NebraskaPeteGeek

An Italian Revolver Pipe Restoration

February 6th, 2025
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

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.

(Six Shooter Pipe | Novelty Pipes | Premium Grinders)

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.

— Don Gifford 16:50, 18 August 2009 (UTC)” (Colossus Pipe Factory – Pipedia)

The piedia.org entry did have two photographs of their version of the Revolver Pipe.

(Colossus Pipe Factory – Pipedia)

(Colossus Pipe Factory – Pipedia)

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.

Loading…

Type your email…

Below are some photos of the completed Italian Revolver pipe.
An Aldo Morelli Bent Restoration

February 4th, 2025
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

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”.

(Germany — Pipes : Logos & Markings)

And there, third from the left was Aldo Morelli. Hmm, that kind of looks like the first name of the signature.

(Al-Ale — Pipes : Logos & Markings)

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]

Depending on the different lines the pipes are made by Cesare Barontini, Gigi or Molina Pipe for Denicotea GmbH.

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.

Loading…

Type your email…

Below are some photos of the completed Aldo Morelli Bent pipe.
A Stone Age Volcano Restoration

January 30th, 2025
Photographed and britten by

John M. Young

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.

(Stone Age, Walnut, #607, Free Hand w Natural Rim, Vintage Estate Pipe | eBay)

Heck there was even one with a box:

(New Stone Age Natural 614 Virgin Italy Briar Pipe Fancy Ebonite Rubber Stem Box | eBay)

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.

Loading…

Type your email…

Below are some photos of the finished Stone Age Volcano pipe.
A Mysterious Peterson Dublin 3 3000 Restoration

January 28th, 2025
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

Christmas is in the rearview mirror and fading away quickly. This pipe made me think of the 1964 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Isle of Misfit Toys or, in this case Misfit Pipes. I couldn’t tell for sure what the model was because it had been, shortened? The size was smaller in shape, more like a Peterson System Standard 314 or 317. Looking at the stampings I was a bit surprised to see a faint PETERSON’s arched over an even more faint DUBLIN with a definitive 3. The opposite side had the real flummoxer: There, a 3000 appeared to be stamped.

Below are some photos of the Peterson 3000 before work was done. There are more than usual to document the poor condition.

“Doctor Young to the ER stat!” Wait a minute, I have no cool title like that and can’t claim one. My dad had a PhD, not me. “Medic!”, okay, I can work with that. This pipe was certainly in need of some kind of intervention. The oxidation on the stem looked terminal. The stummel looked as if it had been shortened with a chainsaw or some other homicidal garden implement. The shank had two cracks under the ferrule that small children could fall into. The cake in the bowl would be enough to serve a medium sized wedding party. The lava flow on the rim made Mount Kilauea look wimpy. Even without all my excessively dramatic exaggeration, the pipe was one hurting unit. This would not be one of those relaxing restorations.

Background

For those who would like more information on Peterson pipes, I’ll start with a bit I have said before:

“For a great history Mark Irwin and Gary Marlburg’s book is a must read for a Pete Geek.

(Available at https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/books/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=471478) Given the price is a bit high but worth every penny for a Peterson aficionado.

The next site is pipedia.org’s History of Peterson by Jim Lilley (Peterson – Pipedia)

Lastly the pipephil.eu site for all things logo: Peterson: historical pipes — Pipes: Logos & Markings (pipephil.eu) They also have a few other links to things like the Peterson timeline and P-lip information.”

Now for the pipe in hand. PETERSON over Dublin 3 indicates this is an older pipe. According to Irwin,

“3RD Quality or Third Grade (the later Standard System) was issued with a “3” stamped under the Patent stampand a domed-nickel mount. Like the 2nd Quality, it was only available with the AB- or A-molded mouthpieces.

The numbers on the 2nd and 3rd Quality pipes would appear either within a small circle or not, and would continue well into the 1930s.” (Irwin, Mark and Malmberg, Gary (2018). The Peterson Pipe The Story of Kapp & Peterson, First edition, second printing 2021. Briar Books Press, Canada. p. 119).

In a personal email with Mark Irwin concerning this pipe, I sent him these three photos and asked him “What have I got?”

His response was the following: “Doesn’t that 2^nd number look like an “8” to you? But a “3800”? Nothing I can think of. Notice it’s a Grade 3—after the “Peterson’s /over/Dublin3”. That in itself is unusual, along with the nickel-mount marks. Notice also how very long the ferrule is. And the “B” or tapered stem. The Grade 3 in that “Dublin3” with everything else leads me to believe this is a very early pipe—easily IFS or maybe EIRE.” (Irwin, personal communication).

To clarify some of the Pete Geek-speak:

*Mouthpiece or stem staples of Peterson pipes as from the 1937 catalog. I believe Mark meant the AB stem.

(https://petersonpipenotes.org/tag/peterson-system-mouthpiece/)

*IFS stands for Irish Free State. This was a country of manufacture (COM) stamp used from 1922-1937.

*ERIE was a COM stamp used from 1938-1948.

Staying with the stem in an attempt to gain a better grasp of the approximate date of manufacture I focused on the tenon. Notice in the photo from the 1937 catalog, above, that the end of the tenon has a distinct taper. This was a feature of Charles Peterson’s initial design.

(https://petersonpipenotes.org/tag/peterson-system-mouthpiece/)

Irwin states the following in the same Peterson Pipe Notes entry with photos, “The first change in the molded vulcanite System mouthpieces apparently occurred later on in the Éire era, as documented by this unsmoked mouthpiece which can be accurately dated to 1937–45:”

(https://petersonpipenotes.org/tag/peterson-system-mouthpiece/). Notice the distinct step down from the push fit taper to the end of the tenon. The taper is no longer present. This is the same style of tenon as the Peterson Dublin 3 3000 pipe in hand. The below photo is of the 3000’s tenon.

Using the dates from the stem information the pipe could be dated from 1938 to present. Considering the stamping information stating that the Dublin 3 was used “Well into the 30s” that would eliminate from 1940-present. These two pieces together make for an argument that the pip is from the late 1930s. It also would coincide with Mark Irwin’s observation, “easily IFS or maybe EIRE.”

Now for the four digit shape number. This is not unheard of in Peterson pipes. Steve Laug discussed pipes sold in Canada which sported four digit shape numbers in a blog titled: Restoring the second Antique Collectible Find – a GT&Co Peterson’s System Standard 1307. GT&C being the tobacconist Genin, Trudeau and Company, Montreal, Quebec. He states in the blog, “My theory is that GT&C added this to aid them in warranty work, so they’d know the pipe was bought on Canadian soil.” (https://rebornpipes.com/2024/05/05/restoring-the-second-antique-collectible-find-a-gtco-petersons-system-standard-1307/). The Canadian 1307 had the same shape and dimensions as a normal 307, the 1 apparently was used to denote the sale of the pipe by GT&T.

The 3000 worn by this pipe is an anomaly. Even if my interpretation were to be changed to Mark Irwin’s observation of a 3800, it would still not match any pipe in Peterson’s production history. When comparing this pipe to contemporary Petersons in my collection the much narrower shank of the 3000 is obvious.

Above are a COM England 317 (top left), a System 0 (top right)with no shape number but it’s a 317 and the 3000.

Above are a Peterson System 0 and the 3000. Notice the narrow shank of the 3000.

The bowl dimensions are nearly identical to the 317 or a 12 ½ that I have. The shank is narrow to the point that it would be nigh impossible for this pipe to have been drilled as a System pipe at all.

Guess what. It is not drilled as a System pipe. That does explain the absence of the PATENT under the PETERSON’S stamp, doesn’t it?

So, there we have it. An 87 year old Mysterious Peterson Dublin 3000. I wish I could say, “I’m glad that’s settled”. I can’t nor can I explain why the top quarter inch was cut from the stummel. At least that one I can imagine was due to a severely charred top. The shape, however, is a mystery.

The Restoration

The beginning is always so easy. Lay down a freshly laundered piece of denim. That was about the last easy thing that this pipe allowed for.

Okay, another exaggeration, the collar came off pretty easily.

The collar was placed in a medicine cup and covered with 95% ethyl alcohol. The airway of the stem then received numerous tapered bristle pipe cleaners dipped in the alcohol. The photo shows a nice progression from not-so-clean to much better.

The exterior of the stem was then worked over with 0000 steel wool in preparation of the imminent deoxidation bath.

I used Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer (deox) to soften the oxidized exterior of the stem. A Pipe cleaner was inserted into the tenon to act as a hanger to suspend the stem in the solution.

For the condition of this stem, I thought that 4 hours, minimum, would be required.

The collar was removed from the ethyl alcohol. I tried to clean the hardened glue with a cotton swab from the inside of the collar. I think the alcohol just made the glue angry. I then placed it into another cup and covered it with acetone.

The stummel was next up. The reaming tools were assembled. The PipNet, General triangular scraper, Smokingpipes Low Country Reamer and the 220 sandpaper wrapped wood dowel were readied.

The PipNet with #2 blades did the majority of the work.

The bowl, however, was the sizes of the 2 and 3 blades. The #2 blades did great until it couldn’t reach across the bowl. The #3 was just too big.

This required scraping with the General and Smokingpipes blades.

The tobacco chamber was sanded with the 220 sandpaper on a stick. The chamber appeared free of any damage. This surprised me a bit. I thought that surely a pipe used as much as this would have some damage.

It did have plenty of over damage though. I moistened the lava with saliva, Then scraped some of the glue from the shank end while the saliva soaked a bit. The rim was then scraped with a sharp pocket knife.

I tried running the Kleen-Reem shank drill through the draft hole from the shank into the tobacco chamber but it was too large in diameter. Instead I used a 3/32 inch drill bit. This removed some of the accumulated smoking residue. While looking down the mortise I was struck by the complete lack of a reservoir. This was certainly not drilled as a Peterson System pipe.

I used several tapered bristle pipe cleaners to further clean the draft hole first the narrow tips then the thicker ends. The shank itself was not cleaned at this time. All that was just from the draft hole leading to the wider bored shank/mortise.

I took the stummel to the sink for a scrub with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon brush. In the photo below the filthy nature of the stummel came bee gauged. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

A second scrubbing with undiluted Murphy’s and the nylon brush were done and still more grime was removed. The stummel was rinsed and dried a second time. Notice the brush color in the two photos – it is the same brush.

Back at the workbench the stummel was looking clearer. I wiped it with a make-up pad dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

The glue on the shank end resisted the alcohol so a second make-up pad was wetted with acetone. The stummel was wiped and additional time spent on cleaning the shank end.

It was time to work on the shank, proper. “Yikes!”, came to mind after the first couple of cotton swabs dipped in alcohol. The shank was scraped with a dental scraper and scrubbed with more cotton swabs. I concluded with, “this shank is going to need a cotton and alcohol treatment” to help soften the smoking residues in there.

I switched gears and started to file the rim top to minimize the cut-off marks where the bowl top had been removed. A large and small file were used to accomplish this. I stopped at about where the below photo shows out of not wanting to remove any more bowl height.

To address the shank cracks, I knew I needed to drill holes at their terminal end to keep the cracks from progressing. I used a 2 mm drill bit for this.

Terminal hole one.

Terminal hole 2.

I needed a medicine cup to set the stummel on while the cotton alcohol treatment was doing its thing so, I removed the collar from its cup. The acetone had softened the remaining glue nicely.

The tobacco chamber, draft hole and shank were stuffed with cotton. I used a disposable pipette to add about 10 ml of 95% ethyl alcohol to the bowl and shank.

Alcohol was added until the cotton was saturated. The alcohol would evaporate overnight and hopefully pull a large amount of the smoking resiue with it depositing it into the cotton.

After about 4 hours the stem was removed from the Before and After deox and allowed to drip excess solution back into the jar.

I used a coarse shop rag to vigorously rub the stem, absorbing the remaining solution and removing some of the oxidized vulcanite.

At the workbench the stem was further scrubbed with several make-up pds sprinkled with Soft Scrub cleanser. The amount of oxidized material they were removing was amazing.

Even after all the scrubbing and cleanser, the stem looked as if little had been done to it. Back into deox. I left the stem in there overnight

The following day, I again removed the stem from deox. Back onto the coarse shop rag.

More vigorous rubbing produced a stained shop rag. Well the oxidized material is coming off, I thought.

At the workbench another round of Soft Scrub drizzled make-up pads did their thing and removed more of the oxidized vulcanite.

The cramping hands needed a break so I removed the cotton from the stummel. It came out stained with tar and yuck.

The cleaning of the shank went much better after the cotton and alcohol treatment.

It was time to reconstruct, fill the cracks and re-glue the collar. I opted to use JB Weld 2 part epoxy for this task. The epoxy was mixed according to product directions. The glue was applied to the crack filling them then additional glue spread around the shank end. The collar was slipped into position. Acetone dipped cotton swabs were used to wipe away any excess epoxy.

To keep the epoxy in the cracks I applied a thin coating of petroleum jelly to the tenon. This was inserted into the mortise and forced the epoxy to stay where I wanted it.

After about 30 minutes of curingI began to work on filling the flaws or pits on the stummel. Along the rim, I used brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) to fill the shallow depressions. This was spritzed with a CA drying accelerator.

The pits on the stummel were deeper and required CA and briar dust. The CA was applied into the pit with a fly tying bodkin and briar dust was pressed into the wet CA. The fills were then filed with a small flat file then sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge.

The stamps on both sides of the stummel were covered with masking tape to protect them from sanding. The stem and stummel were sanded with a sequence of sanding sponges from 400-3500. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad dampened with alcohol. The stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel.

The stem and stummel were then worked with micro-mesh pads in grits of 4000-12000. Again the stummel was wiped with an alcohol wetted make-up pad between micro-mesh pads while the stem was rubbed with Obsidian Oil and wiped with a paper towel.

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

The stummel was coated with Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit overnight. This is longer than I would normally allow but it was time for bed.

The next day, the Restoration Balm was wiped from the stummel using an inside out athletic sock.

The pipe was taken to the buffer for several coats of carnauba wax.

After waxing the pipe was hand polished with a microfiber polishing cloth.

I still do not know what to think of this Peterson Dublin 3 3000. I Feel funny calling it a 3000 as that never appears to be something that Peterson made yet, here is it. It is not a System pipe though it’s shaped like one and has a P-lip yet, here it is. It is not intact, as it is missing what I think is about ¼ inch of top yet, here it is. It has a collar like nothing I’ve ever seen yet, here it is. I can say that it is a pretty little pipe and I much prefer the AB taper stem over the saddle. I guess I’ll just have to keep it and take it fishing once global warming eliminates the hard water situation brought on by winter.

The dimensions of the Peterson 3000 (?) 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.

Loading…

Type your email…

Below are some photos of the finished Peterson 3000 (if that is what it really is) pipe.

I was not really pleased with the level of polish on the collar so it went back under the buffer with some white jeweler’s rouge, which is really a silly name as it is white not rouge. Anyway here is what it looked like after the extra buffing:
A Mokin Prince Restoration

January 23rd, 2025
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

I have been wanting to practice my skills with horn and bone lately. Unfortunately, both materials are slightly more difficult to find nowadays. How could I resist this Mokin prince that popped up on eBay in early December of 2023? I saw the seller was from France and wondered how in the heck shipping was only $6? When the auction was won with only a $7 dollar bid I felt like I’d like a jackpot. A weird aluminum stinger (I like weird), horn stem, pretty grain, great shape, unfamiliar maker, great price, what wasn’t to like? Well, it took a couple of weeks to arrive, got to love the delayed gratification but, arrive it did. The pipe was stamped MOKIN within a circle over RESERVE on the left shank. The right shank had the number 7706. The stem was stamped with a white painted MOKIN circled. This stem logo looked to be embedded into the horn and painted. I found that interesting, not knowing much about the properties of horn. Here are some photographs of the pipe as it appeared before any work:

Now, I cannot say that I am a “green” or “sustainability” minded guy though, I have kept an active compost pile since 1998. That is more due to me being too cheap to buy someone else’s dirt for the garden. I find the idea of natural-ish materials for pipes is interesting. This pipe did not look like it would require a tremendous amount of work. Sure, a good cleaning, reaming, stem restoration but, overall it looked good.

Background

I have restored a couple of French pipes with similar aluminum tenons over the past year: A Country Panel Bent Rhodesian Restoration and A Super Majestic System V.D. Billiard Restoration. All three of these pipes have a cork lined mortise. I pondered the reasoning behind such a mortise and tenon. All I could come up with is that the heating and cooling of the aluminum tenon created greater expansion than the expansion of the shank’s briar. To allow for this the maker used a cork liner to absorb the aluminum expanding without stressing the briar. Well, that is thought anyway. For whatever reason it would certainly have been a labor intensive structure and was surely more costly than just a standard mortise and tenon. After thinking about this I turned to researching the maker – Mokin.

I began with a search for Mokin at pipephil.eu, the usual stop for all things logos. Here I found the following:

(Ml-Moq — Pipes: Logos & Markings). That diagram really made me want to find a “Neverbreak” pipe and restore it. Refocusing on the pipe at hand and attempting to subdue my attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) I thought back to the other French makers who employed the cork lined mortise. The small French flag, in the upper right, helped confirm my French connection but was far from definitive.

Next, I turned to pipedia.org and searched Mokin. No results came up. I tried “Neverbreak”, “HPF”, “Brevete” and “SGDG”. Only Brevete returned a lead.

well, it was not much to go on and it looked like a stretch but, follow it, I did. The link was to a French pipe maker LMB. The only text was the following and it appears roughly translated from French to English: “From Les Pipiers Français — Histoire et Tradition. Gilbert Guyot

LMB in 1911, rue du Mont-Thabor, assures that “his systeme is recommend by the Medical profession, the efficient only one positively imbouchable, condensing 38 % of nicotine, getting clean avtomatiquement, and approve by the Societe d’ Hygiene of France”. He adapts the conduit in plexiglass transparent has the modern pipe by 1960.” (LMB – Pipedia). The photos from the pipedia.org site were interesting and the brochure dates were from the correct era, whichI suspected the pipe was made (1911-1930s). I will include some of these images below.

Above images of brochures and pipe are from (LMB – Pipedia).

Nothing from the LMB information looked like it pertained to this pipe other than the intricate nature of the aluminum stinger.

The research on this pipe was looking to be limited. I tried a general Google search for “Mokin tobacco pipes” and came across a listing from a Worthpoint auction with no photographs and one restoration of a Mokin Corsair pipe by Anthony Cook on Steve Laug’s rebornpipes.com (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/mokin-corsaire-pipe/). The restoration by Mr. Cook was nice but lacked any historical information on the maker. It did however show a photograph of the logo for affirmation of the logos and stampings of the pipe. The Corsair pipe also sported a bone stem and had a 4 digit number.

(https://rebornpipes.com/tag/mokin-corsaire-pipe/).

All of this leads me to the conclusion that this lovely Mokin prince was the product of a French maker prior to World War Two. If you have any additional information pertaining to the brand please feel free to include it in the comments.

The Restoration

This little round bottomed mademoiselle made her way to the bench and received a cleaned denim piece.

The first task was relieving the stem of its stinger. I quickly discovered that it was threaded. The threads were held fairly tightly with smoking residue and aluminum oxidation.

The stinger was placed in a medicine cup with 1bout 10 ml of ethyl alcohol. The alcohol was also used to dip bristle pipe cleaners for cleaning the stem airway.

After cleaning the interior of the stem I started to removed the tooth chatter with a small flat file. This slightly reduced the horn around the dents.

The same process was repeated on both top and bottom.

The filed areas were lightly sanded with 320 and 400 grit sanding sponges and the aluminum stinger was cleaned.

I used brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) to fill the dents in the horn stem. The drying.curing of the CA was sped up with the use of a CA accelerator. The spots were filed and sanded smooth with a 400 sanding sponge

I then turned my attention to the reaming of the tobacco chamber. The PipNet, Smokingpipes Low Country Reamer and General triangular scraper were used to remove the light cake from the chamber.

The chamber appeared free of any damage due to heat.

The stummel was then taken to the sink for a scrubbing with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon scrub brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

Returning to the workbench, the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad wetted with 95% ethyl alcohol. Little color came off on the pad. There did appear to be some type of finish remaining on the stummel.

I wetted another make-up pad with acetone and repeated the wiping. This time more color was removed.

A light sanding of the stummel and another wipe with acetone removed the remaining finish.

The only remaining finish was around the stamping. I avoided this area with the sanding but you can see it in the photo below.

Next came the removal of the old fills. There were a few scattered around the stummel.

The old fills were picked out using a fly tying bodkin.

The plan was to apply a small drop of brown CA with the bodkin, press sone briar dust into the wet CAthe sand the new fill with a sanding sponge. Topping of the new fill would be done with another dab of CA, if needed.

Below is a photo of the new fill prior to sanding.

With the fills redone, I taped over the stamps on both sides of the shank and the stem with masking tape. I wanted a tape that was thinner than painter’s tape and tried to cut it as close to the stampings as possible.

Before sanding I wanted to clean the stummel airway. I started with cotton swabs dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol , bristle pipe cleaners and a shank brush..

The cork shank liner made accessing the airway slightly problematic. I did not want to get too aggressive with the cleaning in fear of damaging the cork. I have successfully replaced a cork lining but it is a rather tedious process which I hoped to avoid.

I thought that a cotton alcohol treatment would be a less vigorous way to soften and remove the smoking residues from the airway. Instead of packing the airway with cotton I folded a fluffy pipe cleaner 3 times. This filled the airway nicely.

The bowl was stuffed with cotton as usual.

Using a pipette, I saturated the cotton and pipe cleaner with 95% ethyl alcohol.

A little bit of overflow showed that the cotton was saturated. The alcohol was allowed to sit and evaporate overnight.

The next day the alcohol had dissolved the smoking residues which inturn had migrated into the cotton/pipe cleaner as the alcohol evaporated.

The cotton and pipe cleaner were removed.

The cleaning proceeded while the residues were hopefully still softened by the presence of the alcohol. There was still a good deal of yuck (that is the highly technical term for accumulated smoking residue used by highly trained pipe restorers) remaining in the airway. Many cotton swabs, some scraping with a dental scraper, some scrubbing with a folded bristle pipe cleaner, some more scrubbing with a shank brush… Well, you get the idea.

With all the scrubbing I feared that the cork lining may have suffered some catastrophic trauma. I tried to seat the stem and assess the damage. It fit fairly tight and sealed well. Yay, no sign of impending cork replacement was needed.

The sanding of the stem and stummel together proceeded. A sequence of sanding sponges in grits from 400-3500 was done with the pipe wiped with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol between each sponge to remove sanding debris.

The pipe was then worked with a sequence of micro-mesh pads 4000-12000. The wiping between pads was done as with the sanding sponges.

The pipe, both stem and stummel, were then coated with Before and After Restoration Balm and let alone for about 8 hours. Normally I only leave them for 20 minutes or so but I had errands and stuff to do.

Upon returning to the workbench, I wiped the pipe with an inside out athletic sock to remove the remaining Restoration Balm.

The stem was then polished using Before and After Fine and Extra Fine Polish. The polish was applied and hand rubbed with a soft cotton cloth.

The last steps were to apply several coats of carnauba wax with the buffer followed by a hand buffing with a microfiber cloth.

I was very pleased with how well this restoration went. The shape is becoming a favorite and the horn stem just makes it more attractive. Kind of like this was the original cumberland before the Dunhill boys made a synthetic version. The briar grain is attractive and the stem is both visually attractive and feels great while clenching. The pipe smokes very well, yeah, I think I’ll keep this one in the collection unless someone else really wants it. Don’t worry, I’ll clean it up again for you. The dimensions of the Alpha Calabash are:

Length: 5.47 in./ 138.94 mm.
- Weight: 1.29 oz./ 36.57 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.37 in./ 34.80 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.20 in./ 30.48 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.69 in./ 17.53 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, 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.

Loading…

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Δ

Type your email…

Below are some photos of the completed Alpha Calabash pipe.
An Alpha Galaxy Calabash Restoration

January 21st, 2025
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

This is only the second Alpha pipe that I had laid hands on. Oh wow, that sounds like some religious experience. Let me rephrase that, this is the second Alph pipe that I had ever worked on. Whew, much less responsibility, there. Although, this pipe may need a miracle to save it. The first Alpha was many years ago and I still see it when I visit a buddy at his farm a couple miles south of here. It was a sandblast Dublin which became his birthday present and still sees its share of tobacco. This pipe may make it his way as this year’s birthday present and to keep the other Alpha company. Don’t tell him, okay? The Alpha was part of an estate lot from only a few miles away, Falls City, Nebraska. Falls City is also the hometown of Larry the Cable Guy. Well, the pipes were in rough shape but, I figured I would support a local antique dealer. The below photo is of the lot.

I did the math and it was cheaper to actually have the pipes delivered than to make the drive in my 20 year old pickup. A short time later the dilapidated darlings arrived. This Alpha was stamped ALPHA over GALAXY on the left shank. The GALAXY was hard to make out as it looked like the stamper was only applying pressure to the top of the stamp during the stamping. The A logo on the stem was clear but light and appeared to be more paint than a true stamp. No other marking could be discerned. Below are some photographs of the Alpha Galaxy before work had begun.

It was safe to say that this was someone’s favorite pipe judging by the wear on the blast pattern. Perhaps a local farmer who frequently had extra grit on his hands of gloves to abrade the pipe surface. The pipe had seen a good deal of use as evidenced by the wear, cake, lava on the rim, stem oxidation, tooth chatter and general brokenness. Yeah, that would probably have to be dealt with too, the broken stem, that is. I bet a new Delrin tenon would work. This was not going to be an “easy button” restoration.

Background

I started researching Alpha with a look on pipephil.eu. This is my go to site for logos and often a first step in seeking answers to pipeological questions. The screenshot below shows two country of manufacture (COM) flags. That usually indicates a more convoluted history. The A on the pipe’s stem was a match with two of the photos.

(Alf-Alz — Pipes : Logos & Markings)

There was a second set of photos which were shown as American made Alphas but here, the stem logo was far different.

(Alf-Alz — Pipes : Logos & Markings)

Next I turned to pipedia.org and a search of Alpha. Here I found the following information:

“Alpha was originally a brand of the Shalom Pipe Factory in Israel, owned by Bernard Hochstein, former CEO of Mastercraft. The Alpha line was made exclusively for export to the United States. They were made in Israel from the 1970s into the 1980s, at which point the name was sold to Mastercraft, and later to Lane, Ltd., who produced very few Lane Alpha pipes at the end of the 1990’s. Lane Alphas were sold in five finishes, each denoted with a Greek letter. After Lane, Mastercraft again marketed the Alpha, under the name Alpha USA, with finishes named Sierra, Delta, Mark V, Blue Ridge, Sabre, and Big Boy, some of which were not stamped with the Alpha name.

Alpha Citation, shape 2535

Among others, the Israeli made Alpha pipes were available in a line marketed as “Citation”.” (Alpha – Pipedia)

I thought that it made sense that Israel would be a pipe producing country due to their Mediterranean geography which would place them in the natural range of briar (Erica Arborea). Well in looking up the range of Erica Arborea, I was surprised to see that it does not encircle the Mediterranean. Poor Israel seemed to have an abundance of enemies and a dirge of briar. The world not making sense returned to normal and I continued my research.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erica_arborea#/media/File:Erica_arborea_range.svg)

Within the first pipedia.org article there was a link to the Shalom Pipe Company. I followed this and was rewarded with the following:

“Not much is known about Israel’s sole pipe factory though it’s reported to have operated quite successfully on international markets.

Shalom Flyer, courtesy Doug Valitchka

Beside the brand “Shalom” the mainstay brand was Alpha – especially well known in the USA. Alpha was popular for a range of fresh and unusual shapes. Series (afaik): Caprice (s), Citation (s), Classic (b), Pedestal (s), Regent, Region (b), Rex (s). (1)

(1) (b) = blasted, (s) = smooth

Alpha also produced at least one of its Citation forms for Carey’s “Magic Inch” series.

Mentioned in context with Shalom Pipe Factory was a Danish pipemaker named ‘Muki Liebermann’, who later lived and worked in the USA. Muki is known for his unique briar bending technique and his original shapes that gave inspiration to many of the most praised Danish pipemakers.

Shalom was taken over by Robert L. Marx of New York City, later Sparta, NC, then of Mastercraft. Mastercraft continued the Alpha pipes introducing new lines.

Other brands from Israel:
- Andersen
- Burl King (Best known for their Danish-looking “thumbhole” pipes with plateau tops.)
- Fader (Presumably for Fader’s Tobacco Shop, Baltimore. Also known: Fader – Made In Denmark.)
- Goliath Briar (huge pipes)
- Krisson
- Mastersen
- Trophy” (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Shalom_Pipe_Factory)
Interesting information but lacking the details, such as dates of purchase or sale. These details might be helpful in narrowing the dates of origin of this pipe. I knew that Robert Marx started Marxman Pipes in 1939 and sold it to Mastercraft in 1953. This made the initial dates given in the pipedia.org article confusing. It states that, “They were made in Israel from the 1970s into the 1980s”. Israel was formed May 14, 1948. It is very doubtful that any COM would predate that. With no other information I will defer to the 1970s-1980s quote as the probable date of manufacture. Pipedia.org did have a few photos of the Alpha Galaxy which appears to be a smooth twin to the Alpha Galaxy in hand.

(Alpha – Pipedia). The purchase of Alpha by Mastercraft appears to have come with changes to the stem logo. I use that bit of evidence to be the upper limit of production for this pre-Mastercraft Alpha.

The Restoration

The broken beauty, well potential beauty, received a cleaned denim piece on the workbench.

The first task was to free that broken tenon from the mortise. I used a disposable pipette to drip some 95% ethyl alcohol onto the seam of the mortise/tenon. Then screwed a drywall screw into the airway.

It took some wiggling and tapping but the broken tenon came loose.

Next came the reaming of the tobacco chamber. This was done with the PipNet, General triangular scraper and Smokingpipes Low Country Reamer.

The PipNet was used with the #2 and #3 blades.

The chamber looked good for a pipe used as much as this one had been.

The lave on the rim was further evidence of the use this pipe received.

The rim and chamber were brushed with a brass shotgun bore brush. On the rim I wetted the surface with alcohol and wiped it with a paper towel, after brushing.

The tobacco chamber was sanded both with the sandpaper wrapped wood dowel as well as by hand. Wide diameter bowls make this a much easier task.

The shank airway was cleaned out first by running the Cleen-Reem tool’s shank drill through. This required several starts/clean the tar from the dril/restarts. Bristle pipe cleaners folded and dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol and a nylon shank brush were used to clear the airway.

The stummel was then taken to the sink for a scrub with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon scrub brush. Thesoap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

Back at the workbench the stumble was wiped with a make-up pad dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol. The lack of color on the pad indicated that the stummel was clean and free of any finish.

I cannot say how or why I neglected to photograph the treatment of the stem before going into the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer (deox) other than perhaps I was thinking that the entire stem may have to be replaced if the attempts at restoring it failed. After having soaked for several hours in the solution I removed the stem and allowed it to drip excess solution back into the jar.

The stem was then vigorously rubbed with a coarse shop rag to remove the remaining solution and some of the loosened oxidation.

I cleaned the airway with bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

The surface of the stem was scrubbed with Soft Scrub cleanser applied to make-up pads.

The remaining tenon was filed with a flat file. I did not want to get too close and risk filing the shoulder of the stem thus rounding it and making the shank to stem joint look ill fit.

The plan was to use increasingly large drill bits to enlarge the draft hole until I could insert a replacement Delrin tenon. Delrin is the preferred material for replacement tenons. According to the Great Google AI: “Delrin is a high-performance, semi-crystalline thermoplastic that’s a popular choice for engineering applications:
- Properties
  Delrin is known for its high strength, stiffness, dimensional stability, and low moisture absorption. It’s also chemically resistant to solvents, hydrocarbons, and neutral chemicals.”
(https://www.google.com/search?q=delrin&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS1028US1028&oq=Delrin&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCggAEAAYsQMYgAQyCggAEAAYsQMYgAQyCggBEAAYsQMYgAQyDQgCEAAYgwEYsQMYgAQyBwgDEAAYgAQyBwgEEAAYgAQyBwgFEAAYgAQyBggGEEUYPDIGCAcQRRhB0gEIMjQ3N2owajSoAgCwAgE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8”

That and it’s what the replacement tenons from Tim West (https://jhlowe.com/) are made of. He sells various sizes and styles of tenon material and is a pleasure to work with.

Back to the subject at hand. To center the drill bits as best I could using hand tools, I chose to chamfer the existing hole using a countersink bit. Yeah, I know, I need a drill press.

I used tape to mark each bit to the depth that I desired , about 5 mm. In the photo below you can see the replacement tenon immediately above the drill bits. This tenon was 5/16 inch (0.31in. or 8 mm) in diameter.

I stepped up the hole size with increasingly large bits until I got to a size where I no longer felt comfortable drilling by hand. I was afraid I’d break the stem.

I used the tenon cutting tool from the boys at Vermont Freehand (https://vermontfreehand.com/)to cut one end of the tenon to fit the hole.

I left the surface of the cut purposefully rough to allow the epoxy greater surface area to adhere to. I tested the fit and depth. The fit was good but the length was too long. That was an easy fix – shorten it.

Using a Dremel tool and cut-off bit I trimmed the tenon.

There, I had a nice fit. The tenon itself was far too long but that was another trim from the opposite end.

Below, you can see the final fit of the stem with the replacement tenon.

Glueing was done with 2 part JB Weld epoxy.

The mixed epoxy was applied to both the stem and the replacement tenon using a fly tying bodkin.

The replacement tenon was inserted into the stem then a pipe cleaner dipped in acetone was run through the airway several times to clear it of any overflow epoxy. The stem was interested in the shank and wrapped tightly with painters tape. This project then was set aside for a couple of days to allow the epoxy to set and cure.

After curing, the joint between the stem and shank was filed for a perfect fit/seam. I wrapped the shank slightly below the shoulder with painters tape to protect the stampings but allowed the briar to be sanded with the stem to further reduce the seam. The stem was sanded from 400-3500 grit sanding sponges. Between each sponge the stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel. After the curing period I placed the pipe in a 220°F (104 c) oven for 8 minutes then bent the stem to shape. Personally, I prefer to use the oven over a heat gun for shaping stems. Besides, I was going to be using the oven anyway.

The tape was removed and the stem worked with 4000-12000 micro-mesh pads. I rubbed the stem with Obsidian Oil and wiped it with a paper towel between each micro-mesh pad.

The stummel was coated with Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit for 20 minutes.

The remaining balm was hand buffed with an inside out athletic sock to remove the balm.

There remained a stubborn patch of brown oxidation on the stem right at the joint where it connected to the shank. I hoped that the Before and After Fine Polish would work at removing this. The stem was polished using a soft cotton cloth and the Fine Polish.

The Fine Polish was followed by the Extra Fine Polish. The brown spot was eliminated.

I gave the stummel an overnight treatment of cotton and alcohol to rid it of the slight Old tobacco smell. Cotto was stuffed into the bowl and airway and approximately 10 ml of ethyl alcohol was added via pipette.

The next day, I removed the cotton and ran alcohol dipped pipe cleaners through the airway again as well as a couple of dipped cotton swabs around the bowl.

The pip was then taken to the buffer for several coats of carnauba wax. The sandblast of this pipe was not very deep and I thought that applying carnauba would work with the texture.

Overall I am quite pleased with how well this restoration turned out. The worn sandblast has a wonderfully comfortable feel in the hand and makes you think that this pipe has been yours for many years. The vulcanite took quite a bit of extra effort to get to look good, unfortunately at the cost of the stem logo. The logo is barely observable but you can still see it. The pipe has a lovely set of curves and is equally comfortable to clench. The dimensions of the Alpha Calabash are:

Length: 5.43 in./ 137.92 mm.
- Weight: 1.22 oz./ 34.59 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.06 in./ 26.92 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 0.85 in./ 21.59 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.80 in./ 20.32 mm. (Conically bored diameter is at the top)
- Outside Diameter: 1.48 in./ 37.59 mm.
I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

Loading…

Type your email…

Below are some photos of the completed Alpha Calabash pipe.
A SAMHARA Pipe Restoration

January 16th, 2025
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

I am strangely attracted to pipes that I call curiosities. Pipes with potentially innovative designs created by dreamers who certainly thought they were creating a better way to enjoy the smoking of a pipe. Reality frequently enters into the scene with most of these innovations and as usual, puts the invention to the test of the laws of physics and renders the idea a mere advertising ploy which does little but attract a buyer. This reinforces the old saying, “A fool and his money are soon parted.” Thank you Thomas Tusser for your words of wisdom from the mid-1500s. And thank you inventors and dreamers for allowing me to test both your ideas and Mr. Tusser’s prediction. I saw this SAMHARA pipe and was immediately attracted to it. It reminded me of the Needham pipe (below photo) that I restored last year except this one has the screw placed on top of the shank rather than below.

I wondered what kind of internal drillings were used to rout the smoke from the bowl to the mouthpiece. Well, curiosity and Mr. Tusser’s saying both won and enabled me to win the auction. Surprisingly there were 3 other fools who were also intrigued by this curiosity. The pipe made the journey from Scarborough, Maine to the wilds of southeast Nebraska and into my eager and foolish hands. The pipe was stamped SAMHARA over PAT.PEND. over IMPORTED BRIAR. Below are some photos of the pipe as it appeared shortly after being unboxed.

The stem was oxidized and would need a good deox regimen. The briar had decades worth of accumulated dirt and dust to be cleaned off. There was also a clear coat finish of some sort which I wanted to remove. The tobacco chamber looked used but only lightly caked. This looked to be a relatively easy clean-up and restoration.

Background

Surprisingly there was actually some information available on the Samara Pipe Company of pipedia.org. Since it is fairly short I will include it in its entirety.

Samhara Pipe Co.

Jump to navigation

Jump to search

Here we have an interesting system pipe. The Samhara Pipe Co. appears in U.S. patent records circa late 1940s.

Example and details, courtesy Benny King

Karl Harris, writes:

“The inventor was Samuel Harris from Dayton, Ohio. He was President of the Globe Clothing Company, Money Back Harris and Harris Clothing. He was born in Detroit Michigan, raised in Oakland, California which is across the Bay from San Francisco. The Family story was he slept through the legendary San Francisco earthquake of 1906. He graduated from the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio. He served as a Rabbi in Toledo Ohio for 4 years before settling in Dayton. He is my grandfather and last night I discovered four of his original unused Samhara Pipes in their boxes along with his notes and drawings.”

Note: Fantastic to have this information and history directly from Samuel’s grandson. Hopefully we will have more photos and additional notes to add soon.

Samhara Pipe ads, courtesy Karl Harris

Samhara Pipe Co. – Pipedia).

The above advertisement clippings show a date of December 3, 1946 printed at the top of the above left photograph. This leads me to the conclusion that this pipe is from that time.

The only patent I could find for Samuel J. Harris is the below diagram and link to the text of the patent. There was no mention of the SAMHARA pipe like the pipe in hand.

(1498405586974277000-01976496). There are two other applications filed, from Samuel J. Harris from Dayton, Ohio for a Combination skirt and trousers hanger and a Trousers display device. With the same name, city, professional background (Clothing industry) and correct years active, I think it is safe to assume that this is the same Samuel J. Harris who was the inventor of the SAMHARA pipe.

Using photos and measurements from my pipe I was able to sketch out the drillings to approximate scale. The photo below shows the drilled out area in light gray. A photo of the actual tenon was scaled to fit the diagram. At the time of this writing I have not yet begun the restoration, much less actually tried to smoke the pipe. I have to say that I have reservations about the effectiveness of this system. I can imagine the smoke leaving the tobacco chamber, being drawn up the angled airway expanding and cooling slightly in the small top chamber, then proceeding into the stem and to the smoker. I cannot see the smoke going into the lower chamber (bowl-ward from the stem. I can see condensation flowing down from the upper chamber into the stem. I can also imagine condensation flowing into the lower chamber if the pipe were held at an angle where the bowl was lower than the button. I cannot imagine the smoke circulating in the lower chamber as it would be drawn towards the mouth of the smoker. The more I look at this diagram, the more I think that Samuel J. Harris’s invention was far less effective than he dreamt it was. I am getting ahead of myself with this prediction though. I need to get on with the restoration and test drive this old gal before making any claims.

The Restoration

As usual things began with a cleaned denim piece protecting the work surface.

The stem and airway screw were removed for cleaning. I started with the stem on this restoration.

The screw was placed in a medicine cup with about 5 ml of 95% ethyl alcohol.

The stem was cleaned with bristle pipe cleaners dipped in the alcohol. The exterior of the stem was rubbed with 0000 steel wool.

A pipe cleaner was inserted into the tenon of the stem to act as a hanger suspending it in the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer.

I turned my attention to the stummel. The reaming tools were gathered. The PipNet, General triangular scraper, Smokingpipes Low Country Reamer and a wood dowel with 220 wrapped around it. A dental scraper and brass shotgun bore brush was also used for cleaning the grooves inside the tobacco chamber.

The PipNet with it’s #2 blades did the majority of the reaming with the dental scraper used for the grooves.

The below photo is of the reaming with the dental scraper but also shows the one large fill which would be replaced.

Below is a photo of the reamed, clean grooved, and sanded tobacco chamber. I noticed some charsing of the groove ridges. This idea of providing grooves or ridges to help speed the cake building is an interesting idea but in my mind it would do little but provide greater surface area for fire to char the briar. Which it appears to have done.

I tried to remove the existing finish from the stummel with a cotton swab dipped in acetone to test the effect. It worked but was very slow.

The solution was an acetone bath. The stummel was placed into my jar of acetone. Fresh acetone was added to fill the jar completely. The stummel was allowed to soak for 45 minutes.

The stummel was then removed from the acetone. I used a brass brush dipped in the acetone to work the rusticated surface of the stummel and free any softened finish that remained.

The stummel was then wiped with a couple of make-up pads wetted with fresh acetone to remove the remaining clear coat.

While the tars in the airways were still soft from the acetone, I cleaned the airway with bristle pipe cleaners and cotton swabs dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

The acetone had evaporated during the airway cleaning and only a slight aroma of it remained. I took the stummel to the sink for a scrub with a nylon brush and undiluted Murphy Oil Soap. I thought that I may have done the scrubbing sequence out of order and maybe should have done it before the acetone bath. It did remove debris from the stummel and discolored the soap lather so something was being removed. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

Returning to the workbench, I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol and ran an alcohol dipped pipe cleaner through the airway. Both the make-up pad and the pipe cleaner came back with very little color. This indicated that the inside and outside had been thoroughly cleaned;

The stem was allowed to spend 3 hours in the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer (deox). I removed it and hung it by the pipe cleaner to drip excess solution back into the jar.

I used a coarse cotton shop rag to scrub the stem. This absorbs the remaining solution as well as helps to remove loosened oxidized vulcanite.

The below photo shows the removed material.

The stem was scrubbed with make-up pads sprinkled with Soft Scrub cleanser to further remove the oxidized vulcanite. I failed to photograph this, apologies. The stem was oiled and the project took an overnight break.

The next day I began sanding the stummel looking for fills which would need to be replaced or repaired.

I only found one that I thought needed attention and it was actually in two places as it went from the side to the rim.

The old fill was picked out using a fly tying bodkin.

The plan was to apply a coating of brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) to the pit then add briar dust to fill the missing material.

The CA was applied.

Briar dust was then added and pressed into the wet CA.

A top coat of brown CA was applied. This was allowed to cure on its own.

Once cured, the new fill was filed with a small flat file then sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge.

A second view of the fill from the side.

A view of the fill from the top (it is at the 11:00 position)

The pipe was then sanded with a sequence of sanding sponges from 400-3500 grit. The stampings on this pipe were very deep. This led me to think that I could sand the stamped area very lightly without protecting it with a layer of tape. The stem and stummel were together as I was sanding both pieces. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with an alcohol wetted make-up pad. The stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a dry paper towel.

The pipe was then worked with micro-mesh pads 4000-12000. Between each pad the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad dipped in alcohol. The stem was rubbed and wiped as above but Obsidian Oil was used in place of mineral oil.

I coated the briar with Before and After Restoration Balm worked into the rustications with a baby toothbrush. The balm was allowed to sit and work its magic for 20 minutes.

The remaining balm was removed with an inside out athletic sock.

The pipe was then taken to the buffer for several coats of carnauba wax. I applied minimal pressure to the stummel while waxing in an attempt to keep the wax only on the smooth surfaces. The rustications would receive Renaissance Microcrystalline Wax applied with a baby toothbrush and hand buffed with a microfiber polishing cloth.

Overall the restoration of this SAMHARA pipe restoration ended very well. The finish of the briar provides a glimpse of lovely grain on the smooth surfaces. I think the carvings are less than attractive and seem a bit cartoony. The stem polished very nicely and provides a nice contrast to the rustic briar. The one large fill that was redone blended in well and is barely noticeable. Now the big question: “How does the SAMHARA System perform?” For this test I wasted a neutral Virginia based tobacco so, I chose Orlik Golden Sliced tobacco. The bowl was filled to approximately 2/3rds. The pipe had a nice draw though it did feel slightly constricted. Once lit the pipe performed well. The briar of the bowl was thick enough to disperse the heat of smoking without getting hot in hand. The smoking session lasted around 45 minutes and was cool and dry to the mouth. I usually sip Virginias but I tried to push this one a couple of times. The smoke never did feel too hot in my mouth nor with the pipe in hand. Was this a great “game changing” invention? No, I don’t think it was. Clever and innovative yes, but hardly providing noticeable improvements. The grooves to aid cake development merely provide more surface for charring of briar to occur. The convoluted airway path perhaps would have led to condensing some water from steam but nothing that Peterson System pipe had not been doing for over 50 years. Alltold, this is an interesting pipe and another advertising gimmick more than an improvement for the pipeman. If you are interested I thoroughly cleaned the pipe after the Orlik Golden Sliced smoke and documented that at the very end, after the “finished pipe” photos The dimensions of the SAMHARA are:

Length: 5.61 in./ 142.49 mm.
- Weight: 1.45 oz./ 41.11 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.85 in./ 46.99 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.46 in./ 37.08 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.78 in./ 19.81 mm. (Conically bored diameter is at the top)
- Outside Diameter: 1.50 in./ 38.10 mm.
I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

Below are some photos of the completed SAMHARA pipe.

The test smoke: ⅔ bowl of Orlik Golden Sliced.

The post smoke ash tray.

The down bowl photo post smoke.

I cleaned the airway with alcohol dipped pipe cleaners.

The down mortise photo. This shot was taken after cleaning the airway and does contain some alcohol from that cleaning in the lower chamber thus making it look “wetter” than it did after the test smoke.

The stem was then cleaned with alcohol dipped pipe cleaners.
A Kirsten Restoration

January 14th, 2025
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

Whenever I read about a pipe with a cult-like following I get interested, “what is it that all those people know, that I don’t”. Maybe it is the fear of being left out or just a general need for ignorance mitigation. Either way, I am drawn to finding out what it is that I have been missing. It was that way with Kirsten pipes, for me. I had read about them, seen people discuss their virtues on Facebook groups, and watched many auctions sell for what I considered high prices. Like the old codger tobacco blends, they must be good or they would have never lasted this long. I finally came across a Kirsten as part of an estate lot. This pipe wore the stamps Kirsten in a scroll type script on the left shank and PATS & PATS PEND with an M offset towards the stem. Below are some photographs of the Kirsten before any work had begun.

This pipe’s greatest issue was the oxidation of the stem. The aluminum was in great shape, needing only some buffing. The interior probably would require a good cleaning but it didn’t appear too bad. The bowl was in fine shape with little cake build-up and only moderate lava flow on the rim.

Background

The story of the Kirsten pipe begins with the inventor, Frederick K. Kirsten. According to wikipedia, the greatest source of information and spoken of with disdain by my sister the librarian, “Frederick Kurt Kirsten (born Kurt Friederich Johannes Kirsten, March 13, 1885 – November 19, 1952) was an American professor, engineer and inventor.^[1]

Kirsten was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1902. He graduated from University of Washington in 1909 and later taught there as a professor of aeronautical engineering. During his life he was granted numerous patents on a wide variety of subjects.^[2] Among his inventions were the Kirsten pipe ^[3] (a tobacco pipe), and the Kirsten-Boeing propeller (a cycloidal propeller ).^[4] The Kirsten Wind Tunnel at University of Washington was promoted by and named after him.^[5]“ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Kirsten). I understand why librarians are so critical of wikipedia.org, the notion of people being able to openly edit entries without verifying content can be problematic for scholarly writing. It nevertheless is a wonderful source for general knowledge.

Turning to a more trustworthy though questionably objective source, the Kirsten Pipe Company website. Here is a short description of the founder and inventor:

“Professor Kirsten

It is by no means merely puffery to say that Professor Frederick K. Kirsten was a genuine American original. He first sailed to this country in 1902, as a cabin boy from Hamburg, Germany. After successfully rounding the Horn and eluding the Shanghai gangs of the West Coast, he navigated the educational system at the University of Washington to become a Professor of Aeronautical Engineering. Here, his inventive spirit took wing. He created the world-famous Kirsten Wind Tunnel, Air-washing equipment for factories, an air-cooled Utopian Bed, and, most notably, a revolutionary propeller which enables boats to stop and turn on a dime. Today, in the same waters where he jumped ship almost 100 years ago, ocean-going vessels are landed by sturdy tugs driven by Kirsten cycloidal propellers, piloted by equally sturdy captains smoking cool Kirsten pipes.

Rightly called the coolest pipe in the world, this latter innovation came about when a doctor advised Professor Kirsten to switch from cigarettes. He quickly dreamed up a way to trap the moisture, tars and tongue-biting acids which attack the users of briar pipes. After 80 years and counting, Kirsten pipes are still produced by the Kirsten family, faithfully following the basic designs of this father of invention.”

Professor Kirsten
- Inventor and Founder
(https://www.kirstenpipe.com/history.html).

The next source comes to us from the University of Washington, where Professor Kirsten was a staff member. Here too the information may have a slightly romanticized bent, it is still a fun and informative read and gives examples of his contributions in science and the university.

“The Inventive Mind

Frederick Kirsten — 1915-1951

I am a research man.

Frederick Kirsten

Fredrick Kristen explaining one of his inventions. (aa.washington.edu)

Frederick Kurt Kirsten was one of the founders of the UW Department of Aeronautics. He earned the first patent awarded to a UW faculty member. He was the public face of UW engineering for three decades, tirelessly promoting technology as the future’s greatest hope.

Born in Germany, Kirsten graduated from the UW in 1909 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He was immediately hired by an industrial firm and by 1913, was supervising construction of the underground electrical service at MIT. Recruited back to UW, he agreed in 1920 to teach the entire curriculum of the new Department of Aeronautics: aerodynamics, airplane design, and propulsion.

On December 1, 1921, Kirsten filed the first patent awarded to a member of the UW faculty. He and William Boeing went into business together as the Kirsten-Boeing Engineering Company to develop Kirsten’s invention – the cycloidal propeller, first for aircraft and then for boats. He obtained a $290,000 grant from the Guggenheim Foundation to build the UW aeronautical engineering laboratory in 1926, and led the campaign to finance a state-of-the-art wind tunnel in 1936.

Kristen Wind Tunnel – February 1939

The team lowers an experimental Kirsten cycloidal propeller boat for testing. (Kirsten Collection. University Archives. Special Collections, UW Libraries)

Kirsten was confident and stubborn; his designs were based more on trial and error than on analysis. Endlessly inventive, he never gave up the quixotic effort to perfect the cycloidal propeller, and patented more than two dozen other inventions, including the Kirsten pipe, air-raid sirens, fire extinguishers, neon lights, and air cleaners.” (https://www.washington.edu/innovation/the-inventive-mind/)

“It’s variations like this that give some of the Kirstens extra individuality. There is one pipe, a Generation 1.5, that shows up occasionally and has an entirely different valve than any others. It is a pipe that I have never seen in old Kirsten catalogs or brochures. In addition to the different shaped valve, which has an “O” ring while the mouthpiece does not, the pipe has a flat top with no bowl basin on top of the radiator tube. It usually has the Kirsten script logo but never a model letter on it. It is a short, straight pipe.

Kirstens are kept track of by their model numbers. The following table is an attempt generation by and shape to provide some guide to Kirstens and their genesis:
- 1st Generation No O rings – stamped “Pat. Appl. For” and “Pats. & Pats. Pending”
  - Straights
    
    Companion First edition in rough finish.
    
    S Standard 1st generation with full-length cooling fins
    
    M Medium
    
    L Large
    
    A Aristocrat Extra large 1st generation
- 1.5 Generation O rings either valve or mouthpiece, none on other end – stamped “Pat. Pending” and “Pats. & Pats. Pending” some with “Made in U.S.A.”
  - Straights
    
    K Companion
    
    M Medium
    
    L Large
- Other Transition Models
  - Thrifty Nice early model with black offset valve that works in reverse – O ring on valve, none on stem … takes same mouthpiece as No Letter/No Name model
  - No Letter/No Name Unmarked short pipe w/different valve and O ring, no O ring on stem
- 2nd Generation O rings – Stamped “Pat. & Pats. Pending” and “Made in U.S.A.”
  - Straights
    
    K Companion
    
    G Gem
    
    S Sportsman
    
    SX Sportsman Brass
    
    M Mariner
    
    MB Mariner Black
    
    L Lancer
  - Quarter-Bents
    
    A Aladdin
    
    V Vagabond
    
    CX Cavalier Brass
    
    T Tyrolean
  - Full bents
    
    W Westerner
    
    B Beau Geste
    
    P Premier
    
    F Firesider
- 3rd Generation O ring current models stamped “Made in U.S.A.”
  - Straights
    
    JX Jewel Brass
    
    M Mariner
    
    L Lancer
  - Quarter-Bents
    
    RX Regent Brass
    
    H Horizon
  - Full bents
    
    EX Esquire Brass
    
    DX Designer Brass”
(https://pipedia.org/wiki/Kirsten_Pipe_Company)

The next piece of information here is the original patent drawing from 1938. I will include the link to the PDF of the patent for those interested in reading that as well here: 1499073238500980922-02200237

()1499073238500980922-02200237. The diagram above is quite detailed and can be further explained by the writings within the patent documentation found in the PDF. For ease of understanding, I refer to a much simpler diagram of the Kirsten pipe from pipedia.org. Here we can see the four main parts of the Kirsten pipe; the imported briar bowl, the valve, the Kirsten “Radiator Stem” and the vulcanite mouthpiece. It could be argued that the screw holding the bowl to the stem is a fifth part.

(https://pipedia.org/wiki/File:Kirsten-Diagram.png)

Using the information from the pipedia.org article:
1. “It was determined that the ‘PAT APPLIED FOR” stamp was only used for a couple of years so I concluded that those pipes were probably produced in 1936 and were produced until 1938 and the ones stamped “PATS & PATS PENDING” were most probably made from around 1938 until about 1958” (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Kirsten_Pipe_Company),
2. “1st Generation No O rings – stamped “Pat. Appl. For” and “Pats. & Pats. Pending”
  1. Straights
    
    Companion First edition in rough finish.
    
    S Standard 1st generation with full-length cooling fins
    
    M Medium” (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Kirsten_Pipe_Company)
I can safely conclude that this pipe is consistent with a Generation 1 thus produced between 1938-1958.

The Restoration

The restoration began with a clean denim piece on the workbench.

The bowl was drilled with a pronounced taper so the only tools used would be the General triangular scraper and the Smokingpipes Low Country Reamer. Of course the sandpaper wrapped wood dowel would join for the bowl sanding.

The light cake was quickly removed.

The bowl was sanded to bare briar and showed no signs of heat damage.

The lava on the rim was obvious and I hoped that it did not conceal any underlying charing.

A moistening with saliva and scraping with a sharp pocket knife removed most of the lave

The bowl screw was removed and further cleaned with 95% ethyl alcohol dipped cotton swabs.

The bowl was taken to the sink for scrubbing with a nylon brush and undiluted Murphy Oil Soap. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the bowl dried with a cotton hand towel.

Back at the workbench the bowl looked clear of finish and grime.

I wiped the surface with a make-up pad dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol, which removed a bit of dye from the briar.

I started cleaning the aluminum parts with the valve. This piece looked fairly clean until I saw the inside. Here it was coated with black hardened smoking residue. The outside cleaned-up quickly with an alcohol dipped make-up pad.

The valve was placed in a medicine cup with 95% ethyl alcohol.

A few minutes later the alcohol had begun to dissolve the residue inside the valve.

Several cotton swabs were required to clear the residue along with a small piece of 0000 steel wool also wetted with alcohol.

The valve was eventually cleaned of the hardened yuck.

The body of the pipe or, “Radiator Stem” as Kirsten nomenclature called it, was also quite dirty with dried hardened smoking residue. Here a nylon scrub brush dipped in the ethyl alcohol and a bunch of folded over bristle pipe cleaners were used to clear the radiator stem.

The piece of 0000 steel wool was also wetted with ethyl alcohol and pushed back and forth through the stem.

The mouthpiece consisted of the vulcanite bit and an aluminum rod. The two were molded together and the aluminum exterior was cleaned with the alcohol wetted steel wool while the interior and vulcanite were cleaned with alcohol dipped pipe cleaners from the button end. was cleaned

The vulcanite was initially sanded with 320 and 400 grit sanding sponges.

A pipe cleaner was threaded through the draft holes and made into a hanger which suspended the vulcanite portion of the mouthpiece into the Before And After Extra Strength Deoxidizer solution.

Below is a side view of the mouthpiece suspension hanger.

After 4 hours in the solution the mouthpiece was removed and vigorously rubbed with a coarse shop rag to absorb excess solution and remove oxidized rubber.

Back at the bench, the vulcanite was worked with Soft Scrub cleanser applied to a make-up pad and rubbed aggressively. The mouthpiece was then worked with a series of sanding sponges from 400-3500 grit. Between each sponge I rubbed the stem with mineral oil and wiped it with a paper towel. I failed to photograph these steps.

The stampings on the aluminum were covered with strips of masking tape to preserve them from the buffer.

The radiator stem, valve and mouthpiece were then taken to the buffer and worked with the rouge compound.

The bowl was micro-meshed with pads 4000-12000. Between each pad I wiped the bowl with an alcohol moistened make-up pad to remove debris.

The bowl was coated with Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit for 20 minutes.

I hand buffed the aluminum with a Cape Cod Polish Cloth. I absolutely love the smell of this product. It almost makes polishing silver bands on a pipe enjoyable.

The Restoration Balm was wiped from the bowl using an inside out athletic sock.

The stem still had areas of brown that I was not happy with. Mark Hoover, creator of the Before and After products, told me that he will give tough to clean stems a second dip in the Extra Strength Deoxidizer for 45 minutes. I tried it, and I left the mouthpiece in for a bit over an hour. Removed it and did the coarse rag rubbing.

Mark said that he just uses the Before and After Fine Polish hand rubbed with a piece of t-shirt material. I tried that, as well.

Under normal room lighting the stem looked nice. When I placed it under the bright photo lights the stem looked like the below photos.

I was about to claim defeat with this stem. Then I decided that two dips in deox and all of the sanding and micro-meshing could not be for naught. Those damned brown smudges had to go. I took the pipe back down to the workbench and started filing the oxidized vulcanite from the stem. This was an extreme measure for an extremely cool looking pipe.

Focusing on just the areas that had brown oxidation proved difficult so nearly the whole mouthpiece was eventually touched with the files.

For the curved area at the saddle a rounded file was used.

All this filing did mean that the entire sanding process would need to be repeated. And it was from grit 320-3500 to the mineral oil rubbing and paper towel wiping.

I micro-meshed with the 4000-12000 pads. Betweeneach pad the mouthpiece was rubbed with Obsidian Oil and wiped with a paper towel.

The Before and After Fine Polish was used again with a soft cotton cloth and was followed by the hand polishing with Before and After Extra Fine Polish. The pipe was then taken to the buffer for several coats of carnauba wax to the mouthpiece and high spots on the bowl. The pipe was hand buffed with a microfiber polishing cloth as a final step.

I have to admit to being smitten by this old pipe. Having seen them only in photos and wondering about them for so long, I finally got to lay hands on one. I was impressed by the simplicity yet ingenuity of the design. I tried smoking the pipe shortly after finishing it and it performed very well. The Radiator Stem absorbed the heat from the smoke and dissipated the heat quickly, living up to the “radiator” name. The stem did indeed trap condensation and I was impressed with the amount of liquid collected. Cleaning was fairly easy with a disassembly and washing with soap and water. I appreciate the aesthetic of the aluminum and how it is set off from the black of the mouthpiece yet it retains the old school look of briar with the briar bowl. Overall a lovely old pipe that performs as advertised. The dimensions of the Kirsten are:
- Length: 5.43 in./ 137.92 mm.
- Weight: 1.22 oz./ 34.59 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.06 in./ 26.92 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 0.85 in./ 21.59 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.80 in./ 20.32 mm. (Conically bored diameter is at the top)
- Outside Diameter: 1.48 in./ 37.59 mm.
I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

Loading…

Type your email…

Below are some photos of the completed Kirsten pipe.
A Czech Churchwarden Restoration

January 9th, 2025
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

I picked up a pipe rack for churchwardens the other day and upon placing pipes in it I realized I was short one churchwarden. Well, my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) could not stand for that. Actually I think it should be CDO (compulsive disorder of obsessions) that way it is in alphabetical order. Anyway, I did happen to have a little churchwarden in need of restoration. I had apparently led a life of sunlight exposure and wore the oxidation scars to prove it. The little Czech appeared as below prior to any work done.

Yeah, she looked rough. The glaring issues were the chipped faded clear coat, the charred rim and the heavily oxidized stem. The good news was that the briar was nice, thick and looked structurally sound, there were no deep bite marks on the stem and the mortise to tenon fit was tight. This restoration would be some work but it looked promising.

Background

I did not have much to go on researching this pipe. The only stamp was CZECH on the left shank. Both pipephil.eu and pipedia.org came up empty for that stamp. Surprisingly, pipephile.eu only has 6 makers listed from the Czech Republic and they all appear to be artisan carvers. This pipe does not strike me as artisanal. Pipedia.org lists significantly more than 6 with nearly all of them also artisan pipe makers. The one factory pipe maker mentioned was BPK. The BPK name in the country index listed had the following:

BPK Czech inexpensive brand with long tradition. Factory made pipes mainly for export.

(Pipe Brands / Makers – Pipedia)

Upon following the link to BPK this short entry is all the information to be found,

“A long tradition of producing pipes. BPK company exports pipes to more than 40 countries. The production of pipes has been traditionally connected with small town Prosec u Skutce since 1842. Prosec is situated in the heart of Czech Republic, approximately 150 km (93 miles) far from Prague. Since the change of political situation in 1989 the company BPK, Ltd has been continueing in the traditional production.” (BPK – Pipedia).

BPK

Located in the town of Proseč, Czech Republic, the BPK workshop makes pipes since 1842. The firm succeeded at a time when pipe market was growing. At first, BPK pipes were actually not made with briar, but with other types of wood: alder, maple or pear tree. M. Zabor Bernard Kopperle (officer of the company) will only begin to use briar in 1910 for his pipes. The result is stunning because of the briar properties, particularly for tobaccos combustion: more heatproof and better for smokers when it comes to the taste. The BPK pipes success was immediate, and pipes were therefore exported in numerous neighbor countries. In the late 30s, more than 600 craftspeople worked for the production of BPK pipes! Nowadays, these pipes are still liked by smokers thanks to their classical design. Their silhouettes are simple and without any flourishes. Last criterion, and an important one: BPK pipes are proposed at an affordable price!

(BPK pipes from 1842, made in Czech Republic – La Pipe Rit)

The Restoration

I think I need to get some larger and fresher denim for workbench working surfaces.

The reaming tools were gathered.

The #1 blades of the PipNet did the majority of the work with the Smokingpipes Low Country Reamer and the General Triangular scraper just finishing up the process.

The interior of the tobacco chamber was sanded with 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. No signs of any damage were observed in the bare briar.

The rim was scraped with a sharp pocket knife to remove the lava. The stummel was topped using a piece of 320 sandpaper laid flat on a counter. This was followed by topping the stummel with 400 grit sandpaper. I then tried a technique described to me by Sascha Mertens, a pipe restorer from Germany, where petroleum jelly is rubbed onto the charred briar and then gently scraped with a sharp knife. This application of petroleum jelly and scraping was repeated several times.

The stummel was then taken to the sink for a scrubbing with Undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon scrub brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

Back at the workbench the now clean finish could be seen more clearly.

I tried dissolving the clear coat with an acetone dipped make-up pad. The finish did surrender to the acetone but the process was slow. The remaining finish was thickly applied and soaking the stummel seemed to be a more effective approach.

The stummel was submerged in a jar of acetone for 30 minutes.

Upon removing the stummel from the acetone, I could see the finish had softened and bubbled up from the briar. This was rubbed off with a couple of make-up pads dipped in acetone.

In places the remaining finish was scraped with my thumbnail while it was still soft. As the acetone evaporated the finish rehardened but was far easier to remove with additional rubbing with the make-up pads.

While the airway was still moist with aceti=one I quickly worked with folded bristle pipe cleaners to remove the softened tar. Additional cotton swabs dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol were used to clean the shank along with more pipe cleaners.

The rim looked far better than it did originally however there remained a darker area where the charring was the worst. This can be seen in the below image even with the poor focus.

I decided to try to lighten the briar by bleaching it with a saturated oxalic acid solution.

Rather than just treating the darkened areas I treated the entire stummel. An empty 20 gauge shotgun shell was used as a handle as it fit tightly into the tobacco chamber. The oxalic acid solution was painted using a cotton swab. As the solution soaked into the briar and/or dried additional oxalic acid was applied.

The stummel was allowed to dry and to let the oxalic acid work. 30 minutes later the dry stummel appeared as below.

The stummel was taken to the sink where it was rinsed with warm water and scrubbed with a dish detergent. My thinking was that the basic nature of the dish soap would neutralize any acid remaining. Back at the workbench the stummel was wiped with a95% ethyl alcohol on a make-up pad. No significant color came off the stummel with the alcohol.

The pits and old fills were picked with a fly tying bodkin to remove the old fill material. New fills were done using brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust. The CA was placed into the pit with a fly tying bodkin then briar dust was pressed into the wet CA. The subsequent fills were filed with a small flat file then sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge. This was repeated for larger pits.

To further conceal the slightly darkened rim and the new fills as well as accentuate the briar grain, I decided to give the stummel a contrast dye with black Fiebing’s Leather Dye. The counter was covered with a folded paper towel. The 20 gauge shell was wrapped with a layer of masking tape to tighten the seal to the tobacco chamber and limit dye from entering. A folded pipe cleaner acted as the applicator for the dye.

The black dye was applied with the pipe cleaner then flamed with the lighter. This allows the solvents in the dye to burn off and fix the dye to the briar. The process was then repeated.

The dye was allowed to dry for about 30 minutes. The stummel was then sanded with a 320 sanding sponge to remove the outermost layer of black dyed briar. The dye penetrates more deeply in the softer grained wood. By lightly sanding the surface and removing only the outermost layer the briar grain can be differentially dyed. The stummel was then sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 400-3500 grits. In between each sponge the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad moistened with alcohol to remove sanding debris.

The stummel was then worked with 4000-120000 micro-mesh pads. Between each pad the stummel was again alcohol wiped.

The stummel was given a liberal coating of Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit for 20 minutes while the balm worked its magic on the briar.

The balm was then wiped from the stummel using an inside out athletic sock.

This heavily oxidized stem was so long that I couldn’t manage a container which could hold Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer. Removing that from my restoration arsenal, I had to rely on sanding alone. I knew that this would probably result with a finished product that retained some brown rather than the desired black. The brown oxidized vulcanite would probably be near the shank end where extra sanding would remove so much material that the fit to the shank would be negatively affected. Oh well, I figured that I would cross that bridge when I got there. I started the sanding with a light touch and the 320 grit sponge. The oxidation removed better than I had hoped. I proceeded through the series of sponges 400-3500, though the photo below only shows 400-1500. Between each sponge I rubbed mineral oil onto the stem and wiped it with a paper towel to remove sanding debris.

I cleaned the airway with bristle and soft pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol. I had to approach the stem from both ends for the cleaning due to the length.

The stem was then worked with micro-mesh pads 4000-12000. Between these pads I rubbed the stem with Obsidian Oil and wiped it with a paper towel.

The final polishing was done with Before and After Fine Polish hand rubbed with a soft cotton cloth. This was repeated several times with fresh Fine Polish. I eventually ended with the Before and After Extra Fine Polish and the soft cotton cloth. The stem looked good but did show slight oxidation at the shank end. I hate it when I’m right about these things.

The pipe was taken to the buffer where it received several coats of carnauba wax. The final step was a hand buffing of the pipe with a microfiber polishing cloth.

All told, this lovely Czech churchwarden turned out very nicely. The best part is that it completely fills the 6th slot of my churchwarden pipe rack enabling me to sleep OCD free at night. The contrast dye worked at accentuating the briar grain while concealing the previously charred rim and numerous fills. The stem polished up better than I had anticipated. And looks very good in normal room lighting. Bright lights do allow the oxidized vulcanite to be seen at the shank end. The dimensions of the Czech Churchwarden are:
- Length: 10.75 in./ 273.05 mm.
- Weight: 1.35 oz./ 38.27 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.59 in./ 40.39 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.19 in./ 30.23 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.63 in./ 16.00 mm.
- Outside Diameter: 1.38 in./ 35.05 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.

Loading…

Type your email…

Below are some photos of the completed Czech Churchwarden.
A Baronet 906EX (Savinelli) Restoration

January 7th, 2025
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

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.

(Baro-Bd — Pipes : Logos & Markings)

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
- Alligator
- Amalfi
- Arnold’s – 40-50’s sub-brand
- Aurelia Ex.
- Baronet
- Bent Bob Pipes – Distributed in US
- Big Nine
- Bing’s Favorite
(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/pipes/new/savinelli/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=71710). The product description was pretty much spot on in describing a large pipe with a very generous bowl. There were a few others on the usual auction sites; eBay, Etsy and CollectionHero. There was an almost identical pipe featured as the subject of a Steve Laug restoration Breathing Life into a Savinelli Made Baronet Bruyere Blasticated 606EX Bent Billiard. Yet none of these carried the 906EX stamp. I checked against the Savinelli shape chart and again could not find a 906.

(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.
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.

Loading…

Type your email…

Below are some photos of the completed Baronet 906EX pipe.