Tag Archives: shaping a stem

Restoring a sandblast Jarl T.V. Made in Denmark Long Pipe

by Steve Laug

Once again it may seem I have endless choices of pipes to work on. While we do have a lot of pipes that are in the queue to be restored it is far from endless. This next pipe I chose to work on was one that was given to us by a wonderful lady in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA on 01/22/2019. The pipe is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank and reads Jarl T.V. [over] Made in Denmark. This one is a slightly bent Billiard shape with a sandblast bowl and shank. It has a long churchwarden style stem. There is a smooth briar around the shank end that is a great touch. The exterior of the pipe was dirty, with dust in the sandblast. There was a moderate cake in the bowl and some lava on the rim top. The stem was long and had a slight bend. There was no logo or stamping on the stem. It was lightly oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up 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 lava on the rim top and the inner edge. The stem was lightly oxidized, calcified and had some tooth marks and chatter. It should cleanup very well. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the smooth rim top, left and right bowl sides along with the beautiful blast that was around this bowl even though the grime on the finish hides it some. The pipe had obviously been well loved and cared for by the previous pipeman. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is clear and readable in the photos below as noted above. I turned to Pipephil for a review of the brand (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-j1.html). I did a screen capture of the section of the site that showed the Jarl T.V. pipe. It says that the brand was carved by Jorgen Larsen.I turned to Pipedia for further information regarding the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Jarl). I quote below:

In December of 2010 Ellen Jarl wrote that Jarl pipes were made by her grandfather, Niels Mogens Jørgensen in a little factory in the town of Bramdrupdam, just outside Kolding, Denmark. We have no reason to doubt that Niels Mogens Jørgensen is the maker of these pipes.

There was a difference regarding the maker of the pipes. Pipephil identified the maker as Jorgen Larsen and Pipedia says it is Niels Mogens Jorgensen. It appears that the information on Pipedia has more proof that the maker is Niels Mogens Jorgensen. I am proceeding with that information in this restoration.

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. There was some darkening on the inner edge of the rim and top that would need to be dealt with. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the mortise and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation as possible. The vulcanite stem was clean but had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was no logo on the stem or stamping of any kind. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show how well it had cleaned up. The edges and top were very clean and in excellent condition. The stem had some tooth chatter and light marks just ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the smooth panel on the underside of the shank. They are readable as noted above. I took the stem out of the shank and took a photo of the overall look of the pipe.I started my work on the pipe by rubbing the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips. The product works 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 my attention to the stem. The stem was in good condition and I was able to start sanding out the chatter and marks with 1500-12000 micromesh sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. I always look forward to this part of the restoration when all the pieces are put back together. I put the pipe back together and buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the sandblast standing out clearly and the smooth rounded shank end contrasting well. The black vulcanite stem stands out as a shiny black contrast to the colours of the bowl. This Jarl T.V. pipe or Churchwarden is beautiful and feels great in my hand. It is one that could be clenched and smoked while doing other things as it is very light weight and well balanced. It must have been a fine smoking pipe judging from the condition it was when we received it. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 10 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.09 ounces/32 grams. This is one that will go on the rebornpipes online store in the Danish Pipe Makers Section shortly. If you want to carry on the legacy of the previous pipe man let me know. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next pipeman or woman.

Refreshing a Beautiful Handmade Mimmo Provenzano A hand made Long Shank Rhodesian

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By Steve Laug

The next pipe I chose to work on was one that we purchased on 12/09/2024 from the same seller in Wellsville, Kansas, USA that sold us the Armellini Pipe. The pipe came with a Mimmo Provenzano pipe sock and is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Mimmo [over] Provenzano. On the underside of the shank it is stamped A followed by hand made in Italy. I have never held or worked on a Mimmo Provenzano pipe before. At first, I mixed it up with Mimmo who is the amazing briar cutter and pipe maker. I soon learned that this is a different Mimmo. This one is a beauty that follows the grain on the smooth briar. The pipe is a long shank, saddle stem Rhodesian. The base and the Bull cap look very good on the pipe separated by a set of twin rings. The briar bowl and shank were smooth and well grained. The rim top is also smooth and very clean. The exterior of the pipe was dusty but still looked very good. It has a no cake in the bowl and some darkening on the bowl walls mid bowl. It had obviously been lightly smoked – maybe once or twice no more. The stem is a thin bladed saddle stem that is comfortable. It is stamped with an MP logo on the left side of the saddle. There was some minimal oxidation and had some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is clean and lightly smoke. There was some light spots of lava on the rim top. The stem looked good under the dirt and grime. There was light oxidation and had some light tooth marks or chatter. It should cleanup very well. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the beautiful grain that was around this bowl even though the grime on the finish hides it some. The pipe had obviously been well loved and cared for by the previous pipeman. It is relatively unsmoked so it makes me wonder. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is clear and readable in the photos below as noted above. The stem had an MP logo on the left side. Before I started my own work on the pipe I wanted to correct my ignorance of the brand and correct my conception of who Mimmo was. I wanted to have clarity before I worked on his pipe.

I turned my favourite go to sites on background of brands. The first is Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-p5.html). There I looked up the Mimmo Provenzano brand. I have copied the pertinent information below. I have included a screen capture of the section on the brand below. I have also included the sidebar information below that.Artisan: Mimmo Provenzano (born 1968) started carving pipes in 2009. His pipes are distributed by Mario Lubinsky. Grading (not stamped) Smooth pipes (ascending): A B C. Rusticated pipes: R

From this link I was able to learn that the pipe I was working on was made after he changed his stem logo in 2012. Interestingly the pipe was stamped with the letter A for a grade stamp on the pipe. It was a well-made, beautiful pipe.

I turned to my second favorite site for background information – Pipedia to see what they had for the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Provenzano). Interestingly the article as written by Mimmo himself. It was brief but included some photos. I quote it in full below.

My name is Mimmo Provenzano and I am an Italian pipe craftsman. I started my activity in 2009 for fun. My pipes are all hand made.

Then I did a google search of the brand and found that Smokingpipes.com sold Mimmo’s pipes and had a short introduction (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/mimmo-provenzano/). It gave me more information on his work. I quote it below.

Mimmo came into the craft earnestly, as both a pipe smoker, and a sculptor specializing in wood as his medium. As such he takes great pride in his work and insists that every step be carried out in the traditional way — from curing to block selection, hand turning to sanding, and using only analine stains and carnuaba wax. Considering his adherence to this tradition, it’s surprising to learn that he still manages to carve around 1,000 pipes a year.

Jeff did a great job cleaning up the light debris in this barely used pipe. He wiped out the bowl and cleaned out the debris with a swab. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim and shank with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to the oils and tars on the bowl, rim and shank. He removed the light lava coat on the top of the rim. He rinsed the bowl under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. Once the grime was removed the finish underneath was in stellar condition. The stain and the look of the finish was very well done. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub then soaked it in a bath of Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed off the deoxidizer with warm water and wiped the bowl and stem down with a light coat of olive oil to rehydrate both. The pipe really was quite stunning. I took photos of the pipe with its pipe sock to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top and edges to show how well it had cleaned up and the edges around the bowl. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth chatter on the surface ahead of the button on both sides.I took a photo of the stamping on the left and underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. The first photo shows the MP logo on the left side of the left side of the saddle stem. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to show the proportions of the pipe. It is a beauty.The bowl was so clean that I turned to immediately polish 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. The grain really began to sing. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I used a shoe brush to work the balm into the twin rings around the cap. 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 polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry 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 gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. I am really happy with the way that this Mimmo Provenzano Long Shank Rhodesian Grade A turned out. It really is a beautiful looking pipe with a unique shape and smooth finish. The vulcanite short saddle stem is really nice. The briar really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown and black stains of the finish gave the pipe a sense of depth 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 and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Mimmo Provenzano Long Shank Rhodesian really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: 5/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 35 grams/1.23 ounces. The pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store in the Italian Pipe Makers Section if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

Completing a Byron Harwood Sandblast Dublin Pedestal Sitter with a Cumberland Stem

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe I chose to work on was one that we purchased on 12/28/2024 from as part of an estate that belonged to a pipeman and carver, Byron Harwood from Missoula, Montana, USA. This unfinished pipe was one of Byron’s own handmade pipes. It is a lovely piece of briar that was shaped with a Dublin bowl, a pedestal and briar foot or base. The bowl and shank had been sandblasted and the rim top, a ring around the shank and the bottom of the foot are smooth and great looking grain. The sandblast really reveals ring grain around the bowl sides and shank. The end of the foot has a threaded metal plug and a rubber cap that covers where the airway was drilled into the shank and bowl. The airway in the mortise is above the airway in the shank. It is well executed and the draught is very good. The stem is unfinished Cumberland. It has a great fit to the shank, has been bent to fit the angles of the pipe. The underside of the stem is a half saddle. The button was not shaped or finished and was essentially a disk. The pipe was quite large but there was a charm to it that just called out to me to finish it! Here is what it looked like when Jeff received it. I decided to start working on this pipe by shaping the stem and button. I took photos of the stem before I started. You can see the unfinished half saddle portion on the underside of the stem. There is a bump/ledge and also some scratches and grooves. You can also see the scratch marks around the shank end but the fit against the shank is well done. The bend is also correct. The unshaped button/disk will need a lot of shaping. I began my work on the stem by developing and shaping the button. I began with what is known as a slot saw to open up the sides of simple single hole in the end. Once I had extended the opening I used a variety of round and oval needle files to begin shaping the opening in the stem end.I lightly sanded the underside of the stem to smooth out the marks in the half saddle stem. I was able to remove many of them but more work would need to be done. I used a Dremel and sanding drum to shape the button edges and remove the disk like shape of it. I wanted the button edges to be more oval and closer to the surface of the stem/button junction so I continued with the sanding drum and a file to shape and reduce the surface.I continued to shape both the button and the slot with small needle files and was getting closer to what I was looking for in terms of shape. I also flattened the end of the button to reduce the depth of the button edge into the stem surface. I like a thinner more comfortable button so that is what I was aiming for. I also worked on the slot to open it up and give it a more pronounced “Y” shape using a series of round and oval files. I smoothed out the slot with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It really is looking quite good at this point. I sanded the Cumberland with 320-3200 grit sanding pads to smooth out the scratches and marks in the surface. I further shaped the button and face of the stem and the slot edges at the same time. It is really beginning to take on a rich shine and show the patterns in the Cumberland.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry 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 gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and polished it with Carnauba Wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad. The Cumberland took on a rich shine. It is a beauty. I set the stem aside and turned my attention to the bowl. I unscrewed the plug on the shank end to show the clean drilling from there to the bottom of the bowl. It was well drilled and very smooth. I used a pipe cleaner and olive oil to paint the oil around the shank end and then screwed the plug back into the shank and aligned it. I painted the entire bowl with the EVO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) and a folded pipe cleaner. The sandblast and the smooth potions of the bowl began to take on a rich shine. The sand blast really showed depth and variations in colour on the finish. I polished the smooth portions of the pipe on the rim top and the underside of the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. The rich birdseye really began to stand out on both portions of the briar sanded. It looked very good.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads -1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and dust of the process. The smooth portions of the pipe really began to take on a shine and a rich sense of depth. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the smooth briar of the rim top and the bottom of the foot with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I used a shoe brush to work the balm into the sandblast around the bowl on the rim top. 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. As usual at this point in finishing process of the shaping of a new pipe I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the Byron Harwood Handmade Dublin Pedestal Sitter back together. I polished the rim top and base of the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny Cumberland stem is a beautiful contrast to the rich natural browns of the oiled bowl. This Byron Harwood Handmade Dublin was a great pipe to finish shaping and working on the stem. It is a large pipe but is very comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 104 grams/3.70 ounces. This pipe will be staying with me as it is a style and look I have never seen or worked on before. I am going to enjoy breaking it in and enjoying one of Byron’s Handmade pipes. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring a Fine Peterson Kildare 405S

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by Kenneth Lieblich

This is another in a series of pipes I cleaned up for a local family. Today, it’s a handsome Peterson Kildare 405S Prince with a P-lip saddle stem. It was a pleasure to work on this pipe, as it didn’t require too much elbow grease. In my research, I was interested to learn that this shape is apparently uncommon. The markings are as follows: on the left shank, we read Peterson’s [over] “Kildare”; on the right shank, we read Made in the [over] Republic [over] of Ireland. Immediately to the right of that is the shape number, 405S. Finally, on the stem, we see the stylized P of the Peterson Pipe Company.In looking up this pipe shape, I came upon a page from Mark Irwin’s blog, Peterson Pipe Notes. It had some useful information on the 400 series in general and this very pipe in particular:

The 400-shape group has come to the forefront with Peterson’s recent reboot of the 406 “Large Prince”. It’s an interesting and usually overlooked group, comprised of straight shapes influenced by the classic English chart. Insofar as the catalogs are concerned (which are never, of course, identical with actual production dates), the shape group begins quite understandably shortly after Peterson opened its London factory in the Bradley Buildings in 1937—England at the time being one of Peterson’s “Big Three” markets (the other two being the US and Germany). As a group, the shapes reflect the smoking styles of the mid-twentieth century—the 1940s, 50s and 60s—the decades that produced most of them. That is, they are smaller pipes than most pipemen (and women) use today and they’re lighter, designed for the comfort of constant clenching in an office or factory environment where both hands were needed, and for the shorter, probably more frequent smokes that the interruptions of the workday entails. While I’ve been able to document 21 shapes, probably no more than 8 to 10 were ever offered at one time, and for most decades considerably less. Once in a while Peterson, being the counter-cultural wags they are, will subvert the English aesthetic by giving a shape a “bit of the Irish,” adding what they call an “S/B” or “Semi-Bent” mouthpiece—a piece of Peterson lore that even Peterson has forgotten!

The 405s was first announced in the 1979 update to the 1975 catalog and released in the various Classic Range lines, documented in the Kildare, Kildare Patch and Sterling. It was extremely short-lived, however, and is not found in any subsequent Peterson catalogs. Whether it was slightly larger or smaller than the 406 and 407 is hard to say, especially when the 406 and 407 almost seem to be interchangeable.

I also understand that the 405S most closely resembles the modern-day 408. The two are not identical, but pretty close. Let’s look at the condition of the pipe. As mentioned, the condition is really quite good. There’s a bit of wear and tear on the rim of the bowl, but nothing serious – and it looks like the inside of the bowl was cleaned out at some point. The stem also has a few tooth marks, but no significant calcification and only a bit of oxidation.To begin, 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 an 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.Now that the stem is clean and dry, I set about fixing the very minor 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.After this, I painted the logo on the stem with some nail polish. I restored the logo carefully and let it fully set before proceeding.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, the bowl was clean enough that I only used a a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel to remove the little debris.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol.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 of getting the pipe clean.I then 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 the stem glows.All done! This Peterson Kildare 405S looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its new owner. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5½ in. (139 mm); height 1½ in. (37 mm); bowl diameter 1⅝ in. (40 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (19 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1¼ oz. (36 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

New Life for an Armellini Elite DAL 1960 Saddle Stem Billiard

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By Steve Laug

The next pipe I chose to work on was one that we purchased on 12/09/2024 from a seller in Wellsville, Kansas, USA. The pipe came with an Armellini pipe sock and is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Armellini [over] Elite. On the right side of the shank it is stamped DAL 1960 which I believe signifies the year the pipe was made – DAL = From and the date is 1960. This is the second Armellini I have worked on and like the previous one it is well made pipes following the grain on the smooth briar. The pipe what some would call a Lovat but to me it is a saddle stem Billiard as the stem and shank are more proportionally billiard. However, call it what you would like. The briar bowl and shank were smooth and well grained. The rim top is also smooth and quite clean. The exterior of the pipe had some oils and grime ground into the bowl sides. It has a moderate cake in the bowl and some lava/darkening on the inner edge of the bowl. The stem is a thin bladed saddle stem that is comfortable. It is lightly oxidized and had some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is moderately caked and there was some light lava/darkening on the rim top and inner edge. I am hoping that once the lava is removed the edge will be okay. The stem looked good under the dirt and grime. There was light oxidation and had some light tooth marks or chatter. It should cleanup very well. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the beautiful grain that was around this bowl even though the grime on the finish hides it some. The pipe had obviously been well loved and enjoyed by the previous pipeman. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is clear and readable in the photos below as noted above. The stem had a large Armellini white Dot on the topside.I decided to hunt down a bit of background on the brand before I started my clean up on the pipe. I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-a7.html). It had a great summary listing and photos. I did a screen capture of the section and the side notes and have included them below.After Mauro Armellini passed (1936 – † 2004), his daughter Vilma Armellini answered for the brand’s destiny. Seconds: Mauro, Converti

For more detail on the brand than the notes above gave me about Armellini, I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Armellini). I quote:

Mauro Armellini and Vilma Armellini. Courtesy of italianpipemakers.com

Mauro Armellini factory has born in 1960. When he was 24, my father decided to begin this business and after several difficult years, he was able to produce freehand pipes for foreign markets. Our factory has always been on the surf(?) because it has solid bases: quality and price.

I have always worked with my father and when I lost him, back in 2004, I had to learn to “walk on my own two legs”.

Someone called me “white fly” because I am probably the only women in Italy making pipes. I only work with briar which has been seasoned for at least one year; I think that after one year of seasoning the briar becomes old and dark. I prefer hand crafting, using only very few machines: in this way I am able to extole my predilection for freeforms.

Over the sale of pipes, I think that this work should transmit the genuineness and love for the pipe and for those who smoke it; The philosophy of the factory is the same that moves my work: quality and price

Mauro Armellini stands for the true meaning of self-made and self-taught pipe makers. He started his pipe making career back in the early 1960s, working at the famous Italian pipe factory “Rossi”. Years later, and when the Rossi factory shut its door, Armellini moved to Savinelli where he stood out immediately. He perfected the rustication technique and till today some of the most famous rusticated finishes, such as the “Roccia” and the “Corallo” exist only thanks to him. He worked for Savinelli for several years and till the day he realized that he decided to create his own workshop and make pipes under his own name. At those times, and in spite of the fact that the pipe market was huge, it was a big risk to start his own pipe brand, due to the costs involved and the difficulty of obtaining the right equipment and tools.

Once the name Armellini found its rightful place on a piece of briar, Armellini never looked back. Thanks to his friend and neighbor, Alberto Paronelli, he was able to attract foreign markets, such as the US one and that of other European countries. Armellini’s four daughters slowly and gradually became involved in the business by lending their dad a helping hand whenever possible. However, it was Wilma that became truly interested in the business and gradually became her father’s right hand, not only in the administrative aspect of the business, but also, and above all, the actual pipe making in all its various stages. Indeed, and many years later, Armellini retired from full-time pipe making, and it was Wilma who took over.

When Armellini passed away recently, it was natural, and yet very difficult, for Wilma to decide and continue the Armellini production, according to her father’s own standards and vision. What encouraged her is the fact that for over 20 years she had been making pipes, from A to Z, and so, she knew that the quality Armellini has always been known for could and would continue.

Today, in the small town Barasso, in northern Italy, Wilma and her 20-year-old son are running the workshop and producing all of the Armellini pipes. Matteo, Wilma’s son, is an enthusiastic young man with a love for pipes and pipe making that he could have only inherited from his grandfather. He’s determined to carry on and keep alive his grandfather’s pipe making tradition while creating new shapes and finishes that he is confident his grandfather would be proud of.

Today the name Armellini bears the dreams, the dedication, the passion, and the pipe making talent and expertise of three different generations, united by one objective: Offering the best pipes possible, out of the best material possible, at the lowest price possible.

The legacy lives on …

Jeff did a great job cleaning off the debris and grime on this old pipe. He reamed it with a PipNet reamer and smoothed the walls of the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim and shank with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to the oils and tars on the bowl, rim and shank. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. Once the grime was removed the finish underneath was in stellar condition. The rich patina of the older briar was a variegated finish of smooth and sandblast looked great. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub then soaked it in a bath of Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed off the deoxidizer with warm water and wiped the bowl and stem down with a light coat of olive oil to rehydrate both. The pipe really was quite stunning. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top and edges to show how well it had cleaned up and the edges around the bowl. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth chatter on the surface ahead of the button on both sides.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is readable as noted above. I took a photo of the white spot on the top of the stem. I removed the stem and took a photo of the parts to show the proportions of the pipe. It is a beauty. 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. The grain really began to sing. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I used a shoe brush to work the balm into the plateau on the rim top. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry 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 gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the Armellini Elite DAL 1960 back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the reddish, browns of the bowl. This Armellini Elite 2009 Straight Bulldog was a great pipe to spruce up. It is a very comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 46 grams/1.62 ounces. This pipe will be going on the Italian Pipe Maker section of the rebornpipes store if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

Restoring a Beautiful Panel Bjarne

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe I chose to work on was one that we purchased on 10/20/2022 from and Antique Store in Vancouver, Washington, USA. This one is stamped Bjarne [over] Handmade [over] In Denmark. I have worked on quite a few Bjarne pipes over the years and found them to be well made pipes following the grain on the smooth and unique sandblast on the others. So, when I saw this one I was excited to work on it. The pipe is kind of a shape I would call a combination of a Freehand and a Panel Brandy. The briar bowl and shank were smooth and well grained. The rim top had a plateau finish. The exterior of the pipe is dirty from use with oils and grime on the bowl sides. It has a thick cake in the bowl and an overflow of lava on the plateau rim top and inner edge of the bowl. The stem is a oval taper stem that is comfortable. It is oxidized but free of tooth marks and chatter on the surface. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is thickly caked and seems to have a thick dottle in the bottom of the bowl. There was some thick lava on the rim top and inner edge. I am hoping that once the lava is removed the edge will be okay. The stem looked surprisingly good under the dirt and grime. There was oxidation, calcification on the surface of the vulcanite. It looked like it had a rubber Softee Bit on the stem. There did not appear to be any tooth marks or chatter. It should cleanup very well.Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the beautiful grain that was around this bowl event though it was lost in the grime the finish. The pipe had obviously been well loved and enjoyed by the previous pipeman. He took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is clear and readable in the photos below as noted above. The stem had a faint Bjarne logo on the topside. In a previous blog I had researched the brand quite a bit. I have included it in full below for information on this pipe (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/03/07/another-pipe-from-the-eastern-canada-lot-a-hand-carved-bjarne-freehand/). I quote:

I turned my favourite go to sites on background of brands. The first is Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-b5.html). There I looked up the Bjarne brand. I have copied the pertinent information below.

Bjarne Nielsen (1941 – † 2008) distributed his own “Bjarne” brand and pipes carved by Danish pipemakers (Mogens Johansen, Tonni Nielsen or Ph. Vigen). High grade pipes were stamped “Bjarne Nielsen” without any logo on the mouthpiece and graded A, B, C and D. Bjarne second brand: Viking.

I have included a screen capture of the section on the brand below.I turned to Pipedia and looked up the brand for a bit more information on the pipes that were stamped like the one that I am working on (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Bjarne). Toward the end of the article I found what I was looking for. I quote:

Among the pipemakers that worked for Bjarne were Johs (for the lower priced high volume pieces), and makers like Ph. Vigen, Ole Bandholm and Tonni Nielsen for high grade pieces. The cheaper line was stamped “Bjarne” while the highest grades were stamped “Bjarne Nielsen” (never with the pipemakers’ name) and graded, from highest to lowest, by the letters: AX, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J.

Now I knew that I was dealing with the cheaper line of pipe made by the company. It was stamped Bjarne while the higher grade pipes were stamped Bjarne Nielsen with a grade stamp.

Jeff did a great job cleaning off the debris and grime on this old. He reamed it with a PipNet reamer and smoothed the walls of the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim and shank with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to the oils and tars on the bowl, rim and shank. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. Once the grime was removed the finish underneath was in stellar condition. The rich patina of the older briar was a variegated finish of smooth and sandblast looked great. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub then soaked it in a bath of Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed off the deoxidizer with warm water and wiped the bowl and stem down with a light coat of olive oil to rehydrate both. The pipe really was quite stunning. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top and edges to show how well it had cleaned up and the edges around the bowl. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth chatter on the surface ahead of the button on both sides.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is faint but readable as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the faint stamping on the top of the stem – BJ. There is not enough depth in the stamp to recolour it.I started my work on the pipe by going over the rim top with a wire brush to remove the remnants of debris and lava on the plateau of the rim top. I sanded the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the scratches and marks on the sides of the bowl and heel. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. It began to really take on a shine.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. The grain really began to sing. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I used a shoe brush to work the balm into the plateau on the rim top. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth marks and dents in the vulcanite with 220 grit sandpaper until it was smooth. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the remnants of oxidation and the sanding marks in the vulcanite. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry 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 gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. I am really happy with the way that this Bjarne Hand Made Freehand Brandy Panel turned out. It really is a beautiful looking pipe with a unique shape and smooth and plateau finishes. The vulcanite oval taper stem is really nice. The briar really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown and black stains of the finish gave the pipe a sense of depth 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 and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Bjarne Brandy Panel Freehand really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 50 grams/1.66 ounces. The pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipe Makers Section if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

Restoring an Unusual Freehand Dublin

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by Kenneth Lieblich

Today, for your viewing pleasure, I have a charming – almost whimsical – pipe from the Shalom Pipe Company of Israel. This pipe came to me in an auction lot of various and sundry things. I thought the shape was quite peculiar, with it’s large, deep bowl and sandblasted exterior. It’s light and handsome – and it looked to be in good condition, so I chose it for my next restoration. There’s only one mark on the pipe – and that is the word Shalom on the left of the shank. I was familiar with the company, but went to Pipedia to see what they had to say.

Not much is known about Israel’s sole pipe factory though it’s reported to have operated quite successfully on international markets. Beside the brand “Shalom” the mainstay brand was Alpha – especially well known in the USA. Alpha was popular for a range of fresh and unusual shapes. Series (afaik): Caprice (s), Citation (s), Classic (b), Pedestal (s), Regent, Region (b), Rex (s). (1) (1) (b) = blasted, (s) = smooth. Alpha also produced at least one of its Citation forms for Carey’s “Magic Inch” series. Mentioned in context with Shalom Pipe Factory was a Danish pipemaker named ‘Muki Liebermann’, who later lived and worked in the USA. Muki is known for his unique briar bending technique and his original shapes that gave inspiration to many of the most praised Danish pipemakers. Shalom was taken over by Robert L. Marx of New York City, later Sparta, NC, then of Mastercraft. Mastercraft continued the Alpha pipes introducing new lines.This made me wonder if this pipe was, in fact, made by Muki Liebermann – I have no evidence of that, but it certainly fits. Anyway, nothing here gave me any information about this specific pipe, but I clicked on the Alpha link to see if I could find further information. Indeed, I found that the same shape of my pipe was also released by Alpha (slightly different stem, but the stummel is the same). See below…Let’s take a closer look at the pipe itself. The stummel was in good shape. Dirty, of course, but nothing looked damaged or overly worn. The stem was also generally ok – it had the usual wear and tear. The only thing that gave me pause was a couple of tooth dents. But I felt confident that I could resolve that. I used oil soap on a few cotton rounds and wiped the stem down to provide an initial cleaning of filth. 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.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. In this case, it didn’t work too well – but no big deal.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 an 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.Now that the stem is 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. I used a reamer and a piece of sandpaper taped to a wooden dowel. Collectively, these ensure that all the debris is removed. Pleasingly, the walls of the bowl looked to be in good condition.Similar to the stem, I then cleaned the stummel with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 99% lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. With a pipe this dirty, it took quite a while and much cotton to get clean.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 nylon-bristle brush for the rim). 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 hard work in getting the pipe clean.I used a few of the smoother micromesh pads – but just on the flat section where the logo is. After that, there were a few spots that needed to be tinted in the same colour as the rest of the stummel. I used some of my furniture pens (which is simply dye in pen form) to match the colour. 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 the stem glows.

All done! This Shalom freehand Dublin looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed by its next owner. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Various Makers’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 6⅛ in. (155 mm); height 2⅛ in. (54 mm); bowl diameter 1½ in. (37 mm); chamber diameter 1 in. (24 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1¼ oz. (38 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed 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 Worn Peterson’s “Kildare” X105 Silver Banded Billiard

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is smooth finished Peterson’s Billiard pipe. This one is a smooth Billiard that has a rich coloured finish around the bowl sides and shank. Neither Jeff or I have any idea where we picked up this pipe. It could have been a trade or a purchase in a shop but we do not remember. The contrast of the brown stains makes the grain really pop. It was faintly stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [over] “Kildare”. It was very faintly stamped to the right side of the shank and reads Made in the Republic of Ireland (3 lines) with the shape number X105 next to the bowl. It came to us quite clean, just some dust and debris and little bit of oxidation on the stem and on the silver band. On the oxidized, fancy silver band on the shank end it is stamped on the top and reads Peterson [over] Dublin. On the right side it is stamped Sterling [over] Silver. Next to that are three hallmarks – a seated woman (Hibernia), a Crowned Harp (quality of the silver used) and the letter m (the date letter) which dates it to 1978. The bowl had been cleaned recently with just a little debris in the bottom. The rim top and the inner edge of the bowl looked good. The mortise had some tars and oils darkening it. The stem was lightly oxidized but there were not any tooth marks or chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. I took photos of the pipe before I started my cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. I took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is very clean other than dust and debris in the bottom. The rim top and edges look good. The silver band is heavily oxidized but otherwise appears to be in good condition. The stem is lightly oxidized but there are no tooth marks on the surface or the button.I tried to capture photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is very faint and is hard to see in the photos. However, with a bright light and lens you can discern what is stamped and it reads 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.

Kildare (1965-) First issue of line with matte-finish in Classic Range shapes, P-Lip and fishtail mouthpiece. Second issue C.1979 as Kildare Patch, with rusticated patches on pipe surface. Third issue 2010, matte-brown, P-Lip or fishtail mouthpiece, no band. Fourth issue 2011-, burgundy sandblast finish, nickel army mount, fishtail mouthpiece, exclusive to Smokingpipes.com.

Judging from the description above I believe that I am working on a First Issue of the line in the time period of 1965-1979. It is a late Republic Era Classic Shaped pipe with a matte-finish and a fish tail stem. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I started my work on the pipe by scraping out the debris in the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. There was no cake on the walls but there was dust and tobacco debris on the bottom and lower sides of the bowl. It came out very easily.I cleaned up the oxidized Sterling Silver Band with a jeweller’s cloth. I used a lot of elbow grease but was able to remove all of the oxidation. The stamping is quite readable as noted above. I scrubbed internals with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol to remove the debris and dust in the internals in both the shank and the stem. It was surprisingly clean and cleaned up quickly.I decided to address the darkening on the front inner edge of the bowl first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to give the inner edge of the bowl a slight bevel to minimize the darkening and blend it into the surrounding briar. It looked much better at this point. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads to remove the scratches in the briar – 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 turned my attention to the stem. 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 and set it aside to cure. I am excited to finish this 1978 Peterson’s “Kildare” X105 Silver Banded Straight Billiard with taper vulcanite stem. 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 flame grain all around it. Added to that the polished Sterling Silver band and the black vulcanite stem was beautiful. This smooth Classic Peterson’s “Kildare” X105 Silver Banded 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 43 grams/1.52 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you want to add it to your collection you can send me a message or an email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Restoring an Odd, Old Genuine French Briar Slug Style Pocket Pipe

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that has always interested me. Jeff called it a Slug and we purchased it on 07/27/2019 from a seller in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, USA. The stamping on the left side of the pipe reads Genuine French Briar at an angle on the short shank. On the underside at the stem shank union it is stamped Made in France. It is clear and readable. The hard rubber stem has a crown stamped on the left side of the taper. The finish on the pipe did not have a shiny varnish coat but it was very dirty and had oils ground into the bowl sides. There were a lot of nicks and scratches in the briar. The rim was darkened and hard to tell whether it was burned or just tarry. The bowl was nicked and out of round but it also had a cake that would need to be reamed out before addressing the out of round inner wall of the rim. The hard rubber stem had nicks and gouges on both side that looked liked someone had used pliers to try to remove it. There was light tooth chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button, however, it was clean and sharp as was the slot in the in the end of the button. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. You can see what I have pointed out above in the photos. Jeff took some close-up photos of the damage to the rim and the stem. Looking closely at the photos of the rim top of the photo you can see the damage to the rim itself and the scratches in the top. The bowl also has a thick cake with some lava on the top and edges. The photo of the underside of the stem shows the nicks and gouges in the rubber. The top side also mirrors that though there is no photo of it. Jeff took photos of the grain around the bowl sides and the heel. It is interesting to note the also foot like bottom of the bowl which looks like the tread of a slug. The bowl is very dirty and oily on the outside and there are many nicks and scratches in the finish. The next photos show the stamping on the sides of the shank and the logo on the stem. It is clear and readable as noted above. Jeff removed the stem to show the damaged and corroded stinger that was in the shank. It appeared to me to have corroded a portion off the end as the bottom of the bowl showed a trough where it extended into the bowl.I knew that there were several blogs on rebornpipes about this style of pipe and in the middle of the night it hit me that they had horn stems so I did a quick search on the blog for horn stems and found two articles. The Mokin is an article on a restoration by Anthony Cook and is very helpful. The second is one I did on a Bruyere Garantie Pocket pipe and it is also a help in solidifying what I knew about the shape and the pipe. Here are the links:

https://rebornpipes.com/2015/10/20/ship-shape-refurbishing-a-mokin-corsaire-7087/

https://rebornpipes.com/2015/11/09/cleaning-up-a-bruyere-garantie-pocket-pipe-with-a-horn-stem/

Since this pipe is stamped Genuine French Briar I did a quick search on the blog for both Genuine French Briar and GFB pipes. I have restored a few of those over the years so I have included those links as well to try to pin down the history of the brand.

I went back and reread the posts on the GFB pipes I had refurbished to remind myself of their history. There I described the process of hunting down information on the brand. I summarize that here for those may not have read the posts. I quote below from the articles the pertinent information on the brand.

(https://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/2013/06/07/restemming-and-reclaiming-an-older-unsmoked-gfb-briar-calabash/ , https://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/restoring-a-gfb-bent-billiard-another-reclamation-project/, https://rebornpipes.com/2013/11/21/restoring-an-older-gfb-three-star-horn-stem-bent-bulldog/#)

The first thing I found was information that the GFB brand was an older French Trademark and that it came from Saint Claude, France. A more focused search for GFB French Briar Pipes led to information that the stamping GFB stood for Great French Briar – something about that did not seem right to me so I continued to look and finally came across the following advertisement from a Sears Catalogue that I have included below. It shows a full page of GFB pipes and the header says GENUINE FRENCH BRIAR. That made much more sense to me, and all three of the GFB pipes I had worked on match the pipes in the catalogue. It was good to be reminded of the old brand. I am pretty sure that all three of my GFB pipes come from either the late 1890’s or the early 1900’s.Judging from the description above, the pipe I am working on is an older French Made pipe by the GFB company – Genuine French Briar. The best I can tell the pipe was made in the early 1900s. I have worked on horn stem examples of this but this is one of the first with a hard rubber stem. Now it was time to work on the pipe itself.

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 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 Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. When I examined the stem, it looked very good. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. I took some close up photos of the rim top and edges to show how well it had cleaned up and the edges around the bowl. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the gouges, scratches and light tooth chatter on the surface ahead of the button on both sides.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable 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 worked on the out of round bowl with a folded piece of sandpaper to smooth out the damaged areas and bring it back to as close to round as I could get it. I smoothed out the rim top at the same time to remove damage on the surface.I sanded the scratching and marks around the bowl sides with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the briar down after each sanding pad. I was able to smooth out most of the marks and the bowl looked much better. 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. The grain really began to sing. 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 filled in the deep nicks and gouges with black CA glue. Once it cured I sanded out the chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button with 220 grit sandpaper.I sanded the stem surface with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. The repairs were blended in and the chatter was gone on both sides ahead of the button looked very good. The stem began to shine.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry 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 went through my collection of stingers and found one that was probably much like the broken one that was in this tenon. It extended into the bowl the correct distance judging by the bowl bottom. It would work well. I fit it in the stem after polishing it.I am excited to finish this GFB Genuine French Briar Pocket Pipe. Jeff called it a slug and that certainly fits the shape. 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, looks great with the polished black hard rubber stem. This smooth Old GFB Pocket Pipe is both ugly and great looking at the same time. 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 inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 35 grams/1.23 ounces. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I am not sure what I am going to do with it at the moment. I have it on my desk and keep picking it up and looking at it. Thanks for your time as I walked through the restoration.

Restemming and restoring a Comoy’s Made Town Hall Made in England 19 Military Bit Billiard

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by Steve Laug

I decided to restem another bowl that I had here in the box. Jeff and I purchased on 11/23/2020 from a seller in Brazil, Indiana, USA. It is a nice bowl with a silver ferrule on the shank end. The left side of the shank is stamped at and angle and reads Town Hall [over] Made in England. The right side has the shape number 19 next to the bowl/shank junction. The ferrule is stamped with an arched Sterling Silver. The bowl is quite clean with no cake and no lava overflow on the rim top or the bevelled inner edge. The briar is dry but clean – just a bit lifeless looking but there is some great grain hidden by the dullness. The silver ferrule is not oxidized but there are some dents on the shank end on the underside. The ferrule is a bit ragged looking around the entrance to the mortise. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my work on restemming and restoring it back to its former glory. I tried to capture the stamping on the shank sides. It is readable but faint in spots. It reads as noted above.The ferrule was loose so I removed it and took a photo to show the dents and the condition of the opening on the ferrule end.I went through my stems and found this partially shaped stem that would work quite well. It would need to be reduced in diameter and cleaned up. There were some gouges on both sides ahead of the button that looked like someone had started shaping a dental bit. Before I started working on the pipe I wanted to get an idea of the maker of the Town Hall brand. Something about the shape and the number reminded me of the Guildhall by Comoy’s but I was not sure. I turned first to Pipephil’s site and found a link that gave a good summary of the information and confirmed the Comoy’s connection (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-t7.html) that I suspected. I have included a screen capture of the pertinent section and the side bar information below the photo.Other Comoy’s seconds with a one bar mouthpiece logo: Carlyle, Charles Cross, St James, The Golden Arrow, Trident,

I turned to Pipedia for more information (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s). Other than the great history of the brand there was a note in the section entitled “Seconds made by Comoy’s” that had a listing for Town Hall. I scrolled down the page and found some interesting photos that I have included below including an original box for the pipe. The second and third photos show similar stamping though horizontal on this pipe. At the very bottom of the article I found perhaps to me, the most exciting connection – a Town Hall – same shape, same silver ferrule as the one I was working on. The stamping on it was clearly a Comoy’s Town Hall Pipe, Made in England. The thing I am glad for is that the photos show the type of stem I would need to fit on the pipe. The one I had chosen would work quite well with some shaping.I started my work on this one by fitting the newly chosen stem first. If you have followed me you will note the departure from my normal pattern of working on the bowl first. But in this case, I really wanted to see if I could duplicate the stem shown above for this pipe. I shaped the conical end with my Dremel and a sanding drum to get it close to the look I was shooting for. The rough shape was done but I would need to fine tune it by hand.I carefully sanded the conical portion with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper and blended it into the rest of the stem. I reshaped it in the process and sanding out the gouges in the button end on both sides. I was able to remove the roughening left by the Dremel and the shape was beginning to look right. I worked on the silver ferrule to try to smooth out the dents and damage to the opening on the stem end. I was able to remove some of the dents and minimize the others. It looked better. I pressed it onto the shank and fit the stem. I took photos of the stem in place to give a sense of how it was beginning to look. The fit of the stem still needed adjusting and the scratches needed to be sanded out from the surface. It was beginning to look much better. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to polish out the scratches in the surface. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the dust and debris on the surface of the stem. It began to take shape and look better.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry 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 down again with Obsidian Oil and set it aside while I worked on the stem. I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the scratching and nicks in the rim edge and the side of the bowl. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. It is starting to look very good at the end of the process. 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. The grain really began to sing. 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. This Comoy’s Made Town Hall 19 Military Bit Billiard was one I was looking forward to seeing come together. The brown stains highlight the grain around the bowl – sides, top and heel. The polished silver ferrule and the black vulcanite military bit that I fit to the shank works very well with the look of the pipe. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and 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 polished the silver band with a jeweller’s cloth. The finished Town Hall 19 Billiard is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.20 ounces/34 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This pipe will be added to the British Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you want to add it to your collection send me an email or a message! Thanks for your time.