Tag Archives: removing tooth marks

A Rare Find – A Pair of Fieldcraft Dulwich Quaints

Blog by Steve Laug

My brother found this pair of Dulwich Quaints – one a sitter, kind of bent poker and the other a kind of pickaxe shape. The shape and the look of them were unique and there was something about them that immediately drew me to them. They are not big pipes but they have full sized bowls. The stems were made out of very good vulcanite. The briar was quite nice even though both pipe sported a few fills. The bent poker is stamped DULWICH over Quaint on the left side of the shank and Made in England on the right side. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Fieldcraft and the shape number 102. The pickaxe is stamp DULWICH over Quaint on the left side and Made in England on the right and on the underside it has the shape number 126. I have hunted high and low for information on the brand using the Dulwich moniker as well as the Fieldcraft one. Both take me nowhere. One of the earlier pipes I repaired was stamped with the Fieldcraft name and the shape number was clearly a Orlik Pipe Shape. In this case I have no idea who the maker was. Both are interesting old pipes. The poker shaped sitter had hardly been smoked with over half of the bowl undarkened briar. The stem had some tooth chatter on the underside near the button but other than being oxidized it was a clean pipe. The finish on it was also pretty decent with a few small fills toward the bottom of the bowl on the left side and the front. There was some scratching in the briar as well particularly on the bottom of the bowl. The pickaxe was in rougher shape all the way around. It had a thick cake in the bowl with lava on the rim. The front right rim edge and top had been badly beaten against something that left the briar very rough. The stem was oxidized and had a line of calcification. There was tooth chatter on both the top and bottom sides near the button. I took a close up picture of both rims to show what they looked like when I started the refurb. The poker had a slightly crowned rim that is undamaged and has no lava or tars. The pickaxe is another story. I reamed the bowl of the pickaxe with a PipNet reamer using the smallest cutting head. I took the cake back to bare briar so that I could repair the rim damage. I wiped both bowls down with acetone on cotton pads to remove the finish and the grime that was particularly prevalent on the pickaxe. I sanded the rim of the pickaxe with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage to the surface of the front edge and top. I sanded it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge and then with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-24000 grit. I wiped the rim down with acetone. I buffed both bowls with White Diamond on the wheel to get a natural shine. I cleaned out the mortise and the airway on both pipes with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol. I cleaned out the airways on both stems with alcohol and pipe cleaners. I sanded the stems with 220 grit sandpaper to clear the surface of the oxidation and the calcification on the pickaxe stem. I scrubbed the bite marks on the underside of the stem and used black super glue to repair them. I sanded the poker stem with 220 grit sandpaper and removed the tooth marks on the underside of the stem near the button. I rubbed the stems down with some Obsidian Oil and put them back on the bowls to get a quick look at how the work was coming along.I scrubbed the stems with Meguiar’s Scratch X2.0 Fine scratch and blemish remover. It worked really well on the pencil stem on the pickaxe and not as effectively on the thicker stem of poker.I wet sanded the stem of the pickaxe and the stem on the poker with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and then rubbed the stem down again with the Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded the stems of both with 3200-4000 grit micromesh and then gave them another coat of the oil. I finished sanding them with the 6000-12000 grit micromesh pads and gave them a final coat of oil and set them aside to dry. The briar was naturally finished so I did not stain either bowl. I gave them a light coat of olive oil and then buffed the stems and bowls of both pipe with Blue Diamond on the wheel. I gave them both several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed them with a clean flannel buffing pad and then by hand with a microfiber cloth. The finished pipes are shown in the photos below. Do any of you who are reading this have any information on either Fieldcraft or Dulwich pipes? I have seen and repaired several over the years and so far have been unable to identify them beyond the initial one that was an Orlik made pipe. Thanks ahead of time for any help that you may have.

This is one Beautiful Meerschaum – a Lattice Billiard with a 1/8 bent stem

4 Replies

Blog Steve Laug

I have no idea who carved this Meerschaum Billiard but the tear drop cuts in the outer finish of the bowl and the swirls and circles that work around the tear drops and up the shank give the pipe a look of grandeur. The rim is smooth underneath all of the tar and oil build up and the bowl is already colouring. The shank has picked up some darker amber hues and the underside of the bowl also has colour. The stem has a push tenon and the amber swirl acrylic of the stem works well with the bowl as it is colouring. The stem has some whites, creams and varieties of amber colouring that are really beautiful. The bowl had a slight cake build up and the shank was dirty with oils. The push tenon was discoloured and the threads into the stem were also black and dirty. The stem had some tooth chatter on the top and bottom sides near the button. The pipe came in a red artificial leather case lined with a plush cream coloured fabric that the bowl sat against. The case was in good shape externally and the inside had flecks of dirt and tobacco ash on the surface. I took a close-up photo of the bowl and rim to show the cake and the build up on the rim top. The inner and outer edges of the rim were in great shape. There was a slight crown to the rim curving from the inner edge to the outer edge giving it a rounded look. I took some photos of the pipe out of the case to give a clear picture of the condition of the pipe. The stem is quite beautiful and will clean up nicely. I decided to gently top the bowl – not removing any meerschaum but removing the hard tar build up on the rim face. I used a medium and a fine grit topping sponge to break through the tars. It did not take long before I had the surface back to its original smooth and clean state. I carefully reamed the bowl with a pen knife. I scraped the cake back to the smooth meerschaum surface.I scrubbed the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and cotton pads to remove the dirty spots on the bowl. I wanted to remove these soiled areas and leave the patina intact so the Murphy’s Soap works well for that. I scrubbed the bowl with undiluted soap and then rinsed it with a wet cotton pad to remove the soap left behind.I cleaned out the shank and the inside of the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs and was surprised at how clean it was. It did not take much to clean up the airways.I sanded the tooth marks next to the button on both top and bottom of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and removed all sign of the marks. Fortunately they were not deep marks.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. While I was sanding the stem I tried to unscrew the push tenon and to my surprise it came out easily. This allowed me to clean out the end of the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs to remove the black tars that had built up behind the threads in the end of the stem. I scrubbed the threads on the tenon with a brass bristle brush and wiped them down with alcohol. I lightly sanded the darkened areas on the push tenon with the micromesh sanding pads to remove any build up that was present. I dry sanded the stem with 3200-4000 grit micromesh sanding pads and wiped the stem down with the Obsidian Oil to give me some bite with the final micromesh pads. I completed the sanding with 6000-12000 grit pads. Before put the stem back in place in the shank I took a closer look at the end of the tenon. There was some writing on the meerschaum on the top right side. It appears to be the numbers 106 but I am not sure. Anyone have any ideas what that might signify??I put the stem in place and wiped the bowl and stem down with a soft microfibre cloth to give it a little shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The colouring on the shank of the meerschaum matches nicely with the colouring of the swirled acrylic stem. The rest of the meerschaum looks clean with a slight darkening that gives it a cream colour. I cleaned the inside of the case with a brush to remove the lint and the tobacco bits that were on the material. It came out quite well. The pipe is cleaned and ready for an inaugural smoke. Thanks for looking.

Restoring a Genuine Sandblast Silverknight Dublin

4 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

Going through the box of pipes to refurbish I came across this interestingly shaped pipe. I would describe it as a Dublin but the rounded bottom extending below the bottom of the shank gives it a very unique look. It is a tall pipe with a sandblast finish. The sandblast is not deep and craggy but it is shallow and lot of swirls. The finish was dirty and lots of dust was in the grooves of the finish. The rim was dirty with a build up on the inner bevel of the rim. The outer edge was in pretty good shape with a light rustication. The bowl was lightly caked and there was some dried white wax in the bowl from whoever had given the pipe a buff before selling it on Ebay. There was a silver band on the shank for decorative purposes. It is stamped with an EP in a diamond. The EP stands for Electro Plated. On the underside of the shank there is a smooth un-sandblasted portion that is stamped GENUINE SANDBLASTED over SILVERKNIGHT. At the end of the shank it is stamped Italy. The brand is not one that I have seen before and I could not find it in any of my usual sources. The stem was oxidized and had some tooth marks and chatter on the top and bottom sides. The button was worn on both the top and the bottom. It had an interesting dot on the stem that looked like a white spot. The closer I looked I could see that it was a pale yellow spot. I took some close-up photos of the rim and the bowl to show the interior of the bowl and the rim condition. There was some tar and oil build up on the top of the rim.The next two photos show the tooth marks on the stem.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer to take the cake back to bare briar. I wanted to remove the white material in the bowl. Once I had it on the reamer it was clear that it was wax. I used a brass tire brush to scrub the top of the rim and the inner bevel. The brass bristles do not scratch the finish but they loosen the tars and oils on the rim.I scrubbed out the interior of the mortise and airway into the shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. I scrubbed until the cleaners came out white.I worked on the stem. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth marks and tooth chatter. I sanded the whole stem to remove the oxidation on the surface of the stem.I cleaned out the airway on the stem with pipe cleaners – both regular and bristle ones – and alcohol. Once they came out clean the stem interior was finished.I redefined the button on the top and bottom sides of the stem with a needle files to give it a sharper more distinct edge.I sanded the file marks with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the file marks.I sanded the stem with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to minimize the scratches.I wetsanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding disks to begin the process of polishing it. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil and then dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads. I gave it another coat of oil and then finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of the oil and let it dry. I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel. I lightly buffed the bowl and gave the stem a bit more pressure. I gave the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the bowl and the stem with a clean buff. I brought it back to the work table and gave the bowl a light coat of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is cleaned and ready to smoke.

Do any of you have any idea who may have made this pipe? It is light weight and well made. The draught on it is perfect and the conical bowl is in really good shape. Thanks for looking.

My Brother Says this Carved Meerschaum Bowl Reminds Him of Me…

6 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

My brother Jeff sent me these photos of an old carved meerschaum that he picked up. He said he had to have it as it was the perfect likeness of his brother. I don’t know if that is a compliment of not but this is certainly an amazing carving. There is no sign of who carved it. The bowl is in really good shape in terms of not having any really bad scrapes or scars in it. There are no chips on the edges of the hood and cowl or on the beard of the old fellow. From the photos it is really hard to tell what size the pipe was but I was intrigued. It looked like it would be fun to work on and with a carved head like that and the supposed likeness to yours truly it was even more of a challenge. I could not wait for it to arrive so that I could begin to work on it.

Looking at the photos while I awaited its arrival from Idaho I was curious about the size. I wondered if the pipe might not be a cheroot pipe rather than a full-sized pipe. When I asked my brother about that he assured me that it was too big for that. I forgot to get the measurements on the pipe before he shipped it out to me so that would need to wait until I saw it. The as I looked at the photos I wondered if the bowl in the top of the head was not a colouring bowl. Maybe it was not an integral part of the pipe but an addition that was used to facilitate the colouration of the bowl. I would not know that until I had it in hand. These and other questions ran through my head each time I looked at the photos and really none of them could be answered until I held the pipe in hand. The photos below were included by the original seller. The first gives a front view. The second and third photos show the side views of the pipe.

The case was in two parts in the photos. It appeared to be in decent shape otherwise. When the pipe arrived I was blown away be the size of it. It was a full-sized pipe. In the photo below you can see it next to a regular tooth brush. Later there will be photos of it in my hand it is a big pipe. It appeared that the bowl in the top of the pipe was part of the pipe. It was the most worn part of the pipe. It had tars built up on the top of the rim. There were some small nicks in the surface of the outer edge. The underside of the bowl was dirty and worn and it appeared that the finish was gone. The bowl itself had surprisingly few scratches in the surface. There was darkening and wear where it had been held but it was not bad. The grooves of the cowl and hood as well as those in the beard had a lot of dust and debris in them. The mouth piece was Bakelite and had a slot in the end of the button. There were some tooth marks on the underside. The stem was also slightly overturned. The metal tenon was anchored in the shank of the meer and the stem screwed onto the tenon. It appeared to me that the threads in the stem were worn and that accounted for the overturn.

I scrubbed the surface of the meer with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap. I wanted to clean the meerschaum and the grooves but not harm the patina of the pipe. I scrubbed to make sure that all the grime and dust was gone. I worked on the rim to soften the tars and oils there. I scrubbed the underside of the beard and the rest of the pipe. Once it was clean I rinsed the pipe under warm running water to remove the soap and grime. I dried it off with a soft cotton towel. The photos below show the scrubbed and dried pipe. You can also get an idea of the size of the bowl in comparison to my hand in several of the photos. I love the expression on the face of the character. The carver masterfully captured the charm and character of the old man.

The next photo, though it cuts off a part of the hood still gives a clear picture of the charm of the old fellow. You can see the amusement in his face and the squint of his eyes. The face makes me wonder what he was thinking about. There is some good colouration on his face, beard and hood. I sanded the top of the bowl with a medium grit sanding block to remove the tars and oils and bring it back to the original meerschaum surface. The buildup came off with very little work and the rounded rim of the bowl shone with the colour of a well smoked bowl. I scraped the bowl with a pen knife to clean out the thin cake that was forming on the inside.

The stem was clogged and no air could be blown through it. I used a dental pick to clean out the slot and then tried to push a pipe cleaner through it. The pipe cleaner bent and the clog would not budge. I tried it from both ends of the stem with no luck. I used a straightened pipe cleaner and curved it to the bend of the stem and was able to push it through the clog and poke the debris free of the stem. I ran both bristle and regular pipe cleaners through the airway until they came out clean and the airway was unobstructed.

I sanded the tooth marks near the button on the top and underside of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper until they were smooth.

I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it a second coat of oil. I finished with 6000-12000 grit pads and then buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel. I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad.

The rich butterscotch colour of the stem contrasts beautifully with the cleaned and aging meerschaum. The old man seems to give a quirky smile saying that his life is good now. He is cleaned and ready to use. The bowl on the top has been cleaned and the airway in the shank to that bowl is also cleaned and blown out with air to remove the debris that may have collected I the bottom of the under bowl. I will have to get some white beeswax and give it a new coat of wax and then buff it to a shine. In the mean time I buffed it with a shoe brush and raised a shine in the meerschaum. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I am glad my brother sent it my way.

I am not sure what my brother is talking about seeing a resemblance the pipe and me. Do you see any resemblance in the pictures of the two old men? Hmmm makes me wonder what he sees when he looks at me. Now even my kids are calling in my mini-me. Ah well things could be worse.

Thanks for looking.

Breathing New Life into an old Mastercraft Standard Cavalier

5 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I have always wondered what it would be like to work on a Cavalier shaped pipe. There was something intriguing about working on a long shank with an end cap and a bowl carved coming out of the side of the shank. The look of the pipe and the dapper appearance may well have contributed to the name of the shape. It is made to hang from the mouth of the pipe smoker and be clenched as he is doing other things. This one is another of the pipes that came to me from my brother Jeff.

It is a great example of the shape. It is a rusticated Cavalier that has brown and dark contrasting colours over a worm trail like rustication. The end cap is a hard rubber and has a bone tenon connecting it to internal threads in the bottom of the shank. The stem is also a good quality rubber as it is not even oxidized. There are tooth marks on the bottom and the top of the stem near the button left behind by the clencher that smoked it. The rim of this one is in great shape no damage. The amazing thing was that there was unsmoked tobacco in the bottom of the bowl. There was also a thick cake on the walls of the bowl. It did not extend to the bottom of the bowl but ended shortly above the entrance of the airway at the bottom of the bowl.

The pipe came in its own satin bag which is why the pipe was in such good shape. The finish was dirty and dusty in the grooves but that was the extent of the issues with it. This would be an easy clean up. I took it apart and took the photo below of the parts of the pipe. It is stamped on the left side of the shank with the words Mastercraft over Standard over Imported Briar. All words are in upper case on the shank. It appears that the stamping was to be done in a smooth oval on the shank but it missed the oval by about a ¼ inch and sits over the rustication on the shank. I scrubbed the bowl and the threads on the end cap with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I rinsed off the pipe with running water and dried it off. The cleaned finish looked very good. I would not need to do much with the finish on this pipe. I removed the tobacco remnants from the bowl and then reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer. I took the cake back to bare briar.

I cleaned off the threads on the end cap – it was a bone tenon – with a brass bristle wire brush. One it was clean I put a coat of Vaseline on the tenons and screwed it back in place. Before I put the end cap in place I cleaned out the inside of the shank from end to end with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. Once it was clean I put the end cap in place. I also cleaned out the airway in the stem at the same time.

The deep gouges in the top and bottom sides of the stem needed to be cleaned up. There was a lot of tooth chatter around the deep gouges so I sanded out the tooth chatter with 220 grit sandpaper. The sanding work left two gouges on the underside and one on the top side of the stem that would need some work.

I cleaned out the divots with alcohol and dried it off. I filled them in with black super glue until there was bubble over the surface. I let the glue cure.

While the stem patch cured I worked on the end cap. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final rub down of the oil. I let it dry.

When the end cap was dry I rubbed down the bowl with a light coat of olive oil to bring some life back to the dry briar. At this point the pipe is beginning to look really good. The contrast stain of the black and the dark brown gives depth to the rusticated finish of the bowl.

Once the glue dried on the stem I used a needle file to sharpen the edge of the button and clean it up. I flattened the repair on the blade of the stem as well. I sanded the repaired areas on the stem and the newly made file marks with 220 grit sandpaper. I worked until the repair was blended into the surface of the blade. The repair on the top stood out more at this point in the process. That would change as I worked on it longer.

I sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of oil. I let the oil dry before taking the pipe to the buffer.

I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond and lightly buffed the bowl. Care had to be exercised to not get build-up in the rustication. It takes a very light touch to keep that from happening. I gave the stem several coats of carnauba wax. I used Conservator’s Wax on the bowl and hand buffed the bowl with a shoe brush. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfibre cloth to add some depth to the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a beautiful pipe and I love the feel of it in my hand. It was an enjoyable restoration. Thanks for looking.

With a Little Work I have a DR Ardor Urano Fantasy Apple

11 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

When I found this pipe on Ebay I wanted it. It actually does not happen too much anymore as it is becoming rarer that I want a pipe for myself. Generally I purchase pipes to repair that can teach me something or that I can repair and sell to someone I know is looking for a particular pipe. My brother will show me pipes that he finds and I look at them in terms of saleability or marketing. Rarely do I see one that I go “I want that one”. When I saw this one I wanted it. I don’t know what it is about the pipe but the combination of the blue Lucite stem and end cap, the flow and bend of the stem, the rusticated finish of the bowl and my favourite shape captured my imagination. Not even the chunk missing out of the right hand side rear top of the bowl deterred me from sending him a message to place a bid on it for me. That missing chunk would provide me with a challenge that I could imagine fixing. The pictures below came from the seller and gave a pretty accurate picture of the condition of the pipe.

The bowl had a thick cake that filled the bottom half of the bowl and closed it off. The top half of the bowl had an uneven thick cake and looked like the pipe man who had the pipe before had continued to smoke it even after the chunk came out of the bow side. It would be hard to know what the condition of the inner edge of the rim without removing the cake. The rim had a tarry buildup and overflow of lava. The stem had a lot of tooth marks and wear on the top and bottom surfaces and also on the top and bottom sides of the button. The stem was oxidized and dull. The finish was actually in quite decent shape and was pretty clean other than the rim. The stamping on the bowl was very clear. It was stamped in a column on the smooth underside of the shank DR in script over Ardor over Urano over Italy over Fatta A Mano over Fantasy. The stamping was clear and distinct.

When I got home from work I was excited to find that the package from my brother arrived while I was away. I had been looking forward to working on this one. When I removed it from the bubble wrap packaging that my brother had used there were no surprises. Things were pretty much as they had been described by the seller and shown in the photos. The stem had quite a few tooth marks and the sharp edge of the button was worn on both sides. The thin button would be comfortable but it needed to be cleaned up. Cleaning up the bowl and rim was going to be an interesting challenge. I wondered what I would find behind the thick cake. To have a chunk of briar break free like it had on this pipe made me wonder what was under the cake. I expected to find a fairly thin wall on the back of the pipe and around the broken area. I also wanted to see if there were any cracks running away from the broken area or if the break was clean. The interior of the shank looked pretty clean. The band on the end of the stem was oxidized and I wondered if it was brass or silver. I decided to start working on the bowl almost immediately. I needed to clean it up and see what I was dealing with. I reamed it using all four of the cutting heads on the PipNet pipe reamer. With the cake removed I could see the extent of damage to the rear wall of the bowl. The area on the left of the broken spot was thin and scored by what looked like a knife blade when it had been reamed before I got it. The top of the rim disappeared at the back of the bowl to the left of the break. The bowl was significantly out of round at the front as well.

In preparation for the bowl repair I sanded the inside of the rim with 220 grit sandpaper. I topped the bowl on the topping board to square up the rim. I cleaned out the edges of the break with a dental pick and then washed it with alcohol and cotton swabs.

I cut a piece of briar from an old broken bowl that I keep around for this purpose. I used the Dremel and sanding drum to shape the piece of briar to fit in the broken notch. It was still too tall for a good fit but you can see it in place in the next photo. I held it place and used the Dremel and sanding drum to shorten the plug to the same height as the bowl rim. It was too thick for the shape of the bowl so I sanded it with the Dremel to reduce the thickness.

I held it place and used the Dremel and sanding drum to shorten the plug to the same height as the bowl rim. It was too thick for the shape of the bowl so I sanded it with the Dremel to reduce the thickness.

I sanded the inside of the bowl with the Dremel and sanding drum to smooth out the inside edge of the repair. At this point in the process I set the bowl aside for a bit and worked on the stem. I cleaned the band on the stem with silver polish and the tarnish and brass look disappeared and underneath was a beautiful silver band with an oval 925 stamp. I cleaned out the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. It did not take too long before it was clean. I cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I also used the drill bit from the KleenReem pipe reamer and cleared out the airway to the bowl. Once I ran the drill bit through the shank I cleaned it again with the pipe cleaners and alcohol. The finished pipe smelled clean.

I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads. I used a needle file to reshape the edge of the button and redefine the curve of the button from the end. I cleaned up the slot. I finished sanding the stem with 6000-12000 grit micromesh pads and then buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel.

With the stem finished I turned my attention to the rim and the thin inner wall of the bowl at the back of the pipe. I used clear super glue and briar dust to build up the inner edge of the rim. My thinking at this point was that this would be my base coat. From here I would build it up until I was satisfied with the thickness. Once the glue dried I sanded it and took a picture of the rim to this point. I used a Dremel with several different burrs to rusticate the patch on the outside of the bowl. I was aiming to match the cuts and random pattern of the rustication on the rest of the bowl. It took several cylindrical burrs, pointed burrs and a ball burr to get the pattern I wanted. The photo below shows the finished rustication. I needed to clean it up and then stain it. The next two photos show the clean up and the staining process. I used a black Sharpie permanent marker to fill in the deeper grooves in my rustication and then went over the whole thing with a dark brown stain pen. I finished by touching it up with a medium brown stain pen.

I waxed the bowl with Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush. The next photo shows the bowl at this point in the process. All that remains is to work on the rim and the inner edge. At this point I have not done any work on the rim. I still need to clean up the rim top and the smooth edge on the outside of the bowl but it is getting there. I built up the inner edge with some JB Weld. I used a dental spatula to lay the mixture on the inner wall of the bowl. Once it is dry JB Weld is impermeable and does not disperse chemicals. My intention is to use this and then finish with a coat of pipe mud and a finish coat of bowl coating. I lightly topped the bowl once the JB Weld dried and gave the inner edge of the rim a light bevel. The bowl is slightly out of round but it far better than it was. I gave the bowl a hand buff with a shoe brush and a light rub down with olive oil. Once the oil was absorbed into the finish I hand buffed the bowl once more with the shoe brush. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The outside of the bowl looks excellent. The damage on the rim and the inner bowl wall made it very difficult to bring the bowl back to round. By and large considering where I started I am happy with the finished product. I am going to let the repair cure for another 24 hours before giving it a coat of pipe mud and then a bowl coating.

I took a few close-up photos of the repaired area so you can have a closer look at the repair. The first photo below is the right side. The repair is toward the back of the right side. The second photo shows the left side for comparison sake. The third photo is a top view of the rim repair. The final photos show the bowl with the stem out. Thanks for looking.

***ADDENDUM – I just finished a morning cigar and mixed a batch of pipe mud. I coated the inside of the bowl with a thick layer of pipe mud. It is now drying. Here is a photo. Ardor47

A Piece of Art Deco – Greenwich House Thoro-Kleen

10 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

For some crazy reason I have always liked odd pipes – pipes that pushed the envelope in the search for a cool dry smoke. Together they are alike a museum display of odd and inventive contraptions. When my brother sent me this metal pipe it certainly fit the category of the unusual. The design and shape to me bring back memories of watching the Jetsons on Saturday morning cartoons. The metallic spaceship like pipe encourages those connections for me. It has a streamlined metal shank with an end cap on one end and a stem on the other. It flows. The bowl is a finned affair with a briar insert. I think the idea was to make an indestructible easy to clean pipe. The fact that many remain on the market speaks to the indestructibility of the pipe but as for easy to clean well to me the jury is still out. Evidently the pipe originally came with two bowls – a choice of looks. The first like the one shown in the advertisement about was metal finned affair with a briar insert. The second was a briar bowl of various shapes. Both bowls were held to the shank with a hollowed out screw that served as the airway from the bottom of the bowl to the shank. The stem and end cap come off for ease of cleaning. The body of the pipe can be hexagonal, square (Thoro-Kleen only seen in this shape) or circular in cross section. The unmarked version tends to be regarded as the COMET, all the others being stamped with a name. The Smoking Metal website shows variations on the brand. Follow the link and you can see photos and information. http://www.smokingmetal.co.uk/pipe.php?page=99

According to Pipedia the Greenwich House Thoro-Kleen was a metal pipe system from the same family as the Roybrooke, Comet, and Original Gridiron pipes, and parts from all are believed to be interchangeable. The pipes were sold by the Greenwich House Corporation, located in 1947 at 939-M 8th Avenue, N.Y. 19, N.Y… The pipe set sold for $2.50 in 1947. https://pipedia.org/wiki/Thoro-Kleen

From all of this I learned that the probable year of the pipe’s manufacture was 1947. It was a pretty sweet little pipe that definitely wore its age well. I did a bit more research as I wanted to find out what the packaging and the additional bowl looked like as the one I had, came only with the attached bowl. I found some photos that show the original packaging and have included them below.

I also found a picture of the pipe taken apart showing all of the pieces. This was an important picture for me as it helped to understand how to take apart the bowl and the end cap. The one I was working on was so dirty and caked that I could not see the screw in the bottom of the bowl and the end cap was stuck. I was not sure if it was pressure fit like a Kirsten or threaded. This answered those questions for me. Once I took mine apart I found that it did not have a paper filter but rather a metal stinger. I took the following photos of the pipe to record the condition it was in when I started. Part of the fun for me is to work on a pipe and then compare the finished pipe to where it was when I started the process. The aluminum bowl and base were oxidized and dull. The stamping on the side of the shank was readable but lightly stamped in the middle portion. It read Thoro-Kleen in flowing script over Greenwich House. The end cap had a slot that fit a standard 25 cents piece that could be used to open it. In this case it was stuck and I could not turn it. The stem was oxidized and had many tooth dents on the top and bottom sides. The bowl was badly caked to the point that no air could get from the bowl to the base. I was unable to see the bottom of the bowl and know what held it to the base. The briar bowl insert was damaged and had burn marks toward the bowl front.

I took some close up photos of the bowl and stem to show the condition they were in when I began the restoration.

In order to take the pipe apart I reamed the cake enough to be able to get to the screw in the bottom of the bowl. The funny thing is that while I was turning the handle on the PipNet pipe reamer the bowl twisted free of the base and I was able to take it apart. At this point the pipe looked like the photo below. I was not able to remove the end cap as it was still stuck. I finished reaming the bowl with the PipNet reamer and took the cake back to bare briar.

I heated the end of the pipe with the flame from the lighter to loosen and soften the tars that held the threads tightly in place. After several failed attempts to turn it and then reheating it I was able to turn if free of the base with a pair of padded pliers. You can see from the photos below the thick dark substance that filled the end cap and the base.

I used a dental pick to begin to pick out the sludge on the inside of the cap and the base. You can see from the photo the amount of dried hard material that came out and this was only the beginning. The inside of the base was lined with hardened material. I plugged the tube with cotton pads and ran alcohol through the base to begin to soften the material. It took a lot of work to loosen it and the cotton pads came out darkened. I lightly topped the bowl to remove the damaged area and the burned area.

I removed the stinger from the stem and cleaned the airway with fluffy and bristle pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation and minimize the tooth marks. I used thick folded bristle pipe cleaners to run through the base to remove the grime and oils that were left behind once I had scraped it clean. With the first level of cleaning done on the pipe I laid out the parts and took a picture. I also took a photo of the stamping on the shank now that I had cleaned it up enough for it to show more clearly.

I scrubbed the fins and grooves on the bowl with alcohol and cotton swabs. I scrubbed out the inside of the screw, end cap, threads and the inside of the metal bowl with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. Once the end cap was clean and the inside of the base was clean I greased the threads on the cap with Vaseline and turned it into the base. I polished all of the aluminum parts of the pipe with Meguiar’s Scratch X2.0 to remove some of the scratches and oxidation. With the bowl and shank finished I put the pipe back together minus the stem. I put the briar bowl in the metal bowl and turned the screw into the base. I set the bowl and base aside and worked on the stem. I cleaned up the edge of the button on the stem with needle files to give it more of a sharp definition and remove the tooth marks. I sanded the file marks with 220 grit sandpaper and further cleaned up the stem.

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

I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel and then gave it several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buff and then by hand with a microfibre cloth. I gave the base and bowl a coat of Conservator’s Wax and hand buffed it with a cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I can’t help but saying at this point – “Meet George Jetson…” Thanks for looking.

This one was a labour of love – A Custombilt Bullmoose

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

My brother sent me a pipe that is a shape I have had two previous times and always sold or gifted. It is a Bullmoose or a Scoop shape. Tracy Mincer did a great job with this shape and it is one I have never seen repeated as chunky as he did them. This one was stamped on the right side of the shank with the words Custombilt over Imported Briar. The pipe was solid but dirty. The stem would not push into the shank and the grooves and trails in the briar were dusty. The bowl had a thin, uneven cake in it and the lava overflowed slightly onto the rim leaving a thin coat of tars and oils. There were some dings and dents in the smooth parts of the pipe and the finish was worn. There were some fills in the grooves that showed through the worn finish. Overall it was in good shape. The stem had tooth chatter on the top and bottom sides with a few deeper tooth marks near the button. The photos below show what the pipe looked like when I started working on it. I took a few close-up photos of the bowl rim, front and back views and the stem to show what I had to deal with in the restoration of this one. The stamping gave me a bit of information on the date of the pipe. The one word Custombilt stamping rather than the Custom-Bilt stamping would help to pin down the date a bit. I decided to pause a few moments and do a bit of reading to help narrow down the date. I looked on one of my go to resources – Pipedia.org. I also have Bill Unger’s book but it is packed away at the moment and this article on pipedia quotes extensively from the book. Here is the link to the article: https://pipedia.org/wiki/Custom-Bilt

Under the heading, Custom-Bilt History is the following information.

“The book (Bill Unger’s Book, my comment) opens up with an intriguing statement that unfortunately is never fully followed up: Before beginning this history, I need to emphasize an important fact and to ask the reader to keep it firmly. Spelling-Custom-Bilt, Custombilt, and other variations-is extremely important to the various aspects of the following discussions. It was not, however, important to many people in the company’s early days. [Emphasis mine] {Page 9}.”

“Tracy Mincer started the original Custom-Bilt pipes it appears in 1934. Bill meticulously details the start of the Company, how it was financed, the changes in the original ownership, how the company distributed its product, the manufacturing process, certain patented items, and other interesting stuff… In 1946, the name was changed to Custombilt after Mincer began an association with Eugene J. Rich, Inc. (my emphasis). There were some big changes in advertising and distribution. The slogan “AS INDIVIDUAL AS A THUMBPRINT” began at this time as well.”

“In the early 1950’s, Tracy Mincer developed severe financial problems that caused him to stop making the Custombilt, and he lost the name. In 1953, Leonard Rodgers bought the company and emphasized tobacco pouches and butane lighters. (However, it appears Mincer was working on his new pipe, the Doodler.) In 1968, Rodgers sold the Company to Consolidated Cigars. In the early 1970s, Wally Frank Co. bought the Custombilt trademark and began to produce their version of the pipe in 1974 or 1975. Hollco Rohr owned the Weber pipe factory, located in New Jersey, and produced the Custombilt pipes there. In 1987, the pipes were made out of the Butz-Choquin factory (France) and then Mexico until the late 1990s. Currently, the Custombilt name is owned by Tobacalera of Spain.”

From this information I am pretty sure my pipe is made after the change in 1946 and before Tracy Mincer lost the name in the early 1950s. It has the characteristic Mincer like rustication patterns and shape. It could very well be from the Rich era of the brand.

I went to work cleaning up this old timer. I scrubbed the bowl with a toothbrush and Murphy’s Oil Soap. I was able to clean out the rustication and the grooves with this method. I rinsed the bowl under warm water to remove the soap and the grime. The first picture shows the soap on the bowl and the second through the fifth picture that follows show the cleaned and dried bowl. You can see the putty fills in the grooves. Fortunately all of them were in the grooves and not in the smooth portion of the bowl. I scrubbed out the airway in the shank, mortise and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until they came out clean. I thought about using the retort but chose not to on this pipe as it smells sweet and clean. To clean up the scratches and lava on the rim of the bowl I used a medium grit sanding sponge and “topped” the bowl on it. I find that this sponge removes the grime and leaves the rim intact with no briar removed. I worked it on the sponge until it was clean and then used a cotton swab and alcohol to clean up what remained. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth chatter and deeper tooth marks as well as the small gouges and oxidation on the vulcanite. With the internals of the shank and mortise cleaned I was able to put the stem back in place. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and took the cake back to briar. I used a Black Sharpie Permanent Marker to stain the rustication patterns on the bowl and shank. Once I finished with that I wiped the bowl down with alcohol to soften the black and prepare the surface for the contrast stain. I warmed the briar with a blow dryer and then stained it with Feibings Dark Brown that I had thinned with alcohol 1:1. I applied the stain and then flamed it with a lighter to set it. I repeated the process until I got good coverage. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the wheel to give it a shine and even out the stain coat. The next photos show the bowl at this point in the process. The contrast of the dark in the grooves with the brown really gives the briar a bit of pop. I was careful with buffing around the stamping as I did not want to damage the pristine stamping on this pipe.With the bowl done I turned my attention to the stem. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads until the majority of the scratches left behind by the sandpaper were gone. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit micromesh pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished by sanding it with the 6000-12000 grit micromesh pads and giving it a final coat of oil. I set it aside to dry while I worked on another pipe. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond to raise the shine and then gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and then buffed both the bowl and stem with a clean flannel buff. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I love the finished look of this old timer and the feel of the hefty bowl in the hand. In my opinion it turned out to be a beautiful pipe. Thanks for looking.

Simple Restoration of a Stanwell Freehand

8 Replies

Blog by Aaron Henson – 2/20/16

I have had my eye on this pipe for several months. It has been languishing in a local antique shop since last summer and was priced as if it were fully restored. To my surprise it was still there at the end of January and the shop had lowered the price. I talked with the owner for a while and eventually got his rock bottom price (which was my top end price). After all, it is a beautiful piece of briar.

This is big pipe: the chamber is 7/8” (22 mm) diameter and 1¾” (45 mm) deep and the walls are more than 3/8” (10mm) thick. Inspecting the pipe I did not find much wrong. The stem was heavily oxidized and had very little tooth chatter. The briar was free from dent, gouges and the like. A few minor scratches and the worn stain was all that needed to be addressed. And there was only a light cake in the bowl. As for markings, there were none on the stem and some double markings on the bottom of the shank. It read STANWELL over de Luxe (double stamped) over MADE IN DENMARK (also double stamped). From what I could find, I estimate this pipe was made sometime in the 1970’s. If anyone can date it better please let me know. I set the stem to soak in an Oxyclean solution and began working on the stummel. I cleaned the outside of the briar with a tooth brush and Murphy’s oil soap, rinsing with water then quickly drying with a paper towel. I repeated the process on the plateaux several times. Next I reamed the chamber back to bare wood and inspected the internals. Then the internals of the shank cleaned up easily with cotton swaps and bristled pipe cleaners.

All-in-all, other than a micro crack on the outer surface, the briar was in great shape. There was one long scratch near the stamping but I didn’t want to touch that and risk damaging the stamps. I wanted a very smooth finish so I sanded the outside of the pipe with 1500 – 3200 micromesh pads and set it aside.

Returning to the stem, I scrubbed off the oxidation with a green pad and scrubbed the airway with a series of alcohol soaked pipe cleaners – bristled then soft. The tooth chatter was raised with heat from a lighter and the deepest tooth mark was filled with black superglue. When cured, the stem was sanded and polished with 1500 – 12000 micromesh pads. I wet sand with the first six pads and dry polish with the last three. A little mineral oil between sets of three pads seems to help too.

Next the pipe was assembled and taken to the alcohol retort. Even thought I had scrubbed the internals thoroughly, it took 3 test tubes of Everclear until I no longer smell the ghosts of the previous owner’s tobacco. In my research of the Stanwell pipes, I found that Stanwell used a walnut stain. This was consistent with the remnants of stain that I found on this pipe and I wanted to restore the original look. I began by applying and undiluted Feibing’s dark brown. After it set I realized that Feibing’s brown dye have too much of a red base and it was not direction I wanted to go.

I wiped as much off as I could with an alcohol soaked cotton pad and sanded the surface with the 2400 micromesh pad again to remove a bit more. Returning to my local Tandy Leather, I searched for a walnut stain. After looking at stain samples on leather (which responds much differently than briar) I placed my bets on Eco-Flo’s Bison Brown. This time the results were much more like what I had seen in pictures of similar Stanwell pipes. I applied the stain at full strength and flamed it. After the second coat dried I wiped the excess off with an alcohol soaked pad.

With the smooth surfaces done I stained the plateaux with Feibing’s black dye. Once it dried, I wiped the entire wipe down with mineral oil then set it aside to soak in. It was two days later that I found time to return and take the pipe to the buffing station. I buffed the entire pipe with red diamond then applied three coats of carnauba.

Thanks for reading and I would like to hear your comments.

Restoring an Interesting Older XXXX’d out Sitter

5 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

When my brother Jeff sent me the photos of this pipe I could see what had attracted him to purchasing it. The unique sitter shape with the angled bottom, the interesting grain patterns and the clean though oxidized stem all pointed to a pipe that would clean up very well. The stamping on the left side of the shank was XXXX’d out so he could not read it to see who had made the pipe. There was something about it however, that niggled at my memory and the shape had a quintessential British made pipe look. When it arrived I examined it under a bright light and was able to make out the stamping under the XXX’s. It read MAJESTIC over Danish Crown. From research on the web I found that the brand was made by Ben Wade in England. In person the pipe was quite nice. There were scratches and nicks in the bowl that would need some work. On the left side toward the bottom of the bowl were two marks joined by a line. At first glance it looked like a crack but it was not. There were two flaws in the briar and a long horizontal scratch in the surface of the briar. Even if it had been a crack the two flaws stopped it from spreading so it was not a problem.

There was beautiful grain on the sides and bottom of the bowl. The dirty rim promised some interesting grain underneath the tars and lava build up. The outer edge of the rim had damage on the front and the rear. It had been tapped out on something solid and had rounded and damaged the edge. The inner edge looked good though the crumbling cake would need to be reamed to know for sure.

I reamed the bowl with the PipNet reamer and completely removed the cake. I wanted to clean up the inner edge of the rim and check the bowl walls for cracks or damage. (In the top view photo you can see the rounding on the front and back outer edges of the rim.)

I cleaned out the airways from button to bowl with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I used a dental pick to clean out the slot.

I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to remove the grime and the damaged finish.

I scrubbed the rim and then used the topping board to remove the damaged top of the rim. A light topping took the surface down and sharpened the edges on the front and back side of the bowl.

I used the dental pick to clean up the line and the two end points that marked the bowl on the left side. I used clear super glue to fill in the flaws and the groove in the line. I sanded the repairs to the bowl until the surface was smooth. I sanded it and the rim with micromesh sanding pads 1500-6000 grit. I used a black marker and a dark brown stain pen to prepare the bowl for staining. I decided to use a Cherry Stain and Danish Oil on the briar on this one. It would highlight the grain and make it shine.

I laid the pipe aside to dry over night. In the morning I buffed it with some Blue Diamond and then gave it a coat of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a flannel buffing pad and then took the next photos.

The stem still needed attention. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the nicks and deep oxidation in the vulcanite. I followed that by wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and rubbing it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and repeated the oil. I finished by dry sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of oil. I set it aside to let the oil soak into the vulcanite.

I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond and then gave it several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The unusual shape and the unique grain on the briar really stand out with the finish I chose. The slight bend to the stem gives it a jaunty look. The stem is too heavy for the bowl to sit flat on the angled base but it balances on the point.