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Restoring a Second Lumberman Deluxe Canadian by Comoys

Blog by Steve Laug

Andrew had a second LUMBERMAN DELUXE that he mentioned to me in a previous email when he sent me the other Lumberman to restem. He graciously gave the second one to me. In the photo below it is the one with the stem. It is slightly larger than the first one and also slightly longer as can be seen from the photo. It is stamped LUMBERMAN over DELUXE on top of the shank and on the underside there is no Made and London circle stamp. It is only stamped 309S. The pipe was in very good shape. There were no cracks in the long shank. There was one small sand pit in the top near the stamping. The bowl was slightly caked and the rim had some carbon buildup and many tiny pin pricks in the surface of the rim. The finish was dirty and had several sticky spots on the sides of the bowl. It was a gummy spot that seemed like the residue left behind by a price sticker. The stem was larger in diameter that the shank. It extended beyond the edge of the shank on both sides of the stem and also slightly on the bottom edge. The top edge fit well. There were also two tooth marks – one on top and on matching on the bottom of the stem near the button.

Before seeing these two pipes I had not heard of the Lumberman brand so Andrew had sent along some information that he had found on the web regarding the brand. He had gleaned the information from a Mr. Can EBay listing. In the previous blog post on the first LUMBERMAN I included Andrew’s information. I am also including it now as a quick reminder of the provenance of the brand. That posting read as follows:

“This Collectible Briar pipe is unique, extremely rare Comoy’s 309XL – a classic Canadian Shape. It has the arched Comoy’s nomenclature stamped over Deluxe (just as it appeared in the early 1930’s) both of which were stamped over Lumberman. For anyone already familiar with the stamping of Comoy Canadians that is enough to recognize that this is a rare and collectible Comoy.”

“During its history, Comoy’s has had three distinct sets of nomenclature, though they became somewhat blended in later years. The earliest Comoy nomenclature either had no Comoy stamping or a scripted, signature like forward leaning Comoy’s beneath which were featured names instead of shape numbers. Few of those names (Like Leman, Naval, Adelaide, and so on) are recognized even by the most ardent collectors. Then after World War I when Comoy began introducing what is sometimes called their Old Nomenclature (featuring the Prima, as the Top of the line with other lines like the Old Bruyere, Grand Slam, Lions Head, Lumberman, Lumberman Special and so forth) and arched Comoy’s stamping was used. In the 1930’s the Prima gave way to the Deluxe as the top of the line Comoy. Then just before World War II newer nomenclature started to appear (like Blue Riband, Specimen Straight Grain, and so on) and the Deluxe was replaced by the Royal Comoy. That New Nomenclature expanded dramatically after the War and blended with the modern nomenclature today.”

“The use of the arched Comoy’s ended with World War II and was replaced after the War with a straight line Comoy’s (along with the now famous country of origin stamping of a circular “Made In London” over a straight line “England”.”

“Prior to World War II with manufacturing facilities in both France and England, Comoy had pipes made in both locations. Most were easily identifiable by their country of origin stamping. There were several versions of Comoy’s Lumberman made in France and/or England. (They might have been the dame pipe but with different nomenclature.) “The Lumberman” and “The Lumberman Special were made in both factories. But none had the arched Comoy’s stamping.”

“After WWII Comoy’s reintroduced the Deluxe, discontinued the arched Comoy’s and continued various versions of the Lumberman. Perhaps Comoy’s best graded Lumberman was stamped Lumberman Deluxe – but it had no Comoy stamping. Lumberman was always stamped over Deluxe.”

“Normally Comoy offered to Canadian sizes designated by shape numbers 296 and 309. The difference was in the length of the Canadians. The 309 shape was Comoy’s longest Canadian and the 296 was shorter. However, the extra long Canadians were upgraded with the additional stamping of XL and the very longest were sometimes stamped XXL. Either upgrade was rare.” – The above was taken from correspondence Andrew included when he sent the pipe to me.

The previous blog post can be found at this link: https://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/2014/01/29/repairing-and-restoring-a-lumberman-deluxe-canadian-by-comoys/

The difference between this pipe and the previous one was that the stamping on the underside of the pipe lacked the Comoy’s circle Made in London stamp and also bore the shape designation of 309 but instead of X or XL it is stamped “S”. It is larger than the previous LUMBERMAN but the stamping appears to be a bit of an anomaly.

The next series of photos show the pipe as it appeared when I received it from Andrew. There was slight oxidation on the stem and the stem was larger as noted above.

I took several close-up photos to show the fit of the stem and how the sides and the bottom edge of the stem was larger than the diameter of the shank.

I refit the stem and sanded the sides of the stem until it matched the shank. I also sanded the shank lightly in order to make a smooth transition between the two. I used 220 grit sandpaper to take off the excess vulcanite and bring the stem in line with the shank. At the same time I sanded the tooth marks on the top and bottom of the stem at the button and was able to remove them.

I sanded the stem and shank with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge and then a fine grit sanding block. The refit stem is shown in the next series of four photos.

I wiped the bowl and shank down with acetone and clean the stem and shank with isopropyl alcohol and pipe cleaners. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer to take the slight cake back to the wood and even the buildup on the walls. It seemed to have a slight ridge of cake mid-bowl and I wanted the walls clean so that I could build up my own cake.

I sanded the stem down with medium and fine grit sanding sponges and then used my usual array of micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with the 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with the 3200-12,000 grit pads.

I rubbed the bowl down with a light coat of olive oil and the stem down with Obsidian Oil. Once it had been absorbed in both places I took the pipe to the buffer and buffed it with White Diamond on the wheel. I gave bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and then buffed the pipe with a clean flannel buff to give it a finish shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The fit of the stem matches the lines of the pipe and the oiled finish gives the pipe a look that is fresh and new. It is ready for its new maiden voyage.

ADDENDUM – I am copying this from the responses below so that it gets more readership.

Here is the info from the link Jacek supplied. Very helpful additional information. Thanks Jacek.
As many realize, Comoy is one of the oldest London Pipemakers with production started in France in 1825. Francois Comoy started making smoking pipes with his brothers in St. Claude, France in 1825. His son, Louis, took over the company and in 1848 helped guide it into the era of power-driven machines beginning what Comoy called a “Century of Progress.” His son, Henri, followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and moved Comoy’s to Clerkenwell in the City of London in 1879, and thus began “Comoy’s of London.” And his son, Louis, was the last family member to run the company.

During its’ history, Comoy’s has had three distinct sets of nomenclature, though they became somewhat blended in later years. The earliest Comoy Nomenclature either had no ”Comoy” stamping or a scripted, signature-like (forward leaning) “Comoy’s” beneath which were featured names instead of shape numbers. Few of those names (like the “Leman”, “Naval”, “Adelaide” and so on) are recognized even by the most ardent Comoy collectors. Then after World War I when Comoy began introducing what is sometimes called their “Old Nomenclature” (featuring the “Prima” as “Top-of-the-Line” with other lines like the “Old Bruyere,” “Grand Slam,” “Lions Head,” “LUMBERMAN,” “LUMBERMAN SPECIAL,” and so forth) an ARCHED “COMOY’S” stamping was used. In the 1930s the Prima gave way to the “DE LUXE” as the “Top-of-the-Line” Comoy. Then, just before World War II newer nomenclature started to appear (like “Blue Riband,” “Specimen Straight Grain,” and so on) and the “DE LUXE” was replaced by the “Royal Comoy”. That “New Nomenclature” expanded dramatically after the War and blended with the modern nomenclature of today.

The use of the ARCHED “COMOY’S” ended with World War II and was replaced after the War with a straight line “Comoy’s” (along with the now famous Country of Origin stamping of a circular “Made in London” over a straight line “England”).

Prior to World War II with manufacturing facilities in both France and England, Comoy had pipes made in both locations. Most were easily identifiable by their Country of Origin stamping. There were several versions of Comoy’s “LUMBERMAN” made in France and/or England. (They might have been the same Pipe but with different nomenclature.) “THE LUMBERMAN,” and “THE LUMBERMAN SPECIAL” were made in both factories. But NONE had the ARCHED “COMOY’S” stamping!

After World War II, Comoy reintroduced the “DE LUXE,” discontinued the ARCHED “COMOY’S” and continued various versions of the “LUMBERMAN”! Perhaps Comoy’s” best” graded “LUMBERMAN” was stamped “LUMBERMAN DE LUXE” – – – but it had no “Comoy” stamping. ”LUMBERMAN” was always stamped over “DE LUXE”!!!

Now look at the stamping on this Comoy Canadian – – – the ARCHED “COMOY’S” is stamped OVER “DE LUXE” (just as it would have been on a “Top-of-the-Line” Comoy’s De Luxe” in the early 1930s! In addition, that stamping is OVER “LUMBERMAN”!!! This Canadian is the only one I have ever seen with such stamping(s)!!!

Comoy offered truly elegant Canadians that were always perfectly shaped, light weight and fitted with “wafer thin” mouthpieces that are easy to hold in the mouth. Of course, they came in different lengths and finishes.

Normally, Comoy offered two Canadian sizes designated by Shape Numbers 296 and 309. The difference in the length of the Canadians. The “309” Shape was Comoy’s LONGEST CANADIAN, and the “296” was shorter. However, EXTRA LONG Canadians were ”upgraded” with the additional stamping of “XL” (creating a “309 XL”) and the very longest were sometimes stamped “XXL”!!! Either upgrade was rare, and this exceptional Canadian is stamped “309 XL”!!!

So looking at the title of this description one would expect to see a long, sleek Canadian of special length. It is not! It is a mere 6 3/8” LONG which is barely longer than average for most pipe makers!

The grain is not exceptional nor is the size (although the Bowl is a large Dunhill Group 4/5 Size which is larger than most “average” Canadians). But the Pipe has a HAND RUSTICATED RING around the Rim as well as a small HAND RUSTICATED “ARROWHEAD” or “TRIANGLE” on the bottom of the Shank! Both are unusual for any Comoy and ensure that this Canadian is UNIQUE (if only because no two rustications are identical).

Combining these features, you are looking at an EXCEPTIONALLY RARE, UNIQUE COMOY “LUMBERMAN”!!!

We cannot be certain of a date for this Comoy. It is an ARCHED “COMOY’S” over “DE LUXE” which dates it from the early 1930s. It is also a “LUMBERMAN” with a COMOY’s 3-PIECE “C” LOGO in the Mouthpiece dating it to the post-World War II timeframe; and it has the newer Country of Origin stamping which did not exist before World War II. So it would seem that this Comoy Lumberman/Canadian most likelydates from the late 1940’s which would seem to be the most reasonable time for such a Pipe to appear.

As the pictures reflect, this Canadian remains in PRISTINE CONDITION! The STRONG NOMENCLATURE confirms that! There are NO chips, dents or scratches to detract from the exterior finish. NO varnish, lacquer or shellac has been used to improve the appearance of the Pipe for the pictures (and temporarily fill scratches and toothmarks). And, NO coating has been applied to the inside of the Bowl to hide cracks, heat fissures or even burnouts. The Pipe shines as it did when it left the factory in London over 60 Years Ago!!!

This Canadian measures 6 3/8″ LONG with a Bowl 2″ TALL!!! The nomenclature is crisp and clear: “COMOY’S [arched and over] DE LUXE, LUMBERMAN, MADE IN LONDON [in a circle and over] ENGLAND, 309 XL”. The Famous Comoy’s 3-Piece White “C” Logo is inlaid in the Bit. So what you are viewing is an EXCEPTIONALLY RARE, and COLLECTIBLE COMOY CANADIAN!!! The fact that it is in PRISTINE CONDITION with particularly STRONG NOMENCLATURE makes it worthy of consideration by those desirous of accumulating a special Comoy collection!

Barling’s Guinea Grain Restoration

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A member on the Pipe Smokers Forum recently acquired this Barling’s “Guinea Grain” pipe and I jumped at the opportunity to restore it for him. I don’t currently own a Barling’s pipe, but recent posts by brand authority, Jesse Silver, had piqued my interest. In conversation with Jesse about the pipe, he shared that “Guinea Grains are a higher grade designation and distinctive for several reasons. They’re the only Family Era pipes with a cursive “Barling’s” logo and they’re the only pipes that Barling also used oil in the curing process to bring out the contrast of the grain.” I enjoyed learning more about this fabled British pipe maker as much as working on it. I need to thank Jesse for his input and information. It is really wonderful to have such a brand authority available for comment. Since the pipe is stamped “Barling’s” in the possessive, Jesse dates the pipe to the 1940’s as a pre-Transition piece. The pipe is stamped EXEXEL, a size grade started in 1940. It also has a very faint “Reg” stamp and the letter “E”. Jesse tells me this is most likely the remnant of EB WB (Edward and William Barling), whose initials form the Barling sterling makers stamp and were used as part of the company nomenclature. Their initials were used on 1940’s era Guinea Grain pipes.

The pipe as I received it.

When the pipe arrived, it had heavy tar build-up on the bowl top and many dings and cuts in the briar. The stem was in relatively good condition with only surface teeth abrasions and no dents. Curiously, there was what appeared to be a pinhole near where the Barling’s Cross stem logo would be placed. There was no remnant left of the logo, even under magnification. At first, I thought the stem might be a replacement, but the button ends appears to have the distinctive ovalized and funneled button.

The bowl had a heavy caked which was reamed and then soaked with alcohol and sea salt. While the bowl was reamed a little out of round, the interior of the bowl was in relatively good condition. The bowl top had a number of scars and dings. I have been using Mike Gluklers method of soaking the tar covered bowl tops in just a millimeter or two of distilled water to soften the build-up. I removed it with a cotton cloth using the distilled water. There is some rim darkening, but I didn’t want to sand the rim and restain and think the patina fits the pipe

Using a dinner knife heated by a propane torch and a wet cloth, I went to work on the numerous dents and cuts. Some lifted out completely, others were minimized. I wasn’t able to do much about the chatter around the bowl rim. I suspect the previous owner knocked ash out of the bowl. Staying away from the valuable nomenclature, the bowl and rim was buffed with white diamond and several coats of carnuba wax. I gave the nomenclature area a hand-wax with Halycon pipe wax.

I put a drop of black superglue on the hole in the briar. After it was dry, I sanded off the worst of the oxidation with some 800 grit wet paper. I then moved to 1500 and 2000 grades wet paper and finally 8000 and 12000 grades of micromesh. I used a slim knife blade to hold the paper into the button crease to remove that oxidation. Then the stem was buffed lightly with white diamond and finally a plastic polish. The Barling’s stem has a unique feel to it, unlike my similar era Comoys or Charatan stems. The button air hole shapiong shows a lot of care was shown making the stem. (and also makes me think it is an original Barling’s stem).

And finally, the finished pipe.

Some remarks on dealing with damaged stems of smoking pipes by Jacek A. Rochacki

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Blog by Jacek A. Rochacki

This is Jacek’s second article on pipe repairs. I appreciate the slant that Jacek brings to the work of pipe refurbishing. His art restoration background lends itself to some beautiful solutions to the challenges that face the pipe refurbisher that are far different from those that have been used by myself and others as we deal with the work we do. I am very appreciative of Jacek’s willingness to share his methodology with us here on rebornpipes. Thank you Jacek for taking the time to write-up these pieces and sending them to us. They are a significant contribution to our work and love of all things pipe.

We all have known many different ways in which the stems/mouthpieces of our pipes are damaged. Let me indicate some of them: – broken mouthpiece – sometime in the middle, often in the “lip”/”button”area – tooth dent – this is often at the lip/button area and it does not look so nice – different holes/losses, mostly in the lip/button area, often such holes are”bitten up” by willing smoker. – broken tenon (sometime it is stuck/jammed in the shank) Let me begin from few words on materials. In general we deal mostly with vulcanite/ebonite and transparent Perspex (some models of GBD). But those are not the only materials. There are some similar materials like Ashtonite invented by late William “Bill” Ashton Taylor and used in his Ashton pipes; it is a little harder than typical vulcanite/ebonite. In older pipes we often see mouthpieces in yellow color looking like and named “Amber”; these are seldom made of original amber, more often of yellow glass-like material and are hard and break easily. (There are also yellow stems of softer materials like vulcanite/ebonite, and I would proceed with them as I usually proceed with black or Cumberland vulcanite/ebonite). Their tenons are often made of different, more appropriate material for their function, possibly bone, and sometimes such tenons are of screw in type. In some briar pipes tenons are made of metal – aluminum. And I know cases when owner wanted such metal tenons to be removed and changed for tenons made of vulcanite, modern Teflon etc. in belief that these materials will “cooperate” better with briar wood. I mention this not as advice as it is “intrusion” into originality of the pipe but as some kind of curiosity. As a matter of fact I note that even in case of vulcanite mouthpieces there was/is tendency to remove original tenons and fit tenons of Teflon or other modern material. Here is list (partial to be sure) of some of the different kinds of vulcanite/ebonite materials that have been used for mouthpieces:

Ace – American Hard Rubber Co., USA
Super-Ace – American Hard Rubber Co., USA
Amcosite – Siemens Bros. & Co., UK
Bulwark – Redfern’s Rubber Works, UK
Cohardite – Connecticut Hard Rubber Co., USA
Dexonite – Dexine Ltd., UK
Endurance American Hard Rubber Co., USA
Gallia-Rubber – French ebonite
Keramot – Siemens Bros. & Co., UK
Level Chuck – American Hard Rubber Co., USA
Luzerne – Luzerne Rubber, USA
Mercury – American Hard Rubber Co., USA
Navy – American Hard Rubber Co., USA
Onazote – Expanded Rubber Co., UK
Permcol – British Hard Rubber Co., UK
Resiston – American Hard Rubber Co., USA
Rub-Erok – Richardson Co., USA
Rub-Tex – Richardson Co., USA
Solid Rubber – used by some English makers in 1914-1918 years

I have seen these names/markings on stems/mouthpieces of old pipes. Sometimes it is of help in dating and attributing a pipe that is so marked. Remember that vulcanization of natural rubber with sulfur was invented by Charles Goodyear in USA in 1839 and was patented in 1843; in the same year Thomas Hancock patented it in Great Britain. Here is have good source on vulcanite
http://www.seattlepipeclub.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=969877&module_id=16894

In the’30’s vulcanite of different mixed colors became popular in making pens and is similar to what we see in some mouthpieces of pipes named “Cumberland”.

As vulcanite consists of vulcanized natural rubber, it may be of help to mention that oil (like in old days was used in oil lamps) and/or turpentine may serve as solvents, helpful with restoration if needed be.

I said all this in order to point out the importance of recognizing the material that our mouthpieces are made of in order to find best matching material for making eventual repairs to missing elements etc. The practical solution seems to be making one’s own “stock” of repair materials – simplest would be to collect broken, unrepairable mouthpieces. But there other ways: I found vulcanite rods that were used in schools for experimenting with electricity to be good material for fixing damaged mouthpieces. In the field of transparent materials I have been using old fashioned artificial plastic glass (sometime named Plexiglas) that was used in aviation some half of century ago. It is also important to choose right type of glue.

Beside the matters of tenons, I would briefly divide our work into two categories:
– joining together broken elements
– filling in holes or broken areas.
Of course, in practice these categories will “mix up” together.

In the case of a repairing a stem or mouthpiece that broken in half, the solution is quite simple. What is to be done is to use a strengthening/enforcing invisible element that will serve as sort of “hard core” – constructional element. The simplest way would be to use thin tube of internal diameter corresponding with diameter of the air channel of our mouthpiece. “Walls” of such tube, if it is tube of metal, may be of 0.3 – 0.4 mm in thickness. In order for it be fitted properly, we have to drill a kind of “nest”/mortise/”channel” for it, drilling the air channel with drill bit of proper diameter making this “nest”/mortise as long as required by length of our tube. The choice of such tube is important as not only air but also condensate will be in contact with the tube, so I would avoid brass, copper etc. The best IMO would be a tube of pure silver or high percentage silver alloy, or some aluminum like that which was used by Dunhill for his Inner Tubes, just of larger diameter. Silver tubes may be available in goldsmith’s supply places.

After making proper strengthening/enforcing tube and making sure that all parts fit well, I use simple glue of cyanoacrylic type – kind of “super glue”.

A more advanced way would be to make the strengthening/enforcing/ element – a drilled tube/cylinder from vulcanite/ebonite. It is possible to make it without using a lathe, just the laborious and precise use of files. The starting material could be the broken tenon from unrepairable mouthpiece from our “stock” of materials. The “nests”/mortises in parts to be glued should be of larger/proper diameter, because it is practically impossible to hand make the vulcanite mini tube with walls of 0.3 or similar thickness, so the outer diameter of our vulcanite tube will be larger than in case of metal tube. We make “nests”/mortises/”channels” of required diameter using drill bits of proper diameter. If we are not sure about precision of our fingers necessary for hand making short tube of vulcanite, we may make just a small cylinder of vulcanite of desired size which would make/allow parts to be glued to fit perfectly, and after gluing all parts together, drill the air channel from the tenon side with a long drill bit of right diameter corresponding to diameter of the air channel and in delicate, secure direction-wise way, drill the inserted cylinder through the air channel so the air/draft channel will be “operational” again.

Summary: use the enforcing/strengthening elements and we may be surprised how many unrepairable looking elements may be repaired and then serve really well.

Now for filling in holes or broken areas.

The relatively simple thing seems to be filling in tooth dents. I begin by cleaning the surface of the dent with some sharp tool – scraper or blade of size of small pocket knife, better with rounded tip, such as those found on pipe knives. This is to remove oxidation from the surface that is to be filled. After “cleaning” the surface I take a needle, scraper or similar sharp tool with sharp pointed tip and “score”/”draw” delicate lines/”mini-groves” on the cleaned surface. This is the old trick used in enameling for better adhesion of filling material (extender) that will be “put” on the prepared surface. This material is simple and known us vulcanite dust – the result of filing a properly chosen piece of vulcanite, sometimes it is result of filing the stem that is to be repaired, sometimes we may use another piece of vulcanite from our “stock” if we are sure that it will fit well. Then I mix this dust with cyanoacrylic glue making my “filling material/paste” – kind of putty, and I apply it on scored dent. After some time – rather longer then shorter – say – good couple of hours depending on thickness of the filling, I use a file and sandpaper and finally polish on the patched stem – this is known as the finishing procedures.

After all this please, be prepared for unpleasant surprise at the first glance. The filled up area may be of different color than the color of the stem. Please do not worry! It is not without reason that I have mentioned before that oil (like in old days was used in oil lamps) and/or turpentine may serve as solvents that are helpful with restoration… so a drop of oil or turpentine applied on the repaired area and “distributed”/”smeared” all over will turn the surface of the glued parts to match the rest of the stem. When the surface dries, I would return to delicate polishing and be prepared for repeating such finishing operation as many times as necessary. At very end I would apply a wee drop of olive or proper mineral oil and smear it all over with soft cotton textile; this is old method of conservation of surfaces of objects made of vulcanite/ebonite – “hard rubber”.

This was an easy case. What about situations when the lip or end of the stem/mouthpiece is partly broken, “eaten up”, has holes, or part is missing? Please, take a look at illustrations published by our host at the beginning of his text “Cutting and shaping a new button on a severely damaged stem”
https://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/2014/02/25/cutting-and-shaping-a-new-button/

Instead of cutting/removing the damaged part and carving the lip/button of what is left, I would proceed in different way. Keeping in mind my wish of keeping original dimension, proportions, form, I would try to reconstruct damaged stem/mouthpiece as following:

By using sharp cutting tools – engravers/burins, scrapers or in case of better equipped “workshop corner” – cutters, like those used by jewelers for stone settings, or even a sharp pocket knife, a frame saw and needle files I would work on the damaged area making it a proper shape a piece of the same material carved that I will later shape/carve to fit what is missing. The words “making it of proper shape”, may be a subject for another longer text. But as sort of inspiration may be the different ways dentists use to “elaborate” holes in teeth so that the filling will be kept securely in place. In a stem the situation is easier as we have good binding glues and are binding together the same kind of materials – vulcanite/ebonite to vulcanite/ebonite.

When the newly carved material is fixed into the missing area with glue, I work with files and drill bits to achieve desired missing shape. Then I proceed with finishing techniques. Let us look at the pictures:

In case of stems/mouthpieces made of transparent material I have been proceeding as described above, just choosing proper equally transparent material for making missing parts. After polishing the seams are invisible. I would use fast cyanoacrylic glue of kind that creates transparent seams.

In Steve’s article one commenter mentioned a missing lip on his Peterson P-Lip pipe. Again: in glue we trust: just proceed as described above and if the work is done properly, it should be impossible to distinguish reconstructed lip from the rest of the stem by the naked eye. In general, if the whole lip is missing, I would glue in a large piece of matching material and would shape it by files etc. The air channel can be easily drilled (easily as we are dealing with comparatively soft materials) with drill bits of proper diameter.

I would deal with problem with missing or broken tenon in ways described above, depending on particular situation. Sometimes I use the reinforcing “inner tube” glued in place as described above. Other times I drill the “nest”/mortise of a diameter corresponding with diameter of new tenon to let it fit tight and correct/straight then glued in place. The old and best known method of removing broken tenon from the shank is:
– use of strong alcohol to dissolve eventual dried condensate and/or residues that “glued” the broken part in the mortise.
– take a self-tapping screw often used in construction, by woodworkers etc. and screw it into the air channel of broken jammed part in the mortise.
– keeping the head of this screw firmly in place carefully use pliers to twist it out while at the same time pulling on the broken part. If it does not come out it often means that it is still “glued” in place by dried condensate, tars, etc., so go back to the strong alcohol and please, repeat over a couple of hours or even days.

In conclusion I would like to present some simple hand tools that I find useful in working with pipe restoration. I would like also to say, that for cutting vulcanite/ebonite I use the typical jeweler’s frame saw with proper blades, similar to this shown here together with workbench pin and set of blades.

Reworking a La Strada Staccato 213 Billiard

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The last of the bowls that came to me as a gift from Andrew was a La Strada Billiard bowl. It was stamped La Strada over Staccato on the left side of the shank and shape 213 on the right side. It needed a stem and it had a few minor issues that needed to be addressed. The finish was an interesting rope rustication pattern that went around the bowl like a lasso and the finish under the rope pattern was leatherlike in terms of colour and look. Over the top of the finish was a plastic clear coat that added a perma shine to the bowl. The rim was in very rough shape and had been hammered on to hard surface in tapping out the dottle. The build up on the rim covered the damaged roughness of the surface. The bowl was badly caked on only one side of the bowl. The shank was clean and looked undamaged. There was no stem with the bowl and the shank was very clean.

The La Strada was once again a brand with which I was unfamiliar. I had some vague memory of seeing them sold through Tinderbox but was not sure about that memory. I did a bit of research and found that indeed they had been sold there. They were Italian Made. Here is a page from a Tinderbox catalogue showing the brand. The catalog describes the pipe as “a gracefully conservative style that has today’s favoured matte finish, enhance by the unexpected touch of random routing.” The price was a princely $8.95-$10.00.

I sorted through my stems and found one that fit very nicely in the shank. When I inserted it there were two cracks revealed, one on top and one on the bottom of the shank. I honestly don’t know if they were present or if the happened when I put the stem in place. It was not a tight fit so I am unsure. It honestly did not matter as banding it would not be a problem. I found a silver band I had in my kit that was a good fit and pressed it into place on the shank. I heated the band with a heat gun and then pressure fit it onto the shank.

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer (this seems to be more and more my reamer of choice in refurbishing).

I set up my topping board and then topped the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper. I removed enough of the surface of the rim to take away the damage to the top and the front of the bowl. There were also some burn marks on the left side of the rim that I was able to sand out the majority of damage.

I wiped down the bowl with acetone to try to break up the plastic/shiny finish that was on the bowl and was not able to remove it. The thick coat had bubbles that were thick around the rope rustication areas on the left side of the bowl. I finally put the bowl into an alcohol bath and let it soak overnight to try to break up the finish.

I took the bowl out of the alcohol bath and sanded it with a medium grit and a fine grit sanding sponge and was able to break through the finish and finally remove it. I wiped the bowl down again with acetone on cotton pads and the bowl was clean. I stained it with a dark brown aniline stain mixed 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol and applied and flamed it until the coverage matched the rim to the rest of the bowl. I buffed the bowl with White Diamond on the buffing wheel and brought it back to the work table and set it aside to work on the stem.

I sanded the tooth marks on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and then a medium grit sanding sponge until they were no longer visible. I then used micromesh sanding pads to finish the stem. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed down the stem with Obsidian Oil and when dry buffed it with White Diamond.

I polished the silver band with silver polish and micromesh sanding pads and then buffed the pipe and stem with White Diamond. I gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it to a shine with a soft flannel buffing pad. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is ready for its initial and should make someone a good pipe in the long run.

Restoring a Kaywoodie Drinkless Volcano

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I was gifted this Kaywoodie Drinkless Volcano with a three hole stinger by Andrew, a reader of the blog. He wrote me an email about the pipe as follows:

Steve, I have this Kaywoodie Volcano shape with a 3 hole stinger, so probably 70’s or newer. It was burned out when I got it. I ended up slopping some fireplace cement in the bottom of it trying to fix it but it didn’t come out well as I was trying to form it with a pipe tool and it is rough. The stem is over turned as well. I figure this might “challenge” you as far as trying to bring it back to life somehow. Is this is something you might be interested in trying to some how to fix? — Andrew

I wrote back that would gladly see what I could do with it so he sent it out to me to work on. When it arrived I saw that he had begun the work on it already and had reamed and cleaned the bowl. He had mentioned that when he bought it there was a small burn out area on the bottom of the bowl. When I got it the inside of the bowl was actually quite alright. His repair looked quite good. A little cleanup of the bowl would bring things in order. The fireplace cement needed to be cleaned off the walls and rounded a bit in the bottom of the bowl but it was not bad.

Besides the obvious damage to the bowl there was some other damage to the pipe as well. The outer edge of the rim was damaged on the front and the inner edge was slightly out of round. The external bottom of the bowl had a half-inch long crack that had been cleaned out and repaired but there was still a slight groove in the crack. The sides of the crack had been joined and repaired so what remained was cosmetic. The stem was overturned and slightly out of round in comparison to the round metal insert in the shank. The stem had a partial stamp of the KW cloverleaf but was in bad shape in terms of appearance.

I set up my topping board and topped the bowl of the pipe to remove the damaged portion of the inner and outer edge of the rim. I sanded the top of the bowl, pressing it against the board and turning it in a clockwise direction until the damaged briar was removed. I used a PipNet reamer with a cutting head that fit the bowl diameter and turned it against the cement until it was removed from the sides of the bowl and the bottom of the bowl had a slight indentation.

I wiped down the bowl with acetone and cotton pads to remove the remaining finish on the bowl and to clean up the partial repair to the bottom crack. I continued to wipe it down until the briar on the bowl was almost the same colouration as the sanded rim of the pipe.

I scratched out the surface of the crack with a dental pick and packed in some briar dust that I had left from sanding the rim of the pipe. I tamped it and then dripped some superglue into the briar dust until it formed a bubble over the crack. I always overfill the crevices and fills to make sure that when they dry they do not shrink and make a second fill necessary. When the glue had dried I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper and also with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge to smooth out the bubble and blend it into the surface of the bowl.

On the bottom of the stem there were also two very deep tooth indentations that would not lift when heated with a heat gun. I sanded the area around the dents and dripped clear superglue into the dents. I chose clear superglue as the stem did not appear to be vulcanite. When I sanded it the dust was grey rather than brown. I have found that the clear glue blends very well on this material. When it dries and is sanded it blends in quite well to the surrounding stem material.

I wiped down the bowl again with acetone and sanded the whole bowl with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge.

The overturn on the stem is something that is easily corrected. I heated the stinger with a heat gun until the glue holding it in place was softer and then turned it in the metal inserted mortise until it lined up correctly with the bowl. I was almost a quarter turn to the right so I needed to turn it all the way around. Once it was aligned I laid it aside to cool. The final photo gives a clear view of the inside of the bowl. The repaired bowl bottom with the minor adjustments I had made with the PipNet reamer are visible.

With the stem aligned it was evident that the diameter of the stem was different than that of the shank. In looking at the stem from the stinger end I could see that the left side was slightly larger than the right side. There was an overhang passed the metal insert in the shank. The next photos show that the left side would need to be sanded to fit properly.

I sanded the stem and shank with 220 grit sandpaper folded and was careful to not sand the stamping on the left side of the shank. I wanted the transition to be perfectly smooth to the touch. I sanded it with medium and fine grit sandpaper to smooth out the scratches left behind by the sandpaper.

I stained the bowl with an aniline oxblood stain. I applied it and flamed it and reapplied it and flamed it again until I had a good even coverage across the bowl. I hand buffed the finish with a soft cloth.

I sanded the stem with medium and fine grit sanding sponges and then followed up with my usual array of micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-13,000 grit pads.

I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and then sanded it a final time with the 4000-13,000 grit pads. I lightly buffed the stem with White Diamond. I screwed the stem back into the shank and then buffed the entirety with White Diamond and then gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean flannel buff for the final shine and protection. The finished pipe is pictured below and is ready for more years of service. The bowl repair done by Andrew provides a solid base in the bowl and the external repair and stem repair makes the pipe cosmetically more pleasing. Thanks Andrew for a good challenge. The pipe is ready for its inaugural smoke. I am sure it will last far longer than I do!

Refurbishing an Old Zulu Bowl

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I was gifted a few pipe bowls that needed to be restemmed and refurbished by a friend. The first of these that I decided to clean up and restem was an old Zulu bowl. It is stamped Algerian Briar over Made in France on the left side of the shank and no other identifying marks. Thus the maker remains a bit of a mystery that I am not sure can be solved. The bowl itself was in fair shape. The cake in the bowl was not thick but it was particularly crumbly and soft. The finish on the pipe was also shot. The varnish coat was gone and the stain was streaked and damaged. There were a cut groove next to the left side of the stamping and a smaller one on the right side of the stamping. The shank was filthy and caked with oils and tars. The rim was in great shape with no damage to either the inside or outside rim. The grain under the stain coat looked promising with cross grain on the front and back of the bowl and the top and bottom of the shank and mixed birdseye on the sides of the both.

I had a stem in my can of stems that fit almost perfectly. It was damaged and would need some work but the fit and bend was perfect for the Zulu shape.

I fit the stem in place and wiped down the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to remove the remaining finish on the pipe. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and took the cake back to bare wood. I cleaned out the shank and the bowl with cotton swabs and Everclear.

I sanded the stem until the transition between the shank and the stem was smooth. I used both 220 grit sandpaper and medium and fine grit sanding sponges to smooth it out. The end of the stem was badly damaged and the button was ruined. I decided to trim off the damaged end of the stem and rework the button. Once it was cut back I cleaned out the stem with Everclear and pipe cleaners. The stem was badly plugged with tars so I had to use a bent paper clip to push through the airway. I used shank brushes and pipe cleaners to remove the tarry build up and open up the stem once again.

The airway was still wide and open so I did not need to reshape it. The top and bottom of the button were thin so I could not remove any further material. I reshaped the externals as best as possible by rounding the ends of the stem and making the button more oval in external shape.

The slight dents in the stem that remained would not lift with heat so I filled them with superglue until they were level with the surface of the stem.

I cut the new button with needle files and shaped the end of the stem to have a better flow and taper to the new button. This involved removing some of the thickness of the stem and making the taper more angled. I used files and sandpaper to reshape the stem.

With the new button cut I sanded the stem and the entire pipe with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining finish and make sure the flow of the stem was correct to the angles of the pipe. I also sanded it with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge to remove scratches in the briar and vulcanite.

The stain around the stamping on the left side of the shank was very set and stubborn. I lightly sanded it to break through the top coat and then scrubbed it with acetone on cotton pads to match it as much as possible to the unstained briar. I stained the bowl with an oxblood aniline stain, flamed it and restained and reflamed until I had an even coverage on the bowl. I hand buffed it with a soft cloth. I took the pipe to the buffer and buffed the stem and bowl with red Tripoli and White Diamond. The photos below show the pipe after the buffing.

I sanded the stem with my usual array of micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and when it dried hand buffed the stem.

I buffed the pipe with White Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I finished by buffing it with a clean soft flannel buffing pad. The finished pipe is pictured below. It is ready to go into service again. I like the flow of the lines on this pipe. The shape and matte like finish work well together.

Plugging a Burnout on a Peterson’s Irish Whiskey 999

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Blog by Steve Laug

Lately several of the pipes that I have refurbished were part of a trade with Mark Domingues for work on this pipe. It is a beautifully grained Peterson’s Rhodesian 999 – one of my favourite shapes. The grain on this thing is beautiful. The photo below shows what drew Mark to bid on this pipe in the first place. What the photo does not show however, is the incredibly horrible shape that this pipe was in when it came to Mark.

The problem with the pipe became obvious when Mark took it out of the shipping package to enjoy the “new” Peterson that he had purchased. The pipe had a serious burn through on the front right side of the bowl toward the bottom. That damage was quite extensive and either the pipe could be thrown away or the burn through drilled out and the damaged briar replaced with a briar plug.

Mark decided to drill out the damaged portion of the bowl. We talked back and forth via email about the steps to take to fix it. He toyed with it and then one day asked if I wanted to do the work on it. He would send the pipe, a chunk of briar some pipes that he thought I might enjoy working on in exchange for the repair. After emailing back and forth we agreed to the terms and he sent the bowl on to me to do the repair in exchange for a few pipes for my refurbishing box. Here is what the pipe looked like when it arrived in Vancouver. Mark had cleaned up the exterior of the pipe and also the interior and drilled out the burnout. The brass/gold band on the shank was loose and the stem was in decent shape with two minor tooth marks.

The top view of the pipe, shown in the photo below, also highlights several others issues with the pipe. First, the bowl itself was not drilled straight into the briar but at a slight angle from left to right. Second, the stem was totally out of round and the right side of the stem fit against the band far differently than the left side. Looking at the stem from the tenon end it was clear that the stem was not round but rather oblong. The small block of briar in the photo was sent along by mark for me to use in cutting a plug for the bowl.

I used a small hacksaw to cut off a small chunk of briar. I then shaped the briar chunk into a cylinder. I always cut the plug long to give me something to hold onto when I am shaping it. I am sure others do it differently but I shape the plug with a Dremel by hand and I hold the piece of briar with my fingers while I shape it. The next series of eight photos show the progressive shaping of the cylinder to fit the drilled out hole in the bowl of the pipe.

The next four photos show the final shape of the cylinder. I left a slight handle on the top of the plug to hold onto while I turned the cylinder with the Dremel. I tapered the plug slightly so that it would fit into the hole but not extend to far into the bowl itself. Once I had the shape correct and the piece extending into the bowl smoothed to fit the shape of the bowl I glued it in place with superglue.

I used the hacksaw to trim off the excess briar in the plug as close as possible to the surface of the bowl.

Once I had it trimmed back to that place I used the Dremel and sanding drum to sand it down to the surface and then hand sanded with 220 grit sandpaper to make the surface of the plug and the bowl match. I used superglue around the circumference of the plug to hold it tightly in place.

I washed down the surface of the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to remove the grit and the remaining finish on the bowl. I also sanded the plug and the rim with 220 grit sandpaper and then medium and fine grit sanding sponges to smooth out the scratches. I sanded the inner rim with a folded piece of sandpaper to remove the damage to that portion of the bowl. In the photos below the fit and finish of the plug is clearly visible. The grain on the plug and that on the bowl did not match but the fit was nearly perfect.

Mark and I had talked about rusticating the whole bowl but I could not bring myself to do that to such a beautiful piece of briar. I marked the area that I planned on rusticating with a black permanent marker to give myself an outlined area that I would rusticate. I find that setting up parameters and boundaries for the rustication helps me to keep it in a defined space more easily.

I used the modified Philips screwdriver with the four points to rusticate this part of the bowl. The next two photos show the rusticated portion of the bowl. The area of the older briar showed dark spots in the rustication and the new fresh plug showed almost white after rustication.

I decided to try and use a dark brown aniline stain thinned 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol on the whole pipe to see what would happen with the rustication. I wanted to see if the dark areas on the rustication would blend into the briar of the lighter parts. I did not really expect it to work but thought I would give it a try.

The dark portions of the old briar still showed dark after staining. I decided to use a black aniline stain on the rusticated portion of the bowl and leave the smooth part of the bowl the brown colour. I applied the stain with a cotton swab and flamed it, reapplied it and reflamed it until the coverage was even.

The inside of the bowl then needed to be addressed. The drilling of the bowl was not only angled from left to right but the airway entered the bowl over 3/8 inches above the bottom of the bowl. Whether this was caused by drilling or over reaming is not clear to me. My problem was that the angle of the patch on the side did allow me to shape the patch to provide a new bottom for the bowl. I could have cut another piece of briar and inserted it into the bottom of the bowl but the strange angles of the bowl made that a task that I did not want to tackle. I opted to build up the bottom of the bowl with Plaster of Paris instead of pipe mud because of the depth of the buildup. My fear was that the pipe mud would have to be almost ½ inch thick and I was not sure if it would hold. I have used Plaster of Paris to repair meerlined pipes and it is durable and gives a solid base. I intend to use pipe mud on top of the repair and also reshape the bowl sides.

I glued the band on the shank with wood glue before I restained it with another coat of the medium brown aniline stain. I flamed it and then buffed it with White Diamond. I gave the smooth portions of the bowl several coats of carnauba wax and hand buffed the rusticated portion with Halcyon II wax.

I sanded the tooth marks and chatter out of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and a medium grit sanding sponge. I reshaped the stem to fit more proportionally against the band. I made it round instead of oblong so that the fit against the band was even all the way around giving it a more finished look. I then sanded it with my usual array of micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and when it was dry buffed it with White Diamond. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax to finish and protect it.

The next series of five photos show the finished exterior and stem of the pipe. The stain and the patch rustication are completed. The interior of the bowl still only bears the plaster repair. Once it cures for several days I will give it a coating of pipe mud to finish the job.

The pipe is finished other than the pipe mud and soon it will go back to Mark for its inaugural smoke. I am looking forward to hearing his response once the pipe is in his hands and he has smoked it.

UPDATE: I applied the pipe mud to the bowl last evening. It was a great day to fire up a Cohiba Habana and save the ash to mix. I use a shot glass to collect the ash and add the water with an ear syringe. Once the mix is the right consistency I apply it with a folded pipe cleaner. I apply it and let it set and then follow up with a second or third coat as necessary.

For this particular pipe mud application I built up the right side of the bowl toward the bottom to compensate for the angular drilling of the bowl. I was able to smooth out the wall and that side is as straight as possible.

Rustication & Rebirth of a Racine de Bruyere Author

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Another pipe that Mark included in the trade was stamped Racine de Bruyere. I have no idea about the maker or the time period of the pipe. The stem is an older style orific button (round hole in an end cap style button). Ron had stripped the finish off of the bowl and also had picked out the fills. The flaws in the briar that remained behind sans fills were deep crevices. The stem was stuck in the shank and would not insert the whole way. The stem itself was in great shape – good, hard older vulcanite. There was minor tooth chatter at the button on the top and the bottom of the stem. Once I had removed the stem the tenon was in great shape with a Dunhill style inner tube that extended all the way from the tenon into the airhole in the bowl. The photos below show the extent of the damage to the bowl in terms of the serious flaws in the briar. On top of the shank, on the left side and on the front of the bowl there were deep holes. There were also minor holes in other areas around the bowl. The shape is actually one of my favourite shapes so it would of course be worked on and brought back to life.

I used a dental pick to scrape away the debris in the pits. There were loose bits of briar and dust build up. I wiped the bowl down with acetone on a cotton pad to remove surface grit. I packed briar dust in layers alternating with superglue into the pits. Once they were filled to the top I tamped them down and then dripped superglue into the briar dust. I added more briar dust and also more superglue.

The sandpits, even with the fills, were large and there were many other small pits around the bowl. It made it an easy decision to rusticate the bowl. I used the modified Philips screwdriver to rusticate the bowl. I wrapped several layers of tape around the end of the shank so that I could leave a smooth band there making a stem fit more simple. I also put a piece of tape over the stamping on the left side of the shank. The next series of thirteen photos shows the progressive rustication of the bowl. I decided to do a deep rustication so I worked the tool deep into the wood of the bowl.

When the rustication was complete I used a brass tire brush on the surface of the briar to knock off the sharp points and loose pieces of debris from the work of the tool. My aim was to leave behind some smooth spots that would end up have a contrast stain on them when I was finished.

In order to get the stem to seat properly in the shank I used a knife and beveled/chamfered the inside edge of the mortise so that the stem would sit well. I also found in measuring the tenon that it was slightly too long for the mortise and the original manufacturer had left the end slightly at an angle so that it did not seat well in the mortise. I used a file to reseat the tenon and then put the stem in place. The fit was good, but the diameter of the stem was slightly more than the diameter of the smooth band on the shank so I sanded the band and the stem with 220 grit sandpaper. I was able to remove the excess diameter and bring the stem into line with the shank. I finished sanding it with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge to remove scratches.

With the sanding finished the fit was tight and the transition was smooth. I scrubbed down the shank and the stem with some Everclear on a cotton pad to get rid of the sanding dust from the stem. With that done the pipe was ready to stain.

I decided to use a black aniline stain as the undercoat of the pipe. The stain would hide the repaired flaws well as they were also dark. I applied the stain with a cotton swab and made sure that it went into all the nooks and crannies of the briar.

Once the stain was applied I flamed it with a lighter to set the stain and then took it to the buffer to see if I could buff away the stain on the higher parts of the rustication. I used red Tripoli to do the buffing. I kept a pretty light touch as I did not want the Tripoli to build up in the rustication. With that done, the finish was closer to what I was aiming for. I still wanted a few more of the high spots showing.

I wiped the bowl down with Everclear on a soft cloth to remove some more of the black and then buffed it with White Diamond. I then gave it a top coat of oxblood stain to bring out the contrast and highlight the high portions of the rustication. I buffed it again with White Diamond.

To remove the tooth chatter and the scratches from fitting the stem to the shank I used my usual array of micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with the 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and let it dry.

Once the stem was done I used 2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded the high spots on the rustication on the bowl and the shank to further accentuate the contrast. I buffed the bowl lightly with White Diamond and then buffed the pipe as a whole with White Diamond yet again. Once it was done, I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I also gave the bowl a very light buff with the carnauba wheel – too heavy a touch and the wax fills in the crevices of the rustication. I then hand buffed it with a shoe brush to finish the shine. The completed makeover is shown in the photos below. The pipe is ready to enter into a new chapter of its life.

Since posting this I have found out some information about the stamping. Racine de Bruyere means Genuine Briar. It was stamped on pipes coming out of St. Claude. The stamping does not define the maker but the region. The pipe was probably made in late 20’s to early 30’s. I found the original eBay sale description that showed the pipe as it was when Mark received it. I have included those pictures below. Note the gold leaf/paint in the stamping.

Refurbishing a Pipe for a New Pipe Smoker – A Straight Grain Apple

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This past weekend I was in Lethbridge, Alberta as the speaker at a retreat for a friend of mine. As usual I took along my pipe and some tobacco and planned to sit on his front porch and enjoy a few bowls during the course of the weekend. We were sitting one night in his living room enjoying good conversation and a pint when he commented that he had been thinking of smoking a pipe. He wanted to know if I would teach him the ropes. Of course I agreed and the next afternoon we visited a couple of antique shops in search of a pipe for him. My experience in helping a newbie start is to find a seasoned pipe that is in good shape and use it to introduce the art of pipe smoking. The seasoned or estate pipe is already broken in and if it has been cared for is not too difficult to clean up and restore. We found just the pipe at the third shop we visited. It is a nice apple shaped pipe that was in fairly decent shape. He paid the $9 price on the pipe and we took it home.

I asked him for some isopropyl alcohol, some cotton swabs, cotton makeup pads, and a sharp knife. I had some pipe cleaners with me so that we could field dress the pipe and clean it enough that he could smoke a bowl with me. The pipe had a slight burn on the front right of the bowl toward the bottom from having laid it in an ashtray and having it come in contact with a cigarette. The rim was caked and dirty with buildup but undamaged. The bowl was caked and had some burnt tobacco in it. The stem was lightly oxidized and there was light tooth chatter near the button. There was a stinger apparatus in the tenon of the stem. The stamping on the pipe was on the left side and read Straight Grain over Imported Briar. There was no other stamping on the pipe.

I carefully reamed the bowl with the pocket knife to remove a large portion of the cake. I scrubbed the top of the rim with the cotton pads and saliva until I removed the buildup on the rim. I cleaned out the inside of the shank with the pipe cleaners and the cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. I removed the stinger, threw it away and scrubbed the exterior and the interior of the stem to make it ready for him to smoke. Once finished we loaded a bowl of tobacco – a light English blend and headed to his front porch to have a bowl. It took some work to get the hang of lighting and keeping the bowl lit but it worked well after several tries. We enjoyed the visit and the smoke and then headed back inside.

When I headed back to Vancouver I took the pipe with me to give it a more thorough cleaning and polish. The photos below show the pipe when I put it on the work table to give it a thorough work over.

The next photo shows the cigarette burn mark on the bowl. It was not too deep and did not char the wood but it was deep enough that it could not be sanded out without damaging the shape of the bowl.

I sanded the burn mark and the rim to clean up the burn on the front inner edge. I used 220 grit sandpaper to start with and followed that with a medium grit sanding sponge.

I wiped the bowl down with acetone on cotton pads to remove the finish from the bowl and to prepare it for new staining.

The slot in the stem was tight and hard to get a pipe cleaner to pass through easily so I decided to open the slot open with needle files. I shaped it and opened it and then sanded it with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper.

I reamed the bowl and cleaned out the shank with isopropyl alcohol and then used pipe cleaners. I used the drill bit in the KleenReem pipe reamer to open up the airway into the bowl from the shank. The tars had clogged the airway so the drill bit opened it and cleaned up the buildup on the sides of the airway.

I decided to do a cotton boll and alcohol soak on the bowl. I stuffed the bowl with cotton and used an ear syringe to fill it with Everclear. I set the bowl in an old ice cube tray to let it soak while I was at work. The alcohol leaches out the tars in the bowl into the cotton and leaves the pipe fresh inside.

It sat in the tray for about 10 hours soaking. The cotton boll was soaked and brown coloured from the tars that leached out of the bowl.

I took the cotton out of the bowl and then lit the alcohol remaining in the bowl with a lighter. It quickly burned the alcohol out and left the bowl dry. I used a folded piece of sandpaper to work on the inner edge of the rim to remove the burned spot on the front inner edge. I also used a PipNet reamer to remove the remaining cake that I had missed earlier. I wiped the bowl down a final time with acetone on cotton pads to remove the grit and grime that came out with the cleaning of the bowl.

I stained the bowl with an oxblood stain as an undercoat. I applied it and then flamed it. I hand buffed the bowl once the stain was dry.

For the second coat of stain I used a dark brown aniline stain thinned 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol. I hand buffed the bowl with a soft cloth and then took the pipe to the buffer and buffed it with White Diamond.

Once the staining of the pipe was finished I worked on the stem with my usual array of micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12,000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and let it dry.

I took the pipe to the buffer and buffed it with White Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I finished by buffing it with a clean flannel buffing pad. The pictures below show the finished pipe. It is ready to send back to my buddy in Lethbridge. I think I will put a few samples of tobacco in the package with the “new pipe”. I think he will enjoy the improved version of his pipe.

Restoring a Larry Roush Bent Billiard

2 Replies

My friend Dave has a real knack for acquiring some very interesting pipes and occasionally they make their way to my workbench for cleaning. Dave posted this one on the Brothers of Briar forum and I was immediately drawn to it. In the sellers pictures, it looked in great shape, but when Dave had it in had there was some ghosting and it needed a general clean up – that was my good fortune!

At a casual glance, this Grade 7 Carved pipe didn’t impress me, but as I started to work on the various areas, the craftsmanship was really apparent. The pipe had a pretty heavy cake, the stem was bit faded and curiously it has a small dent on the side and a scratch on the other side. The stem had a small tooth indention on the top and bottom of the stem. These were very shallow and I knew they would be challenging to remove completely.

I managed to lose my “Before” photos, but the seller supplied these to Dave.

The good news for Dave was that someone really loved this pipe!

I reamed the heavy cake from the pipe and then used the retort, as Dave had mentioned it had heavy ghosting. To be completely sure the ghosting was removed, I also soaked the bowl with alcohol and sea salt. I was pretty confident that I had removed the ghosting, but only a smoke would determine my ultimate success. The more I handled the “carved” bowl, the more it grew on me.

The pipe had a beautiful silver ring that was stamped “Roush” and “Sterling”. I love slim stem rings and think this is a lovely aspect to the pipe. The shank/stem junction was polished and even chamfered a bit. The pipe had what appeared to be a Delrin tenon which was nicely finished as well.

The small side dent and scratch on the vulcanite stem took some 800 grit wet paper to remove. The stem was then polished with 2000 grit paper and then 8000 and 12000 grit micromesh paper. I was able to diminish the two teeth dents, but not completely remove them. I tried to cover them with the black Stew-Mac Superglue, but they were to shallow for it to adhere well.

I polished the bowl top with some White Diamond and then several coats of Carnuba wax. I waxed the bowl by hand with some Halycon wax and an old tooth brush. I used some metal polish the brighten the sterling silver ring.

I sent the finished pipe back to Dave and he reports that I was successful in removing the ghosts. Larry Roush pipes command premium prices and after examining one quite closely, I came away very impressed with his work.