Tag Archives: stem work

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.

Before:

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.

A Nice, Older Henley Billiard Restored

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This old Henley Billiard was made by Masta Pipe Company of England and came to me in pretty clean condition. It is older and the Bakelite stem has an orifice button/airway. You can see from the picture below that the bowl was a little out of round and a small burn on the rim near the shank. It also had an overturned bone tenon. The stem had several gouges and deep scratches. Other than the finish was in great shape and in need of a polish and buff.

I heated the bone tenon as I have described in other blog articles by heating it in a bowl of boiling water. I heated it and screwed it back into the shank and tried to twist it. I repeated the process until it freely turned. I lined it up straight and then ran cold tap water over it to cool it and set the glue again. I cleaned up the dents and gouges with heat to raise them as far as I could and then sanded and filled them with a small amount of clear super glue. Then I sanded them with 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper until they were smooth and polished the stem using micromesh pads up to 4000grit.

I cleaned and reamed the bowl and cleaned the shank with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and alcohol. I used a folded piece of sand paper to even out the inner edge of the bowl and bring it back into round. I did this carefully so as not to scratch the finish. When I had it back to round it was time to polish it. I put the stem back on the pipe and the entirety was taken to the buffer for a final buff with White Diamond. This one was in relatively good shape other than the stem.

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Here is the finished pipe, ready to load and smoke.

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Refurb on a Two Point Billiard – Gnawed Stem

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This is the second Two Point pipe that I had in my box to be refurbished. It obviously was owned by the same pipe man as the little Lovat as evidenced by the matching bite marks. The pipe had an uneven cake in the bowl making the bowl conical even though it was U-shaped in reality under the cake. The rim was dirty and tarred but not damaged with dents or knock marks. The finish was spotty and uneven so the bowl would need to be stripped and restained for good coverage. The biggest problem can be seen in the first two pictures below: the stem was very badly chewed. In the first picture it can be seen that the top of the stem had several deep bite marks and the button was eliminated on the left side. It was more of an upward slope to the tip than the sharp angular edge that was originally there. The round cap of the top of the p-lip button was smoothed out and no longer crowned. In the second picture you can see that the bottom tooth marks and bite throughs had been repaired with what appeared to be epoxy that was fairly caked on the stem tip to the point that the lip line and the button were gone. What remained was a working stem that had no beauty to my eye.

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The third and fourth photos show the profile of the button and it can be seen to have been virtually eliminated with the slope of the epoxy on the bottom edge and the chewed top edge. You can also see the state of the finish on the pipe. The spottiness and grime that covered the outside of the bowl are visible. Obviously this was a good smoking pipe that the previous owner cobbed a repair on so that he could continue to enjoy smoking it.

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The next two photos are enlarged to show the state of the stems. The first one shows the top of the stem and you can see the two large dents (interestingly they are in the same place as those on the other Two Point pipe).You can also see the wearing away of the edge of the button to a slope. The crown is also flattened. The second shows the underside of the stem and the remaining two dents – one next to the button on the bottom half of the stem and the second inward from that dent. You can also clearly see the epoxy patch that fills the bite through and the button. The usual line that separates the button on the p-lip from the stem is gone. To repair these two surfaces the dents need to be raised and the holes filled to the point where it is possible to cut a new button on the top and the bottom. The crown will need to be built up a bit and the epoxy patch hidden or blended into the black of the stem.

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I decided to work on the top side of the stem first and heated the surface of the vulcanite to lift the dents as much as possible. Once that was finished I filled what remained of the two dents with black super glue (see the first photo below). The dent next to the button I over filled so that I could have room to recut the edge of the button. When the glue had dried I sanded it back with 240 grit sandpaper to even the surface. I also recut the button edge to give it more of a sharp distinction. The sanded top surface can be seen in the second photo below.

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On the underside of the stem I decided to recut the button and the line with needle files before I refilled the dents and the epoxy patch. I sanded off the extra epoxy to get the surface smooth and level with the surface of the stem. I used 240 grit sand paper to bring the surface down and the needle files to cut the edge on both sides of the line. You can now see that line in the picture below and there is a definite break between the bottom of the p-lip and the stem. It is a duplicate of the button on the Two Point Lovat.

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Once I had that recut the button area I filled the surface of the stem with black super glue as seen in the picture below. I propped it with a pen to keep the surface level as I did not want the super glue to run and pool. I also built up the epoxy patch on the edge of the button as well. Once the glue was dry I sanded the surface and did a bit of work with the needle files to redefine the edges. The second picture below shows the sanded stem with a smooth surface.

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I finished sanding the stem with 400 and 600 grit sandpaper and water and then moved through the micromesh pads from 1500-6000 grit. The trick was to build a black coating on the epoxy patch. This took repeated coats of the black super glue. Once that was complete then the stem could be polished by hand until I finished with the bowl refinishing.

While I had been working on the stem the bowl had been soaking in the alcohol bath. Before dropping it in the bath I had wiped it down with a soft cloth and acetone (fingernail polish remover works very well) to remove the finish and the grime. It was time for it to be removed from the bath so that I could work on it. The three pictures below show the bowl after it has dried off from the alcohol bath. It now needed to be sanded with micromesh to remove any surface scratches and the rim needed to be thoroughly wiped down in preparation for the staining. I sanded and then wiped it down with a soft alcohol soaked cloth and set up the staining area.

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The next four photos show the restained bowl. I used a medium brown aniline based stain (Fiebings Leather Dye) to stain the pipe. Once it was stained I flamed it and buffed it to polish the briar and make the grain stand out. The patterns of birdseye and swirls is quite unique. This is a clean piece of briar – no fills and no problem areas.

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I then put the stem on the pipe and buffed the entirety with White Diamond and carnauba wax to bring it back to a shine. The final four photos show the finished pipe. Pay attention to the stem and button areas as they are now very distinct in the profiles and the build-up on the top and bottom give it back its original shape.

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Using a Buffing Wheel

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Blog by Steve Laug

Using cloth buffing wheels to buff the finish on a refurbished pipe can work wonders by smoothing the surface giving the pipe a “like new shine”. However, a disclaimer needs to be stated up front – buffing will not remove scratches or imperfections and buffing can make things a mess if not done properly.

I use The Beall System buffing wheels on two bench grinders that I have stripped down. The system employs a three-step procedure using three different 8 inch buffing wheels. The first wheel uses Tripoli as a buffing compound; the second uses White Diamond (aluminum oxide). The third is used to apply carnauba wax and bring the finish to its final luster. So that I do not have to change the wheels between buffs I use the two bench grinders that I have stripped down. I removed the grinding stone wheels, the guards and left only the arbor on each side. I used the washers from the grinder stones and an extra washer to hold the pads/wheels firmly. I put the pads I use for White Diamond and Tripoli on one buffer and the carnauba and added a fourth clean felt pad on the other. I thus can work down the row – Tripoli, White Diamond, carnauba and then a clean flannel wheel to bring up the shine. The picture below shows the Beall system. It includes three buffing pads – clearly stamped for the product they are designed to apply, one bar each of Tripoli, White Diamond and carnauba. The cylinder standing in the centre is an arbor that can be attached to a single shaft motor so that the wheels can be spun on and off quickly. The long shank in the bottom of the picture is an extension that can be attached to the arbor to give some distance from the motor should you need it. If you use a bench grinder those two parts are not necessary.

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The photo below shows the wheels with the mounting screw that can be either screwed into the arbor unit as pictured in the one wheel on the buffer or they can be removed and the pads turned on to the spindles of the bench grinders as I picture in my setup.

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The kit can be purchased through the Beall Tool Company through their website at www.bealltool.com or Lee Valley Tools through their online catalogue at http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=20092&cat=1,190,43040,43042 Both sites provide the ability to order individual components of the system. The Beall website also has a description of the system along with instructions. There are links to videos where Jerry Beall gives lessons on buffing.

In the essay below I will describe my set up and how I use it along with some quick reminders for you as you work with your buffer.

MY SETUP

I use two 6 inch bench grinders that I bought from a tool liquidator near my home for my buffers. They are both 1750 RPM motors mounted on a stand with an arbor on each end. The stand that is part of the grinder keeps the wheels above the surface of the work table and at a comfortable height. I place my buffers on my work table so that they are at waist height for ease of buffing and because I don’t want to have to stoop down to buff. I stand to buff because I have more control over the angles which I hold the pipe against the wheel. Each wheel is held in place by a cup washer on each side and a nut that threads on to the end of the arbor. The shaft is the same size as the holes in the buffing wheels so I place the first cup washer on, twist the wheel in place, put a simple washer and then the cup washer on the outside to get a good tight fit. If the wheel is loose it can move around the spindle or shaft and do damage to the wheel and allow it to shift on the spindle.

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The blue buffer above is my work horse – the left side holds the White Diamond wheel and the right side the Tripoli wheel. You can see from the picture that the pads have worn down and are the way I like to use them. There are no more loose strings or fabric. The wheels are charged in the picture above with the amount of both products that I use on them. I find that if I over charge them with product it just gums up on the stem and makes a mess of things rather than polishing them.

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The yellow buffer above is my secondary or polishing buffer. The wheels are not as worn as the ones on the blue grinder because I use them less frequently in the process of buffing. It is used for the final polishing. The left side is a clean flannel wheel with no product on it. It still loses strings when I buff with it. It is soft and gives the carnauba a real shine. The right side is the carnauba wheel. It too is charged with wax and ready to use. I am careful how much wax I load the wheels with as too much can really make a mess.

When I first mounted the wheels the recommendation that I was given was to “clean” the wheels initially by backing a sheet of 100-grit sandpaper with a small board and touching the sandpaper to the wheel. I chose not to do so, because the description of the mess deterred me. It said that the air around the buffer would be filled with fibers and lint. I decided to live with this while I broke them in with the polishing compounds.

Some people have built enclosures around the wheels to attach a dust collector to catch whatever comes off the wheels. I have added a picture below to show the shield that can be used. It is a pretty elaborate shield. I have used cardboard boxes in the past to catch the lint and dust and the pipes that occasionally fly away! I generally do not use a shield because I find that it was in the way when I work on the pipes. I want a fully open wheel to work with. Besides there was far less debris produced after the wheels were put in service and loaded with compound. I do however put a thick towel or a piece of carpet under the buffer wheel as it picks up the dust, etc. and can easily be vacuumed for cleanup.

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The first thing to do when you set up your buffing system is to charge the wheels with buffing compound. They key to remember is that it doesn’t take much for a wheel to be fully charged. Many people overdo on the charging and gum up the wheels and make a mess of the pipes they polish. Less is more is the rule of thumb. With the wheel rotating at speed, touch the bar of compound to the wheel only for a second or two and without forcing the bar into the fabric. The Tripoli is a dark reddish-brown color so you get a visual indication of the amount that’s been applied. With the white diamond and wax, it’s harder to judge. In the picture below you can see the White Diamond on the left, the Tripoli in the middle and the carnauba wax on the right side. Those bars should last a long time. I have found over the 10 + years that I have had my buffer that I had to replace the Tripoli at about year 5, followed a year later by the White Diamond. I still am using the same bar of carnauba.

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My suggestion is to do a bit of experimenting with a pipe that you are not afraid to damage or have thrown across the room. Try differing amounts of charge on the Tripoli wheel and note the effect. Begin with “obviously too little” and work your way to “probably too much.”  Do a similar test with the White Diamond and the carnauba wax. If you suspect you have too much charge on the wheel, some of it can be removed by lightly touching the sharp edge of a board to the wheel.

I hold the pipe in my left hand with a thumb or finger in the bowl so that I have a good firm hold on it. Practice buffing the pipe with each of the materials to get a feel for them. Each one is on a slightly different pad so they handle differently and the materials are different in their feel on the wheel. If you happen to put too much of any of the materials on the wheel and the pipe gums up you can wipe it down with Isopropyl alcohol and restart the process. Practice until you are comfortable with the feel of the pipe in your hand.

When you are buffing use a light touch. Pressing the pipe bowl against the wheel with considerable force only increases the heat generated where the wheel contacts the bowl. Pressing it hard against the stem can cause the vulcanite to burn or melt and make more work for you rather than less. A light touch is critical to getting a good finish and polish. Keep the pipe bowl moving as you are buffing, turning it so every surface get a good buff, with the stems the same thing is true so that the heat production is not concentrated in one area. I never buff a pipe bowl and stem separately. The buffer can round edges on the stem or the shank and the junction between the two is permanently damaged and the value and look of the pipe is affected.

A FEW SIMPLE REMINDERS

  1. Pay attention carefully and focus on the work. The equipment can hurt you so be careful! In regard to personal safety, just use common sense. A buffing wheel can grab loose sleeves, long hair, or dangling jewelry very quickly, so pay attention and be careful.
  2. While your safety is a potential hazard the greater one is the wheel can grab the pipe and take it out of your hands in a heartbeat. That is why I hold it the way I do – both hands, one with the thumb or finger in the bowl. This is a real issue; do not take it lightly.
  3. Always keep a firm grip on the pipe. It takes some thought and practice to grip the pipe firmly while applying it to the wheel with a light touch. The tendency is to hold it lightly, in keeping with the light touch.
  4. Be careful when buffing a pipe around the rim and bowl opening because the wheel can grab the edge of an opening.  Also, be alert when buffing near the rim because the reddish powder from the Tripoli and a white powder from the White Diamond gets into the inside of the bowl. It will need to be wiped out carefully with a cotton swab.
  5. The wheels can grab a small-diameter stem because the strings of the fabric tend to wrap around it if you press it too far into the wheel. The safest way to present the stem is with its length pointing in the direction the surface of the wheel is moving.
  6. Don’t try buffing metal bands, stingers or metal caps or rims.  It will work but will permanently discolor the buffing wheels.

Bending Vulcanite Stems

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have had several people ask me about the process I use to bend vulcanite stems. I decided to write an essay on the three different processes I have used to bend them. In each method I remove the stem from the pipe for bending. I have the pipe close at hand to check the bend on the stem. Each method has plusses and minuses to it. Each method can create a variety of other problems that need to be addressed if done improperly. For the sake of this article I refer to bending vulcanite. The same three methods can be used to bend Lucite. I have bent them both using all three methods. The methods and warnings remain the same; the potential for oxidation is not applicable.

1. Hot Water Method

METHOD: This is a simple process. I use a small ceramic microwaveable bowl that has straight sides and is about 3 inches deep. I fill it with tap water to the level I want the bend and put the bowl in the microwave. I select high and set the time for two minutes. I have found on my microwave that is where the water will boil. I have put the stem in the bowl in microwave during this heating and I have left it out. I see no significant difference in the application and no damage to the stem. The only significant difference that I can see is the time it takes to make the stem pliable.

Either way, when the stem is in the water I want it to be covered to the level of the impending bend. I put a pipe cleaner in the stem to keep the airway open and prevent kinking in the stem when I bend it. If the stem is in the microwave, at two minutes it is pretty pliable. If not, I dip it in the boiling water and leave it until it is pliable. This may take repeated dipping and reheating of the water.

Once the stem is pliable I use a small glass spice jar that is round to bend the stem over. It gives me the curve I am looking for in my bends. The jar is a common spice jar, about 1 to 1 ½ inches in diameter. I lay it on its side and bend the stem over it. I know others who use the grip on a baseball bat or a rolling pin. Use whatever works for you in terms of maintaining a smooth bend. I hold the tenon end with one hand and the button with the other and then bend it carefully. I have found out the hard way that just bending it by hand can be problematic and make a very uneven curve or a twisted curve with one side more bent than the other. Once the bend is the way you want it either dip the stem in a cup of cold water or under running water in the sink to set the bend.

PLUS: The plusses are fairly straightforward to this method. Its ease of application is very clear. The evenness of the heat and the bend makes burning the vulcanite a non-issue. The simplicity and lack of a need for special tools makes it a very practical method of bending the stems. I used this method all the time for many years until I purchased a heat gun to use for this purpose. I still find myself going back to it repeatedly particularly with Lucite or acrylic stems. I just works for me so I use it.

MINUS: The minuses are also straightforward. Hot water plus vulcanite is a recipe for oxidation. The heat and the water cause oxidation to raise its ugly head. It seems like the oxidation just leaps to the surface as soon as the water gets hot and touches the vulcanite. It means that in bending the stem, solving one issue, you create a second issue – the removal of oxidation. If you are comfortable with the process of removing oxidation then the method is very usable and it works. If you are not comfortable with that process be forewarned it will oxidize your vulcanite stems.

2. Kitchen Oven Method

METHOD: This also is a simple process. I use one of my wife’s cookie sheets, or baking sheets, to hold the stem or stems. I put the oven rack in the centre of the oven and preheat the oven to 200 or 220 degrees, both temperatures work. Once the oven is heated I place the stem (with the inserted pipe cleaner to keep the airway open) on the cookie sheet and slide it into the oven. Have some oven mitts or hot pads near at hand when it is time to remove the cookie sheet from the oven. Watch the stems so you can tell when they are pliable. It takes very little time, 5 minutes or less usually. You can tell when they are pliable when you watch them (especially after having done this before) but you can check them regularly to see if they are ready. They should be rubbery and soft, easily bent.

Once the stem is pliable I remove it from the oven and hold it with the oven mitts, or if your hands are callused with your fingers (vulcanite is hot and you can be burned so be careful). I have the same small glass spice jar at hand, just as I did in the above method, to use to bend the stem. I hold the tenon end with one hand and the button with the other and then bend it carefully. Once the bend is correct I dip it in cold water or under running water in the sink to set the bend.

PLUS: The plusses of this method are also straightforward. It again requires no special tools to do the work. It allows you to bend multiple stems quickly. It also does not increase oxidation to the stems. This is a relatively new method to me but a fellow refurbisher here in Canada uses it all the time and swears by it. I have tried it and it does work well. There is no mess and no fuss. Cleaning up the stem is very simple afterward. All of the work in removing oxidation and polishing can be done ahead of time and then when complete a simple buff will give the stem a sheen.

MINUS: The minuses are relatively few. The first I ran into was my wife – she was not keen to have me “melt” rubber on her cookie sheets in her oven. I suggest you try this when “she who must be obeyed” is out of the kitchen unless you have your own sheets and oven! Care must be exercised to not leave the stems in too long or they will indeed be a mess – or at least it would seem so. I have not done this because I am overly cautious in keeping an eye on the stems.

3. Heat Gun Method

METHOD: This also is a simple process. I have a heat gun purchased at a home improvement or hardware shop. It has two settings – high and low. For bending stems I set the gun to the low setting. The gun comes with a stand on the handle so I stand it on the worktable with the tip pointing into the air. It also comes with a variety of heads that can be used. I like to focus the heat on the stem so I use one that reduces the end of the gun to a one inch diameter circle. I hold the stem by the tenon, the side I want to bend facing downward, above the heat tip by 4-6 inches and keep it moving back and forth horizontally. You do not want to leave it in one place too long as it will burn the vulcanite or cause it to bubble. (I have used it to also bend Lucite and the same is true with that material.) I check it often to see if it is pliable. It does not take very long, maybe 3-5 minutes, and the stem is very flexible and even begins to droop.

Once the stem is pliable I remove it from the heat and bend it over the same small glass spice jar, just as I did in the above methods. I hold the tenon end with one hand and the button with the other and then bend it carefully. Once the bend is correct I dip it in cold water or under running water in the sink to set the bend.

PLUS: The plusses of this method are also straightforward. It is quick, simple and clean. It allows you to bend multiple stems quickly. The stems do not oxidize with the heat or the cooling water. Since I got the heat gun this is method that has become my default method. The stem can go from being bent to being buffed and polished in short order. All of the work in removing oxidation and polishing can be done ahead of time and then when completed it polishes very quickly with a hand buff or on the buffer.

MINUS: The minuses are relatively few but significant. It is critical that the stem be kept the recommended distance from the tip of the gun as vulcanite does burn. It also blisters and bubbles. Take my word for it you do not want to do the work to repair a blistered or burnt stem. Worst case scenario it means recutting a stem. This is the most important minus. Be very careful. The second one is not nearly as critical, but important nonetheless. The soft and pliable vulcanite can easily twist when bending it, so be sure to use a round hard surface to bend the stem over. Also make certain the stem is flat and straight on the surface of the jar so that it is not crooked when bent. This is easily repairable but a pain nonetheless.

I have used all three methods have all been to bend stems. I have used them on both vulcanite and Lucite stems. The point of pliability under heat is slightly different between the two of the materials so times may vary. I am also working at sea level so that may also influence the times and heat points for the various methods. Give one or all of the methods a try. Let us know how it works for you. Post some pictures of the process and the finished pipe. Most of all enjoy yourself in the work of taking care of your own pipe and making its story your own.