Tag Archives: sanding a stem

A Liverpool stamped Tobacconist Inc.

Blog by Steve Laug

I was looking through the box of pipes that I have to refurbish to see what struck my fancy this time around. It may sound like an easy process but my brother has been filling the box faster than I can clear it out… no complaint there however as he has great tasted in pipes and he has found some amazing pipes. The one that stood out to me this time was a Liverpool that has a rustication that was so tight that it looked like a sandblast. On closer inspection it was clear that it was a rusticated pipe. The bowl and long shank were at dark brown with a flat smooth strip on the bottom of the shank and the bowl where it was stamped Tobacconist Inc. That was a brand I had not heard of but I figured that it must have been a shop pipe for a tobacco shop somewhere. The bowl had a light cake and the beveled inner edge of the rim was flawless. The rim was pretty clean with just a little buildup in the rustication. The stem was oxidized but there were no bite marks or tooth chatter. I took a close-up photo of the rim and bowl to show the cake and the condition of the rim surface. It was a pretty clean old pipe. I also took some photos of the stem top and bottom to show the oxidation and lack of damage. I was fortunate with that.I googled the Tobacconist Inc. stamp to see if I could find any information on the brand. There was no information in Who Made that Pipe and I could find nothing on Pipedia. The name Tobacconist Inc. came up shop a tobacco shop in Chicago. It is called Tobacconist Inc. and is located at 3524 W. Irving Park Rd. Chicago, Illinois. The phone number is 773-463-8468. I have included two photos of the sign and the shop. The sign says the shop has “Everything for the Smoker” and has been in existence since 1946. Sounds like a place I need to visit one day. I may have to call them and see if they have any information about the pipe.I started working on the pipe by reaming the bowl with the Savinelli Pipe Knife. I took the cake back to bare briar.I used a brass bristle brush to clean up the rustication on the top of the rim. It did not take too much work to clean off the tars and dirt.I scrubbed the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a soft bristle tooth brush to remove all of the dust and debris from the rustication.I rinsed the bowl off with running water and dried it off with a soft towel. The clean pipe is shown in the photos below. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation on the surface. In the cleanup I found a small tooth mark on the top left side of the stem. I was able to remove the tooth mark with sanding.I cleaned the mortise and airway in the shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I was surprised on how clean the pipe was. It did not take too much to clean out the airways.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and followed my usual routine. You can probably recite it by now if you have been a long time reader of the blog. Sand and Obsidian Oil repeated until finished. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads, gave it another coat of oil and sanded it with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside to dry. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the wheel and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I used a light touch on the bowl so as not to get waxy buildup in the rustication. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. The final touch I use is a microfibre cloth and a rubdown on the entire pipe to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. Thanks for looking.

Beautiful High Grade B Bjarne Nielsen Handmade Freehand

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Blog by Steve Laug

I picked this pipe up from Pocatello, Idaho when my brother and I visited an older pipeman there who was selling some of his collection. It was a beautiful freehand pipe cut to maximize the amazing grain. The flame grain flows up the sides of the bowl and shank with great birdseye on the top and the bottom of the bowl and shank. It has a Cumberland stem with a briar insert centered in the saddle portion of the stem. There is also what appears to be an ivory or faux ivory ring that is integrated at the end of the saddle that sits against the shank when the pipe is inserted. The Cumberland tenon is part of the pipe and is funneled to direct the airflow from the shank to the stem.

The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank Bjarne Nielsen over Handmade over In Denmark. There is a grade stamp B under the other stamping. The bowl was in very good shape though there was dust and grime over the surface of the bowl that was mixed in with the wax and gave the bowl a waxy almost sticky feel in the hand. The birdseye on the rim was hidden in the grime. There was a light cake in the bowl that I reamed out when I was visiting my brother so when I started working on it today there was nothing in the bowl. The stem was oxidized and also covered with the same waxy stickiness as the bowl. The briar insert was faded and light under the grime. The stem was obviously handmade and very well cut with a thin button. The pipe is amazingly light weight for a pipe this size. I have had many Bjarne pipes cross my work table over the years but all had been stamped only Bjarne or Bjarne Handmade. None of them had his full name stamped on it and none had a letter stamp which I assumed indicated the grade of the pipe. I did some research on Pipedia.com and found some helpful information on both the stamping of my pipe and the history of Bjarne Nielsen himself. I am including the link to the full article on Pipedia and also some pertinent sections of the article that I have edited for quick reference. https://pipedia.org/wiki/Bjarne

From the early 1990s Bjarne had seven pipemakers employed and the pipes were sold in no fewer than 32 countries. For more than six months each year, Bjarne traveled around the world to promote his pipes by meeting with dealers and customers. But sadly, it all ended in February 2008 when Bjarne, then 66 years old suffered a fatal heart attack. An unexpected blow fist of all to his family, but also to the pipemakers who had been working for him, and to all lovers of his pipes from around the world. And as no one was willing to take over, the Bjarne pipe died together with its creator.
Among the pipemakers that worked for Bjarne were Johs (for the lower priced high volume pieces), and makers like Ph. Vigen, Ole Bandholm and Tonni Nielsen for high grade pieces. The cheaper line was stamped “Bjarne” while the highest grades were stamped “Bjarne Nielsen” (never with the pipemakers’ name) and graded, from highest to lowest, by the letters: AX, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J.
Now I knew that the pipe I had was made before 2008 and could well have been made by Tonni Nielsen. The B stamping told me it was a fairly high grade pipe – third grade from the top AX grade. That makes sense when I look at the grain and also the way the pipe maker cut the pipe to maximize the lay of the grain on the bowl. I took a few photos of the pipe taken apart to show how the stem was made and to give a good look at the Cumberland under the oxidation. There were no tooth marks or chatter on the stem top or bottom.I scrubbed the sticky wax and grime off the bowl surface with Murphy’s Oil Soap on a cotton pad. I was surprised how much grit and grime came off the bowl. Some of what appeared to be nicks or scratches were in the thick wax coat on the bowl and once it was removed so were the marks in the surface. The grain really showed clearly once I rinsed off the soap on the bowl. I cleaned out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol. The stem was in such good shape under the wax, grime and oxidation that I wiped it down lightly with alcohol on a cotton pad and then went directly to the micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit pads and gave the stem a coat of Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished by sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I set the stem aside to dry. I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping on the underside of the shank. I gave the bowl and stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It too will be available soon on the rebornpipes store. Send me a message or a response if you are interested. Thanks for looking.

Refreshing a Coral Finish Meerschaum Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

I am on a meerschaum refurbishing binge. I have a few in my box of pipe to be refurbished. This one is a bit unique to me. I have had rusticated meerschaum pipe from Manx Pipes and Nording but I have never had one with what to me looks like this one. I have labeled it a coral finish because it not only looks like it with the carved grooves and pits in the finish but tactilely it also feels like a piece of worn coral. The bowl finish was dirty – more dirty than coloured. The photos below actually make it appear a bit darker than it was when I started. The grooves and pits were lined with dust and debris. The rim had a tarry buildup that was hard and black. The bowl had a light cake forming on the inner walls. The stem is probably made of acrylic or if earlier Bakelite. It has a swirled amber appearance becoming clear in the last third of the stem to the button. There is a single black dot on the top of the stem. The stem has a push tenon and the shank an insert for the tenon. These are either nylon or Delrin. They lead me to believe that the pipe is a bit newer. It does not look like a replacement tenon. The airway in the stem was darkened with tobacco stain. This would give me a chance to use my newly worked out method of cleaning clear stems. I took a close-up photo of the rim to show the build up on the back of the top along with darkening to a lesser degree all the way around the top of the bowl. I also took a photo of the top and bottom of the stem. Though they are clear enough they do not show the rippling and tooth marks in the surface. It looked to me like someone had tried to buff out the tooth marks and ended up with a wavy surface on the stem. You can also see the staining of the airway in the clearer portion of the stem.I decided to use a gentle soft scrub product to clean the exterior of the meerschaum and the tarry buildup on the rim. I scrubbed it with a tooth brush and rinsed it under running water. I dried it off with a towel. I used a brass bristle brush to work on the rim top. I was able to remove much of the tarry buildup on the rim and rinsed it once again with running water. I reamed out the light cake with a Savinelli Pipe Knife and took the cake completely out of the bowl.I worked on the inside of the airway with mini-needle files to smooth out the drilling and the slot. It took three different needle files to remove much of the roughness – a round, an oval and a flat oval file.I scrubbed the inside of the stem with bristle pipe cleaners and soft scrub cleanser. With repeated scrubbing alternating with the needle files I was able to remove the majority of the staining in the airway. I scrubbed the airway and mortise in the bowl with alcohol and pipe cleaners.To remove the waviness of the stem and the tooth marks I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper and a medium grit block. I was able to remove the wavy lines and the tooth marks and restore the taper of the stem.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 micromesh sanding pads and wiped the stem down with a damp cotton pad. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and wiped it down again. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and wiped it down a final time to remove the sanding dust. I buffed the bowl and stem lightly with Blue Diamond on the wheel. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the stem and bowl with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message on Facebook or respond in the space below the blog. Thanks for looking.

Cleaning up a no name Vineyard Meerschaum Billiard

Breathing New Life into a John Surrey Ltd. Red Knight

Restoring a Chubby Shank Bruyere Shop Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

This one came to me in the box of pipes from my brother, Jeff. It is stamped Bruyere Shop on the left side of the shank and Imported Briar on the right side. It has a sterling silver band that is stamped STERLING and bears three hallmarks – an Anchor, a Lion and a T. The band thus reads Birmingham (the Anchor), .925 Sterling Silver (the Lion) and the letter T which dates the pipe to 1943. The band appears original as there are no cracks that it is banding or repairing. There is no damage to the pipe under the band. The silver band was oxidized and tarnished. It is pressure fit on the shank. The bowl was in decent shape when I got it – dirty and worn. There were paint specks on the briar. The beveled/rounded rim had darkening and heavy coating of tars and oils. The bowl had a cake that cover the sides and bottom. The thick shank was extremely dirty and oily. The stem had tooth marks on the top side and the underside next to the button. It was oxidized and very dirty as well. I took a close-up photo of the rim to show the buildup and the cake in the bowl. The second one shows the stamping on the band that I spelled out above.The next two photos show the condition of the stem and show the oxidation and the tooth marks next to the button.I scrubbed the bowl and rim with acetone on cotton pads to remove the old wax and grime on the finish. I worked on the rim to remove the buildup that had collected there. I used the Savinelli Pipe Knife to cut back the cake to bare briar.I sanded the inner edge and top of the rim to clean off the tarry buildup and also smooth out the dents and nicks in the rim.I scraped out the shank with a dental spatula and scrubbed the shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until it was clean.I polished the silver band with silver polish to remove the tarnish and oxidation. The bright shine of the sterling silver came through the polish and I could see that it was going to be a beauty once the tarnish was gone.I used a light brown stain pen to restain the rim and polished it.I buffed the bowl lightly with Blue Diamond to polish the briar. I buffed it until the bowl and rim matched each other. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth marks on the top side of the stem. I repaired the one on the underside with black super glue. I built up the top of the button on both sides of the stem with black super glue. I sprayed it with an accelerator to dry it quickly.I used a needle file to rehape the sharp edge of the button and smooth out the surface of the stem.I cleaned out the airway with pipe cleaners and alcohol to remove all of the oils and tars in the stem.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove all of the oxidation. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I gave the stem a coat of Obsidian Oil and dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads. I gave it another coat of oil and sanded it with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I buffed the stem and bowl with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish it. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. If anyone knows anything about the Bruyere Shop please let me know in the response below. Thanks for looking.

ADDENDUM

I was doing some reading on the web and found a reference to a pipe shop in Buffalo, N.Y. called the Bruyere Pipe Shop in a May 1953 Popular Mechanics Magazine. I wonder if there is a tie…

Restoring a Fieldstub Bullmoose for a Friend

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is the second pipe that my friend dropped by for a restoration and cleaning. The first was the Tom Howard that I wrote about recently https://rebornpipes.com/2016/07/09/restoring-a-tom-howard-rhodesian-scoop/. This one is a Fieldstub imported briar. The most I can find out about it is that is American made in the 30-40s by and unknown factory. It shares a lot of features with pipes made by Tracy Mincer and the Custom-Bilt line but I can find no link. This one was dirty and tired looking. The rim had a lot of darkening and the bowl had a cake. The grooves on the rim were dirty and darkened. The stem was oxidized and had tooth marks at the button on both the top and underside of the stem. The pipe is stamped FIELDSTUB over Imported Briar on the left side of the shank. I took a few close-up photos of the rim and the stem. The first shows the buildup on the rim top and the cake in the bowl. The second and third show the stem with the tooth marks right next to the button edge. I scrubbed the bowl with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap, used a brass bristle brush on the rim top and rinsed it under running water. I dried it off and took these photos. I scrubbed the top of the rim to remove the darkening using acetone and cotton pads. I was able to remove most of the darkening. I wiped down the rest of the bowl with acetone as well to remove the wax and any debris that remained. I cleaned up the inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the nicks and dings on the edge.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation and cleaned the airway with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol.I used alcohol and wiped off the damaged areas next to the underside of the button where the worst of the tooth marks remained after sanding. I filled in the tooth marks with black super glue and sprayed it with an accelerator to speed the drying time. I cleaned up the edge of the button and smoothed out the repair with a needle file. I wanted a clean, sharp edge on the button.I sanded the patch with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surface of the stem and remove the file marks.I stuffed a cotton ball into the bowl and filled it with alcohol to pull the tars and oils out of the bowl and shank. I let it sit for several hours while I worked on the stem.I took the cotton ball out of the bowl and cleaned out the shank and bowl with pipe cleaners and cotton swabs to clean up the last of the alcohol. I let the bowl dry and turned to the stem. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads, gave it a final rubdown of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and gave the stem several coats of carnauba wax. I hand waxed the bowl with Conservator’s Wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfibre cloth. This one joins the Tom Howard as they wait for Theo to stop by and pick them both up. They are cleaned, polished and smelling great! If you read this blog, they are both ready for you Theo. Thanks for looking.

Restoring a Tom Howard Rhodesian Scoop

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Blog by Steve Laug

This pipe is stamped Tom Howard on the left side of the shank and Imported Briar on the right side. A friend of mine emailed me and asked if I would clean it up for him and bring it back to life. He said the stem tasted awful. He said he had tried to clean it up a bit but was not happy with the results. He dropped it by the house before he left on a short trip. Here is what it looked like when it arrived. There was a pretty thick cake in the bowl and the rim had overflow on the top. The grooves and worm trails were pretty much filled in with grime. The stem was badly oxidized and there were some deep scratches in the surface. There was tooth chatter on the top and bottom of the stem near the button.I reamed the bowl in stages. I began with a Savinelli Pipe Knife to take back the inner edge of the bowl.I used a brass bristle wire brush to clean off the top of the rim and get rid of the buildup.I scrubbed the bowl with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the buildup of tars and oils that darkened the bowl and shank. It did not take too much to get the briar clean. I rinsed the bowl with running water and dried it off with a towel. The cleaned exterior is shown in the photos below. I did the second stage of reaming the bowl with a PipNet Reamer and took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up that reaming with the Pipe Knife again.I used the dental spatula to scrape out the mortise and then scrubbed it with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until it was clean.I decided to scrub the surface some more with a cotton pad and acetone. I was able to remove more of the finish on the bowl and lighten it even more. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the inner edge of the rim and smooth out some of the damage that was there.I cleaned out the inside of the stem with pipe cleaners and alcohol.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation that was on the surface of the saddle, the groove where the saddle joined the bowl and the area around the button.Before continuing on the stem I stuffed a cotton ball in the bowl of the pipe and also the bowl of a second one I was working on and filled it with alcohol. The alcohol pulled the tars and residue from the bowl and shank into cotton ball.I let it sit in the bowl for several hours while I worked on the stem. You can see the oils and tars that are being drawn into the cotton ball in the next photo.The underside of the stem near the button had one deep tooth mark in the surface that I was unable to sand out. I cleaned it up and then filled it with some black super glue. Once the glue had dried I sanded the patch back to blend it into the surface of the stem.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I sanded and polished the stem. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I set it aside to dry. I stained the bowl with some medium walnut Danish Oil and then buffed it with Blue Diamond on the wheel. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad and then hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The pipe is clean, the smell and bad taste are gone and to me the pipe looks better than when I started the process. The bowl smelled clean. The pipe is ready to go back to its owner once I get the second pipe finished. Thanks for looking. Theo if you see this – your first pipe is ready for you when you return.

A Clean and Restore of a Viggo Nielsen Handmade Freehand

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Blog by Steve Laug

My brother Jeff is developing quite an eye for beautiful pipes. He came across this freehand on eBay and sent me the photos. He bid on it and soon received it in the mail. It is a stunning piece that Viggo made in such a way that the shape absolutely maximizes the grain. It is stamped with Viggo’s normal stamp Viggo Nielsen in a circle over Handmade in Denmark on the left side of the shank.Its finish is a combination of smooth and what looks like sandblast but I am not sure it is not just a well done rustication made to look that way. The colours of the stains are a rich medium brown on the smooth portions that accentuate the grain. The colour on the rustication shows both a medium and dark brown stain that is repeated on the plateau on the rim of the pipe and small bit of plateau that peeks out on the top edge of the shank. The stem is a custom cut square piece of vulcanite that is carved with a square ring and a round one just before the tapered tenon. The finish was dirty with thick wax and grime from years of use. The bowl had a light cake. The rim edges were in perfect condition and the plateau top look new under the grime. The rustication/blast on the front of the bowl also looked to be in great shape. There were no dings or nicks in the finish. The stem was oxidized and had tooth marks on the top and bottom sides near the button.

I turned to Pipedia to learn about Viggo Nielsen. I had memory about him being somehow connected to Kai Nielsen but I was not sure of the relationship of the two. In Pipedia I learned that Viggo, now deceased, was born in 1927. I believe that during World War II he worked for Stanwell making pipes out of birch due to a shortage of briar. In 1948 he opened the Bari pipe factory and in 1951 began to make briar pipes. He carved both classic and freehand pipes.

In 1978 Bari was sold to a company in Germany and he and his two sons, Jorgen and Kai started making Faaborg pipes. Now I knew the connection between the two names that I remembered. https://pipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen,_Viggo

I scrubbed the surface of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap on cotton pads to remove the old wax and accumulated grime. Once the pipe was cleaned I rinsed it under running water and dried it off. The grain just stood out and showed how well Viggo laid out the shape to the grain. I cleaned out the internals of the mortise and airways in the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until the pipe was clean.I reamed the light cake back to bare briar with a Savinelli Pipe Knife – a tool that I am using more and more often since I purchased it. It works exceptionally well to pare back light cake and clean up remnants in a bowl after I have used my other reamers.The oxidation on the stem was stubborn so I soaked it in an Oxyclean solution for a day and a half to soften the oxidation. After I removed it from the solution I scrubbed it dry with a coarse towel to remove as much of the softened oxidation as possible. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth marks on both the top and bottom sides at the button. There were tooth deep tooth marks on the top edge of the button that needed attention. I cleaned off the stem surface and then used clear super glue to repair the two deep tooth marks. I sanded them back to the surface with 220 grit sandpaper and later with the micromesh sanding pads.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. In the photo below you can still see the battle I am having with the oxidation on the turned stem. It was a bear to get it off.I repeated sanding with 220 grit sandpaper and repeated the wet sanding with the 1500-2400 grit pads. I was beginning to conquer the issue. I dry sanded the stem with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding with 6000-12000 grit pads to bring out the shine and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I set the stem aside to dry. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond and worked on the tight areas on the stem – the grooves in the stem. I buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond – lightly on the rusticated/blast and plateau portions and more heavily on the smooth portions. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to finish polishing the finish. I have found that this last step adds some depth to the shine. I am pleased with the finished look of the pipe. Thanks for looking.