Tag Archives: vulcanite

Revitalizing a Venerable Kaywoodie Flame Grain 09B Pear

1 Reply

Blog by Dal Stanton

The Kaywoodie now on the worktable is the second of 3 pipes that Skeet commissioned after seeing them in the virtual ‘Help Me Baskets’ in the ‘For “Pipe Dreamers” Only!’ collection.  This large collection of pipes I’ve acquired from antique/secondhand shops, antique malls, and from online sellers – and some have been gifts.  The Kaywoodie was part of a lot of 13 pipes that caught my eye from a seller in Nevada a few years back.  There were some interesting shapes and system pipes that I had not seen before – a LHS Purex (9 o’clock), a Demuth SnapKleen 34 (5:30 o’clock) and a Cyclone London England (1 o’clock).  These specific pipes were new to me.  The Kaywoodie that beckoned Skeet  is situated at the 4:30 o’clock place on the pipe dial.

The first pipe Skeet commissioned benefiting the Daughters of Bulgaria came out well.  The grain on the French Jeantet Superior (see: LINK) was striking and met with Skeets approval.    Here is a picture of the Jeantet that Skeet commissioned after its completion.I was moved by Skeet’s appreciative words after reading the Jeantet’s writeup and seeing the results.  He wrote:

Dear friend Dal,

I just read the write up and saw the pictures!  There are tears in my eyes!  How beautiful it is! Thank you and most assuredly YES! I want to take possession!  (I suppose I use too many exclamation points but I’m extremely excited!) Thank you so much for your beautiful work and also your faithful stewardship you the Daughters of Bulgaria!  As long as I can I will continue to support you in that work. Thank you so much!

Skeet

Thank you, Skeet!  Through our communications back and forth, I have learned a bit about Skeet.  He resides in my birth state, Illinois.  He also drives a school bus with children under his care.  He is a man of faith, pastoring a small church with the care of souls under his charge during times which have unique challenges to us all.  He and I also share the experience of being close to the same stage of life – having a greater awareness that there are statistically fewer days awaiting us to walk tomorrow than the days we have already traveled.  Like us, the vintage Kaywoodie now on the worktable has also traversed many days.  Here are a few pictures to look at this Kaywoodie ‘ole timer’ that Skeet commissioned. The nomenclature stamped on the left shank flank is, FlameGrain [over] KAYWOODIE.  The right side of the shank holds the shape number, 09B.  The shape number described in the Kaywoodie Pipe Shapes listing from the Kaywoodie Forum posted in 2013 by the kwguy, Bill Feuerbach, of the S. M. Frank & Co., is that the 09B is a Medium Pear shape that was produced during the broad period of 1936 to 1972.  The goal will be to hone in on this span by looking for other factors and clues that help date Kaywoodie pipes.Other distinct markers helping to date the Kaywoodie are there.  In another posting on Kaywoodie shapes in 2014 on the Kaywoodie Forum, Bill Feuerbach provides additional information about the history of shape numbering comparing the ‘New 3 digit #’, the ‘Kaywoodie 2 digit #’ and the ‘Original Medico #’.  He wrote:

Maybe a little background is in order.  In 1972, we closed the West New York factory having completed construction of our new 197,000 square foot factory in Yapank on Long Island.  The plan was to move all pipe production there, but in the interim, the Medico factory in Richmond Hill Queens would handle the final sanding and finishing of all of the Kaywoodie, Yello-Bole and Medico pipes.  The thought was eventually those operations would also shift to Yapank as skilled workers could be trained to handle those operations.  (A down turn in the pipe market in the seventies doomed the new plant, but that’s another story) 

Having the three lines being finished in one building, would create confusion if there were two shape numbering systems.  So a new 3 digit system was adopted.  The Medico 3 digit system was also changed at this time.  This list will have three columns of numbers.  The first will be the “new” three digit number, used on all Kaywoodie and Medico pipes from 1972-1980.  (We stopped stamping shape numbers in 1980) The second column is the Kaywoodie two-digit number and the third column is the original Medico 3 digit number, all of which refer to the same shape. 

In this chart the ‘09B’ is in the ‘Kaywoodie 2 digit #’ column and is described as a “Standard Pear” produced between 1927 and 1972.  I do not know what the ‘B’ attached to the shape number indicates.  It hasn’t come up in anything I’ve read thus far.  With this question in mind, I decide to send a quick email to Bill Feuerbach, aka ‘kwguy’ in the Kaywoodie Forums and the head of Kaywoodie.  Bill helped me last year with information when I was restoring a striking Kaywoodie Natural Burl which came out great.  He dug into plastic tubs in his own home looking for relevant printed information to help with my research!  To read about this special Kaywoodie go to this link: Bringing to Life a Unique Kaywoodie Natural Burl 33 – Another Legacy Pipe of a Great Grandfather.   Two additional dating factors of the Flame Grain Pear are first, the inlaid white dot with the black clover inside situated on top of the stem and secondly, the 4 holed stinger.   These point to an earlier period dating of this Kaywoodie.  Generally, 4-holed stingers were phased out by the 1960s (with exceptions) replaced by the more common, 3 holed stingers.Looking to Pipephil.eu I find additional information looking at Kaywoodie’s ‘Flame Grain’ line which is listed among the several examples of Kaywoodie offerings over the years.   The following Flame Grain panel was clipped.From this additional information, the nomenclature points to an earlier period of production.  The Kaywoodie on the worktable is stamped Flame Grain over Kaywoodie – on earlier Flame Grains.  Interestingly, there is no ‘Imported Briar’ on our pipe as well, which was never the case before 1935, but after 1935 this designation was sporadic.  One more indicator of dating comes from Pipephil’s information about the Kaywoodie cloverleaf logo.The genesis of the inlaid white dot with the black clover coincides with when the Flame Grain line started.  This logo was used on all ‘upper grade’ pipes up to the late 40s.  Another important indicator is the clover being on top of the stem.  This is the final piece of information that helps put dating brackets around this Kaywoodie Flame Grain.  With the clover being on the top of the stem, the latest dating for this Kaywoodie would be the early 50s.  We can say then that the dating of the Kaywoodie Flame Grain on the worktable is most probable between 1937 and the late 40s, but perhaps to the early 50s – 1953?

Armed with this dating information, I look through the old Kaywoodie catalogs and flyers from the jpeg repository of the defunct Chris Keene’s, ‘PipePages’ website.  This poking and digging proved helpful! I find a ‘Kaywoodie Pipes’ flyer dated 1947 – the correct period.  It contains Flame Grain listings for both briar and Meerschaum lined pipes.   I found interesting also in the front/back panels below are the charges for repairs and replacement parts Kaywoodie was asking in 1947!  This next page of the flyer shows the Flame Grain offerings with the briars marked with a $10 price tag. Curious about what that Kaywoodie might do to my pocket book new today, I went to a site that computes the value of $10 in 1947 to the value it would have today. Amazingly, in 1947 $10 would have the purchasing power of $116.80 today according to this site!  I would consider this a high-end pipe!  The Flame Grain Apple example below also carries the cloverleaf logo on the top of the stem like our Pear.

One final contribution from this 1947 Kaywoodie flyer is in the final pages of the flier showing all the possible shapes available.  The 09B is pictured and labeled, ‘Pear’.  The small text box on the top right side of the page below gives a guide for the dimensions – ‘Each square on the page represents 1 inch’.  The reproduction of the page does not show this 1-inch marker – I can’t see it, but it encourages me to provide the dimensions of the Kaywoodie Pear –   Length: 5 3/16 inches, Height: 1 1/4 inches, Bowl width: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber width: 3/4 inches, Chamber depth: 1 1/4 inches.With a greater appreciation for the vintage Kaywoodie Flame Grain Pear on the worktable, I take a closer look at the issues.  The pipe is in exceptionally good shape – surprisingly for an ole timer!  The chamber has some cake buildup, and the internally beveled rim is darkened from lava flow from lighting practices on the back side of the rim.The stummel has spectacular horizontal flame grain on the sides of the bowl reaching through the shank.  When I first looked at this pipe seriously when it reached the worktable, the grain struck me as so distinctive that it was fake!  It reminded me of adhesive vinyl wood print contact paper that looks too good to be the real deal – like artificial plants and flowers!  Well, this fire grain is the real deal. As one would expect with such distinctive horizontal grain, very defined bird’s eye grain emerges on the front and aft side of the bowl.  Bird’s eye grain is the cross-cut perspective of linear grain pattern.  After inspecting the briar surface, I find no fills.  There are nicks and small scratches from normal wear and after cleaning the stummel, we’ll see how things look. While I was inspecting the stummel, I had not seen this before.  On the flattened heel of the bowl there appears to be a random stamping: ‘H Z (‘.  I’ve never seen this before and I decide to send a picture to Steve to get his take on these hieroglyphs!  I decide to send another note out seeking information, but this time to Steve to find out if he has an idea what these ‘glyphs’ are?  Steve’s response came quickly:

I have seen odd stamping but it’s generally on the underside of the shank. Never could figure it out. You might check with Bill Feuerbach at Kaywoodie. He is a wealth of info and does not seem to hesitate to help. I contact him through the website.

When trying to unlock the mysteries surrounding Kaywoodie pipes, Bill Feuerbach is the holder of the keys.  Without having received a reply from my first inquiry, I launch another with glyph pictures included to kwguy.  Amazingly, within minutes after launching my second inquiry for a ‘double intrusion’, I received a reply from Bill.  This is what he wrote:

Dal 

No worries about any double intrusion. Always glad to attempt an answer. First the easy one regarding the shape number 09B. Letters following the two digit number were necessary because of the sheer volume of shapes that were produced in the early years and not wanting to duplicate shape numbers if one had been used previously and discontinued. Although sometimes that happened.

The second question regarding those other characters on the bottom of the flat on the shank are a mystery to me I am afraid. Clearly an H and a Z and what looks like half of an O or a C but I don’t know their meaning.  I’m sorry I couldn’t help you out with this. Could have been an aftermarket addition denoting the original selling shop out there or original owners initials, I just don’t know.

Best regards 

Bill

Two mysteries resolved.  The ‘B’ attached to the Pear 09 shape number was simply to distinguish and not duplicate other “09” shapes produced through the years.  Solved.  The glyph question is resolved but not solved.  Bill’s explanation of the markings of a specific shop selling the Kaywoodie or a steward putting his mark on the pipe – both seem very possible and only this Kaywoodie Flame Grain knows for sure – if he could only talk!  My thanks again to Bill Feuerbach for his help!

After all the mysteries and communications, my survey of the Kaywoodie’s condition continues.  The stem has minor oxidation, and the vulcanite is rough.  There is a good bit of light tooth chatter on the bit – upper and lower.  This will need to be addressed. With the evaluation completed, the revitalization of this venerable Kaywoodie starts with the stem.  The airway is cleaned with pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 99%.  It’s not easy cleaning through the 4-holed stinger with the small air slot, and this, therefore, is why many stewards cut off the Kaywoodie stinger.  Navigating with pipe cleaners is difficult but is possible.Next, to address the minor oxidation, in preparation of putting the stem in a soak of Before & After Deoxidizer, 0000 grade steel wool wetted with Soft Scrub is applied to the stem.  This hopefully helps to break up the oxidation and to smooth the rough vulcanite surface.  During the scrubbing with steel wool, I’m careful to be a bit gentler over the cloverleaf logo.  The nickel stinger also enjoys some attention from the steel wool to clean it.After rinsing the stem, it joins other of Skeet’s commissioned pipes in a soak of Before & After Deoxidizer.  I leave the Kaywoodie stem soaking for several hours allowing the Deoxidizer to do its thing.After several hours – actually, the next day, the Kaywoodie stem is fished out of the Deoxidizer and drained.  I help the draining process by squeegeeing the pipe with my fingers and inserting pipe cleaners wetted with alcohol through the airway to clear the Deoxidizer.  Cotton pads wetted with alcohol are used to scrub the surface to remove raised oxidation.To further condition the stem paraffin oil is applied.  The vulcanite already looks healthier. Turning now to the stummel, the Pipnet Reaming Kit is utilized to ream the chamber to give the briar a fresh start and to inspect the chamber condition.  A starting picture is taken and only the smallest of the 4 blade heads is accommodated by the chamber. Next, the Savinelli Fits All Tool is used to scrape the chamber walls removing additional carbon cake buildup.  Finally, 240 grade sanding paper wrapped around a Sharpie Pen is used to sand the chamber.An inspection of the chamber reveals healthy briar – no heating problems or cracking.  I move on.To continue the cleaning, the external surface is cleaned with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap using a cotton pad to do the scrubbing.  A brass bristled brush is especially helpful in addressing the crusted lava flow over the back side of the rim.  It does a good job of cleaning but not adversely impacting the briar.The stummel is then taken to the sink in the laundry room to continue the cleaning using shank brushes and anti-oil liquid dish soap.  Using warm to hottish water, the internal mortise is scrubbed with the shank brushes.  After scrubbing, the stummel is thoroughly rinsed to remove soap and taken back to the worktable.  Wow!  The rim looks great and the Flame Grain continues to be sharp and distinct. Next, I use micromesh pads to clean further the surface of the minor nicks and scratches from normal wear over the years.  Dry sanding with the micromesh pads, which are less abrasive and contribute to the polishing, will help avoid  losing the patina the briar has.  With the first 3 pads, 1500 to 2400, I avoid the nomenclature on both sides of the shank as they are more abrasive.  With pads 3200 to 4000 and pads 6000 to 12000, the entire stummel is sanded.  As I started this phase, I had decided that whatever nicks and scratches might survive the micromesh process would remain as a badge of the years this Kaywoodie has served.  When the micromesh pads were completed, I was amazed at the beauty of the grain that emerged. Before turning to the stem, Before & After Restoration Balm is applied to the Kaywoodie Flame Grain briar surface.  This product of Mark Hoover is especially useful in teasing out the deeper, natural hues of the briar.  After putting some of the Balm on my fingers, I rub it into the briar surface.  As I’ve described previously, the cream-like consistency of the Balm when first applied gradually transforms to a wax-like consistency as it’s worked into the briar.  After thoroughly applying the Balm, the stummel is put aside for 20 or so minutes for the Balm to be absorbed and do its work (pictured below).  Whenever I apply the Balm to a pipe I’m working on, I never wipe off my fingers with the excess Balm!  I run over to my collection and grab a pipe and apply the excess Balm to it – no wasting this liquid gold 😊.After the minutes accumulate, I use a dedicated microfiber cloth for the initial wiping off of the excess Restoration Balm then follow with another dedicated microfiber cloth, same color, that buffs up the surface.  As expected, the Restoration Balm deepened an already impressive patch of briar.The stem is waiting for attention.  The earlier treatment for oxidation seems to have done well.  The bit, both upper and lower, has significant light tooth chatter.  My approach to rectify this is using a Bic lighter and paint the bit with flames.  The flame is moved rapidly, back and forth, over the surface.  To hold the flame too still can burn the rubber and if this happens, it becomes brittle without luster – I’ve learned this from experience.  As the vulcanite heats it expands and reclaims all or some of its original condition.  Pictures are taken before starting to compare the results after heating.  The results are good!  It’s interesting that different stems respond to the heating method differently.  Not all vulcanite is the same.  This stem responded very well whereas others, seemingly not at all or little.  The pictures show the comparison. Only minor sanding will be necessary, along with refreshing the button.   Starting with a flat needle file, with the flat edge against the lip of the button, the file refreshes and sharpens the bite ledge.  I’m careful to keep the file off the stem surface while doing this on the upper and lower button.Next, 240 grade paper removes the roughness left from the tooth chatter and smooths the button.  The sanding is expanded to remove small nicks on the rest of the stem staying clear of the cloverleaf on the upper side of the stem.  A plastic disk is used on the stinger side of the stem to keep the end of the stem facing sharp – to avoid shouldering.With the heaviest sanding done, wet sanding with 600 grade paper follows and then 0000 grade steel wool is applied to smooth the stem surface further.After completing the steel wool polishing, I notice a pit in the middle of the lower lip of the button – ugh…I return to the flat needle file to file down a bit more the lip edge without impacting the surrounding vulcanite.  The pit is erased.As before, the file is followed by 240, 600 and 0000 steel wool – detour completed and did not take too long.Next, the stem receives sanding from all the micromesh pads starting with wet sanding with pads 1500 to 2400.  This is followed with dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000.  Between each set of 3 pads, Obsidian Oil is applied.  Obsidian Oil does not remove oxidation if it already is present in the stem but helps prevent oxidation from developing. Now the home stretch.  A cotton cloth buffing wheel is mounted on the rotary tool with speed set at about 40% full power.  The fine abrasive, Blue diamond compound, is then applied to both stem and stummel.Changing again to another cotton cloth buffing wheel dedicated to metals, Blue Diamond compound is also applied to the nickel Kaywoodie 4-holed stinger as well as to the shank facing.  This shines these fitments nicely.Next, again changing the buffing wheel to another wheel dedicated to wax, maintaining the same speed, carnauba wax is applied to the pipe.  When thoroughly applied, a microfiber cloth provides a rigorous hand buffing to remove excess wax and to raise the shine.This Kaywoodie Flame Grain 09B Pear is striking.  It’s vintage spans from 1937 to probably the late 40s.  The quality of the grain is amazing – the bold, distinct flame grain flowing laterally through the bowl is complemented by remarkable bird’s eye pattern.  This bird’s eye grain forms a kaleidoscope of cross-cut veins on the fore and aft of the bowl.  This Kaywoodie Flame Grain is certainly a collectable pipe and a treasure to add to one’s collection.  Skeet commissioned this pipe and will have the first opportunity to acquire it in The Pipe Steward Store benefiting the Daughters of Bulgaria.  Thanks for joining me!

GBD 5841S Bulldog Restoration

Leave a reply

By Al Jones

It has been a while since I’ve had a GBD on my work bench.  Here’s yet another oddball GBD shape, one I’ve not yet encountered.  The typical GBD bent bulldog shape is the 549.  I’ve seen and restored a 584S, but this one is oddly stamped 5841S.    I have not seen this shape in any of my saved GBD catalogs. This one has the brass rondell and “London, England” stamping used on pre-Cadogan era pipes (made before 1981).

The pipe had an oxidized stem and a heavy cake in the bowl, including some tobacco left from the last time it was smoked.   The beveled bowl top also has some build up on the rim. Below is the pipe as it was received.

I used a worn piece of scotchbrite on the bowl top followed by 8,000 grit micromesh sheet. I reamed the cake and found the bowl interior to be in great shape. The bowl was soaked with alcohol and sea salt.

Following the soak, the stem was mounted and the oxidation removed with 800, 1,500 and 2,000 grade wet sandpaper, followed by 8,000 and 12,000 grade micromesh. The stem was then buffed with White Diamond and Meguiars Plastic polish. The bowl was buffed with White Diamond rouge, followed by several coasts of Carnuba wax.

Below is the finished pipe.

Restemming a Small Porcelain Bowled Gourd Calabash

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

In my box of bowls, collected over the years I had this small gourd calabash pipe with a ceramic cup insert. Somewhere along its journey someone had broken the tenon off in the shank. I was looking at it this morning and was drawn to it. There was something about the little calabash that was attractive. The golden shank extension and the white porcelain cup looked good. I imagined what it would look like with a black stem and figure it would be a good one to fiddle with while I waited for calls that I was expecting. To start off the work I would need to remove the broken tenon in the shank. There are multiple ways to do that but first I tried to pull it with a screw twisted into the airway but it would not budge. I removed the porcelain bowl from the gourd and set it aside to work on later. I did not drop it by accident. I used my cordless drill and a bit the same size as the mortise and slowly drill the broken tenon out of the mortise. It did not take long before it dropped out of the mortise in pieces as shown in the photos below. I went through my can of stems and found one that I thought looked good with golden coloured shank extension and gourd. It is a fancy stem that is paneled once passed the saddle.The tenon was a little large for the mortise so I used a Dremel and sanding drum to start the process of taking down. I noticed that the tenon was not centered on the stem so I used a rasp to bring it back to center and remove the excess vulcanite. I sanded it smooth with a folded piece of 220 sandpaper and fit it on the shank. I took photos of the look of the stem at this point. I would need to give it a slight bend before it was finished, but I liked the look of it.I set the gourd and stem aside for awhile and turned to work on the porcelain bowl. It was a dirty mess with lava on the rim top and a thick cake in the bowl. I removed the lava on the rim top by dry sanding it with a 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad. I was able to remove all of the build up and get it back to the porcelain finish underneath.I scraped out the cake in the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife and took it back to bare walls. The bowl and airway at the bottom were in excellent condition. I scrubbed the internal of the bowl and the exterior of the cup and rim top with a tooth brush and some dish soap to remove the grime that had build up and leave the bowl clean and fresh smelling.I cleaned up the inner edge of the bowl with a folded piece of worn 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the nicks in the edge. When I finished it looked better.I polished the porcelain cup top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the cup top down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the dust and debris. The cup really took on a shine.The gourd was quite clean inside. I wiped it out with a paper towel to remove the debris. I used some Vaseline petroleum jelly renew the cork gasket around the inside of the gourd neck. I worked it in with my fingertips and let it sit until the dry cork had absorbed the jelly and was more elastic.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the gourd with my finger tips to enliven, clean and protect the surface. I let it sit on the gourd for 15 minutes then buffed it off with a soft cloth. The gourd really came alive with the product. I put the porcelain cup back on the gourd bowl and took pictures of the pipe at this point in the restoration and restemming. I set the gourd and cup aside and turned my attention to the stem. I put a slight bend in the stem using my heat gun. The photo below shows the bend. The angle of the bend makes the pipe level in the mouth.I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem.  This Delicate Looking Small Porcelain Bowled Gourd Calabash is a great looking older pipe. I have no idea of the age of the pipe but I have had it in my box of bowl for probably15-18 years and I have no memory of where I picked it up or when. It is a great looking pipe that came out looking even better with the newly fit stem. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition. The white of the porcelain cup works well with the orange/brown of the gourd, the golden shank extension and the polished black vulcanite fancy stem adds to the mix. With the grime gone from the finish and the bowl it was a beauty and is eye-catching. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not drop or damage the bowl or gourd. I gave the gourd and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Porcelain Bowled Gourd Calabash is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that like the other pipes I am working that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 3 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 42grams/1.48oz. It will soon be added to the Ceramic and Meerschaum Pipes section on the rebornpipes store. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next generation.

Comoy’s Regent Prince Restoration

Leave a reply

By Al Jones

The 337 is one of several Prince shapes in the Comoy’s catalog.  I was unable to determine when the shape was first seen.   This pipe is a “Regent” and the first I’ve seen on my bench fro that line.  This one didn’t require much work, there was mild oxidation on the stem, a few light teeth indentions, a mild cake and some build-up on the bowl top.  Below is the shape from a 1970’s Comoy’s catalog, and the pipe as it was received.

I used a lighter to lift the two light teeth indentions. The build-up on the bowl top was removed with 2,000 grade wet paper and a 8,000 grade micromesh sheet. I reamed the slight cake and the bowl was soaked with alcohol and sea salt. Following the soak, the stem was mounted and oxidation removed with 800, 1,500 and 2,000 grade wet sandpaper. This was followed by 8,000 and 12,000 grade micromesh sheets. The stem was then buffed with White Diamond and Meguiars Plastic Polish. The bowl was buffed with White Diamond and several coats of Carnuba wax.

Below is the finished pipe.

Shades of Tolkien and Lewis – Restoring a Stunning Figural Briar “Dryad”

4 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

Over the Christmas holidays I listen to the audio book of the Hobbit and the entire Chronicles of Narnia. I am not sure if that influences what I see in the next pipe or not, but to me it is what I imagined when both spoke of the Dryads, Wood Nymphs or Entwives. The carved figure coming out of the back of the bowl of this pipe perfectly captures what I imagined. The hair on both sides is entwined with leaves, vines and fruit (grapes). There is a symbol like a flower with a jewel in the centre at the top of the forehead that seems to be on a band around the head. The feminine features are well worked on the face and as you hold it looking at it you can easily imagine it watching you.

I did a bit of research on Google and found ought a fair bit about Dryads. I included this picture from Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2440813268) as well as a close up of the face of the woman in the pipe I am working on. I summarize what I learned about Dryads below: According to Greek mythology a Dryad is a tree nymph or tree spirit. The Greek word Drys signifies “oak”, and dryads are specifically the nymphs of oak trees, but the term has come to be used for tree nymphs in general, or human-tree hybrids in fantasy.

I found another photo of a Dryad that is stunning. She is reaching out of the tree for the person coming towards her (http://testforbloggerandgadgets.blogspot.com/2014/04/spritesdryads-spritesnymphs.html). The pipe I am working on has a shank that is like a hollow branch with the stem carved like a hand reaching out toward the smoker and grasping the blade of the stem.Jeff picked the pipe up from an auction from a fellow in Los Angeles, California, USA. The grain on the pipe was stunning with straight and flame grain around the bowl and shank. The rim top was plateau briar and the carver had used it to form almost a leafy overhang over the face. There were chips out of the overhanging edge on the left rear of the bowl and the right side. It was visible but did not detract from the carving. The pipe was dirty and needed a lot of work to clean up in terms of grit and grime in the carving’s features and ground into the smooth bowl sides. The pipe had been smoked and there was a moderate cake and some lava on the beveled inner edge of the rim. Jeff took photos of the pipe to give a sense of the overall look and condition it was in before he worked his magic on it. He took photos of the plateau rim top and the bowl to show the condition of both. You can see the lava on the beveled inner edge at the back of the bowl. The plateau is actually quite nice and the beveled rim edge should look stunning once it is cleaned up.The unique carved hand coming off the tenon and holding the blade of the stem is really interesting. The shank end is carved like a snapped off tree branch and the hand is reaching out of it .The left hand fingers and thumb hold what looks like a crescent moon and the top of the stem flows out of that. Look closely at the carving of the stem and the shank end in the photos below. The stem is heavily oxidized and scratched and will take a lot of work to clean up in all the grooves of the hand. He took some close up photos of the stem surface on both sides. It is heavily oxidized but there are not any tooth marks or chatter.Jeff took photos of the smooth portions of the bowl sides to show the amazing grain on the pipe. It is straight/flame grain that flows up from the flattened heel of the bowl to the plateau of the rim top.Jeff took a series of photos to show the details of the carving around the backside of the bowl and the curves around the edges. You can see the floral like band on the forehead and the vine like hair framing the face. The detail of the emblems hanging on the sides of her face and hair are very similar looking to the one that is on the forehead. At first I thought they were earrings but I am not pretty certain they hang from the head band on the sides of her head. There is some stamping on the left side of the shank that is carved in by hand. There are several possibilities as to what it says but I cannot find any information on any of them. One possibility could be Chambers 70 which would be the name of the carver and the date. Another possibility is Cham Cerato but I cannot find anything like that name for a carver. Do any of you know who it could be?Jeff reamed the bowl with a Pipnet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He carefully scrubbed the bowl, plateau rim top, beveled inner edge and the carving on the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a soft tooth brush. He was able to remove the grime from the surface of the briar and the carving without damaging the face. He cleaned the internals of the mortise, airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol and cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. This pipe is so ornate that it took some time and care to not damage it in the process of the cleaning. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove some of the oxidation on the surface in the fingers of the carving. He soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer to further remove the oxidation. While he got a good portion of it there was still some deep oxidation on the stem surface and in the grooves of the carving that I would  need to deal with. I took photos of the pipe at this point in the process. It looks significantly better.  I took a close up photo of the plateau rim top and beveled inner edge. The inner edge looks very good. The stem photos show the remaining oxidation on both sides.I took a photo of the stamping and show the knot like spot below the carving.I took a photo of the pipe taken apart to give a sense of proportion to the whole that is hard to see with the stem in place in the shank. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl and shank with my fingertips. I worked it into the carvings with a q-tip or cotton swab. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then carefully buffed it off with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process.   Earlier in the process I had put the stem to soak in the Briarville Deoxidizer Bath while I worked on the bowl. It was time to take it out – almost 2 hours in the bath. While it definitely was not as brown as it had been the hand and wrist still showed a lot of oxidation. This was going to be a bear to work on and would take a lot of time to get it all off!I scrubbed the stem and all the grooves with Soft Scrub using cotton swabs and cotton pads. Many pads and cotton swabs later it was finally looking better. Still a lot of work to do but I feel like I am making some progress. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I am excited to finish this Mythical Dryad/Wood Nymph/Entwife Pipe. I put the pipe back together and hand buffed it with a soft cloth and clean tooth brush. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of a coat of Conservators Wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfibre cloth to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain and carved face emerging from the back of the bowl looking at you while you hold it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem with the hand reaching out of the branch like shank made a stunning pipe. This incredible hand carved Dryad/Wood Nymph/Entwife pipe is great looking and feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 8 inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 ½ inches long x 2 inches wide, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 54grams/1.90oz. It is a beautiful pipe that I will be keeping in my own collection. I am looking forward to my yearly reading of the Lord of the Rings and will enjoy a bowl of tobac as I read. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Putting together a Great Looking Gourd Calabash from Parts

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

For years now I have kept a box of parts and bowls for a variety of pipes. It has briar bowls that I want to one day restem and shank extensions etc. Periodically Jeff will send me bits and bobs in the boxes of pipes that he sends me. I don’t remember where I picked up the gourd calabash with a meerschaum cup below. It was large and in excellent condition. It was missing the acrylic  shank extension that was glued into the shank of the calabash and it was missing a stem. In the latest box that Jeff sent me he included a shank extension and a stem that I thought would work perfectly to complete this calabash. I put the extension in the shank and took pictures of the parts of the pipe. It worked very well together and once it was all glued and fitted it would look great. I glued the shank extension in the end of the calabash and set it aside to cure. Once the glue was set the shank extension was ready for the new stem.I used some Vaseline Petroleum Jelly to rejuvenate the cork gasket in the bowl. I worked it into the cork with my finger tips to soften the gasket. Once it had absorbed a bit it would be soft and hold the meerschaum bowl in the gourd easily.I put the meerschaum bowl in the gourd and put the stem in the shank extension and took photos of the newly constructed calabash.  I took a photo of the meerschaum cup from the top to show the general condition. It was in decent condition with some scratching and staining around the top surface. The inside of the bowl was in excellent condition. The edges of the bowl and chamber  were in excellent condition. The stem was virtually unused with no tooth marks or chatter on either side.  I took a photo of the bowl and stem from the side to give a sense of proportion. It is a great looking pipe.I started my work on the bowl by polishing the meerschaum bowl with micromesh sanding pads – polishing with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping them down with a damp cloth after each pad. I waxed the meerschaum bowl with Clapham’s Beeswax Polish. I rubbed it into the meerschaum with my finger tips and once it had dried I buffed it out with a soft cotton cloth.    I polished the gourd down with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. The gourd had taken on a great shine. I rubbed the gourd down with Before  and After Restoration Balm to clean and rejuvenate the  gourd and give the calabash and briar a fresh look. I put the meerschaum cup in the gourd calabash bowl and took photos of this portion of the restoration of this pipe. I set aside the bowl and turned my attention to the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine.   I really enjoyed putting this pipe together and restoring it because I love the final touches that make it sing. I put the Gourd Calabash back together and lightly buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the gourd and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished meerschaum bowl looks like with the smooth finished gourd and the black vulcanite stem. This richly finished Gourd Calabash is light weight and ready for you to load up a tobacco of preference and enjoy smoking it. Have a look at it in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 7 inches, Height: 4 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 3 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 142grams/5.04oz. This is one that will go on the Meerschaum Pipemakers section of the rebornpipes online store shortly. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next generation.    

Recommissioning a Classic French Jeantet Superior Chimney

1 Reply

Blog by Dal Stanton

A few years ago, I acquired the Jeantet Superior Chimney now on the worktable in the ‘French Lot of 50’ which demanded my attention on the French eBay auction block.  It has provided several treasures that are now in the care of new stewards benefiting the Daughters of Bulgaria.  Another from this Parisian Lot, is now in the offering.  Skeet saw the Jeantet in the online inventory, ‘For “Pipe Dreamers” Only!’ along with a few other pipes and reached out to me with questions about the possibility of commissioning some.  Part of why I love restoring pipes is not only their innate beauty and intrigue delving into their pedigrees and stories, but also when I can learn about their former stewards or potentially in this case, their future stewards.  Here is a portion of Skeets initial email to me:

Greetings Dal,

I have been looking through your collection of “Help Me!” Baskets and I am overwhelmed!  There are so many beautiful pipes in this group!  I have received a little extra money in recent days and I am finally going to commission a pipe or two.  I am (sadly) clueless on the basic expense of this and the basic value of pipe brands.  I found a dozen pipes I would cherish if I had them but have cut the number down significantly.  I usually tend to buy full or half bent styles, but as I looked, I was drawn to mostly “slightly bent” or even straight models.  I am a newbie still even though I am 66.  I don’t automatically know the relative values of each of these pipes so I may be very interested in a pipe I cannot afford.  This is the primary reason for my exploratory email.

Below I have listed 5 pipes (cut down from many more!)  If you could supply me with a general idea of what these might cost to commission and eventually purchase, I would be quite appreciative.  I intend to commission at least one and hopefully two if I can afford it.

I appreciate your willingness to support the Daughters of Bulgaria.  What a wonderful cause!  Thank you for your compassion.

After communicating back and forth, Skeet’s starting point with the consideration 5 pipes was whittled down to commissioning 3.  Along with the Jeantet, Skeet commissioned an interesting Kaywoodie Flame grain 09B Pear and a Butz-Choquin Regate St. Claude France 1275 shown here.

With all who commission pipes, the one condition I ask of them is patience as the pipes work through my deliberate but often slow worktable!  A few months ago, before the holidays, I reached out to Skeet thanking him for his patience and letting him know that his pipes were close to the worktable.  Now, the Jeantet Superior Chimney is on the table.  With the 1 7/8-inch-tall bowl, which tightens and tapers toward the rim – sharp looking, I’m calling it a Chimney shape.  To complete the dimensions, the length is 5 1/2 inches, the rim is 7/8 inches wide with a chamber width of 5/8 inches and depth of 1 11/16 inches.  Here are a few pictures to take a closer look.The stampings on the left side of the shank are JEANTET [over] SUPERIOR.   The stem has stamped a ‘J’ with an oval encircled around it.One of the first pipes I restored several years ago was a Jeantet Fleuron which I found in one of my favorite antique – second-hand shops located in downtown, Sofia, Bulgaria, which I affectionately called the, ‘Hole in the Wall’.  That restoration was my first dive into the labyrinth of French pipe makers and the historic center of pipe making in Saint Claude, France.  I was fascinated by all the relationships and machinations of figuring out the histories of pipe names, datings, and the fluctuations caused by business deals between UK and France….  I enjoyed the research of that first French pipe on my worktable and you can take a look and read it at this link: Another nice find at the ‘Hole in the Wall’ – Jeantet Fleuron 70-7.  The history of the Jeantet name in Saint Claude spans back into the 1700s.  The first part of Pipedia’s Jeantet article starts by looking at the history up to WW2 – as a refresher I repeat it here:

The firm of the Jeantet family in Saint-Claude is first mentioned as early as 1775. By 1807 the Jeantets operated a turnery producing in particular wooden shanks for porcelain pipes and wild cherry wood pipes. The firm was named Jeantet-David in 1816, and in 1837 the enterprise was transformed into a corporation as collective name for numerous workshops scattered all over the city.

The manufacturing of briar pipes and began in 1858. 51 persons were employed by 1890. Desirous to concentrate the workers at a single site, the corporation began to construct a factory edifying integrated buildings about 1891 at Rue de Bonneville 12 – 14.  In 1898 Maurice Jeantet restructured the business. He is also presumed to enlarge Jeantet factory purchasing a workshop adjoining southerly. It belonged to the family Genoud, who were specialized in rough shaping of stummels and polishing finished pipes. (In these times it was a most common procedure to carry goods from here to there and back again often for certain steps of the production executed by dependent family based subcontractors. Manpower was cheap.)

Jeantet was transformed to a corporation with limited liability in 1938. By that time a branch workshop was operated in Montréal-la-Cluse (Ain), where mainly the less expensive pipes were finished. 107 employees – 26 of them working from their homes – were counted in Saint-Claude in 1948 and 18 in the Ain facility.

According to the Pipedia article, the Jeantet production continued to expand through the 50s with new equipment and more employees.  But in 1969 production reached its zenith with the production of 30 to 35,000 dozen pipes per year with 72 workers shrinking to 1987 with 6 to 7000 dozen pipes per year with 22 workers on the payroll.   The final years of the Jeantet name are described in the same Pipedia article:

Yves Grenard, formerly Jeantet’s chief designer and a great cousin of Pierre Comoy, had taken over the management of Chapuis-Comoy in 1971. Now, to preserve the brand, the Jeantet family went into negotiations with him, and resulting from that Jeantet was merged in the Cuty Fort Group (est. 1987 and headed by Chacom) in 1988 along with the pipe brands of John Lacroix and Emile Vuillard. Chacom closed the Jeantet plant, and the City of Saint-Claude purchased it in 1989. After alternative plans failed, the buildings were devoted to wrecking. The southerly workshop was wrecked before 1992.

Today Jeantet pipes were produced as a sub-brand by Chapuis-Comoy who’s mainstay is Chacom of course.

Looking at Pipephil.eu, I hoped to find more information about the Jeantet on my table in the listing.  The ‘Superior’ line was not among the listings, but what was added was later information about the fate of the Jeantet name:

The company joined the Cuty-Fort Entreprises group (Chacom, Ropp, Vuillard, Jean Lacroix…) in 1992. In 2010 it dropped out and the brand isn’t part of the group any more. The label is owned by the Jeantet family (Dominique Jeantet) again. The pipe production is discontinued. Dominique Jeantet retired in 2000.

With a renewed appreciation for the legacy of the Jeantet pipe on my table, I look more closely at the pipe. The chamber needs cleaning to give the briar a fresh start.  The carbon buildup is minor.  There is some darkening on the rim from lighting, but hopefully, this should clean easily.  The stummel has attractive and expressive random grain and fire grain that wraps the bowl.  Looking closely at the bowl several fills are visible which may need attention later. The slightly bent saddle stem shows some thick oxidation and light roughness on the bit.Starting with the stem, the original Jeantet nickel stinger is lodged in the tenon.  It is debated whether stingers help or hinder the smoking experience.  I personally do not prefer stingers.  Yet, as part of the historicity of a pipe, if it has a stinger as a part of its original production, I like to save it and allow the future steward to make his own decisions.  To remove the stinger, a cloth is used to wrap the stinger to protect it from ‘teeth marks’ as it’s removed.  With the cloth wrapped around the stinger, the needle nose pliers lightly grab the stinger while I gently rotate the stem to dislodge the stinger.  This works well.  I put the stinger in some alcohol to soak and to later clean with steel wool.Next, the airway is cleaned with a few pipe cleaners wetted with isopropyl 99%.I can see some significant deposits of oxidation in the vulcanite stem.  While protecting the circled ‘J’, I go work on the oxidation before putting the stem into a soak of Before & After Deoxidizer.I use Soft Scrub and steel wool to try to break up the oxidation – avoiding the stem stamping.After rinsing the stem, it is then placed in the Before & After Deoxidizer to soak through the night along with the other pipes that Skeet has commissioned.The next day, the stem is fished out of the Deoxidizer and drained.  With latex surgical gloves on my hands, I squeegee the liquid off the stem.I then use a pipe cleaner wetted with isopropyl 99% to clear the Deoxidizer from the airway.  Cotton pads and alcohol are also used to wipe off the raised oxidation from the stem.To help condition the vulcanite, paraffin oil, a mineral oil, is applied to the stem. Looking more closely at the stem with the oil on it, and with the help of a lightened picture, residual oxidation is visible.  Ugh!  The greatest concentration is on the bit and on the horn of the saddle stem.  I have found that the Before & After Deoxidizer does not work as well with deep oxidation.  The question that has been discussed is, does this product remove oxidation or mask it?  I’ll need to ask Mark Hoover about this who produces the product (www.Lpen.com)!  The Deoxidizer seems to do great with stems with light oxidation, but for this stem, sanding will be needed to continue the oxidation removal.    Turning now to the Chimney stummel, a fresh picture shows the chamber and the light cake build up.I am only able to use the smallest diameter blade head in the Pipnet Reaming Kit to ream the chamber.  The narrow chamber shaft will not accommodate more!The Savinelli Fitsall Tool follows by scraping the chamber wall and can reach down to the floor of the chamber and navigate the tight angles.  The chamber cleaning is completed with a sanding with 240 paper wrapped around a Sharpie Pen.  After wiping out the chamber with a cotton pad, an inspection reveals healthy briar – no heating or cracking problems. The cleaning continues with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a cotton pad.  Using the cotton pad, the outer stummel is scrubbed. The darkened char on the aft of the rim is stubborn.  I scrub the rim with my thumbnail and Murphy’s.  The brass wired brush also is used and a careful scraping using a pocketknife.  I’m extremely careful working on the rim because the rim top of the chimney bowl is very thin, and I do not want it damaged or worn down inadvertently. To continue the cleaning the stummel is transferred to the sink where using anti-oil liquid dishwashing soap and warm water, the mortise is scrubbed using shank brushes.  After scrubbing, the stummel is thoroughly rinsed and transferred back to the worktable. The rim cleaned up more but burn damage is there. The aft quadrant shows where most of the lighting activity has transpired – over the rim. The front shows some burns as well, but more localized.  I’m an old school match user – over the bacca and draw down not over!  This rim damage will be addressed later.During the external surface cleaning process, weakened patches, probably made of water-based fill material, filling the pitting in the briar are revealed. I had noted these fills earlier. The beauty of highly active briar grain often has the downside of small imperfections in the briar that have to be filled with patch material.  I count 5 patches in need of repair. While the old patch material is still damp, I use a dental probe to dig the remnant filler material. Before continuing with patching, the cleaning of the internals of the stummel need completion.  I prefer working on clean pipes!  It only takes a few cotton buds and pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 99% to finish the cleaning.  I will further the cleaning later with a kosher salt and alcohol soak.With the pipe now clean, I will address the 5 pits that emerged through the cleaning process now emptied of old fill material. To repair the briar, I refill the pits using a mixture of briar dust and CA glue.  The mixture creates a ‘briar putty’ that is then applied to the pits.  I first clean the surface with alcohol AND discover another pit or possibly a chip in the shank, just to the right of the nomenclature.  Well, now there’s 6 patches to be made.  I clean the area with a dental probe and alcohol.  The appearance seems that it’s a chip and not a pit that lost its fill material. To make the briar putty, I use a plastic disk as the mixing palette.  To help with clean up and to keep the CA glue pristine, a piece of clear packing tape covers the disk.  To mix on a paper or an index card may change the viscosity of the CA glue during mixing and cause it to solidify too soon.  A small pile of briar dust is placed on the palette, and then, beside this, a small puddle of extra thick CA glue is placed.  The picture shows the set up before the mixing commences.Using the toothpick, briar dust is gradually pulled into the CA and mixed in with the toothpick.  Additional briar dust is pulled into the thickening mixture until it reaches the viscosity of molasses.When the putty is thick enough and no longer runny, the toothpick is used to trowel the putty to spot place onto each pit.  I use an accelerator to hold the patches in place and to quicken the curing process.  The pictures below show the patches in place.  While applying the putty, I saw another small pit – and then there were 7. The hour is late and with the patches on the stummel firm, I will do one last project before turning out the lights.  A kosher salt and alcohol soak will continue the internal cleaning and refresh the pipe for the new steward.  Starting with a cotton ball, it is pulled and twisted until it forms a ‘wick’ to help draw out the tars and oils from the internal briar.  The end of the cotton ball wick is guided with the help of a stiff wire down the mortise into the airway as far as the draft hole.  The bowl is then filled with kosher salt and the stummel is placed in an egg crate to keep it stable and to maintain the proper angle – the top of the salt and end of the shank are parallel.  Kosher salt is used because it leaves no aftertaste.  With a large eye dropper, isopropyl 99% is introduced slowly into the bowl until the alcohol surfaces over the salt.  After about 10 minutes, the alcohol is absorbed into the salt and cotton wick to some degree.  The bowl is then topped off with additional alcohol until it surfaces once more above the salt.  I set the crate stummel aside resting in the egg crate and turn out the lights. The next morning, the kosher salt and alcohol soak have been at work.  The salt and the wick are soiled indicating a continued drawing out of the oils and tars from the internal briar. To make sure all is cleaned and refreshed, a cotton bud and pipe cleaner wetted with isopropyl 99% confirm all is good.With the stummel clean, next is the process of filing down all the briar putty patches.  The basic approach for all the patches is to use a flat needle file with the goal to file exclusively on the patch mound and not to wander off the patch area onto the surrounding briar.  The mounds are filed down close to the briar surface.  These next few pictures give the idea. After all the mounds are filed down, 240 grade sandpaper is used to sand the patches further.  The goal is to remove all the excess dried putty surrounding the patch itself.  You can tell when excess glue is remaining as you sand – the glue is a powdery white whereas briar is not.  A few more pictures showing sanding on different patches. With the patches filed and sanded down, I switch my focus to the rim.  I like the design of the rim as it culminates.  It is very compact as it crowns the coned taper of the bowl.  The rim itself is a narrow 1/8 inch wide.  The front and back of the rim have sustained charring and burn damage from lighting.  The entire circumference of the inner rim is darkened. To clean and refresh the rim, I top the stummel – oh, but precious little!  To begin, 240 paper is used on the top of a chopping board which serves as my topping board.  After inverting the stummel on the paper, I give it a few rotations and check.  The last thing I want to do is take off too much with such a tightly fashioned rim.  A few rotations are enough it seems to me. Switching on the topping board now to 600 grade paper, several more rotations are given on the less abrasive paper.  In the picture below after topping on the 600 paper, the rim looks better.  There remains a burn mark on the front side that reaches into the rim.  The back side damage to the rim, which appeared to be worse, has pretty much been erased except for the inner lip radius which still is darkened.Using a tightly rolled piece of 240 paper followed by 600 paper, the inside rim lip is gently sanded to remove the black char stain.  I call the sanding ‘gentle’ because I don’t want to create a bevel on a rim this narrow.  I only desire to clean and freshen it.  The rim looks great – nice grain has emerged.  The only quandary I have is that there is still a small bit of char darkening remaining (upper arrow), but I don’t want to take more off the rim.  Another question is right next to the dark spot – when I run my finger over it, it is not smooth (lower arrow).  This appears to be an imperfection in the briar and topping the stummel to remove it will probably require a good bit more briar to be removed.  Briar is the most important real estate on a pipe, and one does not give it up unless necessary. To avoid topping more and sacrificing more briar off the rim, I spot drop CA glue to fill the small crevasse on the rim. After the CA is cured, a pointed half moon needle file works well to file down the excess CA on the inner curve of the chamber.Flipping the file over to the flat edge, it works well to remove the excess CA patch on the flat rim surface.  I’m careful to keep the file on top of the patch mound so not to impact the surrounding briar.The rim patch is completed with 240 sanding paper followed by 600.  The rim is now smooth to the touch and the patch blends well with the surrounding briar.Next, with the several patches required on the stummel surface, to blend these patches and to clean the surface, sanding sponges are used.  I use a coarser grade sponge to start.  Following this, a medium then a fine grade sponge to complete this phase. Transitioning next to dry sanding with micromesh pads, pads 1500 to 2400 are followed by 3200 to 4000 and then 6000 to 12000.  The grain emerges very nicely through the micromesh sanding process.  Before putting the stummel aside to focus on the stem, Before & After Restoration Balm (www.Lpen.com) is applied to the stummel.  The Balm does a great job bringing out the subtle hues of the natural briar.  After placing some of the Balm on my fingers, the Balm is rubbed into the briar surface with a creamy consistency and it gradually thickens.  Once the surface is thoroughly covered, the stummel is set aside for about 20 minutes for the Balm to do its work.After 20 minutes, the excess Balm is wiped off with a microfiber cloth and then buffed.  It’s looking great!Turning now to the stem, the picture I took earlier after the Deoxidizer soak is a reminder of the deep oxidation the remained. Interestingly, as I look at the stem now, I am not able to see the oxidation as I was earlier….  Hmmm.  Even so, I elect to sand the stem so that the oxidation doesn’t show itself later during the fine polishing phase.  Using 240 sanding paper, the entire stem is sanded careful to guard against accidentally sanding over the Jeantet Circle ‘J’ stem stamping.  Following the 240 grade coarser sanding, I wet sand using 600 grade paper and then finish after applying 0000 grade steel wool.Continuing with the stem using micromesh pads, the stem is wet sanded with pads 1500 to 2400.  Following the wet sanding, I dry sand with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000.  Between each set of 3 pads, Obsidian Oil is applied to further condition the stem and to guard it from future oxidation. After completing the sanding of the saddle stem, I reunite the stem and stummel to get an overall look at the progress.  What I discover is that the fit of the tenon and mortise has tightened through the cleaning process – this happens.  I do not risk forcing the stem and stummel together which could result in hearing that dreaded snap of a cracked shank. The remedy is to pinch 240 sanding paper around the tenon and rotate the stem to create the abrasion which gradually reduces the diameter of the tenon to fit the mortise. After several rotation sessions and fittings to test the size, the tenon gradually fits – snugly but not too tight.  The Jeantet Superior Chimney is coming along very nicely.The next step is to refresh the Circle ‘J’ stem stamping with white acrylic paint.  It appears that there’s enough ‘tread’ left in the stamping to give the paint traction to be held in the imprint.The first step is to place a small drop of white acrylic paint over the stamping.  The toothpick then is used to spread the paint over the lettering.I then daub the wet paint with a cotton pad to absorb the excess and to spread the paint evenly over the lettering.  This also dries the paint quickly.I use both the flat edge of a toothpick and its point to clean the excess paint away and to sharpen the stamping.  I use the side of the toothpick to scrape over the entire stamping removing most of the paint on the stem surface – leaving the paint in the troughs of the stamping.  The point of the toothpick allows me to finish the edges of the stamping more closely.  I repeat applying paint a couple times with daubing and then the toothpick finishing process until the Jeantet stamping looked good.Now on the home stretch.  After remembering to replace the original nickel stinger after it was cleaned and polished with steel wool, and rejoining the stem and stummel, a cotton cloth buffing wheel is mounted onto the rotary tool to apply Blue Diamond compound to the stem and stummel.  The speed is set at about 40% full power as I methodically apply the fine abrasive to the surface of the briar and vulcanite. After applying the compound, the pipe is wiped/buffed with a felt cloth to remove left over compound dust particles.  I don’t want the abrasive particles to mix with the wax that comes next.  Another wheel, dedicated to applying carnauba wax is mounted and with the speed remaining the same, wax is applied to the pipe.   When this is completed, the pipe enjoys a rigorous hand buffing with a microfiber cloth to remove any excess wax from the surface and to raise the shine. Skeet commissioned this Jeantet Superior Chimney because he saw its potential.  The Chimney shape gives a sharp, clean-cut look.  This joined with the slightly bent saddle stem gives the pipe a comfortable symmetry.  The briar required several repairs to fill pits, but the results were worth the effort!  There is no such thing as a perfect piece of briar! The briar block appears to have been cut near the edge of the bole which manifests the beautiful, active briar seen in this stummel.  The fire grain seems to hug and wrap around the bowl tightening into a spider web knot on the back side of the bowl.  Without question, a striking landscape for a new steward to enjoy!  Skeet will have the first opportunity to claim this Jeantet Superior Chimney from The Pipe Steward Store benefitting the Daughters of Bulgaria – helping women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited.  Thanks for joining me!

 

 

Restoring a Peterson’s Dublin (London Made England) 21 Calabash

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is smooth finished Peterson’s Dublin Calabash pipe that had a bit of a bland looking finish but had some good looking grain around the bowl sides and shank. It came to us in a group of pipes we bought from a fellow in Los Angeles, California, USA. This Calabash was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [arched over] Dublin. It was stamped on the right side and read London Made [over] England. On the left of that next to the stem it is stamped 21. The pipe was in filthy condition when he brought it to the table. The finish was dirty with grime ground into the briar sides and rim. There were black spots on the briar around the bowl and shank. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a light coat of lava on the rim top but the edges of the bowl and top actually looked to be in good condition. The stem was oxidized, calcified and had tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside on and near the button. It had a stamped P on the left side of the saddle. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. They tell the story and give a glimpse of the promise that we see in this pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is thickly caked and the rim top and edges look pretty good under the light lava coat. The photos of the stem show some oxidation and light tooth marks on both sides near the button. Jeff took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the amazing grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe.     He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above.    I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s London Made England line. On page 296-297 it had the following information.

MADE IN over ENGLAND and variations shown below (1936-62) Peterson maintained a factory in England for about a quarter of a century, from the late 1930s to ’62. Corporate transcripts and London business periodicals suggest the London operation on White Lion Street was about to get underway in ’37. Only a handful of London hallmarked Petersons are documented, stamped with date marks of 1936 and 1939, and these have no COM stamp. Their output would be limited by the onset of the Battle of Britain in July 1940, but it seems reasonable to suppose pipes were made in the London factory during WWII, inasmuch as the K&P Staff Register lists twelve employees earning wages there in January ’44. London hallmarked Petersons have been identified with dates of 1949-54. Most London made Petersons in a collector’s inventory were made in these postwar years, from 1949 until the closing of the factory in ’62. This narrow range  of dates is probably the most reliable indicator of years when the stamp and the variations listed below were employed. The presence of one variation or another on a pipe is not by itself a reliable indicator of age.

Made In over England

Made In England forming a circle

Made In England forming an ellipse

Made in England in a line

A “Peterson’s Product” over Made In England

A Peterson’s Product over Made In England

A Peterson Product over Made in England

Made In over Great Britain

Great Britain

London Made over England

London Made

Now I knew a date range for the pipe I was working on – 1949-1962. I have underlined and made the text bold in the above list to show the stamping on the pipe I am working on. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and the darkened spots with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top had some looked quite good and the inner edge had some darkening and damage. It should clean up really well. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks on the surface near the button.     I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is clear and readable.     I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. I decided to address the spots around the bowl sides first. I was pretty sure I could remove them with micromesh sanding pads. I sanded it with 1500-2400 grit pads and was able to remove and minimize those that remained with the micromesh.    In the process of sanding the shank I found a small hairline crack in the underside of the shank that extended straight up the shank for about ½ inch. I checked out the stability of the crack and it was still quite tight. I decided the best course for this kind of crack was to bind it together with a thin brass band. I topped the band edge off and removed some of it so that it did not interfere with the number stamp on the right side and would still do the job it was intended to do. I drew a red rectangle around the crack in the shank and took two pictures to capture it. There is some darkening around the crack and that was what caught my eye.  I went through my bands and found one that was the proper fit for the shank diameter. It was a bit too deep and covered some of the shape number stamp on the right shank so I used a topping board and 220 grit sandpaper to reduce the depth so that it did not cover the number. Once I had the depth correct I put some all purpose glue on the shank end and pressed the band in place on the shank. I wiped off the excess glue with a damp pad. I finished polishing the briar with the remaining micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process.    I set the bowl aside and “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a “Bic” lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to raise most of them I filled in the remaining tooth marks with clear super glue. Once the glue cured I sanded the repairs smooth to blend them into the surface of the surrounding vulcanite.  I touched up the P stamp on the left side of the saddle stem with Rub’n Buff  Antique Gold. I rubbed it on with a tooth pick and worked it into the stamp. I buffed it off with a soft cloth. While the stamping is faint it is still readable.     I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine.    I am excited to finish this London Made English Peterson’s Dublin, Calabash 21. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl and brass band on the shank and made a stunning pipe. This smooth Classic Older Peterson’s Dublin English Made Calabash is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 34grams/1.20oz. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection send me an email or a message. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

A Piece of Edmonton, Alberta History – A Mike’s Edmonton Lord’s Bent Billiard

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that Jeff and I picked up on a pipe hunt in Alberta, Canada a few years ago. We hit antique shops and malls from Lethbridge in the south to Edmonton in the north and found a lot of nice looking pipes. The photo below shows some of those pipes and in particular the one on the table today. I have drawn a box around it in the photo below. It came from and antique mall in Edmonton, Alberta. I could tell by looking at it that it was an old timer even before I picked it up. The shape and finish looked English to me and I was thinking maybe a Comoy’s or a GBD pipe. The stamping on the left side of the shank read Lords in an oval with London Made arced underneath. On the right side of the shank is where the pipe got even more interesting to me. It read MIKES [over] EDMONTON [over] 4811 (the shape number). The more I looked at it the more I am convinced it is a GBD made pipe. But after reading the stamping I had to know more about MIKES EDMONTON. I had no idea what that referred to and I wondered how a British made pipe came to be stamped with that information. I put the pipe in a box and Jeff took it home to clean up and I promptly forgot about it until he sent it back to me not to long ago. Now it is on the table and it is the focus of my attention.Jeff took photos of the pipe before he did his clean up work. It was a great looking piece of briar with a mix of grain around the bowl and shank. There was a heavy cake in the bowl  and a heavy overflow of lava on the inwardly beveled rim top. The stem was heavily oxidized and there was calcification around the button area. There were tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside just ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl. The smooth beveled rim top showed thick coat of lava that filled in the rim top and hopefully protected the edges from damage. He took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the tooth chatter, scratching and oxidation on the stem surface and wear on the edges of the button.   Jeff took a photo of the side and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish. You can see the well done shape and he amazing grain around the bowl and shank. Even under the dirt and debris of the years it looked very good. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above. I am still thinking it is linked to GBD pipes. 

I was very curious about the Mikes Edmonton stamp on the shank so I did a bit of searching for information on Google to see what I could find. I searched for Mikes Edmonton Tobacco shop to see what I could find. I found a location on the web called Mikes News Stand. They sold newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, cigars and pipes and tobacco it. It was an institution in Edmonton. I found an article about the shop written by Lawrence Herzog in 2015 and I have included portions of the article below (https://citymuseumedmonton.ca/2015/05/04/mikes-news-stand/). I am including clips from the article as well as some photos.

Mike’s News Stand –                     Author Lawrence Herzog                    May 4, 2015 

Mike’s quickly became the place to go to hear the local gossip, the fascinating exploits of the bush pilots who gathered there and catch the latest sports scores. Each day, newsboys would fan out from the store along Jasper Avenue, shouting “extra, extra, read all about it!”

For 70 years, Mike’s News Stand was an Edmonton institution. For most of that time, it operated from a storefront at 10062 Jasper Avenue, and its animated neon sign was a famous downtown landmark.

The sign, with a legs-crossed man reading the Toronto Star Weekly and with one leg that swung back and forth as if by magic, was erected above the entrance in 1934. “News…Smokes,” the sign shouted to Jasper Avenue passersby. Now, it hangs proudly once again as part of the Neon Sign Museum on the side of the Telus building on 104th Street and 104th Avenue.

The store itself opened for business on Tuesday, December 5, 1916, and was called Mike’s News and Tobacco Stand. Named for its owner John Michaels (who everybody knew as Mike), it was billed a place where citizens could send magazines or periodicals and smokes to boys on the front, fighting in the First World War…..

With its ancient worn linoleum floor, tin ceiling, varnished wood magazine and newspaper shelves darkened by time, distinctive fragrance and cacophony of sounds, Mike’s News Stand was a singular experience. The floors creaked under the coming and going of customers, and the tang of Cuban cigars and pipe tobacco hung in the air. The storefront had housed a shooting gallery in an earlier existence and had bullet holes near the ticket office sign to prove it.…

Michaels retired in 1957 and died in 1962 at the University Hospital at the age of 71. He was survived by his wife Ruth and daughter Audrey Lovelace. The neighbourhood of Michaels Park at 38th Avenue north of Whitemud Drive, 66th Street to 76th Street, was later named by the City in his honour….

Two years later, with plans afoot to demolish the building Mike’s had long called home and construct gleaming new Scotia Place, the news stand relocated to a sterile cubicle in the Metropolitan Building at 10162 101st Street. The landmark sign, counters and some of the old fixtures went with it, but the spirit of the old place didn’t.

Ruth Michaels told a Journal reporter that it was too bad the old store had to close. “I suppose it’s one of those things called progress,” she said at the time from her retirement home in Hollywood, Florida. “Sometimes I wondered how the place has stood up this long.” She said the secret to the success and the longevity was “simply because we gave personal attention to the individual. Johnny knew practically everyone personally.”

The store returned to Jasper Avenue in January 1983 in the Melton Building at 103rd Street, and then moved again to a retail frontage at 10119 101 Street. But business continued to drop, and the end came in April 1986. Wire and wooden display fixtures were hauled out, and Mike’s closed its doors for good.

With the information I learned in the above article I had the background on the stamping on the pipe. It was a pipe made for Mike’s News and Tobacco Stand. I could not however find out who made the pipe. The shape number on the pipe seemed to point to GBD as the maker in my opinion but I would not be certain of that. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I am really happy to have Jeff’s help on cleaning up the pipes that we pick up along the way. He cleaned this filthy pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness that I really appreciate. This one was a real mess and I did not know what to expect when I unwrapped it from his box. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks much better and the beveled rim top was actually very visible. There were scratches and nicks in the bevel that needed to be cleaned up but it looked good. Jeff soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. He scrubbed it with Soft Scrub All Purpose Cleaner to remove the majority of the oxidation. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver I was amazed it looked so good. I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. The rim top looked very good but there were dents and nicks in the rim top surface and on the outer edge of the bowl. I took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the surface and button.  I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is faint but readable.   I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe. It is a good looking pipe and has some great grain on the bowl and shank. I decided to start my restoration work on this one by dealing with the damage to the rim top and edges. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage on the beveled rim top. I started polishing the rim top with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I polished the smooth rim top and sides of the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. After each pad I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth.   I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process.      With that done the bowl was finished other than the final buffing. I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. I looked at the tooth chatter on the stem and concluded that none of it was deep so I figured I could polish it out with micromesh sanding pads. I polished the stem with with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine.   It is fun to come to end of the restoration of the Mikes Edmonton Lords London Made Bent Billiard. It was interesting to be able to at least tentatively to link the pipe to the tobacco shop in Edmonton. It turned out to be a nice looking Bent Billiard. The finish came alive with the work I had done so far. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the grain popping through and the polished black vulcanite taper stem. It really was beautiful. This older English Bent Billiard is nice looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 4 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 34grams/1.20ounces. It is a beautiful pipe that I am still trying to figure out if I want to sell. Perhaps if you are an Edmontonian we should chat. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next pipeman or woman. 

Yet Another Treasure – a 1911 BBB Own Make Glokar Poker

5 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

It seems like just a few weeks ago I was contacted by an older gentleman about purchasing his pipe collection. He sent me the photos and I was amazed at what I saw. It had Dunhill pipes, BBB pipes, Orlik pipes, Barclay Rex Pipes, a couple of Meerschaums and a whole lot of other pipes. All I could say as I looked at the pipes was what a collection it was. We negotiated a deal and I think we both walked away quite happy with the exchange. But I have to tell you there was another very interesting pipe caught my interest when I looked at pictures of it. It was a beautiful older BBB Poker/Cherrywood sitter. It was a mess but there was something charming about  it. It is shown in the photo to the left. The larger pipe in the photo is also a BBB and from what I can gather it is on the larger side but not to degree it looks in the photo with the poker. This poker is tiny. It is only 4 ¼ inches long and 1 ½ inches tall. The black band on the shank is oxidized/tarnished Sterling Silver. I could not wait to get it in hand and figure out the age of the pipe. From the looks of it I could tell it was older. The stem was also very unique looking so I was looking forward to checking that out.

I have worked on a lot of BBB pipes over the years and never had the opportunity to work on one like this. It would be a great addition to my collection of older BBB pipes. From the photos the pipe appeared to be in good condition from the photo he sent me. He said that the pipe was stamped on the left side of the silver ferrule and read AF & Co over three hallmarks. The hallmarks are as follows: an anchor (Birmingham, England), a rampant lion (the symbol for quality of the silver) and the final one is a lower case “m” (the date stamp). I had him ship it to Jeff for cleanup so it would be a while before I held in hand.

When the package arrived at Jeff’s place in Idaho he waited for me and opened the box with me on Facetime to look at the collection of pipes as he removed them from the box. It is an amazing collection and one that I am going to enjoy working on over the months ahead. Jeff took some photos of the BBB Tiny Poker with a Sterling Silver Ferrule and a Peterson like system stem and internals for me to look at while he worked his magic in cleaning up the pipe. It is a an interesting pipe with a lot of potential and what appears to be some great grain under the grime and debris of the years.  Jeff took photos of the bowl, rim top to show the thickness of the cake in the bowl and the lava on the rim top. It was obviously a great smoking pipe and a favourite. I am hoping that the thick lava coat on the crowned rim top protected things underneath it from damage to the edges and top. Cleaning it would make that clear! He took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the tooth chatter, scratching and oxidation on the stem surface and wear on the edges of the button.  The photos of the stem also show the unique design and shape of the stem. I am looking forward to doing some research on the GLOKAR to figure out all I can about it.  Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the briar. You can see the beautiful shape and the grain on the bowl even through the dirt and debris of 110 years. At this point in the process it certainly looks its age.  The stamping on the pipe was on the left side of the shank and read BBB in a diamond separating OWN MAKE on each side of the diamond. There was no other stamping on the shank sides. On the silver ferrule on the shank of the pipe it is stamped top and left side and it has the BBB diamond logo and underneath that is AF&Co (which is the Adolph Frankau & Company logo). After his death, the BBB gradually became known as Britain’s Best Briars. It is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, English trademark in current use and the first pipe ever to have a registered trade mark. Underneath the AF&Co it is stamped with three hallmarks – an anchor, a lion and a lower case “m”.  The anchor identifies the city of origin of the silversmith (Birmingham, England), the rampant lion (the symbol for quality of the silver) and the final one is a lower case “m” (the date stamp). The silver is badly oxidized but you can see the hallmarks in the first photo below. The stamping is clear and readable.The hard rubber stem is also stamped and reads GLOKAR over TRADE MARK. It is very readable as can be seen in the photo below. Since the hallmarks were so clear, I turned to one of the numerous silver hallmark charts on line for the city of Birmingham, England to see what I could find out about the “m” date stamp and pin down and age for the pipe (https://www.silvermakersmarks.co.uk/Dates/Birmingham.html). I clicked on the section that applied to the date stamp on this pipe. The first chart below is the chart from 1773-2024.I am also including screen capture of the enlarged section on the Birmingham dates for the letter M. This chart covers pipes made in 1778-1986. I have drawn a read box around the hallmark pattern that matches the one on the BBB Silver ferrule. You can see that it dates the pipe to 1911. That means that this little pipe is roughly 110 years old.

With the information from the hallmark site I had a clear date for the manufacture of the pipe. It was definitely an old timer and really was another stellar acquisition.

I wanted know more about the GLOKAR stamp and what it signified. I had an inkling that I was dealing with a BBB system pipe not unlike the Peterson’s System pipes but I wanted to see what I could find out about that. I have a facsimile of a 1912 BBB Catalogue No. 20 that has a section dedicated to the Glokar. On page 107-110 there is information about the pipe and the various versions available. Interestingly it does not include a picture/drawing of my Poker. I quote the description of the Trademarked Glokar below.

The “Glokar” Mouthpiece does away with the great drawback of all ordinary pipes, viz., the unpleasant and possibly injurious, effect of the smoke upon the tongue, as the end of the stem  has a smooth, concave surface, which while forming a pleasant rest for the tongue, acts as a barrier between it and the smoke. Instead of pressing through an ordinary round bore, the smoke leaves the mouthpiece through a fan-shaped slot, which is drilled in and upward direction – thus preventing saliva from entering the bore of the pipe.

Advantages:

  1. The bore, being kept dry, requires less cleaning than that of an ordinary pipe.
  2. As no saliva can reach the bowl, the tobacco can be consumed to the last particle.
  3. The shape of the mouthpiece affords the perfection of comfort for the mouth, tongue ad lips.

I took a photo of the picture that was included in the catalogue for the “GLOKAR” and have included it below. The cutaway diagram shows the system in the bowl and shank as well a the patented lip design. It is remarkably like a Peterson’s system pipe. One of the differences is the shape of the exit of the air way in the button. This one is a slot rather than a round hole.Now it was time to work on the pipe. Jeff carefully cleaned the pipe from top to stern. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals of the shank, stem and shank extension with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the calabash and the tarnish and lava on the rim top. The finish looks much better and has a deep richness in the colour that highlights grain of the briar. The rim top looked good with some darkening on the top and outer edge of the bowl. Jeff soaked the stem in bath of Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. He worked it over with Soft Scrub All Purpose Cleaner to remove any remnants of oxidation. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver I was amazed it looked so good. Here are some photos of what I saw. I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. The rim top  was darkened but did not look otherwise damaged. There was also some darkening around the outer edge of the bowl that would need to be worked on. The silver ferrule was in great condition. I took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the surface and button. I took a picture of the stamping on the shank. The reflection on the silver did not capture the stamping on the ferrule but it was all clear and readable as noted above.I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe with the short stem. It is a good looking pipe and very unique. I started my work on the pipe by addressing the darkening on the edges and rim top. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to work over the edges (inner and outer) and the crowned rim top to try to minimize the darkening. While not flawless I was happy with the results.I polished the rim top and the rest of the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. After each pad I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth.  I was able to give a shine to the bowl and remove some of the surface scratches in the process.  I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the bowl and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I polished the silver ferrule with a jewelers cloth to remove any residual tarnish and also to protect it from future tarnish (at least for awhile). With that done the bowl was finished other than the final buffing. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the deep tooth marks against the button edge with clear super glue. Once it cured I sanded out the repairs and the tooth chatter on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper. I started the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.    I filled in the Glokar Trademark stamping on the stem with Rub’n Buff Antique Gold to highlight the stamping. I rubbed it on and worked it into the stamp with a toothpick. I buffed it off with a cotton pad. The stamp looks really good at this point.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine.    With the bowl and the stem finished I put the pipe back together and buffed it on the wheel using Blue Diamond to give it a shine. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the wheel and then buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It really is an amazing little pipe. The dimensions of this part of the pipe are – Length: 4 ¼ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of this tiny pipe is .71 ounces /20 grams. This unique find – a 1911 BBB Glokar Poker with a silver ferrule is joining the other pipes in my collection of BBB pipes and will hold a place of honour while it is in my trust. This is another pipe that one day soon I will enjoy a special bowl of tobacco in it and be transported to a slower paced time in history where I can enjoy a respite. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me.