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New Life for Royalty, a “Malaga” Algerian Briar Prince

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by Steve Laug

The “Malaga” Prince and black vulcanite stem is next on the table. I started it before I went to the hospital in the end of May and finally finished it in July when I left the hospital. The pipe came to us from a seller on eBay in Akron, Ohio, USA on 12/18/25. The carver did a great job of shaping the pipe to follow the grain on the briar. The bowl top is smooth and slightly beveled inward. The rim top had spotty lava and had some burn damage on the top and inner edge. The bowl had a thick cake and an overflow of lava onto the thin rim top. The sides of the bowl and shank are very dirty with grime and oils from prolonged use. The briar around the bowl had some great birdseye that would clean up well.  The stamping on the left side of the shank read “MALAGA”. On the right side it was stamped Algerian Briar. The black vulcanite stem had light tooth dents and chatter on the top and the underside of the stem. Jeff took these photos before he started the cleanup work on the pipe.Jeff took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The rim top had some lava overflow and some darkening. It was dirty but you could see that there was rim damage on the inner edge of the bowl. The stem photos show the condition of the surface of the vulcanite with light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. He also took photos of the sides and bottom of the bowl and shank to show the beautiful birdseye and mixed grain around the bowl. The photos show the general condition of the bowl and wear on the finish. It is very dirty but this is another beautiful pipe. Jeff took a photo to capture the stamping on the right and left side of the shank. The photos show the stamping “MALAGA” on the left side and Algerian Briar on the right side. The stamping is weak in spots but readable. I am also including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. I have written an earlier blog to give a little history of the Malaga Brand and the pipemaker, George Khoubesser. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/tag/malaga-pipes/.That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. Follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the damage to the flat surface of the rim and the inner edge in different spots around the bowl. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem. You can see the condition of the rim top and bowl in the first photo. Jeff was able to remove all of the tar and oils but you can now see the damaged areas on the surface clearly. There are damaged spots all around the top surface and on the inner edge of the bowl. The vulcanite taper stem had tooth chatter and some tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near and on the button surface.I took photos of the stamping on the shank to show how good the condition is. The stamp is faint in spots but it is still legible on the left side and the right side. I decided to address the damage to the rim top first. I worked over the inner edge and top of the rim with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage. I gave it a slight bevel to hide the burn damage on the inner edge of the rim. The photos tell the story. The damage to the rim top is gone and the inner edge looks far better with the light bevel. I sanded the bowl and shank sides with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to smooth out the nicks and scratches in the surface of the briar. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the debris.I polished the rim top and the exterior of the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad to remove the dust. The damage on the rim is pretty much invisible after polishing and the rim top really looked good. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The reworked rim top looks really good and matches the colour of the rest of the pipe. I am very happy with the results. This is where I left it at Mid May when I went to the hospital. I still needed to work on the stem but it sat on the desk until I returned to my desk mid July. I picked up the work but moving to the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to remove the oxidation and the scratches in the vulcanite. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil on a cloth to remove the sanding debris. It looked significantly better once I finished.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad Obsidian Oil on a cloth. This is a beautiful “Malaga” Algerian Briar Prince and the vulcanite taper stem gives it a nice touch of class. The rim top and the cut of the briar work well to highlight the mixed grain around the bowl sides. I polished the stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. 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 “Malaga” Algerian Briar Prince polished up pretty nicely. The pipe came back to life with the last work and the grain took on some dimensionality in its appearance with the buffing. The rich oil cured colour works well with the polished black vulcanite stem. The finished pipe has a rich look that is quite catching. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.20 ounces/34 grams. I will be adding the pipe to the rebornpipes store in the American Pipemakers Section if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the process with me.

Restoring a Fascinating American Granhill Old Original Freehand

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by Kenneth Lieblich

If you would like to own a pipe unlike anything else, have I got the pipe for you! This remarkable piece is a Granhill Old Original freehand. Granhill pipes are fairly rare, so it’s very nice to see another one. This pipe has a really rugged, raw nature to it. It is an interesting carving with an engaging rustication and a good-looking, variegated acrylic stem. Be sure to read on – this was an entertaining restoration.

The markings on the pipe are as follows. On the shank, there is the word Granhill [over] Old Original. Unfortunately, we don’t have any other markings and I don’t know anything about the Old Original line of Granhill pipes. About two-and-a-half years ago, I restored another Granhill pipe (you can read that restoration here). What follows below is simply a copy-and-paste of what I wrote then on the background of Granhill.

There is precious little information on the Granhill name. Yonks ago, Steve did a blog post on a Granhill pipe and it contained all the available information at the time. The maker was either a carver named Michael Kabik or a tobacconist named Lonnie Fay. Now, Fay may well have produced pipes under this name, but I think we can say with certainty that this pipe is by Kabik, based on the similarity of design and logo. I will reproduce here some of what is written is Pipedia:

Michael Victor Kabik or Michael J. Kabik, now retired artisan and pipe repairman, was born in Annapolis, Maryland in 1950. As a student he was fascinated by science, but finally turned to the arts. In the early 1970s he started working as an artisan and designer for Hollyday Pipes Ltd., and when the company closed he set up in his own right.

Kabik writes as follows:

…In the 1960s, I had helped Jay build Jay’s Smoke Shop and was his first employee. Since that time, he had set up one of the very first freehand pipe-making operations in the U.S. along with his partner, Chuck Holiday, called CHP-X Pipes. The staff consisted of four full-timers actually making the pipes and perhaps another four in sales and office work. Chuck, who did the actual design and carving, had long since had serious disagreements with Jay and split. Chuck’s replacement from the staff was quitting, and Jay was in a bind. Jay offered me the job, and I gladly accepted. The fellow quitting was supposed to train me for two months but left after two weeks, leaving me with an awesome responsibility. I felt as though the future employment of all these people depended on me as the designer and cutter…and it did.

…Sadly, CHP-X closed its doors two years after my arrival, due primarily to distribution, sales force problems, and other issues to which I was not privy…In love with a medium that satisfied my creative impulses while, pretty much, paying the bills, I bought up the essential equipment and produced pipes on my own. I did this from a farm house my wife and I rented in Phoenix, Maryland. I produced pipes under the name KANE, Gran Hill and others I can’t remember as well as a private label line for a store in, I believe, South Dakota.

…In 1973, I was approached by Mel Baker, the owner of a chain in Virginia Beach called Tobak Ltd. Mel was interested in producing a freehand pipe line and was alerted to my product by Al Saxon, one of his managers and a former CHP-X employee. Mel wanted to relocate me to Virginia Beach, give me carte blanche, and recreate the CHP-X studio with, of course, a new name for the product. I’m sure my answer came very quickly.

…We decided on the name Sven-Lar. Why? Well, when I bought out CHP-X, I also got a small drawer full of metal stamps that were created for private-label work. The Sven-Lar name was conceived but never realized. Aside from having the stamp already made, there were other reasons we chose Sven-Lar. First, we were making a line of pipes in the Danish freehand tradition and also, sadly, we knew the difficulty American pipe makers had breaking the foreign market mystique barrier. The latter certainly played a big part in the demise of CHP-X.

You can read the entire Pipedia article on Kabik here. A relative of his posted a comment to my last blog post on Granhill and confirmed that Kabik is advanced in years and not in perfect health. I’m just glad to know that he is still around. Just to close the loop on this, I also found Kabik on Facebook. Here is a photo of him from a few years ago:

Let’s have a closer look at the pipe itself. Overall, it is in good condition – no major issues to resolve. Just a few minor ones – particularly on the stem. It had some tooth marks in the button and a few scratches. The bowl was in good, solid condition. Just a bit of darkening on the rim.

I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean.

As the stem was now clean and dry, I set about fixing the marks and dents in the acrylic. This was done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber.

The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the acrylic. Following that, I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the acrylic, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done.

As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the stummel. The first step was to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. Fortunately, there was very little debris in the bowl.

My next step was to remove the lava on the rim. For this, I took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim. This was difficult, given the rusticated nature of the rim, but I gave it a go and there was a bit of improvement. Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. It took quite a while and much cotton to clean.

I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused the remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.

To tidy up the briar, I wiped down the outside, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. I also used a toothbrush in the crevices. This did a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process was to scour the inside of the stummel with the same mild detergent and tube brushes. This was the culmination of a lot of hard work in getting the pipe clean.

I rubbed some LBE Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for an hour or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed the stummel with a microfibre cloth.

For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench polisher and carefully buffed it – first the stem with a blue diamond compound, then the stummel with some conservator’s wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best: the stummel looks smart and the stem is lithe and lustrous.

All done! This Granhill Old Original freehand looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘American’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5⅛ in. (131 mm); height 1⅞ in. (46 mm); bowl diameter 1⅜ in. (37 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (19 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1¼ oz. (37 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Fresh Life for a Stanwell Danish Star 02 Scoop

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by Steve Laug

I am enjoying an evening free to work on a few pipes. The next pipe on the table came from an a seller in Ogden, Utah, USA. Even though the finish was a dirty and worn it had some amazing grain showing through the grit and grime of the years. On the left side of the shank it was stamped Stanwell [over] Danish Star. On the right side it is stamped with the shape number 02. On the underside it is stamped Made in Denmark. The pipe is a bent egg and as the shape number identifies. The finish is filthy with grime and oil ground into the briar of the bowl and shank sides. The bowl had a thick cake and there was an overflow of lava on the inner edge of the thin rim. The stem was a bent vulcanite taper stem that fit snugly in the shank. It had the Stanwell Crown S faintly stamped on the left side of the stem. The vulcanite was oxidized, calcified and had light chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show its overall condition before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the thickness of the cake and the lava and dust ground into the finish of the rim top and edges. There is dust and debris stuck to the walls of the bowl clearly visible in the photos. He also took photos of the top and underside of the stem to show the oxidation, chatter and light tooth chatter. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar around the pipe looked like. There is some stunning grain under the grime. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It read as noted above and is clear and readable. I am always curious for more information on the pipes that I work on. Sometimes I have some history of the previous pipeman and sometimes not. This time I knew next to nothing of where the pipe came from so I turned ferret out information the Danish Star Line if I could find it.

I turned first to Pipephil’s site to get a quick idea of when this pipe line was made and where it stood in the Stanwell hierarchy. I found nothing (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html).

I also turned to Pipedia’s article on Stanwell but it did not add any further information. There were a series of photos from Doug Valitchka of the Danish Star but it was a different shape number – a 138. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell).

From there I turned to the section on Stanwell shapes and numbers on Pipedia to see if I could identify the designer (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). Finally, I found a bit of help there. It stated that the shape number 02 came in two versions – a Freehand, oval bowl and stem designed by Sixteen Ivarsson and a Bent Egg Shaped Bowl sloping top and full mouthpiece. Now I knew that I was dealing with the second. There was also a catalogue photo that I have included below that shows the shape 02 at the top left of the photo.

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the shape of the pipe. I am pretty sure it is a pipe that was made in the 80s or 90s. I was not certain but that is my educated guess. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had reamed the bowl with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the debris on the rim top and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove remaining oxidation on the ferrule and the stem. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. The rim top and the inner edge of the rim showed some nicks and marks after the cleaning. The stem had some light chatter on both sides near the button. The bowl was very clean and the stem looked good.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. I left out the Made in Denmark photo that is shown above. It was clear and read as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. I decided to address the nicks on the inner edge of the bowl first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage and clean up the edge. I was pleased with the smoothed out rim top and edge.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad with a damp cloth. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I touched up the stamping on the top of the stem. It was a Stanwell Crown S logo. Parts of it were faint but I was able to get some of the stamping to show up with some white, acrylic fingernail polish. Once it had hardened I scraped off the excess and sanded it lightly to remove the remaining excess. It certainly looks better. I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This beautiful Stanwell Danish Star 02 Sloped Bent Egg with a taper vulcanite stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Stanwell Danish Star Bent Egg fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 46 grams/1.62 ounces. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store shortly in the Danish Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

What a Lovely Captain Pete Made in Ireland 69 Bent Billiard

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by Steve Laug

This smooth finish, beautifully grained taper stem was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It is a great Bent Billiard with a rich brown smooth finish on the bowl and shank. The stem is a vulcanite taper stem. The bowl is stained with a mix of browns that highlight the grain around the bowl and shank. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Captain [over] Pete. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Made in Ireland in a circle. That is followed by the shape number near the bowl/shank junction and reads 69. The bowl had a thick cake and some tobacco debris on the walls. There was an overflow of lava on the rim top that was heavier toward the back of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish which left the finish looking quite dull. The vulcanite taper stem has a C circled around a P logo on the left side. There was some light oxidation on the surface and some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it.   He took a photo of the rim top and bowl to show the current condition. The bevelled inner edge and the rim top showed darkening and spots of lava as mentioned above. The photos of the bowl show the cake on the walls. The stem photos show the oxidation and light marks on the rim top on both sides. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a sense of the condition of the bowl and the grain around the bowl. The shape 69 is a beautiful Bent Billiard shape. He took photos of the stamping on the shank sides and the stem to show the condition. They are cleaned readable as noted above. The stamp on the left side of the stem was deep but was lacking in the white colour in the stamp. I have included the information from the previous Captain Peterson restoration. For me this is a part of the restoration. I turned first to Pipephil’s site where I found both Captain Pete and Captain Peterson (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-peterson-rep.html#captainpete). I have included a screen capture of the Captain Pete information and also one of the Captain Peterson information. I also included the sidebar information as well.Captain Pete was a brand of Peterson’s English branch (1899-1960). Dublin continued to produce Captain Petes a couple of years after 1960. At the end of the eighties just as the Sherlock Holmes range was being issued, Peterson reintroduced the modern Captain Pete series.Captain Peterson was a brand of Peterson’s English branch. This English made pipe was crafted prior to 1960.

From there I turned to the “Peterson Pipe – The Story of Kapp & Peterson” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg, page 295 to see what information I could find there. I quote:

Captain Pete – This line’s name was derived from the nickname of Charles Peterson, known affectionately by friends and employees as “Captain Peterson.” The first issue. C. 1940-62, was in a smooth finish produced for Rogers Imports with a white stamped P inside C or a circled P on the mouthpiece. CAPTAIN over PETE on shank, and MADE IN IRELAND in a circle. English made versions show CAPTAIN over PETE on the shank or “CAPTAIN PETERSON” and a PETERSON’S PRODUCT over MADE IN ENGLAND or LONDON MADE over ENGLAND. The second issue (1998-), features an XL bowl with Sherlock Holmes shapes and compact stems, in rustic or combination of smooth and rustic finish, with a nickel band between two narrow brass bands.

I knew that I was working on a pipe made before 1960 in Ireland. Thus, the pipe was a first issue C. 1940-62. It is a beautiful pipe that will need some work but overall was in very good condition for a pipe made before 1960. It was time to start my work on the pipe.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. Since Jeff always follows the same pattern of work in his cleanup we do not include photos but rather just a simple summary. Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the spotty lava build up on the rim top and you could see the marks on the top and edges of the rim. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it with warm water to rinse off the residue. The stem was clean and the oxidation was gone. I took photos of what the pipe looked like when I brought to my worktable. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim top and stem to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was clean and the rim top and the inner edge looked good. The stem was clean and there were light tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and is readable as noted above. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts. I sanded the bowl with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the debris. It began to look very good. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding the bowl and shank with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down with a damp cloth between each sanding pad. The bowl took on more of a shine with the completion of each sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my fingertips. I let it sit on the bowl for 15 minutes. I buffed it off with a soft cotton cloth to raise the shine. It was a beautiful piece of briar. With the bowl finished other than the final buffing I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the deep tooth marks on the button edge and the top and underside of the stem with a black extra strength rubberized CA glue. Once it cured I flattened the repairs with a small file and followed that up with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded the stem surface with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped it down with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad to remove the debris. It began to look very good.I touched up the logo the left side of the stem with some white acrylic fingernail polish. Once it dried I sanded off the excess and the logo looked very good. I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down between each pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. By the final pad the pipe stem looked very good.  I am excited to finish the easy restoration of this Captain Pete Made in Ireland 69 Bent Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished black, taper vulcanite stem was beautiful. This Captain Pete Made in Ireland 69 Bent Billiard turned out very well and feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.55 ounces/44 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in carrying on the trust of this let me know through a message or an email to slaug@unserve.com . Thanks for walking through the cleanup with me as I worked over this pipe.

Restoring A Great Looking The Doodler Imported Briar Pot with a filter stem

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by Steve Laug

This darker beautifully grained saddle stem pot was purchased on 08/10/2025 from a seller in Livingston, New Jersey, USA. It is a great looking Pot with a rusticated finish on the bowl and shank. The stem is a vulcanite saddle stem made for a Medico style filter. There is also a nickel band on the shank for decorative purposes. The bowl is stained with a contrast of various browns that highlight the grain around the bowl and shank. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads The Doodler [over] Imported Briar. The bowl had a thick cake and an overflow of lava on the inner edge and rim top the unique Doodler bowl. There was grime ground into the grooves and bands around the bowl sides which left the finish looking quite dull. The vulcanite saddle stem was oxidized, calcified and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem at the saddle area and ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it.   He took photos of the rim top to show the condition of the top and edges of the bowl. It is dull but quite clean with no lava. It is uniquely a beautiful pipe. The stem had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the finish around the bowl and the condition of the pipe. You can see the grime ground into the surface of the briar. The stain combination really makes the grain stand out. I look forward to seeing it once it is clean and polished.He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. The Doodler pipe designed and made by Tracey Mincer of Custombilt/Custom Bilt fame has always intrigued me. It may be the oddity of the design that first caught my attention. The rusticated bowl with one, two or three grooves around the circumference of the bowl and then holes drilled vertically connecting the rim to the bottom of the last ring just had my attention. I continue looking for them, both on eBay and on my treasure hunts through antique malls and thrift shops. When I had seen the drawings and photos in Bill Unger’s book on Custombilt pipes I picked up some of them. I enjoy the look and the smoking of them. If you are a pipeman you should at least give one a smoke and see what you think.

Jeff carefully reamed this Doodler with a PipNet pipe reamer and then cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the briar with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime on the rim top and bowl sides. He scrubbed the internals of the shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs, shank brushes and alcohol until the airways were clean and the pipe smelled fresh. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation and then let it soak in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed it with warm water when he took out of the soak. The pipe looked much better once the bowl and stem were clean. Before I started my part of the work I took photos of the pipe. It is a pretty pipe. I took close up photos of the bowl and the rim top to show the condition. It looked better and the inner edge and top were in very good condition. I also took photos of both sides of the stem to give a sense of the condition of both sides at the button. There were light tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and stem. It reads as noted above and is very clear and readable. The circle B logo on the stem is faded but should be easy to repair. I took the stem off the shank and took photos of the pipe to give a sense of its beauty and proportions. I worked over the darkening on the rim top and rings on the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It cleaned it up and it looked much better.I sanded the smooth parts of the bowl and rim with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the briar down after each pad to remove the sanding debris. It looked much better. I polished the bowl and rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped down the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. The finish looked very good (forgot to take photos). I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to get it into the grain. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Balm did its magic and the grain stood out. I sanded the stem to remove the chatter and tooth marks with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. There were marks on the top and underside against the button and also against the saddle stem. There were also marks on the bevelled edges of the stem surface.I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to start the blending process. It looks significantly better at this point. I wiped it down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I used some white acrylic fingernail polish to touch up the faint star logo on the left side of the saddle stem. I scraped off the excess white acrylic and buffed it clear. It is faint but slightly visible on the left side.I fit the metal tenon with a Medico paper filter and put the pipe back together. It looks quite good at this point. I am excited to put the final touches on this interesting piece of the Tracer Mincer story. It is a beautiful Three Ring The Doodler Imported Briar Billiard shaped pipe with a vulcanite filter stem. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful grain on the bowl sides, top and bottom. The polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl to make a stunning pipe. This Three Ring The Doodler Imported Briar Billiard is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 42 grams/1.45 ounces. I will be adding it to the Americsn Pipemakers Section of the rebornpipes store shortly. If you want to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Rebirth of a Hilson Epoque Largo 170/S Belgian Made Sandblast Dublin

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by Steve Laug

This Sandblast Dublin with a Saddle stem was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It is a great looking Dublin with a blast that shows the flow of the grain.  The stem is a vulcanite saddle stem. The bowl is stained with a contrast of blacks and browns that highlight the grain around the bowl and shank. It is stamped on the flat underside of the bowl and shank. It reads 170/S the shape number on the heel of the bowl followed by Hilson [over] Epoque [over] Largo. That is followed by Made in Belgium. The bowl had a thick cake and some tobacco debris on the walls. There was an overflow of lava on the rim top that was heavier toward the back of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish which left the finish looking quite dull. The slightly oxidized saddle vulcanite stem has a Hilson H logo on the left side. There are light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it.   He took photos of the rim top to show the condition of the top and edges of the bowl. It is dull and has the lava on the rim top and bevelled edge of the rim. It is uniquely a beautiful pipe. The stem had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The pipe has some nice grain that is highlighted by the stain and the sandblast. The difference adds a visual and tactile variation on the pipe. The pipe is stamped in a smooth section on the underside of the shank. On the left end it reads 170/2 which is the shape number. That is followed by the brand name Hilson over the line name Epoque [over] Largo. To the right end of the shank near the shank/stem junction it reads made in Made in Belgium. The photos below show that the stamping is very clean and readable. Before I started the refresh of the pipe, I did a quick review of the history of the brand because I like having that information in mind when I work on a pipe. I remembered at some point Hilson had been sold to Gubbels who made the Big Ben pipe. At that time, it moved from being a Belgian made pipe to being made in the Netherlands.

I turned first to Pipephil’s site to read what he had for information on the Hilson’s Epoque (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-h3.html). There were not any photos of the line on the listing. However, it is an interesting piece and I have included the sidebar information below the screen capture.In 1846 a German named Jean Knödgen started to produce clay pipe in Belgium. In the late 19th century Jean Hillen who married into the Knödgen family took over the company and changed the firm in order to manufacture briar pipe. Jean Hillen had 2 sons: Jos Hillen was responsible for sales and Albert Hillen was responsible for the production. After WWII Albert founded the HILSON brand (Hillen and Son) and exported his pipes all over the world.

In 1980 after having gone bankrupt, the Belgian brand from Bree (Limburg) was taken over by the Royal Dutch Pipe Factory.

From there I turned to Pipedia and read the entry on Hilson (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Hilson). It is a great read on the history of the brand. I am including it below.

Jean-Claude Hillen (other sources: Jean-Paul) founded a trading company in the City of Bree in 1846. He soon turned his main interest on pipes and other tobacco related goods.

Particularly in the 1960’s and still throughout the 1970’s the brand Hilson of Broers Hillen B.V. (Hillen Bros. Co.) was quite successful in many European countries. They produced large numbers of machine made pipes covering the whole range of shapes and finishes. The pipes were well respected for good quality and craftsmenship at very moderate prices.

Rarely seen there are also nice freehands from this era stamped MASTRO and signed by A.M. Sanoul, who is otherwise completely unknown as a pipemaker.

All the same, in 1980 Hillen faced major financial problems. At this time there was only a second manufacturer of briars pipes in the Benelux countries, the Elbert Gubbels & Zonen B.V. in the Netherlands. The Belgian competitor being in trouble, Gubbels used the favour of the hour and bought up the company. The reason is plausible: in some countries, particularly in Germany, Hilson held larger market shares than Gubbels’ mainstay brand Big Ben.

The Hillen plant in Bree was closed down shortly after and ever since then Hilson pipes are manufactured in Roermond, NL.

Given that the plant in Bree, Belgium closed around 1980 after Gubbels had purchased the company, I knew that the pipe I was working on had been made prior to 1980. The Made in Belgium stamp on the underside of the shank gave that information. I am not sure that I can get any closer in terms of a date for the pipe.

On this pipe, my brother’s cleanup work was the lion’s share of what needed to be done to revitalize it. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer to remove the cake and cleaned up after the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife. He scrubbed the finish with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the grit and grime. He scrubbed the rim top and was able to loosen the debris that had built up there. He rinsed the bowl under running water and dried it off. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and when he removed it he rinsed off the debris and product with warm water. He scrubbed out the airway in the bowl, shank and stem with pipe cleaners, shank brushes, cotton swabs and alcohol. When I received the pipe I was amazed at how good it looked. The stem would need some attention but that was about it. The bowl could be waxed and buffed with little other work. Jeff had done a great job. I took photos of what the pipe looked like when it arrived in Vancouver.
I took close up photos of the bowl and the rim top to show the condition. It looked better and the inner edge and top were in very good condition. I also took photos of both sides of the stem to give a sense of the condition of both sides at the button. There were light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It reads as noted above and is very clear and readable. I forgot to take a photo of the H logo on the stem but other than being faded is in excellent condition. I took the stem off the shank and took photos of the pipe to give a sense of its beauty and proportions.I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to get it into the grain. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Balm did its magic and the grain in the sandblast stood out. I set the bowl aside and turned to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks. I filled in those that remained with Extra Strength CA glue – strengthened with rubber. Once it cured I used a small flat file to flatten the repairs and recut the button. I blended the repairs further with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth after each pad. By the last sanding pad, it began to take on a deep shine. I touched up the H logo on the left side of the saddle stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. It was faint in spots but I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. Once it cured I sanded off the excess with worn 1500 grit micromesh pad. It looked better.I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I am excited to put the final touches on this interesting piece of Hilson’s Made in Belgium Pipe History. It is a beautiful Hilson Epoque Largo 170/S Sandblast Dublin shaped pipe. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful grain on the bowl sides, top and bottom. The polished black vulcanite saddle stem combined with the bowl to make a stunning pipe. This older Hilson Epoque Largo 170/S is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 42 grams/1.52 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be adding to the rebornpipes store in the Pipes from Various Makers Section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. It should be a great smoking pipe. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Rebirth of a Comoy’s Guildhall Made in London in a circle over England 77278 Dublin

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by Steve Laug

This darker smooth Dublin was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It is a great looking Dublin with a dark, smooth finish.  The stem is a vulcanite saddle stem. The bowl is stained with a contrast of blacks and browns that highlight the grain around the bowl and shank. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Comoy’s [over] Guildhall, both in upper case letters. This is distinct from a line of seconds that Comoy’s put out called The Guildhall. The right side of the shank is stamped with Made in London in a circle over England followed by the shape number 77278. The bowl had a thick cake and some tobacco debris on the walls. There was an overflow of lava on the rim top that was heavier toward the back of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish which left the finish looking quite dull. The vulcanite saddle stem has a thin Comoy’s C logo on the left side. It is hard to tell if it is the three part C. There are light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it.   He took photos of the rim top to show the condition of the top and edges of the bowl. It is dull and has the lava on the rim top and bevelled edge of the rim. It is uniquely a beautiful pipe. The stem had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the finish around the bowl and the condition of the pipe. You can see the grime ground into the surface of the briar. The stain combination really makes the grain stand out. I look forward to seeing it once it is clean and polished. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. The inlaid C stamp on the left side of the stem is also clear and readable.Before I started work on the pipe I wanted to try to understand the stamping. I have worked on many Comoy’s Made “The Guildhall” pipes but this is the first one I have worked on that is stamped Comoy’s Guildhall. I have worked on many that have the circular COM stamp so I knew this one was a pre-Cadogan made pipe by that stamp. The shape number also was a bit a anomaly to me. I am used to two and three digit shape number stamps but I am unfamiliar with the five digit stamp. I knew that 772 was the shape number for a ¼ Bent Dublin. I was not clear what the final two numbers meant. I turned first two Pipephil’s site to see if I could find information o the pipe in hand (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-g6.html#guildhall). I found a pipe pictured that is similar and has the same stamping. It has the same stamp Comoy’s Guildhall. The C on the stem is identical as well. It identifies that the pipe is from the Comoy’s Guildhall line. There was no further information. I have included the screen capture below.From there I turned to Pipedia to see if there was any information listed on the Comoy’s article (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s). There was a flyer on the site that has Guildhall listed on it and gives a brief description of the pipe. Have a look. Besides other information it says that Guildhall pipes are “especially selected for distinctive grains.” The pipe I am working on certainly has distinctive grain. I have included a screen capture of the flyer below.I did a bit more digging on Google and found that Charles Lemon of dadspipes had written a blog on his restoration of a Guildhall 28 Billiard (https://dadspipes.com/2018/12/14/freshening-a-pre-cadogan-comoys-guildhall-28-billiard/). I quote from that blog below. I have highlighted some pertinent portions.

The pipe is marked “COMOY’S” over “GUILDHALL” on the left flank, and “28” on the right flank along with a circular “MADE IN LONDON” over “ENGLAND” Country of Manufacture (COM) stamp. There is also an “F” stamped on the underside of the shank near the junction with the stem, which bears the classic Comoy’s three-piece C logo inset on its left flank.

These stamps tell me that this Guildhall was made sometime after World War II and before Comoy’s merged with Cadogan in 1980. The “F” stamp indicates a Fishtail bit.

One side note here – Do not confuse this Comoy’s Guildhall with the seconds line of similar name. “Comoy’s Guildhall” was a bona fide series within the Comoy’s lineup for a time, while the “Guildhall” seconds line was distinguished by a lack of the Comoy’s name and three parallel silver bars inset in the stem, similar to those of “The Everyman” seconds pipes.

I knew that Guildhall was a higher grade early pipe and was made after WWII and prior to the merger with Cadogan in 1980. It is also clear that it is a separate line from the Comoy’s The Guildhall pipes.

I also found a link to vkpipes that gave a little more information. I have included the link below as well as short quote on the line (https://vkpipes.com/pipeline/comoys-guildhall-giant-309/).

An amazing Comoy’s product made during the last pre-Cadogan period (1950-70’s). Among others Comoy’s brands and subbrands Guildhalls are always an object of a special interest and attraction of collectors from many countries – who knows, because of the glory and authority of the manufacturer or because of a mysterious aura of the three metallic stripes?

I now knew that Guildhall was a line of Comoy’s pipes put out that was made at the latest the late 1970s. I could not find any information on the five digit shape number.

Jeff carefully reamed this Comoy’s Guildhall Dublin with a PipNet pipe reamer and then cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the briar with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime on the rim top and bowl sides. He scrubbed the internals of the shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs, shank brushes and alcohol until the airways were clean and the pipe smelled fresh. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation and then let it soak in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed it with warm water when he took out of the soak. The pipe looked much better once the bowl and stem were clean. Before I started my part of the work I took photos of the pipe. It is a pretty pipe. I took close up photos of the bowl and the rim top to show the condition. It looked better and the inner edge and top were in very good condition. I also took photos of both sides of the stem to give a sense of the condition of both sides at the button. There were light tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and stem. It reads as noted above and is very clear and readable. The C logo on the stem is in excellent condition. I took the stem off the shank and took photos of the pipe to give a sense of its beauty and proportions. I polished the bowl and rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped down the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to get it into the grain. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Balm did its magic and the grain stood out. I set the bowl aside and turned to the stem. I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I am excited to put the final touches on this interesting piece of Comoy’s Pipe History. It is a beautiful Comoy’s Guildhall 77278 Dublin shaped pipe. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful grain on the bowl sides, top and bottom. The polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl to make a stunning pipe. This older Comoy’s Guildhall 77278 Dublin is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 47 grams/1.66 ounces. I will be adding it to the British Pipemakers Section of the rebornpipes store shortly. If you want to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Breathing New Life into a Comoy’s Guildhall 29646 Canadian E

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by Steve Laug

This darker smooth Canadian an oval taper stem was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It is a great looking Short Canadian with a dark, smooth finish.  The stem is a vulcanite oval taper stem. The bowl is stained with a contrast of blacks and browns that highlight the grain around the bowl and shank. It is stamped on the top side of the shank and reads Comoy’s [over] Guildhall, both in upper case letters. This is distinct from a line of seconds that Comoy’s put out called The Guildhall. The underside of the shank is stamped with Made in London in a circle over England followed by the shape number 29646. There is an upper case E next to the shank/stem junction. The bowl had a thick cake and some tobacco debris on the walls. There was an overflow of lava on the rim toop that was heavier toward the back of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish which left the finish looking quite dull. The oval, taper vulcanite stem has a Comoy’s C logo on the left side. There are light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it.  He took photos of the rim top to show the condition of the top and edges of the bowl. It is dull and has the lava on the rim top and bevelled edge of the rim. It is uniquely a beautiful pipe. The stem had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the finish around the bowl and the condition of the pipe. You can see the grime ground into the surface of the briar. The stain combination really makes the grain stand out. I look forward to seeing it once it is clean and polished. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. The inlaid C stamp on the left side of the stem is also clear and readable. Before I started work on the pipe I wanted to try to understand the stamping. I have worked on many Comoy’s Made “The Guildhall” pipes but this is the first one I have worked on that is stamped Comoy’s Guildhall. I have worked on many that have the circular COM stamp so I knew this one was a pre-Cadogan made pipe by that stamp. The shape number also was a bit a anomaly to me. I am used to two and three digit shape number stamps but I am unfamiliar with the five digit stamp. I knew that 296 was the shape number for a Canadian I was not clear what the final two numbers meant. I turned first two Pipephil’s site to see if I could find information o the pipe in hand (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-g6.html#guildhall). I found a pipe pictured that is similar and has the same stamping. It has the same stamp Comoy’s Guildhall. The C on the stem is identical as well. It identifies that the pipe is from the Comoy’s Guildhall line. There was no further information. I have included the screen capture below.From there I turned to Pipedia to see if there was any information listed on the Comoy’s article (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s). There was a flyer on the site that has Guildhall listed on it and gives a brief description of the pipe. Have a look. Besides other information it says that Guildhall pipes are “especially selected for distinctive grains.” The pipe I am working on certainly has distinctive grain. I have included a screen capture of the flyer below.I did a bit more digging on Google and found that Charles Lemon of dadspipes had written a blog on his restoration of a Guildhall 28 Billiard (https://dadspipes.com/2018/12/14/freshening-a-pre-cadogan-comoys-guildhall-28-billiard/). I quote from that blog below. I have highlighted some pertinent portions.

The pipe is marked “COMOY’S” over “GUILDHALL” on the left flank, and “28” on the right flank along with a circular “MADE IN LONDON” over “ENGLAND” Country of Manufacture (COM) stamp. There is also an “F” stamped on the underside of the shank near the junction with the stem, which bears the classic Comoy’s three-piece C logo inset on its left flank.

These stamps tell me that this Guildhall was made sometime after World War II and before Comoy’s merged with Cadogan in 1980. The “F” stamp indicates a Fishtail bit.

One side note here – Do not confuse this Comoy’s Guildhall with the seconds line of similar name. “Comoy’s Guildhall” was a bona fide series within the Comoy’s lineup for a time, while the “Guildhall” seconds line was distinguished by a lack of the Comoy’s name and three parallel silver bars inset in the stem, similar to those of “The Everyman” seconds pipes.

I knew that Guildhall was a higher grade early pipe and was made after WWII and prior to the merger with Cadogan in 1980. It is also clear that it is a separate line from the Comoy’s The Guildhall pipes.

I also found a link to vkpipes that gave a little more information. I have included the link below as well as short quote on the line (https://vkpipes.com/pipeline/comoys-guildhall-giant-309/).

An amazing Comoy’s product made during the last pre-Cadogan period (1950-70’s). Among others Comoy’s brands and subbrands Guildhalls are always an object of a special interest and attraction of collectors from many countries – who knows, because of the glory and authority of the manufacturer or because of a mysterious aura of the three metallic stripes?

I now knew that Guildhall was a line of Comoy’s pipes put out that was made at the latest the late 1970s. I could not find any information on the five digit shape number or the letter E on the underside of the shank.

Jeff carefully reamed this Comoy’s Guildhall Canadian with a PipNet pipe reamer and then cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the briar with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime on the rim top and bowl sides. He scrubbed the internals of the shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs, shank brushes and alcohol until the airways were clean and the pipe smelled fresh. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation and then let it soak in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed it with warm water when he took out of the soak. The pipe looked much better once the bowl and stem were clean. Before I started my part of the work I took photos of the pipe. It is a pretty pipe. I took close up photos of the bowl and the rim top to show the condition. It looked better and the inner edge and top were in very good condition. I also took photos of both sides of the stem to give a sense of the condition of both sides at the button. There were light tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank and stem. It reads as noted above and is very clear and readable. The stamping on the shank is faint but readable. I took the stem off the shank and took photos of the pipe to give a sense of its beauty and proportions. I polished the smooth patches on the bowl and rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped down the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to get it into the grain. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Balm did its magic and the grain stood out. I set the bowl aside and turned to the stem. I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I am excited to put the final touches on this interesting piece of Comoy’s Pipe History. It is a beautiful Comoy’s Guildhall 29646 Canadian E shaped pipe. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful grain on the bowl sides, top and bottom. The polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl to make a stunning pipe. This older Comoy’s Guildhall 29646 Canadian is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¼ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 37 grams/1.27 ounces. I will be adding it to the British Pipemakers Section of the rebornpipes store shortly. If you want to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

New Life for a WDC Royal Demuth Imported Root Briar 60 Apple Filter Pipe

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a great looking mixed finish Bent Apple with a vulcanite bit. It was one purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. The bowl and the shank are rusticated with smooth bands vertical around the bowl sides and smooth panels on the shank sides and round the shank end. The smooth bands extend up the sides and onto the rim top of the bowl. It is a great looking pipe. It is stamped on the sides of the shank. On the left side it reads WDC in an inverted triangle [followed by] Royal [over] Demuth. On the right side it reads Imported [over] Briar Root and under it and toward the bowl is the shape number 60. On the underside it is stamped Filter Pat’d. [over] 1934. The finish was dirty and had a lot of grime and grit ground into the rustication and the smooth portions. The rim top and inner edge of the bowl is dirty with a light lava flow on the edge and the top that was heavier toward the back of the bowl. There is a thick cake in the bowl. The stem is oxidized and has tooth marks and chatter on the surface. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. It showed a lot of promise. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the lava on the inner edge of the top. The lava is quite thick on the inner edge. He also took photos of the stem to show the oxidation and the tooth marks and chatter on the stem. He took photos of the bowl and heel to show the condition of the finish. The combination of rustication – tight pattern – and smooth portions look very good and are a great contrast to the polished vulcanite stem. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the shank sides and the logo on the stem. They read as noted above and were in excellent condition. Before I work on a pipe I always want to know about the background to it. I looked on Pipephil’s site and though there were many WDC pipes there was nothing stamped Royal Demuth and nothing with any of the other stamping on the shank sides of this pipe. I turned then to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/William_Demuth_Company). As always there is a great history of this American brand. If you are interested be sure to turn there and take time to read about it.Royal Demuth example with box and filters, courtesy of Doug Valitchka

There was an interesting example of the Royal Demuth provided by Doug Valitchka that has identical stamping to the one that I am working on. It is a different shape but it identical in terms of the stamping. It also looks like it takes a filter that is similar to the Medico filter but I will doulbe check that once it is thoroughly cleaned.There was also an advertisement for the WDC Changeable Filter Pipes that included the Royal Demuth. I have included that below.There is also a great article by Ben Rapaport on the Demuth – Dunhill Connection that is an enjoyable read (https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_Demuth%E2%80%94Dunhill_Connection%3F).

I now knew that the pipe was part of a line of Filter Pipes that WDC put out and that the filter system was patented in 1934. The stamping that the Filter was Pat’d 1934 tells that it came out after the patent was granted. However, I could not fine tune the date more than that. I also knew that the pipe I was working on was an older one because of the style of the stem – straight taper and smaller profile at the button ends.

Jeff carefully reamed this older striped WDC Royal Demuth Apple with a PipNet pipe reamer and then cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the briar with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime on the rim top and bowl sides. He scrubbed the internals of the shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs, shank brushes and alcohol until the airways were clean and the pipe smelled fresh. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation and then let it soak in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed it with warm water when he took out of the soak. The pipe looked much better once the bowl and stem were clean. Before I started my part of the work I took photos of the pipe. It is a pretty pipe. I took close up photos of the bowl and the rim top to show the condition. It looked better and the inner edge and top were in very good condition. I also took photos of both sides of the stem to give a sense of the condition of both sides at the button. There were deep tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank and stem. It reads as noted above and is very clear and readable. The stamping on the shank is faint but readable. I took the stem off the shank and took photos of the pipe to give a sense of its beauty and proportions. I polished the smooth patches on the bowl and rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped down the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips and a shoe brush to work it into the rustication. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Balm did its magic and the grain stood out. I cleaned up the aluminum tenon with 320 grit sanding pads to remove the oxidation and darkening on the surface. It was badly scratched so I would continue sanding it when I worked on the stem surface.I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks. I filled in those that remained with Extra Strength CA glue – strengthened with rubber. Once it cured I used a small flat file to flatten the repairs and recut the button. I blended the repairs further with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth after each pad. By the last sanding pad it began to take on a deep shine.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. With the pipe cleaned up and ready to go I fitted the filter stem with a Medico Paper Filter and it fit precisely like the original WDC paper filters.I am excited to put the final touches on this interesting piece of American Pipe History found in Bellingham, Washington. It is a beautiful WDC Royal Demuth Imported Root Briar Filter Pat’d 1934 Shape 60 Bent Apple shaped pipe. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful grain on the bowl sides, top and bottom. The polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl to make a stunning pipe. This older WDC Royal Demuth Imported Root Briar 60 Filter Pipe is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 34 grams/1.20 ounces. I will be adding it to the American Pipemakers Section of the rebornpipes store shortly. If you want to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Cleaning Up a Handsome Gourd Calabash

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by Kenneth Lieblich

A friend of mine recently returned from a local gun show and, as it so happened, someone was selling a few pipes there too. So, my buddy found this very nice (and very dirty) gourd calabash and bought it for a good price. He asked if I could bring some ‘vim and vigour’ back to this old boy. No problem, I said. Happy to help. No markings at all on this pipe, but no matter. Let’s take a closer look at the condition of the pipe. The bowl is beautifully-shaped meerschaum. It has some minor signs of wear, but nothing serious. Similarly, the gourd is in lovely condition. No external wear to speak of and the cork gasket is in good shape. The gourd also has an acrylic shank extension in nice shape. However, the inside of the gourd was filthy beyond words! Finally, the vulcanite stem is also in good nick (as my English friends would say). It has some oxidation and some tooth marks, but nothing to worry about. First things first. For the life of me, I could not remove the meerschaum bowl from the gourd. It was like concrete. I didn’t want to cause any damage, so I stopped and grabbed my heat gun. This softened some of the interior goo and – finally – allowed me to unscrew it.The stem’s calcification was quite substantial. I used an old butter knife and gently scraped some of the thicker accretion off. Doing this now helps later in removing the oxidation. I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result was a hideous, ochre-coloured mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface of the vulcanite. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew out the stem from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush.As the stem was now clean and dry, I set about fixing the marks and dents in the vulcanite. This was done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber. I left this to cure and moved on.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduced the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I removed the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the vulcanite. Following that, I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done. As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the bowl. The inner side of it was caked with old tobacco filth, so I grabbed a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the meerschaum. I then had to ream it out – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. Meerschaum is too fragile for a proper reamer, so I used 220-grit sandpaper on the end of a wooden dowel to clean out the bowl and it turned out very well. One of the frustrations of cleaning meerschaum is that once smoked, the stains never go away. However, I did what I could and it definitely improved. I sanded down the entire piece of meerschaum with my micromesh pads. I also rubbed some Clapham’s Beeswax into the meerschaum. Then I let it sit for 20 minutes, buffed it with a microfiber cloth and then repeated the beeswax process. Worked like a charm! Next, I had to do something about the incredible amount of filth inside the gourd. The photos don’t quite do it justice. This was no easy task, as the gourd is relatively thin and fragile. To use an oxymoronic term, I was aggressively delicate in my work. I used several items: pipe cleaners, a wire brush attached to my rotary tool, my pipe knife, and some dental and scraping tools. I had to use all of my experience and judgement here – I wanted to remove as much as possible, but not at the risk of any damage to the pipe. Fortunately, I managed to walk that fine line. I wiped down the outside of the gourd, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. I was pleased with the results.I sanded down the acrylic shank extension (but not the gourd) with only the finest of the micromesh pads. I also cleaned out the inside with cotton swabs and alcohol. It wasn’t very dirty. I then coated the gourd with LBE Before & After Restoration Balm and let it sit for 30 minutes. After that, I buffed it with the microfibre cloth. Finally, I applied some light lubricant to the cork gasket. Even though the gasket was in perfect shape, it’s a good idea to lubricate it in this way in order to maintain its elasticity. I set it aside to absorb and moved on.

Before I went off to the buffer, I gave the meer and the gourd another going over with Clapham’s beeswax rub. This really worked well. I only took the stem to the buffer, as meerschaum and gourds don’t tolerate those high speeds very well!

All done! This gourd calabash looks fantastic again and I am delighted with the results. I’m sure my friend will be too. Stupidly, I forgot to take measurements of the pipe before I returned it to him. However, I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.