Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a Freehand with some rustication at the shank/bowl joint and plateau on the rim top.  It has a well shaped thick vulcanite taper stem. We purchased it from an estate sale in Oregon City, Oregon, USA on 03/21/2024. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Bjarne Nielsen [over] Handmade [over] In Denmark [over] C. There is no other stamping on the bowl or shank. There was a thick cake in the bowl and some darkening and lava on the inner edge of the bowl and some spots of lava on the rim top. It was hard to know for certain the condition of the inner edge though it appeared to be in good condition. There were oils and grime ground into the bowl sides gives the finish a flat look though there is some great grain. The shank is thick and has a slight curve to it giving the pipe a Brandy Glass shape. The saddle stem matches the curves of the bowl and shank. It has what looks like a Boxwood band on half of the saddle. The Cumberland stem is a dirty stem and has a rubber Softee Bit on the area ahead of the button. There is calcification, oxidation, grime, grit on the surface and also light tooth marks on both the top and underside of the stem just ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. I have included them below. He took photos of the pipe’s bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl, the darkening on the inner edge and the spotty lava coat overflowing onto the top. It is another dirty pipe. He also took photos of the stem with and without the rubber Softee Bit to capture the oxidation, calcification and the light tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain around the bowl and the amount of grime ground into the surface of the briar. He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and quite readable. It reads as noted above. I have had many Bjarne pipes cross my work table over the years but all had been stamped only Bjarne or Bjarne Handmade. None of them had his full name stamped on it and none had a letter stamp which I assumed indicated the grade of the pipe. I did some research on Pipedia.com and found some helpful information on both the stamping of my pipe and the history of Bjarne Nielsen himself. I am including the link to the full article on Pipedia and also some pertinent sections of the article that I have edited for quick reference. https://pipedia.org/wiki/BjarneFrom the early 1990s Bjarne had seven pipemakers employed and the pipes were sold in no fewer than 32 countries. For more than six months each year, Bjarne travelled around the world to promote his pipes by meeting with dealers and customers. But sadly, it all ended in February 2008 when Bjarne, then 66 years old suffered a fatal heart attack. An unexpected blow fist of all to his family, but also to the pipemakers who had been working for him, and to all lovers of his pipes from around the world. And as no one was willing to take over, the Bjarne pipe died together with its creator.

Among the pipemakers that worked for Bjarne were Johs (for the lower priced high volume pieces), and makers like Ph. Vigen, Ole Bandholm and Tonni Nielsen for high grade pieces. The cheaper line was stamped “Bjarne” while the highest grades were stamped “Bjarne Nielsen” (never with the pipemakers’ name) and graded, from highest to lowest, by the letters: AX, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J.

From that information I knew that the pipe that I was working on was made before 2008 and could well have been made by Tonni Nielsen. The C stamping told me it was a fairly high grade pipe – fourth grade from the top AX grade. That makes sense when I look at the grain and also the way the pipe maker cut the pipe to maximize the lay of the grain on the bowl. Now it was time to work on the pipe on my end.

When I received it from Jeff this past week it did not look like the same pipe. It was clean and the finish had life. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and got rid of the cake. He cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife so that we could see the walls of the bowl and assess for damage. It was in good condition. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol. He scrubbed the exterior with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He rinsed the pipe under warm water. He dried it off with a cloth and then let it air dry. The stem was scrubbed with Soft Scrub and soaked in Briarville’s Stem Deoxidizer. It came out looking very good. The finish on the bowl and the rim top cleaned up nicely. I took pictures of the pipe to show how it looked when I brought it to the table.  I took some photos of the rim top and stem to show the condition of them both when the pipe arrived. Overall the briar looked good. The Cumberland stem had some light tooth chatter and marks ahead of the button and on the button surface on both sides.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is readable and in great condition. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to show the look of the pipe.I took a photo of the filter tenon on the stem and the Boxwood band on the saddle portion of the stem. It looked very good and I fit it with an adapter that converted it to a regular tenon. It is removable allowing the pipe to be smoked with or without a filter. There was some nicking and damage on the inner edge once I examined it closely. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper to smooth out the inner edge and give it a light bevel. Once the bevel was in good condition I used a Cherry stain pen to blend in the newly sanded areas into the rest of the bowl.I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down after each pad with a damp cloth. The bowl is starting to look very good. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth marks and chatter with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. By the final 3500 grit sanding pad the rim top had a shine.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. This is a beautiful Bjarne Nielsen Bent Brandy Handmade in Denmark C Grade with a Cumberland saddle stem. It has a great look and feel. The shape fits well in the hand with the curve of the bowl and shank junction a perfect fit for the thumb around the bowl when held. I polished stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The rich combination of browns in the smooth finish took on life with the buffing. The rich colour of the briar works well with the polished hard rubber stem. I like the grain and finished look of this Bjarne Nielsen Bent Brandy C Grade. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches wide, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 80 grams/ 2.82 ounces. This Danish Freehand is a real beauty. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipe Making Section shortly if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for your time.