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A Unique Twisted and Turned Jobey Dansk Handmade in Denmark 2

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Blog by Steve Laug

My brother Jeff picked up another Jobey Dansk Freehand pipe on June 6, 2022 from an antique shop in Cannon Beach, Oregon, USA. It had really unique shape and some nice grain with spot carvings around the bowl and shank. There was some plateau on the top of the rim and on the end of the shank. I have worked on enough of these to know that were Danish Freehand pipes were carved by Karl Erik. This one was stamped on the underside of the shank end and read Jobey in script [over] Dansk [over] Handmade in Denmark [over] 2 The finish on this pipe was dirty with dust and lava on the plateau top. The bowl was lined with a thick cake. There was thick dust in the rustication around the bowl and shank as well as the plateau on the shank end. The smooth finish was also dirty and dull looking. The fit of the stem to the shank was snug. It was a fancy turned vulcanite stem that was oxidized and calcified. There were light tooth marks on both sides of the stem at the button and on the smooth parts of the button on both sides. Otherwise it was a very clean stem. Jeff took of the pipe to show the overall condition of the bowl and stem. He took close up photos of the bowl and rim top from different angles to show the condition of the partial plateau finish. You can see the lava and build up on the rim top and the lava flowing over the inner edge of the bowl onto the plateau. It is hard to know if there is damage or if the lava protected it. The bowl has a thick cake that lining the walls and overflowing into lava. The next photos show the condition of the vulcanite stem which is oxidized and calcified. You can see the tooth marks and damage both on the surface of both sides ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the lay of the grain and the rustication around the pipe. It is a nice piece of briar with a unique and somewhat strange shape that is unlike almost all of the Freehands that I have worked on. Jeff took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank to capture it. It was clear and read Jobey Dansk at the top. Under that it read Handmade in Denmark followed by a large number 2. I wanted to look at who had carved the Jobey Dansk line to confirm some suspicions I had about it. I had a feeling that the pipes were carved by a Danish carver known as Karl Erik. I looked up the Jobey listing on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Jobey) and found the following information. I quote a portion of the article that is pertinent as follows.

English – American – Danish – French… Information about the brand Jobey are only to be found in form of smithereens…

Probably established in England around 1920(?) the brand hiked into the USA later. In the course of time owner, distributor and manufacturer changed repeatedly. As far as known:

George Yale Pipes & Tobacco, New York (1942)

Norwalk Pipe Co., New York (1949)

Arlington Briar Pipes Corp., Brooklyn (when?)

Hollco International, New York (1969).

Weber Pipe Co., Jersey City, NJ (1970’s)

The Tinder Box, (1970’s – 80’s).

Throughout decades Jobey pipes were mainly sold in the USA, Canada and England but remained almost unknown in continental Europe. The bulk of Jobeys was predominantly made according to classical patterns and mainly in the lower to middle price range. The predominant judgment of the pipe smokers reads: “A well-made pipe for the price.” So there is hardly anything very special or exciting about Jobey pipes although a flyer from ca. 1970 assures: “The briar root Jobey insists upon for its peer of pipes is left untouched to grow, harden and sweeten for 100 years. […]Jobey uses only the heart of this century old briar and only one out of 500 bowls turned measures up to the rigid Jobey specifications.” 99.80% of cull… that makes the layman marveling!

Yet then there are partially really exciting Freehands mainly in the seventies, that Jobey – Weber owned back then – bought from Danish pipe genius Karl Erik Ottendahl. These pipes were offered as Jobey Dansk – ’70’s pure! (BTW waning sales caused Ottendahl to discontinue exports to the United States in 1987.)

There was also an interesting Tinderbox catalogue page, provided courtesy of Doug Valitchka, that includes a note about the Jobey Dansk (https://pipedia.org/images/7/7a/Jobey1979.jpg).From that information I confirmed that the pipe that I was working on was carved by Karl Erik Ottendahl. There were some similarities to the Karl Erik pipes that I have worked on in the past. The dating of the pipe line in the 70s fits well with the pipe I have in hand.

Now it was time to work on the pipe on my end. When I received it Jeff had once again done an amazing job cleaning the pipe. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and got rid of the cake. He cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife so that we could see the walls of the bowl and assess for damage. It was in good condition. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol. He scrubbed the exterior with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He rinsed the pipe under warm water. He dried it off with a cloth and then let it air dry. The stem was scrubbed with Soft Scrub and soaked in Briarville’s Stem Deoxidizer. It came out looking very good. The finish on the bowl and the rim top cleaned up nicely. I took pictures of the pipe to show how it looked when I unpacked it. I took some photos of the rim top and stem to show the condition of them both when the pipe arrived. Overall it looked good. There is some darkening and damage to the inner edge of the bowl. The stem had some deep tooth marks ahead of the button and on the button surface on both sides.   I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is readable and in great condition.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to show the look of the pipe.I started my work on the pipe by addressing the darkening and damage to the inner edge of the rim. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to work and smooth it out. It looked better when I had finished.  I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down after each pad with a damp cloth. The bowl is starting to look very good. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and into the plateau rim top and shank end with a horsehair shoe brush 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 turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the deep tooth marks with clear CA glue. Once it cured and hardened I sanded out the tooth chatter and blended in the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper and started to polish it with a folded piece of 400 wet dry sandpaper. Once it was finished it began to shine. 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 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. This is a beautiful Jobey Dansk Hand Made by Karl Erik with a fancy, turned, black vulcanite stem. It has a great look and feel. The shape fits well in the hand with the curve of the bowl and shank junction a perfect fit for the thumb around the bowl when held. I polished stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the plateau on the rim top and shank end multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax. 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. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The rich combination of browns and black in the smooth finishes and the plateau areas took on life with the buffing. The rich colour of the briar works well with the polished vulcanite stem. I like the grain and finished look of this Jobey Dansk pipe. 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: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ wide, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 56 grams/ 1.98 ounces. This Danish Freehand is a real beauty. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipe Making Section shortly if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for your time.

Fresh Life for The Everyman London Pipe 215 Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

This next pipe is another that has been here for a very long time. I have no idea where I purchased it or whether it came to me in a trade for labour. I don’t remember. I have worked on quite a few of these Comoy’s made The Everyman Pipes over the years and find that they are well made and quite nice. The pipe is stamped on the underside and reads The [over] Everyman [over] London Pipe [over] the shape number 215. That is followed by Made in London [over] England. This  particular pipe has a rugged and deep sandblast around the bowl and shank. It has been stained with a dark brown stain. The bowl had been well reamed but there was some lava on the rim top blast. It was slightly out of round with some damage on the back inner edge of the bowl. Internally it smelled like an aromatic tobacco like Half and Half. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had some tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside ahead of the button. I took some photos of the pipe to give a sense of what I saw before I started my clean up work.   I took photos of the rim top and inner edge of the bowl to show the lava coat in the sandblast rim top and some burn damage and darkening on the inner edge of the bowl. The photos of the stem show the oxidation, calcification and the 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 clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the proportion. Before starting my cleanup work on the pipe I turned my favourite go to sites on background of brands. The first is Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-e4.html). There I looked up The Everyman brand and confirmed what I remembered about it being made by Comoy’s. From there I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s). I went directly to the section on Comoy’s pipes. At the bottom of the article I found links for a shape list and also a shape chart. I have included both of them below. The shape number 215 is shown as a small ½ Bent Billiard.I have circled the 215 shape in the Comoy’s shape chart below.Now it was time to work on the pipe. I decided to address the stench in the pipe first so I could work on a clean pipe. The pipe bowl had been reamed and it was quite clean so I turned to clean the mortise and the airway in the shank and stem. I scrubbed the out with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and Isopropyl 99% alcohol. Many pipe cleaners and much time passed and the draught was clean and open in both the stem and the shank.  With that done I worked on the lava build up on the rim top and the burn damage and darkening on the inner edge of the rim. I worked over the rim top with a brass bristle wire brush and two dental picks to clean out the grooves of the sandblast. I rusticated the sandblasted rim to further rough up the surface and remove the tars. I used a small conical burr to remove the damaged areas and reshape the rim top.   I used a Walnut Stain pen to stain the rim top rustication to match the other parts of the blasted rim top. I actually looks quite good. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the edge a light bevel to minimize the damage and bring the bowl back to round.   With that part of the work done I decided it was time to address the ghost in pipe with alcohol and cotton bolls. I stuffed the bowl with cotton bolls and twisted one into a plug that I pushed into the shank end. I set the bowl upright in an old ice cube tray and filled it with alcohol using an ear syringe. I set it aside to do its work over night.    I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into finish 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 Restoration Balm really makes the grain stands out beautifully.   I cleaned the exterior of the stem with some Soft Scrub All Purpose cleanser and cotton pads. I was able to remove a lot of oxidation and calcification from the stem surface. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I used the flame of a Bic lighter to “paint” the surface of the stem to lift the tooth marks on both sides of the stem. The heat lifted many of the marks. I filled in what remained with clear CA glue and set it aside to harden.  Once the repairs cured on the top and underside of the stem I filed them flat and recut the button edge with a small file. I sanded them with a folded piece of 220 sandpaper. I started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine and buffed it with a cotton pad. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry.  The Everyman London Pipe 215 Bent Billiard was finished. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I used a very light touch so as not to damage the stamping on the shank. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax 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 pipe polished up pretty nicely. The depths of the sandblast came alive with the buffing and works well with the polished black vulcanite saddle stem. Altogether the pipe has a rich look. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. 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 1.55 ounces/45 grams. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipemakers Section soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me. I have one of these and they are a cool dry smoke. Thanks for walking through the restoration of this fine old Comoy’s made pipe. It was a pleasure to work on.

Can this one be brought back to life? A Butz-Choquin Rocamar 1319 Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is French made Bent Billiard with rugged sandblast that looks like it was helped along by a guided hand. Jeff purchased it on eBay on 04/14/17 from a seller in New Tripoli, Pennsylvania, USA. The shape of it fits well in the hand and has a tactile feel as well. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Butz-Choquin [over] Rocamar. That is followed by St. Claude France [over] the shape number 1319. Rocamar in Spanish means Rocklike and that applies well to the finish on this one. The finish appears to be a rugged sandblast but I am not sure if it is as it appears. The finish is a rich reddish brown colour and it is dirty with grime ground into the grooves of the finish. The bowl had a thick cake in it and a thick overflow of lava spills over the rim top. It is thick enough to make assessing the edges hard to do. The bent taper Cumberland stem was oxidized, calcified and had deep tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button and on the button surface itself. There was a BC logo encased in a circular, clear acrylic inlay on the left side of the stem. There was a band on the end of the stem composed of twin brass rings and a wafer of briar between them. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on the clean up. The exterior of the pipe was very dirty – grime and grit ground into the blasted/carved finish from years of use and sitting. The rim top was covered with a coat of thick lava that overflowed from the thick cake in the bowl. It was hard to know what the rim edges looked like because of the lava. The stem was dirty, calcified and oxidized with tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside of the stem ahead of the button and on the button surface. Jeff took a photo of the side and the heel of the bowl to give a better feel for the condition of the briar around the bowl. It is an interesting finish that has the look of a sandblast but also seems to look like some rustication/carving as well. The next photos show the stamping on the underside of the shank and it is very readable. It reads as noted above.  Jeff also took a photo of the chipped edge of the shank on the right side where it met the stem band. It appeared that someone had tried to pry off the stem from the shank and damaged the shank end in the process.I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-butzchoquin.html) to see if I could find any information on the Rocamar line. There was nothing there on the line itself to help me understand more about it. There was a good summary of the history of the brand that I have included below.

The origin of the brand reaches back to 1858 when Jean-Baptiste Choquin in collaboration with his son-in-law Gustave Butz created their first pipe in Metz (France). Since 1951 Butz-Choquin Site officiel Butz Choquin, pipes de Saint-Claude jura. BC pipe de bruyere luxe is a brand of the Berrod-Regad group (Saint-Claude, France).

Jean Paul Berrod managed the company from 1969 to 2002 when he retired and sold the corporate to Mr Fabien Gichon. Denis Blanc, already owner of EWA, took over the S.A. Berrod-Regad in 2006.

I then turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Butz-Choquin) to see if I could find any info on the Rocamar line. There was nothing there either but there was further information on the brand itself. I have included it below.

The pipe, from Metz to Saint-Claude.

Jean-Baptiste Choquin of Metz started out as a tobacconist. This enterprise was prosperous; he had several employees. Among those, there was a certain Gustave Butz who was its first workman and who became his son-in-law by marrying Choquin’s daughter Marie in 1858.

In 1858 Jean-Baptiste Choquin created, in collaboration with Gustave Butz, the Choquin pipe. This bent pipe with a flat-bottomed bowl was finished with an albatross-bone mouthpiece, fixed with silver rings.

In 1858, still in Metz, Gustave Butz built an establishment for the manufacture of the Choquin pipe which took the name of . In 1951, the Berrod-Regad company bought the trademark, continuing manufacture until 2002. Departing from Metz, the workshop was relocated to Saint-Claude, then also called “the world capital of the briar pipe”, under the Berrod-Regad group. The Berrod-Regad group would go on to completely rebuild the network of representatives until finally entering the export market in 1960 and has since won several prizes, as well as the Gold Cup of French good taste.

In a few years, the brand’s collection increased from ten to seventy series. 135 years after it was founded, the pipe is still well-known not only in France but throughout the world. In 2002, the Berrod family, wishing to preserve manufacture of pipes in Saint-Claude, handed over the company to Fabien Guichon, a native of the area, who will continue to develop the brand during the 21st century.

The site also had some catalogue pages showing the various shape numbers thanks to Doug Valitchka (https://pipedia.org/images/0/03/BC_Shape02.jpg). I am including a screen capture of the page that shows the shape 1319 Bent Billiard. I have circled it in red in the chart below.Jeff had reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks much better but there is still some darkening on the rim top and edges of the bowl. Jeff scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the vulcanite. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked a lot better. It has been sitting here for 5 years so it is about time I worked on it. I took photos this morning before I started my part of the work.  I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. I wanted to show the cleaned bowl and rim top. The rim top and the inner and outer edges of the bowl were in good condition. The top of the bowl had some darkening in the grooves of the carved surface of the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks on the stem surface. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank and it is faint but readable. It is stamped as noted above.   I removed the stem for the shank and took a photo of the bowl and stem to give a picture of what it looked like. The Rocamar finish is totally unique.I started my work on the pipe by addressing the chip on the right end side of the shank where it met the stem. I used a dental spatula to rebuild the chip with clear CA glue and briar dust. Once it cured I sanded the repair smooth. With the repair finished I turned my attention to the darkening on the rim top and inner edge. I wiped the rim top and edge down with some acetone on a cotton pad. I used a brass bristle wire brush to clean up the grooves in the carving on the rim top. I also used the wire brush on the rest of the bowl as well to clean up the debris of time in the box here. The bowl and the rim top came out looking much better.I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horse hair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth and shoe brush to raise the shine.  I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I used the flame of a Bic lighter to “paint” the surface of the stem to lift the tooth marks on both sides of the stem. The heat lifted many of the marks. I filled in what remained with clear CA glue and set it aside to harden.  Once the repairs cured on the top and underside of the stem I filed them flat and recut the button edge with a small file. I sanded them with a folded piece of 220 sandpaper. I started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.   I polished the vulcanite 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.  I left a little oxidation around the stamp so as not to damage it more.   This Butz-Choquin Rocamar 1319 Bent Billiard was a fun one to work on. Did we achieve our goal of bringing it back to life? In the end, you have to decide. To my mind it cleaned up really well and looks very good. The Before & After Restoration Balm brought the colours and grain out in the sandblast/carve finish on the pipe. It works well with the polished Cumberland taper stem. 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 multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I 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 Butz-Choquin Rocamar Bent Billiard fits nicely in the hand and I think it will feel great as it heats up with a good tobacco. The tactile finish will add to the experience. 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 2.15 ounces/61 grams. If you are interested in carrying the previous pipeman’s legacy with this pipe send me a message or an email. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the French Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Cleaning up a Mystery Pipe – a London Special 184 Bent

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is an old timer, at least by appearance it is one to me. Jeff purchase the pipe on 07/10/19 from a shop in Salem, Oregon, USA. I love the shape of it as it is a shape that fits well in the hand. The pipe is stamped on the left side and reads London [over] Special. On the right side it is stamped with a shape number 184 next to the bowl/shank junction. Ahead of that it bears  the stamping Made in London in a circle over England. It is a typical COM stamp that points to Comoy’s being the maker of the pipe. The shape number also seems to me to be a Comoy’s shape but we will look into that. The finish is a rich reddish brown colour and it is dirty with grime ground into it. The bowl had a thick cake in it and a thick overflow of lava spills over the rim top. It is thick enough to make assessing the edges hard to do. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There were not any identifying marks or logos on the stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on the clean up. It really has the shape of a classic older pipe. The exterior of the pipe was very dirty – grime and grit ground in from years of use and sitting. The rim top was covered with a coat of thick lava that overflowed from the thick cake in the bowl. It was hard to know what the rim edges looked like because of the lava. The stem was dirty, calcified and oxidized with tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside of the stem at the button. Jeff took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to give a better feel for the condition of the briar around the bowl. It is a great looking piece of briar even with the flaws that show through. The next photos show the stamping on the sides of the shank and it is very readable. It reads on both sides as noted above.  I looked on both Pipedia and Pipephil’s sites for information on the London Special brand. Neither site had any information about that particular stamping. The name stamp obviously remains a bit of a mystery. The COM stamp on the shank was a Comoy’s style stamp as noted above. I would need to move ahead and do some work on the shape number to see if I could link it to Comoy’s.

I turned to Pipedia’s Comoy’s shape chart and sure enough the 184 shape was a Comoy’s shape. I have included the link (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s_Shape_Number_Chart). I did a screen capture of the section on the 184 shape. The shape is a Medium sized pipe that was called a GLOBE and has a ½ bent stem.I now knew that the pipe I was working on was made by Comoy’s (thanks to the shape number and the COM stamp on the shank). It was a beauty for sure and one that would only become more beautiful as it was restored.

I really enjoy working on older classic shaped pipes so I was glad to be working on this one. Jeff had reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks better but there is still some darkening on the rim top and edges of the bowl. Jeff scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the vulcanite. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked a lot better. I took photos before I started my part of the work.  I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. I wanted to show what cleaned bowl and rim top looked like. The rim top and the inner and outer edges of the bowl were in good condition. The top of the bowl had some darkening and nicks in the surface of the bowl. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks and the remaining oxidation on the stem surface. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and it is clear and readable. It is stamped as noted above.   I removed the stem for the shank and took a photo of the bowl and stem to give a picture of what it looked like. It really is a great looking pipe.I started my work on the pipe by addressing the damage on the rim top. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the darkening and damage on the rim top. I was able to remove it all and the rim top and edges looked very good. I polished down the briar with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the dust and debris on the briar. The bowl took on more and more of a shine as I worked my way through the pads.  I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horse hair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth and shoe brush to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I used a Bic lighter to “paint” the surface of the stem with the flame to lift the tooth marks on both sides of the stem. The heat lifted many of the marks. I filled in what remained with clear CA glue and set it aside to harden.   Once the repairs cured on the top and underside of the stem I filed them flat and recut the button edge with a small file. I sanded them with a folded piece of 220 sandpaper. I started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.   I polished the vulcanite 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.  I left a little oxidation around the stamp so as not to damage it more.    This London Special 184 Bent Globe cleaned up really well and looks very good. The Before & After Restoration Balm brought the colours and grain out in the rusticated finish on the pipe. It works well with the polished vulcanite taper stem. 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. I 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 London Special Bent Globe fits nicely in the hand and I think it will feel great as it heats up with a good tobacco. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ 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 1.41 ounces/40 grams. If you are interested in carrying the previous pipeman’s legacy with this pipe send me a message or an email. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

A Rebirth for a Savinelli Capri Root Briar 411 Zulu

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table has one of my favourite finishes – a deeply rusticated one with what appears to have originally been a natural finished. We purchased this one on eBay on 10/06/16 from a fellow in Onalaska, Washington, USA. It is a Savinelli Capri Root Briar Zulu with a rusticated finish (looks a lot like the Castello Sea Rock finish). The coral like rustication around the bowl and shank was filled in with dust and debris. The natural finish was dirty and the high spots are darkened by hand oils and grime ground into briar. The pipe was stamped on underside of the shank. It is stamped Savinelli Capri [over] Root Briar followed by Savinelli “S” shield logo followed by Italy over the shape number 411. There was a thick cake in the bowl and lava overflow on the inner edges and the rim top. The vulcanite stem was oxidized and had tooth marks and chatter ahead of the button on both sides. Jeff took photos of the pipe to show its general condition before he did his cleanup.As I mentioned above the exterior of the pipe was very dirty – grime and grit ground in from years of use and sitting. The rim top was covered with a coat of thick lava that overflowed from the thick cake in the bowl. It was hard to know what the rim edges looked like because of the lava. The stem was dirty, calcified and oxidized with tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside of the stem at the button. Jeff took a photo of the right side and the heel of the bowl to give a better feel for the condition of the briar around the bowl. It is a great looking piece of briar with a deep rustication.The next photo show the stamping on the underside of the shank and it is very readable. It reads as noted above.I have always like the Savinelli Capri Root Briar finish so I was glad to be working on this one. Jeff had reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks better but there is still darkening on the sides of the bowl and shank. There is also some darkening on the rim top as well. Jeff scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked a lot better. I took photos before I started my part of the work.  I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. I wanted to show what cleaned bowl and rim top looked like. The rim top and the inner and outer edges of the bowl were in excellent condition. The top of the bowl was quite dark around three sides. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks and the remaining oxidation on the stem surface.  I took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank and it is clear and readable. It is stamped as noted above.I removed the stem for the shank and took a photo of the bowl and stem to give a picture of what it looked like. The remaining oxidation is very visible.I started my work on the pipe by addressing the darkening of the rim top. I used a brass bristle wire brush and some common dish soap to de-grease the bowl and the rim top. I worked over the bowl and the top with the brush and was able to remove the grime and much of the darkening.  I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horse hair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth and shoe brush to raise the shine.     I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I used a Bic lighter to “paint” the surface of the stem with the flame to lift the tooth marks on both sides of the stem. The heat lifted many of the marks. I filled in what remained with clear CA glue and set it aside to harden.   Once the repairs cured on the top and underside of the stem I filed them flat and recut the button edge with a small file. I sanded them with a folded piece of 220 sandpaper. I started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.   I polished the vulcanite 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.  I left a little oxidation around the stamp so as not to damage it more.  This Savinelli Capri Root Briar 411 Zulu cleaned up really well and looks very good. The Before & After Restoration Balm brought the colours and grain out in the rusticated finish on the pipe. It works well with the polished oval vulcanite taper stem. 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 multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I 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 Capri Root Briar 411 Zulu fits nicely in the hand and I think it will feel great as it heats up with a good tobacco. The tactile finish will add to the experience. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.20 ounces/34 grams. If you are interested in carrying the previous pipeman’s legacy with this pipe send me a message or an email. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Reconstructing The Rim And Sprucing Up a 1961 Dunhill Bruyere Billiard

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

It’s been a long while since I have posted any write ups here and the primary reason is my laziness. I know and accept that these are very useful as references and as records of the work done till date and yet I enjoy restoring pipes more than doing the write ups.

One of my friends here is an avid collector of pipes and he expressed a desire to expand his collection restricted only to English made pipes. He wanted a Dunhill with crisp stampings (that is always a challenge!) and so began my hunt for one. I found one on eBay Germany, which had a seriously damaged rim edge but otherwise in great condition for a 61 year old pipe. I discussed this piece with my friend and soon the pipe made its way to India and is now on my work table. It’s a classic Billiard with a fishtail stem and a flat bottom that makes it a sitter. The briar is flawless and without any fills or imperfections as expected from Dunhill. The pipe is stamped on the left near the bowl and shank junction as “59” followed by “F/T” followed by “DUNHILL” over “BRUYERE”, all in capital letters, towards the shank end. The right side of the shank is stamped as “MADE IN” over “ENGLAND” with suffix 1 after letter D and followed by an encircled “4” and letter “A”. The upper surface of the stem bears the trademark White Dot of the brand.    The brand Dunhill is well researched and documented and pipedia.eu has reams of information on the same. However, of interest to me here is the dating of this pipe, which is fairly straight forward. The shape code 59 denotes Dunhill’s Billiards shape with tapered stem while F/T denotes fish tail style stem. The suffix numeral 1 after letter D denotes 1961 as the make year because firstly, the numeral is not underscored; secondly, it is the same size as the preceding letter D and finally, the letter ‘A’ denoting the finish is slightly larger than the circle enclosing the group size. The encircled letter 4 denotes the group size as 4 and the letter ‘A’ points to the Bruyere finish on this pipe.

With the dating conclusively established, I moved ahead with the initial inspection of the pipe.

Initial Visual Inspection
The first thing that one notices is the damaged rim edge, both aft and at the front. The chamber appears to have been reamed and is sans any cake. There is no lava overflow atop the rim surface. The stummel surface is dull, dirty and lackluster. Being a Bruyere finish, the stummel does not boast of excellent grains but it does prove its quality by being a flawless piece of briar without having a single fill or imperfection. There is a slight ghosting smell and would need to be addressed. The shank bottom is flattened making it a sitter. The stem is in fairly great condition with only a few bite marks over the button edges and some minor tooth chatter in the bite zone. Overall, it’s a very decent pipe and I hope to repair and restore this pipe to its former glory. Detailed Inspection
The chamber appears to have been reamed before the pipe was designated for sale by the previous owner and thus the chamber is devoid of any cake. All that remains is some dust and fine carbon particle accumulation along the walls of the chamber. The rim top is darkened but without any overflowing carbon. However, it’s all together a different ball game when it comes to the rim edges. The most significant damage is to the aft outer rim edge where a large chunk of briar has chipped away, most likely the result of a fall from some height. Similarly, the front of the rim outer edge too has a small chunk of briar missing and appears to be the result of knocking against a hard edge. Both these damages are encircled in yellow. The inner rim edge shows signs of charring in the 6 o’clock and 12 o’clock directions. These areas have been encircled in red. The chamber odor is light but present and would need to be completely eliminated. The stummel feels solid in the hand and the surface is sans any dents and dings. However, the surface is dull and dirty with the finish fading out from over the surface. A nice cleaning and polish of the stummel should make things interesting. The mortise and shank walls are clean. The tapered fishtail vulcanite stem is in good condition. There are some tooth indentations on the button edge on the upper surface with tooth chatter in the bite zone on either surface. The stem surface shows some minor oxidation that would be easily addressed. The stem airway is open but would benefit from a thorough internal cleaning.   The Process
I started the process of restoration by first cleaning the stem internals with anti-oil dish cleaning soap and thin shank brushes. I scrubbed the stem surface with the soap using a ScotchBrite pad, firstly to rid the surface of old oils and gunk and secondly to remove the loose surface oxidation.I dunked the stem into the deoxidizer solution overnight for the oxidation to be pulled out to the surface. I generally allow the stem to soak in the deoxidizer solution overnight. While the stem was sat aside in the deoxidizer solution, I moved ahead to deal with the stummel repairs. I started with reaming the chamber with a size 1 head of the PipNet reamer and progressed to size 2 head. Using my fabricated knife, I gently scrapped away the cake which could not be reached by the reamer head. I further cleaned the chamber with a folded piece of 180 grits sand paper to sand out the remaining traces of cake and expose the walls of the chamber to ascertain that there were no cracks/ heat fissures. I wiped the chamber with a cotton pad dipped in isopropyl alcohol to remove the carbon dust left behind by all the reaming and sanding process. This also reduced traces of old smells from previous usage. The walls of the chamber were solid with no damage.I cleaned the shank walls and mortise with a hard bristled pipe cleaner dipped in alcohol. I used a specifically fabricated scoop to scrape out the gunk from the shank walls and face of the mortise wall. There was not much to clean though!  Prior to moving ahead with the rim repairs, I decided to address the strong ghost smells from the chamber. To eliminate the ghost smells from the pipe, I decided to treat it with salt and alcohol. I used cotton balls which is an at par substitute to Kosher salt as I have realized over the years. I drew out a wick from the cotton and along with a folded regular pipe cleaner; inserted it into the mortise and through the draught hole in the chamber. Thereafter, I packed the chamber with cotton balls to about quarter of an inch below the inner rim edge. I soaked the cotton balls with isopropyl alcohol up to the brim. About half an hour later, the level of alcohol had gone down, having being absorbed by the cotton. I topped it up once again and set it aside overnight. By next afternoon, the cotton and alcohol has drawn out all the remaining oils and tars from the chamber and mortise and the cotton and alcohol had fulfilled its intended task. I removed the cotton balls and ran pipe cleaners through the mortise to clean out all the loosened tars and gunk. The chamber now smelled clean and fresh. I set the stummel to dry out naturally. The next day, I fished out the stem and cleaned it under running warm water and scrubbed the raised oxidation from the stem surface using ScotchBrite pad. I further removed the oxidation by scrubbing the stems with 0000 grade steel wool and applied a little olive oil to rehydrate the stems and set the stem aside for the oil to be absorbed.  I heated the surface of the stem with the flame of a lighter to raise the tooth indentations to the surface and followed it up by sanding with a piece of folded 220 grit sand paper. This helps to even out the raised surface, address minor tooth chatter and also remove the deep seated oxidation. I wiped the stem with a cotton swab and alcohol to remove the raised oxidation and the resulting sanding dust. The tooth indentations over the button edge, though greatly reduced, were still prominent and would need to be addressed.    Next I filled these tooth indentations with a mix of organic charcoal and clear superglue and set the stem aside for the fills to cure.   Once the fills had cured nicely, I moved ahead and began the process of filing and shaping the button end with a flat head needle file followed by further sanding the repair with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper.  To achieve a better blending of the repaired surface with rest of the stem as well as to polish the stem, I dry sanded the entire stem with 320, 600 and 800 grit sand papers followed by wet sanding using 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit sand papers. This progressive use of higher grit sandpapers helps to reduce the sanding marks left behind by the more abrasive ones while completely eliminating the oxidation and imparting a clean shine to the stem surface.  To bring a deep shine to the vulcanite stem, I went through the dry sanding with 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads, and wiped the stem with Extra Virgin Olive oil to rehydrate the vulcanite. The repairs have blended in very well and the stem now looks shiny black and beautiful. The finished stem is shown below.  With the stem repairs and polishing now completed, I turned my attention to the stummel repairs and refurbishment. Using a hard bristled tooth brush dipped in undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap; I very deliberately scrubbed the surface of the stummel and the rim top. I also cleaned the mortise and shank internals using anti-oil dish washing soap and shank brush. I rinsed the stummel under warm running water and dried it using paper napkins and soft cotton cloth. The original reddish dye was also washed away to some extent, but that was not worrisome as I would be re-staining it after repairs. Next, I filled up the large areas of missing briar from the front and back of the outer rim edges with CA superglue and briar dust using the layering method. The only disadvantage of this method is the presence of large number of air pockets which necessitates repeated refilling with glue and briar dust. Once I was satisfied with the repairs, I set the stummel aside for the mix to cure completely.  The next evening, the repairs to the edge had completely cured and I moved ahead by filing and rough shaping with a flat head needle file. I further fine tuned the blending by sanding it down with a 150 grit sand paper. Here is how the repaired area appears at this stage. I am very pleased with the way this repair has progressed.    Thereafter, I took the stummel to the topping board with the aim of making the rim top surface smooth and even as the rim top was also rebuilt along with the edge. I topped the rim surface on 220 grit sandpaper with even circular rotations and frequently checked the progress being made. This step also helped to minimize the charring to the inner rim edge. I shall further mask the damage by creating a slight bevel to the inner edge. I am very pleased with the progress being made thus far. Once the repairs to the stummel were completed, it was time to polish and stain the stummel. I dry sanded the entire stummel with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads, wiping the stummel with a moist cloth after every pad. I massaged a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” into the briar with my finger tips and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works it’s magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance. I further buffed it with a microfiber cloth. I had hoped that the balm would work it’s magic on the filled area and help in blending it a bit, but unfortunately that did not happen. Well, moving on to the staining process after this step… While refreshing my readings about Dunhill lines, I remember having read that Dunhill achieved the trademark Bruyere color by having an undercoat of dark brown stain followed by deep red color stain. And that’s exactly what I decided to follow with a slight modification. I would first stain wash the stummel with DB stain and thereafter stain it deep red.

I mixed a small quantity of Fiebing’s Dark Brown Leather Dye with isopropyl alcohol to dilute it and applied it to the stummel with a folded pipe cleaner after heating the stummel with a heat gun. I let this stain wash set for a few minutes and vigorously wiped it down with a clean cotton swab. I repeated this process a couple of times till I was satisfied with coloration of the stummel. The next afternoon, I again heated the stummel surface with a heat gun and applied Fiebing’s Oxblood stain with a folded pipe cleaner. As I painted the stummel with stain over sections at a time, I lit the dye using a lighter which burns the alcohol in the aniline dye and sets the dye pigmentation in the wood. After fully saturating the stummel and covering the whole surface, including the rim top, I set the stummel aside to rest for several hours for the stain to set. A few hours later, I wiped the stummel with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl alcohol to remove any excess stain from the stummel surface and dry polished the stummel with 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. The repairs seem to have blended in pretty well to the naked eye, but under a camera, the repairs mark their presence. Yeah, I am pretty happy with the end result. This now gets me to that part of the process where I get to savor the fruits of my labor until this point, that being the final polishing with Blue Diamond and Carnauba wax!

I began the final polishing cycle by mounting a cotton cloth buffing wheel onto my hand held rotary tool and applied a coat of Blue Diamond to the stummel and the stem to polish out the minor scratches. With a cotton buffing wheel that I use for carnauba wax, I applied a coat of carnauba wax and continued to work on it till the complete coat of wax had been polished out. I mounted a clean cotton cloth buffing wheel and gave the pipe a once over buff. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buff using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. The finished pipe is as shown below and will soon make it’s way to my friend here for many more years of happy smokes. Thank you for reaching thus far with the write up and really appreciate you being part of my journey in the world of pipe repairs.

Breathing Life into a Custom-Bilt Panel Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to us from an antique store on 08/27/20 in Murray, Utah, USA. The pipe is a classic Custom-Bilt piece – a rusticated Panel Billiard shaped pipe with some deep carving around the bowl. The pipe is stamped on the left underside of the shank and reads Custom-Bilt and on the heel of the bowl it is stamped Imported Briar. The bowl was heavily caked with an overflow of lava on the rusticated rim top toward the back and on the inner edge. The inside edges looked to be in good condition. The finish was dirty but the pipe still has a sense of charm. The stem was dirty and lightly oxidized. It had tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside ahead of the button and on the button surface itself. There were no markings or a logo on the taper stem. 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 tobacco debris as well as the lava on the smooth rim top. He also took photos of the top and underside of the stem to show the oxidation and the chatter and tooth marks. Jeff took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar looked like. The rustication pattern around the bowl is instantly recognizable as done by Custom-Bilt. The last photos shows a stinger in the tenon but is has disappeared since it arrived here. The stamping on the left underside of the shank and the right underside at the shank/stem joint is clear and readable and read as noted above.     I turned to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c8.html) to get a quick view of the brand once again. I knew that I was working with one of the older pipes and probably made by Tracy Mincer himself. He stopped making the Custom-Bilt pipes in the early 1950s. The screen capture I included below shows a brief history of the brand. It also has a comment on the symbols stamped on the shank near the stem including the square that is stamped on this one. I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/File:CustomBilt_Stamp1.jpg) for a quick read. The majority of the information there included two book reviews of the “Custom-Bilt Story” by Bill Unger.

The one line I captured was the following: “Tracy Mincer started the original Custom-Bilt pipes it appears in 1934”.

I did a screen capture of the stamping that matched the stamping on the pipe that I am working on. What I learned from that is that the stamp was used by Tracy Mincer in Indianapolis in the US from 1938-1946 and possibly in Chicago before 1938 as well. So now I had a possible date for this pipe. It was an old timer and it was well worth working on.Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had cleaned up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it 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 stem with Soft Scrub and a tooth brush and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe before I started my part of the restoration work. The rim top and the inner edge had some darkening and wear that would need to be addressed. The outer edge of the bowl look very good. The stem surface looked good with a few small tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. The stamping on left and underside of the shank are faint but readable. It is stamped as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. It is a good looking pipe.I started my work on the pipe by addressing the darkening on the rim top and cleaning up the damage to the inner edge of the rim. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to reshape the inner edge. The finished rim top and edge looks better. I worked over the rim top with a brass bristle brush to clean up the debris and darkening in the grooves of the rim top.The bowl looked good at this point so I rubbed it down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about 10-15 minutes and buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine.    I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I used clear CA glue to fill in the tooth marks on the button surface and on the surface of the stem. I flattened the repair on the topside and shaped the button edge on both sides with a small flat file. It is starting to look very good. I sanded the button edges and the repairs on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the vulcanite. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.  I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I gave the stem a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry.   This Custom-Bilt Panel Billiard is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The style of rustication that is used around the bowl is quite beautiful and works well with both the shape and the polished vulcanite taper stem. 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 multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax 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 Custom-Bilt is another pipe that 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 x 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 54 grams/ 1.90 ounces. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly. 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!

Bringing Benaderet’s Coral Billiard Back to Life

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a sandblasted large Billiard. This pipe was purchased from a fellow in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA on 09/17/2018. The pipe is a real mess with dust and grime in all of the valleys of the sandblast and the rim top is covered in lava. The beveled inner edge of the rim is very dirty and darkened and there is a thick cake in the bowl. The cake was so thick in parts of the bowl that it was hard to guess the condition of the rim edge. The finish appears to be a reddish brown/cordovan with dark highlights underneath. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Benaderet’s Coral followed by London England [over] the shape number 2515. The stem was oxidized, calcified and there were tooth marks and chatter on both sides just ahead of the button. There was not any stamping on the stem so it did not have any identifying marks. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started working on it. I include those below. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the lava build up on the rim top and dust and grime in the sandblast. It was thick and hard and heavier toward the front of the bowl. The lava is deep in the rustication and there is a buildup on the inner edge of the bowl. Hopefully it had protected the rim and edges from damage. The photos of the top and underside of the stem show the oxidation, calcification and deep tooth marks on both sides of the stem surface and button. Jeff took a photo of the side and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish – the grime and grit all over the sides and bottom of the bowl. The grooves in the sandblast are full of grime but it is interesting. This is a very tactile finish and one that I enjoy.     Jeff took two photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank to capture all of it. It is faint but readable other than the edge of the shank where the London Made and 2515 number are stamped. The second photo also shows a flaw in the briar between the N and D of England.  From the shape number on the shank I was pretty certain I was dealing with a GBD pipe. The stamping Benaderet’s Coral was a dead end but the shape number hit the mark. I turned to Pipedia’s shape number listing and found it (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD_Shapes/Numbers). I have included a screen capture of the listing below.Benaderet’s was a pipe shop in San Francisco that closed in the 70’s. Their house pipes were made by Comoys or Sasieni although smokingpipes had one made by GBD once. Good find.

The other link was to a blog (http://theothersideofthelizard.blogspot.com/2018/11/benaderets-pipe-shop.html). That blog gave the original address of the shop in San Francisco and the names of the owners of the shop.

Benaderet’s Cigarette, Pipe and Tobacco Shop – 215 Sutter Street [Formerly at 566 California Street],San Francisco.

Owners: Robert and Edith Rashaw (Robert Rashaw: born 1916. Edith Edna Rashaw: born 1916.) Store still extant in the late seventies. No longer there by the eighties. At one point, they had Egyptian cigarettes made for them. Their house pipes were usually by Comoys. There are also Benaderet’s Sasienis. More research required.

Quote: “Benaderet’s Inc., was California’s oldest pipe and tobacco store when it went out of business in 1980. Sam Benaderet was a tobacconist from New York City who came to San Francisco in 1915 to work at the Panama Pacific International Exposition. An immigrant to the United States from Turkey, Mr. Benaderet decided that he liked the West Coast’s Mediterranean like climate. After the Exposition closed, he stayed to open his own tobacco business. This new firm produced custom private-label cigarettes for men’s clubs. A lavish retail store was opened in the late 1920’s that quickly became a mecca for tobacco connoisseurs.”

So what I could find out about the pipe is that it is a pipe made by GBD (Shape number confirms this). It turns out that the pipe was a GBD pipe made for Benaderet’s Cigarette, Pipe and Tobacco Shop in San Francisco, California. Since the shop went out of business in 1980 I now knew that the pipe was made before that time. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

This pipe was a real mess like many of the pipes we work on. I was curious to see what it would look like when I unpacked it. I was surprised at how good it looked. Jeff reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish on the bowl looked really good when I got it. The rim top looked much better and the inner and outer edges were looking good. He had cleaned the internals and scrubbed the exterior of the stem and soaked them in Before & After Deoxidizer bath to remove the oxidation. The stem looked very good other than the tooth marks and chatter in the surface. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked very good. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took photos of the condition of the rim top and stem before I started working. The rim top looks very good. The crevices and valleys of the sandblast and the beveled inner edge of the rim are clean and look great. The bowl is spotless. The stem is lightly oxidized and has some tooth marks and tooth chatter. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the heel and the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above.I removed the stem and took a photo to give a sense of the pipe. Note the deep sandblast as it is quite a beauty.I worked on the remaining darkening on the rim top with a brass bristle wire brush. I took time to carefully clean out the dark places in the depths of the sandblast.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the finish of the bowl and the rim top and shank with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I find that the balm really makes the briar come alive again. The contrasts in the layers of stain and the separate finishes really made the grain stand out. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The bowl really looks good at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I tried to lift the tooth marks with a flame of lighter but they did not lift. I filled in the deeper ones on each side with clear super glue. I sanded the stem to remove the oxidation that was on the surface and to smooth out the repaired areas. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper and a piece of 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. At this point the stem is looking better and the tooth marks are gone.  I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine.   Once again I am at the part of the restoration that I always look forward to – the moment when all the pieces are put back together. I put the Benaderet’s Coral 2515 Billiard back together and lightly buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond. I buffed the stem with a heavier touch with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax 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. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the combination of rustication and smooth finishes. The black vulcanite stem stands out as a shiny black contrast to the colours of the bowl. The reddish brown stain on the Benaderet’s Coral Pot looks absolutely great. It is nice to know that it has a west coast tie to the San Francisco area and a long gone pipe shop. It must have been a fine smoking pipe judging from the condition it was when we received it. Have a look at it in 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. This is one that will go on the British Pipemakers section of the rebornpipes online store shortly. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next generation.

Restoring a 1950s Era Comoy’s Patina 495 Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

This nice looking Comoy’s Pot shaped pipe has some nice grain around the bowl. We purchased it on 04/20/18 from an estate pipe collection in Sterling Heights, Michigan, USA. It was a filthy pipe with a lot of grime ground into the surface of the briar. The stamping on the shank was clear and readable. On the left side it reads Comoy’s [over] Patina. On the right side it is stamped 495 next to the joint of the shank and bowl. Near the stem joint it is stamped with the characteristic Made in London in a circle over England. The C on the saddle side of the stem is a three part C so that helps date it as an older pipe. There was a thick cake in the bowl that overflows as thick lava on the rim top. The bevel on the inner edge of the rim looked to be in good condition but had some thick lava on it. The outer edge actually appeared to be in good condition. The stem was oxidized and has some deep tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was a lot of promise in the pipe but it was going to take some work. Jeff took the following photos before he started his clean up work on the pipe. He captured the thick cake in the bowl and the heavy lava cake on the rim top. It really was a mess. I thought the rim top would be okay under the lava. There inner bevel on the rim top looked pretty good under the grime. The photos of the stem show the oxidation and the tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. He took a photo of the briar from the heel and right side of the bowl. The grain is quite nice.He took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. It is clear and readable as noted above. You can also see the 3 part C in the photo of the stem side.   I decided to do a bit of research on the Comoy’s Patina line before I worked on it. I could not find any listing for the Comoy’s Patina line on either Pipephil’s site or Pipedia. I decided however to move forward and try to pin down the shape number and the date of the pipe. I found a shape list on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s_Shape_Number_Chart). I did a screen capture of the shape 495-496 and included it below.I then turned to another shape number chart that had pictures of the various shapes that made up the Comoy’s lines (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s_Shape_Number_Chart/en). I have included a chart below and drawn a red box around the shape of the pipe I am working on.From there I turned to look for information on the stamping on the pipe that would help nail down a date for this pipe. I turned to Pipedia’s article “A Guide Toward Dating the Pipes –  https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_History_Of_Comoy%27s_and_A_Guide_Toward_Dating_the_Pipes. I quote from the article below. I have highlighted the pertinent sections in red for ease of reference.

Comoy’s Name

1900 to about 1919. Normally, the Comoy’s name will be found in a joined flowing script canted forward, with a long tail running backwards from under the “S” to below the “C.” There are, however, 2 pipes in the 1909 catalogue where Comoy’s does not have a tail at all. I also have examples between 1913 to 1919 where the Comoy’s name is still in the same joined flowing script, canted forward but with a short tail running forwards from the bottom of the “Y” to under the “S.”

From about 1917 to the end of the 1930s, the slightly fancy “Comoy’s” can be found stamped in a curve, in upper case script with serifs, apostrophe before the “S,” and the “C” larger than the other letters. The arched Comoy’s with serifs and apostrophe may have been continued for a short time after the war. I have an “Old Bruyere” stamped this way that is just post-war. Pipes can also be found with the name stamped across the top of the stem as apposed to along the side.

During the 1940s, not many pipes were made, but just after WW II, in 1945 or slightly later, the “Comoy’s” stamp was changed from the curve to a straight line.

From the 1950s, the Comoy’s stamp can be found in three variants: (1) A simple block-letter style without serifs but with the C larger than the other letters and the apostrophe before the “s.” (2) A return to the slightly more fancy block letters with serifs and the apostrophe. My 1959/60 gold-banded example falls into this category. (3) A simple block-letter style without serifs and without the apostrophe and with the “C” the same size as the rest of the letters. I don’t think that this stamp was used for very long.

“Made In” Stamp

London Made. Comoy’s were the first London pipe maker to use this phrase. It is the earliest stamp to be used and can be found from 1902 or perhaps earlier and on into the 1930s . At this time, it can appear as “London” over “Made” or in a straight line.

Made in London. I have only seen this stamp on two Old Bruyere pipes dated 1921, and it appears in a straight line under the arched “Comoy’s.”

Made in England. This is stamped in a circle with “Made” at the top, “in” in the middle, and “England” forming the bottom of the circle. I call this the football shape or F/B for short. I have seen this stamp on a Cecil dated as early as 1910 and on an Old Bruyere of 1921 and then only on pipes from the 1930s.

Made in London England. This is again stamped in a circle with “Made” at the top, “In” in the middle, and “London” at the bottom, with “England in a straight line beneath the F/B. I believe this stamp was first used in the export drive in the early 1950s, and I have not seen any pre-WW II Comoy’s stamped in this way.

Inlaid “C”

“C” was first inlaid in the side of the mouthpiece around 1919. This was a complex inlay needing three drillings. First, a round white inlay was inserted, then the centre of the white was drilled out, and a smaller round black inlay was inserted. Finally, another drilling was made to remove the open part of the “C,” and an even smaller black inlay was inserted. This inlaid “C,” known as the “three-piece C,” was continued until the Cadogan era in the 1980s. However, the “C” in the 1920s and early 30s is much thinner and more delicate than the one post-war. Cadogan first changed the “C” to a single drilling with an inlay that had the “C” in the centre, and more recently it became a laser imprint. I have a cased pair of early 1920’ “Par Excellence” where the “C” is on top of the mouthpiece. Finish

Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. 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 undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the lava, 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 lava build up on the rim top and you could see the great condition of the bowl top and edges of the rim. There was still some darkening to the rim top toward the back of the bowl. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it.  I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the condition of the bowl and rim after Jeff had cleaned up the grime and lava. The beveled rim edge and top looked very good. The stem photos show light oxidation and the tooth marks and chatter on the stem and the button surface. I took photos of the stamping on the shank sides and the C logo on the stem. The stamping was clear and read as noted above.   I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo. You can see the small fill toward the top of the left side.The bowl was in good condition so I did not need to do any extra work on the rim or edges. It looked great so I polished the bowl and rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad to remove the sanding debris. After the final sanding pad I hand buffed it with a cotton cloth to raise a shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into finish 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 Restoration Balm really makes the grain stands out beautifully.   I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks with the flame of a Bic lighter. I was able to lift them a lot. The small spots that remained I filled in with clear CA glue.   I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to blend the repairs into the surface of the stem. I started polishing the stem with a folded piece of 400 grit sandpaper. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil.    I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and gave it a final coat and set it aside to dry.     I put the stem back on the Comoy’s Patina  Made in London England 495 Pot and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I polished the briar and the vulcanite of the stem until there was a rich shine. This classic Comoy’s Pot shape and finish really highlights some amazing grain on a proportionally well carved pipe. Once I buffed the pipe the briar came alive and the mixture of grain – straight, flame and birdseye – popped with polishing. The repaired black vulcanite stem had a rich glow. This Comoy’s Patina 495 Pot fits well in the hand and sits right in the mouth. 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 ½ inch, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.48 ounces/41 grams. This beauty will be going on the rebornpipes online store in the English Pipemakers Section. If you are interested let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as it was a pleasure to work on.

A GBD Mystery Pipe – Unreadable Shape Number and Line Information

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a nice looking oval shank Billiard with an oval saddle stem. The shape number and line information is worn off with buffing. The stem has the GBD brass rondelle in the top of the saddle. There is a very faint GBD stamp in a logo on the top of the shank and some very faint stamping on the top and underside. This pipe was purchased from a antique seller on 04/07/18 in Pocatello, Idaho, USA. The finish was very dirty but the briar shows some beautiful grain on the bowl and shank sides. The bowl had a thick cake and heavy lava overflow onto the rim top. It looked like the edges and top were damaged but we would know more once it was cleaned. The stem did not show oxidation but had bite marks on the top and underside of the stem surface of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe to show what it looked like before he cleaned it up. He captured the thick cake in the bowl and the heavy lava cake on the rim top. It really was a mess. I really wondered what the rim would look like under that. There appeared to be an inner bevel on the rim top. The photos of the stem show the tooth marks on the top and underside of the button surface. He captured the grain around the bowl sides and heel in the next photos. You can see the grime in the finish and a flaw in the briar on the lower front of the bowl. The stamping on the shank is very faint. It appears that there is a GBD in an oval and the faint numbers on the shank that are not clear. The brass oval on the stem top is in good condition. I did some digging on Pipephil and found that a French made GBD that was shown on the site was the same shape as the one I am working on (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-gbd.html). I have included a screen capture of the section below. The stamping on the one in hand is unreadable so I cannot be certain but it certainly looks like the same pipe. I turned to Pipedia to read about the French made GBD (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD). I have included the following information on the French made GBD. It gives me a possible date for the making of this pipe if it is indeed a French made pipe. That date is somewhere between early 1950s and the time the pipes moved to be made in England (1981). I quote:

The Paris factory moved to Saint-Claude in 1952. Since 1981 the majority of GBD pipes come from the English factory. At about that same time GBD merged with Comoys, since then all production for both GBD and Comoy comes from a single factory.

I then turned to a section on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD_Shapes/Numbers) where the shape numbers are listed. I went through the list and looked for an oval shank Billiard. I found the following listing that fits the pipe.

Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. 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 undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the lava, 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 lava build up on the rim top and you could see the great condition of the bowl top and edges of the rim. There was still some darkening to the rim top toward the back of the bowl. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it.  I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the condition of the bowl and rim after Jeff had cleaned up the grime and lava. The beveled rim top had some darkening on the whole rim top though darker on the backside of the rim and there were cuts, dings and nicks in the surface. The stem photos show the tooth marks and chatter on the stem and the button surface. It appears that the brass GBD rondelle is slightly crooked.I took photos of the faint stamping on the top and underside of the shank. The GBD oval is barely visible on the top of the shank. There are also remnants of the shape number on the underside.  I decided to address the damage on the rim top and edges. To begin I sanded the top of the rim on a topping board to smooth out all the cuts and ridges on the rim top.    I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to start the bevel on the inner edge of the rim. The goal would be to restore the original one. I then used a wooden ball wrapped with 220 grit sandpaper to work over the rim top and give the inner edge a bevel.  I filled in the flaw in the briar on the front of the bowl heel with clear CA glue. I set it aside to cure. I carefully filled it so I could polish it off with 1500 grit micromesh once it cured.I polished the bowl and rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad to remove the sanding debris. After the final sanding pad I hand buffed it with a cotton cloth to raise a shine.   I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into finish 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 Restoration Balm really makes the grain stands out beautifully.   I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I used some black CA glue to rebuild the button top and bottom. I set it aside to let it cure.  Once it cured I used a small file to redefine the button edge and flatten out the surface of the stem. Once I had removed the largest part of the fills I used clear CA glue to fill in the air bubbles and work on the repaired edge shape.  I then used the file to flatten and reshape those repairs.  I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to blend the repairs into the surface of the stem. I started polishing the stem with a folded piece of 400 grit sandpaper. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil.    I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and gave it a final coat and set it aside to dry.     I put the stem back on the GBD Mystery Oval Shank Saddle Billiard and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I polished the briar and the vulcanite of the stem until there was a rich shine. This classic oval shank Billiard shape and finish really highlights some amazing grain on a proportionally well carved pipe. Once I buffed the pipe the briar came alive and the mixture of grain – straight, flame and birdseye – popped with polishing. The repaired black vulcanite stem had a rich glow. This GBD Oval Shank Billiard fits well in the hand and sits right in the mouth. 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 1/8 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.23 ounces/35 grams. This beauty will be going on the rebornpipes online store in the French Pipemakers Section. If you are interested let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as it was a pleasure to work on.