Tag Archives: polishing an acrylic stem

Restoring an il Ceppo Billiard E3702 Grade 3 Fancy Billiard Made by Hand in Italy

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is a beautifully grained and smooth finished Billiard with a slightly bent acrylic taper stem. It came to us on August 22, 2024 from a friend in Barrington, Rhode Island, USA. The contrast of the brown stains makes the grain stand out. It was stamped left side of the shank and read il ceppo. On the underside it is stamped E3702 [over] Made in Italy [arched over] In Italy (underlined). Next to the shank/stem junction it reads 3 in a triangle. The pipe was quite clean with some slight darkening inside the bowl. It had obviously been reamed recently. The bowl was clean and the smooth rim top was dirty but free of lava. The black acrylic saddle stem was in good condition other than being a bit dirty. The stem surface was free of chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. The il ceppo “C” logo on the top of the stem was in good shape. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl quite clean, perhaps freshly reamed and edges and rim top looked good. The stem was very clean and smooth. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain and around this bowl. Underneath all the light grime it is a nice looking pipe. The rustication or sandblasted portions of the bowl at the bottom really highlight the uniqueness of the finish. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. You can see that there is some shrinkage on the spacer on the stem end and the acrylic one on the shank end. This is puzzling at the moment to me.To remind myself about the brand I turned to Pipephil’ sites to read what he had written there in the side bar (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-i.html). I quote below and also include a screen capture of the pertinent section.

Brand founded by Giorgio Imperatori in 1977 (first period) and bought by Franco Corinaldesi Rossi (second period, about 1996) when Giorgio retired. Franco and his sister Nadia are the current (2011) Il Ceppo pipe makers.From the information above I knew that the pipe was from the first period of il ceppo pipe making (1977 until the second period began in 1996 when the pipe maker Giorgio Imperatori retired). It is confirmed first period by the notes on the grading system. It had the il ceppo stamping slightly curved, an E3702 (letter and 4-5 digit number), and a Group number in a triangle – in this case a 3.

I turned to Pipedia for more information (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Il_Ceppo).  I quote below:

Il Ceppo by Giuseppe Cambioli – Courtesy of italianpipemakers.com

My passion was born casually and it moved me to consider and love the world of artisanship. Casually and overall luckily, I ran across the emblematic person of Franco Rossi, pipemaker and owner of the “Il Ceppo” factory. He gave me the useful key to opening the doors of the fascinating world of pipes.

“Il Ceppo” boasts of thirty years of history with successive and great satisfaction which helped to keep high the name of the Marchigiane factories. The most famous as Pesareses factories have always had reciprocal respect and admiration and this have and will take cooperations and sharing of their own art, to confirm the distinctive seriousness and high quality.

“Il Ceppo” factory focuses its manufacture into products which vaunt accurate processings and an excellent yield with prices kept amazingly convenient.

Process is completely handmade except for some passages made with the aid of machines to obtain perfect results. The briar used to make the pipes has been left resting and seasoning for at least two years before the sapient hands of the pipemakers could start their work. Our working politic is centred on the care for details, to obtain the best product as possible.

Our prices keep a high balance with the quality of the offered product; they reflect totally our careful and eager work. We’ve never forgotten that what we make could only be obtained if moved by an unconditional love for this work of the good old days.

(Editor’s note: I have tried to correct most grammar & spelling, but in some instances I do not have the vaguest clue what the author is trying to say)

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He rinsed it with warm running water and dried it off with a soft cloth. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft. He rinsed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. It looked very good when I brought it to the worktable other than the briar ring around the metal dot had darkened in the process. I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the work table. You can see that the spacer is gone but forget that! The briar is really very stunning!  I took close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top and edges looked very good. The bowl itself was very smooth and clean. I took photos of the stem to show the condition it was in. It looked very good and the C logo was clean and in good condition.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. The stem is stamped on the underside Own Made. It is clear and readable. I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe. It is a good looking pipe with incredible grain. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. By the end of the process they looked very good. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. This Hand Made il ceppo E3703 Grade 3 Billiard was another fun pipe to work on and I was glad to be finishing it. I put the acrylic stem back on the bowl and polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The smooth grain and the sandblast patches give the pipe a great look. The pipe polished up really well. The polished acrylic stem seemed to truly come alive with the buffing. This pipe feels great in my hand and I am sure that the sandblast portions will feel even better radiating the heat of a good smoke. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.05 ounces/58 grams. This is one beauty that is eye catching. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection email or message me.

Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next pipeman or woman.

Restoring a Stanwell Made in Denmark Colonial 191

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by Steve Laug

I moved on to work on another pipe. The next one I chose was another Stanwell. We purchased this on a Facebook auction on 05/06/2018 from a seller in Oceanside, New York, USA. The stamping on the pipe was very clear and readable. On the left underside of the diamond shank it reads Stanwell [over] Made in Denmark [over] Colonial. On the right underside of the shank, next to the shank was the shape number 191. The stem had a gold stamped Crowned “S” Stanwell logo on the left side of the saddle stem. The bowl had a thick cake that overflowed onto the rim top and edges in thick lava. There were spots where it ran down the outer edges of the bowl. The finish was in okay condition underneath grime and oils ground into the surface of the bowl. The twin rings around the bowl cap were filled in with grime but appeared to be in good condition. The stem was dirty acrylic and had been protected from tooth marks by a Softee Bit. It showed a lot of promise through the grime. The pipe was well used and was obviously someone’s favourite pipe! Jeff took photos of the pipe as he saw it at this stage of his clean up. The next photos of the rim and the shank show the condition of the pipe at arrival in Idaho. The grain around the rim top is quite stunning to me. You can see the cake in the bowl and the grime on the top. It was a mess but the stain makes the grain even show through the grime around the bowl sides and cap. Jeff removed the softee bit from the stem to see what it hid. The stem looked good with light marks on the top and underside at the button edge. Jeff took photos of the grain on the sides and heel of the bowl. It really is a stunning piece of briar. The contrast stain really makes it stand out clearly. The next photos show the various stamping on the shank sides and bottom. It is clear and readable as noted above. He also captured the Silver Crown “S” Stanwell logo on the left side of the saddle stem. I did some looking through the catalogues on Pipedia and the information there and did not find the line listed. I did have a look at the article on Shape Numbers and Designers there (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). From there I found that the shape 191 is a small Rhodesian that was designed originally by Tom Eltang.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. I took photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem to show how clean they were. You can see that rim top and edges look very good. The stem is clean and the tooth and chatter on both sides ahead of the button is very light.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping is readable as noted above. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the flow and proportion of the pipe. It is a beautiful looking pipe.I started my work on the pipe by addressing the burn marks and damage on the inner edge of the rim. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage and shape the inner edge.I polished the briar with micromesh because it was in such good condition. I polished it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes while I worked on the stem. After the time passed I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. I am excited to put the finishing touches on this Tom Eltang Made in Denmark Stanwell Colonial 191 Rhodesian. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished black, fancy turned vulcanite stem was beautiful. This Stanwell Made in Denmark Colonial 191 is nice looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.69 ounces/48 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will be putting in the Danish Pipemakers Section on the rebornpipes store. Thanks for walking through the cleanup with me as I worked over this pipe.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring a Stanwell Danish Design Night and Day 109 Apple

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the worktable is a nice looking Stanwell pipe that we purchased from a fellow in Ogden, Utah, USA on 12/21/2024. The stamping on the pipe was very clear and readable. On the underside of the shank it reads Stanwell [over] Danish Design [over] Night and Day. On the right side of the shank it is stamped with the shape number 109 mid shank. The finish was in good condition though it was dirty. The grain shone through the grime and was beautiful. There was a light cake in the bowl and some light lava on the inner edge and rim top. The stem had a Crown S gold logo on the left side of the taper. It was dirty and had some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. It is a 9mm filter stem. It had a lot of potential. Jeff took photos of the pipe as he saw it at this stage of his examination. Jeff took close up photos of the rim top from various angles to show the general condition of the bowl and rim. The photos show the thickness of the cake in the bowl and the darkening and spotty lava build up on the inner edge – heavier toward the back of the bowl. The edge looks like it might have some damage on the front left of the bowl but will probably be fine once the bowl is reamed and cleaned. The acrylic stem was dirty and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took a photo of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the beauty of the grain on the heel and sides of the bowl. The stamping on the underside of the shank is clear and readable as noted above. The shape number on the right side is also clear.
I did some reading to see if I could find out anything about the Danish Design Night & Day Line of Stanwell pipes. The pipe I have does not say Made in Denmark and from what I can find it seems that the line is a newer one and was made in Italy. I can’t find anything listed on the line itself on either PipePhil or Pipedia.

I did find several listed on the web for sale so they are available. I found the line offered online on cigarsunlimited.co.uk site (https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/stanwell-night-day-9mm-filter-pipe-480014213). The description was helpful so I have included that below.

Stanwell Night & Day 9mm Filter Pipe Shape No.109. The Stanwell Night/Day pipe series is a stunning line of pipes. Each pipe features contrasting woods in the shank, providing an appearance that resembles night and day.

I also did some looking through the catalogues on Pipedia and the information there and did not find the line listed. I did have a look at the article on Shape Numbers and Designers there (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). From there I found that 109 was a Quarter-bent apple with a tapered stem, sometimes with an army mount. Reminiscent of the English ‘banker’ shape, or Savinelli’s shape 320.

Jeff had done his usual thorough clean up of the pipe. He had reamed it with a PipNet reamer and finished with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap and the interior with isopropyl alcohol, shank brushes, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He worked on the acrylic stem with Soft Scrub then let it soak in Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. It has a few tooth marks and chatter on both sides. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work. I took some close up photos of the bowl/rim top and the stem to show the condition they were in at this point. The rim top and edges looked good and the bowl was clean. The stem had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I also captured the shape number on the right side of the shank. I removed the stem from the shank to give a sense of the pipe.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The finished bowl and shank look very good. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips. The product is amazing and works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let it sit on the briar for 10 or more minutes and then buff it off with a soft cloth. It really makes the briar come alive and look quite rich. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I touched up the gold Crown S stamp on the left side o the taper stem with some Rub’n Buff Antique Gold. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick and buffed it off with a soft cloth.The chatter and marks were light enough that I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth and Obsidian Oil. I finished the polishing with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I fitted the 9mm filter stem with a Dr. Perl Junior 9mm Filter. It sat well in the tenon and would slip into the shank perfectly.I am excited to put the finishing touches on this Stanwell Danish Design Night & Day 109 Apple. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished black, fancy turned vulcanite stem was beautiful. This Stanwell Danish Design Night & Day 109 is nice looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.15 ounces/61 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will be putting in the Danish Pipemaker Section on the rebornpipes store. Thanks for walking through the cleanup with me as I worked over this pipe.

Restoring a Beautifully Grained Tom Spanu Scoop 1999 F2

2 Replies

by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is a beautifully grained and smooth finished Scoop with an acrylic shank band and a thin space of some softer material. Perhaps it is cork but we would know once we cleaned it. The stem is an acrylic saddle. It came to us on August 22, 2024 from a friend in Barrington, Rhode Island, USA. The contrast of the brown stains makes the grain stand out. It was stamped underside of the shank and read Tom Spanu [over] 1999 F2. The pipe was very used but had been reamed recently. The bowl was clean and the smooth rim top was dirty but free of lava. The black acrylic saddle stem was in good condition other than being dirty and having light chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. The Spanu logo was in good shape. It was a silver dot on the top of the saddle stem and it looked like it was in a circle of briar. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked with a thick overflow of lava on the top and edges fills in the plateau finish. The stem has deep tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside near the button. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain and around this bowl. Underneath all the grime it is a nice looking pipe. He took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. You can see that there is some shrinkage on the spacer on the stem end and the acrylic one on the shank end. This is puzzling at the moment to me. To remind myself about the brand I turned to Pipephil’ sites to read what he had written there in the side bar (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-t7.html#tomspanu). I quote below and also include a screen capture of the pertinent section.

Artisan: Tommaso Spanu (born 1944 in Chiaramonti Sardinia) is an independant pipe maker since 1979. He was established in Laerru (Sardinia) from 1979 to 1999 where he used to harvest, cut and condition his own ebauchons. During this period he often worked for Paronelli. The workshop moved to Sassari (Sardinia) in 1999. He crafts Briar but also Lemonwood, Olivewood, Boxwood, Juniper, Oak and even Cork Oak.I turned to Pipedia for more information (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Spanu). I quote below:

Novarte S.N.C. di Spanu Tommaso

Update: We are sad to report that it has come to our attention that Tommaso Spanu passed from this World in the Fall of 2015 to join the many great Italian pipe makers that came before him. Our hope is that Tommoso’s sons and brother will continue the Spanu pipe making tradition. We can also enjoy the legacy he leaves in the many pipes he has made over the years.

In 1963 Tommaso Spanu left his home in Sardinia and wandered to Northern Italy to become a pipemaker. His uncle had managed an apprenticeship for him in Gavirate, in the province of Varese, with it’s many pipe manufactures. His exceptional talent soon attracted the attention of Alberto Paronelli (→ Paronelli), the grand seigneur of Italian pipe business. Paronelli, a famed pipe designer himself, arranged that the best pipe craftsmen schooled his young fosterling and personally taught him in pipe design and styles. Soon Spanu reached a remarkable level of skills and began to work on the Clairmont pipes, a high-grade brand produced for and distributed by Paronelli. A little later the bulk of the Clairmonts was made by Spanu who was even allowed to stamp them with his own name additionally.

All in all Tom Spanu spent 16 years in the North where he worked with many other famous pipemakers like Guiseppe Ascorti and Luige Radice e.g. In 1979 he finally felt it was time now to continue on his own. So he returned to Sardinia where he established his own workshop with some help from his brothers. A firm was founded to market the pipes, the Novarte S.N.C. di Spanu Tommaso. Furthermore he purchased a licence from the local government and following Spanu is the only pipemaker worldwide who grows, harvests, mills and conditions his own briar!

Today his brother and two sons carry on the family tradition, making more than a thousand pipes a year. Mostly more classic models for Italy, but also a good amount of more stylish designs for the foreign markets. Now, if it comes to talking about “entirely handmade pipes” … Just as when Tommaso started carving pipes, only hand tools are used. Not a lathe or drill is to be found in his workshop!

Around 1997 Spanu was approached by Mercedes-Benz and asked to design briar-burl dashboards for their most luxurious sedans. And he replied “Maybe tomorrow!” We can assume that the envoys looked quite dumbfounded to be turned down that way, and so Spanu explained that while the project would be fun, his first love was pipes, and only once he was not making as many pipes he would consider it. Mercedes-Benz is said to have taken the rebuff in good nature, and even this automobile manufacturing giant is still waiting on Mr. Spanu to finish some pipes.

Beside the all-briar pipes Spanu loves to work with a wide variety of others woods ranging from the traditional olivewood to beech, oak, boxwood and juniper. He often produces hybrids composing different woods.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. In the process of cleaning, the thin spacer on the stem shrivelled and fell to pieces. Fortunately it did not change the fit of the stem in the shank. It looked good without that spacer. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft. He rinsed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. It looked very good when I brought it to the worktable other than the briar ring around the metal dot had darkened in the process. I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the work table. You can see that the spacer is gone but forget that! The briar is really very stunning! I took close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top and edges looked very good. I took photos of the stem to show the condition it was in. There were light tooth marks against the button edge and some darkening on the briar insert of the logo.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable. I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe. It is a good looking pipe with incredible grain.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. By the end of the process they looked very good. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I used some bleach and a qtip to try and lighten the ring around the silver dot on the stem top. It did some good but did not remove all of the darkening.I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the tooth marks and chatter against the button edge and sand the logo. It worked well on the tooth marks but did little on the logo on the stem top.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I am excited to finish this Tom Spanu Scoop 1922 F2 with an acrylic stem. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. It looked excellent without the damaged spacer on the stem. The fit was excellent. I gave the bowl multiple coats of and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the grain just popping on all sides. Added to that the acrylic shank spacer and the black acrylic saddle stem was beautiful. This Spanu 1999 F2 Scoop is nice looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches wide x 1 ¾ inches long, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 61 grams/2.15 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be on the Italian Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

New Life for a Caminetto Business KS Hand Made Rusticated Cutty

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that we picked up in the lot from an Antique Mall in Hillsboro, Oregon, USA on 08/31/2024. The heavily rusticated finish on this Italian made pipe and the Caminetto stamping are what caught our eye. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads KS followed by Caminetto [over] Business. On the right side it is stamped Hand Made In Italy [over] Cucciago (CO). It has a classic Walnut Brown stain on the very rustic finish that is a stark contrast to the golden variegated acrylic stem. The bowl was heavily caked with a thick overflow of lava on the rusticated inner edge and the top. The finish is dirty and there is some oil darkening on the heel of the bowl and up the first third of the bowl. The stem looks very good and has light tooth marks and light chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. The Caminetto moustache logo was stamped on the topside of the stem and looks to be in good condition. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up. He took some photos of the rim top and bowl from various angles to give me a clear picture of the condition of the rim top and bowl. You can see that the pipe has been heavily smoked and that the cake and lava were very heavy. He included photos that show the top and underside of the stem. It is as described above. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos showed some great rustication around the bowl and shank even with the grime in the finish. You can see the darkening in the heel of the bowl. It is a great looking pipe. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It was clear and readable as noted above. He also took a photo of the moustache stamp on the top of the stem. I have worked on several Caminetto in the past so I turned to one of the restorations on the rebornpipes blog and reread the background information on the brand. I am including that info here with this restoration (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/04/19/pretty-tired-and-dirty-messy-restoration-of-a-caminetto-business-tomahawk-182/).

When the pipe arrived I turned to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c1.html) to see if he included not only information on this Caminetto Business 182. He gave some interesting information about the brand. It was created in 1986 by Guiseppe Ascorti, Luigi Radice and Gianni Davoli as the distributor. It states that in 1979 the first Caminetto period ended with Luigi Radice leaving the company. Guiseppe Ascorti continued making the pipe with his son Roberto. In 1986 the New Caminetto period began by Roberto Ascorti.I turned to Pipedia for more information on the Caminetto and how to date the pipe I had in hand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_Caminetto_(shapes,_stamping,_articles,_etc.). I quote a pertinent paragraph:

Stampings and dating: First off, dating earlier Caminetto’s is nearly impossible. Nevertheless, there were three phases, some in which were much earlier, of development that occurred in the stamping process of Caminetto. Before that though, every pipe had the stamp of Caminetto in one of two ways: Caminetto in script or Caminetto within quotation marks in block letters (I do not know how it was decided which pipe got which stamp, as I have had EARLY Caminetto’s with both)…

…Now, the question is which stamps are earlier and more likely to have been made by Ascorti and/or Radice. The answer is #1. The differences in #2 and #3 seem to be minute, as Cucciago is simply a suburb of Cantu. Pipes stamped like #1 are the most valuable Caminetto’s as they are the earliest production of the brand, as well as what some would claim the most perfect of Ascorti and Radice’s work. The last tidbit is, of course, debatable…

… There is also another factor in stamping, that is, which series the pipe falls in. The majority of Caminetto’s one sees are those of the “Business” series, which are stamped such with their collective shape (see photo of shapes below). Another stamp that sometimes follows the “Business” one is “KS,” which from what I know means “King-size” (this could be wrong, as there are pipes stamped with KS1, KS2, and KS3).

The pipe I am working on is stamped like #2 above. Hand Made in Italy [over] Cucciago (Co). It is also stamped KS which means King-size.

Now it was time to look at it up close and personal. Jeff had done an amazing job in removing all of the cake and the lava on the rim top. He had reamed the bowl with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He took the cake back to bare briar so we could check the walls for damage. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime on the bowl and rim and was able to remove the lava and dirt. He cleaned out the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until they came out clean. He cleaned the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime on the exterior and cleaned out the airway with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I took photos of the pipe before I started my part of the restoration. I took close up photos of both the rim top and the stem. Jeff had been able to get the grime and lava off of the rim top and it looked pretty incredible. Even the darkening and marks on the rim top on the right side look much better. The stem looked very clean. The tooth marks and chatter were minimal and predominantly on the underside near the button. They should be easy to remove.The stamping on the sides of the shank were readable as noted above. I took a picture of the moustache stamp on the top of the acrylic stem. I also took a photo with the stem removed to give an idea of the perspective and design of the pipe. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the slight darkening on the top and the edge of the bowl with a brass bristle wire brush. I worked over the darkening in the rustication around the bowl heel with a tooth brush and Before & After Briar Cleaner to remove the darkening on the heel of the bowl and the rim top. I rinsed it with warm water and dried it off with a dry cloth. I rubbed the bowl down with some Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVO) to enliven the dry rusticated briar. I put it on a paper towel and worked it into the deep rustication. The pipe looks far better. To further enliven the briar I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the finish of the bowl and shank with my fingers and a horsehair shoe brush. I want the product to go deep into the finish because it works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. Once I was confident that it was deeply worked into the finish I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth to polish it. The pipe really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. The finish on the pipe is beautiful in the photos below. I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I touched up the moustache stem logo on the top of the stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. It looks much better but it is shallow on the outside edges of the stamp.I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove all of the tooth marks and chatter on the surface ahead of the button on the top and underside. It was looking very good.I polished the acrylic stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad because I find that the oil provides a great surface for polishing with the micromesh pads. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. This Caminetto Business KS Cutty is a real beauty and has a lot of life left. I put the bowl and stem back together again and buffed the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I used a soft touch on the rusticated bowl so as not to fill it in with the polishing product. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem several coats of carnauba wax. I carefully buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I finished buffing with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe looks very good. The rustication is very tactile and feels great in the hand. It is comfortable and light weight. The finished Caminetto Business Cutty KS is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 31 grams/1.09 ounces. This great looking rusticated Caminetto turned out very well. It should be a great pipe. It will be going on the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipemakers Section shortly if you are interested in adding it to your collection.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Stanwell Danish Design Trio 118 with an acrylic 9mm filter stem

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the worktable is a nice looking Stanwell pipe that we purchased from a fellow in Ogden, Utah, USA on 12/21/2024. The stamping on the pipe was very clear and readable. On the left underside of the shank it reads Stanwell [over] Danish Design [over] Trio. On the right side of the shank it is stamped with the shape number 118 mid shank. The finish was in good condition though it was dirty. The grain shone through the grime and was beautiful. There was a light cake in the bowl and some light lava on the inner edge and rim top. The dirty acrylic stem had some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. It is a 9mm filter stem. It looked very good. Jeff took photos of the pipe as he saw it at this stage of his examination. Jeff took close up photos of the rim top from various angles to show the general condition of the bowl and rim. The photos show the thickness of the cake in the bowl and the lava build up on the inner edge – heavier toward the back of the bowl. The edge looks like it might have some damage on the back of the bowl but will probably be fine once the bowl is reamed and cleaned. The acrylic stem was dirty and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took a photo of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the beauty of the grain on the heel and sides of the bowl. The stamping on the underside of the shank is clear and readable as noted above. The shape number on the right side is also clear. He also took a photo of the Stanwell Crown S logo on the left side of the stem. I did some reading to see if I could find out anything about the Danish Design Trio Line of Stanwell pipes. The pipe I have does not say Made in Denmark and from what I can find it seems that the line is a newer one and was made in Italy. I can’t find anything listed on the line itself so that is what I am left with.

I did find several listed on the web for sale so they are available. I found the line offered online on cigarsunlimited.co.uk site (https://www.cigarsunlimited.co.uk/product-category/pipes-pipes/pipes/stanwell-pipes/stanwell-trio-serie-pipes/). The description was helpful so I have included that below.

Dark brown polished bowl with a superior grain and a combination of metal and acrylic rings on the shank. The rings create a perfect match to the pitch-black acrylic mouthpiece displaying the Stanwell Silver S. The Trio Series is an example of a pipe that will suit any occasion.

I also did some looking through the catalogues on Pipedia and the information there and did not find the line listed. I did have a look at the article on Shape Numbers and Designers there (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). From there I found that the shape 118 is Freehand, slightly bent, saddle mouthpiece designed by Sixten Ivarsson.

Jeff had done his usual thorough clean up of the pipe. He had reamed it with a PipNet reamer and finished with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap and the interior with isopropyl alcohol, shank brushes, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He worked on the acrylic stem with Soft Scrub then let it soak in Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. It has a few tooth marks and chatter on both sides. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work.  I took some close up photos of the bowl/rim top and the stem to show the condition they were in at this point. The rim top and edges looked good and the bowl was clean. The stem had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I also captured the shape number on the right side of the shank. I removed the stem from the shank to give a sense of the pipe. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The finished bowl and shank look very good. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips. The product is amazing and works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let it sit on the briar for 10 or more minutes and then buff it off with a soft cloth. It really makes the briar come alive and look quite rich. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. The chatter and marks were light enough that I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth and Obsidian Oil. I finished the polishing with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I fitted the 9mm Filter tenon with a Dr. Perl Junior 9mm filter. The fit is perfect and it will provide the option of smoking with a filter or without.I am excited to put the finishing touches on this Sixten Ivarrson Danish Design Stanwell Trio 118 Pot. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished black, fancy turned vulcanite stem was beautiful. This Stanwell Danish Design Trio 118 is nice looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.59 ounces/44 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will be putting in the Danish Pipemaker Section on the rebornpipes store. Thanks for walking through the cleanup with me as I worked over this pipe.

Restemming and Restoring a Rogers Rarity Imported Bruyere 310 Bulldog

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by Steve Laug

I decided to restem another bowl that I had here in the box. Jeff and I purchased on 10/17/2017 from am antique shop in Pocatello, Idaho, USA. It is a nicely grained bowl that came with some odd stem stuck in the shank. It was obviously the wrong one so it would have to go. The left side of the shank is stamped and reads Rogers [over] Rarity in an oval. The right side is stamped Imported [arched over] the shape number 310 and underneath was arched Bruyere. The bowl had a thick cake and lava overflow on the rim top and inner edge. The briar is oily and dirty with some lava coming down the outer edge of the rim top onto the bullcap. There was some great grain hidden by the grime. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his work on cleaning it up. He included photos of the stem that came on it when we purchased it.He captured the cake in the bowl and the thick eruption of lava on the rim top and edges exceptionally well in the next photo. It was very clear that the pipe had not been seriously cleaned in a very long time. But it is also very clear that it was an exceptional smoker! The incorrect stem is oxidized and dull with tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. It was going to be replaced but I always find it interesting to see what pipesmokers do to make a pipe remain usable. Jeff somehow captured some of the beauty of the shape and the grain in the next photos. You can certainly see what lies beneath the grime on the briar. You can also see a few small fills in the bowl and along the twin rings of the bullcap. He took photos of the stamping on the top left and right of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above.From reading Bill Unger’s book on Custom-Bilt Pipes I remember “Rogers Rarity” was made by the same company as one of its non-sculptured or rusticated pipes. I did a Google search to see if I could confirm that online. I found a pipe labeled Rogers Rarity for sale on Worthpoint, an online sales site (https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/rogers-rarity-custombilt-large-briar-1821532853). In the description they made the link to Custombilt. I quote:

Rogers Rarity briar pipes were made by Custombilt, and show all the beauty and originality of the brand.

I searched further and found a conversation asking about the brand on Pipesmagazine online forum. There was a great conversation about the brand.

(https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/help-with-dating-a-pipe.62314/). I found a particular response by Jon Guss of the Seattle Pipe Club particularly helpful. I quote from Jon in full.

First, “Rodgers” is a misspelling; it was always spelled “Rogers”. Three generations of the Rogers family ran one of the leading importers of pipes (including Petersons for a number of years) and resellers of pipes and smokers articles; they also did a bit of manufacturing. The name of the company was Rogers Imports, Inc.

Second, for several reasons I also believe that Rogers Rarity pipes were made for Rogers Imports by CustomBilt.

The Rogers Rarity line was introduced by the company in late 1945. The advertising copy from the spring of 1946 described Rogers Rarity pipes as “The height of pipe luxury and enjoyment”, and claimed that they were “Carved by hand of Algerian bruyere over 150 years old”. Was it true? I would guess not, but age fabrication regarding the briar from which pipes were made was a kind of industry trope for generations. While most of the Rarity pipes apparently sold for $5, the listed price range stated various models cost from $5-25. The $5 pipes were available in natural and grain finishes; there was also a $10 version called the Rogers Rarity Deluxe that was sterling banded and meerschaum lined.

I can’t be sure when the line ceased production, but believe it was by the end of 1949. Certainly Rogers Rarity pipes are no longer listed in the RTDA Almanac from 1950 on, and mentions of the pipe in advertisements to consumers become thin on the ground. More tellingly newspaper ads from 1951 show the pipe heavily discounted, suggesting that excess inventory of an obsolete line was being flushed through the channel…

Now I knew that my memory was correct. The pipe was made by CustomBilt for Rogers Imports. I also knew that it was made between 1945-1949 when the line was no longer made. It was a bit of an old timer… Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I was amazed at how clean and new the pipe looked when I took it out of the box. It is really a beautiful piece. Jeff had done a great cleanup on the pipe. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the bowl exterior with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the grime on the finish of the bowl and the lava from the rim top. He rinsed it under running water. One of the benefits of this scrub is that it also tends to lift some of the scratches and nicks in the surface of the briar. He dried it off with a soft cloth. We put the stem in our stem can. I took photos of the pipe bowl as I saw it when I put it on the table. I took photos of the rim top to show the condition. The rim top had some darkening on the top and outer edge but did not look deeply damaged. The inner edge of the bowl showed some damage and was slightly out of round.The stamping on the top left and right sides of the diamond shaped shank are clear and readable as noted above.I started my work on this pipe by fitting a new stem to the shank. Once I had that done I would move on to cleaning up the bowl. I had a stem picked out that was a clear/Perspex style acrylic that would look great on this pipe. I first adjusted the fit of the tenon to the shank with my Dremel, files and sandpaper. Once I had a fit I took some photos. I think the stem would work very well with this pipe. As is usual with pipes the shank was not a true diamond and I needed to adjust the facets of the diamond shank to properly match those of the shank. I did this by hand using a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I was fortunate that the top facets lined up well so I could avoid the stamping on them. I set the stem aside and dealt with the damage to the inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge and give it form once again. It worked quite well. Then I used a wooden sphere and a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to lightly bevel the inner edge of the rim to remove the burn damage. The result was actually quite good. I sanded the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I worked over the rim top, bowl sides, shank (carefully avoiding the stamping). I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. The briar began to look very good and the grain richly shone. I polished the briar with 1200-1500 micromesh sanding pads and wiping it down with damp cloth after each sanding pad. As I worked through the cycle of pads the shine developed with each change of pad. The pipe looks very good. Now it was time to bend the stem. I have had better luck bending acrylic/Perspex stems with boiling water than a heat gun. I boiled some water in the microwave and put the stem in the hot water. I repeated it several times to soften the acrylic. I bent it over a pill bottle to give it a correct bend. I set the bend with cool water. I put it partially in the shank to check the bend. I and happy with the way it turned out. It had a nice smooth bend.The button had a small round opening. I used a slot saw and three different files to shape an oval slot in the shank. It was a well-shaped slot that I smoothed out. With the bend in the stem and new slot it was very workable. I fit the stem in shank and took photos of the new look to the slightly bent bulldog. The Perspex stem fit well and looked very good. I removed the stem and rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes, then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Balm did its magic and the grain stood out on the briar. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to polishing the stem. I sanded it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down between pads with a Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. It was looking much better.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped down again with Obsidian Oil and set it aside while I worked on the stem. This Chubby 1945-49 Rogers Rarity 310 Bent Bulldog with an Acrylic/Perspex saddle stem is a well grained pipe with a flowing shape that looks great. The rich browns of the darkened natural finish make the grain come alive with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Rogers Rarity Bent Bulldog really is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.90 ounces/54 grams. This old timer will soon be on the American Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring and Repairing a Tinsky American Sandblast Dublin Reg No C 486/*S 5

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by Steve Laug

Just before the Postal Strike here in Canada I received an email from Baker regarding a Tinsky American Smoking Pipe that he had purchased that needed some attention. He sent me a link in the email to a series of photos showing the issues with the pipe.

Hey Steve…

I got an American Smoking Pipe bent Dublin from the 80’s several months ago and just noticed a big crack opening up in the bottom of the bowl….

This pipe also has a dry, desiccated look and feel to it — almost like a piece of driftwood. What do you think? Is this something you can help with? I’m not in a rush but it’s too good a pipe to let fade away.

Best regards, Baker

I have included the photos that Baker sent me below. It truly is a dry looking sandblast pipe with some issues of cracks and flaws in the briar. The first photo gives a profile of the pipe.He also took photos of the rim top and bowl. You can see from the photos that the bowl has a moderate cake. It does not appear that there are cracks on the inside of the bowl in the photos. There is some darkening around the inner edge. The rim top has some beautiful and rich grain. He took several photos of the crack in the bowl radiating from a flaw in the briar. It is on the front of the heel. There was also a large flaw on the lower front of the bowl. He included a photo of that as well.He also included a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It reads American in an oval [over] REG. NO. [over] C 486/*S 5. It is clear and readable. I have collected and smoked Mark Tinsky’s pipes for over 30 years now and thoroughly enjoy them. I cannot speak highly enough about the quality and craftsmanship of his pipes. I have pipes made by Mark and by Curt Rollar in my collection and both are great smokers and pipes that reach for regularly in my choice of pipes. I turned to his website for a quick summary of the history of the brand (http://www.amsmoke.com/Index%20Folder/PipeHist.html). I quote from the site as it is a short, concise history.

The American Smoking Pipe Co. was formed in 1978 by Mark Tinsky and Curt Rollar. Both started making pipes for Jack Weinberger (JHW Pipes) while in high school and throughout college. Determined to blaze their own path, they formed their own company- its goal to create unique pipes, lightweight and comfortable, where attention to detail was the rule not the exception. Exulting in their new freedom, they carved out new shapes that were balanced between the radical freehand era of the 70’s and the board pipe look of other conservative companies. Hungry for recognition, they stormed the Eastern and Southern shops looking for markets to sell their pipes. Many hidebound retailers refused to try something new, preferring to sell, well, what has always sold before. However, their pipes did take root in many shops and the business thrived.

They continued expanding their pipe making capabilities, adding employees to help finish the pipes. In 1990, over a disagreement over how much to expand, Curt Rollar left the company. This put a break on expansion and coupled with a U.S. recession and rising anti-smoking fervour served to limit production to supplying existing retailers, thus ending a decade of growth. With pipes sales in decline, we turned to pipe repair as a way to supplement revenues. Finding that we liked fixing things, American concentrated on pipe repair. While working hard at repair and manufacture American is ready once again to expand its markets through its existing network of shops serviced by pipe repair.

The pipe I am working on is stamped American in an oval with a Reg. No. [over] C 486/*S 5 as noted above. The stamp tells me that the pipe was made in April of 1986. The S stamp could signify that the pipe is a sandblast but I am not sure. The 5 is the size of the pipe.

We chatted and he prepared to send the pipe to me. THEN THE CANADA POSTAL STRIKE HAPPENED. I had an idea of shipping it to a mailbox in the US and then I could get it from there rather than wait for the strike to end. Baker shipped it and it arrived quite quickly. Sadly, I was ill as was Kenneth so we were not able to head south to pick up the pipe. Kenneth picked it up and dropped it off Friday.

I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. It was dry and desiccated on the outside as Baker noted. There was a moderate cake in the bowl and some darkening on the rim edge. The crack and flaws are very visible in the photos. The blast seemed almost worn and tired. The variegated brown acrylic stem looked good with a few tooth marks and chatter on both the top and underside of the pipe. Have a look. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of both. The rim top is smooth and has some beautiful birdseye grain. You can see the debris in the bowl and darkening on the inner edge. I also took photos of the acrylic stem showing the tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I took a photo of the bowl with the stem removed to give a sense of the proportion and appearance of the pipe without the stem.I took some photos of the crack and flaws in the bowl. The photos show the one in the heel and on the front of the bowl. Now it was time to start working on the pipe itself. The bowl was slightly conical so I reamed it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife taking it back to bare briar. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. The bowl was significantly cleaner.I used a brass bristle wire brush to knock of the debris on the briar of the sandblast. Once I did that I decided to address the crack and fills in the heel of the bowl. I used my lens and light to magnify the crack and drill a small microdrill hole at each end of it with my Dremel.I filled in the drill holes in the briar and the track of the crack with clear CA glue. I used a dental spatula to press briar dust into the superglue over the crack and the drill holes. At the same time, I repaired the flaw on the front of the bowl. I went over the repaired areas with a brass bristle wire brush to knock off the excess glue and briar dust. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I scrubbed the smooth rim top and the sandblast walls with the toothbrush. I rinsed it off with warm running water and dried it with a soft towel. It looked much better and the rim top looked clean. The grain under the sandblast stood out clearly. I cleaned out the internals of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners to remove the buildup tars and oils. It smelled significantly better.I sanded the smooth rim top and edge with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I was able to remove the darkening and really begin to see the grain.I polished the rim top with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with each pad and wiping it down with a damp cloth between pads. It took on a rich shine. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a shoe brush to get it in the grooves. It works to clean, restore and preserve the briar. I let it do its magic for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The pipe looks incredibly good at this point in the process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the deep marks in the acrylic stem with black rubberized CA glue. Once it hardened I flattened the repairs out with a small file. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the rest of the acrylic stem and started the polishing them with 600 wet dry sandpaper. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris and dust. The stem looked very good.I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem. This American Reg. No. C 486/*S 5 Sandblast Dublin is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The brown stains really highlight the grain and the polished finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished American Mark Tinsky Dublin fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 52 grams / 1.83 ounces. I will be packing this up and sending it back to Baker this week. I am looking forward to hearing what he thinks of it. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Getting Creative with this Weber Golden Walnut Imported Briar Apple

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by Steve Laug

The next bowl on the table is a classic shaped Apple. It has been sitting here and I have looked at it over and over again and today I decided to restem it. I wanted to try something a little different with this restem and see if I could come up with an interesting restem. I think when you see it you will either love it or hate it! But there you go. Here is what I did! I cleaned up the bowl and matched a stem with briar bowl. It is a cleanup and restore and is a break from my work on the Freehand pipes. The bowl is dirty and somewhere in its life before it came to us the stem was lost. The finish was coated with varnish that left it shiny even under the grime. It showed promise under the grit and grime of the years. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Weber in an oval [over] Golden Walnut. The right side of the shank it is stamped Imported Briar. The bowl had a thick cake and a thick lava overflow on the rim top. There was some lava and tars coming down the bowl sides from the top. It is a pretty pipe with some great grain under the grime. I am hoping to match a nice stem to it. I took some photos of the bowl before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top and bowl to give more of a sense of what I see and noted above. It is a dirty pipe but seems to have no damage on the rim top or edges.I took a photo of the snapped tenon in the shank end. The end of the tenon is quite smooth so it was a clean snap. I will need to pull it before I can fit a new stem to it.I took a photo of the stamping on the left and right side of the shank. The stamping looks blurry and double stamped in the photos but in person it is clear and readable. Recently I picked up some unused acrylic stems. There was an acrylic amber/orange variegated saddle stem in the lot. It was drilled for a new tenon and was clean. This stem had a close diameter to the shank end of the Weber and would work well I think.I put the bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes then used a drywall screw to pull out the broken tenon. I screwed it into the tenon and wiggled it free from the shank. I used the tenon piece to fit a new tenon in the shank end.I fit the new tenon in the shank end and it was a little tight. I used a Dremel and sanding drum to reduce the diameter just enough for a snug fit. I painted the threaded tenon with black CA glue and turned it into the end of the new stem. The fit was good. I set it aside and let the glue cure. I put it in the shank and the fit against the shank end was slightly off. I used a file to make the transition between the shank and the saddle portion of the stem very smooth. I liked the look of the variegated orange acrylic stem with the browns of the briar bowl. I cleaned up the file marks on the shank and avoided the stamping on both sides with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. Once finished the transition and both the briar and the acrylic were smooth. I set aside the stem and turned my attention to reaming the pipe. I used a PipNet Reamer with the first and second cutting heads to take back the heavy cake to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and finally sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. I like to remove all the cake to examine the walls for damage and checking. Great news is that this one is free of any damage. With the bowl reamed it was time to work on the rim top. The lava was hard and thick. I started the process with a topping board and 220 grit sandpaper. Once I had smoothed off the top outer edges it was clear that the inner edge of the rim top was slightly bevelled inward. I used a wooden half sphere and 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the bevel and remove the damage to that portion of the rim top and edges. I cleaned up a few spots with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. To remove the shiny varnish coat on the bowl and to use the stain on the bowl to colour the rim top and sanded shank end I wiped the bowl and shank down with acetone. I used cotton pads with the acetone and was able to easily remove the varnish and move some of the stain to the sanded portions of the shank and rim. I would need to restain but it definitely looked much better. I matched the stain on the bowl and shank with a Maple Stain Pen. I put it on the smooth sanded rim top and shank end. I wanted it to start matched before I started sanding the bowl and shank with sanding pads. I was very happy with the match. I worked on polishing out the sanding marks with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I worked particularly on the transition between the shank and the stem surface. I also worked over the briar of the bowl and rim top at the same time. The bowl and stem looked very good once I finished. I took the stem off the shank and turned to the bowl first. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. After each sanding pad I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and dust. It began to take on a deep shine. I rubbed down the briar Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 15 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads to remove them. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I rubbed it down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry. This is another pipe that I am really happy about the finished restoration. This reborn Weber Golden Walnut with a newly fitted golden acrylic variegated stem turned out really well to my eye. After restemming I think that it is unique and beautiful looking classic apple with a twist. The bowl is a classic Bent Billiard and the “new” horn stem is a great match. The polished horn stem works well with the briar and the nickel ferrule. The briar really came alive with the buffing. The rich reddish brown stains of the finish make the grain really pop with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Weber Golden Walnut Apple really has a unique beauty and feels great in the hand. It looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 45 grams/1.62 ounces. The pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store soon. It will be in the American Pipemakers Section if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

Restoring a Ben Wade Martinique Plateau Top Freehand

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by Steve Laug

Today I am working on a Ben Wade Martinique Handmade in Denmark Freehand with silver/grey acrylic stem. Jeff and I picked it up in an estate we purchased from a seller in Santa Cruz, California, USA on 05/28/2024. It is very nice looking piece of briar and has fancy saddle stem. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank. It was clear and readable. It reads Ben Wade [over] Martinique [over] Hand Made [over] in [over] Denmark. The medium brown stained finish was very dirty with grime ground in the finish all over the whole bowl and shank. The mix of smooth and plateau rim top and plateau shank end are dirty with lava and darkening in the grooves of the plateau. The bowl had a thick cake and the rim top/inner edge had thick lava flowing up from the bowl. It was hard to know its full condition of the inner edge with certainty until it was cleaned. The acrylic saddle stem is was dirty and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was a BW Crown logo on the top of the stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the thickness of the cake and the darkening and lava overflow in the plateau rim top. The photos of the stem show the dirty condition of the stem and the tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the great grain on the pipe. It is a beauty under the grime and dust. The stamping on the underside of the shank is shown in the photos below. It is clear and readable as noted above.I remembered a bit of history on the brand that Preben Holm pipes were marketed under the Ben Wade label in the US and imported through Lane Ltd. I turned to Pipedia and read the listing on the brand to refresh my memory and flesh out the knowledge of the brand and would encourage you to do the same (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Wade). I have included a photo from that site that was taken from a Tinderbox advertisement. (Ben Wade Ad in a Tinder Box catalog, courtesy Doug Valitchka.)I quote the portion of the article that summarizes the Danish period of the history of the brand:

Young Copenhagen master pipemaker Preben Holm had made a meteoric career heading a pipe manufacture employing 45 people at the age of 22! But around the turn of 1970/71 he was in major financial difficulties. His US distributor, Snug Harbour Ltd. in New York City, left him in the lurch. Holm had three unpaid invoices on his desk and another large shipment was ready for the USA, when Snug Harbour’s manager told him on the phone that there was no money at all on the account to pay him.

So the Dane went to New York for an almost desperate search for a new distribution partner. He made contacts with Lane Ltd. and met Herman G. Lane in February 1971. Lane Ltd. had no interest in Holm’s serial pipes produced at that time but so much the more in the hand-carved freehands because the hype for Danish freehands and fancies in the States was still on its way to the climax then. The meeting resulted in an agreement to start a cooperation. Lane insisted to improve the quality considerably and in return he assured to be able to sell essentially larger quantities.

Holm went back home to work on new samples with all-new designs and altered finishes for Lane. Both, Lane and Holm, agreed that it would be unwise to sell the pipes under Preben Holm’s name as long as Snug Harbour had a considerable stock of Preben Holm pipes and might sell them pipes at very low prices just to bring in some money.

So on Mr. Lane’s proposal it was determined to use the name Ben Wade belonging to Lane Ltd. Lane spent considerable amounts of money for advertising the new brand in the big magazines– the centerpiece being whole-page ads showing a very exclusive Seven Day’s Set.

The cooperation with Lane Ltd. proved to be an eminent business success for both partners. Within a very short time Ben Wade Handmade Denmark sold in much larger quantities and at higher prices than they had ever dreamed of. And the hype these freehands and fancy pipes caused went on unbroken long after Herman G. Lane deceased. Preben Holm – obviously much more brilliant in pipe making than in pipe business – was in major troubles again in 1986 and had to sack most of his staff. The Ben Wade production was significantly lowered but continued until his untimely death in June of 1989.

Up to now Preben Holm made Ben Wade pipes are cult and highly sought for on the estate markets.

With that information my initial thoughts were confirmed. This pipe was a Preben Holm made Freehand distributed in the US by Lane Ltd under the name Ben Wade. The freehand rage occurred in the late 70s and the pipes were made until Preben’s death in 1989. My guess would be that this pipe was made sometime during that time period and potentially in the late 70s.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. I took a photo of the rim top. Jeff had been able to remove the thick lava coat from the plateau rim top and inner edge. It looks very good at this point. A work over with a brass bristle wire brush will remove the remaining darkening in the grooves. The plateau on the shank end is clean and looks very good. The stem is clean but has some the tooth marks on both sides.I took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is faint but still readable as noted above. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to get a sense of what the pipe looked like.I started my work on the pipe by addressing the debris still in the plateau rim top. I used a brass bristle wire brush to clean up the plateau on the top and shank end. It worked very well and the plateau looked significantly better once finished.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the dust and debris from the surface of the briar. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and into the plateau with a shoe brush. The product works to clean, preserve and protect the briar. I let it sit and work into the briar for 10 minutes then wiped it off with a cotton cloth. I buffed the briar with a clean cloth. The bowl is starting to look beautiful and there is a shine developing. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth marks with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each pad a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. I touched up the Crown BW logo on the top of the stem with Antique Gold Rub’n Buff. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. I buffed it off with a soft cloth and rubbed the stem down with some Obsidian Oil.I polished the stem surface 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded the stem with each pad and then wiped the stem down with some Obsidian Oil. I finished the hand polishing of the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I am really happy with the way that this Preben Holm made Ben Wade Martinique Danish Made Freehand turned out. It really is a beautiful looking pipe with a great shape and smooth finished bowl and plateau on the rim top and shank end. The fancy original acrylic saddle stem is really nice. The polished black/silver of the stem works well with the briar and the plateau portions. The briar really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown stains of the finish gave the pipe a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Ben Wade Martinique really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 7 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches long x 2 inches wide, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 59 grams/2.08 oz. The pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store soon. It will be in the section on Danish Pipe Makers Section if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.