NebraskaPeteGeek

Tag: “Imported Briar pipes”

A Marxman Figural Bulldog, really a dog not the pipe shape, Restoration

October 20th, 2025

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

The other day a friend was showing me the wonders of ChatGPT and how I could use it to write these blogs. NEVER! I do not think that any artificial intelligence will ever understand the feeling of satisfaction of restoring something as simple and inconsequential yet personally important as a tobacco pipe. I fully intended this restoration to be a short and simple project. I’ve restored many Marxman pipes so the research could be recycled and referred to and the pipe was in great shape. Until it became like the “stinky car” episode from Seinfeld. I’ll let you read about that later.

And you’re a good dog. Oh sorry, I forgot who my audience was. The Marxman was in pretty good shape and had not appeared to be heavily used. Judging by the lack of tooth chatter on the stem and the relatively clean stinger and bowl it looked as though it had not been smoked more than a dozen times. There was some oxidation on the stem and a fill in the dog’s right ear that I did not like the look of but overall this looked like a straight forward restoration. This pipe was very large, I feel like I should mention that.

Background

Due to a level of laziness that impresses even myself, I will use the following from the restoration on a Marxman Rattlesnake figural pipe that I finished recently:

“I have done a lot of Marxman restorations. Next to Peterson pipes I am sure Marxman pipes come close as to numbers. I have also written about the history of Robert Marx and how he formed and built up the company during World War Two, not an easy task considering the main material of his production was nearly inaccessible during the war years. If you would like more information I think I did an acceptable job on Marxman history in the following blog: A Marxman Dublin Gold Band Restoration – NebraskaPeteGeek. Yeah it’s still written by me, but it’s pretty good for a change.

As for Marxman figurals I have done a camel and a monk/friar.” (A Marxman Rattlesnake Figural Pipe Restoration – NebraskaPeteGeek).

This pipe shows a carving skill that I think surpasses the carvings of the previous Marxman figural pipe that I have done. Though the camel pipe is also of high quality. The briar used must have been a very substantial piece of wood for the time. I would place this pipe also within the late 1940s-1953 time frame. All of the Marxman pipes from this period were carved in New York City.

The Restoration

After the “before” photos the pipe was taken to the workbench where it got to sit on the Barely used denim piece. I say barely used since the last restoration (I linked it if you are curious) was so darn clean I had little chance to dirty the denim.

I was able to pull the stinger from the stem with little effort.

I place the stinger into a medicine cup with 10ml of 99% ethyl alcohol to start it’s cleaning.

While the stinger soaked I cleaned the airway of the stem with alcohol and bristle pipe cleaners.

A look down the mortise showed little smoking residue.

The ream team was gathered and included the PipNet and the General triangular scraper.

There was a surprising amount of cake removed with the PipNet and the #2 blades.

The reamed tobacco chamber looked better but would need sanding to check for any damage to the chamber walls.

Sure enough, sanding did show some light heat fissures. These would be addressed with a bowl coating.

The shank cleaning was done with cotton swabs and bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

The stem was lightly sanded in preparation for a soaking in Briarville Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover, also known as deox.

A pipe cleaner was inserted into the tenon to act as a handle for retrieving the stem after a 6 hour soak.

The stummel was scrubbed with Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

Back at the workbench the stummel was wiped with 95% ethyl alcohol on a make-up pad. The briar looked bare of any finish except for a few places in the depressions of the carvings.

In the photo below, you can see a pit and a small patch of a clear coat or lacquer.

The left ear of the bulldog must have also had a pit which was filled with the dreaded pink goo used as a filler. I was thinking of methods to smooth out that lump of goo.

This pipe had an aroma which I refer to as “granny purse”. It is that smell that my grandmother’s purse had, kind of like something which had been repeatedly exposed to perfume where the perfume smell lingers long after it should. I thought that it was due to the previous owner smoking a Lakeland blend containing geranium oil. I figured that an alcohol and cotton treatment would rid the pipe of the floral ghost and allow me some time to think of ways to fix that ear. The tobacco chamber and shank were packed with cotton.

95% ethyl alcohol was added to the cotton with a disposable pipette until the cotton was saturated.

The alcohol cotton treatment would take an overnight wait so I turned to cleaning the stinger.

Since the pipe’s stem was still soaking in deox, I found an extra stem which fit the stinger. This stem would provide me with a handle for buffing/polishing the stinger on the buffer.

The stinger was buffed using a blue compound and looked much better.

After the buffing and the removal of any remaining blue compound the stinger looked great.

Below is a photo of the saturated cotton as I headed to bed.

The next day the majority of the alcohol had evaporated. This evaporation allows the alcohol to dissolve smoking residues and draw them into the cotton where they are deposited.

I removed the cotton. The cotton in the shank had a strange pick color. The briar did not stain the make-up pad with alcohol pink as it would if a red dye had been used to stain the briar. What is this? I wondered.

I used a couple of cotton swabs to re-clean the shank.

To address the pit, I used briar dust and thin cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue). The pit received a tiny drop of CA which then had briar dust pressed into it. The briar dust then received another drop of CA.

The fill was then filed with a small flat file and smoothed with a 400 grit sanding sponge.

My thinking of ways to fix the pink-goo-ear-fill was to re-carve it using a Dremel rotary tool. The first bit I used was the pointy bit, below.

The second bit used was more rounded to allow for a smoother finish.

Below is a photo of the re-carved ear. I could only see a tiny pit which I did not think required all that pink-goo.

The stummel was sanded with 400 then 600 grit sanding sponges. I did not want to over-sand and remove any detail of the carving.

The stummel was then coated in Before and After Restoration Balm, applied with a baby toothbrush, and allowed to sit for 30 minutes.

The stem was removed from deox. What was supposed to be a six hour soak turned into an 18 hour soak. The stem was vigorously rubbed with a coarse shop rag. This allows for the absorption of excess solution and removes some oxidized rubber.

The stem appeared to be pitted from the deox removing oxidized rubber.

I applied a coating of Mark Hoover’s Before and After Hard Rubber Balm. I thought that this might help condition the vulcanite, this was allowed to rest for 6 hours.

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

When I returned to the stem, I wiped the remaining Hard Rubber Balm off with a dry paper towel. The shank of the pipe was wrapped in masking tape to protect the shank from the sanding. I then started sanding the stem with a series of sanding sponges from 320-1000 grit. Between each sponge I rubbed the stem with mineral oil and wiped it with a dry paper towel.

There was still a lingering granny purse smell to this pipe. I thought another alcohol cotton treatment might remedy that.

The cotton was removed the next day and it was still pulling some of that pink color from the airway of the shank. Was this the source of the granny purse aroma?

The tape was removed and cleaned with alcohol to rid the shank of any residual adhesive. I then worked a bit of the Before and After Restoration Balm into the briar there and around the rim. After that sat for 10 minutes I again wiped it with the athletic sock and took the pipe to the buffer for a few coats of carnauba wax.

The final step was a hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth.

This Marxman Figural Bulldog is a true beauty. It is a handful of a pipe and weighs in at over 3 ounces (88.45 g). The amazing thing is that it clenches very well and does not feel nearly that heavy. The expressive eyes of the carving are an indication of the skill of the carver and the quality of the carving. The fill and the recarving of the ear that I did, were small touches which I think added to the pipe. The briar itself must have been huge for this time period, just based on the size of the block, I am thinking this pipe was made after World War Two. The dimensions of the Marman Figural Bulldog pipe are:

Length: 7 in./178 mm.

Weight: 3.12 oz./ 88.45 g.

Bowl Height: 2.00 in./ 50.80 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.44 in./ 36.58 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.72 in./ 18.29 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.77 in./ 44.96 mm. (from cheek to cheek)

Oh, I almost forgot. Did the second alcohol cotton treatment exorcise the “granny purse” ghost? Mostly. There still remains a very slight hint of the geranium oil. I think that it should disappear with a couple of bowls of pipe tobacco.

I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

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Below are some photos of the finished Marman Figural Bulldog.
A Marxman Rattlesnake Figural Pipe Restoration

September 16th, 2025

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

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I am not only a pipe restorer but also a Nebraska Master Naturalist. “What the heck is that?” you ask. The Nebraska Master Naturalist Program was started by a longtime friend, Dennis Ferraro (PhD) the official Nebraska Herpetologist as a way to certify non-academic citizens and get them involved in citizen science, volunteering, education and promoting the wild flora and fauna of Nebraska. “Herpetology. What the heck is that?” you ask. Herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians. Since the mid-1980s I have pursued reptiles and amphibians across Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming. My interest has always been more biogeography. “Biogeography, what the heck is that? You ask. Goodness, you ask a lot of questions. I’m interested in the geographic ranges of reptile and amphibian species within Nebraska. Believe it or not, Nebraska has a very diverse set of physical features with numerous isolated pieces of specific habitat removed from where they would normally be found. This leads to species also found outside of their expected or documented ranges. That is what I enjoy doing, field biology searching for and documenting reptile and amphibian ranges. So, when I saw this rattlesnake Marxman, I knew I had to have it even though it bears little resemblance to a real rattlesnake. Yeah, I help Dr. Ferrao out every spring and fall with Prairie Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis) research in western Nebraska.

Here is what a researcher cabin looks like, every red bucket has one or more C. viridis in it.

The subject of this post is a figural Marxman pipe that showed up on eBay last August. Won and delivered for under $50, I was quite pleased. The pipe came from Newark, Delaware. The only rattlesnake in Delaware was the Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) which is probably extirpated from the state (Snakes to Watch Out For – DNREC).

The stampings on the bottom of the pipe were MARXMAN (with the arrow passing through) over IMPORTED BRIAR over HAND CARVED (curved) over U.S.A.. The MARXMAN and the HAND CARVED were faint. There was also a carving at the heel of the pipe which I think, is supposed to represent the end of a log. This was an interesting feature. Below are several photos taken prior to any work done.

The pipe was in good shape. It had been smoked as evidenced by the light cake in the tobacco chamber, the light lava deposits on the snake’s head and the smoking residue on the stinger. I wondered if the stinger should be renamed fang? Anyway, the oxidation of the stem was not too bad. The pipe did show signs of having extensive fills done. This was seen as the pinkish red spots that were carved through but remained as discolored patches. I knew that I did not want to pick the old fill material out and redo the fills. The recarving would likely look atrocious.

Background

I have done a lot of Marxman restorations. Next to Peterson pipes I am sure Marxman pipes come close as to numbers. I have also written about the history of Robert Marx and how he formed and built up the company during World War Two, not an easy task considering the main material of his production was nearly inaccessible during the war years. If you would like more information I think I did an acceptable job on Marxman history in the following blog: A Marxman Dublin Gold Band Restoration – NebraskaPeteGeek. Yeah it’s still written by me, but it’s pretty good for a change.

As for Marxman figurals I have done a camel and a monk/friar. This is the first snake pipeI have gotten to work on. I am guessing this pipe was made in New York City. The home of Marxman during the years of production before Robert Marx sold the company to MasterCraft in 1953. Again guessing, but with conviction, the pipe was made between 1938 and 1953. Based on the inclusion of what looked like metal flecks in the rubber, I think the pipe was likely made during or shortly after WWII due to the recycling of rubber from tires and the accidental inclusion of metal in the stem.

The Restoration

After the before photos the pipe was taken to the workbench and a clean denim piece.

I removed the stem then pulled the stinger. It looked like it was coated in a brown lacquer of smoking residue. I placed the stinger in a medicine cup with 99% ethyl alcohol.

The ream team was gathered and consisted of the PipNet with the #2 blades, Smokingpipes Low Country reamer and the General triangular scraper.

There was very little cake to actually remove.

Below you can see the reamed tobacco chamber with some lava deposits around the inner edge of the rim.

The chamber was sanded with 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. No damage to the tobacco chamber was noticed.

The shank was surprisingly clean and took only a couple of cotton swabs dipped in alcohol to remove the accumulated residue.

The airway was a little more dirty but again quickly cleaned with a nylon shank brush and bristle pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol.

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

Back at the workbench the stummel was wiped and scrubbed with a make-up pad wetted with 99% ethyl alcohol. The discoloring of the make-up pad can be seen below. Very little stain came off the briar.

I removed the stinger from the alcohol and used the same make-up pad to clean the aluminum. The stinger left more yuck on the pad than the entire stummel did.

The stem was cleaned with bristle pipe cleaners and more alcohol. The button end of the airway drilling would not pass a pipe cleaner smoothly. I remedied this with a slot tool and a sliver of an emery board.

The outside of the stem was lightly sanded with a 320 grit sanding sponge in preparation for the Briarville Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover bath.

I placed a pipe cleaner in the tenon to aid in the retrieval of the stem. I figured that I would leave the stem in the solution until the next day.

In the photo below you can see the pink-stuff used as a filler. When I scrubbed the pipe I did not want to use a more aggressive brass brush for fear of removing too much of the filler.

Normally, I like to remove this unsightly pink-stuff but doing so with this pipe would mean that I would have to re-fill the material with cyanoacrylate and briar dust then carve the new fill to match the original carvings. I strongly doubted my ability to do that, so leaving it alone seemed my best option.

Well, there was another option: Use a furniture touch-up marker to dye the pink-stuff to mask its unsightly pinknocity. Wow, spellcheck thinks pinknocity is a word.

This is what the pink-stuff looked like with a walnut colored touch-up marker. Much better.

The side, too, looked dramatically better.

The following day, nearly 24 hours to the minute, I removed the stem from the Briarville solution. I like to call this deox, poking fun at the detox of drug or alcohol abuse. Yeah, been there, done that. I also like to use a coarse texture shop rag to vigorously rub the stem while it is still wet with the deox solution. This removes some of the oxidized vulcanite as can be seen in the photo below.

The stem had pits where the oxidized material was chemically softened and removed from the stem and fleck of metal.

I used several make-up pads doused with Soft Scrub cleanser to scrub away more of the oxidized vulcanite. The color was more of a dark greenish than the typical dark reddish brown of vulcanite.

I oiled the stem with mineral oil and allowed it to soak in the oil for about 30 minutes.

There was not much that I could do with the carvings of the stummel but give it a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm. I worked this wonder-product into the crevices of the briar with a baby toothbrush. The stummel then was set aside for 30 minutes.

The stummel was wiped and hand buffed with an inside out athletic sock to remove excess Restoration Balm.

I used masking tape to protect the shank from the sanding which the stem would undergo. The sanding was done with a series of sanding sponges in grits from 320-3500. Between each sponge I rubbed the stem with mineral oil and wiped it dry again with a paper towel. This removed any of the sanding debris. The stem looked better but the pitting was deep enough that the only way to remove it and retain the smooth feel from the shank to the stem would have been to also sand the shank briar. I did not want to do that and risk removing detail from the carving. Instead I took the pipe to the buffer and worked the stem with red buffing compound followed by blue buffing compound on their respective buffing wheels. The results looked better but not great.

The stummel was waxed with Renaissance Micro-Crystalline wax again applied with a baby toothbrush. I did have to clean the baby toothbrush using alcohol before and after the wax.

The final step was a hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth.

This Rattlesnake figural by Marxman, though anatomically incorrect, is still a fun pipe for me. Sure the stummel is full of the dreaded pink-stuff fills and the vulcanite of the stem is lower quality recycled tires, I still enjoy it. The dying of the pink-stuff did improve the look, some, and the stem did polish-up, some, they are still nothing to brag about. The carving of the snake is pretty impressive with the checkering over the entire curved body. That is impressive. The details like the rattle on the tail, the texture along the log and the end of the log are also quite impressive and well done. The snake is a caricature of the elegant serpent with the head being comically misshapen. I will say that the pipe feels very good and substantial in my hand and the weight is comfortable for short periods of clenching. The dimensions of the Marxman figural Rattlesnake pipe are:

Length: 5.58 in./ 141.73 mm.

Weight: 1.94 oz./ 55.00 g.

Bowl Height: 1.73 in./ 43.94 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.56 in./ 39.62 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.73 in./ 18.54 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.61 in./ 40.89 mm.

I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

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Below are the finished photos of the Marxman Rattlesnake Figural Pipe.
A Marxman Carved Head – Monk Restoration

August 21st, 2025
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

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I am not a big fan of figural pipes in general. However, as a Marxman fan, I cannot help but try my hand at bidding when one comes up on eBay for a reasonable price. That was the case with this charming cherub. This little cheeky monk showed up with three other pipes. The Marxman was the obvious target of the acquisition but the other two also looked interesting.

I won’t say what I ended up paying for the trio but it was far less than I was willing to pay for the funky monk. A road trip from Decatur, Georgia to the wilds of southeast Nebraska later the pipes arrived. I also like to think this freewheeling friar made a detour through Sherwood Forest to visit a certain hooded robbing Robin. Now my imagination is running rampant. The stampings on the bottom of the pipe were a nice sharp MARXM with the fletchings of an arrow on the left. The last couple letters of MARXMAN and the arrow tip looked to be the victim of an incomplete stamp. Below this was IMPORTED BRIAR. Anyway, below are some photos of the chubby cheeked monk before he had any work done.

Yeah, this one had some issues. The stem was obviously not the original. There was a visible crack in the shank, likely the reason for the also not original band. The pipe had been smoked as indicated by both the cake in the bowl and the lava on the rim. There also appeared to be a cigarette burn on the right side of the stummel. The carving itself looked good although the small hole exiting the monk’s lips gave me concern. I worried that this irregularity in the tobacco chamber might lead to charring around the hole. Well, I’d cross that stream, without crossing quarter staves with Little John, during the reaming. See that? Another Robing Hood tidbit. I wonder if there will be more.

Background

I keep hoping that an author will write a comprehensive history of Robert Marx and Marxman Pipes, similar to:
- Back From The Ashes: Uncovering the Lost History of G. L. Hunt and the Falcon Pipe by K.A. Worth (available here, Amazon.com: Back From The Ashes: Uncovering the Lost History of G. L. Hunt and the Falcon Pipe eBook : Worth, K. A.: Books)
- Brigham Pipes – A Century of Canadian Briar by Charles Lemon. (available here, Books)
- “As Individual As A Thumbprint”: The Custom-Bilt Pipe Story by William E. Unger, Jr.,Ph.D (no longer in print)
- The Peterson Pipe The Story of Kapp & Peterson by Irwin, Mark and Malmberg, Gary (2018). (available here, The Peterson Pipe Book (Softcover) | Smokingpipes.com)
Until then I will have to use less glamorous means of documentation. Heck, I’ll even quote myself, how is that for less-than-glamorous? Below are links to previously written blogs with more complete histories of Marxman pipes, for those interested in reading more about Robert Marx and his company.
- Camel figural https://wordpress.com/post/scimansays1787.com/7445
- Jumbo C https://wordpress.com/post/scimansays1787.com/7197
- Jumbo Dublin https://wordpress.com/post/scimansays1787.com/3071
- Mel~O pear https://wordpress.com/post/scimansays1787.com/6995” (https://scimansays1787.com/2024/11/12/a-marxman-four-hundred-restoration/).
As for this particular pipe, I’ll refer to a c. 1950 Marxman catalog,

(File:MarxmanCatalog4.jpg – Pipedia). This is why I titled this blog “A Marxman Carved Head – Monk Restoration”. The catalog calls these pipes “CARVED HEADS” rather than figural pipes and I used that nomenclature. I am assuming that this pipe is from around the 1950 date, prior to the acquisition of Marxman by Mastercraft in 1953. After the acquisition Marxman pipes were manufactured in France and Italy and bear a country of manufacture (COM) stamp indicating the COM. Since this pipe is lacking a COM, I assumed that it was carved in New York City.

The Restoration

The Monk made its way from the photo table to the workbench and received a cleared denim piece.

The first thing I did was look through my limited stock of pipe stems for suitable replacement stems. The stem that was on the pipe was already a replacement stem likely from a Comoy pipe. Comoy had several brands or seconds that used three bars on their stems. I found two then fit the mortise and would require less work on my part to fit the stem to the pipe.

The first was a black hard rubber, non-vulcanite, saddle stem. All of the Carved Heads had a taper stem, according to the photos from the catalog, though some of the animal versions appeared to have saddle stems. This stem would provide a more original look to the piece.

The second was a short briar wood stem. This stem was interesting and would make the pipe into a cute nose-warmer.A very non-traditional look, but one that was intriguing.

Below is a photo of the briar stem from the rear.

I asked the monk which he preferred and got the silent treatment. Not even a, “To Nottingham.” Perhaps he’d taken a vow of silence…

I tried both stems for size and feel.

The nosewarmer version was OK to clench with its short, less leverage physics. The Saddle stem also clenched well and did maintain the standard look of a Marxman. I was still undecided.

Maybe some reaming would cure my indecision.

The reaming was done with the PipNet #1 and #2 blades. The Smokingpipes Low Country reamer and the General triangular scraper.

The reamed tobacco chamber looked pretty good. Just some lateral rings had been lightly cut into the briar.

Sanding the tobacco chamber with 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel took the briar to bare wood and revealed no damage to the chamber from heat. Also, the small hole leading to the monk’s mouth seemed completely fine.

I turned to cleaning the airway of the shank. This was done with several bristle pipe cleaners, a nylon shank brush, several cotton swabs all dipped in 99% ethyl alcohol. There was also some scraping of the airway with a dental scraper. The alcohol softened the glue holding the band. This was removed and dropped into the alcohol.

After soaking in alcohol, the band was cleaned with a cotton swab and a light rubbing with 0000 steel wool.

I wondered how the band would look buffed, so I took it to the buffer and lightly worked it with white buffing compound. It shined up nicely.

I tried both stems with the polished band.

I had decided. The replacement of the replacement stem would be the saddle stem. It would require some file work though.

I thought to myself, “Hi self, You know that band would look much better if it were brass.” I couldn’t help but agree. I went through the bras tube stock and found a piece that would fit with minimal shank filing. I used a pipe cutter to cut off a section to fit the monk’s shank.

The new band was too tight to allow a good fit, Some cleaning and then filing and sanding would be required.

The monk still needed a tiny bit of dental work. The small hole in between the lips would not pass a pipe cleaner through to the inside of the tobacco chamber. I used a couple of alcohol dipped pipe cleaners then used a Vermont Freehand slot tool (Slot Tool (with handle) – Vermont Freehand). To clean-up the inside of the hole.

The stummel was taken to the sink for a scrubbing with Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon brush. 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 cotton make-up pad dipped in 99% ethyl alcohol.

I was not happy with how the shank cleaned up so I thought that a cotton alcohol treatment would loosen up the tar deposits in the airway. The tobacco chamber and the airway were packed with cotton from a few make-up pads. I thought that 10 ml of alcohol would suffice. The alcohol was transferred via a disposable pipette.

I used a pipe stand to elevate the shank end to be about the same level as the rim as the pipe was now filled with alcohol saturated cotton.

Usually I allow the alcohol to evaporate overnight. This pipe sat for seven hours until I returned to it. The monk, not like Friar Tuck from the stories, didn’t seem to be able to handle his alcohol and was face down.

Upon returning I could see that the evaporating alcohol had done its job of liberating the tars from the briar and moving them to the cotton as the alcohol evaporated.

The shank too, looked like the treatment had been successful.

The cotton was removed and with it a good deal of tar and smoking residue. I again cleaned the shank with alcohol dipped cotton swabs and bristle pipe cleaners.

I masked the shank and band for their protection. The replacement stem was fitted using a small flat file.

Once filed to fit I smoothed the saddle with 320 and 400 grit sanding sponges. The stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel to remove sanding debris.

It was time to glue the new band in place. The fit was tight and required me to place a wood block against the end and tap the band into place with a hammer. I decided to go with brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue).

My brown CA is getting old and it is like applying warm tar. I used a fly tying bodkin to apply the CA around the end of the shank leaving a couple mm for the CA to move when the band was pressed on.

The seating of the band went well. After allowing it to set-up for an hour I wetted a soft cloth with acetone and wiped the band and shank. Acetone will dissolve CA, especially before it is completely hardened.

The replacement stem was sanded with a series of sanding sponges. The first were 320-600 grits. Again between each sponge I rubbed the stem with mineral oil and wiped the stem with a paper towel.

The next set of sponges were 1000-2500 grits. Again the oil and wiping was done between each sponge.

The final sanding was done with 3000 and 3500 grit sanding sponges with the same oiling and wiping.

I worked the stem with micro-mesh pads 4000-12000. In between each pad I rubbed the stem with Obsidian oil and wiped it with a paper towel.

The stem and band were then buffed with white buffing compound.

The buffing compound was removed with vigorous hand buffing with a cotton cloth. The stummel then received a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm applied with a baby toothbrush to get the balm into all of the nooks and crannies. This sat overnight.

The next day, I used an inside out athletic sock to remove the remaining Restoration Balm.

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

The final step was a hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth.

As always, I enjoyed working on this Marxman pipe. The figurals, though not my favorite, were fun and kind of whimsical. I couldn’t help but think about all the adventures of Robin Hood while I was working on this pipe. I know it is not made in the image of Friar Tuck from the Robin Hood tales but, that is what was running through my mind. The carvings are of good quality with well defined cuts and contours. The briar is of good quality and was generally free of pits and fills. The replacement stem polished up nicely and does look like it belongs with this pipe. The band also turned out well and should provide years of beauty and security from further cracking. The dimensions of this Marxman Carved Head – Monk are:

Length: 4.99 in./ 126.75 mm.

Weight: 1.64 oz./ 36.49 g.

Bowl Height: 1.75 in./ 44.45 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.51 in./ 38.35 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.72 in./ 18.29 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.56 in./ 39.62 mm.

I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

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Below are some photos of the finished commissioned Stanwell 32.
A Marxman Benchmade Quarter Bent Dublin Restoration

June 10th, 2025

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

By my count this is Marxman restoration 14 since I started blogging pipe restorations. I know judging by the name I run withI should focus on Peterson pipes but Marxmans hold a special place in my heart. Besides I just counted Peterson restorations, including the James Fox pipe (which I think is a Peterson product) and the total is 22. Thus securing my name and title: Nebraska Pete Geek.

This Marxman arrived here back in August of 2024 and has been languishing in the queue for nearly a year. I alway thought it looked interesting but something else seemed to catch my attention. The shape is kind of like a forward canted Dublin or cutty but with a bent shank. I wondered what to call it or if the stem had been replaced. More on that in the “Background” section. The stapings are well defined with MARXMAN with the arrow over BENCHMADE over IMPORTED BRIAR.

The pipe was in pretty good shape. The funky stem was oxidized but not chewed on. The oval shank matched up very well with the stem alleviating my earlier worries about it not being an original stem. There were some obvious fills that would be a challenge to rework. Also the rim was heavily caked with lava. I hoped that there was not a severely charred rim below the lava flows.

Background

Looking through my digital collection of Marxman shapes I found this shape.

There it was right column 4th pipe down, a Quarter Bent Dublin. Huh, it’s supposed to look like that. Well good thing it does, then. I guess I am kind of getting ahead of myself with this pipe. If you are interested in a brief history of Marxman pipes I will refer to previous blog posts and steal what I wrote about then (wait, can you steal/plagiarize from yourself?):

On January 11, 2024 I blogged about a Marxman Gold banded Dublin (linked if you are interested) and wrote the following about Robert Marxman and Marxman pipes:

“My recent fascination with the post-World War Two (WWII, to properly use an acronym) led me to further appreciation of the Marketing genius of Robert Marx, the founder of Marxman Pipes Inc. Allow me to illustrate:

(Pipe Lovers Magazine 1946 all numbers : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive)

Those are the back covers of Pipe Lovers Magazine for each month of 1946. That represents a substantial investment in building and maintaining one’s brand name.

Here is a quick review of Marxman pipes from pipedia.org:

“Marxman (Marxman Pipe Company) was created by Robert (Bob) L. Marx in 1934, when he was 29, and after he had worked for the William Demuth Company. His pipes were not outstanding because of the quality of their wood (probably Algerian), but Bob started making unique sculpted pieces, which brought the brand fame in the World of Hollywood cinema. Actors like Zachery Scott, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, Joel McRae, and Ronald Reagan were some of the faces that appeared on the bowls.

Bob knew how to innovate and took full advantage of marketing and press advertising in order to sell the brand–one of his slogans being “Relax with a Marxman”.

(Marxman – Pipedia)

In a recent forum post on Pipesmagazine.com, contributor jguss posted the following from the February 2, 1935 issue of the United States Tobacco Journal:

A remarkable article showing the business acumen as well as a photo of the man himself. Thank you, jguss.

This is one of my favorite quotes about Rober Marx:

“Ted also said: Several years before UST bought Mastercraft, M/C had aquired Marxman Pipes. A wonderful kind man, Bob Marx was still working as a salesman in NYC, and I was fortunate to make a few sales calls with him. You all remember Charles Atlas? Bob Marx was about 76 and had just been awarded the (I think) Atlas Award for being the finest speciman of manhood over 70 years old in NYC, or maybe the state.

M/C had some inventory of Marxman stuff, but not a lot. I know very little about Marxman. Did they make, import, or both?” (Mastercraft – Pipedia)

The “Ted”, who is being quoted above, was the nickname of Tom Douglas. Here is an announcement of Mr. Douglas’ passing from Pipesmagazine forum November 26, 2018:

“Tom Douglas passed away at 71 years of age, this past Saturday, in Florida. It seems he had an infection in his stomach, but I don’t know much more than that, regarding what actually contributed to his death. He did have a history of heart and other health complications. I just spoke very briefly with his wife Joyce; you can imagine how she’s doing.

The impact Tom had on the pipe community is huge…beginning with an immense library of pipe knowledge through the pages of the Dr. Grabow Collectors Forum….his 25 years of service at the Grabow / Sparta pipe factory (where he retired in 1991)….his executive leadership over Mastercraft distribution for many years…”

(Broken Pipe: Tom Douglas, aka “TED” :: General Discussion :: Pipe Smokers Forums of PipesMagazine.com)

So, at 76 years old Robert Marx was still involved in the business that he must have loved. This would have been around 1980.”

Then last winter, Mark Irwin, of Peterson Pipe Notes and author of The Peterson Pipe book, sent me a c. 1945 Marxman Brochure. I photographed the pages of the brochure and included them below.

One of the easiest things to date is a Marxman pipe. The company was formed in 1939 and sold in 1953 to MasterCraft. Though the Marxman name continued after 1953 the pipes were made in France or Italy and stamped as such with Country of Manufacture (COM) stamps. This means that a non COM stamped Marxman pipe was made in New York City between 1939-1953.

(The above was from A Marxman Mel~O Pear published July 23, 2023)

As for dating this Marxman Quarter Bent Dublin, all I can say with certainty is that it was made between 1939-1953 in New York City.

The Restoration

Showing its best side, the Marxman posed on a cleaned piece of denim.

The ream team was gathered

The number 2 blades of the PipNet did the majority of the work here, with the General triangular scraper just cleaning up a little bit.

The interior of the tobacco chamber looked good except for some strange gouges at the bottom of the chamber.

Sanding the interior was done with 32o sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. The walls of the chamber showed no signs of any charring or heat damage.

The stinger was well painted with dried smoking residue and resisted efforts to remove it by hand.

The underside of the stinger looked significantly worse than the top. Indicating that it had been smoked in this position and had probably not been frequently, if ever, cleaned.

My go to method for removing a stuck stinger is thick leather and a channel lock pliers. I have tried wrapping the jaws of the pliers with tape but that typically wears through and scars the aluminum of the stinger. The thich leather has yet to scar aluminum. It worked very well with this stinger.

Product placement photo. Hey Craftsman guys, I am open to sponsorship.

The stinger was placed in a medicine cup with 95% ethyl alcohol while I cleaned the airway of the stem with bristle pipe cleaners and some of the same alcohol. I also lightly sanded the stem to prepare it for the next step.

And here is that next step: An overnight bath in Briarville Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. The pipe cleaner inserted into the stem is just there to act as a handle.

The stinger had soaked for several minutes softening the smoking residue. I scrubbed it with a brass brush and more alcohol.

The stinger cleaned up very nicely.

Next was the cleaning of the airway in the shank. This was a tar filled mess requiring alternating cotton swabbings, bristle pipe cleaners, a nylon shank brushings and a good deal of scraping with a dental scraper. It did eventually get clean though.

Then came the rim. What horrors were entombed within the foul eldritch encrustations? Oh sorry, I think I was channeling H.P. Lovecraft for a second there.

I softened the lava with saliva then scraped the rim with a sharp pocket knife. The lava did conceal a horror – the horror of a charred rim.

The stummel was then 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.

Back at the workbench the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol. Very little was removed by the alcohol.

The scrubbing did reveal a couple of old fills within the rusticated carvings. The old fill material had an unpleasant pinkish color that stood out against the briar.

Yuck, there’s another one.

Ew, gross there’s one on the rim too. I tried picking the old fills out but they were very hard and refused my efforts. I was going to have to do some pondering on the best way to address the char and the fills.

I remember Sascha Mertens telling me about soaking a charred rim in the German equivalent of Murphy’s Oil Soap then scraping it. I thought, “what the heck, I’m ready to go to bed anyway.” I poured a little soap into a plastic container.

I set the rim in the soap and went to bed.

The next day when I returned to the pipe, I saw that the soap had done something. It was brown. I scraped the rim again with the sharp pocket knife, then scrubbed the soap from the briar.

The results were an improvement but the char remained. I did not want to top the bowl with sandpaper to remove the entire charred area as I feared that would change the shape of the pipe. Hmm, more pondering was needed.

I did top the rim lightly and all that did was to make the rustications on the rim less noticeable.

I tried beveling the inner rim using a wooden sphere and sandpaper. This helped but the char was still obvious. More pondering was needed.

The stem was removed from the Briaville solution and scrubbed with a coarse shop rag.

The stem was returned to the workbench where it was cleaned both inside and out then given a coating of Mineral oil.

Below you can see the tiny pits on the surface of the vulcanite from the deoxidizing.

The rim topped and beveled and still showing the charred area needed to have the carvings reworked to make them more like they were before the topping. I used a Dremel rotary tool and a carving bit to re-carve the two areas.

Below is a poor photo of the new carvings. I was able to get most of the old fill material out though so I considered that a victory in itself.

I lightly sanded the stummel, avoiding the stampings, with a 320 grit sanding sponge. This usually helps me see if there are other pits which will need filling. I saw nothing other than the big old fills.

I taped the stampings with painters tape to protect them from the upcoming sanding.

The pipe was sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 320-3500. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol. The stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel between sponges.

At this point, my pondering thought that maybe oxalic acid might bleach the charred area and lighten it.

I applied the saturated solution of oxalic acid to the briar with a cotton swab. I allowed this to sit for 30 minutes. I then rinsed and scrubbed the stummel with a nylon brush and copious flowing tap water.

The char remained and the pondering organ was exhausted. I did think the little bit of old fill that I couldn’t remove might be concealed with a touch of stain. I used a maple Furniture Touch-up marker in the carved surfaces.

The pipe was then worked with micro-mesh pads in grits of 4000-12000. As with the sanding sponges the stummel was wiped with alcohol and a make-up pad between pads while the stem was rubbed with obsidian oil and wiped with a paper towel.

The stummel was then given a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit for 20 minutes.

The excess balm was wiped from the briar with an inside out athletic sock.

The stem was buffed with rouge compound to see how it would look. I looked good.

The stem and stummel were both given several coats of carnauba wax applied with the buffer.

The final step was to hand buff the pipe with a microfiber polishing cloth.

This very intriguing shaped Marxman Quarter Bent Dublin is a real beauty with its natural briar color and carved rustications. The vulcanite stem sanded and polished very nicely to a glossy black. The difference in color adds to the attractiveness. I really appreciate the sleek forward cant of the bowl which is accentuated with the bend of the stem. It will be fun to see how this pipe smokes especially for the first bowl as I expect the “Imported Briar” is Algerian and it likely will have that unmistakable cinnamon cardamom taste that most Marxman pipes have with a freshly sanded tobacco chamber. The dimensions of the Marxman Benchmade Quarter Bent Dublin are:

Length: 6.02 in./ 152.91 mm.

Weight: 0.97 oz./ 27.50 g.

Bowl Height: 1.70 in./ 43.18 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.47 in./ 37.34 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.74 in./ 18.80 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.26 in./ 32.00 mm.

I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

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Below are some photos of the finished Marxman Benchmade Quarter Bent Dublin.
A Custom-Bilt Taper Stem Restoration

May 15th, 2025

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

Well here I go again on another Custom-Bilt crusade. I’m not sure why the Custom-Bilt pipes have such a following. They are good smoking pipes and are uniquely carved but there has to be more to it than just that. There were numerous pipes made during and after World War Two which are arguably better made with better quality materials. Perhaps it is in part due to the writing of William E. Unger, Jr., Ph.D. His well written book, “Individual as a Thumbprint” The Custom Built Pipe Story is very well researched and provides a great deal of information about the maker, Tracy Mincer and the company Custom-Bilt. Perhaps it is this personal history which draws collectors to the pipes setting them apart from other impersonal brands of factory made pipes. For whatever reason, I was drawn to this Listing. The fact that I won the auction for less than $12 had nothing to

do with it… Okay, that is a load of bologna sausage (BS), I’m admittedly a tightwad. I had purchased from this seller previously and was quite happy with this purchase. The pipe made its way from Kentville, Nova Scotia to the wilds of southeast Nebraska and into my hot little hands. Below are some photos of the pipe before any work was done.

The stummel looked to be in good condition. The stem was the issue and was probably what caused the bidding to be favorable to my bidding. It was severely oxidized and had a large hole in the button. I remained hopeful that I could repair the stem or fit a suitable replacement. Either way this old pipe was not destined for the dustbin, it would live for another generation of pipe tobacco lovers.

Background

Being a proud member of Generation X and prone to the slackard description that accompanies my generation, I will include the background from a previous Custom-Bilt restoration. You can find that one here.

“The standard starting point for researching a pipe typically includes pipedia.org. The query of Tracy Mincer, originator of Custom-Bilt, will take you to this brief entry:

“Tracy Mincer started the original Custom-Bilt pipe company in 1934. In 1946, the name was changed to Custombilt after Mincer began an association with Eugene J. Rich, Inc. There were some big changes in advertising and distribution. The slogan “AS INDIVIDUAL AS A THUMBPRINT” began at this time as well.

In the early 1950’s, Tracy Mincer developed severe financial problems that caused him to stop making the Custombilt, and he lost the name. n 1952, Mincer began a new pipe, The Doodler, that due to the holes in the bowl had to made primarily in a billiard type shape in three sizes. In the early 1950s, National Briar was turning the bowls for Mincer. Based upon the documentation, it appears that Mincer made the pipe until the mid 1960s, when National Briar Pipe Co., Inc. began making and selling the Doodler.

Mincer died in 1964. Based upon the information provided, Mincer seemed to always have money, production, distribution and other problems. Mincer was probably a terrific craftsman but a very poor businessman and administrator. To me, Mincer sounds like your typical small business entrepreneur who always knew what was right and if you disagreed¼problems. Mincer always seemed to be on the brink of going out of business, not meeting payroll and so on.

Claude Stuart purchased the Tracy Mincer Pipe Company and began making pipes using the Tracy Mincer stamp. Stuart finished nearly all the pipes produced, mostly carved and textured bowls and the occasional straight grain. Claude made the Tracy Mincer Pipe Company a moderate success. Stuart became ill and in 1990 The Tracey Mincer Pipe Company went out of business. Currently, Jim Tedesco owns the Tracy Mincer name.

These interesting examples bellow are pipes made with the Tracy Mincer stamp. If you any additional information about these pipes, or can otherwise add to the history of this interesting pipe man, please add it here, or send it to sethile.pipes@gmail.com, and we can add it for you.” (Mincer – Pipedia).

There is a book written by William E. Unger, Jr.,Ph.D titled “As Individual As A Thumbprint”: The Custom-Bilt Pipe Story. This book appears to be self published by Dr. Unger at The Graphic Touch, of Columbus, Ohio. Printed in 2001 and bound with a black plastic spiral, the book states that the entire contents are “All rights reserved…without permission in writing from the author”. Dr. Unger passed away January 1, 2013 (obituary: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/dispatch/name/william-unger-obituary?id=12197453) and the book is no longer in print. This unfortunately means that I will not be including any quotes from the book. We’ll see how I get around that, I guess. I got lucky and purchased a copy from eBay for under $30 (with shipping) earlier this year, after watching several copies sell for what I considered astronomical prices. The book is a remarkable piece of work and is the definitive history of the Custom-Bilt pipe. The research that Dr. Unger put into getting the story correct is amazing. Fortunately there were several past employees, friends and relatives associated with Tracy Miller and the company that were able to give interviews and explanations to the inner workings of the company.

In regards to the stamps on the pipe in hand, I will speak to what I have found in Unger’s book, without quoting any of it. The first thing that needs clarification is the Custom-Bilt vs. Custombilt name. I’ll paraphrase William Unger here, the first stamps used by Tracy Mincer were “Custom-Bilt”. These were used from 1938-1946 definitively and less definitively prior to 1938. You could, perhaps, find reference to this in the book on page 91. There, I think that should give me legitimacy and keep any lawyers at bay. Next we examine the IMPORTED BRIAR stamp on the bottom of the pipe. Unger states that he has inspected a large number of Custom-bilt pipes and that about ½ of them do not have this stamp. He declares that he is at a loss to explain either their absence or presence This lack of explanation might be seen towards the bottom of page 114. The final stamp on this Custom-Bilt is the geometric circle stamped on the shank. Certainly these stamps have some utilitarian meaning. Nope. Unger declares that he is not able to explain any system where shapes such as circles, triangles, stars, rectangles, half moons or even trapezoids have any systematic meaning. This may or may not be seen on the top of page 114.

Pipephil.eu does allow quotations with proper referencing and shows nice examples of the above-mentioned geometric stamps.

(Cos-Cz — Pipes : Logos & Markings)” (Young, John M.. https://scimansays1787.com/2025/01/02/a-custom-bilt-circle-stamped-restoration/)

Regarding the specific pipe of this restoration, I believe it to be one of the Custom-Bilts made between 1938-46 due to the “Custom-Bilt” stamping. I cannot discern any IMPORTED BRIAR stamp nor any geometric shape.

The Restoration

As usual the pipe went from the photo table to the workbench and received a clean denim piece.

The stem was the place where I decided to start. Mainly because it was the part that would need the most work. The stem was cleaned with bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

The stem was lightly sanded with a 320 grit sanding sponge.

Next, the stem was submerged inBriarville’s Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. This would be a real test for the relatively new-to-me solution.

I placed a pipe cleaner in the tenon for easy removal.

I left the stem in the Briarville oxidation remover overnight. The next day the stem was removed.

A vigorous rubbing with a coarse shop rag removed some of the oxidized vulcanite and can be seen on the rag below.

Back at the workbench the stem looked far better.

I wanted the stem and stummel intact during sanding to keep the joint where the two pieces met nice and unrounded. To do this I wrapped the shank with painters tape.

In the photo below you can see where I wiped the sanding debris from the sponge onto the denim. Notice the color difference. The lighter colored debris was from the stem before the Briarville solution whereas the darker debris on the sponge is from after the solution.

I sanded the button zone with the 320 grit sponge. This was to roughen the stem for better adhesion of the epoxy and cyanoacrylate (CA) that I planned to use to rebuild the button.

Below is a photo of my idea: I wanted to use the slot cutting bit with a Dremel rotary tool to cut a slot into the button. I would then cut a piece of 2 mm brass rod/pin to span the broken piece of the stem. This pin would be held in place by black epoxy resin. The epoxy would also be used to fill in the void.

Below is a slightly different view of the dremel bit.

Below is how I imagined the placement of the pin in regards to the button.

I used the Dremel to cut a groove in the button.

The same cut from the side.

The pin was cut with pliers and the ends of the pin were filed to a taper. This pin was set into the groove.

Below a view of the button from the front with the pin in place. Sorry about the poor focus.

JB Weld was the black epoxy that I used because that was the product I had on hand.

To keep the epoxy only in the areas where I wanted it, I used a “dam”.. This dam was a piece of plastic lid cut to fit the stem. The dam was coated with petroleum jelly to keep the epoxy from adhering to it. I laid a bead of epoxy in the groove and placed the pin into the epoxy. Additional epoxy was added to the top of the pin and to the hole. The dam provided a floor for the epoxy to rest on. The JB Weld sets up within 15 minutes so I was able to allow it to firm up and then add additional epoxy before the whole mix became unworkable.

Below you can see the rebuild button on new epoxy, the filled hole and the incorporated pin.

After about 30 minutes I removed the dam.

The pin was completely encased in epoxy. My idea was that this would provide the rigidity needed to withstand a significant bite while retaining the correct shape.

The epoxy had solidified enough to hold its shape yet was soft enough to allow me to cut the excess off with a sharp knife.

I allowed the epoxy to sit and harden for 24 hours. I know the packaging says an hour but I wanted it hard enough to sand and work with a file.

The top and bottom were filed. I applied black CA to the top of the epoxy patch in an attempt to blend the repair better to the original stem and to build-up the button. Once cured this was again filed and sanded smooth.

Below you can see the scar from the repair during the sanding.

Here is a view of the slot. I used a Vermont Freehand slot tool (https://vermontfreehand.com/product/slot-funneling-tools/) to smooth the stem’s airway and sanded the airway.

The stem was sanded with a series of sanding sponges from grits 320-3500. Between each sponge I rubbed Obsidian Oil onto the stem and wiped it with a paper towel.

Once sanded I took the stem to the buffer and worked it with rouge compound on the rouge wheel.

I repeated the buffing using white buffing compound on the dedicated white wheel.

The stem looked good in the sunlight.

This was now two days into the restoration. Far more than usual and I still had not started work on the stummel. I gathered the reaming kit.

The tobacco chamber was surprisingly well kept. The PipNet’s #2 and #3 blades removed the majority of the cake only requiring a little bit of clean-up scraping with the General triangular scraper.

The airway on the shank was far less well kept. I swear the camera didn’t even want to witness the tar deposits. Okay, I did a crappy job photographing it but you can see the amount of scraping and the yuck that was removed.

The shank was nowhere near finished and I decided to switch gears and maybe soften things up with warm water. The Exterior of the stummel was about as dirty as the airway. I scrubbed the stummel with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a brash brush.

The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel. The stummel still looked dirty, especially in the grooves. I repeated the Murphy Oil Soap scrub 2 more times with a nylon brush.

Back at the workbench I scrubbed the stummel again using the nylon brush and 95% ethyl alcohol then wiped the stummel with a make-up pad and more alcohol.

Okay, back to the airway. I wanted to see if a cotton-alcohol treatment would help dissolve some of the tar in the airway. The bowl and shank were packed with cotton.

About 10 ml of 95% ethyl alcohol was added to the cotton with a disposable pipette. The cotton was saturated with alcohol. The plan was to let this sit overnight.

Time to go fishing.

After fishing the cotton and alcohol had done a little bit of tar removal but things were still damp.

I decided to apply a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm and let that sit overnight as well.

The next morning the cotton alcohol treatment looked like the below two photos.

The Before and After Restoration Balm was hand buffed with an inside out athletic sock.

With the excess balm removed I next removed the cotton from the stummel.

The cotton and alcohol had done a good job at softening and removing the tars. I repeated some of the scraping, to little avail, and continued scrubbing with cotton swabs and a shank brush both dipped in alcohol.

The pipe was reassembled and taken to the buffer for several coats of carnauba wax. Because the carvings were not deep nor too jagged I thought that carnauba would not build up too badly in the grooves.

The final step was a hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth further deepening the shine.

Another Lovely thick walled Custom-Bilt is ready for many more years of use. The rusticated briar cleaned up well and really looked good after the Before and After Restoration Balm worked its magic. The stem repair worked quite nicely and left a hardly noticeable scar. The oxidation removal was not perfect leaving some areas of brown smudgeness. This can only be seen under very bright light. I was glad that the stem was salvaged and made strong again with the brass pin incorporation. The stamping did remain legible though here a bright light is an asset, at least for my old eyes. The old cigarette burn on the shank was left alone as I did not want to sand and alter the carvings on the shank. This will be a battle scar or a symbol of character. The dimensions of the Custom-Bilt Taper Stem are:

Length: 5.99 in./ 152.15 mm.

Weight: 1.73 oz./ 49.05 g.

Bowl Height: 1.97 in./ 50.04 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.59 in./ 40.39 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.79 in./ 20.07 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.64 in./ 41.66 mm.

I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

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Below are some photos of the finished Custom-Bilt Taper Stem.
A Marxman Jumbo A Bench Made Apple Restoration

May 1st, 2025
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

If you have been following this blog for a while you know I have a love of Marxman pipes. If you are new to the blog, welcome. By the way, I have a love of Marxman pipes. To be honest I am not sure when I got this pipe nor where it came from. Record keeping is not my strong suit and I just can’t seem to find an intern to work for nothing. Anyway, I’m pretty sure it came as part of an estate lot last summer and has been languishing in the queue since then. The stamping on the base of the pipe read A above Jumbo (in a fancy script) over BENCH MADE. On the underside of the shank the MARXMAN stamp, with the arrow is partially visible, over IMPORTED BRIAR, also faint. Below are some photos taken prior to working on the pipe.

Poorly centered draft hole.

Overall, the pipe looked to be in pretty good shape. The off center draft hole was not something that could be addressed. I could make it look as it did or better when it left the Marxman factory though.

Background

The Jumbo stamp on this pipe is a bit misleading. There is nothing that I can see that would classify it as jumbo. It is what I would call regular size, at best. Perhaps wartime jumbo was different from non-wartime jumbo. I am getting ahead of myself. In previous posts I have reported on the genius of Rober Marx, the creative mind behind Marxman pipes. Here are two links which will take you to two other Marxman Jumbos which I have restored:
- Jumbo C https://wordpress.com/post/scimansays1787.com/7197
- Jumbo Dublin https://wordpress.com/post/scimansays1787.com/3071
As for the date of production for this pipe, I think it is a wartime or shortly after World War II era pipe. My reasoning is threefold:
1. The flecks of metal found in the hard rubber stem material. During the war many products were in very short supply. Rubber was a significant one. Old used tires were routinely recycled during this time. Metal flecks in pipes are indicative of this recycling.
2. The use of a brass condenser or tenon extension. Aluminum was another product which was in very short supply during the war. I had never seen a brass condenser before and I hypothesise that this was due to wartime shortages of aluminum, the preferred metal for “filters” like this.
3. The smaller size of a “Jumbo” is due to the shortages of briar due to the war in Europe. Smaller pipes require less briar meaning that more pipes could be made by reducing the sizes of the stummels cut from a block of briar.
The Restoration

The good looking pipe began the restoration on a cleaned piece of denim acting as a protective cover for the workbench.

I disassembled the pipe and thought the color of the metal stinger was off. At the time I wrote this off as discolored by smoking residues.

The stinger was placed in a plastic medicine cup with a few milliliters of 95% ethyl alcohol. The stem was prepared for a several hour long bath in Briarville Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover by lightly sanding it with a 320 grit sanding sponge.

The airway of the stem was cleaned with bristle pipe cleaners dipped in the ethyl alcohol.

The tood chatter was filed with a small flat file. I also added definition to the button with the edge of the file to the button.

The stem was then suspended in the Briarville solution (referred to as deox, henceforth).

The label instructions recommend 2-12 hours for the Briarville deox, this meant overnight. I turned my attention to the stummel. The ream team was gathered.

A PipNet with #1 and #2 blades were used for the majority of the reaming. The General triangular scraper was used for cleanup work.

A wood dowel wrapped in 320 sandpaper was used to sand the interior of the tobacco chamber.

DOH! I missed the bottom of the bowl while sanding. There, that was better. The chamber showed no sign of heat damage though the drilling for the airway was not centered very well. Perhaps this is another indicator of wartime production, illustrating that manufacturers had trouble retaining skilled craftsmen.

The airway of the shank was then cleaned out using cotton swabs, a nylon shank brush, folded bristle pipe cleaners each dipped in the 95% ethyl alcohol. Also used was a dental scraper. The more tar I can scrape from an airway, the far less scrubbing with the previous three it requires.

The rim had some light lava deposits.

These were removed by moistening with saliva and scraping with a sharp pocket knife.

Below, the rim after the scraping.

Next, the stummel was 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 stummel looked much better.

I removed the stinger from its alcohol bath and was surprised to discover that it was not discolored but brass. What? A brass stinger? That was the first time I had seen one of those. Oh well, it cleaned up nicely with a bristle pipe cleaner.

At this point I wanted to sand the stummel but I did not want to do that without the stem in place. Hmm, it wouldn’t be ready until the morning. I know. I’ll epoxy these 10 popper bodies to their hooks. That way I’ll have something to demand my attention and allow me to neglect restoring pipes, tying some more bass poppers.

The next morning I successfully refrained from making bass lures and focused on the Marxman. The stem was removed from deox and wiped with a coarse shop rag. This removed some of the oxidized rubber.

My lovely bright yellow Briarville deoxidizing solution is no longer bright yellow.

The stem after the deox bath.

Below is one of those metal flecks/inclusions I mentioned in the Background section.

The stamps were covered with painters tape for their protection from the sanding. I decided to avoid the sanding of the bottom altogether but I wanted insurance for the shank zone.

A series of sanding sponges ingrits from 320-3500 were used in sequence for sanding the stem and stummel (sans the bottom). Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol to remove sanding debris. The stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel between sponges.

I wrapped the shank with masking tape to protect it from the buffin that I wanted to do to the stem. I used a rouge compound and the dedicated rouge wheel.

The sanding and buffing worked nicely but there remained a tooth dent on the top of the stem that I did not like.

I chose to clean the area with an alcohol dipped cotton swab and apply a dab of black cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) to the dent.

The CA was spritzed with a CA drying accelerator.

This was then filed flat and sanded smooth before rebuffing the area. That took care of the dent.

The stem was then polished with Before and After Fine followed by Extra Fine Polish. These wonderful polishes were applied and hand buffed with a soft cotton cloth.

The stummel was then given a coat of Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit for 30 minutes.

Excess balm was wiped or hand buffed from the stummel with an inside out athletic sock. The Terry cloth of the sock is a great material for getting the remaining blam from the nooks and crannies of the rustications.

Since the carvings of the pipe were rather shallow, I thought that carnauba wax applied with the buffer would be ok and not gum-up the carvings. Extra effort was put into making sure the grooves were worked with the edge of the wheel.

The final step was a hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth further deepening the shine.

Overall this Marxman A Jumbo Bench Made apple turned out very nicely. The soft appearance of the briar is accented by the rustications. The glossy black vulcanite provides a lovely contrast for both textures. The pipe says, “I’m Jumbo” but the size says different. Perhaps the Jumbo is just a quality claim by Marxman rather than a size claim. Either way, it is still a pretty little pipe and will undoubtedly be a fine smoker with an old and venerable heritage. The dimensions of the Marxman A Jumbo Bench Made apple are:

Length: 5.61 in./ 142.49 mm.

Weight: 1.06 oz./ 30.05 g.

Bowl Height: 1.49 in./ 37.85 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.16 in./ 29.46 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.69 in./ 17.53 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.37 in./ 34.80 mm.

I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

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Below are some photos of the finished Marxman A Jumbo Bench Made apple.
A Marxman Lovat Restoration with a Shank Reconstruction

April 10th, 2025

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

My love affair with Marxman pipes sometimes gets the best of me or worst of me. This pipe started out as just a typical listing on eBay for two pipes. The E. Wilke is the one that caught my eye and the Marxman was a deal sweetener.

I made an offer that was accepted. The seller messaged me saying that he broke the Marxman while putting the stem back on and that he was going to substitute a Dr Grabow pipe. I replied by saying that I bought the two pipes from the listing and did not want a Dr Grabow. We messaged back and forth, him saying the pipe was thrown away, me saying I’ll still take it but I wanted a discount of the original price. He eventually sent me the broken Marxman, though without the chipped piece from the shank and the Wilke. Below are some photos of the Marxman prior to work being done.

The glaring repair was the large chip from the shank. I thought the best way to fix this would be to cut a piece of briar from a donor pipe and carve it to fit. The whole piece would then be covered with a band. The replacement briar would provide the strength and fill the void. Other than that this looked like a typical restoration.

Background

I have restored numerous Marxman pipes and blogged about several. I will not go into great detail fawning over the amazing Robert Marx and his marketing genius. I will include a link to one blog where I detailed the history of the; company, myth, legend and the man that was Robert Marx. If you’d like a nice brief history, pipedia.org has a nice Marxman primer HERE.

The Restoration

The poor broken Marxman made its way to the workbench and a clean denim piece.

The first task was to find a donor pipe that was close in size. I found an old Bruyere Guarente with nearly the same diameter. I felt a little bit sad for the poor donor then looked upon the large number of fills in the old French billiard and thought that would live on in this Marxman.

I measured the approximate chip dimensions and marked them on the donor.

The ream team was gathered and included the PipNet, Smokingpipes Low Country Reamer and the General triangular scraper.

The PipNet #1 blades were used for most of the work. The #2 blades were just a bit too large for the tobacco chamber so the other two reamers were used to finish the scraping.

The tobacco chamber was then sanded with 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. No heat damage was observed in the chamber.

Airway cleaning was next. The initial alcohol soaked cotton swabs and pipe cleaners came back black with smoking residue. The best part about the chipped shank was that I could get a little bit deeper into the shank with the dental scraper. The scraping produced a great deal of tar and yuck.

The cleaning continued with more alcohol, cotton swabs and bristle pipe cleaners. There was also more scraping and scrubbing with a nylon shank brush.

The stem was cleaned with 95% ethyl alcohol and bristle pipe cleaners. The tooth dents were filed with a small flat file.

The filing also addressed the reshaping of the button.

A couple of weeks ago Richard Messineo (BRIARVILLE TOBACCO PIPE REPAIR & RESTORATION) asked for my address. He said that he’d like to send me some of Briarville’s Stem Oxidation Remover to try. Apparently he had read the blog and still thought that Briarville should be associated with this blog. Weird, eh? Heck, I don’t even know if I want to be associated with some of the ramblings found here… Anyway, the Briarville Stem Oxidation Remover (Briarville deox) arrived and I was anxious to give it a try. The label said to leave the stem in the solution for between 2-24 hours. The solution was a lovely bright yellow and was far more liquid than the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer (deox) that I have been using for the past several years. The Briarville deox also has a much less offensive aroma than my old deox. The stem received a pipe cleaner to act as a hanger to suspend the stem in the solution.

As I was cleaning the shank and stem I was thinking about the best way to cut the donor shank and remove the patch. I opted to use the Dremel rotary tool with a cutoff bit.

The large diameter would create a larger cut on the donor but the thin nature of the cutoff bit was a plus.

The cutting went without issue and provided me with a pretty good match to the chipped portion of the Marxamn. Some minor shaping was done to improve the fit with the flat surface of the cutoff bit.

Below you can see a rough fitting of the patch.

Here is the opposite side.

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.

I looked over at the Briarville deox. The stem had been in the solution for about an hour. I noticed there was a brown swirl at the bottom of the jar. Cool, it works.

Back at the workbench, the stummel looked better. The scrubbing revealed a couple of old fills that were quite soft, one on the left of the bowl and another on the right at the junction of the shank and bowl. I picked the old fill out of the pits with a fly tying bodkin.

I wiped the surface of the stummel with a make-up pad dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

Below is the pit picked of the old fill.

And the second pit.

The pits were filled with brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) applied with a fly tying bodkin.

I then pressed briar dust into the pit. The new fill was then filed smooth and sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge.

And the second fill.

The next day I returned to the stem. It had spent about 12 hours in the Briarville deox.

The stem was removed and placed on a coarse shop rag.

I vigorously rubbed the stem with the shop rag. Some oxidized vulcanite was removed by the rag.

Back at the workbench I examined the stem and compared the results between the two solutions. There was a light brown residue on the stem. The residue was also present in the stamping of the stem logo.

I wanted to treat the stem like I would if I were using the Before and After product so I scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub on a make-up pad. The Soft Scrub removed more oxidized vulcanite. The light brown residue was removed with this scrubbing.

After the scrubbing I applied Before and After Hard Rubber Balm.

I gathered the stuff that I needed for the gluing of the patch into the chipped area. I wanted to use epoxy due to the more forgiving nature and longer setting time.

I wanted to glue the patch in place with the assistance of the tenon to keep this aligned. To keep the epoxy from adhering to the tenon, I applied a coating of petroleum jelly to the tenon.

Below, you can see the well greased tenon.

The epoxy was placed on all of the surfaces and clamped. The next three photos show various views of the clamp. This epoxy is said to set-up in 15 minutes. I let it sit for 30 before removing the clamp and stem.

While the epoxy was setting-up I measured the width of the brass band. I thought that a band that completely covered the patch looked too large for the size of this pipe. I chose to make the band a bit smaller and looked more appropriate.

After 30 minutes the clamp and stem were removed. The patch looked good. I thought that it provided good contact with the existing shank and the tenon. The band would provide the reinforcement strengthening the whole shank end.

I began filing the patch making the patch fit the contours of the shank.

There were small seams which I filled with brown CA and briar dust, as with a normal fill.

The above fills were smoothed with a file and sanding sponges. In preparations for the sanding, the shank stamps were taped on both the left and right sides.

The stummel was sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 320-3500. Between each sponge the briar was wiped with a make-up sponge moistened with alcohol.

The stummel was then worked with micro-mesh pads 4000-12000. Again, between each pad the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol.

To keep the joint from being rounded by sanding I wanted to sand it attached to the shank. I was not worried about rounding the shank end since it would be under the band but I still did not want to remove briar from the shank so, I wrapped it in masking tape.

The stem logo was taped over with masking tape for its protection. The stem was sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 320-3500 grit. Between sponges the stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel to remove sanding debris.

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

The brass band was temporarily fitted. I could see that the filing and sanding of the shank end had made it lighter color than the rest of the shank. I thought that I could match the color better with a Furniture Touch-up marker. Oak was the color of choice.

Below you can see the stained shank end.

To glue the band in place I used brown CA applied to the shank and pressed the band in place against the workbench.

I thought the stem logo would look good in a color that accentuated the brass band so gold leaf Rub’nBuff was used. I first cleaned the logo stamping with alcohol on a cotton swab.

The Rub’nBuff was applied with a fly tying bodkin and worked into the stamping.

The Rub’nBuff was buffed off holding the stem and rubbing it on the denim work surface.

The stem was then re-oiled with Obsidian Oil.

The stummel received a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm and was allowed to sit for 20 minutes.

After the Restoration Balm worked its magic the excess balm was wiped with an inside out athletic sock.

The pipe was taken to the buffer to polish the brass band with white buffing compound.

After the metal polishing the pipe was wiped thoroughly and waxed with several coats of carnauba wax with the buffer.

The final step was a hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth further deepening the shine.

I think this Marxman turned out very well. I am still having internal debates as to the band width. I think it looks great with this band but I wonder if a band that concealed the whole scar would have been okay. The repair is solid and the stem fit is very good. I have no worries about the repair failing. The band looks like it is original and adds a flourish which improves the look of the pipe. The Briarville Stem Deoxidizer was a very nice product to work with. I cannot say at this point whether I prefer it or not over the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer. More testing will be done on future restorations. I can say that it works well and is less messy to use. The stem looks great with no signs of oxidation but it was not a heavily oxidized stem to begin with. These dimensions of the Marxman lovat are:

Length: 5.20 in./ 132.08 mm.

Weight: 0.74 oz./ 20.98 g.

Bowl Height: 1.56 in./ 39.62 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.37 in./ 34.80 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.67 in./ 17.02 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.20 in./ 30.48 mm.

I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

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Below are some photos of the finished Marxman lovat.
A Short Snorter Restoration

March 25th, 2025
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

You could call this little pipe a Custom-Bilt knock off. This pipe is stamped SHORT over SNORTER on the left shank. It has that very Custom-Bilt look to it but it is diminutive. It reminds me of Dr. Evil and Mini-Me from the Austin Powers movies.

(https://www.pinterest.com/pin/208713763967237818/)

The term “short snorter” according to Google Is less comic,

“Origin:
The tradition began before World War II, with bush pilots in Alaska signing bills as a sign of good luck and a way to remember their travels.
- Meaning and Purpose:
- “Snort” was slang for a shot of liquor, and “short” meant a smaller amount, so a “short snorter” was a way to remember a small drink or a flight”.
This pipe would certainly be that, a short smoke allowed by a small pipe. Below are some photos taken before I did anything but remove the stinger.

The pipe looks to be in good condition. There were still tobacco remnants in the tobacco chamber. The cake and the lava on the rim suggested the pipe had seen use. The stinger was quite stuck in the stem before I took the above photos. I had to soak the tenon for about 30 minutes and did quite a bit of wiggling of the stinger as I held it between the fold in a piece of leather and pliers. There were a couple of spots which needed to be filled and of course the usual cleaning.

Background

I really have no idea who made this pipe. Searches for “Short Snorter” yielded nothing on both pipedia.org and pipephil.eu. The big Custom-Bilt book, “Individual as a Thumbprint” The Custon-Bilt Pipe Story by William E. Unger also makes no mention of the Short Snorter though it does discuss a marketing scheme where a person could pick up a miniature pipe and a gift certificate for a person. The person could then keep the miniature pipe and exchange the certificate for the pipe that they wanted from the retailer.

I searched Short Snorter in the blog posts of Steve Laug (it’s a rare day when I restore a pipe brand that Steve has not worked with) there I came across a restoration by Dal Stanton, “Short Snorter Imported Briar” (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/short-snorter-pipe/). Dal’s search for information on the Short Snorter was more productive but not by much,

“In the little I found on the internet about the Short Snorter, it is described as a nose burner or as a pocket pipe, but most often with other shapes than the horn. Steve looked up the Short Snorter in the book, Who Made That Pipe, and it indicates that it was made by Weber or Wally Frank. With that information, I looked at old Wally Frank catalogues, but did not see the Short Snorter. I suppose the name is apropos, but I think a lady pipe smoker would give this pipe a look see.” (https://rebornpipes.com/tag/short-snorter-pipe/)

In conclusion the Short Snorter appears to have been made by Weber of Wally Frank after World War Two. I say after WWII because of the IMPORTED BRIAR stamping which was something added to reassure customers that briar was once again used in the pipe.

The Restoration

The restoration began with the stinger taking a dip in a medicine cup of 95% ethyl alcohol and the pipe proper, getting a cleaned piece of denim.

The stem was dirty and constricted. I used several alcohol dipped bristle pipe cleaners and the Vermont Freehand Slot Funnelling Tool (https://vermontfreehand.com/product/slot-funneling-tools/) to clear things out.

Ithen wiped a bristle pipe cleaner with toothpaste and clamped one end in the vice. I pushed the other end through the stem and buffed the airway with the toothpaste enriched pipe cleaner.

The tooth chatter was filed with a small flat file to remove the dents.

I turned my attention to the stummel. The dental scraper got quite a workout here removing the crunchy caked tar and smoking residues. Alcohol dipped pipe cleaners and cotton swabs were also used.

The reaming was surprisingly productive for such a small pipe.

Once reamed, the interior of the tobacco chamber looked good and showed no signs of heat damage.

Next came the scrubbing of the stummel’s exterior. This was done 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.

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

I used the make-up pad to scrub a little bit more on the rim to get rid of the remaining lava.

There were two areas which I thought needed to be filled. One small sand pit where the shank met the bowl. The pit was small and I thought that it would fill with brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue).

The other area was on the rin and right side. This area required CA and briar dust to fill the gap on the rim and CA alone on the side.

I allowed the CA to cure and filed the shank fill with a half-round file.

The rim and right side needed to be retextured to match the existing rustication or carvings. I did this with a rotary tool and a small carving bit.

Below you can see where the fills look like a crack. This was only superficial and did not penetrate through the side wall of the bowl.

The re-rusticated carvings looked good as I attempted to match the contours of the original carving.

The rim recarvings were nearly unnoticeable.

The shank was taped with masking tape to protect it from the stem sanding. I wanted the stem and stummel intact for the sanding to avoid any rounding of the joint between the two.

A series of sanding sponges from 40-3500 were used in sequence. Between each sponge I rubbed mineral oil onto the stem and wiped it with a dry paper towel to remove sanding debris.

The stem was then worked with micro-mesh pads 4000-12000 grit. Between each of these pads I applied a small drop of Mark Hoover’s new Hard Rubber Balm, rubbed this onto the stem and wiped the stem with a paper towel.

The stummel then received a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm and was set aside to what I thought would be 15-20 minutes. It turned out to be the next morning.

The next morning I hand buffed the remaining Restoration Balm from the stummel with an inside out athletic sock.

The pipe was then taken to the buffer where it received several coats of carnauba wax on the stem and smooth surfaces of the stummel.

The final step was a hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth.

This little pipe was a fun project. I am enjoying practicing with the Dremel tool and improving my carving techniques. The blending of repairs to original rustications is a challenge which I find very enjoyable. This demure darling turned out very nicely. I have a Custom-Bilt with a near identical shape and seeing them side by side is quite amusing. The fills and re-carvings turned out beautifully and are only noticeable under serious scrutiny. The stem polished up very well with the glossy black complimenting the rustic carved rich brown of the stummel. The dimensions of the Short Snorter are:

Length: 3.92 in./ 99.57 mm.

Weight: 0.66 oz./ 18.71 g.

Bowl Height: 1.50 in./ 38.10 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.09 in./ 27.69 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.63 in./ 16.00 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.12 in./ 28.45 mm.

I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

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Below are some photos of the finished Short Snorter.
A Marxman The Four Hundred Restoration (number 2)

March 11th, 2025
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

The white whale of the Marxman world resurfaced the other day on eBay. The elusive The Four Hundred. This sighting was of an abused stummel. Some bugger had raided the poor pipe for both it’s stem and 14K gold band. I had vivid mental images of a young man disassembling grand dad’s old pipe to abscond with the band and use it as an engagement ring for a high school sweetheart. I can only hope that it worked and that he and the 20 mm fingered bride-to-be are still together. Yeah, an imagination can be a terrible thing.

Of course, I bid on the stummel and actually won it for less than $40 with shipping. I guess there is a fool born every minute. The stummel travelled from Waynesville, Georgia to the frigid wilds of southeast Nebraska. Upon arrival the stummel appeared as the photos below indicate.

She looked a bit rough, far worse off than the first Four Hundred appeared. Here is a link to that restoration if you are interested. The first Four Hundred was also missing the original stem and band. Coincidence or global conspiracy? Hmm, I do love a good conspiracy theory. Unfortunately, my imagination is all tired out from the previous vivid mental image. This stummel would need a new band and stem. It had numerous areas where the old fills were showing through in a less than attractive fashion. There was an ugly dark stain on the heel, right on the stamp. That would also have to go. Dents and dings from use were also scattered about the briar. The good news was that the stummel appeared to be very structurally sound. The damage was all cosmetic.

Background

Being a proud member of Generation X, also known as a Slacker, I will reuse the background section from the first Marksman The Four Hundred restoration below. Heck, I’ll even give myself credit for the quote.

“According to pipedia.org: “The Four Hundred was Marxman’s best series, characterized by very large pipes. Similarly famous was the Marxman Heirloom Pipes series, with around 80 pieces produced by well-known North American sculptors, such as Jo Davidson, Cecil Howard, Charles Kopp, and RD Lewis, contracted by Bob in 1947. Today these pipes are genuine collector’s items. The series included animal and human figures, selling at extremely high prices for the time.” (https://pipedia.org/wiki/Marxman)

I have restored and blogged about several Marxman pipes over the past year. I will include a few of them here if you are interested in more of the history of the brand.
- Camel figural https://wordpress.com/post/scimansays1787.com/7445
- Jumbo C https://wordpress.com/post/scimansays1787.com/7197
- Jumbo Dublin https://wordpress.com/post/scimansays1787.com/3071
- Mel~O pear https://wordpress.com/post/scimansays1787.com/6995” (https://scimansays1787.com/2024/11/12/a-marxman-four-hundred-restoration/).
I do have to add a little bit more information about Robert Marx. While sharing the previously mentioned restoration blog with another Marxman aficionado, they (pipesmagazine.com forum member: telescopes) brought a little known fact to my attention. The legendary Robert Marx created the first slow smoking competition. According to the Club History of the International Association of Pipe Smokers’ Clubs,

“The International Association of Pipe Smokers’ Clubs, Inc. was founded in October of 1949 and incorporated in the State of New York, City of Schenectady, County of Schenectady, on July 15, 1952.

Mr. Robert Marx, founder of the famous Marxman Pipe, was the first man to put on a Pipe Smoking Contest. He owns the world’s most famous pipe, sculpted by Joe Davidson, that is insured for $7,500.” (https://www.iapsc.net/history.html).

Just when I thought that Robert Marx’s marketing genius couldn’t be improved, I learned something new about the guy.

The Restoration

In breaking with tradition I did not first place a denim piece on the workbench. I admit to being rather excited to start this project so much so that I began it before I had even received the gold band from the Vermont Freehand boys (https://vermontfreehand.com/). My first task was to look through the stock of stems to see if I had something that would be a good fit, preferably for as little work as possible. Yeah, I’m honest and lazy. I had an acrylic stem that was a very good fit for the diameter and length. As a bonus the tenon was too large. I felt blessed or lucky and didn’t care which. The stem was also an acrylic. I know the original Marxman stems were vulcanite but as I get older I am really learning the benefits of acrylic stems. They do not have the issues with oxidation and do not require the constant oxidation removal. Yeah, my laziness appears to be increasing.

I used the tenon cutting tool from Vermont Freehand (https://vermontfreehand.com/product/adjustable-tenon-turning-tool/) on a practice stem. I adjusted until I got a good fit with the practice stem into the stummel then used the tool to cut the replacement stem.

The fit was nice. There was some misalignment and a very slight gap but I would take care of that by heating the stem, pressing the stem into place and allowing it to cool stating the exact tenon fit as the acrylic cooled.

The slot of this stem needed some work. It was an unused replacement stem but it only had a draft hole bored through and a basic slot cut into the button. I used a Dremel and a circular cutting bit to cut the slot and angle the draft hole more smoothly.

This improved slot was further opened and filed into a “Y” with small files.

With the stem drawing nicely, I turned my attention to the stummel. The reaming tools were gathered.

The tobacco chamber of the Four Hundred was very large and fit the #4 blades of the PipNet easily. I had to press into the sides to get the PipNet to contact them.

There was minimal cake accumulated and what was present was quickly removed.

The tobacco chamber was sanded with 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel and a piece of sandpaper.

The chamber showed no signs of any heat damage or charring.

The next several photographs show the old fill material used by Marxman at the factory. The fill material is the light colored bits.

The removal of the old fills was a tedious process of softening the fill with acetone and picking it out with a dental scraper and the fly tying bodkin.

There dark stain on the bottom of the stummel was also a feature which I did not want.

I tried soaking the stain with a solution of saturated oxalic acid solution. The solution was applied with a cotton swab.

I allowed the oxalic acid to dry and sit for 30 minutes before rinsing it with copious amounts of water and a light scrubbing.

Once dried the stain had disappeared completely.

The shank cleaning was the next task. This was done with several cotton swabs and bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

see

The acrylic stem was in good shape but I was eager to see how it would look with the cleaned stummel. I used white buffing compound on the buffer with the appropriate white compound wheel.

The shank of the pipe was taped with masking tape to protect it from the buffing.

The acrylic polished up very nicely.

Back at the bench the replacing of the old fills was about to commence. I planned on using brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust to fill the gaps in the briar. The CA would be applied with a fly tying bodkin and the briar dust would be pressed into the wet CA. This combination cured almost immediately and could be shaped with a file or sandpaper with subsequent layers building up the depressions.

Below you can see the wet CA applied to a gap.

There were plenty of gaps in this old pipe to be filled. The briar dust was then pressed into the wet CA. This produces the equivalent of a chunky scra on the surface of the briar. I use a brass brush to brush the surface removing the dry briar dust that doesn’t come into contact with the wet CA.

Once all the flaws were filled the texture of the carvings needed to be reestablished. I used a Dremel rotary tool with a small carving bit to re-carve the surface.

I prefer to keep the bit more stationary and move the stummel into the rotating bit. I propped the Dremel up on a piece of 2×4 .

The recarving process is slow and requires eyes that are capable of fine focus, something that my old eyes have trouble with. Below you can see the carving of the texture as it progresses.

Eventually the CAA is reshaped to be similar to the original.

Noticing the great success of the oxalic acid on the old stain, I thought that perhaps the entire stummel would benefit from a light bleaching. I used oxalic acid on the entire stummel.

The wet stummel looked very nice with a coating of oxalic acid. The acid was allowed to dry and sit on the briar for 30 minutes.

Below are a couple of photos of the bleached briar prior to rinsing and scrubbing the oxalic acid from the stummel.

The rinsing was done with copious amounts of water and a Scotch Bright pad that I applied Castile soap to. I figured that the basic nature of the soap would also neutralize any remaining acid during the rinsing. Upon drying the stummel received a coating of Befoer and After Restoration Balm. I was impatient and wanted to see the color of the briar. In insight I should have sanded and micromeshed the briar prior to the balm but impatience got the best of me.

After allowing the Restoration Balm to work its magic for 20 minutes I hand buffed the stummel with an inside out athletic sock to reveal a lovely dark briar.

I couldn’t help myself and had to take the pipe upstairs and into the sunlight for a couple of photographs.

It took 2 weeks for the gold band and a new drill bit to arrive from the Vermont Freehand boys. It was not their fault as the winter weather in the east has been tough this year. Still, it was an excruciating wait.

The band was far too wide for this pipe but it was the only one available in a 20 mm diameter. I seated the band to show how much material I would have to remove. Yes I could have used the entire 20 mm but that would have covered up an unacceptable amount of the Marxman stamp on the left shank.

The band glueing kit was gathered. The plan here was to use acetone to clean the band and shank end of any oils that may be present, slightly rough up the band interiors and shank with sandpaper, and apply a thin coat of J.B. Weld 2 part epoxy to the interior of the band and the shank end and fit the band.

The surfaces were cleaned with acetone and the epoxy thoroughly mixed.

The band was fitted and adjusted. The reason I used epoxy and not CA was to allow me additional time to adjust the fit of the band. CA would have given me seconds to adjust and I wanted to take my time. With everything in place the 24 hour wait began. Sure, the package says that the .B. Weld cures in 15 minutes but that is a soft cure. I wanted everything to be solid. In discussing this project with fellow pipe restorer Donald Cole, he suggested that I used sandpaper to remove the excess band width. His recommendations were the following, “Sandpaper on a flat surface. Like glass.

It’s thin and won’t take long with low grit. Use a figure 8 motion and it’ll keep it even.” (Cole, Donald, Personal communication). That sounded like a very good idea.

When the time came, I started sanding as Donal had suggested. It was working but oh, so slow. My impatience attacked again. I returned to the workbench and selected a flat file. I filed the excess band material caterfull to about 2 mm above the shank. Frequently rotating the stummel to keep the filing reduction even. The below photo shows my filing.

After I filed to about 2 mm I returned to the Donald Cole technique of sanding with the figure 8. I am sure patience is a virtue but I also like my steaks on the rare side of medium rare. Perhaps my impatience is a flaw that extends beyond just pipe restoration. Below is a photo of the sanded band and shank end.

There is is, the trimmed band on the Four Hundred.

And a close up showing the fit.

The smooth surfaces of the stummel were sanded using a series of sanding sponges from 400-250. I neglected to photograph and on that, apologies. The next step was a light coating of Danish oil applied to the stummel. This was rubbed in with a gun cleaning patch as they tend to be lint free.

The stummel was set into my mini bench vice to dry.

After several hours of dry time I worked the stummel with micro-mesh pads in grits from 4000-12000. Between each pad I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad wetted with 95% ethyl alcohol to remove mehsing debris.

The last major step was to apply several coats of carnauba wax. Since the rustications were shallow and general wide I opted to carefully work the wax into the carvings with the buffing wheel. It took quite a while to get into all of the nooks and crannies but I think the result was worth it. The smooth panels took the wax easily as did the stem.

ha

The final step was a hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth.

There is it,The Four Hundred by Marxman, number two. I sure would love to see an original that had been taken care of rather than the dilapidated darlings that I have come across. Not that I am complaining. I have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the two that I’ve acquired. They are both large handfuls. Another interesting thing about the two I have is that one is quite comfortably held in the right hand while the other feels more like it belongs in the right. This Marxman is a beautiful example of a large FourHundred and though it now sports a replacement gold plated band and a replacement acrylic stem it retains all the charm of a Four Hundred. The impressive dimensions of The Four Hundred are:

Length: 5.97 in. / 151.64 mm.

Weight: 3.31 oz./ 93.84 g.

Bowl Height: 2.30 in./ 58.42 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.84 in./ 46.74 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.92 in./ 23.3 mm.

Outside Diameter: 2.39 in./ 60.71 mm. (At it’s widest)

I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

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Below are some photos of the finished Marxman The Four Hundred.
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.

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Below are some photos of the completed Alpha Calabash pipe.