Photographed and written by

John M. Young

When I first saw photos of an Aristocob I was intrigued.  My view then shifted to unnecessary and gimmicky as I became more enamored with new and old corn cob pipes. Still, the intrigue remained.  The price of these pipes also played a part in my general lack of interest in acquiring and restoring one.  I then read about the lack of availability of replacement interior corn cob replacement bowls.  That was a real strike against the pipe, in my opinion.  A pipe which required a disposable part that was no longer produced made me question the lasting qualities of these pipes.  I remember looking through auctions for replacement bowls.  When available, a 3 pack of replacement bowls was nearly the price of an Aristocob pipe.  Which I thought was already rather high.  Then one day I won an auction for an estate lot and surprise surprise, there was a new box of 3 unused Aristocob bowls.  That meant that I would HAVE to purchase an Aristocob pipe.  The completionist character flaw was rearing it’s ugly head and winning. 

Well, two years or so later, I finally found an adequately priced Aristocob in need of restoration and probably in need of a fresh corn cob bowl.  The auction was won and the pipe made a journey from Brooksville, Florida to southeast Nebraska.  There are no stampings on the pipe nor on the stem.  The only item which had any nomenclature was a stained Medico filter which resided in the shaft/stem of the pipe.  Below are some photographs of the pipe as it appeared upon arrival.

I was reminded of the old Wendy’s restaurant commercial “Where’s the beef?”  except I was thinking “Where’s the briar?”  Yeah, if you got that reference, you are old and American.  Anyway, I wasn’t sure exactly how to proceed with a wood-free pipe.  I guess clean everything, buff the metal, sand the stem (that part was familiar) and see how it all looks when finished.

Background

As I disassembled the pipe I was first concerned with ridding the pipe of the dry crusty smoking residues and tar.  As I cleared that away I was impressed with the quality of work and the amazing design of this pipe.  My initial intrigue became more appreciation as I was able to examine the details that J.W. Zarikta, the inventor, incorporated it into the design.  Little things like; the rubber o-ring seating the stem in the shank, the reservoir beneath the bowl allowing condensed water to pool below the bowl keeping it from absorbing the liquid, the slight air space around the con cob bowl allowing expansion and the fins of the aluminum stummel acting to radiate heat while allowing the handler of the pipe not to touch a overly hot pipe.  The words “brilliant” and “genius” came to mind.  Then the engineering and machining that impressed me as well.  The casting of the aluminum was good with no noticeable pits and the only seams, from casting, were observed along the middle above the shank and between the cooling fins.

According to smokingmetal.co.uk, 

“The ARISTOCOB is an American made system pipe with corn cob bowl inserts.

Originally the AL-COB CORPORATION out of Grand Haven, Michigan, which later became ARISTOCOB INCORPORATED from Caledonia,Michigan. Later still they were bought out by Missouri Meerschaum Company

Apparently available in the first place in a plastic case containing one pipe, 2 replacement corn cob bowl inserts and instructions for use

The cob inserts were made for some time by The Missouri Meerschaum Company, manufacturer of corn cob pipes in Washington, MO. The box shown is their box. They made the inserts from the early 1970’s until 1983. They are no longer available from that source but do appear on ebay at times

The top of the vaned bowl outer unscrews to enable easy replacement of the bowl insert. An inline filter can be used in the stem.

The mouthpiece has been seen in two version, with and without an �O� ring

20 Dec 1966 US patent # 3,292,639 Inventor Joesph W Zarikta, Grand Haven, Michigan – assignor Al Cobb Corp.” (http://www.smokingmetal.co.uk/pipe.php?page=56).

Below is the patent that Joesph W. Zarikta submitted on June 15, 1964 and was granted Dec. 20 1966: 

(1499082584172577519-03292639 (storage.googleapis.com))

Using the above dates it is a safe assumption that this pipe was made between 1966 and the early 1970s in Caledonia, Michigan.  The box of replacement bowls were of the original make as well marked with the Caledonia, Michigan location indicating that they were from prior to the purchase of the Missouri Meerschaum Company.  

The Restoration

This restoration began with a clean denim piece on the work surface.

The pipe was disassembled with the rim going into a 95% ethyl alcohol bath and the bowl chamber filled with enough ethyl alcohol to cover the smoking residue.

I allowed the aluminum to soak for 20 minutes to soften the tars.  The chamber, shank and rim were then cleaned using cotton swabs and a light rubbing with 0000 steel wool both wetted with ethyl alcohol.  With the aluminum parts cleaned of their crusty tar I took the stummel to the buffer where I buffed it with a flannel wheel and rouge buffing compound. 

Back at the workbench I wiped the buffing compound away with make-up pads dipped in ethyl alcohol.

The aluminum had returned to a lovely shine.

The stem was made from a nylon, I think, that was similar to the black plastic stems of Missouri Meerschaum (MM) corn cob pipes.  I was leery of filing and sanding the plastic, fearing that I would not be able to restore the original luster.  I decided to file and sand it anyway as I wanted to remove the tooth chatter and couldn’t think of another way to do that.

I then cleaned out the airway of the stem using cotton swab and bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

The light filing and sanding appeared to work well to remove the tooth chatter.  Now would sanding allow a fine finish?  The answer was yes.  The sequence of sanding sponges from 400-3500 worked well to remove the chatter and restore the stem to a like new condition.  To better hold the stem during sanding I inserted it into the stummel and wrapped the shank with painters tape to protect the aluminum.

To further polish the stem I micro-meshed it with 4000-12000 pads.  Between the pads I applied a small drop of Obsidian Oil which was rubbed onto the stem then wiped with a dry paper towel.  Below you can see the taped shank.

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

The Fine Polish was followed by Before and After Extra Fine Polish with the same cloth.

The tape was removed and the entire pipe was buffed with white buffing compound at the buffer.  After the compound was cleaned and wiped away using make-up pads and ethyl alcohol the pipe received several coats of carnauba wax applied with the buffer.

Looking at the finished pipe I wondered why in the world it took me so long to restore one of these remarkable and attractive old pieces of ingenuity.  The design and manufacturing was a testament of the grand idea that this pipe imbues and is a testament of inventiveness.  I also cannot help but think an easy fix to the problem of not being able to get additional corn cob replacement bowls would be to custom make a meerschaum bowl.  I know this would violate the whole “cob” of the “Aristocob” concept but it would be a cool upgrade.  The dimensions of this Aristocob are: 

• Length:  5.48 in./ 139.19 mm.
• Weight:  1.35 oz./ 38.40 g.
• Bowl Height:  1.68 in./  42.67 mm.
• Chamber Depth:  1.11 in./ 28.19 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.

Below are some photos of the finished Aristocob.