Tag Archives: removing oxidation

A Fun Restore from Bob Kerr’s Estate – A Blatter Brothers of Montreal Oom Paul

New Life for an Interesting Thick Shank “Malaga” Rhodesian

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one Jeff and I picked up on eBay. It is a thick round shank with a Bull cap on the top of the bowl. I would call the shape a Rhodesian though I am sure some will disagree. The pipe has a smooth finish. The pipe was dirty and caked with lava flowing onto the rim top and some darkening on the inner edge of the bowl. The bowl had a thick rough surfaced cake. There is a burn mark on the rim top and on the outside front of the cap. It does not look deep but it is very present. The exterior was dirty with grime and oils in the crevices of the finish. The stamping on the left side of the shank read “MALAGA” and the right side the stamping read Imported Briar. There is also a number 5 stamped on the heel of the bowl. The vulcanite saddle stem was oxidized and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started the cleanup work.Jeff took close up photos of the rim top and bowl from various angles to show the damage on the rim top as well as the cake and lava. You can also see the burn on the top of the rim and on the front of the bowl in the photos. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the interesting grain pattern that was under the grime. I call that cross grain! He also took photos of the stamping on the shank and the underside of the bowl. The stamping on the left side of the shank read “MALAGA”. He did not get a photo of the stamp on the right side but it read Imported Briar. The number 5 is stamped in the heel of the bowl.Jeff also took photos of the stem. The first one shows the top side and you can see the damage on the button edge itself. The second photo shows the underside of the stem and again the damage is very clearly shown.If this is the first of the Malaga restorations that you have read about then you should know the backstory of the brand. I am including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. I have written an earlier blog to give a little history of the Malaga Brand and the pipemaker, George Khoubesser. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/tag/malaga-pipes/.That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. Follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

Jeff cleaned this filthy pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness that I really appreciate. This one was a real mess and I was looking forward to seeing what he had done with this one when I took it out of his box. It looked amazing and CLEAN. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks good with great looking grain around the bowl and shank. The rim top and front of the bowl was severely damaged with burns. The condition of the inner and outer edges was rough. The stem looked a lot better but damage was evident on the button. Jeff soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. The pipe was ready for me to carry on the next part of the process. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up and what needed to be done. The rim top was clean but damaged. You can see the darkening around the edge and on the rim top. The outer edge looked good except for the burn on the front of the cap. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks on the button surface. The last photo below shows the burn damage on the front of the bowl. The stamping appeared to be even clearer than it was before the cleanup work. This is just one of the things I appreciate about Jeff’s cleanup is that he works to protect and preserve the nomenclature on the shank of the pipes that he works on. I took some photos to show the stamping. I decided to start my restoration work on this one by addressing the burn damage on the rim top and bowl front. I topped the bowl to minimize the damage on the rim and bring the inner edge back to round. It did not take too much topping to achieve that. I finished the inner edge by giving it a slight bevel with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. The bowl top looks much better. I still need to address the burn on the outer bowl. I sanded the burn mark with 220 grit sandpaper and polished it with 400 grit wet dry. I was not able to remove the damage but I was able to minimize and lighten it a bit by sanding.I polished the smooth rim top bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped down the bowl after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. 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 a little while 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 turned my attention to the stem. Since Jeff had cleaned the stem I did not need to do that. I wiped off the damaged areas with a cotton swab and isopropyl alcohol to remove debris and dust and filled in the tooth damage on the button and the stem surface with black super glue. I was heading to bed so it did not matter that the glue takes over night to cure.In the morning I reshaped the button edges and stem surface with a needle file to smooth out the repairs. I still need to do some more sanding but the stem is shaping up to be quite nice. I still need to remove the oxidation on the surface but it is getting there.I sanded out the repaired with 220 grit sand paper to blend them into the rest of the stem surface. I started to polish it with a folded piece of 400 wet dry sandpaper. Once it was finished it had begun to shine.I polished the stem with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish from a tin of it I have in the drawer here. It is a gritty red paste that I rub on with my finger tips and work into the surface of the stem and button and buff off with a cotton pad. It gives me a bit of a head start on the polishing work.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 continuing to experiment with Briarville Pipe Repairs new product, No Oxy Oil so I rubbed the stem down with the oil on the cloth that was provided with it. This is another interestingly shaped “Malaga” pipe – what I would call a Rhodesian. It has a short, stubby black vulcanite saddle stem. The cleaned up rim top look really good in comparison to where it started. There are still remnants of the story of the pipe’s journey but that is the way it should be. It has a great look and feel. The shape is very tactile and fits well in the hand. I polished stem and the bowl 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 rich oil cured briar took on life with the buffing. The rich brown colour of the briar works well with the polished vulcanite stem. The finished pipe has a rich look that is quite catching. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the Rhodesian pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¼ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. It is a beautiful pipe and has a lot of promise for the Malaga collector. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe.

Refreshing an El – Iş Sculpted Sultan Meerschaum found in Denver

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Blog by Dal Stanton

I acquired this beautiful Sculpted Sultan Meerschaum on a pipe picking expedition at the Homestead Antique Mall in Arvada, Colorado – a suburb of Denver, last year (2018) when my wife and I were in Denver celebrating Christmas with our family. The expedition was very fruitful with the acquisition of two exquisite pipes – a Gourd Calabash and the Sculpted Meerschaum now on my worktable. The Calabash is still in my inventory and is available to be commissioned! I haven’t had the time to post pictures of it in the online collection, For “Pipe Dreamers” Only! A picture of the fruit of that pipe picking day was taken on the counter at Homestead Antique Mall.One year later, Christmas of 2019, our daughter, Johanna, and her husband, Niko, came to Bulgaria to celebrate Christmas with us! Niko and Johanna were Joined by our son, Josiah and his friend, Katie. We’ve had a great time together and I’m thankful that they have been with us. I fashioned Churchwardens for both Niko and Josiah and gave them as gifts for Christmas. Here is first, Josiah’s then Niko’s Christmas Churchwardens – which turned out very well. When Niko came to Bulgaria, through our conversations he described his priorities for his growing pipe collection. One was a Churchwarden – which Christmas gifting took care of. The other was to add a Meerschaum to replace a cheap Meer that he had that disintegrated in his hand while using! I showed him the Sculpted Sultan Meerschaum in my Pipe Steward inventory and he decided to commission it benefiting our work here in Bulgaria with the Daughters of Bulgaria – women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited. I was glad to do this, but the challenge was to refresh the Meerschaum before Niko and Johanna leave on their return trip to Nashville, where they live. Here are pictures of the El – Iş Sculpted Sultan now on my worktable. The detail of this sculpted Meerschaum is exquisite. It bears a traditional face which is seen in the offerings of Meerschaum carvers in Turkey. I’ve visited Istanbul many times and am always amazed at the variety of Meerschaum pipes one can find. When I found this Meerschaum in Arvada, Colorado, at the Homestead Antique Mall, it was with the original box. This box gave the information that is often missing from unmarked Meerschaum pipes. The name on the top of the box was ‘El – Iş’ Ferit Urersoy, 1, Kordon 1382 So – 2/B, Izmir. I’ve had the opportunity to visit Izmir which is located south of Istanbul on the Aegean coast. In the Bible it is the city of Smyrna made famous in the book of Revelation as the city of many poor and those who were suffering from tribulations.

Looking on the internet to find more information about the ‘El – Iş’ name and manufacturer. Google Translate offers a rough translation of ‘El – Iş’ as ‘Hand Business’ or ‘Hand Made’. Ferit Urersoy most likely is the carver or possibly company owner with the address of a shop in Izmir following. Using Google Maps, I was unable to isolate anything with the address given, but I discover that ‘Kordon’ is given as a general name to the much of the costal section that runs along the city bordering the Aegean (see: Wikipedia – Kordon). Even with this help, the address is not helpful in identifying a specific location in Izmir. Doing simple searches of ‘El – Iş’ and ‘Ferit Urersoy’ render many Meerschaum pipes with the same identifying information, but no primary information pointing to the Turkish manufacturer whose name is on many Meerschaum pipes in circulation.

One very interesting piece of research that came up was a full-page description of the origins of Meerschaum and its care once a pipe. The name El – Iş is prominent throughout but unfortunately, it offers no additional information. (See link: https://www.sportscards.com/)I was about to give up on locating a shop in Izmir when I recalled the Wikipedia reference to Kordon provided the information of a region in the city of Izmir – Alsancak. I entered this information into the Google search engine, and it resulted in a side bar link to Google Maps which I followed. What I didn’t see before was that many of the streets are labeled with numbers fitting the 4-digit pattern which identified the El – Iş reference to 1382 as a street number. It took a little detective work, but I finally found street no. 1382 in the center of the Google Map pictured below with the yellow highlight.I employed Google Map street view and came to the end of my search. I believe this is the block of buildings, on the beginning of street 1382 numbering where 2/B would be located (green highlighting in the picture above). I cannot find a shop here in this section, but it is possible that it was here but now is long gone. This is as far as this search will take me!With the elusive origins of this El – Iş Block Meerschaum Sculpted Sultan research finished for now, I look more closely at the pipe on my worktable. The black acrylic stem has some minor tooth chatter on the upper and lower bit.The Meerschaum surface on the shank has some signs of wear with some scratching which should easily sand out. The Meerschaum shows no signs of developing the coveted patina which usually first starts showing on the shank. This would indicate that the pipe has not been smoked a great deal.The chamber has some minor buildup of carbon – normal for a Meer. Meerschaum, a soft stone, requires no carbon cake to protect the surface as with the briar chamber. Meers are popular for this reason – they do not need to be broken in nor do they need to be rested between use. Smoke a bowl, reload it and he’s ready to go! I’ll remove the buildup bringing it down to the Meer surface. The rim has minor darkening which should clean up. I see one other issue regarding the stem. The screw in tenon has worn some and is over-clocked slightly. I’ll see if I can back it up to have a straighter orientation.I start the sprucing up of the El – Iş Sculpted Sultan by cleaning the chamber. I first scrape the chamber walls with the Savinelli Fitsall tool which produces very little. I follow by sanding the chamber with 240 grade paper wrapped around a Sharpie Pen to clean the chamber further. As the picture below shows, there was very little buildup in the chamber – this is good. I wipe the walls with a cotton cloth wetted with isopropyl 95% to clean it of the sanding powder. The chamber looks good and I move on. The Meerschaum surface looks good. To clean it I use undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap on a cotton pad to clean. I also employ a bristled toothbrush to get into the crevasses of the sculpted detail of the face and especially the beard. I rinse the stummel with cool tap water. Next, I address the traumas on the left side of the shank. They are not too noticeable but using micromesh pads to sand, should erase the blemish.I use the first and most abrasive micromesh pad, 1500, to sand out the marks. I continue around the shank using the micromesh pad simply to clean up the shank.I also address some of the discoloration around the top of the chamber, though the reality is, it’s not really a problem and I’m not trying to remove the coloring fully. I finish by taking the shank and the top of the turban through all the 9 micromesh pads to clean and to smooth.Unlike briar pipes, Meerschaum does not use carnauba wax to finalize the finish. The practice of using bees’ wax to shine the Meer is the standard practice. A blog of Charles Lemon at Dad’s Pipes is in my file box to use as my guide for this procedure (See: Quick Clean-up of a Tulip Meerschaum Sitter – Dad’s Pipes). I mentioned before how Meerschaum pipes change color as they are smoked, and this patina increases the value of the pipe. Not only does bees’ wax shine the Meer but it also enhances the growth of the patina as one uses the pipe and the tobacco oils are absorbed into the Meerschaum. I reattach the stem to the stummel but place a pipe cleaner between the stem and shank to tighten against. This creates a gap so that wax does not get on the stem and the stem acts as my handle. I keep the congealed bees’ wax that has been used previously in a mason jar. Using the hot air gun, the wax is reheated and liquefies. The stummel is also warmed with the air gun. Using a cotton bud, I paint the stummel with the liquefied bees’ wax and carefully work it into all the nooks and crannies of the Sultan’s carved face and beard. When the bees’ wax is applied, the stummel is put on a cloth for it to cool. The pictures show the bees’ wax application. With the stummel to the side, I remove the stem and refocus on the tooth chatter on the upper and lower bit. Using 240 grade sanding paper I sand the bit area removing the small compressions. Then I remember…!Well, as I started to sand, the nagging in my mind finally surfaced. I had been so focused on the external surface of the Sultan, that I forgot to clean the internals of both the stummel and the stem…. So, after putting the sanding paper down, the stem’s airway is cleaned with a couple pipe cleaners wetted in isopropyl 95%. I’m relieved that the stem cleaned very easily. Unfortunately, the stummel’s internal cleaning might be a bit more difficult while attempting to protect the newly waxed finish!Returning to sanding the upper and lower bit, 240 grade paper dispatches the tooth chatter quickly.Following the 240 grade, I wet sand with 600 grade paper over the bit area alone – upper and lower. Following the 600 grade sanding to erase the 240 scratches, applying 000 steel wool smooths the bit area further.Now, addressing the whole stem, wet sanding with micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 is then followed by dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000. Between each set of 3 pads, Obsidian Oil is applied to the very nice looking black acrylic stem. Earlier, I took the following picture that shows the stem over clocked by a small amount. This often happens with screw in tenons of all materials as the rubbing wears the mass away and the interlocking pressure lessens – producing a stem that screws in a bit too much.An easy way to address this is to apply an acrylic material to the threads of the acrylic tenon. CA glue can serve this function, or as I use, clear acrylic fingernail polish does a good job. Using the fine brush that comes with the bottle, the acrylic liquid is painted on the threads. When cured, the mass of the threads is increased slightly which translates into the tenon tightening a bit sooner which hopefully corrects the orientation of the stem! After applying the polish, the stem is set aside for the liquid to fully set.Going backwards a few steps in the process, I decide to leave the now cooled and congealed bees’ wax in place on the stummel while I clean the internals – which should have been earlier in the process! Thankfully, as with the stem airway, the internals are cleaned with two cotton buds and one pipe cleaner! Moving on.Now focusing on the cooled bees’ wax stummel, I use a clean cotton cloth to wipe off the excess bees’ wax which is not an easy task. The congealed excess wax takes some firm wiping to be removed. With most of the excess removed, a hardy hand buffing with a microfiber cloth finishes the removal of excess wax and the Meerschaum surface responds by shining up as well as absorbing the honey-colored bees’ wax which encourages the development of patina. After buffing with a micromesh cloth, a new, clean, cotton cloth buffing wheel is mounted onto the Dremel to apply a final buffing to the Sultan sculpting. With the Dremel’s speed set at about 60% full power, faster than usual, the added heating of the high speed buffing helps further to dissolve and work the bees’ wax into the Meerschaum.With the buffing complete, I rejoin the black acrylic stem with the Meerschaum stummel. I had applied acrylic fingernail polish to the threads to tighten the grip and to correct the overclocking of the stem.As hoped, the stem tightens sooner and I’m able to leave the stem in a correct orientation. I’ve already told Niko to be careful not to over-tighten the stem – which will result in overclocking!With the stem remounted, I load another cotton cloth buffing wheel to the Dremel, setting the speed at 40% full power, and apply Blue Diamond compound to the stem. After completing the application, I wipe the stem with a felt cloth to remove the compound dust from the stem before waxing.Next, another cotton cloth wheel is mounted, and carnauba wax is applied to the stem at the same speed.To complete the sprucing up of the El – Iş Sculpted Sultan Meerschaum, I give the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing with a microfiber cloth to raise the shine.

I’m pleased with the results of refreshing this very detailed Sultan Meerschaum sculpting. The black acrylic stem contrasts well the light Meerschaum stummel and causes the sculpting to pop. The bees’ wax did a great job teasing out the coveted patina. My son-in-law, Niko, commissioned this pipe which benefits the Daughters of Bulgaria. It’s already packed in his bags along with the Churchwarden he found under the Christmas tree here in Bulgaria! Thanks for joining me!

Back to Bob Kerr’s Estate – the second of two “Hopeless” Looking Gourd Calabash Pipes

Back to Bob Kerr’s Estate – the first of two “Hopeless” Looking Gourd Calabash Pipes

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is one of two Gourd Calabash pipes that he had that were rough looking. The pictures below show what they looked like when I shipped them to Jeff to do his cleanup magic with them. This was a rough looking pipe. The stem was oxidized and in the second picture what looks like a hole in the stem near the turned portion was a thick bead of “goop”. The black plastic/acrylic ferrule was probably the cleanest part of the pipe. The meer cup was absolutely gross. There was a coat of dust, maybe even mold on the thick cake in the bowl. The pipe smelled horrid. The rim edges of the bowl looked bad; the inner one had potential damage to the beveled edge under the grime. With the cup removed the calabash gourd interior was black with scum and tars and looked horrible. It reeked of old tobacco tars akin to the smell of an ashtray overflowing on a pub table… some of you remember those! The gourd exterior was dirty but surprisingly undamaged. The stem was oxidized and covered with tooth chatter but none of the deep tooth marks I have come to expect from Bob’s pipes. Jeff took the following photos to document the mess!Jeff took some close up photos of the bowl cup to show the condition. The photos capture the visual well but actually the other senses are not even brought into the equation. It was really nasty. The thick cake was growing things! A redeeming photo had to be included after those to give a bit of encouragement and hope. This is a shot of the gourd calabash from the underside. The striations in the gourd and the shine on the bottom are quite stunning.The stem actually was surprisingly good for this estate. There were not any deep tooth marks in the vulcanite. We only had to deal with the oxidation and calcification. There no deep pits in the surface of the rubber. The third photo shows it in comparison to the ferrule so you can see how far from black it gone.I can’t begin tell you how great it feels to have Jeff’s help on cleaning up the pipes from Bob’s estate as the 125+ pipes were taking me a long time to do alone. In fact I doubt if I would have as many finished as I do now. Together we have cleaned all of the pipes and have restored over 60. He does cleaning job and leaves the rest to me. This one was no different. He cleaned this filthy pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness that I really appreciate. This one was a real mess and I was looking forward to seeing what he had done with this one when I took it out of his box. It looked amazing and CLEAN. He carefully reamed the meerschaum cup with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals of the gourd and the shank with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the gourd with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit. The gourd and meer cup look really good. The stem looked a lot better. Jeff soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. The pipe was ready for me to carry on the next part of the process. I took some close up photos of the meerschaum cup and also of the stem surface. I will tell you what; I am absolutely amazed at how good this pipe looks. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up and what needed to be done. The cup was in remarkable condition. The surface was in decent condition. The inner edges of the cup were darkened and there was some debris on the edges of the bevel. Otherwise it was beautiful. The stem actually looks very good in the photos. There was no chatter or toot marks on the stem surface. There was a little bit of oxidation that I needed to work on in the curves of the stem and turned area. But it too was amazing… the whole pipe is a surprise to me. Looks good, smells good and should smoke well!I popped the meerschaum cup out of the gourd to check out the interior. It was stunningly clean. The cork gasket was dry but whole. The underside of the cup was stained but it too was very clean.I worked on the rim and top of the meerschaum bowl with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded the edges and surface with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiped the surface down after each pad. The meerschaum really became smooth and took on a deep shine. The inner edge of the bowl kept a bit of colour but was also very smooth. I set the cup aside and rubbed down the gourd with Before & After Restoration Balm. While it was designed for enlivening and protecting briar it works wonders with a piece of dried gourd calabash. I worked it into the surface of the gourd with my finger tips and let it sit for about 10 minutes. I buffed it off with a soft cotton cloth. With the gourd cleaned and polished and the meerschaum cup cleaned and polished it was time to put that part of the pipe back together. I like to rub the cork gasket down with some Vaseline Petroleum Jelly to put some life and elasticity back in the cork. I rub it down with my finger tip and let it sit for about five minute so that the cork absorbs the jelly. Once that is done I can easily insert the cup without fear of damaging the cork. With the bowl done it was time to address the stem. It was in pretty decent condition other than a little residual oxidation in the curves of the turned area and on the tenon area. I sanded the surface of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining oxidation in the stem surface and the remaining oxidation in the vulcanite. I polished it with 400 grit wet dry sand paper.I rubbed the stem down with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish. I have found it is a great pre-polish for my use as it shows me areas that I need to work on with the micromesh sanding pads.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I finished by rubbing the stem down with some “No Oxy Oil” to protect the vulcanite. I am continuing to experiment with the product from Briarville and tracking how it works so I can write a review of it.

I am so glad to be finished with the first of these Gourd Calabash pipes. When I received them I was not sure we could get any life out of them at all. This one proved me wrong. It came out really nicely and looks really good. What came out is a beautiful golden Gourd Calabash. The look of it makes me think is a Pioneer but no way to be sure of that. It would fit the 1960s and 70s. Like each of the pipes in Bob’s estate I really look forward to this point in the process when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I carefully 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 gourd has character and a deep shine that really came alive with the wax and polish. The meerschaum cup looks good on it and the black of the fancy vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the golden gourd and white meerschaum. This turned out to be a lot of fun to work on thanks to Jeff’s cleanup work. The pipe is comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 7 inches, Height: 3 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. This beautifully shaped Calabash is a beauty should last for many more years. It is one that will be on the rebornpipes store very soon. If you are interested let me know. I have a lot more of Bob’s estate to work on of various brands. Perhaps one of those will catch your attention. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

A Facelift and Stem Repair for a Republic Era Peterson’s 311 System Standard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The second pipe I have chosen to work on in 2020 is a Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 311. It was in rough condition when it came to me but it was clear that it was stamped Peterson’s System Standard vertically on the left side of the shank next to the band. The right side of the shank was stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland over the shape number 311. It has some stunning grain around the bowl and shank that can be seen under the thick grime. The bowl had been reamed recently so there were just remnants of cake on the walls that were uneven giving the bowl a pitted appearance. The rim top was cleaned and appeared to have been sanded. There were sanding marks in the briar. The inner and outer edges of the rim had damage. The bowl was out of round and there was some burn damage on the front inner and outer edge. The exterior of the bowl is dirty and has some pits and marks that are a part of its story. The nickel ferrule on the shank end was oxidized and was rough at the opening to the mortise. It is stamped on the left side K&P over three hallmarks. That is followed by Petersons. It is not dented or damaged. The stem was the biggest issue with this pipe. Someone had carved a groove in the top side of the stem in front of the p-lip almost trying to make it a dental bit. The underside of the stem had a tooth mark that had punctured the surface leaving a hole in a tooth crater. I took photos of the pipe before I started my cleanup work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top to show the inside of the bowl and the damages on the rim top and edges of the bowl. You can see where someone had taken sand paper to the top and removed the lava and left sanding marks. You can also see the burned areas on the inner and outer front edges of the bowl. The photos of the stem also clearly show the issues that need to be addressed. I took photos of the stamping on the left side of the bowl and shank. The vertical stamping on the left side was readable as you can see from the photos. It read Peterson’s System Standard. The stamp on the right side of the shank read Made in the Republic of Ireland with the shape number 311 underneath. The nickel ferrule on the shank end is stamped on the left side K&P over three hallmarks – a Shamrock, a shape that looks like a reclining lion and a tower. Typically these hallmarks are not like those in silver that help to date a pipe but are rather marks that make it clear that the pipe was made in Ireland. Following the hallmarks it is stamped Petersons. I am including some 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 on the Republic Era below.

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.

Pipedia also included a section of information on the System pipes including a cutaway diagram of the interior of the system pipe (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson#Republic_Era_Pipes). I quote a section of the article in part and include a link to another article on Pipedia on the System pipe.

The Peterson System pipes are the standard bearers of the Peterson pipe family, famous for the excellent smoking pleasure they provide. Often imitated but never equaled, the Peterson System smokes dry, cool and sweet, thanks to the scientiﬁc effectiveness of the original design. The heart of the System is the unique graduated bore in the mouthpiece. This makes the suction applied by the smoker 15 times weaker by the time it reaches the tobacco chamber. The result is that all the moisture ﬂows into the reservoir and, thus cannot reach the smoker’s mouth. The Peterson Lip further enhances the effectiveness of the graduated bore by directing the ﬂow of smoke upwards and away from the tongue. This achieves a uniquely even distribution of smoke and virtually eliminates any chance of tongue bite or bitterness. Furthermore, the shape is contoured so that the tongue rests comfortably in the depression under the opening. Each “PLip” mouthpiece is made from Vulcanite. For the Peterson System pipes to work properly, the stem/tenon has to have an extension, the tip of which will pass by the draft hole from the bowl and into the sump. Upon the smoker drawing in smoke, this extension then directs the smoke down and around the sump to dispense a lot of the moisture before the smoke enters the extension and stem. On the System Standards and other less expensive systems, this extension with be made of Vulcanite turned integrally with the stem. On the more expensive System pipes this extension will be made of metal which screws into the Vulcanite stem. This extension on the earlier pipes will be of brass and the newer pipes will be of aluminium. Most smokers not knowing this function of the metal extension, assumes that it is a condenser/stinger and will remove it as they do with the metal condensers of Kaywoodie, etc. Should you have a System pipe with this metal extension, do not remove it for it will make the System function properly and give you a dryer smoke (https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_closer_look_at_the_famous_Peterson_Standard_System_Pipe).

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping and the age of this pipe. I knew from the information that the pipe was made during the Republic Era between 1950 and 1989. It was an antique mall find so I was happy with the age and condition. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

This is one that I have to do the cleanup work on and not have Jeff’s help. Doing the work I am really glad that Jeff is willing to take on cleaning the pipes that we purchase as estates of hunting finds – but enough of that. I have to clean this one! The pipe appeared to have been reamed somewhat recently in its life. However there was some pitting in the cake on the walls of the pipe so I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I decided to start the process by dealing with the damage to the inner edge and top of the rim. I wiped it down with alcohol on a cotton pad and filled in the damaged edge and rim top with clear Krazy Glue. Once the repair cured I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the repair on the rim top and to give the inner edge a very light bevel. Between the repair and the bevel it took care of the damage on the inner edge. The third photo shows the rim top after the shaping. I polished the entire bowl and rim top with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads and I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. The bowl began to take on a finished shine. (I carefully avoided the stamping in the process of polishing the bowl and shank.) I rubbed the bowl and rim down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips 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. I really like watching the Balm do its magic and bring the briar alive. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. The stem was a mess of issues. The first ones that I decided to address were the deep groove on the top side and the bite through on the underside. In preparation for the repair I cleaned out the airway in the stem with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol. I greased a pipe cleaner with Vaseline Petroleum Jelly and slid it in the airway from the button end. I had bent it before putting it in the stem so that it would fit tightly against the bite through. I gathered the components of the repair together. I put a piece of packing tape on a cardboard square that I use for mixing a putty mixture of charcoal powder and black super glue. The tape buys me more time to mix up the putty without it reacting to the cardboard. I took out two charcoal capsules, the super glue and a dental spatula. Now I was ready to do the patching.I mixed the putty with the dental spatula and when I had a thick mixture I applied it to the stem surface with the spatula. I pressed it into the trough on the top side and the bite through on the underside. I don’t worry to much about a clean patch at this point I really want to make sure it is covered. Once it cures I can reshape it with a file and sandpaper.I sprayed the repair with an accelerator that hardens the surface of the repair and allows me to pull the pipe cleaner from the airway. I took photos of the repair at this point in the process. It is truly ugly but it has accomplished what I wanted. The groove and bite through were gone. Now all that was left was a lot of shaping and sanding. Oh, by the way I always blow air through the stem to make sure that I have not sealed it with the repair!! I set the stem aside for the evening and enjoyed some time with the family.In the morning I tackled shaping the stem. I use a needle file and a rasp to take down the excess and to shape the button edge on the stem. It is tedious work that requires patience that Paresh in India has far more of than me but I finished the rough shape with the files. Once I had the rough shape done I continued to use a combination of the needle file and 220 grit sandpaper to remove the excess material of the repair and shape the stem surface. The photos show the progress in the process. The shape is beginning to show clearly! The trough on the top side is gone and the bit mark on the underside it also repaired.I continued to shape the stem with the 220 and 400 grit sandpaper. I had to fill in some air pockets in the repair with clear Krazy Glue and I built up the curve of the button on the top and the ledge on the backside. When I got the stem to the point I was happy with the repair and shape it was time to begin polishing it. I rubbed the stem down with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish. It does a pretty good job polishing the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it a coat of a new product I am experimenting with from Briarville Pipe Repair. It is called “No Oxy Oil” and it is made to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. I am excited to be on the homestretch with this old Republic Era Peterson System Standard. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. 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 grain is quite stunning and really pops with the wax and polish. The repaired black vulcanite stem actually looks quite nice and is a great contrast to the browns of the bowl and thick shank. This Peterson’s System Standard 311 Bent Billiard was another fun pipe to work on even though I did the entire process here. The polished nickel Ferrule works as a contrast between the stem and the briar and binds it all together. It really is a nice piece of briar whose nicks and marks testify to the travels of this old pipe. The pipe is comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown 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. This old pipe will be going back to a fellow referred to me by City Cigar in Vancouver. Even though I am not adding new work at the moment I have a commitment with them that I will repair pipes for their customers. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

Restoring the Last of Bob Kerr’s Dunhills – a 1962 Dunhill Bruyere 656 F/T Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

As I continue to work through the pipes in Bob Kerr’s Estate I am enjoying choosing different brands that he had to focus on for a bit. I had eight more from his Dunhill collection that I decided to go back to and finish working my way through that sub collection of the estate. Out of the 8 pipes six were Bruyere finished pipes, one was a Made in London (turns out it is also a Bruyere finished pipe), and one was a Root Briar. What follows is a list of what I saw when I examined the 8 pipes. As I finish the pipes I will include the link to the blog on that particular pipe for easy reference. I have already restored 16 pipes from this subgroup so you can do a quick search to read about the work on the Shell Briars and Tanshell Briars that were in that part of the collection.

Bruyere 656 F/T Made in England 2 Circle 4A – Group 4 size Bruyere made in 1962. Saddle stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged edge. Appears to have a tenon made for a 9mm filter.
Bruyere 112 F/T Made in England 9/11 Circle 2A – Group 2 size Bruyere made in 1969 and sold in 1971. Stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged edge. I finished the restoration on it. Here is the link to the blog – (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/12/28/restoring-a-1969-dunhill-bruyere-112-f-t-apple-from-bob-kerrs-estate/).
Bruyere 0333 Made in England 16 made in 1976. Stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged edge. I finished the restoration on it. Here is the link to the blog – (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/12/29/restoring-a-1976-dunhill-bruyere-0333-billiard-from-bob-kerrs-estate/).
Bruyere 41061 Made in England 18 made in 1978. Stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged edge. I finished the restoration on it. Here is the link to the blog – (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/12/24/restoring-a-1978-dunhill-bruyere-41061-from-bob-kerrs-estate/).
Bruyere 142 F/T Made in England 7/9/11 Circle 4A – Group for size Bruyere made in 1967 and sent out in 1969 or 1971. Stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged edge. I finished the restoration on it. Here is the link to the blog – https://rebornpipes.com/2019/12/27/restoring-a-1967-dunhill-bruyere-142-f-t-billiard-from-bob-kerrs-estate/
(A) Dunill London Inner Tube PAT N°5861/12 Shape 34. Stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged edge. I finished the restoration on it. Here is the link to the blog – (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/12/26/restoring-a-1913-a-dunhill-london-34-billiard-from-bob-kerrs-estate/).
(Ao) Dunhill London 113 Made in England 5 PAT N°158709/14. Stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged rim edges. I finished the restoration on it. Here is the link to the blog – (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/12/25/restoring-a-1925-ao-dunhill-london-113-billiard-from-bob-kerrs-estate/).
Root Briar 31032 Made in England 18 – made in 1978. Stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged edge. I finished the restoration on it. Here is the link to the blog – (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/12/23/restoring-a-1978-dunhill-root-briar-31032-billiard-from-bob-kerrs-estate/).

I finished work on #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7 & #8 and turned my attention to sole remaining Dunhill in Bob’s Collection #1, another heavily used pipe but this time a Bent Billiard shaped pipe with a saddle stem. The pipe was stamped on the left side of the shank with the shape number 656 F/T next to the bowl/shank junction. That is followed by Dunhill over Bruyere. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Made in England 2 followed by circle 4A. It appears that the pipe stamped as this one is was made in 1962. The 656 F/T is a Bent Billiard with a fish tail (F/T) saddle stem. The circle 4 is the group/size of the pipe and A is the designation for Bruyere. This is the last pipe that I have to work on from the Dunhill collection.

I am once again including Chuck Stanion’s eloquent description of the Bruyere on the smokingpipes.com site as follows (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/dunhill/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=346421):

The Bruyere was Alfred Dunhill’s original finish upon launching his brand of premium pipes and smoking accessories and was the only Dunhill finish from 1910 until 1917. Even after the addition of other finishes, the Bruyere maintained a high level of popularity, becoming synonymous with what is thought of, even today, as the quintessential pipe. To achieve the iconic, ruby hue and saturation, a skilled craftsman painstakingly layers particular stains in a precise manner, then meticulously polishes the pipe to a high luster. The final result is, simply put, timeless.

Like Bob’s other Dunhill pipe this one also had a thick cake in the bowl with remnants of tobacco stuck on the walls. There was a thick lava overflow on the rim so it was hard to know what kind of damage lay beneath the covering. Once it was cleaned I would have a better idea of the condition of the rim top. The grain that is poking through the grime and oils appears to be quite beautiful – birdseye grain on the bowl sides and cross grain on the front and back as well as the heel of the bowl. The stem was oxidized and calcified toward the end with some tooth chatter. There were also some tooth marks on both sides of the stem ahead of the button and on the button itself. There was the classic White Spot on the top of the stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the thick, hard cake in the bowl with remnants of tobacco stuck on the walls of the bowl. There was a thick lava build up on the smooth rim top and the edges of the bowl. The rim top and inner edges looked pretty good but it was hard to know for sure. The outer edges looked to be okay. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish. You can see the beautiful grain patterns around the sides of the bowl and shank. Even under the dirt and debris of the years it looked very good. The stamping is very readable. On the left side of the shank you can see 656 F/T which is the shape number. Next to that it is stamped Dunhill over Bruyere. On the right side it reads Made in England2 and a circle 4A. Jeff included a pic of the White Spot on the stem. Jeff took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the tooth chatter, scratching, calcification and oxidation on the stem surface and wear on the edges of the button. I can’t begin tell you how great it feels to have Jeff’s help on cleaning up the pipes from Bob’s estate as the 125+ pipes were taking me a long time to do alone. In fact I doubt if I would have as many finished as I do now. Together we have restored over 60 pipes and Jeff has cleaned all of the remaining pipes for me. He cleaned this filthy pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness that I really appreciate. This one was a real mess and I was looking forward to seeing what he had done with this one when I took it out of his box. It looked amazing and CLEAN. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks good with great looking grain around the bowl and shank. The rim top looked better on this pipe. The condition of the inner and outer edges was not too bad. The stem looked a lot better. Jeff soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. The pipe was ready for me to carry on the next part of the process. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up and what needed to be done. The rim top was in remarkable condition. It was probably the best preserved rim top of the last 9 pipes I have worked on. There was some darkening all around the top of the bowl and on the inner edge. There was some burn damage on the left side of the inner edge but it was in good condition. The outer edge looked very good. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks and chatter on the stem surface. The stamping appeared to be as clear as it was before the cleanup work. This is just one of the things I appreciate about Jeff’s cleanup is that he works to protect and preserve the nomenclature on the shank of the pipes that he works on. I took some photos to show the stamping. Bob loved his Dunhill pipes and it was obvious that he enjoyed smoking them. Some appeared to be daily smokes while others he seemed to reserve for special occasions. Some seemed like they must have hung in his mouth while he did his carving while others were smoked in his chair. Having worked on over 60 of his pipes so far I am getting a feel for them. This one is in rough condition and I suppose it might well have been before Bob took up the trust. I suppose I won’t ever know for sure but it certainly has a long and interesting story if it could only tell it.

I am sure that many of you have read at least some of the other restoration work that I have done on previous pipes. You have also read what I have included about Bob Kerr, the pipeman who held these pipes in trust before I came to work on them (see photo to the left). Also, if you have followed the blog for long you will already know that I like to include background information on the pipeman whose pipes I am restoring. For me, when I am working on an estate I really like to have a sense of the person who held the pipes in trust before I worked on them. It gives me another dimension of the restoration work. Bob’s daughter wrote a short tribute to her father. I thank you Brian and tell your wife thank you as well.

I am delighted to pass on these beloved pipes of my father’s. I hope each user gets many hours of contemplative pleasure as he did. I remember the aroma of tobacco in the rec room, as he put up his feet on his lazy boy. He’d be first at the paper then, no one could touch it before him. Maybe there would be a movie on with an actor smoking a pipe. He would have very definite opinions on whether the performer was a ‘real’ smoker or not, a distinction which I could never see but it would be very clear to him. He worked by day as a sales manager of a paper products company, a job he hated. What he longed for was the life of an artist, so on the weekends and sometimes mid-week evenings he would journey to his workshop and come out with wood sculptures, all of which he declared as crap but every one of them treasured by my sister and myself. Enjoy the pipes, and maybe a little of his creative spirit will enter you!

It was time to get on with the restoration of this Dunhill Bruyere 656 F/T Bent Billiard. It is not only the last of the Dunhill pipes from Bob’s Estate but it was the only bent Bruyere in the collection. I want to send a shout out to Jeff for the hard cleanup work that he does on each of these pipes. They were a real mess when I sent them to Jeff and I have to tell you it was great that I can start my part of the process with a clean pipe. I decided to start the process by dealing with the the burn damage to the left inner edge of the bowl. I generally try to minimize the intrusiveness of the work on the rim and the inner edge. It was burned on the edge of the left side. I use a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to carefully bevel the inner rim with a slight bevel all the way around. The second photo shows the rim edge after the work of beveling the inner edge has been completed. I polished it lightly with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the briar on the rim top and bowl with worn micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth. I find that the worn pads do a great job polishing and still retain the original patina of the pipe. I rubbed the bowl and rim down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed the pipe with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I really like watching the Balm do its magic and bring the briar alive. With the bowl done it was time to address the stem. I was a little surprised as not only was this the last of Bob’s Dunhill’s but it was also the only one that had a tenon made to accommodate a 9mm filter. The dents in the top and underside were the right depth for me to lift them. I “painted” the surface with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the dents and it worked exceptionally well. I sanded the surface of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the light chatter in the stem surface and the remaining oxidation in the vulcanite. I polished it with 400 grit wet dry sand paper. I rubbed the stem down with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish. I have a few tins of this laying around so I am trying to use them up. I have found it is a great pre-polish for my use as it shows me areas that I need to work on with the micromesh sanding pads. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I finished by rubbing the stem down with some “No Oxy Oil” to protect the vulcanite. I am experimenting with the product from Briarville and tracking how it works so I can write a review of it. Finishing this pipe is a perfect way to end my restorations for 2019. It is the last of Bob Kerr’s Estate Dunhill Collection. It is a beautiful Dunhill Bruyere 656F/T Bent Billiard made in 1962. Like each of the pipes in Bob’s estate I really look forward to this point in the process when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. 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 grain around the bowl and shank really came alive with the wax and polish. The black of the saddle vulcanite White Spot stem is a beautiful contrast to the reds and browns of the finished bowl and shank. This was another Dunhill that was a lot of fun to work on thanks to Jeff’s cleanup work. The pipe is comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. This 1962 Bruyere Bent Billiard is a beauty should last for many more years. It is one that will be on the rebornpipes store very soon. If you are interested let me know. I have a lot more of Bob’s estate to work on of various brands. Perhaps one of those will catch your attention. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

Finally Getting to Finish a Churchwarden Stem for a Chimera Bowl that Alex gave me.

Restoring a 1976 Dunhill Bruyere 0333 Billiard from Bob Kerr’s Estate

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Blog by Steve Laug

Bruyere 656 F/T Made in England 2 Circle 4A – Group 4 size Bruyere made in 1962. Stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged edge.
Bruyere 112 F/T Made in England 9/11 Circle 2A – Group 2 size Bruyere made in 1969 and sold in 1971. Stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged edge. I finished the restoration on it. Here is the link to the blog – (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/12/28/restoring-a-1969-dunhill-bruyere-112-f-t-apple-from-bob-kerrs-estate/).
Bruyere 0333 Made in England 16 made in 1976. Stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged edge.
Bruyere 41061 Made in England 18 made in 1978. Stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged edge. I finished the restoration on it. Here is the link to the blog – (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/12/24/restoring-a-1978-dunhill-bruyere-41061-from-bob-kerrs-estate/).
Bruyere 142 F/T Made in England 7/9/11 Circle 4A – Group for size Bruyere made in 1967 and sent out in 1969 or 1971. Stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged edge. I finished the restoration on it. Here is the link to the blog – https://rebornpipes.com/2019/12/27/restoring-a-1967-dunhill-bruyere-142-f-t-billiard-from-bob-kerrs-estate/
(A) Dunill London Inner Tube PAT N°5861/12 Shape 34. Stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged edge. I finished the restoration on it. Here is the link to the blog – (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/12/26/restoring-a-1913-a-dunhill-london-34-billiard-from-bob-kerrs-estate/).
(Ao) Dunhill London 113 Made in England 5 PAT N°158709/14. Stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged rim edges. I finished the restoration on it. Here is the link to the blog – (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/12/25/restoring-a-1925-ao-dunhill-london-113-billiard-from-bob-kerrs-estate/).
Root Briar 31032 Made in England 18 – made in 1978. Stem is oxidized, tooth marks and chatter near the button, some calcification with damage to the button. Finish is dirty, bowl caked and lava overflow on the rim top. Bowl is out of round, damaged edge. I finished the restoration on it. Here is the link to the blog – (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/12/23/restoring-a-1978-dunhill-root-briar-31032-billiard-from-bob-kerrs-estate/).

I finished work on #2, #4, #5, #6, #7 & #8 and turned my attention to #3, another heavily used pipe but this time an Apple shaped pipe with a tapered stem. The pipe was stamped on the left side of the shank with the shape number 0333 next to the bowl/shank junction. That is followed by Dunhill over Bruyere. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Made in England 16. It appears that the pipe stamped as this one is was made in 1976. The 0333 is a Billiard with a fish tail (F/T) tapered stem. This is the last billiard that I have to work on from the Dunhill collection.

Like Bob’s other Dunhill pipe this one also had a thick cake in the bowl with remnants of tobacco stuck on the walls. There was a thick lava overflow on the rim so it was hard to know what kind of damage lay beneath the covering. Once it was cleaned I would have a better idea of the condition of the rim top. I could see however that there was definitely damage to the front inner edge of the bowl. The grain that is poking through the grime and oils appears to be quite beautiful – birdseye grain on the bowl sides and cross grain on the front and back as well as the heel of the bowl. The stem was oxidized and calcified toward the end with some tooth chatter. There were also some tooth marks on both sides of the stem ahead of the button and on the button itself. There was the classic White Spot on the top of the stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the thick, hard cake in the bowl with remnants of tobacco stuck on the walls of the bowl. There was a thick lava build up on the smooth rim top and the edges of the bowl. The rim top looked pretty good but it was hard to know for sure. It appeared that there was damage on the front inner edge. The outer edges looked to be okay other than a few small nicks on the sides. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish. You can see the beautiful grain patterns around the sides of the bowl and shank. Even under the dirt and debris of the years it looked very good. The stamping is very readable. On the left side of the shank you can see 0333 which is the shape number. Next to that it is stamped Dunhill over Bruyere. On the right side it reads Made in England16. Jeff included a pic of the White Spot on the stem. Jeff took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the tooth chatter, scratching, calcification and oxidation on the stem surface and wear on the edges of the button. I can’t begin tell you how great it feels to have Jeff’s help on cleaning up the pipes from Bob’s estate as the 125+ pipes were taking me a long time to do alone. He cleaned this filthy pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness that I really appreciate. This one was a real mess and I was looking forward to seeing what he had done with this one when I took it out of his box. It looked amazing and CLEAN. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks good with great looking grain around the bowl and shank. The rim top looked better on this pipe. The condition of the inner and outer edges was not too bad. The stem looked a lot better. Jeff soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. The pipe was ready for me to carry on the next part of the process. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up and what needed to be done. The rim top had a worn and burned area on the front of the inner edge. It made the bowl out of round and made that section thin at the rim top. I wet the bowl rim down with saliva to show the damaged areas. There was also a significant slope to that part of the rim. There was darkening and nicks all around the top of the bowl and on the inner edge. The outer edge looked good. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks and chatter on the stem surface. The stamping appeared to be as clear as it was before the cleanup work. This is just one of the things I appreciate about Jeff’s cleanup is that he works to protect and preserve the nomenclature on the shank of the pipes that he works on. I took some photos to show the stamping. Bob loved his Dunhill pipes and it was obvious that he enjoyed smoking them. Some appeared to be daily smokes while others he seemed to reserve for special occasions. Some seemed like they must have hung in his mouth while he did his carving while others were smoked in his chair. Having worked on over 60 of his pipes so far I am getting a feel for them. This one is in rough condition and I suppose it might well have been before Bob took up the trust. I suppose I won’t ever know for sure but it certainly has a long and interesting story if it could only tell it.

It was time to get on with the restoration of this Dunhill Bruyere 0333 Billiard. It was a change of pace from the last bunch of billiards that I had worked on because of the issues with the rim. I really need to send a shout out to Jeff for the hard cleanup work that he does on each of these pipes. They were a real mess when I sent them to Jeff and I have to tell you it was great that I can start my part of the process with a clean pipe.

I decided to start the process by dealing with the the damage to the inner edge of the bowl. Usually I want to minimize the intrusiveness of the work on the rim and focus just on the rim edge. But the front inner edge on this pipe was in very rough condition. It was burned and thin and also at a steep bevel. It did not go deep into the bowl so I was good there. The remaining wood was solid. I have circled the damaged area in Photo 1 below. I cleaned the edge with alcohol on a cotton swab and gave it a light coat of clear Krazy Glue to fill in the taper a bit. I used a dental spatula to fill that glue in with briar dust. Photo 2 shows the repair at this point in the process. Once the repair cured I sanded the area smooth with 220 grit sandpaper carefully focusing on the rim top to flatten the repaired area and giving the inner rim a slight bevel all the way around. Photo 3 shows that work. Photo 4 shows the rim top after the work of beveling the inner edge and smoothing the flat surface has been completed. I polished it lightly with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. You can see the extent of the repaired area in that photo. Once I had it smoothed out I stained the rim top with a Maple stain pen to match the colour of the rest of the rim top and hide the blackened areas a bit. Photo 5 below shows the rim top at this point in the process. Now it needs to be polished with the rest of the bowl and waxed. I polished the briar on the rim top and bowl with worn micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth. I find that the worn pads do a great job polishing and still retain the original patina of the pipe. I rubbed the bowl and rim down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed the pipe with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I really like watching the Balm do its magic and bring the briar alive. With the bowl done it was time to address the stem. The dents in the top and underside were the right depth for me to lift them. I “painted” the surface with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the dents and it worked exceptionally well. I sanded the surface of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the light chatter in the stem surface and the remaining oxidation in the vulcanite. I polished it with 400 grit wet dry sand paper. I rubbed the stem down with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish. I have a few tins of this laying around so I am trying to use them up. I have found it is a great pre-polish for my use as it shows me areas that I need to work on with the micromesh sanding pads. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I finished by rubbing the stem down with some “No Oxy Oil” to protect the vulcanite. I am experimenting with the product from Briarville and tracking how it works so I can write a review of it. Once again at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. This is the seventh of the Dunhill smooth pipes in Bob’s estate that I am working on. It is a beautiful Dunhill Bruyere 0333 Billiard made in 1976. Like each of the pipes in Bob’s estate I really look forward to this point in the process when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. The rim top looked significantly better. The repair looks like darkening on the front of the top but the bowl is round and to me is in better condition. 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 grain around the bowl and shank really came alive with the wax and polish. The black of the tapered vulcanite White Spot stem is a beautiful contrast to the reds and browns of the finished bowl and shank. This was another Dunhill that was a lot of fun to work on thanks to Jeff’s cleanup work. The pipe is comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. This 1976 Bruyere Billiard is a beauty should last for many more years. It is one that will be on the rebornpipes store very soon. If you are interested let me know. I have a lot more of Bob’s estate to work on of various brands. Perhaps one of those will catch your attention. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

Fashioning a Second Churchwarden, “Made in England” for a Special Christmas Gift

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Blog by Dal Stanton

I completed the first Christmas CW project by repurposing an Italian Permofilter rusticated bowl and mounting it on a Warden stem. It is to be a gift for my son, Josiah, who came to Bulgaria from St. Louis to celebrate Christmas in Sofia, Bulgaria, with Mom and Dad! Josiah’s Churchwarden came out well!Our daughter, Johanna, also has come to Bulgaria for Christmas. She and her husband, Niko, arrived first and so my work fashioning a CW as a Christmas gift for Niko is a bit clandestine trying to keep it a secret until Christmas Day! Niko hasn’t been easy to figure out for a pipe gift! I was first going to give him a sculpted Meerschaum because I knew he had one before – a cheaper one that disintegrated in his hand while smoking it. Yet, after he arrived, he saw that I was working on a Churchwarden for ‘someone’ who had commissioned one (actually, it was Josiah’s Churchwarden that I had commissioned myself!) and he wanted a Churchwarden, which was also on his priority list to add to his collection. When I fished around regarding which he would rather have – trying not to spill the beans that I was gifting him a pipe, he said that a Churchwarden was higher on the list. So, the Sculpted Meerschaum goes back into the inventory benefiting the Daughters of Bulgaria – our work helping women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited!The bowl I’m repurposing is from an unbranded petite bent Billiard that is marked only with the nomenclature, ‘Made in England’ on the left shank side and a shape number on the right, ‘950’. I acquired this pipe in the ‘Lot of 66’ and it has been waiting for someone to commission him in the For “Pipe Dreamers” Only! collection. It is an attractive pipe and the grain shows much potential. I did a quick search of the main shape number charts of English pipe names such as BBB and GBD but found no reference to a shape 950 that helped me with identifying the origins of this pipe.Now with the stummel on the worktable to transform it into a Churchwarden, I take more pictures to take a closer look. The chamber has light to moderate cake build up and the lava flow over the rim is thick. The rim width is also imbalanced with a thinning of the rim on the front left. Undoubtedly, the point where the former steward drew down the flame to light the blend.The rim also has its share of nicks, cuts and chips. The stummel also has several dents and pits here and there which need addressing. As expected, the grime is thick on the darkened stummel. Yet, the grain underneath shows great potential. The grain is primarily vertically oriented around the stummel. The stummel has the feel of having some age. By the shape and looks of it, I would guess that it is from the 1960s or earlier. The plan is to transform the petite bent Billiard into a Churchwarden by mounting it to a precast Warden stem that measures 8 5/8 inches in length. I acquire Warden stems from Tim West at www.jhlowe.com. I begin this CW Christmas project for Niko with the cleaning of the stummel. First, after spreading paper towel to aid in cleaning, I use the Pipnet Reaming Kit to address the cake build up in the chamber. I again take a close-up picture of the chamber showing the light cake build up to mark the start. I use only the smallest of the 4 blade heads available in the Pipnet Kit. Transitioning to the Savinelli Fitsall Tool, I scrape the chamber walls further and follow by sanding the chamber wall with 240 grade paper wrapped around a Sharpie Pen. The left-over carbon dust is then removed with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95% and after an inspection of the walls, I find no problems with heating. Moving now to the cleaning of the external surface, the surface is scrubbed using a cotton pad wetted with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap.A brass wire brush is also helpful in scrubbing the rim top addressing the lava caked on it. I also utilize my Winchester pocketknife to scrape the rim. To rinse the soap, the stummel is transferred to the kitchen sink where the stummel is rinsed with warm water. Using different sized shank brushes with anti-oil dish soap, the mortise and airway are cleaned. Finally, after rinsing and back at the worktable, a picture records the results of the cleaning. The old worn finish is all but gone revealing the briar beneath. The scratches and imperfections are very evident mingling with the distinctive grain patterns. Next, using cotton buds and pipe cleaners wetted with isopropyl 95%, cleaning the internals is addressed. As the picture below shows in stark visual imagery, the internals were a bear to clean! Using a small dental spoon, I also excavate a lot of tars and oils scraped off the mortise walls. From what I am able to see and feel down the mortise with the probe, the internal design has a trap and the angled airway is drilled over the top of the trap angling toward the draft hole entering the chamber. The trap has done the job of collecting the gunk, but the steward did not seem to know that frequent cleaning of the trap would keep this guy in better shape! Finally, after many expended pipe cleaners and buds, they began to emerge lighter. Later, the internal cleaning will continue with an alcohol and kosher salt soak further to clean and refresh the internals.Now looking at the stummel, I know that the shank will be undergoing a good amount of sanding to shape the shank during the stem fitting process. Therefore, the restoration work that I now do on the stummel external surface will not progress beyond the shank sanding at this point. I start at the top looking at the rim’s condition. It’s in bad shape with nicks and chips around the rim’s edge and the scorching damage resulting in the thinning on the left front quadrant. I use the topping board to begin addressing these issues. With 240 paper on top of the chopping board that serves as the topping board, I rotate the inverted stummel several times on the board. After a few rotations, I stop to look. With this first picture, the contours of the rim thinning are clearer. I continue to rotate on the topping board.These next pictures show the progression of the topping a step at a time. I stop with the 240 topping even though edge damage remains. I will rectify this with beveling instead of removing more rim real estate. I switch the paper to 600 grade and smooth the rim top further with this finer grade sanding paper. After several rotations on the board, I’m satisfied with the topping board results. Nice looking bird’s eye grains are peeking through the rim surface.Addressing the edge problems, 120 grade paper is used first to cut an outer edge bevel to remove the remaining cuts and chips on the edge. Following the 120 paper 240 grade paper is used to smooth out the bevel.Again to freshen the rim lines after the beveling, I do a very quick topping again with 240 and 600 grade paper.I finish the rim repair by sanding the bevel on the outside and inside rim edges with 600 grade paper. It looks good. I move on.Continuing now to address the stummel proper, I will do what I can to spare the remnant nomenclature on the shank sides as I sand out the problems on the stummel. I use sanding sponges to address the cuts and dents on the stummel surface. First, using a coarse sponge to sand, I follow with a medium grade and a light grade sponge. Wow! This block of briar is impressive with vertical flame grain running around the bowl and as you would expect, bird’s eye grain populating both the heel and rim. Very nice. I’ve progressed all I can now with the stummel until the stem sizing and placement is completed. The first step in this process is to size and fit the Warden precast stem’s tenon into the mortise. As with the first Churchwarden gift project for my son, Josiah, Niko’s Churchwarden Made in England bowl’s mortise is measured to establish the ideal target measurement for the tenon. This measurement is 8.61mm. 40mm is added to this ‘target size’ to establish the ‘fat size’ target. This is a conservative sizing of the rough tenon in order to patiently and more slowly sand the tenon to the target size. This allows for customizing the tenon as well as avoiding the danger of cutting too much with the Pimo Tenon Turning Tool. The ‘fat size’ is right at 9mm.Next, to establish a starting measurement sizing of the rough tenon of the precast Warden stem, the PIMO tool is used. To do this, the first step is to drill the airway with a drill bit provided by the PIMO kit to allow the PIMO tool’s guide pin to fit the airway. After mounting the drill bit on the hand drill, the airway is easily enlarged with the bit. Next, after mounting the PIMO tool on the hand drill, using the Allen wrenches provided by the PIMO kit, I adjust the carbide cutter arm to be just a bit smaller than the rough tenon size. This is simply to cut a uniform starting measurement size. I accomplish the initial cut and take a measurement of 9.46. The difference between this measurement and the fat target of 9mm is .46mm. Again, I adjust the carbide cutter arm to close this gap. After adjusting, I do a test cut by only cutting a little of the tenon and then measure. The reason for doing the initial test cut is that if you over cut and the tenon is too small… well, you have a very loose fit! My test cut was too much – 7.63mm! The target size, actual mortise measurement is 8.61mm. After widening the cutting arm, I make another test cut and measure – 8.93mm. This is good enough for achieving the fat target. I complete the tenon cut at 8.93mm. I take the cut all the way to the stem facing – making sure that there is a square cut and no shouldering on the stem facing.Transitioning now to sanding, I first use a coarse 120 grade paper to do the heavy lifting. As I sand, I test periodically to see the progress of the tenon’s entry movement into the mortise. I grip the paper around the tenon and then with my other hand rotate the stem to create the sanding movement. This keeps the tenon round as well. The pictures show the progress. When the tenon is close to fitting, I switch to 240 grade paper. The stem finally seats into the mortise.When I eyeballed the shank size and the stem next to it, I knew that the shank was a bit larger than the stem and I would need to sand the shank some to taper the shank toward the stem size. When the stem was seated, I saw how much of an overhang there was – it’s not a little.This angle however, revealed another issue that I did not foresee. On the lower shank, just below the stem is the hollow caused by the angled drilling of the airway. I take a close-up of this cavity and then remove the stem to show the inverted mortise and drilling. Oh my. This creates some challenges. As if to add insult to injury, I discover another issue. The tenon has a slight rock or wiggle when it’s fully engaged. What this means is that the front of the tenon was sanded down too much and is not in contact with the mortise wall. The tenon closer to the stem facing is making contact. When I pivot the stem vertically, it rocks a little. Not good. I decide to address the lose tenon first and think about the rest. To expand the tenon, I use a drill bit to insert into the airway. I choose a drill bit which is the next size larger than what will fit into the airway. I then use a Bic lighter to heat the tenon to warm the vulcanite. When the vulcanite is warm enough, it softens and then I push the bit in the airway which expands the tenon. After heating and inserting the bit, I take it to the kitchen sink and run cold water on the tenon to set the expanded vulcanite. With the aid of a pair of pliers, the bit is retracted and again the tenon is inserted into the mortise. The procedure worked well – the tenon tightened and there is now no rocking. Moving on. After giving some thought to the conundrum of the shank and Warden stem placement, I recognize that I will not be able to save the bowl’s scant nomenclature. To taper the shank in a balanced way, will require the sanding to start further up the shank. I also decide that I will fill the drilling channel with briar dust putty to remove the hollow and make this area solid. Finally, I decide to fit the shank with a band to mask the hollow as well as to give the emerging Churchwarden an added bit of class. First, to fill the drilling channel, I mix a small amount of briar dust and thick CA glue. I use a plastic disk as a mixing pallet and to help with cleanup I put scotch tape down to mix on. After putting a small amount of briar dust on the pallet, thick CA glue is placed next to it. Using a toothpick, the briar dust is pulled into the CA glue and is mixed with the toothpick. When the mixture thickens, I use the toothpick to trowel the putty into the drilling channel in the mortise. I then set the stummel aside allowing the putty to cure through the night – lights out!The next morning, the putty has cured, and I go to work filing the fill to match the curvature of the mortise. A half-circle tapered needle file does the job well. The next pictures show the patch material now filling the hollow of the airway drilling and as well the necessary sanding to remove the excess overhang of the shank facing over the stem. To begin the sanding to remove the excess over the stem facing and to taper the shank, a coarse 120 grade paper makes the work more efficient. The sanding includes the entire shank to provide a more gradual tapering toward the stem. Without this, a ‘stuffed pants’ appearance is left. The stem remains engaged in the mortise throughout the sanding process.After a good bit of sanding, the alignment is looking good. As usual, on the sides where the precast stem seams are, the sanding is more directed. The pictures show the alignment at this point using 120 grade paper alone. The tapering of the shank looks good. I mark the upper side of the stem with a piece of scotch tape so that I later refit the stem with the correct orientation. The next thing I want to see it how a band or shank cap will work. Some months ago, the word went out about a pipe man on French eBay selling bags with a variety of copper rings, bands, caps, and spacers at a very decent price. I don’t know who started the rumor – Steve, Paresh, Victor?, but several of us were able to order a supply for our work desks. The package containing the supply had a card, Pipe Estate at www.pipes-estate.com. I have been waiting for an opportunity to utilize this addition to my inventory.After dumping the multitude of copper fitments on my worktable, it was fun taking a closer look at all the available sizes and shapes. But the question always is, will there be one in all these that will work??As if I were holding the Holy Grail, I found a few that looked hopeful, but one was perfect. A copper shank cap that fit the shank perfectly and reaches over the end of the shank to provide a spacer. Perfect!Remounting the stem, I oohed and awed at the beauty and wonder of this addition to the creation of this Churchwarden going to Niko for Christmas! There was a sacrifice in having to sand away the ‘Made in England’ marking on the shank which bums me out in a huge way, but I’m pleased with the shank tapering and the contribution of the copper shank cap to the ensemble. The rest of the Warden stem is awaiting sanding, but for the time, I continue sanding to smooth and finish the stummel. Following the coarse 120 paper that did the main work on the tapering, 240 and 600 grade papers continue the process of smoothing the shank surface. Next, I put the stummel aside and continue sanding the remainder of the Warden stem with 120 sanding paper. I also use a flat needle file to shape the raw, precast button. Following the filing and 120 grade paper, 240 grade continues the smoothing process by erasing the scratches left behind by the coarser filing and sanding. Following the 240 paper, wet sanding with 600 grade paper erases the scratches of the 240 sanding and then applying 000 grade steel wool completes this phase of the sanding process. One picture of the entire stem is taken followed by closeups of the upper and lower bit. The full regiment of micromesh pads is applied next by wet sanding with pads 1500 to 2400 then dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000. Between each set of 3 pads, Obsidian Oil is applied to vitalize the vulcanite stem. Again, I take one picture of the entire stem from the orbital shot and two closeups of the upper and lower bit after the final 3 micromesh pads.With the micromesh process completed, it is time to bend the Warden stem. I like to draw a template of a bend so that I’m not simply eyeballing the process. The general goal is to have the mouthpiece of the Warden stem on a parallel trajectory with the plane of the rim. On the diagram below, I draw a horizontal line representing the plane of the rim. I also rough sketch the current disposition of the unbent stem. Then I rough in a bend starting about 1/3 the distance from the shank and complete the sketch parallel with the rim plane. This is the guide template.The hot air gun focuses on the area about 1/3 up the stem for the first bend attempt. I bend the fat part of the stem first to have a more even and sweeping bend as it takes longer for the fat part to become supple than the thin part. As the stem is rotated over the hot air, gentle pressure is applied and when the stem starts to bend, I know it’s reaching the state of shaping. As the bottom third becomes supple, I move the heating up the stem a bit now to warm the middle. All the while rotating back and forth and around.After the stem heats enough using the hot air gun, I place the pipe on the template and hold it in place until it holds its position. I’ve found that even though it takes longer this way, I’ve lost the shape I want if I transition the pipe to the kitchen to run the stem under cool water to quicken the cooling. The first attempt is good. There’s a nice flowing bend but the final trajectory is a little wide.The second attempt is very close to what I want, but it’s still a hair wide.One more time heating does the trick. This time I take the stem to the sink and run it under cool water to cool the vulcanite and hold the bend that has been created.With the Warden stem completed until the final polishing phases, I turn again to the stummel. Using the full regiment of micromesh pads, with pads 1500 to 2400 I wet sand, followed by dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000. The bowl’s grain emerges through the process and I like what I’m seeing. The bowl is fully wrapped with a vertical flame grain with bird’s eye grain populating the heel and rim – as you would expect being the cross-view perspective of the flame grain. With the hour growing late, I continue the internal cleaning and refreshing process using a kosher salt and alcohol soak. The first step is to fashion a ‘wick’ from pulling and stretching a cotton ball. The wick serves to draw tars and oils out from the mortise cavity. Using a stiff wire, the wick is guided down the mortise. Then the bowl is filled with kosher salt which doesn’t leave an aftertaste as the iodized version. The stummel is then placed in an egg carton for stability.Using a large eyedropper, isopropyl 95% fills the bowl until it surfaces over the salt. After a few minutes the alcohol is absorbed, and I top off the alcohol one more time and set the stummel aside to soak through the night.The next morning, the soiling of the salt and wick evidences the processes active through the night. The tars and oils were drawn from the internal briar surface. I toss the expended salt and wipe the bowl with a paper towel. I also blow through the mortise to loosen and remove any remaining salt crystals.To make sure all is cleaned, one cotton bud and one pipe cleaner dipped in isopropyl 95% were all that was needed to verify the results of the internal cleaning – cleaned! I move on.Next, using Before & After Restoration Balm, the external briar is freshened and enlivened. Mark Hoover’s Restoration Balm (www.ibepen.com) works very well to bring out the natural hues and to deepen them. I place some of the Balm on my fingers and work it into the briar surface. Afterwards, I place it the stummel aside for about 20 minutes to allow the Balm to do its thing. Then the excess Balm is wiped/buffed off with a micromesh cloth. The results are as hoped – a beautiful piece of briar is now more beautiful. Before moving on to the fine polishing and waxing phase, the copper shank cap/band needs to be attached to the shank. I test fit the cap over the shank and insert the stem. The fit still looks good. Next, with great caution, I place a drop of thick CA glue on the end of a toothpick and this apply the glue to the inside of the ring/cap. Using the end of the toothpick, I run the glue around the entire underside and then slip it over the shank and press it into place. I do this without excess glue seeping out from around the edges – relief! I do not reengage the stem for a few minutes to allow the CA glue to cure – I don’t risk getting glue on the stem! On the home stretch! With a cotton cloth buffing wheel mounted to the Dremel with the speed set at about 40% full power, I apply Blue Diamond compound to the stem and stummel avoiding the copper band. When completed, I use a felt cloth to buff the pipe to remove compound dust before applying the wax. Next, changing to another cotton cloth buffing wheel maintaining the same speed, carnauba wax is applied as well to the stem and stummel followed by a rigorous hand buffing with a microfiber cloth to raise the shine.

Wow! The grain on this stummel catches the eye with the flame grain circling the bowl. This bowl works well as a Churchwarden. The size is perfect, and the shank pitch puts the long flowing Warden stem at a nice trajectory. The addition of the copper band/shank cap is classy and works very well to transition the bowl and the stem. I believe my son-in-law, Niko, will enjoy this Churchwarden which will be wrapped and waiting for him under the tree! Thanks for joining me!