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A Simple Cleanup of a 1977 Dunhill Bruyere ¼ Bent Dublin 21143

Blog by Steve Laug

After a month hiatus from pipe refurbishing I am finally getting back into the swing of things. I decided to do some more work on the batch of pipes I picked up from the local tobacco shop. They had come from the estate of an old time pipe man whose widow had given them back to the store to dispose of. The shop owner had given me the task of cleaning up and restoring the lot and putting them up for sale. I had cleaned up four of the old Peterson’s and also an older GBD Marquis before I went away on my work trip. The next pipe that I turned my attention to was a lovely petite Group 2 Dunhill Bruyere ¼ bent Dublin. It is stamped on the left side of the shank with a five digit shape number – 21143 and next to that it reads Dunhill over Bruyere. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Made in England with the number 17 after the D in England which I believe dates the pipe as being made in 1977. The bowl has a cake and there is a lot of overflow of the lava onto the rim top. The finish is in decent shape though dirty. The stem is a fishtail with oxidation and the signs that the previous owner had used a rubber Softee bit. Even so there are still tooth marks on both the top and underside of the stem near the button. I took some close up photos of the stamping on both sides of the shank. You can see the shape number clearly on the left side. It reads 21143. I have learned that reading the numbers gives a lot of information. From past experience with four digit numbers I know that the first number tells me the size of the bowl – a Group 2. The second number tells me the style of the original stem which in this case is 1 referring to a tapered stem. The third and fourth numbers reference the shape number of the pipe which is number 14 and on the Dunhill charts is a Bent Dublin. The only number I am not clear about it the final digit 3. That will take some more work to see if I can narrow down what it refers to. The rest of the stamping is pretty straightforward on the left and right side of the shank.Since I had not seen the five digit shape stamping before I first turned to Pipephil’s site to see if there was help there. I have used his Dunhill information and found it a great help in deciphering the stamping in the past. However in this case his site did not give any information on the last digit of the five digit stamping. It gave me the information that I already knew – which was the interpretation of the stamping on the pipe. It was made in 1977 and was a Group 2 sized pipe with a taper stem in the 14 Shape which was a bent Dublin. It did not give me the information on the final number in the shape group – the 3. He left that number blank in his interpretation of the stamping on the pipe.

For that I had to do some more searching. I decided to go for a straightforward approach to my problem and typed in the following in the Google search box: “What does the fifth digit in a five digit Dunhill shape stamp mean?” The search engine came up with a conversation online on just this topic. It referenced me to the alt.smokers.pipes site on Google groups. That conversation held the clues I was looking for. I have copied the portion by RC Hamlin in answer to a question from another member regarding the five digit stamping on his pipe. Here is the link: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.smokers.pipes/Fk-8EWxZXCs . I quote the response from RC Hamlin in full.

RC Hamlin, PCCA 20/04/2000 http://www.pipesmoke.com & www.pipeguy.com

John, your pipe is a 1977 Vintage – for modern Dunhill’s, dating them is very easy, just start with 1960 and add the dating digit(s). 1967=7, 1977=17, 1987=27, 1997=37. Do not get hung up on underlines, dots, big/small digits etc. for modern Dunhill’s, just use 1960 as a base and add the dating number to it – simple.

That information confirmed what I already knew and gave a simple formula that I thought would be helpful to others seeking to date a Dunhill pipe. He went on in the following paragraphs to give an answer regarding the five digit shape number.

As far as the 5 digit pipe number (48063) you have a group 4 or “medium” Dunhill. I have a whole briefcase full of Dunhill material from the Dunhill archives, factory, Lane, etc. One of these days I’ll retire and write that online book I’ve been trying to do for years. The most interesting item I have is an actual “stamp” guide from the factory that “signed in” each stamp that Dunhill received from 1922 to 1980 (ish) – a LOT of stamps were used, not always as picture perfect as a written “guide” would have to believe. Very few people outside of Dunhill have seen this stamp guide, some authorized, some have seen my copy and used it without fully studying it, either way….Dunhill’s are not “perfect” in their nomenclature.

The 5 digit shape number was introduced around 1975 to “improve” the original 2 & 3 digit (letters and/or numbers) Dunhill shapes. It worked so well that it was discontinued around 1978 in favor of the current 4 digit shape numbers which are really very simple. The modern shape numbers give the size (1st digit), stem type (2nd digit, 1=taper, 2=saddle) and shape number (last 2 digits). Example: a Billiard is shape #03 so a 4103 would be a group 4, taper bit billiard. Change that to 5203 and you have a group 5, saddle bit billiard. ODA’s use their original 8xx shape numbers and you will see things like HT (hand turned) with no shape number but usually a circled group number (5), etc.

While the information was good and let me know that the pipe was from that time period from 1975-1978 when Dunhill used five digit shape numbers it still does not tell me what the fifth digit meant on the pipe on my worktable. I did a bit more searching and the only thing I turned up was that the fifth digit could have been some kind of stock number from Dunhill. That seems odd, but I am not sure we will ever know what the last digit of the five digit stamps means. Do any of you have a further lead on the meaning? Let us know.

Time to get back to the refurbishing of this 1977 Dunhill Bruyere. I took some close up photos of the rim and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when I started my work on it. You can see the extent of the thick cake on the rim and in the bowl and also the wear and tear to the surface of the stem and the button. I started the restoration by reaming the bowl. I decided to work on the crumbling cake with the Savinelli Fitsall Reaming Knife and took the cake back to bare wood. I used a small sharp pen knife to carefully scrape the lava off of the rim top. I scrubbed the rim with saliva on cotton pads until I removed all of the hardened cake. I sanded the rim top with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to take off the residual tars that remained. I finished by sanding the top of the rim with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-4000 grit. I cleaned out the slot in the button with a dental pick to remove the clogged buildup on both sides of the slot narrowing the airway considerably. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the calcification and to minimize the dents. I heated the dents by “painting” them with the flame of a lighter and was able to raise them. I sanded the repaired dents and blended them in with the sandpaper. I reshaped the top edges of the button on both sides. I scrubbed out the mortise and the airways in the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until the swabs and cleaners came out white.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down between each set of three pads with Obsidian Oil. I was able to remove all of the scratching and the oxidation on the stem. I reconnected the stem and the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave the entire pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise a shine and by hand with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It looks far better than when I started cleaning and refurbishing it. It should give the next pipe man who takes on its care a long life of good smokes. Thanks for looking.

‘Gramps’ – A Redonian Deluxe London Made 26 Rescued

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Blog by Dal Stanton

I know exactly where I was when Charles Lemon, of Dad’s Pipes, posted his blog Family Heirloom Comes in from the Cold on December 22. I was dutifully, pushing the shopping cart at the Target in Golden, Colorado, while my wife and I were engaged in last-minute Christmas shopping. Well, my wife was shopping and I was catching up on pipe blog reading with my iPhone 6s. The story Charles told was of a pipe (without a stem) discovered on a stroll in a pasture, how it arrived there was a mystery, which, after some research looking at old photos, was determined to belong to a great-great uncle. The restoration was to be a Christmas gift for the great-great nephew, the pipe finder’s step-father…. It was an excellent restoration on Charles’ part, but the story itself, the condition of the pipe, the fact that it was found after how many years – contributed to one of the core reasons I love restoring pipes. As I read Charles’ heart-warming story, I found myself rooting for the pipe to make it and to again be restored to the lineage of the steward. While I continued faithfully to keep pace with the shopping cart, dodging frantic shoppers and kids on too much sugar and reading Charles’s post, ‘Gramps’ came to mind. The first time I saw the pictures of ‘Gramps’ and read the eBay seller’s comments, I determined to place my bid to rescue the old, worn out, tossed aside, pipe. Why did I immediately name him ‘Gramps’? Here is what the eBay seller said:

Vary rare REDONIAN Pipe. Found at the Estate Auction of a 98-year-old man. (Who said smoking will kill ya?…no way). So the pipe has some ware marks up by the mouth piece, see pictures. Pipe is marked bowl piece is marked 26 on one side and SARDINIAN de Luxe Made in London on the other. It is a used pipe. Ready to be Enjoyed, Gifted or Resold…ENJOY!

With a smile on my face while looking at Gramps’ pictures, notwithstanding the ‘mild’ exaggeration of the seller’s sales bravado, “Ready to be Enjoyed, Gifted or Resold…ENJOY!”, this is what I saw: I have no idea if I can bring Gramps to drink of the Fountain of Youth or not, but I’m now looking at him on my worktable here in Sofia, Bulgaria. The markings on the left shank are Redonian Deluxe over London Made. The right side of the shank bears the mark, 26, which I assume is the shape number. Surprisingly, the stem stamping is legible – a red ‘R’ ensconced in a circle. A look at Pipedia and I discover that the Redonian was made by the John Redman Ltd./British Empire Pipe Co. in London, the same company that was a possible manufacturer of the L. J. Perretti I restored not long ago – the Perretti Co. is based in Boston and the second oldest Tobacconist in the United States. According to the Pipedia article, John Redman Co. pipe lines, along with Redonian, include Aristocrat, Buckingham, Buckingham Palace, Canberra, Captain Fortune, Dr John, Golden Square, Richmond (not Sasieni), and Twin Bore. I take some additional pictures of ‘Gramps’ for a fresh look. Like Charles’ patient, this pipe looks to have been left outside or exposed in a barn or something, as half of it seems to be colored differently – laying on its side for some time. The stem has the heaviest oxidation I’ve seen to date – perhaps something else is going on – it appears to be leprous! The surface is so soiled and the cake so thick – there appears to be a spider web in the fire chamber – I really can’t determine the condition of either the stummel or stem, so after taking some pictures from my work table, I plop the stem in Oxi-Clean to start dealing with the stem leprosy and I plop the stummel along with spider web, in an alcohol bath – isopropyl 95% to soften the ages of crud clinging to the stummel – inside and out.About 24 hours later, I retrieve the stem from the Oxi-Clean bath and the oxidation was raised to the vulcanite surface as hoped and expected. I first attack the oxidation by wet standing the stem with 600 grit sanding paper. I’m very careful to stay clear of the Redonian ‘R’ stamping and work around it. I sand for quite some time. After making some progress, I switch to using 0000 steel wool to take off more oxidation and smooth in the process. Again, I’m steering clear of the ‘R’ stamping. I wish I would have taken a picture at this point. The stem is looking much improved except for the circle ‘R’ stamping – still encased in thick oxidation. I know that taking anything abrasive to the stamping will erode it and for me, this is anathema. I try another tack – I think I remember reading somewhere about using Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I brought it to Bulgaria from the US and hadn’t used it yet. The sponge that emerges from the box would not be abrasive – I hope. So, I wet the sponge and start working on the area of the stamping. I start very cautiously and gingerly apply pressure with the sponge Magic Eraser. When I discover that it is not eating away at the stamping I apply more pressure. Before long I was working on the area aggressively. Very gradually, and without perceptible damage to the ‘R’, the oxidation disappeared – or at least, in very large measure. The last picture in the set below shows the magic brought by the Magic Eraser! I’m pleased with the progress cleaning up a once, leprous stem! Satisfied with the progress on the stem, I fish the stummel out of the alcohol bath. I use several pipe cleaners attempting to open the airway between the mortise and draft hole – unsuccessfully. I then use about a 6-inch length of hanger wire as a probe and to ream the airway gently. After a while, I finally push through the ancient muck and reconnect the mortise and bowl. After this, I put the stummel back in the alcohol bath to soak further after stirring up and opening the internals. Out of the bath again, I take Q-tip cotton swabs and pipe cleaners and clean the gunk out of the mortise and draft airway while it is still loosened. It’s cleaning up well, but I need to ream the bowl to remove the softened cake and the old residues. I want Gramps to have a new start down to the fresh briar. I use the Pipnet reaming kit using the two smaller blades of the four available. The cake comes easily. I fine tune the reaming more using the Savinelli pipe knife. I then take 240 grit sanding paper, wrapped around a Sharpie Pen and sand the chamber walls to remove the remaining carbon. I finish by cleaning the bowl using cotton pads wetted with isopropyl 95%. The fire chamber looks good – no problems, no burn throughs detected visually. The pictures mark the progress. With the bowl reamed and cleaned, I now turn to the stummel externals. I take another critical look at the stummel surface and lava flow on the rim and take a few pictures to show the condition of the briar before I use Murphy’s Oil Soap. I want to mark the progress moving from the desperate condition in which the Redonian Deluxe started. I use undiluted Murphy’s Soap and scrub the rim and stummel surface with cotton pads. I also use a bristled tooth brush to scrub the surface. After cleaning, I rinse the stummel with warm tap water careful not to allow water into the stummel internals. The rim cleans nicely and it looks good. Looking at the briar surface, not surprising I detect several pits which need to be either sanded or filled. What is emerging from underneath the gunk, grime and grunge is a piece of briar holding much potential to shine with the gradual appearance of some nice-looking grain. With my work day ending, I decide to apply olive oil to the stummel to hydrate the very dry wood – letting it absorb the oil through the night. The pictures show the progress. The next morning, I decide to further clean and purify the stummel using the salt/alcohol soak. I fill the bowl with Kosher Salt and cover the opening with my palm and shake the stummel to distribute the salt. I then place the stummel in an egg carton to give stability, and fill the stummel with isopropyl 95% until it surfaces over the salt. I then cork the mortise and let it sit and do its thing – letting the salt absorb the crud. I then turn to the stem. I clean the stem internals using pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol. Using a sharp dental probe, I dig gunk out of the slot to clean it. It takes a while to work a pipe cleaner all the way through the stem. Once I do accomplish this, I use a bristled pipe cleaner with alcohol to run it back and forth several times to clear and clean the airway – hopefully allowing a pipe cleaner easier passage. After cleaning the internals of the stem, I now look at the condition of the button area. The 98-year-old grandpa that owned the Redonian did not leave teeth marks (is that a clue to his dental condition??) but the upper and lower bits are almost flush with the stem surface. This is not good – the button edges are necessary to hang the pipe properly on the teeth so that one does not bite the stem leaving the teeth chatter and dents one must remove when restoring a pipe! I will use charcoal/superglue putty to build up the button area. I form a wedge made of index card and fit it into the slot of the stem to keep putty from covering the opening. I open a capsule of activated charcoal and pour the powder on an index card. I then put a small puddle of Hot Stuff Special ‘T’ CA glue (extra thick glue) next to the charcoal powder. With a toothpick, I draw charcoal into the glue, mixing it as I go. I continue to add charcoal powder until I reach a thickness like molasses. When I reach this viscosity, I then dollop the putty around the button area – more than is needed to provide excess to sand down to the proper button proportions. I use an accelerator to set the putty. I then remove the wedge from the slot and put the stem aside to cure. The pictures show the process. Several hours have passed since the stummel began its salt/alcohol soak. The salt has darkened some, so I assume it’s done its work! I dump the used salt from the stummel and thump it on my palm to remove lodged salt crystals. I take a paper towel and wipe out the bowl. Using a bristle brush, I clean the mortise to remove any salt lodged in the internals. I want to be sure all the salt is purged. I then return to using Q-tip cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and isopropyl 95% to complete cleaning the internals. With 2 Q-tips, the verdict is in – the Kosher Salt and alcohol soak did a great job drawing out the muck and freshening the mortise. I complete the job by wiping the chamber with a cotton pad with isopropyl 95%. Done. The pictures show the result!With the stummel now clean, I take a close look at the stummel surface to be reminded of the question areas. I take a few pictures to show these. The stummel is in surprisingly good condition for what it looked like when I started. I find some pitting on the surface that I will fill with superglue. I also detect a rim ‘skin’ on the front end of the stummel. There are also other nicks around the rim from normal wear and tear. I start preparing the stummel surface by sanding with a medium grade sanding sponge to remove a layer off the finish – to determine where fills are needed. After using the medium grade sanding sponge, I apply super glue to the 3 places on the stummel I detected earlier to fill the larger pits and a small crevasse and put the stummel aside for the superglue fills to cure. The pictures show the progress. Now to return to the stem’s button rebuild. The charcoal superglue putty has fully cured and ready for shaping. I take pictures of the upper and lower bit to mark the progress.The technique I’ve developed for button shaping is to start at the end of the stem, using a flat needle file I file to establish the vertical – perpendicular slot area – that it’s flat. This establishes a base-line for the end of the button and shaping the rest (I forgot to document this in a picture!). I then start with the upper button area with the flat needle and begin filing from the stummel-side toward the end to establish the straight edge of the button’s ‘lip’. I gradually file this toward the stem’s end until it appears a good depth for the upper button. I then file top of the bit’s lip to shape in further. When I’m satisfied with the upper button shaping, I then flip the stem over doing the same with the lower button seeking to match the upper. When the basic filing is completed, I use a pointed needle file to enlarge the slot. The pictures show the button rebuild process. To remove the roughness of the files, I then use 240 then 600 and finally 0000 steel wool to further perfect the shape and to cover the treads left by the files. Which often is the case, air pockets encased in the charcoal/superglue are exposed during the shaping and sanding process. I apply some CA glue to the button surface and paint it with a toothpick to cover the pin-sized air pocket holes and then spray an accelerator on the glue to cure it more rapidly. After a while, I return with 240, 6000 paper and then 0000 steel wool to remove the excess CA glue on the button and complete the button rebuild. The pictures show the completion of the button rebuild. With stem internals cleaned, and new button completed, I transition to the externals. Using micromesh sanding pads 1500 to 2400, careful to guard the Redonian ‘R’ stamping, I wet sand the stem and follow the set by applying Obsidian Oil. I then use micromesh pads 3200 to 4000 and after, pads 6000 to 12000 following each set with an application of Obsidian Oil. I set Gramps aside to soak in the Obsidian Oil. All I can do is to say, ‘Oh, my!’ Gramps is responding well to the TLC. The pictures tell the story – I can’t but help to throw in a reminder of how far we’ve come! With a reborn stem waiting, I turn to the stummel. The 3 pit-holes that were filled with superglue are cured. Using 240 grit paper I sand the excess glue to the surface and blend the patches. I take a close-up picture of the rim and inspect the rim more closely. Along with nicks, I can see that rim lines are not sharp. There is evidence of a bevel on the inside ring of the rim which is scorched. I decide to mildly top the stummel and reestablish a crisp bevel. The bevel will also remove the scorching I see. I use 240 grit paper on a chopping board and rotate the inverted stummel in an even, circular motion to remove old briar. I stop and check things after every couple of revolutions to make sure I’m staying level. I only take off enough to leave the former bevel more distinct. To recut the inner bevel, I use 120 grit paper rolled very tightly to create a hard-sanding surface. I want the bevel to be straight and uniform. I follow the 120 using 240 grit also tightly rolled to remove the coarser lines. The topping and bevel look good. The bowl is in-round. After completing the rim and bevel, I take a medium grade sanding sponge and then a light grade sanding sponge and sand the stummel to blend the superglue fills – careful to work around the Redonian Deluxe London Made markings on the stummel. Then, using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 I wet sand the stummel, followed by dry sanding using micromesh pads 3200 to 4000 and then 6000 to 12000. I never tire seeing the grain emerge during this process. After I complete the micromesh cycles, I unite stummel and stem to get a look at where we are. Gramps is looking good. The pictures show the progress – woops, I forgot to take a picture after the first micromesh cycle! I’m liking very much the progress of the Redonian Deluxe London Made – aka, Gramps. I decide to use Fiebing’s Dark Brown Leather Dye with Gramps. I think the rich depth of the leather dye will create the subtle expression of the straight grain hugging the bottom of the stummel as it expands into horizontal patterns and scattered bird’s eye on top. I give the surface a quick wipe with a cotton pad to clean and remove any leftover briar dust. I use my wife’s hair dryer to warm the stummel to expand the wood to help the grain to be more receptive to the dye. I use a cork in the shank as a handle and I then take a folded over pipe cleaner and apply the dark brown dye over the entire surface. After this, I fire the wet dye which immediately burns the alcohol and sets the dye in the grain. In a few minutes, I repeat the process concluding with firing the wet dye. I put the crusted stummel aside to rest. I decide to do the same and call it a day. The pictures show the progress.The next day, after a full day’s work, I’m anxious to look at Gramps, and with the Dremel I begin unwrapping the fired dye crust. After mounting a dedicated felt wheel for applying Tripoli, I set the Dremel’s speed for 1, the slowest possible, and first purge the wheel with the sharp edge of the Dremel’s tightening wrench – to rid it of old compound and to soften the felt wheel. I apply very little pressure on the briar surface, allowing the RPMs and compound to do the work for me. To reach the inside of the bent shank elbow with the Tripoli compound, I switch to a smaller, pointed felt wheel to get in the tight angles. With the Tripoli finished, I rejoin the stem to the stummel and I mount a Blue Diamond dedicated felt wheel and again buff stem and stummel. When completed, I hand buff the pipe with a cotton cloth to remove the compound dust left over. The pictures show the progress. With the abrasive application of the compounds finished, before I apply carnauba wax to the stummel and stem, I want to dress up Gramps’ stem stamping. The original appears to have been red so I take red acrylic paint and apply a dab over the Redonian ‘R’ and circle and let it dry thoroughly – overnight. When dry, I gently rub/scrape off the excess with the flat side of a toothpick which protects the paint in the indentations. After this, I rub it well with a cotton pad to clean the remainder of the excess – gently leaving a rebranded stem – very nice, a refreshed stem stamping. The pictures show the results. With the Redonian stem stamp completed, I reunite stem and stummel and mount the cotton cloth Dremel wheel and apply several coats of carnauba wax to the pipe. I increase the speed of the Dremel to 2. I follow the carnauba wax with a vigorous hand-buff using a micromesh cloth to dissipate wax that was not spread evenly and to deepen the gloss of the shine.

When I think about the 98-year-old steward from whose estate this Redonian Deluxe London Made came, I cannot believe he would have dreamt his pipe would one day start a new lifetime serving another steward. I gave this old, worn pipe the nickname, ‘Gramps.’ Bear with me one more time to put a picture of ‘Gramps’ in front of the younger man he has now become. I’m amazed at the transformation and it is why I love this hobby – the pictures speak for themselves. I sell my restorations with the profits helping the work we do with the Daughters of Bulgaria – those sexually exploited and trafficked. This Redonian Deluxe London Made is ready to serve a new steward. If you’re interested in adopting him and helping the Daughters, check out ‘Gramps’ at The Pipe Steward Store. Thanks for joining me!

Refreshing Another Giant – a KBB Yello-Bole Imperial 3068C Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

When I cleaned up a previous KBB Yello-Bole Imperial 3068C for a reader of the blog my brother immediately was struck by the beauty of the old pipe. He decided he would find one for me that matched the one I cleaned up for the reader. If you want to read about the cleanup of that one here is the link: https://rebornpipes.com/2016/11/10/breathing-life-into-a-huge-kbb-yello-bole-3068c-bent-billiard/. The 3068C is a large pipe. It is reminiscent of the WDC Wellington in many ways but to me there is a simple elegance to the lines of the 3068C that are more smooth and beautiful. This is another giant pipe. The dimensions are: length 10 inches, height 2 ¼ inches, outer diameter of the bowl 1 ½ inches, inner bowl diameter 7/8 inches. I took a photo of the pipe in hand to give an idea of the size of this old giant.As opposed to the other 3068C I cleaned up this one was in remarkably good shape. The shiny varnish coat actually was perfect with no peeling or nicks in it. The grain shone through and was a great mixture of birds-eye and cross grain. The Yello-Bole Honey Cured coating still showed on the bevel of the inner rim and in parts of the bowl. The rim surface had some very small dents or scratches in it but they did not seem to break the finish on the bowl. There was a light cake in the bowl. The nickel ferrule was oxidized and lightly scratches but otherwise undamaged. The stem had the classic older Yello-Bole circle on the top of the stem just behind the saddle and was lightly oxidized with minimal tooth chatter on the top and underside of the stem at the button. My brother took the above photos and the ones that follow to show the overall condition of the pipe. The next two close up photos show the rim top and inner rim bevel. The Yello-Bole Honey Cured coating can be seen on the edge of the bowl and going down into the bowl. You can also see the small dents in the rim and the light grime that had built up on the surface of the rim.The next two photos give a good idea of the grain that shone through on this old pipe. The front and back of the bowl has some amazing birds-eye grain and the sides, rim and bottom show some really nice cross grain.The stamping on the shank was sharp and readable. The left side bore the KBB cloverleaf logo with Yello-Bole over stamping that read Reg.U.S.Pat.Off. Beneath that was the line stamping in script Imperial. Finally underneath all of that was stamped Cured with Real Honey. On the aluminum ferrule cap there was a remnant of the KB&B cloverleaf. It is interesting to me that while all Yello-Bole pipes are stamped with KBB (minus the ampersand &) in a cloverleaf on the shank both this pipe and the previous one had the KB&B cloverleaf on the ferrule. I wonder if the company made one size fits all with the ferrules and used them on both Yello-Boles and KB&B pipes. The right side of the shank is stamped Real Bruyere over the shape number 3068C.The final two photos that my brother included show the tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside of the vulcanite stem at the button. The mild oxidation is also visible in the photos.My brother did the necessary cleaning on the pipe – reaming and cleaning out the mortise and the airway in the stem and shank. I cleaned off the grime on the finish and wiped down the stem. When I received the pipe it looked be in excellent condition and would not take a lot of work to refresh it. I took the next four photos to show what it looked like when it arrived in Vancouver. I took some close up photos of the rim and the stem to show the condition. The rim was in excellent shape and Jeff was able to clean up the inner bevel on the rim to reveal the Yello-Bole Honey Coating. The stem photos show the oxidation and the small tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem near the button. I sanded the oxidation on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the brown topcoat that it had and also worked over the tooth chatter and tooth marks on both sides.I used drops of medium viscosity black super glue to fill in the small tooth marks on both sides of the stem. They are shown in the photos below. The small black spots are the super glue repairs to the stem surface. You will note that there were more issues on the underside of the stem than the top side.Once the repairs were dry I sanded them back to the surface of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper.I polished the sanded spots by wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads.I wet sanded the entire stem and continued to sand the repaired areas with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and then dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed it down with oil after each set of three pads and after the final set I gave it a last coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. The nickel ferrule had a lot of tiny scratches in the surface of the metal. I sanded it with micromesh sanding pads to polish out the scratches and raise a shine in the nickel.I polished the briar with 3200-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads to raise the shine and smooth out the small scratches on the sides and bottom of the bowl as well as the rim. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to further polish the briar and vulcanite. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed the bowl and stem with a clean buffing pad to polish and raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It turned out to be a very beautiful pipe that needed just a few touches of TLC to bring it to its fullest. It is another large pipe that would make a great reading or house pipe. It is comfortable in hand and the grain is interesting enough to give hours of observation pleasure. Thanks for looking.

An Estate Sale Find – A Castello Sea Rock SC 54P Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

My brother Jeff is truly the king of estate sale, junque store and antique store pipe finds. He seems to have not only developed an eye for a good pipe but seems to have an uncanny ability to find them. A few months back now he messaged me from an estate sale he had gone to near Boise, Idaho. He had driven to the town the evening before so he was first in line for the sale. He found some great pipes in that sale and on that trip. I wrote about the finds he came home with on that trip in a previous blog (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/10/31/sometimes-you-just-get-lucky-an-amazing-pipe-hunt/). This little Castello Sea Rock 54P Bulldog came home with him on that trip. From his description and the photos that he sent along the pipe showed lots of promise. The Sea Rock Finish was dirty and the crevices had dust in them. The rim was tarred with overflow of cake from the heavily smoked bowl. The pipe seemed to sport an after factory band as there were no Castello marks on the silver. The stem was in good shape though it had tooth marks on the top and bottom sides next to the button. It had the diamond logo on the side of the saddle stem which I knew meant it was made for the United States market.My brother took some close up photos of the rim top and the cake in the bowl to show what it looked like when he found it. You can see how thick the cake is and how much of the rim rustication has filled in with the overflow.Other than being dirty, the finish was in very good shape. There were no chips of dings in the surface of the rim or on the bowl or the shank.The silver band was tarnished and seemed to have some flaking on the surface. I am not sure if the silver plate is peeling or if it is just left over remnants of the sticky tag that had been there with the price. The stamping was very clear on a smooth patch on the left underside of the diamond shank and read Castello over SC Sea Rock Briar. Underneath that and to the left it read 54P (which is the shape number) and Made in Cantu over Italy. The underside of the left side of the Lucite stem also had stamping that read Hand Made over Castello and the number 5. The stamping of Hand is faint though it can be seen with a magnifying glass.The fit of the stem against the shank was off – it looked as if the mortise was filled with oils and had pushed the stem out. It did not fit snugly against the shank. The faux diamond circle on the saddle portion of the stem is also visible in the photo below. The second photo below shows the debris on the silver band and the grime in the rustication of the shank.The last two photos that my brother sent show the condition of the stem. It is hard to see the tooth marks near the button on both sides of the stem but you can see the chatter on the underside and the “gunk” (technical term) that had built up in the corners of the slot in the button.Before I worked on the pipe I wanted to do a bit of research to see if I could shed some more light on the pipe I had in hand. I learned from the pipephil website that the rhinestone logo was originally on pipes for the US market. There was no hint as to why that was done only that it was and that it is occasionally still used http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-castello.html

I have an older article called PCCA’s Castello Grade & Style Guide. It was written by Robert C. Hamlin (c) 1988, 1992, 1994. Robert gathered some remarkable information on the Castello lines and I have often used his guide in the past to give me pertinent data. There I found more information regarding the shiny logo on the side of the stem.

“American logo’d Castello pipes use a small round “Diamond” (referred to and looking like, but it is NOT actually a diamond) inlaid into the mouthpiece. This was originally done so that the standard Castello white bar logo did not conflict with another brand and logo that was sold by Wally Frank called the “White Bar Pipe” (in the 1950’s).”

The above quote and the remainder of those following come from the same article by Robert Hamlin. You can read the full article at the following link: http://www.pipes.org/BURST/FORMATTED/196.016.html

I read further in the article to help me understand the stamping on the underside of the shank. My knowledge of Castello pipes is pretty limited so when I get one to restore I resort to this article and others to try to make heads or tails of the stamping. First of all I had no idea what the SC stamped ahead of the Sea Rock Briar stamping meant. I had seen Castello’s with the signature of Carlo Scotti on them but not this stamping. Robert gave me the information I needed.

“Older Castello pipes will usually include the “REG No.” and have the letters “SC” stamped as a part of the nomenclature. The SC stamp was for Scotti, Carlo (in Italy all names are listed last, first). Today the full name of Carlo Scotti, contained in a small oval, has replaced the SC stamp.”

I learned that the Sea Rock Briar stamp also signified something and told me more about the pipe. Robert pointed out:

“SEA ROCK [Carved Black or dark brown]: This is the lowest grade of the Castello line and is the most common in the USA. Sea Rocks are produced by taking a smooth bowl that has not been “final finished” and surface carving the finish with tools. This “carved” finish is then evened out using a steel wire brush, stained and then waxed. The Natural Vergin carved finish is left unstained and unwaxed as a rule, although we have seen waxed and partially waxed “Vergins”.”

The remaining mystery for me was the meaning of the stamping on the stem. I of course understood the Hand Made and the Castello stamping but the number 5 was a mystery to me. I was not sure what it referred to. So once again Robert’s article gave me the information I needed to understand that last piece of the mystery.

“#2: All Castello standard shaped pipes have a number (3, 4, 5 or 6) stamped on the mouthpiece or sometimes on the lucite ferrule. What does this number mean? Not much really, it is the number of the size for the proper straw tube or reed that fits the shank and stem of the pipe. These straw tubes are rarely used in the United States. The Castello reed is considered superfluous and useless to most, but with this number you will always know which one fits (the different numbers have to do with length, not diameter).”

When the pipe arrived in Vancouver it was inside of a Castello suede bag missing only the drawstrings at the top. It bore the classic Castello Castle logo and reading Pipa Castello di Carl Scotti Cantu (Italy) stamped on the front in brown paint/ink. I tipped the pipe out of the bag to see what my brother had done with it. He had written and warned me that he had done a minimal clean up on the pipe as he did not want to damage it. I was not sure what I would see when I removed it from the bag. The four photos below show the state of the pipe when it arrived. Examining the pipe closely I could see that he had reamed the bowl and cleaned up the rim to remove the tars and oils that had overflowed onto the top of the rim. He had also cleaned the finish on the pipe quite nicely. The internals were cleaner but would need some more work but the pipe looked pretty good.I took some photos of the stem to show the tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. In the first photo of the top, you can see the tooth mark neat the button and the one on the top edge of the button. In the second photo you can see the damage to the underside of the stem near the button and on the top of the button there as well.I used a brass bristle tire brush to clean up the small particles that still remained in the grooves on the rim of the bowl. It did not take too much to remove what was left and leave the rim clean.I wiped off the sticky spots on the silver band with a little alcohol on a cotton pad. I could see that the band had been stamping diagonally in several places with letters from the word silver but that none of them spelled it out completely. I was pretty certain from Robert’s article above that the silver band was after market and may be part of a repair to a cracked shank. Cleaning the pipe further would either confirm or deny that assumption on my part. I polished the band with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-12000 grit pads. The polished band is shown in the photo below.I sanded the tooth marks out on both sides of the stem at the button using 220 grit sandpaper and also sanded the damage to the button surface itself. There was also slight damage to the slot itself on the end of the button. I sanded the slot and cleaned up the damaged areas there. I used micromesh sanding pads to polish the newly sanded areas on the Lucite stem surface. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and wiped the stem down with a damp cotton pad. I dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads and wiped it down with the damp pad several times throughout the process. In doing so I was able to remove all signs of the damage to stem in those spots along the edge and top of the button. With stem exterior finished other than buffing I ran a pipe cleaner with alcohol through to remove any sanding debris from my clean up and sanding of the surface and the slot. It was remarkably clean.I cleaned out the shank with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs to remove the tars and oils that kept the stem from properly seating against the end of the tenon. It was pretty thickly tarred and took some scrubbing to remove the grime. While I was cleaning the interior of the grime I found what I had surmised was under the band. The end and inside of the mortise revealed a small crack underneath the grime. It looked like it had been repaired somewhere along its life. The end of the crack on the shank end was the worst part of the damage. The hairline crack on the exterior of the shank – almost an underline of the word Cantu showed signs of having been glued and clamped until it sealed. That settled my question regarding the purpose of the aftermarket silver band on the shank. With the internals cleaned and the crack examined with a lens and deemed solid I polished the silver band with a jeweler’s cloth to further remove any remnants of tarnish and give it a deeper shine and protection. I hand waxed the bowl with some Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush to raise the initial shine on the briar. The photos below show the bowl after the waxing and polishing. I put the stem in place in the shank. The fit was perfect and it sat snuggly against the end of the mortise as it did when it left Cantu. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel avoiding the silver band and the briar. I waxed the stem with carnauba wax on the wheel and buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is truly a beautiful little bulldog. The shape and the rustication make it a pleasure to hold in the hand. It fits snuggly with my thumb curled around the back of the bowl and the rest of the fingers holding the bowl. The finish is extremely tactile and should be interesting in hand as the bowl heats up during smoking. For me there is absolutely nothing lacking in the design and form of this old Sea Rock Briar and I think it will be one I hang onto. Thanks for walking with me through the restoration process.

A Gold Banded Stanwell Copenhagen Calabash

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is a striking Stanwell Calabash pipe with sandblasted body and smooth capped rim. The sandblast has exposed some wonderful ring grain around the bowl. The smooth wide rim typical of the calabash shape is wonderful birds-eye grain. The brass collar ring contrasts nicely with the dark stain of the sandblast shank. The gold crown S logo on the left side of the saddle stem combines with the other parts of the pipe to give this one a classic look. My brother Jeff found this Stanwell in an antique shop in Astoria, Oregon. It was on consignment by a widow who was selling her pipe collector husband’s collection. He bought a few of the pipes from her consignment and this is the second one that I have worked on. The first one was also a Stanwell – it was a shape 180 that was designed by Tom Eltang that I wrote about in an earlier blog (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/12/14/a-shape-you-gotta-love-a-stanwell-majestic-180/).The finish on the sandblast portion was in great shape – just dirty with grit and grime. The rim cap however was another story. It had the overflow onto the top of the thick cake that was in the bowl. There was also some darkening of the inner edge of the rim. The brass band and the brass crown S logo on the stem were also dull and lifeless due to tarnishing. The stem was oxidized and had a buildup of calcification on both sides near the button. There were tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem and on the button. The slot in the button was nearly closed off with a thick tar.My brother took two close up photos of the rim cap to show the condition of the inside of the bowl and the cap itself. There was a thick coat of tars and oils that is visible flowing over the back side of the cap. There were also several dings and dents in the cape itself though there was some nice birds-eye grain showing through the grime.He also took a photo of the bowl bottom side up. The lovely bell shape of the pipe is visible from this view from the front.The side view of the band and the shank/stem union shows that the connection is tight and clean. There is nothing wrong that a little polishing on the band and some elbow grease to remove the oxidation on the stem won’t take care of. The second photo below shows the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is very sharp and readable. It has the Stanwell stamp over Copenhagen over Calabash in script (it appears to have been double stamped). Beneath that it reads Made in Denmark (it is upside down in orientation to the rest of the stamping).The next photos show the condition of the stem. You can see the tooth marks on the stem itself and the damage marks against the button on both sides. The calcification on the stem may have come for a Softee bit that the original owner had on the stem to protect it from more bite marks.My brother Jeff again did a magnificent job cleaning up the pipe. He was able to get the grim out of the grooves and the majority of the buildup off the rim. He reamed and cleaned the interior of the pipe and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I took the following photos to show the condition of the pipe when I received. It was on its way to being clean. I took a close up photo of the rim to show how much of the tars and oils he removed. It is pretty clean. There was some darkening on the inner edge of the rim on the back side that would need to be dealt with.He also removed much of the calcification on the stem and some of the debris on the surface of both sides. The photos also show the tooth marks and chatter that was on the stem.I sanded the stem to remove the rest of the debris and calcification and then wiped the stem down with alcohol on a cotton pad. I cleaned out the tooth marks with cotton swabs and alcohol and then filled them in with black super glue. I set the stem aside to let the repairs dry.I sanded the inner edge of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the darkening and then worked over the rim with 1500-1800 micromesh sanding pads to clean up the inner edge and begin polishing the rim cap. You can see the grain on the cap begin to pop and reveal the beautiful birds-eye grain.When the glue had cured I sanded the patches smooth, blending them in with the surface of the stem using 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded the entire stem to work on more of the oxidation that was present on the surface. The photos below tell the story of the repairs and sanding to this point in the process.I polished the bowl rim with 3200-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads and gave the sandblast bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax. I buffed it with the shoe brush to raise the shine. The photos below show the bowl at this point. I touched up the stain on the rim with a dark brown stain pen. I buffed it with a microfibre cloth and then polished it with micromesh sanding pads using 1500-12000 grit pads to polish and raise a shine. I probably should have done this earlier in the process but my brother has been doing such a good job in his cleaning that I honestly forgot. I decided to give the internals of the stem and the mortise and shank a quick cleanup with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-15000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. I gave it the last coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I polished the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel avoiding the sandblast portions of the bowl. I did not want to get the polishing compound in the grooves of the sandblast. It would be hard to get out of the grooves. I gave the sandblast portion several coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush. I gave the stem and rim several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the entire pipe a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It has come a long way from the pipe I started on in the first photos above. It is a classic looking calabash pipe with a great contrast between the smooth briar, the sandblast briar, the gold band and the vulcanite stem. (The brass is so shiny now that it is hard to get the vulcanite not to reflect the brass colour. In person the oxidation is gone and the stem is shiny black.) Thanks for walking through the process with me.

Replacing a Stem on a Stanwell Antique 156 Bulldog

Another Jaws Victim – A GBD Midnight 788 Oval Shank Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

I love old GBD pipes no matter what era they come from. I gave my brother a list of pipes to keep an eye open for in his treasure hunts as he travels and on his eBay forays as well. GBD has been at the top of that list. He found a newer generation GBD recently and sent it my way. It is a nicely grained apple that is stamped GBD in the oval over MIDNIGHT on the top of the shank. On the underside it is stamped London England over 788 which is the shape number for an oval shank apple. The stem is a green swirled Lucite saddle shape with the GBD Oval stamped on the top of the saddle portion. The pipe was in decent shape. The finish was dirty and there was a buildup of cake in the bowl that had overflowed onto the rim. There were some dents in the outer edge of the rim on the back left side and some nicks and scratches on the left side of the bowl. The stem was another one that Jaws had gotten a hold of just like the Estella Non Pareil that I just finished and wrote about (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/12/06/jaws-and-an-estella-non-pareil-%c2%bc-bent-9606-stack-by-savinelli/). The top side had some deep dents and the underside had them as well. There were better situated in that they were in the blacker portion of the stem so blending in the repairs would be simpler.The photos my brother Jeff sent me really show the grain on the pipe. It has some stunning swirls of grain on the sides and some stunning birdseye on the top and the bottom of the shank and bowl. The next photos show some close ups of the rim and the bowl bottom. The top of the rim was thickly coated with the overflowing cake in the bowl. The birdseye on the bowl bottom is stunning.The stamping on the shank and the stem was clear though lighter to the right edge on the topside of the shank. The fit of the stem to the shank was messy due to the build up of tars and oils in the shank and the mortise. I was pretty certain that once the pipe was cleaned up the fit would be back to normal.The next two photos show the work of Jaws on the Lucite. I can only say that I am thankful that the stem was not vulcanite or it would have been destroyed!My brother did his usual thorough clean up and was able to remove all of the tars and oils from the rim and the cake from the bowl. He scrubbed the grime and oils from the finish with Murphy’s Oil Soap and cleaned out the internals with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. The next four photos show the pipe when it arrived on my work table in Vancouver. I am getting spoiled by him doing all the grunt work of reaming and scrubbing. The pipes I get are all cleaned and reamed and ready to be restored. It is a great arrangement! I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to show how clean it was when it got to me.The tooth dents in the stem are shown in the next two photos. After the stem had been cleaned up they did not look as daunting as the ones in the Estella. The button had been worn down some as well by the chomper.I “painted” the dents in the stem with the flame from a Bic lighter. I was able to raise them quite a bit on this stem. On the top side only one deep tooth mark remained and on the underside there were three left.I sanded the dented areas with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the surface around the dents. I washed it down with alcohol on a cotton swab to make sure I did not leave any of the white sanding dust in the tooth marks. I decided to use black superglue to fill in the tooth dents as they were in the darker portion of the stem. I filled them in and let the glue dry.Once the glue had dried I sanded the patches smooth with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the stem. The patch on the topside disappeared into the dark green/black of the rest of the stem. The ones on the underside were a little more temperamental and showed some light areas on some small parts of the patches.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cotton pad after each set of three pads. I set the stem aside and worked on the bowl. I used 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads to work over the nicks in the rim and on the left side of the bowl. I was able to minimise them so that they blended into the briar better. I stained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain cut 50/50 with isopropyl alcohol and flamed it with a lighter. I repeated the process until the coverage was even on all sides of the bowl.I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect it. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to polish the carnauba and give it a shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The rich brown of the stain is a great contrast to the green of the Lucite stem. The overall look of the pipe is rich and the feel in the hand is perfect. This one will be available on the store in the days ahead. Thanks for journeying with me in this refurb.

Jaws and an Estella Non Pareil ¼ bent 9606 Stack by Savinelli

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on my work table is a Savinelli made Estella that my brother sent my way. It is stamped on the underside of the shank on a smooth oval – Estella over Non Pareil over 9606 with the Savinelli S shield next to that and Italy underneath. When my brother sent me the photos it appeared to be a good looking pipe. The rustication and the stain colour were very nicely done. The Lucite shank extension and the matching Lucite stem in brown and gold tones looked really good – from the side view. The finish on the bowl looked to be dirty or at least had darkening where the hand of the previous owner had wrapped around the bowl. The cake in the bowl had overflowed on to the rim top and left behind a black and pitted mess. The right front outer edge of the bowl also had a large scrape from a drop or a badly chosen knock to remove the dottle. The close up photos of the rim and the side of the bowl show the condition of the pipe. In the last photo in this series you can see the darkening where the hand wrapped around the side of the bowl. The next photo shows the stamping on the bottom of the bowl and the shank extension. Other than the S shield logo connecting the Estella and Savinelli the stamping on the Lucite certified the connection.The mortise in the shank extension showed damage and wear as well. It appeared that the mortise was lined with a Delrin tube to go with the Delrin tenon on the stem.Now I am ready to show you the meaning of the word Jaws in the title of this blog. The two photos after the portrait below show the tooth marks left behind by the “shark” who owned this pipe. Lucite stems are really hard material so for him to leave behind this kind of deep gouges in the stem he must have had quite a pair of choppers. Maybe the teeth were like those on one of the villains on James Bond known as Jaws.Whatever then previous pipeman’s choppers were like they left behind a legacy of damage on both sides of this hard Lucite stem that needed a lot of work and would never really disappear.My brother did his usual thorough clean up on the pipe. He reamed the bowl and scrubbed the externals with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a soft tooth brush. He was able to remove all of the buildup on the rim top. He cleaned the internals of the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners and alcohol. He wiped down the stem so that when the pipe came to me it was ready to restore. The next four photos show the pipe when I brought it to my work table. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the pitting and the damage on the right front outer edge of the bowl.I took close up photos of the chomped on stem. It was truly a mess and one that would be a challenge to blend in the repairs on the variegated browns and tans of the Lucite.The stem had a partial stamp of an S on the topside near the saddle. Now the challenge began. I examined the tooth marks and saw clearly that they were sharp cuts in the material and not just dents. Heating the stem and trying to raise them would not work. I looked through my super glue options and I had clear and amber superglue that might work. My guess was that no matter what I used would stand out to some degree because of the striations in the browns of the Lucite. I cleaned out the divots with a cotton swab and alcohol to make sure there was no debris in them and put a drop of amber super glue in the divots on both sides of the stem.Once the glue dried I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the repairs to the surface of the stem. So far the topside was looking better than the underside.I decided to see if I could remove more of the darkening around the spot where the hand of the previous owner clasped the bowl. I used some undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and scrubbed it with a tooth brush. I rinsed the pipe under running water avoiding getting water in the bowl. I was able to remove the remainder of the darkening. To remove the nicks and gouges from the rim top and to remedy the rough outer edge on the front right I topped the bowl on a topping board until the damage was gone and the rough edge was minimized.I cleaned off the exterior of the stem with a damp cotton pad and cleaned out the stem with a pipe cleaner. You can see the ghosts of the repairs in the variations of the colour in the stem material.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. After each set of three pads I wiped the stem down with the damp cotton pad to check the progress. The repairs certainly were smooth to the touch but nonetheless they were visible against the variations of the colour of the stem. I had been able to blend in the repairs on the upper portion of the stem but the closer I got to the button the more they seemed to stand out on both the top and the bottom sides. I gave the bowl a coat of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel to see if I could further smooth and blend the repairs. I buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad and then once again by hand with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The bowl and rim look really good and the finish is clean and as good as new. The stem and shank extension have a rich glow and from the side they look amazing. The top and underside of the stem with the repairs is absolutely smooth to touch and has a glow. The repairs do show but only because of the swirls of the Lucite. It was a pain to repair but I am happy with the overall finished product. Thanks for journeying with me on this chomped stem and knocked about pipe.

In With a Roar – A Lion’s Head Meerschaum

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Blog by Steve Laug

In one of the boxes of pipes that my brother sent me there was a brown leather pipe case that was in good shape. There was some scuffing along the edges of the case but the latch and the hinges were in excellent shape. I love a good mystery and certainly this brown pipe case offered up a good one. Fortunately solving this mystery was very simple. All I needed to do was to press the latch on the front of the case and I would know what was inside. I was curious to see what was inside of the case. The shape hinted at a figural pipe and I was pretty sure it was a meerschaum.I pressed the latch and the case popped open. Inside was a nicely carved lions head staring out at me. The head was turned toward me and the carving was well done. It looked at me the same time I was looking at it. It seemed to have a snarl coming out of its wide open mouth. The large curved fangs were opened and appeared to ready to bite my hand when I reached for it. The lion was well carved – the shape of the head, the open mouth, the fangs and the look of a roar were very realistic. The ear on the right side looked really good with no chips. The meerschaum was developing a patina on the jaws and the shank. It was beginning to darken. The stem looked to be amber but I was not sure at this point in the examination. The last inch of the stem to the button had been broken off and was still in the case.I removed the pipe from the case along with the broken tip of the stem and took some photos of the pipe. My brother had cleaned up the externals and the airway in the shank and the stem. He had reamed the bowl and cleaned the soiled surface of the figural. There was a small chip missing from the bottom edge of the right ear. It is hard to see unless you are looking for it. The rim was clean and solid with no chips or dents. The inner edge of the bowl was also clean with no damage. The fur and whiskers on the big cat were also well carved and the patina was beginning to develop in the deeper grooves of the carving.

I examined the stem more closely. I looked at the edges on both sides of the break on the stem and I was sure that I was dealing with another Bakelite stem rather than an amber one. The break looked clean and there was no splintering like I have seen in broken amber stems. It also had a plastic like feel when I probed it with a dental pick. The feel of the material was definitely not amber. The stem could be made of “Amberoid” that was used in making stems before Lucite was invented. The last photo in the series below shows the pipe after I had taken it apart. A threaded bone tenon held the stem on the pipe when screwed into the threads in the end of the shank. I wiped off both sides of the broken stem with a cotton pad that was dampened with alcohol. Once it was clean I used clear super glue to glue the two pieces back together. I then used the amber super glue to fill in the gaps around the repair. I also used it to fill in the tooth marks on the top and the underside of the stem. The next series of photos show the repaired stem before I sanded it smooth. I cleaned out the inside of the airway in the stem to remove any debris from the repair and also to remove the last bit of darkening I had seen in the stem when it was apart. I used pipe cleaners and warm water so as not to damage the Bakelite with alcohol. I had learned the hard way long ago that alcohol can cause a Bakelite stem to craze – not always but it certainly did on the one I learned on.I have a jar of Clapham’s Beeswax Polish in my restoration kit that I have used over the years to polish meerschaum figurals. It is a white beeswax paste that easy to work into all of the carved grooves in the meerschaum and polishes well. I applied the wax to the bowl with a qtip and my finger and once it was dry I buffed it with a shoe brush. The next series of photos show the pipe after I buffed it with the brush. I love the frontal look of the lion’s head. I sanded the stem repair with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the ridge that was over the repaired area. I sanded it until the repair blended into the surface of the stem on both sides. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three sanding pads. After the final set of three pads I gave it a final coat of the oil and set it aside to dry. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I lightly buffed the bowl with a clean buffing pad and gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I also buffed the stem with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine on the meer. I have found that a newly waxed meerschaum will darken after the bowl has been smoked for a while. The spotty appearance of the finish will gradually blend into the patina of the bowl. Thanks for taking this journey with me.

Against a Stump – A CPF Best Make Horse Meerschaum

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Blog by Steve Laug

I was on a work trip in Alberta when I received an email from a woman named Nancy who picked up my email address from the blog. She wrote to tell me about a pipe that had come into a thrift store she worked at. Here is the first email I received.

Hello Steve, I volunteer at a thrift store & we received this pipe as a donation. I knew it was too old & precious to sell for a few dollars. It’s in pretty rough shape with cracks but still beautiful in its additional case. It is a horse leaning against a tree stump with a long stem that looks like Bakelite. Is this something you would want to have & restore? I can send pictures if you’ll give me an email. Thank you, Nancy

I wrote her back and asked to see the photos of the pipe. She immediately replied and sent me the following three photos. It looked like the pipe may be a CPF Best Make Meerschaum. The case appeared to have been the original for the pipe. After looking at the photos on my cell phone I wrote her back and made an offer on the pipe. She quickly responded with the following email:

Yes, that sounds good. The money will go to Assistance League of Yuma. We are a non-profit, all volunteer organization. There are 120 nationwide. We have Operation School Bell which provides 3 new outfits, shoes, books, hats, etc. Just to let you know where the money will go. 😍 I would love to see a picture of the pipe when you are done. I’m so glad to find a good home for it & that it will be restored. Thank you! Send me your address & I will get it ready to send. Thx, Nancy.

I finished the 2 week trip in Alberta and the day after I returned the pipe arrived. It was far bigger than I expected from the photos. Somehow in my mind it was a typical carved meerschaum pipe but when I opened the box it was quite large. It is 8 ½ inches long, 3 ½ inches tall, with an outer diameter on the bowl being 1 ¾ inches and the bowl itself being 15/16 inches in diameter and 2 ¼ deep. It is a handful.

The condition was better than I expected. The cracks in the meerschaum were on the surface of the horse and the right side of the shank. I was expecting more open cracks but these were tight and seemed to be almost a spidering from the spots where the carved horse was connected to the bowl. The center of the back had tiny cracks radiating down the front and rear haunches of the horse and the place where the rear hooves were connected to the shank had a crack radiating both directions. These cracks on the shank also continued around the bottom of the bowl and shank. Fortunately none of them were deep and really added to the aged look of the pipe.The left side of the shank and bowl (a carved stump) was in excellent shape with no cracks. The rim of the pipe had some darkening and a buildup of tars and oils on the top back side of the rim. There was a light cake in the bowl that would be easily removed with a pipe knife. There was some dust and debris in the grooves of the stump and the mane and tail of the horse.I took a close up photo of the top of the bowl to show the cake in the bowl and the condition of the rim top. On the back side of the bowl there is a branch extending toward the stem that has the horse’s tail attached to it.The condition of the Bakelite stem was a bit worse than I expected from the photos. It had a lot of tooth chatter and tooth marks that extended from the button for about an inch up the stem. It was rough on both sides of the stem. The button was also worn from tooth marks. There were a lot of tiny spidering cracks all over the surface of the stem that gave me some concern as I examined it. Time would tell if these would be more than a surface issue.The case was in rough shape though solid. The leather cover was worn off the wooden case but the hinges and clasp were still solid. The interior of the case had a worn faux fur lining that was almost worn away. I could still read the gold embossed logo in the top of the inside case – the CPF logo in an oval over an unfurled banner reading Best Make. The case was obviously made for the pipe so it gave me the needed information that this was a CPF meerschaum. Since I am a big fan of older CPF made pipes I was excited to see that this was one of them.I sanded out the tooth marks and chatter on the stem from the button forward. With the sanding dust present on the rest of the stem you can see the spidering cracks on the rest of the Bakelite stem.I sanded the shank end as well because there were chips missing from the edge of the stem where it sat against the shank. Again the spidering cracks are visible with the sanding dust.I cleaned out the airway in the stem and the shank with pipe cleaners and water. I also reamed the bowl with the Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.There was a Bakelite spacer on the shank as well that I unscrewed and cleaned up. The threaded tenon is integral to the shank. The next photo shows the three parts of the pipe.The stem had been held in place on the tenon with a packing of twisted paper. The threads in the stem had been stripped and worn over the years. The threads were still present in the stem but were very worn. I built up the tenon end with some clear super glue to allow the stem to grip the threads on the tenon.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove as much of the spidering cracks as possible. Many were just on the surface. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads and after the final set gave it a last rubdown and set it aside to dry. I carefully scrubbed the surface of the meerschaum with a soft tooth brush and warm water to remove the dirt and grime. I polished the meer with micromesh sanding pads. I started with 1500-2400 grit pads and was able to remove many of the surface scratches and blemishes as well as the tarry build up on the rim of the bowl. I continued to polish it with the remainder of the micromesh pads from 3200-12000 grit to bring a shine to the patina of the bowl.I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel carefully working around the horse. I lightly buffed the stem as well. I gave the bowl a rubdown of beeswax and hand buffed it with a shoe brush. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I am expecting that the coloration of the meer will come back to the surface once the pipe is smoked. Thanks for journeying with me.