Tag Archives: vulcanite

Restoring and Restemming a Stanwell Regd. No. 969-48 Old Briar 858 Billiard

by Steve Laug

Not too long ago I received an email from a Andrew in Greece asking if I could work on some pipes for him. He had some that needed a stem and a couple of pipes with broken stems and a Canadian that had a crack down the back of the bowl and across the right side. We emailed back and forth and he sent me the following photos. I figured they would be some interesting pipes to work on so he sent them to me to work on. I received the box yesterday. When I opened it this morning I was amazed to see what he had sent. The Sandblast Canadian that needed restemming was stamped 264 Peterson’s Kapruf. The rest of the stamping was quite faint. The pipe needed to be restemmed and it had a small divot in the shank end and what looked like a crack. The second, a smooth Canadian was a BBB Ultonia 504 with a gold band. The two Sandblast with broken stems turned out to be Stanwells. The larger on is stamped Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 969-48. It is followed by the shape number 858 [over] Old Briar. The smaller one is stamped Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 969-48 followed by de Luxe followed by the shape number 87. The last of the five with the cracked bowl is an 8 Dot Sasieni [over] London Made [over] Pat. No. 1513428. It was also stamped “Amesbury”. They were going to be an interesting lot to work on.

The final pipe I had left to deal with was the larger Stanwell Old Briar 858 billiard next. It was in decent condition, probably the best of the lot. The stamping on the shank read Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 969-48 followed by Old Briar [over] the shape number 858. It was clear and readable. The sandblast finish was nice but dirty. The bowl had a light cake in it and there were spots of lava on the rim top and inner edge. The inner edge was in excellent condition with no damage. The interior of the shank was quite dirty. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of them bowl. The lava on the rim top was in the sandblast. The inner edge looked very good. I also took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the faint stamping that was present. It is faint in spots but is still readable.I turned to do a bit of research on the Stanwell Old Briar line first to Pipephil’s site and found a listing there with a photo of the stamping (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html). I included the sidebar information below the scan.Logo without crown. The “Regd. No.” stamping discontinued in late 1960s to very early 1970s.

I know that Pipedia has some great history (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell) on the brand so I turned there hoping to see the Old Briar. There were several examples of the Old Briar line shown on the site and references to it appearing in both a 1960s and 70s catalogue. I turned to an offsite catalogue from the 1970s and scrolled through until the page I am including below that show the Old Briar Line(https://files.homepagemodules.de/b169807/f122t2475p9130n1.pdf). It also states that the 800-899 shape numbers included the Sandblast De Luxe which includes the shape 858 Billiard that I am working on.I knew that the pipe I had in hand was pipe a robust Sandblast De Luxe 858 Billiard. With the Regd. No. on the shank, the pipe was made in the period between 1948 and 1960.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. I started my work on the pipe by reaming it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I cleaned the lava built up on the rim top with a brass bristle wire brush. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel to clean up the remaining bits. It looked much better after the clean up. I cleaned out the internals of the shank and bowl with pipe cleaners – regular and bristle and isopropyl alcohol. The pipe is very clean. I like it clean to make a better fit for new stem. I cleaned out the airway in the stem I had chosen with pipe cleaners and alcohol. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a shoe brush to work it into the sandblast. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I went through my stems and found one that was the right length and would need some slight adjusting to fit the diameter of the shank and the tenon.I used a Dremel and sanding drum along with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to shape and rework the stem and tenon to fit the shank end. Once I was finished with the reshaping of the stem I put it in the shank and took photos of the look of the stem.I sanded the stem with 320-1500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth to remove the sanding dust. It began to look very good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth. The stem began to take on a rich shine. This Stanwell Regd. No. 969-48 Old Briar Sandblast 858 Billiard with a new vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restemmed and restored. The beautiful sandblast on the briar shines through 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 Regd. No 969-48 Old Briar 858 Billiard fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 35 grams/1.23 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and the last of the five pipes that Andrew sent me. Once I am finished with it, the lot they will be heading back to Greece. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. On a lark, I slipped a thin brass band on the shank just to see what it would look like. I figured it would give it a great, distinguished look. It was not needed so it was solely for decorative purposes. I sent picture of the pipe with and without the band to Andrew and he liked it as much as I did. With that in mind, I glued the band in place on the shank and let cure. I took photos of it once it was finished.

Restoring and Restemming a Stanwell Regd. No. 969-48 deluxe 87 Billiard

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by Steve Laug

I chose to deal with the smaller Stanwell de Luxe 87 billiard next. It was in decent condition, probably the best of the lot. The stamping on the Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 969-48 followed by de Luxe followed by the shape number 87. It was clear and readable. The sandblast finish was nice but dirty. The bowl had a light cake in it and there were spots of lava in the sandblast on the rim top and inner edge. The inner edge was a little rough from previous reaming. The interior of the shank was quite dirty. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of them bowl. The lava on the rim top was in the sandblast. The inner edge looked very good. I also took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the faint stamping that was present. It is faint in spots but is still readable.I turned to do a bit of research on the Stanwell de Luxe line first to Pipephil’s site and found a listing there with a photo of the stamping (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-stanwell.html).I know that Pipedia has some great history (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell) on the brand so I turned there hoping to see the de Luxe. There were several examples of the de Luxe line shown on the site and references to it appearing in both a 1960s and 70s catalogue.

I turned to the article on designers and shape numbers to see if I could find data on the 87 Shape (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). I found that the shape had four versions of this shape number a) Large billiard, full mouthpiece, b) Large “Chimney”, full mouthpiece, c) Freehand, conical bowl, long saddle mouthpiece by Sixten Ivarsson. 87R. Same as 87(b).

I knew that the pipe I had in hand was pipe a) above – a Billiard and in this case small one. With the Regd. No. on the shank, the pipe was made in the period between 1948 and 1960. But I wanted to know more. I can find many examples of the de Luxe line online but no one explains the meaning of the term. Do any of you readers have any information on this quandary? Post a response and let us in on the information.

Now it was time to work on the pipe. I started my work on the pipe by reaming it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I scraped the lava built up on the rim top with the edge of the knife. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel to clean up the remaining bits. It looked much better after the clean up.I cleaned out the internals of the shank and bowl with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. The pipe is very clean. I like it clean to make a better fit for new stem. I cleaned out the airway in the stem I had chosen with pipe cleaners and alcohol.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a shoe brush to work it into the sandblast. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I went through my stems and found one that was the right length and would need some slight adjusting to fit the diameter of the shank and the tenon.I used a Dremel and sanding drum along with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to shape and rework the stem and tenon to fit the shank end. Once I was finished with the reshaping I took photos of the look of the stem.I sanded the stem with 320-1500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth to remove the sanding dust. It began to look very good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth. The stem began to take on a rich shine. This Sandblast Stanwell Regd. No. 969-48 de Luxe 87 Billiard with a new vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restemmed and restored. The beautiful sandblast on the briar shines through 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 Regd. No 969-48 de Luxe 87 Billiard fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: 5/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 22 grams/.78 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I will hold until I have finished working on the final pipe that Andrew sent me. Once I am finished with the lot they will be heading back to Greece. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Resurrecting a Shattered Patent Sasieni London Made “Amesbury” Canadian

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by Steve Laug

Not too long ago I received an email from a Andrew in Greece asking if I could work on some pipes for him. He had some that needed a stem and a couple of pipes with broken stems and a Canadian that had a crack down the back of the bowl and across the right side. We emailed back and forth and he sent me the following photos. I figured they would be some interesting pipes to work on so he sent them to me to work on. I received the box yesterday. When I opened it this morning I was amazed to see what he had sent. The Sandblast Canadian that needed restemming was stamped 264 Peterson’s Kapruf. The rest of the stamping was quite faint. The pipe needed to be restemmed and it had a small divot in the shank end and what looked like a crack. The second, a smooth Canadian was a BBB Ultonia 504 with a gold band. The two Sandblast with broken stems turned out to be Stanwells. The larger on is stamped Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 969-48. It is followed by the shape number 858 [over] Old Briar. The smaller one is stamped Stanwell [over] Regd. No. 969-48 followed by de Luxe followed by the shape number 87. The last of the five with the shattered bowl is an 8 Dot Sasieni [over] London Made [over] Pat. No. 1513428. It was also stamped “Amesbury”. They were going to be an interesting lot to work on.

I chose to deal with the cracked bowl on the 8 Dot Sasieni Canadian next. It was in badly damaged condition, questionably the worst in the lot. The stamping on the left topside of the shank was Made in England in a Rhombus shape near the bow and shank. That is followed by Sasieni in script with the flourish curling under the stamping [over] London Made [over] Pat. No. 1513428. On the right topside it was stamped “Amesbury”. It was faint in spots but still was readable. The cracks around the bowl went from the top right side down most of the bowl and curved around the backside and curved up to the top. There was also a crack that went from the vertical one across the right side of the bowl. The bowl was heavily caked and there were spots of lava on the rim top and inner edge. The inner edge was a little rough from previous reaming. The shank was solid and the stem was oxidized and had tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of them bowl. There was lava on the rim top, some darkening and several cracks on the rim top that matched those on the bowl sides. The inner edge was also damaged. The shank and the stem were also shown. The stem is oxidized, lightly calcified and had tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I also took a photo of the top underside of the shank to show the faint stamping that was present. It is faint in spots but is still readable as noted above.I took photos of the cracked bowl showing the damage around the sides and the rim top. They were deep cracks. My estimation was that they went all the way through to the inside of the bowl. Hard to know for sure because of the thick cake on the walls. Before I started my work on the pipe, I decided to do some work on the stamping of this pipe to get an idea of the time period it was carved. I turned first to Pipephil’s site to see what I could learn (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-sasieni4.html#doubleonedot). I found a pipe that was stamped the same way as the one I am working on. It is stamped on the left side of the shank like the third pipe in the screen capture photo below. Mine is stamped the same way with Sasieni in script with the fish tail. Underneath it is stamped London Made [over] Pat. No. 1513428). The one I have is stamped on the top right side and read “Amesbury” rather than “Wimbledon” stamp in the same place. I included the side bar notes below the picture. From that I knew that the pipe was made during Pre-transition Period 1927-1949.

I then turned to Pipedia for more detailed information (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Sasieni). I quote a section of that article below. It refers to the Patent Number that is on the pipe I have on the table. The underlined portion below is particular pertinent to this pipe.

To begin with, there are three main elements to dating the Sasieni pipe, the patent number, the style of the name “Sasieni” as it appears on the shank, and the Dots themselves. Naturally, there are exceptions to these rules (this hobby would be boring without them), but for the most part these guidelines apply better than 95% of the time. All Sasieni One, Four, and Eight Dot pipes made before W.W.II and destined for the U. S. market carried a patent number on the shank which usually started with the numbers “15″, with 150221/20 and 1513428 being representative of the group. Also, the name “Sasieni” was stamped on the shank in a very florid manner, with the tail of the last “i” sweeping underneath the name forming a shape which has been compared to a fish by more than one collector. This script was discontinued by Alfred almost immediately after he took over the company, so this alone tells you your pipe is pre W.W.II. Underneath in block lettering are the words “London Made”, with the patent number making the third line.

The dots will help you narrow this down further. As we mentioned, the short lived U. S. market One Dot was introduced around 1920, and was replaced by the early to mid 1920’s by the Four Dot. The 1920’s Four Dot is distinguishable by the florid Sasieni script, a patent number, and four blue dots, which are quite small compared to the pipes of post war years. Furthermore, by 1935 Sasieni began stamping pipes, based on the shape, with their own names, which were usually, but not always, English towns. For example, apples were stamped “Hurlingham”, bulldogs were “Grosvenor” or “Danzey”, and panels were “Lincoln”. One rare and interesting variation of this was the large bent, dubbed “Viscount Lascelles”. Even in this soft Sasieni market, these pipes regularly sell for $150 in their rare appearances in mailers.

The pipe I have is one that was made for the US market as established by the Patent Number on the shank. The flourished “i” confirms that the pipe was made Pre-transition, 1927 – 1935. The third line stamped is London Made in block lettering. With all that information I knew that this pipe was from the period before the transition so it was an old timer.

I reamed the bowl with a Pipe Net pipe reamer to carefully scrape out the cake that was present to get it back to bare briar. I had to be careful as the bowl was very fragile and could easily fall to pieces. Before I worked more on the bowl I wanted to repair the cracks in the bowl walls.I filled in the cracks around the bowl sides with clear CA glue to first stabilize the bowl sides and build a base. Once that was done I sanded the are smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. Once the repairs were flattened I filled in the gaps in the repaired cracks with briar dust and clear CA glue. I sanded the rim top and the repairs on the bowl sides with 320 grit sandpaper to smooth out the repairs to the briar. It looks much better but still needs sanding. Once I had smoothed out the repairs I cleaned up the reaming in the bowl. I scraped out the remaining cake in the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I then sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. It made the internal damage very clear.I sanded the bowl with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads blend them into the surface of the briar. They are very visible on the surface but they are solid and should hold up well. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I stained the briar with a dark brown aniline stain. I applied it with a dauber and flamed it to set it in the grain. I repeated the process to ensure a good coverage on the repaired briar. The coverage on the briar was spotty and showed the spots where I had done the repairs.I polished the briar with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded with each pad and then wiped the bowl down after each pad to remove the debris. It began to look rich and smooth. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips to work it into the finish. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I cleaned out the internals of the shank and bowl with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. The pipe is very clean. I like it clean to make a better fit for new stem. I cleaned out the airway in the stem I had chosen with pipe cleaners and alcohol.With the externals completed it was time to deal with the internal cracks matching those on the outside. I mixed a batch of JB Weld to repair the matching cracks on the inside walls of the bowl. I smooth out the repair with a dental spatula. Once it cured I smoothed out the repair with sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. I mixed a bowl coating charcoal powder and sour cream and coated the inside of the bowl with the coating to protect it while it developed a cake. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the tooth marks and nicks in the stem surface with Extra Strength Rubberized Black CA glue. I let it cure then used a flat file to recut the button edge and flatten the repairs in the surface. I sanded the repaired areas with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface. I sanded the stem with 320-1500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth to remove the sanding dust. It began to look very good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth. The stem began to take on a rich shine. This older Sasieni London Made Pat. No. 1513428 “Amesbury” Canadian with a vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The “Humpty Dumpty” repairs on this shattered do not hide the beautiful grain on the briar. It still shines through the polished finish and 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 Sasieni London Made Pat. No. 1513428 “Amesbury” Canadian 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 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 28 grams/.95 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I hold until I have finished working on the other two pipes that Andrew sent me. Once I am finished with the lot they will be heading back to Greece. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Repairing and Restemming a BBB Ultonia 504 Gold Banded Canadian

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by Steve Laug

I chose to deal with the BBB Ultonia 504 Gold Banded Canadian next. It was in decent condition, probably the best of the lot. The stamping on the topside of the shank was BBB in a diamond [over] Ultonia and on the underside was the shape number 504. It was clear and readable. The smooth finish was nice but dirty. The bowl had a light cake in it and there were spots of lava on the rim top and inner edge. The inner edge was a little rough from previous reaming. There was a nice looking gold band on the shank end that was decorative as I could find no cracks. The interior of the shank was quite dirty. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of them bowl. The lava on the rim top was spotty and had some darkening. The inner edge was also damaged. I also took a photo of the top underside of the shank to show the faint stamping that was present. It is faint in spots but is still readable.I turned to Pipephil’s site to see if it listed the Ultonia line (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-bbb.html). It did not but it gave a short summary of the brand. I quote:

BBB: ”Best British Briar” is now a brand of the Cadogan Company (Oppenheimer group). American rights to use the brand name were sold to Wally Frank in 1980. Founder of the brand in 1847: Louis Blumfeld. The oldest pipe brand name in the UK has been registered in 1876 (Blumfeld Best Briar) Grading (ascendant): Own Make, Bold Grain, Best Make, Rare Grain.

I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/BBB) to see if I could get some specific information on the Ultonia. I read through the history on the site and I quote the pertinent section of article below.

Louis Blumfeld develops from the very start of important international trade, with a particular success in Canada, in Australia, in Zealand News, India and in the extrème Is Europe, in Switzerland and, with a special mention, in Denmark. If the USA were never an extraordinary market, a branch is opened all the same in New York. In fact, the marketing strategy was focused especially on the countries of the Britanique Empire. Little before 1914, A Frankau & Co was also a sole agent for the pipes Cherry Wood of the Ropp house to cover the United Kingdom and its colonies.

If the BBB are its the most known pipes, A Frankau & Co had several marks of pipes: Capt. Kidd, Fairway (“F” in white; FAIRWAY/LONDON MADE/ENGLAND), Frankau’ S (London Made/Made in England), Glokar, Major Daff, the Snap-FIT. It also seems that Ultonia and Last Word must be regarded as marks with whole share, in spite of the fact that they are presented as being product lines under label BBB. That would explain their absence of catalogues BBB…

… In the Thirties, the top-of-the-range one becomes “BBB Best Make” with alternatives like “Super Stopping” and “Ultonia Thule”. The BBB Carlton, sold with the detail with 8/6 in 1938, is equipped with a system complicated out of metal, system which equipped the BBB London Dry too. Blue Peter was not estampillées BBB but BBB Ultonia, and the BBB Two Star (* *) become the bottom-of-the-range one. The calabash leaves the catalogues, but some pipes with case and some scums are still produced. The forms also are typical of this time: half are billiards, some princes and bullcaps, a limited number of bulldogs and curved. It is as at that time as the top-of-the-range series receive an incrustation of initials BBB out of metal, whereas the bottom-of-the-range series have only the engraved pipe.

I reamed the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and scraped out the cake that was present to get it back to bare briar. I sanded the walls of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel to smooth them out. The pipe began to look much better.I used a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and a wooden sphere to remove the damage on the rim top and the inner edge. I cleaned up the bevel on the inner edge and smoothed out the damage.I sanded the rim top and the bowl sides with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to remove the nicks and damage to the finish. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I polished the briar with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded with each pad and then wiped the bowl down after each pad to remove the debris. It began to look rich and smooth. I cleaned out the internals of the shank and bowl with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. The pipe is very clean. I like it clean to make a better fit for new stem. I cleaned out the airway in the stem I had chosen with pipe cleaners and alcohol.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a shoe brush to work it into the sandblast. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I polished gold band with a jeweller’s cloth to polish and protect it from oxidation. It is a great looking piece of bling. I went through my stems and found one that was the right length and would need some slight adjusting to fit the diameter of the shank and the tenon. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to shape and rework the stem and tenon to fit the shank end. Once I was finished with the reshaping of the stem I put it in the shank and took photos of the look of the stem.I sanded the stem with 320-1500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth to remove the sanding dust. It began to look very good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth. The stem began to take on a rich shine. This older BBB Ultonia 504 Gold Banded Canadian with a new vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful grain on the briar shines through 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 BBB Ultonia Canadian 504 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 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 31 grams/1.09 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I hold until I have finished working on the other three pipes that Andrew sent me. Once I am finished with the lot they will be heading back to Greece. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Repairing and Restemming a Peterson’s Kapruf 264 Canadian

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by Steve Laug

I chose to deal with the Peterson’s Kapruf 264 Canadian first. It was a worn and tired Canadian. The stamping on the underside of the shank was faint and worn. What was readable I included in the previous sentence. The sandblast was worn and dirty. The bowl had a light cake in it and there was an overflow of lava on the rim top and inner edge. The end of the shank had a divot out on the underside which when examined showed a thin hairline crack. The interior of the shank was quite dirty. I took a photo of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of them bowl. The lava in the sandblast rim top was quite thick and had some darkening. I also took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the faint stamping that was present. It is faint but is still readable.I reamed the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and scraped out the cake that was present to get it back to bare briar. I sanded the walls of the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel to smooth them out. The pipe began to look much better.I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with a tooth brush and some undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. I scrubbed the sandblast with the brush to clean out the dust and debris in the finish. I used a brass bristle wire brush to work over the rim top and knock off the grime and debris. I rinsed the soap and grime from the finish and it looked much better. I cleaned out the internals of the shank and bowl with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol. The pipe is very clean. I like it clean to make a better fit for the band and the new stem.Now it was time to address the crack in the underside of the shank. I found a nice older Sterling Silver Band that would fit the shank well. I worked glue into the crack and the length of the crack. I worked glue around the shank end as well. I pressed the Sterling Silver band on the shank end and wiped off the excess glue. I took photos of the shank with the fitted band. It worked very well. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a shoe brush to work it into the sandblast. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I went through my stems and found one that was the right length and would need some slight adjusting to fit the diameter of the shank and the tenon.I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to shape and rework the stem and tenon to fit the shank end. Once I was finished with the reshaping of the stem I put it in the shank and took photos of the look of the stem. I cleaned out the airway in the stem with pipe cleaners and isopropyl alcohol to remove the sanding debris and dust in the newly fitted stem. I sanded the stem with 320-1500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth to remove the sanding dust. It began to look very good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth. The stem began to take on a rich shine. I am excited to finish this Peterson’s “Kapruf” 264 Sandblast Canadian. I am really happy with how the bowl turned out when I consider the condition of the bowl and the cracked shank on the pipe. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the colours popping through the sandblast. Added to that the polished Sterling Silver Band and the black vulcanite taper stem was beautiful. This shapely Classic Peterson’s “Kapruf” 264 Canadian is nice looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 29grams/1.02oz. It is a beautiful pipe and one that I hold until I have finished working on the other four pipes that Andrew sent me. Once I am finished with the lot they will be heading back to Greece. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Restoring a Danish Pride by Ben Wade Hand Made in Denmark Freehand

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by Steve Laug

This particular mixed finish plateau, smooth and sandblast Freehand pipe was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is a beautiful, deeply sandblast Freehand with smooth nicely grained smooth patches. The stem is a fancy turned vulcanite saddle stem. The mixed finish bowl is stained with a contrast of browns that give depth to the sandblast and highlight the grain on the smooth patches. It is stamped on the underside of the shank on a smooth panel and reads Danish Pride [over] By [over] Ben Wade. Under that it is stamped Hand Made [over] In [over] Denmark. The bowl had a thick cake with an overflow of lava in plateau rim top – heavier toward the back of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish which left the look quite dull. The bent saddle stem has a Crown [over] BW stamped on the flat blade. It had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. He took photos of the rim top to show the condition of the top and edges of the bowl. It is dull and has the lava in the rusticated surface of the rim. It is uniquely a beautiful pipe. The stem had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the sandblast finish and smooth patches around the bowl and the condition of the pipe. You can see the grime ground into the surface of the briar. The black band inlaid on the shank is a great highlight in the briar of the shank. He took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. In a previous blog I had researched the brand quite a bit. I have included it below for information on this pipe (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/10/03/restoring-a-danish-pride-by-ben-wade-mixed-finish-handmade-freehand-sitter/). I quote:

I remembered that the Preben Holm pipes were marketed under the Ben Wade label in the US and imported through Lane Ltd. I turned to Pipedia and read the listing on the brand to refresh my memory and flesh out the knowledge of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Wade). I have included a photo from that site that was taken from a Tinderbox advertisement.I quote the portion of the article that summarizes the Danish period of the history of the brand:

Young Copenhagen master pipemaker Preben Holm had made a meteoric career heading a pipe manufacture employing 45 people at the age of 22! But around the turn of 1970/71 he was in major financial difficulties. His US distributor, Snug Harbour Ltd. in New York City, left him in the lurch. Holm had three unpaid invoices on his desk and another large shipment was ready for the USA, when Snug Harbour’s manager told him on the phone that there was no money at all on the account to pay him.

So the Dane went to New York for an almost desperate search for a new distribution partner. He made contacts with Lane Ltd. and met Herman G. Lane in February 1971. Lane Ltd. had no interest in Holm’s serial pipes produced at that time but so much the more in the hand-carved freehands because the hype for Danish freehands and fancies in the States was still on its way to the climax then. The meeting resulted in an agreement to start a cooperation. Lane insisted to improve the quality considerably and in return he assured to be able to sell essentially larger quantities.

Holm went back home to work on new samples with all-new designs and altered finishes for Lane. Both, Lane and Holm, agreed that it would be unwise to sell the pipes under Preben Holm’s name as long as Snug Harbour had a considerable stock of Preben Holm pipes and might sell them pipes at very low prices just to bring in some money.

So on Mr. Lane’s proposal it was determined to use the name Ben Wade belonging to Lane Ltd. Lane spent considerable amounts of money for advertising the new brand in the big magazines– the centerpiece being whole-page ads showing a very exclusive Seven Day’s Set.

The cooperation with Lane Ltd. proved to be an eminent business success for both partners. Within a very short time Ben Wade Handmade Denmark sold in much larger quantities and at higher prices than they had ever dreamed of. And the hype these freehands and fancy pipes caused went on unbroken long after Herman G. Lane deceased. Preben Holm – obviously much more brilliant in pipe making than in pipe business – was in major troubles again in 1986 and had to sack most of his staff. The Ben Wade production was significantly lowered but continued until his untimely death in June of 1989.

Up to now Preben Holm made Ben Wade pipes are cult and highly sought for on the estate markets.

With that information my initial thoughts were confirmed. This pipe was a Preben Holm made Freehand distributed in the US by Lane Ltd under the name Ben Wade. The freehand rage occurred in the late 70s and the pipes were made until Preben’s death in 1989. My guess would be that this pipe was made sometime during that time period and potentially in the late 70s.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the plateau rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. 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, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the remaining oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were and what needed to be addressed with both. The rim top and bowl look good. The stem looked better and the light tooth marks and chatter were still present. I would need to remove those to bring the stem back.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. You can see from the photo that it is faint in some spots but it is still readable. I removed the stem from the bowl and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe.The bowl was in such good condition after the clean up that I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the crevices of the plateau and sandblast portions. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2-inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil cloth.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. I am happy with the way that this Preben Holm Made Danish Pride by Ben Wade Freehand turned out. It really is a beautiful looking pipe with a great shape and mix of smooth and sandblast finishes around the bowl and shank. The rugged plateau on the rim top and shank end are beautiful. The fancy original vulcanite saddle stem works well with the reddish brown of the stained briar. The pipe really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown stains of the finish gave the pipe a sense of depth 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 multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Danish Pride by Ben Wade really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 7 inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches wide x 2 ¼ inches long, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 63 grams/2.26 ounces. The pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store in the Danish Pipe Makers Section if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

Rebirthing a Claude Romain Flair St. Claude France 2813 long shank apple

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by Steve Laug

This particular Claude Romain pipe was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is a beautiful long shank apple with flair of white and black slashed around the shank as can be seen in the photos below. The bowl is smooth and stained with a contrast of browns. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Claude Romain [over] Flair. On the right side of the shank it is stamped St. Claude [arched over] France [over] the shape number 2813. The bowl had a light cake on a recently cleaned bowl. It was not heavily smoked. There were some spots of lava overflow in the rim top – heavier toward the back of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish which left the look quite dull. The short vulcanite saddle stem has the White CR cursive logo stamped on the left side of the saddle. It was lightly oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. He took photos of the rim top to show the condition of the top and edges of the bowl. It is dull and has the lava spots on the surface of the rim. It is uniquely a beautiful pipe. The stem had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the finish and the grain around the bowl and the condition of the pipe. You can see the grime ground into the surface of the briar. The black and white slash on the shank is a great highlight in the briar of the long shank. He took photos of the stamping on the underside and the right side of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. He also took photos of the CR stamp on the left side of the saddle stem.Before I started working on the pipe, I turned to Pipephil’s site to see if I could learn anything about the Claude Romain Company and the Flair (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c5.html). There was no listing for the Flair but there was some helpful information. I did a screen capture of the pertinent section and have included the side bar information below the photo.Berrod-Regad group. Essentially produced for the German market

It appears that the pipe was made by the Berrod-Regad group in St. Claude, France to be sold in the German market.

I looked up the Claude Romain brand on Pipedia to see if I could gather further information on the company (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Romain). It confirms the connection to the Berrod-Regad Group and the focus of the German Market. I quote the brief article in full below.

Claude Romain is a second brand from Butz-Choquin. To elaborate…

(From Pipes, Artisans and Trademarks, by Jose Manuel Lopés’) Claude Romain is a French brand created in 1979 by the Berrod-Regad group for the German market. The name was from Romain (founder of the Condat region in the 5th century, which corresponds to Saint-Claude today) and Claude (a 7th century bishop who gave his name to the town Jura). Stamp Claude Romain, and Made in France. Symbol: CR

The additional information I gained was where the name came from and the connection to Butz-Choquin. I had no idea this was a Butz-Choquin second.

It was time to work on the pipe. As usual Jeff had done a thorough cleanup on the pipe. He cleaned up the reaming of the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. One of the benefits of this scrub is that it also tends to lift some of the scratches and nicks in the surface of the briar. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. The pipe looked good. I took a photo of the rim top and stem to show the condition. The finish on the rim top looked spotty. The vulcanite saddle stem had light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button and on the button edges. The stamping on the underside and left side of the shank is clear and readable as noted above. There was a stamp on the left side of the saddle was readable but the white in the stamp was gone. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. It is a nice-looking long shank apple and should clean up very well. I began my work on the pipe by addressing a shrunken fill on the backside of the bowl. I filled it in with clear superglue. Once it cured I sanded it smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I touch up the stain on the bowl with a Cherry stain pen and it blended into the surface of the bowl well.I blended the repair into the surrounding briar and polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – I dry sanded the briar with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the debris. It really took on a rich shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips to get into the wood. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I touched up the CR stamp on the left side of the saddle stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. Once it dried I removed the excess with a 1000 grit sanding pad. It looked good – a little faint at the top of the stamp but still very clean and readable.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. This nicely grained Claude Romain Flair 2813 Long Shank Apple with a flash of black and white acrylic mid shank is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The polished vulcanite saddle stem is in great condition. The briar is clean and really came alive. The rich brown with a black under stain gave the grain a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. The grain really popped. 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. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Claude Romain Flair 2813 Apple is a beauty and feels great 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 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight is 1.45 ounces/41 grams. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the French Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for following the blog on this restoration.

A Surprising Collaboration between Sasieni and Tinderbox –A Coventry by Sasieni M55

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by Steve Laug

My brother sent me this pipe that was stamped on the left side of the shank The Tinder Box [over] Coventry and on the right side it read by Sasieni and left of that was the rugby ball shaped COM stamping Made In England and to the right it is stamped with the shape number M55. It was stamped with a white -S- on the left side of saddle stem. The finish was dirty with grime ground into the surface. There was some great grain showing through the grime on the sides of the bowl and shank. The bowl had a thick cake with an overflow of lava on the rim top and the bevelled inner edge. The heel of the bowl and shank were flattened and the pipe worked well as a sitter. The military bit stem was oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe to show the condition of the pipe when we picked it up from the shop. Jeff took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and the lava on the rim top and inner edge. He also captured the condition of the stem showing the tooth chatter and oxidation. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain in the briar. It is a beautiful bowl. It is nice looking Military Bit Billiard and is eye catching. Have a look. The next photos Jeff took show the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above.I have worked on Sasieni Coventry pipes in the past but never on one that was stamped on the left, The Tinder Box Coventry and on the other side By Sasieni and Made in England before. It was a new one to me. So I did a little searching.

On one of the online forums I found a clue that the Sasieni had worked with The Tinder Bbox. There was a link mentioned in the 1979 Tinderbox catalogue that had the following quotation regarding the line called the Ivory. “Made to our specifications by Albert Sasieni of London. The Sasieni Ivory is a Tinder Box exclusive.” The mention of the name Albert Sasieni I believe is an error as the company was run by Alfred Sasieni.

I knew from the link that Sasieni and the Tinder Box were linked in 1979, the end of the family era. The collaboration between Tinderbox and Sasieni was established in that catalogue. It referred to the Ivory made by Sasieni was like the Unique made by Charatan’s. Both were special orders by Tinder Box from those pipe companies. I have included a copy of the page in the 1979 catalogue.I also found a Sasieni Shape Chart online and copied the page that had the 55 shape listed. The 55 is called a Buckingham. I knew that I was working on a Sasieni/The Tinder Box collaboration pipe that was probably made in the 1970s. The name Coventry by Sasieni and The Tinder Box stamp clearly link the two companies.

My brother did a great job of cleaning up the pipe. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and finished the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed it under running water. He was able to remove the wax and oils on the surface of the bowl and leave the briar pretty bare. The rim top and bevelled inner edge looked very good. He cleaned out the mortise and airway in the shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs, shank brushes and alcohol. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the stem. He rinsed it with warm water to remove the deoxidizer from the stem. I took the next photos of the pipe before I started working on it. I took close up photos of the rim and the stem to show the beauty of the rim top post clean up. The bevelled inner edge was also in excellent condition. The stem closeup photos of surface show that it is in good condition and had light oxidation.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and the -S- logo on the left side of the saddle stem. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe. I turned to work on the pipe itself. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – I dry sanded the briar with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the debris. It really took on a rich shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips to get into the wood. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. It began to take on a rich shine.I touched up the -S- stamp on the left side of the saddle stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. Once it dried I removed the excess with a 1000 grit sanding pad. It looked good – a little faint at the top of the stamp but still very clean and readable.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. The Tinder Box Coventry by Sasieni M55 Billiard with a vulcanite military saddle stem turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain around the bowl sides and bottom. The rim top and bevelled edges look very good. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition. I put the stem back on the shank and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and 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 The Tinder Box Coventry by Sasieni M55 is very nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 45 grams/1.59 ounces. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store, in the British Pipe Makers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time.

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 an Interesting Cigar Style Sequoia House California Horn

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe I am working on is an interesting Cigar Style or Zeppelin style horn shaped pipe. We picked it up from a seller in Delafield, Wisconsin, USA on 01/28/2026. It has a hard rubber stem and a briar shank/bowl that holds the tobacco and a screw cap on the end with five airholes in the front of the bowl. The finish is smooth with rusticated patches around the bowl and the screw lid on the end. The rustication is similar to what I have found on Custom-bilt pipes. This one had a lot of fills in the rusticated areas. These areas were darker in colour than the smooth finish. The shank end cover unscrews from the wooden threads on the bowl. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the bowl and reads Sequoia House {over] California. The bowl had a light cake in it and some darkening on the inside of the cover and bowl internals. He took photos of the five-hole cap on the bowl cap. It is cleanly drilled and open. He removed the bow cap and took a photo of the bowl and cap separated. You can see the debris in the bowl and the darkening on the inside of the rim cap. There is a light cake in the bowl. He captured the condition of the stem. It is quite clean – light tooth chatter on both sides. He took a photo of the side of the bowl and cap to show the rustication on the surface of the briar. You can see the putty in the fills on the bowl sides. He captured the stamping on the left side of the shank. It reads as noted above. The stamping is faint in spots but is still readable as noted above.There was nothing on Pipephil’s site or on Pipedia about the brand so I did a general search on Google for the Sequoia House California brand. I was able to find a listing and map for a pipe shop in Fresno, California call Sequoia Smoke Shop on 6060 N. First St. I am including the link to the map and the information on the site (https://www.smokeguideusa.com/shop/sequoia-smoke-shop-fresno-ca).

At the top of the search AI had gather information on the brand and the shop. Click on the “information” link above. I have included the information below.

Sequoia House

smoking pipes were made by Cy Pruner, who operated Cy Pruner’s Sequoia Pipe Shop in Los Angeles, California.

Based on historical advertisements from the late 1940s, here are the key details regarding Sequoia House pipes:

Maker: Cy Pruner

Location: The shop was located in the Farmer’s Market at 3rd & Fairfax in Los Angeles, California.

Product Details:

Handmade Pipes: Sequoia House pipes were marketed as “Hand Made Pipes”.

Materials: They were crafted using “Choice Aged Imported Blocks”.

DIY Options: The shop also sold these imported blocks for “Home Craftsmen” to make their own pipes.

Related Products: Cy Pruner also produced a companion tobacco line known as Sequoia No. 3 Tobacco, which was noted for its “Natural Aroma”.

There was also a link in the summary to Pipe Lovers Magazine and I went through it and found a reference to Sequoia House – including both the pipes and tobaccos that were available on the site. The advertising is from the 1940s so that fits with what I am estimating on the age of the pipe in hand. I have included the advertisement below for your reference. Here is the link to Pipe Lovers Magazine (https://pipedia.org/images/f/f1/PipeLovers-Feb48smaller-file.pdf). Now it was time to work on the pipe. Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the plateau rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. 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, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the remaining oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim cap to show both how clean they were. The rim cap and bowl look good. The stem was probably hard rubber and it has light chatter in the surface but it is clean.I took a photo of the stamping on the side of the shank on the left side of the briar ahead of the stem. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe. I took a photo of the threads around end of the pipe with the cap removed. The threads are in great conditon. You can also see the putty in the rusticated patterns on the bowl sides. It is a unique looking pipe.I used a Black Sharpie Pen to touch up the putty fills in the rusticated portions on the pipe. It blended in quite well.I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I carefully worked around the stamping on the shank side. I wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. The sanding blended the black stain on the rustication into the surface and they looked very good. I polished the rim cap and bowl sides with micromesh sanding pads – I dry sanded the briar with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the debris. It really took on a rich shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the rusticated portions. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to remove the tooth chatter and the marks in the stem surface. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil soaked cloth. It began to look very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. This Sequoia House California Horn with a hard rubber taper stem turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain and the dark rustications around the bowl worked well with the smooth taper stem. The flat rim cap and bowl look very good. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition. I put the stem back on the shank and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and 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 Sequoia House California Horn is unique and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 44 grams/1.55 ounces. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store, in the American Pipe Makers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time.

Resurrection of a Calich Hand Made 7 Rusticated Billiard

2 Replies

by Steve Laug

JOHN CALICH

The next pipe on the work table is a pipe I purchased from a seller in Ontario, Canada. Whenever I see a pipe by John Calich I purchase it regardless of the condition. This one is a very damaged, though once beautiful rusticated Billiard. It has rustication around the bowl and shank and a smooth rim top, band around the top edge and band on the shank end. It has a taper vulcanite stem with a single silver dot on the topside. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Calich [over] Hand Made followed by the number 7.

Before I give my assessment on the pipe and started working on it, I did a bit of reading about the brand to refresh what I knew of the maker. I turned to Pipephil’s site first to see his information (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c1.html). I did a screen capture of the information on the site. I did a screen capture of the pertinent information and have included it below. I quote the side bar: Artisan: John Calich († 2008) Early grading: 3 – 14. By the late 1980’s Calich introduced 15,16, and even one 17. In the mid-90’s the grade system changed employing a number of E’s. Last gradings: 3E – 7E (10E was the top level but levels exceeding 7E or 8E never have been used) Production (2005): 200-500 pipes/year.

That information confirmed that the pipe I was working on was an early one as noted by its early grading – Grades 3-14. This pipe was a Grade 7. It was made prior to mid 1990s when a new grading system was introduced

I then turned to Pipedia and read the article on the Calich brand to remind myself of the maker (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Calich). I have included it in full below.

John Calich was one of Canada’s finest carvers. He died in July 2008.

John was a full time pipe maker for the last 40 years. Calich pipes were mostly traditional shapes. His signature style is rustication and smooth on the same pipe along with his unique skill to stain a pipe in contrasting colors. He used only top quality Grecian and Calabrian briar. The mouthpieces are hand finished Vulcanite “A”. Each pipe was entirely made by hand. John Calich was featured in the summer 2005 issue of Pipes & Tobacco.

The pipe was in rough condition. I am including the photos that the seller sent to me before I purchased it. The finish was filthy with a lot of tarry debris worked into the rustication. It had hardened and it would take work to get it our of the finish. The smooth portions were darkened and the grain was not visible under the grime. The rim top was a disaster. It was no long flat and looking at it from various angles. There was a large chunk out of the left outer rim top and edge. The front outer edge was burned and the inner edge was also burned and out of round. The distance from the rim top down the smooth ring around the top of the bowl was completely uneven – tall in spots and very low in other spots. The stem was oxidized and had some light tooth marks in the surface. The silver dot on the stem top was oxidized and blackened as well. The seller included some closer photos of the rim top to show the damage I mentioned above. It was in rough shape. The bowl gives the feeling that is a Dublin however, it is not. It is a well proportioned Billiard. The damage to the rim top is clear in the photo but when it arrived it was worse in some ways and better in others. The stamping on the underside of the shank is clear and readable as noted above.When the pipe arrived I took some better photos to try and capture the damaged rim top and edges as well as the dirty rustication on the heel of the bowl. It was going to take a bunch of work but I think there is still the bones of a beautiful pipe under the dirt and damage. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the damage. It really is a mess. You can see the burned areas aorund the front and left side outer edge. You can also see the missing chunk on the left back outer edge of the bowl. It is out of round both on the inner and outer edges. It is heavily damaged. The stem is badly oxidized but the tooth marks and chatter are minimal and surface.I took photos of the sides of the bowl to give a sense of the damage to the rim top and the varying heights of the rim top caused by some aggressive sanding. I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of shank on the smooth panel of the rusticated shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. Where to start with this mess? The rim top really bugs me so I decided to start there first. Once that was flattened and shaped then I could do other work. I used my Dremel and sanding drum to flatten out the rim top. It took some work to bring the sides and top down to match. For me the damage was such that it took a lot of sanding with the drum to get it close to flat. To smooth out sanding and flatten the rim top more I used a topping board and a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. Once I had it flattened a bit I worked on the inner edge and top with a half wooden sphere and a piece of 220 grit sandpaper. It began to look much better.I reamed the bowl and tried to smooth out the walls of the bowl. I started with a PipNet pipe reamer and used the second and third cutting head. I scraped out the remaining cake with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife. I sanded the bowl walls with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. I was able smooth out a lot of the damage on the walls. I cleaned out the inside of the pipe – the shank, airway in the mortise and the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was quite dirty.I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with a tooth brush, a brass bristle wire brush and some undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the hard tars and grime in the rusticated finish on the bowl. I scrubbed it and rinse it with warm water and repeated the process. It looked much better. I dried it off with a soft cloth and hand buffed it. The finish definitely looked better. I would need to darken the stain on the rusticated portion to match the look of the similar pipe I saw on Pipephil’s site, but it was definitely and improvement. The rim top was smooth and symmetrical and the rustication was very clean. With it clean it was ready to restain the rusticated portion of the bowl and shank. I used a dark brown stain and applied t with a dauber. I flamed it with a Bic lighter to set it in the grain. It certainly looked much better. I wiped the bowl down with alcohol on cotton pads to make the stain coat more transparent. The smooth portions revealed the grain and the rustication showed depth and colour. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the oxidation on the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a cloth impregnated with Obsidian Oil. The stem began to take on a shine.I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. It was in great condition after the cleanup so I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. This restored Calich Hand Made 7 Rusticated Billiard turned out to be a nice looking pipe. The rich medium brown stain on the pipe worked really well with the polished vulcanite fancy stem. 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 stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel keeping a light touch on the buffing wheel for the bowl. I 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 Calich Hand Made 7 Billiard is shaped to sit comfortably in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.38 ounces/39 grams. Now that it is cleaned up it is time to load it up and enjoy a bowl. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.

Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. 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.