Tag Archives: restemming a pipe

A Restemming Job with Memories of the Past

The third pipe I worked on in the lot below is the second one down in the third column. It is a Dublin like shape but probably properly is a freehand. It has a shallow sandblast finish with a two-tone stain. The undercoat is black and the top coat is brown. It is stamped on the left side of the shank Racine & Laramie in an arch over OLD TOWN SAN DIEGO over Banza in a script and then a line stamped Made in Italy. The look and feel of it says to me it is made by Lorenzo but I am not sure. When I read the stamping is when the memory came back. I have been in the Racine & Laramie tobacco shop in Old Town San Diego, California. It is a museum like tobacco shop that has a wide range of tobaccos and pipes in an old California mission style village setting. You can almost imagine cowboys riding up and tying up their horse to go in and get a pouch of fixin’s. The picture below is what I remember of the shop. It is from the website http://www.racineandlaramie.com/

The following excerpt on the history of the shop comes from the website as well. I find it incredibly interesting reading.

History of Racine & Laramie
In 1868 Racine & Laramie became San Diego’s first Cigar Store. Having come from eastern Canada in the prosperity following the War Between the States, Messrs. Racine and Laramée sold cigars, tobacco, stationery, pipes, cutlery and gentlemen’s furnishings. The adobe they rented had been built in the 1820’s as the retirement home for leather-jacket soldier, Juan Rodriguez of the Royal Presidio. It was one of the first six buildings in the small pueblo, 500 registered voters, thousands of Kumeyaay. The Rodriguez family held ownership through periods of depression and Gold Rush boom, and their son, Ramon, was on the City Council. The widow Rodriguez had the building remodeled in 1867 and rented to Racine & Laramie and the Bank Exchange saloon. All was lost in the fire of 1872.

Using archeology, historic research and photographs this building has been reconstructed with the interior furnished and stocked as it may have been in that remote, frontier Pacific port. This picture gives a panoramic view of the interior of the shop looking at the cigar humidor.

It was this shop that I visited many times over the years. It is like stepping back in time to enter the old town and then to walk into the shop itself. I think the last time I was there was about six years ago now. I took the train from the downtown harbor area to the old town site. I walked through the reconstructed village. I must have spent 3 or 4 hours wandering around the site and ending up in the old tobacco shop. I looked at pipes and tobaccos before settling on a couple of tins. I think I picked up some Dunhill EMP and maybe a tin of McClelland Dark Star before catching the train back into town.

Needless to say when I found this pipe bowl among the lot pictured below I restemmed it and while working on it relived my visits to the pipe shop in Old Town San Diego.

The finish on the pipe was in pretty good shape – slight wear on the shank area and on the rim left the stain spotty in those areas. The bowl was caked – but differently than most of the pipes I work on. Its cake was primarily in the bottom half of the bowl. The bottom half was thickly caked while the top was not as bad. The photo below shows the bowl as it was when I took it to the work table. The sandblast is either worn from use or it is a lightly blasted finish. The shank was in very good shape and there were no cracks of damage to the inside. The drilling is a bit funny on this as well. It is drilled with a relatively deep mortise and the airway is drilled at the top of the arc of the mortise. It then drops at a sharp angle into the bowl coming out just left of centre in the bottom of the bowl. Because of the high drilling the mortise acts as a sump similar to the Peterson sump in the shank of the system pipes. It was dirty but not with any aromatic residue. Rather the pipe smelled of Virginias and would take little to clean it up.

This pipe that took me several tries to get a stem that would work. This was not due to the look or feel of the stem but due to unforeseen troubles. The first was a nice saddle stem. I turned the tenon and had a great fit on it. I heated it with my heat gun and tried to bend it over my rolling pin to aid in getting the right angles on it. The heat made it very flexible and as I bent it to the correct angle it just snapped in two parts. Those things happen and in this case it was a frustration to be sure – so back to the drawing board. This time I chose a tapered stem. I turned the tenon and fit it to the mortise. I then used the Dremel with the sanding drum to remove the excess material and fit it to the diameter of the shank. I then sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to finish the fit of the stem. The next three photos show the newly fit stem.

I reamed the pipe with the PipNet reamer and cleaned out cake from the bottom of the bowl. I had to use two different cutting heads on the reamer to get it to remove the cake. The smallest head fit into the bottom half of the bowl and I was able to cut it back until the third head fit and removed cake from the top half and the remaining cake on the bottom half.

I wiped down the bowl and shank with acetone on a cotton pad to remove some of the top coat of stain and even out the lighter areas and the darker areas where the stain was still present. My goal was not to remove all of the stain present but merely even out the top coat so that I could more easily blend in the new stain coat.

Then with a bit of fear and trepidation, after breaking the first stem, I took the stem to the heat gun and heated it so that I could bend it into shape. I inserted a pipe cleaner in the airway as the bend would be quite significant and I did not want to risk having the airway collapse or kink. I heated it a high heat setting until the stem was flexible. I want the bend to be quite high up the stem toward the shank and not just on the thin portion of the stem so it took some time over the heat to make the stem bendable. I kept the stem moving over the heat as I did not want to burn the vulcanite. Once it was pliable I bend it over an old rolling pin that I have absconded with for that purpose. I have a heavy cardboard tube over the pin so that the surface is very smooth for the bend. Any cracks or rough spots on the rolling pin translate into wrinkles in the hot vulcanite.

In the first photo below the bend in the stem can be seen after the first heating. I took it back to my worktable and took the photo below so that I could have a clear look at the bend in comparison with the curves in the bowl. It was not bent enough so I took it back to the heat gun, reheated it and bent it further. The second and third photos below show the final bend that I was aiming for. The bend in the stem reflects the curve of the bottom of the bowl and gives the pipe a pleasant flow. It is also bent perfectly for the pipe to sit well in the mouth.

With the stem bent to the proper angle I worked on its finish with the micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded the stem with 1500 grit until the major surface flaws were no longer present. The scratches left behind by the sandpaper were gone when I had finished wet sanding it.

I restained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain thinned to 2 parts stain to 1 part isopropyl alcohol to match the existing stain on the bowl. I applied the stain with a cotton swab, flamed it with a lighter, reapplied more stain and then flamed it again to get the match correct. When finished I took the pipe to the buffer and buffed the pipe and the stem with White Diamond. The next three photos below show the pipe as it stood at this point in the process. The finished shape is very clear in these photos.

I brought it back to the worktable and continued sanding with the micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded the stem with 1800 and 2400 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down between sanding to see how it was progressing. Then I dry sanded with 3200-12,000 grit sanding pads to finish polishing the stem. The next series of four photos show the progressive shine on the stem.

Once the stem was polished I buffed it a second time with White Diamond and then coated the stem with a rub down of Obsidian Oil and let that soak in. After it was dry I rubbed down the stem with a clean cotton rag to bring out the shine even more.

The final four photos show the finished pipe with its new stem. The old Racine & Laramie pipe was back in action and ready to smoke. The back story to this one is as interesting as the old pipe. I wonder the path it took from San Diego to Chicago area and then up to Vancouver, British Columbia. I wonder where it lost its stem along the path it travelled. I only wish it could tell the stories of its travels and the pipemen who smoked it along that journey. I will probably never know the story but at least my imagination can create a suitable tale for the pipe before I too send it on its way, for I am sure it will outlive me as it passes into the hands of future pipemen who come after me.

Savinelli deluxe Milano Stack Restemmed & Renewed

5 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

The second pipe in the lot pictured below that I chose to work on was the one on the top of the right column. It is stamped on top of the shank Savinelli de luxe Milano and on the underside the Savinelli shield and next to that is it stamped 130KS Italy. The finish was dull and mostly gone. The rim was not charred at all but had a heavy build up of tars. The bowl was caked – interestingly for a pipe this deep it was caked all the way to the bottom of the bowl. The dimensions of this bowl are: height 2 1/4 inches, outer diameter of the bowl 1 ½ inches, diameter of the chamber ¾ inches. It smelled of sweet aromatics so it would need to be reamed and cleaned well. There was no stem with it but there was a broken tenon stuck in the shank. I would have to pull the tenon and fit a new stem on the bowl. It was made of a good piece of briar – no fills or sand pits. The grain is cross grain on the front and back of the bowl and the top and the bottom of the shank. It had some very nice birdseye grain on each side of the bowl and the shank. The shape of the shank was a modified oval shape.

Before I cleaned the bowl and shank I removed the broken tenon that was stuck in the mortise. I have a screw that works perfectly for this process. I turn it into the tenon by hand or a screw driver and then work it out by hand or with a pair of pliers. If the tenon is stuck and will not move I put it in the freezer for 30 minutes or more and generally it will pop out quite easily. In this case it came out quite simply and I was able to move on in the process of cleaning.

I sorted through my collection of old stems to find an oval one that I could modify to fit the style of the shank. I had looked on line and found that this particular model of Savinelli had a taper stem (see the first photo below). I did not have any oval tapered stems that would fit, nor did I have large enough round stems that could be modified. I chose an older oval saddle stem that I believed would look good. I think that originally it was on a Dr. Plumb pipe but the logo was worn off and my modifications would remove the red dot on the stem (second photo below).

I sanded the tenon with 220 grit sandpaper until I had a good snug fit on the shank. The next four photos show the stem before I began to shape it to fit. The fit against the shank was good and tight. The look of the pipe and stem worked for me so I was good to go.

I do the initial shaping of a stem with a Dremel and sanding drum. I set the speed about mid mark on the speed control of the Dremel and slowly work at the surface of the stem. I do this initial shaping with the stem on the shank. I want to shape it as closely as possible to the shank shape before doing the finish shaping by hand. The next three photos show the stem after this initial shaping. There was still much work to do in bring the stem and shank to a proper fit and the width of the stem to a match with the taper of the shank. This work had to be done by hand using sandpaper and files.

The depth of the bowl on this stack made it impossible for me to get to the bottom of the bowl with my reamers. The PipNet reamer went about 2/3 of the way down the bowl and the KleenReem or Senior reamer did the same. I have used a plumbing tool that is used to clean up pipe after cutting it to ream deep bowl. It is a ¾ inch cone shaped wire brush with a handle that I can turn into the bowl and go to the bottom to remove the cake evenly. It works exceptionally well for this purpose.

I cleaned up the rim of the pipe with 220 grit sandpaper and also worked on the shank stem fit with the same sandpaper. As I was planning to refinish the pipe bowl and shank I did not care if I removed a bit of the finish while sanding the stem and shank. The next three photos show the stem/shank fit after I had sanded it with the sandpaper. I really liked the look of the pipe at this point and only needed to do the stem polishing and the finish sanding and cleaning of the bowl.

I used acetone on cotton pads to remove the finish on the pipe. I wiped it down until it was the same colour as the sanded portion of the shank. This would make blending the stain much easier to do. The first two photos below show the bowl after the initial wipe down with acetone. Photos 3-5 show the pipe after the finish has been removed from the pipe and it is ready to be stained.

When I sanded the stem I found that there was one small tooth mark on the top of the stem near the button that no amount of heat would lift up. I sanded the spot with the 220 grit sandpaper until it was clean and then buffed it with Tripoli until it was very clear the breadth of the spot. I filled the indentation with clear super glue and sanded it once it was dry. The two photos below show the stem repair after the initial sanding and then after it was ready to be polished. Once the polishing was done the repair would be virtually invisible.

I cleaned the internals of the stem and the shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and Everclear until the shank and the internals of the stem were clean. I used a dental pick to clean out the areas inside the button and the flare of the airway in the button.

Once the insides were clean I wiped the bowl down with Everclear and removed any possible grime that I added to the surface in the cleaning process. The next three photos show the pipe after all of the cleaning. It is beginning to look like the stem and pipe were made together.

Because of the amount of grime that I cleaned out of the shank and the stem I decided to use a retort on it to give it a more thorough cleaning. The next series of three photos show the set up of the retort system. I use isopropyl alcohol in the test tube and heat the tube with a small tea light candle. I use a block of ebony that I have here to support the pipe and retort during the process. The alcohol is boiled through the pipe until it comes out clean. Generally this takes 2-3 fresh test tubes of alcohol.

After removing the retort I cleaned out the bowl, shank and stem with pipe cleaners and cotton swabs a final time to remove any of the alcohol and oils that remained. I then sanded the stem with 1500 and 1800 grit micromesh sanding pads to begin polishing the surface and to remove any of the debris left from the surgical tubing on the stem.I continued to sand the stem with the micromesh sanding pads from 2400-12,000 grit in preparation for staining.

I stained the pipe bowl and shank with dark brown aniline stain mixed 2 parts stain to one part alcohol to get the brown colour that was previously on the pipe. I wanted it thin enough that the grain would really stand out and give the pipe a uniform look after the sanding. The pipe has some beautiful cross grain on the front and back of the bowl and the top and bottom of the shank with birdseye grain on the sides. I wanted the stain to highlight that. I stained the pipe, flamed it and restained and reflamed it to set the stain in the grain.

Once the stain was dry I took the pipe to the buffer and buffed the bowl and the stem with White Diamond to polish the stem and the stained bowl. Afterwards I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean flannel buff. For a final touch I hand buffed it with one last coat of wax and shoe shine brush. The final photos below show the finished pipe. It is cleaned, renewed and ready to go out to a good friend who loves this shape!

A Surprise in this Lot of Pipe Bowls – a BBB Virgin Own Make Billiard

11 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

This package of pipe bowls to restem arrived this week. There were several surprises in the lot but one that the seller had listed as London Made turned out to be a BBB Virgin Own Make. The stamping had been buffed and was fairly faint but it indeed read BBB under the loupe. The left side of the shank is stamped London Made and the shape number 638. In the photo below it is in the center column the third pipe in the column. It came with a heavy cake and tar buildup on the rim. The bowl had been reamed in the past with a knife but was still fairly round. The chamfer/bevel on the inner rim is what had suffered the damage. The finish was dirty but would clean up fairly easily. Under the grime it appeared to be a beautiful cross grain – birdseye on the front and back of the bowl, on the top and bottom of the shank and cross grain on the sides of the bowl and the shank. It was going to be a beauty once it was cleaned up. The edges on the shank end were clean and undamaged and there were no cracks in the shank. The inside of the shank was also very tarry and caked.

Figure 1 Assorted pipe bowls for restemming

I used a PipNet reamer to ream the bowl and remove the heavy cake build up. I reamed it with a smaller cutting head first and then used the correct size to finish. I wanted to ream it back to bare briar so I patiently worked with the cutting heads until the bowl was clean. The next series of three photos show the reamer in place and the result of the reaming. Look closely at the top of the bowl in the third photo and you will see the damage to the chamfer/bevel on the inner edge of the rim. Also in the photos is the stem I picked out of my can of stems for this pipe. The great thing is that I had a BBB stem in the can that fit well with minimal work on the tenon.

The next photo shows a side view of the pipe. I took this photo because of the great cross grain that is visible on the bowl.

I sanded the tenon with 220 grit sandpaper to remove a thin layer of the vulcanite and make a good fit on the stem. The next two photos show the fit of the stem. I was unable to push it into the shank due to the tar buildup in the shank. Once I cleaned out the shank I would be able to tell if I needed to do a bit more sanding on the tenon.

I cleaned out the shank with cotton swabs and Everclear. While I worked on that I also swabbed out the inside of the bowl and the rim with Everclear as well. It took many cotton swabs and pipe cleaners to get the shank clean and ready for the new stem.

When the shank was clean I tried to fit the stem again. It was still a little tight so I set it aside to work on when it was thoroughly dry. I have learned that if I fit it when the shank is wet the fit will be too loose once it dries out. The photo below shows how the stem fit after the cleaning of the shank.

When I returned from work the stem fit perfectly. I did not need to do any more sanding on the tenon. I wiped down the exterior of the bowl and shank with acetone on cotton pads to remove the finish and grime from the top of the bowl. I also did some minor adjustments to the shank/stem union as the shank was slightly out of round and needed to have briar removed on the top and left edges to smooth out the union. I used 220 grit sandpaper and a medium grit sanding sponge to even out the fit of the stem. The next three photos show the fit of the stem and shank after the work.

I sanded the chamfer/bevel on the inner rim of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I wanted to repair and minimize the damage to the rim from the reaming that had been done with a knife. I have found that I can set the folded sandpaper at a set angle and work my way around the inner rim of the bowl repairing the bevel. It takes careful work to get the angles to even out and give a finished look to the repair. The photo below shows the finished chamfer/bevel.

Once the bevel was completed and the shank/stem fit fine-tuned I needed to remove the rest of the finish from the pipe so that I could easily restain it and have a good match on the sanded areas. I sanded the rim and the shank with a fine grit sanding sponge and also with 1500-2400 micromesh. I then wiped the bowl down with acetone wetted cotton pads to remove the finish. The next three photos show the pipe after the wash with acetone. The finish stained acetone cotton pads are in the background.

I sanded the stem and the bowl with a fine grit sanding sponge after the wash to even out the look of the finish and to prepare it for staining. The next three photos show how the sanded portions now blend in with the finish of the bowl and shank. The scratches have been removed and the bowl and shank are ready to be stained.

I decided to begin working on the stem before I stained the bowl. I wet sanded the stem with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-1800 grit. Once I had it started as pictured in the first photo below I changed my mind about sanding the stem further at this point. I restained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain thinned 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol. I applied the stain with a cotton swab and then flamed it with my lighter, reapplied the stain and reflamed it until I had the colour and coverage I wanted. Photos 2-4 below show the pipe after staining. I am happy with the blend of the stain on the rim and the sanded area of the shank. The coverage is heavy enough to give a good colour and yet it is not too heavy so that the grain really shines through. I had not buffed the pipe at this point merely stained it and let it sit while I went back to working on the stem.

I went back to sanding the stem with the micromesh sanding pads. I worked through the remaining grits of pad from 2400-12,000. Each successive grit of pad deepened the shine on the stem and progressed to a deep black look. I also sanded the bowl with the micromesh pads. The hardest area to remove the oxidation was around the brass BBB diamond insert. To clean that up I used a Bic lighter and passed the flame over the stem surface quickly and the oxidation burned. I also wet sanded the area with the edge of the sanding pads. To finish that area I also used the Scratch X2.0 plastic polish and then rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and let it dry. The next three photos show the stem after sanding with the pads.

The final four photos show the finished pipe. There are some dents remaining in the side of the bowl that I steamed to lift but they still show. I tend to leave these on older pipes as signs of their age and character. I love the way the grain stands out on this pipe. The sides show the cross grain. I did not take photos of the ends of the bowl to show the birdseye grain that is situated on them but you can imagine the look from the straight lines of the cross grain. The rim and sanded areas on the shank look well blended in and the bowl smells fresh and ready to use. I am well pleased with how this old beauty turned out and know that it is ready for a life of service.

Reworking a Mastercraft Custom Deluxe Billiard and Removing Mold

9 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

This old Mastercraft billiard is the second pipe of the threesome that was sent to me last week as a gift. In his email asking if I wanted them he said they were either going to the rubbish bin or to me so I was not surprised when I opened the box and unpacked them. It had some nice looking grain underneath all of the grime and peeling varnish. But this one was in very rough shape. The stem was chewed in half so there was not enough to save. The inner tube apparatus inserted into the stem looked like it had been destroyed and then somebody bent it close to shape and cut a X cut in the end of the tenon so that it would fit into the stem. The shank was grimy and dark with a white mold residing inside both the bowl and the shank. The pipe reeked of mold. The bowl itself had a heavy but broken cake underneath the mold. It had a coat of varnish that was spotty and peeling where it was worn off the briar. In those worn spots the briar was almost black. The rim was also in very bad shape. The front was burned down from repeatedly lighting the pipe in the same spot with a torch. The back side of the rim looked like it had been scraped on concrete or hammered out on concrete because it was worn and broken down. The three photos below (I apologize for the poor quality – still getting used to this new camera!) show the state of the bowl and stem.

I sorted through my stems and found two options that I thought might work on the pipe. The first one was an acrylic saddle stem that I thought might look good with the bowl (pictured in the first photo below). I turned the tenon and fit it to the pipe but did not like the proportion of the stem and shank length. I then took the second stem – a shorter, straight tapered stem and fit it to the pipe (pictured in the second – fourth photo below). It looked like it belonged on the pipe so my choice was made. It was an old previously used vulcanite stem from my collection of old pre-used stems that I collect. This one would take some work as it was oxidized and had a calcified buildup around the button area. It was also clogged and the slot was plugged to a small pin hole. But it had the right look so it would be worth cleaning up.

I set the stem aside and worked on the bowl. I reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer to get rid of the cake and the mold. I cleaned the reamer with alcohol before putting it away. I cleaned the bowl and the shank with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and Everclear to remove as much of the tars and oils and moldy smell as possible.

When I finished it still smelled moldy, but I had several plans in mind for addressing that. But first I topped the bowl with my usual flat board and 220 grit sandpaper. I place the bowl rim down flat against the sandpaper and work in it a circle to remove the damage on the rim. This one took quite a bit of work to even out the top and get rid of the damage from the burn on the front side of the rim and the roughened back edge done by beating the pipe against concrete. I sanded it, repeatedly checking to see if I was removing enough of the damage to get a sharp edge on the bowl. On the outer rim next to the shank there was a chunk of briar missing that I would try to minimize after topping the bowl. I was able to remove all of the damage of the burned area and most of the damage of the battering the old pipe had taken. The rim looked good. I used a folded piece of sand paper to work on the inside edge of the rim and clean up the damage that was done there and keep the bowl in round.

I wiped the exterior of the bowl down with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the grime and the finish that remained. I repeated this until I could not remove any more finish or grime. The next two photos show the wipe downed bowl.

I placed the bowl in an alcohol bath for several hours while I worked on the stem and worked on several other old pipes that I have on the go. When I took it out of the bath, I dried it off with a cotton cloth and scrubbed it with a tooth-brush dipped in alcohol from the bath. I dried it again to check on the finish. There were still several spots where the varnish remained – the shank and the bottom of the bowl. One benefit of the bath was that the glue softened on the over pressed band and I was able to remove it from the shank. I sanded and scrubbed the old glue off the shank and sanded the bowl with a fine grit sanding sponge. I wiped it down with another acetone cotton pad. It still needed to soak a bit longer to finish breaking down the varnish that remained. While it soaked I cleaned up the silver band with silver polish and the jeweler’s polishing cloth. Under all the tarnish I found that the band was stamped Sterling.
I removed the bowl from the alcohol soak and dried it off. I used a lighter to burn off the alcohol from inside the bowl and the shank. I then recleaned the inside of the bowl and the shank with Everclear and many more pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. The amount of tars and sticky oils and grit that came out of the shank was incredible. It was no wonder that the pipe still reeked like mold. The next series of three photos show the pipe after soaking and sanding.

I scoured the shank until it was fairly clean and then set up a retort to do a more thorough clean. The retort sends vaporized alcohol into the bowl and shank and in essence boils out the grime with hot alcohol. As the alcohol cools it returns to the tube and with it the grime and oils from the pipe. I repeated the retort three times on the pipe until the alcohol came out clean. I then took apart the pipe and cleaned out the shank with pipe cleaners and cotton swabs a third time. There was even more oil and grime that came out of the shank. I cleaned off the surface with an acetone wipe and then reset the silver band with Weldbond glue. I turned it so that the Sterling stamp was on the top of the shank and pressed it on to the shank until it was even with the edge of the shank. Weldbond dries fairly quickly to touch so that the band would not be loosened when I went on to the next step in my cleaning process.

After removing the retort I cleaned the bowl and shank. Yet even more grime came out. I put the stem back on and took the four photos below to show the state of the pipe at this point. I did this more for an encouragement to me as this one was proving a difficult rework. The photos gave me a picture of what I was aiming for in cleaning this one up. If I lose sight of that it will end up in the bin as rubbish.

When the alcohol dried in the bowl and the visual showed a clean bowl and shank I took a sniff of the bowl. After all of this work the moldy smell still was present in the bowl and shank. This called for more drastic measures. I used the Dremel with a sanding drum on it and sanded the inside of the bowl until the briar was bare and clean. Then I filled the bowl with salt and alcohol to leach out the oil from the inside of the bowl and shank. My hope was that in doing this I would also kill the stench. I plugged the shank with a cork, filled the bowl with kosher rock salt (I was out of my normal cotton bolls) and set it up on an old ice-cube tray. I used an ear syringe to fill the bowl with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I set it aside and went to bed to let the treatment do its work while I was sleeping. The two photos below show the bowl after filling with alcohol.

In the morning the salt was a dark brown as pictured below. I emptied the now darkened salt and dried out the inside of the bowl by flaming the alcohol with my lighter. It still smelled like mold though the smell was definitely losing strength.

I cleaned out the button area of the stem with the dental pick and then ran several bristle pipe cleaners through it and then followed up with regular pipe cleaners. I soak both in Everclear to clean out the stem. I then sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the calcification that was all over the stem. I also gave the stem a quick sand all over with the 220 grit to remove the top oxidation. I ran the flame from the Bic lighter over the surface to burn off the oxidation. It did a great job of removing what I had loosened with the sandpaper. I continued sanding it with a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the remaining oxidation. I rubbed down with Obsidian Oil and set it aside with the bowl while I went off to work. The Obsidian Oil sat on the stem and soaked in for the 9 hours I was at work.

I refilled the bowl with salt and put a cork in the shank. I again used the ear syringe to fill the bowl with alcohol and set it aside to work on the stem. It too sat for the nine hours I was at work.

When I got home from work the stem looked quite good. It was significantly more black and the oxidation was gone except around the stem shank union. More work to do there. The salt was a dark brown, but slightly lighter than the first treatment. I dumped out the salt and cleaned out the bowl and shank with cotton swabs again. When I finished the smell was better but present nonetheless. I cleaned out the bowl with alcohol and cotton swabs again.

I needed another bit of encouragement at this point so I decided to stain the pipe with a dark brown aniline stain cut 2:1 with isopropyl alcohol. I applied the stain, flamed it and then buffed it on with Tripoli and White Diamond (photos 1-4 below). The brown did a fair job of coverage but I would need to give it a second coat of stain using a oxblood colour to do some blending with the dark areas on the bowl.

I worked on the stem with fine grit sanding sponges and 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. There were some minor tooth dents that still showed up so I passed over them with a Bic lighter and was able to raise them. More sanding was needed and I repeated the sanding described above.

Once the bowl dried out it still smelled so I decided to repeat the salt and alcohol treatment a third time. I filled the bowl with salt and isopropyl and set it aside over night (photo 1 below). In the morning the salt was little lighter brown this time (photos 2-3 below). I dumped the salt out and cleaned the bowl and shank again. This time the cotton swabs came out fairly clean. I flamed the inside of the bowl. Once the bowl dried out it still smelled so I decided to repeat the salt and alcohol treatment again. I filled the bowl with salt and isopropyl and set it aside over night. In the morning the salt was once again a dark brown. I dumped the salt out and cleaned the bowl and shank again. This time the cotton swabs came out fairly clean. I flamed the inside of the bowl. Though the inside of the bowl and the shank was very clean the musty smell still remained, though less prevalent. This was one stubborn pipe bowl to clean.

While the inside of the bowl dried out I decided to restain the bowl. For the second/top coat I used a oxblood stain. I applied it and wiped it off (first photo below). The coverage this time was much better. The dark reddish stain blended well and covered the dark areas of the bowl. The finished colour is a nice older deep reddish brown look (second-fourth photos below).

I decided to sand back the inside of the bowl yet again. I used the Dremel with the sanding drum a second time. When I was finished the inside of the bowl was very clean and fresh looking. The smell was still there. I stuffed the bowl with cotton bolls and then used an ear syringe to fill it with white vinegar and set it in the ice-cube tray to let it work. I have used that in the past to remove stubborn ghosts so I thought I would give it a try on this one.

While the bowl soaked I worked on the stem with the remaining grits of micromesh sanding pads – 3200-12,000 to bring back the deep shine on the stem. Sanding them with the higher grits of micromesh really gives a deep shine to the stem. It is amazing to see the difference between each of the successive grits of micromesh. I did not take photos of the steps as almost all of my refurbishing posts have shown the polishing process with the micromesh. The next two photos show the finished stem. Once the bowl is finished I will buff the bowl and stem with White Diamond and then give the whole a buff with multiple coats of carnauba wax to polish.

Once the vinegar had soaked in the bowl for several hours I removed the cotton boll and dried out the bowl. I then used a Dremel with a sanding drum to sand back the sides of the bowl yet again. This time I extended the diameter of the bowl to get rid of the surface area of the bowl interior. Once I was finished with the Dremel I hand sanded the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the small ridges left behind by the drum sanding. The last two photos in this sequence show the newly sanded bowl.

I took the bowl outside and put it in the bright sun on my patio. I wanted to let the heat and the UV rays from the sun do more work on the potential mold in the bowl. The evening is cooling down and the sun is no longer as warm. I brought in the bowl and wiped down the inside of the bowl and shank with an alcohol based anti bacterial wipe. I took it to the buffer and gave the whole pipe a buff with White Diamond. I then gave it several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean flannel buff. The pipe is like new and it SMELLS GREAT. I finally beat the moldy smell. The final four photos show the finished pipe.

Restoring and Reclaiming a Byford Prince

7 Replies

I was gifted three old pipes by a friend on Smokers Forums. The first that caught my attention was an older Byford Prince. It was pretty worn but the wood was in good shape under the wear and tear. The stem was shot. It had a split along the stop side and was missing a few pieces. When I removed it I found that it was quite brittle. Once I took the stem off I found the most interesting system inside. The shank had an aluminum attachment which held two metal tubes inside of it. On the inside of the broken stem was a third metal tube. These formed three concentric, nested circles which wicked out the moisture of the smoke while not hampering the flow of air in the pipe from bowl to button. The photo below shows magnified picture of the interior of the stem and shank.

The stem was so broken and damaged that I was not sure how the flow of the angles on the taper was supposed to look. I did not know what the button and the stem were supposed to be like. I did a search on the internet and found this photo of a Byford stem that showed the proper angles on the stem. I used the stem in the photo as a template for my replacement stem. I made one modification which I will speak about in the explanation of the restemming below.

The next photo shows the interior of the stem and shank – the system part of the pipe. The tube in the stem sits between the other two tubes in the shank creating three rings on the inside of the shank and stem. It looked like this stem apparatus would be a bear to clean up. I would have to used cotton swabs, folded pipe cleaners and whatever I could to get in between the layers.

The bowl was badly caked with a broken cake. It was soft rather than hard. There was also a buildup of some blue substance on the bowl. I am not sure what it was but it smelled suspiciously like a mold. The stem as you can see in the poor quality pictures below was damaged beyond repair. The aluminum band or shank end was oxidized and rough. Underneath all of the grime it was a beautiful piece of briar. The shape is a well executed prince. The old stem seemed a bit long to my liking so the new one would be slightly shorter and accommodate the lines of the one in the photo.

I removed the old stem and went through my box of stem and found what I was looking for. The drilling on this had to be very wide to accommodate the apparatus on the system of the Byford pictured above. This older style stem had exactly the right fit. It slipped into place and looked good. It was a bit flared on each side and on the top and bottom so that would need to be sanded back to a flush angle. In the photo below you can see the fit of the new stem before I did any shaping on it. You can also see the blue/green substance on the bowl.

I used a Dremel with a sanding drum to remove the excess vulcanite and shape the stem to the proper angles. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer starting with the smallest head and working up to the third head which took the cake back to bare wood. I wanted to remove the cake and whatever the buildup on the bowl and rim that was there.

After reaming the bowl back I sanded the rim and inner edge with a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the remaining blue/green substance. I also sanded the inside of the bowl smooth to remove any thing that was buildup on the inside edges. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the scratches caused by the Dremel and sanding drum. I sanded the exterior of the bowl and the oxidized aluminum on the shank end with the fine grit sanding sponge as well. The next three photos below show the state of the bowl and stem at this point in the process.

I wiped the bowl down with an acetone wetted cotton pad to remove the grime and the old finish. The next two photos show the bowl at this point. The cotton pad is below the bowl to show the amount of finish and grime that came off. I find that the acetone will even out the finish and clean up any remaining grime.

I continued to sand the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and also cleaned out the shank apparatus with Everclear and cotton swabs. That was a challenge! The grime that built up in the concentric tubes took some bends and twists of cotton swabs and pipe cleaners to remove from the shank. I also scrubbed down the interior of the bowl with Everclear on the cotton swabs and then scoured it out with 0000 steel wool. I did not want any remnants of the blue/green stuff. While the bowl was wet with the alcohol I also flamed the inside with a lighter. The alcohol burns quickly and should destroy whatever remnants of the sludge that may have been resident in the briar. I sanded the aluminum with 1500 grit micromesh sanding pads to remove the oxidation and crust that had built up at the junction of the aluminum and the briar.

The next two photos show the stem after the pipe and stem have been cleaned and after I had finished shaping the stem with the 220 grit and 340 grit sandpaper. The angles matched the photo above that I was trying to duplicate.

At this point it was time to sand with the micromesh sanding pads. The next series of five photos show the progressive shine that comes through the micromesh. I wet sanded with 1500 and 1800 grit micromesh to remove the scratches and begin to give the stem a polish. I also sanded the bowl with these two grits as well. I followed up by dry sanding with the remaining grits of micromesh from 2400-12,000. I sanded the bowl, the aluminum shank end and the stem.

Upon completing the sanding and polishing with the micromesh pads I took the pipe to the buffer and buffed the stem and bowl with White Diamond on the wheel. It brought out the shine and help highlight the grain. I wiped down the stem with Obsidian Oil to protect it and then gave the entire pipe several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it to a shine. The last series of four photos show the finished pipe.

ADDENDUM 03/07/15
Just recently I discovered this interesting piece on the Byford pipes. They were originally made by Orlik. Here is a page from their catalogue.

Restemming and Reclaiming a BBB Hand Made Unsmoked Bowl

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

This is the third unsmoked New Old Stock pipe bowl I picked up on EBay. It is stamped BBB in a diamond with Hand Made split by the Diamond on the top of the shank. The finish was very good and the bowl absolutely clean. Again it had no stem. I talked with a friend on the forums and he is sending some stems that may work. But, I decided to give it a go with fitting a stem blank while I was waiting. Sometimes the old impatience can be productive! The first series of four photos are from the EBay seller and show the condition of the bowl.

I sorted through my box of stems and chose an oval stem that looked to be the right length and close to the diameter that I needed. I used the PIMO tenon turning tool on my cordless drill to cut the tenon close to the diameter I was looking for. One issue with the turning tool is the inability to get accurate cuts so over time I have learned to take it very close and then finish the fit by hand. The first photo below shows the stem on the turning tool. Prior to putting it on the turner I had to drill out the airway to the same size as the stabilizing pin on the tool.

The next photo shows the tenon after turning it on the tool. I needed to sand it by hand to get a proper fit in the mortise. I use medium grit emery paper to sand the tenon down and then 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out.

After sanding the tenon the fit is perfect. The next two photos show the stem in place. There are still casting marks on the sides of the stem and the diameter of the stem needs to be trimmed to match the diameter of the shank. I use a Dremel with a sanding drum to bring the stem diameter down close to the shank size. I am careful to not trim to close to the shank as I do not want to inadvertently scratch the shank and cause more work. I also run the Dremel the length of the stem to take down the casting marks and excess vulcanite. I use it the same way on the end of the button to remove excess and also clean up the marks from the cast.

After removing the excess material from the stem as close as I can to the shank using the Dremel the rest is handwork. I begin with medium grit emery paper to quickly remove more material. This is by far the most labour intensive part of the work. There is no way to rush it as it just takes patience to keep sanding until the fit is correct. I work it on the shank and off the shank. Photos one and two below show the results after the stem has been sanded with the emery paper. The diameter is getting close. Photos three, four and five below show the next progress of the shaping. For that I used 220 grit sandpaper. I cut it into squares and fold it so that I can get in close to the button and also close to the shank without scratching the shank. I also used a heat gun to bend the stem. This was done in several installments before I actually got it the way I wanted. The bend in the early photos below is a bit abrupt and too close to the button. I reheated and rebent the stem over a wooden rolling pin that I appropriated for this purpose.

I continued sanding the stem to get the fit right with 340 grit sandpaper and then a fine grit sanding sponge. You can see from the photos that the shank stem junction is well fitted. There is no gap at the joint. The next two photos show the progress of the shaping after I used the sanding sponge. They also show the stem after it was rebent to the angle I wanted for this pipe.

Though the fit was good and the pipe looked and the stem was getting smoother, it just seemed bland to me. There was something missing to the look that would dress up this pipe and take it beyond just a well fit stem and a darkly stained bowl. I decided to shape and press on a nickel band to dress up the shank. The band was not necessary as the shank and stem union was perfect and the shank was uncracked. It was solely done for decorative purposes – to add a bit of bling to the shank of the pipe and dress it up (in my opinion!). The next three photos show the newly banded shank and the fit and look of the stem in place. The delicate bend of the stem, the flow of the bowl and the band all work together to give this pipe a touch of elegance.

The next series of six photos show the progressive polishing of the new stem with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-12,000 grit. Each successive grit of micromesh sanding pad gives a deeper and more polished shine to the stem. It always amazes me to see the difference between the stem before the last three grits of micromesh (6000, 8000, 12000) and the previous grits.

Once I finished with the micromesh pads I took it to the buffer and buffed the bowl and stem with White Diamond polish on the wheel. The next two photos show the pipe after the buff. The shine is almost glass like by this point in the process. All that remains is to buff on several coats of carnauba wax and polish the metal band with metal polish.

The next four photos show the finished pipe. To me it has a gentle elegance to the shape and the bend. The slender stem and the bend make the pipe sit well in the mouth. The light weight makes this a likely clencher. The deep shine in the bowl and stem give it the look of a new pipe – which for all intents and purposes it is. This Hand Made BBB has come back to life to fulfill the purposes for which it was originally made.

Restemming and Reclaiming an Old, Unsmoked Rex Bulldog

2 Replies

This is the second of the old unsmoked pipe bowls I picked up on EBay. It is one that I can find absolutely no information on anywhere. Some have thought it was a Barclay Rex but I can find nothing that would link it to that shop in NYC. It is stamped Rex in cursive script on the right side of the shank and also stamped Rex over Sterling on the band. It has the look and feel of an older English-made pipe. But I am not sure. The seller said it was from the late 1800’s but all attempts to contact them on the source of that information have remained unanswered. So it remains a bit of a mystery to me. It is one though that I will continue to hunt down until I can come up with something. This shape is what is called in some of the older catalogues a Bulldog. I personally am not sure what to call it. It has the shape of a bulldog on the bowl and the double ring separating the bottom of the bowl from the cap. The shank however, is oval. It has a factory installed band on it that is also stamped Rex. The script on the shank is in gold leaf. The bowl is very clean. There was a small crack in the shank on the shank at about one o’clock looking toward the bowl. This may have been the reason for the band or the band may have been decorative. There was no stem with this pipe so I was not sure of the length of the stem to make for it. The drilling is very interesting. It is drilled like some of the calabash bowls or bowls that were screwed onto Bakelite shank and bases in the late 1800s. It is directly in the bottom of the bowl and seems to have a small hollow chamber under the hole. The airway meets it directly underneath. I have not seen this drilling on briar pipes of newer eras. The bowl is smooth inside and almost polished. The briar is quite nice and sports mixed grains from cross grain to birdseye to flame around the bowl. The double cut rings are clean and are not clogged with wax or dirt. There appears to be a thin coat of shellac on the outside of the bowl to give it a shine as it shines with or without the application of wax. The silver band is interestingly shaped as well. It is somewhat conical – wider toward the bowl side and narrower on the stem side. There is also a stepped down lip on both sides of the band. Where it is on the bowl is stepped down to a small ring around the shank. On the stem side it is also stepped down. This would make fitting a stem to the shank a challenge. It was not too badly oxidized so it would clean up very easily. The first series of five photos are those taken by the Ebay seller and give a good idea of the look and condition of the pipe. The one thing not clear to me was the size of the pipe. I took a chance on it as the apparent age and the assumed age stated by the seller made the likelihood of it being smaller was very high. When it arrived it was indeed quite small. The bowl and shank are roughly 3 inches long without the stem. The height of the bowl is 1 5/8 inches. The inside diameter of the bowl is ¾ inches and the outside diameter is 1 ¼ inches.

Once I started working on it the first decision that needed to be made was on the type and length of the stem to be used. I fitted several oval stems to the bowl – a standard length billiard type stem, a thicker and a thinner oval Canadian stem and a Lovat style saddle stem. The longer stem did not work well with the longer shank on the pipe. The thicker Canadian stem also made the stem look quite chunky and large as did the saddle stem of the Lovat. The stem I settled on was the thinner Canadian oval. Even this one would require considerable thinning to make for a proper fit against the bevel of the band. The first photo below shows the two Canadian taper style oval stems. I chose the bottom stem in the photo.

I used the PIMO tenon turning tool to turn the tenon so that it would fit in the shank. The next three photos show the initial fit of the stem. You will note in the photos the gap where the bevel of the band lies. I had to make a decision to either leave the gap or work on the stem size so that it fit against the bevel and thus was slightly thinner than the shank prior to the band.

I decided to thin the stem to fit against the bevel. I used the Dremel with a sanding drum to bring it close to the finished size. I then sanded it with medium grit emery paper to smooth out the scratches and grooves from the Dremel. Once I had most of the scratches removed I sanded it with a medium grit sanding sponge to further shape the stem and remove excess material. The next series of three photos show the fit of the stem after it was sanded with the sanding sponge (pink square in the photos).

At this point in the process I had to take it back and sand off some more material with 340 grit sandpaper. It still was too thick to fit well. I also had to finesse the fit against the band with needle files as in some places it was not quite straight. When I had it fitting well I moved on to sanding with a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad (the next two photos). I also did a small repair on the crack in the top of the shank. I pried it open slightly and dripped some clear super glue into the crack. It did not go all the way through into the shank which was interesting. It seemed to be a surface crack. The repair worked well. I polished that portion of the shank with the 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad as well to remove the slight excess of glue left behind (third photo below).

After the repair I continued sanding and polishing the stem with 1800-12,000 grit micromesh sanding pads. The next four photos highlight the sanding/polishing process. Notice the slight hip on the stem at the band edge. In the photos this appears to be more drastic than it is in actual life. The fit is more of a pinched look.

The final series of four photos show the finished pipe. I buffed it with White Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I really like the stem and fit against this long shanked “Bulldog” bowl. The pipe glows with an age and patina that calls out to be smoked. This is yet another who will soon fulfill the purpose for which it was made.

Crafting a Briar Calabash Sitter

6 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

After reading Sid Stavros’ blog, http://pipe-smoke.blogspot.ca/ describing his process of converting older briars into meerschaum calabash pipes I decided on this rainy Saturday it was time for me to work on one. I had an old briar pipe bowl here that was a strangely shaped briar pot shaped sitter with a bit of a Rhodesian like top. It was in rough shape and was stemless so I restemmed it a while back. It has a pretty rough band on it so I am still undecided what to do with that. I also had a meerschaum bowl from an EBay group I picked up. It was without a gourd bowl so I just cleaned up the bowl and decided to set it aside until such a time I knew what I wanted to do with it. So on this rainy Vancouver Saturday afternoon I took the pipe bowl out and the meerschaum bowl out and put them side by side. I did some measurements in terms of the depth of both and the diameter of the inside of the briar and the outside of the meer cup to see if it would even be feasible. The measurements said it would work. So taking a deep breath I got out my Dremel and set up the parts for the “new” re-envisioned pipe.

The first two photos show the meerschaum cup when I received it and after I had finished cleaning and polishing it. The third and fourth photos show the briar pipe that I chose to be the calabash for this cup. For the fourth photo I placed the cup on top of the bowl to give an idea of what I was aiming for.

I used the Dremel with a sanding drum on it to open the bowl of the briar. I had to open the bowl quite a bit in order for the meer cup to fit in the bowl. I also had to top the bowl considerably to allow the bowl to sit properly. I sanded the inside of the bowl until the cup fit snuggly. I also had to reshape the bowl in order for a proper seat for the cup. Once I had the bowl opening fit to size with the Dremel I sanded it with 340 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inside walls of the bowl. I had sanded carefully with the sanding drum to maintain the roundness of the bowl. I did not want the cup to sit to one side or toward the front or back. I wanted it centered in the bowl. This took some careful and slow sanding with the sanding drum.

I sanded the bottom of the cup to flatten it rather than leave it in a point. This would also buy me some depth in the bowl and allow me to shorten the height of the bowl. I used the sanding drum to remove ¼ inch of the height of the bowl. I proceeded slowly to keep the top as flat as possible. Once I had removed the amount I wanted I topped it on with my normal topping procedure – sandpaper anchored on a flat board. I used the Dremel to remove a bit more of the height and then topped it a second time.

With the topping I also had to open the bowl a bit wider. I used the Dremel to open the bowl and resanded the inside. I measured the height of the cup and the depth of the bowl and determined I could take it down until there was a ¼ inch of briar between the top ring and the rim. I sanded it to meet that measurement with the Dremel and then topped it again to even out the rim surface. I sanded it with a fine grit sanding sponge. The cup fit nicely in the bowl. The angled crown of the Rhodesian style top actually looks good with the flat edge of the bottom of the cup.

I still had room at the bottom of the bowl so I took some more of the briar off of the top of the bowl to bring the flat bottom edge of the meer bowl closer to the rings on the briar. I used the Dremel to remove the briar and then topped it on the board. I also opened the bowl a bit more as each time I remove from the top of the briar I had to open the diameter of the bowl to accommodate the change. The next series of photos show the pipe as it stands at the moment.

Once the bowl of the briar was clean and smooth I pressed the meerschaum cup into the briar. It was a perfect pressure fit. In talking with Sid via email, he suggested that I add rubber gasket between the meerschaum and the briar to separate the two materials. I removed it from the bowl and cut a rubber gasket from a piece of large/thick rubber band that I bought for the purpose. I glued it to the meerschaum bowl and set it aside to dry.

I measured the new diameter of the meerschaum bowl with the gasket and used my Dremel with a sanding drum to sand the briar bowl to match that new diameter. I sanded with the Dremel, checked the fit, sanded some more and check until I had removed enough of the diameter of the briar to make a good snug fit.

Once the bowl fit well, I took the pipe back to my work table and sanded the inside of the bowl to smooth out the ridges left by the sanding drum. I wiped down the inside of the bowl with Everclear to remove the sanding dust from and make sure the fit of the gasket against the briar was smooth and unimpaired.

A part of the gasket came loose from the work so I reglued it and once it was dry pressed it into the briar bowl. The next five photos show the fitted meerschaum bowl in place in the briar cup. The pipe is now ready to smoke. The draught is good and open. The newly fit stem works well with the combination. I polished the briar and the meerschaum bowl and loaded a bowl and fired it up. It is a great smoking machine delivering a cool and dry smoke with a clean tobacco taste.

Still a little work to do polish the meerschaum bowl but the idea is clear in the photos. I will polish it with micromesh sanding pads and then use beeswax to wax the bowl for enhancing the colouration of the bowl.

ADDENDUM:
The look of this one still bugged me and I was not happy with the bowl fit. I also did not like the rubber gasket I formed as it did not really give a snug fit. A friend gave me a sheet of thin cork so I cut a piece of cork to use as a gasket. To accommodate the cork and still give the bowl a fit I needed to remove more of the briar in the bowl of the pipe. I used a Dremel with the sanding drum and took the bowl down enough to accommodate the cork and the pressed in meerschaum bowl. I glued the band of cork around the inner edge of the briar bowl and when it had dried I pressed the bowl into place. Here are a few photos of the renovation.

The cork gasket glued into the bowl with carpenters white glue

The gasket in place with the glue drying

The gasket it dry and the bowl is ready to press in place

The bowl is in place and the pipe is much more fit looking to me!

A Renewed WDC Bakelite and Briar Pipe Restemmed

3 Replies

I received the Bakelite bowl base in a lot that I picked up on EBay. At first glance I figured I would trash it and not worry about working on it at all. However, I tend to be drawn to working on things that others would throw away so I decided to see what I could do with it. The two bowls pictured below are threaded and both fit the base. The Dublin like bowl, once on the base, was too narrow for the base but the bulldog bowl fit well. It was packed with a cake and there were chips out of the double line band around the bowl. The bowl rim was damaged and the finish was absolutely shot with dark black stains in the briar all around the bowl where the thumb and fingers held the bowl. The Bakelite shank had the WDC in a diamond stamped on it. The ornate band that usually adorned the shank as well as the metal washer like band on the top of the bowl base was missing. The shank had a broken metal tenon stuck deep within it. The surface had scratches in it but none of them were too deep.

Bakelite bowl base and two potential bowls before beginning the process of refurbishing.

The bowl is pictured below. You can see the thickness of the cake and the rough surface of the rim where a previous owner had damaged it when emptying the bowl. The second photo shows the exterior damage and the finish on the pipe. I reamed the bowl to clean out the cake. I decided to take it back to bare wood and start over with the cake. I checked the bowl for cracks and damage but surprisingly there were none to be found. Eventually I would top the bowl.

SIde view of the bowl before refurbishing.

Top view of the unreamed pipe bowl showing its condition before cleaning

I wiped the bowl down with acetone on a cotton pad, used a dental pick to clean out the grooves and screwed bowl on the base to get an idea how the pipe would look. I also wiped down the bowl base with Everclear to clean off the grime and buildup on that surface. I went through my can of stems in search of a diamond shaped stem that would finish out the look of the pipe. I came up empty-handed so I chose a round stem of the right diameter and length that I could shape to fit the shank. I drilled out the shank to remove the metal tenon and also to open the diameter of the mortise. The original stem had been a screw on one and the metal mortise and the metal tenon were firmly welded together so the drill was the only way to remove it. I opened it as wide as possible while still leaving enough material on the shank to maintain strength. I turned the tenon with the PIMO tenon turning tool and then a Dremel to bring it to the correct size for the new shank. The next two photos show the stem and the fit of the stem to the shank.

WDC base in need of a diamond shaped stem. Necessity is the mother of invention. I used a round Lovat stem.

I turned the tenon to fit the mortise and then inserted the stem against the shank.

Now I needed to shape the stem and remove material to transform the round saddle bit to a diamond saddle bit. I used a Dremel to cut the basic shape in the stem. I proceeded from side to side with the stem on the shank to make sure to match the angles of the shank. I wrote a post on the process for the blog and posted that earlier. You can read about the details of that process on this link https://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/shaping-a-diamond-shaped-stem-from-a-round-one/ The next eleven photos give a quick look at the shaping work on the stem. It took time and I had to be careful to not damage the shank when I was using the Dremel and sanding drum on the stem.

Figure 3 I used a Dremel to shape the stem to match the diamond angles of the shank. I worked on one side at a time.

Figure 4 Pipe resting against the Dremel with a sanding drum. Shaping progressed quite quickly. This picture shows one side beginning to take shape.

5 Top view of the shank. Both sides of the round stem are beginning to take on the shape of the shank.

Figure 6 Top view after more shaping with the Dremel.

Figure 7 Bottom view before the Dremel did its work.

Figure 8 Left side view after the first side has begun to take shape.

Figure 9 Bottom view after both sides have begun to take shape.

Figure 10 Right side view of the stem after it began to take shape.

Figure 11 Back to the worktable and the hand sanding.

Figure 12 Hand sanding continues.

Figure 13 Hand sanding continues.

The original shank had sported an ornate band and the stain in the Bakelite showed the marks of the band. I did not have any ornate bands in my collection of bands so I chose instead to band it with a nickel band. I shaped the band to fit, beginning with a round band. This took a bit of fussing to get the shape and fit correct. I have written that process up in detail in a previous blog post as well. You can read about the process at this link https://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/shaping-a-round-metal-band-to-fit-a-square-or-diamond-shank/ Once the band was shaped correctly I heated it with a heat gun until it was pliable and then pressure fit it on the shank of the pipe. The next series of five photos show the process I used to pressure fit the band on the shank. Once it was in place I carefully used my furniture hammer to flatten the band against the shank.

The square is done

Fitting a nickel band on the shank

Nickel band fitted on the shank

The next series of four photos show the newly shaped stem in place on the banded pipe. There was still a lot of work to do on the pipe including cleaning the internals and reworking the bowl and rim but the overall look of the “new” pipe is intriguing.

New band and stem in place.

New band and stem in place

Bottom view of the newly banded and stemmed pipe

Top view of the new band and stem

I have included one photo below to give you an idea of the shape of the new stem. I remove a lot of vulcanite to get it from its original round shape to the diamond shape pictured below. The fit and the angles match the shank perfectly. These older pipes are tricky to fit a diamond stem on because none of the sides of the diamond are the same dimensions. Each one is just slightly different so you have to do the fitting work with the stem in place on the shank.

View from the tenon end of the diamond stem at this point in the process.

With the stem fitting correctly it was time to tackle the bowl. I set up my board and emery paper so that I could top the bowl. The first photo shows the set up. The second photo shows the state of the bowl rim when I started the process.

Set up for topping the bowl

Reamed and ready to top

Once I had it topped I decided to wipe it down with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the finish and the grime from the topping. The next three photos show the clean bowl and the topped bowl. The finish work would take some time but the bowl was ready to move on to the next stage of rejuvenation.

Wiping down the bowl with acetone

Wiping down the newly topped rim with acetone

Wiping down the bowl with acetone

I sanded the bowl with 240 and 320 grit sandpaper and finished sanding with a fine grit sanding sponge. The next two photos show the cleaned and prepped bowl ready for staining. The dark oil stains on the sides of the bowl would not come out. I wiped the bowl down with repeated washings of acetone and the surface was clean. I also sanded the stem with the sanding sponge while I worked on the bowl.

Bowl sanded, in place and ready to stain.

Bowl in place, sanded and ready to stain.

I decided to restain this old timer with an opaque oxblood aniline based stain. I wanted the opacity so that the dark stains would be minimized beneath the new stain and would eventually be blended in through smoking the pipe. I applied the stain and then flamed it. After flaming I hand buffed it to remove the excess stain. I also used a cotton pad and a dental pick to clean out the grooves on the bowl.

Stained with oxblood stain.

The next series of four photos shows the hand buffed bowl in place on the pipe base. The finish was matte at this point and still needed to be taken to the buffer to raise the shine. The third photo shows the rim. The surface is smooth but there is still damage to the inner edge of the rim. I chose to leave that without reworking it too much. I did not want to change the roundness of the inner bowl and decided that I could live with the nicks in the inner edge.

Left side of the pipe with a hand buff on the newly stained bowl.

Right side of the newly stained bowl with a hand buffed surface.

Top view of the hand buffed newly stained bowl.

View of the underside of the bowl and Bakelite bowl base.

The next three photos show the pipe after I had buffed it with White Diamond. The bowl shines and the dark marks around the bowl show faintly beneath the finish but add a flair of character to the old pipe.

Buffed with White Diamond

The next series of three photos are included to give an idea of the polishing process that went into bringing the stem work to completion. Again I invite you to read the post mentioned above on the transformation of a round saddle stem to a diamond shaped one to understand the full work that the shaping took to bring it to this place.

Stem sanded with 320 grit sandpaper

Stem sanded with micromesh sanding pads

Once I had finished polishing the stem with the various grades of micromesh from 1500-12,000 grit I took the pipe to the buffer once again and buffer the entirety with White Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect it and to give it a deep shine. The next series of four photos show the finished pipe. It is ready to load up with a favourite tobacco and be gently sipped in the solitude of an afternoon on the porch.

A No Name Bulldog Born Anew – New Look and New Stem

3 Replies

This little bent bulldog is the last of the briar stummels in the EBay lot I picked up. It is a nice little dog and I saved it for last as I find that the diamond shank stems are a bear to fit correctly. Bent diamond shanks are even harder in my opinion. I had quite a few stems to choose from in my can of stems so a new stem was not a problem. The issue really was getting all the sides and angles to line up and look right. Restemming these is a tricky proposition. This one had crosshatched stamping on the left side of the shank that obliterated the stamping of the name on it. On the right side it is stamped Imported Briar which I am assuming makes it an American made pipe. It had some nice grain under the dark stain and varnish coat. The bowl had a very poorly formed cake with many chunks missing. The rim was thick with a tar and oil build up but surprisingly was not dented or damaged by burns or over reaming. The end of the shank which would butt up against the stem was pristine with no damage or cracks. I love it when I can work on a pipe that does not need banding. It is a challenge to get a good clean fit on the stem. This would thus be a double challenge.

I chose a diamond shank tapered stem for the pipe. I had saddle stem galore and only two of these tapered stems. I love the look of a tapered stem on a bulldog so I decided to go with that one. It would not require too much of a bend in it so it would work well and look classy. I drilled out the airway to fit the pin on the Pimo Tenon Turning Tool and then turned the tenon to a close fit on the stem. I had to reduce the length of the new tenon as it was longer than the mortise on the pipe. I hand sanded the tenon to get a good clean fit on the shank and inserted it in place. Externally, it would need to be reduced on all sides to match the flow of the shank so there was work to do in fitting the stem.

I used my Dremel with a sanding drum to bring the sides of the stem down to almost match the shank. This was a bit tricky in that I did not want to cause dips in the surface of the stem but reduce each side until it was a close fit to the shank. It takes a light touch on the sanding drum to keep it horizontal to the stem and also keep it from hitting the shank and doing damage to the briar. I held the bowl in hand and worked the sanding drum both vertically and horizontally to the stem to remove the excess vulcanite. I worked on one side at a time until the fit was close then turned the stem and did the next side. I began on the top side of the stem and worked both top sides before turning the stem over and doing the underside. The next three photos show the shaping done by the Dremel. After doing this initial work on the stem it was time to take to the table and do the rest by hand.

I began sanding with medium grit emery paper to remove the deep scratches left by the Dremel and to even out the surfaces of the stem. I sanded each side until they were smooth. I also sanded the peak of the stem on each side to make sure the peak matched the one on the shank of the pipe. The next seven photos show the progress of evening out the stem sides. When I finished with the emery paper I would go on to use various other grades of sandpaper and continue the process.

As the rim of the bowl was chamfered into the bowl I worked on it with a folded piece of medium grit emery paper first followed by 320 grit sandpaper. I wanted to keep the chamfer clean and even so I held the paper to the angle of the chamfer on the cleanest part of the rim toward to the front of the bowl. The next two photos show the cleaned rim.

I went on to sand the stem with a fine grit emery paper to continue to bring the size down to meet the shank on the pipe (Photos 1 & 2). After I had the stem fairly close I switched to 320 grit sandpaper and sanded down the stem, the shank and the bowl. I decided to remove the cross hatching on the shank and clean up the finish. I wiped it down with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the finish and sanded until the finish was stripped and the shank and stem was smooth. The flow between the stem and the shank was a good match when I finished with this part of the work (Photos 3, 4, 5, & 6). An amazing grain was beginning to break out on the bowl and shank.

Once I had finished the fit of the stem to the shank and cleaned off the bowl with the sandpaper I wiped it down a second time with acetone to remove the remaining remnants of stain and to clean off the dust of the sanding (Photos 1 & 2). The remaining photos show the pipe after it was cleaned and ready to stain (Photos 3, 4, 5 & 6).

At this point I decided to bend the stem to the angle I wanted on the finished pipe. I set up my heat gun and turned it on to the lowest setting and held the stem above the heat until it was pliable. I have a wooden rolling pin that I use as a guide to bend the stem evenly so once it was soft I bent it over the rolling pin until the angle of the stem bend aligned with the curve of the bowl. I wanted the bowl to be level when held in the hand. Once the angle was right I cooled the pipe stem in cool water to set the bend. The next four photos show the stem after it was bent according to the angles I was aiming for. The grain on this pipe was calling out to me to come up with a stain colour and process that highlighted the grain.

I decided to stain the pipe with an oxblood aniline stain. I like it because it sets deeply in the grain of the pipe and when it is buffed off it still allows the grain to be seen. I also planned on sanding the finish with micromesh sanding pads to further highlight the grain patterns on the bowl. The next five photos show the stained bowl. I still needed to buff the pipe and lift the stain a bit from the briar.

I reinserted the stem at this point in the process and hand buffed the bowl to get a good feel for the opacity of the stain (Photos 1 & 2). I then began to sand the stem and the bowl with the micromesh sanding pads. I began with 1500 and 1800 grit micromesh first. I wet sanded with these grits of micromesh (Photos 3, 4, & 5). The finish on the stem is smoothing out and the bowl finish is really beginning to show the grain and highlight the beauty of the piece of briar.

I continued wet sanding with 2400 and 3200 grit micromesh sanding pads (Photos 1 & 2) and the grain began to pop and the stem began to shine nicely. I dry sanded with 3600 and 4000 grit micromesh sanding pads as I sought to polish the finish and the stem more fully. Photos 3 & 4 give an idea of the polish work that had been done by this point in the process. I finished sanding the bowl and stem with the remaining micromesh dry sanding pads 6000, 8000 and 12,000 grits. The resultant effect on the stain of the bowl was exactly what I had hoped for. The grain stood out clearly on the sides and shanks. On the left side of the bowl there is a nice birdseye pattern that is not as visible in the photos as it is in person. The pipe came out very nicely. Photos 5 & 6 show where things stood after the final polishing with the micromesh pads.

I buffed the pipe with White Diamond and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax to finish it. The finish came out nicely in my opinion and the feel of the pipe in the hand was perfect. I had to load a bowl of tobacco and give it a new inaugural smoke. I chose to load it with some 2009 Barclay-Rex Barclay Slice. I packed the bowl, picked up a tamper and lighter and headed outside into the yard with my spaniel. While he ran around and chased sticks and chewed them I relaxed and had a bowl. It is a great smoking little pipe. It is comfortable in the mouth and has an open draught. I like it. Now I need to decide whether to keep it or pass it on.