Tag Archives: pipe restemming

Restemming and Restoring a Hardwicke’s Freehand

Blog by Steve Laug

One of the pipe bowls that came to me in the box of pipes from my brother was a tall nicely grained freehand that was stamped on the shank Hardwicke’s and Italy on the underside of the shank next to the shank stem junction. I had never heard of the brand before and it was not listed on Pipedia or on the Pipephil website. The more I looked in my usual sources such as Who Made that Pipe the more stymied I was about the brand. It was an interesting shaped bowl. The bowl had some dark marks on the shank, the bowl bottom and on the right side at the point and up the side midway. There was a thick coat of urethane over the entire bowl and the faux plateau. The rustication on the rim matched that of the end of the shank and had been done with tools. There was a thick coat of tars and oils under the urethane on the rim. The bowl itself had a thick cake in it that filled it from top to bottom. The first quarter inch down from the top of the rim had a darker stain that ran down the walls. (I almost forgot to take photos of the bowl before I had sanded all of the urethane off the surface. I stopped and caught these. On the lower part of the bowl on the right side there was a spot of real plateau. I went through my box of stems and had a stem that would work really well with this pipe. It would need to have the tenon end reduced so that it would sit in the mortise.I decided to Google Hardwicke’s Cigar and Pen to see if the pipe could have been a shop pipe. It was made in Italy but the Hardwicke’s stamping pointed elsewhere. I found that there was a group of shops in Indianapolis, Indiana. The main shop was located at 743 Broad Ripple Ave, Indianapolis.One reviewer of the shop had this to say about the shop: “This small cigar shop is located just south of the circle, so in the heart of downtown. They carry a pretty impressive stock of cigars and the pricing is relatively reasonable considering their location. The staff is incredibly knowledgeable and willing to help you find something in your price range. They do have a lot of cigars at the $5 price point so don’t be put off by the fact there are also a lot of $15+ cigars.”

“They also have their own brand, which is rolled with several different tobaccos and in several sizes, these should not be overlooked, especially if you don’t want to spend a lot on your smoke.”

“They also offer pens, pipes, pipe tobacco and the usual array of cutters and lighters you’d expect from a cigar shop. I’ve only purchased cigars here so cannot comment the rest of their offerings, although their selection of pipes does seem good to me.”

Further digging found an article in the Indy Star newspaper about the Downtown shop closing. The article also says that the Broad Ripple Store remains open. I have included the link to the article as well the article in full. http://www.indystar.com/story/money/2016/01/20/smoke-free-downtown-landmark-hardwickes-exits/78800744/

Hardwicke’s Pipe & Tobacco, a long-time Indianapolis fixture, seems to have shuttered its Downtown store.

The inventory was being removed last week, and a store clerk said closure was imminent. The store now stands empty, void entirely of the fine cigars, cigarettes and pipes the retailer sold for five decades.

Hardwicke’s Broad Ripple store, which predates the Downtown shop, remains open. Staffers answering the phone there declined to comment on the fate of the Downtown location, which had occupied a storefront at 18 N. Meridian St., just off Monument Circle, since 1977.

The demise of Hardwicke’s Downtown comes amid a flurry of change for Indianapolis’ old-time businesses.

Last month Kincaid’s, the high-end meat market at 56th and Illinois streets that had been in the same family since its founding nearly a century ago, was sold. Virginia Jarvis Coiffures, a beauty shop for many of Indianapolis’ leading women since 1965, closed its doors Saturday. G. Thrapp Jewelers, in the Butler-Tarkington neighborhood, closed Sunday after 33 years.

Contact IndyStar reporter Will Higgins at (317) 444-6043. Follow him on Twitter @WillRHiggins.
So now I knew that the pipe I had was indeed a shop pipe made for Hardwicke’s Tobacco Shop of Indianapolis. Now it was time to work on it and restore and restem it. I sanded the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the urethane finish that covered the grime and the burn marks. I sanded the burn marks and tried to reduce the damage to the briar. The more I worked on them the more I am convinced that they were not burn marks but rather dark stains that happened when the bowl was laid in something that left a stain mark. I remember when my mom made pickles when I was a lad and the jars of vinegar left dark rings in the oak table top. These looked identical to the ones I remember as a boy. I sanded and was able to remove several of them. I wiped the bowl down with acetone to clean off the stain and the dust.The rim was thickly caked. I worked on it with a brass bristle wire brush and a dental pick to remove the build up on the rim. You can see from the second photo the rustication pattern in the faux plateau on the rim. It is identical to the one that is cut on the end of the shank.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and took the cake back to bare wood. I cleaned up the edges and the bottom of the bowl with the Savinelli Pipe Knife.I sanded the bowl with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge and then with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads to remove the scratching in the surface left behind by the 220 grit sandpaper. I remove the darkening around the top of the rim so the surface of the briar was the same over the entire bowl. The bottom of the bowl shows a scratch in the surface that looks like it is a hairline crack. Looking at it with a magnifier I am pretty sure it is a scratch and not a crack.To deal with the darkened spots on the shank and the bowl bottom as well as the scratch I decided to use a contrast stain. I stained the bowl with a black aniline stain and flamed it. I repeated the process until the coverage was even.I wiped down the black stain with alcohol on cotton pads to remove the stain in the body of the briar and leave it in the grain.I washed it down with an alcohol damp pad and gave it a top coat of brown stain. I flamed it and applied it until the coverage was even. Then I set it aside to dry.I used the Dremel and sanding drum to reduce the diameter of the tenon. I cleaned it up with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I put the stem in the shank and took some photos of the look of the pipe at this point in the process. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth chatter on the top and bottom sides of the stem at the button.I cleaned out the airway with a pipe cleaner and alcohol. It was not dirty at all which surprised me.I wiped down the bowl with alcohol on cotton pads and then buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads, gave it another coat of oil and finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. It removed a little more of the brown stain and made it a bit more translucent. I gave the stem and bowl several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. The new stem looks like it belongs with the pipe and the curve of the bowl and the new stain look great in my opinion. The grain on the pipe is very nice. The black and brown stain combination hides the dark mars on the shank and the bowl. They are still present but blend in nicely. Thanks for looking.

An Interesting Antique Store Stummel

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have a routine when I visit in Bellingham. I take the ladies in my life to the mall and leave them to shop and I set out on my circuit of pipe haunts to see if I can find some likely object of my attention to repair. I rarely come home empty handed, though I don’t know if that is because I will work on many kinds of pipes or if it is because I generally find something. It may be hard for the observer to discern the difference, I know it is for my wife and daughters. I visited several of my haunts and finally in the last one I did a quick walk through and found nothing… this time it looked like I would come home empty handed. Just to make sure I asked at the counter if there were any old pipes in the shop. The seller pointed directly behind me and there in a case that I had totally missed were four pipes. I bought them all. They had a look of age about them so I jumped and paid the price. It turned out that one of them had a cracked bowl but I was able to cannibalize a sterling silver band for an old KBB Yello Bole from the 20s. Two of them were also older – one a GBD and one a Dr. Plumb. The fourth, a Canadian had a gold coloured band and was missing the stem. It looked pretty dirty and the finish was gone. I figured that it too might be one I cannibalized for parts. I paid for them and went out to my car. I went through them and looked them over. The first three showed no surprises. But the stemless bowl was a real surprise. There on the shank was the arced Barlings stamping and under that was the stamping Ye Olde Wood over 237 on the left top side of the shank and Made in England on the right top side. There is also a remnant of the word EXEL. Boy was I surprised. Suddenly it went from a potential victim for cannibalization to one that had some interest for me. It turned out to be the best of the lot. I took a close-up photo of the rim to show the extent of the damage to that area. The cake in the bowl had flown over the top of the rim. There were also dings and dents that were quite deep. The outer edge was compromised and rounded over and the inner edge was out of round. I also included a photo of the stamping and the crack in the shank. This is the stamping that I saw in the bright daylight when I left the basement antique shop.I went through my can of stems and found one that would work on this shank. I had to go with a bit of an oversized stem in terms of diameter as the shank was thinner on the top than on the bottom. I would have to hand fit the stem to accommodate that idiosyncrasy.I used a microdrill bit to put a tiny pin hole at the end of the crack and then filled in the crack with super glue. The drilled hole would keep the crack from spreading and the glue would fill it in. The integrity of the shank was stabilized by the band as well.Once I had a good fit of the stem to the shank I used the Dremel and sanding drum to remove the excess vulcanite on the diameter of the stem. The fine tuning and flow of the stem would be done by files and hand sanding. I reamed the bowl with the PipNet reamer and took out the majority of the cake. I cleaned it up and took it back to briar with the Savinelli Pipe Knife. I topped the bowl on a topping board using 220 grit sandpaper. I removed the damaged surface of the rim until the outer edges were sharp and there was no rounding.I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to remove the grime and wax that had built up and made the exterior dull and lifeless. I reworked the inner edge of the bowl to bevel it and bring it back to round using a folded piece of 180 grit sandpaper and then a piece of 220 grit sandpaper.I wiped the bowl down again with acetone to remove any remaining grit and also the sanding dust from the rim repairs.I put the stem in place and took some photos to be able to see what still remained to remove from the diameter of the stem and what shaping still needed to be done. There was some width to be removed from the top and bottom sides at the band and then the taper needed to be reduced as well to remove the slight hip. The width on the right and left side also needed a bit more work to make the flow seamless. I sanded the stem with 180 grit sandpaper to further shape it and clean up the flow from the shank to the button. It took a lot of sanding to get the angles and flow just right.I scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the stem and the shank with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners.I sanded the rim with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches left behind by the topping and then stained it with a light brown stain pen to match the colour of the bowl.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished the sanding with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of oil. I set it aside to dry. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. The colour darkened slightly with the wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then by hand with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown below. I am pleased with the way the fit and finish of the stem came out and also the overall look of the pipe. Thanks for looking.

Restoring a W.O. Larsen 11 Handmade Bent Brandy

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

Charles Lemon of Dadspipes blog picked up a batch of pipes that included a lot of Danish made ones from an estate not long ago. He has been writing about their restoration on his blog. He sent me some photos of the pipes and offered to sell some to me. I chose two of them. The first one was the Larsen that is pictured below. The description of the pipe said that it was stamped on the underside of the shank 11 over W.O. LARSEN over Handmade over Made in Denmark. On the topside of the shank next to the stem/shank junction it was stamped SUPER. The stem had a broken tenon and it was stuck in the shank. Charles had mentioned that he thought it looked like it had been glued in so it would take a bit of work. When I saw the grain on it I decided that it would be a fun piece to work on for my own rack. It has some stunning flame grain on all around the bowl sides and birdseye grain on the rim and the bottom of the bowl and shank.I looked up some background on W.O. Larsen and found a great summary on this site. It was helpful and brief so I quote it in full below: https://www.finepipes.com/pipes/danish/w-o-larsen?sort=20a&page=1&zenid=debcdee8f415c1977fb5c359652d6aeb W.O. Larsen was one of the most famous tobacco shops in Copenhagen, with a beautiful store located on Copenhagen’s famous “Walking Street.” During the flowering of the Danish pipe in the ’60’s, they first began retailing pipes by such carvers as Sixten Ivarsson, Sven Knudsen, Poul Rasmussen, and Brakner. Urged on by his store manager Sven Bang, the owner, Ole Larsen, decided to begin making pipes in the basement of the shop. He first hired Sven Knudsen as the pipe maker, who soon passed the job to his protégé Hans “Former” Nielsen. Larsen’s fortunes rose along with the rest of the Danish pipe business and Former was soon managing a group of carvers in the old Larsen cigar factory. Among these were Teddy Knudsen, Tonni Nielsen, Jess Chonowitch, Peter Hedegaard and others, who were responsible for the Select and Straight Grain series before they branched out on their own. After Former left to start Bentley pipes in Switzerland, his duties were taken over by Soren Refbjerg Rasmussen, while the straight grains were made by Teddy’s student Benni Jorgenson. As Ole’s health began to fail, the reins were taken over by his son Nils. Nils became convinced that the way for Larsen to prosper was by entering the low-end market, and acquired the Georg Jensen pipe factory to make an array of less expensive pipes. This turned out to be a fatal error, and Larsen was recently sold to Stanwell, who continue to produce so-called “Larsen” pipes in their huge factory. Thus ended an important part of Danish pipe history.

I was looking forward to seeing it firsthand so I paid Charles and he shipped it on Friday. Wonder of wonders, Canada Post delivered it on Monday. I came home from work to find the awaited box on the table. I opened it and found the Larsen in a bag with the label printed on the outside enumerating it’s stamping. I took it out of the bag and immediately took it to the work table. The photos below show the pipe as it looked when it arrived. It was much lighter in colour than the photo had led me to believe.The bowl was dirty and there were some dents and marks in the briar. The rim had a thick coating of tars and the back edge of the rim was worn down from knocking the pipe out to empty it. There was an uneven cake in the bowl. The tenon was stuck in the shank and there were dried bits of glue on the end of the shank and around the end of the stem where someone had glued the stem onto the end of the shank. Fortunately the stem did not stick to the briar but the tenon certainly did. The stem was clean of bite or tooth marks and was lightly oxidized. I took a photo of the end of the shank to show the glue spots on the briar and around the broken tenon.When I had looked at the initial photo I was uncertain that the stem was original as it looked to be bigger in diameter than the shank. I lined up the broken tenon in the shank with the rough end on the stem and took some photos to see if it actually fit the pipe.I decided to try pulling the tenon with my normal screw and it did not budge. It began to shatter and break apart.Thus I knew that I would have to resort to drilling out the broken tenon. I set up my cordless drill and put a drill bit slightly larger than the airway in the chuck. I slowly drilled out the tenon, increasing the size of the drill bit until it was the just slightly smaller than the mortise. The last bit I used broke the tenon piece free from the shank and the mortise was clear.While I had the drill out I also drilled out the broken tenon in the stem in preparation for the replacement tenon I would use.Once the airway was drilled out on the stem I used a tap to thread the newly drilled airway to accommodate the threaded replacement Delrin tenon.I used the topping board and 220 grit sandpaper to clean off the glue residue on the end of the stem before I put the new tenon in place. I want a clean, flat surface to work with against the shank when I was finished.I used some clear super glue on the new tenon and twisted it into the stem. I put it in the shank to check the alignment several times before putting a few more drops of super glue around the tenon stem union.Once the glue dried I put the stem in place in the pipe and took some photos to evaluate the fit. With the tenon repair completed it was time to address the bowl. I took some close up photos of the bowl/rim and the stamping on the shank.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer using the third cutting head and took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Pipe Knife. I sanded the inside of the bowl with a tube of sandpaper. This smoothed out the walls of the bowl and began to clean up the damage on the inner edge of the rim.The rim damage on the back side needed to be dealt with so I topped the bowl to remove the damaged area.I scrubbed the briar with acetone on cotton pads to remove the wax, grime and oils in the wood. The grain is really beautiful in the photos below. I scrubbed out the mortise and airway in the shank and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners until they came out clean.I mixed three of the stain pens together to get the correct brown on the rim. Once it was blended and sanded I stained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain and flamed it. I repeated the process until the coverage was even on the bowl. I wiped down the bowl with alcohol on cotton pads to make it more transparent and make the grain show through. It still needed more work but it was definitely getting there. The inner edge of the rim needed more work to remove the damage but the colour was correct.I used a folded piece of 180 grit sandpaper to bevel the inner rim of the bowl to remove the damaged areas. I followed up by sanding it with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and continued to sand the inner edge. I sanded the inner edge and rim with 1800-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I restained the inner bevel with a dark brown stain pen to match the finish on the bowl.With the bowl finished I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil and dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads. I gave it another coat of oil and sanded it with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. By now you are all probably very familiar with my process. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise a shine and then hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to add depth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is one I plan on hanging onto for my own rack and I am happy with how it turned out. Thanks for looking.

Cleaning up my first Sofia find – A Shell Pipe 141

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Blog by Steve Laug

After I had settled into my hotel in Sofia, Bulgaria on a recent trip Dal took me to one of his pipe hunting haunts – an outside antique market in the shadow of Sofia’s largest church building – Nevski Cathedral. We visited the same vendor where he had purchased the Dr. Plumb Oom Paul pipe that he restored and restemmed. He had a lot of pipes on his table for sale. I worked through them and purchased one – a bent billiard with a windcap. Then I went through a bag of bowls and stems that he had and chose the bowl shown in the photo below. The bowl was stamped Shell Pipe 141. The combination sandblast and rustication give the pipe a great look. The finish looked to be pretty decent under the grime that filled the nooks and crannies of the blast. The rim was filled in with tars and oils to the point that the rustication on the surface was invisible. There was a pretty thick uneven cake throughout the bowl. The shank was dirty and almost clogged with tars. There was no stem on the pipe but there was no crack in the shank and I was pretty certain that I had a stem that would fit it once I got home to Vancouver. I went through my can of stems and found a stem that would fit with a bit of adjustment. I sanded the tenon in order to get a proper fit in the mortise of the bowl. The stem was slightly larger in diameter than the shank end and would need to be reduced to fit. The star on the stem would disappear once the stem was properly fit in the shank. I used the Dremel and sanding drum to reduce the diameter of the stem to match the shank. I sanded it with the stem in the pipe to make sure that I could match the stem and shank. I sanded it as close as possible with the Dremel and then worked on it by hand to get the lines of the fit correct.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the scratches left behind by the Dremel sanding drum and to fine tune the fit against the shank. With the stem fit completed I turned to the bowl. I took a close-up photo of the bowl to show the build up on the rim and the state of the cake in the bowl.I reamed the bowl back to bare briar with a PipNet pipe reamer and finished cleaning it up with a Savinelli Pipe Knife. I scrubbed the sandblast/rusticated finish with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush and worked on the rim with a wire brush.I rinsed the bowl with warm water under the tap (being careful to keep it out of the inside of the bowl). The cleaned briar is shown in the next series of photos. I cleaned out the airway in the stem, mortise and airway in the bowl with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. With the bowl cleanup finished and the internals on the stem down it was time to work on the finish of the stem. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 micromesh sanding pads and gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit micromesh pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of Oil. I let it sit until the oil was dry. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel. I used a light touch on the bowl and a heavier touch on the stem as I did not want to get the polishing compound in the grooves and crevices of the blast. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush. I hand buffed the finished pipe with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown below. I am pleased with the outcome. The bowl from Sofia, Bulgaria and the new stem from Canada work well together. Thanks for looking.

A Newbie Restore of a Dr. Plumb 9456 Oom Paul

14 Replies

Blog by Dal Stanton

It is a pleasure to introduce Dal Stanton to you all. He has become a good friend through the work that I do. I just returned from spending time with him in Sofia, Bulgaria where we went pipe hunting and enjoyed some great smokes over dinner together. Here is his first blog for rebornpipes. I hope that he will do many more. Thanks Dal. Welcome to rebornpipes as a contributor. — Steve

Well, after much encouragement and a bit of prodding from Steve, I’m submitting this, my first full restore, to rebornpipes exclusively (and hesitantly) from a newbie’s perspective. After discovering the hobby of restoration only last year, I’ve been intrigued by the restoration process and amazed at the skills and blogging of Steve Laug (rebornpipes.com), and Charles Lemon (Dad’sPipes.com) and several other contributors. I thoroughly enjoyed the ‘Mission Impossible’ episodes that Steve and Charles collaborated on. All the posts have been workshops for me as I’ve pieced together the different steps and techniques of pipe restoration. Since I live in Sofia, Bulgaria, and on the 10th floor of a formerly Communist ‘Block’ apartment complex, I do not have a basement or a garage to set up a workspace. My wife has lovingly allowed me to set up shop in our bedroom (yes, I know that limits the night-time hours for restoration and reflection!) but it has forced me to develop ‘compact’ ways of approaching the hobby. Instead of polishing wheels I utilize a Dremel with many wheels purchased from China on eBay! It works well for me and most importantly, I’m enjoying something that has surprised me with the satisfaction involved in finding a tired candidate that can be redeemed and brought back to life.

So, in April I found the Oom Paul bowl from a vendor in an outside antique market in the shadow of Sofia’s largest church building – Nevski Cathedral. I enjoy my developing relationship with the young Bulgarian man who enjoys the bartering event as much as I and has begun to recognize me in the crowd as I have become a regular buying customer. After looking through his holdings and striking deals for a few tired candidates for future attention, he produced a bag full of orphaned bowls and stems. At this point in my early pipe collecting strategy, my eye is drawn to the styles I’ve yet to add. The Oom Paul jumped out even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to touch it! The first question that came to my mind as I got a feel for the bowl in my palm was, “How could anyone smoke a pipe to a state that I was looking at!” I took the pictures below when I got home from the antique market. My initial look at the markings found Dr. Plumb over London Made with what I assume is the shape number 9456. I checked it out in Pipedia and found this: The Dr. Plumb brand name is owned by A. Oppenheimer & Co., Limited, owners of Cadogan Investments, Ltd. J.B. Rubinovich, GBD’s Parisian sales manager, created this brand in 1925. The pipe was produced by the Ruchon & Verguet and also Ropp factories (Saint-Claude, France). In 1962 a Dr. Plumb pipe sold for between C$3.95 and C$4.95, or $31.72 in 2015 U.S. dollars and pipes can still be purchased from this brand for a similar price today. These pipes have long been advertised as Dr. Plumb’s Perfect Pipe, that name coming from an aluminum tube system designed to keep the smoke cool and dry while at the same time permitting the “cooling chamber” to be cleaned by simply twisting the stem. While Dr. Plumb pipes were long made in France and stamped accordingly, they are now British made.

The bowl was almost closed with the buildup of lava and the rim was in pretty tough shape revealing at least one unfortunate drop on the front – that part that I could see. A look down the shank revealed something lodged. I couldn’t detect any cracks or burns. I enjoyed the feel of the bowl in my hand and the briar had great potential – I liked the dark reddish hue of the briar and the gentle rustification seemed to enhance the mostly hidden grain but showing promise. I would have to ream the bowl and clean the rim before I could know what might lie underneath. I would also have to find an appropriate stem too to fit the Dr. Plumb, no small task in Bulgaria. Since I was soon to make a trip to the US for my daughter’s graduation from college (Yes!), I decided to order the needed stem and bring it back to Bulgaria in order to complete the restoration. Steve recommended J. H. Lowes (http://www.jhlowe.com/). I discovered that finding the correct stem wasn’t too difficult but I was a bit nervous about the measurements. The directions on the website were pretty clear that the shank diameter would do the trick. I wasn’t sure whether the tenon measurements factored in at all. I purchased the Giudici bit – Round Saddle 17mm X 75mm. While I was buying a stem for my Oom Paul project, I bought a selection of nickel silver bands to have on hand in Bulgaria. While I was looking at the bands, I had the idea of dressing the Oom Paul with a band – and since it was my first honest to goodness restore – I splurged and bought a sterling silver band – oh, to get the correct size! Again, the size was measured by the diameter of the shank as the stem which looked to be at 17.5mm. I might also mention that Tim West at JH Lowe answered my emailed newbie questions and was a great help. Having put in motion the strategic plan with the stem and band, I moved to the cleanup of the bowl. In order to soften the muck buildup in the bowl I put the bowl in a bath of isopropyl 95% overnight. The pictures reveal the post-bath bowl working in my ‘satellite workspace’ on the 10th floor balcony! I tried unsuccessfully to remove the obstacle in the shank using a wooden chopstick as a tool. It works great on Chinese food, but not so well here. I decided to leave the shank for the time and I moved to reaming the bowl with the Pipnet reaming kit that recently arrived from Germany – eBay of course. I started with the smallest blade working toward the larger bringing the tobacco chamber back to the wood. Not having used the reaming kit too much, I’ve learned that it works best if I allow each blade to do the work – not applying too much vertical pressure on the tool. Simply rotating the tool (clockwise) with consistent pressure proved to do the job. I had a pretty big pile of ‘charcoal dust’ resulting from the ream – Question: Can this be used for stem repairs mixing with superglue? After completing the ream I turned my attention to the rim. I used a brass brush and isopropyl to clear away the remaining lava flow allowing me to see more clearly the condition. The rim would need to be topped but the prospect of ’re-rustifying’ the rim was a daunting thought at this point. The rim appeared to have a ‘lined’ rustification before, but I decided to put that question off till later. These pictures show the progress. Moving to the shank, I knew that I would need to do extraction work. After working with several Qtips and a dental probe I was not able to extract the muck. Drawing on previous rebornpipes posts, I decided to use a wood screw to remove an obstruction. While I don’t have an extraction tool like Steve’s, in Bulgaria we do have wood screws. Carefully I inserted a smaller diameter wood screw into the mortise slowly rotating the screw to grip the obstruction without damaging the briar. Thankfully, the battle was not long and the pictures reveal the unearthed obstacle to now allow pipe cleaners to do their part. When the remains of what appeared to be an old filter were removed, I went to work on the airway with pipe cleaners and Qtips dipped in isopropyl 95%. Cleaning the Oom Paul seemed to go on forever. Part of the problem was that I could not quite figure out through ‘Qtip feel’ what the design was in the internals of the bowl. No matter how many Qtips I put in, they didn’t seem to make a dent on the muck. So I went to the internet and discovered on puff.com questions from what appeared to be another newbie trying to figure out Oom Paul gunk problems. I discovered that Dr. Plumb’s internal design had a trap that would collect the moisture while the airway flowed over it – theoretically giving the proverbial ‘dryer and cooler’ smoking experience. I’ve included the cut-away picture that helped me understand what I was dealing with in my seemingly unending cleaning project. If I had a retort at this point, I would have put it to work (I just ordered one on eBay that I would also pick up in the US and bring back to Bulgaria!). I settled for loading the bowl and shank with isopropyl and letting it sit overnight again hopefully to loosen things up more. The next day I used a bunch of Qtips and pipe cleaners to clean the bowl sufficiently for me. At this point I put the project aside in anticipation of my trip to the US. I needed to have stem and band in hand before I proceeded with the bowl preparation and finishing. I would also return from the US with purchased cleaning and finishing supplies that I cannot find in Bulgaria. Thankfully, Qtips are in great supply in Bulgaria!http://www.puff.com/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/175391-oom-paul-gunk-problem-2.html

My time in the US for my youngest daughter’s graduation from college was a blessing as my wife and I were reunited with our 5 children and now, 2 grandchildren. We were happy to meet our newest grandson who was born only recently! I returned with a suitcase full of eBay estate pipe purchases to compliment my local finds – as well as cleaning and finishing supplies that I could not find in Bulgaria. My new retort arrived too and I’m looking forward to giving it a go – though I am a bit nervous about boiling alcohol! Also in hand were the new stem and band that JH Lowe had delivered to my US mailbox. I was anxious to see if my measurements were accurate and to continue my Oom Paul project. The first thing I discovered was that the tenon of the new stem was too large and would need to be resized. I was relieved to see that the actual diameter measurement of the shank was correct. From this I learned that there seems to be no standard tenon sizing with new stems – the most important measurement is the exterior dimensions, so that the stem and the shank have a proper mating. Given that I had not shaped a tenon before, I discovered that I had all the tools needed after a quick email question to Steve – what I didn’t know I would have was the patience to go slowly! My biggest concern was that the ’rounding’ of the tenon would not be true as I downsized it with the use of Dremel, files and sandpaper. I knew also that I didn’t want to have to repair a previously uncracked shank by forcing a too large tenon into the mortise. I ALSO knew that I didn’t want to take too much off the tenon and it be too loose and then have to build it back up with clear nail polish (epoxy) which I’ve had to do before. With questions and concerns loaded in my conscious mind, I went to work on the brand new stem. The pictures show the progress. After bringing the tenon down to close proximity to the mortise size, I gently tried the fit the tenon without pushing. I did this several times while slowly taking more vulcanite off the tenon. I discovered that when I partially inserted the tenon into the mortise to test it, the places on the tenon that were more firmly in contact with the mortise wall would be shinier – thus cluing me in to where I needed to apply the file more directly. I also discovered that the positioning of the stem in the shank – as it progressed more deeply into the mortise – began to reveal a more favorable positioning of the stem for the eventual bend direction that would be made. The technique I used (discovered!) that seemed to make sense as I started the process was to shape the tenon as a cone that gradually brought the tenon tip to the correct diameter of the mortise. I then moved gradually working that diameter toward the base of the tenon. By doing this I was more effectively able to remove the vulcanite evenly and not have a crooked or untrue tenon. The pictures below show the seated tenon from different angles. I realized that the base of the tenon where it ties into the stem was pretty roughed up from my use of the Dremel. It unevenly pushed out at the shank and needed more attention. I decided to put the stem aside for a while and turn to the bowl – I needed some new scenery at this point!Looking to the rim, I took some closer pictures as a reminder of the rustification design. The damage on the front of the bowl was significant and the bowl needed to be topped. I moved out onto the balcony so as to minimize the sawdust in our bedroom (helping my wife to be happier 🙂 and I spread out 230 sandpaper on a flat surface (cutting board). I wanted to take off enough of the top to remove the rim damage but not too much to maintain the bowl proportions. I was satisfied with the topping at this point. However, what the topping revealed was the beautiful briar underneath. Part of what has attracted me to this hobby is the ‘surprise’ I get from each peek of revealed briar grain – never the same, always creatively new with potential beauty to be more fully revealed. Getting ready for staining the bowl, I used a dark mahogany stain stick (from Italy) to darken the rim and bring out the dark rich reds I’m seeing in the briar. I have yet to find an alcohol based stain in Bulgaria that Steve uses in his restorations. The stains are pigment based with water. So, the ‘flaming’ technique that I’ve studied on rebornpipes doesn’t come without some help. I used a Cherrywood stain and diluted it with 50% alcohol as the base stain. Again, reaching for the red-tones that I see in the briar. When I applied the stain mix I used a cotton ball and let it flow over the bowl surface. I was careful to have full coverage by picking up the candle stick and cork set-up and manipulating the stain so it reached the inverted rim. When I applied the lighter, it still didn’t flame but I was able to essentially ‘dry’ the stain to the wood by moving the lighter lightly over the surface. I think it pretty closely achieved the same thing – sealing the dye in the grain. I repeated the process a second time – the pictures show the progress. Oh, and shot glasses make for good stain mixers in cramped quarters! (Also, thanks to my wife for providing the candle holder :-). I put the stained bowl aside for several hours to allow the stain to set – I suppose it needed it, but I had other things to do!I was anxious to get back to the project because I would be able to employ new supplies that I just brought back from the US – Tripoli, Blue Diamond and carnauba wax! I also had purchased different Dremel wheels for each different application. Based upon my readings, I used felt wheels for the Tripoli and blue diamond applications – in that order. Then, to bring out the grain further, I used a cotton wheel attachment for the carnauba wax application. Since Dremels have a very high RPM potential, I buffed at the slowest setting and kept the wheels moving so as to not overly heat up a particular area. Applying the carnauba wax needed some heat to spread the wax evenly over the bowl surface, but I soon was able to see the way the wax liquefied and I used that to work over a particular area and then move on. Its difficult describing the ‘rush’ of seeing the beauty of the briar grain emerge with each application. It was at this point I decided not to rusticate the rim, but to leave it smooth, revealing the grain and to me, a very classic appearance when adding the band. The pictures show the bowl but I know that I will need to polish up more after applying the band later on. With the bowl restoration nearly complete, I was re-energized to look at the stem. The tenon needed to be more finely-tuned to fit the mortise, but first, I had to deal with scars from the over-anxious Dremel sanding wheel that ate a little too much into the base of the tenon. The result was that small ridges kept the stem from seating snugly up to the shank. I remembered a technique I read on, I believe, Dadspipes.com (I’ve read so much I can’t remember for sure!) that was able to help me uniformly smooth out the base of the tenon, which is almost impossible using files freehand. I drilled a hole in a piece of wood providing enough space for the tenon to rotate freely and covered the hole with 230 sanding paper and clamped it. I punctured the paper and then forced the tenon into the hole. I rotated the stem on the flat board back and forth to evenly sand down the tenon base. I stopped the rotation periodically and let the stem ‘free-stand’ in order to eye-ball it and to make sure I was not sanding unevenly and unintentionally creating a tilt. The pictures show the process and the successful results of a more snuggly fitting stem! Again I was anxious to move to finishing the stem proper and to utilize the micro-mesh pads that were newly acquired in the US! Up to this point I had been utilizing sanding paper I found here in Bulgaria and I was anxious to see the results of using micro-mesh pads. I employed Steve’s stem finishing pattern that he utilizes with almost each stem finish: Picture 1 reveals the results of wet-sanding with micro-mesh 1500, 1800, and 2400 then an application of obsidian oil. Following is dry sanding with 3200, 3600, 4000 again followed by an application of obsidian oil. I have to confess, I was so excited to see the luster popping out I forgot to document the two sets with a picture! Finally, picture 2 shows the results from dry-sanding (with obsidian oil) with 6000, 8000, and 12000. After this, I gave the stem another coat of obsidian oil and put it aside to dry. Now I’m stoked! While the obsidian oil was drying I was re-reading the blogs on bending stems (https://rebornpipes.com/2012/07/15/bending-vulcanite-stems/) and turning on the oven to warm it up. My experience was limited – I bent one stem for a pipe I acquired off eBay from Budapest, Hungary. I named that pipe, Budapest (I may have developed a bad habit of naming my pipes like pets…). I warmed the oven to about 200 to 220 Fahrenheit, (for those living in Europe that is about 93 to 100 C). I found a ‘bender’ using a small jar measuring about 1.5 inches in diameter and stuck the pipe cleaner in the airway to keep it open during the bend. I had researched pictures of Oom Pauls and I found another Dr. Plumbs 9456 online (http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/222662283/VINTAGE_DR_PLUMB_LONDON_MADE_SMOKING_PIPE_NO_9456.html). I wanted the bend to reflect the original as closely as possible. I wanted the bend to be tighter toward the stem expansion at the base – the effect was that the button end of the stem reached out more, or it seemed to me. It didn’t take long for the vulcanite to become pliable – about 5 minutes or so in the oven on a cookie sheet (thanks again to my wife!). When I brought it out the first time and bent it over the jar, I was not pleased with the bend – it was too much of an arch for my liking. So I found a pestle from my wife’s mortar and pestle set that she uses to grind up spices. Its diameter was smaller. I put the stem back into the oven and it slowly flattened back out as it heated up. After about 7 minutes I took it out and bent it around the pestle – that got it. I held the bend (careful, it’s hot!) and ran the stem under tap water to galvanize the bend. I wanted the angle to be right – anxious to see the stem with the bowl, I took a few pictures to show what I feel are better results. Almost home. The sterling silver band was awaiting my attention but I wasn’t in a mood to be rushed! I re-read again Steve’s blogs on banding (https://rebornpipes.com/2012/10/31/banding-a-cracked-shank-pressure-fitting-a-metal-band-on-a-pipe-shank/). Armed with renewed knowledge and the resounding warning not to work too quickly (or else you will tear the band!) I started the work on the band. I had one large obstacle – I did not have a heat gun to apply heat to the band to enable its expansion to fit successfully over the shank (and not tear!). I did not have a heat gun, but my wife owns one of the wonders of German technology, a Braun hairdryer. It gets pretty hot and I gave it a try. The first picture shows the band placement (about 50% shy) before I started the hairdryer heating process. I heated up the band on the shank as shown in picture 2 and after about 1 minute or so I took the shank and pressed it down against the cloth on a flat cutting board and applied gentle vertical pressure against the band to slide it further onto the stem. Patience – I kept hearing “Don’t tear it!” After I felt a wee bit of movement from the band I stopped the downward pressure and started the reheating process again and then again, a wee bit of band movement as I pressed it vertically against the cloth. I repeated this process about 7 or so times and was able to move the band to where I wanted it – without tearing it! (picture 3). I finished up by applying some Weiman Silver Cream to shine the band up nicely. I’m very pleased with the results of restoring this Oom Paul and putting him back into service. I’ve already identified areas that I want to improve next time around. I didn’t describe how I had to re-top the bowl after I put the stem in and discovered that the rim was not perpendicular to the shank. Result? The stem was tilted out and not aligned. I re-topped the rim to straighten it. I also detected areas on the stem I had missed during the sanding process. Yet, overall I’m very pleased and appreciate the rich color and grain of this piece of briar. I think the band sets if off in a classic way. Since this Oom Paul will remain in my collection, I’ve named it – a bad habit probably, but I enjoy the life rekindled in restored pipes and names seem appropriate. Steve told me about the history of Oom Pauls in his recent visit to Bulgaria. This is when I learned that Oom Paul was Afrikaans Dutch meaning ‘Uncle Paul’. So, in Bulgarian, meet ‘Chicho Pavel’! Thanks for reading!

Restemming and Restoring a Potpouri Author

10 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I have a growing box of bowls that came to me without stems. It seems each time I clean it out and restem the pipes I inherit more of them. This is not a complaint as I actually enjoy restemming pipe bowls. It is always a challenge to get a new stem to align properly with the shank and to deal with cracks or damages to the bowl or the shank. This bowl came to me and I immediately fell for the rustic rocklike features of the rustication. It was gnarled and rough looking and felt great in the hand. The bowl was dirty and the deep grooves of the rustication had a lot of dirt and grime build up in them. The rim was caked and the rustication pretty much filled in the grooves making the rim surface smooth. The bowl had a rough cake in it and looked as if someone had started reaming the bowl but did not finish. There were some small fissures like cracks in the sides of the bowl near the entrance of the airway and on the bottom and the top of the airway. Someone had cleaned out the shank so it was not too dirty. There was a small crack on the top of the shank that was about 1/8 long. I could open it slightly with a wedge so it would need to be glued and banded. The pipe showed a lot of promise though and I could see it come alive if I had the correct stem for it. In the photo below there is a small crack barely visible in the middle of the shank end between my fingers. I have circled it with red to focus your eye on it. The tip of the red arrow is on top of the crack in the shank. It extends about 1/8 to ¼ inch. I took a close-up photo of the bowl and rim to give you an idea of the state of things when I started. It is hard to see but at this point I could see some small cracks around the entrance of the airway to the bowl.I went through my can of stems and found a green acrylic stem that would do the trick on this pipe. It would go well with the rustication and the length and width of the stem would carry through the thickness of the bowl. I sanded the tenon with the Dremel and sanding drum until it was a close fit to the shank. I finished sanding by hand with 220 grit sandpaper. It fit well in terms of the width of the shank but it was slightly thicker on the top and the bottom where it met the shank. I was careful inserting it as I did not want to crack the shank further. I used the Dremel and sanding drum to remove much of the excess thickness on the top and the bottom of the stem at the shank junction. I do this carefully with the stem in place in the shank so that I can get it as close as possible without damaging the finish on the shank. You can see in the next two photos that the junction is pretty smooth now and the thickness is almost a match. I finished the fit with a file and took off the remaining thickness that had to go. I also used the file to remove the tooth indentations on both sides of the stem near the button. With the fit nearly perfect it was time to sand out the filing marks and smooth out the stem. I have a medium grit sanding stick that works perfect for this application and I sanded with it until all of the file marks were gone and the transition between the shank and the stem was smooth. With the stem fit roughed in I turned my attention to the bowl and shank. I wanted to have the shank and bowl clean so I could deal with the repairs to the airway in the bowl and the crack on the top of the shank. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer using the largest cutting head. I cleaned up the remaining cake with the Savinelli Pipe Knife. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush on the sides, shank and the bowl of the bowl. I scrubbed the rim with a brass bristle brush until all of the lava that filled the rustication was gone.I rinsed off the soap with warm water and dried the bowl with a soft towel. The cleaned and reamed pipe is shown in the photo below.With the bowl reamed and the finish clean I turned to the internals. I cleaned out the mortise and airway into the bowl with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It did not take too much to clean out the pipe. I cleaned the stem the same way and used a dental pick to clean up the slot in the end of the button. I lightly sanded the crack on the top of the shank and spread it open with a dental pick. I used a tooth pick to push super glue into the crack and then held the crack together until the glue set. Once it was dry I found a round band that had the right circumference to fit the shank and heated it with a lighter and pressed it onto the shank of the pipe. With shank repair complete and the bowl cleaned and ready I put the stem in place in the shank and took some photos of the pipe. I really liked the look of the band breaking up the rustic bowl and the smooth green stem. The band fit perfectly and did not cover the stamping on the underside of the shank. I still needed to sand the stem some more to get a shine but you can see what the pipe will look like at this point. I mixed a batch of pipe mud (cigar ash and water) and used a dental spatula to apply it to the bottom of the bowl. I inserted a pipe cleaner in the airway and used the spatula to apply the mud to the small cracks and fissures around the airway. Once the mud cured the pipe bowl would be in good shape until a new cake was built.I heated the stem in a cup of water in the microwave until it was pliable and then put a gentle bend in it to give it a more elegant look and comfortable feel. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads to remove the scratches. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and then finished with 6000-12000 grit pads. I rubbed away the sanding dust with a damp cloth. I gave the pipe a light buff with Blue Diamond on the wheel to bring some deep shine to the stem. I then gave the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I finished by hand buffing it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The green acrylic stem works well with the rough finish on the bowl. I like the finished look. What do think? Thanks for looking.

Restemming a Comoy’s Sandblast Goldenbark 6 Billiard

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

This sandblast bowl came to me in a lot of pipes from eBay. When I saw it I was pretty excited about refurbishing it. It had a great blast and really appeared to be a decent looking pipe. With a little bit of elbow grease it would be a beauty. It is stamped on the on the underside of the shank in a smooth flat base. It reads COMOY’S over SANDBLAST on the bottom of the bowl. Next to that is stamped GOLDENBARK followed by the Com Stamp – a circle composed of MADE ENGLAND with IN stamped in the middle of the circle. Following that it is stamped with the number 6. The finish was dirty but underneath there was some great grain showing through the blast. Someone had reamed the bowl before I got it so it was really quite clean. Once the grime was cleaned out of the swirls and ridges in the blast it would look really sharp. I would need to fit a stem to the shank to complete this pipe but it had a lot of promise. I went through my can of stems and found this one. It took very little sanding on the tenon to get a snug fit in the shank. I scrubbed the top of the rim with a brass bristle brush to remove the tars and grit in the sandblast in that area. The blast looked really good under the grit. So far so good!I scrubbed the finish with acetone on cotton pads to remove the finish and the grit. With the grime cleaned off the rim I found three disturbing looking cracks on the rim. One of them was small and was on the top with minimal cracking down the side of the bowl. One of them was cracked down the inside of the bowl about ½ of an inch and the third was cracked down the outside of the bowl almost an inch. This was a huge disappointment. I figured I had a nice example of a Comoy’s Sandblast and while it was the cracks gave me serious pause. This one would clean up and be good basket pipe but never one that is stellar. It would probably last longer than me but I was choked.

I almost stopped working on it at this point and pitched it back in the refurb box but I decided since I was so close to finishing it I would complete the task. I rubbed the bowl down with a light coat of olive oil and dried it off. I buffed the bowl with a shoe brush. The photo below of the top of the rim shows the crack toward the back of the bowl that ran down the back side for almost an inch. I would need to drill the end of the crack and repair it. The other cracks are not as visible but they are at about 10 and 4 if the front of the bowl is 12. I used a micro drill bit on the Dremel to drill a small hole at the bottom end of the largest crack. The crack on the inside of the bowl was irreparable at this point and I drilled a small hole at the end of the small crack as well. I used a tooth pick to push super glue into the holes and then pushed super glue into the cracks on the bowl sides. At the top of the rim I also used the tooth pick and pressed the glue down into the cracks. Once the glue had dried I used a sanding stick to gently sand the glue that was on the surface of the rim and in the cracks on the bowl sides to remove the excess. The repairs to the cracks were as complete as I could make them so I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I have to tell you the pleasure of fitting this stem and making it shine had pretty much dissipated. This is one of the frustrating things about pipe restoration. You find what appears to be a great pipe only to run into unforeseen issues in the restoration. For me this one had move from a pleasure to a “get it done” pipe! I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and then rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 and gave it another coat of oil. I finished with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of oil. I set it aside to dry. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel – careful to have a light touch on the bowl. I then gave the pipe several light coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I then buffed it by hand with a microfibre cloth. The look of the blast is quite beautiful it is only a shame that the bowl had the cracks in it. The repairs are quite invisible but I know that they are there and to me it diminishes the beauty of the pipe. It will likely smoke well and last longer than me. One day I will likely gift it to a friend. Until then it will reside in my collection. The photos below show the finished pipe. Thanks for looking.

Restemming a GBD International London Made – 508 Bent Billiard

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

Quite a while ago now my brother Jeff picked up a handful of pipes from an antique shop in Montana. There were quite a few GBD pipes in the lot. One of them was this GBD International bent billiard. It came with a gnawed off stem that was irreparable. The bowl was caked and dirty and the rusticated/plateau top was filled with grime to the point that it was almost smooth. The bowl looked good under the grime and the finish looked salvageable. The pipe was stamped GBD in an oval over International over London Made on the left side of the shank. On the right side it was stamped with London England over the shape number 508. I failed to take photos of the bowl before I cleaned it up as I was on a roll with about four bowls going at the same time. Here is what it looked like after I had wiped it down with alcohol. I scrubbed the plateau top with a brass bristle brush and some Murphy’s Oil Soap. I rinsed it down with cool water and dried it off. It is in very good shape. I had reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and cleaned out the shank and the bowl. I went through my stem can and had several potential stems there. I chose one that was slightly larger in diameter than the shank. I had to shorten the tenon as it was too long to sit correctly in the shank. With the tenon shortened the stem fit nicely in the mortise. The diameter was close and I would adjust it to fit.The stem was a used one that I recycled and it had one deep bit mark on the top side near the button. I sanded it smooth and cleaned it before I filled it in with black super glue. Once the glue cured I sanded the repair with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out. I used the Dremel and sanding drum to reduce the diameter of the stem. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper until the transition was smooth. I wiped down the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to clean off the remaining grime before restaining the rim with a Black Sharpie. I heated the stem over a heat gun until it was pliable and bent it to the proper angle. I set the bend with cold water. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the scratches left behind by the Dremel and smooth out the flow of the stem. I sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and then dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads. I gave it another coat of oil and then finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of oil and let it dry. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The grain on this pipe is spectacular – great birdseye on the sides and cross grain on the front, back and bottom. The plateau or rustication on the rim that I stained black gives it a unique look. I think it is a beauty! Thanks for looking.

A Facelift for Colored Billiard

3 Replies

Blog by Aaron Henson

Last fall I went to a flea market at our fair grounds and found a pipe that I could not leave without. It is was a Yello-Bole, Chesterfield, bent billiard with P-lip stem and nickel-plated shank band. It had been well used but was in good shape. When I got into restoring it I found that it had two significant issues, one of which was a deep burn on the outside of the rim. After a consultation email with Steve, I decided to build up the outside of the bowl and then rusticate the bowl to hide the repair. Since I had not rusticated a bowl before I thought I should try my hand on another pipe first. This is the story of my first pipe rustication. I’ll do a write up on the Chesterfield when I get it done.Incidentally, I also picked up a white bent billiard at the same flea market. Truth be told (and revealing my inexperience), I thought I was buying a smooth meerschaum. It had a nice smooth bowl, with a gold shank band and a yellow acrylic stem. The stem attached to the bowl with a tenon that threaded into an insert in the shank. The rim was dark and heavy with tar. It wasn’t until I cleaned off the rim that I noticed the chipped paint and the wood underneath and realized my error. After deciding to rusticate the Chesterfield, I thought that this pipe would be a perfect candidate on which to practice. I began by reaming the bowl and cleaning the shank. The tar was very thick and hard even the stem was plugged about halfway. Once the internal of the stummel were cleaned I started removing the white paint. Not a necessary step but I wanted to see just what kind of wood lay underneath the white coat of paint. To my surprise it wasn’t briar at all. I’m still not certain what it is; very little grain, very light in color and quite soft compared to briar. My guess is pear wood but it could be any of a variety of alternate woods. I used 60-grit sand paper to remove the paint which left a rough surface. I didn’t bother to smooth in any further but rather applied a heavy coat of black aniline dye. The dye was sacrificial and would help me see the extent and depth of the rusticating.I made my rustication tool using ten 10d nails set with Gorilla Glue into the hollowed out end of a large dowel. Before gluing the nails, I cut off the heads and sharpened the points. Taping them all together so the points were even I set them in the dowel and waited for glue to set. The nails extended a little more than 2 inches from the dowel and I later found that this was too far. Using the push and twist method the nails would flex and separate while twisting the tool. Placing a hose clamp around the nails about half an inch from the end kept the nails together and the tool worked much better. At this point the bowl had a very sharp and coarse texture so I knocked it down with a wire brush and then switched to a light sanding with 60-grit sandpaper. With the texturing done, I applied another two coats of black Feibing’s dye and flamed them to set the color.I wanted to try a contrasting stain, so I took some 400 grit paper and worked the stain off high points. By the time I got done and wiped the stummel down with alcohol, I had a slightly rusticated pipe with white high points and blue (faded black) low points. I was not very happy with the results so I set it aside to dwell on it for a while.Reflecting on the pipe I realized that the wood was not very interesting and did not seem to absorb stain well; I can see why it was painted in the beginning. I also reminded myself not to get ‘attached’ to this pipe. It was for practice after all; experiment and learn.

The texture that I got with my rustication tool was not what I wanted for the Chesterfield. So I took the white and blue stummel back to the workbench again and this time used a small carving bit on my Dremel. I went over the low spots and making them more defined and just randomly played with the tool. In the end I had something I kind of liked, and more importantly, something that I felt I could use on the Chesterfield.

To finish the stummel I decided to go simple and leave it all black. I gave it two coats of black dye and set it aside to dry. Because the wood didn’t seem to hold the stain well I was concerned about buffing the finish. Instead I finished the stummel with two coats of clear shellac.

Then, I turned my attention to the stem. I had decided early on that the yellow acrylic stem would not work with the new look so I would need to fashion a new one. I liked the idea of an acrylic stem but after looking at stems online I could not find just what I wanted. So I ordered two different round tapered vulcanite stems from Vermont Freehand.Having only worked with vulcanite stems with integral tenons I was on the low end of the learning curve for this type of tenon. In the shank, there is a threaded (female) insert. The tenon itself (the other part) is double ended (male-male) – one threaded and other end smooth. The threaded end is simple enough to understand and the smooth part fit into the end of the stem.When I received the stems I selected the one I thought would look best and took it to the work bench. First I cut off the formed tenon, then using progressively larger drill bits, enlarged the air hole. I made the mortise for the smooth end of the plastic tenon. I have a detachable chuck for my hand drill and I used it to hold the bit while I turned the stem by hand. I then had to counter sink the mortise to seat the tenon ring. After the tenon was fit to the shank and the stem was rotated correctly, I marked the top of the stem and taped off the band to protect it. Using a flat micro file I shaved off stem material until it closely match the shank diameter. I finished the shaping with 240-grit wet/dry sand paper taking care not to round the shoulder of the stem.Once the stem was fully fitted and shaped to the stem I used a heat gun to soften the vulcanite and bend it to match the shape of the original stem. I set the shape by dipping the stem in cool water. This is where I ran into my next challenge. The heat from bending the stem also expanded the mortise and now the tenon was too loose. My solution was to coat the inside of the mortise with a thin layer of super glue. I am not sure how this will hold up long term but it works well for now.

Lastly I polished the stem with micro mesh pads (1500–12,000) using a little mineral oil between each set of three. I finished the stem with white diamond on the buffing wheel then three coats of carnauba wax. All things considered, I am happy with the results. I am under no illusions, this pipe is no master piece, but I did learn a few things and that was what I was after. Hopefully this will help someone else too. Your feedback is very welcomed. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Replacing a Threaded Mortise/Tenon system with a Push Mortise/Tenon System in a Meerschaum Pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

When I received this meerschaum pipe the sender said that it needed to have the tenon replaced. It looked like it would be a simple repair so I left it until last. I restemmed the other little meerschaum that I posted earlier and put a new tenon on an Italian pipe for him and figured that this would be an easy fix. I unscrewed the stem from the broken tenon – it was split and half of it was missing. The stem came off with no problem. I had a perfect replacement tenon available to me so I screwed it into the stem and then looked at the broken tenon in the shank. Still the problem seemed quite simple. I used my wood screw and threaded it into the airway and tried to pull the tenon – either unscrewing it or at least wiggling it free. It did not move at all. I looked at it with a lens and saw that there were remnants of epoxy around the portion of the tenon that showed. Now I was in trouble. What had originally been an easy fix now was complicated. Before I drilled out the tenon I took a few photos of the bowl to show the condition of the meer. It was worn and scratched but had some beauty that shown through the grime and the scratches. The rim was dirty and pitted but the edges were sharp. The bowl interior was lightly caked and the pipe smelled of strong aromatics. I drilled out the tenon in the shank of the pipe starting with a bit slightly larger than the airway. No problem with that first step. I increased the size of the bit and drilled it again. It was my hope to have the glued tenon break free with the drilling. I increased the size of the bit yet again, this time to almost the same size as the threaded tenon. No luck. The tenon was absolutely stuck to the insert in the shank. I increased the bit size once more and this time the tenon broke. I tried to pick out the remaining pieces but they were solidly glued in place. I looked at the insert with a lens and could see that the glue and tenon had damaged the internal threads on the insert. This was turning into a real pain. I would have to drill out the entire insert and replace it. Once I had the tenon free I figured this would be easy as well. Again I was wrong. The insert was also glued in place. I increased the size of the bit several times until I had removed the insert itself. This old pipe was turning into a head ache.

I finally was able to remove the insert. I examined the inside of the shank. The original drilling of this pipe was fascinating. It was obviously drilled in several stages stepping down the mortise to the airway. I wrote to the owner and asked if it would be okay to replace the threaded tenon and mortise set up with a push tenon. I figured why complicate things. He confirmed that he was okay with that replacement. I started work on the stem and shank for that set up. I drilled the airway on the stem slightly bigger to take the push tenon. I cleaned out the inside of the stem to remove the debris and the tars. I checked the fit of the tenon in the stem and it was a good fit. I would need to countersink the airway to accommodate the rim on the tenon. I cleaned out the shank and airway on the bowl as well. I fit the insert in the shank. The fit was good but I would also need to countersink it to make a flat surface for the stem to sit against.I used a slightly larger drill bit to create the countersink on the shank and pushed the insert in place. The fit was perfect. Due to the damage on the shank from all of the glue I would need to use glue to hold the insert in place but I wanted to clean up the fit before I set the glue in place. In the photo below the new system can be seen. The mortise insert is in place and the push tenon is on the stem.I cleaned out the shank one more time and then mixed a two part epoxy for the insert. I applied the mixture to the insert and pressed it into place. I aligned the airway and the stem so that things would be straight once it dried and set the bowl aside so the epoxy could cure.I used a drill bit to countersink the rim on the tenon into the stem. I threaded it in place to make sure the fit was correct.

I sanded the bowl with micromesh sanding pads to smooth out the roughness and bring back some of the shine of polished meer. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit pads and was able to bring back a lot of the life in the meerschaum. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads to polish it further. The photos below show the pipe after I had sanded it. When I am working on an older meerschaum I do not like to remove all of nicks and scratches as they add character to an old pipe. They are like battle scars and each of them has a story to tell. I clean up the surface damage and highlight the patina but leave the pipe clean but looking its age. I let the epoxy set over night and then this morning pushed the stem into the new mortise. The fit was a little tight and I could see some light between the stem and the shank end. I needed to finesse the fit of the stem and shank. I carefully sanded the end of the mortise with the Dremel to make sure the insert was flush against the meerschaum end of the shank. I also worked on the countersink of the tenon in the stem with a sharp knife to give it a wider and sharper bevel to accommodate the rim around the middle of the tenon. I polished the newly sanded and cut areas with micromesh sanding pads to smooth out the fresh work. I polished the stem and the bowl lightly with some soft white Beeswax and then buffed the pipe by hand with a microfibre cloth to raise the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Soon I will pack up the threesome of pipes and send them back to the pipe man who sent them to me. They are all functional now and to me actually look and work better than they did before. Thanks for looking.