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Restoring a Windsor De Luxe 13106 Unique with a Horn Stem

Blog by Steve Laug

When I saw this old horn stem pipe on Ebay UK I immediately put in a bid and I won the pipe. It had a great striated horn stem that had lots of deep colours. The area in behind the button on the top and the bottom of the stem was really damage with large chunks of horn missing. On the underside of the stem there was a dark red stain in the striations of the horn near the button. The stem has a metal push tenon with a twisted stinger apparatus screwed into the end of the tenon. The metal ring between the shank and the stem was attached to the stem. The stem had a faint crown stamped in the horn. The bowl had a thick cake and the rim was heavily covered with lava that flowed over from the bowl. The underside of the bowl had a half-dozen fills in it that were shrunken and filled with white putty. The stamping on the shank said Windsor in a script with a flouring line underneath. Stamped under that was De Luxe. On the underside of the shank next to the stem it was stamped 13106. I have no clue as to the provenance of the pipe – WMTP says that there are several makers in England that made the brand. All have stamping that is slightly different. The finish on the bowl looked to be in decent shape under the grime and build up on the sides of the bowl. (Anyone have any ideas on the maker let me know).

I took close up photos of the stem to give an idea of the damage that I would be working with on this pipe. On both sides of the stem there was serious damage in the form of missing chunks of horn. These chunks were missing in the sharp edge of the button and in the surface of the horn itself. The first and second photos show the top and bottom sides of the stem. In the second photo below there is a dark line at the bottom edge of the stem next to the button – that is the red mark that was in the surface of the horn. The third photo below shows the profile of the stem and clearly shows the missing chunks in the horn.

The close up photo of the rim below shows the overflow of lava on the surface that would need to be removed to assess damage to the bowl and rim. The twisted aluminum stinger apparatus was hefty and at first glance seemed to be stuck in the tenon. I tried to turn it and pull it and it would not budge. I would need to heat it to see if I could loosen the tars that bound it to the tenon.

I decided to work on the stem first. I enjoy working on and repairing horn stems. I find great satisfaction in bringing them back to life and bringing out the rich glow that come from a polished piece of horn. In this case I sanded out the damaged areas with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth the edges of the holes and to clean up the debris. I wiped it down with a cotton pad and alcohol to clean off all the debris. I decided to add a little colour to the horn before filling in the hole so that the darker striation would continue to the button. I used a black permanent marker to colour in a stripe from the place it ended on the undamaged portion back to the button. I filled in the damaged areas on the surface of the stem and on the button with clear super glue. The area on the underside where the red spot was cleaned up a bit but the red bled through. I added multiple coats of the glue to build up the areas. I overfilled them so that I had material to work with in reshaping the button and the stem surface.

Once the glue dried I used a needle file and a coarse sanding stick to recut the edge of the button and clean up the top face of the button. I wanted a clean defined area that matched the undamaged part. I sanded the entire stem, carefully avoiding the area of the stamping with 220 grit sandpaper to blend the repair into the surface of the stem and to shape the button. I heated the metal tenon with a lighter and was able to unscrew the stinger from the end. I worked on the shape of the button and the flow into the button with sandpaper and sanding sticks. The shiny areas in the photo below next to the button are the patches of superglue. Much polishing still remains to be done at this point but the surface is smooth to the touch.

I cleaned up the stinger with 0000 steel wool to remove the tars and tarnish. I cleaned out the inside of the stinger with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol.

I reamed the bowl with the PipNet reamer and took the cake back to bare wood. I wanted to check out the inside of the bowl for damage or cracks. Fortunately it was very clean.

I scrubbed the rim with alcohol and cotton pads to remove the tars. It was very hard so I also used a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad. I was able to get most of the build up off the rim. There was some darkening that I would need to sand with a more aggressive grit of sandpaper. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl down with acetone on cotton pads as well to remove the grime and old finish.With the basic work done on the exterior I cleaned out the shank and the airway in the stem. I also scrubbed out the inside of the bowl with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners.

I put the pipe back together to get a look at how things were coming along. I wanted to see what the repaired stem looked like. In the photos below you can see the new look of the stem from all angles. I am pleased with the overall repair of the stem.

I took the stem off the pipe and worked on it with the 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 pad as I have found when working with horn that the oil gives it a better bite into the material and helps raise the shine.

I lightly buffed the stem with Blue Diamond and then gave it several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a soft flannel buff and then hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth.

With the stem done I turned to the finish on the bowl. I used a dental pick to remove the putty fills from the bottom of the bowl and shank. I wiped the bottom of the bowl down with alcohol and then packed briar dust into the holes where I had removed the putty. Once the dust was packed in I put a drop of clear super glue on top of the dust and then packed it down with the pick. I added more briar dust to top up the fill.

When the patches had dried I sanded them with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the excess material and blend the surface of the patch into the bowl surface. I heated the briar and then stained it with a medium brown aniline stain. I flamed the stain to set it in the briar. I buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond on the wheel and then gave it several coats of carnauba wax to give it a shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth.

I pushed the stem back in place and gave the entire pipe a final coat of wax and then buffed it with a clean flannel buff. I finished by buffing it by hand with the cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a beautiful pipe and the horn just shines. I am looking forward to enjoying it in the days ahead. What would you call this shape? Any ideas?

Thanks for looking.

Breathing New Life into a Yello-Bole Burley Pot

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

In one of the antique malls in Idaho Falls I found a pipe that I had not seen before. I have had Medico Brylon pipes and other pipes from manmade materials but I had not seen one of these before. This pipe was stamped on the left side of the shank with the words Yello-Bole over Burley with a ® trademark symbol. It appeared to be made of the same material as a Medico that I picked up the day my eldest daughter was born – Brylon. I was sure that the Medico and the Yello-Bole were made by the same company. I was not sure but thought it would be worth picking up as I had not seen one of these before. Besides the price was right – I think it was $8 or so. The bowl had a fairly thick cake at the top and some remnants of the last tobacco smoked in the bottom of the bowl. The stem was stuck in the stem and took a little effort to move it as it was inserted upside down. When I got it out of the shank the aluminum tenon was badly oxidized and there was some corrosion on the surface. The shovel scoop stinger that is a hallmark of Yello-Bole pipes was black with tars and it was stuck in the tenon. The pipe had a heavy smell of English tobacco that made me wonder if it had ever met a pipe cleaner.

I took some close up photos of the bowl and the tenon and shovel stinger apparatus when I got the stem off the shank. The first photo shows the thick cake on the inside of the bowl, the remnants of tobacco and the tars on the rim. It takes a long time (from my experience) and lots of smoking to build up a cake like this in a Brylon pipe. The second photo shows the corroded metal tenon as well as the dirty shovel stinger apparatus. The stem also had some tooth marks and a lot of tooth chatter on both sides of the stem at the button. I was able to wiggle the stinger out of the tenon with a little effort the third photo shows the tenon and stinger.

Since I had not heard of the brand before I did some research before I cleaned up the pipe. I found a link to Pipedia that gave a short history of the brand and I found out that Brylon was developed by SM Frank and Company in 1966. It was a combination of resins and briar dust and was a synthetic that was cheaper alternative to briar. It is virtually indestructible and I have read other place that folks used to throw them in the dishwasher to clean them… The one I had certainly had never met this fate and I would not resort to that method in cleaning it. Here is a portion of the quote from Pipedia with a photo of the Brylon pipe. It also gives information regarding the four lines of Brylon that SM Frank sold.“This material was immediately used for Yello-Bole pipes, and millions of these pipes have been sold in the decades since then. They continue to be part of the Yello-Bole and Medico brands. At the moment Yello-Bole offers:
• 4 lines of Brylon pipes: Ebony, Nova, Burley and Standard (Prices $15.95 – $18.95) and
• 4 lines of Briar pipes: Spartan, Pug, Checker and Imperial (Prices $19.95 – $24.95).
The Yello-Bole Burley was billed as a great pipe delivering top-notch Brylon quality for just a few bucks. Featuring a push-bit with an aluminum scoop, this no-nonsense pipe is a great starter, or knock-around pipe. http://pipedia.org/wiki/Yello-Bole

I also found another link that lead on tobaccopipes.com that gave a little more history of the Yello-Bole line. I cite from that article below. http://www.tobaccopipes.com/yello-bole-pipes-history/

Yello Bole Changes Hands -Throughout the 1950s the brand changed hands a few times, finally coming to rest with S.M. Frank & Company in 1955. The brand has been made by this corporation ever since. Brylon, a synthetic pipe material, first began to be used after S.M. Frank took control and is still used today.

Affordable tobacco pipes – Today Yello Bole pipes are made of both Brylon and briar and are made to be an affordable tobacco pipe for the every-man.

Today Yello Bole tobacco pipes come in eight different lines. The Brylon pipes are Ebony, Nova, Burley, Standard and Spartan series. The smoking pipes made from briar wood include Pug, Checker and Imperial lines.

Brylon pipes are generally less expensive than briar wood pipes, generally costing only a little more than a corn cob pipe. All Brylon pipes come with a push bit and scoop. The scoop helps to trap hot flakes of tobacco. It is removable for those who don’t care for this device.

I also found several pictures of the pipe online. The first is one that I include to show the look of the pipe when it was new. The second and third photos show the same model of Burley that I had found. The pipe has a jaunty look to it that catches the eye. The one I have must have been a good smoking pipe as it was heavily used.

I scrubbed the tenon and the stinger with 0000 steel wool to remove the corrosion and grime. It did not take much scrubbing before it was shiny and clean. I cleaned out the inside of the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. There is a rubber grommet inside the end of the tenon that holds the shovel stinger tightly in place. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer using the largest cutting head. I was able to get most of the cake out of the bowl. I also sanded the inside of the bowl to finish removing the buildup. It was fascinating to find some of the Yello-Bole bowl coating underneath the cake on the bottom half of the bowl.

The next photo shows the cleaned and sanded bowl and the cleaned rubber grommet in the end of the tenon. The second photo shows the shovel inserted in the grommet. I scrubbed the exterior of the Brylon with a cotton pad and alcohol to remove the grime and build up on the rim. With the bowl finished I worked on the stem. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper, 400 grit wet dry sandpaper and with a fine grit sanding sponge to minimize the scratches. On both the top and the bottom side I was able to get rid of most of the tooth chatter but there were some deeper tooth dents that would need some more work. I cleaned the surface of the stem with alcohol and then used clear super glue to fill the deeper dents on both surfaces. I resanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper to smooth out the repairs and blend them into the surface of the stem. I sanded it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge. The nylon stems are a pain to work on and it takes a lot of sanding to get rid of the scratches. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit micromesh and paid a lot of extra attention to the repaired areas. I avoided the stamping on the stem so as not to damage that. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and while it was still wet sanded the stem with 3200-4000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I gave it another coat of oil and sanded it with 6000-12000 grit pads.

I buffed the pipe and stem with Red Tripoli very lightly to raise a shine on the stem and then finished buffing it with Blue Diamond plastic polish. I gave the bowl and stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean flannel buff. I finished by hand buffing it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below.

A Mysterious Little Bent Billiard Brought to Life

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug
This is another pipe I picked up at the antique mall in Idaho Falls. It is a bit of a mystery pipe in that the stamping is faint on the left side of the shank. On the right side it is stamped Made in England. On the right side it is missing some of the first letters but is stamped _ ANTE_ over London. Searching through Who Made That Pipe the best option I found for that combination of letters was a CANTERBURY. The brand was made by Comoy’s. There is a very faint C in a Circle on the stem that also matches the CANTERBURY stamping so I think that may well be the stamping on this mystery pipe. The pipe was in pretty rough shape. The previous owner was in the antique mall when I bought it and he walked me through its deficiencies as he saw them. He had wrapped a piece of Teflon tape around the tenon to hold it in the shank. The stem itself had deep bite marks on the top and a large bit through on the underside near the button. The bowl had some fills on the left side and the underside that were quite large. The finish was shot and was dirty with lots of dents and dings. The rim was smooth but had tars and lava overflow. The bowl was heavily caked and the cake was as hard as rock. The inner edge of the rim was slightly damaged and out of round. The outer edge was clean with a small fill on the front of the bowl near the rim.

I took the next photos to give a clear picture of the bite through on the underside of the stem and a close up of the thick cake in the bowl.

I tried to ream the bowl with a PipNet reamer and barely made a dent in it. It was very hard. I decided to let it soak in an alcohol bath to soften the cake. I left it in the bath overnight.

When I took it out of the bath the finish was clean. The briar looked pretty good. The grain was quite nice. The fills softened and were white putty that would need to be removed and refilled.

The softened cake came out easily with the PipNet reamer and then I scraped it further with a pen knife. The next photo shows the cleaned out bowl. I wiped down the rim with a soft cloth to remove the tars. I lightly topped the bowl with a medium and fine grit sanding block to clean up the rim surface. The cleaned up rim looked very good.

I cleaned out the bowl and shank with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I picked out the putty fills with a dental pick. I filled in the holes with briar dust and then covered that with super glue. I added more briar dust to smooth out the repairs.

I sanded the bowl repairs with 220 grit sandpaper and then with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge. I forgot to take photos after sanding the bowl.

I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I cleaned out the bite marks on the top of the stem and the underside with a dental pick, alcohol and cotton swabs. Once they were clean I put some charcoal powder and black superglue on the bite marks on the top of the stem and leveled the repair with the edge of the dental pick. I set it aside to dry. Once the topside repair was cured I put Vaseline on the point of an old nail file that I use to repair bite throughs. I inserted it in the slot on the button. I mixed some black super glue and charcoal powder and filled the hole in the stem with the mixture. I spread it and leveled it with a dental pick. When the repair was finished I set the stem aside to cure once again.

The next morning I sanded the repairs on the top and bottom of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and with a series of sanding sticks to smooth out the surface. The sanding sticks allowed me to get a good angle on the sharp edge of the button. I started with the coarse stick and worked my way up to the fine stick.

I cleaned out the inside of the stem to remove the Vaseline and the dust from sanding using alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I heated the tenon with a lighter and inserted an ice pick in the airway in the tenon to expand the tenon enough to get a good solid fit in the shank. With the stem repair complete and the pipe clean inside and out I decided to do some contrast stain work on the bowl. I stained it with a black aniline dye for the first coat. I wanted to blend in the fills a bit and also highlight the grain. I was aiming for a darker colour in the finished product so this was the first step. I applied the stain and then flamed it. I wiped it off with alcohol on cotton pads to lighten the surface coat while leaving the black in the grain and the fills.

I sanded the bowl with micromesh sanding pads to remove more of the finish and then gave it a top coat of a medium brown stain. I applied it and flamed it before hand buffing it.

The colour of the pipe was still too dark to really make the grain pop so I sanded it with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to further remove some of the dark colour and to also minimize the scratches in the briar. I wiped it down with acetone to lighten it further.

With the finish on the bowl complete I sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded with 3200-12000 grit pads. Between each set of three pads I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian oil. On the last rub down I let it sit until it was absorbed.

I buffed the pipe with Red Tripoli and White Diamond to further lighten the top coat of stain and to polish the stem. I then buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. The finished pipe is shown below.

Cleaning up a Bruyere Garantie Pocket Pipe with a Horn Stem

11 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

This pipe reminds me of the Mokin Pocket Pipe that Anthony restored and wrote about in an earlier blog. When I saw it on eBay I put a bid in and actually won it. The pipe needed a lot of work. From the photo it looked as if it had a thick coat of varnish or some shiny topping. That would need to go. The finish was spotty and appeared to have some flecks of paint on the top and on the skate at the bottom of the bowl. The rim was darkened and hard to tell whether it was burned or just tarry. The bowl was slightly out of round but it also had a cake that would need to be reamed out before addressing the out of round inner wall of the rim.The stamping was clear and distinct and read Bruyere Garantie on the left side of the shank. The stem had a double circle on the left side. The stem also appeared to be horn. There were two deep cuts on the right side of the stem near the button that would need work and with those marks I was sure there were other issues. The first two photos are the ones included in the seller’s description of the pipe on eBay. I had no idea what the other side or bottom of the bowl or stem looked like or if there would be more issues that would need to be addressed.

When the pipe arrived I was both encouraged by what I saw and concerned by several other issues that had not been shown in the photos above. The encouraging thing was that there was no shiny coat of varnish or lacquer on the bowl. All that was present was a very dirty, grimy natural finish that seemed to have a reddish-brown colouring to it. The concerns involved the fills on the underside of the bowl. What had appeared to be paint flecks on the skate at the bottom turned out to be part of the fill on the bottom and a missing piece of briar. The bowl was indeed caked and the cake was crumbling and uneven. Looking at it initially I wondered if there would not be burned spots in the walls of the bowl once the cake was removed. The inner edge of the rim was also more damaged than I had expected from the seller’s photo. The cuts in the stem were dangerously close to the airway but fortunately had not broken through. The fact that the airway was unharmed was a small miracle given the depth of the cuts. The fact that they angled probably save the airway from damage. On the underside of the stem there were also large chips missing from the stem at the shank stem union. It appeared that someone had tried to pry the stem away from the shank rather than twisting it off. There was also tooth chatter on the top and underside of the stem near the button. The button however was clean and sharp as was the slot in the in the end of the button. The stem had some beautiful striations of colour that I had not seen in the photos and I looked forward to seeing if I could bring them out.

I took some close up photos of the damage to the rim and the stem. The first photo below shows the damage to the inner edge of the rim and the crumbling cake in the bowl. Looking closely at the top of the photo and the bottom of the bowl you can see the cause for my concern regarding the potential burn out damage. The second and third photos below show the cuts in the stem and the missing chips. You can see how close the cut closest to the button came to the airway in that photo.

The next photo shows the stamping on the side of the shank and the logo on the stem. It is hard to see but much of the depth of the stamping on the stem is gone so restoring that with new white colouring will not be possible. When I removed the stem the tenon was inset aluminum and there was a stinger apparatus in place. It was a twisted piece that had a slot in the top for the airflow that followed the twist to the airway. It was stuck in the tenon and would need to be loosened before I could properly clean out the airway in the stem. I included some extra photos of the stem to show the cuts and chips from a different angle.

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer. I started with the smallest cutting head and cleaned things up with it first. I then used the second cutting head which was pretty close to the diameter of the bowl. I cut the cake back to nothing so that I could examine the interior walls of the bowl. I was pleasantly surprised to find that once the cake was gone the interior walls of the bowl were solid and there was no burning.

I worked on the out of round bowl with a folded piece of sandpaper to smooth out the damaged areas and bring it back to as close to round as I could get it. I then topped the bowl on my topping board to smooth out the rim and clean up the damage on the surface. I will often do this just to bring the damage on the inner edge of the rim closer to the top so that I can smooth it out further with sandpaper.

I wiped down the bowl with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the grime and the remnants of the finish. There appeared to be some damage to the front of the bowl that I wanted to have a closer look at once the bowl was cleaned up. I wiped down the horn stem with cotton pads and some alcohol to clean up the surface so that I could begin the repairs. I debated on whether to use black super glue or clear super glue for the repairs to the chipped areas but decided to go with the clear hoping that once it dried the colour would come through the repair and blend it into the horn better. I layered the repair to the chipped areas on the underside and the cuts on top side of the stem. I wanted each layer to dry before I added another layer of glue.

After many layers of glue I was disappointed that glue did not cure clear but rather had a cloudy white appearance. The fills on the cut areas dried hard but looked like two white slashes. I was hoping that as I polished the stem these would blend in a bit more. The fills in the chips were a mixed bag. The smaller ones dried perfectly and blended in well. The larger divot was also white. I cleaned that area once again and added a drop of black superglue to the top of the repair to see if I could hide it better.

I sanded the bowl and stem with 220 grit sandpaper and then medium and fine grit sanding sponges to clean up the repairs and the scratches in the briar. I carefully avoided the area of the stamping and the logo so as not to harm them. I also cleaned up the stinger and was able to remove it from the tenon. It was threaded and after cleaning up the joint I was able to unscrew it and clean it and airway of the stem. I wet sanded the bowl and stem with a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad. The striations of colour are beginning to show on the stem and the bowl is looking far better than when I started.

I wiped the stem down with a light wipe of alcohol to remove the sanding dust and then continued to wet sand it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh pads. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil and then dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads. I rubbed it down again with the oil and then finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry.

I buffed the bowl and stem with White Diamond and Blue Diamond on the wheel. I then cave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the stem and the bowl with a microfibre cloth. The first photos below are of the polished stem. You can see the repairs from the cuts. For some reason the glue dried white – even though it is clear. I did a patch on the chip on the underside with black super glue and it does not quite match… ah the frustrations of repairs. This one is staying with me so I will not mind as the stem is now smooth and polished. The cuts and the chips are repaired and are smooth to the touch. The fit of the stem to the shank is good with no missing stem parts.

The final four photos show the finished pipe. The bowl polished up very nicely with just carnauba wax. The polished stem shows the striations that are one of my favourite parts of horn as a stem material. The deep shine is a bonus.

Cleaning up a London Made Charleston Banker

7 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

When I saw this pipe on Ebay I decided to bid on it. I had bought from this English sell a few times in the past and he generally has some great older pipes. He had listed this one as a Criterion London Made pipe. I had looked and found that Criterion was made by Comoy’s. He described it as a 1/8th bent sandblasted prince. To me it is almost a Banker shape. The bowl is quite large and the oval shank ends with a saddle bit. It is 5 inches (12.75cms) long and the bowl height is 1.5 inches (3.75cms). He described it as lightly smoked, and in very good condition and as usual his description was perfect. He said that the markings on the bottom of shank were very faint and read Criterion over London Made. When the pipe arrived I looked at the faint stamping with a lens and a bright light and it actually reads: Charleston in script over block script LONDON MADE. I had not heard of Charleston pipes before so I did a bit of research and found the brand listed in Who Made That Pipe. It was listed as being made by Sydney Charleston Ltd. London, England. The first two photos are the ones provided by the seller on Ebay. When the pipe arrived I took it to the work table and took a few photos of the state of the pipe before I began to work on it. It was in pretty decent shape. The finish was dirty and the rim had dirt on it. The bowl had a cake build up. The stem was oxidized with a few small tooth marks on the top and bottom of the stem near the button. The slot was virtually plugged so I could not get a pipe cleaner through it to clean the inside.

I took the pipe apart and put the bowl in an alcohol bath to soften the hard cake and the stem into an Oxyclean bath to soften the oxidation on the stem. I left them to soak overnight. When I took the bowl out in the morning I scrubbed it with a brass bristle whitewall tire brush to clean out the grooves in the blast on the bowl and the rim. I was able to remove all of the build up and grime from the ridges and grooves.

I wiped out the bowl with a cotton swab and then reamed it with a PipNet reamer to remove the cake. The bath had softened the cake so it came out very easily. I took the stem out of the Oxyclean bath and the oxidation had all come to the surface. It was soft and would be easier to remove. I used a dental pick to clean out the slot and then a pipe cleaner to make sure the edges of the Y were wide open to further clean it. I scrubbed down the bowl and stem with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and gave the bowl a light rub down with olive oil. I took the following photos. There was progress to be seen.

The cleaning and oil seemed to make the stamping more legible. In the photo below you can see the Charleston with a curled line under it and the London Made stamping underneath the line. I cleaned out the bowl, shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was incredibly dirty. I would need to use the retort to really clean it.

I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and worked out the tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. I set up the retort and held the tube over the flame to boil the alcohol through the stem and bowl. I ran three test tubes of alcohol through the pipe before it came out clean. The fourth bowl came through with clear.

I took the cotton ball out of the bowl, wiped out the bowl with a cotton swab and ran pipe cleaners through the stem and shank to remove any moisture and final debris. The pipe smelled fresh and clean and the interior was clear.

I worked on the stem with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge and then wet sanded with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil before dry sanding with 3200-4000 grit pads. I gave it another rub down with oil and then finished sanding with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final rub down of Obsidian Oil and let it dry.

I buffed the pipe with White Diamond and Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I then buffed it with a clean flannel buff and a final hand buff with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is fresh and ready to smoke. I intend to fire up a bowl today!

Thanks for looking.

A Simple Elegance: Cleaning, Restemming and Restoring a Diplomat Billiard

5 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

On my recent Lethbridge trip I found the Diplomat pipe at an Antique Fair. It is a nice sandblast billiard with a dark undercoat and a brown over stain. The bowl was in decent shape. The sandblast was deep and quite beautiful to look at. The nooks and crannies caused in the process made for an interesting feel in the hand as well. The stain had worn off in spots on the sides of the bowl and along the outer edges of the rim. The finish was also generally dull and lifeless. The surface of the rim was dirty with tars and oils. The inner edge was slightly damaged and would need to be worked on. There was a thick cake around the middle of the bowl and light at bottom and on top. The stem was one that somebody had Gerry-rigged to fit. It was smaller in diameter and the tenon was too small. The previous owner had wrapped the tenon with thread and then with aluminum foil and pressed it into the shank. The stem had also been hacked up to repair a damaged button and grooves had been carved on the top and bottom sides of the stem to make it a dental bit.

I took close-up photos of the top of the bowl and the underside of the shank to give a clear picture of the state of the inner edge of the rim and the stamping on the pipe.

The next two photos show the stem that came with the pipe and the “fancy” work that had been down to make it fit the shank and create grooves on the top and underside that would allow the pipe to be held in the mouth behind dentures.

My first task was to go through my stem can and see if I could find a better stem for this pipe. I did not have a tapered stem that would readily fit but I did have a saddle stem that would look good after shaping and fitting it to the shank. I lightly sanded the tenon to get a snug fit in the shank and pushed the new stem home to have a look at the fit. The stem would need to be sanded to bring the diameter at the stem/shank union down to match the shank. I took a few photos to see what the pipe looked like with this new stem.

I used a Dremel with a sanding drum to carefully reduce the diameter of the saddle portion of the stem. I have found that I can roughly shape the stem to fit better and then finish by hand sanding it (photo 1). Once I had the rough shape I sanded it with a coarse emery paper to remove the gouges and scratches left behind by the sanding drum (photo 2). I slipped a plastic washer on the tenon and put the stem back in place. I sanded it with 180 and 220 grit sandpaper to further shape it and remove the scratches (photo 3).

With the basic fit correct and only needing to fine tune it and polish the stem I decided to ream the bowl. I used a PipNet reamer and took the cake back to bare wood.

I cleaned out the inside of the shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. Once it was clean I worked on the inner edge of the rim. I sanded it and reshaped it to make it smooth and round once again using a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper.

I sanded the stem some more with 220 grit sandpaper and flattened the bottom side to match the flat bottom of the shank. The next set of three photos show the fit and shape of the stem at this point.

The button was quite thin and I decided to build it up with black superglue. I also could see a repair that had been done on the stem before I used it so I worked on that to further blend it into the stem surface. When the glue dried I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to feather it into the surface of the rest of the stem and also worked on shaping the button. In the second photo below you can see the end view of the built-up and reshaped button.

I sanded the stem and button with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches and blend in the patches. I then wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and then rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and rubbed it down again with oil. I finished by sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave the stem a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I set it aside until the oil was dry.

I touched up the worn spots on the finish of the bowl with a dark brown stain pen and a black permanent marker and then buffed the bowl and stem with White Diamond on the wheel. I buffed it again with Blue Diamond and then gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax. I polished it with a clean flannel buff and then hand buff with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I like the looks of the saddle stem and the deep sandblast finish. The pipe has an understated elegance about it that I like.

Thanks for looking.

Refreshing a Delicate Comoy’s Made Sunrise Amber Grain Bent Billiard

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

The last pipe that came to me in the Smokers Forum Donation Sale was a beautifully shaped little Sunrise Amber Grain Bent Billiard. The shape and the feel of this little pipe are very delicate. It is almost a bent pencil shank – in fact I am not sure how much thinner it would have to be to actually be called a pencil shank. The pipe is 5.5 inches long, 1.75 inches tall with a small bowl with a chamber diameter of .75 inches. It is stamped Sunrise over Amber Grain on the left side of the shank. On the right it is stamped Vintage Briar and shaped number 13. On the underside of the shank next to the stem junction it is stamped France. The Sunrise line was made by Comoy’s as is identified also by the shape number. As it was made in France it does not have the familiar Com stamp that appears on British made Comoy’s.

This pipe was in decent shape in terms of the exterior finish. There were no dents or dings in the surface of the bowl or shank. The stamping was light on the right side of the shank and the Sunrise stamp was lighter than the Amber Grain stamp. I would have to be careful in the clean up not to damage these already light stamps. The stem was oxidized and there was a small bite through with a crack going toward the button on the underside of the stem.

The rim was in great shape with some light scratching. The inner bevel was still present and darkened but there was no damage to it. The bowl was still in round. There was a rough cake in the bowl that was uneven and would need to be removed. I reamed the bowl with the PipNet reamer to take the cake back to the bare wood.

I cleaned out the shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was amazingly clean. I am guessing that the previous owner cleaned this one up before setting it aside. I cleaned out the bowl and lightly sanded the bevel on the inner edge of the rim to remove the light build-up that was present there. I wiped the bowl down with a cotton pad and some alcohol and then gave it a light coat of olive oil. I buffed it on the buffer to give it a shine. It has some great grain on the bottom of the bowl and the left side. The grain on the front of the bowl and the right side is mixed with a few bald areas. The sides of the shank are full of birdseye grain and the top and bottom are cross grained.

The stem was oxidized and the underside bite through and small crack needed to be addressed.

I picked the debris out of the crack and bite through and examined it with a lens. It was clear that the bite through was very small and that the crack ended at the bite through and went back to the button. The bite through effectively stopped the crack from spreading forward along the stem. I wiped the stem down with acetone on a cotton pad to clean it up. I then spread some black super glue on the crack and bite through with the tip of a dental pick. I set the stem aside to cure for about an hour.

Once the super glue had cured I sanded the repair and the rest of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to both remove the oxidation and to blend the patch into the surface of the stem. I sanded with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge to further remove the scratches and oxidation. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh pads and rubbed stem down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and then buffed it with White Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave it another coat of oil and then sanded with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry.

I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond polish on the wheel and then gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I polished it with a clean flannel buff and then hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Thanks for looking.

A Tale of an Ugly Duckling & His Virtually Invisible Swandom

4 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

All of you are probably familiar with the tale of the ugly duckling. The poor bird hatched from a clutch of duck eggs that came out gangling and very unducklike. His appearance left much to be desired when he walked beside his siblings toward the pond following his “mom’. He was always laughed at and misunderstood. He sat with his head down in shame at how much he did not fit. Each day passed and the down of the ducklings was replaced by feathers. This went on until one day the duckling looked at his reflection in the pond and found that he was not a duck at all but a regal and majestic swan. He had always been a swan inside but the fact of his swandom was not visible to any who beheld him. Instead they saw what they wanted in the misfit duckling and wrote him off as ugly. They never once saw the swan inside until it came out in all of its glory. This tale really captures the pipe that I worked on next.

I have had a really rough older Canadian pipe sitting in the refurb box for a long time now. I have taken it out of the box and looked it over time and again but never took the step of cleaning it up. I have no idea who the maker of this old pipe is but it is a rough piece of wood. I say wood because it is clearly not briar. It is lighter and the grain pattern is quite different from briar. It has a Kaywoodie mortise insert and a Kaywoodie stem that has the stinger clipped off. I don’t know if it came that way or some creative soul made it happen. The wood was roughened and not sanded smooth. It looked as if it was rough shaped with a file or wood rasp and then just smoked. Somewhere along the way someone had put a coat of shiny urethane over the entire pipe. The shine hid none of the flaws but actually accentuated them. It had a significant fissure near the shank bowl joint on the left side that needed attention. The roughened finish had file marks going in every direction. The effect was a mess for a finish. The stem had some cardboard or thread pushed on to the threaded tenon that allowed the stem to line up correctly. I cut off the cardboard or thread washer and the stem was seriously overclocked. The bowl had a cake in it that was crumbly and uneven. The interior edge of the rim was not too badly out of round. The outer edges would need some work to smooth out before I could see if they were in round.

I took some close-up photos of the bowl and the shank to give more of an idea of the kind of finish that the pipe had when I started. You can see the file marks and lines going in every which direction that were left behind in the initial shaping of the pipe. The overall look was very rustic and actually quite ugly. It was truly an ugly pipe. The beautiful Canadian that resided below the ugly exterior was virtually invisible. It would easily been put up there with “folk art” in terms of the rustic and rough finish to the pipe. Yet there was something about that seemed like raw charm that shone through the mess that sat on my table. This evening when I took it out I took more time to sit and look at it for a while before beginning to work on it. The more I looked at it the more I have to tell you that the second thoughts I was having almost caused me to put off working this old timer and just burying it in the box. I really was unsure whether I could do anything with it or that it would even be worth doing the work. I was not convinced that what I had when I was finished would be worth the time and energy that would go into reworking it.

I cleaned off the debris (cardboard or thread) that was on the tenon and then heated the tenon with a lighter to reclock the stem. I heated the metal carefully keeping the flame away from the vulcanite stem. It did not take long before the heat softened the glue that held the tenon in the stem and I was able to turn the stem back into the shank and twist it until it lined up correctly.

I lightly sanded the bowl surface and then stopped to ream it with a PipNet reamer. I decided to take the cake completely out of the bowl so that I could check for cracks in the walls of the bowl.

With the bowl reamed out I turned my attention to the finish on the exterior. I sanded the bowl and shank with emery paper and with 180 grit sandpaper to remove the roughness of the finish and to sand out the file marks. I wanted to sand the bowl and shank smooth to address the generally poor appearance of the pipe. It took quite a bit of sanding to even start to make a difference in the surface of the pipe. I also sanded it with a rough sanding block to smooth out more of the scratches. I filled the flaw at the union of the shank and bowl on the left side with clear super glue and briar dust. I sanded that repair smooth with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surface of the pipe. There was a dark spot on the outer right edge of the rim that did not seem like a burn. I had the appearance of a stain. It was hard and did not affect the shape of the bowl edge so I left it. I lightly topped the bowl to clean up and flatten out the rim surface.

The more I sanded the grain began to come through the smoother finish of the pipe. It was clearly not briar. My guess is that it is Mountain Laurel or Manzanita. Once I get it sanded smooth and get a better look at the grain and colour I will be able to give a better assessment. The good thing was that a nicely shaped Canadian was emerging from the rough cut pipe that I started with. The shape was well executed and once I finished sanding and smoothing things out this alternative wood Canadian would look really good. My initial reticence gave way to curiosity to see what would emerge when the sanding was finished. You can see for yourself in the next set of photos below what is coming out as it is sanded.

I continued sanding with 220 grit sandpaper and worked on the shank bowl junction. There were some deep cuts and file marks there that needed to be addressed. I sanded until the surface was smooth to touch. There were still a lot of scratches in the wood but the surface was getting smoother. I sanded it with a coarse and a medium grit sanding block to flatten out the shank and to smooth out the bowl sides, bottom and rim. I used a black permanent mark to cover the fill and line it up with the grain at that point. Once I sanded it more and blended it into the grain of the shank it would become less visible than it is in the photos below. I sanded more with the sanding blocks and then gave the pipe a light coat of olive oil to see what the grain would look like when I was finished. The wood had a red hue to it and some nice looking grain. There is a lot more sanding that needs to be done at this point but it is progressing.

I have included a few more close-up photos to show the progress of the sanding on the surface of the bowl and shank. There is some nice looking grain coming through in the photos of the bowl sides and shank.

At this point I sanded the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads and the oil to give me some traction while sanding. I find that the oil allows the micromesh to cut more deeply and work more effectively. I sanded with older 1500-2400 grit micromesh pads that I reserve for working with oil sanding. Unfortunately I got into the flow of things and did not take photos of this part of the process.

Once I had finished sanding the bowl to this point I worked on the stem. The same file marks went across and the length of the stem. There were gouges and marks and two deep tooth marks near the crease on both the top and bottom of the stem. The next two photos show the scratches and the tooth marks.

I used an emery board to sand out the scratches and the tooth marks. I was able to remove most of the scratches and gouges with the board and then sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove some of the deeper scratches and blend in the board marks. I also used the topping board to even out the end of the clipped stinger so that it was not rough. The tooth mark on the top needed to be repaired. I cleaned up the sanded area and then filled the remaining tooth mark with clear super glue. When the glue dried I used the emery board and the 220 grit sandpaper to blend in the repair with the surface of the stem. Once the scratches and marks were gone and the patch smoothed into the surface I went on to wet sand the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and then dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads before giving the stem another coat of oil. I finished with 6000-12000 grit pads and then a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I let it dry before taking the pipe to the buffer.

I sanded the bowl and shank down with all of the grits of micromesh sanding pads from 1500-12000 grit. By the time I was finished the scratches were virtually gone. The repair on the shank/bowl junction though showing is smooth to the touch. The ugly duckling had become a swan. The Canadian hidden beneath the file marks and rough finish gave way to the beauty of the alternative wood. The finished pipe was truly a thing of beauty.

I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond Polish on the wheel. I worked it until the remaining scratches disappeared. I gave the bowl and stem several coats of carnauba wax and then buffed the pipe with a soft flannel buff. I finished by hand buffing it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The change in appearance is significant and the feel in the hand is much better. I am still pretty convinced the pipe is Mountain Laurel but could be convinced otherwise if some of you know. Thanks for looking.

Get Me to the Church on Time: Restoring a Longchamp Billiard

8 Replies

Blog by Anthony Cook

I was browsing through Reddit’s /r/PipeTobacco sub-forum when I saw a post from a member looking for someone who could restore an old, leather-wrapped Longchamp pipe. He wanted it in time for his wedding day, which was a couple of weeks away. I could see in the accompanying photos that the pipe had a chip out of the rim and a bite through on the stem, but otherwise it appeared to be in good condition and both the leather and stitching looked solid. So, I contacted him and offered to take care of it.
The pipe arrived at my door a while later. I was happy to see that there were no hidden “gotchas” and the condition of the pipe was pretty much as it had appeared in the photos.

Here are a few photos of the pipe on arrival:

Notice in the image below that the stem has almost no tooth chatter despite the massive bite through. What’s up with that? Weird. The next image shows some detail photos of the stamping and the rim damage on the pipe. The pipe needed to be cleaned up before I tackled any of the damage. This is my “getting to know you” time with the pipes that I work on. I learn a lot about the pipe as I’m cleaning it and I often discover things that I hadn’t noticed previously.

I used a very lightly damp rag to remove the tar and soot from the rim. It came away easily. You can see some light spots on the rim in the photos above. I had been afraid that they were fills (that would be a nightmare), but they turned out to be… something else. Whatever it was, it came off with the rest of the grime and I could see that the rim was in good condition other than the noted chip.

Then, I cleaned out the interior of the stem and stummel with a few cotton swabs, pipe cleaners, a shank brush and some isopropyl alcohol. The pipe was already pretty clean. So, it didn’t take much work. I then gave the pipe a retort just to be sure and another quick scrub to remove anything that the retort had left behind. To prevent any lingering tobacco ghosts, I stuffed cotton balls into the chamber and used a dropper to drip in alcohol until they were saturated. I then sat the stummel aside overnight to let the cotton balls and alcohol do their job. The image below shows a photo of the bowl just after adding the alcohol, another taken about three hours later, and another at about twelve hours (just before I removed the cotton).

Meanwhile, the stem had been soaking in a bath of Oxyclean and warm water. I removed it from the bath and scrubbed it with cubes cut from a Magic Eraser until all of the yellow-brown oxidation was gone and the stem was restored to a satin-black finish. Using needle files, I cleaned up the edges of the bite through hole to remove any loose material and scored the surrounding surface to prep for the patch. Then, I inserted a wedge of thin cardboard wrapped in clear tape through the slot making sure that it completely covered the bottom of the hole. I applied several thin layers of black CA glue over the hole. I allowed each layer to dry and lightly sanded with 220-grit paper between layers to give the next one a good surface to bite into. The patch was ready to be blended in when it was slightly higher than the surrounding surface. I used needle files to carve a sharp transition at the back of the button and sanded back the patch and much of the tooth chatter with 220-grit paper. I followed that with 320-grit and 400-grit paper to further smooth the surface, and then I lightly sanded the entire stem (carefully avoiding the logo impression) with 600-grit paper.

I wanted to repaint the stem logo to give the pipe a more complete look. So, I used a silver leaf paint pen to paint over the logo and fill the impression with paint. Once it was dry, I carefully sanded the paint from the raised surfaces with 1200-grit paper leaving behind only what was left in the impression. Some of the impression had been worn away until it was nearly level with the surrounding surface. So, I had to try to shape those by hand using a printed photo reference of the logo. I lightly sanded the rest of the stem with 1200-grit paper, and then polished with Micro-Mesh pads 1500-grit to 12000-grit. Somehow, I forgot to get a shot of the completed stem, but you can see it in the photos of the finished pipe.

The stem was finished. So, it was time to take care of the stummel. I filled the chip in the rim with briar dust and CA glue, let it dry, and then sanded the patch back with 220-grit paper. It’s just about impossible not to sand away some of the surface surrounding a patch. So, there was a very slight depression in the patched area. To even the rim out, I lightly topped the bowl, first with 220-grit, and then with 320-grit paper. To bring the color back and blend the patch, I applied Fiebing’s dark brown dye to the rim with a cotton swab, flamed it, and sanded the rim with 400-grit and 600-grit paper. Then I stained with medium brown and sanded with 1200-grit. I polished the rim with Micro-Mesh pads 1500-grit through 2400-grit before giving the rim a final buckskin stain, and then polished with the remaining Micro-Mesh grits. Again, I forgot to get photos of any of this. Sometimes, you just get caught up in the work, you know?

All that was left to do to get this pipe ready for the wedding day was to spiffy up the leather a bit. I used a hairdryer set to high heat and low flow to heat the leather and raise the dents. I used my fingers to knead and stretch the leather around the deeper ones to help lift them. Then, I used Fiebing’s buckskin dye to restain the scratches and a small tear on the right side of the bowl. The tear itself was then patched with a bit of leather glue. Finally, I used Fiebing’s 4 Way Care to clean and condition the leather wrapping before burnishing the ends of the leather and edging the seams. The pipe work as finished and it was ready to be sent back for the big day. Here are a few photos of the finished pipe:

Thanks for looking and CONGRATULATIONS, NATE!!!

First in Flight: Refurbishing and Restemming a Falcon #4

8 Replies

Blog by Anthony Cook

I had never smoked a metal pipe before, but I was curious. I liked the idea of interchangeable bowls, especially when dealing with stronger and “ghostlier” blends (I’m looking at you, Lakelands). So, when this Falcon #4 showed up on eBay I put in a low bid that luckily turned out to be the winning one. I knew from the seller’s photos that the pipe was going to need a bit of work to get it into shape, but I was still in for a few surprises.

When it arrived, I could see that the aluminum frame was in good shape. There were several small dents and scratches, but nothing that would affect the smoking qualities of the pipe. The nylon stem (or, “bit” in Falconese), however, must have really suited someone’s taste because had been chewed so badly that it was crushed and the airway was almost completely closed. The larger, pot-shaped bowl was in fair condition with some tar build-up and a few scratches on the rim, but the smaller Dublin/apple-shaped bowl was charred and almost beaten to death around the rim. Luckily, the threads on both bowls were still in good shape and they would screw tightly to the frame.

Here are a few photos of the pipe as it was when it arrived:

The first order of business was to remove the stem, since there was no way that it would work in its condition. Thankfully, Al (upshallfan) offered to send me another one that was in better shape. Removing a Falcon stem is easier said than done though. They’re intended to be a permanent part of the pipe.

I turned to the forums in the hope of finding someone who had done it before and had developed a reliable removal method. I received several suggestions and tried them all with no luck. In desperation, I decided to try to heat the stem in boiling water. I knew from past experience that nylon would blister and burn all too easily when exposed to high heat, but I thought that this method might heat the stem slowly and gently enough to avoid that risk. Surprisingly, it worked like a charm! After about 20 minutes of submerging the stem in boiling water, not only was I able to remove the stem, but the aluminum smoke tube came out as well. That would make cleaning and polishing the frame much easier. After soaking the frame in alcohol for about 30 minutes, I cleaned out the interior. Without a doubt, this was the easiest cleanup job that I have ever done on a pipe. That’s not to say that it wasn’t dirty. This was obviously a well smoked pipe, but the grime came away easily from the nonporous aluminum. It took only three pipe cleaners (two for the airway and another folded one to scrub the cup) and an old toothbrush (for the threads) to completely clean the frame. The bowls were next on my to-do list. I reamed them both back to bare wood so that I could see what I was dealing with, and then I placed them in a jar of isopropyl alcohol to soften the build up on the rim and strip the finish. An hour or so later, I removed them and used a soft cloth to scrub away the remaining finish and grime.

I set up my topping surface to sand out the scratches on the rim of the larger bowl and level the uneven rim of the smaller one. I lightly topped the larger bowl first with 220-grit paper, and then with 320-grit until the scratches were gone. I started to top the smaller on the smaller one, but the condition of the rim was so bad that chunks of it began to fall out as I worked. I could see that was going to be a losing battle and decided that if I couldn’t beat ‘em, I’d join ‘em.

I used a Dremel with a sanding drum to bevel the inner rim of the smaller bowl back as far as the deepest gouge. I was only doing some rough shaping at that point to create the general depth and angle of the bevel. Then, I used 220-grit and 320-grit paper to clean things up and further refine the shape. After that, I lightly sanded the surface of both bowls with 220-grit and 320-grit paper to remove most of the scratches and dings. Once the heavy lifting was complete on the bowl cosmetics, I turned my attention back to the stem. The stem that Al had sent me was in much better shape than the original, but it was still badly chewed. It also wouldn’t pass a cleaner, which seems to be an issue with Falcon pipes in general. They make thinner cleaners specifically for Falcons, but I don’t like the idea of having to buy something else just to overcome a design flaw. So, I decided to try an experiment to see if I couldn’t open up the airway and remove much of the chatter all in one shot.

I had noticed earlier that the boiling water had not only loosened the original stem, but it also appeared to raise the dents to some degree. It wasn’t enough to save it, but I found it surprising all the same since I’d had no luck lifting dents in nylon with heat previously. I thought I’d try it again with the replacement stem. I rigged up a simple suspension mechanism with some string, a hex nut, and a wooden spoon, and then put the stem into a pot of boiling water. After nearly about 40 minutes of being submerged, there was some slight improvement but not enough to make much difference. So, I called an end to the experiment and decided that the method wasn’t worth the effort. I have a suspicion that there was some harm done to the stem with this method however, and I’ll talk more on that later. The constriction in the airway extended about ¼” behind the button. So, I decided to drill the airway out from the slot end. The airway was so tight that I had to start cutting through with a 3/64” bit and work my way up to a 3/32” bit. I tested the draw and it was good, and then I tested with a cleaner and it would pass, but it still needed a bit of force to get through the tight area. The stem wouldn’t take a larger bit, however, and I had to be satisfied with what I had. I finished up the work on the airway by cleaning up the slot and giving it a slight funnel with some sandpaper, needle files, and sanding needles.

In the photo below, you can see one of the drill bits chucked into a Dremel, but I never actually used the motor. That would likely have been a disaster. Instead, I used the Dremel to stabilize the bit while I turned the stem over it. The mechanics of the stem had been addressed and it was time to start working on the cosmetics. I used a course, flat needle file to score the surface of the stem, applied black CA glue to the indentations, and sanded it back with 220-grit paper once it was dry. Then, I began to rebuild the button. I wrapped clear tape around the area behind the button to create a sharp edge and applied more CA to the button to build up the surface. I used 220-grit paper to sand the CA back and start shaping the button after it had completely dried. When the shape was vaguely buttonish, I began to clean the edges and remove more chatter from the stem, first with 320-grit, and then with 400-grit paper. I lightly sanded the entire surface of the stem with 600-grit and 1200-grit paper to smooth it out and remove the seams and molding artifacts from the sides. Then, I polished the stem with Micro-Mesh pads 1500-grit through 12000-grit and used a drop of mineral oil to lubricate the stem between every three grits.

Remember when I mentioned something about the heat of the boiling water doing harm to the stem? This is where that comes into play. I had noticed that the stem felt different under the paper as I was sanding it. The higher the grit, the more noticeable it became. The surface felt normal to the touch, but it kind of grabbed at the sandpaper and pads and gave some resistance as they slid across, almost like it was gummy. It was unlike any nylon stem that I had ever worked with before and I believe that submerging it in boiling water changed the surface in some way. I’m just making a guess, of course, but in the end I wasn’t able to achieve the level of glossy shine that I had with previous nylon stems and I doubt that I’ll be trying the boiling method again. You can see the finished stem in the photo below. The stem was out of the way. So, it was time to get back to the bowls and start wrapping this pipe up. I wanted each bowl to have a slightly different color. So, I used a heat gun to heat the briar and open the grain, and then applied a 3:1 mix of isopropyl alcohol and Fiebing’s dark brown dye to the larger bowl and the same ratio with mahogany dye to the smaller bowl. After hand buffing with a soft cloth and sanding the surface of both bowls with 400-grit and 600-grit paper to remove most of the dye except for what was in the grain, I gave the larger bowl a medium brown stain and the smaller one an oxblood stain using the same ratio of stain to thinner as before. Then, I hand buffed again and sanded each bowl with 1200-grit and gave them both a light Tripoli buff. Both bowls received one final stain; buckskin for the larger one and British tan for the smaller. They were hand buffed again to remove the excess stain, and then polished with Micro-Mesh pads 3200-grit to 12000-grit.

Before reassembling the pipe, I polished the frame with Semichrome polish and buffed the stem and bowls with White Diamond compound on the buffer. I put everything back together (it went easily) and applied several coats of carnauba wax with the buffer. Finally, I applied a bowl coating to both bowls to give them some protection until they could build a little cake. You can see the completed pipe in the photos below.

And here are a couple of shots of the other bowl… I’m still not happy with the stem on this one and I’m sure that I’ll be replacing it sometime in the future when there aren’t other pipes that need attention. For now, though, it serves its purpose well. I’ll admit that I was a little skeptical of the metal pipe concept, but this pipe smokes wonderfully and I can see many more Falcon bowls and a few more metal pipes in my future. Thanks for checking it out!

rebornpipes

reclaiming old and worn estate pipes

Tag Archives: repairing tooth marks

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Cleaning up a Bruyere Garantie Pocket Pipe with a Horn Stem

Cleaning up a London Made Charleston Banker

A Simple Elegance: Cleaning, Restemming and Restoring a Diplomat Billiard

Refreshing a Delicate Comoy’s Made Sunrise Amber Grain Bent Billiard

A Tale of an Ugly Duckling & His Virtually Invisible Swandom

Get Me to the Church on Time: Restoring a Longchamp Billiard

First in Flight: Refurbishing and Restemming a Falcon #4

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