Tag Archives: oxidation

Restoring a Sydney P. Ram Oom Paul

Blog by Steve Laug

I just finished refurbishing a beautiful Oom Paul that is stamped left side of the shank Sydney P. Ram in script. On the right side it is stamped Imported Briar over 3172/VD. When it arrived to my work table it had a few issues that needed to be addressed. The rim was damaged on the right front outer edge from what looked like being knocked against something. The inner edge on the front had a burned area from a lighter. The briar was unstained, natural but looked dry, lifeless and dirty. The bowl was barely smoked the top 2/3s of the bowl was darkened and had some particles of tobacco stuck to the bowl sides. The bottom 1/3 of the bowl was still raw briar. The airway was quite large at the bottom of the bowl but was well drilled and centered on the back side of the bowl at the bottom. The stem would not sit all the way in the mortise and was very tight. The mortise was far dirtier than the bowl. It had a buildup of tars and oils that had prevented the tenon from seating properly in the mortise. The stem itself was not only oxidized but had stains that ran the length of the underside. The airway was plugged. The slot in the button was plugged and was very narrow so that getting even a paper clip into the slot took a lot of effort.

I took the stem off the pipe and used an unfolded paperclip to open up the clogged airway. It took some work but I was able to open it back up. The slot in the button was so small that a normal pipe cleaner was hard to push through. Once it was done the clog came out and was pipe cleaner detritus and tars.

I put the stem in an Oxyclean bath to soak while I worked on the bowl. The damage to the outer rim of the bowl needed to be addressed. I was able to stem the flat surface and lift some dents but the outer edge dents were actually cuts and they did not move. I decided to top the bowl lightly to remove the damage to the edges – both the outer right front and the inner front burned area. I set up a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper and took down the top until the damage was minimized. I then sanded the outer edge with a medium grit sanding block to dull the sharp edge slightly. I worked on the inner rim with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bevel the edge slightly and minimize the damage from the burned area.

With the rim top cleaned and repaired I worked on the inner edge of the rim with a folded piece of sandpaper. I beveled the inner rim edge inward to compensate for the burned area on the front of the bowl. Then I washed down the bowl with alcohol on cotton pads to remove the wax and the grime on the briar. I scrubbed the inside of the bowl with cotton swabs and alcohol to clean up the debris in the bowl and the dust from sanding. I cleaned out the shank and mortise with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until the cotton swabs came out clean and the mortise was clean to sight. I followed up that by sanding the rim with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge and then with 1500-12,000 grit micromesh to polish it. The beauty of working with natural briar finishes is that when a bowl is topped it is not hard to match and blend into the finish of the bowl.

I steamed the front, bottom and sides of the bowl where there were many small dents and nicks. I heated a table knife over the gas flame on our stove, folded a wet cloth and placed it over the dents and then touched the hot blade of the knife to the wet cloth. This created steam with which I was able to lift many of the dents and nicks. While most of them were gone there were others that remained that were reduced noticeably.

When I finished the steaming of the dents I rubbed down the bowl with a light coat of olive oil to give life to the briar. I buffed it on the wheel with Blue Diamond polish and gave it several coats of carnauba wax to protect and finish it. Once the stem was completed I would buff it again and then apply more wax to the pipe.

While the stem was soaking I set the finished bowl aside and did a bit of research on the Ram brand. It was one which I had read about on the forums and had seen on eBay but not a brand I knew anything about. I googled the name and found quite a bit of information on the different pipe forums and on Pipedia.http://pipedia.org/wiki/Ram%27s_Horn.Here is a summary of what I found.

“Sydney P. Ram was a pipe maker in the 1930’s and reported to have retired in 1942. Ram’s shop was at 59 West Monroe in Chicago’s Loop. His pipes were normally simply stamped Sydney P. Ram in script. He was also the author of a book on pipe smoking in 1941 called How to get more fun out of smoking; a guide and handbook for better smoking and is sometimes available on Amazon, having been reprinted in 2011.”

I contacted Ken Prevo who was mentioned later in the Pipedia article as we have corresponded on the various pipe forums that we both frequent. I asked his permission to post a copy of the 16 page catalog from the shop era that was referenced in the article. He graciously responded that I could post it here on rebornpipes in high resolution. I have done so here: https://rebornpipes.com/2015/05/22/are-you-getting-the-most-out-of-your-smoking-a-pipe-catalogue-from-the-sydney-p-ram-pipe-shop/

Ken welcomes those interested in viewing or downloading a copy of the catalogue to do so from his Dropbox at this link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dao82dnm8tw3y0i/XIdMElvkbk.

Ken reported that recently, in 2013, New Old Stock has shown up with the pipes being sold from California, which may have been where Ram relocated the shop after the war, or it could have been retained inventory on closing the Chicago store and retiring.

The catalog states that all pipes are either Algerian or Corsican Briar. The pipes being sold are light but color to deep brown very rapidly. Ken has not seen similar treatment. The catalog shows pipe prices ranging from $1.75 to $7.50. (Factory workers in the era made around $40/wk at the time). They are stamped either straight grain or imported briar. The catalog also indicates the shop did its own blending and had onsite repair.

I took the stem out of the Oxyclean bath and rubbed it dry with a coarse cotton cloth. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation that was still left and the residue that was hardened in spots on the underside of the stem.

I worked on opening the slot in the button. I used a combination of needle files to open the slot. I began with a flat blade file to widen the slot on the top and bottom. This is tedious work but it pays off dividends in the end. Once I had that area more open I worked on the sides of the slot with a flat oval file to create a Y shape in the slot. I then used a fat oval and a round needle file to open the slot further and round out the ends of the slot. When the filing was completed I folded a piece of sandpaper and worked on sanding the inside of the slot smooth and removing all of the file marks.

When I finished opening the slot I sanded the stem with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to reduce the scratches on the vulcanite.

By this time with the slot opened and the oxidation pretty well cleaned up it was ready to be polished with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit pads and rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil.

I buffed the stem with red Tripoli to further remove the scratches left behind by the sandpaper. I took it back to the worktable and put it in the shank and took some photos.

I removed it from the shank and dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit micromesh and rubbed it down again with Obsidian Oil before finishing with 6000-12,000 grit pads to bring the final shine out on the vulcanite.

I buffed the stem with White Diamond and then with Blue Diamond Plastic polish on the buffing wheel.

I took it back to the worktable and rubbed it down with some Briar Wipe before taking it back to the buffer for some carnauba wax. I buffed with several coats of carnauba and finished by buffing it with a clean, soft flannel buff. The dry buff raises the shine on the bowl. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below.

Thanks for looking. Be sure to check out the link above to the Sydney Ram Catalogue that I posted on rebornpipes.

What are the options for repairing a damaged stem?

8 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

Over the years that I have been working on pipe restoration I have found that when working on badly damaged stems I have 4 basic choices on how to deal with the damage. They are stated in the form of a simple list below but each one will have to be detailed out to understand the implications of the choice.
1. Cut it off
2. Build it up
3. Splice it
4. Replace it

Choice #1 – Cut it off

This sounds pretty brutal but it really is a pretty easy repair to work on the chewed stem. I generally see how far back I have to go to get enough stem material on the top and bottom of the stem to shape a new button. Once I have a pretty clear idea of that I put a piece of cellophane tape on the stem to get an idea of how it will look with that bit of stem removed. Sometimes the new stem length just does not work. If it is too short it is awkward. If not then it can be reworked and still look acceptable. I have even cut back badly broken billiard stems and crafted a Lovat shaped pipe that looked really good. The decision is yours and cannot be reversed without making a new stem for the pipe.

The process is quite simple. Once I have marked the part of the stem I plan to remove I use a Dremel with a sanding drum to remove the damaged portion. It works quite quickly. The only caution is to keep the line straight as you are removing the broken part of the stem. This line is not only the horizontal one across the surface of the stem but also the vertical one looking at the pipe from the end. Others use a coping saw or hacksaw to remove the broken area. I prefer a Dremel. With the end removed the stem is ready for reshaping. I use needle files to cut a new button on the stem. I do that by filing a straight line across the top and bottom of the stem making sure that they align.

Once the new button line is in place I use a flat needle file to file back the slope of the stem to the button line. I am careful not to go to deep but judge depth by the amount of material above the opening in the stem end. Once I have the slope set and the button more defined I use the flat needle file to clean up and define the edge of the button. I want a good sharp edge on the inside of the button to catch behind the teeth. I use 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the slope and smooth out the file marks.

When I get the stem shaped the way I want it I then move on to the shaping of the button. I like a button that is shaped like an oval that tapers outward to the edges on both sides. I sand and file and file and sand to shape it. When I have the shape correct I also slope the button backward toward the airway on the stem end. I generally am working the button to look as much as possible like the one that was originally on the stem. I use pictures of the stem from the internet or from the camera that I took to get the look just right. After the button is shaped I work on the airway in the end of the button. I want it to be a slot. I use the needle files to open the airway. I flair it from the opening like a Y. The idea is to create an opening that is funnel shaped. I start with a flat file and work toward a round and an oval needle file I shape the ends of the slot to match the shape of the button as much as possible. When I finally have the slot open I fold a piece of sandpaper and work on the inside of the slot to smooth out the file marks.

I finish by sanding the stem with micromesh sanding pads and polishing it to give it a shine. Here are some photos of the finished stem.

Choice #2 – Build it up

I have used this method quite a bit with variations. I have used it repair bite marks and bite throughs on stem. The basic procedure is to clean up the affected area on the stem with alcohol and sandpaper to prepare it for the buildup. I leave the area slightly roughened to give the repair something to grab on to. Once all loose debris, sanding dust and oxidation is removed you are ready to begin the patch. The stem I am using to illustrate the process had holes on both sides of the stem and both were large. Alongside both sides there were also many tooth dents that needed to be addressed as well. In this case those dents would provide a strong base for what would be a large patch.

I grease a piece of folded paper or a nail file with Vaseline and insert it into the slot on the stem. I want to have a slick base for the glue to sit against but not fasten to. I also do not want to close off the airway and this method has worked well for me for many years.

With the folded paper inserted it is time to begin to build up the repair. I use medium viscosity black super glue that I get from Stewart MacDonald online. I build up the edges of the repair first. Some folks will use an accelerator at this point to speed up the process. I have also done so but find that the glue is more brittle and I have had patches fail after using it. So I have learned to “patiently” wait for the glue to harden. Others mix in fine charcoal powder or grit with the superglue and feel that it gives a stronger patch. I have done that as well but did not choose to use that on this stem repair.

As the first layer of glue dried I continued to build the patch inward to the middle and thicken it as well. The process took several days and included at least four layers of glue.

Once the last layer of the patch was finished I set the pipe aside to cure for several days. When it was dry I sanded it with 180 grit sandpaper and then 220 grit sandpaper to level out the patch and the surrounding stem.

I used needle files to sharpen and define the edge of the button. I sanded it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge. The patches show up still in the surface of the stem as a slightly different colour but once the stem is sanded with micromesh they begin to disappear.

The finished stem looks like new.

Choice #3 – Splice it

On the blog, Jacek Rochacki has written of splicing a repair and reshaping the stem. I am inserting his procedure at this point to explain the choice he uses.
Instead of cutting/removing the damaged part and carving the lip/button of what is left, I would proceed in different way. Keeping in mind my wish of keeping original dimension, proportions, form, I would try to reconstruct damaged stem/mouthpiece as following:

By using sharp cutting tools – engravers/burins, scrapers or in case of better equipped “workshop corner” – cutters, like those used by jewelers for stone settings, or even a sharp pocket knife, a frame saw and needle files I would work on the damaged area making it a proper shape a piece of the same material carved that I will later shape/carve to fit what is missing. The words “making it of proper shape”, may be a subject for another longer text. But as sort of inspiration may be the different ways dentists use to “elaborate” holes in teeth so that the filling will be kept securely in place. In a stem the situation is easier as we have good binding glues and are binding together the same kind of materials – vulcanite/ebonite to vulcanite/ebonite.

When the newly carved material is fixed into the missing area with glue, I work with files and drill bits to achieve desired missing shape. Then I proceed with finishing techniques. Let us look at the pictures:

Others have actually cut off the broken portion of the stem after matching it to a similar style and shaped stem. The also cut off the replacement stem so that the undamaged areas match perfectly. A small stainless steel tube can be used to join the two pieces of stem together and black superglue can be used to hold it together and to fill in the joint of the two stems. Once the glue has cured then the repair can be sanded and blended together so that it does not show at all.

Choice #4 – Replace it

The fourth option is to fit a replacement stem on the pipe or make one from vulcanite or Lucite rod stock. I do not have a lathe so I usually use precast stems and do a lot of shaping and fitting and improvements on the blank. The photos below show a new stem that I fit to a Lovat pipe for a friend. I used an old saddle stem that I had here so I did not need to use a precast one. This one just needed adjustment and fiddling to make it work well.
The original stem had a large bite out of the end of it the underside next to the button. I choose a stem that is similar in shape and style that was the same length. It had a slightly larger saddle portion on the stem but I liked the look of it and figured it would work. I turned the tenon down slightly to make for a snug fit in the mortise. In this case I sanded the stem down to remove the oxidation from the surface and also to remove the slight tooth marks and tooth chatter that was there.

After sanding with the 220 grit sandpaper I used a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to clean up the stem further and remove scratches.

I sand the finished stem with micromesh sanding pads to polish it. After sanding with the 12000 grit pads I buffed it with Blue Diamond Plastic Polish and then with carnauba wax and a soft flannel buffing pad. The finished stem is shown below.

Restemming and Restoring a Weber Deep Grain Lovat

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

I have been doing a bit of reading on the Dr. Grabow Collectors Forum and have been learning a lot from the folks there. On one of the threads on refurbishing Scot wrote and asked about restemming an older Weber Deep Grain Lovat. He had it sitting and did not feel confident about doing the stem work on it. I offered to restem it for him for the postage. When the pipe arrived I took it to the work table and took the following photos. The bowl had some really nice grain on it. The finish was rough with a lot of scratches, dents and nicks. Next to the band the finish was work off on the right side. There were some deep gouges and a scratch across the surface on the right side of the bowl. The rim was in rough shape. The outer edges were beat up pretty badly with gouges and chunks missing from the edge. The inner edge was clean and undamaged. The top of the rim was very rough. There were nicks and dents and it was almost crowned looking – though uneven. The bowl was badly caked forming a thick ring about mid bowl. Below that the cake was almost non-existent and above that it was flaking off in sheets. The stem was worn out with a large bite taken out of the top side near the button and the underside it was cracked. It was ruined.

I took the next two close-up photos to show the rim damage and the odd cake in the bowl and also the damage to the stem.

When Scott first sent it I was under the impression that he merely wanted me to make a new stem for it. After I saw it I wrote him and asked if he wanted me to clean it up and restore it for him. While I waited for his response I worked on the new stem. I had a stem that was the same length and had a tenon that was not only the right length but also almost the right diameter. I sanded the tenon down lightly and fit the stem to the shank. It was perfect in diameter on the bottom side of the band but was a little large on the top and left side of the saddle.

I put a plastic washer between the shank and the stem so that I could sand it to the edge without rounding the shoulders of the stem. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to shape it and fit it to the band diameter. I also sanded off the oxidation that was on the surface of the stem and some of the wavy lines that were present on the flat surface of the blade.

removed the washer and carefully sanded around the shank/band junction to clean up that edge.

I sanded the stem with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches that were present on the stem from the sandpaper.

Once I had removed the majority of them I sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil between each set of three pads.

There were still some scratches present on the stem that would go once I had buffed it with Blue Diamond but just before I took it to the buffer I heard back from Scott. He said he would be glad to have me give the pipe a work over. Given that go ahead I set aside the stem and turned to work on the bowl. Once I had the bowl finished I would buff the entire pipe.

I reamed it with a PipNet reamer starting with the smallest cutting head and then finishing with the second smallest head. With that I took the crumbling, flaking uneven cake back to bare wood. I figured that Scott could start over and build an even hard cake of his own choosing.

I took a few photos of the bowl to record the damage and scratches to the finish. I wanted to not only get a good look at them but I also wanted to document them. The right side of the bowl had a large series of scratches and grooves from what looked like dropping the pipe on concrete. There were also scratches on the shank and outer edge of the rim. In fact the rim edge was very rough. The left side of the bowl also had some scratches that were pretty deep. The top view of the rim shows the missing chunks of briar around the edge of the bowl and the uneven crown that came from tapping the bowl out against a hard surface. The underside of the shank had a rough spot next to the band and quite a bit of scratching.

I washed down the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to remove the remnants of the finish before I worked on the scratches and dents in the bowl and shank. topped the bowl on a topping board to remove the damaged surface and outer edge of the rim. Once I had the bowl topped and the rim smooth and flat again I decided to repair the missing chunks of briar on the outer edge and the deep cuts on the right side of the bowl. I sanded the edge and scratches with a sanding sponge to clean up the jagged edges. I wiped the areas down with alcohol. I then filled the cuts and the missing chunks with superglue and packed in briar dust to fill them. I generally overfill them and then sand them back until they are smooth and blend into the surface area around them.

I sanded the fills with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper and then with sanding sponges until I had blended the area in with the surrounding surface of the bowl. I took the next two profile photos of the pipe to show the clean look of the bowl rim. Notice on the second photo the repair to the cuts on the right side of the bowl toward the lower ¼.

The next photo shows the newly topped and repaired rim from the top. I sanded the bowl surface with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge being careful around the stamping so as not to damage it. Once it was smooth and the scratches minimized I rubbed down the bowl with a light coat of olive oil. The olive oil gives some life to the grain and highlights the areas that I still needed to sand. The next four photos show the pipe after it had been rubbed down with a soft cloth after the olive oil.

I took another close up of the rim to show the repairs and how the olive oil brought out the colour of the rim so that it matched the rest of the pipe. I then took the pipe to the buffing wheel and buffed it with Blue Diamond Plastic Polish. I worked the stem over with the polish and then buffed the briar as well. Afterwards I gave the bowl and stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean, flannel pad to raise the shine of the wax. The finished pipe is shown below. Tomorrow I will get it packed up and sent back to Scott. It should serve him well for a good many years to come. Thanks for letting me work on this old pipe. It was a pleasure.

Replacing a Stem Logo and Repairing a Missing Chunk of Briar on a Grabow Duke

5 Replies

Blog by Joe Mansueto

Joe sent me an email thinking that the methodology covered in this post would be helpful to other readers of rebornpipes. I read it and have to agree. Though many of you may use similar methods to those shared in this blog I felt that the clarity of description and the simple photos make the process very clear. The article is in two parts– the first covering the insertion of a stem logo on a new stem (in this case a Dr. Grabow Spade logo, the second covering the repair to a rim that was damaged and missing a piece of briar. It originally was posted on the Dr. Grabow Collectors Forum. Here is the direct link to the conversation around these repairs. – Steve http://drgrabows.myfreeforum.org/about6302.html

This is not so much to show the Duke partial wire-carved billiard as it is to share the process for a couple of repairs.

Part 1.

First…I’ve been asked a time or two recently about inserting spades, so I thought I’d share the process – learned it long ago from Ozark.

Here’s the vulcanite stem needing a spade. It’s registered to the Duke perfectly, I’m sure Grabow fit it. First step is to pick the necessary drill bit…the smallest possible where the spade barely fits on the flat end. If you’re using a current day spade from the factory, the bit size is 9/64″. I pick the spade location and pilot a smaller hole, about half the size of the intended hole. I drill the hole just deep enough so that the spade barely fits in, while also being shallow enough to leave maybe 1/4 or more of the thickness of the spade sticking out. Reason why in next step. I mix activated charcoal and Gorilla brand CA (Cyanoacrylate) super glue to a consistency just thicker than honey. Fill the hole with the glue/charcoal mixture, and then carefully press the spade in. The reason I leave some of the spade sticking out in the previous step is so that when I insert it into the glue, I can still see at least part of the surface of the spade so that I can make sure it’s oriented right, and also, to assure it won’t be in too deep. If the hole is too deep, it’ll be difficult to keep the spade from sinking into the glue…it will get covered up, may become incorrectly oriented (without you knowing), and at least some of the spade may end up lower than the surface of the stem when you’re done. Take it from me after messing up on a couple. Also…both sides of a spade are flat when they’re made. So…at least the corners of the spade need to be higher than the surface of the stem, so that when you file and sand it, it will be rounded with the contour of the stem, with none of the spade concave. I take a toothpick and press the glue carefully, all the way around the spade in an attempt to eliminate any pockets of air. It ends up covering the edge of the spade. Once it dries hard (maybe an hour), I use a small smooth file to shape the hardened glue and the surface of the spade down to the surface of the stem. Here it is after filing and sanding, pre-buff.
Part 2.

This is a repair I came up with after some trial runs. I’ve shown a couple previous examples, but not in detail, and with lesser results.

Here’s the Duke – nice chunk missing from the rim. Here is the material – briar dust (not super fine) and Gorilla CA. Cover the surface of the hole to be filled with glue. If it’s a pocket, I fill the pocket…because I’ll be essentially pressing the briar shavings into the glue, and it will then dry rather quickly. I sprinkle briar into the glue, and I carefully push the shavings into the glue using a toothpick…being careful to not simply push the glue out of the cavity. I then lay another coat of glue on top of the repair, then sprinkle more briar on top. This time, I use my fingers to press in on the dry layer of shavings…pressing gently into the repair, shaping it. As needed, I drop more shavings on top, so as to not glue my fingers to the repair. The repairs I’ve done have been taking 2 to 3 layers like this…with the last layer being pressed in more firmly. You can feel the glue hardening up. Once it’s hard, I wait just a few minutes, then it’s time for the filing – to shape the repair to the proper height and contour. Once filed to shape, time for some ‘fake’ wire carving…done with a Dremel and a dental bur I got from Ozark. Here it is after Dremel effect and some light sanding. Here it is after some dark brown stain in the wire carving, drying, then more light sanding to remove the stain from the higher parts of the wire carving. Followed by higher grit dry sanding, then micromesh sanding 1500 – 3200. Already had a decent finish, but then buffed with Carnauba. This is a straight billiard pipe. I like a slight curve in the stem, so I added that.

The upper right corner in this pic is where the missing chunk was.

One last detail. One or two of these partially wire carved pipes have surfaced, and someone asked earlier if the wire carving was done, and then parts of the bowl sanded down. Nope. You can see that the smooth parts of the bowl are at the same level as the highest parts of the wire carving…so the wire carving was done here on 2 sides and then just the rim.

A KB&B Capitol

8 Replies

Blog by Andrew Selking

As a collector of old KB&B pipes, I have searched for a KB&B Capitol for a very long time. First of all they just have a unique look, kind of like an upside down poker, but what really interests me is the craftsmanship required to make a threaded briar insert. There is very little information available about these pipes, about the best I could find is that it was made between 1919 and 1924.
When I received the pipe it had some cake built up in the bowl and tar stains on the rim and the stem was unmolested. The biggest issue was that the insert was firmly stuck. In fact a previous owner tried pliers to get it out, based on the gouges along the top. I tried the usual method of freezing it, but to no avail. I wrote Steve for any ideas and he suggested doing a retort. That didn’t work either. I finally ended up soaking the bowl in alcohol for 24 hours, freezing it, then heating it with my heat gun. With the help of a rubber kitchen gripper, it finally broke loose.
In these first pictures you can really see the tar build up on the inside of the pipe.

I soaked the stem in Oxyclean. The stem was marked “Hard Rubber” and exhibited no oxidation after soaking. It was pretty filthy though. I used a pipe cleaner soaked in the Oxyclean solution to remove as much gunk as possible, this was the first pass. Next I turned my attention to removing the serious tar build up in the inner bowl. I found my dental pick was the perfect tool for this task. The bottom of the inner bowl had a biscuit of tar.

I used an alcohol soaked cotton ball to loosen the tar in the threads. Since this pipe has two bowls, I did a retort with just the outer bowl followed by a retort with the inner bowl inserted. I love the old stems. I did a retort on the stem. It was nasty, but the boiling alcohol did the trick.

The design of this pipe makes it extremely easy to clean, although I doubt that ever happened prior to my getting ahold of it. A couple of q-tips and a pipe cleaner and the shank was clean. Next I tackled the stem. I used 400 grit wet/dry with water followed by 1500-2400 grit micro mesh pads with water. You will notice the small washer, I use that to make sure that I don’t round off the edges of the stem. You may have noticed in a previous picture that there was a piece missing at the top of the inner bowl. I spread a small amount of CA glue into the hole with a push pin followed by briar dust and accelerator. I also noticed a small fill residing under the band, so I picked out the old fill and replaced it with briar dust and CA glue. The exterior of the bowl was caked with tars and grime, so I used acetone and 0000 steel wool to clean it up. That was only minimally effective, so I ended up sanding the whole thing. I used 400 grit to get the worst off, followed by a progression of micro mesh pads, 1500-12,000 grit. While working on the bowl, I also polished the stem with 3200-12,000 grit micro mesh pads. One of the things Steve talks about is using Obsidian Oil after each third set of pads. Since I don’t have Obsidian Oil, I used a very small amount of mineral oil with the 3200 grit pad. It really cut down on the dust and seemed to help the rest of the pads polish more effectively. Here is the pipe ready for stain and polishing. I don’t know if the stamping on the stem was originally filled in white, but I thought it might look nice. I used my correction pen to fill in the letters. I removed the excess correction fluid with my rotary tool and some white diamond. I then polished the stem with carnauba wax. I stained the pipe with a medium brown stain and polished it on the buffer with white diamond and carnauba wax. Here is the final result.

Cleaning up a Dr. Grabow Royal Duke Bent Billiard

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

One of my pipe finds last weekend was a Dr. Grabow Royal Duke Bent Billiard. It was in pretty decent shape. The rim had a little buildup and darkening but no damage. The bowl itself was lightly smoked but was half full of unsmoked tobacco. The stem had some scratches and small marks on the surface of the top and bottom. There were no tooth marks though and that was a bonus. The aluminum cap on the stem was oxidized. There was a Medico filter in the aluminum shank that was almost black. The finish was in good shape. There were some scratches and small dents in the briar on the bottom of the bowl. Overall the pipe was in pretty decent shape and needed a thorough cleaning. It was an easy refurbish.

Because it was an easy cleanup I decided to see if I could gather any information on the history of the Royal Duke. I posted on the Dr. Grabow Collectors Forum and put pictures of the pipe there to see if I could get some help on the brand. I got some great responses and information from the folks there. The first of them came from Ted D. who was a past CEO of Dr. Grabow in Sparta. Here is what he wrote:

“Royal Duke was the first paper filter pipe made by Grabow. The name and construction were bought from Continental Briar Pipe Co. in the early 50’s. Continental made the “Royal Duke of Dundee” and “Duke of Dundee”. Royal has been made continuously since then, and is still made. It went through several minor changes through the years. With a “before” picture I might get within a 10 year period… maybe closer. Td” Spadefan on the same forum also posted this for me: The Grabow Timeline post:

http://drgrabows.myfreeforum.org/viewtopic.php?t=4834&start=0 shows Royal Duke starting somewhere in the broad timeframe of 1955 – 1964. Royal Duke continues in production today. Here are a few quotes from forum member DRBridges, one of the forum’s “founding fathers” and “Old Timer” TED that place the blue spades on early production Duke series filter pipes until abt. 1993/4. Here are the money quotes:

“HL&T began replacing the older Dr. Grabow model names after 1955 with new models. These included the “Ajustomatic” ELDORADO, REGAL, SAVOY, STARFIRE, VISCOUNT, and the “Duke Filter” DUKE, GRAND DUKE, and ROYAL DUKE. The early “Ajustomatic” pipes displayed a white spade emblem. The early “Duke Filter” pipes diplayed a blue spade. The early push stem [without filter] pipes displayed a yellow spade. Additional models were introduced during the 1960s and 70s, and all later Dr. Grabow pipes displayed a white spade emblem.” DRBridges

“Through the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, DG filter pipes used blue spades, except for the ajusto Dukes. They all went white in the early 1990s. Mortise and tenon DG pipes used yellow spades. Ajustomatics were white.” DRBridges

“We were still using the colors in 1991. I guess they changed about 93/94.” ted

So it looks like blue spades were used exclusively on Duke lines of filter pipes from their introduction sometime 1955-1964 through 1993/4. Anyone have more info on blue spades?I posted photos of the pipe as Ted requested and then received another answer from him that helped date the pipe. He wrote: “I think it’s the old Spruance Southern lacquer. That and a vulcanite bit will put it at 1975 +- 5.. td”

Knowing that information gave me some helpful information on the pipe I had. I liked the idea that it came from the era in which I finished my high school and entered university. It came from the same era as my first pipe purchased in the early 1970’s. The photos below show the state of the rim and the half filled bowl of tobacco. The pipe has some absolutely beautiful grain that swirls around the bowl.

I scraped the tobacco out of the bowl, threw away the paper filter and then cleaned out the shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. Because the bowl had an intact coat of lacquer that was not damaged I scrubbed the rim with saliva and cotton pads. I was able to remove all of the buildup on the surface and some of the darkening.

I sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads to remove the scratches and damage to the surface. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 micromesh until the majority of the marks were removed. I dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit pads to further polish the vulcanite.

I gave the stem several coats of Obsidian Oil and then buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave it several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean soft pad to raise the shine on the stem. I lightly buffed the bowl so as not to damage the lacquer. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below.

I want to give a shout out to the Dr. Grabow Collectors Forum. They are great folks and always ready to help. If you have not checked them out head on over and have a look at their site. http://drgrabows.myfreeforum.org/index.php Thank you folks for your help on this one and on others that I have worked on. It is greatly appreciated.

Finding a Heart for an Aristocob Aluminum (Rhodesian?)

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Guest Blog by Robert M. Boughton
Member, North American Society of Pipe Collectors
http://www.naspc.org
http://www.roadrunnerpipes.com
http://about.me/boughtonrobert
Photos © the Author

The Wizard of Oz: “As for you, my galvanized friend, you want a heart. You don’t know how lucky you are not to have one. Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.”
The Tin Woodsman: “But I still want one.”
― From “The Wizard of Oz” (movie, 1939)

INTRODUCTION
As a movie and trivia buff, not necessarily together, one of my favorite questions that comes up now and then in conversation and on quiz shows is “When was the Golden Age of Hollywood?” I like it because of the slippery term Golden Age, which implies years forming a great period of time with specific world-changing events and personages, as in the Bronze Age or the Age of Enlightenment. It’s also a trick question, the expected (but incorrect if often accepted) answer being 1939. Granted, in that one year, some of the great movies in Hollywood history were made, including “The Wizard of Oz,” “Gone with the Wind,” “Stagecoach,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “Wuthering Heights”. But the true and more agreed upon answer would be 1930-1959, which encompassed “All Quiet on the Western Front” to “Anatomy of a Murder”.

All of this is my way of approaching a term I often refer to but did not coin, the Golden Age of Pipe Smoking. In my mind, although the exact timeline is sometimes said to have begun as long ago as the mid-1800s, this period was from the 1930s into the ’70s, when pipes were ubiquitous and respected all over the world, as reflected in motion pictures, TV and society in general. Below are a few famous Hollywood pipe men: Fred Astaire, John and Lionel Barrymore, Harry Belafonte and Fred MacMurray. My own dad and almost all of his friends enjoyed and in many cases had collections of the magic briar social lubricant. The subject of this blog, a brand of pipe named with perhaps tongue-in-cheek humor, is one of the quirkiest, most unusual examples conceived during this wonderful age that I believe is experiencing a renascence: the Aristocob, invented by Joseph W. Zarikta for the Al Cobb Corporation and granted U.S. Patent №. 3,292,639 on December 20, 1966. The Al Cobb Corp. became Al-Cob Corp. in Grand Haven, Michigan, and still later Aristocob Inc. in Caledonia, Michigan before being taken over by the Missouri Meerschaum Company in Washington, Missouri. Missouri Meerschaum made the corncob inserts from the early 1970s until 1983, and since then replacements have not been manufactured, but with dedicated searching some will, on occasion, show up when they are found and offered online. Even though I could not locate any for this restoration, I know they still pop up because of several sold-out listings I found on eBay. However, by most accounts the original inserts, or even self-styled replacements, are high maintenance contraptions that quickly become wet, mushy and, in short, nasty to use. Still, our esteemed host, Steve, emailed me the following message: “I love those old aristocobs. They are sweet looking retro experiments.” Indeed they are. I even found several sites where this pipe is given the high description of “art deco.”

Nevertheless, I believe I have found a more suitable and permanent solution to the problem, even if it does detract from the good, old timey flavor of the maker’s intent: briar inserts made to fit the Aristocob. [See http://www.owlpipes.com/#!new-collection/c1jn5.%5D For this restoration I ordered one, and considering I bought the beat-up old pipe itself for $2 at a yard sale, the $25 cost of the briar insert should be worth it. As timing allowed, the insert arrived on Friday but was too big for my home mailbox, where the package was sent due to a mix-up with PayPal, instead of the Post Office Box I use most often. And the Postman being too lazy to walk to my door (or just afraid to do so in my neighborhood), I picked it up at the Post Office Saturday.

This restoration, therefore, takes place in real-time, as I write this.

RESTORATION

SATURDAY

Before venturing to my neighborhood Postal Station, which is the local training site and therefore deplorable, I decide to do a preliminary clean-up of the metal. The oxidation on the bowl, in particular in the threads and deep grooves, comes off with ease using a pair of small, thin, cotton gun cleaning patches soaked in Everclear. I am able to use the same patches to clean the threaded lid inside and out. The identical process on the chamber removes most of the old tobacco juice and minimal oxidation except for the brown grime near the opening of the air hole. For that I dip a bristly cleaner in the alcohol and run it through the wide open, tubular shank and into the bottom of the chamber. The shank needs a second swabbing.

The pipe cleaner dipped in freshener that I run through the air hole of the bit comes out clear, but it doesn’t hurt to try. The outside of the bit, with almost no scratches, buffs up nicely using micromesh. I place the filter, in this case a Medico because it fits and I have a few – and with this pipe, a filter really will be necessary – into the stem.

And so the time to face the ordeal of the long, slow line at the Post Office comes. An hour later I am home again with my new briar insert and a surprise: a small key chain fashioned with a little chunk of lightweight, pale briar, both of them in a nice bag with a drawstring.

Now, something about the nakedness of the insert, being briar instead of the traditional corncob, just doesn’t sit right with me. Even when I test the fit by dropping it in the chamber and screwing on the lid, while indeed the briar is the correct size, the raw part of the rim that shows, beneath the top of the aluminum lid when I screw it on, is wrong. I ask myself (not out loud, but in my head – I’m not crazy, even if at times I ramble and digress), “Would I ever, even on the most rushed or easygoing project, conceivably consider leaving any rim unpolished?”

“Hell, no,” is my immediate response, though still silent. And so the next stage begins with what is intended to be just a quick sanding, micro-meshing and waxing of the rim. In point of fact, I try only the progression of micromesh, but that reveals the need for sanding, which I accomplish with 400-grit paper before re-doing the micromesh.

SUNDAY
But of course, once I start down that road – as simple as settling for the polished rim of the insert with its newly exposed even grain would be, given that it is the only part that will show through the lid – I simply cannot bring myself to leave the sides completely unfinished. Still, I approach this task with nowhere near the detail I would give a regular briar bowl. A fast sanding with 320-grit paper followed by 400, then micro-meshing, satisfies me, and it shows in the photos below. I consider doing the bottom of the insert, with a small hole drilled to allow moisture to pass in this most bizarre system pipe, but good sense does get the better of me, when my mind comes around to the reality of the resulting damage to anything sitting for long in the potential quagmire that the lucky buyer of this fine pipe might create even without the genuine, disposable corncob inserts.

Now, as midnight approaches, the second day of sporadic work on the Aristocob reaches its end and extends into another, as seems to be the nature of my life so often these hectic days. I need to run to the nearest Walmart anyway, to buy more distilled water, distilled white vinegar and baking soda to continue with the final few steps of this experimental restoration.

MONDAY
Having secured the necessary ingredients for the culmination of an exciting and hopefully successful restoration, the next stage is to soak the aluminum for ten minutes or so in enough of the pure vinegar to cover all of the metal. As I have never before had occasion to work with aluminum in this sort of project, I have not tried the unusual method of cleaning any part of a pipe, and must trust a fellow pipe club member who actually makes his living engaging daily in this process to remove dirt and other substances from industrial parts made of the same material, and at the same time brighten it. I do, at least, confirm online that the procedure is an established and excellent means of accomplishing the goal. While the aluminum soaks, I enjoy a brief respite from my toils, with a pipe-full of some of the last of my C&D Pirate Kake in a newly-acquired Castello Old Antiquari KKKK Sandblasted Bulldog. There is no doubt this is a bulldog compared to the dubious designation of Rhodesian that, with clear reservations, I suggest for the Aristocob by way of calling the art deco thing anything other than that.

Alright, then; the aluminum Rhodesian has soaked for 12 minutes now in white vinegar, and I am one step closer to seeing if the well-intentioned advice of my fellow piper has any merit to it. First giving the metal pieces a basic rinse with tap water, I replace them in the plastic container for a thorough dousing in a concoction of the same with an unspecified and therefore liberal amount of baking soda stirred in to rid the aluminum of any residual acidic vinegar.

After a long day involving far more than this restoration, which details I will spare the reader and try to make myself forget, I suspect the Old Antiquari is up for another ten-minute smoke, and I know I am.

Ten more minutes fly by, and the water and baking soda have done as much as they can to ensure the complete removal of vinegar. I rinse the metal again and dry the lid, bowl, shank and chamber with a cotton rag. I decide to use another cleaner to dry the inside of the shank and chamber air hole, only to discover that the combination of the vinegar and the following water-baking soda soaks has dredged up much more vintage grime. Both ends of the one dry cleaner, then a second dipped in Everclear and a third dry cleaner clear out the remaining mess, and I re-wipe the chamber with a rag.

The pipe is as ready as I can make it for reassembly. I drop the polished briar insert in place, screw on the lid and slide the bit with its new Medico filter into the shank, and give the whole thing a rubbing with the cotton rag.

CONCLUSION
Although not as shimmering as it once looked new in its package with a couple of spare corncob inserts, the vintage Aristocob Rhodesian, like the Tin Woodsman in Oz, has a new briar heart that matches the second part of “my galvanized friend[’s]” name. And this new transplant will last much longer than the original.

Giving a no name Poker a new stem and a new look

9 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

Over the past six or seven months I have picked this pipe up and looked it over at the small antique shop I visit regularly. Every time I put it back down and leave it there. There was really nothing redeeming about the shape with its one thin side and the odd shank that was not quite round. The stem was just plain ugly and unfinished. It was as if the maker or owner just turned a blank to fit the mortise and flared it backwards to avoid having to deal with a smooth fit to the shank as it was everything but flat and round. The sides of the stem still showed file marks and the diameter was markedly different than that of the shank. All in all it was one that I could do without that is for sure.

Then this past weekend I was in the shop again. I picked it up and looked at it once more. I don’t know if my mood was different or I was on the adrenaline high of finding the old Zeus at the shop before or what but this time I saw some possibilities in the pipe. I paid the $8 cash and the pipe was mine. Now what would I do with it?

When I got home I took some photos and weighed my options over Saturday evening and Sunday. I thought about making a freehand style stem for the pipe and ditching the old one. I thought about cleaning up and reshaping the old stem. I thought about facing off the shank end and giving it a more classic look. I took the stem off and looked at the shape of the shank, the shape of the shank end and tried to visualize it with a classic look. As you can guess by this point if you know my likes I went for the classic look.

I took a couple of close-up photos of the rim and the shank end to give an idea of how the bowl and shank were not round or close to it. The first photo of the dirty rim of the bowl shows the odd shape it was in. The right side of the bowl wrapping about half way around both the back and the front had a nice thick, even width while the left side tapered in from the thickness and roundness of the right, back and front to a thinner width. Besides that it also seemed to be a bit oval on the back and front but after measuring it I could see that it was an illusion. The second photo shows the shank end. It is a bit hard to see but the shank end was crowned and rounded over but inconsistently. The shank itself had the same problem as the bowl – it too was not round but was thicker on the left side than on the right; just the opposite of the bowl. This little pipe was going to be a challenge to make look correct.

I decided to face the end of the shank and remove the uneven crown and to flatten it to fit a flush stem. I used the topping board and carefully pressed the end of the shank into the sandpaper. I had to make sure that I held it straight vertically while sanding so that I did not slant the end of the shank and make things worse. I worked it against the 220 grit sandpaper until it was smooth and the crown was gone. I then used a medium grit sanding block to make sure the shank end was flat and even. I had an old Georg Jensen stem that fit on the right side of the shank perfectly. The left side and the bottom and top on that same side were off. I tried a saddle stem I had as well. No matter which stem I use the shape of the shank made a perfect fit impossible. The good news was that the flush stem fit snugly in the mortise and flat against the end of the shank. Now I would need to make adjustments to the shank diameter without losing the nice sandblast finish. I went through my bands and found one that would fit both the shank and the stem once it was in place. I used my Dremel and sanding drum to take down and round out the shank end so that the band would sit properly. I wanted to make the adjustments to the shank before the band so that once it was in place the stem would fit without adjusting the roundness of the stem to match the out of round shank. It took some work to round out the shank but the Dremel made short work of the process. I was able to put the band loosely on the shank to get an idea of the overall look of the pipe with the band. It appeared to me that it would work well.

I decided to heat the band with a lighter rather than set my heat gun to do the simple heat up of the band. Once I heated it I pressed it into place on the shank. The metal expanded slightly with the heat and by pressing the shank end against a flat surface I was able to push the band into place.

One problem was solved. The shank was now round at the end and the stem would fit tightly against the shank and the band made the match perfect.

I used a dark brown stain pen and a black permanent marker to touch up the raw briar in front of the band and blend it into the colour of the bowl and shank.

Once I had the stained matched, it was time to clean the sandblast finish. I used Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to scrub the bowl and shank. I did it after the stain touch up as I figured that the scrub would help blend the stains together. I rinsed the bowl with fresh water avoiding getting it into the shank and the bowl. I dried it off and brought it back to the work table. I cleaned out the shank and the used stem with a few pipe cleaners and alcohol. The pictures below show the pipe at this point in the process. The stem needed some work to clean up the scratches and wear around the button. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil and then buffed it with Blue Diamond Plastic Polish on the buffing wheel. I gave it a quick coat of carnauba and took it back to the work table.

I gave the bowl and stem a light buff and rubbed the bowl down with a light coat of olive oil. When it dried, I hand buffed the bowl with a shoe brush to raise the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the pictures below. I think I achieved what I set out to do when I started this project. I took a pretty ugly poker with a misfit stem and with work transformed it into a more classic poker look. What do you think? Thanks for looking and giving your opinion on the new look.

Taking the idea that several readers gave regarding the straight stem I bent it this morning. I heated it with the heat gun and then gave it a gentle 1/8 bend. Here are the photos.

Refurbishing a 1978 Dunhill Root Briar 41041 Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is another pipe that came to my work table. It is a beautifully shaped Dunhill Bulldog. It is stamped 41041 and Dunhill over Root Briar on the left side of the shank. The right side bears the made in England stamping with the date number that puts it at 1978. The bowl was in excellent shape and had been recently reamed and cleaned. The finished was dull but very clean. There were no issues with the briar. The stem was also in great shape other than being heavily oxidized on the top sides. There was a small tooth mark on the top side of the stem next to the button as well. What made this one interesting to me was the issue that I often see with diamond shank pipes. The sides all looked the same but were not when measured. The top left was slightly bigger than the top right and so forth. It was not an issue as I did not need to replace the stem but it was just an interesting tidbit and one thing I always look for when working on diamond shank pipes. The next series of four photos show how the pipe looked when I brought it to my work table.

I took two close-up photos of the stem to show the oxidation and the slight tooth mark on the topside near the button. The underside of the stem was not as badly oxidized but had slight oxidation.

I mixed up a batch of Oxyclean and put the stem in it to soak overnight.

While the stem soaked I decided to clean out the shank and airway. I used isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners to remove the tars and oils in the shank. I have found that even when I buy a “refurbished” pipe on eBay I do this and am always surprised at the grime and oils that come out of the “clean” shank. I did not want to use the retort on this one as it was not terribly dirty and had been subjected to a pretty good cleaning before it came to me. In the morning when I took it out of the bath and dried it off much of the surface oxidation was gone and the mix had raised some more oxidation.

I put a plastic washer on the tenon and put the tenon in the shank so that I could clean up the edges/shoulders of the stem without rounding them. I sanded it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to start with and worked on the oxidation.

I wet sanded the stem with 1400-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I worked on the scratches as well as the oxidation on the stem. I “painted” over the surface of the stem with flame from a BIC lighter to burn off some of the surface oxidation and then wiped it down with Obsidian Oil. The photos below show the stem after that process.

I went back over the stem with the 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads until the surface was freer of oxidation. I then wet sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and the shine began to show up.

I buffed the stem with red Tripoli and White Diamond before finishing with 6000-12,000 grit micromesh sanding pads. When I finished with the pads I rubbed down the stem with Obsidian Oil and let it soak in.

Once the oil had soaked into the stem I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond plastic polish being careful around the stamping on the shank. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and then buffed it with a clean, soft flannel buffing pad to raise the shine and give it that like new look. The finished pipe can be seen in the photos below. It is ready for the next pipeman to load up his favourite bowl and have a smoke.

Thanks for looking.

A Unique Piece of Pipe History – A Zeus System Filter Pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

The morning of May 9th started as any other one does for me – a coffee and a plan. I got up early and roused the troops. We loaded the car and headed to the US to get to the border crossing before the long lines began. We were at our destination in Bellingham, Washington by a little after 8:00 AM. We had breakfast with the ladies in my family, dropped them off for a few hours of shopping and then did a few errands before heading to the “Junque” shops when they opened at 10:00 AM. I walked through the first shop and found a small no name pipe that was in very rough shape and decided to leave it behind. I went to the second shop and went through all of the cabinets and finally came to the one belonging to a seller that usually had something interesting in her cabinet. That is where I saw the oddly shaped rusticated briar pipe that was stamped ZEUS on the stem. The seller unlocked the cabinet and I took the pipe in hand and examined it. The stem came out easily and I could see the odd spikes at the end of the metal shank. It was an oddity that I had not seen before so I had to have it. I know it sound lame, but this find made my morning. I had found an unknown to me, odd-shaped system pipe and the pipe hunt had been successful.

The pipe is not large. The bowl is about a group 3 size and has a very wide shank. It extends for about an inch before it is joined by a metal oval tube. The tube was in great shape with no scratches and only minimal dents. An oddly shaped stem fit in the end of the metal tube. The stem bore a star with the words ZEUS stamped under it on top of the stem. On the underside it was stamped Made in U.S.A. There is a patent stamp on the short briar shank in a smooth patch on the left side. It reads U.S. Patent over 2,158,897. When I returned home I took it to the work table and took these photos.

The pipe appears to be in great shape. There is minor oxidation on the stem but no tooth marks. The metal tube had sticky glue areas that seemed to come from a label that had been stuck to the metal. I sure wish that they would not use these labels to mark pipes. The briar bowl exterior is very dirty with dust and grime pressed deeply into the rustication. There was a thick build up of tars and oils in the rustication of the rim. There was a crumbling thick cake in the bowl with the cake on the bottom portion of the bowl being much thicker. The airway was dirty as well and I had trouble getting a pipe cleaner through from the stem. It would be interesting to take this old timer apart.

I removed the stem from the shank and took the following photo. It was a twin bore stem that moved toward a single airway in the thinner portion. It formed a Y. The twin bores were quite large as can be seen in the photo. It made me wonder what I was dealing with. The metal tube portion of the shank was also removable and only took a little finagling to get it to come free. It was pressed into place and formed a fairly tight seal. Once it was free the end of the briar shank was visible. It had two imposing metal spikes and an airway entering from the bowl in the middle between them.

I took another photo of the three parts standing on end. You can see that the metal tube forms a chamber for the smoke and serves as the mortise area for the twin bore stem. The mystery to me at this point was the purpose of the spikes. It seemed likely to me that some sort of filter system was spiked on the points and extended from them into the twin holes in the stem. They would lie parallel to each other in the metal shank and the smoke would swirl around them in the chamber. I began to wonder if I was missing some key parts of this pipe. Were those parts lost somewhere along the way and what must they have looked like? Those were some of the questions that went through my mind at this point. I knew that the patent number on the shank would give me some help with this. I could search the US Patent site and possibly find the drawings and original proposal for the pipe that the inventor submitted for patent. But before I did that I did a quick search on Google for the ZEUS pipe. Of course the PipePhil site came up and there I found the following information. There were two photos of the pipe – one disassembled and one assembled. The stamping was identical to the one I had as was the patent number on both shanks. There was also a short line to the right of the photo that gave me the quick answer to what I had assumed about the pipe. The spikes and the chamber as well as the twin bore had a clear purpose and I was not missing any parts. The ZEUS pipe was designed to hold 2 halves of a cigarette to act as filters. The spike held them in place and the twin cigarettes extended into the mouth piece. The smoke would swirl around them and the tars and moisture would be absorbed in the cigarettes.

There was also a link to MODERN MECHANIX Magazine dated November, 1939 that was an advertisement for the pipe and gave a simple diagram of the interior of the pipe with the cigarettes in place. The advertisement text is interesting in spelling out the pipe designer’s intention for the design of the pipe. It claims that 80% of the nicotine is removed by this new pipe design. The ad says that smoke drawn from the pipe passes through the two cigarettes which act as filters to absorb the nicotine.
I love finding these old inventive pipes that were designed to deliver what at the time was a smoother, cooler, healthier smoke. This was one of the most unique designs that I have seen. From there I turned to the patent number on the side of the shank. I went to the US Patent website and did a numerical search for the patent number. Here is the link to the number search portion of the patent website: http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.htm I entered the patent number 2,158,897 and was immediately given a three page scan of the documents on the site for that number. I have included all three pages below. The first page is a series of conceptual drawings of the device. The second and third pages are the details linked to the Figure numbers in the drawings. It was filed May 21, 1937 by a G. Cippico in the category of Smoking Device. G. Cippico is later shown to be Giuseppe Cippico, Inventor from Rome, Italy. The patent was granted on May 16, 1939 almost two years later. These old Patent details are always an interesting read to me. The theory of how the pipe would work is spelled out and the rationale for it being a new and better pipe is detailed.

I put this information on two of the pipe forums that I frequent to see if I could garner any further information. I was particularly looking for the US manufacturer of the pipe. On Smokers Forum I received a response from Chris Chopin (flatticus). He included another advertisement from Life Magazine that he found. The advertisement is for a ZEUS Cigarrete holder that claims to absorb over 70% of the nicotine and tars. It also says in small print at the bottom of the ad under the $1 Ladies Zeus with choice of amberlike colored bits that there are also ZEUS pipes. The ad says that ZEUS is made by L. & H. Stern, Inc., 57 Pearl Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. With that it appears that the pipes were made in the US by LH Stern Inc.

Chris also writes; “There are ads from Stern for the Zeus filter in 1938 in Life Magazine (several times that year), Collier’s Illustrated Weekly, and Time. They start in March and April of 1938 with the filter noted as “A New Way to Smoke”. Then nothing for 8 full years. Not a single ad or mention of any kind I can find past December of 1938 except for a mention in the Rocky Mountain Medical Journal that may not be an ad.”

“Then, in 1946, ads show up in Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, The Rotarian, Newsweek, all over the place, advertising that the Zeus Filter Holder is back, now in aluminum. All but one of the 1938 ads say “Also Zeus Pipes” and not a single one of the 1946 ads does.”

“It’s an assumption, of course, but this makes me think that for some reason the Zeus pipes had a very short life, and you may have one of very few they made.”

Thanks for the advertisement and information Chris. Your post gave me some needed information on the brand and confirmed what I had already found from my own digging. It appears I found a bit of a rarity in this old pipe.

Armed with these details and a bit of historical background it was time to clean up the pipe and bring it back to pristine condition.

I took the pipe apart and put the bowl into an alcohol bath to soak and soften the cake before I ream and clean it. I put the stem and barrel in an Oxyclean bath to soak and raise the oxidation and start the sanitizing process.

When I took the stummel out of the alcohol bath after it has soaked for three hours I scrubbed it with a soft bristle brass tire brush to clean out the debris from the rustication. I scrubbed the top of the rim to remove the tarry buildup from that surface. I wiped the surface down with isopropyl alcohol on a cotton pad to remove the dust on the finish.

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet Reamer using the smallest cutting head. It was still slightly too big to get to the bottom of the bowl. I used a small sharp pen knife to work on the cake on the bowl bottom and sides. I wiped out the bowl with isopropyl alcohol on cotton swabs to remove the carbon that the knife and reamer let behind. The reamed bowl is shown in the photo below. I used the cotton swabs and alcohol to clean out the airway in the shank and to clean up the two points of metal on each side. I scrubbed down the briar surface that the metal tube slid over. I also scrubbed the metal tube out on the inside with alcohol. I used the sharp pen knife to scrape the inside of the tube and then rinsed it with alcohol. I inserted the dental pick in the airway to use as a handle and restained the stummel with a dark brown aniline stain. I flamed it and repeated the process until the coverage was even.

I set the bowl aside to dry and worked on the stem. I had dried it off when I removed it and the tube from the Oxyclean bath but still needed to do some work to clean out the airways. I used pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol to clean out the stem airways.

I hand buffed the bowl with a shoe brush to smooth out the stain and to raise a shine on the briar.

The Oxyclean had removed some of the white in the stamping on both sides of the stem so I cleaned off the surface of the stem and then used a correction pen to reapply the white to the stamping on both sides of the stem.

When it was dry I sanded it with a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the excess white material and to polish the stem.

With the stamping repaired I worked on the stem with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I buffed the stem after the wet sanding with red Tripoli and then rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil before going on to the higher grit pads.

When I had finished with the micromesh pads I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond Plastic polish on the buffing wheel and then gave the stem several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the stem and bowl with a clean flannel buff to give a clean shine and finish the pipe. The completed pipe is shown in the photos below. It turned out really well and it will go in my display cupboard. I think one day I will have to light it up and see how it smokes but to do that I will need to find a couple of cigarettes to use as filters.

Thanks for looking at this unusual piece of tobacciana. It will join other odd pipes that I have found over the years that bear witness to the ongoing and ever-present search for the perfect smoke.

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