Tag Archives: Stanwell Pipes

Discovering Beauty under the grime on a Stanwell Sterling Silver Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I am working on was purchased on 01/10/2023 as part of another group of pipes from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark. This was another tired and dirty pipe that obviously had been someone’s favourite smoker. The pipe has no stampings on the shank sides. The silver band is stamped Stanwell Sterling. The dark brown sandblast finish was dirty and tired looking but showed some great grain in the blast. There were tars and oils ground into the surface of the briar. The silver band on the shank was original and was stamped Sterling [over] Silver. The bowl had a thick cake that flowed over the top of the rim in a thick coat of a lava in the sandblast top. The stem was a black vulcanite taper stem with a silver Crown S on the left side. It was oxidized, calcified and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was also a small bite through on the top and underside ahead of the button. I think it would clean up to be a beautiful pipe. Jeff took photos of the pipes before he started his clean up work.  He took photos of the rim and bowl to show the moderate cake and lava coat covering the rim top. It really was filthy and a mess. He also took photos of the stem surfaces to show its overall condition when it arrived. You can see the two bite throughs on both sides of the stem. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowls show beautiful grain in the sandblast around the bowl and shank sides. The rich brown stains highlights the grain and adds depth to the finish. It shows some promise. He also took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the Sterling Silver Band and a photo of the inlaid Crown Silver S on the left side of the stem. It read as noted above. 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 heavy overflow of lava on the rim top. The cleaning had removed the thick coat 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 Before & After Deoxidizer and was able to remove much of the oxidation, calcification. 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 once it arrived in Canada. 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 of the bowl was in surprisingly good condition. He was also able to get rid of the grime and grit in the surface of the briar around the sandblast. The stem looked better, though there were deep tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button as well as a small bite through on each side ahead of the button. I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the Sterling Band. It was clear and readable as noted above.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of what the pipe looks like.I started my work on the bowl by going over the sandblasted rim top with a brass bristle wire brush. It removed the remaining dust and debris from the sandblast. It gave the finish a better and cleaner look. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean them. 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 set aside the bowl and turned my attention to the damage on the stem. I took a photo of the bite through on the top and underside of the stem just ahead of the button. You can see the small bite through on the top of the stem and the larger hole in the underside of the stem. They will need to be filled in and smoothed out and reshaped.I greased a folded pipe cleaner with Vaseline Petroleum Jelly and inserted it into the airway in the button. I filled in the holes on both sides with black CA glue and set it aside for the repairs to cure.I removed the pipe cleaner from the airway and set aside the stem to let the repairs cure. Once they cured, I flattened them out with a flat file and then sanded them with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the stem. I started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I gave it a further polish with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I finished by wiping the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the Stanwell Sterling Sandblast Billiard pipe and took the pipe 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. Considering the mess the pipe was when we received it I am amazed at how well it turned out. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is a beautiful Stanwell Sterling Sandblast Billiard – the vulcanite taper stem and rim top and sandblast finish combine to give the pipe a great look. The polished black, vulcanite stem looks really good with the rich browns standing out in the sandblast. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.23 ounces/36 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!

Discovering Beauty under the Filth of this Stanwell Valby Piben Nr.1 51 Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I am working on was purchased on 12/13/2022 as part of another group of pipes from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark. This was a tired and dirty pipe that obviously had been someone’s favourite smoker. The pipe has an identifying plate on the left side of the shank that reads Valby -[over] Piben Nr.1. On the underside of the shank it was stamped Stanwell [over] Made in Denmark. On the right side of the shank it was stamped with the shape number 51. The dirty reddish finish on this was worn and tired looking but showed some great grain. There were tars and oils ground into the surface of the briar. The thin gold band on the shank was original and distinguishing feature of the Valby. The bowl had a thick cake that flowed over the top of the rim in a thick coat of a lava and showed potential damage on the top and the inner edge. The stem was a black vulcanite taper stem with a gold Crown S on the left side. It was oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I think it would clean up to be a beautiful pipe. Jeff took photos of the pipes before he started his clean up work.  He took photos of the rim and bowl to show the heavy cake and thick lava coat covering the rim top. It really was filthy and a mess. 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 beautiful grain around the bowl and shank sides. The rich red stain highlights the grain and adds depth to the finish. It shows some promise. He also took a photo of the stamped gold plate on the left side of the shank. He also took photos of the stamping on the underside as well as the shape number on the right side. It read as noted above. From what I can find online it seems that Valby is one of the cities that Stanwell was made in along with Copenhagen. I wonder if the Piben Nr.1 is to commemorate the first pipe that was originally made in Valby. It could be another commemorative pipe like the pair of Bulldogs I just finished commemorating the 65th Anniversary of Stanwell – 1942-2007. Hard to  know for sure but very likely.

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 heavy overflow of lava on the rim top. The cleaning had removed the thick coat 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 Before & After Deoxidizer and was able to remove much of the oxidation, calcification. 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 once it arrived in Canada. Jeff was able to clean up the incredibly thick cake and the lava overflow that was shown in the rim and bowl photos above. The rim top and the inner edge of the bowl looked very good. He was also able to get rid of the grime and grit in the surface of the briar around the sandblast. The stem looked very good.I took a photo of the stamping on the gold plate on the left side of the shank and the underside and the right side 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.I started my work on the bowl by polishing the briar 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 bowl 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 them. 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 set the bowl aside and worked on the stem at this point in the process. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I gave it a further polish with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I finished by wiping the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the Commemorative Stanwell Valby – Piben Nr.1 shape 51 Billiard pipe and took the pipe 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. Considering the mess the pipe was when we received it I am amazed at how well it turned out. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is a beautiful Stanwell Valby Nr.1 Billiard – the vulcanite saddle stem and crowned rim top and sandblast finish combine to give the pipe a great look. The polished black, vulcanite stem looks really good with the rich browns standing out in the sandblast. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.23 ounces/36 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!

Restoring a 2007 Limited Edition Set of Stanwell 65th Anniversary No. 01 Straight Bulldogs

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pair of pipes were purchased on 11/10/22 as part of a group of pipes from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark. They were both smoked, though the briar one was more heavily used. The lighter Beechwood pipe had been smoked and had a light cake and some darkening around the inner edge of the rim top. The Beechwood pipe is stamped on the left underside of the shank and reads Kyrringe [over] Made in Denmark [over] No. 1. The darker briar pipe had a thick cake and a lava overflow on the rim top. It was stamped on the left underside of the shank and read Stanwell [over] Made in Denmark [over] No. 1. The finish on the Beechwood one showed some nice grain around the bowl and shank and though it was a little dirty it was a nice looking pipe. The Briar one had some rich grain around the bowl and shank and was dirty. Both stems were black acrylic saddle stems. Both have light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. The Briar one had the Stanwell Crown S on the left side of the saddle stem while the Beechwood had nothing on the stem side. Jeff took photos of the pipes before he started his clean up work.  He took photos of the rim and bowl of both pipes to give a sense of what he was dealing with. He also took photos of the stem surfaces on both to show the condition of the stem when it arrived. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowls show beautiful grain around the bowl and shank sides. The twin rings on both are very nicely done and show no damage. The light natural colour of the Beechwood and the reddish stain on the briar adds depth finish on the pipes and makes the grain really stand out. They are a beautiful pair of pipes. He also took photos of the stamped name on the left underside of each of the shanks. It reads as noted above. Before I started my work on the pipe I turned to Pipephil to see what I could learn about the pair. I knew that Kyrringe was the name of the brand started by Poul Nielsen (later Stanwell)  during WWII (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-k3.html). I did a screen capture of the information there and also included the sidebar information below that.During WWII Poul Nielsen managed the Kyringe company. They made briar and beech wood pipes (see enlarged views). Some few years after the war Poul Nielsen will create the Stanwell brand.

I turned to Pipedia for some more information and was delighted to read the history of the brand that fleshed out the information I had found on Pipephil (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell). I quote a section of the article below. If you want more information the article is worth reading.

When pipe smokers talk about pipes that are consistently great smokers, exhibit the creative and beautiful designs that exemplify Danish pipemaking and offer the best value in factory produced pipes, they are talking about Stanwell. We hear time and time again, from customers and top pipe makers from around the world, that Stanwell is the best factory produced pipe in the world. Stanwell maintains the most modern pipe making facility in the world and for many years has enjoyed some unique relationships with many legendary Danish pipe makers. In fact, Stanwell occupies a pivotal place in the history of the world-wide popularity of Danish-made pipes. During WWII, Danish pipe smokers could no longer buy the English made briar pipes they preferred to smoke. In 1942, because of the unavailability of English pipes and raw briar, Poul Nielsen began making pipes from beech wood for Danish customers. At the time, Poul was managing a company called Kyringe, which made various wood products.

At the end of the war, briar became available again, so Nielsen began importing his own briar and started making briar pipes to compete with the English manufacturers. It must be remembered that in 1948, England was the single great center for pipe making. Therefore, Nielsen changed the name of his pipes to “Stanwell”, which sounded much more like a proper English name than “Nielsen”. He also created the horse drawn carriage logo for its English connotations. He later changed his own last name from Nielsen to Stanwell, a testament to his devotion to the pipes he made. Stanwell’s relationships with Danish pipe makers goes back to Sixten Ivarsson, who is considered the originator of modern Danish pipe making. Ivarsson was commissioned to design Stanwell shapes. In 1969, the factory was moved a town called Borup, just outside of Copenhagen to be closer to Ivarsson.

I am also including several photos of the original pair of pipes that were released under the Kyrringe name. They are very similar to the pair that I am working on which were released to honour those early days on the 65th Anniversary of Stanwell.I followed the Google trail further and found a great description of the set that I had in hand on Smokingpipes.com. It described and the pipes and the foundation information on these pipes and their history in the early life of Stanwell and Poul Nielsen during WWII. Here is the link (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/denmark/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=255998). I quote:

These two-pipe sets were made in 2007 to celebrate the 65th anniversary of Stanwell. Stanwell began as Kyringe, a manufacturer of various goods from beech. Given the unavailability of briar during the Second World War, Poul Nielsen, founder of Stanwell, made pipes from beech wood. This, the ’01’, was the very first Stanwell (then Kyringe) shape. It was later redesigned and became the ’32’, but the original version of the shape is presented in this two pipe set, with one from briar and one from beech.

It’s nice to see one of these sets again. We had just two of them when they came out in 2007 and they left our shelves immediately; they were pretty limited as I recall. – Sykes Wilford 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 heavy overflow of lava on the rim top. The cleaning had removed some of the black stain 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 Before & After Deoxidizer and was able to remove much of the oxidation. 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 photos of the rim top and the stem to show their condition once it arrived in Canada. Jeff was able to clean up the Beechwood pipe and it looked very good. He also was able to remove the thick cake and lava overflow that was shown in the rim and bowl photos of the Briar bowl above. Both pipes cleaned up very well but had some damage on the inner edge of the rim. The stem looked better on both pipes as can be seen in the photos below. There were tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button on both pipes. I took a photo of the stamping on the left underside of the diamond shank of both pipes 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 of each pipe to give a sense of what they looked like.I started my work on the inside beveled edge and rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I was able to remove that darkening on the right front and the back inner edge. It looked much better. I started polishing the bowls of both pipes with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The bowl began to take on a rich shine and grain was beginning to stand out. I wet sanded with all of the pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a soft cloth. I rubbed the bowls of both 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 wood. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth. The bowls really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of them at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. They are beautiful bowls. I set the bowls aside and worked on the stems at this point in the process. I sanded the tooth marks and chatter out of the acrylic stems with a folded piece of 220 sandpaper. I sanded them with 600 grit sandpaper until the marks were gone.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I finished by wiping the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry.I put the stems back on each of the Stanwell 65th Anniversary 01 Bulldogs (a Beechwood one and a Briar one and took them to the buffer. I buffed the bowls and acrylic stems with Blue Diamond to polish both. Blue Diamond does a great job on the smaller scratches that remain in both. I gave the bowls and the stems several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipes with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed them with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipes polished up really nicely with a great contrast between the Beechwood and the Briar. The finished pipes are shown in the photos below. These are beautiful small Stanwell Bulldogs – the Beechwood is stamped with the original Kyrringe stamp and the Briar with the Stanwell stamp. Both are stamped Made in Denmark and No. 1. Both have acrylic stems though the Stanwell one has the gold Crown S logo on the left side. The polished acrylic stems look really good with the two pipes. The dimensions of the Kyrringe Beechwood pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .95 ounces/27 grams. The dimensions of the Stanwell Briar pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .99 ounces/28 grams. This pair of 65th Anniversary pipes (as a pair) will be put on the rebornpipes online store in the Danish Pipemaking Companies Section shortly, if you are interested in adding them to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this set!

 

Restoring a Nicely Grained Stanwell Royal De Luxe 148 Canadian with internal bowl damage

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Blog by Steve Laug

It is a rainy Saturday for me here in Vancouver so I decided to work on another one that was purchased on 01/10/2023 in a lot of pipes that came to us from Copenhagen, Denmark. This is a oval shank Canadian with a smooth finish and a silver band on the shank. It is another Made in Denmark Stanwell. The smooth finish on this pipe, around the bowl and shank has a mix of grain highlighted by the reddish brown stain. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank near the stem/shank junction and reads STANWELL [over] Royal De Luxe [over] Made In Denmark. On the underside of the center of the shank it has the shape number 148 stamped. On the silver band there was a 925 stamp on the right side giving the quality of silver in the band. The pipe was a well used pipe when Jeff received it. There was dust and grime ground into the finish which was worn thin on the sides of the bowl. The mixture of brown stains highlights some beautiful grain under the dirt. The bowl was moderately caked and there was a light overflow of lava on the smooth rim top. The inner edge looked worn but okay. There was a trough on the bottom of the bowl that had been worn with repeated use of pipe cleaners. It was not terribly deep but bothersome looking and if left alone could further wear through the heel of the bowl. The saddle stem is vulcanite and was dirty, oxidized and had light tooth marks, chatter and scratches on both sides ahead of the button and on the button itself. There is a Silver Crown S logo inlaid on the topside of the saddle stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before his clean up. You can see the scratches in the smooth rim top. The inner edge also shows some damage. He also took some of the stem to show the condition of both sides. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the faded stain and the grain around the bowl and shank. The mixture of brown stains adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a real beauty. You can also see the swirls in the acrylic shank extension. The stamping on this one was around the bamboo horizontally and is shown in the photo below. It is clear and readable as noted above. The second photo shows the white stamped crown S on the stem side. Before I started my work on the pipe I wanted to see if I could find any information that would help me get a sense of the line. I turned to Pipephil to see if there was any listing on the Royal Deluxe Line (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html). There was nothing listed.

I then turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell) for more information. The article is great and gives a lot of history on the brand. There were also links to a shape article by Bas Stevens that I originally published on rebornpipes. I looked up the 148 shape number to see who had designed that shape (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). I quote the information on shape 148.

  1. Canadian, short saddle mouthpiece by Jess Chonowitsch.

Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime and calcification. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here in Vancouver. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim and the stem. You can see the damage on rim top and inner edge. The bowl is quite clean inside with trough worn into the bottom of the bowl visible in the photo below. The vulcanite saddle stem is in good condition with light tooth marks and some chatter as noted above. I took photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is faint but readable as noted. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. The briar is quite beautiful and the dark and medium stains really make it stand out.I started my work on the pipe by dealing with the trough in the bottom of the bowl. I decided to use a mixture of Plaster of Paris and water to make a thick paste to fill in the trough in the bottom and up the front side of the bowl. I put a pipe cleaner in the airway to keep it from clogging. I applied the plaster in the bowl with a dental spatula, tamped it down with a tamper and cleaned up the sides and edges of the repair with folded pipe cleaners. While the Plaster repair cured, I worked on the damage to the inner edge and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bring the edge back into round and smooth out the scratches on the top. By the end it looked much better.I wiped down the excess Plaster of Paris with qtips until all that remained was in the bottom and front of the bowl. I let the inside of the bowl repair cure. Once cured I would need to give it a slight bowl coating.I polished the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit for 10 minutes and the Balm did its magic. It enlivens, cleans and preserves the briar. It certainly brought this bowl back to life. I buffed it off with a clean cloth and took the following photos. I coated the bowl with a mixture of sour cream and charcoal powder. The bowl coating is applied over the Plaster of Paris repair on the bottom of the bowl and the walls. I used a dental spatula to mix it up and put a pipe cleaner in the airway to keep it from clogging. I used a folded pipe cleaner to paint it on the bowl bottom and walls. Once finished I set it aside to dry. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished the 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 Stanwell Royal De Luxe 148 Canadian with a vulcanite saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The mix of stains once cleaned up really highlights the grain and the polished sandblast 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 Royal Deluxe 149 Canadian 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 1/8 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 36 grams / 1.27 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. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring a Nicely Grained Stanwell Buffalo 141 Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

It is a rainy Saturday for me here in Vancouver so I decided to work on another one that was purchased on 01/10/2023 in a lot of pipes that came to us from Copenhagen, Denmark. This is a tall billiard almost a tall Brandy with a smooth finish and a variegated yellow/gold shank extension. It is another Made in Denmark Stanwell. The smooth finish on this pipe, around the bowl and shank has a mix of grain highlighted by the reddish brown stain. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank near the stem/shank junction and reads STANWELL [over] Made in Denmark [over] Buffalo. On the left side of the shank it has the shape number 141 stamped. The pipe was a well used pipe when Jeff received it. There was dust and grime ground into the finish. The mixture of brown stains highlights some beautiful grain under the dirt. The bowl was lightly caked and there was a light overflow of lava on the smooth rim top. The inner edge looked quite good. It had been reamed recently before we received it and there were scrape marks around the bottom of the bowl. They not grooves but rather smooth clean briar scraped by a reamer. The stem is vulcanite and was dirty, oxidized and had light tooth marks, chatter and scratches on both sides ahead of the button and on the button itself. There is a white 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. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before his clean up. You can see the scratches in the smooth rim top. The inner edge also shows some damage. He also took some of the stem to show the condition of both sides. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the uniquely stained grain around the bowl and shank. The mixture of brown stains adds depth to the finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a real beauty. You can also see the swirls in the acrylic shank extension. The stamping on this one was around the bamboo horizontally and is shown in the photo below. It is clear and readable as noted above. The second photo shows the white stamped crown S on the stem side. Before I started my work on the pipe I wanted to see if I could find any information that would help me get a sense of the line. I turned to Pipephil to see if there was any listing on the Buffalo Line (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html). There was nothing listed.

I then turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell) for more information. The article is great and gives a lot of history on the brand. There were also links to a shape article by Bas Stevens that I originally published on rebornpipes. I looked up the 141 shape number to see who had designed that shape (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). I quote the information on shape 141.

  1. Billiard, medium size, conical bowl, full mouthpiece by Jess Chonowitsch.

I found a listing on Smokingpipes.com that had a description of the Buffalo line of pipes (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/denmark/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=229371). I am including part of the description below.

A rather easy to spot Stanwell series, the pipes of the Buffalo line were distinguished by swirled pattern acrylic ferrules in colors reminiscent of water buffalo horn.

Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime and calcification. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here in Vancouver. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim and the stem. You can see the damage on rim top and inner edge. The bowl is quite clean inside with marks from a previous reaming on the bottom of the bowl. The acrylic stem is in good condition with light tooth marks and some chatter as noted above.I took photo of the stamping on the underside and right side of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. The briar is quite beautiful and the dark and medium stains really make it stand out.I started my work on the pipe working on the damage to the inner edge and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bring the edge back into round and it looked much better.I used a Cherry stain pen to touch up the sanded edges and top spots on the rim top where I sanded it smooth and removed the damaged. The colour was a perfect match to the remainder of the bowl and shank.I polished the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit for 10 minutes and the Balm did its magic. It enlivens, cleans and preserves the briar. It certainly brought this bowl back to life. I buffed it off with a clean cloth and took the following photos. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished the 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 Stanwell Buffalo 141 Billiard with a vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The mix of stains once cleaned up really highlights the grain and the polished sandblast 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 Buffalo 141 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: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 40 grams / 1.41 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. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring a Stanwell Bamboo Brown Sandblast Billiard with a taper stem

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Blog by Steve Laug

This quiet day off for me here in Vancouver I decided to work on was another one that was purchased on 11/14/2022 in a lot of pipes that came to us from Copenhagen, Denmark  It included a group of Stanwell Bamboo pipes that are quite beautiful, combining a briar bowl, a bamboo shank and an vulcanite or acrylic stem. This is the last of the bamboo pipes and the second of the sandblast pipes that we had to work on. I have enjoyed working on these Bamboos  and the light weight feel of the pipe in hand. The rugged sandblast on this pipe, around the bowl and shank has a mix of ridges and valleys highlighted by dark stain. The pipe is stamped around the middle of the bamboo and reads STANWELL. The pipe was a well used pipe when Jeff received it. There was dust and grime ground into the sandblast finish. The mixture of brown stains highlights some beautiful blast under the dirt. The bowl was heavily caked and there was an overflow of lava on the smooth rim top. The inner edge was hard to see clearly and the lava could easily be hiding damage. The stem is vulcanite and was dirty, oxidized and had light tooth marks, chatter and scratches on both sides ahead of the button and on the button itself. There is a brass/gold crown S logo inlaid on the left side of the saddle stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before his clean up. You can see the scratches in the smooth rim top. The inner edge also shows some damage. He also took some of the stem to show the condition of both sides. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the uniquely stained grain around the bowl and shank. The mixture of black and brown stains adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a real beauty. He also took photos of the bamboo showing the patina on the wood. The stamping on this one was around the bamboo horizontally and is shown in the photo below. It is clear and readable as noted above. The second photo shows the gold crown S on the stem side.  Before I started my work on the pipe I wanted to see if I could find any information that would help me get a sense of the line. I turned to Pipephil to get a quick review of the  Bamboo line (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html). The Brass Crowned S inlaid logo on the stem is shown in the photo below. I have included a screen capture of the brand info there.I then turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell) for more information. The article is great and gives a lot of history on the brand. There were also links to catalogues at the bottom of the page. I am including a page from a catalogue on the site below that gives a bit of a glimpse into the brand. Here is the link (http://www.axeljeske.de/Pfeifen/Stanwell_Amager.pdf). The catalogue page gives a great description of the Bamboo line. It reads as follows: Top quality bowls perfectly fitted with porous bamboo shanks for casual elegance.

Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime and calcification. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here in Vancouver. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim and the stem. You can see the damage on rim top and inner edge. The bowl is quite clean inside. The acrylic stem is in good condition with light tooth marks and some chatter as noted above.I took photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. Once again it has a stainless steel tenon. The sandblast is quite beautiful and the dark and medium stains really make it stand out.I started my work on the pipe working on the damage to the inner edge and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bring the edge back into round and it looked much better.I polished the smooth rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each  pad to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar and the bamboo with my finger tips. I let it sit for 10 minutes and the Balm did its magic. It enlivens, cleans and preserves the briar. It certainly brought this bowl back to life. I buffed it off with a clean cloth and took the following photos. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks on the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift them. I was able to lift the majority of them and filling the remnants of the marks with clear CA glue. I sanded out the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper and then started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the 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 Stanwell Bamboo Sandblast Billiard with a vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The mix of stains once cleaned up really highlights the grain and the polished sandblast 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 Bamboo Sandblast 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 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 34 grams / 1.20 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. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring a Stanwell Bamboo Brown Sandblast Billiard with a saddle stem

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Blog by Steve Laug

This rainy evening here in Vancouver I decided to work on was another one that was purchased on 11/14/2022 in a lot of pipes that came to us from Copenhagen, Denmark  It included a group of Stanwell Bamboo pipes that are quite beautiful, combining a briar bowl, a bamboo shank and an vulcanite or acrylic stem. The rugged sandblast on this pipe, around the bowl and shank has a mix of ridges and valleys highlighted by dark stain. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the bamboo and reads STANWELL. The pipe was a well used pipe when Jeff received it. There was dust and grime ground into the sandblast finish. The mixture of brown stains highlights some beautiful blast under the dirt. The bowl was heavily caked and there was an overflow of lava on the smooth rim top. The inner edge was hard to see clearly and the lava could easily be hiding damage. The stem is vulcanite and was dirty, oxidized and had light tooth marks, chatter and scratches on both sides ahead of the button and on the button itself. There is a brass/gold crown S logo inlaid on the left side of the saddle stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before his clean up. He also took some of the stem to show the condition of both sides. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the uniquely stained grain around the bowl and shank. The mixture of black and brown stains adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a real beauty. He also took photos of the bamboo showing the patina on the wood. The stamping on the left side the bamboo is shown in the photo below. It is clear and readable as noted above. The second photo shows the gold crown S on the stem side.  Before I started my work on the pipe I wanted to see if I could find any information that would help me get a sense of the line. I turned to Pipephil to get a quick review of the  Bamboo line (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html). The Brass Crowned S inlaid logo on the stem is shown in the photo below. I have included a screen capture of the brand info there.I then turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell) for more information. The article is great and gives a lot of history on the brand. There were also links to catalogues at the bottom of the page. I am including a page from a catalogue on the site below that gives a bit of a glimpse into the brand. Here is the link (http://www.axeljeske.de/Pfeifen/Stanwell_Amager.pdf). The catalogue page gives a great description of the Bamboo line. It reads as follows: Top quality bowls perfectly fitted with porous bamboo shanks for casual elegance.

Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime and calcification. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here in Vancouver. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim and the stem. You can see the damage on rim top and inner edge. The bowl is quite clean inside. The acrylic stem is in good condition with light tooth marks and some chatter as noted above.I took photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. Once again it has a stainless steel tenon. The sandblast is quite beautiful and the dark and medium stains really make it stand out.I started my work on the pipe working on the damage to the inner edge and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bring the edge back into round and it looked much better.I polished the smooth rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each  pad to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar and the bamboo with my finger tips. I let it sit for 10 minutes and the Balm did its magic. It enlivens, cleans and preserves the briar. It certainly brought this bowl back to life. I buffed it off with a clean cloth and took the following photos. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks on the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift them. I was able to lift the majority of them and sanded out the rest of the tooth marks and scratches with 220 grit sandpaper and then started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the 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 Stanwell Bamboo Sandblast Billiard with a vulcanite saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The dark stain once cleaned up 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 Bamboo Sandblast 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 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 31 grams / 1.09 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. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring a Stanwell Bamboo Dark Stained Billiard with a saddle stem

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Blog by Steve Laug

This rainy evening here in Vancouver I decided to work on was another one that was purchased on 11/14/2022 in a lot of pipes that came to us from Copenhagen, Denmark  It included a group of Stanwell Bamboo pipes that are quite beautiful, combining a briar bowl, a bamboo shank and an vulcanite or acrylic stem. The grain on this pipe, around the bowl and shank has a mix of straight and flame grain almost obscured by the grime and the dark stain. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the bamboo and reads STANWELL. The pipe was a well used pipe when Jeff received it. There was dust and grime ground into the finish. The mixture of brown stains highlights some beautiful grain under the dirt. The bowl was heavily caked and there was an overflow of lava on the rim top. The inner edge was hard to see clearly and the lava could easily be hiding damage. The stem is acrylic and was dirty and had 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 inlaid on the left side of the saddle stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before his clean up. He also took some of the stem to show the condition of both sides. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the uniquely stained grain around the bowl and shank. The mixture of black and brown stains adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a real beauty. He also took photos of the bamboo showing the patina on the wood. The stamping on the left side the bamboo is shown in the photo below. It is clear and readable as noted above. The second photo shows the gold crown S on the stem side.  Before I started my work on the pipe I wanted to see if I could find any information that would help me get a sense of the line. I turned to Pipephil to get a quick review of the  Bamboo line (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html). The Brass Crowned S inlaid logo on the stem is shown in the photo below. I have included a screen capture of the brand info there.I then turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell) for more information. The article is great and gives a lot of history on the brand. There were also links to catalogues at the bottom of the page. I am including a page from a catalogue on the site below that gives a bit of a glimpse into the brand. Here is the link (http://www.axeljeske.de/Pfeifen/Stanwell_Amager.pdf). The catalogue page gives a great description of the Bamboo line. It reads as follows: Top quality bowls perfectly fitted with porous bamboo shanks for casual elegance.

Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime and calcification. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here in Vancouver. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim and the stem. You can see the damage on rim top and inner edge. The bowl is quite clean inside. The acrylic stem is in good condition with light tooth marks and some chatter as noted above. I took photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. Something different about this pipe was revealed when I removed the stem. The other two Bamboo Stanwells that I have worked on have a stainless steel tenon on the stem. The two remaining Bamboos also have a stainless steel tenon. But this one has an integrated tenon turned into the acrylic stem. I wonder why and when they changed that?I started my work on the pipe working on the damage to the inner edge and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bring the edge back into round and it looked much better.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each  pad to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar and the bamboo with my finger tips. I let it sit for 10 minutes and the Balm did its magic. It enlivens, cleans and preserves the briar. It certainly brought this bowl back to life. I buffed it off with a clean cloth and took the following photos. I sanded out the tooth marks and scratches with 220 grit sandpaper and then started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper.I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I was able to polish out the light tooth marks and chatter 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 Stanwell Bamboo Billiard with an acrylic saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The dark stain once cleaned up 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 Bamboo Dark 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 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 33 grams / 1.16 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. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring a Stanwell Bamboo Tall Billiard with a taper stem

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Blog by Steve Laug

This rainy evening here in Vancouver I decided to work on was another one that was purchased on 11/14/2022 in a lot of pipes that came to us from Copenhagen, Denmark  It included a group of Stanwell Bamboo pipe that are quite beautiful, combining a briar bowl, a bamboo shank and a an vulcanite stem. The grain around the bowl and shank has a mix of straight and flame grain. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the bamboo and reads STANWELL. The pipe was a well used pipe when Jeff received it. There was dust and grime ground into the finish. The mixture of brown stains highlights some beautiful grain under the dirt. The bowl was heavily caked and there was an overflow of lava on the rim top. The inner edge was hard to see clearly and the lava could easily be hiding damage. The stem is vulcanite and was lightly oxidized, 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 inlaid on the left side of the taper stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before his clean up. He also took some of the stem to show the condition of both sides. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the uniquely stained grain around the bowl and shank. The mixture of black and brown stains adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a real beauty. The stamping on the left side the bamboo is shown in the photo below. It is clear and readable as noted above. The second photo shows the gold crown S on the stem side.  Before I started my work on the pipe I wanted to see if I could find any information that would help me get a sense of the line. I turned to Pipephil to get a quick review of the  Bamboo line (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html). The Brass Crowned S inlaid logo on the stem is shown in the photo below. I have included a screen capture of the brand info there.I then turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell) for more information. The article is great and gives a lot of history on the brand. There were also links to catalogues at the bottom of the page. I am including a page from a catalogue on the site below that gives a bit of a glimpse into the brand. Here is the link (http://www.axeljeske.de/Pfeifen/Stanwell_Amager.pdf). The catalogue page gives a great description of the Bamboo line. It reads as follows: Top quality bowls perfectly fitted with porous bamboo shanks for casual elegance.

Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime and calcification. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here in Vancouver. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim and the stem. You can see the darkening and scratches on rim top and edges. The bowl is quite clean inside. You can see the oxidation on the vulcanite shank end on the bamboo. The stem is in good condition with light tooth marks and some chatter as noted above.I took photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is readable as noted above.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe.I started my work on the pipe working on the damage to the inner edge and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bring the edge back into round and it looked much better.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each  pad to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is a beauty.   I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit for 10 minutes and the Balm did its magic. It enlivens, cleans and preserves the briar. It certainly brought this bowl back to life. I buffed it off with a clean cloth and took the following photos. I “painted” the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks. The majority of them were lifted. I sanded out what remained with 220 grit sandpaper and then started the polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I was able to polish out the light tooth marks and chatter 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 Stanwell Bamboo 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 Bamboo 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: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 34 grams / 1.20 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. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring a Stanwell Bamboo Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

This rainy evening here in Vancouver I decided to work on was another one that was purchased on 11/14/2022 in a lot of pipes that came to us from Copenhagen, Denmark  It included a group of Stanwell Bamboo pipe that are quite beautiful, combining a briar bowl, a bamboo shank and a an acrylic stem. The grain around the bowl and shank has a mix of straight and flame grain. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the bamboo and reads STANWELL. The pipe was a well used pipe when Jeff received it. There was dust and grime ground into the finish. The mixture of brown stains highlights some beautiful grain under the dirt. The bowl was heavily caked and there was an overflow of lava on the rim top. The inner edge was hard to see clearly and the lava could easily be hiding damage. The stem is acrylic 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 inlaid on the left side of the saddle stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before his clean up. He also took some of the stem to show the condition of both sides. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the uniquely stained grain around the bowl and shank. The mixture of black and brown stains adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a real beauty. The two knuckle bamboo has a nice patina on it and will only get better with time. The stamping on the left side the bamboo is shown in the photo below. It is clear and readable as noted above. The second photo shows the gold crown S on the stem side.  Before I started my work on the pipe I wanted to see if I could find any information that would help me date this pipe and get a sense of the line. I turned to Pipephil to get a quick review of the brand (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html). The Brass Crowned S inlaid logo on the stem is shown in the photo below. I have included a screen capture of the brand info there.I then turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell) for more information. The article is great and gives a lot of history on the brand. There were also links to catalogues at the bottom of the page. I am including a page from a catalogue on the site below that gives a bit of a glimpse into the brand. Here is the link (http://www.axeljeske.de/Pfeifen/Stanwell_Amager.pdf). The catalogue page gives a great description of the Bamboo line. It reads as follows: Top quality bowls perfectly fitted with porous bamboo shanks for casual elegance.

Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime and calcification. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here in Vancouver. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim and the stem. You can see the darkening and scratches on rim top and edges. The bowl is quite clean inside. The stem is in good condition with light tooth marks and some chatter as noted above.I took photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe.I started my work on the pipe working on the damage to the inner edge and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to bring the edge back into round and it looked much better.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each  pad to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is a beauty.   I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit for 10 minutes and the Balm did its magic. It enlivens, cleans and preserves the briar. It certainly brought this bowl back to life. I buffed it off with a clean cloth and took the following photos. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I was able to polish out the light tooth marks and chatter 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 Stanwell Bamboo Apple with an acrylic saddle 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 Bamboo Apple 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 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 34 grams / 1.20 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. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.