Tag Archives: Nording Pipes

New Life for a Nording A Freehand

Blog by Steve Laug

I don’t remember where this pipe came from but it showed a lot of promise. It is stamped Nording Made in Denmark in a circle with an “A” in the center of the circle on the underside of the shank. The bowl is sandblasted around the bowl and shank. The stamping is on the smooth panel on the underside of the shank. There is a smooth ring of briar on the shank just ahead of the yellow acrylic ring. The ring is asymmetrical like the shank. The rim top is a combination of smooth briar curving upward to plateau on the rim top. The stem was vulcanite and was oxidized and had some calcification on each side of the stem for the first inch ahead of the button. I think that at some point in its life before it came to me it had a rubber Softee bit on the stem to protect it from tooth marks and chatter. It had done its job and there were no tooth marks or chatter on the surface of the stem. I took the following photos of the pipe before I worked on it. I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem to show the condition it was in when I started the cleanup. The plateau on the rim was dirty with dust and tars in the grooves of the plateau. The grooves of the sandblast were also dusty and dirty. The inside of the bowl appeared to be in good condition under the thin cake. The close up photos of the stem shows the oxidation and calcification on the surface. On the second photo, the top side of the stem you can see the faint remnants of the Nording signature N. There is very little of the stamping left in the vulcanite. The vulcanite stem has an interesting spiral look that gives a sense of whimsy to the pipe that will become more apparent after the polishing.I took a photo of the underside of the shank – you can see the circular Nording Made in Denmark encircling a capital “A”. The yellow acrylic shank extension.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer using the second and third cutting heads to take the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the remnants of cake in the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I finished the cleaning of the inside of the bowl with 200 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I turned it in the bowl until the bowl was smooth and clean. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap. I scrubbed the plateau rim top with a brass bristle brush to remove the tars and oil in the grooves. I rinsed the bowl with warm water in the sink while scrubbing the finish with the tooth brush to remove the dust and grime. I took photos of the pipe after cleaning. It was starting to look very good. I scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. Once the grime was removed the pipe smelled good and looked good.I rubbed some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar to enliven, clean and preserve it. I rubbed it in with my fingertips working it into the briar. I worked it into the plateau rim and the sandblast on the sides of the shank and the bowl. I buffed it into the finish with a horsehair shoe brush. I set it aside for a little while to let the balm do its work. I buffed it off with a cotton cloth and a shoe brush. The photos below show the pipe at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the oxidation and the calcification on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper. I was able to remove the oxidation and the calcification and the stem actually began to look really good.I polished the stem using micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and then buffing on the wheel with red Tripoli. I dry sanded the stem with 3200-12000 grit pads to further polish it. After each pad I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil to protect and enliven the stem. When I finished with the final pad I gave it the stem another coat of oil and set it aside to dry. This interesting mixed finish Freehand is a classic Nording. Everything about the shape, style, and the craftsmanship of the stem say Nording. The Nording Made In Denmark stamp with the “A” in the middle gives the grade of the pipe. I am not sure where it fits in the Nording hierarchy but it is a well-made pipe. The shape of the pipe takes full advantage of the sandblast grain on the briar. The mix of grains – straight, flame and birdseye all work together to give the sandblast finish a beautiful look from any direction it is viewed. The reddish colour of the bowl and shank with the bright yellow acrylic shank work together well with the polished black of the vulcanite stem. I buffed the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond polish to raise the shine on the briar and the vulcanite. I was careful to not buff the stamping and damage it. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are: Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 1/4 inches, Outside Diameter: 1 3/4 inches, Diameter of the chamber: 7/8 of an inch. It is an interesting pipe and should make a great addition to anyone’s rack. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me.

Refreshing a Nording Hand Made Freehand Pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

One of the most unusual pipes in the estate pipes that my brother Jeff purchased and sent to me recently was a freehand that is stamped on the underside of the shank with the words NORDING over MADE IN DENMARK. The plateau on the top of the bowl and the end of the shank is black in colour and is rough to the touch. It is a nice contrast to the cherry and brown stain of the rest of the bowl and shank. The smooth portions are stained with a contrast of a dark stain and a red cherry stain. The contrast is very beautiful and makes the grain pop. The stem is a nicely turned freehand style stem. There is a barrel at the end of the tenon that has several turns that make it look barrel like. There is then a pinched area above the barrel and then a tapered stem.The plateau on the rim and the shank end were dirty with dust and grime. The smooth portion of the bowl and shank was grimy but undamaged. There was also no damage to the plateau portions of the bowl. There was a light cake in the bowl. My brother took the photo above and the rest of the photos that follow to show the condition of the pipe when he brought it home.He took some photos from a variety of angles around the bowl to show the grain that covered the bowl sides, bottom and the shank sides, top and bottom. The last photo shows the Nording over Made in Denmark stamping on the underside of the shank. He took some close up photos of the rim top to show the condition of the plateau. It was undamaged but dirty. You can see the condition of the cake in the bowl in these photos.The stem was oxidized and had the now familiar tooth chatter and tooth marks in the vulcanite on both sides near the button. They were also on the top and bottom sides of the button.My brother did his usual good job cleaning the inside and the outside of the pipe. He reamed it with a PipNet reamer and cleaned out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem. He scrubbed the finish with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to clean out the dust from the plateau on the rim and the shank end. He scrubbed the stem as well. The pipe was impeccably clean when it arrived in Vancouver. I took the following four photos to show the condition before I finished the restoration. I took a close up photo of the rim top. There were some spots on the rim that needed to be touched up with black stain. The bowl was very clean.The next two photos show the stem on both sides. The oxidation is more evident on the top than the bottom. The tooth chatter and tooth marks are on both the top and the bottom of the stem near the button.I touched up the spots on the rim top with a black Sharpie pen and then waxed the plateau on the rim and the shank end with Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush to raise the shine.I lightly buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and hand polished it. I took photos of what the bowl looked like at this point in the process. I laid the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I sanded the stem with 320 grit sandpaper to break up the oxidation on the surface. I worked the sandpaper into the grooves in the tenon end of the stem. The oxidation still remained but it was much softer and closer to the surface.I wiped the stem down with some Obsidian Oil and then cleaned out the airway in the stem and cleaned the airway in the shank and the mortise at the same time. The interior was very clean so it took no effort to clean it out.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and starting the process of polishing it. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil and then took it to the buffer and buffed it with red Tripoli. I worked on all the rings and surfaces of the stem with the Tripoli and the wheel to remove more of the oxidation. I polished it more by dry sanding it with 3200-1200 grit pads to further remove the oxidation and bring the shine to the surface. I gave it several more coats of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to let the oil be absorbed in to the vulcanite. I buffed the finished pipe with Blue Diamond polish on the wheel carefully avoiding the plateau areas. I polished the minute scratches out of the sides of the bowl and from the surface of the stem. I gave the smooth portions of the bowl and shank and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the entire pipe with a soft microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos that follow. It is a beautiful piece of briar and the stains on the plateau portions and the smooth provide a good contrast. The plateau portions and the black of the vulcanite stem highlight the dark striations of the grain on the bowl sides. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 7 inches, Height: 2 inches, Diameter of the outer bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 inches. This pipe is available to any of you who want to add it to their collection. It is just a bit large for my liking or I would keep it myself. I will post it on the rebornpipes store shortly. Send me an email to slaug@uniserve.com or a private message on Facebook. Thanks for looking.

Cleaning up an Erik Nording Freehand

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is yet another interesting pipe from the latest box of pipes that my brother Jeff sent to me. It is a hand carved Erik Nording Freehand. It has a hand rusticated rough finish on the shank and the bowl. In looking at Erik’s website I am pretty sure that the pipe is from the Vahalla series as it has the same rustication. The difference is in the small bit of plateau left behind on the rim and the shank.The rim has some plateau with smooth areas around the edges and top of the bowl. The shank end was also smooth with a tiny spot of plateau there as well. There is a contrast stain on the bowl and shank with dark reddish undertones and a light/medium brown top stain. The stem is turned with a ring and ball after it insert into the shank. There is a cursive N on the stem that is the Nording stamp. The stamping on the underside of the shank is readable but double stamped on the smooth portion of the flared shank. It reads Handmade by Erik Nording.The rim is quite dirty with tars and oils built up in the plateau. It is heavily clogged with tars and oils and there are some burn marks on the inner edge of the rim top. The inner edge was originally smooth tapering into the bowl and rising to a ring of plateau on the top. The outer edge also flows from the plateau toward the bowl edge and is shaped like a cap. The underside of the bowl and shank shows the rustication pattern. The finish is in very good shape.My brother cleaned the bowl and the internals of the pipe. He scrubbed the finish with Murphy’s Oil Soap and reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer. He cleaned out the shank and airways with alcohol and pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I took the next photos when the pipe arrived at my work table. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the caking and damage that had filled in the grooves in the plateau and darkened the inner edge of the bowl.I took photos of the stem to show the tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem near the button. The stem was otherwise quite clean.I sanded out the tooth marks and chatter with 220 grit sandpaper until they were gone. With the surface of the stem smooth it was ready to polish with the micromesh sanding pads.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after sanding it with each pad. I did a quick clean on the mortise, airway in the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was pretty clean.The bowl top was actually quite a mess. I used a brass bristle wire brush to clean out the grooves. As I cleaned it I noticed that the inner edge of the rim was originally smooth. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damaged areas and smooth it out. I worked to blend it into the plateau areas.I polished the rim edge with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wanted to get the inner edge of the rim smooth and clean. I bleached it using a cotton swab and bleach to remove some of the darkening. I sanded it until it was smooth and polished and looked like it must have when the pipe was new. I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to polish it. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This one will certainly be on the store soon. If you are interested in purchasing it ahead of time send me an email at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a message on Facebook or here. Thanks for looking.