Tag Archives: stem work

Reshaping a button and stem on a Bewlay Bulldog

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I picked up this nice older Bewlay Bulldog in a group of pipes I got off of Ebay. It was part of a lot that included two other Bewlay’s and two Barlings as well as quite a few other older pipes. This one is a nice little Bulldog – 4 ¾ inches long. When it arrived the stem was really a bit of a mess. The previous owner seemed to have cut off a portion of the stem and cut a groove on the top of the stem and the bottom as well to form some sort of new button. You can see from the first two photos below what the stem looked like. There were channels on the top and bottom of the stem that were about a ¼ inch wide and went the width of the stem. The stem was a bit oxidized and the bowl was dirty and tars and carbon were built up on the rim.

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The next two photos show the stem in profile and you can see the channels if you look closely at the button area of the stem. The button had no real profile or shape to it. The briar was very nice on this one so I really wanted to rework the stem and keep the original stem intact.

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I used needle files to begin to reshape the stem and the button. There was a lot of material to remove to even out the slope of the stem to the button. I also needed to reshape the button to make it truly a button. The slot needed to be cut in the button as well as there was only the end of the airway and it was very close to the top of the button. The next series of four photos show the work of the needle file in reshaping the stem. The groove on the top of the stem is shown in the first photo and you can see that it was not too deep. The angle of the blade to the saddle however was very steep and the stem was thick. While the groove is gone there still was a lot of work to do in reshaping the angles of the stem. In the second photo you can see the work done on the underside of the stem. This groove was very deep and there was a lot of work to do to smooth the surface to remove the groove and reshape the angles on the blade of the stem. All the work done at this point was done with flat blade needle files to smooth the grooves, flatten the stem and shape the button. The third and fourth photos in the series show the stem in profile so that you can see the button begin to take shape and the grooves begin to be blended into the surface of the stem blade.

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I decided at this point to use my Dremel with the sanding drum to thin the stem down and to work out the groove on the underside of the stem. The next series of five photos show the stem after the sanding with the Dremel. I was careful to not cut too deeply in the top of the stem as the airway seemed very close to the surface of the stem. I thinned the upper portion of the stem just before the saddle. I wanted the slope from the saddle to the button to be gentler and to make the bit thinner. The first two photos show the stem after sanding the top of the stem with the Dremel. The third photo shows the underside of the stem where I sanded to thin the stem and to remove the groove. At this point the groove is just a simple line that is cut in the stem. The groove is gone. The rest I decided to remove with sandpaper and hand sanding. The last two photos in the series show the stem in profile to give an idea of the slope from the saddle to the button and how the shape is beginning to develop. There was still much sanding to do.

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From this point on I used sandpaper to shape the stem. The next series of four photos were taken after I sanded the stem with 240 grit sandpaper to remove the marks and scratches from the Dremel sanding drum. The shape is beginning to get close to what I am aiming for in terms of thickness and slope of the stem from saddle to the newly formed button. You will note that the top edge of the button is still pretty shallow – that is because the airway is pretty close to the surface at this point and I do not want to sand through it. The groove on the top and the line that was left in the above photos of the bottom of the stem are gone.

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I then switched to a finer grit sanding pad. The pad is pictured in the photos below. It is pink foam with fine grit sandpaper attached. It allows me to follow the bends of the stem and to get in close to the button and smooth the scratches out even more. I also used it to sand the saddle to remove the oxidation on the flat parts. The next series of two photos show the new look to the stem and button. They are close ups of the stem in profile. I wanted you to see the slope of the stem and the shape of the button. The sanding foam worked great to be able to smooth out the lines and the edges of the stem so that the edge of the diamond saddle follow to the end of the button in a nice smooth slope. The last four photos show the stem once it has been wiped down with some Isopropyl alcohol after finishing with the sanding foam. There is still a bit of oxidation on the stem but the angles and flow of the stem look natural and the button is clearly visible.

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I restained the bowl at this point just for a change of pace. The next series of photos show the bowl of the pipe after I had wiped it down with acetone. From that point I went on to restain it with some oxblood aniline stain.
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This series of photos show the restained bowl and the remaining oxidation that needed to be dealt with on the stem.

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In the next photos the pipe is finished. Before it got to this point I sanded the bowl and the stem with micromesh sanding pads from 1500-6000 grit to polish the bowl and rim and to finish polishing the stem. The 1500 grit micromesh worked well to remove the remaining oxidation on the saddle and the remaining scratches on the stem. From there each course of sanding with the different grits of micromesh added more and more shine to the stem. The biggest change in the polishing comes with the shift to 4000 and 6000 grit. I then took the pipe to the buffer and used White Diamond to finish the polishing of the entire pipe and then gave it several coats of carnauba wax to make it shine.

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Restoring an Astor Belge

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This was one of the pipes I picked up recently on a trip to the US. It is a small Astor Belge shape which is one of my favourite shapes of pipes. Astor pipes were made by Comoy as a second line of pipes. From the number of fills on this one it can easily be seen why it is a second. It is a shame as it also has some amazing cross grain on the front and back and some beautiful birdseye among the fills on both sides. The extent of the birdseye grain can be seen in the second photo below.

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The pipe was dirty but really in pretty good shape for its age. I reamed the bowl and cleaned the bowl and shank with Isopropyl alcohol (99%) to remove the tars and oils from the inside. Then I dropped the stem in some oxyclean to soak and wiped the bowl down with acetone (fingernail polish remover) to remove the finish. I dropped the bowl in the alcohol bath for awhile to give it a good soak and worked on several others for awhile.

After an hour in the bath, I removed the bowl and dried it off. The next series of three photos show the pipe after removal from the bath. I used micromesh 1500 grit sanding pads to remove the grime and tar from the rim and the inside bevelled edge. It took a bit of work to smooth this out and keep the angles the same all the way around. The third photo below shows the finished bevel and the top after quite a bit of sanding. The top took a bit more sanding with the micromesh to remove the darkening as it was on the surface and not too deep into the briar.

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At that point I decided to remove the fills from the bowl as I personally dislike the pink putty fills that are often used on these old timers. I used the dental pick to remove the as can be seen in the next series of three photos. They were all pretty deep and would need to be repaired. After picking out the fill I wipe the bowl down with a soft cloth and Isopropyl alcohol to clean the surface of any remaining bits of putty. When they are clean and dry I fill them with briar dust that I have saved for this purpose.

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After filling them with briar dust I drip the super glue/krazy glue into the dust and it dries almost instantly. The next three photos show the newly filled holes at various stages of the repair. The first photo shows the dust and super glue in the bottom holes before I sanded them. The top holes in the photo have been sanded a bit to smooth them out but are not finished. The second photo of the front of the bowl shows both the sanded ones and a newly filled hole with the super glue patch before it dried. The final photo in this series of three shows all the holes filled and the initial sanding completed.

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The next two photos sow the holes patched and sanded smooth. The super glue and briar dust turned black in this case. This does not always happen but it did this time. I have no explanation for that in this case but they do look better than the previous pink fills. I have also learned that they can be hidden a bit with a dark understain. In this case I decided to stain the entire bowl with black aniline stain for a first coat. I flamed the stain and when it dried I took the pipe to the buffer and buffed the entire bowl with Tripoli to remove the excess stain and leave the black in the grain and around the fills. You can also use black permanent marker to build the grain pattern around the fills to help hide them though I did not use that method on this pipe. I then sanded the bowl with the 1500 and 1800 grit micromesh pads to remove more of the overstain. I washed the bowl down several times with acetone to also lighten the black. Once it was at the saturation I wanted it was ready for the overcoat of stain.

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I decided to use oxblood coloured aniline stain for the finish coat on this one. I wiped it on and then wiped it off before it dried to get good coverage I repeated that several times and finally gave it a full coat and flamed the stain to set it. When it was dry I took it to the buffer and buffed it with Tripoli and White Diamond to give the final coat a real shine.

I finished the stem with my usual regimen of micromesh pads from 1500-6000 before putting it back on the bowl and buffing the pipe with White Diamond. I coated the stem with several coatings of Obsidian Oil and then gave the whole pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax to finish. The pictures below show the finished pipe. Though the fills are still visible they are diminished in their overall presence in the pipe. They no longer stand out in the finish. I personally love the depth of colour that this old Belge has with the new stains.

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Carving one of my own

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Every so often I get the urge to carve a pipe of my own. I have done it from scratch, drilling the airway and bowl but often it is just as much fun for me to buy a pre-drilled block with its own stem and rework it into something I like. The pictures and essay below will take you through my process with a pipe I picked up off EBay for almost nothing. When you look at it some of you will recognize that for awhile in the 80’s and maybe earlier Singleton sold these pipes as Caveman Pipes. They were rough and were stained and waxed, stamped Singleton Caveman pipes and sold as is. I have always thought that they were ugly and looked unfinished. This one just begged to be reshaped – at least that is the excuse I gave when the package arrived and my wife commented on “yet another pipe”.

The first four photos give a good sense of what it looked like when it arrived at my house. It was a fairly small piece of briar and there was no way of knowing what lay beneath the surface of the block. It was stained and waxed. The stem was oxidized a bit but it did not matter as I was going to reshape it and make it my own. The last photo of the four shows the Caveman stamping I was referring to earlier.

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I took out my Dremel with the larger sanding drum, replaced the sandpaper cylinder with a new one and began the process of removing the briar and making a shape that I liked and that I felt the briar held inside. The next three photos show the block with much of the briar removed and a shape is beginning to come out. I bring it to this point in the shaping process with the Dremel and the sanding drum. It works great for me. Some of you may notice the nicks from the Dremel on the saddle of the stem. Those are a pain but I was not worrying too much about it as I planned to shape the stem a bit more as well and those would disappear in the process. Also note, the shank is still not the diameter of the saddle on the stem at this point. From this stage one I do the shaping by hand with 100 grit sandpaper. It makes short work of the remaining excess briar. You will also see some burn marks at the bowl shank junction from the sanding drum – nothing that will not sand off. There are also sand pits and flaws beginning to show up in the surface of the briar.

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Much sanding went on before I took the next series of three photos. I used the 100 grit sandpaper to remove much of the excess and then progressed to 220 and 240 grit sandpaper to bring the shape to the stage in these photos. I also sanded the saddle of the stem and the edges of the blade to match the line of the shank. I wanted the flow to be uninterrupted by the juncture of the two materials and I wanted the transition to be smooth. There were many sand pits visible at this time on the sides, top and bottom of the bowl and the shank. It is always a bit of pain to get to this point in the shaping and sanding and not be able to get rid of them. This left me with a bit of a quandary. What should I do to get the best finish on this pipe? I dislike fills and did not want to use putty in any form on this pipe. I figured the next bet would be to rusticate the pipe and give it an interesting texture for the prestained finish.

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I used a tool that I fashioned out of a fistful of galvanized nails, a piece of steel pipe, a cap and nipple coupling. It looks like the photos below. It is the tool on the left. I also used a florist’s frog (pictured on the right) to give the finished surface a different touch.

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Before I used the tool on the surface of the briar, I wrapped the saddle of the stem and a 1/8th inch band with black electrical tape. I wanted to protect the saddle and the small band of briar from being rusticated with the tool. It is a work horse but is not subtle in its deep cuts. I wrap the cap end with a thick towel to protect my hand when I pushed the points of the nails into the briar. I pushed the head into the briar and twisted the tool back and forth to cut the surface of the briar and roughen it. The next series of four photos show the rusticated surface of the pipe after I finished with the nails and also after I rubbed the florist’s frog across the surface to knock off high points. I was aiming for a finish that has the look of aged leather so I wanted no roughness left but I wanted a crinkled, wrinkled look to the briar.

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The next two photos show the pipe after I gave it a black understain. I used black aniline stain and applied it with a dauber. Once the pipe was covered I used a lighter to flame the stain to set it deeply in the briar. My goal was to have the black stain set deeply into the crevices of the rustication once I had buffed it. (I have learned that when I am staining to always start with the darkest stain and work toward the final lighter coat.) Once the stain was dry I took it to my buffer and buffed it with Tripoli. The buffer removed all of the black stain from the smoother, higher surfaces and the band next to the stem and the rim. The only black stain remaining was in the crevices and pits in the briar. At that point I restained the pipe with a medium brown aniline stain and flamed it as well. I took it to the buffer and this time buffed with Tripoli and White Diamond. I wanted the brown to give a top coat and allow the black to show through. I also wanted to smooth the surface a little to make it smooth in the hand.

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The final series of photos show the finished pipe. I think I achieved the look of old worn leather I was aiming for with this rustication and staining. I worked on the stem and smoothed it out with 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper and water. Once the scratches were gone I worked through the usual regimen of micromesh pads from 1500 to 6000 grit. These gave the stem a good polished look. I finished it on the buffer with White Diamond and multiple coats of carnauba. The bowl was waxed with Halcyon 2 wax so that I could avoid the wax build up from carnauba in the crevices of the rustication. I gave the entirety a final buff with a clean flannel buffing pad. This one has become a favourite smoker of mine. It is perfect size to fit in my jacket pocket and it is a veritable furnace for good Virginia Flake tobacco.

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Edwards Contour or Criterion Restoration

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I found this old Edwards pipe while I was visiting a small community in Washington in the US. My wife and I were away for our 36th wedding anniversary and always love visiting second hand shops and antique malls. We must have visited a dozen or more shops on that trip. This older Edwards pipe was in the last shop we visited. It was an interesting shape and intrigued my eye. I made an offer for it and it soon became mine.

Once I got home I decided to refurbish it as one of the first I dealt with. I am not sure of the name of the particular Edwards line this one came from but on one of the online forums someone thought that it belonged to either the Contour or Criterion line. He had pointed out that the lines were carved in France but the only sign of that was that the word France was usually stamped on the underside of the stem. However, on this one there was no stamping on the stem – no France or other name, just smooth brown oxidation. The stem also had tooth marks on the top near the button and a very prominent dent on the underside of the stem near the button. The finish on the pipe was dirty but in great shape. There were no dents or scratches and the pipe seemed to have been well cared for. Edwards did not stain their pipes as is evidenced by the natural finish on this one. The rim was probably the most potentially problematic area on the pipe. It was tarred, caked and possibly charred on the bevel inward.

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I reamed the bowl and cleaned the inside of the bowl and the shank. I wiped down the entire pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil soap on a cotton pad and removed the grime and old waxes. I scrubbed the bevelled rim with the oil soap as well to remove the tars and the surface carbons. I used some 1500 and 1800 grit micromesh to remove the rest of the tars and bring it back to a smooth surface. I was pleased to see that there was not any charring or burn to the surface of the rim and once cleaned it looked pristine. The pipe has not been stained but had a natural finish so I buffed and polished the rim and the rest of the surface of the pipe to get the shine back. While I was at the buffer I also buffed the stem with Tripoli to break up the oxidation and then took it back to my work table. At the table I used nail polishing sticks (these are fingernail polishing stick and come with micromesh sandpaper on a foam stick) to sand out the bite marks on the top and underside of the stem. I worked with the 1500-6000 grit micromesh pads to polish the stem and remove the remaining oxidation. A folded pad worked well to sand in the grooves of the stem to give even that area a clean glow. I coated it with Obsidian Oil and once it was dry I buffed the entirety with several coats of carnauba wax.

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A WDC Milano Hesson Guard Reworked

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I just worked over this old timer – A WDC Milano Hesson Guard. In order to know more about the pipe I was working on I searched for information regarding the patent number stamped on the pipe and went to the US Patent site where I found documentation. The patent was filed for it in 1932. It is an early example of the pipe. It is in the acorn shape. It has the patent number stamped on it as well as the other WDC labels. The triangle on the stem is silver or steel inlay. For me this is a part of the mystery of unpacking the history and life of the brand and mark. I always like to know as much of the back story as I can find on any of the pipes I refurbish. Patent numbers stamped on the pipe provide a means of ferretting out information on the design and the particular part of the pipe that is patented. I have included the patent site information on the pipe for your reading pleasure. At least to me this part is fascinating information.

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The pipe was caked with a crumbly thick cake that pretty much filled the bowl when I picked it up. I reamed it out to field dress the pipe. I generally do this with most of the pipes I bring home for renewal. It keeps the mess of the carbon from the cake outside and away from my work desk. In the photos below you can see that the finish was pretty dirty with a lot of hand oils and grease ground into the bowl surface. The rim was caked and tarred and it looked like it was damaged. The finish was worn and the stain faded in many places on the bowl sides. The stem was oxidized and had some bubbles in the surface along the button – the bubbles are visible near the button in the second photo below.

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I scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil soap, undiluted. I wipe it on with a cotton cloth and immediately wipe it off. Others have said that it removes the stain if left to long and it does indeed do that. But I have found it unsurpassed in quickly removing grime and grease if rubbed on and rubbed off quickly. I worked on the rim as well with a soft bristle tooth brush and the oil soap to remove the buildup. Once that was done I put it in the alcohol bath and removed the finish that was on it. It seemed to have had some built up waxes and also some kind of varnish coat over the stain. It came off with a bit of elbow grease after soaking. I decided to not stain this pipe as the briar looked great as it was. I just sanded it with the micromesh pads to polish it and remove the surface scratches. Then I took it to the buffer to give it a buff with White Diamond.

I worked on the stem while the bowl soaked in the bath. I soaked it in the Oxyclean mixture for a while to soften the oxidation. I dried it and buffed it with Tripoli to remove the surface oxidation. I sanded it with 240 grit sandpaper to get the deeper oxidation. I also had to lift a few tooth marks from the underside of the stem near the button. I used the heat gun to do that. The bubble on the top of the stem also was heated to try to smooth it out. It was evidently not a blister but a bump from teeth. It went back in place with the heat. I sanded the remaining signs of bite with 240 grit sandpaper and then 400 and 600 grit wet dry and water. I finished it with the normal regimen of 1500-6000 grit micromesh pads to polish. I put it back on the bowl and then gave the entirety a buff with White Diamond to polish it and finished the restoration with several coats of carnauba wax.

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Restored a Comoy’s Tradition from the 50’s

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I have been looking for a Comoy’s pipe in the higher grades since I read a thread on Smokers Forums on the various grades of Comoy’s. On my anniversary trip to the States I came across a nice Tradition at an antique store. With a little bit of haggling the pipe and three others became mine (in the picture below the top pipe is an older Edwards that I picked up the next day at a different shop).

Please forgive the blurry pictures in the next foursome, I was too hurried to get at the clean up and restoration and did not focus them well. They are clear enough to see that the finish was in pretty good shape. The bowl was thickly caked and the rim was gummed up and looked to be dented. The stem was clean but oxidized and had tooth marks on the top of the stem near the button and on the underside in a matching pattern. I did a bit of field dressing to the pipe last evening while we were at the hotel, cleaned the stem and the inside of the shank with Isopropyl alcohol and also sanded the stem with a piece of 240 grit sand paper and some micromesh pads I had in my bag. (I know – it was my anniversary but I had thrown my book bag in from work and when I opened it I found the sanding disks. I have them in the bag when I have a break at work and want to get outside and have a pipe and work on one I have with me.) My wife was occupied with talking to the kids on the phone and looking through her purchases from the days shopping. So I had about an hour to do a bit of work!

I wiped down the top of the bowl with some Murphy’s Oil Soap (undiluted) on a cotton facial cleansing pad I picked up in the US. I had read about that on a post by Alan (Castana on SF) and they work very well. I applied the soap and removed it three times to soften and remove the grime. Once it was gone I found that the rim itself was pretty pristine. Just a little bit of wear on the chamfering on the right front. I reamed and cleaned the bowl and shank. I also used the micromesh pads (1500 and 1800 grit) on the rim and then restained the rim only with a dark brown aniline stain, wiped on and buffed off to match the bowl.

I worked on the stem next. It had bite marks on the top and bottom side near the button. I heated the stem and raised them as far as I could with heat then sanded out the remaining marks. To sand them I used 240 grit sandpaper first then used a fingernail sanding board that I picked up at Walmart this afternoon before coming home. It is pictured below in several of the pictures with the stem. It worked extremely well to remove the remaining tooth marks in the stem. I cleaned the oxidation with micromesh pads (1500-6000 grit) and put it back on the pipe to give it a buff with some Tripoli before returning to finish the polishing with the micromesh pads. I gave the stem a coat of Obsidian Oil and let it soak in before taking the whole pipe to the buffer to buff it lightly with White Diamond and several coats of carnauba wax.

Here is the finished pipe. I have been researching the stamping on this one. I found out that the stamping dates it to the early 1950’s. It is stamped in a circle with “Made” at the top, “In” in the middle and “London” at the bottom with “England in a straight line beneath. From the Derek Green’s History of Comoy’s Article I quote: “I believe this stamp was first used in the export drive in the early 1950’s and I have not seen any pre WW11 Comoy’s stamped in this way”.
http://www.derek-green.com/comoy_history03.htm

Dr. Plumb Bulldog Restoration

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My daughter’s boyfriend found this neat little Dr. Plumb bulldog at a New Orleans shop and sent it to me for restoration. I thought Dr. Plumb had a connection to GBD and I believe they are now owned by the Cadogan group. The stem was in terrific shape, save for a heavy coat of oxidation. The top of the bowl was scorched and it had some dents and scratches.

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I reamed the bowl with both my Castleford and Senor reamers. Someone in the pipes past had reamed it a little out of round, but it wasn’t too bad. I removed some of the dents with a knife heated by a flame and a wet towel. Most of the major ones popped back out nicely. The bowl has some fills, but they are hidden well by the factory finish. In order to remove the scorched top, it would have required a restain. I was afraid with the numerous fills, it would look better with the factory finish. “Character” as they say. I buffed the bowl with some Tripoli, White diamond and with a final buff using Carnuba. The stamping is very legible.

The stem was soaked in an Oxyclean solution overnight to soften the brown coating. Unfortunately, the stem logo proved very problematic. I could not get the oxidation off this part of the stem without removing the logo. The owner opted for me to leave the logo and brown patch.

Here is the finished product.

The pipe sure looks like it would be a good smoking piece and I hope the young man enjoys it for many years.

Restemmed Red Point Capped Bent

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Keyser Hygienic Patent Pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

Over the past year I have been picking up these Keyser Hygienic pipes on EBay. This one makes the third one I have picked up at a reasonable price. They are made in England and sold exclusively in South Africa. The word is that they were designed to be virtually indestructible for farmer pipe smokers in SA. All versions of the pipe have the same stem – one size fits all. They seem to be made of nylon and rubber or some combination. They are tough and take tooth wear very well. Two of the three I picked up are older and both had the original stems on them. They had tooth chatter and minor dents. Steaming would not raise the dents at all. I had to deal with them with sandpaper and micromesh sanding pads.

The photo below came from the web and pictures a cutaway picture of the pipe and the unique condensing chamber that makes up the patented portion of the pipe. The shank has an aluminum condensing chamber with a tube in the centre that lines up with the tube inside the stem. It is pointing downward so air swirls around in the chamber formed by the military bit stem and the shank. Moisture is trapped and the smoke is cool and dry without loss of flavour.

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The pipe I am working on this time is a pot shaped sand blasted pipe. The aluminum was oxidized and dull the blast was dirty and the crevices filled with dirt and grime. The stem was in pretty clean shape other than the tooth chatter near the button. The rim of the bowl was tarred and caked. The cake was uneven and tapering in the bowl – almost as if the bowl was only half filled and smoked that way the majority of the time. The upper portion of the bowl had a very thin layer of cake and the lower portion a thick uneven cake. The condenser in both the stem and the shank were filled with a dark brown tar and the airway was constricted in the shank and clogged in the stem. The photo below shows the condition of the bowl and the stem and highlight where the work would be needed to clean up the exterior of this pipe.

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I reamed the bowl back to bare briar and scrubbed the blast surface with a brass tire brush to clean out the crevices. I also used a soft bristle tooth brush to finish cleaning the surface off. Once that was done I put the bowl in the alcohol bath to soak while I worked on the stem. The next two photos below show the stem after I used 240 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth marks and slight dents. I then used micromesh pads from 1500-6000 grit to polish the stem and work out the scratches. I have learned the hard way that you cannot buff these stems on the buffer as a little bit of surface heat from the buffing pads melts and distorts the surface. So these stems are totally buffed and polished by hand.

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The next two photos show the stem after it has been sanded up to the 3200 grit micromesh pad. The stem is beginning to get a shine and the scratches are disappearing with the sanding. From this point I went on the sand the stem through the remaining micromesh grits and when finished I gave it a coating of Obsidian Oil to penetrate the surface and give it a deep polish. Once that dried I buffed it by hand with some carnauba wax in paste form that I purchased from Walker Briar Works.ImageImage

From the next series of photos you can see that I interrupted my work on the stem to remove the bowl from the alcohol bath. I did that because I was curious to see how it was cleaning up. You will notice in these photos the brownish grey sludge in the grooves of the blast. I used the tooth brush once again to scrub the surface with Isopropyl from the alcohol bath. Once the grime was removed I washed the bowl down with clean Isopropyl and dried it off.

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The next series of photos show the dried bowl. The grime is gone and the finish is now down to the stain. Even some of the top coat of stain has been removed and you can see the briar. I laid the bowl aside and finished up the stem as I described it above.

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The aluminum condensing chamber on the shank and the chamber in the stem needed much work. I used cotton swabs that I flattened to clean the area inside the shank around the airway extension and the same in the stem. Once that was clean I polished the oxidized aluminum with the micromesh pads to burnish the aluminum and get the shine back.

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I then restained the bowl with a dark brown stain, knowing that when I buffed it the reddish brown undercoat would shine through on the high spots and the dark would fill the crevices and give the pipe a contrast stain. The next series of three photos show the staining and the way the various grains took the stain. The right side of the bowl has a great ring blast that is fairly deep and craggy. The left side is more of a blast on birdseye. It is an interesting looking blast. The bowl rim came out clean as well and shows an interesting contrast in the light of the flash.

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The final series of four photos show the finished pipe. The entirety has been given a coat of wax. I used Halcyon II on the blast to polish it without leaving the white residue in the grain of the blast when it dried. I buffed it by hand. The stem received another hand applied coat of carnauba wax and a buff by hand. The pipe pictured is clean and ready to smoke.

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I have included pictures below of the other two Keyser pipes that I picked up and refurbished. The top one is an apple with really nice grain. I have been smoking this one and enjoying the dry and cool smoke that it gives. The second is a smaller prince shape that is no longer available. It had some burns on the rim that are still visible but it too smokes very well. One day will rework the rim a bit and minimize the burn marks. Till then I will smoke these Keyser’s and keep an eye for more of them.

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Cutting a new stem from rod stock – a photo essay

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Blog by Steve Laug

This one has been sitting on my desk for a long time in need of a stem. I have restemmed it with at least two different moulded stems that I have fit the tenon on and carved the surface down to make a slab like stem but none of them worked for a variety of reasons. One of them I sanded right through the top of the stem as I flattened it. The second just was not wide enough in the flare that makes a Barling stem what it is. I scrounged on EBay for old stems or ruined Barlings so that I could scavenge a stem. I found several but when they arrived they were oval stems or stems with a smaller diameter at the shank. So I was stuck and the pipe sat for probably four more months.

One evening I was chatting on Skype with Dan Chlebove from Gabrieli Pipes about it and asked him if he would be willing to cut a piece of vulcanite rod stock for me to work on. He agreed and quickly did that for me and sent it up to the Great White North! It arrived and I fit the tenon to the mortise with very little effort. After that I again set the pipe aside while I worked on the fortitude to go to work on the stem. The piece of rod stock looked daunting to me and I had never hand cut a stem before. This was going to be my first hand cut a stem and a Barling slab stem to boot. I was not sure whether I would be able to pull it off. So it sat! Probably another month went by with it sitting on my desk next to the computer just quietly, silently taunting me to take the plunge.

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The long and short of it is that five months to the day from when I received the pipe stummel in the mail, I finally went to work on the stem. I set up my Dremel with the large sanding drum and got out my wood rasps and files and went to work on the stem. I did the initial shaping and cutting away of material with the Dremel and the sanding drum. I decided to start by cutting back volume on what would be the slab part of the bit. Notice in the pictures below I left a bar at the tip for where the button would be when I finished the stem. I did not work on the diameter of the saddle or the curves of the Barlings saddle at this point. I was only interested in removing material to begin to get the rod shaped into the stem and remove as much material as possible with the Dremel. The three photos below show the first steps in the process and the result of sanding with the Dremel. I have shown the stem on the pipe from the top and bottom view to give an idea of what I was aiming for and in profile in the third photo to show how much material had been removed at this point in the process.

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There was still a long way to go to get the stem to even close to the final shape. I used the Dremel and sanding drum to remove more material and begin to take the saddle down to size to fit the diameter of the shank. At this point the saddle is slightly conical as I was working particularly on the junction of the stem and shank. I also sanded away more of the slab material and used the drum to shape in the portion of the rod that would end up being the button on the finished pipe. The next three photos show the results of the next process of sanding with the Dremel. The shape is beginning to emerge from the rod stock.ImageImageImage

The next two photos show the file and rasp that I used in the next part of the work of shaping. I would come back to the Dremel to remove more material but I wanted to flatten the slab and not have any waves in it that the round sanding drum left behind (visible in the photos above, I was careful so they were not too bad, but they were there). I sent up the pipe on the work bench and use the rasp to cut away material. I held it horizontal to the slab and worked the length back and forth until it was straight and smooth. I used a file to take out many of the deep cuts of the rasp and to work on the edge of the button on the end of the rod stock. The first photo shows where the stem is beginning to more clearly emerge. There is still a lot of work to do at this point but it is beginning to tentatively take shape. All through the process from this point on I kept a picture of a Barling’s Make Billiard close at hand to compare as I removed more and more material. It has been wisely said that you should progress slowly because you can always remove more material but you cannot put it back. The saddle of the stem is still conical because I still needed to work the taper and slight flare of the slab bit. The flat slab is very proportional in the second profile picture. It is flat at this point but still far too thick for the finished stem. The button is better defined and the stem is very clearly outlined in both pictures.

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At this point I took the pipe back to the Dremel to remove some the saddle and some of the thickness of the slab. The picture below shows what the pipe looked like when I brought it back to the work bench to use the files again. You will note that I worked with the stem on the pipe. I do this because I want to keep things in proportion and find that when I work with it off of the stem it is easy to lose the roundness of the saddle portion and a feel for the look of the pipe in profile. I use the pipe bowl as a guide to keep me focused in what I remove of the vulcanite. Each step the stem is emerging more and more from the rod stock.

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In the next three photos I used some 80 grit sand paper to remove more material from the saddle. At this point I still left a bit of the conical shape. I was working on the profile to bring the saddle into line with the horizontal lines of the shank. You can see that there is still a lot of material to remove before it is in line. I also began to work on the taper back to the button. I would have to remove some more of the thickness of the slab but I wanted to narrow the flow back to the button.ImageImageImage

The next two photos show the pipe from the top and the bottom next to a smaller Barling’s Make billiard that I was using as an example along with the photos I had collected. I was ready to start working on the taper of the slab on each side. Note the way the little billiard stems line go from the shank to the button in the photos. I wanted to make the lines on the slab I was working on to go the same angles. You can see what I am speaking of most clearly in the second photo of the top of both stems. I was aiming for the shape and angle of the sides of the original to match the stem I was shaping. At this point the stem is really taking shape and I can see it more clearly as I work on it. There is still much material to remove from the thickness of the slab but care must be exercised as I needed to open up the airway with a larger drill bit before going much further. I did not want the stem to be so thin that I would drill right through the top or bottom.

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The next four photos show the pipe stem after I have drilled the airway and opened it up. I then removed more of the material from the slab and the saddle with the sanding drum and then sandpaper. The stem was getting closer to the shape I was aiming for. I also sanded the taper from the saddle back to the button with the files and the sandpaper. I wanted a gradual move and flow back while keeping the profile flat. The upper portion of the stem next to the saddle was close to flatness I wanted but the nearer the button the stem was crowned and needed to be sanded flat once again. I shaped the button and removed material from the thickness of it to approximate the finished profile. I also slanted the lip of the button away from the stem. In the last two photos of the foursome I show the top and bottom views of the stem at this point. I had the angles from the saddle to the button along the sides with the right flare. The overall look of the stem was very close to the original, just a bit thick and crowned rather than flat at the button end. More sanding needed to be done!

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In the next four photos the crown on the stem has been removed, the diameter of the saddle and the shank are very close and the fit is excellent. The button has been shaped a bit more but there it still a lot of material on it. The slab of the stem is still thicker than I would like but it is getting closer to the finished stem. The shape is very clear now and the round piece of rod stock has all but disappeared. You will notice at this point that the saddle and slab are at right angles and there is not the curve of the original Barling’s Make stem where the saddle merges with the slab. That remains to be done. The angles of the slab from shank to button are finally getting there. Lots of sanding has been done and more to come to get this just so.

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I used the Dremel sanding drum to carve the angles of the saddle to slab transition. I needed to go from the ninety degree angle in the above photos to more of a curved flowing transition. I drew the curve I was aiming at with a carpenters pencil on the saddle portion of the stem so that I could see how much material to cut away with the sanding drum. The next three photos show the stem after the sanding drum had done its work. It is hard to see in the profile shots but I pushed the drum a little too deeply into the slab portion and caused the flatness to have a slight dip on the top and the bottom of the slab. It would take much sanding to bring that back to level with both files and sandpaper. I used a file to work on the surface first to smooth out the surface and level it and then 80 grit sand paper to begin to smooth out the slab and bring it back to level.

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The next two photos show the progress of removing the dips. The first shows the profile and if you look closely you can see the dip in the top and bottom is lessening though it is still present. The sanding disk in the picture is a soft sponge with 100 grit sandpaper attached and it is perfect for working the curve of the angles on the saddle. I also worked on the angles from shank to button some more with the sandpaper and also the button to give it more definition.

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The next series of photos show the work that was done to remove more of the material in the saddle and smooth out the shank/stem junction. There was still material that need to be removed from the underside of the saddle at this point as can be seen in the two profile pictures. The top is pretty close but both need more sanding to make the surface horizontal from the bowl to the saddle transition to the slab. I also worked on the width of the slab horizontally. I would also need to flatten the sides of the slab rather than curve them as they are in these photos. The curve of the saddle to the slab it looking very good at this point and is a match to the original stem in terms of angle and position. I sanded the button some more as well to thin it down and to taper it backward toward the slot.

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The next series of photos show the stem after I have removed much of the thickness around the shank junction. The top is just about perfect in terms of it horizontal look. The bottom needs to have a bit removed near the slope to the slab. The side profile shots show that the taper in terms of width is getting very close. I also flattened the edges of the stem profile from shank to button to give it a more Barling’s shape. The button is getting a cleaner look as I shape it with the sandpaper and the slab is just about the correct thinness and flatness. The last two photos of the top and bottom of the stem show that the angles of the stem flow nicely from the bowl to the buttonImageImageImageImage

The last four photos show the pipe with the shaping finished. The stem fits the shank well and the diameter of the shank and saddle match. The curved edge of the saddle is matching and when overlaid on a picture of the original stem it also matches. The taper of the bit from saddle to button is smooth and flowing. The width of the bit tapering from the bowl back to the button is equal and smooth. The button has been shaped and the width and angles on it are matching the original stem. I have opened the slot on the end of the stem but still need to shape the slot to be more like the Barling slot. There are also scratches that need to be removed from the surface of the stem to get the rich polish on the vulcanite. Those are minor things that need to be completed before the stem is completely finished but it has gone from a vulcanite rod to a Barling’s stem shape.

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I enjoyed the process of stem shaping from start to finish. Though this took probably about 5 hours or more, and I am sure there are faster ways to do the work, I learned far more than the time spent can spell out. I would not change anything about the learning as I do my best in hands on experiences. The process of shaping a piece of rod stock into a stem has been demystified for me and I have gained a new appreciation for the work of pipe makers and repairmen who hand cut stems. There is no way a craftsman can be compensated adequately for the painstaking detail that goes into shaping and crafting a hand cut stem. My hat is off to those who take the time to do that on the pipes they make. Thank you.

UPDATE: I just finished shaping the button and the slot on the new stem. I used needle files and folded sandpaper to smooth out the slot. I funneled it back quite a ways. The pictures below show the shape of the button and the slot as it stands now.

Here are a couple of photos of the shape of the button in profile and from above.