Photographed and written by 

John M. Young

I cannot explain why but I find metal pipes fascinating.  I don’t find them particularly beautiful but more utilitarian, like a good tool.  I remember first seeing a Dr Grabow CDL online and found them to be rather disjointed in appearance.  The stems and shanks looked segmented.  Still, they intrigued me.  The advertisements spoke highly of their cool and dry smoking characteristics but then nearly all advertisements make similar claims.  I decided that I needed to find and restore one to see this for myself.  The search for a subject was not fast and easy.  For many months the auction listings were far more expensive than what I was willing to pay.  I remember thinking, “Who in their right mind would pay over $100 for a Dr. Grabow?”  The listings seemed to be of two categories; one around $30 and the other +$100.  I personally thought that both were too high, at least for a pipe to satisfy my curiosity.  Eventually, I found a likely subject for under $20.  The pipe was an eBay purchase and arrived from Reno, Nevada.  On the bottom of the stummel was stamped DR. GRABOW IMPORTED BRIAR in a circle around CDL. Below are some photos of the Dr Grabow CDL before any work was done.

The pipe appeared to be unsmoked and there was a clean filter within the stem.  How the nylon bit became so heavily dented with what looked like tooth chatter, I couldn’t figure out.  There were a few marks on the stummel that looked like the finish had been worn away.  I wondered if the pipe had been jostled in a drawer of a vehicle glovebox, purchased but never used.  For whatever reason this pipe had gone neglected for the past 50 years and would soon be back in the game.

Background

Dr Grabow is perhaps one of America’s best known pipe brands.  This renown has brought with it a following of two main camps:  Those who love their Dr Grabows and those who do not.  In an attempt to remain objective, I can say that I love a couple of the Dr Grabow lines; the old 1930s Linkman pipes and the more recent Westbrooks are in my “favorites” category while many of the other lines are considered “less than” pipes.  By that I mean less than preferred.  Whatever your impression of Dr Grabow, they have a long and significant history in our hobby.  I will include a link to the history of the brand from pipedia.org for those who would like access to a more complete history here.

As for the CDL pipes, I first turned to pipephil.eu for information.  According to this site the CDLs were manufactured for about a decade starting in 1975 and never made it past test marketing.

(Dr Grabow — Pipes : Logos & Markings (pipephil.eu))

Next, I found a nice restoration of a CDL by Charles Lemon of dadspipes.com.  In his blog he included an image of an ad from pipephil.eu.  I found this interesting but could not find the ad on the pipephil.eu site.  I do not know what the “Magni” implies in the ad but it certainly must be important as it is found in three of the components of the pipe.  Perhaps “magni’ficent?  The prefix comes from Latin meaning, large or great, if memory serves.

(https://dadspipes.com/2020/10/09/a-quick-refresh-for-a-grabow-cdl/)

Whenever I research any pipe consisting of metal parts, I turn to smokingmetal.co.uk.  This is a wonderful resource for pipes made from, you guessed it, metal.  The entry is included in its entirety. 

“Not totally sure where this pipe fits in. Metal stem it certainly has, but unsure if bowl is meant to be detachable 6.2 inches long and the facility to take an in line filter in the stem. The stem continues right through the bowl and enables air to be drawn through from front of bowl as well as smoke from bowl

This example thanks to John Phillips of Arkansas.

Ed James tells me that CDL is for Cooler,Dryer,Lighter. He has a display card with this on, the pipe retailed at $4.95 at that time.

“A couple of other things I remember about the CDL pipe. It was produced from 1975 to 1983 in limited qualities and test marketed in several U.S. cities but apparently never mass marketed” from Dave Whitney” (http://www.smokingmetal.co.uk/pipe.php?page=391)

Another interesting link is the Dr Grabow timeline produced by Tiki Vegas.  I find this useful for dating various Dr Grabow lines.  According to Vegas, the CDLs were made starting in 1974 not 1975 as previously recorded.

(https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/dr-grabow)

Turning to a forum post, I found a quote from a user named theloniousmonkfish who stated:

“Made from 75-83 and test marketed in cities across the US, never took off.

From the former COO of Grabow, Tom Douglas

“The predecessor of the CDL was bought in 1967 in LaGuardia airport by Paul Fish. It sat on Pauls desk until his death in 1972. It was a simple bowl and a simple metal stem with attatched bit. I’ve always speculated that it was sold by Mastercraft.

Jack Martin became President of Sparta Pipes in 1972. The CDL sat on his (and Paul’s) desk for years.

In about 1974 we decided to design and try the concept. Tooling for the “shank”, and the mould for the bit were EXPENSIVE, but we tried.

Best I recall… we made 300 and sent them FREE to RJR customers who had ordered Westbrook etc. along with a survey. Knew we had pipe smokers.

Comments were.. Coolest smoke I ever had.

Dryest smoke I ever had.

Lightest pipe I ever owned.

But Invariably.. Ugliest pipe I’ve ever seen.

Guess we should have called it CULD.

I’m really curious about what those who have never tried a CDL will think about it. It is a wonderful smoke…. not to be seen outside with…… Td”“

(https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/need-info-on-dr-grabow-cdl.93500/)  This is interesting as it is purportedly a quote from the former COO of Dr Grabow, Tom Douglas.

In summary, it appears that the CDLs were produced by Dr Grabow as a test to see if the product would be accepted by pipe smokers.  The pipes were manufactured in 1974 or 1975-1983.  For whatever reason the line never caught on with pipe smokers and was discontinued.  

The Restoration

The Dr Grabow CDL received a clean denim piece for the restoration.  Well, actually it would be more of a refreshening than a restoration.

The first step was to clean the accumulated years worth of dirt and dust from the patient.  This was done with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon scrub brush.  The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton face towel.

The pipe was already looking better.  I was not sure why there were areas within the rusticated surface which looked like scratches in the finish.

Alos confusing was the high number of what looked like tooth chatter.

The interior of the stem was cleaned with a cotton swab dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.  This came back clean reaffirming my impression that the pipe had never been smoked.

To address the damage to the stem, I filed the dented surface with a small fine file.  The nylon bit proved to be difficult to file not because it was too hard but more due to its plasticity.  The shank was wrapped in painters tape for its protection.  I then worked the stem with a series of sanding sponges from 320-3500 grit.  Occasionally I would rub the stem with mineral oil and wipe it with a paper towel.  This helped me see where I needed additional sanding.  The stem was then taken to the  buffer where I buffed it with a Red Tripoli wheel followed by a White Diamond wheel.  The finish of the stem was far better but also far from perfect.  This was, though, as good as I was going to get it.

The worn spots on the stummel were stained using a walnut Furniture Touch-up Marker.  Below are a few before and after photos..

I used Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax Polish to help preserve the rusticated briar.  This was applied with a baby toothbrush.

The instructions said that the product “Dries hard instantly”.  I found that their definition of instantly differed from mine.  

After the wax was applied I let it sit for 5 minutes then hand buffed it with an inside out athletic sock.

The pipe was returned to the buffer where I applied a couple coats of carnauba wax to the stem, shank and base of the stummel.  The pipe was then hand buffed with a microfiber polishing cloth.

I am actually smoking this pipe as I type this conclusion,  I am quite pleased at how much better the pipe looks after the restoration.  The worn surfaces are refreshed and the stem much better and  nearly chatter free.  The pipe does smoke very nicely.  I give credit to the Dr Grabow designers full credit for that.  The walls of the stummel are 0.35 inches (8.89 mm) wide.  This, the “Magni-vent” and the “Magni-chamber” do combine to make a nice cool smoking experience.  I am smoking it without a filter and will compare that to filtered smoke in the future.  The dimensions of the Dr Grabow CDL are: 

• Length:  6.19 in./ 157.23 mm.
• Weight:  0.99 oz./ 28.04 g.
• Bowl Height:  1.46 in./  37.08 mm.
• Chamber Depth:  1.24 in./ 30.73 mm.
• Chamber Diameter:  0.78 in./ 19.81 mm.
• Outside Diameter:  1.48 in./ 37.59 mm.

I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations.  If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons.  Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

Below are some photos of the finished Dr Grabow CDL.