Tag Archives: waxing a stem

Sandblast Reveals Stunning Grain on a GBD Concorde 9438

Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe I brought to the table had two major attributes that piqued my interest. The first was that it has an amazing sandblast (or is it a combination blast and rustication?). The second thing was that it was a pipe in my favourite GBD shape that I think nobody does as well as they do – the 9438 Rhodesian. The pipe is stamped on the smooth underside of the shank GBD in an oval and next to that Concorde. Running along the shank stem junction it reads 9438 and Made in France. The logo is stamped into the left side of the saddle portion of the stem. The next photos show what the pipe looked like when it arrived in Idaho before my brother started cleaning it for me.Jeff took some close up photos of the bowl, rim and stamping to show the condition and the brand of the pipe. Those of you who love the 9438 did not need to see the stamping to confirm the shape but here it is. The finish was dirty with lots of debris in the grooves and crevices on the bowl and shank. The rim had a tarry build up on the back half where the cake was overflowing the bowl. The mortise was so dirty that the stem no longer seated against the shank. The GBD oval was stamped on the side of the stem and did not have a brass roundel as some of the earlier ones did.The stem was oxidized and there was tooth chatter on both the top and bottom sides near the button.The finish was a new one to me. I have not worked on a Concorde before so I wanted to learn a bit about it. I was not sure if it was a sandblast or a rustication or both. I did some searching online and found some things about it however. The GBD Concorde was made in France and was a lower priced GBD. It sported what GBD called a “take-off” brown/black stained sandblast. The top three pipes (ABC) in the photo below are from a 1976 Tinderbox Catalog I located on Chris’ Pipepages. The weblink for the pages is shown in the link that follows: http://pipepages.com/2tinderbox3.htm

The pipe I was working on was “B” in the photo below. The finish on mine was very similar but mine did not have the brass roundel on the stem as the one in the photo does. On the second page of the catalogue there is a description of the pipe. It is a little hard to read but here is the text: “GBD Breaks with Tradition and Forges Bold New Designs. A.B.C. Concorde – This latest innovation from GBD’s French factory, the Concorde, offers exceptional value in the popular price range and features a most novel “take-off” process.” The catalogue lists the retail price in 1976 at $12.50. I have a sense of what they mean by the take of process in looking at the finish. It appears that the pipe has a dark brown stain applied to the bowl. It is buffed off the high spots on the pipe giving it a contrasting appearance. At least that is what I think is meant by the take-off process. When I received the pipe it was clean inside and out. My brother had done a great job cleaning out the grime and debris. The stem fit in the mortise perfectly and all looked good. The finish was clean and faded and the oxidation on the stem had come to the surface so it was ready for me to move ahead with the restoration. I took a few photos of the pipe so you could see what it looked like when it arrived in Vancouver. The rim looked much better but still had a bit of debris on the back side. It was nothing that a little sanding with micromesh could not cure. There is some stunning grain on the rounded rim top and on the smooth parts of the bowl. There is also some peeking through the sandblast. This is a beautiful pipe and one I may well hold onto.The oxidation on the stem had been brought to the surface by the cleanup. It definitely appears worse than it did in the earlier pictures but the difference is that the oxidation is on top now and easier to deal with. The tooth marks and chatter on the stem are visible in both photos.I polished the rim and the high surfaces of the bowl with a fine grit sanding block and with 1500-4000 grit micromesh pads to raise a shine. I gave it a coat of Conservator’s Wax and hand buffed it with a shoe brush and cloth. The photos below show the bowl after that simple treatment. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper, carefully avoiding the area around the GBD Oval stamping. I did not want to damage that. I polished the stem with 1500-2400 grit micromesh to begin bringing the shine to the stem.I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil and did something I probably should have waited to do. I cleaned around the area of the stamp with a damp cotton pad. I applied some Rub’n Buff European Gold to the stamping and rubbed it off the surface with a cotton pad. The second photo below shows the stamp when I had finished the first application. I can justify this step by saying it is actually easier to see the stamp with a little gold in place so that I can carefully polish around it. I repeated sanding the stem with 1800-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads.I polished it with 3200-12000 grit pads and gave it a coat of Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. The shine was beginning to come through. I gave it a final coat of oil after the 12000 grit pad and set it aside to dry. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond to polish the stem and remove the scratches that still remained on the stem. I lightly buffed the bowl to raise a shine. I gave the stem several coats of carnauba wax and the bowl several coats of Conservator’s Wax and buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad. The pipe began to truly shine. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen that shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is really a beauty and one I am thinking seriously of adding to my own collection… ahh well… we shall see. Thanks for looking.

An unsmoked Koolsmoke Boxed Set with Three Extra Bowls

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Blog by Steve Laug

Over the last few years I visit the same antique mall when I go home to Idaho for a visit. For at least the last two years there has been a boxed set of unsmoked Koolsmoke pipe bowls that the owner was selling. It was missing the base/stem unit and the bowl that came on it. The bowls were unsmoked and new. I looked at them every time I was there and walked away. This recent trip I went to the antique mall to have a look and found that the place was closing. Everything was marked down by 50%. The box of bowls was still there and it was marked down from $40 to $20. I decided to go for it. I put it on the counter and kept looking. I found a few other odds and ends and settled the account at the counter. Now I needed to find a unsmoked base/stem unit and another unsmoked bowl to go with it.

I went back to my brothers and went hunting on eBay for the parts I was missing. Over the years I think every time I go on eBay I have seen Koolsmoke pipes for sale. But this time there were none to be found. I had a feeling that this would take a while to find what I was looking for. My brother however had an idea. He had the phone number of a seller he had bought pipes from over the past months named Beverly. She had been an avid pipe collector and had a lot of pipes that she was selling. She had mentioned to him that she had plenty more to sell. We gave her a call and asked about a Koolsmoke. At this point I would have taken a used one, cleaned it up and added it to the set. She was delightful to talk with and she said she had a few over the years but they were all gone. However, she said she had one unsmoked red base/stem unit with a bowl on that she was willing to sell us.

I could not believe it. One call and we not only had a unsmoked NOS (new old stock) base/stem unit but we also had a unsmoked bowl to go with it that was different from the other three in the set. We paid her immediately and within two days it had arrived in Idaho. It was a beauty and it fit in the box. The bowls in the set were dusty and there was debris in the threads and in the rustication from years of sitting on the antique mall shelves. They would need to be brushed clean. The white fabric that lined the box was spotless – I was surprised that it did not have any stains. The cardboard box was broken at all the corners and would need to be repaired. The new stem was scratched but clean. It still had the casting marks on the sides and end. I took photos of the new set from a variety of angles to highlight the various bowls and show the threads, the rims and bowls. I looked up the brand on one of my favourite sites that specializes in smoking metal pipes. They indeed had the information I was looking for. Here is the link: http://www.smokingmetal.co.uk/pipe.php?page=145 I quote from there with some minor edits.

The Koolsmoke is an American made pipe with bowls looking much like Falcon, except these only have a single thread, not the 4 start thread of the Falcon. Confusingly there seem to be boxes around containing Koolsmoke pipe and spare bowls, but labelled Rogers Drymatic. (The photos below show the two boxed sets. The Rogers Drymatic is on the right).

The nut in the cup can be adjusted to alter the space between the bowl and pipe to suit the smoker or the actual bowl in use. The brand was patented on 29 Nov 1955 US patent # D176221 without the adjustable nut and 2,760-496 with the nut (also comes as Dri-Smoke). The inventor was Ben Lieber of Brooklyn New York. The assignor was Aply-Tech Products.I unscrewed the bowl from the base so that I could polish the stem. The base has the nut in the bottom of the base for adjusting the airflow from the bowl to the button. The metal is well painted and the paint undamaged. The stem has some scratches and stickiness from a price tag that it had sported sometime in its life.I took some close up photos of the stem. The edges of the stem are sharp from the casting lines that had never been sanded out smooth. You can also see the scratching and marks on both sides of the stem. I sanded off the casting lines on the sides of the stem and on the button end. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads and gave it a final coat after the 12000 grit pad. I set the stem aside to dry. I repaired the torn edges of the box with clear cellophane tape that I use to repair books. I wiped down each bowl with a damp cloth and scrubbed the rustication on the one bowl with a tooth brush. Once the bowls were clean and dusted, I gave them a coat of wax and hand buffed them with a microfibre cloth. The finished pipe and bowls are shown in the photos below. It is a nice looking set of exchangeable bowls and a metal base. It is similar to a Falcon but has the added adjustment nut in the bottom of the base. It can be raised or lowered to adjust the airflow between the bowl and the stem. The pipe will be available on the rebornpipe store shortly if you are interested in picking one up for your collection. Thanks for looking.

French Made Bruyere Garantie Bent Billiard from Burgas

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Blog by Dal Stanton

I received Gary’s email when he and his wife were visiting the Bulgarian city of Burgas on the Black Sea coast. Ever since I started restoring pipes, Gary, my colleague living and working in Plovdiv, has kept his eyes open during his travels. He’s found some very nice pipes for me. The two he found at the antique shop on the main walking street in Burgas were possibilities so he landed them for me. The larger bent billiard in the pictures he sent is on my work table now. I chose it because I’m hoping for a project that doesn’t appear to be in too much need!The only marking on the pipe is stamped on the left shank and it says, “BRUYERE” over “GARANTIE” which I’ve understood as a rather generic marking used by several manufacturers from different continental countries in Europe. On a hunch, I looked up the generic marking in Wilczak and Colwell’s manual, “Who Made That Pipe?” and was surprised to find a semi specific listing: UNK France. With an ‘unknown’ maker, but because of the spelling, they identify the French origins. Odds are, if from France, then most likely the place of origin is Saint-Claude. After receiving the pipes from Gary, I put the French made, 3/4 Bent Billiard on my work table in Sofia, and take these pictures to fill in the gaps. The grain on this larger stummel is outstanding – much motion and flow. Standing out is the bull’s eye wraparound knot grain perfectly situated to highlight the elbow where shank and stummel meet and blend (pictured above). The stummel surface has several dents and some cuts from normal wear and grime collection. The rim has some oil residues but like the stummel surface, has its share of normal wear dents. The cake in the chamber is very light and the remnants of the last smoke are still evident – a blend of sorts (pictured below)! The stem shows light oxidation and tooth chatter primarily on the lower bit. The button and slot look good. To start the restoration and cleanup of the Bruyere Garantie Bent Billiard, after inserting a pipe cleaner through the stem, I put the stem in the Oxi-Clean solution to soak, working on the oxidation. With stummel in hand, I clean out the old tobacco from the chamber with the pipe nail tool.With the Pipnet kit, I ream the cake to the briar for a fresh start. I use the two smaller of the 4 blades available in the kit and follow this by using the Savinelli pipe knife to fine tune the ream by strategically scraping the chamber wall. To clean the chamber wall, I wrap 240 grit paper around a Sharpie Pen and sand the chamber and then use a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95% to remove the carbon dust. Looking at the cleaned chamber, it looks good. With the chamber finished, I turn to cleaning the internals of the stummel with cotton swabs and pipe cleaners dipped in isopropyl 95%. It does not take long and pipe cleaners and swabs are coming out clean. Now turning to the cleanup of the surface of the stummel, I use undiluted Murphy’s Soap with cotton pads and a bristled toothbrush to clean the grime off the briar surface. Murphy’s does a good job cleaning wood of grime and old finish. I rinse the stummel with tap water careful not to flood the internals with water. I inspect the rim and surface with things cleaned up and take some close-ups of dents and marks showing signs of wear – a well-smoked and liked pipe. The pictures show the cleaning and surface inspection. To address the stummel rim and surface, I use a medium grade sanding sponge to remove as many of the imperfections as possible. I use this sanding sponge to perform a gentle topping of the rim to remove the dents. I follow with a light grade sanding sponge and I also freshen the internal rim bevel using first 240 grit paper followed by 600. The clear majority of the nicks and dents have been removed. Those that remain will be an ongoing testimony of the years this pipe has spent serving his steward! The pictures show the progress. I’m ready now to fine-tune the stummel by sanding with micromesh pads 1500 to 1200. I first wet sand using pads 1500 to 2400. After completing the wet sanding, I detect some fills that have softened. This probably resulted from the water on the stummel and the fill material was only water based. Two were on the rim and a few more on the side of the stummel. Using a sharp dental probe, I dig out the old fill that at this point has the texture of wet clay. Pictured is the completion of the first 3 micromesh pads and the beginning of a small detour – such as life! The detour requires that I mix briar dust and super glue to make a more durable fill than what I just removed. After filling the holes, I’ll then need strategically to re-sand the patches and return to the micromesh pads. While I’m at it, I detect a few more fills and clean them out. These ‘factory fills’ are normal and reveal that one seldom finds a perfect block of briar without some imperfections. The most challenging patch will be the rim. I begin by wetting a cotton pad with isopropyl 95% and wipe down the stummel – I want it clean and free of residue fill material. I then use a pipe nail and scoop out an enough briar dust on an index card that serves as my mixing pallet. I then add a small puddle of regular superglue next to the briar dust and use a toothpick to begin mixing the putty by drawing dust into the puddle of glue. When the consistency of the putty is about like molasses, I use a flat dental spatula to apply the briar dust putty to the holes. I leave excess putty over each patch in anticipation of sanding it down flush to the briar surface. I use an accelerator spray to shorten the curing time for the patches. It takes me two batches to fill the holes. The pictures show the progress. I decide to let the stummel rest a bit as the patches cure and work on the stem. I remove the stem from the Oxi-Clean bath that it’s been soaking in for several hours. The oxidation has ‘surfaced’ on the vulcanite stem and I use 600 grit paper and wet sand the stem to remove the oxidation after remounting the stem and stummel with the plastic disc separator. This helps avoid shouldering the stem. After completing the sweep with 600 grit, I look at the lower bit where there was tooth chatter and some dents. I use 240 grit paper to sand these out. One dent was refusing so I dropped a bit of Black CA glue on it and applied some accelerator spray to cure it quickly. After a bit, I returned to the patch with 240 grit paper to smooth it and blend it with the vulcanite. I follow using 600 grit sanding paper and then finish this phase by buffing the entire stem with 0000 steel wool. The pictures show the progress. With the stem in front of me, I decide to move it to the micromesh phase. Using micromesh pads 1500 to 2400 I wet sand the stem. When I complete this first cycle I realize that I forgot the clean the internals of the stem! Call me anxious…. Holding the stem with paper towel, I gingerly use pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol 95% and then with cotton swabs I clean out the filter cavity. Thankfully, the stem was in pretty good shape. Back to the micromesh process. I follow this by dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and then 6000 to 12000. I follow each cycle of 3 pads with an application of Obsidian Oil which deepens the color and revitalizes the vulcanite. The pictures show the progress – looking good! With the stem restoration complete, I turn to the stummel again. I use a flat needle file to begin the process of bringing the excess briar dust putty down to the briar surface. I start with the rim patches and move around the stummel. After using the flat needle file, I use 240 grit paper on each patch to bring it down to the surface. I finish the sanding and blending with 600 grit paper. At this point, I notice some air pockets in some of the patches. I spot drop a small bit of superglue in each and spray it with accelerator. After a few minutes, I sand down the superglue fills very quickly with the flat needle file, then 240, then 600. I take pictures along the way. With my day ending, I want to clean the stummel internals further using a kosher salt and alcohol soak. I fill the stummel with kosher salt and I cover the bowl and give it a shake to displace the salt. I use kosher salt and not iodized salt as it does not leave an iodine aftertaste. I stretch/twist a cotton ball and feed it into the mortise acting as a wick to draw out the oils during the soak. I situate the stummel in an egg carton and using a large squeeze dropper, I fill the bowl with isopropyl 95% until filled. I wait a few minutes as the alcohol is quickly drawn down. I top it off again with alcohol. I turn out the lights – another day complete. The next morning, the kosher salt and alcohol soak did its job. The salt and cotton wick are discolored indicating a not too dirty stummel giving up more gunk. I thumped the stummel on my palm (not table!) and the expended salt goes into the waste. I wipe the chamber with a paper towel and run bristle brushes of differing sizes in the chamber, through the mortise and draft hole to remove all the salt. It’s looking good and the new steward of this Bent Billiard will enjoy a sweeter taste as a result. To get a bird’s eye view of the project, I rejoin the finished stem with the now patched stummel. The more I study the grain on this pipe, the more I like it – especially the lower horizontal grain encompassing the stummel’s heel then transitioning through the elbow of the shank merger. A very pleasing visual as one cradles the ample Billiard bowl in his (or her!) palm. Imagination aside, time to get back to the stummel micromesh process. Since I had already completed the first 3 micromesh pads, I wet sand with these again, but focus on the rim and stummel patched areas. After wet sanding with pads 1500 to 2400, I apply a stain stick to the patch on the stummel. Because of the sanding, this area is lighter than the surrounding patch of briar. I apply some stain, let it dry, and wipe it with a bit of alcohol on a cotton pad to blend. Then, I continue with dry sanding with pads 3200 to 4000 and then finishing with pads 6000 to 12000. I am amazed at how a natural grain can achieve such a gloss through this process – wax is not needed! To me, the difference between the character of this gloss and the ‘gloss’ of an acrylic finish is the difference between a high-end HD flat screen and a so, so TV – color, but not the same sharpness or reality. When one looks at grain through an acrylic finish, you’re looking through a film creating the shine not the grain itself, as is with a natural grain gloss – the real deal. The stains we apply then, do not create a film over the wood but colors it to help hide imperfections, etc., – a big difference. The pictures show the source of my amazement and reflections. With the micromesh pad cycles completed, I confer with my wife about the finish. Yes, I often ask my wife’s opinion at this point because of her eye for beauty and colors. Originally, I had been thinking of keeping with the original color bent – toward more reddish tones. After our conference, because of the beauty of this grain as is, I will stay with brown, leather tones consistent with the natural grain. I had avoided the nomenclature during the sanding processes and there was still residue of the older color. I use acetone (yes, the yellow label is acetone in Bulgarian!) with a cotton pad and work on removing the reddish finish. I’m not totally successful, but I don’t think what is left will make a difference. To stay in the brown/leather tones, I decide to mix 3 parts Fiebing’s Dark Brown Leather Dye with 1 part alcohol with a large bulb dropper. I want the finish on the darker brown side to blend the briar dust putty patches, but light enough so that the grain is showcased. To prepare the stummel, I first wipe it down with a cotton pad wetted with isopropyl 95% to clean the surface. After mounting a narrowed cork into the shank as a handle, I warm the stummel with a heat gun to expand and open the briar allowing it to absorb the dye more efficiently. I then liberally apply the dye mixture to the stummel with a folded pipe cleaner seeking full coverage. With a lit candle, I then ‘fire’ the stummel, igniting the alcohol in the dye which sets the stain. After a few minutes, I repeat the process concluding with firing the stummel. I then put the stummel aside to rest for several hours before continuing. The pictures show the progress. After several hours, I’m ready to unwrap the crust encasing the stummel resulting from the fired dye. I mount a felt buffing wheel on the Dremel, set the speed of the Dremel at the lowest, and use Tripoli compound’s abrasive characteristic to remove the crust. I first purge the wheel with a tightening wrench, to remove old compound and to soften the felt wheel. I rotate the felt buffing wheel over the surface without a lot of downward pressure. The speed of the Dremel and the compound do the work. To reach the difficult angle between the shank and bowl, I switch to a smaller felt wheel. After finishing with the Tripoli compound, I wet a cotton cloth with alcohol and wipe down the stummel to both lighten the aniline stain and to blend it. Following this, I switch to a cloth buffing wheel and turn the speed up from 1 to 2, approximately 40% of full speed, the fastest being 5, and apply Blue Diamond compound in the same manner as the Tripoli. I notice a few bright spots on the surface as well as around the nomenclature where the stain did not set consistently. I applied a bit of black Fine Point Sharpie Pen and darker stain sticks to blend the areas. I go over these areas again with the Blue Diamond buffing wheel to blend the spot staining. It looks good. I then buff the stummel with a flannel cloth to clean it of compound dust before applying the carnauba wax. Switching to another cotton cloth buffing wheel dedicated to carnauba wax, I reattach the stem to the stummel and apply the wax at the same 40% speed. I apply 2 cycles of carnauba to the surface and stem, then I switch to a clean Dremel buffing wheel and buff the pipe yet again. Finally, I give the pipe a rigorous hand-buffing with a micromesh cloth.

This French, probably Saint-Claude, made Bruyere Garantie Bent Billiard is stunning – the grain is beautiful. As I mentioned before, I am drawn to the heel of the stummel, at the elbow where stummel and stem meet – the knot grain perfectly situated there is amazing and says something about the eyes and judgment of the pipe maker who chose the briar block and could see what it would become. I’m very pleased with the results of this pipe. If you would like to adopt this classic Bent Billiard, look at my store front at The Pipe Steward. The sale of pipes benefit the Daughters of Bulgaria, an organization we work with helping women (and their children) who have been sexually exploited and trafficked. Thanks for joining me!

A No Name Cumberland Shank Gourd Calabash

One Quiet Sunday Afternoon – Finding an older KBB Yello-Bole Imperial Panel

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Blog by Steve Laug

On a quiet Sunday afternoon the family and I drove to nearby Fort Langley for lunch. We visited a favourite pipe hunting site that in the past has yielded some good finds. I went through the shop and found a lot of assorted pipes that really did not interest me. In one booth there was a jar with a bouquet of pipe sticking out of the top. They looked interesting and the sales clerk who unlocked the case said they were from the owner, an older gentleman’s private collection. There were several that looked promising but the one that grabbed my attention was an older Panel shaped pipe with worm trail rustication. It has the classic Yello-Bole yellow circle on the top of the stem. The pipe was stamped on the left side of the shank with a KBB in a cloverleaf next to Yello-Bole over Cured with Real Honey ® over Imperial in script. Underneath it reads Imported Briar. The bowl had a thick cake inside and it had run over the top of the bowl. The finish was pretty well shot and it had deep grime in the rustication trails on the sides of the bowl. The stem was lightly oxidized and there was some calcification around the button on the top and underside. I took the stem off the shank to find a push tenon. I decided then and there to add this one to the lot. I took the following photos once I got the pipe home. The finish was worn and dirty with a lot of grit and dust in the worm trail grooves on the bowl. It would take some cleanup work to determine what needed to be done with that. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim. There was a thick cake and an overflow unto the rim top. The overflow and cake made it hard to tell if there was any rim damage or outer edge damage on the bowl. I also took close up photos of the stem to show the condition – it was in great shape other than oxidation. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up the remnants of the cake with a Savinelli Fitsall Reaming knife. I took the cake back to bare briar so that I could inspect the internals and the rim edges. I used a brass bristle brush and alcohol to clean the rim top of the buildup and grime that was there. I was surprised to see that it was undamaged.I scrubbed the remaining finish and the dirt off the exterior of the bowl with acetone on a cotton pad. I was able to remove the majority of the grime. The bowl sides, bottom and rim came out really clean. The scrubbed bowl is shown in the photos below.As you can see from the photo below the rim top still needed a lot of work to get it clean and the rustication patterns clearly visible again.I scrubbed out the internals of the mortise and airway into the bowl with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I think it had been years since this old pipe had met a pipe cleaner. It took a lot of rigorous scrubbing to clear out the buildup and debris in those areas. I used a cotton swab, alcohol and a dental pick to work on the rim top some more as well.I scrubbed the bowl and rim with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush. I rinsed it under running water and dried it off with a towel. I sanded the smooth surfaces of the briar with micromesh sanding pads to polish it – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I used a black Sharpie Pen to stain the rustication patterns on the bowl and shank. I don’t worry too much about covering every small nook and cranny at this point because I am going to put a top coat of dark brown stain over the top. I just want the rusticated areas to be a bit darker than the rest of the bowl once I have finished. It provides an interesting contrast. I stained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain and flamed it. I repeated the process until I was happy with the coverage over the entire bowl. I set the bowl aside and left for work. When I get home this evening I will “unwrap” as Dal says.When I got home in the evening I wiped the bowl down with alcohol on a cotton pad to make it more transparent and highlight the rustication trails. I buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond to polish the briar and give it a shine. The photos below show the pipe at this stage in the process. I broke up the oxidation and calcification on the stem with 220 grit sandpaper. There were some small tooth marks and chatter under the buildup that the sandpaper took care of as I worked on the stem.I cleaned out the airway in the stem with alcohol, bristle pipe cleaners and regular pipe cleaners. I picked out the debris in the slot with a dental pick. It did not take too long to get the stem clean.I polished the vulcanite with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads. I gave it a final coat of oil after the 12000 grit pad and set it aside to dry. I put the stem back in place on the bowl and buffed the pipe with Blue Diamond to polish out the remaining scratches in the briar and the stem. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed it on the wheel with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine on the briar and vulcanite. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I am uncertain of the age of the pipe but I figure that when Troy reads this he may be able to give me a clear picture of the age of the pipe. Thanks for looking.

A Simple Refresh – a GBD New Standard 9438 Rhodesian

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Blog by Steve Laug

I chose a second easy pipe to work on – another of my favourite shapes, a GBD Rhodesian. It is stamped on the left side of the shank with GBD in an oval over the words New Standard in script. On the right side of the shank it is stamped London, England over 9438. The stamping is quite readable. The finish was in decent shape. There was a light cake in the bowl and overflowing onto the topside of the rim. There was a slight burn mark on the outer edge of the rim from repeated lighting in that spot. The stem has the brass roundel on the left side of the saddle. The stem was lightly oxidized and there was tooth chatter on both the top and underside near the button. The next series of photos show the pipe when my brother received it in Idaho. He sent along a few close up photos to show the rim top and cake in the bowl. It shows the thickness of the cake and the light build up on the top. The photos that follow show the stamping on the shank sides and the roundel on the stem side. The next two photos show the tooth chatter on the top and the underside of the stem at the button. There were a lot of tiny tooth marks that covered the first inch of the stem on each side.My brother did his usual exceptional job of cleaning the pipe on the inside and out before he sent it to me in Vancouver. I ran a pipe cleaner through it when it came and it was spotless. He was able to remove much of the grime from the finish and the tars from the rim top.In the next photo you can see the burn marks around inner edge of the rim and on the front left outer edge. These would take a bit of work to minimize.I took a close up photo of the rim top to focus in on the burn marks around the edges of the bowl and rim top. I also took some photos of the stem to show the oxidation and the tooth chatter. I worked on the rim top with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads to remove the burned areas. I was glad to see that they were only surface and did not go too deep. I was able to remove them for the most part. There is a small remnant of the mark on the front edge of the rim. I polished the entire bowl with the 1500-2400 grit micromesh while I worked on the rim to begin to bring a shine to the briar. I continued to polish the rim and the bowl with 3200-12000 grit micromesh sanding pads to deepen the shine and polish the briar. I buffed the bowl lightly with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel and set it aside. I worked on the stem. I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to remove the tooth chatter on both sides. They were not too deep so it did not take too much work to remove the marks in the vulcanite. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and then buffed it with Red Tripoli on the buffing wheel to breakdown the oxidation further. I then dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil after each set of three pads to bring life to the rubber and to also give the micromesh something to bit in during the polishing. Once I finished with the 12000 grit pad I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I put the stem on the pipe and buffed the entire pipe with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to polish out the remaining scratches. I gave the pipe multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect it and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I took it back to the work table and hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The grain is unique and a mix of grains – flame grain, cross grain and some straight grain. There is even birdseye on the bottom and on the rim. The stain that was on the bowl is a reddish-brown and it allows the grain to shine through. It is a beautiful example of the GBD 9438 shape Rhodesian and one that will grace the pipe rack. Thanks for walking through this simple refresher with me.

Whew, finally a simple restore of an older Imported Briar Rhodesian

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Blog by Steve Laug

After all the tough restoration jobs I have been doing lately I wanted to take a breather and do an easy restore. In the box of pipes, that my brother sent there was one that fit the need perfectly. It was one of my favorite shapes, had some interesting grain and needed minimal work. Thanks to my brother Jeff, it was astonishingly clean, and smelled the same! I have missed his help on the last batch I have been working on. When he does the cleanup, it cuts my work by 2/3’s and I have the pleasure of working on a clean pipe. This Rhodesian was very clean. The first set of photos is what the pipe looked like before he did his magic. When the pipe arrived in Vancouver I was really happy with what I found. The bowl was hardly darkened inside. The finish was gone, and though there were fills, they were not the ugly pink ones that I usually find in pipes of this era. There was some slight rim darkening on the rear left side of the rim. The stem was lightly oxidized and there were light tooth marks and chatter on both the top and underside of the stem near the button. The next photos show what the pipe looked like before I started my restoration. I took close up photos of the bowl and the rim top to show how clean it was. You can also see the fills on the front of the bowl. I actually started working on it this morning before I left for work. There was no dread attached to working on this one. There were no surprises under the grime or finish. There were no cracks of major issues with the bowl. It is a sweet pipe.The close up photos of the stem show the light oxidation and the tooth marks and chatter. They are not deep so they will not be hard to work on.I sanded the oxidation, tooth marks and chatter with 220 grit sandpaper until they were removed. It did not take too much sanding to smooth out the surface of the stem. There was a small nick on the top inner edge of the button that may need to be repaired. I will look at that after I have polished the stem more.The nick in the button disappeared as I cleaned and reshaped the button. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. After each set of three pads I rubbed the stem down with Obsidian Oil. After the 12000 grit pad I gave it a final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I polished the briar with micromesh pads – wet sanding with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanding with 3200-12000 grit pads. The briar responded really well to the polishing and the fills began to disappear into the grain of the briar. They are still visible but they no longer stand out as they did when I started. At this point I think I will leave the finish natural and waxed instead of staining it. Just because it is a habit for me I did a cursory cleaning of the inside of the pipe and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners and it was as clean as I expected. There was nothing left to clean out. It was spotless.

Because the grain looked so good and I did not find the fills to be too distracting I decided to leave the pipe unstained. I liked the look of the briar and new it would colour with time and smoking. To give the bowl a little life I wiped it down with a light coat of olive oil and put the stem back on the shank. I buffed the entire pipe with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel to remove the last remnants of scratching. I gave it multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I finished by hand buffing it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe is shown in the photos below. I really like the way it looks. For a factory made pipe the way the shape follows the grain is pretty amazing. Thanks for looking.

Restemming and Restoring a Brigham Algonquin Dublin 247

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Blog by Steve Laug

This pipe is the last of the nine that was dropped by my house for repairs. I was in rough shape for multiple reasons. The finish was dirty and spotty and the rim top was covered with overflow from the bowl. There was a thick cake in the bowl and there were some dark spots on the bowl sides toward the bottom of both sides at the bend. There were also some nicks in the heel of the bowl as well. The stem was missing a large chunk at the button on the right side. The Brigham hard rock maple filters come with an aluminum end and it had broken off deep in the shank near the entrance of the airway to the bowl. The mortise was very tarry and dirty. It would take some work to clean out enough to free the broken aluminum end piece. I took a close up photo of the rim and bowl to show the condition of the pipe when I started the cleanup. Underneath the grime on the bowl there was some nice cross grain and some birdseye on the front and back sides of the bowl.The stem was not salvageable as it stood. The missing chunk was large and the airway into the bowl was collapsed. I would need to fit a new stem on the shank. Fortunately for me the owner did not want a Brigham stem so I could use a regular push stem for the replacement.I went through my stem can, found a stem that was the same diameter, and close to the same length. I filed the diameter of the tenon with a file until it was close to fitting and finished with 220 grit sandpaper. I trimmed the edge of the tenon with my tenon turning tool by hand.When I finished smoothing out the tenon I inserted it in the mortise on the pipe bowl. The fit was snug. It looked good. I would need to do a few adjustments on the shank and stem as the shank was not perfectly round. I sanded the stem and the shank with 220 grit sandpaper to get a smooth transition between the two. I scrubbed the bowl with acetone on a cotton pad to remove the finish and the grime. I took photos of the cleaned exterior. I reamed the bowl with a PipNet reamer and the Savinelli Fitsall Knife. I removed the cake completely. I sanded the interior walls with sandpaper wrapped around my finger to smooth out the walls.I lightly topped the bowl with 220 grit sandpaper on the topping board to remove the rim damage and smooth out the nicks and scratches. I sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads to polish the surface.I stained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain. I had found that once the finish was removed there were quite a few fills in the bowl sides and shank. I wanted to blend them into the surface of the briar and try to make them less visible. I flamed the stain and repeated the process until the coverage was even. I set the bowl aside for the day and went to work.When I returned from work that evening I wiped the bowl down with alcohol on cotton pads to make it more transparent. It was still too dark but I had plans to take care of that in a different way. In the photos below the fills are very visible against the dark brown stain. I cleaned up the face of the stem with the PIMO tenon turning tool at the tenon/stem angle so that the fit against the shank would be smooth. Sadly, my drill died so I had to turn the stem onto the tool by hand. It still worked well, just more slowly, and I was able to smooth out the surface.While the drill was out, I removed the tenon turning tool and put a drill bit in the chuck that was just slightly larger than the airway into the bowl. I wanted to be able to grab a hold of the broken aluminum filter tip with the drill bit and pull it out. Once again, I did it without the benefit of power. I just twisted the bowl onto the bit until the bit locked onto the aluminum end. I careful turned the bowl off the bit and the broken aluminum end came out stuck to the bit. Whew!I cleaned out the mortise and airway with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. I finally was able to get all of the tars and oils out of the extended mortise.I heated the new stem with a heat gun and bent it to match the broken stem. I took a photo of the two of them together. I took photos of the pipe with the new stem in place. Still a lot of work to do to polish both the bowl and stem but it is looking good. I set the stem aside and worked on polishing the bowl. I started by wet sanding it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh pads and dry sanding it with 3200-12000 grit pads. The photos below tell the story. I set the bowl aside and polished the stem. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit sanding pads and rubbed it down with Obsidian Oil. I dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads and rubbed it down after each set of three pads. After the last 12000 grit pad I gave it a final coat of oil and let it dry.I buffed the stem and bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel to polish out the last of the scratches on the stem. I gave the bowl and stem multiple coats of carnauba wax to protect the surface of both. I buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine and by hand with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. I think the owner will be pleased with the finished stem and bowl. It looks like it was made to order. The contrasting stain on the bowl highlights the grain and hides the fills at the same time. Thanks for looking.

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Refreshing a New Old Stock (NOS) Mastercraft De Luxe Chubby Billiard

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Blog by Steve Laug

My brother found this pipe on one of his pipe hunts not long ago. It is a beautiful unsmoked, new old stock (NOS) chubby billiard. The briar is in great shape. The rim, the pristine bowl and the finish on the pipe all spoke of new pipe. I did a bit of reading on the brand to see if I could possibly date this pipe. I copied a section from Pipedia. It gives a flow of the history of the brand. Here is the link: https://pipedia.org/wiki/Mastercraft in it the text comes from a posting made by “Ted” on the Grabow Collectors Forum. He was the former Exec VP of Grabow/Mastercraft.

It doesn’t appear that Mastercraft was ever a manufacturer and bought pipes from multiple factories — mostly French and English. It survived briefly the post war recovery and then was acquired by Grabow. Ted writes:

“First a confession. From 1974 till 1984 I had several positions with Mastercraft including Executive Vice President. I also worked for Grabow from 66 till 74 and from 84 till I retired in 91. In 91, with retirement, I was President and COO for the corporation that was called “Sparta Industries”. I have seen both sides of the “fence”, and even though I never left the “employ” of Grabow, My loyalties for 10 years were with M/C.”

“United States Tobacco(UST)(Skoal and Copenhagen) bought Grabow in 69′ from the Lavietes family. In 74′ they bought M/C from Bernard Hochstein and moved it into the EXACT facility Grabow occupied. I was named “operations manager” and we were in the basement of a 4 story building in Sparta, NC.”

“M/C was STRICTLY an importer of pipes and pipe related merchandise. In 74′ when M/C moved from NYC to NC the inventory of finished goods was stored in a facility in Winston Salem, NC. Lentz Moving and Storage. Stacked 10 feet high the inventory covered 180,000 square feet….FINISHED. In my time at Grabow I had never seen that much finished stock, and the shapes, manufacturers,finishes. Heaven for a pipe smoker…..Damn right. You would have had to slap me really hard to get the grin off my face.”

“I’ll just list a few Manufacturers/names of the inventory. England:Parker/Hardcastle(Dunhill), Orlik…France: Jeantet…Jima…Cherrywoods. Italy: GIGI pipe…Radica….Rossi…Federico Rovera….Emilio Rovera….Santambrogio. Brebbia. Meerschaums from Austria: Strambach. Lighters from Japan….Pouches and accessories from Hong Kong…and the Israeli pipes from Mr. Hochstein’s sons. Trust me…This is only a small sample of the things M/C had, and bought into inventory.”

With that bit of history I know that the pipe was made prior to the buyout by Grabow in 1974. That makes the pipe at least 43 years old at this time. This one is French made probably by Jeantet. The stamping reads on the left: Mastercraft in the normal shield over De Luxe. The shield hangs from a branch like a sign. On the right side of the shank it is stamped Corsican Briar over France. I took a close up photo of the bowl and rim to show the unsmoked condition of it when I received it. The briar is quite beautiful though there are a few fills on the top and right side of the shank that are expertly blended into the finish. I also took a photo of the internals of the mortise and airway to show the raw briar that shines there.The stem showed signs of wear from sitting for the long years in a display case of cabinet. There were scratches, nicks and marks in the rubber that are shown in the photos below. There was a gummy substance from a label on the underside of the stem.The polished aluminum stinger apparatus in the tenon was unmarked and a shine of a new pipe.The finish on the pipe has a shiny topcoat of varnish. I took some photos of the stamping on the shank sides. The next two photos show what that looked like.I worked on the stem to polish out the scratches and nicks in the surface. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit micromesh sanding pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I was able to polish out all of the nicks and scratches without resorting to more invasive methods. I buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel to further polish out the scratches. I gave the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax and buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine back to the surface. I hand buffed it with a microfibre cloth to deepen the shine. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. It is a great piece of pipe history and one that will be available on the rebornpipes store soon. If you want to beat the traffic and add it to your collection just send me an email and it can be yours. Thanks for looking.

Restemming and Reconditioning a Brigham Voyageur 165

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Blog by Steve Laug

The eighth pipe from the lot of pipes that a pipesmoker dropped by for repair is a Brigham Voyageur. It is stamped on the left side of the shank with the Brigham name over Voyageur which is the model. The shape number is 165. It was rusticated in the classic Brigham style with a smooth rim, ring around the rim and the shank end and a smooth spot on the shank for the stamping. The pipe was dirty with dust and grime in the crevices of the finish on the bowl. The rim had a tarry buildup which had flowed from the cake in the bowl. The internals were very dirty with a lot of tar and grime. The overall condition of the bowl was good under the grime. The following photos show the pipe’s condition before I began to clean and restore it. I took a close up photo of the rim top and the bowl to show the condition of the cake and the overflow on to the rim top. I also took a photo of the stamping on the smooth left side of the shank. The pipe was a two dot Brigham. In talking with the owner he was not interested in preserving the Brigham system. He was only interested in having a pipe that he could fire up and enjoy. I would need to decide how I was going to fix this one but it was going to be another challenge for me.The stem was in rough shape. It had a split on the top side that ran from the edge of the button almost an inch up the stem toward the bowl. On the underside it had deep tooth marks and two cracks that ran through the button into the airway in the slot. The slot was compressed from the bit marks. There was a lot of oxidation on the surface and some calcification. The Brigham nylon tenon told me that the pipe is a newer one rather than those with the aluminum tenon. It was designed to hold the Brigham Hard Maple Filter tube that is specially designed for them. This one was clogged with tars. The end of the nylon tube was splitting and flared. It was ruined. The photos below show the damaged areas on the stem.I put the stem aside for a while and started on the bowl. I reamed the cake with a PipNet reamer and the Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to scrape the cake back to bare briar. I rolled a piece of 220 grit sandpaper and wrapped it around my index finger to sand the walls of the bowl. The cake was so sticky and crumbling that I wanted a hard, clean surface so that the owner could build a new cake to protect the bowl.I scraped out the shank with a dental spatula to scrape away the hardened tars that were on the walls of the mortise and airway to the bowl. I scrubbed the surface with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and alcohol until the shank and mortise was clean.To remove the hard buildup on the rim top and some of the damage to the front outer edge of the bowl I lightly topped it on the topping board using 220 grit sandpaper. I used a folded piece of 220 grit sandpaper to clean up the burn marks and damage on the inner edge of the rim. I finished by sanding the rim with a medium and a fine grit sanding sponge and 1500-4000 grit micromesh sanding pads to smooth out the rim and remove the scratches.I scrubbed the externals of the bowl with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a soft bristle tooth brush to clean out the crevices and grooves of the rustication. Once it was clean I wiped the bowl down with alcohol on a cotton pad to remove the dust on the finish to prepare it for a new coat of stain. I stained the bowl with a dark brown aniline stain and flamed it with a lighter. I repeated the process until the coverage on the bowl was even.Once the stain dried I wiped it down with a cotton pad and alcohol to make it more transparent. I wanted the grain to show through on the smooth portions and the ridges of the rustication. I lightly buffed the bowl with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave it a light coat of Conservator’s Wax and hand buffed it with a shoe brush and a microfiber cloth. The buffed and restored bowl is shown in the photos that follow. The time between this picture and the next cannot be captured in photos as there were two days of work and time that went into trying various methods of repairing the original stem for the pipe. I cleaned out the split in the stem and roughened the surface with a file. I cleaned out the cracks on the button, the split on the top side and the tooth marks on the underside of the stem. It took a bunch of sanding and picking. I filled in the gaps with black super glue and charcoal powder to strengthen the repairs. I filed them smooth and sanded them to restore the finish. All was going well until I tried to slide a pipe cleaner into the airway. I pushed it through the airway and into the button only to have the repaired button fall off. The cracks gave way and the chunk fell free of the stem. No repairs would ever hold on this stem. It was finished. One day I may cut it off and use the shorter version for a different pipe but it is not worth a repair any longer.

That decision having been made for me I went through my stem can in search of a replacement. I knew the owner was fine with a non-Brigham stem so that was the way I was going to proceed. I found a stem that had the same dimensions as the original stem. It was a straight stem that I would need to clean up and bend the stem to match the original but it would look good on this old pipe.I sanded the stem with 220 grit sandpaper to clean off the oxidation and remove the light tooth chatter and tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem. I turned the tenon down with a Dremel and sanding drum and fine-tuned it with a file to reduce the tenon to fit the shank of the pipe. I heated the stem with a heat gun until I was able to bend it to match the original stem. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads. I wet sanded it with 1500-2400 grit pads and dry sanded it with 3200-12000 grit pads. I still had to work on the tenon to remove the file marks but the stem was beginning to shine. I polished the tenon with micromesh sanding pads to remove the majority of the file marks on the vulcanite. I buffed the tenon and then the stem and bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel to remove the final scratches on the stem. I gave the stem and the smooth portions of the briar several coats of carnauba wax on the wheel and then buffed it with a clean buffing pad to raise a shine. I hand buffed the bowl and stem with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. I think that the owner will really like the looks of his restored and restemmed Brigham. It looks really good to my eye. Thanks for looking.