Tag Archives: restaining a rim

Restoring and Refinishing a Damaged Rim on a Psychedelic Painted Paronelli 02 Rhodesian

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is an interesting almost psychedelic yellow Bulldog/Rhodesian shape with swirling, almost moving lines in the finish that seemed to move when you stared at it. It is stamped with a gold coloured stamping. On the left side it read Paronelli in script. On the right side it had the shape number 02 and, on the underside, it is stamped Italy. It came from a lot we purchased from a seller on eBay on 01/22/2024 from a seller in Jordan, Minnesota, USA. It is very nicely shaped Rhodesian/Bulldog shaped bowl with an acrylic saddle stem. It has a painted finish as noted above with a yellow undercoat and a pattern of swirling lines almost moving around the bowl sides and cap. The bowl has a thick cake and some lava overflow on the rim top and inner edge. The painted rim top was damaged and the paint was worn off. There was some burn damage on the front right top and inner edge. The stem had a three ring brass band and a gold P logo stamp on the left side of the saddle. It is dirty and has tooth chatter and tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup. He took photos of the pipe’s bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the lava coat overflowing onto the top. You can also see the burn damage to the front right inner edge of the bowl, the missing paint coat and the thick lava coat on the top. It is another dirty pipe. He also took photos to capture the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button. He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to give a sense of the painted finish on this one. Even under the grime and wear finish still has the ability to make you dizzy! Jeff took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and it is readable. It reads as noted above. I turned first to Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-p1.html) to gather some initial information on the brand. I did a screen capture of the section on the site that gave some pictures of the styles of pipes that were made by Paronelli.From there I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Paronelli) in order to add to my information on the brand. I quote the article below.

The brand Paronelli collects inside a family passion that was born in 1945 when Jean-Marie Alberto Paronelli decided to give free rein to his artistic side. The continuous search for quality and perfection brought Alberto Paronelli to create unique pieces prized and sought after worldwide. The ideas and the canons of the founder have been handed down from generation to generation and even now all the pipes are handmade with Italian first choice briar. His grandson, Ariberto Paronelli, which has succeeded over the years at the helm, continues with passion and dedication to the work started by the founder of designing and creating classics models with a modern twist. Annual production is around 1000 pieces. Ariberto also works on commission. If you have in mind a pipe of your dreams he will be happy to achieve it. For Paronelli family the pipe is a matter of the heart.

Jean Marie Alberto Paronelli was born in Gavirate on 21st December 1914. After studying in Switzerland and Italy, he went to London at the age of 18 to complete his vocational training. He turned out to be cut out for foreign languages, so much so that he spoke and wrote English, French, German and Spanish fluently. He studied and became fond of humane letters and people’s history. In London he used to hang out at the Savoy Hotel and got to know Pipe art, as he used to go to Burlington Arcade’s shops regularly. He first became collector and then consultant for other collectors. After he came back to Italy he started to work for Leonida Rossi and established an office in Milan to trade Rossi pipes. In the Sixties he bought the beautiful directory style sample room of the factory, which had just closed down. He regularly corresponded with the major living intellectuals passionate about pipe art, and he founded the magazine “La Pipa”.

Alberto Paronelli was a unique and fantastic personality in pipe’s world, as defined in the presentation of the great designers from Brebbia, for which he designed an egg-shaped curved model. He believed in human relations and friendship above all. Even now enthusiasts from all over the world meet in his house and in the near Museum of the Pipe. He used to tell lots of pleasant anecdotes. You felt like a child in a fairyland and began to understand that Alberto told a different story to everyone to teach them something. What struck most was his vitality, typical of those who have never worked a day, because he did work with great passion. In his museum of the Pipe, open to new and old friends, you can still find journalists looking for an interesting subject to write about, sculptors and friends, ceramists. His creativity expressed in words but also in painting and sculpture. He enjoyed painting very much, but he also enjoyed modeling clay. After studying the Mayan culture he modeled a beautiful series of statuettes.

I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and shank brushes. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. The rim top had some remaining paint damage and a burned area on the right front top and edge that would need to be worked on. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked better when I received it. The issues that remained on the pipe were very clear in the photos that follow. I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. It looks good with the tars and oils removed from the rim top. The rim top shows paint that has been worn off the top and outer edges of the rim. There is also some burn damage on the right front top and edges. The bowl itself was very clean. The stem came out looking quite good with some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The photo shows the stamping and is actually more readable in person. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. It is a well shaped and strangely mesmerizing pipe. I started my work on this pipe by addressing two issues that were glaringly present. The first of these was some white paint that was on the shank face when I removed the stem. I carefully sanded the paint of with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It looked very good once I had finished.The second issue was the damage to the rim top and the chipped and missing paint. I lightly topped the bowl on 220 grit sandpaper and a topping board. I wrapped a wooden ball with some 220 grit sandpaper and gave the inner edge of the bowl a light bevel. It remove the burn damage and the chipping paint on the surface. I used a Mahogany and a Walnut stain pen try to match the darker portion of the colour on the bowl surface. It looked very good. I rubbed the exterior of the bowl and rim top down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface with my fingertips. 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 pipe really comes alive with the balm. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. By the final 3500 grit sanding pad the stem had a had a shine.I used some Rub’n Buff Antique Gold to fill in the “P” stamp on the left side of the stem. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick and buffed off the excess with a cotton pad. It looked better.I polished the 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 Italian Made Paronelli 2 Rhodesian with an acrylic saddle stem has a unique and oddly psychedelic yellow and dark painted finish. The pipe has a classic shape with a very 70’s finish. The polished acrylic saddle stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe by hand to avoid removing any of the finish. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and followed that by hand buffing it with a soft cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Paronelli 2 Rhodesian is quite unique and feels great in the hand. 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 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.36 ounces/67 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for your time.

Cleaning Up and Restoring A “Caminetto Business” 185 Cavalier KS1

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on my worktable is a Caminetto Business Pipe was purchased on 03/30/22 from Plano, Texas, USA. It is a beautiful rusticated Cavalier with an acrylic end cap on the shank and an acrylic saddle stem. It was a good looking pipe but it was filthy with grime and oils ground into the rusticated finish on the bowl. The pipe had some rustic beauty shining through the dust and debris in the valleys of the rough finish. The rustication covered the rim top, bowl and shank with a smooth panel on the underside of the shank. The finish was dull and lifeless and dirty from sitting around. There was a very thick cake in the bowl with lava flowing out of the bowl and over the rim top. The lava had filled in the deeper grooves of the rusticated finish on the rim top. The inner edge of the rim appeared to be in good condition but it was hard to tell under the thick lava. The stamping on the underside of the shank read “CAMINETTO [over] BUSINESS”. To the right of that toward the stem it was stamped HAND MADE IN ITALY [over] CUCCIAGO (CO). That was followed by the shape number 185 and KS1. The golden variegated acrylic saddle stem had light tooth chatter and a few deeper tooth marks on both sides near the button. Jeff took the following photos before he started his cleanup work on the pipe.He took close-up photos of the bowl and rim top from various angles to capture the condition of the bowl and rim top edges. You can see the lava overflow and debris in the rustication of the rim top. You can see the cake in the bowl. This was a dirty pipe but it was the finish was in great condition. The next photos show the overview of the stem and the fit in the rusticated shank end as well as the light tooth chatter and a few deeper marks on the top and underside of the stem. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the beautiful incredibly deep rustication around the bowl. It is the same kind of rough rusticated finish that I really like on Castello Sea Rock pipes. You can see the oil, dust and debris in the finish on both sides of the bowl. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the shank. It reads as noted above. The stamping is clear and readable. I turned to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c1.html) to see if he included not only information on this Caminetto Business 182. He gave some interesting information about the brand. It was created in 1986 by Guiseppe Ascorti, Luigi Radice and Gianni Davoli as the distributor. It states that in 1979 the first Caminetto period ended with Luigi Radic leaving the company. Guiseppe Ascorti continued making the pipe with his son Roberto. In 1986 the New Caminetto period began by Roberto Ascorti.I turned to Pipedia for more information on the Caminetto and how to date the pipe I had in hand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_Caminetto_(shapes,_stamping,_articles,_etc.). I quote a pertinent paragraph:

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

The stampings are shown in the photo to the left. The stamping on this pipe is like #2.

…Now, the question is which stamps are earlier and more likely to have been made by Ascorti and/or Radice. The answer is #1. The differences in #2 and #3 seem to be minute, as Cucciago is simply a suburb of Cantu. Pipes stamped like #1 are the most valuable Caminetto’s as they are the earliest production of the brand, as well as what some would claim the most perfect of Ascorti and Radice’s work. The last tidbit is, of course, debatable…

… There is also another factor in stamping, that is, which series the pipe falls in. The majority of Caminetto’s one sees are those of the “Business” series, which are stamped such with their collective shape (see photo of shapes below). Another stamp that sometimes follows the “Business” one is “KS,” which from what I know means “King-size” (this could be wrong, as there are pipes stamped with KS1, KS2, and KS3).

Now it was time to look at it up close and personal. Jeff had done an amazing job in removing all of the cake and the lava on the rim top. He had reamed the bowl with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He took the cake back to bare briar so we could check the walls for damage. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime on the bowl and rim and was able to remove the lava and dirt. He cleaned out the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until they came out clean. He cleaned the stem and the trap at the end of the shank with Soft Scrub to remove the grime on the exterior and cleaned out the airway with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I took photos of the pipe before I started my part of the restoration. To show how clean the rim top and stem really was I took a close-up photo of the rim and stem. The bowl was clean and cake free. The rim top is very clean with no residual lava buildup in the rusticated finish. The inner edges of the bowl look good. The golden acrylic saddle stem cleaned up nicely. The surface had some light tooth marks but the button edge looked really good. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. You can see that is clear and readable as noted above.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts of the pipe to show the overall sized of the pipe. It is a great piece that combines the gold acrylic on the shank end cap and the stem with the rusticated finish on the bowl and shank.I started my work on the pipe by staining the areas on the rim top and rusticated finish were worn and faded. I used a Walnut stain pen to touch up the rim and around the top edge. The bowl looked very good so I did not need to do any further work on it. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it in with my fingers and with a horse hair shoe brush to get it into the nooks and crannies of the deep rustication of the finish on the bowl and shank. I let it sit for about 20 minutes to let it do its magic. I buffed it with a soft cloth. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the deep tooth marks with clear CA glue. I sanded the repaired tooth marks and chatter smooth with 220 grit. I started polishing the whole stem with 600 grit sandpaper until the sanding marks were gone. I touched up the mustache stamp on the stem with Rub’n Buff Antique Gold. I applied it with a toothpick working it into the stamp. There were places on the sides of the stamp that were faint. I buffed it off with a soft cotton pad. It looked better. I polished the stem on both sides using micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded the stem with the 1500-12000 grit pads, then wiped it down with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After stem polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I put the Caminetto bowl and stem back together again and buffed them with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I used a soft touch on the rusticated bowl so as not to fill it in with the polishing product. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem several coats of carnauba wax. I carefully buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I finished buffing with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe looks very good. The rustication is very tactile and feels great in the hand. It is comfortable and light weight. The finished Caminetto Business 185 Cavalier is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 7 inches, Height: 3 1/2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 63 grams/2.26 ounces. This great looking rusticated Caminetto turned out very well. It should be a great pipe. It will be going on the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section shortly 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.