Tag Archives: shaping a stem

Sofia Hole in the Wall #3: A Butz-Choquin Rocamar with a Cumberland stem

Blog by Dal Stanton

This is my third restoration from what I called the ‘Bag of 4’ that Steve and I saw at the ‘Hole in the Wall’ antique store during his visit to Sofia, Bulgaria. Thanks again for indulging my ‘newbie’ offerings. My favorite of the bunch was a Savinelli Tortuga (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/06/18/sofia-hole-in-the-wall-find-savinelli-tortuga/). The second, which I didn’t write up, was a beautiful Danske Club Vario, which I discovered on Pipedia is a Stanwell second. Behind the Tortuga, the Vario was a close second. It is now next to my Tortuga in regular rotation – a great addition to my growing collection. Take a look at a few pictures of the finished Danish Danske Club Vario. I’m drawn to the blended smooth and sandblasted briar finishes on this pipe: The markings I found on pipe #3 on the left side is Butz-Choquin over Rocamar with a ‘Filter 9’ diagonal imprint. On the right side, St. Claude, France 1333, which I assume is the BC shape or series number. The Cumberland stem has the BC imprinted marking. From Pipedia I discovered a bit of the early history of the name from Pipedia:

“Jean-Baptiste Choquin of Metz started out as a tobacconist. This enterprise was prosperous; he had several employees. Among those, there was a certain Gustave Butz who was its first workman and who became his son-in-law by marrying Choquin’s daughter Marie in 1858. In 1858 Jean-Baptiste Choquin created, in collaboration with Gustave Butz, the Choquin pipe. This bent pipe with a flat-bottomed bowl was finished with an albatross-bone mouthpiece, fixed with silver rings. In 1858, still in Metz, Gustave Butz built an establishment for the manufacture of the Choquin pipe which took the name of -. In 1951, the Berrod-Regad company bought the trademark, continuing manufacture until 2002. Departing from Metz, the workshop was relocated to Saint-Claude, then also called ‘the world capital of the briar pipe,’ under the Berrod-Regad group.”

I could find nothing specific about the series name Rocamar so I decided to send an email to Butz-Choquin using their info contact from their current website which is under construction (http://www.butzchoquin.com/). We’ll see where that goes.

The BC Rocamar has an attractive fiery grain and the bent billiard chimney is tall and elegant to me – perhaps tending toward an egg shaped bowl. What I’m drawn to also is the bent Cumberland stem – my first to work on. Not quite knowing what kind of stem it was I did a bit of research and discovered pipesmokersforum.com a thread discussing this stem:

“Cumberland proper is a vulcanite rod made up from red and black rods, melted and swirled together for the brown/red marble effect. It is very soft, and oxydizes fairly quickly if the protective wax coating is scraped off. There is a harder version in ebonite, which has a higher sulfur content if I understand these things correctly, but the color combos are not quite as subdued as the vulcanite version. It’s a bit more “brick” colored.” Another comment I read was that if one found a Cumberland stem it was most likely hand cut – to me that is cool. Helpful information. Here are pictures of the BC Rocamar when it arrived home from the Hole in the Wall: The briar is in great shape and will need basic clean-up. The rim shows a burn scar about 2 o’clock and lava build up. As the comments about Cumberland stems and oxidation stated, this one had its share. The bit has significant teeth chatter and some significant divots that will need repair. Yet, I see the potential of the color swirl of the Cumberland being a very nice augmentation to the fiery briar stummel. The filter casing had dislodged from the stem and that will need to be reattached. I decide to drop the stem in an Oxyclean bath to start working on the oxidation while I turn my attention to the bowl – whoops, that is after I retrieved the stem from underneath the bed – I forgot it was on my lap when I stood to head for the Oxyclean! I took a close-up of the rim and bowl before I go to work. I moved from the bedroom work table to the 10^th floor balcony mobile work station with Pipnet reaming kit in hand. I want to minimize pipe soot being released into the bedroom atmosphere resulting in a happier wife. I use only the two smallest blades from the reaming kit to take the cake down to the wood. I finish the fire chamber by rubbing it with 120 then 240 grit sanding paper to smooth and clean the chamber walls even more. Turning to the rim, I clean it with isopropyl 95% and a brass brush which will not scratch the surface of the bowl. I want to see the rim wood clearly before I top the bowl to repair the burn scar and reveal the briar. With the sunshine helping I can see the rim (and holding tightly not to lose it over the edge!). I note that the rim circumference is small as the sloping shape of the bowl culminates. I move to top the bowl but with a view to take off as little as possible to preserve the dimensions of the slender egg-peeked chimney of the bowl. With the stem soaking in the Oxyclean bath I’m not able to reattach it to the stummel to help make sure I’m maintaining a true perpendicular top and not leaning into the softer burned area. Before rotating the bowl to top it, I let it free stand and gently rotated the pitch of the bowl so that I could ‘feel’ the low spot where the rim was burned. By doing this I was able to acclimate to the ‘healthy’ flat part of the rim during the sanding rotation. It worked well! I took a picture after only a few rotations on the topping board. It revealed that I wasn’t fudging into the low spot as it was not yet impacted by the sanding but the other ¾ of the rim was. I’m careful to keep eyeballing the progress. I use 240 grit paper on a chop board as my topping table. Moving in a circular, even motion I remove only what is needed. Satisfied with the topping, I made a small bevel on the inside of the rim using 120 and 240 grit paper. I did this to take out a bit of inner rim damage and a small bevel is always nice and gives a classy touch. I followed this by using micromesh (1500-12000) on the rim to remove all scratches. The pictures tell the story. I decided to wait on staining the rim using a stain-stick and move to the cleaning of the internal and external of the bowl. The reason I did this was I was able to differentiate the actual unstained color of the briar by looking at the newly repaired rim and compare it to the bowl color. The rim briar leaned brown whereas the bowl, to the reds. With cleaning with Murphy’s Soap of the external bowl, I expect there to be a slight change in the color of the bowl briar. At that point I would go to work again on the color of the rim aiming for the best match. I decided at this point to move to cleaning the internals of the stummel with Q-tips and pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95%. I found the internals to be amazingly free of muck and it was not long before Q-tips and pipe cleaners were coming out clean. Turning to the external cleaning, I used Murphy’s Soap undiluted with cotton pads to remove the wax and grime on the bowl. The bowl itself is in great shape – no significant scratches or fills. At this point, I came to a road block which necessitated a quick email to ‘Master Obi-wan Steve’ for his input. After the Murphy’s Soap cleaning I was expecting/hoping the high gloss finish on the bowl to have been dulled – getting to a more natural grain look not competing so much with the bared rim – at least this is what was in my mind. My hesitations were not wanting to be too aggressive with the bowl finish and mess up the patina that is under the gloss…. With the time difference between Sofia and Vancouver, I put the stummel aside and turn to the much anticipated work on the Cumberland stem – what to me is the unique part of this BC stummel/stem ensemble. After I extract the stem from the Oxyclean bath, I take some pictures to chronicle the progress. After an initial buff with 000 steel wool to remove the surfaced oxidation, I take a closer look at the significant teeth divots on the bit and decide to apply super glue to the top and bottom to be able to redefine the button and cover the chatter damage. I want the superglue patches in place before beginning the sanding of the stem. With the superglue curing, Steve’s reply came about my bowl conundrum and it is now decision time. He suspects that I’m dealing with a urethane finish much like he just dealt with in a Jobey restore (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/06/29/i-thought-this-one-would-be-easy-boy-was-i-wrong/) that was a bear to remove. The options before me are to either come up with a high gloss finish for the rim seeking to match up with the bowl or to aggressively remove the plastic, gloss finish and rescue the beautiful briar beneath. The close-up picture below revealing the bare briar in rim repair sealed my decision – I put the bowl in an overnight alcohol bath hopefully to soften the glossy finish to be revisited tomorrow. The time had come to watch some European football – Portugal and Poland – on my widescreen HDTV in my favorite recliner.The next day, with Poland and Portugal playing to a 1-1 tie the night before, I was anxious to see if the alcohol bath made a dent on the glossy finish. Upon inspection (picture 1) it was still pretty shiny so I took a light grit sanding sponge to loosen the finish. I was careful to lightly work around the nomenclature. This did the trick. The alcohol bath undoubtedly softened things up. After the sponge sanding, I followed with rubbing the bowl with acetone with cotton pads to draw the stain out of the grain. I finished with wiping down the stummel with isopropyl 95% to make sure all was cleaned and no grit left behind. I feel like I’m on a roll and I’m anxious to see the grain of this piece of briar unveiled. I use micromesh pads from 1500 to 2400, 3200 to 4000, and 6000 to 12000. The pictures below show the progress. I have to be honest, this is perhaps my favorite part of the restoration process – each set of micromesh pads brings out more of the grain revealing the profoundly unique ‘fingerprint’ of each piece of briar we handle. I euphemistically think of micromesh pads as ‘magicmesh’ pads – they bring the wood to life. In my opinion, the grain that I’m now enjoying is much more satisfying than looking through the plastic shiny sheen of the original Butz-Choquin design. I decide to put the bowl aside and focus now on completing the Cumberland stem clean up and restoration. I want to have an idea of the colors of the finished stem before I decide on the best finish for the stummel. I like working on a clean stem so I first clean the airway using pipe cleaners and Q-tips dipped in isopropyl 95%. During the cleaning, I saw something that I had missed before. The button airway opening has a divot – I’ll need to add that to the list. The superglue applications on the bit and button have had plenty of time to dry. I use 240 grit sanding paper and needle files to work on the bit and button repair. The bit repair looks good so I move to micromesh and the homestretch. I wet sand using 1500-2400 and then apply Obsidian oil to the stem. At this point, I inspect the repair work on the bit to make sure there are no scratches that I’ve missed before proceeding. I’ve learned that often scratches are covered by the rough vulcanite. With the Obsidian oil on the stem I dry-sand using micromesh pads 3200-4000 and apply more Obsidian oil. I do the same with the last set of three – 6000-12000 and give a good coat of oil and put it aside to dry. The pictures show the progress rejuvenating the Cumberland stem. I like what I’m seeing. I had one undone job – re-attach the filter casing to the stem. My assumption is that it was initially glued and after inspecting the inside of the stem, I detected residue that I assume was the glue previously used. I clean the old gunk off the housing and the inside of the stem with alcohol and cotton pad and reattach the housing with superglue. To get the job done I used my Winchester pocket knife and a dental pick to dig out the old glue. With the filter housing reattached, the stem is complete. I really like the rich color of the Cumberland stem. After allowing the filter housing glue to dry I want to see the lay of the land, I rejoin the Cumberland stem to the stummel (picture #1 below). I decide to stain the bowl with a new stain I found at the German owned ‘Mr. Prakteker’ – like Home Depot in the US. Finding alcohol-based stains in Bulgaria has been a challenge so I’ve been mixing my own batches up to this point. The brand is Italian and the cost was a bit more – I’m hoping that translates into better quality. When I opened the tin, a whiff of the stain revealed alcohol. With the help of Google Translate, the flavor of the stain is Dark Nut. The Bulgarian stick-on information tag said Dark Walnut. My thinking is to aim for a darker stummel to blend with the darker hues of the stem. If this succeeds, then I’m hoping the reds of the Cumberland stem ‘pop’ more instead of competing with the stummel. We’ll see! I can use alcohol-dipped cotton pads to lighten the stain after application if I choose. After setting the stummel up on the cork/candle stand I apply the stain undiluted with a cotton swab to see how it goes. I liberally allow stain to move over the inverted stummel – making sure of coverage over the inverted rim. After a good covering I use a lighter to fire the stain which is a quick-combustion of the alcohol leaving the stain to set well into the grain. The Italian stain ‘fired’ as hoped! I repeated the procedure and then used the alcohol dipped pads to clean off the burn layer of the stain revealing how the grain received the stain – it’s never the same! I take a picture to do a quick compare of stummel and stem. After comparing I’m thinking that I like the dark hue but it needs some reds so I decide to add a layer of Cheren stain – red which I will mix with alcohol as it is a water based stain. In my mind I’m thinking of the ‘Ox Blood’ depth that Steve uses – which is not found in Bulgaria! I think the addition of the red stain does the trick (last picture) though it’s difficult to see the difference comparing the last two pictures. Next, I apply several layers of carnauba wax to the stummel and stem with Dremel and cotton wheels. I’m careful to keep the Dremel wheel moving in rotation over the wood and use the lowest speed so not to overheat the wood. The buffing brings out the grain and the luster of the Cumberland stem. I continue the buffing with a clean cotton wheel over the entire stummel and stem surface. I finished with a thorough vigorous buffing with microfiber cloth to bring out the grain depth while watching Germany and Italy’s World Cup match. The recommissioning of this Butz-Choquin Rocamar was more of a project than I was expecting. I prefer the finish now before me to the shiny finish I started with. I like the new color scheme for the bowl and Cumberland stem – I believe it works well. The reds in the Cumberland stem match the grain amazingly well and the grain swirl in the rim has the appearance of continuing in the stem – a neat effect. I’m very pleased with the color blends. Another project done with new things learned to draw upon for the next candidate brought back to life! Thanks for joining me!

I thought this one would be easy – boy was I wrong

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Blog by Steve Laug

I wanted a bit of a breather so I went through my box of pipes for repair and picked this multi-finish Jobey Asti Classic Bent Billiard to clean up. The stamping on the left side reads Jobey Asti Classic and on the right side France and the shape number 470. At first glance it looked like it would be a simple restore and clean. The bowl looked decent in the box and the stem was okay as well. When I got back to the table and did a closer examination I was surprised by what I saw. The bowl rim was in bad shape with the outer edge knocked and damaged. There were dent and score marks in the top of the rim. The lava had flown over the top and it looked as if someone had thrown a coat of Urethane on top of the bowl, grime and all. I looked at the exterior and found that even the grooves in the rusticated bottom of the bowl were thickly coated with the plastic stuff. The stem looked good at first but as I examined it I found that it had been cut off and the button recut and a slot fashioned that was not clean or even. The surface of the stem on the top and bottom next to the button was heavily built up with what appeared to be black epoxy and it was bubbled and full of pin prick like holes. It also was not bent correctly to the shape of the bowl. Truly it would need a lot more work than originally thought. (As an aside don’t use Urethane on bowls it is a bear to clean off and if you have to at least clean them before you dip them in that awful plastic stuff.) I took the pipe apart and unscrewed the Jobey Link from the bowl and took a picture of the parts. I wanted to see how dirty the internals were and if the Link would come out easily. For those of you who don’t know the Link system one of the nice perks is that the end of the tenon that sits in the stem are slotted so you can insert a slot or blade screwdriver to loosen and remove the Link. It is a great piece of forethought on the part of the designer.Because of the coat of Urethane over the lava I needed to top the bowl to remove the grime and also to clean up the outer edges of the bowl. I topped it with 220 grit sandpaper on my topping board.I sanded the finish on the smooth portion of the bowl with a medium grit sanding block and then wiped the bowl down with acetone to try to break the plastic finish. I was partially successful in removing it but more work would need to be done.I reamed the bowl with the PipNet reamer and also with the Savinelli Pipe Knife to remove the remnants of cake that still were deep in the bowl. I reamed it back to bare briar so that the new owner could build a cake of their own choosing. You can also see the top and outer edge of the rim in these photos that show it after the topping of the bowl.In the next photo you can see the film of the plastic stuff still on the bowl with the scratches from the sanding block visible. I decided to let it soak in the alcohol bath for a day and a half to see if the finish would break down some more now that it had been broken through with the sanding blocks.When I took it out of the bath the finish was pretty smooth. The plastic stuff was gone. I sanded the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads to remove some of the scratching and was careful around the stamping on the sides of the shank. I washed the bowl down with some acetone on cotton pads and then stained it with a dark brown aniline stain. I flamed it and repeated the process to make sure I got and even coverage.While the bowl dried I turned to work on the stem. I heated it with the heat gun to soften the Lucite enough that I could bend it to the proper angle. It did not take too much to get the angle correct but the heat caused the epoxy patch to bubble. The perk of that was that the airhole pin prick marks disappeared.I wiped the bowl down with alcohol on cotton pads to remove some of the dark stain and bring the grain to the forefront.I cleaned out the interior of the stem with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol. I cleaned out the area where the Jobey Link sat in the stem and the airway to ensure good fit and draw.Now it was time to work on repairing the stem repairs! The next photos show what the patches looked like when I started. They stood out clearly and the heat of the gun made them raise and bubble. To me they looked like overkill in terms of a repair. It was almost if the person who did the patch was trying to build up the thickness of the stem at the button to give it strength. It would take some work to make it blend in. I sanded the surface of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth things out and try to match the stem surface. Of course I forgot to take photos of the process but the ones shown below with the micromesh sanding pads will show the change. The third photo below shows the slot in the button. I worked on it with needle files to clean it up and shape it and again forgot to take photos of the process.I rubbed the bowl down with some Conservator’s Wax so that when I cleaned out the shank and Jobey Link System with would not damage the finish that I had done. (I know I should have done this before staining but this one irritated me and I forgot to do so.) I cleaned the link and then put a little Vaseline on the threads and turned it into the mortise. I adjusted it with the screwdriver to set it into the shank. I buffed the bowl lightly with Blue Diamond on the wheel and gave it a light coat of olive oil. I took the following photos to show what the pipe looked like at this point in the process. You can also see the state of the stem in these photos. Overall the pipe is looking pretty good at this point. It is far better than I expected when I started. The contrast of the dark stain on the rustication and the lighter stain on the smooth briar makes this pipe look quite “classic” matching its name. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads. I finished sanding with 6000-12000 grit pads. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond. I avoided the rusticated portion so as not to get polishing compound in the crevices and pits of bottom half of the bowl. I waxed the bowl and the stem with multiple coats of carnauba. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The grain is quite beautiful and the contrast between the smooth and the rusticated portions gives a unique look to the pipe. Thanks for looking.

An Interesting Churchill’s Volcano Brought to Life

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next out of the box of pipes from my brother is the one below. It is stamped Churchill’s on the smooth underside of the shank. The shape number 882 is along the shank stem junction on the underside. I have refurbished several Churchill’s pipes from their pipe shop in Norwich. I wrote a bit about that shop when I did a refurbish on a Churchill’s Bent Pot. The link to that article is as follows: https://rebornpipes.com/2013/09/08/churchills-bent-pot/. This pipe had a rustication that is very similar to those I have seen on Lorenzo pipes. The stem on this pipe is stamped Italy on the underside. The finish was tired and dirty but the rustication was in good shape. The rim was solid with no damage to the inner or outer edge but it was thick with tars. The bowl was reamed while I was visiting in Idaho. The stem was in good shape at first glance. It was oxidized but there were no tooth marks. As I examined it I found that the stem had been cut off and a new button was cut into the surface. The slot was also reshaped. The button itself was very thin as the stem was also thin at this point. I took a close up photo of the rim and the stamping on the underside of the bowl. The rim is dirty but the rustication is in good shape with no burn marks or damage. The stamping is also very clear.I scrubbed the rim with a brass bristle wire brush to remove the tars and oils that had built up there. Once it was loosened I scrubbed it with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to clean off the grime in the finish. I rinsed the bowl with warm running water to remove the grime and soap. The next photos show the cleaned finish on the pipe. I used the dental spatula to scrape out the inside of the shank and break the tars and oil build-up away from the walls of the shank and mortise. I cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation. I built up the button with black super glue to add thickness and enable a grip on the button. I used a file to shape the button and recut the sharp edge against the stem surface. I sanded it with 180 grit sandpaper to smooth out the areas in front of the button on the top and the bottom sides. I continued to shape the stem surface and the button with 220 grit sandpaper and also used the needle files to open up the slot in the button and reshape that.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to clean off the oxidation. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded the stem with 3200-4000 grit sanding pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding the stem with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I let the stem dry. I stained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain and flamed it. I repeated the process until the coverage was good. I hand buffed the bowl with a shoe brush. I gave it a light coat of olive oil and hand buffed it again. I rubbed the surface down with some Conservator’s Wax and then hand buffed it with the shoe brush for a final shine. I buffed the pipe lightly with Blue Diamond polish on the wheel and then gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad and then hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The rustication has depth and textures both visually and tactilely. It feels great in the hand. The shape of the bowl and the faux military stem give the pipe a classic look with a flair that is almost Danish looking. I like the finished look of this one. Thanks for looking.

Restoring a Comoy’s The Guildhall Twin Bore Long Shank

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I brought to my table to work on was stamped on the left side of the shank The Guildhall over London Made and on the right side Twin Bore over Made in England. The stamping was readable with a light and a magnifier but it was faint. It was a nicely shaped long shank billiard or some would call it a Lumberman. I have worked on many Comoy’s The Guildhall pipes but never have seen one stamped like this. The stem indeed is a twin bore. It was in decent shape but it did not bear testimony to the point of the twin bore “bite proof” stem. It had a lot of tooth marks and chatter on the top and the bottom side of the stem. The tooth marks were quite deep but did not enter the airway in the stem. So I guess in that way the stem was “bite through proof”. The finish was quite nice. The pipe was in good shape with just some grime on the surface of the briar. The rim had been topped and restained sometime in its history as the stain is quite a bit lighter than the rest of the pipe. The outer and inner edges of the rim were darker than the surface of the rim. The bowl had been reamed but the cake was left uneven on the walls of the bowl. I took a close-up photo of the rim to show the previous topping and the darkening of the inner and out edges. You can see that it had been touched up and the rim edges not cleaned up. I also took some close-up photos of the damage to the stem in terms of tooth marks and chatter. I sanded the top and bottom sides of the stem to remove the tooth chatter on the surface and to clean up the area around the deeper tooth marks. I wiped the areas down with alcohol and then used black super glue to fill in the deep marks.While the stem repairs were drying I reamed the bowl with the Savinelli Pipe Knife. I took the cake back to bare briar.I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the bevel on the inner edge of the bowl. I worked slowly to make sure that the bevel maintained the roundness of the bowl. Once I had it finished I stained the rim and inner edge with a medium brown stain pen to match the colour with the rest of the pipe.I used a dental spatula to scrape out the inside of the mortise as there was a ridge of tar and oil part way down the shank. I scraped out the grime and then scrubbed the inside of the mortise and the airway in the shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until it was clean.By the time I worked on the twin bore stem the repairs were dry. I lightly sanded them and then cleaned out the twin bore airways.I sanded the repairs on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper until the surface of the repairs was blended into the surface of the stem.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I rubbed down the stem with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I sanded it with the last set of three micromesh sanding pads – 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond and worked over the scratches that still showed up on the top surface of the stem. It did not take much to remove them and get a deep shine on the stem. I buffed the bowl as well, being careful around the stampings on the shank of the pipe. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine on the briar and vulcanite. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It shines and has depth to the finish. The stamping is faint but is my only example of a Twin Bore Comoy’s The Guildhall Pipe. It is a beauty in my opinion. Thanks for looking.

An Interesting Antique Store Stummel

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I have a routine when I visit in Bellingham. I take the ladies in my life to the mall and leave them to shop and I set out on my circuit of pipe haunts to see if I can find some likely object of my attention to repair. I rarely come home empty handed, though I don’t know if that is because I will work on many kinds of pipes or if it is because I generally find something. It may be hard for the observer to discern the difference, I know it is for my wife and daughters. I visited several of my haunts and finally in the last one I did a quick walk through and found nothing… this time it looked like I would come home empty handed. Just to make sure I asked at the counter if there were any old pipes in the shop. The seller pointed directly behind me and there in a case that I had totally missed were four pipes. I bought them all. They had a look of age about them so I jumped and paid the price. It turned out that one of them had a cracked bowl but I was able to cannibalize a sterling silver band for an old KBB Yello Bole from the 20s. Two of them were also older – one a GBD and one a Dr. Plumb. The fourth, a Canadian had a gold coloured band and was missing the stem. It looked pretty dirty and the finish was gone. I figured that it too might be one I cannibalized for parts. I paid for them and went out to my car. I went through them and looked them over. The first three showed no surprises. But the stemless bowl was a real surprise. There on the shank was the arced Barlings stamping and under that was the stamping Ye Olde Wood over 237 on the left top side of the shank and Made in England on the right top side. There is also a remnant of the word EXEL. Boy was I surprised. Suddenly it went from a potential victim for cannibalization to one that had some interest for me. It turned out to be the best of the lot. I took a close-up photo of the rim to show the extent of the damage to that area. The cake in the bowl had flown over the top of the rim. There were also dings and dents that were quite deep. The outer edge was compromised and rounded over and the inner edge was out of round. I also included a photo of the stamping and the crack in the shank. This is the stamping that I saw in the bright daylight when I left the basement antique shop.I went through my can of stems and found one that would work on this shank. I had to go with a bit of an oversized stem in terms of diameter as the shank was thinner on the top than on the bottom. I would have to hand fit the stem to accommodate that idiosyncrasy.I used a microdrill bit to put a tiny pin hole at the end of the crack and then filled in the crack with super glue. The drilled hole would keep the crack from spreading and the glue would fill it in. The integrity of the shank was stabilized by the band as well.Once I had a good fit of the stem to the shank I used the Dremel and sanding drum to remove the excess vulcanite on the diameter of the stem. The fine tuning and flow of the stem would be done by files and hand sanding. I reamed the bowl with the PipNet reamer and took out the majority of the cake. I cleaned it up and took it back to briar with the Savinelli Pipe Knife. I topped the bowl on a topping board using 220 grit sandpaper. I removed the damaged surface of the rim until the outer edges were sharp and there was no rounding.I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with acetone on cotton pads to remove the grime and wax that had built up and made the exterior dull and lifeless. I reworked the inner edge of the bowl to bevel it and bring it back to round using a folded piece of 180 grit sandpaper and then a piece of 220 grit sandpaper.I wiped the bowl down again with acetone to remove any remaining grit and also the sanding dust from the rim repairs.I put the stem in place and took some photos to be able to see what still remained to remove from the diameter of the stem and what shaping still needed to be done. There was some width to be removed from the top and bottom sides at the band and then the taper needed to be reduced as well to remove the slight hip. The width on the right and left side also needed a bit more work to make the flow seamless. I sanded the stem with 180 grit sandpaper to further shape it and clean up the flow from the shank to the button. It took a lot of sanding to get the angles and flow just right.I scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the stem and the shank with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners.I sanded the rim with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches left behind by the topping and then stained it with a light brown stain pen to match the colour of the bowl.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished the sanding with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of oil. I set it aside to dry. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. The colour darkened slightly with the wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then by hand with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown below. I am pleased with the way the fit and finish of the stem came out and also the overall look of the pipe. Thanks for looking.

A Surprise While Cleaning up a Primus 2 Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

When I decided to clean up the third of the four pipes I picked up on a recent trip to Sofia, Bulgaria I was surprised by what I ended up finding. From the moment I saw it on the marker seller’s table it was a bit of a mystery to me. I picked it up and checked it out quickly under the scrutiny of the seller who did not know what to do with this English speaking Canadian. I paid him for it thinking that it was an alternative wood. But even then I was not certain about it. I was drawn to the colour of the bowl and the simple elegance of the pipe. When I examined it in the market I opened the lid of wind cap and saw appeared to be white spots on the bottom third of the bowl. I was not sure what it was. I was almost convinced it was mold or something like that which I would need to remove. The silver wind cap was in great shape with a little wear but still aligned to the silver rim cap. It was probably nickel though I am not certain. The stem was bent correctly but it just did not look right. When I removed the stem from the shank the inside of the shank was also lighter in colour.

When I got home from Sofia and brought the pipe to the work table I examined it much more closely. I looked at it with a lens to see if the white was mold or something like that but it did not appear to be that. I rubbed the bowl with my finger to try to remove it and nothing happened. It did not come off on my finger. The upper portion of the bowl was darkened and had a light cake. The bottom of the bowl itself was white. There was no mold or powder on the surface. The more I looked at it the more I am convinced that what I had found was a meerschaum pipe rather than a wooden one. That was a surprise because when I picked it up I was pretty certain on cursory examination that it was a hard wood bowl. It was very lightweight and it did not seem to have any grain. The golden colour of the material also made me think of other older meerschaum pipes that I have restored. At this point I was pretty convinced that I was dealing with an older meerschaum pipe. What a surprise for a pipe I purchased for about $5 CNDN.

I continued to examine the pipe once I had decided it was meerschaum. The metal wind cap was tarnished and undamaged on the outside but the inside of the cap was oxidized and rough. The cap on the rim was also tarnished and rough with tars. There were two nail heads that held the cap on the rim. The meerschaum itself was in excellent shape. There were no dents or gouges in the bowl or shank. There was a slight indentation or ring around the end of the shank that told me that a metal band that had originally been present. The left side of the shank was stamped PRIMUS over 2. The stem was obviously one that seller had taken out of his bag of bowls and stems and put together. It fit in terms of tenon diameter which was good because most of the pipes on his table had cracked shanks from his matching game. The stem diameter was close but I noticed that the mortise was not centered in the shank. Due to that the bottom of the stem sat below the bottom of the shank while the top of the stem was slightly lower than the shank. The stem was lightly oxidized and had some tooth chatter.

The next four photos show the pipe as it was when I brought it to the table. I reamed the bowl with a Savinelli Pipe Knife so that I could carefully cut back the cake to check on the material the bowl was made of. I did not want to damage it so I went slowly and carefully.I wiped down the exterior of the bowl with a damp cloth and removed the stickiness and dirt on the surface. I also pressed a WDC band on the shank. It had a small split that I repaired with super glue but it was the only one I had that fit the shank and did not cover up the stamping. It will have to do. I used some silver polish to scrub the rim and the windcap. I cleaned out the mortise and airway on the shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until they were clean. To adjust the diameter of the stem to match the rolled over end cap I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper. I wanted the diameter of the stem to show equally from the end view so that the same amount of silver showed on each side.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh pads and gave the stem a coat of Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I sanded it with the final three grits of micromesh pads – 6000-12000 and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I set it aside to dry. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond and gave them both several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to give it a shine and then hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. If I come across another band someday I will swap them out but this works for now. Thanks for looking.

Cleaning up my first Sofia find – A Shell Pipe 141

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Blog by Steve Laug

After I had settled into my hotel in Sofia, Bulgaria on a recent trip Dal took me to one of his pipe hunting haunts – an outside antique market in the shadow of Sofia’s largest church building – Nevski Cathedral. We visited the same vendor where he had purchased the Dr. Plumb Oom Paul pipe that he restored and restemmed. He had a lot of pipes on his table for sale. I worked through them and purchased one – a bent billiard with a windcap. Then I went through a bag of bowls and stems that he had and chose the bowl shown in the photo below. The bowl was stamped Shell Pipe 141. The combination sandblast and rustication give the pipe a great look. The finish looked to be pretty decent under the grime that filled the nooks and crannies of the blast. The rim was filled in with tars and oils to the point that the rustication on the surface was invisible. There was a pretty thick uneven cake throughout the bowl. The shank was dirty and almost clogged with tars. There was no stem on the pipe but there was no crack in the shank and I was pretty certain that I had a stem that would fit it once I got home to Vancouver. I went through my can of stems and found a stem that would fit with a bit of adjustment. I sanded the tenon in order to get a proper fit in the mortise of the bowl. The stem was slightly larger in diameter than the shank end and would need to be reduced to fit. The star on the stem would disappear once the stem was properly fit in the shank. I used the Dremel and sanding drum to reduce the diameter of the stem to match the shank. I sanded it with the stem in the pipe to make sure that I could match the stem and shank. I sanded it as close as possible with the Dremel and then worked on it by hand to get the lines of the fit correct.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the scratches left behind by the Dremel sanding drum and to fine tune the fit against the shank. With the stem fit completed I turned to the bowl. I took a close-up photo of the bowl to show the build up on the rim and the state of the cake in the bowl.I reamed the bowl back to bare briar with a PipNet pipe reamer and finished cleaning it up with a Savinelli Pipe Knife. I scrubbed the sandblast/rusticated finish with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush and worked on the rim with a wire brush.I rinsed the bowl with warm water under the tap (being careful to keep it out of the inside of the bowl). The cleaned briar is shown in the next series of photos. I cleaned out the airway in the stem, mortise and airway in the bowl with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. With the bowl cleanup finished and the internals on the stem down it was time to work on the finish of the stem. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 micromesh sanding pads and gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit micromesh pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of Oil. I let it sit until the oil was dry. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel. I used a light touch on the bowl and a heavier touch on the stem as I did not want to get the polishing compound in the grooves and crevices of the blast. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush. I hand buffed the finished pipe with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown below. I am pleased with the outcome. The bowl from Sofia, Bulgaria and the new stem from Canada work well together. Thanks for looking.

Breathing New Life into a Design by Curtis Metal Pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

This smoking metal pipe is really Art Deco looking. It has a metal finned bowl with a pressure fit top cap holding in a briar bowl. There is a threaded connector between the bowl and the metal shank base. The connector threads into both the bowl and the shank. The shank has a pointed end cap that is frozen in place. The bowl was caked and worn. The stem had bite marks on both the top and the bottom sides near the button. The stem is a military mount that sits in a stepped down interior of the metal shank. There is a tube at the end of the airway in the shank that seems to have holes in it as the air flows through when blown into the end. The exterior of the pipe is oxidized and dull. The bottom of the shank is stamped Design by Curtis over Pat. Pend. It is a brand about which I know nothing. I took some close-up photos of the bowl and the stamping on the shank to give a better idea of what the pipe looked like when I started. I took the pipe apart to have a look at the pieces individually and see what I could learn from the way it fit together. I was unable to take the end cap off the shank and I was not willing to damage the cone shaped piece to work it free. I wanted to learn more about the pipe so I did a bit of digging on the Smoking Metal Pipes Site and found this information and pictures (http://www.smokingmetal.co.uk/pipe.php?page=52 ). The site showed a picture of another version of the pipe. It may be newer than the one that I had in hand. It was marked as a Curtis Custom-Built Pipe Model 100. It was manufactured by Curtis Industries of 1120 East 222^nd Street, Cleveland, Ohio. They were first seen around 1946. The pipe that was pictured was different in several ways. The stem was different in that it had a filter insert and a threaded tenon. My version did not have a filter system and also did not have the stinger end cap that held the filter in place. The pictures that follow come from that site. I have cropped and rearranged them to better suit the order of my blog. The brochure also comes from that site. From the Smoking Metal Site it appears that the patent was applied for 25 December 1945. It had the patent number #D143257 and the inventor is named as Howard Abrams from University Heights, Ohio. The site also showed a cut away photo of the bowl and cup.It also includes a copy of the brochure that was included with the pipe. The cover of the brochure reads The Curtis Custom-Built Pipe and three descriptors – Streamlined, Precision Built, Guaranteed. The back reads The Curtis Pipe carries a six month guarantee. The rest reads No. 52927 over Curtis Industries 1120 East 222^nd St. Cleveland, Ohio over Model 100 Patent Pending.Inside it reads A few simple ways to care for your Curtis Pipe. I typed out the contents below the picture.1. Break your pipe in slowly. For the first few smokes fill the pipe loosely and only half way then smoke the new Curtis Pipe slowly and all the way down. Don’t puff hard or fast or you may burn your tongue and may burn out the bowl as well.

2. Don’t collect too much cake, a cracked, burnt and useless bowl will result.

3. Never knock your pipe on hard surfaces since you may split the shank or break the bit. Don’t bite on the bit too hard.

4. Keep your pipe clean. Use your cleaner every few smokes and occasionally use a good fluid to cleanse it.

5. By removing the knurled cap on the pipe stem, a standard pipe filter can be used.

The Curtis Pipe, new in design is produced with a high degree of precision, designed for a cool, clean smoke. Enjoy the full smoking benefits of the pipe by following above suggestions.

Armed with this information I took the pipe apart and began to clean and restore it. I reamed the bowl with the Savinelli Pipe Knife to remove the cake and clean up the briar rim of the bowl insert. I unscrewed the bowl and the threaded connector from the bottom of the bowl. I cleaned out the connector and the airway in the bowl with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I scrubbed the rim and the interior of the bowl with cotton swabs and alcohol to clean out the remaining debris in the bowl and on the rim.I scrubbed out the mortise and airway with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs to remove the tars and residue. I heated the end cap and still could not remove it so I cleaned out the inside of the airway from the top of the shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was a bit of a pain to work around the tube in the shank below but I was able to remove the grime and build up in that place.I set the shank aside and worked on the stem. I cleaned it out with alcohol. There were two deep tooth marks on top and the underside of the stem. I wiped the stem surface down and filled in the dents with black super glue. I sprayed the glue with the accelerator and then sanded the repairs down with 220 grit sandpaper and a medium grit sanding stick until they matched the surface of the stem. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of oil. I let the oil dry. I dry sanded the aluminum barrel shank and the rim of the bowl with 4000-12000 grit micromesh pads. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond and then buffed it with a clean flannel buffing pad. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a beautiful example of the Curtis pipe and the finished pipe is a great addition to my metal collection. Thanks for looking.

ADDENDUM

I received and email from one of the blog’s readers, Doug with some photos of the break down of the bowl system. It looks like the rim top is indeed pressure fit. Thanks for providing these photos Doug. They certainly add to our understanding of the way the bowl was designed.

This one was just plain ugly it was such a mess

9 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

When my brother sent me the link for this one and I scrolled through the pictures the seller included, I almost said to pass on it. It was such a mess that the ugliness made me not want to even deal with this one. But there was something challenging about the pipe and through the gunk it looked like it might have some interesting grain. I know in the early days of my estate buying on EBay I did not pay attention to the measurements on the pipe. I figured it would be a moderately sized Banker or Author with an oval shank. I also ignored the brand stamping on the pipe. It read La Strada Forte on the top of the shank which also should have been a bit of a giveaway. Even the photos below that the seller included of the pipe in a rest should have been a clue. But I missed the clue because I was blown away by the sheer disaster of the pipe. As you look at it below try to catalogue the issues that you see. Let me tell you what, no matter how much I prepared myself by cataloging the issues I saw in the pictures they in no way captured the reality of the mess this pipe was in. It was actually quite unbelievable. First off, I should have read the measurements. This pipe was huge. The length was average really, at 5 ½ inches long. The width of the shank was a bit bigger at 1 1/8 inches wide. The diameter of the bowl exterior was 2 1/8 inches. The chamber appeared to be an inch in diameter but the cake in it reduced it to about ¾ inch. The cake was thick and it was hard. It overflowed onto the top of the bowl and part way down the sides. The inner edge of the rim looked like someone had hacked at it with a knife so underneath the thick cake I could see the chop marks of the knife in the edges of the bowl. The finish was more than shot – it was gone and in its place was thick oily grime ground into the briar. The stamping was black with the oils. It was thick enough that the grime was flaking off on the bottom of the bowl. The stamping was readable and said LA STRADA over FORTE on the top side. On the underside was the shape number 538 and next to the shank stem junction was stamped Italy. The stem was not only oxidized but really worn. The top edge of the button was almost flattened and there were tooth marks in the top of the stem. The underside was another story – there was a chunk of vulcanite missing and the button was gone. The airway was collapsed and the inside surface was gouged with file marks. This poor pipe was looking pretty desperate and I thought about cannibalizing it for briar and parts.Then I looked at the briar through the grime. The bottom of the bowl had some really nice grain – a few fills popping through – but still really nice. The sides of the bowl also had some promise under the grime. And, I liked the shape of the pipe even though it was a war club. Maybe…just maybe…I took a close-up photo of the top of the bowl and the cake inside. I still shake my head when I see the state of the bowl and the damage to the inner rim. It was really in bad shape. Just look at the hack job that had been done to that inner edge.I also took a couple of close-up photos of the stem to show the extent of damage that had been done to it as well. It was in very rough shape.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer starting with the smallest cutting head to clean up the walls of the bowl slowly. I worked through all four reaming heads ending with the largest one. I used the Savinelli Pipe Knife to do some clean up to the edges and try to smooth out some of the rim damage. Between the largest PipNet cutting head and the pipe knife I was able to do a lot of redeeming work on the inner edge of the rim.I topped the bowl on the topping board to remove the damaged finish and to reduce the damage to the inner edge of the rim.I scrubbed the surface of the briar with acetone on cotton pads to remove the dirt and grime in the grain as well as the oils. It was amazing how much grit came off the bowl. Once the surface was clean I worked on the inner rim. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bevel the edge inward and clean up the cuts and nicks in the edge. I did not take a picture at this point but you will see the cleaned up rim in the pictures that follow the work on the stem.

I set the bowl aside to work on the stem. To take care of the damaged stem I made a wedge out of cardboard and covered it with clear strapping tape so that the super glue mixture I was going to use would not stick to it. I wanted it thick enough to leave an airway/slot in the stem. I mixed up a paste of charcoal powder and black super glue. The glue has a slow drying time so I was able to mix a thick paste with the combination. I used a dental pick and spatula to put the mixture in place on the top and the bottom of the stem and build up the area that would become the button on the top side and the repair and button on the underside. I also built up a slope on the stem underside to give me a bit more thickness over the airway. At this point I sprayed the repair with an accelerator to harden the surface of the glue. I set it aside to let the glue repair cure/harden.Once the repair had hardened I used the sanding drum on the Dremel to smooth out the repair. I would still need to sand it by hand but the Dremel took a lot of the heavy spots out of the mix and also allowed me to rough shape the button.The next photos show the repairs after a lot of filing and sanding. The shape is very clear and distinct. The repair is rock solid. You can also see the inner rim bevel on the rim of the bowl in the first photo.The slot was really tight in the button. It was partially closed off and need to be reopened. I used different shaped needle files to open the slot and to reshape it. I also reshaped the button with the needle files. The three photos below show the development of the slot and the button.I reshaped the button edges with needle files and reshaped the taper of the stem from the saddle to the button. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surface of the vulcanite stem. The photos show the progression in the shaping. There is still a lot of sanding to do to finish the shaping and polishing of the stem but I set it aside and worked on the bowl for a while. I cleaned out the inside of the mortise and the airway in the shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It took a lot of scrubbing to clean out the airway and mortise.I heated the briar with a blow dryer and then stained it with a dark brown aniline stain mixed 50% with isopropyl. I used a black Sharpie to darken the fills on the bowl and shank then applied the stain with a cotton swab and flamed it with a lighter to set it in the grain.I wiped the bowl down with alcohol cotton pads to blend the stain and to make it more transparent. The photos below show the bowl after the wipe down. The scrubbed bowl looks quite a bit lighter but once it is waxed it will darken again. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 micromesh sanding pads and rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads and gave it another coat of oil. I finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a final coat of oil and let it dry. (The photos below show both sides of the stem with each set of micromesh pads.) I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the wheel and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to polish the wax. I buffed it by hand with a microfibre cloth to add depth to the shine. I am pleased with the overall look of the pipe and considering what it was like when I first looked at it the improvement is vast. The stem repair is quite extensive. It has cured and is hard now and I am curious as to how it will hold up over time. The pipe looks good and should have a long life ahead of it. Thanks for looking.

Something About This Lorenzo Canadian Caught My Eye

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

A few weeks ago my family took my wife down to the US from Vancouver for her birthday. After a huge breakfast celebration the ladies went shopping and I hit a few favourite antique shops. I found a nice handful of old pipes. One of the lot was sandblast Lorenzo Canadian. It had a nice looking blast and I could see underneath the high gloss, grit and ruined rim what looked like a great pipe. It was in pretty rough shape. The bowl had a thick cake of sweet smelling aromatic tobacco. It was soft and crumbly but it was thick. There was a significant lava flow of tars over the rim to the point it was hard to see what the rim looked like. The back right outside edge of the rim was worn away, rough and rounded. The finish looked as if it had been coated in urethane as a sealer. It almost looked as if that had been done after the grime and build up on the bowl. It was a mess. There was a nickel band on the shank that was stamped Lorenzo across the top face. The underside of the shank was smooth and stamped Lorenzo in script over AMELLO-ORO (at least that is what it looks like as the blast goes across the stamping. There is also the shape number 348 below the stamp ITALY. The stem was oxidized and dirty but seemed to have a cursive L mid stem on the top side. I picked it up for $12 US. The photo below shows the five pipes I picked up that day. The Lorenzo is in the oval at the top of the photo.I took the next series of photos to show the condition of the pipe when I brought it to the work table. It has clean lines but is in sad shape. Can you see the beauty under the grime on this one? I took a close-up photo of the rim to give you a clear picture of the state of the bow and the rim when I started working on it. It needed a lot of work on the bowl and rim before it would be usable again. The second photo below shows the stamping on the pipe. You can see where the sandblast covered portions of the stamping.I started by reaming the bowl with a PipNet reamer. I used the smallest cutting head and worked my way up to one that had the same diameter as the bowl. I finished cleaning up the inside of the bowl with a Savinelli Pipe Knife. The rim was not only heavily covered with lava but also was worn down on the back right side of the outer edge.I topped the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper on the topping board and took off the damage to the rim as much as possible without changing the profile of the pipe.I wiped the bowl down acetone to try to break down the urethane top coat that had been applied. It the bowl had not been sandblasted it would have been easy to sand off the top coat. In this case it was going to be a combination of things that I would have to use to break through the coating and remove it.While the acetone removed a lot of the coating I decided to let the bowl soak overnight in an alcohol bath. My experience was that what the acetone softened the alcohol bath loosened.In the morning I took the bowl out of the bath and dried it off. The coating was definitely much less shiny and in many places was gone altogether. I used a brass bristle wire brush to scrub the surface and get into the crevices and grooves in the blast. I wiped it down afterwards with acetone on cotton pads. I repeated the process until the finish coat was gone and I was left with the stain on the briar.With the finish removed it was time to rusticate the topped rim to match the finish on the bowl more closely. I used an assortment of burrs with the Dremel to make a random pattern on the rim top. I wanted the grooves and cuts to be at different depths and in different styles to approximate the look of the sandblast on the bowl and shank. The photos below show the progression of the rustication and each burr that was used. I used the brass bristle wire brush to knock off any loose pieces of briar and to further rusticate the rim surface. The finished rustication is shown in the photo below.I used a black Sharpie pen to colour in the grooves and crevices in the rim and to add some depth to the finish. I stained over the top of it with a medium brown stain pen for contrast.With the rim finished I restained the entire bowl with a dark brown aniline stain thinned by 50% with isopropyl alcohol. I applied it with a cotton swab and then flamed it to set it in the grain of the pipe.I wiped down the bowl with alcohol on cotton pads to further thin it down and make it more translucent. I wanted the dark stain in the grooves and crevices of the blast to show through the top coat of stain and approximate the colouring I had done on the rim surface.I scrubbed the interior of the airway and mortise with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to begin the cleanup. The condition of this pipe and the heavy aromatic tobacco that had been smoked in it demanded a more drastic measure. I used the drill bit that is part of the KleenReem reamer to clean out the airway from the mortise to the shank. A huge amount of thick tars and grit came out on the bit. It took quite a bit of push to get the bit through the buildup in the airway. It was virtually clogged. I twisted the bit in until the airway was clean and then used the retort on the pipe. I set up the retort and boiled three tubes of alcohol through the shank before I was able to get one tube that was clean. I wanted to see how the stain on the bowl and rim looked at this point so I buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond on the wheel. I polished the metal band on the shank with a jeweler’s cloth to remove the oxidation on the surface and give it a shine. I liked the look of the finish and knew that with a little more effort I would be able to finish the pipe and have it look far better. I dropped the stem in Oxyclean before I went to work and in the evening when I came home took it out of the bath. The oxidation had softened and risen to the surface. I used a coarse towel to scrub it off. The majority of it came off leaving the stem almost clean. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining oxidation on the stem and ran some pipe cleaners through the airway to clean it out. I was careful as I sanded around the cursive L on the stem face so as not to damage it. I went on to wet sand the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I gave the stem a coat of Obsidian Oil and then dry sanded it with 3200-4000 grit pads. I gave it another coat of oil and finished sanding it with 6000-12000 grit pads. I gave it a final coat of oil and let it dry.At this point in the polishing of the stem I paused to address the faded logo on the top of the stem. I used a small #4 artist’s brush and some white acrylic paint to fill in the cursive L logo. The white paint made the logo stand out and added a finishing touch to the stem.I finished sanding the stem with 6000-12000 grit micromesh pads and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I set the stem aside to let the oil soak in and dry.I buffed the pipe – lightly on the bowl and shank, normally on the stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel and then gave the stem several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the stem with a clean buffing pad. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a shoe brush between each coat. I lightly buffed the bowl with a clean buffing pad and then hand buffed the whole pipe with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It has definitely come a long way from the mess I started with but the “good bones” I saw when I picked it up at the antique shop proved to be truly present. The pipe is restored and ready for a long life. Thanks for looking.