Tag Archives: vulcanite

Reworking a KB&B Bent Churchwarden

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is an interesting KB&B Churchwarden and that is how it is stamped on the left side of the shank. On the right it reads Italian Briar. It is an interesting piece of briar in that it is a mix of grains hidden beneath a dark coat of stain and a top coat of shellac. The briar was very dirty. The bowl had a thick cake overflowing like lava onto the rim top. It is hard to know what the inner edge of the rim looks like because it is buried under the cake and lava coat. The fit of the stem in the shank appeared to be a bit off but cleaning would make that clear. The long vulcanite stem was dirty and oxidized. It was calcified near the button. The bend on the stem was also too much leaving the bowl tipped downward when in the mouth. There were tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work. Jeff tried to capture the condition of the bowl and rim top with the next series of photos. You can see the work that is ahead of us in terms of cake and lava buildup. The grain around the bowl is quite stunning. Jeff took some great photos showing what is underneath the grime and debris of time and use. He captured the stamping on the both sides of the shank it read as noted above.The photos of the stem show the stem surface. It is dirty and has light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.Now it was time to work on my part of the restoration of the pipe. Jeff had cleaned the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness that I really appreciate. This one was in decent condition with a bit of buildup on the rim top but virtually no cake in the bowl. He cleaned up the bowl walls 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 light lava on the beveled rim top. The finish looks very good with good looking grain around the bowl and shank. Jeff scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked very good. I took photos before I started my part of the work. I took some photos of the rim top and stem. Once Jeff removed the lava on the inside edge of the rim top it was in pretty rough condition. There were cuts, nicks and burned areas all around the inner edge and the bowl was out of round from the damage. The outer edge of the bowl looked very good. The close up photos of the stem shows that it was very clean and there was some tooth marks and chatter on the stem just ahead of the button.The fit of the stem in the shank is off. It looked like the shank end had a slight cant to it and the stem did not seat evenly against the shank end. The gap was obvious and made worse by the fact that the diameter of the shank was less than that of the stem. It was worse on the top side and the right side. I checked the shank end and there was some damage there. I could top it lightly but that is a hit or miss proposition. I decided that I would see what a thin band did to the fit. I took some photos to try to capture what I was seeing at the shank stem junction. I went through my various bands. I had picked up a bag of older style bands that included a slight cap that went over the shank end. It was my thinking that this would smooth the surface of the junction for the stem. I heated the band with a lighter and pressed in place on the shank. It was a very tight fit and I liked the look of it. There is something about the look of these thin brass bands that just looks right on older pipes. I took photos of the bowl and the pipe at this point. I decided to address the over bent stem at this point since I was working on the pipe as a whole. I want the bent to be more in keeping with the top of the bowl so that when it sat in the mouth the line was even from the bend to the top of the bowl. I used a heat gun on the lowest setting to soften the vulcanite. To “unbend” is far easier than to bend. You heat the top side of the stem at the bend, constantly moving the pipe and the stem automatically begins to straighten. The key is to stop in time before it is totally straight! I paid attention and caught it at the right moment. I cooled the stem with water to set the new bend.With the shank/stem connection repaired and the bend in the stem reset I was ready to move on to dealing with the issues of the inner edge and rim top. I removed the stem and set it aside and took the bowl in my hands. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the edge and give it a slight bevel to mask the damaged areas. Once the bowl is polished the bevel is hardly visible and the bowl looks better.I wiped off the remnants of the shellac finish on the bowl with isopropyl alcohol on a cotton pad. Once the finish was removed the grain began to really stand out nicely. I was happy with the way the rim top and edges looked so I moved on to polish the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The grain really began to stand out and the finish took on a shine by the last sanding pad. The photos tell the story! I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about ten 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 laid the bowl aside and turned to deal with the stem. I sanded off the excess diameter at the shank with 220 grit sandpaper until the shank and stem were the same diameter. Unfortunately I utterly forgot to take photos of this part of the process. My photos pick up again when I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I was able to remove the scratching and tooth marks with the micromesh. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. This KB&B Churchwarden was a fun pipe to work on. I knew that I had to do some work to bring it back to smooth transitions between the shank and stem and to get the bowl looking better and not so beat up. But I was very happy when I got to the point of putting it all back together and everything worked very well. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition and the contrasting stains work well to highlight the different grain patterns on the pipe. The black vulcanite Churchwarden stem just adds to the mix. With the grime and debris gone from the finish and the bowl it was a beauty and the grain just pops at this point.

I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank and stem during the process. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished KB&B Churchwarden is quite beautiful and is a classic bent Churchwarden shaped pipe. The finish on the bowl combines various stains to give it depth. It is very well done. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 10 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. I really like the looks of this Churchwarden and it is a great looking pipe in great condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This pipe will be added to the rebornpipes store soon. If you want to add it to your collection send me an email or a message! Thanks for your time.

Fresh Life for a GBD Pedigree 254 Canadian

3 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

I have always liked GBD pipes. There is just something about the brand and their take on shapes that catches my eye. This particular GBD is a really nice looking Canadian with a saddle stem – at least I would call it a Canadian because of the oval shank. It is stamped both on the topside and underside of the shank. On the top of the shank it is stamped with the GBD Oval over Pedigree. On the underside it is stamped London England 254. There is also the brass GBD oval roundel on the top of the saddle stem. It was dirty but the bowl had been reamed back to bare briar. There was a light lava coat on the inner edge. The pipe had a rich medium brown stain that highlighted nice grain on the bowl sides under the grime and the finish appeared to be in good condition. There is a band on the shank that appears to be an add on. The shank is not cracked though it is thin on the top and underside. A lot would be revealed once Jeff had worked his magic on it. The vulcanite saddle stem was in good condition with some oxidation and light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button and on the button surface itself. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Jeff tried to capture the condition of the bowl and rim top with the next series of photos. You can see the work that is ahead of us even though the bowl is clean. The beveled rim edge has some lava buildup. The grain around the bowl is quite stunning. Jeff took some great photos showing what is underneath the grime and debris of time and use. He captured the stamping on the left side of the shank and both sides of the half saddle acrylic stem. They are clear and readable. It read as noted above.The photos of the stem show the stem surface. It is dirty and has light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I turned to Pipephil and looked to see if there was any information on the Pedigree line. There was nothing there other than a great brief history. I turned to Pipedia to the specific section on GBD to read about the line (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD). There was a page from an Oppenheimer Catalogue on the Pedigree line. I have included a screen capture of that page below.Now it was time to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had cleaned the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness that I really appreciate. This one was in decent condition with a bit of buildup on the rim top but virtually no cake in the bowl. He cleaned up the bowl walls 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 light lava on the beveled rim top. The finish looks very good with good looking grain around the bowl and shank. Jeff scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked very good. I took photos before I started my part of the work. I took some photos of the rim top and stem. Once Jeff removed the lava on the inside bevel of the rim top. Both the inner and the outer edge of the bowl look very good. The close up photos of the stem shows that is it very clean and there is some oxidation and some minimal tooth chatter on the button and surface just ahead of the button.I took the stem off the shank and took a picture of the pipe. It really is an elegant and delicate looking pipe with great grain.I was happy with the way the rim top and edges looked so I did not need to work on them more. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The grain really began to stand out and the finish took on a shine by the last sanding pad. The photos tell the story! I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about ten 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 laid the bowl aside and turned to deal with the stem. The tooth marks and chatter on the stem were not deep. 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 a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. This delicately shape classic GBD pipe came together amazingly well. Thanks to the fact that it was in pretty good condition before we started it was a clean pipe to work on. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition and the contrasting stains work well to highlight the stunning grain on the pipe. The black vulcanite saddle stem just adds to the mix. With the grime and debris gone from the finish and the bowl it was a beauty and the grain just pops at this point. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank and stem during the process. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished GBD Pedigree Canadian is quite beautiful and is a classic Canadian shaped pipe. The finish on the bowl combines various stains to give it depth. It is very well done. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 5/8 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. I really like this delicate and elegant GBD pipe and it is a great looking pipe in great condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I had a GBD pipe sock around that I have put together with the pipe. This pipe will be added to the rebornpipes store soon. If you want to add it to your collection send me an email or a message! Thanks for your time.

Breathing New Life into a Charatan’s Make Special Bell 33X Dublin

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

I still remember the first Charatan pipe I picked up over 25 or so years ago. I remember finding it in an Antique Shop that is no longer around. It was Charatan’s Make Bell 33X with a Double Comfort (DC) bit on it and probably the craggiest looking sandblast I had seen to date when I found it. I still have that pipe and still fire it up with a good bowl of 5100. It is a smoking machine. So when I when I moved on to choose the next pipe to work on it was not a far stretch to pick the Charatan’s Make Special Bell 33X smooth that was in my box. It is a nice looking Dublin shaped pipe that Charatan called a Bell. All of the stamping is on the left side of the shank. It reads Charatan’s Make [over] London England. Under that it reads Special with the shape number 33X. The CP logo on the left side of the vulcanite saddle stem is clear and readable. It was dirty and was another well-loved pipe when we received it. The bowl had a thick cake and the lava overflow on the inner edge of the bowl a heavy on the back side of the rim top. It was hard to know the condition of the inner edge of the bowl. The pipe had a rich medium brown stain that highlighted nice grain on the bowl sides under the grime and the finish appeared to be in good condition. A lot would be revealed once Jeff had worked his magic on it. The vulcanite saddle stem was in good condition with light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button and on the button surface itself. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Jeff tried to capture the condition of the bowl and rim top with the next series of photos. You can see the work that is ahead of us there. The grain around the bowl is quite stunning. Jeff took some great photos showing what is underneath the grime and debris of time and use. He captured the stamping on the left side of the shank and both sides of the half saddle acrylic stem. They are clear and readable. It read as noted above. The photos of the stem show the stem surface. It is dirty and has light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I turned to Pipephil to get a quick overview on the brand to refresh me in a quick overview of the history of the Charatan’s Make Brand (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-charatan.html). I quote a pertinent summary of the information I found there.

Short history of the brand. Brand founded in 1863 by Frederik Charatan. When his father retired in 1910, Reuben Charatan took over the family business. All the pipes were handmade until 1973. The brand name has been overtaken by Dunhill in 1978 and sold in 1988 to James B. Russell Inc. (NJ, USA). During the period 1988-2002 Charatans were crafted by Butz Choquin in St Claude (France). Dunhill re-purchased Charatan brand name in 2002 and Colin Fromm (Invicta Briars, Castleford) follows up on freehand production.

I turned to Pipedia to the specific section on Dating Charatans to fill in more of the gaps (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dating_of_Charatans). I was hoping to be able to solidify the time period that the pipe was made. In reading through the material I am pretty confident that the pipe is a Third Era Pipe. I have included the section from the article that helped me arrive at this conclusion.

Identification of a third era pipe (First Lane era, 1961-1965)

Pipes of this period are quite common.

1) The mouthpiece is frequently double comfort, rarely saddle without the double comfort, never tapered. If the stem is not a double comfort but a saddle one, it is characterized by the letter X on the right of the shape code (e.g. 2502X), naturally in this case the letters DC are not displayed.

2) In the CP logo, the C enters the P

3) Presence of £ on the shank (note that from 1955 all the pipe imported in the USA by Lane has it, however that stamping is not synonymous of the Lane era)

4)Presence of the letter DC just after the shape number (e.g. 2502 DC) or of the letter X only if the stem is not a double comfort one

5) Presence in some models of the stamp “MADE BY HAND” on the shank (introduced for the first time in 1958)

6) Presence of the writing “CHARATAN’S MAKE LONDON ENGLAND” on 2 lines

7) The CP logo is thicker than in previous eras

I am also including a photo from the article that shows the same stamping as the one I am working on. The one I have has a different shape number (33X) and also does not have the Lane’s L stamp visible on the left side of the shank in the photo below.I posted the stamping on the Tobacco Pipe Restorers Group on FaceBook and Paige Simms and I dialogued a bit about it. Michael Stanley responded first and echoed my thinking. Paige Simms followed up with the rest of the dialogue. It was a very helpful conversation.

Michael Stanley: The “X” denotes a non DC mouthpiece. And imho, that, was a good move!

Steve Laug: Thanks Michael I would agree.

Paige Simms: I beg to differ my friends. The ‘X’ denotes a ‘special’ pipe in grain, size or maybe shape. I have several DC stemmed pieces stamped ‘X’

Paige Simms: No ‘Lane stamp’ may mean made before 1958ish…….or they forgot to stamp it. LOL. But the shape number ’33’ probably dates it pre1968. How is it stamped on the right side of the shank? IMPORTANT

Steve Laug: Nothing on the right side Paige… Everything is on the left

Paige Simms: Meaning then, the pipe was made before 1955 or 1960. The nomenclature change after the ‘blank right shank’ was in block letters “MADE BY HAND”. That stamp started in 1956 or 1961. (And ran for 5 years only). I was a founding member and I learned well from ‘The International Charatan Pipe Smokers Society’. That’s a Great pipe!!!

Steve Laug: What is the 1968 referring to above?

Paige Simms: The first year of the “Lane stamping”

With that information in hand Pipedia informed me that I was dealing with an era of Charatans pipes that were quite common. It was known as a third era pipe (First Lane era, 1961-1965). According to the information from Pipedia the pipe was made in the early 1960s. From Paige Simms information it pushed it back a bit further to being made before 1955 or 1960. The nomenclature change after the ‘blank right shank’ was in block letters “MADE BY HAND”. That stamp started in 1956 or 1961. (And ran for 5 years only). I now had an idea of the age of the pipe and a bit of its story – it had been made between 1955-1961. Now it was time to work on the pipe itself.

Jeff cleaned the 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 very good with good looking grain around the bowl and shank. Jeff scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked very good. I took photos before I started my part of the work. I took some photos of the rim top and stem. Once Jeff removed the lava on the back side of the rim top and inner edges the damage became evident. There was some significant damage on the back inner edge of the bowl that included chipping and burning of the surface. The outer edge of the bowl looks very good. The close up photos of the stem shows that is it very clean and there is some minimal tooth chatter and marks on the button and surface just ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the stem and shank of the pipe. It is clear and readable. I took the stem off the shank and took a picture of the pipe. It really is a nice looking pipe with great lines.I started my part of the restoration work on the pipe by trying to address the burn damage on the back inner edge of the rim. The least invasive method was where I started. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to try and smooth out the edge while keeping the bowl in round. While I was able to smooth out the edge and keep it round the burn damage on the back of the rim top needed something a little more invasive. This is probably a step that some will find unnecessary but I feel somewhat compelled to try to bring it back as close as possible to the original look. I topped it on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. Once I finished it I smoothed out the inner edge again. The third photo below shows the newly shaped rim top without the burn damage. Fortunately it was not too deep and the topping was minimal. I was happy with the rim top and edges now so it was time to polish the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. I was also hoping to blend the newly topped bowl into the finish of the rest of the pipe. The grain really began to stand out and the finish took on a shine by the last sanding pad. The photos tell the story! I apologize for the next photo but I did not catch it until later in the process when it was too late to go back and retake the photo.I touched up the rim top up with a blend of oak and maple stain pens to match the rest of the bowl. I forgot to take a photo of that. When the stain was cured I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about ten 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 laid the bowl aside and turned to deal with the stem. The tooth marks and chatter on the stem were not deep. 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 a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. This older Charatan pipe came together quite well. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition and the contrasting stains work well with the black vulcanite saddle stem. With the grime and debris gone from the finish and the bowl it was a beauty and the grain just pops at this point. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank and stem during the process. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Charatan’s Make Special 33X is quite beautiful and is a lovely Bell shaped pipe. The finish on the bowl combines various stains to give it depth. It is very well done. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 5/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. I really like this Bell shaped Charatan’s Make Special pipe and it really does remind me of one of my first pipe finds. This is a great looking pipe in great condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. Thanks for your time.

Cleaning up an Artisan Made Stogie Holder

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

This restoration is a departure from my regular work on pipes. It really is a change of pace for me. Normally I am not a big cigar fan though I have an occasional one. When Jeff sent me this cigar holder I sat and looked at it for quite a while. It is a beautiful handmade Stogie Holder that truly is quite stunning. It has a briar holder and a band of exotic wood attached to the comfortable vulcanite mouthpiece. When Jeff and I received the vulcanite had tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button and it was dirty in the airway. It was lightly oxidized around the button area on both sides. The briar was in good condition and the overall look of the piece was very nice. The dimensions on the holder are Length: 3 ½ inches, Width: 1 ½ inches, Holder Diameter: ¾ of an inch, Holder Depth: 1 inch, Vulcanite portion length: 2 inches. I cleaned out the bowl of the holder and the airway from the bowl to the end of the button with alcohol and pipe cleaners and surprisingly it was quite clean. I wiped out the bowl with a folded pipe cleaner and alcohol as well. The holder smells fresh.I polished out the tooth marks, chatter and oxidation on the vulcanite stem and the briar and exotic wood at the same time with micromesh sanding pads. I sanded the holder with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad to remove the debris. The photos show the developing shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar and the stem with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar and I thought I would try it on the vulcanite of the holder. I let the balm sit for about ten minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the cigar holder at this point in the restoration process. I buffed the cigar holder on the buffer using Blue Diamond on the buffing pad to remove all the scratches in the briar and vulcanite. It works very well. I gave it several coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished holder is shown in the photos below. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly if you are interested in adding it to your collection. This was interesting to work on. Thanks for taking time to read this.

Why Malaga would call this a Second is a Mystery to me

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on my work table this morning is a Freehand with a crafted plateau rim top and shank end. It is a piece of briar with a mix of interesting grain flowing literally in every direction. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Malaga Second. In my examination of the pipe there are no flaws or pits or anything other than the mixed grain that would possibly make this a second. The drilling in the shank and bowl is perfect with no twists or turns and the airway is right in the centre at the lower edge of the bowl. It is not too deep or shallow. It is a mystery to me why it is a second. The bowl, round shank and bent fancy taper vulcanite stem look very good. The bowl had a thin to moderate cake and no lava onto the rim and no damage on inner edges of the bowl. The sides of the bowl and shank are dull and dirty with grime and oils from prolonged use. The stem had tooth dents and chatter on the top and the underside near the button and was heavily oxidized and calcified at the end. Jeff took these photos before he started the cleanup work on the pipe. Jeff took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The carved plateau rim top looked really good. There was no darkening or burn marks on the edges. Other than being dusty and a bit dirty the rim top and bowl looked good. You can also see the moderated cake in the bowl in these photos. He also took a photo of the shank end to show the matching carved plateau finish there. The photos of the sides and bottom of the bowl and shank show the variations of the grain around the bowl. The photos show the general condition of the bowl and wear on the finish. It is dull and dirty but this is another beautiful pipe. Jeff took a photo to capture the stamping on the shank. The stamping MALAGA SECOND on the left side of the shank is very readable. (Perhaps the tiny flaw in the briar behind the stamping is the cause of the stamp??)The next photos show the stem surface and the fancy turned ball saddle before the stem becomes square. There is oxidation and calcification on the stem. There are tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button and wear on the button surface and edges. I am also including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. I have written an earlier blog to give a little history of the Malaga Brand and the pipemaker, George Khoubesser. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/tag/malaga-pipes/.That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. Follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. The inner edge and the outer edge looked very good. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer and rinsed it with hot water. I took photos of the pipe to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem. You can see the condition of the rim top and bowl in the first photo. It really looks good and you can see why I would call it a carved plateau rim rather than the natural plateau. I may be wrong but I don’t think so! LOL! The fancy vulcanite stem had cleaned up amazingly well. I was dreading the turned barrel on lower part. There was tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button surface.I took a photo of the stamping on the shank to show how good the condition is. It shows the MALAGA SECOND stamp on the left side and it is very legible. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts. It is a nicely laid out pipe.Because the pipe was in such clean condition and there were no issues with the rim edges I could immediately begin by polishing the briar with micromesh pads. I dry sanded the bowl and shank with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped it down after each pad with a damp cloth to remove the debris from sanding. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the smooth briar with my fingertips and into the rusticated portions of the rim top and shank with a horse hair shoe brush. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about twenty 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 turned to the stem to address the issues on the surface of both sides at the button. I decided to address the tooth marks and dents in the button and just ahead of the button. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a lighter to lift the tooth chatter and marks. The marks on the top and underside lifted until the remaining small marks could be dealt with by sanding the stem.I sanded both sides smooth with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the deep oxidation on the surfaces. I finished this initial polishing with 400 grit sandpaper to smooth out the scratches in the stem surface. As I sanded and reshaped the button and stem surface the stem began to look very good. I polished the stem with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish from a tin of it I have in the drawer here. It is a gritty red paste that I rub on with my finger tips and work into the surface of the stem and button and buff off with a cotton pad. It gives me a bit of a head start on the polishing work plus I have a tin to use up!I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad Obsidian Oil. I finished by polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish both fine and extra Fine and then wiped it down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil. This Malaga Second Freehand will always be a bit of a mystery to me. Even more so now that I have restored it and cannot find any issues with the briar or stem. Ah well it is still a beautiful pipe with a fancy turned vulcanite stem. It has a great mixed grain around the bowl and the carver really maximized that with the shape of the pipe. Everything about the pipe – the shape of the bowl, the rusticated, faux plateau rim top and shank end work well to highlight the grain around the bowl sides. I polished stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel and the grain just popped and came alive. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain took on life with the buffing. The rich oil cured colour works well with the polished vulcanite stem. The finished pipe has a rich look that is quite catching. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. I will be adding the pipe to the rebornpipes store shortly if you would like to add it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this beautiful pipe.

Next on the table is a very unique Edward’s Algerian Briar 734

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is another unique one that I chose out of my boxes of pipes to restore. I am not even sure what to call the shape. It has an acorn shaped bowl. The shank is domed shape with flat bottom. The graceful curves of the shank and bowl give it a very unique shape. The bowl had a thick cake and lava overflow on the rim. The rim top was crowned with small thin flat top. The bowl was smooth and a natural finish. The finish was dusty and tired but there seemed to be a shiny coat of something on the finish – perhaps shellac. The bowl had some nice grain under the grime and the finish appeared to be in good condition. There were a few fills on the right side of the bowl and some sandpits as well. A lot would be revealed once Jeff had worked his magic on it. The stem was dirty but came with tooth chatter and marks near the button on both sides. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Jeff captured the condition of the bowl and rim top with the next series of photos. You can see the work that is ahead of us in the photos. The cake is very thick and heavy. The rim looked like it might have some damage on the back inner edge of the bowl. Jeff took some great photos of the sides of the bowl and heel showing what is underneath the grime and debris of time and use. You can see the fills in briar on the right side. They really stand out in the first photo. It will be interesting to see what happens as the pipe is cleaned and restored. He captured the stamping on the sides of the shank and the underside of the saddle stem. They are clear and readable. The left side reads Edwards. On the right side it reads Algerian Briar 734. On the underside of the stem it is stamped France. The next two photos of the stem show the top and underside of the stem. You can see the tooth marks and chatter on the surface of both sides.I took it out of the box from Jeff and looked it over. He cleaned the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. When I took it out of the box I was amazed at how good it looked it really looked like a different pipe. 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 bowl looked very good. Jeff scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime and soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer. When he took it out of the soak it came out looking far better. I took photos before I started my part of the work. I took some photos of the rim top and stem. The rim top is clean but there is a lot of damage to the inner edge and top on the back right side. The bowl itself looks very clean. The rest of the inner edge is a little rough but not damaged. The close up photos of the stem shows that is it very clean and other than being dull it looks very good.I took photos of the stamping because they had cleaned up very well.I decided to take care of the damage on the rim top and inner edge first. I topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper. I then cleaned up the inner edge with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper and gave it a slight bevel. I filled in the small pits on the right side of the bowl with clear super glue. Once the repair was cured I sanded smooth with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth it out.I polished the briar and the shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I was able to blend in the repairs into the side of the bowl. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The grain really began to stand out and the finish took on a shine by the last sanding pad. The photos tell the story! I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the smooth briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about twenty minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I set the bowl aside and turned to deal with the stem. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift them a lot.I filled in the remaining tooth marks on the surface of the stem with clear super glue. I sprayed it with an accelerator to harden it. Once it had hardened I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper and 400 grit wet dry sandpaper to blend it into the surface of the vulcanite. I polished the stem with some Denicare Mouthpiece polish – a red gritty paste that feels a lot like the texture of red Tripoli. It works well to polish out some of the scratches. I find that it does a great job preparing the stem for polishing with micromesh sanding pads.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. This Edward’s Unique Algerian Briar was another fun pipe to work on and I really was looking forward to seeing it come back together again. With the grime and debris gone from the finish it was a beauty and the grain just pops at this point. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank during the process. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The rich natural finish on the bowl looks really good with the polished black vulcanite stem. It is very well done. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The Edward’s pipes I have worked on always have had a creative flair. This is truly another unique looking Edward’s. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store soon. If you want to add it to your collection send me an email or a message! Thanks for your time.

It has been a long time since I restored a Brebbia and this is a nice one

2 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is another unique one that I chose out of my boxes of pipes to restore. It is squat apple of squashed tomato made by Brebbia. It is a great looking pipe with a silver coloured band and rim cap. There are no hallmarks on the metal so I am assuming it is polished nickel. It was in decent condition. The bowl had a thick cake and the lava overflow on the silver rim. The rim cap extended into the bowl and protected the edges. That portion had cake and tars on it as well. The bowl was smooth and the stain worked well with the silver bling on the shank and the rim. The finish had a lot of dust and was tired and dull looking. The bowl had some nice grain under the grime and the finish appeared to be in good condition. A lot would be revealed once Jeff had worked his magic on it. The vulcanite stem was dirty but came with a Softee Bit on the end which I am sure kept the chatter and tooth marks to a minimum. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Jeff tried to capture the condition of the bowl and rim top with the next series of photos. You can see the work that is ahead of us in the photos. The cap really had protected the rim from burn and nicks. It looked pretty good.Jeff took some great photos of the sides of the bowl and heel showing what is underneath the grime and debris of time and use.He captured the stamping on the sides of the shank and the left side of the tapered stem. They are clear and readable. The left side reads Brebbia with a golden diamond on the side of the stem. On the right side it reads SERIE “1960” and underneath that it read GOLDEN EXTRA. On the underside of the shank it is stamped 601 over ITALY next to the shank/stem junction. The last photo below shows the stamping on the silver band. It is off center and more to the right side. It is a series of interlocked swirls in a diamond. The first two photos of the stem show the rubber Softee Bit in place on the stem. It covers the button and the first ½ inch of the stem. The next two photos show the stem after Jeff cut off the Softee Bit. The stem looks quite good. One of the last Brebbia pipes that I had worked on was called a Twin – it came with an extension that could be place in the shank for a long pipe and removed for a short one. I turned to that blog as it gives a great history of the brand (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/01/21/taking-a-breather-and-refreshing-a-beautiful-brebbia-twin-2/). I quote from that blog below:

Before I did my part of the work on the pipe I decided to do a bit of background reading on the brand just to refresh my knowledge about Brebbia. I figured a quick read on Pipedia and on the Pipephil Logos and Stampings site would give me sufficient information. I turned to Pipedia first and there found some company history summarised. I quote in full from that article (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Brebbia).

Pipe Brebbia Srl, or better the M.P.B. (Manifattura Pipe Brebbia) was born in 1953 from the denouement of the association between Achille Savinelli and Enea Buzzi in 1947, where the first was employed in the marketing and the second in manufacturing of pipes under the name of Savinelli. It was made in exclusive up to 1953 and extended without further rights up to 1956.

The production, which is always careful and perfect, has continued in a traditional way for 60 years, using old lathes for the first steps, but finishing every piece by hand.

Before I did my part of the work on the pipe I decided to do a bit of background reading on the brand just to refresh my knowledge about Brebbia. I figured a quick read on Pipedia and on the Pipephil Logos and Stampings site would give me sufficient information. I turned to Pipedia first and there found some company history summarized. I quote in full from that article (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Brebbia).

The production, which is always careful and perfect, has continued in a traditional way for 60 years, using old lathes for the first steps, but finishing every piece by hand.

The secret of their manufacture, if we may put it this way, is the respect for the traditions with the experience acquired in several years of successful work, which could be summed up in two words: high quality.

The factory is currently managed by Enea’s son, Luciano.

For the last few decades, many of Brebbia’s pipes have been made by a number of small, otherwise independent pipe manufacturers, being marketed under the trade name Brebbia.

I then turned to the Pipephil site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-brebbia.html) and found confirmation of the above information.

The Brebbia brand Brebbia Pipe is named after the locality of Bosco Grosso di Brebbia (Prov. Varese, Reg. Lombardia). A first corporate was founded by Enea Buzzi and Achille Savinelli in 1947. They split in 1953. Buzzi ketp the factory and created the MPB brand (Maniffatura Pipe Brebbia). After 1968 the brand was shortly called “Brebbia”. Luciano Buzzi son of Enea manages the company since the 1990

The factory is currently managed by Enea’s son, Luciano.

For the last few decades, many of Brebbia’s pipes have been made by a number of small, otherwise independent pipe manufacturers, being marketed under the trade name Brebbia.

With that background information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the brand. The pipe was stamped with a date “Serie 1960” which was a clear indication of when the pipe was made. Now it was time to work on the pipe. I took it out of the box from Jeff and looked it over. He cleaned the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. When I took it out of the box I was amazed at how good it looked it really looked like a different pipe. 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 bowl and silver cap and band looked very good. Jeff scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the grime and soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer and it came out looking far better. I took photos before I started my part of the work. I took some photos of the rim top and stem. The rim cap looks very good and the bowl is clean. The silver will need to be polished but it is undamaged. The close up photos of the stem shows that is it very clean and other than being dull it looks very good.I took photos of the stamping because they had cleaned up very well.I took the stem off the shank and took a picture of the pipe. It really is a nice looking pipe with great lines.I polished the briar of the silver rim cap and the shank with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The grain really began to stand out and the finish took on a shine by the last sanding pad. The photos tell the story! I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the smooth briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about twenty 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 vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. This Brebbia Squat Apple or Squashed Tomato was a fun pipe to work on and with the stem and the bling polished it looked very good. With the grime and debris gone from the finish and the bowl it was a beauty and the grain just pops at this point. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank and worked around the inlaid brass triangle logo on the stem during the process. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. I polished the silver with a jeweler’s cloth. The rich brown finish on the bowl combines various stains to give it depth and the silver provides the contrast. It is very well done. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. I really like the way that Brebbia combines the smooth finish with the silver band on the shank and rim cap. This is a great looking pipe in great condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store soon. If you want to add it to your collection send me an email or a message! Thanks for your time.

A New Start for a GBD London Made 2871 Zulu

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

One thing about having so many boxes of pipes to work on surrounding my work table is that I can always find one that grabs my attention to work on now! I had passed over this one a few times in the past weeks but this morning I decided it would join the days queue. It is a great looking Zulu shape pipe made by GBD. It is a newer, post Cadogan GBD I believe as it does not have the brass roundel on the stem but just a stamped GBD oval. It was a really dirty and well-loved pipe when we received it. The bowl had a thick cake and the lava overflow on the rim made it impossible to see in the inner edge of the bowl. It had some nice grain on the bowl sides under the grime and the finish appeared to be in good condition. A lot would be revealed once Jeff had worked his magic on it. The stem was oxidized and had tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. The button surface appeared to be unharmed. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. Jeff tried to capture the condition of the bowl and rim top with the next series of photos. You can see the work that is ahead of us there. It was obviously a well-loved and oft enjoyed pipe!The grain around the bowl is quite stunning. Jeff took some great photos showing what is underneath the grime and debris of time and use. He captured the stamping on both sides of the shank and the top of the tapered stem. They are clear and readable. The topside has the GBD Oval logo over London Made. On the underside of the shank it reads London England over the shape number 2871 and a P next to the shank/stem junction. The last photo below shows the GBD oval stamped on the top of the oval tapered stem.The photos of the stem show the oxidation on the stem surface as well as the tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I have worked on quite a few GBD London Made pipes over the years so I turned to the rebornpipes and did a quick search to see what I had in terms of a bit of background and some dating information on the line. I found a blog on a 9664 shaped London Made that gave me the background information I was looking for (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/08/10/cleaning-up-a-gbd-london-made-9664/). I quote:

I turned to Pipedia’s article on GBD to see if I could find any information on the London Made. The article gives a lot in terms of the history of the brand and a list of various lines of GBD pipes (https://pipedia.org/wiki/GBD_Model_Information). I quote the section where I found the reference to the London Made.

London Made — Factory unknown: Some might not be marked with GBD logo and some with additional “house” stampings. Introduced in 1978(?) plain wax finished branded pipes” available in at least six stains. – catalog (1981)

With that information in hand I knew what I was dealing with in terms of the stamping and the age of this pipe. I knew from the information from the section quoted that the London Made originally came out in 1978 in a variety of colours. Now I had an idea of the age of the pipe and it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff cleaned the 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 very good with good looking grain around the bowl and shank. Jeff soaked the stem in Before & After Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked very good. I took photos before I started my part of the work. I took some photos of the rim top and stem. The inner edge shows some damage on the back right side and a bit on the left side. The close up photos of the stem shows that is it very clean.I took the stem off the shank and took a picture of the pipe. It really is a nice looking pipe with great lines.I started my restoration work on the pipe by addressing the damage to the inner edges of the rim. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge and bring the bowl back to round. It did not take too much work.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The grain really began to stand out and the finish took on a shine by the last sanding pad. The photos tell the story! I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about ten 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 laid the bowl aside and turned to deal with the stem. I sanded the tooth marks and chatter on the stem with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the stem and started polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with some Denicare Mouthpiece polish – a red gritty paste that feels a lot like the texture of red Tripoli. It works well to polish out some of the scratches. I find that it does a great job preparing the stem for polishing with micromesh sanding pads.From the information I could find online the stamping on the stem was white. I have successfully used Paper Mate Liquid Paper to restore/replace the white fill in the stamp. I apply it with the dauber included and scrape off the excess with a tooth pick and finger nail. In this case some of the oval stamping was faint but the GBD was sufficient to look better.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 a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. This was a pipe I was looking forward to seeing what it looked like when I put it back together. The change in condition and appearance of the pipe was remarkable. With the grime and debris gone from the finish and the bowl it was a beauty and the grain just pops at this point. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank and stem during the process. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is quite beautiful and is a lovely Zulu shaped pipe. The finish on the bowl combines various stains to give it depth. It is very well done. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. I really like the way that GBD makes the Zulu shape. They have made their Zulu very recognizable. This is a great looking pipe in great condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store soon. If you want to add it to your collection send me an email or a message! Thanks for your time.

Breathing Life into a Weary, Stubby Butz-Choquin Maitre Pipier De Luxe

Leave a reply

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the worktable is a stubby, canted Butz-Choquin Volcano. It has a vulcanite tapered stem with a BC logo on the left side of the taper. The finish is smooth with some nice grain around the bowl. The bowl has a mix of various grains on the sides and on the rim top and heel of the bowl. This pipe not only looks comfortable but it amazingly comfortable in hand. The pipe is stained with black and various hues of brown. It truly is a beautiful finish. The pipe is stamped Butz-Choquin over Maitre Pipier over De Luxe on the left side of the shank. On the right side it is stamped Fait Main (Hand Made) over St. Claude France. The finish was very dirty and tired looking with a lot of grime and oils ground into the sides of the bowl. It appears that the pipe had a varnish or shellac coat that is damaged. There was a thick cake in the bowl and some lava overflowing onto the rim top. There is also some darkening on the inner edge of the rim. The tapered vulcanite stem is heavily oxidized and it appears that the last pipe man used a Softee Bit. The stem looked good. It is dirty with light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took some photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. He took photos of the bowl and rim top to show their general condition. It is hard to see the condition of the bubbling and peeling finish on the rim top because of the lava and grime but it is present. There is cake in the bowl and some darkening around the rim edges and some lava on the top of the rim. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give an idea of the smooth finish and the grain shining through the grime. I cannot wait to see what it looks like once it is cleaned and polished. He took several photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank to capture it for me. It is clear and readable. It reads as noted above. He also included a photo of the acrylic encased BC inlay on the left side of the stem.The vulcanite stem is a bit of a mess! It is oxidized and there is calcification build up all over the stem from the button forward. There are also light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem. The button appears to be in good condition. The photos below show the condition of the stem. Before I started working on my part of the restoration I quickly turned to the previous blog I had done on the Butz Choquin Maitre Pipier (https://rebornpipes.com/2020/04/09/breathing-life-into-a-weary-but-graceful-butz-choquin-maitre-pipier-de-luxe/). I had done some research on the Maitre Pipier line to see what I could learn. I quote from that blog below:

I turned first to PipePhil’s site to get a quick overview of the brand (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-butzchoquin.html). There found the following information. I am also including a screen capture of the pertinent section from the site.

Pipes of the “Maitre Pipier” series were crafted by Paul Lanier until he retired and after him by Alain Albuisson. The model illustrated is remarkable for its “swan neck” shank.

The one pictured in the screen capture is an Extra but the shape is very similar to the one I have that is stamped De Luxe. The same swan neck shank is a part of its beauty.I turned then to Pipedia and did not find anything pertinent to this series of pipes. If you would like to learn more about the brand here is the link (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Butz-Choquin).

Now I had a pretty good idea the carvers of the Maitre Pipier Series. I am not sure of the date this pipe was made but I did know who made it – either Paul Lanier or Alain Albuisson. With that information I moved forward to do my part of the restoration work on the pipe itself and see what I had to do with it. The bowl looked unbelievably good in light of where it started. The rim top was the roughest looking portion but it was just odd and flaky not damaged. What remained was some very nicely grained briar. The stem looked much better with just a few tooth marks on each side of the stem just ahead of the button. Jeff had done his normal thorough clean up – reaming, scrubbing, soaking and the result was evident in the pipe when I unpacked it. I took photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. The squat shape and finish on this pipe looks great. I took some photos of the rim top and stem. The rim top shows the damage I spoke of above. The bubbling and peeling was gone but there was a very mottled looking surface on the rim top. The bowl looked very good. The inner edge shows some damage on the back right side and a bit on the left side. The close up photos of the stem shows that is it very clean.I took pictures of the stamping on the shank. It is very clear and readable. Jeff’s clean up work left it unfazed and if anything more readable now that the peeling varnish coat was gone.I started my restoration work on the pipe by addressing the damage to the inner edges of the rim. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the inner edge and bring the bowl back to round. It did not take too much work. The issues with the rim top itself would be taken care of when I polished the bowl with micromesh pads.I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. The grain really began to stand out and the finish took on a shine by the last sanding pad. The photos tell the story! I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for about ten 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 laid the bowl aside and turned to deal with the stem. I sanded the tooth marks and chatter on the stem with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to blend them into the surface of the stem and started polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I polished the stem with some Denicare Mouthpiece polish – a red gritty paste that feels a lot like the texture of red Tripoli. It works well to polish out some of the scratches. I find that it does a great job preparing the stem for polishing with micromesh sanding pads.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 a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. Putting this pipe back together was very rewarding. The change in condition and appearance of the rim top alone was remarkable. The removal of the damaged peeling coat brought the briar back to life. I love seeing the grain just pop at this point. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I carefully avoided the stamping on the shank during the process. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing it with a clean buffing pad on the buffer. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is quite beautiful and is a stubby volcano/sitter pipe. The finish on the bowl combines various stains to give it depth. It is very well done. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. I can only tell you that it is much prettier in person than the photos capture. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. Butz-Choquin seems to have a lot of creatively shaped designs that leave me respecting the creativity. This interesting pipe is no exception and it is a great looking pipe in great condition. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. I will be adding it to the rebornpipes store soon. If you want to add it to your collection send me an email or a message! Thanks for your time.

Next on the Table – an Yves St Claude Marbre 75 Bulldog

4 Replies

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is an interesting Bulldog without the twin rings. It has the shape and no rings. It also has a combination finish of rustication on the left side of the owl and a smooth finish on the rest of the pipe. The shank has a three layered extension with some missed Tiger’s eye looking material separated by a centre band of black acrylic. The pipe is stamped Yves St.Claude MARBRE on the left side of the shank and on the right side it has the shape number stamp 75. On the right underside it is stamped Made in France in a circle similar to the Comoy’s Made in England Stamp. “Made” and “France” make up the outside of the circle and “in” is in the centre. On the left side of the saddle stem it bore a script stamp that read YSC. I have worked on two Yves St. Claude pipes in the past and have included the links to those two blogs if you want to check them out (https://rebornpipes.com/2017/06/17/refurbishing-an-yves-st-claude-glacier-80-bent-billiard/) and (https://rebornpipes.com/2015/02/04/cutting-off-a-broken-stem-and-reshaping-the-stem-on-an-yves-saint-claude-bulldog/).

The finish was tired and dirty but looked pretty good under the grime. There were dings and scratches that cut deeply into the sides of bowl on both sides. On the lower right side of the bowl and shank there was small sandpit. The outer edge of the rim looked very good. The rim top and inner edge had a buildup of tars and oils. The inner edge appeared to be damaged and slightly out of round. The bowl had a thick cake. The stem was oxidized and there was tooth chatter and marks on both sides near the button. The button edge also has some damage. Jeff took the following photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work. The photos of the rim top and bowl show the thick cake, tobacco debris and thick lava overflow on the rim top. The pipe was a mess. You can also see some chipped areas on the outer edge of the bowl and nicks in the sides of the bowl. He captured the grain and the rustication around sides of the bowl in the next photos. You can also see the nicks in the briar but it is still quite pretty beneath the wear and tear and grime! He took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. They are clear and readable and read as noted above. The vulcanite stem was in good condition other than the tooth marks on the surface of both sides ahead of the button and some wear on the button as well. In the previous blogs that I cited above I had found several references to Yves Grenard, trained in Comoy’s England factory, purchasing the Chacom plant in St. Claude. He managed the factory and it passed on to his son afterward. I am pretty certain that this Yves St. Claude pipes was made by Chacom in France with the stamping bearing Yves name.

Reminded about the Chacom connection for the brand it was now time to turn to the pipe itself and do my part of the work. Jeff had done his usual thorough cleanup and the pipe looked very good. The grain was quite nice and the colour was very good. The grain even stood out in the unique rustication pattern on the left of the bowl. Jeff had reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the debris left behind with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the externals of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush and rinsed it off with running water. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and soaked it in Before & After Deoxidizer. I took photos of the pipe before I started my part of the restoration. I took a close up photo of the rim top to show the damaged areas and how clean it was. You can see damage on the back and right inner edge of the rim. There appeared to be some burn damage and darkening. The stem looked good other than some remaining oxidation and some tooth marks and light chatter on the surface ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping as well at this time to show how well they cleaned up and how readable they are.I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the parts. It is another great looking pipe.I decided to start on the beveled inner rim edges of the rim top. I sanded the beveled edge with a piece of folded 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damaged edges and removing the darkening. The rim top also looks much better and will improve with polishing.I decided to address the large flaw on the underside of the shank next. I filled it in with briar dust and clear super glue. When the repair cured I sanded it smooth with 1500 grit micromesh and blended it into the surrounding briar. It looks a lot better to me at this point. I polished the bowl and rim with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove the dust left behind from sanding. I buffed bowl on the wheel with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and bring the grain out. I rubbed it down with Before & After Refurbishing Balm. I worked it into the briar with my fingertips and let it sit for 20 minutes. The Balm works to preserve, protect and enliven the briar. The pipe is starting to look very good at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth marks and chatter remaining on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper and followed that by starting the polishing with 400 grit wet dry sandpaper.I continued polishing the stem with Denicare Mouthpiece Polish – a red gritty paste that feels a lot like Tripoli. I find that it works well to polish out some of the more surface scratches in the vulcanite left behind by the 400 grit wet dry sandpaper. I rub it into the stem surface with my fingertips and buff it off with a cotton pad.I used Antique Gold Rub’n Buff to touch up the stamping on the stem. I applied a spot of the product on the surface and worked it into the stamping with a tooth pick. I rubbed it off and buffed it with a soft cloth. The finished look was very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with a cloth containing some Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and buffed it off with a cotton cloth. This Yves St. Claude pipe, made by Chacom in France is a great looking pipe. The combination of finishes on the bowl works well with the shape of the pipe. This Chacom like take on a Bulldog is quite interesting and unique. I put the bowl and stem back together again and buffed the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I lightly buffed around the rustication so as not to fill in the grooves. I gave the bowl and the stem several coats of carnauba wax. I carefully buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I finished buffing with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe looks very good. The grain is quite beautiful a mix of cross flame, straight and birdseye grain around the bowl sides and the rim top and heel. The pipe feels great in the hand. It has an interesting shape that fits well in either the right or left hand. The finished Yves St.Claude Bulldog is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¾ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. This great looking pipe turned out very well. It should be a great pipe. It will be going on the rebornpipes store shortly if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it.