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New Life for Tired Looking Charatan’s Make London England 90 Sandblast Dublin

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe is a beautiful sandblast Dublin shaped pipe. The sandblast is quite rugged and it is a very tactile pipe. I thought this would be another chance to walk you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. Jeff has set up a spread sheet to track where the pipe came from, the date of purchase and what we paid for it so that we know what we have invested in the pipe before we even work on it. This takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. This particular pipe was purchased on 09/18/2020 from a seller in Los Angeles, California, USA. I also want you to understand why we take the photos we do. If you have followed for a while then you will see the familiar pattern of the photos we include both in the before and midstream process of working on a pipe. It is not accidental as the photos have been taken to help me make an assessment of the pipe Jeff sees before he starts his clean up work. The photos of this pipe has some extra photos. We do this to record the condition that the pipe was in when received it and to assess what kind of work will need to be done on. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

The first thing I see is great looking Dublin shaped pipe with a rugged classic Charatan pipe.
The finish is dirty and there is grime and grit ground into nooks and crannies on the sides of the bowl. The blast highlights some interesting grain in the swirls and ridges of the finish.
The rim top has some lava and debris on the top and the inner edge is coated with the thick cake from the bowl. There are some nicks on the outer edge of the bowl. I think cleaning will reveal a real beauty.
The bowl has a thick cake and debris on the walls that hides the walls and the inner edge of the bowl but once it is clean we will know what the bowl and edges really look like. The outer edges look good and there does not appear to be any obvious burn damage to the top or bowl edges.
The vulcanite taper stem is in good condition – dirty, calcified, oxidized and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of button. There is a CP logo left side of the stem that is readable but missing the colour that is usually in it.

Overall my impressions of this pipe is that it is a great looking pipe a very rugged and tactile sandblast around the bowl sides. I think that once cleaned up it will look pretty amazing. The shape looks like it will be comfortable to hold. The photos below confirm the assessment above.Jeff took close up photos so that I could have a clearer picture of the condition of the bowl, rim edges and top. The rim top photos confirm my assessment above. The cake in the bowl is thick with tobacco debris stuck on the walls. The rim top has lava, grime and wear around the top and edges in the sandblast surface. You can also see the condition of the outer edge and the inner edge is in great condition. The bowl seems to be round and other than being in a used condition it is in great shape. The photos of the vulcanite stem surface from various angles confirmed my assessment of its condition. You can see that it is dirty in the first photo below. The stem has some tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside near the button. Instead of telling you what I see in the next photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel I want to hear from you. Tell me what you see? What does the finish look like to you? Are there any visible problems or issues that stand out to you? Are the cracks or scratches in the valleys of the rustication or the high spots? Are there visible fills, flaws or fissures in the briar? Any visible issues on the heel of the bowl? These questions should help you to see what I am looking for when I see these photos. He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is stamped with a cursive L in a circle followed by Charatan’s Make [over] London, England. Next to that is stamped the shape number 90. The stem is faintly stamped with a CP logo on the left side of the taper. What stands out for you in the photos of the stamping on the pipe? What do you look for in the stamping? I know it is dirty but what do you see underneath the grime on the surface of the briar?An added part of pipe restoration for me is to try to gather as much background on a brand and maker as I can find. With Charatan that is an enjoyable web to untangle. There is a lot of information and it can lead to understanding what era a pipe was made in. To try to figure out the era of the Charatan’s pipe I was working on I turned to the Pipephil website, Logos and Stampings (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-charatan.html). There is some really helpful information on each of the lines of Charatan’s Make pipes that entered the market. There was not a sandblast stamped like the one in hand. The site did give a short history of the brand. I quote the portion that is most pertinent.

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

Next I turned to Pipedia to see if I could find more information on the brand and possibly a link to a sandblast finished Dublin (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan) but once again in the general article it was not listed. It did give a little more historical information. I quote the pertinent parts that give information on this particular pipe.In 1950 Herman G. Lane, striving to expand his business in Great Britain, made contacts with the Charatan family. Apparently Lane got a certain influence soon, but it was not until 1955 that Lane Ltd. became the sole distributor for Charatan’s in the United States superseding Wally Frank. This can be documented in a “biography” written for Herman G. Lane titled “Leaves from a Tobaccoman’s Log”.

Thanks to Herman G. Lane’s dedicated labor Charatan became hugely popular in the States. As reported by Ken Barnes in an interview with Rick Newcombe, Reuben Charatan passed away in 1962, and his widow sold the firm to Herman Lane 1 or 2 years after his death.^[1] In the early 1960s Charatan pipes were the first to overstep the $100 Dollar line in US pipe sales. In 1978 Lane’s heirs sold the Charatan company to Dunhill. The Prescot Street factory was closed in March 1982. Thereafter the fame and quality of the make declined.

The pre-Lane period (prior to 1955) and the Lane era pipes (1955 to until sometime between 1979 – 1984) are of primary interest the collector. The Lane era is often quoted as beginning about 1950.

Charatan records are almost non-existent before Lane due to a factory fire, making it difficult to date pre-Lane pipes. Charatan used 4 basic grades prior to 1950: Supreme, Selected, Executive, and Belvedere. After 1950 Herman Lane’s influence began, and the grades started to expand. In 1955 Lane took over sole distributorship of Charatan in the US. In 1957 he introduced the Supreme S. Most of his other introductions were from the 1960s and early 1970s.

From this I am fairly certain I am dealing with a Lane pipe made after 1955. There is also a circle L script mark that is a Lane stampings on the pipe which also supports this.

I continued digging further into the dating of the pipe, but what I had found above was a good start for me. If some of you would like to try your hand at dating it more accurately as to the time period it came out you might want to check out the article on Pipedia on Dating Charatans (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dating_of_Charatans).

I also reread the article on Pipedia by the Italian fellow who contributed some really helpful information on the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan_-_Milan_2014). I quote the section on the Second period: Reuben Charatan 1910 – c. 1962. I have highlighted a portion of the section on the shank in red to point out some more helpful dating information.

– In 1962 Herman Lane took over the business from the Charatan family, although he had already influenced production from the 1950s.

– The pipes were mostly larger than the previous ones and corresponded in size to Dunhill group 5. These are slightly less rare, but still difficult to find.

– Stem: Usually in ebonite, saddle shaped or tapered, bearing a fine “CP” stamp, underbore system (see below) used when necessary.

– Shank: The shape code is stamped on it together with the nomenclature “CHARATAN’S MAKE LONDON ENGLAND” arranged in two lines. From 1955 onward on the models marketed for the USA there is also a serif and circled capital “L” (but not all models bear this) which resembles the pound sterling symbol. The “L” is for Lane, the importer.

From 1958, Lane changed the nomenclature for models marketed for the US to clarify the message: “MADE BY HAND”. In this period the underbore was introduced. Its manufacturing period ranged between 1920 and c.1930. This model was equipped with a duralumin plunger trap fitted in the stem, which served to clean the residue more easily. This particular model bore a special stamp on the stem, and also had its own catalogue…

QUALITY GRADES…The stem did not only display the stamps mentioned above. Another stamp that can help dating is the one referring to the quality of the pipe. Until Herman Lane arrived on the scene there were four quality grades. Starting with the lowest: Belvedere, Executive, Selected, and Supreme. Lane went on to add higher grades from time to time: Supreme S, Supreme S100, S150, S200, S250, S300, Coronation, Royal Achievement, Crown Achievement, and Summa Cum Laude; these last three are extremely rare and almost impossible to find. He also invented other, different grades, even changing the previous pipe classification standards. We will not go into detail here, but it means that if we find an S100 or Coronation the pipe was manufactured following Herman Lane’s acquisition. In particular, the FH mark, or Freehand pipe was commissioned to the famous Danish craftsman, Preben Holm.

Nomenclature

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

Charatan pipes were not well distributed prior to the Lane Era, so very few pre-Lane pipes exist today. Herman Lane greatly grew the brand in the U.S., which caused corresponding growth in Europe.

Generally, when the pipe is stamped with the BLOCK letters “MADE BY HAND” it means the pipe was probably made between 1958 and 1965”

Generally, block letters “MADE BY HAND” and some of the other nomenclature in script (i.e. City of London or Extra Large next to the MADE BY HAND) means the pipe was made sometime between 1965 and the mid 1970s. The total script nomenclature “Made by Hand in City of London” evolved over this period of time, so many pipes had variants, such as Made By Hand in block letters and City of London in script, or some other variation of the terms or stampings.

It is believed the FH was used on Charatan pipes between 1957 and 1967-68. Three different sizes were used. The Charatan Logo (CP) on the pipe bit was changed over the year

Now I knew I was working on Lane pipe which actually means it was between 1955 and 1988 as shown by the stamping.

Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I am sure many of you will shake your head and ask maybe even out loud, “Why is he including this again?” However, please remember that the point of these blogs is not to wow your with the work or make you shake your heads but I want you to know the details of the work we do so you can do your own. Back in 2020 Jeff wrote a blog about his cleaning process. I am including a link to that now so you can see what I mean about his process. Do not skip it! Give it a read (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/01/20/got-a-filthy-estate-pipe-that-you-need-to-clean/). Here is the introduction to that blog and it is very true even to this day.

Several have asked about Jeff’s cleaning regimen as I generally summarize it in the blogs that I post rather than give a detailed procedure. I have had the question asked enough that I asked Jeff to put together this blog so that you can get a clear picture of the process he uses. Like everything else in our hobby, people have different methods they swear by. Some may question the method and that is fine. But it works very well for us and has for many years. Some of his steps may surprise you but I know that when I get the pipes from him for my part of the restoration they are impeccably clean and sanitized. I have come to appreciate the thoroughness of the process he has developed because I really like working on clean pipe!

For the benefit of some of you who may be unfamiliar with some of the products he uses I have included photos of three of the items that Jeff mentions in his list. This will make it easier for recognition. These three are definitely North American Products so you will need to find suitable replacements or order these directly on Amazon. The makeup pads are fairly universal as we were able to pick some up in India when we were with Paresh and his family.

In the blog itself he breaks his process down into two parts – cleaning the stem and cleaning the bowl. Each one has a large number of steps that he methodically does every time. I know because I have watched him do the work and I have seen the pipes after his work on them. He followed this process step by step and when the pipe got to me it was spotlessly clean and ready for my work. The inside of the stem, shank and bowl were clean and to me that is an amazing gift as it means that my work on this end is with a clean pipe! I cannot tell you how much difference that makes for my work.

The first thing I see is great looking Dublin shaped pipe with a rugged classic Charatan pipe. It is clearly stamped and is a shape 90.
The finish is clean and the grime and grit have been removed from the finish on the bowl. The sandblast looks very good as well. There are some great patterns in the sandblast.
The lava, grime and dust on the rim top has been removed and it has revealed that the inner edge is clean and burn free. The outer edge of the bowl is also in good condition. The nicks turn out to be spots where the stain has lightened.
With the thick cake reamed out the walls of the bowl are clean and they look very good with no checking or burn damage to the walls. The inner edge also looks very good with no damage.
The vulcanite stem is in excellent condition – it is clean and has light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of button. The fit of the stem to the shank looks good. The CP logo on the left side of the stem is faint but the stamping is very deep and should hold some whitening very well.

Hopefully the steps above show you both what I look for when I go over the pipe when I bring it to the work table and also what I see when I look at the pipe in my hands. They also clearly spell out a restoration plan in short form. My work is clear and addressing it will be the next steps. I took photos of the whole pipe to give you a picture of what I see when I have it on the table. This is important to me in that it also shows that there was no damage done during the clean up work or the transit of the pipe from Idaho to here in Vancouver. I carefully went over the bowl and rim top to get a sense of what is happening there. In this case once the rim top and edges were cleaned the rim cap and edges showed no damage. There was also no damage to the inner edge of the bowl. The top of the rim is washed out and missing some stain in spots. I also go over the stem carefully. The fit to the shank is snug and the transitions are smooth. There were some light tooth marks and chatter on the surface of the stem and the button. I took photos of the rim top and stem sides to show as best as I can what I see when I look at them. I always check to make sure that the clean up work did not damage the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is in excellent condition and is very clear and readable. The stamping on the stem though washed out is deep and very readable. I love just looking at the lay of the pipe and the proportion of the hand made pipes. I like to remove the stem from the shank to get a sense of what was in the mind of the pipe maker when he crafted the pipe. The photo shows its beauty in flow and shape. I started my work on the clean bowl by addressing the fading of the stain on the rim top. I used a Walnut stain pen to blend it into the colour of the surrounding briar. It looks very good.I rubbed down the bowl and shank with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar. The product works to deep clean the nooks and crannies of finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips and into the rustication with a horse hair shoe brush. I let it sit for 10 minutes then wiped it off with a soft cloth then buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine in the sandblast. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. It is a gorgeous pipe. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the stem surface at the button with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift them all quite well. I sanded out what remained with 220 grit sandpaper and the starting the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I touched up the stamp on the side of the stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I let it dry and then sanded the stem with a worn 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pads. But I find it does two things – first it gives some protection to the stem from oxidation and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection. The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the light scratches in the vulcanite. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I follow up the wax buff with a buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished stem. It really is a nice pipe. The mix of smooth and rusticated finishes around the bowl sides and shank looks great with the rich black and brown stains. The Charatan’s Make Sand Blast 90 Dublin feels great in my hand. It is a well balanced pipe. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.34 ounces/38 grams. It is a beautiful pocket sized pipe that I will soon be adding to the rebornpipes store in the British Pipemakers section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. It should be a great smoking pipe.

Hopefully the style of writing of this blog is helpful to you in some way. In it I wanted to show both what I am looking for and how I move forward in addressing what I see when work on a pipe. Let me know if it is helpful to you. It is probably the most straightforward detailed description of my work process that I have done. As always I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Caminetto 08. R.18 Hand Made Cucciago, Italy Rusticated Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

Once again I want to take you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. Jeff has set up a spread sheet to track where the pipe came from, the date of purchase and what we paid for it so that we know what we have invested in the pipe before we even work on it. This takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. This particular pipe was purchased on 10/20/2022 from an Antique Store in Vancouver, Washington, USA. I also want you to understand why we take the photos we do. If you have followed for a while then you will see the familiar pattern of the photos in the before and midstream process of working on a pipe. It is not accidental as the photos have been taken to help me make an assessment of the pipe Jeff sees before he starts his clean up work. We do this to record the condition that the pipe when received it and assess the work needed to be done. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

The first thing I see is a pipe that has a classic bent Italian Billiard shape.
The finish is dirty and there is grime and grit ground into the rusticated finish. The rustication is very nicely done in a classic Caminetto style.
The rim top has thick lava on both the top and the edges. The cake makes it quite hard to know whether there is any damage to the top or the edges.
The bowl has a thick cake and debris on the walls that hides the walls and edges. The outer edges have some darkening and potential damage on the front smooth portion.
The acrylic stem is in excellent condition – dirty and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of button. The diameter of the stem is off from that of the shank. There is a Caminetto white mustache logo inlaid in the stem top.

Overall my impressions of this pipe is that it is a great looking Bent Billiard with a mix of rustication and smooth finishes that once cleaned up will be another pretty pipe. The photos below confirm the assessment above. Jeff took close up photos so that I could have a clearer picture of the condition of the bowl, rim edges and top. The rim top photos confirm my assessment above. The cake in the bowl is very thick and almost clogging the bowl. The rim top has thick lava, grime and debris covering it. The inner and outer edges are hard to assess at this time. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. It is unclear if there is any burn damage at this point. I look forward to viewing it in person after the clean up work. The photos of the acrylic stem surface from various angles confirm my assessment of its condition. You can see the dirty/sticky substance on the stem in the first photo below. The stem is quite dirty but the fit of the stem to the shank is good. The white mustache logo on the top is in good condition. Instead of telling you what I see in the next photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel I want to hear from you. Tell me what you see? What does the finish look like to you? Are there any visible problems or issues that stand out to you? Are the cracks or scratches in the valleys of the rustication or the high spots? Are there visible flaws or fissures in the briar? How random does the deep rustication look? Is there a pattern to it? Any visible issues on the heel of the bowl? These questions should help you to see what I am looking for when I see these photos. He took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The underside reads “Caminetto” [over] 08.R.18. That is followed by Hand Made [over] Cucciago – Italy. The acrylic stem has an inset white mustache. What stands out for you in the photos of the stamping? What do you look for in the stamping? It is dirty but what do you see underneath the grime on the surface of the briar? If you have been following the blog for any length of time you have come to know that when I am working on interesting old pipes (even sometimes those not so interesting) I like to know a bit about the background of the brand. I like to “meet” the carver to get a feel for their work and style.

I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c1.html) to see what I could find. I did a screen capture of the entry there and have included the side bar information below then the photo. It reads

Brand created in 1968 by Giuseppe Ascorti († 1984), Luigi Radice and Gianni Davoli as distributor.

- 1979 : End of the first Caminetto period. Luigi Radice left the company. Giuseppe Ascorti produced the Sergio pipes (a short time) and moved into his new workshop with his son Roberto. (See also Capitello)
- 1986 : New Caminetto period by Roberto Ascorti

From the information there I am fairly certain that the pipe was made after 1986 when the New Caminetto period began by Roberto Ascorti. The pipe is probably crafted by Ascorti.

From there I turned to Pipedia for more detailed information about the Caminetto brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Caminetto). I quote below:

Caminetto’s history started in 1959 when Guiseppe Ascorti, from Cucciago, and known to his friends as “Peppino”, was hired by Carlo Scotti to work at Castello, located in nearby Cantu. Since it’s foundation in 1947 Castello had contributed substantially to regained glory for Italian pipemaking.

Talent and assiduity soon made Ascorti one of Scotti’s most notable pipemakers – a man he counted on for the future. But, Ascorti had his own far reaching plan: He wanted to work as a self-employed pipemaker! After his wife, Paola, had taken over her parent’s small greengrocery in the early 1960’s this plan became more concrete. The additional income from the shop enabled him to buy tools and machines little by little to furnish his own workshop. By the end of 1968 he was ready and left Castello. Ascorti also persuaded his co-worker, the young and highly-talented pipemaker Luigi Radice (born 1939), to join him – the two were neighbors in Cucciago. Carlo Scotti, whom is known as a perfect gentleman, is reported to have spoken unreservedly about this development.

Ascorti & Radice started to manufacture pipes on their own. One of the first who agreed to market their pipes was Gianni Davoli, proprietor of a tobacco shop in Milan. The situation was perfect–two pipemakers in search of a distributor, and a pipe merchant in search of a mainstay brand to market. Davoli – via friends and relations in the States – had made flourishing contacts with US pipe wholesalers and traders. He shipped some pipes across the pond for inspection and received excellent feedback for the very high quality of the pipes. He, shortly after, offered to be the sole distributor worldwide, and Ascorti & Radice happily accepted.

Then came the legendary evening when Ascorti, Radice and Davoli gathered around the fireplace after a hard day’s work enjoying their pipes, a glass of wine, and humorous conversation. Davoli is said to be the one who associated the pipes with the fireplace or chimney, which is “camino” in Italian. Hence “Caminetto”, the diminutive (smaller) singular version of camino, was coined as the brand’s name. Ascorti, Radice and Davoli later became famous as “I tre Camini” – the three chimneys. Maybe, they had more than one glass of wine each, but it’s not certain whether the distinctive mustache logo on the stem and the Caminetto slogan “La Pipa del Baffo” – “the pipe with the mustache” – was created the same night. In fact, Ascorti and Radice both wore impressively large mustaches, and a pharmacist in the neighborhood had been kidding them about that. (Davoli, for reasons of corporate identity, later wore a big mustache, too.)

Now, Davoli concentrated on marketing the Caminetto brand in the United States. His strategy was as simple as it was brilliant. There was a remarkable Castello hype at the time. Castello pipes were highly sought after but hard to get due to limited production. Davoli filled the gap, promoting the Caminetto to be absolutely equal to the Castello in terms of quality, while asking only half the price. And best of all: the Caminetto pipes were consignable! The Tinder Box International would be under contract with successful nationwide distribution. The brand’s success was overwhelming – far beyond any expectation, with the rusticated Business line becoming the most popular.

Ironically enough, the increasing demand soon drove Ascorti and Radice to the limits of their production abilities. The brand had been introduced successfully in Germany, and in Italy to some extent. By the end of 1970 more hands were needed. Even Ascorti’s elder son, Roberto Ascorti (born 1958; and the current owner) helped with stamping and shipping the pipes when he was just a schoolboy. The most important employee is Cesare Vigano, who has worked for Caminetto /Ascorti for more than thirty years. To bring about more stability and higher production, Davoli invested a considerable amount of money in modern pipemaking machinery, and in doing so went from distributor to co-owner of Caminetto. By 1973 he held the vast majority of the company’s capital.

The boom continued strongly – especially in the US. Production increased steadily, from 3,000 to 5,000 and then 7,000 pipes being made per year, placing Caminetto at the top of US sales in their market segment. The 1974 Tinder Box catalog celebrated Gianni Davoli as “master pipe maker and designer” and “sole creator of Caminetto” without a single mention of Ascorti or Radice!

Dating Caminetto pipes is very difficult. However the way the pipe is stamped can narrow it down some and the look of the mustache logo also helps. Pipedia has a helpful article on the process (https://pipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_Caminetto_(shapes,_stamping,_articles,_etc.). I quote from it below.

First off, dating earlier Caminetto’s is nearly impossible. Nevertheless, there were three phases, some in which were much earlier, of development that occurred in the stamping process of Caminetto. Before that though, every pipe had the stamp of Caminetto in one of two ways: Caminetto in script or Caminetto within quotation marks in block letters (I do not know how it was decided which pipe got which stamp, as I have had EARLY Caminetto’s with both). The stampings:

- 1. ASCORTI

RADICE

CUCCIAGO

CANTU-ITALY

- 1. HAND MADE IN ITALY

CUCCIAGO (Co)

- 1. MADE IN ITALY

CUCCIAGO (CANTU)

In addition to the above stampings, there was always the trademark mustache on the stem. The earlier models (1968/69-1974/75) had the iconic gold, sometimes white, “bird-in-flight” mustache and the later models (1975-1979/80/81) had a gold, or white, “double comma” mustache. Tinder Box often stamped their shield on the pipes as well. Now I wanted to understand the stamping 08.R.18. How was that to be interpreted. The same article above gave the following information on the stamping.

The newer model Caminetto stampings are quite different and easy to date. Roberto upgraded the stamping technique of Caminetto so that it was possible to figure out when the pipe was made. There are two different types of stamps, one in which is not in use anymore. The first is the traditional “Caminetto” stamp in script, followed by a 4 part grid with numbers. The second is a 3 part stamp (two numbers and one letter, which is most of the time an “L”)

The first number in the old stamp of the grid refers to the shape of the pipe. The second number, which is the first in the stamp most are familiar with refers to the grade or of the pipe:

0 standard smooth (red or orange stained)
1 highest grade natural straight-grain smooth (realllllly rare)
2 smooth natural.
6 sandblast
7 New Dear
8 Business finish.

The third number in the old grid stamp is the series.

And the fourth number, which is the third in the newer stampings, refers to the year it was made in. For instance, if one has a 54/6/2/01, they would have a pipe made in the first year of production of the newer Caminetto line (i.e. 1985-86). I include the 85 because some hold that Ascorti was making Caminetto’s in 1985, but the majority of who I have talked to and the information I have researched claim official production and retail sale did not begin until 1986.

The second part of the newer stamp is a letter, usually L, which I have no idea what it stands for, but there are others I have seen “B” on. In short, the old stamp has a 2×2 grid specifying the shape, finish, series, and year (in that order), while the newer stamp only shows the finish, the letter ‘L’, and the year.

With that information I knew that the 08.R.18 gave me quite a bit of information. It is to be read as follows:

08 – the grade or the finish of the pipe in hand is a Business Finish.

R – unclear what it stands for.

18 – is the year of manufacture which I believe would make this one 2018

Now it was time to work on the pipe.

- 1. The first thing I see is a pipe that has a classic bent Italian Billiard shape.
  2. The finish is clean and the grime and grit have been removed from the finish on the bowl. The rustication looks very good as well.
  3. The thick lava, grime and dust on the rim top has been removed and it has revealed that the inner edge is damaged and has some burn marks. The outer edge of the bowl is also in good condition other than the burn damage on the front smooth ring on the outer edge of the bowl
  4. The walls of the bowl are clean and they look very good with no checking or burn damage to the walls.
  5. The acrylic stem is in excellent condition – dirty and has light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of button. The diameter of the stem is off from that of the shank on both sides and will need to be adjusted for a decent fit. There is a Caminetto white mustache logo inlaid in the stem top.

Hopefully the steps above show you both what I look for when I go over the pipe when I bring it to the work table and also what I see when I look at the pipe in my hands. They also clearly spell out a restoration plan in short form. My work is clear and addressing it will be the next steps. I took photos of the whole pipe to give you a picture of what I see when I have it on the table. This is important to me in that it also shows that there was no damage done during the clean up work or the transit of the pipe from Idaho to here in Vancouver. I carefully went over the bowl and rim top to get a sense of what is happening there. In this case once the rim top and edges were cleaned the top and edges showed a lot of damage on the top, inner and outer edge of the bowl. There was burn damage all around the inner edge, on the top at the back and front as well as on the outer edge of the bowl at the front. I also go over the stem carefully. The stem had some minor issues as noted. The fit to the shank is noted in the photo below circled in red with arrows pointing out the issues. There were some light tooth marks and chatter on the surface of the stem and the button. I took photos of the rim top and stem sides to show as best as I can what I see when I look at them. I always check to make sure that the clean up work did not damage the stamping on the shank sides in any way. It is in excellent condition and is very clear and readable. You can also see the misfit stem in the first photo. I love just looking at the lay of the pipe and the proportion of the hand made pipes. I like to remove the stem from the shank to get a sense of what was in the mind of the pipe maker when he crafted the pipe. The photo shows its beauty in flow and shape.Now it was time to start working on the pipe. I decided to address the fit of the stem to the shank first. I sanded the shank and stem on the right side until the transition was very smooth. You will notice in the photos of the top and the right side of the pipe that the shank has been sanded and will need to be restained. On the left side I sanded the stem to remove the excess acrylic and make the transition smooth. You will note in the photos that the surface of the stem shows the sanding on the acrylic. Once finished the fit was perfect and the transition was smooth. Once the transition was smooth I took photos of the stem/shank transition. It is very smooth and there is no longer a lip on either the stem or the shank.I polished the sanded briar with micromesh sanding pads and then restained the portion with an Oak Stain Pen to match the rest of the bowl and the shank. With that portion finished I turned to address the darkening on the rim top and edges I started by topping the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper on a topping board. I need to remove the darkening to be able to see the damage. The damage is very evident on the top of the bowl and the inner edge on the right front. To deal with the rim damage on the top and the inner edge I used a wooden ball and a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge a slight bevel and remove the damage. Now I was getting somewhere. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to fine tune the shape. I topped it once again with 220 grit paper. I am happy with the end result. I stained the rim top with a oak stain pen to match the rest of the bowl and shank colour. It as a little dark but once it was polished and waxed it would be a perfect match.I polished the smooth portions of the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I choose to dry sand the briar rather than wet sand it. Again it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer to use the pads dry and find they work very well on the briar. I sand with each pad (9 in total) and group them by threes for ease of reference. I wipe the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and check the briar. I love seeing the developing shine on the briar as I move through the pads which is why I include so many photos of this step. After polishing it with the micromesh pads I rubbed it down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar and the plateau. The product works to deep clean the nooks and crannies of finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips and into the rustication with a horse hair shoe brush. I let it sit for 10 minutes then wiped it off with a soft cloth then buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine in the briar and the grain shone through. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. It is a gorgeous pipe. I set the bowl aside and turn to work on the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pads. But I find it does two things – first it gives some protection to the stem from oxidation and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection. The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the light scratches in the acrylic. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I follow up the wax buff with a buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished stem. It really is a nice pipe. The mix of smooth and rusticated finishes around the bowl sides and shank looks great with the rich black and brown stains. The Caminetto 08.R.18 Bent Billiard feels great in my hand. It is a well balanced pipe. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.73 ounces/49 grams. It is a beautiful pocket sized pipe that I will soon be adding to the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipemakers section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. It should be a great smoking pipe.

Resurrecting a Karl Erik Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

Once again I want to take you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. Jeff has set up a spread sheet to track where the pipe came from, the date of purchase and what we paid for it so that we know what we have invested in the pipe before we even work on it. This takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. This particular pipe was purchased on 12/27/2021 from a seller in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. I also want you to understand why we take the photos we do. If you have followed for a while then you will see the familiar pattern of the photos we include both in the before and midstream process of working on a pipe. It is not accidental or chance as the photos have been taken to help me make an assessment of the pipe Jeff sees before he starts his clean up work. We do this to record the condition that the pipe was in when received it and to assess what kind of work will need to be done on. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

The first thing I see is a classic Danish take on a Pot shaped pipe that had been well used. It was obviously someone’s favourite pipe if the cake in the bowl is any indication.
The finish is dirty and there is grime and grit ground into the finish. Underneath the grime it looks like the bowl and shank have some amazing grain.
The rim top has a heavy coat of lava that flowed from the cake in the bowl. It was thick and it was impossible to know what the edges of the bowl – both inner and out. I am hoping that the thick lava had protected the top and edges from burn damage.
The bowl has a very thick cake and debris on the walls that hides the walls. The outer edges look good and there does not appear to be any obvious burn damage to outer bowl edges.
The acrylic stem is in excellent condition – dirty, scratched and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of button. There were deeper tooth marks on the underside. There was a worn and partial KE logo on top of the blade portion of the saddle stem.

Overall my impressions of this pipe is that it is a great looking Danish style pot shaped pipe with some beautiful grain hidden under the grime that once cleaned up will be another pretty pipe. The photos below confirm the assessment above. Jeff took close up photos so that I could have a clearer picture of the condition of the bowl, rim edges and top. The rim top photos confirm my assessment above. The cake in the bowl is thick with tobacco debris stuck on the walls. The rim top has heavy lava, grime and debris covering it. The inner and outer edges are so covered it is hard to know what is under them. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. It is unclear if there is any burn damage at this point. I look forward to viewing it in person after the clean up work. The photos of the acrylic stem surface from various angles confirm my assessment of its condition. You can see the grime on the stem in the first photo below. The stem is quite dirty and a bit of a mess. The fit of the stem to the shank is good. There is a partial logo on the top visible in the photo. Instead of telling you what I see in the next photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel I want to hear from you. Tell me what you see? What does the finish look like to you? Are there any visible problems or issues that stand out to you? Are the cracks or scratches in the valleys of the rustication or the high spots? Are there visible flaws or fissures in the briar? How random does the deep rustication look? Is there a pattern to it? Any visible issues on the heel of the bowl? These questions should help you to see what I am looking for when I see these photos. (One note is that there appears to be burn damage on the front outer edge of the bowl shown in the second photo below.) He took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The underside reads Karl Erik in an oval (Karl [over] Erik. Following the length of the shank it is stamped Made In Denmark. What stands out for you in the photos of the stamping? What do you look for in the stamping? It is dirty but what do you see underneath the grime on the surface of the briar? If you have been following the blog for any length of time you have come to know that when I am working on interesting old pipes (even sometimes those not so interesting) I like to know a bit about the background of the brand. I like to “meet” the carver to get a feel for their work and style.

I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-k1.html) to see what I could find. I did a screen capture of the entry there and have included the side bar information below the photo. Brand created in 1965-66 by Karl Erik Ottendahl (1942 – 2004 †). In the best years he employed up to 15 craftsmen among which Bent Nielsen (see Benner) and Peder Christian Jeppesen. Former grading (ascending): from 4 to 1, and “Ekstravagant” (entirely hand made)

I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Erik) and reread the history of the brand. Give the article a read.

Now it was time to work on the pipe.

The first thing I see is a classic Danish take on a Pot shaped pipe that cleaned up pretty well. There was damage that I will note in the numbers below but it was a nicely shaped pipe.
The finish is clean and the grime and grit have been removed from the finish on the bowl. The grain is quite amazing looking.
The lava, grime and dust on the rim top has been removed and it has revealed that there is some burn damage on the front outer, top and inner edge. There was some burn damage around the inner edge of the bowl as well
The walls of the bowl are clean and there are some ridges in the walls of the bowl from someone reaming it with a knife.
The acrylic stem is clean and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides. The marks on the underside of the stem are deeper than on the topside. The logo is partially visible but worn. The fit to the shank is well done with no damage.

Hopefully the steps above show you both what I look for when I go over the pipe when I bring it to the work table and also what I see when I look at the pipe in my hands. They also clearly spell out a restoration plan in short form. My work is clear and addressing it will be the next steps. I took photos of the whole pipe to give you a picture of what I see when I have it on the table. This is important to me in that it also shows that there was no damage done during the clean up work or the transit of the pipe from Idaho to here in Vancouver. I carefully went over the bowl and rim top to get a sense of what is happening there. In this case once the rim top and edges were cleaned the top and edges showed lots of burn damage on the top front right and middle as well as around the inner edge of the bowl. There was also some damage on the front outer edge of the bowl. I also go over the stem carefully. The stem had some issues as noted. There were some deep tooth marks on the underside and lighter on the topside. I took photos of the rim top and stem sides to show as best as I can what I see when I look at them. I always check to make sure that the clean up work did not damage the stamping on the shank sides in any way. It is in excellent condition and is very clear and readable. I love just looking at the lay of the pipe and the proportion of the hand made pipes. I like to remove the stem from the shank to get a sense of what was in the mind of the pipe maker when he crafted the pipe. The photo shows its beauty in flow and shape. Now it was time to start working on the pipe. To address the darkening on the rim top and edges I started by topping the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper on a topping board. I need to remove the darkening to be able to see the damage. The damage is very evident on the top of the bowl and the inner edge on the right front. To deal with the rim damage on the top and the inner edge I used a wooden ball and a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge a slight bevel and remove the damage. Now I was getting somewhere. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to fine tune the shape. I topped it once again with 220 grit paper. I am happy with the end result. I wiped the bowl down with some acetone to remove the darkening in the stain around the bowl. I wanted to even out the stain coat and the look of brown on the bowl and rim. I could not remove much more of the damage on the front and sides of the bowl without changing the profile of the pipe. I stained the rim top with a walnut stain pen to match the rest of the bowl and shank colour. It was a little dark but once it was polished and waxed it would be a perfect match.I polished the bowl and rim with a medium and fine sanding sponge to blend the finish together and smooth out the briar. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I choose to dry sand the briar rather than wet sand it. Again it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer to use the pads dry and find they work very well on the briar. I sand with each pad (9 in total) and group them by threes for ease of reference. I wipe the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and check the briar. I love seeing the developing shine on the briar as I move through the pads which is why I include so many photos of this step. After polishing it with the micromesh pads I rubbed it down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar and the plateau. The product works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit for 10 minutes then wiped it off with a soft cloth then buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine in the briar and the grain shone through. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. It is a gorgeous pipe. I set the bowl aside and turn to work on the stem. I filled in the deep tooth marks on both sides of the stem with black CA glue. I used a small file to flatten the repaired area. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface. I started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I continued polishing the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pads. But I find it does two things – first it gives some protection to the stem from oxidation and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the acrylic. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection. The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the light scratches in the briar and the acrylic. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I follow up the wax buff with a buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished stem. It really is a nice pipe. The polished finish around the bowl sides and shank looks great with the rich brown stains. The Karl Erik Made in Denmark Danish Pot feels great in my hand. It is a well balanced pipe. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inch, Chamber diameter: 7\8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.19 ounces/62 grams. It is a beautiful pipe that functions as a sitter due to the wide heel on the bowl. I will soon be adding to the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipemakers section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. It should be a great smoking pipe.

Restemming and Restoring a Stanwell Danish Star 64 Freehand Dublin

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is the last of the five pipes that the Vancouver pipe man dropped off for me to work on for him. It was stamped Stanwell Danish Star and had a great flame and straight grain around the bowl and shank with plateau finish on the rim top. It is a Bent Dublin that was finished in a brown stain. It needed restoration on the bowl which was moderately caked and the shank was dirty. It also needed new stem as the current push stem was chewed and broken at the button. It was another pipe that I had restored back in 2016 and he had purchased at that time. I had done a complete restoration and removed the thick cake at that point. The stem had a small hole in the top that was about half the size it is now. The repair worked for at least 6-7 years so I am pleased with that. It is obviously another of his favourites as it is well used. The stem on it was original so I kept it and repaired it the first time. Here is the link to restoration (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/11/30/a-stanwell-danish-star-64/). Here are some photos of the pipe when he picked it up in 2016 to give a bit for context for my latest work. When I took the pipe out of the bag of pipes to work on this afternoon, this is what I saw. The finish on the briar looked very good. It was dirty but the colour had stayed true. It had a bit of patina on the bowl but it was beautiful. The bowl had a moderate cake and the airway in the shank was dirty. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had a large chunk of vulcanite missing on the topside. I took photos of the rim top and stem to show their condition. You can see the moderate cake in the bowl how it looked. The plateau rim top had some lava in the grooves of the finish and some build up around the inside edge of the rim. It will clean up pretty well. The photos of the stem show the condition of the stem. You can see the tooth marks and the large hole on the top of the stem surface. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping on the left side of the shank reads Stanwell [over] Danish Star. On the right side it is stamped with the shape number 64. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Made in Denmark. There was a Crown S stamp on the left side of the saddle I removed the stem from the shank to give a sense of the flow of the pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. I started my work on the pipe by cleaning and reaming the bowl The cake was quite thick but it can hold residual oils from previous tobaccos and I wanted to check the bowl walls for burn damage or checking. I reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer to cut cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the remnants of the cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife. I sanded the walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I worked on them until they were smooth. There was no checking or burn damage to the bowl walls. It was quite clean. I cleaned out the internals with 99% isopropyl alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I worked over the shank and the airway in the new stem. It took some work but once finished it was clean and smelled fresh. I used a brass bristle wire brush to clean up the plateau and knock off the lava and debris from the grooves and high spots on the rim top. It looked much better.I scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush to remove the oils and grime from the finish. I rinsed the bowl with warm water to rinse off the soap and grime. I dried it off with a soft cloth. I stained the plateau rim top with a Black stain pen. I stained the entire rim top in the valleys and in the plateau. I knock of the stain on the high spots sanding and polishing process I sand off the high spots.I polished the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I sanded the stain off the high spots on the plateau rim top. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It took on a real shine by the time I finished with the last sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the smooth bowl and the plateau rim top. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. I used a horse hair shoe brush to work it into the crevices and the valleys of the plateau. Once the bowl was covered with the balm I let it sit for about 15 minutes and buffed it off with a soft cotton cloth and the shoe brush. I polished it with a microfiber cloth. I took photos of the pipe at this point in the process to show what the bowl looked like at this point. Now it was time to deal with the replacement stem. I went through my can of stems and found a bent saddle vulcanite stem that was a close fit. It was more bent than the original but with a little straightening it would be perfect. I would also need to remove a little of the diameter of the tenon to get a snug fit in the shank. I put it in the shank as far as it would go before I fitted it correctly but you can see what the pipe will look like with the new stem. It is going to work very well. To correct the bend in the stem to match the rim top I “painted” it with the flame of a Bic lighter until the vulcanite was flexible. I bent it to the angle of the shank and rim top until I had the right look I was waiting for. It looked good.I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to reduce the diameter of the stem and flatten the bottom of the saddle portion to match the shank. I also sanded out the casting marks on the new stem and also the scratches in the vulcanite at the same time. I started polishing the stem with 600 grit wet dry sand paper. I used micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine Polish. I finished the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection from oxidizing quickly. I took the finished Stanwell Danish Star 64 Freehand Dublin bowl to wax and polish. I don’t buff the plateau rim top on the wheel as it leaves a lot of grit in the deep grooves of the finish. I polished the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the scratches in the briar and vulcanite. I buffed it and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect and give it a shine. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The contrast of the dark stain on the briar revealing the grain with the shine of the polished vulcanite saddle stem is quite stunning. The rich finish around the bowl and shank is quite remarkable and the plateau rim top gives the pipe an incredible tactile presence. The Stanwell Danish Star 64 is a nice looking pipe and one that will be a great smoking pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below with each of the stems. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the large pipe is a light and comfortable 56 grams/1.98 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and the last of the five pipes left with me for work. They are finished and ready for him to pick them up and enjoy once more. As always I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restemming a Radford Ravel Rhodesian

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is another that the Vancouver pipe man dropped off for me to work on for him. It was stamped Radford Ravel and had a mixed finish of smooth top and sandblasted shank and bottom part of the bowl. It is a Rhodesian and the cap is smooth and the rest is a light sandblast. It was finished in a brown stain. It needed restoration on the bowl which was heavily caked and the shank was almost clogged. It also needed some work on the fit of the stem to shank. It was a pipe that I had previously repaired for him back in 2017. At that point it needed banding and repair on a cracked shank. It had a thick cake at that point as well and was well used. Here is the link to that restoration (https://rebornpipes.com/2017/03/19/banding-and-restoring-a-radford-ravel-rhodesian/).The stem had a brass washer on the tenon and glued against the shank. When I received the pipe back from him the stem did not fit tightly. There were tooth marks, tooth chatter and a lot of oxidation on the stem. Here are some photos of the pipe when he picked it up in 2017 to give a bit for context for my work. When I took the pipe out of the bag to work on it last evening this is what I saw. The finish on the briar looked very good. It was dirty but the colour had stayed true. It had a bit of patina on the bowl but it was beautiful. The shank band was damaged along the edge where it had been bent and dented. The stem was very loose in the shank and the brass spacer on the stem was very loose. The bowl had a very thick cake and the airway in the shank was almost clogged with tars and oils. I would need to be cleaned up before I worked on tightening the fit in the shank. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took photos of the rim top and the thick cake in the bowl to show how it looked. There was also tobacco debris on the walls. The rim top had some darkening and there were nicks around the inner edge of the bowl. It will clean up pretty well. The photos of the stem show the condition of the stem. You can see the tooth marks and chatter under the calcification on the stem surface.I took a photo of the band and how much of the stamping it covered on the shank. You can also see the damage to the band between the shank and the stem. You can see the poor fit of the stem to the shank. I took the stem off the shank and photographed the look of the pipe as a whole. It is a nice looking Rhodesian that has a definite Chacom look to it. I went back and reread the previous restoration blog that I written on the restoration the previous time I had worked on the pipe. I also was very interested to read the back story and history on the brand. I quote from the blog below.

There was something about the brand on the pipe that rang a bell for me. I have a tin of their Sunday’s Fantasy Tobacco in my cellar and I wondered if they might have made pipes as well.

I did a bit of digging and found the picture on the left that showed some of the tobaccos made by the company and also a great figurine with the name Thomas Radford mild premium pipe tobacco on the base. On Pipedia I found that Radford’s Private Label Pipes were crafted by Chacom for the Pöschl Tabak GmbH & Co. in Germany. This information was from “Pipes, Artisans and Trademarks”, by José Manuel Lopes. The pipes were mass produced with ebonite and acrylic stems and were introduced by Butz-Choquin, Chacom, and Nording. On the stem there is generally an embossed logo that was a stylized R. The pipes were made to use 9mm filters and are moderately priced and very attractive. The following three links were the sources I used for this information.

https://pipedia.org/wiki/Radford%27s

http://www.poeschl-tobacco.com/en/products/

http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-r1.html

I also looked on another website (http://cigar.supersmokers.biz/radfords/) and got a little more information on the brand.

The Radford’s pipe appears in 6 models in 3 variations 1x time a year in autumn. The so called Radford’s Depot contains a minimum of 1 dozen pipes of the actual running collection. Connected to the Depot is a listing of the Depot holder in Radford’s News.

This particular brand RADFORD’S SERIE RAVEL was a series of 6 elegant models within Radford’s Collection. They are made from good briar wood, sandblast, black/brown with a polished head’s border in dark-red shade. Very nice rich-in-contrast ring at the shaft’s finish. Mouthpiece from Acrylic for 9 mm filter.

Now I knew the background on the pipe. I knew that the stem was a replacement and that the original 9MM filter stem had long since disappeared. It was time to work on the pipe!

I decided to examine the fit of the stem to the shank first. I removed the stem and could see that it was loose. The brass spacer was also loose and seem to take space on the tenon that could otherwise be used in the shank. Once the brass spacer was gone I could also see that the tenon was no longer straight from the end to the saddle portion. There were dips in the surface of the vulcanite just ahead of where the band had been sitting. The photos below show the condition of the tenon at this point. I tried the stem with the spacer removed and it fit snug in the shank. The thickness of the tenon at the saddle portion was perfect so I would need to build up the rest of it to match that portion.The band was bent at the shank end in various places around the diameter. I used a tool I have here with a sharp end and a rounded end. I worked it around the inner edge of the band to smooth it out as much as possible. I used my topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to top off the damage on the shank end edge. It looked considerably better once I had finished and the stem fit more snug against the shank end. I turned my attention to the internals at this point. I reamed the bowl back to bare briar with a Pipenet Pipe Reamer using the second cutting head. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I finished the bowl clean up with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. The walls were smooth and there was no sign of burning or checking. It looked very good. I cleaned out the internals with 99% isopropyl alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I worked over the shank and the airway in the stem. It took some work but once finished it was clean and smelled fresh.I polished the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It took on a real shine by the time I finished with the last sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the smooth rim and the sandblast finish on the bowl and shank. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. I used a horse hair shoe brush to work it into the crevices and keep from building up in the valleys and crevices of the finish. Once the bowl was covered with the balm I let it sit for about 15 minutes and buffed it off with a soft cotton cloth and the shoe brush. I polished it with a microfiber cloth. I took photos of the pipe at this point in the process to show what the bowl looked like at this point. Now it was time to address the part of the restoration I leave until last. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the deep grooves in the tenon to build it up and make it even. Once the repair cured I sanded it smooth to make it round and even once more. Once finished it looked better and the fit in the shank was very good. I also sanded the stem surface to smooth out the tooth marks and chatter. I also sanded it to remove the oxidation and calcification off the surface of the stem. I build up the damage to the button edge on the top and the marks in the underside of the stem with black CA rubberized glue. Once it had cured I recut the button edge and flattened the repairs. I smoothed out the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing the stem with 600 grit wet dry sand paper. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine Polish. I finished the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection from oxidizing quickly. The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I first buff the stem and the briar with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. Blue Diamond is a plastic polish but I find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the vulcanite and the briar. I work the pipe over on the wheel with my finger or thumb in the bowl to keep it from becoming airborne. It works well and I am able to carefully move forward with the buffing. The briar and stem just shone! I finished with the Blue Diamond and moved on to buffing with carnauba wax. Once I have a good shine in the briar and vulcanite I always give the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I following up the wax buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I follow that up with a hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished vulcanite and acrylic combination stem. It really is a beautiful pipe. The smooth finish around the bowl sides and shank show the grain shining through the rich brown stains of this Radford Ravel Rhodesian. The finished pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.90 ounces/53 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and the second of the five pipes for restemming I have ahead of me. Once I am finished with the lot he will get them back to enjoy once more. As always I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

New Life for a Ben Wade Made in London England 79 Big Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

Once again in this write up and I will take you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. Jeff has set up a spread sheet to track where the pipe came from, the date of purchase and what we paid for it so that we know what we have invested in the pipe before we even work on it. This takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. This particular pipe was purchased on 11/11/2021 from a Facebook Auction seller in Salmon Creek, Washington, USA. I also want you to understand why we take the photos we do. If you have followed for a while then you will see the familiar pattern of the photos we include both in the before and midstream process of working on a pipe. It is not accidental or chance as the photos have been taken to help me make an assessment of the pipe Jeff sees before he starts his clean up work. We do this to record the condition that the pipe was in when received it and to assess what kind of work will need to be done on. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

The first thing I see is the chunky shank and large size of the bowl. It is well proportioned and well made with a classic English shape.
The finish is dirty and there are oils from the smoker’s hands on both side of the bowl. There is grime ground into the finish as well but even so there is also some great grain peeking through.
The rim top had a thick lava overflow from the cake in the bowl. It is hard to know if there is darkening or damage under the lava. Sometimes the lava protects the rim top and edges and sometime it hides issues. Its is very dirty looking.
The bowl has a thick cake in it that hides the walls and the inner edge of the bowl but once it is clean we will know what the edges look like. It appears that there are a some nicks in the inner edge of the bowl that will become clearer when the pipe is cleaned. The outer edges look good and there does not appear to be any obvious burn damage to the top or bowl edges.
The vulcanite taper stem is in good condition – dirty, oxidized, calcified and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides.

Overall my impressions of this pipe is that it is a beauty that once cleaned up will look pretty amazing. The exterior of the bowl does not show any hot spots or darkening. The pipe is very English looking and is a classic large bowled Bent Billiard that has the distinctive cut of other Ben Wade pipes that I have worked on. The photos below confirm the assessment above.Jeff took close up photos so that I could have a clearer picture of the condition of the bowl, rim edges and top. The rim top photos confirm my assessment above. The cake in the bowl is quite thick and the rim top has lava and debris on it. You can also see the condition of the outer edge but the inner edge is a bit of a mystery at this point. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. While there is lava and darkening there is no visible burn damage at this point. The bowl is still fairly round.The photos of the stem surface from various angles confirmed my assessment of its condition. The stem surface though dirty, oxidized, calcified and had tooth marks and chatter.The next photos show the amazing grain around the heel and the sides of the bowl. Tell me what you see? Are there any visible problems that stand out to you? Are the cracks or scratches? Are there visible flaws or fissures in the briar? What kind of grain stands out around the bowl and heel? Any visible issues on the heel of the bowl? Even the questions should help you to see what I am looking for when I see these photos. You have read it a few times now in the previous blogs. What am I looking for when I look at the shank stamp? In this case it is stamped on the left side and reads Ben Wade in script and on the right side it reads Made in [over] London England in 2 lines. That is followed by the shape number 79 next to the bowl/shank union. How does the stamping look to you? Is it clear and readable? Is it faint in spots or is it uniform? I know you are looking at photos but so do I at this point in the process. The topside of the stem is also stamped though it is worn. It reads BEN [over] WADE. The same questions apply here as well. An added part of pipe restoration for me is to try to gather as much background on a brand and maker as I can find. With Ben Wade it is an enjoyable web to untangle. There is a lot of information and it can lead to understanding what era a pipe was made in. To try to figure out the era of the Ben Wade pipe I was working on I turned to the Pipephil website, Logos and Stampings (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-benwade.html). There is some really helpful information on the brand. There is an alphabetical listing of the lines but there was none listed that matched the one on the table. The site did give a short history of the brand. I quote the portion that is most pertinent. Brand founded in the 1860’s at Leeds (GB). Lane Ltd. (NYC) bought the brand in 1962 and closed the factory in Leeds in 1965. The pipes were then manufactured in London at Charatan’s. During the period 1972 (about) – 1989 Ben Wade pipes were mass produced for Lane Ltd. by Preben Holm‘s workshop in his very personal style. Peter Wilson owner of Duncan Pipes bought the rights of the brand in 1998.

Next I turned to Pipedia to see if I could find more information on the Ben Wade brand there (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Wade). The article gives a great sense of the history of the brand from its inception until the time Preben Holm made pipes for them. I quote a few sections from the article below.

In the second World War the factory was destroyed by German air raids on Leeds. But the Ben Wade family decided to re-build it immediately after the war and pipe production was re-started soon and successfully linked to the fame from the pre-war years.

Before the second war Ben Wade clustered their offerings into three price points: “Ben Wade” included the higher end pipes (eg the Larnix, Super Grain, Selected Grain, etc), “BW” included the mid-level pipes (eg Statesman, Natural Grain, County, etc), and “BWL” were the least expensive (eg Hurlingham, Adelphi, Tense Grain). Champion was in the last group, and in the 1930s at least retailed for 2/6.

The Champion disappeared during the War when the Ben Wade line was materially slimmed down, presumably to reflect difficulties of supply. The name continued to appear in brand directories at least through the early sixties, however it’s unclear whether production was actually resumed.

Even though the owner family decided to leave pipe business and sell off the firm. The family went into negotiations with Herman G. Lane, president of Lane Ltd. in New York at about the same time as the Charatan family. Lane Ltd. bought both firms in 1962.

Herman G. Lane had been Charatan’s US sole distributor since 1955 and Charatan always remained his pet child. But Ben Wade was treated in another way by it’s new owner. The fabrication of pipes was reduced and the factory in Leeds was closed in 1965 finally.

So this was the end of Ben Wade pipes stamped “Made in Leeds, England”.

Lane had the pipe making machines brought from Leeds to London and used the well esteemed name Ben Wade to start the fabrication of entirely machine-made pipes at Charatan’s Prescott Street factory. (Some sources say “not earlier than 1973” but proven by catalogues this isn’t true.) Alas the “new” Ben Wades were quite usual series pipes, copies of well known standard shapes. The pipes often showed hardly masqued fillings and were processed quite coarsely with hardly polished pre-moulded Ebonite stems. Therewith Ben Wade degenerated definitively to a second brand. The stamping now read “Made in London England” or just “London”. Nothing was left from the quality of the pipes once made in Leeds!

Quotation of an American pipe dabster: “It’s a shame to see how a famous old family name can be dragged into the mud by people who want to capitalize on a good reputation earned by men who are long dead. This sad little story was not one of Charatan’s or Lane’s proudest moments!”

Herman G. Lane’s heirs had no special interest in either Charatan or in Ben Wade and sold it to Dunhill Pipes Limited in 1978. Now, Dunhill had no need of machine-made series pipes like the Ben Wade as performed by Charatan / Lane since their own Parker–Hardcastle factory in Walthamstow had abounding capacities to turn out secondary pipes. Thus this was Ben Wade’s second end. Charatan’s Prescott Street factory was closed by no later than March of 1982 and Charatan was allowed to languish and discontinued in 1988.

Now I had some parameters regarding the time frame of the pipe. It was made after the closing of the Leeds factory in 1965 and made in London as early as 1973. It was definitely made before Land sold the factory to Dunhill in 1978. That is helpful to know the time frame as well as the connection to Charatan during that time period. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

The chunky shank and large size of the bowl look very good and are well proportioned and have a classic English Bent Billiard shape.
The finish is clean and the oils have been removed from both sides of the bowl. The grime ground into the finish is gone and there is some great grain around the bowl sides.
The thick lava coat on the rim top has been removed and there are some nicks and damage on the top and inner edges of the bowl.
The walls of the bowl are clean and I do not see any checking or burn damage. The inner edge of the bowl had some nicks and burn damage on the edges. The outer edges look good and there does not appear to be any obvious burn damage there.
The vulcanite taper stem is clean and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides. Ben Wade stamped logo on the top of the stem – it is barely visible.

Today I started working on this pipe by turning to the bowl. I chose to deal with the nicks, darkening and burn damage on the rim edges and top. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage on the edges and the rim top. It took a little work but I was able to remove all of the darkening. It is a beautiful piece of briar with some great grain. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I choose to dry sand the briar rather than wet sand it. Again it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer to use the pads dry and find they work very well on the briar. I sand with each pad (9 in total) and group them by threes for ease of reference. I also work over the plateau areas at the same time. I wipe the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and check the briar. I love seeing the developing shine on the briar as I move through the pads which is why I include so many photos of this step. For the past few years now I have been using Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar. The product works to deep clean the nooks and crannies of finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips and let it sit for 10 minutes to do its work. I wiped it off with a soft cloth then buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine in the briar and the grain shone through. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. It is a gorgeous pipe. Now it was time to address the part of the restoration I leave until last. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I started with the tooth marks. I “painted” the surface dents with a Bic light flame and was able to lift them significantly. I filled in the deep marks that remained with clear CA glue. Once it cured I used a small file to flatten the repairs and start the process of blending them into the stem surface. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend them into the vulcanite. I started the polishing of the stem with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the extra fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection from oxidizing quickly.The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I first buff the stem and the briar with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. Blue Diamond is a plastic polish but I find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the vulcanite and the briar. I work the pipe over on the wheel with my finger or thumb in the bowl to keep it from becoming airborne. It works well and I am able to carefully move forward with the buffing. The briar and stem just shone! I finished with the Blue Diamond and moved on to buffing with carnauba wax. Once I have a good shine in the briar and vulcanite I always give the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I following up the wax buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I follow that up with a hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished vulcanite stem. It really is a beautiful pipe. The smooth finish around the bowl sides and shank show the grain shining through the rich brown stains of this Lane Era Ben Wade, Made in London England 79 Bent Billiard. The finished pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.68 ounces/76 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Makers section.

Hopefully the shape the writing of this blog is helpful to you in some way. In it I wanted to show both what I am looking for and how I move forward in addressing what I see when work on a pipe. Let me know if it is helpful to you. It is probably the most straightforward detailed description of my work process that I have done. As always I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Sasieni Four Dot Patent No. Amesbury Rusticated Canadian

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen to work on was purchased on 11/11/2021 from an Antique Store in Aurora, Oregon, USA. It is a nice looking rusticated Canadian with 4 light blue dots on the top side of the taper stem. It was stamped on the underside of the shank and read Sasieni in script with the tail of the “i” short and tight. Underneath that it was stamped FOUR DOT in block letters [over] London Made [over] Pat. No. 50221/20 [over] “Amesbury”. Next to the bowl shank junction it was stamped Made in England shaped like a football vertically. The rusticated finish was very dirty with dust and debris in the grooves of the rustication. The bowl had a thick cake in it with lava overflow into the rustication on the rim top. It was an incredibly dirty pipe. The stem was oxidized and had calcification along the first inch ahead of the button. There were tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button and on the button surface itself. The 4 light blue dots on the left side of the taper stem were in good condition and very light in colour.

Jeff took these photos of the pipe before he started the clean up work on it. I want you to understand why we take the photos we do. It is not accidental or chance as the photos have been taken to help me make an assessment of the pipe Jeff sees before he starts his clean up work. We do this to record the condition that the pipe was in when received it and to assess what kind of work will need to be done on. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

The rusticated finish is very messy and dirty. There was dust and grime ground into the deep grooves of the finish around the bowl. There are also nicks in the finish were there is wear and tear from being knocked around on ash trays and perhaps a heel of a boot. There are no burn marks or dark spots on the bowl sides and heel of the bowl.
The rim top is filthy. The lava overflow from the cake in the bowl on the rim top though is thick and fills in the grooves. The front outer edge of the bowl has been damaged from being knocked against something hard.
The bowl has a very thick cake in it that covers the inner edge of the bowl. That lava can either act as protection or could hide damage. We will not know until the bowl is cleaned. There does not appear to be any burning or reaming damage to the edges of the bowl.
The stem is vulcanite and has the Sasieni Four Dot light blue dots logo inlaid in the top of the vulcanite taper stem.
The stem was oxidized, calcified and very dirty. There was tooth marks and chatter ahead of the button visible in the photos below. The ones on the underside of the stem were quite deep in the surface of the stem.

Overall my impressions of this pretty rusticated Canadian was that it was in solid shape with no significant damage to the briar other than the knock about damage on rim top and edges. The cake is very thick so I have no way of knowing what is under it. The good news is that it does not seem to have any cracks in the bowl from the overloaded cake. The photos below confirm the assessment above.Jeff took close up photos so that I could have a clearer picture of the condition of the bowl and rim edges and top. The rim top photos confirm my assessment above. The cake in the bowl is quite thick and the rim top has a coat of lava and debris on it that will need to come off. You can also see the lava on the inner edge of the rim. You can also see the condition of the inner and outer edges of the rim and down the outside of the bowl. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. The bowl appears to be still round. His photos of the stem surface confirmed and heightened my assessment of the condition. You can see the oxidation, calcification and tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. From the photos you can see the light blue four dot diamond the top of the taper stem they are in good condition. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the rustication patterns in the briar. It is a unique finish that shows the grain through the finish. He took photos of the stamping on the smooth panel on the underside of the shank to capture what was stamped there. It is faint but readable as noted above. I decided to do some work on the stamping of this pipe to get an idea of the time period it was carved. I turned first to Pipephil’s site to see what I could learn (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-sasieni.html). I found a pipe that was stamped the same way as the one I am working on. I is stamped on the underside of the shank like the one in the screen capture photo below. Mine is stamped the same way Sasieni in script without the fish tail. Underneath it is stamped FOUR DOT [over] London Made [over] Pat. No. (1)50221/20 (the 1 is faint and almost illegible). Mine does not have the “Retford” stamp but rather the “Amesbury” stamp in the same place. To the left it is stamped with a football shaped Made in England stamp. I included the side bar notes below the picture. From that I knew that the pipe was made during Pre-transition Period 1946-1979.Pre-transition, 1946 – 1979. Four dot. Notice the change of “Sasieni” script without the fish-tail initiated by Alfred Sasieni after second world war.

I then turned to Pipedia for more detailed information (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Sasieni). I quote a section of that article below. It refers to the Patent Number that is on the pipe I have on the table. The underlined portion below is particular pertinent to this pipe.

To begin with, there are three main elements to dating the Sasieni pipe, the patent number, the style of the name “Sasieni” as it appears on the shank, and the Dots themselves. Naturally, there are exceptions to these rules (this hobby would be boring without them), but for the most part these guidelines apply better than 95% of the time. All Sasieni One, Four, and Eight Dot pipes made before W.W.II and destined for the U. S. market carried a patent number on the shank which usually started with the numbers “15″, with 150221/20 and 1513428 being representative of the group. Also, the name “Sasieni” was stamped on the shank in a very florid manner, with the tail of the last “i” sweeping underneath the name forming a shape which has been compared to a fish by more than one collector. This script was discontinued by Alfred almost immediately after he took over the company, so this alone tells you your pipe is pre W.W.II. Underneath in block lettering are the words “London Made”, with the patent number making the third line.

The dots will help you narrow this down further. As we mentioned, the short lived U. S. market One Dot was introduced around 1920, and was replaced by the early to mid 1920’s by the Four Dot. The 1920’s Four Dot is distinguishable by the florid Sasieni script, a patent number, and four blue dots, which are quite small compared to the pipes of post war years. Furthermore, by 1935 Sasieni began stamping pipes, based on the shape, with their own names, which were usually, but not always, English towns. For example, apples were stamped “Hurlingham”, bulldogs were “Grosvenor” or “Danzey”, and panels were “Lincoln”. One rare and interesting variation of this was the large bent, dubbed “Viscount Lascelles”. Even in this soft Sasieni market, these pipes regularly sell for $150 in their rare appearances in mailers.

The pipe I have is one that was made for the US market as established by the Patent Number on the shank. The flourished “i” was discontinued by Alfred so that confirms that the pipe was made Pre-transition, 1946 – 1979. The third line stamped is London Made in block lettering. The single dot stamp was changed to a four dot in the early to mid 1920s. The 1920s Four Dot is distinguished on this pipe by the florid script, the patent number and four faint blue dots that are quite small. With all that information I knew that my pipe was from the period before the transition so it was an old timer.

In reading the history of the brand on the page I also read through the various photos and brochures that were included in the article. I found a photo of a page from a catalogue describing the rustic briar that I have included below. The rustication pattern is very similar to that on the pipe one that I have here. It is interesting to read the descriptions on the page both of the rustication and the patent.Now that I knew the early dating of the pipe that I had in hand it was time to work on it.

I am sure many of you skip my paragraph on the work Jeff has done before the pipe gets here in my many blogs but it is quite detailed in its brevity. I know some laugh at my opening line Jeff did a thorough cleaning of this pipe. However, I want you to know the details of the work. Back in 2020 Jeff wrote a blog about his cleaning process. I am including a link to that now so you can see what I mean about his process. Do not skip it! Give it a read (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/01/20/got-a-filthy-estate-pipe-that-you-need-to-clean/). Here is the introduction to that blog and it is very true even to this day.

The rusticated finish cleaned up very well. There was dust and grime were gone and the pipe looked clean. The nicks in the around the rim top and edges were visible. There are no burn marks or dark spots on the bowl sides and heel of the bowl.
The rim top is was clean but showed damage. The rustication on the top and outer edge were clean but damaged slightly. The front outer edge of the bowl has been damaged from being knocked against something hard.
The bowl was clean and the inside was smooth without checking or damage. There is not any burning or reaming damage to the edges of the bowl. The beveled inner edge of the bowl looks good.
The stem is vulcanite and has the Sasieni Four Dot light blue dots logo inlaid in the top of the vulcanite taper stem.
The stem looks much better and was clean. There were tooth marks and chatter ahead of the button visible in the photos below. The ones on the underside of the stem were deeper than the ones on the top side of the stem.

Hopefully the steps above show you both what I look for when I go over the pipe when I bring it to the work table and also what I see when I look at the pipe in my hands. They also clearly spell out a restoration plan in short form. My work is clear and addressing it will be the next steps. I took photos of the whole pipe to give you a picture of what I see when I have it on the table. This is important to me in that it also shows that there was no damage done during the clean up work or the transit of the pipe from Idaho to here in Vancouver. I took photos of the rim top and the top and underside of the stem. You can see the clean bowl and rim top. The stem has light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. It is dirty but otherwise great. It is a nice looking pipe. The next photo shows the stamping on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the overall look of the pipe. It is really a nicely looking pipe that will look great once it is cleaned up.I used a brass bristle wire brush to clean up the rim top. The rustication patterns on the surface came back to life with the brushing. The beveled inner edge looked surprisingly good. I touched up the nicks and light spots on the top and the edges of the bowl with a walnut stain pen. The match was perfect and looked great with the other parts of the rusticated finish.I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the nooks and crannies of the rusticated finish, enliven and protect the briar. I hand rubbed it with my fingers and worked it into the deep rustication with a horsehair shoe brush. I let it sit for 15 minutes to let it do its work. I wiped it off with a soft cloth. I buffed the bowl with a cotton cloth. It really began to have a deep shine in the briar. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface dents with a Bic light flame and was able to lift them significantly. I filled in the deep marks that remained with clear CA glue. I set it aside to cure. When it cured I reshaped the button edge and flattened the repairs with a small file. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend them into the vulcanite. I started the polishing of the stem with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. To polish the stem and repairs I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process.After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the extra fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection from oxidizing quickly.The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I first buff the stem and the briar with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. Blue Diamond is a plastic polish but I find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the vulcanite and the briar. I work the pipe over on the wheel with my finger or thumb in the bowl to keep it from becoming airborne. It works well and I am able to carefully move forward with the buffing. The briar and stem just shone! This is another pipe I am excited to finish. It is a Patent Number Sasieni London Made Four Dot Rusticated Canadian. I put the pipe back together and buffed it lightly with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished vulcanite stem. It really was a beautiful pipe. The rusticated surface is quite unique and there is grain shining through the rich browns/black stain on the finish of this Sasieni London Made Four Dot Rusticated Canadian. It is nice looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.20 ounces/34 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be going on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for walking through the cleanup with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Having Fun with a Peterson System Pipe

4 Replies

Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

What a handsome pipe! I found this republic-era Peterson Standard System 307 at a local antique fair and I was charmed by it right away. It’s quite a large pipe and the look of it gives one a feeling of confidence. It is satisfying and comfortable in the hand. Despite its rather shabby appearance when I found it, the pipe held great promise – and I was sure that I could tease out its beauty with a little TLC. Let’s have a closer look. This Peterson 307 pipe has the classic “System” look: bent shape, nickel mount, and tapered, army-style stem. Of course, it also had the traditional Peterson P-lip stem. The markings on the left side of the shank are Peterson’s [over] System [over] Standard. The right side of the shank showed Made in the [over] Republic [over] of Ireland [over] 307. The nickel mount on the shank had K&P [over] Petersons. There were no markings on the stem. The Peterson System pipes are well-storied among Peterson collectors/admirers. I took the opportunity to read the article on Pipedia, specifically about the System pipes, by Jim Lilley. There is lots of good information there and I encourage you to read it: https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_closer_look_at_the_famous_Peterson_Standard_System_Pipe On to the pipe itself: the stem was in average condition – not especially dirty, but it had been well used. It had some notable dents, though. There was some damage to the top side of the P-lip and a tooth dent on the underside of the mouthpiece. I also noticed (but failed to photograph) that there were significant scratches at the shank-end of the stem, where I assume the stem had rubbed against the nickel mount on the shank. The bowl was moderately dirty and had quite a bit of lava which concealed some burn marks, and there was plenty of cake. Aside from some small fills, the outside of the bowl was fine. The nickel mount was in good shape – no dents or scratches of note – but it was dull and needed some polishing. To work! The stem was first on my list. I wiped the outside down with Murphy’s Oil Soap on some cotton pads. I also took a BIC lighter and ‘painted’ the stem with its flame to lift the few bite marks and dents. Sadly, however, this did not do much. Then I cleaned out the inside with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. I used some SoftScrub on the outside of the stem to remove some oxidation. Then, the stem went for an overnight soak in the Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. The following day, I cleaned the de-oxidizing mess off with alcohol, pipe cleaners, et cetera. The oxidation had migrated to the surface and would be fairly straightforward to remove. I scrubbed again with SoftScrub on some cotton pads to remove the leftover oxidation. I built up the dents on the stem with black cyanoacrylate adhesive and let them cure. I then sanded the adhesive down – first with a small file – then with 220-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpapers to meld seamlessly into the stem. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to polish it and highlight the black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing. Moving on to the stummel, I first decided to ream out the bowl. I used both the PipNet Reamer and the KleenReem to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper taped to a dowel to eliminate as much as possible. I took the chamber down to bare briar to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the wall. Fortunately, there were none. I used cotton rounds and some Murphy’s Oil Soap to scrub the outside of the stummel and a toothbrush with Murphy’s for the lava on the pipe’s rim.I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. There was quite a bit of filth inside this stummel, and it took a fair amount of cotton to get it clean. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some dish soap and tube brushes. Now I could address the burn on the rim. I used a piece of tool steel to gently scrape away the burn residue, but I didn’t get the results I hoped for. So, I “topped” the pipe – that is, I gently and evenly sanded the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. This effectively removed the damage without altering the look of the pipe. I decided to de-ghost the pipe in order to remove any lingering smells of the past. I thrust cotton balls into the bowl and the shank and saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused any remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton. The bowl was nice and clean after this. Now it was time to address the tiny fills on the bowl. I repaired them with a mixture of briar dust and cyanoacrylate adhesive. This ensures a strong repair and one that looks similar to the surrounding wood. As you can see, I made a mess to begin with, but I sanded the repair down with a file and 200- and 400-grit sandpaper until it was level with the surrounding briar. Then, I used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) on the stummel to finish it off. This included buffing up the nickel mount to a beautiful shine! Off to the bench polisher! A dose of White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax were just what this pipe needed. Boy-oh-boy, this is one good-looking pipe! I’m pleased with the results.This Peterson Standard System 307 looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the Ireland pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 6¼ in. (158 mm); height 2 in. (51 mm); bowl diameter 1⅝ in. (41 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (20 mm). The weight of the pipe is 2½ oz. (72 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring an Anderson S&R Hand Carved Acorn with a Fancy turned stem

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

I am continuing with the same tack I have taken on the last five pipes I have worked on and take you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. Jeff has set up a spread sheet to track where the pipe came from, the date of purchase and what we paid for it so that we know what we have invested in the pipe before we even work on it. This takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. This particular pipe was purchased on 01/23/2023 in a group of pipes from a lady in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. I also want you to understand why we take the photos we do. It is not accidental or chance as the photos have been taken to help me make an assessment of the pipe Jeff sees before he starts his clean up work. We do this to record the condition that the pipe was in when received it and to assess what kind of work will need to be done on. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

The finish is dirty with oils darkening the bowl sides and shank. The worm trails carved around the bowl are dirty with dust and oils. This kind of darkening happens as the oils from our hands are absorbed by the briar and over time it grows dark.
The rim top is dirty and there is a lava overflow from the cake in the bowl and some darkening on the rim top. The rim top also shows damage from being knocked against some hard.
The bowl has a thick cake in it but the inner bevel and outer edge of the bowl actually look to be undamaged other thank the scratches and darkening. There does not appear to be any burning or reaming damage to the edges of the bowl.
The fancy turned stem is vulcanite and there is no logo in the surface.
The vulcanite stem has some light oxidation but was dirty. There were tooth marks and chatter ahead of the button that are visible in the photos below. Nothing to deep but nonetheless present.

Overall my impressions of this unique hand made artisan pipe was that it was in solid shape with a lot of damage on the rim top and edges – nothing horrible but knocked hard against a hard surface throughout its trust with the last person who smoked it. The cake does not seem to hide any burns or checking but I will know more once it is cleaned and reamed. The exterior of the bowl does not show any hot spots but with the darkening by hand oils it is very hard to know with certainty. It is a good looking pipe in spite of the poor care it has had. The photos below confirm the assessment above. Hopefully as you have learned from the last few blogs we always include close up photos of key areas on the pipe we buy. We do this so that I can have a clearer picture of the condition of the bowl and rim edges and top since Jeff does the clean up and we live quite far apart. The rim top photos confirm my assessment above. The cake in the bowl is quite thick and the rim top has some lava and debris in the grooves that will need to come off. You can also see the condition of the inner and outer edges of the rim. While it is beat up and nicked you can also see that there does not appear to be any over reaming or burn damage to the edges. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. Even with all of the abuse the bowl is still round. His photos of the stem surface confirmed and heightened my assessment of the condition. You can see the light oxidation on the stem surface. You can see the appearance of the tooth marks on the stem surface ahead of the button on both sides. Remember that we include photos of the sides and heel of the bowl for me to do a more thorough assessment of the condition of the briar and the finish before I have it in hand. The darkening on the finish is definitely oils as the grain shows through clearly and cleaning should remove that. There were no cracks or splits following the grain or coming down from the rim edges. There were no cracks in the shank. I also look for flaws in what I call the worm trail carvings as they can be used to hide flaws in the briar. In this case the bowl exterior is sound and should clean up very well. We take photos of the stamping so I can see if it is faint in any spots or double stamped or unclear. It often takes several photos to capture what I am looking for. The stamping on the left side of the shank is clear and readable in the pictures below. This stamp often fools folks and they cannot identify the maker. It is simply an “S” incorporating a stylized pipe curving toward the shank end and it is crossed by an “R” utilizing the shank and stem of the “S” pipe to form the back leg of the “R”. Hopefully that helps you to identify the stamp clearly. For me researching the brand and the maker are an important part of the restoration process. It gives me the background on the philosophy of the pipemakers as well as an understanding of their perspective in making a pipe. That is why I generally include it in my restoration write ups. It is important for me and it is important in educating us on those who have left behind a rich heritage. Here is what I have found on this brand and how I carry on the hunt for data. I turned to Pipedia and read the article that was included there (https://pipedia.org/wiki/S%26R_Pipes). I quote in full below:

Stephen and Roswitha Anderson of S&R Pipes, also known as S&R Woodcrafters, have become pipe makers renowned throughout the world as talented carvers of high-grade briar pipes. They have been featured in several trade publications and magazines such as Pipes and Tobaccos and PipeSmoker, and have several pieces on display in museums in Europe and the United States.

They are the first American pipe carvers honored with induction into the Conferee of Pipe Makers of St. Claude, France; the very place where the carving of briar pipes became a world-wide industry. Sadly, Steve passed away in March of 2009. Roswitha is still carving S&R pipes and carrying on with the shop with help from her “guys” David, Marty, and Tony.

Steve and Roswitha began carving pipes in the 1960’s. They travelled to pipe shows and arts and crafts shows throughout the country and Europe selling their pipes and built up quite an extensive loyal customer base. Eventually, it became time to offer their pipes to the retail fraternity of pipe smokers.

Pipes & Pleasures had its grand opening in a distinct red brick house on Main Street in Columbus, Ohio in 1977. The front section of the house was converted into a traditional tobacco shop selling pipe tobacco, cigars, and pipes manufactured by well known companies such as Dunhill, Charatan, and Savinelli as well as the high-grade S&R pipes that Steve and Roswitha carved. A workshop was set up in the back section of the house.

When the cigar boom hit in the ’90’s, the shop was expanded by building a large computer controlled walk-in humidor. It’s no secret throughout the country that Pipes & Pleasures has the best maintained cigars in the Columbus area as well as the best selection of premium cigars available in the area including the much sought-after Davidoff line.

Soon after the boom began, Steve and Roswitha moved their pipe making workshop to their farm and converted that space into a large smoking lounge for their many customers. The lounge features comfortable easy chairs, a television set, a stereo, a library of books and magazines about every aspect of tobacciana, a chess table, and a couple of card tables. The lounge is populated daily with long-time loyal customers and newcomers to the enjoyment and relaxation of cigar and pipe smoking. It’s also the room where several cigar tastings and samplings are held every year by representatives from cigar companies such as Davidoff and La Flor Dominicana.

I captured a photo of the shop from the Pipedia article to include below. It is a great looking shop.

The Pipes & Pleasures shop, home of S&R Woodcrafters.

From there I turned to the website for Pipes & Pleasures and copied the “About Us” section. Here is the link to the site (https://www.pipesandpleasures.biz/maintenance). I quote in part.

Pipes & Pleasures proprietors Stephen and Roswitha Anderson have become pipe makers renowned throughout the world as talented carvers of high-grade briar pipes. They have been featured in several trade publications and magazines such as Pipes and Tobaccos and PipeSmoker, and have several pieces on display in museums in Europe and the United States. They are the first American pipe carvers honored with induction into the Conferee of Pipe Makers of St. Claude, France; the very place where the carving of briar pipes became a world-wide industry.

…Sadly, Steve passed away in March of 2009. Roswitha is still carving S&R pipes and carrying on with the shop with help from her “guys” David, Marty, and Tony, who welcome you to this website.

While I am sure that some of you will skip the next section of this blog I encourage you to read the process that we use to clean our pipes. It is an important part of the our work of restoration. Jeff wrote a detailed blog about his cleaning process. I am including a link to that now so you can see what I mean about his process. Do not skip it! Give it a read (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/01/20/got-a-filthy-estate-pipe-that-you-need-to-clean/). Here is the introduction to that blog and it is very true even to this day.

When the pipe arrives here in Vancouver I have a clean pipe and I go over it keeping in mind my assessment shared in the opening paragraph above. I am looking for any significant structural changes in the bowl and finish as I go over it.

The finish cleaned up really well and the oils and grime ground into the briar have been removed. The grooves in the finish (worm trails) are also clean revealing the carving marks in the. The was very clean and looked much better. With all the grime removed there was some excellent grain coming through.
The carved rim top cleaned up well, though was still some darkening on the briar and some damage on the right front inner edge showed up in the clean up. Some of the nicks in the briar lifted during the clean up as well and it looks better.
The bowl was very clean and the top and inner edge of the bowl show some damage is noted in number 2 above. The bowl walls are also very clean and smooth with no checking or burn marks on the inside or out of the bowl. The walls were undamaged.
The fancy turned vulcanite saddle stem looks good’
The vulcanite stem clearly shows the tooth marks and chatter ahead of the button that that will need to be addressed.

I then spent some time going over the bowl and rim top to get a sense of what is happening there. The bowl looked very good and the walls were smooth. There was no damage internally. The rim top was clean and I could clearly see the worm trail carving around the rim top. It was clean and clear. There as some damage on the rim top and inner and outer edge particularly at the front of the bowl that would need to be dealt. There were also nick on the top of the shank. I also went over the stem carefully. There were dents in the stem that are visible in the photos. But the good news is that the tooth marks were not deep and did not seem to puncture the airway. They would clean up well. I examined the button edge and was happy to see that the marks there were not too bad and should be able to be sanded out. I took photos of the rim top and stem sides to show as best as I can what I see when I look at them.As usual I checked the stamping to make sure that the clean up work did not damage the stamping on the shank in any way. I know Jeff is cognizant of this but I do it anyway and take a photo to show what I see when I examine it. In this case it has not changed at all from the pictures I included above. It is clear and distinct. I removed the stem from the shank and checked the tenon and lay the parts of the pipe out to get a sense of the proportion that was in the mind of the pipe maker when he crafted the pipe. It is a beauty in flow and shape.Remember the question of where to begin the restoration work is a matter of personal preference. If you read rebornpipes much you will see that each of the restorers who post here all start at different points. Kenneth always starts with the stems, others as well do that. I personally like to start with the bowl because it gives me hope that this pipe is really a beauty. I think that is why I always leave the stem until last even though I know that it needs to be done. So if you are restoring your pipes choose where you want to start and go from there. Just know that it all will need to be done by the end but for me the encouragement of seeing a rejuvenated bowl is the impetus I need to attack the stem work.

Knowing that about me you can guess that I started working on this pipe by turning to the bowl. The bowl was in great condition over all but the rim top needed attention. I decided to clean up the rim top. I worked on the damage edges and top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I used the sandpaper to bring the bowl back into round.I finished the rim top and edge clean up and wiped the bowl down with acetone on a cotton pad to remove more of the oils in the finish that still darkened the briar. I then polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I chose to dry sand the briar rather than wet sand it. Again it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer to use the pads dry and find they work very well on the briar. I sand with each pad (9 in total) and group them by threes for ease of reference. I wipe the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad to remove the sanding debris and check the briar. I love seeing the developing shine on the briar as I move through the pads. I include the many photos of various angles of the bowl so you can see the change. Pay attention to the changes in the briar in these photos as you work through them. As usual for me when I get the bowl to this point in the process I use Before & After Restoration Balm. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar. The product works to deep clean the finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips to make sure that it covers every square inch of the pipe. I set it aside for 10 minutes to let it do its work. Once the time has passed I wiped it off with a soft cloth then buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar really began to have a deep shine. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. You see the shine that the briar has taken on, the removal of the deep oils on the sides of the bowl and the way the grain just pops. It is a gorgeous pipe. Now it was time to address the part of the restoration I leave until last. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I wanted to repair the tooth damage on the stem surface and on the surface of the button. Before doing any repairs to a stem surface I always try to lift the marks as much as possible. To do that I use a Bic lighter to heat the tooth marks and dents in the stem surface. I describe that as “painting” the surface. What I mean by that is that I hold the stem stationary and quickly move the flame of the lighter across the dents repeatedly. Typically I am able to lift the dents significantly and sometimes in totality with the heat. It utilizes the “memory” vulcanite and the heat raises the marks.In this case I lifted all quite a bit but the heat did not raise them all the way. To take care of that I filled in the tooth marks that remained with clear CA glue and let it cure. Once it was hardened I flattened the repairs with a small file to blend them into the stem surface. I finished smoothing out the repairs on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing it with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper to remove the scratches. This process makes the repairs almost invisible when polished and also takes care of scratching in the surface of the vulcanite.It was the time now to polish the stem and bring back a shine. Over the years I have developed my own process for this. It is all preparation for the buffing that will come last. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite and second it give the sanding pads some bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I always rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the Extra Fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem by wiping it down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection from oxidizing quickly.The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I first buff the stem and the briar with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. Blue Diamond is a plastic polish but I find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the vulcanite and the briar. I work the pipe over on the wheel with my finger or thumb in the bowl to keep it from becoming airborne. It works well and I am able to carefully move forward with the buffing. I lightly buff the plateau on the rim top and shank end at the same time making sure to keep the product from building up in the grooves of the finish. I finished with the Blue Diamond and moved on to buffing with carnauba wax. Once I have a good shine in the briar and vulcanite I always give the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I following up the wax buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I follow that up with a hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished vulcanite stem. It really is a beautiful pipe. The smooth finish around the bowl sides and shank show the grain shining through the rich brown stains of this S&R Freehand Acorn and the polished vulcanite stem. There are still some remaining marks from the long story of the pipe that to me add a sense of time that is an interesting part of the story. The finished pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.52 ounces/44 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the American (US) Pipe Maker section.

Hopefully this tack of writing this blog is helpful to you in some way. In it I show both what I am looking for and how I move forward in addressing what I see when work on a pipe has been helpful to you. It is probably the most straightforward detailed description of my work process. As always I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Life for a Karl Erik Carved Wenhall Langelinie Made In Denmark 1 Freehand

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I thought with this blog that I would take a different tack in the write up and take you through my process of working on each pipe that we purchase. Jeff has set up a spread sheet to track where the pipe came from, the date of purchase and what we paid for it so that we know what we have invested in the pipe before we even work on it. This takes a lot of the guess work out of the process. This particular pipe was purchased on 04/09/2022 from Cleveland, Ohio, USA from a seller we bought quite a few pipes from. I also want you to understand why we take the photos we do. It is not accidental or chance as the photos have been taken to help me make an assessment of the pipe Jeff sees before he starts his clean up work. We do this to record the condition that the pipe was in when received it and to assess what kind of work will need to be done on. When I look at these photos this is what I see.

The finish is dirty and flat but underneath there is some excellent grain. There are also some leaves carved on the left side of the bowl and around the heel. These were typically done to obscure flaws in the briar.
The plateau rim top and shank end are dirty. In the rim top plateau there is a lot of lava overflow from the cake in the bowl. Along with that there is dust and debris in both the plateau on the rim top and shank end. Its overall appearance is very dirty looking.
The bowl has a thick cake in it but the inner edge of the bowl actually looks to be undamaged from what I can see at this point. There does not appear to be any burning or reaming damage to the edges of the bowl. You would be surprised (though maybe not) in how many pipes we pick up that have major issues in this area.
The stem is vulcanite and has straightened out from heat and sitting and will need to be rebent to match the flow of the shank and bowl.
The stem had some oxidation and tooth marks and chatter that are visible in the photos below. Nothing to deep but nonetheless present.

Overall my impressions of this pipe is that it is a beauty that once cleaned up will look pretty amazing. The cake does not seem to hide any burns or checking and the exterior of the bowl does not show any hot spots or darkening. When I look it I immediately think of the carver Karl Erik. It has a lot of his stylistic touches that I have come to expect as I have worked on a lot of his pipes over the years. The photos below confirm the assessment above. Jeff took close up photos so that I could have a clearer picture of the condition of the bowl and rim edges and top. The rim top photos confirm my assessment above. The cake in the bowl is quite thick and the plateau on the rim top is almost filled in with lava and debris. You can also see the condition of the inner and outer edges of the rim. This is what I look for when assessing a pipe. While there is lava and darkening there is no visible burn damage at this point and the previous reaming has not left damage either. The bowl is still fairly round. The plateau on the shank end is very dusty and dirty as can be seen in the fourth photo below. His photos of the stem surface confirmed and heightened my assessment of the condition. You can see the oxidation (particularly around the turned area and the speckled surface of the button area) and what appears to be a gummy substance on the stem surface. Note also the tooth marks on the edge of the button on both sides. It is actually more damaged than the surface of the stem. I always ask Jeff to take photos of the sides and heel of the bowl. While this definitely shows the grain patterns around a bowl it also allows me to do a more thorough assessment of the condition of the briar and the finish. In this case I look at the finish around the carved portions to see if there are any cracks or splits radiating from the pits in the centre of each one. I also look for flaws in the grain as those can also hide cracks or damage. In this case the bowl exterior is sound and should clean up very well. I love the grain patterns and even the odd leaf carvings do not detract too much from that for me. I also ask him to take photos of the stamping so I can see if it is faint in any spots or double stamped or unclear. It often takes several photos to capture what I am looking for. The stamping on the underside of the shank is relatively clear in the picture below. It reads Wenhall [over] Langelinie [over] Freehand [over] Made In Denmark [over] 1. The Wenhall stamp is faint at the top of the stamp but still readable. You can also see that part of the Langelinie is double stamped. The rest of the stamp is clear and readable.Before I start working on any pipe in my hands I want to confirm its provenance. I want to know for certain who made it rather than just counting on my memory. In this case in the back of my mind I remembered a connection between Wenhall and Karl Erik pipes. I could not remember the details of the connection but I remembered there was one. I have several sites that I turn to for this work. First I turned to Pipephil’s – Pipes, Logos and Stampings website and found that there was no information on the brand there.

Then I turned to Pipedia and looked up Wenhall in the Pipe Makers list that is included there. I found the link there I was looking for (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Wenhall). It was a short article but it made a lot of connections to names that I was familiar with from working on pipes. I include the majority of the article because of the pertinent information that it provides and for ease of reference in the future.

Wenhall Pipes Ltd. was a distribution company out of New York City.

By the end of the 1970’s Wenhall approached Michael Kabik and Glen Hedelson, at that time operating from a farm house in Glen Rock, Maryland to create a line of freehands called Wenhall. The situation was favorable, because Kabik & Hedelson had ended their cooperation with Mel Baker of Tobak Ltd. to produce the famed Sven-Lar freehands shortly before.

Upon Wenhall’s offer the partners got a bank loan and set up a studio of 2000 square feet in a fairly new industrial park in Bel Air, Maryland and took on the name Vajra Briar Works. Wenhall initially wanted 500 pipes a week! But Kabik & Hedelson doubted that they could move that much product and told them they would produce 250 pipes per week. Happily, some of the old crew from Sven-Lar joined them at Vajra Briar Works, and thus they rather quickly met the production demands.

Furthermore during this time, Wenhall requested to create a line of pipes consisting of 12 different shapes. The line was called The Presidential and, while they repeated the same 12 shapes for this series, each one was freehand cut. Although they came up with interesting designs, mainly developed by Hedelson, especially Kabik was never really happy with the line or the concept, but, by this time, they had nine people on full-time payroll.

The stint with Wenhall lasted a couple of years, at which time they asked them to join Wenhall in a move to Miami, Florida. But by this time Kabik and Hedelson felt very uncomfortable with the owners of Wenhall and decided that they’d rather close the shop than make the move. Time proved that decision very wise, as Wenhall folded shortly after the move. All the same they had to close Vajra, but scaled down to the two of them and moved the operation to the farm house Glen was currently living in.

Presumably for a shorter period only Wenhall had pipes made in Denmark by Karl Erik. (BTW K.E. Ottendahl ceased all sales to the USA in 1987.)

The last sentence in red above gave me the confirmation I was seeking. I knew that the pipe I had was made in Denmark and thus by Karl Erik. I also knew that it was made before he ceased all sales in the US so that it was made before 1987. That is when his time with Wenhall ended. I always love being able to pin down a time frame for the pipe I am working on and knowing that this one was made prior to 1987 meant this was an older pipe. Now on to the work.

I am sure many of you skip my paragraph on the work Jeff has done before the pipe gets here but it is quite detailed in its brevity. I know some laugh at my opening line Jeff did a thorough cleaning of this pipe. However, I want you to know the details of the work. Back in 2020 Jeff wrote a blog about his cleaning process. I am including a link to that now so you can see what I mean about his process. Do not skip it! Give it a read (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/01/20/got-a-filthy-estate-pipe-that-you-need-to-clean/). Here is the introduction to that blog and it is very true even to this day.

The finish is very clean and the grain stands out on the surface of the clean briar. The carved leaves looked good as well and appeared to have some dark stain tracing the lines in them and helping them stand out. There are no cracks showing up in the grain lines or in the flaws under the leaf carvings. It is sound on the outside. I will need to polish the briar and buff it to bring back the shine.
The plateau rim top and shank end are clean and have some faded spots due to the cleaning and removing of the tars and oils that were scrubbed off. This will mean that in need to restain them with black and buff them with wax to bring them back to what they looked like when sent to the US originally. The good news for me is that there are no cracks showing up in the rim top plateau or in the shank end plateau. Those two areas are also sound.
The bowl was very clean and smelled clean. The clean walls did not show evidence of checking or cracking. There were no hot spots or damage on the walls or around the entrance of the airway into the bowl. It was clean and smooth which is great news for me. The inner edge of the bowl was undamaged and did not show any sign of burning or reaming damage to the edges of the bowl. Both the shank and the bowl were very clean showing no debris on a clean pipe clean run through them. I would need to give it a final cleaning with pipe cleaners and alcohol once I had finished with the external work to remove the debris that may have collected there in the process.
The vulcanite stem has clearly straightened over the years and that can be seen in the angle of the stem to the top of the bowl. I will need to heat it and bend the end to match the angle of the rim top. I always aim to get a basic straight line from the rim top to the curve of the stem when it is sitting in my mouth.
The oxidation was gone from the stem after Jeff’s work on it. The tooth marks and chatter will need to be dealt with once I finish the bowl.

For me then I started working on this pipe by turning to the bowl. I chose to deal with the faded plateau on the rim and shank first because I would be polishing the briar and always like to go over the rim top and shank end plateau at the same time. I find that polishing those areas with micromesh differentiates the high points of the plateau from the valleys. I used a black stain pen to restain both areas. Remember this is only the first step in rim top staining. Polishing the briar will come next and that will change these areas as well.From here I turned to polishing the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I choose to dry sand the briar rather than wet sand it. Again it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer to use the pads dry and find they work very well on the briar. I sand with each pad (9 in total) and group them by threes for ease of reference. I also work over the plateau areas at the same time. I wipe the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and check the briar. I love seeing the developing shine on the briar as I move through the pads which is why I include so many photos of this step. Pay attention to the changes in the briar and the plateau top in these photos as you work through them. To further sharpen the curves and grooves of the plateau on the shank and rim top I used a brass bristle wire brush. It is soft enough metal to clean up edges but not hard enough to scratch the surface of the briar.For the past few years now I have been using a product developed by Mark Hoover called Before & After Restoration Balm. I find that it is remarkable in its ability to really give the bowl deepened sense of colour and grain. It is a paste/balm that is rubbed into the surface of the briar and the plateau. The product works to deep clean the nooks and crannies of finish, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips and a horsehair shoe brush to get it into the grooves of the plateau. I let it sit for 10 minutes to let it do its work. I wiped it off with a soft cloth then buffed it with a cotton cloth. The briar and the plateau really began to have a deep shine in the briar. The photos I took of the bowl at this point mark the progress in the restoration. You see the shine that the briar has taken on and the contrast finish on the plateau areas is very beautiful. It is a gorgeous pipe. Now it was time to address the part of the restoration I leave until last. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I wanted to repair the tooth damage on the stem surface and on the surface of the button. Before doing any repairs to a stem surface I try to lift the marks as much as possible. To do that I use a Bic lighter to heat the tooth marks and dents in the stem surface. I describe that as “painting” the surface. What I mean by that is that I hold the stem stationary and quickly move the flame of the lighter across the dents repeatedly. Typically I am able to lift the dents significantly and sometimes in totality with the heat. It utilizes the “memory” vulcanite and the heat raises the marks.In this case I lifted all but two – one on each side. The heat did not have any effect on the tooth damage on the edge of the button. To take care of that I filled the edge in with clear CA glue and let it cure. Once it was hardened I recut the button edge with a small file to clean up the damage. I finished the reworking of the button and stem with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing it with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper to remove the scratches. This process makes the repairs almost invisible when polished and also takes care of scratching in the surface of the vulcanite.I usually heat a stem to be bent with my heat gun until it is pliable then set it with running water. Today however I ran into a problem. My heat gun is no where to be found. I evidently either loaned to someone who still has it or it is somewhere in the house where I have overlooked it in the hunt. So I had to resort to an older way of heating the stem that is a bit more tricky. I “painted” the underside of the stem at the bend that was present with the flame of a Bic lighter as described above. When it became soft and pliable enough to bend to the angle I wanted I set the bend with cold water and dried it off. I checked the angle of the bend with the shank repeatedly until I was happy with the new look. I took some photos of the stem and of the stem in place in the shank and have included them below. It is possible to bend a stem with minimal tools. With the bend in the stem finished I needed to polish the stem and bring back a shine. I use micromesh sanding pads and water to wet sand the stem with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil on a cotton rag after each sanding pad as I find it does two things – first it protects the vulcanite and second it give the sanding pads bite in the polishing process. After finishing with the micromesh pads I rub the stem down with Before & After Fine and Extra Fine stem polish as it seems to really remove the fine scratches in the vulcanite. I rub the Fine Polish on the stem and wipe it off with a paper towel and then repeat the process with the extra fine polish. I finish the polishing of the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to let the oil absorb. This process gives the stem a shine and also a bit of protection from oxidizing quickly.The final steps in my process involve using the buffer. I first buff the stem and the briar with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. Blue Diamond is a plastic polish but I find that it works very well to polish out the light scratches in the vulcanite and the briar. I work the pipe over on the wheel with my finger or thumb in the bowl to keep it from becoming airborne. It works well and I am able to carefully move forward with the buffing. I lightly buff the plateau on the rim top and shank end at the same time making sure to keep the product from building up in the grooves of the finish. I finished with the Blue Diamond and moved on to buffing with carnauba wax. Once I have a good shine in the briar and vulcanite I always give the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I have found that I can get a deeper shine if I following up the wax buff with a clean buffing pad. It works to raise the shine and then I follow that up with a hand buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is always fun for me to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished vulcanite stem. It really is a beautiful pipe. The smooth finish around the bowl sides and shank show the grain shining through the rich brown stains of this Karl Erik Wenhall Langelinie Freehand. The black plateau on the shank end and rim top looked very good with some of the high points showing through in brown. The contrast in the combination looks very good. The finished pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.90 ounces/54 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipe Maker section.