Tag Archives: Malaga Imported Briar pipes

A Beautifully Grained “Malaga” Prince from Kathy’s Dad’s Pipes

Blog by Steve Laug

I have been working on a lot of different estate pipes and selling them for different families. Once in a while it is good to change things up a bit. Last week Alex came by and went through the Malaga pipes from George Koch’s estate. I have a box of pipes from Alex that I am always working away at he added a few more Malaga pipes to his box. There are quite a few of them to work on so I decided work on a few of them. The first of these Malaga pipes is a beautifully grained Prince with a variegated silver, grey and black Lucite stem. It has a crowned rim top tipping inward toward the bowl and the grain combined with the stem make it a stunning pipe. The Prince shaped pipe was just one of the many Malaga pipes that came to my brother and me in several shipments of pipes from George’s daughter Kathy. When Jeff got each box the pipes were well wrapped and packed. Jeff unwrapped them and took the following photo to give an idea of the volume of the pipes that we purchased. This Malaga came to us mixed in a box of pipes much like the one below.In each of the previous blogs that I have written on the restoration of George’s pipes I have told his story. If you have followed the restorations you will have read the information and the background piece that Kathy did on her father. Here is a link to one of the previous blogs on his Malaga pipes where I included her tribute in full (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/01/26/back-to-kathys-dads-pipes-restoring-a-%c2%bc-bent-malaga-author/). You can also read the bio on her Dad, George Koch. It is an interesting read and one that shows just how far our pipe collecting passion can go when we find a brand of pipes that we enjoy. I am going to only include the portion on the Malagas at this point. If you wish to read the rest follow the link above.

Kathy writes…We lived in Livonia, and that’s where his love for Malaga pipes began. After a few years he returned to Allis Chalmers and we moved back to Springfield. I remember that when we went back to Michigan to visit friends, Dad had to go to the Malaga store and acquire a few new pipes. Many a year I wrote to Malaga and they picked out a pipe for me to purchase that I could give Dad for a Christmas or birthday present. He was always pleased. His favorites were the straight stemmed medium sized bowl pipes, but he liked them all.

He had some other pipes, but the Malagas were his favorites. I remember him smoking them sitting in his easy chair after work, with feet up on the ledge by the fire burning in the fireplace. Growing up it was my job to clean them and he liked the inner bowl and stem coated with Watkins vanilla, leaving a little of that liquid in the bowl to soak in when I put them back on the rack…I’m very happy they are being restored by you and your brother and hope they find homes who enjoy them as much as Dad did. Thank-you for your care and interest. — Kathy, the oldest daughter

The “Malaga” Prince and variegated black/silver/grey acrylic stem is next on the table. The carver did a great job of shaping the pipe to follow the grain on the briar. The bowl top is smooth and slightly beveled inward. The rim top was thickly coated in lava so that it was impossible to see if there was some damage on the top and inner edge. The bowl had a very thick cake and an overflow of lava onto the thin rim top. The sides of the bowl and shank are very dirty with grime and oils from prolonged use. The stamping on the left side of the shank read “MALAGA”. On the right side it was stamped Imported Briar. The black/grey/silver swirled acrylic stem had tooth dents and chatter on the top and the underside of the stem. Jeff took these photos before he started the cleanup work on the pipe. Jeff took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The rim top had some lava overflow and some darkening. It was so dirty that it was hard to know if there was rim damage on the inner edge of the bowl. The pipe is incredibly dirty, even the externals of the bowl were covered with grime.He also took photos of the sides and bottom of the bowl and shank to show the beautiful straight and cross grain around the bowl. The photos show the general condition of the bowl and wear on the finish. It is very dirty but this is another beautiful pipe. Jeff took a photo to capture the stamping on the right and left side of the shank. The photos show the stamping “MALAGA” on the left side and Imported Briar on the right side. The stamping is weak but readable. The next two photos show the stem surface. There are tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There is also some wear on the sharp edge of the button.I am also including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. I have written an earlier blog to give a little history of the Malaga Brand and the pipemaker, George Khoubesser. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/tag/malaga-pipes/.That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. Follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the damage to the flat surface of the rim and the inner edge on the back side and on the outer edge toward the front of the bowl. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem. You can see the condition of the rim top and bowl in the first photo. Jeff was able to remove all of the tar and oils but you can now see the damaged areas on the surface clearly. There are damaged spots all around the top surface and on the front and the backside of the inner edge of the bowl. The acrylic/Lucite stem had tooth chatter and some tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near and on the button surface. I took a photo of the stamping on the shank to show how good the condition is. The stamp is faint but it is still legible on the left side and the right side.I decided to address the damage to the rim top first. I lightly topped the rim top on a topping board with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper minimize the damage on surface of the rim top. I worked over the inner and outer edge of the rim with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage. I gave it a slight bevel to hide the burn damage on the inner edge of the rim. The photos tell the story. The damage to the rim top is gone and the inner edge looks far better with the light bevel. The damage to the outer edge looks much better than when I began. After sanding the rim I cleaned the briar once again using Mark Hoover’s Before & After Briar Cleaner. I rubbed it into the briar and let it sit for about 5 minutes then rinsed it off under warm running water. The product does a good job drawing out the dust, debris and oils from the surface of the briar and leaving behind a clean exterior. With the exterior recleaned I also wanted to reclean the insides. I had noted a bit of hard lacquered tars on the wall of the shank so I scraped it with a dental spatula and was able to remove it. I then used alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners to clean up the mess I had made. I used an awl to make sure the airway into the bowl was wide open for maximum draw. I also ran pipe cleaners and alcohol through the stem and a dental pick to clear out the debris that was in the slot. I polished the rim top and the exterior of the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad to remove the dust. The damage on the rim is pretty much invisible after polishing and the rim top really looked good. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. It took some time to really get it into the grooves and valleys of the rustication but I was able to work it in. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The reworked rim top looks really good and matches the colour of the rest of the pipe. I am very happy with the results. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. There were some tooth marks on the top and underside at the button that needed to be addressed. I also needed to do some work on the surface of the button on both sides. I cleaned the surface of the stem with alcohol on a cotton pad and filled in the damaged areas and built up the surface of the button with clear super glue. I set the stem aside until the repairs cured.Once the repair had cured I used a needle file to smooth out the repairs and begin to blend them into the surface of the stem.I sanded both sides smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and 400 grit sandpaper to blend the tooth chatter and the repair into the surface of the stem. As I sanded and reshaped the button and stem surface the repaired areas and the tooth chatter disappeared.I polished the acrylic stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit sanding pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. This is a beautiful “Malaga” pipe and the silver/black/grey stem gives it a nice touch of class. The rim top and the cut of the briar work well to highlight the flame and straight grain around the bowl sides. I polished Lucite stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple 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 grain took on life with the buffing. The rich oil cured colour works well with the polished variegated black/grey/silver Lucite stem. The finished pipe has a rich look that is quite catching. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 1/2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 of an inch. I will be adding the pipe to the finished Malaga pipes that I have finished for Alex. I look forward to seeing what he thinks of this beauty. I am glad that he is carrying on the trust for George Koch. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another one of Kathy’s Dad’s Pipes.

Getting Rid of a Foul Smell in a third pipe – a Malaga Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have a box of some 25 pipes that I am working through for a friend here in Vancouver. The next group of four pipes that I am working on came to me in a sour, stinky condition. Alex had smoked them and found that as he smoked them each one became fouler. From my experience this happens when a pipe has not been thoroughly cleaned in the process of restoration. Sometimes even if it has been cleaned, the first few smokes draw out a foul taste and in this case an odor that made me put the four pipes in a zip lock bad to keep the odor contained. They really stunk! On Sunday evening I decided to give the foursome a cotton ball and alcohol treatment to draw out the oils and tars in the briar. I pushed cotton balls into the bowl and a folded pipe cleaner in the shank and used an ear syringe to fill the bowl with isopropyl alcohol. I set the pipes aside to let the alcohol do its work overnight. I know many of you use kosher salt and alcohol and that certainly is your choice. For me however the cotton balls work just as effectively in providing a medium for the foul juices drawn out of a pipe to be deposited. They are also easier to clean up and they do not leave residual salts in the briar. In the morning I took a photo of the finished work. You can see the effectiveness of the treatment.I took the cotton out of the bowls of the pipes and wiped the bowl down with pipe cleaners and cotton swabs to dry them out. The pipe I decided to work on is the beautifully grained straight pot, the third pipe from the right in the photo above. It is stamped on the left side of the shank “MALAGA” and on the right side of the shank is stamped Imported Briar. Alex has grown to love Malaga pipes and continues to pick them up on eBay and other places on his journey. It was another pipe that the seller said was clean but after several smokes Alex deemed it unsmokable. It was now up to me to figure out what was going on. I examined the pipe when I took out the cotton balls and alcohol and I learned a few things about it that would need to be addressed. The rim top and inner and outer edges of the rim were in rough condition. It looked like the pipe had been used for a hammer. The finish was spotty with nicks and marks. The bowl had some cake inside and it too would need to be reamed out. The stem was the best of the lot. It was clean and was free of tooth marks or chatter. I wondered what the airway was like but that is an easy clean up. I took some photos of the pipe at this point. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to capture the damage to the rim top and light cake in the bowl. The rim top was in bad condition with nicks and cuts. The inner and outer edges were rough. The bowl was out of round. It needed some more work to clean it up but at least the cotton ball alcohol treatment had rid the pipe of the rank smell. The stem was in the best condition of the four pipes. It did not have tooth chatter or marks and was not oxidized.I took a photo to capture the stamping on the right and left side of the shank. The first photo shows “MALAGA” on the left side of the shank. The second photo shows the stamping on the right side it reads Imported Briar. The stamping on this pipe is readable.Now that the stink was gone I did not even think of cleaning the shank and airway I just immediately went to the most irritating part of this pipe – the beat up rim top and edges. I topped it on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage to the rimtop and to try to minimize the damage to the inner and outer edges. The rim top looked significantly better as can be seen in the second photo below. I cleaned up the outer edge with some sandpaper and wiped it down. I filled in the deep nicks in the edge with briar dust and super glue.I sanded the edge repairs with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the briar. I would polish out the scratches later but for now the edge was at least smooth. Once the outer edge was cleaned up I worked on the inner edge. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper and smoothed out the edge. I gave the edge a slight bevel to take care of the rim damage and darkening that was present.I polished the rim top and the rest of the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I used the wet sanding on the first three pads to give me the traction to remove the scratches in the briar and the dry sanding to polish the briar. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. At this point in the process the finish looked very uneven to me – even spotty. I decided to wipe down the bowl and shank with isopropyl alcohol to remove the uneven finish. I was able to even out the look of the finish to a point where I was happy with the look. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the bowl and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The bowl and the rim top look really good and the damage is gone. I am very happy with the results. It was at this point that I realized that I had not reamed the bowl or done any cleaning of the internals after the cotton ball and alcohol treatment. I had been so intent on cleaning up the damaged rim that I totally skipped my normal pattern of work. So I went back to ream the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the inside of the bowl with a piece of dowel wrapped with 220 grit sandpaper to remove all remnants of the cake. When I was finished the bowl walls were smooth and clean.I cleaned out the airway in the shank and stem with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. I cleaned out the mortise in the shank with cotton swabs and alcohol until the mortise walls were clean and looked bare. I stopped and checked out the smell of the pipe and it was clean and fresh smelling.The stem on this Malaga was flawless. There were no tooth marks and no chatter. The stem absolutely glow it was so clean so there was nothing to be done with it. I wiped it down with some Obsidian Oil to protect and deepen the shine but otherwise it was perfect.

I put the stem back on the bowl and polished the pipe with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain came alive with the buffing. The rich brown finish on the briar works well with the polished black vulcanite stem. The finished pipe is a beauty and feels great in the hand. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 3/4 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 9/16 inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. This one will be going back to Alex with the other two previously foul pipes that I worked on. Thanks for walking through the restoration on this now great looking “Malaga”. It is really a beauty. I think Alex should get a better smoke from it now.

Back to Kathy’s Dad’s Pipes – A ¼ Bent Malaga Author

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is also from George Koch’s estate. It is another one of George’s Malaga pipes – a ¼ bent Author with an acrylic stem. The pipe was one of many that came to my brother and me in several shipments of pipes from George’s daughter Kathy. When Jeff got each box the pipes were well wrapped and packed. Jeff unwrapped them and took the following photo to give an idea of the volume of the pipes that we purchased. The next Malaga came in mixed in a box of pipes much like the one below.In each of the previous blogs that I have written on the restoration of George’s pipes I have told his story. It has been awhile since I worked on one of his pipes so I want to remind you of his story. To me it is important to keep the story attached to the pipes that came from his collection. Each pipe I work on I remind myself of the man and in the work give a remembrance to the pipeman who owned these pipes. Having held a large number of his pipes in my hand and having a pretty good feel for the shapes, colour and stems that he liked, I can almost imagine George picking out each pipe in his collection at the Malaga shop in Michigan. I am including Kathy’s brief bio of her father and a photo of her Dad enjoying his “Malagas”. Here is George’s bio written by his daughter.

Dad was born in 1926 and lived almost all his life in Springfield, Illinois. He was the youngest son of German immigrants and started grade school knowing no English. His father was a coal miner who died when Dad was about seven and his sixteen year old brother quit school to go to work to support the family. There was not much money, but that doesn’t ruin a good childhood, and dad had a good one, working many odd jobs, as a newspaper carrier, at a dairy, and at the newspaper printing press among others.

He learned to fly even before he got his automobile driver’s license and carried his love of flying with him through life, recertifying his license in retirement and getting his instrumental license in his seventies and flying until he was grounded by the FAA in his early eighties due to their strict health requirements. (He was never happy with them about that.) He was in the Army Air Corps during World War II, trained to be a bomber, but the war ended before he was sent overseas. He ended service with them as a photographer and then earned his engineering degree from University of Illinois. He worked for Allis Chalmers manufacturing in Springfield until the early sixties, when he took a job at Massey Ferguson in Detroit, Michigan.

We lived in Livonia, and that’s where his love for Malaga pipes began. After a few years he returned to Allis Chalmers and we moved back to Springfield. I remember that when we went back to Michigan to visit friends, Dad had to go to the Malaga store and acquire a few new pipes. Many a year I wrote to Malaga and they picked out a pipe for me to purchase that I could give Dad for a Christmas or birthday present. He was always pleased. His favorites were the straight stemmed medium sized bowl pipes, but he liked them all.

He had some other pipes, but the Malagas were his favorites. I remember him smoking them sitting in his easy chair after work, with feet up on the ledge by the fire burning in the fireplace. Growing up it was my job to clean them and he liked the inner bowl and stem coated with Watkins vanilla, leaving a little of that liquid in the bowl to soak in when I put them back on the rack. Dad quit smoking later in life and so they’ve sat on the racks for many years unattended, a part of his area by his easy chair and fireplace. Dad passed when he was 89 years old and it finally is time for the pipes to move on. I’m very happy they are being restored by you and your brother and hope they find homes who enjoy them as much as Dad did. Thank-you for your care and interest. — Kathy, the oldest daughter

Thank you Kathy for providing this beautiful tribute to your Dad. Jeff and I appreciate your trust in allowing us to clean and restore these pipes. We are also trusting that those of you who are reading this might carry on the legacy of her Dad’s pipes as they will be added to the rebornpipes store once they are finished.

The next the pipe is a nicely shaped Malaga ¼ Bent Author with a variegated grey and black acrylic stem. It has beautiful grain all around the bowl – flame grain around the bowl and birdseye grain on the bottom of the bowl and shank that is highlighted by the natural oil finish on the pipe. It is a well-shaped pipe following the pattern of the grain.The top of the bowl has some damage on the top and inner and outer edges. The bowl had a very thick cake and cobwebs in the bowl. There was an overflow of lava onto the thin rim top. The stamping on the top left side of the shank read “MALAGA”. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Imported Briar (upside down). The grey and black swirled, pearlized acrylic stem had tooth dents and chatter on the top and the underside of the stem. Jeff took these photos before he started the cleanup work on the pipe. Jeff took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to show the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The rim top had some lava overflow and some darkening. There appeared to be some rim damage on the inner edge the right side of the bowl. You can see the wear on the rim top, the cake and cobwebs in the bowl. The pipe is dirty but in good condition. He also took photos of the sides and bottom of the bowl and shank from the side to show the grain. The finish is very dirty but this is another beautiful pipe. Jeff took some photos to capture the stamping on the top left side of the diamond shank. The photo shows stamping “MALAGA”. The stamping does not have the quotation marks that I have seen on some of the pipes. The next two photos show the stem surface. There are tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There is also some wear on the sharp edge of the button.Jeff has picked up quite pipes of this brand over the past year along with the ones from Kathy’s Dad’s estate. All of the pipes were made by the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. The more I work on the brand the more I am impressed by the quality of the craftsmanship and beauty of the pipes that came from the shop. I have written an earlier blog to give a little history of the Malaga Brand if you are interested: https://rebornpipes.com/tag/malaga-pipes/. That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser). Follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

Jeff had reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. The rim was thoroughly cleaned and the damage was very clear. Without the grime the finish looked really good. The bowl looked very clean and was unchecked or damaged. The acrylic stem would need to be worked on but I really liked the profile it cast. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem. You can see the condition of the rim top and bowl in the first photo. Jeff was able to remove all of the tar and oils but you can now see the damaged areas on the surface clearly. There are damaged spots all around the top surface and on the inner edge of the bowl. The acrylic/Lucite stem had tooth chatter and some tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem just ahead of the button. I took some photos of the stamping on the shank to show the condition but to also show the upside Imported Briar stamping on the right side.I decided to address the damage to the rim top first. I worked over the thin rim top and the inner and outer edges with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper and followed that by sanding it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the rim top and the rest of the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl and rim off after each sanding pad to remove the dust. The rim really shone once it was polished. I rubbed down the briar with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the smooth surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little wall and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The rim matches well but still needs to be polished and buffed to raise a shine on it. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. There were some tooth marks on the top and underside at the button that needed to be addressed. I sanded both sides smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and 400 grit sandpaper to blend the tooth chatter into the surface of the stem. When it was sanded it was smooth and the marks were gone. I used several round and oval needle files to open up the round airway in the end of the button and give shape to a slot. I polished the acrylic stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit sanding pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish and wiped it down with a last coat of Obsidian Oil. I polished stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The straight, flame and birdseye grain really came with the buffing. The rich oil cured colour works well with the polished variegated grey/black acrylic stem. Together the pipe looks much better than when I began and has a rich look. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 5 3/4 inches, Height: 1 1/4 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/2 inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 of an inch. I will be putting this newly finished Malaga pipe on the rebornpipes store shortly if you are interested in adding it to your collection and carrying on the trust. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another one of Kathy’s Dad’s Pipes.

Restoring an Unusual Malaga Carved Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

In the late spring I received and email from Josh (misterzippo), a reader of the blog that he had some pipes that he thought I might be interested in. He sent me photos of the pipes so I could have a look at them. One of the pipes that interested me was a Malaga Bulldog with a twist in the carving and a scoop in the top of the bowl. The first picture he sent shows the overall condition and appearance of the pipe. The shape intrigued me – the diamond shank and stem with twists carved in the bowl, shank and down the stem as well. The pipe was dirty with the finish having thick sticky build up around the bowl and shank in all of the carved areas. The groove around the cap of the bowl was very dirty. The stem had oxidation and some heavy calcification. All of that was visible in the first picture. The tape measure in the photo shows that the pipe is about 5 ½ inches long with a saddle stem.That first picture set the hook for me, but it did not prepare me for what the next photos would reveal. The briar had white paint flecks all over the bowl sides. Under the dirt and sticky grime there appeared to be some nice grain on the pipe. There was a large burn mark on rear left side of the cap where it looked like the pipe had been set in an ashtray and a cigarette had burned a spot. There were also some burn marks along the outer edge of the bowl on the front and the rear.The cake in the bowl was incredibly thick and it was hard as a rock. The cake had overflowed the bowl onto the rim leaving behind a thick hard lava coat. Looking at the bowl I have no idea how the previous owner had ever been able to smoke it in this condition – maybe he smoked it until it hit this spot and then laid it aside. Looking to the bowl is like looking down into a dirty chimney that needed the attention of a chimney sweep.The stamping on the left side of the shank read “MALAGA” and looked like it had either a burn mark on the MAL or possibly just a lot of tarry build up. Only having in hand would I be able to really know what I was dealing with.

We struck a deal and I picked up a few of Josh’s pipes to work on. I was really intrigued with the shape of that little Malaga as I have worked on a few of them over the years but never one with this kind of shape. Here is a link to a blog I wrote on a beautiful little Malaga Lovat (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/02/27/a-beautiful-malaga-lovat-came-my-way/).

George Khoubesser (picture to the left) started Malaga Briar Pipe Company and located it in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA in 1939. It closed its doors for the last time in 1999 after 60 years in business. I have an old Malaga Catalogue that I scanned and put on the blog (https://rebornpipes.com/2013/02/09/george-khoubesser-and-malaga-pipes/). The catalogue describes the manufacture of the pipes as follows:

Painstaking caution is exercised in selecting flawless, perfect briar wood for the purpose of making and Curing of the “Malaga.” You can be certain of this fact, because none other than the choicest and finest select briarwood will withstand the “Malaga” Curing process. Other than the choicest quality and grain, will split wide open in the Curing vats… The Curing method renders all “Malaga” pipes, light in weight… Most all “Malaga” Senior pipes are left in their natural state; except for a skillful waxing which brings out the rich beauty of the virgin grain. No artificial polishing stain, shellac or varnishes are added.

Malaga closed in 1999 after 60 years in business.

I had Josh ship it to my brother Jeff. I figured he would have a good time cleaning it up. I could not wait to hear what he thought of it. When it came he showed it to me over Facetime. The condition was dirty for sure – exactly like the photos Josh sent me. But it was in decent shape so it would be a fun one to bring it back to life. The finish was dirty and had some stickiness to the sides of the bowl and shank. The stem fit far better than the photos showed. The bowl indeed was as thickly caked as the photos Josh sent had shown but it was softer than I expected. The lava on the rim was thick but it was flaky so it would come off easier than I thought. The stamping on it read “MALAGA” on the left side of the shank as noted above but it also was stamped Imported Briar on the right side of the shank. Jeff took the follow photos of the pipe before he worked his magic doing the cleanup.The close up photos Jeff took of the rim top and bowl show just how thick and dirty this pipe was when he received it in Idaho. Looking at it I am glad that he did the cleanup work because it looked like a bear to work on.The next photos show the grain poking through the grimy finish on the sides of the bowl. It really was hard to see what was grime and what might be burn marks on the briar of the bowl and shank.The next photos show the stamping on the top left and right angle of the carved diamond shank of the pipe. You can still read the stamping. You can see the marks on the first letters of Malaga on the shank and it is not clear if it is damage or grime. The stem appeared to be in rough shape. Not only was it heavily oxidized and had thick clacification around the first inch of the stem from the button forward, but the button was worn and had tooth marks in the top and underside. The calcification and the tooth marks on the button made me wonder if the pipe had sported a Softee Bit before coming to me. I was looking forward to what the pipe would look like when Jeff had finished putting it through his cleaning process. He reamed it with a PipNet Reamer and took the cake back to bare briar. He cleaned up the little remnants of cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals of the pipe – the airways in the shank, mortise and stem using alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. He scrubbed the exterior of the briar and stem with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove all of the thick grime. He rinsed it under tap water and dried it off with a towel. He soaked the stem in OxiClean to bring the oxidation to the surface and soften it. The burn marks on the front outer edge of the bowl and the back left inner and outer edge – both moving onto the rim top. There was a burn spot on the left side on the cap where the bowl had been set in an ashtray and burned. I was not sure that I would be able to remove that. When the pipe arrived I was excited to have a look at it. Here is what I saw once it arrived. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the burn damage to that part of the bowl and also of the left side of the bowl. I would need to see what I could do to minimize these marks without changing the profile of the bowl. Jeff had gotten the thick cake cleaned out and the inner edge of the bowl look to be in good shape.The oxidation on the stem was pretty heavy but it was on the surface. The calcification was gone. Underneath where it had been there were tooth marks and chatter that had been hidden.I decided to use the Before & After Pipe Deoxidizer again. I keep it in a flat plastic tray with a cover. I put the stem in the mixture and made sure that the stem was completely covered with the mixture. I put the lid on the tray and set it aside to soak for the day. I purchased the Deoxidizer from a guy on Facebook. His name is Mark Hoover and he is on the Gentlemen’s Pipe Smoking Society Group on Facebook. He has a pen making site where you can email and order the deoxidizer and the polishes (http://www.lbepen.com/). I have to admit I becoming less skeptical than I was at the beginning.I set the tray aside to let it soak for the day and turned my attention to the bowl. I took some photos of the bowl to capture the grain and the interesting shape of the carving. The photos also clearly show the damage to the side of the bowl and the rim top. I sanded the burned areas on the left side of the bowl and the rim top with 220 grit sandpaper. I was careful to sand all the way around the cap and the rim to keep things smooth. I wanted to remove the damaged areas on the edges of the bowl and rim as well as some of the nicks on the rim top. I wiped down the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to remove the grime from the sanding and the debris from around the damaged areas. I was able to remove much of the damage on the rim top and edges. The burn mark on the left side of the cap looked better but I would not be able to remove it much more than I already had. I laid the pipe aside and my daughter Sarah and I decided to go out for lunch. We caught the bus and headed down town to try a new place. We were gone for three hours including lunch and transit. When I returned I took the stem out of the Deoxidizer and wiped off the excess mixture. I dried off the stem with a clean rag. I took the following photos to show how well the soak had worked to remove the oxidation.I took some photos of the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button.I sanded the surface of both sides of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth marks and reshape the button.The stem was loose in the mortise so I heated and awl with a Bic lighter and inserted it in the airway in the tenon. This caused the tenon to expand and correct the looseness in the shank.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and wiping the stem down after each pad with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded the stem with 3200-12000 grit pads and repeated the rub down with oil. After the final coat of oil following the 12000 grit pad I set the stem aside to dry. I then polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad with a damp cotton pad. I dry sanded the briar with 3200-12000 grit pads and wiped it down after each pad with a damp cotton pad. The dark spot of the burn mark really bugged me. I have been hunting for ways to minimize it without doing damage to the integrity of the briar. I googled and found a recipe that was supposed to remove burn marks or heat marks. I thought I would try it and see what happened. Here is the recipe.

Mix a generic baking soda and a non-gel variety of toothpaste in a small bowl until it is a sticky paste. Put the paste over the heat mark and give it a few minutes to set. After about five minutes, the heat mark should wipe away with a clean rag. Be sure to wipe away any remaining residue from the paste as well.

I took photos of bowl with the mixture on the burn marks. I applied the paste with my finger and rubbed it into the burned areas. I repeated the treatment twice this morning. It worked to some degree as shown in the photos below. It definitely removed the lighter burn marks on the rim top and took out a small spot on the front of the cap. It also lightened the burn mark on the front outer edge of the rim and the large mark on the left side. On advice from Mark Domingues I also tried to spot dab the darkest part of the burn with bleach, being careful to not get it on the rest of the surrounding area. It lightened it a little more but did not completely remove it. I think that probably the burn was too deep to actually remove all of it.I wiped the bowl down with a little olive oil on a paper towel and hand buffed it so that the oil would be absorbed. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad (many people do not do this step but it is critical to get a good shine). I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Even though the burn mark bugs me it does give the pipe character and reflects on its previous history. I have to always remember that we hold our pipes in trust – we are stewards as Dal Stanton calls it. Our task is to take good care of the pipe while it is in our hands and to leave it in good condition to pass on to the next steward. Thanks for looking.