Tag Archives: vulcanite

Refurbishing a Gourd Calabash

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Blog by Steve Laug

In the past weeks I finished up some pipes for a guy here in Vancouver and when he came to pick them up he brought some more for me to work on for him. I finished up some of the ones on the worktable so I decided it was time to work on these. The fourth pipe is a Gourd Calabash with a Meerschaum bowl. It is a nicely shaped gourd that makes up the base of the bowl. The meerschaum cup is in excellent condition – a few minor scratches and nicks in the bowl. The shank end is plastic/acrylic and seals the end of the gourd. It is made to fit a bent vulcanite stem. The meerschaum bowl had a thin and uneven cake. The upper half of the bowl was more thickly caked than the bottom half. I would need to ream it to even out the cake. There was some slight darkening around the inner edge of the rim top as well as some scratches and nicks in the top of the rim. The inside of the shank was dirty and needed to be cleaned. The black vulcanite stem had tooth marks and chatter on the top and underside of the stem near the button. I took photos of the bowl and stem to give a clear picture of the condition of the pipe before I started to work on it.I removed the bowl from the gourd bowl. The cork gasket was in tact but dry. The inside of the bowl had some build up of tars and oils on the walls.The bowl was dirty and the rim top scratched and worn. There was some darkening on the top and around the inner edge. There was also some uneven cake that is visible in the photo below. I scraped out the excesss cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to even the cake on the walls of the bowl. I sanded the walls smooth with sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I worked over the top of the bowl and the inner edge of the rim top with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I removed the most of the damage to the rim top with the micromesh sanding pads. I was able to smooth out the scratches with the micromesh pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. I scraped out the hardened tars on the walls of the gourd with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. This is done with care so as not to dig too deeply into the skin of the gourd. I just wanted to knock off the high spots and smooth it out. I blew out the debris onto a paper. I cleaned out the airway in the stem and shank, the mortise and shank interior with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. I forgot to take photos of this as I was on a roll and moving quickly through the process.I rubbed down the outer surface of the gourd with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the finish with my fingertips and finished working it in with a shoe brush. The balm worked to clean, preserve and enliven the surface of the gourd. I also rubbed some Vaseline into the cork gasket to soften and enliven it at the same time. I really like the effect of the product on the gourd bowl so I took some photos of the pipe at this point. Once the outside and inside of the gourd was as clean as I was going to get it I set the bowl aside and turned to address the stem. I sanded the tooth marks and chatter out of the stem surface with some folded 220 grit sandpaper.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads to remove the scratches in the acrylic. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. I polished the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I wiped it down with a cotton pad and gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil. I set the stem aside to dry. I put the stem back on the gourd bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the gourd outer bowl, the meerschaum inner bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and 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 finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I have four more pipes to finish for him – these are some finds he made while pipe hunting. This is a fun bunch of pipes to work on. I look forward to moving through the rest of them. Thanks for looking.  

A Tale of Three Churchwardens

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Blog by Dal Stanton

The first of the 3 was true born, but of hobbit stature.  He dreamed of walking in the world of men and of wizards – seeing eye to eye but anxious to serve.  The second was bound to the first but he held no claim to royal lineage. He stood proud in the best sense of the word and cherished his Green Land’s heritage and history.  The third of the 3, was free and bound to no man.  He was born into humbler circumstances but found favor in the Maker’s eye and the Maker dubbed him The Wise – a valuable gift to any man.  All 3 strong, bound together in one tale, bring hope to the Daughters of men. 

I am sure that if J.R.R. Tolkien were to write this blog about the restoration and creation of 3 Churchwardens, he might begin the tale something like this.  Every pipe man and pipe women, if they do not have a Churchwarden in their collections, are hoping one day to find one – each looking for that special bond.  Why?  Simply stated, Churchwardens are cool.  I have a Churchwarden that I’ve named, Gandalf – there are probably many Churchwardens out there bearing that name.  Why?  Simply stated, Gandalf the Wizard – first The Grey then The White – is cool.  He smoked a Churchwarden like no one else, packed with ‘Old Toby’ and who doesn’t want to be like Gandalf?

There’s A LOT of information on the internet easily obtained by a simple search of ‘Churchwarden’ and I don’t want to repeat what’s easily found.  The short of it is this – ‘Churchwarden’ is an old shape as far as pipes go.  Of course, they were prevalent throughout Middle Earth.  As the story goes, there were men back in the days when they didn’t lock churches at night, who were employed as ‘wardens’ of the church – whose responsibility was to guard the premises.  To be faithful to their charge, they were not allowed to leave the walls of the church.  That created an unusual dilemma between guarding the holy confines and the desire to enjoy one’s evening smoke.  The moral dilemma was creatively solved by a stem.  The length of the stem enabled the church wardens to tend to their evening bowls as they stood vigilantly inside the church walls while the stems extended through the windows…so the story goes (see Pipedia’s article).

Another very interesting factoid about Churchwardens comes from Bill Burney’s Pipedia description of the Churchwarden that it is unique among all pipes:

I want to include one other interesting link for those of you who are Middle Earth and Churchwarden enthusiast.  The question has always been asked by discerning folk, while Gandalf was smoking his Warden, or Bilbo, Merry and Pippen were puffing on theirs, what exactly was packed in their bowls??  Of course, we all know that the bowls had ‘Old Toby’ packed in them – or simply, ‘Pipeweed’.  This link goes to a fun site that explores the minutia of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth including the story of pipe smoking and the mystery of what exactly inhabited the bowls of Middle Earth!  Enjoy!

The first of the 3 was true born, but of hobbit stature.  He dreamed of walking in the world of men and of wizards – seeing eye to eye but anxious to serve.

My ‘Tolkienesque’ opening, like Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings’, holds some truth in the telling.  The ‘Tale of the Three Churchwardens’ started when I received an email from Toby – yes, I’m not making this up!  Gandalf smoked ‘Old Toby’ and a younger Toby from Germany wrote me about commissioning the “Imperial Churchwarden” (the ‘true born’ Churchwarden with royalty) as a birthday gift for a friend which he discovered in my website’s section, For ‘Pipe Dreamers’ Only.  We came to an accord and I put the Imperial Churchwarden from France in the queue to be restored in time for his friend’s birthday celebration. Later, when I found the Imperial in the “Help Me!” Basket, I was a little concerned.  The stem was shorter than I had originally thought – it was more of ‘Hobbit stature’ – a miniature Warden.  The stem was 5 ¾ inches beyond the shank or the total length of the pipe was about 8 ¾ inches or 22 cm – not really the coveted ‘Gandalf’ size.  I wrote to Toby with a proposal of adding some stature to the Imperial with a longer Churchwarden stem I had on hand – it would be more of a ‘Gandalf statured’ Churchwarden as a result.  I sent this picture with the proposed stem giving a total length of 11 inches or 28 ½ cm.  My Gandalf was on top for comparison.  Toby liked the idea and said that his friend was a huge ‘Lord of the Rings’ fan and that an extra 5 cms was a good investment for his friend to have a ‘Gandalf’ pipe.  

The second was bound to the first but he held no claim to royal lineage.  He stood proud in the best sense of the word and cherished his Green Land’s heritage and history.

Then Toby asked if I might have another long warden stem in my stores – he thought it might be good for him to add a Churchwarden to his collection – perhaps that both he and his friend could blow smoke rings into the air in proper wizard fashion on his friend’s day of celebration!  I ordered 3 more 8.5” Churchwarden stems from Tim West at http://www.jhlowe.com and they arrived in Bulgaria from the US with a returning colleague.  At this point I moved from restoring a Churchwarden (true born) to creating a Churchwarden with re-purposed bowls.  I went through my stores to find potential bowls to be wedded to a Warden stem and transformed to a Churchwarden (thank you Bill Burney!).  I sent two options next to the Imperial – a Dublin and a Rhodesian.  Toby chose the Dublin with the canted bowl which to him was more ‘Gandalf-like’.  And so, the Dublin will mast the Churchwarden stem – representing a strong and resilient people proud of their ‘Green’ heritage and history.

The third of the 3, was free and bound to no man.  He was born into humbler circumstances but found favor in the Maker’s eye and the Maker dubbed him ‘The Wise’ – a valuable gift to any man.                     

All 3 strong, bound together in one tale, bring hope to the Daughters of men.

With two Churchwardens bound to Toby – one for his friend and one for himself, I was thinking, while I’m working on restoring and creating these Churchwardens, why not fashion another to put in The Pipe Steward Store for another steward to add to their collection.  I found a small bowl that I really liked – a Yello Bole ‘Air-control’ Imported Briar.  I looked at the Air-Control stem mechanism and my thought was that no one will ever want this Yelo Bole as he is now attached to his ‘high-tech’ stem, but I really liked the Apple shaped bowl.  I think he’ll look great mounted on a long-bent stem – a third Churchwarden, a wise choice for anyone wanting to add a Churchwarden to his collection!  All three Churchwardens will benefit the Daughters of Bulgaria – women and girls, the ‘Daughters of men’ who have been trafficked and sexually exploited.I want to thank Charles Lemon of https://dadspipes.com  up front for his input that led me to add two new tools to my tool box and expanding my ‘restorative reach’ with pipes.  The first is a PIMO Tenon Turning Tool that I ordered at Vermont Freehand after seeing the tool on Charles’ Worktable and Man Cave blog.  Charles’ later restoration, Re-Stemming a Butz-Choquin Marigny Deluxe Hand-Made Calabash was very helpful providing a step by step description of its use in replacing a tenon and the use of the tool.  The other wonderful tool that I coveted reading the same ‘Re-Stemming’ blog was the electronic caliper which Charles uses hand in hand with his many stem repairs.  I hadn’t seen an electronic caliper in Bulgaria, but then, I had never looked for one either!  Joy of joys, I found a German made electronic caliper in the local ‘Bricolage’ – I was a happy camper!  My new toys – that is, tools 😊 pictured next. As I approach the restoration and creation of the 3 Churchwardens, I will try to work in the reverse – starting with the ‘Free Born’ Yello Bole, then the ‘Green Land’ Dublin and finally, the ‘True Born’ French made Imperial.  Why this order?  As I get used to my new tools, I would rather start with the ‘non-commissioned’ pipe first to hone in on the techniques, working toward the most important Churchwarden, the Imperial, destined to be a gift.  To experiment and practice, I have already turned one stem with the PIMO tenon turning tool – a French Jeantet Jumbo which came to me without a matching stem and has been waiting patiently.  Without description, this is what I did last night while watching the World Cup match between Sweden and Mexico (my wife rooted for Mexico where she grew up!).  Sweden prevailed.  The Jeantet Jumbo will be completed sometime in the future – he’s a ‘big boy’ pipe! Turning now to cleaning the stummels of the Churchwardens, I start first by reaming each with the Pipnet Reaming Kit.  Each stummel uses only the smallest of the 4 blade heads available.  I then fine tuning each with the Savinelli Fitsall tool, followed by sanding the chambers with 240 grade paper wrapped around a Sharpie Pen.  Finally, each is cleaned with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95%.  After clearing the light to moderate cake in each bowl getting down to the briar for a fresh start, the chambers look good in each – no problems I can see. Turning now to the external surface I use undiluted Murphy’s Oil soap and cotton pads to scrub each.  The Dublin (center above) has the most lava over the rim, while the other two, not as much.  In addition to cotton pads, I utilize a brass wire brush for the rims and use a knife blade carefully to scrape the Dublin rim.  The Dublin and the Imperial will both need some sanding on the rim to clean them up.  All 3 stummels’ finishes reveal that they are thin and worn.  Murphy’s took much of the finish off but not all with the Yello Bole and Imperial bowls.  The Dublin’s finish is gone.  During the cleaning, I discover that I missed the remains of a broken off tenon in the mortise of the Dublin.  I keep screws of different sizes on hand for just these occasions.  Using a small diameter screw, I screw into the airway hole of the tenon just enough to grab some vulcanite and gently pull out.  I don’t want to insert it too far into the broken tenon to not expand it and crack the shank.  As hoped, a little pressure and thankfully, the tenon comes loose. With the mortise cleared in the Dublin, I proceed to clean the internals of all 3.  I use pipe cleaners and cotton buds dipped in isopropyl 95% to do the dirty work.  Here is a truism: Just because you’re cleaning a smaller stummel doesn’t mean it’s a smaller mess!  Each stummel required boocoos of cotton buds, pipe cleaners – I also scrape the sides with a sharp dental probe as well as hand-turning drill bits down the mortises to excavate the tars and oils.  The pictures show the finish line of sorts – later, before I turn out the lights, I’ll give each a kosher salt/alcohol soak through the night to provide more stealth cleaning.To remove the old finish from the stummels I wipe them down with isopropyl 95% and cotton pads.  The alcohol fully removes the old tired finish off the Imperial and the Dublin, but the Yello Bole’s old finish is persistent.  The first picture below reveals the sheen left on the Yello Bole but the others are dull.  To deal with the ‘Candie Apple’ finish that remains on the Yello Bole stummel I use acetone on a cotton pad.  This does the trick and now we’re down to the briar on all the stummels.With the stummels clean inside and out, the next step is fashioning the Churchwarden stems from the precast stems I acquired for the job.  I start with the Yello Bole by making an outside measurement of the original stem’s tenon which, of course, fits perfectly.  The measurement with the electronic caliper is 6.83mm.  From Charles Lemon’s blog that I noted above, Re-Stemming a Butz-Choquin Marigny Deluxe Hand-Made Calabash, Charles recommended a conservative approach to using the PIMO tenon turning tool which I employed on my first run with the Jeantet Jumbo, to first do a test cut of the tenon at approximately 40mm more than the target measurement.  This allows a more conservative sanding of the tenon to gradually bring it down to a good fit – not too snug and not too loose.  The Pimo tool comes with a drill bit to pre-drill the tenon airway on the precast stem to serve as a guide for the guide pin on the tool.  Adding my margin of error of 40mm to 6.83mm target size leaves me a practice cut of about 7.23mm to aim at for the conservative approach.  The pictures move through the steps. The tenon turning tool is in the drill shock and when powered rotates at high speed. With the cast stem’s airway guided by the guide pin, I push the stem steadily against the revolving blade of the tool and it peels away the vulcanite.  The blade peels the vulcanite in spaghetti-type curls.  My first practice cut is measured, and it is 8.45.  Another 1.20 mm can come off.  With the enclosed allen wrench, I adjust the Pimo tool to remove more vulcanite and the next measurement is 7.34mm.  That is a .51mm difference and places me in the conservative sanding zone.  Now, I complete the cut of the entire tenon – all the way to the face of the stem.  I haven’t figured out how to minimize the vulcanite shavings that spew out everywhere!  I note that the original stem’s tenon is shorter.  I use a sanding drum on the Dremel and take off the excess. The cut looks good and now it’s time to take file and sanding papers to gradually bring the tenon to size. Now, as I watch several episodes of Grimm which I discovered on Netflix here in Bulgaria, I gradually sand the tenon to a snug but not too tight fit.  I use coarse 120 grade paper to start – always sanding around the tenon to maintain proper round.  Then, using a flat needle file and 240 grit paper, I fine tune the tenon sanding – again, maintaining proper round by sanding around the tenon evenly.  I must admit, when the tenon gets down to the target size – when it starts to marginally slide into the mortise, my stress level increases!  I know how easily one can crack a shank by rushing the tenon’s entry into the mortise.  It takes ‘100s’ of sanding cycles followed by testing the fit (carefully!) before the tenon safely and fully engages and finds a new home!  Success!The tenon is snug and secure, and now I take some pictures to show the ridges that need to be removed and tapered through the shank and stem.  Also, the precast stem has casting ridges down the length on both sides and the button is in very rough form.  The entire Churchwarden stem needs to be sanded, smoothed and shaped along with the shank/stem transition.One picture to show the growth in stature this Yello Bole stummel now enjoys before retiring the old stem to the stem bucket.Several episodes of Grimm later, I’m satisfied with the rough sanding and shaping of the stem.  I show the full length and then some closeups of the shank/stem transition and the button shaping.  I like what I see. The next step is to introduce a gentle bend to the stem.  This will aid the future steward of this ‘Free Born’ to know which way the stem is properly positioned – there is an up and down after the custom sanding and fit – there is no standard stem fit – echoing the words of Charles Lemon’s blog!  To give me an idea of where and how much the bend should be, I used my Gandalf as a template on a piece of paper.  I also draw an outline of the original, smaller Imperial stem for comparison.  I mark the stem at the point that Gandalf’s stem’s bend began.  Bends are very subjective, but this gives me an idea what to shoot for.  After I insert pipe cleaners in both ends of the stem to guard the airway integrity during the bending, I heat the target area of the stem with a hot air gun and bend it when it becomes supple.  I take the bend to the faucet with cool tap water to set the curve.  At the start, I found that I was bending too much.  Thankfully, vulcanite is very forgiving – to correct the bend all I do is re-heat the stem and it straightens on its own.  After a few tries, I find a bend I’m happy with – a compromise between Gandalf’s slightly longer stem and the shorter, original Imperial. I put the Yello Bole ‘Free Born’ aside and now turn to the Dublin.   The following pictures are lacking my standard background working mat – it needed to be cleaned!  I start by doing an inside measurement of the mortise – 7.19mm.  That is the target width of the tenon that is shaped.  I use the drill bit provided and drill the airway to receive the PIMO guide pin.  I then bring the blade down to just touching the tenon and cut a test like before and measure – 8.15mm.  That leaves .96mm to the target size.  I make a quarter turn of the wrench, closing the blade that much and take another cut – 7.46.  The quarter turn took .69mm off the tenon.  I now have .27 mm of ‘fat’ left on the tenon.  Again, the pictures show the steps. Now, well within the conservative sanding zone, I use a flat needle file and 240 grit paper and sand the tenon down to fit with appropriate snugness.  I then sand down the stem and button as before with the Yello Bole.  I’m aiming for a fluid transition from shank to stem.  The Dublin shapes up nicely!I use the same template to give the Dublin’s new fitted stem a gentle bend over the hot air gun. Now to the Imperial.  The same methodology is employed as with the former 2.  I fast track describing the process with each picture.I drill the airway to guide the Pimo guide pin.The mortise is measured for the target tenon size – 7.56mm.With the PIMO tool I cut a ‘fat’ initial tenon that measures about 40mm larger than the target – conservative sanding zone. I measure the length of the original Imperial stem tenon and shorten the precast Churchwarden tenon to match using the flat needle file as a saw.After sanding the tenon down to a snug fit, I’m left with filing and sanding the ridge and tapering the warden stem.  I cover the Imperial’s nomenclature with masking tape to protect it from the shank sanding.After some filing with a flat needle file and sanding with 240 grit paper, the transition from the shank to the Warden stem is shaped and the button is shaped from the rough precast stem. As with the other two, I heated the Warden stem with a hot gun and when it became supple I give it a slight, gentle flowing bend and seal the bend under cool tap water.The 3 are looking good and the transformation is taking shape!I then take each of the Warden stems through a wet sanding with 600 grit paper and then used 0000 grade steel wool to continue the sanding but also buffing up the fresh vulcanite.  To hydrate each of the 3 Wardens I wipe the stems and stummels with light paraffin oil (mineral oil in Bulgaria), which serves to give me a sneak peak at the finished Churchwarden pipes.  I like what I see!With my day coming to a close, I utilize the night by allowing the stummels to clean further by using a kosher salt and alcohol soak.  I fashion cotton ‘wicks’ from cotton balls and insert them down the mortises into the airways.  They act to draw the additional tars and oils out of the briar.  I then fill each bowl with kosher salt which leaves no aftertaste as iodized salt does.  I then fill the bowls with isopropyl 95% until the alcohol surfaces over the salt.  I top each stummel off in a few minutes and I turn out the lights.The next morning, I wasn’t disappointed.  The salt in each bowl had darkened and each of the wicks had discolored indicating further extraction of the tars and oils.  The salt went into the waste basket and I cleared the excess salt by wiping the bowls with paper towel and blowing with some force through the mortises.  I also follow with pipe cleaners and cotton buds to make sure all was clean.  Only the Dublin resisted further but soon pipe cleaners and cotton buds were coming out clean.  Stummels are cleaned and ready for their future stewards!  The picture shows the final carnage.Now, turning from the labor-intensive stem work, I look at the stummels.  Starting with the ‘Free Born’ Yello Bole that drew my attention.  The small Apple shape fits well the classic Churchwarden motif.  The grain is active with lateral grain expressing in bird’s eye perspective on the sides.  There are some fills in the stummel – one larger one on the right side of the stummel then a few pocket fills.  The fills all seem solid, but I will keep my eye on them as I sand. The rim is darkened from tobacco lighting and the inner edge of the rim is scorched.  I decide to give the rim a very light topping using 600 grade paper – more of a clean up to reestablish crisp lines and to remove the charring.  I use a kitchen chopping board and put the 600 paper on it for the topping.  It doesn’t take much. To address the normal nicks and dents on the stummel I use micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 and wet sand the stummel.  After the wet sanding I again look at the old fills that caught my attention before to see if they softened.  They remain solid, but I can see very small pockets that might benefit from repair.  I do not dig out the fills but simply painted the fills with a very thin layer of thin CA glue with a tooth pick – like the repair to miniscule air pockets that emerge with a CA glue/charcoal patch on vulcanite stems.  The painting is thin, so it cures very quickly, and I focus sand the spots again starting with the 1500 micromesh pad to the present was sufficient.  There is no impact on the surrounding briar.  I complete the micromesh cycles by dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000.  I keep the Warden stem mounted on the stummel to guard against shouldering the shank face – keeping a nice seamless transition from shank to Warden stem.Here I picture the right side of the stummel to show the results of the ‘paint patching’ the larger fill and a few on the shank.  It blended well. Now, the Dublin is next in line.  This Dublin has ‘Selected Briar’ stamped on the left side of the shank.  It has nice looking briar, but the finish has lost its luster – it’s dull, tired and bored.  The rim is dark and has several dings on the edge.  There is one noticeable fill on the right front of the Dublin stummel.  The canted bowl of a Dublin has always attracted me and when Toby chose the Dublin to mast the Warden stem, I agreed it was a good choice – it will be an impressive looking Churchwarden.  I take a few pictures to get a closer look. I start by taking the Dublin to the topping board using 240 grit paper.  Removing the tired finish and re-establishing the lines of the rim will go a long way in sharpening this stummel.  After turning the inverted stummel on the 240 paper a few revolutions, I switch too 600 grade paper and smooth out the scratches of the 240.  Then, using 120 grit paper I cut an internal bevel on the rim followed by 240 and 600 grade papers.  I also cut a very small bevel on the external edge of the rim with the 240 and 600 papers.  I create the bevels to soften the look of the stummel and to me, it’s a classy touch.Next, I take the stummel through the full micromesh pad cycle by wet sanding with 1500 to 2400, followed by dry sanding using pads 3200 to 4000 and then 6000 to 12000.  The Dublin’s attitude is shaping up nicely! Turning now to the ‘True Born’ Churchwarden, the nomenclature stamped on the left side of the shank is a cursive, ‘Imperial’ over ‘CHURCHWARDEN’ in full block letters.  ‘Algerian Briar’ is stamped on the right.  The COM is France, stamped in very small block letters on the lower shank along the shank face.  These pictures show what I see. It did not take long to match the unique ‘Imperial’ nomenclature found in Pipedia’s very short article about the Imperial Tobacco Co. referencing Lopes:

From Pipes, Artisans and Trademarks, by Jose Manuel Lopés’

The Imerial Tobacco Co. (Imperial Tobacco Ltd.) was founded in 1901 through the merger of several British tobacco companies. In 1902 it went into partnership with the American Tobacco Company to found the British American Tobacco Company.

Brands involved: Comoy’s, Bewlay, Nording, Ogden’s, Salmon & Gluckstein, and Steel’s

This example was provided by the courtesy Doug Valitchka to let me know that I had locked into the right company.Pipedia’s article on Imperial Brands goes into more of the history of the multitude of acquisitions that happened in the early 1900s to maintain competitive edge.  Today, Imperial Brands is an international consortium primarily involved in cigarette sales and is based in the UK.  I found only one reference in the article to a French-based connection referencing the closure of a factory in Nantes, France, in 2016.  The company website, http://www.imperialbrandsplc.com contains an extensive history of the company, but I found no references to pipe productions in France!  In Pipedia and in Pipephil – Imperial, references to Imperial, the country of manufacturing is consistently the UK and no mention of France.  So, the French connection to this True Born will remain shrouded in mystery!

The Imperial stummel has a dulled finish as the Dublin but promises a very nice briar grain beneath.  The bowl and rim have normal wear nicks and dents.  I also detect residue shininess of old finish that didn’t come off when I cleaned with Murphy’s Oil Soap. I quickly dispatch this using a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95%.Inspecting the surface I find on the left side of the shank, near the ‘Imperial’ stamping, a chip that needs patching. I mix a small batch of CA glue and briar dust to patch the chip – this will blend well after sanded down.  I put a small mound of briar dust on an index card and place next to it a drop of regular CA glue.  I mix a small bit of the briar dust into the glue and when I find the resulting putty about the consistency of molasses, I apply it to the chip and put the stummel aside to cure. While the patch is curing, the large job of continuing the sanding of the Churchwarden stems jumps to the fore.  I decide to do all 3 Wardens together by first wet sanding using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400.  I follow by dry sanding using pads 3200 to 4000 and then 6000 to 12000.  After each set of three pads, I apply Obsidian Oil to each stem to vitalize the vulcanite.  There’s a LOT of vulcanite real estate to sand with a Churchwarden stem!  It’s also not easy taking pictures of the long Warden stems. Turning again to the bowls, and the Imperial’s cured patch of CA glue and briar dust, I carefully file the mound/excess down toward the briar surface.  I’m careful to stay on the excess patch material so not to damage the nearby briar and nomenclature.  I then switch to 240 paper, rolled tightly and then 600.  The patch looks great. As I take a closer look at the Imperial stummel, the rim is blackened on the internal edge.  I start by giving the bowl a very light topping with 600 grade sanding paper to clean it and to reestablish lines.  I then bevel the internal rim edge enough to clean it up as well as giving the external rim edge a bevel to soften the rim and to ‘class it up’ a bit. I like how it’s shaping up. With the rim restoration complete at this level, I use micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 and wet sand the entire stummel.  I follow with dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and finish with 6000 to 12000. I have noticed on the shank a lightened area that was a result of the stem/shank fitting process where more sanding was necessary.  To darken and blend this area, I use an oak Furniture stain stick to do the job and it looks good.  I take a picture.Now, to deepen and enrich the briar of the French made Imperial Churchwarden, I apply Before and After Restoration Balm to the briar surface.  I put some on my fingers and work it into the surface.  The Balm does an amazing job bringing out the richness and the luster of the briar grain that is already beautiful.  After about 20 minutes, I wipe the Balm off the stummel with a clean cotton cloth.  It buffs up nicely.  I take a picture of the stummel with the Balm on it.Next in line is the Dublin bowl.  As with the French Imperial, I take the Dublin through the full 9 micromesh pads, 1500 to 12000.  I show the progress after each set of three pads – the first three wet sanding, the last 6, dry. As with the Imperial, I apply Before and After Restoration Balm to the Dublin bowl.  I put some Balm on my fingers and work it into the briar.  The Balm starts with the texture of light oil then as I rub it into the briar, is thickens into the texture of a thicker wax.  After I work it in I set the stummel aside to absorb the Balm.  After a time, I wipe off the Balm using a cotton cloth – it buffs up as I wipe the stummel.The final stummel is the Free Born Yello Bole.  Since the stummel has already gone through the full micromesh pad sanding process, it is ready to receive the Before and After Restoration Balm to deepen and enrich the nicely emerging briar grain.  As with the others, I apply the Balm with my fingers and after setting is aside for about 20 minutes, I wipe/buff off the Balm.  I take a picture of the Balm on the stummel and afterwards. At this point, using the Dremel mounted with dedicated cotton cloth buffing wheels set at the slowest speed, each of the three bowls I apply Blue Diamond compound and White Diamond compound is applied to the stems.  After the application of the compounds, I buff each Churchwarden with a felt cloth to remove the compound dust before applying wax.  I then mount another cotton cloth wheel on to the Dremel, increase the speed to about 40% full power and apply carnauba wax to stems and stummels.  After applying a few coats of wax, I give each Churchwarden a rigorous hand buffing with a microfiber cloth to raise the shine.

The Tale of the Three Churchwardens is now beginning.  I am pleased with the results.  Each bowl responded well displaying a myriad of grains and patterns.  Each now displays that classic, long, graceful, wise aura of the Churchwarden genre.  It is true, only one of the Churchwardens started has a Churchwarden – the True Born.  He is now no longer of Hobbit stature and will walk with men and wizards.  The other two re-purposed bowls look great – I’m pleased.  Tobias of Germany commissioned the French made Imperial Churchwarden and the Dublin.  He will have the first opportunity to secure these Churchwardens for his friend’s birthday present and for his own collection in The Pipe Steward Store.  As ‘fate’ would have it, the third Churchwarden bound to no man, was claimed also by a person also living in Germany!  A colleague was visiting Bulgaria and saw the 3 Churchwardens on my worktable.  Thankfully, I was able to finish ‘The Wise’ to return with his new steward to Germany.  I declare that Germany receives the Middle Earth Award!  Each of these Churchwardens benefits the Daughters of Bulgaria – a noble cause of helping women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited.  Thank you for joining me in the telling of the Tale of Three Churchwardens!

The first True Born Imperial Churchwarden of France The second was bound to the first, the proud Dublin Green Land Churchwarden The Third ‘Free Born’ Churchwarden

RETURNING A CANADIAN POKER TO ITS RIGHTFUL GLORY

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Blog by Robert M. Boughton
Copyright © Reborn Pipes and the Author except as cited
https://www.facebook.com/roadrunnerpipes/

I didn’t do it.  Oh, wait, THAT.  Yes, I did do THAT.
— An appropriate example of cheekiness

INTRODUCTION
Last November, in a rare, impulsive act of sheer gullibility, or maybe wishful thinking gone wild is a better way to put it, I made one of the oldest mistakes other people – but not I – can do: I snatched up a collection of odds and ends on eBay labeled “Lot 3 Vintage Tobacco Pipes-Tobacco Tins-& Bags-1 Box,” somehow rationalizing that they were all connected, or at least, maybe, the pipes and some of the bags and box (the three pipes matching the combined number of two sleeves and one box, although it still didn’t occur to me that one sleeve matched the box).  To compound the shame of this serious folly, I jumped on the great deal, at only $21.51 plus S&H, based on the following single blurry photo provided by the seller.

Credit omitted for obvious reasons

I mean, consider the clues my crazed mind somehow overlooked!  You can do it without my help, which I can’t bring myself to give anyway.  I won’t even claim I don’t know what I was thinking because it’s clear I wasn’t at all, in any sense of the word.  Okay, so the package came in the mail.  Well, indeed, there were three vintage pipes, a Grabow, a Yello-Bole and the poker I couldn’t then, in my bleary-eyed horror, identify; two sleeves, a Karl Erik and a Butz-Choquin; the one Karl Erik box, and the two olde-timey Revelation Smoking Mixture tins.  And so, I struggled to reason, I got exactly what I asked for!  God knows, and so do I, that I deserved it.  Still, in my defense, however lame it may be, the seller was more than a little disingenuous with his hazy portrayal of the goods and failure to point out that the Yello-Bole has a fatal crack extending a third of the way down the front of its 1.5” bowl.

[The Revelation tins, for those who haven’t heard the story, once contained a blend of red Virginia, cube cut Burley, Latakia and Perique made at the time by Philip Morris & Co. Ltd. Inc. and said to be Albert Einstein’s go-to.  The stuff looked like mulched, ancient twigs, tree and bush leaves, bark and other components one might find as groundcover in a forest as far from civilization as is still possible.  But Revelation switched from tins to soft packaging in 1957, so I attempted to console myself with the thought that the latest addition to my small tobacciana collection is at least 61 years old.  Then I realized that’s only five years older than I am.  Does that mean I’m vintage?  Needless to say, my attempt was a failure.]

Disheartened by my abject flop, I considered the options.  I could return the whole lot, pan the seller in my feedback or bite the bullet and get on with my life.  Not caring for any of these, I tossed all of it in disgust under my living room table with my stash of junk mail and old newspapers.  In the intervening months, the pile grew and hid all of the discarded items I had banished from my mind anyway, until one day about a week ago when gravity made the pile shift, and I spied the red Butz-Choquin sleeve.  So deep down had I stuffed the memory of the debacle that I didn’t recognize it, no joke.  Approaching the sleeve on hands and knees, like an archeologist digging for treasure, I liberated the sleeve from the heap and began removing layer after layer of the paper trash.

In this fashion revealing the pipes, sleeves, box and tins, and bagging the paper mountain to throw in the trash, I could not help laughing.  The poker caught my attention, and I remembered I had not established its maker but only assumed it was of the others’ ilk.  I wiped away some crud on the smooth bottom of the rustic pipe and used my magnifying glasses trying to decipher the nomenclature but was unable to do so.  Turning to the stem for a mark that might provide a clue, I saw what appeared to be three faded dots in a line from top to bottom, the middle one of them smaller than the others.  From Pipephil, I discovered the pipe was a Brigham of the 600 series, and to my surprise, from Canada.

My face flushed and misted over with sweat from a rush of blood as my mind’s eye teleported me backward in time a few years.  I’m sure Steve has forgotten all about this, having better things to store in his mind vault, but I’m cursed – or blessed – with total recall of every tasteless, fatuous or otherwise inappropriate thing I’ve ever said, for the most part well after the fact and only when something triggers a free association with the earlier mistake.

In this case, learning that Brigham is an old and respected Canadian pipe maker reminded me of an occasion several years back when I broke my usual habit of engaging my brain before my tongue, as my dear dad taught me.  Something prompted me to blurt to Steve, “Are there any Canadian pipe makers?”  I say blurt because such an ill-conceived question could not have been made in an email or else I would have researched it myself, but rather must have flown out of my mouth in a flash of cheeky, stupid impertinence during a telephone conversation.  I also remember Steve’s pause before he replied with tact, “Yes, there are a few.”

Having now made a quick, easy online inquiry into the subject, I found one good source listing 30 far North American pipe makers, including larger brands and artisans.  Brigham seems to be the biggest and best known.  Notable among the artisans is Michael Parks of Bowmanville, Ontario, whose work is astounding.  No doubt there are many more talented folks carving pipes in the vast Canadian provinces and territories, and to every one of them, I apologize for my ignorant question that now seems so long ago!

HISTORY
Roy Brigham must have been born with pipes in his genes.  After serving as an apprentice to an Austrian pipe repair master, Brigham opened his own shop in Toronto in 1906.  After 12 years, the venture included five other craftsmen and was already known across Canada for its excellent work.  In 1918, Brigham and his team started making the company’s first pipes, and again the reputation for high quality and value began to spread throughout the country’s 3.9 million square miles.

Brigham’s son Herb joined the business in 1935, and the two were known as Brigham & Son.  Together, they identified tongue bite, which at the time was thought to be caused by hot smoke from pipes, as the chief complaint of customers.  Determined to get to the bottom of the problem, father and son experimented and learned that the symptom was caused not by heat but mild burning from tars and acids in the smoke.  Trying various filters, they concluded bamboo and rock maple were the best materials.  Bamboo being much more difficult to obtain, they settled on rock maple, and in 1937 invented what they called the Distillator and applied for the Canadian patent, granted the following year.  That patent, №. 372,982, was for a metal insert in the mouthpiece which enclosed the non-porous rock maple insert that could be removed and cleaned several times before the effectiveness began to deteriorate.  The fourth page is a clarification made sometime after the Patent Act of 1955 cited in its text.CAN. PAT. 372982 is stamped on the smooth bottom of the poker’s shank, below the Brigham mark, but as future changes were gradual and relatively minor and finished in the late 1940s after Herb rejoined the business following service in World War II, they appear not to have been filed but were relied upon based on the protection granted to the one and only Brigham patent for the Distillator.  Therefore, a precise dating of the poker is impossible, although it looks to be made in the 1950s.  Brigham has a remarkable array of pipes varying from traditional shapes to freehands to some that are just plain unique.

Canadian courtesy Smoking Pipes

Mike Brigham, Herb’s son, joined the family business in 1978 and began expanding the product list to include tobacco and accessories.  This is likely when the company became known as Brigham Pipes Ltd. Until 1995, when the present name of Brigham Enterprises Inc., its incarnation today.

RESTORATION
Here is the Brigham rusticated poker as I received it. The first orders of business were to soak the stummel in Everclear and ream the chamber.  After the soak, a light touch with super fine “0000” steel wool cleared the rim. I followed that with a double 150- and 180-grit sanding pad all around, the highlights of which are shown below.  The second photo was taken after sanding the chamber with 150-, 220-, 320-, 400- and 600-grit papers. Working on the rim with papers from 220-600 grit followed by micro mesh 1500-12000, it shined up pretty well.  While I was at it, I micro meshed the rest of the stummel, focusing on the rim, and the first and third photos following show the improvement. The next pics show how filthy an old, oxidized stem can be, and the aftermath of soaking in OxiClean.  I don’t know what the loose, plastic film-like stuff is in the last shot below and was worried it would become a problem. Sanding the lips and areas below them with 600-grit paper took off the roughness, and a full wet micro mesh progression followed by dry made the stems shine.  Also, the mystery film came off clean.  The last photo shows how my initial belief that the stem mark was faded dots that would require filling in was wrong.  They’re metal implants. Retorting the pipe was fast and easy since it was well prepped.Then it occurred to me I hadn’t removed the Distillator rock maple insert, which I did then.  Brigham’s use chart indicates by the darker brown color of the insert that the pipe was smoked about 20 times since the last filter was added.  I’ve ordered an 8-pack replacement box.My favorite part of most restores had arrived, in this case to buff the rustic area of the stummel with Halcyon II wax and the rim with White Diamond and carnauba.  I used red and white rouge on the stem for a change since I had used it for several special pipes I’ll be blogging ASAP. CONCLUSION
I learned quite a bit about our neighbor to the north and now have a firm grasp on the fact that Canadians indeed not only make pipes, but beautiful ones.  Nuff said about that.  But boy, am I happy I jumped on that otherwise misleading eBay lot!

SOURCES
https://www.brighampipes.com/our-system/
https://pipedia.org/wiki/Pipe_Brands_/_Makers#Canada
http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-brigham.html
http://www.brothersofbriar.com/t17600-brigham-pipes-anybody-use-one
https://pipedia.org/wiki/Brigham_Pipes
http://www.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/patent/372982/summary.html?type=number_search&tabs1Index=tabs1_1
https://www.brighampipes.com/

An Easy Restoration – A Savinelli Sandblast Bing’s Favorite

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Blog by Steve Laug

Yesterday was a great day. I finished working on three pipes, started a fourth and returned a group of four repairs to the pipeman who dropped them off for me to repair and refurbish for him. He loved the work and dropped off eight more pipes in various states from very nice and need a refresh to tired and worn. He also wanted to know if I would do a trade with him for part of the cost of labour. He had a pipe he no longer wanted in his collection so he was wondering. He took it out of his pipe bag and showed it to me. It was a Savinelli Bing’s Favorite in a sandblast finish with a vulcanite stem sporting a brass dot on the top. It was in great condition other than a little wear and oxidation on the stem. There was some light tooth chatter on both the top and underside of the stem near the button. It was drilled to take Savinelli Balsa filters or 6mm filters. I looked it over and we made a deal. I think that we were both pleased with the results. Here is what the pipe looked like when I received it. The combination of medium and dark brown stains on the bowl added a great contrast in the high and lows of the sandblast. The bowl was quite clean with very little cake. The aroma of good English tobacco lingered around the pipe and bowl. The rim top was very clean and the outer and inner edges of the bowl were in excellent condition. The stem had tooth chatter and tooth marks on both the top and underside near the button but none of them were too deep. I took close up photos of the bowl and stem to show the condition before I started the cleanup.I took a close up photo of the stamping on the smooth panel on the underside of the bowl and shank. It reads: BINGS FAVORITE followed by Savinelli Product and Italy. The stamping is clear and readable.I removed the stem to have a look at the 6mm filter tenon. It was pretty clean on the outside.I cleaned out the airway in the stem and shank and the mortise area with pipe cleaners – both regular and bristle as well as cotton swabs and alcohol. I cleaned out the wide open tenon with cotton swabs and alcohol as well. It was pretty clean so it did not take too long to clean those areas.I rubbed some Before & After Restoration Balm deep into the crevices and valleys of the sandblast, working it in with my fingertips. I buffed the bowl with a shoe brush to further work it into the finish. I buffed the bowl with a soft cloth to raise a shine. The photos below show the results at this point in the process. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth chatter and marks with 220 grit sandpaper blending the areas into the surround vulcanite stem. I sanded both the top and underside of the button as well to remove the light chatter on those areas as well.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with  3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I rubbed it down with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the scratches. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to dry. I have a few of the Savinelli Balsa filters around so I put on it the stem. It is a three sided stick of Balsa wood that absorbs tars and liquids on three sides. The fit is perfect. The tenon can also fit 6mm filters.I put the stem on the pipe and buffed the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I used a light touch on buffing the bowl so that the polish would not get into the sandblast. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem several coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the bowl and stem with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the bowl and stem with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The contrasting brown stains look very good with the dark of the polished vulcanite stem. The brass dot stands out in stark contrast with the black. It is a beautiful pipe and in excellent condition. The measurements are – Length: 6 ¾ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside Diameter of Bowl: 1 ¼, Chamber Diameter: ¾ inch. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly. If you would like to add it to your collection send me an email to slaug@uniserve.com or a message on Facebook. Thanks for reading through this restoration process. It was a fun one to work on.

Farida’s Dad’s Pipes #5 – Restoring a Dunhill Root Briar 56 Bent Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

I am back working on a of pipes that comes from the estate of an elderly gentleman here in Vancouver. I met with his daughter Farida last summer and we looked at his pipes and talked about them then. Over the Christmas holiday she brought them by for me to work on, restore and then sell for her. There are 10 pipes in all – 7 Dunhills (one of them, a Shell Bulldog, has a burned out bowl), 2 Charatans, and a Savinelli Autograph. His pipes are worn and dirty and for some folks they have a lot of damage and wear that reduce their value. To me each one tells a story. I only wish they could speak and talk about the travels they have had with Farida’s Dad.

When I wrote the blog on the Classic Series Dunhill and thinking about its travels, Farida sent me an email with a short write up on her Dad. She remembered that I had asked her for it so that I could have a sense of the stories of her Dad’s pipes. Here is what she wrote: My dad, John Barber, loved his pipes. He was a huge fan of Dunhill and his favourite smoke was St. Bruno. No one ever complained of the smell of St. Bruno, we all loved it. I see the bowls and they’re large because he had big hands. When he was finished with his couple of puffs, he would grasp the bowl in the palm of his hand, holding the warmth as the embers faded. The rough bowled pipes were for daytime and especially if he was fixing something. The smooth bowled pipes were for an evening with a glass of brandy and a good movie. In his 20s, he was an adventurer travelling the world on ships as their radio operator. He spent a year in the Antarctic, a year in the Arctic and stopped in most ports in all the other continents. He immigrated to Canada in the mid-fifties, working on the BC Ferries earning money to pay for his education. He graduated from UBC as an engineer and spent the rest of his working life as a consultant, mostly to the mining companies. Whatever he was doing though, his pipe was always close by. 

She sent along this photo of him with his sled dogs in the Antarctic sometime in 1953-1954. It is a fascinating photo showing him with a pipe in his mouth. He is happily rough housing with his dogs. As a true pipeman the cold does not seem to bother him at all.Thank you Farida for sending the photo and the background story on your Dad for me to use on the blog. I find that it really explains a lot about their condition and gives me a sense of who Dad was. If your Dad was rarely without a pipe I can certainly tell which pipes were his favourites. As I looked over the pipes I noted that each of them had extensive rim damage and some had deeply burned gouges in the rim tops. The bowls seemed to have been reamed not too long ago because they did not show the amount of cake I would have expected. The stems were all covered with deep tooth marks and chatter and were oxidized and dirty. The internals of the mortise, the airway in the shank and stem were filled with tars and oils. These were nice looking pipes when her Dad bought them and they would be nice looking one more when I finished.

I finished two of the pipes and have written a blog on each of them. The first one was the Dunhill Shell with the oval shank pot (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/02/04/restoring-a-1983-dunhill-shell-41009-oval-shank-pot/) and the second was the Dunhill Classic Series Shell Billiard (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/02/08/faridas-dads-pipes-2-restoring-a-1990-lbs-classic-series-dunhill-shell-billiard/). The third pipe I restored from the estate was a Savinelli Autograph (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/02/15/faridas-dads-pipes-3-restoring-a-savinelli-autograph-4/). The fourth pipe of his that I worked on was a Dunhill Red Bark Pot that was in rough shape (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/03/10/faridas-dads-pipes-4-restoring-a-dunhill-red-bark-pot-43061/).

I went back to the remaining two Dunhills in the collection today and chose to work on a Dunhill Root Briar 56 Bent Billiard. It was so dirty it was hard to read the stamping on the sides. I could see that it was worn but I could not tell much else looking through the thick grime. The smooth finish sticky with oils and thick grime and the bowl felt oily to touch. I wiped off the oils and grime on the shank sides to see the stamping. It was worn but readable. On the left side of the shank it reads Dunhill over Root Briar. To the left of the stamping is the shape number 56. On the right side of the shank there is a faint stamp R with 4 in a circle. The rest of the stamping is very faint.

I turned to a blog I have on rebornpipes by Eric Boehme on Dunhill Shapes and looked for the shape number stamped on this pipe. Here is the link. https://rebornpipes.com/2012/11/01/dunhill-pipe-shapes-collated-by-eric-w-boehm/. I did a screen capture of the section on Bent Billiards and circled the pipe I have in hand in red. The shape number 56 is noted as a bent billiard size 4. It is noted as 5 ½ inches long just as the one I have is. It is listed as coming out in 1928, 1950, 1960 and 1969. The spread of dating was pretty large and the stamping so unreadable that I could not determine the date with that normal help. It was time to move on and look for other helpful information to see if I could narrow things down a bit.

I turned to another site that I use often – the pipephil website on Logos and Stampings because there is some really helpful information on when each of the lines of Dunhill pipes entered the market. Here is the link to the section of the site that I turned to, http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/dunhill/root-bru-guide.html. I did a screen capture of a portion of the chart that gave me the time frame for this particular pipe. I circled the date and brand in red in the photo below. It looks like the Root Briar came out between 1960 and 1970. Now I knew that one I was working on a pipe that came from that era – which incidentally matched the other pipes in Farida’s Dad’s estate collection.The bowl was thickly caked and the cake had flowed over onto the smooth Root Briar finish on the rim top forming hard lava that made the top uneven. The inner and outer edges of the rim were both damaged. On the right front of the bowl the rim had been scraped and damaged and then burned. On the back edge there was the same kind of damage that was on the other Dunhill pipes in this estate. This one however was not quite as deep so it would need to be dealt with a bit differently when I got to that point. The stem was lightly oxidized but otherwise in good condition. There were light tooth marks and chatter on both sides in front of the button. The Dunhill white spot was intact on the top of the stem. I took photos of the pipe to show what it looked like before I started the cleanup work. 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. The outer edge has damage on the front right – burn damage and wear that comes from lighting a pipe repeatedly in the same spot. The back left side also shows damage on the inner edge. There was damage from what looked like a poor rim job. The stem has tooth chatter and some bite marks on the top and the underside of the stem just ahead of the button.I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and used two of the four cutting heads to clean out the cake. The bowl thickly caked so I started with the smaller of the two and worked my way up to the second one which was about the same size as the bowl diameter. I cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife to remove the remnants of cake. I finished by sanding the inside of the bowl with a dowel wrapped in sandpaper. I scrubbed the surface of the briar with alcohol and cotton pads. I scrubbed until I had removed the sticky tars and oils on the finish. I worked on the top of the rim with the edge of the Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I scraped the heavy buildup that was there. I scrubbed the scraped rim top with alcohol and cotton pads to remove the debris. I dried off the bowl with a soft rag. The cleaned and scrubbed pipe really made the rim top damage very clear. It looked to me that I would need to top the bowl. I topped the bowl on a topping board with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the damage to the top surface of the rim and clean up the damage to the edges. I did not have to remove a lot and repeatedly checked it to make sure that I had removed enough but not too much. I wanted to take the top down until it was smooth up to the burn damaged area on the rim top.I wiped down the rim top with alcohol and cotton pads to remove the sanding dust. I built up the damaged area on the rim with clear super glue and briar dust. I layered it until the height of the damaged area was roughly equal to the rim top. The third photo below shows the top at this point in the process. I took photos of the repaired bowl from a variety of angles to show what the repair looked like before I sanded and cleaned it up. I would need to top the bowl again to smooth things out and work on the edges. I topped the bowl again to remove the excess repair material. I worked it over the sandpaper on the board until the surface was smooth. I used a folded piece of 150 and 220 grit sandpaper to bevel the inside edge of the bowl. With the externals clean it was time to clean out the mortise and shank and airway into the bowl and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I scraped the mortise with a dental spatula to loosen the tars before cleaning. I worked on the bowl and stem until the insides were clean.I used a Cherry stain pen to touch up the rim and match the colour of the rest of the pipe.I rubbed down the briar with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the smooth finish to clean, enliven and protect the new finish. It also evened out the stain coat and gave the stain a dimensional feel. I let the balm sit for a little wall and then buffed it with a horsehair shoe brush. I buffed the bowl with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. There was some darkening on the bowl front but the briar was solid. Overall the bowl looked really good. I set it aside and turned my attention to the stem. I sanded out the tooth chatter on both sides with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Polish, using both the Fine and Extra Fine polishes to further protect and polish out the scratches. When I finished with those I gave it a final rub down with the oil and set it aside to dry.  With the stem polished I put it back on the pipe and lightly buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond. I buffed the stem with a more aggressive buff of Blue Diamond. I gave the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem several coats of carnauba wax and 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 finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is the fifth of Farida’s Dad’s pipes that I am restoring from his collection. I am looking forward to hearing what Farida thinks once she sees the finished pipe on the blog. This one is already sold to a fellow in India. It will soon be on its way to him to carry on the trust from Farida’s father. The dimensions are Length: 5 1/2 inches, Height: 1 3/4 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ inches. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over another of the Dunhills. More of his pipes will follow including some one more Dunhill and two Charatans. The last photo of the front of the bowl shows the darkening to the briar that remains. It is solid and the burn mark does not compromise the briar. It looks worse in this photo than it does in reality. It is a dark spot that is solid.

Adding some length to a Chimera Blowfish

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Blog by Steve Laug

I received a call from a fellow who lives nearby my house about working on some pipes for him. He happened to be packing them up to send to the US for repairs when he stumbled on the rebornpipes.com website. He stopped by with a box of pipes that he wanted to know if I could work on for him. Two were pretty straight forward – 1910 Calabash that needed a cleanup and a freehand that belonged to his dad that he wanted cleaned up so that he could send it back to him. The freehand was simple – buffing, touching up stain, cleaning the bowl and shank and removing tooth chatter and oxidation from the stem. I finished that one first and then moved on to this calabash. I have written about the calabash on a previous blog that can be found at the following link: (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/07/01/a-simple-restoration-of-a-1910-gourd-calabash/). The third pipe that he wanted me to work on was a different proposition – it was a Blowfish shaped pipe with the name Chimera etched on the underside of the shank. He did not like the stem and the way it looked on the shank. He was wondering if I could add some length to the shank and fit a different looking stem on it that better fit the shape and look of the pipe. I took photos of the pipe before I started working on it. I took a close up photo of the stamping on the shank. It is a brand that I don’t know much about. It is not listed on Pipedia or Pipephils site. I wrote an email to the owner to see what he could tell me about the pipe. He wrote back as follows:

The blowfish “Vincent” was made by Tedd Weitzman in Atlanta around 2010. He started making pipes out of the shop of a local amateur maker and this was his first sellable one… “Chimera” would have been his marque, but he hadn’t made a stamp yet, but as far as I know he never made another.The pipe had an interesting shape and worked with the grain very well. It seemed to have a clean and open draw. I took a few photos of the bowl from various angles to show the grain. Some of you may note that the shank end is not square and require that the saddle of the stem be cut at an angle. This will need to be addressed when I add the shank extension. I had an interesting faux horn (Lucite) shank extension here that I thought make an interesting contrast with the shape of the bowl. I also had a four sided, square vulcanite tapered stem that I thought would look good with the pipe. I laid out the pieces and took a photo of the proposed look of the pipe. I sent the photos to the owner and his response was to go with what I thought would look good. I was good to go on this one.I took the pipe apart and worked on the shank extension. I glued a threaded Delrin tenon in the shank end of the stem to join it to the shank of the pipe. The taper on the shank extension was not quite enough to make a smooth transition with the briar shank. I took it down with a Dremel and sanding drum and got it close. The rest of the fitting would have to be done by hand with files and sandpaper. The tenon would need to be cleaned up a bit but it was going to work nicely. I put the stem back together with the extension and took some photos. I put the stem and shank extension in place on the bowl and took some photos. You can see that the transition is getting close. I think the faux horn shank extension and new stem are going to look really good. It is        quite unique looking as a whole. I like the longer shank and stem with the large blowfish shaped bowl. Once I had the transition sanded smooth with 220 grit sandpaper I polished it and the extension with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-4000 grit pads. I wiped the extension down after each pad with a damp cloth. Before I polished it with the 6000-12000 grit pads I stained the connection with an oak coloured stain pen to match the colour of the rest of the bowl. I finished by polishing the junction and the extension with the last three grits (6000-12000) of micromesh pads. I really like the look of the longer shank. The faux horn extension looks good with the rest of the pipe. I worked Before & After Restoration Balm deep into the briar on the smooth finish to clean, enliven and protect it. I wiped it off with a soft cloth. I buffed the bowl with a cotton cloth to polish it. It really began to have a deep shine in the briar. I took some photos of the bowl at this point to mark the progress in the restoration. The grain on the bowl is really beginning to stand out and will only do so more as the pipe is waxed. I set the bowl aside and began to work on the stem that I had chosen. It was an interesting four sided taper stem with a flare at the bottom where it joined the shank. The tenon was rough so it would need to be worked on. I funneled the airway in the stem to give it a good open flow. I sanded out the tooth chatter on the top and underside near the button. I sanded out the scratches in the tenon and the underside of the disk between the tenon and the stem. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to do the shaping and smoothing work on the stem.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each pad with Obsidian Oil  and rubbed it into the surface. To finish the polishing I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine polishes. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and hand buffed it to a shine. This Chimera Blowfish has some really beautiful grain all around the bowl and shank. The grain really is quite stunning. The asymmetrical nature of the bowl and shank give it a really unique look. I can see why the original stem was a hard fit. The shank extension that has the look of faux horn looks really good in contrast between the briar and the stem. The panelled vulcanite stem is high quality and shined up well. I buffed the bowl and the stem with Blue Diamond polish to raise the shine on the briar and the vulcanite. I was careful to not buff the stamping and damage it. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are: Length: 6 1/2 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside Diameter: 1 3/4 inches, Diameter of the chamber: 3/4 inch. This blowfish feels great in the hand and its light weight give it the potential of being a clencher. I have one more repair to do for this pipeman and I will give him a call soon and I know that he is looking forward smoking these pipes. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me.

An Andre Hand Carved Freehand – #8 of Anthony’s Dad’s Pipes

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Blog by Steve Laug

I am finishing the work that began with an email from Anthony, a reader of rebornpipes asking if I would be willing to help him clean up his Dad’s pipes. He wrote; “I have a few pipes (8 or so) that haven’t been smoked in 15 years. They were my dad’s. I would like to get someone to restore them”. We chatted back and forth via email and the long and short of the story is that I have eight of his Dad’s pipes in my shop now to work on. The photo below shows the mixture of pipes that he sent me. There are some interesting shapes and most are very dirty and have very little if any of the original finish left on the briar. All have an overflow of carbon on the rim top and all have chewed, damaged stems and buttons. Anthony remembers his Dad smoking them throughout the years he was growing up so they went from regular use to being boxed and stored. They will need a lot of TLC to bring life back to them but it should be fun to give it a go. I went through the pipes and assessed their condition and contacted him and got the go ahead to proceed on the lot.I have completed the restoration of seven of the pipes. The last pipe I am working on is a floral shaped freehand with a rounded top and a flush fit tapered, bite proof stem. It the third pipe down on the left hand column in the above photo. I have circled it in red. It is another tall freehand with a 1/4 bent stem. It has some pretty grain with carved floral patterns on the front and right side of the bowl. The bottom of the bowl is flat making the pipe a sitter. The stem that is on it is a twin bore/bite proof stem that is chewed with deep tooth marks on both the top and bottom of the stem and button. This may well be the original stem on this pipe. But in any case the fact that most of these pipes have a replacement twin bore bite proof stem tells me a lot about Anthony’s Dad’s habitual gnawing on his pipes. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank with the script signature Andre over 1981. The bowl had about a half a bowl of dottle and tobacco in the bottom and a thick cake, and some lava overflow on the rim top. The finish was gone and very washed out looking. Even the dirt and grime were anemic. I took photos of the pipe to show its overall condition when it arrived at my work table.   I took some close up photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show what I was going to be dealing with on this pipe. The rim top was in rough condition – mold filled in the grooves and valleys of the plateau. There was also some lava overflowing from the bowl that had filled in the grooves. The plateau on the shank end was worse than the rim top (if possible). The finish worn off and there was water staining all around the shank end.After I cleaned the pipe up a bit, I took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the shank. It reads Andre over 1981.The stem was in rough condition as you can see from the photos below. The “bite proof” stem evidently was not bite proof. Anthony’s Dad had gnawed on it and left behind deep tooth marks on the stem and button. It would take some work but I would save this stem.I looked up the brand on the pipephil website index and found it listed. Here is the link – http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-a6.html. I have included a photo from the site that shows a stamp on the left side of the shank that is like the one I am working on. The only difference is the year – this is a 1985 while I am working on a 1981. The site says that André Mermet was a French craftsman who immigrated to the USA. He (and after him his son) produced pipes for Barclay Rex or Wilke pipeshops.

I looked on Pipedia https://pipedia.org/wiki/American_Pipe_Brands_%26_Makers_A_-_B and found that though there was no listing with information, there was the brand name in the list of US pipe companies and makers. It stated: North American brand, possibly associated with Andre’s Pipe Gallery.

I wondered if this was not the shop that Anthony’s Mom had referred to in her email to him that I quoted in previous blogs on these pipes. She had written about a shop called “Andre’s,” around 1969 or ’70. She said it was a unique shop, originally located in Los Gatos, or Campbell, California she thought. She said that it later moved to the Alameda area in San Jose. Anthony’s Dad also bought his favorite tobacco blends there so it makes sense to me that he may have also purchased this signature pipe from them. Perhaps Anthony will let us know when he reads this.

One last time I want to include the tribute Anthony wrote about his Dad and his pipe smoking. Here is what Anthony sent: When my dad died 6 years ago, my mom asked if I wanted my dad’s old pipes. He was a long time pipe smoker, ever since I was a kid I can remember him sitting on the couch smoking his pipe inside. He worked at IBM and used to smoke his pipe in his office before they changed the laws in California. So you can imagine he had quite the collection over the years.

I took his pipes and put them in storage for a few years, I myself recently quit smoking cigarettes and decided to take up pipe smoking as it was easier on the wallet. I asked in /r/pipetobacco if anyone could recommend a pipe restoration service and someone told me about rebornpipes.com. I was hesitant but after looking at the blog I knew it would be a good place to send my dad’s pipes.

My dad loved smoking his pipes, sitting out by the pool in the sun taking a nap or in the garage wood working. The house was my mom’s area and the garage was my dad’s area. I spent hours sitting out in the garage as a kid watching the niners or a’s and giants on tv while doing woodworking projects. I hope to do the same with my kids these days.

I’m not sure if my dad smoked other tobacco but I remember Captain Black was the kind he smoked regularly. He had tins of it in the garage, full and empty and would turn the old tin jars into storage for odds and ends, like screws or washers or miscellaneous stuff.

I remember when I played little league my dad would sit in the stands and smoke his pipes. One of my teammates asked “What is that smell?” and I ashamedly said “Oh that’s my dad’s pipe…I’ll go tell him to put it out” and my teammate said “No man, it smells good!”.  It’s funny how the little conversations over the years you remember.

Another time when I was in 3rd grade or so we learned how smoking was bad for you (this was back in the 80s). I remember I asked my teacher if smoking a pipe was bad for you too….and she hesitated and said “Not as bad as cigarettes, since you don’t inhale it”. After that I was no longer worried about my dad smoking.

Knowing my mom I have no idea how my dad pulled this off but he managed to smoke his pipe in the house. I guess she liked the smell of it. Recently when I was waiting for my girls to get out of school I was sitting on a side street smoking my pipe and someone walked by and thanked me for bringing the pipe back. He said his dad used to smoke a pipe and he loved the smell. As did mine. The only difference is my daughters complain constantly about the smell of my car, but that is mostly because I smoke cigars too.

Anyway, grab some fine tobacco, light up a bowl and sit back and relax. I don’t have a pool like my dad did but you can catch me working on my laptop sitting in my driveway smoking a nice pipe, especially one of these restored pipes from reborn pipes….I can’t wait to smoke them.

Thanks Anthony, I appreciate how your tribute gives a sense of who your Dad was and how he enjoyed his pipes. I think it is somehow appropriate that the 8th and final pipe is from Andre’s shop. I decided to start with the stem. I “painted” the deep tooth marks with a Bic lighter to raise the dents. It helped but these dents were deep and had sharp edges.  I filled in the remaining dents with black super glue. It would take several applications of the glue to thoroughly fill in and repair the dents. I set the stem aside to let the repair cure and worked on the bowl.I set the stem aside and worked on the bowl. I used a dental pick to remove the dottle and unsmoked tobacco that filled the lower half of the bowl. I reamed it back to bare briar using a PipNet pipe reamer to remove as much of the cake as I could. I finished with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife and then sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around my index finger. The rim top had a thick coat of lava and many nicks and dents in the surface and along the outer rounded edge. I sanded it with a fold piece of 150 grit sandpaper followed by 220 grit sandpaper to clean off the damage and smooth out the nicks and dents.I wiped down the bowl and rim with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the remnants of stain in the bend of the shank/bowl junction and the grime ground into the finish. I was careful around the carved leaves or flower petals around the bowl and the stamping on the shank. Both seemed to have a darker stain in the grooves and I wanted to leave that undamaged. I sanded the smooth surfaces of the bowl, rim and shank with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge to remove the scratches on the briar. I cleaned out the internals in the mortise, shank and airway with bristle and smooth pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol. It was pretty dirty but it did not take a lot of time to clean it up.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the nooks and crannies of the carvings on the front and right side of the bowl and into the grain of the smooth portions of the briar. I worked it deeper into the grooves with a horsehair shoe brush. The balm works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I really like the way it brings life to the briar. When I wipe it off with a soft cloth it not only adds a shine but takes away the grime that is in the finish.    I buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish briar and further work in the Restoration Balm. The pipe is looking good. I smoothed out the repairs with a needle file and 150 and 220 grit sandpaper. I reshaped the button and repaired the straight edge. I sanded the light oxidation off the surface of the stem at the same time.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I polished the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to finish removing the light scratches that remained. I gave stem another coat of the oil after that and set it aside to let the oil dry. I put the pipe back together and polished the bowl and stem with multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it 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 finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is final pipe of the eight pipes that I restored from Anthony’s Dad’s collection. I am looking forward to hearing what Anthony thinks once he sees the finished pipe on the blog. This week I will pack them up and send them back to him so that he will have the opportunity to carry on the trust from his Dad. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 1/4 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 2 inches, Chamber diameter: 1 inch. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this final pipe from Anthony’s Dad’s collection.

A Racine & Laramie Bent Apple – #6 of Anthony’s Dad’s Pipes

1 Reply

Blog by Steve Laug

This is a continuation of the work that began with an email from Anthony, a reader of rebornpipes asking if I would be willing to help him clean up his Dad’s pipes. He wrote; “I have a few pipes (8 or so) that haven’t been smoked in 15 years. They were my dad’s. I would like to get someone to restore them”. We chatted back and forth via email and the long and short of the story is that I have eight of his Dad’s pipes in my shop now to work on. The photo below shows the mixture of pipes that he sent me. There are some interesting shapes and most are very dirty and have very little if any of the original finish left on the briar. All have an overflow of carbon on the rim top and all have chewed, damaged stems and buttons. Anthony remembers his Dad smoking them throughout the years he was growing up so they went from regular use to being boxed and stored. They will need a lot of TLC to bring life back to them but it should be fun to give it a go. I went through the pipes and assessed their condition and contacted him and got the go ahead to proceed on the lot.I have completed the restoration of five of the pipes. The next pipe I chose to work on was the A unique sandblasted bent apple with a ruined replacement vulcanite stem – it is the first pipe at the top of the right hand column in the above photo. I have circled it in red. It is a bent apple shaped 1/4 bent pipe with a sandblast finish on the bowl and the majority of the shank and some smooth portions on the side and around the end of the shank that provide contrast between the finish of the bowl and the black vulcanite stem. The stem that is on it is again a replacement twin bore/bite proof stem that is destroyed. The fact that most of these pipes have a replacement twin bore bite proof stem tells me a lot about Anthony’s Dad’s habitual gnawing on his pipes. The stem has a diameter is slightly less than the shank. The stem is ruined with large pieces missing from the button on both the top and underside extending into the surface of the stem. I will need to find a different stem. The pipe is stamped on the left side of the shank in a smooth band. It reads Racine & Laramie in an arc over Old Town San Diego. On the underside it reads Italy. The bowl had the least cake of any of the pipes, just a slight, uneven buildup on parts of the bowl. The biggest issue with the finish was just the dirt and grime ground all around the bowl. I took photos of the pipe to show its overall condition when it arrived at my work table.   I took some close up photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show what I was going to be dealing with on this pipe. The rim top was din excellent condition with just some dust and debris in the grooves of the blast. The finish looked good other than the grime. The shank looked a little pinched in the smooth portion and makes me wonder if whoever restemmed the pipe did not do that to adjust the shank diameter to approximate the stem diameter. I find that a bit frustrating as it is not that hard to fit a decent stem without doing that. The stem was ruined you can see from the second and third photos below. The “bite proof” stem evidently was not bite proof. Anthony’s Dad had gnawed through the twin bore and left a gaping hole in the stem. The topside was cracked and missing chunks and the underside had a large chunk missing. It would need to be replaced.I had worked on a Racine & Laramie pipe before that also needed a stem. I went back and read the blog I did on that pipe. Here is the link: https://rebornpipes.com/2013/06/30/a-restemming-job-with-memories-of-the-past/. Like the previous R&L Italian Made pipe the look and feel of this one says it is made by Lorenzo. I quote from that blog now in part to remind you of the tobacco shop whose name is stamped on the shank of this pipe.

When I read the stamping is when the memory came back. I have been in the Racine & Laramie tobacco shop in Old Town San Diego, California. It is a museum like tobacco shop that has a wide range of tobaccos and pipes in an old California mission style village setting. You can almost imagine cowboys riding up and tying up their horse to go in and get a pouch of fixin’s. The picture below is what I remember of the shop. It is from the website http://www.racineandlaramie.com/

The following excerpt on the history of the shop comes from the website as well. I find it incredibly interesting reading.

History of Racine & Laramie

In 1868 Racine & Laramie became San Diego’s first Cigar Store. Having come from eastern Canada in the prosperity following the War Between the States, Messrs. Racine and Laramée sold cigars, tobacco, stationery, pipes, cutlery and gentlemen’s furnishings. The adobe they rented had been built in the 1820’s as the retirement home for leather-jacket soldier, Juan Rodriguez of the Royal Presidio. It was one of the first six buildings in the small pueblo, 500 registered voters, thousands of Kumeyaay. The Rodriguez family held ownership through periods of depression and Gold Rush boom, and their son, Ramon, was on the City Council. The widow Rodriguez had the building remodeled in 1867 and rented to Racine & Laramie and the Bank Exchange saloon. All was lost in the fire of 1872.

Using archeology, historic research and photographs this building has been reconstructed with the interior furnished and stocked as it may have been in that remote, frontier Pacific port. This picture gives a panoramic view of the interior of the shop looking at the cigar humidor.It was this shop that I visited many times over the years. It is like stepping back in time to enter the old town and then to walk into the shop itself. I think the last time I was there was about six years ago now. I took the train from the downtown harbor area to the old town site. I walked through the reconstructed village. I must have spent 3 or 4 hours wandering around the site and ending up in the old tobacco shop. I looked at pipes and tobaccos before settling on a couple of tins. I think I picked up some Dunhill EMP and maybe a tin of McClelland Dark Star before catching the train back into town.

That gives you an idea about the shop that this pipe came from. I can imagine Anthony’s Dad, a Californian, visiting this shop and like me picking up a pipe and some of his favourite tobaccos.

I want to include the tribute that I asked Anthony to write about his Dad and his pipe smoking once again in case some of you missed that and wanted to have some background. Along with the information on the Racine & Laramie Pipe Shop in Old San Diego I find that knowing a bit about his Dad helps to give me a sense of the previous pipeman when I work on a pipe from an estate. Anthony sent me this tribute: When my dad died 6 years ago, my mom asked if I wanted my dad’s old pipes. He was a long time pipe smoker, ever since I was a kid I can remember him sitting on the couch smoking his pipe inside. He worked at IBM and used to smoke his pipe in his office before they changed the laws in California. So you can imagine he had quite the collection over the years.

I took his pipes and put them in storage for a few years, I myself recently quit smoking cigarettes and decided to take up pipe smoking as it was easier on the wallet. I asked in /r/pipetobacco if anyone could recommend a pipe restoration service and someone told me about rebornpipes.com. I was hesitant but after looking at the blog I knew it would be a good place to send my dad’s pipes.

My dad loved smoking his pipes, sitting out by the pool in the sun taking a nap or in the garage wood working. The house was my mom’s area and the garage was my dad’s area. I spent hours sitting out in the garage as a kid watching the niners or a’s and giants on tv while doing woodworking projects. I hope to do the same with my kids these days.

I’m not sure if my dad smoked other tobacco but I remember Captain Black was the kind he smoked regularly. He had tins of it in the garage, full and empty and would turn the old tin jars into storage for odds and ends, like screws or washers or miscellaneous stuff.

I remember when I played little league my dad would sit in the stands and smoke his pipes. One of my teammates asked “What is that smell?” and I ashamedly said “Oh that’s my dad’s pipe…I’ll go tell him to put it out” and my teammate said “No man, it smells good!”.  It’s funny how the little conversations over the years you remember.

Another time when I was in 3rd grade or so we learned how smoking was bad for you (this was back in the 80s). I remember I asked my teacher if smoking a pipe was bad for you too….and she hesitated and said “Not as bad as cigarettes, since you don’t inhale it”. After that I was no longer worried about my dad smoking.

Knowing my mom I have no idea how my dad pulled this off but he managed to smoke his pipe in the house. I guess she liked the smell of it. Recently when I was waiting for my girls to get out of school I was sitting on a side street smoking my pipe and someone walked by and thanked me for bringing the pipe back. He said his dad used to smoke a pipe and he loved the smell. As did mine. The only difference is my daughters complain constantly about the smell of my car, but that is mostly because I smoke cigars too.

Anyway, grab some fine tobacco, light up a bowl and sit back and relax. I don’t have a pool like my dad did but you can catch me working on my laptop sitting in my driveway smoking a nice pipe, especially one of these restored pipes from reborn pipes….I can’t wait to smoke them.

Thanks Anthony, that gives me a sense of who your Dad was and how he enjoyed his pipes. I was ready to turn my attention to this sixth pipe. I went through my can of stems and found a stem that was the right shape and would do the job. It was larger in diameter than the shank so I would need to work that down but once finished I think it would look better. It was oxidized but otherwise a pretty clean saddle stem. I took photos of the two stems together to show how they compared. I put the stem on the shank and used a Dremel and drum to take down the circumference of the new stem. I wanted to get as close as possible to the size of the shank without damaging the shank itself. It worked very well. I took photos of the stem after the Dremel work. There is still a lot of sanding to do but it is getting there. I sanded out the scratches and removed the rest of the excess material to match the circumference of the shank with 150 and 220 grit sandpaper. It was a bit of a challenge as the previous restemming had left the shank out of round – much narrower on the underside than the top. It took a lot of hand sanding and constant checking to make sure I had removed enough and not too much material. I took photos of the fit once it was what I wanted. I knew that the polishing with micromesh sanding pads would make the final adjustments to the fit. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I polished the stem with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to finish removing the light scratches that remained. I gave stem another coat of the oil after that and set it aside to let the oil dry. I set the stem aside and worked on the bowl. I reamed it back to bare briar using a PipNet pipe reamer to remove as much of the cake as I could. I finished with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife and then sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. I cleaned up the mortise, shank and airway in the bowl. Remembering that I had not cleaned the stem, I cleaned airway and slot in the stem with pipe cleaners, cotton  swabs and alcohol.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the nooks and crannies of the sandblast finish on the rim top, bowl and shank. I worked it deeper into the grooves with a horsehair shoe brush. The balm works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I really like the way it brings life to the briar. When I wipe it off with a soft cloth it not only adds a shine but takes away the grime that is in the finish. I decided this was a good time to take a break. I fired up a bowl of some gifted Uhle’s #44 in my “Malaga” rusticated Diplomat and sipped some coffee to look over the pipe to see if I was missing anything. It was great to be able to sit and work with a pipe in my mouth.I put the pipe back together and polished the bowl with multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem with multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it 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 finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is sixth of eight pipes that I am restoring from Anthony’s Dad’s collection. I am looking forward to hearing what Anthony thinks once he sees the finished pipe on the blog. Once I have the remaining two pipes finished I will pack them up and send them back to him. It will give him opportunity to carrying on the trust from his Dad. The dimensions are Length: 5 1/2 inches, Height: 1 1/2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/2 inches, Chamber diameter: 3/4 inches. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe from Anthony’s Dad’s collection. Two freehand pipes remain and will soon follow in the days ahead. Keep an eye out for them because there are still some unique pipes in the lot.   

An Interesting Pipe with a Twist – the third of Anthony’s Dad’s Pipes

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Blog by Steve Laug

A few weeks back I received an email from Anthony, a reader of rebornpipes asking if I would be willing to help him clean up his Dad’s pipes. He wrote; “I have a few pipes (8 or so) that haven’t been smoked in 15 years. They were my dad’s. I would like to get someone to restore them”. We chatted back and forth via email and the long and short of the story is that I have eight of his Dad’s pipes in my shop now to work on. The photo below shows the mixture of pipes that he sent me. There are some interesting shapes and most are very dirty and have very little if any of the original finish left on the briar. All have an overflow of carbon on the rim top and all have damaged stems and buttons. They will need a lot of TLC to bring life back to them but it should be fun to give it a go. I went through the pipes and assessed their condition and contacted him and got the go ahead to proceed on the lot.The third pipe I chose to work on was the briar pipe with the twist and the twisted stem – one on the bottom left side of the photo. I have circled in red. It is an interestingly shaped and rusticated piece of briar. Not one side of the bowl is the same and from every angle it looks totally different. It is almost amoeba shaped and you almost expect it to morph and reshape as you hold it in your hands. There is no stamping on the shank or bowl anywhere. It is nameless. The bowl was very dirty and the finish was worn to the post that it was smooth and lifeless looking. Not only did it have a thick cake in the bowl and some darkening and lava overflowing onto the rim top it also appeared that Anthony’s Dad had laid the pipe aside mid smoke. The bowl was about half full of partially burned tobacco that had hardened and dried with age. The twisted stem turned out to be a twin bore “bite-proof” vulcanite one. It is unique with its twists and spirals. It was heavily chewed and had damage on both sides around the button. All of the pipes from Anthony’s Dad had the same marks and wear on the stem. It will need to be reshaped and rebuilt. The rubber of the mouthpiece is quite high quality vulcanite as it is one of the few stems that showed very little oxidation. I took photos of the pipe to show its overall condition when it arrived at my work table.   I took some close up photos of the bowl, rim top and the stem to show what I was going to be dealing with on this pipe. The rim top was dirty and lava covered but the inner edge appeared to be in decent condition. The stem was in pretty rough condition. There was a lot of chewing damage to the surface of the stem and button. There were some deep tooth marks on both sides of the stem and button. I think that it is obvious that this old pipe had been another one of Anthony’s Dad’s favourites.I took photos of the bowl from various angles to try to capture the unique look of the pipe for you. It is simply different from any of the pipes that I have been working on lately which is what caught my attention and moved it up in the restoration of the eight pipes. I asked Anthony to write a bit of a tribute to his Dad and his pipe smoking. I always find that it gives me a sense of the previous pipeman when I work on a pipe from an estate. Anthony sent me a great tribute. Here it is in his words:

“When my dad died 6 years ago, my mom asked if I wanted my dad’s old pipes. He was a long time pipe smoker, ever since I was a kid I can remember him sitting on the couch smoking his pipe inside. He worked at IBM and used to smoke his pipe in his office before they changed the laws in California. So you can imagine he had quite the collection over the years.

I took his pipes and put them in storage for a few years, I myself recently quit smoking cigarettes and decided to take up pipe smoking as it was easier on the wallet. I asked in /r/pipetobacco if anyone could recommend a pipe restoration service and someone told me about rebornpipes.com. I was hesitant but after looking at the blog I knew it would be a good place to send my dad’s pipes.

My dad loved smoking his pipes, sitting out by the pool in the sun taking a nap or in the garage wood working. The house was my mom’s area and the garage was my dad’s area. I spent hours sitting out in the garage as a kid watching the niners or a’s and giants on tv while doing woodworking projects. I hope to do the same with my kids these days.

I’m not sure if my dad smoked other tobacco but I remember Captain Black was the kind he smoked regularly. He had tins of it in the garage, full and empty and would turn the old tin jars into storage for odds and ends, like screws or washers or miscellaneous stuff.

I remember when I played little league my dad would sit in the stands and smoke his pipes. One of my teammates asked “What is that smell?” and I ashamedly said “Oh that’s my dad’s pipe…I’ll go tell him to put it out” and my teammate said “No man, it smells good!”.  It’s funny how the little conversations over the years you remember.

Another time when I was in 3rd grade or so we learned how smoking was bad for you (this was back in the 80s). I remember I asked my teacher if smoking a pipe was bad for you too….and she hesitated and said “Not as bad as cigarettes, since you don’t inhale it”. After that I was no longer worried about my dad smoking.

Knowing my mom I have no idea how my dad pulled this off but he managed to smoke his pipe in the house. I guess she liked the smell of it. Recently when I was waiting for my girls to get out of school I was sitting on a side street smoking my pipe and someone walked by and thanked me for bringing the pipe back. He said his dad used to smoke a pipe and he loved the smell. As did mine. The only difference is my daughters complain constantly about the smell of my car, but that is mostly because I smoke cigars too.

Anyway, grab some fine tobacco, light up a bowl and sit back and relax. I don’t have a pool like my dad did but you can catch me working on my laptop sitting in my driveway smoking a nice pipe, especially one of these restored pipes from reborn pipes….I can’t wait to smoke them.”

Thanks Anthony, that gives me a sense of who your Dad was and how he used and enjoyed his pipes. I was ready to turn my attention to this third pipe. I generally start working on pipes by reaming the bowl and removing the debris from there. In this case I picked out the plug of hardened partially smoked tobacco that filled the lower half of the bowl and then reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer starting with the third cutting head. The bowl was a bit conical so I used the first and second cutting head as well. I took the cake back to bare briar. I used a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to clean up remaining debris in the bowl. I scraped the rim top with the edge of the knife to remove the lava that was there. I wrapped a piece of dowel with 220 grit sandpaper and sanded out the inside of the bowl to remove the remnants of cake and debris on the walls of the bowl.  I scrubbed the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I worked on the rim top and the deep grooves and curves of the bowl. I rinsed the bowl off with running water to remove the grime and the soap. The pipe is beginning to look really good. I wiped the bowl down with acetone on cotton pads to remove the remnants of the finish that was originally present. I wanted a clean surface to restain so it did not take too much scrubbing to leave behind clean briar. I scraped out the mortise with a sharp pen knife to remove the buildup of hardened tars and oils that had accumulated there. I cleaned out the airway and the mortis with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the debris and oils that were there. Once I had finished the pipe was clean.With the bowl cleaned, it was time to restain the pipe. I chose to use a Fiebing’s Tan stain to give some life back to the pipe. It is pretty close to the original colour of the bowl. I heated the briar and then applied the stain with a dauber. I flamed the stain to set it in the grain and repeated the process until I was happy with the coverage. I set the bowl aside to let the stain dry and settle. I turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the stem with a Bic lighter flame to raise the vulcanite. I repaired the remaining deeper tooth marks on the chewed stem end and button with black super glue. Once I was happy with the repairs I set it aside to let the glue cure. While it was drying I went and did some errands. When I returned I wiped the bowl down with alcohol to even out the stain. I did not mind the darker sections but wanted to remove streaks and heavy spots. I examined the bowl to check on troublesome spots and low and behold I found what I always hate to find. It had not shown up before in my examination of the bowl but it was there clear as a bell – a group of cracks that was on the underside of the bowl. I am not sure how I missed them but they were very visible. Now I would need to address that issue. I drilled the end of each of the cracks with a microdrill bit to stop them from spreading. When I took the photos I saw one further trail that I had not drilled so I took care of that one at the same time.I filled in the crack and the drill holes using a paper clip to strategically place the super glue. I traced the crack with the end of the paper clip and filled in the space with the glue.When the repair had cured I sanded it lightly with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the surface of the repair. I worked on it with the corner of the paper to get into the grooves. I worked on it as well with a sanding stick and needle file. The next photos show the progress. I rubbed Before & After Pipe Balm into the surface of the wood with my finger tips and worked it into the grain. The product did its magic and enlivened, cleaned and gave the wood a rich glow. It cleaned up the repaired area so I could see where I needed to work in the stain to blend it into the briar. The photos show what it looked like at this point. I blended the repaired area into the rest of the surrounding briar with stain pens – combining Mahogany, Maple and Cherry pens. Once the stain cured I would wax and buff the bowl.I set the bowl aside and worked on the twisted stem. It had been sitting for 24 hours so the black super glue repair was hard and ready to work on. I reshaped the button edge and surface of the stem with a needle file to clean up the look and feel of the button and the stem.I touched up the shallow dents that needed a little more glue and put some on the edge of the button as well. Once it dried I sanded it with 220 grit sandpaper to blend it into the rest of the stem surface. I cleaned out the twin bore stem with pipe cleaners and alcohol. I discovered that the left side of the twin bore was plugged so that it was only get airflow through the right side. I cleaned it out with a straightened paper clip and followed up with alcohol and pipe cleaners down both bores. Once it was done the airflow was open.I polished it by wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. I dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit micromesh pads and again wiped it down after each pad with oil. I gave it a final coat of oil after the final pad and set it aside to dry. I polished the pipe with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining small scratches. 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 finished pipe is shown in the photos below. This is third of eight pipes that I am restoring from Anthony’s Dad’s collection. I am looking forward to hearing what Anthony thinks once he sees the finished pipe on the blog. Once I have the remaining five pipes finished I will pack them up and send them back to him. It will give him opportunity to carrying on the trust from his Dad. The dimensions are Length: 6 1/2 inches, Height: 2 1/2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: width is 1 ¼ inches and length is 2 inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 inches. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe from Anthony’s Dad’s collection. Five more will soon follow in the days ahead. Keep an eye out for them because there are some unique pipes in the lot.  

ADDENDUM

This morning I received an email from Anthony in which he shared an email from his Mom regarding this pipe. He thought it would be good info to add to this blog about his Dad’s pipe. So with his encouragement and permission I add this to the end of this blog.
Dear Anthony,
I really enjoyed your email attachment about Steve Laug’s restoration of your dad’s pipes (“#1 and #3”)!  Your father would be so thrilled to see this master craftsman bringing back to life his old favorites — especially as he so loved wood-working himself — and to know that you treasure them.  (I wonder if the one I “rescued” from his workshop and now display in plastic case — the meerschaum lion’s head — is ruined.  After vacuuming and blowing out all the dust and rat-turds, I soaked it in vinegar till white again.  It looks good, anyway!)

I also loved reading your comments about Dad’s enjoyment of them.  I don’t think he was ever addicted to tobacco; he just enjoyed it casually (and mostly chewing on them!).

I remember when he acquired the large, twisted one (“#3”) at a pipe shop called “Andre’s,” around 1969 or ’70.  It was a unique shop, originally in Los Gatos or Campbell (I think) which later moved — maybe to The Alameda area in San Jose.  I’m not sure if Andre made any that he sold, but as a woodworker Dad was fascinated by this one especially.  He also bought his favorite tobacco blends there.  (Maybe there’s something on the Internet about Andre’s, if he became more well known.)

>While expecting our first child in early April 1971, I went down there to get Dad a surprise gift pipe for his April 25 birthday and picked out a plump, short one labeled “The Little Chub.”  Not knowing in those days whether Baby would be a boy or girl, I wrapped it with a card saying it was “To My New Daddy from your Little Chub.”  Lo and behold, Baby arrived on Dad’s very own birthday, when I tucked the pipe into my suitcase for the hospital and presented it to him there (along with The Little Chub herself — his best birthday gift ever)!  I don’t see it among these photos, so I guess it got chewed down worse than the others!

Re. your notes on changes over the years in  smoking habits and rules:
I think it was IBM that banned smoking at work before state or local governments did.  Also, as tobacco was made stronger (and more addictive), odors grew stronger and more permeating, and its terrible health effects became more obvious, more bystanders were impacted and objected.

As for my allowing pipes in the house in “the old days,” I had grown up with both parents heavy smokers, when that was common practice.  (I didn’t take it up myself, as I couldn’t afford it — in the break room at work in my teens, machines sold candy bars for a nickel, but a pack of cigarettes cost 35 cents!  And I liked chocolate better anyway.) But a  man with a pipe was more attractive (especially if he dressed well), it seemed a sophisticated image, and the smoke smelled better.    Many of my professors at Berkeley had pipes on their desks!  But after we had kids and knew smoke was a hazard for them, we didn’t want them near it inside.  And of course, we watched both my parents suffer terribly (Daddy’s heart attacks and emphysema, and Mom’s lung cancer) from near-lifelong smoking.

Anyway, these are beautiful, vintage, collectors’ items when restored and 
they’d look great in a closed case on the wall!

Love,
Mom

Recommissioning a Bulldog: Amphora X-tra 724-644 of Amphora Holland

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Blog by Dal Stanton

Last year, while in the US for several months, I landed the largest haul of pipes in my pipe collecting history – which isn’t that ancient!  It was called the Lot of 66 by the eBay seller who represented a non-profit in Texas that sold donated items to help people in need.  Just by the cursory look in the picture below I was very interested in turning these pipes around to benefit our very precious people in need, the Daughters of Bulgaria.  The world is full of broken people experiencing a plethora of painful and often, dehumanizing conditions.  Sometimes all of our efforts seem like a drop in the bucket, but I suppose if a lot of people added their ‘drops’ it might, and often does make a difference, one life at a time.  Well, I won the Lot of 66 on the eBay auction block and thanks to a very patient wife, the Lot of 66 made it back home to Bulgaria where each pipe, one pipe at a time, makes it to my worktable and is recommissioned – hopefully, better than new!   The Amphora X-tra, quarter bent Bulldog of Holland is the next pipe on my worktable.In Bulgaria, I took the Amphora Bent Bulldog out of the ‘Help Me!’ Basket when Taylor saw this pipe, along with two others that he commissioned already restored, a Savinelli Oscar and an Italian Custom Shape.  I allow pipe people to commission pipes from my ‘Help Me!’ Basket which I have listed on The Pipe Steward website in the section, For ‘Pipe Dreamers’ Only!   I’m amazed how many ‘Pipe Dreamers’ there are out there!  This Bent Bulldog is the last of three Taylor has commissioned and is destined as a gift for a friend who is to be married!  Here are the pictures. There is precious little information in my usual go-to sites on the internet about Amphora.  Pipedia’s small article said this:

Amphora pipes are made in Holland by the Jos. Gubbels organization, the same company which makes the very well known and loved Amphora Pipe Tobaccos. The pipes are produced in relatively small numbers to a high standard and not commonly found.

The Royal Dutch Pipe Factory Elbert Gubbels & Sons B.V. is the only manufacturer of briarroot tobacco pipes in the Benelux countries where pipes of high quality are made under the brands Big Ben, Hilson, Royal Dutch and Amphora. They also supply numerous smokers’ accessories of high quality.

There also was pictured an Amphora Bulldog with the same nomenclature as the one on my worktable but of the blasted variety (courtesy of Doug Valitchka):What I see in this picture above is that there is an ‘A’ stamping on the stem.  The Amphora before me now has a fading whisper of an Amphora ‘A’ stamping.  It is very weak and I’m doubtful if I can save it let alone improve it.The only additional information added by PipePhil.eu about Amphora was that it’s mother company, The Royal Dutch Pipe Factory, referenced above, went bankrupt in 2012.

The Bulldog before me has the nomenclature on the left shank, ‘AMPHORA’ over ‘X – tra 724-644’. On the right side of the shank it reads, ‘GENUINE BRIAR’ over ‘AMPHORA HOLLAND’.  The general condition of the pipe is dirty and it has a lot of nicks, bumps and dents.  The cake in the chamber is moderate.  The dome of the Bulldog is in good shape, but the double rings separating the dome and the lower bowl has some chips and dents.  There are also several small fills isolated on the left, lower side of the bowl that need a closer look.  The stem has oxidation, but the bit has little tooth chatter.  I begin the restoration of this Amphora X-tra quarter bent Bulldog by adding the stem to the Before and After Deoxidizer along with other stems in queue.   I leave the stems in the bath for several hours and then I fish the Bulldog’s stem out.I wipe the Deoxidizer off (didn’t take pictures of this!) with a cotton pad and light paraffin oil (mineral oil in Bulgaria).  The deoxidizer did a good job.  After the stem dries, I look for the ‘A’ stamping on the stem.  It remains only a phantom and I’m afraid it will disappear into oblivion.  It is impossible to see without a strong light and glare.  I’m afraid it’s a lost cause.Turning now to the stummel, I ream the chamber to remove the layer of cake to go down to fresh briar.  To do this I use the Pipnet Reaming Kit.  I start with the smallest blade and use only 2 blades of the 4 available to me.  I then switch to the Savinelli Fitsall Tool to scrape the chamber walls to fine-tune the reaming job.  Finally, I sand the chamber removing additional carbon left over and getting down to the fresh briar.  To do this I wrap a piece of 240 sanding paper around a Sharpie Pen.  I finish by wiping the chamber with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95%.  The chamber walls look good – I don’t see any cracks or heat fissures.  The pictures show the progress. Now, to clean the external briar surface I use undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a cotton pad.  I also employ a tooth brush to scrub the surface around the dome rings and I use a sharp dental probe to scrape the muck out of the twin dome rings going around the circumference.  There is some light lava on the slanted rim which I scrub with a brass brush and scrape with a pin knife.  It cleans up well.  There remains darkened briar around the rim which I will need to sand.After the cleaning the stummel, I again check the fills that riddle the left side of the stummel.  I use a dental probe to test the fills.  The larger ones are soft from the moisture and I dig the fills out with the probe.  The smaller fills seem to be good, so I’ll leave them.  There’s a lot of patching to do.  To do all the stummel patching together, I look at the damaged areas of briar that have been chipped from the dome ring ridges.  I take pictures focusing on these areas to get a better look.  The first picture is the front of the stummel – a large chip is taken out of half of the center ring.  The next picture shows that there are two chips on the left side of the stummel.  I’ll patch the dome ring chips and the fills together using a putty mixture of CA glue and briar dust.  While I think about how best to approach these patches, I first clean the internals of the stummel using pipe cleaners and cotton buds dipped in isopropyl 95%.  It gave some resistance, but eventually the pipe cleaners and cotton buds prevail.  Later, I’ll also do a kosher salt and alcohol soak to clean more thoroughly.To patch the chips in the ring, after wiping the area with alcohol, I apply a thick CA glue and briar dust putty to damaged areas.  I mix thick CA glue and briar dust together until the putty reaches the viscosity of molasses and then I use a toothpick and a dental spatula to apply the putty. With the help of the dental spatula I make sure the troughs of the dome rings stay clear of putty – not an easy task!  With the fills, I apply putty to the holes as mounds and let the putty cure. It looks like a mess now, but I’m hoping it cleans up nicely when I sand the patches down tomorrow!  I let the patches cure overnight. Before I turn out the lights, the patches have set enough to handle.  I clean the stummel internals further with a kosher salt and alcohol soak.  I form a wick by twisting and pulling a cotton ball and then pushing it down the mortise and airway using a stiff straight piece of wire.  I then set the stummel in an egg crate to stabilize it and fill the bowl with kosher salt which leaves no taste.  I then fill the bowl with isopropyl 95% until is surfaces over the salt.  I now turn out the lights.

The next morning the soak has done the job.  The salt and wick are discolored showing the further absorption of tars and oils from the internal briar.  I dump the expended salt in the waste and clean the salt using paper towel.  I then finish by wetting a pipe cleaner and cotton bud with alcohol and run them through one more time.  Internals are clean for the next steward! Now working on a clean pipe, I look at the cured patches.  I start with the front chip on the dome ring.  Using a flat needle file, I go to work on filing down the patches to the briar surface.  I’m careful to keep the file on the patch mounds and not to impact surrounding briar.  Then switching to 240 grit, I lightly feather sand the area bringing the patch to the briar surface.  To sharpen the trough and remove excess patch, I fold a piece of 240 paper and fit it in the groove of the trough and sand (first picture below).  I then use a sharp dental probe to clean the debris out of the trough.  It looks good.  I then move to the left side of the dome ring and do the same with the two chip patches.  I take pictures of the process.  Next, I go to work on the fill patches on the side of the stummel.  With these many patches, it looks like a construction zone!  I use the flat needle file to bring the patches down to the briar surface.  Then, using 240 grade paper, I continue to sand and blend the patches with the briar surface.  I move from patch to patch until they are all down to the briar surface.  Again, I chronicle the filing and the 240 grade paper patch sanding.  Now I switch to 600 grade paper focusing first on the dome ring chips – first in the front.  I sand the area and I also, like with 240 paper, fold it in half and insert the fold into the trough of the ring and sand back and forth like a hand saw.  This addresses smoothing of the sides of the troughs which form the center dome ring.  Next, I move to the left side dome ring patches and do the same. Again, I use a sharp dental probe to ‘plow out’ the troughs removing the left-over debris.  I travel the entire circumference of the dome ring troughs.  I sand the entire ‘construction zone’ of patches with 600 grade paper which erases the scratches left by the 240 grit paper and blends the patches. Looking again at the beveled rim which angles toward the chamber.  It is darkened from minor scorching and I use a rolled piece of 240 grit paper to clean it.  I follow using a rolled piece of 600 paper to smooth and erase the 240 grit scratching.  Now, looking to the stummel, it has many scratches and dents, especially on the dome – I take a few pictures to get a closer look.  The question in my mind is, do I go the path of more disruption to the briar, starting with sanding sponges or do I start more conservatively using the micromesh pads?  I decide conservatively – I can always strategically back track if I see too many dents and scratches being left behind.  For now, I start with wet sanding using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400.  I follow this by dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 then 6000 to 12000.  Throughout, I’m careful to avoid the nomenclature on both upper, diamond shank sides.  After completing the micromesh sanding, I again take the sharp dental probe and carefully scrape out the dome rings to remove any debris that has collected – and there is some!  I move around the dome in both troughs and then follow by sweeping the rings out with a bristled tooth brush.I now need to catch the stem up with the stummel.  I take a few pictures of the upper and lower bit area and there are minor dents on it and the button has some compression.  I’ll heat the vulcanite to raise these dents which should result in easier sanding.  To start, I use a cheap Bic lighter and paint the bit and button with flame to heat and to expand the vulcanite.   This works well.  I then use 240 grit paper to sand the dents.  I use the flat needle file as well to sharpen the button – to make it crisper.  After using the 240 paper, I employ 600 grade paper to erase the scratches of the 240 paper.  Finally, I sand/buff the entire stem with 0000 steel wool. Looking back to the stummel, I have been thinking about how to proceed. From the earlier pictures, the original color motif on this Amphora X-tra Bulldog was lighter – tending toward natural briar but not quite.  With the fill patches I’ve done, I want to darken the color to mask these.  When I look at the patches again, I notice that the smaller fills that I did not deal with earlier – thinking that they were ok, had hollowed out.  Ugh.  I get the dental probe and excavate additional older fill material.  I’ve had detours before, and I’ve just started another.  With three additional holes to fill, the good news is that it is localized and shouldn’t take too long.  After cleaning the new holes, I spot drop regular CA glue into each and utilize an accelerator to quicken the process. To shorten this description, suffice it to say, I filed/sanded the patches down and I repeated the full micromesh pad process of 9 pads to complete the detour pictured next!To mask the orchard of patches on the left side of the stummel and shank, I will use Fiebing’s Dark Brown Leather Dye to darken the hue.  As an aniline dye, alcohol based, I can and plan to wipe the stummel down with alcohol to lighten the dye if I choose.  I will start darker and lighten if needed so that the patch of patches will be masked.  Even so, I like the look of a darker Bulldog – it has more of an ‘Olde World’ feel to it.  I transform my worktable to the stain table, bringing out the tools necessary.  I mount the Bulldog’s stummel on a cork to act as a handle.  I wipe the stummel down with alcohol to make sure it’s clean.  I then heat the stummel with a hot air gun which acts to expand the grain and making the grain more receptive of the dye.  After the stummel is heated well, I use a folded pipe cleaner to apply the dye to the stummel.  After thoroughly covered, I light or flame the wet aniline dye and the alcohol immediately flames off setting the dye in the briar.  After a few minutes, I repeat the process again by applying another coating of dye and then flaming it.   I set the stummel aside to rest for several hours. Turning to the stem, using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 I wet sand the stem.  I follow by dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and 6000 to 12000.  After each set of 3 pads I apply a coat of Obsidian Oil to revitalize the vulcanite stem.  The ‘A’ stem marking that was existent before is no longer.  There was nothing left to salvage by the time it reached my worktable. Now, time to unwrap the dye-flamed stummel.  It’s been resting for several hours after applying Fiebing’s Dark Brown Leather Dye.  To unwrap the crust to reveal the grain, I mount a new felt buffing wheel on the Dremel and set it almost to the slowest speed.  I apply the coarser compound, Red Tripoli to the stummel using a methodical section by section approach – not applying too much pressure on the wheel but allowing the speed, the felt wheel and the Tripoli to do the work.  With my wife’s help, because I don’t have three hands, she took a few pictures to show the Tripoli at work unwrapping.  To finish up the Tripoli, to get to the tight places next to the shank, I changed over to a cotton cloth buffing wheel which was able to reach into the crook.  The ‘unwrapping’ is pretty amazing to see the grain emerge and to discover how the leather dye was received.After completing the Tripoli, I wet a cotton pad with alcohol and lightly wipe the stummel.  I do this not so much to lighten the dyed finish, because I like the brown hue a lot, but to blend the fresh dye on the briar surface.I then mount the cotton cloth buffing wheel dedicated to Blue Diamond compound and increase the Dremel to 40% full power.  I join stem and stummel and apply Blue Diamond compound to the entire pipe.  When finished, I wipe the pipe with a felt cloth not so much to buff but to remove the compound dust from the surface in preparation for the carnauba wax.  Changing to another cotton cloth wheel, leaving the speed the same, I apply a few coats of carnauba wax to stem and stummel.  I then give the pipe a rigorous hand buffing with a microfiber cloth to raise the shine.

Oh my, he looks good!  The iconic Bulldog shape reminds one of the small, stout four-legged friend from whence this name comes.  This quarter bent Amphora X-tra 724-644 of Holland came out very well.  The dome ring repairs are invisible and the patch of patches on the lower left side of the bowl has blended well with the darker leather dye.  The briar grain is nice.  The straight grain seems to pour out over the Bulldog’s dome and is joined by bird’s eye grain bubbling like foam on a frosted mug – the dome is eye catching and pulls one’s attention to the pipe.  This Amphora X-tra is ready for a new steward!  Taylor saw the potential of this Bulldog when he commissioned it for his friend’s wedding gift (see For ‘Pipe Dreamers’ Only).  He will have first dibs on it when it goes into The Pipe Steward Store.  This pipe along with the other 2 that Taylor commissioned and acquired benefit the Daughters of Bulgaria – women and girls who have been trafficked and sexually exploited.  Thank you for joining me!