Category: French Pipe Makers

A Silverking Synchromatic Billiard Restoration

August 15th, 2024

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

SilverKing a name that everyone has heard of and associates with … Umm, what? Haven’t heard of em, eh? Well neither had I but it is still a darn fine looking piece of briar. And it’s made in France, maybe. Okay, I am reaching for some enthusiasm . This lovely old billiard was one of six pipes that I won from ebay back in June of this year from Hollywood, Florida. The target of my desire was the Peterson meerschaum (2nd from the right) which was hiding amongst these pipes as seen in the photo below. I have restored all but one of the lot. As a matter of fact, the Barclay Rex was sold right after the restoration blog was published. I will add links to the restorations of the others for those who might be interested: Canted Dublin, Barclay Rex, Telford’s Canadian, Peterson meerschaum. The finished pipes look far better than their below photo.

Back to the subject at hand, this lovely Silverking billiard. The pipe was stamped with SILVERKING over SYNCHROMATIC on the left shank and ALGERIAN BRIAR over FRANCE on the right shank. The stem has a crown stamped logo and the silver band is stamped EP within a diamond and three Hallmarks (middle and stem-ward worn to illegible). Below are photos of the Silverking billiard prior to working on it.

This looked to be a straightforward restoration with no glaring difficulties. There were a few deep fills to be made to the briar, a slightly overclocked stem and the missing stinger but other than that a nice relaxing afternoon in the basement avoiding the heat of mid-summer.

Background

I would love to be able to tell a good story about the trials and tribulations of the Silverking pipe factory but alas, there is scant information concerning this maker. If you have any additional information, please feel free to leave it or links in the comments. All I could find is the following from pipephil.eu:

(Si-Siq — Pipes: Logos & Markings (pipephil.eu)). Referring to the “?” at the top right of the screenshot below, I am not sure why there is a question about the country of manufacture (COM) of this pipe as it is clearly stamped MADE IN FRANCE or in the case of my Silverking FRANCE. “Made in France” is also stated in the text above.

I looked at the “Otherline from this factory” links and they are included here:

(Big Ben — Pipes : Logos & Markings (pipephil.eu))

(Go-Gq — Pipes: Logos & Markings (pipephil.eu))

Not much to work with. A quick search on pipdedia.org resulted in the following quote,

“This is probably not a brand but rather the name of a line of an unknown french factory.

Other line from this factory: Big Ben Reputation , Gold King”(Silverking – Pipedia).

It looked like pipedia.org got their information from pipephil.eu as well.

Now we can assume a bit of information about the date of production. Algeria had been a source of briar from the mid to late 1800s and into the early 1900s. During the years of World War Two briar production was severely limited. After the war briar production returned. Algeria was a French colony and like many colonies during the mid 20th Century, experienced a wave of anticolonialism. The French attempted to squelt this anticolonialism leading to the Algerian war of independence from 1954-1962. During this time Briar production from Algeria was greatly reduced. According to the Wikipedia.com article fatalities of the conflict were, “between 400,000 and 1,500,000 Algerians,^[40]^[24]^[22] 25,600 French soldiers,^[15]^: 538 and 6,000 Europeans.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_War).

A more complete story of the military operations is available here: https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20081031_art012.pdf

Well that about sums up all I know about this old pipe. It was made in France of Algerian Briar. Most likely between the second world war and 1954.

The Restoration

As typical this restoration began with a relatively clean denim piece as a work surface.

The reaming tools were gathered and included the Scotte Stainless Steel reamer rather than the traditional PiNet reamer due to the narrow tobacco chamber and the fact that my PiNet #1 blade suffered a catastrophic failure. The Scotte did a fine job and only required a small amount of scraping with the Smokingpipes Low Country Reaming knife and the General triangular scraper.

After the reaming the chamber was sanded with 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. No heat damage was observed in the chamber.

The shank cleaning was done with 95% ethyl alcohol, a nylon shank brush, bristle pipe cleaners and cotton swabs.

After the shank was cleaned I turned my attention to the stem. Here the ethyl alcohol and bristle pipe cleaners were used to clean the airway of the stem.

The rim of this old French billiard had definite lava accumulations. This was softened with saliva and scraped with a sharp pocket knife.

The scraped rim looked better but would require a good scrubbing.

Seque to the scrubbing. The stummel was taken to the sink for a scrubbing with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a medium toothbrush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel was dried with a cotton dish towel.

Back at the workbench the stummel appeared to have most of the finish removed during the scrubbing. The briar looked dull and flat except in a few areas where some finish remained.

An 95% ethyl alcohol wetted make-up pad was used to scrub the stummel. A good deal of color came off the stummel. This indicated that wax, finish and stain were being removed.

A second alcohol wipe yielded more color.

To make sure no coatings remained a wipe with a make-up pad with acetone was used. This time only a little bit of stain was present on the pad.

All of the scrubbing and wiping allowed me to see the pits and damage to the stummel. These would require a fill of brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust.

The gouges received a small drop of CA applied with a fly tying bodkin. While the CA was still wet I scooped a small amount of briar dust with a dental scraper and placed the dust on the wet CA. This was then pressed into the wet CA in the depressions..

The briar dust causes the CA to cure almost instantly so once the dust is placed, pressing had to occur immediately. The excess dust was brushed off with a brass brush.

The new fill was filed with a flat diamond needle file to remove and smooth the fill then was sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge.

In deeper fills this process was repeated until the fill was complete. The completed fills appear much darker than the surrounding briar. The light spots seen below are slight depressions with dry briar dust from sanding in them. A final coat of clear thin CA was applied to the dry spots and they were sanded with a dusty 400 grit sanding sponge. The dust was incorporated into the slight depression with the clear thin CA to fill the last of the low spots.

The above procedure was used to fill pits of the shank.

And the heel of the stummel.

To conceal the fills and to add contrast to the briar grain, I decided to contrast dye this stummel. Black Fiebing’s Leather Dye was chosen for this. The duct tape wrapped fishing bobber acts as a plug to keep dye out of the tobacco chamber and as a handle. The folded pipe cleaner is the applicator for the dye while the lighter provides a flame when burning off the alcohol solvent of the dye fixing it to the briar. Notice that I used painters tape to cover the stamps. This is done to keep the dye from penetrating the briar on the stamp. Were that area to become darkly dyed, extra sanding/buffing would have reduced the stamps.

Below is the black dyed stummel, still wet with Fiebing’s Leather Dye.

I wiped off the remaining damp dye with a paper towel. This also removed my painters tape stamp protectors. Here you can see that the stamped area received less dye thus reducing the amount of sanding/buffing that the stamp will be exposed to.

The blackened stummel was taken to the buffer where rouge buffing compound was used to buff away the router black dyed briar. The results looked good but I wanted the stummel to be lighter overall in color.

To further lighten the briar I lightly sanded the stummel with 320 and 400 grit sanding sponges. This removed more of the black dyed briar. When I was happy with the shade, I sanded the stummel with a series of sanding sponges 600-3500 grits and wiped the stummel with an alcohol dampened make-up pad between each sponge..

I turned my attention to the stem. The slightly over-clocked stem could have been adjusted a couple of different ways; by heating the aluminum threads until the rubber softened and then turning the aluminum slightly or to add a bead of black cyanoacrylate to the end of the stem. I chose the later as the overclocking was so slight. Here I sanded the stem from about its middle to the button with 320 and 400 grit sanding sponges.

I then used Soft Scrub cleanser on make-up pads to scrub the entire stem. The pads became very dark with oxidized stem material. I was uncertain as to the material used with this stem. Normally oxidized vulcanite yields a brown color on the make-up pad. This was nearly black. I coated the stem with mineral oil and allowed it to sit for 30 minutes. After the sitting, the stem looked black with no signs of a brown oxidized stem.

The stem was then sanded with a sequence of sanding sponges from 600-3500 grit. I did cover the stem logo with a small piece of painters tape to protect it from the sanding. Between each sponge I rubbed mineral oil onto the stem with my fingertip and wiped the stem with a paper towel.

After the sanding sponges the stem was polished with 4000-12000 micro-mesh pads. Between each pad I applied a drop of Obsidian Oil to the stem, rubbed it in with a fingertip and wiped the stem with a paper towel.

After micro-meshing the stem, I cleaned the logo area with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol to remove any oil.

I then used Silver Leaf Rub’nBuff on the logo. The silver was worked into the stamped logo, allowed to dry for a couple minutes and buffed with a paper towel to remove the excess. I know, the pipephil.eu information said that the Silverking used white on the logo but I thought that silver would look a touch more classy.

The stummel was micro-meshed in a similar fashion except without the Obsidian oil. Here I wiped the stummel with an alcohol dampened make-up pad between pads.

The stummel was given a coat of Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit for 20 minutes. I failed to photo this step. After 20 minutes the Restoration Balm was wiped off with an inside out athletic sock. I failed to photo that as well. The final step was to take the pipe to the buffer for several coats of carnauba wax.

This pipe turned out very well. I really like how the contrast staining brought out the differences in the grain. It made the bird’s eyes stand out much better than I hoped it would. The stem polished up well. I still do not know exactly what the stem material is but it looks good and didn’t turn my lips black when I sampled the draw of the pipe. I do wish the stinger was intact though the draw is very nice without it. I am sure this will be a nice smoking pipe for someone who loves a long billiards. With it’s relatively tall and narrow tobacco chamber I expect it would make a fine Virginia or Virginia Perique blend pipe. The dimensions of this French beauty are:

Length: 6.34 in./ 161.04 mm.

Weight: 1.38 oz./ 39.30 g.

Bowl Height: 1.83 in./ 46.48 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.53 in./ 38.86 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.69 in./ 17.53 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.46 in./ 37.08 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 Silverking Synchromatic billiard.
A Super Majestic System V.D. Billiard Restoration

July 30th, 2024

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

As if Majestic wasn’t a good enough name they had to add the SUPER. That made me laugh when I first read the stampings. Here we have a delightful classic billiard pipe that has gained its turn at the workbench. The pipe was purchased as a single from a seller in Green Bay Wisconsin. I was attracted to it by the name and star inlay logo. I had seen neither and thought they looked intriguing. Besides, how can a guy say no to an attractive lass with good briar like this for under $15? The pipe was stamped SUPER (diagonally) Majestic (script) over SYSTEM V.D.. There was no country of manufacture (COM) leading me to think it was an American made product. The stem, as mentioned, had a silver-like 5 pointed star inlay. Below are some photos prior to working on the pipe:

The pipe showed signs of frequent use. There was a definite, though far from excessive cake in the bowl, the stinger had a coating of dried tarlac ( personal term combining tar with shellac). There were some minor tooth chatter dents on the stem and the strange banded oxidation. The oxidation pattern was perhaps due to the darker part being in a pipe rack and slightly protected from light. The stinger contraption was very unique, it looked as if it were machined by a prison inmate car engine fan wanting to make a stinger look like a crankshaft and be able to double as a shank (prison weapon). The final interesting part to note was that the shank had a cork insert acting as the mortise for the aluminum tenon. This struck me as a rather old fashioned connection of the stem and shaft.

Background

As you may expect there is not much information on Majestic pipes. Pipephil.eu led me to a couple deadends.

(Ben Wade — Pipes: Logos & Markings (pipephil.eu))

(M-Man — Pipes: Logos & Markings (pipephil.eu))

Undeterred, I went to pipedia.org. There a search for “Majestic” returned the following:

A. Pandevant & Roy Co.

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Catalog Listing similar to the EPC Majestic example

A. Pandevant & Roy Co. of Paris had its beginning in 1884 and disappeared with the commencement of WWII in the late 30s or early 40s. “E.P.C.”, “La Savoyarde”, “MAJESTIC”, “La Parisienne” and “E.P.” were registered trademarks of the company.

Note: The following example and the information for this article is courtesy of Dal Stanton, The Pipe Steward, and his wonderful research from this restoration project: Discovering the History with the Reclamation of this Petite EPC Majestic Bent Horn Stem Billiard on RebornPipes.com. (A. Pandevant & Roy Co. – Pipedia)

Now, let it be known that Dal Stanton is a wonderful restorer of old pipes. Though his skills are very impressive, one of the things that I admire most is his attention to detail when writing up the history of a pipe that he is working on. The above is a perfect example of his diligence. While I was reading about the restoration of the above pipe I came across his description of the mortise of his pipe: “What I see next surprises me. I see the briar shank ringing something else inserted into to the mortise. A lining of some sort. I discover then that it appears to be cork. Cork seats the horn tenon in the mortise much like cork seats the Meerschaum bowl on a Gourd Calabash. I have never seen this before, but it seems to work quite well. I will condition the cork with a little petroleum jelly later. The challenge becomes protecting the cork while I’m cleaning the rest of the stummel internals. I’m not sure that I want the cork saturated with alcohol – I’m not sure that will be the best thing.” (Discovering the History with the Reclamation of this Petite EPC Majestic Bent Horn Stem Billiard | rebornpipes) (italics added by me).

There it is the same cork insert that I am looking at with the Majestic which I am restoring. Coincidence? I think not. I believe that the Super Majestic Billiar is indeed an EPC Majestic produced prior to WWII in France.

I asked Dal Stanton to review this blog prior to publishing. He also saw the similarities that I did. He was unsure about the claim that my Majestic was an EPC product due to the differences in stem material, the star logo and the lack of the three hearts associated with the EPC stamping. He also recommended discussing the pipe with Steve Laug. I reached out to Steve, and sent him a link to this article as well. Steve also thought the link between the two Majestic pipes was reasonable. He commented, “I think you are right in connecting the two. There is a link. The fact that the bone insert is replaced with a metal can help to date it a bit. I am pretty sure that between WW1 and WW2 metal was used for the tenons in replacing the bone ones.” (Steve Laug, personal communication)

I think the Majestic Systeme V.D. Billiard is an EPC made pipe produced several years later than the Majestic pipe which Dal Stanton had restored. Perhaps the Systeme V.D. specimen was one of the latter pipes produced prior to WWII and the demise of the company.

The Restoration

The restoration began with a clean denim piece to protect the workbench

Due to the narrow bore of this pipe and the fact that I had broken my #1 blade of my PipNet, I relied on the Scotte Stainless Steel reamint tool.

The Scotte is more than adequate for the job and was aided by the Smokingpipes Low Country reaming knife and the General triangular scraper. The tobacco chamber was sanded with 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel.

The chamber was sanded to bare briar and no sign of heat damage was observed. Yes, the resident white German Shepherd is always living up to her better descriptor of German Shedder.

The rim had a respectable layer of lava on it.

This was moistened with saliva and scraped with a sharp pocket knife.

The stummel was taken to the sink where it received a scrubbing with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a medium stiff toothbrush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

While waiting for the stummel to air dry, I began work on the stem. The sinter was firmly attached to the stem and would not budge. I wasn’t sure if it was just a push fit stinger or if it was threaded. Either way it was stuck. I submerged it in 95% ethyl alcohol for a soak.

While the stinger was soaking I examined the stummel. The briar was of good quality and no pits were observed. The scrubbing had removed most, though not all of the finish. Patches of shiny finish can be seen in the photos below.

Back to the stinger. I scrubbed the stinger with a brass brush frequently dipped in the ethyl alcohol. The shape of the stinker was even more amazing when cleaned. This was a serious piece of millwork.

I started to clean out the shank of the pipe. Attempting to be cautious around the cork insert. A dental scraper was used to clean the tar from the airway as well as a nylon shank brush, numerous cotton swabs and folded bristle pipe cleaners. Eventually the airway was cleaned.

While in the cleaning mode, I cleaned the airway of the stem. This only used bristle pipe cleaners and 95% ethyl alcohol. Oh yeah, I forgot. The stinger was threaded into the stem. I don’t know why I would have expected anything less after seeing the machine work used for its manufacture.

The stem was given a light hand buffing with 0000 steel wool to allow the Before and After Deoxidizer solution access to the oxidized vulcanite.

A pipe cleaner was inserted into the tenon and used as a hanger to suspend the sem into the solution.

This stem was fairly oxidized so I figured at least 2 hours would be needed perhaps overnight.

I returned attention to the stummel. I wiped the surface with a make-up pad wetted with 95% ethyl alcohol. I hoped that the finish was shellac which is soluble in alcohol.

The alcohol seemed to have worked but to be completely sure I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad wetted with acetone.

If a little acetone is good, more must be better. This removed the last of any finish remaining on the stummel.

The briar was nice in that it had no pits of outward flaws; it also did not have much in terms of grain. I thought that a contrast dye would add a bit of depth to the existing grain. I did not want to sand and risk reducing the stamps so I taped over them with painter tape. This should keep the majority of the dye from the stamps and allow me to touch-up dye them later.

The stummel was then lightly sanded with 400 and 600 grit sanding sponges with the white German Shepherd attachments.

I applied a coating of black Fiebing’s Leather Dye to the stummel with a folded pipe cleaner and flamed the wet dye burning off the alcohol solvent.

The pipe was then rinsed with 91% isopropyl alcohol over the sink.

The stummel was then wiped with a paper towel to remove the excess dye. Notice the areas where the tape had been. The briar there is much lighter colored than the surrounding wood.

The stummel was then sanded to remove the outer layer of black dyed briar. The dye penetrated the softer open grain of the briar more than the harder grain. When sanded the area where the dye penetrated deeply is darker than the area where the dye was more on the surface.

I returned attention to the stem. It was removed from the Before and After Deoxidizer and allowed to drip excess solution back into the container. This drip dry device is quite the remarkable feat of engineering, eh?

After the stem drip dried for a few minutes I wiped any remaining solution off with a coarse shop rag. Two pipe cleaners were also run through the airway to clear it of solution as well.

The stem was lightly sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge.

The stem was then scrubbed with SoftScrub cleanser on make-up pads to remove the oxidized rubber.

To try something different I decided to take the pipe to the buffer and buff the entire pipe with rouge buffing compound. I had seen restorers use the buffer to remove the outer layer of dyed wood. I had tried it in the past and never felt comfortable with the technique. I thought, practice and trying new things is good, right? Below you can see the results.

I liked the way the briar looked but I was not happy with the stem. That would need the old fashioned sanding sponges and micro-mesh pads. Another thing I noticed when buffing the pipe was that the stem was too loose. I thought about ways to refresh the cork. I read how Dal Stanton used petroleum jelly. I thought to myself, wood swells with moisture. Why not try steaming the cork? I put the kettle on and it soon started its annoying whistle. The exiting steam was allowed to flow into the shank. It flowed right through the shank out the tobacco chamber and onto my hand. Hmm, maybe a glove would have been a good idea. The steam worked very nicely at swelling the cork and a the stem was a perfect tight fit afterwards.

The buffing did not produce the finish that I thought this pipe was worthy of. I returned to doin things the way I was used to doing them. The stem was sanded with a sequence of sanding sponges from 400-3500 grit. Between each sponge I dipped my finger tip into mineral oil, rubbed this onto the stem and wiped the stem off with a clean dry paper towel.

I then used the 4000-12000 micro-mesh pads to polish the stem. This time I used a drop of Obsidian Oil between sponges, rubbed in and wiped off with a paper towel.

The stem was then further polished with Before and After Fine Polish on a soft cotton rag.

The Before and After Extra Fine Polish was used with the same cotton cloth.

The entire pipe was given a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit for 30 minutes to ensure the Balm had enough time to work it’s magic.

The pipe was then wiped, cleaning off the Restoration Balm with an inside out athletic sock.

It was then taken back to the buffer to receive several coats of carnauba wax.

This Majestic turned out quite nicely. It is of a darker finish than I usually strive for but I think it works well with the classic elegant lines of this billiard. The silver tone star inlay on the stem also accentuates a darker finish and looks great surrounded by the glossy black vulcanite. I am not sure how I feel about using the buffer with red polishing compound rather than sanding to achieve a smooth finish. I mean it looks good but still it feels like cheating somehow. Either way, this pipe will make a fine smoker for its next companion. Te dimensions of the Super Majestic are:

Length: 5.98 in./ 151.89 mm.

Weight: 1.00 oz./ 28.40g.

Bowl Height: 1.72 in./ 43.69 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.42in./ 36.07 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.74 in./ 18.80 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.30 in./ 33.02 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.

PS: If you know anything about the brand or the meaning behind the “V.D. stamping, please leave a comment. Thank you.

Below are some photos of the finished Super Majestic Billiard.
A GBD Sierra 1350

July 9th, 2024
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

I left the style of this pipe blank and only used the shape number for reasons that you will see in a minute. I’ve restored a few GBD pipes over the years but this is the first that I have blogged about. This pipe seems very French or maybe Danish to me. A very nice shape which I would be inclined to describe as a slightly bent billiard. The pipe came in an estate lot which also brought a Jarl (https://wordpress.com/post/scimansays1787.com/6336) a Stanwell (https://wordpress.com/post/scimansays1787.com/6189) and 2 other pipes from Sacramento, California to the wilds of southeast Nebraska. I included the links to the previously restored two pipes.

This GBD was in need of some work. As my father used to say, “ Looks like it was rode hard and put away wet”. That phrase was originally intended for horses but dad used it for various things and occasionally women. The stamps were discernible through the grime and read; GBD, within an oval, over SIERRA offset to the right and perpendicular was 1350 over MADE IN FRANCE. The later stamp was quite faint and difficult to make out. Below are photos of the pipe prior to work being done.

The pipe was pretty filthy, the finish was faded, the stem heavily oxidized, bowl caked and the internals were anyones’ guess. This was going to be a fun one. I looked through a few GBD photos and found the below image:

(GBD – Pipedia)

That is the color that I wanted for this pipe. Yeah, I know, I am getting ahead of myself but I heard once that setting goals is important. Though, I think I’ll try to avoid getting dye in the tobacco chamber.

Background

The history of GBD is a long one. I reread the pipedia.org site and realized that including all of that might dissuade some readers from the blog. I will include the first paragraph mainly pertaining to the originators of the company and its name and include the link for those who would like more information.

In 1850 three gentlemen got together in Paris to establish a firm dedicated to the fabrication of Meerschaum pipes – a courageous step in politically restless times. Ganneval probably came from the area of Saint-Claude where he had learned making wooden pipes. Bondier’s family obviously came from Paris and had emigrated in 1789 to Geneva. He himself had worked as a wood turner in the clay and china pipe industry in and around Saint-Claude making stem extensions etc. Donninger was an Austrian or Swiss and had worked in Vienna, the world’s center of the Meerschaum pipe. They agreed on the acronym GBD selecting the initials of their surnames. Bondier survived his partners for nearly 30 years. Their places were taken by others. Hence the property of GBD and therewith the company’s official name changed several times.
- Ganneval, Bondier & Donninger
- Bondier, Ulrich & Cie.
- Bine, Marechal & Cie. and finally
- A. Marechal, Ruchon & Cie.
Meanwhile the GBD name was well established and thus retained. August Marechal and Ferdinand Ruchon led the firm into the 20th century. They were in charge of the company for more than 50 years.” (GBD – Pipedia)

In clicking another link from the above site I came across the following,

“The company was founded in Paris, France in the 19th century by Ganeval, Boundier and Donninger who were no longer associated with the company by the turn of the century. By the time they left the GBD name was well established and thus retained. In 1903 an additional factory was built in England and ran by Oppenheimer. The Paris factory moved to Saint-Claude in 1952. Since 1981 the majority of GBD pipes come from the English factory. At about that same time GBD merged with Comoys, since then all production for both GBD and Comoy comes from a single factory. ( I wasn’t kidding when I said it was brief! )

More history and addition information can be read in the main GBD article.”

(GBD Model Information – Pipedia)

Who doesn’t love a writer with a sense of humor, eh?

Now for the pipe in hand, the GBD Sierra. The stamped shape is a 1305, which according to another pipedia.org page has the following:

(above screenshots from: GBD Shapes/Numbers – Pipedia)

“shapes with an * are non standard bowl shapes, and stem angles with a “rev” conotation refer to pipes with bowls that are canted forward.” (GBD Shapes/Numbers – Pipedia). Now, I personally would not consider this pipe a Dublin nor an apple, I will differ and go with the “apple” designation.

Pepidia.org does have a listing of the models attributed to GBD and their “Seconds”. The Sierra is listed as,
- “Sierra — Rusticated finish, made in France: -”
(GBD Model Information – Pipedia)

Unfortunately, that is all. As for the age of the GBD 1350 apple, I cannot be certain of much other than it was made in France likely after 1970.

The Restoration

As usual I began with a clean denim work surface protection device (AKA a square of old blue jeans).

The stem would need some time soaking in an OxyClean and water solution so that was the first task. I hand buffed the stem with 0000 steel wool to remove the outermost oxidation.

The stem was then placed in the solution and allowed to soak for a couple of hours.

After the reaming the stummel needed to be rid of the years of accumulated grime. It was taken to the sink for a scrub with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a couple of different scrub brushes. The first brush was a medium stiff toothbrush. The stummel was rinsed and dried then I scrubbed it again with Murphy’s and a stiffer nylon scrub brush. This too was rinsed with warm water and dried again with a cotton hand towel.

Back at the workbench the stummel was scrubbed agin, this time with the nylon scrub brush and 95% ethyl alcohol.

TO make sure there was no finish remaining I scrubbed the stummel again with acetone and the nylon scrub brush. The stummel was wiped with a make-up pad dipped in acetone as well.

The shank was pretty well tar coated. I scraped with a dental scraper then poured 3-4 ml of 95% ethyl alcohol into the bowl and allowed it to flow into the shank. I then used a nylon shank brush to scrub the airway with the alcohol. I dumped the darkened alcohol into a second medicine cup. The shank brush was wiped on a cotton wash cloth to clean the tar from the bristles and the airway was scrubbed with cotton swabs dipped in additional clean alcohol.

This rotation of scraping, alcohol/shank brush scrubbing, cotton swab scrubbing went on for several rotations until the shank was clean.

The stummel had darkened with all the years worth of wear and tear and my scrubbing so I decided to bleach the briar with a bit of oxalic acid. I used a saturated solution of oxalic acid crystals in distilled water.

The solution was applied with a cotton swab and allowed to sit for 20 minutes.

After the 20 minutes the stummel was rinsed with copious warm water and again scrubbed with the nylon scrub brush, dried with a cotton hand towel and allowed to air dry for 15 minutes. Below is how the stummel looked after all the scrubbing and oxalic acid.

Next it was time for me to see if I could match the red/black dye of the GBD photos from pipedia.org. I gathered the dark red Fiebing’s Leather Dye and other needed gear. I couldn’t find the fishing bobber that I normally use to plug the tobacco chamber and provide a handle so I improvised. A spent 20 gauge shotgun shell fit nicely into the chamber.

The stummel was dyed dark red with the Fiebing’s Leather Dye applied with a folded pipe cleaner.

The dye was flamed with a disposable lighter. I recommend closing your jar of Fiebing’s prior to the flaming. I’ve never had one ignite but it’s probably a good idea to close it anyway.

The stummel was red, very red.

I allowed the dye to air dry for 20-30 minutes. I then mixed up some black Fiebing’s Leather Dye. I did this by diluting it – 2 parts black dye to one part 95% ethyl alcohol.

The stummel was then dyed black over the red. I was not quick enough to capture the flaming of the black dye. I allowed the black to air dry for 20-30 minutes.

Below are photos taken with the good camera of the dyed stummel.

The stummel was then taken to the buffer where I used a rouge buffing compound to lightly buff the high spots of the rustication.

The stummel was then wiped by hand with a clean cotton terry cloth towel to remove any remaining compound and wiped with a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm.

It was time for the stem to exit the Oxy solution and return to the atmosphere. I wiped the stem vigorously with a make-up pad to dry the solution and buff off some of the loosened oxidation.

Next the stem was scrubbed with SoftScrub applied to make-up pads.

The outside of the stem was looking much better. It was now time to clean the airway of the stem. It was far better than the shank but still required several bristle pipe cleaners and alcohol.

I couldn’t wait any longer to see how the stummel would look. I used an inside out athletic sock to hand buff the excess Restoration Balm from the stummel. Eureka! I was pleased with the dye job.

Back to the stem. I thought I could get rid of the tooth chatter by painting the stem with a flame and sanding. I was wrong. There was one spot that I was not happy with so it got the old black cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) treatment. The depression received a small drop of black CA. This was then spritzed with a CA drying accelerator. The cured drop was filed with a flat needle file and sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge. This meant that I had to re-sand the top of the stem but the results were well worth it.

The stem was sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 600- 3500. Between each sponge I would dip the tip of my finger into mineral oil, rub the oil over the stem and wipe with a dry paper towel.

The stem was polished with Before and After Fine followed by the Extra Fine Polish. Then the pipe received several coats of carnauba wax on the buffer.

I think this GDB 1350 Apple turned out very nicely. Especially when looking back at the before photos. My goal of matching the red/black or burgundy stain was a success and the stem turned out better than I thought it would. The glossy black of the stem really works with the dark red dye on the briar. I do wonder how it would look with a bright brass band. I know it didn’t need a band but I think it would add something special to the pipe.

The dimensions of the GBD Sierra 1350 areas follows:

Length: 5.90 in./ 149.86 mm.

Weight: 1.13 oz./ 33.10 g.

Bowl Height: 1.81 in./ 45.97 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.39 in./ 35.31 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.69 in./ 17.53 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.26 in./ 32.00 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 GBD Sierra 1350 Apple.
A Bentley Lovat Restoration

May 2nd, 2024
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

The next pipe in que for the workbench is this cute little Bentley Lovat. Once again I have chosen a pipe to restore that appears old, beat up, dirty and has little information concerning its origin story. Yay ( feel free to read with extra sarcasm). The pipe itself is good looking, well good looking if you use your “imagination”. Structurally it was sound with well centered drillings and nice proportions. The stamps are BENTLEY on the left shank and ALGERIAN BRIAR over FRANCE on the right.

Below are some photos taken of the Bently prior to working on it.

Trust me, there is a pretty little pipe there. In planning the restoration in my mind, I saw the usual cleaning and stem oxidation removal. I also say the filling of pits and blemishes and a contrast staining to bring out the naturally occurring grain. I will be sad to see the stem logo disappear but it was only painted on, not stamped and will not make it through a deoxidation process.

Background on Bently pipes

I turned first to pipedia.org for a search of Bentley. There is a short article on Bentley, “This is the production Brand of Hans Jonny “Former” Nielsen. When the U. S. pipe demand for quality handmade “freehand” pipes diminished, W.Ø. Larsen in Copenhagen sent their several workshop pipemakers home to work out of their house. Former who was the Larsen foreman at the time, eventually went to Germany and started the Bentley line of production pipes made on frasing machines, several at a time. Some years ago he returned to Denmark with this type of equipment and continues to make these production pipes in his current workshop in between making his famous handmade pipes.

Bentley could also be a name of a line of Kaywoodie seconds.” (Bentley – Pipedia)

The last sentence of the quote is most applicable to the Bentley that I have in hand. The aforementioned Bentleys sound like much higher quality pipes than this little lovat. Next I turned to a search of Kaywoodie, again in pipedia.org. I could find no mention of Bentley in a search of any Kaywoodie pages. Things that make you say “Hmmm.”

I then went to pipephile.eu to look for logos. This pipe had a circle logo containing a “B”. of the several circle B logos none of them matched. Search for Bently did meet with several suspects.
1. Very unlikely.
2. This one has potential. The BENTLEY stamping looks very similar to the stamp on the lovat but the stem logo is completely different.

3. Very unlikely.

4. Stamping here is lower case except for the “B”and the stem logo is missing the circle.
5. Unlikely. Country of manufacture (COM) is England. The Bentley lovat is france.

6. OK, so maybe it is a Kaywoodie second but, does Kaywoodie have any ties to French made pipes? According to the below, yes. They are both stamped Kaywoodie. This might not be the case if a pipe were a true second as “KAYWOODIE” would not necessarily be present on a second.
Conclusions: This Bently lovat is stamped BENTLEY, ALGERIAN BRIAR over FRANCE and it is a pipe. Thank you Captain Obvious. Seriously that is all I can say with certainty. It is a pipe, made in France from Algerian briar.

The Restoration

This restoration started with a clean denim piece then reaming of the tobacco chamber.

The reaming went well except that the chamber is drilled with a size that is just a smidge too tight for the PipNet #2 blade. The General triangular scraper was used then followed by the sanding with 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel.

The tobacco chamber was in great condition with no sign of any heat damage or careless scraping with sharp pointy knives. The rim on the other hand needed some attention from a sharp knife. I moistened it with saliva and scraped it with a sharp pocket knife.

After the scraping it looked much better and only showed a bit of rim darkening.

The stummel was taken to the sink for a scrubbing with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a medium stiff toothbrush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel. Back at the workbench, I started picking the old fill material out of the pits.

Before repairing the pits I started cleaning the shank airway. The draft hole from the tobacco chamber was normal size then it widened considerably in the shank. My nylon shank brush was too thin to be very effective. I had to use two doubled over bristle pipe cleaners bent together to fashion a scrubbing tool. I poured 3-4 ml of ethyl alcohol into the chamber and allowed it to flow into the shank. I then used the two doubled over pipe cleaners to scrub the airway with the alcohol. Cotton swabs were then used to remove the remaining alcohol. This was repeated several times until the cotton swabs returned clean.

After the shank was cleaned I turned my attention to the stem. For such a short piece of rubber it certainly was dirty. Bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol were used to clean the airway of the stem.

The exterior of the stem was lightly sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge then it was submerged into the Before and After Deoxidizing solution. I planned on leaving it in the solution for 2-4 hours.

This allowed plenty of time to fill the newly excavated pits. I used a fly tying bodkin to apply a small drop of brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) to the pit. I then took a pinch of briar dust and pressed it into the CA filled pit. The briar dust combined with the CA and cured almost instantly. The new fill was then filed with a flat needle file flush with the surface of the stummel. A second small drop of CA was applied with the bodkin. While the CA was wet I sanded the area with a 400 grit sanding sponge. The briar dust from the sanding and the dust on the sponge combined with the CA to fill any remaining rough spots or slight depressions. The new fills appeared dark brown.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say that I covered the stamps with painters tape to protect the stamps from sanding.

The stummel was ready to have its grain accentuated. Due to budget cuts the same paper towels have remained on the dying station for a few restorations. Okay, maybe I’m just too lazy to lay down fresh clean ones. The plan was to use Fiebing’s Leather Dye to dye the stummel black. Sand away the dyed surface leaving the black dye on the softer grain where it had penetrated deeper. Then apply a light brown dye over the black adding a more yellow color to the non-blackened briar. The taped stamps would hopefully keep the black from giving the stamps an “Censored” bar appearance.

The black was wiped with cotton balls soaked in 99% isopropyl alcohol to remove the black dye from the surface.

The stummel was then taken to the workbench and sanded with a 320 sanding sponge to remove the outer layer of black dyed briar. After the sanding the stummel was again dyed but this time with light brown Fiebing’s Leather Dye.

After the light brown had dried I lightly sanded with a 400 sanding sponge. Below you can see the effect that I was hoping to achieve compared to the original surface.

The stummel was then sanded using the sequence of sanding sponges 600-3500. Between each sponge the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol. Oh yeah, I forgot to say that I reapplied the painters tape to protect the stamps.

Then the stummel was polished with micro-mesh pads from 4000-12000. Again between pads the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol.

The stummel then was coated in Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit for 30 minutes.

I retrieved the stem from the deox, that is my term for the Before and After Deoxidizing solution. The excess solution was allowed to drip back into the jar. The stem was then rubbed vigorously with a coarse shop rab to remove remaining solution and help abrade oxidized vulcanite. A pipe cleaner was used to clear any deox solution from the airway. I then scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub applied to make-up pads. Energetic scrubbing with the Soft Scrub removed the oxidized material.

Since this stem is so short there was very little room to work with the sanding sponges or the micro-mesh pads. I took the stem to the buffer and tried to polish it with a flannel wheel and red buffing compound. This worked but did not have the finish that the sponges and pads would have achieved.

30 minutes later the Restoration Balm was wiped from the stummel using an inside out cotton athletic sock.

All that remained was to give the pipe several coats of carnauba wax with the buffer.

This little Bentley lovat of unknown origins is nevertheless an adorable pipe. The briar took the dye as I hoped it would and now sports a lovely contrast dye that accentuates the grain. The stem, though short, cleaned up well and works well with the dark contrast of the briar. The draw is smooth and promises to be a delight to smoke.

The dimensions of this Bentley Lovat are:
- Length: 4.95 in./ 125.73 mm.
- Weight: 0.94 oz./ 27.00 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.71 in./ 43.43 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.50 in./ 38.10 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.79 in./ 20.01mm.
- Outside Diameter: 1.17 in./ 29.72 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 Bentley Lovat.
An Excelsior Poker Restoration

April 15th, 2024
Photographed and Written by

John M. Young

Now there is a cute little pipe. Great traditional poker lines, pretty stain, interesting carvings, comfortable bit, clear stampings, beautiful clear coat – Screeerttttttt (that was the sound of an old needle scratched across a vinyl record). There will be NO clear coat! Yes my nemesis, the dreaded clear coat, more annoying than little sisters when you bring a date home to meet the parents. More annoying than Northwoods mosquitoes. More annoying than flat tires on the highway, in the freezing rain when you are in a hurry to get to work. I know what you are thinking, “Hmm, I don’t think this guy likes clearcoat, sisters, mosquitoes or going to work. I also wonder about his mental stability.” I say, “Hah, I love my sister (most of the time), I love teaching (though retirement is far more enjoyable), I love the Mesabi Iron Range AKA Northwoods (Hi, Tomassoni family), the flat tires and the clear coat, not so much.

This darling Excelsior came to me as a member of an estate lot purchased in January of this year. It was not the item of interest of the lot. I was after the 3 Senlar pipes of that lot. If you are wondering what a Senlar pipe is here are links to those restorations: Billiard, Canadian 1 and Canadian 2. I had been smitten by the little Excelsior poker but it had to wait it’s turn at the bench until last night. Let me show you what it looked like.

Not quite sure how the White German Shepard got her hair in there.

The pipe was in excellent shape. I figured the restoration would be a quick and easy affair with the usual reaming, cleaning, deoxidizing and a bit of finish removal and refinishing. The term “figured” can be replaced with assumed and we all know what happens when one assumes. You make an “ass” of “u” and “me”.

Background of Excelsior pipes

This section proved more difficult than I originally thought. I came across an entry for octagonal logo outlines a few weeks back on pipephil.eu. Fortunately I took a screenshot and saved it into a folder for the Excelsior poker. I knew that I would eventually get around to restoring the poker. I then forgot about the screenshot. When I started researching Excelsior, I remembered seeing the octagonal logo outline but I couldn’t find it again. When saving the photos for this restoration I saw the screenshot and felt lucky that I had the foresight to save it weeks ago.

The Excelsior has an “E” rather than the “D” as shown in the image below.

(Dra-Duk — Pipes : Logos & Markings (pipephil.eu))

The EXCELSIOR over ALGERIAN BRIAR over MADE IN FRANCE is the same naming sequence that Jeantet used but, that is more circumstantial evidence and block letters pretty much all look alike, making positive identification of the maker inconclusive.

Jeantet has a long history of pipe making. According to Pipedia.org:

“The firm of the Jeantet family in Saint-Claude is first mentioned as early as 1775. By 1807 the Jeantets operated a turnery producing in particular wooden shanks for porcelain pipes and wild cherry wood pipes. The firm was named Jeantet-David in 1816, and in 1837 the enterprise was transformed into a corporation as collective name for numerous workshops scattered all over the city. The manufacturing of briar pipes and began in 1858. 51 persons were employed by 1890. Desirous to concentrate the workers at a single site, the corporation began to construct a factory edifying integrated buildings about 1891 at Rue de Bonneville 12 – 14. This took several years. In 1898 Maurice Jeantet restructured the business. He is also presumed to enlarge Jeantet factory purchasing a workshop adjoining southerly. It belonged to the family Genoud, who were specialized in rough shaping of stummels and polishing finished pipes. (In these times it was a most common procedure to carry goods from here to there and back again often for certain steps of the production executed by dependant family based subcontractors. Manpower was cheap.)

Jeantet was transformed to a corporation with limited liability in 1938. By that time a branch workshop was operated in Montréal-la-Cluse (Ain), where mainly the less expensive pipes were finished. 107 employees – 26 of them working from their homes – were counted in Saint-Claude in 1948 and 18 in the Ain facility.

The Saint-Claude factory was considerably modernized by ca. 1950 installing (e.g.) freight elevators. In 1952 the southern workshop was elevated. 80 workers were employed in 1958. The factory covered an area of 2831 m²; 1447 m² of the surface were buildings.

The climax of the pipe production was reached around 1969, when thirty to thirtyfive thousand dozens of pipes were made by 72 workers (1969). But then the production continously dwindled to only six or seven thousand dozens in 1987 and only 22 workers were still there. Eventhough, around 1979 a very modern steam powered facility for drying the briar had been installed in the factory’s roofed yard.

Yves Grenard, formerly Jeantet’s chief designer and a great cousin of Pierre Comoy, had taken over the management of Chapuis-Comoy in 1971. Now, to preserve the brand, the Jeantet family went into negotiations with him, and resulting from that Jeantet was merged in the Cuty Fort Group (est. 1987 and headed by Chacom) in 1988 along with the pipe brands of John Lacroix and Emile Vuillard. Chacom closed the Jeantet plant, and the City of Saint-Claude purchased it in 1989. After alternative plans failed, the buildings were devoted to wrecking. The southerly workshop was wrecked before 1992.

Today Jeantet pipes were produced as a sub-brand by Chapuis-Comoy who’s mainstay is Chacom of course.” (Jeantet – Pipedia)

The pipedia.org article also had an image of the 1980 Jeantet catalog.

(File:Jeantet 1980 cat.jpg – Pipedia)

From the catalog image we can see that Jeantet is using the octagonal logo outline around the letter “J”. Likely for Jeantet. I do not think it is too large of a leap to think that Jeantet used the octagonal logo outline around an “E” for the Excelsior pipe in hand. With this in mind I conclude that the Excelsior poker is a Jeantet product with an undetermined year of production.

The Restoration

The restoration began as do most with a clean denim piece on the workbench. This pipe needed to have that stinger soaked for a bit in 95% ethyl alcohol so, that was job #1.

Job #2, see what solvent will remove this clear coat. First attempt 95% ethyl alcohol on a cotton swab. Mostly negative.

Attempt two, acetone on a cotton swab. Success.

That means that the stummel needed to take an acetone bath for 30 minutes.

While the acetone was doing what it does, I started on the stem. The initial sanding was done with a 6000 grit sanding sponge to remove the light tooth chatter and oxidation. Care was taken to avoid the logo.

The interior of the stem was then cleaned out using bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol. The button of this pipe seemed very constricted. Not from damage or accumulated yuck (the technical term for smoking residue). It was just a slightly smaller daft hole than would fit a bristle pipe cleaner. I had to use Falcon Thin Pipe Cleaners to get through it. As a remedy I cut an angular piece from an emery board, nail file, and used that to enlarge the airway.

The stem was then scrubbed with several make-up pads with Soft Scrub applied. I had not noticed how light the stamp was for the logo. Once the Soft Scrub was not producing oxidized rubber the stem was oiled with a coat of mineral oil and allowed to sit. The Soft Scrub was abrasive enough to remove the paint and most of the logo indentation. I hoped that it would be deep enough for some fresh white paint.

The stummel was retrieved from the acetone bath.and scrubbed with an acetone dipped toothbrush then wiped with acetone dipped make-up pads to make sure all the clear coat was dissolved and removed from the briar.

I then worked on reaming the tobacco chamber. Since the chamber was small I used the Scotte Stainless Steel Tool and the Smokingpipes Low Country Reamer.

The reaming was followed by sanding the chamber with 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel.

The removal of the clear coat allowed me to discover three things I had not previously noticed. One, a lage fill at the end of the stamp and two, a small pit on the base of the stummel and three a 6-7 mm long shank crack. I decided that there was little I could do for the fill without damaging the stamp and the old fill was secure, so I left it alone.

The pit on the base was small and probably could have been ignored. It wasn’t.

I used thin cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust to fill the pit. A small drop of CA was applied then sanded with the 600 sanding sponge. The briar dust on the sponge and the newly created dust from sanding combined with the wet CA to fill the pit.

The top, rim, and the bottom of the stummel were sanded with the sequence of sanding sponges 100-3500. Between each sponge the stummel was wiped off with a make-up pad moistened with 95% ethyl alcohol.

I stayed in stummel mode and cleaned out the shank next. This was done by pouring about 5 ml of 95% ethyl alcohol into the bowl and allowing it to flow up the shank but not out. I then used a nylon shank brush to scrub the shank interior with the alcohol in place dissolving the yuck from the airway. The alcohol was then poured into a medicine cup and the shank scrubbed with cotton swabs. This alcohol shank brush scrubbing was repeated until the cotton swabs came back clean.

Before I started the new band, I wanted to get the stem sanded and micromeshed to ensure a perfect fit with the band. I wiped the mineral oil from the stem and started lightly sanding with the 1000 sanding sponge. I was careful to avoid the logo. I continued with the sponges through the 3500 sponge. Between each sponge I dipped my finger into the mineral oil, rubbed this onto the stem and wiped it with a paper towel.

I then proceeded to the 4000-12000 micro-mesh pads. Between each pad I applied a drop of Obsidian Oil, rubbed it with my finger and wiped it with a paper towel.

The dreaded shank crack. I am pretty sure there is no such thing as a good shank crack.

This crack needed a band. I checked my stock of brass tubing. The 17/32 inch outside diameter (O.D.) brass tube was nearly a perfect fit. A pipe cutter was used to cut the brass to 0.2 inches or 5 mm.

Nearly meaning that I had to file and sand a small amount of material from the shank. This actually made for a smoother fit for the band. I had to tap rather hard to get it to seat as far back as I wanted it. I replaced the stem and it too was tight, too tight (I’ll come back to that in a minute). Normally I would have used a tiny drill bit to drill a hole at the end of the crack to assure that it would not continue but that would have required a fill immediately beyond the band and into the rustication. I could not see the crack opening at all with the band on and the stem inserted. Both edges of the new band were sanded to give them a slight bevel to make them less obvious to the touch. I applied a bit of thin CA which seeped into the crack then forced the band into place. Using a flat piece of steel and a hammer I tapped the band into place.

Below, you can see there is a slight overhang of the band. This allowed the stem to slip under the band almost like a double mortise. The full fit was pleasing to both the eyes and the fingers. Now, remember when I said I’d come back to the tight fitting stem? I used a 600 grit sanding sponge to sand the tenon by pinching the sanding sponge around the tenon. The stem was then rotated. I checked for fit every few rotations until I got a perfect snug fit.

The logo had been near completely obliterated. I tried to clean the area of any oil with a cotton swab and alcohol before painting it.

I applied a white acrylic model paint and allowed it to dry.

Using a rigid piece of plastic I tried to scrape the paint from the area above the stamp indentations. It was no use. I tried a couple of times to no avail, the stamp was just too light. I then used the Before and After Fine Polish with a soft cotton cloth.

I followed the Fine Polish with the Before and After Extra Fine Polish again with a soft cotton cloth.

The final steps were to apply a couple of coats of Renaissance Microcrystalline wax to the stummel.

The label said to apply and wipe off with a soft cloth. Instead I applied it with a baby toothbrush and buffed it with a clean flannel wheel on the buffer. I changed wheels and buffed the stem and, staping, top and bottom with several coats of carnauba wax.

Overall I am pleased with how well this Excelsior Poker turned out. The clear coat was gone and the underlying briar looked great. The step polished to a very nice high gloss.The new band accentuated the look of the pipe overall all adds a touch of class to the rustic carvings. The sligh bent to the stem gives the pipe a comfortable balance for clenching along with the light weight. I am sure that it will be a nice smoking little pipe.

The dimensions of this little beauty are:
- Length: 5.64 in./ mm.
- Weight: 1.04 oz./ 29.50 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.64 in./ 41.66 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.52 in./ 38.61 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.69 in./ 17.5 mm.
- Outside Diameter: 1.19 in./ 30.23mm.
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 Excelsior Poker.
A Kings Cross Saddle Stem Billiard Restoration

January 4th, 2024
Written and photographed by John M. Young

I know what you are going to say, “Good Lord man, another Kings Cross?” Well this is actually only the fifth one of a six pipe estate lot. All six of them, Kings Cross. I will probably spare you from the last pipe restoration as it is another saddle stem billiard with the same shape number as this pipe. Anyway, I thank you in advance for reading this. Maybe, I will be try something new, be especially insightful and humorous this time. That too is probably not going to happen. I’m just full of good new year cheer, eh?

Well, here we are again. The history of a Kings Cross pipe. The best part of this blog for me is that I am writing it while smoking the Pipe by Lee from the last restoration. Let me rephrase that, from the previous restoration. I bet you were thinking, “finally this guy’s last restoration. I figured he would be canceled after the second one.” Hah, still going strong with at least 5 more pipes in the restore box and another 4 due on Friday. Okay, I’ve been putting it off long enough. The history of Kings Cross pipe. Really, again?

These were pipes made by the Chapuis-Comoy company in both their English and French factories. The “FRANCE” stamped on the stem of this pipe indicates the Chapuis factory in France was the home of this pipe. Kings Cross pipes stamped “MADE IN ENGLAND” would be those made in the Comoy’s London factory. Pipe lovers of the world are indebted to the Comoy family for their contributions of bringing briar to the pipe making world. If you are interested in the Chapuis-Comoy family history, and it is amazing, take a look at these or these links:
As for this pipe and the “6” pipe shape. That coincides with the Comoy shape chart which both factories share.

(https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s_Shape_Number_Chart)

The below photos show how the Chapuis Saddle Stem Billiard appeared upon arrival.

The pipe showed signs of regular use, well developed cake in the tobacco chamber, some calcium deposits and numerous tooth chatter marks on the stem. Overall, the pipe appeared in good condition and only needed fills in two spots. This looked like a straight forward restoration.

I began with reaming the tobacco chamber using the PipNet reaming tool with the number 2 blade, Smokingpipes Low Country reaming knife, General triangular scraper and the 220 sandpaper wrapped wood dowel. The cake was hard and required some knife work prior to the PipNet tool.

Next I removed the stem and began cleaning the airway within the shank with a dental scraper, nylon shank brush, cotton swabs and a good deal of 99% isopropyl alcohol.

The initial alcohol dipped cotton swabs came back dark with tar. The initial scrapings were also hard and dry. To soften the residues in the shank I poured approximately 3 ml of alcohol into the bowl and slightly rotated it to allow the alcohol to flow into the shank. While holding the bowl slightly lower than the shank I could keep the alcohol in the bowl and shank. I scraped the airway with the dental scraper, swished the alcohol into the shank then scrubbed with the shank brush. I would clean the brush by pinching it in a paper towel. After scrubbing with the brush I scrubbed the shank with the cotton swabs to absorb the loosened/dissolved tar and removing the 3 ml of blackened alcohol. I repeated these steps numerous times.

Eventually the shank was cleaned and a folded pipe cleaner dipped in alcohol came back without discoloration.

The stem was then cleaned with alcohol dipped bristle pipe cleaners, Again several pipe cleaners were used before the pipe cleaners went through the stem without discoloration. The stinger was soaked in alcohol to soften the residues on it. After softening the aluminum stinger was cleaned using a pocket knife blade in the grove and 0000 steel wool dampened with alcohol.

Wit the internals cleaned I took the stummel to the sink to scrub the externals with Murphy’s Oil Soap. The Murphy’s was used undiluted and scrubbed with a medium stiff bristle toothbrush. Once scrubbed the stummel was rinsed with warm water and dried with a cotton dish towel. I returned the stummel to the work bench and wiped the surface with a cotton make-up removal pad wetted with 99% isopropyl alcohol. The make-up pad came back with very slight discoloration.

The lack of color to the pad indicated that either there was little finish remaining on the stummel of that the alcohol did not dissolve the finish. I repeated the make-up pad wipe with acetone to see if that solvent would remove any additional finish. It too came back without much discoloration.

I placed protective painters tape strips over the stampings on the stummel and the stem. I wanted to sand/micro-mesh the stem and stummel together to avoid rounding the edges of the mortise/tenon contact. I sanded the pipe with sanding sponges with 600 grit followed by the 1000 grit sponge. The stummel and stem were wiped with an alcohol dampened make-up pad between and after the pads.

At this point I decided to try to give the stummel a contrast stain to liven-up the pipe a bit. The tape on the stummel was removed. I then prepped the area for dyeing. I use an upside down plastic tub as the work surface, paper towel base, black Fiebing’s Leather Dye, a folded pipe cleaner applicator and a disposable lighter. And, the official duct tape wrapped styrofoam fishing bobber for the tobacco chamber plug/ handle.

I applied one complete coat and flamed it with the lighter. I then allowed the dye to dry for about 5 minutes.

After it was dry I returned the pipe to the workbench and wiped off the excess dye with a couple of make-up pads wetted with 99% isopropyl alcohol. One really nice thing about a black stained pipe is how well they show off any flaws in the wood. I decided to fill the two spots now since I would be sanding for the next half hour anyway. This was done using cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust. I pressed some dust into the pit and dabbed a small drop of CA onto the briar dust. I used the 600 grit sanding sponge to smooth the fills and to remove the upper layer of dyed briar. Care was taken to avoid the stampings. Some sanding of these areas was necessary but done with a very light touch. The below photos show the stummel dyed and sanded with the 600 sponge.

With the dyeing and initial sanding complete it was time to sand and micro-mesh the stummel and stem. I was really wanting to see how this dye job would look. I used the sanding sponges 1000-3500 with an alcohol dampened make-up pad wipe between sponges. The stem was sanded at the same time with the same sponges. I did use a lighter touch on the stem than on the stummel. The stem was wiped off with a dry paper towel between sponges and a thin layer of mineral oil was applied to the stem with my finger tips then wiped again with a paper towel.

Once finished with the final micro-mesh pad I wiped the stummel with the alcohol pad then applied a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm to the entire pipe. I let this sit overnight as it was bedtime.

Morning came, as I find they always do. I wiped away the slightly more rigid Restoration Balm with the inside of an athletic sock and found a quite lovely finish. All this one needed now are a few coats of carnauba wax from a buffer. The below three photos are of the pipe after the balm was wiped off.

I took the pipe to the buffer for this carnauba wax application. I took my time making sure to apply wax to each side from different directions. I then used a polishing cloth to hand buff the pipe. I returned to the buffer for one more application of carnauba. Maybe, it was just to polish my own ego rather than the pipe. I was pretty pleased with how the stain looked. The contrast stain looked beautiful and the wax was giving it a glow. I looked at the finished pipe and thought “I don’t really care that I don’t know your exact providence. You are lovely.”

Overall I think this Kings Cross Saddle Stem Billiard turned out very nicely. I am glad that I did the contrast stain/dye. I think that it really made the grain show up beautifully. I often feel torn during a restoration that I should try to keep things as original as possible. In this case I am pretty sure that the original workmen would have approved. I was able to retain the stampings and showcase the natural grain in a way that accentuates the natural beauty of the briar. The polished black of the stem goes even better with the black from the contrast stain. I hope that there was something here that you can use in your own restorations or that you were entertained. Thank you very much for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover. Oh yeah, I almost forgot the required if you like this sort of thing please click the like and subscribe buttons.

Below are some photos of the finished Kings Cross Saddle Stem Billiard.
A Kings Cross Bulldog Restoration

December 26th, 2023

Written and photographed by John M. Young

The return of the Kings Cross collection. Back at the end of November, I had won an auction for a lot of 6 Kings Cross pipes. I have restored the 3 Square, Kruger and a Billiard from that lot. The next victim, umm, I mean subject, was this bulldog. It had very classic lines with a slightly forward cant to the bowl, very fine beading and a saddle stem. A very attractive traditional bulldog design. When it arrived here in south east Nebraska from Rutherfordton, North Carolina, it looked to be in good condition.

The bulldog would need the normal restoration attention including: Finish removal, tobacco chamber reaming/sanding/inspection, rim topping, airway cleaning, stem revitalizing with teeth chatter removal, refilling of fills, filling of pits, stummel sanding/micro-meshing, re-staining, and carnauba wax to finish. Plus any new issues which typically arise with closer inspection. In other words, this is an easy one.

A little bit about the history of the Kings Cross line. These pipes were manufactured by the Chapuis-Comoys company.

“Kings Cross is a brand made by both Chapuis-Comoy in France using Algerian Briar. Kings Cross is also a brand name used by Savinelli, which is more commonly seen in the U.S. market. Those pipes are made using Italian Briar” (Kings Cross – Pipedia)

Chapuis is the French factory while Comoy’s’ is the English factory. The pipe has the stamp showing it is ALGERIAN BRIAR and 238 shape. This fits with the above quote from pipedia.org concerning Algerian briar. The shape number Coincides with the Comoy shape chart

(Comoy’s Shape Number Chart – Pipedia) with the “str” referring to a straight pipe, “M” medium size and “(S)” for a saddle stem.

Briar, Erica arborea, grows throughout the Mediterranean. It survives on the rocky slopes where most plants would succumb to the dry windy conditions of the Mediterranean climate’s dry season. During the wet season, fall and winter, is the growing season. “Evergreen roots descend deep into the soil to retrieve water to sustain life in an area that varies in precipitation (Tett 2003). Little land is able to be used for agriculture. Only three percent of Algeria is deemed fit for agricultural use” (https://meteor.geol.iastate.edu/~kuballc/portfolio/406%20Version%202.pdf)

The history of Algerian briar is one of Imperialism, wild species harvesting, and war. There is an amazing article about Algerian briar found in the scanned copy of November 1948 Pipe Lovers magazine.

“As is well known, the ideal pipe wood is one which is fine-grained, tough, slow burning and sweet tasting Pipes made of briar root have been the preference of the majority of smokers for over a hundred years.

Of the many kinds of briar root, that grown in Algeria is considered today as being the finest for pipe making and pipe smoking. Although opinions among pipe experts differ, the best is still said to come from this French colony in Africa.

The primary reason isn’t because the country is named Algeria, or because the French own the land. It is simply because the terrain and climatic conditions are such that the wood grown in this section of the earth is most suitable for the creation of briar which comes closest to meeting the pipe smoker s exacting demands. (https://pipedia.org/images/7/7f/PL_NOV_48smaller-file.pdf, p. 327).

In the article the history of French imperialism coincides with the production of the briar for pipemaking, “The use of briar in pipe making began just prior to 1830, the year that the French first occupied Algeria”*. The timing of this article is interesting. The Second World War had ended in 1945. This article would have seen the drought of Mediterranean briar brought on by the War years ending. It would also include the curing time required for the first post war briar. So, this article heralds the reemergence of Mediterranean briar availability for European and American pipe makers. This boon of supply would come abruptly to an end for Algeria, as that country’s war of independence from France was just around the corner. 1954-1962 brought a brutal war with France to Algeria, followed by more years of internal civil conflict. All of these political instabilities further reduced the availability of this “worlds greatest briar” from the pipe makers of the world. *(https://pipedia.org/images/7/7f/PL_NOV_48smaller-file.pdf, pp. 327-328 & 346).

A manufacture date for this pipe remains elusive. I would hypothesize that it was made with Algerian briar harvested between the late 1940s to early 1950s and was produced in France after 1971. “In 1971, the London factory (see Comoy’s) became independent, and Yves Grenard, second cousin to Pierre, took over Saint-Claude” (Chapuis-Comoy – Pipedia). I added the bold blue to 1971.

On to the restoration. I began with the tobacco chamber. This bulldog had a well developed cake with some minimal lava deposits on the rim. The chamber was reamed with a PipNet reaming tool and it’s size 2 blade. It was further scraped with the Smokingpipes Low Country reaming knife and sanded with 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. The inside of the tobacco chamber showed no signs of heat damage.

The rim was moistened with saliva and lightly scraped with the edge of a pocket knife. After these scrapings the stummel was taken to the sink for a scrub with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a medium bristle toothbrush.

For the shank cleaning I first turned on Roku and Netflix and brought up season four of The Last Kingdom. Though not a necessary part of the restoration, Saxons and Vikings, like a good black cavendish, make most things better. I began cleaning the interior of the shank with cotton swabs dipped in 99% isopropyl alcohol. The airway was dirty at what I would call an appropriate level. Several swabs and bristle pipe cleaners later, and a few more Saxons and Danes, the stummel was cleaned. Next, I lightly topped the rim with 400 sandpaper. Below you can see the sanded tobacco chamber and the topped rim.

Now for the part that I figured would be more difficult – removing the finish. This pipe had a healthy clear coat. I first tried 95% ethyl alcohol on a make-up removal pad to dissolve the finish. It was mostly ineffective. Next I tried acetone on a make-up pad – success. The acetone removed the clear coat. I blame Uhtred of Bebbanburg for me not photo documenting the removal of the finish with numerous make-up pads and more dips into acetone. Yes, I could have just dropped the stummel into the jar of acetone and let it soak for a couple of hours but, what would I have done while watching Uhtred? It took the better part of one episode and part of another to remove the finish.

With the finish removed I lightly sanded the stummel, avoiding the stampings, to look for areas that would need to be filled. There was a large existing fill along the bottom of the shank. I was mostly solid and I did not see any reason to try removing it completely. It had a small spot where some of the fill had gotten chipped out so I used cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust to fill that. I repeated this for the two other areas that I thought warranted filling.

Before sanding the entire stummel with the 400 sandpaper and micro-mesh pads I wanted to get the stem ready for sanding and micro-meshing as well. I wanted them attached when I sanded them to avoid rounding their adjacent contact edges.

I also wanted to retain the stampings, FRANCE and K within a circle, on the stem. This meant that I was only going to use Soft Scrub with Oxy-clean on a make-up pad. The scrubbing of the stem also required the death of a few Saxons and Danes, I mean the scrubbing of the stem occurred during the slaying of a few Saxons and Danes. No Danes or Saxons were harmed during the restoration of this Kings Cross Bulldog. I would scrub with the make-up pad until it was heavily discolored with oxidized vulcanite, reapply additional Soft Scrub and continue. Eventually the pads ceased to be discolored, brown. The area around the button needed to be sanded to remove the teeth chatter. I used 400 sandpaper wrapped around and an emery board to provide a stiffness. There were two spots that required black CA fills. A drop of black CA was placed on the depression and then it was spritzed with CA drying accelerant. Photos below before.

After the CA had set-up I filed the CA smooth with a flat needle file and smoothed it with 400 sandpaper. Photos below after.

With the stem’s oxidation removed and both the stem and stummel fills smoothed with 400 sandpaper I masked the stampings on the stem and stummel.

The entire pipe was then lightly sanded with the 400 sandpaper. Once finished I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad moistened with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I worked a drop of Obsidian Oil onto the stem and wiped away the excess with a paper towel. I then worked my way through the micro-mesh pads 1500-3600 with wiping of the stem and stummel as above.

After the 3600 pad I thought that I needed to give the stummel a little bit of dye. Along the keel at the front of the pipe there was an area that was strangely lighter and the fill at the front of the bowl, both could use some additional color.

I assembled the staining gear: Fiebing’s Light Brown Leather Dye, a medicine cup with 3 ml of 95% ethyl alcohol, a clean pipe cleaner, and a lighter (left photo). I dipped the pipe cleaner into the dye and transferred it to the 3 ml of alcohol. This was stirred to dilute the dye (right photo)

I didn’t want to darken the whole pipe, just to darken the light spots and blend it with the existing stain. I applied the diluted dye to the stummel. It took a couple of complete applications before the dye was pooling on the surface of the stummel. I then flamed the stummel with the lighter. I then went over the lighter area again.

After the dye I allowed the stummel to dry for about an hour. After the dry time I moistened a make-up pad in 95% ethyl alcohol and wiped the stummel. The pad was stained with dye it was removing from the briar. I repeated this two additional times. The stummel now looked uniform in color and shade.

I continued on with the micro-mesh pads 4000-12000 and repeated the wiping of the stem and stummel as described above between each pad. With the final wipe done I slathered the entire pipe with a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm.

After 30 minutes of letting the balm do the magic that it does I wiped the remaining balm from the pipe using the inside of an athletic sock. Yes, it was a clean one. The final stretch. The pipe looked very nice. The wood grain stands out from the glossy black stem. The stamps remained visible. All that remained was to apply several coats of carnauba wax with the buffer. After this was done I hand buffed the pipe with a microfiber polishing cloth and took it upstairs to photograph.

I hope that you readers are not getting tired of Kings Cross pipes. There are still 2 to be restored. Actually they are both the same shape so I will probably not do blogs on both of them. Although I could just say “See previous blog” for the second blog. This one was fun and not just because of Uhtred. I do love the bulldog shape and this one has some very nice grain. It also allowed me practice at stamp avoidance which is a necessary skill to hone and use. I do hope that you found some of the techniques used were helpful or at least entertaining. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover. I also hope you had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all a very happy New Year.

Below are some photos of the finished Kings Cross Bulldog.
A Kings Cross Billiard Restoration

December 12th, 2023

Written and photographed by John M. Young

I recently won an auction for 6 Kings Cross pipes. They are a mixture of 2-Made in England, 3-Made in France and 1-no Country of Manufacture (COM) just “ALGERIAN BRIAR”. I have chosen this billiard as the next restoration subject. Below are the photos of how it appeared as I removed it from the box:

This pipe needs many things done to bring her up to snuff: Reaming, rim topping and bevel, airway cleaning, stem sanding with button building, briar and stem refurbishing and a good waxing. I accept this mission.

In a previous pair of restorations (Kings Cross Kruger and Kings Cross Foursquare) I discussed the Chapuis-Comoy history and this pipe shares that heritage. This Kings Cross is of a French country of Origin (COM) as indicated by the stamp on the stem. It is unfortunate that this stamp is so faint. I know it will not survive the restoration thus any COM will be lost. I guess I can take some solace in knowing that her history will be preserved with this blog and I can pass that on to the next steward of this pipe.

As for the provenance of this pipe we can look at the shape number “185” and take a look at the Comoy shape chart from pipedia.org:

(https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s_Shape_Number_Chart)

That looks like a match, to me. This is indeed a large billiard with a straight stem. Both Comoy and Chapuis used the same shapes when they consolidated their production in 1988. Which means that this old girls was a product of the Chapuis factory of Saint Claude (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/infos/chapuiscomoy-en.html) .

(http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/infos/chapuiscomoy-en.html)

On to the restoration. Other than the stem, which looks like some arseling tried to use a vice grip to see if he could squeeze the smoking residue from the stem rather than use a pipe cleaner, the pipe looks pretty good. There are two noticeable pits that will require filling and the damage to the rim from the previously mentioned arseling knocking the dottle from the pipe against pieces of broken concrete.

Sidenote: Arseling – The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines arseling as meaning “backwards” and having been derived from the noun arse and the suffix –ling. Used above as a noun deriding the person who inconsiderately damaged the pipe. (https://thijsporck.com/2015/11/12/arseling-a-word-coined-by-alfred-the-great/#:~:text=The%20Oxford%20English%20Dictionary%20(OED,arse%20and%20the%20suffix%20%E2%80%93ling.)

I began by reaming the tobacco chamber using the 3rd size blade on the PipNet, it is a “L” for large.

The Smokingpipes Low Country reaming knife and the General triangular scraper were also used after the PipNet. This was followed by 200 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel and with sandpaper on my finger. The interior of the chamber looked great. I used the edge of the knife to lightly scrape some of the lava from the rim.

Next the stummel went to the sink for the Murphy’s Oil Soap scrub. I used the Murphy’s undiluted with a medium bristle toothbrush. The stummel had years of dirt and grime attempting to hide the grain beneath. I spent a bit of extra time on the rim to address the lava remaining there. The stummel was then rinsed with warm water and dried with a cotton dish towel. Returning to the workbench I saw that there remained some stubborn lava on the rim. I worked on this with saliva and a cotton rag until I realized how dumb, I was behaving. “Hey dummy, you are going to top that whole rim.” Hmm, good thing I have a kind and loving internal voice. I returned to the sink, since that is where the counter I use for topping is. I used a piece of 200

sandpaper laid flat on the counter to top the stummel. As I sanded I rotated the stummel to maintain even pressure around the entire rim. After the topping I wanted to maintain the bevel on the inside of the rim. I used a

wooden sphere wrapped in 200 sandpaper to reestablish this bevel. Different sized spheres can be used for different angles. After the topping the new rim needed a bit of stain. I used the walnut furniture touch-up marker for the initial color match and blended it with an alcohol dipped make-up pad.

With the rim complete I turned my attention to the two spots requiring fills. They were both small but in positions that would require care to maintain

the original shape of the stummel. I chose to use cyaloacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust. I used a fly tying bodkin to apply a small drop of CA to the hole and placed a pinch of briar dust onto the CA. I then pushed the briar dust into the hole. This usually fills the cavity in one application and will give you a nice little CA fill spot on your index finger. The CA cures almost instantly with the briar dust and pressure. The remaining scab, for lack of a better term, was filed off using

needle files. I used the flat file for the flare area on the right fill and curved and rounded files for the shank/bowl transition. The area is then sanded with 400 sandpaper and touched-up with the furniture touch-up marker.

With the fills dealt with I started in on the roughest parts of the stem. I used the flat needle file to smooth the most egregious gouges on the stem then sanded them with 200 sandpaper wrapped around an emery board. I wanted the stiffness of the emery board to keep me from sanding the gouges into a curved shape. After the worst of the gouges were removed there remained a couple of depressions on both sides of the stem. I filled these with black CA. The CA was spritzed with a curing accelerator then filed smooth with the flat needle file. These areas were then smoothed with sandpaper.

At this point I decided to build up and shape the button of the stem. I again used the black CA for this reshaping. On previous restorations, I have neglected to photo document my process of button building. This is not to preserve my “secret technique”. It is merely because I get to working on this part and get so consumed in the process that I forget to document it. This time I made an effort to show what I do. I will typically shape and sand the area shank-ward of the button. Once smooth, I use a piece of scotch tape to keep the new CA only on the button.

I apply the black CA and spritz with accelerant. You have a few seconds when the CA is soft, before the accelerant cures the CA into it’s hardened form.

While it is still soft I use an exacto knife to cut the edge of the button giving it a sharp definition towards the stem. I then peel the scotch tape off, taking with it the area beyond the cut. I will then shape the new CA button. I will repeat this until I have the desired shape. I have not seen other restorers use this technique. I doubt I am the only one who has thought of this.

After the fills were smoothed with 400 sandpaper I prepped the pipe for micro-meshing. Since I had so much sanding of the stem to do, I left the stem and shank together for the sanding and micro-meshing. I knew that this would obliterate the “FRANCE” stamping on the stem but I did mask the stamping on the stummel to preserve them.

The micro-meshing was pretty standard from1500-1800 pad used wetted with a drop of water. The stummel was wiped with an alcohol dampened make-up removal pad while the stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel. The next micro-mesh pads were the 2200-3200 used dry with the above mentioned wiping done between each pad.

I removed the painters tape before using the 4000-12000 micromesh pads. I rubbed the areas taped with an alcohol pad to remove and tape adhesive residue and continued the micro-meshing with alternating wipes between pads.

At this stage the pipe was looking very nice. I gave the stummel a liberal coat of Before and After Restoration Balm and the stem a coat of Obsidian Oil and allowed them to while I attended to some laundry duty.

With the laundry folded an put away it was time to wipe off the balm and see how this old billiard is looking. I wiped the pipe with the inside of an athletic sock. Those little ankle high socks fit on my hand perfectly and have a wonderful terry cloth interior perfect for pipe rubbing. Oh, she is looking so much better. All that is left is a trip down stairs to the buffer for several coats of carnauba wax with the buffer.

Oh, dang it, I forgot about the stinger, again. It had been sitting in a medicine cup with some 99% isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol softed the tar-lacquer (not sure if that is a thing). I used the buffer with some white compound to polish it up then reinserted it into the stem.

This restoration was all very straight forward. It was a good way to spend the better part of an afternoon. The briar grain shows very nicely and sets off the ebony of the polished vulcanite well. Not too shabby for a factory made briar pipe. I am sure she will make a great companion for her next owner and provide years more of quality tobacco consumption. I hope that you found some of these techniques helpful for your own restorations or were entertained. If you liked this sort of thing, please hit the like and/or subscribe buttons down there. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

Here are some photos of the finished Kings Cross billiard:
A Kings Cross Kruger Restoration

December 3rd, 2023
Written and photographed by John M. Young

You may recall from an earlier restoration that I had acquired an assortment of Kings Cross pipes. This is a continuation of that set of pipes. Here we have another “MADE IN ENGLAND” Kings Cross.

These were pipes made by the Chapuis-Comoy company in both their English and French factories. The “Made in England” being Comoy’s while the “France” indicates Chapuis. The pipe lovers of the world are indebted to the Comoy family for their contributions of bringing briar to the pipe making world. If you are interested in the Chapuis-Comoy family history, and it is amazing, take a look at the previously mentioned blog post or these links:
As for the history of this specific pipe it has the Comoy shape number of 17. According to the Comoy’s shape chart:

(https://pipedia.org/wiki/Comoy%27s_Shape_Number_Chart)

Shape 17 is a Kruger, after Paul Kruger* (typically referred to as an Oom Paul), ½ bent, medium size saddle stem. That sounds like our girl.

*Kruger, Paul according to the Kruger National Park site: “In 1882, the 57 year old Paul Kruger was elected president of Transvaal. He left for England in 1883 to revise the Pretoria Convention of 1881, an agreement which was reached between the Boers and the British that ended the first Anglo Boer War. Paul Kruger acquired many allies in Europe during this time.” (https://www.krugerpark.co.za/Krugerpark_History-travel/paul-kruger-history.html)

As for the date this Kruger was made, I have little idea. I thought I had some idea when I was researching the Kings Cross Foursquare but, I think I was reading too much into all of those sources. For the sake of positive determination of this pipe’s providence I can only say it is a Comoy’s make pipe. If you know more about the dates of these pipes please let me know in the comments.

To the restoration. First step ream the bowl. Initially it looked good but that was just to top ¼. There was significant cake built up on the lower portion of the chamber. Nothing that the PipNet and the reaming knives could take care of. Oh, I am trying out a new reaming knife. It is a General brand triangular scraper. I did have to round the tip with a grinder as it had a very sharp point. The edges are quite sharp and require care when using but it seems to be a very capable tool.

Next stop the sink for the ever popular Murphy’s Wood Cleaner and toothbrush scrubbing. The Murphy’s is used undiluted with a medium stiff bristle toothbrush. Extra time was spent at this stage due to the coarse nature of the rustication. The stummel was then rinsed with warm water and dried with a cotton dish towel. Since I was over at the sink, I figured this would be a good time to top the rim of the stummel. I thought that a smoothed rim would add a touch of class to this rusticated pipe. I did leave a few of the deeper rustications because I thought they added a unifying touch to the overall appearance. The topping was done with 200 sandpaper followed by 400 sandpaper laid flat on the countertop with the stummel rotated to achieve equal pressure and sanding across the rim.

This stummel had a finish coat that remained mostly intact after the scrub. I did not want this old finish. On a prior pipe restoration of another Kings Cross pipe I found that the finish was susceptible to acetone. I chose to do the same treatment with this pipe as I did with the previous pipe. I placed it into a jar filled with acetone and left it for about 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes I removed the pipe and scrubbed it with a brass brush dipped in the acetone. After a good scrub I would dip the stummel into the acetone as a rinse, allow it to dry and look so shiny spots where finish remained. I would then scrub those areas with acetone and the brass brush. Eventually, I no longer saw any shine.

Returning to the workbench I tried to scrape out the airway to get as much of the built up tars out before using the pipe cleaners with alcohol. The airway appeared clean and I was unable to scrape any significant material from it. I soaked the tip of a bristle pipe cleaner in 99% isopropyl alcohol and ran it through the airway – it came back black with smoking residue. Hmm, I looked down the mortise with a flashlight and saw that this pipe had a

(Image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterson_Pipes)

reservoir that continued down past the airway. It looked like a Peterson System copy-cat. Very cool. Also, with a well used and seldom cleaned pipe, a pain to clean out. This was looking more like it was not going to be the straight forward restore that I thought. I poured about 5 ml of 99% isopropyl alcohol into the bowl and began scrubing the airway with a nylon brush. The brush came back filled with tar. I wiped it off on a paper towel and continued scrubbing. I had to wipe tar from the brush numerous times through this scrubbing. Occasionally I would pour the alcohol into a medicine cup and pour fresh alcohol into the bowl. Eventually the alcohol turned more of an amber color then dark brown. I then tried the bristle pipe cleaner soaked in alcohol. They came out brown but were not black. I repeated with the pipe cleaners until they came back clean.

During the above airway cleaning, the reservoir was soaking in alcohol as I was cleaning the airway. This allowed the tar there to soften. I did not keep track of the number of cotton swabs, soaked with alcohol, that it took to clean the reservoir. This was probably due to my inability to count that high. Needless to say, it was a lot.

The stummel still had the aroma of “Granny purse”. That is a term I use to describe the smell left by Lakeland blends. The floral fragrances remind me of the perfume that saturated my grandmother’s purses. To remedy this I packed the reservoir and tobacco chamber with cotton. I then started adding 95% ethyl alcohol by a pipette until it pooled slightly on both surfaces. The surfaces were held level to one another. I let this treatment set overnight.

In the morning I returned to the granny purse infused stummel to find that the cotton in the bowl looked pretty clean while the shank side cotton had discolored, proving that I had not cleaned the shank as well as I

thought I did. I removed the cotton and assessed the results. Yeah, the alcohol had removed some tar and stuff but had also further softened the remaining tars and stuff (stuff is another technical term used by restoreres).

Back to the workbench. More cotton swabs later I was still getting brown residue. I then tried a technique I’ve not seen other restorers use. I tore a piece of paper towel about 2 in²(5 cm²) I rolled this paper towel around a

round needle file, dipped the tip into the alcohol and scrubbed the inside of the mortise/reservoir with it. After the end of the paper towel gets saturated

with yuck (yuck is another technical term used by restorers), you can unroll the paper and reroll the clean end, dip and repeat. This works well for tough jobs that need more pressure than is possible with a cotton swab. After a few pieces of paper towel I went back to the cotton swabs and was happy to see they were getting progressively cleaner. I finally got to the “clean” stage.

Here, I started working on the stem. I rubbed the surface with 0000 steel wool to remove the worst of the oxidation, inserted a pipe cleaner into the

tenon end of the stem and took it to the Deoxidation Solution jar. I placed the stem in the solution so it was submerged and put the lid back onto the jar. While the stem was soaking I figured I may as well treat the stummel with the cotton and alcohol a second time.

Normally I only leave a stem in deox for an hour or two, I got busy and returned after 4 hours. I checked the stummel first. The cotton came out clean. Next I removed the stem from the deox solution. I allowed most of the excess to drip back into the jar. I then used a coarse shop towel to vigorously rub the remaining solution from the stem. I ran two pipe cleaners through the stem to remove any remaining solution from inside. I then used a spot of Soft Scrub on a make-up removal pad to remove remaining oxidized vulcanite. The stem looked good.

I returned to the workbench and oiled the stem inside and out with mineral oil. The pipe cleaners cane out relatively clean. I thought this strange because the airway of the stummel had been filthy. I dipped the tip of a bristle pipe cleaner into the isopropyl alcohol and inserted it into the tenon end of the stem. It moved easily up the stem until it got close to the button. I pulled it free and saw what I expected – a very dirty pipe cleaner. I then tried to repeat the process from the button end. I was met with a great deal of resistance. After several bent pipe cleaners I finally pierced the layers of grime inside the stem and could get a pipe cleaner through. I then took a long churchwarden pipe cleaner, the stem and a pipette filled with alcohol to the vise. I clamped one end of the churchwarden pipe cleaner into the vice and threaded the stem onto the pipe cleaner. I used the pipette to wet the pipe cleaner above and below the stem with alcohol. I held the top end of the pipe cleaner with one hand and moved the stem up and down

the length of the pipe cleaner. This removed a good deal of the yuck from inside the stem. After this I returned to the workbench and started running pipe cleaner through the stem as normal. Well, I was shocked to see how filthy this stem was, no wonder a pipe cleaner had trouble getting through. You get the idea. Many pipe cleaners and much alcohol later the stem was clean. When placed back on the stummel there was no Granny purse remaining.

Next was sanding to address the tooth chatter and rebuilding the button. I wrapped 400 wet dry sandpaper around a small foam block to give it additional stiffness. I then sanded the area beyond the button to rid the stem of the dents from clenching. The dents were shallow so after a bit of sanding I tried to paint them with a light in hopes of raising them. This worked a little but I didn’t need much. Happy with the dent eradication I wrapped a piece of scotch tape up against the edge of the button. This would provide a straight edge for filing the black cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue). I applied a bead of glue along the top of the button. I quickly inverted it so the CA would be hanging down. I adjusted the drip by rotating the stem until it looked like it was filling the depression. I then spritzed the CA with an accelerant to speed the curing. I then used a flat needle file to reshape the button. I had to repeat the application of CA a few times to build-up material where I wanted it and file it off to regain the shape of a proper button. Once satisfied with the shape I used 400 sandpaper to smooth and polish the rough edges. One of these days I will actually remember to photograph this process rather than getting caught up in the moment.

The stem was then sanded with micro-mesh pads. The 1500 and 1800 pads were used with a drop of water on them. Between each pad I would apply a drop of Obsidian Oil, rub it in with my finger and wipe away the excess with a paper towel. After the first two pads, the remaining series was used dry with the application of oil and wiping the same. The stem was taken to the buffer where I applied several coats of carnauba wax.

I do not like applying carnauba wax to heavily rusticated stummels. I did apply a couple coats of carnauba wax to the flat surface of the stamp. The rest of the stummel received Dacatur No-Buff Wax applied with my fingers and a soft bristle baby toothbrush. This was allowed to dry for 15 minutes and rubbed off with a clean dry terry cloth towel.

I think this pipe turned out very nicely. It makes a fine companion for the Kings Cross Foursquare from a previous restoration. I wanted an easy

restoration and for the most part this was one. I think the smoothing of the rim really adds to the appearance of these pipes. I hope that you found

something that you can use in your own restorations or that you found this interesting/entertaining. Thank you for stopping by and reading the rambling of an old pipe lover.

Below are some photos of the finished Kings Cross Kruger:
A Kings Cross Foursquare Restoration

December 2nd, 2023
Written and photographed by John M. Young

I recently won an auction for 6 Kings Cross pipes. They are a mixture of 2-Made in England, 2-Made in France and 2- no Country of Manufacture (COM) just “ALGERIAN BRIAR”. They all looked like just what I needed after two recent restores that were rather difficult. Wonderfully dirty, oxidized old pipes WITHOUT major issues. I apologize if you are here for some nail biting cliff hanging drama like with the Pipe by Lee restoration that led to the restoration of the restoration (I linked those if your nails need biting). These, looked like a relaxing day on the lake fishing for crappies.

I chose to work on the rusticated paneled billiard first. Here are her arrival photos:

A little bit of history is one of those things that I love about these projects. Here is what we know:
1. I own a Kings Cross made in Italy by Savinelli
2. The Kings Cross I chose to start with is Made in England.
1. The stampings look nothing alike.
What do you deduce, my dear Watson?

Umm, Mr. Savinelli moved?

No, there obviously is mystery afoot, old chap.

The first search of “Kings Cross” led me to the following quote from Pipedia.org:

“Kings Cross is a brand made by both Chapuis-Comoy in France using Algerian Briar. Kings Cross is also a brand name used by Savinelli, which is more commonly seen in the U.S. market. Those pipes are made using Italian Briar”

(Kings Cross – Pipedia)

Comoy’s is an English pipe maker and Chapuis is French. Hmm, the mystery deepens. I checked the Comoy page on Pipehil.eu and found the Comoy seconds.

Comoy — Pipes : Logos & Markings (pipephil.eu)

No mention of “Kings Cross” as a second of Comoy. Strangely, there is no Comoy stamping on the pipe either. So, this Kings Cross is not a second of Comoy yet, they apparently didn’t want it known that she was a Comoy either. To verify the Comoy heritage I found a list of Comoy shapes and shape numbers on Pipedia.com. Sure enough, the 368 was there.

(Comoy’s Shape Number Chart – Pipedia)

Now we know that the Kings Cross is definitely a member of the Comoy family with that specific shape fitting in with their listed shape chart. I returned to the Kings Cross page on Pipedia.org. For more information. And found nearly the exact stamping. They called it “Comoy’s version” of the Kings Cross and visually compared it to the Chapuis version.

(Kings Cross – Pipedia)

What is the relationship between the two companies and their English and French COMs? It seems odd that two separate companies would both make the same line of pipes with the same name. The plot thickens.

(http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/infos/connect-en.html)

Talk about your confusing family trees. The present day briar pipe owes a great deal to the Comoy family. Below is an abbreviated history.

Chapter One- “Francois Comoy and his brothers started making pipes (probably clays, boxwood and beech) in 1825 in the small monastic town of Saint-Claude in eastern France. Francois and his son Louis discovered that briar had vastly superior qualities and from 1848 made pipes only in this wood.” (Comoy’s – Pipedia)

Chapter 2- “In 1879 Francois’s son Henri, who was born in 1850, moved to London with a small bag of tools, but a great deal of experience. Henri set up a small factory in Seven Dials which is today known as Cambridge Circus. He was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the briar pipe trade in London and is credited with being the author of the appellation “London Made”.” (Comoy’s – Pipedia)

Chapter 3- “He was helped at first by some of his brothers and around 1891 was joined by his two nephews, Louis and Charles Chapuis. Louis took the name of his adoptive parents. By 1895 the business had outgrown the Seven Sisters site and a new factory was built in Newcastle Place, Clerkenwell. By 1905 markets were being sought in America and the extra business required a new factory to be built in 1913 at 72 Rosebury Avenue.” (Comoy’s – Pipedia)

Chapter 4- A couple of world wars, financial issues, mergers, independence from mergers and general corporate mayhem leads to the above family tree of chaos.

The below timeline allowed me to deduce a couple of dates of relative importance to the Kings Cross in question:

The Chapuis-Comoy factory

Chapuis-Comoy :: Chacom

The Chapuis-Comoy factory

1922

This date corresponds to the Chapuis-Comoy society establishment. But it is rooted in the end of the 19th century and its origin is indissociable from two branches of a unique family.

Henry Comoy (1870-1924) was a pipe maker established in Saint Claude prior emigrating to London where he started the “H. Comoy & Co Ltd”.

He convinced his Chapuis cousins to form a partnership with him and start a factory in Saint Claude. That’s how was born “Chapuis-Comoy & Cie”.

1924

At this time Oppenheimer group⁽¹⁾ holds the capital of the society as for C.J. Verguet or La Bruyère, two others pipe firms in Saint Claude.

Acquisition of an ebauchon drying shed at “rue des Etapes”.

The factory in Saint Claude provides the London one with ebauchons

The drying shed : ▲ Inside

The wood of your old and very british Comoy probably seasoned in this place a while. Outside ▼

1928
Création of the Chacom brand.

1932
Merger of La Bruyère and Chapuis-Comoy & Cie. The Chapuis-Comoy brand disappears.

1957
In view of the success encountered by the Chacom brand, La Bruyere takes back the “Chapuis-Comoy & Cie” society name.

1972
The society recovers its whole independence to London thanks to Yves Grenard, grand cousin of Pierre Comoy (Henry’s grand son) and manager of Chapuis-Comoy & Cie.

1988
Creation of the S.A. Cuty-Fort⁽²⁾ bringing together Chapuis-Comoy, Emile Vuillard, Jeantet-David and Jean Lacroix. They have the production in common, but the different brands are preserved for the pipe’s distribution.

Antoine Grenard 2008

2012
Yves Grenard passed away on Feb 8, 2012. His son Antoine manages Chapuis-Comoy & Cie

(1) An overview of the connexions between French and English pipe companies here.

(2) S.A. (Société Anonyme) : Limited Company (UK) or Incorporated Company (US)

Document: The Chapuis-Comoy factory — Pipes: Logos & Markings (pipephil.eu)

Here we have, what I think would be the earliest date that the pipe would have been made: “In 1971, the London factory (see Comoy’s) became independent, and Yves Grenard, second cousin to Pierre, took over Saint-Claude” (Chapuis-Comoy – Pipedia) On another Comoy page in Pipedia.org they state that: “Comoy’s remained a family owned company until it was finally taken over by Cadogan Investments during the early 1980’s.” (Comoy’s – Pipedia) I added the bold to “1971”.

I think that the quote that best identifies the latest date of production would be 1988 when the Comoy pipe production joined the Chapuis production: ”They have the production in common, but the different brands are preserved for the pipe’s distribution.” Joint production at the Chapuis factory would mean the pipe could not have been “Made in England”.

Document: The Chapuis-Comoy factory — Pipes: Logos & Markings (pipephil.eu)

With the beginning date of 1971 and end date of 1988, this would put the Kings Cross more recent than what I am used to restoring. Hah, I am older than you, pipe. I am not sure if Sherlock Holmes would agree with my deductions or not but, I could certainly convince Watson.

To the restoration. First thing I did was to ream the Kings Cross and rid it of the cake. There was a pretty healthy deposit that the

Smokingpipe Low Country Reamer scraped out quickly. I followed up with the number two blade of the PipNet and gave it a final scrape again with the Low Country. Next I sanded the interior of the bowl with 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wooden dowel.

Next stop the sink for a Murphy’s Wood Cleaner scrub. I use Murphy’s undiluted and scrub with a medium stiff toothbrush. This will usually remove the dirt and grime accumulated through years of use. The Murphy’s did its job quite well but there was a layer of some kind of clear finish that I did not want on this pipe.

“What kind of finish is it?” I wondered. Hopefully shellac and please don’t be some space-age-polymer. (Yeah Kaywoodie Magnum, I’m talking about

you. How they ever liquified diamonds and put them on a pipe I’ll never know) I wetted a make-up removal pad with 99% isopropyl alcohol and tried rubbing the flat surface of the stamp. A little bit of color came off but the surface remained shiny. I wetted the other side of the pad with 95% ethyl alcohol and tried again. This time a bit more color but the shine

remained. New pad, with acetone. This time more color and the shine was gone. We have a winner.

That meant that the stummel would have to take a bath in the acetone jar.

While the acetone was dissolving the finish I addressed the stem. Oh joy, a stinger. I am not a big fan of stingers, in general. I love the tenon extensions

or chimney in a Peterson pipe, tolerate them in a Kaywoodies and feel okay about them in a Dr. Grabow Westbrook but generally they are not my cuppa tea. I’d never go and deface a pipe by cutting one off but I have been known to remove them and forget where they have gone. This one looked like it was just a push fit aluminum type. The highly technical stinger extractor was used to try to pull it out. By the way, that’s just a pair of pliers with painters tape wrapped around each jaw. It doesn’t budge. Hmm, maybe it will become loosened with the airway cleaning? Spoiler, it didn’t.

The stem had a lot of small tooth chatter marks on both the top and bottom. The worst thing looked like a series of dents along the left top edge. I did not want to round the stem and change its original look.

I painted the chatter and the dents with the flame of a disposable lighter. That seemed to reduce the dents but did not remove them. Next I got out the 400 wet dry sandpaper. With a light hand and small circular rubbing I started to work on the chatter. For the sides I tried to keep the stem as flat as possible and work the stem on the sandpaper with the sandpaper flat on the bench surface. I still had to sand the edge to remove the dents but did so on each side to mask the rounding.

I hoped that the remaining dings would come out with the micro-meshing.

Time to check on the stummel. I removed the stummel from the acetone. I recommend nitrile gloves when handling a wet with acetone stummel. I completely ignored my own recommendation. I used a brass brush to work the finish free from the grooves of the stummel. Frequent dips of the brush were needed to fully saturate the air with acetone fumes. I recommend using a respirator classified for fumes. I also ignored this recommendation. I would rinse the stummel in the acetone, allow it to evaporate and check for shiny spots then repeat the scrubbing as needed. I did this until I saw no further shine or until I saw more stummels than I could count, from the acetone fumes.

Here is what I had after the acetone scrub:

Next on the agenda was to top that wire brushed rim. I know, do no harm, restore doesn’t mean remake but, I couldn’t help myself. This rustic look was screaming for a touch of class. I topped the rim with 220 sandpaper followed by 400. I left a couple of scratches on the rim because I thought the looked cool.

After that the stummel got a healthy dose of Before and After Restoration balm. I rubbed the balm in with my finger and thumb them worked over the whole surface with a soft bristled baby toothbrush to work the balm into all the nooks and crannies.

Here is what she looked like all slathered up:

I let the restoration balm sit all night for no other reason than I went to bed after taking those photos.

All that was left was the final micro-meshing of the stem, a quick visit to the buffer for a final polish and a few coats of wax. First the micro-mesh. Normally I would moisten the 1500 and 1800 pads with a drop of water but here I still wanted to see if I could remove those last marks. So I ran through the entire series of pad dry. I still applied a drop of Obsidian Oil between pads and wiped with a paper towel before proceeding to the next. When

finished I took the pipe to the buffer and gave it a light buff with white diamond compound. Just on the stem and careful of the circle K logo. I finished the stem by wiping and remaining white diamond compound off with a rag. I then applied a couple coats of carnauba wax. For the stummel I finished it with a liberal rub of Decatur No-Buff Wax. I allowed it to dry for 15 minutes before buffing with a dry polishing towel.

Overall I am pleased with how this restoration turned out. The old Kings Cross with all of its convoluted history looks good and will be a good companion pipe for someone for many years to come. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover. If you enjoy this kind of stuff please click the like and subscribe.

Here are the final photos of the Kings Cross Made in England Foursquare: