Tag Archives: Stem repairs

Dr. Grabow Viking Restemmed and Refurbished

Blog by Steve Laug

In my recent EBay purchase of pipe bowls there was a Dr. Grabow Viking metal base minus the stem. I have had several of the Grabow Vikings over the years and cleaned them up and sold them. I have one that is in my regular rotation and it is a great little pipe. This one came with a Dublin shaped bowl and the shank was not bent or damaged. For a long time now I have wanted to try restemming one of these metal pipes and do a write up on the process. This would be the opportunity to do both. The metal bowl base was coated inside with the tobacco lacquer that is often found in old Vikings or Falcons that have been sitting for a long time unused. The aluminum shank was oxidized and dull but would shine up well with a little elbow grease. The finish on the outside of the bowl was not damaged and would be easy to restore. There was a rough broken cake in the bowl and the rim was tarred and caked. As I inspected the bowl I noted that there was also a burned area on the inner rim at the back of the bowl. The first three photos that follow show the condition of the pipe when it arrived on my work table.

My procedure for cleaning an estate pipe is generally the same. I may vary the steps a bit but always cover the same ground in pretty much the same order. On this one I began by working on the bowl. In this case it meant removing the bowl from the pipe. The Viking has screw on bowls that are interchangeable with other Viking bowls (but not with Falcon bowls which have a different thread size and count). I reamed and cleaned the bowl of the old broken cake and picked out the buildup around the hole in the bottom of the bowl using a dental pick. I took apart the base and the inner tube. The tube slipped out easily as it is normally held in place by the stem. I cleaned the tube with pipe cleaners and Everclear and then cleaned out the entrance of the tube into the bowl base. After cleaning that I put the tube back in place. I wanted to plug the hole with it so that I could fill the base with Everclear to soften the lacquer buildup. I soaked it with Everclear and then scrubbed it with cotton swabs once it had softened. The next two photos show the process of cleaning the bowl base and tube.

I sorted through my stem box and found a precast stem for a Canadian. It was a small sized taper that would give me room to work with the diameter and the length that I needed for the right dimensions. I drilled the tenon on the stem blank so that the airway would be large enough to go over the tube at the end of the shank. I turned the tenon with my PIMO tenon turner set to the smallest setting so that I would have little left to remove for a good fit into the hole in the end of the metal shank. The fit involved the tube fitting inside the airway of the tenon and then the tenon itself fitting into the opening on the end of the shank. I used my needle files and emery paper to sand the tenon after I had turned it on the turner. I needed to take it down further for the fit so I used my Dremel with a sanding drum. The next series of seven photos show the process of fitting the stem to the metal shank.

After I had the basic fit as pictured above I decided to work on the out dimensions of the stem to get a smooth flow between the metal shank and the vulcanite stem. I used my Dremel to take down the majority of the excess material that needed to be removed. The next two photos show the stem after I had used the Dremel. It was ready to hand sand at this point in the process.

I sanded the stem with medium grit emery paper to remove the marks from the Dremel and smooth out the angle of the stem from the shank to the button. I also shortened the tenon to get a tight fit on the stem to the shank. It was just a little too long to fit the depth of the hole in the shank. The next series of five photos show the fit to the shank and the first stage of sanding to remove the scratches.

I took the stem back to the Pimo tenon turner and set it a bit deeper to smooth out the portion that goes against the shank. Then I took it back for more sanding to make it fit more tightly against the shank. I moved on to sand with medium grit sanding sponges to continue to make the stem sit correctly on the shank and to remove the scratches remaining on the stem. The next seven photos show the progress on the stem. It is getting close to a good fit and the scratches are less visible. I also wiped down the bowl with acetone and sanded the top of the bowl and the inside edge of the bowl to deal with the burn mark on the back side of the rim.

At this point you can see some of the minor scratches on the aluminum of the shank. These will come out when I use the micromesh sanding pads after the stem is ready. The next series of two photos show the progress of smoothing out the stem with the micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded with 1500, 1800 and 2400 grit sanding pads. Each successive grit gave a deeper shine and polish to the stem surface.

I also wet sanded with 3200 grit micromesh sanding pads. The next two photos show the change in the stem as the shine deepens.

I went on to dry sand with 3600 – 12,000 grit micromesh sanding pads. The next series of photos show the progress in polishing of the stem. To me the final three grits – 6000, 8000 and 12,000 grit – show the most change. The next two photos are selected to show the progress. The first one below is of the stem after sanding with the 4000 grit micromesh. The second photo shows the stem after sanding with the final three grits of micromesh.

Once the stem was polished I used some clear superglue to glue the stem to the shank. I also went on to stain the bowl with an oxblood stain. I applied it and then flamed it and restained and reflamed it. The next four photos show the pipe after staining and before taking it to the buffer. I also used the micromesh to polish the stem and shank.

The final four photos show the finished pipe. I buffed it on the buffer with White Diamond and then gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed with a soft flannel buffing pad to give it a shine.

A Little Czech System Pipe Reborn

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I had this little Czechoslovakian rusticated bowl in my box. I decided it was the day to work on it so I took it from the box and gave it the once over to see what needed to be done. The finish was a bit spotty, and the shiny varnish on it was peeling so I dropped it in an alcohol bath to try to break down the finish. The next three photos show the bowl after I had taken it out of the bath. While it was still wet I used a wire brush and some Everclear to scrub the surface of the bowl to remove the flaking finish and the varnish coat. I also topped the bowl to remove the damage that had been done to it from tapping it out. The fourth picture below shows the topped bowl

I went through my can of stems to find one that would fit. I had a nice p-lip style stem stamped WDC Wellington that came from a pipe of similar size and shape. I was able to sand it a little to make a good fit tight fit to the shank. I cleaned up the stem with micromesh sanding pads 1500-12,000 and then gave the stem a polish with Maguiar’s. I sanded it a final time with the 12,000 grit micromesh before wiping it down with Obsidian Oil. The two photos below show the finished stem.

I restained the bowl with dark brown aniline stain, flamed it, restained and flamed it a second time. The restained pipe is shown in the next two photos. Once it was dry I took it to the buffer and buffed the stem and the bowl with White Diamond.

I brought the pipe back to the work table and gave it multiple coats of the Halcyon II wax as I find it does a great job giving rusticated pipes a nice sheen. I also coated the stem with carnauba wax and hand buffed the entire pipe with a shoe shine brush. The hand buffing brought out a nice shine on the pipe.

Dr Grabow Restoration and Stem Repair

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Blog by Greg Wolford

I picked up this Dr Grabow Freehand at an antique mall about a month ago when I got the Wally Frank that is visible in the photos, too. It was scratched to heck on all the smooth briar and the stem was chewed completely through. But I went ahead and bought it for three reasons:

– I’ve never had a freehand
– I have been wanting to restore a stem with a hole or, in this case, a lot of damage
– I got a pretty decent price
So, I picked it up.

I decided to deal with the bowl first, by stripping it with acetone and soaking it overnight in an alcohol bath; I also put the stem in a OxiClean soak at this time. After removing the bowl from the alcohol bath I then used a brass bristle brush to get all the tar and gunk out of the rusticated top grooves. Then I sanded it to remove all the scratches from the smooth briar and take the old stain off the high points using 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper.Then I used some water based black leather dye on it, getting into the recesses well and wiping of the smooth portions as I went; I wanted to keep that darker contrast in the grooves. After I had it covered to my liking I dried it with the heat gun. Next I went back to 400 grit to take down the high points and smooth areas to remove the small amount of black color from the water based dye. When that looked good to my eye I polished it with 600 grit, wiped it down with 91% isopropyl alcohol on a cotton pad to remove any left over dust and dirt. I heated it with the heat gun again to make sure the briar was good and dry. When it was nice and warm I applied Fiebing’s dark brown spirit-based leather dye, diluted 2:1 with 91% alcohol and flamed it in; I did this twice. The color was a bit too dark now so I wiped the pipe down, taking care to not soak my cotton pad too heavily or get into the recesses too much, with alcohol until it looked right to me. I then set it aside.

When I soaked the bowl in the alcohol bath I also left the stem in a OxiClean soak overnight. I had removed and washed it well before starting on the bowl so it was ready now to work on. I decided to shorten and reshape the stem instead of replacing it or trying to fix the gaping holes. I used a coping saw to cut off the end, saving as much of the stem as I could. The bottom hole had also cracked so it required removing quite a lot of the stem to get most of the crack out. The next step was to grease a pipe cleaner with petroleum jelly and insert it into the stem. I then dripped some Super Glue into the crack and let it set up while I worked on something else.

When I came back to it, the glue was hardened and I was ready to move on to the next step: making a new button. I began this process by scoring a line along the top and bottom of the stem where I wanted the button with a cutoff wheel on my Dremel. After I had the new button laid out, I then started to shape it with various needle files. I began shaping from the button back, forming it into shape with the rest of the stem. This took considerable time to get it even and “natural” looking. When I was satisfied I then began to shape the end of the button.

I shaped the bit with needle files, too, again using several to get the shape right. The first step for this was getting the angle to look right on the top; this didn’t take as long as I expected. I then began to form the bottom of the bit, trying to match the shape of the top as close as I could; this took more time and effort than I’d expected.

Making a new drought hole was something new to me. And was not without its challenges either. I used my needle files, again, to start shaping the new hole, making it a bit taller as well as wider than the hole that was left in the cut off stem. I took the extra time to fan the drought hole, too, partly because I wanted to and partly to see if I could do it. This ended up being some of the most time-consuming and tedious work of the entire project: I needed to make sure I didn’t go too thin in any direction but I wanted the hole to really funnel out well. I am pleased with the results and the way it smokes and would say it was worth the extra time and effort to accomplish it.

After all the shaping I wiped the stem well with alcohol to clean it off for a test fit – to my mouth. The test failed; the bit was too long and too steep. So back to the files I went. I filed, tested, filed, tested a few times until it felt comfortable in my mouth and looked good to me. Now time to get it shiny again.

I began with a fine/medium grit sanding sponge. It worked very well to get in and around the bit to smooth it a bit more and to take out the file marks. I then began wet sanding with grits 220/320/400. At this point I applied some Novus 2 plastic polish. The Novus line come in three grades: 3 – the most course, 2 – the second, and 1 – the final polish. I began using this product on my motorcycle windshield a few years ago and loved it. I have numbers 1 & 2 but have yet to try 3.

After using the Novus, I began with the micro mesh, wet sanding with grits 1500/1800/2400/3200/4000 (I’m not looking at the numbers but I believe that was the correct grit numbers. I applied the Novus 2 again and then polished with micro mesh 6000/8000/12000. Now it was off to the buffer with pipe and stem.

I buffed the pipe several times around with Tripoli to get the color just where I liked it. I then moved onto the white diamond for both the pipe and stem. I took a little extra time on the stem to make sure I fine tuned the button a little more, testing it every so often. After buffing the pipe and stem with white diamond I changed to a metal buffing wheel with blue rouge to polish the metal tenon on the stem; I hate a nicely polished stem that hasn’t has the metal (if there is any) not polished, too.

Several coats of carnauba wax was then applied to both pipe and stem. I did the final buffing with my “mushroom” on my cordless drill. I like the control I have with it and also the fact it’ll reach almost anyplace with little effort. The final touch was to polish the rustication with a soft toothbrush to make sure I didn’t have any wax residue left. There were, and still are, some fills in the pipe but I wasn’t particularly concerned with them. Several are on the shank and it would have been “dicey” to try to fix them without ruining the nomenclature. There was one fill on the side that fell out, presumably from the softening of the putty in the alcohol bath. I missed that one until after I had already started smoking it. If I’d seen it earlier in the process I would have fixed that one but now it’s there for the duration. (I couldn’t get a good focused shot of the finished button.)

New Life for a BBB Short Dog

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I picked up this little BBB Bulldog on EBay and knew it would take some work. In the photo below you can see the cut in the stem – a groove or channel that served as a dental grip for the pipe. It is just in front of the button. There was some minor oxidation on the stem as well. The button had an orific opening (round hole in the button) rather than a slot. The rim and sides of the bowl were dirty and there was some darkening around the edges. The bowl was caked with a thick cake that would need to be reamed. The photo below is the one that was on EBay.

When the pipe arrived it was smaller than I had imagined. No problem there as I like these pocket sized pipes. The stamping on the shank only had the BBB logo in the diamond. No name or other identifying marks were on either side of the shank. The stem did not have the BBB stamp or roundel. The finish was not too bad. The majority of work would need to be done on the rim and the top edges of the bulldog bowl. The stem was going to take some work to get rid of the trough that had been cut in it by a previous owner as a kind of dental bit. The bowl was not as caked as it had appeared in the original picture but had been over reamed and was out of round. The walls at the top appeared to be thinner than normal on a pipe of this shape.

You can see the size of the pipe from the photos above with the ruler. It is four inches long and delicate in the hands. I went to work on the stem first with my needle files and sandpaper to remove the trough on the top of the stem and the underside of the stem. This took some work as it could have radically changed the slope of the stem. I worked to keep the angle looking right from the saddle to the button. It took quite a bit of time to remove the excess vulcanite and reshape the blade of the stem. I sanded the stem smooth and then progressed through the micromesh grits 1500 through 12000. I put it back on the pipe and took it to the buffer and buffed it with White Diamond until it shone. Then I removed the stem and set it aside while I worked on the bowl.

The bowl needed most of the work on the area of the rim and the edges following down the bowl. There was lava and also darkening. I worked on the rim and the darkening with acetone on a soft cloth. It removed the majority of the darkening and grime. I decided to top the bowl minimally to smooth out the surface. I chamferred the inner rim with a folded piece of sandpaper to minimize the chatter from the over reaming. The pipe was given a coat of medium brown aniline stain, flamed and then buffed gently with White Diamond. The entirety was given multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed with a soft clean flannel buff. The final picture below has a Canadian penny included to give an idea of size. This will be helpful to those who are familiar with US and Canadian money. To others who are not you can refer to the photos above with a ruler. This is a nice little pipe that smokes very well. It also fits nicely into a coat pocket or shirt pocket!

Polishing Stems (PART 1) Piet Binsbergen

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I have had some questions about polishing stems.

I must warn that I will not be held responsible for any damage you may cause to pipes following this method. The process is relatively fail safe but certain circumstances that may be beyond my control, I simply cannot be held accountable for. I do suggest that you do a couple of trial runs using old or broken stems before you attempt this process with your beloved birth year Dunhill.

I will share with you my process. Please bear in mind that there are many ways to skin this cat, this is my way of doing things but this does not mean that I reject any other processes that other pipe repairman use.

I use two approaches. Firstly it is important when doing up a pipe to try and save the stems at all costs. So process 1 involves cleaning and polishing stems that have tarnished.

Secondly, especially when it comes to hotrods, I use pre-moulded stems. I am able to hand cut stems from rod stock but I find the process way to involved and time consuming for what I am doing. Call me a cheat but I find this works really well for me. My preferred medium is vulcanite and ebonite but I do not turn down Lucite stems if they come my way. Lucite is problematic in the sense that it has little give and little room for error. On the up side of it Lucite does not tarnish.

Part 1

Saving Original stems

As most of you know vulcanite is compressed rubber, the same stuff your car tyres are made of to a point. This rubber is just compressed way more. I have found different qualities of the stuff over the years and have notice some being more superior to others.

I do not have much to add here due to the fact that Steve Laug is doing some ground breaking work with regards to original stem repair. He manages to remove teeth marks and patch holes in bits. I have studied his technique but will need to pick his brain a little more before I perfect this process. For me, as soon as a stem has a hole in the bit, I replace it with a pre-moulded stem. (This process of his is archived on this blog.) I love tapered stems. There seems to be more ‘meat’ to work with and more ‘meat’ means there is room to open up the draft holes, file out teeth marks and restore the stem as good as new. Saddle stems prove to be a bit of a challenge due to the fact that there is not much room to move.

Most stems look like this, and believe me these are good ones!

What I usually do is drop them into a bleach bath. Household bleach does the trick for me. Here in RSA I use a product called ‘Domestos ‘.

WARNING: Be sure to coat the tenon and nomenclature (If any, like say the GBD rondelle) with Vaseline (Petroleum Jelly).

This protects the stem material from coming into contact with the bleach. If you do not do this you will end up needing to resize the tenon as the bleach may eat away at it. As soon as the needed parts are coated, I drop the stem into the bleach. It will bubble a little and you will immediately notice the liquid turning brown. Depending on the extent of tarnish and the quality of the vulcanite will depend how long I leave the stem in the bleach. A good average for me is 20 min.

Below is a picture of the stem in the bleach for a minute or so. It looks scary I know, but it works.

Remove the stem from the bleach and rinse in warm water. Wipe off the Vaseline from the tenon. This process has an added bonus as it tends to eat the muck out of the draft hole in the process.

PROBLEM: But fear not. If you draw on the stem you will taste 2 things. Firstly, you are going to get a strong taste of bleach, secondly, you may taste the left overs from the ghosting of the previous owners blend. If it were aro’s you will really taste it. This is easy to get rid of.

The next step involves scrubbing out the daft hole. I use bristle brushes and bristle pipe cleaners. If I choose to open the stem to my preferred 4mm, I do it at this stage.

Interesting Observation: I have had clients complain that a pipe ghosts flavours of tobacco even when the bowl has been well refinished. Did you know that vulcanite is porous and will hold the ghost in the same way the bowl does. If you do not believe me remove a stem from an old pipe and draw on it, you will taste the ghost! The bleach bath cures this problem to a point. Further manual scrubbing aids the removal of the ghost.

The picture below shows how much dirt and grime is loosened and scrubbed out of the draft hole during this process.

In order to remove all ghosting of tobacco, bleach and in order to sanitize the stem, I soak the stem in alcohol for an hour. I use Isopropyl alcohol (96%). Now this stuff is poisonous in a big way if ingested but research has proven that as soon as it has evaporated it is harmless. This is the same stuff used by hospitals to clean and sanitize operating theatres and equipment so go figure. After an hour remove the stem from the alcohol bath and rinse with clean water.

Here is a picture of the colour of the alcohol once the stem has come out a soaking for an hour.

Notice the stem may turn white, light green or matte black depending on the type of vulcanite used by the manufacturer. I have noticed that most Peterson stems for example turn white. If you draw on the stem at this stage will taste nothing. I will be as good as new.

Sanding and polishing: You may notice the following, the stem may be smooth with colouration or it may look matt black and be rough textured. Start sanding. I use 400 and work my way up to 800 grit sand paper. This is a time consuming process, do not take any short cuts here. The last thing you want is a stem with a high polish that is full of surface scratches.

By the time I reach 800 grit I move to the buffer. I use Tripoli (Brown wax) which is equivalent to 800 grit sand paper and move onto White Diamond which is the same as 1200 grit. If you do not own a buffer, you can still get the same finish but the process will just take longer as you will hand sand up to 1200 grit and beyond.

The pictures below show the buffing process. Note that the picture of the stem on the right is not the finished product but shows what the stem looks like after buffing.

By this stage the stem should shine and you should be able to see your reflection in the material. If not revert back to sanding, you have taken short cuts!

Depending on the type of material, as vulcanite differs in hardness, I continue hand sanding with 1500, 1800, and finally 2000 grit. Here you may notice the stem may start to dull a bit. The final polishing stages involves Brillo, or what we call Silvo here in RSA. Silvo is a jewellery polish. Polishing is now done by hand using a soft duster cloth.

Finally, and you may laugh, but, I use tooth paste as the final step. This is a trick I learnt from a flute maker who high polish silver. Think about it, it really is quite logical. Toothpaste is a fine, very fine, rubbing compound. This process is also done by hand using a soft duster cloth.

A final word of advice: Vulcanite is light and air sensitive. The more light the faster the tarnishing process will start. To avoid further tarnishing I run the stem including the bowl over a slow spinning buffer using carnauba wax. This forms a protective layer on the vulcanite keeping the oxidation process at bay. When done smoking your pipe, wipe the bit clean with a soft cloth. Saliva (Ph levels) mixed with the smoke is what makes pipes so yukky around the bit area. My stems are always clean and oxidation free. Besides standard cleaning after smoking I run the stem over the buffer to seal them up again from time to time.

Here are a couple of pictures to wet your stem polishing appetite. These are a herd of refurbished GBD that belong to “Muddler”. Stems can look better than new if you take the time and put in the effort.

A Peterson Kildare.

Before and after

Good Luck and enjoy!

Resurrecting a Barling “Fossil” – Gan Barber

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When I put this Barling away in my ‘Lazarus’ box, I thought that it might be from the Early Transition period, and therefore made from the last of that century old Algerian briar that Barling’s were famous for. I had not looked carefully at the nomenclature obscured beneath the grime. Noting that it was a Barling’s, I stored it away, looking forward to the opportunity to smoke from a piece of classic wood.

When I pulled it out and inspected the markings I was disappointed to find it had all the earmarks of a post transition period pipe. The Barling was in script, the model number had four digits, and T.V.F was stamped on the shank. Further, the bowl was not particularly well carved and there were several major fills – something you would never find on a Pre-transition family era pipe. Oh well. I decided to proceed with the refurb anyways.

I pulled a beautifully grained twin bore saddle bit Canadian from a drawer of miscellaneous pipes that I randomly smoke. It has no maker’s name, and is simply marked “France” 255. What a great smoker. Dry and sweet, it sang with the sample of Rincon De LA Pipe No. 1 sent to me compliments of 4noggins Tobacco. So, what’s in a name? You just never know…..

The pipe was in poor condition, having been snapped at the bowl junction where the shank was very thin.

The airway was also drilled off center, which may have contributed to the break.

Dirt and grime aside, the bowl chamber was not scorched or heavily caked. The stem had some tooth marks, but was more dirty than oxidized.

The bowl and shank were placed in my trusty container of 91% Isopropyl alcohol (99% is hard to fine in my neck of the woods) and left to soak for several hours. Meanwhile, the stem went into a bath of Oxy-Clean for 30 minutes, mostly to loosen any residual tars in the airway. Once soaked, pulling several bristle cleaners through the airway was all that was needed to clean out the gunk. After wet scrubbing the exterior with synthetic 0000 wool and Oxy-Clean, the stem was set aside to dry.

Once the bowl was done soaking, I cleaned the small amount of cake from the bowl with my Senior reamer, dipping the bowl in the bath to rinse out the bits and pieces that came free. Next, the exterior surfaces were scrubbed with the synthetic 0000 wool, working wet with clean alcohol.

At this point, with the cleaning finished, the Barling was beginning to come back to life. I set the pipe aside for the evening to let everything dry thoroughly before moving on to the bonding phase.

I used my favorite epoxy, JB Kwik to bond the shank back to the bowl. I set the two parts on a clean work surface, aligned as closely as possible, before mixing the epoxy. I applied a thin layer to both surfaces. I pressed the shank and bowl together, taking care to align the fracture, and let as much excess as possible squeeze out to minimize the joint. Hand pressure for three minutes is all that is needed for the initial bond. I then set the bowl down and let it rest for another 7 minutes (approximate). Under ideal temperature, humidity and proportioning, JB Kwik reaches a rubbery stage after 10 minutes. At this point, I removed the excess epoxy that squeezed from the joint with the tip of a utility knife blade. It peels off like a rubber gasket if you catch it at the right point as it cures. I then used the bit from my Senor reamer to carefully remove any excess epoxy that may have gotten into the airway. Care must be taken to work slowly and with very little pressure, as any leverage against the shank my cause the newly bonded joint to fail. Once the excess epoxy has been removed, I let the stummel cure for at least 6 hours.

With the pipe joined and epoxy cured, it was time to take the bowl and stem to the buffer for an initial polishing with red rouge. After cleaning any residual compound off with alcohol, the bowl was ready for stain. The stem needed some sanding to clean up the faint scouring from the synthetic 0000 wool. The Barling Cross logo was a faint memory, so conserving it was not a concern. 2×2 flex micro-mesh pads, 1500 through 4000, did the trick.

After two wash coats of Feibing’s Medium Brown aniline dye, and spot staining the two rather large fills (sorry, the photos were not usable), I wiped the bowl down vigorously with a micro-fiber cloth and set the stain with a table-top lighter. The micro-fiber cloth works wonders in evening out the coats of dye. Uneven coating or overlap marks blend beautifully when wiped down just after the dye dulls completely.

With the stain applied, the fills touched up, and the stem sanded, all that was left was a gentle once-over with white diamond, followed by three coats of carnauba wax on the bowl. The stem received a white diamond buff, followed by two coats of Briar Works Stem Wax and Sealer. I prefer to protect the stem this way, as my saliva tends to react with straight carnauba, leaving an unsightly white stain.

I’ll save the repair of the tooth dents on the stem for a future essay…..

It may be inferior, when compared to the legendary family era Barlings, but it was still fun to resurrect a pipe that could be half a century old. Sandblasted or rusticated pipes are much easier to repair in this manner, as the rough texture tends to hide the repair. The fracture is only evident on the smooth portion of the stem where the nomenclature resides.

Thanks for looking.

-Gan

Resurrecting a Petersen Pre-Republic Billiard – Gan Barber

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Blog by Gan Barber

It is a privilege to be able to post this blog entry from a friend and co-laborer in the refurbishing hobby. I have learned much from Gan, including the use of the alcohol bath for soaking bowls and preparing them. In fact as I read this report I am amazed at all the things we do similarly. I appreciate his taking the time to write this up to share here at rebornpipes. I look forward to more articles from Gan, as I am sure you will also after reading this one. Thanks Gan!

Well, the work is done, so it’s time to sit back, light up a bowl of Perreti 9575, and record this adventure….

I am not an expert on dating Petersen Pipes, but from the little I know, this one appears to be a Pre-Republic era vintage. There are no markings on the briar or stem. The hallmark on the band indicates nickel, not silver, and provides no dating information. The K&P, Peterson, Dublin stamping is the only indication that the pipe dates from the Pre-Republic era.

It came to me in a sorry state of repair, and, after some preliminary cleaning, sat in my ‘Lazarus’ box for many years. The shank had been snapped from the bowl, the rim was dented, and the P-Lip modified. It was never going to be a collector piece. Still, it held some promise……

Before I begin the cleaning phase of any project, I like to remove any excess cake. I’m not looking to do anything more than scrape away thick accumulations from the bowl in order to find possible charring or burn-out. In this case, the break was clean, and exhibited no signs of burning that may have contributed to the damage. There was a small dent on the upper left rim of the bowl, leading me to believe that the previous owner liked to tap out the dottle, and had done so once too often.

Satisfied that the bowl was structurally sound, I placed it into a 91% Isopropyl alcohol bath. Once I removed the band, the broken shank followed.

I have had favorable results using this method to strip and clean a stummel. Using the highest percentage Isopropyl alcohol I can find (91%), means that only 9% of the solution is water. The low percentage of water allows the briar to dry rapidly once removed from the bath with very little residual moisture. I have soaked stummels for days without ill effects, though the extended time provides little in the way of additional cleaning. It can help with reducing strong ghosts, though. The alcohol will soften even the most stubborn cake, and sweeten the bowl as well as any other method.

Once the bowl had soaked long enough so loosen the dirt and soften the cake, I removed it from the bath and immediately reamed the bowl, removing as much cake as possible without quite getting down to bare briar. My tool of choice here is a Senior Adjustable Reamer. Not that it’s the only tool that will work; it just happens to be what I have and works quite well for this task.

With the reaming completed, the stummel went back into the bath for another wash. I prefer to do the preliminary cleaning wet, so the stummel will see the bath frequently. The advantages of working wet are two-fold: The alcohol lubricates the mechanical action of the steelwool, mitigating scratching, and the wetting reveals any missed areas requiring additional attention. I worked the wet stummel with 0000 steel wool until most of the dirt, grime and tar were gone.

While the bowl soaked in the alcohol bath, the vulcanite stem soaked in a solution of Oxy-Clean (1/4 scoop to 16 ounces of clean, warm water). Depending on the level of oxidation, I will let the stem soak anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight. Again, I’ve left stems soaking for days without detriment. Generally, I like to soak the stem for two to three hours. The oxidation will turn to a yellow-white slime, and the majority of it will come off quite easily with 0000 steel wool. There was no logo present, so I used the 0000 liberally to achieve a thorough cleaning. Another advantage of the Oxi-Clean soak is its ability to loosen any gunk that has accumulated in the smoke passage. Several bristle pipe cleaners are all that are needed to literally pull the residue from the passage. Another pass with a regular pipe cleaner and some alcohol will remove any traces of tar.

Below are the bowl, shank, and stem after soaking in their respective baths and an initial wet scrub with the 0000 steel wool. Later on in the refurb, I will continue to clean them, but by dipping the steel wool into the alcohol for the wood and the Oxi-clean for the stem, rather than re-immersing them.

Once I was satisfied with the initial cleaning, it was time to move on to the most challenging aspect of this project – mating the shank to the bowl.

There are a number of factors to consider when choosing the proper bonding agent to use in repairing a broken or cracked stummel. Heat, moisture, clamping time and compatibility with wood are paramount. Traditional outdoor rated aliphatic glues (Tite-Bond, Elmers, etc.) are resistant to moisture, but I don’t trust them to withstand moist heat. Polyurethane adhesives are stronger and more resistant to both heat and moisture, but have high expansion rates and excessive foaming. Both require extended clamping periods, which is extremely challenging due to the irregular shape of a stummel.

My adhesive of choice is a a fast set epoxy – JB Kwik. It is extremely strong (though not as strong as regular Weld Bond), heat resistant to 500+ degrees F, impervious to moisture, and has a clamping time of only 3 minutes. Mixed from two parts (epoxy/catalyst), it has a reasonable working time, and the two pieces of the pipe stummel can be held together with strong hand pressure for three minutes and then released.

To rejoin the shank to the bowl, I carefully aligned the two pieces so that I could easily find the correct registration before mixing a small amount of the epoxy. I applied it to both surfaces with a toothpick, then pressed the shank and bowl together, squeezing as much epoxy out of the joint as hand pressure would allow. I held them this way for three minutes. I did not worry about any squeeze-out getting into the air passage – yet.

After hand clamping for three minutes, I gently set the stummel down and let it rest for another 7 minutes. If properly mixed, Weld Bond Quick will be set to a rubbery stage after ten minutes (at 70 degrees F). At this point, I took a utility knife and carefully lifted the squeeze out off of the briar. It should peel like a rubber gasket if you catch it at the right time, leaving only a dark oily residue where it contacted the briar. Next, I took the drill bit from the Senior Reamer, and gently worked it through the airway. Care must be taken to use as little pressure as possible to twist and push out any epoxy the made its way into the passage. Although Weld Bond is non-toxic when cured, if cleaned out properly, little if any will be present in the airway.

I allowed the epoxy to cure for 6 hours, and then set to work gently sanding the joint with 400 grit emery to fare the seam as smooth as possible without altering the shape of the pipe. The only caveat to using this epoxy – it is rather viscous and will leave a faintly visible line at the joint no matter how well the parts are mated. I’ve found that after sanding, staining and buffing, this line will all but disappear.

The stummel after roughing in with the 400 grit emery. The graining did little to hide the seam on the left side…..

…while on the right, the grain pattern was more favorable and the seam blended in nicely.

With the shank and bowl rejoined and fared, I finished cleaning the briar with 0000 steel wool wetted with alcohol. Working wet with alcohol eases the scuffing of the steel wool and reveals the grain and any remaining flaws that may need attention. It also removes any oils or dirt introduced from handling the raw wood. The JB Kwik is impervious to the alcohol.

The next stage consisted of wet sanding with 600 grit. I used alcohol as a lubricant. When finished with the 600, I took the bowl to the buffer for a gentle once over with red rouge. This serves to deepen the color of the briar and reveal any scratches or imperfections that the finer grits will have difficulty removing. Satisfied with the results, I continued to wet sand with 1500 grit emery. The final sanding stages were done dry with 3600 and 6000 micro-mesh. At this point in the process, I was simply polishing the briar to prepare it for staining.

I chose Feibings Light Brown dye and gave the stummel a wash coat, undiluted, using a cotton Q-Tip. I set the stain with my Perdomo table-top lighter, and then gave it a thorough rub down with a microfiber cloth. The microfiber works to even out any imperfections in the finish, and noticeably polishes the dye to a nice luster. The bowl is now ready for the buffer.

The stem received an additional scrub with 0000 steel wool wetted with Oxi-Clean to remove any remaining oxidation. I then wet sanded, with water now, using 400 and then 600 grit emery. A quick and gentle buff with red rouge to find any remaining scratches from the steel wool and sandpaper was followed by a wet sand with 1500 emery. I then polished the vulcanite with 3600 and 6000 micro-mesh to prepare it for the buffer.

Both the stem and bowl were given a soft buffing with white diamond on the buffer and then wiped down with microfiber to remove any trace compound. I then swapped out the white diamond wheel for the wax one, and applied three coats of caranauba wax to the bowl. I like to use a moderate amount of pressure when applying wax as the caranauba is extremely hard and requires the heat generated to go on properly.

After the stem received a coat of Walker Briar Works sealer/wax and the nickel band was polished with Never Dull wadding, everything went back together and was ready to be enjoyed once again. It’s far from perfect, but then, it’s all about the journey, isn’t it?

Thanks to Steve for inviting me to contribute.

Best Regards,

Gan Barber

Restemmed Red Point Capped Bent

4 Replies

I picked up this Red Point Old Briar Capped Pipe bowl on Ebay awhile ago. It did not have a stem but seemed to have promising grain. When it came in the mail I cleaned it up a bit and then worked on a stem for it. I decided to use a faux p-lip stem that has the airhole on the end of the stem rather than on the top. I fit the tenon to the shank – that was a bit of a trick as the shank is like a Pete shank in that it narrows/tapers as it descends toward the bowl. I finished fitting and polishing the stem.

Here are some pictures of the bowl when it came. From the second photo you can see that it was barely smoked. It was very clean and needed a few pipe cleaners run through it. The exterior needed to be wiped down with a little oil soap to clean away the grime – I always rub it on undiluted (no water) and quickly wipe it off. I do not leave it to sit. I also polished the silver work on the shank and the cap.

I heated the stem with my heat gun and bent it slightly and took the next three pictures. I have learned that pictures give the true story in terms of bend and overall look of the pipe in a way that is clearer than the naked eye. From the photos I decided that the bend need to be a bit more dramatic and match the curve of the bottom of the bowl and shank. I reheated it and used the rounded edge of my work table to get a proper bend in it.

Here is the final product – a proper bend with a curve that matches the bottom of the bowl and shank. The look is like an elongated S. Once it was finished I cooled the stem for a bit and then loaded it with Blue Mountain and smoked the inaugural bowl. Since then I have smoked it several times. It delivers a great smoke.

Rebuilding a Button on a BBB Bulldog

Reworking the button on a Perspex Stem on a GBD Prehistoric

3 Replies

I was gifted this older GBD Prehistoric by a good friend who knows I like working on seeming irreparable pipes. He knows that I enjoy the challenge and that I work to get them back to a workable condition. The stem was truly a mess as can be seen from the photos below. It had bite through holes on both the top and the bottom of the stem. The button was destroyed by the bite marks. This one would prove to be a bit of a challenge. My usual method of repairing bite throughs with Super Glue would not work as the hole was on both sides of the stem. You can tell by the three pictures below the size of the hole. I included even the blurry ones to show the extent of the problem that needed to be addressed.

After carefully picking at the holes with my dental pick I could tell that the surrounding Perspex material around the holes was compromised and pieces continued to come off with very little pressure on the dental pick. It was clear then that I would have to shorten the stem back to the point on the stem where there was solid material to work with. To do this involved cutting off almost a ¼ inch of the stem. The two photos below show the stem after the material has been removed. I used my Dremel with a sanding drum on it to take back the stem to this point. Care must be exercised to keep the finished surface straight and level. But I have found that this is fairly easy to do with the Dremel set at the lowest speed.

Once the stem is cut back to the solid material a new button has to be carved. I use a series of needle files to do this. Note in the picture below the three files that I used the most. The top one is a flat rectangular one that does a great job on the top and bottom of the stem to cut a straight 90 degree edge into the Perspex. The oval and the round file I used to open the slot in the button to match the shape of the one I cut off. Once the stem has been cut the airway at the end is merely a round hole or as in this case was barely flared. I like an oval slot in the button and the files do a great job in that process. I have two sets of needle files that I use. I clean the teeth on the files with Isopropyl alcohol and a brass tire brush. It keeps them from getting clogged with the Perspex dust.

In the three pictures below you can see the button that has been cut in the stem. I also used sandpaper to thin the stem profile forward of the button to give it the proper slope and give the button some depth. Note the rough surface of the stem is caused by the use of 240 grit sandpaper to accomplish this task. The top photo is the top side of the stem at the button, the second is the underside of the stem and the bottom photo is a profile shot to show the look of the button. When the stem was at this point it still needed quite a bit of sanding to smooth out the new button and shape the stem. The edges in the profile are a bit sharp and needed to be rounded to match the part of the stem that remained untouched. I rounded the edges with the 240 grit sand paper to match the shape of the stem.

The next two photos below show the stem after that reshaping has been done. I then had to polish the stem to get it back to it clear sheen. I started that with some 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper that was used with water to give it the bite to cut through the scratches of the files and the sandpaper. The first photo shows the pipe next to another GBD Rhodesian for comparison sake. You can see in that photo how much of the Perspex stem I removed to cut the new button. The second photo shows the shaping and flow of the stem once I have finished with the polishing with the wet dry sandpaper.

The last three photos show the finished pipe. The bowl was polished and the polishing on the stem was done with the micromesh pads through the 1500, 1800, 2400, 3200, 4000 and 6000 grits soaked in water to facilitate a good polish. Each grit level of micromesh took out more of the scratching that remained after the sanding. By the 3200 grit the surface was smooth and shiny. The last two grits gave it a thorough polishing and then I finished it on the buffer with White Diamond and carnauba wax.

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