Tag Archives: topping a bowl

Renewing and Repairing a Cracked Shank on a GBD New Standard 357CC Prince

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by Steve Laug

About a week ago or so I was chatting with Chris about a pipe I had shipped him, a lovely GBD International Prince and he was enjoying it he loves GBD Princes and had a New Standard with a cracked shank that he had picked up from a seller on eBay. He wasn’t clear if it was cracked when he picked it up or if it had happened since. He had tried to repair it and it had not worked. It extended about ¼ inch midshank on the right side. It had some remnants of glue on the shank in the sandblast. I told him to send it up and I would have a look at it for him. It arrived last evening. Here is what I saw when I opened the package. It is a great looking sandblast Prince that is stamped on the underside on a smooth panel on the shank and read GBD in an oval [over] New Standard in script. That is followed by London England and then a little below the London stamp with the Shape number 357CC. The crack was on the left side of the shank and there was some darkening on the inwardly beveled rim top and inner edge of the bowl. The stem was lightly oxidized and had some light tooth marks near the button edge. I took photos of the pipe before I started working on it. I took photos of the rim top and bowl as well as the stem showing the condition of both sides and the tooth marks against the button. The bowl was quite clean other than darkening on the inner edge and the top of the bowl. It also showed what looked like a line on the surface for a rubber bite guard.I took a photo of the underside of the shank. It shows the stamping on the shank and though it is faint in spots it is readable. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo the looks of this GBD Prince.I took a photo of the crack on the right side of the shank. You can see the glue residue in the sandblast finish.Now it was time to address the crack. I decided to clean up the repair with a brass bristle wire brush. I knocked off the glue and damaged areas on the shank side with the wire brush. The crack is clear and visible in the photo below.The first step in the repair is to clean out the shank and the airway in the stem with pipe cleaners – both bristle and smooth as well as qtips and alcohol. I always want to clean up the oils and tars in the shank before regluing and banding it.I used a tooth pick and all purpose white glue to fill in the crack on the shank side and to put a bead around the shank end. I pressed the brass band onto the shank end and wiped off the excess blue.I took photos of the newly banded shank and repair on the right side. It looked very good at this point. I stained the repaired shank end with a Mahogany stain pen to blend it into the rest of the bowl and shank. It looked very good to my eye and the match of the colour was perfect.I polished the brass band and the smooth inward bevelled rim top with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. The brass took on a rich shine and the rim top looked much better. I took a photo of the pipe at this point. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm and worked it into the sandblast briar and the repaired areas. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar and give it a rich lustre. The briar came alive and the blast really pops. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem surface with 320 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation on the stem and the tooth marks on the surface ahead of the button on both sides.I sanded the stem surface with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad to remove the debris. It really began to take on a shine.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 interestingly stamped GBD New Standard 357CC London England Prince with a vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been repaired with a thin brass band. The rich browns and blacks of the contrasting stains on the sandblast 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 using a light touch on the briar. 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 GBD New Standard 357 CC Prince 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: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 33 grams/1.16 ounces. I will be sending it back to Chris early this week. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Breathing New Life into a Stanwell Dorado 175 Stack

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by Steve Laug

It is a beautiful chilly day in Vancouver without rain so I decided to go to the basement and work on another pipe that was purchased on 02/16/2023 in a lot of pipes that came to us from a seller in Copenhagen, Denmark. It included a group of Danish Made Stanwell pipes that are quite beautiful. The grain around the bowl and shank of this Stack has a mix of birdseye, straight and flame grain. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads STANWELL [over] Made in Denmark [over] Dorado. On the right side of the shank it is stamped with the shape number 175. The pipe was dirty when Jeff received it. There was dust and grime ground into the finish. It is finished in the warm stain that highlights some nice grain around the bowl and shank. The bowl was heavily caked and there was some darkening and lava on the rim top. The inner edge shows some damage and darkening around the bowl. There was a ferrule on the end of the shank with two think black lines around the band. The stem is acrylic and is dirty with light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button and on the button itself. There is no logo on the sides or top of the taper stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show what they looked like before the clean up. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and the darkening and lava on the inner edge and top of the rim. The acrylic stem was in decent condition with tooth marks that are visible in the photos below. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the grain around the bowl and shank. The stain 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. It is clear and readable as noted above. I turned to Pipephil’s site to see if I could find any information on the Diplomat line of Stanwell pipes (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html). There was nothing specific on the line but the summary of Stanwell History is quite helpful. I quote it below.

Brand & factory were established in 1942 by Poul Nielsen. The company has been owned since 2000 by Nordisk Tobaks Kompagni A/S.

The factory in Borup crafted all Stanwell pipes from 1965 until 2009. From 2010 on the pipes are crafted by Barontini (Italy) exept for the limited editions.

Production (2007): 115 000 Pipes/year – Denmark

I turned to Pipedia to an article that originally was posted here on rebornpipes and written by my late friend Bas Stevens (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). The list did not clarify who designed the shape so that was still a bit of a mystery. Whoever did so, created a beauty. I now knew that the shape 175 was a Tall Billiard or Chimney with tapered stem. There was no other information. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. 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 soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. It came in Stanwell Box with Pipe Sock. I removed it from the sock and took photos of the pipe once I received it. I took close up photos of both the rim top and the stem. Jeff had been able to get the grime and lava off of the rim top and it looked pretty incredible. Even the darkening and marks on the rim top on the right side and the back of the bowl are very obvious now that it is clean. The stem looked very clean. The tooth marks and chatter were minimal and should be easy to remove.The stamping on the shank side was readable as noted above. I also took a photo with the stem removed to give an idea of the perspective and design of the pipe.I started my work on the pipe by addressing the damage on the inner edge of the bowl with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and a sphere to remove the damage. I then used a half sphere to further shape the rim top to bring the edge back into round and it looked much better. Over all the rim top and edges looked much better.I sanded the outside of the bowl and rim with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the scratching and marks on the briar. I wiped the bowl down between pads with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. I stained the sanded and polished rim top with a Maple stain pen and it matched the colour of the rest of the pipe. I polished the smooth bowl and rim top with micromesh sanding pads using 1500-12000 grit sanding pads and wiping it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust and debris. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the finish of the bowl and shank with my fingers. I want the product to go deep into the finish because it works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. Once I was confident that it was deeply worked into the finish I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth to polish it. The pipe really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. The grain really stands out on the pipe in the photos below. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the acrylic stem. I tried to raise the tooth marks on the acrylic stem. I “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a Bic lighter and was not able to lift any of the marks. I filled in the tooth marks with black CA glue (I forgot to take photos of the repairs once I glued them). Once the repairs cured, I used a small flat file to smooth out the repairs. I then sanded the areas with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth them out and blend them in. I wiped it down with an Obsidian cloth to remove the debris. I sanded the stem with 320-1500 grit sanding pads to further blend the sanding marks into the surface of the acrylic. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian cloth to remove the debris from the sanding.I polished the acrylic stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. This Stanwell Made in Denmark Dorado 175 Stack with an acrylic taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful finish really highlights the straight 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 Stanwell Dorado 175 Stack 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: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 38 grams /1.34 ounces. I will be adding the pipe to the Danish Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store. If you are interested in purchasing this pipe send me a message or an email.

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.

What an Elegant Charatan’s Make London England Authentic 373X Acorn

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is another one that came to us from the seller in Caldwell, Idaho, USA on 07/12/2025. It has an Acorn shaped smooth bowl. It is in dirty but in good condition other than that as can be seen in the photos below. The sides of the shank are clearly stamped, faint in spots but still readable. The left side is stamped Charatan’s Make [over] London.England [over] Authentic. To the left of the stamping it had a cursive L in a circle that tells me that the pipe is a Lane era pipe. On the right side it is stamped with the shape number 373X. That helps to date this to the time after the patent was filed in 1970. The shape works very well with the great grain around the bowl. The finish was dusty and dirty with grime deep in the finish but grain really stands out. The bowl had a thick cake and there was tobacco debris in the bowl. The rim top had a thick lava coat on the rim top and edges. The fish tail vulcanite stem is calcified, oxidized and has tooth marks and dents on the top and underside of the stem and button. There is no stamping on the stem. I took photos of the pipe to show what it looked like before I started working on it. I took a closer photo of the rim top and bowl to show the condition of the bowl and rim. You can see the cake in the bowl and the darkening and lava on the top and inner edge. The stamping on the sides of the shank is faint in spots but still readable as noted above. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. To try and figure out the era of the Charatan’s pipe I was working on I turned to the pipephil website on Logos and Stampings. There is some really helpful information on each of the lines of Charatan’s Make pipes that entered the market. Here is the link to the section of the site that I turned to, http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-charatan.html. The Authentic line is not shown on the site but it does 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.

I turned to Pipedia to see if I could find more information on the brand and possibly a link to the Executive line (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan) but once again in the general article it was not listed.  It did give a little more historical information and is worth reading. I am including a few sections from the site.

In 1863 Frederick Charatan, a Russian/Jewish immigrant, opened a shop in Mansell Street, located in the borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, where he began to carve Meerschaum pipes. These pipes got very popular soon, and thus Charatan moved to a bigger workshop in Prescot Street, just around the corner. Here he began to make briar pipes which should make the name famous the world over. Charatan was the first brand to make entirely hand-made briars from the rough block to the finished pipe including the stems. The nomenclature “Charatan’s Make” refers to this method of production and was meant to differ Charatan from other brands who “assembled” pipes from pre-drilled bowls and delivered mouthpieces.

Being the undisputed No. 1 in English pipemaking, Charatan was approached by Alfred Dunhill who was unsatisfied with the quality of the pipes he imported from France. During 1908 – 1910 Dunhill bought pipes from Charatan paying exorbitant prices to ensure he had some of the very best pipes for sale in England. In 1910 he lured away Joel Sasieni, one of Charatan’s best carvers, and opened his own small pipe workshop on 28 Duke Street. On the retirement of his father in 1910 Reuben Charatan took over the family business…

…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 60’s and early 70’s…

The section called Miscellaneous Notes had some interesting information.

Charatan records indicate the DC (Double Comfort) bit was introduced in the 50’s, but some report seeing them in earlier production. Still others indicate they were introduced by Lane in 1960. Regardless, the DC bit is not an accurate way to date a pipe because many Charatan’s were made with regular and saddle type bits throughout the “Lane Era”…

…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.

…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. The Charatan Logo (CP) on the pipe bit was changed over the years.

From all of the historical data I could work through this Charatan’s Make Authentic was a bit of a mystery pipe from the mid 1970’s Lane era. I continued digging further into the dating of the pipe, but what I had found 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 had enough for me to start working on the pipe itself and see what lay beneath the heavy tars and oils.

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer. I used the third and fourth cutting heads to clean out the cake. I cleaned up what remained in the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and scraped it back to bare briar. I finished by sanding the inside of the bowl with a dowel wrapped in sandpaper. The inside walls are free of burn damage or checking. I scraped the lava on the rim top with a Savinelli Pipe Knife. I worked over the inner edge and rim top with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper.I cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and both bristle and regular pipe cleaners.I scrubbed the bowl and shank with a tooth brush and some undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I rinsed it off with warm water to remove the dust and soap from the finish. I dried it off with a soft cloth and it looked much better. I sanded the bowl with 320 – 3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads and wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. I polished the bowl with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the dust and debris. The pipe began to look very good. The gouge in the bowl was repaired and looked better. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips to work it into the 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 turned my attention to the stem. I scrubbed the vulcanite stem with some Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove as much of the oxidation as I could, especially around the tooth marks. I wiped the tooth marks down with isopropyl alcohol and a cotton swab and then filled in the tooth marks with black CA glue. Once the repairs cured I used a small flat needle to smooth out the repaired areas on both sides of the stem. I sanded them with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the vulcanite. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch pads to further adjust the fit of the stem to the shank. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad.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. With the stem polished I put it back on the Charatan’s Make London England Authentic 373X Acorn and lightly buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond. I buffed the stem with a more aggressive buff of Blue Diamond. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax 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 pretty nicely. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This Charatan’s Make Authentic Acorn 373X will soon be on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Makers Section if you want to add it to your rack. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.52 ounces/44 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this Charatan’s Make.

Restoring a Charatan’s Make Freehand Relief Extra Large Sandblast Dublin

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is another one that came to us from the seller in Caldwell, Idaho, USA on 07/12/2025. It is a large, tall Dublin bowl with a sandblast finish. It is in dirty but in good condition other than that as can be seen in the photos below. The underside of the shank is stamped and readable. It reads Charatan’s Make [over] London.England [over] Freehand Relief [over] Extra Large in script. There is also a cursive L in a circle that connects it to the Lane Era. It has rugged sandblast finish that is very tactile on both the shank and the bowl. The shape works very well with the sandblast grain. The finish was dusty and dirty with grime deep in the finish that is darkened heavily mid bowl from hand oils. However, the grain really stands out. The bowl had a moderate cake and there was tobacco debris in the bowl. The rim top had a lava coat on the top and edges. The Double Comfort vulcanite stem is oxidized and has tooth marks and dents on the top and underside of the stem. There is a faint and damaged CP stamping on the left side of the stem. I took photos of the pipe to show what it looked like before I started working on it. I took a closer photo of the rim top and bowl to show the condition of the bowl and rim. You can see the light cake in the bowl and the darkening and lava on the top and the inner edge.The stamping on the smooth panel of the underside of the shank is clear and readable as noted above. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. To try and figure out the era of the Charatan’s pipe I was working on I turned to the pipephil website on Logos and Stampings. There is some really helpful information on each of the lines of Charatan’s Make pipes that entered the market. Here is the link to the section of the site that I turned to, http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-charatan.html. There is an alphabetical listing of the lines but nothing on the Freehand Relief Line. 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.

I turned to Pipedia to see if I could find more information on the brand and possibly a link to the Freehand Relief line (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan) but once again in the general article it was not listed.  It did give a little more historical information and is worth reading. I am including a few sections from the site.

In 1863 Frederick Charatan, a Russian/Jewish immigrant, opened a shop in Mansell Street, located in the borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, where he began to carve Meerschaum pipes. These pipes got very popular soon, and thus Charatan moved to a bigger workshop in Prescot Street, just around the corner. Here he began to make briar pipes which should make the name famous the world over. Charatan was the first brand to make entirely hand-made briars from the rough block to the finished pipe including the stems. The nomenclature “Charatan’s Make” refers to this method of production and was meant to differ Charatan from other brands who “assembled” pipes from pre-drilled bowls and delivered mouthpieces.

Being the undisputed No. 1 in English pipemaking, Charatan was approached by Alfred Dunhill who was unsatisfied with the quality of the pipes he imported from France. During 1908 – 1910 Dunhill bought pipes from Charatan paying exorbitant prices to ensure he had some of the very best pipes for sale in England. In 1910 he lured away Joel Sasieni, one of Charatan’s best carvers, and opened his own small pipe workshop on 28 Duke Street. On the retirement of his father in 1910 Reuben Charatan took over the family business…

…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 60’s and early 70’s…

The section called Miscellaneous Notes had some interesting information.

Charatan records indicate the DC (Double Comfort) bit was introduced in the 50’s, but some report seeing them in earlier production. Still others indicate they were introduced by Lane in 1960. Regardless, the DC bit is not an accurate way to date a pipe because many Charatan’s were made with regular and saddle type bits throughout the “Lane Era”…

…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.

…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 1970’s. 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. The Charatan Logo (CP) on the pipe bit was changed over the years.

From all of the historical data I could work through this Charatan’s Make Relief Grain was a sand blast finished pipe from the mid 1970’s Lane era. I continued digging further into the dating of the pipe, but what I had found 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 had enough for me to start working on the pipe itself and see what lay beneath the heavy tars and oils.

I began working on the pipe by reaming the bowl with a PipNet reamer. I used the third and fourth cutting heads to clean out the cake. I cleaned up what remained in the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and scraped it back to bare briar. I finished by sanding the inside of the bowl with a dowel wrapped in sandpaper. The inside walls are free of burn damage or checking so the gouge does not go all the way through. I cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and both bristle and regular pipe cleaners.I worked the sandblast rim top with a brass bristle wire brush to remove the debris in the finish. While there was some darkening it looked much better,I scrubbed the bowl and shank with a tooth brush and some undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I rinsed it off with warm water to remove the dust and soap from the finish. I dried it off with a soft cloth and it looked much better. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips to work it into the 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 turned my attention to the stem. I ‘painted’ the surface of the stem with the flame of a lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift almost all of them. What was left I sanded the surface of the stem with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the oxidation and tooth chatter on both sides. I scrubbed the stem surface with some Soft Scrub cleanser on cotton pads to remove more of the oxidation. It worked quite well.I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch pads to further adjust the fit of the stem to the shank. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad.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. With the stem polished I put it back on the Charatan’s Make Freehand Relief Extra Large Lane Era Dublin and lightly buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond. I buffed the stem with a more aggressive buff of Blue Diamond. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax 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 pretty nicely. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This Charatan’s Make Relief Freehand Extra Large Dublin will soon be on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Makers Section if you want to add it to your rack. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.16 ounces/34 grams. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this Charatan’s Make.

Breathing Life into a GDB International London Made 357 Prince

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is another one that came to us from the seller in Caldwell, Idaho, USA on 07/12/2025. It is a beautiful GBD Prince with a slight bend to the vulcanite taper stem. It is in dirty but in good condition as can be seen in the photos below. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads GBD in an oval [over] International [over] London Made. On the right side it is stamped London. England [over] the shape number 357. The stamping is clear and readable. It has rich finish with a blend of black and brown stains that highlight the grain around the bowl and shank that the shape follows well. The finish was dusty and dirty with grime ground into the finish. The bowl had a moderate cake and there was tobacco debris in the bowl. The International rusticated rim top had a thick lava coat on the top and edges. The stem was quite dirty and oxidized. It has a GBD brass logo on the left side and light tooth marks and chatter on both sides. I took photos of the pipe to show what it looked like before I started working on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the thickness of the cake and the lava coat on the rim top. There was some tobacco debris in the bottom of the bowl. The stem photos show the condition of the taper stem ahead of the button.The stamping on the sides of the shank is clear and readable as noted above. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. It is a real beauty. I looked on Pipephil’s site for information on the particular International Line and found the following screen capture listed (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-gbd.html). It is interesting in that the second pipe pictured below is the same as the one I am working on. I also went to the GBD article on Pipedia and found nothing in the great historical article that was pertinent. I did follow a link to the GBD Model Information article to see if there was some help there (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD_Model_Information). The article listed the following information on the line.

International — France, unknown if also made in England: medium brown smooth, carved top rim, rim stained black. -TH: Matte take off finish “with just a hint of surface waxing” – catalog (1976)

That article gave me some helpful information. I knew that the pipe line often had a carved rim top stained black. The one I was working on was smooth and stained the same at the rest of the pipe. I also knew that the 357 shape number tied back to a classic GBD Prince. Now to work on the pipe.

I turned to work on the pipe itself. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer using the cutting heads 2 and 3. I finished the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the walls of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I worked over the sandblast rim top with a brass bristle wire brush to clean up the debris in the valleys of the blast. It looked better.I cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and both bristle and regular pipe cleaners. I scrubbed the bowl and shank with a tooth brush and some undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I rinsed it off with warm water to remove the dust and soap from the finish. I dried it off with a soft cloth and it looked much better. I restained the black rusticated/carved rim top with a black stain pen. I wanted it to match the original International Line stain. The rim top was originally black. Once stained it looked very good once the stain was complete.I sanded the bowl and shank with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. It was beginning to look very good. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. The pipe began to take on a rich finish. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the rusticated rim top and the smooth briar with my fingertips to work it into the 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 worked on the stem. I sanded the surface of the stem with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidation and clean up the tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button.I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch pads. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad.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 interestingly stamped GBD International London Made 357 Prince with a carved, rustic rim top and a vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The rich browns and blacks of the contrasting stains 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 using a light touch on the briar. 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 GBD International 357 Prince 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: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 33 grams/1.16 ounces. If you are interested in adding this pipe to your collection send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Repairing and Restoring a Charatan’s Make Executive Extra Large Dublin

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is another one that came to us from the seller in Caldwell, Idaho, USA on 07/12/2025. It is a large Dublin bowl with a lip on the front. There is a large scar on the left side of the bowl. I would need to examine it and see the details of the problem. It is in dirty but in good condition other than that as can be seen in the photos below. The sides of the shank are clearly stamped and readable. The left side is stamped Charatan’s Make [over] London.England [over] Executive. To the left of the stamping it had a cursive L in a circle that tells me that the pipe is a Lane era pipe. On the right side it is stamped Extra Large in script [over] Made by Hand. That helps to date this to the time after the patent was filed in 1970.The stamping is clear and readable. It has rugged rusticated finish that is very tactile on both the shank and the bowl. The shape works very well with the grain. The finish was dusty and dirty with grime deep in the finish but grain really stands out. The bowl had a moderate cake and there was tobacco debris in the bowl. The rim top had a lava coat on the rim top and edges. The Double Comfort vulcanite stem is lightly oxidized and has tooth marks and dents on the top and underside of the stem. There is a faint CP stamping on the left side of the stem and on the right is stamped REG.NO. 203573. I took photos of the pipe to show what it looked like before I started working on it. I took a closer photo of the rim top and bowl to show the condition of the bowl and rim. You can see the light cake in the bowl and the darkening and lava on the top and damage to the inner edge.The stamping on the sides of the shank is clear and readable as noted above. I took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe. Even with the deep gouge in the left side of the bowl it is a real beauty. To try and figure out the era of the Charatan’s pipe I was working on I turned to the pipephil website on Logos and Stampings. There is some really helpful information on each of the lines of Charatan’s Make pipes that entered the market. Here is the link to the section of the site that I turned to, http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-charatan.html. There is an alphabetical listing of the lines including the Executive. 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.

I turned to Pipedia to see if I could find more information on the brand and possibly a link to the Executive line (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan) but once again in the general article it was not listed.  It did give a little more historical information and is worth reading. I am including a few sections from the site.

In 1863 Frederick Charatan, a Russian/Jewish immigrant, opened a shop in Mansell Street, located in the borough of Tower Hamlets, London E1, where he began to carve Meerschaum pipes. These pipes got very popular soon, and thus Charatan moved to a bigger workshop in Prescot Street, just around the corner. Here he began to make briar pipes which should make the name famous the world over. Charatan was the first brand to make entirely hand-made briars from the rough block to the finished pipe including the stems. The nomenclature “Charatan’s Make” refers to this method of production and was meant to differ Charatan from other brands who “assembled” pipes from pre-drilled bowls and delivered mouthpieces.

Being the undisputed No. 1 in English pipemaking, Charatan was approached by Alfred Dunhill who was unsatisfied with the quality of the pipes he imported from France. During 1908 – 1910 Dunhill bought pipes from Charatan paying exorbitant prices to ensure he had some of the very best pipes for sale in England. In 1910 he lured away Joel Sasieni, one of Charatan’s best carvers, and opened his own small pipe workshop on 28 Duke Street. On the retirement of his father in 1910 Reuben Charatan took over the family business…

…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 60’s and early 70’s…

The section called Miscellaneous Notes had some interesting information.

Charatan records indicate the DC (Double Comfort) bit was introduced in the 50’s, but some report seeing them in earlier production. Still others indicate they were introduced by Lane in 1960. Regardless, the DC bit is not an accurate way to date a pipe because many Charatan’s were made with regular and saddle type bits throughout the “Lane Era”…

…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.

…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 1970’s. 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. The Charatan Logo (CP) on the pipe bit was changed over the years.

From all of the historical data I could work through this Charatan’s Make Executive was one of the higher grade pipe from the mid 1970’s Lane era. I continued digging further into the dating of the pipe, but what I had found 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 had enough for me to start working on the pipe itself and see what lay beneath the heavy tars and oils.

I began working on the pipe by addressing the deep gouge in the left side of the bowl. The first picture shows the gouge in the bowl side. It is quite deep and could easily be hiding a crack in the bowl side. I wiped the damaged area down with alcohol on a cotton pad. I filled in the gouge with clear CA glue. I pressed briar dust into the super glue and let it dry. I used a wooden sphere and 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the inner edge of the bowl and the rim top. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the darkening on the inner edge of the bowl. I sanded the repaired side of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the repair. I used a Cherry Stain Pen to restain the sanded area of the bowl side. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer. I used the third and fourth cutting heads to clean out the cake. I cleaned up what remained in the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and scraped it back to bare briar. I finished by sanding the inside of the bowl with a dowel wrapped in sandpaper. The inside walls are free of burn damage or checking so the gouge does not go all the way through. I cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and both bristle and regular pipe cleaners.I scrubbed the bowl and shank with a tooth brush and some undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I rinsed it off with warm water to remove the dust and soap from the finish. I dried it off with a soft cloth and it looked much better. I sanded the bowl with 320 – 3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads and wiped it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. I polished the bowl with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the dust and debris. The pipe began to look very good. The gouge in the bowl was repaired and looked better. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips to work it into the 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 turned my attention to the stem. I ‘painted’ the surface of the stem with the flame of a lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift almost all of them. I sanded the surface of the stem with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the oxidation and tooth chatter on both sides. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch pads to further adjust the fit of the stem to the shank. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad.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. With the stem polished I put it back on the Charatan’s Make Executive Extra Large Made by Hand Lane Era Dublin and lightly buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond. I buffed the stem with a more aggressive buff of Blue Diamond. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax 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 repaired gouge looked better but now looks like a fine line across the bowl side. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This Charatan’s Make Executive Extra Large Dublin will soon be on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Makers Section if you want to add it to your rack. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this Charatan’s Make.

A Restored Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 309 Bent Billiard

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is Peterson’s System pipe that we purchased from our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark on 01/29/2024. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [arched over] System [arched over] Standard. On the right side of the shank it was stamped 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 [over] the three common hallmarks on System pipes with Nickel ferrules – a shamrock, a wolf hound, and a tower. That is followed by Peterson’s. It has a rich smooth finish with pretty 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 appeared to be in good condition. 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. 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 cake in the bowl and the lava build up on the top of the rim and the edges of the bowl. The rim top looked pretty good. 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 nickel 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 Sandblasted Peterson’s System Standard 308 Bent Billiard with a great sandblast. The bowl was stained with a combination of black and 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 and inner edge of the bowl looked good. There was some wear on the top and outer edges that needed to be cleaned up. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the vulcanite. It was quite clean and there were tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff 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 sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to remove the remainder of the varnish coat that the acetone did not remove. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. It really looks much better. I polished the bowl 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 jeweller’s cloth to remove the oxidation and to further protect it from further oxidation. The shine is quite nice. I set the bowl aside and moved on to sand the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped it down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. The stem began to look 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 Sandblasted 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 dark browns of the bowl and thick shank and nickel ferrule. This Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 309 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 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.

It is alive – a Sandblast Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 308 Bent Billiard

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is Peterson’s System pipe that we purchased from an antique store in Wheeler, Oregon, USA on 08/24/2024. It was stamped on the underside of the shank and read Peterson’s [arched over] System followed by Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines) [over] the shape number 308. The nickel ferrule on the shank end was oxidized and is stamped on the top and left side K&P [over] the three common hallmarks on System pipes with Nickel ferrules – a shamrock, a wolf hound, and a tower. That is followed by Peterson’s. It has a rich sandblast 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 sandblast 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. 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 nickel 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 Sandblasted Peterson’s System Standard 308 Bent Billiard with a great sandblast. The bowl was stained with a combination of black and 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 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. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the vulcanite. It was quite clean and the light tooth marks and chatter on the stem ahead of the button are clear.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 jeweller’s cloth to remove the oxidation and to further protect it from further oxidation. The shine is quite nice. I set the bowl aside and moved on to sand the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped it down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. The stem began to look 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 Sandblasted Peterson System Standard 308 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 dark browns of the bowl and thick shank and nickel ferrule. This Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 308 Sandblasted 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: 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/56 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.

Rebirthing a French made DM over UNIC Algerian Briar Panel Sitter

2 Replies

by Steve Laug

The next pipe I chose to work on was an interesting octagonal Panel. We picked the pipe up from a seller in Saint Cloud, Florida, USA on o4/12/2024. The finish was very dirty but some great mixed grain stood out around the bowl and the shank. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads either DN or PM horizontally and vertically it is stamped UNIC. I have never heard of the brand at this point. Below these stamps it is stamped Algerian Briar [over] France. There was also a faint DN or PM in an oval stamped on the side of the saddle stem. The bowl had a moderate cake with some light lava overflow and scratching on the rim top.  The shape is almost a Skater but the Octagonal panels take away the shape point of the nose on the heel of the bowl. It had a vulcanite push saddle stem. The stem was oxidized and it was rough to touch. There were also some gouges in the top near the saddle that looked like marks from pliers and tooth marks and chatter. The worst part was that there was large chip from the button forward on the underside of the stem that gave me pause and made me think it would need to be restemmed. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work. He took some photos of the rim top and bowl from various angles to give me a clear picture of the condition of the rim top and bowl. You can see the cake in the bowl and the darkening, scratches and light lava coat on the inner edge and rim top. He also took photos of the stem. It is dirty and has a large chunk out of the underside of the stem from the button forward. Jeff took some photos of the sides of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos show the smooth finish on sides and heel of the bowl and shank, highlighting grain. Under the dust it was some great looking briar on the panel sides of the octagonal bowl. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. The DM or PM stamp over UNIC does not ring any bells with me in terms of the maker. Any help would be greatly appreciated…Jeff did a thorough clean up on the pipe before he sent the box to me. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and got rid of the cake. He cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife so that we could see the walls of the bowl and assess for damage. It was smooth and in great condition. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners, shank brushes and alcohol. He scrubbed the exterior with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. He rinsed the pipe under warm water. He dried it off with a cloth and then let it air dry. The stem was scrubbed with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush at the same time as the bowl. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. Once it was rinsed off, it came out looking very good. The finish on the bowl and the rim top cleaned up nicely. The damage on the stem underside was clearly visible. I took pictures of the pipe to show how it looked when I unpacked it. I took close-up photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition after cleaning. It looked great. I also took photos of the stem surface to show the condition of the stem and the large chip on the underside. I took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It was clear and readable as noted above. I also took a photo of the pipe with the stem removed to give a sense of size and perspective.I sanded the rim top and sides of the bowl and shank with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the debris. I polished the smooth side of the bowl and shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth. It really began to take on a real shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the smooth briar with my finger. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the wood while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. Now I had a decision to make regarding the stem. I could try a repair on the huge chip but I was uncertain how well it would hold up. I could try though. I could also fit a new stem on the pipe. I could not find any stem that was similar but I found one that would give the pipe a jaunty look. Here is a photo of the two stems. I decided to fit the new stem to the shank just to have a look at its appearance. I really wanted to know if the stem would work and what the pipe would look like with the stem. The pipe almost has the appearance of an interesting cross between a French and a Danish pipe.I sanded the casting marks and marks on the new stem with 220 grit sandpaper and files to clean it up and make it look fitting. The change of appearance was quite different. I am excited to see how the finished stem looks on the bowl.I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the briar down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust and debris. I wiped it down with an Obsidian Oil cloth. It began to look very good.I heated the stem with the flame of a lighter and then bent it over the curve of the lighter. The bend was perfect and once polished I looked forward to see what it would look like on the finished pipe.I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry 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 buffed the stem with a soft cloth to raise the shine. I gave it a final wipe down with Obsidian Oil to protect it. I don’t know what it is about finishing a restoration but I have to tell you that it is my favourite part of the process. It is the moment when everything that I have worked on comes together. I can compare it to where I started and there is always satisfaction that it looks better than when we picked it up. As always, I put the new stem on the DM UNIC Algerian Briar France 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 and hand buffed it to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like along with the polished All Briar stem. This DM Algerian Briar French Octagonal Panel is a great looking pipe and I am sure that it will be comfortable in hand when smoking as it is light and well balanced for a pipe of this size. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.29 ounces/65 grams. It is another beautiful pipe and one that will be on the rebornpipes store soon. You can find it in the section of Pipes by French Pipe Makers. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. 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 and Restemming a Clogged and Filthy Italian Lorenzetti Billiard

2 Replies

by Steve Laug

A fellow in Victoria, Brian has had me work on a few of his pipes this past few months. The pipes are generally very dirty with plugged airways and a thick damp, tarry mess in the heel of each bowl. The airway in the shank was also clogged so there was no exchange of air going through the pipe. The pipe was stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Lorenzetti in script [over] Italy and on the right side it is stamped Augustus [over] Caesar. On the underside it is stamped 03. There is a thick cake in the bowl that is wet in the bottom 1/3 of the bowl. The rim top was quite clear of heavy lava. The finish on the bowl and shank has a thick peeling coat of varnish on the bowl that looks terrible. There is an acrylic shank end with an insert of briar between the acrylic pieces. The stem acrylic stem is a filter stem and the button end has a large chunk missing that is severely damaged. I will need to restem the pipe. But I have included photos of the pipe before I started working on it. I took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is heavily caked and the rim top and edges have a thick lava overflow. The photos of the stem show the damage and broken part of the stem. It really is a mess and the acrylic is not repairable.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable and reads as noted above. I took a photo of the pipe without the stem to show the proportions of the bowl and stem. I also went through my stems and had a saddle stem that was made for a filter. I called Brian and asked if this would work for him and he was happy with the options. I wanted to gather some background information on the brand. I turned first to Pipephil’s site to see what I could learn (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-l6.html). I was able to get a screen capture of information on the brand. I have included that below along with the sidebar info.Brand created 1934 by Otello Lorenzetti.Currently (2009) the company is managed by Alessandro Lorenzetti. Address: via A.Giunta, 51, 62019 Recanati (MC) – Italy.

I turned to Pipedia to gather more information on the brand. It gives some great history of how the brand developed (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzetti). I quote some portions of the article below. There was also a photo of the same pipe that I am working on the site. I have included that below.

Smooth Pot, courtesy SmokersHaven.com

Otello Lorenzetti, the founder of our manufacture, was born in Castelnuovo, Recanati in 1911. He is the fifth of five children from a modest, but enterprising family, in fact they own a tavern where the young Otello, already at the age of seven, actively collaborates. He goes on his own, with a small handcart, to S. Agostino di Recanati where he purchases fizzy drinks and other soft drinks and then resells them with his mother in their small family run tavern….

After the precocious interruption of his studies he begins to work as an employee at “Catena Remigio” an old pipe manufacture in Recanati. The grand personality of Otello, who is inclined to make any art a passion, does not delay in emerging. In 1934, after having concluded 18 months of military service in Cividale, in Friuli Venezia Giulia, he decides to work on his own pondering the first bases of the actual pipe manufacture, that, in this period, operates under the company name “Otello Lorenzetti.” At that time the capital of our actual company, that was and still is his house, was constituted by: “A few rented tools and my own hands” – as Otello himself tells us. The production consists of 20-30 pipes per day. Every morning, in company of his bicycle, he tries to sell them to the tobacco shops in the area or as he says the “neighbouring shops”. With only the strength of his legs he goes to Macerata, San Severino and Civitanova Marche. His pipes are appreciated, so much so that he decides to work more than 12 hours a day to be able to increase the production. This does not constitute a sacrifice for him as his neighbours remember hearing him tirelessly working and singing everyday.

Two brisk interruptions mark the history of our pipe manufacture: the first was in 1935 -in the summer of this year Otello was enrolled in the army and then left for “the African Campaign” from which he returned in January of 1937; the second was in October of 1940, other long months spent in the service of the Italian Army after which he returned home in 1943 the year of Armistice. In 1940 Otello got married to Marinella who became, other than his wife, a great and indispensable business collaborator.

In 1947 Otello succeeded in building, alone, machines the same as the ones he used to rent up until that moment. Many of the pieces most difficult to mould by hand were designed by him and were made in a craftsman workshop in Civitanova Marche. Production increased and permitted Otello and Marinella to buy a “Vespa” helping them to, a part from the province of Macerata, also reach Abruzzo in order to successfully sell their pipes.

The Sixties-Seventies bring on the beginning of exportation abroad (Europe, Africa, America). The company begins to expand, now a part from Marinella, with the help of their children Luciano, Gabriella, Alessandro and some employees. The production begins to perfect itself to the point of being appreciated in almost all the world and by one of the biggest and most famous pipe collectors of all times: our ex-president of the Republic Sandro Pertini.

I knew that I was dealing with a Lorezetti that was probably a recent manufacture. It had some great shape and form and should clean up well once I have the varnish coat removed. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and the 2nd and 3rd cutting heads to remove the heavy cake. I took it back to bare briar and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl with a piece of dowel wrapped in 220 grit sandpaper. I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. It took some scrubbing to clear off the debris on the rim top and the surface of the bowl and shank. I rinsed the bowl off with warm water to remove the grime and debris along with the soap on the pipe. It looked much better. To begin the process of breaking through the peeling varnish coat I wiped the bowl and shank down with acetone on cotton pads. It broke through a lot of the varnish and I began to see what was underneath the varnish. I sanded the bowl with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. By the final pad it was looking much better. I cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank as well as the airway in the newly chosen stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was a dirty bowl and shank.I polished the bowl and the shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 git sanding pads. I wanted to make the new stain coat a bit more transparent. I wiped it down with a cloth and some Obsidian Oil. 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 set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem to reduce the diameter of the saddle portion and give it a slight slope or taper. I used my Dremel and sanding drum to start the process. I cleaned up the sanding marks from the Dremel with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I smoothed out the marks and the stem started to look better.I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch pads to further smooth out the surface and remove the light residual oxidation. I wiped the stem down after each pad with an Obsidian Oil cloth to remove the debris and further protect the stem.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil.I polished the finished Lorenzetti Italy Augustus Caesar Billiard with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. I gave the bowl and the newly fit saddle stem multiple 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 pretty nicely. The smooth briar with the medium the brown stain wash works very well with the black stem. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I have worked on several Lorenzetti’s over the years and I have always been impressed by his ability to a craft a comfortable and functional smoking pipe. It looks far better with the varnish coat removed. The beautiful Lorenzetti Augustus Caesar had the following dimensions. The Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 inches. The weight of the pipe is 51 grams/ 1.69 ounces. I have two more of Brian’s pipes to work on and then they will go back to him. This is an interesting group of three pipes 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.