Tag Archives: restaining

Resurrecting a Petersen Pre-Republic Billiard – Gan Barber

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Blog by Gan Barber

It is a privilege to be able to post this blog entry from a friend and co-laborer in the refurbishing hobby. I have learned much from Gan, including the use of the alcohol bath for soaking bowls and preparing them. In fact as I read this report I am amazed at all the things we do similarly. I appreciate his taking the time to write this up to share here at rebornpipes. I look forward to more articles from Gan, as I am sure you will also after reading this one. Thanks Gan!

Well, the work is done, so it’s time to sit back, light up a bowl of Perreti 9575, and record this adventure….

I am not an expert on dating Petersen Pipes, but from the little I know, this one appears to be a Pre-Republic era vintage. There are no markings on the briar or stem. The hallmark on the band indicates nickel, not silver, and provides no dating information. The K&P, Peterson, Dublin stamping is the only indication that the pipe dates from the Pre-Republic era.

It came to me in a sorry state of repair, and, after some preliminary cleaning, sat in my ‘Lazarus’ box for many years. The shank had been snapped from the bowl, the rim was dented, and the P-Lip modified. It was never going to be a collector piece. Still, it held some promise…… Image

Before I begin the cleaning phase of any project, I like to remove any excess cake. I’m not looking to do anything more than scrape away thick accumulations from the bowl in order to find possible charring or burn-out. In this case, the break was clean, and exhibited no signs of burning that may have contributed to the damage. There was a small dent on the upper left rim of the bowl, leading me to believe that the previous owner liked to tap out the dottle, and had done so once too often.

Satisfied that the bowl was structurally sound, I placed it into a 91% Isopropyl alcohol bath. Once I removed the band, the broken shank followed. Image

I have had favorable results using this method to strip and clean a stummel. Using the highest percentage Isopropyl alcohol I can find (91%), means that only 9% of the solution is water. The low percentage of water allows the briar to dry rapidly once removed from the bath with very little residual moisture. I have soaked stummels for days without ill effects, though the extended time provides little in the way of additional cleaning. It can help with reducing strong ghosts, though. The alcohol will soften even the most stubborn cake, and sweeten the bowl as well as any other method.

Once the bowl had soaked long enough so loosen the dirt and soften the cake, I removed it from the bath and immediately reamed the bowl, removing as much cake as possible without quite  getting down to bare briar. My tool of choice here is a Senior Adjustable Reamer. Not that it’s the only tool that will work; it just happens to be what I have and works quite well for this task.

With the reaming completed, the stummel went back into the bath for another wash. I prefer to do the preliminary cleaning wet, so the stummel will see the bath frequently. The advantages of working wet are two-fold: The alcohol lubricates the mechanical action of the steelwool, mitigating scratching, and the wetting reveals any missed areas requiring additional attention. I worked the wet stummel with 0000 steel wool until most of the dirt, grime and tar were gone.

While the bowl soaked in the alcohol bath, the vulcanite stem soaked in a solution of Oxy-Clean (1/4 scoop to 16 ounces of clean, warm water). Depending on the level of oxidation, I will let the stem soak anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight. Again, I’ve left stems soaking for days without detriment. Generally, I like to soak the stem for two to three hours. The oxidation will turn to a yellow-white slime, and the majority of it will come off quite easily with 0000 steel wool. There was no logo present, so I used the 0000 liberally to achieve a thorough cleaning. Another advantage of the Oxi-Clean soak is its ability to loosen any gunk that has accumulated in the smoke passage. Several bristle pipe cleaners are all that are needed to literally pull the residue from the passage. Another pass with a regular pipe cleaner and some alcohol will remove any traces of tar.

Below are the bowl, shank, and stem after soaking in their respective baths and an initial wet scrub with the 0000 steel wool. Later on in the refurb, I will continue to clean them, but by dipping the steel wool into the alcohol for the wood and the Oxi-clean for the stem, rather than re-immersing them. Image

Once I was satisfied with the initial cleaning, it was time to move on to the most challenging aspect of this project – mating the shank to the bowl.

There are a number of factors to consider when choosing the proper bonding agent to use in repairing a broken or cracked stummel. Heat, moisture, clamping time and compatibility with wood are paramount. Traditional outdoor rated aliphatic glues (Tite-Bond, Elmers, etc.) are resistant to moisture, but I don’t trust them to withstand moist heat. Polyurethane adhesives are stronger and more resistant to both heat and moisture, but have high expansion rates and excessive foaming. Both require extended clamping periods, which is extremely challenging due to the irregular shape of a stummel.

My adhesive of choice is a a fast set epoxy – JB Kwik. It is extremely strong (though not as strong as regular Weld Bond), heat resistant to 500+ degrees F, impervious to moisture, and has a clamping time of only 3 minutes. Mixed from two parts (epoxy/catalyst), it has a reasonable working time, and the two pieces of the pipe stummel can be held together with strong hand pressure for three minutes and then released.

To rejoin the shank to the bowl, I carefully aligned the two pieces so that I could easily find the correct registration before mixing a small amount of the epoxy. I applied it to both surfaces with a toothpick, then pressed the shank and bowl together, squeezing as much epoxy out of the joint as hand pressure would allow. I held them this way for three minutes. I did not worry about any squeeze-out getting into the air passage – yet.

After hand clamping for three minutes, I gently set the stummel down and let it rest for another 7 minutes. If properly mixed, Weld Bond Quick will be set to a rubbery stage after ten minutes (at 70 degrees F). At this point, I took a utility knife and carefully lifted the squeeze out off of the briar. It should peel like a rubber gasket if you catch it at the right time, leaving only a dark oily residue where it contacted the briar. Next, I took the drill bit from the Senior Reamer, and gently worked it through the airway. Care must be taken to use as little pressure as possible to twist and push out any epoxy the made its way into the passage. Although Weld Bond is non-toxic when cured, if cleaned out properly, little if any will be present in the airway.

I allowed the epoxy to cure for 6 hours, and then set to work gently sanding the joint with 400 grit emery to fare the seam as smooth as possible without altering the shape of the pipe. The only caveat to using this epoxy – it is rather viscous and will leave a faintly visible line at the joint no matter how well the parts are mated. I’ve found that after sanding, staining and buffing, this line will all but disappear.

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The stummel after roughing in with the 400 grit emery. The graining did little to hide the seam on the left side…..

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…while on the right, the grain pattern was more favorable and the seam blended in nicely.

With the shank and bowl rejoined and fared, I finished cleaning the briar with 0000 steel wool wetted with alcohol. Working wet with alcohol eases the scuffing of the steel wool and reveals the grain and any remaining flaws that may need attention. It also removes any oils or dirt introduced from handling the raw wood. The JB Kwik is impervious to the alcohol.

The next stage consisted of wet sanding with 600 grit. I used alcohol as a lubricant. When finished with the 600, I took the bowl to the buffer for a gentle once over with red rouge. This serves to deepen the color of the briar and reveal any scratches or imperfections that the finer grits will have difficulty removing. Satisfied with the results, I continued to wet sand with 1500 grit emery. The final sanding stages were done dry with 3600 and 6000 micro-mesh. At this point in the process, I was simply polishing the briar to prepare it for staining.

I chose Feibings Light Brown dye and gave the stummel a wash coat, undiluted, using a cotton Q-Tip. I set the stain with my Perdomo table-top lighter, and then gave it a thorough rub down with a microfiber cloth. The microfiber works to even out any imperfections in the finish, and noticeably polishes the dye to a nice luster. The bowl is now ready for the buffer.

The stem received an additional scrub with 0000 steel wool wetted with Oxi-Clean to remove any remaining oxidation. I then wet sanded, with water now, using 400 and then 600 grit emery. A quick and gentle buff with red rouge to find any remaining scratches from the steel wool and sandpaper was followed by a wet sand with 1500 emery. I then polished the vulcanite with 3600 and 6000 micro-mesh to prepare it for the buffer.

Both the stem and bowl were given a soft buffing with white diamond on the buffer and then wiped down with microfiber to remove any trace compound.  I then swapped out the white diamond wheel for the wax one, and applied three coats of caranauba wax to the bowl. I like to use a moderate amount of pressure when applying wax as the caranauba is extremely hard and requires the heat generated to go on properly.

After the stem received a coat of Walker Briar Works sealer/wax and the nickel band was polished with Never Dull wadding, everything went back together and was ready to be enjoyed once again. It’s far from perfect, but then, it’s all about the journey, isn’t it? ImageImageImage

Thanks to Steve for inviting me to contribute.

Best Regards,

Gan Barber

This little Dr. Plumb Bulldog is a beauty

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Blog by Steve Laug

This little pipe came to me via a friend in Germany. I finished cleaning up what has turned out to be a very nice squat straight bulldog that is stamped Dr. Plumb Extra on one side and 13 D.R.G.M. on the other. I have been familiar with Dr. Plumb pipes for quite a while and love the fact that they were a GBD seconds line. In fact they often share the same numbering system for shapes. This little guy had some serious issues when I took it under my wing. It needed a bit of work. The bowl was scorched along the front outer edge of the rim as it looked to have been lit with a torch lighter. The finish was shot and not only faded and washed out but also pitted and darkened along the bowl sides. The stem was oxidized and a bit chewed on the end. The stinger apparatus was dark and filled with tars and hardened tobacco oils.

My friend had started removing the burn mark and the bowl angles were slightly out or line. I finished removing the scorched briar and reworked the angles on all the outer edges of the bowl to keep the perspective and rim correct. I gave a ream and clean to remove any of the remaining cake and the sanding dust that had become embedded in the cracks in the cake. I put the bowl in the alcohol bath and then worked on the stem.

The pipe had the strangest stinger contraption I have ever seen that extends into the bottom of the bowl. It almost looks like a motorcycle exhaust pipe. I have inserted a few pictures of the stinger and fit in the bowl. I removed the stinger and placed in a small bowl of alcohol to soak. The stem was badly oxidized – not the brown oxidation that sat on the surface but a deep oxidation that left the stem a deep brown under the surface. I had been soaking the stem in Oxyclean while I worked on the burn on the rim of the bowl so that when I removed it from the water the oxidation had been brought to the surface. I used my buffer to remove the surface oxidation that had softened. I use Tripoli at this stage and work the stem carefully on the buffer to avoid rounding the shoulders on the stem. Then I sanded it with 240 grit sandpaper until it was matte black and clean. I then sanded it with 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper and water to remove the scratches. I finished the stem by sanding with the micromesh pads 1500-6000 grit until the stem had a sheen to it. ImageImage

I then took the bowl out of the alcohol bath and dried it off. I sanded it with the 1800-2400 grit micromesh pads until the surface was free of scratches and grooves and was smooth. Then I refinished it with an oxblood aniline stain to bring out the red highlights in the briar. I put the stem back on the pipe and took it to the buffer to buff with White Diamond. Once finished I gave the whole pipe several coats of carnauba wax. ImageImageImage

Reworking an Imperial Treble Zulu – Stainless Steel Tenon

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I picked up this older Imperial Tobacco Co pipe – a Zulu shape number 354. The shape number makes me wonder if the pipe was made by Comoy’s. Maybe someone here knows for sure. The number is missing on the Comoy’s shape number chart on Pipedia. The pipe is interesting to me for several reasons. It is the third in a group of three pipes by Imperial that came to me in an EBay lot. The first two were Two-Points and this one a Treble. I had not heard or seen this line before these came my way. The other reason is that several pipes in this lot had stainless steel tenons! The Treble has one and at first I thought it was original – the stem did not fit well as the tenon was stuck in the bowl and the stem would not seat all the way to the shank. The bowl was in pretty nasty shape. With lots of darkening and the grain virtually obscured under dirt. The rim was caked and tarred. The bowl was full of broken cake and cobwebs. The stem was gnawed with deep bite marks, the button destroyed and the tenon stuck in the shank.

I was able to remove the tenon from shank with a big pair of channel locks and some serious twisting and turning. I filed the end of the tenon and cut grooves in it so that the epoxy would have something to bite into when I pushed it into the stem. I then slid a pipe cleaner into the stem and threaded the tenon on the cleaner. When I got down to the stem I mixed some epoxy (two part mix) and painted it on the tenon. I let it set for a few moments and then pushed it into the stem. I wiped off the excess around the stem and tenon junction. I set it aside and worked on the bowl. ImageImage

I reamed the bowl and cleaned both it and the shank. Then I used a fine grit sanding pad that I have here to work on the lava on the top of the bowl. Once that was done I wiped down the bowl with isopropyl alcohol to remove the grime and the finish. The next photos show the bowl after the initial cleanup. From there I put it in the alcohol bath and went back to work on the stem. ImageImageImage

The next series of two photos show the bite marks on the stem and the state of the button. The bite marks were very deep and some were actually cuts in the stem material rather than just dents. I used my heat gun to raise the dents as much as possible but honestly they did not come up very much at all. This one would be a bit of a challenge. I used sanded the stem around the button and the dents with 240 grit sandpaper to get the oxidation off that area. I was going to use the superglue to repair these bite marks and needed a clean surface to work with. Once I had sanded the area clean I used a dental pick to pick away the brown left in the dents. I wanted to clean out the dents as much as possible and roughen the surface in the dent for a good bond with the glue. The first picture shows the top of the stem, the second shows the bottom. ImageImage

Once they were clean and ready I washed the area down with some isopropyl alcohol to remove any remaining sanding dust. Then I put drops of superglue in the holes on the underside of the stem first. Once they were dry I did the same with the dents on the top side of the stem. The three photos below show the glue in place – they appear as shiny black spots in the photos.ImageImageImage

I set the pipe stem aside to thoroughly dry and took the bowl out of the alcohol bath. I dried it off and then sanded the top of the bowl with the fine grit sanding pads that I have. The top is showing some nice grain and the tars are coming off nicely. ImageImageImage

I wiped down the bowl and rim with acetone (fingernail polish remover) to remove the remaining finish and grime. The white cotton pads in the background of the next three photos show what still remained on the bowl after the alcohol wash. I wanted to get the bowl down to bare briar so that I could refinish it and then give it a new coat of stain. My goal was to highlight the beautiful grain on this one. ImageImageImage

I guess I must get a bit bored doing the same thing or something, because I went back to the stem to sand the patches that I had made. I used emery cloth to get the patches even with the surface of the stem. The next series of three photos show the progress on cleaning up the stem and evening out the stem surface. The patches are beginning to fade and blend into the stem. ImageImageImage

After sanding the stem I cleaned out the stem and the shank. It was a dirty process. The first picture below shows just a few of the many pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I dip them in the cap filled with isopropyl that is pictured in the photos and swab out the stem and shank with them. ImageImage

I reinserted the stem in the shank and wiped the entirety down with an alcohol soaked cotton pad. I wanted to see where I was at with the stem and the bowl. You will notice the addition of a band in the photos below. Once I refit the stem I could see that the stainless tenon was indeed a replacement and that it was misdrilled – it was set in the stem too high making the match at the tenon impossible. I decided to work on the shank rather than pull the tenon, redrill the hole in the stem and reinsert a bigger tenon. I could still do that should I desire. I sanded the shank a little to reduce the gap between the stem and shank. Then I pressure fit a band on it to guide the stem to the proper fit. It worked well actually and the stem lines up nicely now. ImageImageImageImage

I took the next two photos to show the state of the stem patches at this point in the repair process. You can see that they are virtually invisible on the top of the stem and just slightly visible on the underside. At this point I continued to sand the stem and work at the area around the button to redefine it and to blend in the patches. I used a fine grit sanding pad and an extra fine grit pad to remove the scratches and to make the button area more defined. I then worked over the stem with the usual list of micromesh pads from 1500-6000 grit. ImageImage

I restained the bowl with an oxblood stain and buffed the entirety with White Diamond and then gave the pipe several coats of carnauba wax and buffed with a soft flannel buff to bring out the shine to the pipe. You can see from the profile shots that the button is more clearly defined and the flow of the stem looks correct from the bowl to the button. The patches on the stem have blended quite well and though still visible if you look closely are smooth and black. ImageImageImageImage

Refurbished Mastercraft Bulldog

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Another old timer, a Mastercraft Bulldog was in my box of bowls without stems. The squat shape of this little bulldog caught my eye.

The bowl pretty rough looking. The finish was gone and the top had been used as a hammer so it was badly dented and the roughening of the wood left a lot of splintering edges. It was also badly caked and still had a remnant of tobacco left in the bowl. Since it was missing its stem I have no idea when the bowl and tobacco got separated from the stem. I have a coffee can in which I keep a wide range of stems that I have picked up and another can of stem blanks that need to be shaped and fit to the new pipe. For this pipe I found an old stem in the can that was a perfect fit once I removed the old stinger type insert. The stem was badly oxidized virtually brown. There were no tooth marks on the stem and no dents that needed to be repaired.

I reamed and cleaned the bowl and shank until the pipe cleaners came white. I use 99% isopropyl alcohol for doing this as I find that it works well and evaporates quickly leaving no residual tastse. The top had been hammered so much that the bowl had to be topped so that it would be smooth again. The trick with this one was not to remove too much of the top and thus change the angles of the bulldog shape. So I removed enough to give me a smooth surface to work with but not enough to change the shape. Once it was topped and sanded I put it in the alcohol bath and left it while I worked on cleaning up the stem.

I had soaked the stem in a mixture of Oxyclean to soften the oxidation and prepare it for the sanding that would be necessary to clean it. Once I remove it from the soak I buffed it with Tripoli to remove the oxidation that had softened and then sanded it with 240 grit sandpaper. Once I had removed the brown surface I used 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper to continue the smoothing and polishing process. I finished the stem with the micromesh pads from 1500 – 6000 grit. Then I set it aside to wait until I had finished bowl and polish the entirety on the buffer.

I took the bowl out of the alcohol bath and sanded it with the micromesh pads to remove the surface scratches and remaining marks in the bowl surface. I steamed out the dents with a damp cloth and a hot knife and then sanded them smooth again. I restained this bowl with a Medium Brown stain. I flamed it to set the stain, inserted the stem and then took it to the buffer and buffed it with White Diamond to polish it. The entirety was then given several coats of carnauba wax. This one found a new home with someone who loved the shape and it is providing a great smoke for them. ImageImageImage

Refurbished and Restemmed this interestingly shaped no name pipe

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I refurbished this interestingly shaped no name pot/rhodesian/bulldog (?) or you name it shape. I was drawn to it and liked the look of it when I found it in my box of pipes and bowls that I have gathered for refurbishing. It is a box I have that at one point held over 300 pipes that needed work but is slowly shrinking even though I add to it each time I go scavenging. I am pretty much incorrigible about picking up estate pipes and hunting for them. I am getting more picky over the years as to what I want to work on but I pick up ones that will be a challenge to me or that I like the brand or the shape.

This one was truly a mess. I forgot to take pictures of what it looked like when I took it out of the box but I will describe it to you. In many ways it was no different than most of the others that I work on. The bowl was caked to the point of barely holding any tobacco any longer. It was a tarry mess on the rim and running down the sides of the bowl. There were dents and deep “wounds” in the briar of the rim. It also was without a stem. The silver band on the shank was badly beat up and to be honest the pipe was downright ugly. But in its ugliness I saw something that drew me to pick it up and see what I could do with it. So I took it to my work table and it became a project that took me two days.

I did what I call field dressing the pipe the first day. That includes reaming the bowl and cleaning out the grit and grime from the shank and bowl. I washed the bowl down with acetone to remove the overflow from the bowl and rim on the outside of the bowl. I also removed the dirt and grease marking on the bowl. Once it was clean I fit a stem for it. It has a diamond shank, and those have always been a challenge for me to make a proper fit. I find that on these old timers what appears to be a diamond with equal sides never truly is equal. Each side on this one had a different measurement. I used a blank that I had here and shaped it to fit. It is difficult to get each side correct and maintain the shape to fit the shank. I cut the tenon with my Pimo tenon turner and worked the shape for a long time to make it flow with the shank. It took a long time because I would get one side perfect only to lose a bit of the angle on the next side. I finally was able to get the angles right and fit the stem to the shank well. In the finished photos you can get a bit of an idea of the work involved in that.

I then removed the silver band and put the bowl in the alcohol bath while I tried to straighten and smooth out the silver band. I got a lot of the wrinkles and dents out of it but a few still remained even after my work.  I set it aside to reinstall on the shank once it was restained and turned my attention to sanding and polishing the stem. I used 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper as usual to remove the scratches and marks left by the shaping. I then use my normal regimen of 1500-6000 grit micromesh to bring a shine to the stem. When I had it finished and ready for the buffer I put it aside and went back to the bowl.

I removed the bowl from the bath and sanded it with the usual variety of sand papers and micromesh pads. Then I restained it with a cherry stain that I use on some of the older pipes as I have found that it brings out the old colours from the briar and really looks good. I then sanded again with micromesh and put the stem on it before taking it to the buffer to polish it with White Diamond. Once that was finished I gave the bowl and stem several coats of carnauba wax.

There are no stamping or marking on it all. But the unusual shape continues to attract me in an odd way. It is 6 inches long, bowl height is 2 inches. The chamber diameter is 1 inch and the chamber depth is1 1/4 inches. The rim is chamfered and clean. Anyone have a name for the shape??
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Refurb on the Weingott Billiard

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I finished up refurbishing this large Weingott Billiard that was a part of the threesome I picked up on EBay. All three were huge pipes and were ones that I would definitely recycle to someone else once they were refurbished. The Weingott is a BIG piece of briar – the pipe has a length of 8 inches, height 2 1/2 inches, the bowl inside diameter is 7/8 inches, outside diameter 1 1/2 inches. I took a picture of it next to a Dunhill group 4 to show the size of this big fellow in a picture.

The overall condition of this pipe was poor. Obviously it was a much loved pipe as it had been smoked hard. I had to ream and clean it – the bowl was very caked and the shank and stem almost clogged with a goopy tar substance. The finish was blackened on both sides of the bowl and the rim was caked and dented. The dents and scratches were deep and the surface was rough from knocking the pipe out on something hard. The stem had a very deep oxidation and was greenish brown. There were not tooth marks on the stem – at least the pipe had that going for it.

I reamed the bowl and cleaned out the shank. That took some work to unclog the airway. I ended up using a piece of wire to break through the accumulated tars and residue. I then used a drill bit and turned it into the shank until the airway was clean and open. Then I used a shank brush and many pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol to clean out the remaining residue. I packed the bowl with cotton bolls and used an ear syringe to fill the bowl with alcohol so that I could leach out the tars and oils in the bowl. I put a cork in the shank and set the pipe aside overnight.

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The oxidation on the stem took a lot of work as it was deep. I quickly buffed the stem with Tripoli to remove the surface oxidation and see how deep it went. The first coat of greenish brown seemed to be untouched by the Tripoli. It was hard and it smelled bad! I then sanded it with emery clot (fine grit) to break the surface of the oxidation. From there I sanded with 240 grit for a long time until I finally got the stem to the point that it was just a brown haze in the stem. I then put the stem in a soak of Oxyclean overnight to let it soften and draw out the remaining oxidation.

In the morning I took the cotton bolls out of the bowl and dumped them in the rubbish bin. They were dark brown and in places almost black. I let the bowl dry out and had a coffee. Then I topped the bowl to remove the damage that was on it. Once it was smooth and clean I put it in the alcohol bath to soak in order to remove the finish and the grime on the surface. It sat for about an hour and ½ before I took it out of the bath and dried it off. I sanded it with micromesh pads 2400-6000 grit and then restained it with a cherry stain.

I removed the stem from the Oxyclean soak and dried it off. I buffed it again with Tripoli and then sanded it with 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. Then I polished it with micromesh pads 1500-6000 grit to bring the stem back to black. Once finished I put it back on the pipe and buffed the whole pipe with White Diamond and several coats of carnauba. The pipe is now finished and ready for the new owner!

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Refurbished a Peterson’s Deluxe Zulu

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In one of my EBay purchases was this little Peterson’s Deluxe Zulu shape #268. To me this pipe epitomizes the Zulu shape – in other words, when I think Zulu I think of a pipe that is shaped like this. When the pipe arrived the bowl was dirty and caked (two things that I almost forget to say as they are to be expected in estate pipes and I am surprised when I find one that is not). The finish was mottled with light and dark spots where the stain had worn off. It also had some flecks of paint on the surface that are not clearly visible in the photos below. The rim was very caked and covered with tars. Fortunately there was no charring that was visible as I looked it over. The stem also had paint flecks on it and was slightly oxidized. There were tooth marks on the top and bottom of the stem that would need to be repaired.ImageImage

I reamed and cleaned the bowl and the rim of the pipe. The shank took some work with isopropyl alcohol and many pipe cleaners and a shank brush before it was clean. I wiped down the surface of the bowl with acetone to clean off the remaining finish and the paint spots. I use cotton makeup removal pads that I picked up at the store. They work great and are easier to use than just cotton bolls. Once the finish was cleaned I dropped the bowl in the alcohol bath to soak while I turned my attention to the stem.

I buffed the stem to remove the oxidation and the paint spots. I was careful to avoid the area where the stem and shank meet so as not to round the sharp edges and ruin the great fit of the two. I heated the tooth marks that needed to be lifted with my heat gun and when they had come back as far as possible I sanded the stem with 240 grit sandpaper to remove what remained. I sharpened up the edge of the button with my needle files to give it a good crisp edge. I then sanded the whole stem with 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper and water. I finished the sanding and polishing process with micromesh pads from 1500 to 6000 grit. Once that was finished I laid the stem aside with a coat of Obsidian Oil and turned back to the bowl.

I took the bowl out of the alcohol bath and restained it with a medium brown aniline stain. I flamed it, let it dry and then took it to the buffer and buffed it with White Diamond. This was done and the entirety buffed and polished with carnauba wax to give it several layers of wax. The cross grain, birdseye and straight grain on this beauty are well laid out. ImageImageImageImage

Refurb – Barling Garnet Grain Lovat

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One of the classic shapes that I refurbished lately was this little Barling Lovat. It is stamped Barling in script (Post Trans I believe) then London England in block text under that and a third line – Garnet Grain. The bottom of the shank is stamped with the four digit shape number – 4189. The classic lines of this little pipe, to me show what Barling could do with these shapes. The reddish stain on the Garnet Grain pipes is one of the attractive features of this line of Barlings.

This one came to me in a lot of pipes I picked up along the way and it had obviously been sitting for a long time. The bowl had cobwebs deep inside and a musty smell to it. There was a crumbling cake though it was not thick, just soft. I reamed the bowl and cleaned out the bowl and shank with the usual pile of pipe cleaners and a shank brush with lots of Isopropyl alcohol. The outside of the bowl was spattered with white paint all around and some especially ground in along the shank so I scrubbed it with an alcohol cloth and put it in the alcohol bath.

While the bowl was soaking I worked on the stem. It had tooth chatter and a few light tooth marks that needed to be lifted and sanded out. The stem was badly oxidized and also smelled musty like the bowl. I scrubbed the interior with a lot of pipe cleaners and alcohol until they came out clean. I then tacked the bite marks and chatter with 240 grit sandpaper to smooth them out and followed that with 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper and water. I finished sanding the stem with my usual regimen of micromesh pads from 1500-6000 grit. Each progressively higher  grit polished the stem more. I then took it to the buffer and buffed it with Tripoli and White Diamond being careful around the area that it meets the shank. I would give it a more thorough buffing and polishing with carnauba wax once I put it back on the finished bowl.

After I finished the stem I took the bowl out of the bath and dried it off. I sanded it with micromesh 2400 to 6000 grit to polish and remove any scratching and then restained it with an oxblood aniline stain that matched the colour that it had before. Once dry I put the stem on it and took it to the buffer and gave it a light buff with White Diamond and then multiple coats of carnauba wax. It is a perfect sized little Lovat in my opinion and spots a classic shape and look. Here are some pictures of the pipe after cleaning. I forgot to take pictures before I started cleaning it. Sometimes I get into a space and just work at them before I suddenly stop and remember that I did not take photos before starting.ImageImageImage

 

Restemming a little nosewarmer

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Last evening I finished restemming this little nosewarmer. It is stamped Bounty over Real Briar on the bottom of the shank. It has a nice sand blast finish and is stained black over a red undercoat. It length is 4 ½ inches, height is 1 ½ inches, outer diameter of the bowl is 1 ¼ inches and the chamber diameter is 5/8 inches.

The bowl was in great shape when I got it in a box of stummels needing restemming. When I restemmed the one that I carved I set aside the old stem and yesterday was looking at it and thought it would fit this bowl. I took the bowl out and the stem fit. The tenon was perfect but the diameter of the stem was too big. I used my Dremel and sanding drum to take it down close. The series of four photos below show it when I had finished the first work with the Dremel.ImageImageImageImage

The next series of four photos show the stem fit after sanding with 240 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining vulcanite and bring the stem to a proper fit. This took several trips back to the Dremel for more sanding with the drum and then back to the sandpaper to smooth out the scratches. The photos were taken just at the point I had moved on to sand with the micromesh pads. I started with 1500 and 1800 grits to really work on the scratches and shaping. I use these wet as I find that they work better wet. From there I moved through the micromesh pads from 2400 to 6000 grit with each one polishing the stem more deeply.ImageImageImageImage

The last series of photos show the finished pipe. The stem has a deep shine. I used some 8000 and 12000 grit micromesh for the first time on this one and I have to tell you the difference between the 6000 and the 8000 grit was noticeable in the finish. This morning I buffed the pipe with carnauba wax and it is ready for a smoke!

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London Made Reject – Hand Made

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is one big pipe. I got it in a group of pipes I bought on EBay. The others in the lot were Barlings and Bewlays. They were normal group 3 and 4 sized pipes. This one is just over 7 inches long and 2 inches tall. The outer diameter of the bowl is 1 ¾ inches and the inner diameter of the bowl is 1 inch. It presented some interesting issues that would need to be addressed in the refurbishing process. The biggest of those was a significant cigarette burn on the outer edge and the top of the rim. It was quite deep and was an actually divot in the surface of the bowl. The rim – inner edge toward the stem also was charred and tarred. The finish was actually worn and had lost most of the stain. There were some very obvious pink putty fills on the right side of the bowl near the bottom and on the top of the shank near the stem. The stem was oxidized and there was a bit of tooth chatter.

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I have taken a picture of the pipe with a group 4 sized billiard to give an idea of the massive size of this old beauty. It is stamped on the left side of the shank “Made By Hand” and on the right side of the shank ‘Reject” over “London Made”.  I am pretty sure that it is a Charatan reject though I cannot be certain. What do you all think? Who is the maker? The only thing making this a reject are the few fills as it has some pretty decent grain all the way around.

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After I reamed and cleaned the pipe inside with isopropyl alcohol I decided to address the cigarette burn on the top and side of the rim. The only way to remove it was to top the pipe. The next series of four photos show the emery cloth attached to a cutting board so that I could work on the topping procedure. The first photo shows the angle of attack that I use on the bowl. I place it flat on the cloth and work it in circles on the paper. I keep the bowl rim flat on the paper to ensure that the surface does not become angled or slanted. The next three photos show the top after sanding. Each photo is sequential so that you can see the progress in removing the divot. The second photo below shows the side shot of the damage and you can see the depth of the burn. The next two show the gradual removal of the burn and the flattening out of the surface of the rim.

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When I finished with the emery cloth I used 240 grit sandpaper to smooth out the surface and remove scratches left by the emery cloth. I used the same circular motion to sand the rim. I find that the circular motion leaves fewer scratches and also keeps the bowl flat as I work on it. The next series of three photos show the rim and side after sanding with the 240 grit sandpaper. The burn mark is now flattened out and the edge of the rim is smooth. The divot is gone. The decision I had to make at this point was whether to continue sanding to remove all of the darkening on the bowl rim or to use stains to hide it a bit and keep the profile at its current height. I opted to use the stains on the burn mark and leave it at this point. Once I had the bowl rim at this point I proceeded to use 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper and then micromesh from 1500-6000 grit to smooth out the surface of the rim.

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From there I decided to work on the fills. The pink putty just does not work for me. It does not take stain and it is always glaringly present in the finished pipe. The next two photos show the fills on the right side toward the bottom of the bowl and on the shank near the stem.

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I wiped the bowl down with acetone (fingernail polish remover) to get the stain and finish removed. Then I used the dental pick to remove the fills. The next five photos show the opening up of the pits that were under the fills. I use the sharp point of the dental pick to pick away all of the putty and leave the holes open and free of debris. I also wipe the bowl down with acetone before filling them with the new patch.ImageImageImageImageImage

After wiping down the surface of the pipe and cleaning out any remaining debris in the pits or holes I filled the holes with briar dust that I had saved from sanding the rim. I packed the dust into the hole with the dental pick. I find that if I wet the end of the pick the briar dust clumps on the pick. I scrape it over the holes and then tamp them full with the briar dust. I purposely over fill them with the dust. Then I drip super glue onto the briar dust patch. In the three photos below you can see the patches after the initial sanding with a fine grit pink sanding pad. They are the dark spots on the right side of the photo and on the shank near the stem. These dark spots lessen with more sanding. The second photo also shows the state of the rim from the top shot.ImageImageImage

I heated the bowl so that I could do the contrast staining to highlight the grain. I used an artist’s brush to apply black aniline stain to the bowl. I follow the lines of the grain. I painted the bowl, shank and rim with the black stain. Then I lit it with a lighter to flame the stain and set it. Once it was dry I sanded the stain to remove the excess.Image

The next series of four photos show the bowl after the initial sanding. I had removed much of the stain. The reason I am showing these photos is to highlight how the fill on the side of the bowl and on the shank have faded into the finish of the pipe. The black stain not only highlights the grain but also blends in the fills with the contrast stain on the bowl. In the second and third photo I also wanted to show how the stain takes care of the burn mark on the bowl side and rim. It is still present in terms of the darkening but it is less visible at this point. That is what I was aiming for. From this point I took the pipe to my buffer and used Tripoli and White Diamond to buff out a bit more of the black so that it would highlight the grain but not be the overwhelmingly dark coat under the finish stain that I would later use. I also used micromesh pads from 3200 to 6000 grit to work out any of the remaining scratches on the rim and bowl surfaces.ImageImageImageImage

At this point I set the bowl aside and went to work on the stem. In the picture below you can see the variety of micromesh pads that I use to remove the oxidation. The brown dust on the pads is the oxidation that comes off with the sanding. I always have a bowl of water at the side of the table to dip the pads in and wash off the oxidation dust and grime and also to give the pads more bite when I am sanding the stem. I went back and forth through the pads and the buffer with Tripoli and White Diamond to bring the stem back to the rich black that it had originally. I always buff the stem with it back on the pipe. I do not want to risk rounding the edge at the point where it sits against the shank. Once it was shiny black and acceptable I took the pipe back to the work table to give it the final stain coat.Image

For a top coat of stain I chose oxblood coloured aniline stain. I find that the contrast between it and the black undercoat work well together. The next series of four photos show the finished pipe. The first shows the left side and what remains of the burn mark near the top of the rim. It is still present but certainly less visible and it is smooth to touch. The second photo shows the right side of the pipe and how well the stain has hidden the reworked fills on the shank and near the bottom of the bowl. If you did not know they were present you would have a hard time seeing them. The third photo shows the rim and how well the stain has hidden the burn mark and brought out the birdseye grain on the rim. The final photo shows the bottom of the bowl and is included to show the contrast stain and the graining on that part of the bowl.ImageImageImageImage

The next series of photos show closer views of the repairs that were down and how they blend in with the contrast stain. The first is the left side of the bowl and you can see the darkening of the rim where the burn mark was. It is smooth to touch and none of the profile of the pipe is affected. The second photo shows the part of the bowl where I removed the putty fills, refilled them with briar dust and superglue and then restained with the two coats of contrasting stain. The third photo shows the same repairs on the shank. The final photo is of the rim of the bowl. The birdseye grain is highlighted. In the slight glare at the top of the photo you can see the remaining mark from the burn. The black and oxblood stains minimize the visibility of the burn darkening. I finished the pipe by giving the entirety several coats of carnauba wax to give it a rich glow. The pipe is finished and ready to give many years of service to whoever becomes the next owner.

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