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Karl Erik Handmade in Denmark 225 Rusticated Poker

by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that we picked up from a seller in Ogden, Utah, USA on 12/21/2024. It is deep and uniquely rusticated Pot with a saddle stem. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Karl Erik [over] Handmade in Denmark [over] the shape number 225. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above. The pipe has some grime and oils ground into the rustication around the bowl and shank. The bowl had a thick cake and there was thick lava in the deep rustication on the rim top and edges. The inner and outer edges appeared to be undamaged. Cleaning would make that clear. The vulcanite saddle stem was oxidized and dirty with deep tooth marks and chatter ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe to show what it looked like before he started working on it. Jeff took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl, lava overflow and the general condition of the pipe. The photos of the stem to show the condition of both sides of the stem as noted above. He took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the interestingly textured rustication around the bowl and shank. It really is a beautifully rusticated piece of briar. The finish is nice but it also dirty with dust ground into the deeper portions of the finish. Jeff took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. 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.

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The bowl walls looked very good. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, shank brushes, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with undiluted 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 Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show how clean it was. The top and the inner edge of the rim look very good. There is a little darkening on the top that I will address and see if I can lessen. The stem looks clean of debris and grime. There is tooth chatter on the stem surface on both sides but otherwise it looks good.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank of the pipe. The stamping is clear and readable. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe.I worked over the rusticated rim top with a brass bristle wire brush to clean out the remnants of the debris. It looked much better. The bowl was very clean so I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips and into the deep rustication with a shoe brush. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a lighter to lift the tooth marks and had mixed success. All of the marks on the topside were lifted. The one remaining on the back I filled in with some rubberized black CA glue. Once the repairs cured I used a flat file to blend them into the surface and followed that with some 220 grit sandpaper. It looked better. Polishing would finish the work. I continued the sanding process with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. After each pad I wiped the stem down with some Obsidian Oil to clearly show me the scratches and areas that still needed work. It was really looking good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. Once again, I wiped it down between each pad with Obsidian Oil. I further polished it with Before and After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another rub down with Obsidian Oil. It looked very good. I am really happy with the way that this Heavily Rusticated Karl Erik Bent Poker/ Cherrywood with a saddle stem turned out. It really is a beautiful looking pipe with a unique shape and deep rustication completed by a vulcanite saddle stem. The briar really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown stains of the finish gave the pipe a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. I 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. 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. The finished Karl Erik Rusticated Cherrywood really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 52 grams/1.83 ounces. I will be putting the pipe on the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipe Makers Section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. It should be a great smoking pipe.

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 come after us.

Restoring a Camillo Rusticated 112 Italy oval shank Billiard

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that we picked up from a seller on eBay from Harrison Township, Michigan, USA. It is rusticated oval shank Billiard with a saddle stem. It is stamped on the underside of the shank. The stamp reads Camillo [over] 112. It is stamped Italy at the shank/stem junction. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above. The pipe has some grime and oils ground into the rustication on the bowl and shank. The bowl had a thick cake and there was lava on the rusticated rim top or edges. The edges looked to be undamaged and possibly protected by the lava. Cleaning would make that clear. The oval saddle stem was lightly oxidized, calcified, dirty with tooth marks and chatter ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe to show what it looked like before he started working on it. Jeff took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl, lava overflow and the general condition of the pipe. The photos of the stem to show the condition of both sides of the stem as noted above. He took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the interestingly textured rustication around the bowl and shank. It really is a beautifully rusticated piece of briar. The finish is nice but it also dirty with dust ground into the finish. Jeff took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I could not find any information on the Camillo Brand of pipes. I knew it was made in Italy but had no other information on Pipephil’s site of Pipedia. I googled the brand and found nothing listed. So with no info it was time to work on the pipe.

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The bowl walls looked very good. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, shank brushes, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with undiluted 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 Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show how clean it was. The top and the inner edge of the rim look very good. There is a little darkening on the top that I will address and see if I can lessen. The stem looks clean of debris and grime. There is light tooth chatter on the stem surface on both sides but otherwise it looks good.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank of the pipe. The stamping is clear and readable. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe.The bowl was very clean so I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a lighter to lift the tooth marks and had mixed success. All of the marks on the topside were lifted. The one remaining on the back I filled in with some rubberized black CA glue. Once the repairs cured I used a flat file to blend them into the surface and followed that with some 220 grit sandpaper. It looked better. Polishing would finish the work. I continued the sanding process with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. After each pad I wiped the stem down with some Obsidian Oil to clearly show me the scratches and areas that still needed work. It was really looking good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. Once again, I wiped it down between each pad with Obsidian Oil. I further polished it with Before and After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another rub down with Obsidian Oil. It looked very good. I am really happy with the way that this Rusticated Camillo 112 Oval Shank Billiard with a saddle stem turned out. It really is a beautiful looking pipe with a unique shape and combining a smooth bowl and a vulcanite saddle stem. The briar really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown stains of the finish gave the pipe a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. I 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. 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. The finished Camillo Rusticated 112 Billiard really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 47 grams/1.59 ounces. I will be putting the pipe on the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. It should be a great smoking pipe.

Restoring a Badly Burned Out Peterson’s Kapmeer 407 Prince

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by Steve Laug

Several months ago, now I received an email from Jake about a Peterson’s Prince that he had that had a burnout in the bottom of the bowl. I asked him to send me photos of the pipe so that I could see what the issues were with the pipe. The photos showed the large hole in the bottom of the bowl. The hole is the same diameter as the inner walls of the bowl by the looks of the photo. I did not know what the brand mark on the pipe was as we never spoke about it. My guess about it was that the stem made me think of a Dunsmore or perhaps a Kapmeer pipe. We talked about it and what it would cost to restore it. Jake said he would send it up for work. Time passed and I really forgot about the pipe then on the weekend Jake wrote that he was mailing it. I told him I would keep an eye out for it and early this week the pipe arrived. Here are the photos that Jake sent me to show me the damage. When I unpacked the box I took the pipe out and had a look at it. The hole was quite large and the edges of the hole were thin and chipping. The stem was very oxidized and had some tooth marks on the top and the underside ahead of the button.
I took a photo of the bowl to show the size of what I was dealing with. The liner on the walls of the bowl were meerschaum. I believe that originally the Kapmeer had a Meerschaum tube on the walls that did not have a meerschaum bottom. I took photos of the stem to show its condition. The stem was oxidized and had tooth chatter and marks on the top and underside of the stem ahead of the button. The pipe is stamped around the sides of the shank. I took photos of the stamping and have included them below. They are clear and readable. The stamping on the left side read Peterson’s [over] KAPMEER. On the left side of the stem there was a stamped “P” that was clear and readable. The stamping on the right side read Made In [over] Great Britain. On the underside of the shank it was stamped with the shape number 407. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to give a sense of what it looked like. I started my repair on the burnout by cleaning up the pipe. I carefully reamed the thick cake out of the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I scraped the cake off the walls of the bowl. I sanded the bowl out with sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel to remove any residual cake and smooth out the meerschaum.I used a pen knife to clean of the edge of the hole in the bottom of the bowl. I cut out all of the burned and thin areas on the hole. I cut a piece of briar out of the heel of a sacrificial old pipe. I cut a bit bigger than the hold as I would need to shape and fit it in the hole. I used the shape of the inner edge of the bowl and rim to set the shape of the plug that I was going to use on the repair. I used a Dremel to reduce the edges and make the plug round. I scored the back edge with the Dremel where the airway entered the bowl. I would reduce the edges of the plug to fit in the hole from the outside. I used a Dremel and sanding drum as well as several files to shape of the bottom of the plug to the same size as the hole in the bottom. Once it was shaped I fit it to the hold in the bottom. I glued it in place with clear CA glue. I filled in the gaps around the plug with briar dust and super glue. When the glue cured I sanded the repair smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I took a photo of the inside of the bowl. It shows some of the glue from the plug around the edges. I mixed a batch of JB Weld and pressed it into the bottom of the bowl. I used a folded pipe cleaner and pipe nail to press it into the bottom. I raised the bottom of the bowl to the bottom of the entrance of the airway.I sanded the outside of the bowl and the rim top with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. The repair blended into the surrounding briar. There was some darkening around the outer edge of the patch. I stained the repaired burnout with a Walnut stain pen. It is a different piece of briar but the colour is a close match.I polished the briar with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it and then wiped it down after each sanding pad to remove the sanding dust. It began to take on a shine. The exterior of the bowl looks better after polishing. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation on the surface of the stem. It took some work but I was able to remove a lot of the oxidation.I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift some of them. I filled in the few that remained with a rubberized black CA glue. Once it cured I use a small flat file to smooth out the repairs on the stem surface. I followed that up by sanding it with a folded 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded the stem surface with 220 grit sand paper to smooth out the repairs. I forgot to take photos of this part of the process. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the scratching, oxidation and further polishing the stem surface.I touched up the “P” logo stamp on the left side of the stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. Once it cured I scraped of the excess and sanded the surrounding area with 1500 grit sanding pads. It looked very good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grits pads. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil Cloth after each pad. There still seems to be some oxidation around the stem. But it looks much better. I mixed a batch of sour cream and charcoal powder and painted the bottom of the bowl with a folded pipe cleaner. The mixture cures hard and flavourless and protects the repaired bottom of the bowl. With the burned out bowl repaired, the bowl cleaned and restored I put the polished stem back on the shank. The Peterson’s Kapmeer 407 Prince looked beautiful. Even the repaired burnout on the bottom of the bowl looked interesting with the dark ring around it on the bowl bottom. I buffed the pipe Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and worked over the briar and the vulcanite with it. The buffer brought out a rich shine on the bowl and stem. I gave it multiple coats of Carnauba wax and then buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I had buffed the pipe with a soft cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain all around it. The pipe looks great with the black vulcanite stem. This smooth Peterson’s Kapmeer 407 Meerlined Prince 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 inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 29 grams/0.99 ounces. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will be sending it back to Jake soon. He is looking forward to enjoying it once again. 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 P.L. Perri & Son flat bottom Rhodesian

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is a beautifully grained and smooth finished Rhodesian sitter with a briar cap and twin rings around the cap like a well made Rhodesian. It has a well shaped taper vulcanite stem. It came to us on August 22, 2024 from a friend in Barrington, Rhode Island, USA. The contrast of the brown stains makes the grain stand out. It was stamped left side of the shank and read P.L. Perri & Son. There was no other stamping on the shank sides of bottom. The pipe was quite clean. It had obviously been reamed recently. The bowl was clean and the smooth rim top was dirty a few spots of lava on the surface. The black vulcanite taper stem was in good condition other than being a bit dirty. The stem surface had some chatter and tooth marks on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. There was no logo on the stem that identifies it as a Perri pipe. Other than that, the stem was in good shape. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is clean though it appeared that there were some spots of lava on the top and inner edge of the bowl. The stem is oxidized, calcified and grimy with light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. The grain is quite beautiful around the sides of the bowl and shank. It is a nice looking pipe. He took a photo of the left side of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photo below and is as noted above.Before I started my work on the pipe I wanted to gain background information. I remember meeting Paul many years ago now at Chicago and had good memories of that meeting but I wanted to learn more about his pipes. I turned first to Pipephil’s site to see what he had in summary about the brand (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-p1.html#paulperri), I did a screen capture of the information and quoted the side bar as well. The stamping shown in the first photo below is the same as the one I am working on.Artisan: Paul Perri (retired 1997 in Hawai). He was the first mentor of Trever Talbert.

From there I turned to Pipedia for some more details (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Perri). I quote below.

Denoted as Paul L. Perri & Son, pipemakers, Manhattan Beach, CA. Paul was still making when he reached 100 years of age, and may have been the oldest living pipe maker. He passed away just short of his 101st birthday in December of 2021.

Paul was well known in California, but less so in other parts of the country and the world. He was a formative influence on a number of American pipe makers, including Trever Talbert. The sandblasted lovat shown bellow typifies Paul’s work, which consists of larger classic shapes with slight twists here and there.

Chance Whittamore, a well respected pipe restorer who was fortunate enough to spend time with him believes “…nobody, living or dead, had the combination of pipe knowledge, depth and breadth, that Paul did.”

There was also a reference to a beautiful piece that Marty Pulvers wrote celebrating Paul’s life and work. I am including that link as well (https://www.pulverspriorbriar.com/my-life-in-pipes/dytn7osvvwmecilhpf11fx7nu420gp?rq=Paul%20Perri).

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. Surprisingly the walls looked unscathed from the cake. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, shank brushes, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with undiluted 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 cleaned the inside and outside of the stem and soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed of the residue and buffed it up with a towel. I took photos of the pipe when it arrived. I took a close-up photo of the rim top to show the condition of the bowl and inner edge of the bowl and the stem. The bowl is clean and the lava on the rim top and edges cleaned up very well. The stem photos show that it also cleaned up very well. The tooth marks and chatter are visible and I will need to deal with them.I took a photo of the stamping on the side of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the parts of the pipe. It is a large and quite unique pipe.I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down between pads with a damp cloth. It really began to take on a deep shine. The exterior of the bowl looks better after polishing. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” it with the flame of a lighter to try and lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift the majority of them. The deeper ones that remained came up some but I filled them in with some rubberized Black CA glue. Once the repairs cured I flattened them and recut the button edge with a small file. I sanded the stem surface smooth with 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded the stem further with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the debris. The stem really began to look good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil to further protect the vulcanite surface. I finished the polishing with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped the stem down a final time with Obsidian Oil and a cloth. It really looks very good. I am excited to finish this beautifully grained, Perri & Son Rhodesian Sitter. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain all around it. The pipe looks great with the black vulcanite stem. This smooth Perri & Son Rhodesian 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 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 57 grams/2.05 ounces. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly in the American Pipe Makers Section if you are interested in it. 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 Dunhill Black Briar 32 F/T Circle 4 Opera Pipe

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that we picked up in the lot from our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark on 08/09/2024. The shape, grain, finish and the Dunhill stamping is what caught our eye. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads 32 F/T next to the bowl/shank union followed by Dunhill [over] Black Briar. On the right side it is stamped Made in [over] England15 followed by a Circle 4. It has a classic dark Black Briar smooth finish that is a stark contrast to vulcanite taper stem. The bowl appears to be heavily caked and the inner edge and the top show some lava overflow. The inner edge is quite rough with nicks and cuts taking the oval shape of the Opera Pipe and straining it. The stem is heavily oxidized and calcified which is quite normal for what I see. It also has some deeper tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button and on the surface of the button edge. The classic white spot is on the top of the stem and looks to be in good condition. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up. He took some photos of the rim top and bowl from various angles to give me a clear picture of the condition of the rim top and bowl. You can see the damage on the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. There is some lava on the rim top and edges as well as part of the cake in the bowl. He included photos that show the top and underside of the stem. It is as described above. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos showed some great grain around the bowl and shank. It is a great looking piece of briar. He took some photos of the stamping on the sides of the bowl and shank. The stamping was clear and readable as noted above. As is my regular practice, before I started my work on the pipe, I turned to Pipedia’s section on Dunhill Bruyere Pipes to get a refresh the information I know regarding the Dunhill Black Briar and Dress pipe finishes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Black_Briar_&_Dress). I quote:

Black Briar & Dress

Black Briar is a smooth dark finish with vein contrasted in black introduced in 1970 and renamed the DRESS in 1979.

Dress – introduced in 1979. The Dress is a black smooth finish designed to look elegant with a tux or other formal ware – refined and sophisticated. A smooth jet-black stain with a silver band and a black mouthpiece that give to this line of pipes the distinctive elegance that has come to be associated with the Dunhill name.

I looked further on Google and found some other links that helped with the Black Briar finish (https://pipetobacco.cc/dunhill-c-1_8/dunhill-black-briar-3113-2018-p-3109.html). I quote from the first of those sites.

The Black Briar shares origins with Dunhill’s Dress finish, first introduced in 1973 and characterized by a smooth, ebony finish. In 1979, though, the English marque renamed the line “Dress” with the addition of sterling silver, contributing to what would later become known as the dress-pipe style. That said, The White Spot still produces Black Briar pipes, though on a considerably less frequent basis. They share the same finish as Dunhill’s Dress pipes but forego the silver accent for a more reserved presentation of elegance and class, lending this pipe a distinctly formal aesthetic that’s ready for any black-tie affair.

A second site that I checked on google was on smokingpipes.com and included some additional details (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/dunhill/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=214708). I quote from a paragraph by Daniel Bumgardner

Black Briar is a Dunhill line that has enjoyed something of a storied history. It seems to have first appeared around the same time as the Dress (maybe a few years later) sharing the same ebony finish but without accents. It continued from there as a rarity, appearing to be the moniker given to those ebony-finished briars which wore accents other than the Dress series’ sterling silver bands…. – Daniel Bumgardner

I turned to Pipephil’s dating guide to show how I arrived at the date of manufacture for this pipe (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1a.html). I am including the chart that is provided there for the dating a pipe. I have drawn a red box around the section. Since the pipe I am working on has a superscript suffix 15 after the D in England it points to the 1960 line on the chart below. To date it just add 1960 +15 for a date of 1975. I have drawn a red box around the pertinent section in the chart.I now knew that I was working on a Black Briar Pipe that came out in 1975. The shape of the pipe is called a smooth Billiard with a 32 Shape number on the left side of the bowl told me it was a Dress pipe or an Opera shape.

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The rim top shows some damage on the top and the inner edge of the bowl. The bowl walls looked very good. 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 Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. Now the damage to the stem was very clear. Overall, the pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim top and stem to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was clean and the damage to the rim top and the inner edge is very visible in the photo below. The stem was clean and the tooth marks and chatter can be seen in the photos.I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is very clear and readable and read as noted above. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the damage to the rim top. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the bevel on the inner edge of the bowl and reshape it. It looked much better once finished.I polished the bowl and shank with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pad – dry sanding it with the pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. It began to take on a deep shine. The exterior of the bowl look better after sanding. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I tried to raise the tooth marks as much as possible by “painting” the surface of the stem with a lighter flame. It worked very well and I was able to lift many of them. I filled in the remaining spots with black rubberized CA glue. I recut the button edge and flattened the surface of the repairs with some small flat files. I was able to smooth the surface and give the button a very sharp edge. I flattened it further and smooth out the surface with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove residual oxidation on the stem surface and further blend the repairs into the surrounding vulcanite.It was ready for the next step. I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the surface down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. It is really shining. I polished it further with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil to finish this step. I am excited to be on the homestretch and look forward to seeing the 1975 Dunhill Black Briar 32F/T Opera Pipe put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together and lightly polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish them. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe on the wheel with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The depths of the grain really pop with the wax and polish. The repaired and polished vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the combination of Black and Brown stains on the bowl and shank. This Dunhill Black Briar 32 F/T Opera Pipe was a lot of work to bring back to life. The pipe is light weight, comfortable in the hand and should feel great as it is warmed up when smoking. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 4 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches wide x 1 ½ inches long, Chamber diameter: 3/4 of an inch wide x 1 inch long. The weight of the pipe is 1.41 ounces/41 grams. I will be putting this one on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipemakers Section soon. Let me know if you wish to add it to your collection.

Restoring an Early GBD Billiard Nosewarmer with an Orific Stem

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by Steve Laug

Last weekend Kenneth and I went to an antique show in New Westminster, BC. It is our third year going but still we have no idea what we are going to fine each time we go. It is always a part of the fun to wander through the various stalls and see what the vendors are offering on their tables. There are always surprising things – items that I grew up with that are now called antiques or at least collectibles. If only my foresight had been as good as my memory is now I could have sold many of the things I played with and ate from! But I digress. Back to the pipe hunting. We saw the usual offerings of things Grabow and Medico that were in very rough shape. I think we both have become much more selective over time and we passed on spending time with them. I did a few items that I picked up to restore. I took a picture of the group of fout pipes. In the left column from top to bottom there was a Peterson’s System Standard 1307 (Canadian number on a 307 shape), a Bulldog that was stamped Fraser Valley Made in Canada with a white dot stem and at the bottom was another Peterson – a K&P Dublin Made in Ireland Canadian with a Sterling Silver Band. The one on the right side is an older GBD Nosewarmer with an orific button on the short stem. Not a bad group of pipes to bring to the work table.The second of them I chose to bring to the table was the GBD at the top right of the above photo. It is a pretty pipe and bears the stamping on the left side of the shank that reads GBD in an oval. There is no other stamping on the shank and the stem has a brass GBD oval logo on the left side of the taper. The bowl has a thick cake and a heavy overflow of lava on the inner edge and the rim top. The stem is very tight in the shank and the pipe is dirty and smelly. The stem is dirty and lightly oxidized with calcification on the end that makes me wonder if it had a Softee Bit in place. There are tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The stem is hard rubber and has an orific style button – a single hole in the button that is very rounded. I took photos of the pipe before I started my clean up work on it. I took a close-up photo of the rim top to show the condition of the bowl and inner edge of the bowl and the stem. You can clearly see the cake in the bowl and the darkening and lava on the rim top. The stem photos show the oxidation, calcification and tooth marks on the stem.I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the parts of the pipe. It is a pretty little pipe.I reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer using the first two cutting heads. I followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to clean up the remnants of cake left in the bowl and check the bowl walls. I sanded the bowl with a piece of dowel wrapped with 220 grit sandpaper. It looked much better at this point. I moved on to clean up the internals. I cleaned out the airway and mortise with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I cleaned out the airway in the stem at the same time. I was surprised at how clean the internals were. I scrubbed the externals of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime in the finish and on the rim top. I worked on it until it looked much better and then rinsed it off with warm water. I dried it off with a soft cloth. I polished the bowl and worked on the darkening on the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down between pads with a damp cloth. It really began to take on a deep shine. The grain really began to show on the briar. The exterior of the bowl looks better after sanding. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the hard rubber surface with the flame of a lighter to try and lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift some of them. The remaining ones I filled in with rubberized black CA glue. Once the repairs cured I flattened them with a small file and then finished blending them in with 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further blend in the repairs and remove the remaining oxidation on the stem surface. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad to remove the sanding dust.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil to further protect the vulcanite surface. I finished the polishing with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped the stem down a final time with Obsidian Oil and a cloth. It really looks very good. I am always excited to finish working on a pipe. This GBD Nosewarmer is no exception. I put the pipe back together and 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 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 black vulcanite taper stem. This Classic looking GBD Nosewarmer with a full sized bowl and short hard rubber stem feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 4 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 34 grams/1.20 ounces. I will be hanging on to this old timer at least for the time being. It is a GBD I have never seen before so I want to enjoy it for a bit. 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 an Elegant Sandblast Rebild de Luxe Made in Denmark 020 Tall Cutty

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that we picked up in the lot from a good friend in Denmark on May 22/2024. The sandblast finish on this Danish made pipe and the shape is what caught our eye. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads REBILD [followed by] de [over] Luxe. Next to that it is stamped Made in [over] Denmark. Next to that it is stamped with the shape number 020. It has a Reddish, Brown stain on the sandblast finish that is a stark contrast to fancy vulcanite saddle stem. The Cutty shaped bowl was lightly caked, though it also seems to have been recently reamed. The inner edge and the top look good though there is some darkening and some spots of lava in the sandblast on the top. The stem was lightly oxidized and had tooth chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was a GJ logo stamped on the left side of the saddle. It points to a Georg Jensen connection. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up. He took some photos of the rim top and bowl from various angles to give me a clear picture of the condition of the rim top and bowl. There is some darkening and lava on the rim top but the bowl itself is lightly caked. He included photos that show the top and underside of the stem. It is as described above. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos showed a nice sandblast around the bowl and shank even with the grime in the finish. It is a great looking piece of briar. He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It was clear and readable as noted above. I was pretty sure I was dealing with a Georg Jensen pipe so I did a google search for REBILD Made in Denmark pipes. I found a great discussion by a fellow on Pipemagazine.com about his collecting of Georg Jensen pipes (https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/georg-jensen-pipes-models-shapes-info-and-mysteries.87932/). In the post he gave a list of the model names of the Jensen pipes. There was some great information and scrolling through the list I found what I was looking for. I quote from the post below:

The model names were generally in all capital letters… but there were plenty of GJ pipes that had no model name stamp at all. Here are the model names that I have seen:

-SUNRISE

-GOODWILL

-REBILD [named after Danish woodland region]…

I did a bit more digging and found an esty listing for a Rebild pipe by Georg Jensen. I have included the link and the description of the pipe that was being sold below (https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1728913413/rebild-georg-jensen-hand-cut-niceclean?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details). It was also very helpful information. I also included a photo of the pipe.

From the good folks at Georg Jensen, this gorgeous straight Chimney or Stack, offers a nice tall bowl as part of their “Rebild” series. It’s rather obvious that Jensen’s Rebild (the name of a wooded region) series is an attempt to capitalized on the huge success of their competitor/fellow pipe makers, the Pipe Dan “Reformed”, with the same very Danish tall pipe legacy. This is a Georg Jensen higher end pipes as it was “hand cut”, while much of their line is machine made. The briar has a nice mélange of briar including birds-eye grain, in a dark honey colored finish. The short “pencil” shank leads to a long straight, tapered, fantail Vulcanite stem that is in excellent condition with no tooth marks. A really nice long/elegant, lightweight Dane to add to your collection of pipes. Cleaned, refreshed, sanitized, and ready to enjoy right out of the box.I knew that I was definitely dealing with a Georg Jensen made Rebild pipe which appeared to be tall and quite unique pipes. It was named after a wooded area in Denmark and came out about the same time as the Danpipe Reform pipes.

Armed with that information I was ready to work on the pipe. Since Jeff always follows the same pattern of work in his cleanup we do not include photos but rather just a simple summary. Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the damages to the top and edges of the rim. I think this pipe may well been before we worked with Mark Hoover’s Before & After Deoxidizer so he cleaned the internals and externals. The stem was clean but lightly oxidized. I took photos of what the pipe looked like when I brought to my worktable. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim top and stem to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was clean and the rim top and the inner edge showed darkening but no damage. The stem was clean and there were light tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is very clear and readable and read as noted above. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts.The exterior of the bowl was in excellent condition. I did not need to sand or do anything in preparation on the pipe. I set the stem aside and worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips and a horsehair shoe brush. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I tried to raise the tooth marks as much as possible by “painting” the surface with a lighter flame. It lifted the marks completely on the underside but did not lift the deeper one on the topside. I filled in the deep mark with rubberized black CA glue. Once it had cured I flattened the repair and recut the button edge with a small file. I further flattened and blended in the repairs with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It was a big improvement but still more work to go!I continued the sanding process with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. The repairs began to disappear into the surface of the vulcanite and the stem began to take on a smooth new look. Progress for sure. I touched up the GJ stamp on the left side of the saddle stem with white acrylic nail polish. I worked it into the stamping with a tooth pick. Once it dried I scrapped off the excess acrylic with my fingernail and then sanded it lightly with a 1500 grit micromesh pad to remove the excess.I polished the surface of the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the surface down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. It is really shining. I polished it further with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil to finish this step. As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the Georg Jensen Rebild 020 Cutty 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 sandblast shows depth and really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite saddle stem is a beautiful contrast to the reddish browns of the bowl. This Georg Jensen Rebild Cutty was a great pipe to spruce up. It is a very comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 7 inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 29 grams/1.02 ounces. This pipe will be going on the Danish Pipe Maker section of the rebornpipes store if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

Another pipe dropped off for repair and restoration

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by Steve Laug

On Sunday afternoon a fellow stopped by with a bag of parts from one of his first pipes. It was in pieces and he was thinking perhaps it needed a new stem. As I looked at the parts I could see what happened. It also seemed things were missing. The 9mm filter tenon had come loose from the stem and in the process, he lost one of the metal spacers. The spacers were originally an acrylic ring sandwiched between to steel washers. With one missing it made the fit of the stem to the shank crooked as the acrylic spacer was not uniform in its depth. Work would need to be done on the spacer pieces to correct the issues. The pipe appeared to be a basket pipe from Italy and bore the stamp Angelo on the left side. It was not a brand I was familiar with. It had a thick varnish coat that was bubbling all around the sides and would need to be removed. The finish was smooth with small hash marks around the surface of the bowl and shank. The bowl had a thick cake and an overflow of lava on the rim top. The top and inner edges looked good as far as I could tell through the grime. The stem had tooth marks and chatter on both sides and was dirty and scratched from sitting around. I put the stem in the shank part way to have a look at what I had to work with. The order of the rings on the stem as it is in the following photos appears wrong to me. The missing ring changes the sandwich look. I think the washer needs to go against the stem face and the acrylic against the shank to have the right feel. I will need to set those in an order that minimizes the break in the flow of the stem and shank. Here are some photos of the pipe as it was initially fit together. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the current look of the pipe. I think there is potential to improve the look as it has some charm and the sitter base is very balanced and functional.Before I started my reworking of the stem and bowl on this problematic pipe I wanted to have a bit of information on the Angelo brand. I personally like to have the background so that when I am working on a pipe I know who carved or made it originally. Then as I work on it I can carry on a dialogue with them (at least in my mind) about my changes. I turned to PipePhil’ site for information (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-a6.html#angelo). I have included a screen capture of the pertinent section and the sidebar information below the photo.Second brand used by the Rovera family (Angelo and Damiano) who produces Ardor, Roverart and Rovera.

I decided to start my work on the pipe by addressing the puzzle of the stem. I took it apart and found that the rings were not glued and could be slipped up and down the tenon. This was a plus in this case so I removed the rings and reversed the order so that the metal spacer separated the vulcanite stem from the acrylic spacer. I fit it in the stem and in the shank for a look. Because the shank is very dirty it is hard to press the stem into the shank all the way but this gave me a sense of the look of the pipe with the rings reverse. I liked it and was pretty sure that the missing metal spacer would have been on the other side of the acrylic. With the order of the spacers to my liking I cleaned out the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs to remove the grime in the airway and int seat of the tenon. I cleaned out the tenon at the same time. I coated the tenon end that it in the stem with black CA glue using a tooth pick. Once it was ready I pressed the parts together and set the stem aside to let the glue cure. I like the overall look of the stem at this point. I did not anchor the acrylic ring as there were going to be issues with the fit as it was not round or flat on the face.While the glue cured on the tenon I move to address the bowl. I reamed the cake in the bowl using a PipNet pipe reamer with the second and third cutting heads to take back the cake. I used a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to scrape the remainder of the cake out of the bowl and clean up the bottom of the bowl. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. With the bowl cleaned out I was able to see that the bowl walls and bottom were in great condition. There was no checking or damage. I used the edge of the Fitsall knife to scrape the lava from the rim top. I decided to remove the bubbling varnish coat next. I used acetone and cotton pads to scrub the thick bubbling varnish coat off the bowl. I was surprised by the way the briar looked with the shiny coat gone. It was a nice looking piece of wood and once cleaned and polished would be quite lovely. I sanded the bowl and shank (carefully avoiding the stamping) with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the dust and debris from the sanding. The briar really was taking on a rich shine. After the sanding and stem work I cleaned out the airway in the shank, mortise and the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I was surprised by how much more gunk came out of the tenon particularly. The pipe was clean now.I polished the bowl and rim with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth. It took on a deeper shine with each pad. I decided to fit the stem to the shank end before I gave it a rub down with Restoration Balm. The shank was cut at and angle and the stem would not fit flat against it. I put the stem in place and marked it with a pencil to clean up the angle. The top half of the shank needed to be reduced in depth to match the bottom half. I used a folded piece of 220 sandpaper to do the work. I constantly rechecked the fit until I had the face flat and the stem sat correctly. The picture below shows the sanded shank end. I stained the sanded briar with a walnut stain pen to match the rest. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips to work it into the finish. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to smooth out the marks. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. The bands and the stem work very well.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. Once again, I wiped it down between each pad with Obsidian Oil. I further polished it with Before and After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. It looked very good. I used a replacement tenon to make a 9mm converter to fit a stem to be a non-filter stem. I slipped it into the tenon and it fit well.This reworked Angelo Bent Sitter has a beautiful finish now that the varnish coat has been removed and the stem refit. It truly has a new lease on life. The medium brown/black finish gives depth to the grain around the bowl and shank. The rebuilt and polished black vulcanite acrylic stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Angelo Bent Sitter is quite nice and feels great in the hand. 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 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.69 ounces/48 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. The fellow who dropped it off will pick up his pipe on the weekend. I am looking forward to seeing what he thinks of it.

Restoring a Rusticated Man Rhodesian African Meerschaum from the Isle of Man

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is the last of three sent to me by a fellow near Vancouver for restoration. It is a rusticated meerschaum from the Isle of Man. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Man [over] Isle of Man. The bowl was surprisingly clean with just a little cake. The rim top and inner edge of the bowl was very clean. There was an inset on the rim top that was smooth. There was an acrylic band on the end of the shank that served as a smooth face for the saddle stem. The finish was dusty and dirty but otherwise in great condition. The vulcanite saddle stem was lightly oxidized and had deep tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was a circle with an arrow symbol on the left side of the saddle. It should be a straightforward clean up. I took photos of the pipe before I started my cleanup work. I took a close-up photo of the rim top to show the construction and the condition of the bowl and inner edge of the bowl and the stem. The bowl looks good with minimal cake on the bowl walls. The stem photos show the tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the parts of the pipe. I have to say it is one of the first Isle of Man pipes that I really like the shape. It reminds of the GBD 9438.Before I started working on it I turned to Pipephil to see what I could find out about the Man stamp (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-m1.html). I have included the screen capture of the information there. It has the same logo as the one I am working on. I also included the sidebar information below the photo.A brand of MANXMAN PIPES Ltd, The Quay, Old Laxey, Isle of Man, British Isles. The meerschaum used for these pipes usually was of Tanzanian origine (like Kiko or Twiga pipes).
See also: Manx Meerschaum, Pioneer

From there I turned to Pipedia and looked under the Laxey Pipes Ltd listing as they made all of the Manx pipes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Laxey_Pipes_Ltd.). I quote a pertinent portion below:

Laxey Pipes Ltd. resided in a historical 19th century four-storey Man stone building at The Quay, Old Laxey, Isle of Man, which thankfully has been preserved.

The company specialised in the production of meerschaum pipes using the Meerschaum mined by the Tanganyika Meerschaum Corporation in the Amboseli basin in Tanganyika (since 1964 part of the United Republic of Tanzania).

Please note: you may often find names like “Manx Pipes Ltd.”, “Man Pipe Co.” and others more, but there is no indication of another Isle of Man pipe producer other than Laxey Pipe Ltd. at any time!

Laxey Pipes Ltd. marketed own brands like “Manxpipe”, “Manxman”, “Manxland” e.c. Names like “John Bull”, “White Knight” (unwaxed), “Domino” (black, or lined) indicated some shapes / colours of Laxey’s own series. The stems either showed the astronomical sign for “male” or “man” (circle + arrow), or the crest of the Isle of Man, the 3-legged X in a circle. Manxpipes and Laxey’s other brands were available through pipe retailers in general, but also were sold (mainly) to tourists through their own shop in Laxey.

Furthermore Laxey Pipes Ltd. manufactured the meer bowls for Peterson, Barling, Nørding and others from the later 1960’s until 2001. Man Pipe e.g. was a brand distibuted by Comoy’s. The bowls usually showed no nomenclature indicating the orderer. “Genuine Block Meerschaum” was engraved frequently. Often, just the stems were different, while bowls were the same.

From the above I was able to discern that the pipe was indeed made by Laxey and that the Man Pipe brand was distributed by Comoy’s. That is something I was unaware of until reading this.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. Since the bowl was only lightly dirty I decided to sand the bowl walls. I sanded the bowl with a piece of dowel wrapped with 220 grit sandpaper. It looked much better at this point.I moved on to clean up the internals. I cleaned out the airway and mortise with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I cleaned out the airway in the stem at the same time. It was a dirty pipe but after this cleanup it was much better.I scrubbed the externals of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime in the finish and on the rim top. I worked on it until it looked much better and then rinsed it off with warm water. I dried it off with a soft cloth. The exterior of the bowl looks after the cleaning. I worked some Clapham’s Beeswax/Carnauba wax mixture into the rusticated meerschaum with my fingertips and a shoe brush. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it with a soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It really brought the meerschaum alive and it is an easy product to use as it is a soft wax. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift some of them. I filled in the remaining tooth marks with black rubberized CA glue. I set it aside to let the repairs cure. Once the repair cured I flattened it with a small flat file. I sanded the repairs smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to break down the oxidation on the stem. I scrubbed it with cotton pads and removed a lot of oxidation. The stem is looking much better at this point in the process.I touched up the Man logo on the left side of the saddle with white acrylic nail polish. I pressed it into the stamping with a tooth pick. I scraped off the excess and the logo looked very good. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads and wiped it down with Obsidian Oil to remove the sanding dust.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil to further protect the vulcanite surface. I finished the polishing with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped the stem down a final time with Obsidian Oil and a cloth. It really looks very good. I am always excited to finish working on a pipe. This Isle of Man Meerschaum Man Rhodesian is no exception. I put the pipe back together and 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 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 black vulcanite taper stem. This Classic looking Meerschaum Man Rhodesian 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 54 grams/1.94 ounces. Since this is the third of the three pipes I worked on for the fellow here in Vancouver, I will be packing them up and sending them back to him this week. 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 an Odd Pipe Stamped Old England Genuine Briar

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is the first of three pipes sent to me by a fellow pipeman near Vancouver for restoration. It reminds me of the Caveman Pipes that I have worked on in the past. This one is basically a roughly cut Panel that is somewhat Dublin shaped. There is no real shank on the pipe but rather kind of a nipple that the stem was inserted into. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the bowl and reads Old England in an old English script [over] Genuine Briar. The bowl had a moderate cake in it and an overflow of lava on the rim top and inner edge that left it looking rough and out of round. The finish on the bowl was oily and there appeared to be a small hairline crack on the left side mid bowl. The stem was a long vulcanite taper that was oxidized and had some deep tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. Both the stem and bowl were dirty. It should be an interesting and straightforward clean up. I took photos of the pipe before I started my cleanup work. (I missed a photo of the heel of the bowl prior to cleaning). I took a close-up photo of the rim top to show the condition of the bowl and inner edge of the bowl and the stem. You can clearly see the cake in the bowl and the damage on the inner edge. The stem photos show the tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the bowl toward the heel. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the parts of the pipe. It is a unique and strangely pretty little pipe.I did a bit of hunting on the brand and did not find any information on it. I did find a Sasieni Second brand with this stamping but the stamping was quite different from that on this one. The similarity is in the name of the brand. Nothing definitive was found but this could be something.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. I reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer using the first and second cutting head. I took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to remove the remnants. I sanded the bowl with a piece of dowel wrapped with 220 grit sandpaper. It looked much better at this point. I moved on to clean up the internals. The airway into the bowl was plugged so I broke it through with a paper clip. I cleaned out the airway and mortise with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I cleaned out the airway in the stem at the same time. It was a dirty pipe but after this cleanup it was much better.I scrubbed the externals of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime in the finish and on the rim top. I worked on it until it looked much better and then rinsed it off with warm water. I dried it off with a soft cloth. I smoothed out the inner edge of the bowl and worked on the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It was beginning to look much better.After I cleaned the bowl I found a small hairline crack on the left side of the bowl just below middle. I have circled it in the photo below. I put a bead of clear superglue on the crack to seal it. Once it cured I smoothed it out with 220 grit sandpaper.I sanded the exterior of the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to blend in the repair and clean up the surface of the bowl. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding dust. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down between pads with a damp cloth. It really began to take on a deep shine. The exterior of the bowl looks better after sanding. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks with the flame of a lighter to lift them. The heat helped lift them but not enough. I filled in the tooth marks with black CA glue put in place with a tooth pick. I set it aside to cure. Once the repair cured I used a file to flatten out the repair and clean up the edge of the button. I sanded it further with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surrounding vulcanite. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads and wiped it down with Obsidian Oil to remove the sanding dust.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil to further protect the vulcanite surface. I finished the polishing with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped the stem down a final time with Obsidian Oil and a cloth. It really looks very good. It was great to finish the repairs and reshaping on this Old England Genuine Briar Freehand Panel Sitter. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl 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, taper stem was beautiful. This Old England Panel Sitter 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: 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 29 grams/1.02 ounces. It is the first of three pipes sent to me by the fellow near Vancouver. I have two more of his pipes to finish before I send them back to him.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog and following this restoration. 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.