Tag Archives: polishing stems

Alternative Woods: Refurbishing and Restemming a Black Walnut Pot

I received this pipe bowl as a gift from a friend in exchange for some work I did on one of his pipes. I took it out of the box and put it in the refurbishing box without giving it much of a look. Today I took it out of the box and looked it over. It is well made; the airway is drilled straight and comes out the bottom of the bowl. The drilling is accurate and clean. The mortise is smooth and clean. The bowl has been smoked very little as the bottom half is still fresh wood. The shank is clean and there are no tars. The wood is clean with a few dings and dents. There seems to be a slight finish on the bowl – varnish or something. It also appeared to have a band on the shank originally as there is a stain from the metal on the end of the shank. It came to me without a stem. Today I will take care of that.

I wiped down the bowl with acetone and cotton pads to remove the finish and sanded it with a medium grit sanding sponge. I wiped and sanded until the finish was gone from the bowl and then wiped it down a final time. The smell of the sanding dust as well as the grain told me that I was dealing with a well made walnut, probably black walnut pipe. This one would clean up very nicely.

Since I could not remove the stain left behind by the previous band I decided to reband the pipe. I found a nickel band in my band collection that would be a perfect fit. I heated it with the heat gun and the pressed it into place on the shank. I cleaned up the shank end of the pipe once the band was in place and widened the bevel on the inside end of the mortise to fit the new stem that I would fit for the pipe.

I went through my can of stems and found three different stems that would work with this pipe. Two of them were vulcanite and one was a clear acrylic. I have not done much work with clear acrylic and never turned the tenon to fit a pipe so this one seemed to be the way to go. Each pipe has to be a bit of a learning experience. Besides I liked the way the clear acrylic looked with the walnut bowl and the silver band.

I drilled the airway in the stem to fit the end of the PIMO tenon turning tool and then put the tool on my drill and slid the stem in place. I adjusted the cutting head on the tool to cut off enough material to get a close fit on the stem. The tool is touchy in terms of accurate adjustments so I eyeball it close and then sand it by hand until it fits the shank.

I pushed the stem in place on the walnut bowl and set it down to look at the overall appearance of the pipe. The clear stem was going to work well once I had shaped it to fit. The walnut was already darkening from the oils in my hands. This was going to be a beauty once it was finished.

The diameter of the stem and that of the shank were different. The stem was significantly larger than the shank of the pipe. I used a Dremel with a sanding drum to sand off excess acrylic material. I proceeded with that slowly and carefully as I did not want to nick the band or damage the pipe bowl.

I took the material down as close as possible with the Dremel and then did the rest of the sanding by hand with 220 grit sandpaper. It took quite a bit of time and several return trips to the Dremel before I had the shank and the stem diameter matching. The following photos show the progress on the stem with each one taking it a step closer to the finish.

When I finally had the fit correct with the 220 grit sandpaper I switched to a medium grit sanding sponge to further refine the fit and to remove the scratches left behind by the sandpaper. I finished sanding with the medium grit and used a fine grit sanding sponge to sand the stem again. When finished the stem looked opaque and the shape was done. All that remained was to polish the stem.

Before sanding it further I used a needle file to smooth out the transition in the airway between the stem airway and the place where the drill bit ended when I worked on the tenon. I was able to even out the transition and taper it for a smooth and seamless transition. The walnut was continuing to darken from my hands as I worked on it. I also stopped and sanded the rim of the pipe to remove the deep scratches that were present when I received it.

I wet sanded the stem and the band with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and then dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down between each grit of micromesh with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust and to further polish the stem.

After I finished sanding the stem and the band with the micromesh pads I took the pipe to the buffer and buffed it with White Diamond to further polish it. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and when it was dry gave the pipe and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and a final buff with a soft flannel buff. The finished pipe is shown below. The bowl has only been given a wax coat and no stain. The finish is natural and I believe that it will continue to darken as it picks up the oils from my hands when I smoke it.

Restoring a Kaywoodie Drinkless Volcano

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I was gifted this Kaywoodie Drinkless Volcano with a three hole stinger by Andrew, a reader of the blog. He wrote me an email about the pipe as follows:

Steve, I have this Kaywoodie Volcano shape with a 3 hole stinger, so probably 70’s or newer. It was burned out when I got it. I ended up slopping some fireplace cement in the bottom of it trying to fix it but it didn’t come out well as I was trying to form it with a pipe tool and it is rough. The stem is over turned as well. I figure this might “challenge” you as far as trying to bring it back to life somehow. Is this is something you might be interested in trying to some how to fix? — Andrew

I wrote back that would gladly see what I could do with it so he sent it out to me to work on. When it arrived I saw that he had begun the work on it already and had reamed and cleaned the bowl. He had mentioned that when he bought it there was a small burn out area on the bottom of the bowl. When I got it the inside of the bowl was actually quite alright. His repair looked quite good. A little cleanup of the bowl would bring things in order. The fireplace cement needed to be cleaned off the walls and rounded a bit in the bottom of the bowl but it was not bad.

Besides the obvious damage to the bowl there was some other damage to the pipe as well. The outer edge of the rim was damaged on the front and the inner edge was slightly out of round. The external bottom of the bowl had a half-inch long crack that had been cleaned out and repaired but there was still a slight groove in the crack. The sides of the crack had been joined and repaired so what remained was cosmetic. The stem was overturned and slightly out of round in comparison to the round metal insert in the shank. The stem had a partial stamp of the KW cloverleaf but was in bad shape in terms of appearance.

I set up my topping board and topped the bowl of the pipe to remove the damaged portion of the inner and outer edge of the rim. I sanded the top of the bowl, pressing it against the board and turning it in a clockwise direction until the damaged briar was removed. I used a PipNet reamer with a cutting head that fit the bowl diameter and turned it against the cement until it was removed from the sides of the bowl and the bottom of the bowl had a slight indentation.

I wiped down the bowl with acetone and cotton pads to remove the remaining finish on the bowl and to clean up the partial repair to the bottom crack. I continued to wipe it down until the briar on the bowl was almost the same colouration as the sanded rim of the pipe.

I scratched out the surface of the crack with a dental pick and packed in some briar dust that I had left from sanding the rim of the pipe. I tamped it and then dripped some superglue into the briar dust until it formed a bubble over the crack. I always overfill the crevices and fills to make sure that when they dry they do not shrink and make a second fill necessary. When the glue had dried I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper and also with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge to smooth out the bubble and blend it into the surface of the bowl.

On the bottom of the stem there were also two very deep tooth indentations that would not lift when heated with a heat gun. I sanded the area around the dents and dripped clear superglue into the dents. I chose clear superglue as the stem did not appear to be vulcanite. When I sanded it the dust was grey rather than brown. I have found that the clear glue blends very well on this material. When it dries and is sanded it blends in quite well to the surrounding stem material.

I wiped down the bowl again with acetone and sanded the whole bowl with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge.

The overturn on the stem is something that is easily corrected. I heated the stinger with a heat gun until the glue holding it in place was softer and then turned it in the metal inserted mortise until it lined up correctly with the bowl. I was almost a quarter turn to the right so I needed to turn it all the way around. Once it was aligned I laid it aside to cool. The final photo gives a clear view of the inside of the bowl. The repaired bowl bottom with the minor adjustments I had made with the PipNet reamer are visible.

With the stem aligned it was evident that the diameter of the stem was different than that of the shank. In looking at the stem from the stinger end I could see that the left side was slightly larger than the right side. There was an overhang passed the metal insert in the shank. The next photos show that the left side would need to be sanded to fit properly.

I sanded the stem and shank with 220 grit sandpaper folded and was careful to not sand the stamping on the left side of the shank. I wanted the transition to be perfectly smooth to the touch. I sanded it with medium and fine grit sandpaper to smooth out the scratches left behind by the sandpaper.

I stained the bowl with an aniline oxblood stain. I applied it and flamed it and reapplied it and flamed it again until I had a good even coverage across the bowl. I hand buffed the finish with a soft cloth.

I sanded the stem with medium and fine grit sanding sponges and then followed up with my usual array of micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-13,000 grit pads.

I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and then sanded it a final time with the 4000-13,000 grit pads. I lightly buffed the stem with White Diamond. I screwed the stem back into the shank and then buffed the entirety with White Diamond and then gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean flannel buff for the final shine and protection. The finished pipe is pictured below and is ready for more years of service. The bowl repair done by Andrew provides a solid base in the bowl and the external repair and stem repair makes the pipe cosmetically more pleasing. Thanks Andrew for a good challenge. The pipe is ready for its inaugural smoke. I am sure it will last far longer than I do!

Repairing and Restoring a Lumberman Deluxe Canadian by Comoy’s

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In a batch of pipes I was gifted by Andrew there was a pipe to repair. It is pictured below. The stamping on it was new to me. It is stamped LUMBERMAN over DELUXE on top of the shank and on the underside it is stamped Made and London arced in a circle with “in” at the center of the circle. It is also stamped 309X. I do not see an L after the X in the stamping of the shape number. The shank was cracked and looked like it had been taped from the sticky substance left around the shank and crack. It also was without a stem. Looking it over it appeared that the shank had also been cut off slightly and the cut was crooked. There was a chipped out portion at the end of the crack. All of that would need to be evened out in the repair. The bowl was caked toward the bottom and dirty with a buildup of carbon on the rim and the inner bevel of the rim. The finish was dirty and there were remnants of sticky tape that had been used to repair the shank on both the bowl and the end of the shank. It needed some TLC and work if it was going to be brought back to life.

The close up photo below shows the extent of the caking and the buildup on the rim. Note that the inner bevel was intact and the rim itself was undamaged – no nicks or dings on the outer edge and no burn marks. This one would clean up nicely.

The Lumberman stamping was new to me. I had not heard of it before but it looked interesting in the photos that Andrew sent along. I asked him about the brand so he included some interesting information on the stamping that he had gleaned from a Mr. Can EBay listing. It certainly sheds some light on the brand. Here is how the listing read:

“This Collectible Briar pipe is unique, extremely rare Comoy’s 309XL – a classic Canadian Shape. It has the arched Comoy’s nomenclature stamped over Deluxe (just as it appeared in the early 1930’s) both of which were stamped over Lumberman. For anyone already familiar with the stamping of Comoy Canadians that is enough to recognize that this is a rare and collectible Comoy.”

It appeared that the pipe was made by Comoy’s and well worth the effort to restore it. Andrew also sent along three pages of background information that he had found on the brand. I believe that Mr. Can was also the source of this information. I have included some of it here as it is interesting to those of us who are curious regarding the history of the pipes we collect:

“During its history, Comoy’s has had three distinct sets of nomenclature, though they became somewhat blended in later years. The earliest Comoy nomenclature either had no Comoy stamping or a scripted, signature like forward leaning Comoy’s beneath which were featured names instead of shape numbers. Few of those names (Like Leman, Naval, Adelaide, and so on) are recognized even by the most ardent collectors. Then after World War I when Comoy began introducing what is sometimes called their Old Nomenclature (featuring the Prima, as the Top of the line with other lines like the Old Bruyere, Grand Slam, Lions Head, Lumberman, Lumberman Special and so forth) and arched Comoy’s stamping was used. In the 1930’s the Prima gave way to the Deluxe as the top of the line Comoy. Then just before World War II newer nomenclature started to appear (like Blue Riband, Specimen Straight Grain, and so on) and the Deluxe was replaced by the Royal Comoy. That New Nomenclature expanded dramatically after the War and blended with the modern nomenclature today.”

“The use of the arched Comoy’s ended with World War II and was replaced after the War with a straight line Comoy’s (along with the now famous country of origin stamping of a circular “Made In London” over a straight line “England”.”

“Prior to World War II with manufacturing facilities in both France and England, Comoy had pipes made in both locations. Most were easily identifiable by their country of origin stamping. There were several versions of Comoy’s Lumberman made in France and/or England. (They might have been the dame pipe but with different nomenclature.) “The Lumberman” and “The Lumberman Special were made in both factories. But none had the arched Comoy’s stamping.”

“After WWII Comoy’s reintroduced the Deluxe, discontinued the arched Comoy’s and continued various versions of the Lumberman. Perhaps Comoy’s best graded Lumberman was stamped Lumberman Deluxe – but it had no Comoy stamping. Lumber was always stamped over Deluxe.”

“Normally Comoy offered to Canadian sizes designated by shape numbers 296 and 309. The difference was in the length of the Canadians. The 309 shape was Comoy’s longest Canadian and the 296 was shorter. However, the extra long Canadians were upgraded with the additional stamping of XL and the very longest were sometimes stamped XXL. Either upgrade was rare.” – the above was taken from correspondence Andrew included when he sent the pipe to me.

Armed with that information I was ready to work on the pipe. I have included a series of photos below to show the cracked shank and the repair I did to it. In the first photo I inserted a dental pick in the shank to open the crack so that I could clean it out. Also included in that photo is the band that I would use to band the cracked shank.

I wiped down the shank with acetone on a cotton pad to clean off the grime and build up of material left behind by the tape that had been used to repair the shank. Once it was clean I dripped some superglue into the crack of the shank and held it tightly together until the glue had dried. Once it had dried I inserted the end of the tenon of the stem I was going to fit to the shank of the pipe for the photos.

I sanded the repair and removed the excess glue from the surface of the top of the shank and wiped the area down with Everclear on cotton pads to clean up after sanding.

I decided to ream the bowl and clean the rim before I went on to band the pipe. I cleaned the inside of the shank as well as I did not want the grime and build up to run when I heated the shank and the band for the pressure fit. I reamed it with a PipNet reamer and scrubbed the rim with saliva on a cotton pad and good old fashioned elbow grease.

I turned the tenon down to get a good fit in the mortise and against the end of the shank. I wanted to see what I was working with in terms of the cut off shank. I knew that it was not straight but I wanted to see how far off it was. I also wanted to see the damage to the shank from the crack. The next series of four photos shows the damage to the shank. I was able to smooth out some of the damage but the band would certainly help in making the end of the shank smooth. I did not want to cut off any of the length after reading the information that Andrew provided. From photos I looked at on the net the stem was the right shape, taper and angles to fit this age of pipe. The old stem I chose was one that had the BBB diamond stamped on the top of it. The stamping was faint so it was a good one to sacrifice for this Lumberman.

I removed the stem once it fit well and pressed the band onto the shank. I then heated it with a heat gun rotating the shank to evenly heat the band and keep the heat from burning the briar.

I pressed the band in place while it was still hot. I use a flat board and press down evenly until the band slides into place. This takes repeated heating until the fit is tight and straight against the end of the shank. In the case of this pipe after I pressed it in place I sanded the damaged end of the shank until it was even and then used a knife to cut a slight bevel on the inside edge of the mortise so that the stem would fit properly.

Once the band was in place I needed to sand down the tenon so that it would fit in the newly constricted airway. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to sand down the excess vulcanite on the tenon so that the fit would be snug. The next three photos show the new stem in place with the band. The stem had been sanded with 220 grit sandpaper to match the lines of the shank and give a proper taper to the stem from the band to the button. I also sanded it with a medium grit sanding sponge.

I sanded the area on the top of the shank where the repair extended slightly ahead of the band with 220 grit sandpaper and a medium grit sanding sponge. I followed that by sanding with micromesh sanding pads to smooth out the spot. I wiped down the bowl with acetone on a cotton pad until the surface was clean and free of debris and dust. I stained it with medium brown aniline stain that was thinned 2:1 with Isopropyl alcohol. I wanted the colour to match the tones that were present on the other Comoy’s that I had from this era and the photos I had seen on line. I applied the stain and flamed it. In the photos below the shine is from hand buffing the pipe with a soft cotton cloth.

I reinserted the stem and worked on the band and the stem with 1500 grit micromesh to begin the process of removing scratches and polishing. I took the pipe to the buffer and gave it a quick buff with red Tripoli and White Diamond.

I worked on the stem with my usual array of micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads.

I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil to protect it and when it had dried took the pipe to the buffer. I buffed the stem with White Diamond and gave the bowl and shank a light buff as well. I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax and finished by buffing it with a clean flannel buff. The finished pipe is picture below.

Refinishing and Reworking the Rim on a Comoy’s London Pride.

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I looked up some information regarding this line of Comoy’s on the internet as I was not familiar with its placement in the ranks of Comoy’s lines. There I found that Comoy’s introduced the London Pride as the second grade to the Blue Riband around the same time to meet the American demand for a lighter finish. It was priced in 1943 at $25 and in 1965 at $25, then in 1979 at $95. It was described as having a natural amber coloring and tending to be Birdseye/Cross-Grained pattern pipes. At the time this pipe was made it was the next-to-top-of-the-line. The original stem had a three-piece “C” logo and this one did not have that. Judging from that fact, the shape of the tenon and the stem shape I am confident that it is a replacement stem. The stampings on the left side of the shank are “Comoy’s in block script over London Pride” and on the right side the stamping is worn. The shape number is near the bowl shank junction on the right and reads 292. The next four photos show the pipe as it was when I brought it to the work table.

The pipe was in fair condition. The stamping was faint, the finish had a thick coat of varnish over it and the rim was heavily damaged. The previous refurbishing had rounded the inner and outer rim removing the characteristic bevel on the inner rim and the sharp out edge. The stem was a replacement and the person who had replaced the stem sanded the shank down to fit the new stem. Fortunately they had not taken off too much of the briar. It was visible from the lines of the pipe and from the lightening of the area around the shank/stem junction. I have included the next photo to show the rim damage that needed to be addressed.

I topped the bowl on a flat board and sandpaper to remove the rounded inner and outer edges. I removed only enough to clean up and sharpen the outer edges and reduce the inner rounding to a slight bevel. I also sanded the inner edge with a folded piece of sandpaper to redo the bevel. I sanded the top and the bevel with a medium grit sanding sponge and also with a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad to remove the scratches.

I wiped down the bowl with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the varnish coat and the remaining stain on the pipe. I find it easier to match the new rim colour if the bowl is also clean and the stain removed as much as possible.

I stained the bowl and rim with Minwax Medium Walnut stain which brought the colour as close as I could to the photos I found of the original colour of the London Pride line. I applied the stain and hand buffed the pipe.

I probably should have cleaned the inside earlier in the process but I did not bother until this point as it was quite clean. I scrubbed out the bowl with a cotton swab and Everclear as this bowl did not have the same black bowl coating as some of the others from this box of English pipes. The shank and the stem were not too dirty and it only took a few cotton swabs and pipe cleaners to bring it back to clean.

The stem was in great shape so I did not need to remove tooth marks or dents. It was also quite clean so I rubbed it down with some Obsidian Oil and then took the pipe to the buffer and buffed it with White Diamond. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed to a shine with a clean flannel buff. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe – the combination of cross grain and birdseye matches the description I had found on the web regarding this line of Comoy’s pipes. It is ready to serve the next season of its life.

Reworking an Orlik De Luxe L23 Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is the second pipe from box of English pipes that my daughters found when cleaning out our storage room under the front porch (interior room). It is stamped Orlik De Luxe over Made in England on the left side of the shank and L23 on the right side of the shank. It looked as if it had been refurbished by the same gent who did the Orlik Canadian I reworked. This one also had a varnish coat on the bowl that made it shiny. Underneath the varnish the finish was spotty. The outer and inner edge of the rim was damaged and there were deep grooves on the surface of the rim. The tarry buildup had not been totally removed before the finish coat of varnish was put in place. The inside of the bowl had been painted with a bowl coating that was black. The stem appears to be a replacement but it was better craftsmanship than the previous one. The stem itself was clean but had scratches. The interior of the pipe and stem were filthy.

I have little experience with Orlik pipes so the numbering system was a mystery to me. I did a bit of research and found out that the shape numbers remain consistent throughout the various lines of Orlik pipes. The only difference is found in the letter that precedes the number. In the case of the two pipes that I have now worked on each had the letter “L” before the shape number. The letter signifies the line of pipes within the Orlik family that is in hand. The L stands for the Orlik De Luxe line. I have included the chart below that gives the various lines of Orlik pipes. I have also included the shape chart for Large Billiards that shows the L23. The one I have is similar to the one in the picture though I am certain that mine has a replacement stem as it has a different taper to the stem.

The first three photos below show what the pipe looked like when I brought it to the work table. The issues that I noted above are clearly visible from these photos. The stamping on the pipe is faint but readable on the left side. The number stamp on the right side is in better condition.

In the photo above the tars that were left on the rim before the varnish are visible by my thumb and also my forefinger. The bowl would need to be topped. I have included the next two close-up photos of the rim to show the condition it was in when I started the rework of this pipe and to explain why I was going to top the bowl. The inner edge of the rim had significant damage and showed signs of being hit against something to empty the bowl. The outer edge had similar damage and was badly pitted on the back and the front of the bowl.

I set up the sandpaper on the flat board that I use for topping and topped the bowl until the rim and the edges were once again sharp and clean. I did not have to remove very much of the briar but what I removed took off the damaged outer edges of the rim and reduced the appearance of damage to the inner edge. I sanded around the inner edge with a folded piece of sandpaper to smooth out the inside. The newly topped bowl is visible in the second photo below.

I used a lot of pipe cleaners and cotton swabs to remove the black tars and oils that had not been cleaned out for quite a while. This is only the second pipe that I have cleaned up that came from this chap and I have to say I am not impressed at this point. These were sold in a shop as estates that had been refurbished and were ready to smoke. I wiped down the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to remove the varnish coat before I restained the bowl. I used a black permanent marker to carry the grain lines through the two fills on the left side of the bowl. The briar was actually quite nice under the varnish coat.

I wiped the bowl down a final time with acetone and then gave it a coat of MinWax Medium Walnut stain. I rubbed it into the bowl and then wiped it off with a soft cotton towel. It really brought the grain to life on this old pipe.

The stem had scratches from the sandpaper that had been used on it previously and a slight bit of tooth chatter near the button that had been buffed over. I sanded it with a medium grit sanding sponge and then with the usual array of micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with the 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I took the pipe and stem to the buffer and buffed the entirety with White Diamond, being careful around the faint stamping on the left side of the shank. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and hand buffed it when it was dry.

I buffed the finished pipe with White Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I finished buffing with a clean flannel buff to give the pipe a shine. The photos below show the reworked pipe, cleaned and ready for its inaugural bowl.

A Great Piece of Briar – Restored Square Shanked GBD New Era 9489 Billiard

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I am generally not a fan of square shanked pipes. I am not sure why but there is just something about them that has never caught my eye… that is until I saw this GBD New Era Billiard. It has stunning grain – cross grain on the back of the bowl and the top and bottom of the shank and the bowl. There is also some cross grain off centre on the front of the bowl. The left side has stunning birdseye and the same is also true on the right side of the bowl. The rim of the bowl is beveled inward and is also cross grain. The finish on the bowl was in excellent shape other than a heavy build up on the rim of tars and carbon. The stem was long, oxidized and had a huge bite through on the underside of the stem. It is stamped GBD in an oval over an arced New Era on the left side of the shank and London England over 9489 on the right side.

I have included the photo below of the underside of the stem. The size of the hole made it unpatchable with my usual methods.

I used the Dremel and sanding drum to cut off the end of the stem and remove the damaged portion of the stem. I would then recut a button on the end of the stem and rework the airway opening in the slot.

I took the pipe back to my work table and used a file to cut the line for the button. For this initial part of shaping the new button I leave the stem on the shank as the bowl provides a good “handle” to hold on to when reworking the stem.

I used a flat needle file to carve down the slope of the stem toward the button. I find that reworking the slope of the stem gives a smoother transition between the new button and the blade of the stem. I think we have all seen poorly cut buttons where the button looks pinched on the end – almost like someone squeezed the button out of the stem. I want the transition to move gently toward the new button and then have clean angles on the button.

At this point I usually remove it from the shank as I have much more carving to do on the stem with needle files and I want to be able to turn it at various angles to get things the way I want them. I continued to work on the stem with various needle files and 220 grit sandpaper to shape and contour the stem. I sanded the rest of the stem as well carefully working around the GBD roundel to make sure not to damage it. When I had finished the shaping of the button I sanded the entirety with a medium grit sanding sponge to smooth out the scratches and further remove the oxidation. I probably could have soaked it in Oxyclean but since I was working the button over with sandpaper and files anyway I just sanded the stem.

I set the stem aside for a bit and scrubbed the bowl rim down with saliva on cotton pads scraping and rubbing until I got to the clean surface of the rim. I did not intend to restain this pipe so I was careful not to remove the finish in the process.

I took it to the buffer after I had it cleaned up as shown above. I buffed the edge with White Diamond to remove the last of the detritus of the carbon on the rim. The first photo below shows the clean bowl rim. The three photos following that one show the bowl after it had been buffed with carnauba wax to polish it and protect it.

I put the stem back on just to have a look at the work so far. Sometimes I need to get a bit of perspective on the stem work so I will stop and put things back together, take a few photos and study them to see what I need to do. Somehow the photos show things that my eye does not pick up as I work on the pipe.

The pipe was looking good and the areas that needed work on the oxidation and scratches showed up clearly in the flash. I used micromesh sanding pads to work on the finish. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit pads.

When I finished sanding I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and when it as dry buffed it with White Diamond once again. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean flannel buffing pad to give it a shine. It is important when buffing to not press to hard around the nomenclature. I generally use a very light touch in those areas and then hand polish them with a soft cotton cloth. The finished pipe is pictured below. The stem came out quite nicely There is a bit of oxidation around the roundel that still remains. I will continue to work on that with the micromesh pads and see what I can do but it is ready to load a bowl and smoke.

A GBD “Dublinish” Poker Brought Back to Life

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Blog by Steve Laug

The fourth pipe I have refurbished from the lot I just picked up is an oval shanked “Dublinish” Poker that has a GBD on the brass stem roundel. It is stamped on top of the shank with GBD in an oval over New Standard in script. On the underside of the shank it is stamped London England over 9558. I looked up the shape number on the GBD shape site and was unable to find a listing for a pipe of this shape. I looked other places on the web and did not find this shape either listed or pictured. It is certainly not a shape that I have seen for the years that I have been working on pipes and collecting GBD pipes.

The picture below shows the state of the bowl when I brought it to the work table. It had a thick and crumbly carbon cake and carbon and tar build up on the concave surface of the rim. The front of the outer edge had burn marks from repeated lighting. The GBD roundel on the stem was badly oxidized and looked to be corroded. The stem was badly oxidized and on the bottom had a large hole where the previous owner had bitten through the stem.

The picture below shows the size of the bite through and gives a pretty clear picture why I chose not to patch the stem but rather to cut the bite through off and rework the stem and button.

I cut off the end of the stem with a Dremel and sanding drum attachment. I cut it back to the place behind the bite mark that was solid and undamaged. The next four photos show the pipe with the damaged portion of the stem removed and a straight cut made across the end of the stem.

I took it back to the work table and reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer. I used three of the cutting heads from the smallest up to remove the cake and clear out the debris in the bowl. I wanted to remove the cake to assess the soundness of the rim and the bowl of the pipe. I scrubbed the rim down with saliva and cotton pads. It took a lot of elbow grease to finally get the rim clean of the buildup and tars. In the photo below the burn mark on the front of the bowl is visible.

I used files, a wood rasp and needle files to cut the line on the button across the top and the bottom of the stem. I trimmed the thickness of the stem tapering toward the shank with the needle files. I wanted to thin down the stem and taper is more smoothly into the new button making for an even transition from the saddle to the edge of the button.

I used the needle files to open the end of the button and shape it into and oval and a funnel into the airway. I wanted a good open airway that would easily take a pipe cleaner.

After working with the files I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation and to continue to shape the stem into a smooth taper from the saddle to the button.

I sanded the end of the button to angle it back toward the slot and to smooth it out and shape it. I also used the needle files to clean up the straight edge of the button.

Once I had the taper and the angles correct I sanded the stem with a medium grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches from the sandpaper.

When the stem was finished in terms of shaping I moved on to work on the bowl. I wanted to stain the rim and the edges of the bowl where the burn marks were. I used a red mahogany Minwax stain and rubbed it into the rim and gave the entire pipe a stain coat. Once I had wiped that off with a clean towel I gave it a second coat of medium walnut stain to blend it in even more with the rest of the bowl. I buffed it with White Diamond to polish it and give it a shine.

I sanded the stem with my regular regimen of micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with the 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with the 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed in a coat of Obsidian Oil and when it had dried took the stem to the buffer and buffed it with White Diamond to give it a shine.

I buffed the entire pipe with White Diamond and then multiple coats of carnauba wax. I finished by buffing the bowl and stem with a clean buff with soft flannel to bring out a high shine. The finished pipe is shown below in the pictures. The shortened stem came out looking very good and the reduced length does not detract from the look of the pipe as a whole.

Reworking a Couple of Pipes with my Son in Law on a Grey Vancouver Day

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On a recent pipe hunt my son in law went with me and picked up a couple of pipes of his own. The first one was an interesting little Medico VFQ apple with a red stem. The stem was not too badly damaged. It was a filter pipe and still had the old paper Medico tube in the shank. The bowl was a mess. The rim had been burned and chipped and the bowl was badly caked and it looked as if the previous owner had smoked gooey aromatics in it that left behind a heavy residue of tar in the bottom of the bowl. It had hardened into lava like material. He liked the stem colour and the shape of the old pipe so I said to go ahead and pick it up and the two of us could work on it and bring it back for him. So he shelled out the $12.50 for the pipe and it became his first estate purchase of the trip.

This old pipe took every trick I had up my sleeves to refurbish. The stem was nylon not rubber so it was fussy to clean up. Every scratch shows in nylon and it cannot be buffed except with a very gentle hand. Everything had to be done by hand. I worked on the stem while Lance worked on the bowl. I sanded the stem from the button up the stem for about an inch to remove the calcification on the end and remove the tooth chatter on the top of the stem. On the underside there were a couple of deeper tooth marks that needed attention. I heated the nylon carefully with a lighter to try to raise the dents in the stem. I moved quickly across the surface so as not to melt the nylon. All but one of them lifted nicely – it remained a stubborn part of the sanding process. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and then with a medium grit sanding sponge. I finished by sanding the stem with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-12,000 grit – wet sanding with the first three grits and then dry sanding with the remaining grits. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I also sanded the aluminum tenon with the 2400 grit micromesh pad to remove the oxidation on it. I polished it with a silver polishing cloth.

In the mean I had Lance top the bowl and flatten out the rim surface. Then he beveled the outer edge to give the pipe a rounded look like it had previously. He gave the inner edge a slight bevel as well. There were three flaws in the rim surface where the fills were missing. I had him repair these with briar dust and super glue. He then topped the bowl lightly a second time to smooth out the fill repairs. He wiped the bowl down with acetone and sanded it with the sanding sponge. He gave it a quick sand with 1500-2400 grit micromesh as well and then stained it with a black undercoat making sure that the stain went into the grooves that were carved in the bowl surface. He then wiped it down with acetone and sanded it again to remove the black stain from the surface of the bowl leaving it deep in the grooves and around the rim. The black feathered out down the bowl sides and at the tenon shank union. He sanded the aluminum band with a 3200 grit micromesh sanding pad to polish it and then restained the bowl with a red mahogany Miniwax stain. We buffed the pipe with White Diamond and then gave the stem very lightly making sure to not let it heat up. We gave the entirety several coats of carnauba wax. Here is the first pipe he had ever refurbished after it was finished.

The second pipe was less of a challenge and it was found second on the hunt. It is a Kirsten SX. With a little research we found out that the X designation added to the shape and size S usually meant Brass but that during the 1960’s there was a brief period of time where the SX was an antiqued black and silver finish. That is what he had! Thus we were able to date the pipe a bit for him. The bowl was unsmoked new stock and was probably a replacement. The stem was oxidized and covered with tooth chatter. The barrel was oxidized and much of the antiquing had worn of the finish. The valve at the end was stuck in place. The ramrod was oxidized and dirty. It would be a very easy refurbishing job. Considering the pipe cost him $15 it was well worth the effort.

Lance took the pipe apart unscrewing the bowl and removing the stem and ramrod from the barrel. The valve at the end was stuck so we had to drive it out with piece of rod I have here. Once it was apart we each went to work cleaning the parts. Lance worked on the barrel and the valve cleaning the outside and the inside of the parts. I worked on the ramrod and the stem. He cleaned out the valve with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and Everclear and also cleaned out the inside of the barrel with the same. He polished the barrel with silver polish to remove the oxidation and then we washed the barrel with a wash of black aniline stain to give it a bit of an antique look. I sanded out the tooth marks on the stem and polished the ramrod. Lance then sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-12,000 grit. Once the stem was polished he rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil and then we gave the stem a quick buff with White Diamond on the buffer. We rubbed Vaseline into the O-rings on the valve and the stem/ramrod then reassembled the pipe. We gave the entire pipe a light buff with carnauba wax and a soft flannel pad to polish it. Here is the finished pipe.

When we finished we filled a bowl with well aged Balkan Sobranie Virginian No. 10 and retired to the porch to have a bowl and a visit. It was a great way to spend a grey Vancouver day and get to know my son in law a bit better. We are already planning more hunts and pipe refurbishing sessions. It is great to have someone working with me who is interested in learning the tricks of the hobby living so close by.

Giving a Smokemaster Bard Billiard a Facelift

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I am down to the bottom of my box of pipes to be refurbished. I have three left. In the bottom of my box was a pipe bowl stamped Smokemaster Bard on the left side of the shank and on the right side of the shank stamped Imported Briar. I found a stem in my can of stems that fit the shank after I adjusted the tenon. The diameter of the stem was slightly larger than the shank but that would be an easy adjustment. The bend would need to be straightened but that would be a simple process. The bowl was lightly smoked and the finish was a very shiny Varathane coating that made the bowl look like plastic. The shank was clean and took very little work to remove the dust that had built up in it.

I knew nothing about Smokemaster pipes and had no idea who made them. The finish and shape reminded me a lot of Dr. Grabow pipes that I have reworked but that was not enough for me. As has become my habit with pipes I don’t know about, I did a bit of research on the web and found out that the pipe was made by the Briarcraft Pipe Company. The Company was very prosperous between 1920 and 1940. They produced both Briarcraft pipes and a line of seconds under the following names: Airo, Arcadian, Briarmeer, Smokemaster, Cavalcade, Hallmark, Sterling Hall, Filter Kleen and Wimbledon. They closed their doors in 1950. The pipe that I had was definitely not made pre-1950 and the stamping was wrong for it to be made by them. The original Briarcraft stamping was more stylized and had a Germanic script for the stamp. This one was italicized.

Further digging uncovered the fact that around 1967 Dr. Grabow acquired the name and system rights to the Smokemaster line, and was produced until the mid 1990’s. Thus my initial thought of it being a Grabow was correct. It turned out that Dr. Grabow made three series of Smokemaster pipes – the 100, 200, and 300. I have restored and restemmed several of these over the years but never found one that had the original stem intact. Dr. Grabow also made a line of Smokemaster pipes for L.L. Bean. Below are two photos – one of the stem logo which is a shield and the other is the stamping that is on the pipe that I refurbished.

I found out that the Smokemaster had a very unique filter system and was distinct from other filter systems in that it did not include a stinger apparatus. Rather it used a slotted tube that had two special holes in it. A folded pipe cleaner was inserted into the two holes and extended the length of the shank. It collected the tars and moisture of the smoke and could be easily changed and replaced by the pipe smoker. The diagram below shows the design from the end of the tenon.

I did a patent search and it gave me the following information. This includes both the original description by the inventor and also a diagram submitted at the time of the patent application. I found it at this site: https://www.google.com/patents/US2166537?dq=2166537&hl=en&sa=X&ei=r2u4UtPOHI_ZoAT9moHYCg&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAQ

Description
1939 – B. M. SHOEMAKER 2,166,537
TOBACCO PIPE Filed Oct. 12, 1934 crnar B.M. Shoemaker INVENTOR v ATTORNEY Patented July 18, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.
My invention relates to tobacco pipes and more particularly to the type in which the bit and bowl portions are separately united to each other.
The principal object of my invention is to maintain the smoke passage in the pipe substantially free of solid deposits, making for general cleanliness in the interior of the pipe and sweet, cool smoking qualities.
I accomplish this object by arranging within the pipe a readily replaceable absorptive member which is designed to receive condensate and solid matter from the smoke as it passes through the pipe. The preferred form of such absorptive member is an ordinary pipe cleaner which, as is well known in the art, comprises a highly flexible metallic core portion carrying a large number of bristles extending there from.
One embodiment of the invention is illustratively exemplified in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a pipe; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a broken elevation view of a metallic tube or liner constituting one of the pipe elements; Fig. 5 is an elevation view broken intermediate its ends, of the form of absorptive member used in the present construction.
Referring to the drawing, and more specifically to Figs. 1 to 3, denotes the pipe bowl, 1 the bowl stem, 2 the bit and 3 the tenon by which the bit and bowl stem are separately united. The bowl stem has the usual well l4 and the bit the usual smoke or draft passage 15. The bit 12 is further provided with three bores, 15b, c, d, and forming a continuation of the smoke passage 16. A metal tube 16 is provided which is longitudinally slotted at its lower portion and through the slot l8 the products of well be omitted. The tube l6 lies in the bore 15b. The pipe cleaner is doubled upon itself and the two legs or branches of the pipe cleaner enter the bores 15c and l5d and rest there during use of the pipe. The bores 15c and l5d parallel the bore 15b at opposite sides of its longitudinal centre. The embodiment of the invention described is a very desirable construction inasmuch as it receives a standard length pipe cleaner, which in its folded position in the passage 14 is offset from the axis thereof, and which when rotated or twisted with the tenon to seat the same the folded strands of the cleaner engage and brush or clean the wall of the bore.
The operation of the device is very simple. The pipe is sold complete with the pipe cleaner in position. After the pipe has been used for a length of time it will be found that the pipe cleaner is practically saturated with deposited matter. Thereupon the pipe cleaner is simply removed from the pipe and a new one inserted in its place. If desired, the cleaner may also be used in the ordinary manner, naturally before it has become fouled, by moving it back and forth once or twice through the draft passage l5 and/or tube.
What I claim is: In a tobacco pipe, a bowl portion having a stem provided with a central bore, and a bit portion for said stem, the bit having a centrally disposed smoke passage and grooves arranged in the bottom of said passage, a tubular liner mounted in the smoke passage and adapted to project into the bore of the stem, said liner having its underside provided with a longitudinal slot opening into the grooves and bottom of the central bore of the stem beyond the bit, and an absorptive member mounted in said grooves and arranged under the liner throughout its length to receive condensate from the liner and to wipe the wall of said bore when the bit is turned.
BERNARD M. SHOEMAKER.
Classifications

U.S. Classification 131/184.1, 131/203

International Classification A24F1/00

Cooperative Classification A24F1/00, A24F2700/03

European Classification A24F1/00

I find that kind of information fascinating and am always intrigued by the designers urge to provide a cooler and cleaner smoke for the pipeman who uses his invention. I was not able to find out if Dr. Grabow continued to use the patented design when it took over the line from Briarcraft but I am assuming so until it is shown otherwise by information from those who read this or by a pristine stem that still has the apparatus intact on one of the Grabow Smokemaster pipes.

So armed with that information I went to work on the pipe. I began with the newly fitted stem and heated it with a heat gun to straighten the bend. Vulcanite has memory so with heat the stem returns to its original shape. I held the stem about 6 inches above the heat source, ran the gun on high and watched as the stem began to return to normal. It is important not to hold the vulcanite too close to the heat as it burns and to not rush the bend by helping it as it can snap if not properly heated.

The straightened stem is pictured below. It can also be seen in the next three photos that the diameter of the stem is slightly larger than the diameter of the shank. I also left a slight bend to the stem as I liked the look of it on this pipe.

I used a Dremel with a sanding drum to reduce the diameter of the stem to match the shank. This has to be done slowly and with a steady hand so as not to nick the shank of the pipe. I move the Dremel slowly along the diameter of the stem and also backward toward the button to keep the lines accurate and not bulge after the sanded area. I sand it as close as possible to the correct diameter and then hand sand it to fit.

I took it back to the work table and sanded the stem with medium grit emery cloth to smooth out the finish and fit of the stem. I then used 220 grit sandpaper and continued to sand until the stem fit was smooth. At this point I also began to use a sanding block to make the transition between the new stem and the shank smooth. I did not worry about sanding the stem as I intended to remove the plastic finish and rework the entire pipe with a new finish. I also sanded the top of the bowl to remove the two burn marks that were present on the inner edge of the rim. This is visible in the last of the series of photos below.

I wiped down the bowl with acetone on a cotton pad to try to remove the plastic like finish that was on the pipe. The acetone succeeded in dulling the finish but not in removing it from the briar. I continued to wipe it down until I was through the finish coat. I sanded the bowl with a medium grit sanding sponge between the acetone washes. (I had previously tried the alcohol bath on pipes with this type of finish and found that they did not penetrate the finish.)

Once the finish was removed I sanded the pipe with a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches as much as possible. I was not overly worried at this point in removing them all as I intended to do a two part stain and sand between the stain coats. I stained the pipe with a black aniline stain, flamed and stained and flamed again. I also heated the bowl to drive the black stain deep into the grain of the pipe so that when I sanded it the grain would show well.

I wiped the bowl down with Everclear on a cotton pad to remove the topcoat of the stain. I knew that the stain would have penetrated deep enough into the grain to leave the parts present that I wanted highlighted.

I buffed the pipe with red Tripoli to further remove the black stain. The next four photos show the bowl after buffing. I still wanted to remove more of the stain from the pipe to get the desired effect and differentiate the grain for the finished look of the pipe.

I wet sanded the bowl and the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads to further remove the black stain from the surface of the bowl. The sanding also served to remove the scratches left behind by the fine grit sanding sponge before staining. The first four photos below show the finish after I had sanded the bowl with these grits of micromesh. I then dry sanded the bowl and stem with the remaining grits of micromesh pads from 3200-12,000. The state of the bowl and stem can be seen in the last two photos below.

Once I had removed as much of the black as I wanted I stained the pipe with the second stain – an oxblood aniline stain. I heated the bowl, applied the stain, flamed it and reapplied and reflamed it until the coverage was even around the bowl. Once it was dry I buffed the bowl and stem with White Diamond to polish the finish and the stem. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil to protect the vulcanite and when dry gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax to polish and protect the pipe. The finished pipe is pictured below. I really like the contrast stain and the matte like finish on the pipe. The two step stain process highlighted the grain on the pipe and gives it a far more polished and finished look than the previous plastic coat had down. This piece of briar, though not stellar, did not have fills or flaws that are visible. It should make someone a great addition for their pipe rack.

NOTE: I was just reading on PSU and saw a post there that had this photo of the filtration system on these pipes. http://pipesmokerunlimited.com/showthread.php?4015-Smokemaster-Filter-Pipe Thanks to the poster, Hammerhead (Terry Swope???maybe) for posting the photo for us to see.

A Piece of Tobacciana – Restoring an Old Nylon Cigarette Filter/Holder

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Somewhere along the way in one of the pipe lots I bought off EBay this old cigarette holder was included as a pipe stem. I put it in a drawer and forgot about it for several years at least. The other evening I was cleaning out a drawer of pipes that I had already refurbished getting them ready for my daughter to catalogue and came across the old holder. At first glance it appeared to be a cigarette holder. There was no filter apparatus present and the mouthpiece was short and condensed so I did not think there would be one inside the stem itself. I sanded down the casting marks on the side of the stem and also cleaned the stem of debris. There was one burn spot on the underside of the stem near the metal holder end. The metal holder was brass and quite clean with a slight nicotine and tar build up on the inside. The airway on the stem was plugged and no air could pass through it.

I twisted the end cap and it came free from the stem itself. Inside was a filter apparatus similar to the different stingers that one finds in American made pipes of days gone by. This apparatus was a single unit. There was a rubber o-ring around the top just below the holder top. This held the cap unit snugly in place in the stem.

Once I had removed the apparatus from the stem the stinger design was visible. It extended half way down the shank of the stem. Behind the o-ring was a cut/slit half way through the aluminum of the stinger. It was clogged with tars and oils. In the middle of the slit was an opening. One on the o-ring side and one on the stem side of the slit. The aluminum then funneled down to tube that at first glance appeared to be solid. At the end of the tube were two solid rings around the tube. Between the rings there were holes on two sides in the groove. When it was inserted and clear the air would be pulled through the holder and into the stinger slit. It would circulate in the stem to cool and then move through the slit and down the tube and out the two holes. These would then disperse the smoke through the remainder of the stem and out the slot in the button. In many ways it was like an inverted stinger in shape and function to those found on pipes.

The hole in the end of the stinger does not go through the stinger but rather is like a small cup on the end. It was for collecting moisture and tars if the grime buildup was any indication.

The holder cap pictured in the photo below is the depth of the filter on a modern cigarette and also the dame diameter as the end of the cigarette. I cleaned the entire apparatus and soaked it in a bath of Everclear to try to open the airway. I was able to clean out the cut in the aluminum, the holes in the end and in the cut itself using a dental pick. I scrubbed down the apparatus with a tooth brush and Everclear. I was unable to get air to pass through due to a clog in the end of the holder. In the photo below it is visible as a small hole in the bottom of the cup. It was plugged and the dental pick was too thick to go through it. I tried a thin paper clip and a needle with no success. I finally was able to open it with a tiny micro drill bit on the Dremel and pushed it through at a very slow speed. The bit came with a plastic guide that fit inside the cup perfectly and kept the drill straight as it opened the airway. Once it pushed the clog through I cleaned the inside of the airway with Everclear and was able to push air through with no effort.

I repaired the burned spot on the stem with superglue and sanded the stem until the patch blended with the rest of the stem surface. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and then with a medium grit sanding sponge to smooth out the scratches in the surface of the nylon stem.

I wet sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-2400 grit and then dry sanded with 3200 – 12,000 grit sanding pads. I used a plastic polish to further shine the stem once I was finished with the micromesh pads.

I rubbed down the stem with Obsidian Oil and gave it a very light buff with White Diamond. You have to exercise a very light touch when buffing nylon as it melts with the heat of the buffing wheel. I finished by giving the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax to give it a shine. I hand buffed the shine with a soft cotton cloth. The finish filter is pictured below in the final three photos. It is not something I will ever use but it is an interesting piece of tobacciana for the collection. I have no idea of the maker of the piece or of the age but I am fascinated by the ingenuity of the product.

rebornpipes

reclaiming old and worn estate pipes

Tag Archives: polishing stems

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Repairing and Restoring a Lumberman Deluxe Canadian by Comoy’s

Refinishing and Reworking the Rim on a Comoy’s London Pride.

Reworking an Orlik De Luxe L23 Billiard

A Great Piece of Briar – Restored Square Shanked GBD New Era 9489 Billiard

A GBD “Dublinish” Poker Brought Back to Life

Reworking a Couple of Pipes with my Son in Law on a Grey Vancouver Day

Giving a Smokemaster Bard Billiard a Facelift

A Piece of Tobacciana – Restoring an Old Nylon Cigarette Filter/Holder

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