Tag Archives: restemming a pipe

Restoring and Replacing a Broken Stem on a Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard XL307

by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is Peterson’s System pipe that a reader, Don sent to me to work on. It was stamped Peterson’s [arched over] System [arched over] Standard on the underside side of the shank in a smooth panel. It was stamped Peterson’s [over] System [over] Standard. On the right side it is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines) [over] the shape number XL307. It has a a great looking smooth bowl with some nice grain around the bowl and shank that is dirty with ground in oils, debris and grime. There was a moderate cake in the bowl and a light lava overflow and darkening on the rim top. There was a very beautiful pipe underneath all of the buildup of years of use. The nickel ferrule on the shank end was oxidized and is stamped on the left side K&P [over] three faux hallmarks. That is followed by Petersons. It is not dented or damaged. The stem was broken midway between the button and the saddle. I would need to restem it with a proper stem in the process of my work. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the light lava build up on the top of the rim and the edges of the bowl. The rim top and edges look very good. Only clean up would tell the full story.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the bowl and shank. The stamping was faint in spots but readable as you can see from the photos. It read as noted above. The nickel ferrule on the shank end is stamped on the top and left side K&P Peterson’s over three Peterson marks used on nickel ferrules.I have included the information on the shape number on this pipe that I picked up on researching the previous pipes. This is the second of two Peterson’s System Standard pipes in Bob’s collection marked with the 307 shape number. I have included a page from a Petersons Catalogue that I have on rebornpipes (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/peterson-hallmark-chart/). I have put a red box around the 307 shown in the catalogue page shown below. That should give a clear picture of the size and shape of the pipe. I am also including the information from Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). I have included a bit of the pertinent history here.

1950 – 1989 The Republic Era – From 1950 to the present time, the stamp for this era is “Made in the Republic of Ireland” in a block format generally in three lines but two lines have been used with or without Republic being abbreviated.

During the 1950’s and 60’s the Kapp & Peterson company was still in the ownership of the Kapp family. However 1964 saw the retiral of the company Managing Director Frederick Henry(Harry) Kapp.

Pipedia also included a section of information on the System pipes including a diagram of the systems look (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson#Republic_Era_Pipes). I quote a section of the article in part and include a link to another article on Pipedia on the System pipe.

The Peterson System pipes are the standard bearers of the Peterson pipe family, famous for the excellent smoking pleasure they provide. Often imitated but never equaled, the Peterson System smokes dry, cool and sweet, thanks to the scientiﬁc effectiveness of the original design. The heart of the System is the unique graduated bore in the mouthpiece. This makes the suction applied by the smoker 15 times weaker by the time it reaches the tobacco chamber. The result is that all the moisture ﬂows into the reservoir and, thus cannot reach the smoker’s mouth. The Peterson Lip further enhances the effectiveness of the graduated bore by directing the ﬂow of smoke upwards and away from the tongue. This achieves a uniquely even distribution of smoke and virtually eliminates any chance of tonguebite or bitterness. Furthermore, the shape is contoured so that the tongue rests comfortably in the depression under the opening. Each “PLip” mouthpiece is made from Vulcanite. For the Peterson System pipes to work properly, the stem/tenon has to have an extension, the tip of which will pass by the draft hole from the bowl and into the sump. Upon the smoker drawing in smoke, this extension then directs the smoke down and around the sump to dispense a lot of the moisture before the smoke enters the extension and stem. On the System Standards and other less expensive systems, this extension with be made of Vulcanite turned integrally with the stem. On the more expensive System pipes this extension will be made of metal which screws into the Vulcanite stem. This extension on the earlier pipes will be of brass and the newer pipes will be of aluminium. Most smokers not knowing this function of the metal extension, assumes that it is a condenser/stinger and will remove it as they do with the metal condensers of Kaywoodie, etc. Should you have a System pipe with this metal extension, do not remove it for it will make the System function properly and give you a dryer smoke (https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_closer_look_at_the_famous_Peterson_Standard_System_Pipe).

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping and the age of this pipe. I knew from the information that the pipe was made during the Republic Era between 1950 and 1989. My guess is that the pipes is a 1960s era System pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I started with the bowl and reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I took the cake back to bare briar. I sanded the walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I scrubbed out the internals of the bowl, sump and shank with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. I also cleaned up the inside of the stem at the same time. It was ready for the rest of the restemming process.I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks very good with great looking grain around the bowl and shank. I sanded the bowl with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to remove the scratches and dark marks in the briar. I worked over the bowl and shank with each pad and wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I polished the briar with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with each pad and wiping it down after each one with a damp cloth. The briar began to take on a rich shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips to work it into the finish. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I went through my stems and found one that was the right length diameter of the shank and the tenon. It was on older Peterson’s P-lip that I had here that fits these 307 pipes. It was oxidized and had light tooth marks but otherwise was a duplicate of the original. It did not have the P logo on the stem side.I sanded the stem with 320-1500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth to remove the sanding dust. It began to look very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth. The stem began to take on a rich shine. Once again at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when the Republic Era Peterson System XL307 is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and the new stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl and nickel ferrule. This Peterson’s System Standard XL307 Bent Billiard was fun pipe to work on. It is a stunning piece of briar whose shape follows the flow of the briar. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.12 ounces/59 grams. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section if you would like to add it to your rack and carry on the previous pipeman’s legacy. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring and Restemming a Stanwell Regd. No. 969-48 Old Briar 858 Billiard

1 Reply

by Steve Laug

Not too long ago I received an email from a Andrew in Greece asking if I could work on some pipes for him. He had some that needed a stem and a couple of pipes with broken stems and a Canadian that had a crack down the back of the bowl and across the right side. We emailed back and forth and he sent me the following photos. I figured they would be some interesting pipes to work on so he sent them to me to work on. I received the box yesterday. When I opened it this morning I was amazed to see what he had sent. The Sandblast Canadian that needed restemming was stamped 264 Peterson’s Kapruf. The rest of the stamping was quite faint. The pipe needed to be restemmed and it had a small divot in the shank end and what looked like a crack. The second, a smooth Canadian was a BBB Ultonia 504 with a gold band. The two Sandblast with broken stems turned out to be Stanwells. The larger on is stamped Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 969-48. It is followed by the shape number 858 [over] Old Briar. The smaller one is stamped Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 969-48 followed by de Luxe followed by the shape number 87. The last of the five with the cracked bowl is an 8 Dot Sasieni [over] London Made [over] Pat. No. 1513428. It was also stamped “Amesbury”. They were going to be an interesting lot to work on.

The final pipe I had left to deal with was the larger Stanwell Old Briar 858 billiard next. It was in decent condition, probably the best of the lot. The stamping on the shank read Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 969-48 followed by Old Briar [over] the shape number 858. It was clear and readable. The sandblast finish was nice but dirty. The bowl had a light cake in it and there were spots of lava on the rim top and inner edge. The inner edge was in excellent condition with no damage. The interior of the shank was quite dirty. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of them bowl. The lava on the rim top was in the sandblast. The inner edge looked very good. I also took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the faint stamping that was present. It is faint in spots but is still readable.I turned to do a bit of research on the Stanwell Old Briar line first to Pipephil’s site and found a listing there with a photo of the stamping (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html). I included the sidebar information below the scan.Logo without crown. The “Regd. No.” stamping discontinued in late 1960s to very early 1970s.

I know that Pipedia has some great history (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell) on the brand so I turned there hoping to see the Old Briar. There were several examples of the Old Briar line shown on the site and references to it appearing in both a 1960s and 70s catalogue. I turned to an offsite catalogue from the 1970s and scrolled through until the page I am including below that show the Old Briar Line(https://files.homepagemodules.de/b169807/f122t2475p9130n1.pdf). It also states that the 800-899 shape numbers included the Sandblast De Luxe which includes the shape 858 Billiard that I am working on.I knew that the pipe I had in hand was pipe a robust Sandblast De Luxe 858 Billiard. With the Regd. No. on the shank, the pipe was made in the period between 1948 and 1960.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. I started my work on the pipe by reaming it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I cleaned the lava built up on the rim top with a brass bristle wire brush. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel to clean up the remaining bits. It looked much better after the clean up. I cleaned out the internals of the shank and bowl with pipe cleaners – regular and bristle and isopropyl alcohol. The pipe is very clean. I like it clean to make a better fit for new stem. I cleaned out the airway in the stem I had chosen with pipe cleaners and alcohol. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a shoe brush to work it into the sandblast. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I went through my stems and found one that was the right length and would need some slight adjusting to fit the diameter of the shank and the tenon.I used a Dremel and sanding drum along with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to shape and rework the stem and tenon to fit the shank end. Once I was finished with the reshaping of the stem I put it in the shank and took photos of the look of the stem.I sanded the stem with 320-1500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth to remove the sanding dust. It began to look very good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth. The stem began to take on a rich shine. This Stanwell Regd. No. 969-48 Old Briar Sandblast 858 Billiard with a new vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restemmed and restored. The beautiful sandblast on the briar shines through the polished finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Stanwell Regd. No 969-48 Old Briar 858 Billiard fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 35 grams/1.23 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and the last of the five pipes that Andrew sent me. Once I am finished with it, the lot they will be heading back to Greece. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. On a lark, I slipped a thin brass band on the shank just to see what it would look like. I figured it would give it a great, distinguished look. It was not needed so it was solely for decorative purposes. I sent picture of the pipe with and without the band to Andrew and he liked it as much as I did. With that in mind, I glued the band in place on the shank and let cure. I took photos of it once it was finished.

Restoring and Restemming a Stanwell Regd. No. 969-48 deluxe 87 Billiard

Leave a reply

by Steve Laug

I chose to deal with the smaller Stanwell de Luxe 87 billiard next. It was in decent condition, probably the best of the lot. The stamping on the Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 969-48 followed by de Luxe followed by the shape number 87. It was clear and readable. The sandblast finish was nice but dirty. The bowl had a light cake in it and there were spots of lava in the sandblast on the rim top and inner edge. The inner edge was a little rough from previous reaming. The interior of the shank was quite dirty. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of them bowl. The lava on the rim top was in the sandblast. The inner edge looked very good. I also took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the faint stamping that was present. It is faint in spots but is still readable.I turned to do a bit of research on the Stanwell de Luxe line first to Pipephil’s site and found a listing there with a photo of the stamping (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html).I know that Pipedia has some great history (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell) on the brand so I turned there hoping to see the de Luxe. There were several examples of the de Luxe line shown on the site and references to it appearing in both a 1960s and 70s catalogue.

I turned to the article on designers and shape numbers to see if I could find data on the 87 Shape (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). I found that the shape had four versions of this shape number a) Large billiard, full mouthpiece, b) Large “Chimney”, full mouthpiece, c) Freehand, conical bowl, long saddle mouthpiece by Sixten Ivarsson. 87R. Same as 87(b).

I knew that the pipe I had in hand was pipe a) above – a Billiard and in this case small one. With the Regd. No. on the shank, the pipe was made in the period between 1948 and 1960. But I wanted to know more. I can find many examples of the de Luxe line online but no one explains the meaning of the term. Do any of you readers have any information on this quandary? Post a response and let us in on the information.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. I started my work on the pipe by reaming it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I scraped the lava built up on the rim top with the edge of the knife. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel to clean up the remaining bits. It looked much better after the clean up.I cleaned out the internals of the shank and bowl with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. The pipe is very clean. I like it clean to make a better fit for new stem. I cleaned out the airway in the stem I had chosen with pipe cleaners and alcohol.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a shoe brush to work it into the sandblast. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I went through my stems and found one that was the right length and would need some slight adjusting to fit the diameter of the shank and the tenon.I used a Dremel and sanding drum along with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to shape and rework the stem and tenon to fit the shank end. Once I was finished with the reshaping I took photos of the look of the stem.I sanded the stem with 320-1500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth to remove the sanding dust. It began to look very good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth. The stem began to take on a rich shine. This Sandblast Stanwell Regd. No. 969-48 de Luxe 87 Billiard with a new vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restemmed and restored. The beautiful sandblast on the briar shines through the polished finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Stanwell Regd. No 969-48 de Luxe 87 Billiard fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: 5/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 22 grams/.78 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will hold until I have finished working on the final pipe that Andrew sent me. Once I am finished with the lot they will be heading back to Greece. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Restemming and Restoring a Danish Pride by Ben Wade Hand Made in Denmark Bowl

Leave a reply

by Steve Laug

This particular mixed finished Freehand pipe was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is another beautiful smaller Freehand Bowl that combines a plateau rim top and smooth patches that flow up from the bowl sides. The shank end is sandblasted like the bowl and shank with a spot of plateau. It is stamped on a smooth panel on the left side of the shank and reads Danish Pride [over] by [over] Ben Wade [over] Hand Made [over] In [over] Denmark. The bowl is a mix of sandblast on the majority with some smooth grooves on the front and sides. The shank is also sandblasted with the underside being smooth for the stamping. The bowl had a moderate cake and some spots of lava overflow in the plateau rim top and inner edge of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish and dust and debris in the plateau valleys on the shank end. The finish was a rich oxblood colour that really highlighted the grain in the sandblast. The stem was missing so I would need to fit a suitable replacement. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the cake in the bowl and the spotty lava on the plateau rim top and inner edge of the bowl. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain in the sandblast and the smooth portions. It is a beautiful bowl. It is a smaller size freehand and one that catches my eye. Have a look. The next photos Jeff took show the stamping on a smooth portion on the underside of the shank. The stamping is faint in places but still readable as noted above. In a previous blog I had researched the brand quite a bit. I have included it below for information on this pipe (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/10/03/restoring-a-danish-pride-by-ben-wade-mixed-finish-handmade-freehand-sitter/). I quote:

I remembered that the Preben Holm pipes were marketed under the Ben Wade label in the US and imported through Lane Ltd. I turned to Pipedia and read the listing on the brand to refresh my memory and flesh out the knowledge of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Wade). I have included a photo from that site that was taken from a Tinderbox advertisement.I quote the portion of the article that summarizes the Danish period of the history of the brand:

Young Copenhagen master pipemaker Preben Holm had made a meteoric career heading a pipe manufacture employing 45 people at the age of 22! But around the turn of 1970/71 he was in major financial difficulties. His US distributor, Snug Harbour Ltd. in New York City, left him in the lurch. Holm had three unpaid invoices on his desk and another large shipment was ready for the USA, when Snug Harbour’s manager told him on the phone that there was no money at all on the account to pay him.

So the Dane went to New York for an almost desperate search for a new distribution partner. He made contacts with Lane Ltd. and met Herman G. Lane in February 1971. Lane Ltd. had no interest in Holm’s serial pipes produced at that time but so much the more in the hand-carved freehands because the hype for Danish freehands and fancies in the States was still on its way to the climax then. The meeting resulted in an agreement to start a cooperation. Lane insisted to improve the quality considerably and in return he assured to be able to sell essentially larger quantities.

Holm went back home to work on new samples with all-new designs and altered finishes for Lane. Both, Lane and Holm, agreed that it would be unwise to sell the pipes under Preben Holm’s name as long as Snug Harbour had a considerable stock of Preben Holm pipes and might sell them pipes at very low prices just to bring in some money.

So on Mr. Lane’s proposal it was determined to use the name Ben Wade belonging to Lane Ltd. Lane spent considerable amounts of money for advertising the new brand in the big magazines– the centerpiece being whole-page ads showing a very exclusive Seven Day’s Set.

The cooperation with Lane Ltd. proved to be an eminent business success for both partners. Within a very short time Ben Wade Handmade Denmark sold in much larger quantities and at higher prices than they had ever dreamed of. And the hype these freehands and fancy pipes caused went on unbroken long after Herman G. Lane deceased. Preben Holm – obviously much more brilliant in pipe making than in pipe business – was in major troubles again in 1986 and had to sack most of his staff. The Ben Wade production was significantly lowered but continued until his untimely death in June of 1989.

Up to now Preben Holm made Ben Wade pipes are cult and highly sought for on the estate markets.

With that information my initial thoughts were confirmed. This pipe was a Preben Holm made Freehand distributed in the US by Lane Ltd under the name Ben Wade. The freehand rage occurred in the late 70s and the pipes were made until Preben’s death in 1989. My guess would be that this pipe was made sometime during that time period and potentially in the late 70s.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the plateau rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the remaining oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were. The rim top and bowl look good. The shank end was sandblasted and had a spot of plateau on the top right.I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. You can see from the photo that it is faint but readable. It is clearer on the top half of the stamp than the lower but it is still readable. I went through my stems and found a variegated cream and brown acrylic taper that would work well with the bowl. It would take some work to fit it but I took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe. The bowl was in such good condition after the clean up that I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the crevices of the plateau and sandblast portions. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I set the bowl aside and started working on the stem. I used a flat file to shape the stem to fit in the shank. It took some work to shape it but it looked much better. I cleaned up the stem work with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to finish blending it into the surface of the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2-inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil cloth.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. I am happy with the way that this Preben Holm Made Danish Pride by Ben Wade Freehand turned out. It really is a beautiful looking pipe with a great shape and mix of smooth and sandblast finishes around the bowl and shank. The rugged plateau on the rim top and shank end are beautiful. The fancy original vulcanite saddle stem works well with the reddish brown of the stained briar. The pipe really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown stains of the finish gave the pipe a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Danish Pride by Ben Wade really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches wide x 2 inches long, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 48 grams/1.69 ounces. The pipe will be staying with me, at least for awhile as I appreciate the craftsmanship. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

A Lovely Monte Verde Made in Denmark By Hand Golden Tan Rusticated Bent Egg

Leave a reply

by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table was purchased from a seller 08/10/25 from Livingston, New Jersey, USA. It has that verve that I have come to associate with pipe made by Preben Holm as they are always unique and beautiful. The pipe is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside. It reads Monte Verde [over] Made in Denmark [over] by Hand [over] Golden Tan. The shank extension is vulcanite with no stamping but it is oxidized. I have refurbished several Monte Verde pipe so if you are interested in the brand here is a link to one I did back in 2019 that has a similar finish to this one (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/02/09/new-life-for-a-preben-holm-monte-verde-twin-finish-freehand/). This one was quite dirty, like the rest of the pipes we tend to work on. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a lava overflow in the rustication of the rusticated rim top. The inner and outer edges of the bowl looked very good. The black/silver acrylic saddle stem was dirty and had scratches and light tooth marks on the top and underside. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup process. He took close up photos of the bowl and rim top from different angles to show the condition of the rim top. The bowl has a thick cake that lining the walls and overflowing lava and build up on the rim top and flowing over the inner edge of the bowl onto the top. He also took photos of the stem to show the surface of the top and underside of the acrylic stem. You can see the tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the lay of the rustication and grain around the pipe. It is a beautiful piece of briar. It had a very unique double rustication! The green acrylic shank extension works well with it. Jeff took several photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank to capture all of the stamping. It was clear and read as noted above. There was no stamping on the stem surface.I turned to Pipephil’s site to get a read on the brand (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-m6.html). It confirms that the Monte Verdi line was made by Preben Holm. The pipe in the photo had a very similar rustication to the Monte Verdi I was working on. I did a screen capture of the section on Pipephil. I have included it below. There were also photos that were included on Pipephil of what this particular pipe looked like when it left Denmark. The rustication around the bowl and shank is very similar. The pipe I have has the same shank extension and finish. The pipe in the photo had a fancy turned vulcanite stem. The stem on the one I have in front of me is missing so I will need to replace it with one similar to the one in the photos below.I also Googled the brand and found a thread on Pipes Magazine about the brand that gave me some more information (http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/monte-verde-pipes). I include that below.

The Monte Verdi line was indeed a pipe style offered by Holm. It usually features heavily blasted and rusticated briar and smaller group sizes than some of his other lines. Some refer to this line as a “second”, but it provided an outlet for briar that had flaws and therefore unsuitable his other lines. Holm marketed many different lines featuring a variety of finishes in both stains and carvings and this is merely one of those. The ones I own are good pipes and smoke well. The blast finish is very interesting to look at and the tactile sensations make it fun to hold.

Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to the lava build up on the rim top and you could see a little darkening in the finish on the top of the bowl. I took photos of the pipe bowl to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took a photo of the rim top and bowl to show the condition of the pipe. I took photo of both sides of the stem to show its condition. Overall the pipe was in great condition.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. There was some darkening on the smooth portion but the stamping was clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the proportions of the bowl and stem.I scrubbed the darkening on the shank with some Before & After Briar Cleaner and a tooth brush. I wiped it off with a soft cloth remove the product. I repeated the process several times.I sanded the oxidized vulcanite shank extension with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the shank extension down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth to remove the debris. It looked significantly better. I polished the vulcanite shank extension with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each pad with an Obsidian Oil cloth to remove the debris. It began to have a rich shine. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips and a shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Balm did its magic and the grain stood out. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to smooth out the tooth chatter. The pipe stem was looking very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped down the stem with some Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I finished the polishing with some Before & After Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside. This beautiful, double rusticated Preben Holm carved Monte Verde Golden Tan Freehand Full Bent Egg is a special looking pipe and it feels amazing in the hand. I polished stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The multi-coloured grain shining through the rustication came alive with the buffing. The rich contrasting brown colour works well with the polished vulcanite shank extension and the black and white Lucite stem. The finished Monte Verde Golden Tan Freehand Full Bent Egg is a beauty and feels great in the hand. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.72 ounces/76 grams. I will be putting this Monte Verde by Preben Holm on the Danish Pipe Making Section on the rebornpipes online store soon. It is such an interesting tactile pipe and if you have been looking for a freehand then this might be the one for you. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this interestingly shaped Preben Holm Hand Made pipe.

What a Wreck of a Pipe this Peterson’s of Dublin Kildare 408 Apple

1 Reply

by Steve Laug

This is another pipe we picked up from a seller in Macon, Georgia, USA on 03/08/2025. It was a classic Peterson’s Apple shaped pipe. It was stamped Peterson’s [arched over] Dublin [over] Kildare. Mid shank on the right side it was stamped 408. It was truly a wreck of a pipe at the worst and at the best it was someone’s favourite. It was very dirty and was covered with tars and oils all around what must have been a natural coloured pipe when it started. The bowl had a thick cake that overflowed in lava onto the rim edge and top of the bowl. The inner edge of the bowl appears to have been poorly, if not infrequently reamed with a sharp knife. It was notched and damaged all the way around and was even visible with the lava coat. The stem was a vulcanite fishtail one that was very dirty, discoloured and there were deep tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. The fit of the stem to the shank showed that the internals of the shank were as dirty as the externals of the pipe. All in all, it was truly a mess that I was unsure would clean up well. Jeff took photos of the pipe so I could have a sense of what it looked like before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the stem and the bowl and rim to give a sense of the horrible condition of the pipe. You can see the thick cake in bowl and the lava overflow on the edges and rim top of the bowl. The damage on the inner edge of the rim is visible even under the lava. The stem surface is very dirty and you can see the tooth marks and damage. This will be a challenge! He also took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to show the beautiful grain that could not be totally hidden by the heave filth on the bowl sides. You can see the oils and debris ground into the finish and built up on the surface of the bowl and shank. He took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is faint but still is readable as noted above.I reread Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). I am quoting nothing specifically from that article but recommend you take time to read it.

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Kildare Line. It has become my go to any time I want information on Peterson’s lines. Page 314 had the following information on the Kildare Line.

Kildare (1965-) First issue of line with matte-finish in Classic Range shapes, P-Lip and fishtail mouthpiece. Second issue C.1979 as Kildare Patch, with rusticated patches on pipe surface. Third issue 2010, matte-brown, P-Lip or fishtail mouthpiece, no band. Fourth issue 2011-, burgundy sandblast finish, nickel army mount, fishtail mouthpiece, exclusive to smokingpipes.com.

The information given above identifies the pipe as a First Issue of the line with a matte-finish. It would have been issued between 1965 and 1979. This line was issued in a brown finish with either a P-lip or a fishtail mouthpiece. This means that the pipe is an older issue Kildare. The 408 shape number is attached to a ¼ bent Apple.

Now it was my turn to work on the pipe. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. It was such a wreck that I wondered what it would look like after his work. He reamed the heavy cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. The scratches in the briar stood out once clean. There were some on the heel of the bowl. The rim top was clean but badly damaged on the inner edge. He scrubbed the dirty stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. Once it had soaked he rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. Overall the pipe looked better but would be a challenge to bring back to life. I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. You can see the clean bowl. The bowl is in excellent condition and the rim top shows the heavy damage on the inner edge of the bowl. The stem came out looking quite good and the tooth marks and chatter were visible on the surface ahead of the button.I took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The photo clearly shows the faint stamping though it is actually more readable in person. The stem is also faintly stamped with a Peterson’s P logo. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. It really does have some beautiful grain on the bowl and shank. It was time to work on the pipe. I started by trying to clean up the inner edge bevel with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It was too far gone for that to work. I changed course to use various wooden spheres I have here along with 220 grit sandpaper to try to rescue the rim edge and bevel. Once finished it definitely looked better. I filled in the deep road rash on the heel of the bowl with clear CA glue, working it into the deep pits with a tooth pick. Once it cured I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out and blend it in.I sanded the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the scratching and marks on the bowl surface and top and underside of the shank. I wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth and by the end the bowl really began to show some promise. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank sides. I used a Cherry stain pen to restain the inner edge and rim top to match the rest of the briar before I started sanding it. Once it had been sanded the match should be perfect. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. By the final pads the briar really had a shine. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips to work it into the finish. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I set the bowl aside and worked on the tooth marks on the stem. I “painted” them with the flame of a lighter to lift them. They came up a bit and I filled in what remained with the extra strength rubberized Black CA glue. Once the repairs cured I flattened them out and redefined the button edge with small flat files. I sanded them smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I touched up the P stamp on the left side of the taper stem with some white acrylic fingernail polish. Once it cured I scraped off the excess and worked over the surface with a 400 grit sanding pad to clean up the stamping. It is clear and readable.I sanded the stem and tenon with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. Each successive pad brought smoother shape and definition to the stem. I wiped it down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad and by the end it was starting to look very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped them down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil and set aside for the product to absorb into the vulcanite. It was great to finish this older (1965-79) Republic Era Peterson’s 408 Apple. It was a question if it could be reborn but I think it looks good. I put the bowl and the stem together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with deep sandblast all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem was beautiful. This Peterson’s Kildare 408 Apple is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 58 grams/2.05 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will soon be on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you want to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

New Life for a Svendborg Danish Hand Carved Sand Blast Bent Dublin with a 9MM filter saddle stem

Leave a reply

by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that has travelled much in its life. It went from Denmark to the Philippines and then to the US and now here in Canada. We picked it up in a batch of pipes we purchased from John Mags, a pipemaker in Lapaz, Philippines on 04/24/2025. The sandblast finish around a fluid Danish style Dublin works well to make this a great looking pipe. The pipe was stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank and read P [over] Svendborg [over] Danish [over] Hand Carved. The rich dark brown/black stain on the sandblast finish looked very good. It had a lot of dust and debris in the valleys of the sandblast. The bowl had a moderate cake in it and it overflowed as light lava into the sandblast rim top. It was dirty but very interesting looking. The stem was quite oxidized but still had the Svendborg infinity looking logo on the left side of the saddle. It is a 9MM filter stem. There were light tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the bowl before his clean up work to give a sense of its beauty even with the grime in the finish. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to show clearly the cake in the bowl and the overflow of lava in the sandblast rim top. The condition of the stem is also visible as noted above. The next photos capture the sandblast in the briar on the sides and heel of the bowl. It is a beautiful blast that shows the grain around bowl sides and the heel of a well shaped Dublin. He captured the stamping on the underside of the shank and the shape of the stem in the next photos. The stamping is faint in spots but still readable and reads as is noted above. Before I started working on the pipe I did a bit of research on the brand to remind myself of what I knew of the maker. I turned to Pipephil’s site first (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-s14.html). I did a screen capture of the information on the site. I did a screen capture of the pertinent information and have included it below.I copied and pasted the side bar information below:

Brand founded in 1970s by Henrik Jørgensen, Poul Ilsted and Tao Nielsen. They bought an old factory (Nordisc Pibefabriker) in Svendborg on Funen Island. Poul and Tao gradually bow out from machine manufactured pipes (1982) and Henrik Jørgensen manages the brand until its takeover by Design Berlin (D) in the late 90ies. Kaj C. Rasmussen jointed the firm for several years. 17 employees worked for this brand under Henrik Jørgensen direction.

That link gave me a bit of information on the brand – a joint venture of Henrik Jorgensen, Poul Ilsted and Tao Nielsen. I could see from the information that usually the carvers stamped their names on the shank of the pipe. In the case of the one I have there is no name stamp. I wonder if the P stamp above the name would point to possibly Poul Ilsted as the carver. If so it would put the date of the carving before 1982 when Ilsted and Nielsen left. It is stamped Hand Carved which also points to a pre-1982 date.

I then turned to Pipedia and found that an article on the brand that was helpful and interesting to read (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Svendborg). I have included the first part of the article below.

Jens Tao Nielsen and Poul Ilsted Bech met each other when working together for Erik Nørding and soon became close friends. Both felt a bit tired to make nothing but bizarre fancy shapes and agreed they wanted to produce pipes of more style and more classicism. They decided to establish their own brand “Tao & Ilsted” – But how to do it?

A good fortune brought them in contact with Henrik Jørgensen, a passionate pipe lover and a wealthy Copenhagen banker who was willing to retire from bank business and change his career to become a pipemaker. The trio joined in 1969 and decided to start a new pipe brand together. Nielsen and Ilsted started to search for a suitable workshop while Jørgensen took care of the finances. In early 1970 the partners found an old, closed down pipe factory in Svendborg on Funen, and bought it shortly after for a mere 16.500 Danish Kroner. It was the earlier Nordic Pipe Factory – Nordisc Pibefabriker – maybe the oldest Danish pipe factory. And now it became the home of Svendborg Piber.

The article also included this set of pages from a catalogue that were interesting. The philosophy that drove the brand is also there to read. It is well worth the time to pause and read about that passion.Now it was my turn to work on the pipe. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the light cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked very good when I received it. I took photos of the bowl and the rim top as well as both sides of the stem to show the condition of the pipe before I started my work. The rim top looked remarkably good. The next photos show the condition of the stem and how clean it came out.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank and the left side of the saddle stem. The photo of the stamping is faint but still readable. I also removed the stem and took a photo of the parts of the pipe.I went over the rim top with a brass bristle wire brush to knock off any debris in the shallow blast. Some came out and it looks quite good.I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I touched up the infinity style Svendborg logo stamp on the left side of the saddle stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. Once it dried I sanded the excess off with a worn 1000 grit sanding pad. It looks significantly better.I sanded the surface of the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to smooth the tooth chatter out and remove remnants of oxidation. When finished the stem looked much better.I fit the tenon with a 9MM filter. The fit was perfect as expected and the airflow was unrestricted.I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Svendborg Danish Hand Carved Dublin P with its fancy, vulcanite 9MM saddle stem is a beautiful sandblast pipe with a flowing shape that looks great. The rich browns and blacks of the contrasting stain makes the grain come alive with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Svendborg Danish Hand Carved Dublin really is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.76 ounces/50 grams. This pipe will soon be on the Danish Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Fitting a new stem to a Neerup, Made in Denmark Bulldog

Leave a reply

by Steve Laug

The next pipe came to my table from a fellow I had repaired pipes for before. It has been awhile and he has moved further away but he remembered me and sent the pipes to me to repair. There were two of them – a Savinelli Billiard with a snapped shank and a Neerup Bulldog. The Bulldog looked very familiar to me and I did a bit of looking back and found that I had worked on it previously. I had fitted it with a new stem in the past and later replaced the tenon on it. Now it was back for a new replacement stem. It is obviously a favourite pipe. It has a black sandblast finish that is a bit dirty and a light cake in the bowl that had been recently reamed. There is an overflow of lava on the rim top. The pipe was still a beauty. The shank end of the vulcanite stem had been wrapped in tape but I am not sure the purpose of the tape. Under the tape was a polished nickel end cap on the stem for decorative purposes and perhaps Curtis would rather have it plain. The button end had been chewed and was missing a large piece of vulcanite on the underside of the button surface. The stem will need to be replaced. I took photos of the pipe before I began my work on it. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim top to show the thickness of the cake and the condition of the stem when I received the pipe. It was a bit of a mess. The stem was in rough condition as noted above. You can see the damage on both sides of the stem – the chipped and broken underside of the button as well as the tooth damage on the topside of the stem. Looking at it you can see why we chose to restem it.The next two photos showed the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is faint and hard to read in the photos. In person it is faint but readable as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of perspective to the parts. I went back and reread my previous work on this pipe. I have been doing this long enough that I am doing repeat repairs on pipes that I had repaired before. This link is to the first restem on the pipe. Here is the link (https://rebornpipes.com/2022/12/22/new-life-and-new-look-for-a-neerup-made-in-denmark-bulldog/).

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet Pipe Reamer to remove the thin cake from the bowl – using a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to scrape away the carbon coat. I sanded the walls smooth with a piece of dowel wrapped with some 220 grit sandpaper.I cleaned out the shank and the mortise with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol to remove the tars and oils. I also cleaned out the airway in the stem I had chosen to use as well. I scrubbed the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush on the sandblast and the a brass bristle brush on the rim top. I rinsed the bowl with warm running water to rinse off the soap and the grime left behind. It looked better. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the sandblast with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to get it deep in the grooves of the sandblast. I let it sit for 15 minutes and buffed it off with a soft cloth. I went through my stems and found this slightly longer taper stem that would need very little adjustment to fit in the shank. I took pictures of the old stem with the replacement stem in the photo to show the difference.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. The oil both preserves the rubber and also provides some needed friction for the micromesh pads. I polished it with Before & After Fine & Extra Fine Polish. I rubbed it down a final time with the oil and set it aside. This Neerup Made in Denmark Freehand Bulldog carved by Peder Jeppesen combines a great looking piece of sandblast briar with a multi-banded shank extension and a vulcanite stem to make a beautiful pipe. The removal of the thick shiny coat allows the grain to come alive with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Neerup Made in Denmark Bulldog really is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.80 ounces/51 grams. Once I finish the second pipe this one will be going back to Curtis to enjoy. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Restemming and Restoring a Monte Verde Golden Tan Freehand Sitter

Leave a reply

by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table was purchased from a seller 05/28/24 from Santa Cruz, California, USA. It has that verve that I have come to associate with pipe made by Preben Holm and the fellow we purchased this lot from obviously loved Preben Holm carved pipes because we acquired several from him in this lot. They are unique and beautiful. The pipe is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside. It reads Monte Verde [over] Made in Denmark [over] by Hand [over] Golden Tan. The shank extension is a marbled green acrylic shank extension has a gold Crown MV on the top. I have refurbished several Monte Verde pipe so if you are interested in the brand here is a link to one I did back in 2019 that has a similar finish to this one (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/02/09/new-life-for-a-preben-holm-monte-verde-twin-finish-freehand/). It was quite dirty, like the rest of the pipes in this collection. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a lava overflow on the rusticated rim top. The inner and outer edges of the bowl looked very good. The stem was present for these photos but somehow disappeared in its journey from Jeff to me. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup process. He took close up photos of the bowl and rim top from different angles to show the condition of the rim top. The bowl has a thick cake that lining the walls and overflowing lava and build up on the rim top and flowing over the inner edge of the bowl onto the top. It is hard to know if there is damage or if the lava protected it. He also took photos of the stem to show the surface of the top and underside of the acrylic stem. You can see the tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I only wished that the stem had travelled to me here. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the lay of the rustication and grain around the pipe. It is a beautiful piece of briar. It had a very unique double rustication! The green acrylic shank extension works well with it. Jeff took several photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank to capture all of the stamping. It was clear and read as noted above. He also captured the stamp on the top of the missing stem. I turned to Pipephil’s site to get a read on the brand (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-m6.html). It confirms that the Monte Verdi line was made by Preben Holm. The pipe in the photo had a very similar rustication to the Monte Verdi I was working on. I did a screen capture of the section on Pipephil. I have included it below. There were also photos that were included on Pipephil of what this particular pipe looked like when it left Denmark. The rustication around the bowl and shank is very similar. The pipe I have has the same shank extension and finish. The pipe in the photo had a fancy turned vulcanite stem. The stem on the one I have in front of me is missing so I will need to replace it with one similar to the one in the photos below.I also Googled the brand and found a thread on Pipes Magazine about the brand that gave me some more information (http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/monte-verde-pipes). I include that below.

Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to the lava build up on the rim top and you could see a little darkening in the finish on the top of the bowl. I took photos of the pipe bowl to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took a photo of the rim top. You can see the spots of darkening in the rim top and some bits of lava in the grooves. I had a stem in my can that was similar to the one that was lost but was black vulcanite. With a bit of work, it would fit the shank nicely. I took photo of both sides of the stem to show its condition.I cleaned the rim top with Before & After Briar Cleaner to soften the dark spots and darkening on the rim top. I used a brass bristle wire brush with the product deep clean the grooves in the double rusticated rim top. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Balm did its magic and the grain stood out. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. I used the slot saw and a series of flat files to shape the slot and make it a football shape. I cleaned up the shape with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the slot. It worked very well and the slot began to take on a very classic look.I worked over the tenon end with a flat file to get a snug fit into the shank extension of the pipe. It took a slight step down on the vulcanite to shape it for the proper fit. I fit it into the shank and took photos to show the look. While it was in place I heated the vulcanite and gave it a bend to match that of the original stems in the photos that Jeff sent that I included above. I sanded the stem surface with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. The stem began to take on a shine. I finished working on the stem by sanding it with 32-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to smooth out the repair and to remove the tooth chatter. The pipe stem was looking very good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped down the stem with some Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I finished the polishing with some Before & After Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside. This beautiful, double rusticated Preben Holm carved Monte Verde Golden Tan Freehand Sitter is a special looking pipe and it feels amazing in the hand. I polished stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The multi-coloured grain shining through the rustication came alive with the buffing. The rich contrasting brown colour works well with the polished swirling brown, tan, black and white Lucite stem. The finished Monte Verde Golden Tan Freehand Sitter is a beauty and feels great in the hand. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.36 ounces/68 grams. I will be putting this Monte Verde by Preben Holm on the Danish Pipe Making Section on the rebornpipes online store soon. It is such an interesting tactile pipe and if you have been looking for a freehand then this might be the one for you. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this interestingly shaped Preben Holm Hand Made pipe.

Restoring and Restemming a Mixed Finish Frasorteret Hand made in Denmark Freehand

Leave a reply

by Steve Laug

This interesting Freehand with both smooth and sandblast finishes came to us from an estate we purchase from Santa Cruz, California USA on 05/28/2024. It is a unique looking pipe that took some work to figure out the stamping. With some digging and comparing we knew that the stamping on the underside of the shank just ahead of the shank read Frasorteret [over] Hand Made [over] In [over] Denmark. You might well ask why we had to figure it out. That is simple in the half of the name line was hidden by the sandblast. The finish is dirty with dust and oils in the sand blast portions on the bowl sides. The smooth portions are also dirty with oils and dirty ground into the finish. The plateau rim top has some darkening toward the back of the bowl as well as thick lava filling it the grooves in the finish. The bowl has a heavy cake. The vulcanite shank extension is oxidized and also dirty. The stem is actually a poor replacement that is a saddle stem for a straight shank. The pipe would have originally had a fancy freehand style military style stick stem that sat in the extension. It will need to be replaced. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. He took photos of the rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the thick lava coat and debris in the plateau finish on the rim top. You can see that it basically fills in the grooves of the finish. The shank extension is also oxidized and dirty. He took photos of the stem to show the oxidation and calcification on it but at some level it does not matter as it will be replaced. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a sense of the finish on the bowl sides. It is really a beautiful pipe with great grain in the smooth portions. He captured the stamping as best as possible on the underside of the shank next to the vulcanite shank extension. It reads as noted above.It seemed to me that Frasorteret pipes came from the creative carving of Preben Holm so I wanted to confirm that memory. When you get a certain age memory can fool you! I turned first to Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-f4.html). It tied the line to Preben Holm but there was not too much more information at this point.I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Frasorteret) to gather further information. There the information was scant but none the less made the connection to Preben Holm very clear. Here is the information.

The Frasorteret line of pipes were made by Preben Holm and were nearly identical to his normal line of pipes but for fills and pits and the like. The pipes were stamped Frasorteret Made in Denmark.

Now I had the background I needed. I was ready to start working on this pipe. As usual, Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. I probably don’t say enough about how much I appreciate him doing the hard clean up work before I even get the pipes. He does an amazing job. He had reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer back to bare briar and removed the remnants of the cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He used a small blade to pick out the thick lava on the rim top. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and shank brushes. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe and the stem that came with it before I started my part of the restoration work. Preben’s Holm’s magic is very visible in the shaping of the pipe. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the clean condition. The bowl walls look very good. The replacement stem looks very clean and will be a good addition to my can of stem options.I tried to capture the stamping on the shank underside. It is a bit blurry but it is still very readable and clear as noted above. I took a photo of the pipe with the replacement stem removed. It really makes it clear to me that it is a replacement. The pipe was ready for me to work on but I decided first to go through my stems. I went through both vulcanite and acrylic stems which may sound easy but I have several hundred stems to sort through. I was looking for something that flowed with the delicate shape of the bowl and shank and was simply weightless looking. I found what I was looking for and took a photo of the stem I found. I put the new stem in the shank and took a photo, I like the looks of the new choice.What to do next? I figured I might as well continue working on the stem since I had already started. I sanded out the tooth chatter on the stem end and worked on the oxidation with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper.I fit the cleaned stem into the shank of the pipe and it was an odd fit. When I pulled it out this piece of scotch tape came out with the tenon. That is yet another testimony to the stem being a replacement. The tape would have been around the tenon to snug the fit in the shank. I cleaned out the shank with pipe cleaners and alcohol to remove the residual gum from the tape. Much better and the stem fit!I sanded the stem with 2×2 sanding pads – 320-3500 to start the polishing process and further remove the oxidation and marks. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. It was beginning to look very good.I love watching the shine develop on the vulcanite as I polish it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down after each pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished this part of the polishing by using Marks Hoover’s Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped it off with a soft cloth and gave the stem another coat of Obsidian Oil. I set the stem aside and turned my attention to the bowl. I sanded the shank extension with 320-3500 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the vulcanite extension down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. It began to look better.I polished the smooth portions of the briar and the vulcanite shank extension with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. I wiped the shank extension down with Obsidian Oil. I finished this part of the polishing by using Marks Hoover’s Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped it off with a soft cloth and gave the stem another coat of Obsidian Oil. Once again, by the end of the process it looked quite good. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips. I worked it into the plateau finish with a shoe brush. It works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The grain came alive. This newly restemmed Frasorteret Hand Made in Denmark Freehand is a great looking pipe with some interesting shaping around the sides of the bowl and vulcanite shank extension. You can easily see the handiwork of Preben Holm in the shaping of the pipe. The beautiful grain around the smooth portions and sandblast on the other portions of the bowl is quite stunning and works well with both the shape and the polished vulcanite shank extension and the fancy vulcanite saddle stem. I put the new stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the wheel and followed by buffing the pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Preben Holm Hand Made Frasortert Freehand fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 49 grams/1.69 ounces. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipemakers Section shortly. If you wish to add this interesting pipe to your rack it is a great addition. Send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. I appreciate your support and time!