Tag Archives: repairing a bite through on a stem with black super glue and charcoal powder

Restemming and Restoring a Stanwell Danish Star 64 Freehand Dublin

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is the last of the five pipes that the Vancouver pipe man dropped off for me to work on for him. It was stamped Stanwell Danish Star and had a great flame and straight grain around the bowl and shank with plateau finish on the rim top. It is a Bent Dublin that was finished in a brown stain. It needed restoration on the bowl which was moderately caked and the shank was dirty. It also needed new stem as the current push stem was chewed and broken at the button. It was another pipe that I had restored back in 2016 and he had purchased at that time. I had done a complete restoration and removed the thick cake at that point. The stem had a small hole in the top that was about half the size it is now. The repair worked for at least 6-7 years so I am pleased with that. It is obviously another of his favourites as it is well used. The stem on it was original so I kept it and repaired it the first time. Here is the link to restoration (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/11/30/a-stanwell-danish-star-64/). Here are some photos of the pipe when he picked it up in 2016 to give a bit for context for my latest work. When I took the pipe out of the bag of pipes to work on this afternoon, this is what I saw. The finish on the briar looked very good. It was dirty but the colour had stayed true. It had a bit of patina on the bowl but it was beautiful. The bowl had a moderate cake and the airway in the shank was dirty. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had a large chunk of vulcanite missing on the topside. I took photos of the rim top and stem to show their condition. You can see the moderate cake in the bowl how it looked. The plateau rim top had some lava in the grooves of the finish and some build up around the inside edge of the rim. It will clean up pretty well. The photos of the stem show the condition of the stem. You can see the tooth marks and the large hole on the top of the stem surface. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping on the left side of the shank reads Stanwell [over] Danish Star. On the right side it is stamped with the shape number 64. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Made in Denmark. There was a Crown S stamp on the left side of the saddle I removed the stem from the shank to give a sense of the flow of the pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. I started my work on the pipe by cleaning and reaming the bowl The cake was quite thick but it can hold residual oils from previous tobaccos and I wanted to check the bowl walls for burn damage or checking. I reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer to cut cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the remnants of the cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife. I sanded the walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I worked on them until they were smooth. There was no checking or burn damage to the bowl walls. It was quite clean. I cleaned out the internals with 99% isopropyl alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I worked over the shank and the airway in the new stem. It took some work but once finished it was clean and smelled fresh. I used a brass bristle wire brush to clean up the plateau and knock off the lava and debris from the grooves and high spots on the rim top. It looked much better.I scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush to remove the oils and grime from the finish. I rinsed the bowl with warm water to rinse off the soap and grime. I dried it off with a soft cloth. I stained the plateau rim top with a Black stain pen. I stained the entire rim top in the valleys and in the plateau. I knock of the stain on the high spots sanding and polishing process I sand off the high spots.I polished the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I sanded the stain off the high spots on the plateau rim top. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It took on a real shine by the time I finished with the last sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the smooth bowl and the plateau rim top. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. I used a horse hair shoe brush to work it into the crevices and the valleys of the plateau. Once the bowl was covered with the balm I let it sit for about 15 minutes and buffed it off with a soft cotton cloth and the shoe brush. I polished it with a microfiber cloth. I took photos of the pipe at this point in the process to show what the bowl looked like at this point. Now it was time to deal with the replacement stem. I went through my can of stems and found a bent saddle vulcanite stem that was a close fit. It was more bent than the original but with a little straightening it would be perfect. I would also need to remove a little of the diameter of the tenon to get a snug fit in the shank. I put it in the shank as far as it would go before I fitted it correctly but you can see what the pipe will look like with the new stem. It is going to work very well. To correct the bend in the stem to match the rim top I “painted” it with the flame of a Bic lighter until the vulcanite was flexible. I bent it to the angle of the shank and rim top until I had the right look I was waiting for. It looked good.I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to reduce the diameter of the stem and flatten the bottom of the saddle portion to match the shank. I also sanded out the casting marks on the new stem and also the scratches in the vulcanite at the same time. I started polishing the stem with 600 grit wet dry sand paper. I used micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine Polish. I finished the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection from oxidizing quickly. I took the finished Stanwell Danish Star 64 Freehand Dublin bowl to wax and polish. I don’t buff the plateau rim top on the wheel as it leaves a lot of grit in the deep grooves of the finish. I polished the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the scratches in the briar and vulcanite. I buffed it and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect and give it a shine. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The contrast of the dark stain on the briar revealing the grain with the shine of the polished vulcanite saddle stem is quite stunning. The rich finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and the plateau rim top gives the pipe an incredible tactile presence. The Stanwell Danish Star 64 is a nice looking pipe and one that will be a great smoking pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below with each of the stems. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the large pipe is a light and comfortable 56 grams/1.98 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and the last of the five pipes left with me for work. They are finished and ready for him to pick them up and enjoy once more. As always I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

A Stanwell Danish Star 64

7 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

My brother sent me a nice looking Stanwell shape 64 with a nice plateau top. The briar itself was in good shape. There were no dents of nicks in the briar. The finish was in great shape. The rim was decent but the plateau was clean and in decent shape. The high spots were the same brown as the bowl and the nooks and crannies were dark brown or black. It was stamped on the left side of the stem with the words Stanwell over Danish Star. On the right side it was stamped with the shape number 64. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Made in Denmark. The stem was lightly oxidized and there were tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. The bite marks on the underside were deep but the ones on the topside was a bite through into the airway. I took a close up photo of the top of the bowl. It shows the grooves, crevices and the high spots on the plateau top. It was dirty and there was dust in the grooves of the rim.I took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the top and bottom side of the stem. The photo of the top shows the bite through and the tooth marks that were further down the stem top. The photo of the underside shows the tooth marks there as well. The tooth marks were deep and large. There were also bite marks on the top and the bottom of the button.I sanded the surfaces of the stem and cleaned out the dents in the surface with alcohol and cotton swabs. I greased a pipe cleaner with Vaseline and inserted it into the airway of the stem. I mixed a putty of charcoal powder and black super glue with a piece of straightened paper clips. I filled in the bite through with putty and the paper clip until it was thickly covered. I filled in the dents in the surface of the stem and built up the worn spots on the button edge. I sprayed the repairs with the accelerator to harden the repair. When the glue had hardened and cured I used a file to smooth out the repaired spots on both sides of the stem.I sanded the repaired areas with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the surface and remove the scratches left by the file. It took some time but I was able to sand out the scratches.I filled in some of the air holes in the repair with clear super glue and sanded the surface with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the stem.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit sanding pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set aside to dry. The plateau top was in great shape. I used a black Sharpie pen to highlight the grooves and crevices in the rim top. I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to raise a shine and remove the last of the scratches on the vulcanite. I buffed the bowl surface to polish out the light scratches in the briar. The Blue Diamond gave the finish on both the bowl and the stem a high shine. I gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The colour of the stain on the pipe really makes the grain stand out clearly on the pipe. Thanks for having a look.

Restoring a Lovely Rhodesian by John Calich

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have had a thing for Calich pipes since John made a new stem for a bowl I bought on Ebay for one of his pipes. It was a labour of love and one which led to several phone conversations and correspondence with John. He was a great guy and a definite loss to the Canadian pipe smoking community. Whenever I come across one of his pipes in need of work I try to purchase it and restore it. The pipe I am writing about at this time is a Calich Hand Made Rhodesian that is stamped that way on the underside of the shank. It also has a 04 stamping. The photos below were shown by the eBay seller. The bowl appears to be in great shape. The stem is slightly oxidized and the seller noted that there was a hole in the top side of the stem at the button. I knew what I was getting into when I purchased this pipe – or so I thought.I have written several blogs about Calich pipes that help give an idea of the age of the pipe. While I waited for the pipe to arrive I reread those pieces to refresh my memory on the stamping. I have included the links to the blogs below.

https://rebornpipes.com/2015/03/03/one-of-my-john-calich-pipes-a-calich-ee-billiard/

I summarize the dating information from those blogs now: From my research and conversations I learned that John’s pipes were graded 3E – 8E. The retail prices for them ranged from $145.00 to $500.00. Each pipe was stamped “CALICH” and given an E grade. His earlier pipes were graded from 3-14 and had a single, tiny silver dot applied to the top of the stem. More information can be found at the Pipedia website by clicking on this link. http://pipedia.org/wiki/Calich This information told me as expected that the pipe I had was an earlier one.

I vaguely remembered that I had found further information but could not remember it so I read the next blog I wrote. https://rebornpipes.com/2014/03/21/reflecting-on-my-collection-of-john-calich-pipes/ There the information honed in on the date more closely. I quote from that blog now: I did find out some further information on the dating of Calich pipes as the information on Pipedia was not complete. What I found was very helpful. His early pipes were graded with numbers from 3 – 14. By the late 1980’s Calich introduced 15, 16, and even one 17. In the mid-90’s the grade system changed employing a number of E’s. The more EE’s the higher the grade. From that information I knew that the pipe I had was not only an earlier one but came from early in the 1980s.

When the pipe arrived I took some photos of it to give a clear picture of what I was going to have to deal with in the restoration of this pipe. The stem was more oxidized than the seller’s photos showed and the finish also showed more debris in the rustication and the double rings around the bowl cap than had appeared in the photos. The rim top looked about the same – there was a thin build up of lava on the flat surface but the inner and outer edges were undamaged. The bowl had a light cake in it and would be easy to deal with. There was no damage to the inner bowl. As I looked over the surface of the bowl it was clear that under the grime the pipe was in pretty decent shape. The big issue was the hole in the top side of the stem at the button. I took a photo of the bite through to show the extent of the damage. The edges of the bite through were also pushed down into the airway on the stem constricting the airway so that a pipe cleaner would not pass through. The topside of the button was also thinned down considerably and would need to be built up. I used needle files and a dental pick to open up the airway and clean up the crushed edges of the bite through. It enlarged the hole but the airway was wide open when I finished. I also roughed up the edges of the cleaned up hole with the needle files to give a rough surface for the repair to bond to. With the stem hole cleaned up I was ready to begin the repair. I cut a wedge of cardboard and covered it with clear tape to make a surface that the glue would not stick to. I inserted it into the airway under the hole and wedged it in place. I mixed a batch of activated charcoal powder and black super glue to make a patching mortar and using a dental spatula applied the material to the hole and the top of the button to build it up. I sprayed it with some accelerator to harden the surface so I could continue to work on the pipe and removed the cardboard wedge. I reamed the bowl with the Savinelli Pipe Knife to clean out the thin cake. You can see from the photo that there was not much of a build up so it was quick job.I set the stem aside and used a dental pick to clean out the rings around the bowl cap. I scrubbed the rustication with some Murphy’s Oil Soap to clean up the dust in the grooves and crevices of the finish.I scrubbed the top of the rim with saliva and cotton pads and was able to remove the lava on the surface without harming the finish on the bowl top. I cleaned out the inside of the mortise and shank with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol.By that time I was also able to clean out the inside of the stem with pipe cleaners and alcohol. The pipe cleaners went through with little issue and the stem was clean.The next morning after the glue had cured overnight I worked on the stem. I needed to reshape the slot to facilitate easy cleaning so I used needle files to clean up the entrance of the airway.I sanded the stem repair and the surface of the button top with a sanding board to begin the process of reshaping the surfaces of both.I cleaned up the edge of the button and shaped the surface of the button with needle files until the edge was sharp the surface matched that of the underside of the button.With all of the hard shaping done it was time to begin the tedious process of sanding the repairs. I started with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the surface and the transition to the rest of the stem.There were still some small holes around some spots on the fill. I used a clear super glue to fill these in and smoothed out the patch with a spatula. When the repair had dried I sanded it with some finer grit sand papers until the surface was smooth. I moved on to sand the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and then giving 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 giving it a final coat of oil. I let the oil dry before buffing the pipe. I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel and then gave the stem several coats of Carnauba wax. I buffed the stem with a clean buffing pad. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and hand buffed it with a shoe brush. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The stem repair is solid and though visible to me as I have looked at it so long, it is not obvious. The pipe is useable and looks as close to what it must have looked like when John shipped it out from his shop in the 80s. Thanks for looking.