Tag Archives: Stanwell Royal Danish Pipes

Cleaning up a Stanwell Royal Danish 907M Sandblast Scoop

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is one that is a bit of a mystery to me. It is obviously one that I picked up on one of my hunts or in a trade as it has not been cleaned at all. The mystery is that I have no recollection of finding the pipe so I have no way to connect it to a time period. I do know that it has been here for quite a while and I am just now getting to it. I try to eventually work the pipes we find into the restoration queue so that I can keep them moving. The one is obviously a Stanwell from just looking at it. It has a mix of sandblast finish around the bowl with smooth panels on the sides. The shank extension is vulcanite and has a large Crown stamped in the left side. It was stamped on the underside of the shank on a smooth panel. The shape number 907M is stamped near the heel of the bowl and the M identifies it as having a military mount stem. Following that it reads Royal [over] Danish [over] Made in Denmark. The finish was dirty with dust and grime ground into the nooks and crannies of the sandblast finish. There was a thick cake in the bowl and lava overflow on the rim top. The inner edge of the rim was covered so thickly in lava it was hard to know what was underneath. The vulcanite stem was oxidized and had tooth marks and chatter ahead of the button on both sides. There was no identifying stamp on the stem surface though the shape says that it is definitely Stanwell stem.

Before I started working on it I did a bit of research on the brand to get a feel for where it fit in the Stanwell line. I was pretty sure that it was a second but wanted confirmation. I turned to Pipephil’s site to see if I could get a feel for it (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-r6.html). I did a screen capture of the information on the site. I found that the brand was indeed made by Stanwell and was one of many second lines that they made. I did a screen capture of the pertinent information and have included it below.I then turned to Pipedia and found that it was also listed as a second or a sub-brand made by Stanwell (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell#Sub-brands_.2F_Seconds). I have included the list of seconds from the site below. I have highlighted the Royal Danish in blue in the text.

Sub-brands / Seconds – Bijou (discontinued), Danish Quaint, Danish Sovereign, Danske Club, Henley (discontinued), Kong Christian (discontinued), Majestic, Reddish (discontinued), Royal Danish, Royal Guard, Royal Sovereign, Sailor (discontinued), Scandia, Sorn (discontinued), Svendson.

Now it was time to clean up this pipe and get it restored. I cleaned the pipe with the methodology that Jeff and I have developed. It was a mess when I took it out of my box here so I was curious to see how well it cleanup. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. You can see that it is filthy but has some great grain in the blast and on the smooth panels. It is also an intriguing shape. I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. I wanted to show the condition of the cake in the bowl and look of the rim top and lava overflow. You can also see the heavily oxidized shank extension and the faint Crown stamp showing through on the left side. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks and the calcification, oxidation and generally condition of the stem surface. I took photos of the stamping on the smooth panel on the underside of the shank and it is faint but readable under the grime. It is stamped as noted above. The Crown logo is visible on the left side of the shank extension. I removed the stem for the shank and took a photo of the bowl and stem to give a picture of what it looked like. It is a great looking pipe under the grime.I decided to start my restoration by getting rid of the cake in the bowl and cleaning up the rim top. I reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the inside of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. Once I finished the bowl was smooth and clean. I was glad to see that there was no internal damage. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks very good with good looking grain around the bowl and shank. Once it is polished it will come to life. I scrubbed the vulcanite shank extension with Soft Scrub on cotton pads to remove the oxidation. With a lot of scrubbing and rubbing it down the oxidation slowly but surely gave way to dark rubber. In the process the oils from my hands from the cotton pads and Soft Scrub gave the briar some life that would come out more as I polished it. I wiped it down with a cotton pad and some alcohol to remove the oils on the vulcanite and the briar. I touched up the gold Crown stamp with Antique Gold Rub’n Buff. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick and buffed it off with another pad.I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth and shoe brush to raise the shine. I scrubbed out the internals of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub polish to remove the oxidation. While it did not take it all out it removed much of. What was left would polish out with micromesh sanding pads. I polished the vulcanite 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. I left a little oxidation around the stamp so as not to damage it more. This Stanwell made Royal Danish 907M Scoop is known as a Stanwell second but for all intents and purposes to my eye it is not much different in cut, blast or finish to a regular Stanwell. The only thing I see is a small sand pit on the underside of the shank otherwise is a nice looking pipe. The restored Royal Danish turned out to be a great looking pipe. The contrasting brown stains on the pipe worked really well with the polished vulcanite shank extension and the taper stem. 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 stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel keeping a light touch on the buffing wheel for the bowl. I 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 Royal Danish Scoop 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. If you are interested in carrying on the previous pipe man’s legacy with this pipe send me a message or an email. I have more to work on of various brands. Perhaps one of those will catch your attention. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

A Worn Royal Danish 936 Wide Oval Shank Pipe given new life

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Blog by Steve Laug

When I saw the pictures of the way this pipe looked – at least the first picture I thought it was in pretty decent shape. The finish was a little worn; particularly some of the high spots on the sand blast had worn off. The smooth patches were also worn and lifeless. The back edge of the rim looked really rough – as if the pipe had been knocked about on concrete or another hard surface to remove the dottle from the bowl. It was ragged. The inner edge of the rim also looked worn and the cake in the bowl was a bit odd looking – as if it was partially removed. It seemed heavier on one side than the other. The stem looked okay in the first picture but the second hinted that all was not well with it either.The close up photos reveal the issues that I hinted at above. The first shows the strangely caked bowl – heavily built up toward the left side and rear of the bowl as well as the rough back rim top and edge of the bowl. The inner edge of the rim also looks like it has taken some damage. The second photo shows the slight cap at the stem junction that to my mind spoke of a tarry and caked mortise that kept the stem from seating properly. The finish also shows some wear in the photos. The pipe is stamped Royal Danish and Made in Denmark. The shape number is 936 which is a Stanwell shape.The next two photos show the issues with the stem. There were tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem that went from quite deep to very shallow. The button top and bottom were worn down and had deep tooth marks. There was also a heavy build up of oxidation on the stem. The stem logo on the top is very faint. It made me wonder if I would be able to feel it with my finger once it arrived in Canada.I am so glad my brother does the heavy work on cleaning out these pipes. I have reamed and cleaned out the shanks of a lot of pipes and I can’t say that I miss it. I still get to do my share of cleanups on pipes that I find but these that he sends me come ready for the restoration process. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and was able to remove the wax and tars on bowl and rim. He reamed the bowl back to bare briar and scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and stem. When it arrived the stain was quite washed out and the stem was really oxidized. The damaged rim top was very visible and it was in rough shape. I took some close up photos of the rim and the stem when it arrived here. The roughness of the rim top and inner edge are seen in the first photo. The tooth marks and wear on the stem top and underside in the second and third photos. My brother had cleaned out the mortise so the stem fit tightly against the shank so my guess mentioned above about a dirty mortise appears to have been correct. The crown logo on the top of the stem could hardly be felt by touch. I started sanding the stem then decided to run a few pipe cleaners and alcohol through the airway in the stem and shank as well as in the mortise. They were quite clean and did not take too much work to remove the little bit of debris that was still left.I sanded the rim lightly to take away the roughness but still leave the finish looking like the sand blasted portion of the rim that had not been damaged. I stained the bowl with a dark brown stain mixed 50/50 with isopropyl alcohol. I applied the stain and flamed it and repeated the process until the coverage was what I was looking for. I wanted the dark stain in the deep grain of blast to show through the brown top stain.I hand buffed the bowl with a microfibre cloth to raise a shine and to give an even look to the finish. The photos below show the pipe at this point in the process.In the second photo below the rim surface is visible. There will need to be some contrast applied to the finish to make it blend in and not look merely “less damaged”.To address the contrast issue on the rim mentioned above I used a black Sharpie Pen to provide some darkening in the crevices of the pitted surface. I used a dark brown stain pen to give the top coat over the black stain.I sanded the inner edge of the rim with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the roughened inner edge. In retrospect I probably should have done this before staining the bowl but I did not so I put it in the order I did the work. In the second photo below you can see how the contrast stain worked on the rim top.When I finished sanding I stained the inner edge of the rim with the dark brown stain pen and added some streaks of black Sharpie pen to give it some contrast. I buffed the rim lightly Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and with a microfibre cloth. The photos below show the pipe bowl after buffing. Notice the change to the rim after the sanding, staining and buffing. I set the bowl aside and worked on the issues with the stem. I sanded the area around the button on both sides of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and scrubbed the deeper tooth marks with cotton swabs and alcohol. Once they were clean I filled the deeper marks and built up the button surface with black super glue.I sanded the repairs once they had cured with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth them into the surface of the stem. I reshaped the top of the button on both sides of the stem with the sandpaper.The edge of the button on the underside of the stem was still rough so I used a needle file to shape and sharpen the straight edge.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 micromesh sanding pads. I rubbed the stem down with Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and a paper towel to further remove the oxidation on the stem. I polished the stem with Before & After Pipe Polish both Fine and Extra Fine with paper towels. The stem was beginning to shine. I sanded the stem once again with the micromesh sanding pads using 1500-12000 grit pads. Each successive grit of sanding pad added more shine and depth to the shine. The more I polished the stem the more the crown logo disappeared.I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I rubbed the bowl down with Conservator’s Wax by hand. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The pipe is clean and looks new. The restoration brought it back to life. Thanks for looking.

Sometimes you get lucky and it’s an easy cleanup – a Royal Danish 930 Acorn

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Blog by Steve Laug

It seems that over the years I have picked up a lot of hard case pipes – pipes that need lots of TLC to even make them usable once again. Somehow, lately my brother has been picking up some pretty sweet pipes that don’t take a lot of work and if you saw my refurbishing bin you would understand why that really makes me thankful. The current pipe I am working on is one those easy ones. He did the lions share of cleaning work on it. He reamed the bowl and scrubbed the internals – the mortise and airways in the shank and stem. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe so that added to the ease of the cleanup. The pipe is a Stanwell second or sub line. It is stamped on the underside of the shank in a smooth patch Royal Danish over Made in Denmark. To the left of that stamping is the shape number 930 which to my mind is the classic Danish acorn shape. The pipe has a shallow sandblast finish with two smooth patches on the sides of the bowl. The graceful stem gives it a classic look. There is some light oxidation on the stem and some light cake in the bowl and lava on top of the bowl. My brother took the next photos to show the overall look of the pipe. He also took some close up photos of the rim, the stamping and the stem logo. The first photo below shows the light cake and lava on the rim. It should clean up nicely. The second and third photos show the stamping on the shank and the stem. The crown logo on the stem is faded and worn but still quite legible. When I brought it to the work table I took the following four photos to show the state of the pipe before I cleaned or polished it. You can see from the photos that the finish was in good shape. The stem was oxidized but otherwise clean with no tooth marks or chatter. I took some close up photos of the rim and bowl. The rim is in good shape. My brother cleaned off the rim with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the grime and tars. He reamed the bowl and cleaned it. There was some lightening of the stain on the rim.The stem was in great shape other than the oxidation. There were no tooth marks or chatter on the top or the underside of the stem.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 micromesh sanding pads to loosen the oxidation. I scrubbed the stem with the Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and paper towels. I scrubbed it with Before & After Pipe Polish Fine and Extra Fine. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil to protect and give life to the stem. I buffed it with carnauba wax and hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. I buffed the bowl lightly with Blue Diamond and the stem with a bit more pressure. I was careful around the stamping on the stem and shank. I gave the stme mulitple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I waxed the bowl with Conservator’s Wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I hand polished the stem with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The pipe will also one day be listed on the store. It is for sale now if anyone is interested. It would make a great addition to your collection.

An Easy Refurb – A Stanwell Royal Danish 166 – Volcano Sitter

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Blog by Steve Laug

On to the next pipe in the lot that will be sold for the benefit of Smoker’s Forum online community. It is a beautiful Stanwell Royal Danish shape 166 which is a volcano sitter. It had a gold end plate and narrow band on the shank that was distinctive and tasteful but oxidized. The stem and the shank were drilled for a 9mm filter. It also had the gold S and crown on the left side of the shank. Underneath the surface dirt the pipe had some gorgeous grain. The finish looked to be in great shape with no dings or dents to be found. There are no fills or flaws visible in the briar. The rim had a slight build up of lava and the bowl was caked. It is a deep bowl but somewhat narrow and drilled at an angle toward the shank.

I reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and took the cake back to a thin coat on the walls of the bowl.

The mortise and the empty 9mm tenon had some loose debris that led me to believe they would be extremely dirty. I used the 0000 steel wool on the rim and was able to clean off the tar build up and leave the rim spotless. I scrubbed down the bowl with alcohol on cotton pads to remove the grime and get a good view of the grain on this beauty. It was something – not a fill and not a pit in the briar. It was a great piece of briar.

I cleaned out the shank and the 9mm tenon and was surprised how quickly they cleaned up. I expected them to be far worse but the debris was loose inside both and it took very little to swab them out and leave them clean. The stem also was not in bad shape. It is Lucite/acrylic and thankfully that does not oxidize. It had some sticky substance on it that was like the residue from tape and that came off with a little alcohol. I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded with 3200-12000 grit pads.

I used the higher grits of micromesh to work on the gold band and plate until they shone. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond plastic polish on the wheel and then gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it to a shine with a soft flannel buff and then finished by hand buffing it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is one stunning pipe!