Tag Archives: Stanwell Made in Denmark Flame Grain pipes

A Playful Restoration of a Stanwell Flame Grain 63 Dublin

by Steve Laug

I took a break from working on repairs for customers and my own pipes to have some fun with an unstemmed bowl I had in my box. I went through my stems and did not have a normal or original stem for the bowl. I tried a variety of stems and none of them fit well of even close. I know this one will certainly irritate some purists but I have to tell you it was a fun pipe to work on.The shank had a bit of an odd shape as it was round on the top and the right and left sides. The unique part was that the bottom of the shank was flat. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 969-48 [over] Flame Grain. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Selected Briar [over] shape number 63. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Made in Denmark [over] Modele Depose. The shape was a classic Dublin with a plateau rim top. I only took one photo of the bowl before I started working on it. The bowl had some amazing grain around the sides and shank. Definitely the pipe lived up to its name FLAME GRAIN. I went to my can of stems and found both an interesting stem and a horn acrylic shank extension. With a bit of adjusting they would make an interesting looking freehand.The tenon end on the shank extension took only a little adjusting to fit the mortise in the shank. I used a file and a Dremel and a sanding drum to adjust the fit. I fit it in the shank end to get a sense of what it looked like with the extension.I coated the tenon end of the extension with some clear super glue and pressed it into the shank end. I held it in place until the glue set and the extension was solid in the shank.I used a flat file/rasp to shape the shank extension the shank end. I used a Dremel and sanding drum as well. It took a lot of sanding and filing to shape the extension but it gradually began to take on shape. I took some photos of the pipe after the heavy file work was finished. It is looking much better in terms of the fit. Lots of heavy sanding to do to further shape it. I took some photos of the stamping on the shank sides. The photos are far blurrier than the stamping is in person. It is very readable.More filing and more sanding with 220 grit sandpaper really gave the shank extension a defined shape and look. Polishing the shank extension would bring the horn shank back to life. I paused in the polishing of the acrylic horn extension to clean up the bowl. I worked over the rim top with a brass bristle wire brush to clean out the debris in the plateau. It polished up nicely with the brush. It looked much better. I began my work on this pipe by reaming the pipe. I used a PipNet Reamer with the first and second cutting heads to take back the heavy cake to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and finally sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. I like to remove all the cake to examine the walls for damage and checking. Great news is that this one is free of any damage! I sanded the bowl to smooth out the finish on the bowl and take care of nicks and scratches in the bowl sides and shank. I also sanded the acrylic horn shank extension. I also sanded the areas where the file and the 220 grit sandpaper had been used on the briar shank. I used 320-3500 grit sanding pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to check on the progress. It came out looking much better. I touched up the sanded areas on the shank end ahead of the extension with a Cherry stain pen. It matched surrounding briar very well. The acrylic horn shank extension looked very good. I polished the briar bowl and the acrylic horn shank extension with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad to remove the debris. The bowl and the band took on a rich glow. I cleaned out the shank and the airway in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was surprisingly clean and the pipe smelled fresh. I rubbed down the briar Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface with my fingertips. I used a shoe brush to work the balm into the plateau. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 15 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I used the sanding pads I purchased recently – 320-3500 grit regular pads to smooth out the finish and remove the light tooth and chatter marks in the stem. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil to finish the preliminary work after the 3500 grit pad.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem to protect the stem. I set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the reborn/re-imagined Stanwell Flame Grain Made in Denmark 63 Dublin Freehand and took it to the buffer. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the acrylic. Blue Diamond does a great job on the smaller scratches that remain in both. I gave the bowl and the stem several 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. I am amazed at how well it turned out. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is a beautiful Stanwell Flame Grain Dublin 63 – the acrylic horn shank extension, black acrylic stem and smooth finish combine to give the pipe a great look. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inch, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.55 ounces/45 grams. This is another pipe that I will be putting on the rebornpipes online store in the Danish Pipe Pipemaking Companies Section shortly, if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this beauty!

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 Danish Made Stanwell Flame Grain 97 Liverpool

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I am working on was purchased on 01/26/2023 as part of a group of pipes from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark. This was a beautiful and a dirty pipe with a lot of wear and tear and obviously it had been someone’s favourite smoker. The Liverpool shaped pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Stanwell [over] Flame Grain. On the right side of the shank it is stamped with a 97 shape number. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Made in Denmark. The dirty smooth finish was not able to hide the beauty of the grain around the bowl and shank. There were tars and oils ground into the surface of the briar. The bowl had a very thick cake that flowed over the top of the smooth rim in a spotty lava coat. The inner edge was heavily coated with lava at the back of the bowl so it is hard to assess its condition. The stem was a black vulcanite taper stem with an inlaid Gold Crown S. It had some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. Jeff took photos of the rim and bowl to show the heavy cake and the lava on the rim top. The inner edge looked good but was caked at the back of the rim so it was not possible to know with certainty the condition. It really was a dirty pipe but still a beauty. He also took photos of the stem surfaces to show its overall condition when it arrived. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowls show some beautiful grain around the bowl and shank sides. The brown stain on the briar adds depth finish on the pipe and makes the grain really stand out on the bowl and shank. He also took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and reads as noted above. I knew that the Flame Grain line was toward the top of the Stanwell hierarchy but was not sure where. I turned to PipePhil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html) to see what I could learn. The site had a Flame Grain but it was much older than the one that I am working on. The stamping is different and mine is not stamped Hand-Made so it really did not help clarify things much.I cannot find anything definitive on any of the sites on the internet however most agree that the Flame Grain series pipes display beautiful flame grain around the bowl underneath a gorgeous, light contrast stain. I guess it does not hurt to state the obvious, eh? So now it is time to work on the pipe itself.

Jeff cleaned up the pipe for me. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned it up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to clean off the grime off the finish and the overflow of lava on the rim top. The cleaning had removed the grime on the rim top. He cleaned up the internals of the shank, mortise and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove all of the oils and tars in the pipe. He soaked the stem in Briarvilles Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and was able to remove any remaining grime on the surface and inside. The vulcanite taper stem had a Brass Crown S Stanwell logo on the left side. When it arrived here in Vancouver it was a clean pipe and I knew what I had to work with. I took photos of it before I started my part of the restoration. I took a photo of the rim top and the stem to show their condition. Jeff was able to clean up the cake and the lava overflow that was shown in the rim and bowl photos above. The rim top and the inner edge both looked very good. The stem had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank to show that it was readable and undamaged by the cleanup work. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of what the pipe looks like. The pipe looked so good that I started my work by polishing the smooth rim top and bowl with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The pipe began to take on a rich shine and grain was beginning to stand out. I sanded with all of the pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a soft cloth. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it in with my fingers to get it into the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. It is a beautiful bowl. I used the sanding pads I purchased recently – 320-3500 grit regular pads to smooth out the finish and remove the light tooth and chatter marks in the stem. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil to finish the preliminary work after the 3500 grit pad.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry.I put the stem back on the Stanwell Flame Grain Made in Denmark 97 Liverpool and took it to the buffer. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the vulcanite. Blue Diamond does a great job on the smaller scratches that remain in both. I gave the bowl and the stem several 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. I am amazed at how well it turned out. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is a beautiful Stanwell Flame Grain Liverpool 97 – the vulcanite taper stem and smooth finish combine to give the pipe a great look. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inch, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.34 ounces/38 grams. This is another pipe that I will be putting on the rebornpipes online store in the Danish Pipe Pipemaking Companies Section shortly, if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this beauty!