Tag Archives: vulcanite

A Restored Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 309 Bent Billiard

by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is Peterson’s System pipe that we purchased from our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark on 01/29/2024. It was stamped on the left side of the shank and read Peterson’s [arched over] System [arched over] Standard. On the right side of the shank it was stamped Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines) [over] the shape number 309. The nickel ferrule on the shank end was oxidized and is stamped on the top and left side K&P [over] the three common hallmarks on System pipes with Nickel ferrules – a shamrock, a wolf hound, and a tower. That is followed by Peterson’s. It has a rich smooth finish with pretty grain around the bowl and shank that is covered with a lot of oils, debris and grime. There was a thick cake in the bowl with remnants of tobacco stuck on the walls. There was a heavy lava overflow on the rim top and edges. The top and edges of the rim appeared to be in good condition. There was a very beautiful pipe underneath all of the buildup of years of use. The stem was a Peterson’s style P-Lip. It was oxidized and calcified toward the end with some tooth marks and chatter. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the lava build up on the top of the rim and the edges of the bowl. The rim top looked pretty good. Jeff took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the tooth chatter, calcification and oxidation on the stem surface and wear on the edges of the button. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish. You can see the grime around the sides of the bowl and shank. Even under the dirt and debris of the years it looked very good. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping was readable as you can see from the photos. It read as noted above. The nickel ferrule is actually clearly stamped and readable. I am including the information from Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). I have included a bit of the pertinent history here.

1950 – 1989 The Republic Era – From 1950 to the present time, the stamp for this era is “Made in the Republic of Ireland” in a block format generally in three lines but two lines have been used with or without Republic being abbreviated.

During the 1950’s and 60’s the Kapp & Peterson company was still in the ownership of the Kapp family. However 1964 saw the retiral of the company Managing Director Frederick Henry(Harry) Kapp.

Pipedia also included a section of information on the System pipes including a diagram of the systems look (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson#Republic_Era_Pipes). I quote a section of the article in part and include a link to another article on Pipedia on the System pipe.

The Peterson System pipes are the standard bearers of the Peterson pipe family, famous for the excellent smoking pleasure they provide. Often imitated but never equaled, the Peterson System smokes dry, cool and sweet, thanks to the scientiﬁc effectiveness of the original design. The heart of the System is the unique graduated bore in the mouthpiece. This makes the suction applied by the smoker 15 times weaker by the time it reaches the tobacco chamber. The result is that all the moisture ﬂows into the reservoir and, thus cannot reach the smoker’s mouth. The Peterson Lip further enhances the effectiveness of the graduated bore by directing the ﬂow of smoke upwards and away from the tongue. This achieves a uniquely even distribution of smoke and virtually eliminates any chance of tonguebite or bitterness. Furthermore, the shape is contoured so that the tongue rests comfortably in the depression under the opening. Each “PLip” mouthpiece is made from Vulcanite. For the Peterson System pipes to work properly, the stem/tenon has to have an extension, the tip of which will pass by the draft hole from the bowl and into the sump. Upon the smoker drawing in smoke, this extension then directs the smoke down and around the sump to dispense a lot of the moisture before the smoke enters the extension and stem. On the System Standards and other less expensive systems, this extension with be made of Vulcanite turned integrally with the stem. On the more expensive System pipes this extension will be made of metal which screws into the Vulcanite stem. This extension on the earlier pipes will be of brass and the newer pipes will be of aluminum. Most smokers not knowing this function of the metal extension, assumes that it is a condenser/stinger and will remove it as they do with the metal condensers of Kaywoodie, etc. Should you have a System pipe with this metal extension, do not remove it for it will make the System function properly and give you a dryer smoke (https://pipedia.org/wiki/A_closer_look_at_the_famous_Peterson_Standard_System_Pipe).

I have included the information on the shape number on this pipe that I picked up on researching the previous pipes. I have included a page from a Petersons Catalogue that I have on rebornpipes (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/peterson-hallmark-chart/). There is no shape 309 shown in the catalogue page of rusticated shaped shown below. I wonder if it is an older or a newer shape. But I am uncertain of that. I knew that I was dealing with a Republic Era pipe made between 1950-1989. It was a Sandblasted Peterson’s System Standard 308 Bent Billiard with a great sandblast. The bowl was stained with a combination of black and brown stains. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had cleaned it thoroughly. He had reamed it with a PipNet reamer and cleaned that up with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He had scrubbed the exterior of the briar with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap. He removed the shiny coat on the briar with acetone on cotton pads. He cleaned out the interior of the shank, sump and airway in the shank and stem with alcohol, pipe cleaners and cotton swabs. He scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub to remove the oxidation and calcification on the surface. He soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation. He removed it from the Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took some photos of the pipe before I started my part of the work (sadly I forgot to take photos until after I had rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. But you can see the idea. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show what an amazing job Jeff did in the cleanup of the rim top. The rim top and inner edge of the bowl looked good. There was some wear on the top and outer edges that needed to be cleaned up. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the vulcanite. It was quite clean and there were tooth marks on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff works to protect and preserve the nomenclature on the shank of the pipes that he works on. He was able to preserve and maintain its condition in the process. I took some photos to show the clarity of the stamping. I have noticed that many restorers are not careful to protect the stamping in their cleaning process and often by the end of the restoration the nomenclature is almost destroyed. I would like to encourage all of us to be careful in our work to preserve this as it is a critical piece of pipe restoration! I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the pipe. I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to remove the remainder of the varnish coat that the acetone did not remove. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. It really looks much better. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the dust. The briar was really shining by the final pad. I rubbed the bowl and rim down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I really like watching the Balm do its magic and bring the briar alive. I polished the nickel ferrule with a jeweller’s cloth to remove the oxidation and to further protect it from further oxidation. The shine is quite nice. I set the bowl aside and moved on to sand the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped it down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. The stem began to look much better.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. Once again at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when the Sandblasted Peterson System Standard 309 is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I lightly polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The depths of the rustication really pop with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the dark browns of the bowl and thick shank and nickel ferrule. This Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 309 Bent Billiard was another fun pipe to work on. It really is a quite stunning piece of briar whose shape follows the flow of the briar. The pipe feels great in the hand will be better when warmed up while smoking. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 2.01 ounces/57 grams. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section if you would like to add it to your rack and carry on the previous pipeman’s legacy. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.

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

Restoring and Irish Made Peterson’s Killarney Natural 381 Billiard

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is natural finished Peterson’s Straight Billiard that we purchased from and our connection in Copenhagen, Denmark on 12/09/2023. It was stamped Killarney in script on the left side of the shank. On the right it is stamped “A Peterson’s [over] Product” [over] Made in Ireland (in two lines). The shape number 381 is near the bowl/shank junction. It has a smooth, natural finish with great grain around the bowl and shank. There is some patchy varnish on the surface that is dirty with a lot of oils, debris and grime. The bowl had been recently reamed and there was a light cake. There light spots of lava on the rim top and edges. The top and edges of the rim looked very good. It appeared that there was a beautiful pipe underneath all of the buildup of years of use. The stem was a Peterson’s P-lip taper stem with a Peterson’s P logo on the left side. It was quite clean and did not seem to have a lot of oxidation or calcification. There was some light chatter on the stem and the button edges were quite clean. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the look of the bowl and the rim top. There were small spots of lava on the top of the rim and the edges of the bowl. Jeff took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the light tooth chatter and overall good condition of the stem surface. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish. You can see the grime around the sides of the bowl and shank. Even under the dirt and debris of the years it looked very good. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping was readable as you can see from the photos. It read as noted above.I am including the information from Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Kilarney Pipe. On page 306 it had the following information on the pipe.

Kilarney (1949-) Entry line with smooth finish and P-Lip mouthpiece. May have either a K or P stamped on the mouthpiece; may have an aluminum stinger (not to be confused with the tenon extension tube found on straight System pipes). 1949-c.1957 examples made for the US market may have any of the following COM stamps: MADE IN IRELAND (forming a circle), “A PETERSON’S PRODUCT” over MADE IN IRELAND or LONDON MADE over ENGLAND. Some early specimens stamped KILLARNEY over NATURAL (a higher grade) have MADE IN IRELAND (forming a circle). Examples c. 1986-90 feature a nickel band, which was replaced in ’91 with a shank extension of nickel band with black acrylic inlay. Fishtail mouthpiece from ’86 although P-Lip is sometimes seen. For the current German market, the Killarney is stamped CONNEMARA

I knew that I was dealing with a pipe made 1949-c1957 due to the stamping on the shank and a natural finish. It has the “P” stamp on the stem side and a P-lip mouthpiece. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the light cake in the bowl with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs, shank brushes and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava spots with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show what an amazing job Jeff did in the cleanup of the rim top. The rim top and inner edge of the bowl looked very good. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the vulcanite. It was quite clean and there were light tooth marks ahead of the button.One of the things I appreciate about Jeff’s cleanup is that he works to protect and preserve the nomenclature on the shank of the pipes that he works on. He was able to preserve and maintain its condition in the process. I took some photos to show the clarity of the stamping. I have noticed that many restorers are not careful to protect the stamping in their cleaning process and often by the end of the restoration the nomenclature is almost destroyed. I would like to encourage all of us to be careful in our work to preserve this as it is a critical piece of pipe restoration! I took the stem off the shank and took a photo of the pipe. I wiped the bowl down with acetone and cotton pads to remove the remnants of the varnish coat on the bowl sides and shank. I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads to remove the remainder of the varnish coat that the acetone did not remove. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. It really looks much better. I polished the bowl with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the dust. The briar was really shining by the final pad. I rubbed the bowl and rim down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I really like watching the Balm do its magic and bring the briar alive. I touched up the “P” logo on the left side of the saddle stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I let it dry then I polished off the excess with a worn 1500 grit micromesh sanding pad. Once the excess was removed the stamp looked much better. There were some weak spots on the leg and tail of the “P” stamp.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. Once again at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when the Made in Ireland “A Peterson’s Product” Killarney 381 Billiard with a taper stem is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the natural browns of the bowl and thick shank. This Irish Made Peterson’s Killarney 381 Billiard was another fun pipe to work on. It really is a quite stunning piece of briar whose shape follows the flow of the briar. The pipe feels great in the hand will be better when warmed up while smoking. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length:6 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.38 ounces/39 grams. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipemakers Section if you would like to add it to your rack and carry on the previous pipeman’s legacy.

New Life for a Republic Era Peterson’s “Donegal” Rocky 15 Rusticated Billiard

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is a sandblast Peterson’s Rusitcated Billiard shaped pipe that we purchased from our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark on 11/21/2023. It was stamped on the underside of the bowl and shank and on the heel, it was stamped Peterson’s [over] “Donegal” Rocky [over] the shape number 15. Following that it read, Made in the Republic of Ireland (in three lines). There is a band on the shank that is stamped on the left side and reads K&P in shields [over] Sterling Silver. Under those stamps there are three hallmarks – Hibernia seated, Crowned Harp for country of manufacture and a date letter in this case that was not readable. It has a rusticated finish around the bowl and shank that has a lot of oils, debris and grime in the finish. The pipe had been recently reamed and there was a light cake in the bowl and a lava overflow in the rustication on the rim top. The inner edge of the bowl looks to be in good condition. There was a very beautiful pipe underneath all of the buildup of years of use. The stem was a Peterson’s style P-Lip Taper Stem. It had light chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup work on it. Jeff took photos of the bowl and rim top to show the thin cake in the bowl and the light lava build up on the rusticated rim top and the edges of the bowl. The rim top and edges looked good. Jeff took photos of the top and underside of the stem showing the tooth chatter on an otherwise good looking stem. More would be visible once Jeff cleaned it up. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish. You can see the dust and grime around the sides of the bowl and shank in the rusticated finish. Jeff took photos of the stamping on the underside of the bowl and shank. The stamping was faint but readable as you can see from the photos. It read as noted above. The Sterling Silver ferrule is actually clearly stamped and readable. The hallmarks are worn and hardly readable.I am including the information from Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson). I have included a bit of the pertinent history here.

1950 – 1989 The Republic Era – From 1950 to the present time, the stamp for this era is “Made in the Republic of Ireland” in a block format generally in three lines but two lines have been used with or without Republic being abbreviated.

During the 1950’s and 60’s the Kapp & Peterson Company was still in the ownership of the Kapp family. However 1964 saw the retiral of the company Managing Director Frederick Henry(Harry) Kapp.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and darkening with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He rinsed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe looked far better when it arrived. The silver tarnished once again and would need to be polished because it had been sitting here for awhile. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim top and edges look quite good. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the light tooth marks on the surface near the button.I took a photo of the stamping on the underside of the shank and the band. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is faint but still readable. I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe. It is a good-looking pipe and has a rugged rustication around the bowl. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a horsehair shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 10 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I polished the Sterling Silver band on the shank with a jeweller’s cloth to remove the tarnish and polish it. I touch up the P stamp on the left side of the saddle stem with some white acrylic fingernail polish. I pressed it into the stamp with a toothpick and scraped off the excess with the pick and then lightly sanded it with a worn 1200 grit sanding pad. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a coat of Obsidian Pipe Stem Oil. It works to protect the stem from oxidizing. I set it aside to dry. I am excited to finish this Republic Era Peterson’s “Donegal” Rocky 15 Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservator’s Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the rugged rustication all around it. Added to that the polished Sterling Silver band and the black vulcanite stem was beautiful. This rusticated Classic Peterson’s “Donegal” Rocky Billiard is nice looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: 7/8 of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 29 grams/1.06 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be on the Irish Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Restoring a Republic Era Peterson’s “Sterling Silver” 606S Sandblast Pot

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is smooth finished Peterson’s “Sterling Silver” pipe. The pipe came to us from our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark. This one is a classic Peterson’s Pot shaped pipe with a saddle P-lip stem. It has a dark brown coloured finish with amazing sandblast grain around the bowl sides and shank. It is very dirty. This Pot has a silver band on the shank that was badly oxidized. The grime on the finish was ground into the finish on the bowl sides. The contrast of the brown stains make the sandblast really pop. It was stamped on the underside of the shank and reads 606S the shape number on the heel of the bowl followed by the three line Made in the Republic of Ireland followed by Peterson’s [over] “Sterling Silver”. The heavily tarnished band is stamped with K&P in shields [over] Sterling [over] Silver. To the right that it has three hallmarks – Hibernia seated arm on a harp (signifies country of manufacture), a crowned harp designating Sterling quality and finally a Date Letter mark – in this case it is a lower case “s” (1983). It was in filthy condition when Jeff brought it to the table. There was a thin cake in the bowl and a spattering of lava in the sandblast of the rim top but a clean inner edge of the bowl. The stem was oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on the top and a deeper on on the underside near the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before his cleanup work before he started on the pipe. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is lightly caked and the rim top and edges look very good. The stem is oxidized and has light tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. Jeff took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the grain that was around this bowl. It is a nice looking pipe. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. The stamping on the Sterling Silver band is also readable through the oxidation. I am including the information from Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Sterling Pipe. On page 314 it had the following information on the line.

Sterling (1949-c1957; 1978-) – Higher grade line with sterling band. Early example, 1949-57, with COM of Made in Ireland forming a circle, were offered to the US market through Rogers Imports and have no hallmark, although until recent years the line carried Peterson’s maker’s mark, the K&P is in separate shields. Models beginning in ’78 with hallmarked dates and a COM stamp of Made in [over] the Republic [over] of Ireland.

I knew that I was dealing with a pipe made between 1949-1957 as shown by the Made in the Republic of Ireland three line format stamp. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, shank brushes, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The pipe looked very good when it arrived here. I took some close up photos of the rim top and also of the stem surface. The rim top had some darkening on the back top and the inner edge. It also had some nicks and scratch on the rim top at the back and on the right. The silver cleaned up well on the band. The stem was clean and the tooth marks and chatter were minimal.I took photos of the stamping on the top and underside of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is faint and readable. I took the pipe apart and took a photo of the pipe. It is a good looking pipe and has some nice looking grain around the bowl. The briar looked very good at this point. I began my work on it by working some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I polished the Sterling Silver band on the shank with a jeweller’s cloth to remove the tarnish and polish it. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I filled in the deep tooth mark on the underside of the stem with black rubberized CA glue. Once the repair cured, I sanded the stem with a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to remove the remnants of oxidation and the repair on underside of the stem ahead of the button.I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads and wiped it down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad. The stem began to take on a shine.I touch up the P stamp on the left side of the saddle stem with some white acrylic fingernail polish. I pressed it into the stamp with a toothpick and scraped off the excess with the pick and then lightly sanded it with a worn 1200 grit sanding pad. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I am excited to finish this Sandblast Peterson’s “Sterling Silver” 606S Pot. I put the pipe back together and lightly buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the depths of the sandblast taking on a rich glow. Added to that the polished Sterling Silver band and the black vulcanite saddle stem was beautiful. This smooth Classic Peterson’s “Sterling Silver” 606S Pot is nice looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 40grams/1.41 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will be on the Irish Pipe Makers Section of the rebornpipes store soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Working on a Mystery Rhodesian 125

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is a bit of a mystery pipe with stamping that is not clear as much of it is covered by a K&P nickel band on the shank. This one is a nice smaller size pipe with a pencil shank and a Peterson’s P-lip stem. It reminds me of a Captain Pete N24 Rhodesian that I restored a while ago (https://rebornpipes.com/2023/11/28/fresh-life-for-a-captain-peterson-made-in-england-n24-rhodesian/). It looks a lot like that one! It came to us from a pipeman in Naples, Florida, USA on 07/17/2024 as a donation. This pipe had been well smoked and there was a cake in the bowl and lava overflowing on the inner edge and the rim top. The briar was dirty with grime and oils ground into the finish and some of the lava flowing down the bowl sides. The nickel ferrule was oxidized but undamaged. It was stamped with the K&P stamp [over] a refined shamrock, a reclining wolfhound and a tower without a door. The pipe itself was stamped on the left side and though partially covered with the nickel band read Lumber [followed by] what could be Executive [over] Clifton [followed by] what looked like Make. On the right side it had the shape number 125. The ferrule was stamped K& P over Peterson’s on the left side. The stem was oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. Jeff captured the cake in the bowl and the light lava overflow onto the rim top and inner edge of the bowl in his photos. The stem surface had light tooth chatter and marks and was oxidized. He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to show the interesting grain patterns in the briar. It was quite beautiful. He also took some photos of the shank sides to capture the stamping on the shank and the nickel band. The stamping on the shank were clear but covered by the band. The band bore the K&P stamp. The mystery was in front of me… what was the stamping on the pipe? I could discern Lumber followed by what could be Executive but the second word was not clear as it was under the nickel band. The word underneath was Clifton followed by what looked like the word Make. I did some searching on Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-c5.html) and found a listing for Clifton pipes. I have included a screen capture of the section. I have also included the sidebar information.Brand of Hall & Fitzgerald (J.M. Lopes, p. 86, op. cit.)

From the side bar I learned of the connection to Hall & Fitzgerald. I did a Google search on Hall & Fitzgerald. I came across a link on vkpipes to a pipe made by them. It is interesting to note that they had quite a few brands in their stable (https://vkpipes.com/pipeline/hall-fitzgerald-straight-grain/). The Clifton line is listed in the quote below.

Hall & Fitzgerald is first mentioned in an 1878 Directory of Bristol as a ‘Fancy Goods Warehouse’. Within a few years the company is in the partnership of William Sydney Hall and Edward Thurston Davies trading as Hall & Fitzgerald, of 147 Temple Street, Bristol, Tobacconists and Fancy Goods Merchants. Silver hallmarks for pipe fittings are registered in London in 1899 and in Chester in 1901. Hall & Fitzgerald is making and selling smoking pipes until liquidation and closing in 1982 (except the World War II years). Known brands: Clifton, Dorchester, Excelsior, Hercules, Oxford, Craftsman and Wessex.

With that information at hand I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrub to remove as much of the oxidation as possible. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. I took photos of the rim top and bowl as well as the stem to give a sense of the condition of both. The rim top looked had some scratching on the top and some damage to the inner edge but over all it was in much better condition than I thought. The stem cleaned up well and the tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button are visible in the photos.I took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. The are faint and readable as noted above. The band covers part of the stamping on the left side. I took a photo of the stamping on the top of the nickel band. It was clear and readable. I took the stem out of the shank and took a photo of the overall look of the pipe. I decided to start my work on the pipe by addressing the damage on the inside edge of the bowl and the rim top. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the edge. I wiped it down with a damp cloth and the rim top damage and darkening on the inner and outer edges were gone.I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. It really looks much better. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Clifton Make Lumber Exec… 125 Pencil Shank Rhodesian with a vulcanite taper stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful grain that shines through the polished finish is stunning. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Clifton Make 125 Rhodesian fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 6 inches, Height: 1 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 22 grams/.74 ounces. I will be putting the pipe on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Restoring a 1978 Peterson’s Dublin 221S Bent Billiard

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is another Peterson’s Dublin Bent Billiard pipe. This one is a nice smaller size It has a silver ferrule and a taper style Peterson’s stem on the shank end. It came to us from our contact in Copenhagen, Denmark on 04/11/2024. This pipe was obviously a favourite of the previous pipe smoker. It had been well smoked but was also well cared for. The bowl was recently reamed and there was no lava on the rim. The briar was dirty with grime and oils ground into the finish and some of the lava flowing down the bowl sides. The Sterling Silver ferrule was oxidized but undamaged. The pipe was stamped vertically on the left side and read Peterson’s with a forked P [over] Dublin. On the right side it had the three-line Republic of Ireland stamp [over] the shape number 221S. The ferrule was stamped Peterson’s [over] Dublin on the top left side. That is followed by Sterling [over] Silver. To the right that it has three hallmarks – Hibernia seated arm on a harp (signifies country of manufacture), a crowned harp designating Sterling quality and finally a Date Letter mark – in this case it is an italic “m” (1978). The stem was lightly oxidized and was free of tooth marks or chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl and the rim top were quite clean. The inner edge of the bowl had some darkening around the edges. The photos of the stem show the light tooth marks and chatter on both sides near the button. Jeff took some photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the amazing grain that was around this bowl underneath the grime and grease coat on the surface. It is a nice looking pipe. He took photos of the sides of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is readable in the photos below and is as noted above. He also captured some of the stamping on the Sterling Silver band on the shank. I am including the link to the Pipedia’s article on Peterson pipes. It is a great read in terms of the history of the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Peterson).

I turned to “The Peterson Pipe” by Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg to get some background on the Peterson’s London Made England line. On page 298 it had the following information.

“Dublin” (1906-2003) Although DUBLIN appears under PETERSON’s on many pipes over the decades, it has served mostly to part of the brand name. The word first appeared on pipes hallmarked 1906-11, stamped PETERSON’S over PATENT over DUBLIN. The simpler PETERSON’S over DUBLIN first appeared on pipes hallmarked 1912 after the expiration of the patent. Illustrations of pipes in the’37 catalog show a random dispersion of the stamp PETERSON’S over OF DUBLIN together with the ordinary PETERSON’S over DUBLIN on ever model offered. Specimens of the former will bear either an Irish COM and almost certainly date from 1945-62. It was first mentioned in print as pat of the model name in the’68 price list, as K&P DUBLIN, in ’92 for a Danish market line.

I knew the date for the pipe I was working on from the stamping on the silver– 1978. Since the one I was working on did not have a D shape it is not provable that it was made for the Danish market. Now it was time to work on the pipe.

Jeff had done a great job cleaning up the pipe as usual. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. He cleaned up the walls with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs, shank brushes and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He worked on the rim top lava and the darkened spots with the soap and tooth brush. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the Deoxidizer. The pipe had some dark spots on the briar but it looked far better when it arrived. I took some close up photos of the rim top and the stem surface. I wanted to show how well it had cleaned up. The rim and inner and outer edge looked very good. It should polish well. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the condition of the stem surface near the button.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. You can see that it is stamped as noted above. It is faint in spots but readable. I took photos of the stamping on the silver band to try and capture what was on the band. It is readable. I removed the stem and took a photo of the pipe to have a look at the parts and overall look. I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. It really looks much better. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I polished silver band with a jeweller’s cloth to remove the tarnish and protect the finish from further tarnishing. It took on a rich shine. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each pad. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine and gave it a final coat and set it aside to dry. I am excited to finish this Peterson’s Dublin Silver Banded Bent Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with beautiful mixed grain all around it. Added to that the polished black vulcanite stem combined with the bowl and sandwich brass/nickel/brass band on the shank and made a stunning pipe. This smooth Classic Peterson’s Dublin banded Bent Billiard is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 44 grams/1.59 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe that I will soon be putting on the rebornpipes store in the Irish Pipe Makers Section. If you are interested in adding it to your collection send me an email or a message. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog.

Life for a Peterson’s System Standard 313 Made in the Republic of Ireland

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe I have chosen is another Peterson’s System Standard pipe. This one is a nice smaller size It has a saddle style Peterson’s stem on the shank end. It came to us from a seller in Sylacauga, Alabama, USA on 04/08/2024. This pipe was obviously a favourite of the previous pipe smoker. It had been well smoked and there was a thick cake in the bowl and lava overflowing onto the rim top. The briar was dirty with grime and oils ground into the finish and some of the lava flowing down the bowl sides. The nickel ferrule was oxidized but undamaged. There were oils oozing out under the ferrule and also out of the top of the ferrule onto the stem. The pipe was stamped vertically on the left side and read Peterson’s [over] System [over] Standard. On the right side it had the three-line Republic of Ireland stamp [over] the shape number 313. The ferrule was stamped K& P over Peterson’s on the left side. The stem was oxidized and had light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his clean up work on it. Jeff captured the thick cake in the bowl and the heavy lava overflow onto the rim top in his photos. There really was no way of knowing what the edges looked like under the thick cake. You can also see the lava flowing down the sides of the bowl in the photos. The stem surface had tooth chatter and marks and was oxidized. He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to show the interesting grain patterns in the briar. It was quite beautiful. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank and on the ferrule. It is readable and clear as noted above. While dating a Peterson’s pipe, I always fall back to my under mentioned favourite site; http://thepetersonpipeproject.blogspot.com/2007/07/dating-peterons-pipes.html

I quote from the above site.

Stamping of Bowl:

During the years of Kapp and Peterson’s business operations, the country of Ireland has undergone several name changes and K&P’s stamping on their pipes reflects these changes. Knowing these changes, a Peterson pipe can be roughly dated and placed in “eras.”

The Republic Era is from 1949 until the present. The Republic of Ireland was formed on 17 April 1949. From 1949 to present the stamp for this era is “Made in the Republic of Ireland” in a block format generally in three lines but two lines have been used with or without Republic being abbreviated.

With that information at hand I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had thoroughly cleaned up the pipe. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet Pipe Reamer and cleaned up the remnants with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the stem with Soft Scrubb to remove as much of the oxidation as possible. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. I took photos of the rim top and bowl as well as the stem to give a sense of the condition of both. The rim top looked had some scratching on the top and some damage to the inner edge but over all it was in much better condition than I thought. The stem cleaned up well and the tooth marks on the top and underside ahead of the button are visible in the photos.I took photos of the stamping on the shank sides. The are clear and readable as noted above. There is some faintness on parts of the stamping but it is still readable. I took the stem out of the shank and took a photo of the overall look of the pipe. I decided to start my work on the pipe by addressing the damage on the inside edge of the bowl and the rim top. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to smooth out the edge. I wiped it down with a damp cloth and the rim top damage and darkening on the inner and outer edges were gone.I sanded the briar with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down after each sanding pad to remove the sanding debris. It really looks much better. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the bowl down after each pad with a damp cloth. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips. The product works to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. I set the bowl aside and turned to work on the stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Republic Era Peterson’s System Standard 313 Bent Billiard with a vulcanite stem is a great looking pipe now that it has been restored. The beautiful grain that shines through the polished finish is stunning. As the pipe is smoked the patina should develop and look even better. I put the stem back on the bowl and carefully buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax on the buffing wheel and followed that by buffing the entire pipe with a clean buffing pad. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished Peterson’s System Standard 313 fits nicely in the hand and feels great. Give the finished pipe a look in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ½ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 1/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 37 grams/1.31 ounces. This one has been reserved for first refusal. If you are interested in being in the queue for this pipe send me a message or an email. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!

Reworking an early, Gentle Metal System Pipe

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by Steve Laug

I am down to four more pipes to work on from Jeff’s last box of pipes. The one I have chosen to work on next is one that came to us from a seller in Ogden, Utah, USA on 12/12/2024. The pipe is quite unique with a metal base and a plastic or Bakelite outer bowl and a ceramic sleeve inserted inside. The surface of the bowl is very dirty with grime and oils built up around the outside. The bowl seems to me pressed into the base and the base is finned metal with a nut in the bottom holding the base to the shank. There are four small holes in the base that provide the airflow into the shank. There is a knurled cap on the end of the shank that is not removable (though it probably was originally). There is a small airhole in the top of the knurled end nearest the bowl. The shank tube is engraved with the word Gentle in script on the left side at an angle. Jeff took photos of the pipe when he received it and before he started his clean up work. He took photos of the rim top to show the cake on the walls of the ceramic sleeve in the bowl and the lava on the rim top. The bottom of the bowl is open into the base and there was tar and oils in the bottom of the base. The stem appears to be made of something other than rubber or vulcanite. I think it is probably some kind of nylon type substance or and early acrylic. It has a lot of tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. He took photos of the sides of the bowl to show the look of it. The top third of the bowl is a brown Bakelite that looks quite interesting. The middle of the bowl is a dark/black Bakelite. The bottom third is the base that is screwed onto the shank. It is finned and is hollow and holds the bowl pressed in place. He took a photo of the stamp on the left side of the metal shank. The stamping is clear and readable as noted above.Jeff was able to take the pipe apart as much as possible. He was able to remove the bowl from the base and I am not able to do that here. It is an interesting pipe. The bowl is a ceramic sleeve within a Bakelite sleeve. I turned to my favourite metal pipe site – Smoking Metal UK. I am including the link to the site and the information that the site include (http://www.smokingmetal.co.uk/pipe.php?page=359). I quote from the article and also included the photos of the pipe on the site below:

GENTLE – Department : METAL STEM & Plug in bowls

GENTLE- another early system pipe that seems over engineered. The plastic outer bowl holds an inner, seemingly ceramic liner with a perforated base. This all push fits into the vaned metal part which is in turn attached to the stem by a square nut. There are four smoke holes through to the stem. The stem appears not to be the usual method of increasing the distance for the smoke to travel, just a tar trap. There is a device at the front by which, twisting a collar, a small hole is opened allowing in air. I am sure the end cap must be removable; however, my example is firm and I am not risking any damage. The name GENTLE is engraved on top of the stem in script lettering

The pipe shown with the blue background appears to have a different detail in the knurled end cap. No idea if this an earlier or later version. The seller of the “blue” one also could not undo this knurled piece.

Overall length is 6 inches (152 m/m)

The advert is from the October 1949 Popular Science magazine Jeff cleaned up the parts and put them back together once again. It cleaned up very well. As I guessed from the photos on the bowl top the ceramic liner had cracks on the insides of the bowl. They were tight and hairline and went from top to the bottom of the inner tube. He carefully reamed the pipe and sanded the bowl. He cleaned out the shank and other parts with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners and alcohol. It looked good when it arrived. I was able to remove the bowl/base by undoing the square nut on bottom of the base with a pair of needle nose pliers.I sanded the walls of the ceramic sleeve with 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece of dowel. I smoothed out the bowl walls and cleaned up the cracks. It looked very good.I set the bowl aside and dealt with the tooth marks, chatter and scratches on the surface of the stem. I sanded the stem surface with 220 grit sandpaper until I had blended all of the chatter and marks into the surface.I sanded the stem further with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. It began to look very good.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it a final coat of Obsidian Oil and set it aside to cure. I polished the Bakelite bowl with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris after each sanding pad. It looked amazing by the final pad. I tightened the nut in the base of the bowl with a pair of needle nose pliers so that it was snug on the shank. It is a square nut and I held it with the pliers and then twisted the bowl on the shank.I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the Bakelite Bowl with my finger tips. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the bowl even a Bakelite bowl while giving it a deep glow (typically briar). It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. It was great to finish this Unique Gentle System Pipe with Bakelite Bowl lined with a Ceramic sleeve and nylon/rubber stem. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like. Added to that the polished black, saddle stem was beautiful. This Gentle System Pipe is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 45 grams/1.62 ounces. It is an interesting pipe and one that will soon be on the rebornpipes store in the Pipes from Various Makers Section. If you want to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe.

A Gorgeous Lane Era Charatan’s Make London England Special 12 Saddle Stem Billiard

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that we picked up in the lot from a seller in Barrington, Rhode Island, USA on 08/22/2024. The classic Charatan Straight Billiard shape caught our eye and we bought it along with some other pipes. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and read L (cursive in a circle) [followed by] Charatan’s Make [over] London, England [over] Special. On the right side of the shank is the shape number 12. It has a Tan to Medium Brown stain on the smooth finish that is a stark contrast to the vulcanite saddle stem. The bowl had been recently reamed and cleaned. The seller told us that he had cleaned it before selling it to us. The inner edge looks good while the rim top showed some darkening and wear. The stem looks quite good and is shiny. The stem surface and the button are in good condition. I am almost sure that the stem is a replacement as it does not have the characteristic DC stem. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up. He took some photos of the rim top and bowl from various angles to give me a clear picture of the condition of the rim top and bowl. The outside of the bowl and rim is quite clean and the inside of the bowl is very clean. He included photos that show the top and underside of the stem. It is as described above. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos showed some great grain around the bowl and shank. It is a great looking piece of briar. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. The stamping was clear and readable as noted above. An added part of pipe restoration for me is to try to gather as much background on a brand and maker as I can find. With Charatan that is an enjoyable web to untangle. There is a lot of information and it can lead to understanding what era a pipe was made in. To try to figure out the era of the Charatan’s pipe I was working on I turned to the Pipephil website, Logos and Stampings (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-charatan.html). There is some really helpful information on each of the lines of Charatan’s Make pipes that entered the market. There was a Special on the site but it did not include a photo. The stamping shown was the same as the one I am working on. The site did give a short history of the brand. I quote the portion that is most pertinent.

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

Next, I turned to Pipedia to see if I could find more information on the brand and a link to a smooth saddle stem Billiard marked Charatan’s Make Special (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan) but once again in the general article it was not listed. It did give a little more historical information. I quote the pertinent parts that give information on this particular pipe. In 1950 Herman G. Lane, striving to expand his business in Great Britain, made contacts with the Charatan family. Apparently, Lane got a certain influence soon, but it was not until 1955 that Lane Ltd. became the sole distributor for Charatan’s in the United States superseding Wally Frank. This can be documented in a “biography” written for Herman G. Lane titled “Leaves from a Tobaccoman’s Log”.

Thanks to Herman G. Lane’s dedicated labor Charatan became hugely popular in the States. As reported by Ken Barnes in an interview with Rick Newcombe, Reuben Charatan passed away in 1962, and his widow sold the firm to Herman Lane 1 or 2 years after his death.^[1] In the early 1960s Charatan pipes were the first to overstep the $100 Dollar line in US pipe sales. In 1978 Lane’s heirs sold the Charatan company to Dunhill. The Prescot Street factory was closed in March 1982. Thereafter the fame and quality of the make declined.

The pre-Lane period (prior to 1955) and the Lane era pipes (1955 to until sometime between 1979 – 1984) are of primary interest the collector. The Lane era is often quoted as beginning about 1950.

Charatan records are almost non-existent before Lane due to a factory fire, making it difficult to date pre-Lane pipes. Charatan used 4 basic grades prior to 1950: Supreme, Selected, Executive, and Belvedere. After 1950 Herman Lane’s influence began, and the grades started to expand. In 1955 Lane took over sole distributorship of Charatan in the US. In 1957 he introduced the Supreme S. Most of his other introductions were from the 1960s and early 1970s.

From this I am fairly certain I am dealing with a Lane pipe made after 1955. There is also a circle L script mark that is a Lane stampings on the pipe which also supports this.

I continued digging further into the dating of the pipe, but what I had found above was a good start for me. If some of you would like to try your hand at dating it more accurately as to the time period it came out you might want to check out the article on Pipedia on Dating Charatans (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Dating_of_Charatans).

I also reread the article on Pipedia by the Italian fellow who contributed some really helpful information on the brand (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Charatan_-_Milan_2014). I quote the section on the Second period: Reuben Charatan 1910 – c. 1962. I have highlighted a portion of the section on the shank in red to point out some more helpful dating information.

– In 1962 Herman Lane took over the business from the Charatan family, although he had already influenced production from the 1950s.

– The pipes were mostly larger than the previous ones and corresponded in size to Dunhill group 5. These are slightly less rare, but still difficult to find.

– Stem: Usually in ebonite, saddle shaped or tapered, bearing a fine “CP” stamp, underbore system (see below) used when necessary.

– Shank: The shape code is stamped on it together with the nomenclature “CHARATAN’S MAKE LONDON ENGLAND” arranged in two lines. From 1955 onward on the models marketed for the USA there is also a serif and circled capital “L” (but not all models bear this) which resembles the pound sterling symbol. The “L” is for Lane, the importer.

From 1958, Lane changed the nomenclature for models marketed for the US to clarify the message: “MADE BY HAND”. In this period the underbore was introduced. Its manufacturing period ranged between 1920 and c.1930. This model was equipped with a duralumin plunger trap fitted in the stem, which served to clean the residue more easily. This particular model bore a special stamp on the stem, and also had its own catalogue…

QUALITY GRADES…The stem did not only display the stamps mentioned above. Another stamp that can help dating is the one referring to the quality of the pipe. Until Herman Lane arrived on the scene there were four quality grades. Starting with the lowest: Belvedere, Executive, Selected, and Supreme. Lane went on to add higher grades from time to time: Supreme S, Supreme S100, S150, S200, S250, S300, Coronation, Royal Achievement, Crown Achievement, and Summa Cum Laude; these last three are extremely rare and almost impossible to find. He also invented other, different grades, even changing the previous pipe classification standards. We will not go into detail here, but it means that if we find an S100 or Coronation the pipe was manufactured following Herman Lane’s acquisition. In particular, the FH mark, or Freehand pipe was commissioned to the famous Danish craftsman, Preben Holm.

Nomenclature – The Lane Trademark serif and circled L indicates the pipe is from the “Lane Era” (approx. 1955 to 1979 -1984?), however it appears that both the English factory or Lane themselves sometimes, or perhaps even often forget to stamp the L on a pipe. The Charatan factory was known for inconsistencies, especially in stampings. Therefore, although an L on the pipe definitely defines it as a Lane Era pipe, the lack of it could simply mean the pipe missed receiving the stamp from the factory. The lack of the trademark could also mean the pipe was destined for the European market.

Charatan pipes were not well distributed prior to the Lane Era, so very few pre-Lane pipes exist today. Herman Lane greatly grew the brand in the U.S., which caused corresponding growth in Europe.

Generally, when the pipe is stamped with the BLOCK letters “MADE BY HAND” it means the pipe was probably made between 1958 and 1965”

Generally, block letters “MADE BY HAND” and some of the other nomenclature in script (i.e. City of London or Extra Large next to the MADE BY HAND) means the pipe was made sometime between 1965 and the mid 1970s. The total script nomenclature “Made by Hand in City of London” evolved over this period of time, so many pipes had variants, such as Made By Hand in block letters and City of London in script, or some other variation of the terms or stampings.

It is believed the FH was used on Charatan pipes between 1957 and 1967-68. Three different sizes were used. The Charatan Logo (CP) on the pipe bit was changed over the year

Now I knew I was working on Lane pipe which actually means it was between 1955 and 1988 as shown by the stamping.

Armed with that information I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done a great job prepping the pipe. It came to us reamed and cleaned to it was simpler. The rim top and the inner edge of the bowl are in excellent condition. The bowl walls looked very good. He scrubbed the interior of the bowl and shank with shank brushes, pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol to remove the tars and oils. He scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. He scrubbed the inside of the stem with alcohol and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior with Soft Scrub and then soaked it in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer. He washed it off with warm water to remove the deoxidizer. The stem looked very good. I took photos of the pipe before I started working on it. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim top and stem to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was clean and the rim top and the inner edge looked good. The stem was clean and showed light tooth marks or chatter.I took a photo of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is very clear and readable and read as noted above. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts. I polished the briar bowl with 1500-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris after each sanding pad. It looked amazing by the final pad. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the briar with my finger tips. I let it sit on the bowl for 10 minutes and then buffed it off with a paper towel and soft cloth. The product is a great addition to the restoration work. It enlivens, enriches and protects the briar while giving it a deep glow. It is a product I use on every pipe I restore. It was ready for the next step. I polished it with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping the surface down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. It is really shining. I polished it further with Before & After Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. I gave it another coat of Obsidian Oil to finish this step. It was great to finish this Charatan’s Make Special 12 Saddle Stem Billiard. I put the pipe back together and buffed it with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with deep sandblast all around it. Added to that the polished black, vulcanite, saddle stem was beautiful. This Charatan’s Make Special 12 Saddle Stem Biliard is great looking and the pipe feels great in my hand. It is light and well balanced. Have a look at it with the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 33 grams/1.16 ounces. It is a beautiful pipe and one that will soon be on the rebornpipes store in the British Pipe Makers Section. If you want to add it to your collection let me know. Thanks for walking through the restoration with me as I worked over this pipe.

New Life for a Malaga Second Diamond Shank bent billiard with a saddle stem

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by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a “Malaga” Second pipe that Jeff picked up from eBay early on 08/22/2024 from a seller in Harrison Township, Michigan, USA. It is an interesting looking octagonal Panel Billiard with a square shank. It has the classic Malaga oil cured finish and some great looking grain around the bowl and shank. There are some sand pits on the sides of the bowl which are the only flaws I can see. The pipe is stamped on left side of the shank and reads MALAGA [over] Second. The carver did a great job of carving the pipe to capture the grain around the bowl and the diamond shank. The bowl had a heavy cake with an overflow of lava on the crowned rim top. The sides of the bowl and shank are very dirty with grime and oils ground into the finish from prolonged use. The vulcanite saddle stem was heavily oxidized and calcified. It had tooth dents and chatter on the top and the underside of the stem. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started the cleanup work. With some work it will be a real beauty. I looked forward to seeing it in person. Jeff took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to capture the condition of the pipe before he started the cleanup work. The bowl has a thick cake and the uneven overflow of lava on the rim top is quite thick all the way around. The inside edge of the rim could be damaged but it quite hidden under the lava coat. The stem is deeply oxidized, calcified and dirty and there is tooth chatter and marks on both sides of the stem ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to give a picture of what the briar looked like. There is some nice grain around the sides. You can also see the damage to the rim edges and the heel of the bowl in the photos below. He took a photo of the stamping on the left side of the diamond shank. It read as noted above. It is clear and readable.I am including the link to a blog that I wrote that gives some of the history of the Malaga brand and the Malaga Pipe Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan in the USA. I have written an earlier blog to give a little history of the Malaga Brand and the pipemaker, George Khoubesser. Here is the link – https://rebornpipes.com/tag/malaga-pipes/.That blog also includes links to a catalogue and the history of the pipemaker George Khoubesser. Follow the link to get a feel for the brand and the pipemaker.

Jeff had cleaned up the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness. He reamed the pipe with a PipNet pipe reamer and removed the rest of it with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap with a tooth brush. He rinsed it under running warm water to remove the soap and grime. He cleaned out the inside of the shank and the airway in the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, shank brushes and pipe cleaners. He soaked the stem in Briarvilles Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and rinsed it off with warm water. I took photos of the pipe once I received it. The rim top cleaned up really well. The rim top and outer edge of the bowl show some darkening over most of the surface. There is damage to the inner edge of the bowl and bowl is out of round. The stem surface looked very good with tooth marks and chatter on the top side and the underside near the button.The stamping on the top left side of the diamond shank is clear and readable. It reads as noted above. I removed the saddle stem and took a photo of the pipe to give a sense of the whole. I heated the stem with the flame of a lighter and gave a more dramatic bend to follow the flow of the curves of the briar.I sanded the bowl sides and rim top with 320-3500 grit 2×2 inch sanding pads. I wiped the bowl down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad. It began to look very good. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads and wiping it down after each pad with a damp cloth. I rubbed the bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the bowl sides and shank with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 10-15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The grain came alive and the finish looked rich. I set aside the bowl and turned my attention to the stem. I “painted” the surface of the stem with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift them as much as possible. I did the lifting of the marks at the same time I heated the stem to bend it. I filled in the remaining tooth dents and marks with rubberized Black CA Glue and set it aside for the repairs to cure. Once they cured I flattened them with small files. I cleaned up the repaired areas with 220 sandpaper to blend the repairs into the surface of the stem. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit 2 x 2 inch sanding pads and wiped it down with a damp cloth after each pad to remove the sanding debris. The stem began to take on a rich shine.I polished the vulcanite stem with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped it down with Obsidian Oil after each sanding pad. I used Before & After Pipe Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine to further polish the stem. This Malaga Second Diamond Shank Bent Billiard with a vulcanite saddle stem turned out to be a real beauty. The carver really maximized the grain with the shape of the pipe. I polished stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel and the finish just popped and came alive. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The pipe took on life with the buffing. The rich oil cured colour works well with the polished black vulcanite stem. The finished Malaga Second Bent Billiard has a rich look that is quite catching. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 5 inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe was 44 grams/1.48 ounces. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. There are many more to come!