Tag Archives: restaining

New Life for a Hardcastle’s London Made Reject Pot

Blog by Steve Laug

This perfectly shaped little Hardcastle’s sandblast pot was the next pipe to my worktable. It is a small almost pencil shank pot. It is stamped Hardcastle’s London Made and across that it is stamped Reject. It has a rich blast on the sides of the bowl and shank. There is a smooth portion on the bottom of the bowl and shank for the stamping and allowing it to be a sitter. My brother took the next photos to show the condition of the pipe before he cleaned it up.He took some close up photos of the bowl and stamping. The bowl had a thick cake and a large overflow of lava on the rim. The lava covered the light blast finish on the rim completely and it was hard to tell the condition of the bowl at this point. The finish was worn and dirty but there were no chips or dents marring the finish. The stem is oxidized and you can see the Hardcastle’s H stamp on the left side near the shank. You can see the stamping on the shank and clearly see the REJECT stamp across the initial stamping. I am not sure why this pipe was rejected. It appears to be a decent piece of briar. There were two small sandpits on the sides of the bowl that I suppose may have caused it to be a reject but that is not clear to me. My brother did his usual great clean up on the exterior of the pipe. He scrubbed it with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush and was able to remove the finish. He reamed the bowl and removed the lava build up on the rim and left a slightly darkened rim with no burns or damage to the edges. I took the next set of photos to show what the pipe looked like when it arrived in Vancouver. I took a close up photo of the rim to show the darkening on the back side of the top. It was clean but darkened. There were no burn marks or damaged briar on the edges of the bowl. The stamping is also shown and it remains sharp and distinct.The stem was lightly oxidized and there were tooth dents and chatter on the top and underside near the button. The button had some flattening and wear as well.I used a brass bristle tire brush to scrub the top of the rim and try to clean out some of the darkening on the rim. I was able to remove some of it and make it less pronounced.I wiped the bowl down with acetone on cotton pads to clean of any remnants of the old finish and to remove the debris from the brass brush work on the rim. With the bowl cleaned I stained it with a dark brown aniline stain mixed 50/50 with isopropyl alcohol. I flamed the stain and repeated the process until the coverage was even on the bowl and in the deep pits of the sandblast finish.I took some photos of the pipe at this point in the process. The stain had covered well. The colour was a little dark for my liking and would need to be lightened a bit before I was finished. You can see the sand pits on both sides of the bowl that may have made this pipe a reject. I have circled them in red. I cleaned the mortise with a dental spatula and then cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol. I also cleaned out the airway into the bowl and in the stem.To lighten the colour of the stain I washed it down with some alcohol on cotton pads until the colour was more to my liking. The finished colour is shown in the photos below. I painted the dents in the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter and was able to raise them almost smooth. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the slight dimples that remained in the surface. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads and rubbed it down with the oil after each set of three pads. After the final 12000 grit sanding I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffer and gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand waxed the bowl with Conservator’s Wax. I buffed the bowl and stem with a clean buffing pad and again by hand with a microfibre cloth to raise and deepen the shine on the briar. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I am pretty happy with the finished pipe. Thanks for looking.

A Graceful Swan-Necked Tania Billiard

Getting Lazy – A Simple Restore on a Loewe Cutlass 10

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Blog by Steve Laug

The last three or four pipes I have taken out of the refurbishing box have been very simple restorations. My brother sent me this Loewe’s pipe that is stamped Loewe over Cutlass on the underside of the shank with the shape number 10 at the shank stem union. In the photos he sent me it appeared to be in pretty decent shape. The finish looked dirty and murky but otherwise good. The rim had some tars and overflow from the cake in the bowl but not too bad. There were some nicks and dings in the rim but none too deep. The stem was virtually flawless with no tooth chatter or tooth marks. The boxed L logo on the stem was worn and almost illegible but with a lens it is clear.While I have heard of and enjoyed quite a few older Loewe’s pipes the shape of this one and the name were not familiar to me. Even the shape number was not recognizable. I looked on the pipephil site to see if I could find any information on this particular iteration of the brand and found what I was looking for. There on his site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-l5.html) I found a pipe with the same stamping but a different number. The one in my hands does not have a COM stamp so I do not know where it was made. I have included the photo of the stamping and the stem logo to the left from that site as it is parallel to the one I have. I have also included some information from the listing there.

The brand was founded 1856 by Emil Loewe and was first bought out by Civic. Eventually the brand became part of Cadogan Group along with BBB, Civic, Comoy, GBD, Loewe and Orlik in about 1979. Judging from the age and the stamping on this pipe I would surmise that it was made after that merger and is a Cadogan pipe.

I also did some reading on the history of the brand on Pipedia and include a short excerpt here that is pertinent to the age and stamping on this pipe: https://pipedia.org/wiki/Loewe_%26_Co.#Bottom_of_shank: “By studying the website of one UK dealer I was able to deduce that the present shape numbers (early 2003) mostly (probably all) differ from those used from 1967. For example, a Billiard is now a 28, a Lovat an 834, a Canadian a 296. Some shape numbers now have 4 digits. But even today, Cadogan will occasionally still stamp a pipe with a shape name instead of a number, though only on request.”

It looks to me that I am dealing with a pipe made around 2003 jusding from the change in shape numbers to a two digit numbering system at some level. Though there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the dating of Loewe pipes after the Cadogan buy out.

My brother took the first and the following photos of the pipe before he did the cleanup. What follows are a series of close up photos of the stamping, the rim and bowl and the sandblast look on the bottom of the bowl. In the bowl bottom photo you can see the dust and debris in the grooves of the blast. My brother cleaned out the internals – the mortise and the airways in the shank and stem with pipe cleaners and alcohol. He scrubbed the externals with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap and was able to not only remove the grime from the finish but most of the finish also. When it arrived in Vancouver the pipe looked like virgin briar. The stem is acrylic so there was no oxidation on it. The next photos show the pipe when I brought it to my work table. The blast on the briar is quite shallow and shows mixed grain. I took some close up photos of the rim and the stem to show their condition. My brother was able to remove the tars on the rim. There was some slight rim darkening on the inner edge but other than that it was clean. The scratches and dings were also raised. The photos of the stem show how clean it was as well when it arrived. I sanded the inner edge of the rim with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out and remove the darkening and light burn marks. I also sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads to remove the scratch marks left behind from my sanding.I wiped the bowl down with acetone on a cotton pad to remove any remnants of the previous finish and the dust from sanding. I stained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain cut 50/50 with isopropyl alcohol. I flamed it and repeated the process until the coverage on the bowl was even.I hand buffed the bowl and took the photos below to show what it looked like at this point in the process. I gave the bowl and stem several coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This one will also soon be on the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in adding it to your rack let me know through email at slaug@uniserve.com or by message on Facebook or a comment here. Thanks for looking.

A Worn Royal Danish 936 Wide Oval Shank Pipe given new life

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Blog by Steve Laug

When I saw the pictures of the way this pipe looked – at least the first picture I thought it was in pretty decent shape. The finish was a little worn; particularly some of the high spots on the sand blast had worn off. The smooth patches were also worn and lifeless. The back edge of the rim looked really rough – as if the pipe had been knocked about on concrete or another hard surface to remove the dottle from the bowl. It was ragged. The inner edge of the rim also looked worn and the cake in the bowl was a bit odd looking – as if it was partially removed. It seemed heavier on one side than the other. The stem looked okay in the first picture but the second hinted that all was not well with it either.The close up photos reveal the issues that I hinted at above. The first shows the strangely caked bowl – heavily built up toward the left side and rear of the bowl as well as the rough back rim top and edge of the bowl. The inner edge of the rim also looks like it has taken some damage. The second photo shows the slight cap at the stem junction that to my mind spoke of a tarry and caked mortise that kept the stem from seating properly. The finish also shows some wear in the photos. The pipe is stamped Royal Danish and Made in Denmark. The shape number is 936 which is a Stanwell shape.The next two photos show the issues with the stem. There were tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem that went from quite deep to very shallow. The button top and bottom were worn down and had deep tooth marks. There was also a heavy build up of oxidation on the stem. The stem logo on the top is very faint. It made me wonder if I would be able to feel it with my finger once it arrived in Canada.I am so glad my brother does the heavy work on cleaning out these pipes. I have reamed and cleaned out the shanks of a lot of pipes and I can’t say that I miss it. I still get to do my share of cleanups on pipes that I find but these that he sends me come ready for the restoration process. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and was able to remove the wax and tars on bowl and rim. He reamed the bowl back to bare briar and scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and stem. When it arrived the stain was quite washed out and the stem was really oxidized. The damaged rim top was very visible and it was in rough shape. I took some close up photos of the rim and the stem when it arrived here. The roughness of the rim top and inner edge are seen in the first photo. The tooth marks and wear on the stem top and underside in the second and third photos. My brother had cleaned out the mortise so the stem fit tightly against the shank so my guess mentioned above about a dirty mortise appears to have been correct. The crown logo on the top of the stem could hardly be felt by touch. I started sanding the stem then decided to run a few pipe cleaners and alcohol through the airway in the stem and shank as well as in the mortise. They were quite clean and did not take too much work to remove the little bit of debris that was still left.I sanded the rim lightly to take away the roughness but still leave the finish looking like the sand blasted portion of the rim that had not been damaged. I stained the bowl with a dark brown stain mixed 50/50 with isopropyl alcohol. I applied the stain and flamed it and repeated the process until the coverage was what I was looking for. I wanted the dark stain in the deep grain of blast to show through the brown top stain.I hand buffed the bowl with a microfibre cloth to raise a shine and to give an even look to the finish. The photos below show the pipe at this point in the process.In the second photo below the rim surface is visible. There will need to be some contrast applied to the finish to make it blend in and not look merely “less damaged”.To address the contrast issue on the rim mentioned above I used a black Sharpie Pen to provide some darkening in the crevices of the pitted surface. I used a dark brown stain pen to give the top coat over the black stain.I sanded the inner edge of the rim with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the roughened inner edge. In retrospect I probably should have done this before staining the bowl but I did not so I put it in the order I did the work. In the second photo below you can see how the contrast stain worked on the rim top.When I finished sanding I stained the inner edge of the rim with the dark brown stain pen and added some streaks of black Sharpie pen to give it some contrast. I buffed the rim lightly Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and with a microfibre cloth. The photos below show the pipe bowl after buffing. Notice the change to the rim after the sanding, staining and buffing. I set the bowl aside and worked on the issues with the stem. I sanded the area around the button on both sides of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and scrubbed the deeper tooth marks with cotton swabs and alcohol. Once they were clean I filled the deeper marks and built up the button surface with black super glue.I sanded the repairs once they had cured with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth them into the surface of the stem. I reshaped the top of the button on both sides of the stem with the sandpaper.The edge of the button on the underside of the stem was still rough so I used a needle file to shape and sharpen the straight edge.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 micromesh sanding pads. I rubbed the stem down with Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and a paper towel to further remove the oxidation on the stem. I polished the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish both Fine and Extra Fine with paper towels. The stem was beginning to shine. I sanded the stem once again with the micromesh sanding pads using 1500-12000 grit pads. Each successive grit of sanding pad added more shine and depth to the shine. The more I polished the stem the more the crown logo disappeared.I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I rubbed the bowl down with Conservator’s Wax by hand. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The pipe is clean and looks new. The restoration brought it back to life. Thanks for looking.

An odd assortment of tiny Salesmen’s Pipes

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Blog by Steve Laug

Over the past six months or so I have been taking the tiny pipes that my brother has sent and stack them to the side of the desk in a “maybe someday” pile. That is a pile that I might work on some day – you know what I mean kind of a cast of pipe pile. Finally last evening I was looking at them again. It may have been triggered by the refurbish I just did on the little KBB Yello-Bole bent billiard that refurbished recently (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/10/08/a-living-tiny-kbb-yello-bole-salesmans-pipe/). I am not sure but whatever it was I picked up the three pipes that were in the pile. The first was a rusticated bent billiard that looks like an old WDC System pipe. It is stamped Well Pipe over Italy on a smooth portion of the left side of the shank. The second one was a straight prince shaped pipe that was stamped Tom Thomb over Imported Briar on the left side and top of the shank. The third was a very unique pipe made of Bakelite I believe. It is a tiny carved figural head of a man who looks like a page. It is stamped Bob’er on the left side of the shank. On the neck and chin of the figural it was stamped on the left side Reg.US.Pat.Off and on the right side neck and chin Des.Pat. 71062. I took two photos of the group of three pipes as they were when I started.The first pipe, the Well Pipe was a fascinating little fellow. It is 3 ½ inches long, 1 ½ inches tall and the diameter is 1 inch. The chamber diameter is ½ inch. Proportionally, the pipe is very nicely done. The metal rim is oxidized. The bowl had a light cake that my brother had taken out. The stem was cast rubber with a typical P-lip type stem though the airway is directly in the end. The stem was chewed and there was a chunk out of the side of the stem below the button on the left side.I took some close up photos of the stamping on the side of the shank and the condition of the stem. The bowl and stamping were in great shape. The nickel band was dirty and oxidized. The stem has a chunk missing out of the end of the stem. I have circled it in in red.The second pipe, the Tom Thomb prince was in decent shape. The bowl had a light cake that my brother reamed before sending it to me. The finish was peeling off the bowl on the right side and the bottom of the bowl. The rim had a tar buildup and some cake over flow. It is 4 inches long, 1 inch tall and the diameter is 1 inch. The chamber diameter is ½ inch. Proportionally, the pipe is very nicely done. The vulcanite stem was oxidized and there were two blisters on the top and bottom left side ahead of the button. I took a close up photo of the rim to show the condition and the stamping to show its location on the shank. You can also see the oxidation in the vulcanite stem.The third pipe was the unique pipe Bakelite figural head of a man. The carved face is quite well done. It is a cast as the pipe has a seam on the top of the stem across the bowl and down the front and underside of the bowl and shank. It is 2 1/2 inches long, 3/4 inch tall and the diameter is 1/2 inch. The chamber diameter is 1/4 inch. The stem and bowl are pristine. The bowl is unsmoked. There is a cross hatched pattern on the shank. The casting is quite well done. I took some close up photos of the stamping on the pipe. The first photo shows the left side shank stamp shows up clearly as Bob’er. The second photo shows the stamping on the left side of the neck and chin of the figural. The Reg.US.Pat.Off. stamping is very clear. The final photo shows the stamping on the right side neck and chin. Again the Des.Pat. 71062. is very clear.I wiped down the bowls with alcohol on cotton pads. I scrubbed the prince with acetone on a cotton pad. I was able to remove the grime and build up on the Well and the Bob’er. The acetone barely dented the surface of the peeling finish on the Tom Thomb.I started working on the stem of the Well pipe. I took a photo of the missing chunk. I cleaned the area with alcohol and then filled it in with black super glue using a tooth pick to place it in the divot.Once the repair had cured I sanded it with 229 grit sandpaper and shaped it with a needle file. I wanted it to match the right side of the stem and look like it had originally. I also shaped the P-lip on the top and bottom sides.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. After each set of three pads I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. After the final sanding of the 12000 grit pad I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I buffed the stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond and gave them multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then by hand with a microfibre cloth. The finished Well pipe is shown in the photos below. With the Well Pipe finished I focused on the Tom Thomb prince. I started by sanding out the blisters on the stem. On both the top and the bottom there were blisters on the left side near the button. I forgot to take a photo of the bubbles but after I had started sanding it with 220 grit sandpaper I took the next photo. I sanded out the bubbles and then wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit sanding pads. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads and let it dry after the last pad. I sanded off the finish on the bowl and shank avoiding the stamping. I wiped it down with acetone on cotton pads to remove the remaining finish. I stained the pipe with Danish Oil and Cherry stain. I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then by hand with a microfibre cloth. The finished Tom Thomb pipe is shown in the photos below. The last pipe, the Bakelite pipe did not take a lot of work. I gave it a coat or Conservator’s Wax and hand buffed it with a shoe brush and a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I thought I would take some photos of the finished lot. The tiny pipes shine with a new sparkle. As I look at them I wonder if this is what they looked like when the salesmen carried to the pipe shops to sell orders for year’s pipes. Thanks for looking.

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe…

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Blog by Steve Laug

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do;
She gave them some broth without any bread;
Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.
-Child’s Nursery Rhyme – Mother Goose

When I opened the box and saw this old pipe that my brother sent my first reaction was why? Then I started to look it over and I began to understand the attraction of it. It reminded me of the children’s rhyme, “The old woman who lived in a shoe”, that I used to recite growing up so it led me down memory lane. From what I can find the pipe is probably from the 30’s. The carving and detail of the shoe is quite well done. The lines demarcating the stitching and the worn look of a well broken in shoe add to the attraction. The carver even detailed the sole of the shoe and the bead around the boot. He carved in the laces and the tongue of the shoe. Even the fills added to the worn and well broken in boot look of the pipe.

My brother sent me some photos of the pipe to show what it looked like when it was found. He found it in an antique shop on a recent trip around the Butte and Anaconda, Montana area. He added some other nice pipes and then this one as well. The pipe is not tiny, but is a full-sized smoking pipe. The dimensions will tell the story. It is 7 inches long and the bowl is 2 inches tall. The diameter of the bowl exterior is 1 ¼ inches and the chamber is ¾ inches in diameter. The photos focus in on the details of the carving on the pipe and the placement of the fills – which even give the pipe a worn and broken in feel of a worn boot. I decided to work on the bowl first. The missing fill on the rim of the pipe that is shown in the above photo at the 10 o’clock position (left side of the photo toward the top of the bowl) was the first one I worked on. I cleaned off the rim with some isopropyl alcohol then filled in the divot with some clear super glue and briar dust. Once it dried I sanded the fill smooth to blend it in with the rest of the surface of the rim. I sanded the inside edge as well and smoothed it out.I used a Black Sharpie pen to mark out the lines used demarcate the stitching and lacing of the boot. I stained the briar with a cherry stain/Danish Oil combination. I rubbed the stain onto the briar and used a cotton swab to apply it in the grooves. I wiped it off with a soft cloth. The first photo below shows the pipe before I wiped it off.The next five photos show the pipe after I wiped it down. The cherry stain looked really good on the briar. I would need to reapply the black Sharpie to highlight the grooves and do some more highlights of brown into the worn areas of the boot. I used the black Sharpie to redefine the grooves in the stitching areas and tongue and laces once again. In the folds I applied some dark brown stain with a stain pen to add shadows. The next photos show the pipe after that. The browns add shadows to the finish and give the folds some depth. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the roughness of the old vulcanite. It was pitted and rough in texture. The initial sanding smooth out the roughness. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and the shine began to rise. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded the stem with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with the oil after each set of three sanding pads. After sanding with the 12000 grit pad and rubbing it down with Obsidian Oil I set it aside to dry. I used a sharper pointed Black Sharpie Pen and a red felt tip pen to highlight more of the shadows in the folds of the boot. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and .gave the pipe and 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 microfibre cloth. My goal was to get the pipe looking like it was made out of old soft leather. I wanted the shadows in the folds and the stitch lines to look authentic. Hopefully the stain and the fussing with pens have achieved that. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below and personally I think the old woman’s shoe looks amazing. This was a fun project and really a diversion from the usual routine of pipe restoration. Thanks for looking. Enjoy.

Breathing New Life into a Gold Star Giant 8597

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have a lot of pipes to work on so making a decision which one to work on it a bit interesting. Several months ago now Steve in Dawson Creek sent me a box of pipes for restoration as allowed. He sent me a list of priorities regarding which pipes he wanted restored in the order of importance to him. So I decided to work on one of the pipes that he sent me for restoration. The next one on his list of priorities was a bulldog that was in pretty rough shape. It is stamped Gold Star on the left side of the shank and Giant on the right side. On the underside of the left side of the diamond shank it is the shape number 8597. I can’t much information about the brand. It is a bit of a mystery pipe but under the grime and the peeling finish there was nice looking grain. The pipe was dirty and the finish was very rough. The varnish coat was peeling away. There was a large chip out of the ring on the right side of the bowl. The rim was darkened and caked under tars. The cake was thick and overflowing the bowl. The stem was oxidized and there were tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem next to the button.I took a close up photo of the rim and the bowl to show you what I was working on in dealing with this pipe. The bowl was a mess. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the bite marks on the top and underside of the stem. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Pipe Knife to take the cake back to bare briar on the bowl walls. There was a lot of cake so it took some time. I used the largest cutting head and the cutting head just below that one.I topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. I worked the rim against the sandpaper until the damaged bowl top was removed and the bowl was once again smooth and round.I repaired the damaged portion of the ring around the bowl with briar dust and super glue. I mixed the two together and made putty and pressed it into the damaged area of the ring. In the photo below you can see the repaired area on the ring.I used the Dremel and sanding drum to remove the excess patch and sanded it back until it was smooth against the rest of the bowl.I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper until the ring blended in with the rest of the pipe. I used a hack saw blade to recut the grooves on each side of the ring repair. The photo below shows the recut grooves and the repaired ring. It still needs to be cleaned up but it is looking better.I used a knife blade needle file to clean up the grooves. I was able to match the grooves on the rest of the bowl. I sanded the ring with 220 grit sandpaper.I wiped the bowl down with acetone (fingernail polish remover) on cotton pads. I broke up the peeling varnish with sandpaper and wiped it down again.I scraped the inside of the mortise with a dental spatula to remove the hardened tars. It scraped away all of the buildup and then I scrubbed it down with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until it was clean. I cleaned the airway in the stem until it was clean. I sanded the tooth marks out the top and underside of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper until they were minimized.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads to smooth out the scratches in the vulcanite.I scrubbed the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. It took some elbow grease but I was able to remove all of the oxidation with the new product. I am starting to really like this stuff.I polished the stem with the Before & After Pipe Polish using the fine and the extra fine polishing compound. I rubbed it on by hand using a finger and then scrubbed it off with a cotton pad until the polish was gone and the stem shone. I stained the bowl with a medium brown aniline stain and flamed it to set it in the grain. I repeated the process until the stain was evenly spread on the bowl.I buffed the bowl on the buffing wheel to see what the new stain coat looked like. I liked the new look of the old Gold Star Giant. What do you think? I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel to bring a shine to the bowl and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Steve, this one turned out to be another beauty. I am looking forward to hearing what you think about it once you get it back to Dawson Creek.

Nice find in Plovdiv, Bulgaria – Denicotea Deluxe Curling Bruyere Extra

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Blog by Dal Stanton

In my last post restoring the Jeantet Fleuron (Link), I mentioned my recent pipe hunting expeditions during our R&R travels in Bulgaria with our daughter and son-in-law visiting from Denver, Colorado. Jordan, my son-in-law, is a blooming pipe man and was my eager accomplice as we dipped in and out of antique shops we found. One of those ‘dips’ unfolded in one of the longest inhabited cities in Europe and the world (since 5000BC!) – Plovdiv, Bulgaria, which enabled me to land the Denicotea Deluxe Curling before me now. Since my field shape identification skills are still in development, when I first saw the pipe in the display case, I thought it was from the Canadian family – the longish shank and the long saddle stem got my attention. Since the antique shop was situated in Old Towne, Plovdiv, in the shadow of the historic Thracian settlement (to the Romans, they were the ‘Barbarians’) the lady with whom I negotiated was pretty tough – I assume because her overhead expenses were more due to her classic location! So the deal we struck was not as good as I was hoping, but with new pipe in hand, I took these initial pictures outside the antique shop with ancient cobblestone as a backdrop. After just finishing the Jeantet Fleuron and my research zeroing in on French pipe making mecca, Saint Claude, I was anxious to start my work on this Denicotea Deluxe Curling, a name also ‘claimed’ by Saint Claude, according to one of my sources in that research. Here’s where the confusion began. The source, a pipe shop of Saint Claude, La Pipe Rit, stated on their home page:

On our website, you will find pipes from Saint Claude made by the most famous brands, such as Eole, Chacom, Bayard, Butz-Choquin, Denicotea, Jeantet and Ropp. The works of Saint Claude’s craftsmen are also present, for example, the unique handmade pipes created by Pierre Morel. You will also discover pipes from all over the world through Vauen, Big Ben, Dunhill, L’anatra, Peterson, Porsche, Savinelli, Stanwell, Viprati and meerschaum pipes as well. (La Pipe Rit)

This blurb led me to the assumption that the name Denicotea was claimed by Saint Claude, but when I started my digging on the Denicotea Curling on Pipedia I found, what many of you already know, Denicotea is a German enterprise. Pipedia says of Denicotea,

Brand founded in 1932 in Cologne, Germany, by Willy Heineberg. Denicotea is actually the name of a silica gel filter, cigarette holders and care products for pipes and cigarette holders. They also introduced the brands Aldo Morelli, Adsorba, Wessex. (Link)

Pipephil confirms this information and adds that pipes were also manufactured by an English third party and marketed under the Denicotea brand. (Link).

So, at this point in my research I’m wondering what the French connection is – assuming that both sources were correct? I dug a lot (learned a lot too!) looking at Pipedia and other sources seeking to confirm another ‘sighting’ of the name Denicotea in Saint Claude but found none. The most plausible hypothesis that I was cultivating was that perhaps Willy Heineberg, who was born actually in Metz, France, had connections with Saint Claude before moving across the Rhine River into Germany (Metz and Cologne are relatively close) to establish the Denicotea operation. I discovered that Willy Heineberg was born a Frenchman (though his surname appears to be of a German-Jewish lineage – see: Link) when I unearthed an interesting letter he wrote on July 31, 1951, to the director of the CIA, General Walter Bedell Smith, seeking help for the rebuilding of a French village raised by the Nazis during WWII – Saint-Die’. Heineberg references in this letter that he was born in Metz, France, nearby Saint-Die’ and therefore wanted to help his compatriots. At the time of writing, his letterhead placed him in NYC on 41 Park Avenue – the tobacco business must have been going well! (See the letter here: Link – in the letter he references at least one other tobacco mogul of RJ Reynolds along with other ‘who’s who’ of his day)

My research on Denicotea pipes was not terribly fruitful – one mostly finds information about their filter and accessory lines of production. Notwithstanding, I’m looking at this Denicotea, not from Saint-Claude, yet very handsome and I’m attracted to the long saddle stem of this classic billiard – my revised shape identification. On the left side of the shank is an arched Denicotea over De Luxe. The right side is Curling over Bruyere Extra. A shape number is pressed on the bottom of the shank which I believe is 118 or possibly 119 – not sure. The saddle stem has a very faint, warn stamped D ensconced in a circle. I hope to bring this fading stamp back from the edge of oblivion with some acrylic paint applied – we’ll see if there’s enough imprint to hold the paint. The bowl is in good shape with some minor nicks and scrapes on the bottom. There is some crusty cake build up in the fire chamber and the rim has some nicks and lava flow on it but it appears minor and in good shape. The stem has significant oxidation but very little tooth chatter to worry about. I take some additional pictures on my work table after returning home to Sofia. I remove the stem and deliver it to the Oxi-clean bath to begin raising the oxidation from the vulcanite stem. When I remove the stem and examine the mortise, I’m not sure what I see. Has the tenon become dislodged from the stem and now unceremoniously implanted in the mortise or does this pipe by design have a vulcanite filter extension coming out of the mortise? I also see what appears to be an old used filter jammed pretty snuggly in the mortise and I cannot remove it with my fingernails. I also try to remove it with tweezers and after scraping at it a bit, I discover that what I thought was an old used filter is metal – I haven’t seen anything like this before. It appears to have an airway slot on the lower portion of the metal ‘insert’. After trying unsuccessfully to pull the metal object out with my fingernails and gently trying to coax it out with my Buck knife, I decide to dip the mortise end in alcohol hopefully to loosen things up. After some careful prying so as to not damage the vulcanite ‘tenon’ in the mortise, what emerged was not anything I was expecting. I have no idea what kind of internal stinger contraption I’m looking at. After I clean it up the only thing I can think of is some clever internal stinger system that Denicotea came up with seeking that ever elusive cooler, dryer smoking experience. I’m still not sure if the tenon has dislodged from the stem and is stuck in the mortise or if what I’m looking at is by design. Taking my questions back to the internet, it didn’t take long to figure things out. Pipephil’s entry for Denicotea (Link) has a picture showing a shape almost identical to the Curling and the mortise has the same vulcanite insert. When I Googled for images, I saw other Curling styles with the same design. With one particular entry from eBay, the metal insert I dislodged looks very familiar to the object in the Denicotea advertisement pictured below – it appears to be part of a filtration system which wedges up against an elongated filter of sorts that fits in the broad/long stem. The very next thought that came to mind was that I hadn’t thought to look into the stem for a filter before dropping it into the Oxy-clean bath! I’m not sure what I will do with the insert, but it does appear to serve as an air restrictor that would be helpful for use without a filter. Any feedback on this would be appreciated! With the object removed, I take my new Savinelli pipe knife to ream the bowl on my 10^th floor balcony ‘Man Cave’. This is where I’m able to smoke my pipes (door sealed) with my wife’s blessings. With it being a beautiful fall day in Bulgaria, I’m happy to work there. I can see why Steve enjoys using his Savinelli pipe knife – it takes the cake off very well and allows for a more delicate and selective approach when needed. After reaming, I use 240 grit paper and clean and smooth the chamber walls further. I like to work on clean pipes so I take pipe cleaners and Q-tips dipped in isopropyl 95% and go to work on the internals of the stummel. After several Q-tips the mortise was not coming clean. With Q-tips I detect an internal ridge inside the mortise created by the vulcanite inserted to the mortise. I’m thinking that this design is a natural gunk collector which makes cleaning more of an on-going challenge. I decide to hold off on more Q-tips and try the salt and alcohol technique I’ve read in other blogs (See at DadsPipes). I use ‘all natural’ non-iodized Himalayan salt that I can find on the store shelves in Bulgaria. Why non-iodized? I asked Charles Lemon at DadsPipes, why he used kosher salt? His reply was that it was not ionized – that the ionization could leave an iodine taste when smoking the pipe. I twist an unraveled cotton ball into the mortise to plug up that end. I stabilize the stummel on the pipe stand and fill the bowl with salt. Then I carefully add alcohol 95% to the bowl until I see it emerge at the top layer of salt. It’s getting late so I let it soak overnight. While the salt and alcohol does its thing, I fish the saddle stem out of the Oxy-clean bath. My first instinct is to look down the throat of the stem to see if a long Denicotea stem filter is lying in wait. To my chagrin, it is. I take pictures to commemorate my discovery and then begin to wet sand the stem’s oxidation with 60 grit paper then with 000 steel wool. I’m careful to avoid the stamped ‘D’ area of the stem, but when I look at the area of the D stamp my concern grows because it looks like the Oxi-clean bath itself caused some further deterioration. I now realize that I should have covered the area with Vaseline to protect it…. learning one mistake at a time…. The oxidation on the stem has been minimized and I take pictures to show the progress. Turning to the lodged stem filter, I use a dental probe to pull up on the filter while pushing from the button end with a pipe cleaner. The surgery is successful and what looks like a charcoal filter emerges from the long saddle stem. An economic theory starts forming in my mind about Denicotea pipes – could they be designed, produced and exist primarily for the filters Denicotea produces? It makes economic sense. A pipe is sold once and its profit is finite. While filters made for that pipe are a continuous revenue stream. Could my theory hold water? With stem free of old filters, I clean the airway up with Q-tips and pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95%. After using a few Q-tips I simply rolled large cotton ball pieces to clean the inside of the large stem using tweezers. It did not take long. The next day I dump the salt out of the bowl and wipe out the bowl with a paper towel to remove any left-over salt residue. I returned to the Q-tip therapy to find out if the salt/alcohol soak had an impact on the gunk in the shank. I discover residue so I expend several more Q-tips but finally get to the bottom of the gunk build-up in the shank and turn to the external bowl clean up. To clean up the lava flow on the rim and the bowl surface I use Murphy Oil Soap undiluted with a cotton pad. After the Murphy Oil Soap scrub I rinse the stummel with cool tap water careful not to allow water into the mortise or bowl. The rim and bowl cleaned up nicely allowing me to see more clearly the wood and problem areas. The rim has a burn mark just over the shank junction. It looks like the previous owner drew the flame over the back side of the rim when lighting the tobacco. I used a brass brush, which will not scratch the briar, with alcohol on that spot to see if it would remove the burn but it did not. As I work on the burn, I see that it has burned ‘into’ the rim as well and because of this the inner bowl rim is slightly out of round – I need to correct this. The stummel is showing attractive fire grain and some birds eye – I like the potential. With a close inspection of the finish, I detect some blotches and what I call ‘candy apple shine’ spots. The finish is worn. I decide to remove it to get down to the bare briar. I use cotton pads with acetone to do the job. After removing the finish, I cut a slight bevel on the inner rim to regain round and remove the burn damage. I use 120 grit paper rolled up tightly for the initial bevel followed by 240 then 600 to smooth it. I take pictures to show the progress, and yes, the picture below is ‘Acetone’ in Cyrillic! To remove the light nicks and cuts on the stummel I use a medium grade sanding sponge and follow with a fine grade sanding sponge. I then take a cotton pad with alcohol and wipe down the stummel to clean it from the sponge sanding residue. I do this to take a closer look at the surface for fills or blemishes that need attention before I move on to the micro-mesh sanding. I do find some pitting on the surface that I address with sanding sponges directly. I rejoin stummel and stem to assess the progress. After taking a close up look at the stem after purging the oxidation with an Oxi-clean bath and sanding, I see no teeth chatter that needs to be addressed. I also take another look at the Denicotea circle-D stamp on the stem to see if it can be salvaged. Unfortunately, only the right portion of the circle is barely viable along with a very faint D. Applying acrylic paint would only highlight the fact that it’s not all there, so I decide to finish the stem trying to salvage the remnant stamp as is. Using micro-mesh pads 1500-2400, I wet sand the stem attached to the stummel and follow by applying Obsidian Oil. With pads 3200 to 4000, then 6000 to 12000, I dry sand the stem and apply Obsidian Oil after each set of 3. I never tire watching the shine make an appearance during the micromesh process! I take pictures to show the progress and set the stem aside to dry. Turning to the bowl, I begin preparing the surface finish by wet sanding using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 followed by dry sanding with micromesh pads 3200-4000 and 6000-12000. I’m liking very much the briar’s grain movement on this bowl. I document the progress at each step. I started this restoration with the idea of experimenting with a staining technique I read in one of Steve’s restores – I’m not sure which one as I’ve read so many! He used a black dye followed by a rub down with alcohol. The purpose was to set the dark hue in the veins of the grain and then lighten the backdrop briar – Steve didn’t describe it quite like this but this is what recorded in my memory! He then followed with another die hue to cast the contrast. I would like to try the same by first setting the dark hue with a dark walnut Italian aniline stain I found here. I will follow this with a new arrival with my daughter and son-in-law from the States, Fiebing’s Oxblood Leather Dye. I’m looking for the rich, deep reddish, burgundy hues in the briar that hopefully is subtle – I like this classic look even though it would be a total change in the color scheme of this Denicotea billiard, I hope it will dress it up nicely. I give the stummel a quick wipe down with a cotton pad and alcohol to rid the surface of any possible residue leftover from the micromesh sanding. I mount the inverted corked stummel on the candle stick holder and decide to try another technique I read recently from one of Steve’s postings of warming the briar first before applying the stain. I do this with an air gun then, after putting on throw-away poly vinyl gloves, with a cotton dauber I apply the dark walnut dye generously to the inverted bottom and allow the die to saturate the stummel. I pick up the candle stick and rotate the stummel and make sure I daub die into the inverted rim. After the surface is adequately covered I ‘flame’ the surface by lighting the wet dye with a butane lighter. The alcohol in the die burns off very quickly to set the hue in the briar. I follow by wiping the stummel surface with alcohol and cotton pads to lighten and blend the initial dark walnut stain. I repeat the process with Fiebing’s Oxblood Leather Dye diluted about ¼ with alcohol. I complete the second application by flaming the dye which sets the oxblood over the dark walnut hue in the briar. After taking pictures to show progress, I put the stummel aside allowing the stain to rest overnight. I look forward to seeing how my experiment turns out when I return to the project tomorrow! I really enjoy witnessing the initial revelation of the briar surface after the staining process. This pipe was no exception. I take my compact Dremel tool (a wonderful friend when workshop space in not available!) with a felt wheel and apply Tripoli to the final flamed Oxblood surface I completed the night before. I use the lowest speed and do not apply a great deal of pressure to the felt wheel as I consistently move it over the stummel surface. I allow the speed of the wheel and the compound to do the work. The briar is emerging as I buff with the Tripoli. I love the mosaic of grain design that emerges as I work over the stummel surface. I follow the Tripoli compound with Blue Diamond, also using a felt wheel with the Dremel speed set to the lowest RPM. After completing the Blue Diamond, I attach a cotton cloth wheel to the Dremel and increase the speed by one number and apply several applications of carnauba wax to both stummel and the rejoined saddle stem. Through trial and error, I’ve been able to develop a technique for applying the compounds and carnauba wax that works well for me – in my compact 10^th floor work station. Under a bright light, with the sheen of the stummel surface my focus, I am able to see the application of the compound and how it disburses over the briar with the different wheels. I am able to identify compound or wax that hasn’t integrated into the surface – it appears as a thick ripple, and I’m able to revisit it with the wheel rotation to work in more thoroughly what has been ‘left-behind’. This works especially well with the carnauba wax which disburses with the heat of the wheel’s rotation. I can see the wax liquefy and am able to spread it over a portion of the surface. After applying several applications of carnauba wax, I Dremel buff the entire stem and stummel surface with a clean cotton wheel and complete the process with a rigorous hand-buff with a clean microfiber cloth to raise the shine more.

I am thoroughly pleased with the rich, deep hues the stains contributed to the beautiful briar grain of this Denicotea DeLuxe Curling Bruyere Extra. I’m not sure the pictures below capture the depth of grain that I can appreciate with the naked eye. The color and the shape bring to mind what could be a pleasing match for a classic smoking jacket one might see donned by the Earl of Grantham, Robert Crawley, as he retires to the smoking room at Downton Abbey. ‘Classic’ is the one word that keeps coming to mind about this pipe! One question that remains for me is what to do with the internals of the filtration system – any thoughts on that would be appreciated. As I shared with my last post, my wife has lovingly put her foot down! This pipe will reluctantly head to eBay or, if you have an interest in adding this classic shape to your collection, let me know. Thanks for joining me!

A Heibe Filter Bruyere Extra 1132 Churchwarden Made in West Germany

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Blog by Steve Laug

Looking at the stamping on this older churchwarden pipe I can distinguish HEI__ on the left side of the shank over FILTER. From what I can see looking at it under a bright light with a lens it looks to me like the stamping is HEIBE. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Bruyere over Extra. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Made in West Germany followed by the number 1132. The pipe is 10 ½ inches long and the bowl is 2 inches tall. The diameter of the chamber is 5/8 inches. The finish was in decent shape with some scratching and the pipe is dirty. The rim was damaged and the bowl had a burn mark on the inside edge of the inner rim. The bowl was out of round and the top of the bowl was also damaged. The stem was oxidized and the pipe smelled foul. The next series of photos with the granite/marble counter top were taken by the eBay seller and show the overall state of the pipe.According to Pipedia, Heibe pipes were made by the company of the same name, owned in turn by Erich Heikaus, KG, in Bergneustadt, Germany. The trademark for the Heibe name was first filed on March 9, 1966 and registered on January 14, 1967. The sole trademarked line name of Heibe is the Heibe Goldpoint, which was applied for in 1970 and granted on May 31, 1972. Pipes have been seen stamped both “Germany” and “West Germany”, showing that the Heibe Company continued to make pipes after 1990, but these pipes appear to no longer be in production. https://pipedia.org/wiki/Heibe The next photos are close ups of the pipe. They show the condition of the rim and the grain around the sides of the bowl. My brother reamed the bowl cleaned up and scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and stem. He took some photos of the pipe after he cleaned it. The next photos show the stamping on the pipe. The first one shows the underside of the shank with the shape number and West Germany. The left side shows the brand over the word Filter. The right side shows the name Bruyere Extra. The next two photos show the beautiful grain on this pipe. The spots and streak on the second photo were just grime on the pipe. When I received it those were gone. The next photo shows the damage to the rim top. There outer edge shows damage and the inner edge bevel is rough and looks like it did not belong originally. There is clearly a burn mark at the back side of the inner rim. There are a lot of dings and dents on the rim edge.When the pipe arrived in Vancouver I took the next four photos to show what it looked like before I started on it. My brother did a great job cleaning up the surface of the bowl. He was able to scrub off the finish and the grain just pops. The next photo shows the rim after my brother cleaned it up. The dents and dings on the out edge are visible. The burn mark at the back of the inner rim is very clear. It is not deep but it is present. The bowl will need to be topped.I topped the bowl on the topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. It took some time to remove the inner rim damage. I sanded and checked constantly to make sure I did not sand too far. The second photo shows the topped bowl and the cleaned rim edge.I sanded the inside of the bowl with the rolled sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge of the bowl. The second photo below shows the fresh edge of the bowl.I sanded the rim top with 1500-4000 grit micromesh sanding disks until the scratches were gone. I restained the rim with a dark brown stain pen to blend it into the colour of the bowl. I cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol. It appears that the bowl was dip stained as the cotton swabs came out with a red stain and no tars or oils. I cleaned the stem with pipe cleaners with and alcohol.I used my new micromesh sanding pads on the stem and it made short work of removing the oxidation. I forget how quickly new micromesh pads remove oxidation and polish the vulcanite. I sanded it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. I set the stem aside to dry after the last rub down. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish the scratches. It always amazes me how much different the pipe looks after buffing. I buffed it with several coats of carnauba wax to protect the vulcanite and bowl. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and then by hand with a microfibre cloth to add depth. The photos below show the new restored German Churchwarden. It is a beauty. Thanks for looking.

Another nice find at the ‘Hole in the Wall’ – Jeantet Fleuron 70-7

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Blog by Dal Stanton

The Jeantet Fleuron before me was mentioned when I posted the restoration of a beautiful BBB Banker Bent Volcano. I found both pipes last April, during a visit to ‘The Hole in the Wall’ antique store near the Zhenski Pazar (Women’s Market) in downtown Sofia, Bulgaria. In order to achieve a better bargain for the BBB Banker I grabbed the Jeantet out of the basket as a good candidate for a bundled deal, which helped me negotiate 30 Bulgarian Leva for the pair – not a bad deal! When I arrived home from the Hole in the Wall I took these pictures: The bent egg shape is in pretty good condition with an attractive elongated bowl that fits well in the hand. The left side of the shank is marked with Jeantet (pronounced, ‘Zhawn-Te’) over Fleuron and on the right what I assume is the shape number 70-7. The stem has the nice Jeantet J stamp. Looking at Pipedia to do a little research on this name led me to Sainte Claude, France, considered to be the birthplace of the serious production of briar pipes and scores of French made pipe names claim Saint Claude as home. My curiosity piqued, I wanted to know why St. Claude, France? Was the briar in good supply there? I looked to the history of the city itself to see what I could find. I unearthed an archived New York Times article written March 20, 1983, in the ‘Shoppers World’ travel section entitled, THE PIPE CAPITAL OF FRANCE – very interesting and worth reading. I found the answer to the question, ‘Why Saint Claude and pipes?’ with this article I found posted on Fumerchic.com with these informative excerpts:

In the 15th Century, Saint-Claude was canonised by Pope Louis XI, the city took on the name Saint-Claude alone and remained a favoured site for pilgrims.

Since Saint-Claude was one of the stops on the Way of Saint James, the monks, who had been turning wood since the 7th century, began crafting wooden religious objects like crucifixes and rosaries. These monks slowly began training craftsmen, which lead to the establishment of the first wood turning workshop in Saint-Claude.

The craftsmen developed the manufacture of wooden items and widened the scope of their operation by making toys (spinning tops, whistles and rattles), so children and pilgrims could play during their pilgrimages. The number of turning workshops then grew. The main materials they used were wood, bone and ivory.

But with the introduction of tobacco to France, of smoking tobacco in particular, the wood turning workshops adapted by making snuff boxes and pipes made from local boxwood. The pipe craftsmen of Saint-Claude gradually forged themselves a reputation for an unparalleled level of manual skill and expertise.

So, it wasn’t the plentiful supply of briar that put Sainte Claude on the pipe-makers’ map but industrious wood-turning monks who passed their wood working skills on to local craftsman. The story went on with the discovery of a non-burning pipe made from our beloved briar:

During the 19th Century, pipes from Saint-Claude underwent a profound change. Boxwood had been the wood used to make the pipes until then, but it produced a bitter taste when smoked. Around 1855, a businessman passing through Saint-Claude presented a Saint-Claude wood turner with a pipe, the bowl of which did not burn, carved from a heavy wood in dark shades. It was the first pipe made from briar. The arborescent briar pipe is highly resistant to heat and fire, giving the smoker the greatest possible pleasure from the plumes of tobacco smoke. The craftsmen of Saint-Claude therefore began using briar instead of boxwood, ensuring the Saint-Claude pipe caused excitement in the pipe smoking community. The number of workshops grew, with names like Chacom and Butz-Choquin appearing for the first time, while the craftsmen began producing more and more high-quality pipes thanks to their expertise that became globally renowned among pipe smokers.

Considered to be the capital of briar wood pipes, Eole, Chacom, Bayard,Butz-Choquin, Denicotea, Jeantet and Ropp are well-known names all originally claimed by Saint Claude, France. The works of Saint Claude’s craftsmen are also present, for example, in the unique handmade pipes created by Pierre Morel (link).

One more factoid about Saint Claude’s history caught my attention. In 1966, Saint Claude established the Confrérie des Maîtres-Pipiers de Saint-Claude (The Brotherhood of Master Pipe-Makers in Saint-Claude) to promote the expertise of the many masters that have historically resided and worked in Saint Claude. Famous personalities are inducted as the “Premier Pipe-Smoker of the Year’ to serve as ambassadors for the pipe industry in Saint Claude. For every personality chosen, Paul Lanier (awarded the prestigious meilleur ouvrier de France title in 1991), crafts a pipe that includes a portrait of the inductee, thus perpetuating the tradition of the sculpted briar pipe. I think this is a very cool tradition and found it very interesting that the first likeness below strongly resembles the master pipe restorer who oversees Rebornpipes.com!According to Pipedia, the Jeantet name came on to the scene in 1775. The 1800s saw great expansion of production of Jeantet pipes primarily through the development of local cottage industry – farming out different aspects of the pipe production to small shops in Saint Claude. Consolidated production grew in the 1900s but in the 1960s sales dwindled in spite of attempts to modernize. This final part of my research comes from Pipehill:

1988
The company was taken over by S.A. Cuty Fort Entreprises⁽¹⁾ while keeping its label. It established in the group beside Chapuis-Comoy (Chacom), Jean Lacroix and Emile Vuillard. Today (2010) the brand isn’t part of the group any more. The label owned by Dominique Jeantet still exists but pipe production is discontinued.When I take this product of Sainte Claude, France, the Jeantet Fleuron, out of the ‘Rescue Me’ basket, I take a closer and more appreciative look at the pipe. First impressions mark the nice shape of the stummel – I like the tapered egg shape that culminates in a tightly circled rim beveled on the inner chamber side. The bowl shows minor cake and appears to have been cleaned before but I will bring it down to the briar and clean it well. The stummel surface has minor dents and ‘blemishes’ on the finish. A significant ‘scab’ is evident where the shank and bowl converge on the topside. It doesn’t appear to be a burn through but this will need attention after cleaning the exterior surface. The rim has minor dent marks on the blade edge of the beveled rim. When I take off the stem, I notice that in the mortise is a metal cylinder – some sort of a metal airway or a stinger that got loose? With a few thumps on my palm, the rogue stinger shakes loose (pictured below). After attempting to insert it into the end of the tenon, I have questions as to whether this stinger is original – the fit is very loose which explains why it slipped down into the stummel airway. I decide the stinger is history and it goes in the spare parts bucket. Minor teeth dents are on the underside of the bit. I take some close up shots for a better look at problem areas. I begin by putting the stem in an OxiClean bath to soak in order to raise the oxidation out of the vulcanite. Then I take my Pipnet Reaming Kit and work on the light cake build up in the bowl. I use the two smaller blades of the four blades available to me to ream the bowl. After this I use 240 grit sanding paper to further clean and smooth the chamber wall. I like working on a clean pipe so I take pipe cleaners and Q-tips dipped in isopropyl 95% and work the mortise and stummel airway. The internals were surprisingly clean so it didn’t take long.

Now to the external surface. I use undiluted Murphy Oil Soap on the stummel with cotton pads to remove the grime and hopefully to eradicate some of the blemishes I detect on the surface. After cleaning with Murphy Soap I rinse the stummel with cool tap water avoiding water entering the fire chamber or mortise. The ‘scab’ at the upper junction of the shank and bowl is starting to look like a botched superglue repair job. I’ll need to give some thought as to how to address this eyesore on an otherwise attractive piece of briar – I’m starting to see the briar’s potential. The pictures show the progress. I put the stummel aside and turn to the clean-up of the stem. I fish the stem out of the Oxyclean bath. It did the job of ‘surfacing’ the dull greenish oxidation and I initially attack it with 000 steel wool. I then clean the internal airway with bristled and smooth pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95%. The stem put up more resistance than the stummel. After several pipe cleaners I’m satisfied that the airway is ready for service. Next, the ‘scab’ on the bowl surface. I take 240 grit sanding paper rolled as close to a blade as I could make it and sanded the gummed up super glue patch – at least I believe that is what it is – at the junction between the upper shank and bowl. I sand the super glue or epoxy down to the surface. When I remove the buildup bump it appears to be a patch – I don’t believe it’s a burn through, but it’s definitely a fill. It appears to be solid so I leave it as is and hope to blend it when I finish the stummel. Next I prepare a batch of briar dust super glue putty to fill in two holes just below the rim at about 1 o’clock (picture below). I use a toothpick as a trowel to pack the holes well and to leave an overflow so that it will sand out smoothly with the surface. The final repair is to apply black super glue to two small tooth dents on the underside of the bit. When cured, it will sand smooth and polish well. The pictures show the progress of the patch work. After the KE-150 Black super glue patch on the underside of the bit cures, I take 240 grit sanding paper to smooth out the patch bumps bringing them down to the stem surface level. I do the same to remove light tooth chatter on the upper side. To redefine the button, I use the needle file to shape the contours of the button lip top and bottom. I again use 240 grit to remove the file marks and remove light tooth chatter. With micromesh pads grit from 1500 to 2400 I wet sand the stem and apply Obsidian Oil. Unfortunately, after admiring the shine beginning to move to the surface, I also saw some small ‘patches’ of oxidation remained visible – a bit near the button and on both upper and lower parts of the saddle stem that tapers from shank level down to button level. If this part of the saddle stem has a special name, I’m not sure what it is! I was frustrated and therefore forgot to picture this! I put the stem back in the Oxyclean bath for another baptism. The pictures below represent the micromesh process after the second bath, which raised the residue oxidation to the surface and I remove it beginning with the 1500 grit micromesh pad. Following the 1500 to 2400 micromesh wet sand cycle (again!) I apply Obsidian Oil. With pads from 3200 to 4000 grit I dry sand and follow again with applying Obsidian Oil to the stem. I complete the micromesh polishing with pads 6000 to 12000, apply Obsidian Oil and put the stem aside to dry. I’m pleased with the results even though I had a detour. The pictures show the progress on the stem repairs and polishing. With the stem ready for a stummel, I start working on completing the Jeantet’s re-commissioning by using 240 grit sanding paper to remove the cured briar dust super glue putty patch on the holes just below the rim. I’m careful to sand strategically by folding the paper and using it like a blade directly on the patch so I don’t unintentionally sand into the rim’s sharp beveled top edge – that would not be good to deface the rim! I take a before and after picture to show the progress. The rim already has a very nice bevel, but to remove the dents and pitting on the rim I use 240 grit paper folded and work on the rim. I pinch the paper with my thumb on the beveled contour as I rotate the stummel. I find that this method allows for an even movement and a consistent bevel angle to develop. With the bevel already in place, I simply go with the contour that is already present but remove the damage producing a fresh beveled surface. Well, all work on the Jeantet came to a halt for about 3 weeks as my wife and I enjoyed our annual R&R on the Black Sea coast near the fishing town of Sozopol. Reading books and enjoying the beach is one of our favorite things to do to relax and decompress from the work we do in Bulgaria. A special joy to us during these weeks was the visit of our daughter and her husband from Denver, Colorado. They joined us at the Black Sea for our last few days on the beach and from there we took them to see different sights in Bulgaria as well as spending the last week of their visit on the beautiful Greek island of Santorini! Another great part about their visit was that they brought supplies and pipes I had ordered and purchased from eBay. They also brought another prize – the Savinelli pipe knife to add to my tool box that I won in a fierce bid on eBay! During this time of R&R I also visited several antique shops in different Bulgarian towns and secured some future restorations – it was a good time but now, back to life and the Jeantet Fleuron!

With stem reattached to the stummel I use a medium grade sanding sponge on the bowl. Following this, I utilized all 9 micro-mesh sanding pads, 1500 to 12000 to sand/polish the bowl preparing it for staining. I’m liking the briar grains beginning to make an appearance on the Jeantet. The pictures show the progress on the stummel surface. I’m anxious to try out one of the supply items that my daughter and son in law brought from the US – Fiebing’s Leather Dye. They brought dark brown and oxblood colors and I decide to try the dark brown on the Jeantet. One of the challenges that I have finding supplies in Bulgaria is not having good selection of aniline (alcohol based) dyes or stains that would readily ‘flame’ helping to set the stain in the wood. I remove the stem and give the bowl a cleaning with alcohol with a cotton pad to make sure it is clean from the residue left over from sanding. I set the bowl up on the cork and candle stand, inverted to apply the dark brown dye that I have chosen. Using a cotton dauber, also a new arrival from the US, I apply the dye liberally over the inverted bottom of the bowl allowing the dye to saturate the briar surface. I’m able to rotate the bowl with the cork in hand to make sure dye reaches the rim beveled surface on the bottom. When the surface is covered I flame it with a butane lighter which evaporates the alcohol from the dye and sets the color more deeply in the grain. After it cools to the touch, I repeat the process above a second time, applying dye and flaming. The pictures below show the progress but also the fact that I need to figure out a better way of pouring the dye into the lid so I’m not wasting so much on my work board missing the briar! After cooled, I use cotton pads with isopropyl 95% and wipe down the newly stained bowl to lighten it and even out the dye application. This allows the grain to jump out more it seems to me. I let the bowl sit overnight to thoroughly dry and set the newly stained surface. I turn to my Dremel using a felt wheel with Tripoli compound on the bowl surface and stem to begin the polishing process. I utilize the slowest RPM speed and keep the wheel moving over the briar surface – not pressing too much allowing the wheel and compound to do the work. I follow the Tripoli with Blue Diamond – also with its own dedicated felt wheel (each compound has dedicated wheels) and again, allow the RPMs, wheel and compound to do the work, keeping the movement of the wheel moving on the stummel surface. For the carnauba wax application, I switch from a felt wheel to a cotton cloth wheel and also increase the RPM speed on the Dremel by one number. I have discovered that the carnauba needs a bit more ‘heat’ to spread evenly over the surface. I apply several coats of carnauba wax over the bowl surface and stem. I love to watch how the briar grain increasingly pops with each step of the polishing process. The beauty of the grain on the Jeantet Fleuron is living up to its name – Fleuron. Since I didn’t study French in school, Google translate provided the English meaning of Fleuron – ‘finial’, which is, according to Dictionary.com, “a relatively small, ornamental, terminal feature at the top of a gable, pinnacle, etc.” Or, simply, a nice finishing touch! I complete the Jeantet Fleuron with a clean cotton cloth wheel buff with the Dremel and then a rigorous buffing by hand with a microfiber cloth to bring out the grain even more and deepen the shine.

Since my wife has lovingly started to put her foot down regarding my growing collection of pipes (I’m sure some of you have faced this as well!) this Jeantet Fleuron 70-7 will make a debut on eBay Europe and US to find a good home! I am considering how to sell more restored pipes and giving the profits to help further the work we do here, with the Daughters of Bulgaria – Bulgarian women who are sexually exploited and trafficked. If you’re interested in adding the Jeantet to your collection, leave a comment below. Thanks for joining me!