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Restoring and Restemming a BBB Own Make Thorneycroft Sand blast Canadian 506

by Steve Laug

The next pipe I decided to work on is one from a Dan in South Carolina. He contacted me several weeks ago now about a pipe that he had come across in his things that was on that his mom had picked up for him. Now 16 or 17 years later he decided it is time to work on it. He wrote me the email below regarding this pipe and how he came upon. It piqued my interest because to be honest with you I love all things BBB.

Hello,
I recently stumbled on an old billiard pipe that my mom had bought me at an antique store while I packing up for a move. I was 16 or 17 at the time so I couldn’t use it and basically forgot about it until now, at 33, I’m starting to get into pipe tobacco more and more. The pipe has the “BBB” inside a diamond with “OWN MAKE” underneath that on the top of the shank, and “THORNEYCROFT Made In ENGLAND” with “506” just below it on the underside of the shank.

The problem is it has no stem, and the end of the shank where the stem would fit into, has many marks that I can’t tell whether they are chew marks or if they are just a part of the grain etc. To my very untrained eye the pipe seems to be in OK condition otherwise.

Being very new to this hobby and not knowing many resources yet or really what to do, and seeing your restorative work, I’d like to ask if you restore pipes for people or if you might be able to point me in the right direction on how I should go about making this pipe smokeable once again, or if it might not be worth it except for sentimentality sake. I’m able to provide pictures of the pipe if needed as well.

Thank you,
Dan

I wrote Dan back and asked him to send me some photos of the pipe so that I could see what I was dealing with in this pipe. He sent some amazing photos of various angles of the pipe and I was hooked. I asked him to send it up and I would restore and restem it for him. Here are the photos that he included for me. The first four photos are overall views of the pipe as a whole. The craggy sandblast, the typical rustication on the shank end that I have seen on most of these Thorneycroft pipes, and the delicate but classic look of a Canadian are all well captured. Dan sent photos of the bowl and rim top as well as photos of the sides of the bowl. I appreciate the detail in these photos. The bowl shot shows the tar and cake on the sides and heel of the bowl and the lava build up in the sandblast of the rim top. It should clean up fairly easy. He also notes with a red circle what appears to be a chip on the left side of the bowl on the outer edge of the rim. The more I examine it the more I think it is probably a part of the blast. But I will know more once I have it in hand. His close up photos of the shank show the rustication and the washed out stain on the shank end. I think it is the typical BBB rustication that I have seen on the shank end of the Canadians and long shank pipes in the Thorneycroft line. Dan did a great job capturing the stamping on the shank top and underside. It reads as he noted in his opening email.He took close up photos of the rustication as well. It is rugged and I have to say that I like it. Once it is restained it will look quite nice. The photo of the shank end shows that there are no crack in the shank. There is a nick on the lower right side that is probably a flaw in the briar.I did a search on Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-bbb.html) and looked for the specific Thorneycroft line. The second pipe in the list is stamped the same way as the one that I am working on and the stamping on the stem is the same. The Made in England stamp is identical to the second one. I looked on Pipedia and found several references to the BBB Own Make Thorneycroft pipe but nothing specific (https://pipedia.org/wiki/BBB). I also found an advertisement courtesy of Doug Valitchka from 1957 that had a great description of the Thorneycroft that I include below. It reads as follows:

Beautifully balanced, superbly lightweight and mellow smoking… these qualities have made the BBB Own Make Thorneycroft famous. First tough, age-old Algerian briar is carefully selected and cured then the bowls are carefully hand-turned. Now comes the special process of sand- erosion. The soft parts of the briar are literally blasted away leaving a hard bowl of unusual beauty, durability and sweetness. A mouthpiece of finest English Ebionite, inlaid with the famed metal emblem, and a specia dry smoking condenser tube complete the picture. Available in all 24 BBB shapes…I took some photos of the bowl as it was when I unpacked it. It was stamped as Dan noted above and was clear and readable. The rough shank end of the pipe was not damaged but had lost the stain that had originally coloured it. The little nick in the shank end does not damage the airway in the shank. The nicks that were noted on the edge of left side of the bowl appeared to me to be part of the blast and should be left as is. The bowl had a light cake on the walls and there was a light lava coat on the rim top where it had filled in some of the blast. The inner edge of the rim was in excellent condition with no damage. The outer edge had no damage either but there was some roughness to it due to the sand blast finish on the edge. It looked very good however. I took photos of the bowl to show the condition when I received it from Dan. I have included them below. I was hoping I had a BBB stem for the Canadian but I did not have one with the brass insert. I did have one that was a pretty decent fit. It would need to be adjusted in terms of the top, bottom and sides of the stem to fit the shank dimensions but it was the right length and shape for the pipe. It had a great shape on the slot that would give a good spread to the smoke.Now it was time to clean up the bowl. Since the cake was thin I used a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to scrape out the cake that was in the bowl. I took it back to bare briar and then sanded the walls with a piece of dowel wrapped with 220 grit sandpaper. The bowl walls were in very good condition with no checking or burn damage.I wiped off the bowl with a damp cloth and was amazed at how little dust came off the finish. Dan had obviously wiped it down before he sent it. I also wiped down the rim top and it was quite clean as well. I used a black and a walnut stain pen to stain the shank end rustication to match the rest of the briar. It looked very good. Once it was buffed and polished it would be a perfect match. I used a brass bristle wire brush to knock off the remaining debris in the sandblast on the rim top. It looks very good with some deep blast sections on the top right and left. Beautiful blast in all ways.I cleaned out the internals of the shank, mortise and the airway in both the shank and the new stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. The pipe smells fresh and ready to smoke again.Now that it was clean it was time to do a few minor surface repairs. The first of these was a small repair to a flaw on the shank end on the inner edge of the mortise on the lower left side. I used a tooth pick to put a drop of CA glue in the flaw and smooth it out on the surface. I did the same to the pit on the outer edge of the rim on the right side toward the back. Both were cosmetic rather than structural but it improved the look of the bowl in those spots. I smoothed out the repair on the shank end with a folded piece of sandpaper and touched the paper to the repair on the rim edge as well. I stained both with a Walnut stain pen and blended them into the surface. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and a shoe brush 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 depths of the blast in the briar really comes alive with the balm. I worked on the fit of the stem to the shank with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I needed to reduce the diameter of the stem from top to bottom and from right to left. I worked on it for quite a bit of time sanding, sanding and more sanding until the fit to the shank was good and the transition between the shank and stem was smooth.I polished the stem once it fit with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. By the end the stem took on a good shine and the fit was very good.I polished the vulcanite stem 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 the stem. The photos below show the polished stem. I am pretty happy with the restoration and restemming of this BBB Own Make Thorneycroft Sandblast Canadian. There is a sandblast finish to the bowl that is rugged and rich looking. The newly fit stem is clean and smooth and looks good on the shank. 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 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 BBB Own Make Thorneycroft Canadian 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: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe was 30grams/1.02ounces. I will be sending it back to Dan shortly. I look forward to hearing what he thinks of it. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It is a privilege to be a part of the restoration and preservation of these old timers with a back story!

Restemming an UNSMOKED NOS WDC Military Bit Billiard

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by Steve Laug

About a year ago I visited an older pipe repair man (when I say older I mean older than me). He gave me a lot of pipe parts – stems, bases, bowl, tenons and bands On Monday, August 25 after a visit with my brother Kenneth and I went to visit my contact again. This time he had more stuff that he wanted to get rid of from his parts. Once again, we received more stems and tenons. But he also put in a box of pipes that were in various states of repair or disrepair. There were quite a few that needed to be restemmed. One of those pipes was an interesting Billiard with a nickel ferrule stamped WDC in the triangle on the left side of the shank and the same on the left side of the nickel ferrule. It was in great shape for having been knocked around for a long time in a box of bowls and pipes. The finish was dirty but the bowl was unsmoked and very clean. There was a very shiny coat of varnish on the outside of the bowl and at least one fill on the back side of the bowl. The nickel was also clean and unoxidized. I would need to come up with a stem for it. I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is clear and reads as noted above. The stamp is also gold and very readable. I also tried to capture the stamping on the nickel ferrule. The shine tends to blur that stamp.I started my work on the pipe by wiping it down with acetone to remove the shiny varnish coat. It worked very well. The acetone loosened the glue on the ferrule and it came off when I was wiping it down. I cleaned up the glue on the shank end with the acetone cloth so that the briar was free of it. I used a dental spatula to spread some all purpose glue on the shank end. I pressed the nickel ferrule in place on the shank end and wiped off the excess glue with a damp cloth. I set it aside to allow the glue to cure. I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I dry sanded it and then wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. The varnish finish was gone and the fills in the bowl sides were very visible. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping down the bowl after each pad with a damp cloth. The briar took on a more natural shine than what was present when the bowl was varnished. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I am very happy with the results. I set the bowl aside and went through my stems. I found an unused vulcanite stem that had an orific button and a gentle that fits the style of the age of the pipe. It is also unsmoked and still bears a price tag on the underside. There is some oxidation around the tag and on both sides. I removed the sticky label with acetone on a cotton pad. I sanded the stem surface with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the nicks in the surface and the oxidation. It began to look much better as the work went on.I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads and wiped the stem down after each pad to remove the sanding debris. It began to take on a deep shine.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I wiped it down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside. The smooth WDC Billiard with a nickel ferrule and military vulcanite bit is a real beauty and the finish and shape are well done and have a classic English Billiard look even though this is an American Made pipe. The vulcanite military bit polished up on the buffing wheel with Blue Diamond and had a rich glue. I polished the nickel ferrule with a jeweller’s cloth. 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 WDC 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: 5 ½ 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 1.20 ounces/33 grams. I will soon be adding it to the rebornpipes store in the American Pipe Maker section. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Restoring a Piece of Danish Pipe History – a Suhr Kobenhavn Bruyere Extra Dublin

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By Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is an interesting short stemmed, sandblast Dublin that I found in a display cabinet. We purchased it from an Antique Mall in Lincoln City, Oregon, USA on 08/24/2024. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank Suhr [over] Kobenhavn. That is followed by Bruyere [over] EXTRA. The band covers some of the next portion of the stamp but it looks like it reads By Hand [over] a shape number beginning with 9. The band is stamped Birmingham Sterling Silver and has a T date stamp. The shank is cracked and I assume that someone put an English band on it that in no way reflects the country of origin. The bowl had a thick cake and lava overflowing on the rim top and inner edge. The sandblast finish was dirty with grime in the sandblast. The stem is worn and has been cut off and a button shaped at the end. There was no bother taken on the slot and it is uneven and rough. It leaves a short snorter of a pipe that does not quite look right. I took photos of the pipe before I started my clean up work. I have included them below. I took a photo of the rim top, bowl and the surfaces of the stem to give a sense of the condition of the pipe. The bowl is out of round toward the front of the bowl. There was a thick lava coat on the rim edges or top filling in the sandblast. The stem is heavily oxidized, calcified and dirty. It has also been cut off a bit crooked and the button is not clean. The Sterling Silver shank band is dented, scratched and oxidized. It has also been cut at an angle.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable and read as noted above. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed. It is definitely dirty and very oxidized on the shank extension and the stem.While I was looking at the pipe in the Antique Mall I looked up the Suhr brand on Pipephil’s helpful site where he has some great resources on stamping (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-s13.html). I had a fleeting memory of the name but I could not give it any data. I read about the brand and looked at the shape of the pipe shown on the site which was very similar to the pipe I was looking at. I was pretty convinced that the pipe at the shop was made by the same Suhr as shown on Pipephil’s site. The photos included also gave a clear picture of what the original stem may have looked like on the pipe when it left the maker. I bought it based on that information and added it to the purchase.

I have added the information, photos and a screen capture of the section below for the purpose of putting the information together with the restoration. Suhr’s Pibemageri (pipe workshop) was owned by Teophil Suhr. Poul Rasmussen († 1967), Svend Axel Celius or Sven Knudsen used to produce the pipes proposed in the shop.

It is not established the red-white dot is Suhr’s original logo. it may be the symbol used by Poul Rasmussen himself. See also: Anne Julie (widow of Poul Rasmussen)

When I got home and before I began working on the pipe I reread PipePhil’s info included above and turned to Pipedia for more (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Suhr%27s_Pibemageri). I quote from that site below.

Suhr’s Pibemageri was a pipemaking workshop started by Teofil Suhr in Copenhagen central to the birth of the modern Danish pipe. When Sixten Ivarsson, then a debt collector newly moved to Copenhagen, broke his pipe, it was to Suhr’s he went for a repair, only to find a broken lathe and no pipemaker. Soon after, he was working as the foreman at Suhr’s, where, among others, Peter Micklson got his start and Sven Axel Celius learned pipemaking from Poul Rasmussen and his then foreman Sven Knudsen. Pipes from Suhr’s were stamped with the workshop name Suhr, and on occasion carried the same red and white dot used by Anne Julie to this day.

While it is said to be a disagreement with Suhr’s that led Ivarsson to leave for Stanwell, and all of these names went on to greater fame in later years, it would be impossible to overstate the importance of Suhr’s to the evolution of the modern smoking pipe.

I googled Suhr to find more information. I found some on the Smokingpipes.com web site (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/suhr/). I quote the information on the brand there.

Suhr is a venerable name, tracing back to the 1940s in Copenhagen, where it was primarily a pipe repair shop before picking up pipe manufacturing. Sixten Ivarsson served as foreman there in the 1940s before moving on to Stanwell. When he left, Poul Rasmussen became foreman and made Suhr pipes until his death in 1967. His widow, Anne Julie, started making pipes at that time, and eventually trained other carvers, including Tom Eltang.

The grandson of famous pipe makers Poul Rasmussen and Anne Julie, Johannes Rasmussen trained with Tom Eltang for years before carrying on the Suhr name.

When Johannes decided to pursue pipe making, he went full circle in his family history and contacted Tom Eltang for an apprenticeship. While at the Eltang workshop, he learned the basics and began exploring his own creative voice, expanding his artistic reach until confident about breaking out on his own.

It was natural to resurrect the Suhr name for his pipes. Johannes credits his grandparents and Tom Eltang for his inspiration, and they were all part of Suhr history. He maintains a keen understanding of his place in the historical legacy of pipe making, in which he stands on the shoulders of giants.

I also turned to another site listed by google called Worthpoint. The site also showed a Suhr pipe and the description is very similar to mine (https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/bruyere-extra-suhr-kobenhavn-hand-1864270360). I quote the site’s description below.

No cracks or rim chips. Reads “2085 BRUYERE EXTRA SUHR KOBENHAVN BY HAND ” on the shank.

The shape number 2085 is the only difference in the stamp. The order of the stamp is slightly different but the data is the same. From that it helped me interpret what is partially hidden under the silver band. I now knew that it read By Hand and the shape number starting 9.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. I started my work by reaming the cake and debris in the bowl. I reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer using the 1^st and 2^nd cutting heads to remove the cake. I took it back to bare briar. I followed that by scraping out what remained on the bowl walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the walls smooth with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. The bowl walls looked very good with no burn damage or checking on the walls. I scraped the rim to with the Fitsall knife to remove the thick lava coat. I went over it with a brass bristle brush to clean out the grooves in the sandblast rim and it was starting to look better.I cleaned out he internals of the shank, mortise and airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I hard started shaping the new stem (an older worn Stanwell saddle stem seemed a fitting one to use). I paused to clean it at this point.I scrubbed the dirty bowl with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I rinsed it off with warm water and dried it with a cotton cloth. It did a great job removing the oils and tars and overall the bowl looked much better. I touched up the outer edge where it was worn and the top of the rim with a Maple Stain Pen. The colour was a perfect match. The only frustration was the burn damage on the front of the inner edge now really is visible. I think I will need to go back and work on that area. I worked over the inner edge again with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give it a bevel and try to minimize the damage. Once finished I restained it with the Maple Stain Pen.I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the sandblast finish with my fingertips and a 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. The blog is slightly out chronological order as I worked on the stem fit before I worked on the bowl but I decided to write it this way. Using your imagination walk with me through the stem fitting process. I had to search for a stem in my collection of stems that would work with this pipe. I wanted a saddle stem that had some more length on it and would require a minimum of shaping and contouring. I had a tired older Stanwell saddle stem that I think looked very similar to the Suhr in the photos on PipePhil. I think it is quite appropriate to use a Stanwell stem on this Danish piece of history. I would need to reshape the saddle portion and clean up the tenon but the stem would do the trick. Before I cleaned up the pipe I ft the stem to the shank to get a sense of what it looked like. It would take a lot of shaping and sanding to get the fit right but I liked the look. Whoever had banded the pipe in the past had put the band on crooked so the shank end was no longer straight It was off to the left side and the stem would not face against the shank well. Since I was going to make a mess with the stem I decided to do the fitting work before I cleaned up the pipe. I used a Dremel and a Sanding drum to shape the saddle portion to fit the follow of the shank. It took a bit of work but I was able to get a rough fit. I heated the band with my heat gun to loosen the band. It was tightly in place. I used some acetone to try and it to failed. It seemed that the band had been glued in place on the shank with epoxy during the repair. It refused to move! So, the Danish Pipe would be permanently joined with a British Sterling band from Birmingham made in either 1943 or 1968. The stamping on the band was not altogether clear though it was a T. The only I am sure of is that it was added after market as a repair using a band that was handy. Left with that unmovable nature I had to work with what I had. I used a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper and hand sanding to flatten the shank end and square it up for a better stem fit. The stem fit better against the shank. Now I needed to sand the sides to shape them to match the shank curves. I worked over the stem with 220 grit sandpaper while I sat on my front porch. I shaped it in place on the shank just to make sure the fit was right. The shape of the shank appears to be oval but it is flat on the bottom and domed on the top. It took a lot of sanding and shaping to get the fit right but the photos show where it is after much sanding. Chronologically it was at this point in the process that I removed the stem and went back and scrubbed the bowl to clean up the mess. I cleaned it and used the Balm on it. While it sat doing its magic I started the polishing process on the stem. I sanded it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. It really began to take on a finished look.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry. This beautiful Suhr Kobenhvn Bruyere Extra Zulu with a newly fit saddle looks amazing. The briar is clean and the finish really came alive. The rich brown stains gave the finish a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and 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 Suhr Kobenhvn Zule 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 ¼ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 28 grams/.95 ounces. This beautiful pipe will reside in my collection at least for a while as I enjoy this piece of Danish Pipe History. If the condition of the pipe when it was found is any indicator, the pipe should be a great smoker. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on.

Restoring and Restemming a John Crouch Heavyweigh Rhodesian

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By Steve Laug

A while back I received an email reaching out about a pipe that the writer, Anthony had acquired long ago and wanted to know if I had heard of it. He wrote the following email:

Hello, I am just wondering if in all your refurbishings you’ve come across any pipes stamped with the name John Crouch? I would love to send you photos but don’t see a way possible to do that. I’ve had this for 20 years and don’t really remember where I picked it up. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

I wrote him back and asked for photos of the pipe and the stamping so I had something to work with. For me this always helps in the hunt for the identity as generally it gives me a lot of information. Anthony wrote back and sent some photos for me.

Hi Steve, thank you for the quick response!! Here are a few shots I have of this beauty. It’s one of the only bulldogs I’ve seen without the double lines engraved into it. Like I said in my first message. I’ve had it for 20+ years. If I had to guess I picked it up in Colorado when I lived out there. I would love to hear what you think. Thanks again!!! ps. if you need more photos let me know. The third photo he included gave a clear look at the stamping on the left side of the shank. It read John Crouch [over] HEAVYWEIGH [over] Italy. My initial thinking before doing any digging on the brand is that it was a pipe made for a pipe shop by someone like Savinelli (Italy). It is stamped with what I think is the shop name. I think that the “T” is missing on the end of HEAVYWEIGH as the shank is to short for the stamp. But some digging will clear that up.I wrote Anthony back with what I found. I was surprised that Pipedia included the brand but not surprised that it confirmed my suspicions about it being a pipe shop pipe. Here is my email:

The pipe is a beauty Anthony. I did a bit of digging and found this information on https://pipedia.org/wiki/John_Crouch

“John Crouch Tobacconist embodies the essence of Virginia. After all, tobacco is Virginia’s oldest industry. Years ago, tobacco was believed to have medical properties and a tobacconist was consulted in much of the same way that a pharmacist is today. In those days, a tobacconist would create a blend of tobacco products to ease an ailment. John Crouch Tobacconist has been home to the Washington areas’ nicest and largest humidor for over 30 years.” Apparently they also have pipes made for them under their name. I have also included photos from that listing. Hope that helps – Steve

I am including the following photos from Pipedia and the advertising page that Anthony sent as well as they give a clear picture of the manufacturer of the pipe and the shop it was made for. Now I really want to visit this shop! Anthony wrote back and I include that below. I think his idea of calling or emailing them is perfect. He also asked if I would consider working on it if he chose to send it to me.

Hey Steve, Thanks for the info. I, too, found this but didn’t think it was associated with the shop in Virginia!!! I guess I need to give them a call or email them to try to get to the bottom of this. Thanks for the help. Actually, two other things. 1.Is there a reason so few bulldogs lack the double engraved lines around the bowl? 2. If down the line what would a refurbishing run me? Rough estimate, nothing set in stone find of thing. Again. Thanks for your quick responses and your time.

I answered him that I would gladly take on the project for him for the chance to see the pipe up close and personal. I answered his other questions about the lack of rings around the bowl cap. Some time went by and he wrote again.

I also wanted to thank you for helping me figure out my John Crouch Heavyweigh pipe!! I contacted and talked with one of the guys down there in Alexandria, VA. He said, yes, back in the 70’s they in fact imported these Italian pipes then stamped and sold them. I would love to send you this pipe for a restoration. If you could send me your address I’ll send it off in the next few days. I should have ask first if you have time or backed up on restorations? Or when would be a good time to send it to you?

I look forward to seeing what you can do to this amazing pipe. I love how detailed your blog posts and restoration process are!!

Thank you again and hope to hear from you soon.

I answered and Anthony wrote that he had sent the pipe to me. He also included another piece of information that would be important in the restoration and repair.

Hey Steve… I should tell you I did break a chunk of the stem off. I slipped off a step as I was walking down then and unfortunately one of my reactions was to bite down and it broke the mouth piece of the stem. I think I have them still. If I can find the pieces should I send them?

Thank you in advance. I can’t wait to see the transformation and the documentation on the blog. All the best!! Anthony

The pipe arrived yesterday just as I finished the repair on the table that was ahead of it. Great timing! I opened the box and took photos of the pipe as I examined it to get a clear assessment of the work that lay ahead of me. Before I took the photos I removed the Softee Bit from the stem so I could see the damage on the stem top that Anthony had mentioned. I love the shape of the pipe – to me a Rhodesian without the rim cap rings but still the right shape. The pipe is well used and must be a great smoker. There was a moderate cake in the bowl and lava on the rim top. The inner edge of the bowl is rough and shows some reaming damage leaving it out of round a bit. The finish is dirty and there are some spots of varnish or shellac remaining around the bowl and shank. There are a few fills but they are solid. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads as noted above. The stamp is clear and readable. I wonder if the HEAVYWEIGH stamp is missing the “T” but suppose we won’t know for sure. The stem is well fit but the damage on the topside was more extensive than I thought once I remove the Softee Bit. I have mad patches this big before but really never have been happy with the suspected lack of durability of them. I think this one would be better off with a new stem. I took some closeup photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition. You can see the damage on the inner edge and the generally roughness of the top and edge. The photos of the stem surface show the size of the damage. I hope you can see my rationale for restemming this one rather than making a patch that large.I took a photo of the stamping on the shank. It is clear as noted. You can also see why I wondered if the HEAVYWEIGH portion is missing the T. You can also see the shellac or varnish on the shank in this photo. To give a sense of the proportion of the of the pipe I removed the stem and took a photo of it. This will help me when I choose a new stem for it.Now to work on the pipe itself. I started by reaming it with a PipNet Pipe Reamer. The bowl was large enough that I used the second and third cutting heads. I took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I also scraped off the lava build up on the rim top with the knife. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. I took it back to smooth walls. The walls looked very good with no sign of checking or burning. I cleaned out the shank, mortise and the airway in the bowl with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. It took a lot of cleaners but I got the grime and oils out of the shank and though the pipe smelled of tobacco it was much cleaner smelling than previous to that. I chose not to clean the stem since I was going to replace it.With the internals cleaned I turned my attention to the rim top. I worked over the inner edge of the bowl and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I then gently topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. I cleaned up the inner edge a bit more. The pipe looked amazingly good. I wiped down the bowl with acetone soaked cotton pads to remove the varnish/shellac coat. It was particularly heavy around the stamping on the shank – both sides. It took much work to remove the shiny coat. I sanded the bowl with sanding pads – 320-3500 grit pads. I dry sanded it and wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad. I was able to remove all of the shiny coat and the bowl began to take on a natural shine. I stained the rim top with a Cherry stain pen to match the rest of the briar. I also stained the lighter areas around the shank end. The rim top looked much better.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris on the surface. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I used a shoe brush to work it into the twin rings around the bowl cap. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth and shoe brush to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to a new stem. I found a blank in my can of stems that was close to the right diameter and just slightly longer. With a few adjustments to the tenon and the diameter at the shank the fit will be good. You can also see the large broken chunk missing on the original stem in the photo below. In the second photo below, I knocked off the casting debris with a Dremel and sanding drum in preparation for using my tenon turning tool.I used the PIMO tenon turner to bring the tenon down close to the size that I wanted. I do this in stages as the tool can chip the tenon if you take too big a bite at one time. The second photo shows it getting closer. I paused mid turn to show how it cuts away material. Once I cleaned it up the fit was very close. Some sanding would make the fit perfect. I used a small flat file to remove the casting marks on the sides of the stem and fine tune the tenon fit in the bowl and took some photos of where it stands at this point.I started sanding the diameter of the stem to match the shank and then decided to give it a quick bend. I heated it with the flame of a lighter until the vulcanite was soft then bent the end to get the angle correct. I checked it against the original stem and the bend matched. Good to go! Now I had a lot of hand sanding to do to trim back the diameter to fit the shank. I do this next part all by hand with the stem removed and constantly putting it on the shank and checking progress. It is tedious so I can think of other things while sanding. It makes the process a bit of a respite. I can’t tell you how many hours of sanding this took but it is finally there. The fit is right and now it is time to polish it. Once the fit was correct, I started polishing out the scratch marks and smoothing the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. It removes the dust and also gives the sanding pads some bite. By the final pad it was looking quite good.Following my usual process in restoration I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it further with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to absorb the oil. The John Crouch Heavyweigh(t) Rhodesian has been restemmed and is finished other than the final waxing and buffing. I polished the new stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches and gave it several coats of carnauba. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad on the buffer to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ 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 45 grams/1.59 ounces. It does not feel heavy and the weight certainly does not put it in a heavy category for me. I will be sending it back to Anthony shortly. I look forward to hearing what he thinks of it once he has it in hand. If the condition was any indicator it is a good smoker. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this John Crouch Heavyweigh(t) Rhodesian.

Argggh…sometimes the easiest restoration becomes a real nightmare

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the worktable is a Danish made pipe from the workshop W.O. Larsen. It is a combination of rustication and smooth portions and a horn shank extension. The bowl is a classic Danish looking Canadian with almost a Brandy shaped bowl. It came without a stem. The pipe came to us from eBay on 01/22/2024 from a seller in Jordan, Minnesota, USA. The pipe is very dirty with a thick cake in the bowl and lava on the rim top. The rim edge looks like it might be slightly out of round but it was hard to know what was under the lava coat on the top and edges. It is stamped on the underside of the bowl and shank on a smooth panel. It reads W.O. Larsen [over] Handmade [over] Made in Denmark. On the top side it is stamped Rustica. The finish was dusty and there were oils and grime ground into the rusticated and the smooth finish around the sides of the bowl. The horn shank extension had a metal insert to protect it from cracked but there were still two hairline cracks – one on the top and one on the underside. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Jeff took a photo of the rim top to show the thick build up of lava in the sandblast of the rim top. It is also built up on the inner edge of the bowl. The thick cake in the bowl is very visible.He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to show the blast finish on the pipe. It is a unique blast that really shows the birdseye and other grain around the bowl sides. He took two photos to capture the stamping top and underside of the bowl. Each one moves down the shank to the horn shank extension. It is clear and readable as noted above. Jeff took a photo of the hairline crack on the underside of the horn extension. There is a matching one on the topside. The shank itself is lined with a metal insert that actually stabilized the extension to protect it from further cracking.I turned to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-l2.html) to get a quick view of the brand once again. I did a screen capture of the site’s information and have included that below. The pipe I am working on is a W.O. Larsen as it is stamped similarly to the ones in the photos. It is interestingly stamped with a lot more detail than any of the ones shown in the screen capture below. With the “Designed By W.O. Larsen” addition it is a bit unique.I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/W.%C3%98._Larsen) for a quick read. The site is worth reading the history of the shop and the brand and its influence on Danish pipe carving. There was no additional information on the unique stamping on this pipe.

What I learned from the research is that the pipe is a W.O. Larsen made pipe that could have been designed by W.O Larsen himself or at least one of the shop carvers. It is a beauty though.

Now I needed to add yet another project to the work on this pipe. I wrote Jeff and told him about the accident and his response was that he was okay with throwing it away. I told him that I still wanted to work on it. I cleaned up the cracks on the shank and added new glue to the repairs. I clamped the extension together with the clamp while it was laying on the table. You can see the snapped off bowl and shank in the photos below. The only good news was that it was a clean snap and everything fit together really well.Once the repair cured on the shank end it was time to address the broken shank. I found a metal piece of tubing in my collection of tubes and stingers that fit into the hole in the shank and in the airway into the bowl. I cut off a piece long enough to extend into the airway into the bowl and into the shank end almost a half inch each way. I glued the cut off tube into the bowl airway first with a clear CA glue. I coated the shank ends on both sides with clear CA glue and painted the tube with the same glue. I pushed the bowl and shank together. The tube went easily into the shank and the pieces of briar fit together with no sign of the damage other than the glue.Once the repair cured and the shank was stable I worked over the repaired area with a brass bristle brush to remove the excess glue. It was looking much better once I finished. I stained the repaired area with a Mahogany stain pen to match the colour on the rusticated portions of the bowl. It looked much better once it was finished. With the repair finished I turned to address the rim top and inner edge of the rim. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage and smooth out the edge. I used a wooden sphere and a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to reshape the rim edge and give it a light bevel. It cleaned up the edge and the darkening to the rim top at the same time. I sanded the rim top and the horn shank repairs with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I sanded the horn shank extension at the same time. I wiped it down after each sanding pad to remove the dust and debris. I restained the rim top with a Cherry Stain pen to match the smooth finish around the bowl. The finish was spotty but it matched well. I knew that once I polished it with micromesh sanding pads and the stained top blended in very well.I polished the briar and the horn shank extension with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the smooth and the rusticated finish of the bowl, rim top and shank with my fingertips and a shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I find that the balm really makes the briar come alive again. The contrasts in the layers of stain and the contrasting finish really made the grain stand out. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth and shoe brush to raise the shine. The shank repair and the rim top reworking came out looking very good at this point. I started with the stem fitting. I needed to shape the flow of the stem from the shank upward. It needed some work to change the taper to incorporate and tenon that fit in the shank and still allowed the stem to fit well. I used a Dremel and sanding drum and files to shape the stem to fit. I fine tuned the shape of the stem with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give it the stem a proper fit in the shank.Now I needed to sand it to clean up the file marks and fine tune the shape. I sanded the newly shaped tenon with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I worked on the file marks and fine shaping of the stem fit against the shank. The pads worked to polish out the marks and the fit to the shank was very good. The stem began to take on a rich shine in the vulcanite by the time I sanded it with the 3500 grit pad. I set the bowl aside and polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. This W. O. Larsen Hand Made Rustica Canadian is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The shape is elegant and flowing with a thin, fitted taper vulcanite stem. I put the new stem 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 rusticated parts of the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the smooth portions 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 W. O. Larsen Rustica Canadian 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 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.55 ounces/44 grams. I will be putting it on the Danish Pipe Maker Section of the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. 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 GBD International London Made Colossus 264

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is long and classic looking smooth finish long shank possible Canadian. It is stamped on the topside of the shank and clearly reads GBD in an oval [over] International [over] London Made [over] Colossus in script. On the underside of the shank it is stamped London England [over] the shape number 264. It came from a lot we purchased on 03/21/2024 from an estate in Oregon City, Oregon, USA. It is Canadian/Lumberman shaped pipe with some great grain and only lacking the original vulcanite stem. The shape of the new stem would be determined by the what I could find out about the shape 264. If a Canadian then it would have a new taper stem. If it was a Lumberman then it would have a short saddle stem.The bowl has a thick cake and some lava overflow in the finish on the rim top and inner edge. The finish looked quite good in terms of wear and tear but there was dirt and hand oils in the finish. But under the grime the finish looked very good and highlights some beautiful grain. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup. He took photos of the pipe’s bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the lava coat overflowing onto the top and over the edges. It is another dirty pipe. He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to give a sense of the condition of the pipe and the interesting grain around the sides and heel. It really is a beautiful pipe bowl. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the top and underside of the shank and it is clear and readable as noted above. It is a bit faint on the top edges of the stamp and the lower edges on both the top and bottom shank.I remembered that Kenneth had restemmed a GBD International London Made Colossus and generally he does some work on the brand to understand the background of the pipe that he is working on. I googled and found the link to the blog he had written on rebornpipes about his Calabash pipe (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/gbd-international-london-made-pipes/). I followed the link to his blog and reread his work on it. I quote the interesting info on the line that he had included. I quote below:

This pipe is a calabash-shaped GBD Colossus. As the photos show, it is stamped on the left side of the shank with GBD [over] International [over] London Made [over] Colossus. On the right side it is stamped Made in London [over] England [next to] 9552 – this, of course, is the shape number. There is quite a bit of information on GBD on the Internet – they have a long and storied history in pipemaking. In this case, I was curious about International and Colossus. The main Pipepedia article on GBD tells us about their origins:

In 1850 three gentlemen got together in Paris to establish a firm dedicated to the fabrication of Meerschaum pipes – a courageous step in politically restless times. Ganneval probably came from the area of Saint-Claude where he had learned making wooden pipes. Bondier’s family obviously came from Paris and had emigrated in 1789 to Geneva. He himself had worked as a wood turner in the clay and china pipe industry in and around Saint-Claude making stem extensions etc. Donninger was an Austrian or Swiss and had worked in Vienna, the world’s center of the Meerschaum pipe. They agreed on the acronym GBD selecting the initials of their surnames.

The Pipedia article provides a lot more information on their interesting history. I would encourage you to read on here. The shape number 9552 corresponds correctly with GBD’s identification of this pipe as a calabash. The page on GBD models states the following concerning the International line and the Colossus size:

International – France and England made: medium brown smooth, carved top rim, rim stained black. In addition to the pipe line and shape information stamped on the pipe, GBD also had codes for plus sized pipes. These codes in ascending order of size were Conquest, Collector, Colossus.

He also included a screenshot from Pipephil:I did some more work on the shape 264. Without the stem I was not sure I was dealing with a Canadian or a Lumberman – same family different stem. I did a Google search on the GBD shape number 264. I did not find the shape number on the shape list so I did a bit more digging. I found a link on Smokingpipes.eu to a GBD Premier Colossus Lumberman (264) (O) (pre-1980)(https://www.smokingpipes.eu/pipes/estate/england/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=168478). The one I am working on is an International while this one is a Premier but the shape number is identical. The pipe is identified as a Lumberman 264 and the photo below (from that site) tells me that the pipe had a saddle stem. Now I knew what I needed for a new stem on the pipe.I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the 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, pipe cleaners and shank brushes. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He was able to remove the lava on the rim top and edges and the grime from the bowl. The pipe looked better when I received it. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on the restoration and restemming. I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. It looks good with the tars and oils removed from the rim top. The condition of the bowl and rim top were very good. There was some damage on the inner edge at the back of the bowl. I took photos of the top and underside of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is very clear and reads as noted above. It was hard to capture in the photos.I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge of the rim. I gave the rim a slight bevel to minimize the burn damage. It looked much better once it was smoothed out.I polished the briar on the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the briar down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on. With the bowl finished it was time to find a stem. Earlier today I assumed the pipe was a Canadian so I fit a taper stem to the shank. I liked the look of the pipe with the taper stem. Then on a whim I looked up the information I quoted above on the shape 264. It made it immediately clear to me that the pipe was not a Canadian but was a Lumberman. I started over to find one like that in the photo of the GBD 264 from Smokingpipes above. I would completely need to start over. Oh well! I went through my stem bins and found an oval saddle style stem that would work for this one. I needed to fit the stem to shank. With a little adjustment the tenon fit perfectly to the shank end. It was a snug fit. The diameter of the stem is slightly larger all the way around and would need to be reduced. I used my Dremel and sanding drum to start the process of shaping the saddle portion of the stem to fit the shank. Once I had it close I continued the fitting with a file. I also smoothed out the ridges and casting marks on the blade of the stem to round them out and shape them to be similar to the one on the photo that I found. I put it back on the shank and continue to shape the saddle portion of the stem. It is starting to look much better. I fine tuned the fit with 220 grit sandpaper. I removed all of the remaining excess with the sandpaper. Once I finished the transition between the stem and the shank it was smooth and the fit was snug in the shank. I put the stem and took photos of the pipe with the fit. It looks very good. I touched up the stain on the shank end to cover the lighter areas and match it to the rest of the shank. I used a Cherry Stain Pen to match it. The stain was a perfect match. It looked good.I sanded the stem with 320-1500 grit sanding pads. I dry sanded and after each pad wiped the stem down with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. By the final pad the stem looked very good and the fit was perfect.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I finished by wiping it down with Obsidian Oil and buffing it to a shine. I always look forward to this part of the restoration when all the pieces are put back together. I put the GBD International London Made Colossus 264 Lumberman back together and carefully buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a soft cloth to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the new black vulcanite saddle stem almost glowing. This GBD International London Made Colossus Lumberman is nice looking and feels great in my hand. It is one that could be clenched and smoked while doing other things as it is very light weight and well balanced. It must have been a fine smoking pipe judging from the condition it was when I received it. Have a look at it in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 7 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.52 ounces/43 grams. I will be putting it in the English Pipemakers Section of the rebornpipes store soon. This will make a great addition to someone’s pipe collection. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next pipeman or woman.

A Pipe Hunt Find in Bellingham – A Sir Winston’s Own Author

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Blog by Steve Laug

On our recent Victoria Day Weekend (5/18/24) my family met Jeff and his wife in Bellingham, Washington for breakfast, a visit and a bit of pipe hunting. We visited three of my favourite antique malls and worked out way through the aisles of wares for sale. Jeff and I tend to divide and conquer, each walking through the aisles of the shop looking for pipes. The rest of the family moves through looking for their own treasures. In the second shop we visited we had some success in our finds. The shop is one that I have visited for over 20 years and come to know the owner. We generally have a great chat on our visits and spent some time chatting and catching up on life. By the time we finished chatting we came away with five pipes added to the hunt bag. These included a Savinelli Sherwood Rock Briar 316KS, a Sir Winstons Own Bellingham WA, a Kensington Made in London England Pot, Genuine Block Meerschaum Opera pipe, and last of all an Oval shank 1/4 Bent pot no name but great grain. Here is the link to the blog on the hunt and a photo of the five pipes we added (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/bellingham-pipe-hunt/). I decided to take a break from the pipes in my queue of pipes to work on and deal with the Sir Winston’s Own Bellingham, WA author. I have circled the Sir Winston’s Own in the photo above. It was an interesting shape that fits what I like in a pipe. It had some nice grain under the grime on the bowl and shank. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Sir Winston’s Own [over] Bellingham, WA. There was no other stamping on the rest of the pipe. The Sir Winston’s Stamp brought back some memories for me of a visit to a long-closed pipe shop in Bellingham so I decided as soon as I saw the stamp that I would take that one home to work on. Here is what I saw. The stem was a bit larger in diameter than the shank and it had a large chunk missing on the underside of the stem. There were no marks on the stem either. The bowl had a thick cake in it and some bits and bobs of tobacco stuck to the walls. There was a thick lava coat on the rim top and edges. I liked the shape of the bowl and in my opinion, it would look far better with a shorter stem. I would get to see what that would look like soon enough. I took some photos of the pipe before I started working on it. I took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked and the rim top and edges have a heavy coat of lava overflowing on to them. There is some burn or reaming damage on the front left side of the inner edge of the bowl. The stem is oxidized, calcified and has a large chunk of vulcanite missing from the underside from the button forward up the stem ½ inch.I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. You can see that it is faint but it is readable with a light and lens. You can also see the misfit of the stem to the shank.When I saw the upper part of the stamp on the shank side that read Sir Winston’s Own I figured it was connected to a pipe shop that I visited in 2018. I only went there once and it was closed and gone. I wrote a blog about the visit the first time I went there in a blog on a shop that closed and also this one (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/sir-winston-pipe-shop-in-bellingham-wasington/). I clicked on the link and read the story of my visit to the shop. I am quoting from that blog below. I have included the information and the photos to give a sense of context to the Sir Winston’s Own Bellingham, WA pipe that I am working on now.

I googled pipe shops in Bellingham and there was one that came up that was not too far away from the old Senate location. In fact, the app said it was a 7-minute drive. It said the shop did not open until 11am so we stopped by a coffee shop and relaxed while we waited for the shop to open. While we sat there I read some of the online reviews of the shop and looked through the photos. The shop was called Sir Winston Pipes & Cigars. The photos showed some bulk tobacco. As we got closer to 11 o’clock we headed over to the shop. It was located at 2122 James St. in Bellingham, WA. It was an interesting neighbourhood – residential dwellings surrounded by light industrial buildings. It was on a busy four lane street. We found the address and a parking place in front of the house. The sign in the front yard caught my attention. It was bright red sign that read Sir Winston Pipes & Cigars. It hung by its right side from what looked like a silver cigar tube with the SW (Sir Winston) label on the tube. There was a large Peterson’s style system pipe hanging below the sign – dark brown bowl, silver ferrule and a black stem.

The shop itself was a small house with a large front porch. It was nicely laid out and had a well laid out yard with sidewalk leading to the front door. There was a parking lot behind the shop and a rear entrance that also lead into the shop. We arrived a little before 11 and the shop keeper was opening the front door and turning on the “Open” sign in the front window on the right as you came up the sidewalk. I turned the handle on the door and open it inward. The sales counter was to my left as I came in the door. I asked the shop keep if the shop was open and she said, “Just about… but come on in”. My friend and I came in the shop and had a look around…

…The inside of this shop was a real old fashioned tobacco shop. There were no glass pipes, bongs and the like on the counters or walls. There were no fruit flavoured cigars on the counter and not a lot of drug store tobaccos. Those were my first impressions as I opened the door to the shop. It looked and smelled like a tobacco shop. I could almost imagine the days, not that long ago when you could walk into a shop like this and see old timers sitting in the back of the shop around the fireplace, under the television set enjoying a pipe or cigar. Sitting and chatting with each other wreathed in tobacco smoke and chatting and laughing. There would have been a coffee pot going and maybe a refrigerator with some drinks. None of those were there now but the space was there and the memory was still present in my mind as I looked things over.…After my ramble through the shop I took time to talk with the shop keeper. She turned out to be the owner. She had run this shop for 30 years and knew her stuff. Turned out she was a pipe smoker so we talked about the various blends that she had and the ones that were on order and had not come in to fill in her inventory after the Christmas season. Her name was Robbie and she really knew her stuff. We talked about the changes in the laws and the impact that had on her shop. She talked about the changes in the tobacco that was available for her to order. She remembered the days when her walls were lined with English and European tobaccos as well as a wide range of American ones. Those days she said had passed and it was hard to get any variety.

I decided to pick up some pipe cleaners so I put them on the front counter. My friend and I wanted to purchase some of her bulk tobaccos so she went over to the shelf and we had Robbie weigh out some for us. I picked a couple of ounces of her Scottish Blend and my friend got some of that and some of the Queen’s Blend. She bagged our tobaccos and carried them over to the counter. My friend picked up a pipe pouch made by Comoy’s that would hold his pipe, tobacco, tampers and lighter. While we were looking several other customers, who were obviously old friends came into the shop and purchased tobacco and other items from her. It was good to see that the place was still a living and working shop with a following that was known and made to feel at home.

Reminded of the great adventure I had at this now defunct pipe shop I was ready to work on the Sir Winston’s Own Pipe I had picked up. It would be nice to have this memory piece from that Pipe Shop. I was ready to restem it and clean it up. I decided to start with a new stem. I went through my stems and found a nice looking saddle stem that I thought would be a good fit and look good. The tenon was a little bigger than the old stem but with a slight bit of work on it with my Dremel the tenon was the same size. I took photos of the new stem alongside of the old one.I put the new stem on the shank and took photos. I still needed to reduce the diameter of the saddle portion of the stem to fit the shank but I like the look of the new stem both in terms of length and shape. It was going to be a nice looking pipe once I was finished. I used my Dremel and sanding drum along with a flat file to begin reducing the diameter of the stem to fit that of the shank. I took off quite a bit with Dremel and started fine tuning it with the file. It is beginning to look very good at this point.There was still a lot of work to do on the fit of the stem to the shank but I decided to clean up the bowl and internals before finishing the stem fit. I wanted to make sure that the shank was clean and that it sat correctly in the shank. I wanted to make sure it was fitted with no gap between the shank end and the stem. I started the process by reaming the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer to take the cake back to bare briar. I took the cake back to bare briar and cleaned up the remnants of the cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl walls with sandpaper wrapped around a piece of briar to smooth them out. The inside walls were clean and there was no sign of burning or checking on them. I scrubbed the externals of the bowl and shank with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime in the finish. I rinsed the bowl off with warm water. I scrubbed the internals with a shank brush and soap to remove the grime inside. I was able to remove a lot of the lava on the rim top as well. The bowl was beginning to look much better at this point. I was at this point that I remembered that I was going to try Mark Hoover’s Before & After Briar Cleaner. I got out the cleaner and scrubbed the externals of the bowl and shank with the cleaner. I worked it into the surface of the bowl with my finger tips and scrubbed it with a tooth brush. I wiped it off with cotton make up pads. It removed a lot more of the grime and the rim top looked even better. Now it was time to clean out the internals. I scrubbed the shank and the airway in the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. Once it was clean it smelled much better and I knew the walls were clean enough to make for a snug fit in the shank.To deal with the damage to the inner edge and the slightly bevelled rim top I used a wooden ball and some 220 grit sandpaper. I wrapped the top of the bowl with the sandpaper and turned the bowl and rim top into the sandpaper. It looked very good once I was finished.I wiped the bowl down with acetone to remove the sanding dust and also to remove the stain that darkened the bowl and made it darker than the rim top. It made the match much closer. I used a Maple Stain Pen to bring the colour even closer to the bowl sides. It would look even better once I sanded and buffed the pipe.I sanded the bowl with sanding pads – sanding with 320-3500 grit pads and wiped down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. The bowl began to take on a real shine. It was going to be a beautiful pipe. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the bowl down after each sanding pad. The grain really began to shine through. It is a beautiful pipe. The polishing of the rim top and inner edge brought the rim top colour to match the rest of the bowl. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. With the bowl finished I turned my attention to the stem. I put it on the shank and worked on it with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining excess diameter. I repeatedly checked on the progress of the work on the stem. It looked much better. I liked the look of the new stem and fit to the shank was really nice. The flow of the shank to the stem was smooth with no high spots on the transition. It felt great in the hand and really looked good. On a whim I took out a thin brass band and slipped it on the shank to have a look at the pipe with the cosmetic band. It did not cover any of the stamping so it was perfect. I took a few photos of the pipe with the band in place on the shank. Have a look. I removed the stem from the shank and sanded out the scratches and marks in the stem surface with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It looked much better and really started to take on a shine.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I am excited to put the final touches on this interesting piece of Bellingham, Washington Pipe Shop history. It is a beautiful Sir Winston’s Own Bellingham WA pipe shop pipe. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful grain on the bowl sides, top and bottom. The polished black vulcanite, newly fitted stem combined with the bowl to make a stunning pipe that brings back to my mind that 2018 visit to a no longer existent pipe shop. This smooth Sir Winston’s Own Author 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 inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 49 grams/1.69 ounces. It is one that I will enjoy as I remember that beautiful day at Sir Winston’s Pipe Shop in Bellingham. I still have the Scottish Blend jarred and stored here that I purchased there in 2018. I am looking forward to that first smoke which may well be tomorrow morning. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. QUICK UPDATE: I loaded bowl of Sir Winston’s Scottish Blend in the Sir Winston’s Own Pipe and sat out on the front porch and enjoyed a great smoke. It was a smooth and easy draw and a great tasting tobacco.

Restoring the second Antique Collectible Find – a GT&Co Peterson’s System Standard 1307

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Blog by Steve Laug

Last weekend on April 27 Kenneth and I went to an antique and collectible sale at an arena in New Westminster, BC, Canada. I wrote about the adventure and posted it in a previous blog last weekend (https://rebornpipes.com/2024/04/28/you-have-to-join-kenneth-and-me-on-a-great-morning-pipe-hunt/). On the hunt I picked up four pipes that I have listed below:

Jeantet Fait Main Bent Freehand Dublin 4 with a diamond shank
Jeantet Fait Main Bent Apple 9 with a uniquely shaped shank and stem
Republic Era Peterson’s System Pipe 1307 Bowl sans stem
Brigham Made in Canada 625 Squat Straight Bulldog

I have included photos of the foursome below. They are in the order of the list above. I chose to work on the third pipe in the above photos. It is shown in the photos below and is Peterson’s with a forked tail [over] System [over] Standard on the left side of the shank. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines) [over] 1307 the shape number. There is a very clean nickel ferrule that is stamped on the left side and reads K&P over Makers Marks which makes it pre-circa 1963.The three symbols are a Shamrock, a Wolfhound and a Tower without a door. That is followed by the stamping Peterson’s. The pipe has some great grain around the bowl sides and shank. The rim top is flat and the edges look good. The bowl had a moderate cake on the walls and a light lava coat on the rim top and edges of the bowl. The briar has some grime and grit ground into the briar. There was no stem so I would need to fit a new one on the bowl. The photos below show what I saw when I examined the pipe. I took photos of the stamping on the undersides of the shank. It reads as noted above. It is faint in spots but is still very readable. I took the stem off and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the size of the bowl.I have included the information on the shape number on this pipe that I picked up on researching the other pipes. It is a Peterson’s System Standard pipe with a 1307 shape number. The 307 is identical in shape, size and marking. I started my hunt for information by turning to a Peterson Catalogue that I have on rebornpipes and looked up the System Standard pipes (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. But there was nothing to give me any information on what number 1 meant in the shape number 1307 that I am working on. Since this is stamped with the same “1” as previous Peterson pipes that I have worked on I turned to the blog and had a look. I am including the information on the unique numbering. Mark pointed me in the direction that I needed. I quote the pertinent part of his email. The underlined portion was the clue I was looking for on this pipe. I have already cleaned up several of Bob’s pipes that were sold through GT&C (Genin, Trudeau and Company, Montreal, Quebec).

The index at the back of the book is pretty good, and points you to all the GT&C goodies, but 155 has a photo from the catalog with your 1307, while 318 and 323 explain the rationale for the “1” prefix. In a nutshell, just drop the “1” and you’ve got the shape. My theory is that GT&C added this to aid them in warranty work, so they’d know the pipe was bought on Canadian soil.

I turned then to a previous blog I had written on a Kapruf 54 that had an odd shape number stamp and referred to the Canadian numbering system used by GT&C. Here it the link to that blog (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/08/09/back-to-bob-kerrs-estate-another-canadian-import-petersons-kapruf-a-54/). In the blog I included a link to a blog I did on the GT&C Catalogue that came to me in some paperwork the family gave me. I have included the cover of the catalogue and the page on the system pipes showing the 1312 shape. I have put a red box around the shape for ease of reference (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/09/13/petersons-pipes-brochure-from-genin-trudeau-co-montreal-quebec/). Be sure to check out the rest of the document on the link.

The GT&C Catalogue combined with the earlier Peterson Pipe Catalogue page make the link definitive. 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 sytems 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. I also knew that the pipe was brought into Canada by the Canadian Importer, Genin, Trudeau & Co. in Montreal, Quebec. Noting above that the catalogue postal code puts it in the late 60s early 70s which also fits the story. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I cleaned up the thin cake in the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and sanded the bowl with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the top of the rim and the inner edge to make it look better.I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime. I rinsed it off with warm running water and dried it off with a soft cloth. I cleaned the mortise and the airway in the shank with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. They were dirty but the pipe is clean now. I sanded the surface of the briar with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. It took on a real shine on the briar. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust and debris left behind. I polished the bowl and rim top with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the rim down after each sanding pad to remove the dust and debris from the sanding. The rim top was looking very good after the final polishing pad. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to fitting a new stem. I chose a new stem for the pipe from my lot of new stem blanks. It is a Peterson’s Made Replacement stem so it should fit well once the work is done.I used a flat rasp to sand out the casting marks on the sides and ends of the stems. I followed that up with a folded piece of 220 sandpaper. I flattened out the casting marks and the sanded them smooth and blended them into the surface. I also sanded out the casting marks on the end of the stem and around the P-lip button. It looked much better at this point. I took a photo of the pipe bowl and the new stem. I still needed to do a lot more work on it to smooth out the scratches and file marks. It is going to look very good.I reshaped the shank end with 220 grit sandpaper to get a snug fit in the ferrule. It took time but as I shaped the angles the stem fit very well deep enough in the shank. I heated it with a lighter to soften the vulcanite and bent it to fit the angles of the bowl. I fit it in the shank and took photos of the pipe put back together. It looks good. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the debris left behind. It is beginning to look much better.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cotton pad to remove the sanding debris. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I finished by wiping it down with Obsidian Oil and buffing it to a shine. It feels good to be finishing the restoration of this Made for Canada GT&Co Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 1307. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I polished them 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 grain is quite stunning and really pops with the wax and polish. The newly fit shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl and thick shank. This Peterson’s System Standard 1307 Bent Billiard is a beauty. The polished nickel Ferrule works as a contrast between the stem and the briar and binds it all together. It really is a quite stunning piece of briar whose shape follows the flow of the briar. The pipe is comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 68 grams/2.40 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the rebornpipe store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This was an interesting estate to bring back to life.

Restemming a Stemless Sandblast Larsen Super Canadian

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the worktable is a Danish made pipe from the workshop W.O. Larsen. It is a sandblast Canadian with silver band on the shank end. The bowl is a classic Danish looking Canadian with almost a Brandy shaped bowl. It came without a stem. The pipe came to us from eBay on 01/22/2024 from a seller in Jordan, Minnesota, USA. The pipe is very dirty with a thick cake in the bowl and heavy lava on the rim top. The rim edge looks to be okay but it was hard to know what was under the lava coat on the top and edges. It is stamped on the underside of the bowl and shank on a smooth panel. It reads * followed by Larsen [over] Copenhagen. That is followed by Handmade [over] Made in Denmark. That is followed by the stamping Super. The finish was dusty and there were oils and grime ground into the sandblast finish around the sides of the bowl. The silver band was in good condition and was faintly stamped Sterling Silver arched on the top back of the band. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Jeff took a photo of the rim top to show the thick build up of lava in the sandblast of the rim top. It is also built up on the inner edge of the bowl. The thick cake in the bowl is very visible.He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to show the blast finish on the pipe. It is a unique blast that really shows the birdseye and other grain around the bowl sides. He took a series of photos to capture the stamping on the heel of the bowl and the underside of the shank. The first photo shows the * on the heel of the bowl. Each one moves down the shank to the band on the shank end. It is clear and readable as noted above. He also took photos of he band on the end of the shank. It is well fit and it is cosmetic rather than a repair band. There is no crack in the shank end.The shape and stamping on this one reminded me of another Larsen Super Canadian I had worked on in the past. I remembered the shape and look of the pipe. I looked up the link and have included it below (https://rebornpipes.com/2021/10/25/restoring-a-sandblast-canadian-hand-made-designed-by-w-o-larsen-super-tan-65/). I also quoted the information on the brand that I had researched at that time.

I turned to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-l2.html) to get a quick view of the brand once again. I did a screen capture of the site’s information and have included that below. The pipe I am working on is a W.O. Larsen as it is stamped similarly to the ones in the photos. It is interestingly stamped with a lot more detail than any of the ones shown in the screen capture below. I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/W.%C3%98._Larsen) for a quick read. The site is worth reading the history of the shop and the brand and its influence on Danish pipe carving. There was no additional information on this pipe.

What I learned from the research is that the pipe is a W.O. Larsen made pipe that was probably esigned by W.O Larsen himself or at least one of the shop carvers. It is a beauty though.

With that information I moved forward to work on the pipe itself and see what I had to do with it. Jeff had done an amazing job in removing all of the cake and the lava on the sand blast rim top. He had reamed the bowl with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He took the cake back to bare briar so we could check the walls for damage. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime on the bowl and rim and was able to remove the lava and dirt. The finish on the bowl and rim top looked very good showing a unique and beautiful sandblast. He cleaned out the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until they came out clean. I took photos of the pipe before I started my part of the restoration. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank to show the condition after the cleanup. This stamping is clearer than the photo shows. The Sterling Silver stamp on the band is scratched with wear but still readable. I went through my collection of stems looking for one that would match the previous Larsen Super that I referred to above (https://rebornpipes.com/2021/10/25/restoring-a-sandblast-canadian-hand-made-designed-by-w-o-larsen-super-tan-65/). I found one that was the right shape and length. It was a little wider so it would take some work to fit it to the shank size. The tenon was very close so a little sandpaper would remember that and make the fit proper. Here is a photo of the stem. NB: This is the reason I am always picking up stems where ever I can find them. I just know that one day I will need one and it might just be the one!I decided to start my work this time following Kenneth’s pattern of working on the stem first. This something I rarely ever do, but there is always room for change. I started with the stem fitting. I marked the stem width with a pencil, ran some sandpaper over the tenon for a fit and took off the excess width on the stem on the top and each side with a rasp. With a bit of careful fiddling and fussing I was able to get a proper fit on the stem. I put it on the shank and took the photos below. Now I needed to sand it to clean up the file marks and fine tune the shape.I started polishing the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I worked on the file marks and fine shaping of the stem fit against the shank. The pads worked to polish out the marks and the fit to the shank was very good. The stem began to take on a rich shine in the vulcanite by the time I sanded it with the 3500 grit pad.I set the bowl aside and polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I set the finished stem aside and turned my attention to the bowl. I worked over the sandblast surface on the rim top and bowl sides with a brass bristle brush to remove any residual debris from the valleys in the finish. I wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove anything that remained. It was a nice sandblast finish. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the sandblast briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about ten minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I polished the silver band with a jeweller’s cloth to raise the shine and protect it from oxidation. The scratches have been lessened, though still remaining. It looks much better at this point. This Larsen Hand Made Larsen Super Canadian is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The shape is elegant and flowing with a thin turned vulcanite stem. I put the new stem 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 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 Larsen Super Canadian 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 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.69 ounces/49 grams. I will be putting it on the Danish Pipe Maker Section of the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Repairing and Restemming a Big Ben Lectura 420 pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

Last week I received and email from Dayton regarding a pipe he was seeking to have repaired. He was referred to me by our local pipe and cigar shop called City Cigar. He wrote the following email regarding the pipe.

Hey Steve my name is Dayton. I got your information from City Cigar, they said you’d be able to help with a pipe stem repair? If so I’d really appreciate it. Does email work or would you prefer text!

Thanks again – Dayton Lewis.

He wrote that it needed to have a stem repair done on the pipe. Before I take on work I always ask for photos or at least a photo to show me what needed to be done or at least the damage to the pipe. I wrote back and asked for a photo of the pipe that showed what needed to be repaired. He sent the photo below. You can see the nicely grained bowl on the pipe and the stem with the snapped tenon. The tenon included a metal stinger apparatus. It appeared to me that the break had occurred at the internal end of the inserted portion of the stinger. We talked about a price and he dropped the pipe off for repair yesterday evening.I brought the pipe and stem along with the broken parts in the bag he dropped off to the work table last evening. I examined the pipe carefully to see what I was dealing with in terms of a repair. I like to know the details about the pipes I work on. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Big Ben [over] Lectura. On the right side of the shank it was stamped with the shape number 420 [over] Made in Holland. The finish on the bowl was in good condition. The bowl had a thin cake inside and a light overflow of lava on the rim top. Overall the pipe was quite clean. With a repair on the stem the pipe would be in good condition to keep providing a great smoke to Dayton. I took photos of the pipe when I received it. In the photos above don’t miss condition of the bowl and the shank. The pipe looks quite clean and should polish up well. I examined the bowl and shank for damage that might have occurred when the tenon snapped. I have learned over the years to examine it carefully with a bright light and a lens. In this case I found there was a hairline crack on the lower right side of the shank just below the stamping Made in Holland. It extends from the shank end about a half inch up the shank dipping to mid-underside. I have inserted a red arrow in the second and third photos below to show that location of the crack. I wrote to Dayton and told him about my recommendations for a thin band to repair the cracked shank. I am waiting to hear from him. I repaired the crack with a spot of clear CA glue and then pressed the thin brass band on to the shank end and it drew the parts of the crack together. Now on to the stem repairs my first thoughts were that I would insert a replacement tenon in the drilled-out air way in the stem. I examined the stem diameter and found that it was too thin to drill out. The tenon was quite large in diameter and it would not leave much on the stem if I were to drill it out. I decided to rather find a replacement stem for the pipe. I went through my stems and found one that was the same length, similar diameter and had a solid vulcanite tenon that would need slight adjustment to fit in the shank.I worked on the diameter of the tenon on the new stem with a file/rasp and removed enough to get a close fit. I used 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out and bring it to round and get the fit what I needed. I also used the file and the sandpaper to reduce the diameter of the stem itself to get a clean fit against the shank end.I fit the stem on the shank and took photos of the fit. The stem looks perfect against the shank end. It is a snug fit and looks very good with the thin brass band.I sanded the stem with the 2 inch square 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped down the stem after each sanding pad. I was able to remove the tooth marks and chatter on both sides with the pads. The stem looked very good. I wiped the stem down with some Obsidian Oil on a cloth to remove the debris from sanding. It was looking much better.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Polish – using both the Fine and Extra Fine Polishes. I gave it a rubdown with Obsidian Oil one last time and set it aside. I put the Big Ben Lectura 420 back together and worked the pipe over on the buffing wheel using Blue Diamond to lightly polish the stem. I buffed the bowl and stem to raise the gloss on the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Ben Ben Lectura is shown in the photos below. The medium brown stains on the smooth Billiard shaped bowl works well with the rich black of the vulcanite stem. The dimensions of the pipe are: Length: 7 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside Diameter: 1 inch, Diameter of the chamber: 3/4 inches. The weight of the pipe is .71 ounces/21 grams. This is an interesting piece of briar, cross grain and mixed grain on the bowl and shank. The patterns on the sides are a real mix. I really like how the briar, the thin brass band and the vulcanite work well together. This one will soon be going back to Dayton once I contact him. Thanks for walking with me through the restoration process.