Tag Archives: restaining

This BBB Tiger Grain Bulldog was in rough shape

Blog by Steve Laug

I have always liked older BBB pipes. I used to buy them on eBay when no one was hunting for them for almost nothing. The prices they are today they are generally untouchable for me. Once in a while though one slips under the radar. This Tiger Grain with a Lucite stem was one my brother caught in his ongoing prowl of eBay. He got it for a decent price. It is either a newer BBB or it has a replacement stem on it. My thinking tends toward the previous – a newer pipe from when Cadogan took over the line. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank with BBB in a Diamond and underneath it reads Tiger Grain. The right side of the shank reads London England and the number 4. The next two photos show the condition of the pipe when it arrived in Idaho. The bowl finish on the bowl was dirty and there were rough spots. The rim had burn marks on the outer and inner edges on the front side. The beveled rim was thickly caked with the overflow from the cake in the bowl. The Lucite stem had tooth marks and was covered with sticky debris. The airway in the stem was darkened with tars and oils. The mix of bright yellows, white and greys looked good underneath the grime. The dark black/brown airway stood out like a sore. With the exterior that dirty I could only guess that the inside was also very dirty.My brother once again did the major clean up on this pipe. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and took the cake back to bare briar. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove all of the grime and grit. He was able to scrub away much of the rim build up and the surface of the stem. He scrubbed the internals with pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. When the pipe arrived in Vancouver it was pretty clean. I took the following photos of the pipe before I began to work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim to show the small amount of cake on the rim and the burn marks on the front of the pipe on both the inner and outer edge of the rim. I circled the burned spot with a red circle in the photo below.There was a red tone to the briar. I rubbed it down with a light coat of olive oil and brought out the red. I wanted to see what the bowl and rim looked like when it had been oiled.I sanded the rim and bevel with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining cake and clean up the bevel on the rim. When I finished the rim was clean but it still showed the burn marks and the inner bevel on the rim was also darkened.I decided to top the bowl on the topping board to remove the damaged rim top and the burn marks. I sanded it until the rim top was smooth and the outer edge was clean.I polished the topped bowl with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. When I finished the rim was smooth and polished.I worked on the mortise and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I used a dental spatula to scrape out the mortise. Once I was finished cleaning it the shank and airway was clean. I also scrubbed out the airway in the stem with pipe cleaners and alcohol. I used bristle pipe cleaners- both thin and thicker to scrub out the tars and dark stains. I sanded out the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem to remove them and blend them into the surface of the Lucite.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth between each grit of micromesh pads. I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish the pipe. I carefully avoided the stamping. I gave the bowl and stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photo below. It is a nice looking pipe. The bowl and rings are in perfect shape. The new rim top looks like it has always been there. Thanks for looking.

Back in Flight – A Pair of Mastercraft Sparkless Cigar-Pipe Zeppelins

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Blog by Steve Laug

My brother sent me two Zeppelin pipes – a rusticated and a smooth one. He included the following photos of the two pipes that he took when they arrived in Idaho before he cleaned them up. The first one is a rusticated Sparkless Cigar Pipe. It has an interesting rustication pattern on the briar parts. I always want to know how a pipe is stamped as it is part of the restoration process for me. This one has quite a bit of stamping on it. Along the tip of the briar where the polished aluminum nose cone screws into the briar it is stamped PERFECTED on one side and Reg. No. MU3840 on the other. The stamping runs along the briar just below the nose cone. On the other end of the pipe, on what are the sides when the mouthpiece is in place it is stamped CENTURY OLD BRIAR ITALY on what would be the left side and on the right side it reads CIGAR-PIPE over SPARKLESS. The first two photos below show the pipe as it looks when put together.The next four photos show the stamping on the pipe and the M on the stem which told me I was dealing with a Mastercraft pipe. The last two photos show what the pipe looks like when it is taken apart.The second Cigar Pipe that my brother sent to me was a smooth one that is identical in size and shape to the rusticated one. It even bears the same stamping on the pipe. It is stamped along the briar just below the polished aluminum nose cone. On one side it reads PERFECTED and on the other side is reads Reg. No. MU3840. Like the rusticated version is stamped on what would be the sides of the shank when the stem is in place. On the left side it reads CIGAR-PIPE over SPARKLESS and on the right side it reads CENTURY OLD BRIAR ITALY. The first photo is of the pipe put together.The next three photos show the stamping on the nose cone and the shank of the pipe. The next photo shows the M stamp on this stem as well exactly like the one on the rusticated pipe above. It is thus also a Mastercraft pipe.The next photo shows what appears to be a crack on the upper portion of the cigar pipe. It would need to be checked out once I had it in hand. My brother was pretty sure that it was a fill in the briar as it did not go all the way through the piece.The next three photos show the pipe after it has been taken apart. Each of the pipes was made of four pieces. I have seen a lot of these pipes for sale in shops and on eBay but I had never had one in my hand so I had never done any research into them or what “sparked” their invention. So now that I had two of them I figure it was time to look up some information. I looked on the pipephil website and found that they were made by Mastercraft and that there were some further articles in the odd pipes section of the site. Here is the link to that part of the site. http://www.pipephil.eu/oddpipes/pipcig/sparkless2.html. The trouble is that the articles were in French. I used Google Translator to translate them into English and then did some serious editing to the translations. I am including both articles in full here. The first one is written about the smooth briar versions and the second is about the rusticated versions.

Overseas manufacturers of pipes are not deprived of market of cigar pipes based on the mythical model of the 1920s. The best-known is called Sparkless [1] and comes from the Mastercraft House which was issued in several finishes. Two of them will allow you to judge fully of these strange pipes (The article included two photos of two different smooth finishes on the pipes – a stained and an unstained version).

It should be noted on at the outset that it is stockier than its Germanic Zeppelin cousin. When the pipe is disassembled we note that the two wooden parts screw into another – one side is threaded wood on the interior of the piece and the other side has a metal threaded end that turns into the wooden threads. There may be some doubts about how well this type of connection will hold up under use. There is no place for a filter in the Sparkless pipes unlike the Zeppelin. This pipe is adapted to the tastes of American smokers.

You should know that Mastercraft had a long standing near-monopoly of imports of European briar and particularly Italian briar. This explains the stamping ITALY on the side of the pipe.

The stamping is as follows:

On one side it is stamped Cigar Pipe, Sparkless and on the other side it is stamped Century Old, Briar Italy. On the nose of the pipe it is stamped Perfected on one side and Reg. No. M.U. 3840 on the other side.

The measurements of the pipe are as follows: The length is 13.9 cm and the height is 3.2 cm.

Where the German maker, Vauen offers one model of the Zeppelin pipe, the American Mastercraft diversifies its range. To the two versions of the Sparkless model mentioned above we add here two other variations in the form of pipe, rusticated in natural finish.

These variations to this atypical pipe probably spoke to a limited audience. Let’s face it the quality of the woodwork on the two models rusticated models isn’t the most refined in the light of the criteria of the XXI century. But don’t lose sight of the variety that was offered when these pipes were made was radically new.

My preference is usually saddle bit pipes. But I confess that by comparing the Zeppelin to the Pipe-Cigar Mastercraft models, the Zeppelin has more elegance due to the continuity of the shape to the tip compared to the general shape of the Cigar-Pipe. The German made Zeppelin pipe appears as a whole very consistent where each part (tip – stove – metallic cap) is the continuation of the other. This consistency and flow is less noticeable for this North American pipe.

The complete disassembly of the pipe shows that the stem in ebonite has a condensation system reduced to its simplest expression here: a small aluminum tube. It should be noted that these systems don’t bring great benefits for smoking and on the contrary can add moisture and condensation. They are often the origin of disturbances in the draw of the pipe and cause of particularly unpleasant gurgle. But it should not hurt.

The details of the stamping nomenclature reflects that the origin of the pipes is Italian and are potentially made by Lorenzo.

The measurements of the pipe are as follows: The length is 13.9 cm and the height is 3.2 cm.

Armed with the interesting information I went to work on the two Cigar-Pipes that I had. One was the darker coloured rusticated pipe and the second was the natural coloured smooth one. I thus had two of the finishes that are mentioned in the above information.

I started with the rusticated pipe. My brother had done the lion’s share of cleanup work on both of these pipes. Judging from the internals and the externals he did a great job cleaning out all of the gunk and grime. The rusticated briar was cleaned with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap and in doing so he was able to remove the majority of the finish. The next four photos show the exterior of the pipe. The stem was oxidized and the letter M on the stem was faint. The finish was dull. The aluminum nose cone was dull. There was a fill on one side of the pipe that stood out as it was smooth and the rest of the bowl was rusticated. I took the pipe apart and took pictures of all of the parts. In the second photo below you can see the fill on the briar piece on the right side of the photo. It is silver/grey in colour so it really stands out. I circled it in red. The aluminum internals are clean. The inner tube on the stem is clean as well. I was able to slide it out of the stem and clean behind it. There was no grime there.After I took apart the rusticated one and took the photos I did the same with the smooth pipe. The smooth pipe would be the one I worked on next. Once again my brother had done the lion’s share of cleanup work. Judging from the internals and the externals he did a great job cleaning out all of the gunk and grime. The smooth briar was cleaned with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap and in doing so he was able to remove the majority of the finish. There still was a varnish coat on the briar. That would need to be wiped with acetone and sanded. The next four photos show the exterior of the pipe. The stem was oxidized and the letter M on the stem was faint. The finish was dull. The aluminum nose cone was dull. There was a fill on one side of the pipe that stood out as it was smooth and the rest of the bowl was rusticated. I took the pipe apart and took pictures of all of the parts. In the second photo below you can see what looks like a crack on the side of the briar piece on the left of the photo. It is a thin line that runs horizontal across the briar and there is a second divot next to it just out of the photo. I circled it in red. The aluminum internals are clean. The inner tube on the stem is clean as well. I was able to slide it out of the stem and clean behind it. There was no grime there.I started working on the parts on the rusticated cigar-pipe first. I decided to start with the silver grey fill and try to get it blend into the briar. I used the Dremel with a round head burr to carve lines in the fill that matched the pattern on the bowl sides. I figured if I could make the pattern match I could hide it.I stained the briar parts with a dark brown aniline stain thinned 50/50 with isopropyl alcohol. I applied the stain with a folded pipe cleaner and then flamed it. I stained both parts of the bowl with the stain and flamed them. I repeated the process until the coverage was even.I took some photos of the newly stained parts of the pipe. The first photo shows the coverage of the stain on the fill. I had used a black Sharpie Pen to fill in the newly cut grooves from the Dremel and then put the brown stain over the top.I polished the aluminum nose cone with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-2400 grit. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth.I put the pipe back together and took photos of the newly finished pipe. I set the rusticated one aside and turned to work on the smooth one. I wiped it down with acetone on cotton pads to try to penetrate the varnish coat. Parts of it came off and parts stubbornly refused to move. I sanded the briar with a medium and fine grit sanding sponge and was able to get the entire varnish coat off. I wiped it down with acetone again to remove the dust.I picked out the fill that looked like a crack and filled it in with briar dust and clear super glue. Once it dried I sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and the sanding sponge. Since the original Mastercraft smooth Cigar-Pipe came in a natural finish and this one appeared to have that rather than a Bruyere finish I rubbed it down with a light coat of olive oil and then gave it a coat of carnauba wax. I put the pipe back together so that I could see the finished briar portion. I put the rusticated and smooth pipes together and took some photos of the stain and finished briar parts with the polished nose cones. The pipes are looking great at this point in the process. I still had to sand both stems at this point but the briar was done and the pipes were clean. Now it was time to work on the stems. The stem on the rusticated pipe was cleaner and took less work so I did it first. I sanded it with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and rubbing it down with Obsidian Oil. I touched up the M stamp on the left side of the saddle with acrylic paint and a fine bristle brush. I sanded off the excess paint with the 1500-2400 grit pads. (I forgot to take a photo of that part of the process.) I dry sanded the stem with 3200-12000 grit pads and rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. I set it aside to dry. While I worked on the stem from the rusticated pipe I had the stem from the smooth one soaking in an Oxyclean bath. It soaked for about six hours. I took it out of the soak and took the next two photos.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation that had been softened by the oxy bath.I touched up the stamping on the stem with white acrylic paint and a small fine brush. Once it dried I scraped off the excess and then polished it.The stem was a bear to clean up and remove the oxidation even after soaking in an Oxyclean soak. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed it down between each set of three pads with Obsidian Oil. I set it aside to dry. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and worked over the stem quite a bit to remove the oxidation that remained. I gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to protect and give it a shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pair of Zeppelin style Cigar-Pipes by Mastercraft is shown below. There is something about the oddness and shapes of the pipes that attract me to them. I don’t know when they will be used but when they are it should be an interesting experience. Thanks for looking.

Underneath the Grime lay a beautiful Royal Guard 504

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have a box of pipes from a friend in Dawson Creek to clean up. In trade for a few restorations he was the one who gave me the Preben Holm Pair. I asked him to prioritize which pipes he wanted me to tackle first. Number one on his list was a Stanwell made Royal Guard 504 that combines smooth and sandblast areas into the finish. It was in rough shape. The finish was dirty and worn with the brown top coat worn down. The vulcanite shank extension was oxidized and the RG stamp on the left side was faded. The bowl was thickly caked and the lava overflow on the top of the bowl was also very thick. I was a bit concerned that underneath the cake I would find burn. You can never tell – sometimes a thick cake protects the rim top and sometimes it hides a lot of rim damage. Once I got into the cleanup I would be able to tell better with this one. The stem was lightly oxidized and there was tooth chatter and bite marks on the top and the bottom sides near the button. The top edge of the button had a small dent as well. The deepest tooth mark was on the topside of the stem and would need to be repaired. But even under all the grime I could see that this pipe would be a thing of beauty once it was finished. I took a closeup photo of the rim to show how thick the cake was in the bowl and the extent of the overflow on the rim. It was very thick and quite hard.I reamed the bowl with the first three cutting heads on the PipNet reamer and then cleaned it up more with the Savinelli Pipe Knife. The amount of carbon that came out of the bowl was amazing.I used a pen knife with a thin stiff blade to carefully scrape off the buildup on the rim. It was pretty thick and hard so I slowly and carefully flaked it off with the knife.I scrubbed the bowl and rim with acetone on a cotton pad and was able to remove the grime and the buildup of wax and oils in the grooves of the sandblast.There were some scratches and nicks in the curved top of the rim that needed to be sanded out. I also sanded the inner bevel on the rim. I used 180 and 220 grit sandpaper to remove most of the damaged areas. The photo below shows the rim after quite a bit of work. There was still more sanding to do at this point.I did some more work on the rim with sandpaper and on the inner edge of the rim with the Savinelli Pipe Knife and was able to smooth out some more of the damage.I wiped down the inner edge of the bowl and the rim with alcohol to see where I stood with the rim resurfacing. It was starting to look really good.I used black super glue to repair the deep tooth mark on the top side of the stem. When it dried I sanded it and filed it smooth the surface of the stem.I sanded the shank extension with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded it with 3200-6000 grit pads. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I used some European Gold Rub n’ Buff on the stamping on the stem to refresh it.I restained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain cut by 50% with alcohol. I applied the stain and flamed it with a lighter. I repeated the process until I was satisfied with the coverage.I wiped the bowl down with isopropyl alcohol to even the stain coat and make it more transparent. The combination of grains in the sandblast and underneath is beautiful. I scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the airways in the shank and the stem and the mortise in the shank were clean.I buffed bowl with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. Once I had the repair smoothed out and blended into the surface of the stem top I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. Once I had finished I set the stem aside to dry. I forgot to take a photo of the stem after sanding it with the 6000-12000 grit pads. I took the pipe to the buffer and buffed the stem with Blue Diamond and then gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I am hoping the pipe man in Dawson Creek likes the new look to this old pipe. It is truly a beauty. Thanks for looking.

Breathing new life into a Chippendale 276 Cauldron made by Charatan

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Blog by Steve Laug

My brother sent me this interesting old pipe to clean up and restore. He included some photos of what it looked like when he received it from the eBay seller. The stain colour was really nice and showed the contrast to highlight the grain. There were some nicks and dents in the briar on the bowl sides and bottom. The rim had a thin lava coat on the top. The inner and outer edges were in excellent condition. The bowl was darkened with a light cake on the bowl sides. The bottom quarter of the bowl was still light unsmoked, undarkened briar. The bowl seems to have never been smoked to the bottom. The stem was lightly oxidized with tooth marks and chatter on both the top and the bottom sides near the button. The stamping on the side of the stem was readable but looked like it was worn. This unusual old pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank with the block letters CHIPPENDALE. On the right side it is stamped Made in over London England and a shape number 276. On the saddle portion on the left side of the stem it bears a CD stamp. I looked for the brand on the pipephil site and found that the brand was listed there with photos of stamping identical to the one that I had. I have included the photo of the stampings courtesy of pipephil’s site.

I did some more research at the pipephil site did not give any information regarding the maker. I looked in one of my go to references, Who Made That Pipe and found that the Chippendale brand was made by Ben Wade in London. I use WMTP regularly and one of the limitations of the book is that it gives no other information. In the back of my head I had a memory of a link between Ben Wade and Charatan. That sent me on a further hunt.Further research lead me to an article on Pipedia entitled Dating of Charatans by Fabio Ferrara. The article definitively links the Chippendale pipes to Charatan. I quote from the section on Pipedia entitled Identification of Fifth Era Pipes in full with the information the Chippendale stamping highlighted in bold and underlined. Here is the link: https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dating_of_Charatans

Identification of a fifth era pipe (First Dunhill era, 1977-1981)

Dunhill finally acquired Lane Ltd. in April 1976. To be honest this era should begin that year, however to clarify matters, knowing that during the first months everything changed in the production, I assume the beginning of this era to be 1977.

The characteristics of this era are close to the previous one, except for the absence of the LANE symbol (approx. ending of 1980).

In this very first period Dunhill didn’t change the production site and the original methods, making plans for the future, and the real revolution took place in 1982.

You may come across a pipe of the ‘old generation’, it is important to note that if the DC has been added later, it is often out of line with the shape code.

The Belvedere series is sold as a special, named the Chippendale brand, exclusively for Tinderbox.

1) The mouthpiece is frequently double comfort, rarely saddle without the double comfort, never tapered. If the stem is not a double comfort but a saddle one, it is characterized by the letter X on the right of the shape code (e.g. 2502X), naturally in this case the letters DC are not displayed.

2) In the CP logo, the C enters the P (until approx. 1980).

3) Absence of £ on the shank (from the end of 1980 approx., this is because during the first period Dunhill kept the £, as Lane Ltd was property of Dunhill that could use its trademark).

4) Presence of the letter DC just after the shape number (e.g. 2502 DC) or of the letter X only if the stem is not a double comfort one.

5) Presence of the writing “Made by Hand – In – City of London” (until 1979).

6) The pipes marked Chippendale are just a Belevedere series, On the mouthpiece, instead of the CP they display CD.

From the above information it appears that the Chippendale stamping was put on pipes that were made Charatan and sold by Tinderbox in the US. They are essentially Charatan Belvedere series pipes. Now that I knew that it was time to work on the pipe. I took the next four photos to show what the pipe looked like after my brother cleaned it up with his usual thoroughness and I received it here in Vancouver. I took some close up photos of the rim and the stem to show the condition of both. The rim is very clean except for a light build up on the front and the back side of the rim top. The photos of the stem show the tooth chatter on both sides and a deep tooth mark on the top side and underside of the stem. I also took a close up photo of the stamping on the stem. The logo is a CD instead of the CP for Charatan just as was noted in the research. It was faint so it would need to be touched up after the stem was cleaned.I ran some cotton swabs and alcohol through the shank and the mortise. It was very clean as my brother had done a great job cleaning it. I ran some pipe cleaners through the stem. The slot in the button had some hardened tars in it. I picked the slot open with a dental pick before cleaning the inside of the stem.There were some deep nicks and divots in the surface of the briar on the front and the left side of the bowl. I filled them with drops of clear super glue.Once it dried I sanded the repairs even with the surface of the briar using 220 grit sandpaper. I then sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads.I touched up the sanded repairs with a dark brown stain touch up pen. I gave the bowl two coats of Conservator’s Wax. When it dried I buffed the bowl by hand.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper. I was able to remove the tooth chatter and the tooth mark on the underside of the stem. I also sanded the rest of the underside to remove the oxidation. I sanded the topside tooth marks. I was able to remove the tooth chatter but the deep tooth mark needed to be repaired. I cleaned the tooth mark with a cotton swab and alcohol and then filled it with black super glue.I painted the logo on the stem with a white acrylic paint and a small paint brush. I sanded the excess paint off the side of the stem and left the paint in the stamping.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a light coat of olive oil and hand polished it. I polished the stem after sanding it with 220 grit sandpaper with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil between each set of three pads. When I finished sanding with the 12000 grit pad I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I buffed the stem and bowl with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish it. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. To me it has the look of a Charatan and with the history I found it turns out it is one. The pipe was made for Tinderbox to be sold in the US. This one is available to anyone who wants to add it to their rack. Send me a message or an email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for looking.

A Cased Bakelite Manhattan with a Lockrite Stem

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Blog by Steve Laug

I am always on the lookout for older CPF or WDC cased pipes. I bid on them when I get the chance and I used to win many more of them than I do now. They seem to have not only become more popular than they used to be but are also commanding higher prices. I was showing my brother some of them and asked him to keep an eye for them as well. He came across this little cased pipe. It looks like both the CPF and the WDC pipes and probably comes from the same era. The case has a label that reads Bakelite on it and it sits in the lid of the case over the stem. The pipe itself is stamped BAKELITE over MANHATTAN on the left side of the shank and is filled with a gold foil or paint. The right side of the stem also has a gold foil stamp that reads LOCKRITE. The band on the shank is stamped GERMAN SILVER.The pipe appeared to be barely used. There was some darkening on the rim and some light cake on the top part of the bowl. The bottom of the bowl was like new. The finish was dirty and the varnish coat had some wear and tear. The gold leaf stamping on the shank was worn on the second line on the left side. The German Silver band was lightly tarnished and had some scratches. The Bakelite stem had deep tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem at the button. The Lockrite stamping on the right side of the shank referred to the newly designed tenon system that took care of the perpetual over clocking that occurred with a bone tenon.My brother Jeff scrubbed the surface of bowl being careful around the gold stamping on the shank. He cleaned out the bowl and the mortise areas and the airway in the stem. When he sent it to me it was very clean. I took photos of the pipe when it arrived to my work table. The first two photos show the case and the first view of the pipe when I opened it.I lifted it from the case and took a photo of the pipe looking down at it from the top. The rim looks excellent from this view.The next four photos show the pipe apart from the case. The finish is clean but the twin rings around the bowl cap are dirty. The silver is lightly tarnished and the gold stamping is light on the left and the right sides. You can see the tooth mark on the stem in the last photo of the underside of the pipe and stem. I took a close up photos of the rim and the stem to show the state of both. The rim looked very good though there was some scratching. The stem had deep tooth marks on both sides though it was hard to capture them with the deep red of the Bakelite stem. I took a photo of the newly designed Lockrite tenon on this pipe. It is extremely well designed and worked well to keep the stem aligned with the shank.The next two photos show the stamping on the shank. The left side reads BAKELITE over MANHATTAN as mentioned above and the right side reads LOCKRITE.I wiped down the bowl and shank with acetone and cotton pads to remove the remnants of varnish. I was careful to not damage the gold stamping. I used the dental pick to clean out the tooth marks and wiped the stem down with an alcohol dampened cotton pad. I filled the tooth marks with clear super glue.Once the glue dried I sanded the surface of the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the repairs to match the surface of the Bakelite stem.With the tooth marks repaired and smoothed out it was time to polish the stem with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit sanding pads and rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I set the stem aside to dry. I stained the bowl with a Danish Oil and Cherry stain. I let it dry for about 20 minutes before rubbing the bowl down with a soft cloth.After rubbing it down with a soft cloth I took the following photos of the bowl. The grain on this one is also very pretty. Some of these older pipes were made of really nice briar. I waxed the bowl twice with Conservator’s Wax and hand buffed it once it had dried. I polished the German Silver band with 6000-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads and also with a jeweler’s silver polishing cloth.I lightly buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel. You have to be careful buffing the Bakelite as the heat of the buffer will melt the stem and make more work for you. I gave the bowl and stem several coats of carnauba wax and lightly 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. It is really a beauty. Thanks for looking.

A 9438 Rhodesian Stamped Tobacco Town

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is one of my favourite pipe shapes – the classic GBD 9438. There is just something about the way the lines flow and the way the pipe sits in the hand that make this an all-time favourite from me. This one is somewhat unique in that though it bears the London England over 9438 stamp on the right side of the shank on the left side it is stamped Tobacco Town. The stem bears no GBD roundel but it is definitely the original stem. The finish is dark and the briar has some amazing grain. Tobacco Town is a chain of tobacco shops in the Northwestern United States and it also is the name of a few shops across the Southwest and the Midwest. Here is a link to the shops in Portland, Oregon: http://tobaccotown.com/. I think that because of the wide use of the name that identifying the shop that had this line of pipes made for them by GBD will not be possible. The two photos below show the pipe as it was when my brother received it.The rim had a heavy tar buildup with the cake overflowing the bowl onto the rim top. The twin rings around the cap on the bowl also were filled with dust and debris. The stem was oxidized and there were some deep tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. The topside of the button was worn thinner than the underside and there were some tooth marks on it as well.My brother Jeff has developed his own cleaning regimen that really delivers a clean pipe to me. By the time I receive it the bowl has been reamed and the finish scrubbed clean with no dirt or debris in the rings. The stem was clean and the damaged areas very visible. The rim top was free of the lava overflow but still was slightly darkened. The next set of four photos show what the pipe looked like when I started working on it. Before I began my work I took a close up photo of the rim top and the bite marks on the top and bottom of the stem near the button. The rim had the majority of the tars removed but under the bright light I could see some residual stubborn bits. The inner edge of the rim also had some damage from what looked like someone’s reaming the bowl with a knife. I have circled the bite marks in the photos of the stem surfaces with a red circle to clearly identify the issues there. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and the rim with acetone on cotton pads to try to remove more of the residue on the rim and to remove some of the darker spots of stain on the bowl. I wanted the grain to really stand out. I worked on minimizing the damage to the inner edge of the rim by sanding it with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper.I decided to lightly top the bowl to remove the stubborn residue that remained and to lighten the smoke darkened rim at the back of the bowl.I noticed that the inside of the shank had been stained with the same brown stain as the exterior of the bowl so I scrubbed it out with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol. I was able to remove the stain. As I scrubbed it I notice that against the end of the mortise there were still some tars that kept coming out with the cotton swabs. I used a dental spatula to scrape the end of the mortise to remove these hardened tars. They are visible on the paper towel in the second photo below. I followed that up by swabbing out the mortise with cotton swabs and alcohol. I also scrubbed the airway in the stem. There was some debris trapped in the slot in the button that I worked out with a dental pick. I wiped the exterior of the stem down with alcohol on a cotton pad and worked on the tooth dents to make sure the surface was clean. I used a dental pick to apply the black super glue to the dents on both sides of the stem and sprayed the glue with accelerator. I followed up with applying a second layer of the glue to fill in the air bubbles on the surface that seem to always follow using the accelerator and set the stem aside to dry.When the glue had cured I used a flat blade needle file to smooth out the patch to the surface of the stem and to recut and reshape the button. I sanded the repair with 220 grit sandpaper and then refiled it with the needle file. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads using my normal routine – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down between each set of three pads with Obsidian Oil. I gave the stem a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I rubbed the bowl down with Watco Danish Oil with Cherry stain and let it dry for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes I rubbed the bowl down with a soft flannel cloth.I buffed the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. This is one of my favourite shaped both in terms of the shape and the hand feel of the bowl. The red colours that are highlighted by the cherry stain show the grain beautifully. Thanks for looking.

A WDC Bakelite/Briar Pipe like none I have seen before

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Blog by Steve Laug

When my brother sent me this pipe I have to say I was surprised and enamored with it. I have cleaned up a lot of WDC pipes over the years and have come to really like them. There is something about them that always gets my attention. The workmanship is generally well done. The materials used are good quality. The briar always tends to have some flaws and is never perfect. But there is something about the brand that I like. Well this pipe is an oddity to me. It is a shape that is similar to some of the CPF pipes I have cleaned up and the combination of briar, brass and Bakelite it really nicely done. The first difference is that this one has a flat rectangular shank and saddle stem. The Bakelite base is rounded and flows into the flattened shank and stem. The stem is also Bakelite or Redmanol as the case may be. It is a rich reddish colour that is translucent and the light really plays with. The second difference is that in a lot of this style pipe the threaded connector and bottom of the bowl is metal. On this one it is white porcelain. When the bowl is removed the threaded connector is also porcelain – a single porcelain unit from the cupped bottom of the bowl to the connector. Those two differences intrigued me.There is a brass spacer between the base and the briar bowl and at some time in its life the spacer had been reversed and the sharper edges scarred the bowl. The Bakelite is actually notched to receive the sharp turned down edges of the spacer. The bowl had lots of dents and scars – character marks that I wish could talk and tell the story of the travels of this old pipe. The brass rim had long since come loose and was easily removed but for some reason never disappeared as it clung to the rim of the pipe. In the next photo you can see the rim top and the porcelain bottom of the bowl… it almost looks like the old milk glass that my grandmother collected.After looking at the two pictures above that came from my brother I was looking forward to seeing the pipe in person. When it arrived and I finally took it out to work on it was all that I had expected. The stem was over clocked so that would need to be addressed but I lined things up and took the next set of photos to show what the pipe looked like after my brother did an amazing job cleaning it. (It is great to have him work with me – it really speeds up the process on the restoration. He reams and cleans the pipes and does the dirty work of reaming and removing the debris of the years.) I looked it over to see if there were identifying marks. What I thought was brass may all be what is stamped on the right side of the band – 14K Gold Plated. The left side of the band bears the inverted WDC triangle logo. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the dents, scratches and scars on the surface. The photo also shows the porcelain cup in the bottom of the bowl. It has three round air holes for directing the smoke into the bottom chamber and into the stem.I dismantled the pipe to show the many parts that went into its construction. The photo below shows the broken down pipe.The next photos show the over clocked stem. (I had removed the loose band at this point in the process.) Once the base was screwed onto the stem it was grossly overturned. The metal tenon was set in the stem so it would need to be heated to be able to repair this.I heated the metal tenon with a lighter and once the glue softened I was able to align the stem and shank very easily. Underneath the band the number 43 had been scratched into the Bakelite shank. I am not sure if that is the shape number or if it is the “autograph” of the assembler of the pipe. Either way it is something that remained hidden for many years. I set the base aside and worked on the bowl. I removed the rim cap and cleaned off the glue that remained behind on the top of the bowl. It was rough and I was thinking that it was reason that the cap was no longer smooth. I scrubbed out the glue residue in the inside of the rim cap as well with alcohol and cotton swabs. I used a flat blade screw driver to smooth out the interior flat surface of the cap. I wiped down the bowl with acetone to remove the remnants of the finish and then glued the rim cap back in place with an all-purpose glue. I polish the rim with some micromesh and metal polish. I decided to leave some of the dents and dings as to me it gave the pipe character. I cleaned the surface of the Bakelite base and sanded the whole base with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-12000 grit. I rubbed the base down with Obsidian Oil several times throughout the process to give the micromesh some bite as I polished the base. I gave the internals a quick clean with alcohol and cotton swabs to remove any of the sanding dust that might have found its way into the bowl base and shank. I also cleaned the airway in the stem at the same time with alcohol and pipe cleaners.I roughened the area on the base that would be underneath the band to give the glue something to bind to. I used an all-purpose glue and applied it sparingly to the shank. I had previously polished the band with metal polish to remove any tarnish and give it a shine. I pressed it in place and laid the base aside for the glue to set.I cleaned the inside of the space plate with alcohol and cotton swabs to remove the debris of the years. The spacer appeared not to have been glued in place so I left it that way. I polished it with micromesh sanding pads 1500-4000 grit until it gleamed. I laid it aside until I was ready to put the pipe back together.I turned my attention to the stem. There were some light tooth marks on the underside of the stem near the button. I sanded these out with 220 grit sandpaper. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cotton pad and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I gave the stem a final wipe down with the damp pad. With the stem finished and the glued band dried I put the base and stem back together. I would still need to buff the entirety with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel.I used a medium brown stain pen to stain the bowl. I heated the briar and then applied the stain with the pen. I repeated the staining until the coverage was smooth and even.I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and hand buffed it to raise the shine with a microfibre cloth.With all the parts finished I took a final photo of the bowl and the base before putting it back together.I buffed the completed pipe with Blue Diamond to polish out some of the scratches in the base and the stem. I was not able to remove all of them so I left a few behind to tell the story. I gave the pipe several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I am really pleased with the finished pipe and how it looks. Thanks for looking.

Another Attempt at a Drier Smoke – a Vintage Dri-Bowl Rhodesian

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Blog by Steve Laug

My brother sent me a link to this sale on eBay and I found it intriguing. In the first photo there is what appears to be the edge of a dial on the bottom of the bowl – it is peeking out at the bottom of the bowl. That was intriguing to me. I wanted to know more about the pipe but at this point I had not read the seller’s description of the pipe. I was still looking at the pictures and seeing all of the fills and rim damage on the pipe in the first three photos. It really was quite a mess. The bowl appeared to be reamed but the dings and dents added to the fills made me wonder if it was worth the effort. I still had no idea what the bottom looked like and what made this a dry bowl. Scrolling through the rest of the seller’s photos soon made that clear. Dri1 Dri2

Dri3 The fourth and fifth pictures remove the mystery of the knurled edge on the bottom of the bowl that showed in the first photo. You can see in that photo of the bowl bottom that the silver disk looks like it was made to be rotated. We talked and my brother bid and won the pipe (I can’t wait for the pipe to get here so I can check this out). The fifth photo shows the inside of the bowl. The top of the disk appears to be a cup intruding into the bowl bottom. It was really odd looking.

I dropped to the bottom of the eBay ad to read the seller’s description of the pipe. I wanted to get some information on the pipe. I had done some searching on Google but was unable to find any information on the brand. It is a bit mysterious. The seller writes:

“This French Briar Rhodesian Dri-bole has a 5/8″ diameter silver metal “sump”, with knurled edge, set into the bottom of the bowl. The “sump” may actually be an alloy of silver, such as coin or sterling; metal is untested, but has silver-like qualities.”

“According to advertisements, found in various 1911 magazines, this “sump” was used to hold a provided, removable “wad”. The throw away “wad” would absorb all of the nicotine and saliva as the tobacco burns. Thus the tobacco was kept dry, so that it would be fully burned.”

“This extra nice Dri-bole pipe has the same “wad” holder or “sump”, as those “silver mounted” pipes patented on Sept. 7, 1909 and shown in 1911 Saturday Evening Post and Literary Digest Magazine advertisements! That would make this pipe over 100 years old, if it is indeed the same Dri-bole pipe! There are not any “wads” with this one, but it should be a good smoker, with a nice look and make a great conversation piece!” That information was helpful on many levels. He did not however have any photos or drawings of the pipe or pictures of the advertisements. I wanted to know if the bottom “sump” as he called it was pressure fit or threaded and screwed into the briar. I wanted to know if the bottom of the bowl was damaged or if the “sump” sat as it was supposed to flush with the bottom. It was hard to tell from the photos. I wanted to know was the “wads” were that sat in the sump. From the look of the bowl bottom it appeared that the “wads” may well have been lozenges that fit in the curved cup and then sat flat in the bottom of the bowl. But what did they look like? More research would be needed to answer these questions. But at least the mystery of the knurled edge peaking from the first photo was solved. It was a single unit with a cup on the inside of the bowl. I could not wait to see this in person and “fiddle” with it.

The seller also included a photo of the stamping on the pipe and briefly spelled out what it said. The left side of shank is stamped DRI-BOLE (in crescent) and below the crescent it reads REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. The right side of the shank is stamped Imported Briar leading me to believe that is it American made. The bottom of shank is stamped “266”. Dri6 He gave the dimensions of the pipe as follows: overall length: 5 ½ inches, bowl height: 1 ½ inches, diameter of the bowl: 1 5/8 inches, bore diameter: 7/8 inches, bore depth: 1 1/8 inches and the weight: 44 grams or 1.6 ounces

When the pipe arrived in Vancouver I was looking forward to working on it. My brother had done a great job cleaning the interior and stripping the shiny coat that had been applied to the pipe. It was clean and ready for me to work on. I tried to turn the knurled silver disk on the bottom of the bowl and could not move it at all. The rim looked rough and needed topping. The stem was in decent shape with some pitting and dulling to the old rubber. I was so excited that I forgot to take photos of the pipe before starting my restoration. I put the bowl in an alcohol bath to see if I could loosen the tars that held the silver disk tightly in place. I was guessing it was threaded so I was thinking that if I could soak the bowl overnight things would soften up. Dri7 I took it out of the alcohol bath and heated the disk with the flame of a lighter. I used a pair of pliers to hold tightly to the edge of the disk and I was able to twist it out of the bowl. Once it popped free I could undo it by hand. The first photo below shows the inside of the silver disk. The second shows the knurled outside. Dri8 To remove the damage to the rim top and edges I topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. Dri9 There were some nicks around the hole in the bottom of the bowl so I sanded those smooth with sandpaper and then cleaned out the threads in the briar with a cotton swab and alcohol. Dri10 I used the brass bristle brush to scrub the threads and the cup on the disk. I cleaned it afterwards with cotton swabs and alcohol. Dri11 I used a cotton swab to coat the threads on the disk with Vaseline and turned it into the bottom of the bowl. I wanted to make sure that I could easily turn the disk by hand. Dri12 I cleaned out the internals with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was pretty clean thanks to my brother. It did not take too many to clean it out. Dri13 I sanded the bowl and stem with a medium and a fine grit sanding block. The pipe is beginning to look really good. I had to make a decision how far to sand the bowl and how many of the original dings and dents to remove without changing the “story” and character of this old timer. Dri14 I heated the briar and then stained it with dark brown aniline stain cut by 50% with isopropyl alcohol. I flamed it to set the stain and repeated the process. Dri15 I wiped down the stain with alcohol dampened cotton pads to make it more transparent and make the grain stand out. At this point the fills stood out and I would need to address them a bit differently. Dri16 Dri17 I used a black Sharpie Permanent Marker to draw some lines across the fills and blend them into the grain on the pipe. I then chose to give the bowl a second contrast staining using a Cherry Danish Oil stain. I find that the combination of the black marker and the cherry stain blends the fills better than a brown stain. The combination of the brown and the cherry stains gives depth to the finish so I like using them together. Dri18 Once the cherry Danish Oil stain dried (overnight) I buffed it lightly on the wheel with Blue Diamond and then gave the bowl a coat of carnauba wax. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. You can see the small dings that I left in the bowl sides rather than change the look. I polished the silver disk with a silver polishing cloth. The next series of photos shows the bowl at this point in the process. Dri19 Dri20 I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. The old hard rubber that was used on this stem was good quality. There was very little oxidation if any on it. The main issue was the pitting that covered the surface of the stem. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to address the pitting and smooth out the surface and then began my normal sequence of micromesh sanding pads. Between each set of three grits (1500-2400, 3200-4000, 6000-12000) I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I gave it a final coat of the oil and let it dry before I buffed the pipe. Dri21 Dri22 I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond and gave it several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to put the finishing touches on the pipe. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Thanks for looking. Dri23 Dri24 Dri25 Dri26 Dri27 Dri27a Dri28 Dri29 Dri30

A Large Ben Wade Royal Grain Freehand brought back to life

Another ‘Hole in the Wall’ Find – BBB Banker Bent Volcano

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Blog by Dal Stanton

Last April, during one of my earlier visits to what I have affectionately named, ‘The Hole in the Wall’ antique store near the Zhenski Pazar (Women’s Market) in downtown Sofia, Bulgaria, my eyes locked on to a very handsome pipe that called out to me resolutely – “Take me home!” The pipe was a slightly bent volcano shape, brandishing a broad flattened oval shank and stem that drew my attention. In my small collection of pipes then, and even today, I have nothing like it. After taking in the unique shape, the briar grain, obscured by layers of grime and old wax, gave me an internal ‘wow!’ that I carefully kept hidden from the shop owner who would see my excitement as potential greater profit for him – so I played it cool. I looked at how the grain moves horizontally across the bowl and shank giving the appearance of a tiger pattern looking down on the shank. Looking straight at the bowl the grain looked like horizontal flames terminating on the sides of the bowl with Birdseye patterns – I was anxious to work on this pipe. The top of the shank was imprinted with the classic BBB diamond mark over Banker. Underneath the shank had London, England over 739. The stem top also had the white diamond BBB mark. I also spied another pipe in the basket that looked like a good candidate to bundle with the BBB Banker, a French Jeantet Fleuron 70-7 which helped me negotiate 30 Bulgarian Leva for the pair – about 16US. Not a bad deal at $8 a pipe! The first picture is the Jeantet followed by the BBB Banker after I arrived home from the ‘Hole in the Wall’ with my newest acquisitions: I found a lot on the internet about the BBB name. The small blurb in Pipehill describes the evolution of the BBB moniker:

BBB: ” Best British Briar” is now a brand of the Cadogan Company (Oppenheimer group). American rights to use the brand name were sold to Wally Frank in 1980.

Founder of the brand in 1847: Louis Blumfeld. The oldest pipe brand name in the UK has been registered in 1876 (Blumfeld Best Briar).

Steve also posted a blog on the history of BBB pipes a few years ago using the French article:

https://rebornpipes.com/2012/08/05/history-of-bbb-pipes/

I discovered that there are many BBB collectors and enthusiasts in my research. Unfortunately, I could find nothing helping me to date or place my BBB Banker except some informed guesses comparing to the BBB stamps (pictured below) depicted in the French article Steve posted above which would probably date the Banker at the earliest in 1989 when the Cadogan Company consolidated manufacturing its various pipe lines at Southend-on-the-Sea, but more likely in the 2000s – not a terribly old pipe (Can anyone help me on that?):The condition of the Banker is generally good. There is some cake build up in the chamber but I still want to ream the bowl down to the briar for a fresh start and to be able to make sure there are no problems lurking beneath – which I really don’t expect. The rim has light grime and lava on it, but a significant wearing down of the front lip so that bare briar is exposed. The stummel looks to be in good shape – I detect one fill underneath but it looks to be solid and will blend well. The stummel grain is dulled and obscured by grime and oil build up. The stem is in good shape – showing almost no oxidation, but has a tooth dent on the lower side of the bit. I take a fresh close up of the rim to mark the progress. I begin with reaming the bowl with my Pipnet reaming kit. As I’ve become accustomed, I try to do the dirtier part of the cleanup on the 10^th floor balcony adjoining our bedroom where my work-station is here in Sofia, Bulgaria. Sometimes I wish I had a basement work area, but we do what we must! I use only the two smaller blades of the four blades available to ream the cake down to the briar. I follow the use of the reaming blades with 120 grit sanding paper to clean the cake further and finish with 240 grit on the chamber wall. The bowl looks good. True confession – while I was reaming the bowl my thoughts drifted off to a Savinelli reaming knife – on the eBay block, that I’ve had my eye on – one like Steve often employs. There are still a few days left in the auction and I’m hopeful that I might add it to the arsenal! I’ll let you know! In order to get a better idea of the rim’s condition, I clean the external stummel with Murphy Oil Soap and work on the grime covering the rim. I use cotton pads with undiluted Murphy’s. I also employ a brass brush to work on the rim. After the cleaning, I take the stummel to the sink and rinse it with cool tap water. The pictures show the progress. Ok, for you who have years of restorations under your belts, here are some newbie musings – your patience appreciated! At this point I realize I need to top the bowl to repair the front lip of the rim – it won’t take much but it is needed. When one takes the rim down to the bare briar, I’ve learned that one also must have a plan for matching the hue of the old stain if one desires to keep the old stain tone matching the bowl. I like the color scheme of the BBB Banker and I desire to keep it. To keep it, I need to match the rim color tone with the rest of the stummel AND I need to address the very minor scratches and wear marks on the stummel surface BUT NOT sand it aggressively to remove the stain. It is in some ways much easier to take the briar down to the wood with acetone and sanding and then apply new stain and voila! New surface and color all blended and ready to go. I know this situation calls for use of polishing compounds and such, which is a more passive approach to dealing with the surface – more opportunity to learn new things! So, I move forward with topping the bowl with the aim of maintaining the current rich, deep red tones – we’ll see how it goes. I took the BBB Banker to the topping board – 240 grit paper on a chopping block and rotated it on the paper in a gentle clockwise circle not applying too much pressure – letting the grit do its work. To make sure I wasn’t leaning into the damaged lip area as I rotated, I eyeballed that the damaged area was untouched during the early rotations which meant the topping was true – I took a picture at this point (second picture). I took off only enough to clear out the front lip problems. I think it went well and the bowl looks perfectly round. As I often like to do, to add a classy touch to the rim I bevel the inside lip. I make the initial cut of the bevel with 120 grit sanding paper followed by 240 grit. I’m satisfied with the bevel – not too much but just an accent. I use micromesh on the rim from 1500-12000 to complete the rim repair preparing it for stain later. Now, the stummel surface. I have questions rolling through my mind regarding how aggressive I can be to remove small scratches and wear blemishes but maintain the original patina of the briar as it came to me. I elect to micromesh the stummel surface and leave the small blemishes. I do not start with the coarsest pad (1500) but at 2400 – gentle approach (though the first picture below shows the 1500 it was not used). I’m not sure this is the best plan but I can always back up to a more aggressive posture if I’m not satisfied with the results. After a quick email with Steve, I feel better about the course of action. I continue on the stummel with micromesh pads 3200-4000 and 6000-12000. I am loving the briar grain popping out through the micromesh process – one of God’s small creations each piece of briar. The pictures show the progress: As I put the stummel aside to work on the stem, I realized that I was so involved in working on the externals that I forgot that I hadn’t cleaned the internal of the stummel nor stem. Before working on finishing the stem I decide to use the retort to clean the internals. Last time I used the retort, an alcohol saturated cotton ball was launched from the bowl during the process. I was gun-shy of the retort to begin with when I first acquired it – the launch didn’t help. Notwithstanding, I unwrap the retort, get out the vodka, and proceed to let the retort do its work. The pipe was surprisingly clean. After two retort cycles, I finished off with cleaning the internals of stummel and stem with Qtips and pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol. I think it’s better to clean internals earlier in the process…. Now to the stem externals. Earlier, I applied black super glue to two significant tooth dents on the underside of the bit (visible in picture above). I use 240 grit sanding paper to remove the excess super glue removing traces of the dents as well as file marks after using a needle file to fine tune the shape of the button. There was very little oxidation on the stem or teeth chatter so I proceed to wet sand with micromesh 1500-2400 and apply Obsidian Oil to the stem. I follow by dry sanding using 3200-4000 micromesh pads and then the same with 6000-12000 and apply Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to dry. I’m pleased with the vulcanite ‘pop’ – that wet reflective look is great. Well, I mentioned earlier that I was hopeful to add a Savinelli pipe knife to my tool box. Steve speaks highly of this tool and has increasingly put it to good use in his restoration work. He also posted a blog describing it when it arrived on his work table in Vancouver. When I saw one on the block in the eBay’s estate pipes in tobacciana listings a few days ago, I decided to watch the auction and see if I could snag it – it seemed to be calling out to me: “I want to live in Bulgaria!” As you would guess, others were watching too. I’m thankful that my bid was sufficient and my new Savinelli pipe knife will be delivered to my daughter and son-in-law who live in Denver. They will carry it with them to Bulgaria (along with some other supplies I’ve ordered including 32 oz. of Lane BCA Cavendish tobacco which I discovered with great enjoyment on my last trip to the US) when they visit in September! My son-in-law had no problem agreeing to find space in the suitcases when I bribed him with sharing bowls together of the Lane BCA! So, I’ll look forward to their arrival for the additional reasons that they will be packing new supplies and my new pipe knife!The BBB Banker slightly bent volcano is now in the home stretch. After topping and sanding the rim with micromesh, I left the rim the bare wood until I finished the sanding of the stummel. I did this so that the stain I would eventually apply to the rim would be more closely matched. Using an Italian brand stick, I applied a dark Mahogany stain to the rim and before it dried, lightly wiped it with a dry cotton pad to remove uneven stain application – the first two pictures below show before and after application of the stick. I’m very satisfied with the match up of stummel and rim and am anxious to finish the stummel. Living on the 10^th floor of a former Communist block apartment building and with my work station in my bedroom (shared with my gracious and understanding wife!) space is at a premium. My Dremel high speed tool is my workhorse when it comes to the polishing wheel. Starting with a felt wheel, I first purge the engaged wheel by using the flat edge of the Dremel’s metal tightening wrench against it. This softens the wheel and rids it of residue Tripoli caking from previous jobs. With the newly purged wheel, I begin the final polish of the BBB Banker applying Tripoli to the surface addressing the minor pits and scratches on the bowl surface that I did not sand out aggressively to guard the beautiful patina of this piece of briar. Finished with the Tripoli and Blue Diamond, I change to a cotton cloth wheel for the Dremel and apply several coats of carnauba wax. I use the slowest setting for the Dremel and keep a continuous circular rotation over the briar surface – oh my, does the grain pop! I cannot say exactly when this pipe was made, but if it’s been since 1989, someone employed by Cadogan Company’s Southend-on-the-Sea pipe making plant did an amazing job with the choice of this piece of briar and the volcano shape it became. The grain is beautifully showcased in horizontal movements laterally across the stummel so that one can see the horizontal flame grain facing the stummel straight on and then move to the sides of the stummel and see the grain emerge in Birdseye perspective and swirls. In the beginning I described the top-down view of the broad, flattened oval shank as reminiscent of tiger fir to me – now as I look at it zebra also comes to mind. Another example of the beautifully showcased briar grain in the Volcano shape is the broad landscape of its underside – from across the broad shank to the front lip of the volcano base, runs a robust dissecting flow of grain that is majestic from my vantage point. Yes, I confess, I’m a briar grain junkie. Its beauty reminds me of its Maker. With my last application of carnauba wax on stem and stummel, I change to a clean cotton cloth wheel and buff the entire stummel and stem. Then I give the BBB Banker bent volcano a brisk buffing with microfiber cloth to bring out the richness of this briar even more. I’ve enjoyed this restoration and look forward to loading the BBB Banker with its first bowl of tobacco in my hands. Thanks for joining me!