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Tag: “ “ Imported Briar bent apple

A Custombilt Original 699

February 16th, 2024
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

It has been said that ignorance is bliss. With that in mind let me say that in regards to Custombilt pipes, I am a blissful ignoramus. I can look at a pipe and say, “that is a Custombilt style pipe.” I also know that the company was started prior to World War II by Tracy Mincer. Oh, and this Custombilt in the photo above doesn’t look like a typical Custonbilt. That is about all I really know about Custombilt. You ask, “Then why did you go out of your way and buy that pipe?” I reply: “Good question. Because it looks cool and I wanted to restore a Custombilt. Preferably one that I could afford.”

Returning to ignorance for a moment. As a high school teacher, I frequently needed to intercede in social conflicts usually between young males. Inevitably, one of the two verbal combatants was “stupid” according to the other. This often provided a learning experience for both youngsters. I would say something like, “Roberto, Stupid means that someone is unable to learn. Now, we both know Kyle has learned some things, like how to annoy you. Stupid is not the term you need. I think you want to say ignorant. This means that Kyle does not know something. Maybe you can teach him what he doesn’t know.” Eyes would roll, sometimes even loud enough to hear, and I’d usually have to clarify with something easier to remember: “if stupid and ignorant were diseases then you can cure ignorant but, you are going to die with stupid.” That would usually get a smile or chuckle. My day was made if I could get one eyeroll that was loud enough to hear.

One thing I do give myself credit for is my ability to talk to just about anyone and my ability to learn new things. Given, these new learnings may be quickly forgotten but relearning comes far easier than initial learning. I love reading about history. Pipe history, Natural History, Archeology, Geologic History, they all interest me. When I get to learn something new for a reason other than my own selfish interests it makes it even more enjoyable. So, thank you reader, for giving me an excuse to go down the Custombilt rabbit hole and cure my own ignorance. Even if it is only temporarily.

The amount of information available on Custombilt pipe is pretty amazing. Rather than giving you a history of the company, I have chosen to provide several links which I think will provide some of the history of the company and their pipes.

Typically, my first starting point for information about a brand is pipedia.org.
1. (Custom-Bilt – Pipedia).
2. There is a book written on their history: THE CUSTOM-BILT PIPE STORY, by William E. Unger, Jr., Ph.D. (circa 2001). The book appears to be self published by the author and a search of the book will lead you to a review written by Rich Esserman (http://naspc.org/Archives/esserman.htm). The review is good and has several quotes from Unger’s original. If one goes to pipedia.org and searches “Custombilt”, the search will yield the above review and a second review:
3. “THE CUSTOM-BILT STORY: A Review By Tony Soderman” (Custom-Bilt – Pipedia). At the end of the pipedia.org Custombilt entry there is a link for ordering the book. Unfortunately the link takes you here:
An eBay search for the original Unger signed book and a Custombilt pipe was recently available:

(RARE “As Individual As a Thumbprint” Unger Signed Copy & Custombilt Bulldog Pipe | eBay). Yikes! is all I have to say about that.
1. The next link is a wordpress.com site that does a very nice job showing many examples of photographs of Custombilt stampings and pipes organized by “eras” of the company. (https://pipesrevival.com/).
2. The final link is to a blog post by Paresh Deshpande. This post: “Restoring a Wally Frank Era Custombilt Sitter #633”, appeared on Steve Laug’s rebornpipes.com site and shows a restoration of a pipe with very similar carvings to the subject of this Custombilt Original 699 restoration. (https://rebornpipes.com/2018/07/20/restoring-a-wally-frank-era-custombilt-sitter-633/)
The Custombilt Original 699, subject of this restoration, just arrived last week. I saw it while searching for 1940’s and 50’s brands of pipes. The photos indicated a large pipe as to be expected from a Custombilt. Oh wait, I guess I did know something else about Custombilts, they’re big. When I opened the box and unwrapped the 699, I was a bit taken aback. It was really big. The next observation was at how nice the briar grain looked. That’s not supposed to happen. I mean, the whole reason for the Custombilt carving is to mask the unsightly appearance of Algerian Briar. Wow, there’s another thing I knew about Custombilts, they were made from Algerian briar. I guess I knew more than I thought I did. The stampings said I had a Custombilt over ORIGINAL on the left shank and 699 on the right. Here is what the pipe looked like prior to any work being done

Notice that I didn’t show any photos of the tenon. That is because it was stuck. I could twist it about 90 degrees and move it off the mortise a few millimeters then it was really stuck. I sprayed some olive oil cooking spray into the gap and on the tenon. Allowed it to soak for about 30 seconds and resumed my twist-pull. That is all it needed. It was still cold from being outside but the oil was the secret sauce to free up the stem.

After the photos I took the 699 to the workbench. The pipe was worthy of a clean denim piece to protect both it and the work surface.

The reaming tools were gathered: The PipNet with #3 blade, Smokingpipes knife, General triangular scraper, 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel and 320 sandpaper wrapped around a Sharpie. The small amount of cake was mostly removed with the knife and scraper. THe PipeNet #3 blade was a bit too small and the #4 too large. This pipe had either been smoked rarely or reamed recently. The cleaning of the shank would certainly solve that question.

I apparently did not feel the need to photograph the minimal amounts of cake removed by the reaming. Trust me, it was quite uneventful and minimal. The next task was cleaning the rim. The lava was mainly on the sides and back surface. I moistened the rim with saliva and started carefully scraping with a sharp pocket knife. After the scraping I remoistened and rubbed the rim with a Scotch-brite pad.

Below you can see the lava wipings from the knife and the corner of the Scotch-brite pad.

After the Scotch-brite pad the rim was wiped with a make-up pad wetted with 99% isopropyl alcohol.

Next I decided to clean out the airway in the shank. This was quite clean and answered the previous question about the pipe being rarely smoked or recently cleaned. I think this pipe had only been smoked a handful of times.

The internals were cleaned now it was time for the exterior. I took the stummel to the sink. I used Murphy’s Oil Soap undiluted and a medium bristle toothbrush to scrub the outside of the stummel. This was rinsed with warm water and then the stummel was dried with a cotton dish towel. Upon returning to the workbench I vigorously rubbed the surface with a make-up pad wetted with 95% ethyl alcohol. The pad showed that it removed something from the briar.

I repeated the rubbing with a fresh make-up pad wetted with acetone. There appeared to be some sort of clear finish on the rim.

Subsequent rubbing with the solvents did not produce the removal of more finish.

The stem showed signs of oxidation. I feared that this would be the most difficult part of this restoration. The cleaning of the airway of the stem was done with bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol and was uneventful.

I lightly sanded the entire stem with the 400 and 600 sanding sponges. I then placed it into a container with a solution of Oxy-clean and water. I let the stem soak for 2 hours.

During the 2 hours, I started sanding the stummel with the 400 and 600 sanding sponges. I wiped the stummel off with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol. I could only see two small pits that I thought required filling. They were both on the rim. With a rim this large and smooth I did not want anything to detract from the smooth surface. I used a fly tying bodkin to apply small drops of brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) to the pits. I then dipped my finger into my container of briar dust, getting a little dust stuck to my finger tip, and pressed it onto the CA filled pit. This was repeated for the second pit. The CA set-up quickly and was sanded smooth using the sanding sponges.

The sanding continued with the 1000-3500 sanding sponges in sequence. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad dipped in alcohol. I was very careful to avoid the stamps and the edge of the mortise.

The stummel then was micro-meshed with the 4000-12000 pads. Between each pad the stummel was again wiped down with a make-up pad moistened with alcohol.

The stem was then slathered with Before and After Restoration Balm by finger tip and baby toothbrush.

After about 30 minutes I wiped the remaining balm from the stummel using the inside of an athletic sock. It was really looking good.

Before working on the stem, I wrapped the shank in a bit of painters tape to protect it from the Soft Scrub and the sanding of the stem. I wanted it attached as it gave me more to hold on to. I retrieved the stem from the Oxy-clean bath, dried it off with paper towels and started scrubbing with Soft Scrub on a make-up pad. The oxidation just kept coming off the stem. Several make-up pads later it was looking much better. The area immediately ahead of the tenon still had some light brown rather than black. I upped my efforts with the remaining scraps of a Magic Eraser and Soft Scrub. That seemed to do the trick. Below you can see some of the make-up pads and a mineral oiled stem.

The tape didn’t stick too well to the freshly balmed shank so another strip of painter tape was applied before I sanded the stem. The sanding was done with the 1000-3500 sanding sponges. Between each sponge I rubbed in a drop of mineral oil with my fingers and wiped it off with a paper towel. After the sanding came the micro-meshing. Micro-mesh pads 4000-12000

were used in sequence. Between each pad rubbed in a drop of Obsidian Oil with my fingers and wiped it off with a paper towel.

The last few tasks remained and the finish line was quickly approaching. I polished the stem with Before and After Fine Polish with a soft cotton cloth and repeated that polishing with the Extra Fine Polish.

All that remained was the carnauba waxing with the buffer.

I would describe this Custombilt Original 669 as a large bent apple shape. It has been strange for me writing the latter half of this blog as I smoke the pipe. I don’t often smoke a restoration while typing up the restoration. By the way, it smokes very well, cool, dry and for the first few puffs the flavor of spice that I have only gotten before from a newly reamed Marxman pipe. I am very pleased with how this Custombilt turned out. I have a new appreciation for the brand. Given this pipe is not as1934-1940s original Tracy Mincer Custom-bilt (if you read the history you will get the hyphen, there) but it is a lovely old pipe. I do hope that you have found something useful here. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe. I thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

Below are some photos of the finished Custombilt Original 699.
A Kaywoodie HandMade Restoration

February 14th, 2024

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

If I were a betting man, I believe it would be a fairly safe bet to say that many pipe smokers had either a Dr Graybow or a Kaywoodie as one of their first pipes. Kaywoodie has a long and colorful history dating back to their origins, “Kaywoodie name first appearing in February of 1919.” (Kaywoodie History – Greywoodie LLC) The history of Kaywoodie pipes is fortunately well documented thus, allowing rather precise dates for a Kaywoodie collector to declare the provenance of their charges. The above pictured Kaywoodie is stamped HANDMADE over KAYWOODIE (left) and IMPORTED BRIAR (right). No shape number is present.

Using this information and referring to the Kaywoodie Collectors’ Guide listed on pipedia.org I found that these pipes were made during the following years:

“Handmade-Oversize-Carved 1947-1955 on and off” (https://pipedia.org/images/3/3d/Kaywoodie_Pipe_Names.pdf) and that

“The Oversize Kaywoodies were, as the name implies, “Giants”. Lowndes notes that these pipes were stamped simply, “Hand-Made”. The pipes were all roughly “bulldogish” in appearance and were available in the following styles and grades7 : • Hand-carved “Colossus” ($10) • Walnut finish, banded “Hercules” ($20) • Hand-carved “John Henry” ($10) • Virgin finish, specimen grain “Paul Bunyan” • ($25)Virgin finish, banded specimen grain “Goliath” • ($25)Walnut finish “Atlas” • ($20)Hand-carved, Meerschaum-Inlaid “Samson” ($15)” (Kaywoodie Collector’s Guide – p10.pdf)

Looking into the stampings, I went to piphil.eu for confirmation. ThereI was able to find an exact match of this pipe’s stampings.

(Kaywoodie series from L to Z — Pipes : Logos & Markings (pipephil.eu))

Well, that was easy. This large Kaywoodie Hand Made, though not very “bulldogish” was most likely made between 1947 and 1955 at the West New York, New Jersey factory. If you would like to see the 1947 Kaywoodie catalog here is a link: Kaywoodie_1947.pdf (pipedia.org). It is a fascinating read with great old marketing photos and illustrations. Just out of curiosity I wondered what $10 in 1947 was equivalent to today. According to a bis.gov inflation calculator it is $131.09 (Using Dec. 1947 and Dec. 2023)(CPI Inflation Calculator (bls.gov)). I highly recommend reading the above links for further Kaywoodie history.

Before we get to the restoration let’s take a look at how the pipe appeared before I did any work to it and compare it to a more normal size Kaywoodie.

Just kidding. That is actually a mini pipe. Here is a real comparison using a Kaywoodie author. And yes, the Hand Made in those last two photos is the finished version.

Now we can do the restoration part. Normally I begin with a clean denim piece to work on then get out the white plastic reaming surface and do the reaming. This time I did start with the denim but started scraping the shank and the tenon on the white plastic rather than reaming.

As you can see, quite a bit of tar/smoking residue was removed. After this I addressed the tobacco chamber. The tools were the PipNet with #3 blades, Smokingpipes knife, General triangular scraper, 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel and 320 sandpaper wrapped around a Sharpie marker.

The PipNet did the majority of the work. Although the chamber did not look heavily caked the bowl was so large that the cake that was there left a large pile. After the PipNet the knife and scraper were used followed by the sanding with 220 then 320 to get to bare briar. The tobacco chamber looked good and free of any heat damage.

The next task was to clean the exterior of the stummel. I took it to the sink and scrubbed the stummel with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a medium bristle toothbrush. This was repeated two times. I spent extra time scrubbing the rim and the rusticated surfaces couldn’t be scraped to

free them from lava. I was not happy with the way the lava was being removed with the toothbrush so I used a brass brush to further scrub the rim. The Murphy’s was rinsed off with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton dish towel. I then poured about 5 ml of 95% ethyl alcohol into the bowl. I allowed the alcohol to flow into the shank but not pour out. I then used a nylon shank brush to scrub the airway of the shank. After the scrubbing I poured the alcohol into a medicine cup. The alcohol was dark brown. I applied a drop of Dawn dish soap to the shank brush and scrubbed the airway again with soap and water. The soap lather was dark gray. The soap was rinsed and scrubbed while rinsing. to rid the airway of all the soap. Fresh alcohol was poured into the bowl and I again scrubbed the airway with the shank brush and alcohol. This time the alcohol was much lighter when poured into the medicine cup.

I returned to the workbench. I wetted a make-up pad with 95% ethyl alcohol and wiped the exterior of the stummel. The carved groves still looked like they had some of the years of accumulated dirt and grime ground into them. I then dipped a baby toothbrush into the alcohol and scrubbed the stummel with that. The carvings had ridges that ran perpendicular to the grooves. I matched the scrubbing of the toothbrush to the ridges and

scrubbed them with alcohol. After the scrub I again wiped the surface with an alcohol wetting make-up pad. The stummel exterior was cleaned.

The exterior of the stummel was looking good. Now to deal with the airway. I was hoping that the scraping, alcohol scrub and the soap scrub would make cleaning the airway a bit easier. I was right, it did. Now, that is not to say that I didn’t have to do a couple more alcohol nylon brush scrubs. I did and many cotton swabs as well but all the scraping and previous scrubbing had made my life a bit easier. Eventually the airway was clean.

I was pleased at how stummel had cleaned-up with the accumulated dirt gone. The rim still did not look good. Below are photos of the scrubbed stummel and rim.

I was not pleased with the charring of the rim. I would normally rub Vaseline on the rim and scrape this with a sharp knife to remove the charred briar. The rustication prevented this. New plan, soak the rim in Murphy’s oil soap for an hour then try scrubbing it again. I had no idea if it would work but I thought I remembered reading about a German Facebook buddy doing it with a pipe. I found a wider medicine cup and poured in a few millimeters of Murphy’s Oil Soap.

While waiting for the Murphy’s to do or not do something, I started the initial sanding of the stem. I used the 400, 600 and 1000 sanding sponges to remove the tooth chatter, scratches and oxidation from the stem. I then used Soft Scrub on a make-up pad to vigorously rub the stem. This worked brilliantly. The Soft Scrub removed all signs of oxidation and left a beautifully black stem behind. The stem was then coated with mineral oil and let to sit and absorb oil.

Although it had only been about 15 minutes, I couldn’t wait to see if the Murphy’s was doing anything to the charred briar. I lifted it up and used the baby toothbrush to scrub the rim. The soap darkened with charred wood. Wow, this is actually doing something! Sascha Mertens, the Facebook pipe restoration buddy from Germany, comes through again. Thank you Sascha!

I placed the stummel back into the soap and waited another 15 minutes. Fortunately Netflix and Lorenzo Medici kept me from tampering with the stummel. 15 minutes and another baby toothbrush scrub and more of the char seemed to be gone. Well let’s see what evil plots Lorenzo can nullify in a half hour. 30 minutes later and saving the Medici Bank from usurpers, miscreants and maybe some alien vampires at least 10 times, Lorenzo and I were victorious. He, at saving the bank and Medici family and me at removing most of the char from the Kaywoodie.

Okay, it wasn’t all gone but a little sanding with a wooden ball and 220 to give the rim a bevel and…

Who knows what kind of magic will happen?

I could live with that.

The sanding of the stummel went fairly quickly as I only had to work on the smooth sections. I used the 400 and 600 sanding sponges lightly and wiped with an alcohol wetted make-up pad. I was looking for sand pits that might require filling. I found a few all in one smooth section. Unfortunately I did not photograph this step but, you can see the fills as dark spots on these before and after shots of the right side. The pits were filled using

Cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) dabbed into the pit. I then placed a pinch of briar dust on top of the CA and pressed hard with my fingertip. The CA and briar dust set-up almost immediately. I then used a small flat needle file to smooth the fill and finished it with the 400 and 600 sanding sponge. I continued with the series of 1000-3500 sanding sponges. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with an alcohol wetted make-up pad.

Once the stummel was sanded I moved on to micro-mesh the stummel. The 4000-12000 micro-mesh pads were used. Again, as with the sanding sponges, I wiped the stummel with an alcohol wetted make-up pad between pads.

At this point I applied a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm to the briar. I world the balm into the rustications with a baby toothbrush. The balm was allowed to sit for an hour.

After an hour, I applied additional Restoration Balm to areas of the stummel that appeared to have soaked-up the Restoration Balm and now looked dry. This was mainly on the rim. An additional 20 minutes was given to the stummel.

After 20 minutes, the remaining Restoration Balm was wiped away with the inside of an athletic sock. The terry cloth material was great at getting into the rough surfaces and wiping away the excess balm.

Back to the stem. I wanted the stem/shank joint to be nice and tight with no rounding of the edges. To manage this I wanted to sand the stem in place with the shank. I had avoided sanding the edge of the shank while sanding the stummel but that cannot be done with a stem and still look finished. I needed to protect the shank so wrapping it with painters tape was in order.

I worked the stem with the 1000-3500 sanding sponges in sequence. Between each sponge I rubbed the stem with mineral oil on my finger and wiped it with a paper towel. When finished with the sanding sponges I used the 4000-12000 micro-mesh pads in sequence. Between each pad I rubbed in a drop of Obsidian Oil with my finger and wiped it with a paper towel. The final stem polishing was done with Before and After Fine Polish. This was applied with my finger and rubbed with a soft cotton rag. The Fine Polish was followed by Before and After Extra Fine Polish applied and rubbed the same way.

The last step to this restoration was to apply a couple of coats of carnauba wax using the buffer. I tried to only apply the carnauba to the flat surfaces. This meant that I could not apply the normal amount of pressure with the pipe to the buffing wheel. I did not want to get carnauba wax embedded into all of the grooves of the carvings. This made me go much slower and more carefully. It worked and looked great. I still felt like the grooves needed some kind of wood sealer or protector. I opted to use Renaissance Micro-crystalline Wax Polish. This is a wax that can leave white spots if it is allowed to

dry too thickly. I applied it with my finger tip, working it into the coarse grooves. While it was drying I buffed it with a shoe shine brush. The hairs of the brush smoothed and evened out the wax as it was drying. Like it says on the label “Apply sparingly with a soft cloth and buff gently. Dries hard instantly. Resists liquids spillage. Does not show finger marks”. I wanted the “dried hard” and “resists liquids” features. I also love the solvent based smell of it. When completely dry the smell is gone. I hand buffed the completely dried pipe with a microfiber polishing cloth.

I am very pleased at how well this Kaywoodie Hand Made pipe turned out. It feels good in hand with the grooves being smooth and comfortable. The smooth surfaces, separated by the carved grooves, come together nicely towards the shank. The briar grain, though not distinctive, is attractive. I am impressed with how well the stem polished-up it’s glossy black contrasts the medium browns of the stummel beautifully. This is a very large pipe weighing 2.7 ounces (76,5 g). It’s length is 6 in. (15.2mm), bowl height: 2.38 in. (60mm), chamber depth: 2 in. (50.8 mm), chamber diameter:.875 in. (22.2 mm), outside diameter (side-side): 1.63 in (41.4 mm), outside diameter (front-back): 1.75 in. (44.5mm).

I do hope that you have found something here useful. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. I thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

Below are some photos of the finished Kaywoodie Hand Made.