Tag Archives: Savinelli Oscar pipes

This Dirty Savinelli Oscar Aged Briar 616 Came Alive During the Restoration

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Blog by Steve Laug

I went through my box of pipes that needed to be restored and came across this interesting looking chunky Bent Billiard with a smooth rim top. The bowl and the shank were rusticated with a tight pattern approximating a sandblast finish that feels great in the hand. I was really interested in what it would look like once it was finished. The pipe came to us back in 2017 from an antique store in Stevensville, Montana, USA. It was stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank. It read Oscar [over] Aged Briar. That was followed by a Savinelli S shield and the shape number 616 [over] Italy. The finish was very dirty with ground in oils and dirt. At the junction of the heel of the bowl and panel with the stamping there was some thick putty like substance that was almost like dried wood glue and nasty looking. The bowl had a thick cake in it that overflowed with lava on the rim top and down the sides of the cap. The thick vulcanite taper stem was lightly oxidized and had tooth marks on the surface of the stem and the button itself on both sides. There was also some sticky residue around the stem next to the shank. It was a dirty pipe but it had some amazing potential that shone through the dirt and debris. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up. Jeff took a photo of the rim top to show the thick cake in the bowl and the thick lava coat and scratches on the rim top. The exterior looked dull and lifeless but still we both saw something. He took photos of the top and underside of the stem to show the oxidation, calcification and tooth damage on both sides of the stem surface and button. He took photos of the dirty rustication on the heel and sides of the bowl to show the pattern of the finish and the beauty of the briar. It really is very nice.He captured the dried wood glue on the heel of the bowl on the area between the smooth panel and the heel. It is hard to know what is going on there. We will know more once it is cleaned.He took photos of the stamping on the pipe. It was on the underside of the shank and was clear and readable as noted above. I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-savinelli3.html) to have a look at the Savinelli Oscar. There was no new information there however I did learn that the Oscar often had fills in the briar so it helped to clarify the patch on the bottom of the bowl/shank.Pipedia has a great history of the brand that is worth a read if you have not already read it (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Savinelli). It is brief and pointed. There is also a great shape chart on the site. I have circled the 616 in red in the chart below.

Armed with that information it was time to work on the pipe. Jeff had reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils as well as the residue on the bottom of the bowl/shank junction. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived.   I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. There was some darkening on the beveled inner edge of the rim and some scratches on the smooth rim top. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth marks on the surface near the button and on the button itself on both sides. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable. You can also see the fills on the bottom of the bowl near the stamping in the photo below. It is a solid fill and there are no cracks internally or externally at this point.    I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts. It is really a great looking chunky Bent Billiard.I started the work on the pipe by cleaning up the scratching on the rim top and the darkening on the beveled inside edge of the bowl first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper for both. It looked better when I was finished.I polished the smooth rim top with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush 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. I set the bowl aside and turned my attentions to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks on the stem surface and the button with the flame of a lighter. I sanded out the remaining tooth chatter and marks on the stem surface 220 grit sandpaper. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. 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 finish this chunky Savinelli Oscar Aged Briar 616 Bent Billiard. 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 buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I also hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the grain on the rim top and the depth of the brown/black rustication popping all around it. Added to that the polished  black vulcanite taper stem was beautiful. This shapely Rusticated Oscar Bent Billiard is nice 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 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 68 grams/2.40 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I soon put on the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipemakers Section. If you are interested in carrying on the pipeman’s legacy. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

New Life for an Oscar Aged Briar 704 Birks Liverpool

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is a Savinelli Made Liverpool that we purchased in 2018 from a fellow in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. It is a thin pencil shank pipe in a shape that I would call a Liverpool from the  flow of the stem and shank. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Oscar [over] Aged Briar. On the right side it is stamped with a Savinelli “S” shield followed by the shape number 704 [over] Italy. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Birks. The stem bears the stamp of BB with the left B stamped backwards. The bowl had a thick cake and lava overflow on the rim. It was hard to estimate the condition of the rim top with the cake and lava coat but I was hoping it had been protected from damage. The bowl was smooth and a natural finish. The finish was dusty and tired but had some nice grain under the grime and the finish appeared to be in good condition. A lot would be revealed once Jeff had worked his magic on it. The stem was dirty, oxidized, calcified and had tooth chatter and deep tooth marks near the button on both sides. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Jeff captured the condition of the bowl and rim top with the next series of photos. You can see the work that is ahead of us in the photos. The cake is very thick and heavy. The next two photos of the stem show the top and underside of the stem. It is oxidized and calcified an you can see the tooth marks and chatter on the surface of both sides. Jeff took some great photos of the sides of the bowl and heel showing the worn finish and what is underneath the grime and debris of time and use. It will be interesting to see what happens as the pipe is cleaned and restored.He captured the stamping on the sides of the shank. They are clear and readable. The left side reads Oscar [over] Aged Briar. On the right side it has the Savinelli Shield S followed by the shape number 704 [over] Italy. On the underside it is stamped Birks. The stem bears an interesting BB logo. All of the stamping is understandable as it is a typical Savinelli made pipe. The only stamp that leaves me a bit mystified is the Birks stamp. I know that Birks is a designer, manufacturer and retailer of jewellery, timepieces, silverware and gifts, with stores and manufacturing facilities located in Canada and the United States. I wonder if that is the connection with the stamping on this pipe. Was it a gift made by Birks and sold as such? Was it a line they sold in their stores? I have worked on these in the past and that is the best I can find.

The pipe has been here for a few years now so it is about time I worked on it. I took it out of the box where I had stored it and looked it over. It was amazingly clean and looked like a different pipe. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The bowl looked very good. The rim top showed a lot of darkening but the inner bevel was in good condition. Jeff scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime and soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer. When he took it out of the soak it came out looking far better. I took photos before I started my part of the work.   I took some photos of the rim top and stem. The rim top is clean but there is a lot of darkening around the top and edges. The bowl itself looks very clean. The close up photos of the stem show that is it very clean and the deep tooth marks are very visible.I took photos of the stamping because they had cleaned up very well. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the bowl and to give a sense of the proportion of the pipe. It is a nice looking pencil shank Liverpool.I decided to take care of the damage on the rim top and inner edge first. I worked over the rim top and the inner edge with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper and was able to remove much of the darkening. Once I had finished the bowl was round and the edge looked very good.I polished the briar and the shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I was able to blend in the repairs into the side of the bowl. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The grain really began to stand out and the finish took on a shine by the last sanding pad. The photos tell the story! I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the smooth briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for fifteen 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 set the bowl aside and turned to deal with the stem. I filled the tooth marks with clear CA glue. Once it had hardened I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper and 400 grit wet dry sandpaper to blend it into the surface of the vulcanite. I touched up the BB stamp on the left side of the taper stem with Rub’n Buff Antique Gold. I rubbed it on and worked it into the stamping with a tooth pick. Once it had been sitting for 5 minutes I buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The BB was worn but it definitely looks better. I believe that it is the logo for Birks!I polished the vulcanite stem 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 gave the stem a final coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect it. This Savinelli Made Oscar Aged Briar 704 Liverpool was another fun pipe to work on and I really was looking forward to seeing it come back together again. With the grime and debris gone from the finish it was a beauty and the grain just pops at this point. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank during the process. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The rich natural finish on the bowl looks really good with the polished black vulcanite stem. It is very well done. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ 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 33grams/1.16oz. This is truly a great looking Oscar Aged Briar. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be adding it to the Italian Pipe Makers section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you want to add it to your collection send me an email or a message! Thanks for your time.

Fresh Life for a Savinelli Oscar Lucite 111KS Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to us 2018 from a fellow in Pocatello, Idaho, USA. It is a nice looking Billiard with cross grain and birdseye grain and has a Fancy Lucite half saddle stem. The Lucite stem fits the name on the left side Oscar Lucite. The bowl has a rich reddish brown colour combination that highlights grain. The pipe has some grime ground into the surface of the briar. The finish had a few small fills around the sides but they blended in fairly well. This pipe is stamped on the sides of the shank. On the left it reads Oscar [over] Lucite. On the right it has a Savinelli “S” Shield and next to that was the shape number 111KS [over] Italy. There is a thick cake in the bowl and an overflow of lava on the top beveled inner edge of the bowl. The rim top looks good but it is hard to be certain with the lava coat. There were some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the Lucite stem near the button. The pipe looks to be in good condition under the grime. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup. He took photos of the rim top to show the thick cake and the thick lava coat. It is hard to know what the condition of the rim top and edges is like under that thick lava. It is an incredibly dirty pipe but obviously one that was a great smoker. The acrylic half saddle stem had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.   He took a photo of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the beautiful grain around the bowl and the condition of the pipe. You can see the grime ground into the surface of the briar. He took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Savinelli Product. I turned first to Pipephil’s site to look at the Savinelli write up there and see if I could learn anything about the Oscar Lucite line (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-savinelli3.html). There was a listing for the Oscar Lucite and I did a screen capture of the pertinent section.I looked up the Savinelli brand on Pipedia to see if I could find the Oscar Lucite line and the 111KS Shape (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Savinelli). There was nothing that tied directly to the line I am working on. There is a detailed history of the brand there that is a good read. I also captured the shape chart and boxed in the 111KS shape in red. The shape is identical to the one that I am working on. The stem on this one is the original shape that was on the Lucite Line but there was no shooting star logo on the left side.It was time to work on the pipe. As usual Jeff had done a thorough cleanup on the pipe. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. One of the benefits of this scrub is that it also tends to lift some of the scratches and nicks in the surface of the briar. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He cleaned the internals and externals of the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub all-purpose cleanser and rinsed it off with warm water and cleaned out the airway in the stem with alcohol. Other than the damaged rim top the pipe looked good.   I took a photo of the rim top and stem to show the condition. The rim top was in very rough condition. The rim top and the edges of the bowl had darkening, burn marks and some nicking. The Lucite half saddle stem had light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button and on the button edges.  The stamping on the sides of the shank is clear and readable as noted above.     I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. It is a nice looking billiard that should clean up very well. I started working on the pipe by dealing with the damaged rim top and edges. I topped the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper on a topping board. I worked over the rim top and inner bevel of the rim with 220 grit sandpaper. I smooth out the damage and gave the  rim top and edge a clean look that would polish out nicely. I wiped the rim top down with a damp cloth to remove the dust and debris.   I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped down the bowl after each sanding pad.     I stained the rim top with an Oak stain pen to match the rest of the bowl. Once I buffed and polished the bowl it would be a perfect match. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Balm did its magic and the grain stood out.  I polished the Lucite 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. The photo below shows the polished stem. This nicely grained Savinelli Made Oscar Lucite 11KS Billiard with Lucite half saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The briar is clean and really came alive. The rich reddish, brown stains gave the grain a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. The grain really popped. I put the vulcanite stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. 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 Oscar Lucite Billiard is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 46grams/1.62oz.Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Cleaning up a Uniquely Shaped Savinelli Oscar Aged Briar 316KS

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Blog by Steve Laug

Two pipes left to clean up from the estate sale pipe lot that my brother picked up. The first of them is a beautiful Savinelli. It is stamped on a smooth spot on the bottom of the bowl with the words – Oscar in script over Aged Briar. Next to that is the Savinelli S shield followed by 316KS over Italy. Looking at the pipe I am not quite sure what to call it in terms of the shape. It is an incredibly unique shape to Savinelli. The walls are flared like a Dublin, bowl short like a Pot and highly beveled and polished rim, this shape is beautiful. The rusticated finish on the Aged Briar is a lot like it is sandblasted over the top of the rustication. I looked up a similar pipe on smokingpipe.com and found the description there helpful. I quote it in full: “Somewhere in between a Pear, Dublin, and a Pot, there’s Savinelli’s signature “316” shape. It features a wide chamber perfect for enjoying the intricacies of more complex blends. Presented here in the rugged rustication of the Oscar Aged Briar line, it’s a handsome composition for a price that simply can’t be beat.” http://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/italy/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=183082 I looked up the Savinelli Shape Chart and copied it below. I circled the shape in red in the chart below. You can see it in the second column.Jeff took the first photo and the remaining ones on the black background. They show the condition of the pipe before my brother cleaned it.The top of the rim was in rough shape. The cake in the bowl had overflowed in lava on the rim top. It was thick and hard. It would be interesting to see what would be underneath once the bowl was reamed the rim top cleaned. The finish on the rest of the bowl was in excellent condition as can be seen in the second photo below. The next photos show the stamping on the bowl bottom as noted in the opening paragraph of the blog. The stamping was sharp and readable. The third photo shows the stamping on the top of the stem. It is the classic Savinelli Oscar shooting star. The stem showed the now familiar tooth chatter and marks that were on each of the pipes in this estate lot. There was some light oxidation on the surface of the stem as well.My brother did a stellar job of cleaning up the pipe. He reamed the bowl with the PipNet pipe reamer and took the cake back to briar. He scrubbed the rim top and the finish with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to clean out the debris and dust in the grooves of the finish. He was able to remove the buildup on the rim top and leave the finish intact. The stem was soaked in Oxyclean and the oxidation came to the surface. He cleaned out the inside of the mortise and the airway in the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. When I got the pipe it was clean. I took the following photos to show the condition of the pipe before I restored it. The next photo shows the crowned rim top. It was amazingly clean with no residue left behind from the lava build up that had been present before he cleaned it.I took close up photos of the stem surface on both sides. The tooth chatter and marks are more distinct on the underside of the stem at the button than those on the topside.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation and the tooth marks and chatter. It did not take too much sanding to remove all the damage and oxidation. I worked on it until it was clean. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and let it soak in. I wiped down the area around the shooting star stamp with alcohol on a cotton pad and touched up the stamp with white acrylic paint. Once the paint dried I rubbed off the excess paint and left only the paint in the stamp itself.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads. I rubbed it down with oil between each of the pads. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and rubbed it down with oil after each pad. I buffed the stem with red Tripoli on the buffing wheel and then finished polishing it with 6000-12000 grit pads.  I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil after the 12000 grit pad and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back in place in the shank and buffed the bowl and stem lightly with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax. I buffed the pipe and stem with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the bowl with a shoe brush and then with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 inches. This contrast between the smooth, crowned bowl rim and the patch on the underside of the bowl are reddish brown and the contrast of the dark brown/black top coat over the reddish brown showing through give the pipe an intriguing contrast look. The bowl has been cleaned and the entire pipe is ready to smoke. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection email me at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a message on Facebook. Thanks for looking.