Tag Archives: Paradis Brothers pipes

Cleaning Up an Interesting Paradis Star Freehand Pot

Leave a reply

Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

A fine gentleman from out east contacted me asking for this pipe to be restored. Naturally, I obliged and managed a relatively quick job on it. This is just a quick-and-dirty report because it was really more of a cleaning job than a repair job – and I missed out on a few photos. This pipe is a Paradis Star 72 Freehand Pot. The markings on the pipe are as follows: the left side of the shank read Paradis [over] Star; on the right side of the shank read the number 72 – the shape number; and on the left side of the stem was the word Filter. This pipe did indeed have a 6 mm filter and so that makes sense. I knew Paradis Pipes to be a Canadian pipe company, based in Montréal, but I went over to Pipedia and Pipephil to seek out more information. Here’s some of what I found (after correcting the many spelling errors):

Paradis Pipes is the Canadian brand of the brothers Gilles and Fernand Paradis. In 1922 the Paradis family moved to the USA, when Lucien Paradis (1906-1979) was 16 years old. It was at this age that he started as an apprentice at his uncle’s pipe factory: Joseph B. Desjardins, maker of (JD) pipes, in Fall River, MA. Joseph Desjardins was issued two patents during this period, one for a new machine for making pipe stems and another for a new design of pipe reamer. The company employed 60 workers at one stage. In 1930, due to the Great Depressions, Lucien lost his job and returned to Quebec to work in the agricultural machine industry. In his spare time, be made pipes, selling them door to door. Three years later the rest of the family joined him, and Lucien founded a pipe factory with two of his brothers. The company eventually employed 18 workers and in the 1960s produced over 50,000 pipes a year, under brads like JBL, Dr. Thomas, Fernand Gignac, S.C. Pipes, New London Golfer, and Jo Thomassin. Paradis was founded in 1978, at the Salon of Quebec Artisans, and is available in tobacconists all over the country today. The brand produces 8,000 pipes a year (400 “handmade”), with Greek briar.The pipe was in decent condition. It had been well-smoked, and the bowl and shank were fairly dirty. The bowl had some cake on the inside and a bit of lava on the rim. But there was clearly some burning there too. The brass ring around the bowl was in good condition, just a bit scratched up. Meanwhile, the stem was relatively dirty. It was made of acrylic, so no oxidation to speak of, but there were what I would describe as “typical” tooth scratches on the bit. Fortunately, no dents – but someone did leave a heavily used filter behind. Delicious. The stem was first on my list. I wiped the outside down with Murphy’s Oil Soap on some cotton pads. I cleaned out the insides with lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol and some pipe cleaners and cotton swabs.I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to make the swirling colours of the stem’s acrylic shine again. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing (from 3,600 onward).

Now for the stummel. I reamed out the bowl to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper taped to a dowel to eliminate as much as I could. I took the chamber down to bare briar, as I wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the wall. Fortunately, there were none.I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. There was quite a bit of filth inside this stummel and it took a fair amount of cotton to get it clean. I used cotton rounds and some Murphy’s Oil Soap to wipe the outside of the stummel. I also used my toothbrush on the rim to see if I could lift some the burn marks there. Only so much was cleaned up. I followed that up by cleaning the insides of the stummel with some Castile soap and tube brushes. Next, I decided to de-ghost the pipe in order to remove any lingering smells of the past. I thrust cotton balls into the bowl and the shank and saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused any remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton. The bowl was nice and clean after this.In order to safely remove the damage on the rim, I used a piece of 220-grit sandpaper wrapped round a wooden sphere. This effectively removed the damage, without altering the look of the pipe. This worked very well and I was pleased with the results. I tidied up some of the lost colour with one of my furniture pens. Then I sanded the rim down with all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit). I also made sure to use the Micromesh pads on the brass ring, in order to remove some scratches and bring back its shine. Finally, I applied some Before & After Restoration Balm and buffed it with a microfiber cloth. I then took the pipe to my bench polisher and buffed it with White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax. Wow – the pipe looks much improved.This unusual Paradis Star 72 Freehand Pot will suit the buyer very well and I’m sure that he will enjoy smoking it for many years to come. I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe as much I as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Stunning Handmade Freehand Pipe from Paradis

Leave a reply

by Kenneth Lieblich

I have a pipe that came my way recently and I am happy to offer it to you for sale. No restoration story on this one – just a stunning pipe. I gave it a quick and thorough once-over (and a quick polishing) and now it’s time to turn it over to you. This pipe has never been smoked and has some of the most amazing grain. Take a close look. This is a Canadian masterpiece from Paradis Pipes of Québec City – never smoked, brand new. It is a beautiful half-bent handmade freehand. First, a quick primer on the pipemakers. From Pipedia:

Paradis Pipes is the Canadian brand of the brothers Gilles and Fernand Paradis. In 1922 the Paradis family moved to the USA, when Lucien Paradis (1906-1979) was 16 years old. It was at this age that he started as an apprentice at his uncle’s pipe factory, Joseph B. Desjardins, maker of (JD) pipes, in Fall River, MA. Joseph Desjardins was issued two patents during this period, one for a new machine for making pipe stems and another for a new design of pipe reamer. The company employed 60 workers at one stage. In 1930, due to the Great Depression, Lucien lost his job and returned to Quebec to work in the agricultural machine industry. In his spare time, be made pipes, selling them door to door. Three years later the rest of the family joined him, and Lucien founded a pipe factory with two of his brothers. The company eventually employed 18 workers and in the 60s produced over 50 thousand pipes a year, under brads like JBL, Dr. Thomas, Fernand Gignac, S.C. Pipes, New London Golfer, and Jo Thomassin. Paradis was founded in 1978, at the Salon of Quebec Astisans’ and is available in tobacconists all over the country today. The brand produces 8000 pipes a year (400 “handmade”), with Greek briar.I acquired this pipe from a gentleman who used to sell Paradis Pipes locally, and he told me that this was one of their incredible “handmades”.

It’s a lovely, elegant pipe. If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the “Canadian” pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the Paradis Special are as follows: length 6⅛ in. (155 mm); height 2¼ in. (57 mm); bowl diameter 1¾ in. (44 mm); chamber diameter ⅞ in. (22 mm). The weight of the pipe is 2¼ oz. (67 g). If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring Canadian Made Paradis Rustic 246 Bent Dublin

5 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

A while back I received a small box of pipes from a fellow pipeman who wanted to donate them to support  the non-profit organization I work for – the SA Foundation (www.safoundation.com). The organization has been providing long term recovery, housing and job training for women who have escaped sexual exploitation and trafficking. For over thirty years the work has gone on and thousands of young women and their children have been empowered to start over with skills and options. The work is currently in 7 countries and 12 cities around the world. If you are interested give the website a look.

Now back to the pipes. There were eight total pipes in the lot that he sent me. The first one I restored was a large Irish Second 05 Calabash that is heading off to Michigan. The second pipe was a Peterson’s Kapet pipe in a shape 124 (https://rebornpipes.com/2021/08/16/restoring-a-republic-era-petersons-kapet-124/). The third pipe was a very Danish looking Made in London, England Sandblast Acorn. (https://rebornpipes.com/2021/08/17/restoring-a-very-danish-looking-made-in-london-england-acorn/). The fourth pipe was a Bromma Bent Billiard with a screw on bowl (https://rebornpipes.com/2021/08/18/restoring-what-looks-like-a-swedish-bromma-pipe/).  All of the pipes were in clean condition and had been lightly reamed. The next pipe, the fifth one is a Canadian Made Paradis Pipe. The pipe had a thin cake in the bowl and a light overflow of lava on the rim top. There was darkening around the inner edge of the rim. The finish was coated with a shiny coat of urethane (seems to be something I am dealing with lately!). It was peeling on the top of the rim and inner edge. It would all need to go. The pipe was stamped on the left side and read Paradis in script [over] Rustic. The right side of the shank was stamped with the shape number 246.The pipe rusticated patterns on the right and left side of the bowl and shank. The bent saddle stem had a lot of tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. There was stylized P on the left side of the stem.

I took some photos of the pipe before I started my clean up work on it. It is another interesting pipe that has a great back story to the Canadian Province of Quebec. But… more of that after I introduce you to the pipe. I took photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem to show the condition of the pipe. The rim top had some darkening and lava on the inner edge of the bowl The urethane coat was peeling back from the inner edge onto the rim top. The stem had a lot of tooth chatter and some deep tooth marks on both the top and bottom. I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It was clear and readable as noted above. The P stamp on the left side of the saddle stem is clear.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe. Underneath the thick urethane coat there was some great grain and the pipe was a good shape and design. I have worked on quite a few Paradis pipes over the years and have done a lot of work on the background of the brand and have written about that I previous blogs. I have included the link for ease of reference (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/10/21/breathing-life-into-a-canadian-made-paradis-porte-st-louis-bent-billiard/). I quote from that blog below.

I turned first to Pipephil’s site for a quick summary (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-p1.html). I have included a screen capture of the information on the site.The Paradis brand was made by the Paradis brothers in Quebec but I did not remember much more than that so I turned to Pipedia for more info (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Paradis_Pipes) and learned the following:

Paradis Pipes is the Canadian brand of the brothers Gilles and Fernand Paradis. In 1922 the Paradis family moved to the USA, when Lucien Paradis (1906-1979) was 16 years old. It was at this age that he started as an apprentice at his uncle’s pipe factory, Joseph B. Desjardins, maker of (JD) pipes, in Fall River, MA. Joseph Desjardins was issued two patents during this period, one for a new machine for making pipe stems and another for a new design of pipe reamer. The company employed 60 workers at one stage.

In 1930, due to the Great Depressions, Lucien lost his job and returned to Quebec to work in the agricultural machine industry. In his spare time, he made pipes, selling them door to door. Three years later the rest of the family joined him and Lucien founded a pipe factory with two of his brothers. The company eventually employed 18 workers and in the 60s produced over 50 thousand pipes a year, under brands like JBL, Dr. Thomas, Fernand Gignac, S.C. Pipes, New London Golfer, and Jo Thomassin.

Paradis was founded in 1978, at the Salon of Quebec Artisans’ and is available in tobacconists all over the country today. The brand produces 8000 pipes a year (400 “handmade”), with Greek briar.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the lava coat and darkening on the rim top. I cleaned the inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I wanted to remove the darkening and minor damage to the top and edge of the bowl.I stripped off the urethane coat with a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad and some acetone on a cotton pad. I broke the shine coat and then rub it down with acetone on a cotton pad. I repeated the process until I had removed the shiny coat. I cleaned up the reaming of the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I took out the remnant of cake that had been left so I could examine the walls. I was glad to see there were no fissures in the briar walls.I scraped out the shank with a pen knife to remove the tar build up that was on the walls. I followed that up by cleaning the mortise and the airway in both the shank and the stem with 99% isopropyl alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the interior of the pipe was very clean. I polished the briar bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. 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 ten minutes then buffed the bowl with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks and chatter on the stem surface with the flame of a lighter to try and raise the dents. It worked very well and the majority of them came up. The few that remained I filled them in with clear CA glue and set it aside to cure. Once it cured I used 220 grit sandpaper to sand out the tooth chatter and marks on both sides of the stem. I used a small file to flatten out the repairs and reshape the button edge. I started to polish it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. The stem is looking much better. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I gave it a final rubdown with Obsidian Oil and set it aside to cure. This Canadian Made Paradis Rustic 246 Bent Dublin is a great looking pipe with great grain once the urethane coat was removed and the briar polished. The rich, brown stained smooth bowl with carved patches around the bowl and shank that were stained with a darker brown is quite beautiful. The finish works well with the  polished vulcanite saddle stem. 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 Paradis Rustic 264 Bent Dublin is light and sits nicely in the hand and feels great. 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 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 34 grams/1.20 ounces. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly in the Canadian Pipemakers Section. 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!

Breathing Life into a Canadian Made Paradis Porte St. Louis Bent Billiard

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table was purchased from an online auction from Romney, West Virginia, USA. It was an interesting looking golden brown bent billiard with a variegated orange/brown acrylic stem. The smooth finish on the bowl was very dirty and worn. The pipe was filthy and there was significant rim top and edge damage. The bowl had a thick cake that overflowed as lava on the rim top. It is hard to know what the inner edge of the rim looked like under the lava coat. The outer edge of the rim had some chips around the edges. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Paradis [over] Porte St. Louis on the left side of the shank. On the right side it is stamped with the number 76 which is either the shape number of the year the pipe was made. The name Porte St. Louis refers to a historic gate in Old Quebec that is part of the city’s extensive fortification system.  The stem was dirty and there were light tooth marks and chatter on the stem near the button on both sides. There was Paradis cursive P logo on the left side of the acrylic taper stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he worked on it.Jeff took close up photos of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started the cleanup work. The bowl had a thick cake and a thick overflow of lava on the rim top. It was hard to know what the inner edge looked like but the outer edge was a mess. Looking at the outside of the bowl from the top down it is not round and is thinner toward the back. The inside of the bowl is still quite round. The stem is lightly oxidized, calcified and dirty and there is tooth chatter and marks on both sides of the stem ahead of the button.   Jeff took a photo of the side and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar looked like. There is some nice grain on the piece of briar. The stamping on the sides of the shank read as noted above. The photos show that they are very readable. The P logo on the left side of the stem is in good condition.    I turned first to Pipephil’s site for a quick summary (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-p1.html). I have included a screen capture of the information on the site.The Paradis brand was made by the Paradis brothers in Quebec but did not remember much more than that so I turned to Pipedia for more information (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Paradis_Pipes) and learned the following:

Paradis Pipes is the Canadian brand of the brothers Gilles and Fernand Paradis. In 1922 the Paradis family moved to the USA, when Lucien Paradis (1906-1979) was 16 years old. It was at this age that he started as an apprentice at his uncle’s pipe factory, Joseph B. Desjardins, maker of (JD) pipes, in Fall River, MA. Joseph Desjardins was issued two patents during this period, one for a new machine for making pipe stems and another for a new design of pipe reamer. The company employed 60 workers at one stage.

In 1930, due to the Great Depressions, Lucien lost his job and returned to Quebec to work in the agricultural machine industry. In his spare time, he made pipes, selling them door to door. Three years later the rest of the family joined him and Lucien founded a pipe factory with two of his brothers. The company eventually employed 18 workers and in the 60s produced over 50 thousand pipes a year, under brands like JBL, Dr. Thomas, Fernand Gignac, S.C. Pipes, New London Golfer, and Jo Thomassin.

Paradis was founded in 1978, at the Salon of Quebec Artisans’ and is available in tobacconists all over the country today. The brand produces 8000 pipes a year (400 “handmade”), with Greek briar (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Paradis_Pipes).

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the acrylic stem Soft Scrub cleanser and rinsed it off with warm water. When the pipe arrived and I unpacked it the stem was broken off at the end. There was about a ¼ inch of the stem and the entire button was in the bottom of the bag that the pipe was packed in. I took photos of the pipe once I received it.  The rim top cleaned up really well. The rim top and outer edge of the bowl show damage from being knocked against a hard surface. There is some darkening on the beveled inner edge of the bowl and bowl is slightly out of round.  The stem surface looked very good with tooth marks and chatter on the top side and the underside near the button.The stamping on the sides of the shank is clear and readable. It reads as noted above.   I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole.  I started my work on the pipe by cleaning up the inner edge of the bowl and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. Once I had it cleaned up the rim top damage was minimized. I sanded the outer edge of the bowl with the sandpaper to smooth out the damage.  I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the briar down with a damp cloth after each pad. The briar began to take on a rich glow.  I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips into the briar. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10-15 minutes while I worked on the stem. After the time passed I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine.    I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth marks with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.  I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.    This Paradis Porte St Louis Bent Billiard is a great looking pipe. The smooth finish and brown stain around the bowl sides and shank make the grain just pop. The finish on the pipe looks great and the brown stains work well to give some contrast to the polished variegated orange/brown acrylic taper stem. The pipe is really quite eye-catching. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel, carefully avoiding the stamping on the shank. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Paradis Bent Billiard is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that like the other pipes I am working that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe was 38g/1.34oz. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another interesting pipe. This Canadian Made Bent Billiard will be added to the Canadian Pipe Makers section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you want to add it to your collection send me an email or a message! Thanks for your time.