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Life for a Heavily Smoked Randy Wiley Patina Freehand

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Blog by Steve Laug

Jeff purchased this pipe on 05/01/2022 at an antique mall in Bozeman, Montana, USA. It is hard smoked freehand with a smooth inward bevel to the rim and a plateau strip left around the outer edge of the bowl. The shank end is tapered at an angle and is smooth. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Wiley[over] Patina [over] U.S.A. [over] 7. The orange/amber acrylic stem has no stamp on it and is a fancy turned piece that appears to me to be a replacement. It will need to be fitted to the shank with more of a taper but it is okay. There was a heavy cake in the bowl and lava overflowing onto the beveled rim top and plateau outer edge. The finish showed some nice grain around the bowl and shank even through the grime that was ground into it. The stem was had some shine that seems to stay with acrylic even when worn. It was dirty and there were tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. He took photos of the rim and bowl to give a sense of what he was dealing with. He also took photos of the stem surfaces to show the condition of the stem when it arrived. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show beautiful carving around the bowl and shank sides. There is some were and roughness on the ridges on the heel of the bowl.The brown stain adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a unique piece. He also took photos of the stamped name on the underside of shank. It reads as noted above. I looked on my usual sites for information on the brand. I turned first to Pipephil’s site and did not find a listing for the brand. That is unusual. I then turned to Pipedia to see what was available there (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Wiley). I quote from that article below:

A Young Randy Wiley (courtesy of Doug Vatlitchka)

Having been apprenticed in wood carving, Randy Wiley fell into pipe making in the 1970s as a means to follow to his passion. At the age of 25, and after two years with a Florida based pipe manufacturer, Wiley struck out on his own and has since become one of the most recognizable craftsmen in American pipe making.

Randy Wiley is a distinctive maker as he never sandblasts his work and remains one of the few makers that will oil-cure a pipe. He currently produces around 1000 pipes annually, and the majority are smooth or completely rusticated. Sometimes he will carve a feather over a sandpit, which allows the beautiful grain to not be covered in texture. Aside from his shallow rusticated pieces (done with a rotary tool), Randy also makes some craggy carved pieces for his Old Oak line. All of his stems are made from acrylic, and many of them are very colorful, and twisted by design. Courtesy, Smokingpipes.com

Jeff cleaned up the pipe for me. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned it up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to clean off the grime off the finish and the heavy overflow of lava on the rim top. The cleaning had removed some of the black stain on the rim top. He cleaned up the internals of the shank, mortise and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove all of the oils and tars in the pipe. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and was able to remove much of the oxidation. When it arrived here in Vancouver it was a clean pipe and I knew what I had to work with. I took photos of it before I started my part of the restoration. I took photos of the rim top and the stem to show their condition once it arrived in Canada. Jeff was able to clean up the incredibly thick cake and lava overflow that was shown in the rim and bowl photos above. The plateau outer edge and the beveled inner edge of the rim look quite good. He was also able to get rid of the grime and grit in the surface of the briar. There was still some darkening on the rim bevel that I would need to remove. The stem looked better, though there was staining in the airway in the stem. The tenon and the cone shaped end of the stem has some file marks on it and the tenon was not straight. There were tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button.I have noticed on some repairs that folks don’t pay much attention to the stamping when they are restoring a pipe. To me this is a critical part of the restoration to leave undamaged as it is the only link we have to who made the pipe. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank to show that it was readable and undamaged by the cleanup work.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of what the pipe looks like.I started my work on the inside beveled edge and rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I was able to remove that darkening on the right front and the back inner edge. It looked much better.I wiped the bowl down with isopropyl alcohol on a cotton pad to remove the dust and debris as well as the spotty stain. I started polishing the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The bowl began to take on a rich shine and grain was beginning to stand out. I wet sanded with all of the pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a soft cloth. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it in with my fingers to get it into the briar. I used a horsehair shoe brush to work it into the plateau top.  I let it sit for 10 minutes then I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. It is a beautiful bowl. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem at this point in the process. I built up the uneven tenon surface with clear CA glue to straighten the tenon out. Once the repair cured I used a small file to flatten the repairs and reshape the tenon. I sanded the repairs with a folded pieces of 220 to remove the marks and the light brown colouration on the stem surface. I sanded them with 600 grit sandpaper until the marks were gone and the oxidation was gone. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I finished by wiping the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the Randy Wiley   Patina 7 Freehand pipe and took the pipe to the buffer. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the acrylic. Blue Diamond does a great job on the smaller scratches that remain in both. I gave the bowl and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up really nicely with a great contrasting stain look to the briar. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is a beautiful Randy Wiley Patina Freehand – the fancy turned acrylic stem and plateau rim top and smooth shank end give the pipe a great look. The polished golden acrylic stem looks really good with the rich browns standing out in the grain. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.83 ounces/52 grams. This is another pipe that I will be putting on the rebornpipes online store in the American Pipe Makers and Pipemaking Companies Section shortly, if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this beauty!

Restoring a Filthy Knute of Denmark Freehand A

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Blog by Steve Laug

Jeff and I purchased this pipe on 8/3/2022 from a fellow in Carlsbad, California, USA. It is hard smoked freehand with a plateau rim top and shank end. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Knute [over] of Denmark. The stem has no stamp on it and is a fancy turned vulcanite one that fits the shank well. There was a heavy cake in the bowl and lava overflowing onto the plateau rim top. The finish showed some nice grain around the bowl and shank even through the grime that was ground into it. The stem was oxidized, calcified and there were tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. He took photos of the rim and bowl to give a sense of what he was dealing with. He also took photos of the stem surfaces to show the condition of the stem when it arrived. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show beautiful carving around the bowl and shank sides. The brown stain adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a unique piece. He also took photos of the stamped name on the underside of shank. It reads as noted above. Before I started my work on the pipe I wanted to remind myself of the provenance of the pipe. I remembered that it was linked to Karl Erik as the earlier pipe I worked on was. I wanted to know where this pipe fit into the Karl Erik lines so I turned to the first of two sites that I always check to gather information on a brand.  I turned to the first source of information site – Pipephil’s (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-k3.html) got a quick overview on the brand once again connecting it to Karl Erik.I turned then to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Erik). Pipedia had this great picture of Karl Erik Ottendahl and I decided to include it here as a reminder of the artisan who first carved and released this pipe. Reminded of the tie to Karl Erik I knew a bit about the pipe at hand. I turned to address the pipe itself. There it is clearly identified and linked to Karl Erik Ottendahl. It is designated as a second and frequently having rustication.

Jeff cleaned up the pipe for me. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned it up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the exterior with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to clean off the grime off the finish and the heavy overflow of lava on the rim top. The cleaning had removed some of the black stain on the rim top. He cleaned up the internals of the shank, mortise and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove all of the oils and tars in the pipe. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and was able to remove much of the oxidation. When it arrived here in Vancouver it was a clean pipe and I knew what I had to work with. I took photos of it before I started my part of the restoration. I took photos of the rim top and the stem to show their condition once it arrived in Canada. Jeff was able to clean up the incredibly thick cake and lava overflow that was shown in the rim and bowl photos above. The plateau and the inner edge of the rim look quite good. He was also able to get rid of the grime and grit in the surface of the briar. The stem looked better, though there was some residual oxidation in the grooves of the turned portion. There were tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. I have noticed on some repairs that folks don’t pay much attention to the stamping when they are restoring a pipe. To me this is a critical part of the restoration to leave undamaged as it is the only link we have to who made the pipe. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank to show that it was readable and undamaged by the cleanup work. Someone had put white paint in the stamp but that was not original.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of what the pipe looks like.I started my work on the bowl by removing the white paint that was in the stamping on the underside. I used a cotton pad and acetone to loosen the paint and a brass bristle wire brush to remove it from the stamping.I started polishing the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The bowl began to take on a rich shine and grain was beginning to stand out. I wet sanded with all of the pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a soft cloth. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it in with my fingers to get it into the briar. I used a horsehair shoe brush to work it into the plateau top and shank end.  I let it sit for 10 minutes then I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. It is a beautiful bowl. I set the bowl aside and worked on the stem at this point in the process. I filled in the tooth marks in the top and underside of the stem ahead of the button with clear CA glue. Once it cured I used a small file to flatten the repairs and reshape the button edge. I sanded the repairs with a folded pieces of 220 to remove the marks and the light brown colouration on the stem surface. I sanded them with 600 grit sandpaper until the marks were gone and the oxidation was gone. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. I finished by wiping the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the Knute of Denmark Freehand pipe and took the pipe to the buffer. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the vulcanite. Blue Diamond does a great job on the smaller scratches that remain in both. I gave the bowl and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up really nicely with a great contrasting stain look to the briar. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is a beautiful Karl Eric Made Knute of Denmark Freehand – the fancy turned stem and plateau shank end give the pipe a great look. The polished black vulcanite stem looks really good with the rich browns standing out in the grain. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.73 ounces/49 grams. This is another pipe that I will be putting on the rebornpipes online store in the Danish Pipemaking Companies Section shortly, if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this beauty!

Restoring a Curt Rollar American Reg No. 1284/CR6 Oom Paul

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Blog by Steve Laug

It is a rainy Sunday for me here in Vancouver so I decided to work on one of the other pipes in the restoration box. This one is an Oom Paul from American Smoking Pipes (Mark Tinsky). The smooth finish on this pipe, around the bowl and shank has a mix of grain highlighted by the brown stain. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank near the stem/shank junction and reads American in an oval [over] Reg. No. [over] 1284/CR6. The pipe was a well used pipe when Jeff received it. There was dust and grime ground into the finish of the bowl. The brown stains highlights some beautiful grain under the dirt. The bowl was lightly caked and there was a light overflow of lava on the smooth rim top. The inner edge looked to be in good condition. The saddle stem is vulcanite and was dirty, oxidized and had light tooth marks, chatter and scratches on both sides ahead of the button and on the button itself. There is a Silver Star in clear acrylic inlaid on the left side of the saddle stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before his clean up. You can see the scratches in the smooth rim top. The inner edge also shows some damage. He also took some of the stem to show the condition of both sides. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the faded stain and the grain around the bowl and shank. The brown stain adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a real beauty. The stamping on this one was on the underside of the shank and is shown in the photos below. It is clear and readable as noted above. The third photo shows the inlaid American Smoking Pipe Five Point Star in a brass circle is visible in the first photo. I have collected and smoked Mark Tinsky’s pipes for over 30 years now and thoroughly enjoy them. I cannot speak highly enough about the quality and craftsmanship of his pipes. I have pipes made by Mark and by Curt Rollar in my collection and both are great smokers and pipes that reach for regularly in my choice of pipes. I turned to his website for a quick summary of the history of the brand (http://www.amsmoke.com/Index%20Folder/PipeHist.html). I quote from the site as it is a short, concise history.

The American Smoking Pipe Co. was formed in 1978 by Mark Tinsky and Curt Rollar. Both started making pipes for Jack Weinberger ( JHW Pipes ) while in high school and throughout college. Determined to blaze their own path, they formed their own company- its goal to create unique pipes, lightweight and comfortable, where attention to detail was the rule not the exception. Exulting in their new freedom, they carved out new shapes that were balanced between the radical freehand era of the 70’s and the board pipe look of other conservative companies. Hungry for recognition, they stormed the Eastern and Southern shops looking for markets to sell their pipes. Many hidebound retailers refused to try something new, preferring to sell, well, what has always sold before. However, their pipes did take root in many shops and the business thrived.

They continued expanding their pipe making capabilities, adding employees to help finish the pipes. In 1990, over a disagreement over how much to expand, Curt Rollar left the company. This put a break on expansion and coupled with a U.S. recession and rising anti-smoking fervor served to limit production to supplying existing retailers, thus ending a decade of growth. With pipes sales in decline, we turned to pipe repair as a way to supplement revenues. Finding that we liked fixing things, American concentrated on pipe repair. While working hard at repair and manufacture American is ready once again to expand its markets through its existing network of shops serviced by pipe repair.

The pipe I am working on is stamped with a Reg. No. 1284/CR6 as noted above. The stamp tells me that the pipe was most likely made in December of 1984. The CR stamp signifies that the pipe was carved by Curt Rollar. The 6 likely is the size of the pipe as it is quite large. This tells me that it is an older American pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime and calcification. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here in Vancouver. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show how clean the bowl and the rim top and inner edges of the bowl. I took photos of the stem surface to show the condition and tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the shank sides (left and underside). It is readable as noted above and though faint is clear. I took a photo of the Silver Star with a black background logo on the stem as well. It is in excellent condition.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts. It is quite a stunning piece.I started my work by polishing the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each  pad to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is a beauty. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a shoe brush to get it in the grooves. It works to clean, restore and preserve the briar. I let it do its magic for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a cotton cloth. The pipe looks incredibly good at this point in the process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter. I filled in the remaining marks with clear CA glue. Once it hardened I flattened them out with a small file. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the rest of the vulcanite stem. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This American Reg. No. 1284/CR6 Oom Paul is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The brown stains really highlights the grain and the polished finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished American Curt Rollar Oom Paul fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 77 grams / 2.72 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the American (US) Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in purchasing this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Restoring a Beautiful Republic Era Peterson’s De Luxe Silver Band 4S Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

This afternoon I decided to work on the another one of the Peterson’s Pipes that I have still to work on from a variety of places. This pipe was also purchased as part of an estate on 03/30/2022 from Plano, Texas, USA. It is a larger bent pipe that is stamped on the sides of the shank. On the left side it read Peterson’s [over] De Luxe. On the right side it is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (three lines) [over] the shape number 4S. There is a very tarnished Sterling Silver band on the shank. It is stamped Peterson’s [over]Dublin on the top of the shank band. Next to that it is stamped Sterling [over] Silver followed by three hallmarks. The first mark is the seated woman Hibernia, the second is a Harp, and the final one, the date stamp is buffed off and illegible. The pipe was a well used pipe when Jeff received it. There was dust and grime ground into the finish. The mixture of brown stains highlights some beautiful grain under the dirt. The bowl was heavily caked and there was an overflow of lava on the rim top. It is hard to know what the edges looked like at this point but time would tell. The vulcanite stem was oxidized and dirty with tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button and on the button itself. There is a faint “P” stamp in the vulcanite on the left side of the saddle P-lip stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before his clean up. He also took some of the stem to show the condition of both sides. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the amazing grain around the bowl and shank. The mixture of brown stains adds depth finish on the pipe. Even under the grime it is a real beauty. The stamping on the sides of the shank are shown in the photos below. The are clear and readable as noted above. He also took a photo of the very tarnish shank band/ferrule. Jeff captured the detail in the photo below. 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.

I then turned to The Peterson Pipe – The Story of Kapp & Peterson to look up information on the DeLuxe line. There on page 297 I found this information:

De Luxe (1915-) Introduced in newspaper advertising in 1916, production of this high grade smooth finish model may have been stalled by the Great War and domestic disturbances. It will not appear in Peterson’s catalogs until ’37. Specimens documented from 1915 to the 30s are extremely rare and confined to extra-large house pipes and occasionally medium sized pipes with unconventional shapes. Specimens from 1930-50 in a wide selection of Classic Range shapes, often as Canadians. Catalogs from 1937-50 list it as “the finest possible quality obtainable.” After ’50 the Supreme would supplant the De Luxe as the top of the line model, and to this day the De Luxe is a high quality pipe but not the highest. Early models often have no COM. Models from the twenties until the sixties will be stamped Irish over Free State, Eire, London Made over England, Made in over Ireland (forming a circle) or Made in the over Republic over Ireland. The last three COM stamps, used from’38 through ’68 when no hallmarks were stamped on the Peterson mountings can never be precisely dated. If a De Luxe was made in ’69 or later it will be hallmarked with the date designator and always have a Republic COM.

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 the present day. The COM stamp on the shank and the hallmarks (even though unreadable in terms of the date stamp) help me to know that the pipe came out after 1969. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the sump in the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation and calcification as possible. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim and the stem. You can see how clean the bowl and rim top and edges are. There is some slight damage on the inner edge and scratches on the rim top. The stem is in good condition with tooth marks and some chatter as noted above.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. All are clear and readable as noted above. You can see the faint P stamp on the left side of the stem in the first photo below.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. The chunky shank and stem together make for a classic Peterson’s Pipe.I decided to work on the damage on the top and the inner beveled edge of the bowl first. I started the work with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the rim top and the inner edge of the rim. Once I had finished I think that it looked much better. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each  pad to remove the grit. The bowl began to take on a rich shine. It is going to be a beauty.   I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit for 10 minutes and the Balm did its magic. It enlivens, cleans and preserves the briar. It certainly brought this bowl back to life. I buffed it off with a clean cloth and took the following photos.  I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I worked on the deep oxidation with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove more of the deep oxidation. It worked very well.I “painted” the tooth marks on the stem with the flame of a Bic Lighter to lift them. I was able to lift them all to some degree. I filled in those that remained with clear CA glue. I used a small file to flatten the repairs. I sanded stem surface repairs smooth with 220 grit sandpaper. I started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I soaked it again in Briarville’s Deoxidizer for several hours to further remove the deep oxidation. I removed it, rinsed it and dried it with a coarse cloth. I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Republic Era Peterson’s De Luxe 4S Bent Billiard and a vulcanite, saddle P-lip stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful finish really highlights the grain and the polished finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Peterson’s De Luxe 4S Bent Billiard fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look 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 57 grams/2.01 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the Irish Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in purchasing this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Cleaning up A Dunhill Shell Briar 463 F/T Made in England 5 Pot

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table came to us from a group of pipes that Jeff and I purchased from a fellow in Copenhagen, Denmark on October 3, 2022. It is a Dunhill Shell Briar Pot that is in good condition. It is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank with the shape number 463 F/T followed by Dunhill [over] Shell Briar. Next to that it is stamped Made in [over] England by the date number 5. After that it is stamped with a 2 in a circle [followed by] S for shell. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above. The pipe has a mix of black, cordovan and brown stains on a sandblast finish and some amazing grain that the shape follows well. The colour is a bit more brown than the previous Shell Briar pipes I have been restoring. The finish was dusty around the nooks and crannies of the sandblast but otherwise fairly clean. The bowl had a thick cake and there was some lava on the sandblasted rim top or edges. The taper stem was oxidized, calcified, dirty and had tooth marks and chatter ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe to show what it looked like before he started working on it. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show their condition and of the stem to show the condition of both sides of the stem. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the deep sandblast grain on the pipe. It is a beauty. The stamping on the underside of the shank is shown in the photo below. It looks very good and faint but readable. It reads as noted and explained above. Jeff captured the detail in the photos below. One of the first things I like to do is to unpack the stamping and understand each element in it. I turned to Pipephil helpful site (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/shell-briar1.html). The stamping is interpreted as follows: The number 463 is the shape number for a Pot. The F/T is the designation for a fishtail stem. The Shell Briar is the finish which is corroborated the S at the end of the stamping. The size of the pipe is a Group 2. The superscript 5 following the D of England gives the date the pipe.Pipephil also has some helpful dating keys on the site that are basically flow charts that you can walk through to date your pipe (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1.html). I turned to Part 1 of the Dating Key and followed the chart. This pipe has a suffix of 5 following the D in England. It is the same size as the D so that took me to the section on the chart below (column one) which instructed me that the pipe could be dated as being made posterior to 1955. I followed the link following the “Your pipe is posterior to 1954. Narrow down your dating”. That took me to Page 2 of the dating key (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1a.html).   The third column (suffix 5…9) led me to the section with a smaller raised suffix. There was a directive for dating the pipe spelled out as follows: 1950 + suffix which gives the pipe a date of 1955.I then turned to Pipedia’s section on Dunhill Root Briar to get a bit of background on the Dunhill finishes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill#Root_Briar). I quote:

Shell
A deep craggy sandblast with a black stain finish (usually made using Algerian briar) – the color of the stain used has varied over the years. Although there is some doubt as to them being the first to sandblast pipes, Dunhill’s Shell pipes, and the sandblasting techniques developed to create them are considered one of Dunhill’s greatest and most lasting contributions to the art of pipe making.

The documented history of Dunhill’s inception of the Shell is largely limited to patent applications — there are no catalog pages or advertisements promoting blasted pipes at the time. The preliminary work on the English patent (No. 1484/17) was submitted on October 13, 1917. The patent submission was completed half a year later, on April 12, 1918, followed by the granting of the English patent on October 14, 1918. This was less than a month before the end of The Great War on November 11th.

In 1986 Dunhill released a line of premium Shell finish pipes – “RING GRAIN”. These are high-quality straight grain pipes which are sandblasted. Initially only Ring Grain, but now in two different finishes. In 1995 the “Shilling” was introduced with Cumberland finish – it is an extremely rare series. These pipes exhibit a deeper blast characteristic of that of the 1930’s – mid-1960’s (and the limited ‘deep blast’ pipes of the early 1980s) and show a fine graining pattern. These are considered the best new Dunhills by many enthusiasts today and are very rare. The finish is sometimes described as tasting like vanilla at first, with the taste becoming more normal or good as the pipe breaks in.

I have also included a chart from the site from Dunhill spelling out the Standard Pipe Finishes and giving short information and a timeline. I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the light cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked very good when I received it. I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. You can see the clean bowl. The bowl is slightly out of round on the right front inner edge but otherwise looks good. The stem came out looking quite good. There are some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.  I took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The photo clearly shows the stamping and is actually more readable in the photo than in person. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe parts to show what I was working with. It is a nice looking pipe.The bowl was in such good condition that I had to do some minimal work with it. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to work it into the nooks and crannies of the sandblast finish. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. The briar really comes alive with the balm. I set the bowl aside and “painted” the stem surface with the flame of the lighter. I was able to lift most of the marks a significant measure. I filled in what remained with black superglue. I flattened the repairs with a small flat file and sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the surface of the stem. I started the polishing with a 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This 1955 Dunhill Shell Briar 463 Taper Stem Pot has a beautiful, unique Dunhill Sandblast finish that is very deep and craggy. The dark mixed black/brown/red finish highlights some great grain around the bowl and shank. It has some great rugged sandblast that Dunhill specialized in making. The polished black vulcanite taper stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Dunhill Shell Briar 463 Pot is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is .81 ounces/23 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. If you are interested in adding it to your collection I will be adding it to the British Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store. Thanks for your time.

Fresh Life for a Made in Ireland Peterson’s Kapet taper stem Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is the second pipe on the table for restoration in 2023. It is another rainy, chilly day in Vancouver. I know in comparison to where many of you live it is not cold but to us it is. The next pipe I have chosen to work on is another Peterson’s Billiard. It is a smooth nicely grained pipe that is a bit of a mystery to Jeff and me as to its provenance. There was grime ground into the finish on the bowl sides. I love the way the contrast of the brown stains gives the finish a sense of depth. The stain is almost tiger striped. It was stamped on the sides of the shank. On the left side and it read Peterson’s [over] KAPET. On the right side it read MADE IN [over] IRELAND. This pipe must have been someone’s favourite as it had been well smoked. Somewhere on its journey the bowl had been reamed and the pipe cleaned. The inner edge of the bowl had some nicks and marks that made the bowl slightly out of round. The stem was lightly oxidized from sitting around here for a long time. It had tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. I took photos of the pipe before my cleanup work. I took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is clean and has been recently reamed. The rim top and edges had some darkening and there was some lava in the sandblast of the finish on the back side. The photos of the stem show that it was lightly oxidized and has tooth marks on the top and underside near the button.I took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the blast that was around this bowl. It is a great sandblast and the choice of stain adds depth to the appearance of the bowl. I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable and reads as noted above.I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe. It is a good looking pipe and has an interesting shallow sandblast on the bowl.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 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 between 1922 and 1938 as can be proved by the Made in 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 Ireland stamp, the pipe I am working on is probably made between 1922-1938. Those dates work also for the Kapet information above. The stem does not have the P emblem on the stem side or the inner tube.

I started my work on the pipe by working on the rim top and the inner edge. I cleaned them up with a with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I was able to remove almost all of the darkening with the sandpaper and reshape the damaged inner edge of the bowl.  I scrubbed the externals of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. I rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. The bowl and rim top cleaned up really well with the lava coat removed. The inner edge of the rim was in good condition. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris.  I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar 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 scraped out some thick tar on the mortise walls with a pen knife. Afterwards, I cleaned out the inside of the mortise, shank and airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners.I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the stem surface on both sides with the flame of the lighter to try and lift the deep tooth marks. I was able to lift them significantly but some deep spots remained. I filled those in with black CA glue and set the stem aside to let the repairs harden.I flattened the cured repairs with a small file and then sanded them with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the stem surface. I started polishing the stem with 400 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 polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine.   I always am excited to finish working on a pipe. This Made in Ireland Peterson’s Kapet 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: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 30 grams/1.06 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.

Restoring an Italian Made Gulden Dansk Long, Oval Shank Brandy

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Blog by Steve Laug

Last week I received an email from Sonny, the fellow I had restored the Gulden Dansk 9200 Freehand Dublin. He was sending me a package with what he called the brother to that Gulden Dansk pipe to work on that he wanted restored. It arrived this week and it was another old Gulden Dansk pipe made by Savinelli with a vulcanite saddle stem. He wanted me to restore it like I had the other one. It had the same rusticated finish with a tight pattern around the bowl. The finish was dirty with dust in the grooves but it was still quite pretty. The rim top was rusticated to match the bowl finish. The rim top was dirty with lava overflow filling in the grooves. The edges of the rim were very good. The pipe was stamped on the underside of the shank and read Gulden Dansk. It was quite lightweight and would clean up quite nicely. In chatting with him over email that he wanted the pipe cleaned up and restored. The stem was oxidized and the GD stamp was faded but the stamping looked to be deep enough to try to restain it. I am including the photos that Sonny sent me. It is an intriguing looking pipe. When I received the pipe in the mail on this week, I went back to the previous blog I did for Sonny and reread what I had written there from a Blog that Kenneth wrote about a pair of pipes he had worked on – a Gulden Dansk and a Silveren Dansk. I turned to his blog and read through what he had written about the brands there (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/savinelli-made-gulden-dansk/). I quote the research that Kenneth did on the brand before I started my clean up work. It is very helpful and tied the pipe brand to Savinelli as I assumed looking at it.

The brands Gulden Dansk and Silveren Dansk are ones about which there is very little information. I cobbled together as much information as I could, and I will do my best to record that here. Both brands are sub-brands of Savinelli, according to smokingpipes.com. You can see in the photo below that smokingpipes.com states this clearly, and they are quite knowledgeable. Pipedia had no information at all regarding these brands. Meanwhile, pipephil.eu had precious little info (see below). One small clue is their reference to Italy in the Gulden Dansk image. Comments from some old pipe forums suggest that the brand(s) might be made for the Canadian market and came to full prominence in the early 1980s. See below.The newspaper ad above (sorry for the poor quality) is taken from the Montreal Gazette, November 1st, 1980. It shows that, in addition to pipes, they also sold tobacco.Furthermore, I found Canadian trademark registrations for both brands. I have shown some of that information below. For reasons unknown, the Silveren Dansk trademark is still active, whilst the Gulden Dansk one has expired. I also found an Australian trademark registration for the same, but it was noted on the Australian site that the origin of the application was Canada. Kenneth concluded his work as follows:

In short, we can say a few things about both Gulden Dansk and Silveren Dansk. They were both made by Savinelli, probably for the Canadian market (and perhaps other markets). The Canadian connection obviously fits with the gentleman in Winnipeg. They made pipes and tobacco, and all the comments I could find on the quality of the pipes were very positive. If you have any further details on these brands, I would love to hear from you.

Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. I took photos of the pipe when I opened the box. It is a nice looking shape – a long, oval shanked Brandy with a saddle stem. It is a great looking pipe with a tight rusticated finish that was quite beautiful. The stem and shank have a slight cant and angle that looks good. You can see the finish as noted above and the oxidation on the stem as well. I took photos of the rim top and the top and underside of the stem. You can see how it fit against the shank. It is oxidized with light tooth chatter and marks on the surface on both sides. You can see the grime on the right side of the rim top and the moderate cake in the bowl. It is a nice looking pipe.The next photo shows the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the overall look of the pipe. It is really a nicely designed looking bent Dublin that will look great once it is cleaned up.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer using the first two cutting heads to take the cake down to briar. I followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to clean up the remnants. I sanded the walls smooth with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with a tooth brush and undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I worked over the rim top and edges and rinsed it with warm water scrubbing it while rinsing it. I scrubbed the rim top with a brass bristle wire brush to loosen up the lava coat. I dried it off and took these photos. I cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank and the stem with cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol until they came out clean.  With the pipe cleaned it still had a ghost of a smell to it. It was a sweet aromatic smell with lingering smells of vanilla. I stuffed the bowl with cotton bolls and twisted a plug of cotton and turned it into the shank. I used an ear syringe to fill the bowl with isopropyl alcohol and set it aside in an old ice tray to let the deghosting happen! In the morning I woke up to find the cotton bolls in the bowl to be brown around the edges and the shank cotton was also brown at the shank end. I removed it and cleaned the shank once more. The bowl smelled better and the ghost had been exorcised to a large degree. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the finish with my fingers and used a shoe brush to press it deep into the crevices of the sandblast. The product works to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank and enliven and protect the briar. After it sat for 15 minutes I wiped it off with a soft cloth. The briar really came alive with a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. It is a beautiful bowl. While the bowl sat deghosting I put the stem in a Briarville Stem Deoxidizer soak. I let soak overnight. When I took it out in the morning the oxidation had risen to the surface of the vulcanite. The GD logo on the top lost its remaining colour and it is very faint.I scrubbed the vulcanite with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation from the surface of the bowl. Once finished it looked much better.I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter and was able to lift them a little. I filled in what remained with clear CA glue and set the stem aside to cure. I used a small file to flatten the repairs. I sanded them flat with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with Obsidian Oil to remove the sanding dust. I used the Before & After Pipe Polish to remove the small minute scratches left in the vulcanite. I finished by wiping the stem down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry.  As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the Gulden Dansk Oval Long Shank Brandy back together. I 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 grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the dark browns of the bowl and shank. This rusticated Gulden Dansk Oval Long Shank Brandy was another fun pipe to work on. It really is a quite stunning piece of briar whose shape follows the flow of the grain on the briar. The pipe is comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ 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 sending this beautiful Gulden Dansk back to the pipeman who dropped it off. Thanks for reading my reflections on the pipe while I working on it.

Replacing a Broken tenon on a Savinelli Estella Hand Made Freehand

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Blog by Steve Laug

Last week I received a from Curtis, a gentleman who had been referred to me by City Cigar. I asked him to email me some photos of his pipe so I could see what I was dealing with before I took on the project. He sent the following email and photos:

I was referred to you by Ben at City Cigar.  I was curious if I could send my pipe to you for repairs. Here are some photos of it, I know you probably can’t give a proper estimate until it’s in your hands.  Forgive my ignorance on pipe repair but I’ve never had any work done before.  If possible, after viewing my photos, would a “ballpark” estimate be possible ?  I don’t know if I’m looking at 100.00 or 1000.00.  The pipe might  not be “worth” much but my son gave it to me and it has sentimental value to me.  I’m just looking to get a new or used or repaired stem for the pipe, if possible.

Thanks for you time,

Curtis

I called him back and we arranged for him to mail the pipe to me. It was a very heavily rusticated Estella Hand Made with an acrylic stem with a tenon that had snapped off fairly close to the saddle on the stem. It is a bit of a bent Dublin with a fancy half saddle acrylic in variegated silver and grey colours. The stem is in pretty decent condition. The bowl has a light cake and the rim top has some lava in the valleys. It will need to be cleaned up as well as having the tenon replaced. He sent the pipe to me through Canada Post and when it arrived it looked just as Curtis had photographed it.The pipe is a heavily rusticated Freehand with a plateau rim top. It is stamped on the smooth heel of the bowl and onto the shank on the underside of the pipe. It reads Estella [over] Hand Made followed by Savinelli S Shield logo then Italy. The stem was a variegated grey and silver half saddle. The tenon had snapped very close to the spot at the end of the stem. The stem itself was quite clean with some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was a moderate cake in the bowl that went half way down the bowl. There was a lava overflow on the rim top and some nicks on some of the high spots. There was also some grime on the bowl at the midpoint where it is held in the hand. It was a nice looking Freehand pipe that showed great promise. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim top to show the thickness of the cake and the condition of the stem when I received the pipe. It was a bit of a mess. You can see the lava overflow on the rim top and the inner edge of the bowl. The stem looked good other than having a broken tenon. There were some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.The next photo shows the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet Pipe Reamer to remove the cake from the bowl – using the #1 and #2 cutting heads to take out the majority of the cake in the bowl. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and a piece of dowel wrapped with some 220 grit sandpaper. I cleaned up the lava on the rim top with a brass bristle wire brush and was able to remove much of the build up. I cleaned out the mortise and airway in the bowl and shank with isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners until the shank and airway were clean.I scrubbed the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush on the rustication on the bowl and rim top. I rinsed the bowl with warm running water to rinse off the soap and the grime left behind. It looked better. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the rustication with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to get it deep in the valleys of the rustication. I let it sit for 15 minutes and buffed it off with a soft cloth.  I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I went through box of replacement tenons. I found one that was the right fit for the mortise. It was a little long for insertion into the end of the stem once drilled it. I would need to shorten the tenon in order to not have it break through the underside of the half saddle.I flattened the broken edges of the original tenon with a Dremel and sanding drum. I used a penknife to create a funnel in the stem end to guide the drill bit straight. I drilled it with a series of drill bits from one slightly larger than the airway in the stem and finished with a ¼ inch bit that was the same size as the tenon end. I cleaned up the drilled out stem with a round file and a half round file. I smoothed out the walls of the drilled out area. I roughened and rounded the end of the tenon that was going to be inserted in the stem. I coated it with some black superglue and twisted it in place in the stem end. I aligned it with the shank end to make sure the fit was correct.I cleaned out the airway in the stem shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol to remove the tars and oils. I sanded out the tooth marks and chatter with 220 grit sandpaper and started the polishing with 400 grit sandpaper. The marks are smooth and blended in. I also sanded the diameter of the stem slightly on the right side and underside to adjust the fit to the shank. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. The oil both preserves the rubber and also provides some needed friction for the micromesh pads. I polished it with Before & After Fine & Extra Fine Polish. I rubbed it down a final time with the oil and set it aside. This Estella Hand Carved Rusticated Freehand by Savinelli combines a great looking piece of rusticated plateau briar with a variegated grey/silver acrylic stem to make a beautiful pipe. The cleaned rustication on the bowl came alive with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the acrylic stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Estella Hand Carved Freehand really is a beauty and fits nicely in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾  x 2 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.05oz./58grams. It is the second pipe I have finished for Curtis. Next week I will put it in the mail and send it back to him. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Restoring a Republic Era Peterson’s System 31 Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

This is another one of those pipes that has been here for a long time and I have no memory where it came from. It had been cleaned and reamed. The inside of the shank, the system sump and the shank was quite clean. The smooth rim top was damaged and had some darkening. The edges – both inner and outer had some damages by burning and the bowl was out of round. The smooth finish was very clean from Jeff’s scrubbing. The stamping on the shank is clear and readable. The left side is stamped Peterson’s [arched over] System. On the right side it was stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (3 lines). To the right of that stamp is the shape number 31. The nickel ferrule is oxidized and dull but it has the K & P stamp over three symbols. Next to that it was stamped Peterson’s. The stem was quite clean and free of tooth marks and chatter on both sides. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and the stem. You can see the reamed bowl and the darkening and damage on the rim top. The stem surface was clean and free of tooth marks or chatter on both sides. I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the bowl and shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. It is really quite nice looking.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.

I found a great description of the System 31 shape on smokingpipes.com (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/new/peterson/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=192182). I am including a portion of that below.

Peterson’s “31” shape is the only straight pipe featured in the System Standard line, yet it still features system drilling. Featuring a push-style tenon and a long, tapering metal tube, it houses a condensation chamber just under the bowl itself — providing the same gurgle free smoke you’d expect of a bent System configuration.

Paresh had worked on System 31 pipe so I went back and reread his work on that smooth pipe. It was very helpful for the background information included (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/peterson-system-31-pipe/).

I knew that I was dealing with a Republic Era pipe made between 1950-1989. The K&P mark on the nickel band ties to Kapp & Peterson brings the date to the time between 1950-1964. It was a smooth Straight billiard with a unique shape and chamber beneath the bottom of the bowl. The finish was stained with a combination of rich reddish brown stains. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

The bowl had been reamed and cleaned. I started working on the pipe by topping the damaged rim top on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage on the rim top and edges of the bowl. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge of the bowl. I gave the inner edge of the bowl a slight bevel. I polished the rim top and edges with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads to raise a shine. I wiped it down with a damp cotton pad to wipe off the debris after each sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips. It works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let it sit for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a soft cloth and raised the shine. The bowl looks great at this point.   I polished the nickel ferrule with a  jeweler’s cloth. The cloth is impregnated with polish that not only raises a shine but protects the metal.   I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and gave it a final coat and set it aside to dry.  I put the stem back on the Peterson’s System 31 Straight Billiard 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 Peterson’s shape and finish really highlights a proportionally well carved pipe. Once I buffed the pipe the briar came alive and popped with polishing. The black vulcanite stem has a rich glow. This Peterson’s System Straight Billiard fits well in the hand and sits right in the mouth. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of and inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.20 ounces/34 grams. This beauty will be going on the rebornpipes online store in the Irish 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.

The French Collection

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Blog by Kenneth Lieblich

No, not the French Connection – but French Collection! I have long had an interest in French pipes and pipemaking. In recent decades, French pipes have received a fair amount of derision – and deservedly so. However, early French pipes are very often beautiful, well-made, and – best of all – good smokers. In my own small way, I am aiming to resurrect the reputation of early French pipes. There are superb pipes to be had from France. This blog post is about the restoration of the first pipe that is going into my “French Collection”.

The pipe in question has no markings whatsoever. So how do I know it’s French? Well, I don’t have absolute proof, but I’ve got good circumstantial evidence: the pipe has a very French look to it, it smells like old French tobacco, it came in a lot of exclusively French pipes from France, and – most definitively – Steve thinks it’s French too.  As the photos show, this is a cutty-shaped pipe, albeit without the spur. However, it shows the distinctive, canted bowl of the cutty. It is a handsome pipe with a jaunty look to it, and I liked the pipe straight away. As I mentioned, this pipe has no marks of any kind. This obviously makes identification trickier. I know that Georges Vincent-Genod company used to make pipes similar to this once upon a time, but I cannot, in good conscience, definitely ascribe this pipe to the GVG company. Having said that, the following pipe from Genod certainly has its similarities…The age of this pipe is quite interesting. As you can see, the stem of the pipe is made of horn and has an orific button at the end. For more information on the orifice button, take the time to read Steve’s interesting article on the subject. This type of button is a feature that apparently disappeared by the 1930s, so the pipe must be around a hundred years old, right? Not so fast. The stummel has a threaded tenon made of metal – not bone (as one might expect from a century ago). Steve, my walking encyclopedia, informed me that the fact the tenon is in metal (instead of bone) suggests a date closer to World War II. He figures that the stem itself could be significantly older, but that it was left over in the factory and married to a ”newer” stummel. Therefore, we can surmise that the pipe is about 80 years old.

Let’s have a closer look at the condition of the pipe. The stem was dirty and worn, with plenty of evidence of tooth marks and dents. The insides were dirty too, but nothing too unusual. Meanwhile, the stummel was incredibly dirty.The bowl was so full of cake and the rim so overwhelmed with lava, that I couldn’t really tell what the condition of the wood inside was. Certainly, there was some lovely patina on the old wood on the outside of the bowl.I wanted to work on the stem first, but needed some help to unscrew it! I brought out the heat gun and gave a quick blast to loosen the goo holding the pipe together. That loosened the stem sufficiently to unscrew it. I wiped the stem with Murphy’s Oil Soap on some cotton pads. There was some filth there and I needed to remove it. I attacked the inside of the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs, and isopropyl alcohol. It required a good amount of cotton to come clean. Now work on repairing the tooth marks, etc. on the outside of the stem. I built up the bite marks on the stem with cyanoacrylate adhesive and let it fully cure. There were a couple of small worm holes (or something similar) on the stem and I filled them the same way. Upon closer inspection, the button on the stem was a bit mangled. Simply doing the normal sanding wouldn’t do. I opted to use a small file and rework the horn to ensure a proper shape.Following that, I sanded the adhesive down with 220- and 400-grit sandpapers to meld seamlessly into the stem. I then used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to bring out the beautiful designs in the horn, with some Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil in between each pad scrubbing. Now for the stummel. The brass ferrule came off very easily. I set it aside for now and would return to clean it later. First, I decided to ream out the bowl. I used the KleenReem and the PipNet to remove the built-up cake and followed that with 220-grit sandpaper taped to a dowel to eliminate as much as I could. Wow, there was a lot of debris! I took the chamber down to bare briar to ensure there were no hidden flaws in the wall. Fortunately (and surprisingly), there were none.Following this, I cleaned the insides with the requisite pipe cleaners, Q-tips and isopropyl alcohol. As the stack of cleaning materials show, it was a mess!I also took this opportunity to wash the stummel with Murphy’s Oil Soap and remove as much grime as I could. The pipe’s rim was so caked with filth that I opted to soak it in a jar-lid of Murphy’s to soften it. Then I used a brush to work out all the gunk on the rim. As the pictures show, the rim was badly worn. There were gouges and burn marks. Additional work would need to be done. Before that, however, I decided the pipe needed some additional TLC and I chose to de-ghost it. I thrust cotton balls in the bowl (and plugged up the shank) and saturated it with isopropyl alcohol. I left it overnight and let all the evil spirits in the pipe leech into the cotton. Once complete, the pipe looked great and smelled even better.I was, at first, very reluctant to “top” the pipe – that is to say, gently and evenly sanding down the rim on a piece of 220-grit sandpaper. I was reluctant because I loved the height of the bowl and didn’t want to change it. However, I did decide to do it – it just didn’t look right without it. I was especially careful this time, so as to remove the bare minimum from the rim.As I mentioned earlier, there were some burns on the inside of the rim that also needed to be addressed. I took some oxalic acid on a cotton swab and rubbed and rubbed. The burn improved but not sufficiently, in my opinion. So, I took a solid wooden sphere, wrapped sandpaper around it, and sanded until such time as the burns were removed. I proceeded very carefully, as I had to ensure that I was not removing too much. I think I got it just right and the rim looked much improved. After this, I used all nine Micromesh pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand the stummel smooth.I then applied some Before & After Restoration Balm which I massaged into the wood and let sit for 15-20 minutes. After that, I rubbed it with a microfiber cloth. The balm brings out the best in the beautiful wood. It makes things shine and really shows the lustre. I came back to the brass ferrule. It was pretty dirty too. I used some SoftScrub on a cotton pad and scrubbed it clean. Then I buffed it with a microfibre cloth and made it shine. I reattached it to the stummel with some glue and let it set.Finally, it was off for a trip to the buffer. The more I look at this pipe, the more I really like the elegant lines and the old-time feel of the wood. At the buffer, a dose of White Diamond and a few coats of carnauba wax were just what this pipe needed to shine properly. All finished! This is a wonderfully crafted pipe and has a very sporty feel to it. It took some work, but I am proud of it and the final product suits me to a T. It retains some wounds from battle, but, as Steve would say, they are part of this pipe’s story. This is one pipe that I am keeping for myself and adding to my newly-founded French Collection. I am sure that I will be enjoying this one for many years to come. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 6½ in. (165 mm); height 2 in. (51 mm); bowl diameter 1¼ in. (30 mm); chamber diameter ¾ in. (19 mm). The weight of the pipe is ⅞ oz. (25 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments. I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe as much I as I did restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.