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Jen’s Trove #1: A Kaywoodie Author

Blog by Dal Stanton

Jenny has laid the groundwork for a pipe restorer’s dream job! Jenny has been working with us here in Sofia, Bulgaria, as an intern for the last few years and she will be transitioning back to the US at the end of the summer. She’ll be working with international students at what she considers her home territory at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville. We’ll miss her, but she has created a bittersweet gauntlet for me! She has gone through my baskets and boxes of ‘pipes-in-waiting for help’ that I have culled and collected to create a gift trove for the special men in her life when she returns to the US – brothers, brothers-in-laws, father…. She knows that the pipes I restore benefit our work with the Daughters of Bulgaria, women/girls who have been sexually exploited and trafficked throughout Europe. She wants to support the Daughters but also communicate this to her loved-ones in the US by gifting them pipes restored by The Pipe Steward – me 😊. Since the proceeds benefit the Daughters, the agreement we have is that after each pipe is restored from her trove, I will determine a price and she will then decide if she would like to ratify the purchase – a win/win/win all around – for her, her special men and for the Daughters. As Jen poked and prodded through my pipes, I learned that she was seeking a variety shapes and sizes so that each gift would be unique. I hope that I can run the gauntlet well by providing her precious gifts AND finish on time!!!

The first pipe I chose randomly out of the ‘Jen’s Trove Basket’ is a Kaywoodie Author shape. I saw this pipe on eBay and was attracted to the solid shape of the Kaywoodie ‘Ball’ shape that was advertised by the eBay seller in New Hampshire. Here is what I saw:When I looked at Pipedia’s Shape Chart put together by Bill Burney, I saw that the Ball and Author shapes are very similar, but Bill’s description of “The Author as a beefed-up prince, featuring a flattened ball-shaped bowl and a heavy 1/8 to 1/4 bent stem” caused me to classify this Kaywoodie as an Author. With the pipe now on my work table, I take more pictures to fill the gaps. This is the first Kaywoodie I’ve worked on. A plethora of information is available online about America’s oldest pipe making manufacturer. Kaywoodie’s website is informative:

The history of S. M. Frank & Co. spans nearly a century and half of pipe making, supporting our claim as the “oldest pipe house in America.” S. M. Frank, as it exists today, is a combination of some of the biggest names in pipe making from the early part of the 20th. century. The pipe names Kaywoodie, Yello-Bole, Reiss-Premier, DeMuth, Medico, Heritage and Frank are familiar to generations of pipe smokers.

The article describes how in 1919 the Kaufman Brothers & Bondy Company (KBB) produced the Kaywoodie and Dinwoodie pipe lines. By 1924 the Dinwoodie line fell by the wayside and the primary name of Kaywoodie was the mainstay pipe line and the company came to be known by that name. Little is known about the early activities of the KBB Company which started in 1851 by the German born Kaufman brothers. The company had several locations but was centered in the New York City region throughout its production history. The expansion of the KKB Company following the gold rush I find fascinating:

When one of the men from the New York office got “gold fever”, he carried a large supply of pipes with him to California that he sold along the way. This early “national distribution” did much to build the reputation of KBB. By the late 1800’s, branches of KBB were opened in Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco and St. Louis with family and friends acting as agents. The trademarks, for the inlaid cloverleaf and the cloverleaf with the KBB initials inside, were issued in 1881.

In 1935, KBB boasted of being the largest pipe making facility in the world with 500 employees and a production of 10,000 pipes per day from their facility in West New York, New Jersey. In 1955, Kaywoodie was acquired by S. M. Frank & Co. (See Link) and continues to the present with well-known names Yello-Bole, Reiss-Premier, William Demuth Company, Medico, Heritage (Heritage Pipes Inc.), along with Kaywoodie (Link).

It is difficult to date the Kaywoodie before me. The only identifying marker is the traditional white shamrock on the stem. There are no other markings that I see. To the left, a 1964-65 Kaywoodie Dealer Catalog from Pipepages.com shows a remarkable likeness to the Connoisseur line and the Author before me with the stem shamrock on the side rather than on the top as in a 1955 Kaywoodie catalogue (See LINK). There is no clear indicator for dating the Kaywoodie Author, but this catalog may put me in the ballpark.

With a better understanding of the Kaywoodie name, I take a closer look at the Author. The good news is that the stem is in good shape with little tooth chatter. The classic Kaywoodie patented Synchro-Stem which boasts that “metal-to-metal contact prevents binding and sticking” from a 1955 catalogue. The stummel, however, is a different story. The rim is beat up significantly, and I detect what might be cracks in the stummel. Looking back at the eBay pictures provided by the seller, it made it very difficult to see what I seen now. There appear to be two cracks, across from each other on the front and on the back of the rim. I take a few closeups.

At this point, I’m not sure what I’m seeing. Are the cracks superficial or do the run deeply into the briar. It’s curious also that they seem to be opposites – perhaps part of the same trauma or what? I will need to clean the chamber and rim to see more clearly the depth of the problem. After spreading paper towel to minimize cleanup, I use the Pipnet Reaming Kit to work on the fire chamber. I use 2 or the 4 blades available, starting first with the smallest. I fine tune the reaming job with the Savinelli pipe knife then sand the chamber with coarse 120 grade sanding paper then 240 grade. I wipe the chamber with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95% to clean the carbon dust. I take some close-ups of the chamber revealing some heat fissures and evidence that the crack seems to run through the bowl – especially the crack on the back-side of the bowl. I continue with the external cleaning using Murphy’s Oil Soap and cotton pads. I also employ a brass bristle brush to work on the rim which is really beat up and scorched. The cleaning reveals more of the damage to the rim as well as the cracks I will need to address. I’m guessing that the stummel cracks were caused by excessive heating of the briar. I decide to clean the internals of the stummel using cotton swabs and pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95%. I also employ a straight needle file to scrape the walls of the mortise to dig out the gunk and tar. I like to take care of the dirty work before continuing with the externals. This also gives me time to think about how to approach the stummel repair. The pictures show the progress which is slow – the internals are really gummed up.

The day is coming to an end so I decide to employ a kosher salt and alcohol soak to make progress with the internals – while I sleep! I use kosher salt so not to leave an iodine after-taste. I stretch and twist a cotton ball to create a thinner ‘string’ of cotton to stuff down the narrow mortise opening through the metal plate of the Kaywoodie. This cotton string will act as a wick to draw out the oils. I then fill the bowl with kosher salt and cover the opening with my palm and give it a shake to displace the salt. Using a large eyedropper, I introduce isopropyl 95% to the bowl until it surfaces over the salt. I leave the stummel in an egg crate and turn the lights out – another day is done. The next morning, the salt/alcohol soak has done the job. The salt has discolored as well as the cotton wick. I dump the used salt into the waste basket, thumping the stummel on my palm. I wipe the chamber out with paper towel and using a long-bristled brush remove the excess salt from the internals. I then return to using cotton swabs dipped in isopropyl 95% to complete the cleaning. The pictures show the progress.

After sending an email off to Steve to get some advice on the stummel cracks and the stinger/tenon system of this older Kaywoodie, I put the stummel aside to work on the stem. I wasn’t exactly sure how the stinger on the stem which screws into the metal shank plate comes off – and off it must come if one is to adequately clean the stem – and keep it cleaned! Steve’s email was helpful with the question whether the stinger had 3 holes or 4 – 4 would indicate an older system according to Steve. Ok, another clue to the age of this old boy. I look and discover 4 holes on the end ball of the stinger which indicated to Steve that the stinger may be threaded and screws into the metal tenon. Taking a closer look, there does appear to be a seam marking the tenon and stinger contact point. Steve’s advice was to heat the tenon and twisting the stinger to release it. I take a couple of pictures to show what I’m seeing.Holding the stinger over a lit candle, after a few tests to twist, the entire tenon unscrewed from the stem. By the appearance of the seam, I’m thinking that the stinger will separate from the tenon and needs to be removed for ease of cleaning. With another quick note off to Steve, I’m cautious because I don’t want to damage the tenon and Steve has seen a few more of these than I! I clean the tenon with alcohol and a cotton pad and then follow this with 0000 steel wool to finish cleaning the tenon/stinger. To work on the oxidation of the stem I drop the stem into an OxiClean bath to let it soak for several hours. The pictures show the progress. After several hours, I retrieve the stem from the OxiClean bath. The stem shows little oxidation after the soak. Using 0000 steel wool I clear the layer raised by the OxiClean bath. Then, using pipe cleaners and long-bristled brushes, dipped on isopropyl 95%, I clean the internals of the stem. The airway is tight and I resort to the long-bristled brushes to push through the airway. After cleaning the airway, I want to alleviate some of the tightness of the airway by expanding the slot area. I use a pointed needle file and insert the point into the slot and carefully apply abrasive pressure to the edges of the slot. The pictures show the progress. The upper bit shows latent bite dents – the lower as well but much less. I use the heating technique to expand the vulcanite. With a lighted candle, I pass the end of the stem over the flame – in a back and forth motion, not allowing the stem to cook by holding it stationary over the flame. After a few passes, the idea came to my mind that while the vulcanite is pliable to insert a pipe cleaner in the airway to expand it a bit allowing pipe cleaners to pass through without as much fuss. The effort seems to work – both for expanding the vulcanite and the airway. There remains a ‘footprint’ of the bite dent, but not as much. Using 240 grit sanding paper I work the dents out on the upper and lower bit. Following the 240 grit paper, I use 600 grit and then finishing with 0000 steel wool. I reattach the tenon/stinger to the stem and clock it so that the stem tightens at the correct angle. I tighten the tenon one full turn less to make it easier to remove and therefore, much easier to clean the airway. I like the results – good progress on this nice-looking KW Author. The pictures show the progress. I turn my attention back to the stummel, and take a few more up-close pictures. The burn damage is significant and the chamber is out of round. Heat fissures are evident in the chamber and I’ve already noted the cracks in the stummel which track over the rim into the chamber. I can say with little doubt, this pipe was loved and used much by its former steward. Yet, he’s taken quite a beating. My plan is to fill the heat fissures in the fire chamber with a coat of J. B. Weld. With Steve’s input, I’ll drill back-holes at the terminus points of both fore and aft cracks to prevent further crack creep. I will fill each hole with CA glue as well as apply a penetration layer of CA glue over the path of the crack to seal the cracks. Before I start these repairs, I work on the external rim area with the goal of cleaning up the damage, re-balancing the stummel’s look as much as I can through a combination of topping and sanding. When the stummel starts looking human again, if this is possible, I will then again assess the cracks and their needs. All in all, the stummel’s undamaged briar is quite attractive – nice grain. I hope I can return this Kaywoodie up to specs so that Jen can be proud to gift this old boy to her men-folk! I start with a coarse sanding sponge to see what progress can be made. I follow by gently topping the stummel with 240 grit paper on a chopping board and then again return to the coarse sanding sponge to ‘reduce’ the edge of the topped stummel. What develops is a technique of gradually reshaping the rim area to give the stummel a more uniform look. I cycled through a light topping and then returning to the coarse sanding sponge several times. The pictures show the process. As the rim starts taking shape, the fact that the bowl is out of round becomes even more distinctive. To shape incrementally a truer ‘round’ I use a coarse 120 grit sanding paper rolled up and I sand the internal bowl at the point where the rounding was needed. I gradually work around the internal chamber wall careful not to lean to aggressively into beveling an angle on the internal rim at this point. I want to address first the unevenness in the walls of the fire chamber. After doing this, I move more toward the top of the chamber and then create an inner bevel which gradually helps to round out the rim. As I work on the internal sanding, I recycle as before, doing a gentle topping followed by the coarse sanding sponge to even and balance the whole. The pictures show this gradual process starting with the ‘unrounded’ bowl. While the completed shaping is not perfect, I’m pleased that the stummel has regained proportion with the removal of the damaged briar and the gradual shaping through sanding and topping. Looking very good at this point!Before I move forward finishing the stummel, I need to do the crack repairs. The first thing I do, with the aid of a magnifying glass is mark the terminus points of the forward and aft cracks on the stummel. The mark is made by creating a dimple using sharp dental probe. This helps to guide the drill point when I create the ‘back hole’. Using a 1mm sized drill bit mounted on the Dremel, I drill holes at the terminus points of the cracks. With a somewhat steady hand, the work is successful. With the ‘back-holes’ drilled I drop-fill the holes with CA glue using a toothpick, and sprinkle briar over the hole. I also apply a line of CA glue over the crack itself to strengthen the repair and seal the cracks. The CA glue I use is extra thin and will seep into the cracks – hopefully. I put the stummel aside for the night for the patches to cure. The pictures show the patch process.The next day, the patches have fully cured and I use a rounded and flat needle files to work on the ‘forward and aft’ cracks where the back-holes were drilled. When I bring the CA glue patch mound down to briar surface level, I use 240 grit sanding paper to smooth it further and to blend with the briar. Once this is completed, I again use the coarse sanding sponge and do a light topping to freshen the lines of the rim after the repair work. I then roll a piece of 240 grit paper and again freshen the rim’s internal bevel. The pictures show the progress. I proceed to smooth and blend the stummel by using a medium grade sanding sponge followed by a light grade sanding sponge. The picture shows these last two stages and I take pictures of the finished crack repairs. During the staining, I’ll seek to blend these further – especially the aft crack. At this juncture, I repair the fire chamber before continuing to the external stummel surface. Earlier I describe using J. B. Weld to coat the fire chamber, filling the heat fissures that had developed over years of use. The J. B. Weld compound will also provide a protective barrier against the heat. Later, I will coat the chamber with ‘pipe mud’ to provide a foundation for a new cake to develop to protect the chamber walls. The few times I’ve used J. B. Weld, I always mixed too much. I’ll try to moderate this time around. After cleaning the chamber with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95%, I place equal parts of the J. B. Weld components on an index card – hardener and steel. The directions state that after mixing the two, one has about four minutes before they start setting. I insert a pipe clean into the draft hole to prevent the Weld mixture to plug the airway. I mix the components with a tooth pick then I place a dollop of the compound into the chamber walls. I use my pinky finger to spread the mixture evenly and pull out excess. After a bit, the mixture is setting up. I rotate the pipe cleaner out when the tackiness of the mixture has firmed up enough that it will remain in place. I set the stummel upright in an egg carton and let it cure overnight. The pictures show the process. Turning now to the stem restoration, I utilize a plastic disc I fabricated to protect the shoulders of the stem during the micromesh process. Using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 I wet sand the stem, then follow with dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 then 6000 to 12000. After each cycle of three I apply a coat of Obsidian oil to the stem to revitalize the vulcanite. The stem looks good. The pictures show the progress. A new day has arrived in Bulgaria and I turn again to the stummel. All the major repair work is completed and I begin to prepare the stummel’s surface for a stain finish. Using 1500 to 2400 micromesh pads I wet sand the stummel. Amazingly, after this first cycle, I see what I did not see before – Kaywoodie [over] Standard nomenclature on the left side of the shank and what appears to be 13B on the right side. I take a picture to mark this – unfortunately, I did not see it sooner to avoid sanding in that area. Checking again with Pipedia’s Collector’s Guide to Kaywoodie Pipes, 13B is the shape number identifying this as an Apple. Looking at the catalogs in the same article, with the stem shamrock on the side, I’m feeling pretty confident identifying this pipe from the 1960s. I follow this by dry sanding using pads 3200 to 4000 and then 6000 to 12000. I never grow tired of seeing the grain emerge as the micromesh cycles do their magic. The pictures show the process. To encourage better blending by hiding the cracks and repairs, I use a mixture of Fiebing’s Dark and Light Brown Leather Dyes. I use 2 parts light to 1 part dark. I don’t want to go too dark and hide the beautiful grain that has emerged. When I look at the original hue of the Kaywoodie (the 1960s catalogs above I think is a pretty good guess regarding the age of this KW) leveraged toward the lighter hues – yet, I do want to mask the cracks. After mixing the dyes, I heat the stummel using a hot air gun to open the briar making it more receptive to the dye. With the stummel heated, using a cork in the bowl as a handle, I liberally apply the dye over the stummel surface. Following this, I fire the wet dye with a lit candle and the alcohol immediately ‘flames’ and burns off setting the stain. I repeat the same process a few minutes later. After the second firing, I put the stummel aside for several hours. The pictures show the staining process. Some hours later, I’m ready to ‘unwrap’ the fired layer to discover what the briar has done with the dye. Using a felt buffing wheel, I mount it on the Dremel and set the speed to the slowest. After purging the buffing wheel on the edge of the metal tightening wrench, using Tripoli compound I methodically begin removing the fired layer by not applying much downward pressure, and allowing the RPMs and the compound to do the work. When I complete the removal of the fired layer with Tripoli, I take a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95% and wipe down the stummel. I do this not only to blend the dye but also to lighten it. I then move to Blue Diamond compound. I use a cotton cloth buffing wheel mounted on the Dremel, increase the speed by one notch, and move in circular motions over the entire stummel – again, as with the Tripoli compound, I do not apply a lot of downward pressure on the buffing wheel but allow the RPMs and compound to buff up the surface. When completed with the Blue Diamond, I use a felt cloth to hand buff the stummel to remove compound dust before moving to the wax phase. The pictures show the compound process. Before finishing the external surface with carnauba wax, I apply a layer of ‘pipe mud’ in the fire chamber. This creates a layer to encourage the development of a carbon cake in the bowl. I use a mixture of sour cream and two 260mg capsules of activated charcoal powder. I mix the sour cream and charcoal powder with a wooden stick and then, after inserting a pipe cleaner through the draft hole, apply a dollop of pipe mud mix in the chamber. I then use my pinky finger to spread the mud evenly and draw out the excess. When finished, I put the stummel aside to let the pipe mud set up. The pictures show the mud process. With pipe mud set, I reattach stem and stummel. I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel to the Dremel, set at speed 2, with the fastest being 5, and apply carnauba wax to the stem and stummel. After applying several coats, I switch the Dremel to a clean cotton cloth buffing tool and again buff the pipe. I do this to work in pockets of wax that were missed and to raise the shine. Following this, I hand buff the pipe with a micromesh cloth to raise the shine more.

This Kaywoodie Standard Author has turned out in classic form. I’m very pleased with results of the rim repair and the rich, ‘smoking jacket’ finish that masks the crack repairs. The Author has a solid presence in the hand as I hold it – a classic shape that will provide a new steward with several more years of service. As I mentioned before, Jen’s purchase of this Kaywoodie Standard Author benefits the work we do here in Bulgaria with women who have been sexually exploited and trafficked, the Daughters of Bulgaria. If you would like more information about my restorations check out The Pipe Steward. Thanks for joining me!

Restoring an IRC Dijon 169 Three Star Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

Finally the final pipe from the estate lot is on the work bench. When I get to the bottom of a box of pipes that I am working on it is a bit of a celebratory day. I have quite a few boxes of pipes here that I am working on so when one moves out it is a good day. It is a small apple shaped pipe with some nice grain on the front and sides – cross grain and birdseye. It is stamped IRC Dijon on the left side of the shank with three stars stamped on the stem side. On the underside of the shank is the shape number 169 on the briar and France on the vulcanite at the stem/shank junction. The stamping on the shank and stem was clear and readable. From what I can find on-line Iwan Ries has a variety of companies make their pipes – Savinelli, Benton, Big Ben and an unknown French maker. This one is stamped France on the stem so at least the vulcanite stem is French Made. The Dijon name also is the name of a French city.The pipe had a fairly thick cake and the lava had flowed over the top of the bowl. I was hoping the tars on the rim top had protected it from damage. It was thick enough that it was hard to see if the inner or outer edge was damaged.The next photos show the condition of the bowl and the quality of grain around the bowl sides and bottom. There were two major fills on the bowl – both sides toward the bottom and a small one on the top left of the shank near the stem/shank junction. The two larger fills were shrunken leaving the surface feeling dented and in need of repair. My brother took some photos of the stamping on the shank – left side and underside of the shank and the stem. The stamping is very clear and legible. I took a photo of the three stars stamped on the left side of the stem and added it to the pre-clean photos.The stem showed the now familiar tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. I am going to miss the familiar tooth marks on the pipes now that I have finished them all. These were not too deep or damaging to the surface and took very little to remove.As usual and now to be expected my brother did his usual superb job on the cleanup of the pipe. It is really nice to be able to work on clean pipes. I don’t think too much about it until I get a repair that is in really dirty condition. I then wish that he was nearby so I could hand off the clean up to him. He does a thorough and meticulous job. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and took the cake back to briar. He scrubbed the rim and bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and removed the grime and the lava build up on the rim top. He cleaned out the mortise and the airways in the stem and shank with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He soaked the stem in Oxyclean to raise the oxidation to the surface. I took photos of the pipe when it arrived in Vancouver to give a clear idea of the condition of the pipe when I received it. Thanks Jeff for the work you do! I took a close up photo of the bowl and the rim to show the condition. The bowl is clean and not as darkened in the bottom quarter of the bowl. The rim top is clean and the out and inner edge of the bowl is in undamaged condition.I took photos of the stem to show the tooth marks and the oxidation on the surface. This stem was in the best condition of the lot. There were a few small tooth marks and chatter on the stem surface in front of the button and on the surface of the button itself.I used a black Sharpie pen to darken the shrunken fills and filled them in with clear super glue. I overfilled the divots so that when they dried even. Once the glue dried I sanded the repaired areas with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the briar. I polished the sanded areas with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding the entire briar with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I touched up the light areas with a medium brown stain pen and waxed the bowl with Conservator’s Wax. I buffed the bowl with a microfibre cloth to raise the shine.I sanded out the tooth chatter and marks with 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded the oxidation with the sandpaper as well and wiped the stem down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust.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 with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I buffed the stem with red Tripoli after the 4000 grit pad and before the 6000 grit pad. I gave the stem a final coat of oil after the 12000 grit pad and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back in place in the shank and buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave them both multiple coats of carnauba wax, buffing between each coat of wax with a clean pad. After the last coat of wax I buffed it with a clean buffing pad a final time to raise the shine. I hand buffed the bowl with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 3/4 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 inches. This contrast between the smooth, polished, well grained briar with the black of the vulcanite give the pipe rich look. The bowl has been cleaned and the entire pipe is ready to smoke. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store soon. 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 looking.

Cleaning up a Uniquely Shaped Savinelli Oscar Aged Briar 316KS

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Blog by Steve Laug

Two pipes left to clean up from the estate sale pipe lot that my brother picked up. The first of them is a beautiful Savinelli. It is stamped on a smooth spot on the bottom of the bowl with the words – Oscar in script over Aged Briar. Next to that is the Savinelli S shield followed by 316KS over Italy. Looking at the pipe I am not quite sure what to call it in terms of the shape. It is an incredibly unique shape to Savinelli. The walls are flared like a Dublin, bowl short like a Pot and highly beveled and polished rim, this shape is beautiful. The rusticated finish on the Aged Briar is a lot like it is sandblasted over the top of the rustication. I looked up a similar pipe on smokingpipe.com and found the description there helpful. I quote it in full: “Somewhere in between a Pear, Dublin, and a Pot, there’s Savinelli’s signature “316” shape. It features a wide chamber perfect for enjoying the intricacies of more complex blends. Presented here in the rugged rustication of the Oscar Aged Briar line, it’s a handsome composition for a price that simply can’t be beat.” http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/italy/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=183082 I looked up the Savinelli Shape Chart and copied it below. I circled the shape in red in the chart below. You can see it in the second column.Jeff took the first photo and the remaining ones on the black background. They show the condition of the pipe before my brother cleaned it.The top of the rim was in rough shape. The cake in the bowl had overflowed in lava on the rim top. It was thick and hard. It would be interesting to see what would be underneath once the bowl was reamed the rim top cleaned. The finish on the rest of the bowl was in excellent condition as can be seen in the second photo below. The next photos show the stamping on the bowl bottom as noted in the opening paragraph of the blog. The stamping was sharp and readable. The third photo shows the stamping on the top of the stem. It is the classic Savinelli Oscar shooting star. The stem showed the now familiar tooth chatter and marks that were on each of the pipes in this estate lot. There was some light oxidation on the surface of the stem as well.My brother did a stellar job of cleaning up the pipe. He reamed the bowl with the PipNet pipe reamer and took the cake back to briar. He scrubbed the rim top and the finish with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to clean out the debris and dust in the grooves of the finish. He was able to remove the buildup on the rim top and leave the finish intact. The stem was soaked in Oxyclean and the oxidation came to the surface. He cleaned out the inside of the mortise and the airway in the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. When I got the pipe it was clean. I took the following photos to show the condition of the pipe before I restored it. The next photo shows the crowned rim top. It was amazingly clean with no residue left behind from the lava build up that had been present before he cleaned it.I took close up photos of the stem surface on both sides. The tooth chatter and marks are more distinct on the underside of the stem at the button than those on the topside.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation and the tooth marks and chatter. It did not take too much sanding to remove all the damage and oxidation. I worked on it until it was clean. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and let it soak in. I wiped down the area around the shooting star stamp with alcohol on a cotton pad and touched up the stamp with white acrylic paint. Once the paint dried I rubbed off the excess paint and left only the paint in the stamp itself.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads. I rubbed it down with oil between each of the pads. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and rubbed it down with oil after each pad. I buffed the stem with red Tripoli on the buffing wheel and then finished polishing it with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil after the 12000 grit pad and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back in place in the shank and buffed the bowl and stem lightly with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax. I buffed the pipe and stem with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the bowl with a shoe brush and then with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 inches. This contrast between the smooth, crowned bowl rim and the patch on the underside of the bowl are reddish brown and the contrast of the dark brown/black top coat over the reddish brown showing through give the pipe an intriguing contrast look. The bowl has been cleaned and the entire pipe is ready to smoke. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store soon. 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 looking.

Refurbishing an Iwan Ries Savinelli Made Black Knight 207

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe from the estate sale that I chose to work on is a sandblast apple with a contrast black and brown stain. It is stamped on the underside of the shank in a smooth portion starting at the bottom of the bowl. It reads Iwan Ries over Black Knight. Next to that is the shape number 207 over Italy. Lastly there is a capital C. It is a Savinelli shape number. The finish was very dirty with dust and grime in the grooves and it seemed to be sticky. The cake in the bowl was quite thick and the lava had flowed over the rim top. The stem had a light IRC stamped on the left side of the taper and was lightly oxidized. The now characteristic tooth marks and chatter were on the top and underside of the stem near the button and the button surface itself had chatter and wear. The next four photos show the condition of the pipe when my brother Jeff brought it home from the sale and before he started to work on cleaning it up.He took a photo of the bowl from the top to show the cake in the bowl and the tarry build up on the rim top. The second photo below shows the sandblast on the left side of the bowl which is birdseye. The right side shows more of the ring grain but it will show up in later photos. The next photos show the clear and sharp stamping on the bottom of the bowl and the IRC stamp on the left side of the stem. It looks more deeply stamped than it appeared once it arrived in Vancouver.The stem shows the now characteristic tooth marks and chatter on both sides and the wear on the button surface as well, just as the rest of the pipes in the lot did.My brother scrubbed the bowl exterior with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the sticky buildup and the grime in the grooves. He rinsed it with warm water to remove the soap and the dust. He reamed the bowl and scrubbed the rim top with the soap and tooth brush. He cleaned out the mortise and the airway in the shank and stem. He cleaned the stem with a short soak in Oxyclean. The soak brought the oxidation to the surface. I took the next four photos of the pipe when it arrived in Vancouver. The grain shows through the blast – birdseye on the left side and ring grain on the right side. I took a photo of the rim top and the inside of the bowl to show the condition. Like several other pipes in the estate lot this one still had raw briar at the bottom third of the bowl.The next two photos show the condition of the stem. The tooth marks and chatter are visible in the photo. The ones on the underside of the stem were deeper than the ones on the top side.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth marks and chatter. I worked over the entire stem to break up the oxidation.I rubbed the bowl down with a light coat of olive oil on a soft towel. I took the following photos of the pipe after I had wiped it down. The shine on the sandblast revealed the contrast stains that had been used on the bowl – both a dark brown and black. I touched up the rim top with a dark brown stain pen to blend the rim into the rest of the bowl colour. The dark brown stain worked well on the high area and the black filled in the grooves of the blast.I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and gave it a rub down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I let the oil dry and then buffed the stem with red Tripoli and Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I brought it back to the work table and finished polishing it with 6000-12000 grit micromesh pads. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the bowl lightly with Blue Diamond and more intently on the stem. The Blue Diamond polishes out the minute scratches in the vulcanite and gives the material more shine. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and hand waxed the bowl with Conservator’s Wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 1/8 inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ inches. The pipe is the kind of shape that feels great in the hand, it is light weight and comfortable. The look of the finished pipe is quite attractive and the contrast between the brown of the high spots on the briar and black in the crevices contrast well with the polished vulcanite stem. This one will soon be on the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in adding it to your rack email me at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a message on Facebook. Thanks for looking.

Wow, what birdseye – a Savinelli Pantera 614 OomPaul

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Blog by Steve Laug

I am getting very close to finishing up the lot from the estate sale that my brother Jeff sent me for restoration. Because he had done a great job on the clean up the restoration of the lot has been a pretty easy process. I can’t tell you how much fun it is to work on clean pipes. Once I finish up this one I have only three left to complete. It is a good feeling when I get toward the end of a package of pipes. It feels like I actually am making some progress in the box of pipes to be restored sitting in my shop. This particular pipe is a beautiful Oom Paul with stunning grain all around the bowl. It is stamped Iwan Ries over Pantera on the left side of the shank with a faint IRC stamped on the left side of the saddle stem. It is stamped with the traditional Savinelli “S” shield with the shape number 614 over Italy on the right side of the shank. The underside has an upper case “C” next to the shank/stem junction.My brother took quite a few photos of the pipe from a variety of angles to show both the condition of the pipe and the beautiful grain around the bowl sides, top and bottom. The photos show the pipe before he started his clean up. The bowl was lightly cake and there was a light coat of lava overflowing on to the top of the rim. It appeared to be in excellent condition under the lava and both the inner and outer edges of the bowl were undamaged.The next three photos show the stamping that I noted above. It is readable and very clean and sharp. The IRC stamp on the stem was deep on the lower half and fainter as it moves toward the top. The next photos of the grain around the bowl show the cross grain and birdseye around the bowl sides, top and bottom. It really shows some spectacular grain. The stem was in very good condition in comparison to the other pipes in the estate. Even so, there were still some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem near the button and flowing onto the top and bottom of the button as well.My brother did his usual stellar job of cleaning up the pipe. The inside and outside were spotless when the pipe arrives. The stem was lightly oxidized as the Oxyclean treatment he gave it brought that to the surface. The next photos show the condition of the pipe when I brought it to my work table. The briar is beautiful with great grain. The stamping on the side of the saddle stem is faint and worn. The top of the rim and the bowl were very clean. Jeff had been able to remove the lava on the rim and had reamed the bowl back to bare briar. The bottom 1/3 of the bowl was undarkened and revealed that the bowl had not been smoked to the bottom.The oxidized stem shows the light tooth marks and chatter on both sides next to and on top of the button. They were the same characteristic marks that were on every other pipe in this estate lot.I sanded the stem surface and the top and underside of the button with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation and the tooth marks and chatter. It did not take too much work to remove the tooth chatter and marks as they were not deep in the vulcanite stem surface. The oxidation had come to the surface of the stem so it came off quite easily.With the tooth marks and chatter removed, I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I worked over the stem with each of the grits of micromesh and between each one I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil to enliven the rubber. I buffed the stem with red Tripoli on the buffing wheel after I had finished sanding it with the 4000 grit pad. I brought it back to the work table and finished polishing it with the 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the stem and bowl with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I worked it over until the minute scratches that were visible on the stem in the photos above were gone. The briar also began to shine with the buffing. I gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This one has some remarkable grain and look. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly. It is available to add to your pipe collection if you want it. Just email me at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a message on Facebook.

Cracked Shank Repair on a Dunhill CK12 Author

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Blog by Henry Ramirez

Henry and I have been emailing back and forth on all things pipe repair and I have to say I enjoy each missive he sends me. He is a creative guy who is using his dentistry expertise to work on pipes. The kind of repairs he does and the equipment he has both built and gathered is unique and certainly adds some new ideas to the hopper for refurbishers like me. I don’t want to bore you with all kinds of introduction on Henry. I will let his restoration of this old Dunhill speak for itself. Welcome and thank you for your contribution Henry. – Steve Laug, rebornpipes

I’d seen this old pipe bought and sold several times on Ebay, each time gussied up a little more but still tap dancing around the issue of the split shank repair band. Being the sucker that I am for gnarly old patent Shell Dunhill’s, I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to see what was under the band and possibly date this old codger.

Using 10x’s loupes with a parallel headlight source, I sectioned the band to find, to my lucky surprise, NO CEMENT! Just popped off, pretty as you please with no clean-up necessary. I used a fine carborundum wheel to initially trough the metal and then finished with a sharp new #2 carbide round but in an electric lab hand piece by Kavo. The Kavo or less expensive Medidenta hand pieces are ergonomic and very smooth running when compared with dremels. I would not try such a procedure for fear of scaring the briar without a hand piece I fully trusted.The newly exposed underside of the shank was faintly stamped with an incomplete patent number starting with 116(989/17) which would place this pipe from 1925-1934. No closure here since the date stamp was completely sanded off when the band was fitted.I was also pleased with the stem’s sizing to the shank. Still there was enough of a suggestion of the shell finish to complement the rest of the pipe.The 8mm stem orifice leads me to think this was a filtered pipe.The usual chamber cake removal (different pipe). I also use drill bits by hand to router out the mortise to bowl.When I want to conserve the original briar’s finish, I plug the bowl with a cork after stretching a latex or nitrile glove over the rest of the pipe. I then snip the tip of one of the fingers and poke the shank through the finger and out the hole. I tie off the glove and scrub the mortise and shank submerged in a Tupperware container filled with 91% isopropyl alcohol or vodka. Black muck floats out with every agitation of the shank brush.Drilling the micro-pin channel across the fissure. Once threaded into place, the pin shears off and the driver/carrier is removed. Of course I want the pin in the center of the thickest part of the shank through which the crack runs.The X-ray below shows not only the pin but also some of the composite plug. The composite plug was done at the end of the crack to prevent propagation.Pin hole back filled with black CA. Also spread some for aesthetic purposes on the composite plug. The stem was then buffed with four of pumice, Tim West’s green & red abrasive bars, White Diamond, Bendix plastic polish, Paragon wax and then a clean wheel and micro fiber towel. The bowl rim was gently micro-etched (Danville sand blaster) and polished with a Robinson bristle wheel brush. Luckily, the pipe was dark in general and the wax darkened the rim so that it blended. I flamed the wax to melt it into the rustications and buffed using a shoe polish brush supported by the bench pin. I ozonated the pipe for a night to remove any ghosting.Hope I don’t bore you with my Magnificent Obsession of resurrecting old pipes with the tools at hand. BTW, the light spot on the shank is an artifact of my flash. I’m going to deep six my crummy point and shoot and use my iPhone camera now that my MacBook can again see it as a drive. If you’re having the same problem, download Sierra operating sys from Apple for free.

Yours faithfully, Henry.

Chacom Churchwarden Resurrected

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Blog by Joshua Fairweather

I received an email from Joshua about one of the Gourd Calabashes and a grab bag of pipes for refurbishing that I was selling. We made a deal on the pipes. At the end of his email he included some photos of some of the pipes he had already refurbished. His work looked really good so I invited him to submit a write up of some of his work to rebornpipes. Here is the first of those pieces that he submitted. A warm welcome and a thank you Joshua for your contribution to the blog. – Steve

I came across this pipe at an antique mall in London, Ontario. I almost passed it by had it not been for the vendor who was cleaning his case, he was kind enough to say ‘hi’ and ask what I was looking for. He just so happened to have a few pipes hiding in a glass case in the back of his store.

As you can see from the picture the pipe is heavily oxidized with little to no chatter marks. The bowl has a thick cake and tar on the bowl rim. Overall the bowl was in great condition with a small white mark on the bottom of the bowl (I think it was glue). The wood grain of the bowl also had nice appeal.

The brand of the pipe was marked on the bowl – ‘Chacom coin osseu’.

Now, I want to walk you through how I cleaned and restored this pipe. Step 1
When a pipe has a heavy cake inside the bowl, I like to put it through a salt and alcohol treatment. This method does a great job at cleaning the pipe, softening the hardened cake making it easier to remove from the bowl. It also, freshens up the bowl and gets ride of any ghosting left from prior tobaccos smoked.

I fill the bowl to the brim with larger grained salt. Using the syringe, I add the alcohol to the salt, topping it up to the bowl brim. I usually leave this treatment in the bowl overnight.Step 2
I prefer to use my old trusty friend (pocket knife) to clean the cake from the bowl. It has a more rounded tip and I find it a perfect tool to clean out most pipes without damaging the bowl.Step 3
With the same alcohol I use cotton pads to remove the finish off the pipe. Alcohol also does a great job at removing tar from the bowl rim. If the tar is heavy then a light sanding works better.Step 4
I don’t know what it is about sanding that brings so much satisfaction; I think it is the results you get on the pipe finish; it looks like glass. I use these foam padded Micro-Mesh pads to bring out the best finish on the briar wood. Step 5
Two of my favourite household products that do a fantastic job at cleaning pipe stems are OxiClean and Vim. Soak the stem in an OxiClean bath for about an hour maybe two hours. It will depend on how oxidized the pipe stem is, a heavy oxidized stem, leave in the solution for longer. This stem needed a longer soak.

After the bath I use Vim and a dry clean rag to wipe clean. Vim has a corrosive component that acts like a sand paper to buff the pipe stem back to a clean black colour again.

I will say, if the pipe stem is heavily oxidized it will take more than just Vim to bring out that black finish. I refer back to the Micro-Mesh foam sanding pads, which also do an amazing job at bringing out that preferred finish. I use alcohol and pipe cleaners to remove left behind tar inside the pipe stem. I repeat this process until the pipe cleaners come out clean.Step 6
To bring out the beauty of the natural grains of the wood, I use a variety of products and natural substances to do this. For this pipe I used an extra virgin olive oil.

With the combination of the sanded finish, adding the olive oil turns the pipe a darker colour. Well you can see the finished results for yourself!Conclusion:
Overall, I am pleased with the results. This pipe I will probably put into my private collection, as I do not have a churchwarden styled pipe as of yet.

Hope you have enjoyed my process.

The Easiest Restoration in the Recent Estate Lot – A Savinelli Oscar 701 Lovat

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Blog by Steve Laug

This little Savinelli Lovat is by far the easiest pipe I have cleaned up from the recent estate lot pipes that my brother purchased. It is a beautifully rusticated Lovat with an almost sandblast finish over the rustication. It is a oxblood stained pipe with a vulcanite stem. I wonder if it was not the last pipe that the pipeman purchased before his demise. The bowl had a light cake in it and the rim already had some overflow of lava on the top but the bowl had not been smoked to the bottom. The bottom of the bowl was raw briar. It had very few tooth marks and chatter. The stem was lightly oxidized and the finish was in great shape. It is stamped on the smooth portion on the underside of the shank with the words Oscar over Aged Briar on the heel of the bowl. Next to that it was stamped with the Savinelli S in a shield next to the shape number 701 over Italy. My brother took the following photos of the pipe when he brought it home from the sale.

I looked the shape up on the Savinelli Shape Chart and found it there in the right hand column. It is the second pipe circled in red below.

Jeff also took a photo of the rim top and the cake in the bowl. There is a light cake in the bowl and a lava overflow on the top of the rim and the bevel. It was not too thick so it would easily come off the surface. He took two photos of the underside of the shank. The first shows the 701 shape number and the second shows the remainder of the stamping. The contrast stain on the rustication pattern looks very good.The next two photos show the side and bottom of the bowl. The random pattern of the rustication almost looks like a sandblast pattern.On the left side of the saddle portion of the stem there is the characteristic Savinelli Oscar shooting star stamp. It is in excellent condition.The next two photos show the condition of the stem. The tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem near the button are not too deep in the surface of the vulcanite. They should be relatively easy to remove.

Jeff thoroughly cleaned out the internals of the pipe, reaming it with a PipNet reamer and removing all of the cake. He scrubbed the externals with Murphy’s Oil Soap and was able to remove all of the lava on the top of the rim. He rinsed the bowl in water to remove the debris of the cleaning. The stem soaked in Oxyclean to lift the light oxidation that was present. It came to the surface and would be easily remedied. The next four photos show the pipe when it arrived in Vancouver. It really was a delicate looking Lovat that showed real promise.

I had to have a picture of the cleaned up rim top. It was amazing how he had been able to get all of the lava off on the top and the bevel as well.The next two photos show the oxidation that I would have to deal with to get the stem back to its polished black glory.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to break up the oxidation and remove the tooth chatter and marks.I ran a pipe cleaner with alcohol through the mortise and the airway in the shank and stem. It was very clean so nothing more needed to be done. The mortise was very clean.I hand buffed the bowl with a shoe brush to raise a shine. The next photos show the buffed bowl. It is really a nice looking pipe. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and then rubbing it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads, gave it another coat of oil then buffed it with red Tripoli. I brought it back to the work table and finished polishing with 6000-12000 grit micromesh pads. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I buffed the bowl lightly with Blue Diamond to raise a shine. When buffing a rusticated bowl with Blue Diamond a soft touch is imperative or you will fill in the divots of the rustication with the polishing compound. I buffed the stem with the Blue Diamond as well, being careful around the shooting star logo so as not to damage it. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and hand waxed the bowl with Conservator’s Wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and by hand with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outer diameter: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ inches. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It will soon be available on the rebornpipes store. If you wish to add it to your collection you can email me at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a private message on Facebook. Thanks for looking.

Restoring an Older Mystery Bulldog with a Bowl Liner

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Blog by Steve Laug

I received an email from a reader of rebornpipes asking about a pipe that he had picked up. He had an older bulldog with no external stamping on the briar. He sent the photos below so I could see the pipe and hallmarks on the band. He was wondering if the hallmarks could help date the pipe. The marks were an anchor, lion and a star. Normally, British hallmarks will have the anchor to designate Birmingham and the lion to designate that the band was assayed as Sterling silver. The star throws me though as I have never seen that on British pipes with Sterling bands. It seems to appear on pipes made in the USA and is a faux hallmark, thus meaning nothing. This pipe also has an XRA stamped in a rectangle above the hallmarks and Sterling in a rectangle below the hallmarks. The next two photos show the full pipe and the silver band. The briar and stem were clean on the outside. The silver band was oxidized.I wrote him back and told him what I thought about the stamping on the silver band being faux hallmarks and that they did not help date the pipe. I also asked him if he was interested in selling me the pipe. I liked what I saw and was curious to see if I could figure out what the inner tube lining of the bowl was made of. He said he would sell it to me if I wanted. We made the deal and I paid for the pipe. It was soon on its way to Vancouver. While I waited for its arrival I studied the photos that he had sent along with the two above. The next one shows the large size of the bowl in relation to the rest of the pipe. I was curious to see what it looked like in person.It was the top view of the pipe that intrigued me. The bulldog cap unscrewed from the base and there appeared to be a bowl insert in the base that had a perforated metal plate at the bottom. From this photo I could not tell what the insert was made of but further photos showed the pipe taken apart.With the cap unscrewed from the bowl the insert was a tube that looked porous and dark grey/black in colour. The wooden threads on the cap and in the base seemed to be in excellent condition. I always wonder when I am dealing with briar threads being screwed and unscrewed how much damage there will be once I have it in hand. The second photo below shows the metal plate supported by a ridge around the inside of the base and another ridge above that which provided a ridge for the liner cylinder to sit on. The cap on the bulldog would hold the liner in place against the top and the ridge at the bottom. This keeps the liner in place and does not allow much play when the pipe is smoked. The third photo shows the parts side by side. I was very curious now what I had purchased and what the material was that made up the liner.Surprisingly it did not take too long for the pipe to arrive. I was looking forward to working on it and trying to figure out what material formed the bowl liner. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of what the pipe looked like. I took the pipe apart and took a series of photos to show you what I saw on my work table. The next series of photos show all of the pieces of the pipe from different angles. Can you figure out from the photos what was going through my mind about that bowl liner? Did you figure out what was going through my mind yet? Well, before I went any further with the refurbishing of this pipe I wanted to know what material composed the bowl liner. I did not want to work on the base or the cap or any other part of the bowl until I was pretty sure what the liner was. My first thoughts were asbestos! If it was asbestos I did not want to work on it at all. I would probably just put it in the pipe cupboard and leave it alone as a piece of tobacco history. I put it back together and set it aside on the work table. I wanted to think about it and do a bit of research to see what I could find before proceeding.

Well, the pipe sat for quite a while just looking at me. I would pick it up now and then and turn it over in my hands and set it back down. I needed some uninterrupted time to deal with. Today I had that time. I get a long weekend do to the Victoria Day holiday here in Vancouver. It was quiet as the ladies in my life had gone out for the afternoon. I took the pipe apart and examined the bowl liner with a magnifying glass and bright light. I was glad to see that there were no fibers in the material. It looked the colour of pencil lead through the lens under the bright light. I was pretty certain that I was not dealing with asbestos. But what the material was still remained a mystery to me.

I wrote my brother Jeff a private message and included some photos of the bowl liner. He is a chemist and I wanted to get his opinion regarding the material. The photos showed a sparkling grey black material that was compressed together. He replied that he thought it might be graphite. He said that it looked like the graphite electrodes and cuvettes that he used to work with at the lab. Since was used in the bowl lining he thought that it seemed like a good application for graphite due to its characteristics in terms of heat resistance. Sounded reasonable to me, as I know next to nothing about graphite, the only thing I know is that I use it to lubricate hinges around the house and on the vehicle.

I asked him whether the age of the pipe matched the introduction of Graphite. He sent me the following link on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphite. The article said that graphite was archaically referred to as plumbago and is a crystalline allotrope of carbon, a semimetal and a native element mineral. Graphite is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Therefore, it is used in thermochemistry as the standard state for defining the heat of formation of carbon compounds.

I went on to read more of the article and particularly with regard to the invention of a process to produce synthetic graphite. I quote that portion of the article in full.

In 1893 Charles Street of Le Carbone discovered a process for making artificial graphite. Another process to make synthetic graphite was invented accidentally by Edward Goodrich Acheson (1856–1931). In the mid-1890s, Acheson discovered that overheating carborundum produced almost pure graphite. While studying the effects of high temperature on carborundum, he had found that silicon vaporizes at about 4,150 °C (7,500 °F), leaving the carbon behind in graphitic carbon. This graphite was another major discovery for him, and it became extremely valuable and helpful as a lubricant.

In 1896 Acheson received a patent for his method of synthesizing graphite, and in 1897 started commercial production. The Acheson Graphite Co. was formed in 1899.

From that information I learned that graphite was discovered and worked with at about the same time as the date I proposed for the making of this pipe. It also was a material that worked well in terms of heat insulation. I was getting closer to my determination regarding the material of the lining.

I looked further on the web and found an interesting page on pyrolytic graphite pipes called The Pipe. Here is the link to that site: http://www.thepipe.info/history/index.html. There was a great section on the history of the material and its use in tobacco pipes. While it primarily refers to the manufacture of the smoking pipe called The Pipe there is much information that is applicable. The article is quite long and I quote from the relevant parts of it below. I have marked the sections in bold font and underlined that are particularly applicable to the material of the bowl lining.

…In 1896, Thomas Edison, an American inventor, discovered a process for hardening carbon which caused the molecules to align in such a way that heat was dissipated along the vertical axis of the material while the horizontal axis remained relatively cool. He called the material pyrolytic graphite. When shaped into a bowl or cup, pyrolytic graphite also creates a venturi effect. It has wide applications today in space rocket nose cones and nozzles, nuclear power plant plumbing, brake linings for such behemoths as the Concorde Supersonic Transport, and numerous other situations where intense heat must be quickly and uniformly dissipated in a controlled manner…

In the 1950’s, defense contractors began experimenting with pyrolytic graphite for use as heat-shield coatings for space rockets which were planned for reentry into the earth’s atmosphere. In the late 1950’s, Super-Temp Corporation was founded to manufacture pyrolytic graphite and other specialty metals. In 1962, Ducommun purchased Super-Temp and promptly built a new manufacturing facility for it. Dr. William H. Smith, a widely regarded expert in the production of specialty metals, was then hired away from General Electric Company to become the President of Super-Temp.

In 1963, George Long, a venture capitalist who had made a fortune with Ampex Corporation (the creator of the technology that allowed instant replays of televised sporting events), was looking for another business opportunity. Robert Dailey had recently retired from an advertising agency and had heard of a new product called Tar Gard Cigarette Filters. Long and Dailey bought all 55 Tar Gard Patents and began selling the product from their offices at 2 Pine Street, San Francisco, California. They did not manufacture the filters or any of their other products; manufacture was always contracted from outside suppliers…

In 1963, one of the workers at Super-Temp was machining pyrolytic graphite sleeves and cups for nuclear power plant plumbing. An avid pipe smoker, he noticed that the cups he was working on were about the same size as his pipe bowl. On a whim, he drilled a hole near the bottom of one of the cups and stuck it in his pipe. It smoked quite well and he shared his discovery with management. Dr. Smith was taken with the notion of a pipe lined with pyrolytic graphite and encouraged further experimentation. They discovered that the pipe bowl liners’ venturi effect significantly reduced the tars and nicotine passing through the pipe to the smoker. An application for patent of a “Smoking Element” was submitted by Edgar C. Buckingham, Super-Temp’s Marketing Manager, in August, 1963. The patent was granted in 1965.

When he learned of his subsidiary’s new pipe bowl liner, Charles Ducommun introduced Dr. Smith to a social acquaintance, George Long. When Smith presented the new pipe concept to Tar Gard, Dailey, also an avid pipe smoker, and Long enthusiastically adopted it as an extension of their product line. Tar Gard applied at once for a trademark for the pipe. The first several applications were rejected but, when the initial “p” of “pipe” was made a small logo of a pipe, the trademark was granted.

The above article extends long after the manufacture of the pipe I had in my hand but it certainly added information regarding the concept of a graphite bowl liner. It was used in quite a few pipesmoking applications from 1963 on but I don’t think it is unreasonable to think that it was used before in similar applications. The one I have in hand was not an obvious success as it bears no copyright information or stamping to identify the manufacturer but the concept is very similar to the pipe described as The Pipe above.

Pretty convinced that I was dealing with a Graphite bowl lining I took the pipe apart to clean it. I was careful in the work so that I did not inhale the dust that was generated from the work. I started by reaming the various briar parts of the bowl with the Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Reaming Knife. It worked really well on the various platforms on the side of the bowl. I scrubbed out the interior after the reaming using alcohol and cotton swabs to remove the tars and oils on the walls of the various briar parts of the pipe.I scrubbed out the mortise at the same time with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the interior of the pipe was absolutely clean.I scrubbed the metal perforated screen that sat on the shelf in the bottom of the base. The graphite bowl liner sat on top of this. I scrubbed it with alcohol and cotton swabs and pads and then sanded it with sandpaper, micromesh sanding pads and wiped it clean.I ran a pipe cleaner and alcohol through the airway in the stem to clean out any remaining debris that may have been hidden there. The pipe cleaner came out very clean with no tars of oils. When I held it up to the light the airway was spotless.I cleaned out the grooves in the stamping on the silver with cotton swabs and alcohol. I polished the band with a jeweler’s cloth to remove all of the oxidation. I buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to give it a shine. I gave the bowl and silver band several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I would give it more wax once I finished with the stem. I took the pipe apart again and took pictures of the polished briar parts. The bulldog cap and the base of the bowl both are clean the briar has a patina.I put the perforated metal disc/screen in the base of the pipe. It sat on the lower shelf in the base. I would be held in place on the liner was put in the bowl. I scraped the bowl liner with the Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to remove the light cake on the walls. I put the liner on the second shelf in the base and screwed the cap in place on the base. The next photos tell the story of putting the pipe back together. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-4000 grit pads. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. I buffed the stem with red Tripoli to remove the last remnants of oxidation. I buffed it with Blue Diamond to polish out the minute scratches and sanded it with the last three micromesh sanding pads, 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of oil after the 12000 grit pad and set it aside to dry. I put the stem in the shank and buffed the pipe a final time with Blue Diamond on the wheel. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect it and give it a shine. I buffed it with a clean buffing wheel to raise that shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a beautiful piece of briar that has an unusual pattern of grain around the bowl and cap. The bowl and cap seem to have been made from one piece of briar as the grain matches on both parts. The vulcanite stem is high quality and as such it was hardly oxidized. The internals of the pipe are also clean now. The pipe looks and smells very clean. It is one that will remain in my pipe collection for a long time. It is one more attempt to find the perpetual desire of all pipemen – that perfect smoke. Thanks for looking.

Restoring a Second Fiammata – A 127 Saddle Stem Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came from the recent estate sale my brother attended. The pipeman whose pipes were being sold had good taste as can be seen from the pipes I have posted recently from my workbench. This one is no exception. It is a match to the other FIAMMATA that I posted (https://rebornpipes.com/2017/05/20/why-is-it-a-second-a-fiammata-128-billiard/) It has stunning straight grain around the bowl and a few small well-hidden fills on the bowl. There is a large fill on the left side of the shank underneath the stamping. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank with the name FIAMMATA and on the right side it is stamped 127 over Italy and to the left of those stamps is the familiar Savinelli S in a shield. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Savinelli Product. The stem is lightly oxidized and has the now familiar tooth marks as the other pipes in this estate.The shape number, the Italy stamp and the overall look of the pipe told me that it was a Savinelli pipe. The stamp on the underside as well as the S in a shield confirmed that it was indeed a Savinelli product. When I worked on the previous Fiammata 128 pipe I did a bit of research to find out information about it. Pipedia gave me information that I included in the previous post. I am including it here in case you happened to miss the other one. Here is the link to the section of the Pipedia article on Savinelli Sub-brands: https://pipedia.org/wiki/Savinelli#Savinelli_made_sub-brands.2C_seconds_.26_order_productions

On the Sub-brands list you will see the name Fiammata. Next to the name it says that the sub-brand is a “Rejected “Giubileo D’Oro” – Straight Grain”. That matches the look of this pipe as well as the previous one. As before I have included an advertisement on Giubileo D’Oro pipes to see what I could learn about the destiny of this pipe before the flaws were noted and the pipe was rejected. The grain on this second Fiammata has grain on it that is better than the one in the photo below.I have included a copy of the Savinelli Shape Chart once again so that you can see the shape of the pipe in hand. It is stamped 127 and can be seen on the first column of the chart. It is a saddle stem billiard. I circled the shape in red on the chart below.My brother Jeff took some close up photos of the rim and the bowl to show the cake in the bowl and the tarry buildup on the rim top. It looked to be in very good shape under the grime.He took photos of the bowl from various angles to show the quality of grain that covered the sides and bottom of the bowl. He took photos of the stamping on the sides and bottom of the shank. The stamping is in excellent condition and is very readable. In the first photo you can see the large fill under the second M of FIAMMATA on the left side of the shank.The stem also has an IRC stamped on the left side of the saddle portion. IRC is the store stamp of Iwan Ries & Company pipe shop in Chicago, Illinois, USA. I would assume that the store stamp was added when the pipe arrived in Chicago from the Savinelli factory in Italy.The next two photos show the condition of the stem. The stem has the now familiar tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside near the button.My brother did a great job cleaning the pipe and preparing it for me. He reamed and cleaned the mortise and the airways in the shank and stem. He scrubbed them with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until they were clean. He scrubbed the surface with Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed it with water. The pipe was clean once it arrived. The next four photos show what the pipe looked like when it arrived in Vancouver. The grain on this bowl is outstanding but the fills are much more obvious than those on the previous Fiammata. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to show the condition. The bowl was clean and the lava on the surface was gone. There were some deep nicks on the rim surface that would need to be addressed but it looked really good.Jeff had soaked the stem in Oxyclean for a several hours and the oxidation rose to the surface of the vulcanite. The worn areas on the button and the tooth chatter and marks showed up clearly as well.I sanded the stem and reshaped the button with 220 and 320 grit sandpaper to remove the damage, tooth chatter and tooth marks. I sanded the rest of the stem to remove the oxidation that was on the surface.To remove the rim top damage I lightly topped the bowl on the topping board using 220 grit sandpaper. I removed the damaged part of the rim top and then polished the bowl and rim 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 bowl down between pads to remove the sanding dust. I painted the IRC on the left side of the saddle with white acrylic paint and a fine bristle brush. Once the paint dried I would scrape the excess off leaving only the letters filled in.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and rubbing it down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and rubbed it down with the oil. I buffed the stem vigorously with red Tripoli on the buffing wheel followed by Blue Diamond. I finished polishing it with 6000-12000 grit pads and rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil between each of the grits. I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I worked on the stem to remove any final oxidation that was showing, particularly around the stamping on the left side of the saddle. I buffed the bowl carefully avoiding the stamping on the shank sides and bottom. I gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ inches. Even with the obvious fills around the bowl and shank this is a beautiful piece of briar. The straight grain is stunning and certainly testimony to the kind of briar that was used on Savinelli Giubileo D’Oro pipes. This is another pipe that will soon be on the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in adding it to your collection you can email me at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a private message on Facebook. Thanks for looking.