Tag Archives: removing oxidation

Recommissioning a Vintage French Paul Viou Churchwarden of St. Claude

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Blog by Dal Stanton

There’s nothing like a Lot picture on the eBay auction block that makes a pipe man salivate with the question, “Are there any treasures in the beautiful, intertwined, chaotic mass of briar, rubber, horn, and acrylic?”  I received a message from my good pipe man friend to the north of Bulgaria in Romania, Codruț (aka: Piper O’Beard on FB), a happy steward of a Peretti Oom Paul Sitter I restored (Recommissioning Another L. J. Peretti of Boston: An Oom Paul Sitter).  Codruț  sent me some links of Lots on the French eBay auction block.  With piqued curiosity I looked.  Codruț was considering getting into the hunt – he had never purchased a Lot before and he wanted to try his had and restoring.  When I saw the French Lot below, I started salivating a bit(!), and asked Codruț if he minded if I went after it.  With his blessing, I placed a bid and was fortunate to land the French Lot of 50 and bring it to Bulgaria.  What drew my attention to this Lot of 50 initially were all the horn stems that caught my eye.  The second was the classy Pencil Stem Cutty Tavern Pipe laying across the top (unbelievably, still available as I write in the For “Pipe Dreamers” Only! collection!!) and the modernistic, deep blue/white Billiard with a fiery blue acrylic stem lying next to the Pencil Stem Cutty Tavern Pipe (available in The Pipe Steward Store as I write!).  Then I saw the Churchwarden.  All pipe picking scavenging requires one to see through the mass to put together the clues of what is hidden.  The P. Viou Warden’s upside-down bowl starts on the left side (just above a horn stem) and you can trace the long stem underneath the mass where it emerges on the far right, upturned – somewhat masked by the star on the print below.  Aw!  My excitement when the bell rang, and the winning bid was mine!When the French Lot of 50 finally made it to Bulgaria, I opened the box like a young boy opening a treasure!  With all my acquisitions, so that I can keep track of everything, I picture and record every pipe and eventually upload them to the ‘For “Pipe Dreamers” Only!’ collection for pipe men and women to see and commission if a pipe happens to choose them.  Here are some of the cataloging pictures I took of the French Lot of 50 with a better look at the 3 pipes that hooked me as well as the plethora of horn! It didn’t take long for the Churchwarden to find a suitor after he was put online in the ‘For “Pipe Dreamers” Only!’ collection.  A new acquaintance, Josh, who visited Bulgaria last summer, saw the Churchwarden and commissioned him and has been waiting so patiently!  The Paul Viou Churchwarden finally made it to my worktable, and I take more pictures to get a closer look. The reach of the P. Viou’s Churchwarden is 10 1/2 inches (even with an inappropriately tucked stem!) and the height of the bowl is 1 7/8 inches.  The nomenclature is a cursive, P. Viou with a flared underline on the left flank of the shank.  On the right, is the well-known stamping of ‘ST.CLAUDE’, the French birthplace of the production of briar pipes and historically, the mega-center of French pipe manufacturing with a plethora of names calling it home.  There is scant information about the Paul Viou name on the internet that I could find.  Pipedia’s article of Paul Viou is brief:

From Pipes, Artisans and Trademarks, by José Manuel Lopes’

Paul Viou was the brand and name of a French artisan who sold his pipes by correspondence and then he was a pipe supplier for military institutions. He also made sculpted pipes and sometime used horn stems.

The brand is currently sold by Jacques Craen and made by Genod in Saint-Claude, after having also belonged to Paul Guilland and Vuillard. They are stamped P. Viou and made primarily for export.

This information is confirmed by Pipephil.eu with the addition of the date of the current holder of the Paul Viou name, Beaud, happening in 2006: Whether the Churchwarden before me was made under the original artisan or under one of the other eventual holding companies (Guilland, Vuillard, or Genod), I’m not sure how to say with certainty.  I have a few other P. Viou pipes in the French Lot of 50, so perhaps I’ll discover more information as I go!

The condition of the overall pipe is good. The bowl is darkened from time and the normal buildup of oils and grime.  The chamber has some cake buildup but not much.  The Warden stem has some oxidation and the bit is in good condition.  I notice also (picture above) that there’s a gap between the stem and shank.  Often, a simple cleaning will restore a flush seating of the stem, but I’ll keep my eye on this.  The main thing that grabbed my attention when I first held the pipe in my hand was the orientation of the stem.  To me, it is over-bent and almost you could say, tucked.  Wardens, I’ve found, have different kinds of bends.  Most often I’ve observed a sweeping bend where almost the entire stem is engaged in the bend.  This P. Viou has a straight extension until it reaches the very end of the stem and then is bent.  I like it, but the final orientation of the bend should more closely reflect a parallel orientation with the plane of the rim.  For a didactic moment, I trace this concept on a piece of paper to illustrate.Before beginning the cleaning process with the stem, I make this adjustment to the stem.  First, just to be on the cautious side, I insert a pipe cleaner into the bit side of the stem to guard the integrity of the airway, which usually isn’t an issue if the bend is being opened instead of tightened. I also trace the original stem orientation on the paper I used above so that when I bend the stem, I can lay it on the flat surface for a straighter result.  I then heat the end of the stem with a hot air gun.  As it heats, the vulcanite becomes supple and the bend gradually starts straightening on its own.  When it expands enough as I eyeball it, holding the stem in place, I take it to the sink and run cold tap water on it to set the bend.  After the first attempt, the bend is still too tight, so I repeat the process again and the second time is enough.  The pictures show the progression.  I like this orientation much better. Before cleaning the stem, I remove the stinger to aid in the cleaning. I heat the stinger with a Bic lighter and after it heats, the vulcanite holding it loosens its grip.  I gently extract it with the help of pliers.  I personally don’t have a lot of affection for stingers and their role in the smoking experience.  I’ll clean the stinger and include it with the finished pipe and allow the future steward to make the call!  I don’t have long pipe cleaners, but I do have a selection of shank brushes that easily reach through the stem.  I use these dipped in isopropyl 95% to clean the internals of the stem. I also use regular pipe cleaners inserting them from both sides.  Well, it didn’t take long after starting to know that this Warden stem had not been cleaned in some time – if ever!  The reality of the less than optimal situation was confirmed when my wife came in and said that something was stinking…. I should have had gloves and my apron on, but hindsight!  After some cleaning, things are looking better but still not pristine! This nastiness helps me decide the next course of action.  I use an OxiClean bath to work on the oxidation in the vulcanite, but it also serves to further sanitize the internals, yes!  I pour the OxiClean into a larger plastic container that will accommodate the stem.  Before putting the stem in the OxiClean bath, I put a little petroleum jelly over the ‘P.Viou’ stamping to protect it and then let the OxiClean to its thing with both internal and external. With the stem in the bath, I turn now to the Paul Viou bowl by reaming the chamber with the Pipnet Reaming kit using two smaller blades.  I then fine tune by scraping the chamber with the Savinelli Fitsall tool and follow by sanding the chamber with 240 grit paper wrapped around a Sharpie Pen.  After wiping the chamber with a cotton pad and alcohol, I look at the cleaned chamber and it looks good – no signs of heating damage. Next, I use undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap on the external briar surface to work on the bowl and lava flow on the rim. I also use a bristled tooth brush and a brass wire brush on the rim that will not damage the briar.  The cleaning reveals two thing.  First, by looking at the cotton pad in the picture, the old dye came off during the cleaning.  The rim cleaned up well but revealed burn damage from pulling the flame over the rim instead of being over the tobacco!  Lighting a Churchwarden can be a bit more difficult, especially the way the stem was originally bent on this Paul Viou – I doubt if the steward could see the top of the bowl with the way it was tucked under.  Here are the pictures. To complete the general cleaning regimen, I use cotton buds and pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95% to do the job.  With the grungy condition of the stem, it shouldn’t have surprised me to find the mortise and airway internals sharing the same grungy condition.  Oh my, with the help dental probes and spatulas to scrape the mortise and shank brushes coming in to reinforce the cotton buds and rank and file pipe cleaners, some victory was achieved in this skirmish.  With confidence of having total victory, I will later continue the struggle by giving the internals a kosher salt and alcohol bath to further draw the oils and tars out of the internal briar and to remove any lingering odor.  The picture shows the carnage and the arsenal of this war. Next, I take a closer look at the rim damage.  The lighting practice has scorched the forward left side of the bowl resulting in the thinning of the rim at that point.  I’ve had a lot of experience with this when I restored several L.J. Peretti Oom Pauls from the former steward who was a serial burner and discarder (See for an example: Another LJ Peretti Oom Paul Sitter Recommissioned).  My approach is two-fold with the driving value of always trying to save as much briar as possible!  First, I will minimally top the stummel to remove as much damage as possible.  Then, to blend the internal rim lip damage, I introduce an internal bevel, which in my view, looks good anyway.  With the chopping board on my table, I cover it with a sheet of 240 paper.  The following pictures show the graduated progress.  First, the starting point.Interestingly, the topping process reveals a slight inward dropping pitch of the rim.  This is shown by the outer portion only making contact with the flat topping board. When I decide the 240 grit paper has removed enough of the top, I switch the paper to 600 grit and give the topping a few more rotations to smooth out the rim.Now, step two is introducing a bevel to the internal lip to remove more damaged briar and to blend.  I start with a tightly rolled piece of coarser 120 grit paper to cut the initial bevel.  I follow in succession with 240 and 600 grit papers tightly rolled. To soften the sharp outer edge of the rim and to soften the entire rim presentation, I create an external bevel, but a very small bevel using the same progression of sanding papers.  I think it looks good.  The darkened part of the damage is still visible, but it will be mitigated when the rim is dyed and darkened.The condition of the stummel is good.  I don’t see any problem fills or pitting.  I go with the original finish and aim to match the rim to the bowl. What seems to be a good match is the Mahogany dye stick.  After applying it over the rim, I then blend the dye stick coating by wiping it with a cotton pad wetted with alcohol.  I think it looks good at this stage. The Warden stem has been in the OxiClean bath for several hours.  I take a few close-up pictures to show the oxidation which had surfaced.  I wet sand using 600 grade paper to remove the oxidation.  I’m careful to stay clear of the ‘P.Viou’ stamp.  I follow this with Magic Eraser over the entire stem, including the stamping.  The low abrasion of the sponge works well with cleaning up this area.In order to hydrate the vulcanite, I then apply a coat of paraffin oil (a mineral oil) over the stem and set it aside.Next, using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400, I wet sand the stummel to clean it and begin the fine polishing sanding. 

Following the first set of 3 pads, I begin dry sanding with the next set of 3 pads and after finishing with the first of these, I don’t like the way the stummel looks.  After the wet sanding cycles, the stummel has a pink or mauve hue to it – mauve to me, is sick pink.  Just in case you’re wondering what mauve is, from a quick Google search followed by my mauve toned stummel.  This doesn’t work for me! I placed too much trust in the old stain which is not holding up and leaving behind a less than attractive briar presentation – at least as I look at it.  I wipe the stummel with a cotton pad and alcohol and my thoughts are confirmed.  Even after wiping with isopropyl 95%, the stummel has the mauve residue in the grain.  The reality is, I’m not losing too much traction in the process of this restoration except I will take a detour and put the stummel in an acetone soak to make sure I’m proceeding with the natural briar.  This soak in acetone will also preempt the need to do a kosher salt and alcohol soak.  I put the stummel in the acetone soak and turn out the lights.  Another day is done.The next morning, I fish the stummel out of the acetone soak and it is evident that all the remnant finish is gone. I return to the micromesh sanding process and start again by wet sanding with the initial set of 3, 1500 to 2400.  Following this, using pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000, I dry sand the stummel, throughout avoiding the stamped areas on the left and right flanks of the shank.  Wow, without the distraction of the finish, the grain I see emerge is nice.  I see an eclectic blend of large bird’s eye on the sides of the bowl and the horizontal ‘connector’ grains of the bird’s eye displayed on the foreside of the bowl. I still have the Warden stem waiting in the wings for fine tuning, but I want to move forward with the stummel so that it can be ‘resting’ during the stem work.  The grain that has emerged is beautiful and to create a little more ‘pop’ to the grain with more contrast between the darker and lighter grain – harder and softer wood, after debating between Dark Brown and Light Brown, I decide to use Fiebing’s Light Brown Leather Dye to provide the base hue in the grain and then through the use of Tripoli compound applied with a felt buffing wheel, the grain is teased out leaving greater contrast.  I can lighten as well by wiping the bowl with a cotton pad and alcohol since I’m using an aniline dye.

I assemble all the components of my desktop dying station. I first assure that the stummel is clean by wiping it with a cotton pad wetted with alcohol.  After inserting a fashioned cork into the shank to act as a handle, I heat the stummel with a hot air gun to heat the briar and by this, expanding the briar to enable the dye to be absorbed more efficiently.  After heated, I apply Fiebing’s Light Brown Leather Dye over the briar surface with a folded over pipe cleaner.  When fully covered, I fire the aniline dye with a lit candle which immediately combusts the alcohol and sets the pigment in the grain.  After a few minutes I repeat the process and put the fired stummel aside to allow the dye to rest.  I discovered that this ‘resting’ process helps to aid the dye to set and not come off on the hands when the pipe initially goes into service and the bowl is heated.Now that I completed the staining, I turn my attention to the Warden stem.  Taking another close look at the bit area reveals that the sanding to remove the oxidation with 600 grit paper, all but erased any tooth chatter on the bit!  On the lower bit (second picture) I do see one very small dimple that I dispatch quickly with 470 then 600 grade papers.  I then follow by using 0000 steel wool on the entire stem.  I like the results – progress. Before moving on to the micromesh phase, I go the extra mile with the Paul Viou Warden stem.  Using Before & After Fine and Extra Fine Polish, in succession, I apply some of the polish on my fingers and then rub the polish into the vulcanite surface.  The Fine polish has more of a gritty feel to it.  With both polishes, they revitalize the vulcanite as well as continue to extract remnants of oxidation from the rubber compound.  I take a picture while the Extra Fine Polish was doing its thing.  After the application of each polish, I use a cotton pad to wipe off the excess polish.Just when everything was going so well….  After I wipe off the Before & After Extra Fine Polish and was admiring the results, I see a pit on the forward third of the stem…ugh.  Just to make sure I was seeing what my eyes were seeing and my brain was arguing that I wasn’t seeing what I was seeing – I took a sharp dental probe and tested. Well, sometimes you simply must punt the ball – American football slang for just doing what you need to do.  So, using Hyper Bond 12000cps Black CA glue, with a toothpick as my drop guidance system, I spot drop some glue on the pit and wait.After the patch cures, I gingerly use the flat needle file to file down the patch mound – trying not to slip off and produce more patch work!  After the filing, I further remove the excess with 240 grit paper followed by 600 and 0000 steel wool.  Finally, in the locale of the patch I again apply Before & After Fine and Extra Fine Polish.  Well, the pit is filled, but the coloring of the fill is not black-black so it doesn’t blend with 100% satisfaction.  Yet, if one doesn’t know the fill is there, he probably would not see it!  Restoration is not perfection, though we try!  The pictures show the detour. Undaunted, moving forward with the micromesh process, I wet sand with pads 1500 to 2400 and follow by dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000.  After each set of 3 pads, I apply Obsidian Oil to continue the revitalization of the vulcanite Warden stem.  Admittedly, taking distance pictures of a Churchwarden stem is less than satisfying, but what I’m seeing close-up is looking good!With the stem on the side, I’m looking forward to ‘unwrapping’ the fired stummel.  Using a felt cloth buffing wheel mounted on the Dremel, I set the speed to the slowest setting, so it doesn’t get too hot with friction.  I then begin the process of removing the fired shell revealing the grain below. My wife helps record the process – my hands are full!  I must purge the felt wheel often as it collects the dye crust.  I do this quickly by running the wheel along the edge of the cutting board which is my lap desk as I work.  The process of using Tripoli compound, which is coarser, and with the felt wheel, which creates more friction than a cotton cloth wheel, is that it can buff off much of the dye that is excess and on softer wood – the lighter part of the grain.  The dye pigment tends to be held by the darker grain.  The effect is that the grain almost looks luminescent with the contrasting hues in the grains. After completing the application of Tripoli, I wet a cotton pad with isopropyl 95% and wipe down the stummel – not really to lighten the color, but to help blend the dye.I then mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel to the Dremel, increase the speed to about 40% full power and apply Blue Diamond to stem and stummel.  As I attempt to reunite the stem and stummel, I discover that the fit of the tenon in the shank is too tight – cracking a shank isn’t anything I want to be contemplating now!  It’s not surprising that after soaking the stummel in acetone the wood absorbs and expand somewhat.  To remedy this, I wrap a piece of 240 grit paper around the tenon and rotate the paper, sanding down the tenon a bit.  I follow by doing the same with 600 grit paper.  After a few tries, the tenon finds a good, snug seating.  I then apply Blue Diamond compound to both stem and stummel.  After finishing with the Blue Diamond, I wipe the pipe down well with a felt cloth to clean the compound dust off the surface.Before applying carnauba wax, I will freshen the ‘P.Viou’ stem stamping.  The condition of the stamp imprint seems good so the paint should hold without problem.  Using white acrylic paint, I put some paint over the stamp and then lightly dab the paint with a cotton pad.  This absorbs the excess paint so that the thinned layer left on the stem dries quickly.  I then scrape the excess paint off by gently scraping with the side of a toothpick.  I finish by gently buffing the newly painted stamp with a cotton pad.  The pictures show the progression. As I said I would do earlier, I clean the stinger with a brass brush and alcohol and a dental probe and give it a quick buff with the Dremel using Blue Diamond compound.  I then reinsert it into the tenon.I mount another cotton cloth wheel onto the Dremel, set speed at 40%, and apply a few coats of carnauba wax to the Warden stem and stummel.  After finishing, I hand buff the pipe with a microfiber cloth to raise the shine.

When one first sizes up a Churchwarden, one usually is drawn to the ‘olde world’ sweep of the long, flowing stem with images of Gandalf smoking and blowing magical smoke rings.  Secondarily, one is drawn to the bowl attached to the stem.  But with this Churchwarden, the bowl is drawing attention as well!  The beautiful, distinctive bird’s eye grain interacting with the other grain patterns is mesmerizing.  The correction to the stem’s bend was strategic and the rim repair is now invisible.  This Churchwarden would be a nice addition to anyone’s collection, and since  Josh commissioned the Paul Viou Churchwarden and has the first opportunity to acquire it from The Pipe Steward Store.  This pipe, as well as all pipes commissioned from the For “Pipe Dreamers” Only! collection benefit the Daughters of Bulgaria – women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited.  Thanks for joining me!

Restoring a Jobey Florentine Canadian that weary and worn

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Blog by Steve Laug

Along with the recent Kaywoodie Original (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/01/25/new-life-for-a-kaywoodie-original-imported-briar-freehand-stack/) and the Royal Danish 984R Canadian (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/01/26/an-easy-restore-a-royal-danish-984r-canadian/) that I worked on, my brother Jeff sent me an interesting Jobey Canadian. The pipe has a Sea Rock style finish. The underside of the shank is stamped Jobey over Florentine in script followed by EXTRA and finally by PATENT PENDING. That helps to date this to the time after the patent was filed in 1970. Like the other pipes that came from this Idaho auction the pipe was in good condition – dirty but really not too bad. The finish was very dirty with grime worked into the grooves and valleys of the rustication. The bowl had a thick cake that flowed over the rim top leaving a thick coat of lava. It was hard to know what the inner and outer edges of the bowl looked like until the pipe was reamed and cleaned. The stem looked good but had deep tooth marks on both sides of the stem. Jeff took these pictures of the pipe to show its condition before he started his cleanup work. Jeff took a close up of the bowl and rim. The bowl thick cake and the photos show the lava overflow onto the rim top. It was thick and had filled in the crevices and valleys of the rustication.On the underside of the shank the stamping was very clear and readable. It is stamped in a smooth panel that runs from the heel of the bowl to end of the shank. It is evidently an early Jobey that is stamped Patent Pending. I am sure that the Patent refers to the Jobey Link in the shank.He took photos of the stem to show the oxidation on the stem. The first photo shows the faint/light Royal Danish Crown on the top side of the taper near the shank. The second and third photo show the oxidation and the otherwise pristine stem surface.On the topside of the tapered stem there is a brass Jobey insert that is pressed into the vulcanite. It was readable but dirty.Jeff followed his usual regimen of cleaning an estate pipe. He had reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the bowl, rim and shank. He rinsed it under running water and dried it off with a soft cloth. It looked a lot better but the rim was still dirty. The stem had deep tooth marks on both sides from the button forward. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the rim top that shows the clean bowl and the remaining hard coat of lava in the grooves at the front right side of the rim top. The stem was clean and Jeff had used Before & After Deoxidizer to soak and remove much of the oxidation. He rinsed out the inside of the stem and rinsed off the exterior as well. It is hard to see the rippling tooth marks in the photos but they are on both sides of the stem.I removed the stem from the shank to show the Jobey Link that screwed into the shank and the smooth end that the stem sat on.I used a brass bristle wire brush to clean up the rim top of the bowl and loosen the remaining debris and dust in the grooves in the rustication toward the front of the bowl.I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm into the coral rusticated finish of the bowl and the shank to deep clean the briar. I worked it into the smooth portions the sides and the bottom of the bowl. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I hand rubbed it with my fingers and wiped it off with a soft cloth. I buffed the bowl with a horsehair shoe brush to polish it. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. I sanded the stem down with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the tooth marks and waves in the surface of both sides. I used a piece of 400 grit wet dry sandpaper to polish out the scratches in the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I used the Before & After Pipe Polish to remove the small minute scratches left in the vulcanite. I finished by wiping the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry.   I polished the stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches and gave it several coats of carnauba. I polished the bowl and shank with Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush. 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 finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 3/4 inches, Height: 1 3/4 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/4 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection email me at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a message on Facebook. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this rusticated Patent Pending Jobey made Canadian.

An Easy Restore – A Royal Danish 984R Canadian

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Blog by Steve Laug

Along with the recent Kaywoodie Original (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/01/25/new-life-for-a-kaywoodie-original-imported-briar-freehand-stack/) that I worked on, my brother Jeff sent me a nice looking multi finished Canadian. It is a classic Danish version of the Canadian shape with an oval shank and a long tapered stem. The pipe is sandblasted with two smooth patches on the sides of the bowl. It is a nice looking pipe that looks a lot like the variegated finished pipes that Stanwell issued in the 60s and 70s. The underside of the shank is stamped Royal Danish in script followed by Made in Denmark and finally the shape number 984R. Like the other pipes that came from this Idaho auction the pipe was in pretty decent condition – dirty but really not too bad. The finish was dusty and dirty with grime worked into the sandblast finish. The bowl had a moderate cake in it but it did not go all the way to the bottom of the bowl – in fact the pipe was not even broken in. The rim top had a thick coat of lava and was dirty. The inner and outer edges of the bowl were in great condition. The stem was oxidized but in decent condition. Jeff took these pictures of the pipe to show its condition before he started his cleanup work.Jeff took a close up of the bowl and rim. The bowl had a moderate to medium cake but the lava overflow onto the rim top was quite thick. He also took a close up photo of the side and underside of the bowl and shank.On the underside of the shank the stamping was very clear and readable. It is stamped in a smooth panel that runs from the heel of the bowl to end of the shank. The Royal Danish Brand is a Stanwell second line. It is no wonder that the pipe looks very similar to a Stanwell. The shape number is also a Stanwell shape number.He took photos of the stem to show the oxidation on the stem. The first photo shows the faint/light Royal Danish Crown on the top side of the taper near the shank. The second and third photo show the oxidation and the otherwise pristine stem surface. Jeff had reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the bowl, rim and shank. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the majority of darkening on the rim top without harming the finish underneath it. Without the grime the finish looked good. Other than the light oxidation, the stem was actually in pretty good condition and would only need to be polished. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the rim top that shows the clean bowl and the remaining lava in the grooves of the sandblast rim top. The stem was clean and Jeff had used Before & After Deoxidizer to soak and remove much of the oxidation. He rinsed out the inside of the stem and rinsed off the exterior as well. The photos of the stem show how good the stem actually looked after this treatment. I used a brass bristle wire brush to clean up the rim top of the bowl and loosen the remaining debris and dust in the grooves of the blast.I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm into the sandblast finish of the bowl and the shank to deep clean the briar. I worked it into the smooth portions the sides and the bottom of the bowl. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I hand rubbed it with my fingers and wiped it off with a soft cloth. I buffed the bowl with a horsehair shoe brush to polish it. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. The stem was in really good condition so I skipped sanding it with 220 grit sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I used the Before & After Pipe Polish to remove the small minute scratches left in the vulcanite. I finished by wiping the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I polished the stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches and gave it several coats of carnauba. I polished the bowl and shank with Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush. 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 finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 1/2 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection email me at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a message on Facebook. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this beautiful Stanwell made Canadian.

New Life for a Unique Kaywoodie Original Imported Briar Freehand Stack

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Blog by Steve Laug

Recently my brother Jeff sent me a very interesting pipe. It has a plateau bottom on the shank and bowl with fluted sides merging upward with a stack shape billiard bowl. The shank looks quite normal but it has plateau on the bottom. It is quite unique looking and combines some of the features of a freehand and some of the features of a stack. The left side of the shank was stamped Kaywoodie over Original over Imported Briar. There is no other stamping on the shank or the bowl. When Jeff received the pipe it was in pretty decent condition – dirty but really not too bad. The finish was dusty and dirty with grime worked into the lovely grain of the briar and particularly into the underside plateau. The bowl had a moderate cake in it but it did not go all the way to the bottom of the bowl – in fact the pipe was not even broken in. The rim top was free of lava but there was some darkening on the backside of the rim top. The inner and outer edges of the bowl were in great condition. The stem had a white circle with the Kaywoodie Club on the left side of the taper stem. It had a Kaywoodie 3 hole stinger and a threaded metal shank that screwed into a metal mortise and spacer ring. The stem had some light tooth marks on both sides at the button. It was oxidized but in decent condition. Jeff took these pictures of the pipe to show its condition before he started his cleanup work. On the left side of the shank the stamping was very clear and readable. You can see that the pipe has some interesting grain even on the shank.He took photos of the stem to show the oxidation and tooth marks and chatter on the stem. Surprisingly the marks and chatter were on the surface.Jeff had reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the bowl, rim and shank. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the majority of darkening on the rim top without harming the finish underneath it. Without the grime the finish looked good. There some large and ugly pink fills in the finish. There was one on the rim top on the right side, there was a pair of them on the top of the shank at the joint of the shank and bowl and the final one was in the fluted area to the right of the shank near the bottom of the bowl. Other than the oxidation and chatter the stem was actually in pretty good condition and would only need to be polished. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the rim top that shows the clean bowl and the light burn damage around the inner edge toward the back of the bowl. (You can also see the small fill on the top of the rim at the top of the photo, right side of the pipe.) The stem was clean and Jeff had used Before & After Deoxidizer to soak and remove much of the oxidation. He rinsed out the inside of the stem and rinsed off the exterior as well. The photos of the stem show how good the stem actually looked after this treatment.I unscrewed the stem to show the three hole stinger and the threaded tenon.I took some photos of the pink putty fills in the briar on the rim top and on the shank and on the lower right side of the bowl near the shank.I picked out the fills on the bowl and shank with a dental pick and a sharp pen knife point to remove as much of the putty as I could.I filled in the freshly dug out fills with briar dust and clear super glue. I put glue in the fills and used a dental spatula to fill briar dust into the glue repairs. When the fills had cured I used a needle file to flatten the repairs and sanded the patches with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I followed that by sanding with a folded piece of 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the repaired areas with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding them with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the areas down with a damp cloth to clean off the sanding dust. I touched up the sanded and polished areas with an Oak coloured stain pen. It matched really well with the rest of the bowl and shank. Once it is waxed and polished they will blend in a lot better than the pink ones.I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the briar, particularly the sanded areas. I worked it into the plateau on the bottom of the bowl. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I hand rubbed it with my fingers and wiped it off with a soft cloth. I buffed the bowl with a horsehair shoe brush to polish it. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth chatter and marks as well as the oxidation.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I used the Before & After Pipe Polish to remove the small minute scratches left in the vulcanite. I finished by wiping the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I polished the stem and bowl with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I gave the bowl and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I worked some Conservator’s Wax into the plateau on the underside of the bowl and shank. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I have never seen a Kaywoodie quite like this one. It is not only unique in having the plateau on the underside but also the fluting on the side of the bowl. The stamping Kaywoodie Original is also a new one for me. The dimensions are Length: 6 1/4 inches, Height: 2 1/2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/2 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection email me at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a message on Facebook. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this Kaywoodie Original.

Repairing a Broken Tenon on a House of Robertson War Club

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Blog by Steve Laug

Back in February of 2018 (almost a year ago now) I posted my restoration of an interesting House of Robertson Pipe that was made by a carver in a pipe shop in Boise, Idaho. It was not only an interesting pipe but also one that had some history that was interesting to me as I was raised in Idaho for the better part of my childhood and adolescence. It was a huge piece of wood and had both smooth and rusticated portions on the shank and bowl. It was a flat bottom sitter with a square shank. The dimensions of the pipe are: Length: 7 3/8 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside Diameter: 1 5/8 inches, Diameter of the chamber: 7/8 inches. I sent it back to a fellow in Idaho who collected House of Robertson pipes and who used to frequent the Boise shop. He was excited to add it to his collection. (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/02/28/restoring-a-rusticated-house-of-robertson-war-club/). Here is what it looked like when I sent it to him. About the same time I picked up the Calich, I received an email from the collector in Idaho asking for help. This is what he wrote to me:

Steve, I purchased the rusticated House of Robertson War Club pipe earlier this year. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The bad news is i was polishing it and dropped it. The stem broke at the tenon and is still lodged in the briar. Hopefully you can repair or replace it. If so, please let me know and then how to proceed with mailing and payment. Thanks…

I wrote him back pretty quickly and he put it in the mail. It arrived here yesterday and was waiting for me when I got home from work. I opened the envelope that it had been mailed in and took out the two plastic Ziploc bags and the bubble wrap that was around the bowl and stem. I took them out of the mailer and unwrapped the protective layers and took them out of the Ziploc bag. This is what I saw. The stem had snapped off almost perfectly against the stem end. There was a small ledge but really nothing stuck out from the original tenon.I took an end view photo to show the snapped off tenon in the shank of the pipe. You can see in that photo that it is also a clean break.This morning I was “chatting” with Charles Lemon on the Tobacco Pipe Restorers Group on Facebook about Jobey Links and how easy they were to work with when replacing a tenon. I went through my container of tenons and I did not have one that would work in this shank without a lot of work. I took out my box of Jobey Link replacement tenons and one of them was absolutely the perfect size for this shank. I would need to use it backwards and do some modifications but it was exactly what I wanted for this repair. I used a topping board to flatten out the remnants of the broken tenon on the stem. I used a knife to bevel the airway to make drilling it easier. I took the following photo to show the parts of the repair.I tried my usual method for removing a broken tenon from the shank – a drywall screw turned into the airway in the shank until it was tight and then wiggling the broken tenon out of the shank. It failed to produce any results. It was almost like the tenon was glued/bonded to the walls of the shank. I used a cotton swab to dribble alcohol down the shank around the broken tenon. I left the shank and tenon sitting while I went to work for the day. When I came home I tried the screw again and still absolutely no movement on the tenon… it was stuck.

I resorted to the next best method – drilling the tenon out of the shank with my cordless drill. I started with a bit a little larger than the airway and turned it into the airway with the drill and then reversed the drill to see if I could pull it out. Nope. It still did not move. I tried a larger drill bit and repeated the process still no movement at all. I tried a third bit – a little bit smaller than the diameter of the original tenon. I drilled it in and backed it out – no luck. I then decided to just drill out the tenon all together. It did not take too much to drill it with the ¼ inch drill bit and then take out the pieces of the old tenon. The fourth photo below shows the clean airway in the shank. The tenon is gone. Now with that half of the job done I set the bowl aside and picked up the stem. I used a drill bit slightly smaller than the threaded portion of the Jobey Link. I drilled out the airway in the stem with increasingly larger drill bit until it was the perfect size for the Link. I still needed to tap the newly drilled airway so that I could turn the tenon into the stem. I used a tap set that I have and tapped threads into the newly drilled airway in the stem. It did not take long to tap thread into the vulcanite. I tapped the airway until it was deep enough for to take the threaded tenon. I shortened the threaded end of the tenon to deal with the taper of the stem. I used a Dremel and sanding drum and then smoothed it out on the 220 grit sandpaper topping board. I used the Dremel and sanding drum to remove the hip on the Jobey Link. I flattened it out to match the smooth part of the tenon that would go into the shank. The added length of the tenon fit perfect in the depth of the mortise on the pipe. I turned the tenon into the airway with a pair of pliers.I sanded out the scratch marks from the Dremel removal of the hip on the tenon with 220 grit sandpaper and polished it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh and took a photo of the stem with the new tenon and the tools I used to work on it.When I looked over the stem I could see a few tooth marks on the surface on both the top and underside near the button. I figured that since I was working on it anyway I would remove those areas. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage and polished the sanding marks with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with Obsidian Oil. When I finished the last pad I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I set the stem aside and turned my attention to the bowl. I examined it and found that there were a few small nicks and chips around the rim top and outer edge of the bowl. I touched these up with a walnut stain pen to blend them into the rest of the finish on the bowl. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm to enliven the wood and protect the newly finished portions of the briar. I took these photos after to show the bowl and the repairs are unnoticeable. I put the stem back on the shank and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to bring a shine back to the bowl and stem. I gave it several coats of Conservator’s Wax and continue the buff. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Tomorrow I will box it up and send it back to Idaho. Can’t wait to see what he thinks when he has it in his hands. Thanks for reading this. Cheers.

Restoring a Jobey 085 Churchwarden

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Blog by Steve Laug

My brother Jeff always keeps an eye open for Churchwardens and so far he continues to come up with not only brands that I have heard of but also Churchwardens from name brand pipes that I had no idea existed. The pipe on the worktable today is made by Jobey and has the patented Jobey link between the stem and the shank. The bowl is a fairly classic Dublin shape but that is where the classic is modified. The first modification is that the shank is rounded almost like it was made for a stick bit or for a metal ferrule. I expected the shank to be faced, as usual on a churchwarden, to take a long tapered stem that flows directly from the shank with no interruption. The modification to the classic is related but refers to how the stem seats in the shank of the pipe. Instead of the expected stick bit with a push tenon this one has the threaded mortise that the Jobey Link screws into. The Link has a smooth end that the stem can be pushed on and held in place by friction. I have included a patent drawing of the link in a pipe. Note the threads in the shank and the smooth end in the stem. That is followed by an advertisement for the link and a picture of the link. This Jobey had been well loved and smoked often. The stem had tooth chatter on both sides near the button. The finish was dirty but otherwise looked good. The rim top appeared to be in good condition under the coat of lava on the back side. The bowl had a thick cake and the interior of the pipe was dirty with tars and oils. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim as well as the sides of the pipe to show the general condition of the briar before cleaning. He took photos of the stamping on the left and right side of the shank. The stamping on the left read Jobey in script over the block letters CHURCHWARDEN. On the right side it was stamped with the shape number 085. He also took photos of the fit of the stem in the shank and the brass Jobey logo inset on the stem top. You can see the debris in the logo and the oxidation on the stem in the photos below. The stem had tooth marks and chatter on both the top and underside near the button.Jeff had reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the bowl, rim and shank. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. The lava mess on the rim was thoroughly removed without harming the finish underneath it. Without the grime the finish looked good. The inner edge of the bowl was beveled inward and looked very good. The out edge had a few tiny nicks in it. The oxidation on the stem was gone and all that remained were some tooth marks and chatter at the button on both sides. Otherwise it was actually in pretty good condition and would only need to be polished. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the rim top that shows the clean bowl and how it was beveled inward. You can also see the small nicks along the outer edge of the bowl toward the back side. The stem was clean and Jeff had used Before & After Deoxidizer to soak and remove much of the oxidation. He rinsed out the inside of the stem and rinsed off the exterior as well. The photos of the stem show how good the stem actually looked after this treatment.I removed the stem from the shank and unscrewed the Jobey Link from the shank. I took a photo of it with the Link removed and the Link in place in the shank.I decided to start my work on the pipe by addressing the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem at the button. I sanded the tooth marks out the stem surface with 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded the stem until the surface was smooth and the marks had disappeared.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I used the Before & After Pipe Polish to remove the small minute scratches left in the vulcanite. I finished by wiping the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I set the stem aside and turned my attention to the bowl. I polished the rim top and edges – both inner and outer with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I worked on the nicked edges on the outside of the bowl to smooth them out. I polished the entire bowl avoiding the stamping with the pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. You can see the progress in the photos below. I put the bowl and stem back together. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish 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 pipe turned out very well and shows the grain shining through. The contrast of the various grains – birdseye, flame and straight swirling around the bowl and shank looked good with the polished, long black vulcanite. I will soon be putting this Jobey Churchwarden on the rebornpipes store. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 11 1/2 inches, Height: 1 3/4 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 of an inch. If this is the kind of Churchwarden you might want to add to your collection then send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Recommissioning a Stubborn Kaywoodie Prime Grain 205R ‘Fancy’ Bulldog

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Blog by Dal Stanton

I acquired this Kaywoodie as a solo in an eBay auction, December of 2017, while my wife and I were on a Christmas trip from Bulgaria to be with family in the United States.   True confession – while in the US I indulged in a few eBay auctions!  They’re exciting, what can I say.  But this Bulldog got my attention. Why?  True confession #2: I’m not a Kaywoodie connoisseur, but I was drawn to the profile of this stout Bulldog bowl proudly cresting with what looked like a crown and reminded me of one of my favorite chess pieces – the Rook or Castle.  The Rook is one of the strongest pieces on the board if properly moved – usually waiting patiently through much of the combat until, strike!  Yes, this is what drew me in to look at the details of the Kaywoodie Prime Grain. The slightly bent fancy stem added class to the Rook and the hue of the pipe leaned somewhat reddish – the complete warrior pipe!  So, I bid and now this guy is on the worktable here in Sofia, Bulgaria, after Paul saw him on The Pipe Steward site in the For “Pipe Dreamers” Only! collection and commissioned him along with the last pipe I restored, a Mastersen Freestyle, which turned out great.  Here are a few of the pictures I saw on eBay of the Kaywoodie Prime Grain Bulldog. With the Bulldog now on my worktable, I take more pictures to get a better look at the condition of the pipe. The nomenclature is stamped on the upper left shank side with KAYWOODIE [over] PRIME GRAIN [over] IMPORTED BRIAR.  The name is marked to the right with the encircled ‘R’ indicating a registered trademark.  The upper right shank side has the ghost of a shape number remaining.  After using a magnifying glass and after several pictures I was able to make it out as, ‘205R’.According to the extremely useful Kaywoodie thread entitled 3 Digit Shape numbers submitted by ‘kwguy’ (who I suspect is the major Pipedia Kaywoodie contributor Bill Feuerbach III, because many who responded to the thread with huge thanks, directed the comments to ‘Bill’), the general dating of this Kaywoodie is pretty straight forward.  Three-digit shape numbers were introduced to Kaywoodie pipes in 1972.  According to kwguy:

Maybe a little background is in order.  In 1972, we closed the West New York factory having completed construction of our new 197,000 square foot factory in Yapank on Long Island.  The plan was to move all pipe production there, but in the interim, the Medico factory in Richmond Hill Queens would handle the final sanding and finishing of all of the Kaywoodie, Yello-Bole and Medico pipes. The thought was eventually those operations would also shift to Yapank as skilled workers could be trained to handle those operations.  (A down turn in the pipe market in the seventies doomed the new plant, but that’s another story)

Having the three lines being finished in one building, would create confusion if there were two shape numbering systems.  So a new 3 digit system was adopted.  The Medico 3 digit system was also changed at this time.  This list will have three columns of numbers.  The first will be the “new” three digit number, used on all Kaywoodie and Medico pipes from 1972-1980.  (We stopped stamping shape numbers in 1980)  The second column is the Kaywoodie two-digit number and the third column is the original Medico 3 digit number, all of which refer to the same shape.

The 205R places this Kaywoodie between 1972 and 1980 according to this information.  Also, in the article, the addition of the ‘R’ indicated a ‘wavy or rusticated rim’.  I found the 205 shape number in the list referenced and I clipped all the Bulldog numbers for comparison and interest:So, the shape number tells me that I have before me a Kaywoodie medium Bulldog with a rusticated or wavy rim and was manufactured in the Medico factory in Richmond Hill Queens between 1972 and 1980.  One additional piece of information comes from the Kaywoodie – My Free Forum, called the “Kaywoodie Master List”.  This is a great resource compiling all the different Kaywoodie lines in alphabetic order.  Through this I found that the ‘Prime Grain’ line was produced between 1958 and 1976.  This information narrows the dating further by lowering the later date – therefore, this Kaywoodie was manufactured between 1972 and 1976 – Ha!, when I graduated from high school in South Florida and the cost of gas to fill my 1968 VW Bug was about .40 US cents/gallon! – of course, this was before the Euro was thought of.  This was also a period of time when huge decisions impacted my life and, like well-placed dominos falling, would bring me to Bulgaria some 45 years later working with the Daughters of Bulgaria and restoring pipes for them!

With a better understanding of this Kaywoodie Prime Grain Bulldog, I take a closer look at the condition.  There is almost no cake build up in the chamber.  The surface of the bowl has chips here and there – a few on the shank.  The biggest issue I see at this point for the stummel restoration is what I unlovingly refer to as the ‘candy apple’ finish that encompasses the stummel.  When you start working on a pipe this shiny, the concern is that the finish is acrylic which is a bear to remove.  I much prefer natural grain showcased without the artificial candy apple sheen that this Kaywoodie has.  The grain underneath the surface looks good.  The fancy stem is attractive but has light tooth chatter and very minor oxidation.  I take a couple of pictures to highlight the chips and the finish.I begin the reclamation of this Kaywoodie Bulldog by cleaning the airway with pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95%.  I then add the fancy stem to a soak of Before & After Deoxidizer with other stems of pipes in the queue.  After the stem soaks for several hours, I fish the Kaywoodie stem out and allow the Deoxidizer to drain off the stem.  With a cotton pad wetted with alcohol, I wipe the stem along with the raised oxidation and the stem looks good.  I then apply paraffin oil (a mineral oil) to the stem to begin its revitalization.  The pictures show the progress.With the stem taking a respite, I turn now to the internals of the Bulldog stummel by reaming the chamber. Even thought the cake is light, I still utilize the two smaller Pipnet Reaming blade heads to do the initial cleaning.  To fine tune the removal, the Savinelli Fitsall Tool does a great job of scraping the wall and reaching down to the floor removing carbon in the hard-reached areas.  Lastly, with a piece of 240 grit paper wrapped around a Sharpie Pen for leverage, the final step to clean the chamber is accomplished with sanding followed by wiping the chamber with a cotton pad wetted with alcohol to remove the remaining carbon dust.  After an examination of the cleaned chamber, all looks good.  No heat cracking or fissures are visible.  The pictures show the progress from start to completion. Moving to cleaning the external, even though I’m pretty sure that Murphy’s Oil Soap will not make a dent on the candy apple finish itself, I use a cotton pad and work on the surface as well as the rusticated rim using a bristled tooth brush.  As I suspected, the finish is clean on top but still very much intact, but the rusticated rim cleaned up quite nicely.Before addressing the finish issue further, I complete the cleaning regimen by now working on the internals of the stummel.  Using pipe cleaners and cotton buds dipped in isopropyl 95%, I go to work.  With the Kaywoodie Synchro-Stem shanking fitting in place, access to the mortise to clean is a bit frustrated.  I don’t use any pipe cleaners as the space is short.  To reach through the metal stinger insert hole I utilize some sharp dental probes to scrape the mortise walls to loosen the oils and tars that have collected.  After many cotton buds, progress is made and I’m satisfied with the cleaning and it’s time to move on.Now, back to the stummel surface and the removal of the acrylic finish.  First, I try the more conservative approach using alcohol with a cotton pad to see if the finish can be removed.  The picture shows that the answer is no with isopropyl 95%.Then, switching to acetone, I again use a cotton pad and focus only on one area to see if it would make a dent.  It did not after concentration for several minutes on a single shank panel.  The next step is simply to allow the stummel to soak for several hours in acetone.  Often, it takes this much time to allow the chemicals to break down the composition of the finish.  Into the acetone soak it goes and I turn my attention to the stem.With the stummel in the cooker, I work on the stem.  The tooth chatter is addressed first with heating the vulcanite by painting the upper- and lower-bit area with a flame.  The button lips are chewed as well.  I use a Bic lighter to do the job.  As the vulcanite heats it should expand recovering to a degree the original shape of the vulcanite.  After heating, the results are not great.  The texture of the vulcanite is harder, more plastic-like than normal.  So, I resort to first refreshing the button with a flat needle file and then sanding out the chatter using 240 grit paper followed by 470 grit. Continuing the process of erasing the scratches of the coarser grade papers with finer grade, I wet sand the entire stem with 600 grit paper then complete this phase using 0000 steel wool.With a closer look at the results, I’m not satisfied with the results on the lower bit area.  I can still see cross-scratches from filing and the coarser grade sanding papers.  I know that there are differing grades of vulcanite/rubber compounds used in fashioning stems, and I’ve not really studied it.  However, in restoring pipes, stems have differing responses to the work done on them.  As I said earlier, this material is harder than usual and begrudgingly gives up his imperfections!  For the lower bit, I back up and dry sand the area using 240, 600, 470 grade papers and 0000 steel wool.  I also try something that I believe I read about on Dad’s Pipes, where Charles Lemon uses the buffing wheel and Tripoli compound – a coarser compound, to work on the removal of oxidation from the stems.  I decide to give it a try – not to remove oxidation per se, but to clear up the scratches left over and also to reach into the forward curves/valleys of the fancy stem. These pictures show more favorable results. The stummel has been soaking in the acetone bath overnight hopefully to loosen the acrylic ‘candy apple’ finish.  I fish it out and am surprised by the fact that the finish looks to be still intact!  I use a cotton pad on the surface and, oh my, this is nasty stuff.  I quickly switch to using steel wool to work on the finish.  The soaking did accomplish one thing – it softened the acrylic surface that allowed the finish to be removed with more force.  The pictures show the different stages – and it wasn’t easy! The most difficult part was removing the acrylic finish from the upper shank panels that held the nomenclature and the ghost of a shape number.  I used steel wool around the edges, but the only abrasion used over the stampings themselves was a cotton pad – this made for a long bout!The candy apple acrylic finish is finally removed after hours of soaking and elbow grease, as they say.  To rehydrate the stummel after all the chemical activity, I wipe paraffin oil on the surface and let it absorb through the night.  The final two pictures in below show this. With the stubborn acrylic finish removed, I now investigate the stummel and identify areas that need addressing. I find 2 old fills on the nomenclature panel.  Using a sharp dental probe, I test and then dig out the old fill material.  I’m thankful that I invested in a legit set of dental tools that are a huge help!  Two more small fills are cleaned out on the right bowl side and small dent just above the ghosting shape number on the upper right shank panel. I take a picture of these areas to chronicle the progress.  Next, to address these areas, I mix a batch of briar dust putty to fill the pits.  To do this I mix some briar dust and thick CA glue.  I place some briar dust on an index card and add a small puddle of thick CA glue next to it.  I then draw briar dust into the CA glue with a tooth pick mixing it as I go. I continue to draw more briar dust into the CA until the mixture thickens to about the consistency of molasses.  I then apply the putty to fill the pits and tamp down, making sure the hole is filled with a bit of excess that will be sanded down when cured.  After filling the pits, I set the stummel aside for the patches to cure. Turning now to the stem, I wet sand using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400.  Following this with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000 I dry sand.  Between each set of 3 I apply Obsidian Oil to help revitalize the vulcanite. With several hours having passed, the briar dust putty patches are fully cured.  I first begin removing the excess putty using a flat needle file.  I file each patch mound to near the briar surface.  Then I switch to sanding with 240 grit paper bringing the patches flush with the surface.  I finish with 600 grit paper.  The pictures show the progress.Filing.240 grit paper. 600 grit paper.With the patches completed and sanded, I now switch to the entire bowl.  I’m anxious to see what the grain does after the micromesh process cleans, blends and buffs out the grain.  I wet sand using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 and then dry sand with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000.  I like this process.  The pictures show the emerging complexion of the briar landscape. The grain is now able to be seen from underneath the acrylic candy apple finish with the micromesh process also teasing out the grain picture.  I like what I see.  The bird’s eye grain is distinct, but it’s joined with a lot of movement.  When I compare the reddish hue that I originally saw on eBay (picture below) to the natural grain presentation pictured above, hands down I choose the natural grain.  A decision is made – I decide not to color the stummel but to stay with the natural briar hue.With this decided, I will apply Before & After Restoration Balm to the stummel.  Before doing this, I use a dental probe and do a quick clean up of the twin grooves circling the bowl.  I then squeeze a bit of the Balm on my fingers and work it into the briar surface.  I set it aside for about 20 or so minutes while the Balm does its thing.  I like the B&A Restoration Balm because it deepens the rich natural tones of the briar.  I take a picture of the ‘absorbing’ phase.  I then wipe off the Balm with a clean cloth, buffing as I go. Next, using Before & After Fine and Extra Fine Polish, I apply each in succession to the stem.  I work each in with my fingers to further condition and polish the stem.  I wipe both polishes off with a cotton pad and then with a microfiber cloth.I rejoin stummel and stem and I’m thankful that the stem is clocked perfectly.  Usually, with time, the stem can begin to over-clock and not be true.  This stem is ready to go.  I then mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel to the Dremel and with it set at about 40% of full power, I apply Blue Diamond to both the stummel and the fancy stem.  After applying the compound, I wipe the pipe down with a felt cloth to remove leftover compound dust.  Then, after mounting another cotton cloth wheel to the Dremel, I apply a few coats of carnauba wax to the stem and stummel.  With both Blue Diamond and carnauba, I also work into the rusticated rim and curves of the fancy stem – both which are looking great.

I’m very pleased with the results of the Kaywoodie Prime Grain Bulldog.  I went with the natural grain hue rather than coloring the briar and I like the results.  The grain is very active with large, distinct bird’s eye grain populating the landscape.  I also like the horizontal grain running along part of the dome.  The fancy stem with the Kaywoodie ‘shamrock’ looks good.  Paul commissioned this Kaywoodie Prime Grain Bulldog which benefits the Daughters of Bulgaria and since he is the commissioner, he has the first opportunity to acquire the Bulldog from The Pipe Steward Store.  Thank you for joining me!

 

Restemming and Rebirthing a Landry 2013 Bent Ball

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Blog by Steve Laug

Last evening I had a fellow drop by the house with three pipes for repair. Two of them were not worth repairing – broken shanks and Chinese knockoff pipes. Neither was made of briar and one had the beginning of a large burn out on the back of the bowl. I discouraged the fellow from fixing either of those two as the cost of repair would be more than he paid when he purchased them. However the third one was interesting to me. It was a bent ball bowl without a stem. It was a real mess. He had broken the stem in half and lost it. The shank had also been broken but he was a bit of a wood worker and had clamped and glued it. He had done a decent job and the repair was solid. The bowl had a cake that was thick and soft – made from the heavily case aromatic that he smoked. The airway in the shank was clogged with tars and oils and I could not even blow through it. The rusticated finish was rugged and sharp with a smooth rim and shank band. The bowl and rim were very dirty and the briar looked lifeless. The shank flared at the stem/shank junction.

When I examined the pipe while he was there I found that it had a makers stamp on an oval smooth patch on the underside of the shank. It was clearly stamped LANDRY arched at the top of the oval. The year it was made, 2013 was in the middle of the oval and the letters U.I.O.G.D were arched at the bottom of the oval. When I asked the owner of the pipe what those letters were he said that I was some Latin phrase. When I examined it with a loupe I found that there were periods between the letters and that probably I was dealing with an acronym of some kind. I went with his notion of it being Latin, Googled the acronym and found that it stood for the five words making up the Benedictine motto: Ut In Omnibus Glorificetur Dei (translated from Latin it means: So that in all things God may be glorified). That made sense as he had been given the pipe by a Benedictine Priest a while ago when he had first started smoking a pipe and he had broken it after smoking it quite heavily.

I took photos of the bowl before I started to work on it. You can see the repair on the shank. The rustication is very dirty and the rim top is coated with an overflow of lava from the bowl. The entire pipe reeked of a sweet cherry aromatic. The shank was heavily gummed up and I could not blow air through the shank into the bowl. It was clogged. The bowl also appeared to be drilled at an angle and from a quick glance seemed to be drilled crooked. The pipe was a mess! I took a photo of the oval and the stamping on the shank. You can also see the glue repair on the shank. It was a solid repair but a bit sloppy.There were some gaps in the glue around the circumference of the shank so I used a wire brush to clean up excess glue from the repair. I wanted to remove all of the excess glue so that it would look cleaner once I finished. I then filled in the gaps in the repair with clear super glue and filled in those areas with briar dust to build up the area ahead of the smooth band at the shank end.Restemming this old bowl would be a bit tricky. The shank actually flared to a smooth hip at the end where the stem sat. It was wider in diameter than the rusticated shank just below it. It was obvious from the way the shank end and mortise were made that it required a flush fit stem and not a freehand style stem. I would need to find a stem that had a wide enough diameter for me to work with and give the pipe the kind of look that it must have had originally. I went through my can of old stems and found one that was going to work. The tenon was almost perfect. I sanded it lightly with the sanding drum on the Dremel and cleaned it up with a file and the fit was just right. I would need to reduce the diameter of the stem slightly to match the shank but I think it was going to work for me. I took photos of the fit of the “new” stem to show you what I saw. Bear with me for the moment. It was quite ugly and my brother said it looked like a muffin top of a tight belt (or something like that). But I thought it had potential… time will tell. I trimmed the excess diameter of the stem with a sanding drum on my Dremel. I worked on it until the diameter was very close to the right size. I brought it back to the work table and sanded it smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the scratches from the Dremel. I took photos of the stem and shank at this point. I wiped down the stem with Obsidian Oil to clean off the dust and get a sense of how it was looking. I sanded the band around the shank a bit too as it had some glue on it from the repair that had been done. I took photos of the pipe at this point in the process. I decided it was time to set the stem aside for a bit and work on the bowl. I took a photo of the bowl and rim to show what it looked like when I started. The bowl is thickly caked and there was damage to the inner edge of the rim. The lava overflow was quite thick on the rim top as well. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer. You can see the angle of the bowl from the way that the reamer is sitting in the second photo below. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife and then sanded the walls of the bowl with sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. With the bowl reamed I turned my attention to the dirty exterior of the bowl. I scrubbed it with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I worked over the rim top with the tooth brush and a piece of sandpaper to remove the tars and lava there. I rinsed it off with running water to remove the soap and debris in the finish. Now it was time to address the thick tars and oils in the shank and open the airway into the bowl. I worked on the mortise and the airway in the shank with a paper clip, pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. Once I had opened the airway I scrubbed it until it was clean. I also cleaned out the airway in the new stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. It was not nearly as dirty as the shank.I polished the rim top and the smooth shank end with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the polished areas with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. The rim and shank end began to really look good. I decided to stain the bowl and shank with some Medium Walnut Danish Oil. It has the translucence I wanted to let the natural colour of the briar shine through while allowing me to hide the repairs to the shank. I applied the stain with a cotton pad and daubed it deep into the grooves of the rustication. I kept applying it until the coverage was good. I waxed the bowl with several coats of  Conservator’s Wax and buffed it out with a horsehair shoe brush. The bowl and rim looked really good. I really liked the look of the bowl at this point in the process. The shine and the finish looked very good. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the new stem. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation and the scratch marks from fitting the stem. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil to remove the sanding dust and get a feel for the scratching. I polished the stem with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish. I applied it with my finger and rubbed it in and then off with a cotton pad. I find that it is gritty enough to remove the residual oxidation after sanding (besides I have about three tins of the stuff to get through so I use it on each pipe).I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I bent the stem with a heat gun to get it to follow the lines of the top of the bowl so that it can hang in the mouth with the bowl top straight. I polished the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I put it back on the shank and buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine on the bowl. The heavy rustication works well with the stain I chose to use on it and the combination looks really good with the polished vulcanite stem. The flared shank end and the thick stem work well together to my mind to create an interesting pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Its dimensions are – Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. I will give it another coat of Conservator’s Wax and then call the fellow who dropped it off for repair. I am hoping he likes the look of his pipe. Thanks for reading this blog.

New Life for another B.P. Jum War Club

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Blog by Steve Laug

I was sorting through another one of the boxes of pipes that my brother Jeff sent me and found another B.P. Jum pipe. In a previous blog (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/06/02/breathing-new-life-into-a-b-p-jum-war-club/) I had restored one that was very similar. I had called it a war club because of the size and heft of the pipe. This B.P. Jum was also a large, hefty carved pipe. It too had the shape and a carved finish that was similar to the Custombilt pipes such as the ones that I have worked on lately. It is the same size as the previous Jum that I had worked on – 5 ½ inches long, 1 ½ inches tall, outside wall diameter 2 inches and the chamber diameter 1 inch. The shank diameter is 7/8 inches. The stem is 2 ¼ inches long. The briar was very dirty with grit and grime in the depths of the carvings. The rim top had a thick coat of lava and tars in the carving of the rim. There was a thick cake built up on the walls of the bowl. Interestingly this pipe did not have any visible fills that I have come to expect on the B.P. Jum line. The stem was oxidized and dirty and there were no tooth marks or chatter on either side of the stem. The internals of the both the airway in the stem and shank and the mortise were very dirty with tars and oils. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took a photo of the rim top and inside of the bowl to show the condition. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and the heavy lava overflowing over the surface of the rim top. He also took a photo the underside of the bowl and shank. I have included it here as well.There was a smooth portion of briar on the underside of the shank that was stamped BP JUM over IMPORTED BRIAR. You can see that the pipe has some interesting grain even on the shank.He took photos of the stem to show the oxidation and calcification on the stem. Surprisingly there were no tooth marks or chatter on the surface.When I worked on the previous B.P. Jum I did some research to try to find out information on the brand. There was a lot of conjecture as to whether the brand was made by Tracy Mincer of Custombilt fame. There is no definitive proof other than the common shapes, sizes and look of the pipes. Bill Unger, of Custombilt fame and author of a history of the brand, mentions BP Jum but cannot definitively connect the two. So the maker remains a mystery that is still unsolved. Do any of you reading this have information on the brand? Send me a message or an email if you can help. Thanks ahead of time.

Jeff had reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the bowl, rim and shank. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. The lava mess on the rim was thoroughly removed without harming the finish underneath it. Without the grime the finish looked good. The inner edge of the bowl showed some burn damage and was out of round. The stem was actually in pretty good condition and would only need to be polished. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the rim top that shows the clean bowl and the burn damage around the inner edge of the bowl. The stem was clean and Jeff had used Before & After Deoxidizer to soak and remove much of the oxidation. He rinsed out the inside of the stem and rinsed off the exterior as well. The photos of the stem show how good the stem actually looked after this treatment.The BP JUM stamp is very clean and readable. You can see from the photo that there are no visible fills in the shank or the portion of the bowl showing. The rest of the bowl is clean in the same way – no fills in the briar. That is a first for the B.P. Jum pipes that I have worked on.There was a small nick in the edge of the rim that I filled in with clear super glue. Once the glue dried I scraped away the excess with a pen knife and then used a brass bristle wire brush to clean up the grooves in the rim.I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the burn damage and nicks in the inner edge of the rim. I gave the inner edge a slight bevel to mask the damage.I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the briar and particularly the sanded areas. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I hand rubbed it with my fingers and wiped it off with a soft cloth. I buffed the bowl with a horsehair shoe brush to polish it. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. I waxed the cleaned and polished bowl with Conservator’s Wax and worked it into the rusticated finish. I buffed it with a shoe brush and a soft cloth. The bowl is finished other than the final buffing that I will do once the stem is finished. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. Since the stem was in such good condition and there was no oxidation or tooth marks I could immediately turn polishing it with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I used the Before & After Pipe Polish to remove the small minute scratches left in the vulcanite. I finished by wiping the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I polished the stem and bowl with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and 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 finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is an interesting looking pipe that may have been carved by Tracy Mincer. It certainly bears a lot of resemblance to Custombilt/Custom-Bilt pipes. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 1/2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection email me at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a message on Facebook. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this B.P. Jum.

On the table – a Clipper High Class Briar Bent Churchwarden

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Blog by Steve Laug

Over the past several years my brother Jeff has picked up some very interesting Churchwarden pipes. They have varied from classic shapes to Freehands. They have been anywhere from 7 to 10 inches long and have had straight, ¼, ½ and almost full bent stems. Each box he sends has at least one of these pipes – at least it seems so. In one of the recent boxes there was a beautiful little half bent Churchwarden. I have been keeping an eye out for one that I thought Paresh would like and this seemed like it was the one. When I showed it Paresh during one of our Whatsapp calls he fell in love with it and I added it to his box.

When Jeff received the pipe it was in pretty decent condition – dirty but really not too bad. The finish was dusty and dirty with grime worked into the lovely grain of the briar. The bowl had a moderate cake in it but the rim top was free of lava. The inner edge of the bowl was in great condition other than what appeared to be a small burned area toward to the front. That would not be clear until it was reamed. The rim top had some nicks and scratches as did the outer edge of the bowl. The left side of the shank was stamped Clipper over High Class Briar over IBERPIPSA. On the right side of the shank it had a square box with a pipe and puff of smoke as a logo. The underside at the stem/shank union it had the shape number 512. The stem did not seat in the shank due to the buildup of tars and oils. At the shank the stem had two vertical dots on the topside. The stem had some deep tooth marks on both sides at the button. It was oxidized but in decent condition. Jeff took these pictures of the pipe to show its condition before he started his cleanup work. He took close up photos of the rim top and the side and bottom of the bowl to show the condition of the briar and the bowl. You can see the cake in the bowl and the slight burn mark toward the front of the inner edge of the rim. You can also see the small nicks around the outer edge of the bowl. The finish is pretty but quite dirty. He took a photo of the stamping on the left, right and underside of the shank as well as the two vertical dots on the stem. The photos of the stem show the tooth chatter and marks on both sides of the stem near the button and the wear on the button itself.I did some research on the brand and found many different pipes that bore this stamping. They also seemed to have the name Swensson stamped on the shank as well. This link shows the same stamping with the addition of the Swensson name (https://en.todocoleccion.net/collectable-smoking-pipes/pipa-swensson-iberpipsa-car07~x111057347). Here is a second link that shows the box that the brand came in as well as a leaflet (https://en.todocoleccion.net/collectable-smoking-pipes/pipa-clipper-5740-iberpipsa~x33567017). I have included that photo for the information that it includes. There were other references to the brand with lots of photos of pipes in a variety of classic shapes. However there was nothing on either Pipedia or Pipephil that I could find. All of the examples of pipes bearing this brand that I saw were well made and showed beautiful grain.Armed with little bit of information that I could find it was time to start working on this pipe. Jeff had cleaned the pipe with his usual thoroughness – reaming the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaning up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl, shank and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap to clean off the dust and grime on the finish. The rim top looked very good other than the small burned inner edge at the front of the bowl. The inside of the bowl itself looked great. The pipe had some beautiful grain all around the bowl and the cut of the briar maximized that. The stem was in great condition other than the oxidation and tooth marks on both sides near the button. I took photos of the pipe before I started working on it. I took some close up photos of the rim top, bowl and stem to show what they looked like after Jeff’s cleanup. The two different photos show the damage at the front inner edge of the rim from different angles. The stem was in good shape other than the tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button.I took some photos of the stampings around the shank to give a picture of what they looked like after the cleanup. I worked on the damage to the front of  inner edge first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the burned area and bevel the inner edge slightly to minimize the damage there. I polished the rim edges – both inner and outer with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I worked on the nicked edges on the outside of the bowl to smooth them out. I polished the entire bowl avoiding the stamping with the pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. You can see the progress in the photos below.  I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the smooth finish of the bowl and the rim top. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. Once the bowl was covered with the balm I let it sit for about 20 minutes and buffed it off with a soft cotton cloth and then polished it with a microfiber cloth. I took photos of the pipe at this point in the process to show what the bowl looked like at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I decided to address the oxidation and the tooth marks on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. I sanded the tooth marks and chatter with 220 grit sandpaper and was able to remove them all. I sanded the stem surface with the 220 grit sandpaper and removed the majority of the oxidation. I polished the stem with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish to take out the oxidation at the button edge and on the end of the mouthpiece. I also worked hard to scrub it from the surface of the stem at the tenon end.I polished the stem, button and blade with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 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 final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I put the bowl and stem back together. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish 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 pipe turned out very well and shows the grain shining through. The contrast of the various grains – birdseye, flame and straight swirling around the bowl and shank looked good with the polished, long black vulcanite. This Churchwarden will soon be joining the other pipes I have boxed up for Paresh. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 10 inches, Height: 1 3/4 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/4 inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 of an inch. I am looking forward to hearing what Paresh thinks of the pipe now. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. Addendum: I posted on Facebook Tobacco Pipe Restorers Group and asked questions about the brand. I received this response from Sam Vior, a member there:      Iberpipsa: Iberica de Pipas, SA it was founded late 1980’s and made several lines: Swenson, Everest, Clipper, Brio, Coral, Commodore. In Spain.

That led me to a page on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Iberica_de_Pipas). I quote from that article in full.

“Founded in 1919, Iberica de Pipas is a company dedicated to the manufacture of pipes and gift items in wood. More than eighty years of presence in the market guarantee our products. Our accumulated experience has strengthened and allowed us to both continue making improvements and maintain the professional standards which our name inspires throughout the years.

In our effort to maintain client satisfaction, we offer an increased variety of quality products ranging from smoking to gift and home articles at an excellent price-quality relationship. Thanks to our professional standards and transparency, we can also manufacture any personally designed specialty items that our clients so desire. Contact us, we are eager to discuss how we can fulfil your needs.”

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