In all honesty, this is hardly a restoration. It is more of a cleaning and polishing. The pipe had never been fired. Why someone would do that is beyond me but after the last restoration I appreciate something that is more like pushing the easy button. I am not really sure when this pipe arrived other than it was at least a year ago. My record keeping started out very good when I began restoring pipes then went downhill quickly. Below are some photos of the Brigham billiard prior to starting work.
I am sure you noticed that the stem was not completely seated in the above photos. That is because it wouldn’t press into place without excessive force. The aluminum tenon was oxidized and I thought it best not to force it. The only other issue was the slight oxidation of the stem which made it look rather dull. Those were the only real things this pipe needed; aluminum polishing/oxidation removal and a stem polishing. Yay!
Background
Back on August 7, 2025 I wrote about a Brigham 202 Billiard with a dental bit. It is linked for those interested in that restoration. Anyway, I discussed The ultimate guide to Brigham pipes, a book by Charles Lemon. Here is a quote from that blog:
“The ultimate source of information on Brigham pipes is Charles Lemon, the author of Brigham Pipes – A Century of Canadian Briar. This wonderful book is available from Mr. Lemon on his website, Books, or from smokingpipes.com (Brigham Pipes – A Century of Canadian Briar | Smokingpipes) if you need to increase the total of your purchase to get the ever popular free shipping, and other various sources. I am unsure about Canadian immigration rules but I think this book should be required reading for prospective immigrants to Canada, especially if they are pipe smokers. ” (A Brigham 202 Billiard Restoration – NebraskaPeteGeek)
I once again found myself rereading Mr. Lemon’s work. My mind is far better at relearning than it is at remembering, Though I admit to being able to find the information much faster this time. The 1990s to early 2000s brought unique challenges and opportunities to Brigham. According to Charles Lemon, “ The company rounded the decade with two major introductions. The first, in response to demand for a lower-priced pipe, was the Italian-made Brigham System Pipe”, the first Brigham pipe made completely outside of Canada. The second and more far-reaching change was the development of the composite tenon, still in use today.” (Lemon, Charles. Brigham Pipe – A Century of Canadian Briar. Copywell, Woodbridge ON. Second Printing, October 2023. Page p. 51). So this dates the Brigham System pipe to the late 1990s. The next page narrows the latest possible production date to 2001.
Again referring to Lemon, “In all, Brigham tested ten different composite formulas before landing on a material that was less expensive than aluminum, strong, lightweight and tolerant of high heat levels. The new composite tenons generated quite a stir among Canadian pipe smokers when introduced in 2001, but the benefits, especially the much lower risk of a cracked shank, outweighed the initial resistance from Brigham pipe fans” (Lemon, p.52). One other dating quote from Mr. Lemon is in regards to the stem logo:
“”Brigham System” Pipes (late 1990s to early 2000s) were the first Brigham pipes made entirely in Italy. These were entry-level pipes available in 12 shape sand marked first with a yellow star on the stem, which later changed after 2001 to a maple leaf.” (Lemon, p. 55)
Since this pipe is clearly stamped as a Brigham System with a country of manufacture (COM) of Italy, a yellow star stem logo and an aluminum tenon it must have been made in the late 1990s to 2001.
The Restoration
From the photo table to the workbench, a scenic journey of about 15 feet, the pipe made it without incident.
I chose to work on the oxidized tenon first.
Using 0000 steel wool the oxidized aluminum was cleaned up and polished.
The mortise showed signs of some oxidized aluminum residue within.
I used a .22 caliber rifle brass bore brush to clean the mortise.
The shank was then cleaned with cotton swabs dipped in 95% isopropyl alcohol.
Once the mortise and tenon were cleaned up the two joined as they should.
I wanted to revitalize the stem with some buffing. I did not want to affect the finish on the shank, so I taped the end of the shank with masking tape.
Being the lazy bum that I am, I didn’t replace the buffing wheel and just used the white wheel and white buffing compound on the stem.
The yellow painted stem logo did take a slight beating from the buffing. I used some Pale Saffron acrylic modeling paint to refresh the logo. This color was a nearly perfect match to the original color. The acrylic paint was allowed to dry for a few minutes.
The excess paint was removed using micro-mesh pads. These were fine enough that the finish from the buffing was not noticeable.
The stem then received several coats of carnauba wax at the buffer. The stummel also was waxed with carnauba but very lightly as I did not want to fill the rustications with wax deposits.
The final step was to hand buff the pipe with a microfiber polish cloth.
This Brigham System pipe is one of the last Brighams made using the aluminum tenon. With its traditional internals and a very traditional billiard shape it is a very well balanced pipe with great hand feel. The texture does not show any real briar grain and the dye is rather artificial in appearance; it would certainly make an excellent working pipe for those projects in the yard or garage. I have had experience with the Brigham maple inserts and found that they do remove liquids and tar from the smoke effectively. The stem of this pipe polished-up very nickel and overall it looks like a brand new pipe. Which, never having been smoked, it really is. The dimensions of this Brigham System are:
Length: 5.95 in./ 151.13 mm.
Weight: 1.42 oz./ 40.26 g.
Bowl Height: 1.85 in./ 46.99 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.66 in./ 42.16 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.84 in./ 21.34 mm.
Outside Diameter: 1.44 in./ 36.58 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.
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Below are some photos of the finished Brigham System Billiard.
I think I have only worked on 6-10 Savinelli pipes. There have been four that I have blogged about, including this one, and another 3 or 4 that I restored before I was writing about the restorations. Some of those early Savinelli restorations were Dry System pipes, Savinelli’s take on the Peterson System and a Punto Oro Mister G. In general I have nothing but praise to give Savinelli pipes except for their vulcanite. Savinelli’s acrylic stems are a thing of beauty with wonderful color schemes and excellent workmanship. Their vulcanite on the other hand is shaped with care and precision but the darn stuff is nearly impossible to restore to the original gloss black. I think I am getting ahead of myself again. This Savinelli Extra 616 KS is an amazing pipe due to its incredible shape. It’s classified as a bent billiard but that doesn’t do it justice. It has wonderfully thick walls and a very substantial shank, making it similar in size to a Peterson 307 but larger in all the right places. Yeah, I had to compare it to a Peterson since my experience with Petes is far more extensive than with Savinelli. I picked this pipe up by making an offer on the poor pipe which no one was bidding on. The seller accepted and the rest is history. Upon arrival I took some photos of the pipe prior to working on it.
I could definitely see why many people like this shape, it has wonderful proportions and feels great in hand. This one needed some work, though. The vulcanite stem was severely oxidized. I hoped my previous experiences with Savinelli vulcanite would be different this time. The stummel had a few dents which looked easy to fill and the existing fill were all secure and intact. The tobacco chamber had a layer of cake which I hoped would not reveal hidden damage. The rim looked good with only minor lava deposits. Overall, this looked like a pretty easy restoration.
Background
Re-reading the blog about the Savinelli Porto Cervo, I thought, “why rewrite good information?” So I didn’t. Below is what I said about Savinelli in March 9th of 2024:
“First off , let me provide some history of Savinelli. As usual I employed pipedia.org and pipephil.eu for source information. The pipedia.org section of Savinelli is well written and very informative. I know I said I wanted to keep this brief but much of this is worthy of repeating, especially the “origins” of the company in 1876 and the post-WWII company as we know it.
Early Origins
“1876 was a year of breakthroughs: Thomas Edison patented the mimeograph, Julius Wolff-Eastport canned sardines for the first time, Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call,
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky completed Swan Lake, Melville Bissel patented the first carpet sweeper, Mark Twain published Tom Sawyer, and in Milan, Italy, Achille Savinelli opened one of the first shops exclusively focused on tobacco and smoking accessories.
That last item may seem relatively unimportant in the global scheme of advancements, but for those of us who love pipes, it was a monumental achievement, made even more difficult by the Italian government, which held a monopoly on tobacco. In addition, Achille was convinced that briar pipes represented the future of pipe smoking at a time when the market was dominated by clay and meerschaum. It may not have been obvious in 1876, but Achille Savinelli’s commitment to briar pipes would prove to be visionary.
He soon began designing his own pipes (different from the styling we associate with Savinelli today) and arranged their manufacture by local pipemakers in the Varese district of north-west Italy. The pipes became so popular that some were exhibited at the 1881 Esposizione Industriale Italiana (Italian Industrial Exposition)—the precursor to today’s Milan Fair, one of the largest trade fairs in the world.” (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Savinelli)
Post-WWII
“With his two best friends, Amleto Pomé and Mario Vettoruzzo, he assembled a team of fifteen employees to start a new business in the Varese region—the same area of northwest Italy in which his grandfather, Achille Sr., commissioned his own designs more than 60 years before.
Savinelli Pipes began production in 1948 and, although the pipes were of a superior quality and unique in their aesthetic, the brand wasn’t an immediate success. Few new brands are. It takes time for the public to catch on. Retailers were skeptical of placing Italian pipes alongside their best sellers from England or France, and customers, in turn, were hesitant to purchase a Savinelli over pipes by already established, foreign brands. Achille Jr. stood by his product, however; he knew it was only a matter of time before the world realized that these pipes were of a far superior quality, capable of competing with even the most well-established pipe manufacturers in the world. As it turns out, he was right. In less than a year, Savinelli pipes gained prestige in markets all across the world—heralded for their delicate balance of innovation and tradition, of form and function. Savinelli pipes were placed alongside the likes of Dunhill and Comoy’s in tobacconists from the United States to Europe, and, in time, this exposure modified Italy’s reputation; it was not only the premier exporter of briar, but now a premium source of fine briar pipes.” (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Savinelli)
Yeah, I know, that was kind of lazy. Now about this pipe: Savinelli Extra 616 KS. According to the official Savinelli site, “Model 616 KS is one of the biggest models which Savinelli offers to its customers. The big and deep chambered cylindrical bowl is visually balanced by a thick and robust cylindrical shank. A really masculine style.” (Savinelli Pipe – FORESTA 616 KS). The number of Savinelli lines, brands, sub-brands etc… is dizzying:
(Savinelli – Pipedia). How anyone, even master factory craftsmen, can keep track of all that is remarkable.
The Restoration
The Extra 616 KS made its way to the workbench.
I started with the stem. The good news was there was no real tooth chatter. I used a flat file to redefine the button and remove the general tooth denting.
A wood block was used to help hold the stem for some light sanding to remove the surface oxidation.
The airway of the stem was cleaned out with bristle pipe cleaners and 99% ethyl alcohol.
I thought a 24 hour dip in the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer would be adequate.
Returning to the stummel I started cleaning the shank with the unused ends of the bristle pipe cleaners left from the stem.
Numerous cotton swab, and shank brushing, all with 99% ethyl alcohol along with a good deal of scraping with a dental scraper helped clear the accumulated smoking residues.
The reaming tools were assembled.
The PippNet with it’s #2 and #3 blades did the majority of the reaming.
I used the General triangular scraper and the Smokingpipes Low Country reamer for some clean-up.
The reamed tobacco chamber looked much better.
The chamber was sanded to bare briar using 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. No heat damage was evident.
With the amount of tar and yuck in the shank airway I thought it would be best if I gave the stummel a cotton alcohol treatment. The airway and tobacco chamber were stuffed with cotton.
Normally 10 ml of 99% ethyl alcohol would be sufficient for this but the 616 KS has a very substantial bowl, so 15 ml were measured out. The alcohol would be applied via a disposable pipette.
The cotton was saturated with alcohol and would be left overnight.
The next day the cotton showed the tell tale color of the deposited tars removed by the alcohol.
The cotton was removed and the airway was again cleaned using alcohol dipped cotton swabs and some more scraping.
The Savinelli made its way to the sink for a scrub with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.
The dried stummel looked far better.
A wipe down with a make-up pad dipped in 99% ethyl alcohol removed a bit of color, probably wax and some remaining grime.
This did allow me a better look at the dents and dings in the briar.
The two old fills remained quite secure and I decided to leave them in place, even though I truly dislike their pink color.
The stem was removed from the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer (deox) and allowed to drip excess solution from the stem using the patented Drip-O-Matic.
The stem was vigorously rubbed with a coarse shop rage to remove some of the oxidized vulcanite and the remaining solution. The oxidized rubber can be seen on the rag in the photo below rag
Returning to the workbench, the stem was worked with Soft Scrub cleanser on make-up pads to remove more of the oxidized material.
A liberal coating of mineral oil was applied to the stem to curtail further oxygen attack.
To further remove the oxidation I sanded the stem with 320-600 sanding sponges. The stem was secured to the shank and the shank masked with masking tape to prevent excessive sanding of the briar. Between each sanding sponge the stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel.
Now, under normal room light the stem looked pretty good but when placed under the bright lights of the photography table the brown of oxidation was very evident. Darn that Savinelli vulcanite.
I wiped the stem with a make-up pad dipped in alcohol to remove the oil and reintroduced the stem to the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer. I left it in the solution for another 12 hours.
This gave me plenty of time to work on the stummel. To fill the dents and dings, I used thin cyanoacrylate and briar dust. The new fills were filed with a small flat file and sanded smooth with sanding sponges.
The rim was lightly topped with 400 grit sandpaper laid flat on a counter and the inner rine bevel reestablished using a small wood sphere and sanding sponges in grits 320 and 400.
The stamps were taped over with masking tape for their protection.
12 Hours later the stem was removed from deox again and allowed to drip for a few minutes.
Back onto a clean side of the coarse shop rag.
More vigorous rubbing yielded more oxidized vulcanite.
Under normal lighting it looks good.
Under bright photo lighting, not so much. Darn Savinelli vulcanite.
The stem and stummel both met the serials of sanding sponges from 320-3500. The stem was again rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel between sponges. The stem was wiped with an alcohol wetted make-up pad between sponges to remove sanding debris.
The stem was then taken to the buffer where I used a rogue buffing compound to buff the stem.
I switched wheels and then buffed with white buffing compound. The buffing had the desired effect of giving the stem a wonderful gloss finish but under bright light, brown oxidation could still be seen. Darn Savinelli vulcanite.
I returning to the workbench the stummel was coated with Before and After Restoration Balm and the stem coated with Before and After Hard Rubber Balm. These were allowed to sit for 30 minutes.
Both balms were hand buffed with an inside out athletic sock to remove the excess balms.
The pipe was returned to the buffer for several coats of carnauba wax.
The final step was to hand buff the pipe with a microfiber polish cloth.
I would love to say that I think this Savinelli turned out great. Unfortunately, the oxidation of the stem stops me from saying great. Acceptable, is a better term. The stummel turned out very nicely and the polish of the stem is beautiful. I think the only way to remove the oxidation would be to sand the shank and stem together and reduce the thickness of both to get to non-oxidized vulcanite. This would alter the dimensions of the pipe overall and I do not think that is worth it. I again say, “darn Savinelli vulcanite”. For those thinking about purchasing an estate Savinelli, I recommend going with models which have acrylic stems unless the oxidized vulcanite suits your fancy. This is still a wonderful pipe and will be a great smoker.
The dimensions of the Savinelli Extra 616 KS are:
Length: 5.58 in./ 141.73 mm.
Weight: 2.25 oz./ 63.79 g.
Bowl Height: 2.13 in./ 54.10 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.84 in./ 46.74 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.83 in./ 21.08 mm.
Outside Diameter: 1.74 in./ 44.20 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.
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Below are some photos of the finished Savinelli Extra 616 KS.
I had never worked on this shape before, some might call it a pot, others a bullnose. Either way I found it interesting and I have a soft spot for basket pipes with an interesting shape. The thick walls and wide acrylic stem were the clincher. And honestly, the double brass bands just were an elegant bonus. This beauty was spotted on eBay and I was able to collect the prize as I was the only bidder and a tough over $15 seemed like a good deal. After the obligatory wait for shipping, The chubby cherub arrived. The only stamps were MADE IN ITALY on the bottom of the pipe. Below are some photos of the pipe in the pre-work or before condition.
The stem looked to be in very good condition, slightly oxidized, maybe. The stummel on the other hand showed signs of extensive fills. The gloss clear coat was an obvious attempt to conceal the fills and perhaps to help “glue” them together. The tobacco chamber seemed quite out of round. I couldn’t tell by initial inspection that the rim was all filled, charred or just lava covered. Oh well, it would still be a fun project.
Background
Pipes like this are nearly impossible to research. No shape number and a very standard country of manufacture (COM) stamp provide little to work with. I thought maybe, the double brass band would provide a clue.
The Restoration
The pipe made it to the workbench and a clean denim piece.
I examined the drillings. The draft hole was well centered and looked good.
The hole through the stem was off centered, but there was a nice chamfer cut.
I assembled the ream team. This tobacco chamber was wide and would require the PipNet #3 blade and perhaps the #4.
It turned out that the #3 PipNet was sufficient. A little bit of clean-up was done with the General triangular scraper.
The chamber was sanded with 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel.
At the point I wondered if I should scrap the whole project. There were two surface cracks in the briar within the chamber. These would most likely be a source of chamber charring or burning with use.
There was a third pit within the chamber on the opposite side. This would be another spot where damage from smoking the pipe could lead to issues.
The “out of round” issue was mainly cosmetic and on the rim, not the tobacco chamber itself.
The rim looked to be encased in a layer of lava or smoking residue.
I moistened the rim with saliva and allowed it to soften the lava for a couple of minutes. The rim was then carefully scrapped with a sharp pocket knife blade. The result allowed me to see that the rim was indeed heavily filled with putty or filler.
I cleaned the shank with several cotton swabs, a nylon shank brush and a dental scraper. There was also copious amounts of 99% ethyl alcohol used.
The stummel was taken to the sink for a scrub with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water.
The stummel was dirty, so a second scrub with more Murphy’s and a brass brush was used. This was then rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.
Back at the workbench the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad wet with 99% ethyl alcohol. Little color was removed and the remaining finish seems to be unaffected by the alcohol.
I tried a wipe with acetone on a make-up pad. This did have an effect on the finish.
I decided to let the stummel soak in an acetone bath for a couple of hours.
During this down time, I worked on cleaning the stem. The stem access through the slot was difficult, at best. I could barely get a pipe cleaner through. This was not due to dirtyness, just a poorly made draft. I used an emery board to sand the interior of the button and improve the daft.
I finally got the draft opened up with Falcon Extra Thin Pipe cleaner, the Vermont Freehand slot tool and more sanding with the emery board.
I filed the end of the stem above the button to smooth it on both the top and bottom sides.
The initial carving of the stem was not very smooth. After my file work it was much improved.
Below you can see the reshaped stem after sanding with 300 and 400 sanding sponges.
The stem was sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 320-1000 grits. Between sponges the stem was wiped with a paper towel to remove sanding debris.
After the sanding I reattached it to the pipe and took the stem to the buffer. Here I used red compound to polish the stem. I have been working on bettering my stem polishing skills. Like nearly everything, practice makes perfect. I will never claim perfection, but I am getting better at buffing and polishing stems.
After two hours in the acetone, I removed the stummel. The clear coat that the Italian maker used was some darn tough stuff. I rubbed the stummel with a make-up pad wetted with acetone.
I then used the brass brush dipped in acetone to remove more of the clear coat as well as some of the fill material.
The fills were very soft and I picked out much of the material.
Below you can see more of the grooves left by picking out soft fill.
There was one large surface crack that was picked free of fill, seen below along the front rim. I decided to fill in the cracks and pit within the tobacco chamber with J-B Weld epoxy. I figured that I could do the same with the crack on the rim.
Below is the one pit in the chamber now filled with epoxy.
Below are the two cracks within the chamber also filled with epoxy. I also built up the rim with a bead of epoxy in an attempt at concealing the “out-of-round” rim.
24 hours later, I used a sharp knife to shave away most of the excess epoxy. I then sanded it smooth to the surface with 320 sandpaper.
The rim was re-beveled with a small wooden sphere wrapped in sandpaper.
Once I was pleased with the sanding, I prepped for dying the briar. I know the original pipe was red with brown but I wanted to conceal all the fills so I went with an all black. Fiebing’s Black Leather Dye was the choice. A folded pipe cleaner was the applicator. A wine pottle cork was used to plug the bowl to keep dye from the tobacco chamber and a lighter was used to flame the dye, burning off the solvent/alcohol.
I left a bit of the original brown at the shank end. My plan was to lightly sand the high spots of the rustications allowing the brown to peek through the black. Three coats of dye were applied and flamed.
The dye was flamed then allowed to dry for an hour.
Once dried, I lightly sanded the stummel revealing the browns underlying the new black dye.
The stummel was then wiped with a make-up pad wetted with 99% ethyl alcohol.
I gave the pipe a total of three coats of Danish oil applied with a cotton swab.
Below is the pipe and its first coat drying.
Below is the third coat drying.
The pipe was then given a couple of coats of carnauba wax. Extra care was given to buff with the grain of the sandblast patterns to avoid building up wax in the grooves.
The final step was a hand buffing of the pipe with a microfiber polishing cloth.
This pipe with its various pits, cracks and flaws was nearly discarded. I am glad to say that it smokes wonderfully and has now become another fishing pipe. Yeah, that is hardly a great endorsement or title, but I spend a good deal of time fishing and typically do not want to subject my best quality pipes to those less hospitable conditions. The wide stem is very comfortable to clench and the bend makes it even better. I love the wide bowl for my favorite Balkan and English blends. This old pipe will not be a winner of a beauty pageant even with the beautifully polished stem and brass bands, but she is more than a utilitarian addition to the fishing pipe club.
The dimensions of this No Name Italian Bullnose are:
Length: 5.19 in./ 131.83 mm.
Weight: 2.06 oz./ 58.40 g.
Bowl Height: 1.51 in./ 40.64 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.20 in./ 38.35 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.80 in./ 20.32 mm.
Outside Diameter: 1.75 in./ 44.45 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.
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Below are some photos of the finished No Name Italian Bullnose.
I cannot say how many times I had picked up this London Briar apple and appreciated its dimensions and contours. Yet, time and again I set it aside to work on another pipe. The apple shape is a favorite of mine and this pipe has nearly perfect “apple” archetypal lines. Perhaps it fell to the wayside because of its more generic heritage and my snobbish attitude. Then I think back to my list of favorite brands and lines: Peterson, Marxman, Dr Grabow, Yello-Bole. Hmm, that pretty much rules out the snobbery, eh?
This pipe came as part of an estate lot. One of those purchases where it was along for the ride and not the object of my desire of the lot. Below are some photographs I took of the pipe before work was started.
Overall, the pipe was in very good condition. The acrylic stem was pretty much impervious to oxidation, saving me a good deal of work. Another positive was that the stem had not been the victim of chewing. It did have a dark streak from smoking residue though. The stummel had been given a clear coat finish which I do not like and will typically remove. There did not appear to be any significant fill which would require attention. The tobacco chamber was also quite clean and the rim looked nearly pristine. This had all the earmarks of a nice relaxing restoration.
Background
I cannot say that there is a lot of information out there on this pipe. Searches on both pipephil.eu and pipedia.org came up with nothing. Fortunately there is the great Steve Laug who has restored a very similar pipe and chronicled it very well. Here is the link to Steve’s restoration blog:
“I had not seen the stamping London Briars before so I did some hunting on the web for the brand and found that the brand was made by/for Gauntleys of Nottingham. They sold new for £31.95 Here is the link to their site: https://cigars.gauntleys.com/uk/offer/gauntleys-london-briar-pipes
I quote directly from the site: Gauntleys London Briar Pipes – Our London Briar pipes have become very popular since we introduced them just a few months ago. Each is made from selected second briar blocks from one of the country’s largest and most respected pipe makers.
If the briar was flawless these pipes would sell for over £250. These are from briar with small flaws in the grain or needing small amounts of filler so are great value. The briar is some of the finest in the world and can be up to 80 years old.
Each pipe is hand made in a range of classic English shapes and comes in a number of finishes from Smooth Brown to Black (Shell Briar) Sandblasted.
If you are looking for a first pipe or something to use around the house or garden the Gauntleys London Briars are very affordable and smoke like an entry level premium briar. Each pipe comes boxed with a silk bag.” (Didn’t Break a Sweat Cleaning this London Briar Brandy | rebornpipes).
The Restoration
The restoration of this great apple shaped piece began with a cleanish denim piece on the workbench.
The pipe’s tobacco chamber looked pretty clean but I kept getting whiffs that it may have been used for the smoking of non-tobacco. I have had experiences with marijauna smoking residue and it is never easy nor pleasant to deal with. This pipe had a slight aroma of the wacky weed yet there were tobacco fragments in the chamber. If it had been used for non-tobacco it was infrequent. I gathered the “ream team”, which included the PipNet, Smokingpipes Low Country reamer and General triangular scraper.
The number 2 blades of the PipNet made short work of the tobacco chamber with the Low Country reamer used for the bottom part of the chamber.
Below is a photo of the reamed chamber.
The draft hole was constricted so I used the Kleen-Reem draft hole drill to clear it.
Below is a photo of the drill in the airway.
The airway was cleaned with several bristle pipe cleaners, cotton swabs, both dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol, and some scraping with a dental scraper.
This stummel had a clear coat finish that I wanted to remove. I tried ethyl alcohol on a make-up pad and that didn’t touch the finish. I then tried acetone on a make-up pad. This too had little effect. I decided that a bath in acetone for 30 minutes would loosen or dissolve the finish.
While waiting for the acetone to do what it does, I started cleaning the stem. This was done with bristle pipe cleaners and 95% ethyl alcohol. The before photos show a distinctive dark stained airway. Once cleaned out the stem showed no signs of the dark streak.
After 30 minutes in the acetone I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad and some color and finish did come off but not enough for my liking, so I went back into the acetone for another 30 minutes.
After another 30 minutes the clear coat was relinquishing its hold on the briar. A light sanding while the finish was still soft removed it from the bowl. The finish remained on the shank.
The below photos indicate that further sanding and acetone wipes were needed.
Eventually the clear coat was removed. Below, you can see that the stem was reattached to preserve the joint where the stem meets the shank as well as the painters tape protecting the stamps.
WIth the finish removed I sanded the stem and stummel with a series of sanding sponges in grits from 320-3500. Between each sponge I wiped the pipe with a make-up pad wetted with ethyl alcohol.
After the sanding sponges I worked the pipe with micro-mesh pads 4000-12000, again wiping the pipe as above.
I gave the stummel a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed it to sit for 20 minutes.
The Restoration Balm was wiped from the stummel using an inside out athletic sock.
The pipe was then taken to the buffer where the stem was buffed with white buffing compound before the entire pipe was given several coats of carnauba wax. The final step was a hand buffing of the pipe with a microfiber polishing cloth raising the shine to the levels which can be seen below in the “finished” pipe photos.
There is something about the apple shape that just fits for me. Perhaps it is because I share a well rounded shape. This apple caught my eye as a wonderful example of the shape and turned out beautifully. The acrylic stem cleaned up nicely and demanded attention with its bright pearlescent yellow. The briar grain, though not unattractive, is rather muted. I wonder if I should have tried to accent the grain more with a contrast dye. Still the cross grains at the front and rear of the bowl are pretty. The best part of the pipe is the hand feel, this apple just fits in the hand with the perfect plumpness. The dimensions of the London Briar Apple are:
Length: 5.74 in./ 145.80 mm.
Weight: 1.52 oz./ 43.09 g.
Bowl Height: 1.66 in./ 42.16 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.49 in./ 37.85 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.74 in./ 18.80 mm.
Outside Diameter: 1.55 in./ 39.37 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.
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Below are some photos of the finished London Briar Apple.
I am not sure why but it happens with some frequency, I’ll look at an estate lot and one pipe just jumps out at me as being more attractive than the rest. This singularly attractive pipe turns out to be an EA Carey Magic Inch. Now, I am far from an expert on design or aesthetics but I do know what I like. The strangest part is that I have only ever kept one EA Carey pipe as a companion and that one was “restored” many years ago. I say “restored” because I don’t really remember anything of the restoration other than recognizing the repaired fills. I got the pipe out and smoked it as research for the writing
(above image is the only EA Carey pipe that I’ve kept for use)
of this blog. It performed well though I am still not sure what to think of the Magic Inch system. The pipe had a new papyrus filter and after the smoke the filter appeared nearly as it did before the smoke. The pipe had a very nice draw and the vent along the stem did cool the smoke. I tried covering the vents with my finger and thumb, rather than covering the rim to increase the ember, this worked well. I was just using the vents as more of a carburetor.
Over the years I have accumulated a few EA Carey pipes and they sat in a cardboard box. I guess it was time for one to hit the workbench. The EA Carey that I selected can be seen in the photos below prior to any work done. This pipe is an Italian product as indicated by the stamp of the bottom of the pipe. The stampings read, EA CAREY over MAGIC INCH over PAT. No 3267941 with an ITALY offset to the right.
This pipe appeared to have been smoke but not heavily. There was a light cake built up in the tobacco chamber and a light lava deposit on the rim. The mouthpiece had some teeth chatter indicating that it had been clenched but not mauled. The finish was worn either from handling or from being pushed around in a drawer. The plastic stem was not subject to oxidation. This looked to be a relatively easy restore.
Background
The history search began with pipephil.eu. Here I found a matching set of stamps but a different country of manufacture (COM). This indicated to me that EA Carey was importing pipes to their specifications.
Next I went to pipedia.org for their general history. The entry here suggested it was written by EA Carey advertising folks though no source was mentioned.
“Magic Inch” System has been a Carey’s tradition for over 50 years, with over 1,000,000 sold. The “Magic Inch” is an air chamber inserted between the imported briar bowl and the vented mouthpiece which allows cool outside air to enter and mix with the warm tobacco smoke inside the “Magic Inch” chamber. Tobacco tars, oils and moisture, are squeezed out of the smoke. The residue drops to the bottom of the chamber and is absorbed by the Papyrate sleeve. From its rich tradition and thousands of satisfied customers, this pipe is sure to be your smoking favorite for life.
Carey Magic Inch pipes can be readily identified by a boxed letter C on the stem, along with a distinctive series of three vent slits and the Carey Magic Inch name stamped into the side of the bowl.
Finally I turned to the EA Carey official website. I guess I should have started with looking at the “horse’s mouth” rather than using second party information. Since Ea Carey is still in business and selling their signature tobacco blends, pipes and various sundries their website, EA Carey’s Online Smoke Shop | Best Pipe Tobacco | Briar Pipes is kept relatively current with weekly specials. For a great article on the history of EA Carey
“The “Magic Inch” System has been a Carey’s tradition for over 50 years. Hundreds of thousands of these smoking pipes have been sold, beginning with the very first billiard shape back in 1948. Based on the original “Magic Inch” System, the improved modern design provides the coolest and driest smoke ever found in a pipe.
1. Improved Ventilator Action 2. Papyrate
3. The “Magic Inch” 4. The Carey Mouthpiece
Improved Ventilator
Each Carey “Magic Inch” system begins with a scientifically metered amount of air into each puff of smoke. The Carey “Magic Inch” System, with the new Papyrate, controls air better and more accurately…for improved drawing and smokeability!!
Papyrate
The all new Papyrate…the heart of the “Magic Inch” System, features new and improved 2-ply construction. You get improved rigidity for ease of fit and removal. You get extra absorbency for dryer smoking and longer lasting quality between Papyrate changes…made especially for your new Carey pipe.
The “Magic Inch”
The “Magic Inch”, unmistakably superior for 38 years, now achieves a new and better level of performance. The outer shell of the Papyrate filters and meters air with 50 micron precision. The “Magic Inch” unique “moisture ports” dissipates moisture, tar, and nicotine into the 2-ply Papyrate, protecting the smoker from unwanted materials. And finally, the unique Carey “Magic Inch” evaporation chamber releases moisture through evaporation during resting periods between smokes. Not a filter, not a standard “push bit”…the unique “Magic Inch”…producing an all new level of smoking quality.
The Carey Mouthpiece
Now you can enjoy new mouthpiece construction for added comfort and durability. Made of Zytel 101, this new mouthpiece has depth of color, outstanding durability, and a bit thickness of only .380 inches. The result is added comfort, outstanding durability and a color that never tarnishes and never needs to be polished.”
Okay, I stand corrected. The papyrate is not a filter and my expectation of it absorbing moisture or tars from the smoke was explained in the above quote from EA Carey. A second bowl of EA Carey Gold blend was smoked the next day. This time I checked the Papyrate more frequently. It did appear to be absorbing moisture. As I thought about it, it made sense, the cooler incoming air from the vents would mix with the smoke. This would cause moisture to condense out of the smoke and form along the nylon Magic inch. The ports along the Magic Inch would allow the moisture to flow through and be absorbed by the Papyrate. Definitely not a filter. In my two smoking sessions, I did not note any real discoloration of the papyrate as would be expected from a filtering of the smoke.
As for the dates of the pipe in hand, I have little idea. Other than it being stamped with the patent number. Assuming that the stamping was a marketing strategy and that patents are valid for 20 years from the filing date, I can assume the pipe dates from 1948-1968. I would not expect the company to continue stamping the patent number after the expiration of the patent though I could be very wrong about that..
The Restoration
The EA Carey billiard made its way to the workbench and a laundered denim piece.
The ample bowl of the billiard demand the #3 PipNet blades.
Reaming was completed with the PipNet, Smoking pipes Low Country reamer and General triangular scraper.
The tobacco chamber was sanded with 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel and with 320 sandpaper by hand. The sanded chamber showed no signs of heat damage or charring.
The rim showed only minimal lava in the rustications.
This was cleaned by moistening the rim with saliva and scrubbing with a brass brush.
The rim was wiped with a paper towel and looked a little better.
I took the stummel to the sink for a scrubbing with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and dried with a cotton hand towel.
The plastic stem was also scrubbed with soap and a shank brush and rinsed with warm water.
Returning to the workbench I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol. I was surprised to see a dark purple color on the cotton. The black stain must have actually been a dark purple. There remained some very shiny spots of finish on the briar.
Also more observable were old fills of pits in the briar. Below is one pit on the front of the stummel.
And a second large pit on the left side.
Below you can easily see the shine I was referring to above. There was some kind of clear coat on this pipe.
Below another look at the remaining shine where the shank meets the bowl.
I needed to think about shine removal so I started cleaning the shank, figuring that I could think while doing a repetitive task. The Magic Inch system made shank cleaning more difficult since I could not use any scraper to access the airway. I placed a few milliliters of alcohol in the tobacco chamber and allowed it to flow into the shank but not through. Using the alcohol, I scrubbed the airway with a nylon shank brush. The alcohol was poured into an empty medicine cup. This was repeated a few times. I also ran folded bristle pipe cleaners through the airway. These were also dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.
With the shank cleaned and the ponder still in process, I decided to try removing the clear coat with acetone. I tested the susceptibility to the finish with a cotton swab dipped in acetone. It did remove some of the finish but that clear coat was tough. It also looked like the clear coat itself was dyed purple.
More acetone, this time on a make-up pad did remove more purple but the only way to ensure the total removal was with an acetone bath. I opted against this in fear of the effects of the acetone on the nylon Magic Inch and the acrylic shank extension. I also worried about the acetone affecting the glue holding all of those components in place.
I chose to use a 400 grit sanding sponge to sand the high spots of the rustication. This would allow the briar to peek through in those places at least. It also took a bit of the shine away from the shiny spots.
Next came the restoration of the stem. I have found that this type of plastic can be filed and sanded but that only with very fine abrasives. Coarse grits or files cut deeply into the softer plastic and are a pain to remedy. My small flat file was fine enough to not create an issue. In sticking with this “finer is better” mentality, I opted against sanding sponges altogether. Micro-mesh pads were used andonly from 1800-12000.
I thought that I would have to accept the old fills because I could see no way for me to retexture and match the existing texture. I worked Before and After Restoration Balm into the rustications with a baby toothbrush. The balm was allowed to sit for 15 minutes.
The remaining excess balm was removed using an inside out athletic sock and hand buffing.
The rustications were shallos so I thought that carnauba wax would be acceptable to use as a preservative. I did take my time and buff in the direction of the rustication. The stem was also waxed with carnauba on the buffer.
The final step was another hand buff with the microfiber polishing cloth.
The EA Carey Billiard has very traditional shaping. Traditional in the sense that it is well thought out and very pleasing to the eye and hand. The thickness of the bowl at the rim is 0.27 inches (6.86 mm) and at the swell of the bowl it increases to 0.48 inches (12.19 mm). This gradual thickening of the briar is a nice way to keep the pipe feeling cooler throughout the smoke. As I would expect the thicker briar to absorb additional heat during the smoking of a bowl of tobacco. The rustication allows for a nice grip and good hand feel though it looks rather like a factory mass produced texture. The stem did polish up nicely and looks good. The feel of this plastic is good, softer and more flexible than vulcanite. Overall this is a very nice pipe that will serve its next owner many years of service. The dimensions of the EA Carey Billiard are:
Length: 6.10 in./ 154.94 mm.
Weight: 1.41 oz./ 39.97 g.
Bowl Height: 1.85 in./ 46.99 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.65 in./ 41.91 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.80 in./ 20.32 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.
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Below are some photos of the finished EA Carey Billiard.
As a child of the 1970s I grew up with the series The Six Million Dollar Man. For those who never heard of this, it was a TV series where an astronaut crashes his ship and is badly damaged. He is rebuilt using “bionic” parts allowing him superhuman abilities. During the title sequence a narrator explains, “”We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better . . . stronger . . . faster.” For some reason this line kept going through my head during this restoration. Given the “faster” doesn’t work but the other two, most definitely. The pipe was one of 13 pipes won in an eBay auction from Germany. I was hoping to acquire some lesser known makers or lines of pipes to the US market.
The shape of this pipe is a tough one for me, it is a dainty pipe with a curved bowl. Is it a bent tulip, a chimney, a billiard? Heck, I don’t know, I’ll just use the 8497 stamped on the shank to identify the shape. As for the other stamps there was “Spitfire” in a flowing cursive script and GENUINE over BRIAR as a circle on the underside of the shank. Below is a screenshot of this pipe from the original eBay listing. It shows a repaired stem from a break, a chipped shank end and a good deal of excess glue, perhaps a failed clenching experience while mowing the lawn.
Below are some photos of the Spitfire before work had begun. Well, that is not entirely true. The break was held together by the glue until I tried to remove the stem. The stem was quite stuck. Unaware of my incredible strength, the glue broke while I tried to free the stem. Umm, there may have been a slight exaggeration there about my strength. The stem remained stuck within the shank piece as seen in the photos below.
Ok, you can see there are some issues here that will have to be addressed; the stem stuck in the broken shank and the broken shank being the greatest. The lesser issues include general dirtiness, stem oxidation, excess glue removal, tobacco chamber reaming and other typical restoration stuff. This is going to be a fun project.
Background
The first place that I searched was pipephil.eu for the name “Spitfire”. There I found the following:
(Sn-Ss — Pipes: Logos & Markings). Here you can see the same script style in the “Spitfire” stamping. The GENUINE BRIAR stamp is not represented but the four digit shape number is present. There is also a slight difference in the logo coloration of the bottom image from pipephil.eu. The bullseye shown is more indicative of the colors used by the British Spitfire fighter aircraft in World War Two.
I assume that the blue coloration of the logo in this Spitfire had merely faded over the years.
The next search site was pipedia.org. There “Spitfire” resulted in:
(Italian Pipe Brands & Makers R – S – Pipedia). The Lorenzo link took me to a nice bit on the history of the predecessors of and the formation of Lorenzo Pipes in 1969. Also, there was the following quote specific to the Spitfire line:
“A somewhat more bargain series was given its own brand name: Spitfire. Spitfires displayed 1:1 transferred Lorenzo models (mainly for 9mm filter) as well as smaller, more classically shaped pipes. These were also extremely popular.” (Lorenzo – Pipedia). The store takes a more tragic turn in 1983,
“In 1983 Lorenzo Tagliabue came to bitter grief: his little daughter, the only child, died of cancer. He lost all interest in the business and retired still in 1983, leaving no heirs who wished to continue the business. Lorenzo Pipes was licensed for and continued for a shorter period by Comoy’s of London (Cadogan / Oppenheimer Group). Then Lorenzo Pipes almost disappeared and Lorenzo Tagliabue passed away in 1987.
But this wasn’t the end. In 1988 Riccardo Aliverti and his wife Gabriella purchased all rights to the Lorenzo trademark from the Tagliabue family and production of the renown Lorenzo Pipes resumed.
The Aliverti family is involved in pipemaking since Romolo Aliverti, the father of the current owners, joined the Lana Brothers in 1920. He later reached the rank of technical director. No wonder that his son Riccardo showed an interest in pipe making. Riccardo began learning the pipemaking trade in 1954 at the age of fourteen under his father’s watchful eyes and succeeded him as technical director upon his father’s retirement in 1973.
Today the third generation of the Aliverti family is working for the company. Massimo Aliverti, Riccardo’s son, has been with the company as sales director since 1991. He works closely with his father and knows all phases of production. Massimo has established a broad customer base for Lorenzo around the world.
As far as the informations are reliable, Lorenzo’s better lines (One Star, Two Star, Three Star, Moscato, Spumante and the Grand Canadian) are made in Italy while the cheaper ones (New Era – Riesling, New Era – Poggio, Angera, Angera Satinato, Cadry, Churchwarden, Filtro, Arena, Cadore, Sport PS and Garden) are made in Albania by Tomori to benefit from the rich deposit of briar in Albania.
The website of Lorenzo’s American distributor SMS Pipes gives a good impression of today’s Lorenzo Pipes. SMS also offers a wide range of Meers.” (Lorenzo – Pipedia).
I think that it is safe to say that this pipe was made in Italy by Lorenzo most likely between the early 1970s-1983.
The Restoration
Breaking a pipe is seldom fun and breaking one while removing a stem is less fun than that. I suppose I could take some consolation in the fact that it had already been broken and the attempted repair was what had actually broken. Regardless, the pipe made it to the workbench. I immediately dropped the shank piece and tenon end into a small medicine cup with 95% ethyl alcohol. Apologies for not photographing that step. The alcohol worked quickly in freeing the stem from the broken piece of shank. The below photo has the broken piece of shank pressed in place though not glued, for the photograph.
I began with reaming the tobacco chamber. I thought the PipNet and the #1 blade would be narrow enough for this petit chamber. It was for the first 1- 1.5 cm then the chamber tapered.
I used a Tsuge reaming tool for this narrow chamber. This was followed up with the General triangular scraper.
I remember picking up the Tsuge tool after my first PipNet set lost the #1 blade to breakage. The chamber was then sanded with 220 and 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel and a Sharpie marker, respectively. There was no damage from heat or charring in the chamber but there were a couple of places where the chamber had experienced small dings, likely from previous clumsy reaming/scraping.
The shank was cleaned with cotton swabs and bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.
The stummel was then taken to the sink for a scrubbing with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and both a nylon brush and a brass wire brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.
Back at the workbench the stummel was wiped with 95% ethyl alcohol on a make-up pad. This removed some stain from the briar.
The plan to repair the shank was this:
Glue a ¼ inch or 6.5 mm brass tube into the mortise well past the break.
Glue the broken shank end into place.
Fill the seams with cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust.
Recarve the rustication and redye the shank.
The mortise of the Spitfire was drilled at ¼ inch or 6.5 mm. I needed to deepen the mortise to implement my fix. I used a Brad Point Drill Bits 1/4-Inch Hex Shank Stubby Drill Bit in a screwdriver handle to extend the mortise approximately 1.4 inch (6.5 mm) past the furthest edge of the break.
The brass tube was slid into position to test the fit. So far, so good.
The pieces of briar refused to align precisely. Bah! Hmm, there was a layer of glue from the previous fix on the briar which kept the broken pieces from aligning correctly.
I began soaking the broken edges with acetone to soften the old glue.
While the glue was soft I worked it with a nylon brush. This helped peel the edges of the glue from the briar. The acetone would evaporate quickly so I had to soften and scrub quickly. Eventually the glue was removed.
The brass tubing was cut to length using a tubing or pipe cutter.
The brass tube was scratched up with 80 grit emery paper to increase the surface area for the glue to adhere to. The tube was pressed into place without the broken shank piece and Thin CA was allowed to seep into the joint. The broken shank piece was slid over the brass tube and situated correctly. Additional Thin CA was applied to these seams. The two pieces of briar were then clamped and allowed to cure.
As the CA was curing I began cutting the tenon to fit into the brass tube. This required the use of the VermontFreehand Adjustable Tenon Turning Tool. I made several cutts adjusting the cutter very slightly (approximately 1/8th turn of the adjustment screw). I feared taking too much material off and shattering the thin tenon. Once the tenon was close to the right size I began filing the new tenon and smoothing it with 400 grit sandpaper.
When the CA that set, I used a countersink bit to hand bevel the inner edge of the mortise.
The stem was pressed into place and the fit was not too bad. I had to file the top of the stem to fit the shank. This was done by wrapping the shank with a layer of masking tape and filing the stem with a small flat file. The lower edge of the joint would have to wait until I had the chip filled before I could fit it to the stem.
Since the seam where the two shank pieces joined was adjacent to the stamps care had to be taken to keep from damaging the stamp. I applied brown CA with the tip of a fly tying bodkin to the seam. Briar dust was then pressed into the wet CA. The briar dust caused the CA to cure almost immediately. The excess dust was brushed off with a brass brush. This was repeated to fill the seam in very small increments.
The same process was used on the carved surface seams.
To fill the chipped shank end, I applied a bead of brown CA to the area that I wanted filled. This wet CA was then pressed into the box of briar dust. The excess dust was brushed off with a nylon brush and another thin layer of CA was applied. This wet CA was again pressed into the briar dust. Once the chip in the shank end was filled with CA and briar dust the end was filed with a small flat file. The final fill was topped with a coating of Thin CA to seal the layers of brown CA and briar dust.
At this point I was getting impatient to get a look at the finished pipe. I opted to try buffing the stem’s oxidation into submission. In hindsight, this was a mistake. I describe it here so that you can avoid being as dumb as me.
I wrapped the shank with masking tape to protect it from the buffing.
Using a rouge compound I buffed the stem until I thought I’d removed the oxidation.
The problem was, the stem looked shiny but shiny brown. I wanted shiny black. I wetted a few make-up pads with Soft Scrub cleanser and scrubbed the stem. They removed a great deal of oxidation.
“Okay, I’ll quit being in a hurry and do it right,” I said to myself. I suspended the stem into the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer (I refer to this as deox). It was allowed to soak overnight.
The next day I removed the stem and allowed it to drip excess solution back into the jar.
I like to scrub the remaining deox from the stem with vigorous use of a coarse shop rag.
The coarse texture of the rag absorbs the solution and removes more of the oxidized rubber as can be seen below.
The stem was certainly looking more black this time. There remained brown areas especially on the top side of the stem. I sanded the stem with a series of sanding sponges from 400-1000 grit. The zone immediately (1 cm) below the button was filed using the small flat file and further sanded. Once sanded I returned to the buffer and buffed the stem with white compound.
Pleased with the stem, I turned my attention to recarving the rustications on top of the fills. I used the Dremel rotary tool and a sharp carving bit.
I tried to keep the lines pretty much the same but to carve through the fill material. I very much wanted to eliminate any shiny CA spots.
The newly carved textures looked good but their color was off when compared to the rest of the shank.
I used a Mahogany Furniture Touch-up Marker to re-stain the briar to match the existing color.
Not bad.
Not bad, at all.
The stummel was given a coat of Before and After Restoration Balm, applied with a baby toothbrush and allowed to sit for 20 minutes.
20 Minutes later the Restoration Balm was hand buffed from the stummel using an inside out athletic sock.
The baby toothbrush was cleaned using 95% ethyl alcohol. Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax was applied to the stummel using the baby toothbrush. I applied two coats of wax allowing 10 minutes between coats.
The stummel was taken to the buffer where it was buffed using a clean flannel wheel. While there I applied several coats of carnauba wax to the stem and the stampings on the underside of the shank.
To address those two rough spots from previous reaming/scraping inside the tobacco chamber, I opted to use a maple syrup and charcoal bowl coating. I applied a very thin coating of syrup to the chamber using a cotton swab.
I then used a capsule of Activated Charcoal dumped into the chamber. Oh, note the pipe cleaner in the shank. This keeps the charcoal from getting into the airway. I covered the rim with a piece of masking tape and vigorously shook the stummel for several seconds to distribute the charcoal powder evenly onto the wet syrup.
After removing the tape, dumping the excess charcoal and giving the stem a good blow, don’t draw in, you’ll get a mouthful of charcoal. The final step was a hand buffing done with a microfiber polishing cloth.
This was a long and troublesome restoration. Little things like; not having the ¼ inch brass tubing and waiting for it to arrive, the old glue removal, fitting the brass reinforcement tube, cutting the tenon, and being dumb and skipping steps, made the whole process last for many days. In the end, I think the pipe turned out well. Yeah, like the pipedia.org article says, “A somewhat more bargain series”, it is a cheaper pipe. I enjoy the challenge of returning a pipe like this to working condition. The re-carvings turned out very nicely as did the re-staining. I think you would be hard pressed to notice the break repair if you could not see the seam on the smooth stamp surface. The stem also did polish up fairly well. The brass reinforcement will certainly add strength to the pipe and should keep it from having another break. It is still a dainty little pipe which would probably be a great addition to someone who loves Virginia flake tobacco in a tall narrow bowl. The dimensions of the Lorenzo Spitfire Bent Billiard 849 are as follows:
Length: 5.37 in./ 136.40 mm.
Weight: 0.87 oz./ 24.66 g.
Bowl Height: 2.02 in./ 51.31 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.75 in./ 44.45 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.61 in./ 15.49 mm.
Outside Diameter: 1.24 in./ 31.50 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.
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Below are some photos of the finished Lorenzo Spitfire Bent Billiard 8497.
This is one of those pipes that I had always wanted to lay my hands on and restore. The novelty of these pipes are whimsical and a bit dark at the same time. I mean, who really wants to put the barrel of a pistol in their mouth? While at the same time they are fun looking and sure to draw comments from folks who observe them. A Facebook friend, Stacy Reddig, posted that he had picked up a pair of pistol pipes at a local antique shop and included photos. Once again, I was immediately jealous as I have only found two pipes at my local antique shops that were slightly interesting. Anyway, I commented that I’d always wanted to do a restoration on one of those. A couple of weeks later a package arrived. Inside was one of the two pistol pipes. Oh, this was a surprise and the highlight of my day. The pipe had only one identifying stamp, Italy. Below are some photos of the pipe prior to any work done.
I was not sure what material the pipe was made from. I had read of gutta-percha and Bakelite and knew both materials had histories in pipe making. The moldings of the pipe were of impressive intricate detail and appeared to be in great condition. There was some discoloration towards brown from what I assumed was an original black. The briar was of lesser quality judging from the number of pits and fills. The drillings were a bit irregular and out of round. The stem/button area had a few tooth marks from having been clenched. The pipe also showed typical signs of age and accumulated dirt and grime from its assumed 100’ish years on this planet. Alltold, this was going to be fun.
Background
Surprisingly little information could be found on the Italian Revolver pipe. Oh, there were plenty of revolver type marijuana or “weed” pipes as evidenced in the photo below.
I also found historic evidence of a revolver pipe similar to the pipe in hand on pipedia.org. This example was French made by the Colossus Pipe Factory. The information on Colossus is included below in its entirety:
“There is not much known about the Colossus Pipe Factory. By the mid 1890’s it was owned by Kaufmann Bros. & Bondy. Bill Feuerbach has an old invoice from KB&B dated 1898 that has “C.P.F.” in the upper corner, with Trademark underneath. So they owned the brand by then. It could have been a company that was acquired by KB&B or possibly even founded by them.
Bill is a VP at S. M. Frank & Co. (Kaywoodie) and has also provided the evidence to the name Colossus below.
I have always been under the impression that the intials C.P.F. stood for Consolidated Pipe Factory. Many pipe collectors that I know believe the same thing. However only this week I had that cleared up. A pipe collector friend in Seattle emailed a scan of a page from a trade magazine called “The Jeweler’s Circular”, dated August 23, 1899. A reader wrote in the following question, “Please inform us who manufactures briar pipes with trademark, C.P.F.?” The answer was, “These letters stand for Colossus Pipe Factory, the business being conducted by Kaufmann Bros. & Bondy, 129 Grand Street, New York.”
I have seen pipes with both the C.P.F. logo and KB&B logo on them that date to pre-1900. This may have been a way to let the public now that the companies were affiliated. As far as I can tell, the C.P.F. brand was discontinued sometime in the 1910-1920 range.
It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The thing that many people do not realize is that that saying is incomplete. The entire quote is often attributed to Oscar Wilde and should read, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness”. There is quite a bit of discussion about the origins of this quote and that it is not due to Oscar Wilde. If you would like to read about that, I included the link to a blog by Terence Eden, here. Whomever first said it, matters little to me. The point I’ll emphasize is the mediocrity of the imitation solely, based on the quality of the briar. Now this could also be the case where the Italian maker was indeed the first and CPF merely imitated their original. Without any documentation proving otherwise I’ll have to consider CPF as the originator and the poor little Italian Revolver as the imitator. As for the date of production, I would hazard a guess to the later 1920s-1940s.
The final question I had was,”what is the body of the pipe made of?” Materials of the era would have most likely been gutta-percha or Bakelite. Gutta-percha was an older latex derived early plastic which was used from the 1840s-early 1900s (gutta-percha history). According to wikipedia, “Bakelite was one of the first plastic-like materials to be introduced into the modern world and was popular because it could be moulded and then hardened into any shape.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakelite). An easy test to see if a plastic is Bakelite is to slightly moisten a cotton swab with water and touch it to baking soda, rubbing this on the surface of Bakelite will produce a yellow or brownish-yellow smudge on the cotton swab. I tried this and the cotton was indeed yellow-brown. Positive test? Yes. Positive identification of Bakelite? No, but quite probable.
The Restoration
As usual I started with a cleaned denim piece to protect the work surface.
Reaming the tobacco chamber was the first job undertaken. The PipNet blades #1 and #2 did the job nicely.
The interior of the chamber was sanded with 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. There was no indication of any damage to the chamber.
Unscrewing the bowl from the body of the pipe revealed a piece of fabric. Under this fabric were several pieces of what looked like charcoal.
The fabric and charcoal were removed.
The airway was cleaned with bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.
The pipe was then taken to the sink for a scrubbing with a nylon brush and undiluted Murphy Oil Soap. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the pipe dried with a cotton hand towel.
Back at the workbench the pipe looked clean but now had a dry, oxidized appearance to the Bakelite.
I tried to clean the surface of the pipe with a cotton swab wetted with ethyl alcohol.
To get in the smaller crevasses I also used a bristle pipe cleaner.
The molding seams or ridges were filed with a small rat tail file to make them less noticeable. These were sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge to further smooth the surfaces.
The old fills were soft and very light colored. I picked the old fill material out with a fly tying bodkin.
New fills would be done with brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust.
The fly tying bodkin was used to apply a small drop of CA to the pit. Briar dust was then piled onto the wet CA and pressed into the pit.
The cured CA/briar dust fill was then filed with a small flat file and sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge. For deeper fills I used a second application of CA and briar dust.
The new fills were hard and secure but do stand out as dark spots on the stummel.
The bowl was then sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 600-3500 grits. Between each sponge I wiped the bowl with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol.
The button and mouthpiece area were sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 600-3500 grits, to remove the tooth chatter and to smooth the stem. I did not want to sand the other surfaces of the Bakelite in fear of rounding the edges.
The bowl and mouthpiece area were worked with micro-mesh pads 4000-12000. Between pads I wiped the bowl with an alcohol wetted make-up pad. The Bakelite was wiped with a paper towel between pads to remove debris. I did use the micro-mesh pads on the flat surface of the barrel and the top of the pistol.
I used Before and After Fine Polish, which is a fine abrasive buffing polish on a cotton swab to polish the surfaces of the Bakelite. I could have sworn that I photographed this but could find no photos as I transferred the photos to the computer. Darn old people or gremlins…
The entire pipe was given a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit for an hour.
The remaining Restoration Balm was hand buffed from the pipe with an inside out athletic sock. The pipe was then taken to the buffer where several coats of carnauba wax were applied to the bowl. The pipe was hand buffed with a microfiber polishing cloth as a final step.
Overall I am happy with how this pipe cleaned-up. The bowl looks much better. I cannot say that I am pleased with the brownish looking pistol parts of the pipe. I am uncertain how to clean and polish Bakelite without damaging the detail of the piece. I thought about using a buffing wheel with a buffing compound on the Dremel rotary tool but again feared that I would inadvertently remove detail from the molding. If this were my own pipe, I might have taken more risks with the material. It was a fun little project and another pipe which I can remove from the list of “pipes I want to restore”. The dimensions of the Italian Revolver pipe are:
Length: 5.09 in./ 140.46 mm.
Weight: 1.57 oz./ 44.51 g.
Bowl Height: 1.58 in./ 40.13 mm. (bowl only) 2.75 in./ 69.85 mm (connected)
Chamber Depth: 1.08 in./ 27.43 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.74 in./ 18.80 mm. (Conically bored diameter is at the top)
Outside Diameter: 1.22 in./ 30.99 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.
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Below are some photos of the completed Italian Revolver pipe.
This slightly brutalized bent beauty was part of an estate lot of 13 pipes from Germany. I was interested in getting some pipes less common in the United States. The first from this lot that drew my attention was this rusticated bent pipe with a unique briar ring adorning the stem. The pipe was marked with what appeared to be a signature though I had trouble making out the name. The only other markings on the pipe were a 5 digit number around the bottom of the shank. Below are some photos of the pipe prior to being worked on.
Based on previous experience a heavily smoked pipe is frequently a very good smoking pipe. Then again it could just be a heavily smoked pipe by a slob. The rim was heavily layered in lava, the tobacco chamber well caked and the shank to stem joint looked like it had issues retaining a tight seal. When I pulled the stem from the stummel I saw a replaceable filter which someone must have thought to be irreplaceable. The briar ring on the stem appeared to have been a two piece ring glued together and since separated slightly. The most redeeming quantity was that the stem did not appear to be chewed on. My vivid mental image of the previous owner was a German tweed jacket wearing man with a bottomless tobacco pouch and no teeth. Well, this was going to be an interesting restoration.
Background
For researching this pipe, the first place I visited was pipephil.eu. Not sure how to proceed without a logo, name or country of manufacturer (COM), I started with a hunch, Germany. I had no evidence that this pipe had a German provenance but I had to start somewhere and the pipe did come to me from Germany. I clicked the German flag in the section that read “Search by country”.
Denicotea? Barontini? Molina? I have the song Synchronicity by the Police blaring in my head after I read those three names. I had just recently restored a Barontini pipe, and last Saturday I received a brand new Molina pipe and the next pipe in the restoration queue is a Denicotea. Good thing I like the Police, the genius of Sting, the amazing guitar work by Andy Summers and the incredible drumming by Stuart Copeland – what’s not to love.
Back to the pipe, I continued to pipedia and searched Aldo Morelli. Here I found the following:
“Aldo Morelli is a fictional name. The brand Aldo Morelli has been registered for Denicotea on February 26th, 1992.[5]
Stefan Petzuch points out this brand appears to have similarities to the Mauro Cateni pipe brand, in particular they are both fictional Italian brands by German companies, and both have the “HAND CUT” imprint on the stem as seen below. This may connect the Aldo Morelli brand to Gebr. Heinemann KG in Hamburg, who had registered the Mauro Cateni brand. Or perhaps there is a connection between Denicotea and Gebr. Heinemann KG, or perhaps these pipe brands simply used “Hand Cut” stems from the same source.” (Denicotea – Pipedia)
Like I said earlier, “this was going to be an interesting restoration”. I now had an imaginary signature on an imaginary brand for an Italian made German pipe. All I could think was, “What the heck?” Continuing down this rabbit hole, I typed in “Denicotea” into pipedia.org and was rewarded with,
“Willy Heineberg founded the company Denicotea in 1932 and began manufacturing and selling smoking accessories such as filters, filter inserts, cigarette holders and pipes.[1] The company headquarters was initially in Cologne, but was relocated to Bergisch Gladbach after the Second World War.[2]
Denicotea is actually the name of a silica gel filter, cigarette holders and care products for pipes and cigarette holders.
I still find it a bit confusing as Denicotea seems to be a company[3] and a brand as well which is operated by COMPOSING-STUDIO GmbH[4].” (Denicotea – Pipedia)
This brought me back to the whole musical synchronicity idea, a composing studio, really? Just when you think that reality can’t match fiction something like this smacks you in the head. Anyway, this pipe is likely to have been made in the 1990s in Italy by Cesare Barontini, Gigi or Molina Pipe for Denicotea Gebr. Heinemann KG in Hamburg. Confused? I was.
The Restoration
The pipe was taken to the workbench where a cleaned denim piece was laid to protect the work surface.
The poorly fitting stem made me think that was where I should begin. The tenon and stem face were heavily fouled with smoking residue. Thinking back to the disgusting filter from the “before” images, I thought that a saturated filter would allow moisture and dissolved yuck to seep around the tenon. This also made me wonder about the condition of the airway.
The tenon was far more dirty than one would expect.
And, the separating briar band would have allied more seepage of smoking residues.
I started cleaning the stem with 95% ethyl alcohol,cotton swabs and bristle pipe cleaners. The tenon was as dirty inside as outside.
I tried to lightly sand the stem face but this seemed like a bad idea since I was sure that I could not keep from sanding one side more than the other and affecting the overall fit of the stem to the shank.
My home-grown solution was to drill a 10 mm hole in a hardwood block of wood. This would fit the tenon snugly. And keep the stem perpendicular to the stem face.
The fit was good.
I then placed a piece of sandpaper over the block and used a cork hole borer to cut a hole in the sandpaper.
The problem of sanding unevenly was solved.
I carefully topped the shank face with a piece of sand paper laid flat on a countertop.
The subsequent fit of the mortise and tenon was restored and the fit was good.
The stem cleaning continued with a lot of 95% ethyl alcohol, cotton swabs and bristle pipe cleaners.
The fit and briar ring itself needed a bit of polyvinyl acrylate (CA, super glue) to help make them look finished. I used brown CA to fill in the gaps in the briar ring and black CA to fill the area between the acrylic stem and the briar ring. I first applied a layer of transparent tape to the stem. Then cleaned out the gap with alcohol and a cotton swab. Using a fly tying bodkin I applied brown CA to the briar ring on both gaps. This was then spritzed with a CA drying accelerator.
The gap between the stem and the briar ring was then filled with black CA again using the fly tying bodkin. This too was spitzed with a CA drying accelerator.
While the CA was still soft, I removed the tape. The black CA that lay outside of the gap on the tape peeled off with the tape, limiting the sanding I would have to do to the stem.
With the stem now looking much better, I turned my attention to the stummel. The reaming kit was gathered.
The PipNet did most of the work here.
The Smokingpipes Low Country Reamer and the General triangular scraper finished the scraping of the tobacco chamber. The chamber was then sanded with 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. The below photo shows a strange step at the bottom of the tobacco chamber.
Looking at the opposite side, there is no step but a patch of slight charring was evident.
The rim also appeared charred.
The stummel was taken to the sink for a scrubbing with a nylon brush and undiluted Murphy Oil Soap. The color of the nylon brush indicates how dirty the stummel was. The sap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.
A second scrubbing of the stummel was done using the same process. The nylon brush was less colored this time indicating progress.
Back at the workbench the stummel looked much better but the rim damage could also be clearly seen.
The rim was charred. This changed my vivid mental image again, now the previous owner was a German tweed jacket wearing man with a bottomless tobacco pouch and no teeth and clutched a torch lighter.
I lightly topped the rim on a piece of 220 sandpaper laid flat then started the shank cleaning. Both removed a lot of black material from the stummel. The airway of the shank was very encrusted with tar and required significant scraping with the dental scraper.
The topping of the rim with sandpaper was insufficient to redeem it. I used a couple of files to remove the charred briar. The bevel of the inside rim was gained using a 2 inch PVC pipe cap wrapped in sandpaper.
In an attempt to lighten or bleach the darkened briar I applied a saturated solution of oxalic acid by cotton swab.
I wetted the rim with several applications of the oxalic acid solution and let it sit for 45 minutes. The solution was then scrubbed and rinsed with copious amounts of tap water.
There remained a darkening which I did not like. I thought back to several conversations with Sascha Mertens about removing charred wood. Sascha is a German pipe restorer and all around great guy. Although he may start charging me consultant fees as he is becoming more well known here in the States and Canada and has helped big name restorers like Steve Laug recently. Anyway, He frequently uses a technique where petroleum jelly is applied to the charred area and allowed to sit. The charred area is then carefully scraped with a sharp knife to remove the char.
I did all of the above and as can be seen below it did indeed remove more of the darkened briar.
I finally gave up on trying to make the rim look pristine. The darkened briar would have to be worn as a mark of honor signifying the scars of previous battles. Next I wanted to further clean out any remaining residues from the bowl and shank so I packed both with cotton and saturated the cotton with 95% ethyl alcohol. While this was sitting, I also coated the briar of the stummel and stem ring with a layer of Before and After Restoration Balm. These were allowed to sit overnight.
The following day the cotton showed signs that additional tars had been liberated from the briar and deposited in the cotton.
The cotton was removed and the bowl and shank were cleaned again with alcohol dipped cotton swabs and pipe cleaners.
The remaining Restoration Balm was hand buffed from the stummel using an inside out athletic sock.
The stem pipe was taken to the buffer where I buffed the stem with white jewelers rouge. The pip then received several coats of carnauba wax applied with the buffer. The final step was a hand buffing of the pipe with a microfiber polishing cloth.
This pipe turned out pretty well overall. I am still thinking about what to do about the interior of the tobacco chamber. That step in the drilling bothers me perhaps, a sanding or maybe filling the step with JB Weld? If someone wants to adopt this pipe, I will let them decide. The small spot of charred briar would be taken care of with a bowl coating of a light layer of maple syrup and carbon powder. No sense in applying a bowl coating though before the step is addressed. The pipe feels wonderful in hand. The heavy shank fit for a 9mm pipe filter gives the piece a substantial heft. The rusticated finish is very pretty and is well accentuated by the smooth panel with the Aldo Morelli signature, the briar ring and the glossy black acrylic stem. The dimensions of the Aldo Morelli Bent pipe are:
Length: 5.53 in./ 140.46 mm.
Weight: 2.36 oz./ 66.91 g.
Bowl Height: 1.99 in./ 50.55 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.68 in./ 41.91 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.80 in./ 20.32 mm. (Conically bored diameter is at the top)
Outside Diameter: 1.57 in./ 39.88 mm.
I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, 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.
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Below are some photos of the completed Aldo Morelli Bent pipe.
A volcano in Nebraska? Well the Lewis and Clark Expeditiondid come across a portion of a bluff along the Missouri River which had volcanic-like characteristics,
“On August 24, 1804, Clark explored a distinctive “180 or 190 feet high” bluff along the side of the Missouri River. He wrote, “Those Bluffs appear to have been laterly on fire, and at this time is too hot for a man to bear his hand in the earth at any debth, gret appearance of Coal. An emence quantity of Cabalt or a Cristolised Substance which answers its discription is on the face of the Bluff.” Ordway further elaborated that the bluff “had a Sulpheras Smell”.
Following Lewis and Clark, later fur traders and travelers frequently noticed dense smoke and fire in this region. In 1839, French explorer J. N. Nicollet attempted to prove that these phenomena were not of volcanic origin. He theorized that the decomposition of beds of iron pyrites in contact with water resulted in a heat capable of igniting other combustible materials. Still, by the late 1800s the bluff was known as the Ionia Volcano. It was named after the nearby town of Ionia, established in 1856. In 1878, a flooded Missouri River undermined the bluffs and a large section of the “volcano” fell into the river. The same flood heavily damaged the town of Ionia, which was later completely abandoned.” (https://www.nps.gov/places/ionia-volcano.htm)
This pipe also appears to have volcano-like characteristics and judging by its condition, it may be better tossed into a volcano as a sacrifice. But wait, I can make it usable. This pipe came as part of an estate lot from a ways south of here in Falls City, Nebraska.
The pipes were all in pretty rough condition and looked like they had spent considerable time in some barn of storage shed. Below are some photos of the Stone Age Volcano as it looked upon arrival.
The pipe stem was severely oxidized, to the point where I wondered if it could be salvaged. The stummel had a thick clear coating that was fading in places and would have to be removed. The briar itself, showed little grain or character and was a sickly yellow-tan. I thought, “well, it must have been a pretty good smoking pipe since it looked quite well used.”
Background
A search of both pipephil.eu and pipedia.org turned up nothing for Stone Age. I thought this strange because when you search for Stone Age on eBay there were five listed. Of the few that I looked at, a couple had stamps like this pipe, below is one.
All of them seemed to be Danish inspired freehands. This led me to believe that they were likely imported by the likes of a Mastercraft or Wally Frank. Importers that historically do not have good records. They were also likely to have been made during the heyday of pipe smoking and modeled after the Danish styling and produced for the 1970s American market. Given the above is all conjecture on my part and does not intend to speak ill of any carver or importer of these pipes.
The Restoration
This sun bleached oxidized volcano started with a clean denim piece to protect the work surface from the horrors sure to come.
I started with the stem as it looks like it would require a prolonged stay in the deox hotel, also known as Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer. In preparation of the deox, I first sanded and steel wooled the stem to remove the worst of the surface oxidation.
Next I cleaned the airway with bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.
The stem then made its entrance into the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer. A pipe cleaner was inserted into the tenon to act as a hanger, suspending the stem in the solution.
Back at the workbench the tobacco chamber was reamed to remove the accumulated cake.
The PipNet did most of the work removing the cake. The Smokingpipes Low Country Reamer and the General triangular scraper saw some and the chamber was sanded with 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. The chamber appeared free of any damage.
The shank airway was fairly dirty and was cleaned out with a Kleen-Reem shank drill, dental scraper, folded bristle pipe cleaners and cotton swabs along with a good amount of 95% ethyl alcohol.
The stummel was taken to the sink for a scrubbing with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.
At the workbench the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol. The alcohol had little to no effect on the clear coat finish. I then tried acetone, this too met with little result but the finish was softened by the acetone. I submerged the stummel into a jar of acetone topping the jar off with fresh acetone and let the stummel sit in there for an hour.
After the hour, the stummel was removed and rubbed with acetone soaked make-up pads. Apologies for neglecting to photograph this part. The clear coat was very stubborn and difficult to remove even after the hour long acetone bath. I eventually resorted to a coarse sanding sponge/block.
The next day the stem was removed from deox and allowed to drip excess solution back into the jar.
It appeared much better than when it entered.
Vigorous rubbing with a cotton rag removed the remaining solution and some of the surface oxidation.
Back at the benchI sanded the stem with a series of sanding sponges in grits of 400-3500. Between each sponge I rubbed mineral oil onto the stem and wiped it with a paper towel. I then used several applications of Before and After Fine Polish on a soft cotton cloth. This seemed to have removed the last of the oxidation.
The stummel had been sanded with 220-400 grit sanding sponges, maily to remove the finish but also removing scratches. I didn’t want to sand any finer as dye is not absorbed as well with very fine sanding. I decided to try to use a contrast dye to bring out the briar grain better. I wanted to use a black dye as the base. I prepped the area by covering it with a paper towel. Fiebing’s black Leather Dye would be the dye. A cork was used to pluck the tobacco chamber. A folded pipe cleaner would be my applicator and a lighter would be used to flame the wet dye, burning off the alcohol solvent and setting the dye into the briar.
Below is a poorly focused photo of the stummel with its new black coating.
After it had dried for about 30 minutes I took the stummel to the buffer and used rouge compound to buff away the black dyed outer surface.
This left me with a stummel which was still too dark for the look I wanted. I returned to the workbench and sanded away the outer surface. The black dye penetrated the softer grain more deeply than the harder grain. By sanding the outer surface I accentuated the grain leaving the softer wood darker than the harder wood.
Next came a second round of dye, this time with a diluted Mahogany. The Mahogany dye was diluted by about ½ with 99% isopropyl alcohol. The dye was applied with a cotton swab and flamed as before with the black dye.
The resulting dye-ed stummel was allowed to dry for about an hour then sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 400-3500 grit. Between each sponge the stummel was wiped with an alcohol dampened make-up pad. After the sanding the stummel received a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit for 20 minutes.
The stummel was wiped with an inside out athletic sock to remove any remaining Restoration Balm.
The pipe was then taken to the buffer where several coats of carnauba wax were applied to the stem and stummel. The final step was a hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth.
I have to admit that I am not a fan of the volcano shape nor do I like fancy stems. I do like a plateau top and shank end but I doubt these are actual plateau, merely carved versions. I can say that I was quite pleased with the results of the contrast dying. That brought out grain that I never thought would have been possible with this pipe. The stem did polish up nicely and does look good with this volcano. Overall it is a great improvement of how the pipe appeared before and I hope that it will bring someone hours of enjoyment in the future. The dimensions of the Stone Age Volcano are:
Length: 5.33 in./ 135.38 mm.
Weight: 1.10 oz./ 31.19 g.
Bowl Height: 1.43 in./ 36.32 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.08 in./ 27.43 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.60 in./ 17.53 mm. (Conically bored diameter is at the top)
Outside Diameter: 1.32 in./ 33.53 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.
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Below are some photos of the finished Stone Age Volcano pipe.
I like big pipes. No, it’s not the first line from a Sir Mix-a-lot parody. I can’t say I like to smoke them but I love the way they feel in my hand. The word substantial comes to mind. I also like the general hand warming powers they emit – it is winter. Anyway, this pipe has all of those characteristics. Well, maybe not the emitting heat one. I haven’t smoked this pipe but I’m sure it would excel at it. I am not sure sure when this bountiful beauty arrived due to my less than good record keeping but it has been patiently waiting in the queue for some time. The pipe is stamped with a winged crown over BARONET over BRUYERE. Offset to the right is 906EX over ITALY. Below are some photographs of the pipe as it appeared prior to receiving any work.
For comparison purposes I photographed her with a Peterson of more standard size.
The Baronet was in need of a good deal of attention. The outer surfaces had the expected dirt and grime associated with a well used pipe. The tobacco chamber needed to be reamed and inspected for any heat damage. The airway is nearly always expected to be yuck filled. The stem on this pipe seemed to be the most in need of attention. Previous experience with Savinelli pipes lead me to expect the oxidation removal from this stem would be troublesome along with some reconstruction of the button.
Background
Baronet is not a brand nor line which I had heard of. The stampings did look very familiar though. I first went to pipephil.eu, there I found Baronet without any trouble.
The stampings on the Baronet in hand looked remarkably similar to the top two photos from pipephil.eu. I could not make out any stamping on the stem but that could just be to the state of heavy oxidation on the rubber. The crown of both photos lacked the wings which I thought were quite apparent on this Baronet.
Next I searched for “Baronet” on pipedia.org. There I also found a result immediately though not what I was expecting.
“The following pipe, marked Baronet with *** underneath, perhaps a grading system, was made in Denmark. Baronet is also a Savinelli Sub-brand, as well as a GBD brand. This one being made in Denmark, is apparently a different brand altogether.”
Example and details, courtesy Doug Valitchka
(Baronet – Pipedia). The same name, similar shape, similar rustication but from a country of manufacture which was not supported by stamp evidence. Again the reference to Savinelli existed, so that is where I went next. The link from the above entry led me to the following.
Savinelli made sub-brands, seconds & order productions
(Savinelli – Pipedia). The above list continues for quite a few more names. A total of 114, I counted. Baronet is number 5 on the list. Savinelli is a prolific producer of pipes, I’d say. This is wonderful if you are in need of a Savinelli pipe as the number of options is truly amazing and can fit nearly any style or budget. From a research perspective it is not so wonderful. Finding detailed information on an individual name is daunting.
I tried my luck at searching via Google for “Savinelli Baronet”. I thought, “this will never work” and was quickly proven wrong. The first result was the following:
(https://www.smokingpipes.com/smokingpipesblog/single.cfm/post/our-favorite-savinelli-shapes). Perhaps the pipe was so big that the inclusion on the chart would have made it aesthetically unpleasing to the eye. Okay, I completely made that up. What was certain was that this was a pipe made by Savinelli, It was darn big and received the EX suffix due to that and that it was probably made in the 1970-80s based solely on the amount of oxidation on the stem.
The Restoration
The Baronet made her way to the workbench. I wondered about the word, “Baronet”, isn’t Baroness the correct feminine. I had to search for that. According to AI Google: “”Baron” and “baroness” are the correct terms, with “baroness” being the female equivalent of “baron”; “baronet” is a separate, lower ranking title in the British nobility system, where a baronet is addressed as “Sir” and a female baronet as “Dame”.” I learned something new.
The ream team was gathered and given a rousing, morale lifting speech.
The PipNet with it’s #2 blades lead the assault against the cake.
The #3 blades followed and served the cake a rounding defeat. The tobacco chamber was sanded to bare briar and proved most unphotogenic (kind of like photographing a black hole) but it showed no signs of heat damage.
Next came the cleaning of the stem.
The outside of the stem was far worse than the airway. A few 95% ethanol dipped bristle pipe cleaners and the interior was clean.
The exterior of the stem was lightly sanded with a 320 grit sanding sponge to remove the worst of the surface oxidation and the tooth dents were lightly filed.
A pipe cleaner was slipped into the tenn to act as a hanger and the stem was introduced to the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer. It spent 6 hours in the solution.
The next task was dealing with the airway of the shank. The Kleen-Reem shank drill helped clear out a good deal of the tar but many cotton swabs, bristle pipe cleaners, and alcohol/nylon shank brush scrubs were required to exorcize the tar demons from the shank.
The lava flows on the rim were a concern. Lava on a rusticated rim can be problematic to remove without altering the rim. I thought maybe it could be removed during the stummel scrub.
The scrub was carried out at the sink with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon scrub brush.
I spent extra time working the rim with the scrub brush.
The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel. I was not pleased with the resulting scrub. The rim, especially, was still fouled with lava. I decided on a second scrub but with a brash brush. This removed more grime.
Back at the workbench the rim looked better but still not great.
The stummel was definitely clean but now showed serious signs of wear with missing finish.
I decided to file the rim and work towards a generally smooth finish but with spots with rustication.
I like what I saw.
The inner rim was beveled using a 2 inch round plumbing cap wrapped with 220 sandpaper. The outer rim was filed to a matching bevel.
The rim and bevels were sanded with a series of sanding sponges. I really liked the look of the smooth rim with a few spots of rustication.
Now to restore that black dye to the stummel while preserving the non-rusticated areas. I opted to use a product intended for use in the painting of miniatures for gaming – Vallejo Liquid Mask. The Liquid Mask applies as a thick liquid and dries clear. It is a rubber-like product which can be rolled or peeled off without damaging the covered surface.
I applied it to the rim, stamp area and shank end and allowed it to dry.
The stummel was taken to the kitchenette and an area was prepped for dying. This required a paper towel covered surface, Fiebing’s black Leather Dye and folded pipe cleaner applicator and a lighter. Oh, and a cork for the tobacco chamber opening which stops dye from entering the chamber and provides a handle.
The dye was applied and flamed with the lighter. This flaming fixes the dye to the briar and burns off the alcohol solvent of the dye.
A second coating was applied and flamed.
The result was a nice fresh black finish. This was allowed to dry for an hour.
The mask was rolled from the surface. It did a finance job of keeping the black dye from affecting the underlying briar, as seen in the photos below.
While the dye was drying, I removed the stem from the Deoxidizer and allowed excess solution to drip back into the jar.
The remaining solution was absorbed by a coarse shop rag during a vigorous rubbing of the stem. This removed some of the newly loosened deoxidized rubber.
The stem was looking better but I could still see areas of brown.
The stem was worked with make-up pads drizzled with Soft Scrub cleanser. This stem had a great deal of oxidation and it seemed to have worked its way deep into the vulcanite.
Below is a poorly focused shot of the tooth chatter that remained after filing and sanding the area..
I was still unhappy with the oxidation removal after sanding the stem. Back into the Before and After Deoxidizer for another hour. The drip dry and rubbing with the coarse shop rag followed. After round two there was still some slight browning. I hoped that the subsequent sanding and micro-meshing would remove this.
The tooth chatter area on both the top and the bottom of the stem were given a coating of black cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue). This was spritzed with a CA drying accelerator.
I must have been getting tired of working on this stem as I failed to take many photos. The cured CA was filed then sanded smooth. The stem was then sanded with a series of sanding sponges from grit 400–3500. Between each sponge the stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a dry paper towel.
The sanding was followed by a series of micro-mesh pads 4000-12000. Between each pad the stem was rubbed with Obsidian Oil and wiped with a paper towel.
There still remained areas of light browning from oxidation. I had chatted with Mark Hoover, the creator of the Before and After products, about how he uses the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer. He said that he usually gives the stem a 4 hour soak followed by a buffing with a recycled t-shirt where he rubs hard. This was then followed by Before and After Fine Polish hand rubbed with t-shirt material. I figured I would give that a try. Many applications and a great deal of rubbing did indeed reduce the browning significantly.
The stummel was waxed using Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax applied with a baby toothbrush. The waz was allowed to dry for a few minutes and was taken to the buffer and buffed with a clean flannel wheel.
The stem received several coats of carnauba wax. The entire pipe was then hand buffed with a microfiber polishing cloth.
I am impressed by several parts of this pipe. It is a very large specimen with great hand feel and very ample bowl size. I love the shape with its massive yet graceful look. The black rustication works nicely with the areas of smooth lighter colored briar. I am also impressed by what a pain if the arse it was to get the stem looking acceptable. I can’t say that I am happy with the deoxidizing of the stem but I am calling it quits. In normal room lighting the stem looks great. Bright lighting however, allows the areas of brown oxidation to shine through. I was defeated by this stem and called it done. The dimensions of the Baronet 906EX are:
Length: 6.14 in./ 155.96 mm.
Weight: 2,43 oz./ 68.89 g.
Bowl Height: 2.67 in./ 67.82 mm.
Chamber Depth: 2.17 in./ 55.12 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.81 in./ 20.57 mm.
Outside Diameter: 1.62 in./ 40.89 mm.
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Below are some photos of the completed Baronet 906EX pipe.
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NebraskaPeteGeek 