Tag Archives: Stanwell Diplomat pipes

Breathing New Life into a Stanwell Diplomat 83 Bent Billiard

by Steve Laug

It is a beautiful chilly day in Vancouver without rain so I decided to go to the basement and work on another pipe that was purchased on 02/16/2023 in a lot of pipes that came to us from a seller in Copenhagen, Denmark. It included a group of Danish Made Stanwell pipes that are quite beautiful. The grain around the bowl and shank of this shape that I have decided to call a Bent Billiard has a mix of birdseye, straight and flame grain. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads STANWELL [over] Diplomat. On the right side of the shank it is stamped with the shape number 83. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Made in Denmark. The pipe was dirty when Jeff received it. There was dust and grime ground into the finish. It is finished in the warm stain that highlights some nice grain around the bowl and shank. The bowl was heavily caked and there was some darkening and lava on the rim top. The inner edge shows some damage and darkening around the bowl. The stem is vulcanite and was dirty with light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button and on the button itself. There is a brass/gold crown S logo stamped on the left side of the taper stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before the clean up. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and the darkening and lava on the inner edge and top of the rim. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the grain around the bowl and shank. The stain adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a real beauty. The stamping on the sides of the shank are shown in the photos below. It is clear and readable as noted above. I turned to Pipephil’s site to see if I could find any information on the Diplomat line of Stanwell pipes (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html). There was nothing specific on the line but the summary of Stanwell History is quite helpful. I quote it below.

Brand & factory were established in 1942 by Poul Nielsen. The company has been owned since 2000 by Nordisk Tobaks Kompagni A/S.

The factory in Borup crafted all Stanwell pipes from 1965 until 2009. From 2010 on the pipes are crafted by Barontini (Italy) exept for the limited editions.

Production (2007): 115 000 Pipes/year – Denmark

I turned to Pipedia to an article that originally was posted here on rebornpipes and written by my late friend Bas Stevens (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). The list did not clarify who designed the shape so that was still a bit of a mystery. Whoever did so, created a beauty. I now knew that the shape 83 was a Bent Billiard of medium size with tapered stem made in the late 1950s. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

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 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 soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. It came in Stanwell Box with Pipe Sock. I removed it from the sock and took photos of the pipe once I received it. I took close up photos of both the rim top and the stem. Jeff had been able to get the grime and lava off of the rim top and it looked pretty incredible. Even the darkening and marks on the rim top on the right side and the back of the bowl look much better. The stem looked very clean. The tooth marks and chatter were minimal and should be easy to remove.The stamping on the shank side was readable as noted above. I also took a photo with the stem removed to give an idea of the perspective and design of the pipe. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the damage on the inner edge of the bowl with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and a sphere to remove the damage. I then used a half sphere to further shape the rim top to bring the edge back into round and it looked much better. Over all the rim top and edges looked much better. I sanded the outside of the bowl and rim with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the scratching and marks on the briar. I wiped the bowl down between pads with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. I polished the smooth bowl and rim top with micromesh sanding pads using 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiping it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust and debris. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the finish of the bowl and shank with my fingers. I want the product to go deep into the finish because it works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. Once I was confident that it was deeply worked into the finish I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth to polish it. The pipe really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. The grain really stands out on the pipe in the photos below. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a Bic lighter and I was able to lift the light tooth marks to the surface. I sanded what remained with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth them out and blend them in. I wiped it down with an Obsidian cloth to remove the debris. I sanded the stem with 320-1500 grit sanding pads to further blend the sanding marks into the surface of the vulcanite. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian cloth to remove the debris from the sanding.I touched up the gold Crown S Stanwell logo stamp on the left side of the stem with Antique Gold Rub’n Buff. I worked it into the stamping with a tooth pick and then buffed off the excess with a soft cloth.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. This Stanwell Made in Denmark Diplomat 83 Bent Billiard with a vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful finish really highlights the grain and the polished finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and 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 Stanwell Diplomat 83 Bent Billiard 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: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 38 grams /1.34 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the Danish Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in purchasing this pipe send me a message or an email.

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.

Repairing a Broken Shank Extension on a Stanwell Diplomat 63M

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Blog by Steve Laug

I receive a phone call referral from a customer of City Cigar here in Vancouver. I was at work so I gave him a quick call and after a bit of dance trying to connect we talked. He had a Stanwell pipe with what he called “a broken stem”. He had dropped the pipe and it had snapped. I fully expected a broken tenon as usual on this kind of repair. But I would see when it arrived what it needed. He dropped the pipe off at my place leaving it in the mailbox and when I came home I took it out of the box. I could see why he called it a broken stem as the normal Stanwell shank extension and stem appeared to be a single unit. This was not something I had seen on a Danish Made Diplomat but I took some time to check it out. The stem was firmly stuck in the shank extension so I coaxed it out carefully and it came free. This changed the repair a little for me. Instead of a new tenon in the stem I needed to pull the broken tube that held the shank extension to the shank and then drill out the extension and at a replacement tube. I took a few photos of the pipe in pieces to show what I was dealing with. The fourth photo shows the snapped tube in the shank. I tried to pull out the tenon in my usual way – a screw in the airway and wiggling it but it was stuck. I painted the edged of the mortise with acetone to break loose whatever was causing it to stick but it did not work. I finally resorted to drilling it out. I put the bit in place in my cordless drill and turned the stummel onto the bit by hand to carefully remove the tenon. I changed bits often until I was using one almost the size of the airway and finally had removed the stuck tenon.I drilled out the end of the shank extension as well. This was a touchier job as there was a thin section between the end of the extension and the mortise. I did not want to break through into the mortise so I drilled it very slowly. I went through my piece of vulcanite and Delrin tubing and found one that was the right fit. I used the topping board to square off the ends of the tube and then glued it in place in the shank extension first with super glue.When the tube had set in the shank extension it was time to glue it in place in the shank. I usually use a two part epoxy but did not have any in the shop. The stores were closed so I decided to mix a batch of JB Weld which would work just as well. I mixed the two parts together with a tooth pick and painted it on the face of the shank and the extension. I also painted it on around the tenon end so that all surfaces were covered with a coat of the epoxy mix.I lined the parts up and pressed the shank extension into place on the shank. The glue sets pretty quickly but I had enough time to make sure the alignment was correct on the underside of the shank. I wiped off the excess glue with a damp cloth and once the glue set I took a few photos of the repaired shank. I set it aside to let the glue cure overnight. Once it sets and cures the connection should be very strong. I polished the joint of the repair with 6000-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it to raise a clean shine. I wiped the shank and extension down with a damp cloth after each pad to remove the sanding debris. After the final sanding pad I hand buffed it with a cotton cloth to raise a shine. Here are some photos of the pipe at this point in the process. I really have come to appreciate Mark Hoover’s Before & After Restoration Balm for its restorative properties with dry briar. I use it on virtually every pipe that I work on. I worked it into finish of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it as I usually do at this point in the process. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Restoration Balm really makes the grain stands out beautifully. I finished polishing the bowl and set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. There was quite a bit of tooth chatter on the top and underside ahead of the button. Though in talking to the client I did not mention cleaning up the stem to me it is just part of the process. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wetsanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each pad and gave it a final coat and the 12000 grit pad and set it aside to dry. I put the stem and bowl back together and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I polished the briar and the stem until there was a rich shine. This Danish Made Stanwell Diplomat 63M has a classic shape and a rich finish that highlights the amazing grain on a proportionally well carved pipe. Once I buffed the pipe the grain just popped. The black stem had a rich glow. The finished pipe is actually quite stunning. It is a beautifully grained Freehand with a military style stem that fits well in the hand and sits right in the mouth. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 1/2 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/4 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. I will be giving the owner a call to let him know it is ready for pickup. Thanks for walking through the repair on the shank extension with me as it was a pleasure to work on.