Tag Archives: KBB Yello-Bole Pipes

KBB Yello-Bole Stembiter Cured with Real Honey 4261B Yacht

By Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one of three that was dropped off at my house on Saturday for clean up and restoration. Robert stopped by with a bag of pipes that his brother had picked up for him while hunting for pipes in New York. The lot included a Medico Ventilator, a couple of Grabows, a small salesman’s pipe, a Smokemaster, an unmarked sandblast pot, an Oom Paul Natural Grain Algerian Briar France, a Comoy’s Grand Slam Patent Pot, and an interesting KBB Yello-Bole Zulu/Yacht with a unique biteproof stem. We went through the lot and chose the three pipes that he wanted to work on. I have circled them in the photo below.I chose to work on the Yello-Bole Zulu/Yacht first as it was unique and just called out to me. The finish was very dirty but the grain was quite beautiful around the bowl and the shank. The pipe is stamped on the left side and reads KBB in a cloverleaf next to the bowl/shank union. To the right of that it is stamped Stembiter [over] Yello-Bole [over] Cured with Real Honey. On the right side of the shank it is stamped with the shape number 4261B. The bowl had a thick cake but underneath there was remnants of the yellow Honey Coating that Yello-Bole draw their name from. The finish was dirty and had some peeling varnish around the bowl. The base of the bowl and shank had been flattened to make the pipe a sitter. It had a vulcanite push stem with the classic Yello-Bole Spade style stinger apparatus in the tenon. The stem was oxidized. The aluminum spacer on the shank end of the stem was oxidized and pitted. It was rough to touch. There were very light bite marks on the surface ahead of the button. The Stembiter system was unique on the stem end – a scooped out divot on both sides and then a twin bore button end. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my clean up work. The photos of the rim top show the lava build up and marks on the top and the darkening on the inner edge of the bowl. You can also see the yellow bowl coating on front side near the bottom of the bowl surrounded by the cake. The photos of the stem show the deep oxidation on both sides. They do show the yellow O logo on the stem top. The stem end shows the Stembiter system.The next series of photos show the stamping on the shank sides. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts of the pipe. It looks quite beautiful.Before I started my work on the pipe I decided to do a bit of work on the Patent Number and the shape number on the heel of the bowl. I remembered that Troy Wilburn, one of our blog writers and good friend of rebornpipes sent me a shape number list for old Kaywoodie and Yello-Bole pipes that is on the blog. I found it very useful and typed it into a chart format. Troy said that he got the data for this from the Kaywoodie Forums. I decided to post the chart on the blog for easy access. Thank you to the KW forum for the information. Here is the link to the full shape chart information that I have on the site (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/05/07/kaywoodie-yello-bole-shape-numbers/). The pipe I am working on has a push tenon, vulcanite stem as noted in the expanded Kaywoodie/YB charts on the above link. While there is not a listing for a 61 the numbers around that on the chart all include that the pipes had a vulcanite push stem. The good news is that I have the original stem.Troy also included the following information on the first two digits of the shape number. I quote in full regarding that below.

2-digit prefixes for 4-digit pipes – you might find an odd ball or a rare one that is not on the list.
From the time of the first Kaywoodie until 1938 for Kaywoodie and for Yello-Bole, Kaufmann Brothers & Bondy used a 4-digit number system (plus a letter sometimes) to identify the line and shape number. The 4-digits were not used after 1938. The first two, which we’ll call the prefix, referred to the finish and the second two, the suffix numbers referred to the shape number.

The 42B is the Yacht Freshman shape and the L identifies it as a large version of the pipe. Note also that the pipe was only made between 1936-1937 so it is an old timer.

Now to work on the pipe itself. I started by reaming it with a PipNet Pipe Reamer. The bowl was large enough that I used the second and third cutting heads. I took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I also scraped off the lava build up on the rim top with the knife. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. I took it back to smooth walls. The walls looked very good with no sign of checking or burning. I heated the spade style stinger with a lighter flame and once it heated the tars that held it in place let loose and I was able to remove it. I cleaned up the aluminum stinger with alcohol and a 320 grit sanding pad to remove the debris. I set the stinger aside and then I cleaned out the shank, mortise and the airway in the bowl and the stem with pipe cleaners (both smooth and bristle), cotton swabs and 99% isopropyl alcohol. It took a lot of cleaners but I got the grime and oils out of the shank and stem. The pipe smelled of tobacco it was much cleaner smelling than previous to that. I set the stem aside and turned my attention to the bowl. I wiped it down with some 100% acetone to remove the varnish coat and clean up the remnants of that finish around the bowl and shank. It came off quite quickly and looked nice. I touched up the spotty rim top and inner edges with a Cherry stain pen. It matched the colour of the rest of the bowl and shank. Once it was buffed and polished it would blend in perfectly.I sanded the bowl with sanding pads – 320-3500 grit pads. I dry sanded it and wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad. I was able to remove all of the shiny coat and the bowl began to take on a natural shine. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris on the surface. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth and shoe brush to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I wiped down the stem surface with Soft Scrub. I used cotton pads to remove the oxidation and it was amazing how much came off with the scrubbing.I cleaned out the oxidation in the Stembiter with cotton swabs and Soft Scrub. I was able to remove all of the oxidation and the stem is looking much better at this point.I polished the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. It removes the dust and also gives the sanding pads some bite. By the final pad it was looking quite good. Following my usual process in restoration 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 Obsidian Oil. I polished it further with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to absorb the oil. The KBB Yello-Bole Stembiter Cured with Real Honey 4261B Yacht Freshman is finished other than the final waxing and buffing. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches and gave it several coats of carnauba. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad on the buffer 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. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 26 grams/.92 ounces. It is a great looking pipe now that it is restored. It feels great in the hand and as it warms up it as smoked it should be even better. I have two more of Robert’s pipes that I need to work on and then will call him to pick them up. I look forward to hearing what he thinks of it once he has them in hand. If the condition was any indicator it is a good smoker. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this KBB Yello-Bole Stembiter Yacht Freshman.

Restoring an older KBB Yello-Bole Century Model Straight Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on my work table a classic looking KBB Yello-Bole Bulldog shaped pipe. It is stamped with a KBB in a cloverleaf next to the bowl on the left side of the shank. That is followed by YELLO-BOLE [over] Century Model ® [over] Imported Briar. There is no shape number on the pipe on either side. The yellow coloured Bakelite saddle stem. The briar has a mix of birdseye and cross grain around the bowl and shank. This pipe was bought off eBay on February 3, 2017 from Grand Junction, Colorado, USA. The varnish on the finish was peeling and damaged. The briar was also dirty but the grain shone through well. The rim top had a thick coat of lava and edges are caked as well. There was a heavy cake in the bowl and some tobacco debris. The shank and stem airway was very dirty. The stem was lightly oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to show the cake in the bowl, the darkening on the inner edge and the light lava on the rim top. The stem photos show the oxidation, calcification and tooth chatter and marks very well. Jeff took photos of the sides of the bowl to highlight the grain around the bowl sides and base. He captured the stamping on the shank side and stem side in the next photos. The circle on the stem is red rather than black or yellow. They are clean and readable as noted above.I turned to the listing on Pipephil on the KBB Yello-Bole pipes and did not find anything like the one I am working on (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-y.html). The one I have is stamped with KBB in a cloverleaf Yello-Bole Century Model, circle R stamp over Imported Briar and there is nothing with that stamping on the sites. The stem logo is a red circle rather than a yellow one but the setting and placement is the same. I did a screen capture of the section and the stamping on the shank side. I have included it below.I turned next to Pipedia to gather a more detailed history of the brand and see if I could find any information on this particular pipe (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Yello-Bole). I quote a portion of that article on tips for dating Yello-Bole pipes below.

Tips for Dating Yello-Bole Pipes

KBB stamped in the clover leaf indicates it was made in 1955 or earlier as they stopped this stamping after being acquired by S.M. Frank.
Pipes from 1933-1936 they were stamped “Honey Cured Briar”
Post 1936 pipes were stamped “Cured with Real Honey”
Pipe stems stamped with the propeller logo were made in the 1930’s or 1940’s – no propellers were used after the 1940’s.
Yello Bole used a 4 digit code stamped on the pipe in the 1930’s.
Pipes with the Yello-Bole circle stamped on the shank it were made in the 1930’s, this stopped after 1939.
Pipes stamped BRUYERE rather than BRIAR it was made in the 1930’s.

The only portions of the Tips that helps with this pipe is the first one – KBB stamped in a clover leaf indicates it was made in 1955 or earlier as they stopped this stamping after being acquired by S.M. Frank. The rest of the Tips did not apply as they do not match the stamping on this pipe. I know that the pipe was made prior to 1955 and no more at this moment.

Jeff cleaned up the pipes with his usual thoroughness – reaming the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaning up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap to clean off the dust and grime on the finish. When he sent it the pipe was ready to restore. I could not believe how good the rim top looked in comparison to what it was when he started. I took photos of the pipe when I unpacked it. The briar was clean and the grain quite stunning. The finish looked dull and lifeless. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim top after Jeff had cleaned it up. The look of the rim top and edges is very good. He had been able to remove the cake and the lava very well. The bowl was spotless. The inner bevel on the edge had some darkening spots in the yellow bole coating. The stem is also shown and was very clean. He had scrubbed it with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Mark’s Before & After Deoxidizer. There was light tooth chatter and marks still remaining.I took a photo of the stamping on the shank side. The photo shows the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is clear and readable.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to show the look of the pipe. It is a real beauty.I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the darkened bevel on the inner edge of the bowl. When I finished it looked much better.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding (carefully avoiding the stamping on the shank sides) with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth between each pad. The grain to take on a shine. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and let it do its magic. The product cleans, enlivens and preserves the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The bowl really is looking good at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the deeper tooth marks with clear CA glue. I set the stem aside to let the repairs cure. I flattened the repairs with a small file. I smoothed out the repairs with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine then gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. This is another beautiful pipe – this one is an older KBB Yello-Bole Century Model Straight Bulldog. This older Bulldog is a very light weight and from my experience with other Yello-Bole pipes, smokes very well. The grain on the pipe is quite nice and goes well with the yellow acrylic (Bakelite) stem. I put the stem on the shank and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the wheel (being careful of the stamping so as not to damage that). I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and 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 dimensions of this pipe are – Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.31 ounces/37 grams. It is a great looking pipe and one that will be going on the rebornpipes store in the American Pipe Makers section. If you want to add it to your collection let me know via email to slaug@uniserve.com or by message. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me.

Breathing New Life into a Patented KBB Yello-Bole 2198L President

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Blog by Steve Laug

This pipe was purchased from an antique mall on 04/28/19 in Ogden, Utah, USA. Jeff picked it up because it was such a unique shape. It seems to somehow combine parts of the Skater shape and the Bullmoose’s protruding chin. The grain was nice and it had some fills on the sides of the bowl but not too obvious or obnoxious. The pipe is stamped President on the left side of the shank and KBB in a cloverleaf followed by Yello-Bole [over] Patent – 90232 on the right side of the shank. On the underside at the heel it is stamped with the shape number 2198L and mid shank reads Algerian Bruyere. The bowl had a moderate cake but you could see the yellow Honey Coating that Yello-Bole draw their name from. The finish was dirty and had a lot of nicks and scratches on the rim top and around the bowl sides. The base of the bowl and shank had been flattened to make the pipe a sitter. It had a vulcanite push stem and no stinger apparatus in the tenon or shank and there was no evidence that their ever had been one. The stem was lightly oxidized. There are a burn mark on the top side near the yellow O logo. There were tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. The photos of the rim top show the nicks and scratch on the top and the darkening on the inner edge of the bowl. You can also see the yellow bowl coating on the back side near the top of the bowl above and surrounded by the cake. The photos of the stem show the oxidation and tooth marks and chatter on both sides. They do not show the damage on the top of the stem near the O stamp. The next three photos show the grain around the sides of the bowl and heel as well as the placement of the fills on the sides of the bowl. It is a pretty neat looking pipe. The next series of photos show the stamping on the shank sides and the O logo stamp on the stem top. You can also see the burn mark on the stem top in the photo of the logo. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above. Before I started my work on the pipe I decided to do a bit of work on the Patent Number and the shape number on the heel of the bowl. I remembered that Troy Wilburn, one of our blog writers and good friend of rebornpipes sent me a shape number list for old Kaywoodie and Yello-Bole pipes that is on the blog. I found it very useful and typed it into a chart format. Troy said that he got the data for this from the Kaywoodie Forums. If you have not visited the forums here is the link: http://kaywoodie.myfreeforum.org/ . I decided to post the chart on the blog for easy access. Thank you to the KW forum for the information. Here is the link to the full shape chart information that I have on the site (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/05/07/kaywoodie-yello-bole-shape-numbers/).

I also have included the pertinent sections of the chart on this particular 2193 shape. I remembered that the last two numbers and letter on heel of the bowl were the shape of the pipe. In this case the 93L referred to a shape that KBB called a Large President. I have drawn a box around that stamp number. The 93 is thus the President shape and the L identifies it as a large version of the pipe. Note also that the pipe was only made between 1936-1937 so it is an old timer.Troy also included the following information on the first two digits of the shape number. I quote in full regarding that below.

2-digit prefixes for 4-digit pipes – you might find an odd ball or a rare one that is not on the list.
From the time of the first Kaywoodie until 1938 for Kaywoodie and for Yello-Bole, Kaufmann Brothers & Bondy used a 4-digit number system (plus a letter sometimes) to identify the line and shape number. The 4-digits were not used after 1938. The first two, which we’ll call the prefix, referred to the finish and the second two, the suffix numbers referred to the shape number.

I have identified the section on the chart where this pipe stands. Note that the 21 prefix is missing but the description of the 20 and 22 is identical to the information on this pipe. From that I know that the pipe I am working on should have a push tenon, vulcanite stem. The good news is that I have the original stem.Now it was time to see if I could find anything out about the Patent number. I am assuming it is a US Patent as the pipe is an American brand. The number on the right side of the bowl reads as follows: Patent – 90232. I turned to the US Patent search site to see what I could find out there. Here is the link to the site: https://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/patimg.htm . Unfortunately that patent number takes me to a series of drawings of a new plowshare. At this point the Patent information is a dead end.

It may seem that I praise Jeff’s work in cleaning up the pipes I work on a lot! I know I do but he is an indispensable part of the restoration work for me. He has developed a system of cleaning that is quite remarkable and leaves the pipes very clean. It saves me a lot of time so I have no issues saying that! Jeff did a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top photo looks good but there are some nicks and scratches on the top and the beveled inner rim edge. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth marks and chatter on the surface near the button and the burn mark on the top near the O logo. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable.I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe. It is a good looking pipe and has some great grain on the side of the bowl.I decided to address the rim top damage first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to the beveled inner edge to minimize the damage to the rim. I think that it is definitely better once I finished. I would polish the flat top of the rim with micromesh and try to minimize the scratching there. The angle of the stem makes topping the bowl seem impractical.I polished the briar rim top and edges along with the rest of the briar with micromesh sanding pads –dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and using a damp cloth after each pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the burn mark on the top and the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem with clear super glue. I let the repairs cure. Once they had cured I sanded the repairs on the underside and the chatter on the topside with 220 grit sandpaper. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I wiped it down with some Obsidian Oil. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Afterwards I rubbed it down with another coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry. I am excited to finish restoration of this older KBB Yello-Bole President 2193L pipe. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished black vulcanite stem. This unique looking KBB Yello-Bole President actually feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 32 grams/ 1.16 oz. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be on the American Pipe Makers section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Restoring a KBB Yello-Bole Premier Liverpool

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Blog by Steve Laug

With this post I am celebrating notification from WordPress that rebornpipes is 8 years old. It does not seem possible that 8 years ago in May I posted the first blog on rebornpipes and wrote about my dream of the blog being a gathering spot for information and individuals who enjoy working on rehabilitation and restoration of pipes. I continue to do the work or restoration and rehabilitation of pipes because it is something I enjoy. It is a pleasure to take pipes that are a bit of a wreck and with some effort and careful work bring them back to life. The next pipe on the table is a great one to work on as a part of that celebration. It is a well smoked KBB Yello-Bole Premier Liverpool. The pipe was very dirty with a thick cake in the bowl and some tobacco remnants from the last bowl smoked. There was some darkening and lava around the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. There are a few visible fills around the bowl and the varnish coat is crackling. The taper yellow stem has tooth marks and chatter on both sides. Jeff took some great photos of the pipe to show its general condition before he started his cleanup. Jeff took a photo of the rim top to show the thick cake in the bowl and the lava overflow all over the rim top. It is hard to know what the inner edge of the rim looks like until we remove the cake and the lava.He took photos around the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition. You can see the grime in the finish and the crackling of the varnish coat. He took a photo of the stamping on the left topside of the shank. You can see that it is clear and readable. It reads KBB in a Cloverleaf followed by Yello-Bole over Cured with Real Honey followed by R in a circle. Underneath that it reads Premier over Imported Briar. Normally there would be stamping on the right side but in this case there does not appear to be any stamping visible.The next two photos show the condition of the stem. You can see that it is lightly oxidized and has some tooth chatter and marks on both sides near the button. There is also some wear on the button surfaces on both sides. I turned to the listing on Pipephil on the KBB Yello-Bole pipes and actually found a very similar pipe to the one I am working on (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-y.html). It is a KBB in a cloverleaf Yello-Bole that also bears the Cured with Real Honey, circle R stamp over Premier over Imported Briar. I did a screen capture of the section and the stamping on the shank side. I have included it below.I turned next to Pipedia to gather a more detailed history of the brand and see if I could find any information on this particular pipe (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Yello-Bole). I quote a portion of that article on tips for dating Yello-Bole pipes below.

Tips for Dating Yello-Bole Pipes

KBB stamped in the clover leaf indicates it was made in 1955 or earlier as they stopped this stamping after being acquired by S.M. Frank.
Pipes from 1933-1936 they were stamped “Honey Cured Briar”
Post 1936 pipes were stamped “Cured with Real Honey”
Pipe stems stamped with the propeller logo were made in the 1930’s or 1940’s – no propellers were used after the 1940’s.
Yello Bole used a 4 digit code stamped on the pipe in the 1930’s.
Pipes with the Yello-Bole circle stamped on the shank it were made in the 1930’s, this stopped after 1939.
Pipes stamped BRUYERE rather than BRIAR it was made in the 1930’s.

Following the tips above I learned that the KBB Stamped in a Cloverleaf indicates that the pipe I have was 1955 or earlier. The fact that it is stamped Cured with Real Honey puts it post 1936. The field is narrowing down for a date. The fact that the stem has the propeller logo puts it between the 30s and 40s. So now I have it narrowed down to between 1936 and 1949. That is as close as I am going to get with this one as the numbers are worn off the shank.

It is definitely an interesting piece of pipe history. Armed with the brand information and some parameters for the age of the pipe I turned to work on it. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cake from the walls of the bowl. He cleaned up any remnants of cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He was not able to remove the bowl from the base so a thorough cleaning of the base was not possible. He worked on the rim edge lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and washed it off with warm water to remove the cleanser. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem to show how clean they were. You can the roughness on the top and the inner edge of the rim on the front right side of the bowl. The bowl and rim looks much better without the thick lava and cake. The stem looked better. There was tooth chatter and marks were very visible on both sides of the stem near the button. I have included a photo of the propeller logo on the left side of the stem.I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. The stamping is faint but very readable and it reads as noted above. The right side of the shank is smooth- if there was any stamping it is long gone.I took a photo of the large fill on the underside and up the left side of the shank. It was hard but it had shrunk and left a divot.I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe. I noted that there was a small stinger apparatus that is removable in the tenon. I heated the stinger with a Bic lighter flame and was able to very easily remove it for more thorough cleaning of the tenon and airway in the stem.I decided to start my work on the pipe by dealing with the damaged rim top and inner edge of the bowl. I lightly topped the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper to minimize the damage on the top. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damaged bevel on the rim edge. It is far from perfect but it is better. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I worked over the rim top and edge of the bowl with the pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad to remove the sanding debris. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horse hair shoe brush. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the even that material. The balm is absorbed by the briar and gives it real life. I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. The stem material is an early acrylic product (perhaps Bakelite) and does not respond like vulcanite when heated. I filled in the deep tooth marks with clear super glue. Once the repairs cured I used a needle file to smooth them out and to reshape the button edge. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation and tooth chatter on both sides of the stem. I started the polishing of the surface with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. With both parts of the pipe finished, I polished the bowl and the stem 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 old KBB Yello-Bole Premier Liverpool polished up pretty nicely. The rich browns of the finish and the grain came alive with the buffing. The finish on the briar works well with the polished yellow Bakelite stem. The finished pipe is a well-proportioned, well-made KBB Yello-Bole Liverpool. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¼ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. This KBB Yello-Bole Premier Liverpool will be going on the rebornpipes store in the American Pipe Makers shortly. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this older American Made pipe.

Cleanup and restoration of an Art Deco Yello-Bole Rhodesian

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Blog by Steve Laug

Jeff picked this one up because of our mutual love of older late 19^th– early 20^th Century. Even in its sorry state when he found it there was a stunning quality about the pipe. The shape and design of the bling make me think it is an Art Deco period pipe 1920s and 1930s. The briar is quite nice and the rim cap is well sculpted. It has a cast head on each side of the cap. The helmeted head looks like a Samurai warrior like the picture to the left. The helmet flares to the left and right like feathers like that. Under the chin of the head is green “gem” or glass inset in a “gold” ring and inlaid in the bowl. There is a matching band around the shank. Those two decorative pieces on the pipe add a touch of unique style to the pipe.

The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and read: KBB in a cloverleaf followed by Yello-Bole. Under that it is stamped Cured with Real Honey and an R in a circle. Under that it is stamped Imperial in script. The bottom line of the stamping reads Imported Briar. The finish on this pipe was dirty with dust and a light lava coat on the edge of the rim cap. The bowl was lined with a thick cake and the metal edge of the bowl cap is thickly caked. The smooth finish was also dirty and dull looking. The finish looks good under the grime and dust. The stem is a tapered vulcanite stem with an orific button on the end. The fit of the stem to the shank was snug. There were light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem at the button. Otherwise it was a very clean stem. Jeff took of the pipe to show the overall condition of the bowl and stem.Jeff took some close-up photos of the bowl sides and heel. You can see the cast Samurai head and the inset “gems”. It is dirty and tarnished with a lot of oily tars inserted in the twin rings around the bowl and around the inset gems. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is clear and readable but hard to capture in the photos. You can also see the filigree on the band and the scratching on the stem.The first photo below shows the full length and profile of the vulcanite stem. The next two photos show the surface of the top and underside of the stem. You can see the light tooth marks and chatter both on the button surface and on the blade itself.I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-y.html) and captured the following screen. In it the key point is that KBB (Kaufman Brothers & Bondy) expanded their lines by adding the Yello-Bole line in 1932. That helps to date this pipe a bit. From this I knew that the pipe was issued after 1932. It also shows the stamping Cured with Real Honey.I turned then to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Yello-Bole) to see if I could pin down the date with a little more clarity. I quote two pertinent parts of the article below:

In 1932 Kaufman Brothers & Bondy (KB&B), est. 1851, expanded their program consisting of KB&B pipes, Reiss-Premier and Kaywoodie as the mainstay brand by introducing the Yello-Bole line. Yello-Bole was designed as an outlet for lower grade briar not used in Kaywoodie production…

Tips for Dating Yello-Bole Pipes

KBB stamped in the clover leaf indicates it was made in 1955 or earlier as they stopped this stamping after being acquired by S.M. Frank.
Pipes from 1933-1936 they were stamped “Honey Cured Briar”
Post 1936 pipes were stamped “Cured with Real Honey”
Pipe stems stamped with the propeller logo were made in the 1930’s or 1940’s – no propellers were used after the 1940’s.
Yello Bole used a 4 digit code stamped on the pipe in the 1930’s.
Pipes with the Yello-Bole circle stamped on the shank it were made in the 1930’s, this stopped after 1939.
Pipes stamped BRUYERE rather than BRIAR it was made in the 1930’s.

I have highlighted the two lines in the dating article that help narrow down the date for me. The first tells me that pipes stamped with the KBB in the cloverleaf indicate that the pipe was made prior to 1955. Now I had both a starting and ending date to work with 1932-1955. The second red highlighted text tells me that pipes stamped Cured with Real Honey came out after 1936. This took it a bit further for me. I knew that the pipe I have is made after 1936. The fact that it is an Art Deco piece sets the end date a bit closer. I now knew that the pipe was made between 1936-1939. I was definitely honing in on the date.

I did some more research online to establish the ending date of the Art Deco period and found this interesting site:

In 1937 came the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne. Its emphasis on science and technology decisively, if unintentionally, marked the end of the Art Deco period (https://theculturetrip.com/europe/france/paris/articles/a-history-of-art-deco-in-1-minute/).

With the additional information I can with some certainty say that this pipe was made sometime in the period of 1936-1937.

Armed with that information I moved forward to work on the pipe itself and see what I had to do with it. It had come back looking amazingly clean. Even the stem looked like new. The brass bling just shone. I was impressed. 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. I took some photos of the rim top and stem to show the condition of them both when it arrived. Overall it looked good. The rim top was very clean. The stem looked amazingly good. The chatter on the stem surfaces was gone and the surface was clean.I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It was in very good condition and was readable and clear.To begin my part of the restoration work I decided to tap out the dings on the rim cap as much as possible without removing the cap. It appeared to me that the dings were on the surface of the cap. I used a ball peen hammer to gently tap the surface of the rim. It worked to smooth out the surface significantly.With that finished the work on the bowl was quite minimal. There were no fills to repair and no damage to deal with. I took two photos of side of the cap to show their condition. The bling was quite shiny and looked good. I did not need to clean it or polish it.I decided to polish the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down after each pad with a damp cloth. The briar bowl begins to shine with the transition to each new pad. After the final polishing pad it looks great. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and into the plateau rim top and shank end with a horsehair shoe brush 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. The stem looked really good so I skipped the sanding and Denicare steps and went directly to polishing it 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. I wiped the stem down with Briarville’s No Oxy Oil to protect and preserve the stem. This is a great piece of pipe history and one that I can at least give a reasonable date for it making. It is a fancy KBB Yello-Bole Cured with Real Honey Rhodesian with a unique rim cap and band on the shank. The figures on the sides of the cap could easily be a fanciful samurai or some other figure but that is my best guess. The stem is a polished hard rubber that really shines with the buffing. The briar is also quite nice with just a few well-hidden fills. The brass, the briar and the hard rubber all combine well for a unique looking pipe. I polished stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel carefully avoiding the brass. 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 brass, browns and black of the bowl and stem came alive with the buffing. 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: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 5/8 of an inch. This older American made Art Deco era pipe is a real beauty. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be joining my collection of older American made pipes. Thanks for your time.

Restoring a KBB Yello-Bole Double Carburetor Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I chose to work on came in a recent box from my brother Jeff. It was another pipe he picked on one of the online auctions he frequents. It is interesting triangular shank Bulldog (Rhodesian??) with a smooth finish and twin rings separating the cap from the bowl. It also has twin carburetor’s or air “nipples” on the underside of the bowl. It is a shape I have not seen much of before. The pipe is stamped with the KBB Clover followed by DOUBLE CARBURETOR over Yello-Bole over Reg US Pat Off. On the underside of the triangular shank that made the pipe a sitter it is stamped Cured with Real Honey. On the right side of the shank it is stamped with a 4 digit shape number 4982. The grain showing through the grime and dirt is a mix or birdseye, cross and flame grain. It had a rich reddish brown stain and what looked like a varnish coat. There was a thick cake in the bowl and some light lava overflow. The inner beveled edge of the rim and top appeared to have some darkening under the grime. It was a beautiful pipe that was dirty and tired looking. The stem was lightly oxidized with light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside near the button. The button had some light damage to the sharp edge. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the lava build up on the edges of the bowl. It was thick and hard but hopefully it had protected the rim and edges from damage. The inner bevel seems to have some darkening and potentially some burn damage but we would know better once it was reamed and cleaned.Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish. You can see the nicks and scratches in the grime. The beautiful grain shines through the rough and dirty finish. The photos of the heel and shank show the twin “nipples” or carburetors. They were plugged and did not allow the airflow they were designed for. The final photo of this set is a close up of the underside of the bowl and the carburetors. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping was very readable – on the left side it read as noted above. On the right side you can clearly see the shape number. The final photo shows the Cured with Real Honey stamp on the underside of the shank.Jeff took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the scratching, oxidation and light tooth damage to the stem surface and slight wear to the edges of the button.I decided to pause and do a bit of research on the pipe to figure out when the KBB Yello-Bole Double Carburetor Pipes were carved. The stamping provided many clues that were very helpful in pinning down the date of manufacture. I Googled the brand and line to see what I could find out. Here is what I found.

The first link to me to the Kaywoodie Group and a thread on dating this particular pipe. There was a helpful exchange between lifeon2 and Bosun about a pipe that is stamped in a similar manner to the one that I have. Here is a link to the full conversation: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/kaywoodie/dating-yello-bole-pipes-t86.html

lifeon2 writes: OK so there isn’t a lot of dating information for Yello-Bole pipes but here is what I have learned so far.

If it has the KBB stamped in the clover leaf it was made 1955 or earlier as they stopped the stamping after being acquired by S.M. Frank.
From 1933-1936 they were stamped Honey Cured Briar.
Post 1936 pipes were stamped “Cured with Real Honey”
Pipes stems stamped with the propeller logo they were made in the 30s or 40s no propellers were used after the 40s.
Yello Bole also used a 4 digit code stamped on the pipe in the 30s.
If the pipe had the Yello Bole circle stamped on the shank it was made in the 30s this stopped after 1939.
If the pipe was stamped BRUYERE rather than briar it was made in the 30s.

(Information gathered from Pipedia – https://pipedia.org/wiki/Yello-Bole)

Bosun replies: the one I have is stamped on the left side of shank:

Double Carburetor
yello-bole
u.s.pat.off
with KBB to the left of the above

underside of shank has Cured with Real Honey

right side of shank has 4907

on top of stem is the white circle

lifeon2 replies: According to the list I have it looks like you have a late 30s model, sweet

I also turned to a blog by Andrew Selkirk on rebornpipes that also added a degree of certainty to the date of manufacture of this pipe (https://rebornpipes.com/2015/05/03/1934-35-yello-bole-carburetor/).

I can say with a fair degree of certainty that this pipe is from 1934 or 35. The carburetor patent was granted in 1935, this pipe is stamped “Pat Applied For.” Interestingly enough, it also has a patent number on the bottom of the shank. Additionally, the four digit number was used by Kaywoodie until 1936. The first two numbers indicate the finish and the second two numbers indicate the shape.

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of age of this pipe. I knew from the information from Pipedia that the KBB in a clover leaf stamp meant that the pipe was made before 1955. The Cured with Real Honey stamp placed the pipe as 1936 or after. The four digit shape code was used until 1936. The shape code on this one was 4982 thus it is another argument for 1936. The patent was given to KBB in 1935 so the stamped “Reg. US Pat. Off also places the pipe after 1935. The information that I have gathered helps me to know with a high degree of certainty that this Double Carburetor pipe was made in 1936. The first two numbers indicate the finish and the second two numbers indicate the shape. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff cleaned the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness that I really appreciate. This one was a real mess and I did not know what to expect when I unwrapped it from his box. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks very good with good looking grain around the bowl and shank. There was still some darkening on the front, rear and left side of the inner edge of the rim. The briar had what looked like a small burn mark on the surface of the left side – the pipe had been laid in an ashtray (I have circled it in red in the first photo below). There was no damage on the inside of the bowl. Jeff soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked very good. I took photos before I started my part of the work. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show what an amazing job Jeff did in the cleanup of the rim top. The rim top looks very good and you can see where I need to deal with the darkening on the inner bevel on the bowl. The bowl looked very good. I also took close up photos of the stem to show how well the cleaning had cleaned up what had appeared to be tooth chatter. There were still some light marks that would be easily polished out. There was not a logo anywhere on the stem and the stem did not have a stinger in the tenon.I started my cleanup on the inner edge of the rim by sanding the bowl and edge with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. This smoothed out any roughness on the portion that formed the bottom edge of the bevel. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the rest of the beveled inner edge of the rim and work on darkening present there and on the rim top.I polished the briar and worked on the darkening on the rim top and the burn mark on the left side of the bowl with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. I was able to polish out most of the burn mark on the lower left side of the bowl. Once I finished polishing the bowl with micromesh I thought would be a good continuation of my experimentation with a new product from Mark Hoover of Before & After Products – a Briar Cleaner that has the capacity of absorbing grime and dirt from the surface of briar. I rubbed the bowl down with some of his Briar Cleaner to see how it would work in this setting. I rubbed it onto the bowl and rim top with my finger tips and worked it into finish of the bowl. I let it sit on the pipe for about 5 minutes before I rubbed it off with a microfibre cloth. I rinsed it under warm running water to remove the residue. I was pleasantly surprised by how clean the surface on the bowl looked when I was finished. With the pipe clean it was time to move on to rubbing the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth and shoe brush to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. The stem was in such great shape that I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth after each pad. The micromesh took care of the remaining tooth chatter on the stem and button. I further polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped it down with a coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the bowl and polished the bowl and stem 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 shine on it makes the variations of colour really pop. The pipe polished up really well. The polished black vulcanite stem seemed to truly come alive with the buffing. The unique triangular shaped shank and stem fit nicely in my hand and when it warms with smoking I think it will be about perfect. The pipe is a beauty and it must have been a fine smoking pipe judging from the condition it was when we received it. There should be a lot of life left in this 1936 KBB Yello-Bole 4982 Bulldog. Have a look at it in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners, we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next pipeman or woman.

Giving New Life to a KBB Yello Bole Imperial 3068C

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Blog by Mike Rochford

In the last two weeks, I have been corresponding with Mike about a pipe he had. He wrote and sent photos of it and asked if I thought it was repairable. Those of you who have been reading the blog for a while know that I rarely put a pipe in the bin to burn. We wrote back and forth as he did the work and he sent photos along the way. I asked if he would mind doing a blog on the refurb job he did. He sent me the following. Without further introduction, I will let Mike tell you about himself and then share his work with us. Welcome Mike.

First a bit about me. I am a retired FBI Special Agent of 30 years. My grandfather had a wood pattern shop in downtown Chicago. I always enjoyed woodworking projects, but never had much time for complicated projects. This project was pretty easy as long as I did not hurry each step. Patience and your guidance helped me a lot. I am now pretty confident that I can handle another project if one comes along. – Mike

My brother Tim bought me a very worn out KBB YELLO Bole Imperial 3068C pipe. He knew I loved its look. But its issues were many: gaping hole in bowl, rotting wood on ferrule, bite marks on stem, and a slight tool mark on the crowned our area of the stem below the Yellow circle.

I was prepared to throw the pipe out or just relegate it to a shelf. But I found Steve Laug on rebornpipes. He advised me step by step how to restore and make my pipe smokeable again.

First, I completely cleaned out the inside of bowl down to the briar in order to relieve pressure on the crack in the bowl. Then I used a 1/32 drill bit to drill out the bottom of the crack. I stripped and cleaned the outside of the pipe and combined briar dust with super glue and filled in the crack on the outside of the bowl. I was surprised that the chemical reaction caused a flash fire on my first try. But I worked through that. The paste dries very fast so I had to apply it to the crack quickly, using a Popsicle stick. I then let it set. Then I applied JBWeld for wood to the cracked area inside of the bowl. I put a pipe cleaner inside the opening to ensure no weld found its way into the airway blocking up my smoking end of the bowl. I let that dry and set it aside for the evening. Then I used 500 grit sand paper on the outside and inside of my bowl. Once I was satisfied, I applied Aniline dye stain to the outside of the bowl and painted the inside of my bowl with a charcoal powder/ sour cream paste.Next, I worked on the cracked and damaged shank end using the 1/32nd inch bit on the end of the cracks in wood and my super glue briar dust paste to fix the damaged areas. Sanding it after it set.I then used the charcoal powder and super glue paste to patch up the bite marks on my stem, using a pipe cleaner with Vaseline on it to ensure it did not super glue my stem closed. I used some 800 grit sand paper to buff the entire stem clean of oxidation and to clean off excess super glue charcoal powder once it dried. I also used the 800 grit sand paper to clean up the tool marks on my stem below the Yellow circle. I did not have any obsidian oil, so I used some sesame seed oil on my stem to slick it up. I also super glued the silver metal ferrule on the end of the shank as it was much too loose. I then resanded and repasted the inside of my pipe bowl.

I sent before and after pictures to Steve. I am very pleased and thankful to Steve Laug for guiding me through this process. My pipe is truly “Reborn!” Thanks!

New Life for a KBB Yello-Bole Sandblast 2705 Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is the second pipe that was sent to me by a fellow Canadian for a cleanup and restoration from the lot he had picked up in a local auction for a great price. This one is an older Yello-Bole sandblast billiard with the KBB cloverleaf on the underside of the shank. It has a great looking rugged sandblast on the bowl that highlights the grain. The overall finish appeared to be in good shape though the crevices in the blast were dirty. The bowl had been cleaned before the auction and there was some scratching on the bowl walls. There was still an overflow of tars in the finish that remained on to the rim in the parts that were not damaged. The outer edge of the rim had the look of a pipe that had been smoked hard and knocked out on anything close at hand no matter what it did to the pipe. There were nicks and dings all the way around the rim top and edges. The first five photos that I have included are ones that I received from the pipe’s owner when he emailed and asked me about repairing his find. The first is an overall view of the pipe. The second and third photos are close up shots to clearly show the extent of the damage to the rim top and outer edges. As far as I could see from the photos the inner edge of the rim appeared to be in great shape. The outer edge was another story.The last two photos he sent show the fit of the stem against the shank and the stamping on the underside of the shank. From the first photo it did not appear that the stem was properly seated in the shank. My experience has been that the stems on these older Yello-Bole pipes had an excellent fit but when tars collected around the walls of the shank surrounding the spade stinger the stem would not properly seat. I was hopeful this would be the case with this one. The second photo shows the clear stamping on the underside. It is stamped with the four digit shape number 2705 which is a billiard number and after the 5 is the letter u. The KBB cloverleaf is followed by the classic Yello-Bole stamp and under that it reads Algerian Bruyere.When the pipe arrived I snapped some photos of the condition of the pipe before I started the cleanup. The stem had light oxidation and the yellow O logo was perfect. The inside of the shank was quite dirty so my assumption regarding the reason that the stem did not seat properly was correct. Unfortunately before I took the photos I had done some cleaning on the rim top and edges. I used a sanding block on the edges to knock off loose debris and a dental pick on the rim. I touched up the raw briar with a black Sharpie pen because I have learned that when it is mixed with a dark brown stain I can get a match to the colour of the stain on the bowl. At this point in the process I used a brass bristle tire brush to scrub out the crevices and sandblast on the top surface. I did this to prepare the rim for restaining, to clean out the blast crevices and to smooth out some of the roughness I have found that this brush does a great job in lifting the dust and tar while not damaging the briar. The brass bristles are soft and do not scratch the briar but make easy work of the tars and build up on the rim of a blast. I scrubbed the inner beveled edge with the brush and it came out looking undamaged. The sandblast reappeared on the rim top as well.I used the black Sharpie pen again to add a dark colour in the chips and nicks in the finish around the edges and the top of the bowl. When that was finished I stained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain thinned 50/50 with isopropyl alcohol. I fired the stain with a lighter and repeated the process until I was satisfied with the coverage on the bowl. You can see that the nicks along the edges of the rim look very good. The rim top needs to be polished and it will look the same after I have waxed and buffed it. I probably should have cleaned up the inside of the bowl earlier but as I worked on the rim first it almost escaped my notice. In the last photo above I could see the cake in the bowl and what appeared to be some damage to the inside wall of the left side. I used a Savinelli Fitsall Reaming knife to take the cake out of the bowl. I was able to ream back the walls and the apparent damage disappeared. I used a pen knife to scrape the hard tars that had collected in the shank and mortise. I was amazed at the amount of powder that came out of the shank. It was thick and black and proved my point made earlier about it keeping the stem from seating properly against the shank.I scrubbed the mortise and the airways in the stem and the shank with 99% isopropyl alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until I removed all of the grit and grime from those areas. I cleaned the spade stinger with alcohol and pipe cleaners and polished it with 0000 steel wool until it shone.The pipe smelled of old aromatics and even with the bowl and shank clean the smell was present. I stuffed the bowl with cotton balls and used an eye dropper to fill it with isopropyl alcohol. I have found that cotton balls work as well as Kosher salt does and it is not as messy. I put a cotton swab in the shank up to the entrance of the airway into the bowl as it wicks alcohol into the shank and draws out the oils in that area. I put the pipe bowl upright in an ice-cube tray and let it sit over night to let it do its magic. The second photo shows the cotton balls, discoloured with the oils after sitting 8-9 hours. Once I removed the cotton balls I scrubbed out the shank and airway to remove any remnants of alcohol left behind and set the bowl aside to dry.

I have written about this alternative to the salt and alcohol treatment in an earlier blog that can be read here. https://rebornpipes.com/2013/02/10/sweetening-a-pipe-an-alternative-to-the-salt-and-alcohol-treatment/I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the light oxidation and the light tooth chatter at the button. It did not take too much sanding to remove those from 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. This is my normal routine and if you have been following the blog for any length of time you know that I always follow this procedure with the stems. Between the 4000 grit pad and the 6000 grit pad I buffed the stem with White Diamond and then went on to use the final three grits of micromesh pads. I gave the stem a rubdown with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads and after the last set put it aside to let the oil dry. I hand waxed the bowl with Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush. I find that the wax does not clump in the crevices of a sandblast finish like carnauba does so I always hand wax this kind of finish. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the bowl and stem with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and then hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is ready to go back across Canada to its owner. It is a beauty and I think he will enjoy it. Thanks for looking.

Refreshing Another Giant – a KBB Yello-Bole Imperial 3068C Bent Billiard

8 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

When I cleaned up a previous KBB Yello-Bole Imperial 3068C for a reader of the blog my brother immediately was struck by the beauty of the old pipe. He decided he would find one for me that matched the one I cleaned up for the reader. If you want to read about the cleanup of that one here is the link: https://rebornpipes.com/2016/11/10/breathing-life-into-a-huge-kbb-yello-bole-3068c-bent-billiard/. The 3068C is a large pipe. It is reminiscent of the WDC Wellington in many ways but to me there is a simple elegance to the lines of the 3068C that are more smooth and beautiful. This is another giant pipe. The dimensions are: length 10 inches, height 2 ¼ inches, outer diameter of the bowl 1 ½ inches, inner bowl diameter 7/8 inches. I took a photo of the pipe in hand to give an idea of the size of this old giant.As opposed to the other 3068C I cleaned up this one was in remarkably good shape. The shiny varnish coat actually was perfect with no peeling or nicks in it. The grain shone through and was a great mixture of birds-eye and cross grain. The Yello-Bole Honey Cured coating still showed on the bevel of the inner rim and in parts of the bowl. The rim surface had some very small dents or scratches in it but they did not seem to break the finish on the bowl. There was a light cake in the bowl. The nickel ferrule was oxidized and lightly scratches but otherwise undamaged. The stem had the classic older Yello-Bole circle on the top of the stem just behind the saddle and was lightly oxidized with minimal tooth chatter on the top and underside of the stem at the button. My brother took the above photos and the ones that follow to show the overall condition of the pipe. The next two close up photos show the rim top and inner rim bevel. The Yello-Bole Honey Cured coating can be seen on the edge of the bowl and going down into the bowl. You can also see the small dents in the rim and the light grime that had built up on the surface of the rim.The next two photos give a good idea of the grain that shone through on this old pipe. The front and back of the bowl has some amazing birds-eye grain and the sides, rim and bottom show some really nice cross grain.The stamping on the shank was sharp and readable. The left side bore the KBB cloverleaf logo with Yello-Bole over stamping that read Reg.U.S.Pat.Off. Beneath that was the line stamping in script Imperial. Finally underneath all of that was stamped Cured with Real Honey. On the aluminum ferrule cap there was a remnant of the KB&B cloverleaf. It is interesting to me that while all Yello-Bole pipes are stamped with KBB (minus the ampersand &) in a cloverleaf on the shank both this pipe and the previous one had the KB&B cloverleaf on the ferrule. I wonder if the company made one size fits all with the ferrules and used them on both Yello-Boles and KB&B pipes. The right side of the shank is stamped Real Bruyere over the shape number 3068C.The final two photos that my brother included show the tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside of the vulcanite stem at the button. The mild oxidation is also visible in the photos.My brother did the necessary cleaning on the pipe – reaming and cleaning out the mortise and the airway in the stem and shank. I cleaned off the grime on the finish and wiped down the stem. When I received the pipe it looked be in excellent condition and would not take a lot of work to refresh it. I took the next four photos to show what it looked like when it arrived in Vancouver. I took some close up photos of the rim and the stem to show the condition. The rim was in excellent shape and Jeff was able to clean up the inner bevel on the rim to reveal the Yello-Bole Honey Coating. The stem photos show the oxidation and the small tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem near the button. I sanded the oxidation on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the brown topcoat that it had and also worked over the tooth chatter and tooth marks on both sides.I used drops of medium viscosity black super glue to fill in the small tooth marks on both sides of the stem. They are shown in the photos below. The small black spots are the super glue repairs to the stem surface. You will note that there were more issues on the underside of the stem than the top side.Once the repairs were dry I sanded them back to the surface of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper.I polished the sanded spots by wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads.I wet sanded the entire stem and continued to sand the repaired areas with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and then dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed it down with oil after each set of three pads and after the final set I gave it a last coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. The nickel ferrule had a lot of tiny scratches in the surface of the metal. I sanded it with micromesh sanding pads to polish out the scratches and raise a shine in the nickel.I polished the briar with 3200-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads to raise the shine and smooth out the small scratches on the sides and bottom of the bowl as well as the rim. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to further polish the briar and vulcanite. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed the bowl and stem with a clean buffing pad to polish and raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It turned out to be a very beautiful pipe that needed just a few touches of TLC to bring it to its fullest. It is another large pipe that would make a great reading or house pipe. It is comfortable in hand and the grain is interesting enough to give hours of observation pleasure. Thanks for looking.

Breathing Life into a Huge KBB Yello-Bole 3068C Bent Billiard

6 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

A good friend of rebornpipes, Jim emailed me about a pair of pipes that he had that he wanted me to have a look at. The first of them is on the work table and it is going to take a bit of work to bring back to life. The second is the one I just finished and it is a beautiful pipe. It is a Yello-Bole like none I have seen before and I have worked on many of them over the years. This one is a large KBB Yello-Bole bent billiard similar in style to the WDC Wellington big pipes. This one is 10 inches long and 2 ¼ inches tall. The bowl is 7/8 inches in diameter and 1 ¾ inches deep. The stem was in decent shape other than oxidation and light tooth chatter on the top and bottom sides near the button. The button itself was very clean with a few tooth marks but the airway was in perfect condition. The stem has the older style inlaid Yello-Bole logo of the yellow circle on the top side. The stem appears to be a P-lip but it is the faux P-lip that has the airway coming out straight at the end of the P.

The finish on the bowl was dirty and the varnish coat was peeling away and flaking off around the bowl. There was a deep, rich oxblood colour to the stain underneath the peeling finish. The rim was dirty but otherwise it was pretty clean with no dents, dings or nicks in the surface or in the inner or outer edges of the rim. In the photos it appears that the bowl was meerschaum lined but I assure you that it was not – it is merely coated with the famous Yello-Bole Honey Curing yellow mixture. The bevel on the rim shows the yellow as does the bottom of the bowl. In fact, though the pipe was smoked it appears that it was never smoked all the way to the bottom of the bowl and the lower 1/4^th of the bowl still shows the yellow bowl coating. There was a light cake that was spotty around the inside of the bowl but it was not thick of overflowing onto the rim.

The stamping on the left side of the shank reads KBB in a cloverleaf/club and next to it Yello-Bole over Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. Under that it is stamped Imperial in script and below that the fourth line of the stamp reads Cured With Real Honey. The nickel ferrule on the shank end is stamped with the KB&B Cloverleaf and underneath reads Nickel Plated. It is interesting to me to see this stamping on the band. Typically the Yello-Bole pipes bore the KBB stamp without the ampersand (&) between the two “b’s” which is true on the logo on the left side of the shank. It simply reads KBB in the leaf. On the band however the logo has the KB&B stamp which is usually reserved for the better quality Kaywoodie pipes of the time. The right side of the shank is stamped Algerian Briar over 3068C which I assume is the shape number.

I took the photos below to show what the pipe looked like when it arrived and I had unpacked it on my work table. I took some close up photos of the bowl, rim and stem to show the condition of those areas when I received the pipe. You can see the clean bevel on the rim with the slight darkening of the yellow bowl coating and the light, uneven cake in the bowl. You can also see the yellow bowl coating on the bottom portion of the bowl. The stem shows the oxidation and the light tooth chatter on the top and underside near the button. You can also see the airway exiting the stem at the end rather than the top of the “P-lip”. I reamed the bowl with the Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to clean the cake back to bare briar. I used that tool as I wanted to leave the yellow bowl coating intact in the bowl to leave it as original as possible.I scrubbed off the peeling finish with cotton pads and acetone (fingernail polish remover) until the surface of the briar was smooth and the oxblood stain coat shone through. I used 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads to work on the rim top and the inner bevel of the rim until they also were clean. Once I had removed the varnish coat there were a lot of dings and dents in the rim and the sides of the bowl. I used a hot butter knife and a wet cloth to steam out the dents. It took some time but I continued to steam the dented areas on the bowl until I had removed all but the small nicks on the bowl. I took photos of the bowl after I had steamed it and you can see from the photos that the briar looked far better after steaming. I took some close up photos of the stamping on the shank and the nickel ferrule to show what I talked about in the earlier paragraphs. The nickel-plated ferrule had a lot of scratches in the surface of the nickel. You can also compare the KBB stamp on the shank with the KB&B stamp on the ferrule in the photos. I polished the nickel ferrule with micromesh sanding pads to remove the scratches. I started with 1500 grit and worked my way up to 12000 grit. It removed the scratches and also polished the nickel. I cleaned out the interior of the mortise, the sump at the bottom of the shank and the airways in the shank and the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. The first photo below shows the clean briar in the shank.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation on the surface of the stem. I scrubbed it with the Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to lift more of the oxidation. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded with 3200-12000 grit pads. After sanding with each set of three pads I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. After sanding with 12000 grit micromesh I gave the stem a final coat of the oil and set it aside to dry. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to further polish the bowl and the stem. I was seeking to remove even the micro scratches left behind in the vulcanite by the micromesh sanding pads and the remaining scratches in the briar as well. I gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect the pipe. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad on the wheel and raise a shine. I personally do not like the high gloss look of a pipe when it first comes off the wheel so I hand buff it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine and give it a rich look. The finished pipe is shown in the photos that follow. I look forward to hearing from Jim as to his thoughts regarding this “rare to me” older KBB Yello-Bole. Thanks for walking with me through the process.