Tag Archives: repairing bite marks

This one really caught my eye – a Special Collection Ben Wade with great grain

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table was purchased on 12/08/2021 from a seller on a Facebook auction from Durham, North Carolina, USA. The grain on this lovely Bent Billiard is what caught Jeff’s eye. It is a beautifully grained Bent Billiard with a vulcanite taper stem. The pipe is stamped on the left side and reads Ben Wade in script [over] Special Collection [over] London, England [over] the number 1. There was no other stamping on the shank. The finish had a lot of grime ground into the smooth finish on the bowl and some hand oils around the sides of the bowl. The bowl was thickly caked with an overflowing thick lava coat on the rim top and edges of the rim – heavier on the back top and edge. The stem was oxidized, dirty and had light tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside near the button. The top of the stem was stamped BEN [over] WADE in white. It had promise but it was very dirty. Jeff took some photos of the pipe 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 overflow of lava on the rim top. He also took photos of the top and underside of the stem to show the light chatter and tooth marks. You can also see the light oxidation and calcification on the surface. 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 build up of grime. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and the stem. It reads as noted above and is clear and readable. I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Wade) and found a pipe that was stamped like the one that I am working on. The cursive font used on the Special Collection on both pipes is identical.The difference is that on this one it is stamped Made By Hand on the right side of the shank which is not seen on the one I have in hand.  Mine is also stamped Ben Wade above the Special Collection stamp that was not seen on the pipe below. The pipes were made by Charatan. I am pretty certain it is one of the Ben Wade’s made by Charatan. The Special Collection stamp on the side and the London England stamp both make me also think of Charatan as the maker. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his habitual process that delivers a very clean pipe to me for work. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. 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. I took photos of the pipe once I received it.  The rim top cleaned up well with the lava coat removed. The inner edge of the rim had a spot of burn on the back edge and a small sandpit on the rim top at the back left side. The stem surface looked very good with a few small tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. The Ben Wade mark on the top of the stem is faint and the white has washed out.I took a photo of the stamping on the shank. It reads as noted above and is clear and readable. I also took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to give a sense of the shape and size.Now it was time to do my work on the pipe. I took the pipe to the desk top and started my work. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean it up and remove the damage. It looked significantly better.Once I had cleaned up the rim top and edges I polished the bowl and the rim top, sides and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad with a damp cloth. I think the flaw/sandpit in the rim top is the probable cause of it being a Ben Wade and not a Charatan, but it is beautiful. 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 clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about ten minutes and then buffed it off with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I turned the bowl over in my hand at this point examining it carefully and enjoying shape and the flow of the grain around the bowl and shank. It is really quite beautiful. The sandpit on the back of the rim top bugged me. It just stood out and it was a spot that I could feel with my fingers and it extended a little bit into the bowl itself. It just was a blemish on an otherwise beautiful birdseye grain rim top. I just had to address it! I used a tooth pick to put a small drop of clear CA glue in the pit. It was not a huge drop but just enough to fill in the pit and the small part that extended about a 16th of an inch into the bowl. Once it dried I sanded it smooth with a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad. I think it ended up looking better. I would buff it at the end of the clean up but I like it! I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I rubbed the stem down with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the remaining oxidation in the surface. It looked much better than when I started.I painted the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift them significantly. I filled in what remained with black rubberized superglue. I set it aside to let the repairs cure. I used a file to flatten the repairs and start blending them into the surface. I sanded them with 220 grit sandpaper. (I tried to touch up the Ben Wade stamp with white acrylic nail polish but it did not work well.) I started polishing the stem with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the tooth marks and chatter out of the vulcanite stem surface with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I finished my polishing with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra-Fine polishes. I wiped it down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set aside.This Ben Wade Special Collection London England Bent Billiard made by Charatan with a vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. 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 Ben Wade Special Collection Bent Billiard 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: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe 1.98 ounces/56 grams. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Makers Section soon. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

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.

New Life for a Bastia Billiard 408 made by Lillehammer Pipes Norway

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is an elegant Danish Straight Billiard with a mix of grain around the bowl and shank. This particular pipe came to us from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark on 11/14/2022. This Billiard was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Bastia [over] GL. It was stamped on the underside with the shape number 408. The pipe was in filthy condition when Jeff brought it to the table. The finish was dirty with oils and grime ground into the briar sides and rim. The bowl had a thick cake and some darkening on the inner edge of the rim. There was a lava coat flowing on to the rim top from the bowl – heavier on the back side than the front but very present. The stem was dirty – oxidized and calcified with light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. There was no stamp or identifying mark on the stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl showed some thick cake and some darkening on the inner edge. The rim top had a thick coat of lava on the surface, heavier on the back and right side of the top. The photos of the stem show the oxidation, calcification, tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the beautiful grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe.     He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above.     I am including the information from Pipephil on Lillehammmer pipes. It connects to the Bastia in sharing the GL initials under the brand stamp (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-l4.html). I have included a scan of the section on Lillehammer. You can see that the GL stamp are the initials of Gudbrand Larsen the founder of Lillehammer.I turned to the Pipedia site for more information (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Lillehammer). There I was able to learn the backstory and history of the brand. I quote in full from that article and include pictures of the two principals.

In the 1830’s a young Norwegian wood-carver named Gudbrand Larsen saw some pipes made from meershcaum. He though they were beautiful and wanted to make pipes like that, but he could not obtain the material. So he decided to go where it was to be found.

Gudbrand Larsen 91815-1902)

Larsen went to Eskisehir, Turkey, to learn all about meerschaum. But the most beautiful pipes in those days were not made there but in France, so he continued his journey to Marseielle, where he found work in one of the most famous factories at the time. In 1844 he returned to Norway and started a small factory for meerschaum pipes in the town of Lillehammer. The pipes garnered a good reputation from the first.

Gudbrand’s son, August, followed in his father’s footsteps and joined him in the business. However, father and son did not get along very well, so Junior–as August usually was called–did like his father once had, he traveled to learn more about pipe-making.

Martin August “Junior” Larsen (1855-1915)

Junior understood that briar, not meerschaum, was the material of the future, so during his journey he studied the subject carefully, first in England and then in France.

In Paris Junior earned a position with a pipemaker of good repute and became highly respected in his work. However, Gudbrand was getting old and considering retirement, so he asked his son to come home and take over the family business, an offer Junior willingly accepted. As a businessman Junior was even more successful than his father, and during his period of leadership the business prospered.

In 1902 Gudbrand Larsen died at almost 90 years of age. Then Junior passed away a dozen years later, in 1914. His death was followed by some unstable years for the factory because it lacked competent management. And World War I had just started on the continent, which made it difficult to obtain raw material.

In 1916 the factory was bought be a company that appointed new management, and a long, stable period of successful expansion had begun. That period was to last for almost half a century. The main part of the production was briar pipes, but they also continued to make some meerschaums.

Problems at the factory began again at the end of the 1960s, when sales slowed dramatically. The main reason was the “fancy pipes” had become very popular, and Larsen’s of Lillehammer had nothing to offer there. Something had to be done and two steps were taken. In the middle of the 1970s the Danish company Kriswill was bought, and in that way they obtained access to that company’s more modern shapes. A new designer was also employed, but these efforts were not sufficient, and in the 1979 the factory closed.

I turned to the Pipe Club of Sweden site to see if there was any more information. There was a great article on the pipe maker Bård Hansen who followed the tradition of the Lillehammer Factory and was trained by a retired engineer from the Lillehammer Factory thus tying him to the brand. In that article there is confirmation for the Pipedia information above (http://www.svenskapipklubben.se/en/pipemakers/bard-hansen/). I quote in part the article there by Jan Andersson. (Once again I have highlighted the pertinent information in the text below using bold, italic and underlined text and marking the main point highlighted in red.

In a Swedish tobacco shop, even in small places in the province, there were usually a fair number of pipes in the 50s and 60s with stems from aluminum. But even for the more traditional pipesmoker, who wanted a pipe from wood and ebonite, there was a lot to choose from. Ratos was the dominant brand, but for those who were willing to spend a little extra, there were usually at least a few more exclusive pipes – pipes in green or blue-checked boxes. Those pipes came from Norway, from G.L. Larsens pipe factory in Lillehammer.

Lillehammer pipes were found in two qualities, Bastia was a little cheaper and Lillehammer GL was for the truly discerning pipesmoker. Later I have learned that there were also more expensive and finer qualities, even one called Best Make, but those luxury pipes were never found in the shops in the small town where I lived. Lillehammer pipes were easily recognizable, they usually were rather slim and with a long stem, which was the fashion at the time. So while a true English gentleman smoked a Dunhill with the white dot on the stem, Norwegian or Swedish pipesmokers preferred an elegant Lillehammer.

We will not go into detail about the interesting story of Lillehammer, but unfortunately we can see that from the beginning of the 70s, it rapidly went downhill for the factory. They bought the Danish company Kriswill but that was not a success, nor was the new series of shapes created by the pipemaker Thorbjørn Rygh. So G.L. Larsen’s pipe factory in Lillehammer had to close, deeply missed by many of us. This feeling persists to this day, which is particularly evident in the great interest in the Lillehammer pipes at auctions and collector’s markets.

Gathering the data together from my research I have learned that the pipe I have on my worktable is made by Lillehammer prior to the buy out by the Kriswill Company with the hope that it would offer new markets for the Lillehammer brand. The Bastia was the cheaper of the lines and interestingly it also bears GL stamping tying it to the higher end pipes from the factory.

Armed with that information I turned to address the pipe itself. Jeff had cleaned up the pipe for me. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned it up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to clean off the grime off the finish and the heavy overflow of lava on the rim top. He cleaned up the internals of the shank, mortise and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove all of the oils and tars in the pipe. The rim top still had some darkening that would need to be dealt with but it looked good. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and was able to remove the remnants of the oxidation. When it arrived here in Vancouver it was a clean pipe and I knew what I had to work with. I took photos of it before I started my part of the restoration. The rim top had cleaned up pretty well but you can see the darkening on the inner edge. The burn damage on the rim top and edge at the back right of the bowl. The stem cleaned up very well. You can see the tooth marks on the surface just ahead of the button. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look.I decided to address the damage to the rim top and inner edge of the bowl first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge of the bowl a slight bevel on the inner edge to remove burned areas and blend them into the surrounding briar. I polished the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped down the bowl after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris.   I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl and shank with my fingertips 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. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the deep marks black CA glue. Once it cured I used a file to flatten them and start blending them into the surface of the surrounding vulcanite. I sanded the repaired areas with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I started polishing it with 600 wet dry sandpaper.   I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it sit and absorb into the vulcanite. I am excited to finish this Bastia GL 408 Billiard made by Lillehammer. 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 cross and birds eye grain all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl made a stunning pipe. This smooth Norwegian Bastia GL 408 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 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 34 grams/1.20 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection send me an email or a message. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

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.

Amazing Research in the Restoration of a Classic French Pipe

6 Replies

Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

Next on ye olde chopping block is a charming pipe from France and it dates back a century – or more. It’s a very attractive bent billiard pipe that I acquired in a lot from France. Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting a young man studying for the priesthood. While he as visiting the Vancouver area, he told me he was interested in acquiring a pipe. I had him over to the house and showed him many pipes. He picked this very pipe. He wanted one of modest size and this fit the bill very well. The briar wood was quite lovely and it had an equally fetching stem made of horn. There was also a nickel band around the shank which read, S [over] LV. This was next to some blackletter characters that I couldn’t quite make out. Meanwhile, the markings on the left side of the shank read: Dr Wolf [over] BTE. S.G.D.G. The Dr Wolf part was clear enough, but I needed to confirm what the other letters referred to. I was fairly sure this was something to do with French patents, but I googled to make sure. Indeed, it was a type of French patent, extant between 1844 and 1968. The letters BTE. S.G.D.G. stand for Breveté Sans Garantie du Gouvernement, meaning “patent without government guarantee”. As Wikipedia explains:

In France, the law of 1844 states that patents are issued “without prior examination, at the risk of the applicant and with no guarantee of function, novelty and merit of the invention also in terms of precision or accuracy of the description”. Back to the brand name, Dr Wolf. This was tricky – I wasn’t familiar with the brand Dr Wolf and there was nothing about it online – except for one seemingly unhelpful advertisement. This ad was on an antique shop’s website and it was listed as being from the “end of the 19th century”. I was annoyed by the lack of information, but I am nothing if not tenacious in discovering the history of pipes – especially French pipes, for which I have a particular fascination. I saved that advertising image to my computer, so I could show it in this article.My first step was consulting both Wilczak & Colwell and my own personal database of French pipe makers and, of course, there was no listing for “Dr Wolf”. However, in my database, the name, “Wolf”, did appear in the listing for a late-19th century pipe maker: CC Paris. Here is the write-up from Pipedia on CC Paris:

Every collector of antique pipes knows that pipe factory and retail store catalogs from the 1800s – early 1900s are as rare as hen’s teeth to find…and an even rarer occasion, when found complete and in good to better condition. This fragile catalog from this little-known French manufactory, merchandised its pipes with the logo of a triangle bearing the letters “C C Paris” embossed in fitted cases. Cases with this logo are known, but the Wolf and Mathiss name, until now, was not known as the factory behind the retail establishment.

Wolf & Mathiss was originally known as Cawley & Henry, a pipe manufacturer founded in 1867. The product line was fairly robust, catering to not only pipe and cigar smokers, but also to cigarette consumers, because the catalog includes cigarette rolling papers that, according to company information, had received silver medals at two expositions, Anvers (1885) and Paris (1889).Unfortunately, the name “Wolf” is not uncommon and there was nothing to suggest that this Wolf was the same as Dr Wolf. There was also no indication of what the given names were for either Mr Wolf or Mr Mathis. As a side note, I assume that the correct spelling is “Mathiss”, not “Mathis”, as shown on Pipedia. A 1907 copy of Kelly’s Directory of Merchants, Manufacturers and Shippers lists the name with a single “S”.However, the Pipedia page for CC Paris made me wonder about a connection to Dr Wolf. First of all, the pipes on catalogue pages shown there bear some resemblance to my Dr Wolf pipe – hardly a definitive clue, but interesting nonetheless. The other thing that struck me was the logo, shown here:There is no obvious reason why the logo would be of interest, but I recognized it and couldn’t remember where I’d seen it. I love researching pipe history, but it’s always frustrating when one hits a dead end. And then it struck me! That logo! I’d seen it in the very same advertisement I downloaded earlier. Here it is (zoomed in) and look what it shows!!!So there we have it – the Wolf of Wolf & Mathiss must, in fact, be Dr Wolf. I am delighted to have made this discovery. It completes the loop between the relevant pipe makers and demonstrates the origin of the Dr Wolf name.

Clearly, this particular pipe had been well-loved, as it arrived well worn, with plenty of filth inside, a few dents in the work, gouges in the horn stem, and scratches all over the rim. Interestingly, this pipe had an orific button at the end of the stem, a feature that apparently disappeared by the 1930s, so it must be around a hundred years old. For more information on the orific button, take the time to read Steve’s interesting article on the subject. Well, time to get to work! I started by wiping the stem with Murphy’s Oil Soap on some cotton pads, then cleaned out the inside with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. Fortunately, it wasn’t overly dirty, and it only needed a handful of pipe cleaners. One of the odd features of this pipe was that the tenon was also made of horn. I quite liked that feature, but it did make it a pain to clean. I built up the bite marks and gouges on the stem with clear cyanoacrylate adhesive and let them fully cure. Following that, I sanded the adhesive down with 220- and 400-grit sandpapers to meld seamlessly into the stem. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely grain of the horn on the stem, with some Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing.

Now for the stummel. Firstly, I decided to ream out the bowl. I used the PipNet Reamer to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper taped to a dowel to eliminate as much as I could. I took the chamber down to bare briar, as I wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the wall. I also took this opportunity to wash the stummel with Murphy’s Oil Soap and remove as much grime as I could. Following this, of course, I cleaned out the insides with the requisite pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. Boy, it was dirty! One issue that complicated the cleaning of the stummel was the mortise was lined with cork. This was a nifty feature, but I had to ensure that I didn’t damage the cork as I used the alcohol and implements to clean the insides. In order to restore it a bit, I added petroleum jelly to the cork with a cotton swab.The rim was so badly scratched that I had to “top” the pipe – that is, I gently and evenly sanded the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. This effectively removed the damage without altering the look of the pipe.The old patina was nice enough that it didn’t need a new stain so I cleaned it with some Murphy’s and then set it for a de-ghosting. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some Castile soap and tube brushes. Due to the wear on the rim of the pipe, I used my wood sphere, wrapped in 220-grit sandpaper, to create a beautiful, chamfered edge on the rim. This also helped return the opening of the bowl to round. I think the results turned out very nicely. I then finished it up by sanding with my Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit). Then applying some Before & After Restoration Balm added that je ne sais quoi which brings out the wood’s beauty. One of the issues you will have noticed in the photos is that the stem’s tenon didn’t fit well in the shank’s mortise. In order to make it fit properly, I built up one side of the tenon with some clear cyanoacrylate adhesive. This worked like a charm and the fit was perfect after I fiddled with the adhesive for a bit.I also cleaned the nickel band with SoftScrub and that worked well. I also gave it a polish with a few of my finer MicroMesh pads – then finished with my jewellery cloth which added some much-needed pizzaz. Finally, it was off for a trip to the buffer. A dose of White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax were just what this pipe needed.This is a handsome pipe with a classic look and feels very comfortable in hand. The lovely shine made the wood very attractive, and I know that the new owner will enjoy smoking it for many years to come. I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe as much as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

This Interesting Maltese Lovat has quite a history

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is a classic British looking Lovat shape. This particular pipe had a very dirty/grimy finish and some peeling varnish. It had some nice grain around the bowl sides and shank underneath the grime and peeling finish. It came to us from an antique store in Vancouver, Washington, USA on 10/20/2022. How it travelled from Malta, an island country in the Mediterranean, to the west coast of the US to an antique shop in Vancouver, Washington is a story I would love to learn more about. But that is a mystery that shall remain with this speechless pipe. The Lovat was stamped on the left side of the shank with a Maltese Cross. On the right side it is stamped Made in Malta. The pipe was in filthy condition when he brought it to the table. The finish was dirty with oils and grime ground into the briar sides and rim. The bowl had a thick cake and a heavy lava overflow on to the rim top. It was hard to know what the inner edge of the rim looked like under the grime. The stem was dirty with some light oxidation or calcification on it ahead of the button. There were light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. There was also a bite through on the underside of the stem ahead of the button. There was not a logo stamped on the stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl had a heavy cake and a thick coat of lava on the rim top. It was hard to know what the inner edge looked like at this point but we would know after clean up. The photos of the stem show the tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. You can also see the small bite through on the underside of the stem near the button. Jeff took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain showing through the brown stain and the peeling varnish that was around this bowl. It is a pipe with some great potential.    He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photo below and is as noted above. I looked on Pipedia to see if there was any information on the brand. It was listed under the article for the Briar Pipeworks Ltd. (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Briar_Pipeworks_Ltd.). There was not a lot of information on the brand there but it was helpful. I quote it in full below. I highlighted in bold the stamp on this pipe – Maltese Cross.

The Briar Pipeworks Ltd. (or Malta Pipes as they call themselves) is situated in Marsa, Malta and produces hand finished medium priced pipes. The company was founded in 1933 and specializes in Briar and Maltese Olive wood pipes in a vast range of models. They also produce custom made engraved pipes.

The current number of employees is said to be three.

Some brands / models made by Malta Pipes are:

  • Big Bill
  • Boschetto (olive wood)
  • Calypso
  • Champion
  • Comino
  • Darville (churchwarden pipe)
  • Dr. Stewart “Safety Smoke”
  • Filfla
  • Grandmaster
  • Maltese Cross
  • Mayfair
  • Portland Pipe

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He scrubbed the bowl with acetone to remove the peeling finish. He worked on the rim top lava and the darkened spots with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. The rim top had cleaned up pretty well but you can see the burn damage to the inner edge. The backside of the bowl is worse than the rest of the edge. There scratches and nicks in the surface of the rim top. The stem cleaned up very well. You can see the deep tooth marks on the surface ahead of the button and the bite through on the underside of the stem ahead of the button. It was going to take a bit of work to clean it up and repair it.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. I decided to address the damage to the front rim top and inner edge of the bowl first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge of the bowl a slight bevel on the inner edge to remove burned areas and blend them into the edge. I used an Oak stain pen to stain the bevel to match the surrounding briar.I polished the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped down the bowl after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris.   I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl and shank with my fingertips 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. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I decided to deal with the bite through in the stem surface. I greased a pipe cleaner with Vaseline and inserted it in the airway in the button under the bite through. I filled in the hole with black CA glue. I set it aside to let the repair cure. Once the repair cured. I flattened it with a file to start the blending process. I continued that process with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out. I started the polishing process with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. It was looking much better and the bite through was gone.  I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil.I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it sit and absorb into the vulcanite.I am excited to finish this Made in Malta Maltese Cross Lovat. 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 mixed grain all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl made a stunning pipe. This smooth Classic Lovat shaped Maltese Cross 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 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 31 grams/1.09 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Pipes from Various Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection send me an email or a message. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

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.

Fresh Life for a Peterson’s Dublin D1 Billiard Made for the Danish Market

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is smooth finished Peterson’s “Dublin” Billiard pipe that had a very dirty/grimy finish but had some good looking grain around the bowl sides and shank. It came to us from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark on 11/14/2022. This Billiard was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [over] “Dublin”. It was stamped on the right side and read Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines). Following that near the shank/bowl junction it is stamped D1. The pipe was in filthy condition when he brought it to the table. The finish was dirty with grime ground into the briar sides and rim. The bowl had been reamed recently in its history and the bowl and rim top were quite clean. The inner edge of the bowl was in okay condition with some light damage to the front of the bowl. There was a thin three layered band on the shank end with a piece of silver sandwiched by gold on each side. The stem was dirty but there was no oxidation or calcification on it. There were light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. There was a faint “P” stamp logo on the taper stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl and the rim top were clean. The inner edge of the bowl is in good condition. The photos of the stem show the light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the amazing grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe.     He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above.  I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s London Made England line. On page 298 it had the following information.

“Dublin” (1992-2003) An orange-brown smooth line with a brass-nickel-brass sandwich band, vulcanite fishtail mouthpiece, consisting mostly of D shapes released for the Danish market. Stamped PETERSON’S in script over “DUBLIN”. A tenth anniversary pipe for the line was produced with a sterling band stamped 2001. Market demand fell shortly thereafter and several  pipes stamped “DUBLIN” were released in ’03 for the Fourth of July commemoratives for the US market.

I looked further in the book for information on the D Shapes of Peterson’s Pipes. On page 239 I found the following information.

D Shapes. According to Tom Palmer, the D shapes were produced for Peterson’s Danish distributor Larsen and Peterson, Copenhagen, beginning around 1996, and to the rest of the world as early as the 1998 St. Patrick’s Day release. The idea was to create a traditional Danish looking line of pipes, shapes that were lighter and slimmer than traditional English shapes. Unfortunately, the bottom fell out of the Danish pipe-smoking market with the turn into the new millennium, forcing the company to drop all but the most popular of the D series, which at its height numbered around sixteen shapes. Beginning in 2014, however, new D shapes began to be added to the catalogue, including the 2018 Pipe of the Year, the D22.

Now I knew a date range for the pipe I was working on – 1992-2003. It was specifically made for the Danish Market for distribution by Larsen and Peterson of Copehagen. The D shapes were lighter and slimmer than the traditional English pipes. The D Shape connection pointed to a 1996 date for its Danish release. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and the darkened spots with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top had some looked quite good and the inner edge had some darkening and damage on the front. It should clean up really well. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth marks on the surface near the button. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. I decided to address the damage on the rim top and the front inner edge of the bowl first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage and bring the bowl back to round. It looked much better at this point in the process. I polished the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped down the bowl after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl and shank with my fingertips 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. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and touched up the “P” logo stamp on the left side of the taper stem with Rub’n Buff Antique Gold. I worked it into the stamp with a toothpick. I buffed off the excess with a paper towel and polished the stem with some Obsidian Oil.I polished out the light tooth marks and chatter on the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and it was ready to be buffed. I am excited to finish this Peterson’s “Dublin” D1 Billiard made for the Danish Market. 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 mixed grain all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl and sandwich brass/nickel/brass band on the shank and made a stunning pipe. This smooth Classic Peterson’s “Dublin” Danish Style D1 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: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 33 grams/1.16 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection send me an email or a message. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

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.

Restoring a Peterson’s London and Dublin 35P London Made Canadian

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is smooth finished Peterson’s London& Dublin Canadian pipe that had a very dirty/grimy finish but had some good looking grain around the bowl sides and shank. It came to us from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark on 10/03/2022. This Lightweight Canadian was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [over] London & Dublin. It was stamped on the right side and read London Made [over] England. On the underside near the shank/stem junction it is stamped 35P. The pipe was in filthy condition when he brought it to the table. The finish was dirty with grime ground into the briar sides and rim. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a coat of lava on the rim top but the edges of the bowl. The inner edge of the bowl was rough and looked like it had been reamed with a knife and had a lot of rough edges. The stem was dirty but there was no oxidation or calcification on it. There were tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. There was no “P” stamp logo on the taper stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is caked and the rim top has a lava coat and the inner edge of the bowl is rough and shows knife damage. The photos of the stem show tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the amazing grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe.    He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above.  I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s London Made England line. On page 296-297 it had the following information.

MADE IN over ENGLAND and variations shown below (1936-62) Peterson maintained a factory in England for about a quarter of a century, from the late 1930s to ’62. Corporate transcripts and London business periodicals suggest the London operation on White Lion Street was about to get underway in ’37. Only a handful of London hallmarked Petersons are documented, stamped with date marks of 1936 and 1939, and these have no COM stamp. Their output would be limited by the onset of the Battle of Britain in July 1940, but it seems reasonable to suppose pipes were made in the London factory during WWII, inasmuch as the K&P Staff Register lists twelve employees earning wages there in January ’44. London hallmarked Petersons have been identified with dates of 1949-54. Most London made Petersons in a collector’s inventory were made in these postwar years, from 1949 until the closing of the factory in ’62. This narrow range of dates is probably the most reliable indicator of years when the stamp and the variations listed below were employed. The presence of one variation or another on a pipe is not by itself a reliable indicator of age.

Made In over England

Made In England forming a circle

Made In England forming an ellipse

Made in England in a line

A “Peterson’s Product” over Made In England

A Peterson’s Product over Made In England

A Peterson Product over Made in England

Made In over Great Britain

Great Britain

London Made over England

London Made

Now I knew a date range for the pipe I was working on – 1949-1962. I have underlined and made the text bold in the above list to show the stamping on the pipe I am working on. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and the darkened spots with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top had some looked quite good and the inner edge had some darkening and damage. It should clean up really well. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks on the surface near the button. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. I decided to address the damage on the rim top and the hacked inner edge of the bowl first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage and bring the bowl back to as close to round as possible. The thinness of the walls did not leave a lot of room to work with so it is better but not perfect. I used a walnut stain pen to stain the inner edge of the bowl and the rim top to match the rest of the pipe. I polished the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped down the bowl after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris.   I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl and shank with my fingertips 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. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a “Bic” lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to raise them and I sanded the remaining marks to blend them into the surface of the surrounding vulcanite. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil.I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem. I am excited to finish this London Made English Peterson’s London & Dublin, Canadian 35P. 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 mixed grain all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl and brass band on the shank and made a stunning pipe. This smooth Classic Older Peterson’s London & Dublin English Made Canadian 35P 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: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 34grams/1.20oz. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection send me an email or a message. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

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.

Restoring a Friar London Made by Sasieni 52SG Made in England

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is a large saddle stem Apple with a smooth finish that was stained with a rich brown colour around the bowl and shank. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and reads FRIAR [over] London Made [over] By Sasieni. The right side of the shank is stamped with the shape number next to the bowl that reads 52SG. Next to the shank end it read Made in England. The stamping was readable. The pipe was purchased as part of an estate from Australia on 07/27/2020. It was dirty with grime ground into the finish around the bowl and shank. The bowl had a moderate cake with darkening on the inner edge of the bowl and an overflow of lava on the rim top. It was heavier on the backside of the rim top. There were some nicks on the front rim top. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had some chatter and deep tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. There was a logo stamped on the left side of the saddle that bore a faint shield with an “F” in it. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show their general condition. You can see the cake in the bowl and the thick lava coat on the top of the rim and inner edge of the bowl. The finish on the bowl is very dirty with grime and oils ground into the bowl, but still very stunning. The round saddle stem is oxidized, calcified and has chatter and tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the grain around the bowl and shank. It is amazing and I cannot wait to see what it looks like once it is polished and waxed. He took some photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank to capture it for me. It is clear and readable as noted above. He also included a photo of the faint shield F logo on the left side of the saddle stem. I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Sasieni) to see what I could find out about the Friar line of pipes by Sasieni. The write up there is a concise history of the brand that gives a sense of the background and development of the Sasieni brand. I quote a section of the article that specifically refers to the Friar line. I have highlighted that in bold text.

Through the post war years, Sasieni added shapes and lines. While the Four Dot remained their most famous product, the company also sold lines of “seconds” under various names, such as Mayfair, Fantail, Olde English, and Friar. These were pipes made of good wood, but possessed of some flaw, usually filled with putty. Pipes that were almost, but not quite, good enough to be a Four Dot were sold as Two Dots. I have two of these pipes in my collection. Both pipes are quite striking, exhibiting exquisite shapes and exceptional grain. At first I wondered why they were not Four Dots. Eventually, after long inspection, I discovered each pipe contained one very small filled flaw. In spite of this they remain two of my favorite pipes. However, it is clear Sasieni was determined to put the Four Dot logo on only the most perfect pipes.

Caption: Sasieni Friar Stinger marked ‘RUM 850’, and shaped like a Rum bottle. Some Sasieni pipes including this one were Rum cured. Courtesy Brian Robertson collection.

I also have included a shape chart that was included. The number 52s in the chart below is a Hurlingham. The pipe I am working on is a 52SG which I cannot find on the charts. I am thinking that because of the size of the pipe the 52 is an apple shaped pipe, the “S” is possibly a notation for a Saddle style stem. The “G” is possibly the notation for a Giant or a large sized pipe.There was also an interesting photo of the Sasieni Friar pipe and a comment about it being a rum cured pipe. It had a bottle shape stinger apparatus in the tenon. The pipe I am working on does not have that apparatus and the logo on the stem top of that one is quite different. I am including them for reference. Here is the link: (https://pipedia.org/wiki/File:Sasieni-Friar-Stinger-Rum850.jpg).

Caption: Sasieni Friar Stinger marked ‘RUM 850’, and shaped like a Rum bottle. Some Sasieni pipes including this one were Rum cured. Courtesy Brian Robertson collection.

The pipe I am working on is stamped with a unique 52SG shape number as noted above. It is a Sasieni that was called a second but for the life of me the grain on this one is quite beautiful and there are possibly some fills. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. 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 scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here in Vancouver. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show how clean the bowl and the rim top and inner edges of the bowl. You can see the darkening around the inner edge and on the crowned rim top. I took photos of the stem surface to show the condition and tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts. It is quite a stunning piece. I started my work by cleaning up the darkened inner edge of the rim and burned area on the back of the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. The crowned rim top cleaned up nicely. I polished the bowl and the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a shoe brush to get it in the grooves. It works to clean, restore and preserve the briar. I let it do its magic for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The pipe looks incredibly good at this point in the process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I painted the tooth marks in the vulcanite with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift them. I was able to raise them a little. What remained, I filled in with black rubberized CA glue. Once it hardened I flattened the repairs out with a small file. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the rest of the vulcanite stem and started the polishing them with 600 wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem. This Friar London Made by Sasieni 52SG Made in London Apple is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The brown stains really highlight the grain on the smooth portion and the rusticated portion. Once it was polished the finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. 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 Sasieni Made Friar 52SG Apple 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: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 67 grams/2.36 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the British Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in purchasing this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

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.

Cleaning up a Canadian Era 1970-1980 Brigham 343 Made in Canada Prince

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is an interesting looking mixed finish Prince that was stained with a rich brown colour on both the smooth upper portion and rusticated lower portion of the bowl and shank. It was stamped on the smooth underside of the shank. The stamping was readable. The shape number 343 is on the bowl side of the shank. That is followed by the stamping Brigham in script [over] Made in Canada. The age on this one is Canadian Era, nominally 1970-80. The pipe was purchased form a Facebook DND auction on 11/11/2021 from a sell in Salmon Creek, Washington, USA. It was dirty with grime ground into the finish around the bowl and shank. The bowl had thick cake with darkening on the inner edge of the bowl and an overflow of lava on the rim top. It was heavier on the backside of the rim top. The internals were dirty though there was no filter tube in the aluminum tenon. I would need to replace the Maple Distillator once I was finished. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had some chatter and deep tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show their general condition. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and the thick lava coat on the top of the rim and inner edge of the bowl. The finish on the bowl is very dirty with grime and oils ground into the bowl, but still very stunning. The round saddle stem is oxidized, calcified and has chatter and deep tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the grain around the bowl and shank. It is amazing and I cannot wait to see what it looks like once it is polished and waxed. Jeff removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the aluminum tube that held the Distillator. It was obviously removed from the tube but the inside was quite dirty.He took some photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank to capture it for me. It is clear and readable as noted above. He also included a photo of the three dot triangle brass pins in the left side of the saddle stem.Before starting my clean up work on the pipe I turned to a chart that Charles Lemon of Dad’s Pipes sent to me on the Dot system on Brighams until 1980. As the pipe I am working on is a fits in this time frame, it’s more accurate to refer to its grade by name (the post 1980 grading scheme refers to Dots). Here is the chart that Charles sent me. The pipe I am working on is thus a Brigham Exclusive with the 3 brass pins arranged in a triangle. For historical background for those unfamiliar with the brand I am including the information from Pipedia on Brigham pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history and background on the pipes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Pipes). Charles Lemon (Dadspipes) is currently working on a book on the history of the brand. Until that is complete this article is a good summary. I have included it below.

Roy Brigham, after serving an apprenticeship under an Austrian pipesmith, started his own pipe repair shop in Toronto, in 1906. By 1918 the business had grown to include five other craftsmen and had developed a reputation across Canada for the high quality of workmanship. After repairing many different brands of pipes over the years, Roy noted certain recurring complaints by pipe smokers, the most common referred to as “tongue bite”. Tongue bite is a burning sensation on the smoker’s tongue, previously thought to be due to the heat of the smoke (i.e. a “hot smoking pipe”).

He soon began manufacturing his own pipes, which were lightweight, yet featured a more rugged construction, strengthening the weak points observed in other pipes. The problem of tongue bite intrigued him, and he decided to make overcoming it a future goal.

About 1938, Roy’s son Herb joined him to assist in the business. The business barely survived the great depression because pipes were considered to be a luxury, not a necessity, and selling pipes was difficult indeed. In approximately 1937 [1], after some experimentation, Roy and Herb discovered that tongue bite was in fact a form of mild chemical burn to the tongue, caused by tars and acids in the smoke. They found that by filtering the smoke, it was possible to retain the flavour of the tobacco and yet remove these impurities and thereby stop the tongue bite.

Just as Thomas Edison had searched far and wide for the perfect material from which to make the first electric light bulb filaments, Roy & Herb began experimenting with many materials, both common and exotic, in the quest for the perfect pipe filter. Results varied wildly. Most of the materials didn’t work at all and some actually imparted their own flavour into the smoke. They eventually found just two materials that were satisfactory in pipes: bamboo and rock maple. As bamboo was obviously not as readily available, rock maple then became the logical choice.

They were able to manufacture a replaceable hollow wooden tube made from rock maple dowelling, which when inserted into a specially made pipe, caused absolutely no restriction to the draw of the pipe, yet extracted many of the impurities which had caused tongue bite. The result was indeed a truly better smoking pipe…

Charles Lemon has also written a great article on the stampings and marking on the Brigham pipes that fit into a time line that he has drafted. It is well worth a read and is fascinating. (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Pipes_%E2%80%93_A_Closer_Look_at_Dots,_Dates_and_Markings). I quote from the pertinent section on the time frame for this pipe.

Around the late 1960s or early 1970s, at the beginning of what I’ve called the Canadian Era (roughly 1970 – 1980), the stampings changed again as Brigham moved to modernize its logo. Pipes are stamped with the 3-digit shape number and “Brigham” over “Made in Canada”. Note these two variants of this stamping. The pipe I am working on is stamped with a three-digit shape number as noted above. The cursive Brigham stamp over Made is Canada (like the first photo above) tells me that the pipe was made between 1970-1980. It is made in the period Charles has designated it as the Canadian Era. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. 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 scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here in Vancouver. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show how clean the bowl and the rim top and inner edges of the bowl. You can see the darkening around the inner edge and the burn damage on the back topside of the rim. I took photos of the stem surface to show the condition and 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 is readable as noted above and though faint is clear. I took a photo of the three dot brass pins on the left side of the stem as well. It is in excellent condition. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts. It is quite a stunning piece.I started my work by cleaning up the darkened inner edge of the rim and burned area on the back of the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. The rim top cleaned up nicely. I had to give the inner edge a slight bevel to accommodate the damage on the rim edge. It worked well to minimize the damage at the back of the rim edge. I stained it with an oak stain pen to blend it in. I polished the smooth portions on the rim top and top half of the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a shoe brush to get it in the grooves. It works to clean, restore and preserve the briar. I let it do its magic for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The pipe looks incredibly good at this point in the process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I painted the tooth marks in the vulcanite with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift them. I was able to raise them a little. What remained, I filled in with black rubberized CA glue. Once it hardened I flattened the repairs out with a small file. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the rest of the vulcanite stem and started the polishing them with 600 wet dry sandpaper. At this point in the process of polishing the stem I stopped to fit the stem with the Rock Maple Distillator. I took one out of the box I have of the Distillators and fit it in the tenon tube.I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem.  This Brigham Made in Canada 343 Prince is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The brown stains really highlight the grain on the smooth portion and the rusticated portion. Once it was polished the finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. 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 Brigham Made in Canada 343 Prince 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: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 37 grams/1.31 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the Canadian Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in purchasing this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

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.

Tinsky American Long Shank Brandy Reg. No.11/90 over 9 over JBH 502

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

In the last box of pipes Jeff sent me there was an American Smoking Pipe – a Long Shank Brandy. I am a sucker for Mark’s Pipes and Jeff knows it so we pick up every one of them we can find. This particular pipe came to us from a seller in Clarkesville, Virginia, USA on 07/25/2020. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads American in an oval [over] Regd. No. [over] 11/90 MT [over] 9 [over] JBH 502. It was a beautiful pipe but another dirty pipe when we received it. The finish on the bowl and shank were beautiful but the grime and oils were ground into the sides. There was a thick cake in the bowl that overflowed as lava on the bevelled rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. It was hard to evaluate the condition of the edge or top with the thickness of the lava. The acrylic saddle stem was dirty and there were deep tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button and on the button surface itself. It had an inlaid logo on the left of the saddle – a silver star set in clear acrylic with what looks like a briar ring around it. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show their general condition. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and the thick lava coat on the top of the rim and inner edge of the bowl. The finish on the bowl is very dirty with grime and oils ground into the bowl, but still very stunning. The round saddle stem is dirty and has chatter and deep tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button and on the button surface. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the grain around the bowl and shank. It is amazing and I cannot wait to see what it looks like once it is polished and waxed. He took some photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank to capture it for me. It is clear and readable as noted above. He also included a photo of the star logo inlaid in clear acrylic in the left side of the stem.I have collected and smoked Mark Tinsky’s pipes for over 30 years now and thoroughly enjoy them. I cannot speak highly enough about the quality and craftsmanship of his pipes. I have pipes made by Mark and by Curt Rollar in my collection and both are great smokers and pipes that reach for regularly in my choice of pipes. I turned to his website for a quick summary of the history of the brand (http://www.amsmoke.com/Index%20Folder/PipeHist.html). I quote from the site as it is a short, concise history.

The American Smoking Pipe Co. was formed in 1978 by Mark Tinsky and Curt Rollar. Both started making pipes for Jack Weinberger ( JHW Pipes ) while in high school and throughout college. Determined to blaze their own path, they formed their own company- its goal to create unique pipes, lightweight and comfortable, where attention to detail was the rule not the exception. Exulting in their new freedom, they carved out new shapes that were balanced between the radical freehand era of the 70’s and the board pipe look of other conservative companies. Hungry for recognition, they stormed the Eastern and Southern shops looking for markets to sell their pipes. Many hidebound retailers refused to try something new, preferring to sell, well, what has always sold before. However, their pipes did take root in many shops and the business thrived.

They continued expanding their pipe making capabilities, adding employees to help finish the pipes. In 1990, over a disagreement over how much to expand, Curt Rollar left the company. This put a break on expansion and coupled with a U.S. recession and rising anti-smoking fervor served to limit production to supplying existing retailers, thus ending a decade of growth. With pipes sales in decline, we turned to pipe repair as a way to supplement revenues. Finding that we liked fixing things, American concentrated on pipe repair. While working hard at repair and manufacture American is ready once again to expand its markets through its existing network of shops serviced by pipe repair.

The pipe I am working on is stamped with a Reg. No. 11/90 MT9 as noted above. The stamp tells me that the pipe was made in November of 1990. The MT stamp signifies that the pipe was carved by Mark Tinsky. The 9 could be a size or even quality designation. There is also a JBH 502. This make me wonder if the pipe was a shape made for John B. Hayes, tobacconist. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. 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 scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here in Vancouver. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show how clean the bowl and the rim top and inner edges of the bowl. I took photos of the stem surface to show the condition and tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank and the logo on the left side of the stem. It is readable as noted above and though faint is clear. I took a photo of the Silver Star with a black background logo on the stem as well. It is in excellent condition. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts. It is quite a stunning piece.I started my work by polishing the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a shoe brush to get it in the grooves. It works to clean, restore and preserve the briar. I let it do its magic for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The pipe looks incredibly good at this point in the process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the deep marks in the acrylic stem with black rubberized CA glue. Once it hardened I flattened the repairs out with a small file. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the rest of the acrylic stem and started the polishing them with 600 wet dry sandpaper. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem. This American Reg. No. 11/90 MT 9 JBH 502 Brandy is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The brown stains really highlight the grain and the polished finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. 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 American Mark Tinsky Brandy 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: 5 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 77 grams / 2.72 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the American (US) Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in purchasing this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

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.

Refreshing a Piece of American Pipemaking Craftsmanship – a Lakatosh 6-83 Acorn

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

In the last box of pipes Jeff sent me there two Lakatosh freehand pipes. The first I have chosen to work on came to us from an online auction in Gonzales, Louisiana, USA on 09/04/2020. It is engraved by hand on the underside of the shank and reads Handmade [over] Lakatosh [over] 6-83. It was a beautiful pipe but a dirty pipe when we received it. The finish has a unique smooth finish on the bowl and shank with a ribbon of rustication around the top of the bowl and up the topsides of the shank on both sides. There was a moderate cake in the bowl that darkened the inner edge with a light coat of lava onto the topside. The vulcanite, fancy saddle stem was oxidized, calcified and there were light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work.He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show their general condition. You can see the moderate cake in the bowl and the slight lava coat on the top of the rim and inner edge of the bowl. The finish on the bowl is very dirty with grime and oils ground into the bowl, but still very stunning. This pipe has a Danish Freehand look to me with a bit of an American flair. The round saddle stem that has some oxidation, calcification on the surface of the vulcanite. There is chatter and tooth marks on the top and underside. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the grain and the rustication around the bowl and shank. It is amazing and I cannot wait to see what it looks like once it is polished and waxed. He took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank to capture it for me. It is hand etched and is clear and readable as noted above.I remembered that Paresh had worked on three of these pipes in India and I believed they were from his Grandfather’s collection. We had chatted about them wondering how they had traveled from Pennsylvania to India. I turned to the blog that he wrote on the restoration to have a look at the information that he had gathered when he worked on the pipes (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/12/30/a-tribute-to-an-american-pipecarver-john-l-lakatosh/). I was not disappointed… the old memory still held onto a few things. I quote from his blog for the history of the brand. He also included a photo of the pipemaker that is great.

… All these pipes bear the stamping “HANDMADE” over “LAKATOSH” over the “MONTH AND YEAR” in which they were made. These stamps are in engraved in a script hand on the shank end of each pipe.

I was keen to know more about John Lakatosh, the carver, his pipe making techniques and philosophy. I searched pipedia.com and there is a very brief write up on him. I reproduce the information available on pipedia.com for a quick read. [Editor: He quotes]

John Lakatosh was a carver from New Columbia, Pennsylvania. He made pipes in his home workshop in the Susquehana Valley up above Sunbury. John made pipes during the week and sold most of them at craft fairs in Central and Southern Pennsylvania. He retired from carving, to go back to bus mechanic work after the tobacco industry took a decline. He now lives with his wife in Lewisburg Pennsylvania, where he now crafts furniture for family and friends. He recently passed on March 8th 2018. (Primary/Familial Source)

As I was surfing the net for more information on Mr. John Lakatosh, I came across his obituary. Here is the link (https://www.heffnercare.com/obituaries/obituary-listings?obId=3010702)

With that information at hand I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. 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 scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation and calcification as possible. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe once I started to work on it.  I took some photos of the rim top and stem. The rim top and bowl looked very good. The cake and lava overflow were gone and the rim edge was very clean. Jeff had been able to get rid of all of the lava and tars. The rim top looked good with light marks and scratches on the surface. The closeup photos of the stem shows that it is a much cleaner and looks good. The light tooth marks and chatter were still present on both sides.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank to show the condition after the cleanup. It was very readable and undamaged. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe.I started my restoration work on this pipe by addressing the darkening around the inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the inner edge and the rim top with the same sandpaper. The finish rim top looked very good. I started my polishing regimen on the bowl. I used nine micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded the bowl with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. The bowl really shines by the final three pads.  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 photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and sanded out the tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage. I started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped them down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem. I don’t know how many times I have said this but I love it when I come to the end of a restoration and all of the parts come together and the pipe looks better than when we started the cleanup process. I put the stem back on the Lakatosh 6-83 Acorn and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank sides during the process. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is a real stunning example of a Lakatosh 6-83 Handmade Acorn. Once again, the grain and the way the shape follows the grain is amazing. Give the finish pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.69 ounces/48 grams. This Lakatosh Freehand is a great piece of pipe history that is in exceptional condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be putting this one on the rebornpipes store in the American Pipemakers Section. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for your time.

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.