Tag Archives: shaping a stem

A New Home for a Brebbia Bent Pocket Pipe

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by Kenneth Lieblich

A young gentleman came to me with the desire for a small pipe he could use on the go. We ultimately settled on a charming little pipe made by Brebbia. It’s a black, sandblasted bent billiard pocket pipe. Despite its diminutive size, it’s a very handsome pipe and promises to be a good smoker. It will serve this fellow very well for a long time to come. Only two words constitute the entirety of this pipe’s markings. On the underside of the stummel are the words Brebbia [over] Italy. I’ve worked on some Brebbia pipes before, so I went and looked up my previous articles. I learned from Pipedia and Pipephil that the Brebbia pipe company was named after the locality of Bosco Grosso di Brebbia in Lombardy, Italy. The company was founded by Enea Buzzi and Achille Savinelli in 1947, but they parted ways in 1953. Mr Savinelli went on to form his eponymous company, while Mr Buzzi kept the factory and created Maniffatura Pipe Brebbia – they produce MPB and Brebbia pipes. Mr Buzzi’s family still run the company today. Let’s this pipe cleaned up! On the whole, the pipe is in good shape. Nothing major is wrong with either the stem or the stummel. Great news!First, I used oil soap on a few cotton rounds and wiped the stem down to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning comes next. I cleaned the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was clean.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result is a hideous brownish mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some de-oxidation fluid. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface. This is a major aid and important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew the stem out from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush.Once clean and dry, I set about fixing the marks and dents in the vulcanite. This is done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber. I left this to cure and moved on.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduce the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I want to remove the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the vulcanite. Following that, I use all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also apply pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done.Now that the stem is (nearly) complete, I can move on to the stummel. The first step for me is to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplishes a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleans the bowl and provides a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake is removed, I can inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there is damage or not. In this case, there was none. I used a reamer and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensure that all the debris is removed.The inside of the stummel needs to be cleaned thoroughly. Similar to the stem, I then cleaned it with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. Fortunately, it wasn’t too dirty.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused any remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I also wiped down the outside with some oil soap on cotton rounds (and a toothbrush). This does a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process is to scour the inside of the stummel with some soap and tube brushes. This is the culmination of the work in getting the pipe clean.No sanding needed for a sandblast. So, I rubbed some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 20 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed it with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench buffer and carefully polished it – first with a white diamond compound, then with three coats of conservator’s wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and stem glows.This Brebbia bent billiard pocket pipe is very handsome and will provide many years of smoking pleasure. I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe as much I as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 3⅔ in. (93 mm); height 1⅜ in. (36 mm); bowl diameter 1⅛ in. (30 mm); chamber diameter ⅔ in. (17 mm). The weight of the pipe is ⅞ oz. (25 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

New Life for a Peterson’s System Standard 301 Smooth Pot

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by Steve Laug

We received the next pipe from our source in Copenhagen, Denmark on 01/29/2024. It is another fitting New Year’s restoration. It is a Peterson’s 301 Bent Pot. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [arched over] System [over] Standard. On the right side it is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines) [over] the shape number 301. The nickel ferrule on the shank is lightly oxidized and stamped K&P [over] Petersons. The pipe is dirty, obviously another favourite smoker. There is grime ground into the finish. There is a thick cake in the bowl and a thick overflow of lava on the inner edge and the smooth rim top. The nickel ferrule is lightly tarnished and stamped as noted. The stem is dirty, very oxidized but does not have tooth marks of chatter on either side. Jeff took photos of it before he started his clean up work. I have included those below. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked and there was some darkening and a lava overflow on the rim top and the inner edge. The stem looks amazingly good for a pipe of this age. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the look of the sandblast that was around this bowl. The blast really highlights the grain underneath and is quite beautiful around the sides of the bowl and shank. It is another nice looking pipe. He took photos of underside of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is clear and readable in the photos below and is as noted above. The stamping on the nickel ferrule is clear and readable as noted above. I have included a link to the Pipedia article so that you can read the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). Take some time to read through it as it is a great read.

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s System Line. On page 314 it had the following information.

Peterson’s over System – Pipes stamped Peterson’s System have been documented as early as 1920. A ’20 brochure is the earliest printed reference to the Peterson System. The pipe came in three quality grades (no mark, 2, or 3) until 1959, thereafter as De Luxe (no mark), Premier (the old 2) and Standard (the old 3).

Peterson’s over System over Standard (c1945-)

I learned previously that the shape 301 was not introduced until 1975. Considering the Republic stamp, this one would likely date between 1975 and 2000. My guess is that the pipe was made somewhere between 1975 and mid-80s. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

With that information at hand I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation and calcification as possible. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe before I started to work on it.  I took close up photos of the bowl and the stem. You can see the reamed bowl and the clean rim top and edges. It looks good. There is a bit of darkening on the inner edge at the back. The stem surface was clean but there are light tooth marks and chatter on both sides on and ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is faint in spots but readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. It is really quite nice looking. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down between pads with a damp cloth to remove any sanding debris. The briar really took on a rich shine. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads and wiped it down with a cloth and Obsidian Oil to remove the debris. It began to take on a rich shine.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This nice looking Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 301 Bent Pot with a classic Peterson’s P-lip vulcanite stem looks much better now that it has been restored. The rim top and edges cleaned up very well. The dark brown stains on the bowl came alive with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. I left a few of the wounds in the briar left by the journey as they do not detract. The finished Peterson’s System Standard 301 is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 59 grams/2.01 ounces. I will be putting it in the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section soon. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Restoring a Republic Era Petersons System Standard 301 Sandblast Bent Pot

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by Steve Laug

We received the next pipe from our source in Copenhagen, Denmark on 11/21/2023. It is another fitting New Year’s Day restoration. It is a Peterson’s 301 Bent Pot. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Peterson’s [arched over] System [over] Standard next that is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines) [over] the shape number 301. The nickel ferrule on the shank is stamped K&P [over] Petersons. The pipe is dirty, obviously another favourite smoker. There is grime ground into the finish. There is a thick cake in the bowl and a light overflow of lava on the inner edge and the sandblast rim top. The nickel ferrule is lightly tarnished. The stem is dirty, but is shiny and well cared for. Jeff took photos of it before he started his clean up work. I have included those below. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked and there was some darkening and a lava overflow on the sandblast rim top and the inner edge. The stem looks amazingly good for a pipe of this age. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the look of the sandblast that was around this bowl. The blast really highlights the grain underneath and is quite beautiful around the sides of the bowl and shank. It is another nice looking pipe. He took photos of underside of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is clear and readable in the photos below and is as noted above. The stamping on the nickel ferrule is clear and readable as noted above. I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s System Line. On page 314 it had the following information.

Peterson’s over System – Pipes stamped Peterson’s System have been documented as early as 1920. A ’20 brochure is the earliest printed reference to the Peterson System. The pipe came in three quality grades (no mark, 2, or 3) until 1959, thereafter as De Luxe (no mark), Premier (the old 2) and Standard (the old 3).

Peterson’s over System over Standard (c1945-)

I learned previously that the shape 301 was not introduced until 1975. Considering the Republic stamp, this one would likely date between 1975 and 2000. My guess is that the pipe was made somewhere between 1975 and mid-80s. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

With that information at hand I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation and calcification as possible. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe before I started to work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and the stem. You can see the reamed bowl and the clean rim top and edges. It looks good. The stem surface was clean but there are light tooth marks and chatter on both sides on and ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is faint in spots but readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. It is really quite nice looking.The briar was in such good condition that I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips and a shoebrush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads and wiped it down with a cloth and Obsidian Oil to remove the debris. It began to take on a rich shine.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This nice looking Peterson’s System Standard 301 Sandblast Bent Pot with a classic Peterson’s P-lip vulcanite stem looks much better now that it has been restored. The rim top and edges cleaned up very well. The dark brown stains on the bowl came alive with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Peterson’s System Standard is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 45 grams/1.62 ounces. I will be putting it in the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section soon. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Decided to work on a carving kit today and see what I could do with it

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by Steve Laug

When Kenneth and I visited a fellow pipe repair guy near Vancouver, Washington this past Fall he gave us a bunch of pipe parts and some pre-drilled partially shaped pipe kits that needed a lot of work to finish. Mind you, the shaping was roughed in and the drilling was finished. Some of them it was not too bad and some were drilled high or off to the side of the bowl bottom. Anyway you looked at it they would be fun to fiddle with. Kenneth and I both took several of them to add to the “to do list”.

This afternoon I chose a block to work on as the internet was giving me fits with poor connections. It was making blog writing downright frustrating. I was not in the mood for an unshaped block so I chose a partially shaped Billiard with a stem made to give a hint of a military bit. The bowl was smooth externally with one small flaw on the right-side mid bowl toward the front. The inside of the bowl had a dark bowl coating – maybe water glass. The shank had been roughly shaped with a file and knives. The shape of it pointed toward being oval. The shank was not long enough to be a Canadian so I called it a Billiard. The corners of the shank end had been knocked off or partially rounded and the stem was an oval taper to help the person who took on the project go the right direction with it. I liked the inward bevel of the rim top and the grain on it was nice. The bowl looked good. The shank would need a lot of work no matter which direction I went with it. Here are some photos of the kit when I started this afternoon. I brought out the big guns this afternoon instead of fiddling around with files. I put a sanding drum on the Dremel and headed out to the front porch. It was chilly here today so I bundled up accordingly with a warm coat and a toque and took the tool and the block to the porch. I plugged in and worked over the shank with the Dremel and sanding drum. I had an idea in my minds eye that I was aiming for. I shaped and rounded the shank to make a rounder oval than perhaps the block cutter had imagined. I flattened out the knocked off corners and carried the shank straight through to the end. I was thinking that I might fit a ferrule on the shank end and reshape the stem to truly be a military style stick bit. Like most of these projects you have to have some idea in mind but hold it loosely while shaping it. You never know what is going to show up as you shape the briar. I have heard carvers speak of briar having a mind of its own so I truly hold my idea loosely and work away at it. By the time I had it rough shaped the way I wanted I was chilled so I packed it in and headed back to my basement desk top. I took some photos of the pipe at this point in the process. I had removed a lot of briar but still a lot more remained to be shaped and moved. Have a look. Now it was time for a cup of tea and a lot of sanding. First I made the tea and then I removed the stem from the shank. I used many pieces of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the Dremel marks and remaining file marks on the shank and the transition between the shank and the bowl. It took a lot of sanding and several cups of tea. But it was getting there. I sanded the bowl and shank with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a cloth and a drop of olive oil to remove the debris. It certainly is beginning to look quite good at this point. I rounded the shank end with my Dremel and sanding drum and a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I wanted to have the curves on the shank match the nickel ferrule. Once I had the fit correct I pressed it in place on the shank end. There were two flaws in the briar – one on the left side toward the top and one mid bowl on the right side. I filled them in with briar dust and clear CA glue. Once it cured I flattened out the repair with a small file. I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surface of the briar. It began to look very good. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a drop of olive oil and a paper towel. The briar began to take on a rich glow and the grain began to stand out. The briar was in looking good at this point in the process. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem that came with it. I used a file to flatten out the sharp edges on the shank end. I wanted it to be more or a flowing military style bit.I shaped it with 220 grit sandpaper a bit more then switched to 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with some Obsidian Oil. By the end the shape was right and the fit was perfect. It began to take on a shine.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I finished carving my Pipe Kit Billiard this afternoon. The shape came out looking very good and the polished nickel ferrule works well with the pipe. I oiled the bowl with another coat of EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil). The oil brought the grain out very well and the oil gave it a rich reddish brown look. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Pipe Kit Billiard is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 44 grams/1.55 ounces. This was a fun one to carve for me. I like how it turned out and look forward to enjoying a bowl in it very soon. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring another Republic Era Peterson’s Dublin 2 101 Billiard

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by Steve Laug

We received the next pipe from our source in Copenhagen, Denmark on 01/08/2024 – almost a year ago. It is a fitting New Year’s Day restoration. It is a Peterson’s 101 Military Bit Billiard. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [arched over] Dublin 2 and the stamping is very clear. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines) and the shape number 101 is next to the bowl shank junction. The ferrule on the shank is stamped Peterson’s [over] Dublin next to that it is stamped Sterling [over] Silver. Following the r in Silver are three hallmarks – 1. Hibernia seated with her arm on a harp, 2. A crowned harp for the silver quality and finally 3. A date letter stamp, in this case a lowercase “l” that dates the pipe to 1977. The pipe is dirty, obviously a favourite smoker. There is grime ground into the finish. There is a thick cake in the bowl and a light overflow of lava on the inner edge and rim top. The silver ferrule is lightly tarnished. The stem is dirty, but is shiny and well cared for. Jeff took photos of it before he started his clean up work. I have included those below. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked and there was some darkening and a light lava overflow on the rim top and the inner edge. The stem looks amazingly good for a pipe of this age. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. The grain is quite beautiful around the sides of the bowl and shank. It is another nice looking pipe. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is clear and readable in the photos below and is as noted above. The stamping on the silver ferrule is clear and readable as noted above. As with the blog just previous to this one, I turned to an earlier blog on a pipe with the same stamping that I had restored. I am quoting from what I learned in writing that blog below.

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Dublin 2. On page 298 it had the following information.

Dublin (1906-2003) Although DUBLIN appears under PETERSON’S on many pipes over the decades, it has served mostly as part of the brand name. The word first appeared on pipes hallmarked 1906-11, stamped PETERSON’S over PATENT over DUBLIN. The simpler PETERSON’S over DUBLIN first appeared on pipes hallmarked 1912 after the expiration of the patent. Illustrations of pipes in the ’37 catalog show a random dispersion of the stamp PETERSON’S over OF DUBLIN together with the ordinary PETERSON’S over DUBLIN on every model offered. Specimens of the former will bear either an Irish COM or LONDON MADE over ENGLAND COM and almost certainly date from 1945-62. It was first mentioned as part of a model name in the ’68 price list, as K&P DUBLIN, in ’92 for a Danish market line and in the 2017 (see below).

“Dublin” (1992-2003) An orange-brown smooth line with a brass-nickel-brass sandwich band, vulcanite fishtail mouthpiece, consisting mostly of D shapes released for the Danish Market. Stamped PETERSON’S in script over “DUBLIN”. A tenth anniversary pipe for the line was produced with a sterling band stamped 2001. Market demand fell shortly thereafter and several pipe stamped “DUBLIN” were released in ’03 for the Fourth of July commemoratives for the US Market.

I wrote to Mark Irwin again and asked for his help in clearing up the mystery and helping to date this pipe. I asked him to provide any additional information for me. He responded with the following:

Steve… It’s first decade of Early Republic (1948-1958). The 2 and 3 numbers were discontinued int in 1958. Great little pipe! The “w” = today’s Premier grade.

I had forgotten to include the hallmarks on the silver so that left me even more in a quandary. So, I wrote Mark back about the date stamp on the silver and the conflicting stamping on the pipe.

How does that work with the date on the ferrule seeming to point 1975 (in this case 1977)? It has the standard stamping – woman on a chair, harp and the letter “h” (in this case “l”),

Mark responded as follows with regard to that pipe (the material fits this pipe very well).

Haha! I love it. You have just entered the Twilight Zone of Peterson Pipes, because the “2” and the small “h” for 1975 cancel each other out. I would prefer to leave it there: “a dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge.” If, however, you want to get mundane about it, there are only two possibilities: it was rebanded in 1975 (highly unlikely but not impossible) or someone picked up the old stamp (and they have dozens and dozens) who was new to the hand-stamping job. For myself. I’d rather leave it in the imponderables, but there are always skeptics who prefer the easy explanation to the miracle.

I could not have said it any better! The Twilight Zone of Peterson’s Pipes. So I have a pipe that was made between 1948-1958 with a silver ferrule that is dated 1977. What a great mystery. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. Surprisingly the walls looked unscathed from the heavy cake. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs, shank brushes and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. It looked better but still dark. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. The rim top looked better but there were some issues with some roughening on the inner edge and scuffing on the top. I took a closeup photo of the rim top and edges to show the issues I spoke of. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the stem.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and reads as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the darkening on the rim top and damage on the inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the damage on the inner edge and also to smooth out the darkening on the rim top. It began to look much better.I worked over the surface of the rim top and the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. It began to look good. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. The stem was clean and the light tooth marks were minimal. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped it down with another coat of Obsidian Oil. I am excited to finish this beautifully grained Peterson’s Dublin 2 Military Mount 101 Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain all around it. I polished the twin golden bands on the shank with a jeweller’s cloth. This smooth Classic Peterson’s Dublin 2 Military Mount 101 Billiard is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 27 grams/.95 ounces. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for walking through this restoration with me. I am always glad to answer questions or clarify if you would like more information.

New Life for a Republic Era Peterson’s 101 Military Bit Billiard

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by Steve Laug

We received the next pipe from our source in Copenhagen, Denmark on 01/08/2024 – almost a year ago. It is a fitting New Year’s Eve restoration. It is a Peterson’s 101 Military Bit Billiard. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [arched over] Dublin 2 and the stamping is blurred from overstamping. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines) and the shape number 101 is next to the bowl shank junction. The final 1 in the shape number has a small fill that also makes it blurry. The ferrule on the shank is stamped Peterson’s [over] Dublin next to that it is stamped Sterling [over] Silver. Following the r in Silver are three hallmarks – 1. Hibernia seated with her arm on a harp, 2. A crowned harp for the silver quality and finally 3. A date letter stamp, in this case an uppercase “P” that dates the pipe to 1981. The pipe is dirty, obviously a favourite smoker. There is grime ground into the finish. There is a thick cake in the bowl and a heavy overflow of lava on the inner edge and rim top. The silver ferrule is lightly tarnished. The stem is dirty with light oxidation and tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of it before he started his clean up work. I have included those below. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked and there was a heavy lava overflow on the rim top and the inner edge. The stem is lightly oxidized and grimy. It has some light tooth marks on the top and underside near and on the surface of the button itself. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. The grain is quite beautiful around the sides of the bowl and shank. You can see some flaws or sand pits in the briar or pits but otherwise it is great grain. It is a nice looking pipe.He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. The blurriness of the left side stamp is accurate and not a camera issue. It has been double stamped and the result is the blur. The stamping on the silver ferrule is clear and readable as noted above. I turned to an earlier blog on a pipe with the same stamping that I had restored. I am quoting from what I learned in writing that blog below.

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Dublin 2. On page 298 it had the following information.

Dublin (1906-2003) Although DUBLIN appears under PETERSON’S on many pipes over the decades, it has served mostly as part of the brand name. The word first appeared on pipes hallmarked 1906-11, stamped PETERSON’S over PATENT over DUBLIN. The simpler PETERSON’S over DUBLIN first appeared on pipes hallmarked 1912 after the expiration of the patent. Illustrations of pipes in the ’37 catalog show a random dispersion of the stamp PETERSON’S over OF DUBLIN together with the ordinary PETERSON’S over DUBLIN on every model offered. Specimens of the former will bear either an Irish COM or LONDON MADE over ENGLAND COM and almost certainly date from 1945-62. It was first mentioned as part of a model name in the ’68 price list, as K&P DUBLIN, in ’92 for a Danish market line and in the 2017 (see below).

“Dublin” (1992-2003) An orange-brown smooth line with a brass-nickel-brass sandwich band, vulcanite fishtail mouthpiece, consisting mostly of D shapes released for the Danish Market. Stamped PETERSON’S in script over “DUBLIN”. A tenth anniversary pipe for the line was produced with a sterling band stamped 2001. Market demand fell shortly thereafter and several pipe stamped “DUBLIN” were released in ’03 for the Fourth of July commemoratives for the US Market.

I wrote to Mark Irwin again and asked for his help in clearing up the mystery and helping to date this pipe. I asked him to provide any additional information for me. He responded with the following:

Steve… It’s first decade of Early Republic (1948-1958). The 2 and 3 numbers were discontinued int in 1958. Great little pipe! The “w” = today’s Premier grade.

I had forgotten to include the hallmarks on the silver so that left me even more in a quandary. So, I wrote Mark back about the date stamp on the silver and the conflicting stamping on the pipe.

How does that work with the date on the ferrule seeming to point 1975 (in this case 1981)? It has the standard stamping – woman on a chair, harp and the letter “h” (in this case “P”),

Mark responded as follows with regard to that pipe (the material fits this pipe very well).

Haha! I love it. You have just entered the Twilight Zone of Peterson Pipes, because the “2” and the small “h” for 1975 cancel each other out. I would prefer to leave it there: “a dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge.” If, however, you want to get mundane about it, there are only two possibilities: it was rebanded in 1975 (highly unlikely but not impossible) or someone picked up the old stamp (and they have dozens and dozens) who was new to the hand-stamping job. For myself. I’d rather leave it in the imponderables, but there are always skeptics who prefer the easy explanation to the miracle.

I could not have said it any better! The Twilight Zone of Peterson’s Pipes. So I have a pipe that was made between 1948-1958 with a silver ferrule that is dated 1990. What a great mystery. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. Surprisingly the walls looked unscathed from the heavy cake. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs, shank brushes and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. It looked better but still dark. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. The rim top looked better but there were some issues with some roughening on the inner edge and darkening on the top. I took a closeup photo of the rim top and edges to show the issues I spoke of. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth marks on the surface near ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and reads as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the darkening on the rim top and damage on the inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the damage on the inner edge and also to smooth out the darkening on the rim top. It began to look much better.I worked over the surface of the rim top and the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. It began to look good. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. The stem was clean and the light tooth marks were minimal. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped it down with another coat of Obsidian Oil. I am excited to finish this beautifully grained Peterson’s Dublin 2 Military Mount 101 Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain all around it. I polished the twin golden bands on the shank with a jeweller’s cloth. This smooth Classic Peterson’s Dublin 2 Military Mount 101 Billiard is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 33 grams/1.16 ounces. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. Thanks for walking through this restoration with me. I am always glad to answer questions or clarify if you would like more information.

Restoring a Handsome Portland Pipe Co. “Falcon Briar”

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by Kenneth Lieblich

This is the next pipe that I restored for a local family. One of the gentlemen selected this fine Canadian shape for his own. It’s a good-looking pipe and worthy of restoration. This pipe comes from the Portland Pipe Co., which I’ve written about before. This specific pipe has some interesting markings – let’s take a look. On the top of the shank, it reads Portland Pipe Co [over] B.B& S Ltd. [over] London made – England. On the left side of the shank, it reads Falcon Briar. On the right side of the shank, it reads P2 – presumably a shape code. Two things puzzled me: the term “Falcon Briar” and the code “P2”. They didn’t conform to anything I already knew about Portland. Here is a review of my digging for information on Portland Pipe Co.I began my research with José Manuel Lopes’ book, Pipes: Artisans and Trademarks. As the photo shows, there was a little information, but not a lot.The connection with Barling was interesting, so I also checked Wilczak and Colwell’s book, Who Made That Pipe? From the photos below, you can see that the Portland Pipe Co. is connected to Barling too.Time to check online. Pipephil had a similarly brief write-up (included here).Pipedia was a bit more informative. Their page on the Portland Pipe Co. includes the following information (the typos are in the original and are NOT mine):

Portland Pipe Company was an English pipe maker, and appears to have started in the 1930’s, and went out of business in 1962. It’s though they had ties to Barling pipes from the 1930’s. They might have been a sub-brand or “second” which was separate from, but fully owned by Barling’s all along. It also thought that after Portland closed down, and during Barling’s corporate era (BB&S), Barling picked up some of the Portland brand (Londoner, Cragmoor and Portland) and made them for a while. WILCZAK & COLWELL in their book “Who Made That Pipe?” acknowledge the brand as from England, though some have been made in Italy as well (see Pipephil.eu). The Brand John Peel is a pipe which has the stamping: JOHN PEEL, A PORTLAND PIPE, MADE WHOLLY IN ENGLAND. I have a model with is also stamped SPECIAL, it’s a stack design with shape number 801. This pipe might have been made either by Portland or Barling. According to a 1940 price sheet, the following models were offered, along with the correlating prices:

 Vintage (10/6)
Exchange (7/6)
Londoner (7/6)
Mosaic (7/6)
Portland Super (7/6)
Crustor (5/6)
Diploma (5/6)
Port Royal (5/6)
Port-de-Luxe (5/6)
Portland Patent (5/6)
Souk-el-Arba (5/6)
Times (4/6)
British Sovereign (3/6)
John Peel (3/6)
Jubilee (3/6)
Sirdar (3/6)
Campaigner (2/6)
Dandy (2/6)
First Call (2/6)
Knobby (2/6)
Topsall (2/6)
Topsall Comfort (2/6)
Portman (2/-)
British National (1/6)
Ruf Kut (1/6)

This doesn’t mention anything about “Falcon Briar”. However, there are a few other tidbits of information. The PipesMagazine.com forums include an interesting comment from Barling expert Jonathan Guss:Finally, over at the Very Keen on Pipes website, a reader commented on one of their posts by saying:

“… Portland pipes make up one of the great mysteries of London pipe making. No one knows when Barling bought Portland but most of us barling guys believe it was mid to late 30’s. I saw a reference once online using the year 1936 but this cannot be confirmed. Next, John Peel was for a long time thought to have been a shop but there is no evidence proving that. However, John Peel pipes were almost certainly made by Portland. What most of use want in a pipe of this type is a pipe made before 1962, when the barling family was let go by the new owners and the brand went into a downward spiral quality wise. Re Portland, a number of them have recently turned up as a result of a “garage find” of a batch of pipes from the Toronto Canada area and they were mixed in with other wood from the 50’s and that seems to indicate a 50’s date of manufacture. Note: in those days several of the larger pipe makers made pipes or just bowls for other brands and these were mostly Charatan, Comoy and other makers such as Orlick. What is almost certain is that never did barling make / sell any pipes that were not carved by barling carvers untill after 1970. So, Portland and Peel were never actually barling made, these pipes were either made by Portland in house or, in later years past 1962, by Charatan and others. Also, if one looks at the style of the bits it evident that Portland and Peel pipes were not made that long ago, probably 50’s and 60’s unless there is a BB&S stamp which indicates post 1970 age (the & symbol being the give away since B.B.S was used in the older pre 1962 era.) Just some info for you to keep in mind… “

This is interesting stuff and then Steve gave me another possible detail. Apparently, Comoy’s used to make a line of pipes called ‘Falcon’ and another called ‘Royal Falcon’. Perhaps this bowl was made by Comoy, but later picked up by Portland. This could explain why the pipe contains the ‘Falcon Briar’ line. Pipephil has this tidbit:By inference (and some educated guesswork), this pipe was made in England, probably in the 1970s (or, at least, post 1970), by the Portland Pipe Co. However, there may be a Comoy connection too. I am happy to be educated by someone who knows more.

The pipe was in good condition and didn’t require any major surgery. The bowl was a bit dirty and banged up, but nothing serious. Similarly, the stem had some tooth marks and scrapes, nothing to worry about.To start, I used a disposable lighter and ‘painted’ the stem with its flame. The gentle heat of the flame can cause the dents in the vulcanite of the stem to expand back into shape. This helped a little bit.I used oil soap on a few cotton rounds and wiped the stem down to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning comes next. I cleaned the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was clean.The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result is a hideous brownish mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some de-oxidation fluid. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface. This is a major aid and important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew the stem out from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush.Once clean and dry, I set about fixing the marks and dents in the vulcanite. This is done by filling those divots with black cyanoacrylate adhesive, impregnated with carbon and rubber. I left this to cure and moved on.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. First, with my set of needle files, I reduce the bulk of the cyanoacrylate repairs. I want to remove the excess adhesive as near to the surface as possible, without cutting into the vulcanite. Following that, I use all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also apply pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There is a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I am done.Now that the stem is (nearly) complete, I can move on to the stummel. The first step for me is to ream out the bowl – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplishes a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleans the bowl and provides a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake is removed, I can inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there is damage or not. Everything looked good inside the bowl. My next step was to remove the lava on the rim. For this, I took a piece of machine steel and gently scraped the lava away. The metal’s edge is sharp enough to remove what I need, but not so sharp that it damages the rim. This worked well. Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the insides of the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. The pipe turned out to be a bit dirtier than I expected.I then decided to ‘de-ghost’ the pipe – that is to say, exorcize the remaining filth from the briar. I filled the bowl and the shank with cotton balls, then saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused any remaining oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton.To tidy up the briar, I also wiped down the outside with some oil soap on cotton rounds (and a toothbrush). This does a good job of cleaning any latent dirt on the surface of the briar. The last step of the cleaning process is to scour the inside of the stummel with some soap and tube brushes. This is the culmination of a lot of work in getting the pipe clean.In order to lessen the nicks on the rim, I ‘topped’ the pipe – that is to say, I gently and evenly sanded the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. This effectively minimizes the damage, without altering the look of the pipe.I used all nine micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) on the outside of the stummel to finish it off. This sanding minimizes flaws in the briar and provides a beautiful smoothness to the wood. I rubbed some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar and let it sit for 20 minutes or so. The balm moisturizes the wood and gives a beautiful depth to the briar. I then buffed it with a microfibre cloth. For the final step, I took the pipe to my bench buffer and carefully polished it – first with a white diamond compound, then with three coats of carnauba wax. This procedure makes the pipe look its best – the stummel sings and stem glows.This Portland Canadian is a very handsome pipe and will provide many years of smoking pleasure. I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe as much I as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 6 in. (153 mm); height 1⅞ in. (48 mm); bowl diameter 1⅓ in. (33 mm); chamber diameter ⅔ in. (17 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1⅜ oz. (40 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring a Lovely Peterson’s “Kapp-Royal” X105 Billiard with a Cumberland 9mm Filter Stem

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe was a mess and one that obviously had been the previous pipe smoker’s favourite pipe. The finish and condition were abysmal. It was definitely a stranger to any cleaning! This one is a smooth Billiard that has a rich coloured finish around the bowl sides and shank under the grit and grime of years. The shank end had a double brass band separating it from the stem. This pipe was purchased on 12/09/2023 from our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark. The finish is shiny but is also so dirty it was hard to know what to expect once it was cleaned. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [over] “Kapp-Royal”. It was stamped to the right of the shank and reads MADE IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (three lines) with the shape number X105 next to the bowl. The underside of the shank was stamped Huber over Munchen. It was filthy when Jeff brought it to the table. There was a thick cake in the bowl and lava on the back of the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. The outer edge looked good. The Cumberland stem was oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked and there was a light lava overflow on the back of the rim top and the inner edge. The stem is oxidized and grimy. It has some light tooth marks on the top and underside near and on the surface of the button itself. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. The grain is quite beautiful around the sides of the bowl and shank. It is a nice looking pipe.He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. There is a golden “P” inlaid logo on the left side of the taper stem. I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). There was a short note toward the bottom of the page about the series. It is definitely referring to the newer line that came out later. I quote:

Kapp Royal Series: The Kapp Royal series is a relatively new one, but has a well establish history in Europe. They are a handsome colourful series with a good quality natural stain briar and bright orange Lucite stems and occasionally Cumberland.

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Kapp-Royal Pipe. On page 306 it had the following information.

Kapp-Royal (1969, 1976-79, c1988, 2004) First appearance as a line introduced 1969. In 1976-79 Iwan Ries catalog offering identical with non-System Dunmore line. Second appearance in the late eighties as a high-grade Italian market line with briar band inset into the mouthpiece. From c.2004, Italian line available in US as high grade, orange finish, sterling band, amber-colored acrylic fishtail stem or sometimes vulcanite, embedded aluminum P.

Judging from the description above, the pipe I am working on is probably one of the first appearing series that came out in 1969. As noted in Red above it came with an occasional Cumberland stem. The Made in the Republic of Ireland stamp on the right side of the stamp puts it in the Republic Era 1950-1989.

On the underside of the shank it is stamped Huber [over] Munchen. From a past restoration (I have included the link) [https://rebornpipes.com/2023/10/14/petersons-kildare-special-hg-republic-of-ireland-10-canadian/]. I turned to page 300 of “The Peterson’s Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg as noted by him in the previous blog and found a great paragraph on the stamping. I quote in full.

GH Retailer’s Monogram (c. 1960s) George Huber of Munich, Germany, a Peterson distributor and retailer for decades, stamped their monogram on pipes sold in their store, G overlaid on H. Peterson shared in the 1988 commemoration of Huber’s 125th year in business by producing a special pipe with a sterling rim cap, stamped HUBER over CELEBRATION.

The pipe I have is one that does not bear that monogram and does not appear to have ever had the sterling rim cap and was not stamped HUBER over CELEBRATION. It was however, stamped Huber and Munchen – the city where the shop was located. With that information I turned my attention to working on the pipe.

I was utterly surprised when I took this pipe out of the box and compared it to the before photos. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. Surprisingly the walls looked unscathed from the heavy cake. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. The cleaned up rim top looked very good around the edges and the top. I took a closeup photo of the rim top and edges to show how well it had cleaned up. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth marks on the surface near and on the button itself.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and reads as noted above. I also captured the gold insert P on the left side of the Cumberland stem. It looked great. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. I started my work on this pipe polishing the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. The stem was clean and the light tooth marks were minimal. There was pitting on the topside of the stem that left it feeling rough. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to smooth out the pitting and marks in the Cumberland. Once finished it was greatly improved.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped it down with another coat of Obsidian Oil. I put a new 9mm filter in the tenon on the stem. It fit well and looked great. I used Vauen filters as they are easily accessible here and on Amazon.com.I am excited to finish this beautifully grained Peterson’s Kapp-Royal X105 Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain all around it. I polished the twin golden bands on the shank with a jeweller’s cloth. This smooth Classic Peterson’s Kapp-Royal X105 Billiard is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 45 grams/1.59 ounces. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for walking with me through this restoration.

Really, is this a new Peterson’s Sherlock Holmes Deerstalker?

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by Steve Laug

I received a call from a fellow yesterday who was sent to me by our local pipe shop. He had been given a pipe by his girlfriend for Christmas. She had purchased it somewhere other than the shop he went to and they assured her that it was brand new and unsmoked. It was a rusticated Peterson’s Sherlock Holmes Pipe with a silver band. When he opened the pipe sock he took out this gift in expectation. When it came out the pipe was dirty, the silver was tarnish and the stem was yellowed with oxidation. He had put it in his mouth and the oxidation gave a foul taste that almost put him off the pipe. He had taken it to my local shop to have them look at it. The clerk there looked it over and declared that it was a beauty and was definitely used. He cleaned off the silver with some silver cleaner and it shone. He recommended that he bring it to me for a restoration. He called and we chatted for a bit. It turned out he had this pipe and one of his Dad’s pipes that he wanted me to work on as well. He came over late afternoon with the pipes and I looked them over.

The Peterson’s was indeed quite a beauty under the grime. It was stamped on the heel of the bowl and read Peterson’s [over] of Dublin [over] Sherlock [over] Holmes [over] Deerstalker. The silver band was stamped on the topside with the profile of Sherlock Holmes with Peterson’s arched over the top and Sterling Silver arched underneath. On the underside it is stamped Peterson [over] three silver hallmarks. The first is Hibernia seated with an arm on a harp signifying the country of manufacture – Ireland. The second stamp is .925 designating the sterling quality from 2003 on. The third is the date letter mark – in this case an italic uppercase I which designates it as being made in 2019. The finish was dirty with dust and grime, perhaps from sitting and perhaps from use. The bowl reeked of English tobacco and was rough to the touch when I ran a finger down the walls. The silver looked good. The stem was badly oxidized but the silver P on the left side of the taper still shone. As I examined it I was pretty sure that there was a light cake in the bowl over the top of a bowl coating. When I took the stem off the inside of the mortise was stained with a purple stain showing that the pipe had been dip stained. Not unusual, but certainly a pain as it also adds a sour taste to the smoke. He left the pipe for me to work on and I started it last evening. I took these photos before I started my work. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to give you an idea of what I see. You can see inside of the bowl in the photos and the thin cake and perhaps some residue of a bowl lining in the heel of the bowl. The photos of the stem show that it is oxidized and has light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as spelled out above. I captured the stamping on the underside of the silver band in the photo as well. I took a photo of stamp on the topside of the silver band as well. It is clear and readable as noted above.I wanted to know more about the Peterson’s Sherlock Holmes Line so I turned to the Pipedia article on the line and read it carefully to see where this pipe fit in the line of pipes making up the line. (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson#1950_-_1989_The_Republic_Era). I quote what I found out below.

1987 saw the introduction and Issue of the first Sherlock Holmes ‘Original’ Series of pipes. The Sherlock Holmes series is probably the most successful series of pipes ever introduced by Peterson in terms of numbers. It was first issued to honour Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous fictitious detective character, Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is perhaps the most famous pipe smoking character in fiction…

The Sherlock Holmes Series: Probably the most popular and successful series of pipes ever produced by Peterson. Including the Meerschaum version of the seven day sets. Both briar and Meers can be purchased either as individual pipes or complete seven day sets and stands. Expect to pay around $250 for briars and $300 for individual Meerschaums. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes runs around $1000 for a 4 pipe boxed set. Complete 7 day sets and stands can be up to $1500 – $2000.

At this point I knew that the original line was introduced in 1987. I did not know the sequence of pipes after the Original first pipe. More work was necessary. So, I followed the links included to another article call the Pete Sherlockiana Group. There was photo there of the full collection of various Sherlock Holmes lines that were issue. I have included the link and the information include with the group photo that shown of the collection below.

Here is the link (https://pipedia.org/wiki/File:Pete_SherlockianaGroup.JPG). The description under the photo read as found below:

Sherlockiana Group, which includes: The ‘Original’ 7 day set w/stand, The ‘Return’ 7day set w/stand, The Meerschaum 7 day set w/stand, The ‘Adventures of’ 4 pipe collection, and Various ‘Silver Specials’. I still wanted to know where it fit in the order of release so I did a bit more digging into the pipe. I wanted to know the name of the pipe and what line of the Sherlock Holmes series it was in when it was released. I Googled and came across a link to an advertising brochure on Smokingpipes.com. (https://www.smokingpipes.com/smokingpipesblog/single.cfm/post/closer-look-petersons-sherlock-holmes-pipes-infographic). I have included it below. From that I knew that I was dealing with a Pipe Design from the Original release of the line from 1987, 1989-1991. Interestingly that dating does not match the date stamp of 2019.  Could it be a reissue? It was called a Deerstalker after cap that Sherlock Holmes wore. It was basically a tall, ¼ bent Rhodesian.

I also found a link to a chart on Tobaccopipes.com that was an exploration of the Sherlock Series. Here is the link (https://www.tobaccopipes.com/blog/exploring-the-peterson-sherlock-holmes-series/). Each name on the original list on the site can be clicked on for a description of the pipe that is named.I clicked on the Baker Street name in the chart above and it took me to the following link and information (https://www.tobaccopipes.com/blog/exploring-the-peterson-sherlock-holmes-series/#deerstalker). It states that the pipe was in the Original Collection and came out between 1989-1991. But there is still no explanation for the later date on the one in my hands.The text below the photos reads as follows:

Of course, one of these shapes had to be named for Sherlock’s iconic cap. The double billed, ear flapped headwear originally associated with hunting garb (hence the name) has become so tied to Sherlock, its image is essentially a visual metonym for detective. 

I can see why this shape is apt for the Deerstalker name. The round bowl pulling in above the bead lines gives that cap atop the head image, and the stem with its languid dip of a slight bend calls to mind the subtle downward slant of the deerstalker bill. 

Personally, I place Deerstalker among my favorites in this line. Again, we see the English classic Rhodesian given a twist, not too eccentric but certainly creating an identity of its own. It brings a strong forward weight, the bowl catching the eye and the shank and stem not quite as bold as we get from some of the other Sherlock shapes. Additionally, where much of the Sherlock line has a stoic briskness about the aesthetic, the light wave of the Deerstalker, following from heel to bit, adds a lithe, playful touch to the range.

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping and the age of this pipe. I knew from the information that the pipe was made during the Republic Era between 1950 and 1989. The Deerstalker pipe originally came out as part of the Original Sherlock Holmes Series and was specifically made between 1989 and 1991. The anomaly for me is that this one is dated 2019! Now, it was time to work on the pipe.

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer using the second and third cutting heads to remove the cake and what turned out to also include a rubbery bowl coating that stank. I used a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to remove the remnants of cake and bowl coating, only to find that the inside of the bowl was stained with a purple stain. I sanded the walls smooth with some 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. The walls were clean but there were still patches of purple stain on them so I would need to do a bit more to remove that along with the purple stain in the airway and the mortise area. I cleaned out the stinky tobacco oils and tars in the shank and the airway in the stem. I used 99% isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners and was able to remove the oils, tars, and purple stain and some of the stench. I scrubbed the externals of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I was able to remove the debris from the finish of the bowl. I also scrubbed the inside of the bowl out with the soap. I rinsed the pipe with warm water to rinse off the debris and soap. It looked and smelled much cleaner once dried off. I needed to “deghost” the bowl and try to exorcize the smell. I stuffed bowl with cotton bolls and used an ear syringe to fill it with alcohol. I set it aside to let the alcohol do its work and wick the oils into the cotton. I let it sit over night. The next morning when I came back to it the cotton and alcohol had wicked out the oils and tars. The cotton was purple and brown and the bowl smelled much better. Once the bowl dried out, I sanded it once more with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. The bowl was clean but before I sanded it the walls were covered in purple stain. The sanding of the bowl removed the stain. I wiped the bowl down with a cotton pad and isopropyl alcohol. I rubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horse hair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Balm did its magic and the rustication looked clean and showed real depth in the depths. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed it down with Soft Scrub cleanser. I worked over it with cotton pads and the product and was able to remove the oxidation in totality. There was also some purple stain that came off the tenon that is visible on the cotton pads on the photo below. The stem looked very good at this point and only needed to be polished. I cleaned out the inside of the stem once again with alcohol. It looked very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I wiped it down once again with the Obsidian Oil cloth. I am excited to be on the homestretch and look forward to seeing the Republic Era Sherlock Holmes Deerstalker Rhodesian put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together and lightly polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish them. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe on the wheel with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The depths of the rustication really pop with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the red and browns of the bowl, thick shank and Sterling Silver Band. This Peterson’s Sherlock Holmes Deerstalker Rhodesian was a fun pipe to work on. The pipe is tactile in the hand and should feel great as it is warmed up when smoking. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.50 ounces/ 70 grams. I am sure that the fellow who dropped this off will now enjoy smoking this beauty. It is a lovely gift to be given on Christmas and now looks the part.

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

Restoring a Collectible JULS Freehand Straight Brandy with a Taper Stem with an Ebony Inlay

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by Steve Laug

I was recently contacted by a fellow here in Vancouver about some pipes he had. He was referred to me by a local pipe shop. I was unclear if he wanted them cleaned or exactly what. When he came on the weekend he brought six pipes in two pipe boxes for me to have a look at. I spoke with him about the cost of restoring them. It finally became clear to me (I guess I am slow) that he wanted to sell the pipes. He was tasked with the job by his sister in law as the pipes were from her late husband’s collection. As I unpacked them it was clear that they were some nice pipes and some were higher grade. All but one was smoked and had the heavy smell of fruity aromatics to them. Some had cake in the bowl and lava on the rim. Of the six, four of them had significant rim damage – bowls out of round, burn marks, cut marks. The saddest part is that the damage was most significant on the higher end pipes. Most of them had tooth marks in the stems. Obviously, they had been his late brother in laws favourites and he had enjoyed them. He left them with me and I went over them, researched the brands and wrote up an offer for him to present to his sister in law. By the end of the day we had a deal. The six pipes now have a new home and the fruity smell needs to be exorcised!I am turning my attention to the fifth of the six pipes I purchased. The bottom right pipe of the six is unsmoked. The last of the five that needed work is just above the unsmoked one. It is another beautiful looking pipe that looks to be Danish Made. It is a straight Brandy stamped on the underside of the shank and reads JULS [over] Freehand. The bowl had beautiful straight grain around sides. The shape is impeccably done. The finish was dirty but otherwise all was good it appeared. The rim top was clean of cake and lava. The inner edge of the bowl was damaged all the way around and was slightly out of round. The bowl had been recently reamed and it was clean. Like the others, there was a pipe cleaner trough from the entrance of the airway into the bowl but much less prominent. It could have been caused by an overzealous reaming that left the bottom damaged. The stem was slightly oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. The stem had what looked like an Ebony wood inlay toward the shank end of the stem spaced between vulcanite at the tenon and the rest of the blade. The transition between the wood and the vulcanite was not smooth on either end. The JS engraving on the topside of the stem was faded but still readable. It also came with a soft felt pipe sock that had a Johs stamp on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to give you an idea of what I see. Once again it is too bad that Word does now allow for the inclusion of smells because this sweet vanilla is filling my work area. I have a candle going to mask the smell a bit. You can see the damage to the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. The bowl is lightly caked. The stem is lightly oxidized and has light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There is also a faint stamp on the top of the stamp.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is faint but readable with a lens as noted above. The stamp on the top of the stem is a JS etched on the top by hand. I took a photo of the bowl with the stem removed to give a sense of the proportion and appearance of the pipe. To help me understand the stamping a bit more I turned to Pipephil’s site and read what it said about Svendborg Hand Carved pipes (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-j4.html). I have included a screen capture of the section below as well as the side bar information below the capture. Artisan: Julian Schäffer. He began carving pipes in 1982 and almost stopped the job in the early 90s. His 2001 collection brought 14 high grade pipes together.

From the information I found that the pipe was carved by Julian Schäffer during the 8 years that he carved pipes – 1982-1990. He was known to carve high grade pipes.

Next, I turned to Pipedia for more information and detail (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Juls). I find that the articles there often fill in some more information on the relationships and history of a given brand. In this case I found that also true. The article is very brief and quotes Pipes, Artisans and Trademarks, by José Manuel Lopes I quote it in full below.

JULS pipes are by the German artisan Julian Schäffer, who began carving pipes in 1982, and worked with Former and Rainer Barbi. Influenced by Danish design, his pieces are both with and without 9mm filters, and have ebonite stems. They are collectors’ items today. The brand ran from 1982 to the beginning of the 1990s, when Julian ceased production, and moved on to other activities. Stamp: JULS

I turned to Google and found several listings for JULS pipes that were selling on the estate portion of smokingpipes.com. There was a brief description of a Billiard for sale there that gave more information as well that was further confirmation concerning the brand. Here is the link (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/germany/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=612079). I quote:

Crafted by German artisan Julian Schäffer, Juls pipes were heavily influenced by Danish design sensibilities, with Schäffer having worked with carvers such as Former and Rainer Barbi. Juls pipes began production in 1982, with Schäffer ending his production around the early 1990s. This Billiard from the German carver illustrates his deft understanding of Danish design, its composition replete with soft, sleek line work. The bowl stands tall with an upright posture, formed by smooth, supple walls rising high from the rounded heel toward the flat rim. From a defined transition, a sturdy shank emerges from the bowl, punctuated by a broad accent of dark wood at the shank end as its meets a slender stem with a trim expansion ring at its base. A warm, hazelnut stain dresses the stummel, showcasing whorls of birdseye across the bowl’s left flank. – Joshua Carroll

Now I knew that the carver was Julian Schaffer and that his pipes had an obvious Danish design look to them. He had trained with Hans Former and Rainier Barbi in Germany, both who were master carvers. I also knew that the pipe was made in the short period between 1982-1990 when he stopped carving.

I reamed the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to take back the cake to bare briar. I sanded the walls smooth with some 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I have to say that I was spooked by what I found on the S. Bang Brandy I just finished. I ran my fingers over the sides of the bowl and gladly they were smooth. As mentioned above the bottom of the bowl showed a trough carved in the bottom of the bowl. It was certainly not as deep as the other two pipes but appeared to be carved by zealous use of pipe cleaners. I was able to ream out the ridge with the Pipe Knife. It looked much better. I took a photo of it as best as I could but it is hard to see. I sanded the walls with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. It was smooth to touch.I cleaned out the stinky, fruity smelling tobacco oils and tars in the shank and the airway in the stem. I used 99% isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners and was able to remove the debris and some of the stench. I needed to “deghost” the bowl and try to exorcise the smell. I stuffed bowl with cotton bolls and used an ear syringe to fill it with alcohol. I set it aside to let the alcohol do its work and wick the oils into the cotton. While it sat for the afternoon, I did some other work. The next morning when I came back to it the cotton and alcohol had wicked out the oils and tars. The cotton was brown and the bowl smelled much better. The damages demanded some restoration and repair. I started with the rough inner edge of the rim. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to minimize the damage on the inner edge of the rim and smooth it a bit. I was careful to not change the profile of the rim top and edges. I mixed up a batch of bowl coating – sour cream and activated charcoal powder to give a top coat  on the bottom of the bowl and the walls to facilitate the build up of a cake in the bowl. I applied it to the bowl with a folded pipe cleaner and painted it on the sides and pressed it into the trough marks on the bottom. Once finished I set it aside to cure. I love this recipe for a bowl coating as it leaves no residual taste once the coating cures. It is black and provides perfect protection. I rubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Balm did its magic and the grain stood out. I set aside the bowl and turned my attention to the stem. I touched up the J.S. Logo stamp on the topside of the taper stem with Rub’n Buff Antique Gold. I robbed it into the stamping with a tooth pick. Once it had cured I buffed it off with a cotton cloth then wiped it down with some Obsidian Oil. It looked very good.The transitions between the ebony and the vulcanite had a slight ridge and the bite marks and chatter were not too deep. I was able to smooth out the transitions between the ebony inset and the vulcanite and the tooth chatter and remove the light oxidation with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with an Obsidian Oil cloth. It was beginning to look very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I put the cleaned and restored Julian Schäffer JULS Freehand Straight Brandy and its vulcanite taper stem with a Ebony Insert back together. The rich browns and blacks of the contrasting stain makes the grain come alive with the polishing and waxing. I carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Julian Schäffer JULS Freehand Straight Brandy really is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.79 ounces/79 grams. This pipe will soon be on the Pipes From Various Makers Section of the rebornpipes store if you would like to add it to your collection. Send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.