Tag Archives: stem work

A Mystery Poker/Cherrywood with the initials BW stamped on the left side of the shank

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

This interesting pipe with a very simple and blurry BW stamp on the left side of the shank came to us from an online auction on in February, 2021 in Upland, California, USA. It is a mystery in that there is no record of who “BW” was or where he lived and carved. The pipe has some amazing grain around the bowl and shank. There was some darkening on the inner edge of the bowl and a stain mark on the left side near the top. The bowl had a moderate cake in the bowl with a light lava overflow on the back side of the edge and rim. The stem was oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started the clean up work on it.He took photos of the rim top and bowl to show the condition of the bowl and rim. The rim top looked amazingly good under the grime with some amazing birds eye. You can also see the cake in the bowl. And the lava on back edge of the rim. He took photos of the stem surface to show the oxidation and the tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl. The grain is really quite stunning and really stands out. Once it is cleaned up and polished it should really sing. He took a close up of the oil stain on the left side of the bowl near the rim top. Jeff was able to capture the stamping on the shank side. It appears to read BW but we cannot be certain. Perhaps someone reading this recognizes the stamp and can let us know.This pipe was better condition than many of the pipes we work on. I was curious to see what it would look like when I unpacked it. I was surprised at how good the bowl looked. Jeff reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the light lava on the rim top. The staini mark on the side of the bowl looked better. The finish on the bowl looked really good when I got it. The rim top looked very good. The edges looked good as well. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and the let it soak in Before & After Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed it off and cleaned out the internals. The surface of the stem was clean and the tooth marks were light and less visible. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it.  I took photos of the condition of the rim top and stem before I started working. The rim top looks very good and the bowl is spotless. The stem is clean and the light tooth chatter is very visible in the photos. I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It looks like BW but is slightly overstamped. I took the bowl and stem apart and took a photo of the pipe to show the look of the pipe. The polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the finish of the bowl, rim top and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I find that the balm really makes the briar come alive again. The contrasts in the layers of stain and the separate finishes really made the grain stand out. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The bowl really looks good at this point. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. This well made mystery pipe that is lightly smoked. It is a Poker or Cherrywood Sitter with a slope on the front can be yours today. It is a well made pipe with a tall bowl and a great finish. The rim top is smooth and the inner edge is lightly beveled. The finish is a quite attractive around the bowl. The grain is straight around the sides of the bowl and shank and birdseye on the rim top and base. The left side of the shank is stamped BW or FW and no other stamping. The pipe looks great, feels great in the hand and should smoke very well. The contrast between the polished black vulcanite stem and the brown finished bowl works well together. This pipe is ready for you to load with a favourite tobacco and make it yours. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 3/4 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/2 inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 46 grams/1.62 ounces. This well made, moderately priced pipe might be one to add to your collection.

A Singularly Interesting Restoration of a Full Bent Peterson

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

My friend Ken wrote and asked me if I take this older Peterson’s Full Bent to clean up and restore for him. Today it arrived in the mail. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [arched over] System [over] 2 in a circle (which I believe is the grade stamp). There is no stamping on the other side of the shank or on the underside. The silver ferrule is stamped on the left side K&P [over] three hallmarks – the seated woman, the harp and a letter “P”. To the right of that it is stamped Peterson [over] Dublin. The pipe looks to be an old timer. The bowl was quite dirty with a moderate cake in the bowl, some tobacco bits and a spot of what looked like moldy tobacco stuck on the wall. The sump was filled with tars, oils and some spots of mold as well. The pipe reeked of old wet and moldy tobacco. It was a mess. The rim top had a build up of lava on the top and edges. The inner and outer edge looked good with no nicks. The finish was very worn and scratched. The silver ferrule was oxidized and dirty. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took photos of the pipe before I started my clean up work on it. I took a close up photo of the rim top and the bowl to give a clear idea of what I was working on. It had a light lava coat that is hard to see in the photo. The bowl had a moderate cake that is not very visible and moldy particles on the back wall and in the sump and mortise. The stem had straightened quite a bit and there was oxidation, calcification and tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the side of the shank and the silver ferrule – it reads as noted above. It is clear and undamaged. The second photo gives a clear photo of the hallmarks on the silver. They read as noted above.I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I always like to date the year a pipe was made while I am working on it. In the process of working on a pipe if I can pin down a date that it was made that it adds another dimension to the restoration process. Once I have identified the hallmarks on the pipe then I use a Hallmark chart to pin the date down. In the case of Peterson’s pipe with a silver band I use a hallmarking chart that Peterson included in their catalogs and on their website

I have a copy of the hallmark charts in one of the Peterson catalogs that I have uploaded to the blog on rebornpipes. I turned to that chart to lock down the date letter for the Sterling Silver System that I am working on. Here is the link to the site (https://rebornpipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/peterson-cataloguecomp_page_27.jpg).

The chart defines the meaning of each hallmark on the silver band. The first one is of a seated woman with a harp is known as the Hibernia stamp and identifies the pipe as made in Ireland. The second stamp is a crowned harp which is a fineness mark denoting the high quality of silver that was used. The third stamp in this case is an uppercase “P” in a cloverleaf rectangle. I have included a larger screen capture of the chart in the photo below. Following that I have included a blown up capture of the chart with the “P” in a red box. That dates it to 1930/31. It is interesting to note that there is an asterisk after the date under the boxed “P” stamp above. The note at the bottom of the page is hard to read in the above photo. I looked it up on another chart and found out that it read as follows:

“Up to and including 1931, the date letter was changed on June 1 each year. From 1932 on it was changed on January 1.”

It is thus interesting to note that the date was a significant change in the dating methods came about the year after this pipe was made.

Now that I had the date pinned down to 1930/31 it was time to work on the pipe itself. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cut the cake back to bare walls. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and then sanded the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. The bowl looked very good on the inside. With the inside cleaned out I turned my attention to the exterior of the bowl. I scrubbed it with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I worked on the rim top, the bowl and shank and the inside of the bowl itself. I was able to remove the grime and tars with the soap and rinsed it off with running water to remove the tars and soap. The bowl looked very clean. While I scrubbed it the glue that held the band in place loosened and the band came off in my hands. The glue was a mess underneath, it was uneven and chipping. I would need to be replaced to hold the band firmly in place.I cleaned out the internals of the bowl, shank and sump with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. It was filthy and I wanted to make sure to kill whatever was lurking in the bit of tobacco in the bowl and sump. It smells and looks much better now.I cleaned of the old glue on the shank end, sanded it to smooth out the surface and reglued the ferrule with an all purpose white glue. I adjusted the ferrule to the angle of the shank end and set it aside to dry.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down after each sanding pad to remove the debris from the surface. The briar began to take on a shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips. I works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a soft cloth. With these older pipes I try to keep the old patina in tact so I was glad to see that the finish looked very good with the Balm. I polished the silver ferrule with a jewelers cloth to remove the tarnish, polish and preserve the silver. The silver looks very good and the hallmarks are clear and readable as noted above. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I cleaned it out with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and 99% isopropyl alcohol. It took quite a few cleaners to get the grime and debris out of the stem, but it smells sweet now. I loaned my heat gun to my daughter so I had to resort to old methods to bend the stem to correct angles. I heated it with the flame of a Bic Lighter until the vulcanite was pliable then carefully bent it to the angle I wanted. I cooled it with water to set the bend.I sanded out the tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside of the stem near the button with 220 grit sandpaper. I started the polishing process with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down between sanding pads with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I am excited to finish this 1930/31 Peterson’s System Circle 2 Full Bent. I put the pipe back together and buffed it lightly with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to deepen the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to further raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with deep sandblast all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem was beautiful. This sandblast Peterson’s System Circle 2 is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 66 grams/2.33 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one I am working on for my friend. I will be sending it back to him soon. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Restoring an older KBB Yello-Bole Century Model Straight Bulldog

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on my work table a classic looking KBB Yello-Bole Bulldog shaped pipe. It is stamped with a KBB in a cloverleaf next to the bowl on the left side of the shank. That is followed by YELLO-BOLE [over] Century Model ® [over] Imported Briar. There is no shape number on the pipe on either side. The yellow coloured Bakelite saddle stem. The briar has a mix of birdseye and cross grain around the bowl and shank. This pipe was bought off eBay on February 3, 2017 from Grand Junction, Colorado, USA. The varnish on the finish was peeling and damaged. The briar was also dirty but the grain shone through well. The rim top had a thick coat of lava and edges are caked as well. There was a heavy cake in the bowl and some tobacco debris. The shank and stem airway was very dirty. The stem was lightly oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to show the cake in the bowl, the darkening on the inner edge and the light lava on the rim top. The stem photos show the oxidation, calcification and tooth chatter and marks very well. Jeff took photos of the sides of the bowl to highlight the grain around the bowl sides and base. He captured the stamping on the shank side and stem side in the next photos. The circle on the stem is red rather than black or yellow. They are clean and readable as noted above.I turned to the listing on Pipephil on the KBB Yello-Bole pipes and did not find anything like the one I am working on (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-y.html). The one I have is stamped with KBB in a cloverleaf Yello-Bole Century Model, circle R stamp over Imported Briar and there is nothing with that stamping on the sites. The stem logo is a red circle rather than a yellow one but the setting and placement is the same. I did a screen capture of the section and the stamping on the shank side. I have included it below.I turned next to Pipedia to gather a more detailed history of the brand and see if I could find any information on this particular pipe (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Yello-Bole). I quote a portion of that article on tips for dating Yello-Bole pipes below.

Tips for Dating Yello-Bole Pipes

  • KBB stamped in the clover leaf indicates it was made in 1955 or earlier as they stopped this stamping after being acquired by S.M. Frank.
  • Pipes from 1933-1936 they were stamped “Honey Cured Briar”
  • Post 1936 pipes were stamped “Cured with Real Honey”
  • Pipe stems stamped with the propeller logo were made in the 1930’s or 1940’s – no propellers were used after the 1940’s.
  • Yello Bole used a 4 digit code stamped on the pipe in the 1930’s.
  • Pipes with the Yello-Bole circle stamped on the shank it were made in the 1930’s, this stopped after 1939.
  • Pipes stamped BRUYERE rather than BRIAR it was made in the 1930’s.

The only portions of the Tips that helps with this pipe is the first one – KBB stamped in a clover leaf indicates it was made in 1955 or earlier as they stopped this stamping after being acquired by S.M. Frank. The rest of the Tips did not apply as they do not match the stamping on this pipe. I know that the pipe was made prior to 1955 and no more at this moment.

Jeff cleaned up the pipes with his usual thoroughness – reaming the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaning up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap to clean off the dust and grime on the finish. When he sent it the pipe was ready to restore. I could not believe how good the rim top looked in comparison to what it was when he started. I took photos of the pipe when I unpacked it. The briar was clean and the grain quite stunning. The finish looked dull and lifeless. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim top after Jeff had cleaned it up. The look of the rim top and edges is very good. He had been able to remove the cake and the lava very well. The bowl was spotless. The inner bevel on the edge had some darkening spots in the yellow bole coating. The stem is also shown and was very clean. He had scrubbed it with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Mark’s Before & After Deoxidizer. There was light tooth chatter and marks still remaining.I took a photo of the stamping on the shank side. The photo shows the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is clear and readable.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to show the look of the pipe. It is a real beauty.I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the darkened bevel on the inner edge of the bowl. When I finished it looked much better.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding (carefully avoiding the stamping on the shank sides) with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth between each pad. The grain to take on a shine. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and let it do its magic. The product cleans, enlivens and preserves the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The bowl really is looking good at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the deeper tooth marks with clear CA glue. I set the stem aside to let the repairs cure. I flattened the repairs with a small file. I smoothed out the repairs with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine then gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. This is another beautiful pipe – this one is an older KBB Yello-Bole Century Model Straight Bulldog. This older Bulldog is a very light weight and from my experience with other Yello-Bole pipes, smokes very well. The grain on the pipe is quite nice and goes well with the yellow acrylic (Bakelite) stem. I put the stem on the shank and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the wheel (being careful of the stamping so as not to damage that). 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 microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The dimensions of this pipe are – Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.31 ounces/37 grams. It is a great looking pipe and one that will be going on the rebornpipes store in the American Pipe Makers section. If you want to add it to your collection let me know via email to slaug@uniserve.com or by message. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me.

Restoring a Danish Looking Edwards Algerian Briar 770 Acorn

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on my work table a Danish looking Edwards Acorn shaped pipe. It is stamped Edwards in script on the left side of the shank. On the underside of the shank it is stamped with a 3. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Algerian Briar over the shape number 770 mid shank. The fancy saddle stem is stamped FRANCE on the underside of the saddle. The briar has a mix grain around the bowl and shank. There are a few small fills in the briar toward the front of the bowl on both sides. This pipe was bought from an online auction on March of 2019 in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, USA. The finish was dirty but the grain shone through well. The rim top was clean but there was some darkening on the inner edge. There was a moderate cake in the bowl and some tobacco debris. The shank and stem airway was very dirty. The stem was lightly oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to show the cake in the bowl, the darkening on the inner edge and the light lava on the rim top. The stem photos show the oxidation, calcification and tooth chatter and marks very well. Jeff took photos of the sides of the bowl to highlight the grain around the bowl sides and base.He captured the stamping on the shank sides in the next photos. They are clean and readable as noted above. I have worked on quite a few Edwards Algerian Briar pipes in the past so I turned to a blog on one of them to read the background on the brand and remind myself how to understand the stamping on the shank. Here is the link (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/03/21/refurbishing-an-edwards-unique-i-have-no-idea-what-to-call-the-shape/). I quote from the blog below rather than redo the research.

Across the board they were all Algerian Briar and all were unstained waxed or oiled briar. I remember reading that actually oil curing was a feature of their pipes. I did a quick look on Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Edward’s) and found that I was correct. I quote:

Edward’s pipes were originally produced in St. Claude France when France actually was a world-class pipe maker with longstanding business & political connections to Colonial Algeria that allowed them to obtain the finest briar.

During the tumultuous 1960’s, Edward’s created a business model to offer the finest briar available in both Classic and Freehand shapes – all at a fair price. They bought the company & equipment and cornered the market on the finest, choice Algerian Briar just before the supply vanished in political turmoil of Algeria’s independence. Edward’s packed up both machinery and briar-treasure to America, safely caching the essentials to create a new pipe-making dynasty. This was a coup, for the 70’s and 80’s were grim years for pipe smokers as quality briar all but disappeared.

All of Edward’s pipes are Algerian Briar – a fact very few pipe companies can claim, and all are oil-cured utilizing natural finishes – no strange concoctions are used to interfere in your tastebud’s dance with the briar. Algerian, Calabrian, Sardinian, Corsican – take your pick, but Algerian Briar is generally considered the finest smoking briar ever used. When combined with oil-curing, Algerian takes on a magical quality that even Alfred Dunhill recognized as far back as 1918 as the choice for both his Bruyere and Shell.

Jeff cleaned up the pipes with his usual thoroughness – reaming the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaning up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap to clean off the dust and grime on the finish. When he sent it the pipe was ready to restore. I could not believe how good the rim top looked in comparison to what it was when he started. I took photos of the pipe when I unpacked it. The briar was clean and the grain quite stunning. The finish looked dull and lifeless. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim top after Jeff had cleaned it up. The look of the rim top and edges is very good. He had been able to remove the cake and the lava very well. The bowl was spotless. The stem is also shown and was very clean. He had scrubbed it with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Mark’s Before & After Deoxidizer. There was light tooth chatter and marks still remaining.I took some photos of the stamping on the shank sides. The first photo shows the Edwards cursive script stamp on the left side shank. The second shows the Algerian Briar [over] the shape number 770 on the right side.  On the underside it is stamped with the number 3. All stamping is clear and readable.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to show the look of the pipe. It is a real beauty.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding (carefully avoiding the stamping on the shank sides) with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth between each pad. The grain to take on a shine. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and let it do its magic. The product cleans, enlivens and preserves the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The bowl really is looking good at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks with the flame of a Bic Lighter. I was able to raise most of them. Those that remained I filled in with clear CA glue. I set the stem aside to let the repairs cure. I smoothed out the repairs with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine then gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. This is another beautiful pipe – this one is an Edwards Algerian Briar 770 Acorn 3. The oil cured Algerian Briar is very light weight and from my experience with other Edwards pipes, smokes very well. The grain on the pipe is quite nice and the few small fills are hidden in the finish. I put the stem on the shank and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the wheel (being careful of the stamping so as not to damage that). 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 microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The dimensions of this pipe are – Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.16 ounces/33 grams. It is a great looking pipe and one that will be going on the rebornpipes store in the American Pipe Makers section. If you want to add it to your collection let me know via email to slaug@uniserve.com or by message. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me.

Restoring a Newer GBD London Made C133 Billiard

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on my work table a nice looking newer Cadogan era GBD pipe. It is stamped GBD in an oval [over] London Made on the left side of the shank. On the underside of the shank it is stamped with a K. On the right side of the shank it is stamped with the circular COM Stamp with MADE IN LONDON (“IN” is in the centre) and England stamped underneath that. The shape number C133 is stamped mid shank on the right side. The taper stem has an oval GBD logo stamped on the left side. The briar has a mix grain around the bowl and shank. This pipe was bought off eBay in January, 2017 from Greenville, New Hampshire, USA. The finish was dirty but the grain shone through well. The rim top had a thick lava coat on backside and the inner edge was also coated. There was a thick cake in the bowl and some tobacco debris. The shank and stem airway was very dirty. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had light tooth chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to show the cake in the bowl (heavier on the back side of the bowl), the lava on the bevel and rim top. The edges look very good under the grime. The stem photos show the oxidation, calcification and tooth chatter very well. Jeff took photos of the sides of the bowl to highlight the grain around the bowl sides and base. He captured the stamping on the shank sides in the next photos. They are clean and readable as noted above.I have worked on quite a few GBD London Made pipes in the past so I turned to a blog on one of them to read the background on the brand and remind myself how to understand the stamping on the shank. Here is the link (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/08/10/cleaning-up-a-gbd-london-made-9664/). I quote from the blog below rather than redo the research.

I turned to Pipedia’s article on GBD to see if I could find any information on the London Made. The article gives a lot in terms of the history of the brand and a list of various lines of GBD pipes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD_Model_Information). I quote the section where I found the reference to the London Made.

London Made — Factory unknown: Some might not be marked with GBD logo and some with additional “house” stampings. Introduced in 1978(?) plain wax finished branded pipes” available in at least six stains. – catalog (1981)

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping and the age of this pipe. I knew from the information from the section quoted that the London Made originally came out in 1978 in a variety of colours. Now I had an idea of the age of the pipe and it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff cleaned up the pipes with his usual thoroughness – reaming the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaning up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap to clean off the dust and grime on the finish. When he sent it the pipe was ready to restore. I could not believe how good the rim top looked in comparison to what it was when he started. I took photos of the pipe when I unpacked it. The briar was clean and the grain quite stunning. The finish looked dull and lifeless. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim top after Jeff had cleaned it up. The look of the rim top and edges is very good. He had been able to remove the cake and the lava very well. The bowl was spotless. The stem is also shown and was very clean but lightly oxidized. He had scrubbed it with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Mark’s Before & After Deoxidizer. There was light tooth chatter still remaining.I took some photos of the stamping on the shank sides. The first photo shows the GBD in an oval [over] London Made stamp on the left side as well as the stamped GBD oval logo on the left side of the stamp. The second shows the COM stamp Made in London [over] England and the shape number C133 on the right side. The third shows the letter “K” on the underside of the shank near the shank/stem joint.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding (carefully avoiding the stamping on the shank sides) with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth between each pad. The grain to take on a shine. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and let it do its magic. The product cleans, enlivens and preserves the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The bowl really is looking good at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed it with Soft Scrub cleanser to remove the residual oxidation that remained on the surface of both sides. I find that when I let the pipe sit a long time before getting to it this light oxidation almost always happens.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine then gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. This is another beautiful pipe – this one is a GBD London Made C133 Billiard. It is made by Cadogan as can be seen from both the stamping on the stem, the shank. It would have come out after 1978. The grain on the pipe is quite nice and the few small fills are hidden in the stain and the finish. I put the stem on the shank and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the wheel (being careful of the stamping so as not to damage that). 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 microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The dimensions of this pipe are – Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.31 ounces/37 grams. It is a great looking pipe and one that will be going on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Makers section. If you want to add it to your collection let me know via email to slaug@uniserve.com or by message. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me.

Look at the Straight Grain on this La Savinelli Giubileo D’ Oro Fiammata ** Billiard

2 Replies

 Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on my work table literally called out to me from my box. The Straight Grain on the bowl just called me to pay attention. This one is stamped La Savinelli [over] Giubileo D’Oro on the left side of the shank. On the underside of the shank it is stamped Straight Grain [over] – Fiammata – [over] two stars. On the right side of the shank it is stamped with the Savinelli Shield S logo followed by the shape number 114KS [over] Italy. The saddle stem has three brass dots on the top. The briar has some nice straight and flame grain around the bowl with birdseye on the top of the bow, shank and the underside of both. This pipe was bought on December 12, 2019 from a fellow in Los Angeles, California, USA. The finish was dirty but the grain shone through well. The rim top was quite clean but there was some light lava on top and on the bevel. There is a thick cake in the bowl and some tobacco debris. The shank and stem airway was very dirty. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had light tooth chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up. He took photos of the rim top and bowl to show the cake in the bowl, the lava on the bevel and rim top. The stem photos show the oxidation, calcification and tooth chatter very well. Jeff took photos of the sides of the bowl to highlight the amazing straight grain that explains the Straight Grain – Fiammata stamping on this pipe. It is quite stunning even though it is dirty.He captured the stamping on the shank sides in the next photos. They are clean and readable as noted above. I have worked on at one previous La Savinelli Guibileo D’ Oro in the past that I remembered so I turned there on the blog to read the background on the brand and remind myself how to understand the stamping on the shank. Here is the link (https://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=74052&action=edit&classic-editor). I quote from the blog below rather than redo the research.

There were several things about the stamping that I was unfamiliar with so I did some searching online. I wanted to know when Savinelli stamped their pipe “La Savinelli”. I wanted to know about the “Giubileo D’ Oro” and where it fit in the hierarchy of pipes from the company. I also wanted to understand the three gold dots on the stem.

I turned first to Pipephil – http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-savinelli2.html and there I found the first helpful information. Some of my questions were answered in the notes on the page.

  • The “LA” article precedes the “SAVINELLI” stamping on all pipes from the Giubileo d’Oro line.
  • 4 digit shape number means The pipe predates the 1970’s. This new one does not have the four digit number but a three digit 114KS stamp
  • Additional 2 stars indicating the grade (from 1 to 3 stars)

I then turned to the Pipedia article to see if I could learn more about the pipe

( https://pipedia.org/wiki/Savinelli). I have included to pages from Brochures that give some interesting information about the brand. It seems that Golden Jubilee pipe is made from very rare briar burls from Sardinia. Due to the limited raw materials available the pipe can only be produced in small quantities. Each pipe originally came with a certificate of authenticity. Sadly this was missing with the pipe I am working on.

Guibileo D’Oro Brochure Page, courtesy Doug Valitchka

Guibileo D’Oro Brochure Page, courtesy Doug Valitchka

I also did a websearch of Savinelli’s 50th Anniversary and was immediately given a link to their site (https://www.savinelli.it/rw2_en/catalog/product/view/id/15909/s/giubileo-oro-prime-0005?__from_store=rw2_en). They describe the line as follows:

The significance of ‘Golden Jubilee’ is to commemorate the “50th anniversary”; it defines the rarity of these pipes. Only 0.1% of our total production has the quality to be worthy of this unique series. Nature gives us this rare jewel of a pipe as an unparalleled and exceptional combination of perfect raw material and outstanding grain. The selection process is passed on only by word of mouth and is determined by the experience and high quality standards of Savinelli, a guarantee of reliability and elegant style.

Putting all of that together I learned that the pipe was a 50th Anniversary Commemorative and part of a limited production “Golden Jubilee” series. That would make it a mid 70s pipe rather than what Pipephil noted above. It is selected for its special and unique grain and handpicked for a shape to highlight the grain. The entire line was stamped with the La Savinelli marking. It is a unique piece of history. Now to get to work on it!

Jeff cleaned up the pipes with his usual thoroughness – reaming the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaning up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap to clean off the dust and grime on the finish. When he sent it the pipe was ready to restore. I could not believe how good the rim top looked in comparison to what it was when he started. I took photos of the pipe when I unpacked it. The briar was clean and the grain quite stunning. The finish looked dull and lifeless. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim top after Jeff had cleaned it up. The look of the rim top and edges is very good. He had been able to remove the cake and the lava very well. The bowl was spotless. The stem is also shown and was very clean but lightly oxidized. He had scrubbed it with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Mark’s Before & After Deoxidizer. There was light tooth chatter still remaining.I took some photos of the stamping on the shank sides. The first photo shows the La Savinelli [over] Giubileo D’ Oro stamp on the left side. The second shows the shape number 114KS and the Savinelli Logo and the Italy stamp on the right side. The third shows the Straight Grain [over] –Fiammata- [over] two stars stamping on the underside of the shank. The final photo shows the three brass dots on the top of the saddle stem. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to show the beauty of this pipe. The grain really is stunning.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding (carefully avoiding the stamping on the shank sides) with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth between each pad. The grain to take on a shine. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and let it do its magic. The product cleans, enlivens and preserves the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The bowl really is looking good at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed it with Soft Scrub cleanser to remove the residual oxidation that remained on the surface of both sides. I find that when I let the pipe sit a long time before getting to it this light oxidation almost always happens.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine then gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. This incredibly beautiful La Savinelli Giubileo D’ Oro Straight Grain –Fiammata- 2 Stars Billiard (114) is an amazing looking pipe. It is a 50th Anniversary Commemorative and part of a limited production “Golden Jubilee” series. That would make it a mid 70s made of briar that was specially selected because of the spectacular grain. I put the stem on the shank and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the wheel (being careful of the stamping so as not to damage that). 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 microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The dimensions of this pipe are – Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.55 ounces/44 grams. It is really a gorgeous pipe and one that will reside in my own collection for now while I figure out if I want to hang on to it. I look forward to enjoying it soon.

Selling off a couple of my Falcons

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

I have been slowly (and I mean really slowly) going through some of the pipes in my own collection and selling them. I have quite a few Falcons and to be honest I just do not smoke them enough to warrant keeping so many. The next pipes on my work table to clean up are two of these Falcons. Both of them are American made Falcons rather than British made ones. They have a smooth bowls. The bases have the number 1 in the indentation on the heel of the base. Both are stamped FALCON. The aluminum is in need of a good polish as are the bowls. The stems have some light tooth chatter. But overall they are in excellent condition.Before I started refreshing each of the pipes I decided to have a look at Pipephil to remind myself about he history of the brand (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-f1.html). I have included a screen capture of the information on the site below.I also include the brief sidebar history from the site below:

The Falcon Pipe is an American invention, patented by Kenley Bugg of Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1936.

1948: George L. Hunt of Diversey Machine Works (D.M.W) signed a contract with Falcon Industries as exclusive Falcon pipe distributor for U.S. and Canada.

1956: D.M.W purchased the patents and trademarks from Falcon Industries Inc. and took over the Falcon pipes manufacture.

1968: Falcon pipe production moved from the U.S to the U.K in its entirety. Falcon Pipes Ltd. (also known as Falcon House Group) was owned by David E. Morris.

Falcon Pipes Ltd later became Merton and Falcon Co.

1974: Falcon London had sold about 14 million pipes around the world outside the U.S.A.

The Falcon logo on the mouthpiece was discontinued in 1994.

There was also interesting information the particular stamping on the base of this pipe. It has the stamping that identifies it as an American made Falcon. Now I had the basic background information on the two pipes. I knew that the pipes were made after 1948 and prior to the move of production to the UK in 1968. So needless to say both are older American made pipes.

Now to work on the pipes. I decided to work on them one at a time and complete one before working on another. The first one I chose is the rounded top Dublin bowled one below. It was in good condition. The bowl and base were very clean. The rim top had a little darkening. The stem had some tooth chatter on both sides near the button. I took some photos of the pipe before I started. I took some photos of the rim top and the stem to show the condition of them both. You can see that the bowl is very clean. The darkening will polish off. The stem chatter will polish out as well.Here is a photo of the stamping on the heel of the base. It reads as noted above.I removed the bowl from the base to show the inside of the base. It is quite clean. I polished the bowl and rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the bowl with a damp cloth down after each pad. It really began to shine. I rubbed down the bowl with Before & After Restoration Balm working it into the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. After 10 minutes I buffed it off with a soft cloth. The bowl looks quite beautiful with the grain shining through. I polished out the tooth marks on the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with Obsidian Oil. I further polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. The first of them is finished. It turned out to be a real beauty. The dimension of the pipe are – Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 33 grams/1.16 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be on the Pipes from Various Makers – Czech, Belgian, German, Israeli, Spanish Pipemakers along with Metal Pipes section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. The second one I chose is the flat top Dublin bowled one below. It was in good condition. The bowl and base were very clean. The rim top had a little darkening. The stem had some tooth chatter on both sides near the button. I took some photos of the pipe before I started. I took some photos of the rim top and the stem to show the condition of them both. You can see that the bowl is very clean. There were some nicks around the inner edge that would need to be dealt with as well as some on the rim top. The darkening will polish off. The stem chatter will polish out as well.Here is a photo of the stamping on the heel of the base. It reads as noted above.I removed the bowl from the base to show the inside of the base. It is quite clean.  I cleaned up the inner edge of the rim and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I gave the edge a slight bevel to minimize the damage on the right side. It looked a lot better.I polished the bowl and rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the bowl with a damp cloth down after each pad. It really began to shine. I rubbed down the bowl with Before & After Restoration Balm working it into the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. After 10 minutes I buffed it off with a soft cloth. The bowl looks quite beautiful with the grain shining through. I polished out the tooth marks on the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with Obsidian Oil. I further polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. The second Falcon is finished. It also turned out to be a real beauty. The dimension of the pipe are – Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outer diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 26 grams/.88 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be on the Pipes from Various Makers – Czech, Belgian, German, Israeli, Spanish Pipemakers along with Metal Pipes section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Just in Time for St Patrick’s Day

4 Replies

Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

Next on the chopping block is this lovely Peterson Shamrock. I acquired it some time ago from Craigslist and I figured that it was time to honour the great patron of Ireland, Saint Patrick, with a pipe named for the Shamrock. This is a terrific pipe that simply looks a bit drab. Some special attention from me will bring out its best. This pipe shape is a classic billiard. This is a really pretty pipe and feels very comfortable in the hand. This pipe was made by the esteemed Irish pipe company, Peterson. Of course, Peterson is well known to most pipe smokers. For more information on the brand and its history, be sure to read the Pipedia article on them: https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson. The markings on the left-hand side of the shank read Shamrock and the left-hand side of the stem shows a capital S. The right-hand side of the shank reads “A. Peterson Product” [over] Made in the Rep. [over] of Ireland. Alongside this, the number 25 appears, the shape number. This “25” actually corresponds to the Peterson shape “455”, as explained over at Mark Irwin’s Peterson Pipe Notes:Meanwhile, Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg’s book, The Peterson Pipe provided some essential background information on Peterson’s Shamrock pipe. As you’ll see below, the nomenclature for dating doesn’t exactly correspond to what I have above, but still leads me to think that this pipe’s date is between 1948 and 1998. That’s a pretty wide range, but it will have to do! From The Peterson Pipe:

Shamrock (c. 1941–2009) Originally stamped SHAMROCK with no brand name, an inexpensive line first described in George Yale (New York) mail order booklet in 1941, imported by Rogers Import. The line was actively promoted beginning in ’45, aggressively promoted in US by Rogers from early ‘50s when they registered the Shamrock logo with US Patent Office, claiming propriety since ’38. Over the years offered with P-lip or fishtail mouthpiece, with or without nickel band, with or without shamrock logo on the band, with or without S stamped in white or later in gold on mouthpiece. Appearing in 2008 as unstained smooth and rustic, fishtail mouthpiece with gold impressed P on the stem. COMS of MADE IN over IRELAND (c. 1945–1965), MADE IN IRELAND forming a circle (c. 1945–1965), “A PETERSON’S PRODUCT” over MADE IN IRELAND (c. 1945–1965), MADE IN THE over REPUBLIC over OF IRELAND (c. 1948–1998). Model is always difficult or impossible to date.

On to the pipe: it was in very nice condition, actually. The insides had already been cleaned fairly well by a previous owner. Annoyingly, the Craigslist seller claimed that the pipe was unsmoked, but this was clearly false (grrr). The stem had considerable oxidation, a few minor scrapes, but was otherwise in decent shape. The stummel was also very nice. The outside of the bowl had only slight scratches and the overall colour was a bit dull. The insides would need to be cleaned a bit, but most of the work had already been done. Really, this pipe just needed a day at the salon in order to look its best.The stem was first on my list. This stem has an inner tube in it, so, in order to clean it, I soaked it in some lemon-infused isopropyl alcohol. I let it sit for several hours and then cleaned it off and it looked much improved. I then buffed it with a microfibre cloth and moved on.I took a BIC lighter and ‘painted’ the stem with its flame in order to lift any tiny bite marks. This was only modestly successful in raising the dents. Then, I cleaned out the insides of the stem with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol. It was a bit dirty, but not too bad and I only went through a few pipe cleaners in order to clean it up. Once this process was done, the stem went for an overnight soak in the Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. The following day, I cleaned all of the de-oxidizing mess off with alcohol, pipe cleaners, et cetera. The oxidation had migrated to the surface and would be fairly straightforward to remove. I scrubbed with SoftScrub on some cotton pads to remove the leftover oxidation. After this, I used some nail polish to restore the Shamrock “S” logo on the stem. I painted the area carefully and let it fully set before proceeding.I then sanded the stem with 220-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpapers to meld seamlessly into the stem. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing. On to the stummel, and most of the usual cleaning procedures were in order for this pipe. The bowl did not need to be reamed, so I was able to skip that. But I still inspected the bare briar to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the walls of the bowl. Fortunately, there were none. I then proceeded to clean out the insides of the shank with Q-tips, pipe cleaners, and isopropyl alcohol. There wasn’t too much nastiness inside this stummel – it only took a handful of pipe cleaners etc. to sort that out. I followed that up by cleaning the insides with some dish soap and tube brushes. I then moved on to cleaning the outside of the stummel with Murphy’s Oil Soap and some cotton pads. That removed any remaining dirt. Even though the pipe was quite clean, I figured that a de-ghosting session couldn’t hurt, so I thrust cotton balls in the bowl and the shank, and saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused any remaining oils, tars and smells to leech out into the cotton.There was a slight mark on the rim of the stummel and, in order to remove it, I “topped” the pipe – that is to say, I gently and evenly sanded down the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. This effectively removed the marks, without altering the look of the pipe.Having completed that, I was able to address the small nicks on the stummel. I dug out my iron and a damp cloth to try and raise the nicks. The hot and moist steam can often cause the wood to swell slightly and return to shape. There was considerable movement! It looked a lot better as a result of the steam and I was pleased.I took the opportunity to add a light application of Before & After Restoration Balm. I let it sit for 10–15 minutes and then gave it a buff. This made the beauty of the stummel’s grain really pop. No doubt about it – this is a really lovely pipe! There was one tiny little dent remaining in the stummel. I lined it with cyanoacrylate adhesive. After letting it cure, I sanded the fill repair down with 200-, 400-, and 600-grit sandpaper. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) on the stummel to finish it off. After that, I applied yet another application of Before & After Restoration Balm. Hubba hubba! This thing is looking better all the time. Then it was off for a trip to the buffer. A dose of White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax were just what this pipe needed. The lovely shine made the wood very attractive. This is a very handsome pipe and will provide many years of smoking pleasure. This Peterson Shamrock looks fantastic again and is ready to be enjoyed again by the next owner – just in time for St Patrick’s Day! I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Irish’ pipe section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5⅞ in. (150 mm); height 1⅝ in. (40 mm); bowl diameter 1⅛ in. (27 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (20 mm). The weight of the pipe is ⅞ oz. (26 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much I as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

A Simple Clean up of a pair of English Made Dr. Plumb Peacemakers

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

I had some time this morning to go through a drawer of metal pipes that I have and pull out some to clean up and restore. Some of them are in very good condition while others will need more attention. The first of these is a pair of Dr. Plumb Peacemakers. One is the classic thin silver base with a with a Flair Rustic Bowl and the other one is a copper coloured one with an Apple Smooth Bowl. Both pipes were very clean other than some light tooth chatter on both sides near the button of both pipes. The internals were spotless and the rim top and bowl were very clean.I took pictures of each of the pipes to give a sense of the condition. Both needed polishing and the tooth chatter needed to be eradicated but otherwise they are uniquely beautiful. The first is the Flair Rustic Bowl with a silver aluminum base and shank. The bowl had some darkening inside but it had barely been smoked and was clean. The inward bevel of the rim top was also in perfect condition. The second one is the Apple Smooth Bowl with a copper coloured aluminum base and shank. The bowl had some darkening inside but it had barely been smoked and was clean. The rim top and edges were in perfect condition. I took close up photos of the Flair Rustic bowl and stem to show the condition. The bowl is very clean and parts of it have no darkening so it has not been smoked much. The rim top and edges look very good. The stem photos show the chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took close up photos of the Apple Smooth bowl and stem to show the condition. The bowl is very clean and parts of it have no darkening so it has not been smoked much. The rim top and edges look very good. The stem photos show the chatter on both sides ahead of the button.Both pipes were stamped on the underside of the base and read Peacemaker in a circle over England. In the center of both was the number 2. You can see that both need to be polished. The stems both have a red dot with Plumb underneath. I took the pipes apart and took photos of the parts. The tenon of the pipe is a part of the base and really is a metal nipple. The stem slides over it. In the base of the silver coloured pipe there is a filter ring that is not present in the copper coloured one. I have smoked them with and without the ring with no significant issues. In the past I have worked on several of these pipes and done a bit of research on them. I am including a link to one of those blogs for you to check out for background information on the brand (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/08/07/the-box-said-it-was-a-bbb-peacemaker/).

I am also including a link to a Peacemaker Brochure that I picked up with one of my pipes for your reading interest (https://rebornpipes.com/2016/08/08/peacemaker-brochure/). I am also including photos of the brochure. Now it was time to work on the stems of each pipe. I sanded out the tooth chatter on the stem surfaces of both with 220 grit sandpaper and then gave it a polish with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I finished polishing each stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an impregnated Obsidian Oil cloth. I finished the polishing with some Before & After Stem polish – Fine and Extra Fine. I gave each stem a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I rubbed the two bowls down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar and rustication on the one bowl with my finger tips. I let it sit on the briar for 15 minutes then I polished it with a soft cloth. The grain really stood out. I polished the aluminum bases and shanks with a jeweler’s cloth to give the metal a shine and minimize the scuff on the silver one. They both look better. I put the two Peacemakers back together and again and polished them with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave bowl several coats of carnauba wax and buffed them with a clean buffing wheel. I hand buffed them with a soft cloth to deepen the shine. Both pipes are quite nice looking and will be interesting light weight smokes. The dimensions of the Flair Rustic bowl and silver aluminum base and shank are – Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outer Diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber Diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.38 ounces/39 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be on the Pipes from Various Makers – Czech, Belgian, German, Israeli, Spanish Pipemakers along with Metal Pipes section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. The dimensions of the Apple Smooth bowl and Copper coloured aluminum base and shank are – Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outer Diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber Diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.20 ounces/34 grams. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be on the Pipes from Various Makers – Czech, Belgian, German, Israeli, Spanish Pipemakers along with Metal Pipes section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Breathing Life into a Beautiful Dunhill London HW R7 Patent Era Pot

4 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe is one that we picked up from an estate sale on 16 August, 2017 in Portland, Oregon, USA. It has some stunning grain around the bowl and shank and has the appearance of being a beautiful Bruyere or Root Briar but it is not stamped with either of those. The stamping on the left side reads HW with a square stop next to the bowl/shank junction followed by DUNHILL [over] London. On the right side it is stamped R7 next to the bowl/shank union and to the left of that it reads Made In England [over] Pat. No.417574 followed by a superscript 0 . Several things about the stamping were new to me but were also very distinctive. For instance the HW was not a shape designation that I had seen. The Patent number followed by the superscript 0 rather than that 0 by the D in England was different. Those are a few new things for me on this pipe. This was going to a fun pipe to research.

The pipe itself was quite dirty. The finish was tired with grime ground into the surface. The bowl was heavily caked with a thick overflow of lava on the rim top. While the inner edge looked good there were nicks around the outer edge of the bowl. The stem was oxidized and dirty. There were deep tooth marks against the edge of the button on both sides and there was chatter around those marks as well. The surface of the button also had tooth damage on the top side. It was a dirty, intriguing and beautiful pipe! Jeff took photos of it before he started his clean up on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top. You can see how thick the cake is in the bowl and on the top. You can also see the dust that had collected in the cake in the bowl. It was a dirty pipe. His photos of the stem also show the oxidation, calcification and tooth damage to the stem and button on both sides. He took some photos of the side and heel of the bowl to show the grain. It is a very nice looking piece of briar and once the grime it gone it should really look amazing.Jeff took some photos of the stamping on the shank side to capture it. Some portions of the stamp are weak and not as clear but overall it is very readable. Now it was time to try to unravel the stamping on the shank sides of the pipe. I was really interested to understand what the various components of the stamping meant. I turned to a book I always use with Dunhills, John C. Loring’s – The Dunhill Briar Pipe The Patent Years And After. I have found that it is really a definitive work when working dating and understanding Dunhill stamping. I will walk you through my work on the stamping in the paragraphs that follow. The conclusion is at the end!

I decided to start with the left side of the shank – HW followed by Dunhill [over] London. I quote from the above book, page 89-90.

‘OD’ ‘HW’ and ‘ODA’ stampings on the brand side of the shank next to the bowl (where an “A” or “R” would normally be found) usually indicated a special or a premium pipe…

“HW” was another pre-war stamping and meant ‘Hand Worked’. This stamp was used, sometimes in conjunction with superscript square stops, to identify hand carved versions of standard, machine carved, shapes. An “HW” stamping was not necessarily indicative of higher pricing.

Now I knew that the HW with the small square meant that the pipe was a pre-war Hand Worked pipe that was identical to a machine carved Pot. That was a start but now I wanted to understand the Dunhill [over] London stamp that followed it. I was getting excited about the age of this pipe. Again from Loring, page 13-14

From November 1918 through 1951, the brand side of the Bruyere was stamped DUNHILL over LONDON. In addition one to three letter (most generally an A but occasionally DR, OD, or HW) were stamped to the left of the primary brand stamping, near the bowl.

I have included a chart from Loring (inside the back cover). I have drawn a red box around the pertinent portion – 1932-1951 to show the stamping on both sides of the shank.Now I knew that I was dealing with a Dunhill London pipe (possibly a Bruyere) made between 1932-1951 because of the stamping on the left side of the shank. Now it was time to turn to the stamping on the right side of the shank and unravel that. The dates were beginning to solidify and my excitement was growing.

On the right side of the shank it is stamped R7 next to the bowl/shank union and to the left of that it reads Made In England [over] Pat. No.417574 followed by a superscript 0 . I decided to tackle the R7 stamp near the bowl first to see if I could determine what it meant.

From Loring, page 61, I quote the following.

“R”. An “R” signifies the Root finish pipe. From 1931-1954 it was stamped on the brand side of the shank near where the shank meets the bowl. “R” is also the letter code for the classic Dunhill pot shape.

Page 63-64 From inception through 1975 Dunhill generally gave its pipes shape numbers of two or three digits. Beginning with 31 (shape number 1-30 were sold but not made by Dunhill from 1907-1910)… The shape numbers or letters were stamped on the reverse side of the shank near the bowl. Prior to the war special shape modifications, such as churchwarden stem or a flat shank (that would allow the pipe to be rested on a flat surface with the bowl opening facing up) were signified by preceding the shape number with a “C” or “T” respectively. In addition to the shape number, some post-war shapes were stamped with another number following a slash, e.g. ‘shape number’/1, which I speculate probably referenced the bit type…

Page 65… In the case of a letter denoted shape the slash was sometimes omitted, e.g. “R 21”

From this I knew that the R7 stamp signified a Pot shaped designation and the 7 was a reference to the style of the taper stem.

I turned to deal with the pattern number stamped on the right side of the shank – Pat. No.417574. In Loring’s book on page 58 he gives a great summary of the Smooth Finish Patent Nomenclature Usage. I have included that chart below. Once again I have drawn a red box around the portion that applies to this pipe. You will note that there are two listings with the Patent Number I have – one with the /34 and one without it.The /34 dates the pipe to 1942-1954 while the Patent Number without the slash number dates it to 1935-1941. This gives a narrowing of the date to 1935-1954. The patent also refers to an inner tube in the shank with a spring flange (Loring, Page 57). Wow, the date is getting more and more focused for me.

The only remaining piece of the mystery is the stamp 0 (0 as a superscript) which follows the patent number. I am used to finding the date stamp after the letter D in England. But this is the first that I have seen in this location. So once again Loring provided the information I needed on the back cover of his book. I quote from there:

The date code is almost always found immediately after either the “D” of MADE IN ENGLAND, the “E ”of FABRICATION ANGLAISE or the Patent Reference (Red letter and underline emphasis is mine).

That gave me the information I needed regarding the superscript/underlined 0 (0) after the Patent Number. It was definitively the date stamp. Now it was just a matter of identifying the date from that information. Once again the back cover of Loring’s book gave me the answer. I am including a photo of the chart with the area of interest blocked in red.The superscript/underline 0 points to a date that is determined by the above chart in the third If statement in the red boxed photo above. It says –“If there is a patent reference not ending with “/34”, DUNHILL is not possessive and there is no inner tube – 1940”. All of the “nots” fit the pipe in hand. The mystery is solved and a date is set! It is ten years older than I first thought when I saw it.

Thus, thanks to all of John Loring’s hard work, I know that the pipe I am working on is a 1940 Dunhill Hand Worked Bruyere that is a Pot shape with a 7 style stem.

Now it was time to work on this old timer. Jeff carefully cleaned the pipe. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks better and the briar has a deep richness in the colour that highlights the grain. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime and oils and then soaked it in Before & After Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed it with warm water and ran pipe cleaners through once more. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver it was a great looking pipe with beautiful grain. I took close up photos of the rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe after Jeff’s work. The rim top looked quite good and the edges were in decent condition. There was some darkening on the top of the rim and the edges. The photos of the stem showed the tooth damage very clearly on both the stem surface and the button edges.I took some photos of the stamping on the shank sides and they read as noted above. They are faint in spots but still readable.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe taken apart. It really is a beautiful pipe.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the briar down after each sanding pad to remove the dust. The grain really began to shine and stand out. Now it was time for Before & After Restoration Balm to work its magic on the briar. I have come to really love this product. I work it into the briar with my fingertips to clean, restore and enliven the briar. It always leaves the grain really popping on the pipe and this was no exception. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes then buffed the pipe with a soft cotton cloth. It is a stunning pipe. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem (Shape 7). I “painted” the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to try and lift the dents at and on the button a bit. It worked to some degree but there were still significant dents left. I filled in what remained and rebuilt the button edges with black Super Glue and set the stem aside as the repairs cured. Once the repairs cured I reshaped the button and flattened out the stem repairs with a small file. I sanded them smooth and continue to reshape the button with 220 grit sandpaper. While I was at it I also sanded the rest of the stem to remove some of the oxidation that remained. I started polishing out the scratches with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I decided to work over the oxidation a bit more with SoftScrub cleanser. I scrubbed the stem with cotton pads and was able to remove all of the oxidation. The stem really was beginning to look good at this point.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine then gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. This incredibly beautiful HW (Hand Worked) DUNHILL LONDON R7 Pot Made In England Pat. No.4175740 is a special oldtimer. The HW stamped says it was hand worked and it was made before WWII by Dunhill. The R7 is the designation for a Pot shape with a 7 shape stem. I put the stem on the shank and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the wheel (being careful of the stamping so as not to damage that). 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 microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The dimensions of this pipe are – Length: 5 ¼ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.13 ounces/33 grams. It is really a gorgeous old timer and one that will reside in my own collection of older Dunhill pipes. I look forward to enjoying it soon.