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Tag: “”Marxman” pipes made in”New York“”

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 Marxman Mel~O Pear

July 23rd, 2024

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

Here I go again with another Marxman. Okay, I haven’t restored a Marxman since March 18, that’s like four months. In dog years it is over two years. I think it is about time to return to one of my favorite brands and this is a beauty. An unsmoked Mel-O Pear. How it ended up with a cracked shank, I’ll never understand. This darling came to me from eBay, and traveled all the way from Yuma, Arizona. Maybe that dry desert heat is what contributed to the crack. The description from the seller read as follows, “Vintage Marxman Tobacco Pipe Melo-O Imported Italy there minor cracked other than that very good”. Where they got the “Imported Italy” from is another mystery. True the stamps are faint and partial but I can make out a “B” after IMPORTED and the last time I checked Italy starts with an “I”. The other stamps are MEL~O over MARXMAN. The “MAN” looks to have suffered the same fate and the BRIAR never having been properly stamped. Below are some photos of the Marxman Mel-O as it arrived.

Background

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 Restoration

A clean denim piece on the work surface began this restoration. The edge of the shank was given a very slight bevel with 320 sandpaper. You can see the lighter ring on the briar below from the sanding.

I checked which size of brass tubing would be the best fit for a band for the Mel~O, ⅝ inch was nearly perfect. I measured how wide I wanted the band. For this pipe a narrow band seemed appropriate and would provide the strength needed to compress the crack and not cover the carvings on the shank. A pipe cutter was used to cut the 5/8th inch stock.

The band was cut. The interior edges were lightly filed with a rounded needle file, giving them a very slight bevel on bothe the interior and exterior surfaces. Then the edges were lightly sanded with 320 and 400 grit sanding sponges.

There was zero draw through the pipe. I removed the stinger and noticed that it was completely sealed with some obstruction.

Using needle nose pliers I was able to pull a couple of tiny pieces of metal from the end of the stinger.

At this point I assumed the stinger was meant to be a tube rather than a cylinder. I thought that maybe a previous owner had somehow wedged a pipe cleaner into the draft hole. I tried pushing a fly tying bodkin through what I thought to the tube. It was completely sealed.

I figured that it might be worth a try to drill out the hole through the tube. I tried a couple of drill bits and found the 5/32 inch to be the best fit.

Holding the stinger firmly with a Vise-Grip I tried drilling the aluminum with an electric drill. This proved pretty futile. There was no way that I could hold both the stinger and the drill straight enough to allow a good hole through the aluminum.

To make matters worse there appeared to be a steel wire within the aluminum which was pushing the drill bit to the side. With continued drilling the bit would be forced to the side of the aluminum stinger not through the center. I abandoned the idea of drilling the aluminum. Hmm, perhaps this is the universe’s way of telling me that I need a drill press?

I thought about various stingers. Many are a solid piece of aluminum but they have a groove or slot milled in them to allow for an airway. Perhaps this piece was supposed to have a slot cut in it. How this was neglected, if it were indeed neglected, made little sense but stranger things have happened. I set the stinger aside and continued pondering as I worked on the next task.

The next task was cleaning up the stem. This pipe must have been stored in a box or drawer as it had minimal oxidation, pretty amazing for a 75 year old pipe. I first sanded the surface with a 600 grit sanding sponge. This removed the surface oxidation and dirt and also revealed a strange rough spot. Try as I might I was not able to get rid of the rough area with the 600 sponge so I backed off to a 400 grit sponge. This worked to remove most of the rough area. The spot was resanded and smoothed with the 600 sponge.

I then scrubbed the stem with SoftScrub on make-up pads. This removed additional oxidation and left the stem looking like and black with fresh clean vulcanite.

As I drew air through the stem I heard a whistling. I took this to mean that there was a turbulent flow of air through the airway. The tenon was flat cut. Why not give it a nice countersunk bevel and polish that a bit, I thought.

Using a couple drill bits I just held in hand and twisted the bits removing the rubber from the tenon. This was then sanded with 220, 320 and 400 sandpaper to smooth the bevel. Below you can see the polished bevel. Drawing through the pipe was now silent.

The stem airway was quite clean and only produced the dirt from manufacture and age on the pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

Next the stummel was taken to the sink to rid it of it’s accumulated grime. The three amigos of scrubbing were present and accounted for.

From previous experience with the soft Algerian briar that Marman used I opted not to use the brass brush on the rusticated carvings. I began with Undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a medium stiff toothbrush. Additional Murphy’s was added and a second scrub with the nylon scrub brush was done. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

Below is a photo of the scrubbed stummel back at the workbench. I took the shininess to indicate that wax or finish was still present on the briar.

I scrubbed the stummel with 95% ethyl alcohol and a toothbrush to remove any traces of shine.

The stummel was then scrubbed with 95% ethyl alcohol on a make-up pad. Extra attention was paid to the carving grooves.

And again.

There we go, no more shine. I then started to fit the band to the shank. The shank needed to have a slight bit of briar removed in order for the band to fit. I slowly and carefully filed the shank end. I wanted the band to be press fit. A hard press, that is.

Eventually I got the fit that I wanted. I applied thin cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) to the crack, the thin formula allows ready penetration into the crack. The band was then pressed into place using a tapping block. The outside end of the band required a little bit of filing to allow a precise fit with the stem and a light sanding with 400 and 600 sanding sponges.

The pipe, stem and stummel, were then sanded with a sequence of sanding sponges from 400-1500. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad dipped in alcohol. The stem received a dab of mineral oil from my fingertip rubbed onto the vulcanite then wiped with a paper towel.

The above was repeated for the 2000-3500 sanding sponges.

The pipe was then micro-meshed with 4000-12000 pads. The stummel was wiped as before while the stem received Obsidian Oil rather than mineral oil.

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

@0 minutes later the Restoration Balm was wiped from the pipe with an inside out athletic sock. Again extra attention was paid to rubbing the carved grooves thoroughly.

I wasn’t sure which type of wax would be best for protecting and preserving the rusticated carvings. I opted for Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax. No, not because I like the smell. Well, yeah, kind of because I like the smell. Also because it seems to penetrate into the non-sanded briar.

The wax was applied with a baby toothbrush.

I let the wax dry for 15 minutes and replaced my carnauba wax buffing wheel with a clean flannel wheel and buffed the stummel. I used the corner of the wheel to work into the carvings.

The carnauba buffing wheel was returned to the buffer and the stem, rim and stampings received several coats of carnauba wax.

This was a fun restoration as I enjoy banding cracked shanks. I think the polished brass gives the rusticated briar a touch of classiness. The briar of this Mel~O shows some grain pattern on the rim, nothing great but still pretty. The color though is outstanding and is contrasted very nicely with the glossy black vulcanite separated by the brass band. Overall I am pleased with how the pipe turned out. I am looking forward to the first smoke with this Marxman. There is something unique about the briar with these old pipes, they have a slight spiciness like cinnamon and nutmeg when first smoked. You can get it from a freshly reamed and sanded Markman as well. Strangely satisfying or, I could be imagining it allowing my tastebuds to succumb to my weird emotional attachment to the brand. Either way, I like these old pipes. The dimensions of the Marxman Mel-O Pear are:

Length: 5.40 in./ 137.16 mm.

Weight: 1.30 oz./ 37.00 g.

Bowl Height: 1.61 in./ 40.89 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.10 in./ 27.94 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.78 in./ 19.81 mm. (conically bored)

Outside Diameter: 1.58 in./ 40.13 mm.

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

Below are some photos of the finished Marxman Mel-O Pear.