Tag Archives: shaping a stem

Cleaning and Restoring the sixth of a lot of 12 pipes – A Ropp 804 Bent Octagonal Billiard

by Steve Laug

Back in January I received an email from Robert with a group 12 pipes that needed to be restored in various ways from cleanup to restemming. I chose to work on the second of the Cherrywood pipes next. It is a nice-looking Cherrywood Bent Octagonal Bowled Billiard. The bowl and shank had bark on the outside. The bowl has peeled striped around the octagon on every other flat side. The rim top and the base of the bowl were both smooth without bark. The bowl had been reamed at some time so there was no cake in it. The rim top had an overflow of lava on it and some darkening around the inner edge. The underside of the bowl was dirty but it was stamped ROPP [over] De Luxe [over] France. Underneath that what the shape number 804. The stem had no logo on it. It had light tooth marks and tooth chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. I took some photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it.The relatively clean bowl looks quite good. There was some thick lava on the rim top and some lava build up on the inner edge of the bowl. It looked to be in good condition other than the lava and darkening. The vulcanite taper stem was dirty, lightly oxidized and has light tooth chatter and marks on both sides. I took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of both.There was stamping on the heel of the bowl that was clear and readable. It read as noted above. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the proportion of this pipe. It is a classic Ropp Cherrywood.I wanted to refresh my memory on the brand so I turned for a short, quick summary to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-ropp.html). I have included the pertinent information from that site below:

Brand created by Eugène-Léon Ropp (1830 – 1907) and continued throughout 3 generations. “GBA Synergie” run by Bernard Amiel (†2008) bought back Ropp in 1988 and owned it until 1991. The company was taken over by Cuty-Fort Entreprises (Chacom, Vuillard, Jean Lacroix…) in 1994.

I also turned to Pipedia to see if there was any additional information that would be helpful (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ropp). I quote the portion of the article on the Cherrywood pipes.

Eugène-Léon Ropp (1830 – 1907) had acquired a patent for a cherrywood pipe (wild cherry, lat.: Prunus avium) in 1869. In 1870 he established a workshop to manufacture such pipes in Büssingen (Bussang, Vosges mountains). Around 1893 the business moved into the former mill of Sicard (part of the community of Baume-les-Dames – Département Doubs, Upper Burgundy – from 1895 on)… Even though cherrywood pipes were the mainstay of Ropp until the company finally closed down in September 1991. The company was taken over by Cuty-Fort Entreprises (Chacom, Jeantet, Vuillard, Jean Lacroix…) in 1994.

The pipe thus was made in France sometime prior to the closure in 1991. It is made from wild cherry and was a specialty of Ropp. I have worked on quite a few over the years but I had forgotten all the dates and information. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I turned to work on the pipe itself. The shank was loose in the bowl so I reglued it with all purpose white glue. I used a tooth pick to press it into the grooves around the junction and set it aside to cure. I worked over rim top and inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage and darkening on the smooth rim top and inner edge of the bowl. It looked much better once the debris was removed. I sanded the walls of the bowl smooth with a piece of dowel wrapped with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. The walls smoothed out very well.I scrubbed the bowl exterior with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap to clean the debris and oils and tars in the cherry bark finish. I rinsed it with clean warm water and dried it off with a soft cotton cloth. I polished the smooth rim top, four panels on the sides and heel of the bowl with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. It smoothed out the finish very well and removed much of the damage on the rim top, smooth panels and the scratching around the stamping on the heel. I cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I was able to remove the grime and oils in the shank and the airway in the stem.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed it off 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 the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further blend in the remnants of the tooth marks and chatter on the stem and to remove the residual light oxidation. I am happy with the way that it looked at this point.I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Ropp De Luxe Cherrywood 804 Octagonal Bent Billiard with a vulcanite taper stem has a cherrywood bark finish with a smooth rim top and bowl heel. The bark covered Cherrywood pipe is what makes Ropp pipes stand out. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Ropp De Luxe Cherrywood Octagonal 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: 6 ¾ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.36 ounces/66 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be sending it back to Robert once I finish the other 6 pipes he sent me to restore. I look forward to hearing what he thinks of this beauty. Thanks for your time.

Cleaning and Restoring the fourth of a lot of 12 pipes for a customer – a Falcon 1

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by Steve Laug

Back in January I received an email from Robert with a group 12 pipes that needed to be restored in various ways from cleanup to restemming. I chose to work on Falcon pipe next. It is a nice looking straight Falcon with a standard bowl. It was a smooth bowl with no rustication. The rim top and the base of the bowl were both very dirty. The bowl had been reamed at some time so there was no cake in it. The rim top had an overflow of lava on it and some darkening around the inner edge. The underside of the bowl was dirty and there were nicks in the threads. It still worked well but they were present. The underside of the metal base was stamped with a 1 in the inset on the heel. That is followed by FALCON where the base and shank come together. There is also a large D stamped at the shank/stem junction that I believe signifies that it has a dental bit on the shank. The stem was oxidized and dirty. It had calcification and light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. The button was a classic dental bit with a raised top edge and a series of ridges on the underside. I took some photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. The relatively clean bowl looks quite good. There was some thick lava on the rim top and some lava build up on the inner edge of the bowl. It looked to be in good condition other than the lava and darkening. The dental bit stem was calcified, dirty, lightly oxidized and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides. I took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of both.There was stamping on the heel of the bowl and shank junction that was clear and readable. The D stamp on the shank at the stem junction is also clear. It read as noted above. I also took a photo of the inlaid silver logo on the left side of the taper stem. I took a photo of the pipe with the bowl removed to show the proportion of this pipe. It is a classic Falcon.I turned to Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-f1.html) to see what I could learn about the brand. I have included a screen capture of the information on the site below. Below; I also include the brief sidebar history from the site:

The Falcon Pipe is an American invention, patented by Kenley Bugg of Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1936.

1948: George L. Hunt of Diversey Machine Works (D.M.W) signed a contract with Falcon Industries as exclusive Falcon pipe distributor for U.S. and Canada.

1956: D.M.W purchased the patents and trademarks from Falcon Industries Inc. and took over the Falcon pipes manufacture.

1968: Falcon pipe production moved from the U.S to the U.K in its entirety. Falcon Pipes Ltd. (also known as Falcon House Group) was owned by David E. Morris.

Falcon Pipes Ltd later became Merton and Falcon Co.

1974: Falcon London had sold about 14 million pipes around the world outside the U.S.A.

The Falcon logo on the mouthpiece was discontinued in 1994.

There was also interesting information the particular stamping on the base of this pipe. It has the stamping that identifies it as an American made Falcon. Now I had the basic background information on the pipe. I also knew that the pipe was made after 1948 and prior to the move of production to the UK in 1968.

I turned to work on the pipe itself. I removed the bowl from the base and worked over rim top and inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage and darkening on the smooth rim top and inner edge of the bowl. It looked much better once the debris was removed.I scrubbed the bowl interior exterior with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap to clean the debris and oils and tars in the briar. I rinsed it with clean warm water and dried it off with a soft cotton cloth. I worked on cleaning up the base further after the first scrub with Murphy’s Oil Soap using alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I was able to significantly clean up the majority of the tars and oils in the base. I followed that up with a wash of acetone to further remove the darkening and the base looks and smells clean. I cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I was able to remove the grime and oils in the shank and the airway in the stem.I sanded the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. It smoothed out the finish very well and removed much of the damage on the rim top and the scratching around the stamping on the shank. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. The briar is quite beautiful. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed it off 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 the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further blend in the remnants of the tooth marks and chatter on the stem and to remove the residual light oxidation. I am happy with the way that it looked at this point.I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.This Falcon 1 Straight Billiard with a dental bit stem is a great looking pipe with the polished metal and briar set off by the black stem. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Straight Falcon 1 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 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of a inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.16 ounces/33 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. Four pipes finished so far. I will be sending them back to Robert once I finish the other 8 pipes he sent me to restore. I look forward to hearing what he thinks of this beauty. Thanks for your time.

Cleaning and Restoring the third of a lot of 12 pipes for a customer – a Ropp Cherrywood 921

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by Steve Laug

Back in January I received an email from Robert with a group 12 pipes that needed to be restored in various ways from cleanup to restemming. I chose to work on one of the Cherrywood pipes next. It is a nice looking Cherrywood Bent Poker. The bowl and shank had bark on the outside. The rim top and the base of the bowl were both smooth without bark. The bowl had been reamed at some time so there was no cake in it. The rim top had an overflow of lava on it and some darkening around the inner edge. The underside of the bowl was dirty but it was stamped ROPP [over] De Luxe [over] France. Underneath that what the shape number 921. The stem had tooth marks and tooth chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. I took some photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. The relatively clean bowl looks quite good. There was some thick lava on the rim top and some lava build up on the inner edge of the bowl. It looked to be in good condition other than the lava and darkening. The vulcanite taper stem was dirty, lightly oxidized and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides. I took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of both.There was stamping on the heel of the bowl that was clear and readable. It read as noted above. I also took a photo of the inlaid silver logo on the left side of the taper stem. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the proportion of this pipe. It is a classic Ropp Cherrywood. I turned to work on the pipe itself. I worked over rim top and inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage and darkening on the smooth rim top and inner edge of the bowl. It looked much better once the debris was removed. I sanded the walls of the bowl smooth with a piece of dowel wrapped with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. The walls smoothed out very well. I scrubbed the bowl exterior with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap to clean the debris and oils and tars in the cherry bark finish. I rinsed it with clean warm water and dried it off with a soft cotton cloth. I sanded the smooth rim top and heel of the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. It smoothed out the finish very well and removed much of the damage on the rim top and the scratching around the stamping on the shank.I cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I was able to remove the grime and oils in the shank and the airway in the stem.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the wood. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed it off 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 scrubbed the surface of the stem with cotton pads and Soft Scrub. I was able to remove the debris on the stem and the oxidation on the surface. It looked much better.I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift them all considerably. I filled in the two deep marks – one on each side of the stem just ahead of the button – with black rubberized CA glue. Once it cured, I sanded the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface. It looked significantly better at this point. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further blend in the remnants of the tooth marks and chatter on the stem and to remove the residual light oxidation. I am happy with the way that it looked at this point.I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Ropp De Luxe Cherrywood 921 Bent Poker with a vulcanite taper stem has a cherrywood bark finish with a smooth rim top and bowl heel. The bark covered Cherrywood pipe is what makes Ropp pipes stand out. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Ropp De Luxe Cherrywood Poker 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 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of a inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.66 ounces/46 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be sending it back to Robert once I finish the other 9 pipes he sent me to restore. I look forward to hearing what he thinks of this beauty. Thanks for your time.

Cleaning up the second of a lot of 12 pipes for a customer – a No Name Freehand Sitter

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by Steve Laug

Back in January I received an email from Robert with a group 12 pipes that needed to be restored in various ways from cleanup to restemming. The second of these I chose to work on was a smooth Freehand sitter. The bowl was almost a panel shape with flattened corners on the four sides. The shank was also panelled in the same manner. It was a pretty pipe and it was a big one. The rim top and the shank end were both plateau finish. The heel of the bowl and the shank end had been flattened to make the pipe a sitter. The plateau rim top and shank end were dirty and debris in the plateau. The bowl had been reamed and was smooth on the inside walls of the bowl. There were some tars and oils in the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem. The fancy turned, vulcanite stem was oxidized and dirty with light tooth marks and chatter in the top and underside of the stem ahead of the button. I took some photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. The relatively clean bowl looks quite good. There was some debris in the plateau rim top and some lava build up on the inner edge and the grooves of the plateau. It looked to be in good condition other than the debris and darkening. The fancy vulcanite saddle stem was dirty, lightly oxidized and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides. I took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of both.There was not any identifying stamping or marks on the shank. I also took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the proportion of this pipe. It is really a beauty. I turned to work on the pipe itself. I worked over the plateau rim top and shank end with a brass bristle wire brush to knock off the debris. It removed the debris and it looked much better. I scrubbed the bowl exterior with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap to clean the debris in the rustication and also remove the oils and tars in the finish. I rinsed it with clean warm water and dried it off with a soft cotton cloth. I used a folded piece of sandpaper to smooth out the damage and darkening on the smooth inner edge of the bowl. It looked much better once the debris was removed.I sanded the walls of the bowl smooth with a piece of dowel wrapped with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. The walls smoothed out very well.I cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I was able to remove the grime and oils in the shank and the airway in the stem.I used a black Sharpie pen to touch up the valleys and deep spots on the plateau rim top and shank end. It looks much better at this point.I polished the bowl and shank along with the high spots on the plateau with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. It smoothed out the finish very well and made the contrast between the ridges and valleys of the finish stand out well. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It is looking very good at this point in the process. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed it off 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 scrubbed the surface of the stem with cotton pads and Soft Scrub. I was able to remove the debris on the stem and the oxidation on the surface. It looked much better.I sanded the tooth chatter and marks with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface. It looked significantly better at this point.I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further blend in the remnants of the tooth marks and chatter on the stem and to remove the residual light oxidation. I am happy with the way that it looked at this point.I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This No Name Smooth Finish Plateau Freehand with a vulcanite fancy saddle stem has a beautiful, unique finish with great grain on the bowl and shank. The medium brown finish highlights the grain and the polished fancy turned stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished No Name Freehand 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: 7 inches, Height: 2 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches x 2 inches long, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 3.88 ounces/109 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be sending it back to Robert once I finish the other 10 pipes he sent me to restore. I look forward to hearing what he thinks of this beauty. Thanks for your time.

Cleaning up the first of a lot of 12 pipes for a customer – a No Name Freehand Sitter

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by Steve Laug

Back in January, I received an email from Robert with a group 12 pipes that needed to be restored in various ways from cleanup to restemming. The first of these I chose to work on was a partially rusticated Freehand sitter. The front and the sides of the bowl were smooth part way back. The back half of the bowl and shank sides were rusticated with a unique looking rustication. The top of the shank and the underside were both smooth. The rim top and the shank end were both plateau finish. The bottom of the foot of the shank is etched with the date 11/17/79. The plateau rim top and shank end were dirty and debris in the plateau. The bowl had been reamed and was smooth on the inside walls of the bowl. There were some tars and oils in the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem. The fancy turned, vulcanite stem was oxidized and dirty with light tooth marks and chatter in the top and underside of the stem ahead of the button. I took some photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. The relatively clean bowl looks quite good. There was some debris in the plateau rim top and some lava build up on the inner edge and the grooves of the plateau. It looked to be in good condition other than the debris and darkening. The fancy vulcanite saddle stem was dirty, lightly oxidized and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides. I took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of both.The stamping on the shank are not to be found on the shank. There is however, an etched 11/17/79 on the flat bottom of the foot as shown in the photos below. I tried to capture the detail in the photos below. I also took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the proportion of this pipe. It is really a beauty. I turned to work on the pipe itself. I worked over the plateau rim top and shank end with a brass bristle wire brush to knock off the debris. It removed the debris and it looked much better.I scrubbed the bowl exterior with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap to clean the debris in the rustication and also remove the oils and tars in the finish. I rinsed it with clean warm water and dried it off with a soft cotton cloth. I used a folded piece of sandpaper to smooth out the damage and darkening on the smooth inner edge of the bowl. It looked much better once the debris was removed.I cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I was able to remove the grime and oils in the shank and the airway in the stem.I used a black Sharpie pen to touch up the valleys and deep spots on the plateau rim top and shank end. It looks much better at this point.I polished the smooth portions of the bowl and shank along with the high spots on the plateau with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. It smoothed out the finish very well and made the contrast between the ridges and valleys of the finish stand out well. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed it off 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 scrubbed the surface of the stem with cotton pads and Soft Scrub. I was able to remove the debris on the stem and the oxidation on the surface. It looked much better.I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift them all considerably. I filled in the two deep marks – one on each side of the stem just ahead of the button – with black rubberized CA glue. Once it cured, I sanded the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface. It looked significantly better at this point. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further blend in the repairs and remove the residual light oxidation on the stem surface. I am happy with the way that it looked at this point.I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This No Name Mixed Finish Plateau Freehand etched 11/17/79 with a vulcanite fancy saddle stem has a beautiful, unique finish with great grain on the smooth portions and rustication on the sides and shank. The medium brown finish highlights some great grain around the bowl and shank. It has a unique finish and the polished fancy turned stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished No Name Freehand 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: 7 inches, Height: 2 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inch x 2 inches long, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.57 ounces/72 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be sending it back to Robert once I finish the other 11 pipes he sent me to restore. I look forward to hearing what he thinks of this beauty. Thanks for your time.

Restoring a Dunhill Amber Root 4106 Pot

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by Steve Laug

The first pipe on the table since I returned from my long Asia trip for work is one that was sent to me by Jim for restoration. It is a nice-looking Dunhill Amber Root Pot. The stamping on the left side of the shank reads 4106 (the shape number), near the bowl shank junction. It is followed by some unique stamping that reads Alfred [over] The White Spot [over] dunhill’s. On the right side it is stamped Amber Root [over] Made in England15. The pipe was in decent condition, just well used and stunk of an aromatic, vanilla tobacco. The outside of the bowl and shank were dirty and dull with hand oils but the flash on the photos shows the nice grain. The bowl had been reamed recently and there was no cake in the bowl. The rim top had some darkening around the inner edge and on the top. The inner edge has some damage and is slightly out of round. The outer edge looked good. The vulcanite taper stem was oxidized and had some light tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button. The shank of the pipe was quite dirty with the oils and tars of the aromatic tobacco that had been smoked in it. I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to my work table and before I started the clean up. Try to imagine how the pipe smelled. Even your imagination cannot begin to capture the smells of the briar in your hand. The relatively clean bowl looks quite good. There are some nicks in the inner edge from zealous reaming that left it rough and damaged. The vulcanite, taper stem was dirty, lightly oxidized and has tooth chatter and marks on both sides. I took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of both.The stamping on the sides of the shank are shown in the photos below. It looks very good with portions of it faint but readable. It reads as noted and explained above. I tried to capture the detail in the photos below. I also took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the proportion of this pipe. It is really a beauty. I wanted to unpack the Dunhill stamping on the shank and work to understand each element of the stamp. I generally use the Pipephil site to gather as much initial information as possible (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/amber1.html). The stamping is interpreted as follows: The number 4106 is the shape number that unpacks as follows: the 4 is the bowl size, 1 is the normal identifier for a taper stem, 06 is the shape designation – a Pot. The Amber Root stamp refers to the finish. The superscript 15 following the D of England would give the date the pipe.Pipephil also has some helpful dating keys on the site that are basically flow charts that you can walk through to date your pipe (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1.html). I turned to Part 1 of the Dating Key and followed the chart. This pipe has a number 15 following the D in England. There was no patent number so that took me to the section on the chart below (column one) which instructed me that the pipe could be dated as being made “posterior to 1954”.I followed the link under “Your pipe is posterior to 1954. Narrow down your dating”. That took me to Page 2 of the dating key (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1a.html). The last column (suffix 00, 01, 02…) led me to the section with a 15 after the D in England. There was a directive for dating the pipe spelled out as follows: 2000 + suffix which gives the pipe a date of 2015. From that I knew that the pipe was made in 2015. I chose this column rather than the second column which would have dated it as 1975 because of the date that the Amber Root was released by Dunhill being 1995. I hope that the logic of the dating is clear. I then turned to Pipedia’s section on Dunhill pipes to get a bit of background on the Dunhill finishes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Root_Briar). I quote:

Amber Root – Introduced in 1995. A warm yellow-orange stain, reminiscent of the original Root Briar finish. Cumberland stems were used, although recently, Amber Root pipes have appeared with black stems. This is also a limited production pipe that is found in mainly Company stores and Principle Pipe Dealers. Straight grained pipes are made available in this finish under the name Amber-flame and are graded from one to three flames.

Note: While the Amber Root finish existed in the past with Cumberland and black Vulcanite mouthpieces (now we use usually the black Vulcanite variety only)^[32].

I have also included a chart from the site spelling out the Standard Pipe Finishes and giving a timeline. You can see that the Amber Root Finish (a smooth polished medium stain) was introduced in 1995 so this is definitely dates this 15 year stamped pipe to 2015. I turned to work on the pipe itself. I cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I was able to remove a lot of the grime and oils in the shank but the stench of the strong aromatic still remained.To help remove the ghost in the bowl I stuffed it with cotton bolls and rolled a plug from cotton for the shank end. I filled the bowl with 99% Isopropyl alcohol and let it sit overnight to wick out the strong oils and tars from the bowl walls and the shank. In the morning when I checked it the cotton was heavily darkened with the oils. I removed them and set the bowl aside to airdry. I set the bowl aside to airdry after deghosting and turned to address the stem issues. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift them all considerably. I filled in the two deep marks – one on each side of the stem just ahead of the button – with black rubberized CA glue. Once it cured, I used a small, flat needle file to recut the button edge and flatten the repair. I sanded the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface. It looked significantly better at this point. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further blend in the repairs and remove the residual light oxidation on the stem surface. I am happy with the way that it looked at this point.I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I set the stem aside and went back to the bowl. I used some Before & After Briar Cleaner to remove the tars from the finish. I scrubbed the surface of the bowl with a tooth brush. I rinsed of the debris with warm water and dried it off with a soft cloth. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the rough inner edge of the bowl. I also sanded the scratches and the darkening of the rim top with the sandpaper. It did not take much and it looked much better.There was a dent on the right side of the bowl toward the heel. I used a damp cloth and a hot knife to steam the dent out as much as possible. I was able to lift it to a large degree but not completely with the steam. I polished the rim top and bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the dust. The rim top and the bowl came out looking very good. 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 it off with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar comes alive with the balm. This 2015 Dunhill Amber Root 4106 Pot with a vulcanite taper stem has a beautiful, unique Dunhill smooth finish with great grain. The medium orange brown finish highlights some great grain around the bowl and shank. It has a unique finish and the polished taper stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Dunhill Amber Root 4106 Pot 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 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 1.55 ounces/44 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be sending it back to Jim on the weekend. I look forward to hearing what he thinks of this beauty. Thanks for your time.

Restoring a Republic Era Peterson’s Kapruf Sandblast Lovat 53

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by Steve Laug

Today is cold and snowy day in Vancouver. I know in comparison to where many of you live it is not cold but to us it is. I am preparing for a trip to Asia for work so this is likely the last pipe I will work on for a while. I have chosen a Peterson’s Lovat. It is a sandblast pipe that came to us from our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark on 04/11/2024. There was grime ground into the sandblast finish on the bowl sides. I love the way the contrast of the brown and black stains gave the blast a sense of depth. It was stamped on the flat underside of the shank and had the shape number 53 on the heel of the bowl followed by Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines). To the right of that it is stamped Peterson’s [over] Kapruf. This pipe must have been a favourite of the pipe man who used it as it had been well smoked. There was a thick cake in the bowl and some lava overflowing onto the sandblast rim top. The inner edge of the bowl looked good. The stem is an original fishtail style but the slot is merely a single opening like an old style orific button. Strange but original! The stem was oxidized and there were light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button on both sides. 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 thickly caked and the rim top and edges look to be in good condition despite the lava overflow in the sandblast of the rim top. The photos of the stem show the oxidation and the light tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. Jeff took a photo of the bowl sides and heel to show the blast that was around this bowl. It is a great sandblast and the choice of stain adds depth to the appearance of the bowl. He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable and reads as noted above. I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Kapruf line. On page 306 it had the following information.

Kapruf and “Kapruf” (c.1922-87) Sandblast (hence the name, Kapp-rough) P-lip or fishtail mouthpiece, in catalogs from 1940-87. Early documented specimens stamped IRISH over FREE STATE, no Eire specimens documented. Mid-century specimens may be stamped LONDON MADE [over] ENGLAND or MADE IN ENGLAND forming a circle or MADE IN [over] IRELAND, all dating no later than 1970. Those of recent vintage stamped MADE IN THE [over] REPUBLIC [over] OF IRELAND.

I knew that I was working on a KAPRUF that was made between 1970-1987 as it is stamped MADE IN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND as noted above. 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. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. I took some close-up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top and the inner and outer edges look very good. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light chatter and marks on the surface near the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is faint but readable. I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe. It is a good looking pipe and has an interesting sandblast on the bowl.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm 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 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 “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a lighter to try and lift the marks. It did not do much. I repaired the tooth marks and deep scratches in the surface with black CA glue. Once they cured I used a small file to flatten them and then sanded them further with 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil impregnated cloth. It really began to take on a shine.I paused the polishing to touch up the P stamp on the left side of the saddle stem with some acrylic fingernail polish. I worked it into the stamp with a toothpick and then scraped off the excess once it had dried.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 the stem down with Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I am always excited to finish working on a pipe. This Peterson’s Made in the Republic of Ireland Kapruf 53 Lovat is no exception. 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 buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished sandblast bowl looks like with the black vulcanite saddle stem. This Classic looking Peterson’s Kapruf Sandblast 53 Lovat feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 4 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 28 grams/.95 ounces. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly in the Irish Pipe Makers section if you are interested in it. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Breathing Life into a Scandia 418 Made in Denmark Sandblast Oval Bowled Opera pipe

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that was also at the bottom of the box of pipes I am working on. We picked it up at an antique store in Aurora, Oregon, USA on 11/11/2021. It is a Stanwell made Scandia sandblast pipe – a 418 Opera shape with an oval saddle stem. The oval shaped bowl (external with a 3/4 inch diameter chamber), oval shank and saddle stem made up a nicely shaped pipe. The sandblast though dirt and grime showed some interesting colour mixes and the blast was very interesting. It was stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank and reads 418 (shape number) [over] Made in Denmark followed by the stamp SCANDIA. The finish was dirty grime ground into the sandblasted bowl and rim top as can be seen in the photos. There dust in all of the deep crevices of the blast. The bowl had a thick cake with some tobacco debris in the bowl. There is a heavy cake in the bowl and an overflow of lava on the sandblasted rim top. The stem was oxidized, calcified and there were light tooth marks and chatter on both sides and on the top and bottom ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he cleaned it up so you could see what we saw. Jeff took photos of the rim top to show lava build up around the rim, the edges and cake in the bowl. There was tobacco debris in the bowl as well. The lava actually had filled in some of the nooks and crannies in the sandblast. The oval saddle stem was a good fit to the shank. It was oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks on the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the absolutely dirty finish ground into the sandblast. It was a dirty pipe but I think it will be a beautiful one once we are finished. The stamping on the underside of the shank is shown in the photos below. It is clear and read as noted above. On the left side of the saddle stem it is stamped SCANDIA in white.I remembered that the Scandia brand was a Stanwell second so I quickly turned to Pipephil’s website to check it out (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-s4.html). I have included the screen capture of the pertinent section below.It was my turn to work on the pipe now. I was really looking forward to what the pipe would look like once Jeff had worked his magic. What would the rim top look like? What would the dirty sandblast on the bowl look like? I had no idea. When I took it out of the box I was struck great job cleaning up the pipe Jeff had done. It was impressive! He had reamed the pipe with a Pipnet piper reamer and taken the cake back to bare briar. He cleaned up the remaining cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. 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. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed the stem off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem to show how clean they were. You can see the ridges and valleys in the briar rim top and the inner edge of the bowl is very clean and looks good. The stem is clean and the tooth marks on both sides are very minimal.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe. It really is a beautifully shaped pipe.I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to get it into the crevices of the sandblast. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes while I worked on the stem. After the time passed I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I touched up the SCANDIA stamp on the left side of the saddle stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. I scraped away with my fingernail and also cleaned up the remnants around the stamp with 320 grit sandpaper.I sanded out the tooth marks on the stem on both sides next to the button with 220 grit sandpaper. I cleaned up the sanding marks with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil and it looked much better. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad. I gave the stem a final polish with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra-Fine. I gave the stem another coat of Obsidian Oil. This interestingly stained sandblast Stanwell Made Scandia 418 Oval Bowled Opera style pipe with a vulcanite saddle stem turned out very nice. The mix of dark brown stains highlights the nooks and crannies of the sandblast around the bowl sides and bottom. The finish on the pipe looks very good. 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. The finished Scandia 418 Opera is very nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches long x 1 inch wide, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.06 ounces/30 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store shortly in the Danish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know! Thanks for your time. As always, I look forward to your comments and observations.

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

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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!