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What a Tired and Worn Pair of Cased 1919 Charles Mass Pipes – Part 2: An Exhausted Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

This restoration is Part 2 of one that started with an email from a reader of the blog name Tim. He had written the following email to me with a request. I have included that email below.

Hello Steve, I have a cased set of 1919 Charles Maas pipes that have been smoked hard and put away wet. Can I send them to you to have them restored? I’m a huge fan of your work and use your site often as inspiration, but these are outside my ability. – Tim

I finished the restoration of the Bulldog first and have written about the work on the blog already. Here is the link (https://rebornpipes.com/2021/05/30/what-a-tired-and-worn-pair-of-cased-1919-charles-mass-pipes-part-1-a-weary-bulldog/).

I am including the photos that Tim Sent me so you can see them if you have not read Part 1 of the blog on the Bulldog. Tim’s package arrived on Thursday and when I got home from work I opened it to have a look at the pipes first hand. I took the case out of the well packed box and this is what I saw. The case was suede with a fine leather edge around the sides. There was a thin gold line around the case edges. When I opened it I saw Tim’s 1919 label and the two pipes. There was a gold banded Bulldog and a nice stubby billiard. Both were nicely carved bowls and both had been heavily used and worn.

I sent Tim the following list summarizing the damages on the Billiard (a similar list is on the blog about the Bulldog). There is a lot of work to do to bring these back to life.

The billiard:
1. The rim top is badly damaged leaving the top uneven and thicker/taller toward the back of the bowl and more damaged than even the Bulldog.
2. The inner edge of the bowl is thicker than the bulldog but still thinner on the front side than the rest of the bowl. It is still thick enough.
3. The outer edge is chipped and uneven on the bowl front showing some burn marks.
4. The finish is worn and damaged with paint marks on the surface.
5. The bowl is slightly out of round with chips and marks on the inner edge
6. The stem has deep compressions from tooth marks on both sides at the button.                        7. The inside of the bowl is badly checked and will need to examined for integrity.

Both pipes had been reamed and they were quite clean inside. It appeared that previous earlier reaming somewhere along the way had left the inner edge chipped and damaged. That is the assessment of the Billiard and it is clear from the list that there is a lot of work to do on it.

For background on the Charles Maas brand read the previous blog to get a clear idea of the history of the company. I will not include it again at this point. Here is another copy of the link for ease of reference (https://rebornpipes.com/2021/05/30/what-a-tired-and-worn-pair-of-cased-1919-charles-mass-pipes-part-1-a-weary-bulldog/).

It was time to work on the second pipe – the Billiard. It was surprisingly clean. The bowl had been reamed and the airways cleaned. (I later found out that Tim had done the clean up for me. Thanks Tim!)There was no stamping on the shank of the pipe. There was no gold band to identify it as a Charles Maas pipe like the one on the Bulldog. However it was obvious that the case was custom fitted to this little Billiard so that is proof enough for me. I took some photos of the pipe before I began, to catalogue what I saw before I started. I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem surfaces. You can see the chipping and damage to the top and inner edges of the bowl. The top is significantly lower on the front of the bowl with burn marks and charring to the top and front of the bowl. The stem shows some deep tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button.I took some photos of the rim from various angles to show the serious damage to the bowl top and edges. It really is a mess and will be an interesting challenge to rebuild.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the left side of the pipe as it really gave a good picture of what the pipe must have looked like when new.I decided to start work on this pipe by addressing the damaged rim top and edges. I built up the front edge of the bowl with briar dust and clear CA glue. My goal was to bring it up as close as possible to the height of the bowl on the left side. It took a bit of layering to get there. I also filled in the damage on the front outer edge of the bowl at the same time. Once I had the height as even as possible I would top the bowl on a topping board with 180 grit sandpaper to smooth out the rim top.Once I had it close to even I topped it on a topping board with 180 grit sandpaper. I took a few photos of the front and sides of the bowl to show what the repair looked like at this point in the process. There is still work to do but it is definitely getting there. I sanded the repair on the front of the bowl a bit as well. Much work to do! I worked over the top and edges of the bowl – both inner and outer edges, with 220 grit sandpaper to capture the original shape as much as possible. You can see the repaired areas on the rim top and edges from the photos below. I am pretty pleased with the overall appearance of the cap and top at this point in the process. The repairs are very clear at this point. I still had work to do on the rim top and outer edges but I also wanted to work on the inner edge. I repaired the damage there with the super glue and briar dust as well. I was not looking to build it up too much but to take care of the deep cuts and gouges on the left front of the edge. I sanded the repair with 180 and 220 grit sandpaper and I was happy with what I was seeing at this point in the process. I worked some more on the inner edge of the bowl with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I wanted to smooth out the inside of the bowl and the inner edges of the rim.I decided to give the repaired edge and top a quick coat of Walnut stain to see what it looked like. I find that doing this often shows flaws that need to be addressed in the repair and makes it easier to see where I am with the top and edges. I started the polishing process with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded with the pads in preparation for restaining the bowl. After each pad I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth. My goal was to remove the scratching left behind by the repairs to the rim top and cap. I was able to remove them. Once it was smooth the briar was ready for staining. I stained it with a Feibing’s Light Brown aniline stain. I applied it and flamed it with a lighter to set it in the grain. I repeated the process until the coverage of the briar was good. I set it aside to let the stain cure.I buffed pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to remove the crusty coat of stain. I then polished it with the remaining micromesh pads -3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar of the bowl with my finger tips. 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 to work on the stem. I “painted” the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to try to lift the tooth marks in the surface on both sides. I was able to lift it some but not completely. I filled in the remaining dents with clear CA glue and set it aside to cure. Once they cured I used a small file to recut the button edge and flatten the repairs to blend them into the surface. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining oxidation on the saddle and also to further blend in the repairs. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing the surface with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I gave the stem a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry. I am really happy with the way that the rebuild of the rim and cap worked on on this Charles Maas Billiard (the second of two in a cased set). It really is a great looking pipe with lots of character. The old style hard rubber mouthpiece really look good with the brown of the briar. The grain really came alive with the buffing and a sense of depth came out 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. 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 Charles Maas Billiard 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: 4 ¼ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 27 grams/.95 oz. The pipe will be going back to Tim with the Bulldog that I have finished. I think this little cased set is a real beauty.Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

What a Tired and Worn Pair of Cased 1919 Charles Mass Pipes – Part 1: A Weary Bulldog

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Blog by Steve Laug

This restoration started with an email from a reader of the blog name Tim. He had written the following email to me with a request. I have included that email below.

Hello Steve, I have a cased set of 1919 Charles Maas pipes that have been smoked hard and put away wet. Can I send them to you to have them restored? I’m a huge fan of your work and use your site often as inspiration, but these are outside my ability. – Tim

The first thing that caught me was the age of the pipes. I am a real sucker for old briar. The next thing that grabbed my attention was the brand – Charles Maas. That is a brand that I have not worked on and not heard of and it is English! The third thing that grabbed my attention was that they were a cased pair – which can often mean matching briar. All of those things conspired against my resolve to not add more work to the queue right now because of the demands of my day job and my own large number of restorations awaiting attention. I wrote him back and asked for pictures of the pipes to see if that would save me or draw me in further. Tim responded with photos and the magic words – I am not in a hurry!

Hi Steve, Here are the pictures.  I’m not in a hurry.  

I looked through the photos and assessed what needed to be done and took the plunge. I had Tim mail them to me. I was hooked and completely drawn into the project.Tim’s package arrived on Thursday and when I got home from work I opened it to have a look at the pipes first hand. I took the case out of the well packed box and this is what I saw. The case was suede with a fine leather edge around the sides. There was a thin gold line around the case edges. When I opened it I saw Tim’s 1919 label and the two pipes. There was a gold banded Bulldog and a nice stubby billiard. Both were nicely carved bowls and both had been heavily used and worn.I took the pipes out of the case and took pictures after I examined each of them to assess what needed to be done. They really are a classic set that should look great once finished. I made the following list summarizing the damages on the pipes and sent it to Tim. There is a lot of work to do to bring these back to life.

The Bulldog:
1. The rim top is badly damaged leaving the top uneven and thicker/taller toward the back of the bowl.
2. The inner edge of the bowl is quite thin on the front side from burning and over  reaming of the bowl.
3. The outer edge is chipped and uneven on the bowl front.
4. The finish is worn and damaged with signs of burn darkening all around the rim cap.
5. The band has a ragged edge on the top, rear corner of the diamond shaped band.
6. The stem has deep compressions from tooth marks on both sides at the button
7. The inside of the bowl has some checking but they are not as deep as those on the billiard.

The billiard:
1. The rim top is badly damaged leaving the top uneven and thicker/taller toward the back of the bowl and more damaged than even the Bulldog.
2. The inner edge of the bowl is thicker than the bulldog but still thinner on the front side than the rest of the bowl. It is still thick enough.
3. The outer edge is chipped and uneven on the bowl front showing some burn marks.
4. The finish is worn and damaged with paint marks on the surface.
5. The bowl is slightly out of round with chips and marks on the inner edge
6. The stem has deep compressions from tooth marks on both sides at the button.                        7. The inside of the bowl is badly checked and will need to examined for integrity.

Both pipes have been heavily reamed and they were quite clean inside. It appeared that previous earlier reaming somewhere along the way had left the inner edge chipped and damaged. That is the assessment of both bowls and it is clear from the list that there is a lot of work to do on both of them.

It was time to work on the pipes. I chose to deal with the Bulldog first (Part 1). If you were to ask me why I actually have no idea even though it is first above. I took some photos of the pipe before I began, to catalogue what I saw before I started. It was surprisingly clean. The bowl had been reamed and the airways cleaned. There was no stamping on the shank of the pipe. The gold band had hallmarks on it that Tim had said led him to the 1919 date for the pipes. The hallmarks are CM in an oval which is the mark for Charles Maas. To the right of that is a “6” in s diamond followed by 375 which is the mark for 37.5% or 9 carat gold. That is followed by a “d” and another mark that could be a lion’s head which indeed identifies the pipe as London Made and “d” identifies it as a 1919 pipe.

I turned to an English silver and gold hallmark guide to see if I could find information on the maker CM (http://www.silvercollection.it/ENGLAMAAS.html). Sure enough it was very clear that the CM in and oval linked to Charles Maas. I have included the information from the site on the brand.

Charles Leopold Maas was active in London from 1883 at 13 Jewin Crescent, EC as manufacturer and importer of smokers’ pipes of various types, including “recherché” and “meerschaum”.

The firm entered various silver hallmarks as pipes were often silver-mounted as were manufactured in precious metal many of its smokers’ accessories and walking sticks.

In 1890 (London) and 1910 (Chester) Charles Maas entered a conjoined hallmark with Marcus Maas (manager).

In 1910 the firm removed to 1A Aldermanbury Avenue. Interesting to note that from 1891 the firm used a hallmark “CM surmounted by a crown” to characterize its “Unsurpassed quality Corona Mounts”. The punches with the crown were cancelled on request of Charles Maas having the Sheffield Assay Office written on 28 February 1896 that the crown represents their hallmark and is objectionable. The firm was converted into a limited liability company in c. 1915. I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem surfaces. You can see the chipping and damage to the top and inner edges of the bowl. The left side is thin toward the front of the bowl. The stem shows some deep tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the left side of the pipe as it really gave a good picture of what the pipe must have looked like when new.I decided to start work on this pipe by addressing the damaged rim top and edges. I built up the front edge of the bowl with briar dust and clear CA glue. My goal was to bring it up as close as possible to the height of the bowl on the left side. It took a bit of layering to get there. I also filled in the damage on the front outer edge of the bowl at the same time. Once I had the height as even as possible I topped the bowl on a topping board with 180 grit sandpaper.Once I had it topped I took a few photos to show what it looked like at this point in the process. There is still work to do but it is definitely getting there. I sanded the repair on the front of the bowl a bit as well. Much work to do!I worked over the shape of the rim cap and rim top with 220 grit sandpaper and small files to capture the original shape as much as possible. You can see the build up on the rim top and edges from the photos below. I am pretty pleased with the overall appearance of the cap and top at this point in the process. The repairs are very clear at this point.I still had work to do on the rim top and cap but I also wanted to work on the inner edge. I repaired the damage there with the super glue and briar dust as well. I was not looking to build it up too much but to take care of the deep cuts and gouges on the left front of the edge. I sanded the repair with 180 and 220 grit sandpaper and I was happy with what I was seeing at this point in the process.I decided to give the repaired edge and top a quick coat of Walnut stain to see what it looked like. I find that doing this often shows flaws that need to be addressed in the repair and makes it easier to see where I am with the top and edges. There was still a long way to go to get it the way I wanted but it was truly beginning to take shape. I used a knife blade small file to clean up the twin rings around the repair on the front of the bowl. I started the polishing process with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded with the pads in preparation for restaining the bowl. After each pad I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth. My goal was to remove the scratching left behind by the repairs to the rim top and cap. I was able to remove them.Once it was smooth the briar was ready for staining. I stained it with a Feibing’s Light Brown aniline stain. I applied it and flamed it with a lighter to set it in the grain. I repeated the process until the coverage of the briar was good.I buffed pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to remove the crusty coat of stain. I then polished it with the remaining micromesh pads -3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar of the bowl with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to work it into the grooves around the bowl cap. 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 to work on the stem. I “painted” the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to try to lift the tooth marks in the surface on both sides. I was able to lift it some but not completely. I filled in the remaining dents with clear CA glue and set it aside to cure. Once they cured I used a small file to recut the button edge and flatten the repairs to blend them into the surface. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the remaining oxidation on the saddle and also to further blend in the repairs. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing the surface with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I gave the stem a final coat of Obsidian Oil and let it dry. I am really happy with the way that the rebuild of the rim and cap worked on on this Charles Maas Bulldog (the first of two in a cased set) turned out. It really is a great looking pipe with lots of character. The old style hard rubber mouthpiece and the gold band really look good with the brown of the briar. The grain really came alive with the buffing and a sense of depth came out 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. 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 Charles Maas Bulldog 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: 4 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 23 grams/.81 oz. The pipe will be going back to Tim once I have finished the little billiard. I think this little cased set is a real beauty.Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

Bringing Back To Life an “Orlik De Luxe # LD 33”

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

Re-Cap…
While surfing eBay for estate pipe lots, I came across a job lot that contained four estate pipes. The seller had not included any description for the item other than a simple statement that read “The lot is being sold as is. Pictures are part of description” or words to that effect. The worst part was that there were only two pictures that were posted by the seller!! Here are the pictures. I could make out one Orlik with dental stem, a Hardcastle Bulldog, one Comoy’s Lovat, and the last one was unidentifiable but appeared to be fitted with a horn stem. The pipes appeared to be in a decent condition and included some nice brand names. Soon the pipes reached Abha at my home town.

I have restored two pipes from this lot; the first one was the pipe with the horn stem and it turned out to be a gem from an old and reputable maker “Salmon (Barnett) & Gluckstein” from the period 1894 (guesstimated) and the other pipe I refurbished was the Hardcastle “DRAWEL”. Here are the links to both the write ups that were posted on rebornpipes.

Refurbishing an 1894 (?) Hallmarked “S & G” Square Shank Bent Billiard With a Horn Stem | rebornpipes

Refurbishing A Hardcastle’s “Drawal” # 27 | rebornpipes

Returning To The Present…
The 3rd pipe that I selected to work on from this lot is the Orlik Deluxe and is indicated with yellow arrow.The pipe is a classic straight Apple with a saddle vulcanite dental stem and a push-fit tenon. It is a medium sized pipe that oozes good quality and one that is light weight. The pipe has some fantastic mix of flame grains and bird’s eye to boast around the stummel surface and is without a single fill. The briar used to carve this pipe is of decent quality and the construction and finish of the stummel and mouthpiece feels top notch too. It is stamped on the left side of the shank as “ORLIK DE LUXE” in a straight line in capital letters over “LONDON MADE” also in capital letters. The right shank panel bears the shape code # LD 33 in the centre. The high quality saddle stem bears the trademark logo “O” atop the saddle as a brass inlay. The stampings are crisp and easily readable and shown below. I had repaired the broken meerschaum lining (my first) on an Orlik, Meerschaum lined bent billiards and had read about the marquee. I remembered the brand to be British that was taken over by Cadogan group in the 1980s. To refresh my memory, I visited pipedia.org. I have reproduced the snippets of relevant information for easy referencing of the esteemed readers.

Orlik – Pipedia

In 1899, a pipe manufacturer was founded in London, Bond Street, by Louis Orlik. L. Orlik Ltd. started to produce high quality pipes for a relatively low price but high service and soon became quite popular. By 1907 they used the name L & A Orlik, which apparently added Louis’s brother, Alfred to the company name. In the first quarter of 1900 they also established in Birmingham. This can be verified by silver hallmarks. In 1980 the company was acquired by Cadogan. Like many of London’s other pipe manufacturers they moved to a new built factory in Southend-on-Sea. As all current brands in the Cadogan group, Orlik was being produced in those factories.

Orlik used the slogan “Smoked by all shrewd judges” “(who are also loved by his hard judge)” with a portrait of a judge wearing a wig. The picture is still used in Denmark for manufacturing of Orlik cigarettes.

An onsite link leads to a detailed and well researched article on Dating Orlik pipes by Michael Lankton and excerpts from the article Talk:Orlik – Pipedia. Give it a read for the details.

  • De Luxe(L)(LX) – molded stems inferior blocks brown finish, lesser grain, some have hand cut stems and some have molded stems, could perhaps depend on date of manufacture with earlier pipes having hand cut stems

The Orlik series proper will be stamped in all caps in a sans serif font on the port side of the shank one of two ways

ORLIK SERIES_NAME
MADE IN ENGLAND

or

ORLIK SERIES_NAME
LONDON MADE

The starboard side of the shank is stamped simply with the series letter and shape number, except on pipes stamped London Made on the port side, in which case in addition to the series letter and shape number Made in England is stamped in a straight line.

Orlik Pipes Shapes Catalog courtesy Yuriy Novikov (link provided below), is a neat catalog that describes the shape 33 as “MEDIUM APPLE”

Orlik_Pipe_Shapes.pdf (pipedia.org)

Thus from the above information and observing the pipe in my hand, it can be safely concluded that this Orlik De luxe # LD 33 is a lower placed series pipe with a molded stem. It is from the pre Cadogan period, that is 1950s to 1970s and that makes it a fairly collectible piece. It is my educated guess that the “D” in LD stands for Dental stem that is seen on this pipe.

Personally speaking, I am in complete agreement with Mr. Michael Lankton when he says that the early Orlik pipes were similar in quality to Dunhill, Loewe, Barling and Comoy’s based on the quality of the pipe that is currently on my work table. Even though this pipe is from the De Luxe series of Orlik, it is anything but of lesser quality!! The briar has some great straight grains on the sides of the stummel and is sans any fills. The pipe feels solid in the hand and the craftsmanship is perfect.

Armed with the information about the provenance of the pipe on my worktable, it was time for me to start the refurbishing of this pipe.

Initial Visual Inspection
This pipe has the classic straight Apple shape with a medium sized bowl. The stummel boasts of some beautiful flame grains on the left side and swirls on the right. The shank is adorned with beautiful straight grains traversing from the shank end towards the bowl. The stummel surface is covered in dirt and grime of the overflowed lava, hiding the fantastic grain patterns over the stummel surface. There is not a single fill in the briar which speaks of high quality selection of the briar. There is a thick layer of cake in the chamber. The saddle vulcanite dental stem is oxidized with tooth chatter and calcium depositions on either surface in the bite zone. The stem does not seat flush with the shank face. The set of pictures below show the condition of the pipe when it had reached us. Detailed Inspection Of The Pipe And Observations
The chamber has an even layer of thick hard cake. The smooth rim top surface is covered in lava overflow, dirt and grime from previous usage. The outer rim edge has suffered a few blows on a hard surface resulting in a few chipped edged surfaces in 12 o’clock direction (encircled in green). The inner edge appears to be charred in 11 o’clock direction with a chipped surface in 5 o’ clock direction (both encircled in pastel blue). The inner rim also shows a few dings and dents (indicated with red arrows), the cumulative effect of which is an out of round appearance to the chamber. 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 chamber exudes a very strong odor of old tobacco. The draught hole is dead center at the bottom of the chamber and that makes me believe that it should be a great smoke and the thick cake in the chamber lends credence to this observation. 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 a burnout/ deep heat fissures/ lines or pits. Topping the rim surface should address the dents and dings over the rim edges to a great extent, while the remaining damage will be addressed by creating a slight bevel over the rim edge. The reaming and subsequent cleaning of the chamber and mortise should reduce the ghost smells from the chamber. The smooth stummel surface is covered in lava overflow that has attracted a lot of dust and dirt. The dark brown hued briar has taken on a layer of aged patina through which one can make out the beautiful flame and swirl grains that adorn most of the stummel surface and the shank. There are a few very minute dents and dings over the bowl surface probably due to falls and or rough, uncared for handling of the pipe. The briar looks lifeless and bone dry and has taken on dull dark hues. The mortise shows a heavy accumulation of oils, tars and gunk due to which the air flow is not full and smooth. Thorough cleaning of the stummel surface and rinsing it under warm water should highlight the grain patterns. This cleaning will further reveal any other damage to the stummel surface. The dents and dings to the stummel will be addressed to an extent once it is sanded and polished using micromesh pads. The seating of the stem tenon into the mortise is not flush. The most probable reason for this could be the accumulated gunk in the mortise. Thorough cleaning of the mortise should address this issue.The vulcanite saddle dental stem is relatively less oxidized. The bite zone has filing marks on either surface, but more pronounced on the upper extended button. The tenon is smeared in oils and tars and grime and so is the horizontal slot. The molded saddle dental stem bears the trademark inlaid brass logo “O” on the top face of the saddle and would need to be polished. Overall, the stem is in a decent condition and the vulcanite should take on a nice shine readily.The Process
I started the restoration of this pipe by first cleaning the stem. I cleaned the internals of the stem with bristled pipe cleaners and 99.9% pure isopropyl alcohol. With my fabricated knife, I gently scraped out the dried gunk from the tenon end and the horizontal slot.  I further cleaned out the stem internals with a shank brush and dish washing liquid soap. Once the stem internals were cleaned, I sanded the entire stem surface with a 220 grit sand paper in preparation for dunking the stem into the Before and After Deoxidizer solution.I thereafter, dropped the stem into “Before and After Deoxidizer” solution developed by my friend Mark Hoover. The solution helps to draw out heavy oxidation to the surface, making it’s further removal a breeze, while the minor oxidation is eliminated to a very great extent. The initial sanding helps to draw out the complete oxidation as the sanding opens up the stem surface that has been initially covered with oxidation. I usually dunk stems of the pipes that are in-line for restoration and this pipe is indicated with a blue arrow. I generally allow the stems to soak overnight for the solution to do its work.While the stem was soaking in the deoxidizer solution, I reamed the chamber with size 2 head of the Castleford reamer. With my fabricated knife, I further scraped the chamber walls to remove the remaining carbon deposits and also scraped out the lava overflow from the rim top surface. Once the cake was reamed back to the bare briar, I used a 220 grit sand paper to remove all the traces of remaining cake and also to smoothen 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 chamber walls are in pristine condition with no signs of heat lines/ fissures. The inner rim edge resembles a visual nightmare after the cleaning. The inner edge has suffered extensive damage in 11 o’clock direction, the result of hitting against a hard surface to remove dottle (encircled in yellow). Similar damage is seen over the outer rim edge too and is encircled in blue. This damage to the outer rim edge as well as the inner edge will be addressed to an extent by topping the rim top. The rim top surface itself is peppered with dents/ dings and deep scratches (encircled in green) which will be smoothened by topping. The ghost smells are still very strong and may further reduce after the shank/ mortise are thoroughly cleaned.This was followed by cleaning the mortise with cue tips, pipe cleaners and a shank brush dipped in isopropyl alcohol. I scraped the walls of the mortise with my fabricated knife to remove the dried oils and tars. The mortise was a bear to clean and the cleaning will continue when I clean the external surface of the stummel. The old smells of the tobacco are still strong and would need more invasive methods to get rid of these odors.With the bowl internals clean, I moved to clean the exterior of the stummel. I used a hard bristled tooth brush and Briar Cleaner, a product that has been developed by Mark Hoover, to scrub the stummel and the rim top. I set the stummel aside for 10 minutes for the product to draw out all the grime from the briar surface. After 10 minutes, 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 a soft cotton cloth. I simultaneously cleaned the shank internals with  detergent and a hard bristled shank brush and set the stummel aside to dry out naturally. I diligently cleaned the grooves between the bowl rings that separated the bowl cap from rest of the stummel surface. The stummel surface, including the rim top has cleaned up nicely with the beautiful grain patterns on full display. This cleaning also helped in gauging the extent of topping that would be required to address the damage to the rim edges and rim top surface. I shall subject the chamber to cotton and alcohol treatment to eliminate the ghost smells completely as the smell is still very strong. I continued the cleaning of the chamber and shank internals with a salt and alcohol bath. I used cotton balls which is an at par substitute as I have realized over the years. I drew out a wick from the cotton and along with a folded regular pipe cleaner; inserted it into the mortise and through the draught hole into the chamber. Thereafter, I packed the chamber with cotton balls to about quarter of an inch below the inner rim edge and soaked the cotton balls with isopropyl alcohol up to the brim. About half an hour later, the level of alcohol had gone down, having being absorbed by the cotton. I topped it up once again and set it aside overnight. By the next morning, the cotton and alcohol had drawn out all the remaining oils and tars from the chamber and mortise, fulfilling its intended task. I removed the cotton balls and ran pipe cleaners through the mortise to clean out all the loosened tars and gunk and further cleaned it with alcohol and q-tips. The chamber now smells clean and fresh. I set the stummel aside to dry out naturally. The next morning, after I had cleaned the chamber and shank, I removed the stem that had been soaking in the deoxidizer solution overnight. I cleaned the stem and the stem airway under running warm water and scrubbed the raised oxidation from the stem surface using a Magic Eraser pad followed by Scotch Brite pad and the airway with a thin shank brush. I further removed the oxidation by scrubbing the stem with 0000 grade steel wool and applied a little EVO to rehydrate the stem. The stem is in pristine condition. The filing marks appear more like denture marks and not file marks per se. These should be easily eliminated when I sand the stem with sand papers and polish with micromesh pads. I sanded the entire stem surface with a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper till the complete oxidation was eliminated from the stem and saddle portion in particular. I sanded out the scratches in the bite zone using the same grit sand paper. I rubbed a small quantity of EVO into the stem surface to hydrate it. To bring a deep shine to the stem, I went through the complete set of micromesh pads, wet sanding with 1500 to 2000 wet & dry sand paper and further with 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. I wiped the stem with moist cloth after each pad and rubbed it down with Extra Virgin Olive oil to rejuvenate the vulcanite. The finished stem is shown below.I turned my attention to address the damage to the stummel. I next decided to smooth the rim top surface dents/ dings and the charred surface in 11 o’clock direction to the inner rim edge. 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 darkened inner rim edge can still be seen, though much greatly reduced. With a folded piece of a 220 grit sand paper pinched between my thumb and forefinger, I cleaned the inner edge of the rim top surface to minimize the darkening. This helps to mask and address the minor dents and dings that had remained on the rim edges after topping. I am careful so as not to alter the profile of the stummel by excessive topping or creation of the bevels. 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 followed it by wet sanding the stummel with 1500 to 2000 wet & dry sand paper and further with 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads, wiping frequently with a moist cloth to check the progress. The minor outer rim damage was repaired to a very large extent and so was the darkening during this process. I really like the look of the stummel at this point in the restoration. The grains and the clean classic lines of this pipe are worthy of appreciation. 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 it’s 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. The contrast of the dark browns of the Angle hair and swirl grains with the natural patina of the rest of the stummel adds an interesting dimension to the appearance of the stummel. To complete the restoration, I mounted a cotton cloth buffing wheel onto 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. I mounted 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 in person and is ready to provide years of smoking pleasures to the piper who desires this beauty. If this pipe calls out your name, please feel free to contact me at deshpandeparesh@yahoo.co.in

Big thank you to all the readers who have joined me on this path by reading this write up as I restored and completed this project.

A Strangely Unique Standing Churchwarden called a Television Pipe

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is an interesting pipe that caught my attention this morning when I was going through the boxes of pipes I have here awaiting restoration. This pipe was purchased from an online auction early in 2020 from St. Albans, West Virginia, USA. It has the length of a churchwarden and is a two part bowl and base with a tall bent stem. The pipe is a standing pipe that is well balanced and still stands when it is put together. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and read TELEVISION PIPE and on the right side it read Algerian Briar [over] Made in France. There is a metal band/ferrule on the shank that is stamped EP in a diamond which means Electroplated and below that it has some very worn hallmarks. It was extremely dirty with grime and grit ground into the bowl sides. The bowl was heavily caked and there was a thick lava coat on the rim top and edges. The bowl unscrewed from the base which was also thickly caked with tars and oils. The band/ferrule was oxidized as was the vulcanite stem. There were light tooth marks on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. There was a small aluminum stinger in the tenon that was removable. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it.He took some photos of the bowl and rim top to show their condition. The cake is thick and there is debris on the walls of the bowl. The rim top has a thick coat of lava and between that and the cake it is hard to know the condition of the rim edges. Clean up will reveal the condition. There are chips and nicks in the outer edge of the bowl. The stem looks pretty good with light tooth marks on both sides. The stem is oxidized and calcified. He took photos of the bowl and base together to show the overall appearance of the pipe. There is a lot of grime around the junction of the bowl and base that can be seen in the photos below. He unscrewed the bowl from the base and took a series of photos to show the condition of the bowl and the base. You can see the thick oils and tars in the threads, on the bottom of the bowl and in the base of the pipe. It is really a mess and will be a major work to clean up. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and on the electro-plated band/ferrule on the shank.He remove the stem from the base and took a photo of the tenon end and shank to see the built up tars on the tenon and in the inside of the shank. You can also see the tarnish on the band.I looked on both Pipephil’s site and Pipedia to see what I could find out about the brand. There was nothing listed on either site regarding that brand. I turned a site that has been helpful in identifying pipes called Smoking Metal (http://www.smokingmetal.co.uk/pipe.php?page=277). The site shows a short version of this pipe – with a P-lip style stem on the shank rather than a Churchwarden stem. Other than the stem it is the same pipe. Since the information was quite limited on the brand it was time to turn to work on the pipe itself. I have to say that this was another pipe that I was really looking forward to seeing what Jeff had done to it. It is a French Made Algerian Briar Television Pipe that had shown such beauty through the grime that I was quite sure it would be stunning he cleaned it. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned the remnants of cake back with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl and base with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and oils. He cleaned the internals of the base, shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove all of the tars and oils there. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation and calcification. He wiped the bowl and stem down with a light coat of olive oil to rehydrate both. The pipe really was quite stunning. You can see the nicks around the bowl and base but they do not lessen the beauty of the pipe.  I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were and what needed to be addresses with both. The rim top had some nicks in the top and the inner edge of the bowl was out of round. The stem looked better but the light tooth marks and chatter were still present.I took photos of the cleaned up stamping on sides of the shank. It is very clear and readable.I removed the stem from the shank and took photos to show the overall look of this beautiful pipe. I then unscrewed the bowl from the base and took photos of all of the parts of the pipe. I started my work on this pipe by dealing with the shrunken fills on the bowl sides. I filled them in with clear CA glue and briar dust. Once the repairs cured I sanded them smooth to blend them into the surrounding briar. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-4000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down after each pad. The grain began to really come alive through the polishing. I took a  break from the polishing process and I stained the sanded areas of the bowl with a Walnut Stain pen to blend them into the surrounding briar.I buffed bowl with Blue Diamond polish and then went back to polishing the bowl with 6000-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I repeated the process of polish the base with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down after each pad. The grain began to really come alive through the polishing. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar of both the bowl and the base with my finger tips. 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 put the bowl and base back together again and rubbed them down with the Balm. I buffed the bowl and base with Blue Diamond on the wheel. The finished bowl looked a lot better. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each pad to protect it and preserve it. I polished it with Before  After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I finished the polishing with a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I am really happy with the way that this Tall Television Pipe Churchwarden Sitter turned out. It really is a unique looking pipe with character. The long mouthpiece is a unique feature of this pipe and sets it apart. The removable bowl and base work well and the pipe is a beauty. To me it is a great pipe with unique details. The grain really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown and black stains of the finish gave the grain a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. The grain really popped. I put the vulcanite 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 Television Pipe Sitter 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: 10 inches, Height: 3 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 57 grams/2.01 oz. The pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store soon. It will be in the section on French Pipe Makers 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!

Not sure what to call this strange St. Claude, France GBD Coronet 753

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Blog by Steve Laug

Sometimes when you are pipe hunting there is one that just grabs you. That was the case with this interestingly shaped GBD. Neither Jeff nor I had seen a GBD 753 shape before and never one with this style stem. The stamping on the bowl and the logo on the stem all seem to point to a later date for this one but the St. Claude stamp bring questions to that assumption. It is a bit of a mystery and was just one of those that spoke to us. We picked it up from an auction early in 2020 in Noberly, Maryland, USA. The pipe was stamped on the top of the shank and read GBD in an oval [over] Coronet. On the underside it read St. Claude [over] the shape number 753. The pipe itself was in filthy condition. The bowl was thickly caked and there was a thick lava overflow on the beveled rim top. The briar was very dirty with grit and grime ground into the surface. The stem was dirty and oxidized with calcification on the stem end. There were light tooth marks and chatter on both sides. There was a faintly stamped GBD logo in a rectangle that was very worn. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he did his clean up on it. He took some photos of the bowl and rim top to show their condition. The cake is thick and there is debris on the walls of the bowl. The rim top has a thick coat of lava and between that and the cake it is hard to know the condition of the rim edges. Clean up will reveal the condition. The stem looks pretty good with light tooth marks on both sides. The oxidation and calcification is present and clear. The logo stamp on the top of the stem is worn and light. It may not survive clean up. Jeff took photos of the sides of the bowl and the heel to give as sense of the shape and condition of the briar. It is a beautifully shaped pipe with some nice grain. He took photos of the stamping on the top and underside of the shank. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above. He also captured the logo on the stem top. You can see how faintly it is stamped and how it is fading. The line as new to me though I have worked on a lot of GBD pipes over the years. I turned to Pipephil’s site (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-gbd.html) to see what I could find. Sadly there was not any information on the Coronet line from France.

I turned then to Pipedia to first check the section on the history of the brand and see what I could find there (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD). I found some interesting information that helped to date the pipe to the time period between 1952-1981. I quote as follows from the section.

The Paris factory moved to Saint-Claude in 1952. Since 1981 the majority of GBD pipes come from the English factory. At about that same time GBD merged with Comoys, since then all production for both GBD and Comoy comes from a single factory.

The premium lines of GBD offered very good values, and are considered amongst the most affordable high end pipe of the 1960’s and earlier and a rival in quality, design, and price to Dunhill. Smokers’ Haven was the main retail supplier for GBD’s in the US until the early 1980’s.

GBD produced consistently well made pipes, almost entirely of Algerian or Grecian briar. In the late 1960’s to late 1970’s, they introduced the “Collector” and “Unique” lines, made primarily by Horry Jamieson, who had carved for Barling for many years, and was skilled in freehand design. Older GBD pieces are excellent smokers and unique in design. They did an excellent executions of classic pipe shapes, as well as some beautiful freehands in the “Unique” line.

I then followed the links to the list of models and information that was on each of the models/ lines of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD_Model_Information). I found the listing for the Coronet there. The quote further defined the time line of the pipe. It appears that it was made between 1951 and 1976 when it appeared in a catalogue. I quote as follows below:

Coronet — France, unknown if also made in England: Lower priced GBD, “take off” brown/black stained matt finish with “recessed platform” mouthpieces. – catalog (1976). These low cost pipes were possibly not always produced in normal GBD shapes.

I followed the links to another section of the brand that listed the shape numbers for me and I was able to find the shape I was looking for (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD_Shapes/Numbers). I quote the section below.

753 author one-eighth round

From all of that information I had learned that the pipe was a French Made GBD Coronet made in St. Claude France between 1951-1976. It was made with a matte finish and a recessed platform style stem. I also learned that it was an AUTHOR shape with a 1/8th bend to the stem. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I have to say I was really looking forward to seeing what Jeff had done to this French Made St. Claude GBD Coronet pipe when I took it out of the box. It had shown such beauty through the grime so I was quite sure it would be stunning. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned the remnants of cake back with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and oils. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove all of the tars and oils there. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in a bath of Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed off the deoxidizer with warm water and wiped the bowl and stem down with a light coat of olive oil to rehydrate both. The pipe really was quite stunning. You can see the nicks on the heel of the bowl but they do not lessen the beauty of the pipe. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were and what needed to be addresses with both. The rim top had some darkening around the outer edge at the front that would need to be addressed. The stem looked better but the light tooth marks and chatter were still present. I would need to remove those to bring the stem back.I took photos of the cleaned up stamping on the top and underside of the shank. It is very clear and readable.I removed the stem from the shank and took photos to show the overall look of this beautiful pipe.I decided to work on the nicks in the underside of the bowl with clear CA glue. Once it cured I sanded them with 220 grit sandpaper blending them into the rest of the bowl.   I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down after each pad. The grain began to really come alive through the polishing. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips. 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 the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each pad to protect it and preserve it. I polished it with Before  After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I finished the polishing with a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I am really happy with the way that this GBD Coronet 753 St. Claude Made Author turned out. It really is a beautiful looking pipe with great grain. The “recessed platform” mouthpiece is a unique feature of this pipe and sets it apart. I am not sure why this is a GBD Lower end model. To me it is a top grade pipe with great unique details. The grain really came alive with the buffing. The rich brown and black stains of the matte finish gave the grain a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. The grain really popped. I put the vulcanite 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 GBD Coronet Author 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: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 49 grams/1.73 oz. The pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store soon. It will be in the section on French Pipe Makers 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!

I do not understand why Peterson coats some of their pipes with a thick varnish coat

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Blog by Steve Laug

Yesterday afternoon Dallas (a long time pipe friend) stopped by to pick up a pipe I had repaired for him and to sit on the front porch and enjoy a bowl and some fellowship with each other. Due to COVID-19 we have only had virtual visits for over a year now so it was really good to see him and posit our solutions to the world’s problems. We covered a lot of topics that come naturally to men of a certain age! In the course of our discussion he brought out a very shiny Peterson’s Kinsale XL25 Made in the Republic of Ireland. The pipe was very glossy and it was one that he had in his collection for a long time. It should have been showing wear on the finish but this “plastic” coated looking finish was impervious to time and use it appeared. There was a slight bit of peeling on the rim top but other than that it looked like new. He handed it to me and told me his woes with this pipe. He said that the pipe became extremely hot when he smoked it. He had tried everything to change that but nothing mattered. Dallas has been smoking  a pipe for almost 60 years now so it is not a technique issue. I am certain it  is the fault of the thick “plastic” looking finish on the pipe. I have stripped other Peterson’s that had the same issue for him and the work always improves the dispersal of the heat. He wanted me to do the same with this pipe. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the thickness of the cake and the peeling varnish on the rim top. The edges look very good and other than the bubbles in the varnish coat the top looks good. The stem is also shown to show the light oxidation of time on the vulcanite and the tooth marks and chatter that come from use.I took photos of the stamping on the shank to show the brand and the age of the pipe. It reads Peterson’s Kinsale on the top of the shank and Made in the Republic of Ireland on the underside. On the right side of the shank was the shape number XL25. The varnish had filled in the numbers showing that it had been varnished after stamping.I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the left side of the bowl to try to capture the shape and the grain. It really is a beauty.I like working on clean pipes so I reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer to take the cake back to bare briar. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. Once finished the bowl was clean and smooth. Now it was time to tackle the obnoxious varnish coat. I tried to remove it with straight acetone and came up with nothing. The seal on the finish was solid and seemingly impervious to my work at this point. I lightly sanded the finish on the bowl with a folded piece of 220 sandpaper to break through the surface. Once I had done that the acetone worked well to remove the finish from the briar. I repeated the process until the shiny coat was gone and I could feel the briar in my hand and see the grain without the top coat over it. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down after each pad. The grain began to really come alive through the polishing. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips. 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. There is a rich shine in the briar but it is not that previous plastic-like shine. I cleaned the shank, mortise and airway in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol to remove the tars. Dallas had mentioned the stem was very tight but once I cleaned it the fit was just the way it should have been.I started polishing the stem with 1500-2400 micromesh sanding pads. I wiped it down after each pad with Obsidian Oil. I paused my polishing to touch up the P stamp on the top of the saddle with some Rub’n Buff Antique Gold. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick and buffed it off with a soft towel. I went back to the micromesh and polished the stem with 3200-12000 grit pads, again wiping it down after each pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished the polishing with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish, both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil before putting it back on the shank. Once the varnish was stripped off this is a nice looking Peterson’s Kinsale XL25 Pipe with an oval shank and a vulcanite saddle stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The briar is clean and the grain really came alive. The rich brown and black stains gave the grain a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. The grain really popped. I put the vulcanite 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 Peterson’s Kinsale XL25 really is a beauty and feels great in the hand and looks very good. I think that Dallas will be very happy with it once he picks it up. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 65 grams/2.29 oz. The pipe looks very good and I look forward to what Dallas thinks of it. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on!

What a Beautifully Grained Proctus Deluxe Old Briar 71 Bent Egg/Brandy

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a brand I have not worked on before – a Proctus Deluxe bent egg or Brandy (not sure what I would call it). The pipe was purchased back in February of 2020 from an antique mall in Northern Utah, USA. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads PROCTUS [over] De Luxe. On the right side it is stamped Made in Denmark [over] the shape number 71. On the underside of the shank it reads Old Briar. It is a beautifully shaped briar with great looking straight and flame grain around the bowl sides. The finish is dirty with grime ground into the briar. There are some dents on both sides of the bowl toward the heel. The rim top has a thick coat of lava that has overflowed from the bowl onto the top. There is a thick uneven cake in the bowl that overflows on to the top. There is tobacco debris all around the inside of the bowl. It is hard to know the condition of the inner edges of the bowl because of the cake and the lava. More will be clear once it has been cleaned and removed. The stem is oxidized and the end is calcified and has tooth chatter or marks on the top and underside near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he worked his magic on it in the cleaning. Jeff took close up photos of the rim top to show the thick lava and the uneven thick cake in the bowl. The outer edges of the bowl look very good. The condition of the inner edge is hard to assess due to the thickness of the cake and lava. He took photos of the stem to show the oxidation, calcification and tooth chatter and marks on the stem surface.He took photos of the sides of the bowl and heel to show the beauty of the grain around the bowl sides. It really a beautiful pipe. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. I turned to Pipephil’s site to see what I could learn about he Proctus brand and the Danish pipe maker (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-p5.html). The screen capture below shows a brief description of the stamping on the pipe and the side bar says that “the maker of the Proctus brand is probably Bari (to be confirmed)”. The information was very limited and not overly helpful.It was time to see what Pipedia had on the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Proctus). That site was a little more definitive and link the pipes to Danish carver Viggo Nielsen (of Bari). The Bari connection was present but it was not an obvious sub group of Bari. I quote in full the article there:

Proctus pipes are out of Denmark, and thought to be made by Danish carver Viggo Nielsen (of Bari) in the 1960’s. Some have vertical hand rustication and some smooth, model names are known to be DE LUXE and OLD BRIAR.

I have to say I was really looking forward to seeing what Jeff had done to this Danish Made Proctus pipe when I took it out of the box. It had shown such beauty through the grime so I was quite sure it would be stunning. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned the remnants of cake back with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife.  He scrubbed the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and oils. He cleaned the internals of the shank and stem with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove all of the tars and oils there. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in a bath of Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed off the deoxidizer with warm water and wiped the bowl and stem down with a light coat of olive oil to rehydrate both. The pipe really was quite stunning. You can see the nicks on the bowl sides near the heel on both sides but they do not lessen the beauty of the pipe. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were and what needed to be addresses with both. The rim top had some darkening around the inner edge and some rough spots that needed to be smoothed out. The stem looked better but the tooth marks and chatter were still present. I would need to remove those to bring the stem back.I took photos of the cleaned up stamping on the shank sides. It is very clear and readable.I removed the stem from the shank and took photos to show the overall look of this beautiful pipe.I started my work on the pipe by addressing the rough inner edge of the rim. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out and give it a very slight bevel to minimize the damage.I filled in the deep nicks on the heel of the bowl with clear CA glue. Once it cured I blended them into the surrounding briar. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the briar down after each pad. The grain began to really come alive through the polishing.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips. 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 “painted” it with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks and even out the surface of the stem. I filled in the remaining tooth marks with clear CA glue and once the glue cured I sanded them smooth with 220 grit sandpaper and started polishing it with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each pad to protect it and preserve it. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I finished the polishing with a final coat of Obsidian Oil.This nice looking Proctus De Luxe Old Briar 71 Bent Egg with a vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The briar is clean and the grain really came alive. The rich brown and black stains gave the grain a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. The grain really popped. I put the vulcanite 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 Proctus De Luxe Old Briar 71 Bent Egg 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: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 52 grams/1.83 oz. The pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store soon. It will be in the section on Danish Pipe Makes 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!

This restoration is a bit of a resurrection of a beautiful Ferndown Root 3* Dublin

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Blog by Steve Laug

This pipe was one of those happy coincidences. I have been looking for a Les Wood Hand Made Ferndown pipe for quite a while now to add to my collection. I have read a lot about them and had them on the wish list but have never found one. The crazy thing was that I was looking on Maxim Engels Site here in Canada and on EBay when I received an email from David asking if I would be willing to breath life back into this badly damaged beauty. That should have been an easy answer but I have been turning down work as my “day” job has dramatically become more consuming and I am left without a lot of time to work on pipes. I have been turning down pipes for repair for awhile now not wanting to add to the load. I postponed answering him and when I finally did I asked him to send me photos of the pipe so I would know what I was getting into. He immediately forwarded me the next two photos and I was hooked! I have not worked on a Ferndown before and this one looked like a good candidate for me to work on. I wrote and asked him about his timeline and he was very gracious with me. We struck a deal and the pipe was on its way to Canada for work. It dawned on me then that I had no idea what the rest of the pipe looked like and I would just have to wait and be surprised.I came home from my office yesterday to find the box from David waiting for me. My wife Irene had put it where I would see it. I took it to my work desk in the basement and carefully opened a well packed box that had originally contained pipes that I had sent to David. It was good to see this little box continue to serve its purpose as the vessel that protects it precious cargo. I took it out of the box and took some photos of it to chronicle the issues that I saw and give a benchmark for me before I began the work.

The pipe is a beautifully shape Dublin with a gold band. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the bowl and shank. On the heel of the bowl it is stamped Ferndown [arched over] Root [over] ***. Next to that it is stamped Hand Made In [over] England [over] Les Wood. On the gold band it is stamped L&JS in a rectangle [over] 9CT. The finish is quite beautiful but dirty on the bowl sides and shank. The largest issue with the pipe is the rim top and edges. There are burn marks around the front and back outer edges. The rim top itself is covered with lava but not enough to hide the charred inner edge and top. The damage is deep from the looks of the bowl top but cleaning would tell the story. The bowl itself is out of round from the damage. There was a thick cake in the bowl and the pipe stank of old tobacco but not enough to distinguish what it was… I know it was not an aromatic from the smell but otherwise I could not identify it. The taper stem is oxidized and has some calcification on the end. It is stamped on the left side and reads LJS. It was originally a stunning pipe and even with the damage and grime it still had class that was evident the moment you looked at it. I took a photo of the rim top and edges to show the burn damage around the bowl top and inner and outer edges. It has some serious char under the lava coat. The bowl is thickly caked as you can see from the photo. I also took photos of the stem to show its condition. There are light tooth marks and chatter on both sides next to the button and there is a deep oxidation in the vulcanite.I took a photo of the stamping on the heel of the bowl and underside of the shank and gold band. It is clear and readable as noted above.I removed the stem from the bowl and took a photo of the pipe to show the proportions of the design. It is really a well made pipe.I turned to Pipephil to help me interpret the stamping on the pipe and gain some background information (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-f1.html). The photo to the left shows Les Wood and the information below came from the side bar. I have also done a screen capture of the information on the site.

Artisan: Leslie (Les) Wood. He was the master silver smith at Alfred Dunhill Ltd. before starting L. & J.S. Briars. Pipes for the European market are stamped “L. Wood” while those for US are stamped “Ferndown”. Production: ~ 2000 pipes/year (Ferndown + L.Wood) See also Elwood.From the information on Pipephil I learned that I was working on a pipe made for the US and that it was a large 3 star pipe in terms of size. I also learned that the Root finish was a smooth light brown. All of which helped to understand the pipe in hand.

I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ferndown) to find a more detailed history and description of the brand and was amazed to find that the majority of it was either quotes or written by Les Wood himself. I am quoting some pertinent parts of the article below. You can turn to the site to read it in full.

Leslie “Les” John Wood worked for Dunhill for 19 years. His last position was as master silversmith. Following his tenure with Dunhill, Les formed his own brand, L. & J.S. Briars together with his wife Dolly in 1978. Les Wood follows Sasieni, the first ex Dunhill worker to start their own enterprise, and he was followed by William John “Ashton”-Taylor.

“I started working at Dunhill’s in March 1963, in the silver mounting department working under Jack Spriggs he left the firm after I had been there for 2 years, and I took over the department, at that time I worked alone it was only when the department was relocated to the top floor that the increase of pipes that needed mounting that we took on trainees. After 19 years I was asked if I would buy the machinery and move out of the factory and set up on my own, so off I went. With me I took the staff that worked with me at that time, Robert Morris was the best, he could mount anything, he now has his own jewellery retail shop and makes some really nice handmade jewellery from his shop at Whitstable in Kent.”

“I worked on Dunhill’s pipes from 1980/81 and soon built up a reputation as the firm to send your mounting to. As time went on and Dolly left Dunhill’s we decided to start to turn our own bowls and make our own pipes under the name of my house.” Les Wood. Jan, 2020…”

Due to the vagaries of international trademark law, he sold his earlier pipes as ” L.&J.S Briars”, “Ellwood”, “Les Wood” or “L. Wood”. Until recently, an average of 1500 – 2000 pipes a year were sold as “Ferndown” — named for the mansion he lives in — in the UK and US, but as “L. Wood” pipes in Germany…

To many pipe smokers, Les Wood’s pipes embody the revival of great English pipe making initiated by Ashton in the early 1980s. The high-grade Italian and Spanish plateau he prefers is oil-cured in the tradition of both Dunhill and Ashton. The pipes are renowned for their pleasant, slightly nutty flavor and remarkable smoking characteristics. They feature impeccable craftsmanship extending to very good stem/bit work, though many pipes are often a bit heavier. The hallmark of his work, of course, is the excellent silver work. Almost all of his pipes feature rings or ferules for spigot stems. Grading is by finish: “Bark” (ca. 90%, rusticated, dark brown and black), “Antique Bark” (tan rusticated), “Reo” (brown and red, smooth), “Root” (orange, smooth), and “Tudor Root” (orange and brown smooth) and by size (one to four stars). He also designates straight grains with SG…

“We bought the briar from Italy and Spain, one is mush denser that the other I like the Spanish briar it is lighter and Dolly would make the Roots look like glass with only a natural vanish, all the pipes were finished with the same varnish, the bark finish on the bowl is put on by Dolly by hand, one slip and you have a problem. That’s one job that needs to be seen to see how it’s done.”

There also was a great paragraph on the oil curing process that Les and Dolly developed. I am including that below as the pipe I am working on was definitely oil cured.

“We had our method of Oil-Curing. We applied Oil to the outside and the inside of the bowl, that was because when Dolly was at Dunhill’s factory, she worked in the finishing department and got such a high finish on the pipes they wanted to know how she did it. The bowls had already gone through Dunhills’ oven oil curing system, but to her, it was not enough, because it could not get the shine that she wanted, then, she oiled the bowl on the outside and the inside to get a better finished. She left Dunhill and came to work with me. Because of this process, we found out the smokers liked the taste when light up their pipe – they said there was no aftertaste and it had a sweet taste doesn’t matter what tobacco they used. We have carried it on from there.”

With that background information it was now time to work on the pipe itself. I decided to top the bowl to remove the heavy charring damage. I put a piece of 180 grit sandpaper on the topping board and worked the rim top and edges over in a circular motion on the board. After a few passes I took a photo of the rim top to show the progress but also to show the burn damage.Before working on the rim edges I reamed the bowl with a PipNet Reamer to cut back the cake to bare wood. I cleaned up the remaining cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I then sanded the bowl with a piece of 220 sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel to smooth out the bowl walls. The reaming and sanding cleaned up a lot of the damage on the inner edge as you can see in the fourth photo below.With that done I turned my attention to the inner and outer edges of the rim. I cleaned up both with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper. I worked on removing the burn marks on the outer edge and gave the inner edge a light bevel to hide the burn marks.I scrubbed the exterior of the bowl and shank with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I work on the grime ground into the briar. I rinsed the bowl with warm running water to remove the debris left behind from the scrubbing. The pipe looked much better and the rim top was greatly improved. I cleaned the internals of the bowl, shank and airway in the stem with isopropyl alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners until they came out clean.I set the stem aside and turned my attention to polishing the briar. I used 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads and wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The briar on the rim began to change the colour to get much closer to the rest of the bowl. I used a Maple stain pen to blend the rim top into the colour of the rest of the bowl. It matched well and served to obscure the burn mark on the rim edges. I also restained a light spot on the heel 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 a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Balm did its magic and the grain stood out. I set the bowl aside and put the stem to soak in a bath of Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer overnight. In the morning I rinsed it off with warm water and rubbed off the remaining softened oxidation until the stem was very clean. It looked very good and even the LJS gold stamping looked good. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks on the stem with the flame of a lighter to raise them. I sanded the remaining tooth chatter and marks with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the stem surface. I started the polishing process 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. The photo below shows the polished stem.     I touched up the LJS stamp on the left side of the taper stem with Rub’n Buff Antique Gold. I rubbed it on and worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. I buffed it off with a soft cloth. This nice looking Les Wood Ferndown Root 3 Dublin with a taper vulcanite stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The briar is clean and the grain really came alive. The rich brown stains gave the finish a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. The grain really popped. I put the stem back on the bowl and 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 Ferndown Root 3 Dublin 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: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 66 grams/2.36 oz. The pipe will be going back David very soon. I am looking forward to what he thinks once he has it back in his hands. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. It was a fun one to work on.

Restoring a Kaywoodie “Standard” # 08 Straight Dublin From Steve’s Grab Box

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Blog by Paresh Deshpande

Re-Cap…
During one of the many Facetime interactions with Steve, I expressed my anxiety of ‘what after’ I had gone through restoring all of my inherited collection. Also discussed during this interaction was that I would be interested in working on pipes from various makers and with greater variety of repair works to gain more experience and learn new techniques. Since the ‘pipe culture’ in India met its last in the early 1970s, I did not have access to large lots of estate pipes as is available in Europe and USA. Steve suggested that I grab one of the “grab bags” which he had in his store. I requested him to make one from an assortment of pipes that he had to which he agreed. Soon the awaited grab bag along with other pipes that I had liked arrived in my home town and was received by Abha. She sent me this picture of the pipes that were received. The one crossed in red is a Dunhill sitter that is added to my personal collection.There are a total of 15 pipes in the grab bag, each with different shapes, issues and requiring different skill sets to address them. This is exactly what I was looking for and that there are some nice branded ones is like an icing on the cake. This lot included pipes that Jeff, (Steve’s brother who does all the preliminary cleaning of pipes) had cleaned and sent to Steve for further restoration works.

Returning To The Present…
The next pipe on my work table is KAYWOODIE “STANDARD” in a classic Dublin shape from Steve’s grab bag that had been reamed, cleaned and readied for next stage of restoration by Jeff. This pipe is indicated in pastel blue arrow with the numeral 4.This petite ultra lightweight pipe has some beautiful and densely packed cross grains on the front, aft and over the shank surface of the stummel while bird’s eye adorns the sides of the bowl. The stamping of “KAYWOODIE” in capital letters over “STANDARD” in script over “IMPORTED BRIAR” is on the left side of the shank. The right side of the shank bears the shape code “08”. The stem, with its three holed aluminum threaded stinger, bears the Kaywoodie trademark inlaid white Clover Leaf logo on the left side of the stem. The lower surface of the stem is stamped as “J 40” towards the stinger end. The lack of KB & B stamping in clover leaf over the shank surface and the three holed aluminum stinger, points to a later era Kaywoodie pipe. The shape code # 08 finds mention in the 1936 catalog as medium Dublin (indicated by the red arrow) and is conspicuous by its absence in the 1970s. (Refer Kaywoodie – Pipedia)The Standard grade stamp indicates this pipe to be the cheapest offering from Kaywoodie at the time and is described as “the original dry- smoking, pure smoking pipe” in the flyer (indicated by the red tick mark) that was available on pipedia.org. The same has been reproduced below for ease of reference. Collector’s Guide to Kaywoodie Pipes – PipediaThus, the Kaywoodie Standard presently on my work table dates to pre-1970s (not a definitive supposition) but definitely post 1950s when the stinger head size was reduced in diameter and three holes replaced the four holes. In spite of my best efforts, I have not come across any concrete information on the stamp “J 40”. It is my guess that this is the code that would help for replacing the stem by Kaywoodie retail outlets in the event that the original stem is broken by the owner.

Initial Visual Inspection
This grab bag that Steve had sent me contained few pipes that Jeff had already cleaned and sent across to Steve for further restoration. Thus, unfortunately, before condition pictures are not available with me to share with the readers, but the best part is that I get to work on a pipe that Jeff has already worked his magic upon and presented me with a clean pipe. Below are a few pictures of the pipe as I had received it. Detailed Inspection
The chamber is clean and odorless without any trace of the old cake. There is no damage to the inner walls of the chamber. The rim top and the rim edges is where the maximum damage can be seen on this pipe. The rim top has darkened not because of lava overflow, but maybe due to charring, notably between 11 o’clock and 1 o’clock direction (encircled in yellow). The rim top surface is peppered with numerous scratches, dents and dings (few of them are indicated by indigo arrows) and probably caused due to knocking the rim against a hard surface to remove the dottle. There is significant damage to both the inner and outer edge of the rim all around. The inner rim appears charred along the 12 o’clock direction and is encircled in red. The outer rim damage too is significant with sever chipped surface in 6 o’clock and 8 o’clock directions (encircled in green) and dents/ dings and chipping all along the edge. The draw is smooth, full and open. Simple topping of the bowl on a piece of 220 grit sandpaper should address this issue, however, in addressing this issue, though I absolutely hate it unfortunately, I would be losing some briar estate, a price I am willing to pay to resurrect this beauty. The stummel is clean with some interesting grain pattern that needs to be brought to the fore. There are few minor scratches, dents and dings on the stummel surface. Maybe, sanding and further micromesh polishing will address these dents and scratches. The stummel has a rich golden brown hue to the briar. The shank end of the pipe, including the aluminum spacer, is clean and so is the mortise. The tapered vulcanite stem has a couple of deep tooth indentation and minor tooth chatter on both the upper and lower surface near the button edge in the bite zone. Both upper and lower buttons are worn out and has bite marks. The stem has deep seated oxidation and some amount of calcification is seen in the bite zone. The threaded aluminum stinger tenon is also clean and the seating of the stinger in the shank is flush and perfectly aligned with the shank face. The air way is clear and draw is easy and smooth.The Process
Since Jeff had done the initial cleaning, I straight away get on with addressing the issues as observed during my initial inspection. I decided to start this restoration with stem repairs and cleaning as this takes up the maximum time in the entire restoration process.

I ran a couple of hard bristled and regular pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol to be sure that the internals of the stem are cleaned out. I sand the entire stem with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to loosen the oxidation from the surface before dunking the stem in to a solution of “Before and After Deoxidizer”. The initial sanding helps in efficient drawing out of the deeper oxidation. I let the stem soak in the deoxidizer solution overnight. Since I had some time before I called it a day, I decided to address the damage to the outer rim edges. I filled the larger chipped outer rim edge surfaces with a mix of briar dust and super glue. I would need to top the rim surface to address the issue of numerous dings and scratches on the rim top and during this process the briar dust and CA glue fill would also even out to match perfectly with the surrounding surface. I set the stummel aside for the fill to cure overnight. The next morning, I removed the stem that had been soaking in the deoxidizer solution overnight. I cleaned the stem and the stem airway under running warm water and scrubbed the raised oxidation from the stem surface using a Magic Eraser pad followed by scotch brite pad. I cleaned the stem airway with a thin shank brush and blew through the airway to completely remove the deoxidizer solution. I further removed the oxidation by scrubbing the stem with 0000 grade steel wool and applied a little EVO to rehydrate the stem.Next, I filled the tooth indentations in the lower surface with a mix of clear CA superglue and activated charcoal and set it aside to cure. After the glue had partially hardened on the lower surface, likewise, I filled the upper surface tooth marks. Simultaneously, I smeared the button on either surface with the mix of charcoal and superglue and set the stem aside for the mix to harden completely.With the stem fills set aside, I sand the fill on the outer rim edge with a flat head needle file and to further blend the fill with the surrounding briar surface, I sand it with a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper. Next, I top the rim on a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to address the issue of uneven rim top surface and the dents and dings on the rim edge (this is a necessary evil). I frequently checked the rim top for the progress made and stopped immediately once I had achieved the desired results. The rim top looks refreshed with no darkening and charring. The rim edge damage has also been addressed to a great extent. I followed up the topping of the rim top with the sanding of the entire stummel surface with a folded piece of 220 grit sand paper. This addressed the minor dents and dings on the stummel that I had initially observed and also evened out the entire stummel surface. I was careful around the stampings on the shank.Thereafter, I moved to the next stage of polishing and revitalizing the entire rim top and the stummel. I polished the stummel by wet sanding with 1500 to 2000 grit wet or dry sand paper and followed it up with further wet sanding with 3200 to 12000 grit micromesh pads. I wiped the stummel with a moist cloth after each wet pad to see the progress and am extremely pleased with the end result. I rub a small quantity of “Before and After Restoration Balm” in to briar and let it rest for a few minutes. The balm almost immediately works its magic and the briar now has a nice vibrant appearance. I further buff it with a horse hair shoe brush.Now that the stummel refurbishing save for final wax polish is completed, I turn my attention back to the stem. A little bit of filing with a flat head needle file followed by sanding with folded pieces of 220 and 600 grit sand papers got the stem fills all matched up with the stem surface. The buttons and the button edges are now even and crisp. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500 to 12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and set the stem aside to dry.To finish, I re-attach the stem with the stummel. I mount a cotton cloth buffing wheel on to my hand held rotary tool and applied several coats of carnauba wax over the stummel and the stem. I finished the restoration by giving the pipe a rigorous hand buffing using a microfiber cloth to raise the shine further. The completed pipe, with the natural finish and beautiful grains on the stummel contrasting with the shiny black stem looks lovely, fresh and vibrant; the photographs speak for themselves.P.S. The pipe has turned out beautiful, far more luxurious and vibrant in person, than it appears in pictures. The petite size and light weight makes it ideal for a coffee break smoke or enjoying your favorite blend while you are busy at your work table. If this pipe calls out to you, please let me know at deshpandeparesh@yahoo.co.in.

Thank you all for being a part of this journey with me. Praying for the health and safety of you and your loved ones in these troubled times. Stay home, light a pipe and be safe!

Resurrecting What I think is an older Comoy’s Sandblast 43 Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table came to us from a fellow in Brazil, Indiana, USA in March of 2020. The pipe is a classic looking Bent Billiard that has a deep and rugged sandblast. The pipe is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Comoy’s [over] Sandblast followed by Made in London [over] England followed by the shape number 43. The stain is a mix of browns that contrasts well with the black of the hard rubber stem. The finish was very dirty with grime ground into the finish making it hard to see beyond that to the grain underneath. There was a thick cake in the bowl and it had overflowed with lava onto the rim top and edges. It was hard to know at this point the condition of the rim edges. The stem was made of hard rubber which pointed to an earlier date for the making of the stem. The stem had no stamping or identifying marks on it. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started working on it. I include those below. He took photos of the rim top to show the thick cake and the thick lava coat on the edge and onto the top. It is hard to know what the condition of the rim top and edges is like under that thick lava. It is an incredibly dirty pipe but obviously one that was a great smoker. The stem has tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. It also has some residue left behind by a rubber Softee Bit. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the beautiful sandblasted grain around the bowl and the condition of the pipe. You can see the grime ground into the surface of the briar.    He took photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank. It is clear and readable as noted above. Jeff took a photo of the underside of the shank showing a shrunken fill with a crack in it. Fortunately it was not in the briar but in the fill itself. I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s) and reread the great history of the brand and found an advertizement for the Sandblast line. I include that advert below.I turned to the listing on the site that gave shape numbers and a description of the various shapes in chart form (https://pipedia.org/index.php?title=Comoy%27s_Shape_Number_Chart). I found the shape number 43 which was on this pipe. It is described in the chart below as a ½ Bent Billiard in a large size. That is a perfect description of the pipe I am working on.It was time to work on the pipe. As usual Jeff had done a thorough cleanup on the pipe. He reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with 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 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. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He cleaned the internals and externals of the stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water and cleaned out the airway in the stem with alcohol. This Bent Billiard pipe actually was quite stunning!   I took a photo of the rim top and stem to show the condition. The rim top and edges looked very good. The hard rubber stem had tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button and on the button edges. There was one deeper large one on the underside of the stem. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. It is a nice looking pipe that should clean up very well. I decided to address the crack in the fill on the underside of the shank first. I filled it in with clear CA glue and once it cured I smooth out the repair with 1500-2400 micromesh sanding pads. It looked much better once it was finished. 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. The Balm did its magic and the grain stood out.   I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the tooth marks on the stem with the flame of a lighter to raise them. I filled in the remaining tooth marks with clear CA glue and set it aside until the repairs cured. I used a small file to flatten the repair and recut the edge of the button. I sanded the repaired areas with 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the stem surface and also worked on the remaining oxidation at the shank junction. I started the polishing process with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.   I polished the hard rubber 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. The photo below shows the polished stem. This nice looking older Comoy’s Sandblast 43 Bent Billiard with a hard rubber taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The briar is clean and the blast really came alive. The rich brown and black stains gave the blast a sense of depth with the polishing and waxing. The grain really popped. I put the hard rubber 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 Comoy’s Sandblast Bent Billiard 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: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 54 grams/1.90 oz. The pipe will be going on the rebornpipes store soon. It will be in the section on British Pipe Makes 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. There are many more to come!