Tag Archives: refurbishing

NEPAL PROJECT PIPE SALE 5 – Restoring an Orlik De Luxe L206 – an Inclined Bevelled Egg

Blog by Steve Laug

This is the fifth pipe from the box of pipes that I was gifted by a good friend of mine with the instructed purpose of cleaning them up and selling them with all of the proceeds going to the aid of earthquake victims in Nepal. Once again all funds raised will all go to the SA Foundation, and organization that has worked in Nepal for over 15 years helping provide recovery, housing and job training for women who are victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking. The ongoing earthquakes (over 300) that continue to shake Nepal have left much in ruins. The SA Foundation Project there was able to find new housing for the women and help with staff as well. Every dollar raised from the sale of these pipes will go to the work in Nepal. It is stamped on the left side of the shank, Orlik De Luxe over London Made and on the right side of the shank it is stamped with the shape number L206. According to the page from the Orlik shape chart below, the L206 (the bottom pipe on the page) was called an Inclined Bevelled Egg. The next four photos show the condition of the pipe when I brought it to the worktable to clean it up. The finish was in very decent shape though soiled and would clean up very nicely. The stamping was clear, though toward the back of the shank it was stamped more lightly than the front half of the shank.

The next photos are close-up pictures of the outer edge of the rim. The outer edge was damaged around over half of the bowl. Someone along the path this pipe took during its life time had smoothed out the damage and in so doing had rounded the outer edge of the bowl.

From the Orlik shape chart and photos on the web I could see that the edge was supposed to be sharp and smooth rather than rounded. The rounding also hid some rough spots in the briar caused by knocking out the pipe against something hard. I decided to top the bowl with a topping board. I used 220 grit sandpaper on the board and sanded the top in a circular motion while pressing it into the sandpaper. I took it down until the damaged sections were gone and the outer edge was sharp once again.

I sanded the rim with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratching. I sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads to further smooth it out. I buffed the bowl and rim with White Diamond. I used a light and a medium brown stain touch up pen mixed together to match the stain with the rest of the bowl. I used a sharp knife to ream cake the bowl, remove the crumbling cake from the bottom portion of the bowl and leave a thin cake on the walls of the bowl. My purpose was to facilitate forming a new cake on the walls.

I cleaned out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until the cleaners came out white. With the inside clean I put the stem back in place with a plastic washer on the tenon so that when it was pushed in place it sat between the shank and the stem. This allows me to sand the stem and remove the oxidation without rounding the shoulders or damaging the stain and finish on the shank. I sanded it with a worn piece of 220 grit sandpaper and then with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge.

With the oxidation removed from the stem I went on to sand it with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed down the stem with Obsidian Oil between each set of three pads and then when I had finished the third set I did it again and set it aside to let the oil dry.

After the oil dried I buffed the pipe and the stem with Blue Diamond Plastic Polish on the wheel while carefully avoiding the stamping. I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a soft, flannel buff to raise the shine. The finished pipe is shown below. It merely waits for the right person to add it to their rack and enjoy a flavourful smoke in a very light weight pipe.

This beautifully shaped Danish looking Orlik L206 Inclined Bevelled Egg should make someone a great addition. If you are interested in this pipe email me with an offer at slaug@uniserve.com and we can discuss it. The entirety of the sale price will go to the Nepal project. I will pay the postage so that does not get taken off the proceeds. If you are interested in reading about the SA Foundation you can look at their website at http://www.safoundation.com.

Thanks for looking.

A Windy Perpetual Drysmoker Restored

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Blog by Steve Laug

One of the contributors to rebornpipes,Troy Wilburn gifted me with a couple of pipes not long ago. Today I worked on the first of them – an interestingly odd old pipe the likes of which I have never seen. It is stamped on the left side of the shank WINDY over PERPETUAL over DRYSMOKER and on the right side of the shank IMPORTED BRIAR. Around the end of the shank on what I assume is the bottom of the pipe it is stamped ITALY.

This odd pipe is a bit of a mystery to me in terms of how it is smoked. You may laugh at that and say, “Put the end in your mouth and fire it up.” However it is a little more complicated. This particular pipe has a screw on wooden cap that sits on the “top” of the bowl if looked at the way I took the photos above. Held this way the stamping is right side up. On the other end of the bowl is what is like a normal windcap with five airholes in it. It is screwed into the bowl. When held with the windcap as the “top” the stamping is upside down. I can find nothing online that gives a hint to how it is to be smoked. When I took it apart it was clear to me how the previous owner had smoked it. There was a cake on the walls of the bowl. There was a cake on the threaded five hole windcap. There was not any cake of darkening on the flat threaded cap. So the pipe had been smoked with the windcap facing downward and the stamping in the correct position. The bowl had been lit from the windcap end and then the cap put back in place and the bowl turned over and smoked with the coal on the bottom… I shall have to experiment with that to see what I can tell after smoking it myself.

The pipe was quite dirty. Tobacco shards were around the threads in both the top and the bottom of the bowl. There was a light cake that was crumbly in the bowl. The airway was reduced in size by the tars and cake. The stem was rough and the airway partially blocked. The finish on the briar was crackling and spotty. Before cleaning up the pipe I did a quick Google search to see if I could find out any information. I wanted to see if the brand was known and if there was anything on the Pipephil site regarding the stamping. I found just two links to the pipe. One was on the smokingmetal site. The other was a YouTube video that was about a fellow smoking his Windy Perpetual Drysmoker. I did not find it helpful in that it was just a running commentary on the experience rather than information about the brand. The link to the smokingmetal site is here: http://www.smokingmetal.co.uk/pipe.php?page=508
I am quoting the article in full as it is really the only source of information I found.
WINDY – perpetual drysmoker
Appears to be a late 1940’s pipe, briar, which I thought initially should have had an internal bowl which did not appear to be present with this one. Some doubt as to how many parts there should be to this pipe, but see the following comments. The stamping is simply WINDY Perpetual Drysmoker one side of shank and Italy Imported Briar on the other

Sitter pipe. The pipe is just over 5 inches of the bowl to end of bit. Chamber diameter is just over 5/8 inch and depth is over 1 1/2 inch.

I have the following from Stan Wolcott, his are the images as well:

“WINDY PERPETUAL DRYSMOKER by Stan Wolcott”
In my travels I recently came across this intriguing pipe on which very little information appears online by Google search. The left side (?) is stamped “Windy Perpetual Drysmoker” and on the right side (?) “Imported Briar/Italy”. The stem has a small round gold medallion on the left side bearing a “R”. Although several similar pipes are pictured online here in the USA and UK, no explanatory information is included with those images. Floyd Norwood of Tennessee, who restored the pipe for me, also had no idea how the pipe was to be smoked. Tony Pringle of the UK, who has one pictured on his website, believes there may be other pieces which are missing from the four present in the images—flat cap, rounded cap with five vent holes (presumably the wind cap) and the pipe bowl and stem. As can be seen from the images, the flat cap has female threads and screws into the bottom (?) onto male threads on the bowl. The wind cap has male threads and screws into the top (?) of the bowl. I have placed the question marks in parentheses following the terms top, bottom, right and left, since I’m not even sure whether the flat cap is intended to be the bottom. Can someone out there enlighten me and the NASPC readership about this “mystery pipe”, its manufacturer and the proper way of smoking it?

This guy seems to have mastered it ..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1Zk3qxuce0

The “Perpetual” part of the name seems to come from the ability to actually load more tobacco from the bottom of the pipe whilst still alight and of course the dottle etc. gets burnt as the smoking progresses. Rather ingenious. There are at least two possible for makers from the logo, REGIS and EMPIRE STATE and nothing seems to be known of these either.

Tony Pringle of smokingmetal then includes the following photos of the pipe. There is no doubt that it is the same pipe that I have. There are a few variations between the two but the overall design is the same. He shows photos of the pipe as a whole, taken apart and of the stamping.

The pipe that Troy gave me is in much better condition and also is stamped slightly different. The left side of the shank is the same but the right side only reads IMPORTED BRIAR on mine. The ITALY stamping runs around the shank at the junction of the shank and stem. It is stamped on what would be the bottom side if the cap is on the bottom. The stem on the one I have does not have the gold logo or seal. I used a cotton swab and alcohol to scrub the threads on the bowl and the two lids. There was a lot of debris in both sets of threads.

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and the second cutting head as it was a perfect fit for the diameter of the bowl. I took the cake back to bare wood.

With the major debris cleaned away with the alcohol and cotton swabs I used a toothbrush to scrub the threads on both the top and bottom of the bowl and also on the two caps. With the interior cleaned out and the threads cleaned I put some Vaseline on the threads of the caps and put the pipe back together. I used some acetone on cotton pads to remove the spotty and broken finish on the bowl. I was amazed at the grain that was underneath the finish. There were no fills and just a few small sandpits.

With the finish removed the pipe was beginning to look like new. All that was left was to clean up the stem and then buff the two of them together. Look closely at the grain on the bowl and caps. I really find this a beautiful pipe.

I put a plastic washer on the tenon between the shank and the stem so I could sand the stem in place in the shank and keep the shoulders of the stem from rounding. I sanded the tooth chatter on the top and bottom of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and then with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge. I went on to sand it with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and then rubbing it down with Obsidian Oil. One this that was very interesting about this stem was the quality of the vulcanite. The sanding dust was absolutely black rather than the usual brown. It left black streaks on the micromesh.

I dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit pads and then rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after the 4000 grit pad and the 12,000 grit pad.

I buffed the pipe and stem on the buffer using Blue Diamond Plastic Polish on the wheel to polish the bowl and the stem. I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect the finish and then buffed it with a clean, flannel buff to raise the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Thanks Troy for the strange yet beautiful pipe. I enjoyed working on this one and will also enjoy experimenting with how to smoke it!

Thanks Troy and thanks for looking!

NEPAL PROJECT PIPE SALE 4 – Jobey 300 Bent Diamond Shank Brandy 9mm Meerschaum Filter Pipe

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

This is the fourth pipe from the box of pipes that I was gifted by a good friend of mine with the instructed purpose of cleaning them up and selling them with all of the proceeds going to the aid of earthquake victims in Nepal. Once again all funds raised will all go to the SA Foundation, and organization that has worked in Nepal for over 15 years helping provide recovery, housing and job training for women who are victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking. The ongoing earthquakes (over 300) that continue to shake Nepal have left much in ruins. The SA Foundation Project there was able to find new housing for the women and help with staff as well. Every dollar raised from the sale of these pipes will go to the work in Nepal.

This one is a little Jobey pipe has the typical Jobey fitment system with the tenon in the shank and the stem sliding over that. However that is where the typical ends. It is open for a 9mm filter and in this case a 9mm meerschaum filter. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank on the left side with the words Jobey over Meerschaum over Filter and on the right side it is stamped 300.

The finish on the bowl was in great shape, just dirty. The bowl itself needed a light reaming. The stem was dirty, oxidized and had straightened over time. There was a small nick on the top of the stem about mid-point. The inside of the bowl, shank and stem were dirty with tars and oils. There was no filter moldering away inside the shank which I was glad to see.

I did some searching to find out about the filters that were used. I found some pictures of the meerschaum filters that were used. I checked and the shank easily holds a regular 9mm filter from Vauen should the new owner wish to use one.

I set up the heat gun and heated the stem to deal with the bend first. I wanted to bend enough to give it a proper look. Once it was flexible I bent it over a wooden rolling pin that I use for this purpose.

With that corrected I took it back to the work table to address the cleaning issues. I used a PipNet reamer to ream the cake from the bowl and clean up the inside of the bowl.

I cleaned the shank and the airway in the bowl and stem with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol until it was clean. It did not take much to clean it out. A few pipe cleaners and cotton swabs and it was clean. I used a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to knock off the grime on the stem and work over the small nick on the top of the stem. Once I had it cleaned up I moved on to polishing the stem with the micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and then dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit pads. As is my practice, I rubbed the stem down between each set of three pads with my Obsidian Oil Sock to give me continued traction in polishing the stem.

When I finished with the micromesh sanding pads I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond Plastic polish on the wheel and then gave it several coats of carnauba wax to preserve and protect. I finished by giving it a final buff with a clean, soft flannel buffing pad to raise the shine. The finished pipe is shown below. It should make whoever picks it up a decent smoking pipe.

This Jobey 300 bent brandy should make someone a great addition. If you are interested in this pipe email me with an offer at slaug@uniserve.com and we can discuss it. The entirety of the sale price will go to the Nepal project. I will pay the postage so that does not get taken off the proceeds. If you are interested in reading about the SA Foundation you can look at their website at http://www.safoundation.com.

Thanks for looking.

NEPAL PROJECT PIPE SALE 11 – Restoring a LHS Certified Purex 97 Squashed Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

I decided to add this LHS Bulldog to the sale. It is thus the eleventh pipe from the box of pipes that I was gifted by a good friend of mine with the instructed purpose of cleaning them up and selling them with all of the proceeds going to the aid of earthquake victims in Nepal. Once again all funds raised will all go to the SA Foundation, and organization that has worked in Nepal for over 15 years helping provide recovery, housing and job training for women who are victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking. The ongoing earthquakes (over 300) that continue to shake Nepal have left much in ruins. The SA Foundation Project there was able to find new housing for the women and help with staff as well. Every dollar raised from the sale of these pipes will go to the work in Nepal.

It is an old LHS (LH Stern) Bulldog. It is stamped on the left side of the shank with the shape number 97 and almost over the top of that stamp is the application of a white imprinted logo. The logo reads LHS in a flattened diamond. On the top of the diamond it reads Certified Purex and on the bottom of the diamond it read Imported Briar. I have had quite a few LHS pipes on my work table over the years but this is the first time I have seen this shape bulldog. It is squat and short but has a large bowl – the size of my thumb and the bowl is quite deep. There are two rings around the bowl and a bulldog cap. The rustication pattern is also quite unique – looking like a thatched pattern. There is an aluminum fitment in the shank of the pipe and an aluminum tenon with a separated stinger that screws into the fitment in the shank. The stem was slightly oxidized and underturned. There were no major tooth marks or chatter on the stem. The finish was in decent shape, just dirty and dusty. The rings around the cap were plugged with debris that would need to be cleaned out. The airway in the bottom of the bowl was very small looking. The bowl had been reamed recently and was clean that way.

If you look closely at the alignment of the metal band on the shank with the band on the stem you will see how it is underturned and how the band on the shank is slightly corroded next to the shank.

The close up of the bowl shows the constricted airway at the bottom of the bowl on the back side. Too me it looked to be almost plugged with tars and would not be too difficult to open. I unscrewed the stem from the shank to look at the internals. I have found that pipes with the metal fitment in the shank are generally quite dirty on the other side of the metal mortise and take some work to clean. This pipe was no exception. I tapped the metal end against my desk top and a lot of chunks of tar fell out on the desk top. The stinger was inserted into the threaded tenon and also was quite dirty and the slots in it were also restricted with buildup. I heated the tenon and stinger with the flame of the lighter hoping to loosen the tenon in the shank and straighten the fit in the shank. I heated it until the stem itself was warm and the metal tenon did not budge. I was able to remove the stinger for cleaning.

I examined the tenon insert in the stem (probably should have done this first). I found that the metal plate that acted as a stem adornment and the tenon were integrated into one piece and no amount of heating would ever loosen the tenon from the shank. I had to come up with another solution. I screwed the stem back on the pipe and set it aside to contemplate my course of action. I thought of adding a thin plate of Lucite or briar between the stem adornment and the shank adornment but decided against that. I let it sit for a while and worked on the stem.

Suddenly I figured out a potential fix. If I were to sand down the shank end enough to allow the stem to sit correctly I could possibly get the alignment correct. I measured the depth of the threads in the shank and then those on the tenon and found that the thread went deeper than the length of the tenon by about 1/8 of an inch. If I could remove some of the aluminum shank end plate I could get it to seat correctly. I used my topping board and pressed the end of the aluminum end plate flat against the board. I carefully worked it in a circular motion on the sandpaper. I checked frequently to make sure I did not take of too much or too little of the aluminum plate. The next photo shows the end plate after it had been topped sufficiently. The scratches from the sandpaper would easily be polished off with micromesh. I have also included four photos of the different angles on the stem to show how the underturn had been corrected. The fit was perfect.

With the stem fit corrected I then turned to cleaning out the inside of the stem and the shank. It took many pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I also used the drill bit from the KleenReem reamer to open the airway into the bowl. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl down with oil soap and a tooth brush. I picked out the debris in the twin rings around the cap. I sanded the stem down with 220 grit sandpaper and then followed that by sanding with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge.

There were two small tooth marks in the vulcanite on the underside of the stem. I repaired those with a drop of clear super glue. I sanded the glue patch with 220 grit sandpaper and then repeated sanding it with the two sanding sponges. When finished I sanded it with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. Between each set of three pads I rubbed the stem down with an Obsidian Oil saturated sock that I use for this purpose. I let it sit for just a few moments before continuing with the next grit of pads. The oil gives traction for polishing the stem.

I used the micromesh pads to also polish the aluminum on the shank and the stem. I worked through all of the grits to polish it to a shine. I also used 0000 steel wool to polish the stinger and the tenon. Then I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond Plastic polish to further raise the shine. I put it back on the bowl and buffed the bowl and shank lightly with Blue Diamond. A light touch keeps the buffing compound from collecting in the grooves. I also carefully worked around the white stamping on the shank. I gave the stem several coats of carnauba wax and then rubbed the bowl down with Halcyon II Wax and hand buffed the bowl and shank with a shoe brush. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I really like the shape and the rustication on this one. I am looking forward to loading a bowl and enjoying it on the weekend ahead. Thanks John.

This LHS Bulldog is a beautiful pipe and the rustication and stain gives it almost a multidimensional look. It should make someone a great addition. The entirety of the sale price will go to the Nepal project. I will pay the postage so that does not get taken off the proceeds. If you are interested in reading about the SA Foundation you can look at their website at http://www.safoundation.com.

Thanks for looking.

Preserving a Early KBB Yello Bole Propeller Logo Premier Canadian

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Blog by Troy Wilburn

I picked this early 30’s Yello Bole Canadian Premiere off EBay. When I saw this pipe I just knew I wanted it. It has original finish, lightly smoked with no teeth marks, with a large bowl and rusticated finish. The seller did clean out the bowl and such but left the finish and stem original. It was in just remarkable condition for its age to me.

Since it had only the markings of KBB and Yello Bole (No “Honey Cured Briar “) and a propeller logo it has to be a very early Yello Bole. Although it lacks a 4 digit stamp it’s the same size as the 2272 KBB YB Canadian I got from Steve, making it a shape 72.

Here are pictures of the pipe as it arrived in mail.

I decided not to do very much to it and just preserve it as it is. I cleaned the rustication with a tooth brush and mineral oil and then lightly sanded the bowl with 2500 grit and oil to knock down the rough edges of finish that was cracking and couple of very slight scratches.

Then I sanded stem with the same sandpaper and oil just to knock some of the rough surface down. You can still see the Yello Bole coating in the bottom of the bowl where it hasn’t been smoked enough to coat it with cake. I put a little bee’s wax on the tenon to keep it from getting to tight and snapping tenon. These old YBs can be bad about that. That’s it. Took me less than 30 minutes. Ready for some very slight buffing and wax.

Finished preservation of this old smoke pole.

Very nice crisp stampings on pipe.

I have been wanting a Large Bowl YB Propeller Canadian and was pleased as punch to find this one. It goes perfect with the 72 I got from Steve.

Bringing a pre-1884 era CPF Bent Billiard Back to Life

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Blog by Steve Laug

My friend John gave me an old pipe that needed to be restored and it fits well into my collection of older CPF pipes. This one was a CPF bent billiard with the CPF logo in an oval and the word French arched above it and the word Briar arched below it. On the gold band around the shank were false hallmarks and the CPF logo in an oval. It was an old timer with the orific style button on a horn stem. The tenon on the end of the stem was bone and in excellent shape. The threads on the tenon were perfect and the tenon looked almost new. However, the threads in the shank were worn and would not hold the stem in place. It could be spun around and with a slight wiggle it came out of the shank. The threads on the tenon no longer aligned with the threads in the shank. The horn stem itself had some tooth chatter on both sides of the stem near the button and was dirty and tired looking. The finish on the bowl was in great shape. The bowl itself had been reamed but there was a light coat of ash in the bowl. The rim looked like it had been topped somewhere in its life but whoever did the work did it well.

I have written a blog about the history of the brand previously. You can read it for details at this link: https://rebornpipes.com/2013/04/14/some-reflection-on-the-historical-background-on-cpf-pipes/

For the sake of summary I include a portion of that blog here.

CPF stands for Colossus Pipe Factory. There is not much known about the Colossus Pipe Factory. I learned that by the mid 1890’s CPF was owned by Kaufman Brothers & Bondy (KB&B). They operated the factory at 129 Grand Street, in New York City, New York. I had a faint memory of some connection between CPF and Kaufmann Brothers & Bondy. But was unsure where I had heard or read that. In the process of reading information I came across this post by Bill Feuerbach on the Kaywoodie Forum it read as follows: “About 10 years ago I picked up two original invoices from KB&B. One is dated February 5, 1884 and the other December 9, 1898. Both have the address as 129-131 Grand Street, which is in Soho, adjacent to the Bowery in New York City. The 1898 invoice has in the upper left hand corner the initials CPF and Trademark. So by 1898 KB&B was making it known to the trade that they owned the CPF trademark. The 1884 invoice does not have CPF on it. Therefore I think we can assume KB&B acquired or started the CPF line sometime between 1884 and 1898.”

Thus we know that the brand was purchased by KB & B sometime between 1884 and 1898 and that it continued until 1915. That time frame gives help in dating some of the older CPF pipes you or I might find. It can be said that prior to the dual stamping it is fairly certain that the pipe is pre-1884 to 1898. After the dual stamping it can be placed post 1898 until the closure of the brand line in 1915. CPF made beautiful pipes. I believe Sam Goldberger was correct in his assertion of the potential carvers that made the pipes being of European training and the classic shapes and well aged briar. That coincides with all the CPF pipes that I have come across.

The pipe I got from John is one of the earlier pre-1884 as it only bears the CPF stamp in faded gold leaf on the shank. I took the stem off the shank to look over the connector in the shank. The threads were worn and there was a chunk of briar missing from the bottom side of the shank exterior inside the band. There also appeared to be a crack at the top of the shank but it turned out to not be a crack but rather an area where the end of the shank is stepped down. I filled in the hollow area with wood glue and used the dental pick to push it down in the divot area.

I tried several methods for dealing with the damaged threads in the shank. The first of these was to build up the tenon with wood glue and then also with super glue. Both methods failed. As soon as I twisted the tenon into the shank the threads were stripped of all of the glue buildup. Those two methods utterly failed. I cleaned off the tenon with alcohol on cotton pads and started over. I examined the threads in the shank and it suddenly dawned on me that I could build them up. I carefully used super glue on the threads keeping it totally out of the airway in shank. I filled in the threaded area with the glue and once it dried I was able to recut the threads with the bone tenon itself. The repair worked and the stem fit snugly in the shank.

I have learned over the years that using micromesh sanding pads on horn stems really raises a shine and brings out the grain in the horn. I started by wet sanding this one with 1500-2400 grit micromesh to take care of the tooth chatter and to reshape the oval button. It took some sanding but I finally got is shaped correctly. These first three grits of micromesh do the hard work in polishing the horn. When I finished I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. You can really begin to see the bands in the horn and the grain. This was one beautiful piece of horn. I dry sanded the stem with 3200-4000 grit pads and the grain began to really show and glow. I love the translucence of horn once it begins to really shine. This stem was truly a beauty to behold. I rubbed it down again with Obisidan Oil before moving on to the next grits of micromesh. I finished with the 6000-12,000 grit pads – dry sanding through each grit. I then buffed the stem lightly with the Blue Diamond Plastic Polish to give the final shine. I rubbed down the bowl with a light coat of olive oil and then cleaned up the band on the stem with silver polish and micromesh sanding pads. I finished the band by buffing it with a jeweler’s silver polishing cloth. The next photo shows the stamping with the gold leaf on the shank and also gives a clear photo of the stamping and faux hallmarks on the band. I buffed the pipe with multiple coats of carnauba wax and then gave it a final buff with a clean, soft flannel buffing pad to raise the shine. The finished pipe is shown below. Note the glow of the horn stem and the contrast of the brass/gold band. This old timer is ready for many more years of service. If you have not smoked a horn stem pipe you have to give one a try. They are a totally different experience from vulcanite or Lucite. They are comfortable and light in the mouth. I am looking forward to breaking this one in again and enjoying smoking it.

Thanks for looking

NEPAL PROJECT PIPE SALE 2 – Breathing New Life into a Lorenzetti Dublin

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug
I was gifted a box of pipes from a good friend of mine with the instructed purpose of cleaning them up and selling them with all of the proceeds going to the aid of earthquake victims in Nepal. The funds raised will all go to the SA Foundation, and organization that has worked in Nepal for over 15 years helping provide recovery, housing and job training for women who are victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking. The ongoing earthquakes (over 300) that continue to shake Nepal have left much in ruins. The SA Foundation Project there was able to find new housing for the women and help with staff as well. Every dollar raised from the sale of these pipes will go to the work in Nepal.
The second pipe I decided to clean up from the box of donated pipes is a beautifully grained Lorenzetti bent Dublin. This one will also be sold and all the proceeds will go to the project in Kathmandu. It is stamped Lorenzetti over Italy over 2 on the left side of the shank. It is a great looking piece of briar with a few nicely done fills that blend into the briar.

When I brought it to the worktable the briar was very dirty. The finish was natural so it was not going to be a problem. It would need to be wiped down and scrubbed. The two rings around the top of the bowl were full of grime and needed to be cleaned as well. The silver on the shank and on the stem was oxidized. The top of the rim was covered with tars and oils that overflowed the bowl. The bowl itself was still round which was a plus but the cake in it was quite thick. The inner bevel of the rim was thick with tars and oils and I was concerned there would be damage underneath. The stem was Lucite and had minimal tooth chatter at the button. Looking at the Lorenzetti website I am uncertain the stem is the original but the fit and look are good.

Internally the airway in the stem was filthy. There was even build up on the end of the tenon. The slot in the end of the stem had some of the same debris built up in the corners. The shank airway and mortise was darkened with the tars and at the bottom of the mortise there were small chunks of debris. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer to remove the cake. I took it back to bare wood to remove the crumbling cake and give whoever purchases this pipe the opportunity to build the cake the way they choose.

I touched up the reaming with a sharp pen knife and cleaned the internal edges at the top carefully. I scrubbed the bowl and rim with Murphy’s Oil Soap on cotton pads to remove the grime and the tars and oils on the top of the rim. I scrubbed the rings around the bowl with a tooth brush and the soap. I touched up the bevel of the inner edge of the rim with a folded piece of sandpaper and then a medium and fine grit sanding sponge to remove the stubborn buildup. When I had finished I rinsed the bowl with cool water to rinse off the oil soap and dried it with a cotton cloth. The rim came out looking far better than I expected. There was one spot in the front, directly at the centre that darkened but the overall rim looked very clean. I cleaned out the internals of the mortise and airway with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I scrubbed until the cleaners came out white. I used the drill bit on the KleenReem reamer and ran it through the airway to remove any buildup there.

I scrubbed the silver band on the shank and the stem with silver polish on a cotton pad. I scrubbed until all the oxidation was removed. I then polished them both with a jeweler’s cloth. Then it was time to polish the stem. I used micromesh sanding pads to polish the Lucite. I worked to remove the tooth chatter at the button end by wet sanding it with 1500 grit micromesh pads. I wet sanded the entire stem with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil between each set of three pads. I buffed it with White Diamond between the 2400 and the 3200 grit pads.

I rubbed the bowl down with a light coat of olive oil and let it dry. Then I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond Plastic Polish on the wheel. I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it to a shine with a clean, soft flannel buff. The finished pipe is shown below.

On EBay Lorenzetti pipes sell for between $180-$200 each for the sand blast versions. This is a smooth so I would think that it could easily sell for that or more should it strike someone’s fancy. If you are interested in this pipe email me at slaug@uniserve.com and we can discuss it. The entirety of the sale price will go to the Nepal project. I will pay the postage so that does not get taken off the proceeds. If you are interested in reading about the SA Foundation you can look at their website at http://www.safoundation.com.

Thanks for looking.

NEPAL PROJECT PIPE SALE 1 – A Quick and Easy Clean up on a Don Carlos Three Note Dublin

4 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I was gifted a box of pipes from a good friend of mine for the distinct purpose of cleaning them up and selling them with all of the proceeds going to the aid of earthquake victims in Nepal. The funds raised will all go to the SA Foundation, and organization that has worked in Nepal for over 15 years helping provide recovery, housing and job training for women who are victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking. The ongoing earthquakes (over 300) that continue to shake Nepal have left much in ruins. The SA Foundation Project there was able to find new housing for the women and help with staff as well. Every dollar raised from the sale of these pipes will go to the work in Nepal.

The first pipe on the work table is a beautiful Don Carlos Three Note Dublin made by Bruto Sordini in 1977. It is a large straight grained pipe. The dimensions are as follows: length 7 inches, height 2 1/2 inches, external diameter at the rim 2 3/8 inches and the diameter of the chamber is almost 1 inch. I knew next to nothing about Don Carlos pipes. This one was stamped on the left side of the shank Don Carlos in script over Fatta a Mano over In Italia. On the right side it is stamped with three music notes and 50/2. The stampings would certainly tell others who know the brand a lot about the pipe but I had no idea what I was dealing with. So I did a little digging on the web to see what I could find out.
I found a website that had lots of info on the stamping and grades that Bruto used on his pipes. http://www.theitalianpipe.com/infowell/guides/doncarlos.htm It also gave the following information on him.

“Bruto was born in the small village of Cagli, where his world-famous Don Carlos pipes are currently being made. He’s in his mid-forties, married with three children. He first got into pipe making about 37 years ago. At that time, he was studying law, but slowly and surely he developed a passion for the artistry of making a work of art out of a piece of wood. After having worked for years and years for major pipe making establishments in the area of Pesaro, Bruto decided to get more independent; that was when he started a partnership with two other pipe makers and founded the Ser Jacopo. After a few years, Bruto took off and started the Don Carlos.”

On the PipePhil site I found this information: http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-d7.html Using the formula for dating found on the photo above I was able to date the pipe. The 50/2 stamping is identical to the information above. It states that in 2002 the pipes started to be stamped with this date reference. The explanation of the stamp is that 50/2 = 25 which was the number of years that Bruto had spent in making pipes in 2002 having started in 1977. So this pipe was made in 2002.

Don Carlos pipes are the products of the creative mind of Bruto Sordini. His unique, and often whimsical shapes are a refreshing departure from the ordinary, and his craftsmanship is readily apparent in each pipe. He grades his pipes using musical notes, and they all feature gleaming Lucite stems.
Looking on the Don Carlos website I found this quick summary of the ranges and grading of his pipes. http://www.doncarlospipes.com/eng/doncarlospipes.html

“Our range includes Rusticated, Sandblasted (under Rusticated), Smooth, Smooth Straight-Grain, and Specialty pipes. Also, as many loyal supporters of Don Carlos pipes know, within each finish the pipes are graded according to its grain and are graded with musical notes: starting from 1 note up to 3 notes, with a 3-notes grade as the highest representing the finest pipe.”

I also found the photo below that showed the stamping that was on the left side of the shank of the pipe I was working on. The pipe was in fairly decent shape when I received it. The finish on the bowl and shank were in excellent shape other than surface dirt. The natural colour of the briar was still in great shape and not darkened with use or age. The rim was the worst part of the exterior of the pipe. The back of the inner beveled rim had some tar build up and I was sure that once I removed it there would be some slight darkening there as well. The bowl also had developed a cake that came up over that beveled edge and would need to be removed. The next two photos show the rim condition and the state of the bowl.

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer using the largest cutting head to cut the cake back to bare wood. You will notice from the angle of the reamer that the bowl follows the angle of the front of the pipe.

Once I had reamed the bowl I was ready to work on the inner edge of the rim. I scrubbed the rim with cotton pads and saliva. I put a lot of elbow grease into removing the buildup of tars and oils. I was able to remove the crust on the rim. There was indeed a little rim darkening in that spot but not nearly what I expected to find. I wiped down the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the grime on the surface of the bowl. With the exterior cleaned it was time to address the inside of the pipe. The shank and airway was dirty and darkened. I cleaned it with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners until I was able to get clean pipe cleaners and swabs back after scrubbing. I also scrubbed the stem with the same and was able to remove all of the buildup from the tenon end and inside the airway. I wiped down the outside of the Lucite stem with alcohol on a cotton pad and used micromesh sanding pads to remove the light tooth chatter near the button on the top and bottom sides. I took the pipe to the buffer and buffed it with Blue Diamond Plastic Polish on the wheel and then gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I finished by buffing it with a clean, flannel buff to raise the shine. The finished pipe is shown below.

I am still researching the value on this pipe, but on EBay they sell for between $400-$500 each for the smooth 3 note pipes. This beauty is certainly worth that. If you are interested in this pipe email me at slaug@uniserve.com and we can discuss it. The entirety of the sale price will go to the Nepal project. I will pay the postage so that does not get taken off the proceeds. If you are interested in reading about the SA Foundation you can look at their website at http://www.safoundation.com.

Thanks for looking.

Bringing a Comoy’s Grand Slam 5 Straight Bulldog Back to Life

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on my worktable was a Comoy’s Bulldog. Personally, I think Comoy’s nailed the straight bulldog shape better than most others. It is a perfect bulldog shape and it is a pleasure to hold and smoke. The stamping on the left side of the shank reads Comoy’s over Grand Slam over Pipe. On the left underside of the shank next to the stem it is stamped X7. On the right topside it is stamped in the classic circle reading Made in London with the “in” in the centre of the circle. Underneath the circle it reads England. Further up that side of the shank is a number 5 stamped almost next to the bowl. I examined the C-inlay on the stem to see how it was made. I have learned over time and through research on these pipes that if it’s been applied in three steps, then it was made pre-1980. This one was indeed a three-step C-inlay. Thus I knew it was made earlier than 1980.

Like all of the pipes I work on, I took a moment to give the pipe a quick assessment. Before I even start the clean up and restoration I take time to look it over to make sure I see what I have to deal with on a particular pipe. The examination helps me to plan how I am going to address the issues on this particular pipe. The Comoy’s pipe was definitely in need of some TLC. The original finish on the Grand Slam Pipe line was rich and full of life. The contrast of dark stain that highlights the grain and the top coat of stain that varies from a rich red to a dark golden combine together to give a very beautiful finish. There were no major dents in the briar that needed to be addressed, though there was a small one in the shank near the stem junction on the sharp edge on the right side that could not be repaired. The briar itself was lifeless and faded looking dull and flat. There was some dirt and grime on it and particularly at the bowl shank junction. The rim had a thick coating of tars on top and some minimal damage to the inner bevel. The bowl had a light cake and seemed to have been reamed recently. It would need to be tidied up.

The stem was badly oxidized and had tooth marks on the top side and the underside near the button. The slot was partially plugged and would need to be opened.

I cleaned up the bowl with a wipe down of alcohol on a cotton pad to remove the dirt and grime and begin to soften the tars on the rim. I gave it a light sanding with 1500 grit micromesh sanding pads. Then I wiped it down once more with the alcohol and cotton pads. The buildup was just about gone. Just a little more scrubbing and the rim was finished. I lightly sanded the stem with a medium grit sanding sponge to loosen the oxidation and then dropped it in a bath of Oxyclean to soak overnight. In the photo below you can see the oxidation begin to run off the stem into the white bubbles of the Oxyclean mixture. The next morning when I took it out of the bath the mixture was yellow with the oxidation. I dried off the stem with a coarse cotton towel to remove the softened oxidation. The stem was much cleaner and black of the vulcanite was beginning to show. I put the stem on the shank and sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper followed by a medium grit sanding sponge to remove the oxidation that had come to the surface after the soak.

I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil and then took the following photos of the stem to show the progress so far.

I cleaned out the deep tooth mark on the underside of the stem with a dental pick and then a cotton pad and alcohol. Once it was clean I used clear super glue to make a patch on the marks. I over filled the repair so that it would dry and not shrink too much requiring a second coat. I set the repaired stem aside to dry for the day while I was at work. After work I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and then with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge. When the surface of the repair matched the stem material the sanding was finished. I then used a flat blade screw driver to unscrew the end of the stinger in the tenon. The cap on the end held a replaceable leather washer in place. Once the cap was off I was able to remove the washer. I then used a pair of needle nose pliers on which I have covered then ends with a thick wrapping of scotch tape. This provides a cushion when grabbing onto metal. The stingers in the Grand Slam were threaded and I heated the metal tenon until the goop holding it tight was loose. I turned it with the pliers until it was free of the tenon. With all of the parts removed from the stinger I cleaned it with a soft bristle brass tire brush to clean off the tars. I cleaned out the interior of the stinger with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I used the brass brush to also clean the threads on both ends of the stinger. When I had them cleaned I used coated the threads on the front of the stinger with a light coat of Vaseline to protect it and lubricate them when I turned the cap onto the end. I had cleaned it with some soap and warm water and then used the Vaseline to give it some life. With it all cleaned and lubricated I put it back together and set it aside while I cleaned the shank and the stem. I used the drill bit on the KleenReem pipe reamer to clean out the airway from the end of the mortise to the bottom of the bowl. It had almost closed off with the tars. The draught on the shank was very constricted. Once I had run the bit through it several time cleaning out the buildup the draught was open and unrestricted. I cleaned out the shank and airway with alcohol on cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. Once they came out clean the shank was finished and ready for the stem.

I cleaned out the stem with pipe cleaners and cotton swabs while I had the stinger out. I was able to remove all of the buildup in the stem and then put it all back together again. The stinger end was lubricated and then threaded back into the tenon. It sits quite deep in the tenon and has a small flange that sits against the tenon end. Here are some photos of the stinger in place in the stem.

I used a 1500 grit micromesh pad to further polish the aluminum of the stinger. I sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-4000 grit pads. Between the first set of three pads and after the second set I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. When it dried I buffed the stem with White Diamond on the wheel to polish the vulcanite. I brought it back to the worktable and gave it a further coat of Obsidian Oil.

I finished dry sanding with 6000-12,000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I rubbed the stem down a final time with Obsidian Oil and buffed it with Blue Diamond Plastic Polish on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. Between each coat of wax I buffed it with a clean, soft flannel buffing pad to raise the shine. The photos below show the finished pipe. It is cleaned, polished and ready for that next inaugural smoke.

Thanks for looking.

Midterm Exam #2: Repairing the Leaky Airway on a Champion Deluxe

4 Replies

Blog by Anthony Cook

It’s exam day again. I didn’t get much sleep, but I did have a good breakfast of Pop-Tarts and leftover ramen. So, let’s do this! This time, the exam is based on a bent brandy shaped Champion Deluxe.

PipePhil provides a little info on the Champion brand: The pipe I’m working with has shank stamping and a stem logo that is identical to the middle pipe in the above graphic. The country of origin for the brand is listed as Switzerland, but there must be some French connection. The word “FRANCE” is stamped across the bottom of the shank-end of the stem on my pipe. You can see the pipe for yourself in the photos below, which were taken shortly after its arrival. I was really pleased with this one when it arrived. I really liked the size, shape, and rustication pattern. As I turned it over in my hands, it seemed to be in pretty good condition. There were no major cracks or gouges, only a generous amount of grime on the stummel, one or two nicks on the rim, and a little oxidation on the stem. I thought it would clean up nicely and was beginning to look forward to working on it.

Then, I pulled the stem out to check the internals and cringed… The airway was drilled so high that it actually penetrated the top of the mortise and only a very thin layer of briar remained between it and the surface of the shank. In fact, the wood was so thin that it had either cracked from heat/moisture expansion or had been punctured by the rustication tool. If you look closely, you can see in the second image that the alcohol from a dampened pipe cleaner would seep out of the airway to the surface of the shank.

I didn’t have the confidence at the time to attempt to repair something as essential and delicate as an airway. So, I reamed the bowl, scrubbed the inside of the shank and stem clean, and then dropped it back into the box where it’s been withering away for several months. So, today I pulled it back out for my second midterm exam.

The airway needed to be sealed before doing anything else. If that wasn’t successful any other work would be pointless. So, I clamped the stummel upside-down in my bench vise using a couple of foam strips to cushion it. I tried to make sure that the airway was as level to the ground as possible. Then, I applied super thin CA inside the airway with an applicator bulb. Since I couldn’t really see inside the shank and bowl, I had previously measured the length of the airway and marked it off on the applicator with a strip of tape. This, along with a slow and steady hand, kept me from dribbling the CA into the bowl. Once I was sure that the glue was completely dry, I used 240-grit and 320-grit sanding needles to smooth out any lumps and bumps that the glue may have created in the airway. Then, I prepared my initial test of the patch. I dampened a pipe cleaner with alcohol and inserted it into the airway. I couldn’t see any seepage, but just to be sure I pulled out my jeweler’s loupe to give it a closer inspection. Still nothing. The patch had passed its first test. I set up a retort for the next test. If there were any open fissures in the shank, the evaporation from the boiling alcohol would surely seep through. I flushed the shank 10-12 times before setting the pipe aside to cool. The color of the alcohol in the tube is a testament to the merits of a retort. It’s not filthy by any means, but remember, this is a pipe that I once thought was clean.

While the pipe rested, I closely inspected the shank to see if the patch had held. Success! I found no moisture seepage at all. The patch was doing its job and the worst part of the exam was over! After another dozen or so flush with the retort the alcohol in the tube was almost completely clean. I let the pipe cool, and then gave it a final, quick scrub the wrap up the internal cleaning. I placed the stem into a bath of warm water and Oxyclean and let soak for about an hour before I scrubbed it down with cubes cut from a Magic Eraser pad to remove the oxidation. Once the stem was clean, I applied a black CA glue patch to the remaining dents. I put a drop of activator on the patches to speed up the drying and they were ready to be worked again in about ten minutes. I sanded out the patches with 220-grit (the bottom image in the picture below), 320-grit, and 400-grit paper. Then, I gave the entire stem a light sanding with 600-grit paper to remove any minor scratches. The paint in the stem logo was cracked and flaking. So, I picked out the loose paint, and then I began to fill in the area around the logo with a grout pen begin restoring the logo. I was a little worried about how well this was going to turn out since the recessed stamp was very narrow and shallow. I let the “paint” dry for about 20 minutes before carefully sanding it down with 1200-grit paper and I thought that it came out surprisingly well in the end. I finished up work on the stem by lightly sanding it with 1200-grit paper to even everything out, and then polished with micro-mesh pads 1500-12000. The stem was finished and the clock on the wall was ticking. Some of the other guys were already turning in their papers. So, it was time to start wrapping things up. I mixed up a 3:1 stain solution of isopropyl alcohol and Fiebing’s black dye and applied it to the stummel. Then I buffed the entire stummel with red Tripoli before sanding out the scratches around the stamping with 400-grit, 600-grit, and 1200-grit sandpaper. Then, I applied a 3:1 dilution of Fiebing’s cordovan before polishing the stamping area with micro-mesh pads 3200-12000. I reattached the stem and gave the entire pipe a light buff with white diamond, and waxed the pipe with Halcyon II for the stummel and a few coats of carnauba for the stem. Finally, I applied a bowl coating to promote cake growth, and then turned the exam in with my fingers crossed.

The photos below show how it finally turned out. For some reason, in these photos the cordovan and black blend together in the rusticated areas making them appear much darker. When you have the pipe in hand the cordovan is much more evident. I don’t know why that is. Man, I hope we aren’t being graded on our photography skills as well.

But, wait..!

Okay, I realize that this is a little unusual for an exam, but I’d like to make a bit of a revision. You see, when I ran my first bowl through this Champion the draw was extremely poor and it gurgled so badly that it sounded like an aquarium. To be honest, this wasn’t unexpected. The misalignment of the airway between the mortise was so extreme that it couldn’t help but create a lot of turbulence, and therefore a lot of moisture. I couldn’t let that stand. So, I took the stem back to the worktable to tweak it a little.

I clamped the stem in the vice and used a Dremel to cut off the stepped end of the tenon. You can see the piece I removed lying on top of the vice in the photo below. After that, I sanded the face of the tenon smooth and level, and then used a tapered abrasive point in the Dremel to begin funneling the airway. I kept the airway lubricated with mineral oil to prevent the friction from burning or melting the vulcanite. The abrasive point opened up the end of the airway to a 3/16” diameter but transitioned it down to the 1/8” diameter of the original airway. Then, I used 240-grit and 320-grit sanding needles to make sure the transition was smooth. Finally, I used a round abrasive point to create a ¼” diameter chamfer on the tenon face around the airway and the sanding needles again to round off any of the sharp edges. In the picture below, the left image shows the step that I removed balanced on top of the stem for comparison; the right image shows the completed tenon after being reworked. I was eager to try it out and the results were amazing for such a simple modification. The bowl smoked all the way to the bottom with no gurgle at all; even when I intentionally tried to build up steam by puffing rapidly (it was for the sake of science). After the pipe had cooled, I removed the stem and found a lot of moisture in the mortise. So, the extra space below the airway was acting like the sump/well of a system pipe. Very cool. The pipe was once again looking good and smoking well. My second exam was in the bag.

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