Tag Archives: Stanwell Royal Guard Pipes

Breathing New Life into a Danish Design Stanwell Royal Guard 32 Bulldog

Blog by Steve Laug

The rain has stopped for the moment here in Vancouver and I am up early so I decided to work on another pipe that was purchased on 01/26/2023 in a lot of pipes that came to us from Copenhagen, Denmark. This is a classic Danish Straight Bulldog with a mixed finish and a diamond shank. It is another Danish Design Stanwell. The finish on this pipe is smooth and almost a matte finish. The brown stains highlight grain. The pipe is stamped on the left underside of the diamond shank and reads STANWELL [over] Danish Design [over] Royal Guard in script. On the right underside of the shank it has the shape number 32 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 moderately caked and there was an overflow of lava on the smooth rim top. The inner edge looked quite good. The stem is acrylic and was dirty and had light tooth marks, chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There is a stamped white crown S logo stamped on the top side of the diamond 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 lava coat on the rim top and the cake in the bowl. It is interesting that the bowl bottom is clean. The inner edge looks to be okay. He took photos 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. The stamping on this one was on the underside of the shank and is shown in the photos below. It is clear and readable as noted above. You can also see the white stamped crown S on the top of the diamond saddle stem. 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 Danish Design Royal Guard 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. But there is nothing specific on the Danish Design Royal Guard.

I did a Google search for the Danish Design Royal Guard 32 Bulldog. I wanted to find out why the additional stamp “Danish Design” was present. I found a listing on smokingpipes.com that I am including below.

Stanwell’s “32” Bulldog is an old shape, given a bit of a revamp back in the 1990s by Tom Eltang. The plumper style of bowl works wonderfully with the hard lines of the diamond shank, and its overall compact size makes it an easy choice when searching for that smoker to take with you wherever you go.

That pretty well captured the description of the pipe I have in my hands.

There was also a link to a shape article on Pipedia written by Bas Stevens that I originally published on rebornpipes. I looked up the 32 shape number to see who had designed that shape (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). I quote that below

Two versions of this shape number:
a) Straight bulldog with a saddle stem; Stanwell’s first pipe shape (originally designed in 1942).

b) Bent Dublin-strawberry hybrid with a rounded rim and saddle stem, by Sixten Ivarsson. Redesigned by Tom Eltang in the early 1990s.

Further down the article there was this note on the shape 32a. I quote it below:

32: Poul Stanwell’s 32(a), the first shape designed for Stanwell, a classical straight bulldog, released in 1942. It was reworked by Tom Eltang and given a facelift in the 1990s.

Somewhere along the way in my reading I came across discussions on when the stamping changed from Made in Denmark to Danish Design. It is linked to the move from Denmark to Italy. I did a bit of searching for where I may have come across the information and found this discussion on Pipesmagazine Forum (https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/italian-stanwell.20233/). There was discussion on the change in locale and the change in stamp. I quote some sections of the discussion below.

Brief summary of Stanwell:
1942-1982 the family era
1982-2003 Rothmans International (absorbed by British American Tobacco in 1999)
2003-now Scandinavian Tobacco Group
Italian produced pipes began 01/01/10.

Essentially the whole issue boils down to perspective, either that of a pipe-collector or a pipe-smoker.

The pipe-collector is very interested in nomenclature, as well as timeframes of production periods. Such is the case with Pre-Transition Barling’s or Pre-Lane Charatans. There’s also a romantic side on the emotive level which invests heavily in tradition and mystique. These are important considerations of course, but has not much to do with the actual smoking qualities of the pipe itself.

The pipe-smoker simply wants a well-performing pipe and in this case I’d say the Danish Design pipes are pretty close to equal with the final years of Stanwell production, what I call the “decal era”.

Now I knew that the pipe was made after the move to Italy. It was an Italian Made Stanwell that came out after 2010. 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. The rim top cleaned up very well. There is some slight darkening and some nicks on the smooth rim top. The stem looks clean but still has light tooth marks and some chatter as noted above.I took photo of the stamping on the undersides of the diamond 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 brown stains really make the grain stand out.I started my work on the pipe by addressing the darkening on the rim top and the inner edges. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the top and the edges.I polished the smooth portions 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 and a horsehair shoe brush to get into the two rings around the bowl cap. 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 sanded out the tooth marks on the vulcanite stem surface near the button with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I was able to remove them all. I started polishing the stem 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 polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. I set it aside to dry. This Stanwell Danish Design Royal Guard 32 Straight Bulldog and an acrylic saddle stem is a great looking pipe with a beautiful grain. The stain once cleaned up really highlights the grain around the bowl. 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 Danish Design Royal Guard 32 Bulldog 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 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 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.

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

Repairing a Cracked Shank and Restoring a Stanwell Regd. No. 969-48 Royal Guard 22

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I am working on was purchased on 01/26/18 from an eBay seller in Akron, Ohio, USA. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 969-48 [over] Royal Guard. It is stamped on the left side with the shape number 22. On the flattened underside of the shank it is stamped Made in Denmark. There was a thick cake in the bowl, debris in the bottom and on the bowl walls and some remnants of tobacco. The airway was dirty and tarry and there was a hairline crack in the thin underside of the shank. There was a light lava overflow on the back of the crowned rim top. The crowned and inwardly beveled rim top looked to be in good condition. The outer edge actually looked quite good with no visible damage. The finish was dirty and dusty and with grime ground into the sides and heel of the bowl. The stem looked fairly good but underneath the calcification and oxidation the tooth marks and chatter looked minimal. There was a gold Stanwell S Crown on the left side of the half saddle. When the stem was removed it was clear that it was a filter pipe. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took close-up photos of the bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl. The rim top shows some thin lava spots on the smooth finish. The inner edge of the bowl also had some lava buildup. The outer edges of the bowl look very good. He took photos of the top and underside of the stem surface and button to show its general condition. It looked very good under the spotty oxidation. Jeff took a photo of the heel of the bowl and the shank to give a sense of the grain around the bowl sides. It is gorgeous looking pipe that has grain that chases the shape of the bowl. It should clean up very well.He took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. They are clear and readable as noted above. There was no photo included of the right side of the shank and the shape number there. The Crown Stanwell Logo was clear on the left side of the half saddle stem. It was interesting that the Royal Guard had that stem logo rather than the typical RG logo. Jeff took a closer photo of the hairline crack on the shank. It started on the thin bottom side of the shank end and curved upward through the Made in Denmark stamping before it disappears. I turned to Pipedia to see if there was any clear information on the Royal Guard line of pipes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell). I found the Royal Guard listed under the second lines of Stanwell pipes listed there.

I then followed a link there (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). It took me to an article on Shape numbers and Designers. I quote from that below.

22. Two versions of this shape number:

a) Straight billiard with an oval shank and a tapered stem (early 1950s – see catalog).

b) Bent apple-horn hybrid with a half-saddle stem.

From that information I knew that I was working a 22 B – a bent apple-horn hybrid with a half-saddle stem. There was list of designers below that included the 22 in pipes designed by Sixten Ivarsson. The problem was that I did not know if it was referring to the a) or the b) design. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. I took photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem to show how clean they were. You can see that rim top and edges look very good. The stem is clean and the tooth and chatter on both sides ahead of the button is very light.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping is readable as noted above. Royal Guard was a Stanwell second and generally was not stamped Stanwell. This one was! The stem on the Royal Guard was also stamped RG and this one bears the Stanwell Crown S.I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show that the tenon was drilled for a filter. I tried to fit a 9mm filter but it did not work. My guess is that it takes Vauen Dr Perl Junior 6mm size filter. I tried a Dr. Grabow 6mm filter it fit well but was too long. I would trim a Grabow filter to fit the proper length and whoever adds it to their collection will be able to use it until they are able to get some of the ones in the photo below. I also took a photo of the bowl and stem to get an overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe. It really is a beautifully shaped pipe. I decided to start my work on the pipe by dealing with the cracked shank. I chose not to drill the crack end so as not to damage the stamping. Instead I put some glue on the cracked shank and held it in place until the CA glue set. I hand fit a band to the shank end. It sounds simple but it was an interesting challenge. The bottom edge of the shank was very thin which I think is why it cracked. There was no extra briar to work with. The other piece of the puzzled was that the bottom of the shank was flattened and the shape was not round any more. I went through my bands and found the one that had the proper diameter. It also had a curved edge that covered the shank end and would provide some extra thickness to the thin bottom of the shank. I gave the band a rough shaping by hand then put it on the shank and used a small furniture hammer to fit it smoothly to the shank shape. It fit nicely and it firmly held things in place. I used a folded pipe cleaner to paint the shank end with all purpose glue and then pressed the band in place on the glue. I took photos of the newly fitted band. It looked very good at this point and the crack was pressed together tightly. I polished the briar with micromesh because it was in such good condition. I polished it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes while I worked on the stem. After the time passed I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I have a box of Dr. Grabow 6mm filters so I took one out of the box, shortened it to fit and inserted it in the tenon. The fit is perfect and fills in the tenon. I then used some White Acrylic Fingernail Polish to touch up the white that remained in the Crown S stamp on the top of the stem. The S and part of the crown looked much better. There were some light spots on the top of the crown but otherwise it looked good. 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 it 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. This Sixten Ivarsson designed Stanwell Royal Guard 22 Bent Apple/Scoop with a half saddle vulcanite stem turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain around the bowl sides and bottom. The rim top and edges look very good. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition. The thin brass band on the shank end looks good and adds strength to the shank stem fit. 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 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 Guard 22 is very nice and feels great in the hand and can be used as a sitter with the wide base. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 57 grams/2.10 ounces. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store, in the Danish Pipe Makers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time.

Giving New Life to a Stanwell Royal Guard 582 Pickaxe Made in Denmark

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Blog by Dal Stanton

After returning to Golden, Colorado, after nearly 5000 miles of travel over Christmas and New Year, it was good to return to my stationary Pipe Steward work desk! I experimented with a mobile Pipe Steward worktable through the travels and it worked exceptionally well. I am looking forward to traveling again in our R-pod travel trailer and taking my hobby with me. Seeing family in Florida, Nashville, and St. Louis during our travels was wonderful, whipped frosting on the cake! One highlight of our journeys was sharing a bowl with my son-in-law, Niko, in Nashville. I was able to complete the Butz-Choquin Cocarde Geante Plus (see picture below) that Niko had commissioned that was huge enough not to be dwarfed by his larger than normal hands 😊. The BC turned out beautifully and was the first to be restored from a Lot of 16 that was donated anonymously to The Pipe Steward from a pipe man in the Kansas City, Missouri, area who wanted his pipes to benefit the Daughters of Bulgaria – women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited.

Niko commissioned the BC Cocarde Geante, but he also found another pipe from the Pipe Steward inventory that he wanted to add to his blossoming collection of pipes. What caught his eye was a stylish Danish Royal Guard 582 Pickaxe with an eye-catching blasted surface to compliment the unique shape. I acquired the Royal Guard Pickaxe in the ‘Lot of 68’ I found on the eBay auction block from a seller in West Hartford, Connecticut. I will be uploading more of the ‘Lot of 68’ to the virtual ‘Help Me Baskets’ in the For “Pipe Dreamers” Only! online collection where pipe men and women can choose and commission a pipe that catches their eye – all benefiting the Daughters of Bulgaria. This picture shows the plethora of quality pipes soon to be added to the online Dreamers collection.With the blasted Royal Guard Pickaxe now on the worktable here in Golden, I take a few pictures to take a closer look. The nomenclature is crisp and distinct and is in the smooth briar panel on the underside of the shank. Stamped to the far right is the shape number ‘582’. To the right of this is ROYAL GUARD [over] MADE IN DENMARK. The shank cap is stamped with a diagonally over-lapping ‘RG’.I have grown in my appreciation of Danish pipes and have enjoyed adding some genuinely nice Danish pipes to my own collection – classic shapes and Freehands. I am not familiar with the ‘Royal Guard’ name and my first effort at discovering more in Pipedia comes up empty. Next, I pull out my prized copy of ‘Who Made that Pipe?’ by Herb Wilczak and Tom Colwell and discover that Royal Guard is a product of the well-known Danish pipe maker, Stanwell. My next stop to find information is Pipephil.eu where the Danish Stanwell provenance is confirmed. The panel I clipped below provides some Royal Guard examples and confirmation with the same ‘RG’ stamping.

The concise summary of Stanwell provided by Pipephil is helpful (See: Link):

Brand & factory were established in 1942 by Poul Nielsen. The company has been owned since 2000 by Nordisk Tobaks Kompagni A/S. The factory in Borup crafted all Stanwell pipes from 1965 until 2009. From 2010 on the pipes are crafted by Barontini (Italy) exept for the limited editions. Production (2007): 115 000 Pipes/year.

According to this addition of information, with the COM being Denmark, the Royal Guard on my worktable would have been made at the Stanwell Borup factory dating between 1965 and 2009. The feel and look of the pipe lend toward the earlier or mid-date range – early 70s? I return to Pipedia to the Stanwell article looking for additional information about the Royal Guard line. I find nothing helpful. Pipedia has a good article on ‘Stanwell Shape Numbers and Designers’ which I looked at hopeful of finding some correlation. I compared the Stanwell shape number information (See: LINK) and found no correlation with the shape number, 582 and Stanwell shape numbering.

What I found of interest was that Stanwell did mark some of the ‘Royal Guard’ seconds with the ‘Stanwell’ name. Steve restored an attractive Stanwell Royal Guard Made in Denmark which also enjoyed the classic Stanwell ‘crowned S’ stem stamping. These two pictures come from Steve’s rebornpipes writeup:

One other anecdotal piece of information I found while doing broad trolling while searching for Royal Guard information on the internet. Several Royal Guard pipes come up in various sites selling pipes. One ad, already sold, on the site Worthpoint (see: LINK), showed a Danish Freehand style like the RG on my worktable with the shape number 564 – 500s like the Pickaxe. It seems that all Royal Guard pipes have shape numbers in the 500s. The RG pipe in the ad also has a very nice, blasted surface and a shank cap – military style fancy stem, and the RG stamping on the shank cap – the same DNA. The seller provided a lot of information about the Stanwell linkage but also provided some information that helps hone in on the dating with a reference to the previous steward of the pipe: “It is from the personal collection of a physician who quit smoking in the early 1970’s. It would make an excellent addition to anyone’s collection.” If the doctor quit in the early 70s, he would have acquired the pipe before this, and it would have been produced earlier yet. It is very probably that the Royal Guard line could date back into the 60s which gives it an earlier Stanwell provenance.With a better understanding and appreciation for the Stanwell Royal Guard 582 Pickaxe on my worktable, I take a closer look at the issues. The narrow conical chamber has some cake that will be removed to give the briar a fresh start. The dark blasted surface shows the grime of some years, but generally in good condition and should clean up well. The stem has minor oxidation, and the bit has tooth chatter or roughness, but not serious. The shank cap, which appears to be a black acrylic, needs cleaning as well. Its appearance is like vulcanite and it appears to have oxidation or dulling on the upper side – the sun-side. I take a picture of this, but showing different phases of black isn’t easy with the iPhone Xs camera!I start the cleaning by addressing the oxidation in the fancy RG stem, but first the airway is cleaned with a couple pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 99%. After this, the Royal Guard fancy stem joins other pipes in the queue for a soak in Mark Hoover’s (www.Lbepen.com) Before & After Deoxidizer. After several hours in the soak, the stem is fished out and the Deoxidizer fluid is squeegeed off with my fingers and a pipe cleaner wetted with isopropyl 99% is used to clean the airway of the fluid. A cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 99% is then used to wipe off much of the raised oxidation.To encourage the conditioning of the stem, paraffin oil, a mineral oil, is applied to the vulcanite stem and set aside to absorb.Turning next to the blasted Pickaxe stummel, I take another close up of the chamber to show its condition. The last bit of baccy the former steward used is an exhibit on the floor of the chamber. The carbon cake buildup is moderate. The widest measurement of the chamber at the rim is only 11/16 inches. Neither the Pipnet Reaming Kit nor the Kleen Reem Pipe Tool, which I pull out for tighter chambers, are small enough to reach far into the chamber to ream. I therefore go directly to the Savinelli Fitsall Tool to do the job. It scrapes the chamber walls and can reach down to the floor of the chamber where the cone tightens to the smallest radius.When the Fitsall tool has done its work, a piece of 240 sanding paper wrapped around a Sharpie Pen completes the cleaning of the chamber as the walls are sanded.After an inspection of the chamber, the briar looks good. There are no heating problems detected. I move on.Next, the external blasted surface is cleaned using undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a cotton pad to scrub. A bristled toothbrush is also used to scrub the rough blasted surface. Next, the stummel is transferred to the sink where the cleaning continues using warm water, shank brushes with anti-oil dish washing liquid on the internals. The dishwashing liquid helps break down the oils built up in the mortise. While at the sink, I also use Magic Eraser on the acrylic shank cap – careful not to scrub over the ‘RG’ stamping. After a thorough rinsing, the stummel is brought back to the worktable and pictures are taken showing raw spots on the fore and aft rim edge.The point of the Pickaxe is also worn, and bare spots are coming through.The scrubbing of the shank cap with Magic Eraser did a good job. The cap now is a unified dull after the cleaning which should shine back up through the polishing phase.To complete the cleaning, I return to the internals using cotton buds and pipe cleaners wetted with isopropyl 99%. A small dental spoon also is used to scrape the mortise walls to remove residual gunk. After some effort, the buds and pipe cleaners lighten indicating cleaner internals. Later, I will continue the cleaning of the internals by using a kosher salt and alcohol soak.Turning now to the blasted briar surface of the stummel, there were raw or ‘bald’ spots on the rim and heel after the cleaning. The most pronounced place on the front of the rim.To remedy these bald spots, I use a mahogany dye stick to refresh the rim edges and the blasted rim surface. The same is done with the heel and a few small spots on the shank. The results look good. The blending between the dye stick and the native stummel hue is good. Next, I treat the blasted stummel with Before & After Restoration Balm. I apply the Balm by placing some on my fingers and working it into the rough blasted landscape. As I’ve described many times before, I notice the colors and textures of materials I use on pipes. The Balm applies initially with a cream-like consistency and then thickens to a waxier texture as it’s worked in. Some Balm is applied also to the acrylic shank cap as well – it will work on it too! After thoroughly covering the stummel landscape, the stummel is put aside for the Balm to be absorbed.After about 20 minutes, excess Balm is removed with a microfiber cloth and then buffed up. I have two microfiber cloths of the same color dedicated to, first, wiping off the excess, and then, secondly, to buffing the stummel after cloth number 1 has wiped off the excess. This dedication is helpful when I use cloth #1 on other pipes simply to give them a quick ‘spruce-up’ with Restoration Balm. The next pictures do not do justice to the deepening of the hues of the dark blasted surface I can see with the eye. The blasting on this Stanwell Royal Guard is attractive with deep burgundy flecking and the Restoration Balm brings this fact out more. With the stummel now waiting in the wings, the Royal Guard fancy stem is back on the table. The Before & After Deoxidizer did a good job earlier. Some pictures of the upper and lower bit show almost no tooth chatter but roughness from normal wear. To remove the roughness in the bit area and to address any remaining oxidation, the stem is sanded with 240 grade paper below the flare.Following the 240 sanding, the entire stem is wet sanded with 600 grade paper and then 0000 grade steel wool is applied.Next, the full regimen of 9 micromesh pads is applied starting with wet sanding with pads 1500 to 2400. Following this is dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000. Between each set of 3 pads, Obsidian Oil is applied to condition the stem as well as to protect against future oxidation when the pipe is put back into service. The gloss comes out nicely through the micromesh sanding. To get a look at the progress, the Pickaxe stummel and fancy stem are reunited. The progress looks good, but I see a few cosmetic issues that will improve the overall presentation.First, I decide to apply micromesh pads to the shank cap to create a bit more pop in the acrylic. I only use the final 6 micromesh pads, 3200 to 12000 to do the sanding/polishing. I avoid the initial coarser pads because the surface is sufficiently smooth but simply needs some pop that the finer pads will deliver. As hoped, the picture below shows the renewed ‘pop’ after using the pads.The second cosmetic application is to sharpen and smooth the inner chamber wall below the rim. I like a smooth briar contrast with the dark blasted surface as a general preference. The smooth briar panel on the underside, holding the nomenclature, looks good contrasted to the rough, dark blasted surface. I would like to emulate this contrast on the inner rim chamber wall. This inner upper chamber wall finishing enhances the looks of Danish Freehand pipes with their longer, taller stummel designs. The next two pictures show the forward quadrant and then the rear quadrant of the chamber as it is now. There is some space here that should work well. I apply a quick sanding on the upper chamber wall with 240 then 600 to clean it and smooth it further. This is then followed with the full set of micromesh pads 1500 to 12000 to finish the inner chamber wall. I like the way this finishes the rim providing a bit of bump in the classy category! The last cosmetic upgrade is the RG stamping on the shank cap. The stamping needs refreshing, and white acrylic paint is used to do the job.The first step is to place a drop of paint over the stamping and then spread it out with a toothpick. A cotton pad then daubs the wet paint to thin it out more over the lettering and this also quickly dries the paint.Using a toothpick, the excess paint is removed as the toothpick is scraped over the lettering. The point of the toothpick is also helpful to edge off excess paint close to the stamping. The final ‘RG’ looks good.On the home stretch – with stem and stummel reunited, a cotton cloth buffing wheel is mounted on the rotary tool set at about 40% full power. Blue Diamond compound is applied primarily to the smooth surfaces – the underside of the stummel, inner rim chamber wall, shank cap and fancy stem. I do apply the compound to the blasted stummel but very, very lightly. I do not want to load the rough blasted briar surface with compound making it difficult to remove and clean. The results are good overall. Following the application of the compound, the entire pipe is wiped down with a felt cloth to remove remnant compound residue.After the compound, another cotton cloth buffing wheel is mounted, and carnauba wax is applied to stem and stummel. Following the wax, the pipe is given a rigorous hand buffing with a microfiber cloth to raise the shine and to remove excess wax from the surface.I am pleased with the way this Danish Stanwell Royal Guard perked up through the restorative process. The dark blasted briar surface draws the eye to the 3-D presentation of grain, and this is augmented by the smooth briar contrast of the inner chamber wall. The Pickaxe shape is sharp and provides a unique tactile hold with the blasted surface. The black acrylic shank cap provides a nice flow transitioning from the conical bowl to the fancy stem. I think Niko will be pleased with this additional pipe of Denmark he commissioned, and he will have the first opportunity to acquire it from The Pipe Steward Store benefiting the Daughters of Bulgaria – women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited. Thanks for joining me!

Stanwell Really Made Some Stunning Pipes Like this Royal Guard 182

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that was also at the bottom of the box of pipes I am working on. It is a Stanwell Royal Guard Apple. The round shaped bowl, oval shank and taper stem made up a nicely shaped pipe. The smooth finish showed great grain through the ground in dirt and grime. There are also some well hidden fills in the briar. It was stamped on the underside of the shank and read 182 at the top over Stanwell over Royal Guard over Made in Denmark. The finish was very dirty with a heavy coat of grime ground into the bowl and rim top as can be seen in the photos. The bowl had a thick cake with a lava overflow on the inner edge of the rim top but very little on the top itself. It appeared that both the inner and outer edges of the bowl looked clean and undamaged. The stem was oxidized and there were tooth marks and chatter on both sides and on the top and bottom edges of the button. The stem was made for a 9mm filter. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he cleaned it up so you could see what we saw. Jeff took photos of the rim top to show lava build up around the rim, the edges and cake in the bowl. Jeff took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the absolutely dirty finish ground into the briar. It was a dirty pipe but I think it will be a beautiful one once we are finished. The stamping on the underside of the shank is shown in the photos below. It is clear and read as noted above. There was the Stanwell Crown S stamped on the top of the stem. The stem was a good fit to the shank. It was oxidized, calcified and had debris stuck to the surface of the vulcanite. It also shows the tooth marks on the stem and on the button surface. Pipedia has a great article on Stanwell Shape Numbers & Designers that matches the shape numbers of Stanwell pipes with the designer of the shape. I enjoy that information (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers?fbclid=IwAR0ULK-xl-hW0RZXbt64VWijPtpMgn1uTDEawHywln8fGcDXtbWcmB6SA24). Turns out the design of this pipe was done by Bang and is a filter pipe. I am including the following screen capture.It was my turn to work on the pipe now. I was really looking forward to what the pipe would look like once Jeff had worked his magic. What would the rim top look like? What would the dirty sandblast on the bowl look like? I had no idea. When I took it out of the box I was struck great job cleaning up the pipe Jeff had done. It was impressive! He had reamed the pipe with a Pipnet piper reamer and taken the cake back to bare briar. He cleaned up the remaining cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer. He washed the stem off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem to show how clean they were. You can see that rim top and edges look very good. The stem is clean and the tooth damage on the button top and bottom edges. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. The stamping is readable as noted above. The stamping GUARD is a double stamped and gives me a bit of a mystery. Royal Guard was a Stanwell second and generally was not stamped Stanwell. This one was! The stem on the Royal Guard was also stamped RG and this one bears the Stanwell Crown S.I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show that the tenon was drilled for a 9MM filter. I also took a photo of the bowl and stem to get an overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe. It really is a beautifully shaped pipe. I decided to start my work on the pipe by polishing the pipe with micromesh because it was in such good condition. I polished it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes while I worked on the stem. After the time passed I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the indentations on the button edge and built it up with clear super glue. Once the repair cured I used a needle file to reshape the button edges and also flatten the repaired areas. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to finish the shaping and to remove the remaining oxidation. I started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil before further polishing it. I used some Rub’n Buff Antique Gold to touch up the gold that remained in the Crown S stamp on the top of the stem. I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. I have a box of Vauen 9MM filters so I took one out of the box and inserted it in the tenon. The fit is perfect and fills in the tenon. This S. Bang designed Stanwell Royal Guard 182 Apple with a taper vulcanite stem turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain around the bowl sides and bottom. The rim top and edges look very good. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition. 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 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 apple is very nice and feels great in the hand and can be used as a sitter with the wide base. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This Stanwell Royal Guard 182 will be going on the rebornpipes store shortly. If you are interesting in adding it to your collection let me know! Thanks for your time.

Underneath the Grime lay a beautiful Royal Guard 504

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have a box of pipes from a friend in Dawson Creek to clean up. In trade for a few restorations he was the one who gave me the Preben Holm Pair. I asked him to prioritize which pipes he wanted me to tackle first. Number one on his list was a Stanwell made Royal Guard 504 that combines smooth and sandblast areas into the finish. It was in rough shape. The finish was dirty and worn with the brown top coat worn down. The vulcanite shank extension was oxidized and the RG stamp on the left side was faded. The bowl was thickly caked and the lava overflow on the top of the bowl was also very thick. I was a bit concerned that underneath the cake I would find burn. You can never tell – sometimes a thick cake protects the rim top and sometimes it hides a lot of rim damage. Once I got into the cleanup I would be able to tell better with this one. The stem was lightly oxidized and there was tooth chatter and bite marks on the top and the bottom sides near the button. The top edge of the button had a small dent as well. The deepest tooth mark was on the topside of the stem and would need to be repaired. But even under all the grime I could see that this pipe would be a thing of beauty once it was finished. I took a closeup photo of the rim to show how thick the cake was in the bowl and the extent of the overflow on the rim. It was very thick and quite hard.I reamed the bowl with the first three cutting heads on the PipNet reamer and then cleaned it up more with the Savinelli Pipe Knife. The amount of carbon that came out of the bowl was amazing.I used a pen knife with a thin stiff blade to carefully scrape off the buildup on the rim. It was pretty thick and hard so I slowly and carefully flaked it off with the knife.I scrubbed the bowl and rim with acetone on a cotton pad and was able to remove the grime and the buildup of wax and oils in the grooves of the sandblast.There were some scratches and nicks in the curved top of the rim that needed to be sanded out. I also sanded the inner bevel on the rim. I used 180 and 220 grit sandpaper to remove most of the damaged areas. The photo below shows the rim after quite a bit of work. There was still more sanding to do at this point.I did some more work on the rim with sandpaper and on the inner edge of the rim with the Savinelli Pipe Knife and was able to smooth out some more of the damage.I wiped down the inner edge of the bowl and the rim with alcohol to see where I stood with the rim resurfacing. It was starting to look really good.I used black super glue to repair the deep tooth mark on the top side of the stem. When it dried I sanded it and filed it smooth the surface of the stem.I sanded the shank extension with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded it with 3200-6000 grit pads. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I used some European Gold Rub n’ Buff on the stamping on the stem to refresh it.I restained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain cut by 50% with alcohol. I applied the stain and flamed it with a lighter. I repeated the process until I was satisfied with the coverage.I wiped the bowl down with isopropyl alcohol to even the stain coat and make it more transparent. The combination of grains in the sandblast and underneath is beautiful. I scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the airways in the shank and the stem and the mortise in the shank were clean.I buffed bowl with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. Once I had the repair smoothed out and blended into the surface of the stem top I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. Once I had finished I set the stem aside to dry. I forgot to take a photo of the stem after sanding it with the 6000-12000 grit pads. I took the pipe to the buffer and buffed the stem with Blue Diamond and then gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I am hoping the pipe man in Dawson Creek likes the new look to this old pipe. It is truly a beauty. Thanks for looking.

Stanwell Made Royal Guard Plateau Dublin

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Blog by Steve Laug

This one was sold as a Parker on Ebay and came with a Parker pipe sock and box. There was nothing about it that looked like a Parker in my opinion. Everything about it said Stanwell made. When the pipe arrived my brother took it out of the box and sure enough it was a Royal Guard pipe which is listed on pipephil’s website as a Stanwell second. http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-r6.html It was in decent shape. The plateau was dirty with tars and oils. The rim had some darkening but no damage to the bowl. There was a light cake in the bowl. The finish was dirty and there was dust in the grooves of the sandblast. The stem was in great shape though there was some tooth chatter on the top and bottom sides near the button. The stamping on the saddle stem was in good shape though there were spots where the white was missing in the stamped letters. My brother took photos of the pipe before he cleaned it.

He took photos of the stamping. On the left side of the shank it was stamped Royal Guard. On the underside of the shank it was stamped Made in Denmark.The next photo he took shows the tooth chatter on the bottom of the stem.He also took a close up photo of the rim top. It shows the dust and the tars and oils in the grooves of the plateau.My brother scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and rim with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He rinsed it off with water and dried it. He scrubbed the rim and removed the tars, oils and dust in the plateau. The soap and rinse also removed the dust and grime in the sandblast finish. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and stem. Once he had finished there was not much that I would have to do once I received it.

When the box came I opened the Parker box, took out the Parker pipe sock and slipped the Royal Guard pipe out of the sock. It really was a beautiful pipe. The sandblast and the smooth portions worked together to make a stunning pipe. The plateau on the rim was also perfect and the darkening worked well with the colouration of the briar in the sandblast finish. I took some photos of the pipe when I took it out of the box. I took some close up photos of the rim and the stamping on the stem. The plateau looks really good and the inner edge of the bowl is clean. The stamping on the stem is clearly an interlocking RG. The white colour in the stamp is in great shape.I used the Savinelli Pipe Knife to clean up the remnants of cake in the bowl. It did not take much to remove the last of the cake. I took it back to bare briar and wiped out the inside of the bowl with a cotton pad.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-4000 and with 6000-12000 grit pads and gave it a rub down with the oil between each set of three pads. I finished by giving it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I gave a quick touch up cleaning with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. It took very few because the pipe was clean other than the dust from my sanding.I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and hand buffed it with a shoe brush.I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the wheel and lightly buffed it with several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This one is available if you are interested in adding it to your rack. Send me an email (slaug@uniserve.com) or a message. Thanks for looking.