Tag Archives: Il Ceppo Pipes

An Easy Restore – an Il Ceppo 1 Hand Made Paneled Horn

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the worktable is another one that I have been looking forward to working on. It is a large Il Ceppo Paneled Horn. The pipe is in very good condition when he took it from the box. There were not a lot of issues to deal with in the cleanup and restoration. It is stamped on the underside of the diamond shank 1 in a circle followed by Il Ceppo followed by Hand Made Italy. The pipe is horn shaped. It has a round rim top flowing into 5 panels down the sides of the bowl merging into a diamond shaped shank. There was some darkening around the inner edge of the rim and top toward the back of the bowl. There was a moderate cake in the lower portion of the deep bowl. The upper portions had darkened and had a thin cake. The finish was dirty and there dust in the rustication around the bowl. The black acrylic diamond shaped saddle stem had a white inlaid C on the left side of the saddle. There were light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. Otherwise the stem looked very good. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show their general condition. You can see the tars and darkening on the inner edge of the rim top. The cake in the bowl is moderate and thickening as you go further down the bowl. The rusticated finish on the bowl sides and the smooth rim top combine to make an interesting pipe.Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the unique rustication on this particular piece of briar. It is quite stunning with the smooth rim top and the diamond shaped shank end. I cannot wait to see what it looks like once it is cleaned and polished. He took a photo of the stamping on the left underside of the diamond shank to capture it for me. It is clear and readable. The encircle 1 followed by the il ceppo stamp and then Hand Made Italy. He included a photo of the inlaid C on the left side of the saddle stem.The black acrylic stem is in good condition other than being dirty and having light tooth marks and chatter on the both sides of the stem at the button. The photos below show the condition of the stem.Not too long ago I worked on an il ceppo large sandblast billiard and had done some research into the brand (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/01/25/life-for-a-beautiful-sandblast-il-ceppo-made-by-hand-triangle-1-billiard/). I turned to that blog and reread the information that I had included there. I took the liberty to include that below.

I turned then to Pipedia to see what I could find out about Il Ceppo pipes. I read through the Il Ceppo page written by the pipemaker and then the next section of the page written by RD Field. Here is the link to that page on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Il_Ceppo).  I will quote from the section on the line below.

The il ceppo brand has been in production since the late 1970’s but, in spite of its overall good value, is not well known in all parts of the United States. Partly this is because of a limited supply of pipes and partly because the brand has not been put in front of the pipe smoking public through a national venue.

The il ceppo brand is made in Pesaro, Italy and is part of the famous Pesaro school of design that has also produced Mastro de Paja and Ser Jacopo. That all three brands have similar characteristics can be seen at a glance, but they all have significant differences as well.

Giorgio Imperatori, an architect, had a passion for pipes, and in 1978 began to design and make Il Ceppo. Always considered a good value and very good for smoking, the brand did not make folks stop and take notice until 1995 when Franco Rossi joined the firm. He brought with him a true elegance of design and a unique flair that now helps Il Ceppo stand apart. Giorgio has retired to his farmhouse, and the pipes are now all made by Franco and his sister Nadia.

Individuals involved in the creation and continuation of the Il Ceppo brand are; Giorgio Imperatori (now retired from pipe making); Franco Rossi who, along with his sister Nadia, are the current Il Ceppo pipe makers; Mario Lubinski, the distributor of the Il Ceppo brand in Italy; Massimo Palazzi who worked with Il Ceppo until 1998 when he founded his own brand, L’Anatra.

I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-i.html) to gather additional information. I have included a screen capture below of the section on the brand.From the notes on that page it confirms RD Field’s information. Brand founded by Giorgio Imperatori in 1977 (first period) and bought by Franco Corinaldesi Rossi (second period, about 1996) when Giorgio retired. Franco and his sister Nadia are the current (2011) Il Ceppo pipe makers.

I also found that the section on the grading system on the Pipephil site was really helpful in identifying and reading the stamping on the pipe in my hands.

Grading system.

Pipes from the first period:

“Il Ceppo” stamping slightly curved, A to H and a 4-5 digit number, Group number in a triangle

Now the new information. Putting together all of the information on the pipe I can summarize what I have learned. I knew now that the pipe on my table war from the Second Period (1996-2010). The Il Ceppo stamping is a straight line on this one. The number 1 on the shank indicates a sandblasted pipe. The last point is interesting as I would not have called this a sand blasted pipe. Perhaps a good description would be “Blasticated”.

With that information I moved forward to work on the pipe itself and see what I had to do with it. The pipe looked amazing. Even the stem looked like new, with most of the tooth marks and chatter gone. There was some darkening on the edge of the rim but that too had almost disappeared. Jeff had done his normal thorough clean up – reaming, scrubbing, soaking and the result was evident in the pipe when I unpacked it. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. The shape and finish on this pipe is quite beautiful! I took some photos of the rim top and stem. The rim top and bowl looked very good. The cake and the darkening on the back side of the inner edge of the rim looked better. Jeff had been able to get rid of most of the darkening. There was some light scratching that I would be able to polish out. The close up photos of the stem shows that it is a much cleaner. There was still some light tooth chatter but it was really quite minimal.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank to show the condition after the cleanup. Often the stamping takes a hit with the cleaning and is lessened in it clarity. Jeff does a great job in leaving the stamping looking very good.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe at this point. You can clearly see the condition, size and shape of the pipe.I started my part of the restoration work on this pipe by polishing the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. I dry sanded with micromesh sanding pads -1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the rim top down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. The rim top and edges look very good at this point. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to get in the nooks and crannies of the “Blastication’ on the sides of the bowl. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about ten minutes 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. The remaining tooth chatter and marks were very minimal and I could remove them with polishing. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing 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. Putting this pipe back together was not as dramatic as it usually is but still it is rewarding nonetheless. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe lightly with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank sides during the process. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is a real stunning example of a Horn shaped pipe. The “Blasticated” grain and the way the shape follows it is very well done. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 7 inches, Height: 3 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches wide x 2 inches long, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. This interesting il ceppo Italian Hand Made 1 Horn is a great looking pipe in excellent condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store soon. If you want to add it to your collection send me an email or a message! Thanks for your time.

Cleaning up a Beautiful Il Ceppo Lumberman

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the worktable from the lot that my brother picked up at an estate sale recently is a beautifully grained Il Ceppo Lumberman. It is a large pipe, which is well laid out with the grain of the briar. The look of the briar and the stem contrast beautifully and accent the beauty of the pipe. The shape is part of the Canadian shape family. It is similar to the smaller Lovat (saddle stem) and Liverpool (taper stem) in that it has a round shank unlike the oval shank of a Canadian.I am pretty much a novice when it comes to the world of mid to high end Italian pipes. I have a few a couple of nice Castellos and a Le Nuvole but other than that, I know next to nothing about Italian pipes. It is fascinating that in this batch of estates most of them are Italian made and toward the mid to high end range. Over the past years of pipe repair and restoration I have read of the Il Ceppo brand but this is the first one that I have seen up close. I did some research on the brand on the internet so that I could learn a bit of the history and possibly identify the maker of this particular pipe. I found quite a bit of information. I have digested it below for quick reference.

I found that RD Field give a great summary of the history of the brand. You can read it at the following link: http://www.rdfield.com/Il%20Ceppo/il_ceppo.htm or you can read the part that I have included here. The IL CEPPO brand has been in production since the late 1970’s but, in spite of its overall good value, is not well known in all parts of the United States. Partly this is because of a limited supply of pipes and partly because the brand has not been put in front of the pipe smoking public through a national venue.

The Il Ceppo brand is made in Pesaro, Italy and is part of the famous Pesaro school of design that has also produced Mastro de Paja and Ser Jacopo. That all three brands have similar characteristics can be seen at a glance, but they all have significant differences as well.

Giorgio Imperatori, an architect, had a passion for pipes and in 1978 begun to design and make IL CEPPO. Always considered a good value and very good for smoking the brand did not make folks stop and take notice until 1995 when Franco Rossi joined the firm. He brought with him a true elegance of design and a unique flair that now helps IL CEPPO stand apart. Giorgio has retired to his farmhouse and the pipes are now all made by Franco and his sister Nadia.

I found this Il Ceppo Leaflet online as well and have included it here for reference. Be sure to click on it and read it. There is some great information included.I looked on Marty Pulvers site http://sherlocks-haven.com/italian.html and found some more brief and interesting information. I quote here: They consistently have some of the finest grained sandblasts in the field. They use top notch, well aged briar and are made and overseen by just one artisan, Franco Rossi. The problem? Possibly the name, which may suggest “cheap” to some (it simply refers to the briar burl from which pipes are made) or the unfortunately large, and to some reversed “C” logo on the stem. (Marty has a sandblast pipe on his site for sale for $275.)

I read in Jose Manuel Lopes, “Pipes, Artisans and Trademarks” brief article on the brand that Mario Lubinski formed the company in 1978. Franco Rossi arrived in 1995 and the name was changed to Il Ceppo (the root). Grading: “9” (rustic), “1” (sandblast), “2” (semi rustic) “3” (semi sandblast) “4” to “7” (smooth), with Fiammata being the top of the range. There I learned a couple of interesting facts that help me place this pipe. It came after the name change in 1995 and that the pipe was made by Franco Rossi. I also learned a bit about the grading system of the pipes.

Further searching found a great digest of the Grading System. I found it on the PipePhil website: http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-i.html. I have included the summary of the grading of the pipes during the two periods of Il Ceppo pipe history. I also found a retail price list from March 2008 that I have included to give an idea of the range of prices for the various grades of pipes in the Il Ceppo line.

The pipe is excellent condition with a very well done finish on the bowl. The Lucite stem has a lot of tooth chatter and tooth marks on both sides of the stem near the button. The stamping on the left side of the shank reads Il Ceppo with the number 4 in a circle. Next to that, it reads Hand Made over Italy.

From the first chart to the left, I could determine both the period and the Grade of the pipe I had. It was from the second period (1995-Present) and it was a Grade 4 smooth. From the second chart I had a pretty good idea that the pipe sold for $430 US in 2008.

My brother took the first photo above and the following photos to show the condition of the pipe before he cleaned it up to send to me. It really is a beautiful pipe underneath the grime and dirt. The next two photos show the rim top and the cake in the bowl from two different angles. There was a fairly thick cake in the bowl and the lava flowed over the rim top. It was thicker toward the back of the bowl but did go all the way around the bowl. It would need to be cleaned up before I would know if there was any damage to the inner edge of the rim.The next two photos show the grain on the bowl sides and bottom. It is a very pretty piece of briar and the pipe is laid out to maximize the grain.The shank is stamped on the left side with il ceppo and underneath that it read Hand Made over Italy. There was a stylized 4 in a circle to the left of the stamping. The thin silver band is oxidized.The saddle portion of the Lucite stem had a large white C on the top side. It was in really good shape and showed no wear or tear.The next two photos show the tooth marks and chatter on the topside and underside of the stem. The first photo shows the top. Notice the chatter on the top of the button as well as the stem just in front of the button. The second photo shows the underside and the chatter and tooth marks at that point.I took the next four photos of the pipe when I brought it to my worktable. My brother had done a great job reaming and cleaning the interior and the exterior of the pipe. It was pretty spotless by the time I worked on it. The photo below of the rim top shows the cleaned top with a bit of darkening toward the back of the bowl.My brother’s cleaning job highlighted the tooth chatter and marks on both sides of the stem.I sanded out the tooth chatter and marks with 320 grit sandpaper to remove all of the marks. It did not take too much to remove the marks because they were not very deep in the surface of the Lucite.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 down the stem with a damp cotton pad after sanding with each grit of micromesh. The process is shown in the photos below. I gently cleaned up the remaining cake in the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I wanted to clean up the little bits of remaining cake on the bowl walls.I polished the silver band with a jeweler’s cloth to polish off the tarnish.I ran a pipe cleaner through the mortise in the bowl and the airway in both the stem and shank. It was very clean so it did not take too much.I buffed the stem and bowl with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to remove the last of the light scratches that were still in the briar and the Lucite. I gave them both several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise a shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a beautiful piece of briar with a bowl that flows with the grain. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Inner chamber diameter: ¾ inches. This pipe will make a great addition to someone’s pipe rack. It is available on the rebornpipes store. Email me at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a private message on FaceBook. Thanks for looking.