Tag Archives: removing oxidation

Procrastination & Restoration

Blog by James Gilliam of JSEC Pipes

What can I say, I really enjoy making pipes. The time I’m afforded for sitting in front of a sanding wheel, at the lathe and sitting at my desk doing detailed work are some of my most relaxing moments. The creative juices are flowing and at times I feel as if I’m breaking new ground with Shape X or Following Line Y, all the while the end goal is just to create a pipe that will become a cherished object of relaxation by its owner.

And here we are, writing up a little story for Steve’s Blog. It isn’t often that I venture down the restoration path, and when I get stumped I end up asking Steve a question or two. So, on to my story……. Our neighbor’s husband recently passed away and soon after the funeral she come over and gave me his pipes. I was elated that she even considered that and wanted to do them justice by addressing some minor cosmetic issues the pipes had.

The trio consisted of (from top to bottom): a Davidoff 152 Sandblasted Bent Billiard, a Charles Fairmorn – Made in Denmark Bent Egg, and a Charatans Make 4402DC Silver Banded Lovat. And as you can see by the first picture, they were enjoyed by their previous owner. They all had been taken care of but It had been a few years since they had been smoked. They were lovingly displayed in his corner of the living room. A remembrance, I guess, for those days when he did smoke his pipes. He still enjoyed them, just didn’t smoke them anymore.

The first order of business was addressing the oxidation on the stems. And I was stumped, as I’ve never seen oxidation this bad before. So after reading through the rebornpipes blog posts and contacting Steve I found what I needed to give the stems a little bath. I’m glad I sent Steve the email, as the bath that was enjoyed by all the stems made my efforts for oxidation removal rather easy. The best part is “most” of the stamping on the stems was savable, albeit on some a little fainter and not so pronounced as before. Had I just sanded the oxidation off, as I was inclined, there would be nothing else there. The oxidation really took its toll on the Davidoff stem, and about 1mm of diameter was no longer there after it was removed with a light sanding….. and I personally don’t find the new stem-shank junction off putting even though it was no longer flush.

The next issue to tackle was outer appearance. The Fairmorn Egg and the Charatan Lovat were the easiest to address as they simply needed an alcohol bath and scrubbing to remove some dirt and grime. A light sanding was in order for the Fairmorn Egg and that was followed by restaining. The best part was the Charaton retained it’s original color. A buffing with various pastes made them shine.

The Davidoff Bent Billard was a different story. Color wise It is, in my opinion, one of the ugliest pipes I’d seen. I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed with alcohol to remove the underlying stain as best I could, to no avail. So I just decided to restain it a light brown….. and am glad that I did as the result came out rather nice…. At least I think so.

All in all, I’d say the pipes cleaned up rather well. Below is a picture of the complete set that I was gifted. My neighbor was more than elated to see them returned to their previous luster, and I was pleased that I could restore something from someone who meant so much to her.

The leather pipe stand still needs a foot/let on the rear left side, as the original fell off at some time in the past and the tobacco jar needs cork reapplied inside the top of the lid. It’ll get done, as the tobacco jar is the cat’s meow…..

Sorry it took so long to write up the story Steve and may you all have a joyful Christmas Season. Surround yourself with those you love, enjoy the time you are able to spend with them, and smoke a bowl in remembrance of those that were close to you and your family. Oh yea, and overlook Uncle Rufus this year… just chuckle and relight.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
James

Restoring a White Cloud Imported Briar Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe up for refurbishing is a small pot shaped pipe. It is stamped on the left side of the shank with the words White Cloud over Imported Briar. There are no other stampings on the right side and underside of the shank. I have looked for the brand in WMTP and found the name but that it is an unknown maker from the US. I also on PipePhil’s site and found no additional information. I also did some searching on the web for information and found absolutely no information on the brand. Do any of you know anything about it? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

The pipe was in good shape underneath the thick coat of varnish. The stem was oxidized and dirty. The varnish on the rim was peeling and bubbling. There was damage to the rim in terms of darkening and potential burn. The bowl had some cake but it was bare wood at the bottom third of the bowl. The stamping was very clean and readable. There were some dings and fills on the bowl sides but nothing huge. They would clean up adequately. The metal tenon and stinger were a very interesting looking piece of plumbing. They were dirty and tarred. The inside of the shank and stem also had a lot of grime. The stinger was stuck in the tenon so it would need to be heated to be able to clean the airway in the stem thoroughly.

I took the close up photo of the rim and bowl to show the damage to the rim surface and the cake that was present. The next photo shows the stinger apparatus. It is a unique set up that is different from the collection of other stingers that I have here. The stem was slightly underclocked so I heated the tenon with a lighter and corrected the fit of the stem in the shank. I removed the stem and dropped the bowl in an alcohol bath to soak overnight. I wanted to loosen the varnish on the bowl and knew that while the alcohol would not remove it, it would soften it and make it easier to sand off. In the morning I removed the bowl from the bath and dried it off. The shiny coat of varnish was unscathed by the alcohol but I knew that it would be easier to remove. You can see the interesting grain on the bowl sides in the photos that follow. You can also see the nicks and fills that would need to be dealt with in the restoration.

I sanded the rim and the bowl with a medium grit sanding sponge to begin the process of removing the varnish. It worked well to break the seal on the varnish coat. Once that is done it comes off quite easily with acetone.

I needed to lightly top the rim to remove the burn mark and rounding on the front outer edge of the rim. It did not take much to clean up the rounded edge and give the rim a crisp profile.

I wiped the bowl down with acetone on a cotton pad and was able to completely remove the varnish coat. The alcohol had softened it and it came off very easily.

I heated the stinger in the tenon until I was able to wiggle it free of the airway. One side of the two prongs that held in place in the tenon was cracked so I repaired it and set it aside to dry. I cleaned out the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove some of the wavy marks from previous repairs to tooth damage. I sanded until the stem was smooth and then sanded it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge. I also sanded the bowl with the same sanding papers and sponges to minimize the dents and scratches in the finish.

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer to remove the cake on the upper portion of the bowl.

I sanded the bowl and rim with micromesh sanding pads- wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a light coat of olive oil before proceeding to sand with 3200-4000 grit pads. I rubbed it down a second time and then sanded it with 6000-12000 grit pads. I buffed it by hand to see what the finish looked like at this point.

I sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and then rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of the oil. I checked the stinger and for some reason there was some dark grime that appeared in the slot in the stinger. I cleaned it again with pipe cleaners before sanding some more with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave the stem a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the pipe aside to dry.

I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it to a shine with a clean flannel buffing wheel. When I finished buffing it on the wheel I took it back to the work table and buffed it by hand with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It should deliver a good smoke to whoever adds it to their rack. The briar is certainly interesting to look at now that the finish has been stripped and the bowl polished. Thanks for looking. cloud41 cloud42 cloud43 cloud44

Repairing and Restoring a1929 Irish Free State Billiard

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Blog by Aaron Henson – 11/29/15

I think the thrill of the hunt is part of what makes this hobby so enjoyable. Going into a new store or happening upon a pipe in an unlikely place, never knowing just exactly what you are going to find and always keeping a lookout for that forgotten gem.

This past summer I was on vacation with my family in Seaside, Oregon. Between Seaside and Astoria I visited 14 different antique stores and only two had any pipes at all. And of those, they were all on the pricy side; too rich for me.

Partly on a whim and partly out of desperation, I went into a second-hand store that I had passed by several times. It was more “junk” than “antique” and of course that is where I made my score although I didn’t think so at first. Three pipes: the first was a non-briar volcano with “Italy” stamped on the bottom, the second was a Medico that was in such bad shape it could only be used for parts but the third was intriguing with a silver band. I could not read the markings for all the filth on the pipe. I negotiated with guy behind the counter and walked out will all three for $15. It was clear that this had been a very nice pipe in its day. The wood grain that could be seen through the grime was beautiful and the Army Style push stem I thought gave the pipe a classy feel. When I got it back to the house and looked it over in better light, I noticed that the band had been rotated on the shank so the writing was upside down and in the dim light of the store I could not read it. Now I could see that it clearly said “Peterson” and “Dublin” stamped in the silver band.

A Peterson, my heart skipped a beat. I was well aware of Peterson’s long history of making quality pipes and now I had picked up an early model for 5-bucks!

The bowl had a good build up of cake and a fair amount of unburned tobacco in the bottom. Some build up of tars on the rim but otherwise seemed to be in good condition. The shank had clearly been broken, however and the glue used for the repair was spread all over one side of the bowl. The stamping on the band, as stated before, were worn and not very readable. The stem was oxidized and had a hole in the top near the button. This must have been a favorite pipe of the previous owner.

When I got home from vacation, I tried to understand the symbolic hallmarks on the band. Not being familiar with Peterson marking I sent a picture to Steve Laug to ask his opinion. Steve very graciously referred me to his Peterson expert, Mark Irwin. With Mark’s help I was able to understand Peterson’s hallmarking and dated the pipe as 1929 – placing it in the Irish Free State era: 1922 – 1937. At least, that was my interpretation of the third hallmark, an “O”.

I began by reaming out the cake with a Castleford reamer and took the interior back to bare wood. There were some burn marks under the tar on the rim so I elected to top the bowl with some 220 grit paper laid on the flat work bench. Next I heated the band with a flame and then using leather jawed pliers and carefully rotated the band back into correct alignment. The outside of the bowl I wiped down with a cotton pad soaked in acetone. This removed the grime and the glue. I had been worried that the glue was covering a crack in the bowl but it turned out that the person doing the shank repair had just been sloppy. The glue came away and revealed pristine briar underneath. In just the right light, I also could see a very faint IRISH FREE STATE stamped into the bottom side of the shank – Confirmation! The break between the bowl and the shank had been complete. I could see the seam all the way around the shank but it had been a clean break. There were no gaps, rounded edges nor missing pieces; so far, so good.

At this point I turned my attention to the stem. I put the stem to soak in a mild chlorine bath to raise the oxidation. A light sanding with some worn 400 grit paper removed the oxidation completely. I picked the loose material out of the hole, made backing plug out of toothpicks and slipped it into the airway. This would hold my patching material in place. Next I mixed up some StewMac black super glue with some activated charcoal powder and worked it into the hole with another tooth pick. I set the stem aside to cure over night.

When I came back to the stem I sanded down the fill with 220 grit paper. The plug blended nicely and I proceeded to polish the stem with 1500 – 12000 micromesh pads. Cleaning the inside of the stem was quite simple, four of alcohol soaked pipe cleaners (2 bristled and 2 soft) took care of the insides and the stem was done. Returning to the stummel, I began to work the bowl-shank joint back and forth with ever increasing force. I caught myself holding my breath, afraid of breaking the pipe beyond repair but dismissed that thought as fear of the unknown and pushed on. Eventually the crack began to open up and the shank and bowl were separated. I was surprised to see that the original repair had included two small brads – or pins – set on either side of the air hole to strengthen the break. Since the brads were already in proper alignment I decided to reuse them in my repair. After some research, I settled on the J-B Kwik Weld as my epoxy of choice. Its resistant temperature is less than that of original J-B Weld (300 vs 550 degrees); however, I do not think the shank should reach 300 degrees during a smoke. But the real advantage in my minds was that the set time is only 6 minutes compared to 4-6 hours. I didn’t want to have to come up with a way to hold the two parts together for several hours and risk the parts slipping.

In order to keep the airway clear during the repair, I pushed a pipe cleaner through the airway before smearing the epoxy on the both surfaces with a tooth pick. With the clock running on the set time, I pushed to the two parts together using the old brads as alignment pins. Looking back I think it would have been better if I had only used one of the pins. The fit was tight and I was fighting against the pins to get the two parts tight together when the time ran out on the epoxy. I was left with a larger gap between the pieces than I thought was right; I had been hoping for a flush fit. Before setting the pipe aside to cure I wiped off the excess epoxy and removed the pipe cleaner. I let the pipe sit overnight and the next day I used a dental pick to remove some of the epoxy from the gap between the stummel and bowl. The gap was very small, less than a 1/32 of an inch on top and near flush on the bottom. When the crack was as clean as I could get it, I filled it with briar dust and placed drops of clear super glue on top to hold the dust in place. When the super glue dried I smoothed out the repair with 220 grit sand paper. There were some minor dents in the bowl and I decided to steam them out by wrapping the bowl with a damp terry cloth rag and going over the rag with a clothes iron set on high. If you used this method I would advise keeping your figures well clear of the iron. Speaking from personal experience, you don’t have to be very close to the iron get burned by the steam. Fortunately, I did not drop bowl!

I sanded the entire bowl with 400 – 2000 grit paper to remove all the dents and scratches but being sure to stay clear of the marking on the shank. The markings were faint but I wanted to preserve as much of them as I could.

The bowl had beautiful grain and I wanted to use a light brown stain to highlight it. I used one part Fiebing’s light brown mixed with 2 parts isopropyl alcohol applied with a cotton swab in layers until the color looked just right. I flaming each layer and wiped off the excess with a cotton pad moistened with alcohol.

The next to last step was to polish the sterling silver band. For this I tried a new technique that I had recently learned on this blog using a small amount of cigar ash and saliva. I was careful not to polish too much – or at all – around the hallmarks. The final step was a trip to the buffer for three coats of carnauba wax on the briar and stem. I hand applied a light coat of Walker Briar Works carnauba wax sealer on the silver band and I buffed the pipe with a micro fiber cloth to bring up the shine.

Bringing a Dr. Grabow De Luxe 9704 Bent Billiard Back to Life

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Blog by Steve Laug

I just finished cleaning up the last of the pipe I picked up from the antique malls while I was in Idaho Falls. It is a little Dr. Grabow bent billiard. It is stamped on the left side of the shank Dr. Grabow over De Luxe over Imported Briar. On the right side near the stem shank union it is stamped with the shape number 9704. From what I can find on the Grabow shape charts the 04 shape is the bent billiard. This one was in rough shape. The finish was basically worn off and the bowl had spots of sticky grime on the sides and shank. There were also spots of paint on the shank and bowl. There were scratches all over the bowl. There were a lot of small fills on the right side of the bowl and the top of the shank as well as a large one on the lower part of the front of the bowl. Because of the missing finish these stood out. The top of the rim had a buildup of tars that looked flaky and hard. The bowl had a thick cake that made it impossible to see if the inside of the rim was in decent shape. I would need to ream it back to be sure. The stem was oxidized and the dirty with light tooth chatter on the underside near the button.

I took a close up photo of the top of the rim to show what I had to work with in cleaning up the bowl and rim. When I took the stem off the pipe it had the usual Dr. Grabow shovel stinger apparatus. This was a little unique in that it was not inserted into the metal tenon but was an integral part of the tenon. The two were cast together which made removing it impossible. It was covered in tars and in a tobacco coloured lacquer that was rock hard. The next two photos show the stamping on both sides of the shank. The right side shows the clear shape number stamp and the left side the Dr. Grabow stamping. The Imported Briar stamping is weak but visible.

I reamed the bowl back to bare wood with a PipNet reamer. I started with the smallest cutting head and worked my way up to one that was the same diameter as the inside of the bowl. Once the cake was cleaned out I used a pen knife to clean up the small ridge that shows up in the second photo below.

I used a sanding sponge to lightly top the bowl. The tars and lava on the top were hard and this was the way I chose to remove it without damaging the finish to the rim. I worked on it until the rim was clean and smooth. It would still need to be scrubbed to remove the darkening.

I scrubbed the rim and the bowl with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the grime and oils left in the finish. I scrubbed until the rim and bowl were clean. I scrubbed the shovel stinger with 0000 steel wool to remove the buildup on the aluminum and polish it at the same time.

I cleaned out the shank with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until it was spotless. I then worked on the stem. It was made a bit more difficult with the built in stinger but I was able to get it clean with a bit of effort. With the inside clean I sanded the bowl and rim with 220 grit sandpaper and a medium and fine grit sanding sponge to clean up the finish. I was able to remove the darkening on the rim and also the dark spots on the sides of the bowl.

I screwed the stem back on the shank and then sanded the stem with the same sandpapers as I had sanded the bowl. I removed tooth chatter and the calcification on the first inch of the stem. I worked on the slight tooth marks on the button itself and cleaned them up. The pipe was beginning to take shape. Much more sanding would need to be done to the bowl to remove all of the scratches left behind by the sandpaper and a lot of polishing would need to be done on the stem before the pipe was finished.

I rubbed the bowl down with olive oil so that I could wet sand the finish and work out the scratches.

I sanded the bowl with micromesh sanding pads and the olive oil until I was able to remove the scratches. I started with 1500-2400 grit pads and sanded until the scratches were minimized and then rubbed it down with olive oil once again before sanding with 3200-4000 grit pads. Each successive micromesh pad brought more of a shine to the briar. The fills became smooth and blended into the briar better and began to disappear into the briar as the scratches around the edges were smoothed out.

I gave it a final rub down with oil and then finished sanding it with the last three grits of micromesh – 6000-12000. The bowl was smooth to the touch and had a shine to it that once was buffed and waxed would glow.

I sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and then rubbing it down with Obsidian Oil. I continued to dry sand with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of the oil. I finished by sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and then gave it a final coat of oil and let it dry.

I buffed the pipe on the wheel with Blue Diamond polish and then gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean flannel wheel to give it a shine and finished by buffing it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a beautiful old Grabow that has a lot of life left in it. Whether I keep it or pass it on to someone else it should last much longer than I will. It should continue to give companionship to whoever’s rack it graces. Thanks for looking.

ADDENDUM: I received the following message on FaceBook from Christopher Chopin. It adds much to the information on this pipe so I add it here:

A favorite shape. Nice job as always Steve. And yes, 04 is the shape code, 97 was the finish code for deluxe. Also 92 and 98, there was more than one De Luxe, and 97 was the natural variegated finish. Dating on that if I’m not mistaken is between 1944 and 1953, at which point the spade was rotated so that the tip pointed to the bowl instead of the mouthpiece, after the company was purchased by HL&T. That is a true Linkman’s grabow, they just discontinued the Linkman’s stamp in ’44. I suspect it’ll find a place in your regular rotation.

A Mysterious Little Bent Billiard Brought to Life

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug
This is another pipe I picked up at the antique mall in Idaho Falls. It is a bit of a mystery pipe in that the stamping is faint on the left side of the shank. On the right side it is stamped Made in England. On the right side it is missing some of the first letters but is stamped _ ANTE_ over London. Searching through Who Made That Pipe the best option I found for that combination of letters was a CANTERBURY. The brand was made by Comoy’s. There is a very faint C in a Circle on the stem that also matches the CANTERBURY stamping so I think that may well be the stamping on this mystery pipe. The pipe was in pretty rough shape. The previous owner was in the antique mall when I bought it and he walked me through its deficiencies as he saw them. He had wrapped a piece of Teflon tape around the tenon to hold it in the shank. The stem itself had deep bite marks on the top and a large bit through on the underside near the button. The bowl had some fills on the left side and the underside that were quite large. The finish was shot and was dirty with lots of dents and dings. The rim was smooth but had tars and lava overflow. The bowl was heavily caked and the cake was as hard as rock. The inner edge of the rim was slightly damaged and out of round. The outer edge was clean with a small fill on the front of the bowl near the rim.

I took the next photos to give a clear picture of the bite through on the underside of the stem and a close up of the thick cake in the bowl.

I tried to ream the bowl with a PipNet reamer and barely made a dent in it. It was very hard. I decided to let it soak in an alcohol bath to soften the cake. I left it in the bath overnight.

When I took it out of the bath the finish was clean. The briar looked pretty good. The grain was quite nice. The fills softened and were white putty that would need to be removed and refilled.

The softened cake came out easily with the PipNet reamer and then I scraped it further with a pen knife. The next photo shows the cleaned out bowl. I wiped down the rim with a soft cloth to remove the tars. I lightly topped the bowl with a medium and fine grit sanding block to clean up the rim surface. The cleaned up rim looked very good.

I cleaned out the bowl and shank with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I picked out the putty fills with a dental pick. I filled in the holes with briar dust and then covered that with super glue. I added more briar dust to smooth out the repairs.

I sanded the bowl repairs with 220 grit sandpaper and then with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge. I forgot to take photos after sanding the bowl.

I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I cleaned out the bite marks on the top of the stem and the underside with a dental pick, alcohol and cotton swabs. Once they were clean I put some charcoal powder and black superglue on the bite marks on the top of the stem and leveled the repair with the edge of the dental pick. I set it aside to dry. Once the topside repair was cured I put Vaseline on the point of an old nail file that I use to repair bite throughs. I inserted it in the slot on the button. I mixed some black super glue and charcoal powder and filled the hole in the stem with the mixture. I spread it and leveled it with a dental pick. When the repair was finished I set the stem aside to cure once again.

The next morning I sanded the repairs on the top and bottom of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and with a series of sanding sticks to smooth out the surface. The sanding sticks allowed me to get a good angle on the sharp edge of the button. I started with the coarse stick and worked my way up to the fine stick.

I cleaned out the inside of the stem to remove the Vaseline and the dust from sanding using alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I heated the tenon with a lighter and inserted an ice pick in the airway in the tenon to expand the tenon enough to get a good solid fit in the shank. With the stem repair complete and the pipe clean inside and out I decided to do some contrast stain work on the bowl. I stained it with a black aniline dye for the first coat. I wanted to blend in the fills a bit and also highlight the grain. I was aiming for a darker colour in the finished product so this was the first step. I applied the stain and then flamed it. I wiped it off with alcohol on cotton pads to lighten the surface coat while leaving the black in the grain and the fills.

I sanded the bowl with micromesh sanding pads to remove more of the finish and then gave it a top coat of a medium brown stain. I applied it and flamed it before hand buffing it.

The colour of the pipe was still too dark to really make the grain pop so I sanded it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to further remove some of the dark colour and to also minimize the scratches in the briar. I wiped it down with acetone to lighten it further.

With the finish on the bowl complete I sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with 3200-12000 grit pads. Between each set of three pads I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian oil. On the last rub down I let it sit until it was absorbed.

I buffed the pipe with Red Tripoli and White Diamond to further lighten the top coat of stain and to polish the stem. I then buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. The finished pipe is shown below.

Reviving a Reinhard’s Natural Billiard

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Guest Blog by Robert M. Boughton
Member, International Society of Codgers
Member, North American Society of Pipe Collectors
http://www.naspc.org
http://www.roadrunnerpipes.com
http://about.me/boughtonrobert
Photos © the Author

Reinhard: Old Germanic male name meaning brave, hardy; fox
― From “Behind the Name”

INTRODUCTION
After searching in every nook and crevice of the Internet I could conceive, in search of a single clue, even, as to the origin of this Reinhard’s natural billiard, I had to concede defeat and turn to my friend and mentor, Chuck, for any suggestions he might have. I was certain this sleek gentleman’s pipe, with its classic form and fine engineering that from the general look and color hinted at a vintage make, must be an established brand, however limited its period of manufacture. The crispness of the nomenclature in particular threw me. Although the possibility that the Reinhard’s could be the creation of an independent pipe shop somewhere had crossed wires somewhere in my mind, I wanted to believe the elegant piece of briar was descended from a higher pedigree. When Chuck came back with a scenario that was not only viable but likely, therefore – that the derivation of my pipe indeed was probably a small shop somewhere, but with the added conjecture that it was likely of mid-western U.S. descent, from a place with a high concentration of German or other Teutonic immigrants – my spirits were somehow bolstered. Maybe the Reinhard’s was something more than the variety of pipe commonly relegated to the classification of “no-name” after all.

The natural, dark brown color of the pipe, reminiscent of staining popular during the 1950s and ’60s and into the ’70s, had grown more pronounced with age and regular use. As with all such pipes I come across, I wanted to bring out more of the natural grain I was sure was hidden beneath a thin layer or two of decades of accreted grime on top of the original finish. The bowl is slightly canted, suggesting a Canadian except for the longer bit. And so I settled on a sweet, alternative billiard. Please correct me if I’m wrong. I still have trouble with the whole Canadian-Lovat-Lumberman-Liverpool mess.

RESTORATION

First, there was the typical carbon buildup in the chamber and the rim cleaning to confront. A 17mm fixed reamer started the process of dispending with the cake, and followed up with sanding, using 150-grit paper to even out the chamber interior after which I smoothed it with 320-grit paper, the result was chamois-smooth. The basic cleaning with Everclear-soaked bristly cleaners and a thorough retort was easier than I feared, but still necessary, of course. I’m always happy when a pipe only needs two or three infusions of strong boiled alcohol through its innards to leach out the buildup of tobacco juices and other elements of regular enjoyment; it shows that the previous owner cared for the pipe.

After a bath with distilled water on small pieces of cotton cloth, wet micromesh paper from 1200-3600 did a nice job on the rim. The soft, brown, more natural exterior of the bowl and shank came out with delicate use of superfine steel wool.

Almost done, I used the same wet micromesh progression that cleaned up the rim to smooth the exterior of the pipe.

The bit was in exceptional shape, but I still rinsed it in a OxyClean solution and micro-meshed from 1500-3600. Finally, I buffed the bit with red and White Tripoli, with the clean wheel in between, and used white Tripoli, White Diamond and carnauba on the wood.

CONCLUSION
I achieved the effect I wanted, without over-removing the darker stain, to maintain the integrity of the maker’s – whoever he might have been, God bless him – plan.

Being somewhat of a known easy touch when it comes to gifting pipes to deserving individuals, I found myself at my tobacconist with a small box of finished pipes, including the Reinhard’s, and some that still needed work. Candice, the lovely young worker on duty, had told me she had her eyes on a golden-orange The Pipe for sale. As it was to be her first foray into the world of pipe enjoyment, in my judgment, that just would not do.

Candice, cropped from a photo with her in the background

Perhaps a bit impetuously, I laid out my wares, separated so that Candice could choose from the restored samples. The good lady did protest, of course, citing the old it’s-too-generous excuse and even offering to pay something, but I would have none of it. They weren’t moving on my business website, after all, and Candice (who was named for Candice Bergen by her thoughtful parents) looked them all over and concluded she could not make up her mind, and she would be happier if I chose one. Isn’t that just like a woman? I love it!

And so, with a slight pang, my hand went on its own volition to the Reinhard’s, which I handed to Candice. Something in her reaction told me it was the one she would have chosen, had push come to shove, so to speak.

In my humble opinion, the Reinhard’s fits her always helpful, friendly, sparkling personality to perfection.

Gourd Calabash Restoration

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Blog by Aaron Henson

I was at work the other morning and got caught looking at something on the internet that should not have been. It was not as terrible as it sounds. My job requires that take annual training (given online) each year, and after almost ten years of the same information I take some liberties. While the training was running in one window I was browsing the latest estate pipe auctions on eBay in another. At 6:30 am there are not many other people about the office so I didn’t think much about it until a friend happened by and asked about my interest in pipes. We talked for a bit and at the end of the conversation he said that he had his father’s Sherlock Holmes pipe that was collecting dust and would I be interested in it. Of course I said “Yes!”

The very next morning my friend brought over a beautiful calabash gourd pipe. He also sent me home with nice Grabow Savoy bent billiard – his own pipe that he had not smoked in over ten years. The calabash, he said, was a pipe that he had bought as a gift for his father sometime in the late ‘70’s or early ‘80’s. After his father had passed away it had come back him. He had had it on display in his rec-room for a while but in recent years it was pushed to the back of the shelf.

Upon getting home that night, I put my other restoration projects on hold (a 1929 Peterson Irish Free State with a broken shank and an Oom-Paul with a bit through stem) to make room on the work bench. I did not jump right into the restoration that night however. All of my restorations up to this point have been with briar pipes. I have always been interested in meerschaum and calabash pipes but never actively pursued acquiring one. But now, with this amazing gift, I dove into study about the making, care and restoration of calabash gourd pipes.

What I found was that there is not nearly as much information about restoring gourd pipes as there is about restoring briar. I believe this to be in part because gourd pipes just don’t hold up as well over time as briar does.

I began with a thorough inspection of the pipe. The stem had a lot of dried crust of some sort on it but not much oxidation but there was very little tooth chatter around the button. Upon reflection I realized that this was not too surprising considering that a pipe of this size would be very difficult to clench. The stem was also slightly misaligned. Nothing very noticeable and may even have been intentional so as to provide a more comfortable smoke. The stem inserted into a plastic ferrule that was in very good condition but it was only with great difficulty that I remove the stem. I was worried that would break it before it came free. A drop of alcohol at the base of the stem eventually helped it break free.

The gourd was a little dirty but the most noticeable thing was that one side appeared faded compared to the other, probably a symptom of being placed on display. I confirmed with my friend that the meerschaum bowl was a replacement. The outer rim of the bowl sits almost flush with the edge of the gourd, there not being much overhang. I tried to remove the bowl for inspection and cleaning but it seems that the new bowl was glued in place. There we no markings of any kind on the pipe, so the manufacturer will remain a mystery.

I began by cleaning the stem by setting it to soak in an Oxyclean bath. After 10 minutes I removed the stem and scrubbed it with a magic eraser pad. This was a new technique for me and I was so focused on what I was doing I forgot to take pictures. The outside of the stem cleaned up very well the crusties coming off in the soak. The interior of the stem also cleaned up easily; the third alcohol soaked pipe cleaner came out as clean as it went it in. Below is the cleaned stem. My apologies for the background – the green is a little hard on the eyes. Next I addressed the tooth chatter; one large dent on the top of the stem and three smaller on the bottom. I tried to raise the dents with some heat from lighter. While the stem was still warm I realigned the bit with the curve of the stem. The heat helped raise the dents but didn’t remove them completely and the larger one still required a drop of black super glue filler. The other dents were easily removed with 220 grit sandpaper. The pictures below are after the heat was applied and before the sanding. I follow the same regimen that many of the others on this blog do for polishing vulcanite stems: 1500-12000 micro-mesh pads, wet sanding the first six pads and stopping every 3 pads to coat the stem in mineral oil. I found a set of ½-inch wide micro-mesh sticks at my local Wood Works store and these worked very well around the bead detail on the stem.

Since I could not remove the meerschaum bowl, I opted not to use any alcohol based cleaners on the gourd. Instead I scrubbed it down with Murphy’s Oil Soap on a cotton pad. After cleaning, I made several passes with a wet paper towel to wipe off the soap residue. The sun bleached side of the pipe had kind of a rough feel so I lightly sanded the entire gourd with 600 grit paper. This evened out the texture and removed any surface damaged of the gourd. The ferrule was plastic and I had very difficult time removing the stem the first time. Some of the sticky residue I had cleaned from the stem must have gotten into the mortise. I used a pipe cleaner bent in half and dipped in alcohol to swab the mortise clean. Even with my initial troubles, three passes was all that was required to clean the mortise. I wiped the outside of the ferrule down with alcohol and then buffed using the 4000 – 8000 micro mesh pads to remove any light scratches.

I debated with myself a long time about what to do with the discolored gourd. I finally decided to try to blend the discoloration with a light stain. Mixing one part Fiebing’s Light Brown with three parts isopropyl alcohol, I used a cotton swab to apply the stain. Starting at the edge of the discoloration, I worked my way around the pipe, layering the stain to get the variation and depth of color. To my surprise this worked well and I was very pleased with the results. After multiple coats and looking at the pipe under various types of lighting I was finally satisfied with the results. When the stain had dried completely, I applied a light coat of mineral oil wiping off the excess.

Taking the stem to the buffing wheel, I put on three coats of carnauba wax and called the restoration complete. My next project is to build a stand for the pipe. I will start on it as soon as I can settle on a design that I think will complement the shape of the pipe. And maybe someday, I will replace the bowl with one that gives the pipe a more traditional calabash look. But right now, I am looking forward to burning bowl of Burley Virginia.

Thanks for looking.

Restoring 2 Kaywoodies – a Flame Grain 99B and a Meerschaum Lined 86B

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Blog by Dave Gossett
These two Kaywoodie’s were found at an estate sale. They are great survivor examples from the heyday of Kaywoodie. I could tell the previous owner cared for and loved these pipes. They were well used and dirty, but in near perfect condition. Free of fills, tooth chatter, scratches, nicks, or dents. The stampings are crisp and clear. The lines are sharp and straight. Both are 4 hole Drinkless stinger era KW’s.

Bringing these pipes back to their former glory was pretty simple. I have about an hour of work in each pipe. I gave them a wood soap wash, a light ream, deoxidized the stems, and put on fresh coat of carnauba.

The first is a Kaywoodie Flame Grain 99B

The second is a Kaywoodie Meerschaum Lined 86B

Breathing new life into a Republic Era Peterson’s Kildare 999

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Blog by Steve Laug

My brother picked this pipe up for me when he was in Austin, Texas. It is actually one of my favourite Peterson shapes – the 999. This one is stamped Peterson’s over “Kildare” on the left side of the shank and Made in the Republic of Ireland 999 on the right side of the shank. It actually is in really decent shape. The bowl had grime on the finish but no real dings or gouges. The rim was tarred and dirty but otherwise in good condition. The outer and the inner edge of the rim were smooth and the bowl was round. The double ring under the cap of the bowl was also in great shape with no chips or missing parts. There were a few small fills on the underside of the bowl among the cross grain that covered that and the top and bottom of the shank. The birdseye grain on the bowl and shank sides is quite stunning. The stem had straightened out during the time the pipe had been sitting and would need to be rebent somewhere along the line. The stem was oxidized, but otherwise clean with no tooth dents or bite marks. The fit against the shank was not tight but that would probably change once the pipe had been cleaned. There was a stinger in the end of the tenon once I removed the stem from the shank. The next three photos are ones that my brother sent me when he found the pipe. The first is a side view of the pipe and the second and third show the stamping on the shank.

When I was visiting with my brother in Idaho Falls I decided to rebend the stem on this one. I used a cup of water that I boiled in the microwave and then put the stem in to heat and soften the rubber. Once it had softened I bent it to match the curve of the bowl. When I heated the stem in the water the oxidation rose to the surface of the stem and turned it an unsightly brown. That is what I expected and why at home I use a heat gun rather than water. But as the stem was oxidized already the water would bring the rest of it to the surface for an easier clean up.

I took the next three photos – close-up pictures of the rim and the stem – to show the state of those areas. Both the rim and the stem were in very good shape under the tars and the oxidation.

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer to take the cake back to bare briar. I used the first two cutting heads to clean out the cake.

I scrubbed out the bowl and shank with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol to remove the build up and oils. It did not take too long for the shank to be clean. The next photo shows the small stinger that was in the tenon when I removed the stem. It has a slot on the top of apparatus behind the ball and collects the moisture from the smoke. The shank is drilled deeper than my other 999 pipes to accommodate the stinger. I removed the stinger and cleaned out the stem with pipe cleaners and alcohol. I cleaned the stinger with the same and then polished it with 0000 steel wool.

I scrubbed the top of the rim with alcohol and a cotton pad and then used a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad to sand the surface of the rim. I used the pad like a topping board and worked the rim around the pad in a clockwise motion. Why clockwise? I honestly don’t know other than I am right handed.

I wiped down the bowl with alcohol and a cotton pad to remove the wax and grime from the surface of the briar. The pipe was unstained or stained with a light stain so the alcohol did not remove any of the colour. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation that sat on the surface of the stem. I worked hard on the angles of the button to remove the oxidation there. I then sanded the stem with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches left behind by the sandpaper.

I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and rubbed it down with Oil once again. I finished by dry sanding with 6000-12000 grit pads and giving it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I let the oil absorb into the rubber of the stem.

I buffed the stem and bowl with White Diamond and then Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax and then buffed it with a clean flannel buff on the wheel. I finished by hand buffing the pipe and stem with a microfibre cloth to give it a deep shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Thanks for looking.

Refitting an existing stem on a Royal Windsor Prince

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Blog by Steve Laug

When I was in Idaho my brother showed me the pipes he had picked up in auctions and from antique shops. He had found three meerschaum pipes and two briars. One of the briar pipes that he picked up in an auction was a Royal Windsor Imported Briar Prince. It was included as part of a sculpture that he bought that he really liked. It was an old man with a cap, glasses and a pipe. The old boy in the sculpture looks lost without his pipe in the photo below. It is finished now and it will go out in the mail tomorrow so he should have it back very soon.
My daughter took the following photo of the sculpture with the pipe. In her photo the table top looks like a sweater.
The pipe itself is a clean and quite beautiful little pipe with a rusticated finish and some smooth parts similar to the Stanwell Vario line. In looking at it when I was visiting it was obvious the pipe had been restemmed at some point along the way and the stem shank union was poorly executed. There was a bulge to the stem at that point and it also was not round. The right side and bottom of the stem diameter were wider than the shank of the pipe. The taper of the stem on the underside did not work with the flow of the shank. He wanted to keep it for the sculpture but the fit of the stem bugged me enough that I offered to bring it home and reshape the stem for a better fit. It was also badly oxidized so that would also need to be cleaned up. The bowl itself was quite clean and virtually unsmoked. The first photos below were taken after I had started cleaning up the stem. I began reworking the stem without taking photos and caught myself before I had gone too far.

I put a plastic washer on the tenon to protect the shoulders of the stem from rounding while I worked on the shape of the stem. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to shape and fit the stem to the shank. To me the taper on the underside of the stem did not flow into the shank correctly. I sanded it and removed a lot of material and changed the taper to flow better. I checked the fit often by removing the washer and looking at the stem in place.

I refined the shape some more and then sanded the entire stem to remove the surface oxidation. I finished this part of the process by sanding the stem with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches left behind by the 220 grit paper. With the shape and fit greatly improved (at least to my eye ;)) I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and then dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads. Another coat of Oil was rubbed into the stem and then I sanded it with the final 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry.

I buffed the pipe with White Diamond and then Blue Diamond on the wheel. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect and shine. I buffed it with a clean flannel buff and then with a microfibre cloth by hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below.