Tag Archives: shaping a stem

Kathy’s Dad’s Pipes – Restoring a Barontini De Luxe Brandy

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is also from George Koch’s estate. It is a Barontini De Luxe Brandy shaped pipe with a quarter bend. The pipe was one of many that came to my brother and me in several shipments of pipes from George’s daughter Kathy. When Jeff got each box the pipes were well wrapped and packed. Jeff unwrapped them and took the following photo to give an idea of the volume of the pipes that we purchased. The Barontini came in mixed in a box of pipes much like the one below.In each of the previous blogs that I have written on the restoration of George’s pipes I have told his story. To me it is important to keep the story attached to the pipes that came from his collection. Each pipe I work on I remind myself of the man and in the work give a remembrance to the pipeman who owned these pipes. Having held a large number of his pipes in my hand and having a pretty good feel for the shapes, colour and stems that he liked, I can almost imagine George picking out each pipe in his collection at the Malaga shop in Michigan. I am including Kathy’s brief bio of her father and a photo of her Dad enjoying his “Malagas”. Here is George’s bio written by his daughter.

Dad was born in 1926 and lived almost all his life in Springfield, Illinois. He was the youngest son of German immigrants and started grade school knowing no English. His father was a coal miner who died when Dad was about seven and his sixteen year old brother quit school to go to work to support the family. There was not much money, but that doesn’t ruin a good childhood, and dad had a good one, working many odd jobs, as a newspaper carrier, at a dairy, and at the newspaper printing press among others.

He learned to fly even before he got his automobile driver’s license and carried his love of flying with him through life, recertifying his license in retirement and getting his instrumental license in his seventies and flying until he was grounded by the FAA in his early eighties due to their strict health requirements. (He was never happy with them about that.) He was in the Army Air Corps during World War II, trained to be a bomber, but the war ended before he was sent overseas. He ended service with them as a photographer and then earned his engineering degree from University of Illinois. He worked for Allis Chalmers manufacturing in Springfield until the early sixties, when he took a job at Massey Ferguson in Detroit, Michigan.

We lived in Livonia, and that’s where his love for Malaga pipes began. After a few years he returned to Allis Chalmers and we moved back to Springfield. I remember that when we went back to Michigan to visit friends, Dad had to go to the Malaga store and acquire a few new pipes. Many a year I wrote to Malaga and they picked out a pipe for me to purchase that I could give Dad for a Christmas or birthday present. He was always pleased. His favorites were the straight stemmed medium sized bowl pipes, but he liked them all.

He had some other pipes, but the Malagas were his favorites. I remember him smoking them sitting in his easy chair after work, with feet up on the ledge by the fire burning in the fireplace. Growing up it was my job to clean them and he liked the inner bowl and stem coated with Watkins vanilla, leaving a little of that liquid in the bowl to soak in when I put them back on the rack. Dad quit smoking later in life and so they’ve sat on the racks for many years unattended, a part of his area by his easy chair and fireplace. Dad passed when he was 89 years old and it finally is time for the pipes to move on. I’m very happy they are being restored by you and your brother and hope they find homes who enjoy them as much as Dad did. Thank-you for your care and interest. — Kathy, the oldest daughter

Each blog I have posted I thank Kathy for providing this beautiful tribute to her Dad. Jeff and I appreciate your trust in allowing us to clean and restore these pipes. We are also trusting that those of you who are reading this might carry on the legacy of her Dad’s pipes as they will be added to the rebornpipes store once they are finished.

The next the pipe is a nicely shaped Barontini Brandy with an acrylic stem. It has beautiful grain all around the bowl – straight, flame and birdseye that is highlighted by the rich reddish brown stain. The top of the bowl is had some burn marks and some damage. The stamping on the top side of the shank read Barontini over De Luxe. On the underside it has the shape number 702 and Italy at the shank/stem junction. The gold and brown, swirled, pearlized Lucite stem had light tooth dents and chatter on the top and the underside of the stem. The interior of the pipe was caked and had cobwebs. Jeff took these photos before he started the cleanup work on the pipe. Jeff took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to show the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The rim top had some light lava overflow and some darkening. There appeared to be some rim damage on the inner edge toward the front of the bowl. You can see the wear on the rim top, the cake and remnants of tobacco in the bowl. It also looks like there are some cobwebs in the bowl. The pipe is dirty but in good condition. He also took photos of the sides and bottom of the bowl and shank from the side to show the grain on this pipe. The finish is very dirty but this is a beautiful pipe. Jeff took some photos to capture the stamping on the top and underside of the shank. The first photo shows the top side of the shank with the stamping Barontini De Luxe and the second shows the shape number 702 on the underside. The third photo shows the ITALY stamping on the underside near the stem. There is also a B stamped on the acrylic stem.The next two photos show the stem surface. There are tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. There is also some wear on the sharp edge of the button.I looked up some information on the brand on the Pipephil website to get a quick overview of the history (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-b2.html). I did a screen capture of the listing for the brand. The fascinating thing that I learned in this quick overview was the connection to the entire Barontini family and to other companies like Aldo Velani. It is interesting to see the breadth of the brand in the following screen capture. The pipe I am working on it stamped like the third photo down – the Classica and the B on the stem is identical to that pipe’s stamping.Pipedia gives further history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Barontini,_Ilio) under the listing for Ilio Barontini. I quote that article in full as it has the connection to the De Luxe pipe that I am working on.

Cesare Barontini, who was in charge of the Barontini company since 1955, helped his cousin Ilio Barontini to establish a pipe production of his own.

Ilio started to produce machine-made series pipes of the lower to the middle price categories. Fatly 80% of the pipes went to foreign countries, the bulk being produced for various private label brands. Some of the own lines like “de Luxe”, “Etna” or “Vesuvio” gained a certain popularity. Citation: “Next to excellent craftsmanship Ilio Barontini pipes offer a wood quality, that is almost unrivalled in this price category!”.

The pipes being around still there were some unconfirmed utterances that Ilio Barontini brand has been absorbed by Cesare Barontini or even Savinelli. Who knows?

Now I had some idea of the maker of this Barontini. It appears to be one of the machine made Barontinis in the De Luxe line. Fueled by that information it was time to get working on the pipe itself and see what I had to do with it.

Jeff had 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. He dried it off with a soft cloth. The rim was thoroughly cleaned and the damaged areas were obvious. Without the grime the finish looked really good. The Lucite stem would need to be worked on but I really like the profile it cast. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem. You can see the condition of the rim top and bowl in the first photo. Jeff was able to remove all of the tar and oils but you can now see the damaged areas on the surface clearly. There are damaged spots on the front inner edge and the back inner edge. There are also some deep dents and nicks in the flat surface of the rim. The acrylic/Lucite stem had tooth chatter and some light tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem just ahead of the button. There was one deeper tooth mark on the underside near the button.I decided to address the damage to the rim top first. I topped the bowl on a topping board using 220 grit sandpaper. I removed the damaged surface of the rim and made it smooth once again.I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge of the rim. The rim top is looking far better at this point.I polished the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the rim off after each sanding pad to remove the dust. The rim really shone once it was polished. Once it was polished the rim was ready to be stained. I started by using stain pens. I used a Maple stain pen to match the colour of the bowl. It was the closest I could get to matching the bowl. Once it cured it was streaked and not quite a match. The first photo below shows the rim after the stain pen.I carefully wiped the rim down with some isopropyl alcohol to smooth out the stain. Once it was smooth I restained it with some Fiebing’s aniline stain. I used a tan coloured stain and flamed it once I had stained the rim. I repeated staining and flaming until the coverage on the rim matched the bowl sides. The second photo below shows the look of the rim after this staining. I rubbed down the briar with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the smooth surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little wall and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. The rim matches well but still needs to be polished and buffed to raise a shine on it. There were some tooth marks and chatter on the top and more chatter and a deeper tooth mark on the underside of the acrylic stem at the button. I cleaned off the surface of the stem with alcohol and filled in the deep tooth mark with clear super glue. Once it cured, I sanded both sides smooth with 220 grit sandpaper to blend the tooth chatter and the repair into the surface of the stem. It did not take too much sanding to remove the marks and smooth out the stem surface. When it was sanded it was smooth and the marks were gone. I polished the acrylic stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit sanding pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. I the polished stem and bowl with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches and raise the shine. I gave the bowl and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and 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. This turned out to be a beautiful pipe in terms of shape and finish. This is the thirteenth pipe that I am restoring from Kathy’s Dad’s collection. I am looking forward once again to hearing what Kathy thinks once she sees the finished pipe on the blog. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this Barontini Brandy from George’s estate. More will follow in a variety of brands, shapes and sizes. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store shortly so if you are interested in adding it to your collection and carrying on the trust from her father send me an email or a message on Facebook. Thanks for looking.

Refreshing an Italian Gasparini M.G.M. Rock Briar 1912 with an Unexpected Encounter

3 Replies

Blog by Dal Stanton

Idian lives in Indonesia and sent me an email after trolling through The Pipe Steward electronic “Help me!” basket which I call, “For ‘Pipe Dreamers’ Only!” He inquired about commissioning two pipes, a Peterson and the Italian, Gasparini M.G.M. Rock Briar 1912. He settled on the Gasparini and assured me that he was a patient man as I put his commissioned pipe in the queue behind quite a few other commissioned pipes. I found this pipe along with 65 others in a Lot of 66 which has provided several pipes for my work table which have benefited our work with the Daughters of Bulgaria, helping women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited. This M.G.M. Rock Briar stood out to Idian and it also stood out to me not only because it’s a unique Freehand shape but also because the shank is chocked full of nomenclature information that I’ve looked forward to researching. Here are the pictures that Idian saw. The heel of the shank is stamped with ITALY [over] BRIAR 1912 [over] M.G.M. [over] Rock in cursive script. Below this is a stamp – a pipe partially ensconced in a circle with M.G.M. repeated under the circle. To the right of this, hugging the briar’s edge transitioning to the vulcanite ferrule is the number 25, which I’m assuming is a shape number. The pictures above show the rondel with the pressed M for Mario, the patriarch of the Gasparini family. Much of Pipedia’s article about the Gasparini name came from the current Gasparini website, http://www.mgasparini.it/en/. When reading the information, one gets the impression of the enterprise having deep family roots which continue today. From the Pipedia article:

In 1938 Mario Gasparini, with his wife Ida, took his first steps into the world of the pipe. Today his daughter, Marisa Gasparini, sits at his desk; since 1977 Marisa and her husband, and now her daughter, carry on the tradition of her family. At the beginning of 1950’s, the building, that still today hosts the production department, was enlarged. In 1971 the offices and the warehouse were moved from Milan (where they were situated for marketing purposes) to Luvinate.

During those years the skilled workers and our direct partners have always followed the history of the Gasparini factory, becoming very fond of it and devoting themselves, with care and love, to the making of each pipe, with the personal fantasy and skills of the artist. We would like to take this opportunity to thank those artisans who, with their creativity, gave, and continue to give, life to the Gasparini Pipe factory.

The article also describes the Gasparini series, M.G.M. coming on-line in 1965 as a classical line with the initials standing for the founder’s name – Mario Gasparini Milano. Pressing the research, the Pipephil.eu site offered more information.Of interest in the Pipephil information was the reference connecting the M.G.M. “Collectionist” series (marked by the circle/pipe stamp) with a comparison to ‘wax-drip pipes’. I looked at that link and got a clue of what might be the considered shape of the M.G.M. Rock on my work desk: stummels fashioned to look like the ends of used candles. Here is a clipping of three ‘high-end’ examples of this interesting shape:With these examples before me, I take another look at the M.G.M. Rock Collector on the table and it I believe that its possible it was fashioned in the ‘wax-drip’ manner with the ripples of melted wax shaped on the rim flowing down.Pipedia’s article included an older Gasparini brochure (courtesy of Doug Valitchka) – unfortunately no dating was given for the brochure, showing three pipes in the ‘Collector’ series. The middle example is obviously the same shape style and stem as the pipe on my work table but with a squatter bowl – very much reminiscent of a ‘wax drip’ shape. My guess is that the brochure is from the 60’s because it’s black and white and I would imagine that the stated pricing at that time would not be for a corner drug store pipe! Unfortunately, this was the only page shown – I would love to have read the description for the ‘b.’ pipe!One more question dogged me in my research of the M.G.M. Rock – ‘Briar 1912’. Briar 1912 was stamped on several examples I saw of Gasparini pipes on Pipedia and Pipephil.eu. What did it refer to? As I’ve done before with much success, I decide to go to the front door of the Gasparini house and knock and introduce myself. On the ‘Contact’ page of the Gasparini website I find contact information and send an email with the 1912 question as well as a few other questions to confirm the shape number and dating. We’ll see if they respond! The description in the brochure gives a clue that I didn’t recognize until later – it states that the briar had been aged over 50 years! If one does the math, if 1912 is when the aging process began – plus 50 years, lands us in the year 1962 – the decade the M.G.M. series was introduced and perhaps the ‘Collector’ series as well. It was only after discovering an August 2013 thread in Pipes Magazine Forum (LINK) concerning Gasparini pipes that I tied the 1912 with the aging of the briar – I know, I’m slow! This clip from Doc Watson speaks very positively of the Gasparini named pipes:

I have a few Gasparini pipes. They are real sleepers IMO and are seldom talked about by collectors but believe me there are some magnificent Gasparini pipes out there. Here’s a photo of one that came from the late Jack Ehrmantrout (owner of Pipe Collectors International PCI) collection. It was one of his favorites that he never smoked. Some are stamped 1912 briar, which is indeed some old root. As most pipe companies/makers they make different lines, some higher grades than others but IMO if you find one you like, go for it. (Note from me: IMO = in my opinion)I love ‘Sherlocking’ the provenance of pipes not only to learn about the names of historic lines, but to more fully appreciate the value of what I’m handling and seeking to restore. The picture above, along with several examples in the Pipedia article courtesy of Doug Valitchka, give me a good idea of the natural briar hue Gasparini used and I will shoot for this with the M.G.M. Rock on my table.
Well, my cup runs over! I received a reply from M. Gasparini Pipes in Luvinate, Italy, but not from a desk employee. Marissa Gasparini (picture from previously cited Pipedia article) responded to my questions, the daughter of Mario Gasparini, the founder of the Gasparini Pipe house in 1948. She assumed control of the Gasparini Pipe interests in 1977 and I assume she continues in that role today. I was honored that she wrote to me. Here is her letter, switching to my native tongue and responding to my questions:

Dear Dal,
1) the 1912 is the year in which was born the briar that we used for making that serie of pipes so particular.
2) The circle with pipe in it was used only for some special fancy serie like the Rock.
3) We begin to produce thise serie in the 1960 and finish in the 1965, and now we have left only few pieces, and you are lucky to have one.
4) The number 25 is the number of the shape and the pipe was waxed.
We hope that our informations are o.k. for you and we thank you and remain at your complete disposal,
with best regards,
Marisa Gasparini

Wow! I love restoring pipes! With Marisa’s letter as confirmation, the briar root aging process used for this M.G.M. Rock began in 1912, 106 years ago. The Collector stamp was only used for special, fancy lines, which applies to this Rock. This M.G.M. Rock was produced between 1960 and 1965 – which gives it an age ranging from 58 to 53 years. The shape number perhaps points to the wax candle shape that I was guessing might be the case or the shape may simply be a freehand Rock. She also said that I was ‘lucky’ to have one of these special collector series in my possession – I would call it blessed. I responded to her gracious letter and ventured another question – to ask about the significance of the third letter, ‘M’ in M.G.M. moniker? The first two letters are clear – the initials of her father. The third letter, ‘M’ stands for Milano. I asked her the significance of ‘Milano’?

A few hours later her reply arrived. The M.G.M. – Milano was where the Gasparini family lived and produced their pipes 45 years ago – a special place in their memories.

This is a nice-looking pipe and I’m happy to call this a “Refresh” on the title of the blog. With a very quick cursory look at the chamber, stummel and stem I see no challenging issues. There is a light cake in the chamber, the rim has minor discoloration from grime and oils, and the stummel surface appears to be in good shape. The surface of the stummel has darkened and has become tired and needs some cleaning and spiffing up a bit. The Military stem shows no perceptible oxidation and only minor scratches – no tooth chatter. Maybe an easy restoration!

I begin the restoration by placing the stem in a soak of Before & After Deoxidizer along with other stems of pipes in queue for restoration. Even though I see no oxidation, I’ll give it a soak to make sure. Before putting the stem in the soak, I run a pipe cleaner dipped in isopropyl 95% through the airway to clean it first. After soaking for several hours, I fish the stem out, drain it and wipe it down with a cotton pad wetted with mineral oil (light paraffin oil here in Bulgaria). As I thought, very little oxidation was raised during the soak.Looking now to the M.G.M. Rock stummel, I begin by reaming the chamber to remove the moderate collection of carbon cake to provide a fresh start for the 106 year aged briar. After putting down paper towel for easier clean-up, from smaller to larger, I use 3 of the 4 blade heads available to me in the Pipnet Reaming Kit. After this, I employ the Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Tool to fine tune the reaming by reaching the more difficult angles at the floor of the chamber and by scraping the walls. Finally, I wrap a piece of 240 grit paper around a Sharpie Pen and sand the chamber walls. I then wipe the chamber with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95% to clean the carbon dust left behind. An inspection reveals a healthy chamber with no cracks or heat fissures. The pictures show the process. Now, turning to the external surface cleaning, I use undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with cotton pads and a bristled tooth brush to reach into the rolls of the briar shaping. I also use a brass wire brush on the small plateau to loosen the scorching around parts of the internal lip. Following this, I gently scrape the scorching with a Winchester pocket knife edge to remove more of the damaged briar. The cleaning and brushing made good progress. Preferring to work on a cleaned pipe, I now switch to the internals of the stummel by cleaning the mortise and airway with pipe cleaners and cotton buds dipped in isopropyl 95%. I also utilize different sized dental spatulas and scoops to excavate tars and oils by scraping the mortise walls and digging around the draft hole drilling deeper in the mortise. I have learned over time that it shortens the clean up by excavating what you can and following with the cotton buds. Last time I was in the US, I went to the US 1 Flea Market in Stuart, Florida, looking for pipes, of course. I found a shop in the Flea Market that had absolutely everything and found an assortment pack of about 8 different dental tool accessories – sharp, flat and scooped. These tools are very helpful in different phases of the pipe restoration process. A good investment! After excavating and swabbing, the internals are clean. I move on!Back to the Military stem – it is in good shape with respect to the oxidation, but it has scratches and roughness around the bit that one expects to find through normal use. The button also has compression marks to address. I first wet sand using 600 grade paper to find out if a mid-range grit is invasive enough to address the issues I see. It does well, but it uncovers small tooth dents that I didn’t see before as well as the button being a bit compressed. I backtrack and use a flat needle file to give the button refreshed definition. I then use 240 grit paper only in the bit area to remove the tooth dent and work on the button.To erase the 240 grit scratches, I again sand using 600 grit paper followed by sand/buffing the entire stem with 0000 grade steel wool. I think the Military stem is looking pretty good.Pressing forward with the stem sanding, I wet sand using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 followed by dry sanding with pad 3200 to 4000 then pads 6000 to 12000. After each set of 3 pads, I apply a rich coat of Obsidian Oil which rejuvenates the vulcanite. The stem’s looking great – I love the pop! I’ve been thinking as I’ve been working how I should approach the sanding/finishing of the ‘Wax Drip’ Rock shape? As the tired finish is now, the pipe to me is one dimensional. The darkened finish is uniformly non-expressive. I look at it and I see the beautiful, unique shape, but I don’t see the beauty of 106-year-old briar grain standing on center stage of this presentation. The great thing about micromesh pads is that they are flexible and hug the surface which I believe will aid me in adding some depth and contrast of shades in the briar’s presentation. While sanding with the micromesh pads, there will be natural and unavoidable changes in the pressure and impact of the pads because of the contouring of the Wax Drip Rock shaped briar. High points will naturally be lighter and lower points will be darker, providing (at least theoretically at this point!) contrast and shading through the briar landscape. Ok, that’s the theory and the plan. Time to march! Using pads 1500 to 2400, I wet sand the stummel and vulcanite ferrule. Following this, I dry sand using pads 3200 to 4000 then 6000 to 12000. The pictures show the progress and I like what I see – theory becoming reality. Next, I mount the Dremel with a cotton cloth buffing wheel set at 40% full power and I apply Tripoli compound to the briar surface. I’m able to reach more directly into the carved areas of the briar with this more abrasive compound. After the Tripoli compound, I change to another cotton cloth buffing wheel, maintain the same speed and apply Blue Diamond compound to both stummel and military stem. To remove compound dust from the pipe, I buff the pipe with a felt cloth. Before applying carnauba wax to the stummel, I apply Before & After Restoration Balm. I like using the Restoration Balm because it deepens and enriches the natural briar hues. After squeezing some Balm on my finger, I apply it to the briar with my fingers working the Balm into the surface – making sure I work it into the carved areas. As I work the Balm into the briar, it begins with a light oil consistency but thickens during the application to a wax-like ointment – the picture below shows this stage. After letting the Balm settle for about 10 minutes, I wipe/buff off the Balm with a clean cloth. The final stage is to apply carnauba wax to the stem and stummel. I mount another cotton cloth wheel to the Dremel, maintain the same 40% of full power, and apply a few coats of carnauba wax. When I complete the waxing cycles, I give the pipe a rigorous hand buffing with a microfiber cloth to raise the shine even more.

Restoring this Gasparini M.G.M. Rock exceeded my expectations in important ways. The pipe was beautiful before I started. Now, it’s a show stopper as the 106-year aged briar has retaken center stage and the Freehand shape with the dips, curves and swirls are a stellar supporting cast. I can easily see the Wax Drip shape, but it could also be petals on a flower. The Military style stem looks classy but unassuming as it joins the vulcanite ferrule with a contrasting ring of briar between ferrule and stem. Another exceeded expectation was to understand better the Gasparini name and the value of family. My appreciation brimmed for Marisa Gasparini as she took the time to answer my questions – this was an honor. This simple act revealed her pride in the Mario Gasparini heritage and her willingness to answer questions shows her concern for each pipe bearing the Gasparini name.

Idian commissioned this pipe with the understanding that the final valuing of the pipe would be after I researched and restored the pipe and published the write-up. Then, as is the understanding for all the pipes that are commissioned, the commissioner of the pipe has the first opportunity to acquire the pipe in The Pipe Steward Store with the value determined. If the price is not agreeable, he may pass, and I leave the pipe in the store for another steward to eventually add to his collection. However, for this restoration, for this Gasparini M.G.M. Rock, the value for me is ‘priceless’. I’ve invited him to join my collection and start pulling his own weight in the rotation – my first Gasparini, we’re happy. I’m thankful to Idian for his understanding after letting him know – he was a bit disappointed but happy that the M.G.M. Rock was restored and continued in good hands. Thanks for joining me!

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Stem Repair on a Savinelli Silver

2 Replies

Blog by Paresh Deshpande

I have been simultaneously working on the stem repair of CHACOM PANACHE #44 (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/08/26/chacom-panache-44/) and this SAVINELLI SILVER. Both the pipes had similar damage to their stems; a gaping hole in the stem exposing airway of the stem. As stated in my write up on the former, I had primarily purchased these pipes to gain hands down experience in major stem repairs and stem reconstruction. That both these pipes were beautiful was an added bonus!!!!!

This fancy Dublin Sav has beautiful mixed grain on the right side of the bowl while the left side has lovely birdseye grain. The front and back of the bowl, lower and upper surface of the shank has nicely packed cross grains. A sterling silver band adorns this Sav and is stamped on the upper surface with “925” in an elongated hexagon over “SAVINELLI”. On the lower surface, this band is stamped as “STERLING” over “MOUNTED”. All stampings are in block capital letters. On top of the oval shank, towards the shank end, it bears the stamp “SAVINELLI” over “SILVER” while at the bottom, it is stamped with Savinelli shield, followed by “915”, followed by size “KS” over “ITALY” in block capital letters. The saddle stem bears the Sav Shield logo on top of the saddle. History of Savinelli pipes is very well documented on pipedia.com, however, due to a very large line up, frequent changes to models, shapes and finishes, I came to a halt when I tried to date this Savinelli. I earnestly request all the knowledgeable veterans of pipe world to share any bits and pieces of information on this pipe.

INITIAL VISUAL INSPECTION

The stummel is covered in oils and tars giving a dull and lifeless appearance to the pipe. There is no heavy build up of cake in the chamber and also overflow of lava on the rim top. However, a slight darkening is seen on the right side of the rim. Some scratches are also seen on the rim top which will need to be addressed. It is the stem which has the maximum damage. A large hole can be seen on the upper surface of the stem near the button end, exposing that portion of the airway. There are two deep bite marks on the upper surface of the stem. The button on both surfaces of the stem has been chewed and will need to be reconstructed.The mortise shows some accumulation of previously smoked tobacco oils and tars, but it is nothing as compared to some pipes which I have seen.The airway is not clogged and will only require minor cleaning.

THE PROCESS

Since I had worked on the stem of the CHACOM simultaneously with that of this Sav, the process and difficulties were the same. I would request those interested in knowing the travesties I encountered and overcoming these, to please read the write up on the stem repair of CHACOM PANACHE #44 (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/08/26/chacom-panache-44/). Here are the progressive pictures of the restoration process. Having finished the stem repair (some imperfections are seen, but cannot be discerned in person), I turn my attention to the stummel. I reamed out the chamber using a Kleen Reem pipe reamer and fabricated knife. I removed the complete cake from the chamber. I further sanded down the walls of the chamber with a 220 grit sand paper to smooth the walls and took the cake back down to the bare briar. I gently scraped out the little overflow of lava from the rim top.I cleaned out the internals of the shank with pipe cleaners and cue tips dipped in isopropyl alcohol. I wiped the inside of the chamber with cotton swabs dipped in alcohol. There was very little amount of cake and the shank was pretty clean too. It appears that though the pipe was well smoked as is apparent from the stem condition, it was well cared for.I cleaned the stummel with undiluted Murphy’s oil soap and a tooth brush. I washed the stummel under running water and dried it using paper towels and soft absorbent cotton cloth. Once the stummel had dried, I felt that the bowl was still appearing dull and lackluster. The grains, though visible, needed to be highlighted. To achieve the desired results, I sanded the stummel with micromesh pads, wet sanding with 1500 to 2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200 to 12000 grit pads. The rim top was also sanded down with micromesh pads to remove/ reduce the darkened areas. I wiped the bowl with a moist soft cotton cloth to remove the sanding dust after each pad. The stummel now looks beautiful with the grains on full display. I finished the bowl by rubbing “Before and After Restoration Balm” with my hands and polished it with a soft cotton cloth. The bowl now appears to be alive and the grains pop out and are on display to be enjoyed. This pipe, along with the CHACOM, will always find a place of pride in my collection for being first major stem repair project. The finished pipe is shown below.

Chacom Panache #44

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

I have embarked on a journey into the wonderful, invigorating and leisurely world of pipe restoration and want to try out and address as many issues that one may encounter when dealing with an old, used and also abused pipes. Though there are a large number of old and vintage pipes that I have inherited, I went ahead and purchased two pipes, one is a CHACOM PANACHE # 44 and the other is a SAVINELLI SILVER, for gaining hands-on experience in stem repair. The stems on both these pipes have large gaping hole near the button end, exposing the stem’s airway. I shall be working on the stems of both these pipes simultaneously while the stummel will be worked on separately. The write up on both, though separate, is being uploaded at the same time so as to maintain continuity.

Even though I had purchased this pipe to practice repairing a stem bite-through, what really caught my attention was the beautiful coral like rustication on the bowl and shank which could be seen on some high end pipes from equally higher end brands. Through all the dust and grime, the beautiful contrasting stains between the lighter brown raised rustication and darker hued depressions makes for an eye catching finish. On the smooth surface at the bottom of the shank, it is stamped “CHACOM” in an artistic hand over “PANACHE” in block capital letters. This is followed by the shape number # “44” at the edge of the shank where it meets the stem. The stem bears the double “C” logo stamped on the left side of the stem towards the tenon end.I gleaned following info from Pipedia to know more about the brand of this pipe. It is reproduced below (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Chacom):

1825 : Well before the discovery of briarwood the COMOY family manufactured pipes in the small village of Avignon, near to Saint-Claude, mostly in boxwood for the “Grumblers” of the Army of Napoleon. 1850 : Birth of Henry COMOY, founder of the brand.
1856 : Discovery of briarwood and particularly the special treatment it required for the making of pipes. Saint-Claude becomes the birthplace of briar pipe manufactures and the world capital of pipe-making.
1870 : Henri COMOY, prisoner of war in Switzerland meets his cousins the Chapuis and ruminates the idea of an association.
1879 : Henry COMOY emigrates to London with some of his technicians from Saint-Claude and establishes the first English pipe factory in England H. COMOY & C° LTD. The Saint-Claude factory supplies them with briarwood and pipe bowls.
1922 : After the First World War the association COMOY and CHAPUIS is realised and the Saint-Claude factory becomes CHAPUIS COMOY & Cie.
1924 : Death of Henri COMOY. His sons Paul and Adrien assume the direction of the factories in Saint-Claude and London assisted by their cousins Emile and Louis Chapuis.
1928 : London now able to produce their own pipes, and in order to develop the Saint-Claude factory, the brand CHACOM is created, using the first three letters of the COMOY and CHAPUIS families. Up till 1939 CHACOM was offered only in France, Belgium and Switzerland in order not to embarrass the COMOY pipes which had the same shapes and qualities.
1932 : The world economic crisis reaches Saint-Claude. To weather this problem Chapuis Comoy & Cie joins with another company under the name of LA BRUYERE, forming the biggest pipe concern in the world with 450 workpeople. Big trucks were needed to transfer the briar blocks from the drying shed to the factory.
1945 : After the Second World War CHACOM assumes its entire commercial liberty and launches a complete and modern range of pipes.
1946 : Chacom becomes the principal brand in France and Belgium.
1947 – 1948 : CHACOM, number one in Scandinavia, Germany, then United States…
1957 : In face of the commercial preponderance of the brand CHACOM the company La Bruyère returns to the name of CHAPUIS COMOY & Cie.
1964 : Death of Adrien COMOY. His son Pierre succeeds to him in London. Mr REED is the Chairman and Managing Director in Saint-Claude.
1965 : First French brand named pipe in JAPAN
1971 : Having recovered its independence from COMOYS of London, Yves GRENARD, second cousin of Pierre COMOY, takes over the Direction of Chapuis Comoy & Cie and at the same time the exclusive sale of H. COMOY & Ltd, in France.

I further searched pipephil.eu for additional information and the same is reproduced below:

The brand Chacom turned up (1934) after fusion of Chapuis-Comoy with La Bruyère. Yves Grenard (†2012), second cousin of Pierre Comoy headed the company from 1971. He was responsible for Chapuis Comoy’s recovering its independance from Comoy. His son Antoine Grenard took over the direction of the company in 2007. Chacom is a brand of Cuty-Fort Entreprises (Jeantet, Vuillard, Jean Lacroix, Ropp …).

INITIAL VISUAL INSPECTION

The bowl is caked but not heavily. The rustication on the rim top is filled with tars oils and grime. The finish is dull with dirt and dust filling the rustication. This will be cleaned with Murphy’s oil soap and hard bristled tooth brush.The mortise is filled with gunk and debris. This will need to need to be cleaned.The stem is heavily oxidized with heavy calcification towards the button end in the bit area. There is tooth chatter and bite marks on the top surface of the stem near the button end. However, the biggest damage can be seen on the lower surface of the stem. There is a large through and through hole in the stem exposing the airway. Thankfully, the top surface is complete with only tooth marks and tooth chatter. This reconstruction will be the biggest challenge since I have never attempted this restoration before. The button is badly damaged and will need to be reconstructed.THE PROCESS

In this restoration project the stem repair posed the biggest challenge. I searched the net, viewed YouTube videos and my most reliable website “rebornpipes.com” and read over each and every blog available on the website on stem repairs and took down notes and the steps involved. I even discussed with Mr. Steve. Now armed with this acquired knowledge, I embarked on my quest to gain knowledge through personal experience.

The first thing I did was to paint the upper and lower surfaces of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to raise the tooth chatter to the surface and also raise the edges of the hole to create an even surface. Next, I cleaned the surface of the stem with isopropyl alcohol to get rid of all the dirt, oils and tars from the surface. I also had the internals of the stem thoroughly cleaned using pipe cleaners, cue tips and alcohol.

Once I was satisfied with the cleaning, I smeared a generous amount of Vaseline onto regular pipe cleaners and inserted it into the airway, ensuring the pipe cleaners are fully underneath the hole. This helps in ensuring that the airway remains open. Vaseline coated pipe cleaners prevents the mixture of CA superglue and activated charcoal from percolating down into the airway and clogging the airway.The next step in the process of this repair is mixing of CA superglue and activated charcoal to the consistency of putty filler. Suffice to say that the consistency should be such that it should not be too runny but just sufficient to spread smoothly and evenly over the intended surface. First timers like me, do not worry too much, even I did not understand what should be the ideal consistency (LoL). From the pictures below, it is amply evident that I did not achieve the exact consistency I desired, but no issues, it still worked!!! Since the beginning of my journey into the beautiful and challenging world of pipe refurnishing, I am being faced with problem relating to glue. Maybe the hot temperate climate prevalent here is causing issues or the quality of glue itself is an issue. However notwithstanding the issues of glue, I was able to prepare a mixture of CA superglue and activated charcoal and applied it to the surface. I set it aside to cure overnight.I began by sanding the repaired/ filled areas using a flat needle head. It was not as easy as it seemed because when I began the process, as I sanded down the stem, I observed that the filling crumbled and dislodged from hole. Apparently, the filling was too dry.

I prepared a fresh mixture of CA glue and activated charcoal and applied it to area to be filled. After curing, when I tried to file it down, I realized that shiny dots were visible. On close observation, these tiny dots were air pockets which were trapped during application and subsequent curing. I discussed with Mr. Steve who advised me to fill the spots with glue only. I did so and let it cure for 2 days.I sanded down the fill and realized bigger air pockets were now exposed. It is unfortunate that I did not take pictures of these issues and processes as I was too engrossed and concentrating on getting the filling right.

I again prepared a fresh mixture of activated charcoal and superglue and reapplied it to the stem surface and let it cure for 3 days since I was traveling.For this sanding, I took unusually long time taking frequent breaks to check the progress. I was very deliberate and used light hands. I used less of flat head needle file and more of 180 grit sandpaper. Finally, I was able to achieve a satisfactory fill. I further evened out the fill using 220 grit sandpaper, followed by 440, 600 and 800 grit papers. Now I am satisfied with the results of the fill.With the fill now evened out, I proceeded to sand the stem with micromesh pads, going through wet sanding with 1500-2400 pads and dry sanding with 3200- 12000 grit pads. I rubbed in Extra Virgin Olive oil after every three pads. The stem now has a nice shine to it and No Hole!! However, the finish is not as refined and minor imperfection can be seen in the finish, though not as glaring in person.With the issue of the stem now addressed, I turned my attention to the stummel. Using a Kleen Reem pipe reamer and fabricated knife, I removed the complete cake from the chamber. I further sanded down the walls of the chamber with a 220 grit sand paper to smooth the walls and took the cake back down to the bare briar.I cleaned the internals of the shank and mortise using regular and bristled pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl alcohol and cue tips. I also wiped the internal walls of the chamber with cotton pads dipped in 99.9 % isopropyl alcohol. I use high proof isopropyl alcohol as it evaporates very rapidly and leaves no traces of odor or liquid behind to ghost your pipe.I cleaned the externals of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and tooth brush. Thereafter, the stummel was washed under running water and dried using a paper towel. I observed that the thin, delicate wire rustication on the rim top was still filled with oils and tars. To clean the rim top, I used a 000 grade steel wool with Murphy’s Oil soap to gently scrub out the dirt. I dried it with paper towels and a soft cotton cloth. Once the stummel had dried out, I rubbed a little “Before and After Restoration Balm “deeply into the coral rustication and also into the wire rustication of the rim top. I worked it deep into the rustication with a horse hair shoe brush. I polished the stummel to a deep shine by rubbing it down with a microfiber cloth. The raised portion of the rustication has a light reddish hue which contrasts beautifully with the dark brown coloration of the rest of the stummel. The completed pipe is shown below. Thanks for your valuable time spent in reading my amateurish attempt at pipe restoration.

Restoration of a deeply loved Chacom Rallye

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Blog by Roberto Castiglioni

Over the past month I have corresponded with Rob about a variety of things about restoration processes and procedures. He is a great guy! When he sent me photos of his work on this pipe I wrote and asked him to write it up for rebornpipes. Without further words on my part his is Rob. Welcome to rebornpipes. — Steve

Bizarre hobbies like these prove that nothing is too arcane for humans. Fortunately, the insane have valiantly stepped up to plug that gap.

Seeing a dirty and damaged pipe come back to life makes me extremely happy. That happiness comes from fact that I am handling something that is old and has a long history. The more dirty they are more interested I am. Sometimes I ask to myself how the previous pipe smoker could smoke them. Sometimes I get a stem with double hole, a tobacco chamber with a very limited space. It is then that I remember when my father told me when I was younger that my great-grandparent’s pipe needed maintenance .

This is a very amazing hobby where I can practice applying all my knowledge of Mechanical Engineering. I can use even what I learned high school about adjusting a piece of steel manually by means of files and other tools without using machine tools.

I am very thankful to those gents of rebornpipes for their willingness to post and teach others. They have shown how experience and manual work still has value in this modern society .

For a beginner, who most of the time is a dummy, reading all the posts in different forums to learn a general procedure how to do the work is extremely important. In rebornpipes I found a lot of information and suggestions on how to proceed.

With many thanks I have enclosed my first important restoration on Chacom Rallye …

Here are the before photos of the pipe. The stem was very damaged with a bite through on the top side and much chewing around the edges of the stem. The fit of the stem in the shank is also not good. The bowl is very dirty with little room in the bowl – thick cake and lots of overflow on to the back side of the rim.I reamed the bowl with reamers. I sanded out the bowl to remove the remants of cake. I cleaned the mortise, and the airway in the shank and stem with pipe cleaners and alcohol. I patched the chewed through stem and cleaned and polished the stem.Once the pipe was clean the metal tenon was loose in the mortise so I painted it with a coat of clear fingernail polish and let it dry in my improvised clothespin vise. You can see what the bowl looks like now in the next two photos. It is quite a change. Here are some photos of the completed pipe. Thanks Rob from Italy.

Farida’s Dad’s Pipes #6 – Restoring a Charatan Make Distinction

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Blog by Steve Laug

I am back working on one of the pipes that came from the estate of an elderly gentleman here in Vancouver. I met with his daughter Farida a year ago and we looked at his pipes and talked about them then. Over the Christmas 2017 holiday she brought them by for me to work on, restore and then sell for her. There are 10 pipes in all – 7 Dunhills (one of them, a Shell Bulldog, has a burned out bowl), 2 Charatan Makes, and a Savinelli Autograph. I have restored all but three of them – a Dunhill Shell and the two Charatan’s Makes. His pipes are worn and dirty and for some folks they have a lot of damage and wear that reduce their value. To me each one tells a story. I only wish they could speak and talk about the travels they have had with Farida’s Dad.

The bowl was thickly caked and the cake had flowed over onto the smooth finish on the rim top forming hard lava that made the top uneven. The inner and outer edges of the rim were both damaged. On the right front of the bowl the rim had a burned area – it was not a deep burn but it had darkened. On the back of the bowl there was damage on the inner edge of the bowl and it looked like it might be slightly out of round. The stem was oxidized but otherwise in good condition. There was a thick sticky, oily substance on the surface of the stem that I could scrape with my fingernail. There were tooth marks and chatter on both sides in front of the button. I took photos of the pipe to show what it looked like before I started the cleanup work. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem. You can see the condition of the rim top and bowl in the first photo. The outer edge has damage on the front right – burn damage and wear that comes from lighting a pipe repeatedly in the same spot. The inner edge at the back middle also shows damage but I won’t know until I remove the thick lava overflow on the surface. The stem had tooth chatter and some bite marks on the top and the underside of the stem just ahead of the button.I took a photo of the left side shank stamping – it is readable but faint on the left side.It has been a while since I have worked on the remaining pipes that belonged to Farida’s Dad. I thought it might be helpful to remind us all of the background story of these pipes. Here is the material that I quoted in previous blogs. I have included both the written material and the photo that Farida included of her Dad.

When I wrote the blog on the Classic Series Dunhill and thinking about its travels, Farida sent me an email with a short write up on her Dad. She remembered that I had asked her for it so that I could have a sense of the stories of her Dad’s pipes. Here is what she wrote: My dad, John Barber, loved his pipes. He was a huge fan of Dunhill and his favourite smoke was St. Bruno. No one ever complained of the smell of St. Bruno, we all loved it. I see the bowls and they’re large because he had big hands. When he was finished with his couple of puffs, he would grasp the bowl in the palm of his hand, holding the warmth as the embers faded. The rough bowled pipes were for daytime and especially if he was fixing something. The smooth bowled pipes were for an evening with a glass of brandy and a good movie. In his 20s, he was an adventurer travelling the world on ships as their radio operator. He spent a year in the Antarctic, a year in the Arctic and stopped in most ports in all the other continents. He immigrated to Canada in the mid-fifties, working on the BC Ferries earning money to pay for his education. He graduated from UBC as an engineer and spent the rest of his working life as a consultant, mostly to the mining companies. Whatever he was doing though, his pipe was always close by.

She sent along this photo of him with his sled dogs in the Antarctic sometime in 1953-1954. It is a fascinating photo showing him with a pipe in his mouth. He is happily rough housing with his dogs. As a true pipeman the cold does not seem to bother him at all. Thank you Farida for sending the photo and the background story on your Dad for me to use on the blog. I find that it really explains a lot about their condition and gives me a sense of who Dad was. If your Dad was rarely without a pipe I can certainly tell which pipes were his favourites.As I looked over the pipes I noted that each of them had extensive rim damage and some had deeply burned gouges in the rim tops. The bowls seemed to have been reamed not too long ago because they did not show the amount of cake I would have expected. The stems were all covered with deep tooth marks and chatter and were oxidized and dirty. The internals of the mortise, the airway in the shank and stem were filled with tars and oils. These were nice looking pipes when her Dad bought them and they would be nice looking one more when I finished.

Here are the links to the previous five blogs that I wrote on the five pipes that I have finished. The first was a Dunhill Shell oval shank pot (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/02/04/restoring-a-1983-dunhill-shell-41009-oval-shank-pot/). The second was a Dunhill Classic Series Shell Billiard (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/02/08/faridas-dads-pipes-2-restoring-a-1990-lbs-classic-series-dunhill-shell-billiard/). The third pipe was a Savinelli Autograph (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/02/15/faridas-dads-pipes-3-restoring-a-savinelli-autograph-4/). The fourth pipe was a Dunhill Red Bark Pot that was in rough shape (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/03/10/faridas-dads-pipes-4-restoring-a-dunhill-red-bark-pot-43061/). The fifth pipe was a Dunhill Root Briar Bent Billiard https://rebornpipes.com/2018/07/07/faridas-dads-pipes-5-restoring-a-dunhill-root-briar-56-bent-billiard/

Today, I went back to the remaining three pipes in the collection today and chose to work on one of the Charatans – a triangular shank Dublin. It was dirty but I was able to read the stamping. On the top left side of the triangular shank it is stamped Charatan’s Make, over London, England over Distinction. On the right side it was stamped Made By Hand in the City of London. I cannot see any shape number on the shank as it is pretty worn. The smooth finish was sticky with oils and thick grime. The bowl felt oily to touch.

To try and figure out the era of the Charatan’s pipe I was working on I turned to the pipephil website on Logos and Stampings. There is some really helpful information on each of the lines of Charatan’s Make pipes that entered the market. Here is the link to the section of the site that I turned to, http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-charatan.html. There is an alphabetical listing of the lines but unfortunately they did not list the Distinction. The site did give a short history of the brand. I quote the portion that is most pertinent.

The brand was founded in 1863 by Frederik Charatan. When his father retired in 1910, Reuben Charatan took over the family business. All the pipes were handmade until 1973. The brand name has been overtaken by Dunhill in 1978 and sold in 1988 to James B. Russell Inc.(NJ, USA). During the period 1988-2002 Charatans were crafted by Butz Choquin in St Claude (France). Dunhill re-purchased Charatan brand name in 2002 and Colin Fromm (Invicta Briars, Castleford) followed up on freehand production.

I turned to Pipedia to see if I could find more information on the brand and possibly a link to the Distinction line (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan) but once again in the general article it was not listed. It did give a little more historical information. I quote the pertinent parts and have highlighted in bold the sections that give information on this particular pipe.

In 1863 Frederick Charatan, a Russian/Jewish immigrant, opened a shop in Mansell Street, located in the borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, where he began to carve Meerschaum pipes. These pipes got very popular soon, and thus Charatan moved to a bigger workshop in Prescot Street, just around the corner. Here he began to make briar pipes which should make the name famous the world over. Charatan was the first brand to make entirely hand-made briars from the rough block to the finished pipe including the stems. The nomenclature “Charatan’s Make” refers to this method of production and was meant to differ Charatan from other brands who “assembled” pipes from pre-drilled bowls and delivered mouthpieces.

Being the undisputed No. 1 in English pipemaking, Charatan was approached by Alfred Dunhill who was unsatisfied with the quality of the pipes he imported from France. During 1908 – 1910 Dunhill bought pipes from Charatan paying exorbitant prices to ensure he had some of the very best pipes for sale in England. In 1910 he lured away Joel Sasieni, one of Charatan’s best carvers, and opened his own small pipe workshop on 28 Duke Street. On the retirement of his father in 1910 Reuben Charatan took over the family business…

…The pre-Lane period (prior to 1955) and the Lane era pipes (1955 to until sometime between 1979 – 1984) are of primary interest the collector. The Lane era is often quoted as beginning about 1950… Charatan records are almost non-existent before Lane due to a factory fire, making it difficult to date pre-Lane pipes. Charatan used 4 basic grades prior to 1950: Supreme, Selected, Executive, and Belvedere. After 1950 Herman Lane’s influence began, and the grades started to expand. In 1955 Lane took over sole distributorship of Charatan in the US. In 1957 he introduced the Supreme S. Most of his other introductions were from the 60’s and early 70’s…

The section called Miscellaneous Notes had some interesting information.

Charatan records indicate the DC (Double Comfort) bit was introduced in the 50’s, but some report seeing them in earlier production. Still others indicate they were introduced by Lane in 1960. Regardless, the DC bit is not an accurate way to date a pipe because many Charatan’s were made with regular and saddle type bits throughout the “Lane Era”…

…The Lane Trademark serif and circled L indicates the pipe is from the “Lane Era” (approx. 1955 to 1979 -1984?), however it appears that both the English factory or Lane themselves sometimes, or perhaps even often forget to stamp the L on a pipe. The Charatan factory was known for inconsistencies, especially in stampings. Therefore, although an L on the pipe definitely defines it as a Lane Era pipe, the lack of it could simply mean the pipe missed receiving the stamp from the factory. The lack of the trademark could also mean the pipe was destined for the European market.

…Generally, when the pipe is stamped with the BLOCK letters “MADE BY HAND” it means the pipe was probably made between 1958 and 1965”

…Generally, block letters “MADE BY HAND” and some of the other nomenclature in script (i.e. City of London or Extra Large next to the MADE BY HAND) means the pipe was made sometime between 1965 and the mid 1970’s. The total script nomenclature “Made by Hand in City of London” evolved over this period of time, so many pipes had variants, such as Made By Hand in block letters and City of London in script, or some other variation of the terms or stampings. The Charatan Logo (CP) on the pipe bit was changed over the years.

I found an interesting Russian site on the various lines of Charatan. Here is the link to that site – http://brbpipe.ru/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/T-shop_1-2011-12_56-69_3.pdf. I did a google translation of the section on the DISTINCTION line.

The first of two medium sized factories. Neutral flame grain under contrast stain. Sometimes, however, there is a completely fantastic, almost perfectly smooth cross cut, sometimes – inclined to the side of the smoker flame. The most important thing: in this and the next grade begins a serious predominance of freehand over cataloged shapes.

The reason for this predominance lies in the strategy of educating carvers. Both medium grades are the launch pad for those who sought the right to work with top grades. Where the freaks have become the rule. The master had to work out a sufficient number of freehands and show a personal fantasy, so that he was allowed to work with the best, selective locks. And if at this “school of life” you could make extra profits … well, you remember that in this regard, there was a little iron Hermann.

I also found a description of the Distinction on VKpipes. Here is the link to that site, https://www.vkpipes.com/pipeline/charatans-make-distinction. I quote from that site.

Distinction was one of the most successful and valued lines of Charatan’s pipes from the “first Lane era” (1961-95). These years the old good Charatan’s family manufactory turned into the brightest star of the pipe making by means of new investments, a successful management and a creative approach of the Charatan’s artisans. There’s no shape number on the pipe: it was made by one of the leading carvers at this factory regardless any catalogues…

I also found a list of the various lines of Charatan’s Make Pipes that helps to place the Distinction in the hierarchy of pipes. Here is the link to the list https://www.reddit.com/r/PipeTobacco/comments/z9knr/charatan_models_shape_information_for_the/. I will be posting it as a separate blog shortly. The Distinction line is just below the Executive line and just ahead of the After Hours line – both Charatan’s Make Freehand Straight Grains.

From all of the historical data I could work through this Charatan’s Make Distinction was one of the higher grade pipe from the mid 1970’s Lane era. I continue digging further into the dating of the pipe, but what I had found was a good start for me. If some of you would like to try your hand at dating it more accurately as to the time period it came out you might want to check out the article on Pipedia on Dating Charatans (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dating_of_Charatans). I had enough for me to start working on the pipe itself and see what lay beneath the heavy tars and oils.

I began working on the pipe by reaming the bowl with a PipNet reamer. I used two of the four cutting heads to clean out the cake. The bowl was thickly caked so I started with the smaller of the two and worked my way up to the second one which was about the same size as the bowl diameter. I cleaned up what remained in the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and scraped it back to bare briar. I finished by sanding the inside of the bowl with a dowel wrapped in sandpaper. I worked on the top of the rim with the edge of the Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I scraped the heavy buildup that was there. I topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage to the top surface of the rim and clean up the damage to the edges. I did not have to remove a lot and repeatedly checked it to make sure that I had removed enough but not too much. I wanted to take the rim top down until the burn damaged area was smooth and minimized. The second photo shows the burned and damaged areas clearly. I continued to top the bowl until I had removed the damage. I wiped down the rim top with alcohol and cotton pads to remove the sanding dust. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to break through all the grime. I rinsed the bowl under running water to remove the grime and grit. I repeated the process until I had the bowl clean. I took photos of the cleaned exterior of the bowl to show where things stood at this point in the process. I used a folded piece of 180 and 220 grit sandpaper to bevel the inner edge of the rim until I had removed most of the damage on the back inner edge.With the externals clean it was time to clean out the mortise and shank and airway into the bowl and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I scraped the mortise with a dental spatula and a pen knife to loosen the tars before cleaning. I worked on the bowl and stem until the insides were clean. I wiped down the exterior of the bowl with alcohol on a cotton pad to remove any remaining oils and grimes from my cleaning of the bowl and rim. Once the alcohol evaporated the briar was very dry but also very clean. I rubbed down the briar with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the smooth finish to clean, enliven and protect the new finish. It also evened out the stain coat and gave the stain a dimensional feel. I let the balm sit for a little wall and then buffed it with a horsehair shoe brush. I buffed the bowl with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. There was some darkening on the rim top on the right front and around the inner edge of the bowl but the briar was solid all around the bowl. The bowl looked really good at this point in the process. I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth chatter on both sides with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I cleaned the surface of the stem with alcohol on a cotton pad and filled in the tooth marks with black super glue and set the stem aside to let the repair cure.While the stem repair was curing I stuffed the bowl with cotton balls and put a folded pipe cleaner in the shank. I filled the bowl with alcohol to leech out the oils and tars in the bowl. I set the bowl in an old ice cube tray and let it sit throughout the day while I was at work. I find that cotton balls work as well as kosher salt and the folded pipe cleaner leeches tars out of the shank as well. The first photo shows the pipe when I set it up early in the morning. The second shows it after it sat all day. The cotton balls were dark brown with the oils that had wicked out of the briar. The pipe smells fresh and new now!When the repair had cured I used a needle fill to clean up the sharp edge of the button. I sanded the repairs on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the rest of the surface of the vulcanite.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Polish, using both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes to further protect and polish out the scratches. When I finished with those I gave it a final rub down with the oil and set it aside to dry. With the stem polished I put it back on the pipe and lightly buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond. I buffed the stem with a more aggressive buff of Blue Diamond. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and 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 finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is the sixth of Farida’s Dad’s pipes that I am restoring from his collection. I am looking forward to hearing what Farida thinks once she sees the finished pipe on the blog. This Charatan Distinction will soon be on the rebornpipes store if you want to add it to your rack. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 3/4 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/2 inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 inches. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another of the her Dad’s pipes. I have two more of his pipes to work on – one more Dunhill and one Charatan’s Make.

Repairing (again!) a Son’s Gift – an L. J. Peretti Stem Splice

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Blog by Dal Stanton

We all have favorite ‘friends’ in our specially chosen, first string rotation of pipes that are ready when we call upon them. For me, each of these pipes have names and associations with my life – memories of a person or a special event or both – that is stirred to life when I grab that pipe off the rack and spend time, usually packed with my favorite blend, Lane BCA. In several blogs I have referenced my attraction to L. J. Peretti pipes of Boston – I’ve started a collection of Perettis and I have found they are hearty pipes and good smokers. My fascination with Perettis started with a Christmas gift from my son, Josiah, a few years back in Denver. He found this wounded warrior in the Armadillo Antique Mall in Denver and I found it under the Christmas tree with Josiah’s confidence that I could mend his wounded pride and broken stem!This hearty L. J. Peretti Square Shank Billiard became my first experience in the art of stem splicing. I learned a lot and was proud when I published the write up of this achievement: A Christmas Gift in need of a stem splice – L J Peretti Squared Shank Billiard. Josiah’s gift started my appreciation for Peretti pipes in Denver. I have enjoyed this pipe and he was joined serendipitously by another Peretti, another square shank, but a Rhodesian (See: LINK for write up). Jon, a friend and colleague working in Ukraine, gave me my second Peretti! These two, together, I call the Peretti brothers.As life unfolds, things happen. I was back in Denver from Bulgaria last February for the births of two brand new beautiful granddaughters and had grabbed the Peretti Brother Billiard and was heading up the stairs to go outside to enjoy a bowl and the view of the Rocky Mountains, when I fell (going up the stairs!) and the stem splice that had served faithfully was overcome by the impact of my body coming down on it. The stem broke at the end of the ‘shelf’ created for gluing. You can see this on the next picture. I lost the remainder of the stem in the flight back to Bulgaria, but it wouldn’t have mattered because there wasn’t enough left of it to repair. The picture below shows the remainder of the original cannibalized stem’s fashioned shelf remaining on the Peretti saddle stem – the junction line shows up in the shine on the stem. I decided to do a write up simply of this repair, but I have an alternative motivation too. My wife and I are leaving soon for the Black Sea coast for our annual R&R and I wanted to repair the Peretti Brother to take with me to the beach! So, I took pictures of the repair process but am now doing the write-up on the beach, looking out over the Black Sea!Starting the repair, I find an adequate donor stem to cannibalize for the replacement. I measure it and cut it with adequate length so that the cut is at the old seam that you see in the picture above. I make the measurement then, using a flat needle file as a saw, I make the cut after placing the stem in a vice in such a way that I can use the edge of the vice as a guide during the cut. In this way, I hope that the cut is straight and perpendicular to the stem!There is a little vulcanite spur left that I clean off easily with the file.Lining the donor stem up with the remaining original stem looks like the right length for a balanced feel and look.Next, carefully I cut an upper groove on the original stem essentially in the same place as the first shelf was, thus removing the old donor remnants.I use the tapered pieces of a clothespin to wedge the square shank saddle in the vice safely and securely. I want the saddle stabilized in a horizontal plane for the filing/cutting process. I also line up the old seam with the edge of the vice so that the vice’s edge helps as a guide. I’m aiming for a cut that is perpendicular to the stem’s length as I create a new groove using the flat needle file. Patience is my best friend in this process. The pictures show the progress. As I draw close to the airway, my goal is to stop when the airway is exposed halfway while keeping the horizontal shelf and the inside vertical edge of the shelf at right angles.Satisfied that I’ve gone far enough, I trim off the end of the lower shelf – as close to right angles as possible! I think it’s looking good. I eyeball the progress. The truth is that not all stems are drilled with holes in the exact middle. To get an idea of the best alignment of the new donor stem with the original, I put a pipe cleaner through both. I flip the donor stem eyeballing the alignment to see if one position is better than the other. The most important alignment consideration is the airway. The external stem can be cosmetically improved, but a blocked airway cannot be easily removed. When one doesn’t have precision tools, which for the most part I don’t, one lives with the value of improvisation. To cut the shelf in the donor stem now, I mount the donor stem in the vice and again, using the angled pieces of a clothespin, I fashion a stable filing platform! I file conservatively. That is, not to go for an exact measurement but leaving some excess stem to file down gradually, working up to a good fit. I use the width of the flat needle file as the measure for the length of the shelf which leaves me a little ‘fat’ to work with. The challenge will be keeping the shelf that is fashioned as much of a right angle as possible or, the two, shelf butt ends to be parallel! As before, I use the side of the vice as a guide to keep the new edge straight. I take pictures of the filing progress. At this point, after eyeballing the progress, I realize that as I’m filing the shelf, it is not horizontal but sloping downward toward the end of the shelf. To address this, I use the short edge of the flat needle file and saw a straight line to open the airway. In doing this, I now I have a built-in level – the top of the airway. I continue to file the shelf to reveal uniformly the airway and this should be close to being level – I hope! The progress is shown. At this point, I test the alignment even though there’s a long way to go on the donor stem. To test, I put a pipe cleaner through the airway in both pieces. The airway must line up in the finished repair.After more filing, another test. Closer.As I file and test, I realize that the lower shelf extension on the original Peretti stem was still a bit fat, so more vulcanite is filed off. The challenge is not taking off too much because it can’t be replaced easily!In time, another test – getting there. You can see the pipe cleaner creating the alignment axis through the two pieces. The gap that is showing on the top I address by taking off more vulcanite from the donor stem (second picture), after flipping over I file the vertical edge ‘back’. This will close the gap on the top and spare the original Peretti stem from giving up more vulcanite.I decide I’ve filed and fitted enough. The time has come to glue the two pieces of stem. I think its possible to fiddle too much seeking ‘Fit Nirvana’! I clean the shelves with alcohol, including the airway with a pipe cleaner. The tricky part of the gluing is to avoid CA glue getting into the airway and sealing it – not a good situation! The way to avoid this is by inserting a pipe cleaner that has petroleum jelly on it – the CA glue will not stick to it. The challenge doing this is that when you press petroleum jelly into a closed space it squeezes out and can contaminate the area that needs maximum CA glue effectiveness!After cleaning the area and thinking about how I might maximize the bond between the spliced stem pieces, I remembered a technique that I had previously read in either one of Steve’s Rebornpipes blogs or Charles Lemon’s, Dad’s Pipes blogs, describing how drilling holes can enhance the glue’s penetration and bonding qualities. To do this I mount a 1mm drill bit into the Dremel. WARNING bells are going off in my mind: Do not drill through the vulcanite! There’s not a large margin of error. With the bells ringing, I drill a couple of holes on each side of the airway on both stems’ shelf. It looks good and I’m glad I remembered this technique.I repeat the cleaning of the upper and lower shelves with alcohol and insert a pipe cleaner through the pieces with a bit of petroleum jelly on it. I then apply thick CA glue to the shelves and draw the two pieces together while keeping the pipe cleaner taught assuring a straight airway. I use a thick CA glue so that the glue remains in place and doesn’t run spread over the stem.By keeping the pipe cleaner taut and the airway straight, I maneuver the two pieces to fit as well as possible which leaves the external appearance a bit ‘Frankenstemish’ but that’s OK and expected at this point in the process. I can address that later. In the pictures following you can see gaps and where the stem surface is not flush as the stem transitions through the splice. The primary bonding of the splice is successful with a clear and straight airway. To address the gaps, I mix a batch of activated charcoal powder and regular CA glue to make a putty that acts as a filler for the imperfections of the fit. I keep the putty a bit thinner than normal when I use this mixture repairing tooth dents and damage to the bit. Keeping the CA and activated charcoal putty thinner, or wetter, allows a better penetration into the gaps around the split. After I mix the putty, I apply it around the spliced area with a flat dental spatula and tamp the putty down into the gaps. The pictures show the process. The result looks truly like a ‘Frankenstem’. A give a full 24 hours for the putty to cure well and I then begin the filing and shaping process using a flat needle file. The pictures show the gradual process of shaping the external appearance of the stem splice. Following the filing, I use 240 grit paper to further smooth and shape. In the next pictures you can see that I sand the entire stem. The entire stem must be tapered and sloped so that the spliced area disappears into one unified stem presentation. The tapering is not only on the upper and lower stem, but also on the stem’s sides where the stem bows inwardly from the saddle to the button.Following the 240 grit paper, I smooth further with 600 grit paper.As the stem splice smooths during the sanding, I detect a hole where the putty failed to fill. I dispatch this by spot dropping black CA glue in the hole to seal it. After it cures, I continue sanding and smoothing the area. With the splice repair essentially finished, what I don’t show in pictures following is the normal, full sanding and buffing process. I follow the 600 grit paper by buffing the stem with 0000 grade steel wool. I then follow with 9 micromesh pads from 1500 to 12000 with a coat of Obsidian Oil between each set of 3 pads. I then apply Blue Diamond compound with the Dremel, followed by the application of carnauba wax to both stem and stummel. You can still see the seams of the splice, but the entire stem looks great. The pictures show the finished spliced stem. The Peretti Brother Billiard joined me on the Black Sea and both of us have enjoyed a great reunion! Thanks for joining me!