Tag Archives: shaping a stem

Restemming JSP (Joel Shapiro) Stack that came with a misfit stem

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is large, tall bent stack with a poorly fit long Churchwarden stem. The diameter of the shank is not even close to the stem diameter. It appears to me that someone had added the stem solely to create their own long stem smoke. The shank end was a bit damaged on the on the face of the stem. I would need to do something to deal with that when I worked on it. This particular pipe had a very dirty/grimy finish but had some nice grain around the bowl sides and shank underneath the dark reds and black stem. It came to us from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark on 01/26/2023. This Bent Stack was stamped on the underside of the shank and read JSP. There were no other stamps on the shank sides. The pipe was in filthy condition when he brought it to the table. The finish was dirty with oils and grime ground into the briar sides and rim. The bowl had a thick cake and some darkening on the inner edge of the rim. There was some light lava on the rim top. The misfit stem was dirty but there was no oxidation or calcification on it. There were light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. There was not a logo stamped on the stem. The diameter of the shank was significantly larger than that of the stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl showed some moderate cake and some darkening on the inner edge. The rim top looked quite clean with small specks of lava on the surface. The photos of the stem show the light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain showing through the black and red stain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe. He took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photo below and is as noted above. He took a photo of the fit of the stem against the shank end. You can see the difference in the diameter of the stem and the shank as well as some of the nicks and marks in the shank end. I turned to a blog I wrote recently about a JSP pipe. That one was a Bamboo shank poker that was quite beautiful. Here is the link to that blog (https://rebornpipes.com/2023/07/13/restoring-an-american-made-jsp-7-bamboo-shank-poker/). I quote from that blog now in the section on the background to the brand.

I turned to Pipedia to have a look at the history of the brand. I was pretty sure it was made by Joel Shapiro but needed confirmation (https://pipedia.org/wiki/JS_Pipes). Here is the information from the article.

Welcome to JS Pipes! http://www.jspipes.com

Let me introduce myself. My name is Joel Shapiro, and I live in Rancho Cordova, California. I offer a limited number of handmade briar pipes for sale.

The type of briar (Grecian, Italian, etc.) will be noted for each pipe made, along with further details concerning stem type (ebonite, lucite, cumberland, etc.) and shank extensions. A complete size description will be included with each pipe posted for sale.

I do not fill any flaws in the briar, so the buyer will see exactly what is offered with nothing to hide. All pipes are finished with a buffed in coat of carnauba wax over the stain. Stains are all alcohol based and will not seal the wood, so won’t alter the smoking experience or the breathing qualities of the briar.

In addition, I also offer a unique tamper design. My tampers are hand turned from quality hardwoods and the foot is cut at an angle to aid in mounding the tobacco and keeping the ember banked. I have found that this design results is fewer relights for a more enjoyable smoke. I can make these in any custom size and in most hardwoods, including some exotics. If you’d like a custom size (for very large pipes for example) or material, please contact me at jspipes@jspipes.com. All tampers are priced at $24.95, unless the material chosen is particularly expensive or difficult to work.

If you’d like to buy a pipe or tamper, but prefer to pay by money order or check, please e-mail (jspipes@jspipes.com) for my mailing address.

Would you like an email when new pipes are posted? Send me an e-mail and request to be on the JS Pipes mailing list! jspipes@jspipes.com

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 the darkened spots 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 went through my can of stems until I found the one that fit the angles and the diameter of the shank. I used a Dremel and sanding drum and a file to reduce the diameter of the tenon on the new stem to fit the shank. Now it was time to deal with the damage on the shank end. I decided to use a thin brass band to provide a smooth base for the new stem to sit against. I gave the shank end a thin coat of white all-purpose glue and spread it with a tooth pick. I pressed the band in place on the shank and wiped off the excess glue. The end was smooth and the bit of brass gave the pipe a touch of bling that was perfect. I took photos of the newly fitted band and have included them below. With the band in place on the shank I fit the stem in the shank and took photos of the new look. I still needed to polish the new stem but I wanted to give a sense of the whole with the photos. Have a look. I took a close up photo of the rim top and bowl along with the stem to show their general condition. The rim top looked good and the stem was in good condition as well without tooth marks or chatter on either side. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. The JSP stamp is clear and readable.I set the stem aside and turned my attention to the bowl. I wiped the bowl down with isopropyl alcohol on a cotton pad to make the stain a bit more transparent so the grain showed through. I polished the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped down the bowl after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. I used a Mahogany stain pen to touch up the rim top to match the rest of the bowl. The rim matches the colour in the rest of the bowl and shank perfectly.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem. 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 finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it sit and absorb into the vulcanite.I am excited to finish this JSP “Joel Shapiro” Briar Stack with Vulcanite taper 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 mixed grain all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl made a stunning pipe. This smooth JSP Joel Shapiro Stack is great looking with its new stem 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: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 39 grams/1.38 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be putting on the rebornpipes store in the American (US)Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection send me an email or a message. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

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

Breathing New Life into a Chunky Peterson’s “Kildare” XL90 Bent Billiard Filter Pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is large, chunky, smooth finished Peterson’s “Kildare” Bent Billiard. This shape is one of my favourites – a class thick shank bent billiard that is a pleasure to hold and to smoke. This particular pipe had a very dirty/grimy finish but had some good looking grain around the bowl sides and shank. It came to us from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark on 04/11/2023. This Bent Billiard was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [over] “Kildare”. It was stamped on the right side and read Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines). Following that near the shank/bowl junction it is stamped XL90. The pipe was in filthy condition when he brought it to the table. The finish was dirty with oils and grime ground into the briar sides and rim. The bowl had a thick cake and some darkening on the inner edge of the rim. There was some light lava on the rim top. The stem was dirty but there was no oxidation or calcification on it. There were light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the P-lip button. There was a faint “P” stamp logo on the taper stem. The tenon was made for a 9mm filter. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl showed some moderate cake and some darkening on the inner edge. The rim top looked quite clean with small specks of lava on the surface. The photos of the stem show the light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the amazing grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. I am including the information from 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 have included a bit of the pertinent history here.

1950 – 1989 The Republic Era – From 1950 to the present time, the stamp for this era is “Made in the Republic of Ireland” in a block format generally in three lines but two lines have been used with or without Republic being abbreviated.

During the 1950’s and 60’s the Kapp & Peterson Company was still in the ownership of the Kapp family. However 1964 saw the retiral of the company Managing Director Frederick Henry(Harry) Kapp.

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 P-Lip stem. 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 the darkened spots 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 decided to address the damage on the rim top and the burn damage to the inner edge of the bowl first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage and bring the bowl back to as close to round as possible. I used a walnut stain pen to stain the inner edge of the bowl and the rim top to match the rest of the pipe. The stem cleaned up very well. I would only need to polish it with micromesh sanding pads – the buff it. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. I decided to address the damage to the front rim top and 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 on the inner edge to remove burned areas and blend them into the surrounding briar.I polished the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped down the bowl after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl and shank 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 “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a “Bic” lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to raise them and I sanded the remaining marks to blend them into the surface of the surrounding vulcanite. I touched up the “P” logo stamping on the left side of the stem with some white acrylic fingernail polish. I pushed it into the logo mark with a toothpick. Once it had dried I polished off the excess on the stem with a worn 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad.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 finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it sit and absorb into the vulcanite.I am excited to finish this Republic Era Peterson’s “Kildare” XL90 Filter Stem Bent Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl made a stunning pipe. This smooth Classic Peterson’s “Kildare” XL90 Bent Billiard with a filter stem 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: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 66 grams/2.33 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection send me an email or a message. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Fresh Life for a Peterson’s Dublin D1 Billiard Made for the Danish Market

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is smooth finished Peterson’s “Dublin” Billiard pipe that had a very dirty/grimy finish but had some good looking grain around the bowl sides and shank. It came to us from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark on 11/14/2022. This Billiard was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [over] “Dublin”. It was stamped on the right side and read Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines). Following that near the shank/bowl junction it is stamped D1. The pipe was in filthy condition when he brought it to the table. The finish was dirty with grime ground into the briar sides and rim. The bowl had been reamed recently in its history and the bowl and rim top were quite clean. The inner edge of the bowl was in okay condition with some light damage to the front of the bowl. There was a thin three layered band on the shank end with a piece of silver sandwiched by gold on each side. The stem was dirty but there was no oxidation or calcification on it. There were light tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. There was a faint “P” stamp logo on the taper stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl and the rim top were clean. The inner edge of the bowl is in good condition. The photos of the stem show the light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the amazing grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. 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 London Made England line. On page 298 it had the following information.

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

I looked further in the book for information on the D Shapes of Peterson’s Pipes. On page 239 I found the following information.

D Shapes. According to Tom Palmer, the D shapes were produced for Peterson’s Danish distributor Larsen and Peterson, Copenhagen, beginning around 1996, and to the rest of the world as early as the 1998 St. Patrick’s Day release. The idea was to create a traditional Danish looking line of pipes, shapes that were lighter and slimmer than traditional English shapes. Unfortunately, the bottom fell out of the Danish pipe-smoking market with the turn into the new millennium, forcing the company to drop all but the most popular of the D series, which at its height numbered around sixteen shapes. Beginning in 2014, however, new D shapes began to be added to the catalogue, including the 2018 Pipe of the Year, the D22.

Now I knew a date range for the pipe I was working on – 1992-2003. It was specifically made for the Danish Market for distribution by Larsen and Peterson of Copehagen. The D shapes were lighter and slimmer than the traditional English pipes. The D Shape connection pointed to a 1996 date for its Danish release. 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 the darkened spots 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 also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top had some looked quite good and the inner edge had some darkening and damage on the front. It should clean up really well. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth marks on the surface near the button. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. I decided to address the damage on the rim top and the front inner edge of the bowl first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage and bring the bowl back to round. It looked much better at this point in the process. I polished the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped down the bowl after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl and shank 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 touched up the “P” logo stamp on the left side of the taper stem with Rub’n Buff Antique Gold. I worked it into the stamp with a toothpick. I buffed off the excess with a paper towel and polished the stem with some Obsidian Oil.I polished out the light tooth marks and chatter on 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 finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and it was ready to be buffed. I am excited to finish this Peterson’s “Dublin” D1 Billiard made for the Danish Market. 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. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl and sandwich brass/nickel/brass band on the shank and made a stunning pipe. This smooth Classic Peterson’s “Dublin” Danish Style D1 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 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 33 grams/1.16 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection send me an email or a message. 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 a Peterson’s London and Dublin 35P London Made Canadian

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is smooth finished Peterson’s London& Dublin Canadian pipe that had a very dirty/grimy finish but had some good looking grain around the bowl sides and shank. It came to us from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark on 10/03/2022. This Lightweight Canadian was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [over] London & Dublin. It was stamped on the right side and read London Made [over] England. On the underside near the shank/stem junction it is stamped 35P. The pipe was in filthy condition when he brought it to the table. The finish was dirty with grime ground into the briar sides and rim. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a coat of lava on the rim top but the edges of the bowl. The inner edge of the bowl was rough and looked like it had been reamed with a knife and had a lot of rough edges. The stem was dirty but there was no oxidation or calcification on it. There were tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. There was no “P” stamp logo on the taper stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is caked and the rim top has a lava coat and the inner edge of the bowl is rough and shows knife damage. The photos of the stem show tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the amazing grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. 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 London Made England line. On page 296-297 it had the following information.

MADE IN over ENGLAND and variations shown below (1936-62) Peterson maintained a factory in England for about a quarter of a century, from the late 1930s to ’62. Corporate transcripts and London business periodicals suggest the London operation on White Lion Street was about to get underway in ’37. Only a handful of London hallmarked Petersons are documented, stamped with date marks of 1936 and 1939, and these have no COM stamp. Their output would be limited by the onset of the Battle of Britain in July 1940, but it seems reasonable to suppose pipes were made in the London factory during WWII, inasmuch as the K&P Staff Register lists twelve employees earning wages there in January ’44. London hallmarked Petersons have been identified with dates of 1949-54. Most London made Petersons in a collector’s inventory were made in these postwar years, from 1949 until the closing of the factory in ’62. This narrow range of dates is probably the most reliable indicator of years when the stamp and the variations listed below were employed. The presence of one variation or another on a pipe is not by itself a reliable indicator of age.

Made In over England

Made In England forming a circle

Made In England forming an ellipse

Made in England in a line

A “Peterson’s Product” over Made In England

A Peterson’s Product over Made In England

A Peterson Product over Made in England

Made In over Great Britain

Great Britain

London Made over England

London Made

Now I knew a date range for the pipe I was working on – 1949-1962. I have underlined and made the text bold in the above list to show the stamping on the pipe I am working on. 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 the darkened spots 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 also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top had some looked quite good and the inner edge had some darkening and damage. It should clean up really well. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks on the surface near the button. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. I decided to address the damage on the rim top and the hacked inner edge of the bowl first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage and bring the bowl back to as close to round as possible. The thinness of the walls did not leave a lot of room to work with so it is better but not perfect. I used a walnut stain pen to stain the inner edge of the bowl and the rim top to match the rest of the pipe. I polished the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped down the bowl after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl and shank 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 “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a “Bic” lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to raise them and I sanded the remaining marks to blend them into the surface of the surrounding vulcanite. 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 finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem. I am excited to finish this London Made English Peterson’s London & Dublin, Canadian 35P. 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. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl and brass band on the shank and made a stunning pipe. This smooth Classic Older Peterson’s London & Dublin English Made Canadian 35P 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: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 34grams/1.20oz. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection send me an email or a message. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Life-Support for a Butz-Choquin Oom Paul Egg

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

Another pipe in my ongoing “French Collection”, this new addition came in a lot of pipes from France (appropriately). I pulled it out of the pile of filthy pipes and found it quite charming. This pipe is an Oom Paul Egg shape. It was made by the famous and long-standing French pipe maker Butz-Choquin and is a small, wounded, but very attractive pipe. On the left side of the shank, it reads Butz-Choquin [over] Cocarde (which is the model name). On the right side of the shank, it reads St Claude [over] France [over] 1307. On the left side of the stem is the company’s logo, a “BC”. The logo is badly worn and will be difficult to restore.Both Pipedia and Pipephil have good write-ups on the history of Butz-Choquin and I encourage you to read both. Also, Steve has restored quite a few and it’s worth having a look at his writings too. For the moment, here is some information from Pipedia:

The pipe, from Metz to Saint-Claude.

Jean-Baptiste Choquin of Metz started out as a tobacconist. This enterprise was prosperous; he had several employees. Among those, there was a certain Gustave Butz who was its first workman and who became his son-in-law by marrying Choquin’s daughter Marie in 1858.

In 1858 Jean-Baptiste Choquin created, in collaboration with Gustave Butz, the Choquin pipe. This bent pipe with a flat-bottomed bowl was finished with an albatross-bone mouthpiece, fixed with silver rings.

In 1858, still in Metz, Gustave Butz built an establishment for the manufacture of the Choquin pipe which took the name of . In 1951, the Berrod-Regad company bought the trademark, continuing manufacture until 2002. Departing from Metz, the workshop was relocated to Saint-Claude, then also called “the world capital of the briar pipe”, under the Berrod-Regad group. The Berrod-Regad group would go on to completely rebuild the network of representatives until finally entering the export market in 1960 and has since won several prizes, as well as the Gold Cup of French good taste.

In a few years, the brand’s collection increased from ten to seventy series. 135 years after it was founded, the pipe is still well-known not only in France but throughout the world. In 2002, the Berrod family, wishing to preserve manufacture of pipes in Saint-Claude, handed over the company to Fabien Guichon, a native of the area, who will continue to develop the brand during the 21st century.

Meanwhile, Pipephil says this:

The origin of the brand reaches back to 1858 when Jean-Baptiste Choquin in collaboration with his son-in-law Gustave Butz created their first pipe in Metz (France). Since 1951 Butz-Choquin Site officiel Butz Choquin, pipes de Saint-Claude jura. BC pipe de bruyere luxe is a brand of the Berrod-Regad group (Saint-Claude, France).

Jean Paul Berrod managed the company from 1969 to 2002 when he retired and sold the corporate to Mr Fabien Gichon. Denis Blanc, allready owner of EWA, took over the S.A. Berrod-Regad in 2006.

In an old Butz-Choquin catalogue, I found the pipe shape in question, listed with its requisite number:This is an older pipe, and is heavily used, though the stem is in reasonably good shape, compared to the stummel. There are a few minor tooth marks, some oxidation and calcification, but nothing too serious. Additionally, over the decades, the stem has straightened somewhat, so it will need to be bent back into place. The stummel is a different kettle of fish. The wood is very nice, but it has several fills on the outside of the bowl, there are nicks around the rim, the wood is filthy, and there are scratches around the bowl. It just looks tired and worn. The stem was first on my list. . . This stem has a stinger in it – and it was being quite stubborn about coming out! The goo had glued the stinger into the tenon, so I opted to warm the stem and stinger with my heat gun and this provided just enough softening of the internal gunk to allow me to pull it out. It then went for a soak in some lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. I let it sit for several hours and then cleaned it off and it looked much improved. I then finished it with some metal cleanser and moved on. Next, I wiped the outside down with Murphy’s Oil Soap on some cotton pads. I also took a BIC lighter and ‘painted’ the stem with its flame in order to lift the few bite marks and dents. Then I cleaned out the inside with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. It was pretty dirty, and I went through a good amount of pipe cleaners. I then wiped down the stem with SoftScrub cleaner to remove surface oxidation. Once this process was done, the stem went for an overnight soak in the Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. This allows me to clean the oxidation off in a couple of ways: by applying a mild cleaner to the surface and sanding the stem. The next day, I used SoftScrub again with some cotton rounds. After this, I used some nail polish to restore the logo on the stem. I painted the area carefully and let it fully set before proceeding. I built up the dents on the stem with black cyanoacrylate adhesive and let them fully cure. I then sanded the adhesive down then with 220-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpapers to meld seamlessly into the stem. As I previously mentioned, the stem had straightened itself out over the years; so I used my heat gun to warm the stem and return it to its original shape.I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing.On with the stummel! I decided to ream out the bowl. I used the PipNet Reamer and the KleenReem to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper taped to a dowel to eliminate as much as I could. I took the chamber down to bare briar, as I wanted to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the wall. Fortunately, there were none. I used cotton rounds and some Murphy’s Oil Soap to scrub the outside of the stummel and a toothbrush with Murphy’s for the lava on the rim of the pipe.I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. The shank was absolutely caked with debris and I went through an extraordinary amount of cotton to clean it out. With all the filth in this pipe, I opted for an alcohol bath to clean it thoroughly. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some dish soap and tube brushes. I decided to de-ghost the pipe in order to remove any lingering smells of the past. I thrust cotton balls into the bowl and the shank and 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. The bowl was nice and clean after this.Having completed that, I was able to address the blemishes to the outside of the bowl. First, I repaired the half-dozen fills with CA glue and briar dust. For the nicks on the rim and bowl, I dug out my iron and a damp cloth to raise the nicks. The hot and moist steam can often cause the wood to swell slightly and return to shape. A little unusually, this technique worked brilliantly and the next two photos (before and after) show a good example of what the iron can do. Now I could address the burn on the rim. I took some sandpaper and my Micromesh pads to sand and smooth everything out. After that, a light application of Before & After Restoration Balm brought out the best in the stummel’s grain, then took it to the buffer. A dose of White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax were just what this pipe needed. This little pipe looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed again by the 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 ‘French’ pipe 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 4 in. (100 mm); height 3¾ in. (94 mm); bowl diameter 1⅜ in. (36 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (19 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1⅜ oz. (41 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Restoring a Peterson’s De Luxe 8S Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

In the last box of pipes Jeff sent me there was a Peterson’s De Luxe that came to us from our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark on 04/11/2023. This one is a Peterson’s De Luxe Bent Billiard. It is stamped on the left side of the shank Peterson’s [over] Deluxe and on the right side it reads Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines) [over] 8S. It was a dirty pipe when we received it. The walls of the bowl and shank had tars and oils ground into finish and it was quite grimy. There was a thick coat of lava on the rim top and the inner edge of the rim. There was a thick cake in the bowl that had remnants of tobacco stuck in it. The ferrule on the end of the shank was Sterling Silver. It was stamped K&P each in a cartouche [over] Sterling [over] Silver. Next that it reads Peterson’s [over] Dublin. There is no date stamping/hallmarks on the Silver Ferrule. The stem was oxidized and there were tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. When the stem was removed the tenon had a bone chimney screwed into the end that was damaged and pitted. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show their general condition. You can see the thick tars and lava on the bevelled inner edge and the rim top. The cake in the bowl is quite thick and there is tobacco debris on the walls of the bowl. The finish on the bowl is very dirty with grime and oils ground into the bowl, but still very stunning. This pipe has a classic Peterson’s P-lip stem that has some oxidation, calcification on the surface of the vulcanite. There is chatter and tooth marks on the top and underside. He took a photo to show the damage to the bone chimney in the tenon end that is a part of the system design by Charles Peterson. It is threaded and turned into the tenon.Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the grain on this particular piece of briar. It is amazing and I cannot wait to see what it looks like once it is polished and waxed. He took photos of the stamping on both sides of the shank to capture it for me. The first photo shows the left side of the shank and the stamping as noted above. The second shows the right side of the shank with the Made in the Republic of Ireland stamp and shape number 8S.Jeff took photos of the stamping on the silver ferrule. It is oxidized and worn looking but the stamping is very clear and readable. He also took a photo of the Hand Cut stamp on the underside of the stem. I did a bit of work on Google to gather background on the DeLuxe line of pipes when I worked on the 4S recently. I decided to quote that here as well.

The first information I found was on the Peterson’s website (https://www.peterson.ie/pipes/system/deluxe-system-smooth/). I quote from the description of the line below. I have highlighted several key portions in bold black for emphasis.

While the Deluxe stamp first appeared on our System pipes in 1940, the design itself dates to our 1896 and 1906 catalogues and, with the exception of the Supreme, has always marked our highest tier of System pipe. Like the System Standard and System Spigot lines, the Deluxe System pipe incorporates Charles Peterson’s patented System design, including a deep reservoir to collect excess moisture from the smoke; a graduated-bore mouthpiece that funnels the smoke and allows moisture to collect within the reservoir; a sturdy sterling silver military mount, which allows the pipe to be broken down and cleaned without damage or warping; and our patented P-Lip bit, which draws the smoke upward, thus reducing tongue bite. The Deluxe differs from those aforementioned lines, comprised of bowls with only the finest grain patterns and featuring a sterling silver mount and a push-gap stem, which was never designed to be flush-fitting, the space between the mount and stem base gradually decreasing with prolonged use. The Deluxe also elevates the System pipe by fixing each stem with a traditional chimney, an aluminum fitment that extends the tenon past the chamber’s airway for optimal System performance. Created for Peterson enthusiasts interested in acquiring the finest System pipe on the market, the Deluxe System will serve as the crown of any collection. Seen here in the Smooth finish.

From that information I knew how the De Luxe fit in the hierarchy of Peterson’s pipes. It was always the highest tier of the System pipes. It also was made with the gap in the fit of the stem to the shank on purpose with the idea that the distance would decrease over time with prolonged use. The attachment of a chimney at the end of the tenon was to maximize System performance.

From there I also turned to Pipedia. I quote from an article by Jim Lilley and have included much of it below. (https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_Closer_Look_at_The_Peterson_Deluxe_System_Pipe). Once again I have highlighted pertinent sections in bold below.

By Jim Lilley

The version of the system pipe for our closer inspection is one of Peterson’s more recognisable series, the handsome and very distinctive Deluxe system pipes, which include the Darwin and Mark Twain. These pipes are at the top of the ‘system’ series in terms of quality and finish.

Each Peterson Deluxe is made from carefully selected, age mellowed root briar. In matte finish with hallmarked sterling silver mounts and a unique space fitting mouthpiece to allow for years of wear. They are available in a wide range of shapes numbered, as follows 1s,2s,3s,4s,5s,8s,9s,11s,12.5s,20s,XL5s, 20FB and 11FB.

The pipes are well carved, construction, engineering and workmanship, is outstanding. The stems are well drilled and aligned. Silver work is excellent, finish very good, and the often maligned briar is of outstanding quality.

The design is a very typically Peterson classic shape. Apart from the Darwin, the balance can be stem heavy, the bit is thick and chunky, especially in the larger versions. I also enjoy the sense of presence they give to the pipe, particularly if smoking in company with friends or strangers. They have a sophistication about them.

The smoking qualities are excellent, dry and cool. The draw is good, and the flavour is particularly great in new pipes. The Mark Twain’s are outstanding in this department.

As for the aesthetics and ergonomics, I find some shapes much more attractive than others. Favourites for me are the 1s,2s,3s,the Mark Twain’s and the Darwin deluxe. As a clencher most are very good to hang, except the beautiful Darwin which is more of a ‘hand holder.’

The one weakness I find is the modern orange/golden colour, (the so called natural) it is, in my opinion, less attractive than that found in the older Walnut finish of the eighties.

As far as value and cost is concerned, for the excellent quality finish, these are competitively priced at around $135 to $250 depending on size and briar grade.

For what it is worth, I reckon the Deluxe s are probably the best value range of pipes that Peterson produce, both in terms of functionality and value. There is not a thing wrong with these pipes. Those who malign the brand because they’re made by the hundreds using machines, are very wrong, IMHO. I like them a lot and the bang for the buck is the best I’ve ever seen for new pipes of this quality.

The De-luxes are all excellent smokers. The Darwin, of course, is a truly outstanding pipe, its only “flaw” being that it’s not a clencher. One particular aspect of this pipe, that appeals to me most is its physical beauty and presence, they are a pipe like no other. For me, they also offer a bowl capacity that I like and a balance in the hand that I appreciate. They are well named Deluxe s for giving that special experience.

With that information at hand I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation and calcification as possible. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe once I started to work on it. I took some photos of the rim top and stem. The rim top and bowl looked very good. The cake and lava overflow were gone and the inward bevelled rim was very clean. There was also some darkening on the bevelled inner rim edge and light damage on the edge of the top and the bevel. Jeff had been able to get rid of all of the lava and tars. The rim top looked good with light marks and scratches on the surface. The closeup photos of the stem shows that it is a much cleaner and better looking stem. The tooth marks and chatter were still present with deeper ones on the button and on the underside of the stem next to the button. There was some white debris at the joint of the tenon and the stem.I took some photos of the stamping on the shank sides and the silver on the ferrule to show the condition after the cleanup. Often the stamping takes a hit with the cleaning and is lessened in its clarity. Jeff does a great job in leaving the stamping looking very good. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe at this point. Like other Peterson’s Deluxe pipes that I have worked on this stem had chimney threaded into the tenon to extend into the lower part of the mortise and provides a funnel for drawing the smoke into the mouth of the smoker. This time it was a bone chimney that had a chipped portion on the top of the chimney.I started my restoration work on this pipe by addressing the darkening around the inner edge of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the bevelled inner edge and the rim top with the same sandpaper. The finish rim top looked very good. I started my polishing regimen on the bowl. I used nine micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded the bowl with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. The bowl really shines by the final three pads. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while 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 Sterling Silver ferrule with a jewellers polishing cloth to remove the tarnish and protect it from further tarnishing. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the chipped bone chimney. It was stuck in the tenon end and I could not unscrew it. I carefully wiggled it and got a little give. I painted the area where it sat against the tenon with isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab. After a few applications I was able to unscrew the chimney. In the photo below, it is shown. The chipped area is on the top of the chimney and the sides are in solid condition. I cleaned out the tenon and the area behind the chimney and the chimney itself with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol. It was quite dirty but I was able to clean it thoroughly.I greased a pipe cleaner with Vaseline and inserted it in the chimney under the damaged area. I carefully applied rubberized KMS Black Super glue to the cracked area with a tooth pick. I filled in the damage. I sprayed it with accelerator to harden it and applied several more coats until it was smooth and round.Once the repair cured screwed into the tenon to give me something to hold onto. I sanded it with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to shape it to match the remaining sides of the chimney.I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads to smooth out and shape the repairs. I was happy with the finished product. I screwed it back into the tenon and took a photo of the end. It looked good.I took photos of the rebuilt chimney after I had polished it with the remaining micromesh sanding pads – 3200-12000. The repair came out looking very good.I turned to address the tooth marks in the stem next. I filled in the deep tooth marks with black CA glue and set it aside to let the repairs cure. I started the smoothing process with a small flat file to begin blending them in. I further blended in the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper and started to polish it with a folded piece of 600 wet dry sandpaper. Once it was finished it was smooth. I touched up the Hand Cut stamp on the underside of the saddle portion of the stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I sanded off the excess with a worn piece of 1500 grit micromesh. It looked much better.I screwed in the bone chimney to the tenon and polished it and the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped them down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem. I don’t know how many times I have said this but I love it when I come to the end of a restoration and all of the parts come together and the pipe looks better than when we started the cleanup process. I put the stem back on the Peterson’s DeLuxe 8S System and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank sides during the process. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is a real stunning example of an Republic Era Peterson’s DeLuxe 8S Bent Billiard. Once again, the grain and the way the shape follows the grain is amazing. Give the finish pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.55 ounces/44 grams. This Peterson’s De Luxe 8S is a great piece of pipe history that is in exceptional condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be putting this one on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for your time.

Fresh Life for a cross grain Peterson’s “Kildare’ 440 Long Stem Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is another Peterson’s pipe that came to us from our connection in Copenhagen, Denmark on 04/11/2023. It is a nice long-stemmed Billiard with a taper vulcanite stem. This pipe was quite well cared for by the previous trustee. It had been well smoked and there was a thick cake in the bowl but little or no lava overflowing onto the rim top. The lava was light on the back side of the rim top and there was some darkening on the inner edge of the bowl. The pipe was dirty with light grime and dirt ground into the finish on the bowl sides and heel. The stamping on the shank is clear and readable. The left side is stamped Peterson’s [over] “Kildare”. On the right side it was stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (3 lines) and near the bowl it is stamped with the shape number 440. The stem was lightly oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The “P” logo stamp on the left side of the stem was clear but the white paint in the stamp was all washed off. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it.The next photos show the bowl and rim top as well as the stem condition. The bowl had a thick cake that is very visible. The rim top and edges have some darkening but the lava is very light on the top with a little on the back top. The stem looked good with some tooth chatter and marks on both sides and the button. Jeff took the stem off the pipe and took a photo of the aluminum inner tube that was in place in the tenon. It is dirty but it is in good shape.He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl and shank to show birdseye and cross grain around the briar. It is unique and quite beautiful. I can’t wait to see it once it is cleaned and polished. The stamping on both sides of the shank were clear and very readable. It read as noted above. The stamping on the side of the taper stem is also clear and the “P” logo looks good. I am including the information from 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 have included a bit of the pertinent history here.

During the 1950’s and 60’s the Kapp & Peterson Company was still in the ownership of the Kapp family. However 1964 saw the retiral of the company Managing Director Frederick Henry(Harry) Kapp.

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 Third Issue of the line in 2010. It is a late Republic Era Classic Shaped pipe with a matte-finish and a fishtail stem. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Restoring a Peterson’s Dublin Ebony Silver Spigot 6 Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is a Peterson’s pipe that came to us from our connection in Copenhagen, Denmark on 11/10/2022. It is a nice Ebony Billiard with a Sterling Silver ferrule and a spigot stem with a Sterling Silver fitting on the end of tenon end of the stem. This pipe was obviously a favourite of the previous trustee. It had been well smoked and there was a thick cake in the bowl and thick lava overflowing onto the rim top. The lava was heavier on the back side of the rim top. It was hard to know clear the condition of the rim top and edges because of all of the lava. The pipe was dirty with grime and dirt ground into the finish on the bowl sides and heel. The black finish around the bowl and shank looks good other than the heavier on the top. The stamping on the shank is clear and readable. The left side is stamped Peterson’s [arched over] Dublin. On the right side it was stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (3 lines) and near the bowl it is stamped with the shape number 6. The Sterling Silver ferrule is stamped and reads Peterson’s [over] Dublin followed by Sterling [over] Silver. That is followed by three hallmarks. The first was Hibernia seated, arm on a harp for the country of manufacture. The second was a Crowned Harp designating sterling quality. The third mark was a date stamp and, in this case, an upper-case cursive “Q” which dated the pipe as made in 2001. The silver was tarnished on the stem and ferrule and the stem was oxidized, calcified 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 on it. The next photos show the bowl and rim top as well as the stem condition. The bowl had a thick cake that is very visible. The rim top and edges have a heavy coat of tar. It is hard to know what the rim edge looked like underneath the lava. The rim top also had some darkening. The stem looked good with some oxidation, calcification, tooth chatter and marks on both sides and the button. The silver work on both were tarnished. Jeff took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl and shank to show the condition of the black paint around the briar. It is unique and quite beautiful. I can’t wait to see it once it is cleaned and polished. The stamping on the shank sides and the Sterling Silver band was clear and very readable. It read as noted above. I did a Google search on the Peterson’s Dublin Ebony line of pipes and specifically shape 6 billiards. There was nothing on Pipephil or Pipedia on the line but there were links to other sites. There was a great description of the line on smokingpipes.com that I quote in part below (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/peterson/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=192289).

The ‘6’ shape is one of Peterson’s most iconic, classic straight Billiards. In the classic Peterson style, the shank is fairly large relative to the bowl and the tapered stem carries the same visual weight as the shank. While the pipe adheres rigorously to the classic definition of the Billiard (shank length to bowl height ratios etc.), it’s still unmistakably Peterson. It’s presented here as part of the Ebony Spigot series: a smooth black finish matched to a classic silver spigot mount.

It was a description of a pipe that was on the site for sale. I did not include the photos of the pipe that were included following the description.

I turned also to the Peterson’s Dublin site and found a photo and a lengthy description of the shape 6, the Ebony series and the range of the pipe (https://www.peterson.ie/pipes/high-grade/ebony-spigot/moreinfo.cfm?pd_product_Id=685). I have included a photo from the site of the pipe and the description below. About The Shape

Striking an agile balance between the traditional archetype and our signature House Style, this medium-sized, straight Billiard shape houses a respectable fire hole with some fairly muscular proportions throughout while still cutting a lean silhouette.

About The Series

The pinnacle of our traditional dress pipes, the Ebony Spigot presents our Classic range shapes in a sleek, sophisticated palette, combining black semi-matt smooth finishes with bold, sterling silver, Face-style spigot mounts, each applied by the skilled hands of our most experienced silversmiths.

About The Range

Representing the pinnacle of our regular production, our High Grade designation is reserved for only the very best pipes to leave our factory. Each pipe in this range is distinguished by its plentiful grain, either smooth or sandblasted, and expert metal fitments, shaped and applied by the hands of our most experienced craftsmen. Our silversmiths are among the most talented in the world, having undergone traditional five-to-eight-year apprenticeships under a senior craftsman; each smith has engineered his own mandrel, meaning that every metal fitment is imprinted with the subtle, personal style of the one who machined it.

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping on the pipe. It is a Republic era pipe. The three line Made in the Republic of Ireland stamp on the right side of the shank along with the K&P stamp with hallmarks tell me it was made in 2001. The Ebony finish was one of the higher end lines and was well worth the cleanup. It is a beautiful pipe in a classic thick shank billiard.

Now, on to the restoration of this beautiful Peterson’s Ebony Silver Spigot 6 Billiard. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation and calcification as possible. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. About this time in the process I did a video chat with Kenneth and as usual don’t seem to be able to write, talk and work on pipes at the same time so I totally forgot to take the photos of the pipe before I started working on it. It was very clean but there was some residual tar on the backside of the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl was out of round with some damage on the edge. I also used some 600 wet dry sandpaper to sand off the tar that remained on the top. It looked significantly better with these two issues addressed.I polished the silver ferrule and the silver stem cap with a jeweller’s cloth to remove the tarnish and to protect the stem from further oxidation and tarnishing. It looks quite good at this point.I rubbed down the bowl with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips. The product works to deep clean, restore and protect the briar. I let it sit on the bowl surface for 10 minutes to let it do its work. I buffed it off with a soft cloth and it took on a deep shine in the Black/Ebony finish. It looks very good at this point in the process. I set the bowl aside and polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. I finished the hand polishing of the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian oil and set it aside to dry.This nice looking Peterson’s Dublin Ebony Silver Spigot 6 Billiard with a classic Peterson’s military or spigot stem looks much better now that it has been restored. The rim top and edges cleaned up very well. The rich ebony colour finish on the bowl came alive with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar so as not to damage the colour. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Peterson’s Dublin Ebony Silver Spigot is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 36 grams/1.27 ounces. I will be putting the pipe on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section soon. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Putting Grandfather’s Genuine Amber Stemmed Meerschaum Bulldog back together again

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Blog by Steve Laug

I decided I needed a change of pace in my restoration/clean up work. I went through my pipes waiting in the queue and chose the last one from a group of four pipes that were given to us by a woman in Columbus, Ohio, USA. It had belonged to her Grandfather who lived from 1882 to 1977. There were four pipes that she sent us from his estate – the metal bowled apple, a cased meerschaum Bulldog with a broken amber stem, a Whitehall rusticated apple and a BBB Glokar Fraternity Pipe.The cased Meerschaum Bulldog is the last of the lot and one that should be fixable and clean up well. I could see that it was an old timer and that it had been one of her Grandfather’s favourites like the other three. The pipe was dirty and well used. The finish had deep grime ground into the smooth meerschaum rim cap and the sides of the bowl. The rings around the cap are dirty with grime in the grooves. It had a moderate cake in the bowl that flowed onto the rim edges and rim top as a thick cake. It hard to assess the inner and outer edge of the rim there were thick spots of grime on the cap and bowl sides that should come off with work. The stem was amber and had been cleanly broken in half about mid stem. It was screwed on to a metal threaded tenon in the shank. It had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He started with the black leather case which was in good condition though missing the pin in one of the hinges. He opened the case and took photos of the pipe sitting in the case. He took a photo of the label on the inside of the case. It read Genuine Meerschaum around the outside of the black and gold octagonal label. On the inside of the label it reads Real Amber.He took photos of the condition of the bowl and rim top. You can see the cake in the bowl and the lava on the rim top. There are also nicks and scratches around the top and outer edge particular o the front right side of the bowl.He took photos of the broken stem. You can see the break is about halfway down the stem and is clean with no rough edges on the pieces. When the two parts are put together the fit is very clean and smooth. The fit against the shank end is smooth and undamaged. It should clean up well. Jeff also took photos of the tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. They are not deep but are very visible in both photos. Even these marks are not flaking or showing too much depth in the damage.He took photos of the bowl sides and heel to give a sense of the condition of the pipe before clean up. I think it will clean up well. Jeff cleaned up the pipe with his usual regimen and when I received it the bowl had been reamed and washed with Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed clean. He was able to remove the lava on the rim and the grime around the bowl. It looked much better. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He carefully cleaned the pieces of the broken stem and the fit together was still smooth. The pipe was ready for the next step in the process. I took photos of the pipe when I brought it to the work table. I decided to start my work on this pipe by rejoining the two parts of the stem. I looked at putting a metal tube inside but the amber is brittle and the airway was not big enough to accommodate even the smallest tube I had. I chose inside to glue the parts together with clear rubberized CA glue. I carefully painted the ends of each piece and then pressed them together. They aligned well and I held them until the glue set. I set the stem aside and let the repair cure.I took the family to breakfast and when I returned I put the stem on the shank and took photos of the repaired stem in place. I still needed to sand and smooth out the repairs but you can see the overall look of the pipe.I removed the stem and set it aside. I turned my attention to the bowl. I polished it with micromesh – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove sanding debris. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. You can see the patina around the bow and the shank. Now it was time to wax the bowl. I melted some beeswax on the stove top and painted it onto the meerschaum bowl. I apply the wax quite heavily as I plan on heating the bowl and wiping it off. I worked it into the twin rings around the bowl cap with the pipe cleaner. I took a few photos of the heavily waxed bowl. I set it aside and called it a night. I would heat and polish it in the morning. This morning I used the heat gun to melt the wax on the bowl. I held it by the metal tenon and carefully moved it over the heat gun. The wax dripped back in the bowl and I also wiped it down with a paper towel. The patina really came alive. You can see it nicely developed on the shank and moving up the bowl sides to the cap. It looks very good at this point and will only look better with buffing and with use. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to blend the repairs into the surrounding amber. I wanted it smooth and with no lumps of glue on the crack or tooth mark areas. I started polishing the stem with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I was happy with how the shine was developing.I polished the amber with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit micromesh pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil to further polish and give some teeth to the pads. It came out looking very nice. I polished the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine an Extra Fine. I rubbed them on with my finger tips and polished them off with soft paper towel. I finished by rubbing the stem down with some Obsidian Oil on a soft impregnated cloth. It looked better.I don’t know how many times I have said this but I love it when I come to the end of a restoration and all of the parts come together and the pipe looks better than when we started the cleanup process. I put the stem back on the Genuine Meerschaum Real Amber Cased Bulldog and carefully buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of beeswax as shown above and the stem multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax by hand and buffed it by hand with a soft cloth. I also buffed it again with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is a real stunning example of a classic Meerschaum Bulldog with an Amber Stem. It is beautiful and comfortable in hand. There was developing patina around the bowl and shank and was darker on the shank and the rim top. Give the finish pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .95 ounces/27 grams. This meerschaum pipe is a great piece of pipe history that is in great condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be keeping this one in my collection and enjoying it. Thanks for your time.

New Life for a Peterson’s Sterling Silver 999 Rhodesian

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table was purchased on 04/11/2023 our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [over] Sterling Filter. On the right side it is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines) followed by the shape number 999. It had a Sterling Silver band on the shank that was stamped K&P in shield shaped cartouches. Underneath it was stamped Sterling [over] Silver. Next that there are three silver hallmarks. The first was Hibernia seated, arm on a harp for the country of manufacture. The second was a Crowned Harp designating sterling quality. The third mark was a date stamp and, in this case, a lower-case cursive “p” which dated the pipe as a 1981. Next to that it is engraved Zell am Lee in script followed by the date 1982. It was another pipe that was someone’s favourite. The bowl had a thick cake and lava build up on the rim top. The finish looked good underneath all of the grime and oils that were ground into the bowl sides and heel. The stem was made for a 9mm filter. It had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the P-lip and on the underside edge of the button. The “P” stamp on the left side of the stem was clear and just needed to be touched up otherwise it looked good. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. It is another pretty pipe! The next photos show the bowl and rim top as well as the stem condition. The bowl had a thick cake that is very visible. The rim top and edges have a heavy coat of tar. It is hard to know what the rim edge looked like underneath the lava. The rim top also had some darkening. The stem looked good with some tooth chatter and marks on both sides and the button. Jeff took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl and shank to show birdseye and cross grain around the briar. It is unique and quite beautiful. I can’t wait to see it once it is cleaned and polished. The stamping on the shank sides and the Sterling Silver band was clear and very readable. It read as noted above. The band also has and engraved name and date on the centre of the band around the shank. It is readable and clear. It is a unique name that I am unfamiliar with. The “P” stamp on the left side of the taper stem is readable. I checked on Pipephil’s website to see what I could learn about the stamping on the pipe. I scrolled down the page (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-peterson-rep.html). There was a Peterson’s Sterling on the page and it had similar stamping on the shank though lacking the Filter stamp. I found the following photo of the band that was stamped similar to the one I am working on. The silver bears the K & P stamping like the one I have. Below that it reads Sterling Silver. The hallmarks on this one Are similar to mine other than the date stamp with the one on mine is a lower case “p”.I turned to Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes to see what I could garner from that information. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson#1950_-_1989_The_Republic_Era). It is well worth the read.

I then turned to the book I should have consulted first, The Peterson Pipe, by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg. On page 155 I found some information on the line.

Peterson’s US distributor during the early Republic era was Rogers Imports, Inc., a New York firm whose catalogs offered all varieties of smoker’s products. Rogers was the exclusive wholesale dealer for several prominent European pipe manufacturers, they also marketed accessories under their own name. On behalf of Kapp & Peterson they registered the Killarney, Shamrock and Sterling trademarks with the US Patent Office in the 1950s, and their catalogs also featured the System, Premier Selection and Supreme.

On page 156-157 in the same book there is a catalogue page with the Sterling shown on it. It sold for $7.50 in 1953. It read:

As the name implies the Sterling quality of this fine pipe is distinguished in a careful selection of its fine Mediterranean Bruyere, its careful workmanship and sparkling finish. Banded with a Sterling Silver band – a Hallmark of quality – the pipe is available in a handsome natural or dark rich walnut finish. Patent P-lip stem. Individually boxed.

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping on the pipe. It is a Republic era pipe. The three line Made in the Republic of Ireland stamp on the right side of the shank along with the K&P stamp with hallmarks tell me it was made in 1981 and the previous pipe man engraver it 1982. It is a beautiful pipe in a popular shape – 999.

Now, on to the restoration of this beautifully grained Peterson’s Sterling Filter 999 Rhodesian. With that information at hand I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation and calcification as possible. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe once I started to work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and the stem. You can see the reamed bowl and the darkening and damage on inner edge of the bowl. The stem surface was clean but there is light tooth marks and chatter on both sides on and ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. There is also a “P” stamp on the right side of the stem. I took photos of the stamping around the sterling silver band on the shank. They are clear and read as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. It is really quite nice looking. I took a photo of the shank end of the stem to show the 9mm filter tenon.I decided to start my work on this one by reworking the inner edge of the rim with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper giving it a light bevel. I sanded the darkening on the rim top at the same time. It looked much better.I polished the briar and the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. You can see the grain around the bowl and shank in the photos below. The bowl looks great and took on a shine as I finished the polishing. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes, then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I polished the Sterling Silver band with a jewellers polishing cloth to remove the tarnish and protect it from further tarnishing. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. Before I started working on it I fit a new 9mm Dr. Perl Junior in the tenon of the stem. It fits well and looks good. I touched up the stamped P on the left side of the tapered stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I applied it to the stem with the applicator and scraped off the excess material with a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad. It came out looking very good.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 a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem.I don’t know how many times I have said this but I love it when I come to the end of a restoration and all of the parts come together and the pipe looks better than when we started the cleanup process. I put the stem back on the Peterson’s Sterling Filter 999 Rhodesian and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank sides during the process. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is a real stunning example of a Republic Era Peterson’s Sterling Filter 999 Rhodesian. Once again, the grain and the way the shape follows the grain is amazing. Give the finish pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. 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 an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.55 ounces/44 grams. This Peterson’s Deluxe 4S is a great piece of pipe history that is in exceptional condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be putting this one on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section. Let me know if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for your time.