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New Life for a Peterson’s London & Dublin 86 Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is smooth finished Peterson’s London& Dublin Apple shaped pipe that had a very dirty/grimy finish but had some good looking grain around the bowl sides and shank. It came to us from an Antique Store on 10/20/2022 in Vancouver, Washington, USA. This Lightweight Apple was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [over] London & Dublin. It was stamped on the right side near the shank/stem junction it is stamped with the shape number 86. The pipe was in filthy condition when he brought it to the table. The finish was dirty with grime ground into the briar sides and rim. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a coat of lava on the rim top but the edges of the bowl. The inner edge of the bowl was thickly coated in lava and it was hard to know how the rim top and edges looked underneath. The stem was dirty with oxidation and calcification on it. There were tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button and on the button edges as well. There was no “P” stamp logo on the taper stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is caked and the rim top has a lava coat and the inner edge of the bowl is rough and shows knife damage. The photos of the stem show tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the amazing grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above.I have restored a few Peterson’s Dublin & London in the past so I turned to my blog to have a look at the background information that I included in those blogs. I found the following link to a one of those pipes (https://rebornpipes.com/2021/02/24/restoring-a-made-in-ireland-petersons-dublin-london-999-rhodesian/). I also am including the background information I had gathered on the line from the previous blog. I quote:

I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Dublin & London Pipe. On page 298 it had the following information.

Dublin & London (c1940-97, 2016-) First mentioned in a 1940 brochure, but probably not widely distributed until ’45, Dublin & London was the highest quality line (aside from the Supreme, introduced in ’53) until about ’86. P-lip or fishtail mouthpiece, polished finish, although sandblast described in ’70 Iwan Ries & Co. catalog. COMs include MADE IN over IRELAND (1940-80) and MADE IN THE over REPUBLIC over OF IRELAND (c1980-97)…

…London & Dublin – English made version of the Dublin & London, made in Peterson’s English factory until it closed in 1962. Classic Range shapes were not as a rule banded and no genuinely hallmarked specimens of the pipes with this model name have been documentd. Rare examples may be additionally stamped Natural. COM on all pipes is LONDON MADE over ENGLAND. Mouthpiece maybe stamped P.

Judging from the description above, the pipe I am working on is stamped with the stamp noted in red above. It does not have a COM stamp or if it did it has been buffed out. The London & Dublin stamp identifies the pipe as an English made version of the Dublin & London. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and the darkened spots with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. I took close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top had some looked quite good and the inner edge had some darkening and damage. It should clean up really well. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks on the surface near the button on both sides and on the button itself.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. I decided to address the damage on the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl first. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage and bring the bowl back to round. I polished the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped down the bowl after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a “Bic” lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to raise them some but not completely. I filled in the remaining marks on the button edge and the surface with black CA glue. Once it cured I used a file to shape the button edge and also smooth out the fill. I sanded the remaining marks with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the surrounding vulcanite. I started polishing the stem surface with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem.I am excited to finish this English Peterson’s London & Dublin, Apple 86. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl and brass band on the shank and made a stunning pipe. This smooth Classic Older Peterson’s London & Dublin English Made Apple 86 is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¼ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 34grams/1.20oz. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection send me an email or a message. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring a Budapest Purchase – A Tatu Pipe 1126 Freehand

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Blog by Steve Laug

When I was traveling for work I was in Budapest, Hungary I visited the Gallwitz Pipe Shop. It is a shop I have visited several times in the past. I wrote about my first visit to various Budapest Pipe shops including Gallwitz back in 2015 (https://rebornpipes.com/2015/09/30/my-how-things-change-reflections-on-pipe-smoking-while-visiting-budapest/). When I visited it this time I spent time with the current owner and proprietor of the shop, Viktor Zollner (the grandson of the last Gallwitz owner). We had a great visit talking about the current state of pipes and pipe repair in Hungary since I had visited in 2015. Viktor had carved many pipes but was currently focusing his attention on pipe repair and estate pipes. He said that he loves the challenge of pipe and stem repair more than pipe carving – just as I do. He brought out some boxes and bags of estate pipes for me to look over and there were some real beauties that I have not seen before among them. We talked about repairs and cleaning of pipes and stems. One of the pipes that he had not worked on yet was a freehand that he said was a Tatu Pipe. It caught my attention enough that I laid it aside while looking at the others he brought out. It was stamped with two pipes toward the front of the smooth panel on the underside. That was followed by the stamping 1126 [over] Tatu Pipe. It was a large freehand pipe in a mushroom shape. It had a smooth rim and a sandblast bowl finish. There was a bit of plateau on the rim top toward the front of the bowl. There as also what looked like a boxwood shank extension. It was light and a contrast with the briar. The shank end had a brass circle to re-enforce the mortise of end of the shank. There was what appeared to be a burn mark on the bottom front of the bowl toward the bottom. I examined it but it was not clear if it was a burn mark on the briar or the beginning of a burn through. The bowl had a thick cake around the bowl and some lava overflow and darkening on the inner edge, heavier toward the back of the bowl. The stem was lightly oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took photos of the pipe when I got back to the flat we had rented in Budapest. I took some photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem. The details of the rim top and inner edge were as noted in the description above. The stem also shows the condition as noted in the above.I took a photo of the stamping. It was faint but readable with a lens and read as noted above.I also took a photo of the burn damage on the front lower part of the bowl. It was hard to tell whether it was the beginning of a burn out or burn damage on the briar from setting it in an ashtray.  I decided to take a calculated risk and purchase the pipe. I would more once I had cleaned it up.Before I started my work on the pipe I really wanted to know about the brand. It was a brand I was not overly familiar with and wanted to gather background information. I did a Google search to see if there was anything under the Tatu Pipe stamp. The first site that came up was for a pipe for sale on smokingpipes.com. I quote from there below as it pointed toward more information for me (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/japan/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=143673). It was description of a particular freehand pipe but the background information included was very helpful in giving me clues to move ahead.

Japanese Estates: Tatu Pipe by Tetsuo Tajima (Unsmoked) Tobacco Pipe

Tajima-san made his US debut at the 2011 CPCC, and his work impressed enough, that both European and American dealers were all but slapping each other’s hands, in an effort to acquire his briars. Up until the end of 2004, Tatsuo worked as film and graphic designer, but 2005 found him committing his time to learning pipe carving and his mentor was none other than Shizuo Arita. If memory serves, this Tajima oceanic denizen was carved in 2012, and it remains unsmoked to this very minute. Novel shape, solid grain, and best held with the ever-reliable finger-crook method.

From that clue I turned to the Tatu pipe information on Pipephil’s site to get some more history and background on the brand (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-t2.html#tatupipe). I have included a screen capture of the information that was included there along with a photo of the pipe maker, Tatsuo Tajima and some sidebar information below. It also helped give me information on the stamping on the pipe. Artisan: Tatsuo Tajima (born 1955) formerly was a film and graphic designer. He started making pipes in 2005.

Since the pipe I had bore the stamp 1126 which I could now interpret to refer to the year the pipe was made (11=2011) and the 26 indicates the manufacture rank in that year (rank 26). That was a significant piece of information on the pipe. I now knew the date of the carving was 2011 and that this was the 26th pipe of the year.

I turned then to Pipepedia and looked in the Japanese Pipe Makers section under the name Tajima (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Tajima) and found some more information as well as other pipes that he had carved with similar design features. I quote below.

Tatsuo Tajima, born in 1955, native of Tokyo. His previous life was a well decorated Film and Graphic Designer. Since 2007, as fate says under the guidance of Shizuo Arita and Shigeyoshi Yanagihara embark on pipe crafting as a second career.

Drawing from other genre of smoking culture such as shisha and similar paraphernalia he makes you wonder and reconsider what smoking pipe actually is about. At most part, he would say the experience, the quality of smoke (moisture, flavour, and temperature) while using something that we can appreciate aesthetically. His work set boundaries free and invite smokers to be more universal and uniting at one point: on the flavour of tobacco and the experience of drawing a smoke.

For inspiration, he goes to the same park most of the time. He picks up elements of nature that he saw interesting. “Nature is different everytime we visit.” says Tatsuo-san. It is alive. Some days, even hours, leaning more towards the sun. It might be blooming, or fallen to the ground. There are movement.

Not only a naturalist in approach but artificial landscape and man-made creation also inspire him. NASA space shuttle to construction site digging gave him inspiration. I just called it simply being a Japanese and their fascination of robots and mechanical wonders. If his pipe is a painting, his expression would be Dali kind of surrealism.

Capturing nature in his own way, it could often be more realistic as a result.

Often you will see his combination of modernism and retro being executed with Wabi-sabi aesthetic. Also, behind that artistic styling and unique structure, he is always on the exploration on the new experience of smoking, when possible contribute to the health aspect. Such as the use of reverse calabash and longer shank to decrease moisture and cool down the smoke due to longer travel.

In life, he drinks tea throughout the year, warm Oolong Tea in winter and cold Mugicha in summer. He drinks no alcohol. By all means, I have tried with both tea or alcohol, and his pipes still smokes like a dream. He is also in touch almost on a daily basis with a retired senior pipemaker, Shigeyoshi Yanagihara.

Tatsuo Tajima, currently resides in Tokyo, lives quite close with his teacher and friend, Yanagihara-san. His current pipe production is about 60 pipes a year.

I then turned to Pipes2smoke where Maxim Engel currently sells Tatsuo Tajima’s pipes for further information (https://pipes2smoke.com/collections/tatsuo-tajima). I quote from that site below.

Tatsuo Tajima, (“Tatu”) was born in 1955 in Tokyo. He originally worked as a film and graphic designer and contributed large-scale image displays mainly for feature films and for such events as Tsukuba Expo ’85, Nara Silk Road Expo ’87, and Design Expo Nagoya ’89 as well as for museums such as Edo-Tokyo Museum. From ’93 onwards, with the general shift to digital media, he focused on multimedia titles and graphics as a graphic designer. He has received numerous awards from such competitions as Opel Design Contests, Epson Imaging Contests, and Victor Video Festivals.

From 2005 onward, Tatu committed himself to pipe making under the guidance of Shizuo Arita and Shigeyoshi Yanagihara. In 2009 he made his debut as a full time pipe artist at Amanoya in Setagaya, Tokyo. 

He had his first US exposure in 2011 at the Chicago Pipe Show. Every Tatu pipe shows the Japanese pipe aesthetic with its mix of curved and straight lines & at times asymmetry flowing into a harmonious whole. And always with the famous Japanese attention to detail.

If you would like to see more of Tatsuo Tajima’s work have a look at his Instagram site (https://www.instagram.com/tatupipe/). He does some fascinating work.

Now it was time to work on restoring this interesting Japanese Freehand. I decided to evaluate the damage to the front of the sandblast bowl. I wanted to know if it was the beginning of a burn out in the briar or if it had come from it having been set on a live coat in an ash tray. I examined the interior of the bowl and could find no obvious damage on the walls. I would know more once I had reamed and cleaned the bowl. I worked on the exterior of the finish with a brass bristle wire brush. I wanted to know if the damage was surface or only on the top of the finish. The brass brush revealed that it was not too deep. It appears that there was a flaw in the briar – a sandpit in blast. I circled the area with a red line in the second photo below.I filled in the sandpit with briar dust and clear CA glue. I used the brass bristle wire brush after the repair had cured to remove the excess repair and also rework the sandblast finish. It looks very good though there is some darkening around the spot. Once I knew that there was a sandpit/flaw and had repaired it I turned to more deeply examine the walls of the bowl to see if there were any checking or burns on the bowl walls or heel in the surrounding interior area behind the flaw. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet piper reamer to remove the thick cake on the walls. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe knife to remove the remaining cake on the walls. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. I wiped the bowl out with a damp cloth to remove the dust and debris. I examined the bowl walls and they were smooth and wihtout checking or burn damage on the wall behind the mark on the outside of the bowl. I cleaned up the darkening and the burn damage to the rim edge and the top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. Once I had finished it looked much better.I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and warm water to remove the grime in the sandblast finish. When I cleaned it the shank extension was loose but the pipe looked much better. I cleaned out the inside of the shank extension, shank and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and 99% isopropyl alcohol. It was really filthy so with a bit of work the pipe smelled much better.I reglued the shank extension to the shank with Weld Bond all purpose glue. I applied it to both smooth ends of the shank and extension with a tooth pick and pressed it onto the tube that held it in place on the shank. I aligned the sharp edge of the extension with the sharp edges of the shank and press it in place until the glue cured. I stained the bowl with a light brown aniline stain to blend in the burn marks on the exterior of the front lower sandblast bowl. I felt that it would blend in the damaged area with the rest of the sandblast on the bowl. I applied it with a dauber and then flamed it to set it in the finish. Once the stain had cured I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush. I wanted to make sure that it was in the deep grooves of the sandblast. I also worked it into the smooth shank extension with my fingertips. I let it sit and do its magic for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a soft cotton cloth. The pipe looked much better and the burn marks were blended into the surface with the stem. I set the bowl aside and “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a “Bic” lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to raise them some but not completely. I filled in the remaining marks on the button edge and the surface with black CA glue. Once it cured, I used a file to shape the button edge and also smooth out the fill. I sanded the remaining marks with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the surrounding vulcanite. I started polishing the stem surface with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil to preserve and protect the stem. I am excited to finish this Japanese Tatu Pipe by Tetsuo Tajima. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain all around it. The polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl made a stunning pipe. This smooth Japanese Made Tatu Pipe 1126 Freehand is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 ¼ inches wide x 2 ¾ inches long, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 57 grams/2.01 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe that I will hang onto for awhile to enjoy. One day I may add it to the rebornpipes store. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Refreshing a Peterson’s System Standard Smooth Made in the Republic of Ireland 312

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is Rusticated Peterson’s System pipe that we purchased from and estate in Plano, Texas, USA on 03/30/2022. It was stamped Peterson’s System Standard on left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [over] System [over] Standard. On the right side it reads Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines) [over] the shape number 312. It has nice grain around the bowl and shank that has oils, debris and grime ground into the finish. There was a thick cake in the bowl with remnants of tobacco stuck on the walls. There was a lava overflow on the rim top that was heavier toward the back side. The top and edges of the rim were well hidden under the tars and lava. There was a very beautiful pipe underneath all of the buildup of years of use. The nickel ferrule on the shank end was oxidized and is stamped on the top and left side K&P [over] three hallmarks – a harp, a wolf hound and a tower. That is followed by Petersons. It small dents in the nickel ferrule on the right side. The vulcanite stem is a Peterson’s style P-Lip with a “P” logo on the left side of the saddle stem. It was oxidized and calcified toward the end with some tooth chatter. There were also some tooth marks on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the thick, hard cake in the bowl with remnants of tobacco stuck on the walls of the bowl. There was a lava build up on the top of the rim and the edges of the bowl. The rim top looked pretty good but it was hard to know for sure if there was damage under the thick lava. Only clean up would tell the full story. Jeff took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the tooth chatter, scratching and oxidation on the stem surface and wear on the edges of the button. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish. You can see the grime in finish around the sides of the bowl and shank. Even under the dirt and debris of the years it looked very good. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the sides of shank. The stamping was readable as you can see from the photos. It read as noted above. The nickel ferrule on the shank end is stamped on the top and left side K&P Peterson’s over three Peterson marks. I have included the information on the shape number on this pipe that I picked up on researching the previous pipes. This is the second of two Peterson’s System Standard pipes in Bob’s collection marked with the 312 shape number. I have included a page from a Petersons Catalogue that I have on rebornpipes (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/peterson-hallmark-chart/). I have put a red box around the 312 shown in the catalogue page shown below. That should give a clear picture of the size and shape of the pipe. I am also including the information from Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). I have included a bit of the pertinent history here.

1950 – 1989 The Republic Era  – From 1950 to the present time, the stamp for this era is “Made in the Republic of Ireland” in a block format generally in three lines but two lines have been used with or without Republic being abbreviated.

During the 1950’s and 60’s the Kapp & Peterson company was still in the ownership of the Kapp family. However 1964 saw the retiral of the company Managing Director Frederick Henry(Harry) Kapp.

Pipedia also included a section of information on the System pipes including a diagram of the systems look (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson#Republic_Era_Pipes). I quote a section of the article in part and include a link to another article on Pipedia on the System pipe.

The Peterson System pipes are the standard bearers of the Peterson pipe family, famous for the excellent smoking pleasure they provide. Often imitated but never equaled, the Peterson System smokes dry, cool and sweet, thanks to the scientific effectiveness of the original design. The heart of the System is the unique graduated bore in the mouthpiece. This makes the suction applied by the smoker 15 times weaker by the time it reaches the tobacco chamber. The result is that all the moisture flows into the reservoir and, thus cannot reach the smoker’s mouth. The Peterson Lip further enhances the effectiveness of the graduated bore by directing the flow of smoke upwards and away from the tongue. This achieves a uniquely even distribution of smoke and virtually eliminates any chance of tonguebite or bitterness. Furthermore, the shape is contoured so that the tongue rests comfortably in the depression under the opening. Each “PLip” mouthpiece is made from Vulcanite. For the Peterson System pipes to work properly, the stem/tenon has to have an extension, the tip of which will pass by the draft hole from the bowl and into the sump. Upon the smoker drawing in smoke, this extension then directs the smoke down and around the sump to dispense a lot of the moisture before the smoke enters the extension and stem. On the System Standards and other less expensive systems, this extension with be made of Vulcanite turned integrally with the stem. On the more expensive System pipes this extension will be made of metal which screws into the Vulcanite stem. This extension on the earlier pipes will be of brass and the newer pipes will be of aluminium. Most smokers not knowing this function of the metal extension, assumes that it is a condenser/stinger and will remove it as they do with the metal condensers of Kaywoodie, etc. Should you have a System pipe with this metal extension, do not remove it for it will make the System function properly and give you a dryer smoke (https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_closer_look_at_the_famous_Peterson_Standard_System_Pipe).

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping and the age of this pipe. I knew from the information that the pipe was made during the Republic Era between 1950 and 1989. My guess is that the pipes is a 1960s era System pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff cleaned this filthy pipe with his usual clean up process. This one was a real mess and I did not know what to expect when I unwrapped it from his box. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks very good with great looking grain around the bowl and shank. Jeff soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the vulcanite. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour I was amazed it looked so good. The stem showed some damage on the button edge and surface. The bonus was that the tenon had a brass chimney in the end that was correct for this pipe. I took some close-up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show what an amazing job Jeff did in the cleanup of the rim top. The rim top and inner edge had darkening and damage. There was damage to the inner edge on the back of the bowl. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the vulcanite. It was quite clean and the tooth marks and damage to the button edge and stem surface is visible in the photos below.One of the things I appreciate about Jeff’s cleanup is that he works to protect and preserve the nomenclature on the shank of the pipes that he works on. He was able to preserve and maintain its condition in the process. I took some photos to show the clarity of the stamping. I have noticed that many restorers are not careful to protect the stamping in their cleaning process and often by the end of the restoration the nomenclature is almost destroyed. I would like to encourage all of us to be careful in our work to preserve this as it is a critical piece of pipe restoration! I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the pipe. I decided to start my work on the pipe by cleaning up the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. I started by working over the edge and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I minimized the damage on the inner edge and rim top. It looked significantly better. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the dust. The briar was really shining by the final pad. I rubbed the bowl and rim down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I really like watching the Balm do its magic and bring the briar alive. I polished the nickel ferrule with a jewellers cloth to remove the remaining tarnish and to protect the surface from further tarnishing. The shine was quite nice. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. There were several issues that I needed to deal with to secure a good fit. The brass chimney was stuck in the tenon and I could not remove it. I heated the chimney with a lighter and was finally able to unscrew it from the stem end. I cleaned out the threaded area on the stem and the threads on the chimney and greased it with Vaseline. I screwed it back in the stem.The fit of the stem in the shank was canted to the left and the brass chimney hit against the wall of the mortise. As I examined it I saw that the drilling in the shank was more worn on the right side than the left. I smoothed out the walls of the left side of the shank with small half circle needle files. I also sanded the right side of the stem to adjust the seat in the shank. Once I had completed the process the fit was perfect in the shank.I fit the stem in the shank and the adjustments straightened out the cant of the stem. I took photos of it to show the new fit in the shank.I rebuilt the top edge of the button with black CA glue. I filled in the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem. Once the repair hardened/cured I used a small file to reshape the edge of the button and flatten the repairs. I reshaped the top of the button with the file at the same time. I sanded the repairs with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the vulcanite. I started polishing the stem with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper to further smooth it out. I touched up the “P” logo on the left side of the saddle stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I let it dry then I polished off the excess with a worn 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad. Once the excess was removed the stamp looked much better. There were some weak spots on the leg and tail of the “P” stamp.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. Once again at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when the Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 312 is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I lightly polished the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl and thick shank and nickel ferrule. This Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 312 Bent Billiard was another fun pipe to work on. It really is a quite stunning piece of briar whose shape follows the flow of the briar. The pipe feels great in the hand will be better when warmed up while smoking. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.01 ounces/57 grams. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section if you would like to add it to your rack and carry on the previous pipeman’s legacy. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

New Life for a Peterson’s Kapet Republic of Ireland 106 Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is Peterson’s Large Straight Billiard pipe that we purchased from and our connection in Copenhagen, Denmark on 04/11/2023. It was stamped Peterson’s [over] Kapet on the left side of the shank. On the right it is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines) followed by the shape number 106. It is a large Billiard that has a smooth finish with great grain around the bowl and shank that is covered with a lot of oils, debris and grime. There was a thick cake in the bowl with remnants of tobacco stuck on the walls. There was a heavy lava overflow on the rim top and edges. The top and edges of the rim were well hidden under the tars and lava. There was a very beautiful pipe underneath all of the buildup of years of use. The stem was a Peterson’s style P-Lip taper stem with a “P” logo on the left side. It was oxidized and calcified toward the end with some tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the thick, hard cake in the bowl with remnants of tobacco stuck on the walls of the bowl. There was a lava build up on the top of the rim and the edges of the bowl. The rim top looked pretty good but it was hard to know for sure if there was damage under the thick lava. Only clean up would tell the full story. Jeff took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the tooth marks, chatter, calcification and oxidation on the stem surface on both sides of the stem. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish. You can see the grime around the sides of the bowl and shank. Even under the dirt and debris of the years it looked very good. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping was readable as you can see from the photos. It read as noted above.

I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). There was a short note toward the bottom of the page about the series. It is definitely referring to the newer line that came out later. I quote:

I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson) to first pin down a date that the pipe was made. I knew that the Made in the Republic of Ireland stamp would give me that. I quote:

As usual when trying to get accurate facts in regard to Peterson history, something will jump up and get in the way. They are missing many of their records. The following is the best that we can do for a guide to the myriad markings during the period 1922–1949. Prior to 1920 it was rare for a country of origin to be stamped on the pipe, just Peterson’s Dublin on the band. After 1921/22, if it is stamped “MADE IN IRELAND” and the “Made in” is stacked over “Ireland” or “MADE IN EIRE” or several other forms, it was made between 1922 and 1938. A considerable number of Peterson pipes were stamped “Irish Free State”. From about 1930 to 1949, most of the pipes (those which were stamped) were stamped “Made in Ireland”.” If the stamp reads “MADE IN IRELAND” in a circle, the pipe was made between 1939 and 1948. These are all “Pre-Republic” pipes. I can tell you that the mark “Irish Free State” was adopted in 1922; and replaced by “Eire” in 1937 and then by “Republic of Ireland” in 1949.

That gave me a date for the pipe – it was made after 1949 as can be proved by the Made in the Republic of Ireland stamp on the right side of the shank.

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Kapet Line. On page 305 it had the following information.

Kapet (1925-87) Line first described in 1925 brochure and featured in occasional catalogs through 1987. Early specimens will be stamped IRISH over FREE STATE. Described in 1937 catalog as available in dark plum or natural finish. Featured an aluminum “inner tube” or stinger until 1945.  Mid-century specimens may be stamped Made In over Ireland. Specimens from 1970 on may have mounts with hallmarks.

Judging from the Made in the Republic of Ireland stamp, the pipe I am working on is probably made after 1949. Those dates work also for the Kapet information above. The stem the “P” emblem on the stem side but no inner tube.

Jeff had cleaned it thoroughly. He had reamed it with a PipNet reamer and cleaned that up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He had scrubbed the exterior of the briar with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. He removed the shiny coat on the briar with acetone on cotton pads. He cleaned out the interior of the shank, sump and airway in the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation and calcification on the surface. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. He removed it from the Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my part of the work.  I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show what an amazing job Jeff did in the cleanup of the rim top. The rim top and inner edge had darkening and damage. There was damage to the inner edge on the back of the bowl. The rim top is clean but in nicked and scratched. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the vulcanite. It was quite clean and the tooth marks on ahead of the button are present but hard to see in the photos.Once again I have to comment on what I appreciate about Jeff’s cleanup is that he works to protect and preserve the nomenclature on the shank of the pipes that he works on. The stamping on this one was very faint to start with so I was worried that it would disappear altogether with the cleanup. He was not only able to preserve and maintain its condition in the process. I took some photos to show the clarity of the stamping. I have noticed that many restorers are not careful to protect the stamping in their cleaning process and often by the end of the restoration the nomenclature is almost destroyed. I would like to encourage all of us to be careful in our work to preserve this as it is a critical piece of pipe restoration! I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the pipe. I decided to start my work on the pipe by cleaning up the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. I started by working over the edge and the rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I minimized the damage on the inner edge and rim top. It looked significantly better. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the dust. The briar was really shining by the final pad. I rubbed the bowl and rim down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I really like watching the Balm do its magic and bring the briar alive. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks with the flame of a Bic lighter to try and lift the marks. I was able to lift them slightly. I filled in the marks that remained on the stem with clear CA glue and set it aside to cure. Once cured I used a file to flattened the repairs and redefine the button edge. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend in the repairs. I polished it with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I touched up the “P” logo on the left side of the saddle stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I let it dry then I polished off the excess with a worn 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad. Once the excess was removed the stamp looked much better. There were some weak spots on the leg and tail of the “P” stamp.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. I always am excited to finish working on a pipe. This Made in the Republic of Ireland Peterson’s Kapet Straight Billiard is no exception. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the bowl looks like with the black vulcanite taper stem. This Classic looking Peterson’s Kapet Smooth Billiard feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 53 grams/1.87 of an ounce. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly in the Irish Pipe Makers Section if you are interested in it. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

A Major Overhaul for an S&R Woodcrafters Pipe

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

I’ve mentioned before that there are some pipes that are so challenging that they are an entire pipe-restoration course in and of themselves. This is one may not be as bad as some I’ve tackled in the past, but it certainly needs some major help! This is a S&R Woodcrafters Pipe and it belongs to my cousin in Montréal. He asked me if I could bring it back to life and I said I’d give it the old college try. This pipe reminded me that sometimes the wear-and-tear of the years needs to remain on a pipe as part of its story. This pipe has been abused over the years. I managed to bring great beauty back to this pipe, but it would always retain signs of its past. The pipe in question was made by Stephen and Roswitha Anderson (hence, S&R Woodcrafters) of Columbus, Ohio. They make unique, handcrafted pipes and are fascinating pieces. I read a blog Steve wrote on an S&R pipe earlier this year to learn more about the pipe’s background. I was directed to the Pipedia page on S&R and it has a lot of good information:

Stephen and Roswitha Anderson of S&R Pipes, also known as S&R Woodcrafters, have become pipe makers renowned throughout the world as talented carvers of high-grade briar pipes. They have been featured in several trade publications and magazines such as Pipes and Tobaccos and PipeSmoker, and have several pieces on display in museums in Europe and the United States. 

They are the first American pipe carvers honored with induction into the Conferee of Pipe Makers of Saint-Claude, France; the very place where the carving of briar pipes became a world-wide industry. Sadly, Steve passed away in March of 2009. Roswitha is still carving S&R pipes and carrying on with the shop with help from her “guys” David, Marty, and Tony. 

Steve and Roswitha began carving pipes in the 1960’s. They travelled to pipe shows and arts and crafts shows throughout the country and Europe selling their pipes and built up quite an extensive loyal customer base. Eventually, it became time to offer their pipes to the retail fraternity of pipe smokers. 

Pipes & Pleasures had its grand opening in a distinct red brick house on Main Street in Columbus, Ohio in 1977. The front section of the house was converted into a traditional tobacco shop selling pipe tobacco, cigars, and pipes manufactured by well known companies such as Dunhill, Charatan, and Savinelli as well as the high-grade S&R pipes that Steve and Roswitha carved. A workshop was set up in the back section of the house. 

When the cigar boom hit in the ’90’s, the shop was expanded by building a large computer controlled walk-in humidor. It’s no secret throughout the country that Pipes & Pleasures has the best maintained cigars in the Columbus area as well as the best selection of premium cigars available in the area including the much sought-after Davidoff line. 

Soon after the boom began, Steve and Roswitha moved their pipe making workshop to their farm and converted that space into a large smoking lounge for their many customers. The lounge features comfortable easy chairs, a television set, a stereo, a library of books and magazines about every aspect of tobacciana, a chess table, and a couple of card tables. The lounge is populated daily with long-time loyal customers and newcomers to the enjoyment and relaxation of cigar and pipe smoking. It’s also the room where several cigar tastings and samplings are held every year by representatives from cigar companies such as Davidoff and La Flor Dominicana.

In fact, their shop, Pipes & Pleasures, is still running. You can visit their website here.This is a charming pipe, but it had a number of significant issues, aside from the usual. Let’s take a closer look.

  • The rim is heavily shredded and notably burned.
  • The opening of the bowl is badly out of round.
  • There’s a big gouge on the side of the bowl.
  • There are several fissures inside the bowl (one of which might connect to the gouge).
  • There’s a crack on the top of the button.
  • There’s a piece missing on the underside of the button.
  • The mortise and tenon are not seated properly, but this might be corrected by a thorough cleaning.

I began by cleaning the outside of the stem with some Murphy’s Oil Soap on cotton rounds. This removed some of the surface staining. Then, I started cleaning the insides with isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs, and pipe cleaners. The inside was dirty and it took a bit of cotton.There was some oxidation and calcification on the stem, so I wiped it down with SoftScrub cleaner. Once this process was done, the stem went for an overnight soak in the Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. This allows me to clean the oxidation off in a couple of ways: by applying a mild cleaner to the surface and sanding the stem. The next day, I used SoftScrub again with some cotton rounds. As the photos show, the bit of the stem was badly damaged. The top side was significantly cracked and ruptured, while the underside was missing a chunk of vulcanite. I brought out my black cyanoacrylate adhesive and I applied it to the topside damage. I used some accelerant to get the glue going, and then moved on to the underside.The major gouge would need far more work. I made a patch out of black cyanoacrylate adhesive and a little activated charcoal in). I first plugged up the stem’s draught hole with a shaped piece of cardstock, coated in petroleum jelly. This ensured that any of the CA glue would not accidentally plug up the air passage in the stem.This was a tricky business and it took some real patience and effort to make it work. As the photos show, after I applied the cyanoacrylate, it looked pretty darn ugly, but I was expecting that. After the curing, I ended up sanding down the end of the stem to reduce some of the excess material. To carry this process on, I used some miniature files to further shape the button and make it suitable for sanding. I used another file on the inside to ensure there were no rough edges in the bore.I then sanded the stem down with 220- and 400-grit sandpapers to meld seamlessly into the stem. This ensures that it keeps its shape and looks like it should. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the lovely black lustre on the stem. I also used Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing. It is worth noting that a repair this big on a stem will never be completely invisible, but I was pleased with the results. On to the stummel – and there was plenty of work here too. As the photos show, there was a notable crater on the outside of the bowl and I could see a couple of fissures. This concerned me greatly, as I wondered if the two wounds were connected (literally and figuratively). The insides (both bowl and shank) had plenty of cake and tar. The bowl really needed to be reamed, so I used the KleenReem tool to scrape off as much built-up cake. Generally, I prefer to sand the chamber down to bare briar. When restoring, it is important to ensure that there is no damage to the briar under the cake. There are a few situations when I might leave some cake in the bowl, but not today. Sadly, there were definitely some hidden flaws to the briar on this pipe. I’ll come back to that later. I wiped down the wood with some Murphy’s and pulled off lots of grime. Then I started cleaning the insides with isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs, and pipe cleaners. The inside was pretty dirty and required some cotton to clean it up.I decided to de-ghost the pipe in order to remove any lingering smells and dirt of the past. I thrust cotton balls into the bowl and the shank and saturated them with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I let the stummel sit overnight. This caused oils, tars and smells to leach out into the cotton. I finished this part off by cleaning the shank with Castile soap and tube brushes. The bowl was nice and clean after this. I went back for another go with the Murphy’s and a toothbrush, to ensure the grooves were done too. Now that the pipe was clean, I wanted to have a closer look at the state of the briar. One piece of good (and remarkable) news was that the crater on the outside of the bowl and the fissures on the inside did NOT meet up. This was a great relief. Nonetheless, both areas needed to be repaired. But before that, I wanted to correct the appalling roughness (and burns) on the rim of the pipe. It was bad – really bad – and it would be a challenge to make the pipe look normal. At the same time, it was necessary to address the bowl being so badly out of round. I put a sanding drum (and a couple of other bits) on my Dremel and carefully began removing the burns and shredded wood, and correcting the out-of-round- bowl. This is NOT an option that I use regularly. The risk of oversanding is high and that can be an even bigger problem. However, I worked slowly and cautiously. I only used the Dremel briefly before moving on to sandpaper. I also used a solid wooden sphere on the inner edge of the rim. In addition to this, I also sanded down the outside of the bowl, near the rim, so as to minimize the visual effect of the bashed edge. I sanded all the way around to ensure that the pipe retains its look. It was a laborious process to sort out these issues, but I was delighted in the end. Moving back to the fissures – the solution to this problem is always a tricky one: epoxy. I prepared some J.B. Weld epoxy and filled the cracks and gouges, ensuring that the epoxy was evenly spread throughout the bowl. Of course, I did plug the draught hole with a folded pipe cleaner (coated in Vaseline) to make sure none of the epoxy made its way up there. Once done, a good 24 hours was needed to ensure that the epoxy was properly cured. Once done, I gently sanded the inside of the bowl to provide a rough surface for what was to come next. I coated the entire inside of the bowl with a mixture of activated charcoal and my wife’s homemade yogourt. Once hardened, this provided a good, slightly rough surface for a new cake to build.As mentioned earlier, there was a crater on the bowl. It was large enough that I would not be able to make it disappear entirely, but I wanted to make it solid and smooth, and meld into the rest of the wood. I fixed it up with a mixture of cyanoacrylate adhesive and briar dust. This, too, was tricky, as the wound occurred immediately adjacent to one of the stylized grooves in the pipe. Next, I used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) all over the stummel to make it lovely and smooth. Then, applying some Before & After Restoration Balm added that je ne sais quoi which brings out the wood’s beauty. At long last, I was off to my bench buffer to put the final touches on this pipe. I first gave it a thorough going-over with White Diamond compound. Following that, several coats of carnauba wax created a beautiful, glossy seal on the pipe and some closure to this long and involved repair.The lovely shine made the wood look beautiful! Once again, I’m sure my cousin will love this pipe! I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe as much I as I did restoring it. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 5¾ in. (146 mm); height 3½ in. (90 mm); bowl diameter 1½ in. (39 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (20 mm). The weight of the pipe is 1½ oz. (46 g). If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Peterson’s “Kildare” Special HG Republic of Ireland 10 Canadian

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is Peterson’s Large Canadian pipe that we purchased from and our connection in Copenhagen, Denmark on 03/30/2022. It was stamped Peterson’s [over] “Kildare”[over] Special on the topside of the shank. On the right it is stamped with the shape number 10. On the underside it is stamped with a large interlocked HG [followed by] Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines). It is a large Canadian that has a smooth finish with great grain around the bowl and shank that is covered with a lot of oils, debris and grime. There was a thick cake in the bowl with remnants of tobacco stuck on the walls. There was a heavy lava overflow on the rim top and edges. The top and edges of the rim were well hidden under the tars and lava. There was a very beautiful pipe underneath all of the buildup of years of use. The stem was a Peterson’s style Fishtail stem. It was oxidized and calcified toward the end with some deep tooth marks and chatter. There was wear on the edge of the button that would need to be dealt with. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the thick, hard cake in the bowl with remnants of tobacco stuck on the walls of the bowl. There was a lava build up on the top of the rim and the edges of the bowl. The rim top looked pretty good but it was hard to know for sure if there was damage under the thick lava. Only clean up would tell the full story. Jeff took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the tooth chatter, scratching, calcification and oxidation on the stem surface and wear on the edges of the button. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish. You can see the grime around the sides of the bowl and shank. Even under the dirt and debris of the years it looked very good. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping was readable as you can see from the photos. It read as noted above. I turned first to “The Peterson’s Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to see what it had to say on the “Kildare” line. On page 306 it says:

Kildare (1965-) First issue of the line with matte-finish in Classic Range shapes. P-lip and fishtail mouthpiece. Second issue c.1979 as Kildare Patch, with rusticated patches on the pipe surface. Third issue 2010, matte brown, P-lip or fishtail mouthpiece, no band. Fourth issue 2011-burgundy sandblast finish, nickel army mount, fishtail mouthpiece, exclusive to Smokingpipes.com.

I wrote to Mark Irwin and asked where I could find information on the GH stamp on this particular pipe. I quote his response below.

Hi Steve, the answer is on p. 300 of your Peterson book: “GH Retailer’s Monogram.” The SPECIAL stamp indicates that this pipe was made specially for George Huber of Munich, who had other Peterson pipes made expressly for their shop. Best, Mark

I turned to page 300 of  “The Peterson’s Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg as noted by him and found a great paragraph on the stamping. I quote in full.

GH Retailer’s Monogram (c. 1960s) George Huber of Munich, Germany, a Peterson distributor and retailer for decades, stamped their monogram on pipes sold in their store, G overlaid on H. Peterson shared in the 1988 commemoration of Huber’s 125th year in business by producing a special pipe with a sterling rim cap, stamped HUBER over CELEBRATION.

The pipe I have is one that bears that monogram but does not appear to have ever had the sterling rim cap and was not stamped HUBER over CELEBRATION. With that information I turned my attention to working on the pipe.

Jeff had cleaned it thoroughly. He had reamed it with a PipNet reamer and cleaned that up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He had scrubbed the exterior of the briar with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. He removed the shiny coat on the briar with acetone on cotton pads. He cleaned out the interior of the shank, sump and airway in the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation and calcification on the surface. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. He removed it from the Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my part of the work. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show what an amazing job Jeff did in the cleanup of the rim top. The rim top and inner edge had darkening and damage. There was damage to the inner edge on the front and back of the bowl. The rim top is clean but in rough condition. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the vulcanite. It was quite clean and the large and deep tooth marks on the button and on the stem ahead of the button were very visible in the photos.One of the things I appreciate about Jeff’s cleanup is that he works to protect and preserve the nomenclature on the shank of the pipes that he works on. The stamping on this one was very faint to start with so I was worried that it would disappear altogether with the cleanup. He was not only able to preserve and maintain its condition in the process. I took some photos to show the clarity of the stamping. I have noticed that many restorers are not careful to protect the stamping in their cleaning process and often by the end of the restoration the nomenclature is almost destroyed. I would like to encourage all of us to be careful in our work to preserve this as it is a critical piece of pipe restoration! I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the pipe. I decided to start my work on the pipe by cleaning up the rim top and inner edge of the bowl. I started by working over the edge with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I then topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. I finished the work with a wooden ball and sandpaper to give the inner edge a slight bevel. Using these methods, I minimized the damage on the inner edge and rim top. It looked significantly better. I touched up the stain on the rim top with a Cherry stain pen. It matched the stain on the rest of the bowl perfectly and once buffed it would blend in very well.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the dust. The briar was really shining by the final pad. I rubbed the bowl and rim down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I really like watching the Balm do its magic and bring the briar alive. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks with the flame of a Bic lighter to try and lift the marks. I was able to lift them slightly. I filled in the deep marks on the stem with Black Rubberized CA glue and set it aside to cure. Once cured I used a file to flattened the repairs and redefine the button edge. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend in the repairs. I polished it with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I touched up the “P” logo on the left side of the saddle stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I let it dry then I polished off the excess with a worn 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad. Once the excess was removed the stamp looked much better. There were some weak spots on the leg and tail of the “P” stamp.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry.  Once again at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when the Peterson’s “Kildare” Special 10 Canadian with a taper stem is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I lightly polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The depths of the rustication really pop with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl and thick shank. This Republic Era Peterson’s “Kildare” 10 Canadian was another fun pipe to work on. It really is a quite stunning piece of briar whose shape follows the flow of the briar. The pipe feels great in the hand will be better when warmed up while smoking. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.80 ounces/51 grams. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section if you would like to add it to your rack and carry on the previous pipeman’s legacy. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring a Savinelli Punto Oro 316KS

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is an interesting Diplomat shaped pipe that we obtained in a trade from a fellow in Japan 01/12/2023. It was stamped on the top side of the shank and read Savinelli [over] Punto Oro. On the underside of the shank it was stamped with a Savinelli S shield followed by the shape number 316KS [over] Italy. It has a smooth finish with beautiful grain patterns around the bowl and shank that is covered with a lot of oils, debris and grime. The bowl was quite clean and appeared to have been recently reamed and cleaned. The top and edges of the rim looked very good with some light darkening on the back inner edge of the crowned rim top. There was a very beautiful pipe underneath all of the buildup of years of use. The stem was an acrylic replacement that was not a perfect fit to the shank with a slightly smaller diameter crosswise to the shank so it would not be changed in the restoration. As it was acrylic there was no issue with oxidization or calcification on the stem. There were light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the bowl and the rim top. It looked very good and there was some darkening on the back inner edge of the crowned rim top. Jeff took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the light tooth marks and chatter on both sides. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish. You can see the grime around the sides of the bowl and shank. Even under the dirt and debris of the years it looked very good. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the top and underside of the shank. The stamping was faint but readable as you can see from the photos. It read as noted above. I turned to Pipephil’s site to get a feel for the Punto Oro line. All of the previous Punto Oro pipes that I have worked on were smooth finish with great grain. This was a sandblast one and I do not recall working on one before. Here is the link (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-savinelli3.html). I have included a screen capture of the pertinent information on the line below. It appears the line came out in both smooth and sandblast finishes.I turned to Pipedia to look at what information they had on the brand. I found a catalogue page on the Punto Oro which confirmed what I had surmised about the line having both smooth and sandblast finished pipe (https://pipedia.org/images/d/db/Sav_Punto_Oro.jpg). I have included a screen capture of the page below. It says that the line was available in 2 distinct finishes – a rich Mahogany smooth finish and a genuine sandblast.The Savinelli shape number was 310KS so I turned to the Savinelli Shape Chart on Pipedia and included a screen capture (https://pipedia.org/images/4/41/Sav_Shape_Chart_2017.jpg). I have drawn a red box around the 316KS shape in the photo below. Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He cleaned up the inside of the bowl with a PipNet reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. The bowl walls looked very good. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better. I took photos of the pipe when I received it before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show how clean it was. You can see the darkening on the inner edge of the rim and the top.  The stem looks clean of oxidation and the tooth marks and chatter are very clear in the photos.I took photos of the stamping on the top and the underside of the shank. The stamping is faint in spots but it is still readable. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to show the overall look of stem, tenon and profile of the pipe. I decided to start my work on the pipe by cleaning up the rim top and inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I removed the darkening and nicks on the inner edge. It looked significantly better.  I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the dust. The briar was really shining by the final pad. I rubbed the bowl and rim down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I really like watching the Balm do its magic and bring the briar alive. There are still small nicks in the briar but I have decided to leave them as part the pipe’s story. I built up the rounded edge of the button on the top side with black, rubberized CA glue. I filled in the deep marks on the stem with clear CA glue and set it aside to cure. Once it cured I used a file to flattened the repairs and redefine the button edge. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend in the repairs. I started polishing it with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the Savinelli Punto Oro 316KS Oval Shank Dublin and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I polished the briar and the vulcanite of the stem until there was a rich shine. This classic Savinelli shape and finish really highlights a proportionally well carved pipe. Once I buffed the pipe the briar came alive as the grain just popped with polishing. The black acrylic saddle stem has a rich glow. This Punto Oro 316KS fits well in the hand and sits right in the mouth. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of and inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.66 ounces/47 grams. This beauty will be going on the rebornpipes online store in the Italian Pipemakers Section. If you are interested let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as it was a pleasure to work on.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

New Life for a Republic Era Rusticated System Standard 309

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is Peterson’s System pipe that we purchased from and estate in Plano, Texas, USA on 03/30/2022. It was stamped on the underside of the shank an read Peterson’s [over] System [over] Standard followed by Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines) [over] the shape number 309. The nickel ferrule on the shank end was oxidized and is stamped on the top and left side K&P Peterson’s [over] the three common hallmarks on System pipes with Nickel ferrules – a shamrock, a wolf hound, and a tower. It has a rusticated finish with unique patterns around the bowl and shank that is covered with a lot of oils, debris and grime. There was a thick cake in the bowl with remnants of tobacco stuck on the walls. There was a heavy lava overflow filling in the rustication on the rim top and edges. The top and edges of the rim were well hidden under the tars and lava. There was a very beautiful pipe underneath all of the buildup of years of use. The stem was a Peterson’s style P-Lip. It was oxidized and calcified toward the end with some tooth marks and chatter. There was wear on the top sharp edge of the button that would need to bed dealt with. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the thick, hard cake in the bowl with remnants of tobacco stuck on the walls of the bowl. There was a lava build up on the top of the rim and the edges of the bowl. The rim top looked pretty good but it was hard to know for sure if there was damage under the thick lava. Only clean up would tell the full story. Jeff took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the tooth chatter, calcification and oxidation on the stem surface and wear on the edges of the button. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish. You can see the grime around the sides of the bowl and shank. Even under the dirt and debris of the years it looked very good. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping was readable as you can see from the photos. It read as noted above. The Nickle Ferrule is actually clearly stamped and readable. I am including the information from Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). I have included a bit of the pertinent history here.

1950 – 1989 The Republic Era – From 1950 to the present time, the stamp for this era is “Made in the Republic of Ireland” in a block format generally in three lines but two lines have been used with or without Republic being abbreviated.

During the 1950’s and 60’s the Kapp & Peterson company was still in the ownership of the Kapp family. However 1964 saw the retiral of the company Managing Director Frederick Henry(Harry) Kapp.

Pipedia also included a section of information on the System pipes including a diagram of the systems look (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson#Republic_Era_Pipes). I quote a section of the article in part and include a link to another article on Pipedia on the System pipe.

The Peterson System pipes are the standard bearers of the Peterson pipe family, famous for the excellent smoking pleasure they provide. Often imitated but never equaled, the Peterson System smokes dry, cool and sweet, thanks to the scientific effectiveness of the original design. The heart of the System is the unique graduated bore in the mouthpiece. This makes the suction applied by the smoker 15 times weaker by the time it reaches the tobacco chamber. The result is that all the moisture flows into the reservoir and, thus cannot reach the smoker’s mouth. The Peterson Lip further enhances the effectiveness of the graduated bore by directing the flow of smoke upwards and away from the tongue. This achieves a uniquely even distribution of smoke and virtually eliminates any chance of tonguebite or bitterness. Furthermore, the shape is contoured so that the tongue rests comfortably in the depression under the opening. Each “PLip” mouthpiece is made from Vulcanite. For the Peterson System pipes to work properly, the stem/tenon has to have an extension, the tip of which will pass by the draft hole from the bowl and into the sump. Upon the smoker drawing in smoke, this extension then directs the smoke down and around the sump to dispense a lot of the moisture before the smoke enters the extension and stem. On the System Standards and other less expensive systems, this extension with be made of Vulcanite turned integrally with the stem. On the more expensive System pipes this extension will be made of metal which screws into the Vulcanite stem. This extension on the earlier pipes will be of brass and the newer pipes will be of aluminum. Most smokers not knowing this function of the metal extension, assumes that it is a condenser/stinger and will remove it as they do with the metal condensers of Kaywoodie, etc. Should you have a System pipe with this metal extension, do not remove it for it will make the System function properly and give you a dryer smoke (https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_closer_look_at_the_famous_Peterson_Standard_System_Pipe).

I have included the information on the shape number on this pipe that I picked up on researching the previous pipes. I have included a page from a Petersons Catalogue that I have on rebornpipes (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/peterson-hallmark-chart/). There is no shape 309 shown in the catalogue page of rusticated shaped shown below. I wonder if it is an older or a newer shape. But I am uncertain of that. I knew that I was dealing with a Republic Era pipe made between 1950-1989. It was a Rusticated Peterson’s System Standard 309 Bent Billiard with a great rustication. The bowl was stained with a combination of reddish-brown stains. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had cleaned it thoroughly. He had reamed it with a PipNet reamer and cleaned that up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He had scrubbed the exterior of the briar with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. He removed the shiny coat on the briar with acetone on cotton pads. He cleaned out the interior of the shank, sump and airway in the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation and calcification on the surface. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. He removed it from the Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my part of the work (sadly I forgot to take photos until after I had rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. But you can see the idea. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show what an amazing job Jeff did in the cleanup of the rim top. The rim top was and inner edge were in good condition. There was some darkening and slight damage to the inner edge. The rim top also had some nicks and marks. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the vulcanite. It was quite clean and the tooth marks on the button and on the stem ahead of the button were very visible in the photos.One of the things I appreciate about Jeff’s cleanup is that he works to protect and preserve the nomenclature on the shank of the pipes that he works on. The stamping on this one was very faint to start with so I was worried that it would disappear altogether with the cleanup. He was not only able to preserve and maintain its condition in the process. I took some photos to show the clarity of the stamping. I have noticed that many restorers are not careful to protect the stamping in their cleaning process and often by the end of the restoration the nomenclature is almost destroyed. I would like to encourage all of us to be careful in our work to preserve this as it is a critical piece of pipe restoration! I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the pipe. I decided to start my work on the pipe by rubbing the bowl and rim down with Before & After Restoration Balm. It was in very good shape, so I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I really like watching the Balm do its magic and bring the briar alive. I polished the nickel ferrule with a jewellers cloth to remove the oxidation and to further protect it from further oxidation. The shine is quite nice. I built up the rounded edge of the button on the top side with black, rubberized CA glue. I filled in the deep marks on the stem with black CA glue and set it aside to cure. Once it cured I used a file to flattened the repairs and redefine the button edge. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to further blend in the repairs. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I scrubbed the stem surface with Soft Scrub to remove the remaining oxidation in the surface of the vulcanite. I was able to remove most of it and the stem looked significantly better at this point. The reshaped button also looks much better.I touched up the “P” logo on the left side of the saddle stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I let it dry then I polished off the excess with a worn 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad. Once the excess was removed the stamp looked much better.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. Once again at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when the Rusticated Peterson System Standard 309 is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I lightly polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The depths of the rustication really pop with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl and thick shank and nickel ferrule. This Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 309 Rusticated Bent Billiard was another fun pipe to work on. It really is a quite stunning piece of briar whose shape follows the flow of the briar. The pipe feels great in the hand will be better when warmed up while smoking. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.80 ounces/51 grams. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section if you would like to add it to your rack and carry on the previous pipeman’s legacy. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Repurposing a Brigham Voyageur 109 into a Frankenpipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen to work on is a bit of a Frankenpipe – one I have cobbed together from a variety of pipes. A Frankenpipe is simply a pipe composed of parts from a variety of sources. In this case it included a Brigham bowl, a Copper Plumbing fitting as a ferrule and a vulcanite freehand stem. Put together these parts create a totally unique pipe that is more than a total of its parts.

I originally received it in a lot of pipes that I worked on for a fellow here in Vancouver. It was a bowl sans stem that was in a bit of rough shape. I described it as follows when I first received it (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/08/03/converting-a-brigham-voyageur-109-into-a-churchwarden/). The pipe is an apple shaped bowl that is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Brigham [over] Voyageur [over] 109 Italy in a smooth panel on the rusticated bowl and shank. The shank end had nicks and chips but was in fair condition. There was no stem with the bowl. The stem would have had the lighter weight nylon system tenon since the pipe is one of the Italian made Brighams. It was another one of the fellow’s pipe finds on a recent pipe hunt in Vancouver. The rusticated finish had almost a scale like rustication pattern with flecks of paint in the finish. The rim top was damaged and was darkened toward the back of the bowl. The finish was very dirty and there was a thick cake in the bowl. When I first received the bowl from the fellow we talked about replacing the missing stem with an original Brigham stem. I talked with Charles Lemon and he sent me a stem blank and an aluminum system shank for the Brigham. When it arrived, I talked with the Vancouver fellow about that and together we concluded that a churchwarden stem might look good on it. I ordered some from JH Lowe and found that they only have one diameter size stem. I ordered it and when it arrived it was significantly smaller in diameter than the shank. I had an interesting copper ferrule that I thought might work to provide a different look to the pipe and provide a way of using the smaller diameter churchwarden stem. I slipped the ferrule on the shank and put the stem partially in place in the mortise and took the following photos to send to the fellow to see what he thought. He liked it so I moved forward with the restoration of the bowl and the fitting of the stem. I am including the cleanup description of the work on the bowl as it adds to the story of the next stage of the creation of the new Frankenpipe.I slipped the ferrule off the shank and took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is very clear and readable. I sanded the shank to smooth it out for fitting the ferrule. I cleaned out the inside of the shank with a dental spatula to remove the heavy tar buildup on the shank walls. The shank was ready for the new ferrule.I used a heat gun to heat the copper ferrule and pressed it onto the shank end. I repeated the process until it was set on the shank as far as I wanted it to be. To remove the paint flecks on the rusticated finish on the bowl I scrubbed it with a brass bristle wire brush and used a dental pick to remove the flecks. I wiped down the bowl with alcohol on a cotton pad to remove the dust and debris from the finish. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet Piper Reamer using the first two cutting heads to remove the majority of the cake. I cleaned up the remnants on the walls of the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I used a dowel wrapped with sandpaper to sand down the walls on the bowl. I cleaned out the airway in both the bowl and stem with alcohol (99% isopropyl), pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until they were clean on the inside.When I restored the pipe originally I polished the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I also polished the smooth portions of the rustication with the micromesh pads at the same time. I rubbed down the briar with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the finish with my fingertips and finished working it in with a shoe brush. The balm worked to clean, preserve and enliven the surface of the finish on the small bowl. The briar was coming alive so I took some photos of the pipe at this point. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed the bowl with a shoe brush.

I finished the stem as well and put it in the shank of the pipe. I took photos of it to show the look of the Church Warden that we had designed.The fellow smoked the pipe and enjoyed for a while but decided the Church Warden was not for him. We tried different stems and looks but, in the end, it came back to me. It has been here in a small box on the shelf behind my desktop. I had several stems in the box along with the last stem I had fashioned for it a few years ago. Today I decided it was time to work on it again and finish crafting a new Frankenpipe. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my part of the work. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. The rim top was and inner edge showed darkening and damage. The bowl was nicked and out of round. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the stem surface. There were marks and chatter on the stem ahead of the button on both sides.I took a photo of the stamping on the shank side. It read as noted above. When I had placed the copper ferrule earlier I was careful to not cover the stamping on the shank… surprising as I usually don’t worry about that when I am crafting a new pipe from a damaged bowl.I took photos of the elongated tenon on the stem that I crafted for the pipe. I wanted to not use a Brigham system filter so I worked to make a long tenon that left a small gap between the entrance of the airway into the bowl and shank end. It functioned quite well.Now it was time to rework the bowl and rim. I started by cleaning up the inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I gently topped the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper on a topping board to remove some of the rim damage.I used a wooden ball and a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around it to give the inner edge of the bowl a bevel to help minimize the burn damage on the briar.I touched the stain on the rim top with a Walnut stain pen to blend it into the surface of the briar. I let it dry before I polished it with micromesh sanding pads.I polished the rim top with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sadded it with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped it down between the pads with a damp cloth. With that finished the bowl was very clean and the sandblast looked great. I rubbed the bowl and rim down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the sandblast surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horse hair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I really like watching the Balm do its magic and bring the briar alive. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks on both sides of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter and as expected I was not able to lift them at all. I filled in the tooth marks with clear CA glue and let the cure. I flattened out the repairs with a small file to start blending them in. I sanded the areas smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper, though I forgot to take photos of this part of the process. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil to give the sanding pads some bite. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to keep the stem from oxidizing as quickly. I set it aside to dry. Once again at this point in making Frankenpipes I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when newly fashioned Brigham Voyageur 109 Apple is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I lightly polished the bowl and the replacement stem with Blue Diamond. I gave the bowl and the newly fit stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The depths of the rustication come alive with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl. This Frankenpipe Brigham Voyageur Frankenpipe with a copper ferrule and modified Freehand stem was fun to create. It really is a quite stunning looking creation. The pipe feels great in the hand will be better when warmed up while smoking. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.73 ounces/49 grams. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Canadian Pipemakers Section if you would like to add it to your rack and carry on the previous pipeman’s legacy. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring a Charatan’s Make 318 Pickaxe Shaped Pipe with a Replacement Acrylic Stem

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is a nice-looking sandblast Pickaxe shaped pipe that we purchased from an estate sale from Plano, Texas, USA on 03/30/2022. It was stamped on the underside of the shank and read Charatan’s Made [over] London England [over] shape number 318. To the left and below the stamping is a circled cursive L. It has a sandblast finish around the bowl and rustication on the shank that is covered with a shiny coat of shellac it appears over a lot of oils, debris and grime. There was a thick cake in the bowl and tobacco debris stuck to the walls. There is a thick lava overflow in the sandblast on the inwardly bevelled rim top. The top and edges of the rim looked good under the tars and lava, but that would be very clear once the pipe is cleaned. There was a very beautiful pipe underneath all of the buildup of years of use. The taper stem was an acrylic replacement. It was filthy and there were some deep tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. The button had not been shaped at all and still needed to be slotted and shaped. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the thick cake and tobacco debris in the bowl and the heavy lava build up on the sandblast rim top and the edges of the bowl. The rim top and edges looked pretty good but a proper clean up would tell the full story. Jeff took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the tooth marks and chatter on the stem surface. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish. You can see the grime around the sides of the bowl and shank under the shiny coat on the finish. It seems to fill in the grooves in the blast. Jeff took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the bowl and shank. The stamping was readable as you can see from the photos. It read as noted above. An added part of pipe restoration for me is to try to gather as much background on a brand and maker as I can find. With Charatan that is an enjoyable web to try to untangle. There is a lot of information and it can lead to understanding what era a pipe was made in. To try to figure out the era of the Charatan’s pipe I was working on I turned to the Pipephil website, Logos and Stampings (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-charatan.html). There is some really helpful information on each of the lines of Charatan’s Make pipes that entered the market. There was not a sandblast stamped like the one in hand. The site did give a short history of the brand. I quote the portion that is most pertinent.

The brand was founded in 1863 by Frederik Charatan. When his father retired in 1910, Reuben Charatan took over the family business. All the pipes were handmade until 1973. The brand name has been overtaken by Dunhill in 1978 and sold in 1988 to James B. Russell Inc.(NJ, USA). During the period 1988-2002 Charatans were crafted by Butz Choquin in St Claude (France). Dunhill re-purchased Charatan brand name in 2002 and Colin Fromm (Invicta Briars, Castleford) followed up on freehand production.Next, I turned to Pipedia to see if I could find more information on the brand and possibly a link to a sandblast finished Dublin (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan) but once again in the general article it was not listed. It did give a little more historical information. I quote the pertinent parts that give information on this particular pipe.

In 1950 Herman G. Lane, striving to expand his business in Great Britain, made contacts with the Charatan family. Apparently, Lane got a certain influence soon, but it was not until 1955 that Lane Ltd. became the sole distributor for Charatan’s in the United States superseding Wally Frank. This can be documented in a “biography” written for Herman G. Lane titled “Leaves from a Tobaccoman’s Log”.

Thanks to Herman G. Lane’s dedicated labor Charatan became hugely popular in the States. As reported by Ken Barnes in an interview with Rick Newcombe, Reuben Charatan passed away in 1962, and his widow sold the firm to Herman Lane 1 or 2 years after his death.[1] In the early 1960s Charatan pipes were the first to overstep the $100 Dollar line in US pipe sales. In 1978 Lane’s heirs sold the Charatan company to Dunhill. The Prescot Street factory was closed in March 1982. Thereafter the fame and quality of the make declined.

The pre-Lane period (prior to 1955) and the Lane era pipes (1955 to until sometime between 1979 – 1984) are of primary interest the collector. The Lane era is often quoted as beginning about 1950.

Charatan records are almost non-existent before Lane due to a factory fire, making it difficult to date pre-Lane pipes. Charatan used 4 basic grades prior to 1950: Supreme, Selected, Executive, and Belvedere. After 1950 Herman Lane’s influence began, and the grades started to expand. In 1955 Lane took over sole distributorship of Charatan in the US. In 1957 he introduced the Supreme S. Most of his other introductions were from the 1960s and early 1970s.

From this I am fairly certain I am dealing with a Lane pipe made after 1955. There is also a circle L script mark that is a Lane stampings on the pipe which also supports this.

I continued digging further into the dating of the pipe, but what I had found above was a good start for me. If some of you would like to try your hand at dating it more accurately as to the time period it came out you might want to check out the article on Pipedia on Dating Charatans (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dating_of_Charatans).

I also reread the article on Pipedia by the Italian fellow who contributed some really helpful information on the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan_-_Milan_2014). I quote the section on the Second period: Reuben Charatan 1910 – c. 1962. I have highlighted a portion of the section on the shank in red to point out some more helpful dating information.

– In 1962 Herman Lane took over the business from the Charatan family, although he had already influenced production from the 1950s.

– The pipes were mostly larger than the previous ones and corresponded in size to Dunhill group 5. These are slightly less rare, but still difficult to find.

– Stem: Usually in ebonite, saddle shaped or tapered, bearing a fine “CP” stamp, underbore system (see below) used when necessary.

– Shank: The shape code is stamped on it together with the nomenclature “CHARATAN’S MAKE LONDON ENGLAND” arranged in two lines. From 1955 onward on the models marketed for the USA there is also a serif and circled capital “L” (but not all models bear this) which resembles the pound sterling symbol. The “L” is for Lane, the importer.

From 1958, Lane changed the nomenclature for models marketed for the US to clarify the message: “MADE BY HAND”.  In this period the underbore was introduced. Its manufacturing period ranged between 1920 and c.1930. This model was equipped with a duralumin plunger trap fitted in the stem, which served to clean the residue more easily. This particular model bore a special stamp on the stem, and also had its own catalogue…

QUALITY GRADES…The stem did not only display the stamps mentioned above. Another stamp that can help dating is the one referring to the quality of the pipe. Until Herman Lane arrived on the scene there were four quality grades. Starting with the lowest: Belvedere, Executive, Selected, and Supreme. Lane went on to add higher grades from time to time: Supreme S, Supreme S100, S150, S200, S250, S300, Coronation, Royal Achievement, Crown Achievement, and Summa Cum Laude; these last three are extremely rare and almost impossible to find. He also invented other, different grades, even changing the previous pipe classification standards. We will not go into detail here, but it means that if we find an S100 or Coronation the pipe was manufactured following Herman Lane’s acquisition. In particular, the FH mark, or Freehand pipe was commissioned to the famous Danish craftsman, Preben Holm.

Nomenclature

The Lane Trademark serif and circled L indicates the pipe is from the “Lane Era” (approx. 1955 to 1979 -1984?), however it appears that both the English factory or Lane themselves sometimes, or perhaps even often forget to stamp the L on a pipe. The Charatan factory was known for inconsistencies, especially in stampings. Therefore, although an L on the pipe definitely defines it as a Lane Era pipe, the lack of it could simply mean the pipe missed receiving the stamp from the factory. The lack of the trademark could also mean the pipe was destined for the European market.

Charatan pipes were not well distributed prior to the Lane Era, so very few pre-Lane pipes exist today. Herman Lane greatly grew the brand in the U.S., which caused corresponding growth in Europe.

Generally, when the pipe is stamped with the BLOCK letters “MADE BY HAND” it means the pipe was probably made between 1958 and 1965”

Generally, block letters “MADE BY HAND” and some of the other nomenclature in script (i.e. City of London or Extra Large next to the MADE BY HAND) means the pipe was made sometime between 1965 and the mid 1970s. The total script nomenclature “Made by Hand in City of London” evolved over this period of time, so many pipes had variants, such as Made By Hand in block letters and City of London in script, or some other variation of the terms or stampings.

It is believed the FH was used on Charatan pipes between 1957 and 1967-68. Three different sizes were used. The Charatan Logo (CP) on the pipe bit was changed over the year

Now I knew I was working on Lane Era pipe which actually means it was between 1955 and 1988 as shown by the stamping. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had cleaned it thoroughly. He had reamed it with a PipNet reamer and cleaned that up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He had scrubbed the exterior of the briar with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. He removed the shiny coat on the briar with acetone on cotton pads. He cleaned out the interior of the shank, sump and airway in the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation and calcification on the surface. He soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. He removed it from the Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my part of the work. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show what an amazing job Jeff did in the cleanup of the rim top. The rim top was and inner edge were in excellent condition. There were spots on the surface where the stain had lightened – both inner and outer edges. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the acrylic. It was clean but there were tooth marks and chatter on the stem ahead of the button on both sides. One of the things I appreciate about Jeff’s cleanup is that he works to protect and preserve the nomenclature on the shank of the pipes that he works on. The stamping on this one had faint spots on the edges so I was worried that it would worsen with the cleanup. I took some photos to show the clarity of the stamping. The photo is a little blurry but the stamping remains the same. I have noticed that many restorers are not careful to protect the stamping in their cleaning process and often by the end of the restoration the nomenclature is almost destroyed. I would like to encourage all of us to be careful in our work to preserve this as it is a critical piece of pipe restoration! I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the pipe to capture the look of the pipe as a whole.I started my work on the pipe by touching up the light areas around the rim top and edges with a Walnut Stain pen. It blended well into the surrounding briar. With that finished the bowl was very clean and the sandblast looked great. I rubbed the bowl and rim down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the sandblast surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horse hair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I really like watching the Balm do its magic and bring the briar alive. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks on both sides of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter and as expected I was not able to lift them at all. I filled in the tooth marks with clear CA glue and let the cure. I flattened out the repairs with a small file to start blending them in. I sanded the areas smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing with 600 grit wet dry sandpaper, though I forgot to take photos of this part of the process. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil to give the sanding pads some bite. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. I know that most think it does nothing for acrylic stems but I use it anyway as I find it works very well to deepen the shine. I set it aside to dry. Once again at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when the Charatan’s Make London England 318 Sandblast Pickaxe is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I lightly polished the bowl and the replacement stem with Blue Diamond. I gave the bowl and the newly fit stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The depths of the sandblast really pop with the wax and polish. The shiny black acrylic stem is a beautiful contrast to the browns of the bowl. This Charatan’s Make London England 318 Sandblast Pickaxe with an acrylic replacement stem was another fun pipe to work on. It really is a quite stunning piece of briar whose shape follows the flow of the briar. The pipe feels great in the hand will be better when warmed up while smoking. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.66 ounces/47 grams. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipemakers Section if you would like to add it to your rack and carry on the previous pipeman’s legacy. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.