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Restoring an Unusual Meerschaum with a Bamboo Shank

by Kenneth Lieblich

I was pleasantly surprised to find this pipe recently at a local thrift shop. The thrift shops around here don’t usually carry tobacco pipes and, those that do, normally offer nothing but the dregs of the pipe world. In this case, I found a charming, simple, and beautiful billiard pipe. The bowl is made of block meerschaum, the shank is made of bamboo, and the tapered stem is made of vulcanite. Its seemingly conventional design belies a slightly enigmatic history. I must admit, I am tempted to keep this one in my own collection, but maybe one of you will talk me into selling it. The only marks on this pipe are underneath the bowl, and read Genuine Block [over] Meerschaum. Annoyingly, there were no marks on the stem, shank, or anywhere else. Having said that, however, it did lead me to think that this pipe was manufactured on the Isle of Man. I have restored a few pipes from the Isle of Man and Steve has restored countless pipes from there. In a recent blog post, Steve wrote the following:

My research on the origins of [this pipe] can be summarized like this: It was made with African Meerschaum from the Tanganyika Meerschaum Corporation and produced by Laxey Pipe Ltd. on the Isle of Man.Here is some information from Pipedia about meerschaum production on the Isle of Man:

Laxey Pipes Ltd. resided in a historical 19th century four-storey Man stone building at The Quay, Old Laxey, Isle of Man, which thankfully has been preserved.

The company specialised in the production of meerschaum pipes using the Meerschaum mined by the Tanganyika Meerschaum Corporation in the Amboseli basin in Tanganyika (since 1964 part of the United Republic of Tanzania).

Please note: you may often find names like “Manx Pipes Ltd.”, “Man Pipe Co.” and others more, but there is no indication of another Isle of Man pipe producer other than Laxey Pipe Ltd. at any time!

Laxey Pipes Ltd. marketed own brands like “Manxpipe”, “Manxman”, “Manxland” e.c. Names like “John Bull”, “White Knight” (unwaxed), “Domino” (black, or lined) indicated some shapes / colours of Laxey’s own series. The stems either showed the astronomical sign for “male” or “man” (circle + arrow), or the crest of the Isle of Man, the 3-legged X in a circle. Manxpipes and Laxey’s other brands were available through pipe retailers in general, but also were sold (mainly) to tourists through their own shop in Laxey.

Furthermore Laxey Pipes Ltd. manufactured the meer bowls for Peterson, Barling, Nørding and others from the later 1960’s until 2001. Man Pipe e.g. was a brand distributed by Comoy’s. The bowls usually showed no nomenclature indicating the orderer. “Genuine Block Meerschaum” was engraved frequently. Often, just the stems were different, while bowls were the same.

Supply of meerschaum from East Africa run out (Kenya / Tanzania exhausted, Somalia inaccessible), and thus the last Laxey meers were supplied to trade in May, 2001. Laxey Pipes Ltd. tried to survive continuing with briar pipes – mainly in the Danish style -, but to no success. It closed down business in July, 2002.Despite the paucity of maker’s marks on my pipe, the style of the marks that are there leads me to believe that this is a Manx-made pipe. One major detail that made me harrumph a bit was the bamboo shank. I wasn’t familiar with Laxey making bamboo shanked pipes. Steve commented that the pipe was not unlike pipes from the Kaywoodie Mandarin line of bamboo-shanked pipes. Again, however, as far as I know, the Mandarin line never included meerschaum. Steve asserts, however, that Kaywoodie did produce a bamboo-meerschaum pipe. Here is an example of an unbranded bamboo meer found on eBay. Not only does the pipe have no identifying marks, but the seller had no information either.The combination of meerschaum and bamboo in pipes is certainly not unprecedented in the 21st century. For example, one can find some spectacular examples from Walt Cannoy, Ryan Alden, and the famous Turkish maker, Said Altınay. Here is a beautiful example from him:As a side note, Altınay’s website includes an interesting note on the history of bamboo in pipemaking. I provide a brief quotation:

Bamboo began appearing in briar pipe construction in the early 20th century. The earliest known pioneer of this style is believed to be Sixten Ivarsson, the Danish pipe-making legend, who introduced bamboo shanks in the mid-1900s as both an aesthetic and practical innovation. The concept soon spread, embraced by artisans such as Tom Eltang, Tokutomi, and Takahiro Hibi, who elevated the use of bamboo into a form of fine art. Its appeal was twofold: the natural lightweight strength and the distinctive, organic appearance. While traditional briar offered durability and familiarity, bamboo introduced character, contrast, and subtle resilience — giving each pipe a unique signature.

Obviously, the pipe I found is not on the order of a Cannoy, Alden, or Altınay! But I also feel comfortable in saying that this pipe is a lot older than those fellows’ pipes. I would be interested in hearing from YOU if you know more about the marriage of meerschaum and bamboo in pipemaking. Thank you kindly.

The pipe was in generally good condition and didn’t seem too challenging to clean up. There was a bit of scratching, etc. on the stem, but nothing serious. The bamboo shank was aged, but perfectly sound. Finally, the meerschaum bowl was well worn, but not bad at all.I used oil soap on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result was a hideous, brownish mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface of the vulcanite. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew out the stem from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush.As the stem was now clean and dry, I set about fixing the marks in the vulcanite. This was done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber. I left this to cure and moved on.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the vulcanite. Following that, I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done. Alas, I forgot to take photos of this step.

The inside of the shank needed to be cleaned thoroughly. Similar to the stem, I then cleaned it with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol.I didn’t sand the bamboo in any way, but I did rub it with some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the bamboo and gives a beautiful depth to it. I then buffed the shank with a microfibre cloth.I moved on to the bowl. The first step was to ream it out – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. Given the more fragile nature of meerschaum and the relative cleanliness of the smoking chamber, I only used a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel to clean things out. This was sufficient to ensure that all the debris was removed. My next step was to remove the lava on the rim. For this, I took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim.I then cleaned the entrance to the bowl with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. This was done cautiously, as too much liquid can cause softening of the meerschaum. Due to my care, no such problems were encountered. I used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand the outside of the bowl and finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the meerschaum and provides a beautiful smoothness to it. As the photos show, I masked the darkened portion of the bowl with tape so as not to remove it while sanding. I rubbed some Clapham’s Beeswax Polish into the meerschaum and let it dry thoroughly. Then I buffed it carefully with a microfibre cloth. Ooo – what a shine! For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it – first with a blue diamond compound, then with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows.

All done! This bamboo meerschaum billiard looks fantastic again and I am delighted with the results. As I mentioned before, I might keep this for myself, but you’re welcome to reach out to me if you’re interested in acquiring it: kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5⅝ in. (142 mm); height 1¾ in. (44 mm); bowl diameter 1⅜ in. (36 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (18 mm). The weight of the pipe is ¾ oz. (24 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

A New Lease on Life for an Old S.M. Frank Bakelite

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by Kenneth Lieblich

A couple of weeks ago, I restored a Redmanol pipe for a customer and, as good fortune would have it, its Bakelite cousin appeared on my workbench. However, this time the Bakelite pipe is for sale! It’s a real beauty – and quite old. It’s an S.M. Frank Bakelite bent bulldog. It has a lovely old-world feel about it, with a handsome band – and it even has its matching leather case! This pipe has an orific stem and that marks it as being around a century old. To learn more about that particular bit of pipe history, please have a look at Steve’s article on the subject here. Given my recent experience with Redmanol and given its similarity to Bakelite, I thought I’d give it a go. It’s an old timer and it will always carry a few signs of its use and age, but that is definitely part of this pipe’s charm. The marks on the pipe are simple and straightforward. On the left side of the shank, it reads Frank [over] Bakelite. Inside the pipe case, there is a logo which reads Frank [over] Trade Mark.I suspected that the name Frank was referring to the S.M. Frank company, but I went to Pipedia to check. It turns out that the S.M. Frank history is a tangled mess of brambles and twigs. It involves Kaywoodie, KB&B, Reiss, Demuth, and many others. It’s messier than a dog’s breakfast, as one of my schoolteachers liked to say. I don’t have the patience to do it justice here, but I will provide a few tidbits. Here’s a quotation from Pipedia:

In the year 1900 Sam Frank Sr. started his own business, selling pipes and other tobacco items. His original office was located at 20 W. 17th Street, NYC. He was also closely associated with the sales staff of Wm. DeMuth & Co., selling their line of pipes. It was at this time that Mr. Frank first met Ferdinand Feuerbach and formed what would be a lifelong friendship. Mr. Feuerbach started working for the DeMuth company in 1897 and by 1903 had become the production manager. In 1919, when Mr. Frank needed an experienced pipe man to run his pipe factory, located at 168 Southern Blvd., in the Bronx, he persuaded his old friend Ferdinand to join him. Mr. Feuerbach is credited with developing DeMuth’s popular Royal DeMuth and Hesson Guard Milano pipelines. In 1922, when S. M. Frank purchased the Manhattan Briar Pipe Co. the company incorporated. In 1933, the paper Medico filter was introduced along with the Medico brand line of pipes. The Medico filter is the “original” and most absorbent paper filter on the market that is recognized by pipe smokers world-wide. Filtered pipe smoking, a debatable issue among pipe smokers, reduces tars and nicotine in the smoke stream to make a “safer” smoke.

Meanwhile, over in the PipesMagazine forums, there’s a lengthy discussion on the subject from user, jguss. I won’t try to do the article justice in this blog post, but I recommend you read it here. One of the useful things that came out of it, however, is the following org chart.I cannot date this pipe beyond saying that it is about 100 years old. It’s not possible for me to be more precise than that – other than to say that the pipe cannot precede 1907, as that was the year that Bakelite was invented by Leo Hendrik Baekeland. Anecdotally, this pipe looks like similar KB&B (Kaufmann Bros. & Bondy) pipes of the era, so it may come from that genealogical line (so to speak). Let’s move on.

A closer look at the pipe shows a few problems. The stem has some scratches and wear – I will have to handle the Bakelite carefully. The stummel is pretty worn and dirty. It has a few scratches and nicks. Around the top of the bowl, there is some odd ‘stuff’ stuck to the wood. More on that later. Both of the mortises in the shank and stem had matching broken-off halves of a bone tenon. They’re stuck in there. There’s a lot of work ahead! I decided that my first job would be to extract the tenon halves. This was nerve-wracking stuff because I was not at all sure that I could get them out without cracking either the shank or stem (or both). The photos here don’t really tell the whole story. I tried extracting with pliers; I tried extracting with a screw – both unsuccessful. I fiddled for while and decided that I needed to drill the tenon out. It was clearly risky, but the pipe wasn’t useable in its current state anyway. So, I took the stem and stummel and threw them in the freezer for 30 minutes or so. I wanted to (hopefully) make the bone tenon more brittle by freezing it. I also wrapped the end of the stem very tightly with hockey tape in a quixotic hope that that might prevent the Bakelite from cracking. I then took the thinnest drill bit that fit inside the draught hole of the tenon and drilled carefully and slowly. I then increased the size of the drill bit one by one – oh so carefully – until the tenon began to crack. As more and more of it cracked, I was able to pull the debris out. This took a while, as I worked on both halves, but it was a complete success. Deo gratias! I then went searching in my boxes for a replacement bone tenon – I have hundreds! Eventually, I found just the right one. I was finally able to get on with cleaning. I used oil soap on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean.Next, I set about fixing the marks in the Bakelite. This was done by filling those marks with clear cyanoacrylate adhesive. I left this to cure and moved on.The next step was sanding. First, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the Bakelite. Following that, I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the Bakelite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, clear, ruby-like glow to the stem when I was done.As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the stummel. The first step was to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. I used a reamer, a pipe knife, and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensured that all the debris was removed.My next step was to remove the lava on the rim. For this, I took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. With a pipe this dirty, it took quite a while and much cotton to get clean.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I also wiped down the outside with some oil soap on cotton rounds and used a toothbrush in the crevices. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the stummel with some soap and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.However, what it did not do was remove the weird stuff stuck around the rim. Then I realized that this pipe must have had cap once upon a time. That cap is long lost to the mists of history. I looked in my stores and found several caps, but not that fit this pipe. No problem – this pipe doesn’t need it and would look great (I daresay better) without one. It took some mighty strong sanding with 220-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpapers to remove all the gunk. I then used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand the outside of the stummel and finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. I did add some stain to the briar in order to replace what had been lost in the sanding – but forgot the photos. Anyway, I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the stummel with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it – first with a blue diamond compound, then with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows.

All done! This S.M. Frank Bakelite bent bulldog looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘American’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5 in. (128 mm); height 1⅞ in. (46 mm); bowl diameter 1⅜ in. (36 mm); chamber diameter ⅞ in. (20 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1¼ oz. (39 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring a Beautiful Redmanol Old Timer

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by Kenneth Lieblich

A fine gentleman (and regular customer) from Seattle recently sent a box of pipes for me to restore for him. Various and sundry reasons prevented me from photographing most of the pipe restorations, but I did snap some shots of this one and it is worth checking out. This is a nifty bent Dublin made primarily from Redmanol (more on that later). The stem and most of the stummel are made entirely from Redmanol and are two separate pieces. In this case, the mortise and tenon are reversed from most pipes: the screw tenon is in the shank and the mortise is in the stem. The bowl is made of briar and screws into the Redmanol bowl. Separating the briar from the Redmanol is a ring of brass. This restoration was quite a bit of work, but I could not be more pleased with how it turned out in the end. The pipe is really quite charming and reminiscent of a different era. The pipe has no markings at all, so I cannot describe the maker to you with any authority. However, Steve has written up several blog posts on Redmanol pipes from makers such as MLC, WDC, and KB&B. Here is one of his articles on a pipe not too dissimilar from the one I’m restoring. So, what is Redmanol? It is an early 20th century type of plastic – a sort of Bakelite, if you will. On Pipedia, there is an excellent article on Redmanol (and gutta percha) written by the doyen of pipe literature, Ben Rapaport. I highly encourage you to read the whole article here, but here is an excerpt:

Then came Redmanol. In 1913, Lawrence V. Redman established the Redmanol Chemical Products Company in Chicago to produce a plastic, similar to Bakelite, made from the action of formin on carbolic acid. “Redmanol. Perfect molding material. Redmanol Chemical Products Co., 644 West 22nd Street, Chicago, was initially advertised as a molding compound to replace metal, rubber, fibre, wood, porcelain and other plastic materials. … suited to make pencils, buttons, pool triangles, acid containers” (Factory. The Magazine of Management, July 1923, 393). “’Redmanol,’” the new substitute for amber, a Chicago invention, seems to be making a hit from the start” (“Chicago Factories Await Readjustment,” United States Tobacco Journal, November 14, 1914, 13).

What is Redmanol? Here are a couple definitions, the first from the Redmanol company: “REDMANOL. The Material of a thousand uses. REDMANOL is sold as TRANSPARENT REDMANOL which has every physical property of Baltic amber, except that REDMANOL is more lustrous and has perfect transparency. The transparent REDMANOL is used for dental and surgical instruments and electrical insulation and is the material which has largely replaced amber in smokers’ supplies” (Directory. Chicago Section. American Chemical Society, 1911).

The second is from a tobacco industry leader. “Redmanol is a secret compound, the result of years of experiment and research work to find a substance for cigar and cigarette holders and stems which would possess the beauty of natural amber but none of the frailties. It is, in fact a man-made amber, being chemically known as synthetic amber, and has proved so admirable a substitute for natural amber that it is doubtful that the later [sic] will ever again be used to the extent it formerly was. …All in all Redmanol makes use of the most perfect and satisfactory mouth-pieces yet devised. Our customers are evidently aware of this fact as is amply demonstrated by the enormous increase in sales in our stores this year of Redmanol cigar and cigarette tubes” (“Pipe Points Worth Remembering. Redmanol,” The United Shield, November, 1919, 13).

And the third is from a journal article. “Redmanol, a similar substance [to Bakelite], is made using formin instead of formaldehyde, and on melting this with phenol it gives a clear, amber-colored, transparent substance that is plastic and can be bent and worked into shape. On further heating it becomes hard and insoluble and similar to bakelite except for its color and transparency. Redmanol, by virtue of its resemblance to real amber and its many desirable properties of insolubility, non-inflammability, the ability to mold easily before hardening, and its imperviousness to corrosive substances, is used for making hundreds of useful and ornamental objects, some of the most familiar being pipe stems, cigar and cigarette holders, and knife handles” (J. Maple Wilson, Jr., “The Relation of Chemistry to the Home,” Journal of Chemical Education, Vol. 3, No. 6, June, 1926, 670).Then later in the same article:

According to Steve Laug who has studied this much more than I: “Original Bakelite, whatever the color, still looked like plastic, while deep red, translucent Redmanol was so close to amber of the same color that it often requires an expert to differentiate the two. Bakelite was produced in at least these colors: golden yellow, ruby, emerald, amethyst, and jet. Real amber comes in several colors: non-reflective deep-cherry red, golden, and yellow. Most often, Redmanol was a clear or translucent red. Deep-red Redmanol was so close to amber of the same color that it often required an expert to differentiate the two. It certainly didn’t help when ads for Redmanol products stated: “Odorless, taste-less, unbreakable, non-inflammable, and retains its amber color.”

It’s difficult to be accurate on the date of this pipe, but anywhere from the 1910s through the 1930s is a safe bet. Basically, this beauty is about a century old.Let’s take a closer look. The pipe is in terrific condition for its age! The Redmanol parts have a few minor scratches and dents, but no cracks or structural problems. The screw tenon is as dirty as anything, but that’s no big deal. The brass ring is similarly dirty, but not damaged at all. Finally, the briar bowl is also dirty and has a few minor nicks. It should clean up very nicely.

I used oil soap on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem and stummel to provide an initial cleaning before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of both stem and stummel with pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean. I paid particular attention to the tenon and cleaned it further with some 0000-grit steel wool.The next step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of both stem and stummel with some soap and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.

As the stem was now clean and dry, I set about fixing the tooth marks in the Redmanol. This was done by filling those divots with clear cyanoacrylate adhesive. I left this to cure and moved on. The next step is sanding and I’m not going to sugar coat this: sanding Redmanol is pretty dreadful. First, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the Redmanol. I had to focus especially on a tricky area of the stummel where there were some deep scratches. I taped that area off, so it could be done properly. Following that, I used all nine grey sanding pads and all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the Redmanol, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, clear, amber-like glow to the stem and stummel when I was done. I then grabbed the brass ring with both hands – sorry, couldn’t resist. This was quite straightforward. I tried cleaning it with some lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol on cotton rounds. This didn’t really do anything, so I switched over to polishing with 0000-grit steel wool. This worked very well and the ring looked lovely again. Next on to the briar bowl. First, I reamed out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. As the bowl was fairly clean already, I used only a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. This ensured that all the debris was removed. I also took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away from the rim. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim.To tidy up the briar, I also wiped down the outside with some oil soap on cotton rounds and used a toothbrush in the crevices. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. Just like the stem and stummel, the last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the bowl with some soap and tube brushes. I also scrubbed the aluminum bottom of the bowl with 0000-grit steel wool. Looked fantastic.I used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand the outside of the bowl and finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the bowl with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench buffer and carefully polished it – first with a blue diamond compound, then with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best. All done! This no-name Redmanol bent Dublin pipe looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by my friend in Seattle. It was a pleasure to work on. It’s a gorgeous pipe. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5¼ in. (134 mm); height 1⅞ in. (48 mm); bowl diameter 1⅜ in. (35 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (20 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1⅝ oz. (47 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Cleaning Up a Terrific Jobey Stromboli 200 Bulldog

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by Kenneth Lieblich

Ah, there’s something awfully satisfying about a really rugged rustication – the craggy, rock-like formation is a very fine thing. This Jobey Stromboli 200 bent bulldog has that great rustication in spades. The pipe had a precise diamond shank and a beautiful acrylic stem with a Jobey link system screw tenon. I acquired this pipe in a lot, where most of the pipes had been very well cared for. This was no exception and looked like a fun pipe to restore. On the underside of the shank were the markings. They read Jobey [over] Stromboli [over] 200. To the right of that, at a 90-degree angle from the other text, was the word France. Finally, on the stem was the Jobey logo in a brass oval. Regarding Jobey, Pipephil tells us that “These pipes are made in St Claude (France) by Butz-Choquin (Berrod-Regad group) since 1987. Before this date some were manufactured in England and Denmark (Jobey Dansk).”This Jobey was in very good condition and didn’t require much work – as the photos attest. The stem had only minimal wear and was hardly dirty. The stummel was equally clean, but the rim had been lit a bit aggressively. Perhaps a cigar lighter was foolishly used – who knows? Moving on… Since the stem is acrylic, there is no issue with oxidation. I used oil soap on a few cotton rounds and wiped the stem down to provide an initial cleaning before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning comes next. I cleaned the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was clean. Actually, it was quite clean to start with. Holding the stem to the light, you can see how clean it is – if it was heavily smoked, this would be very dark. Now that the stem is clean and dry, I set about fixing the few marks in the acrylic. This is done by filling those divots with clear cyanoacrylate adhesive. I left this to cure and moved on. The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduce the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I want to remove the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the acrylic. Following that, I use all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also apply pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful shine to the stem when I was done. Now that the stem is (nearly) complete, I can move on to the stummel. The first step for me is to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplishes a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleans the bowl and provides a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake is removed, I can inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there is damage or not. The pipe was so seldom used that I only used a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. This ensured that all the debris is removed.My next step was to remove the lava on the rim. For this, I took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim. This work revealed that some minor scorching had occurred. It wasn’t serious, but I would have to repair it. Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol.To tidy up the briar, I also wiped down the outside with some oil soap on cotton rounds (and a toothbrush). This does a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar.The last step of the cleaning process is to scour the inside of the stummel with some soap and tube brushes.In order to lessen the burns on the rim, I ‘topped’ the pipe – that is to say, I gently and evenly sanded the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. This effectively minimizes the damage, without altering the look of the pipe. I used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) on the rim to finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. After that, the bare wood needed to be tinted in the same colour as the rest of the stummel. I used some of my furniture pens (which is simply dye in pen form) to match the colours. I rubbed some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 20 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed it with a microfibre cloth and a horsehair brush. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench buffer and carefully polished it with three coats of conservator’s wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows.All done! This Jobey Stromboli 200 Bulldog looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘French’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5⅔ in. (144 mm); height 1½ in. (39 mm); bowl diameter 1⅔ in. (42 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (19 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1¼ oz. (37 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Cleaning Up a Fabulous Harcourt S Freehand

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by Kenneth Lieblich

I was recently commissioned to clean up this pipe for a local gentleman – a tugboat captain, no less! I admit that this is not the sort of pipe I imagined in the mouth of a tugboat captain, but that just shows you how little I know! Anyway, great-looking pipe. It is a Harcourt S freehand and it really commands your respect. Fortunately, there wasn’t too much wrong with this beauty – just needed a good cleaning. The markings on the pipe were nice and clear. The underside of the shank read S [over] Harcourt [over] Hand Carved [over] in Denmark. There were no other marks. I went straight over to Pipedia to see what I could find about Harcourt and it confirmed the information I already knew:

The brand Harcourt was produced by Preben Holm (†) for Dunhill to secure a share of the Danish fancy boom for Dunhill’s principal pipe dealers. Later Erik Nørding made Harcourt pipes for a shorter period. These pipes are sometimes (partially) rusticated. It had been reported that the second generation of Harcourt pipes were sold exclusively through Dunhill stores, but we now know through Rich Mervin that the Brick Church Pipe Shop, a chain of 3 stores in NJ sold Danish freehands in the 1970s and 80s including Knute, Ben Wade, and Harcourt. They were also an authorized Charatan and Dunhill retailer. So, apparently Harcourt freehands were sold through at least some Dunhill dealers as well as the Dunhill stores. The stamping includes a letter, and seem to adhere to the Preben Holm grading scale with grades of A, B, C and D in ascending order.

Pipephil didn’t have much more to add:

Anglo-Danish brand whose pipes were made by Nording and Preben Holm in the 1960s for the US distributor Lane Ltd. In the 1970s these pipes were crafted for Dunhill at Preben Holm’s workshop.

I know from Steve’s previous Harcourt restorations (see here) that it is not entirely clear what the ‘S’ refers to. Personally, I find it hard to believe that Preben Holm’s grading went from A to S, but I do wonder if the S stands for ‘sandblast’ – it certainly fits if that’s the case. If you have any thoughts, please let me know in the comments below. Let’s get cleaning! I cleaned the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was clean. It was fairly dirty inside. The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result is a hideous brownish mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew the stem out from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. I use all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also apply pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done.Now that the stem is (nearly) complete, I can move on to the stummel. The first step for me is to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplishes a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleans the bowl and provides a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake is removed, I can inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there is damage or not. I used a reamer, a pipe knife, and a piece of sandpaper taped to several wooden dowels. Collectively, these ensure that all the debris is removed.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. It took quite a bit of cotton to get clean.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused any remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I also wiped down the outside with some oil soap on cotton rounds (and a toothbrush on the plateau rim). This does a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process is to scour the inside of the stummel with some soap and tube brushes. This is the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.No micromesh needed on this stummel. I rubbed some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 20 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed it with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench buffer and carefully polished it – with three coats of conservator’s wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows.All done! This Harcourt S freehand looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its new owner. It was a pleasure to work on. It’s a heavy pipe, but a gorgeous pipe. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 6¾ in. (171 mm); height 2⅞ in. (75 mm); bowl diameter 1⅞ in. (49 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (20 mm). The weight of the pipe is 3⅓ oz. (100 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Spiffing Up a Handsome Brigham 2044 XL Billiard

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by Kenneth Lieblich

Here’s a terrific, rugged, and handsome pipe that I recently acquired from a local gentleman. I am pleased to report that he maintained his pipes very well and that makes my job easier. This particular pipe was no exception – in fact, I can’t imagine that this pipe was smoked more than a couple of times or so. This is an older Brigham 2044 XL system billiard – and what a monumental pipe it is! Let’s look at the markings. First, the stem has two brass pins – this is the classic way that Brigham identified their pipes. On the underside of the stummel, there is the shape number 2044. Then, off to the far right are the words Made in Canada and, next to that, Brigham.I was pretty sure I knew how old this pipe was, but felt it was best to check with Charles Lemon’s book, Brigham Pipes: A Century of Canadian Briar. I photographed a couple of pages and highlighted the relevant parts.Given that this pipe doesn’t include a size letter (like L), I think it is fair to conclude that this pipe dates from approximately 1964–69. We can see that the code 2044 translates as follows: the “2” corresponds to the two pins on the stem, indicating the “Select” level of pipe. The “04” corresponds to the shape of the pipe, which is listed in Lemon’s book as “Large Straight Billiard, Round Taper Stem”. Finally, the terminal “4” –repeating the last digit of the regular code – indicates that this is an oversize pipe. And it certainly is!

Anyway, both the stem and stummel were in very good condition. There were some minor tooth marks on the stem and a bit of oxidation. The rim of the stummel had what looked like a burn on it, but it turned out to be nothing of note. I used oil soap on a few cotton rounds and wiped the stem down to provide an initial cleaning before moving on. I cleaned the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was clean.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result is a hideous brownish mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew the stem out from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush.Now that the stem is clean and dry, I set about fixing the marks and dents in the vulcanite. This is done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber. I left this to cure and moved on. The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduce the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I want to remove the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the vulcanite. Following that, I use all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also apply pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done. Now that the stem is (nearly) complete, I can move on to the stummel. The first step for me is to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplishes a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleans the bowl and provides a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake is removed, I can inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there is damage or not. Not much to be removed from this pipe – it was pretty clean!My next step was to remove the so-called burn on the rim. For this, I took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim. This work revealed that the marks were on the surface only. There was no damage to the wood at all.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. To tidy up the briar, I also wiped down the outside with some oil soap on cotton rounds (and a toothbrush). This does a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process is to scour the inside of the stummel with some soap and tube brushes. I used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) on the underside of the stummel and the rim to finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. I rubbed some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 25 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed it with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench buffer and carefully polished it with three coats of conservator’s wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows.All done! This Brigham 2044 XL billiard looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Canadian’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 6⅛ in. (156 mm); height 2¼ in. (58 mm); bowl diameter 1¾ in. (44 mm); chamber diameter 1 in. (26 mm). The weight of the pipe is 2⅓ oz. (72 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

A Pair of Pretty Petes for your Perspicacious Perusal

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by Kenneth Lieblich

I have a couple of Peterson pipes that came my way recently and I decided to clean them up and get them ready. Not much of a restoration story on these – just some beautiful pipes. I gave them a quick (and thorough) once over and now it’s time to turn them over to you. Both have been hardly used (once, maybe twice) and they are very handsome. If you’re interested in adding one or both to your collection, be sure to drop me a line.

First is a Peterson K&P Irishmade 106 billiard with nickel military mount. Gorgeous pipe. If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the “Irish” pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the Peterson Irishmade 106 are as follows: length 6 in. (152 mm); height 2 in. (51 mm); bowl diameter 1½ in. (40 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (20 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1⅝ oz. (48 g). Have a look below. Thanks. Next is a Peterson System Standard 1307 (same as 307) bent billiard. Another lovely pipe. If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the “Irish” pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the Peterson System Standard 1307 are as follows: length 6½ in. (165 mm); height 2⅛ in. (54 mm); bowl diameter 1½ in. (40 mm); chamber diameter ⅞ in. (21 mm). The weight of the pipe is 2⅜ oz. (67 g). Have a look below. Thanks.

The Resuscitation of an Old Airograte Yello-Bole

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by Kenneth Lieblich

A gentleman recently contacted me to ask if I would restore his Airograte Yello-Bole. I was happy to take on the project, as it was an interesting pipe – and it looked like it could use some TLC. In the end, the pipe turned out very well, but it was a very labour-intensive cleaning and restoration. Take a close look at the before and after photos – I think they speak for themselves. This pipe has had a hard life, but it must have been greatly loved. This restoration made the pipe look so much better, but the battle scars of the past will always be with it – and so they should be! They are part of its history. Let’s talk about the background of the pipe. The patent on the Airograte dates to 1949, and I have included the pages from the US Patent Office below, for those who wish to read them: I also found a blurb from inside the box of an Airograte Yello-Bole from years ago. I’ve included the photo below, but I also typed out the words in case you can’t quite make them out:

Airograte Yello-Bole introduces an entirely new principle in pipe smoking. One of the basic, patented features is a removable metal grate which holds the tobacco in suspension. This allows fresh air to be drawn into, and circulate through, the lower aluminum chamber resulting in a cool, dry smoke. The metal grate may be easily washed and cleaned. Ordinary cleansing tissue will wipe clean the aluminum chamber and bottom of bowl. Shank and bit should be cleaned with a pipe cleaner. Airograte Yello-Bole’s design and patented construction give better combustion and moisture evaporation. Result? No messy juices, no bite, no bitterness, no drag and no smelly heel. Interchangeable bowls in assorted shapes are available. Buy an extra bowl… Smoke one, rest the other. Each bowl is caked with Real Honey. You’ll enjoy Airograte Yello-Bole because it’s the sweetest, driest, coolest pipe smoking sensation!On Pipedia, there is a good article about the history of the Yello-Bole company and its progenitor, Kaufmann Bros. & Bondy. On the Airograte itself, Pipedia says:

The Yello Bole Aristocrat Airograte: An Aluminum and wood pipe with a twist. This pipe doesn’t have a bowl per say, but more a briar cylinder that screws into the base of the body. At the bottom of the bowl is a metal grate, thus allowing air to be pulled through all the tobacco and reducing any chance of clogging. The lower bowl catches all moisture and tar reducing bite. These pipes can be had in a silver/chrome finish as well as a soft gold finish. The stem of these pipes has cooling fins up each side, and can be found in a straight or bent form.Steve has written several blogs about the Airograte and here is one of his comments about it:

The Airograte Pipe was also made by Yello-Bole and was their version of the Falcon pipe or the Dr. Grabow Viking. It had a metal base and shank with an interchangeable bowl. Yello-Bole made a variation to the theme by make the bowl more of a tube and inserting a metal grate between the bowl and the base for dry smoking air flow. It also had the Nylon Bit like the Grabow and the Falcon version. These pipes sold for $5.95 and you could purchase a variety of interchangeable bowls for the base.Let’s examine the condition of this pipe a little more closely. The bowl is dirty-beyond-dirty. As you can see, the chamber is absolutely choked with old cake and there is a lot of lava on the rim. To make matters worse, there is a serious abrasion on the rim. On the underside of the bowl, there are small cracks in the base which extend into the screw threads. The stem was, sadly, no better. There is plenty of calcification on the bit. Fortunately, since the stem is made of a hard nylon, there is no oxidation. However, the tooth marks, dents, and chomps on this stem are among the most severe I’ve seen in a long while. The photos do not accurately convey just how concave (and low) these tooth marks are. The aluminum body of the pipe was dull, dirty, and heavily scratched. Some of those scratches would come out, but some wouldn’t. Unsurprisingly, the metal grate was clogged with tobacco filth.

Suffice it to say that I had my work cut out for me! Let’s begin with the stem. As it is made of nylon, there was no oxidation – and no oxidation means no need for deoxidation fluid. I used 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and scoured the stem. Then, I cleaned the inside of the stem with pipe cleaners dipped in the alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was clean. I used ‘zillions’ of pipe cleaners for this stem. Now that the stem is clean and dry, I set about fixing the marks and dents in the nylon. This was done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber. This took a lot of work (and more than one try) to get right. I left this to cure and moved on. Sorry – I neglected to take a photo of this step.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduce the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I want to remove the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the nylon. Following that, I use all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the nylon, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also apply pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done, but I had to do this whole process twice, as I wasn’t happy with the initial results.Now that the stem is (nearly) complete, I can move on to the bowl. The first step for me is to ream it – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplishes a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleans the bowl and provides a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake is removed, I can inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there is damage or not. I used a reamer and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensure that all the debris is removed. To my surprise, the walls were in decent shape, but, as I mentioned earlier, there were tiny cracks in the base of the bowl. To tidy up the briar, I also wiped down the outside with some oil soap on cotton rounds (and a toothbrush). This does a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. One of the difficulties in maintaining an Airograte Yello-Bole is that the wooden threads of the bowl are impregnated with the awful filth at the bottom of the metal shank. I used a brass-wire brush, a dental tool, and a small butter knife to try and clean things up. This didn’t help much. So, the next step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the bowl with some soap and tube brushes. This also didn’t help the base much. So, I poured some acetone into a small container and soaked the bowl’s threads for a little while. This helped quite a bit. I continued to wipe with some cotton rounds and it cleaned up fairly well. Quite frankly, this bowl was never going to be new again, but I was satisfied with it after soaking. The damage to the rim is significant. In order to lessen (but not eliminate) the nicks on the rim, I ‘topped’ the pipe – that is to say, I gently and evenly sanded the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. This effectively minimizes the damage, without altering the look of the pipe. There will always be some sign of the wound on the rim, but, as I’ve said before, it is part of the pipe’s history.

I decided to repair the tiny cracks in the briar next. This was initially straightforward enough: I was able to fill them with cyanoacrylate adhesive. However, it ended up being a bit tricky because I didn’t want to risk affecting the bowl threads by gumming them up with glue! I acted carefully and the repairs worked out perfectly.At long last, I used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) on the outside of the bowl to finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. I rubbed some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 20 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed it with a microfibre cloth. I’ve done the nylon, I’ve done the briar – now on to the two pieces of aluminum: the shank and the grate. As both were so dirty, I decided to drop them in an isopropyl alcohol bath and let them sit overnight. This accomplished precisely nothing. I then used my technique from above and dropped both bits in acetone for a while. This worked much better! A lot of filth came off. With that inspiration, I took both pieces to the sink and scrubbed them inside and outside with my cream cleanser. Now we’re getting somewhere! Over the next little while, I used several tools with acetone etc. to get into all the nooks and crannies in order to really clean everything well. Now to bring some shine back! Polishing up the aluminum was troublesome because of the grooves on the side. I used some 0000 steel wool to give a beautiful polish to the shank. This worked very well, but it’s such a mess! I laid out some paper towel to catch the debris because it goes everywhere. I did the same procedure on the grate as well.You can see in the following photo the difference that steel wool makes. On the left is the unsanded metal and on the right is the metal after an initial pass of steel wool. This is promising!The buffing procedure was different because of the metal – although the briar bowl and nylon stem did receive the normal White Diamond and carnauba wax treatment. I used Red Tripoli first and White Diamond second to polish the metal shank nicely. It came out so well! When I went back to my workbench, I cleaned the grooves in the metal with some soft pipe cleaners – just to remove any slight, remaining polishing compound. I then took a microfiber cloth to wipe the metal parts of the pipe to make it shine!Wow. That was quite the restoration job! This Airograte Yello-Bole looks so much better and I am happy to send it back to its owner. It was a lot of work, but I learned a lot and I am pleased with the results. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5⅔ in. (144 mm); height 1⅝ in. (41 mm); bowl diameter 1⅜ in. (36 mm); chamber diameter ⅞ in. (21 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1¼ oz. (37 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Resuscitating Grandfather’s Nørding Nordcoat Freehand

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by Kenneth Lieblich

A gentleman contacted Steve a while back about restoring his late grandfather’s pipe. Steve was going to be away for more than a month, so he referred the fellow to me for the repairs. I was happy to help – especially when a family heirloom is involved! The pipe is an unusual one, called a Nørding Nordcoat. It’s a freehand style and was quite obviously the old man’s favourite pipe – it had been smoked and smoked and smoked. It was one of the dirtiest pipes I’ve ever worked on. All the great things I’ve learned over the years from Steve and Jeff about cleaning pipes came to the fore in this restoration! The markings on the pipe were clear enough to understand. The only marks were found on the underside of the shank and read Nordcoat [over] Nørding [over] Made in Denmark.Although I was quite familiar with Erik Nørding (Pipedia article here), I wasn’t familiar with the Nordcoat line. I saw that Steve had restored one two or three years ago. Here’s a link to that restoration. I read Steve’s blog post and took note of the fact that the markings were different: Nord-Coat (with a hyphen on Steve’s) and Nordcoat (without a hyphen on mine). I couldn’t find any information on the difference between the two spellings. In general, there is very little confirmed information on the Nørding Nordcoat. In his blog, Steve quoted the following passage from user pipeshark on the forums of pipesmagazine.com:

… apparently this is something that is supposed create a life lasting coating that will color similar to meerschaum but not lose it’s color for any reason. Supposedly all Nordcoat pipes should have the big man’s signature on them, and the hubbub is that if they don’t, they may be seconds. According to another post, there was a page on the Nording site some years ago that “guaranteed these pipes to color like meerschaum and provide a great cool smoke”. I read on post that claimed to have one of these pipes from 30 years ago, so they must have been around for some time… I didn’t see anything about the pipes being lower quality briar as such… I must say that I have not substantiated this with any official sites or sources, this is just what I have seen on multiple threads of blog/forum postings, some claiming to have checked it out…

I researched further and found some additional information on Nordcoat. On a different pipesmagazine.com forum, user lukasstrifeson wrote this:

I think there’s some debate over whether Nord-Coat is actually a meerschaum-based product or it simply a paint that mimics meerschaum behavior. I’ll have to do some digging to confirm what “I think I know” (it’s been a while since I’ve thought about Nord-Coat!) but I think I remember researching the product in the 2000s and it was very difficult to weed through all the commercial advertising to actually understand what it is. As far as I remember it’s a patented “secret” coating that Nording advertised as “[owning] a briar that ages like a meerschaum!” The Nord-Coat line were briars that weren’t fit for smooth or sandblasted pipes but because of the patented coating Nording was able to salvage these and sell them at a higher price as somewhat of a budget-friendly competitor to true block meerschaums.

So, not a lot to go on. This pipe has the feel of a 1970s pipe, but that’s just a guess on my part. Let’s examine the pipe and see what we’ve got. On first glance, the stummel seems in good condition – just filthy beyond words. There is lava all over the plateau rim and plateau shank end. The bowl is choked with cake and the mortise is lined in ooze. The stem is just as nasty! There is considerable oxidation and calcification, as the photos only too clearly show. Grandfather’s molars evidently made short work of bashing the vulcanite into submission. The tenon is chipped and no longer fits properly into the mortise – the fit is too loose. My customer asked about replacing the stem altogether. After some consideration, he and I agreed that we wanted to keep the original if at all possible. A replacement stem would not have been part of his grandfather’s story – so we stayed with the original, with its faults and history.

Let’s get working. As mentioned, the stem’s calcification was quite substantial. I used an old butter knife and gently scraped some of the thicker accretion off. Doing this now helps later in removing the oxidation.Next, I used oil soap on a few cotton rounds and wiped the stem down to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning comes next. I cleaned the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was clean. I used a lot of pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. It was remarkably dirty.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result is a hideous brownish mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew the stem out from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush. Due to the severity of the oxidation, I then repeated the scrubbing with the cream cleanser for maximum effect.After this, I used a disposable lighter and ‘painted’ the stem with its flame. The gentle heat of the flame can cause the dents in the vulcanite of the stem to expand back into shape. This exercise was, sadly, a bit futile, as there was just so much damage.Now that the stem is clean and dry, I set about fixing the marks and dents in the vulcanite. This is done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber. At the same time, I built up the thickness of the tenon with this adhesive, so that it would fit correctly again in the mortise. However, I deliberately left the chipped area as it was. I left the adhesive to cure and moved on.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduce the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I want to remove the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the vulcanite. Following that, I use all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also apply pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done.Now that the stem is (nearly) complete, I can move on to the stummel. The first step for me is to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplishes a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleans the bowl and provides a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake is removed, I can inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there is damage or not. I used a reamer, a pipe knife, and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensure that all the debris is removed. However, there was considerable damage to the interior walls. The heavy, hot, and persistent smoking this pipe had undergone resulted in heat fissures all over the inside. More on that later.My next step was to remove the lava on the rim. For this, I took a piece of machine steel and tried to remove the debris. However, the plateau rim inhibited the piece of steel from working properly. I did get some chunks out – but not enough. I also used a dental tool, which was more successful, but there was still more. So, I pivoted and pulled out brushes: tooth, nylon, and brass. I scrubbed and scrubbed until I was satisfied that everything was clean. This wasn’t so obvious because the filth is black and the rim top is black too!Naturally, the inside of the stummel needs to be cleaned thoroughly. Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. This pipe was extraordinarily dirty – it took quite a while and an enormous amount of cotton to get clean. This photo doesn’t even show all of the cotton used.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused any remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the Nordcoat on the briar, I also wiped down the outside with some oil soap on cotton rounds (and a toothbrush). This does a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface. The last step of the cleaning process is to scour the inside of the stummel with some soap and tube brushes. This is the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.Back to the inside of the bowl. As I mentioned, there were many fissures and cracks in the briar. To repair damage like this, I use an epoxy adhesive that is extremely hard, resistant to high temperatures, and completely inert when cured. It works superbly. I coated the affected area with a thin layer of epoxy and let it cure for a full 24 hours. The next day, I roughened up the epoxy’s surface for the next step. I thinly spread the inside of the bowl with a mixture of my wife’s homemade yogurt and activated charcoal. Once hardened, this provided a good, faintly rough surface for a new cake to build. I rubbed some Before & After Restoration Balm into the Nordcoat and let it sit for 20 minutes or so. I then buffed it with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench buffer and carefully polished it with three coats of conservator’s wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows.This Nørding Nordcoat freehand was a huge challenge, but I am really pleased with the results – and I anticipate that my customer will be too. I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring a Beautiful Handmade Pipe by Pierre Morel

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by Kenneth Lieblich

Behold a fantastic old pipe by the French master, Pierre Morel. This is a beautifully made and modern-looking pipe. What would you call this shape? Perhaps a freehand volcano – sort of? The stem is a slightly bent saddle stem, while it is also curiously set apart from the shank of the stummel. I have a particular interest in French pipes, so I am delighted to be able to offer this one to you all for sale. The marks are clear enough. On the underside of the shank, it reads, Morel [over] Fait Main [over] St Claude [over] France. Of course, the phrase ‘fait main’ means ‘handmade’ in English. On the top of the stem is the single word Morel – alas, the top of the ‘M’ is slightly worn.Let’s learn a bit more about Pierre Morel. His article on Pipedia says the following:

Pierre Morel’s Handmade pipes are very high-quality pieces. Pierre Morel is an extraordinarily talented pipe-maker, who chooses highly fine briar to create handmade pipes with a straight wood grain. Buying a Pierre Morel pipe is a guarantee of an exceptional smoking experience. Each of Pierre Morel’s creations is unique and entirely made in Saint-Claude.

Pierre Morel is one of France’s most talented pipe makers. Based in Saint-Claude, the international capital city of pipe making, he is nowadays one of the only craftsmen who can make a pipe from start to finish. Unlike large brands, Pierre Morel makes all his pipes by hand.

Nothing compares to a Pierre Morel pipe: high quality raw materials, an extremely meticulous design and unmatched finishes… As a true passionate of the art, Pierre Morel often gives advice to other “new” French pipe makers such as Bruno Nuttens or Joseph Rimbaud (Rostiak).

Meanwhile, the real information I wanted to see was over at Pipephil:

Pierre Morel (Father and son).

Pierre Morel (1908 – 1979†) crafted pipes also stamped with brands like “PEHEM”, “PM”, “PEHEM MOREL” or “TOTEM”.

Pierre Morel (Son, born 1949) stamped his pipes “P MOREL jr” and “PIERRE MOREL” after his father passed. He also collaborated with Chacom for highgrade lines (“Grand Cru”, “Millenium”…) until he retired in 2009. His personal production continues.

However, best of all, there is an article on a French website which provides a superb interview with Morel (the son). If you have any fluency in French, I highly recommend reading it. Here is the link: https://www.fumeursdepipe.net/artmorel.htm. One day, I will do a proper translation of the article (as the Google translation is so-so), but the original version will have to suffice for now. I don’t know for sure, but I have a feeling that this particular pipe is by the son – not the father.The pipe is in good shape. The stummel is lovely, but dirty. It has plenty of cake in the bowl and some lava and wear on the rim. Meanwhile, the stem has been well chomped. Again, dirty and well used. I used a disposable lighter and ‘painted’ the stem with its flame. The gentle heat of the flame can cause the dents in the vulcanite of the stem to expand back into shape. In this case, it worked fairly well.I used oil soap on a few cotton rounds and wiped the stem down to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning comes next. I cleaned the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was clean.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result is a hideous brownish mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some de-oxidation fluid. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew the stem out from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush.Now that the stem is clean and dry, I set about fixing the marks and dents in the vulcanite. This is done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber. I left this to cure and moved on.After this, I painted the logo on the stem with some nail polish. I restored the logo carefully and let it fully set before proceeding.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduce the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I want to remove the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the vulcanite. Following that, I use all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also apply pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done.Now that the stem is (nearly) complete, I can move on to the stummel. The first step for me is to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplishes a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleans the bowl and provides a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake is removed, I can inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there is damage or not. I used a reamer and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensure that all the debris is removed. Everything looked good inside the bowl.My next step was to remove the lava on the rim. For this, I took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. With a pipe this dirty, it took quite a while and much cotton to get clean.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused any remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I also wiped down the outside with some oil soap on cotton rounds (and a toothbrush). This does a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process is to scour the inside of the stummel with some soap and tube brushes. This is the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean. I used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) on the outside of the stummel to finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. I rubbed some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 20 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed it with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench buffer and carefully polished it – first with a white diamond compound, then with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and the stem glows.All done! This Pierre Morel handmade freehand volcano looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘French’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5⅜ in. (137 mm); height 1⅞ in. (48 mm); bowl diameter 1½ in. (38 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (19 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1½ oz. (45 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.