aside and went to bed. I touched up the final layer of glue in the morning and went to work. The stem had the entire day to cure. When I returned in the evening I sanded the repaired area with 220 grit sandpaper and reshaped the entire stem surface to make the flow of the taper correct. I would need to add some more glue to the patch but progress was being made. Slowly but surely I was conquering this repair.I touched up the glue repairs and wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I took the next two photos to send on Whatsapp to Paresh and Abha. The stem is looking really good. There is still a lot of polishing to do but it is getting there.I polished the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper to remove the scratches and polish the Bakelite.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I carefully polished stem and bowl with Blue Diamond (using a soft touch) to polish out the remaining small scratches. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I gave the stem several coats of Conservator’s Wax and hand buffed it with a soft cloth. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The transparent medium brownish red stain worked really well with the golden/amber Bakelite stem. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 4 3/4 inches, Height: 1 3/4 inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ inches. This is the first of three of Paresh’s Grandfather’s pipes that he sent me to finish. I will set it aside and when the others are finished I will pack them up and send them back to India. I look forward to hearing what he thinks of it once he gets to load it with his favourite tobacco and carry on the pipe man’s legacy of his Grandfather. Thanks for walking through this restoration with me as I worked over this beauty.

Another L. J. Peretti Oom Paul Sitter Recommissioned

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Blog by Dal Stanton

I’m almost finished working through the Peretti Lot of 10 I acquired off the eBay auction block. I’m amazed at the interest in these pipes since I posted a picture of the Peretti Lot on several of my favorite Facebook pipe groups. I also enjoy posting on Instagram and Facebook giving updates of the restorations on my worktable here in Sofia, Bulgaria. One of the best things I enjoy about ‘Pipedom’ and social media are the relationships developed around the world with pipe men and women whose love of pipes – their names and their histories, trust people like me who restore these friends enabling them to be passed on to the next generation of pipe men and women. That’s why I named my pipe space, The Pipe Steward. We are stewards when we understand that we don’t own, but we merely take care of something special for a time, add our histories then pass it on. I met Tim via social media when I posted the picture below. He was drawn to the Oom Pauls and commissioned one of the Sitters potentially to add to his already large collection – I see the plethora of posts and pipes he has on Instagram! So, adding this Peretti Oom Paul Sitter to his collection is special and appreciated. When one of my pipes is commissioned, the final decision to keep it is made after its restored and I publish the write up and a price is set. So, Tim has first dibs on this Oom Paul Sitter when it goes to The Pipe Steward Store. As with the other Perettis, this Sitter will benefit the Daughters of Bulgaria – our work here in Bulgaria helping women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited.

Of the Peretti Lot of 10, there are two Oom Pauls yet to be restored that have been commissioned. Two other pipes above are joining my collection of Perettis when I finally get to restoring them! The Calabash on the top, left, and the COLOSSUS Billiard on the bottom. The Oom Paul Sitter before me now is distinctive and stands out even in the picture above – bottom right. The vertical straight flame grain is distinctive even in its present state. Here are pictures chronicling the Oom Paul Sitter’s condition and challenges. The condition of this Sitter resembles all his brother Oom Pauls and the cousins. The former steward of these Perettis seemed to have a scorched earth policy. All of them, this one included, have thick cake in the chamber and thick, crusty lava flowing over the rim. As with the others, the left side of the rim has taken the brunt of the tobacco lighting and the briar is charcoal where the flame was pulled over the side, burning the rim. The unfortunate result of this is that when the charred wood is cleaned away, the rim/bowl is thinner on that edge and therefore out of round. The stummel surface is dirty but will clean up well showing the beautiful vertical grain. I see no fills in this briar. The stem carries with it the bites and dents that all the other Perettis received as well. The stem is moderately oxidized and has a little calcification on the bit. The one critical observation I have made about the Peretti Oom Pauls is that the drilling of the mortises for the tenon/stem fit hasn’t been the best. This Sitter’s stem does not sit evenly with the shank. The shank has a lip over the upper part of the saddle stem and the stem has a lip over the lower shank. The drilling has left something to be desired! The tenon fit is also loose. I have plenty of hurdles to address as this Oom Paul Sitter is recommissioned!

Beginning with the stem, it joins 4 other stems in a bath of Before and After Deoxidizer. The stem soaks for several hours and when I fish it out, I let it drain and then wipe it down with cotton pads and light paraffin oil – this removes the Deoxidizer and the raised oxidation which wipes off as a very nasty brown. The Deoxidizer has done a good job.Before proceeding further with the stem, I turn to the stummel cleanup. I start by reaming the thick, crusted cake in the chamber. Using my Pipnet Reaming Kit, I start with the smallest blade – first laying paper towel down to minimize cleanup! I use 3 of the 4 blades available in the Pipnet Kit. The cake is hard causing the reaming tool to seize at times and I’m careful not bear down through stops in the turning of the blades but draw out the blades and go at it again. I follow the Pipnet blades by employing the Savinelli Fitsall Tool which scrapes the walls more closely giving me more control. I remove more cake on the top rim charring. The goal is to find solid, healthy briar – which I do, but I can see the narrowing of the rim a bit due to the removal of the damaged wood. I then sand the chamber with 240 paper wrapped around a Sharpie Pen to give leverage. This process clears the remnants of carbon cake and brings out a freshened briar to allow the new steward to restart a proper cake development – the thickness of an American dime is sufficient and helpful to protect the briar. Thicker than that and the carbon cake can damage the bowl as the cake heats and expands. Finally, I wipe the chamber with cotton pads wetted with isopropyl 95% – ridding the chamber of the carbon dust.The bottom of the picture below represents the left side of the stummel where the rim damage is greatest. You can see the narrowing of the rim on the bottom (left) compared to the opposite side.Now to attack the lava flow on the rim and to clean the stummel surface. I take a few pictures of the stummel grime to show the progress. I’m looking forward to seeing what Murphy’s will do! Using undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap, I go to work using cotton pads. I also use a brass brush on the rim – brass brushes do not scratch the wood. The hard crust is not easily moved. I use the Savinelli Fitsall tool’s flat straight edge and carefully scrape the crust off the rim. After getting the rim and stummel as clean as I can, I rinse the stummel with cool tap water and wow! I’m not disappointed. The beauty of this block of briar is shouting from the housetop! I’m liking this a lot. The downside is the rim. As with all the other brothers and cousins, this stummel will be topped to restore fresh briar to the rim. I love doing ‘before & after’ comparisons. Who says that a good cleaning doesn’t help!? Now, to clean the internals of the stummel I use pipe cleaners and cotton buds dipped in isopropyl 95%. I’m amazed that the internals, mortise and draft hole, are not terribly dirty. With only a few pipe cleaners and cotton buds expended, I turn to the stealth approach. To freshen the internals even more, I use the kosher salt and alcohol soak. I fashion a wick using a cotton ball by pulling and twisting it. I then push it down into the mortise into the draft hole using a straight hard wire. I fill the bowl with kosher salt which will not leave an aftertaste as iodized salt and I cover the bowl and give the stummel a shake to displace the salt. I then fill the bowl with isopropyl 95% until it surfaces over the salt. In a few minutes the alcohol has been absorbed so I top if off again. I put the stummel aside for the night, I turn out the light and my day is finished.The sun has risen on a new day in Bulgaria and the kosher salt and alcohol soak has done the job. The salt and wick are discolored showing that the oils and tars were absorbed through the night. I thump the stummel on my palm to dislodge the salt into the waste and I wipe the chamber out with paper towel as well as blowing through the mortise. I dislodge any leftover salt crystals. To make sure all is clean I run a pipe cleaner through the draft hole and a cotton bud in the mortise and all is clean and fresh. I wonderful thing to behold!Before proceeding any further with stummel or stem restoration, I work on the issue of the junction between the two. The upper half of the shank is extending over the stem so that when I run my fingers over the area there is an obvious ridge. I take a close-up to show this. Also, on the bottom of the shank, the stem extends over the shank – not as much, but I still detect a ridge in the opposite direction with the touch. The mortise drilling was too low creating the offset.Leaving stem and stummel joined, I carefully sand the higher areas on both shank and stem to form a smooth transition from shank to saddle stem. Of course, much care is given in the sanding so that I don’t inadvertently erase the ‘TI’ at the end of the L. J. Peretti nomenclature on the shank! In the immediate picture below, you can see the sanded alignment transitioning into what has yet to be sanded on the top of the shank. The hope is to remove the ridge, but also to taper the sanding down the shank a bit to avoid the ‘stuffed pants’ look – a bulge of briar paralleling the ridge sanding. The goal is a smooth, tapered transition. I like the results. The ridges are removed and tapered. Now, switching to 600 grade paper I erase the scratches left by the 240 sanding. After the 600 grade sanding is completed, I take a look at the junction. Through the cleaning process, I have noticed that the stem has loosened in the mortise. I’ll need to address the tenon/mortise junction. …AND IT WAS GOING SO WELL, until it wasn’t. As I was surveying the stem, my eye caught sight of what looked like a hole on the upper side of the stem, mid-way through the bend. Oh my! Well, I first thought my eyes were not seeing what they were obviously seeing. My initial reaction was, “How did I do that?” Then, my next inclination was to look at earlier pictures of the stem to see if it was there and if so, how is it possible to have missed something so obvious?!?! I’m glad you couldn’t hear the conversation floating through my mind at that point! I found a picture before the restoration began, and yes, it was there. The pictures reveal the source my current frustrations which is part and parcel of pipe restorations – and life…. I put a dental probe in the hole, and yes, it did go through. I then ran a pipe cleaner through to see how thin the vulcanite was at the stem’s bend where the hole broke through. It appears thin, but salvageable. To test the integrity of the surrounding vulcanite I pinch it hard to see if it would break. It didn’t and that is good. I decide to patch it like a typical hole in a bit scenario but perhaps leave the patch a little ‘fat’ to add some reinforcement to the area.So, the projects are mounting for this stem. First, to address the stem’s looseness – the tenon/mortise junction. Second, repair to the hole in the bend. Third, repair the chewed bit and button – upper and lower. Then, the sanding and preparations for the finishing phase. I begin with the tenon expansion to tighten the stem’s fit. I do this first because it’s the easiest and least time consuming. I find a drill bit just a little larger than the existing tenon draft hole to act as the ‘expander’. I use a Bic lighter and heat the vulcanite tenon by painting it with the lighter’s flame. As the vulcanite heats, as a rubber composite, it softens and becomes pliable. When heated sufficiently, gently I push the smooth end of the bit into the hole and the tenon expands as a result. It works like a charm. After heating the tenon, inserting the bit by twisting it, and retracting it, I test the fit. It is good and snug, but not too tight that one is afraid of cracking the shank – which I’ve had experience in! I decide to do the prep work on the bit next so that at the conclusion, I can apply patch material to the bit area as needed as well as to the bend hole. Looking at the bit and button first, I take a few more pictures to get a closer look. I notice that there was something on the side of the draft hole and I began digging with a dental probe. One hunk of something dislodged like it was hanging on for dear life. I stuck the probe in deeper…there’s more…. I was incredulous! How could so much stuff hide in the button draft hole! I took pictures – it is an event!Addressing the dents first, I paint the dents with the flame of a Bic lighter to expand the vulcanite as it heats. As it expands, the dents tend to dissipate in their severity. Often, after flaming dents one is able simply to sand out the remaining damage – or much of it. I also flame the button hoping to minimize the dents on the lip. It did help, but sanding is still necessary. With a flat needle file and 240 grade sanding paper, I go to work on the upper and lower bit. I use the file to refine the button and remove the dents where possible. The sanding removes much except for one dimple on the top and one on the lower bit. The button sanded out nicely. I also employ a round sharp needle file to sharpen the edges of the draft hole. For the upper and lower dimples, I spot drop Special ‘T’ CA glue which is thicker. First, I clean off the areas with alcohol and cotton pads to clean it. I start with applying glue on the lower dimple and wait for an hour or so for the glue to set, and I flip the stem over and apply glue to the upper bit dimple. Now to the bend hole. I use 240 grit paper and lightly rough up the area around the hole. I then wipe it with isopropyl 95% to clean the area. Instead of applying CA glue, I’ll use a putty created out of mixing CA glue and activated charcoal dust. I believe this will give me more texture for blending if I leave a larger area of patch to reinforce the area. I don’t know if this will work in the end, but I can start with this intention and if it doesn’t work, I can always sand the excess. First, I put petroleum jelly on the end of a pipe cleaner and I insert it to where I see it has reached the hole. The pipe cleaner will hopefully keep the glue/charcoal in place and the petroleum jelly will keep the putty from sticking to the pipe cleaner, so I can pull it out! Next, I place some charcoal dust on an index card. I then place a bit of regular super glue next to the charcoal. I use a tooth pick to draw the charcoal into the glue so that it’s gradually added. In this way I can judge what the thickness should be – not too thin so it runs – not so thick that it doesn’t penetrate the hole. I mix the activated charcoal and superglue and when it seems to be the right consistency, I apply it to the hole using the toothpick as a trowel. I tamp the putty down so that it fills the hole and I spread the patch around the surface. I give a few movement tugs on the pipe cleaner and it is not stuck. I put the stem aside to allow all the patches to cure. Turning again to the stummel, I focus on the rim repair. I start by topping the Oom Paul Sitter. Using 240 grade paper on a chopping board I rotate the inverted stummel on the paper in a circular motion. I will remove enough on the rim trying to minimize the internal bevel which will remove the remainder of the charred wood. I’ll have to be careful. When placing the inverted stummel on the chopping block before putting the 240 paper down, I test how level the top is – the stummel rocks a bit. This tells me that the rim is not level and most likely the left side, where most of the damaged wood is, has deteriorated. Charred wood is softer and therefore probably dipped. I start topping and check often to see where things are going. I also use a sanding block to help direct the topping to areas to try to bring about an evenly rounded rim – a challenge with the charring damage on the left side of the stummel – depicted on the bottom in the pictures below. The pictures show the process. I’ve removed enough top briar real estate at this point and I will try to bring more balance to the rim as I remove the internal charring as I introduce a bevel. Using a coarser 120 grade paper, I cut the initial bevel removing the charring. I follow the 120 beveling using a rolled piece of 240 grade paper which smooths and continues to clean the char. I then take the stummel back to the topping board again to reestablish the lines of the rim. I do this a few more times, as I try to create a more balanced looking rim. I then top the stummel again with 600 grade paper and beveling as well. The pictures show the rim cleaning and balancing process. One last step. To soften the entire look of the rim, I introduce a gentle bevel on the external rim edge by cutting it with 120, following with 240 then 600 rolled pieces of sanding paper. Considering from where we’ve come, I’m satisfied with the appearance of the rim! It’s not perfect and this Peretti will carry the rim imbalance with it the ‘limp’ but he’s moving!Next, to prepare the stummel surface for the finishing phase, I use micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 to wet sand the stummel. Then I follow this by dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000, then 6000 to 12000. The grain on this Peretti Oom Paul Sitter is exceptional. I watch it emerge through each micromesh cycle. This is going to be a beautiful pipe. With most of the Peretti Oom Paul restorations I have done (and the Peretti Half Bent Billiard) I was very pleased with the results of applying Before and After Restoration Balm on the stummels. Keeping the light, natural original motifs of these Perettis has been my goal and the use of the Balm has helped maintain this desire. I do the same with this Peretti. I put some Balm on my finger and I work the Balm into the briar surface. As I work it in, it starts as more liquid – with the consistency of light oil, but then gradually firms up until it is wax-like. After I work it in thoroughly with my fingers, I set the stummel on the clothespin stand to allow the Balm to do what it does for a while. I take a picture of the Balm on the stummel. After several minutes, I wipe the Balm off by buffing it out with a clean microfiber cloth. It looks great – as I was expecting.With the Sitter’s stummel waiting in the wings for the stem to catch up, I pick up the stem. Having had a night to thoroughly cure, the patches are ready to be filed and sanded down. Before I forget it, since I had a pipe cleaner with petroleum jelly on it in the stem’s airway, I want to clean the airway so I run a pipe cleaner through the stem dipped with isopropyl 95%. Also, the thought in the back of my mind is the putty in the hole patch, did it push through and harden in the airway and form an obstruction. Unfortunately, this was the case. With the pipe cleaner coming from the tenon side, there seems to be a ridge at the patch site just entering the bend. The pipe cleaner hung up there. Coming from the button end, there is no problem with an obstruction. As I test repeatedly, I discover that coming in from the tenon side, if I put a slight downward bend to the end of the pipe cleaner, the pipe cleaner would successfully navigate past the patch down to the button draft hole. This is not a perfect situation, but it could be much worse with no passage through the airway. Yet, the bright side of the scenario is that the patch is a bit stronger as a result, though the new steward will need to be aware of this bump in the road. So, we move on. I begin the filing on the bend hole patch using a flat needle file. I focus on keeping the file on the patch mound to not impact the vulcanite around the patch.To help me see what the patch would look like if I left it a bit ‘fat’ on the surface, I take a little detour. My thinking is that it might help strengthen the area to leave the patch fatter on the surface. To get a preview of the patch area, I ran the patch through the entire sanding process to get a better idea how visible it would be. It didn’t take long to go from the filing to 240, 600 then 0000 steel wool focusing only on the patch area. Then I ran the patch spot through all the micromesh pads 1500 to 12000, applied Obsidian Oil and I look at the patch area. I take two pictures to show the future. I decide I didn’t like the future! Actually, the patch isn’t that bad, but I know it’s there and it seems unfinished…. I decide to continue to blend the patch by sanding.This is the bend patch after continuing with 240 and 600 grade papers. That’s much better.I move on to the upper and then lower bit. I use the flat needle file, 240 then 600 on both upper and lower sanding the patches and blending them.I follow by sanding/buffing the entire stem with 0000 steel wool before starting the micromesh pad process.Now to the fine-tuning sanding process. I wet sand the stem using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400. I then follow this by dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 then 6000 to 12000. After each set of three pads, I apply Obsidian Oil to revitalize the vulcanite. The Peretti’s stem is looking good even with all the repairs that were done. I love the glassy pop of the vulcanite! The patch work blended well. Now the home stretch. I reunite the Peretti Oom Paul Sitters stem and stummel and mount the felt buffing wheel to the Dremel, set it at the slowest speed and apply Tripoli compound to the stummel. Tripoli is a coarser compound I apply using a circular pattern over the stummel in a methodical way to cover the entire stummel. I do not put too much pressure on the wheel, but allow the speed, compound and the felt to do the work. When the Tripoli is complete, I mount a cotton cloth wheel to the Dremel, remaining at the same speed and I apply Blue Diamond compound to both stummel and stem. I do it in the same way as the Tripoli. Finally, I change cotton cloth buffing wheels and apply White Diamond compound to the stem alone. When the compounds are completed, I buff the pipe with a felt cloth to remove the compound dust from the surface of the briar. I mount yet another cotton cloth buffing wheel to the Dremel, increase the speed to about 40% of full power and I apply a few coats of carnauba wax to stem and stummel. Finally, I complete the restoration of this Peretti Oom Paul Sitter by giving it a brisk hand buffing using a microfiber cloth.

The vertical flame grain on this large Oom Paul Sitter stummel is striking and it is complemented by bird’s eye on the heel as well as the shank. It is unique in the Peretti Lot of 10 where the pipes showcased mainly horizontal and bird’s eye grain. This Peretti will provide much visual pleasure to his new steward and with the size of the bowl, he will pack enough favorite blend for a nice long reflective time. The stem and rim gave some challenges which I think have worked out well. He carries with him some marks from his former life – as we all do! Tim lives in Missouri and is the pipe man who commissioned this Oom Paul Sitter and has first dibs on the pipe when I put it in The Pipe Steward Store. This pipe will benefit the Daughters of Bulgaria – women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited. Thanks for joining me!

Another L.J. Peretti of Boston: A Hefty Half Bent Billiard with a Saddle Stem

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Blog by Dal Stanton

I have been placing several L. J. Peretti pipes in the hands of new stewards which brings me much satisfaction! The others were all Oom Pauls – classic Oom Paul’s and some slightly modified by Peretti to serve as Oom Paul sitters. After I was introduced to L. J. Peretti pipes and restored some that I added to my own collection, I started keeping my eyes open for these pipes because I discovered they were pretty good smokers and that the briar used to make them was not bad – actually, was quite good. When I saw the Peretti Lot of 10 on the eBay auction block with the seller’s location nearby Peretti’s home of Boston, I figured (correctly) that these all came from a Peretti collector who lived in Boston or near enough to know the Peretti story. The L. J. Peretti Co. is the 2^nd oldest Tobacconist shop in the US – where custom blends are still created by hand. Here is the picture I saw on eBay. The Peretti on my worktable now is the Billiard Half Bent Saddle on the right, center in the picture above. Two things stood out when I cradled this Billiard in my palm for the first time. First, the stem has the classy cursive Peretti ‘P’ stamped on it. Only a few in the Lot of 10 had this stamp. Only hazarding a guess, but this may indicate a higher-grade line in the Peretti offerings – though I haven’t laid my eyes on anything that could confirm this, catalogues, etc. It is a classy touch to have the ‘P’ embedded on the stem. Secondly, this Billiard is a big boy! Just comparing him to the hefty Oom Pauls in the photograph above shows that this Billiard is not shrinking away in embarrassment! The bowl is full and the shank is long and broad. His dimensions are Length: 5 7/8 inches, Height: 2 inches, Rim Diameter: 1 5/16 inches, Chamber Diameter: 1 7/8 inches, Bowl depth: 1 3/4 inches. I also put him on the scale and he weighs 57 grams.

Our cousin, Stephen, who my wife and I visited while we were in the US some months ago, saw the Peretti Lot of 10 when I posted a picture of the 10 offering the Oom Pauls to new stewards to be commissioned. He responded but he wasn’t interested in an Oom Paul. He was drawn to the Half Bent Billiard because it reminded him of a pipe he had earlier in life. I was glad to restore the Billiard for Stephen because I remembered that during our visit to his home in Alabama, he saw my restored L. J. Peretti HUGE Bent Egg in my pipe pouch – also from the Lot of 10 pictured above – center, left and pictured below after being restored (See LINK for restoration), and Stephen tried to barter him away from me! Who could blame him?! I held firm and my Peretti Egg and I continue to have regular fellowship here in Bulgaria! Thank you, Stephen! Since Stephen commissioned this Peretti, he will have first dibs on it when I put it in The Pipe Steward Store. This pipe benefits our work here in Bulgaria helping trafficked and sexually exploited women and girls (and their children!) – the Daughters of Bulgaria.Bringing the Half Bent Billiard on my worktable here in Sofia, Bulgaria, I take some pictures to take a closer look as well as to assess what this Billiard’s challenges are. As with all his Peretti cousins in the Lot of 10, the L. P. Peretti Co. is stamped on the left side of the shank. Some of the other Perettis are without the ‘Co.’ As noted above, this Peretti also has the cursive ‘P’ stamped nicely on the stem. Only a few of the Perettis had this stamp in the Lot. This Billiard shares with all his cousins the thick cake in the chamber. It also has very thick lava flow on the rim. It is also most likely, as with the other Perettis, that there will be scorching damage underneath the lava. The briar surface is dirty – lots of grime, but this should clean up nicely, as with the other Perettis, this large patch of Billiard briar shows great promise. The stem is also showing deep oxidation and calcification on the stem – especially on the bit. As with all his cousins, the bit and button show a good bit of biting, clenching and the subsequent dents, chatter and button damage.

To start the restoration of this hefty Peretti Billiard Half Bent Saddle, I add the stem to a bath of Before and After Deoxidizer. This was the first time I used the Before and After product and I was testing it to see how it worked. The Peretti Billiard joined several pipes and their stems in the queue. After soaking for several hours, I fished out the Billiard’s stem and allowed the Deoxidizer to drain. I then wiped off the oxidation with a cotton pad wetted with light paraffin oil, Bulgaria’s mineral oil. One of the attributes of Before and After Deoxidizer is that it is stamp friendly, which proves to be the case with the Peretti ‘P’. With the stummel now in hand, I use the Pipnet Reaming Kit to remove the very thick cake resident in the chamber. By removing the cake down to the briar gives it a fresh start and enables me to examine the chamber wall for damage. After putting down paper towel for easier cleanup, I start with the smallest blade. I use 3 of the 4 blades available in the Pipnet Kit. I then fine tune the reaming by using the Savinelli Fitsall Tool to scrape the chamber walls removing more carbon cake left behind. Wrapping a piece of 240 grit paper around a Sharpie Pen, I sand the chamber. Finally, I clean the chamber of the carbon dust using cotton pads with isopropyl 95%. The chamber walls look great – no problems. The pictures show the steps in the process. Now to the external surface. I use undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and cotton pads to scrub the grime – and there’s plenty of it. I also work on the crusty rim surface utilizing a brass brush and scraping with my thumb nail. I also employ a pin knife to help scrape the crust. What emerges is beautiful grain on the stummel – large swirling bird’s eye catches my eye. Surprisingly, a nice looking, slightly rounded rim emerges from underneath all the crust! The briar on the rim reveals that this was a nice-looking pipe at one time – I’m thinking it was on Peretti’s upper scale shelf. The scorching on the inside of the rim is significant and will need to be addressed. Next, the dirty job. Using pipe cleaners and cotton buds dipped in isopropyl 95% I attack the internals of the stummel. I also utilize a dental spatula to scrape the mortise walls. With a little effort the buds and pipe cleaners started coming clean. As I usually do with all my restorations, I follow this cleaning with a kosher salt/alcohol soak. I find that this additionally cleans the internal briar and freshens the internals. After putting the stummel in an egg carton to keep it upright and stable, I fill the bowl with kosher salt which leaves no aftertaste (as iodized salt does). I then fashion a ‘wick’ by stretching and twisting a cotton ball which is inserted down into the draft hole and mortise – as far down as I can manage. I then fill the bowl with isopropyl 95% alcohol until it surfaces over the salt. After a few minutes, after the alcohol has been absorbed, I will top the alcohol off again. I put the stummel aside and let it soak through the work day until I return home this evening. Later, when I arrive home from work, I’m always pleased to see the nasty results of the salt/alcohol bath. The salt has discolored, and the wick has absorbed the grunge. I thump the old salt into the waste, wipe the bowl with paper towel and blow through the mortise to dislodge any remnants of salt from the soak. To make sure all was clean, I ran a pipe cleaner through the draft hole and plunged a cotton bud in the mortise – both dipped in isopropyl 95%, and both came out clean. Done – always a nice place to be.I turn now to the chewed up and dented stem – oh my. The entire Peretti Lot of 10 I determined came from one steward. One of the ways I determined this was that all the stems were clenched the same way and therefore reveal the same forensics! I take a few pictures to show the problems with upper and lower bit and button. The first step I use is using flame to heat the vulcanite which expands it making the dents less severe and more easily sanded. I use a Bic lighter and paint the upper and lower bit areas. I concentrate on the button as well. After several cycles of ‘painting’ I have come to the point where the vulcanite is no longer expanding. It has helped but there remains some denting and bite marks. I pair the before and after ‘flame painting`’ pictures to let you compare. I think the button benefited most. Using 240 sanding paper, I sand both upper and lower bit and the button to see how much of the damage can be sanded out. The heating technique helped more than I realized – good news. The upper bit sanded out completely. The lower bit still shows two dents. Using the flat needle file, I worked on the button and refreshed the upper and lower button lips. The draft hole was dented too. I pull out the topping board with 240 paper on it and ‘top’ the button to flatten it out. I smooth out the draft hole using a rounded needle file. I take a picture to show the progress of the 240 paper and file work. When I look at the stem I see something I didn’t see before. A hole in the stem on the right at the base of the saddle. I’ve never seen this before. I’ll need to patch it as well. I wipe the stem with alcohol to clean the area where I will apply black CA glue to fill the dents. After clean, using a toothpick, I spot drop black CA glue on both dents on the lower bit. The toothpick allows me to control where and how much glue I apply. I wait an hour or so for the glue to set and then turn over the stem and spot drop glue on the ‘saddle’ hole. I set the stem aside for the patches to cure for several hours. With the stem patch curing, I turn again to the stummel and the rim. The scorched briar needs to be removed and topping the stummel will move in that direction. Like all the Peretti Billiard’s cousins in the Lot of 10, the left side seems to have borne the brunt. I’m hoping I only need to top a small amount and remove the remaining scorched wood on the internal rim edge by introducing a bevel. That’s the plan. Placing 240 grit paper on the chopping block, I top by moving the inverted stummel in a circular motion and evenly as possible.I stop to check a number of times how much progress has been made on removing the scorched briar.At this point, I’ve removed enough damaged surface via topping leaving a manageable internal ring of charred material that can be removed without taking more healthy briar. I use a rolled piece of 120 coarse sanding paper to cut an internal bevel and remove the scorched area. I also aim at balancing the round of the rim – it is slightly out of round because of the greater damage on the left side of the bowl where the former steward lit his tobacco. After cutting the bevel with 120, I give another very light topping with 240 grit paper to restate the rim line after the bevel.I follow the 240 topping board and 120 paper beveling by using 240 grade paper to erase the scratches of the 120 beveling. Then, I use 600 grade both to erase the scratches of the 240 on the bevel, but to top again lightly the stummel with the 600 grade paper to erase 240 scratches and to smooth.Finally, I introduce a very gentle external bevel around the rim using 240 then 600. I do this to soften the look of the rim and to give it more of a rounded appearance. I’m pleased with the rim repair. This Peretti Big Boy Billiard has already come a long way from the caked, scorched condition he arrived in! He’s looking good.Now to the briar surface – and there’s a lot of briar real estate on this stummel! I begin by wet sanding with micromesh pads 1500 to 2400. Then dry sanding, I use 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000. I take a picture after each set of three. I enjoy watching the grain emerge on the Peretti Billiard through the micromesh pad cycles – it’s an amazing transformation. Along with most of his Peretti cousins, the briar seems to be a higher grade – no fills and the grain is beautiful. To maintain the rich natural briar look consistent with the Peretti hue template, yet to deepen and make the briar grain richer, I use Before and After Restoration Balm. I apply the Balm to my finger and then spread it over the stummel and work it in to the briar. The Balm begins as an oily liquid and then gradually grows firmer until it takes on the characteristics of a thick wax. After I work the Balm in well, I put the stummel on the stand to absorb the Balm for several minutes and take a picture. I then wipe the stummel with a clean cotton cloth to remove the Balm residue and buff up the surface. I put the stummel to the side and turn my focus again to the stem.After the black CA glue patches have thoroughly cured, I first use 240 sanding paper to do the initial removal of excess patch and blending. I continue to shape and fine tune the button lips with the 240 as well as remove the patch excess and smooth the saddle hole on the side. Then, to erase the tracks of the 240, I use 600 grade paper. To erase the scratches of the 600, I buff the entire stem with 0000 grade steel wool which leaves a good evenly prepared surface to begin the micromesh pad cycles. I like the way the chewed bit came out.Now, using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 grade, I wet sand the stem. It was going so well until it wasn’t! After starting the second cycle dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000, I see what I didn’t see before. As the lower bit was glossing up because of the micromesh sanding, a small dimple remnant of the lower bit dent became visible to me – ugh. When it comes to restoring pipes (and with many things in life 😊) I’m a stickler for detail and even though I’m well advanced in the stem finishing process, this dimple will not stand! I wipe the spot with alcohol to assure that it is clean and I spot-drop Special T CA glue on the dent. This glue is extra thick because I want the drop to stop on the spot and not run over the stem as thinner CA glue tends to do. I’ll spare you all the pictures of starting over filing, sanding, steel wooling and micromeshing pads catching this dimple patch up, so let it suffice to show the before and after, and then we move on. Starting with the completion of pads 1500 to 2400:The discovery. Before….And after….Now moving on to dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000. To revitalize the vulcanite, after each cycle of three I apply Obsidian Oil. The stem looks great even though I encountered a significant detour along the way. I love the pop of vulcanite that has been fine-tuned with micromesh pads!The home stretch! As I reunite the half-bent saddle with the stummel to begin the compound buffing cycle I discover that the union between stem and stummel has loosened. As sometimes can happen during the cleaning process, the mortise can be opened, and the result is that the tenon is not as snug. To remedy this and to tighten the mortise/tenon union a bit, I use the flat end of a drill bit just a little larger than the diameter of the tenon draft hole. I heat the vulcanite tenon with a small flame and as it warms the vulcanite it becomes pliable and gradually I insert the drill bit into the airway. This expands the mortise a bit and hopefully, creates a better fit. The approach works perfectly even though it required two enlarging drill bits to provide a snug union. With stem and stummel reunited with a good fit, I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel to the Dremel and set the speed to the slowest. Using Blue Diamond compound, I apply it to the stummel and stem using a slow, methodical, circular approach, not applying too much pressure to the buffing wheel, but allowing the speed of the Dremel and compound to do the work. With my wife’s assistance, I include a picture showing this below. After completing the Blue Diamond application, I mount another cotton cloth buffing wheel dedicated to the application of wax. After increasing the speed to about 40% of full power, I apply the carnauba wax in the same way as the compound. Afterwards, I use a microfiber cloth and give the pipe a brisk hand buffing to raise the shine.None of the Peretti pipes that I’ve restored thus far have disappointed. They arrived on my worktable in rough shape with scorching and chewed bits. This L. J. Peretti Co. Billiard Half Bent Saddle was no exception. The briar grain showcased in the large bowl reveals swirls of large bird’s eye pattern and horizontal straight grain in a whimsical contrast. The grain flow reminds me of pictures of Jupiter’s atmosphere intermingling! The distinctive Peretti “P” stamping stands out nicely imbedded in the glassy shine of the half bent saddle stem. Cousin Stephen commissioned this hefty Peretti Billiard and will have first dibs on it in The Pipe Steward Store. This pipe benefits women and girls (and their children) that we work with here in Bulgaria, who have been trafficked and sexually exploited – the Daughters of Bulgaria. Thank you for joining me!