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Refurbishing A C1977 Barling # 5264, T.V.F Square Shanked Pot

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Blog by Paresh

The next pipe that I decided to work on is a classic Pot shaped pipe with a square shank that boasts of beautiful mix of straight and smattering of Bird’s eye grain all around the stummel surface. The flat bottom of the stummel, which also bears the stampings, makes it a perfect sitter. This pipe is stamped on the flat bottomed shank surface as “Barling” in script over “5264” over “LONDON ENGLAND” in block capital letters. The flat right side of the square shank is stamped “T.V.F”. The stampings are all crisp and deep. A sterling silver ferrule at the shank end breaks the monotony of the darkened stummel and the black of the vulcanite stem. The ferrule is stamped as “STERLING” over “SILVER” over “E.B” over “W.B” over the three hallmarks in a cartouche. There is a lion, a leopard head, and the lower case letter “c”. The leopard head identifies the city of the Assaying to be London, England. The lion is the mark for 0.925 Sterling Silver and the letter “c” is the date stamp. The trademark Barling cross adorns the top surface of the saddle of the vulcanite stem. The size, shape and feel of the pipe are solid to the touch. Barling’s pipe brand has been well researched and chronicled on pipedia.org and by Steve when he worked on many of Barling’s pipes over decades and thus, shall not waste time in repeating the information that is available. I too have carefully read and researched this brand as I do have many pipes that I have inherited and date this pipe as being a Corporate Era pipe. I have based my conclusions based on the following facts that I have read on pipedia.org (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Barling)

Early Corporate Era Nomenclature

A script Barling logo replaces the block “Barling’s Make” logo. Makes sense, no Barlings are making pipes.

The pipes retain the 4 digit model number introduced in mid 1962, but they also introduce a size 1, which means that there are 4 digit numbers beginning with a 1. The model number is placed right below the Barling logo.

The words LONDON ENGLAND are stamped below the model number. The “MADE IN ENGLAND.” Stamp is discontinued.
Ye Olde Wood and TVF have both been discontinued. They will return in the mid 1960’s.

The Corporate Era pipes all bear a script “Barling” logo with no apostrophe and no “s”. Since these pipes share the same markings as others manufactured as late as 1970 and beyond, it is difficult to distinguish which are made from Family Era materials and which are not. One clue is the absence of a TVF stamp. Initially, the TVF stamp was dropped, but it was back in use as early as 1965, if not earlier.

The hallmarked sterling silver band and cap helps in the dating with great accuracy and the first site that I visit is www.silvercollection.it

I browsed through the alphabetical listing of maker’s mark for E.B over W.B without frame and narrowed it down to as being Edwin Barling and William Barling. Here is the link to the information http://www.silvercollection.it/englishsilvermarksXE2.html

I captured a screen shot of the information that was available and have reproduced it below. Next I followed the link to the dating guide of the London Assay Office to date this pipe. I have included a hallmark chart for dating the pipe. I put a red rectangle around the letter for 1977. It is the same style of “c” and the cartouche that holds the letter stamp, matches the photo as well.http://www.silvercollection.it/englishsilverhallmarks.html

Thus, it is with certainty that I can now say that this pipe is from the Corporate Era with 1977 hallmarked year. Though not from the family era, the pipe still has the classic shape, draw and feels nice in the hand that Barling’s pipes are so famous for.

Initial Visual Inspection
This pipe has a decent medium bowl size with chamber depth of about 1 7/8 inches and thick walls. The stummel boasts of some beautiful straight and mixed grains all around. The stummel is covered in dirt and grime of the overflowed lava and dirt accumulated over the years of heavy smoking and uncared for attention to cleaning and maintenance. There is a decent layer of cake in the chamber with lava overflow over rim top and a chip and charring to the inner rim edges. The stem is heavily oxidized with very minor tooth chatter in the bite zone on either surface. The pipe’s appearance, as it sits on my work table, does present an encouraging picture. Detailed Inspection Of The Pipe And Observations
The bowl has a wide rim with thick chamber walls and has a chamber depth of about 1 7/8 inches. The draught hole is at the bottom and center of the chamber and this construction should make this pipe a great smoke. The chamber has an even layer of hard cake. The rim top surface is covered with thick lava overflow and through this layer of lava a few dings can be seen over the rim top surface. The inner rim edge appears dark and I suspect charred inner rim edge in 12 o’clock, 10 o’clock and 6 o’clock directions (encircled in yellow). The outer edge too has a few minor dings, but is otherwise in pristine condition. The condition of the inner walls of the chamber can be commented upon after the cake has been taken down to the bare briar. The stummel appears solid to the touch all around and hence I do not foresee any serious damage to the walls in the form of burnout/ deep heat fissures/ lines or pits. The dark inner rim edges, in 12, 10 and 3 o’ clock directions, may be charred further than anticipated and the same will be confirmed after the surface has been thoroughly cleaned. I need to resort to topping the rim top in order to address the damage to the rim top surface. The faint ghost smells should reduce once the cake from the chamber is removed and the shank has been cleaned.The smooth stummel has a classic Pot shape with a chamber that is evenly broad right down to the bottom/ foot of the stummel. The square shank has a sterling silver ferrule at the end. The surface is covered in dust, lava overflow and grime through which one can make out the beautiful (predominantly) thin straight grains. There are a few minor fills in the briar surface; one at the heel and couple others in the left panel of the square shank (all encircled in yellow). The briar is looking lifeless and bone dry. For a pipe that has been so heavily smoked, there are surprisingly no dents and ding over the stummel surface. The mortise shows accumulation of dried oils, tars and gunk. Once the stummel has been thoroughly cleaned, any other damage or flaws (which I think there will be none) will come to the fore. I shall check the fills for softness once the stummel surface has been cleaned and refresh these fills if required. Thorough cleaning and rising of the stummel under warm water will highlight the grain patterns. Micromesh polishing will help in imparting a nice shine to the briar. The high quality vulcanite square saddle stem is so heavily oxidized that it appears brownish green in color! Minor tooth chatter can be seen in the bite zone with calcification at base of the buttons. The horizontal slot end is clogged with dried gunk. The trademark crossed Barling stem logo is sufficiently deep and needs to be highlighted. Overall, given the vintage of the pipe and the fact that it has been well smoked, the stem is in a pretty decent shape and with a little elbow grease, it should polish up pretty well. The Process
I started the restoration of this pipe by first addressing the stem issues. It has been my experiences that stem repairs and polishing almost always takes the maximum time in the complete restoration. I first clean out the stem internals using hard bristled and regular pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl alcohol. With a sharp dental tool, I pry out the entire gunk from the horizontal slot. To save on the pipe cleaners, I clean the stem internals with a thin shank brush and dish washing soap and finally rinsing it with warm water. Next, I addressed the deeper oxidation by sanding the entire stem with a folded piece of 180 followed by 220 grit sand papers. Once the oxidation was completely removed, I wiped the surface clean with Murphy’s oil soap on a cotton swab. I rubbed a little Extra Virgin Olive oil to hydrate the stem and kept it aside. I used a tightly folded piece of 180 grit sand paper to shape and re-define the button edge on either surface. The stem at this point in restoration is shown below. Thereafter began the arduous and time consuming process of sanding the stem with 320, 400, 600 and finally 800 grit sandpapers. I wet sand the entire stem with a piece of 1000 grit sand paper. I rubbed a generous quantity of EVO deep in to the vulcanite and set the stem aside for the oil to be absorbed in to the surface. All through the stem refurbishing process, I was particularly careful about preserving the stem logo of crossed Barling. This made the entire process a bit too tedious but it is always worth the effort as the vintage value and originality of the pipe is preserved. To bring a deep shine to the vulcanite stem, I polished the stem by wet sanding with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. I wiped the stem with moist cloth after each pad. I rubbed a little quantity of “Before and After Fine/ Extra Fine” stem polish. This product developed by Mark Hoover helps to remove minor scratches from the stem surface while further eliminating what little oxidation that remained on the stem surface. I rubbed it down with Extra Virgin Olive oil to rejuvenate the vulcanite. The finished stem is shown below. I am pretty pleased with this appearance of the stem.With the stem refurbishing completed, I worked on the stummel by scraping the chamber with my fabricated knife to remove the carbon deposits from the walls. I also scraped out the lava overflow from the rim top surface. Once the cake was reamed back to the bare briar, I used a 150 grit sand paper followed by 220 grit sand paper to remove all the traces of remaining cake and also to smooth out the inner walls of the chamber surface. Finally, to remove the residual carbon dust, I wiped the chamber with a cotton pad wetted with 99.9% pure isopropyl alcohol. The inner rim edge was charred in 6 o’clock, 10 o’clock and 12 o’clock direction which have been encircled in yellow. I scrapped off the charred briar from these areas and now the chamber is out of round. The chamber walls are solid and in pristine condition with no heat lines/ fissures. I shall give the inner rim edge a slight bevel to get the bowl back to a perfect round and mask the damage. The ghost smells are considerably reduced and should be eliminated once the shank and mortise internals are cleaned. The rim top surface is still considerably darkened and would need to be thoroughly cleaned to know the exact damage to the surface. I followed up the reaming of the chamber with cleaning the mortise using cue tips, pipe cleaners and shank brush dipped in isopropyl alcohol. I scraped the walls of the mortise with dental tool to remove the dried oils and tars. The ghost smells are now greatly reduced and should be eliminated completely when the shank internals are cleaned with shank brush and dish washing soap. With the bowl internals clean, I move to clean the exterior of the stummel. I used a hard bristled tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil soap to scrub the stummel and rim top. I washed the stummel under running warm water with anti oil dish washing detergent till the stummel surface was clean. I simultaneously cleaned the shank internals with the detergent and hard bristled shank brush and dried it using paper towels and soft cotton cloth. I set the stummel aside to dry out naturally. As anticipated, this thorough cleaning of the shank eliminated the strong ghost smells from the chamber and now the pipe smells clean and fresh. The stummel surface has cleaned up nicely and the beautiful grain patterns are now on full display. The rim top surface has darkened and is uneven. I shall have to resort to topping to address these damages. There are two fills which appear to have softened and would need to be refreshed. I continued with the stummel repairs and addressed the issue of refreshing the two fills; one at the heel another on the left side panel of the square shank. With a sharp dental tool, I gouged out the fill in the left side panel of the shank and one at the heel of the stummel. Using the layering method, I filled these gouges with a mix of briar dust and CA superglue till the mound of the mix was slightly above the rest of the stummel surface. This helps in a better blending of the fill with the rest of the stummel surface while sanding and reduces the scratches caused by the use of a needle file as you have a correct perspective of the sanding that is required. I set the stummel aside for the fills to cure. Once the fills had hardened (which was almost immediately), using a flat head needle file I sand the fill till I had achieved a rough match with the surrounding stummel surface. I sand the fills with a piece of 220 grit sand paper to further blend the fills with the rest of the stummel surface.Next, I addressed the darkened and uneven rim top surface.I topped the rim top over a piece of 220 grit sand paper till I had a smooth even surface and the darkened surface was greatly reduced. The damage to the inner rim edge in 6 o’clock, 10 o’clock and  3 o’clock direction were also addressed to a great extent. I am very happy with the appearance of the rim top and rim edges at this stage of restoration. The charred surfaces will be addressed by creating a nice bevel over the inner rim edge. With a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper pinched between my thumb and forefinger, I carefully gave a bevel to the inner rim edge and addressed the issue of charred inner rim edge. The rim top surface and the edges look very neat at this stage with the bowl in a nice round shape. Next, I sand the entire stummel with a piece of 220 grit sand paper to address the minor scratches and dings that would otherwise show after micromesh polishing cycle. This also helped in fine blending of the fills with the rest of the stummel surface. I am very pleased with the progress made thus far.  I followed it by wet sanding the stummel with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads, wiping frequently with a moist cloth to check the progress. I also polished the sterling silver ferrule at the shank end with the micromesh pads to a nice shine. Next, I rubbed a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” deep in to the briar with my finger tips and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works its magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance with the beautiful grain patterns displayed in their complete splendor. I further buffed it with a horse hair brush and gave a vigorous buff with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The dark browns of the fine straight grains spread across the stummel makes for a visual treat. It really is a nice piece of briar.   The only cosmetic, yet important aspect that remained was to refresh the stem logo. I applied a coat of white correction ink over the logo and once dried, I gently wiped it with a cloth. The logo is now clearly visible.I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and polished the stummel and stem with Blue Diamond compound. This compound helps to remove the minor scratch marks that remain from the sanding and polishing. Next, I mount another cotton buffing wheel that I have earmarked for carnauba wax and applied several coats of the wax. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. The finished pipe looks amazingly beautiful and coupled with the size, heft and the hand feel, makes it quite a desirable pipe. P.S. This was a project that I was looking forward to work on and research since the stampings on the stummel and that on the sterling silver ferrule, prima facie, appeared to be at a variance with each other. The stampings on the stummel pointed to corporate era made pipe whereas the E.B over W.B stamping on the sterling silver ferrule made me believe (incorrectly though) this pipe to be a Family era made. However, at the end of my research, all the stampings matched up perfectly. This pipe should make an interesting addition to collection of Barling’s pipe.

I wish to thank each one for sparing their valuable time to read through this write up and each one is my prayers. Stay home…stay safe!!

Restoring A New-To-Me Brand – an LHS “Sternies”

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Blog by Paresh

The next pipe that I picked up for restoration is a small sized classic straight Dublin shaped pipe that feels ultra light in the hand with a nice and comfortable feel in the mouth when clenched. This pipe came in one of couple of pipe lots that I had purchased on Etsy a few years ago and had been languishing in the lot of about 40- 50 pipes that Abha had done the initial cleaning for me. It languished at the bottom of the pile for no other reason than the fact that it was so nondescript that it did not attract my attention. However, with the continuing lockdown and partial suspension of work by Postal and Customs departments, my tobacco stock is fast depleting and this forced me to search for small bowled pipes. Thus, this pipe has now moved up in the line for restoration.

This pipe has a quaint little bowl size with some nice mixed grains. It is stamped on the left side of the shank as “STERNIES” over “LHS” in a diamond over “IMPORTED BRIAR”. The set of stampings on this pipe are all crisp and in block capital letters. The vulcanite stem is devoid of any stampings.While researching any pipe, the first site that I visit is rebornpipes.com since this is one site where I usually find well researched information on any brand that has anything, even remotely related, to pipes!! Now, till the time I got this pipe on my work table, I had not heard or read anything on this pipe brand and now that I have decided to work on it, rebornpipes does have a write up by Steve on this brand. He had thoroughly researched this brand and makes for an interesting read. Here is the link to the write up:-

https://rebornpipes.com/2020/09/01/new-life-for-an-american-made-lhs-certified-purex-pencil-shank-prince/

To avoid the proverbial ‘reinventing the wheel’, I urge readers to go through the above write up to get a better feel of the brand. However, only a few relevant excerpts of the information that would help me in establishing the provenance of the pipe are reproduced below.

The L&H Stern Inc. was established by Ludwig Stern (1877-1942) in 1911. His brother Hugo (1872-?) acted as vice-president & secretary. The firm moved to 56 Pearl St. Brooklyn in 1920. It closed down in the 1960s. LHS was one of the main pipe suppliers for US soldiers during WWII.

The brand had 8 pipe grades listed in the 1944 issue of Outdoor Magazine.

Sterncrest Ultrafine $ 10

Sterncrest 14K $ 7.50

Sterncrest Sterling $ 5

Certified Purex $3.50

Select Grain $2.50

Sivercrest $ 2

Superfine Purex $1.50

Sculpted Purex $1.50

 In addition to the above grades, a 1944 catalog also listed the following lines and models:

Barrister

Marwyn

Park Lane

Radmanol

Warwick

Additional notes: Some models were made before, during, and after WWII. LHS was one of the main pipe supplier for US soldiers during WWII.

Pre-war pipes were stamped Real Briar Root, or Briar Root. Some war time pipes were made from domestic briar or “American” briar and were void of any briar stampings. Many American pipe makers lost their overseas supply of Mediterranean briar shortly before and during the war. Post war pipes were stamped Imported Briar to assure customers that they were buying premium briar once again.

The grade “STERNIES”, as seen on the pipe on my work table, finds no mention in the 8 grades of pipe that have been listed in the 1944 catalogue. Also the fact that the stem bears no logo of two dots is a mystery (or has it been completely buffed off?). That fact apart, the stamping “IMPORTED BRIAR” points to post WW II production.

Thus, the LHS pipe currently on my work table is from the period 1945 to 1960s when LHS closed shop!!

Initial Visual Inspection
As I have mentioned above, this pipe was initially handled by Abha and she is not in a habit of taking many pictures as she works on each piece of briar. There are not many pictures to give the readers an idea about the condition of the pipe before she had worked her magic and presented me with a nice clean canvas to carry forward my repair and refurbishing tasks. I have included a description of the initial condition of the pipe as documented by her. This pipe has a rather small bowl in a classic Dublin shape and has a chamber depth of about 1.1 inches. The chamber had an even layer of dry flaky cake which is not very thick. The condition of the inner walls of the chamber can be commented upon after the cake has been taken down to the bare briar. The rim top surface was covered in overflowing lava. The inner rim edge has minor charring in 6 o’clock and 11 o’clock directions (encircled in pastel blue) with some minor dings all along the edge. The outer rim edge is mysteriously darkened in the 12 o’clock direction. The draught hole is clogged and restricts the free flow of air through it. The ghost smells in the chamber are very mild. The smooth stummel surface has some very beautiful grain patterns and has a coat of lacquer that has worn off at a number of places giving the surface a blotched appearance. The stummel shows signs of vintage in the form of many scratches, dents and dings that it has acquired over a period of time. There a couple of fills over the stummel surface and are easily noticeable (encircled in yellow). The briar has accumulated a lot of grime and dust imparting the stummel a lifeless and bone dry appearance. The shank end has an aluminum spacer ring separating the shank end from the stem end when threaded in. On closer observation, it can be seen that a portion of this spacer extends into the mortise and is threaded which matches with the stinger threads.    The vulcanite stem was lightly oxidized. Some minor tooth chatter and tooth indentations are seen on both the upper and lower stem surfaces in the bite zone and at the bottom of the button edge. The threaded aluminum stinger tenon end had accumulated ash and oils/ tars that had dried out on the inside as well as on the outside. The horizontal slot has dried gunk embedded in to it which will have to be addressed.Initial Cleaning By Abha…
Abha, my wife, reamed out the complete cake and further smoothed out the chamber walls with a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper and scrapped out the entire lava overflow from over the rim top surface. She further cleaned out the internals of the shank with pipe cleaners and alcohol and cotton buds. She followed the internal cleaning of the shank with external cleaning of the stummel using Murphy’s Oil soap and hard bristled tooth brush and dried it with paper napkins and cotton cloth. Next she cleaned out the internals of the stem air way using hard and regular pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl alcohol. She cleaned the stem surface under running warm water and scrubbed the surface oxidation from the stem using Scotch Brite pad and dish washing soap. The aluminum stinger was also similarly cleaned. She further removed the oxidation by scrubbing the stem with 0000 grade steel wool and applied a little olive oil to rehydrate the stem.    Once The Pipe Is On My Work Table…
The cleaned up pipes presents a very clear picture of what needs to be done to restore this pipe to a decent and smokable condition. I really cannot thank Abha, my wife, enough for all the help and support that she extends me in my pursuance of this hobby. I proceed to carry out my appreciation of the work that needs to be done on this pipe to restore it.

As with all the cleaned pipes that Abha packs, there was a note in the zip lock pouch with issues that she had observed in the pipe. The first point was that she had not dunked the stem in to “Before and After Deoxidizer” solution because of the metal stinger. The next issue that she pointed out was of the rim top surface not being even and the darkening of the inner rim edge. The third issue she pointed out was that the stummel surface had not cleaned up the way it usually does. Here are the pictures of the pipe as I had received. To be honest, the pipe had cleaned up nicely. What she thought was unclean stummel was in fact the old lacquer coat that had come off in patches. The two fills, encircled in yellow, are now plainly visible. The right side of the stummel shows a few dents/ dings. The aluminum spacer ring at the shank end is greatly oxidized and would need to be polished to a nice shine. The mortise is nice and clean. Sanding the stummel surface with a piece of 220 grit sand paper should address the issue of dings to a great extent. Once the stummel has been completely scrubbed and free of the old lacquer, I shall refresh the fills with a mix of briar dust and superglue. A vigorous scrub with Scotch Brit pad and Murphy’s Oil soap should suffice to remove the old peeling lacquer coat. In case this does not work, a wipe with pure Acetone on a cotton swab will definitely address this issue. After the aluminum spacer ring has been polished, it will provide a nice bling to the overall appearance of the pipe.   The chamber walls are sans any damage. The inner rim edge is in good condition save for light charring (encircled in green) and a chip (encircled in blue). The outer rim edge shows just a hint of darkening in 1 o’clock direction, but otherwise in excellent condition. The rim top surface is uneven to the touch. The draught hole is dead center and at the bottom of the heel and this construction geometry should make this pipe a fantastic smoker. Topping the rim surface should address the issues of uneven rim top, the charred outer rim edge while greatly reducing the inner rim edge damage. I shall, if need be, create a bevel to the inner edge to completely address the rim damage. The moment I saw and held the stem in my hands, I was not sure if the stem was vulcanite or made of some plastic derivative. It was very light weight and considerably harder than vulcanite. It was lightly oxidized and had minor tooth chatter on either surface in the bite zone. The button edges on either surface are slightly deformed with tooth indentations. I shall not risk heating the bite zone with the flame of a lighter to raise the tooth chatter but would rather try and sand it out. In case required, I shall further use charcoal and superglue mix to address this issue. I need to sharpen the button edges and shall do so with a flat needle file. The Process
I embarked on the journey of restoring this pipe by addressing the stem first since it would take considerable time to repair and polish. Abha had done a fantastic job of cleaning the stem both internally and externally and this facilitated me to straight away sand the stem surface with a 220 grit sand paper to even out the raised tooth indentation and remove the oxidation from the surface. I follow it up by cleaning the surface with a cotton swab and alcohol. I wipe the stem with a cotton swab and Murphy’s oil soap to deep clean the surface. The tooth chatter has been addressed to a very great extent. The minor tooth marks that remain will further reduce after I had sanded the stem surface with 320 to 1000 grit sand papers followed by the micromesh pads. The button edges are a lot straighter and crispier than before.I further sand the stem surface with 320 followed by 400, 600 and 800 grit sandpapers. I finished the sandpaper cycle by wet sanding the entire stem surface with a piece of 1000 grit sandpaper. I wiped the stem with a moist cloth to remove the sanding dust and applied a small quantity of EVO to hydrate the stem.I completed the polishing cycle of the stem by wet sanding the surface with 1500 to 12000 girt pads. The stem looks great with the tooth chatter nicely matched with the rest of the surface. I also polished the aluminum stinger and the spacer ring with micromesh pads. I gave a final rub with “Before and After Extra Fine” stem polish compound to remove fine scratches from the stem surface. I rub a little quantity of Extra Virgin Olive oil in to the stem surface and set it aside to be absorbed by the vulcanite. The stem polished up nicely and I am happy with the appearance of the stem at this point in restoration.  With the stem refurbishing nearly completed, save for final polish using Blue Diamond and wax, I move to clean the exterior of the stummel. I used a hard bristled tooth brush, Scotch Brit pad and Murphy’s Oil soap to scrub the stummel and rim top. I shall be candid in confessing that I was extra aggressive using the Scotch Brit pad as I was keen to completely remove the peeling lacquer coating over the stummel surface. After the scrub with oil soap, I washed the stummel under running warm water with anti oil dish washing detergent till the stummel surface was clean and dried it using paper towels and soft cotton cloth. I once again cleaned the shank internals with the detergent and hard bristled shank brush and set the stummel aside to dry out naturally. The two fills have gone soft and would need to be refreshed. The stummel has cleaned up nicely with the old lacquer coat completely removed from the surface. The ghost smells are completely eliminated and the pipe now smells fresh, odorless and clean. The shank air way is nice and open. I shall refresh the fills over the stummel surface with a mix of briar dust and superglue. Next I addressed the issues of the two fills in the stummel surface. With a sharp dental tool, I gouged out the fill on the right side of the stummel and one on the left side of the shank. Using the layering method, I filled these gouges with a mix of briar dust and CA superglue till the mound of the mix was slightly above the rest of the stummel surface. This helps in a better blending of the fill with the rest of the stummel surface while sanding and reduces the scratches caused by the use of a needle file since you have a correct perspective of the sanding that is required. I set the stummel aside for the fills to cure. Using a flat needle file, I sand the fill till I had achieved a rough match with the surrounding stummel surface. I sand the entire stummel with a piece of 220 grit sand paper to further blend in the fills with the stummel surface.   I topped the rim top surface on a piece of 220 grit sand paper, checking frequently for the progress being made as I hate to loose briar estate any more than absolutely necessary. The issue of uneven rim top surface has now been completely addressed. At this stage, the slight darkening to the outer edge too has been completely addressed while the charring to the inner edge, though eliminated to a great extent, is still discernible. I shall create a bevel to the inner edge to blend and mask the damaged edge with the rest of the inner edge.  The inner rim edge appeared to be slightly uneven at the front and at the back end of the rim top due to charring and I decided to mask it by creating a bevel. With a folded piece of a 220 grit sand paper pinched between my thumb and forefinger, I create a nice and even bevel on the inner edge. I was careful so as not to alter the profile of the stummel by excessive topping or creation of the bevel. I am pretty pleased with the appearance of the rim top and edges at this stage. The following pictures show the progress being made and improvements to the inner and outer rim edges. I wet sand the entire stummel with 1500 to 12000 grit micromesh pads, wiping frequently with a moist cloth to check the progress.I also polished the shank end aluminum spacer ring with the micromesh pads to a nice shine. I really like the looks of the stummel at this point in restoration. The grains and the clean lines of this piece of briar is really appreciable. The few scratches and dings that were noticed over the stummel surface too have been addressed by this stage due to the sanding and micromesh pad polishing. The fills are quite evident and whether to mask it using a dark brown stain or let it be, is a decision that I shall take subsequently.    Next, I rub a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” in to the stummel surface with my finger tips and let it rest for a few minutes. I worked the restoration balm deep in to the briar wood. The balm almost immediately works its magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance. The stummel looks very handsome with the contrasting dark and light brown hues. The fills have blended in quite nicely with the surrounding dark brown hues taken on by the stummel surface after the application of the balm. To complete the restoration, I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and applied a coat of Blue Diamond to the stummel and the stem to polish out the minor scratches.    With a cotton buffing wheel that I use for carnauba wax, I apply a coat of carnauba wax and continue to work on it till the complete coat of wax had been polished out. I finished the restoration by giving the entire pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. The completed pipe looks fresh, vibrant and ready for its next innings with a piper interested in adding it to his/ her collection. This piece of briar feels fantastic in hands with its ultra lightweight, classic shape and a size that is just right for a quick smoke in between breaks. Thank you to all esteemed readers for joining me and walking with me through this restoration. Cheers!! P.S. I had consulted with my wife, Abha, whether or not to stain this pipe with a dark brown stain to mask the fills since she has a better understanding and appreciation of colors than me (isn’t that true for all the men?). She suggested that the natural color of the briar looks smashing while any staining will hide the grain patterns and that the fills actually blend in nicely when seen in person. It’s actually a fact that pictures highlights flaws more than they actually appear in person.

Praying for the safety and well being of all readers and their loved ones…

Breathing Life into a Super Grain Kaywoodie 80B Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table has been here a long time. It was found in a pipe hunt that Jeff and I did in 2017 at long since closed Antique Mall in Pocatello, Idaho, USA. It was a tired and worn Kaywoodie Super Grain straight apple with a threaded tenon. The smooth finish on the bowl was very dirty and worn. The pipe was filthy and there was significant rim top damage. The bowl had a thick cake that made me wonder how it could still be smoked. There was tobacco debris in the bottom of the bowl and a thick overflow of lava on the rim top. It is hard to know what the inner edge of the rim looked like under the lava coat. The outer edge of the rim had some darkening and chips around the edges. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Super Grain [over] Kaywoodie on the left side of the shank. On the right side it is stamped with the shape number 80B. The stamping is faint but readable on the pipe. The stem was dirty and lightly oxidized. There were light tooth marks and chatter on the stem near the button on both sides and some on the surface of the button as well. There was the Kaywoodie White Club/Clover logo on the left side of the taper stem. The stinger apparatus is a four-hole one that is threaded into the threaded tenon. It is a different kind of set up than previous Super Grain pipes that I have worked on it. The stamping and the stinger date it as an older one. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he worked on it. Jeff took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started the cleanup work. The bowl had an incredibly thick cake and a thick overflow of lava on the rim top. It was hard to know what the inner edge looked like but the outer edge was a mess. The stem is lightly oxidized, calcified and dirty and there is tooth chatter and marks on both sides of the stem ahead of the button.   Jeff took a photo of the side and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar looked like. There is some nice grain on the piece of briar. The stamping on the sides of the shank read as noted above. The photos show that they are very faint but readable. The Clover/Club on the left side of the stem is in good condition. Jeff took a photo of the interesting stinger and threaded tenon set up. The stinger was absolutely covered with grime and tars.  The two digit shape number and the threaded 4 hole stinger told me a lot about the age of the pipe but I wanted to know a bit more. I turned first to Pipephil’s site as it is always a quick sources of information (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-kaywoodie-2.html). I have included a screen capture of the section on the Super Grain Below.Up until the late 1940’s/early 50’s, the logo was on top of the stem. After that the logo was moved to the side of the stem (exceptions exist). The one I am working on has the white cloverleaf logo on the left side making the pipe an early 1950’s. The 4-hole stinger also fits this time period.

From that section I learned that indeed the pipe was older because of the stamping, Super Grain over Kaywoodie. I could narrow it down because it did not inlcude the Imported Briar stamp which was added in 1935 though that is not always the case. The cloverleaf logo on the left side of the stem also moved the date forward to the early 1950’s. I also knew that 4 hole stingers occurred on pipes in the 60’s. So it appears that the pipe came out between the early 50s to the 1960s.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it 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. When the pipe arrived and I unpacked it the stem was broken off at the end. There was about a ¼ inch of the stem and the entire button was in the bottom of the bag that the pipe was packed in. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. The rim top cleaned up really well. The rim top and outer edge of the bowl show damage from being knocked against a hard surface. There is damage to the inner edge of the bowl and bowl is slightly out of round.  The stem surface looked very good with tooth marks and chatter on the top side and the underside near the button.     The stamping on the sides of the shank is faint but readable. It reads as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole.  The four hole stinger is in excellent condition.   I started my work on the pipe by cleaning up the inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I topped the bowl on a topping board to remove the damage to the rim top. It also helped to minimize some of the damage to the inner edge. Once I had it cleaned up the rim top damage was minimized. I sanded the outer edge of the bowl with the sandpaper to smooth out the damage there. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the briar down with a damp cloth after each pad. The briar began to take on a rich glow. I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips into the briar. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10-15 minutes while I worked on the stem. After the time passed I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. The stem was in good condition and I would be able to polish out the tooth chatter. I polished the stem 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 Super Grain Kaywoodie 80B Straight Apple is a great looking pipe. The smooth finish and brown stain around the bowl sides and shank make the grain just pop. Even the burn mark on the right side of the shank while present does not detract from the beauty of the pipe. The finish on the pipe looks great and the brown stains work well to give some contrast to the polished black vulcanite taper stem. The pipe is really quite eye-catching. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel, carefully avoiding the stamping on the shank. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. There were two burn marks – one on the lower left side of the bowl and the other on the back toward the topside. The finished Straight Apple Super Grain is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that like the other pipes I am working that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. 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 was 32g/1.13oz. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another interesting pipe. This Super Grain Kaywoodie will be added to the American Pipe Makers section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you want to add it to your collection send me an email or a message! Thanks for your time.

Breathing Life into a Kaywoodie Super Grain 50 Chubby Apple

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table came to us from one of our pipe hunts or a trade I just cannot remember. It is a very nice Kaywoodie Super Grain Chubby Apple with a threaded tenon stem. The finish is quite nice with a classic Kaywoodie smooth finish. There are burn marks around the right side of the bowl at the rim as well as some serious damage on the right side of the shank that hides the shape number quite a bit. The pipe was pretty clean other than the burn damage on the bowl. The bowl had been reamed somewhere along the way and the bowl was pretty clean. There was darkening on the rim top and a bit of damage on the inner edge of the rim. The pipe is stamped on the sides of the shank and reads Super Grain [over] Kaywoodie on the left side of the shank. On the right side it reads Imported Briar [over] the shape number and what appears 50. The stamping is faint but readable on the pipe. The stem was dirty and lightly oxidized. There were light tooth marks and chatter on the stem near the button on both sides and some on the surface of the button as well. There was the Kaywoodie White Club/Clover logo on the left side of the taper stem. The stinger apparatus is a four hole one that dates it as an older one. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he worked on it. Jeff took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started the cleanup work. The bowl has a light cake and the burn marks on the top and right side of the bowl. The inside edge of the rim was damaged on the right inner edge of the wall. The stem is deeply oxidized, calcified and dirty and there is tooth chatter and marks on both sides of the stem ahead of the button.   Jeff took a photo of the side and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar looked like. There is some nice grain on the piece of briar.The stamping on the sides of the shank read as noted above. The photos show that they are very faint but readable. The burn mark on the right side of the shank is also very visible. The Clover/Club on the left side of the stem is in good condition. The two digit shape number and the threaded 4 hole stinger gave a hint about the age of the pipe but I wanted to know a bit more. I turned first to Pipephil’s site as it is always a quick sources of information (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-kaywoodie-2.html). I have included a screen capture of the section on the Super Grain Below.Up until the late 1940’s/early 50’s, the logo was on top of the stem. After that the logo was moved to the side of the stem (exceptions exist). The one I am working on has the white cloverleaf logo on the left side making the pipe a post early 1950’s. The 4 Hole stinger also fits this time period.

From that section I learned that indeed the pipe was older because of the stamping, Super Grain over Kaywoodie. I could narrow it down because it also included the Imported Briar stamp which was added in 1935. The cloverleaf logo on the left side of the stem also moved the date forward to the early 1950’s. I also knew that 4 hole stingers occurred on pipes in the 60’s. So it appears that the pipe came out between the early 50s to the 1960s.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it 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. When the pipe arrived and I unpacked it the stem was broken off at the end. There was about a ¼ inch of the stem and the entire button was in the bottom of the bag that the pipe was packed in. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. The rim top cleaned up really well. The rim top and outer edge of the bowl show the burn damage on the top an front of the bowl. There is damage to the inner edge of the bowl and bowl is slightly out of round.  The stem surface looked very good with tooth marks and chatter on the top side and the underside near the button.      The stamping on the sides of the shank is faint but readable. It reads as noted above. You can also see the burn mark in the briar on the  right side of the shank.      I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole.  The four hole stinger is in excellent condition.I started my work on the pipe by topping  the bowl on a topping board to remove the damage to the rim top. It also helped to minimize some of the damage to the inner edge. I cleaned the inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. Once I had it cleaned up the rim top damage was minimized. I also worked on the shank side burn damage and was able to remove some of the damage but the burn mark was quite deep. When working with burn marks you have to make a decision how far to go with the sanding. In this case too much sanding would have changed the profile of the pipe so I worked to minimize it rather than remove it. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the briar down with a damp cloth after each pad. The briar began to take on a rich glow.  I rubbed the briar down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips into the briar. The product works to clean, enliven and preserve the briar. I let it sit for 10-15 minutes while I worked on the stem. After the time passed I buffed it with a cotton cloth to deepen the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. The stem was in good condition and I would be able to polish out the tooth chatter. I polished the stem 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 Super Grain Kaywoodie 50 Chubby Apple is a great looking pipe. The smooth finish and brown stain around the bowl sides and shank make the grain just pop. Even the burn mark on the right side of the shank while present does not detract from the beauty of the pipe. The finish on the pipe looks great and the brown stains work well to give some contrast to the polished black vulcanite taper stem. The pipe is really quite eye-catching. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel, carefully avoiding the stamping on the shank. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Chubby Apple Super Grain is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that like the other pipes I am working that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe was 43g/1.52oz. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another interesting pipe. This Super Grain Kaywoodie will be added to the American Pipe Makers section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you want to add it to your collection send me an email or a message! Thanks for your time.

Restoring a MALAGA Second  Octagonal Panel, Square Shank Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a “Malaga” Second pipe that Jeff picked up from an online auction early in 2019 from Columbus, Michigan, USA. It is an interesting looking octagonal Panel Billiard with a square shank.  It has the classic Malaga oil cured finish and some great looking grain around the bowl and shank. The pipe is stamped on underside of the shank and reads MALAGA. Second. From what I can see the large flaw on the underside of the shank near the stamping is the only thing that made it a second. The carver did a great job of carving the pipe to capture the grain around the bowl and shank. The bowl had a heavy cake with an overflow of lava on the rim top with heavier overflow on the back side of the rim top. The sides of the bowl and shank are very dirty with grime and oils ground into the finish from prolonged use. The vulcanite stem was heavily oxidized and calcified. It had tooth dents and chatter on the top and the underside of the stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started the cleanup work. With some work it will be a real beauty. I looked forward to seeing it in person.    Jeff took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started the cleanup work. The bowl has a thick cake and the uneven overflow of lava on the rim top is quite thick all the way around but slightly heavier toward the back. The inside edge of the rim could be damaged but it quite hidden under the lava coat. The stem is deeply oxidized, calcified and dirty and there is tooth chatter and marks on both sides of the stem ahead of the button.  He took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It read as noted above. You can also see the large flaw in the shank under the stamp.Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar looked like. There is some nice grain around the sides. You can also see the damage to the rim edges and the heel of the bowl in the photos below.    I am including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. I have written an earlier blog to give a little history of the Malaga Brand and the pipemaker, George Khoubesser. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/tag/malaga-pipes/.That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. Follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it 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. I took photos of the pipe once I received it.    The rim top cleaned up really well. The rim top and outer edge of the bowl show some darkening over most of the surface. There is damage to the inner edge of the bowl and bowl is out of round.  The stem surface looked very good with tooth marks and chatter on the top side and the underside near the button. The stamping on the underside of the shank is clear and readable. It reads as noted above. You can also see the flaw in the briar on the underside of the shank.  I removed the saddle stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole.  I started my work on the pipe by cleaning the inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. Once I had it cleaned up I topped the bowl on a topping board to remove the damage to the rim top. It also helped to minimize some of the damage to the inner edge.   I filled in the flaw on the underside of the shank with briar dust and clear super glue. Once the repair cured I carefully sanded it smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and blended it into the surrounding briar. I used a Walnut Stain Pen to touch up the sanded area of the repair on the underside of the shank.   I combined a Cherry and a Walnut stain pen to blend the topped rim to match the rest of the bowl and shank.  I took a photo of the shank end to show the relative thinness of the right side of the shank. I wonder if this was not also a reason the pipe was a second.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad with a damp cloth.     I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 10-15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The grain came alive and the finish looked rich.   I set aside the bowl and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift them as much as possible. I filled in the remaining tooth dents and marks with Clear Super Glue and set it aside for the repairs to cure. Once they cured I flattened them with a file. I cleaned up the repaired areas with 220 sandpaper to blend the repairs into the surface of the stem. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.  I polished the vulcanite stem 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 Malaga Second Octagonal Panel Square Shank Billiard with a vulcanite saddle stem turned out to be a real beauty. The carver really maximized the grain with the shape of the pipe. I polished stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel and the finish just popped and came alive. 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 pipe took on life with the buffing. The rich oil cured colour works well with the polished black vulcanite stem. The finished Malaga Second has a rich look that is quite catching. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 5 ¼ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe was 27g/.95oz. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!    

Breathing Life into a BBB Natural Grain 01 Zulu

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to us from a pipe hunt that Jeff and his wife recently did in Utah, USA.  The pipe is a classic Zulu shape pipe. The pipe was an absolute mess which probably accounted for how it ended up where it was at a fair price. On the top of the shank it is stamped with the BBB Diamond Logo [over] Silver Grain. On the right side of the shank it is stamped with the shape number 01. The stain is a mix of browns that makes me wonder about the Natural Grain stamping on the pipe. The finish was very dirty making it hard to see beyond that to the grain that pokes through underneath. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a thick overflow of lava onto the rim top and edges. It was hard to know at this point the condition of the rim edges. The stem was oxidized and there were deep tooth marks and chatter on both sides just ahead of the button and on the button surface itself. The stem had a stamped BBB Diamond logo on the topside of the taper. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started working on it. I include those below.   Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the condition of both. It was thick and hard cake with an unbelievably thick lava overflow on the rim top and edges. Hopefully it had protected the rim and edges from damage. He took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the scratching, oxidation and tooth marks on the stem surface and button. The tooth marks are quite deep on both sides of the stem.     Jeff took a photo of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish – the grime and grit all over the sides and bottom of the bowl. The finish so dirty it is hard to see the grain but it is present nonetheless.  Jeff took photos of the stamping on the top and right side of the shank. It is very clear and readable as noted above.    This pipe was a real mess like many of the pipes we work on. I was curious to see what it would look like when I unpacked it. I was surprised at how good it looked. Jeff reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals of the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish on the bowl looked really good when I got it. The rim top looked much better but had some darkening that I would need to deal with. The inner edge showed some significant damage and outer edges looked good. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer bath to remove the oxidation. The stem looked better other than some light oxidation and the tooth marks and chatter in the surface. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked much better than when he found it. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it.  I took photos of the condition of the rim top and stem before I started working. The rim top looks better than before and the damage is very obvious to the rim top and the inner edge. The bowl is spotless. The stem has some deep tooth marks on both sides and the button itself. I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above.  I took the bowl and stem apart and took a photo of the pipe to show the look of the pipe. I was surprised to see a rather large stinger. I would be removing that and not putting it back. If the new owner wants it I will include it in the package with the pipe.I started my work on the pipe by cleaning the inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. Once I had it cleaned up I topped the bowl on a topping board to remove the damage to the rim top. It also helped to minimize some of the damage to the inner edge. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded the bowl and rim top with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. The briar really took on a shine by the final pads.   I touched up the rim top with a Maple stain pen to match the rest of the briar around the bowl. Buffing and polishing would blend it in further.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the finish of the bowl, rim top and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I find that the balm really makes the briar come alive again. The contrasts in the layers of stain and the separate finishes really made the grain stand out. I let the balm sit for 10-15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The bowl really looks good at this point. I set it aside and worked on the stem. I set aside the bowl and turned my attention to the stem. I started by heating the stinger with a lighter and carefully turning it out of the tenon. It was pressure fit so the heat loosened the tars that held it fast and I was able to remove it. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift them as much as possible. I filled in the remaining tooth dents and marks with Black Super Glue and set it aside for the repairs to cure. Once they cured I flattened them with a file. I cleaned up the repaired areas with 220 sandpaper to blend the repairs into the surface of the stem. I started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.  I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine.   I used some Rub’n Buff Antique Gold to touch up the brass/gold colour in the BBB Diamond logo on the topside of the stem. I rubbed it in and rubbed it off leaving the gold behind in the stamp.   Once again I am the part of the restoration that I always look forward to – the moment when all the pieces are put back together. I put the pipe back together and lightly buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond. I buffed the stem with a heavier touch with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the smooth finish and the black vulcanite stem. This richly stained BBB Natural Grain 01 Zulu must have been a fine smoking pipe judging from the condition it was when we received it. Have a look at it in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ 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 25grams/.88oz. This is one that will go on the British Pipemakers section of the rebornpipes online store shortly. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next generation.

 

Reworking one of my Early Restorations – a GBD New Standard 91327 Lovat

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Blog by Steve Laug

I restored this older GBD New Standard Lovat probably 15-20 years ago. I had not been working on pipes for too long – maybe a year or two. I really had no idea about staining or reshaping a stem or how to make the grain on the pipe like it must have when the pipe first came out. I was going through a box of pipes that I was getting rid of and came across this one in the bottom of the box. Looking at it closely I decided to take it on again and rework it. The finish was worn, the outer edge of the rim was in rough condition with chips out of it and the rim top had been topped but I had not even bothered to polish out the scratches from the sandpaper. The bowl was out of round and the inner edges were worn and had some nicks and gouges. The shank end was lighter in colour than the rest of the bowl. I had not even bothered to match the colours… good to see that I have still been learning. The bowl and shank were very clean so at least I had done that well back then. The stem still had some oxidation around the button. It had a lot of potential and I really wanted to see if I could bring it out with a bit more work. Time would tell!

The petite pipe is stamped GBD in an oval [over] New Standard on the left side of the shank and on the right side of the shank it reads London England [over] 91327 (shape number). I found that the New Standard was made in  England. It originally had a smooth finish with brown staining in what was called a “tobacco brown” finish. The shape number is one that I cannot find listed anywhere so I am not sure what to make of that but it is a neat little pipe. I have often found shape numbers on GBD pipes that are not on the list of known shape I did a quick look on Pipedia and found the flyer to the left that described the New Standard London Made Pipe (https://pipedia.org/images/b/b8/GBD_1961Flyer_NewStandard_Shape9447.jpg)

I took photos of the pipe when I took it out of the box before I started reworking it. You can see the overall look of the pipe at this point in the process. As you look at the photos of the pipe pay attention to the flaws in the previous restoration of this pipe. What do you see? As I work over the pipe let me know if I caught the things that you saw. Thanks for reading through this chronicle of a reworked restoration.

I took photos of the rim top and bowl to give a clear picture of the damage to the rim top and edges of the bowl that I had not dealt with before. There were large nicks out the inner edge on the front and the rear of the bowl. There was also a chip out of the outer edge on the right rear of the bowl. You cannot see it from these photos but the rim top is not smooth and has a lot of sanding scratches that I did not bother removing. I took photos of the top and underside of the stem to show the remaining oxidation on the topside and underside near the button and at the saddle.  The stamping on both sides was faint but readable. It read as noted above.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe.I reworked and reshaped the edges of the bowl with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage and to bring it back to round. I gave it a slight bevel that will become obvious in the photos of the polishing process. (I forgot to take a photo of the rim top before I started the process of polishing it.)To even the stain colour around the bowl and make the grain stand out more clearly I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each pad. Note the rim top and you can see the change to the inner edge worked above. I used a Cherry stain pen to touch up the sanded edges and top of the rim and blend them into the rest of the bowl.I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for ten minutes and then buffed it with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The grain came alive and the finish looked rich. I polished the vulcanite stem 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.  I am pretty happy with the upgrade to this GBD New Standard 91327 Lovat. The rim top looks far better and the finish is now uniform and reveals the grain really well. The stem is clean and no longer has residual oxidation in the crease at the button or the saddle.  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 small GBD Lovat fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe was 29g/1.02oz. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!  

Restoring a Wally Frank Pipe of the Month Drunken Poker

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Blog by Steve Laug

Jeff and I cannot remember where we picked up the next pipe and have no idea where we found it or what the condition was when we found it. I know that Jeff cleaned it before it ended up here but we cannot put a finger on the pre-cleanup photos or even where we got it. So I decided to just write about it as it looks today before I start the cleanup work and describe the work that I did on the pipe. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Pipe of the Month in script. On the underside of the shank it reads Imported Briar while on the right it reads Wally Frank LTD. The pipe is uniquely shaped and I was tempted to call it a drunken poker (in fact I did in the title of the blog). It must have been a good smoking pipe from the condition of the cleaned bowl. The rim top and edges of the bowl are all damaged. It looked like the pipe had been knocked out on hard surfaces and reamed with a knife. The stem was in good condition once I received it with light tooth marks and chatter on both sides. The majority of my work would be done in reshaping and reworking the rim top.

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. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work.  The rim top and edges of the rim looked rough with damage all around. The outer edge was rough and the inner edge was notched with what looked like knife marks. The rim top was also nicked and dented. The stem surface looked very good with some remaining oxidation and tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button.  I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. The bowl has a definitely tilt to it and the heel is rounded. The saddle stem is tapered with a slight bend that follows the flow of the pipe. I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-w1.html) and looked up the section on Wally Frank Pipes. I have included a screen capture of the section on The Pipe of the Month.Each member of Wally Frank’s “The Pipe of the Month Club” received a brand new pipe in the mail once a month.

There was also a link to the Pipe of the Month Order form that was on the site. I have included that below for your viewing.Now it was time to work on the pipe. To take care of the significant damage to the rim top and edges I started my work by gently topping the bowl to minimize the damaged areas. I gave the inner edge of the bowl a bevel to reduce the burned areas. I also sanded the outer edge and smoothed out the damage. I wiped the bowl down with acetone to remove the spotty varnish coat and to get the bowl free of the shininess so I could blend in the rim top more carefully. There was some nice looking grain under the varnish. Removing varnish always gives me pause because it can often reveal things I would have rather left hidden. However in this case it was not true. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. The bowl really began to take on a shine. The rim top was slightly lighter than the rest of the bowl so I touched it up with an Oak stain pen to match the rest of the pipe.With the rim cleaned up the bowl was in good condition. I rubbed it down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine.  I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I “painted” the stem with the flame of a lighter to lift the tooth marks. The majority of them disappeared with the heat of the flame. Those that remained I filled in with clear super glue. Once the repairs had cured I sanded them smooth with 220 grit sandpaper. I started polishing the stem with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.  I polished the vulcanite stem 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.  Before I put the stem back on the shank I checked out the shank end and the edges. I was surprised when I saw a small crack on the top of the shank toward the right that was obviously there before but only now after polishing could I see it. I circled the cracked area in red in the two photos below. I glued the crack with a dribble of super glue and then pressed a thin brass band on the shank end. I really like these thin bands as they do not cover the stamping on the shank – which in this case was on three sides. I like the finished look of the pipe with the band.This Wally Frank Pipe of the Month Drunken Poker with a vulcanite saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The smooth finish and unique grain look and feel great in the hand and should only feel better as the pipe is smoked. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to give a shine. 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 Drunken Poker fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¼ 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 25gr/.88oz. 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!

A Simple Restoration on a Republic Era Peterson’s “Dunmore” 77 Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table was gifted to me by Ray, a reader in Australia. It is a petite Peterson’s “Dunmore” pipe. He had read a restoration of Bob Kerr’s Estate Peterson’s “Dunmore” and thought I would enjoy working what he called “that pipe’s l’il brother”. It is about a Group 2 by Dunhill standards bowl that he had picked up in the 1970s. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Peterson’s [over] “Dunmore”. On the right side it is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland followed by the shape number 77.  Ray had done the lion’s share of the clean up on the pipe. It had been reamed, cleaned and buffed. It was in great condition. There was some rim top darkening and damage on the inner edge of the bowl but nothing too difficult. The beaded decoration on the shank end is in excellent condition. Like other Dunmore’s I have worked on it had a flattened shank and the pipe functioned as a sitter. The stem was in excellent condition with some very light tooth chatter on both sides ahead of the p-lip. The “P” stamp on the left side of the stem was clear and just needed to be touched up otherwise it looked good. I took photos of the pipe when I finally brought it to my work table. The next photos show the bowl and rim top as well as the stem condition. The bowl was clean and ready to fire up. The rim edge was out of round and showed some damage and darkening. The rim top also had some darkening. The stem looked very good with some light tooth chatter and scratches.  The stamping on the shank sides was very readable and read as noted above. It had been buffed but was not overly damaged.   I took the stem off and took a photo of the parts of the pipe to give a perspective on the size and proportions of this little pipe.After rereading Ray’s email about the pipe and the previous blog on the Dunmore I had worked on I went back and reread the blog (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/08/18/restoring-a-petersons-dunmore-70-bent-apple-sitter-from-bob-kerrs-estate/). I quote from the blog on the Dunmore line below.

I then turned to the book I should have consulted first, The Peterson Pipe, by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg. On page 298 there is an entry for Dunmore pipes. It reads as follows:

Dunmore (1971-c.1984 2006-10). Appeared first as Iwan Ries & Co. exclusive line “Dunmoor,” a Premier-grade in light-brown smooth or rustic red in all System shapes, with beading at the shank. Documented in the Associated Imports Catalog from 1973. Classic Range Dunmore shapes from ’78. A third Dunmore line (’06-10) featured standard and some B shapes, with beading around bowl instead of at shank-face, produced for European market.

On page 165 there were also photos of pages from a catalogue with the  description: The unmounted Dunmore Premier debuted in both System and Classic Range shapes circa 1973 with a final appearance in the 1981 catalogue.

The information blurb on each page read: “Dunmore Briars.” Beautifully grained best quality briar in light-brown, matt or rustic finish. Often described as “Petersons Unmounted System” has all the advantages of the system range. Ten models each fitted with the Peterson Lip mouthpiece.

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping on the pipe. It is a Late Republic era pipe. It showed up in Peterson Catalogue in 1973 which fits Ray’s memory of when he bought the pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I decided to start my work on this one by reworking the inner edge of the rim with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I wanted to try and bring it back into round and smooth out the jagged condition.I polished the briar and worked over the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. Once the finish was removed the fills in the briar became very evident.  I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine.   I touched up the stamp on the left side of the saddle with liquid paper. I applied it and worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. Once it cured I scraped off the excess. It is definitely better though the stamp is faint in some spots.  I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.  This nice looking Peterson’s Dunmore 77 Bent Billiard and a classic Peterson’s P-lip vulcanite stem looks much better now that it has been restored. The rim top and edges cleaned up very well. The rich brown stains on the bowl came alive with the polishing and waxing. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel 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 Peterson’s Dunmore is a petite 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: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. 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!

Refreshing a Friend’s First Purchased Pipe – A French Courrieu Straight Grain Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I am working on is the second one that came from a friend, Lee who lives in the US. It is a gorgeous Straight Grain French Made Billiard. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Vieille Bruyere [arched over] Courrieu [over] Cogolin. On the right side it is stamped Straight Grain [over] Grand Luxe. He sent me an email detailing what he saw in the pipe and gave his assessment as well as several pictures of the pipe. He wrote and opening paragraph and then a list of his request:

The second pipe I’ll be sending is my first pipe, a French Courrieu, billiard shape, straight grain. While it’s just fine, I’d like to see if you can remove the burning/charring on the bowl’s edge (due to me being a total newbie at the time), bowl clean, and a wood buff if possible. Again, deep sentimental value with this French pipe, so want it to be in great shape.

  1. First pipe ever purchased. Purchased from the mfg after a fascinating tour (I’m a mfg guy, so seeing how they do things both fascinated and horrified me!)
  2. I know this piece is in good shape, but the scorching on the rim due to ignorance/newbie-stumbles irritates me (I really don’t need to be reminded with every bowl of Semois how badly I’ve treated this thing); if you can assist, please do what you can to remove, even if it means sanding off the top of the bowl.
  3. My only ’need’ is you match the original stain, best you can. If that requires sanding the entire bowl and working up from there with another stain (a close match), I’m fine with that call. Again, this is a sentimental piece (unlike the Peterson – for now), so I’m not concerned about the labor required to get it the best it should be. Merci –

Once the pipe arrived I spent some time going over it to assess what I thought needed to be done to bring it back the flare to the finish of Lee’s first pipe. This Courrrieu Straight Grain Billiard really is a very beautiful pipe with some stunning grain. This is the list that I sent to him via email.

  1. Bowl exterior is in good condition. There are no deep scratches or marks in the briar.
  2. Rim top shows some scratches and marks on the surface. There is darkening around the inner edge of the bowl and on the front, back and left side of the top. The inner edge is also damaged on the front edge and rear left edge with what looks like some charring. Definitely worse on the front than the back of the rim. Bowl is slightly out of round due to that.
  3. Bowl internals are good – light cake. Do you want that cut back to bare briar again or just leave it and lightly clean it?? I ask because taking it back some will make the rim cleanup easier to manage.
  4. The stem is in relatively good condition with tooth chatter on the underside ahead of the button and on the button surface itself. A few tooth marks on the underside and on the underside of the button.

I took photos of the pipe before I started the work on the pipe. It is a beauty. The grain is beautiful and the pipe is in very good condition other than the burn marks on the rim top. The photos tell the story of pipe’s condition.  I took some photos of the rim top and stem surfaces to capture their condition. The photo of the rim top shows the darkening on the top of the rim and the damage to the inner edge of the rim. It is more pronounced on the front inner edge than the rear. It is solid but definitely burned. The bowl is slightly out of round. The stem surface is pretty clean. There are light tooth marks on the top and underside as well as on the button surface itself.   I took photos of the stamping on both sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. The stamping on the left side of the stem is a rooster. I took the stem off the shank to give a clear picture of the pipe as a whole. The flow of the bowl, shank and the taper stem contribute to the overall beauty of the pipe.I wanted to gather some background information on the Courrieu brand as this is the first pipe of this brand that I have worked on. I turned to Pipephil to get a quick overview of the brand and was not disappointed (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c8.html). I have included a screen capture of the section on the brand. I also quote from the side bar below the screen capture.Ulysse Courrieu started carving pipes in Cogolin in 1802. Courrieu certainly is the oldest french briar pipe factory. The family corporate is managed (2009) by René Salvestrini who married a Courrieu daughter.

Armed with the information on the pipe maker I turned to work on the damage to the rim top and inner edges of the bowl. I sanded the damaged edge and gave it a slight inward bevel to alleviate the damage. I sanded out the burn marks as much as possible on the top of the rim with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I was able to minimize the damage on the top surface and the rim edge. I started polishing the edge and the top of the bowl with a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad.  I polished the rim top of the rim with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded it with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped the rim down after each sanding pad. The rim began to take on a good shine. After polishing it with the 4000 grit pad I restained the rim top with a Maple stain pen. I finished polishing the rim with 6000-12000 grit pads. I wiped the rim down with a damp cloth. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about 15-20 minutes and then buffed it with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. With that done the bowl was finished other than a final buffing.  I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine.     I am excited to finish this beautifully grained Courrieu Vieille Bruyere Straight Grain Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and followed that with a quick hand buff with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the polished black vulcanite stem. This Courrieu Billiard is a great looking pipe and it feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. It is a beautiful pipe. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. I am looking forward to seeing what my friend Lee thinks of the pipe after the restoration. Now that both of the pipes have been restored I will mail them back to them. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next pipeman or woman.