Tag Archives: stem work

Stem Bite through repair – Savinelli Punto Oro Prince

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Blog by Steve Laug

I picked up this little Savinelli Prince because I really like the shape of the pipe and the spigot style stem. I bid knowing full well that the stem had a bit through on it. Once it arrived I could have replaced the stem but decided to do a stem patch on it. The pipe itself was in great shape other than the bite through near the button on top of the stem. The underside of the stem was clean with no tooth marks or chatter. As I examined it I also noticed that the previous owner seemed to have done a halfway patch on it and in the process had broken a chunk out of the button and repaired with white glue. The white glue may have been applied by the seller to keep the pieces together while he sold it. I will never know for sure, but the glue would not hold for long as it is water soluble. The two pictures below show the extent of the damage in the stem and give a good idea of the state of the pipe as a whole. It was a great pipe with some unfortunate damage to the stem.

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I cleaned off the broken chunk with a dental pick, which was surprisingly easy and makes my above assertion about the seller doing a quick patch up more likely. I cleaned off the debris on the chunk (it was not very big, but was an essential piece of the button). I washed it with Isopropyl alcohol. Then I re-glued it with clear super glue. I purposely over filled the crack and pushed the piece in place until it held. I would sand off the excess glue once I had dealt with the bite through on the stem.

The bite through was a mess as well. There was oxidation in the hole as well as some built up dust and dirt. I picked the hole clean with the dental pick (by now you know that this is one of my indispensable tools in the refurbishing process). I wiped it down with a cotton swab and Isopropyl alcohol to get a good clean hole. By this point it was black and clean. I used a small round needle file to clean up the rough edges on the hole as I wanted a solid surface to work with. I washed it yet again with the alcohol to remove the grit from filing.

This time, instead of using the greased pipe cleaner in the slot I used a small nail file that fit the slot perfectly and gave a base to the glue. The hole was too big for just a pipe cleaner to provide the coverage. I greased both surfaces of the file and inserted it in the slot in the button. I gradually built up the hole with repeated applications of super glue. I let the layers dry before adding a new coating of glue. I have found that if I build it slowly around the edges it gives a better repair. Once it was built up I over filled the hole to make sure it is well covered and the hole is no longer visible. On this particular pipe I used clear super glue because I was out of the black super glue. Both versions work exceptionally well but the black has the benefit of being the same colour as the stem and is a little less visible.

After the glue was dried I used the flat blade needle file to rework the button back into shape and give it the nice sharp edges that it should have. I sanded the stem smooth, removing the excess glue and the roughness of the glue. I went on to sand it with 400 and 600 wet dry sandpaper and a bit of water to remove the scratches left by the 240 grit paper. Then I used the full range of micromesh pads, 1500, 1800, 2400, 3200, 4000 and 6000 grit to smooth it out. As usual I had a bowl of water near at hand to dip the pads as I sanded and to wash them of the slurry that comes as I sanded. Once they were smooth and shiny, the last three grits of micromesh really do a nice job giving the stem a sheen, I took the pipe to my buffer I finished it with White Diamond polishing compound.

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I have been asked in the past how long the stem patches hold up and the durability of the patch. I have no long term proof of their durability but I have had this pipe for about two years and have smoked it quite a bit and the patch shows no sign of giving way. I clean it as I would any other pipe with pipe cleaners after use and then periodically breaking it down to give it a thorough cleaning inside and out. I would say that is a pretty good track record for a patched pipe. Time will tell but in the meantime it is very smokeable and looks great in my opinion.

 

 

Rebuilding a Button on a BBB Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

I picked up this older BBB Bulldog on EBay because I liked the shape of it. The bowl definitely needed some work as the lava had erupted over the front rim and down the contours of the pipe. The pictures below show the state of the bowl when it arrived. But that was not why I am writing about this pipe. That kind of refurbishing is part and parcel of buying older pipes on EBay. They always are pretty much in the state that this one was in. All of them require the same kind of procedures to clean them up and return them to a state of readiness for the new owner. But have a look at the button on the last three pictures below. It was virtually gone. I could have fit a new stem on the pipe but I wanted to retain the brass BBB logo and did not want to move it to a new stem. I also wanted to try to build up the button and see what I could do with it.

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I have used Super Glue or Krazy Glue to repair bite throughs in the stem but had not use it to do repairs this extensive. I love the process of trying to devise a workable fix and so I decided to give it a go. I greased a fluffy pipe cleaner with olive oil and inserted it in the airway at the button. I do this so that the glue does not fill the airway and grease it so that the pipe cleaner is not a permanent feature of the stem as the super glue will stick to anything including your fingers if you get it on them. (By the way there is a solvent that is available should that happen to you.) The surface of the button was dirty and oxidized so I cleaned that with my dental pick and some acetone. I clean the surface before putting in the glue. I also sanded it to roughen the surface so the glue would bond well. In the top picture of the stem you can see that the top of the button is indented and the lip is worn smooth. The second stem photo shows the underside and you can see the major dent that needed work and the lip that was pretty well gone. I filled the hole on the underside first so that it would bond. Then I gradually built up the dent, letting it dry between applications of the glue. I believe it took 5 or 6 applications of the glue. Once it was filled I added more to build it up so that I could re-cut the button. In the picture below the patch is clear. It is a very rough surface but it is ready for the sanding and filing that will go into restoring the stem to normal. I built up the deep dent and also built up the missing portion of the button. On the top side of the stem I also built up the button in the same fashion.

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I set the stem aside to dry until the glue patch was very hard and turned my attention to the bowl. You can see in the pictures below that I took off the lava and tars on the top and cleaned the inside and outside of the entire bowl. By the time I was finished with the exterior of the bowl and shank and cleaned out the bowl and the inside of the shank with pipe cleaners and a reamer the stem was ready to work on. I reassembled it for the picture below.

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You can see from the two profile pictures above that the button is present once again. The idea is to build up the end of the stem to the degree that the profile shows the button as it would have been on a pipe of this age. It took a layering process with the super glue to get it to the point it is in the above pictures.

The two photos below show the bottom of the stem as I worked on it with the files and the sandpapers. I used my small files, both the flat and the wedge file to cut away the material that I had built up to give a sharp button edge as differentiated from the surface of the stem. In the first picture you can see the initial cuts and the smoothing that I did to the surface of the stem with the files. I used 220 and 240 grit sandpaper to remove the rough surface of the glue on the stem and bring it to the right profile. The glue is very hard and it takes quite a bit of sanding to smooth it out. In the second picture you can see the final shaping that was done to the button and the surface of the stem is once again smooth. From this point all that remained was to sand it with 400 and 600 grit wet dry sand paper and then use the micro-mesh pads 1500, 1800, 2400, 3200, 4000 and 6000 grit on the stem. As usual I kept a bowl of water next to me to keep the pads wet as I sanded the stems. Each progressive grit polished the stem and button to a more clean and shiny stage. I also reworked the surface of the entire stem. Once that was done I took it to the buffer and used the Tripoli buff followed by the White Diamond buff to bring it to a sheen.

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The last three pictures show the finished pipe – both the bowl which had been cleaned and polished with White Diamond and a light touch and then finished with some carnauba wax to complete it. The stem is completed in terms of bringing back the button and the stem profile. The area around the logo on the stem will need to be worked on with the edges of the micro-mesh pads to get in close and remove the remaining oxidation. Then the entirety will need to be lightly buffed and waxed. The main reason I posted these pictures is to show that the profile is now clear and the new button is clearly visible. The last picture shows the top of the stem and the button is clearly visible. There is a bit of oxidation in the button that I will need to work on with the pads as well but at least the old BBB Bulldog is now very smokable.

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Lifting Tooth Marks from a Lucite Stem with a Heat Gun

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A normal pattern of behaviour for me in my refurbishing work is that once I figure something out that works on one kind of material I want to try it on a variety of similar items. In this case once I had used the heat gun to lift the tooth dents on a vulcanite stem I wanted to experiment with Lucite stems. I had no clue whether it would work or even if Lucite had some kind of memory that would bring the dents back to a smooth surface on the stem. There was only one way to find out since I could find no answers online and that was to give it a try. I figured the worst that could happen if I was careful was that the stem would remain the same – dented or a bit melted and I would have to do a different kind of repair. I had a nice little Stanwell bulldog that was given to that had a Lucite stem that had some tooth dents in the stem – just ahead of the button. There was one dent on top and one underneath.

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The two pictures below show the depth of the marks (Again I ask your forgiveness the poor quality of the photos, several of them are a bit blurry but I think that they give you a good idea of the nature of the problem. The dents look far worse in person than the pictures show). The top photo shows the top of the stem and the second photo the underside. I decided to continue my experiment with lifting the tooth dents with my heat gun on this Lucite stem as it seemed like a good candidate for the trial.

I personally like working with a clean surface when I am doing this kind of work so I scrubbed the tip to clean it of any grime or grit that might be in the dents. I used a soft cloth dampened with Isopropyl alcohol to clean the surface then I buffed it with a quick light touch on a White Diamond wheel.  The pictures below show the stem just before I used the heat gun on it. You will see in the photos that there are small pits close to the button as well as the larger dents on both sides. The crevice between the button and stem body also has some scratches that would need to be sanded out once the tooth dents were dealt with.

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As I explained in the post on the vulcanite stem I once again stood the heat gun on its end pointing upward. I used the wire stand built into the handle to stabilize the gun in this position (see the picture previous post on lifting tooth marks from vulcanite). I wanted to be able to have both hands free to maneuver the stem over the heat so having the gun positioned in this manner allows me to do that. I set the heat gun on low heat as before because I did not know how the heat would affect the Lucite. I have found that high setting can too easily burn the vulcanite so I was assuming the same thing would be true of the Lucite.

I worked the stem over the heat keeping it about 4-6 inches above top of the gun tip as it allows it to thoroughly heat the Lucite. I move the stem constantly back and forth across the heat. I kept the stem on the pipe as before and used the bowl as a handle. In this instance I worked to just keep the first 3/4 inches of the stem from the button forward in the heat. I stopped frequently to check on the progress and see if there was any blistering on the stem. It took a bit longer for the heat to work on the Lucite. I think it must be the density and hardness of the Lucite that makes the difference. With the application of heat the Lucite began to return to its original smoothness. I kept the heat on the stem until all the dents were gone. The reason I believe the process worked was because the dents in the Lucite were not cuts in the surface but actual dents. The application of the heat did the trick.

Once the surface was smooth I took it off the heat and cooled it the same way I did the vulcanite. I did not want the stem to bend accidentally while it was soft so I dipped the tip in some running cool water to set the new surface. I dried off the tip and then sanded the area with 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper (with water on the stem as I sanded) and then moved through the grades of micromesh pads – 1500, 1800, 2400, 3200, 4000 and 6000 grit. By the 3200 grit micromesh pad I found that the Lucite was beginning to have a smooth and glossy finish. The sanding with the final two grades of the pads really polished the stem and gave it the glassy finish that polished Lucite has. I finished by giving it a final polish on the buffer with White Diamond polishing compound and a coat of carnauba wax.

Here are some pictures of the top and the underside of the finished stem.

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Refurb on an Old “The Regent” – fit a horn stem

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Just finished up with this pipe. I had a lot of fun with this one! It is an old horn shaped pipe. It is stamped The Regent and has a sterling silver band on it. The hallmarks are the reclined lion (sterling silver) the Anchor (Birmingham) and a mystery stamp – a five point star (no date sign like that on the British sterling sites). I was reading in Gary Schrier’s Calabash book this evening and came across a calabash with the same hallmarks. He said it was a Faux Birmingham made pipe. The calabash he had was a Manhatten made in New York City. The question is do I also have a Faux Birmingham pipe??

It was dirty and I reamed and cleaned the bowl and shank. It had a thick cake and a bit of cob webs in the bowl and shank. It also did not have a stem. It came to me as a bowl without a stem. I had an old horn stem in my can of scavenged pipe parts that was that right shape and whose tenon fit perfectly. It was about a 1/4 to large in diameter. I used my dremel to bring it close to a fit and then sanded it until it was a perfect fit. While I worked on it I removed the silver band in order to get the stem fit to be flush with the briar. When I was finished with the fit I polished the horn stem until it glowed with 400 and 600 girt wet dry sand paper, micromesh pads up to 4000 grit and then Tripoli and white diamond. Then I reset the band with a bit of superglue and then put on the stem and gave the silver a polish and the pipe a buff.

I have included a pic of the stem first to show you the look of the beautiful old horn stem. It has an orific button (single round hole in the button). It seemed to match the age of the pipe in terms of look.

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The rest of the pics are of the finished pipe. Thanks for looking.

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Refurb – A pair of Astleys 68s

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Just finished the final buff on these two and thought I would post them. In researching the net for information on these pipes I found a 1968 catalogue that showed that they originally had saddle stems. I sorted through my stem box and found two saddle stems for these Astleys bowls. I fit these stems to the bowls. They are stamped Astleys 68 which is a pot shape. They also have the address on Jermyn Street London stamped on them. The bowls were reamed and cleaned. I then restained them with black stain, fired the stain to set it and then buffed with white diamond lightly before waxing with Halcyon wax.

The pipe with the band had a crack in the shank that I repaired and pressure fit with the nickel band. The blast on this pair is nicely done. Astleys called this their Crusty Briar line. Here are the pics. Thanks for looking.

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Reworking the button on a Perspex Stem on a GBD Prehistoric

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lifting Tooth Marks in an old Charatan Stem with a Heat Gun

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I picked up this old Charatan 33X Bell Dublin off of EBay in the 90’s and refurbished the bowl and rim and gave it a good polishing with some Halcyon 2 wax. I find that the wax works very well on sand blasted and rusticated surfaces. This one turned out to be a great smoking pipe.  The briar is extremely lightweight and has a nice deep blast to it. Charatan does this shape like no one else and it is a favourite of mine. I liked everything about this old pipe but… it had some incredibly deep tooth marks on the stem.

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The two pictures below show the depth of the marks (Please forgive the poor quality of the photos, though they are a bit blurry they communicate the problem. Know that it was far worse than the pictures show). They arc across the stem just in front of the button and extend about a half inch into the stem. The top photo shows the top of the stem and the second photo the underside. I covered them for the longest time with a rubber softee but really did not like the feel of that in my mouth so I decided to experiment with lifting the tooth dents using my heat gun.

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I scrubbed the tip to clean it of any slurry that had built up under the rubber softee tip. There seems to always be a white calcification under the rubber guard. I cleaned that up with my buffer and some sandpaper. The photos above show the stem after I had cleaned it and it was ready to be heated.  I have a heat gun that I can stand on its end pointing upward. It has a wire stand built into the handle that stabilizes the gun in this position (see the picture below). Having the gun positioned in this manner allows me to control and manipulate the stem with both hands over the heat. I set the heat gun on low heat as I have found that high setting can too easily burn the vulcanite. I learned that painful lesson on some precast stems that I was trying to bend. I had used the heat gun to bend my stems for quite some time but had not used it to lift the tooth marks from the stem until I used it on this stem.

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The trick I have learned in the process is to keep the stem about 4-6 inches above top of the gun tip as it allows it to thoroughly heat the vulcanite but not burn it. I move the stem constantly back and forth across the heat. I kept the stem on the pipe this time and used the bowl as a handle. In this instance I worked to just keep the first inch of the stem from the button forward in the heat. I stopped frequently to check on the progress and see if there was any blistering on the stem. The blistering can easily happen and is a pain to deal with. It can be sanded out but it is a case of creating a problem while solving another one – kind of like how plumbing repairs always work out for me. It did not take long for the heat to do its magic. Vulcanite has memory so with the heat it returned to its original smoothness. I have found as long as the bite marks are not actually cuts but dents they will lift out with persistence and heat.

Once the surface was smooth again I took it off the heat and cooled it by dipping the tip in some running cool water to set the vulcanite in its new position. It is the same principle that is used in bending the stems. You heat and get it bent to the position you want and then dip in cold water to set it. I figured it would work the same in this instance and it did indeed work. I dried off the tip and then sanded the area with 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper (with water on the stem as I sanded) and then moved through the grades of micromesh pads – 1500, 1800, 2400, 3200, 4000 and 6000 grit. By the 3200 grit micromesh pad I found that the stem was beginning to get a smooth and glossy finish. The final two grades of the pads really polish the stem and give it a glassy finish. To finish the work on the stem I took it for a final polish on the buffer with White Diamond polishing compound. It really shone when that was done.  The work was finished after I gave it a good coating of carnauba wax.

Here are some pictures of the top and the underside of the finished stem.

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Restoring Horn Stems

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Blog by Steve Laug

I have had the pleasure of working on over a half dozen horn stems on some old pipes I have purchased and been given. Each of them presented a different challenge in terms of restoration. Several had the normal tooth dents and chatter that come as a normal part of the stems of many old pipes while other stems had been gnawed to the point of changing the profile of the stem forever. Horn is significantly different to work with than vulcanite or Lucite stems. In many ways it is softer and more pliant than either of the other materials. When it is in good order the sheen is almost translucent and there is deep almost internal warmth to them. In this article I want to talk about the process of reworking horn stems and restoring them to their former glory.

The first issue with horn stems I had to learn to work on was the tooth dents and tooth chatter that often covers the last half inch or more of the stem just ahead of the button. When I first attacked this I did it with a bit of fear and trepidation as I had all kinds of concerns about the laminate of the horn separating or delaminating. However, through the help of several of the folks on Smokers Forums, an online pipe smoking community, many of my concerns were alleviated. Here are some pictures of this first issue with horn stems. I took pictures of the top/side profile and the bottom/side profile of this particular stem as it highlights the issue.

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Looking closely at the stems above you will see the tooth marks along the button area of the stem. This area was rough to the touch and was dry and almost flakey feeling. I was concerned that the horn had softened from the breakdown of the outer coating and wondered if it could be brought back. They were shallow though so I went to work on them with multiple grits of sandpaper to smooth out the surface. I used 240 grit to smooth out the roughness and then worked my way through 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. The trick with the latter two was to wet them as I sanded the stem. Each progressively higher grit smoothed out the roughness until it was smooth to touch. The wetness of the sandpaper made the grit really bite into the surface of the horn. I then used micro-mesh pads beginning with 1500 grit followed by 1800, 2400, 3200, 4000 and 6000. By the time I got to the 3200 the scratches in the surface were virtually gone – even under a bright light. Again the trick is to work with a bowl of water near at hand to wet the pads as you sand the stem. When I finished with the 4000 and 6000 there was a good sheen to the stems.

At that point in the process I took them to my buffer to finish the work. I used White Diamond polishing compound on the buffing wheel to give it a deep gloss finish. Then I gave a polish with carnauba wax and buffed to a glassy finish.

Here are some pictures of the finished stem minus the tooth chatter. The original issue had been addressed and the stem returned to its former beauty.

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One quick note that I should mention is that horn will stink as you work it. Its smell has been likened to the smell of a tooth getting drilled by the dentist or burning hair. I found though, that as I worked with it I got used to it.

The second issue with horn stems that I had to learn to deal with was more serious. It involved deep tooth dents and a chewed stem. The stem pictured below was a real mess. The previous owner obviously gnawed it and clenched it so the horn was dented and chewed with the profile changed. The question for me was whether I would be able to raise the tooth dents and smooth the surface while reworking the profile of the old stem to make it look as much as possible like it did when it came out of production. Here are three pictures to give you a look at the stem in its state of disarray.

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Looking closely at the stem pictured above you will see the depth of the tooth dents in the second and third picture and the serious loss of shape in the stem profile in the first picture. The profile shows the pinched look of the stem in front of the button and how thin the stem had been squeezed by chewing. My concern was whether there would be enough meat on the stem at that point to restore it without breaking through into the airway. The second and third pictures show the stem from the top and the bottom. In those two pictures you can see how deep the dents are in the surface of the stem. Also notice the virtual loss of the lip on the edge of the button. The stem appeared to be a loss.

From Chris Askwith, a talented young British pipe maker I learned a few tricks that I was anxious to try out on the stem (http://www.askwithpipes.com/). I had used the same tricks to lift dents out of the rims and sides of briar bowls so I was looking forward to seeing the process work as described by Chris. I steamed the dents and lifted the major depth of them by using a damp cloth laid on the surface of the dents and then heating a butter knife on the gas stove and applying the hot blade to the wet surface of the cloth on the stem. The gentle hiss and the presence of steam assured me that the steaming was working. You have to be careful as you work this process, checking repeatedly as you apply the knife and steam to make sure not to scorch or split the horn. Most of the deeper dents rose significantly and the more shallow ones came out completely.

I sanded the stem and cleaned up the chewed part starting with 240 grit sandpaper as I did with the stem above. I gradually worked my way through 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper clean up and even out the surface. I worked on the profile and cleaned up the sharp edges of the button with a set of needle files to restore the right angles of the button and stem surface. There were still a few remaining spots on the stem where the tooth dents had cut the surface of the horn and would not lift with the steam. I addressed these by filling them with a few drops of clear super glue. The glue dried quickly and left a small bump in place of the dent. I sanded these with the sandpaper combo mentioned above until the surface was even and smooth. Once I had a clean and smooth surface to work with I then moved on to Micro-mesh pads beginning with 1500 grit followed by 1800, 2400, 3200, 4000 and 6000. By the time I got to the 3200 the scratches in the surface were virtually gone – even under a bright light. Again the trick was to work with a bowl of water near at hand to wet the pads as you sand the stem. When I finished with the 4000 and 6000 there was a good sheen to the stems. They were beginning to shine like glass.

I took the stem to my buffer and used White Diamond polishing compound to  buff the surface smooth and shiny. It was truly glassy in terms of look and feel. I finished the stem by applying a good coat of carnauba wax and buffing to polish the wax.

Here are some pictures of the finished stem minus the tooth dents and with a restored profile. Notice the restored profile of the stem in the first and second picture below. Notice the functional button and lip that has been restored. The third and the fourth picture show the top and bottom of the stem and show the way the super glue patch and the work with the steam and sandpaper restored the deep pits in the surface of the stem.

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Because of the success I experienced with these two different issues with horn stems I have gone on to bid on others that need work. I have found those that only needed a buff and polish to restore them to their pristine condition and I have found others with similar problems to those shown above. The challenge of restoring them to the original beauty always is a draw to me. To smoke one of these old horn stem pipes is an experience that all pipemen should have. The work to restore them is worth the effort when you put the newly restored stem in your mouth for the first time. There is nothing quite like the feel of a “new” horn stem on your lips as you puff a favourite tobacco. And that is to say nothing of the good aged briar that is on the other end of the stem. Give restoring a horn stem a try. It is a pleasure! Won’t you join me for a bowl full in one of these old timers?

Steve Laug

June 8, 2012

Refurbed Piece of pipe smoking history – A Brittish Buttner Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

I picked this pipe up on Ebay awhile back solely for my historical interest in this kind of pipe. I am drawn to creative pipe manufacturers and the search for a drier and cooler smoke. It is that interest that attracted me to the gadgetry of the British Buttner pipes. This is the second one that I have purchased on Ebay. The first one is older (patent is earlier)and has a yellow Bakelite stem and is a pot in terms of shape. I have also collected a Bakelite canister that holds an extra clay insert bowl. I saw this one and added it to the collection. It looks like a briar billiard but is not. It is a Bakelite bowl and Vulcanite stem. The tenon is long and extends to the air hole in the bowl. There is a clay insert that sits in the bottom of the Bakelite bowl. This one has a few chips out of it but is still workable. The rim unscrews and holds clay bowl (much like a gourd calabash. It is mounted on the rim and screws into the bowl. I cleaned the inside of all three parts and cleaned the stem and shank. I have polished it with wax and since have smoked it several times. It is a very different smoke – very similar to a calabash smoke; very cool and dry.

Here are some pictures of it taken apart before cleaning:

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Here it is cleaned and polished.

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Here are some pictures of the older British Buttner

 

KBB Yello-Bole Premier – Stem repair and refurbishing

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Just received that old propeller KBB Yello Bole pipe that I picked up off ebay. The bowl is in better shape than the pictures on ebay showed it. The burned spot on the Bakelite stem on the right side bottom was actually very deep. I cleaned it with alcohol and a dental pick to take out the affected material. It was a sizeable dent. I then cleaned and dried it and used a clear epoxy to build it back up. I am sanding it now to make sure the transition is smooth but at least it is gone. The hole is filed and a bit dark but the stem has black/grey streaks in it anyway so it is functional. Here are the photos from ebay showing the before.

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In examining the pipe it is clear that it is an old timer – propeller logo on the stem, bakelite stem, and the stamping. It is stamped KBB in a clover and Yello-Bole Honey Cured Premier over Imported Briar. Once I had repaired the stem with the epoxy as described above I scrubbed the top to remove the tars and grime. The shank and inside the stem was clogged with tars and took a lot of bristle cleaners and alcohol to get it to come out clear. The finished stem came out smooth and solid. It still shows some of the shape of the burn but the affected part was removed. The bowl was cleaned with oil soap and then hit with a quick coat of medium brown stain, polished and waxed. This time I did it all by hand without a buffer. I used the micromesh pads and I really love the way they work.

Along with the pictures above here are some shots that show the state of the bowl before cleaning.

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Here are pictures of the finished pipe in all of its beauty.

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