Tag Archives: Stem repairs

Calabash No Name from eBay

Blog by Dal Stanton

After celebrating our daughter’s wedding and family reunion in the US and returning to Bulgaria, I was anxious to begin a new restoration. While in the US, I added a few pipes to the pool when my wife and I stopped at an antique store advertised on an interstate billboard between Nashville and Chattanooga – this story for the future. I’ve developed a bit of an eBay purchases trove and I found in the ‘Help Me!’ basket what I believe is a Calabash shaped unmarked briar from a seller in New Mexico. I was drawn by the shape and the lateral movement of grain – a very nice looking piece of briar with great potential. I wasn’t sure on the shape and checked out Pipedia’s Pipe Shapes Chart (Link) and Calabash seems to be the best fit – please let me know if I missed! The seller’s pictures provided a descent chronicle of the pipe’s strengths and needs. The pictures reveal stummel externals in very good shape except for heavy oil and lava overflow on the rim. The stem is heavily oxidized and has a tooth hole on the underside of the bit – definitely an eye tooth hanger! Both upper and lower button areas have teeth bites and significant chatter. The button lip will also need smoothing and redefinition. By the looks of this pipe, it was someone’s well-loved and used partner in life. When I put the Calabash on my worktable I take some additional close-ups to focus on the problem areas and I take a closer look. In the bowl, I discover what appear to be cracks in the briar in the front and backsides. At this point, I’m not sure if this is only superficial within the cake or if it presents other problems. I also take a closer look at the stem hole after inserting a pipe cleaner. Before I can make a clear assessment of the bowl and the cracks, I decide first to ream the bowl with the Pipnet reaming kit to reveal the wall’s condition and to clean up the rim. I also remove the stem and plop it in a bath of Oxy-Clean to begin softening the heavy oxidation in the vulcanite. I use 3 of the 4 blades available in the Pipnet kit. The cake was light. I finish the reaming process using the Savinelli pipe knife and clean the walls by sanding with 240 grit paper pinched with the Savinelli knife. inspect the cracks in the bowl and decide to shoot a question off and some pics to Steve to get his input. I then use undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and clean the stummel surface with cotton pads. In addition, to remove the thick lava on the rim, I utilize a brass brush which will not scratch the wood. Putting the stummel aside, I retrieve the stem from the Oxyclean bath and wet sand the raised oxidation with 600 grit paper and follow dry sanding with 0000 steel wool. In anticipation of working on the patch for the tooth hole I want to clean the internals of the stem. I use several pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95% and things are cleaning up well.With the stem cleaned up from I move to repair the tooth hole. This is a first time for me so I fill my mental cup reading several different blogs regarding hole repair and techniques. One of the necessary ingredients for a repair is activated charcoal powder mixed with superglue to create a putty for the hole patch. Living in Bulgaria, I was not able locate activated charcoal in powder state but we do have pet stores and we do have aquariums which require charcoal for the filtering system. The problem is that this charcoal comes in a granulated form. This problem was solved with a technique and tool going back some millennia with the use of a pestle and mortar. I pictured a comparison of before and after below. My only concern is that the charcoal powder I am producing with the pestle and mortar is fine enough to form a smooth blended patch. We will see.With activated charcoal powder now in hand, I take another close-up of the damaged bit. To provide a good bond between the patch and vulcanite I score and roughen the area with 240 grit sanding paper, working the paper around the hole and to loosen and remove debris in the hole itself. I follow that with a Q-tip cleaning dipped in alcohol. I want the area clean. I cut a piece of an index card, fold it into a hard point that will fit in the button and wrap the end with tape and then put Vaseline over it to assure that the patch has a solid surface underneath so putty doesn’t leak into the airway and will easily slide out after the patch sets. I pour a small mound of charcoal on an index card then I drip a small puddle of Starbond Black Medium KE-150 glue next to the charcoal. Using a toothpick, I begin to mix the glue and charcoal a bit at a time so that I can judge the viscosity of the emerging putty – I’m aiming for a honey-like thickness. When the putty begins to thicken as I add charcoal, I arrive at what I hope is the accurate brew! Using the toothpick as a trowel, I apply charcoal putty to the hole, tamping each application and making sure I reach the depths of the hole and over-cover the damaged area building a bit of a mound. After the patch cures, I will remove the excess putty. I’ll give it a full 48 hours before continuing the work to assure the patch is solid and good for years to come. After the patch sets a bit, I flip the stem and apply drops of Starbond Black Medium KE-150 to the tooth dents on the upper bit area. The pictures show the progress. With the stem patches curing I return to the stummel. Steve’s email arrived with his reply to my questions about dealing with the cracks in the inner bowl. He described his method of applying a paste made from a mixture of cigar ash and water to the cracks and bowl wall. Yes, I remember previously reading about this in one of his restores! This will come later after I’m able to collect some cigar ash – Cubans are readily available in Bulgaria. I want high quality ash! I take another close-up of the stummel as I re-inspect the surface. I find one small crevice which I will fill with clear super-glue. First, using a cotton pad I clean the surface of the stummel with acetone to remove any residual finish. I then apply a drop of super glue on the small crevice above the shank junction and put the stummel down for the night to let the superglue fill to cure. The next day, ready to move forward, I strategically sand down the superglue fill with 240 grit paper removing the excess glue bringing the patch down to the briar surface assuring a good blend.When I think of the classic Calabash look, the stummel shape is crowned with a distinct cap. To enhance this look and to remove some damaged, colored briar around the inner rim, I want to enhance and augment the bevel already present. Using a coarser 120 grit paper tightly rolled, I cut the fresh bevel then I follow using a rolled-up piece of 240 grit paper to smooth the new bevel. Pictures show the progress. Before continuing with the rim repair and the stummel finish, I want to clean the stummel internals with a retort but I’ll need to return to the stem bit repair and do the sanding on the patches first. The retort’s rubber hose will not expand enough to attach directly to the shank so I need to utilize the stem. I am anxious to see how my first attempt at a hole repair faired. Utilizing a flat needle file and 240 grit paper I sand the patch down to the stem surface. The patch is blending well but I detect very small, what I assume are air pockets, emerge during the sanding. From my reading, I found that this is normal, but these appear to be too small to treat with a bit of superglue. I’ll keep my eye on this during the stem finishing phase. On the upper bit, I also sand the superglue patches of the tooth dents to the stem surface with 240 grit paper. With a needle file, I redefine the button lip a bit smoothing out where there were tooth bites. The pictures show the progress on both the underside and the upperside of the bit – I’m liking what I see. I don’t want to proceed any further until cleaning the internals of the stummel. I will use the retort to accomplish this. With cotton ball in the bowl, alcohol boiling in the test tube I begin the process. I take a couple of shots of the progressive dirtying of the alcohol. I forgot to take the final where the used alcohol was almost clear. After the pipe cools from the retort, I remove the stem and finish the internal cleaning with some Q-tips and pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol 95%. Internals are clean! Turning again to the stem, I begin the micromesh process. I wet sand with micromesh pads 1500 to 2400. Before applying Obsidian Oil, I want to take a close look at the tooth hole patch on the underside of the bit. I’m not happy with what I find. With the first set of micromesh sanding pads the pocketing in the patch is more pronounced. Air pockets? Or, perhaps my charcoal powder was too coarse? I’m not satisfied with these results so, even though it is a detour, I want to try to rectify the problem. I apply a thin coat of CA Instant Glue over the area. I’m hoping that the glue will fill the pocket and allow a smoother surface to emerge – enhancing the blend with the native vulcanite. I clean the area with a bit of alcohol on a cotton pad then I apply the CA Glue. I’m hopeful that this will do the trick.Turning now to the stummel externals, I first use a medium and then a light grade sanding sponge, focusing on the rim to work out pits and roughness left over from the lava clean up. Following the sanding sponges, I wet sand the stummel using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400, then dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000. As I watched the beauty of the grain emerge, I made the decision not to apply a stain but to keep the natural briar – a rich, thick, swirl of honey. This no name Calabash is dressing up nicely. Time to return to the stem and complete the lower bit tooth hole patch and to prepare the stem for the waiting bowl. I ‘gently’ approach the sanding with 240 grit paper to lightly smooth the re-superglued patch down to the stem surface. The ‘gentleness’ is due to not wanting to sand deeper than the reapplication, increasing the potential of uncovering new pockets. I also again apply the flat needle file to define the lower button lip and then remove the file marks with the 240 grit paper. I follow with 600 grit sanding paper and finally, I finish with 0000 steel wool. I think the hole patch is improved and now I’ll trust the rest of the finishing and polishing process to blend the patch as much as possible. In the picture below one can still detect the patch boundaries but the surface is much smoother.With tooth hole charcoal superglue putty patch officially completed, I restart the micromesh sanding process by wet sanding with pads 1500 to 2400 followed by an application of Obsidian Oil to absorb into the vulcanite surface. Then dry sanding with micromesh pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000, completing each set with an application of Obsidian Oil. The pictures show the progress. The last picture in this set I flip the stem to show the hole repair. I think it’s ok, and as they say, “It is what it is.” I have two mini-projects left before I begin the final polishing and waxing processes with the Dremel. I want to dress up this ‘No Name’ Calabash with a band. The beauty of this pipe emerged along the way and the classy Calabash shape just cries out, “Band!” So, band it is. I think it will look great. The other project is to fill the cracks in the bowl with ‘Pipe Mud’ per Steve’s email response to my questions earlier in the restoration. I recalled reading about ‘Pipe Mud’ before and it didn’t take long to find it in the vast Rebornpipes.com archives. Steve’s tutorial was helpful and to the point by point as usual (See: Link), but also of value for newbies to the hobby are the comments following – more links and practices to add to the mix!

Gary, my friend and colleague who lives in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, happily responded to my plea for ‘quality’ cigar ash. I am now in possession of ash the byproduct of 2 Cubans – the second of which he smoked with me Thanksgiving Day evening as we gathered to celebrate together in Sofia – I smoked my favorite black Cavendish blend, Lane BCA, in the pipe I call, Ole Pot. I take a couple close-ups to get a look at the cracks in the bowl. I’m not sure the source of these crevices but they appear to be grouped mid-way down the bowl both in the front and back of the bowl wall. On a hunch, I look at the exterior and I think my hunch is correct. The grain of the stummel moves horizontally though the bowl. When I look at the front and back of the external grain patterns, I find birds eye grain pattern – which represent the cut through, perpendicular perspective of the grain. The sides of the stummel reveal the side of the grain – the horizontal flow. So, these cracks appear to me to be the grain splitting – it appears like dry split wood. Not sure ‘why?’ but this is my theory. The third and fourth pictures below show the external theory: First, to prepare to make the pipe mud, I take the Cuban ash and crush it with the end of a pipe nail. With tweezers, I picked out debris and make sure there are no large chunks. The gray powder in the pictures is the aim.Next, I use a dental probe to dig a bit in the cracks to make sure there is no loose debris. Then I take a few bent pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl and clean the bowl wall. I put the ash in a shot glass and slowly add water with an eyedropper and mix the mud with the pipe nail. When the consistency of the mud is like paste, I use a bent pipe cleaner to paint the mud on the wall – careful to tamp in to fill the crevices. I keep an eye on the areas with crevices as the mud dries in the bowl, making sure that it doesn’t shrink, but remains even with the bowl wall – as Steve’s tutorial instructed. In about a half hour the mud is dry and forms a pretty hard surface. The pipe mud will form a foundation for a cake to develop which provides a protective layer for the briar. Until this happens, care is given to not ream or aggressively scrape the bowl wall. The pictures show the progress.The next project is adding a band to dress up the No Name Calabash – a touch of class. The shank diameter is 17.5 millimeters in diameter and I fish out a 17.5 band to match the diameter. Some months ago, I purchased an assortment of bands to have on hand from J. H. Lowe’s online store. I’ve done one band previous to this, my first restoration which Steve published on rebornpipes (A Newbie Restore of a Dr. Plumb 9456) which went well. The mantra I remember from Steve’s tutorial on banding (Link) was the need for patience in applying heat and micro-inching the band up the shank – a hot band could tear if forced to quickly. I set up a handy work station on a solid wooden stool that I can straddle. I fold a towel and place it over a chopping block to provide a firm, but soft foundation to use as I press the stummel inching the heated band up the shank. My air gun fits nicely on the platform as well. About 1/10^th of the band fit over the end of the shank at the beginning. I heat the band rotating it, careful not to burn the wood then put it to the toweled surface and press – firmly but only a bit. Repeating the process several times. The pictures below show this. The last in the set shows the progress of the band’s movement up the shank – almost home! It was going so well, until it wasn’t! With millimeters left before the band was flush with the shank, a press against the surface caused a portion of the band to crimp (pictured). This was not part of the plan. Different possible scenarios fill my mind for next steps to try to back out of the situation and to salvage the banding project. I’m concerned that the band has torn at one of the crimp points because I can detect a sharp edge to the touch. Time for an ‘SOS’ message to Steve with the picture below.Steve’s response was helpful – to heat the band as before and with a small flat screw driver, straighten out the crimping and then continue again with the heating and pressing to bring the end of the band flush with the shank. The following pictures show the salvage operation. I begin by heating and bringing the bent edge back out using a small flat head screw driver. As this progressed, I improvised, using the round head of a pipe nail to help reestablish the round of the band by heating and placing the head in the lip of the band and rolling it like a wheel while rotating the stummel. Once things start regaining normal, I use a needle file gently filing the edge to remove sharp splinters. I also filed a bit on the external ‘pucker points’ that help reestablish roundness and a smoother surface, but not perfect. As I return now to heating and pressing to complete mounting the band on the shank, my concern is the weakened area of the band will simply crimp again with the process. I decide to heat the band up a bit more than I did before, hopefully to enable the band expansion more economically and to add more towel padding between the band and the hard surface below. I return to heating and pressing and thankfully, the result is a seated band with a few battle scars along the way! When I attempt to rejoin the stem and new banded stummel, I find that increased compression on the shank from the new band has created a tighter mortise/tenon fit. To release some of the tightness of this fit I wrap the tenon with 240 grit paper and rotate it to reduce the size of the tenon but keep it in round. I rotate and test the new fit several times until I get it right. I don’t want to take too much off the tenon and have a loose fit. I get my first look at the reunited stummel and stem and I like what is before me! I take a close-up on the underside of the shank to show the area of the band crimp and repair. I’m satisfied now with the repair job; I will see if I can improve it through the polishing process. Now the fun begins! With stem and stummel united, I begin the polishing phase using Tripoli over stummel and band. I mount the Tripoli wheel in the Dremel’s hand-held extender and power it up at the lowest setting (RPMs) and after purging the wheel with the tightening tool, I light tap the wheel on the Tripoli bar and apply it to the surface. With all the compounds, I do not apply too much vertical pressure to the wheel but allow the speed of the Dremel and compound to do the work. After the Tripoli, I switch to the Blue Diamond wheel and repeat the process above but include the stem as well as stummel and band. After this, I give the pipe a good rub down to remove powder left over from the compounds. With the carnauba wheel mounted (after purging) I apply several applications of carnauba wax then change the Dremel to a clean wheel and buff the entire stem and stummel. I complete the polishing with a brisk buff with a micromesh cloth to bring out the depth of the briar even more.

I learned three new skills to put in my tool box – making and applying Pipe Mud, rescuing a botched band mounting, and repairing a tooth hole using a charcoal super glue putty. Not bad. I’m very pleased with this ‘No Name Calabash’. The honey-colored briar is stunning as it flows through the stummel – the depth of the grain almost appears 3-dimensional. The band is a nice addition – it dresses it up, like putting on a tux. I trust that this pipe finds a good home. Thank you for joining me!

This Poor Old Kaywoodie Chesterfield had seen better days

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I received an email from Jim, the same fellow who sent me the Yello-Bole that I refurbished for him. I wrote about it in an earlier blog (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/11/10/breathing-life-into-a-huge-kbb-yello-bole-3068c-bent-billiard/). I have included the gist of his email and the photos he sent me because any of us who try our hand at pipe repair have found ourselves in similar situations. One simple thing going wrong can quickly compound into a second and a third thing going wrong and leave you with a mess on a pipe that at first glance should have been a simple cleanup.

“So I have a Kaywoodie Chesterfield pipe – the first pipe I ever obtained – and it is in need of serious attention. I bought it at Barclay’s in Upper Arlington, Ohio from their Estate Pipe display, and I really like the pipe. However, about three days ago, I was cleaning it, and got a tapered pipe cleaner stuck in the bit. As I was pulling the cleaner through, the thicker end jammed itself well inside the bit as I attempted to draw the thinner end through the lip. I apparently pulled too hard, and the end of the pipe cleaner broke off, leaving the remainder of the cleaner fully trapped in the bit. In my idiocy, I tried various strategies to dislodge the cleaner which eventually led to my doing further damage to the bit in the form of a split down the center of the underside of the stem latitudinally.”

“…I know this particular pipe is not terribly valuable or even rare. However, I am kind of a sap, and the pipe has a measure of sentimental value in that it is the first pipe I got, and I picked it because it reminded me of the pipes my dad smoked when I was a kid. I am hoping you can give me some good news in the form of a means to remedy my stupidity.”

He sent the next three photos to show me his pipe and his travail. The first is one of the overall view of the pipe. Though it is hard to see in this photo the bowl has some very nice grain. I will take some pictures of the bowl and the finished pipe once I have finished the repair.He took a photo of the end of the shank. His caption read: “You cannot see the thicker end of the pipe cleaner because it’s stuck way in there…” Indeed the pipe cleaner was stuck in the stem. It was jammed in the stem 1 ½ inches from the button with a bit showing through the jagged split in the stem and about two inches in from the shank end of the stem.The last photo he sent shows the underside of the stem with this caption: “….And this is what you get when a dummy tries to ameliorate a situation that is beyond his ken.” It was a jagged split that looked awful in the photo below.I had him send the pipe to me so that I could see what could be done. A stem repair in its own right that large is a fair bit of work but it could be done. The pipe cleaner jammed in the airway was an altogether different issue. I needed to have a look to see what I could come up with to remove the jam from the airway in the stem. I could not be sure until I saw it and tried.

The package arrived in Canada a few days ago and I opened it to find he had included the large Yello-Bole that I mentioned above and the damaged Chesterfield. The Chesterfield is actually a stunning pipe. The grain on the bowl, the finish and the nickel ferrule all combine to make a beautiful pipe. The bowl was in great shape and required no cleaning or repairs – just a buff to polish it. I can certainly see why Jim was attached to it. He was willing to have a new stem fit to the shank but I really wanted to see if the original Kaywoodie stem could be salvaged.

I took the next series of photos to show the damage to the stem underside. I needed to straighten the stem out to properly work on it. I traced the angle of the curve on the back of the letter that Jim sent along with the package so that I could recapture it once I finished the repair. I used a dental pick and tweezers to pull as much of the pipe cleaner and wire out of the damaged area on the stem. I found as I worked on the damaged area that several chunks of a small drill bit also fell out giving testimony to one of the ways Jim had tried to remove the jammed pipe cleaner. I was hoping to be able to pull all of it out this way but it continue to break and come out in small pieces until I was unable to reach any more with the pick and the tweezers.

I used a drill bit on my cordless drill and turned the straightened stem onto the bit from the shank end. My thought was that perhaps the drill bit would seize a piece of the pipe cleaner when I backed it out of the stem. It worked to a degree but it would not bring out the last 1 ½ inches of broken pipe cleaner. I was stuck. I needed some time to think through my options and try to figure out how to address the problem. I laid the stem aside and worked on the Yello-Bole while I pondered my next moves with the stem.While I was working on the Yello-Bole I had a thought that maybe putting the stem in the freezer for a bit might work. My thinking was that when I removed it the contraction and expansion of the vulcanite and that of the pipe cleaner would be different enough that the pipe cleaner would drop out of the shank. At least that is what I dreamed would happen. A few days went by and I had some late nights at work and the stem sat in the freezer for a lot longer than I had anticipated. Needless to say when I finally took it out of the freeze it appeared to have made no difference. The pipe cleaner did not simply fall out of the airway as the stem warmed.

I laid it aside for the night and went to sleep. I woke up early this morning with an idea. I straightened a length of paper clip that I used as a punch. I slid it into the button end of the stem carefully past the damaged underside until it hit the jammed pipe cleaner. I used a small furniture tack hammer to tap on the bit of paper clip extending above the button. I tapped it maybe four or five times and I felt it begin to give. Encouraged, I tapped it several more times and the pipe cleaner bit fell free of the shank end of the pipe. You can see the broken piece of pipe cleaner below the stem in the next photo. I plugged the damaged area with my thumb and blew through the stem to clear out debris left behind by the pipe cleaner bits. The airway was finally free.I mixed a batch of charcoal powder and black super glue on a patch of cardboard until I had a thick paste. I use activated charcoal capsules for the finely ground charcoal and a medium viscosity super glue for the mixture. I greased a pipe cleaner with Vaseline and slid it into the stem filling in the area on both ends of the damaged spot. I applied the mixture of super glue and charcoal powder to the damaged area with a length of straightened paperclip. I smoothed out the repair with the edge of a paper clip. I sprayed the repair with an accelerator and slid the pipe cleaner out of the airway. I blew through the shank end of the stem and the airway was clear of blockage. I used a clean pipe cleaner to remove the excess Vaseline from the inside of the stem.I used the rest of the mixture to build up the repair and spread it over the surface of the stem, bonding the patch to the solid vulcanite on both sides of the damaged area. The patch was thick and large but I would be able to sand it smooth.Once the patch dried I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out and blend it with the surrounding vulcanite. The next two photos show the repaired area at this point in the process.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. As I worked over the repaired area some of the air bubbles in the mixture of charcoal powder and the glue came to the surface. I have never found them to be big deal as they only need to be lightly filled with clear super glue. I repeated the super glue and sanding process until the patch was smooth. I sanded it with micromesh pads until it shone and after each set of three pads I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. I gave it a final coat of oil after the last set of three pads and set it aside to dry. The following photos show process of how the repaired area gradually smoothed and blended into the rest of the vulcanite. Once the repair was finished and polished I set the stem aside to cure for several hours. I wanted to make sure that the charcoal and black super glue patch was hard. I had visions of it dropping out when I heated the stem and applied pressure to bend it. Once it had hardened bending it was not a problem. I slid a small pipe cleaner into the stem from the button end to keep the airway from collapsing when I bent it. I heated it over a heat gun until the vulcanite was pliable. I bent it to match the pattern on the paper and then cooled it with running water. I repeated the process until I had the right curve to the stem. I buffed the stem and bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel to raise a shine and polish out the scratches. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad on the wheel and hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth. The repair to the underside of the stem is solid and smooth. While the repair is visible under bright light it did not stand out while looking at it with the naked eye. Along with that the repair was fortunately on the underside of the stem in the curve. I think Jim will appreciate the repair and the pipe should serve him well. I look forward to hearing what he thinks of the repair once he has the pipe in hand. Thanks for walking with me through the process.

A Pair of Rainy Day Pipes – More Adventures in Oddities

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

Have you ever heard of Bartlett Pipes? They are rather strange upside down looking pipes in my opinion. My brother sent me this link to a youtube video on the Bartlett pipes. We were both searching for information on the brand as neither of us had heard of them or seen them close up before. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyFfLidMmws&feature=youtu.be

What made the hunt for information regarding this oddity necessary was that my brother had bid on two of these and won both of them on eBay. One of them was NOS (new old stock) and one of them was smoked and well used. In the past I had seen photos and read on the online forums about these pipes but had never really done any research to figure out what they were. They were always a bit of an oddity to me. Either way the stem sat they did not look right and when you removed the cap at the top the airway was almost at the top of the bowl (if the screw on lid was to be considered the top). The angles of the shank and the curve of the stem leads me to think that the capped surface was the top of the bowl. The bottom side of the bowl was a screen that allowed for airflow through the bowl. I am still trying to figure out if you light the pipe from the bottom or the top of the bowl. From what I read on the various online forums and in the articles that I could find I was able to piece together how the pipe functioned. The pipe bowl was open at the top and the bottom. The airway into the shank was near the top opening and led directly to the pipe stem. A polished aluminum cover is screwed onto the threaded briar bowl top and is left in place when the pipe is smoked. At the other end of the bowl there is a screen that covers the bottom opening that keeps the tobacco in the bowl while permitting access to the tobacco to light it. The screen is supposedly fine enough that the ash does not fall out of the bowl into the lap of the smoker. With the cover in place on the top opening, the tobacco is ignited via the screen on the bottom, causing the tobacco to burn from the bottom up. New tobacco may be added at any time by removing the cap from the top of the pipe. It is said that the burning the tobacco from the bottom reduces the moisture that usually collects and thus makes it unnecessary to dry out the bowl between pipes. The bottom lighting also makes lighting the pipe in the wind or rain much simpler.

The next photos show the screened bottom of the two pipes that I was going to work on. The smooth pipe is new and unsmoked the sandblasted pipe is used and you can see some charring around the inner edges on the bottom of the bowl. The bowl bottom on the unsmoked pipe was stained black to minimize the darkening that occurs when the pipe is lit.Both pipes were stamped with the name Bartlett over a Patent Number – 4235252. The stamping on the sandblast version was on the right side of the shank and the one on the smooth was on the left side of the shank. Both stampings were very sharp and legible. The smooth briar pipe was also stamped on the right side of the shank with the work Imported Briar.At this point I wanted to know more about the pipe. It was a brand that I was unfamiliar with. In usual unhelpful fashion I found that the Bartlett Pipe was made by the Bartlett Pipe Company Inc. of Bartlett, NH (which I assume is New Hampshire).

On the Pipesmokers Forum I found some interesting information from a friend of the inventor of the pipe. Here is the link to the conversation on that website. http://pipesmokersforum.com/community/threads/an-interesting-surprise.46690/

Adam Hirshan comments: “A friend of mine invented and patented a revolutionary smoking pipe that lights from the bottom. A major manufacturer saw the promise and bought the idea 15 years ago, but it never took off. My friend got the patent back a few years ago and we’ve developed a new rock maple version that we call The Freedom Smoking Pipe.”

“It smokes cool and easy. A stainless steel screen holds the tobacco and ash in place – nothing falls out. No moisture or resin accumulate in the bowl. A cork and leather top makes it wind and rain proof.”

“We had initial success wholesaling through a well-known distributor. We were in about 100 tobacco shops nationwide, and appeared in the Levin catalog. Response from our early customers was strong – most loved it, some hated it. Then interest dropped off and left us wondering what happened.”

I did some more digging and found some information on the Dr. Grabow Collectors Forum. Here is the link: http://drgrabows.myfreeforum.org/viewcardtopic.php?t=1236

I quote: “I was asked what I thought about my Bartlett pipe and figured I’d start a new topic. If you don’t know what it is, it’s the ‘Upside down pipe’. The history as I know it is there have been 3 variations. It was invented in the 70’s. Sparta picked up the rights and produced them in the 80’s for 8-10yrs. Didn’t take off. Rights were returned to the inventor. Seems they are no longer produced. (ed. This seems to go along with the information from Adam Hirshan in the above comment).”

The quote goes on with an interesting reference to the Sparta example of the pipe: “Mine has a red stain, and the chain to hold the cap. My stem is from a junk pipe I had. The weirdest thing is not seeing the baccy burn. First smoke required a tamp halfway through and the bowl got dang hot! Second time out, the pack was perfect. One light, no tamp. Just weird not tending the bowl like normal…….Guess this is why the never went anywhere.”

I was also able to find the patent information for US Pat.4235252. Interestingly it read much like an earlier paragraph that I pieced together regarding the pipe. Here is the document in full. First the written description and then the drawings of the pipe. It read that “the patent was for a smoking pipe having improved smoking characteristics. The smoking pipe includes a bowl having top and bottom openings and a breather hole near the top opening and in communication with a pipe stem. A cover assembly is attached to the bowl adjacent to the top opening and covers the top opening when the pipe is to be smoked. A retainer having a screen cooperates with the bottom opening for retaining smoking tobacco within the bowl while permitting access to the tobacco for the ignition thereof. The retainer may also be removed from its position relative to the bottom opening for the removal of ashes. Tobacco is inserted into the bowl via either opening, but preferably via the top opening and to a level just below the breather hole. With the cover assembly covering the top opening, the tobacco is ignited via the screen of the retainer, causing combustion of the tobacco in a bottom-to-top fashion. New tobacco may be added to existing tobacco via the top opening and ashes may be removed via the bottom opening, even as the smoking process takes place. The bottom-to-top combustion minimizes puddling of tobacco juices or the requirement of drying out periods and facilitates lighting the pipe in the presence of wind, rain, etc. The lack of obstruction of the breather hole by the presence of tobacco results in a smooth draw with the generation of a substantial, satisfying volume of smoke.” (ed. On the two pipes I have the screen on the bottom is not removable and the top is a threaded aluminum cap.) My brother took some photos of the sandblast version of the pipe that shows the shape but also interestingly shows a hidden benefit. When he removed the cap from the top of the bowl the bowl was already filled with a broken flake tobacco. Unfortunately it was dry and crumbled to dust when he cleaned out the bowl. My brother cleaned and reamed the smoked sandblast pipe and cleaned out the dust from the unsmoked smooth one. He scrubbed the briar with Murphy’s Oil Soap and cleaned out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem. The stems on both pipes were lightly oxidized and on the smoked pipe there was a small tooth dent on the top of the stem near the button. I took the following photos to show what the pair looked like when I brought them to my work table. He did a great job cleaning up the aluminum caps on both the inside and the outside. He also cleaned up the thread on the top of both bowls allowing the caps to screw on easily.He cleaned the screen on the smoked pipe with cotton swabs and alcohol until it looked as good as the unsmoked pipe. The inner edge of the rim on the bottom of the bowl was charred and showed some wear and tear from lighting the pipe from the bottom. I think one of the draw backs on this pipe is not being able to see the flame hitting the tobacco. The rim on this bowl shows significant rim damage.I took close up photos of the stems to show the light oxidation – it is not deep in the vulcanite and the overall condition of the stems. The stem on the sandblast pipe had a small pinprick tooth mark on the top of the stem. I have circled it in red on the first photo below.I took some photos of each of the pipes before I cleaned them up. They really were in pretty decent shape. There were some rough spots on the bottom of the bowl around the inner edge of the rim but it looked to be original. The smooth briar is new and has a shiny varnish coat that I decided to leave as the pipe is NOS. It was interesting to me to note that the bottom of the bowl was stained with a flat black stain on the new pipe so when I restored the smoked version I would match them. The sandblast is also in really good shape other than the inner edge of the bottom rim on the bowl. On both pipes the aluminum cap was in perfect condition on both the inside and the polished outside of the cap. I took photos of the pipes with the covers removed and the bowl tilted to give some idea of what the inside of the bowl looked like. It really is no more than a tube with a cap on one end and a screen on the other end. I used the topping board on the damaged bottom of the bowl. I topped it (or maybe bottomed it is more appropriate) until the damage was removed.The small crevices that had opened around the inner edge of the bowl were not really cracks but rather areas that had burned with the heat of the flame. I filled them with briar dust and super glue to make them smooth and then retopped the bowl to smooth them out. I stained it with a black aniline stain and touched it up after sanding the repairs.I sanded the two stems with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation on the surface of both stems. I used a spot of clear super glue to fill in the tooth mark and sanded the repaired area smooth to match the surface of the stem. I polished both stems with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. After the last pad I gave it a final rubdown with the oil and set it aside to dry. I took a photo of the pipes and stems before I took them to the buffer to show what they looked like at this point in my restoration.Here are some photos of the bowls from a variety of angles. There is a nice blasé and some pretty grain – they are a nice pair of pipes. I buffed the pipes with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and then gave the stems several coats of carnauba wax. I gave the sandblast bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and left the varnish coat alone on the smooth briar bowl. I buffed both pipe with a clean buffing wheel to raise a shine. I hand buffed them both with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a unique piece of pipe and tobacco history. It certainly speaks of the inventiveness of pipesmokers who are perpetually looking for the better and drier smoke. Thanks for taking this journey through the restoration and the history of the Bartlett pipe.

Breathing new life into a Unique PHM System Pipe with a Horn Stem

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

My brother first sent me the picture below of this old pipe to see what I thought of it. There was something intriguing about it from my first look. I looked at the eBay ad and all of the pictures included and told him we should go for it. I don’t recall ever seeing a pip this shape with the horn stem and the matching horn button on the bottom of the bowl. It certainly looked like it was a nice piece of briar underneath the grime of age. The horn stem looked to be in good shape overall with no splits or cracks. The horn button on the bottom of the bowl also appeared to be in good shape. The briar had no burns or serious damage to the rim or the edges of the bowl. The band was in decent shape with no dents of dings. The chunky look of the stem and the shank attracted me to the pipe. The striations of colour on the stem showed promise of looking great once buffed and polished. He bid on it and won.When Jeff received the pipe he took the following photos before he started cleaning it up. You can see some of the issues that I will need to address in the cleanup and restoration. The overall condition of the pipe is fine. The briar was very dirty and the rim and bowl had a thick, dark and oily cake that overflowed onto the top of the bowl. If you look closely at the photos of the entire pipe you will also see some damage to the horn stem. There are tooth marks on the top and underside near the button and there are some divots out of the left side of the stem.He took some close up photos of the rim and bowl. You can see the cake in the bowl and the overflow of lava on the rim top. It is hard to tell if there is damage to the inner edge of the rim at this point due to the buildup but there could be. There is some wear on the outer edges at the front of the bowl.The close up photos of the stem shows the tooth marks and the divots out of the left side. Both of these will need to be addressed in the restoration.The brass coloured band has a small diamond shaped stamp on it that is aligned on the right side. It has some kind of stamping inside the diamond but even with a light and a magnifier I am unable to read it.The PHM stamp in the oval on the left side of the shank is the only stamping on the pipe. I have hunted high and low for information on the brand and can find nothing. The shape and design of the pipe and stem make me think it is quite old and probably British made but I cannot be certain. Can any of you help identify the maker for me?It is hard to see in the photos but the airway in the bowl is at the bottom of the bowl. The horn cap on the bottom of the bowl is removable and it was hollowed into a bowl to catch the moisture from the burning tobacco. The airway into the shank is in the area where the cap screws into the bowl. The area acts as a bit of a cooling chamber for the smoke that is drawn into the airway allowing the moisture to collect in the horn bowl before wending its way into the airway in the shank of the pipe. When my brother unscrewed the cap the chamber inside was extremely dirty with tars and oils. The buildup was quite thick on both the inside of the hollowed out cap and the inside of the chamber/trap it screwed into.He removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the shank end. The brass band turned out to be more of a ferrule that wrapped the shank end. The drilling on the airway in the mortise was at a steep angle into the shank so you can see a small divot at the bottom edge of the shank. The tenon/stinger was bone and was shaped like a nipple that sat against the entrance of the airway in the bottom of the mortise.My brother scrubbed the externals of the bowl, reamed and cleaned out the internals. He said that the insides would take more work once I got it as they were very dirty. I took photos of the pipe when it arrived in Vancouver and I brought it to the work table. He had cleaned up the stem inside and out and the tooth marks and divots were ready to repair.He had been able to remove all of the cake in the bowl and it revealed the airway at the bottom of the bowl. He also cleaned the rim of the entire lava overflow. It would need to be lightly topped to remove the damage to the inner edge of the rim. He had scrubbed the reservoir under the horn plug on the bottom of the bowl but it would need a lot more work to rid it of all of the thick oils and tars accumulated there.I took a photo of the dismantled pipe to give an idea of the components and the size of the pipe. It is not a big pipe but the bowl is large for the overall size.I wiped down the tooth marks and divots on the side of the stem with a cotton pad dampened with alcohol to remove any remaining debris. I filled them in with clear super glue – slightly overfilling them to ensure that once the glue cured there would be enough for a smooth finish once sanded.While the stem glue cured I worked on cleaning out the reservoir/trap at the bottom of the bowl and inside of the cap. I used cotton swabs and alcohol to clean the area out and it took a lot of finicky cleaning to get all of the nooks and crannies clean. I also cleaned out the airway from the trap into the shank with bristle and regular pipe cleaners.I lightly topped the bowl on the topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damaged rim surface but not to change the overall shape or flow of the bowl. I sanded it with micromesh sanding pads -1500-4000 grit to remove the scratches left behind by the sandpaper on the topping board. I cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until they came out clean and the pipe smelled fresh.I wiped down the exterior of the bowl with acetone to remove any grit and dirt that I had transferred during the interior cleanup.I used European Gold Rub’n Buff to restore the stamping on the shank. I applied it with a cotton swab and let it sit for a moment before rubbing off the excess with a clean swab. The restored stamping can be seen in the second photo below. The bottom edge of the stamp was not as deep as the rest of the stamp so I was not sure if that area would retain the gold.By this time the glue repairs on the stem had cured. I sanded them smooth with the surface of the stem using 220 grit sandpaper. For some reason the clear glue brings out a white spot in each repaired area – it may be a reaction of the horn to the glue. I will minimize those as I polish the stem but they will remain.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rub horn stems down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads to give life to the horn. I gave it a final coat of oil after sanding with the 12000 grit pad. I set the stem aside to dry. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and hand buffed it with a shoe brush. I would also buff it on the buffer but I wanted to see where things were at this point. Were there any areas on the bowl sides or top that I needed to do more work on to ensure that it would have a smooth finish. I worked a little more on the horn cap on the bottom of the bowl and on a few of the nicks on the sides of the bowl using 1500-4000 grit micromesh sanding pads. Once I was satisfied with the look and feel of the pipe I buffed it with Blue Diamond on the wheel being careful around the stamping. I buffed the stem with the polish as well to raise a shine and further blend in the repairs. I gave the bowl and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed them with a clean buffing pad. I finished by hand buffing the pipe with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. You will note that I did not stain the bowl at all. The rich patina is merely the wax working with the natural colour of the briar. This pipe is an oddity and a beauty. It was well worth the effort in my opinion. Thanks for walking with me through this process.

Restemming and Restoring a GBD Speciale Billiard

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I decided to take a break from working on restoring the estate lot that I was given and turned my attention to one of the pipes I found on my recent trip to Southern Alberta. I have written about that pipe hunt previously. You can read about it at this link: https://rebornpipes.com/2016/10/07/a-great-day-pipe-hunting-in-southern-alberta/. The pipe was an older GBD billiard with a sterling silver band bearing hallmarks. They were hard to read through the oxidation. I found this pipe in a small antique shop in Nanton, Alberta. The clerk/owner lifted a cased pipe from a shelf – a nice black leather case with a dark blue lining. She opened the case and on the inside of the case top there was a GBD in an oval logo over Speciale stamped in gold. The bowl in the case also bore the same stamping. The stem was missing and the clerk told us the sad story of how someone had stolen the stem and left the pipe behind. The pipe was marked at $35 but since the stem was missing I asked her what her best price was for the pipe. She let it go for $25 and said to have fun fitting a new stem on the bowl. I added my second pipe to my hunt kit. It is shown circled in red in the photo below – the first pipe on the left side of the photo.When I started working on it I took some photos of the pipe when I started the cleanup. The finish was actually very good. The rim had a thick coat of tars and oil built up flowing out of the bowl and onto the top. The bowl had a thin cake in it. The left side of the shank was stamped GBD in an oval with Speciale below. It matched the stamping on the inside lid of the case. The silver band was oxidized but I could see the GBD logo in and oval over Speciale. The band was original. There were also some hallmarks that would have to be read once I removed the oxidation. There was no other stamping on the pipe or band. The inside of the case was undamaged but had a lot of dust and specks of debris in it.I took the bowl from the case and took photos of it before I cleaned it up. I had a yellow Bakelite stem that would work with the pipe both in terms of age and also in terms diameter matching the shank. I would need to replace the tenon in the stem as it was too small in diameter to fit in the shank. I had a Delrin tenon that would work once I had removed the metal tenon from the stem. I used a drill bit to clean up the inside of the shank. I twisted the shank onto the drill bit by hand and cleaned it out.I heated the metal threaded tenon with a lighter and was able to unscrew it from the stem. I drilled out the mortise in the stem to fit the threaded end of the Delrin tenon. Once I had it drilled out I used a tap to thread the inside of the mortise in the stem. I painted the stem with slow drying super glue and twisted it into the stem. The stem was in decent shape other than tooth marks in the surface at the button and the edge of the button was worn. I filled in the tooth dents with some amber super glue that I recently purchased from Stewart MacDonald. Once it had dried I used a needle file to redefine the sharp edge of the button and sanded the surface of the stem with 220 grit sandpaper. I sanded the stem until the surface matched the surrounding stem area. The repairs show in the photos as slightly darker than the yellow of the stem.I scrubbed the rim with cotton pads and saliva to soften the tars and oils. I scraped it with a pen knife to remove the buildup and scrubbed it again. I was able to remove all of the rim build up without damaging the finish on the rim top.To clean off the band I scrubbed it with a tarnish remover and polish on cotton pads. I was able to clean off all of the tarnish and bring the hallmarks to light on the band. Using a small penlight and a lens I was able to clearly read them. They read as follows GBD in an oval over Speciale over the following hallmarks in shields: [anchor] [lion] [l], AO (assay office Birmingham). The AO on the front of the stamp was the Assay Office; the Anchor identifies the city as Birmingham, England; the lion passant is the symbol for 925 Sterling Silver and the “l” giving the date of the pipe. The silver shone brightly and distinctively on the shank end. I looked on-line for the hallmarks and found a great chart. It showed the hallmarks for silver work made from 1883-1949. The date hallmark “l” on the pipe I had matched the one in the chart below for 1910. I have circled it in red. I now knew that the pipe I had was made in 1910.After the glue dried on the new tenon on the stem I pushed it in place in the shank and took the following photos. I liked the look of the pipe. The only thing that would have made it better would be to have an amber stem to use. This will do while I keep an eye out for an amber one that fits well. I cleaned out the mortise and the airway in the shank and stem with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol until it was clean. The pipe cleaners and alcohol cleaned out a lot of the black darkening in the airway in the stem.I sanded the stem repairs with 220 grit sandpaper to further define the button and try to blend the repairs. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit sanding pads. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I used a black Sharpie pen to touch up the scuff marks on the surface of the case. The clasp on the side of the case is a brass GBD logo that when pressed allows access to the inside of the case.I cleaned out the inside of the case with a damp cloth and was able to remove all of the debris from the inside of the case. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel taking care to not overheat the Bakelite stem as that would cause it to melt and be disfigured. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is one that will stay with me while I look for an amber stem that fits the pipe. Thanks for looking.

Rejuvenating a Peterson’s System Pipe 1314

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I wrote about the first two pipes from an estate lot that I was tasked to clean up and sell on two previous blogs at https://rebornpipes.com/2016/10/25/this-favourite-gbd-marquis-752-was-a-mess-not-any-more/ and https://rebornpipes.com/2016/10/26/rescuing-a-petersons-english-made-203-billiard/ For those who have not read it yet here is the story. About a month ago a friend of mine, Richard who has a tobacco shop here in Vancouver gave me a call and asked me to stop by for a visit. I went on a Sunday afternoon and we visited for a while. At the end of the visit he took me to another counter in his shop and brought out some display cases of pipes – four of them and a small bag. He told the story to me. An elderly gentleman who was a customer of his had died and his wife had stopped by and gave him the fellow’s pipes. She wanted nothing for them she just wanted him to get them cleaned up and sold to folks who would appreciate them. Richard is a reader of the blog and he thought that I would have fun cleaning these up and selling them. As we went through the display cases and bag I was pretty pumped about the collection. There were some really nice GBD pipes, Comoy’s, Stanwells, Peterson’s as well as some brands I was not familiar with.

The third pipe I chose to work on was a Peterson’s System Pipe. It was stamped on the left side of the shank Peterson’s System Standard. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland and the shape number 1314. The stamping is clear and sharp. The finish is in decent shape with a medium brown stain over flame and straight vertical grain. There is a light, uneven cake in the bowl that had spilled over the rim. There is thin cake in the bowl and some darkening on the rim. There are tooth marks on the top and bottom side of the stem near the button. There is no P stamping on the P-lip stem but it appears to be an original not a replacement. There is calcification from a softee bit on the stem and button. There are several deeper tooth marks and chatter on the top and bottom side of the stem ahead of the P-lip. The button itself was in good shape with a small tooth mark on the top at the sharp edge.

Here are some photos of the pipe when I started cleaning it. The pipe has good lines and some interesting grain underneath the grime. I took some close up photos of the rim and the stamping to show the condition of the bowl. The rim had some darkening and it was slightly out of round. It looked as if it had been reamed with a knife and the inner edge of the bowl had nicks along the back edge. There was a light cake in the bowl and some shreds of tobacco at the bottom of the bowl. The stamping was readable though light in some places. The stem was lightly oxidized but there were some deep tooth marks on the top and the underside underneath the calcification and the oxidation on the button end. The sharp edge of the p-lip was worn and would need to be sharpened.I reamed the bowl with a Savinelli Pipe Knife to clean out the light cake and the debris. I took the cake back to bare briar. I sanded the bowl with a rolled piece of 220 grit sandpaper on my finger to clean up any remaining cake. I scrubbed the top of the rim with cotton pads and saliva and then lightly sanded it with 3200 grit micromesh to polish off the remaining tars.I wiped the bowl down with a light coat of alcohol on a cotton pad to remove the grime in the finish and any sanding dust. I buffed it lightly by hand and took the photos below. There is some nice grain on this old timer the mix of flame and straight grain really stands out and the birdseye on the rim and the bottom of the bowl is quite stunning. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the calcification, oxidation and clean up the tooth chatter. I wiped out the deep tooth marks with a cotton swab and alcohol to get out the dust in them and then filled the divots with black super glue. I set the stem aside to dry while I went to work for the day.When I got home from work I sanded the repairs smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and used a needle file to redefine the sharp edge of the button and underside lip on the stem.I continued to sand the stem with the 220 grit sandpaper until the repairs blended into the surface of the vulcanite and I had removed the oxidation on the remainder of the stem.I worked over the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. After sanding with the 12000 grit pad I gave it a final rubdown with the oil and set it aside to dry. I lightly sanded the bowl and rim with 6000-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads while the stem dried. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond polish on the buffer. I gave the entire pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I finished by hand buffing it with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown below. It is the third of the old gentleman’s estate that I have finished restoring. It is available for sale to anyone who wishes to add it to their collection. The photos below show the finished pipe from a variety of angles. Contact me if you are interested by email at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a message on Facebook. Thanks for walking through this with me.

This favourite GBD Marquis 752 was a mess – not any more

11 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

About a month ago a friend of mine, Richard who has a tobacco shop here in Vancouver gave me a call and asked me to stop by for a visit. I went on a Sunday afternoon and we visited for a while. At the end of the visit he took me to another counter in his shop and brought out some display cases of pipes – four of them and a small bag. He told the story to me. An elderly gentleman who was a customer of his had died and his wife had stopped by and gave him the fellow’s pipes. She wanted nothing for them she just wanted him to get them cleaned up and sold to folks who would appreciate them. Richard is a reader of the blog and he thought that I would have fun cleaning these up and selling them. As we went through the display cases and bag I was pretty pumped about the collection. There were some really nice GBD pipes, Comoy’s, Stanwell as well as some brands I was not familiar with.

The first pipe I chose to work on was a GBD author shaped pipe. It was obviously one of the old gentleman’s favourites. It was very dirty. It was stamped on the topside of the shank with GBD in an oval and next to it MARQUIS. There is also the GBD Oval stamped on the topside of the stem. It is not the brass rondel but is stamped into the vulcanite on the top of the saddle. On the underside of the shank the pipe is stamped St Claude France and the shape number 752. The stamping is clear and sharp. The St Claude France stamp is light on the front part of the name. The finish is in decent shape with a medium brown stain over great straight grain. There is a thick cake in the bowl and over the beveled rim. It is hard to tell if there is rim damage as it is so dirty. There were two large fills on the front of the bowl that follow the grain. They were shrunken and not even with the surface. There is calcification from a softee bit on the stem and button. There are some deep tooth marks on the top and bottom side of the stem near the button.

The following photos show the condition of the pipe when I brought it to the work table. I took following close up photos of the pipe. The first shows the rim with all of its tars and oils. The cake is very thick and hard. The second photo shows the fills on the front of the bowl. The third and fourth photos show the stamping on the top and underside of the shank. The last two photos show the stem and the dents and calcification on the stem near the button. I reamed the bowl with the PipNet pipe reamer starting with the smallest cutting head and worked my way up to the third cutting head which took the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the walls of the bowl with the Savinelli Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl and rim edge with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the interior of the bowl and the inner edge of the rim. I cleaned the slight bevel on the inner edge as well. To clean the tars and lava on the rim I used a sharp pen knife to scrape the debris free of the rim without damaging the rim surface. I scrubbed it with saliva and a cotton pad to remove the oils and tars that remained on the surface.I heated the dents in the stem with a lighter and sanded what remained along with the calcification and tooth chatter with 220 grit sandpaper. I cleaned out the tooth marks with alcohol and a cotton swab and filled in the dents with clear super glue. I set the stem aside to let the glue cure. Once it had cured I sanded the repairs smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads.I wiped down the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the grime on the surface and give some clarity to the grain. The photos below show the bowl at this point in the process. I scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until they were clean.I used European Gold Rub’n Buff to touch up the GBD logo on the stem. I sanded the stem with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. After each set of three pads I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. After sanding with the 12000 grit pad I gave the stem a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. While the stem dried I worked on repairing the fills on the front of the bowl. I decided to just top up the fills rather than dig them out and refill them. I used clear super glue to top up the fills. I over filled them slightly so that when they dried they would not shrink and need a second application of glue. I sanded the repair with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out. I wet sanded the area with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded the entire bowl with 3200-4000 grit pads.I restained the repaired area with a medium and a dark brown stain pen. I streaked the area to look like grain with a black Sharpie pen. I buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond to smooth out the stain and blend it into the rest of the bowl.I lightly buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond once again to polish it. I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth and it was finished. The restored pipe is shown in the photos below. This is the first of about 50 pipes that I received from my friend at the pipe shop. They are all from the same gentleman’s estate and there are some beauties. If you would like to add this one to your rack contact me via email at slaug@uniserve.com or send me a message on Facebook. We will discuss the cost and the shipping. Thanks for looking.

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

2 Replies

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.

An odd assortment of tiny Salesmen’s Pipes

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

Over the past six months or so I have been taking the tiny pipes that my brother has sent and stack them to the side of the desk in a “maybe someday” pile. That is a pile that I might work on some day – you know what I mean kind of a cast of pipe pile. Finally last evening I was looking at them again. It may have been triggered by the refurbish I just did on the little KBB Yello-Bole bent billiard that refurbished recently (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/10/08/a-living-tiny-kbb-yello-bole-salesmans-pipe/). I am not sure but whatever it was I picked up the three pipes that were in the pile. The first was a rusticated bent billiard that looks like an old WDC System pipe. It is stamped Well Pipe over Italy on a smooth portion of the left side of the shank. The second one was a straight prince shaped pipe that was stamped Tom Thomb over Imported Briar on the left side and top of the shank. The third was a very unique pipe made of Bakelite I believe. It is a tiny carved figural head of a man who looks like a page. It is stamped Bob’er on the left side of the shank. On the neck and chin of the figural it was stamped on the left side Reg.US.Pat.Off and on the right side neck and chin Des.Pat. 71062. I took two photos of the group of three pipes as they were when I started.The first pipe, the Well Pipe was a fascinating little fellow. It is 3 ½ inches long, 1 ½ inches tall and the diameter is 1 inch. The chamber diameter is ½ inch. Proportionally, the pipe is very nicely done. The metal rim is oxidized. The bowl had a light cake that my brother had taken out. The stem was cast rubber with a typical P-lip type stem though the airway is directly in the end. The stem was chewed and there was a chunk out of the side of the stem below the button on the left side.I took some close up photos of the stamping on the side of the shank and the condition of the stem. The bowl and stamping were in great shape. The nickel band was dirty and oxidized. The stem has a chunk missing out of the end of the stem. I have circled it in in red.The second pipe, the Tom Thomb prince was in decent shape. The bowl had a light cake that my brother reamed before sending it to me. The finish was peeling off the bowl on the right side and the bottom of the bowl. The rim had a tar buildup and some cake over flow. It is 4 inches long, 1 inch tall and the diameter is 1 inch. The chamber diameter is ½ inch. Proportionally, the pipe is very nicely done. The vulcanite stem was oxidized and there were two blisters on the top and bottom left side ahead of the button. I took a close up photo of the rim to show the condition and the stamping to show its location on the shank. You can also see the oxidation in the vulcanite stem.The third pipe was the unique pipe Bakelite figural head of a man. The carved face is quite well done. It is a cast as the pipe has a seam on the top of the stem across the bowl and down the front and underside of the bowl and shank. It is 2 1/2 inches long, 3/4 inch tall and the diameter is 1/2 inch. The chamber diameter is 1/4 inch. The stem and bowl are pristine. The bowl is unsmoked. There is a cross hatched pattern on the shank. The casting is quite well done. I took some close up photos of the stamping on the pipe. The first photo shows the left side shank stamp shows up clearly as Bob’er. The second photo shows the stamping on the left side of the neck and chin of the figural. The Reg.US.Pat.Off. stamping is very clear. The final photo shows the stamping on the right side neck and chin. Again the Des.Pat. 71062. is very clear.I wiped down the bowls with alcohol on cotton pads. I scrubbed the prince with acetone on a cotton pad. I was able to remove the grime and build up on the Well and the Bob’er. The acetone barely dented the surface of the peeling finish on the Tom Thomb.I started working on the stem of the Well pipe. I took a photo of the missing chunk. I cleaned the area with alcohol and then filled it in with black super glue using a tooth pick to place it in the divot.Once the repair had cured I sanded it with 229 grit sandpaper and shaped it with a needle file. I wanted it to match the right side of the stem and look like it had originally. I also shaped the P-lip on the top and bottom sides.I wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. After each set of three pads I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. After the final sanding of the 12000 grit pad I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I buffed the stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond and gave them multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then by hand with a microfibre cloth. The finished Well pipe is shown in the photos below. With the Well Pipe finished I focused on the Tom Thomb prince. I started by sanding out the blisters on the stem. On both the top and the bottom there were blisters on the left side near the button. I forgot to take a photo of the bubbles but after I had started sanding it with 220 grit sandpaper I took the next photo. I sanded out the bubbles and then wet sanded the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit sanding pads. I rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads and let it dry after the last pad. I sanded off the finish on the bowl and shank avoiding the stamping. I wiped it down with acetone on cotton pads to remove the remaining finish. I stained the pipe with Danish Oil and Cherry stain. I buffed the pipe and stem with Blue Diamond on the wheel and gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad and then by hand with a microfibre cloth. The finished Tom Thomb pipe is shown in the photos below. The last pipe, the Bakelite pipe did not take a lot of work. I gave it a coat or Conservator’s Wax and hand buffed it with a shoe brush and a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I thought I would take some photos of the finished lot. The tiny pipes shine with a new sparkle. As I look at them I wonder if this is what they looked like when the salesmen carried to the pipe shops to sell orders for year’s pipes. Thanks for looking.