Tag Archives: repairing bite marks

Rebuilding a Rim and Chamber for an Aldo Velani Trio Rusticated Volcano

1 Reply

Blog by Dal Stanton

This Rusticated Volcano came to my worktable in what I call the St. Louis Lot of 26 that my son, Josiah, found in an antique shop before last Christmas. He was impressed by the quality of pipes in the Lot and emailed me in Bulgaria with a proposition of going in together for the Lot of 26.  His part in the purchase would be his Christmas present to me – that I would choose a pipe for my own from the Lot.  My part of the purchase would be to restore the pipes to benefit the Daughters of Bulgaria.  It was a proposal hard to refuse and some weeks later I unwrapped the St. Louis Lot of 26 in Denver where our family had gathered for Christmas.  I chose as my gift from Josiah an unbelievable find: a Churchwarden – EP Champion Made in France.  After my restoration of the EPC Majestic, I know that this pipe also has a very auspicious nomenclature dating back to pre-WW2 from the now defunct Paris based A Pandevant & Roy Co. which has now been included in Pipedia as a new entry based on my research during that restoration – Woohoo!  To see my first Pipedia entry, see this LINK!  This picture, after opening the Lot of 26, just happens to have both subjects on the top – the Aldo Velani Trio Rusticated Volcano and my historic EP Churchwarden.Now, back in Bulgaria, on the 10th floor of our formerly Communist apartment complex block, each pipe in the Lot of 26 has been sorted and populated on the website in the ‘For “Pipe Dreamers” Only!’ collection.  Stephen saw the Aldo Velani when I posted a picture on Facebook of the Lot of 26 earlier.  The former steward of this estate liked the Aldo Velani Trio set.  In the Lot, in addition to the Rusticated Volcano came three others from the Aldo Velani Trio set.  The common characteristics of the set is the bright Oxblood hue, the double-ringed gold banding and an assortment of acrylic stems.  The set is obviously meant to appeal to an upscaled expectation.Stephen was drawn to the deeply Rusticated Volcano and after communicating back and forth, he decided to commission it.  Here are more pictures taking a closer look at the Aldo Velani Rusticated Volcano.The rusticated version of the set of Aldo Velani Trio is cast somewhat darker than the smooth briar brothers.  The chamber shows moderate build up of cake and some lava flow over the rim.  This guy was well used by his former steward.The darker ruby red – burgundy acrylic stem shows heavy tooth chatter and chewing on the bit and button.  The lower bit has a deeper bite compression that needs addressing.The amazing ‘fire’ of the acrylic stem presents in a spectrum of ruby red to burgundy and is eye catching and when the entire pipe is cleaned up, will probably steal the show.The gold band I’m assuming is nickel plated as there are no markings showing a gold metal content.  The double-bumped band is attractive and adds a touch of class as it joins the acrylic stem and rusticated stummel.  The band will shine up nicely.The nomenclature on the left shank side is cursive script, ‘Aldo Velani’ [over] ‘TRIO’ with the shape number ‘53’ set to the left side of the smooth shank panel.  Barely visible in the picture below is the stamping ‘Italy’ next to the band and the very bottom. The Aldo Velani stem stamp is interesting and takes a closer look to figure out.  I found in Pipedia’s Aldo Velani article, an example and details of the stamping on an original Aldo Velani box, courtesy of Doug Valitchka.  The stamp depicts a pipe as the front leg of the ‘A’ for Aldo and the back leg of the ‘A’ forms the front riser of the ‘V’ of Velani. The article cited from Pipedia provides helpful information understanding the provenance of the Aldo Velani name:

Most Aldo Velani pipes are made in Livorno, Italy, for the USA market by Cesare Barontini. They were previously imported by Lane Limited. Lane spokesman Frank Blews once described Velani’s stylish, intrinsically Italian designs as “Billiards with more ball, bulldogs with more jaw.” The name “Aldo Velani” is actually fictional.

Another Barontini 2nd is named “Cesare”.

I learn two interesting things from this information.  First, Aldo Velani is a faux name that does not describe an Italian pipe house but a specific pipe line.  Secondly, the Aldo Velani is made by the Casare Barontini name based in Livorno, Italy.   Further information is available cross referencing to Casare Barontini in Pipedia:

In 1890 Turildo Barontini opened a factory for the production of briar. In 1925 his son Bruno began to produce the first pipes. Cesare Barontini, son of Bruno, started direction of the factory in 1955, and still runs it together with his daughters Barbara and Silvia.

Sub-brands & Seconds: Aldo Velani. Cesare, L’artigiana, Stuart, Cortina

Pipephil’s site has several examples of the Aldo Velani line depicted which tend to be very stylish and nice-looking pipes which confirms the Pipedia assertion that Casare Brontini produced the Aldo Velani lines primarily for export.  It is evident that there was not a consistency in the stem stamping or name style for Aldo Velani as different examples are given.  Here are the stem stamping variations provided by Pipephil:With a better understanding of the Aldo Velani Trio Rusticated Volcano before me, I begin his recommissioning by cleaning him up!  I start by disassembling the parts – I find that the gold band easily is removed which will allow cleaning of each element to be easier.I then take the stummel and ream the chamber using the Pipnet reaming kit.  I use the 2 smaller blade heads then switch to the Savinelli Fitsall tool.  It doesn’t take long digging in the chamber and clearing away the cake that I realize there are problems.  I remove the carbon cake and then sand the chamber wall with 240 grade paper wrapped around a Sharpie Pen to further clean and allow me to see the chamber wall with more clarity.  I wipe the chamber with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95% to aid me in my assessment. The first thing I note was strange was what looks like a ‘stoop’ at the lower back side of the chamber that gives the appearance of the draft hole entering the chamber floor more ‘forward’ than usual.  What becomes more evident as I clear away the thick cake is that the back side of the chamber had fallen away revealing excessively burned briar.  I see carbon fissures reaching into the chamber wall which I continue to remove by scraping with the Savinelli Fitsall Tool knowing that I need to find solid, healthier briar underneath the carbon cake.  After sanding and cleaning, I take these pictures skewed toward an opened aperture to reveal the darker chamber confines with a pipe cleaner giving reference to the draft hole entry.  I was able to find solid briar and now a cleaned surface with only 2 heat fissures that I see but the burning toward the aft of the bowl has reduced the diameter of the briar thickness significantly compared to the forward chamber wall thickness.  The following pictures show what I’m seeing and it’s not good. This final assessment picture below shows evidence of the wall thinning only in reference to the rim’s condition.  The rim is dangerously thin.With much to think about now regarding how to proceed with the chamber damage, I proceed with the normal cleaning regimen which is needful and gives time to think!  Using undiluted Murphy’s Oil soap on a cotton pad and with a bristled tooth brush, I clean the attractive rusticated surface.  I also use a brass wire brush and a little help from my thumb’s fingernail to clean the remaining lava off the labored, bemangled rim.  The cleaning does well and reveals the smooth briar rim motif of the original design of the Aldo Velani.  The smooth briar rim would have popped in contrast to the rustication.  I like it, but unfortunately, much of the original rim is now smoke history. To the internals – I use pipe cleaners and cotton buds wetted with isopropyl 95% to do the job.  With the condition of the chamber lack of care and maintenance, it’s not surprising that the internals are grungy.  I also use a dental spatula to scrape the mortise wall as well as long shank brushes to clean the airway.  In time, the pipe cleaners and buds start surfacing less soiled and I move to the next phase of cleaning the internals.I continue the internal cleaning with a kosher salt and alcohol soak.  I stretch and twist a cotton ball to serve as a mortise wick and then insert it down the mortise into the airway with the help of a straight stiff wire.  I then fill the bowl with kosher salt which, unlike iodized salt, does not leave a ghosted aftertaste.  After putting the stummel in an egg crate to provide some stability, I fill the bowl with isopropyl 95% until it surfaces over the salt.  After a while, the alcohol is absorbed into the salt and cotton wick and I add some more alcohol to top it off and put the stummel aside to soak for several hours. With the kosher salt doing its thing, I turn now to the stem.  The first thing to do is clean the internals using a pipe cleaner and isopropyl 95%.  The pipe cleaners discover not too much resistance.  I then wipe down the acrylic stem external surface to clean it from the grunge so I can examine the surface closely.The stem is in good shape with only expected scratches and scrapes from normal wear.  The bit is a different story with a compressed button and tooth chatter on the upper side and a deep compression on the lower bit with button damage and chatter.  Starting with the upper bit challenges, I sand using 240 grit paper on the bit and button.  I’m thinking that sanding alone might address the damage on this side.  I also use a flat needle file to help shape and freshen the button.  As I had hoped, sanding and filing alone erases the compressions and chatter.The lower bit is a different approach.  I realize from the outset that sanding alone will not address the damage – the compressions on the bit and button are too deep.  Because of this, I apply a patch of thick CA glue to the areas and then use an accelerator too quicken the curing time.  I start with CA glue because I want the footprints of the compressions to be larger so that the CA has more to attach to. I then address the cured CA patch first by filing with a flat needle file and then by sanding with 240 grade paper.  I reshape the button with the file as I work on filing the patch mounds down to the acrylic surface.  Then, switching to 240, I bring the patches down flush with the acrylic surface.  The ruby red and burgundy hues should shine through the transparent CA glue after sanded and polished.Sometimes an air pocket is uncovered in the sanding and filing like in the picture below.  To remedy this, I add another drop of CA glue to fill this. I finish this phase of the repair using the flat needle file and 240 grit paper. To erase the scratches of the 240 grit paper I follow by wet sanding with 600 grade paper and the I apply a 0000 grade of steel wool.Then, the micromesh process using 9 pads from 1500 to 12000.  First, I wet sand with pads 1500 to 2400 and then follow by dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000.  I’m not sure it revitalizes the acrylic material, but as I do with vulcanite stems, I apply obsidian oil to the stem after each set of 3 pads.  My – the fire in this acrylic stem is beautiful.  The problem is that it’s difficult to capture with my iPhone 6s camera! Next, I shine up the gold nickel plated double-ringed band – shank cap.  I first wash it with warm water and dish soap using a bristled tooth brush to get into the center crease.  After I dry the band, I then apply Tarn-X with a cotton pad and after scrubbing it well, rinse with cool tap water and dry it.  It looks great.  Later, I will buff it up more with the Dremel. It has been several hours since starting the kosher salt and alcohol soak.  The salt and cotton wick have soiled somewhat, not as much as I thought it would, but perhaps my initial cleaning had accomplished more than I thought!  After I toss the expended salt in the waste, clean the chamber with a paper towel, I also use broad bristled shank brushes to clean the residue salt left behind.  I blow through the mortise to loosen and remove salt crystal remaining in the airway.  Finally, to make sure the cleaning has done the job, I expend a few more pipe cleaners and cotton buds with alcohol and discover that the internals are clean.  Moving on!I’ve had some time to think about the issues with the burning damage to the chamber.  The good news is that there are no burn throughs, but the briar on the back side of the chamber is thin. The rim on the backside is also thinner in comparison to the front side of the rim which is evident in the first picture.  In the second picture I’ve tried to show how the inner chamber has bowed out because of the loss of briar through burning.  During the reaming and removal of all the charred wood, left behind is a bowed cavity where it should be relatively straight-vertical.  The third picture shows the remaining fissure that crawls up the left side of the chamber and impacts the rim. I’ve looked very closely and thankfully, the fissure crack is isolated where it is.  There are no skulking cracks over the rim into the rusticated surface. To give this pipe a longer life, I will employ two different approaches that hopefully will build the rim up and fill the bowl cavity out to increase the mass on the rear chamber wall.  To do this I’ll use JB Kwik Weld to build a new chamber lining and to fill the fissure on the left side of the bowl.  JB Weld will be the main strategy in the chamber itself because of its heat resistant capabilities.  This is the lower chamber strategy.  Before starting this, I will first build out the rim thickness using a mixture of thick CA glue and briar dust to form a putty that will cure and provide the upper scaffolding for a rear rim rebuild. I’ll form this first around the back side of the rim and as I form the rim mold with the putty, I’ll intentionally fashion an ‘under-ridge’ with the briar dust putty.  This ‘under-ridge’ will form the raised boarder that the JB Kwik Weld will butt against when it is applied afterwards.  I hope this plan will work!

The first thing I do is wipe the bowl and rim with alcohol and a cotton pad to clean the surface.  Then I mix a batch of briar dust and thick CA glue on an index card.  When it’s about the viscosity of molasses so it will hold together and not run, I trowel it to the rim with a curved dental spatula shaping the rim form.  As I’m working, I see that the putty isn’t firming up on the rim as I hoped and so I use an accelerator to help quickly set the putty in place and cure.  I apply three separate batches of putty to build up the rim which are shown in the pictures.  The first phase looks good.  The pictures show the progress. Next, I mix equal parts of the two components of JB Kwik Weld, the steel and hardener.  After the two elements meet, there is about 4 minutes of relative pliability to apply the Weld in place.  After four to five minutes the Weld begins to harden.  I use a spatula to trowel the Weld into the chamber – trying to avoid the rim, but that wasn’t easy to do.  As I apply the Weld into the chamber, I spread it on the back wall and fill the fissure.  As it hardens, I tamp it down and shape.  After applying and shaping, I set the stummel up so that the back of the bowl is down allowing gravity to help.  I turn out the lights and call it a day. The next day I’m anxious to start to work on shaping the rim after the JB Kwik Weld and briar dust putty have thoroughly cured.  My main work horse to begin with is the Dremel mounted with a round grinding stone and a half-rounded needle file.  The grinding stone is the perfect size at 5/8 inches in diameter to fit into the narrowed Volcano summit and yet, large enough to provide a larger and less abrupt grinding footprint.  As I begin to grind the internal lip of the rim patch, I remove the excess briar dust putty patch material.  I go slowly and patiently eyeballing the roundness of the rim.  I decide to employ a caliper to measure the original intact part of the rim to help me measure the removal process.  I would rather leave more and work down slowly sanding with paper than to be greedy with the Dremel grinder and take off too much.After a time, a take a picture to mark the progress removing and rounding. When I’m close to being satisfied with the removal and rounding with the Dremel grinding stone, I use both a flat and half rounded needle files to begin removal of the excess patch material on the rim top.  The entire rim bevels inwardly and slanting toward the chamber and I patiently and gently file in that direction. After filing, I transition to 240 grade paper to continue to shape and to blend the rim patch with the resident briar.  I do a dance back and forth between sanding and filing and eyeballing the angle of the rim slant – seeking as much uniformity as possible!I’m satisfied with where I am at this juncture.  The inner rim looks round and the rim rebuild is holding together very well.  The area is still rough, and I’ll continue to work on that later, but now I turn my attention from the rim rebuild and restoration to the chamber. I wet a cotton pad with alcohol and wipe out the chamber so that I can assess where the chamber repair is with the JB Kwik Weld.  With the shank oriented downwardly, I take a few pictures after replacing the pipe cleaner through the draft hole.  The pictures are difficult to see what I can feel with my finger as I examine the contours of the hardened JB Weld.  The cavity created by the burn damage has been filled partially and reinforced well.  I no longer have any concerns about the thinness of the briar on the back of the bowl.  I don’t believe I can fill the entire cavity with JB Weld and will not try.  But I still can feel an abrupt ridge underneath the rim repair.  This I need to fill to provide a smoother transition from the rim repair to the chamber repair. Orienting the picture now to the left side of the chamber, the JB Weld has filled the fissure very nicely.  I’ll sand the excess off later. After dealing with the fissure proper, I’ll address the upper part of the fissure crack that reaches to the rim.For the second strategic application of JB Kwik Weld, I cover the rim and upper bowl with masking tape to protect from accidental drips of the Weld.  After mixing the two parts of the JB Weld, again I use a dental spatula to apply the epoxy to specific areas underneath the rim rebuild to provide the foundation for a smooth, seamless transition between the two reconstruction areas.  As before, to be careful, I place a pipe cleaner through the draft hole even though there is no plan for Weld to be applied in that area.  After troweling enough JB Weld to the area targeted, I patiently and carefully continuously tamp the area to massage the epoxy into the best positioning.   As the 4-minute window passes, the epoxy is thickening allowing me the final opportunity to shape and smooth the epoxy before it sets.A few hours later, I begin the dance of sanding and utilizing the round grinding stone mounted onto the Dremel.  The sanding paper I use is a coarse 120 grit and I wrap it around the end of the flat needle file to give me some reach and leverage as I apply pressure during the sanding.  The goal is to remove all excess JB Kwik Weld only leaving that which provides necessary filling to the burned-out area and to the heat fissure.  These pictures show the dance, but the reality is this phase is a mess with dust flying all over!  Living and working in our 10th floor flat of a formerly Communist bloc apartment complex in the winter provides much opportunity for me to thank my wife for her patience and helping to take a few of the pictures below! After I’m satisfied with the heavy duty grinding and sanding, I switch to a sanding drum mounted to the Dremel.  It serves to fine tune the sanding and makes my job easier.I finish with the rim/chamber rebuild.  After cleaning the chamber blowing and wiping with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95%, I’m pleased with the outcome.  The pictures show remaining epoxy in the areas of need.  The first picture shows well the fissure that is now secured with epoxy.  The lighter epoxy is visible but to the touch, there is nothing there.The next pictures show the transition between the two repair projects.  The briar dust rim rebuild transitions to the chamber burn repair.  The JB Weld contours to the chamber wall building out the large burned area that threatened the aft chamber wall, but thankfully never burned through.  The aesthetics are still nothing to get excited about but I’m hopeful through the sanding and polishing process the rim rebuild will blend well with the surrounding briar.  Later, I will apply a coating of pipe mud to the chamber to encourage the growth of a new, healthy protective cake. I move on now to fine tuning the rim.  I use 240 grit paper to clean up scratches left over from the restoration project and then I apply 600 grade paper to smooth. With all the sanding, filing and grinding of epoxy and briar, I do a quick clean up of the stummel by taking it to the sink and running tap water over it and scrub it with the bristled tooth brush.  I also wipe the chamber and the rim with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95% and run a pipe cleaner through the airway also wetted with alcohol to make sure all is clean.Next, before progressing further with the sanding of the rim, I color the rim to hide and blend the repairs.  I use straight Fiebing’s Oxblood with a cotton bud to apply several coats of the dye to the rim.  I also touch up the rusticated areas on the peak of the Volcano bowl that had lightened because of all the construction and cleaning going on. I’m hopeful that the dye will also be absorbed by the rim patch area which is speckled now after the sanding.  After applying the dye several times, I give the rim a light wipe of a cotton pad wetted with alcohol simply to blend and gather excess dye. Next, I move directly to applying micromesh pads to the rim and to the smooth briar panel on the left shank flank.  I begin by wet sanding with pads 1500 to 2400 and I realize immediately that I had made a mistake in the order of things.  As soon as I began wet sanding the Oxblood dye that I had just applied was, for the most part, now running down the drain.  I realize that I should have completed the micromesh regimen and then applied dye to the rim.  Not able to change anything at this point, I continue after wet sanding with the first set of three, to dry sand using the remaining pads, 3200 to 12000.  The pictures show the results – the rim looks great regarding the sanding and polishing but the coloring of the rim is lost for the most part.  I also discover as I micromeshed the smooth panel that the color was coming off as well….  I’m encouraged by the fact that we learn as much from what not to do as doing something well.  The pictures show the results. Circumstances create the environment for decisions and decisions shaped by past successes and failures is the definition of wisdom.  What is the wise course of action!? Previously, I planned to keep the original finish as it was and move to the polishing phase.  Now, I decide to apply Fiebing’s Oxblood Leather Dye to the entire stummel and not just as a touch up.  At this point there are too many ‘touch up’ points and it is better simply to refresh the entire bowl with dye.  I assemble all the components of my tabletop dying station and then wipe the stummel down with alcohol to clean the surface.  Using a hot air gun, I heat the stummel to open the briar to be more receptive to the dye pigmentation.After heated, I then apply the Oxblood dye to the stummel using a folded pipe cleaner holding on the cork which is inserted into the shank as a handle.  As I paint the stummel with dye over sections at a time, I ‘fire’ the dye using a lit candle that combusts the alcohol in the aniline dye and sets the dye pigmentation in the wood.  After fully saturating the stummel and covering the whole surface, I set the stummel aside to rest for several hours.Several hours later I’m ready to ‘unwrap’ the fired crust on the surface of the rusticated stummel.Since I’m working with a rusticated stummel, I don’t use a felt buffing wheel as is my approach with smooth briars.  I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel on the Dremel and set the speed at about 40% full strength, I apply Tripoli compound to the stummel.I’m always fascinated by the way the grain emerges during the unwrapping process with the Tripoli.  The picture below shows the ‘front line’ of the buffing process and the richness of the rusticated surface being revealed.  Yes, surgical gloves!  In this way I keep stain of my hands which keeps my wife happier!With my wife’s help, the next few pictures show my customary ‘Dremel posture’ – my lap top station working on a chopping board.  I keep the overhead lamp close and I’m able to see the movement of the compounds and waxes I apply during the use of the Dremel.Working on rusticated and blasted surfaces are rough on the cotton cloth buffing wheels and I’ll be tossing this one when I’m finished!  I buy buffing wheels in bulk.  The smaller buffing wheel allows me to rotate the orientation of the stummel to follow the rusticated valleys and ridges – I keep moving and it takes a good bit of time to work through the rustication.  Patience reveals good results most of the time!After completing the Tripoli regimen, I wipe the bowl with a cotton pad wetted with alcohol.  I do this not really to lighten the aniline stain but to blend the Oxblood dye and to wipe off excess dye.With a rusticated surface as distinct and deep as this Aldo Velani Trio, I use a 1500 grade micromesh pad and lightly ‘brush sand’ the surface of the stummel.  What this does is sand the tips of many of the rustication ridges and lightens them.  This creates more contrast in the rustication that I first saw many restoration ago, restoring a rusticated fully bent Billiard, Lorenzo Rialto.  The ‘speckled’ effect creates a mesmerizing rusticated surface – I like it.  The picture shows these results.Next, I mount another cotton cloth buffing wheel to the Dremel, maintaining the same speed and I apply Blue Diamond compound to the stummel surface.  I decide not to reunite the stem at this point to apply the Blue Diamond in order to use a different buffing wheel with the acrylic stem.One of the reasons for letting the newly dyed and fired stummel to ‘rest’ for several hours before working on it is that it helps the dye to set and less of it comes off later on the steward’s hands.  This does happen especially the first few times a pipe is put in service and the bowl heats up for the first time.  I’m concerned that the rusticated surface will hold more unseasoned dye surface and to mitigate against Oxblood dye coming off on the hands, I heat the stummel with the hot air gun and with the bowl heated, I wipe it heartily with a few cotton pads to capture the unseasoned dye.  I hope this helps!Before turning to the stem, I have two additional projects to complete before the final phase of applying wax.  I need to remount the gold band/shank cap and polish it.  Also, I need to apply a mixture of sour cream (or natural yogurt) and activated charcoal to the chamber to aid the formation of a cake to serve to buffer the newly repaired chamber wall from the fire.  Starting first with the band, I apply a small drop of thick CA glue inside the cap and then attach it to the end of the shank.  I use a thicker variety so that it doesn’t run and get on something that it shouldn’t!Next, I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel on the Dremel that is dedicated to the application of White Diamond compound on nickel.  You don’t mix buffing wheels!  I label each wheel for what compound or wax is used and on what surface – metals and wood are different! I also am careful while buffing the band to stay on the metal and not bleed over onto the briar.  The black residue that comes off the metal can darken and stain briar – careful!  Wow!  I thought the cap was shiny before, but now it beams!Next, applying the natural yogurt and charcoal mixture to the chamber walls to provide a buffer between the briar and the burning tobacco helps as a ‘starter’ to develop a protective cake.  I’ve learned that I have used too much yogurt in the past and toss a lot in the waste.  This time, I use much less.I mix the charcoal in until it thickens.  I’ve learned to mix a little more charcoal than I think is necessary so that it is firmer.  The test I’ve used to know when I’ve mixed enough charcoal into the soup is when I can scoop some of the mixture on a flat dental spatula and it doesn’t run off.  That lets me know that it will stay where I put it on the chamber wall and not be overcome by gravity pulling it down to the floor of the chamber.When the mixture seems good, and after I put a pipe cleaner through the draft hole, so it stays clear, I dollop the black mixture using a dental spatula and paint the chamber walls up to the rim.  I got the mixture right.  After covering the chamber walls fully, I take a picture – it’s not easy to see, but it looks good and will serve the needed purpose.  A word to the new steward of the Aldo Velani Trio, when you put the pipe into service do not scrape the chamber to clean it!  Gently stirring the ash loosens it allowing it to dump easily.  Then, use a folded over pipe cleaner and ‘rub’ the chamber wall which cleans adequately.  You want to allow enough time for a cake to develop. With the stummel waiting for the yogurt/charcoal mixture to dry, I now turn to the stem.  I mount another cotton cloth wheel on the Dremel, maintain speed at 40% full power and apply Blue Diamond to the beautiful fiery acrylic stem.  After this, I mount another cotton cloth wheel, maintain the same speed and apply White Diamond compound. After completed, I wipe and buff the stem with a felt cloth to remove the compound dust.Next, I want to spice up this classy stem by refreshing the Aldo Velani stamp on the side of the stem. It is unique with the A and V in cursive script, but to me the clincher is the pipe forming the left leg of the A.  It’s just cool.  With all the gold in the band, I think gold would be a good color to bring out this noteworthy stem stamping given that I don’t have a picture of the original intent but what I see looking closely at the stamp, it may have been gold but I’m not positive.  I use Rub’nBuff European Gold to apply the color.  As the name says, I apply it over the stamp with a cotton bud and then wipe it of with a cotton pad.  I need to rub it well to clean up the excess but what is in the stamping stays in the stamp.  It looks great! Now the home stretch.  The charcoal/yogurt mixture has set up and time to apply carnauba wax. I unite stem and stummel and mount another cotton cloth buffing wheel on the Dremel, increase the speed to about 50% full power.  I increase the RPMs to increase the heat in applying the wax – more heat causes the wax to liquefy more as it’s working into the briar which makes application of the wax to the rougher rusticated surface more likely not gunk up. When applying wax to the stem, I back the speed off to 40% full power.  After completing the application of wax, I give the pipe a hearty hand buffing to raise the shine even more.

Oh my.  This Barontini Aldo Velani Trio Rusticated Volcano is a classy pipe – I would call it a ‘dinner pipe’.  It requires a more upscale dress code!  This pipe required a lot of work – a repaired stem bit and button, a rim rebuild and a restoration of the damaged chamber.  What a difference!  The rustication is distinctive, and the Volcano shape is enhanced by the craggy rise of the bowl tightening into the summit of the smooth briar rim contrast.  Transitioning to the stem the band adds to the class and the acrylic stem is simply on fire – it’s alive and the Oxblood hue of the briar is… did I say ‘classy’ already?  This Aldo Velani Trio was commissioned by Stephen and he has the first opportunity to claim him from The Pipe Steward Store.  This pipe benefits the Daughters of Bulgaria – women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited. Thanks for joining me!

 

New Life for a Charatan Lonsdale 87X Cutty

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe in the queue is yet another interesting pipe from the Michigan lot – a well-made Charatan Cutty with plateau on the rim top and shank end. The entire pipe had some beautiful cross grain on the front and rear of the bowl and the top and underside of the shank. It had some great birdseye grain on both sides of the bowl and shank. The bowl has a forward cant to it that defines the cutty shape. The pipe has a natural briar finish that really makes the grain on the pipe pop. The carver did a great job utilizing the block of briar to maximize the grain. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank. It reads Charatan’s Make (over) London, England (over) SPECIAL. There is the circle cursive L identifying the pipe as a Lane era made Charatan. To the right of the stamping is the shape number 87X. The stem is an obvious replacement and is Lucite rather than the original vulcanite and has no marking or stamping on it. It is given a unique saddle shape that looks good with the Cutty pipe. This is another nice looking piece much like the rest of those in this 21 pipe Michigan pipe lot. The Charatan’s Make I am working on is shown on the top shelf of the rack pictured below. It is the third pipe from the right and I put a red box around it to make it easy to identify.Jeff took some photos of the pipe when he received them to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Like the rest of the pipes from the Michigan collection this pipe was very dirty and well used. There was a thick cake in the bowl and lava overflowing onto the plateau rim top. It was hard to know if the edges of the bowl were damaged or not because of the cake and lava. The exterior of the briar was dirty with grease and oils from being held. The Lucite stem is dirty and had bite marks but still had a gloss to it. There were deep tooth marks on both sides of the stem at the button edge and some wear on the button edge itself. The photos below tell the story and give a glimpse of the beautiful canted Cutty shape. Jeff took a photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. There was a thick coat of lava on the rim and the cake in the bowl. It shows the mess this pipe was in when we received it. The thick lava overflow on the rim top made it hard to know what the inner edges of the bowl looked like. The outer edges had some damage from knocking the bowl out against a hard surface. There is also a general accumulation of grease and grime ground into the finish on the rest of the bowl and shank.He also took a photo of the right and underside of the bowl and shank to show the interesting grain around the bowl and shank. The finish is very dirty but the grain is visible in the photos.Jeff took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It reads as noted above and is clear and legible.The next two photos show the stem surface. They show the tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There are also some marks on the sharp edge of the button. The stem is dirty and is covered in scratches. I wanted to know where the Special fit in the Charatan Hierarchy so I turned to Pipedia to get a grasp of the order of the various pipes that were made. Here is the link(https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan). I did a screen capture of the poster to the left showing that the SPECIAL is just below the strain grain and was noted for perfection in grain and had a natural finish.

I thus knew I was dealing with a higher grade Charatan’s Make pipe. It also has the circled L which was the Lane Trademark. Pipedia said that:

The Lane Trademark serif and circled L indicates the pipe is from the “Lane Era” (approx. 1955 to 1979 -1984?), however it appears that both the English factory or Lane themselves sometimes, or perhaps even often forget to stamp the L on a pipe. The Charatan factory was known for inconsistencies, especially in stampings. Therefore, although an L on the pipe definitely defines it as a Lane Era pipe, the lack of it could simply mean the pipe missed receiving the stamp from the factory. The lack of the trademark could also mean the pipe was destined for the European market.

From there I turned to do some reading in a link on Pipedia to a 1951 Charatan Catalogue. I wanted to be able to do some more reading on the “Natural Finish” noted above and also to see if I could identify the shape 87X that was stamped on the left side of the shank at the stem/shank junction. Here is the link (https://pipedia.org/images/3/37/CHARATAN_1951.pdf). I did a screen capture of pertinent parts of the catalogue. The first is the concept of their Natural Bruyere. The second gives a listing of the hierarchy of pipes. Note in that clipping that the SPECIAL pipes were Premier quality pipes, cut in “cross grain” or “bird’s eye” graining. In paging through the catalogue, I found what I was looking for in terms of shape designations. I had looked on various shape charts and had not found the shape 87 number. In this catalogue not only did I find the shape number but a drawing of the shape with the original’s stem. The pipe is what Charatan called the Lonsdale with the 87 being the larger Lonsdale shape.Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the overall condition of the bowl top and edges of the rim. He scrubbed the stem with soap to remove the grime on the surface. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the darkening on the top and the burn damage on the front and right inner edge. Jeff had done an amazing job cleaning off the lava buildup. The outer edge of the rim has some deep nicks on the front of the bowl. The bowl is slightly out of round on the right rear inner edge. The Lucite saddle stem photos show the tooth marks and the wear on the button surface on both sides.I decided to start my work on the pipe by addressing the darkening and damage to the rim top and edges. I topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage and minimize the outer and inner edge damage. I was able to remove much of the damage. To address the burn on the front edge and the area on the right rear edge making the bowl out of round I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the rim edge a slight bevel. The bevel worked to hide the damage and bring the bowl back into round. I polished the bowl sides and rim top with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl and rim down with a damp cloth after each pad. As I polished it the sanded rim top began to shine and blend in with the rest of the briar. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The bowl and the rim top look really good. The finish looks very good with the rich finish on the bowl and rim. I am very happy with the results. I used a folded piece of 240 grit sandpaper to blend the repairs into the surface of the stem. Once the surface was smooth I sanded out the scratch marks and started the polishing of the stem with a folded piece of 400 grit sandpaper. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil and took the following photos.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth after each pad. I wiped it down with a coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the bowl and polished them both with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and 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 natural brown briar that had darkened over time came alive with the buffing. The replacement Lucite stem had an interesting asymmetrical saddle that looked very good with the stem. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/4 inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 of an inch. This beauty will soon be on the rebornpipes store. It would make a a beautiful addition to somebody’s pipe rack. Thanks for walking through the restoration of this uniquely carved Charatan from the Lane Era with me it was a pleasure to work on.

 

Rejuvenating a No Name Freehand

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe in the queue is yet another interesting pipe from the Michigan lot – a well-made Freehand with plateau on the rim top and shank end. The entire pipe had some beautiful straight and flame grain around the bowl and shank with birdseye on the bottom of the bowl and shank. It is one of the unique freehand pipes that were in the collection. It is not a large pipe – but the bowl is large enough that I can put my entire thumb inside. The rim top is tapered and thin on the front half of the bowl and thicker at the backside. The entire rim is plateau. The shank end is flared and is also plateau briar. The pipe has a contrasting black stain on the plateau areas and medium brown stain coat on the rest of the bowl. The combination really accentuates the grain. There is no identifying brand or maker stamp on the shank sides or underside. The freehand style stem is vulcanite and has no marking or stamping on it. This is another nice looking piece much like the rest of those in this 21 pipe Michigan pipe lot. The Freehand I am working on is shown on the bottom shelf of the rack pictured below. It is the fourth pipe from the right and I put a red box around it to make it easy to identify.Jeff took some photos of the pipe when he received them to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Like the rest of the pipes from the Michigan collection this pipe was very dirty and well used. There was a thick cake in the bowl and lava overflowing onto the plateau rim top. It was hard to know if the edges of the bowl were damaged or not because of the cake and lava. The exterior of the briar was dirty with grease and oils from being held. The vulcanite stem is lightly oxidized and has some calcification at the button. There are scratches in the surface of the vulcanite from what looked like an attempt to scrape off oxidation. There were deep tooth marks on both sides of the stem at the button edge and some wear on the button edge itself. The photos below tell the story and give a glimpse of the beautiful no name Freehand. Jeff took two photos of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The second photo is a close up of the lava on the rim and the cake in the bowl. It shows the mess this pipe was in when we received it. There was a thick hard cake in the bowl from lots of use. The rim top had some thick lava overflow and some darkening. The thick lava on the rim top made it hard to know what the inner and outer edges of the bowl looked like. There is also a general accumulation of dust in the finish on the rest of the bowl and shank.He also took photos of the right and underside of the bowl and shank to show the interesting grain around the bowl and shank. The finish is very dirty but the grain is visible in each of the photos. This is another beautiful pipe. The next two photos show the stem surface. They show the tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There are also some marks on the sharp edge of the button. The stem is dirty, oxidized and is covered in scratches. Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the great condition of the bowl top and edges of the rim. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the plateau on the surface of the rim. Jeff had done an amazing job cleaning off the lava buildup. The front part of the rim top is thinner and the bowl angles back toward the rear of the pipe. The outer edge of the rim looks really good. The plateau on the shank end is also visible in the photos of the stem. The stem photos show the tooth marks and the wear on the button surface on both sides. The bowl and shank of the pipe were in great condition so I started by polishing it with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl and rim down with a damp cloth after each pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I used a horsehair shoe brush to work it into the nooks and crannies of the plateau rim top and shank end. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The bowl and the rim top look really good. The finish looks very good with the rich finish on the bowl and rim. I am very happy with the results. With the bowl finished I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. I cleaned out the tooth marks on both sides of the stem with a cotton swab and alcohol. I filled in the tooth marks with clear super glue. Once the repairs had cured I used a needle file to flatten out the repaired areas. I filed it until the patches were smooth with the surface of the stem. I used a folded piece of 240 grit sandpaper to blend the repairs into the surface of the stem. Once the surface was smooth I sanded out the scratch marks and started the polishing of the stem with a folded piece of 400 grit sandpaper. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil and took the following photos.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth after each pad. I further polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped it down with a coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the bowl and polished them both with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and 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 dark stained plateau on the rim top and shank end was a great contrast with the black and brown stain on the rest of the bowl and shank. Once again the pipe came alive with the buffing. I have no idea who carved the pipe but it is well laid out and proportioned and feels great in the hand. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. This beauty will soon be on the rebornpipes store. It would make a great Freehand addition to somebody’s pipe rack. Thanks for walking through the restoration of this interesting Freehand with me it was a pleasure to work on.

This is a new brand to me – LUNAR Spain Canadian

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe in the queue is yet another interesting pipe from the Michigan lot – a really nice Canadian with rustication pattern like nothing I have ever seen before. The entire pipe – bowl, rim and shank is covered in small circles or dots with the area between the dots lightly rusticated and stained darker than the dots. The rim top, band around the rim and a band on the shank end are the only non-carved portions of the Canadian.  It is another totally unique pipe and different from any of the other pipes in the collection. It is not a large pipe – probably a Group 4 sized bowl. The rim top is flat and smooth with some darkening and damage to the finish. The pipe has a contrasting black and medium brown stain coat that highlights and accentuates the unusual finish. The underside of the shank is smooth for the majority of the shank. It is stamped LUNAR arched over a crescent moon shape under the arched moon is stamped SPAIN. Obviously the pipe is made in Spain and I will need to do a bit of work to find out about the brand. The stem is vulcanite and has no marking or stamping on it. This is another nice looking piece much like the rest of those in this 21 pipe Michigan pipe lot. The LUNAR Canadian I am working on is shown on the first shelf of the rack pictured below. It is the second pipe on the right and I put a red box around it to make it easy to identify.Jeff took some photos of the pipe when he received them to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Like the rest of the pipes from the Michigan collection this pipe was dirty and well used. There was a thick cake in the bowl and lava overflowing onto the rim top. It was hard to know if the edges of the bowl were damaged or not because of the cake and lava. The carved dots or circles on the entire pipe made it very interesting. The vulcanite stem is lightly oxidized and has some calcification at the button. There are deep tooth marks on both sides of the stem at the button edge and some wear on the button edge itself. There are also scratches in the vulcanite where it looks like someone scraped off some of the calcification. The photos below tell the story and give a glimpse of another beautiful Canadian. Jeff took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. There was a thick hard cake in the bowl which made me think it was a favourite pipe. The rim top had some thick lava overflow and some darkening. The thick lava on the rim top made it hard to know what the inner and outer edges of the bowl looked like. There is also a general accumulation of dust in the finish on the rest of the bowl and shank.He also took photo of the right side of the bowl and shank to show the interesting circular carving on the finish. The finish is very dirty but the grain is visible in each of the circles. The rustication pattern between the circles give it a fascinating look. This is another beautiful pipe.Jeff took a photo to capture the stamping on the underside of the shank. The photo shows stamping as noted above. The stamping on this pipe is clear and readable.The next two photos show the stem surface. They show the tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There are also some marks on the sharp edge of the button. The stem is dirty, oxidized and has a yellow cast to it. I looked in all of my usual sources for information on the brand. There was nothing on Pipedia or on Pipephil. The brand was unknown and this point all I knew was the stamping on the pipe – it was made in Spain. It was also not listed in Who Made That Pipe. It was also not listed in Lopes book on pipes. I then did a general Google search for Lunar Smoking Pipes Spain. The search turned up lots of useless information but it came up with one helpful discussion on the brand on the Pipesmagazine forum (http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/luna-spain-very-unique-pipe). The fellow posting there put up the following photo and asked for information about the brand and company that made it. There was not a lot of helpful information there but several posters gave suggestions about how they thought the finish was achieved. One fellow also said that LUNAR could be translated as Mole or Polka Dot. That led to look at some other sites for information.I did a search on Google Translator Spanish-English and put in the English word Lunar. It gave me the following information (https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=translate+from+spanish+to+english).

That was all the information that I could find online or in my reference books that usually give me information. I knew nothing about the brand but found that the name could mean mole, spot, or even polka dot. Kind of a fitting translation given the pattern on the bowl and shank.

Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the great condition of the bowl top and edges of the rim. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the darkening on the surface of the rim toward the back of the bowl that was normal with use. The front part of the rim top looked a little lighter in colour but there were also deep sandpits and nicks on the entire top. The inner edge showed some burn damage and also some cuts and nicks from a knife that was used to ream the bowl sometime in its life time. The outer edge of the rim looks really good. The stem photos show the tooth marks and the wear on the button surface on both sides. The final close up photos shows the LUNAR stamping on the underside of the shank (as noted above).I decided to start with the rim top and see what I could do with the damage to the top surface and the burn marks on the inner edge of the bowl. I topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage to the rim surface and minimize the burn damage to the inner edge of the bowl. I also wanted to work toward bringing the bowl back into round. After topping I used a folded piece of sandpaper to give the inner edge a slight bevel to hide the damage. I polished the smooth portion of the bowl and the rim top with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl and rim down with a damp cloth after each pad. When I had finished polishing the rim with the 4000 grit pad the small flaws on the top needed to be addressed. It was almost as if during the sanding process some of the fill material was dislodged leaving pits. I stopped and filled in the pits with clear super glue and then worked my way back through the micromesh until I finished with 6000-12000 grit pads. I used a Maple stain pen to match the rim top to the colour of the rest of the pipe. I applied the stain and let it sit for a little while to cure before buffing the bowl with a soft cotton cloth.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I used a horsehair shoe brush to work it into the nooks and crannies around each circular spot. It was hard to get it into the grooves and the shoe brush did the trick. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The bowl and the rim top look really good and the darkening is gone. The finish looks very good with the rich oil finish on the bowl and rim. I am very happy with the results. With the bowl finished I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. I cleaned out the tooth marks on both sides of the stem with a cotton swab and alcohol. I filled in the tooth marks with clear super glue. Once the repairs had cured I used a needle file to flatten out the repaired areas. I filed it until the patches were smooth with the surface of the stem. I used a folded piece of 240 grit sandpaper to blend the repairs into the surface of the stem. Once the surface was smooth I sanded out the scratch marks and started the polishing of the stem with a folded piece of 400 grit sandpaper. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil and took the following photos.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth after each pad. I further polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped it down with a coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the bowl so I could polish it without rounding the edges as the shank union. I polished stem with Blue Diamond polish 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. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The contrasting circular carved Polka Dots and the grooves between them gave an interesting texture to the bowl and shank. It truly came alive with the buffing. The rich brown stain on the high surfaces and the black stain in the crevices worked very well with the polished black vulcanite stem. The finished pipe is a beauty and feels great in the hand. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 7/8 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/4 inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 of an inch. This beauty has already been claimed; just the details have to be worked out with the buyers. Thanks for walking through the restoration of this beautiful Canadian with me it was a pleasure to work on.

Breathing new life into a Malaga Carved Canadian

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

I am working through a lot of the queue of pipes that are sitting in my repair bin this weekend. Next on the table is another Malaga from Alex that he dropped off for a restoration. It is what Malaga would have called one of their carved finishes. It is a Canadian with a double rusticated finish. The underfinish is almost Custombilt like in the deep worm trail grooves on the bowl and shank. The top finish is a wire rustication that covers the bowl sides and shank over the top of the previous finish. The rim top and a band on the shank end are smooth and stained with a contrasting lighter stain. It is an interestingly piece with a very unique finish that has grown on me as I worked on it.

The pipe had been reamed and cleaned according to the seller. The bowl and shank were pretty clean bowl. The rim top had some damage on the top surface and a deeper burn mark on the right front inner edge. The pipe is stamped on the topside of the shank horizontally and reads MALAGA. The finish on the pipe is very in good condition with a lot of grime and dust in the finish. The stem was very deeply oxidized and polished over the oxidation. There were waves and marks on the surface of both sides at the button and tooth damage on the button itself. The photos give a pretty clear picture of the shape of the pipe and its general condition when I received it. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started my restoration of the pipe. The rim top was clean but had some darkening and chipping on the surface at the back of the bowl. The right front inner edge and bowl top had some burn damage that was quite extensive. The stem itself was an interesting mess. It had been shinned and polished but there was still some very deep oxidation that is visible – with the shine is a cloudy red colour. There are also tooth marks on the button surface of the topside (shown in the second photo) as well as some general waviness to the stem just ahead of the button that spoke of some one trying to buff out the tooth marks. Also note the stamped C on the shank underside in the third photo. I believe this refers to the fact that the pipe has the Malaga Carved finish.I took a photo to capture the stamping on the topside of the shank. The photo shows stamping as noted above. The stamping on this pipe is clear and readable. Once again it does not include the quotation marks that show up on various Malaga pipes.For those of you who are unfamiliar with the brand, I am also including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/tag/malaga-pipes/. That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. If you are interested to learn more then I invite you to follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

Since the bowl had been reamed and the pipe appeared to be clean I left the cleanup work until after I had reworked the shank and stem. I started my work on the pipe by working on the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. I started by topping the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. I wanted to remove as much of the damage to the rim top as possible and minimize the burn damage on the front edge of the bowl. What limited the topping was the smooth band around the top of the bowl. Even though it was thin I could safely remove some of the damage without compromising the band. Once I had it topped I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge a slight bevel to further hide the burn damage. I polished the freshly sanded briar with 2400-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the rim top down with a damp cloth after each pad. I found that with each successive grit of micromesh the grain stood out more and gave a shine to the pipe. I liked what I saw when I looked at it. While it was a close match to the smooth band on the shank and around the rim top it would need to be stained to give a more perfect match. I used an Oak Stain pen to touch up the rim top and the light spots on the band around the shank end. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The bowl and the rim top look really good and the darkening is gone. The finish looks very good with the rich oil finish on the bowl and rim. I am very happy with the results. I cleaned out the airway in the shank and wiped out the bowl to make sure there was no debris left behind. The pipe had been well cleaned on the inside by the seller. Because of that most of what I got was the sanding debris that had drifted in the bowl and shank when I had topped the rim. With the bowl finished I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem surface with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the waves, remove the oxidation and smooth out the tooth marks on the surface of the button. The oxidation and waviness of the stem surface was hardest to deal with in order to not accentuate the waves instead of removing them. I sanded with long strokes on the surface to blend in the high and low spots. I am happy with the stem surface once that was done. I started the polishing of the surface with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I cleaned out the debris from the airway and slot in the stem after the sanding was completed. I used alcohol and pipe cleaners.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth after each pad. I further polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped it down with a coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. Now with both parts of the pipe finished, I polished stem with Blue Diamond polish 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. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain under the double rustication came alive with the buffing. The rich oil finish on the briar works well with the new, polished black vulcanite stem. The finished pipe is a beauty and feels great in the hand. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 3/4 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/4 inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 of an inch. This one will be going back to Alex with the rest of his pipes that I am working on. Thanks for walking through the restoration and restemming with me on this uniquely carved Malaga Canadian.

 

New Life for a Savinell Punto Oro 8004 Canadian

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe in the queue is yet another interesting pipe from the Michigan lot – a really nice sandblasted Canadian with a deep blast and lots of great grain. The entire pipe – bowl, rim and shank sandblasted with a thin, smooth band at the end of the shank. It is another totally unique pipe and different from any of the other pipes in the collection. It is not a large pipe – probably a Group 4 sized bowl. The rim top has a slight inward bevel on the inner edge of the flat rim top. The pipe has a contrasting black, oxblood and brown stain coats that highlights and accentuates the blast. The underside of the shank has a smooth patch from the heel down most of the shank. It is stamped Savinelli over Punto Oro with a Savinelli S shield followed by the shape number 8004 over Italy. The stem is vulcanite and has a small brass dot on the top near the shank. This is another nice looking piece much like the rest of those in this 21 pipe Michigan pipe lot. The Savinelli I am working on now is on the first shelf of the rack. It is the second pipe on the left and I put a red box around it to make it easy to identify. Jeff took some photos of the pipe when he received them to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Like the rest of the pipes from the Michigan collection this pipe was dirty and well used. There was a thick cake in the bowl and lava overflowing onto the rim top. It was hard to know if the edges of the bowl were damaged or not because of the cake and lava. The deep sandblast on the bowl, shank make the pipe very interesting. The vulcanite stem is lightly oxidized and has some calcification at the button. There are deep tooth marks on both sides of the stem at the button edge and some wear on the button edge itself. There are also scratches in the vulcanite where it looks like someone scraped off some of the calcification. The photos below tell the story and give a glimpse of the beautiful Canadian. Jeff took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The rim top had some thick lava overflow and some darkening. The thick lava on the rim top made it hard to know what the inner and outer edges of the bowl looked like. There is also a general accumulation of dust in the finish on the rest of the bowl and shank.He also took photo of the right and underside of the bowl and shank to show the interesting sandblast finish. The finish is very dirty but this is another beautiful pipe.Jeff took a photo to capture the stamping on the underside of the shank. The photo shows stamping as noted above. The stamping on this pipe is clear and readable.The next two photos show the stem surface. They show the tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There are also some marks on the sharp edge of the button. The stem is dirty, oxidized and has a yellow cast to it. The single brass Punto dot on the top of the stem is almost invisible.Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the great condition of the bowl top and edges of the rim. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the darkening on the surface of the rim toward the back of the bowl that was normal with use. The front part of the rim top looked a little lighter in colour but the sandblast on the entire rim made the rim top repairs minimal. The inner edge and the outer edge of the rim look really good. The stem photos show the tooth marks and the wear on the button surface on both sides. The final close up photos shows the Savinelli stamping on the underside of the shank. Jeff had done such a great job cleaning the surface of the pipe that there was nothing I needed to do move forward. I started by working some Before & After Restoration Balm into the sand blast 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 following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The bowl and the rim top look really good and the darkening and lava are gone. The finish looks very good and I am very happy with the results. With the bowl finished I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. I cleaned out the tooth marks on both sides of the stem with a cotton swab and alcohol. I filled in the tooth marks with clear super glue. Once the repairs had cured I used a needle file to flatten out the repaired areas. I filed it until the patches were smooth with the surface of the stem. I used a folded piece of 240 grit sandpaper to blend the repairs into the surface of the stem. Once the surface was smooth I sanded out the scratch marks and started the polishing of the stem with a folded piece of 400 grit sandpaper. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth and took the following photos.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wetsanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth after each pad. I further polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped it down with a coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the bowl so I could polish it without rounding the edges as the shank union. I polished stem with Blue Diamond polish 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. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The contrasting deep sandblast showed the contrasts between the valleys and the high spots. It truly came alive with the buffing. The rich browns and oxblood stains worked very well with the polished black vulcanite stem. The finished pipe is a beauty and feels great in the hand. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/4 inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 of an inch. This beauty will be on the rebornpipes store sometime in the days ahead. It may well be the kind of sandblasted Canadian you have been looking for. Let me know if you are interested. Thanks for walking through the restoration of this beautiful Canadian with me it was a pleasure to work on.

 

 

Discovering the History with the Reclamation of this Petite EPC Majestic Bent Horn Stem Billiard

14 Replies

Blog by Dal Stanton

This is an amazing petite now on my worktable.  I think it qualifies as a ‘pocket pipe’ because it has obviously been used and loved.  I acquired it last year from the French eBay auction block in a Lot of 50 that included some prized pipes which have already passed through my work table and are now serving new stewards.  I cannot find the EPC Majestic in this picture of the French Lot of 50, but what has been characteristic of this Lot is that there are several named pipes that I’ve never heard of before.  My assumption has been that many of these are French made since the Lot came from France.  Many of these pipes also sport very nice horn stems.  This is true also of the EPC Majestic.

Stephen saw the EPC Majestic in the For “Pipe Dreamers” Only! collection on The Pipe Steward website.  I love it when I get return pipe men looking again!  Stephen has already brought home an L. J. Peretti Bent Billiard (LINK) and now he’s commissioned the EPC Majestic as well as a newer acquisition from an antique store in St. Louis, a really nice Aldo Valeni Trio Blasted Billiard – next on my worktable.  I appreciate Stephen, even though he happens to be a cousin on my wife’s side of the family!  He’s a retired Coast Guard man and has grown in his love for and appreciation of pipes.

When he asked about the EPC Majestic, I made sure he understood that he was inquiring about a pipe with diminutive dimensions.  He assured me that this was exactly what he was looking for and I placed him in the queue.

Here are pictures that got Stephen’s attention: The dimensions of the EPC Majestic are: Length: 4 1/8 inches, Height: 1 1/2 inches, Rim width: 1 inch, Chamber width: 5/8 inches, and Chamber depth: 1 3/8 inches.  Sometimes measurements don’t translate as well to people and therefore I questioned Stephen.  For demonstrable purposes to show this very nice looking ‘Pocket Pipe’ in the natural habitat, I take a palm picture – I’m not a big man and this pipe fits fully in my palm!  My wife’s description was, ‘How cute!’The nomenclature is interesting.  On the left shank flank is stamped 3 hearts and in each heart is stamped the letters, E – P – C.  The hearted letters are over ‘MAJESTIC’.  There are no other identifying marks that I can find on the pipe.  My assumption at this point, as I mentioned above, is that this is a French made pipe, but this is only a guess at this point.

As I’ve experienced with other pipes from this Lot, EPC shows up nowhere that I see in my usual first places: Pipedia or Pipephil.eu.  I also look in other groups and threads and I can find nothing.  Expanding the search, I put in ‘EPC Majestic’ in Google and came up with an interesting vein of information – a cigar company.  E.P. Carrillo to be exact based in Miami, Florida.  I read with interest the story of Ernesto Perez-Carrillo who was a well-known cigar manufacturer in Cuba and during the Fidel Castro era was forced to leave Cuba and settle in Miami with his family.  After much struggle, was able to restart a cigar company which is very well-known today among cigar aficionados.  Interestingly, the brand that won the 2018 Cigar of the Year Award rated the #1 cigar of 2018 by Cigar Aficionado was named, ‘Majestic’.  Yet, what does this have to do with a nomenclature on the side of a pipe’s shank?

My mind started coming up with questions – Did this the E.P. Carrillo cigar company put its name on a pipe?  Was the diminutive size of this pipe indicator of a promotional pipe of some sort?  Would a pipe be used to promote cigars?  The questions came even though they made absolutely no sense!  Every pipe man and cigar man would answer, absolutely, not!  My heart agrees 100% but my mind’s questions were not satisfied.  So, as I’ve done many times before with surprising success, I went to the contact tab of the E.P. Carrillo website and sent an email to the info@epcarrillo.com address given.  I have very little expectation that I will receive a response, especially with an email essentially asking if they ever used pipes to promote their cigars….  We’ll see!

Well, during the restoration, I received a very nice note back from Lissette Perez-Carrillo, the daughter of founder, Ernesto (pictured above with father), stating: Hi that’s very nice but we aren’t in the pipe business. Thanks for sharing.   No one is surprised by her response!

I have one more lead that came after I posted pictures in different Pipe smokers Face Book groups and Eduardo responded from Pipe Smokers of America suggesting that the EPC may be related to the Edinburgh Pipe Club.  Feeling like I’m grasping at straws, I find the EPC web site (LINK) and it’s nicely done.  I also find an information email and send off another inquiry.  Does Scotland have a stake in the EPC Majestic?

Then, the breakthrough came.  I had completed the restoration and was doing the final edit of the write-up, when I remembered the link that Eduardo had posted in the FB group, Pipe Smokers of America.  It was a link that I had seen before in my first look in Pipedia, but I missed an important clue.  The link was a simple search result of ‘Majestic’ in Pipedia.   Twenty pictures come up on the page, most of the pictures have pipes with a ‘Majestic’ nomenclature that belonged to other companies that didn’t help me.  But I missed the clue in the very first picture of a very old company symbol.  The 3 hearts with EPC.

The picture gave me the company, but at first glance, the company name given, ‘A. Pandevant & Roy’ offered no correlation to EPC.  Pipedia nor Pipephil.eu had any references for a direct search of Pandevant & Roy.  When I broadened the search on the internet, I hit pay dirt.   The search took me to a Dutch site called, ‘PKN Society for Research of Historical Tobacco Pipes’ (link) which contained many old catalogues dating back to the 1800s when ‘Clay’ was king in the pipe world. Of special interest to me were two catalogues of the ‘A. Pandevant & Roy’ company.  The catalogues were in French, so it took some time to work through the text – Google Translate was employed!

The catalogues were in PDF format and the pages turned easily to scan the product lines of pipes and other paraphernalia for sale.  I first looked through the first catalogue dated 1922 to 1923.  I perused the pages and still was not able to put together the nomenclature – EPC, though I was seeing EPC in several places.  I went back to the front cover of the catalogue and looked again to see if I could piece together EPC.  I think the cover is interesting and has a classic feel, so I included it below.  As I study the cover again, I noticed that there were actually two Pandevants represented – the more prominent was “A.”, but just above “A.”, the less prominent, “E. Pandevant” was present.  I’m theorizing that “A.” is still living and currently (1920s) is running the company with “Roy”.  However, the founder of the company was the father, “E.”, probably now deceased.  The theory sounds good, but not only good, but plausible!

This gives me a credible EP, but what about ‘C’?  Then I see it – ‘Charenton’ near Paris.  I did a quick search of the French district of Charenton and discovered that there are many places in France bearing this name and the ‘Pres Paris’ – near Paris, would be a marker regarding which Charenton was the former base of operations for the A. Pandevant & Roy Co.  The cover also says that “E.P.C.”, “La Savoyarde”, “MAJESTIC”, “La Parisienne” and “E.P.” were registered trademarks of the company.  At the top of the cover, it states that this ‘House was founded in 1884’ – when clay pipes were the predominant medium of pipe smoking.  Curious to see, I used Google Maps to search the address, 29, Avenue du Marché, Charenton (Seine), Paris, and discover that the street and address have passed into history.  The pages in the catalogue were interesting to peruse.  I discover that horn is a predominant stem material displayed in the catalogue, though there are vulcanite varieties, there are just not as many.  Of course, I look for the petite EPC Majestic and I do find pipes very close to the Petite.  Notice on the page included below – the stems are all depicted as horn.  Depicted also is the brass shank cap receiving each of the horn stems.  It would seem the pipe on my table belongs to this era of production of the A Pandevant & Roy Co. I did find these this example below of a petite – the nomenclature isn’t exactly the same with the three hearts, but I wanted to include this just in case the petite on my table has one of these names, ‘My Little Jeannette’ or ‘My Little Mariette’!   I love it.The later catalogue dated 1937-39, gives some additional information.  The first thing I see is that the address has changed – the same street number, 29, but the street was changed to, 29, Avenue Anatole-France Charenton Seine.  This time Google Maps found the address – it is now an apartment complex on a residential street.  With this later catalogue, pipes took more of a backseat to the other paraphernalia – not starting until page 24!  The assortment was less than the former catalogue and few pipes that could possibly resemble the EPC Majestic in my possession.  1939, the date of this catalogue, is the last entry I could find anywhere for the A. Pandevant & Roy Co.  What was happening in 1939 could be a clue to understanding the fate of the A. Pandevant & Roy Co.   From ‘The People in History’:

1939 Germany and the Soviet Union attacked Poland and Britain, France, India, Australia and new Zealand declared war on Germany on September 3rd , the United States decided to remain neutral but did begin rearming for war , which helped end the great depression. The United States also hosted the Worlds Fair in New York early in the year. Also, after speaking to the physicist Albert Einstein president Roosevelt initiated the Americas A-Bomb programme. 

Perhaps, one of the tolls of World War II was also the French company in Paris that produced the EPC Majestic now on my table.  My research will stop here and with a greater sense of the history and heritage of this EPC Majestic Petite Horn Stem Billiard before me, I look more closely at the pipe itself, I discover something very interesting that I haven’t seen before and is reminiscent of a Gourd Calabash.  I’m looking more closely at the horn stem and that it was fashioned with what appears to be a horn tenon as well. I don’t know if its threaded or glued in place, but it is solid, and I’m not interested in forcing the tenon to discover if it will be moved! I then look at the shank and wonder if the brass band/shank cap will come off.  I give a little twist of pressure and it comes off easily.  What I see next surprises me.  I see the briar shank ringing something else inserted into to the mortise.  A lining of some sort.  I discover then that it appears to be cork.  Cork seats the horn tenon in the mortise much like cork seats the Meerschaum bowl on a Gourd Calabash. I have never seen this before, but it seems to work quite well.  I will condition the cork with a little petroleum jelly later.  The challenge becomes protecting the cork while I’m cleaning the rest of the stummel internals. I’m not sure that I want the cork saturated with alcohol – I’m not sure that will be the best thing.The bit of the horn stem appears to be chewed some.  On both the upper and lower bit there are bite compressions and chatter.The EPC Majestic bowl has seen better days.  There are four large fills on the heel of the stummel that will need addressing.  The finish on the bowl has seen better days.  There is a ‘water mark’ line running perfectly straight, bisecting the stummel.  It appears that the stummel was half submerged in some liquid for a time – enough time to discolor the stummel. The rim is nicked and has some lava flow needing to be cleaned.  The chamber has light cake but needs freshening.  The general condition of the pipe is banged up and dirty.I begin the clean up of the stummel by reaming the chamber using the Pipnet Reaming kit. I use only the smallest blade head and it is too large to reach to the chamber floor.  I switch to using the Savinelli Fitsall tool to continue the job and it does well scraping and cleaning the chamber walls down to the floor.  I then sand the chamber using 240 grade paper wrapped around a Sharpie Pen to give leverage.  This cleans the chamber further of carbon and then I wipe the chamber with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95% to remove the carbon dust.  After looking at the cleaned chamber, I detect no problems with heating – fissures, etc.  Moving on!To clean the external briar surface, I use undiluted Murphy’s Oil soap and a cotton pad. I’m anxious to see how or if the stummel cleans up!  It does clean up, but the finish is very thin.  The rim cleans up nicely with the help of a brass wire brush except for one area on the right-hand side from lighting the tobacco.  After scrubbing the stummel, I rinse it with cool tap water careful to keep water out of the internals.  With the stummel wet, I use a sharp dental probe to test the large fills on the heel of the stummel.  As I suspected, they are soft, and I remove them with the probe and clean the holes to make sure all the old fill was gone.  The pictures show the progress. Next, I work on cleaning the internals of the stummel.  Using cotton buds and pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95% I go to work.  With the cork lining in the mortise, I reach beyond it as much as possible to clean.  The drilling of the small stummel has the primary larger mortise drilling first, then a more angled airway drilling from the mortise to the draft hole.  A trap of sorts is created and the end of the mortise because of the drilling.  It cleans up well.  With the cork lining I will not be utilizing a kosher salt and alcohol soak, so I press through cleaning with buds and pipe cleaners.  I also use a dental spatula to scrape in the mortise, but things are clean.  Well, I finish the cleaning and toss the evidence before taking a picture!  Oh well, moving on!

Next, I look more closely at the stummel.  I refill the holes now using a briar dust and CA glue putty mixture.  I first wipe the stummel with alcohol to clean the area.  I then put a small amount of briar dust on an index card and mix CA glue with it gradually until it thickens to a molasses-like thickness.  Then I use a tooth pick to trowel the putty to the holes and fill them. After tamping the patches, I set the stummel aside for a time to allow the briar dust putty to cure. With the stummel on the sidelines, I start work on the bent horn stem.  I first clean it with Murphy’s Oil soap and a bristled tooth brush to rid the porous horn surface of grime.  After I scrub it well, I rinse it off with water to rinse the soap.  It looks much better. Then I clean the internal airway with a few pipe cleaners wetted with isopropyl 95%.  It didn’t take too much effort.There is tooth chatter on the upper and lower bit.  I also see some bite compressions on the lower.  I sand the area with 240 grit paper.After sanding the upper and lower bit with 240 grit paper, there remains 2 small compressions on the bit and one on the button lip.  The lower has major bites that need filling. I purchased an amber CA glue last time I was in the US and this is the first opportunity to use it.  I apply drops to the upper bit in the 3 places and on the lower.  I’m hopeful that the amber CA glue will result in a blended patch.With the stem patches curing, I turn back to the stummel and the briar putty fills have cured.  I file the patches down with a flat needle file close to the briar surface. I’m careful to stay over the patch as I file to avoid scratching the adjoining briar. Then, switching to 240 grade paper, I sand the patches down to the briar surface.I condition the cork lining in the mortise and to do this, I swab some petroleum jelly over it using a cotton bud.  This will moisten the cork keeping it from drying out.  The Amber CA glue used to patch the horn stem has cured and I use a flat needle file and 240 grit sanding paper to work on the patches.  The smaller patches on the upper bit are dispatched easily with 240 grade paper.  On the lower repair, I first use the flat needle file to shape the button and reduce the patch.  I then finish it with 240 grit paper. Next, I wet sand the horn stem using 600 grade paper.Straight away, I then apply micromesh from 1500 to 12000.  I first wet sand using pads 1500 to 2400 and then dry sand with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000.  I apply a coat of Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads – the horn drinks up the oil and it looks great. I put the stem aside to absorb the oil and dry. Turning again to the stummel, I first use sanding sponges from coarse to light weight to address the scratches and nicks in the stummel surface.  I also sponge sand the rim and it looks good except for a small area of residual scorching on the inner rim lip. To clean the inner rim of the scorching I introduce a light bevel using 240 grit paper rolled tightly.  I pinch the roll between my thumb and the inner lip of the rim and rotate around the rim.  I then do the same with 600 grade paper.  I’m satisfied with the progress.Next, I sand the stummel with the full regimen of micromesh pads, 1500 to 12000.  First, I wet sand with pads 1500 to 2400, then dry sand with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000.  The grain really emerges during this sanding phase.  I believe the original hue on this EPC Majestic stummel was a darker brown.  I say this because the color of the stummel underneath the brass shank plate/band was darker – it was protected.  A darker hue suits better too, to help blend the briar dust patches on the heal of the stummel.  I elect to go with a Fiebing’s Dark Brown Leather Dye to darken the stummel.  I assemble all the desk top components of my staining process.  I first wipe the bowl down with a cotton pad wetted with alcohol to clean it.  I then fit the shank with a cork to serve as a handle.  I warm the stummel with the hot air gun to expand the briar to help it be more receptive to the dye.  Then, I amply apply the Dark Brown aniline dye using a folded over pipe cleaner.  As I paint a portion of the stummel with the dye I ‘fire’ it, by igniting the dye with a lit candle and it combust the alcohol in the dye and sets the dye pigment.  When the surface is covered, I set the stummel aside to rest through the night. The next morning, I mount a felt buffing wheel to the Dremel, lower the speed to the slowest possible, and ‘unwrap’ the ‘fired’ crust with Tripoli compound.  The grain contrast that begins to bleed out is striking.  After applying the Tripoli compound to the stummel, I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel and go over the stummel again with Tripoli after increasing the speed of the Dremel to about 40% full power.  This helps sharpen the grain, removing blotches of dye and reaching into the crook of the shank bend that was difficult to reach with the felt wheel.  After completing the Tripoli compound application, I wipe the stummel with a cotton pad wetted with alcohol to lighten the finish a bit and to blend the newly dyed surface.  I then mount another cotton cloth buffing wheel to the Dremel, maintain the same speed and apply Blue Diamond compound to the horn stem and stummel.The brass shank cap/band is next on my sites. I wash it with warm tap water and soap and rinse it well and dry it.  Then I apply a little of the TarnX liquid to a cotton pad and wipe it on the brass shank cap to clean it.  Afterwards I rinse the shank cap and what a difference! I replace the cap on the shank with a small drop of thick CA glue to hold it solidly in place.  It looks great.Now the home stretch.  With the shank cap cleaned, polished and replaced, I rejoin the horn stem with the petite Bent Billiard stummel and wipe the pipe with a felt cloth to make sure the compound dust is removed before applying wax. I then mount another cotton cloth wheel and apply some coats of carnauba wax to the entire pipe.  I finish by giving the pipe a rigorous rubbing with a microfiber cloth to raise the shine.

Well, this petite EPC Majestic Bent Horn Stem Billiard had a mysterious origin that is now much clearer.  I have not heard from the Edinburgh Pipe Club regarding my inquiry – I hope they don’t think me a loon!  The Miami-based Cigar company, E.P. Carrillo does not own this pipe.  It was manufactured by the A. Pandevant & Roy Co., at 29, Avenue du Marché, Charenton (Seine), Paris.  My guess is that this pipe is dated in the 1920s because of the preponderance of similarities to the pipes in the 1922-23 catalogue.  I believe the latest dating, if my theory holds, would be with the commencement with World War II and the eventual Nazi occupation of Paris and France.

Yet, all told, this small pocket pipe is a superbly fashioned pipe.  It’s so small one might think it is toy-like.  It IS small, but it’s the real deal – a seriously fashioned pipe.  The grain color with the dark brown dye is beautiful – the heel patches are forgotten in the dark grain swirls.  The blend of the briar, brass band and horn stem are a striking ensemble that I believe my cousin Steve will be pleased to bring home to Alabama.  He commissioned the pipe from the For “Pipe Dreamers” Only! collection and this pipe truly fits into the dreamer category.  Not only is it a beautiful pipe but the research reveals that it is a collectible as well.  Since Stephen commissioned it, he will have the first opportunity to acquire it from The Pipe Steward Store.  This pipe benefits our work here in Bulgaria working with the Daughters of Bulgaria – women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited.  Thanks for joining me!  First, before and after palm shots!

 

Restoring a Malaga Canted Dublin with a Square Shank

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe in the queue is yet another interesting pipe from the Michigan lot – a canted, square shanked Dublin with a smooth and rusticated finish. The bowl and rim are smooth and the shank is rusticated with a smooth band at the end of the shank. It is another totally unique pipe and different from any of the other Malaga pipes that I have worked on. It is not a large pipe – probably a Group 4 sized bowl. The grain on the bowl is a combination of swirls, flame and birdseye. The rim top has a bevel on the outer edge culminating in a flat rim top. The pipe appears to be oil cured like the other pipes from the brand. The shank is square and is rusticated in a very tight pattern. The right side of the shank has a smooth patch that is stamped MALAGA. The stem is Lucite and has a square saddle followed by twin rings and a tapered blade. This is another nice looking piece much like the rest of those in this 21 pipe Michigan pipe lot. This Malaga joins the other two Malaga pipes I have worked on – the rusticated billiard and the twisted billiard that I worked on earlier. The Malaga I am working on now is on the first shelf of the rack. It is the fourth pipe on the left and I put a red box around it to make it easy to identify. Jeff took some photos of the pipe when he received them to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Like the rest of the pipes from the Michigan collection this pipe was dirty and well used. There was a thick cake in the bowl and lava overflowing onto the rim top. The inner edge of the bowl in pretty good condition. The combination of rusticated shank and smooth bowl made an interesting tactile pip. It is another pipe that is unlike any of the Malaga pipes that I have worked on. The vulcanite stem is carved in the same manner as the bowl and carries on the twist. There are deep tooth marks on both sides of the stem at the button edge and some wear on the button edge itself. The photos below tell the story and give a glimpse of the carved canted Dublin. Jeff took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The rim top had some thick lava overflow and some darkening. There was a thick cake in the bowl but the inner and outer edges of the bowl were in great condition. There is also a general accumulation of dust in the finish on the rest of the bowl and shank.He also took photo of the right, left and underside of the bowl and shank to show the interesting grain on the smooth part of the bowl and the carving in the rustication on the shank. The shape is unique and the pipe fits well in either left or right hand. The finish is very dirty but this is another beautiful pipe. Jeff took a photo to capture the stamping on the underside of the shank. The photo shows stamping MALAGA. The stamping on this pipe does not have quotation marks that I have seen on some of the pipes. I have yet to figure out what the quotation marks mean as they are not on all of the pipes. Perhaps some of you might know. Once again how about posting a comment about this? The next two photos show the stem surface. They show the tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There are also some marks on the sharp edge of the button. On the underside there is a deep tooth mark that appears to be a bite through but I won’t be certain until I have the pipe in hand.Once again I am including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/tag/malaga-pipes/. That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. Follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the great condition of the bowl top and edges of the rim. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the darkening on the surface of the rim toward the back of the bowl. The inner edge and the outer edge of the rim look really good. The stem photos show the tooth marks and the wear on the button surface on both sides. The final close up photos shows the MALAGA stamping on the right side of the shank.The bowl and shank of this particular Malaga pipe was in very good condition. I did not need to sand it with sandpapers or do any repairs to the briar. I could move right into the polishing process. I started by polishing the bowl and the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the rim down after each pad with a damp cloth. With the rim top and bowl polished, I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The bowl and the rim top look really good and the darkening and lava are gone. The finish looks very good with the swirling grain on the bowl and the rustication the shank. I am very happy with the results. With the bowl finished I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. I cleaned out the tooth marks on both sides of the stem with a cotton swab and alcohol. Once the repairs had cured I used a needle file to flatten out the repaired areas. I filed it until the patches were smooth with the surface of the stem. I used a folded piece of 240 grit sandpaper to blend the repairs into the surface of the stem. Once the surface was smooth I sanded out the scratch marks and started the polishing of the stem with a folded piece of 400 grit sandpaper. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth and took the following photos.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wetsanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth after each pad. I further polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped it down with a coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I polished stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The contrasting smooth grain and rusticated shank came alive with the buffing. The rich browns work well with the polished variegated/swirled Lucite stem. The finished pipe is a beauty and feels great in the hand. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 1 3/4 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: 15/16 of an inch. I am going to hang on to this pipe for a bit while I decide what to do with it. It is just too stunning a pipe for me to let go of right away. Thanks for walking through the restoration of this beautiful Canted Dublin with me it was a pleasure to work on.

Restoring another Malaga – A Billiard with a Twist from Bowl to Button

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe in the queue is another interesting pipe from the Michigan lot – a Twisted Billiard with a twist going from the rim to the button. It is a totally unique pipe and different from any of the other Malaga pipes that I have worked on. It is not a large pipe – probably a Group 4 sized bowl. The twist is carved in around what appears to have been originally a panel bowl but I am not even sure of that as it has a round rim top. The finish is smooth and well finished in the oil cured style of other pipes from the brand. On the underside is a small flat panel running parallel to the shank that is stamped “MALAGA” with the quotation marks. The stem is vulcanite and carries on the twist of the shank and bowl. This is another nice looking piece much like the rest of those in this 21 pipe Michigan pipe lot. This Malaga joins the rusticated billiard that I worked on earlier and a freehand that also has a very interesting Malaga shape. The Malaga I am working on now is on the mat in front of the rack. It is the third pipe on the left and I have circled it in red to make it easy to identify. Jeff took some photos of the pipe when he received them to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Like the rest of the pipes from the Michigan collection this pipe was dirty and well used. There was a thick cake in the bowl and lava overflowing onto the rim top. The inner edge of the bowl was damaged with nicks and cuts from a previous reaming job with a knife. The twisted carving in the bowl sides and shanks fit comfortably in the hand as it was wrapped around the bowl sides. The carving on the bowl, shank and stem make the pipe very interesting. It is another pipe that is unlike any of the Malaga pipes that I have worked on. It is grooves/twists are quite deep and are parallel on the right and left side and the front and the back. The vulcanite stem is carved in the same manner as the bowl and carries on the twist. There are deep tooth marks on both sides of the stem at the button edge and some wear on the button edge itself. The photos below tell the story and give a glimpse of the carved twisted billiard. Jeff took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The rim top had a thick lava overflow and some darkening. There were some nicks and cuts around the rim. There also appeared to be a burn mark on the right inner edge of the rim at mid bowl and possibly on the left inner edge toward the read of the bowl . There is also a general accumulation of dust and grime in the carving of the bowl and shank.He also took photo of the right side and the bottom of the bowl and shank to show the interesting twisted carving that covers the pipe. The carving is unique and gives the pipe a rugged and tactile look and feel in the hand. It should be interesting as the pipe warms up when smoked. The finish is very dirty but this is another beautiful pipe. Jeff took a photo to capture the stamping on the underside of the shank. The photo shows stamping “MALAGA”. The stamping has the quotation marks that I have seen on some of the pipes. I have yet to figure out what the quotation marks mean as they are not on all of the pipes. Perhaps some of you might know. How about a note about this?The next three photos show the stem surface. The first shows the twist in the stem flowing out of the shank. There is some light oxidation on the stem surface. The next two show the tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There are also some marks on the sharp edge of the button. The surface of the blade in front of the button also has some scratches from whoever attempted to clean it up. Once again I am including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/tag/malaga-pipes/. That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. Follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the damage to the flat surface of the rim and the inner edge on the right side and toward the front of the bowl. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the darkening on the surface of the rim toward the back of the bowl. There were also some burn marks on the right side toward the middle and the ledge side toward the rear of the rim top. The inner edge of the bowl had some damage from burns and reaming but the outside edge looks really good. The stem photos show the tooth marks and the wear on the button surface on both sides. The final close up photos shows the “MALAGA” stamping on the underside of the shank.To remove the damage to the top of the rim I topped it on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. I worked on it to remove the burned areas and the damage to the inner edge of the rim as much as possible. I am happy with how it turned out.I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the inner edge of the round rim top. I was able to remove the majority of the damage, leaving behind a dark spot on the right side of the rim top at the inner edge. I wiped the rim top down with a damp cotton pad to remove the dust. I polished the bowl and the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the rim down after each pad with a damp cloth. I touched up the stain on the rim with a Maple stain pen and blended it into the grain. Once it dried I buffed it with Blue Diamond to spread it out. With the rim top and bowl polished, I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The bowl and the rim top look really good and the darkening and lava are gone. The finish looks very good with the swirling carving on the sides of the bowl and shank. The Maple stain on the rim matched the rest of the bowl perfectly. I am very happy with the results. With the bowl finished I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. I cleaned out the tooth marks on both sides of the stem with a cotton swab and alcohol. Once the repairs had cured I used a needle file to flatten out the repaired areas. I filed it until the patches were smooth with the surface of the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. I further polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I polished stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The contrasting grain came alive with the buffing. The rich browns work well with the polished black vulcanite stem. The finished pipe is a beauty and feels great in the hand. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 1/4 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/2 inches, Chamber diameter: 7/16 of an inch. This pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this twisted Malaga billiard.

New Life for a Charatan’s Make 30120DC Canadian

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe in the queue is a Charatan’s Make Canadian with a Double Comfort saddle stem. It came to my brother and me in the lot that included the pipe cabinet and 21 pipes. It has a beautiful sandblast finish on the shank and bowl. There is a smooth, crowned rim top and a smooth band at the shank end. The bottom of the shank has a smooth panel that has the stamping on it. It is stamped Charatan’s Make (over) London, England (over) 30120DC which is the shape number and the DC which marks a Double Comfort bit from the Lane Era. Once again is a nice looking piece much like the rest of those in this lot. It is a brand that I have worked on over the years. It is on the far right side of the first shelf in the photo below. I have circled it in red to make it easier to identify.Jeff took some photos of the pipe when he received them to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. It was dirty and worn looking. There was a thick cake in the bowl and heavy lava overflow on the rim top. The smooth rim top was hidden under the grime and lava coat so it was hard to know what was underneath in terms of damage. The sandblast is well done and really shows the grain. It is quite deep and rugged and the oxblood stain over black stain makes it really stand out. The stem is vulcanite and oxidized. There are deep tooth marks on both sides of the stem at the button edge and some scratching on the stem surface. The photos below tell the story and give a glimpse of the saddle stemmed Canadian shape. Here are two close up photos of the bowl and rim top to show you the thick build up on the rim and the heavy cake in the bowl. It is hard to see if there is any damage on the inner or outer edge of the rim. There is a thick cake in the bowl that is hard and rough. There appears to be some interesting grain underneath all the lava. The close up photos of the stem shows the damage to the top and underside of the bit in front of the button and on the button surface itself. The next photo shows the stamping on underside of the shank of the pipe. It is clear and legible.I decided to take some time to review my knowledge of the brand. I turned to the Pipephil website for a quick overview of the brand (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-charatan.html). I quote a short overview of the history from that site.

The brand founded in 1863 by Frederik Charatan. When his father retired in 1910, Reuben Charatan took over the family business. All the pipes were handmade until 1973. The brandname was overtaken by Dunhill in 1978 and sold in 1988 to James B. Russell Inc. (NJ, USA). During the period 1988-2002 Charatans were crafted by Butz Choquin in St Claude (France). Dunhill re-purchased Charatan brand name in 2002 and Colin Fromm (Invicta Briars, Castleford) follows up on freehand production…

…The “DC” stamping after shape # was introduced when Dunhill took control of the company in 1979. DC means “Double Comfort” saddle bit.

I turned to Pipedia for a bit more history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan). I quote pertinent parts of the article.

…Charatan records indicate the DC (Double Comfort) bit was introduced in the 50’s, but some report seeing them in earlier production. Still others indicate they were introduced by Lane in 1960. Regardless, the DC bit is not an accurate way to date a pipe because many Charatan’s were made with regular and saddle type bits throughout the “Lane Era”.

I also read the translated article on Pipedia that was referenced in the opening article. It is entitled Dating of Charatans has been translated for Pipedia by Mathias Acciai. This study by Fabio Ferrara of Monterubbiano – Italy is based on more than 2000 old Charatan pipes he studied from the “Basciano stock” purchased by Mario Lubinski – Fermo. (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dating_of_Charatans). I quote in part.

…Things started to change in 1965 after Lane’s acquisition of the Ben Wade brand and related machinery. (Actually Lane acquired only few of Wade’s machines and not its entire factory in Leeds, that was destroyed during WW II).

Essentially Charatan acquired a brand, rather than a real pipe manufacturing business. Furthermore Lane commissioned some pipes to Preben Holm and Wilmer, for the Ben Wade brand. Charatan took part in this operation too since some Danish freehands were displayed in its catalogue (while the so called ‘seconds’ were marked Ben Wade).

 

In mid 1976 Charatan was acquired from Lane by Dunhill. That obviously resulted in some major changes until 1982, when Dunhill decided to shut down the historical Charatan factory in Grosvenor Street.

From this moment on all Charatan’s pipes have been produced by Dunhill in the Parker/Hardcastle factory in Forest Road, Walthamstow.

It is worth noting that the factory was in Forest Road and not in 32 St. Andrew Road, Walthamstow, where the Dunhill factory was located since 1982.

In 1988 Dunhill sold Charatan to J.B. Russell and the production was moved to France. For many this is considered Charatan’s dark period.

The last change was in 2000, when Charatan was once again acquired by Dunhill and for a few months, the production was moved again to the Parker /Hardcastle site. This operation has to be viewed as Dunhill’s goal to give a new life to an old brand of the past, and the production of Charatans, Invictas, Simmons, and Hardcastles is taken over by Colin Fromm in Invicta’s site in Chatham. This information leaked during a recent interview with Marc Burrows, head of Dunhill’s shop in London’s Jermyn Street, who claimed that recent Charatans (from 2003) seem to be superior to those of the first Lane era!…

I quote a section of the article that helps me date the pipe I am working on.

…Pipes that belong to eras till the 1960 have the engraving ‘CHARATAN’S MAKE LONDON ENGLAND’ in two lines, the shape code is composed by numbers only. The X and the DC appear only on pipes after 1960…

This tells me that the pipe I have on the table came out after 1960. To try to date it further I moved on in the article. I found some help there from a section entitled, Identification of a fifth era pipe (First Dunhill era, 1977-1981).

Dunhill finally acquired Lane Ltd. in April 1976. To be honest this era should begin that year, however to clarify matters, knowing that during the first months everything changed in the production, I assume the beginning of this era to be 1977.

The characteristics of this era are close to the previous one, except for the absence of the LANE symbol (approx. ending of 1980).

In this very first period Dunhill didn’t change the production site and the original methods, making plans for the future, and the real revolution took place in 1982.

You may come across a pipe of the ‘old generation’, It is important to note that if the DC has been added later, it is often out of line with the shape code…

1) The mouthpiece is frequently double comfort, rarely saddle without the double comfort, never tapered. If the stem is not a double comfort but a saddle one, it is characterized by the letter X on the right of the shape code (e.g. 2502X), naturally in this case the letters DC are not displayed.

2) In the CP logo, the C enters the P (until approx. 1980)

3) Absence of £ on the shank (from the end of 1980 approx., this is because during the first period Dunhill kept the £, as Lane Ltd was property of Dunhill that could use its trademark)

4) Presence of the letter DC just after the shape number (e.g. 2502 DC) or of the letter X only if the stem is not a double comfort one

5) Presence of the writing “Made by Hand – In – City of London” (until 1979)

6) The pipes marked Chippendale are just a Belevedere series, On the mouthpiece, instead of the CP they display CD.

The Charatan’s Make on my work table has a double comfort saddle bit and has the DC code after the shape number. There is an absence of the L on the shank and “sings the praise of London production. The CP logo appears to match pipes from this period so I would date the pipe to the First Dunhill era, 1977-1981. That is getting the date a bit closer for me and is probably as close as I can get at this point.

Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl of the pipe. He rinsed it off under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove most of the lava build up on the rim top of the pipe leaving a clean rim. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the darkening on the surface of the rim toward the back of the bowl. There were also some small nicks in the surface of the rim. The inner and outer edge of the bowl looks really good. The stem photos show the oxidation on the surface of the Double Comfort bit and the tooth marks and the wear on the button surface on both sides. The top of the saddle is stamped with the CP mark and the underside bears a Regd No. that will be clearer in the next photos of the stamping.The underside of the shank has clear stamping with the name and shape number of the pipe. The underside of the stem also bears a Reg’d No stamp with the number 203573. The photo below shows the stamping on the shank and the stem.I started my cleanup on the rim top. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the darkening and damage on the inner edge of the round rim top. I wiped the rim top down with a damp cotton pad to remove the dust. I polished the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the rim down after each pad with a damp cloth. I touched up the stain on the rim with a Mahogany stain pen and blended it into the grain. Once it dried I buffed it with Blue Diamond to spread it out. With the rim top cleaned and restained, I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the sandblast and smooth surfaces of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The bowl and the rim top look good. I am very happy with the results. With the bowl finished I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the scratches and the tooth marks on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper avoiding damaging the stamping on both sides of the saddle. I cleaned off the surface with a cotton swab and filled in the tooth marks on both sides with clear super glue. I set it aside to cure for a few hours and when it had cured I smoothed out the fills with 220 grit and 400 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface. I filled in the stamping on the saddle of the stem with white liquid paper. I worked it into the grooves with a tooth pick. Once it dried it I scraped off the excess with the tooth pick and sanded the stem some more with the 400 grit sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wetsanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. I polished it with some Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra to deepen the shine. I wiped it down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry.