Tag Archives: repairing tooth marks

Rebirthing a Lovely Republic Era Peterson’s Kapet 25 Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is a smooth Peterson’s pipe, a straight Billiard. It was also incredibly dirty. This Billiard is a real beauty under the grime with some great grain around the bowl. The grime was ground into the finish on the bowl sides. The contrast of the brown stains gave the grain a sense of depth. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [over] Kapet. The right side had the shape number 25 stamped near the bowl. Centered on the right side of the shank is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines). There was a moderate cake in the bowl and a light overflow of lava on the inner edge of the rim at the back. There was also burn damage on the inner edge of the rim at the back of the bowl. The stem was lightly oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks, chatter on the top and underside near the button. There is a P stamped on the left side of the taper. It was in great condition. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is moderately caked and the rim top has some lava and you can see the burn damage on the back inner edge. The photos of the stem show that it was oxidized and has light tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. Jeff took a photo of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe.      He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable and reads as noted above.   I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Kapet line. On page 305 it had the following information.

Kapet (1925-87) Line first described in 1925 brochure and featured in occasional catalogs through ’87. Early specimens will be stamped IRISH over FREE STATE. Described in 1937 catalog as available in dark plum or natural finish. Featured an aluminum “inner tube” or stinger until ’45. Mid-century specimens may be stamped MADE IN over IRELAND. Specimens from 1970 on may have mounts with hallmarks.

I knew that I was dealing with a Republic Era Kapet. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived.  I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top photo looks good but there is some burn damage on the inner edge at the back of the bowl and all around the inner edge there is darkening. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth marks and chatter on the surface near the button. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable.     I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe. It is a good looking pipe and has some great cross grain on the sides of the bowl.I decided to address the rim top damage first. I lightly topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to minimize the damage to the top and inner edge of the bowl. I then used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the edge a slight bevel to further minimize the damage to the rim. I think that it is definitely better once I finished. I polished the briar rim top and edges along with the rest of the briar with micromesh sanding pads –dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and using a damp cloth after each pad.       I combined a Mahogany and a Cherry stain pen to restain the rim top to match the rest of the bowl. It would match even better once it was buffed and polished.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the tooth marks on the underside of the stem with clear super glue. I let the repairs cure. Once they had cured I sanded the repairs on the underside and the chatter on the topside with 220 grit sandpaper. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I wiped it down with some Obsidian Oil.I touched up the “P” stamp on the stem with an acrylic white fingernail polish. I worked it into the stamp with a toothpick. I let it sit for a few minutes then scraped off the excess. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I am always excited to finish a restoration and this Peterson’s Kapet 25 Billiard is no exception. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished black vulcanite stem. This Classic looking Peterson’s Kapet Billiard 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 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 26 grams/.92 oz. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be on the Irish Pipe Makers section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

It has a shiny black finish so it must be an Ebony Finish – A Peterson’s System 301

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I chose to work on came to us from a pipe hunt back in 2017. Jeff found it in at an antique mall in Sandy, Utah, USA. It is a Peterson’s System 301 pipe with a black painted bowl. The ferrule is nickel and the combination looked amazing when it was new. It is a finish that Peterson called Ebony. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [over] System. On the nickel band it reads K&P [over] Peterson. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines) [over] the shape number 301. It was filthy when Jeff brought it to the table. There was a thick cake in the bowl and an overflow of lava on the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. It was hard to know what the condition of the rim top and bowl were under that thick lava coat. The nickel ferrule is heavily tarnished. The saddle stem does not have any stamping and was oxidized and had tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. It also had a Softee bit that was rotting and a lot of debris was built up around the edges. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. (When I saw the photos I realized that somewhere between when these were taken in 2017 and today in 2021 the pipe acquired a different stem. You will see that in the restoration.) Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked and the rim top and edges have a thick lava overflow. The stem is lightly oxidized and a rotting Softee Bit on the end. There is a lot of debris collected against the edges of the rotten rubber. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. He also captured the stamping on the nickel ferrule. I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s System Line. On page 314 it had the following information.

System (1891-) The Peterson System pipe is the backbone of the company’s body of work, offered continuously since 1891. Defined by its reservoir, graduated bore, and unique Peterson Lip mouthpiece, the design originated with an 1890 patent and was further refined by modifications patented in 1894 and ’98. Offered in numerous shapes and sizes, in bent and straight stemmed styles, marketed in smooth, sandblasted, rusticated or ebony finish, and rendered in briar, clay and meerschaum with mouthpieces of vulcanite, amber, horn, Bakelite, and acrylic. From 1891-1915, Systems were labeled PETERSON’S over PATENT, then from 1906-11 occasionally, PETERSON’S over PATENT over DUBLIN, followed thereafter by PETERSON’S over DUBLIN.

This pipe is stamped PETERSON’S over SYSTEM and there was a subcategory shown on the same page with that information.

Peterson’s over System. Pipes stamped Peterson’s System have been documented since 1920. A ’20 brochure is the earliest printed reference to the Peterson’s System. The pipe came in three quality grades (no mark, 2 or 3) until 1959. Thereafter as De Luxe (no mark), Premier (the old 2) and Standard (the old 3).

Judging from the description above, the pipe I am working on has an ebony finish and could have been made before 1959 as it has no grade mark as noted in red above. It reads MADE IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND in three lines which narrows the date to between approximately 1938 and the present. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

UPDATE: I just heard from a fellow on Facebook Tobacco Pipe Restorers Group. He wrote the following:  The shape 301 was not introduced until 1975. Considering the republic stamp, this one would likely date between 1975 and 2000. Also, if that is the stem the pipe originally came with, I would say this pipe is likely 1975 to mid 80s.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up this 1979 Peterson’s De Luxe pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Before & After’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. Somehow between the time Jeff worked on it in 2017 and today the stem in the photos above has disappeared and been replaced with a P-lip stem that appears to be the correct one for this pipe. I took photos of  the pipe when I brought it to the work table.   I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up (even though it is dull at this point). The rim top and inner edges around the bowl looked good. I also took close up photos of the newly inherited stem to show the tooth marks on the surface near the button. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It reads as noted above.  I also took a photo of the ferrule on the end of the shank.  I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look.I polished the rim top with 3200-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads to smooth out the inner edges and to try and minimize the scratching in the rim top. It is not flawless but it looks better. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I polished the nickel ferrule with a jeweler’s cloth to remove the oxidation and to protect it. The bowl and ferrule looked good. I set them aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks on the vulcanite with the flame of a lighter and was able to lift all of them on the topside. There was one against the edge of the button on the both sides that did not lift all the way. I filled them in with a drop of clear CA glue and set it aside to cure.    I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the repairs and then started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine.     I am excited to finish this Republic Era Peterson’s System Ebony 301 Bent Pot. I put the pipe back together and carefully buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to develop the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like the Ebony finish. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem was beautiful. This Ebony System 301 Pot is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. Even though there are a few scratches in the briar none go through the finish so I left them as a part of the pipe’s journey. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 64 grams/2.26 oz. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will soon be on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section of the store. If you want to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Restoring a Republic Era Peterson’s De Luxe XL9S Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is a Peterson’s De Luxe XL9S sandblast bent Billiard. It came to us from an antique store in Pocatello, Idaho, USA back in 10/20/17. The finish is deeply sandblasted and dirty but there is some great grain around the bowl sides and shank. The finish is otherwise in great shape. It was stamped on the underside of the shank and read Peterson’s [over] De Luxe [over] the shape number XL9S. That is followed by a three line stamp MADE IN THE [over] REPUBLIC [over] OF IRELAND. It was filthy when Jeff brought it to the table. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a thick overflow of lava on the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. It was hard to know what the condition of the rim top and bowl were under that thick lava coat. The Sterling Silver band is heavily tarnished. It is stamped as well and reads Peterson’s [over] Dublin on the top left. Further down the left side of the band it is stamped Sterling Silver. On the underside and starting up the right side it has three hallmarks – Hibernia, a Harp and the lower case letter “n”. The stem had a “P” stamped on the left side of the saddle and was oxidized and had tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked and the rim top and edges have a thick lava overflow. The stem is lightly oxidized and has tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe. The blast is quite deep and attractive. He took photos of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. He also captured the stamping on the silver band.    I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Deluxe Line. On page 297 it had the following information.

De Luxe (1915-) Introduced in newspaper advertising in 1916, production of this high-grade smooth finish model may have been stalled by the Great War and domestic disturbance. It will not appear in Peterson catalogs until ’37. Specimens documented from 1915 to the thirties are extremely rare and confined to extra-large house pipes and occasionally medium sized pipe with unconventional shapes. Specimens from 1930-1950 appear in a wide selection of Classic Range shapes, often as Canadians. Catalogs from 1937-50 list it as the ‘the finest possible quality obtainable.’ After ’50 the Supreme would supplant the De Luxe as the top of the line model, and to this day the De Luxe is a high quality pipe but not the highest. Early models often have no COM. Models from the twenties until the sixties will be stamped IRISH over FREE STATE, EIRE, LONDON MADE over ENGLAND, MADE IN over IRELAND (forming a circle) or MADE IN THE over REPUBLIC over OF IRELAND. The last three COM stamps, used from ‘38 through ’68 when no hallmarks were stamped on Peterson mountings, can never be precisely dated. If a De Luxe was made in ’69 or later it will be hallmarked with a date designator and always have a Republic COM. See also Special De Luxe.

 Judging from the description above, the pipe I am working on is stamped with the stamp noted in red above. It reads MADE IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND in three lines which narrows the date to between approximately 1938 and the present. It also has a silver Hallmark that make it a pipe made after 1969. Now it was time to narrow down the date further.

I turned to a blog I wrote on rebornpipes that had a Peterson’s catalogue and a hallmarking chart (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/peterson-hallmark-chart/). I have included it below. On the chart I looked for a lower case “n” in a hexagonal cartouche. I also included a enlargement of the chart and drawn a box around the “n” in red. It dates the  pipe to 1979. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up this 1979 Peterson’s De Luxe pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Before & After’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the work table. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top and inner edges around the bowl looked very good. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks on the surface near the button. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It reads as noted above.  I also took a photo of the band and the stamp on the left side of the saddle stem.   I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look.I decided to address the tarnish on the silver band of the pipe first. I scrubbed it with some tarnish remover and finished with a jeweler’s cloth. The silver looked very good.  I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process.    I scrubbed the surface of the stem with Soft Scrub Cleanser to remove the oxidation on the surface of the vulcanite. I “painted” the tooth marks on the vulcanite with the flame of a lighter and was able to lift all of them on the topside. There was one against the edge of the button on the underside that did not lift all the way. I filled it in with a drop of clear CA glue and set it aside to cure.     I used a folded piece of  220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the repair and then started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I painted the “P” stamp on the left side of the saddle stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. I scratched off the excess acrylic with the tooth pick and a fingernail. It looked better though the curve of the right side of the “P” was faint. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine.     I am excited to finish this Republic Era Peterson’s Deluxe XL9S Bent Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it 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. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with deep sandblast all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem was beautiful. This sandblast De Luxe XL9S is great 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 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 61grams/2.15oz. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will soon be on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section of the store. If you want to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Reuniting a Yello-Bole stem with its original Pipe and Restoring the Pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a Carburetor KBB Yello-Bole Zulu. Jeff picked it up on an online auction from New Braunfels, Texas, USA in April of 2016. It has been sitting here since then. You may wonder why once you see the photos below as it is a nice looking pipe. It is stamped on the left side of the shank with KBB in a cloverleaf followed by Carburetor [over]Yello-Bole [over] US. Pat. 2,082,106 [over] Cured with Real Honey. The stamping starts in the middle of the top of the shank and rolls down the side. On the right side it is stamped with the shape number 4501. On the underside it is stamped Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. [over] 343,331. I will have to look up both of the patents and see what I am working with. The finish on the pipe was peeling and flaking off in spots. There was a metal contraption that forms the carburetor on these pipe in the bottom of the bowl and on the heel. The bowl still had the yellow bowl coating. It appeared to have been smoked just a few time so the coating was pretty in tact. There was a light lava coat on the rim top, heavier at the back of the bowl. The inner bevel and outer edge looked very good. The stem was lightly oxidized and had tooth marks on both sides. There was a large chunk out of the underside of the stem at the button. Jeff took these photos of the pipe before he did his work.He took photos of the rim top and the stem surfaces to give a clear idea of what needed to be done with this pipe. The description above is clearly shown in the photos. He took photos of the heel of the bowl to give a clear idea of the carburetor system but also of the beautiful grain on this pipe. It really is a nice piece of briar. Jeff was able to capture the stamping on the shank very well. They are clear and readable. The only photo missing is that of the shape number on the right side of the shank. You can also see the Yellow O on the stem top.Now comes the moment of truth! Somehow (neither Jeff nor I have any memory of this) the tenon had snapped off in the shank and the stem and bowl were separated. Generally when this happens on Jeff’s end he bags the bowl and stem in a sandwich bag to keep them together. But in this case that was not done. It could have broken in transit between Idaho and Canada or I could easily have snapped it when I tried to remove the stem. I too would have bagged the parts together but somehow the two were separated. The bowl went into my box of bowls for restemming and the broken stem went into the can of stems. Seemingly never to meet again.

I took the bowl out of the box about a month ago to restem. It had a broken tenon in the shank. So I popped it in the freezer for a little while then pulled the tenon out with a screw. I was surprised to see that it had the stinger apparatus that was in these Yello-Bole pipes still in the broken tenon and it was undamaged. Jeff had done a thorough cleanup on this one so it was in great shape. I took some photos of the bowl before I started looking for a stem for the pipe. I went through my can of stems and found oval shaped stem with a snapped tenon. It was even a Yello-Bole stem so that was a bonus. Or so I thought. I still did not put it together that this was the original stem. I took the broken tenon and stinger and lined it up with the stem. It was a perfect match! Now I knew that it was the original stem and I would be able to unite the parts again. Remember at this point I had not seen Jeff’s before photos that are above showing what the pipe looked like when he bought it. All of this was a bit of a fluke! Once I saw those photos all doubt was removed but I still had no idea how they got separated. I decided to look up the patents on the US Patent site and see what I could find about about them and the date they were filed (https://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/srchnum.htm). I searched first for the US. Pat. 2,082,106 that was stamped on the top and left side of the shank. I assumed it referred to the Patent for the Carburetor but I was not certain. I found a drawing and description of the carburetor system of a patent filed by R. Hirsch on April 21, 1936 and granted on June 1, 1937. I have included those pages below. Now I had an idea of a starting date for the age of this old pipe. On the underside of the shank it was stamped with a different Patent No. It read as follows: Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. 343,331 and I had no idea what this patent referred to so I ran it through the same site’s search and found a Paten filed by A. Muller-Jacobs of New York for a coloured varnish finish. The pipe I was working on had a peeling varnish finish so that also fit well with the pipe. The patent itself was granted on June 8, 1886. I have included that document below for your purview.From there I wanted to see if I could set the date with more accuracy. I looked up a blog I had written on a Yello-Bole with a Double Carburetor to see what I had found when I had researched for that pipe (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/08/09/restoring-a-kbb-yello-bole-double-carburetor-bulldog/). I quote that blog in part below.

I Googled the brand and line to see what I could find out. Here is what I found.

The first link to me to the Kaywoodie Group and a thread on dating this particular pipe. There was a helpful exchange between lifeon2 and Bosun about a pipe that is stamped in a similar manner to the one that I have. Here is a link to the full conversation: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/kaywoodie/dating-yello-bole-pipes-t86.html

lifeon2 writes: OK so there isn’t a lot of dating information for Yello-Bole pipes but here is what I have learned so far.

  1. If it has the KBB stamped in the clover leaf it was made 1955 or earlier as they stopped the stamping after being acquired by S.M. Frank.
  2. From 1933-1936 they were stamped Honey Cured Briar.
  3. Post 1936 pipes were stamped “Cured with Real Honey”
  4. Pipes stems stamped with the propeller logo they were made in the 30s or 40s no propellers were used after the 40s.
  5. Yello Bole also used a 4 digit code stamped on the pipe in the 30s.
  6. If the pipe had the Yello Bole circle stamped on the shank it was made in the 30s this stopped after 1939.
  7. If the pipe was stamped BRUYERE rather than briar it was made in the 30s.

(Information gathered from Pipedia – https://pipedia.org/wiki/Yello-Bole)

Bosun replies: the one I have is stamped on the left side of shank:

  1. Double Carburetor
  2. yello-bole
  3. u.s.pat.off
  4. with KBB to the left of the above

underside of shank has Cured with Real Honey

right side of shank has 4907

on top of stem is the white circle

lifeon2 replies: According to the list  I have it looks like you have a late 30s model, sweet

I also turned to a blog by Andrew Selkirk on rebornpipes that also added a degree of certainty to the date of manufacture of this pipe (https://rebornpipes.com/2015/05/03/1934-35-yello-bole-carburetor/).

I can say with a fair degree of certainty that this pipe is from 1934 or 35. The carburetor patent was granted in 1935, this pipe is stamped “Pat Applied For.” Interestingly enough, it also has a patent number on the bottom of the shank. Additionally, the four digit number was used by Kaywoodie until 1936. The first two numbers indicate the finish and the second two numbers indicate the shape.

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of age of this pipe. I knew from the information from Pipedia that the KBB in a clover leaf stamp meant that the pipe was made before 1955. The Cured with Real Honey stamp placed the pipe as 1936 or after. The four digit shape code was used until 1936. The shape code on this one was 4982 thus it is another argument for 1936. The patent was given to KBB in 1935 so the stamped “Reg. US Pat. Off also places the pipe after 1935.

The information that I have gathered helps me to know with a high degree of certainty that this Carburetor pipe was made in 1936. The four digit shape number and the patent information that I have included helped identify that with certainty. I also learned that the first two numbers indicate the finish and the second two numbers indicate the shape.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. I removed the peeling varnish with some fingernail polish remover (acetone). It came of nicely and left behind a nice looking piece of briar. With that finished I set the bowl aside and turned to deal with the hardest part of this work. I needed to replace the broken tenon in the stem and I needed to repair the chip out of the underside at the button. Both would require time for the repair to cure. I decided to do the tenon replacement first. I unscrewed the stinger from the broken tenon and chose a new tenon for the replacement. I used a threaded tenon. I used a Dremel and sanding drum to remove the shoulder on the new tenon and reduce the diameter to match the broken tenon. I screwed the tenon in the new tenon and the fit was perfect. Now it was time to drill out the stem.I smoothed out the broken edge with a Dremel and sanding drum. I drilled out the airway using increasingly larger drill bits to open up the airway the depth of the threaded portion of the tenon.I reduced the diameter of the threaded portion of the tenon with the Dremel and sanding drum until the fit in the drilled out stem was snug. I coated the tenon with black super glue and put the parts together to check on the fit and look of the new tenon. I set it aside to cure while I took a break and enjoy a coffee.After coffee it was cured and I put the stem on the shank to have a look at the fit! The fit was really good and the parts looked like they belonged together. Now it was time to work on the next part of the stem repair. I took the stem off the bowl and unscrewed the tenon. I scrubbed the oxidation on the stem with Soft Scrub to get a clean surface to do the repair.I greased a folded pipe cleaner with Vaseline Petroleum Jelly so that it the repair would not stick to it. I inserted it in the slot and spread it out under the chipped area.I mixed a batch of Black super glue and activated charcoal powder to make a paste. I filled in the deep tooth mark on the top side of the stem and the button edge. I turned the stem over and layered in the fill on the chipped area. I sprayed the repairs with an accelerator to harden the super glue and give it a hard shell so that I could remove the pipe cleaner. I purposely overfill this kind of repair so that I have room to work on the shaping of the button and the stem surface. Once it was hardened to touch I pulled the folded pipe cleaner free and set the stem aside for the repair to cure. Tomorrow I will work on shaping the repaired area into a proper button.I set the stem aside to cure further and turned my attention to polishing the bowl – I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to check the progress and remove the sanding debris. It was looking very good. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about 10-15 minutes and buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The grain came alive. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to reshaping the stem. I used files to do the initial shaping and remove the excess repair material. I sanded out the file marks and shaped the button with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the vulcanite. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This nicely grained Yello-Bole 4501 Zulu turned out to be a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. (The yellow in the bowl is a bowl coating not a Meerschaum lining).The grain around the bowl and shank is quite beautiful and works well with both the shape and the polished and repaired vulcanite taper stem. With the tenon replaced and the stem rebuilt on the button end it looked very good. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Yello-Bole Zulu is another pipe that fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ 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 25g/.88oz.  I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly. You can find it in the American (US) Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Breathing Life into a Custom-Bilt Panel Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to us on 06/01/19 from an auction in New Castle, Indiana, USA. The pipe is a classic Custom-Bilt piece – a rusticated Panel Billiard shaped pipe with some nice grain around the bowl. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Custom-Bilt. Next to the stem on the underside is a triangle that appears on many of the Custom-Bilt pipes. There was a lot of grime ground into the smooth and rusticated portions of the finish on the briar. The bowl was heavily caked with an overflow of lava on the rusticated top and inner edge of the rim. The inside edges looked to be in good condition. The stem was dirty and lightly oxidized. It had tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside near the button and on the button edge. There were not markings or a logo on the taper stem. It had promise but it was very dirty. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the thickness of the cake and tobacco debris as well as the lava on the rim top rustication. He also took photos of the top and underside of the stem to show the light oxidation and the chatter and tooth marks. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar looked like. The rustication pattern around the bowl is instantly recognizable as done by Custom-Bilt. It is hard to see that the front, back, right and left side are flat which is what I call a panel. The stamping on the left side of the shank is clear and readable and read as noted above. I turned to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c8.html) to get a quick view of the brand once again. I knew that I was working with one of the older pipes and probably made by Tracy Mincer himself. He stopped making the Custom-Bilt pipes in the early 1950s. The screen capture I included below shows a brief history of the brand. I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/File:CustomBilt_Stamp1.jpg) for a quick read. The majority of the information there was two book reviews of the Custom-Bilt Story by Bill Unger.

The one line I culled was the following: “Tracy Mincer started the original Custom-Bilt pipes it appears in 1934”.

I did a screen capture of the stamping that matched the stamping on the pipe that I am working on. What I learned from that is that the stamp was used by Tracy Mincer in Indianapolis in the US from 1938-1946 and possibly in Chicago before 1938 as well. There were also some metal bits in the vulcanite and the Imported Briar stamp which made think WW2 or shortly after. So now I had a possible date for this pipe. It was an old timer and it was well worth working on.

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself.  Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe before I started my part of the restoration work. The rim top cleaned up really well. The rim top and outer edge of the bowl look very good. The stem surface looked very good with a few small tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There was a deep tooth mark on the topside of the button. The stamping on left side of the shank is clear and readable. It is stamped as noted above.I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. The tapered stem is very nice.I cleaned up the darkening on the back side of the rim top and the grooves in the rustication with a brass bristle wire brush. I was able to clean it up nicely and it looked very good.   The bowl was in excellent condition so started by rubbing the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about 10-15 minutes and buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The grain came alive. I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I sanded out the tooth chatter and light tooth marks with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the vulcanite. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.  I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Custom-Bilt Panel Billiard is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The style of rustication that is used around the bowl is quite beautiful and works well with both the shape and the polished vulcanite taper stem. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Custom-Bilt is another pipe that fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches x 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 61g/2.15oz  I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Refurbishing a Petite Savinelli de Luxe Milano 701 Lovat

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen to work on was purchased from an online auction on 03/21/19 in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, USA. The shape and design caught my eye as I was going through the pipes in the queue. The shape is what I would call a Lovat but it has a thin pencil shank and saddle stem that makes it delicate looking. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Savinelli [over] de Luxe [over] Milano. On the right side it is stamped with the Savenilli Shield S logo followed by the shape number 701 [over] Italy. The finish is very dirty with dust and grime. There were nicks around and scratches around the sides. There were two burn marks – one on the front of the heel of the bowl and one on back of the heel going onto the shank. They appeared to be burns from an ashtray. They were dark but not charred. The bowl had been reamed and was quite clean. The inner and out edge of the bowl had some dark spots on them. The rim top was quite clean. The stem is oxidized, calcified and has light tooth chatter and marks on both sides near the button. The surface of the button looks very good on both sides. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The conditions noted above are evident in the photos. Jeff took close up photos of the rim top from various angles to show the general condition of the bowl and rim. The first photo shows the clean bowl and light cake and the clean rim top. The edges look good. There appears to be a little darkening on the inner edge and a few burn marks on the outer edge on the left side. The stem has light oxidation and quite a few dents and tooth marks on both sides. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the beauty of the grain and the condition of the bowl.   The pipe is stamped on both sides of the shank and reads as noted above. The stem has a single brass bar inlaid in the left side of the saddle.  I turned to Pipedia to have a look as I knew there were some advertising flyers on the de luxe Milano (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Savinelli). I love the older Ads descriptions of the pipes. Give a careful read of the descriptions on these pipes as once I read them I want one! The pipe I am working on is described by the ads as a smooth Golden Walnut. The site also has a shape chart of the lines of Savinelli. The pipe I am working on is a 701 and the one pictured in the chart below is exactly like this one.Armed with that information I turned my attention to the pipe itself. Jeff had cleaned the pipe with his usual thoroughness that I really appreciate. He had reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar. The finish looks very good with good looking grain around the bowl and shank. The burn marks were present but not deep. Jeff soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked very good. I took photos before I started my part of the work. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. The bowl and the rim top look good. The inner edge of the rim was rough and there were some nicks in the edge. I also took close up photos of the stem to show how clean the stem was. Once it was cleaned up there were no tooth marks or chatter on either side of the stem.    I took photos of the stamping on the shank. It is very readable but faint in some spots on the sides. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the look of the pipe. It is really a great looking pipe that really follows the briar. I decided to start my work on the pipe by addressing the burn marks on the bowl heel and bottom and the inner and outer edge of the bowl. I sanded the burned areas with 220 grit sandpaper to try to minimize them and smooth them out. Though still present they look better.  I worked on the inner edge of the rim and the spots on the outer edge with 220 grit sandpaper.I filled in the deep nick/goudge in the right side of the bowl with clear super glue. I sanded it smooth and blended it into the surrounding briar with 220 grit sandpaper and smoothed it with 400 grit sandpaper.  I wiped the bowl down with 99% Isopropyl Alcohol and a cotton pad to remove the remnants of varnish and top coat on the bowl. I dry sanded the briar with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl surface down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding dust. Once I finished the exterior of the briar was clean and the grain really stood out.  I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes then buffed the pipe with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on.   I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the vulcanite with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift many of them. I filled in the remaining marks with clear super glue. Once it cured I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing it with 400 grit sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry.    I am excited to be on the homestretch with beautiful petite Savinelli de luxe Milano 701 Lovat. This is the part I look forward to when it all comes back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The beautifully grained finish looks really good with the interesting grain patterns standing out on the shape. The grain and the polished black vulcanite went really well together. This de luxe Milano Lovat was another fun pipe to work on even with the burn marks. Pipedia describes the classically shaped Savinelli pipes as having an English look that catches the eye. That certainly is true of this one. It is a comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. Even with the burn marks the pipe is still a beauty. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 31 grams/ 1.09 ounces. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your rack it will be on the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section soon. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Resurrecting And Re-Stemming A Vintage Churchwarden Cutty With Reed Shank

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

The next pipe that I selected to work on is an old, rustic no name Cutty shaped pipe with a long thin Reed shank that ended in a round orifice when I saw it for the first time. Closer examination confirmed that the round orifice was threaded implying that the stem was MIA. This pipe came to us in 2019 while Abha was in Pune and I was away at my place of work, as a part of estate sale by a French gentleman on Etsy which I am yet to chronicle. There are some really good, interesting and collectible pipes in this lot that I am looking forward to work on in coming days.

This no name Cutty shaped pipe has a steep forward cant to the stummel. This forward rake appears more pronounced as the stummel itself tapers upwards towards the rim. The stummel is as delicately and beautifully shaped as a Tulip. Here are a few pictures of the pipe as it sits on my worktable.  The complete lack of stampings of any kind on the pipe means that the provenance of the pipe cannot be ascertained with documented evidence. However, given the shape, construction, condition and the materials used in making this pipe makes me believe that this was a locally made pipe from the early 20th century. I may be wrong in my appreciation (primarily dictated by inert desire/wish for this pipe to be an old timer!) as I am vastly inexperienced as compared to many of the esteemed readers of rebornpipes and would be glad to learn more about such pipes from them.

Having placed my request, I now move on to the initial visual inspection.

Initial Visual Inspection
As noted at the start of this write up, this pipe came with a threaded reed shank end that is now missing the stem that would have come with a threaded tenon to seat in to the shank. Given the retro and vintage look of the pipe, I think the stem would have been a bone/ horn or Amber with a bone tenon. So the first step in this restoration would have to be selecting a suitable bone stem with threaded tenon. The shank end face shows two cracks on opposite sides of the shank (encircled in yellow) which would need to be addressed. The stummel end of the reed is upturned, flared and hollowed with threads to seat the stummel and at the bottom of which is the short foot. The threaded surface is covered in dried oils and gunk causing the draught hole to clog. This would have to be cleaned and opened. The entire length of the shank is covered in dirt and grime giving it a dull and dirty appearance. The chamber has a decent layer of cake that is even from top to the bottom of the bowl. The rim top is covered in overflow of lava and hides any dents or chips on the smooth surface. The rim is significantly dark and thin on one side and is encircled in pastel blue. This makes the chamber out of round and gives a lopsided appearance to the top view of the stummel. The bottom of the stummel is threaded and seats atop the threaded reed shank. The threaded area shows heavy accumulation of oils, ash and gunk all around and even within the threads. Cleaning this area would ensure a flush and snug seating of the bowl over the shank.The briar has taken on a nice dark brown patina over a long period of time and prolonged use which when polished and cleaned, should contrast beautifully with the light hues of the long reed shank. There are a few dents and fills (marked in yellow circle) over the entire stummel surface that is visible through the dirt and grime that covers the surface. Truth be told, the stummel does not boast of complete flamboyant straight or bird’s eye or flame grains over the surface, but a mixed pattern of swirls and flame grains that is attractive enough to hold your attention. Preserving the deep brown aged patina will be the primary concern in this bowl refurbishing. The Process
I started the restoration of this pipe with the removal of the carbon cake from the walls of the chamber. Using my fabricated knife, I carefully removed the cake from the chamber to expose the chamber walls. It was heartening to note that there are no heat related issues in the surface of the walls. I smoothed out the surface by sanding the walls with a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper. To remove the last traces of residual carbon dust, I wiped the chamber with a cotton swab wetted with 99.9% pure alcohol. I further cleaned the draught hole at the bottom center of the bowl with a pointed dental tool. The hardened cake had greatly reduced the diameter of the draught hole and ran a pipe cleaner dipped in alcohol to clean it further.Next, I cleaned the threaded bottom of the stummel that seats atop the long reed shank with a dental tool. I scraped out the entire dried gunk that had accumulated in the hollow space as well as from in between the threads. I further cleaned the bottom of the stummel with q-tips and alcohol.With the preliminary cleaning of the internals of the stummel completed, I turned to cleaning the internals of the long reed shank. With my fabricated pointed tool and round needle file, the dried oils and tars that had formed a block at the neck of the shank and stummel junction was removed and cleaned. I scraped out all the dried debris from the surface of the shank end with a sharp dental tool. I ran a few long pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol through the airway of the stem till the pipe cleaners emerged white.I cleaned the exteriors of the stummel and the reed shank with Murphy’s Oil soap and a tooth brush. I ensured that all the tars and grime was cleaned from both the surfaces. This cleaning has revealed the exact extent of damage to the rim top surface. The area where the rim has thinned out also shows signs of charring which would need to be addressed. I dried the shank surface with a soft paper towel and ran a fluffy pipe cleaner through the shank airway to dry it out. Now that the stem surface is rid of the dirt and grime, the cracks at the shank end are clearly discernible and so is the surprise revelation of a crack at the base of the threaded portion of the shank (encircled in red).I marked the end points of the shank end cracks and that at the stummel end with marker pen under magnifying glass. I shall drill counter holes at the marked end of each of the crack to prevent the further spread of these cracks. I used a 1 mm drill bit mounted on my hand held rotary tool to drill the counter holes… …and filled these and the cracks with clear CA superglue. I set the reed shank aside for the superglue to cure. The external cleaning had not only exposed an additional crack at the stummel end of the shank, it had also exposed all the fills and dings over the stummel surface. With a thin sharp knife, I gouged out all the old fills from the surface and cleaned the area with isopropyl alcohol in preparation of filling these gouged out surfaces with a mix of briar dust and CA superglue. I use the layering method to fill these pits in the briar. After all the fills were repaired, I set the stummel aside for the fills to harden and cure completely.The shank repairs had cured by the following noon when I got back from work. Using a flat needle file, I evened out the fills to roughly match the rest of the shank surface. I fine tuned the match by sanding the fills with a folded piece of 320 grit sand paper. Did I mention having customized a sterling silver band for providing additional support against the crack’s lateral expansion? I guess not. Here in India, our local Silversmiths are very skilled in turning jewelry and at repairs right in front of their customers at very affordable rates. Steve and Jeff are witnesses to such craftsmanship when they had visited us in India. Long and short of the story is that I got a 1.5 inch long silver band customized for this shank and fixed it over the shank end with superglue. That crack isn’t going any further now.Now that the cracks have been repaired and stabilized, the next goal was to find the right stem to go with the overall profile of the pipe. I selected a couple of suitable bone stems from my stash of spares and asked for Abha’s opinion. She selected a horn stem that was perfectly matched in size and shape with the shank. However, the stem came with its own set of challenges. First, the tenon was broken with half of it sticking inside the stem and secondly, the top section of the stem surface was partially sliced (encircled in blue), but remained firmly attached. Notwithstanding these issues, the stem matched the profile of the pipe to the T and looks amazing. The first issue with the stem that I dealt with was removal of the broken half of the tenon. I mounted a drill bit slightly larger than the tenon opening on to my hand held rotary tool and carefully drilled it inside the tenon. Once the drill bit had a firm grip on the tenon, I turned the motor counter clockwise and dislodged the tenon remnants from the stem revealing a threaded stem end.I would need to identify a threaded bone tenon that would match the shank and stem threads for a perfectly aligned seating. I rummaged through my spare parts box and came up with a bone tenon that was threaded at one end and smooth conical shaped at the other end. The seating of the smooth side of the tenon into the stem was perfect and so was the threaded end into the shank end snug and aligned. The Pipe Gods are especially favoring me it seems. A perfectly matching, period correct horn stem and a perfectly matching bone tenon are nothing short of a miracle.Before fixing the tenon, I cleaned out the stem internals using anti-oil dish washing soap and thin shank brushes. I scrubbed the external surface with soap and Scotch Brite pad. Using paper towels and pipe cleaners, I dried the stem externals and airway respectively. I inserted a petroleum jelly (Vaseline) coated tapered pipe cleaner through the tenon and stem airway and out through the round orifice opening at the slot end. This serves two purposes, firstly, perfect alignment of the tenon and stem airway is ensured and secondly, the petroleum jelly prevents the superglue from seeping into the airway and clogging it shut once the glue has dried. I roughed out the smooth surface of the tenon with a needle file to provide better bonding surface and applied superglue over the smooth surface of the tenon and over the threads in the stem and inserted the tenon into the stem. I wiped the excess glue from the surface and held the two together for the glue to harden a bit and then set it aside for the superglue to harden completely. While the stem was set aside for the glue to cure, I sanded the stummel fills with a flat needle file. To further even out the filled areas and address the minor dents and dings over the stummel surface, I sanded it with a worn out piece of 220 grit sand paper till smooth.Next I addressed the issue of the charred and out of round chamber. I began with topping the rim over a 220 grit sand paper, frequently checking for the progress being made. I stopped once the charred surface was reduced to an acceptable- to- me level and the thickness of the rim top was close to even all round. To get the chamber back to round, I created a bevel over the inner and outer edge with a folded piece of 180 grit sand paper. I am pretty pleased with the progress being made thus far.While I had been working on the stummel, the tenon fix to the stem had set solid. I checked the seating of the tenon in to the shank end and it was snug and perfectly aligned.There was this issue of sliced top surface on the stem which I addressed next. I applied clear CA superglue over and under the sliced surface and set the stem aside to cure. I sprayed an accelerator over the superglue to hasten the process of curing. Once the stem repairs were set, with a needle file, I sanded the fill to achieve a rough match with the stem surface. I further fine tuned the match by sanding the entire stem surface with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I applied a little EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) to the reed shank and stem and set it aside to be absorbed into the surface. While the shank and stem were set aside to absorb the EVO, I dry sanded and polished the stummel surface with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. Dry sanding with micromesh pads helps to preserve the patina of the old briar and is a trick I use when restoring all my vintage pipes. I rubbed a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration” balm which moisturizes and enlivens the briar. I let the stummel absorb the balm for 15- 20 minutes and then gave the stummel a rigorous hand buff with a micromesh cloth. The transformation in the appearance of the stummel is phenomenal and immediate. With the stummel now refurbished and rejuvenated, I turned my attention back to the shank and horn stem. I polished the shank and stem by wet sanding using 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. I rubbed a little “Before and After” balm in to the reed shank and a little EVO in to the stem. All that remained was a polish with Blue Diamond compound and final wax coating using Carnauba Wax. I mounted a cotton buffing wheel earmarked for Blue Diamond compound on to my hand held rotary tool and applied a coat of the compound over the stummel surface to polish out the minor scratches. With a cotton buffing wheel that I use for carnauba wax, I applied a coat of carnauba wax to the stummel and stem and continued to work on it till the complete coat of wax had been polished out. I mounted a clean cotton cloth buffing wheel and gave the entire pipe a once over buff. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine further. The finished pipe is shown below. This pipe shall find its way to my collection based purely on its delicate stunning looks and uniqueness of the shape. P.S. The Pipe God was definitely smiling down upon me as I worked this pipe. Rarely does it happen that the replacement stem is a perfect size match and the new tenon is period correct and fits in the shank like a glove.

The most difficult part of this restoration for me was…can you guess? Please let me know your guess in the comments below and a big thank you for your valuable time in reading the write up.

Praying for you and yours… Be safe and stay safe.

Saving a Parker

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

Next on the chopping block is a beautiful sandblasted pipe by Parker of London. I purchased a group of pipes from a fellow in the Eastern US. It was definitely a mixed bag of very good and very bad. Some pipes were destroyed beyond repair, some pipes were filthy but repairable, some stems were missing their stummels, and some stummels were missing their stems. However, there were a handful that were in decent condition when I found them and they just needed a helping hand – this Parker was one of those. Apologies in advance for the paucity of photographs. I guess I just got carried away with the work! Parker of London has an interesting history. Our friends over at Pipedia have provided this information:

In 1922 the Parker Pipe Co Limited was formed by Alfred Dunhill to finish and market what Dunhill called its “failings” or what has come to be called by collectors as seconds. Previous to that time, Dunhill marketed its own “failings”, often designated by a large “X” over the typical Dunhill stamping or “Damaged Price” with the reduced price actually stamped on the pipe. While the timing and exact nature of the early relationship remains a bit of mystery, Parker was destined to eventually merge with Hardcastle when in 1935 Dunhill opened a new pipe factory next door to Hardcastle, and purchased 49% of the company shares in 1936. In 1946, the remaining shares of Hardcastle were obtained, but it was not until 1967 when Parker-Hardcastle Limited was formed. It is evident through the Dunhill factory stamp logs that Parker and Dunhill were closely linked at the factory level through the 1950s, yet it was much more than a few minor flaws that distinguished the two brands. After the war, and especially after the mid 1950s the differences between Parker and Dunhill became even more evident, and with the merger of Parker with Hardcastle Pipe Ltd, in 1967 the Parker pipe must be considered as an independent product. There is no record of Parker ever being marketed by Dunhill either in its retail catalog or stores. Parker was a successful pipe in the US market during the 1930s up through the 1950s, at which point it faded from view in the US, while continuing to be popular in the UK. Pipedia goes on to say that the old Parkers had a patent number and dating code, but these were gone by 1957. I do not know the specific age of this pipe, but since it is missing both a patent number and dating code, it is safe to say that it was made after 1957. This sandblasted Parker has the following markings on the stummel: Parker of London [over] Bark 576. The stem has the letter P inside a diamond on the topside and it also has the word France on the underside. Furthermore, the following photo, showing one of Parker’s brochures, indicates that the model number 576 is a bent Dublin.Fortunately, this Parker was in pretty good shape when it came to me and that certainly made my job easier. There were a few small discolourations to the stummel and the overall colour was dull, but nothing too serious. The stem had a few nicks and dents, but I was not concerned. Really, this pipe just needed a day at the salon in order to look its best.

The stem was first on my list. I took a BIC lighter and ‘painted’ the stem with its flame in order to lift the marks. This was only modestly successful in raising the dents. Then, I cleaned out the insides of the stem with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. It was a bit dirty, but not too bad and I only went through a few pipe cleaners in order to clean it up.I then scrubbed then stem vigorously with SoftScrub to clean it up nicely. Before I moved on to the Micromesh pads, I built up the small dents on the stem with cyanoacrylate adhesive and let them fully cure. I then sanded it down with 220-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpapers to meld the repair seamlessly into the stem. This ensures that it keeps its shape and looks like it should. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing.

On to the stummel, and the usual cleaning procedures were in order for this pipe. I used both the PipNet Reamer to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper to remove as much as I could. I wanted to take the bowl down to bare briar to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the walls of the bowl. Fortunately, there were none. I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and isopropyl alcohol. There wasn’t too much nastiness inside this stummel – it only took a handful of pipe cleaners etc. to sort that out. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some dish soap and tube brushes. I then moved on to cleaning the outside of the stummel with Murphy’s Oil Soap, a toothbrush, and some cotton pads. That removed any remaining dirt. Fortunately, there was no notable damage to the stummel, so I didn’t have to address that. However, I did do some touch ups to the black stain with my furniture pens. Since the pipe had a sandblast finish, I obviously did not use the Micromesh pads to sand everything. Instead, a light application of Before & After Restoration Balm brought out the best in the stummel’s grain.

Then it was off for a trip to the buffer. A dose of White Diamond and a few coats of Halcyon II wax were just what this pipe needed. The lovely shine gave the wood a deep black look.

In the end, what a beauty this pipe is! It is back to its old glory and ready to be enjoyed again by the 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 ‘British’ 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 145 mm/ 5 ¾ inches; height 50 mm/ 2 inches; bowl diameter 38 mm/ 1 ½ inches; chamber diameter 21 mm/ .80 inches. The mass of the pipe is 47 grams/ 1.65 ounces. I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much I 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.

Restemming & Restoring a Comoy’s Christmas 1987 Shape 42 Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

This morning I went through my box of stummels (bowls) again and picked out a Bent Billiard bowl that had some promise. I went through my can of stems and found a taper stem that needed some work but was a good fit. The pipe I chose to work on is an interesting Comoy’s Bent Billiard with a mixture grain around the sides. The rim top was had some darkening and some roughness on the front outer edge of the bowl. The inner edge of the bowl looked good. The interior of the bowl was clean without chips, cracks or checking on the walls. The finish was dirty and tired but still quite redeemable. The stamping on the pipe was clear and readable. On the left side it read COMOY’s [over] Christmas [over] 1987. On the right side it had the normal circular Comoy’s COM stamp Made in London in a circle [over] England below that was the shape number 42. I took some photos of the bowl before I started to work on it. I took a photo of the stamping on the left and right sides of the shank. It reads as noted above and is clear and readable.I went through some of stems and found a taper vulcanite stem that had been used previously. It had some calcification and oxidation on the surface and had tooth marks on both sides near the button.The tenon would need to be shortened slightly but I put it on the shank and took some photos of what it looked like at this point.I started my work on the bowl by dealing with the damage to the rim top and outer edge of the bowl. I lightly topped the rim on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. I worked over the inner beveled edge of the rim with a folded piece of sandpaper to remove some of the darkening. It was definitely an improvement. I polished the rim top and the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth between each pad. The bowl began to take on a shine as I went through the various pads. I stained the top of the bowl with a Cherry stain pen to blend in better with the rest of the bowl colour. It will definitely blend well once the pipe is buffed and polished.I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The grain really came alive. It looks better than when I began. With the bowl finished it was time to focus on the stem. I took out the stem and worked on the fit in the tenon. I shortened the length with a Dremel and sanding drum and it fit very well. I used a heat gun to soften the vulcanite enough to give it the proper bend.While I was bending the stem I also heated the bite marks in the stem. I was able to lift many of the tooth mark. I filled in the remaining tooth marks on the button surface and just ahead of it on the underside with clear super glue and set the stems aside to let the repairs cure.    Once the repairs cured I smoothed them out with a small file and started blending them into the surface of the stem. I sanded the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend it into the stem surface. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I don’t know if this ever happens to you but I was so busy fitting and shaping the stem that I forgot to clean out the inside!! I paused now to do that. I scrubbed out the airway with 99% isopropyl alcohol and pipe cleaners. It was really dirty! Not any more.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth and Obsidian Oil. I finished the polishing with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I put the pipe back together – the bowl with its new stem. This restemmed and restored Comoy’s Christmas 1987 Shape 42 Bent Billiard is a real beauty and I think that the chosen stem works well with it. The grain on the bowl came alive with the buffing. I used Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel on both the bowl and stem. I gave both multiple coats of carnauba wax on the wheel then buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The Comoy’s Bent Billiard feels great in the hand. It is lightweight and the contrast in the browns of the briar, the Silver band and the polished vulcanite stem with the popping grain on the mixed brown stained bowl is quite amazing. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.41 ounces/40 grams. It really is a beauty. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the  British Pipe Makers section shortly if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restemming and the restoration with me. Cheers.  

Restoring a Lovely Barling 5959 Regency Oom Paul

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I chose to work on an interesting looking Oom Paul shaped briar pipe that Jeff picked up from an online auction on 11/08/18 in Romney, West Virginia, USA. It was an interesting Oom Paul that has some great grain around the bowl and shank. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Barling [over] 5959 [over] London England. On the right side it is stamped Regency in script [over] EXEL [over] T.V.F. So it is a Barling pipe. I will need to do a bit of work on the stamping to identify when it was made. The stem is a vulcanite saddle stem that had a rotting and cracking rubber Softee Bit on the end. The briar was very dirty and the front of the bowl had been knocked against a hard surface and was damaged and rough. There was a thick cake in the bowl and an over flow of lava covered the rim top. The stem was oxidized, calcified and the rubber Softee bit was worn. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. He took some photos of the bowl, rim top and edges to show the condition of the pipe before he started. There appeared to be some damage on the inner edge at the back of the bowl. The outer edge at the front was a real mess. He took photos of the stem with the Softee Bit in place and with it removed. It really is a mess with oxidation, calcification and tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem.He took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. It is clear and readable as is noted above.He took a photo of the side and heel of the bowl to show the grain that was on this particular piece of briar. It was a beauty.I checked the usual sources for information on the Barling Regency and did not come up with much. I am pretty certain it is a Post Transition Era pipe from the late 1960s to 1970s. I cannot narrow it down much further than that so I know that it is a new pipe (still over 50years old at least). Now it was time to move on to the pipe itself.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe in his usual manner. He had reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed that up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife afterward. He took the cake back to bare briar and the bowl looked very good. He scrubbed the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs to remove the oils and tars. He scrubbed the externals with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the briar. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in a bath of Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed it off with warm water and dried it with a coarse cloth to remove the remaining oxidation. The tooth marks are visible in the photos of the stem surfaces below. The pipe looked very good once it arrived here in Vancouver. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work. I took a photo of the rim top and bowl to show the condition of the briar. You can see the damage on the outer edge of the bowl on the front side. The top surface is scratched and marred. The inner edge of the bowl shows some burn damage on the back of the bowl. The stem looked good but the tooth marks are very visible.The next photos show the stamping on both sides of the shank. It is clear and readable though faint. The grain is also quite stunning.I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to give a sense of the proportion of the bowl and the stem.I decided to start by dealing with damage to the inner and outer edge of the bowl and clean up the rim top. I began with the inner edge and used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage there and begin a slight bevel on the edge. I topped the bowl to clean up the top and to deal with the damage on the front outer edge. I took photos of the refreshed rim top and edges. It looked much better. I polished the rim top and the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth between each pad. The bowl began to take on a shine as I went through the various pads. I stained the top of the bowl with a Maple stain pen to blend in better with the rest of the bowl colour. It will definitely blend well once the pipe is buffed and polished.I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. If you look you can see the many small fills in the briar but they actually blend in surprisingly well. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the stem on both sides with the flame of a lighter. I was able to lift many of the tooth mark. I filled in the remaining tooth marks on the button surface and just ahead of it on the underside with clear super glue and set the stems aside to let the repairs cure.    Once they cured I smoothed out the repairs with a small file and started blending them into the surface of the stem (I forgot to take photos of that part of the process). I sanded the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend it into the stem surface. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. This Barling Regency 5959 Oom Paul with a vulcanite saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The rich browns and blacks of the contrasting stains came alive with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Barling Regency Oom Paul is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 4 inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 64 grams/2.26 ounces. I will be putting this Barling on the British Pipe Makers section of the rebornpipes store shortly if you want to add it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!