Tag Archives: removing oxidation

Restoring a Made in Ireland Shamrock +69 Bent Billiard

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe was a mess and one that obviously had been “ridden hard and put away wet”. The finish and condition was abysmal. It was definitely a stranger to any cleaning! This one is a smooth Bent Billiard that has a rich coloured finish and great grain around the bowl sides and shank under the grit and grime of years. This pipe was purchased on 06/05/21 from a fellow in Brazil, Indiana, USA. The finish is almost bland looking it is so dirty it was hard to know what to expect once it was cleaned. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and read SHAMROCK. It was stamped to the right of the shank and reads MADE IN IRELAND (in a circle) with the shape number +69 next to the bowl. It was filthy when Jeff brought it to the table. There was a thick cake in the bowl and lava on the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. There were nicks in the outer edge all the way around. There were burn marks on the outer edge on the right and left front of the bowl. The stem was oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked so it is hard to know the condition of the edges under the lava overflow. The burn marks are also visible on the outer edge of the bowl. The stem is oxidized, calcified and grimy. It has some tooth marks on the top and underside near and on the surface of the button itself. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. You can see the sandpits and nicks in the briar in the photos below. Even so, it is a nice looking pipe. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Shamrock Pipe. On page 312 it had the following information.

Shamrock (c1941-2009) Originally stamped SHAMROCK with no brand name, an inexpensive line first described in George Yale (New York) mail order booklet in 1941, imported by Rogers Import. The line was actively promoted beginning in ’45, aggressively promoted in US by Rogers from early ‘50s when they registered the Shamrock logo with US Patent Office, claiming propriety since ’38. Over the years offered with P-lip or fishtail mouthpiece, with or without nickel band, with or without shamrock logo on the band, with or without S stamped in white or later in gold on mouthpiece. Appearing in 2008 as unstained smooth and rustic, fishtail mouthpiece with gold impressed P on the stem. COMS of MADE IN over IRELAND (C1945-1965), MADE IN IRELAND forming a circle (c1945-1965), “A PETERSON’S PRODUCT” over MADE IN IRELAND (c1945-1965), MADE IN THE over REPUBLIC over OF IRELAND9c1948-1998). Model is always difficult or impossible to date.

Judging from the description above, the pipe I am working on is stamped with the stamp noted in red above. Made in Ireland in a circle which narrows the date to between approximately 1945-1965. It is just stamped SHAMROCK with no brand name and no stamping on the stem.

On page 302 there was a listing on the nickel mounted markings such as those used on the band on the shank of this pipe. I quote:

Nickel-Mount Markings. Often called faux hallmarks or faux marks by Peterson collectors, this set of three little images of a shamrock, an Irish wolfhound and a round tower appear within rectangular shapes as decorations on nickel mountings. Very early nickel mounts (1891-c. 1920) had no such decorations, only the same stamps used on sterling but without the hallmarks. As a stamp, the set of decorations began to appear at the beginning of the Irish Free State era, sometimes alone but often under K&P and over block lettered PETERSON over DUBLIN, although the three emblems appeared on K&P’s Irish Carving Shamrocks pipes since 1896. The stamp was used until about 1963, when hand soldered nickel bands and ferrules were replaced by pressed ferrules and premade bands…The shamrock is the emblem of Ireland; the Irish wolfhound has long been used for both hunting and protection, and is an emblem of strength; the round tower a symbol of Ireland’s early religious power. These decorations were stamped at the factory on non-sterling mounts only, and the assay office has nothing to do with them…

I was utterly surprised when I took this pipe out of the box and compared it to the before photos. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. Surprisingly the walls looked unscathed from the heavy cake. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. The cleaned up rim top revealed very damaged inner and outer edges and the top. It was both burned and nicked from being knocked out on a hard surface. I took some close up photos of the rim top and edges to show how well it had cleaned up and the damage to the edges around the bowl. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks on the surface near and on the button itself.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It reads as noted above.I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. I started my work on this pipe by topping the bowl and reworking the damage to the inner edge. I topped the bowl on a piece of 220 grit sandpaper on a topping board. Once I had it smooth I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge of the bowl a slight bevel to accommodate the burned areas and blend them into the surrounding briar. There was a large flaw in the briar near the rim top on the right side of the bowl. I filled it in with clear super glue and briar dust. Once the repair cured I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surrounding briar.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I restained the rim top with a Walnut stain pen to match it to the surrounding bowl colour. It looked pretty good. I also touched up the repaired flaw on the right side of the bowl toward the top. They will both blend well once the pipe is polished and buffed.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I am excited to finish this Nickel Banded Older Made in Ireland Shamrock 69+ Bent Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain all around it. The polished nickel band is losing some of the plating but it still looks great with the black vulcanite stem. This smooth Classic Shamrock 69+ Bent Billiard is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 59 grams/2.08 oz. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for your time and as Paresh says each time – Stay Safe.

Restoring a Republic Era Peterson’s Dublin 120 Military Mount Dublin

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is another smooth finished Peterson’s Straight Dublin. This one is a smooth straight Dublin shape that has a rich coloured red finish around the bowl sides and shank. This pipe was purchased on 11/17/21 from a seller in San Marcos, Texas, USA. The finish is dark and dirty but there is some great grain around the bowl sides and shank. The briar has a few small nicks and flaws in the surface but is otherwise very nice. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [arched over] Dublin. It was stamped to the right of the shank and read MADE IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (three lines) with the shape number 120 next to the bowl. It was filthy when Jeff brought it to the table. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a thick overflow of lava on the rim top that was heavier on the back side. It was hard to know what the condition of the rim top and edge would be under that thick lava coat. The Sterling Silver ferrule is tarnished but was stamped Peterson’s [over] Dublin. That is followed by Sterling over Silver. Following the R in Silver were three hallmarks. The first was the seated woman (Hibernia), the second was a harp (the symbol for the grade of silver, the third is the letter B (the year stamp). The unstamped stem was lightly oxidized and had tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked and the rim top and edges have some lava overflow. The stem is lightly oxidized and has tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe with great grain around the bowl. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I decided to narrow down the date first before working on the pipe. I turned to a blog I had on rebornpipes on a silver ferrule that I had worked on previously (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/identifying-hallmarks-on-a-sterling-silver-ferrule/). I quote from that blog and include the graphics.

I always like to date the year a pipe was made while I am working on it. In the process of working on a pipe if I can pin down a date that it was made that it adds another dimension to the restoration process. Once I have identified the hallmarks on the pipe then I use a Hallmark chart to pin the date down. In the case of Peterson’s pipe with a silver band I use a hallmarking chart that Peterson included in their catalogs and on their website

I have a copy of the hallmark charts in one of the Peterson catalogs that I have uploaded to the blog on rebornpipes. I turned to that chart to lock down the date letter for the Sterling Silver Dublin that I am working on. Here is the link to the site (https://rebornpipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/peterson-cataloguecomp_page_27.jpg)

The chart defines the meaning of each hallmark on the silver band. The first one is of a seated woman with a harp is known as the Hibernia stamp and identifies the pipe as made in Ireland. The second stamp is a crowned harp which is a fineness mark denoting the high quality of silver that was used. The third stamp is the upper case italic letter “B”. I have included a larger screen capture of the section in the second photo below.

I blew up the photo of the above chart so that I could read the dates. I have drawn a square around the proper date letter below. It identifies the date of manufacture this Peterson’s pipe to 1987.From the hallmarks it appeared that I was dealing with a pipe that the hallmarks date to 1987.

I turned them to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Dublin 3. On page 298 it had the following information.

Dublin (1906-2003) Although DUBLIN appears under PETERSON’S on many pipe over the decades, it has served mostly as part of the brand name. The word first appeared on pipes hallmarked 1906-11, stamped PETERSON’S over PATENT over DUBLIN. The simpler PETERSON’S over DUBLIN first appeared on pipes hallmarked 1912 after the expiration of the patent. Illustrations of pipes in the ’37 catalog show a random dispersion of the stamp PETERSON’S over OF DUBLIN together with the ordinary PETERSON’S over DUBLIN on every model offered. Specimens of the former will bear either and Irish COM or LONDON MADE over ENGLAND COM and almost certainly date from 1945-62. It was first mentioned as part of a model name in the ’68 price list, as K&P DUBLIN, in ’92 for a Danish market line and in 2017 (see below).

I knew I was dealing with a pipe that had a long history of the stamping that I found on its shank. It is amazing to think that in a company that had a lot of anomalies in their stamping that the DUBLIN stamp continued from 1906-2003 and in other forms even longer. This 1987 made DUBLIN fits nicely within that time frame. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. I took a close up photo of the rim top because I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top looked amazingly good on the top and the inner and outer edges of the bowl. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks on the surface near the button. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It reads as noted above.I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look.I sanded the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads to further make the stain more transparent and make the grain stand out. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I polished the Sterling Silver Ferrule with a jeweler’s cloth to protect and give it a shine. It is a pretty looking pipe.I “painted” the tooth marks in the stem with a lighter flame to lift the marks. Most lifted but I filled in the ones that remained on the top and underside of the stem next to the button edge with clear CA glue. Once the repairs cured I sanded them smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. It was starting to look good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I am excited to finish this Peterson’s Dublin 120 Straight Dublin. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful straight and flame grain all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem was beautiful. This smooth Classic Peterson’s 120 Dublin is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 35 grams/1.23 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will soon be on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section of the store. If you want to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Cleaning up the Fourth Unsmoked Lars of Denmark Genuine Briar Bent Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

Jeff and I picked up four unsmoked, new old stock (NOS) pipes on Facebook that all are stamped on the left side and read Genuine Briar and on the right side Lars of Denmark. I took a photo of the foursome to show what they looked like. We knew that they were not pipes made by Lars Ivarrson when we bought them but the fact that they were interesting and unsmoked caught our attention. They are definitely not high end pipes they are a little higher in calibre than a basket pipe. They are well executed and the draught is good and the alignment of the entry of the airway into the bowl is centered at the bottom of the bowl. Each of the bowls has a carbon coating on the walls of the bowl that is neutral. All will need some simply refurbishing and polishing to smooth years of sitting unused in someone’s drawer or cabinet but none of them are damaged.The fourth and final one I am working on is another bent Pot. I have circled it in red in the photo above. The stem has a logo on the left side of the saddle that is a “dk” (Denmark I believe). The bowl was clean but had a bowl coating on the bowl walls. The rim top and bowl are clean but the finish is a little muddy with marks on the finish. The rim top had some dark stain that was spotty and needed to be removed. The inside of the shank and mortise had some stain inside that was like the walnut stain on the bowl. The vulcanite stem is lightly oxidized and has casting marks on the side of the stem ahead of the saddle portion. It is clean on the inside. The “dk” stamp on the left side is clear and readable. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show some the scuff marks that were on it. The edges of the bowl looked very good. The stem was lightly oxidized and rough with casting marks on the sides of the blade but it was free of tooth marks and chatter.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. They are clear and readable as noted above. The logo stamp on the left side of the saddle bit is also clear.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe from the side. It is a proportionally well made pipe. The tenon is tight and will need to be cleaned as will the dusty shank. I knew next to nothing about the brand. I turned to Pipephil’s site and found some basic information and a photo of a pipe (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-l2.html). The only detail in the side bar was a note saying that this is not a pipe from Lars Mikael Ivarsson son of Sixten Ivarsson. Ah well, There was nothing else there and there was nothing on Pipedia either. It remains a mystery. I have included a screen capture of the pipe on Pipedia. It is stamped identically to the one on my table.I started the work on this pipe by removing as much of the dark spotty stain on the rim top and sides of the bowl. I used 220 grit sandpaper to remove them. I started polishing the briar with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. It was looking better by the final three pads. I needed to do an understain on the rim top with black so I used a black stain pen and stained the top “spottily”. In essence I scribbled with it as my plan was to sand it after it dried to get a similar effect to what was on the bowl sides. Once it dried I sanded it with 1500 and 1800 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped it off with a damp cloth. I stained it with an Oak stain pen and it was a good match. Polishing would blend it further. With the polishing finished I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The inside of the shank and mortise some brown/walnut stain in it. I cleaned it out with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the came out clean. I cleaned the airway in the stem at the same time in the same way.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil to finish it. This interesting Lars of Denmark Genuine Briar Bent Pot turned out to be another nice looking pipe with the little extra TLC I put in once I received it. The rich walnut finish with black under tones highlights the swirls of the grain and works well with the polished vulcanite stem. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Lars of Denmark Bent Pot is a nice size pipe that I think will be a great smoker. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¼ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 54 grams/ 1.94 ounces. Since it is unsmoked it is one you can break in with your tobacco of choice. I will be adding it to the Danish Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store shortly. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Cleaning up a Third Unsmoked Lars of Denmark Genuine Briar Bent Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

Jeff and I picked up four unsmoked, new old stock (NOS) pipes on Facebook that all are stamped on the left side and read Genuine Briar and on the right side Lars of Denmark. I took a photo of the foursome to show what they looked like. We knew that they were not pipes made by Lars Ivarrson when we bought them but the fact that they were interesting and unsmoked caught our attention. They are definitely not high end pipes they are a little higher in calibre than a basket pipe. They are well executed and the draught is good and the alignment of the entry of the airway into the bowl is centered at the bottom of the bowl. Each of the bowls has a carbon coating on the walls of the bowl that is neutral. All will need some simply refurbishing and polishing to smooth years of sitting unused in someone’s drawer or cabinet but none of them are damaged.The third one I am working on is bent Pot with a panel on the left and right side. I have circled it in red in the photo above. The stem has a logo on the left side of the saddle that is a “dk” (Denmark I believe). The bowl was clean but had a bowl coating on the bowl walls. The rim top and bowl are clean but the finish is a little muddy with marks on the finish. There were less visible fills on this one than the previous other two. The inside of the shank and mortise did not have any stain inside thus it was different than the previous two. The vulcanite stem is lightly oxidized and has casting marks on the side of the stem ahead of the saddle portion. It is clean on the inside. The dk stamp on the left side is clear and readable. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show some the scuff marks that were on it. The edges of the bowl looked very good. The stem was lightly oxidized and rough with casting marks on the sides of the blade but it was free of tooth marks and chatter.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. They are clear and readable as noted above. The logo stamp on the left side of the saddle bit is also clear.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe from the side. It is a proportionally well made pipe. The tenon is tight and will need to be cleaned as will the dusty shank.I knew next to nothing about the brand. I turned to Pipephil’s site and found some basic information and a photo of a pipe (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-l2.html). The only detail in the side bar was a note saying that this is not a pipe from Lars Mikael Ivarsson son of Sixten Ivarsson. Ah well, There was nothing else there and there was nothing on Pipedia either. It remains a mystery. I have included a screen capture of the pipe on Pipedia. It is stamped identically to the one on my table.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. It was looking better by the final three pads. With the polishing finished I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The inside of the shank and mortise some brown/walnut stain in it. I cleaned it out with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the came out clean. I cleaned the airway in the stem at the same time in the same way.I sanded out the scratches and deep marks in the stem top, the casting marks on the stem sides and the oxidation on the underside of the stem.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil to finish it. This interesting Lars of Denmark Genuine Briar Bent Pot turned out to be another nice looking pipe with the little extra TLC I put in once I received it. The rich walnut finish with black under tones highlights the swirls of the grain and works well with the polished vulcanite stem. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Lars of Denmark Bent Pot is a nice size pipe that I think will be a great smoker. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 1/2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 48 grams/ 1.69 ounces. Since it is unsmoked it is one you can break in with your tobacco of choice. I will be adding it to the Danish Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store shortly. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Cleaning up an Unsmoked Lars of Denmark Genuine Briar Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

Jeff and I picked up four unsmoked, new old stock (NOS) pipes on Facebook that all are stamped on the left side and read Genuine Briar and on the right side Lars of Denmark. I took a photo of the foursome to show what they looked like. We knew that they were not pipes made by Lars Ivarsson when we bought them but the fact that they were interesting and unsmoked caught our attention. They are definitely not high end pipes they are a little higher in calibre than a basket pipe. They are well executed and the draught is good and the alignment of the entry of the airway into the bowl is centered at the bottom of the bowl. Each of the bowls has a carbon coating on the walls of the bowl that is neutral. All will need some simply refurbishing and polishing to smooth years of sitting unused in someone’s drawer or cabinet but none of them are damaged.The second one I am working on is bent Billiard though in the photo above it has a look of a Brandy. I have circled it in red in the photo above. The stem has a logo on the left side of the saddle that is a dk (Denmark I believe). The bowl was clean but had a bowl coating on the bowl walls. The rim top and bowl are clean but the finish is a little muddy with marks on the finish. There were a few fills (small and hidden) on the sides of the bowl. The vulcanite stem is lightly oxidized and has casting marks on the side of the stem ahead of the saddle portion. It is clean on the inside. The dk stamp on the left side is clear and readable. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show some the scuff marks that were on it. The edges of the bowl looked very good. The stem was lightly oxidized and rough with casting marks on the sides of the blade but it was free of tooth marks and chatter.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. They are clear and readable as noted above. The logo stamp on the left side of the saddle bit is also clear.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe from the side. It is a proportionally well made pipe. The tenon is tight and will need to be cleaned as will the dusty shank.I knew next to nothing about the brand. I turned to Pipephil’s site and found some basic information and a photo of a pipe (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-l2.html). The only detail in the side bar was a note saying that this is not a pipe from Lars Mikael Ivarsson son of Sixten Ivarsson. Ah well, There was nothing else there and there was nothing on Pipedia either. It remains a mystery. I have included a screen capture of the pipe on Pipedia. It is stamped identically to the one on my table.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. It was looking better by the final three pads. With the polishing finished I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. There are some flaws in the briar on both sides. There are small fills and some flaws in the wood. The inside of the shank and mortise has a lot of stain inside which I assume came from dip staining the bowl. I cleaned it out with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the came out clean. I cleaned the airway in the stem at the same time in the same way.I sanded out the scratches and deep marks in the stem top, the casting marks on the stem sides and the oxidation on the underside of the stem.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil to finish it. This interesting Lars of Denmark Genuine Briar Bent Billiard turned out to be another nice looking pipe with the little extra TLC I put in once I received it. The rich oxblood finish hides the fills on the rim top and bowl quite well. The red finish with black under tones highlights the swirls of the grain and works well with the polished vulcanite stem. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Lars of Denmark Bent Billiard is a nice size pipe that I think will be a great smoker. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 47grams/ 1.66 ounces. Since it is unsmoked it is one you can break in with your tobacco of choice. I will be adding it to the Danish Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store shortly. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Cleaning up a Lars of Denmark Genuine Briar Unique Bent

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Blog by Steve Laug

Jeff and I picked up four unsmoked pipes on Facebook that all are stamped on the left side and read Genuine Briar and on the right side Lars of Denmark. I took a photo of the foursome to show what they looked like. We knew that they were not pipes made by Lars Ivarsson when we bought them but the fact that they were interesting and unsmoked caught our attention. They are definitely not high end pipes they are a little higher in calibre than a basket pipe. They are well executed and the draught is good and the alignment of the entry of the airway into the bowl is centered at the bottom of the bowl. Each of the bowls has a carbon coating on the walls of the bowl that is neutral. All will need some simply refurbishing and polishing to smooth years of sitting unused in someone’s drawer or cabinet but none of them are damaged.The first one I am working is a bit of a unique bowl. I have circled it in red in the photo above. The shape of the bowl is a cross between a pot/a Dublin/and an Opera. Looking at it from the top it is shaped like and egg. The stem has a logo on the left side of the saddle that is a dk (Denmark I believe). The bowl was clean but had a bowl coating on the bowl walls. The rim top and bowl are clean but the finish is a little muddy with marks on the finish. There were a few fills (small and hidden) on the rim top and sides of the bowl The vulcanite stem is lightly oxidized and has casting marks on the side of the stem ahead of the saddle portion. It is clean on the inside. The dk stamp on the left side is clear and readable. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show some the scuff marks that were on it. The edges of the bowl looked very good. The stem was lightly oxidized and rough with casting marks on the sides of the blade but it was free of tooth marks and chatter.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. They are clear and readable as noted above. The logo stamp on the left side of the saddle bit is also clear.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe from the side. It is a proportionally well made pipe. The tenon is tight and will need to be cleaned as will the dusty shank.I knew next to nothing about the brand. I turned to Pipephil’s site and found some basic information and a photo of a pipe (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-l2.html). The only detail in the side bar was a note saying that this is not a pipe from Lars Mikael Ivarsson son of Sixten Ivarsson. Ah well, not that Jeff or I ever thought it was an Ivarsson pipe. There was nothing else on Pipephil and there was nothing on Pipedia either. It remains a mystery. I have included a screen capture of the pipe on Pipedia. It is stamped identically to the one on my table. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. It was looking better by the final three pads. With the polishing finished I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The inside of the shank and mortise has a lot of stain inside which I assume came from dip staining the bowl. I cleaned it out with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the came out clean. I cleaned the airway in the stem at the same time in the same way.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil to finish it. This interesting Lars of Denmark Genuine Briar Unique Bent turned out to be a nice looking pipe with the little extra TLC I put in once I received it. The rich oxblood finish hides the fills on the rim top and bowl quite well. Looking at the pipe from the top down it is egg shaped. The red finish with black under tones highlights the swirls of the grain and works well with the polished vulcanite stem. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Lars of Denmark Unique is a nice size pipe that I think will be a great smoker. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 41 grams/1.45 ounces. Since it is unsmoked it is one you can break in with your tobacco of choice. I will be adding it to the Danish Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store shortly. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring a Beautiful Heritage Antique 33 Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have always had an interest in the Kaywoodie Made Heritage Pipe line. I really like the way they are made – both in terms of workmanship and style. They really made some amazing looking pipes and I always try to pick them up when I can. Jeff has also found this to be true so he is on the lookout for this brand in all of his pipe hunts and auction haunts. We purchase this pipe in October 2021from a fellow in Redmond, Oregon, USA. It is stamped 33 on the heel of the bowl and Heritage [over] Antique on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank. The pictures of the sandblast showed it was well done. The finish was dirty and there was a thick cake in the bowl. It appeared that the bowl had been lightly reamed before it came to us. There was a light lava overflow in the sandblast finish on the rim top that would need to go. There was the Heritage double diamond logo on the left side of the stem. The stem was oxidized and had light tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. All totaled it was still a beautiful pipe. We were hooked. Jeff took these photos before he started his clean up work. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition that I noted in the description above. Even though it is very dirty you can see that the rim top and edges all look very good. The stem photos clearly show the oxidation and light tooth marks on both sides. It would need some work. Jeff took photos of the sides of the bowl and heel to show the sandblast finish on the bowl. This blast is rugged and deep. I have worked on quite a few Heritage pipes and have never seen this before. The next photos show the stamping that I described in the opening paragraph. It is clear and readable. He also included a photo of the double diamond logo on the left side of the taper stem. In other blogs on the brand I have given a bit of history on the Heritage Brand. I have included that here as well for ease of reference. Andrew Selkirk did a great job in researching and I am including a link to his work on the blog (https://rebornpipes.com/2014/12/23/refurbishing-a-heritage-heirloom/). I am including a brief summary of what he found in the next two short paragraphs to set the stage for the pipe on my work table.

Heritage pipes were Kaywoodie’s answer to Dunhill. According to one of their brochures, Heritage pipes were made from “briar burls seasoned and cured for up to 8 months,” with only “one briar bowl in over 300 selected to bear the Heritage name.” “Heritage stems are custom fitted with the finest hand finished Para Rubber stems. Mouthpieces are wafer thin and concave.”

The Heritage line began in the early 1960’s, with the trademark issued in 1964. The line was started at the request of Stephen Ogden, (who worked for Kaywoodie in 1962). Mr. Ogdon had previous experience working for Dunhill, either running the New York store or working for Dunhill North America. Mr. Ogden was made President of Heritage Pipes, Inc., Kaywoodie Tobacco Co.,Inc. and Kaywoodie Products Inc. as well as a Vice President of S.M. Frank & Co. Heritage Pipes were produced from 1964 until 1970 (Source kaywoodie.myfreeforum.org).

Andrew also included a copy of the Heritage brochure that I am also including below (Courtesy kaywoodiemyfreeforum). In going through the models displayed on the page there is not one for the 33. The brochure has a great write up on the Heritage Antique Line. It reads Rustic Grain Stands out in Rugged Relief. It describes the line as follows:

This pipe is so bold looking, yet so light and smooth smoking. A special sandblasting process exposes a greater surface area on the bowl, giving a cooler, more satisfying smoke. Centuries-old Heritage Antique is strikingly masculine in appearance.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual precise work. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. The rim top cleaned up very well. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He soaked the stem in Briarville Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. The bowl and the rim top looked very good. The inner and outer edges of the rim also looked very good. There was no damage to the edges. The stem surface had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button.I took photos of the stamping on the underside shank. The stamping was clear and readable as noted above.I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the parts of the pipe to show the overall look of the pipe.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I am very happy with the results. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the light tooth marks and chatter smooth with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them in and started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I wiped it down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside. The sandblast Heritage Antique 33 Apple is a real beauty and the finish and shape are well done and have a classic English look even though this is an American Made pipe. The thin taper vulcanite stem polished up on the buffing wheel with Blue Diamond and had a rich glue. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Heritage Antique Apple fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.02 ounces/29 grams. I will soon be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the American Pipe Maker section. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

New Life for a Republic Era Peterson’s Emerald 01 Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is smooth finished Peterson’s Emerald pipe. This one is an 01 Bent Billiard that has a great rustication on the bowl sides and shank. It also has a triple band on the shank – 2 thinner brass bands separated by and emerald green acrylic band. It came to us from an online auction on 10/04/21 in Leesport, Pennsylvania, USA. This rusticated Bent Billiard had a triple brass and emerald band on the shank that adds a touch of colour to the rusticated pipe. The pipe was very dirty in the rustication on the bowl and shank. The contrast of the brown and black stains gives depth to the rustication. It was stamped on the underside of the shank and read Peterson’s [over] Emerald. That is followed by the stamp that reads Made in the Republic of Ireland in three lines and the shape number 01. The bowl was heavily caked with a thick overflow of lava in the rustication on the rim top. The edges of the bowl appeared to be in good condition under the lava. The stem was lightly oxidized and had tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside on and near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked with a thick overflow of lava on the top and edges. It fills in the rustication quite a bit on the to. The stem is calcified, oxidized and has tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside near the button. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the rustication around this bowl. Underneath all the grime it is a nice looking pipe. He took photos of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. He also included a photo of the P stamp on the left side of the stem to show the condition. I am including the information from Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). I have included a bit of the pertinent history here.

1950 – 1989 The Republic Era – From 1950 to the present time, the stamp for this era is “Made in the Republic of Ireland” in a block format generally in three lines but two lines have been used with or without Republic being abbreviated.

During the 1950’s and 60’s the Kapp & Peterson Company was still in the ownership of the Kapp family. However 1964 saw the retiral of the company Managing Director Frederick Henry(Harry) Kapp.

I knew that I was dealing with a Republic Era pipe made between 1950 and the present. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I turned to The Peterson Pipe book by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg for more information. On page 299 there was a summary of the Emerald Pipe. I quote

Emerald (1987-) Moderate-priced line in Bordeaux and black rustic finish with a shank band of green acrylic between brass rings, P-lip mouthpiece; smooth walnut version added in ’91. Fishtail mouthpiece added in ’97. Identical line and finishes named Jade from early eighties until ’87.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Deoxidizer. He rinsed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. It looked very good when I brought it to the worktable. I took close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top looked very good. The beveled inner edge had some darkening that would need to be cleaned up in the next steps of the process. I took photos of the stem to show the tooth marks on the surface ahead of the button and on the sharp edge of the button itself. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable. I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe. It is a good looking pipe and has a rugged rustication around the bowl and shank.I began my work on the pipe by dealing with the beveled inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it our and lessen the darkening. It cleaned up well and looked very good.The front portion of the rim top had been slightly smoothed out from use so I used a series of burrs on my Dremel to recut the rustication on that portion. I was able to match it pretty well with the remaining rustication on the rim top. I used a brass bristle wire brush to knock off the high spots. I restained the rim top and edge in that area with a Mahogany and Walnut stain pen. The combination of the colours looked very good. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I sanded out the tooth marks and gouges in the surface and reshaped the button edges with 200 grit sandpaper. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I touched up the “P” stamp on the top of the stem with Gold Acrylic Nail Polish. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick and wiped off the excess. There was not enough of a stamp to hold the gold stamp in place. It is faint enough that without a lens it cannot be seen. I am excited to finish this Republic Era Peterson’s Emerald 01 Bent Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the rugged rustication all around it. Added to that the polished triple brass and emerald acrylic band and the black vulcanite stem was beautiful. This Classic Peterson’s Emerald is nice looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 47 grams/1.66 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be on the Irish Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Restoring an Astleys 109 Jermyn St. London Rusticated Medium 52 Dublin

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table was purchased in July 27, 2020 as part of a group of pipes we obtained from a woman in Australia. The pipe is a medium sized Dublin that is rusticated with a classic Astleys style rustication that was meant to increase the surface area of a bowl and thus provide a cooler smoke. This one is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads 52 (shape number) followed by Astleys [over] 109 Jermyn St. [over] London. The pipe was quite dirty and the bowl was thickly caked. The rim edges looked to be in good condition. The taper stem was vulcanite and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. The stem was oxidized and had some calcification on the end. The Astleys “A” stamp on the top of the stem was visible and readable. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up. He took some photos of the bowl and stem to give a sense of the condition of the pipe. You can see the cake and debris in the bowl and the lava in the rustication on the rim top. The stem was dirty and had calcification on both sides at the button. There is also some tooth chatter and some light tooth marks. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos show the rustication patterns around the bowl. Under the oils and grime it was a nice looking bowl. I think it will be a really nice looking pipe once it is restored. He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank and the top of the stem. On the shank it was stamped as noted above. The stem bore the Astleys “A” logo on the topside. I turned to Pipephil’s site to get an overview on the brand (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-a8.html). I have included a screen capture below of several pipes that showed the stamping and the logo on the stem.There was also a link on the site to a blog article in French on a Astleys Cavalier pipe that also included some helpful information (http://pipes.over-blog.com/article-4532650.html). I have included both the French article and the Google Translation below.

Il est à peu près inconcevable, dans une rubrique traitant des pipes Cavalier, de ne pas citer la marque anglaise Astley’s.

En fait de marque, il s’agit initialement d’une vénérable civette londonienne qui fêtait ses 100 ans en 1962. Le magasin, d’abord installé au 109 Jermyn Street (1) s’est déplacé à Piccadilly Arcade et a malheureusement fermé ses portes à la fin des années 90.

Comme le font souvent les civettes, les propriétaires avaient l’habitude de faire produire leurs pipes par les pipiers de leur choix et d’apposer ensuite leur propre label. Les pipes vendues chez Astley’s étaient produites, selon l’époque, par Charatan, Ashton ou James Upshall. Certains prétendent qu’avant la fermeture on commandait aussi à Comoy et GBD, ce qui n’est pas vraiment vérifié.

Quoiqu’il en soit la marque a été rachetée par Mordechai Ezrati, un collectionneur de pipe, qui a aussi acquis James Upshall.

Translation

It is almost inconceivable, in a section dealing with Cavalier pipes, not to mention the English brand Astley’s.

As a brand, it was initially a venerable London civet which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1962. The store, first installed at 109 Jermyn Street (1) moved to Piccadilly Arcade and unfortunately closed its doors in the late 90s.

As civets often do, owners used to have their pipes produced by the pipe makers of their choice and then affix their own label. The pipes sold at Astley’s were produced, depending on the era, by Charatan, Ashton or James Upshall. Some claim that before the closure we also ordered from Comoy and GBD, which is not really verified.

Anyway the brand was bought by Mordechai Ezrati, a pipe collector, who also acquired James Upshall.

From this I found it interesting that various English pipe makers crafted pipes for Astleys. I have highlighted the pertinent section on that above.

From there I turned to the article on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Astley%27s). I quote:

Astley’s was both a brand and name of a famous London tobacconist. The first shop was founded in 1862 and was located at 109 Jermyn Street, just down the road from the Charatan’s shop. They sold meerschaum pipes and later classic pipe shaped briar pipes. The owner of this shop was Mr. Paul Bentley whose family owned and ran the shop since the 1930’s. The shop closed some time ago, and the name of the brand was bought by Mordechai (Moty) Ezrati, who also owns the James Upshall pipe brand.

Astley’s served as an extremely exclusive and renowned shopping outlet for outstanding pipes for the British royalty and London gentry alike. Visitors to London sought out this shop as a ‘must visit’ during their stay. Although they never made their own pipes, the Astley branded pipe was made on contract by Charatan (until the 1980’s), James Upshall, Dunhill, L&JS, and Bill Taylor of Ashton pipes. Some sources (The Piperack for instance) say that Comoy’s and GBD had also made pipes for Astley’s. The shop always commanded extremely high prices for their much sought after specimens.

After Charatan had changed hands and was sold to Herman Lane Limited in the United States, Astley’s continued with their high grade pipe sales by presenting some of the best examples of British pipe manufacturing to pipe connoisseurs around the world.

Stamping: Astley’s, 109 Jermyn St, London (before, Wm Astley & Company, 109 Jermyn St S.W. London). Symbol: Styled white ‘A’.

I have a copy of an Astleys Catalogue on rebornpipes so I have included a link to that below as well as some pages that show the shape and the finish of the pipe I am working on. I have drawn a red box around the shape number (https://rebornpipes.com/2012/08/10/astleys-pipe-catalogue/).I have also drawn a box around the style of finish on the pipe I working on. The photo seems to show a sandblast but does not say so. The pipe I am working on looks similar but it is rusticated in a typical Astleys fashion.Jeff once again did an amazing job cleaning the pipe. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and got rid of the cake. He cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife so that we could see the walls of the bowl and assess for damage. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and alcohol. He scrubbed the exterior with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He rinsed the pipe under warm water. He dried it off with a cloth and then let it air dry. The stem was scrubbed with Soft Scrub and soaked in Briarville’s Stem Deoxidizer. Once Jeff took it out of the bath and rinsed it the stem looked very good. The finish on the bowl and the rim top cleaned up nicely. I took pictures of the pipe to show how it looked when I brought it to the table. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show how clean it was. The stem looked good just some light tooth chatter and several deeper tooth marks near the button.I took a photo of the stamping and it is clear and readable as noted above. I took the stem off the pipe and took a picture to show the proportions of this nice little pipe.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my fingertips. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. I appreciate Mark Hoover’s work in developing this product. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks with the flame of a Bic lighter to try and raise them a bit. Remember vulcanite has “memory” and if the marks are not sharp edge the heat well raise them. In this case while they came up some there was still significant damage. I filled in the remaining tooth marks with Black CA glue and set the stem aside to dry.Once the repairs cured I used a needle file to flatten them out and recut the sharp edge of the button. I sanded the surface of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend in the repairs. I started the polishing process with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. There was still some oxidation on the stem at the shank end. I scrubbed it with Soft Scrub All Purpose Cleanser to remove it and was able to remove the majority of it on both sides of the shank end. It looked better.I used some white acrylic fingernail polish to touch up the “A” logo on the top of the stem surface. I rubbed it on with the brush and worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. Once it was dry I scraped off the excess and lightly buffed it with a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad. It came out looking very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I buffed the stem with a soft cloth to raise the shine. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem surface. As always I am excited to finish a pipe that I am working on. I put the Astleys 52 Rusticated Dublin back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad and hand buffed it to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like along with the polished vulcanite stem. This is nice looking pipe and I am sure that it will be comfortable in hand when smoking as it is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The pipe weighs .92 ounces/26 grams. It is another beautiful pipe and one that will be on the rebornpipes store in the Pipes by English Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

An Interesting Flea Market Find – an unsmoked, no name straight Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I am working on is one that I found yesterday when my wife and daughters and I went for a walk about at the Vancouver Flea Market. It is a weekend tradition here in Vancouver and has a lot of interesting “treasures” among the detritus of very large warehouse garage sale. We make the trek through the place several times a year looking for the various things that we each collect. For me it always pipes and tobacciana. Yesterday I was not disappointed for there among all the normal Chinese made pipes with metal bowls, cobs and poorly made Meerschaum figurals I came across this little unsmoked straight Apple. It had no stamping on the sides of the shank. It is a nice piece of briar with lots of variations in the grain patterns around the bowl and stem sides. The rim top had a small nick on the left front top and outer edge. The bowl itself was clean, raw briar that had not been smoked. The airway drilling from the shank was centered and at the bottom of the bowl. The exterior of the bowl was dusty and there was gummed adhesive stuck on the shank and stem surface that had dried and hardened. The was protected somewhat by this so it was only lightly oxidized and there were no tooth marks on chatter on either side. It was tight in the shank and when twisted free the tenon and shank were very dusty. I took pictures of the pipe when I brought it home. I took photos of the bowl to show the overall condition of the bowl and rim top. You can see it is quite clean and unsmoked and you can see the chip out right front of the rim top. The stem was covered with the adhesive from labels somewhere along it journey.I carefully twisted the stem off the shank. It was very tight in the shank and once removed the tenon was covered with a dusty debris. It is a nice looking pipe and should clean up nicely.I used a cotton pad and some acetone to remove the stick adhesive on the stem and the shank. I wiped the bowl and stem down until it was clean and the stuff was removed. It looked better.I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the chipped and damaged top and edge on the front left side of the rim top. It looked much better when I had finished.I cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway to the bowl and in the stem with isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. It was dusty from sitting and there was some light stain that came off the inside of the mortise.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads to clean up the finish and give it a shine. I wet sanded with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cotton cloth. The photos tell the story. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for ten minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. With both parts of this Unsmoked No Name Straight Apple finished, I polished the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The mix of grain on the bowl came alive with the buffing. The finish on the briar works well with the polished black vulcanite stem. The finished pipe is a well-proportioned mixed grain No Name Apple. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. This unsmoked pipe weighs 36 grams/1.31 ounces. This NOS Unsmoked Apple is yours to load with a favourite tobacco and break it in as you like. I will be putting this interestingly made Freehand in the American Pipe Maker Section of the rebornpipes store very soon. If you would like to purchase it and carry on the legacy of the previous pipe smoke send a message or an email to me. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this great looking little straight Apple.