Tag Archives: repairing tooth marks

This favourite GBD Marquis 752 was a mess – not any more

Blog by Steve Laug

About a month ago a friend of mine, Richard who has a tobacco shop here in Vancouver gave me a call and asked me to stop by for a visit. I went on a Sunday afternoon and we visited for a while. At the end of the visit he took me to another counter in his shop and brought out some display cases of pipes – four of them and a small bag. He told the story to me. An elderly gentleman who was a customer of his had died and his wife had stopped by and gave him the fellow’s pipes. She wanted nothing for them she just wanted him to get them cleaned up and sold to folks who would appreciate them. Richard is a reader of the blog and he thought that I would have fun cleaning these up and selling them. As we went through the display cases and bag I was pretty pumped about the collection. There were some really nice GBD pipes, Comoy’s, Stanwell as well as some brands I was not familiar with.

The first pipe I chose to work on was a GBD author shaped pipe. It was obviously one of the old gentleman’s favourites. It was very dirty. It was stamped on the topside of the shank with GBD in an oval and next to it MARQUIS. There is also the GBD Oval stamped on the topside of the stem. It is not the brass rondel but is stamped into the vulcanite on the top of the saddle. On the underside of the shank the pipe is stamped St Claude France and the shape number 752. The stamping is clear and sharp. The St Claude France stamp is light on the front part of the name. The finish is in decent shape with a medium brown stain over great straight grain. There is a thick cake in the bowl and over the beveled rim. It is hard to tell if there is rim damage as it is so dirty. There were two large fills on the front of the bowl that follow the grain. They were shrunken and not even with the surface. There is calcification from a softee bit on the stem and button. There are some deep tooth marks on the top and bottom side of the stem near the button.

The following photos show the condition of the pipe when I brought it to the work table. I took following close up photos of the pipe. The first shows the rim with all of its tars and oils. The cake is very thick and hard. The second photo shows the fills on the front of the bowl. The third and fourth photos show the stamping on the top and underside of the shank. The last two photos show the stem and the dents and calcification on the stem near the button. I reamed the bowl with the PipNet pipe reamer starting with the smallest cutting head and worked my way up to the third cutting head which took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the walls of the bowl with the Savinelli Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl and rim edge with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the interior of the bowl and the inner edge of the rim. I cleaned the slight bevel on the inner edge as well. To clean the tars and lava on the rim I used a sharp pen knife to scrape the debris free of the rim without damaging the rim surface. I scrubbed it with saliva and a cotton pad to remove the oils and tars that remained on the surface.I heated the dents in the stem with a lighter and sanded what remained along with the calcification and tooth chatter with 220 grit sandpaper. I cleaned out the tooth marks with alcohol and a cotton swab and filled in the dents with clear super glue. I set the stem aside to let the glue cure. Once it had cured I sanded the repairs smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads.I wiped down the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the grime on the surface and give some clarity to the grain. The photos below show the bowl at this point in the process. I scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until they were clean.I used European Gold Rub’n Buff to touch up the GBD logo on the stem. I sanded the stem with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. After each set of three pads I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. After sanding with the 12000 grit pad I gave the stem a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. While the stem dried I worked on repairing the fills on the front of the bowl. I decided to just top up the fills rather than dig them out and refill them. I used clear super glue to top up the fills. I over filled them slightly so that when they dried they would not shrink and need a second application of glue. I sanded the repair with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out. I wet sanded the area with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded the entire bowl with 3200-4000 grit pads.I restained the repaired area with a medium and a dark brown stain pen. I streaked the area to look like grain with a black Sharpie pen. I buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond to smooth out the stain and blend it into the rest of the bowl.I lightly buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond once again to polish it. I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth and it was finished. The restored pipe is shown in the photos below. This is the first of about 50 pipes that I received from my friend at the pipe shop. They are all from the same gentleman’s estate and there are some beauties. If you would like to add this one to your rack contact me via email at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a message on Facebook. We will discuss the cost and the shipping. Thanks for looking.

A Worn Royal Danish 936 Wide Oval Shank Pipe given new life

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Blog by Steve Laug

When I saw the pictures of the way this pipe looked – at least the first picture I thought it was in pretty decent shape. The finish was a little worn; particularly some of the high spots on the sand blast had worn off. The smooth patches were also worn and lifeless. The back edge of the rim looked really rough – as if the pipe had been knocked about on concrete or another hard surface to remove the dottle from the bowl. It was ragged. The inner edge of the rim also looked worn and the cake in the bowl was a bit odd looking – as if it was partially removed. It seemed heavier on one side than the other. The stem looked okay in the first picture but the second hinted that all was not well with it either.The close up photos reveal the issues that I hinted at above. The first shows the strangely caked bowl – heavily built up toward the left side and rear of the bowl as well as the rough back rim top and edge of the bowl. The inner edge of the rim also looks like it has taken some damage. The second photo shows the slight cap at the stem junction that to my mind spoke of a tarry and caked mortise that kept the stem from seating properly. The finish also shows some wear in the photos. The pipe is stamped Royal Danish and Made in Denmark. The shape number is 936 which is a Stanwell shape.The next two photos show the issues with the stem. There were tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem that went from quite deep to very shallow. The button top and bottom were worn down and had deep tooth marks. There was also a heavy build up of oxidation on the stem. The stem logo on the top is very faint. It made me wonder if I would be able to feel it with my finger once it arrived in Canada.I am so glad my brother does the heavy work on cleaning out these pipes. I have reamed and cleaned out the shanks of a lot of pipes and I can’t say that I miss it. I still get to do my share of cleanups on pipes that I find but these that he sends me come ready for the restoration process. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and was able to remove the wax and tars on bowl and rim. He reamed the bowl back to bare briar and scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and stem. When it arrived the stain was quite washed out and the stem was really oxidized. The damaged rim top was very visible and it was in rough shape. I took some close up photos of the rim and the stem when it arrived here. The roughness of the rim top and inner edge are seen in the first photo. The tooth marks and wear on the stem top and underside in the second and third photos. My brother had cleaned out the mortise so the stem fit tightly against the shank so my guess mentioned above about a dirty mortise appears to have been correct. The crown logo on the top of the stem could hardly be felt by touch. I started sanding the stem then decided to run a few pipe cleaners and alcohol through the airway in the stem and shank as well as in the mortise. They were quite clean and did not take too much work to remove the little bit of debris that was still left.I sanded the rim lightly to take away the roughness but still leave the finish looking like the sand blasted portion of the rim that had not been damaged. I stained the bowl with a dark brown stain mixed 50/50 with isopropyl alcohol. I applied the stain and flamed it and repeated the process until the coverage was what I was looking for. I wanted the dark stain in the deep grain of blast to show through the brown top stain.I hand buffed the bowl with a microfibre cloth to raise a shine and to give an even look to the finish. The photos below show the pipe at this point in the process.In the second photo below the rim surface is visible. There will need to be some contrast applied to the finish to make it blend in and not look merely “less damaged”.To address the contrast issue on the rim mentioned above I used a black Sharpie Pen to provide some darkening in the crevices of the pitted surface. I used a dark brown stain pen to give the top coat over the black stain.I sanded the inner edge of the rim with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the roughened inner edge. In retrospect I probably should have done this before staining the bowl but I did not so I put it in the order I did the work. In the second photo below you can see how the contrast stain worked on the rim top.When I finished sanding I stained the inner edge of the rim with the dark brown stain pen and added some streaks of black Sharpie pen to give it some contrast. I buffed the rim lightly Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and with a microfibre cloth. The photos below show the pipe bowl after buffing. Notice the change to the rim after the sanding, staining and buffing. I set the bowl aside and worked on the issues with the stem. I sanded the area around the button on both sides of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and scrubbed the deeper tooth marks with cotton swabs and alcohol. Once they were clean I filled the deeper marks and built up the button surface with black super glue.I sanded the repairs once they had cured with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth them into the surface of the stem. I reshaped the top of the button on both sides of the stem with the sandpaper.The edge of the button on the underside of the stem was still rough so I used a needle file to shape and sharpen the straight edge.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 micromesh sanding pads. I rubbed the stem down with Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and a paper towel to further remove the oxidation on the stem. I polished the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish both Fine and Extra Fine with paper towels. The stem was beginning to shine. I sanded the stem once again with the micromesh sanding pads using 1500-12000 grit pads. Each successive grit of sanding pad added more shine and depth to the shine. The more I polished the stem the more the crown logo disappeared.I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I rubbed the bowl down with Conservator’s Wax by hand. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The pipe is clean and looks new. The restoration brought it back to life. Thanks for looking.

Another Spanish Carved Bamboo Like Pipe – this time a Rhodesian

A Relatively Easy Refurbishment on a Peterson’s Kinsale

Another nice find at the ‘Hole in the Wall’ – Jeantet Fleuron 70-7

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Blog by Dal Stanton

The Jeantet Fleuron before me was mentioned when I posted the restoration of a beautiful BBB Banker Bent Volcano. I found both pipes last April, during a visit to ‘The Hole in the Wall’ antique store near the Zhenski Pazar (Women’s Market) in downtown Sofia, Bulgaria. In order to achieve a better bargain for the BBB Banker I grabbed the Jeantet out of the basket as a good candidate for a bundled deal, which helped me negotiate 30 Bulgarian Leva for the pair – not a bad deal! When I arrived home from the Hole in the Wall I took these pictures: The bent egg shape is in pretty good condition with an attractive elongated bowl that fits well in the hand. The left side of the shank is marked with Jeantet (pronounced, ‘Zhawn-Te’) over Fleuron and on the right what I assume is the shape number 70-7. The stem has the nice Jeantet J stamp. Looking at Pipedia to do a little research on this name led me to Sainte Claude, France, considered to be the birthplace of the serious production of briar pipes and scores of French made pipe names claim Saint Claude as home. My curiosity piqued, I wanted to know why St. Claude, France? Was the briar in good supply there? I looked to the history of the city itself to see what I could find. I unearthed an archived New York Times article written March 20, 1983, in the ‘Shoppers World’ travel section entitled, THE PIPE CAPITAL OF FRANCE – very interesting and worth reading. I found the answer to the question, ‘Why Saint Claude and pipes?’ with this article I found posted on Fumerchic.com with these informative excerpts:

In the 15th Century, Saint-Claude was canonised by Pope Louis XI, the city took on the name Saint-Claude alone and remained a favoured site for pilgrims.

Since Saint-Claude was one of the stops on the Way of Saint James, the monks, who had been turning wood since the 7th century, began crafting wooden religious objects like crucifixes and rosaries. These monks slowly began training craftsmen, which lead to the establishment of the first wood turning workshop in Saint-Claude.

The craftsmen developed the manufacture of wooden items and widened the scope of their operation by making toys (spinning tops, whistles and rattles), so children and pilgrims could play during their pilgrimages. The number of turning workshops then grew. The main materials they used were wood, bone and ivory.

But with the introduction of tobacco to France, of smoking tobacco in particular, the wood turning workshops adapted by making snuff boxes and pipes made from local boxwood. The pipe craftsmen of Saint-Claude gradually forged themselves a reputation for an unparalleled level of manual skill and expertise.

So, it wasn’t the plentiful supply of briar that put Sainte Claude on the pipe-makers’ map but industrious wood-turning monks who passed their wood working skills on to local craftsman. The story went on with the discovery of a non-burning pipe made from our beloved briar:

During the 19th Century, pipes from Saint-Claude underwent a profound change. Boxwood had been the wood used to make the pipes until then, but it produced a bitter taste when smoked. Around 1855, a businessman passing through Saint-Claude presented a Saint-Claude wood turner with a pipe, the bowl of which did not burn, carved from a heavy wood in dark shades. It was the first pipe made from briar. The arborescent briar pipe is highly resistant to heat and fire, giving the smoker the greatest possible pleasure from the plumes of tobacco smoke. The craftsmen of Saint-Claude therefore began using briar instead of boxwood, ensuring the Saint-Claude pipe caused excitement in the pipe smoking community. The number of workshops grew, with names like Chacom and Butz-Choquin appearing for the first time, while the craftsmen began producing more and more high-quality pipes thanks to their expertise that became globally renowned among pipe smokers.

Considered to be the capital of briar wood pipes, Eole, Chacom, Bayard,Butz-Choquin, Denicotea, Jeantet and Ropp are well-known names all originally claimed by Saint Claude, France. The works of Saint Claude’s craftsmen are also present, for example, in the unique handmade pipes created by Pierre Morel (link).

One more factoid about Saint Claude’s history caught my attention. In 1966, Saint Claude established the Confrérie des Maîtres-Pipiers de Saint-Claude (The Brotherhood of Master Pipe-Makers in Saint-Claude) to promote the expertise of the many masters that have historically resided and worked in Saint Claude. Famous personalities are inducted as the “Premier Pipe-Smoker of the Year’ to serve as ambassadors for the pipe industry in Saint Claude. For every personality chosen, Paul Lanier (awarded the prestigious meilleur ouvrier de France title in 1991), crafts a pipe that includes a portrait of the inductee, thus perpetuating the tradition of the sculpted briar pipe. I think this is a very cool tradition and found it very interesting that the first likeness below strongly resembles the master pipe restorer who oversees Rebornpipes.com!According to Pipedia, the Jeantet name came on to the scene in 1775. The 1800s saw great expansion of production of Jeantet pipes primarily through the development of local cottage industry – farming out different aspects of the pipe production to small shops in Saint Claude. Consolidated production grew in the 1900s but in the 1960s sales dwindled in spite of attempts to modernize. This final part of my research comes from Pipehill:

1988
The company was taken over by S.A. Cuty Fort Entreprises⁽¹⁾ while keeping its label. It established in the group beside Chapuis-Comoy (Chacom), Jean Lacroix and Emile Vuillard. Today (2010) the brand isn’t part of the group any more. The label owned by Dominique Jeantet still exists but pipe production is discontinued.When I take this product of Sainte Claude, France, the Jeantet Fleuron, out of the ‘Rescue Me’ basket, I take a closer and more appreciative look at the pipe. First impressions mark the nice shape of the stummel – I like the tapered egg shape that culminates in a tightly circled rim beveled on the inner chamber side. The bowl shows minor cake and appears to have been cleaned before but I will bring it down to the briar and clean it well. The stummel surface has minor dents and ‘blemishes’ on the finish. A significant ‘scab’ is evident where the shank and bowl converge on the topside. It doesn’t appear to be a burn through but this will need attention after cleaning the exterior surface. The rim has minor dent marks on the blade edge of the beveled rim. When I take off the stem, I notice that in the mortise is a metal cylinder – some sort of a metal airway or a stinger that got loose? With a few thumps on my palm, the rogue stinger shakes loose (pictured below). After attempting to insert it into the end of the tenon, I have questions as to whether this stinger is original – the fit is very loose which explains why it slipped down into the stummel airway. I decide the stinger is history and it goes in the spare parts bucket. Minor teeth dents are on the underside of the bit. I take some close up shots for a better look at problem areas. I begin by putting the stem in an OxiClean bath to soak in order to raise the oxidation out of the vulcanite. Then I take my Pipnet Reaming Kit and work on the light cake build up in the bowl. I use the two smaller blades of the four blades available to me to ream the bowl. After this I use 240 grit sanding paper to further clean and smooth the chamber wall. I like working on a clean pipe so I take pipe cleaners and Q-tips dipped in isopropyl 95% and work the mortise and stummel airway. The internals were surprisingly clean so it didn’t take long.

Now to the external surface. I use undiluted Murphy Oil Soap on the stummel with cotton pads to remove the grime and hopefully to eradicate some of the blemishes I detect on the surface. After cleaning with Murphy Soap I rinse the stummel with cool tap water avoiding water entering the fire chamber or mortise. The ‘scab’ at the upper junction of the shank and bowl is starting to look like a botched superglue repair job. I’ll need to give some thought as to how to address this eyesore on an otherwise attractive piece of briar – I’m starting to see the briar’s potential. The pictures show the progress. I put the stummel aside and turn to the clean-up of the stem. I fish the stem out of the Oxyclean bath. It did the job of ‘surfacing’ the dull greenish oxidation and I initially attack it with 000 steel wool. I then clean the internal airway with bristled and smooth pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95%. The stem put up more resistance than the stummel. After several pipe cleaners I’m satisfied that the airway is ready for service. Next, the ‘scab’ on the bowl surface. I take 240 grit sanding paper rolled as close to a blade as I could make it and sanded the gummed up super glue patch – at least I believe that is what it is – at the junction between the upper shank and bowl. I sand the super glue or epoxy down to the surface. When I remove the buildup bump it appears to be a patch – I don’t believe it’s a burn through, but it’s definitely a fill. It appears to be solid so I leave it as is and hope to blend it when I finish the stummel. Next I prepare a batch of briar dust super glue putty to fill in two holes just below the rim at about 1 o’clock (picture below). I use a toothpick as a trowel to pack the holes well and to leave an overflow so that it will sand out smoothly with the surface. The final repair is to apply black super glue to two small tooth dents on the underside of the bit. When cured, it will sand smooth and polish well. The pictures show the progress of the patch work. After the KE-150 Black super glue patch on the underside of the bit cures, I take 240 grit sanding paper to smooth out the patch bumps bringing them down to the stem surface level. I do the same to remove light tooth chatter on the upper side. To redefine the button, I use the needle file to shape the contours of the button lip top and bottom. I again use 240 grit to remove the file marks and remove light tooth chatter. With micromesh pads grit from 1500 to 2400 I wet sand the stem and apply Obsidian Oil. Unfortunately, after admiring the shine beginning to move to the surface, I also saw some small ‘patches’ of oxidation remained visible – a bit near the button and on both upper and lower parts of the saddle stem that tapers from shank level down to button level. If this part of the saddle stem has a special name, I’m not sure what it is! I was frustrated and therefore forgot to picture this! I put the stem back in the Oxyclean bath for another baptism. The pictures below represent the micromesh process after the second bath, which raised the residue oxidation to the surface and I remove it beginning with the 1500 grit micromesh pad. Following the 1500 to 2400 micromesh wet sand cycle (again!) I apply Obsidian Oil. With pads from 3200 to 4000 grit I dry sand and follow again with applying Obsidian Oil to the stem. I complete the micromesh polishing with pads 6000 to 12000, apply Obsidian Oil and put the stem aside to dry. I’m pleased with the results even though I had a detour. The pictures show the progress on the stem repairs and polishing. With the stem ready for a stummel, I start working on completing the Jeantet’s re-commissioning by using 240 grit sanding paper to remove the cured briar dust super glue putty patch on the holes just below the rim. I’m careful to sand strategically by folding the paper and using it like a blade directly on the patch so I don’t unintentionally sand into the rim’s sharp beveled top edge – that would not be good to deface the rim! I take a before and after picture to show the progress. The rim already has a very nice bevel, but to remove the dents and pitting on the rim I use 240 grit paper folded and work on the rim. I pinch the paper with my thumb on the beveled contour as I rotate the stummel. I find that this method allows for an even movement and a consistent bevel angle to develop. With the bevel already in place, I simply go with the contour that is already present but remove the damage producing a fresh beveled surface. Well, all work on the Jeantet came to a halt for about 3 weeks as my wife and I enjoyed our annual R&R on the Black Sea coast near the fishing town of Sozopol. Reading books and enjoying the beach is one of our favorite things to do to relax and decompress from the work we do in Bulgaria. A special joy to us during these weeks was the visit of our daughter and her husband from Denver, Colorado. They joined us at the Black Sea for our last few days on the beach and from there we took them to see different sights in Bulgaria as well as spending the last week of their visit on the beautiful Greek island of Santorini! Another great part about their visit was that they brought supplies and pipes I had ordered and purchased from eBay. They also brought another prize – the Savinelli pipe knife to add to my tool box that I won in a fierce bid on eBay! During this time of R&R I also visited several antique shops in different Bulgarian towns and secured some future restorations – it was a good time but now, back to life and the Jeantet Fleuron!

With stem reattached to the stummel I use a medium grade sanding sponge on the bowl. Following this, I utilized all 9 micro-mesh sanding pads, 1500 to 12000 to sand/polish the bowl preparing it for staining. I’m liking the briar grains beginning to make an appearance on the Jeantet. The pictures show the progress on the stummel surface. I’m anxious to try out one of the supply items that my daughter and son in law brought from the US – Fiebing’s Leather Dye. They brought dark brown and oxblood colors and I decide to try the dark brown on the Jeantet. One of the challenges that I have finding supplies in Bulgaria is not having good selection of aniline (alcohol based) dyes or stains that would readily ‘flame’ helping to set the stain in the wood. I remove the stem and give the bowl a cleaning with alcohol with a cotton pad to make sure it is clean from the residue left over from sanding. I set the bowl up on the cork and candle stand, inverted to apply the dark brown dye that I have chosen. Using a cotton dauber, also a new arrival from the US, I apply the dye liberally over the inverted bottom of the bowl allowing the dye to saturate the briar surface. I’m able to rotate the bowl with the cork in hand to make sure dye reaches the rim beveled surface on the bottom. When the surface is covered I flame it with a butane lighter which evaporates the alcohol from the dye and sets the color more deeply in the grain. After it cools to the touch, I repeat the process above a second time, applying dye and flaming. The pictures below show the progress but also the fact that I need to figure out a better way of pouring the dye into the lid so I’m not wasting so much on my work board missing the briar! After cooled, I use cotton pads with isopropyl 95% and wipe down the newly stained bowl to lighten it and even out the dye application. This allows the grain to jump out more it seems to me. I let the bowl sit overnight to thoroughly dry and set the newly stained surface. I turn to my Dremel using a felt wheel with Tripoli compound on the bowl surface and stem to begin the polishing process. I utilize the slowest RPM speed and keep the wheel moving over the briar surface – not pressing too much allowing the wheel and compound to do the work. I follow the Tripoli with Blue Diamond – also with its own dedicated felt wheel (each compound has dedicated wheels) and again, allow the RPMs, wheel and compound to do the work, keeping the movement of the wheel moving on the stummel surface. For the carnauba wax application, I switch from a felt wheel to a cotton cloth wheel and also increase the RPM speed on the Dremel by one number. I have discovered that the carnauba needs a bit more ‘heat’ to spread evenly over the surface. I apply several coats of carnauba wax over the bowl surface and stem. I love to watch how the briar grain increasingly pops with each step of the polishing process. The beauty of the grain on the Jeantet Fleuron is living up to its name – Fleuron. Since I didn’t study French in school, Google translate provided the English meaning of Fleuron – ‘finial’, which is, according to Dictionary.com, “a relatively small, ornamental, terminal feature at the top of a gable, pinnacle, etc.” Or, simply, a nice finishing touch! I complete the Jeantet Fleuron with a clean cotton cloth wheel buff with the Dremel and then a rigorous buffing by hand with a microfiber cloth to bring out the grain even more and deepen the shine.

Since my wife has lovingly started to put her foot down regarding my growing collection of pipes (I’m sure some of you have faced this as well!) this Jeantet Fleuron 70-7 will make a debut on eBay Europe and US to find a good home! I am considering how to sell more restored pipes and giving the profits to help further the work we do here, with the Daughters of Bulgaria – Bulgarian women who are sexually exploited and trafficked. If you’re interested in adding the Jeantet to your collection, leave a comment below. Thanks for joining me!

A unique old WDC Turin Rustic Volcano

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Blog by Steve Laug

When I saw this one on eBay I sent a message to my brother and asked him to bid on it. He did and we got it. I love the rustication on the Turin Rustic series. It is rough and yet dignified at the same time. The seller billed it as restored/refurbished and clean. By and large that was true. The shank and the inside of the stem were very clean. The rim had been knocked about a bit and the inner edge of the rim was rough and uneven. The bowl had been reamed. The stem was polished though there were deep tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem next to the button. My brother took the above photos and the following ones before he cleaned the pipe. You can see the damage to the rim top and the inner edge in the next photo. The second photo shows the stamping on the left side of the shank.Though I knew a bit about the WDC pipe maker and the William Demuth Company I thought it might be good to review the history before I started restoring the pipe. I googled the Turin Rustic to see what I could find. It immediately referred me to a post on the Kaywoodie Forum that in turn was an excerpt from pipedia.org. Here is the link.

http://kaywoodie.myfreeforum.org/archive/w.d.c.-master-list__o_t__t_191.html

William Demuth, a native of Germany, entered the United States at the age of 16 as a penniless immigrant. After a series of odd jobs he found work as a clerk in the import business of a tobacco tradesman in New York City. In 1862 William established his own company. The William Demuth Company specialized in pipes, smoker’s requisites, cigar-store figures, canes and other carved objects.

The Demuth Company is probably well known for the famous trademark, WDC in an inverted equilateral triangle. William commissioned the figurative meerschaum Presidential series, 29 precision-carved likenesses of John Adams, the second president of the United States (1797-1801) to Herbert Hoover, the 30th president (1929-1933), and “Columbus Landing in America,” a 32-inch-long centennial meerschaum masterpiece that took two years to complete and was exhibited at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.

The Presidential series was the result of Demuth’s friendship with President James A. Garfield, a connoisseur of meerschaum pipes. Demuth presented two pipes to Garfield at his inauguration in 1881, one in his likeness, the other in the likeness of the President’s wife. Later, Demuth arranged for another figurative matching the others to be added to the collection as each new president acceded to the White House, terminating with President Hoover.

In 1897 Ferdinand Feuerbach joined the Demuth Company and by 1903 had become the production manager. Feuerbach is credited with developing Demuth’s popular Royal Demuth and Hesson Guard Milano pipelines. He left in 1919, when Sam Frank Sr. needed an experienced pipe man to run his pipe factory, located at 168 Southern Blvd., in the Bronx. Feuerbach and Frank had been close friends since Frank started his own business in 1900 and was closely associated with the sales staff of WDC, selling their line of pipes.

In early 1937, the City of New York notified S.M. Frank & Co. of their intent to take by eminent domain, part of the land on which the companies pipe factory was located. This was being done to widen two of the adjacent streets. As a result of this, Frank entered into negotiations to purchase the Wm. Demuth Co.’s pipe factory in the Richmond Hill section of Queens. It was agreed upon that Demuth would become a subsidiary of S.M. Frank and all pipe production of the two companies would be moved to Demuth factory. New Corporate offices were located at 133 Fifth Avenue, NYC.

Demuth pipes continued to be made at the Richmond Hill plant till December 31. 1972. Then the Wm. Demuth Company met its official end as a subsidiary company by liquidation. Demuth’s mainstay pipe, the Wellington continued to be offered in the S.M. Frank catalog until 1976. In the mid-80’s, the Wellington even made a brief return as a direct to the consumer offer.

When the pipe arrived from Idaho it was quite clean and ready to work on. I took some photos of it before I started. The next photo shows the rim and the damage to the surface. There were a lot of dents and dings as well as some roughness on the right side toward the front of the bowl. The inner edges was also worn and rough.The next photos show the condition of the stem – it had some deep tooth marks on the top and underside that are visible in the photo below.I “painted” the surface of the vulcanite with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the dents and I was able to raise all but one of them completely. Even the worst one on the underside came up so that is only needed a little patch. The rest of them I was able to sand smooth with 220 grit sandpaper.I cleaned the sanded area on the underside of the stem with alcohol and then filled in the remaining tooth mark with a spot of clear super glue. Once it dried I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and blended it into the surface of the stem.I rolled a piece of sandpaper and sanded out the inside of the bowl and the inner edge of the rim to smooth out the damage.

I touched up the rough spots on the inner edge with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and smoothed out the edge until it was back in round. In the photo below you can see the damage to the top and outside edge of the bowl toward the front. It looked like it had been knocked out on concrete.I decided to lightly top the bowl on the topping board with 220 grit sandpaper until the rim top was smooth and clean of damage.I sanded the rim top with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-12000 grit until the surface of the rim was clean and smoothly polished.I used a light brown stain pen and touched up the rim top. The next four pictures show the bowl after I had rubbed it down with a light coat of olive oil. I love the rustication on the bowl sides and bottom. It really is a unique pattern. 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. After the final rub down I set the stem aside to dry.

I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand wax the bowl with Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The finish shines and the pipe belies its age. It is a beauty. Thanks for looking.

Bringing a Peterson’s Rhodesian Shaped Meerschaum back from the brink

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on my “to do list” from the fellow in Dawson Creek is a Peterson Meerschaum that has some great colour to it. It is made of African Meerschaum which is denser than Turkish meerschaum and usually unevenly colour to the extent that they are stained to give the pipe a better look. This one is a mottled brown and cream coloured block. I am not sure how much of it is the aging patina and how much is the stain but I love the look of the pipe.

I did a bit of hunting on the internet to try to find a photo of the pipe. It was hard to find a Meerschaum Rhodesian picture and found one that is the close to same shape. It has a flumed dark top edge or cap. The shape of the stem is a little different at the shank union than the one I am working on. The one in the photo is more pinched at the shank. The one I am working on has a band of cream coloured meer that is rounded over and the stem sits against it.

I have been watching eBay for the Pete’s and have not found one this shape. I have read that African Block Meerschaums Peterson’s are getting harder to find since the Laxey meerschaum mines shut down in 2006. I have a few of the pipes in my collection and I have found that they are heavier than Turkish meerschaum due to the inclusion of minerals and aggregate material in the Block and the fact that they were ‘Calcinated’ after being carved, to give them greater strength and durability. They will color with smoking and the use of beeswax, but it will be more of a gradual process than high-grade Turkish meerschaums.

The pipe from Dawson Creek was heavily caked which bodes well for it being a great smoking pipe. The rustication on the rim was thickly cake with the overflow from the bowl. The rusticated finish on the bowl and shank was dirty. The stem was heavily oxidized and there was some tooth chatter on the top and underside near the button. The P stamp was faded though it still was deep enough for a touch up job. I was looking forward to seeing what the finished pipe would look like after the cleanup. I took a close up photo of the rim and the bowl. It shows the thick cake that is slightly sticky and has picked up a lot of dust and debris. The rustication on the rim is filled in with tars and oils to the point you cannot really see the grooves and ridges.The Delrin tenon is glued into the vulcanite stem and mortise is lined with a Delrin tube. The tenon was surprisingly small in diameter for a stem this large when I took the pipe apart. The photo below shows the pipe taken apart.I took some close up photos of the stem to show the oxidation and tooth chatter on the stem. There was large tooth mark on the top of the stem. It is hard to see in the photos below but after the first cleaning it would be visible.I used a brass bristle brush to scour the top of the rim to remove the thick cake and reveal the crevices and ridges below the grime. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer to take out the majority of the cake. I would need to clean it further later.I scrubbed the externals with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the grime and oils in the grooves of the bow and shank. I rinsed the bowl off with warm running water to remove the soap and dirt. I scrubbed it more under the running water using the tooth brush.I dried off the bowl and used Savinelli Pipe Knife to clean up the inside of the bowl and remove the last of the cake.I cleaned the mortise and the airways in the shank and the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the internals were clean.I put the stem in an Oxyclean bath and let it sit overnight. In the morning I took it out of the bath and rubbed it down with a coarse cloth to remove the loosened oxidation. I took the following photos to show the stem at this point. The second photo shows the deep tooth marks.Because the dent was round and smooth I decided to try to lift it with heat. I used a Bic lighter and “painted” the dent with the heat. It took a couple of passes of the lighter before it was smooth. The dent rose up to meet the surface of the stem. I did not need to do a fill or repair on the stem.I touched up the P stamp with white acrylic and a fine brush. I overfilled the P and let the paint dry. Once it was dry I carefully scraped it off with a sharp knife and sanded it smooth. The second photo shows the stem stamping.I took photos of the bowl at this point to show how it looked after cleaning. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil between each set of three pads. I set the stem aside to dry. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I avoided buffing the bowl with the Blue Diamond because it would collect in the grooves and ridges of the meerschaum. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe and stem with a clean buffing pad to polish the wax on the stem. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I think this one will be a good smoking pipe for Steve once I send it back to Dawson Creek. Thanks for looking.

I don’t know who made it but this LS Handmade Danish Freehand is a beauty.

7 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

The brand is unknown to me but many things about it look like a Preben Holm or Ben Wade pipe to me. The flow and lines of the bowl and stem, the well done sandblast, the smooth internal rim top all point that way to me. But I have not heard of nor have I been able to find information on the LS. The pipe is stamped Hand Made in Denmark over LS on the underside of the shank. The pipe was in great condition in terms of the finish of the bowl. It had dust in the grooves of the deep lines of the sandblast. The stain was in good shape. The smooth underside of the shank was very clean and did not have scratches. The plateau in the shank end was dirty but in good condition. The interior surface of the smooth rim top was covered in a very thick and dirty cake that flowed up from the bowl and over top. The next photo shows the flaking cake on the top of the rim and in the plateau areas around the outer edge.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer using the first three cutting heads to trim back the cake into the heel of the bowl. I followed that up with a Savinelli Pipe Knife to smooth out the transitions between the various cutting heads. I remove the cake back to bare briar. I also used the pipe knife to cut back the cake on the inner edges of the rim.I sanded the inner smooth portion of the rim with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tars and lava that I could not get off otherwise. I picked at the grooves, nooks and crannies in the plateau portion with a dental pick. I wiped it down with isopropyl alcohol and sanded some more until the surface was smooth.I scraped the last remaining edges of cake with the Savinelli Pipe Knife. I cleaned out the mortise and the shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol.The stem had been sitting in an Oxyclean soak overnight. Once I had the bowl cleaned I took the stem out of the bath to begin working on it. I ran a pipe cleaner through the airway in the stem to clean out any remaining debris and the oxy solution.I scrubbed it once more with the oxy solution and then rubbed the stem dry with a coarse cotton cloth. It removed a lot of the oxidation from the grooves in the stem and the surface of the stem.There was a deep, troublesome tooth mark on the top of the stem. It looks like it goes through to the airway but it does not. I probed it with a dental pick to clean out the debris in the mark and then cleaned it with some alcohol on cotton swabs to get rid of any oxy solution that might be in the hole.I waxed the sandblasted bowl and the plateau on the shank and the rim edges with Conservator’s Wax. I also waxed the smooth inner edge of the rim top with the wax. I buffed it with a shoe brush and then with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. Once the glue cured on the stem I filed it with a needle file to smooth out the patch to match the surface of the stem.I sanded it with 220 grit sand paper to remove the scratches and smooth out the surface of the patch and the tooth chatter on the underside of the stem.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 rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil between each set of three pads. After the final set of three I rubbed it down one last time and set it aside to dry. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel and gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the stem and bowl with a clean buffing pad to bring a shine to the pipe. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth and deepened the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The look of the internal smooth rim with the plateau edges and the deep sandblast finish make this a beautiful pipe. I think Steve in Dawson Creek will like the way this one turned out as well. It should serve him for many more years to come. Thanks for looking. ee

Charatan Made Knudsen’s Pipe Dream Oval Shank Banker brought back to life

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Blog by Steve Laug

This great looking Banker shaped pipe is another one from the pipe man up in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. I am not sure if it was also one of his Grand dad’s pipes but it definitely has some age. It is stamped Knudsen’s Pipe Dream on top of the shank and Made in London England on the underside. From my research I am pretty confident that the pipe was made by Charatan as the shape is on their shape charts. However, it does not have the Banker shape number. I took the photos below to give an idea of the shape and the condition of the pipe when it arrived at my work table. The first thing that stood out to me is that there is a lot of promise under the grime – the birdseye grain and cross grain are peaking through. There was one fill on the underside of the bowl that was chipped but otherwise tight in the sandpit. The finish appears to be really good under the grime with no dings or dents in the briar. There was a thick cake in the bowl that runs like lava runs over the rim of the bowl. It is hard to know for sure if there is damage to the rim underneath the thick cake. The stamping is readable and the Made in London England stamp on the underside of the shank appears to have been done twice though one of them is quite faint and slightly above the other. The stem is worn and has deep tooth marks on the top and bottom sides and the button is worn. I was looking forward to working on this pipe.

I did some digging to see if I could find anything out about the brand stamp on the top of the shank. I found that there is a Knudsen’s Pipe Dream Pipe Shop in Regina, Saskatchewan. The address and phone number is as follows: 4621 Rae St, Regina SK S4S 6K6, Phone: 306-585-1616. There was also a Knudsen’s Pipe Dream sandblasted Dublin that had sold on the smokingpipes.com website. The web address and link to the pipe is https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/england/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=132697. They list it as an English made pipe. To me it also looks like a Charatan shape. I found this page from a Charatan Catalogue online. The link said that it was Charatan even though the page does not say so. I have circled the Banker shape in red in the picture below. It is in the middle column at the top of the page. The shape would thus be a 2651.I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the thickness of the cake on the rim and in the bowl. You can see why it is hard to assess what is going on with the inside of the bowl and the rim from this photo. A lot of work will need to be done before I can actually know the condition of the bowl and the rim.I also took close up photos of the stem showing the bite and tooth marks on the top and bottom near the button.I wanted to photograph the stamping as well. You can see the faint double stamping of Made in London England in the first photo and you can clearly see the name Knudsen’s Pipe Dream in the second photo.I scraped the rim with a sharp pen knife to scrape off the thick buildup. I generally do this to try to preserve the stain coat on the rim. In this case I also wanted to see if there was damage under the cake on the rim top before I topped the bowl. Once I had it scraped off I wiped it down with alcohol on a cotton pad.I reamed the bowl with the PipeNet reamer and the Savinelli Pipe Knife and took the cake back to bare briar. I wanted to assess damage to the interior wall of the bowl. Thankfully there was none this time around.I repaired the chipped fill and the deep nick on the underside of the bowl with clear superglue. I did not use briar dust this time as neither repair was deep. I lightly sanded the spot with 220 grit sandpaper and then with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads.

I cleaned out the mortise and airways in the bowl and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until they were clean.I needed to repair the small groove (looks like a crack but does not go through the surface) in the button and on the surface of the stem as well as the tooth marks but before I could do that I needed to redefine the button edges. I used a needle file to recut the sharp edge and smooth out the ridges and bumps on the stem. With the file I was able to smooth out the groove on the button surface and the stem. With this done it was clear that there was not a crack. I wiped the stem down with alcohol and then built up the damaged areas with black super glue. I also repaired the spots on the underside of the stem with the black super glue. When the glue had cured I filed the repairs back until they were even with the surface of the stem. I also recut the edge following the path I had previously cut.I sanded the repaired areas and the entire stem with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the surface and to remove the oxidation.I wiped down the bowl with a light coat of olive oil to make the grain stand out and to see if there was any glaring light spots that needed to be touched up with a stain pen. It looked good. Once I polished and waxed the bowl I think it would be good to go. The photos below show the bowl at this point in the process. It really is a beautiful piece of briar. I polished the repaired stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I tried something new this time to try to defeat the frustrating oxidation on the stem. Instead of wet sanding with water I wet the stem with a light coat of olive oil and sanded it with the pads. It worked really well to cut through the oxidation. I wiped the stem dry after wet sanding and dry sanded without the oil. The finished shine is deep. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to raise the shine. I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing wheel. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. I am hoping Steve enjoys this one. It is one beautiful old pipe. It helps that it carries a family story with it. Thanks for looking.

Restoring a Well-Aged Double Walled Ceramic Baronite Pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

Steve, a pipe man in Northern British Columbia who sent me this old Baronite pipe said it belonged to his grandfather. That makes sense to me looking at the patina on this old double walled ceramic pipe. It is darkened with age like a well cured meerschaum. I have cleaned up quite a few of these but I have not seen one darkened to this degree. It is basically a bent apple shaped pipe with a windmill and canal scene on the front of the bowl wrapping slightly onto each side. On the left side of the shank it reads Holland and on the right side Baronite. I had a memory of the Baronite stamping referring to a line of pipes from a Dutch company called GoedeWaagen. I looked it up on Pipedia: https://pipedia.org/wiki/GoedeWaagen. I found the following information that confirms that the Baronite was a line of Double Walled Ceramic pipes produced by GoedeWaagen. I quote the short article in full:

Dirck GoedeWaagen became a master pipemaker on January 1, 1779 and took on his first assistant the following month. Soon after Dirck’s grandson fell in love with and married a girl from the illustrious De Jong family, legendary in the ceramic pipemakers guild in Gouda. He built a workshop in the Keizerstraat in Gouda, which continued for two generations until his grandsom Abraham GoedeWaagen moved the company to a new location.

In 1853, Pieter Goedewaagen purchased his father-in-law’s factory “De Star”, which becomes the basis of the modern GoedeWaagen company. In approximately 1880, Abraham’s grandson Aart GoedeWaagen persuaded his father Pieter to expand the business with an eye towards more models of pipes, and P. GoedeWaagen & Sons was founded in response. Within ten years the firm had hundreds of models and P. GoedeWaagen & Son was exporting pipes around the globe.

GoedeWaagen continued to make pipes, but also began acquiring other ceramics firms, including ‘De Distel’ in 1923, and in so doing acquiring the expertise to make decorated ceramics other than clay pipes. It is at this time that the company is granted a Royal charter and by the 1930’s Royal Goedewaagen is one of the top names in dutch ceramics.

While Goedewaagen pipes were originally traditional and figural clays, after the invention of the double walled clay pipe by Zenith, also a Gouda company, Goedewaagen began producing pipes in that commonly seen style, which they marketed as The Baronite Pipe, advertised for its clean smoking and health benefits. Since the company’s bankruptcy in 1982, however, they have made only the occasional souvenir pipe, including a line commemorating Holland’s monarchs.

I have no idea when this pipe was made but at least we now know who made it and where it was made. The stem is yellow Bakelite with a threaded metal tenon. I don’t know if that is original but it is in excellent shape. It is screwed into a cork insert in the shank of the pipe. It had deep tooth marks on the top and bottom sides near the button and into the top of the button edges. The bowl in this case had a fairly thick cake of carbon built up inside. The exterior of the bowl had a lot of dirt and debris stuck to the surface of the bowl and shank. The pipe reeked of strong tobacco. The rim seemed to have some spots of either damage or flaws from the original manufacture. There was also some tar buildup on the rim top. The brass band on the shank was oxidized and dull. Overall it was a dirty pipe in need of TLC. I took this close up photo of the interior of the bowl and the rim. Note the airway at the bottom of the bowl that drops into the inner space between the two ceramic walls. The rim is also dirty with tar. In the second photo I removed the stem and you can see the crumbling cork insert. I sanded the top of the bowl with a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad to remove the tar and buildup without damaging the glaze on the ceramic. I reamed the bowl with a Savinelli Pipe Knife to scrape the cake back to the bare ceramic walls. Just a note – ceramic bowls like meerschaum bowls should be wiped out after each smoke to make sure that a cake does not build up in the bowl. I pulled the cork insert out of the shank and it was dry and deteriorated. I wanted to try to rejuvenate the cork but it was too far gone and crumbled in my hands. A new cork could have been purchased from a pharmaceutical supply but I have always cut and shaped my own cork inserts for these from old wine corks. I cut a piece of cork the same thickness as the insert.I traced the diameter of the old insert on the new piece of cork and cut off the excess with a sharp pen knife. I shaped it with a Dremel and sanding drum until it was round. I twisted the cork onto a drill bit the sized of the tenon.I sanded the diameter of the insert with the Dremel and sanding drum until the diameter was the same as the old insert and could be compressed into the shank of the pipe. In the photo below you can still see a slight ridge in the middle of the cork. I would need to smooth that out before I inserted it in the shank.I scrubbed out the shank and the airway in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I was able to get a lot of the grime and grit out of the shank. I was not able to clean in the airspace between the walls using this method.I remembered reading somewhere that you could rinse out the inside of the shank and the airspace with water. I ran warm water in the shank and plugged the bowl with my thumb and vigorously shook the bowl. The warm water loosened the buildup in the airspace and soon chunks of dark tar fell out of the shank. I continued to shake and rinse the bowl until the water came out clean. The pipe began to smell fresh again.Before I left for work this morning I repaired the deep tooth marks on the stem with clear super glue and let the stem cure all day. When I got home I cleaned the threads on the metal tenon with a brass bristle brush to remove the rust and oils that had accumulated there as well.I filed the patches on the stem and recut the edges of the button and took the repairs down until they were even with the surface of the Bakelite stem.I sanded the patched areas of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and reshaped the button as well. The surface of the patch blended in on both sides of the stem. There is a slight problem in sanding the yellow Bakelite stem in that the sanded areas are lighter than the rest of the stem. Polishing the stem will minimize this but it is definitely lighter. To me a smooth stem is far better than a rough, tooth marked stem so I am willing to live with the slightly lighter stem at that point. I have also found that as the pipe is used the colour eventually blends in.I polished the stem with 1500-12000 grit 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 between each set of three pads. I am pretty sure that it does nothing for the Bakelite but it does give the micromesh pads more bite and add to the quality of the polishing. With the stem polished it was time to twist the cork insert onto the tenon. I have inserted them directly into the shank before but find that this method works easier and keeps the cork from breaking in the process of inserting it.Before I inserted it into the shank I rubbed the cork down with Vaseline Petroleum Jelly to soften the cork and make it easier to slip into the shank. Once the cork was greased I carefully pushed it into the shank.I hand buffed the bowl and stem with Conservator’s Wax and a soft microfibre cloth to polish it and give it a shine. I was able to clean off the grime and leave behind the rich reddish-brown patina on the bowl. I polished the brass band with 6000-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I waxed it as well. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is ready for another long life of enjoyment. It looks and smells great. The polishing of the stem minimised the lightning of the yellow so that it almost is unnoticeable. I am hoping that Steve enjoys his grand dad’s pipe and lets his mind travel to the times he remembers him smoking it. Cheers. Thanks for looking.