Tag Archives: “Malaga” pipes made in Michigan USA

New Beginnings for a Malaga Custom Carved Freehand

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to me from another of our estate purchases. It has been around for a while waiting to be worked on. Jeff did the original photographs of the pipe in December 2019. It is a beautifully grained Malaga Freehand that is really quite nice. The stamping is the faint but readable. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads the Malaga [over] Custom Carved. The Malaga Oil finish had a lot of grime ground into the bowl and some darkening around the sides of the bowl. The bowl was heavily caked and had an overflow of lava on the top of the rim. It was hard to know what the rim top and inner edge of the bowl looked like under the grime. The rim top and shank end is plateau finished and had a lot of grime ground into them. The fancy turned Freehand stem was calcified, oxidized and had light tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside. There were also some wrinkles from when the stem was bent on the underside in the bend itself. The surface of the button was surprisingly free of damage. The pipe had promise but it was very dirty. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the thickness of the cake and the overflow of lava on the rim top. It is hard to know what the rim edge looks like under the lava coat. He also took photos of the fancy turned portion of the stem as well as the top and underside of the stem to show the oxidation, calcification, light chatter and tooth marks. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar around the pipe looked like. There is some interesting grain under the grime. He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. They read as noted above. 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.

Since Jeff follows the same pattern of work in his cleanup we do not include photos but rather just a simple summary. 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 damages to the top and edges of the rim. I think this pipe may well been before we worked with Mark Hoover’s Before & After Deoxidizer so he cleaned the internals and externals. The stem was clean but lightly oxidized. I took photos of what the pipe looked like when I brought to my worktable. The plateau rim top cleaned up really well with the lava coat removed. The rim top, inner and out edges of the rim showed some darkening. There is some burn damage on the back beveled edge. The stem surface looked very good with heavy oxidation remaining and some light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. You can also see the wrinkles in the vulcanite on the underside of the stem that occurred when the stem was bent. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the well shaped Freehand. Now it was time to do my work on the pipe. To remove the damage to the rim top and the inner edges of the bowl I worked them over with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I was able to clean up the smooth bevel and smooth out the damages.I polished the bowl and the rim top, sides and shank with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad with a damp cloth. I carefully avoided the stamping on the top and underside of the shank so as not to damage the already faint stamping. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides, plateau top and shank end with my fingertips and a horse hair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. While I was working on the bowl the stem was soaking in a new product I received from Briarville Pipe Repair – Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. It is a liquid of about the same consistency as apple juice. The stem sat in the mixture for 2 ½ -3 hours. I removed the stem from the bath, scrubbed lightly with a tooth brush and dried if off with a paper towel. I was surprised that it was quite clean. Just some light oxidation on the top of the saddle remaining. The bath was dark with the removed oxidation of the seven stems. I cleaned out the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. I scrubbed the stem surface with Soft Scrub All Purpose cleanser to remove the remaining oxidation. The oxidation was strongest in the twists and turns of the lower portion of the stem. It took quite a bit of elbow grease to remove the oxidation but when I was finished it looked very good. I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This well made, classic Malaga Custom Carved Freehand with a fancy turned vulcanite stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The rich oil finish that Malaga used came alive with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Malaga Custom Carved is a beauty with combination of smooth and plateau rim and shank end. It fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 ¼ inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Life for a “Malaga” 1 Imported Briar Billiard with a Twin Bore Stem

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to me from another of our estate purchases. It has been around for a while waiting to be worked on. Jeff did the original photographs of the pipe in February of 2017. It is a beautifully grained “Malaga” Billiard that really quite nice. The stamping is the clear and readable. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads the “Malaga”. The stamping on the right side of the shank reads Imported Briar. On the underside of the bowl it is stamped with the number 1. The Malaga Oil finish had a lot of grime ground into the bowl and some darkening around the sides of the bowl. The bowl was heavily caked and had an overflow of lava on the top of the rim. It was hard to know what the rim top and inner edge of the bowl looked like under the grime. The Twin Bore taper stem and was calcified, oxidized and had light tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside but the surface of the button was surprisingly free of damage. The pipe had promise but it was very dirty. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the thickness of the cake and the overflow of lava on the rim top. You can see the damage on both the outer and the inner edge of the bowl. He also took photos of the top and underside of the stem to show the oxidation, calcification, light chatter and tooth marks. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar around the pipe looked like. There is some interesting grain under the grime. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and the heel of the bowl. They read as noted above. 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.

Since Jeff follows the same pattern of work in his cleanup we do not include photos but rather just a simple summary. 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 damages to the top and edges of the rim. I think this pipe may well been before we worked with Mark Hoover’s Before & After Deoxidizer so he cleaned the internals and externals. The stem was clean but lightly oxidized. I took photos of what the pipe looked like when I brought to my worktable. The rim top cleaned up really well with the lava coat removed. The rim top, inner and out edges of the rim showed some damage. The stem surface looked very good with heavy oxidation remaining and some light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. I took photos of the stamping on the sides if the shank. It reads as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. It is a well shaped billiard. Now it was time to do my work on the pipe. To remove the damage to the rim top and the edges of the bowl I topped it on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. I also worked over the inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damages there. I polished the bowl and the rim top, sides and shank with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad with a damp cloth. I carefully avoided the stamping on the top and underside of the shank so as not to damage the already faint stamping. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. While I was working on the bowl the stem was soaking in a new product I received from Briarville Pipe Repair – Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. It is a liquid of about the same consistency as apple juice. The stem sat in the mixture for 2 ½ -3 hours. I removed the stem from the bath, scrubbed lightly with a tooth brush and dried if off with a paper towel. I was surprised that it was quite clean. Just some light oxidation on the top of the saddle remaining. The bath was dark with the removed oxidation of the seven stems. I cleaned out the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This well made, classic “Malaga” Imported Briar “1” Billiard with a vulcanite taper Twin Bore stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The rich oil finish that Malaga used came alive with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished “Malaga” Billiard is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¼ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

New Life for a “Malaga” Twisted Billiard with a Damaged Shank

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a “Malaga” pipe that is made in a shape that I would define as a twisted billiard. It has some great cross and birdseye grain and a tapered vulcanite stem with a quarter bent. The grain around the bowl and shank combined with the stem make it a stunning pipe. The issue is that it has a huge chunk. The carver did a great job of uniquely shaping the pipe to follow the grain on the briar. The twists and turns in the bowl are well done. The bowl had a thick cake that overflowed with lava onto the rim and there was significant burn damage on the top front inner of the bowl. 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” with the ending quotation just ahead of the missing chunk of briar. Someone had obviously banded the pipe somewhere along the way to hide the damaged shank. By the time it came to us the band was missing and it left behind a darkened shank end on the briar. The vulcanite stem had light tooth dents and chatter on the top and the underside of the stem. The button was worn on both sides. 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 darkening on the back of the bowl and some serious burn damage to the inner edge on the bowl front. The burn marks appeared to be quite deep on the inner edge on the right front side of the grimy pipe. The stem is oxidized and dirty and there is tooth damage on the button edges and surfaces. He also took photos of the sides and bottom of the bowl and shank to show the beautiful 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 shank. The photos show the stamping “MALAGA” on the left side of the shank. The stamping is very readable. The break in the shank fortunately happens after the quotation marks on the stamping. He also took photos of the cracked and damaged shank so you can see the extent of the damages. 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 the flat surface of the rim looked very good. The inner edge of the rim has some serious burn damage on the front inner edge. The outer edge looked very good. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it with hot water. 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 damage on the inside rim edge. The edge is out of round. There is a burn mark that extends across the front and the back edge of the rim top at that point leaving the bowl edges out of round. The vulcanite stem had tooth chatter on both sides near and on the button surface.I took a photo of the stamping on the shank to show how good the condition is. It shows the “MALAGA” stamp on the left side. The stamping is very legible. You can see the large chip of briar out of the left side of the shank.I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to give a clear picture of the character of the pipe.I decided to start the restoration bu dealing with the cracked shank. I have repaired these several ways in the past. I have cut out a chunk of briar and carved it to fit the damaged area. I have also built up the area with briar dust and super glue I the past. I chose to use the briar dust and super glue method this time. I coated the edges of the cut with super glue and used a dental spatula to layer on the briar dust. I gave it a layer of glue and another lay of briar dust until I had filled in the damaged area.The repair was solid. It was thicker than necessary but it was exactly what I wanted. I would need to reshape it and bring it back into round with files and sandpaper. I shaped the inside of the shank with a needle file to bring it to round and allow the tenon to fit in the shank. Once I had the finish roughed in I smoothed it out with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the exterior of the finish and blend it into the surrounding briar. I went through my bands to find a brass band that would fit the shank. I wanted to band it after it was repair to protect the repaired shank and cracks from further damage with the insertion of the stem.I painted glue on the shank end pressed the band in place. The band is thin enough to protect the stamping on the shank and thick enough to protect the repair. I took photos of the bowl from various angles to show the look of the repaired and banded shank. I slipped the stem in the shank and took photos of the repaired and banded shank with the stem in place.The bowl had a wave in it so it was not possible to top it on a topping board. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the damage on the top and on the front inner edge of the bowl. I gave the inner edge a slight bevel to repair the damage. I polished the edge with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. The rim top and edges really looked better. There was still more work to do but it was looking better. I polished the rim top and the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded the bowl with 1500-2400 grit sanding pads to prepare the rim top for staining. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I restained the rim top and edges with a Maple Stain Pen. I was able to blend it into the rest of the bowl. Polishing it with the rest of the micromesh pads would make the blend perfect. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I am very happy with the results. I turned to the stem to address the issues on the surface of both sides at the button. I reshaped the button edges with 220 grit sandpaper and a needle file. Once it was shaped I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad Obsidian Oil. I finished by polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish both fine and extra Fine and then wiped it down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil. This Malaga Twisted Billiard with a vulcanite tapered stem turned out to be a real beauty. It has a great grain around the bowl and the carver really maximized that with the shape of the pipe. The repaired shank looks quite good and the brass band is a nice addition to the look of the pipe. Everything about the pipe – the shape of the bowl, the beveled rim top and the cut of the briar work well to highlight the grain around the bowl sides. I polished stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel and the grain just popped and came alive. 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 took on life with the buffing. The rich oil cured colour works well with the polished vulcanite 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 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. I will be adding the pipe to the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your rack send me an email or message on Facebook. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another estate pipe.