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A tale of two pipes- restoring a pair of vintage cased meerschaum pipes – Part-11

Blog by Paresh Deshpande

I had been working on a pair of meerschaum pipes that came in a beautiful well preserved case. I have completed refurbishing the first pipe, a straight Dublin. Though I had worked on both these pipes simultaneously, I have done the write up in two parts.

For detailed information on the brand and other general information about the pipe, please read PART- I of this series.

Part- ll: Straight Billiard

Initial visual inspection
Of the two pipes in this set, this Straight Billiards appears to have seen the max abuse as well as use. The chamber has a thin layer of cake while the rim top surface has a couple of dents and dings. The inner rim edge has a couple of nicks and darkened in couple of areas. The stummel surface is marked by a number of scratch marks and is dirty with grime rubbed in to the surface. The Amber stem is badly damaged with cracks towards the tenon end and tooth indentations in the bite zone. The seating of the tenon in to the mortise is loose. The shank end has white silicon or some such tape sticking out and was likely used to tighten the fit of the stem in to the shank. Here is how the pipe looks as it sits on the worktable. Detailed Inspection
Both the pipes in the set appear to have been reamed prior to storage as is evident from the very thin layer of carbon in the chamber of both these pipes. The rim surface is clean of any lava overflow with slight darkening in 5 o’clock direction. However, there are a number of scratches and a couple of slight gouges (encircled in green) along the rim surface. The inner and outer rim edges have a few minor dings and would need to be addressed. The draught hole is right in the center and at the bottom of the chamber making these pipes a fantastic smoke. The stummel is peppered with minor as well as some slightly deep scratch marks. These scratches are predominantly on the right side of the stummel surface. There is a ton of grime and dirt over the surface. The shank end has a brass band and close scrutiny confirmed that the band is not a repair band. The white silicon (?) duct tape that is seen along threads inside of the mortise is indicative of having been placed to tighten the seating of the tenon in to the mortise. The mortise is severely clogged with tobacco ash, oils and gunk making the draw labored. Notwithstanding the present appearance of this pipe, I think that this pipe has some really beautiful coloration hiding beneath all the dirt and grime. The butterscotch yellow Amber stem with its threaded bone tenon sits very loose in to the mortise. I also noticed that the bone tenon is on the shorter side and does not extend all the way in to the mortise. Amber is a highly brittle material and with age and use is highly prone to develop cracks. This Amber stem is no exception. There is major fault line starting from the top surface of the stem at the tenon end, moving down for about an inch and branching off towards either sides of the stem. The crack line on the left side takes an upward turn on the lower surface and extends towards the stem face again. These cracks appear to have been repaired by gluing them together. All these cracks are indicated by red arrows. The bite zone on either stem surface has tooth indentations with chipped surfaces and these would need to be filled up. The round orifice has chipped areas around the edges. The leather covered case is in very good condition. The inside of the case is lined with deep maroon velvet that shows signs of being worn down, but intact. The intact outer leather covering is dirty and looks dull and lifeless with the brass pins and latches/locks all in working condition. This leather case should clean up nicely and be ready to accept these freshly refurbished pipes soon. The Process
I started this project by first reaming the chamber to rid the walls of the little cake that was visible. I used my fabricated knife to gently scrap off the cake. I followed this up by sanding the walls of the chamber with a piece of 180 grit sandpaper. This sanding not only helps to completely remove the cake but also helps to even out the wall’s surfaces. A wipe using 99.9% pure isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab ensured that the carbon dust that remained is completely lifted from the wall surface and the ghost smells are eliminated.I followed the cleaning of the chamber with cleaning the shank and mortise. If you recollect, I had mentioned that the draw through the mortise is heavy/ labored and assumed that it was due to accumulation of oils/ tars and gunk. However, during the cleaning, I was unable to get a pipe cleaner in through the airway and out through the draught hole. It was at this point that I handed over the stummel to Abha, my wife to see if she could clear the air way. By the late afternoon, when I came back from some work, Abha had removed the blockage from the shank air way and it was a solid piece of wood (clearly seen in the picture). She ran a few hard bristled and regular pipe cleaners dipped in 99.9% isopropyl alcohol through until the shank and mortise was spotless clean and disinfected. Close inspection of the piece of wood extracted from the mortise makes me believe this piece to be remnants of a 6mm Balsa filter. How and why would anyone even think of doing so, let alone do it, is beyond my comprehension.With the stummel internals all cleaned and spruced up, I cleaned the external surface of the stummel with cotton swab and oil soap. Once the grime was cleaned, I wiped the surface with a moistened cotton swab to completely remove the residual soap and grime from the surface. The scratches are now distinctly visible all across the surface. Also, the color at the foot of the stummel and over the shank surface is succinctly visible. With this external cleaning, the damage to the rim top is now clearly visible. I topped the rim surface on a piece of 220 grit sandpaper, frequently checking for the progress. Once I was satisfied that the damage is sufficiently reduced, I stopped the process of topping. Though the damage to the rim top is still visible, it is now in much better state than before. I think I shall let these signs of damage remain as a part of this pipe’s journey to date. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded the entire stummel with 1500 to 12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the dust that was left behind by the sanding. While I was working on the bowl top I also worked over the sides and bottom of the bowl to polish them as well. I wanted to minimize the scratching but not necessarily remove them all. These lacerations and dings must have had a history and I wanted to preserve it. I like the appearance of the stummel at this stage of restoration. I set the stummel aside and started with refurbishing of the stem. I cleaned the stem internals using anti oil detergent and thin shank brushes and rinsed it under warm water. I also cleaned the external surface of the stem using the soap and Scotch Brite pad. I further cleaned the stem airway with pipe cleaners and 99.9% pure isopropyl alcohol. I filled the tooth chatter with clear CA superglue and set the stem aside for the fill to cure.While the stem repairs were set aside to cure, I started with cleaning the leather covered case that housed the pipes. I used a hard bristled toothbrush and warm soap water to clean the maroon velvet lining the insides of the case and wiped it completely dry using paper towels. I cleaned the external surface of the case using cotton swabs and Murphy’s Oil soap and set it aside to dry out naturally.I checked the repairs over the stem and found that the fills had cured completely. Using a needle file, I roughly blended the filled surface with the surrounding surface. With a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper, I further fine tuned the blend by sanding the filled areas to match with the stem surface. The progress so far is good.To bring a deep shine to the stem, I went through the complete set of micromesh pads, dry sanding with 1500 to 12000 grit pads. Though the repairs are visible, they are meant to be as it is after all a repair. I have made peace with this.With the stem repairs and polish completed, I checked the leather case. It had dried completely. Next, I applied a liberal coat of Neutral color shoe polish over the leather and kept it in the sun for the leather to absorb the wax from the polish. I followed it up with a nice polish using a horse hair shoe brush. The leather is now nicely hydrated and taken on a nice shine.At this stage, the stummel has been polished with micromesh pads, the stem repairs and polishing is completed and the leather case has been cleaned and polished. I decided to address the loose seating of the tenon in to the mortise. I thought of using clear CA superglue to coat part of the tenon surface at the stem end and fit it in to the mortise. The rotation of the coated tenon within the mortise would create a thread pattern on both the tenon and mortise wall. I gave a few in and out rotations for the threads to set in to the coat. Once I was satisfied with the seating and alignment of the stem, I set it aside for the glue to set. I seem to have lost pictures of the process at this stage or may have not even taken them as after this complete project went in to a downward spiral….

Once the tenon coating had completely cured, I checked the seating of the stem in to the mortise again and heard a small cracking sound (though utterly deafening to my ears) and I knew that I was in trouble, rather huge trouble. The Amber stem cracked exactly along the fault lines that I had indicated early on. The pain, frustration and the agony is indescribable!! I decided to set the carnage aside and took a break.A couple of days later, I had a fresh look at the broken stem and worked out a POA to address the damage. I decided to replace the old tenon with a fresh bone tenon from my cache of spare tenon and glue the broken stem pieces together. I would further stabilize and strengthen the cracked portion of the stem with a sterling silver band. This replacement of the tenon would also address the issue of shorter tenon that I had mentioned above.

I selected a bone tenon that would fit snugly in to the mortise as well as in to the broken stem. I fixed the tenon in to the remaining intact part of the Amber stem using superglue. Once the glue had cured, I fixed the broken parts of the stem around the tenon with superglue and set it aside for the glue to cure completely. Once the glue had cured, I sand the repaired surface with a piece of 320 grit sand paper to match with the rest of the stem surface. Thereafter I attached a sterling silver band, which I had got specifically made for this stem, using superglue. The repairs are solid and I am quite satisfied with the progress being made.The gentleman who had commissioned this set had made it amply clear that the scratches/dents and dings over the stummel surface should remain as it is a part of the pipe’s past journey. I too agreed with the new owner and decided to move ahead with polishing and waxing of the stummel with beeswax. I brought a deep shine to the surface by dry sanding with micromesh pads and followed with a microfiber cloth. I assembled the equipment and materials that would be needed during the waxing process viz heat gun, paper towels, q-tips and a steel container graciously lent by Abha from the kitchen and of course, beeswax. I stuffed the chamber with cork and the shank end with folded pipe cleaners to prevent inadvertent seepage of the melted beeswax into either. Next, I melted a sufficient quantity of beeswax using my heat gun and thereafter heated the stummel. Using the a folded pipe cleaner, I completely coated the stummel with the wax and continued the application till the surface was saturated and set the stummel aside to absorb the wax. I reheated the stummel with the heat gun about 20 minutes later and let the excess wax either be absorbed or drip off from the stummel surface. I rubbed off the excess wax with a soft cotton cloth and. The deep golden brown coloration that the meerschaum has taken is a visual treat. With the stummel now completed, I was through with repairs and refurbishment of this cased pair. I reattached the Amber stem with the stummel for a final inspection and polish. Unfortunately, this was not the end of the journey with this pipe!!! As I reattached the Amber stem, the shank band broke free and fell on the table along with a small portion of the threads. Luckily, the concave surface of the shank face and the convex surface of the band were intact and I decided to glue them up again as was done originally.Since the threads were now damaged, I decided to do a complete stem replacement and shortlisted a near matching sized stem as a replacement to the Amber stem. The two aspects that I needed to match was the stem face diameter and the second was the matching of the taper and width with the Amber stem.This decision to replace the stem on this pipe has now necessitated that I consider replacing the replacement stem on the Dublin from this set. All the efforts that had gone in to fabricating and shaping the acrylic stem on the Dublin are for naught!! I did the replacement of the acrylic stem on the Dublin and the end results are more than satisfying (you can read all about it in Part-I of this restoration).

Using needle files and folded piece of sandpaper, I evened out the threads inside the mortise wall. This would make it easier for the mortise to accept a push pull tenon type.Next I tackled the sizing of the tenon. I first did the major hard work by sanding the tenon with a 150 grit sanding drum mounted on a hand held rotary tool. The challenge of achieving a perfect fit of the tenon in to the mortise was achieved by sanding the tenon using sandpaper. It did take a few man hours, tons of elbow grease and patience to achieve perfect fit.With snug seating of the stem in to the mortise ensured, it was time to adjust the length and other parameters of the replacement stem. I wanted an old style stem with an orifice to match the correct time period of 1920s. I marked the length of the stem that would fit in to the case and cut off the excess with a blade. This cutting off of the stem provided me with a rounded slot and a taper that nearly matched the required shape.I cleaned out the stem internals using shank brushes and anti oil dish washing soap. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners through the airway to further clean and dry out the stem internals.I firstly evened out the slot end of the shortened stem by topping on a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. Thereafter began hours of hard and laborious task of shaping the stem to match the shape and rebuild buttons on either stem surface using needle files and sandpapers. It did take hours of work and eyeballing to get the shape I desired and most importantly, the slot end. I am pleased with the results achieved. Next, I wet sand the entire stem with 600, 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sand papers. This progressive use of higher grit sandpapers helps to, firstly, reduce the sanding marks left behind by the more abrasive ones, secondly, completely eliminate the oxidation while imparting a clean shine to the stem surface. Thirdly, this also helped to even out the sanding marks left behind by the flat needle files. I applied a little EVO and set the stem aside for a few minutes.This was followed by wet sanding the stem with 3200 to 15000 to bring a deep shine and smooth finish to the stem. I applied a small amount of EVO and set it aside.To put finishing touches to this pipe, I polished the stem with Blue Diamond compound and subsequently with carnauba wax using my hand held rotary tool and vigorously buffed the stummel with microfiber cloth to bring a deep shine. This pipe looks absolutely stunning and I am sure that my friend will like it too.

A tale of two pipes- restoring a pair of vintage cased meerschaum pipes – Part 1 (A)

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

Recently I had purchased a few pipes on eBay and this time the delivery was effected without any issues from the Seller. All the Sellers had described the pipes just as they are received, items were well packed and shipping was record quick making this a nice experience (far cry from all my previous experiences on eBay!). I shared the pictures of the pipe haul with members of my Pipe Club and this pair of cased Meerschaum called out to one of the founding members of the club and more importantly a dear friend of mine.

Looking at the pipe set, it is apparent that these pipes had seen many a summers, many a number of repair jobs more so to the stem including splicing and many ages of (mis?)use. The case consists of two Meerschaum pipes; a Dublin and a Billiard (or maybe a Tulip or even an Apple shape!!!). There are no visible stampings or markings either on the pipe or on the hard leather case except a small note with c.1920’s written on it (well, again veracity of this note cannot be established and needs to be considered with a pinch of salt, or rather a handful of salt!). This makes it impossible to firmly establish the provenance of this pipe set. However, the overall feel, appearance and quality make me want to believe that small little note. Here are a couple of pictures of the cased set of meer as it sits on my table. Though both the pipes were worked on simultaneously, for the sake of brevity and convenience of explaining the process and how issues that cropped up on one pipe affected the other, I shall divide the write up in to two parts.

Part 1: Dublin
The Dublin shaped meerschaum pipe is in pretty good condition with a thin layer of cake in the chamber. The rim top surface is clean and in good condition with no dents or dings over the rim edges. The major issue on this pipe is with the stem. Somewhere down the line during its previous innings, the Amber stem on this pipe must’ve broken in half and was repaired using a multicolored acrylic or cheap plastic stem spliced in to place at the tenon end. The seating of the tenon in to the shank end is very loose and barely holds the walls of the mortise. This seems to be the main reason why this pipe was so sparingly used as evidenced by the thin layer of cake in the chamber. The following pictures will give a general idea of the condition of this pipe as it sits on my workbench. Detailed Inspection
The chamber is clean with a thin layer of even cake. The rim top surface is clean and in pristine condition without any dents and dings over the rim top. The inner and outer rim edges are smooth, even and without any darkening along the edges. The rim appears thinned out in 12 o’clock direction along the outer rim edge. I think it is the design feature which has the stummel in a slight inwards turn near the upper surface. However, the chamber itself is perfectly rounded. The stummel surface shows a few scratches, but none serious enough to draw away your attention from the beauty of the bowl. The inward turning shape to the upper surface of the stummel that I have mentioned above is indicated by green arrows. There are a couple of dark spots over the stummel surface and encircled in pastel blue. The shank end shows residual white tape and is indicative of an earlier repair work to the shank end. The band, though identical to the other pipe in this set, appears to be fixed after the pipe was completed. The white Teflon tape, in all probability, was used to tighten the seating of the threaded tenon in to the mortise. However, this was an utter failure as the tenon is too loose in the mortise and is the reason for this pipe being so sparingly used. The stem is where maximum repair work is required. The stem has been spliced and repaired previously with the rounded slot end made of Amber while the tenon end is a similar colored variegated acrylic or plastic stem. The joint is easily discernible and is encircled in Red. Though the stem airway is aligned, the stem shape is not. The mismatched stem shape is indicated by green. The tenon is too short and filthy and very loose fitting in the shank. The slot end has tooth indentations and chipped surface. Given the present condition of the stem and its seating in to the mortise, I shall be replacing the stem itself to make it both functional and aesthetically appealing to the eye (that’s what the intention is!). The Process
I started this project by reaming the chamber with my smaller fabricated knife and scraped out all the carbon from chamber. I used a 220 grit sand paper, pinched between my thumb and forefinger, to sand the inner walls of the chamber of the pipe. Once I had reached the bare walls, I wiped the chamber with a cotton pad dipped in isopropyl alcohol. This removed all the residual carbon dust and also rid the chamber of all ghost smells. I followed it up by cleaning of the mortise and air way of the pipe using hard bristled and regular pipe cleaners, q-tips dipped in alcohol. The mortise and the draught hole were given a final clean with shank brushes dipped in alcohol. I dried the mortise with a rolled paper napkin. The shank internals and the draught hole are now nice and clean with an open and full draw.I cleaned the external surface of the Meerschaum bowl with Murphy’s Oil soap and cotton swabs. I wiped the bowl surface with a moist cloth to remove the soap and grime that remained on the surface. The stummel surface cleaned up nicely. The scratches and dents and dings over the stummel surface are now clearly visible and will be addressed to an extent when the stummel is polished using the micromesh pads. I polished the rim top surface and rim edges with micromesh pads. I then went on to dry sand the entire stummel with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the dust that was left behind by the sanding. I had planned to minimize the scratches but not necessarily remove them. These lacerations and dings must have had a history and I wanted to preserve it. Once I was done with the micromesh cycle, I applied a small quantity of Paragon wax and vigorously polished it off with a microfiber cloth. The stummel now has a nice deep shine to it. Next I decided to address the stem repairs or rather stem replacement since the damage to the already repaired stem was far too extensive and yet it would not make this pipe fully functional since the tenon was too loose and too short. The stem that I selected is a beautiful yellow acrylic stem that perfectly matched the shank face diameter. I selected a Delrin tenon that perfectly threaded in to the mortise for a snug fit.Now it was necessary to down size the smooth end of the tenon to fit in to the stem face. I mounted a 150 grit sanding drum on to my hand held rotary tool and sand down the smooth end of the tenon till I had achieved a rough seating of the tenon in to the stem face. My previous experience has taught me an invaluable lesson; “SAND ONCE AND CHECK TWICE”!! Once I had achieved a rough seating, I got down to the arduous and time consuming task of manually sanding down the smooth portion of the tenon with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper till I had achieved a perfect seating of the tenon in to the stem. Here I was extra careful and vigilant while sanding the sides of the tenon and frequently checked the alignment of the tenon airway with the stem airway and finally through the shank airway and right through the draught hole. Once I was sure that the tenon, stem and shank face and airways are all aligned and seated flush, I glued the tenon in to the stem. I took some time to admire the overall appearance of the pipe and I like it very much.Next on the agenda was to match the length of the replacement stem with that of original stem. Using needle file and 150 grit sand paper, I sand the slot end of the replacement stem till I achieved a perfect length match. Even though it took me a few man hours and lots of efforts, I was able to achieve the desired length. I checked the seating of the pipe in to the case and noted with satisfaction that the case closed without any gaps. However, in achieving the desired length, the button edges on the new stem were sanded down. This necessitated rebuilding of button edges on the new stem.With clear CA superglue, I rebuild the buttons using layering technique. Once the glue had hardened, using a needle file, I roughly shaped the buttons and further fine tuned the buttons using a piece of 330 grit sandpaper. The slot end at this stage is rounded and the horizontal slot needs to be carved. I marked the center line on either sides of the orifice and using a slot file, I carved out a horizontal slot. The stem looks good at this stage.Next the stem was subjected to a full cycle of polishing using micromesh pads.With the shaping and polishing of the replacement stem completed, I turned my attention back towards the stummel. I gave a beeswax polish to the meerschaum bowl. I assembled the equipment and materials that would be needed during the process viz heat gun, paper towels, q-tips and a Katori, a steel container graciously lent by Abha from her kitchen and of course, beeswax. I stuffed the chamber with cork to prevent inadvertent seepage of the melted beeswax into it. Next, I melted a sufficient quantity of beeswax in the katori using my heat gun and thereafter heated the stummel. Using a folded pipe cleaner, I completely coated the stummel with the wax and continued the application till the surface was saturated with the beeswax and set the stummel aside to absorb the wax. I reheated the stummel with the heat gun about 20 minutes later and let the excess wax either be absorbed or drip off from the stummel surface. I rubbed off the excess wax with a soft cotton cloth and brought a deep shine to the surface with a microfiber cloth. With the replacement stem all shaped and aligned and the bowl waxed and polished, I had completed the refurbishing of this pipe from the cased pair and set the pipe aside.

However, little did I know at this stage that all the man hours and efforts that I had put in making this replacement stem to make this pipe aesthetically beautiful and functionally sublime would come to a naught due to certain challenges that I was presented with while working on the second pipe from the set. I shall cover those aspects in Part- II of the write up. It will suffice to say here that I had to discard this stem and fabricate a new vulcanite stem from scratch.

PART-I (B)
Now that I have decided to match the stem on this pipe to the vulcanite stem that I had fabricated on the second pipe from the set, I first selected a vulcanite stem that would more or less be a perfect match to the butterscotch yellow acrylic stem that was made earlier. I would need to shape the flare at the slot end to a nice smooth taper (indicated by yellow lines), reshape the slot end to an orifice with old style rounded buttons and would need to greatly reduce the diameter of the tenon (indicated by red arrows) for a snug fit in to the mortise. Once that was achieved, I would need to clean and polish the vulcanite to a nice black shine. Here is a picture to give you an idea of both the stems.First I removed the metal stinger from the tenon end by heating it with the flame of a match light and pulling it out with a pair of nose pliers. I followed this with cleaning the stem internals using anti-oil dish washing soap on a thin shank brush and rinsing it under warm running water. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners through the airway to completely remove any residual traces of soap and also to dry it out. With a 150 grit sanding drum mounted on my hand held rotary tool, I sized down the tenon to achieve a rough match with the mortise size. I fine tuned the seating of the tenon in to the mortise by sanding it further with a 180 grit sand paper till I had achieved a snug fit.As I was trying out the seating of the tenon in to the mortise a second time, the brass ring separated from the shank end with threaded portion of the mortise while revealing a minor crack at the shank end (unfortunately, in my haste to address the newly presented challenge, I missed out on taking pictures of the damaged shank end). The problems are continually mounting unabated!!

Luckily, I had a Sterling silver band that I previously got made from a local silversmith which perfectly fit the shank end. I filled the crack with thin CA superglue. Once the glue had seeped in to the crack and hardened completely, I attached the band over the shank end with CA superglue and set it aside for the repairs to cure.Now I turned my attention back to the stem. The tenon mod was completed and next I decided to address the extra flare at the slot end of the replacement stem. I wanted an old style stem with an orifice to match the correct time period of 1920s and had achieved it to a certain extent on the billiards pipe from the set. I cut about half an inch off the slot end. This achieved two aims; firstly, the flare was reduced and secondly, I now had an orifice at the slot end. I further evened out the cut surface by sanding the surface over a 220 grit sand paper.Thereafter began the arduous task of eyeballing and filing with flat/ semi-circular needle files. It did a take long time and lots of elbow grease to achieve a rough desired shape. I further fine tuned the rough edges and shape by sanding the stem surface using a 220 grit sand paper. Next, I wet sand the entire stem with 600, 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sand papers. This progressive use of higher grit sandpapers helps to, firstly, reduce the sanding marks left behind by the more abrasive ones, secondly, completely eliminate the oxidation while imparting a clean shine to the stem surface. Thirdly, this also helped to even out the sanding marks left behind by the flat needle files. I applied a little EVO and set the stem aside for a few minutes.I went through the 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads to wet sand the stem. The stem now has a nice deep shine along the entire stem surface. I rubbed a small quantity of EVO and set the stem aside for the oil to hydrate the stem surface.To finish the restoration of this pipe, I polished the stem with Blue Diamond compound and subsequently with carnauba wax using my hand held rotary tool. I once again vigorously buffed the stummel with microfiber cloth to bring a deep shine. The finished pipe actually looks much attractive in person than in the pictures below.

Transforming a Sad Looking Comoy’s Second “The Golden Arrow”

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

It’s been a while that I had worked on any of my inherited pipes and decided to fish out one from the last remaining large box that I had received a few years back. The pipe that I selected to work on is a very sad and tired looking Canadian with an oval shank that just shouted as being an English made pipe.

The entire stummel is covered in dull grey patches of water stain, dust and grime through which some great cross grains over the front, aft and shank surface, awaits exposure. The pipe is stamped upper flat surface of the oval shank as “The” over “GOLDEN ARROW” over “LONDON PIPE”. The underside of the shank is stamped, starting from bowl end to shank end, with shape code “296” followed by “MADE IN ENGLAND” over “BY” over “COMOY’S”. The COMOY’S stamp is in simple block letters without serif, letter C is the same size as the rest of the letters and with an apostrophe before letter S. The stem is without any stem logo. I have a keen interest in studying and collecting English made pipes and in this quest, I have read up as much material as I could lay my hands on and still continue on this path till date. Pipedia.org has detailed information on the origins of Comoy’s brand; it’s dating guidelines and shape chart, all aspects well supported with pictures of pipes, stampings and old flyers/ catalogues. Here is the link to the article (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s)

After refreshing my knowledge and based on the stamping on the pipe, I know that I am working on a Comoy’s Seconds from the 1950-1960s. This is based on the way COMOY’S is stamped, firstly, the stamp is in simple block letters without any serifs, secondly, the letter C is the same size as the rest of the letters and lastly, presence of an apostrophe before the letter S.

Furthermore, G L Pease, in his research on Comoy’s states that “Sometime in the 60’s, it the serifs were returned to the “COMOY’S” lettering, though, as mentioned above, the typeface is not as fancy as the earlier one”. (http://www.glpease.com/Pipes/Comoy.html)

At the end of the article on Comoy’s on pipedia.org, is a link to Comoy’s shape number chart. The chart tells me that the shape # 296 as seen on this pipe corresponds to a large straight Canadian with oval shank/ stem.

With the provenance of the pipe now established, I moved ahead with my initial visual inspection.

Initial Visual Inspection
The stummel is covered in dirty grayish white water stains and the surface appears dull and lifeless. The first look would dissuade anyone from even considering it for restoration. However underneath all that grime and stains, lurked a solid beautiful 60/ 70 year old English pipe. The stummel surface has a couple of scratches and dings/ dents. The chamber has a decent layer of uneven carbon cake with the lava overflowing over the rim top surface. Under the coat of lava, the rim top surface appears uneven. The inner rim edge appears uneven and charred. The mortise is filthy and shows accumulation of ash and oils and gunk. The smells of old tobacco inside the chamber and mortise are strong and acrid. It seems that my grand old man was out to prove to the world that the tapered vulcanite bite proof stem was anything but bite proof. The stem has some seriously deep tooth indentations on either surface in the bite zone. The stem would require major efforts to reconstruct the bite zone, including the buttons. Following pictures will give you a general idea of the condition of the pipe before I start my work on resurrecting the pipe. Detailed Inspection
The chamber has a decent layer of cake that is even all around. The condition of the walls of the chamber will be ascertained once the cake has been evened out. Given the solid feel and even color of the stummel, the probability of serious damage like a burn out or deep heat fissures to the walls is a distant possibility. The rim top surface is uneven and signs of having been knocked against hard edges is evident at 12 o’clock and 4 o’clock directions where the surface is chipped (enclosed in green). The beveled inner rim edge appears charred in 12 o’clock to 9 o’clock and 4 o’clock to 6 o’clock direction (enclosed in red) and is uneven along the complete edge. The outer rim edge has a few minor dings and chipped surfaces and should be easily addressed by sanding. The smells of old tobacco are pretty strong and would need to be addressed.The entire stummel is covered in dirty grey white water stains and grime, a result of the pipe being stored in some damp place for years. The stummel appears to be dull and lifeless beneath all the grime and water stains. However, beautiful cross grains can be seen along the surface underneath the grime. There a number of small scratches and road rash marks on the surface can be seen, notably over the left side of the bowl (marked in yellow). The shank is dirty and clogged with old ash, oils and tars. The twin bore tapered vulcanite stem is deeply oxidized and has significantly deep bite marks on both upper and lower surfaces of the stem. The buttons too are damaged and rendered out of shape due to the bite marks. The airflow through the stem is laborious and could be either due to the compression of the airway due to the bite marks or could be due to accumulation of old oils, tar and gunk in the airway. I have purchased GORILLA CA glue as I had read rave reviews about it and am excited to try it out. The Process
The first repair that I decided to tackle was the damaged stem. Before I could proceed with actual repairs, I cleaned the stem internals first. Using a thin shank brush and anti-oil dish washing soap, I cleaned the stem airway. The airway was filthier than I had imagined as can be judged from the following pictures. I took me a considerably long time, but eventually the airway was clean. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners through the stem to confirm that the airway was clean and also to dry it out. With the stem internals now clean, I moved to external cleaning of the stem surface by dunking the stem into “Before and After Deoxidizer” solution developed by my friend Mark Hoover. The solution helps to draw out heavy oxidation to the surface making it’s further removal a breeze, while the minor oxidation is eliminated to a very great extent. I usually dunk stems of 5-7 pipes that are in-line for restoration and the THE GOLDEN ARROW is marked in yellow arrow. I generally allow the stems to soak in this solution overnight for the solution to do its work.With the stem soaking in the deoxidizer solution, I moved on to reaming the chamber with my PipNet pipe reamer. I started the reaming process with head size 2 of the PipNet reamer blade and progressed through to head size 3. I used my fabricated knife to remove cake from areas inaccessible to the reamer blades and completed the process of removing the cake by sanding the walls smooth with a folded piece of 180 grit sandpaper. I wiped the chamber with a cotton swab wetted with alcohol to clean the residual carbon dust. The chamber walls are solid and a few minor thin heat veins are visible on the aft and right side of the walls of the chamber. I shall give the chamber a bowl coating as a precautionary measure against future damage. Next, I cleaned the mortise by scraping out all the dried oils and tars from the walls with a dental tool. I further cleaned the mortise using bristled and regular pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol.Continuing with the internal cleaning of the chamber and mortise, I subjected it to a salt and alcohol bath. I used cotton balls which is an at par substitute as I have realized over the years. I drew out a wick from the cotton and along with a folded regular pipe cleaner; inserted it into the mortise and through the draught hole and further into the chamber. Thereafter, I packed the chamber with cotton balls to about quarter of an inch below the rim inner edge and soaked the cotton balls with isopropyl alcohol up to the brim. About half an hour later, the level of alcohol had gone down, having being absorbed by the cotton. I topped it up once again and set it aside overnight. By next afternoon, the cotton and alcohol had drawn out all the remaining oils/ tars from the chamber and mortise and loosened out any residual cake and tar build up, fulfilling it’s intended task. I removed the cotton balls and ran pipe cleaners through the mortise to clean out all the loosened tars and gunk. Using my fabricated tool, I scraped out the entire loosed gunk from the mortise and further cleaned it with alcohol and q-tips. The large blobs of now moistened gunk that was removed from the mortise should give the readers an idea of how filthy the mortise was when I started the process of cleaning. The chamber now smells clean and fresh. I set the stummel to dry out naturally. I cleaned the external surface of the stummel with undiluted Murphy’s oil soap and a hard bristled toothbrush. I cleaned the smooth rim top surface with the soap and Scotch Brite pad. The prominent dip on outer rim edge in the 12 o’clock direction is now clearly visible (marked in red). I thoroughly cleaned the mortise with shank brush and anti-oil dish washing soap. The mortise is now thoroughly cleaned and fresh. With the internal and external surface of the stummel now nicely cleaned, I fished out the stem that had been soaking in the Before and After deoxidizing solution for nearly 24 hours. I first scrubbed the stem surface with a Scotch Brite pad. I followed this scrubbing with a nice cleaning of the surface using a 0000 grade steel wool. I rinsed the stem under running water to rid the stem of the thick solution. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners to remove the deoxidizer solution from the airway.Continuing with the stem refurbishing, I heated the bite zone with the flame of a lighter to raise the tooth indentations to the surface. Though the results were not what were expected, the vulcanite was raised a little. The button edges and deeper tooth indentations on either surface of the stem were filled with a mix of CA superglue and activated charcoal powder and set aside for the fill to cure. I would like to bring out here that I had purchased a new tube of Gorilla Superglue gel after reading rave reviews and it was this glue that I had used to prepare the mix to fill in the tooth indentations. That this was a bad purchase for me personally became amply evident later during the restoration process. While the stem fills were set aside to cure, I addressed the damage to the rim top surface of the stummel by topping it on a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I frequently checked the progress being made as I had no desire to lose any briar estate than was absolutely necessary. Once satisfied with the result, I wiped the rim top surface with a moist cloth. The uneven darkened rim top had been addressed completely, however, the beveled inner rim edge was still dark and the chamber was still slightly out of round (though greatly reduced) with slight charring visible in the 12 o’clock direction. I addressed this issue by simply running a piece of 220 grit sand paper along the inner rim edge bevel, till the darkening was eliminated.Next, I addressed all the dings over the stummel surface by steaming them out by heating my fabricated knife on a candle and placing it on a wet towel covering the dents. The generated steam pulls the dents to the surface leaving behind a slightly discolored and uneven patch. I evened out the discoloration and stummel surface by sanding the entire surface with a piece of 320 grit sandpaper. At this stage in restoration, I turned over the stummel to Abha, my wife, for her to work her magic in polishing the stummel while I turned my attention to the stem repairs.

The stem repair fills had cured nicely and I moved ahead with the process of filing and shaping the button end with a flat head needle file. For a better blending, I further sanded the entire stem with 220. At this stage, the fills appear as ugly grey patches that are very uneven. I hoped that further sanding with progressively higher grit sandpapers would help in blending of the repairs.I continued to dry sand the entire stem with a folded piece of 400 followed by 600 and 800 grit sandpaper and further progressed to wet sanding with 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sand papers. However, the fills still appear dirty grey and a closer look showed the entire filled surface peppered with numerous tiny air pockets. I refilled the patches with a fresh mix of CA superglue gel and activated charcoal and set the stem aside.During the time that I was struggling with the stem repairs, Abha completed the polishing of the stummel by wet and dry sanding the surface with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. She massaged a small quantity of B & A Restoration balm and set it aside for 10 minutes for the briar to rehydrate. Thereafter, she gave a rigorous hand rub using a microfiber cloth. The appearance of the stummel at this point is truly satisfying. Once the stem refills had cured completely, I went through the complete process of sanding and shaping the fills using a needle file followed by sanding with sandpapers as described above. Though the finish is better this time around, the coloration of the patch still remains a light shade of grey and easily discernible against the rest of the stem surface. I would like to inform our esteemed readers that I had to go through the complete repairs six times before this attempt and for the sake of brevity, I deliberately kept it short. Yet, the results are not what I expected and have been achieving consistently with other brands of superglue. There was only one more issue that needed to be addressed and one that could not be ignored, being a functional issue. After I had reamed and sanded the chamber walls, I had observed very minor and superficial web of thin heat fissures/ pits all along the chamber walls. I addressed this by mixing activated charcoal and plain yogurt to a thicker consistency, just enough that it would spread easily and applied it evenly all along the chamber walls after inserting a folded pipe cleaner through the draught hole to keep it open. Once dry and set, this will not only protect the walls but also aid in faster buildup of cake. To apply the finishing touches, I mounted a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and applied a coat of Blue Diamond to the stummel and the stem to polish out the minor scratches. With a cotton buffing wheel that I use for carnauba wax, I applied a coat of carnauba wax and continued to work on it till the complete coat of wax had been polished out. I mounted a clean cotton cloth buffing wheel and gave the entire pipe a once over buff. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. The finished pipe looks beautiful and is ready to be added to my collection of inherited pipes. Thanks to all readers of rebornpipes who have spared a moment of their invaluable time in reading through this write up and as is always, your suggestions and advice are always welcome. P.S. – The opinion that I have expressed about the Gorilla CA superglue Gel is my personal opinion based on my personal experience. There are definitely others who have had fantastic results using this product, but not me.

Resurrecting A Loewe “Sloane”

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

The next pipe is also from my inheritance and is similar to the “THE GOLDEN ARROW” that I had worked on earlier. This too is a large Canadian with an oval shank and flat stem. The stummel is covered in dirt and grime accumulated over the long years of uncared for storage. Through all the grime, beautiful cross grains and swirls can be seen and are waiting to be unraveled. This pipe is stamped on the top flat surface of the oval shank as “L & Co” in a lozenge while the right side of the shank edge is stamped as “LOEWE” over “LONDON. W”. The bottom of the oval shank is stamped “SLOANE”. The stem is sans any stampings. I have worked on Loewe & Co. pipes before and also have many in my personal collection and I am fairly well versed with this brand. However, I visited pipedia.org and refreshed my memory with the history of the pipe, dating guide and shape names. The 1930s Loewe catalog is an interesting read and also has a pipe stamped exactly as the one currently on my work table. Here is the link to the catalog: (https://pipedia.org/images/8/88/Loewe_pipes_1930.pdf).

However, further down on pipedia.org is a link to the 1967 Loewe catalog and it has no mention of the shape name SLOANE!

I have reproduced the details relevant to dating this pipe as found on pipedia.org below.

1920-1955 middle Haymarket era

Left shank: – L & Co. (in oval)

Right shank: – Loewe London W.

Underside of shank: – shape name Made in England (encircled) this may just have been on export pipes

*Prior to 1955 Loewe had no series, stamping only the shape name on the underside of the shank.

Thus, the pipe currently on my work table dates to pre-1955.

Initial Visual Inspection
The entire pipe is covered in dirt and grime and is sticky to the touch. There are dark patches on either sides of the bowl that would need to be checked thoroughly. There is a thick layer of cake in the chamber with lava overflowing the rim top surface. The inner rim edge is chipped and damaged giving the chamber an out of round appearance. The outer rim edge too has a number of minor chipped surfaces. The mortise is clogged and the vulcanite stem is deeply oxidized with deep tooth indentations in the bite zone. The button edges are damaged due to bite marks and would need to be rebuilt and reshaped. The pictures below would give you the general idea as to the condition of the pipe. Detailed Inspection
The chamber has a thick layer of even cake with overflow of carbon over the rim top surface. The condition of this Loewe, like all other Loewe pipes that I have inherited, has seen extensive use. Such extensive use, without proper care and maintenance, may cause heat related issues along the chamber walls. Here, the condition of the chamber wall will be known once the cake is taken down to bare briar. The inner rim edge is uneven and has suspected charring at 6 o’clock direction and between 9 o’ clock to 11 o’ clock on the left and also between 1 o’ clock and 3 o’ clock directions on the right side. The inner rim damage is encircled in yellow. The outer rim edge too has not been spared any punishment. There are minor dents/ dings and chipped surfaces all along the outer rim edge, likely as a result of knocking against a hard surface to remove the dottle. The outer rim damage is encircled in red. The extent of the damage to the chamber walls and rim of this pipe will be clear once the cake is completely taken down to the bare briar and the rim top surface is free of all the accumulated crud. The ghost smell are very strong and would need to be addressed.The stummel surface is covered in dirt/ grime and feels sticky to the touch. The surface has darkened considerably on either side of the bowl (enclosed in pastel blue) and at the rear and would need to be examined up close once the stummel is thoroughly cleaned both internally as well as externally. I suspect there is a crack (encircled in green) on the right side of the bowl within the darkened area (or it could even be a scratch) and needs to be verified. However, beneath the dull grime layer, beautiful cross and bird’s eye grain await being brought to the fore. Heavy accumulation of old oils, tars, ash and gunk is seen in the mortise as expected. The tapered vulcanite stem is heavily oxidized and has deep bite marks on both the lower and upper surface in the bite zone. The button edges are deformed as a result of these tooth indentations and would need to be reconstructed. My last project had thrown up some bad experiences about the end results of using the Gorilla superglue that I had recently purchased and will try it out again this time around. If the results are not up to standard, this and the other tubes will find their way out the door. The slot and tenon end show presence of dried gunk and would need to be thoroughly cleaned. The Process
I started the process of restoration by first cleaning the stem internals with anti-oil dish cleaning soap and thin shank brushes. I scrubbed the stem surface with the soap using a Scotch Brite pad, firstly to rid the surface of old oils and gunk and secondly to remove the loose surface oxidation. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners through the stem airway to remove all the traces of soap and dry out the stem internals.Next, I moved to external cleaning of the stem surface by dunking the stem into “Before and After Deoxidizer” solution developed by my friend Mark Hoover. The solution helps to draw out heavy oxidation to the surface making it’s further removal a breeze while the minor oxidation is eliminated to a very great extent. I usually dunk stems of 5-7 pipes that are in-line for restoration and the LOEWE SLOANE is marked in blue arrow. I generally allow the stems to soak in this solution overnight for the solution to do its work.The next afternoon, Abha fished out the stem from the deoxidizer solution and scrubbed it with a Scotch Brite pad to get rid of the loosened oxidation from the surface. She followed this scrub with a second scrub using 0000 grade steel wool and this helped in further removal of raised oxidation from the surface and even out the minor scratches resulting from using the Scotch Brite pad. She rinsed the stem under warm running water to completely remove the solution from the airway and slot end. She ran a couple of pipe cleaners to remove the last traces of residual deoxidizer solution from the airway and dry out the airway. With the external and internal cleaning of the stem completed, Abha handed over the stem to me to complete the repairs. Continuing with the stem refurbishing, I heated the bite zone with the flame of a lighter to raise the tooth indentations to the surface. Though the results were not what were expected, the vulcanite was raised a little leaving behind two deep tooth compressions on either surfaces. The button edges and deeper tooth indentations on either surfaces of the stem were filled with a mix of CA Gorilla superglue and activated charcoal powder and set aside for the fill to cure. I really hope that this time around I get better results with using this new CA glue. Once the stem fills had cured completely, I moved ahead with the process of filing and shaping the button end with a flat head needle file. For a better blending, I further sanded the entire stem with 220. However, my worst fears came true…..I saw grey patches with air pockets, just as I had observed earlier while working on The Golden Arrow. I think the Gorilla glue does not work for me and I shall discard it after I get my regular brand of superglue in next few days. I continued to dry sand the entire stem with a folded piece of 400 followed by 600 and 800 grit sandpaper and further progressed to wet sanding with 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sand papers. However, the fills still appear dirty grey and a closer look showed the entire filled surface peppered with numerous tiny air pockets. I refilled the patches with a fresh mix of CA superglue gel and activated charcoal and set the stem aside. After the stem refills had cured completely, I went through the complete process of sanding and shaping the fills using a needle file followed by sanding with sandpapers as described above. Though the finish is better this time around, the coloration of the patch still remains a light shade of grey and easily discernible against the rest of the stem surface. It should be noted here that just like The Golden Arrow that I had restored earlier, I had to go through the complete repairs six times before this attempt and for the sake of brevity, I deliberately kept it short. Yet, the results are not what I expected and have been achieving consistently with other brands of superglue. I rubbed a small quantity of EVO into the stem surface and set it aside for the vulcanite to absorb and hydrate. With the stem repairs completed, save for the polishing cycle, I started with the stummel repairs. I started with reaming the chamber with my PipNet pipe reamer using head size 1 of the PipNet reamer blade and progressed through to head size 2. I used my fabricated knife to remove cake from areas inaccessible to the reamer blades and completed the process by sanding the walls smooth with a folded piece of 180 grit sandpaper. I wiped the chamber with a cotton swab wetted with alcohol to clean the residual carbon dust. The reasons for darkened sides of the bowl that I had noted during my detailed inspection were now evident. There are signs of charring to the walls of the chamber on the sides and at the bottom of the bowl. Also there are a few heat lines along the walls of the chamber. All these issues are indicated by green arrows.I gave a preliminary cleaning to the mortise and shank internals using q-tips and pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol. I shall continue with thorough cleaning of the shank internals during the external cleaning of the stummel. Next, I cleaned the external surface of the stummel with undiluted Murphy’s oil soap and a hard bristled toothbrush. I cleaned the smooth rim top surface with the soap and Scotch Brite pad. The darkened areas over both sides of the stummel and the rim top surface are now clean, exposing the gremlins hidden beneath the layer of dirt. I followed up the external cleaning of the stummel with internal cleaning of the mortise and shank using anti oil soap and shank brushes. This external cleaning of the stummel has now clearly defined the suspected crack that I had noted during my detailed inspection (encircled in yellow). Also the internal cleaning of the chamber has brought the charring of the sides of the chamber walls to the fore (encircled in green). I now need to ascertain if this external crack is a direct result of the observed damage to the walls of the chamber. If it is so, it’s a clear sign of this crack developing into a burn out due to the thinning of the chamber walls. Continuing with the internal cleaning of the chamber and mortise and also to ascertain if the external crack over the stummel surface is a result of the damage to the chamber walls, I subjected it to a salt and alcohol bath. I used cotton balls which is an at par substitute as I have realized over the years. I drew out a wick from the cotton and along with a folded regular pipe cleaner; inserted it into the mortise and through the draught hole and further into the chamber. Thereafter, I packed the chamber with cotton balls to about quarter of an inch below the rim inner edge and soaked the cotton balls with isopropyl alcohol up to the brim. About half an hour later, the level of alcohol had gone down, having being absorbed by the cotton. I observed that the alcohol had seeped out from the crack (encircled in yellow) as can be seen from the picture below. This needs to be addressed. However for now, I topped it up once again and set it aside overnight.By next afternoon, the cotton and alcohol had drawn out all the remaining oils/ tars from the chamber and mortise and loosened out any residual cake and tar build up, fulfilling its intended task. I removed the cotton balls and ran pipe cleaners through the mortise to clean out all the loosened tars and gunk. Using my fabricated tool, I scraped out the entire loosed gunk from the mortise and further cleaned it with alcohol and q-tips.While I was working on the stummel, Abha polished the stem by wet sanding the surface with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. She applied a little EVO to the stem surface for it to be absorbed in to the rubber. Though the grey repair patches are visible in the pictures, it is not so glaring in person.Staying with the stummel repairs, I first decided to stabilize the crack. I marked the end points of the cracks and drilled counter- holes using 1 mm drill bit mounted on a hand held rotary tool. I filled the crack and counter-holes with clear CA superglue and set it aside to cure.A while later, once the crack fills had sufficiently hardened; I addressed the rim top darkening and unevenness by topping the surface on a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I frequently checked the progress being made as I hate to lose briar more than what is absolutely necessary. The chamber now appears more out of round than before and would be addressed by creating a bevel over the inner rim edge.With a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper pinched between my forefinger and thumb, I imparted a nice bevel to the inner rim edge. This masked the out of round appearance of the chamber and also eliminated the minor charring over the edges. Next, to protect and isolate the chamber walls from coming into direct contact with the burning tobacco and prevent a burn out, I coated the walls of the chamber with an even layer of J B Weld. J B Weld is a two-part epoxy Cold Weld in two tubes; hardener and steel which are mixed in two equal parts (ratio of 1:1) with hardening time of 5-6 minutes and complete curing time of 6-8 hours. I poured the contents of the two tubes on to a plastic sheet and mixed it well. I inserted a petroleum jelly coated regular pipe cleaner through the draught hole to prevent it from getting blocked due to the J B Weld mix. I applied this mix, as evenly as possible, over the entire chamber wall surface. I worked fast to ensure an even coat over the chamber walls before the weld could harden and set the stummel aside for the application to harden and cure overnight. The J B Weld coat had hardened completely by next day evening. I mounted a sanding drum onto my hand held rotary tool and setting the speed to half of the full RPM, I sanded the excess coat from the chamber walls. To further fine tune and keep the coat to a minimum thickness, I further sanded the coat with a 220 grit sand paper till I had a coat of a thickness that was just sufficient to protect the briar underneath. Here is how the chamber appeared at this stage.At this same stage, I also sanded and evened out the fills over the crack with a flat needle file and further matched it by sanding it with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. Unfortunately, I missed out on taking pictures of this process.

Abha completed the polishing of the stummel by wet sanding the surface with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. She wiped the stummel with a moist cloth in between the pads to gauge the progress being made. She massaged a small quantity of Before & After Restoration balm and set it aside for 10 minutes for the briar to rehydrate. Thereafter, she gave a rigorous hand rub using a microfiber cloth. The stummel now has a nice vibrant shine to it with the beautiful cross grains and bird’s eye grains resplendent in all their glory. I just can’t thank Abha enough for her help in polishing the stems and stummel of all the pipes that I restore. After I had protected the heel and the walls of the chamber with a coat of J B Weld, it was necessary to prevent this coat from coming into contact with the burning tobacco. I addressed this by mixing activated charcoal and plain yogurt to a thicker consistency, just enough that it would spread easily and applied it evenly all along the chamber walls after inserting a folded pipe cleaner through the draught hole to keep it open. Once dry and set, this will not only protect the walls but also aid in faster buildup of cake. I set the bowl aside for the bowl coat to cure for 72 hours.72 hours later, to apply the finishing touches, I mounted a cotton cloth buffing wheel onto my hand held rotary tool and applied a coat of Blue Diamond to the stummel and the stem to polish out the minor scratches. Next, I mounted a cotton cloth buffing wheel and setting the speed to ¼ of the full power, I applied a coat of carnauba wax over the stummel and the stem. I worked the complete pipe till the time all the wax was used up for polishing the stummel and the stem. The pipe now boasts of a beautiful and lustrous shine. I vigorously rubbed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine and also to clean away any residual wax that had been left behind. I am very happy with the way this beauty has turned out. P.S. – I am personally not happy with the way the stem repairs have turned out and will surely rework on it once the CA glue that I regularly use reaches me in next couple of weeks. A big thank you to all the readers of this write up for sparing your valuable time and hope for your continued patronage. Until the next write up, be safe and healthy…

Pipe Gods Smiled And I Got Not One But Three Les Wood Pipes… Restoring a Les Wood Poker

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

Les Wood pipes are on every collector’s either wish list or in personal collection and I am no exception, though I was in the former category up until now. These pipes are as rare as hen’s teeth and very rarely make an appearance on the estate pipe market and whenever they do, the stratospheric prices made them beyond my reach. After waiting for years on end, I came across a gentleman desirous of parting with his Les Wood pipes collection. We discussed the price and I discussed with Abha, my wife, discussed some more with the gentleman, again discussed a lot more with my wife and thereafter again discussed some with the gentleman and after all these discussions, three Les Wood pipes made their way from the European Union to India.

The first of the three Les Wood pipes that I decided to work on is a rusticated large, stout classic poker with a beautiful Cumberland stem. The large rusticated chunky stummel feels great in the hand and given its size, it is definitely not a light weight. The pipe is stamped on the smooth surface of the foot of the stummel as “FERNDOWN” in a slight arc over “BARK” over “HAND MADE IN” over “ENGLAND” over “LES WOOD”. Running oblique to the FERNDOWN BARK on the left side are three stars one below the other. The Sterling silver band bears the stamp “L & JS” in a rectangular cartouche over “.925”. The Cumberland stem is stamped on the left side as “L J S”. I had read about Leslie John Wood sometime back when I read an article on English pipes and pipe carvers. I remembered that he worked for Dunhill’s as a silversmith. Just to refresh my memory, I visited Reborn Pipes and sure enough, Steve had indeed worked on and researched Les Wood. It’s very comprehensive and is recommended as a read. Here is the link to the write up.

https://rebornpipes.com/2021/05/20/this-restoration-is-a-bit-of-a-resurrection-of-a-beautiful-ferndown-root-3-dublin/

From the article, I know I am working on a ‘BARK’ grade pipe (ca. 90%, rusticated, dark brown and black) in size 3 from Les Wood.

Initial Visual Inspection
The pipe is actually in quite a good condition. The chamber has a very thin layer of cake that is even all around and is rock hard. The stummel surface feels solid to the touch and thus, I don’t anticipate any serious issues with the chamber walls. The rim top surface is smooth and devoid of any cake build up or darkening over the surface. The rim edges are in pretty good condition too. The stummel finish has faded more towards the foot of the stummel and has a lot of dirt and grime ground into the rusticated finish. This makes the stummel appear dull, lifeless and lackluster. The silver band at the shank end is deeply oxidized and appears blackened. The Cumberland stem is deeply oxidized with a couple of minor tooth indentations in the bite zone. Here are a few pictures of the pipe as it sits on my worktable. It’s a nice solid pipe with a robust construction yet elegant in its huge size and shape. This one will take your breath away once it is restored, I think.

Detailed Inspection
There is a thin layer of cake in the chamber that is even all around. The cake is hard and compact and this makes me believe that it has been regularly reamed to maintain the correct cake thickness in the chamber. The condition of the chamber walls can be ascertained only once the cake has been taken down to the bare briar; however, I do not foresee any major issues with the chamber walls. The smooth rim top has no dents and dings and overflowing lava. The condition of the inner rim edge will be known once the complete cake has been removed and the surface thoroughly cleaned. The chamber does have smells of old tobaccos and would need to be addressed.The rustication on the stummel surface are very fine and shallow. It is a very uniquely rusticated stummel for sure. The stain has faded from the lower half of the bowl and lower surface of the shank. The surface looks tired and lifeless and would benefit from a nice thorough TLC routine. The shank is quite clean and has no signs of accumulated old oils and gunk. The draw is nice and smooth. The Cumberland stem is deeply oxidized with minor tooth chatter in the bite zone on either surface. The horizontal slot opening is clean and the tenon shows accumulation of old dried oils and gunk. The airflow through the stem is smooth and easy. That my detailed appreciation of the condition of this pipe was completely off the mark became amply evident as I went through the process of refurbishing this pipe.

The Process
I started the process of refurbishing this pipe with internal cleaning of the stem and this is where my initial appreciation of the stem condition faulted. Using thin shank brushes and anti-oil dish washing soap, I cleaned the stem airway. I have modified this process of cleaning the stem airway by doing away with pipe cleaners and alcohol as it saves me a ton of pipe cleaners, which is a precious commodity for me here in India. To say that the airway was filthy, would be an understatement as is evidenced by the following pictures. The dark smelly and sticky goo that was being dislodged with each passing of the shank brush was never-ending. However, I persevered with my efforts till only white clean foam came out of the stem airway, indicating that the airway was nice and clean. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol through the airway to dry it out and make sure that there are no traces of soap and gunk hidden in the airway.With the stem internals now clean, I moved to external cleaning of the stem surface by dunking the stem into “Before and After Deoxidizer” solution developed by my friend Mark Hoover. The solution helps to draw out heavy oxidation to the surface making it’s further removal a breeze, while the minor oxidation is eliminated to a very great extent. I usually dunk stems of 5-7 pipes that are in-line for restoration and the FERNDOWN BARK is marked in red arrow. I generally allow the stems to soak in this solution overnight for the solution to do its work.While the stem was set aside to soak in the deoxidizer solution, I moved on to removing the thin (????) layer of cake from the chamber walls. Boy was I wrong in my assessment of thin layer and how! I started the reaming process with head size 2 of the PipNet reamer blade and progressed through head sizes 3 and 4. The blades kept cutting through the layers of cake and there seemed no end to it. Finally, I resorted to using my Kleen Reem pipe tool extended to its max width to divest the chamber walls of its entire carbon layer. The chamber is huge ! I used my fabricated knife to remove cake from areas inaccessible to the reamer blades and completed the process of removing the cake by sanding the walls smooth with a folded piece of 180 grit sandpaper. I wiped the chamber with a cotton swab wetted with alcohol to clean the residual carbon dust. The chamber walls are solid and the minor thin veins that are visible over the walls are not heat fissures but an ultra thin layer of carbon which will be addressed once the cake is loosened up after a salt and alcohol bath, or at least that is what I hope for. Next, I cleaned the mortise by scraping out all the dried oils and tars from the walls. My assessment of the mortise being clean was proved wrong by the amount of crud that was scraped out. The icing on the cake was when I tried to clean the airway with a folded pipe cleaner dipped in alcohol and it just wouldn’t pass through. I realized that the airway was clogged to some extent. Using the drill bit attachment from the Kleen Reem pipe tool, I cleaned out the accumulated oils and tars from the airway and ran a folded bristled pipe cleaner dipped in alcohol through the airway. I checked the draw and if earlier I felt the draw was smooth and open, after the cleaning, it was surreal! The draw was something I had not experienced earlier. The air literally gushed through the airway. This one is a sure fire excellent smoker.Continuing with the internal cleaning of the chamber and shank, I subjected it to a salt and alcohol bath. I used cotton balls which is an at par substitute as I have realized over the years. I drew out a wick from the cotton and along with a folded regular pipe cleaner; inserted it into the mortise and through the draught hole and further into the chamber. Thereafter, I packed the chamber with cotton balls to about quarter of an inch below the rim inner edge and soaked the cotton balls with isopropyl alcohol up to the brim. About half an hour later, the level of alcohol had gone down, having being absorbed by the cotton. I topped it up once again and set it aside overnight. By next afternoon, the cotton and alcohol had drawn out all the remaining oils/ tars from the chamber and mortise and loosened out any residual cake and tar build up, fulfilling its intended task. I removed the cotton balls and ran pipe cleaners through the mortise to clean out all the loosened tars and gunk. Using my fabricated tool, I scraped out the entire loosed gunk from the mortise and further cleaned it with alcohol and q-tips. I also scraped the moist cake from the chamber using my knife and sanding it smooth with 180 grit sandpaper. The chamber now smelled clean and fresh and the tiny veins observed in the chamber were eliminated. I set the stummel to dry out naturally. I cleaned the external surface of the stummel with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a hard bristled toothbrush. I cleaned the smooth rim top surface with the soap and Scotch Brite pad. I thoroughly cleaned the mortise with shank brush and anti-oil dish washing soap. I polished the smooth rim top surface by dry sanding with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. Next, I rubbed a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” into the briar with my finger tips and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works it’s magic and the briar now had a nice vibrant appearance with the beautiful rustication patterns on full display. I have been using this balm ever since I embarked on this journey and it is this part of restoration that I always look forward to. I further buffed it with a horse hair shoe brush. This pipe really oozes of a very high quality, in fact one of the best that I have come across. Now that the stummel refurbishing was nearly done and also the stem had now been soaking for more than 24 hours, I removed the stem from the solution. I first scrubbed the stem surface with a Scotch Brite pad, always being mindful of the stem logo on the left side. I followed this scrubbing with a nice cleaning of the surface using a 0000 grade steel wool. I rinsed the stem under running water to rid the stem of the thick solution. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners to remove the deoxidizer solution from the airway. The beauty of a Cumberland stem with swirls of red and black can now be appreciated once the heavy oxidation has been eliminated.The above cleaning also gave a clearer picture of the tooth chatter on either surface in the bite zone. This tooth chatter was very minor and would be easily addressed during the sanding process using various grit sandpapers followed by micromesh pads. I dry sanded the entire stem with 320, 400, 600 and 800 grit sand papers followed by wet sanding using 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sand papers. This progressive use of higher grit sandpapers helps to, firstly, reduce the sanding marks left behind by the more abrasive ones, secondly, completely eliminate the oxidation and imparting a clean shine to the stem surface. Thirdly, this also helped to even out the minor tooth chatter from the bite zone. I applied a little EVO and set the stem aside for a few minutes. This stem, as the rest of the pipe, is a real beauty.I went through the 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads to dry sand the stem. The stem now has a nice deep shine with the swirls coming to life as they dance around the entire stem surface. I rubbed a small quantity of EVO and set the stem aside for the oil to hydrate the stem surface. This is a beautiful stem and I cannot refrain from constant admiration of it. Have a look for yourself….I painted the stem logo L J S using a Gold paint glitter pen and wiped off the excess paint. The stem logo is now nice and prominently visible. I completed this project by hand polishing the stummel with Halcyon II wax. I rubbed this polish deep into the rustication and after a couple of minutes, vigorously hand buffed the stummel with a microfiber cloth to a deep shine. I polished the stem with Blue Diamond compound and subsequently with carnauba wax using my hand held rotary tool. This is a gorgeous looking pipe and will be an integral part of my collection of contemporary Pipe Carvers. I wish to thank each one for sparing their valuable time to read through this write up and praying for the health and safety of you and your loved ones.

Reconstructing The Rim And Sprucing Up a 1961 Dunhill Bruyere Billiard

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

It’s been a long while since I have posted any write ups here and the primary reason is my laziness. I know and accept that these are very useful as references and as records of the work done till date and yet I enjoy restoring pipes more than doing the write ups.

One of my friends here is an avid collector of pipes and he expressed a desire to expand his collection restricted only to English made pipes. He wanted a Dunhill with crisp stampings (that is always a challenge!) and so began my hunt for one. I found one on eBay Germany, which had a seriously damaged rim edge but otherwise in great condition for a 61 year old pipe. I discussed this piece with my friend and soon the pipe made its way to India and is now on my work table. It’s a classic Billiard with a fishtail stem and a flat bottom that makes it a sitter. The briar is flawless and without any fills or imperfections as expected from Dunhill. The pipe is stamped on the left near the bowl and shank junction as “59” followed by “F/T” followed by “DUNHILL” over “BRUYERE”, all in capital letters, towards the shank end. The right side of the shank is stamped as “MADE IN” over “ENGLAND” with suffix 1 after letter D and followed by an encircled “4” and letter “A”. The upper surface of the stem bears the trademark White Dot of the brand. The brand Dunhill is well researched and documented and pipedia.eu has reams of information on the same. However, of interest to me here is the dating of this pipe, which is fairly straight forward. The shape code 59 denotes Dunhill’s Billiards shape with tapered stem while F/T denotes fish tail style stem. The suffix numeral 1 after letter D denotes 1961 as the make year because firstly, the numeral is not underscored; secondly, it is the same size as the preceding letter D and finally, the letter ‘A’ denoting the finish is slightly larger than the circle enclosing the group size. The encircled letter 4 denotes the group size as 4 and the letter ‘A’ points to the Bruyere finish on this pipe.

With the dating conclusively established, I moved ahead with the initial inspection of the pipe.

Initial Visual Inspection
The first thing that one notices is the damaged rim edge, both aft and at the front. The chamber appears to have been reamed and is sans any cake. There is no lava overflow atop the rim surface. The stummel surface is dull, dirty and lackluster. Being a Bruyere finish, the stummel does not boast of excellent grains but it does prove its quality by being a flawless piece of briar without having a single fill or imperfection. There is a slight ghosting smell and would need to be addressed. The shank bottom is flattened making it a sitter. The stem is in fairly great condition with only a few bite marks over the button edges and some minor tooth chatter in the bite zone. Overall, it’s a very decent pipe and I hope to repair and restore this pipe to its former glory. Detailed Inspection
The chamber appears to have been reamed before the pipe was designated for sale by the previous owner and thus the chamber is devoid of any cake. All that remains is some dust and fine carbon particle accumulation along the walls of the chamber. The rim top is darkened but without any overflowing carbon. However, it’s all together a different ball game when it comes to the rim edges. The most significant damage is to the aft outer rim edge where a large chunk of briar has chipped away, most likely the result of a fall from some height. Similarly, the front of the rim outer edge too has a small chunk of briar missing and appears to be the result of knocking against a hard edge. Both these damages are encircled in yellow. The inner rim edge shows signs of charring in the 6 o’clock and 12 o’clock directions. These areas have been encircled in red. The chamber odor is light but present and would need to be completely eliminated. The stummel feels solid in the hand and the surface is sans any dents and dings. However, the surface is dull and dirty with the finish fading out from over the surface. A nice cleaning and polish of the stummel should make things interesting. The mortise and shank walls are clean. The tapered fishtail vulcanite stem is in good condition. There are some tooth indentations on the button edge on the upper surface with tooth chatter in the bite zone on either surface. The stem surface shows some minor oxidation that would be easily addressed. The stem airway is open but would benefit from a thorough internal cleaning. The Process
I started the process of restoration by first cleaning the stem internals with anti-oil dish cleaning soap and thin shank brushes. I scrubbed the stem surface with the soap using a ScotchBrite pad, firstly to rid the surface of old oils and gunk and secondly to remove the loose surface oxidation.I dunked the stem into the deoxidizer solution overnight for the oxidation to be pulled out to the surface. I generally allow the stem to soak in the deoxidizer solution overnight. While the stem was sat aside in the deoxidizer solution, I moved ahead to deal with the stummel repairs. I started with reaming the chamber with a size 1 head of the PipNet reamer and progressed to size 2 head. Using my fabricated knife, I gently scrapped away the cake which could not be reached by the reamer head. I further cleaned the chamber with a folded piece of 180 grits sand paper to sand out the remaining traces of cake and expose the walls of the chamber to ascertain that there were no cracks/ heat fissures. I wiped the chamber with a cotton pad dipped in isopropyl alcohol to remove the carbon dust left behind by all the reaming and sanding process. This also reduced traces of old smells from previous usage. The walls of the chamber were solid with no damage.I cleaned the shank walls and mortise with a hard bristled pipe cleaner dipped in alcohol. I used a specifically fabricated scoop to scrape out the gunk from the shank walls and face of the mortise wall. There was not much to clean though! Prior to moving ahead with the rim repairs, I decided to address the strong ghost smells from the chamber. To eliminate the ghost smells from the pipe, I decided to treat it with salt and alcohol. I used cotton balls which is an at par substitute to Kosher salt as I have realized over the years. I drew out a wick from the cotton and along with a folded regular pipe cleaner; inserted it into the mortise and through the draught hole in the chamber. Thereafter, I packed the chamber with cotton balls to about quarter of an inch below the inner rim edge. I soaked the cotton balls with isopropyl alcohol up to the brim. About half an hour later, the level of alcohol had gone down, having being absorbed by the cotton. I topped it up once again and set it aside overnight. By next afternoon, the cotton and alcohol has drawn out all the remaining oils and tars from the chamber and mortise and the cotton and alcohol had fulfilled its intended task. I removed the cotton balls and ran pipe cleaners through the mortise to clean out all the loosened tars and gunk. The chamber now smelled clean and fresh. I set the stummel to dry out naturally. The next day, I fished out the stem and cleaned it under running warm water and scrubbed the raised oxidation from the stem surface using ScotchBrite pad. I further removed the oxidation by scrubbing the stems with 0000 grade steel wool and applied a little olive oil to rehydrate the stems and set the stem aside for the oil to be absorbed. I heated the surface of the stem with the flame of a lighter to raise the tooth indentations to the surface and followed it up by sanding with a piece of folded 220 grit sand paper. This helps to even out the raised surface, address minor tooth chatter and also remove the deep seated oxidation. I wiped the stem with a cotton swab and alcohol to remove the raised oxidation and the resulting sanding dust. The tooth indentations over the button edge, though greatly reduced, were still prominent and would need to be addressed. Next I filled these tooth indentations with a mix of organic charcoal and clear superglue and set the stem aside for the fills to cure. Once the fills had cured nicely, I moved ahead and began the process of filing and shaping the button end with a flat head needle file followed by further sanding the repair with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. To achieve a better blending of the repaired surface with rest of the stem as well as to polish the stem, I dry sanded the entire stem with 320, 600 and 800 grit sand papers followed by wet sanding using 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sand papers. This progressive use of higher grit sandpapers helps to reduce the sanding marks left behind by the more abrasive ones while completely eliminating the oxidation and imparting a clean shine to the stem surface. To bring a deep shine to the vulcanite stem, I went through the dry sanding with 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads, and wiped the stem with Extra Virgin Olive oil to rehydrate the vulcanite. The repairs have blended in very well and the stem now looks shiny black and beautiful. The finished stem is shown below. With the stem repairs and polishing now completed, I turned my attention to the stummel repairs and refurbishment. Using a hard bristled tooth brush dipped in undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap; I very deliberately scrubbed the surface of the stummel and the rim top. I also cleaned the mortise and shank internals using anti-oil dish washing soap and shank brush. I rinsed the stummel under warm running water and dried it using paper napkins and soft cotton cloth. The original reddish dye was also washed away to some extent, but that was not worrisome as I would be re-staining it after repairs. Next, I filled up the large areas of missing briar from the front and back of the outer rim edges with CA superglue and briar dust using the layering method. The only disadvantage of this method is the presence of large number of air pockets which necessitates repeated refilling with glue and briar dust. Once I was satisfied with the repairs, I set the stummel aside for the mix to cure completely. The next evening, the repairs to the edge had completely cured and I moved ahead by filing and rough shaping with a flat head needle file. I further fine tuned the blending by sanding it down with a 150 grit sand paper. Here is how the repaired area appears at this stage. I am very pleased with the way this repair has progressed. Thereafter, I took the stummel to the topping board with the aim of making the rim top surface smooth and even as the rim top was also rebuilt along with the edge. I topped the rim surface on 220 grit sandpaper with even circular rotations and frequently checked the progress being made. This step also helped to minimize the charring to the inner rim edge. I shall further mask the damage by creating a slight bevel to the inner edge. I am very pleased with the progress being made thus far. Once the repairs to the stummel were completed, it was time to polish and stain the stummel. I dry sanded the entire stummel with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads, wiping the stummel with a moist cloth after every pad. I massaged a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” into the briar with my finger tips and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works it’s magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance. I further buffed it with a microfiber cloth. I had hoped that the balm would work it’s magic on the filled area and help in blending it a bit, but unfortunately that did not happen. Well, moving on to the staining process after this step… While refreshing my readings about Dunhill lines, I remember having read that Dunhill achieved the trademark Bruyere color by having an undercoat of dark brown stain followed by deep red color stain. And that’s exactly what I decided to follow with a slight modification. I would first stain wash the stummel with DB stain and thereafter stain it deep red.

I mixed a small quantity of Fiebing’s Dark Brown Leather Dye with isopropyl alcohol to dilute it and applied it to the stummel with a folded pipe cleaner after heating the stummel with a heat gun. I let this stain wash set for a few minutes and vigorously wiped it down with a clean cotton swab. I repeated this process a couple of times till I was satisfied with coloration of the stummel. The next afternoon, I again heated the stummel surface with a heat gun and applied Fiebing’s Oxblood stain with a folded pipe cleaner. As I painted the stummel with stain over sections at a time, I lit the dye using a lighter which burns the alcohol in the aniline dye and sets the dye pigmentation in the wood. After fully saturating the stummel and covering the whole surface, including the rim top, I set the stummel aside to rest for several hours for the stain to set. A few hours later, I wiped the stummel with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl alcohol to remove any excess stain from the stummel surface and dry polished the stummel with 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. The repairs seem to have blended in pretty well to the naked eye, but under a camera, the repairs mark their presence. Yeah, I am pretty happy with the end result. This now gets me to that part of the process where I get to savor the fruits of my labor until this point, that being the final polishing with Blue Diamond and Carnauba wax!

I began the final polishing cycle by mounting a cotton cloth buffing wheel onto my hand held rotary tool and applied a coat of Blue Diamond to the stummel and the stem to polish out the minor scratches. With a cotton buffing wheel that I use for carnauba wax, I applied a coat of carnauba wax and continued to work on it till the complete coat of wax had been polished out. I mounted a clean cotton cloth buffing wheel and gave the pipe a once over buff. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buff using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. The finished pipe is as shown below and will soon make it’s way to my friend here for many more years of happy smokes. Thank you for reaching thus far with the write up and really appreciate you being part of my journey in the world of pipe repairs.

Freshening Up A Pair Of WDC Meerschaum Bowl, Bakelite Base And Redmanol Stem Pipes In A Presentation Case Continued…

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Blog by Paresh Despande

I had been working on a pair of WDC pipes that came in a beautiful well preserved Presentation case. I have completed researching and refurbishing the first pipe, a straight Bulldog. Though I had worked on both these pipes simultaneously, I have done the write up in two parts.

For detailed information on the brand and other general information about the pipe and material used here, please read PART I of this series.

PART II: – BENT BULLDOG

Initial Visual Inspection

The condition of the pipe points to the fact that this pipe has seen significantly more use than the straight Bulldog. There is a thick cake in the chamber with lava overflow over the rim top surface. The base and shank shows heavy accumulation of tars and crud. The brass rim top cover over the Bakelite base/ shank is also covered in dried oils and tars. The Bakelite shank is dull and covered in completely dried out dirt and grime. The brass shank band at the shank end shows signs of wear but not badly damaged. The Redmanol stem is dull and lackluster with a few tooth indentations on either surface in the bite zone. All said, the condition of the pipe is not bad at all. Detailed Inspection
The three parts of the pipe are as shown below. The condition of the short threaded meerschaum bowl, filthy Bakelite shank and the bent Redmanol stem with threaded tenon all point to heavy use.The Meerschaum bowl has a thick layer of carbon in the chamber. The cake is soft and dry. The single draught hole at the heel of the bowl is partially clogged restricting the aperture opening. There is a thick layer of lava overflow on the rim top surface. There are a couple of spots where the white of the Meerschaum peeks out of the rim top surface but these are just spots from where the dry soft carbon cake had peeled off. The threads at the bottom of the bowl have worn out a bit but still firmly threads in to the Bakelite shank without any give or play. The convex bottom of the bowl is covered in dried ash and crud. There are a few scratches, nicks and dings over the surface but they are all very minor and do not detract from the beauty of the bowl. The Bakelite base/shank shows heavy accumulation of old dried oils, tars and ash in the trough that houses the Meerschaum bowl. The threads in the base are all intact but covered in oils and grime. The brass rim top ring is covered in grime. Close scrutiny of the shank surface under magnification revealed a crack (indicated in green) along the seam running from the top front of the bowl to about half way to the foot of the Bakelite base. I would first need to clean the internals of the base to ascertain if this crack extends inside. This was an unanticipated damage, but one that would need to be addressed. The mortise is clogged with dried oils and gunk making the draw laborious and constricted. The bent Redmanol stem is dull looking but with a nice cleaning and polishing will add to the visual treat of the completed pipe. The stem airway has darkened considerably due to dried gunk that accumulated along the walls of the airway. There is some minor tooth chatter and couple of deeper tooth indentations on either surface of the stem. The round orifice and the threaded tenon are covered in gunk. Overall, there is not much damage to the stem and should clean up nicely.The Process
In normal course, I would have addressed the shank repairs first. However, since I worked on the pair concurrently, I first reamed the chamber with my smaller fabricated knife followed by sanding the walls with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. This removes cake completely and evens out the chamber wall surfaces. I scraped off the dried oils and tars from the bottom of the bowl and also from in between the threads. A wipe using isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab ensured that the carbon dust that remained is completely lifted from the wall surface and the ghost smells are eliminated. I was pleased to find smooth and solid chamber walls. With the sharp knife, I gently scraped off the lava overflow from the rim top surface. I would continue further cleaning of the rim top during the refurbishing process. As I working the Meerschaum bowl, out of the blue, a round thin ring come off the bottom of the bowl and my heart sank… Did the bottom of the bowl just break in my hand? I heaved a sigh of relief when I realized that it was nothing more than a spacer that was cut out of a Greeting card. But it was so well cut and matched, that it missed my inspection. Now I am beginning to understand why the bowls were interchanged on the pipes in the first place. The long neck Meerschaum bowl with three draught holes should belong to this bent Bulldog but was switched with the shorter neck bowl with single hole. The crack along the seam must have been opening up as the Meerschaum bowl was threaded in to the base, pushing the bowl further down in to the base. The long neck of the bowl scraped the heel of the base, restricting the air flow. Thus, the short neck bowl from the straight Bulldog was swapped with this long neck and the paper washer was installed to make the seating of the short neck Meerschaum bowl in to the base airtight. With this modification, the bent Bulldog became a better smoker than the straight Bulldog and hence was more extensively used.I wiped the external surface of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil soap on a cotton swab. While cleaning, I was especially deliberate around the threads and over the rim top surface as I wanted to get rid of the entire gunk from those areas. Though the bowl cleaned up well, the rim remains darkened, akin to burning marks. This would need more invasive methods to clean away. The scratches and dings that are now visible will be left as they are for being a part of the journey of this pipe till date. I wiped the bowl with a moist cloth to remove the soap and grime that was left behind. Using folded piece 220 grit sandpaper, I sand the rim top to remove the darkening over the surface. Though not completely eliminated, the rim surface looks now looks much better. I handed over the cup to Abha, my wife, to work her magic in polishing the cup. She polished the rim top surface and rim edges with micromesh pads. She then went on to dry sand the entire stummel with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the dust that was left behind by the sanding. I had requested her to minimize the scratches but not necessarily remove them. These lacerations and dings must have had a history and I wanted to preserve it. She did a fantastic job of polishing the meerschaum cup to a nice deep shine. As Abha was polishing the Meerschaum bowl, I worked on the stem repairs. I first cleaned the stem surface and airway using anti-oil dish cleaning soap and thin shank brush and rinsed it under warm running water to remove the entire gunk from the airway. I also cleaned up the threaded tenon with a tooth brush and soap. To finish the cleaning, I ran a few bristled and regular pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol to remove the residual gunk from the airway and dry it out. I next sand the bite zone with a 320 grit sandpaper to address the minor tooth chatter on either surface. I filled the deeper tooth indentations with clear CA superglue and set the stem aside for the glue to cure completely. With the Meerschaum bowl polished by Abha and the stem repairs set aside for the fills to cure, I worked the Bakelite shank. With a fabricated tool, I scraped all the dried oils, tars and ash from the trough of the Bakelite base. I also cleaned the mortise by scraping out the dried gunk using my fabricated tool. As I was working on the shank, the brass cap over the shank rim top came free. I would need to reattach it once I was done with internal and external cleaning of the shank.Next, I cleaned the Bakelite shank with anti oil dish soap and tooth brush. I cleaned the shank internals and the mortise with shank brush and anti oil soap and rinsed it under warm water. The brass cap was scrubbed clean with the soap and Scotch Brite pad. The shank is now clean both from the inside and the outside. With the external and internal surface of the Bakelite shank cleaned up, the crack at the seam is now clearly visible. As I had expected, this crack extends to the inside of the shank also. Both these are encircled in red. I discussed with Steve and he advised that drilling of counter holes to arrest the spread of these cracks should be avoided as the Bakelite could shatter due to the impact of the drill machine. The best way to ensure a robust and lasting repair would be to lay a fine bead of CA superglue along the crack. The glue would seep into the crack and once hardened, would form a strong joint along the seam. I did just that and set the shank aside for the glue to cure.By next day afternoon, the fills had completely hardened. With a flat head needle file, I sand the fills to achieve a rough match with the rest of the shank surface. To further fine tune the match, I sand the fill with a 320 followed by 600 grit sandpapers. I sand the fill inside the Bakelite trough with the sandpapers only as it was not possible to use the needle file. I am quite happy with these repairs at this junction. The Redmanol stem fills too had hardened and I worked the fills with a needle file to match it with the rest of the stem surface. I fine tuned this match further by sanding it with a 320 followed by 600 grit sandpapers. The fills have blended in perfectly with the stem surface. Thereafter, I handed the stem over to Abha to polish it to a high gloss. After the stem was handed over to Abha, I polished the Bakelite base/ shank by wet sanding the surface with 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sandpapers. The Bakelite is now beginning to take on a nice shine. Before moving on to final polish using micromesh pads, I decided to reattach the brass cap first. I polished the brass cap with a polishing compound that we get in India here. I rubbed the compound over the rim cap and wiped it using a soft cloth. I applied a small quantity of superglue along the rim top surface and pressed the rim cap over the rim top. I wiped the excess glue with a cotton swab wetted with alcohol.Next I polished the shank by dry sanding with 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. I applied a little Extra Virgin Olive oil to the surface just to enhance the shine. All this while, Abha was quietly busy polishing the stem. She wet sanded the entire stem with 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sandpapers and followed it up by dry sanding with 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. The stem looks fabulous and I cannot thank Abha enough for the help and support she extends in this hobby of mine. Next I gave a beeswax polish to the meerschaum bowl. The process that I followed for this polish has been explained in Part- I and not being repeated here. The following pictures will give you an idea of the process and also of the end results. It was here that I had swapped the Meerschaum bowls and correctly matched them with their original pipes. While the Meerschaum bowl was soaking in the beeswax, I cleaned the external surface of the Presentation Box with Murphy’s Oil soap and cotton swab. I wiped the surface with a moist cloth to remove any residual soap from the surface. Next I applied some “Before and After” Restoration balm to the surface to rehydrate the wood and polished it with a microfiber cloth. To finish, I re-attach the Redmanol stem with the Bakelite shank. I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and setting the speed at 50% RPM, applied Blue Diamond compound over the shank and the stem surface. I wiped/ buffed the parts with a soft cotton cloth to clear it of any leftover compound dust. I then mounted another cotton cloth wheel on to the polishing machine and applied several coats of carnauba wax over the shank and the stem of the pipe. I finished the restoration by giving the pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. Have a look at the completed pipe below. And here are a couple of pictures of both the pipes in their Presentation Case. Thank you all for joining me on this path as I repaired and restored this fabulous piece of pipe history to its former glory and functionality.

Freshening Up A Pair Of WDC Meerschaum Bowl, Bakelite Base And Redmanol Stem Pipes In A Presentation Case

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

It’s been a while since I have sent Steve any write ups for posting on rebornpipes and it’s not because I have not been working on any. As a matter of fact, I had completed re-stemming and refurbishing of 4 un-smoked vintage bowls. These were c.1897 BBB OWN MAKE Billiard with long pencil shank that came with its original shop stickers on it, the second was a c.1901 A.D.P (Adolph Posener), the third was a c.1904 Imperial ITC bent billiard and the fourth was c.1911 A.O KEYSTONE (Adolphe Oppenheimer & Co). Unfortunately, I lost the photographs that I had taken of all the pipes during their refurbishing process and as such there was nothing for me to base my write ups on (yeah…I know even Steve has been suggesting that I do the write up simultaneously as I work!!).

Moving ahead, the next project that I selected to lift up my spirits was a pair of WDC Meerschaum bowled Bulldog pipes that came in its beautiful Presentation case. Both pipes appeared to be in a very good condition and should clean up well. Here are a few pictures of the pair and its case as it sat on my work table. This pair of pipes has three different materials used in its manufacture and that is what makes it unique and interesting. The chamber/bowl are made from Meerschaum which threads in to a Bakelite shank that has a brass (?) band at its end and bears its trademark inverted triangle stamped with as “WDC”. The stems are made of Redmanol, a beautiful translucent material that was widely used in the early part of the 20^th century. I have worked on a few WDCs earlier and am pretty familiar with the brand’s history. I revisited rebornpipes where I had posted my previous WDC projects. Here is the link to the write up which will give readers a fairly detailed idea about the brand and a rough estimate as to the vintage of the pair of pipes on my work table.

https://rebornpipes.com/2019/04/05/sprucing-up-another-wdc-a-cased-bakelite-briar-dublin/

I visited rebornpipes.com and came across an interesting article on materials used in pipe making (https://rebornpipes.com/2014/08/09/hard-rubber-and-other-early-plastic-used-in-pipes-ronald-j-de-haan/)

It is here that I found the following information on “BAKELITE”:

These qualities made Bakelite the most successful synthetic material in the first half of the 20th century. From 1928 it was also produced as molded resin. Both the pressed and the molded forms were suitable for the pipe making industry. Pipes were made from Bakelite and molded phenol-resin. Complete pipes of Bakelite are very rare because of its lack of heat resistance. Phenol-resin however was frequently used for pipe mouthpieces and cigarette holders because it imitated amber.

Further search on rebornpipes got me to a write up that Steve had done on a Redmanol WDC pipe. Given below is the link to the referenced article.

https://rebornpipes.com/2020/05/26/life-for-a-wdc-redmanol-dublin-with-a-removable-redmanol-bowl/

I quote from the article…..

“I turned to Wikipedia for an article on Bakelite and Redmanol to remind myself of the connection between the companies (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite).

As the sales figures also show, the Bakelite Company produced “transparent” cast resin (which did not include filler) “artificial amber”, were machined and carved to create items such as pipe stems, cigarette holders and jewelry.[11][12] However, the demand for molded plastics led the Bakelite company to concentrate on molding, rather than concentrating on cast solid resins.[11]:172–174…

…The Bakelite Corporation was formed in 1922 after patent litigation favorable to Baekeland, from a merger of three companies: Baekeland’s General Bakelite Company; the Condensite Company, founded by J.W. Aylesworth; and the Redmanol Chemical Products Company, founded by Lawrence V. Redman.[13] Under director of advertising and public relations Allan Brown, who came to Bakelite from Condensite, Bakelite was aggressively marketed as “the material of a thousand uses”.[7]:58–59[14] A filing for a trademark featuring the letter B above the mathematical symbol for infinity was made August 25, 1925, and claimed the mark was in use as of December 1, 1924. A wide variety of uses were listed in their trademark applications.[15]

I also read a brief article on Redmanol on Wikipedia and the link was clear as the companies joined in 1922 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redmanol_Chemical_Products_Company).

Redmanol Chemical Products Company was an early plastics manufacturer formed in 1913. Lawrence V. Redman was its president. In 1922, the Redmanol Company, the Condensite Company of America, and General Bakelite were consolidated into the Bakelite Corporation.[1]” ….unquote.

From the above gleaned information, it is safe to conclude that the pipe now on my worktable is of 1920s and early 1930s vintage.

Though I had simultaneously worked on this pair, I have divided the write up in two parts where I have dealt with each pipe separately. In PART I, I shall deal with the straight Bulldog of the pair and in PART II, I shall describe the process on the bent Bulldog.

PART I:- STRAIGHT BULLDOG

Initial Visual Inspection
The straight bulldog pipe is in great condition given its 90 odd year age. It appears to have been well smoked given the decent layer of cake in the chamber. The rim top is clean without any lava overflow. The meerschaum bowl has a few superficial scratches from being used. The Bakelite diamond base and shank is dull in appearance, but intact. The translucent Redmanol stem is slightly oxidized and appears dull and lackluster. There is a deep tooth indentation over the upper surface and a chipped surface near the round orifice. The pictures below give a fair idea of the condition of the pipe in its present state. Detailed Inspection
The pipe consists of three parts, a Meerschaum bowl, Bakelite base and shank and the Redmanol straight stem with a round orifice. These three parts come together as an instrument of smoking by means of threads at the bowl and stem ends.The meerschaum bowl is in very good condition with just a few scratches over the sides. The chamber has a thick layer of dried and crumbling cake. The rim top is in pristine condition and does not have any overflow of carbon deposits. The thread on the cup is slightly worn only at a small section and the attaches securely with the Bakelite shank. The bottom of the meerschaum cup has three draught holes and shows a couple of dents/ dings. The draw on the pipe was not very smooth and open. Close observation of the depth of the meerschaum cup made me realize that it touched the heel of the Bakelite base and constricted the air flow. I shall deal with this issue subsequently. The Bakelite base is clean with no traces of old oils and tars in the trough that houses the meerschaum cup. The brass rim cap at the top of the Bakelite base is firmly fixed and is nicely clean and shining. The mortise shows some traces of gunk but should clean up nicely. There are a couple of minute chipped spots over the right side of the diamond shank edge (encircled in yellow). The brass band at the shank end shows some signs of brassing and should polish up to nice shine. The brass rim cap and the shank band coupled with the translucent Redmanol stem add a nice bling to the appearance of the pipes. The diamond Redmanol stem has a rounded orifice which also points to its vintage. It has a rich translucent red color and the light really plays through. I cannot wait to see the stem clean up. Minor tooth chatter is seen on the upper and lower surface. The pointed corner edge of the lip on the left is broken (encircled in green) and will either have to be reconstructed or filed away to a straight profile. The stem airway has darkened due to accumulation of saliva, oils and tars and would need to be thoroughly cleaned. The screw-in tenon is of the same Redmanol material and is covered with dried oils and tars. The Process
I started this project by reaming the chamber with my smaller fabricated knife and scraped out all the carbon from chamber. I used a 220 grit sand paper, pinched between my thumb and forefinger, to sand the inner walls of the chamber of the pipe. Once I had reached the bare walls, I wiped the chamber with a cotton pad dipped in isopropyl alcohol. This removed all the residual carbon dust and also rid the chamber of all ghost smells. The walls of the chamber are nice and solid with no signs of cracks.I cleaned the external surface of the Meerschaum cup with Murphy’s Oil soap and cotton swabs. I also cleaned the threads at the foot of the cup with tooth brush and oil soap. I wiped the bowl surface with a moist cloth to remove the soap and grime that remained on the surface. The stummel surface cleaned up nicely. The scratches and dents and dings over the stummel surface are now clearly visible.Once I was done with cleaning the external surface of the meerschaum cup, I handed over the cup to Abha, my wife, to work her magic in polishing the cup. She polished the rim top surface and rim edges with micromesh pads. She then went on to dry sand the entire stummel with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the dust that was left behind by the sanding. I had requested her to minimize the scratches but not necessarily remove them. These lacerations and dings must have had a history and I wanted to preserve it. She did a fantastic job of polishing the meerschaum cup to a nice deep shine.While Abha was busy with polishing the meerschaum bowl, I addressed the stem repairs. I first cleaned the stem surface and the stem airway using anti-oil dish cleaning soap and thin shank brush and rinsed it under warm running water to remove the entire gunk from the airway. I also cleaned up the threaded tenon with a tooth brush and soap. To finish the cleaning, I ran a few bristled and regular pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol to remove the residual gunk from the airway and dry it out.To address the minor tooth chatter on both upper and lower surfaces, I sand the bite zone with a folded piece of 320 grit sandpaper. However, there was one tooth indentation in the bite zone and the chipped corner of the lip still remained an eyesore. I spot filled these with clear CA superglue and set the stem aside for the glue to cure. I cleaned the mortise by scraping out the dried gunk using my fabricated tool. Next, I cleaned the Bakelite shank with anti oil dish soap and tooth brush. I cleaned the shank internals and mortise with shank brush and anti oil soap and rinsed it under warm water. The shank is now clean both from the inside and the outside. Once the stem fills had cured, I sand the fills with a flat head needle file to roughly match the fill with the rest of the stem surface. I further fine tune the match by sanding the bite zone with 320 grit sandpaper followed by 600 grit sandpaper. Following the sanding with a piece of 600 grit sandpaper, I began the process of polishing by wet sanding the entire stem with 800, 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sandpapers. I completed the polishing of the stem by dry sanding the stem with 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. The translucent red of the Redmanol stem just shines through. With the Meerschaum bowl and the Redmanol stem polished, I turned my attention to the Bakelite shank. I polished the shank by wet sanding with 1500 to 2400 followed by dry sanding with 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. Next I gave a beeswax polish to the meerschaum bowl. I assembled the equipment and materials that would be needed during the process viz heat gun, paper towels, q-tips and a Katori, a steel container graciously lent by Abha from the kitchen and of course, beeswax. I stuffed the chamber with cork to prevent inadvertent seepage of the melted beeswax into either. Next, I melted a sufficient quantity of beeswax in the katori using my heat gun and thereafter heated the stummel. Using the a folded pipe cleaner, I completely coated the stummel with the wax and continued the application till the surface was saturated and set the stummel aside to absorb the wax. I reheated the stummel with the heat gun about 20 minutes later and let the excess wax either be absorbed or drip off from the stummel surface. I rubbed off the excess wax with a soft cotton cloth and brought a deep shine to the surface with a microfiber cloth. To finish, I re-attach the Redmanol stem with the Bakelite shank. I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and setting the speed at 50% RPM, applied Blue Diamond compound over the shank and the stem surface. I wiped/ buffed the parts with a soft cotton cloth to clear it of any leftover compound dust. I then mounted another cotton cloth wheel on to the polishing machine and applied several coats of carnauba wax over the shank and the stem of the pipe. I finished the restoration by giving the pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. Have a look at the completed pipe below. P.S. – Readers must have noticed that the meerschaum bowl has been changed from three holed one to one hole. Well, if you recollect I had made a mention of draw on this pipe being constricted. It turns out that the meerschaum bowl on this pipe was a long neck one and the one on the bent bulldog had a shorter neck. The Bakelite base of the straight pipe is shallow as compared to the bent bulldog and accommodated the short neck meerschaum bowl better than the long neck bowl. Once the switch was made, the draw on both the pipes was open, full and smooth as silk.

Now, why the bowls were switched in the first place? The answer to this intriguing question will be given in the next part…

Thank you all for being with me as I walk the path of learning nuances of pipe restoration.

Restoring A Beautiful Older Butz-Choquin ‘A Metz’ Pipe

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

The next project that I selected to work on is a beautiful Horn shaped pipe with a horn stem and nickel ferrule. This pipe came to be in my possession as a part of 40 odd estate pipes that I had purchased from a French Seller a few years ago. Unfortunately, I had neither chronicled nor taken pictures of this lot when it reached us, as at that point in time I had no intention of passing these restored pipes in to the trust (as my Mentor Steve points out) of fellow Pipers.

This beautiful elegantly shaped pipe on my work table has stunning cross grains and swirls over the sides and back of the stummel while the front and lower surface boasts of distinct bird’s eye grains. It is stamped as “BUTZ- CHOQUIN” over “A” over “METZ”. The nickel ferrule bears three faux hallmark stampings and a rhombus with two letters. All these markings on the ferrule are severely worn out and do not contribute in any which way in establishing the provenance of this pipe.I have previously worked on Butz- Choquin pipes with A METZ stamping and from what I recollect; this stamp was used when BC pipes were made out of the French town of A Metz, i.e. prior to 1950s. To refresh my memory, I visited the write up that I had posted on rebornpipes. Here is the link to the write up (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/10/19/restoring-an-early-butz-choquin-a-metz-no-2/).

I have reproduced some of the information from the write up and also arrive at an approximate date based on this information.

I searched pipedia.org to see if it contained the details that I sought. The site has very scant information about the brand with lots of pictures, but what is available makes it an interesting read and I quote;

“The pipe, from Metz to Saint-Claude. Jean-Baptiste Choquin of Metz started out as a tobacconist. This enterprise was prosperous; he had several employees. Among those, there was a certain Gustave Butz who was its first workman and who became his son-in-law by marrying Choquin’s daughter Marie in 1858.

In 1858 Jean-Baptiste Choquin created, in collaboration with Gustave Butz, the Choquin pipe. This bent pipe with a flat-bottomed bowl was finished with an albatross-bone mouthpiece, fixed with silver rings. (The above describes the CHOQUIN A METZ pipe I had worked on earlier dating it to 1858)

In 1858, still in Metz, Gustave Butz built an establishment for the manufacture of the Choquin pipe which took the name of Butz-Choquin. In 1951, the Berrod-Regad company bought the trademark, continuing manufacture until 2002. Departing from Metz, the workshop was relocated to Saint-Claude, then also called “the world capital of the briar pipe,” under the Berrod-Regad group. The Berrod-Regad group would go on to completely rebuild the network of representatives until finally entering the export market in 1960 and has since won several prizes, as well as the Gold Cup of French good taste.

In a few years, the brand’s collection increased from ten to seventy series. 135 years after it was founded, the pipe is still well-known not only in France but throughout the world. In 2002, the Berrod family, wishing to preserve manufacture of pipes in Saint-Claude, handed over the company to Fabien Guichon, a native of the area, who will continue to develop the brand during the 21st century.”

From the above reading, this pipe is pre-1951 when Berrod- Regad purchased the trademark and relocated the workshop to Saint- Claude. The stampings of A METZ is the proof pointing towards pre-1951, the birth town of Butz- Choquin pipes. Secondly, the horn stem with the round orifice points towards the early 1920s when vulcanite was the preferred choice of material for making stems. However, it is equally true that during World War II, since rubber was an essential war material and was difficult to obtain it for making stems, horns/ bone stem came in to favor again till the end of the Great War. Thus I think that this pipe is either from the period 1939 to 1945 (higher probability) or from between the era 1910 to 1920s.

Initial Visual Inspection
The pipe currently on my work table is an excellent example of quality craftsmanship using equally high quality briar wood. It appears that the carver followed the grains in the briar to decide on the shape and not the other way round. There is a thin layer of cake in the chamber with no overflowing lava over the rim top, in fact, the rim top is clean. The stummel surface is dull and lackluster and would benefit from a nice cleaning and polishing regime. The cross grains and the bird’s eye grains will come to the fore once the stummel is polished. The inner rim edge is beveled and is smooth and even. The outer rim edge is uneven with a couple of deeper dents and dings along the edge. The tapered horn stem has bite marks on both surfaces in the bite zone. The seating of the longish wood tenon in to the mortise is loose but otherwise in good condition. The nickel band is oxidized and sans any damage. Below are pictures of the pipe before I started my restoration work. Detailed Inspection
The chamber has a very thin layer of even and crumbly cake. It seems that the chamber was reamed prior to the pipe being put away. The rim top surface is clean with no signs of lava overflow or charring. The inner edge has a slight bevel which I think is not original to the pipe. However it has been well carved and does not detract from the beauty of the pipe. The outer rim edge has a number of dents and ding most likely caused due to striking the rim edge against a hard edge. The rim top surface has circular scratches akin to sanding marks left behind after topping the surface. The chamber has very little odor and the little ghost smells that remain will be eliminated once the stummel internals are cleaned. The stummel is covered in oils that have attracted dust and grime and the stummel appears dull and lackluster. The cross grains and bird’s eye and swirls across the briar surface that can be seen through from under all the grime. The stummel surface does show a few scratches, noticeably to the front and foot of the stummel. There is a small chip off from the upper shank surface near the nickel band. The mortise shows remnants of old oils, tars and ash, but not stinking stuff!! The nickel shank band itself is oxidized and all the faux markings are well rubbed and worn out. I am especially not too worried about the worn out stampings of the band as these are just for decorative purpose only. The tapered horn stem has tooth marks on both the upper and lower surface of the stem in the bite zone. The button lips, however, are sans any damage. I was unsure, from the appearance, if the tenon was a bone or made of wood. To confirm, I ran a sharp thin blade over the surface. The movement was smooth and easy without any bite. This confirmed that the hard surface could only be bone!! The round slot and tenon end opening has old residual oils and tars. The seating of the stem in to the mortise is not flush and very loose. The Process
I started the process of refurbishing by reaming the chamber first. Using reamer head sizes from 1 to 3 of the PipeNet pipe reamer, I took the cake down to the bare briar. The amount of carbon that was dislodged from the chamber was really surprising as I had appreciated a thin layer of carbon and the quantity of carbon that was removed was anything but a thin layer. With my fabricated knife, I removed all the cake and took it down to the bare briar. I further sand the chamber wall with a folded piece of 180 grit sandpaper to smooth out the wall and remove the last bit of stubborn carbon that remained stuck to the chamber. To finish the reaming process, I wiped the chamber walls with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol to clean the last traces of residual carbon dust. I was happy to note a clean and well seasoned solid chamber. Next I cleaned out the shank internals. Early on, I realized that I could not pass a pipe cleaner trough the draught hole due to blockages in the shank airway. I used the drill bit of a Kleen Ream reamer to dislodge this block of dried oils and gunk. I further scraped out all the dried and crumbly oils and tars from the walls of the mortise with my fabricated tool. I cleaned out the mortise and shank walls with q-tips and pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol. I shall continue further cleaning of the shank and mortise while going through the other processes.I kept the stummel aside and cleaned the internals of the stem with a thin shank brush and anti-oil dish washing soap. This ensures a thorough cleaning of the stem airway while saving me number of pipe cleaners, elbow grease and most importantly, time. With the stem internals cleaned, I scrubbed the external surface with the dish soap and Scotch Brit pad. I was particularly careful while cleaning the tenon surface as the old residual oils and tars were deeply embedded in to the surface. I rinsed the stem under warm running water and wiped it with a paper napkin to dry it.I addressed the tooth chatter in the bite zone by sanding the bite zone with a folded piece of 150 grit sand paper followed by 220 grit sand paper. I could have filled the tooth indentation with clear superglue, sanded and polished the stem, but decided against this since the stem was thick and the tooth chatter was superficial enough to be addressed just by sanding it out.Next, I cleaned the exterior of the stummel. I used a hard bristled tooth brush, Scotch Brit pad and Murphy’s Oil soap to scrub the stummel. After the scrub with oil soap, I washed the stummel, stem and shank extension under running warm water with anti oil dish washing detergent till the surface was clean and dried it using paper towels and soft cotton cloth. I simultaneously cleaned the internals of the shank with the detergent and hard bristled shank brush and set the stummel aside to dry out naturally. The stummel surface has cleaned up nicely with the beautiful grain patterns on full display. Following the external clean up of the stummel, I spot filled the small chipped off surface from the shank’s upper surface near the nickel band and also the dings that were seen over the outer edge of the rim with CA superglue. I set the stummel aside for the glue to cure.While the stummel repair was curing, I dry sand the horn stem with 220, 320, 400 and 600 grit sandpapers followed by wet sanding with 800 and 1000 grit sandpapers. I applied a small quantity of EVO to the stem and set it aside to be absorbed by surface.With the stem set aside, using a flat head needle file, I sand the repairs over the upper shank surface and the outer rim edge to achieve a rough match with the rest of the stummel surface. I further blend in the repairs by sanding the entire stummel surface with 220 grit sandpaper.To bring a nice shine and eliminate the scratch marks left behind by the abrasive sandpaper, I wet sand the entire stummel with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads, wiping frequently with a moist cloth to check the progress. I rubbed a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” deep in to the briar with my finger tips and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works its magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance with the beautiful grain patterns displayed in their complete splendor. I further buffed it with a horse hair brush. The contrast of the dark browns of the grains with the natural patina of the rest of the stummel adds an interesting dimension to the appearance of the stummel. I completed the mundane but equally important task of polishing the nickel band. I used a local product that is available only in India to polish the band. The liquid polish was applied to the band and wiped it out after a few seconds. The polish completely removed the oxidation and gave a nice shine to the band by polishing it with a jeweler’s cloth.This brings me to the most important process indicating the completion of this restoration which is imparting a high gloss finish to the pipe by polishing. I mounted a cotton cloth buffing wheel onto my hand held rotary tool and polished the stummel and stem with Blue Diamond compound. This compound helps to remove the minor scratch marks that remain from the sanding. Next, I mounted another cotton buffing wheel that I have earmarked for carnauba wax and applied several coats of the wax. I mounted a clean cotton cloth buffing wheel and gave the entire pipe a once over buff. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. The finished pipe with the aged patina to the briar looks amazingly beautiful. P.S.: Astute readers must have noticed that there were two issues that I had brought out during my detailed visual inspection, first was the loose seating of the stem in to the shank and the second was that this seating was not flush, but does not find a mention in the entire process of repairs/ restoration. Well, truth be told, I had not addressed these issues specifically. However, somewhere along the way these issues resolved themselves.

Let me explain. The reason for loose seating of the stem in to the mortise was primarily due to drying up of the briar wood and the bone tenon from years of disuse. When the internal and external surfaces of the stummel were cleaned and rinsed using warm water, the briar absorbed some moisture causing the briar to swell and ultimately resulting in a snug fit of the stem in to the mortise.

The reason for the stem face not seating flush with the shank face was the old oils and gunk that had accumulated in the mortise and along the shank walls. Once the mortise and shank internals were thoroughly cleaned and the shank briar wood was adequately moistened, the seating was flush and snug.

This pipe had caught the fancy of a fellow piper here in India and has now reached him. I wish him many happy and blissful smokes in the years ahead.

I wish to thank all esteemed readers for your time in reading through the write up and being a part of this project. Looking forward to your comments…

Refurbishing A Vintage Cased “Karoo” Gourd Calabash With Elephant Ivory Shank Extension

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

About two years back, I had worked on the only Gourd Calabash pipe that I had inherited, a 1912 William Harrison, and posted it on rebornpipes. I had smoked this pipe after it was restored and was amazed at how different the smoking characteristics of a gourd are when compared to a briar or a meerschaum pipe. Since then I was on a lookout for some good quality and condition gourd calabash estates and snagged a couple at very competitive rates. This is the first of the two gourd calabash pipes that is now on my work table.

This medium sized gourd calabash came in its original case. The case and the pipe it housed are in good shape and appears to have been well looked after. There is a beautiful ivory colored band with argyle patterns at the shank end that lends it a classy high end feel. It is stamped on the left side of the gourd as “KAROO” in an oval. There is no other stamping seen on the gourd. The vulcanite stem with a threaded bone tenon is stamped on the upper surface as “LONDON” over MADE”. There are no other stampings seen on either the gourd or the stem. The only knowledge about the pipe I had was that KAROO was an arid region of South Africa where these gourds were grown. However, there was no information on the brand KAROO that was available either on Pipedia.org or pipephil.eu. I couldn’t find any information on this brand even on rebornpipes!!

I messaged Steve and shared pictures of this gourd calabash pipe with him. He sent me this link to Pipe Club of London which had information on this brand and the same is being reproduced further down in this write up. There was an interesting discussion on the band that was at the shank end. The possibilities ranged from the band being made of hardened plastic or Bakelite or bone or even African Ivory. However, it was the evenly arranged argyle patterns that made us think on the lines of the band being of some high grade and quality material. Abha, my wife, took close up pictures of the band and patterns and she got on the task of researching the material of the band on the internet. Her research conclusively proved that the band is an Elephant Ivory. Here is the link to a site that was particularly helpful in supporting her conclusions. (https://www.realorrepro.com/article/Ivory-genuine-fake–confusing).

The argyle patterns that I had been mentioning all through are, in fact, Schreger Lines and the patterns perfectly match the ones seen on the shank end band. Having confirmed that the shank extension is elephant ivory, it was time to search for the brand KAROO.

I searched the net as suggested by Steve and found this snippet of information on Pipe Club of London (http://pipecluboflondon.com/members-pipes/calabashes/karoo-calabash/) and reproduce the same information for the benefit of the larger pipe community.

Calabash gourds (“bottle gourds” – were grown on the Little Karoo River in South Africa by Boer farmers who exported them – cut & dried – to England for fitting with bowls and mouthpieces. The heyday of the calabash was 1905 to 1915 after which the briar began to steal the spotlight.

From the Johnny Long collection PCoL #UK603F – pictured on a handmade South African tapestry. Below – the Karoo brand & hallmarks.

There was no further information lead that was worth following that would establish the provenance of this pipe. All that I can say with certainty based on the threaded bone tenon, oval slot at the stem end, Elephant Ivory shank extension and the information reproduced above, this pipe has to be from the early 20^th Century, maybe prior to 1920s.

This time period is just a ”guesstimation” and any input from the knowledgeable Readers on this brand and dating is most welcome.

Initial Visual Inspection
The case and the pipe appear to be well cared for. The case has functional hinges and clasp and closes with a reassuring click. The surface leather on the case is also intact and in good condition. The red velvet internal lining of the case is stained at the place where the rim and mouthpiece rests inside the pipe. There is a lot of debris in the nooks and corners of the case. The pipe sits perfectly inside the case. The gourd has taken on a dark color and its surface is dust covered and dirty. The meerschaum cup has a decent layer of even cake with a darkened rim top that has traces of lava overflow. There are a few minor superficial scratches over the meerschaum cup. The stem is oxidized, has tooth chatter/ bites marks in the bite zone and is under turned to the right. Overall, this old timer has been well looked after and is in great shape considering its perceived age. Dimensions Of The Pipe
Length: 5.6 inches

Height: 2.8 inches.

Diameter of the porcelain cup: 1.8 inches.

Diameter of the chamber: 0.9 inch.

Depth of the chamber: 1.3 inches.

Detailed Visual Inspection
I first dismantled the pipe in to its various components; the Gourd, the meerschaum cup and the threaded bone tenon stem. Here are a couple of pictures.

The meerschaum cup is medium sized and has a moderate layer of even cake. The inner rim edge has a thin layer of lava overflow on an otherwise clean rim top surface. There are minor scratches over the rim surface which will be addressed when the meerschaum cup is cleaned and polished. There are no breakages or chipped surfaces or cracks in the cup which is a big relief. The draught hole at the center bottom of the cup is clogged with oils/ tars and gunk. The outer surface of the cup is covered in dried oils, tars and gunk and towards the rim top; there are traces of cork lining which has stuck to the cup (this is actually mysterious!) at the base of the rim. The gourd surface has colored beautiful and it will be my endeavor to preserve the patina that has developed on the surface due to smoking. The surface is covered in old oils, tars, grime and dirt from all these years. There is no damage to the gourd surface and that’s a big relief. This piece of gourd will look stunningly beautiful and rich once it has been cleaned and polished. The meerschaum bowl is held in place inside the gourd with a cork gasket. This cork gasket was dry with a thin outer surface layer stuck to the meerschaum. This is not a major issue as the bowl still sits firmly in the gourd. The inside of the gourd has depositions of oils and tars and ash and would benefit from a thorough cleaning. The ivory shank extension has yellowed a fraction but is sans any damage. The full bent tapered vulcanite stem is oxidized with tooth chatter on either surface in the bite zone. The threaded long bone tenon is covered in grime and oils and could be a contributing factor for the misaligned seating of the stem in to the shank. The oval opening of the slot and the tenon opening is constricted due to accumulation of old and dried oils/ tars. The Process
I started the process with reaming the meerschaum cup with PipNet reamer heads 1, 2 and 3. I further cleaned the bowl with my fabricated knife to completely rid the chamber of carbon that couldn’t be reached by the reamer heads. I used a 220 grit sand paper, pinched between my thumb and forefinger, to sand the inner walls of the chamber of the pipe. Once I had reached the bare walls, I wiped the chamber with a cotton pad dipped in isopropyl alcohol. This removed all the residual carbon dust and also rid the chamber of all ghost smells. The walls of the chamber are nice and solid with no signs of heat fissures or cracks.I gently scraped off the dried gunk and remnants of the cork with my sharp fabricated knife. I further cleaned the surface with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol. I cleaned the external surface of the meerschaum cup with a cotton swab and Murphy’s Oil Soap. I further wiped the surface with a moist soft cloth and rid the surface of the soap. I ran a couple of hard bristled pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl alcohol through the draught hole and thoroughly cleaned it. I set the bowl aside to dry out completely.I cleaned the stem airway using thin shank brushes and anti oil dish soap. I also cleaned the tenon surface with the soap and wiped it dry with a paper towel. The tenon opening and the oval slot is now clean.Since the tooth chatter on upper and lower surface was superficial, I decided to address this issue by sanding down the tooth chatter rather than resorting to the filling method. I sand the bite zone with a 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth chatter. I followed it up by further sanding the stem with 320, 600 and 800 grit sand papers. Once I was satisfied that the tooth chatter had perfectly matched the rest of the stem surface, I completed the polishing cycle by wet sanding the surface with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. The stem looks great with the tooth chatter nicely matched with the rest of the surface. I rub a little quantity of Extra Virgin Olive oil into the stem surface and set it aside to rehydrate the vulcanite. While I was working on the stem, Abha went about the task of polishing the meerschaum cup. She polished the bowl by dry sanding it with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. She applied a little Before and After Balm, though it does not affect the meerschaum in any which way, and set it aside. A few minutes later, she buffed it with a microfiber cloth.Next in the process was the cleaning and refurbishing of the gourd itself. Using my fabricated dental tool and sharp knife, I carefully, read that as very (2x) carefully, scraped out all the dried gunk and grime from the inner walls of the gourd. I ran a couple of pipe cleaners and q-tips dipped in alcohol through the shank end. I wiped the inner walls with a cotton swab moistened with alcohol. At this point in restoration, the internal cleaning of the stem, mortise and gourd is completed. The stem repairs and polishing is also completed and so is the refurbishing of the meerschaum cup. Next I decided to clean and polish the external surface of the gourd. I cleaned the external surface of the gourd with Murphy’s Oil soap on cotton swabs. I wiped the surface with a moist cloth and set the gourd aside to dry out completely. After the gourd had dried out, I polished the gourd surface with micromesh pads. I wanted to preserve the patina and deep coloration that has developed on the gourd surface and so I dry sand the stummel surface with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. This is starting to look really nice. I rub a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” in to the gourd with my finger tips and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works its magic and the gourd now has a nice vibrant appearance with the beautiful darkened colors on full display. I further buff it with a horse hair shoe brush. All that remained was the original case that housed this pipe. Firstly, I reattached all the black linings that had come loose with superglue. I wiped the leather cover with Murphy’s Oil soap on a cotton swab. The color on the swabs should give the readers an idea of how dirty the surface was!! I wanted to further scrub the leather surface, but unsure that I was as to how the leather would hold up to all the scrubbing, I left it at that (remember my mantra… Less is more!!). I cleaned the inner satin and velvet linings of the lid and bottom respectively, with a mild soap in warm water and a soft bristled tooth brush. I was very gentle with this as I had no intention of tearing the lining. I completely dried the lining using paper towels. It now does look nice and rich. To apply the finishing touches, I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and apply a coat of Blue Diamond to the gourd and the stem to polish out the minor scratches. With a cotton buffing wheel that I use for carnauba wax, I apply a coat of the wax and continue to work on it till the complete coat of wax had been polished out. I mount a clean cotton cloth buffing wheel and give the entire pipe a once over buff. I finish the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. The finished pipe looks beautiful and is ready to be added to my restored pipe collection. When, or if at all I will, smoke this pipe only time will tell!! Here are the pictures of the refurbished pipe. P.S.: The alignment of the stem with the gourd stummel was restored to perfection once the threads of the bone tenon, threads at the shank end and the internals of the gourd was thoroughly cleaned. I rejuvenated and hydrated the cork gasket by applying a generous layer of natural Petroleum Jelly.

Thanks to all readers of rebornpipes who have spared a moment of their invaluable time in reading through this write up and as is always, your suggestions and advice are always welcome as this would not only help me but also help the new pursuers of this art.

Praying for the safety and well being of all the readers and their loved ones …

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