Tag Archives: vulcanite

Refinishing and Repairing a Cracked Shank on a Dunhill Bruyere 36 Liverpool

by Steve Laug

Back in the middle of February I received an email from a reader named David regarding a pipe of his that needed some work. I have included the email below.

Dear Steve,

I have a Dunhill Bruyere 36 with a cracked stem. I left it overnight in a cold garage, although a tight-fitting vulcanite mouthpiece may have stressed the wood stem and need slimming down. I’d like to send it to you for repair and banding. Do you have room in your schedule at the moment?

All the best, David

As we chatted it was clear that the shank had cracked on the top side at the end. The crack was clean and obvious. I wrote that t will need to be repair and band the crack. David and I made arrangements for him send it to me.

It arrived last evening. It was in great condition other than the crack and some darkening on the rim top and inner edge on the right front side of the bowl. The smooth finish around the bowl was in good condition with some slight dullness from use. The bowl had a light cake from the top to mid bowl and there was no lava on the inner edge or rim top. The unique in that it was a biteproof, or twin bore stem. It had some tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was a white spot on the topside of the stem. The fit of the stem to the shank is tight as can be seen from the photos below and it was not pushed in due to the crack. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank and read 36 followed by Dunhill [over] Bruyere. On the right side it is stamped Made in London [over] England with the number 8 (date stamp) after the D of England. That is followed by 4 (size of pipe) in a circle followed by the letter A for Bruyere. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my work on it. I took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the bowl with the thin cake on the walls of the bowl. There was some darkening on the front right of the top of the rim and the edge of the bowl. The rim top looked pretty good, though a little dull. I took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the tooth chatter and marks on the stem. I also took a photo of the twin bore stem.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and they were clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the proportions of the pipe. It is quite nice.One of the first things I like to do is to unpack the stamping and understand each element in it. I turned to Pipephil’s helpful site (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/shell-briar1.html). The stamping is interpreted as follows: The 36 is the shape of the pipe which is a classic Liverpool. The Dunhill Bruyere is the finish. Following the Made In England8 gives the year that the pipe was made. The circle 4A is the stamp for a Group 4 in a Bruyere finish. There was some great information on the Bruyere finish that I have included below.

Bruyere

The original finish produced (usually made using Calabrian briar), and a big part of developing and marketing the brand. It was the only finish from 1910 until 1917. A dark reddish-brown stain. Before the 1950s, there were three possible finishes for Dunhill pipes. The Bruyere was a smooth finish with a deep red stain, obtained through two coats, a brown understain followed by a deep red.

There was a link on the above site to a section specifically written regarding the Bruyere finish (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dunhill_Bruyere). I turned there and have included the information from that short article below.

Initially, made from over century-old briar burls, classified by a “B” (denoted highest quality pipe); “DR” (denoted straight-grained) and an “A” (denoted first quality), until early 1915. After that, they became a high-end subset to the Dunhill ‘Bruyere’. The DR and B pipes, a limited production, they should be distinguished as hand-cut in London from burls as opposed to the Bruyere line which was generally finished from French turned bowls until 1917, when the Calabrian briar started to be used, but not completely. Only in 1920 Dunhill took the final step in its pipe making operation and began sourcing and cutting all of its own bowls, proudly announcing thereafter that “no French briar was employed”.

Bruyere pipes were usually made using Calabrian briar, a very dense and hardy briar that has a modest grain but does very well with the deep red stain.

“Before the 1950s, there were three possible finishes for Dunhill pipes. The Bruyere was a smooth finish with a deep red stain, obtained through two coats, a brown understain followed by a deep red. The Shell finish was the original sandblast with a near-black stain (though the degree to which it is truly black has varied over the years). Lastly, the Root finish was smooth also but with a light brown finish. Early Dunhill used different briars with different stains, resulting in more distinct and identifiable creations… Over the years, to these traditional styles were added four new finishes: Cumberland, Dress, Chestnut and Amber Root, plus some now-defunct finishes, such as County, Russet and Red Bark.”

There was also a link to a catalogue page that gave examples and dates that the various finishes were introduced (https://pipedia.org/wiki/File:Dunnypipescatalog-1.png). I turned to Pipephil’s dating guide to show how I arrived at the date of manufacture for this pipe (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/cledat-en1a.html). I am including the chart that is provided there for the dating a pipe. Since the pipe I am working on has a suffix8 that is the same height as the D in England. I turned to the 1960 line on the chart below with the suffix 5-9. It also gave me the formula for dating the pipe – 1960 + 8 dating the pipe to 1968.I now knew that I was working on a Bruyere that came out in 1968. The shape of the pipe was a Liverpool shape, 36 with a twin bore stem.

I tried to capture the crack in the shank in the photo below. The photo shows the location of the crack visible on the topside of the round shank. With the internals clean I turned to work on the cracked shank. I had polished brass/gold band that fit the shank perfectly. I used a tooth pick to paint the shank end with some all-purpose glue. I pressed the band in place on the shank. I used a tooth pick to press clear CA glue into the crack in the shank. Once it cured I sanded the repair smooth. The glued crack and the band brought the pieces back together again. It was a snug and clean repair. I touched up the stain on the repaired area on the shank and on the cleaned rim top and edge with a Cherry Stain Pen to blend them into the surrounding stain on the bowl and shank. It looked very good.I up the walls of the bowl with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I remove all the rest of the cake remnants on the bowl walls. I was very clean.I cleaned out the airway in the shank, mortise and the stem with a bristle pipe cleaner and regular smooth cleaners and alcohol. It removed the remaining oils and tars but it was not too dirty.I used 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to smooth out the sanded and restained shank repair and rim top. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth between pads to remove the sanding debris. The bowl looked much better. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad and the bowl began to take on a deep shine and the scratches were minimized. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips to get into the finish of the briar. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. With the bowl finish I turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the tenon to reduce the diameter to adjust the fit to the shank. Once it was smooth and snug I moved on to work on the tooth marks on the stem surface and on the surface of the button. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the damage on the button and on the surface of the stem. It looked much better. I also worked over the Twin Bore face of the button with the sandpaper to smooth out the tooth marks and flatten the face. It looked significantly better.I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads to smooth out the scratches and remove the light oxidation on both sides. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris on the surface. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. It was in great condition after the cleanup so I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. This Dunhill Bruyere 36 Group 4A Liverpool from 1968 is a beautiful looking piece of briar that has a shape that follows grain. It is a great looking pipe that came out looking even better after the cleanup. The Bruyere is an early finish that Dunhill specialized in making. The finish on the pipe cleaned up well. The red and brown stain on the bowl works well to highlight the grain. The polished brass band looks very good with the finish. The polished black vulcanite Twin Bore taper stem adds to the mix. I put the stem back on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel being careful to not buff the stamping. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and buffed it with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished 1968 Dunhill Bruyere 36 Liverpool is quite nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ¼ 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 32 grams/1.13 ounces. I will soon be packing it up and send it back to David this weekend. Thanks for walking through the restoration and banding with me.

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.

The Aura of an Amazing Gourd Calabash

8 Replies

by Kenneth Lieblich

I recently came upon this calabash pipe and it’s a bit of a stunner. It is so bountiful and robust – it’s one of the most attractive calabashes I’ve ever worked on. There is an elegance to this pipe, and its curves remind me of an alpine piste de ski. Really nice looking, and in good shape. Maybe this is the pipe for you! No markings at all on this pipe, but no matter. Let’s take a closer look at it. The bowl is beautifully-shaped meerschaum. It has some minor signs of wear, but nothing serious. Similarly, the gourd is in lovely condition. No wear to speak of and the cork gasket is perfect. The gourd also has an acrylic shank extension in nice shape. Finally, the vulcanite stem is also great. It has some oxidation and some small signs of wear, but nothing to worry about. I used isopropyl alcohol on a few cotton rounds and wiped down the stem to provide an initial cleaning of filth before moving on to the next steps. The primary cleaning came next. I disinfected the inside of the stem with both pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in lemon-infused 99% isopropyl alcohol. I scrubbed thoroughly to make sure the interior was very clean. The goal of the next step is the removal (or minimization) of oxidation. Going to my sink, I used cream cleanser, cotton rounds, and a toothbrush, and scoured the stem to remove as much surface oxidation as possible. As the photos show, the result was a hideous, ochre-coloured mess – but better off the stem than on it.Once the stem was reasonably clean, I soaked it overnight in some Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover. This solution works to draw oxidation in the stem to the surface of the vulcanite. This is a major aid and an important step in ensuring a clean stem. The following day, I drew out the stem from its bath and scrubbed the lingering fluid with a toothbrush.The penultimate step for the stem is sanding. I used all nine of the micromesh sanding pads (1,500 through 12,000 grit) to sand out flaws, even out the vulcanite, and provide gentle polishing of the finished surface. I also applied pipe-stem oil while using the last five micromesh pads. There was a wonderful, deep black shine to the stem when I was done.As the stem was (nearly) complete, I moved on to the bowl. The first step was to ream it out – that is to say, remove all the cake inside the bowl. This accomplished a couple of things. First (and most obviously), it cleaned the bowl and provided a refurbished chamber for future smoking. Second, when the old cake was removed, I could inspect the interior walls of the bowl and determine if there was damage or not. Meerschaum is too fragile for a proper reamer, so I used 220-grit sandpaper on the end of a wooden dowel to clean out the bowl and it turned out very well. One of the frustrations of cleaning meerschaum is that once smoked, the stains never go away. However, I did what I could and it definitely improved.I sanded down the entire piece of meerschaum with my micromesh pads. I also rubbed some Clapham’s Beeswax into the meerschaum. Then I let it sit for 20 minutes, buffed it with a microfiber cloth and then repeated the beeswax process. Worked like a charm! I wiped down the outside of the gourd, using a solution of a pH-neutral detergent and some distilled water, with cotton rounds. I cleaned inside the gourd gently by scraping with my reaming knife and some tube brushes. I was pleased with the results. I sanded down the acrylic shank extension (but not the gourd) with only the finest of the micromesh pads. I also cleaned out the inside with cotton swabs and alcohol. It wasn’t very dirty. I then coated the gourd with LBE Before & After Restoration Balm and let it sit for 30 minutes. After that, I buffed it with the microfibre cloth. Finally, I applied some light lubricant to the cork gasket. Even though the gasket was in perfect shape, it’s a good idea to lubricate it in this way in order to maintain its elasticity. I set it aside to absorb and moved on.Before I went off to the buffer, I gave the meer and the gourd another going over with Clapham’s beeswax rub. This really worked well. I only took the stem to the buffer, as meerschaum and gourds don’t tolerate those high speeds very well!

This big gourd calabash was a delight from the start and its beauty only increased through the restoration process. I am pleased to announce that this pipe is for sale! If you are interested in acquiring it for your collection, please have a look in the ‘Calabash’ section of the store here on Steve’s website. You can also email me directly at kenneth@knightsofthepipe.com. The approximate dimensions of the pipe are as follows: length 7 in. (178 mm); height 5⅞ in. (149 mm); bowl diameter 2⅞ in. (75 mm); chamber diameter 1 in. (26 mm). The weight of the pipe is 4⅝ oz. (132 g). I hope you enjoyed reading the story of this pipe’s restoration as much as I enjoyed restoring it. If you are interested in more of my work, please follow me here on Steve’s website or send me an email. Thank you very much for reading and, as always, I welcome and encourage your comments.

Refinishing and Repairing a Cracked Shank on a Ben Wade 76 Canadian

Leave a reply

by Steve Laug

Back in the end of February I received an email from a reader name John regarding a pipe of his that needed some work. I have included the email below.

Steve, I have this Ben Wade pipe that I bought new in the late 60’s early 70’s, was wondering if there was anyway to fix the crack in the shank? I just pulled my old pipes out of a drawer where they have been stored for over 40 years. Haven’t smoked them in quite some time.

Thanks for your reply, John

I asked for some photos of the Ben Wade and John sent photos of the rim and the shank. I have included them below. The crack in the shank is very clean and obvious on the shank as can be seen in the second one above. It will need to be repaired and banded to repair the crack. From the photos the pipe is pretty clean but the finish is very scratched. It almost looks someone cleaned it off with steel wool and the briar is scratched from rim to heel and shank to shank end. The finish really is clean but a mess. I looked over the photos and John and I made arrangements to have him send it to me.

It arrived last evening. It was a well shaped Canadian with a thick shank and bowl walls. I took photos of what I saw and I turned it over in my hands. My assessment of the finish was correct, it was scratched on all of the briar surfaces. The scratches were not terribly deep but were very visible. The pipe is stamped Ben Wade [over] Made in [over] London England. On the right side of the shank it was stamped with the shape number 76. The bowl had a light cake and was dirty. The shank and airway were dirty as well. The vulcanite stem had some light stamping on the top side of the taper and it read BEN [over] WADE. It was faint but still readable. The stem was lightly oxidized and there were scratches on both sides much like those in the briar. There was some tooth wear on the button surface on both sides. I took some close-up photos of the rim top, bowl and stem surfaces. There was a light cake in the bowl and the stem surface showed scratches and wear. There was a faint stamp on the top side of the stem.I took photos of the stamping on the top of the stem and the shank as well as the upside-down stamp on the right side. They are scratched in spots but nonetheless still very readable. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the proportions of the pipe. It is quite nice.An added part of pipe restoration for me is to try to gather as much background on a brand and maker as I can find. With Ben Wade it is an enjoyable web to untangle. There is a lot of information and it can lead to understanding what era a pipe was made in. To try to figure out the era of the Ben Wade pipe I was working on I turned to the Pipephil website, Logos and Stampings (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-benwade.html). There is some really helpful information on the brand. There is an alphabetical listing of the lines and the first shown in the photo below matches the stamping both on the shank top and the stem top. The site did give a short history of the brand. I quote the portion that is most pertinent. Brand founded in the 1860’s at Leeds (GB). Lane Ltd. (NYC) bought the brand in 1962 and closed the factory in Leeds in 1965. The pipes were then manufactured in London at Charatan’s. During the period 1972 (about) – 1989 Ben Wade pipes were mass produced for Lane Ltd. by Preben Holm‘s workshop in his very personal style. Peter Wilson owner of Duncan Pipes bought the rights of the brand in 1998.

Next, I turned to Pipedia to see if I could find more information on the Ben Wade brand there (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Wade). The article gives a great sense of the history of the brand from its inception until the time Preben Holm made pipes for them. I quote a few sections from the article below.

In the second World War the factory was destroyed by German air raids on Leeds. But the Ben Wade family decided to re-build it immediately after the war and pipe production was re-started soon and successfully linked to the fame from the pre-war years.

Before the second war Ben Wade clustered their offerings into three price points: “Ben Wade” included the higher end pipes (eg the Larnix, Super Grain, Selected Grain, etc), “BW” included the mid-level pipes (eg Statesman, Natural Grain, County, etc), and “BWL” were the least expensive (eg Hurlingham, Adelphi, Tense Grain). Champion was in the last group, and in the 1930s at least retailed for 2/6.

The Champion disappeared during the War when the Ben Wade line was materially slimmed down, presumably to reflect difficulties of supply. The name continued to appear in brand directories at least through the early sixties, however it’s unclear whether production was actually resumed.

Even though the owner family decided to leave pipe business and sell off the firm. The family went into negotiations with Herman G. Lane, president of Lane Ltd. in New York at about the same time as the Charatan family. Lane Ltd. bought both firms in 1962.

Herman G. Lane had been Charatan’s US sole distributor since 1955 and Charatan always remained his pet child. But Ben Wade was treated in another way by it’s new owner. The fabrication of pipes was reduced and the factory in Leeds was closed in 1965 finally.

So, this was the end of Ben Wade pipes stamped “Made in Leeds, England”.

Lane had the pipe making machines brought from Leeds to London and used the well esteemed name Ben Wade to start the fabrication of entirely machine-made pipes at Charatan’s Prescott Street factory. (Some sources say “not earlier than 1973” but proven by catalogues this isn’t true.) Alas the “new” Ben Wades were quite usual series pipes, copies of well known standard shapes. The pipes often showed hardly masqued fillings and were processed quite coarsely with hardly polished pre-moulded Ebonite stems. Therewith Ben Wade degenerated definitively to a second brand. The stamping now read “Made in London England” or just “London”. Nothing was left from the quality of the pipes once made in Leeds!

Quotation of an American pipe dabster: “It’s a shame to see how a famous old family name can be dragged into the mud by people who want to capitalize on a good reputation earned by men who are long dead. This sad little story was not one of Charatan’s or Lane’s proudest moments!”

Herman G. Lane’s heirs had no special interest in either Charatan or in Ben Wade and sold it to Dunhill Pipes Limited in 1978. Now, Dunhill had no need of machine-made series pipes like the Ben Wade as performed by Charatan / Lane since their own Parker–Hardcastle factory in Walthamstow had abounding capacities to turn out secondary pipes. Thus this was Ben Wade’s second end. Charatan’s Prescott Street factory was closed by no later than March of 1982 and Charatan was allowed to languish and discontinued in 1988.

Now I had some parameters regarding the time frame of the pipe. It was made after the closing of the Leeds factory in 1965 and made in London as early as 1973. It was definitely made before Lane sold the factory to Dunhill in 1978. That is helpful to know the time frame as well as the connection to Charatan during that time period. Now it was time to work on the pipe. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

I tried to capture the crack in the shank in photos. The first photo shows the location of the crack and I have inserted a red arrow to identify it. I blew up that section of the stem in the second photo. It is pixilated but still you can see the crack clearly.I reamed out the cake in the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamed to take it back to bare walls. I followed that up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I remove all the rest of the cake remnants on the bowl walls. I was very clean.I cleaned out the airway in the shank, mortise and airway in the stem with a bristle pipe cleaner and regular smooth cleaners and alcohol. It removed a lot of oils and tars but it was not too dirty.With the internals clean I turned to work on the cracked shank. I had a nice EP (Electro Plated) oval band that fit the shank perfectly. I used a tooth pick to paint the shank end with some all-purpose glue. I pressed the band in place on the shank. The glue permeated the crack in the shank and the band brought the pieces back together again. It was a snug and clean repair. Once the glue hardened and the band was solid in place on the shank I decided to work on the scratching around the bowl and shank. I would need to be careful with the stamping while still trying to minimize the damage. I used 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to take out the deep scratches or at least smooth them. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth between pads to remove the sanding debris and to see if I could cause the scratches to swell and rise to the surface. One finish the bowl looked much better. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad and the bowl began to take on a deep shine and the scratches were minimized. The scratching was still present but not as visible as when I started. I wanted to keep as much of the original finish as possible and the process above made that possible. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips to get into the finish of the briar. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood.

Restoring a Classic Sixten Ivarsson Designed Stanwell Danish Reserve 19 Bent Dublin

Leave a reply

by Steve Laug

This particular Stanwell sandblast pipe was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is another beautiful Danish Bent Dublin with a gentle curve to the shank and stem. The bowl is smooth and stained with a contrast of browns. It is stamped on the underside of the shank and reads Stanwell [over] Made In Denmark [over] Danish [over] Reserve. On the right side of the shank it is stamped with the shape number 19. The bowl had a moderate cake and some spots of lava overflow in the inner edge of the rim top. There was grime ground into the finish and dust and debris the sandblast. The vulcanite saddle stem has the White Stanwell Crown S logo stamped on the left side of the saddle. It was lightly oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl, crowned rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the cake and what looks like some bowl coating in the bowl and the spotty lava on the rim top and inner edge. He also captured the condition of the stem showing the light tooth chatter and oxidation. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain in the briar. It is a beautiful bowl. It is nice looking bent Dublin and is eye catching. Have a look. The next photo Jeff took shows the stamping on the underside of the shank. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above.I checked on my usual information sources on Pipephil and Pipedia and did not find any pertinent information on the Danish Reserve Line. They are still worth the read as they give a good sense of the history of the brand.

I then did a google search for the Stanwell Danish Reserve and the shape 19. There was not any clear information the Danish Reserve but Smokingpipes.com had some info on the shape 19. I quote (https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipes/estate/denmark/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=602630).

Stanwell’s “19” shape is a dynamic take on the bent Dublin shape, one originally designed by Sixten Ivarsson and which can take a few different forms. This particular iteration boasts a bowl punctuated by a firm panel at the fore, the panel comprising a pair of ridges that descend from the rim to the heel: lending the heel a spurred shape. The walls themselves take on an expressive flare out to a domed rim, their growth maintaining enough curvature for a comfortable feel in hand. Out back, a rather tight transition gives way to a sharply lifting shank that’s met by a curved saddle stem made from black vulcanite…

The pipe is a Bent Dublin 19 that was designed by Sixten Ivarsson. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the plateau rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the remaining oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were. The rim top and bowl look good. There is some slight damage in the blasted rim top on the back of the bowl.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank and the Crown S logo on the left side of the saddle stem. I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe. I turned to work on the pipe itself. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – I dry sanded the briar with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the debris. It really took on a rich shine. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the crevices of the plateau and sandblast portions. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. It was in great condition after the cleanup so I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. This Sixten Ivarsson designed Stanwell Danish Reserve Bent Dublin 19 with a vulcanite saddle stem turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain around the bowl sides and bottom. The crowned rim top and edges look very good. The finish on the pipe is in excellent condition. I put the stem back on the shank and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Stanwell Danish Reserve 19 is very nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches wide x 1 ¾ inches long, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 45 grams/1.59 ounces. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store, in the Danish Pipe Makers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time.

As always, I encourage your questions and comments as you read the blog. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipe men and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of those who follow us.

Restoring a Republic Era Peterson’s Irish Whiskey 338 Bent Billiard

Leave a reply

by Steve Laug

This particular Peterson’s sandblast pipe was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is another beautiful smaller Bent Billiard with a gentle curve to the shank and stem. The bowl is sandblasted and stained with a contrast of browns. It is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank and reads Peterson’s [over] Irish Whiskey [over] the shape number 338 [over] Made in the [over] Republic [over] of Ireland. The bowl had a thick cake and an overflow of thick lava in the sandblast rim top and inner edge of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish and dust and debris the sandblast. There was a triple ring band on the shank – two brass sandwich a flat yellow band. The vulcanite bent taper stem has the gold “P” logo on the left side. It was oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and the thick lava on the sandblast rim top and inner edge. He also captured the condition of the stem showing the oxidation, calcification and tooth chatter and oxidation on the top and underside ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain in the sandblast. It is a beautiful bowl. It is nice looking bent billiard and one is eye catching. Have a look. The next photos Jeff took show the stamping on a smooth portion on the underside of the shank. The stamping is faint in places but still readable as noted above.I looked in my usual spots on Pipephil’s Stamping and Logo site as well as Pipedia to see what I could find on the Irish Whiskey line. There was nothing on either of those sites that I could find on the line.

I googled the Peterson’s Irish Whiskey Line and found a link to the line on Mark Irwin’s Peterson’s Pipe Notes site (https://petersonpipenotes.org/sweet-petes-a-2015-gallery/). I turned to that and found the following information. I quote

The Irish Whisky line was available from 1997 to about 2005, and while the smooth finish was nice, the rustic has always popped for me and other Pete Nuts. When I saw not one but two of the rustic P-Lip Chubby 107s within a few weeks, I was amazed. Someday one will come around at the right time!

I then turned to The Peterson Pipe by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg. There on page 304 I found this information.

Irish Whiskey (1997-2005) Tan polished finish or sandblast line with brass domed double ring band, P-lip or fishtail mouth piece with brass P.

This gave me information regarding the date of the line. It was available between 1997-2005 and the description fit the pipe I have in hand. It is a sandblast pipe with the bands as described and a taper P-lip with a brass P logo on the left side of the stem.

I did find a shape chart on the Pipedia site (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson) that had the shape number 338 shown on it. I have drawn a red box around the shape on the second row of the chart below.Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and took it back to briar. He then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the remaining oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were. The rim top and bowl look good. There is some slight damage in the blasted rim top on the back of the bowl.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. You can see from the photo that it is faint but readable. I took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe.The bowl was in such good condition after the clean up that I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the crevices of the plateau and sandblast portions. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth chatter and light marks on the underside of the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad. It began to look very good. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. This Republic Era Peterson’s Irish Whiskey 65 Bent Billiard with three rings on the shank and a vulcanite taper stem with a P logo on the left side turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain in the sandblast around the bowl sides and bottom. The rim top and edges look very good. The finish on the pipe is in `excellent condition. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Peterson’s Irish Whiskey 65 Bent Billiard is very nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 46 grams/1.62 ounces. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store, in the Irish Pipe Makers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time.

Restoring a Republic Era Peterson’s Irish Whiskey 65 Bent Billiard

Leave a reply

by Steve Laug

This particular Peterson’s sandblast pipe was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is another beautiful smaller Bent Billiard with a gentle curve to the shank and stem. The bowl is sandblasted and stained with a contrast of browns. It is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank and reads Peterson’s [over] Irish Whiskey [over] the shape number 65. That is followed Made in the [over] Republic [over] of Ireland. The bowl had a thick cake and an overflow of thick lava in the sandblast rim top and inner edge of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish and dust and debris the sandblast. There was a triple ring band on the shank – two brass sandwich a flat yellow band. The vulcanite bent taper stem has the gold “P” logo on the left side. It was oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the thick cake in the bowl and the thick lava on the sandblast rim top and inner edge. He also captured the condition of the stem showing the oxidation, calcification and tooth chatter and oxidation on the top and underside ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain in the sandblast. It is a beautiful bowl. It is nice looking bent billiard and one is eye catching. Have a look. The next photos Jeff took show the stamping on a smooth portion on the underside of the shank. The stamping is faint in places but still readable as noted above. I looked in my usual spots on Pipephil’s stamping and logo site as well as Pipedia to see what I could find on the Irish Whiskey line. There was nothing on either of those sites that I could find on the line.

I then turned to The Peterson Pipe by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg. There on page 304 I found this information.

Irish Whiskey (1997-2005) Tan polished finish or sandblast line with brass domed double ring band, P-lip or fishtail mouth piece with brass P.

I did find a shape chart on the Pipedia site (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson) that had the shape number 65 shown on it. I have drawn a red box around the shape on the second row of the chart below.Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and took it back to briar. He then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the remaining oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were. The rim top and bowl look good. I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. You can see from the photo that it is faint but readable. I took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe.The bowl was in such good condition after the clean up that I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the crevices of the sandblast. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. This Republic Era Peterson’s Irish Whiskey 65 Bent Billiard with three rings on the shank and a vulcanite taper stem with a P logo on the left side turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain in the sandblast around the bowl sides and bottom. The rim top and edges look very good. The finish on the pipe is in `excellent condition. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Peterson’s Irish Whiskey 65 Bent Billiard is very nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 38 grams/1.31 ounces. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store, in the Irish Pipe Makers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time.

Restoring a lovely Jess Chonowitsch Designed Stanwell Golden Danish 139

Leave a reply

by Steve Laug

This particular Stanwell sandblast pipe was purchased on 01/20/2026 from a Facebook seller in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania, USA. It really is another beautiful smaller Bent Billiard with a gentle curve to the shank and stem. The bowl is sandblasted and stained with a contrast of browns. It is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside of the shank and reads Golden [over] Danish [followed by] 139 [over] Stanwell [over] Made In Denmark. The bowl had a moderate cake and some spots of lava overflow in the sandblast rim top and inner edge of the bowl. There was grime ground into the finish and dust and debris the sandblast. The vulcanite taper stem has the Stanwell Crown S logo on the left side. It was oxidized, calcified and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show the condition of the pipe when we received it. You can see the cake in the bowl and the spotty lava on the sandblast rim top and inner edge. He also captured the condition of the stem showing the tooth chatter and oxidation. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the grain in the sandblast and the smooth portions. It is a beautiful bowl. It is nice looking bent billiard and one is eye catching. Have a look. The next photos Jeff took show the stamping on a smooth portion on the underside of the shank. The stamping is faint in places but still readable as noted above.I read the history of the brand on Pipedia and would recommend that you have a look at it. It is a great read (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell).

I then turned to an article on Pipedia on the shape numbers and designers by the late Bas Stevens to see if I could find any info on the shape number and the designer of the pipe bearing the number 139 (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Stanwell_Shape_Numbers_and_Designers). I found the shape number there.

1 Billiard, slightly bent, conical bowl, by Jess Chonowitsch

The pipe is a sandblast slightly bent Billiard that was designed by Jess Chonowitsch. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe following his normal cleaning process. In short, he reamed the bowl and then cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He worked over the lava and debris on the rim top and shank end and was able to remove it. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub and cotton pads to remove the debris and oils on the stem. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the remaining oxidation. He rinsed it with warm water and dried it off. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. It really looked good. I took close up photos of the stem and the rim top to show both how clean they were. The rim top and bowl look good. There is some slight damage in the blasted rim top on the back of the bowl.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. You can see from the photo that it is faint but readable. I took a photo of the parts to give a sense of the beauty of the pipe.The bowl was in such good condition after the clean up that I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my finger tips and a horse hair shoe brush to get into the crevices of the plateau and sandblast portions. The product is incredible and the way it brings the grain to the fore is unique. It works to clean, protect and invigorate the wood. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it 1500-12000 pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian after each pad to remove the dust and polishing debris. I polished it with Before After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil. This Jess Chonowitsch designed Stanwell Golden Danish 139 Bent Billiard with a vulcanite taper stem turned out very nice. The mix of brown stains highlights the grain around the bowl sides and bottom. The rim top and edges look very good. The finish on the pipe is in `excellent condition. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Stanwell Golden Danish 139 is very nice and feels great in the hand. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. It is a nice pipe whose dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 inch, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 36 grams/1.27 ounces. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another beautiful pipe. This one will be going on the rebornpipes store, in the Danish Pipe Makers Section shortly. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know by message or by email to slaug@uniserve.com. Thanks for your time.

Restoring a Lovely “Malaga” Custom Carved Bent Brandy Sitter

Leave a reply

by Steve Laug

In a recent box of pipes I received from Jeff were several Malaga Pipes to work on. The one on the table now is an interesting Malaga I would call a Brandy Sitter. It has a rope like rustication pattern on the left side of the bowl and the rest is smooth with a flat bottom. We purchased it on 03/20/25 off eBay from a seller in Howell, Michigan, USA. The grain on the smooth portions of this pipe is also quite nice. The rustication on the left side of the bowl is another pattern of rustication that I have never seen before on the Malaga pipes that I have worked on. The pipe was obviously another favourite of the previous pipeman. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and read “MALAGA” and on the right side of the shank it was stamped Custom Carved. The finish was dirty and worn. There were tars and oils ground into the surface of the briar. The bowl had a thick cake that flowed over the top of the rim top with some thick lava. It was hard to clearly assess the damage to the inner edge. The condition of the rim edge and top would become clear in the cleaning process. The vulcanite taper stem was oxidized, calcified and there was chatter and tooth marks on the top and the underside of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipes before he started his clean up work. Jeff took photos of the rim and bowl to show the cake and lava on the rim top and edges. The pipe was a dirty one but still a beauty. The vulcanite taper stem is very oxidized and had tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside of the stem ahead of the button. The photos of the sides and heel of the bowl show the interesting rope like rustication and the birdseye smooth grain on the left side. The briar is quite nice all around the pipe. The oil curing/finish makes the grain really stand out on the bowl and shank. The heel is flattened. Jeff took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It read “MALAGA” and is clear as noted above. Jeff did captured the stamping on the right side reading Custom Carved. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the brand, 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. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/2013/02/09/george-khoubesser-and-malaga-pipes/. That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. If you are interested to learn more then I invite you to follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

I am also am including a link to some printed material on the Malaga brand that came to me from the daughter of George Koch (we purchased George’s pipes from his daughter) to help identify the particular stamping on the pipe. The link takes you to the entire collection of materials that were sent to me (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/02/27/malaga-pipes-catalogue-of-pipes-and-tobaccos/).

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe using his usual procedure. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime from around the bowl sides. It looked better, even the darkened rim top and edges were improved. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. The stem looked much better and the light tooth marks on both sides were still visible and would need a little work. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. I took a photo of the rim top and the stem to show their condition. Jeff was able to clean up the cake and the lava overflow that was shown in the rim and bowl photos above. The rim top was better than when it started. There was some darkening around the bowl edges and top. The stem looked better, though there were light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the shank to show that the clean up had not damaged it at all. It looked good. It was faint in spots but still readable. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the parts to give a sense of what the pipe looks like. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth and sanded the smooth portions of the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. The finish began to have a rich shine. The work on the rim top made it certainly look better. The briar and the bowl looked very good. I polished the bowl sides and the smooth rim top with micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with 1500-12000 grit micromesh pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad. It really began to be beautiful. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm to deep clean the finish on the bowl and shank. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I worked it in with my fingers to get it into the briar. I worked it into the rustication on the left side with a shoe brush to get deep in the grooves. I let it sit for 10 minutes then I wiped it off and buffed it with a soft cloth. The briar really began to have a rich shine. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. It is a beautiful bowl. I sanded the stem with the 2 inch square 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped down the stem after each sanding pad. I was able to remove the tooth marks and chatter on both sides with the pads. The stem looked very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I did a final hand polish of the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. I put the stem back on the reshaped bowl of this “MALAGA” Custom Carved Bent Brandy Sitter and took it to the buffer. I buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and the vulcanite. Blue Diamond does a great job on the smaller scratches that remain in both. I gave the bowl and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. The grain popped and the depth of the rope rustication was stunning. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is beautiful smooth finished “MALAGA” Custom Carved Bent Brandy Sitter and rusticated patch combine with the vulcanite taper stem to give the pipe a great look. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.15 ounces/60 grams. This is another pipe that I will be putting on the rebornpipes online store in the American Pipe Makers and Pipemaking Companies Section shortly, if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this beauty!

A Lovely Monte Verde Made in Denmark By Hand Golden Tan Rusticated Bent Egg

Leave a reply

by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table was purchased from a seller 08/10/25 from Livingston, New Jersey, USA. It has that verve that I have come to associate with pipe made by Preben Holm as they are always unique and beautiful. The pipe is stamped on a smooth panel on the underside. It reads Monte Verde [over] Made in Denmark [over] by Hand [over] Golden Tan. The shank extension is vulcanite with no stamping but it is oxidized. I have refurbished several Monte Verde pipe so if you are interested in the brand here is a link to one I did back in 2019 that has a similar finish to this one (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/02/09/new-life-for-a-preben-holm-monte-verde-twin-finish-freehand/). This one was quite dirty, like the rest of the pipes we tend to work on. There was a thick cake in the bowl and a lava overflow in the rustication of the rusticated rim top. The inner and outer edges of the bowl looked very good. The black/silver acrylic saddle stem was dirty and had scratches and light tooth marks on the top and underside. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup process. He took close up photos of the bowl and rim top from different angles to show the condition of the rim top. The bowl has a thick cake that lining the walls and overflowing lava and build up on the rim top and flowing over the inner edge of the bowl onto the top. He also took photos of the stem to show the surface of the top and underside of the acrylic stem. You can see the tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the lay of the rustication and grain around the pipe. It is a beautiful piece of briar. It had a very unique double rustication! The green acrylic shank extension works well with it. Jeff took several photos of the stamping on the underside of the shank to capture all of the stamping. It was clear and read as noted above. There was no stamping on the stem surface.I turned to Pipephil’s site to get a read on the brand (http://pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-m6.html). It confirms that the Monte Verdi line was made by Preben Holm. The pipe in the photo had a very similar rustication to the Monte Verdi I was working on. I did a screen capture of the section on Pipephil. I have included it below. There were also photos that were included on Pipephil of what this particular pipe looked like when it left Denmark. The rustication around the bowl and shank is very similar. The pipe I have has the same shank extension and finish. The pipe in the photo had a fancy turned vulcanite stem. The stem on the one I have in front of me is missing so I will need to replace it with one similar to the one in the photos below.I also Googled the brand and found a thread on Pipes Magazine about the brand that gave me some more information (http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/monte-verde-pipes). I include that below.

The Monte Verdi line was indeed a pipe style offered by Holm. It usually features heavily blasted and rusticated briar and smaller group sizes than some of his other lines. Some refer to this line as a “second”, but it provided an outlet for briar that had flaws and therefore unsuitable his other lines. Holm marketed many different lines featuring a variety of finishes in both stains and carvings and this is merely one of those. The ones I own are good pipes and smoke well. The blast finish is very interesting to look at and the tactile sensations make it fun to hold.

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. He was able to the lava build up on the rim top and you could see a little darkening in the finish on the top of the bowl. I took photos of the pipe bowl to show its condition before I started my work on it. I took a photo of the rim top and bowl to show the condition of the pipe. I took photo of both sides of the stem to show its condition. Overall the pipe was in great condition.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank. There was some darkening on the smooth portion but the stamping was clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem from the shank and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the proportions of the bowl and stem.I scrubbed the darkening on the shank with some Before & After Briar Cleaner and a tooth brush. I wiped it off with a soft cloth remove the product. I repeated the process several times.I sanded the oxidized vulcanite shank extension with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the shank extension down after each sanding pad with an Obsidian Oil Cloth to remove the debris. It looked significantly better. I polished the vulcanite shank extension with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each pad with an Obsidian Oil cloth to remove the debris. It began to have a rich shine. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips and a shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The Balm did its magic and the grain stood out. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to smooth out the tooth chatter. The pipe stem was looking very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiped down the stem with some Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I finished the polishing with some Before & After Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set the stem aside. This beautiful, double rusticated Preben Holm carved Monte Verde Golden Tan Freehand Full Bent Egg is a special looking pipe and it feels amazing in the hand. I polished stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The multi-coloured grain shining through the rustication came alive with the buffing. The rich contrasting brown colour works well with the polished vulcanite shank extension and the black and white Lucite stem. The finished Monte Verde Golden Tan Freehand Full Bent Egg is a beauty and feels great in the hand. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 ½ inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¾ inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.72 ounces/76 grams. I will be putting this Monte Verde by Preben Holm on the Danish Pipe Making Section on the rebornpipes online store soon. It is such an interesting tactile pipe and if you have been looking for a freehand then this might be the one for you. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me on this interestingly shaped Preben Holm Hand Made pipe.

Breathing Life into a Republic Era Peterson’s Kapet 606S Pot

Leave a reply

by Steve Laug

This beautifully grained well used briar pipe was purchased on 04/11/2023 from our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and clearly reads Peterson’s [over] Kapet. On the right side it is stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland [three lines]. The shape number 606S is stamped below and to the right of that next to the bowl/shank junction. The 606 is the shape number for a Pot and the S is for the saddle stem. On the underside it is stamped with a large interlocked HG. It has a smooth finish around the bowl and shank have oils, debris and grime ground into the finish. The bowl had been recently reamed and was quite clean. There were spots of lava on the rim top and edges. The inner edge had darkening. The smooth finish was dirty with debris and oils. The vulcanite saddle stem has a “P” stamped on the left side of the saddle. It was oxidized, calcified and has tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. It was a beautiful looking pipe even through the grime in the finish. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started cleaning it up. Have a look. Jeff took close up photos of the bowl and rim top to show the condition of the bowl and the rim top. You can also see the light lava on the rim top, inner edge and the relatively clean bowl. He also took close up photos of the stem to show the tooth marks and chatter on both sides of the stem. He took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain around the bowl. The grain is birdseye and mixed. Jeff also took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is faint in spots but readable as noted above. He did not capture the condition of the P stamp on the stem side. 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). There was a short note toward the bottom of the page about the series. It is definitely referring to the newer line that came out later. I quote:

I turned to Pipedia (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson) to first pin down a date that the pipe was made. I knew that the Made in Ireland stamp would give me that. I quote:

As usual when trying to get accurate facts in regard to Peterson history, something will jump up and get in the way. They are missing many of their records. The following is the best that we can do for a guide to the myriad markings during the period 1922 – 1949. Prior to 1920 it was rare for a country of origin to be stamped on the pipe, just Peterson’s Dublin on the band. After 1921/22, if it is stamped “MADE IN IRELAND” and the “Made in” is stacked over “Ireland” or “MADE IN EIRE” or several other forms, it was made between 1922 and 1938. A considerable number of Peterson pipes were stamped “Irish Free State”. From about 1930 to 1949, most of the pipes (those which were stamped) were stamped “Made in Ireland”.” If the stamp reads “MADE IN IRELAND” in a circle, the pipe was made between 1939 and 1948. These are all “Pre-Republic” pipes. I can tell you that the mark “Irish Free State” was adopted in 1922; and replaced by “Eire” in 1937 and then by “Republic of Ireland” in 1949.

That gave me a date for the pipe – it was made after 1949 as can be proved by the Made in the Republic of Ireland stamp on the right side of the shank.

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s Kapet Line. On page 305 it had the following information.

Kapet (1925-87) Line first described in 1925 brochure and featured in occasional catalogs through 1987. Early specimens will be stamped IRISH over FREE STATE. Described in 1937 catalog as available in dark plum or natural finish. Featured an aluminum “inner tube” or stinger until 1945. Mid-century specimens may be stamped Made In over Ireland. Specimens from 1970 on may have mounts with hallmarks.

Judging from the Made in the Republic of Ireland stamp, the pipe I am working on is probably made after 1945 when the stinger or inner tube was removed. Those dates work also for the Kapet information above. The stem has the original P stamp on the saddle side and no stinger.

Finally, on the underside of the shank it is stamped Huber [over] Munchen. From a past restoration I did a lot of work on the stamping (https://rebornpipes.com/2023/10/14/petersons-kildare-special-hg-republic-of-ireland-10-canadian/). Have a look if you are interested.

To learn more about the Huber Munchen stamp I turned to page 300 of “The Peterson’s Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg as noted by him in the previous blog and found a great paragraph on the stamping. I quote in full.

GH Retailer’s Monogram (c. 1960s) George Huber of Munich, Germany, a Peterson distributor and retailer for decades, stamped their monogram on pipes sold in their store, G overlaid on H. Peterson shared in the 1988 commemoration of Huber’s 125^th year in business by producing a special pipe with a sterling rim cap, stamped HUBER over CELEBRATION.

The pipe I have is one that has the GH Retailer’s Monogram (1960s) and does not appear to have ever had the sterling rim cap and was not stamped HUBER over CELEBRATION. The Monogram attaches it to the Huber Tobacco shop in Munich, Germany. With that information I turned my attention to working on the pipe.

Armed with the information above, I turned my attention to the pipe itself. Jeff had cleaned the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness that I really appreciate. 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, shank brushes 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 inner edge of the rim top. The finish looks very good with good looking grain around the bowl and shank. There is some darkening on the sides of the bowl as well. Jeff soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the vulcanite. 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 close up photos of the bowl, rim top and stem to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was clean and the rim top and the inner edge look beautiful. The stem was clean and did not show either tooth marks or chatter.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is very clear and readable and read as noted above. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts. I sanded the bowl and shank with 320-3550 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to smooth out the scratches and darkening on the rim top and sides of the bowl. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris. I sanded the exterior of the bowl with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I dry sanded it with each pad and wiped the briar down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding- debris. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit on the bowl and shank for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I touched up the “P” stamp on the left side of the saddle with some white acrylic nail polish. I let it cure then scraped off the excess and sanded the remnant off with a 1500 grit sanding pad. I sanded the stem and tenon with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. Each successive pad brought smoother shape and definition to the stem. I wiped it down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad and by the end it was starting to look very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. Once again, I wiped it down between each pad with Obsidian Oil. I further polished it with Before and After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. It looked very good. I am excited to finish this beautifully grained, Peterson’s Kapet 606S Saddle Stem Pot. 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. The straight Pot looks great with the black vulcanite saddle stem. This smooth Classic Peterson’s Kapet 606S Pot 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: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 39 grams/1.34 ounces. It turned out to be a beautiful pipe. I will be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you would like to add it to your collection let me know. It is a real beauty. Thanks for walking through the restoration as I brought the pipe back to life.