The Morabb Pipe Scraper

by Steve Laug

In August of 2025 I received an email from Paul in England regarding a Morabb pipe scraper that he had in his possession from his grandfather’s estate. He sent me the following email regarding the tool. It goes to show you that you never can underestimate the reach and readership of the rebornpipes blog. I have included his first email below in full.

Hello Steve,

First a big ‘thank you’. I have a ‘Morabb’ pipe scraper but didn’t know its purpose. It originally came from my grandfather’s house, he was a wire-drawer by trade and naively I thought it might have something to do with that! So, I type ‘The Morabb’ into my search engine, your site pops up and therein is all the information I need. Makes sense too, my grandfather was an avid pipe smoker.

Speculative enquiry this, I don’t suppose anyone in your pipe restoration circle would be interested in obtaining the scraper? As it belonged to my grandfather, I would prefer it went to someone who would really appreciate the item and perhaps even use it. I don’t smoke myself and I don’t have anyone to pass it on to.

Age wise I believe it may be slightly older than the one you have; it has ‘Pat. Appd For’ stamped on the case rather than showing an actual patent number. Condition is good on the outside, but way dirtier than yours on the inside. It has no box or instructions.

To give the scrapers’ age some context, my grandfather was born in the 1890’s and, to my knowledge, he smoked his entire life.

If it might be of interest let me know and I will send some photographs.

Oh, and please be aware I live in the UK.

Kind regards, Paul

I replied to Paul that I was indeed interested in purchasing the Morabb from him. I asked him for photos of the tool that he had so that I could compare it with the one I have here. Paul kindly sent the photos to me and I have included them below. The show the stamping on top of the tool and it reads as Paul noted above. It is also dirty and oily as he noted as well. We made arrangements regarding purchasing the tool and I sent the payment to him. I headed out on a trip and while I was away the package arrived. Before I left on my trip I went back and read the blog I had written on the previous Morabb scraper purchased from and English seller back in 2019. I have included the link as follows: (https://rebornpipes.com/2017/09/30/just-added-a-new-reamer-to-my-collection-the-morabb-pipe-scraper/). I included a photo of the pipe scraper from that blog below as well as the previous seller’s description of the tool.The seller described it as follows and his description set the hook for me. “This little item is a classic 1930s example of the Pipe Smoker’s paraphernalia and was used to ream out the bowl of the pipe to clean it. It is approximately 6cms long and is adjustable to different bowl sizes. A nice addition to a collection of smoker’s requisites. The piece is stamped on the handles as follows: The “Morabb” original vintage 1930s adjustable tobacco pipe scraper/reamer. Nickelled (nickel plated) metal. Made in England. It has a UK Patent Number: 177053/22. It is a rare collectible item in very good condition (vgc)…

I am also including the research that I had done on the previous Morabb as well as pictures. I quote:

Since I had not heard of the brand and was unfamiliar with how it worked I did a bit of hunting on the internet. I wanted to see if I could find more information. I tried a UK data base search and was unable to find anything of help. No matter how I entered the Patent number I did not find any listings. However, I did find several listings for the same kind of reamer on the web. There was one that was still boxed on Worthpoint and on eBay. I am pretty sure it was the same piece. I scrolled through the photos and did screen captures of one that showed the box that the scraper came in and the contents of the open box. I also found a photo of the instruction sheet that came in the original package. The first reamer was stamped as follows: The “Morabb” original vintage 1930s adjustable tobacco pipe scraper/reamer. Nickelled (nickel plated) metal. Made in England. It has a UK Patent Number: 177053/22. The new addition from Paul was as he noted an earlier version of the reamer. It is stamped on the top “THE MORABB” and also PAT. APP^D FOR. It is not stamped with the UK Patent Number, Made in England or with the Nickelled stamp.

Now that I had that information I cleaned up the Morabb with a brass bristle wire brush to knock off the thick spots of grease on the surface and a tooth brush to clean out the inside of the case. I wiped it down with a damp cloth. It began to look significantly better. I polished the pipe scraper with a soft cloth to raise the shine. There are some worn spots by it really looks very good. The nickel has some small scratches and marks but they in no way ruin the appearance of the piece. The knurling on the edges of the cap, the lid and the turning screw are in excellent condition. The piece will make a great addition to my collection. Thanks Paul.

Blog by Steve Laug

I received a contact message from the rebornpipes site regarding the sale of a pipe reamer. There was no message or information, just the link to the eBay sale item. I went to the item and had a look. It was listed as The Morabb Pipe Scraper. Since I collect old pipe reamers this would be another unique addition to the collection. It was interesting looking and enough of an oddity that I threw a bid on it. I was the only bidder which did not surprise me and this morning I won the item. It is on its way to me in Vancouver from England. Should be here in a week or two but in the mean time I thought since it was unique enough I would write a quick blog on it and post it in anticipation of its arrival.The seller described it as follows and his description set the hook for me. “This little item is a classic 1930s example of the Pipe Smoker’s paraphernalia and was used to ream out the bowl of the pipe to clean it. It is approximately 6cms long and is adjustable to different bowl sizes. A nice addition to a collection of smoker’s requisites. The piece is stamped on the handles as follows: The “Morabb” original vintage 1930s adjustable tobacco pipe scraper/reamer. Nickelled (nickel plated) metal. Made in England. It has a UK Patent Number: 177053/22. It is a rare collectible item in very good condition (vgc)… I had never seen one of these before and there was something charming about it in my opinion. I was glad to be able to add it to my collection.The seller included the above photos and these two of the piece looking at it from the top. It was and interesting looking piece of tobacciana and one that fit well into my reamer collection.Since I had not heard of the brand and was unfamiliar with how it worked I did a bit of hunting on the internet. I wanted to see if I could find more information. I tried a UK data base search and was unable to find anything of help. No matter how I entered the Patent number I did not find any listings. However, I did find several listings for the same kind of reamer on the web. There was one that was still boxed on Worthpoint and on eBay. I am pretty sure it was the same piece. I scrolled through the photos and did screen captures of one that showed the box that the scraper came in and the contents of the open box. I also found a photo of the instruction sheet that came in the original package. Now the wait begins while the pipe scraper makes its way across the pond to Canada. I am looking forward to trying it out and seeing how it works. The directions are quite clear so I suppose if I follow them I will have the success that they promise. Thanks for looking.