Tag Archives: Soren Hand Carved Pipes

Restoring Someone’s Favourite Soren Hand-Carved Made in Denmark

by Steve Laug

This particular Freehand pipe was purchased from seller Fort Meyers, Florida, USA on 06/13/2022. It really is a great looking Freehand pipe that combines a plateau rim top and shank end with a smooth bowl and shank. It is stamped on a smooth panel on underside of the shank and reads Soren [over] Hand-Carved [over] Made in Denmark. The finish is dirty and darkened with hand oils but that does not hide the beautiful grain around the bowl and shank. The pipe had a thick cake in the bowl and lava overflow on the rim top and inner edge of the bowl filling in some of the plateau. There was grime ground into the smooth finish and dust and debris in the plateau valleys on the shank end. The fancy grey/silver variegated, fancy saddle stem had a crack in the saddle portion that had been repaired. The tenon in the stem is a new one and the crack had been caused by the drilling and repair. It had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The pipe must have been a great smoker judging from the condition it came it. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the cake in the bowl and the heavy lava and darkening on the plateau rim top and inner edge of the bowl. The turned acrylic stem was dirty and had light chatter and tooth marks on both sides near the button. It also has a repaired crack on the topside of the saddle. Jeff took a photo of the crack in the stem. You can also see the replacement tenon that was inserted in the stem. I believe that it had cracked in the drilling of the stem for the replacement tenon. The new tenon was glued in the stem and some glue had been put in the crack. It had not been filled with glue so the crack gathered debris and had darkened.He took photos of the sides and the heel to give an idea of the shape and the condition of the briar around the bowl. It really is a beautifully shaped pipe highlighted by the plateau finish on the rim top and shank end. The photos show the scratches in the briar as well as some small light coloured fills around the bowl sides and heel. The next photos Jeff took show the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear but faint in spots and read as noted above.I went to a previous blog and reread what I had written in order to refresh my memory of the background and information on the Soren pipes (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/09/12/repairing-and-rejuvenating-a-soren-danish-freehand/). I quote from that blog post:

I looked up the brand on Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-s10.html) and found that the brand was carved by Søren Refbjerg Rasmussen. Pipes that he made for the European market were mostly stamped “Refbjerg” while those made for the US market were stamped “Soren”. Thus, I knew that one I was working on was imported into the US market. I did a screen capture of the photos of the pipes and stamping that were on the site. I have included it below.I was once again working on a pipe made by Soren Refbjerg Rasmussen for the US market as it was stamped Soren. I continued to do reading on another of my go to websites, Pipedia. Here is the link for the article there. https://pipedia.org/wiki/Refbjerg. I quote some of the more pertinent information.

Søren Refbjerg Rasmussen founded a company in 1969, which employed an average of 8 – 12 craftsmen in the 1970’s. The semi-freehands they produced were traded under his prename Søren. Rasmussen himself finished only the very best pipes. So his way of pipemaking closely resembled the ways of Preben Holm, Karl Erik Ottendahl or Erik Nørding. Altogether more than 1,000,000 pipes were sold.

From that I knew that the pipe in my hands came from the 1970s. It bears the Soren signature stamp which also says that it was made for sale in the American pipe market. Armed with that information I turned my attention to restoring the pipe.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the plateau rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. 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, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. The crack in the stem around the replacement tenon was clean and the tenon was solid in the drill airway. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were and what needed to be addressed with both. The rim top and bowl still had some minor darkening on the high spots of the plateau top and edges edge. It made me wonder if the darkening had been intentional and that all of them were originally dark. The stem looked better and the cracked area was clean and was ready for repairing and rebuilding. The light tooth marks and chatter were still present. I would need to remove those to bring the stem back.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. You can see from the photo that it is faint but readable. It is clearer on the top half of the stamp than the lower but it is still readable. I removed the stem from the bowl and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe.I started my work on the pipe by wiping the bowl down with alcohol on a cotton pad to remove the darkening and oils in the briar. It looked significantly better once it was clean. I started my work on the pipe by wiping the bowl down with alcohol on a cotton pad to remove the darkening and oils in the briar. It looked significantly better once it was clean.I sanded the briar bowl with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and dust from the clean up. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth between pads to remove the sanding debris. By the final pad it shone. The bowl looked great after the polishing so I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the crevices of the plateau rim top and shank end. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. Jeff had cleaned out the crack in the top of the saddle during his clean up. I filled in the crack with clear CA glue and built up the repair with multiple layers of the glue. I used several small files to flatten out the repairs in the saddle portion of the stem. I followed that up with a rolled piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out further. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further smooth out the repairs to the saddle portion as well as removing the tooth marks and chatter on the surface ahead of the button. I wiped it down after each pad with an Obsidian Oil cloth. It was looking much better.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil and let it sit and absorb. I polished stem and bowl with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. This Soren Hand-Carved Freehand pipe polished up pretty nicely. The plateau on the rim top and shank end and the smooth reddish brown finish works very well with the variegated silver and grey acrylic stem. The cleanup of the previous repair on the replacement tenon and the crack in the saddle worked well and it is solid and unmoveable. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I have worked on several Soren pipes by Soren Refbjerg Rasmussen and several Refbjerg pipes over the years and I have always been impressed by his craftsmanship and ability to work a pipe to follow the grain of the briar. He does great work and is quite innovative in terms of shapes, flow and finishes on his pipes. The dimensions of this particular Soren are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches wide and 2 inches long, Chamber diameter: 7/8 inches. The weight of the pipe is 61 grams/2.15 ounces. It feels great in the hand. This one will be going in the Danish Pipemakers Section on the rebornpipes store. If you wish to add it to your collection let me know. It is a beauty! Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this Soren Freehand.

Reborn Soren Hand Carved Made in Denmark Freehand Sitter

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by Steve Laug

This particular Freehand pipe was purchased from seller in Holden Barr, Missouri, USA on 04/20/2021. It really is a Freehand pipe that combines a plateau rim top and shank end with a flat bottom making it a sitter. The bowl is smooth with fluted sides and a few carved feathers on the bowl sides. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Soren [over] Hand-Carved [over] Made in Denmark. The finish is dirty but does not hide the beautiful grain around the bowl and shank. There is a vulcanite shank extension. The pipe had a moderate cake in the bowl some light lava on the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. There is some dust in some of the plateau. There was grime ground into the finish and dust and debris in the carved feathers and the plateau valleys. The fancy vulcanite saddle stem was oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the moderate cake in the bowl and the dust and lava in the plateau rim top and inner edge of the bowl. The turned vulcanite stem was oxidized, dirty and had light chatter and tooth marks on both sides near the button. He took photos of the sides and the heel to give an idea of the shape and the condition of the briar around the bowl. It really is a uniquely shaped pipe with the fluted sides on the bowl. The next photos Jeff took shows the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear but faint in spots and read as noted above.I went to a previous Soren restoration blog and reread what I had written to reconnect the dots for me https://rebornpipes.com/2016/09/12/repairing-and-rejuvenating-a-soren-danish-freehand/. I quote from that blog post:

I looked up the brand on Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-s10.html) and found that the brand was carved by Søren Refbjerg Rasmussen. Pipes that he made for the European market were mostly stamped “Refbjerg” while those made for the US market were stamped “Soren”. Thus, I knew that one I was working on was imported into the US market.

I was once again working on a pipe made by Soren Refbjerg Rasmussen for the US market as it was stamped Soren. I continued to do reading on another of my go to websites, Pipedia. Here is the link for the article there. https://pipedia.org/wiki/Refbjerg. I quote some of the more pertinent information.

Søren Refbjerg Rasmussen founded a company in 1969, which employed an average of 8 – 12 craftsmen in the 1970’s. The semi-freehands they produced were traded under his prename Søren. Rasmussen himself finished only the very best pipes. So, his way of pipemaking closely resembled the ways of Preben Holm, Karl Erik Ottendahl or Erik Nørding. Altogether more than 1,000,000 pipes were sold.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the plateau rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. 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, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. The pipe looked very good and I was excited to start working on it. I took pictures of the pipe to show how it looked when I brought it to the worktable. I took some photos of the rim top and stem to show the condition of them both when the pipe arrived. It looked very good. The stem had some light chatter and tooth marks ahead of the button on both sides. I took a photo of the stamping on the heel of the bowl. It is readable and in great condition. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to show the look of the pipe.I sanded the darkening on the smooth portions of the rim top and the bevelled inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove it. The process worked very well and the rim top looked much better.I touched up the valleys in the plateau with a black Sharpie pen to match the other valleys in the finish. It looked very good with the touch up. I polished the smooth portions of the bowl and the high points in the rustication and plateau with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down after each pad with a damp cloth. The bowl is starting to look very good. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and into the plateau rim top and shank end with a horsehair shoe brush 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 set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded it with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad. Once I was finished it looked much better.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 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. This is a beautiful Soren Hand Carved Freehand with a fancy saddle stem. It has a great look and feel. The shape of the bowl, the mix of plateau, smooth and rusticated finishes and the cut of the briar work well to highlight the grain around the bowl sides. I polished stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish 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. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The Soren Hand Carved Freehand polished up pretty nicely. The grain took on life with the buffing. The rich stains work well with the polished vulcanite stem. The finished pipe has a rich look that is quite catching. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 ½ inches x 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.15 ounces/61 grams. It is a beautiful pipe. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly in the Danish Pipemakers Section if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking with me through the restoration.

Restoring a Soren Hand Carved Made in Denmark Freehand Sitter

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by Steve Laug

This particular Freehand pipe was purchased as part of a lot from seller in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, USA on 09/26/2018. It really is a Freehand pipe that combines a plateau rim top and shank end with feet like the fins of a rocket on the bottom making it a sitter. The front of the bowl is smooth and the back is sandblast. The blast carries through the shank as well. It is stamped on a smooth panel on underside of the shank and reads Soren [over] Hand-Carved [over] Made in Denmark. The finish is dirty but does not hide the beautiful grain around the bowl and shank. There is a vulcanite shank extension. The pipe had a moderate cake in the bowl but the rim top and inner edge of the bowl looked good. There is some dust in some of the plateau. It is heavier toward the back half of the bowl. There was grime ground into the sandblast finish and dust and debris in the plateau valleys. The fancy vulcanite shank extension and the saddle stem was oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the moderate cake in the bowl and the dust and debris in the plateau rim top and inner edge of the bowl. The turned vulcanite stem was oxidized, dirty and had light chatter and tooth marks on both sides near the button. He took photos of the sides and the heel to give an idea of the shape and the condition of the briar around the bowl. It really is a uniquely shaped pipe with the pedestal base on the bottom front of the bowl.The next photos Jeff took shows the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear but faint in spots and read as noted above. I went to a previous Soren restoration blog and reread what I had written to reconnect the dots for me https://rebornpipes.com/2016/09/12/repairing-and-rejuvenating-a-soren-danish-freehand/. I quote from that blog post:

Søren Refbjerg Rasmussen founded a company in 1969, which employed an average of 8 – 12 craftsmen in the 1970’s. The semi-freehands they produced were traded under his prename Søren. Rasmussen himself finished only the very best pipes. So, his way of pipemaking closely resembled the ways of Preben Holm, Karl Erik Ottendahl or Erik Nørding. Altogether more than 1,000,000 pipes were sold.

I started my work on the pipe by sanding the vulcanite shank extension with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the residual oxidation that remained. I was able to remove it for the most part and what remained would come off with the micromesh pads and the Before and After Pipe Stem polish. It was a pretty pipe. I polished the vulcanite shank extension and the smooth portions of the bowl on the front and heel. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the sanded portions of the bowl off with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. I wiped down the shank extension with an Obsidian Oil cloth. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to get into the plateau and the sandblast. The product works 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 following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I am very happy with the results. I set the bowl aside and turned to the stem. I used 320-3500 grit sanding pads to smooth out the roughness on the surface of the vulcanite and remove the tooth marks and chatter. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each 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 Obsidian Oil. I finished by polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish both fine and extra Fine and then wiped it down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil. This is a beautiful Soren Hand Carved Freehand Sitter with a vulcanite shank extension and a fancy saddle stem. It has a great look and feel. The shape of the bowl, the mix of sandblast and smooth finishes and the cut of the briar work well to highlight the grain around the bowl sides. I polished stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish 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. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The Soren Hand Carved Freehand polished up pretty nicely. The grain took on life with the buffing. The rich stains work well with the polished vulcanite stem. The finished pipe has a rich look that is quite catching. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.43 ounces/69 grams. It is a beautiful pipe. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly in the Danish Pipemakers Section if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking with me through the restoration.

This Odd Looking Pipe Has Fins or maybe Feet – a Soren Hand-Carved Made in Denmark

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by Steve Laug

This particular Freehand pipe was purchased as part of a lot from seller in Santa Cruz, California, USA on 05/28/24. It really is an odd Freehand pipe that combines a plateau rim top and shank end with feet like the fins of a rocket on the bottom making it a sitter. There is also a rusticated leaf on the left side of the shank toward the stem end. It is stamped on a smooth panel on underside of the shank and reads Soren [over] Hand-Carved [over] Made in Denmark. The finish is dirty but does not hide the beautiful grain around the bowl and shank. The pipe had a thick cake in the bowl and lava overflow on the rim top and inner edge of the bowl filling in some of the plateau. It is heavier toward the back half of the bowl. There was grime ground into the smooth finish and dust and debris in the plateau valleys on the shank end. The fancy vulcanite saddle was oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. The pipe must have been a great smoker judging from the condition it came it. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the cake in the bowl and the lava on the plateau rim top and inner edge of the bowl. The turned vulcanite stem was dirty and had light chatter and tooth marks on both sides near the button. He took photos of the sides and the heel to give an idea of the shape and the condition of the briar around the bowl. It really is a uniquely shaped pipe with the feet or fins on the bottom half of the bowl and the rusticated leaf on the left side of the shank. The next photos Jeff took shows the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear but faint and read as noted above. I needed to refresh my memory on the history and background of the Soren pipes so I went to a previous blog and reread what I had written. https://rebornpipes.com/2016/09/12/repairing-and-rejuvenating-a-soren-danish-freehand/. I quote from that blog post: I looked up the brand on Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-s10.html) and found that the brand was carved by Søren Refbjerg Rasmussen. Pipes that he made for the European market were mostly stamped “Refbjerg” while those made for the US market were stamped “Soren”. Thus, I knew that one I was working on was imported into the US market.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the plateau rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. 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, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were and what needed to be addressed with both. The rim top and bowl still had some minor darkening on the plateau top and edges edge. The stem looked better and the tooth marks and chatter were still present. I would need to remove those to bring the stem back.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. You can see from the photo that it is faint but readable. It is clearer on the top half of the stamp than the lower but it is still readable. I removed the stem from the bowl and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe.I started my work on the pipe by polishing the briar with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down between pads to remove the sanding debris. By the final pad it was looking very good. The bowl was in such good condition after the clean up that I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the crevices of the plateau and sandblast portions. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further smooth out the repairs. I wiped it down after each pad with an Obsidian Oil cloth. It was looking much better. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil and let it sit and absorb. I polished stem and bowl with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The plateau on the rim top and shank end and the smooth Dark and Medium brown contrast finish work very well with the black vulcanite stem. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I have worked on several Soren pipes by Soren Refbjerg Rasmussen and several Refbjerg pipes over the years and I have always been impressed by his craftsmanship and ability to work a pipe to follow the grain of the briar. He does great work and is quite innovative in terms of shapes, flow and finishes on his pipes. The dimensions of this one are quite large but delicate at the same time. The Length: 7 inches, Height: 3 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches wide and 2 inches long, Chamber diameter: 7/8 inches. The weight of the pipe is 79 grams/2.79 ounces. This one will be going on the Danish Pipemakers Section on the rebornpipes store. If you wish to add it to your collection let me know. It is a beauty! Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this Soren Freehand.

Replacing a tenon, restemming and restoring another Mixed Finish Soren Hand Carved Freehand

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by Steve Laug

I am taking a break from the last two of the four pipes I am working on for Jack to clean up and match a stem with a nice freehand pipe that I have here in my box. It is another quick cleanup and restore and gives me a break from the heavier restoration work on Jack’s next pipe. This bowl has a mixed smooth and rusticated finish with a plateau rim top and shank end. The finish was a bit dull and lifeless. It showed promise under the grit and grime of the years. On the underside of the shank it was clearly stamped Soren [over] Hand-Carved [over] Made in Denmark. The bowl had a thin cake and some lava overflow on the smooth and plateau areas of the rim top. The bowl also had some dust and debris in rusticated patch on the right side of the bowl as well as in the crevices of the plateau on the shank end. I took some photos of the bowl before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the bowl to give an idea of what I had to work with. The bowl was very dirty and had a moderately thick cake. The smooth portions of the rim top have a lava coat the plateau portions are also almost filled in with lava. I also took a photo of the plateau on the shank end to show its condition – dirty but in good shape.I took a photo to try and capture the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is present and is readable in person far more than the photos show. It is stamped as noted above.I went through my cans of stems here and found a nice vulcanite fancy saddle stem that would fit quite well ONCE I REPLACED THE SNAPPED TENON. It was dirty and needed a thorough cleaning but I think it will look good.I have worked on quite a few Soren pipes over the years and turned to one of the blogs that I wrote on another interesting Soren Freehand Sitter (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/02/26/this-interesting-soren-hand-carved-freehand-turned-out-to-be-more-work-than-expected/). I quote from that blog below.

It was time to work on the pipe! I decided to start with refitting the new tenon to the stem I had chosen. Hmmm…I thought I was done with that for a while but this stem just worked with the bowl. I flattened the broken tenon remnants on the stem end with a Dremel and sanding drum and then further smoothed it out with a topping board and 220 grit sandpaper. I wanted a smooth surface for my drilling.I learned a helpful trick on the last batch of six tenon replacements. I use a small pen knife to give the airway in the stem end a slight chamfer to guide the drill bit into it and keep it straight. Once I did that I used a series of drill bits to open the airway to receive the threaded portion of the tenon. I choose to use threaded replacement tenons as they provide a rough serrated surface for the glue to bind to the drilled hole in the stem. It has worked well for me a for a long time.Once it fit well in the stem I needed to reduce the diameter of the portion that went in the shank mortise. I use a Dremel and sanding drum to work it until it fits well in the shank of the pipe. I took photos of the look of the tenon when it was finished and put it in the shank and put the stem on it and took photos. I think it will work very well! I checked the fit of the stem to the tenon, the tenon to the shank repeatedly and once it was proper I glued it in place with black CA glue.I set the stem aside to allow the glue to cure. While it dried I took a photo of the stem and the bowl together to give a sense of the look of the pipe and stem. Proportions and look just work together in my opinion. While the glue cured I turned my attention to the bowl. I reamed it with a PipNet Pipe Reamer using the 2^nd and 3^rd cutting heads to remove the cake. I cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I finished the bowl by sanding the walls with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. The bowl walls looked very good. I scrubbed out the internals with pipe cleaners (normal & bristle), cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils in the shank between the mortise and the entrance of the airway into the bowl. It was quite dirty.I cleaned up the plateau areas on the rim top and shank end with a brass bristle wire brush. I worked on it until the groves were clean. I wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove all the debris. I sanded the smooth portions on the rim top with a folded piece of 200 grit sandpaper. It was looking better each step!I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I worked it into the grain on the sides, the plateau on the rim top and shank end and the rusticated patch on the right side of the bowl with the tooth brush. I rinsed the soap and grime off with warm water and dried it off with a soft towel. I looked much better at this point. The grain really stands out. I sanded the smooth part of the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to start the polishing process. I wiped down the bowl with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I followed that by polishing the smooth portions of the bowl sides with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. With the briar polished I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips and into the plateau rim top, shank end and rustication with a horsehair shoe brush. The product works 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. While the Balm did its work, I worked on the “new stem”. I sanded the tooth chatter and marks on the stem surface with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It was starting to look better.I sanded the stem surface with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further polish the stem. I wiped it down between sanding pads with a damp cloth. I polished the acrylic stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This beautiful Soren Hand Carved Made In Denmark Freehand with a fancy, turned vulcanite saddle replacement stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Soren Hand Carved Freehand fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ x 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 58 grams/2.12 ounces. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipe Makers Section shortly if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for your time.

Restemming and Restoring a Mixed Finish Soren Hand Carved Freehand

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by Steve Laug

I am taking a break from the four pipes I am working on for Jack to clean up and match a stem with a nice freehand pipe that I have here in my box. It is a quick cleanup and restore and gives me a break from the heavier restoration work on Jack’s next pipe. This bowl has a mixed sandblast and smooth finish that was a bit dull and lifeless. It showed promise under the grit and grime of the years. On the underside of the shank it was clearly stamped Soren [over] Hand- Carved [over] Copenhagen [over] Denmark. The bowl had a moderate cake and some lava overflow on the smooth and plateau areas of the rim top. The bow also had some dust and debris in the flaws on the smooth portion of the bowl as well as in the crevices of the sandblast and the plateau on the shank end. I took some photos of the bowl before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the bowl to give an idea of what I had to work with. The bowl was very dirty and had a moderately thick cake. The smooth portions of the rim top have a lava coat the plateau portions are also almost filled in with lava. I also took a photo of the plateau on the shank end to show its condition – dirty but in good shape.I took two photos to try and capture the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is present and is readable in person far more than the photos show. It is stamped as noted above.I went through my cans of stems here and found a nice smokey grey and tan variegated acrylic saddle stem that would fit quite well with a few adjustments. It was dirty and needed a thorough cleaning by I think it will look good. I put the stem in the shank and took a few photos to get a sense of the look of this stem. I have worked on quite a few Soren pipes over the years and turned to one of the blogs that I wrote on another interesting Soren Freehand Sitter (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/02/26/this-interesting-soren-hand-carved-freehand-turned-out-to-be-more-work-than-expected/). I quote from that blog below.

I looked up the brand on Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-s10.html) and found that the brand was carved by Søren Refbjerg Rasmussen. Pipes that he made for the European market were mostly stamped “Refbjerg” while those made for the US market were stamped “Soren”. Thus, I knew that one I was working on was imported into the US market.

It was time to work on the pipe! I reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer using the 2^nd and 3^rd cutting heads to remove the cake. I cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I finished the bowl by sanding the walls with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. The bowl walls looked very good. I scrubbed out the internals with pipe cleaners (normal & bristle), cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils in the shank between the mortise and the entrance of the airway into the bowl. It was quite dirty. I repeated the process with the stem as well.
I cleaned up the plateau areas on the rim top and shank end with a brass bristle wire brush. I worked on it until the groves were clean. I wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove all the debris. I sanded the smooth portions on the rim top with a folded piece of 200 grit sandpaper. It was looking better each step!I touched up the plateau on the rim top and shank wend with a black stain pen. I used a brass bristle wire brush to knock of the black on the high spots.I stained the smooth portions on the rim top with a Maple stain pen to match the rest of the bowl and shank. It looked good with the contrast of the black in the plateau areas.I sanded the smooth part of the front half of the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to smooth out the flawed spots and the scratched. I forgot to take photos of the work – I apologize. I followed that with polished the smooth portions of the bowl sides with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad (Again no photos).

With the smooth portion of the briar polished I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips and into the plateau rim top, shank end and sandblast with a horsehair shoe brush. The product works 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. While the Balm did its work, I worked on the “new stem”. I sanded the tooth chatter and marks on the stem surface with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It was starting to look better.I sanded the stem surface with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to further polish the stem. I wiped it down between sanding pads with a damp cloth.I polished the acrylic stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This beautiful Soren Hand Carved Copenhagen Denmark Freehand with a fancy, turned grey/tan variegated acrylic replacement stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Soren Hand Carved Freehand fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 3 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 74 grams/2.61 ounces. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipe Makers Section shortly if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for your time.

Restoring well repaired Soren Hand Carved Made in Denmark Freehand

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I chose to work on came is another one from the lot of 11 pipes I purchased from a lady in Regina, Saskatchewan. She had found them in a house she bought and wanted to know if I wanted them. We struck a deal, I paid for the pipes and shipping and the box arrived while I was traveling in Europe. In the box were 4 Stanwells, 1 Danmore Bowl, 1 Soren Freehand, 1 Calabash with a Briar Bowl, 1 Nording Freehand, 1 Italian Made Bertenetti, 1 Rhodesian with a banded cracked shank, and 1 Brigham. I have restored the Nording, the snapped Stanwell, the Brigham, the Gourd Calabash with the briar bowl, restemmed and restored the Danmore bowl and a Stanwell Ivarsson design 11 Pot. There are blogs on each restoration available. The next pipe on the table is one of the dirtiest pipes in a box full of very dirty pipes. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Soren [over] Hand Carved [over] Made in Denmark. There is no visible model name or shape number stamped on the pipe. The shank had been snapped through the last line of the stamp but it was faint. There was a thick cake in the bowl, debris in the bottom and on the bowl walls and some remnants of tobacco. The airway was plugged and there was no draught on the pipe. There was a heavy lava overflow on the plateau rim top. It was hard to know the condition of the inner edges of the bowl for sure because of the cake. The outer edge actually looked quite good under the grime. The finish was dirty and dusty and there was glue from the shank repair along the repaired shank. The vulcanite shank extension was filthy and oxidized. The stem looked to be in decent condition underneath the calcification and oxidation. The tooth marks and chatter looked minimal. I took photos of the pipe before I started my cleanup work on it. I took a close-up photo of the bowl and the plateau rim top to show the cake in the bowl. The rim top shows some lava on the smooth area around the inner edge of the bowl. The outer edges of the bowl looked good. I took photos of the vulcanite shank extension and the top and underside of the stem surface and button to show its general condition. It looked very good under the spotty oxidation.I took some photos of the repaired crack around the shank. You can see it clearly in the photos below. In spots the glue is higher than the repair and in spots it is lower. I will need to rework the repair surface but the repair itself is very well done. The stamping on the underside of the shank is faint but readable as noted above. You can barely make out the third line of the stamp on underside of the shank but it is present. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportion of the pipe.I needed to refresh my memory on the history and background of the Soren pipes so I went to a previous blog and reread what I had written. https://rebornpipes.com/2016/09/12/repairing-and-rejuvenating-a-soren-danish-freehand/. I quote from that blog post: I looked up the brand on pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-s10.html) and found that the brand was carved by Søren Refbjerg Rasmussen. Pipes that he made for the European market were mostly stamped “Refbjerg” while those made for the US market were stamped “Soren”. Thus I knew that one I was working on was imported into the US market.

It looked like I was once again working on a pipe made by Soren Refbjerg Rasmussen for the US market as it was stamped Soren. I continued to do reading on another of my go to websites, Pipedia. Here is the link for the article there. https://pipedia.org/wiki/Refbjerg. I quote some of the more pertinent information.

There was also a note from Soren himself regarding the Danbark line of pipes that he made. I think that it is interesting to note that even on these he used the finest Corsican and Grecian briars. I assume that is also true of his other lines as well. I quote the note in full.

“A note from the carver:

I am very proud to introduce my new (!) series of hand-carved Danbark Pipes by Søren. These pipes are crafted from the finest Corsican and Grecian briars. I take a great deal of pride in crafting the Danbark Pipes to be highly functional and so they will provide the smoker with many years of dedicated service. The Danbark Pipes by Søren are available in several different styles and finishes with my personal touch and inspirations. At this time I favor making classic shaped pipes with a slight touch of my own hands and feelings. I do not produce many pipes today but the pipes that I do make available are individually crafted from the finest Corsican and Grecian Briars available to me. I still make free-hand pipes but not as many as I once made. For the past 35 years I have always tried to make good smoking pipes in my workshop located near Copenhagen, Denmark. I have always tried to craft my pipes in such a way as they will be long lasting and best friends with the owners. I take great pride in the shape of my pipes, the drilling of the pipes, and the overall dimensions of the pipes. I enjoy spending my spare time on the very long, rugged coasts of Denmark. I derive much relaxation from being on the coast while angling for Sea Trout with my own hand-tied flies. I find this environment is a great inspiration to me for making pipes. Many times I think to myself, “Inspired by nature, made by me”. — Happy puffing, Søren”

I decided to start my work on the pipe by working on the shank repair issues. I filled in the repair area with clear CA glue and pressed some briar dust into the glue. It took a few layers to smooth it out but the touch up on the repair was effective. I sanded the repaired area on the shank smooth with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surrounding briar. I also sanded the burn mark on the side of the bowl. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer using the third cutting head to take the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the walls with a piece of 180 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel to smooth them out. I used a brass bristle wire brush to knock off the debris in the plateau on the rim top. It took some work but it cleaned up well. I used a folded piece of sandpaper to clean up the inner edge of the rim and to sand the darkening off the smooth area around rim top. I sanded the vulcanite shank extension at the same time to break the oxidation on the surface. I scrubbed the exterior of the briar with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I rinsed it off with warm water to remove the grime and soap. It looked much better and the dust and debris was gone. I dried it with a cotton towel. I touched up the sanded areas on the shank and the bowl spots using a Maple Stain Pen to start the process of blending them into the rest of the bowl. The colour is very close and once I restain the bowl it will work very well. I stained the bowl and shank with a light brown stain wash. I applied it to the surface of the briar with a wool dauber. I flamed it with a lighter flame to set it in the grain. I repeated the process until I was satisfied with the coverage. I polished the vulcanite shank extension and the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 git sanding pads. I wanted to make the new stain coat a bit more transparent. I wiped it down with a cloth and some Obsidian Oil. I scrubbed out the internals of the pipe with 99% isopropyl alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. I cleaned out the airway in the stem as well. I worked on these areas repeatedly until the shank and the airway in all the parts was clean.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. With that done, the bowl was finished other than the final buffing. I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. I wiped it down with some Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation.I touched up the “S” stamp on the top of the stem with white acrylic nail polish. Once had dried I sanded out the excess with a worn 1500 micromesh sanding pad.I polished the oxidation and tooth 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) then wiped the stem down with another coat of Obsidian Oil. I polished finished Soren Hand Carved Danish Freehand with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The plateau on the rim top and shank end and the smooth Dark and Medium brown contrast finish work very well with the black vulcanite stem. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I have worked on several Soren pipes by Soren Refbjerg Rasmussen and several Refbjerg pipes over the years and I have always been impressed by his craftsmanship and ability to work a pipe to follow the grain of the briar. He does great work and is quite innovative in terms of shapes, flow and finishes on his pipes. The Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 inches. The weight of the pipe is 73 grams/ 2.57 ounces. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipemakers Section if you would like to add it to your rack and carry on the previous pipeman’s legacy. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

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

Restoring a Mixed Finish Soren Hand Carved Pedestal Freehand

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table came to us in a group of pipes that we picked up from an auction in 2018 in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, USA. It has a mixed sandblast and smooth finish that was a bit dull and lifeless. It showed promise under the grit and grime of the years. On the underside of the shank it was clearly stamped Soren [over] Hand Carved [over] Made in Denmark. When I received it from Jeff somehow the bowl and stem had separated and I had the bowl in hand but no idea what stem fit the shank. I tried a variety of stems that I had but not one of them fit well.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. 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 worked over the debris in the plateau on the rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. 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. When I took it out of the box it did not have a stem in the shank. I wrote Jeff and sent him photos of the bowl and asked him if he had photos that showed what the stem looked like. Jeff did a bit of hunting on his hard drive and found the pictures of the pipe with the stem that it had when he started his work. He sent me the following photos of the pipe. The pipe was very dirty with grime and grit ground into the sides of the sandblast and the rim top. The bowl had a thick cake and an overflow of lava on the rim top that obscured the edges of the rim and the plateau finish. To me the stem just did not look like the right one for this kind of freehand pipe. It looked like a replacement stem that was just stuck in the shank. Now I had to see if I could find it in the boxes that he sent. That would be a bit of a treasure hunt. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the thickness of the cake and the lava on the plateau finish of the rim top. There is dust and debris stuck to the walls of the bowl clearly visible in the photos. He also took photos of the top and underside of the stem that came with it to show the chatter and tooth marks. Jeff took a photo of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the sandblast on the briar looked like. The pedestal on the heel of the bowl is a unique feature of this pipe.He took photos of the stamping on the shank. It reads as noted above and is clear and readable. I found the stem that was pictured above in the photos in one of the bags of stems that I had put together in the bottom of one of the boxes. I took photos of the stem to give an idea of the appearance. Jeff had done a great job cleaning it. The tenon was very short and stubby and there were casting marks on the side of the stem blade. I put the stem on the bowl and took a photo of the stem that Jeff had sent with the pipe. I have worked on quite a few Soren pipes over the years and turned to one of the blogs that I wrote on another interesting Soren Freehand Sitter (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/02/26/this-interesting-soren-hand-carved-freehand-turned-out-to-be-more-work-than-expected/). I quote from that blog below.

I looked up the brand on Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-s10.html) and found that the brand was carved by Søren Refbjerg Rasmussen. Pipes that he made for the European market were mostly stamped “Refbjerg” while those made for the US market were stamped “Soren”. Thus I knew that one I was working on was imported into the US market.

I decided to set the stem aside and see what I could find in my cans of stems here. I found an interesting turned stem that had a lot of potential. It had some oxidation, calcification and deep tooth marks on the surface. The tenon was a perfect fit in the shank so I would just need to clean it up and repair the tooth marks. Here are some photos of the stem as it looked before I worked on it. I put the stem on the pipe and took some photos of the look of the “new” stem on the bowl. I think that with some work this was the right stem for the pipe. I took a close up photo of the bowl and the stem to give an idea of what I had to work with. The bowl was very clean and it would polish up nicely. There was still some darkening in the plateau on the back side of the bowl that would need to be dealt with. The stem photos show the oxidation, calcification and deep tooth marks on both sides near the damaged button surface. It was badly damaged but showed a lot of promise. I removed the stem from the shank and dropped in a bath of Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to soak while I worked on the bowl. I figured the soak would bring the oxidation to the surface and clean the surface so that I could do the repairs to the stem surface once it was clean.While the stem soaked in the deoxidizer I worked on the bowl. I scrubbed the rim top with a brass bristle brush to remove the darkening and deep grime. Once it was finished it looked much better. I stained it black with a black stain pen. I used the wire brush again to clean up some of the high spots leaving the stain in the grooves. I also lightly sanded the rim top with a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad to further highlight the high spots. I like the look of the rim at this point though with more polishing and Balm it would come alive. I polished the smooth portions of the bowl sides with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. With the smooth portion of the briar polished I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips and into the plateau rim top and sandblast with a horsehair shoe brush. The product works 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. While the Balm did its work I worked on the “new stem”. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I removed it from the Deoxidizer bath and rubbed it down with a coarse cloth to dry it out. It had brought oxidation to the surface and made it easier to deal with but it had not removed it. The good news for me was that it had done a great job removing it from the tooth marks. I “painted” the surface of the vulcanite with the flame of a lighter to lift the dents as much as possible. I was able to lift them significantly. I filled in the remaining divots with black super glue. I chose to use black glue this time just in case there were some remaining spots of oxidation in the tooth marks. The black would take care of that. Once the repairs had hardened I scrubbed the remaining oxidation in all of the grooves of the fancy stem with Soft Scrub all purpose cleaner. I was able to get into the grooves with the product and the cotton pads that I used to scrub it. It was beginning to look better. I cleaned out the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners to remove the tars and the debris that was loosened by the deoxidizer bath.I smoothed out the repairs and recut the button edges with a rasp and a file. The stem was taking shape. I smoothed out the remaining repair marks and the file marks with 220 grit sandpaper. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This beautiful Soren Hand Carved Pedestal Freehand with a fancy, turned vulcanite replacement stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel using a light touch on the briar. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Soren Hand Carved fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 72grams/2.54oz. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes online store in the Danish Pipemakers section. 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!

This Interesting Soren Hand Carved Freehand Turned Out to be More Work than Expected

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Blog by Steve Laug

On a recent trip that Irene and I took with Jeff and his wife to the Oregon Coast we managed to do some pipe hunting. We found a few interesting pipes. I was in the mood today to work on a couple of them as a break from the restorations I am doing for others. The second of these is a pipe marked Soren over Hand Carved over Copenhagen over Denmark on the underside of the shank. It is a Freehand with a mix of sand blast and smooth finish on the bowl and shank. There is also plateau on the rim top and shank end. The pipe has a pair of fins on the underside of the bowl that allows the pipe to stand on its own. The bowl was a mess with a thick cake and tar overflow filling in the plateau rim top. There was a lot of dust and grim in the sandblast and buildup on the smooth portions. There were some chips missing on the ends of the fins but they did not detract from the unique beauty of the pipe. At first glance the stem was okay though it has some tooth marks and chatter near the button. There was some calcification and heavy oxidation in all of the turnings and smooth parts of the stem. When I removed the stem there was an issue – the tenon was ragged looking and probably half of it was missing. I took this one home as I decided I wanted to work on it. I took photos of the pipe before starting my cleanup work. I took close up photos of the rim top and bowl to show how clean it was. There is some nice cross grain on the rim top. I also took photos of the stem to show their condition. You can see the oxidation and tooth chatter on it but otherwise it is a pretty straight forward cleanup.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. You can see it below and it read as noted above. I looked up the brand on Pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-s10.html) and found that the brand was carved by Søren Refbjerg Rasmussen. Pipes that he made for the European market were mostly stamped “Refbjerg” while those made for the US market were stamped “Soren”. Thus I knew that one I was working on was imported into the US market.

With that information I was clear on the maker of the pipe and I turned to work on the pipe itself. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamers using the first three cutting heads to take the cake back to bare briar. I like to have a clear idea of the condition of the inside walls of the bowl before I consider a pipe finished. This one looked very good. I cleaned up the remnants of cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and sanded the walls with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. I scrubbed the briar with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap, a tooth brush and a wire brush to clean out the grime and dust in the grain of the sand blast and in the plateau on the rim top and shank end. I rinsed soap off the bowl with warm running water and dried off the briar with a soft cloth. I cleaned the surface further with Mark Hoover’s Before & After Briar Cleaner – the Extra strength version. I rubbed it into the surface of the briar with a tooth brush and rinsed it off to remove the grime that it had trapped. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage on the fins. Both sides had small chips in the finish on the end of the fins.I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush. I let it sit for about 10 minutes. I buffed it off with a cotton cloth. You can see how well the product works to clean and enliven the briar and as a bonus it protects it as well. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. While I was with Jeff in Oregon I picked up some of the Soft Scrub that he has found very useful in removing oxidation and calcification. I rubbed down the stem with it on a cotton pad. You can see the results on the pads in the photo below.I cleaned out the airway in the shank and stem and the inside of the mortise with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was a dirty pipe. The photo of the bowl came out pretty good but the stem photo is out of focus. You get the idea though on how dirty both were.I cleaned off the surface of the stem, painted it with the flame of a lighter to lift the tooth marks and filled in the remaining tooth marks with black super glue. I set the stem aside to let the repair cure overnight. While it cured I mulled over what I was going to do about the short, broken tenon on the stem. I had two options – I could cut off the remaining tenon and replace it or I could replace the stem. I like the fancy stem that was on the pipe so I was more prone to replace the tenon… I would let it sit and make a decision in the morning.When the glue cured and the repair hardened I recut the edge of the button on both sides with a needle file. I gave it more definition and flattened out the repaired areas on the top and underside. I smoothed out top and underside with 180 grit sandpaper.I smoothed out the sanding marks and worked on the oxidation with 220 grit sandpaper. I wiped the stem down afterwards with a damp cloth. Finally I feel like I am making some progress with the stem.I cleaned the stem with cotton swabs, cotton pads and Soft Scrub to remove more of the oxidation on the surface of the rubber. At this point the stem was looking pretty good.I paused at this point and thought about a third option for the tenon – not a replacement and not a new stem. There was another way that I thought might work. I used a needle file to reshape the broken tenon and take away some of the first disk of the turned stem. The photos below show the stem after I had removed some of the material and bought some more length on the tenon. I still need to smooth out the tenon and flatten the end but the fit is much better in the shank and actually looks better. I cleaned up the tenon and the fit is very good now. All that remains is to polish it.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cotton pad to remove the sanding debris. I have to tell you I am not sorry to see this restoration come to an end. Generally it is fun to see the part all come together. This time I was glad that I could move on to work on another pipe! I had seen enough of the many issues that came with this pipe. 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 was good to see what the polished bowl looked like with the smooth portions, sandblast portions and the plateau on the rim top and shank end. They contrasted well the polished black vulcanite stem. This Soren Hand Carved in Denmark Freehand is nice looking and feels great in my hand. The pipe has the advantage of being a sitter as well as a Freehand. The fins on the front of the bowl act like legs that hold it upright. It is a very light weight and well balanced pipe. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 3 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. This is a well-traveled pipe – Made in Denmark for an American Market, somehow ending up in Astoria, Oregon in the stall of a seller who bought it at an estate sale and now up to Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. While the pipe had a lot of challenges they were fun to work on for the most part! 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.

Repairing and Rejuvenating a Soren Danish Freehand

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Blog by Steve Laug

The fifth pipe I am working on for Steve in Dawson Creek, British Columbia is a beautiful freehand that is stamped Soren Hand Carved over Made in Denmark on the underside of the shank. The finish is not bad. There were two cracks in the plateau rim top with one of them just on the rim and the other one coming down the left side about ¼ inch. These would need to be repaired. The bowl had a light cake and there was overflow onto the plateau top. This would need to be scraped clean. The shank end was also plateau and it had a lot of dust in the grooves. The finish on the bowl was dirty and there were some small nicks on the sides. It has a diamond-shaped freehand stem that was lightly oxidized and had tooth marks on the top and the underside near the button.I looked up the brand on pipephil (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-s10.html) and found that the brand was carved by Søren Refbjerg Rasmussen. Pipes that he made for the European market were mostly stamped “Refbjerg” while those made for the US market were stamped “Soren”. Thus I knew that one I was working on was imported into the US market.I took a close up photo of the rim and the bowl to show the condition of the pipe when I took it out of the box. The thick cake on the top of the bowl rim filled in much of the plateau surface. You can see the thickness of the cake in the bowl. In the photo you can see that it is thicker at the top than at the bottom of the bowl.I took photos of the stem to show the light oxidation and the scratching and wear to the stem. There were small tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button.I took some photos of the condition of the bowl and the finish before I started cleaning the pipe. I wanted to be able to track the difference in the cleanup of the briar. In the second photo below I used a dental pick to try to pick at the thick cake on the rim. It would not be the way to clean up the rim.I reamed the cake back to bare briar using the Savinelli Pipe Knife. In the photo below you can see the crack on the left side near the rim. I have circled it with red to highlight the crack.I used a microdrill bit to drill a cap hole at the end of the crack to keep it from spreading further down the side of the bowl. The crack was not long so it was an easy fix.I cleaned the top of the rim with a brass bristle brush to clean out all of the grooves and the areas of plateau on top of the bowl. It worked far better than the dental pick to clean off the thick cake on the bowl top. In the photo below you can see the two small cracks. I have circled both of them. I cleaned them out with a dental pick so that they were open. The crack did not go down into the interior of the bowl.I pushed briar dust into the crack and the end cap hole and the put super glue on top of the dust. I put more dust on top of the glue. The three photos below show the repairs. I sanded the repaired areas with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the excess briar dust and super glue and blend the repairs into the surface of the briar.After sanding the repairs I wiped down the bowl with alcohol to remove the grime on the surface of the briar. I carefully wiped down the area of the repairs. The next photo shows the repaired area on the side of the bowl toward the top.I touched up the repaired areas with a medium stain pen to blend those lighter areas on the side and on the rim with the colour of the stain.I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I took the next photos of the bowl after buffing.The photo of the top of the bowl shows the newly stained and contrast finish on the rim. I used a black Sharpie pen to colour in the grooves in the top of the rim and the end of the shank. I used the stain pen over that. On the bottom of the bowl the birdseye grain shows some dark stain in the grain. I cleaned out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol until they were clean.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three grits. I set the stem aside to dry. I buffed the bowl and stem together with Blue Diamond polish and gave it several more coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad and with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is ready to go back to Steve in Dawson Creek. It is the fifth of the pipes I have been working on for him. I am looking forward to hearing what he thinks of them when he has them in hand. Thanks for looking.