Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a sandblast finished Billiard with a vulcanite shank extension and military bit stem. We purchased it from a seller on eBay from Jordan, Minnesota, USA on 01/22/2024.The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Savinelli [over] Punto Oro. That is followed by the Savinelli “S” Shield logo followed by the shape number 811 [over] Italy. On the top of the stem there is an inserted brass dot. The rim was in good condition other than a lot of lava in the sandblast finish overflowing from the thick cake in the bowl. There were oils and grime ground into the bowl sides gives the finish a flat look. The stem is oxidized and calcified. It had light tooth marks on both the top and underside of the stem just ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. I have included them below. He took photos of the rim top to show the cake and the dust on the top. It is another dirty pipe. He also captured the light tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain around the bowl and the amount of grime ground into the surface of the briar.   He took photos of the stamping on the heel of the bowl and the underside of the shank. It is clear and quite readable. The single brass dot logo on the top of the military style stem looks very good.  I turned to Pipephil’s site to get a feel for the Punto Oro line. All of the previous Punto Oro pipes that I have worked on were smooth finish with great grain. This was a sandblast one and I do not recall working on one before. Here is the link (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-savinelli3.html). I have included a screen capture of the pertinent information on the line below. It appears the line came out in both smooth and sandblast finishes. I turned to Pipedia to look at what information they had on the brand. I found a catalogue page on the Punto Oro which confirmed what I had surmised about the line having both smooth and sandblast finished pipe (https://pipedia.org/images/d/db/Sav_Punto_Oro.jpg). I have included a screen capture of the page below. It says that the line was available in 2 distinct finishes – a rich Mahogany smooth finish and a genuine sandblast. The Savinelli shape number was 811 so I turned to the Savinelli Shape Chart on Pipedia and included a screen capture (https://pipedia.org/images/4/41/Sav_Shape_Chart_2017.jpg). I have drawn a red box around the 811KS shape in the photo below. Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The bowl walls looked very good. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. 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 Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show how clean it was. You can see the places on the rim top and the inner edge where the stain had faded or washed out.  The stem looks clean of oxidation and there are light tooth marks and chatter on both sides.I took photos of the stamping on the top and the underside of the shank. The stamping is faint in spots but it is still readable. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe.I started my work on this pipe by addressing the oxidation that remained on the vulcanite shank extension. I scrubbed it with Soft Scrub and cotton pads and was able to remove a large majority of the oxidation.I touched up the faded stain on the rim top and edges with a Walnut stain pen. It matched the rest of the stain on the bowl very well. I touched up the area where the briar met the vulcanite shank extension. There were areas around the extension were faded on the briar. I touched them up with a black Sharpie pen. It blended the faded briar into the surrounding briar very well. It looked much better.  I polished the vulcanite shank extension with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the vulcanite down after each pad with Obsidian Oil on a cloth to remove the sanding dust and debris from the shank extension. It really began to take on a rich glow. I polished the vulcanite shank extension with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad to remove the debris. The bowl took on a rich glow. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth and shoe brush 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. I set the bowl aside and “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a lighter. I was able to lift the majority of the tooth marks in the stem surface. Those that remained should be able to be removed by sanding the stem.I worked over the tooth marks with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. After each pad I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. At this point the stem is starting to look much better.I polished the vulcanite 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. This Savinelli Sandblast Punto Oro 811 Oval Shank Billiard with a Military Bit turned out to be a great looking pipe. The mix of dark stains highlights the sandblasted grain around the bowl sides, top and bottom. The vulcanite shank extension works very well with the dark finish on the bowl and the polished vulcanite military style bit. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad followed by hand buffing with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished beautiful sandblast Savinelli Punto Oro 811 Billiard fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.48 ounces/42 grams. If you are interested in carrying on the pipeman’s legacy with this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

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