Tag: pipe stem restoration

A Commissioned Peterson System 2 Restoration

October 10th, 2024

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

Being asked to restore a family heirloom is a flattering and frightening request. Flattered because the owner of the piece thinks highly of your ability to restore the item yet frightening because ethos is a one of a kind item that carries significant personal meaning. In this case personal and historical family meaning as well.

Background

Earlier this month I was contacted via email by a gentleman who had seen a link to my blog on Mark Irwin’s Peterson Pipe Notes. Below is an excerpt from an early email:

“I’m wondering if you do restoration work for others as well as for yourself?

I have an old Peterson System pipe that had belonged to my father’s Uncle, Richard McNamara. He would have bought the pipe while stationed in Northern Ireland as a technician with Lockheed Aircraft. He died unexpectedly in 1943 while still in Northern Ireland.

I intend to pass the pipe along to my nephew. I had sent it to Peterson’s for their assessment to date it and to clean it up a bit. I received a nice note from Glen Whelan, who set the pipe in the 1930’s/1940’s.

So, if you do restorations of this sort, I be happy to have you restore this pipe.”

I asked if it was possible to see some photos of the pipe in question to assess what I would recommend for the restoration. The following five photos were sent by the owner.

The pipe looked to be in very good condition. I replied,

“That is a beauty. I am assuming the Peterson boys told you that the pipe was probably from 1937-1945ish. That would be my guess anyway. Here is what I see that you may want to have restored:

The stem – Looks great. There are some very small scratches around the ferrule. Micro-meshing and a white diamond buff should make it like new.

The Cap – I saw a couple of small dents. The cap can be removed and the dents pressed/tapped out. Then polished and reglued into the original position.

The Stummel – The dings from contact with a rough surface can be 1) filled with cyanoacrylate and briar dust. This will smooth them but will also make for dark spots where each dent is. Or, 2) The dents can be steamed to see if the briar can rebound back. This may lessen the dent but probably not remove it.

The Internals – a general cleaning and yuck removal. “Yuck” is a highly technical restoration term referring to smoking residue. When in abundance, it can be called “yucky”.”

The owner replied,

“Thanks, it is a nice pipe with a special heritage.

All I got from Peterson’s was that it was from the 1930/40’s. But from further investigation I have learned that the 1937-1945 span is correct. Now, I’m assuming that my Uncle bought the pipe new as he was in Northern Ireland from about 1939 to 1943. I have photos of his travels to Dublin, so I’ll further my assumption that he bought it from Peterson’s.

Anyway, i agree with your suggestions about the stem and cap. I saw some crud around the button and the dents on the cap. As for the Stummel, I think I’d just as soon leave the dents as they are. After all, as far as I am aware, only my uncle Richard and I have used the pipe in it’s 80ish years, so, in my mind, it adds a touch of being authentic with continuity. The internals will need a cleaning. I don’t have the pipe in front of me now, it’s packed away in my pipe bin in our RV basement. I’ll pull it out in a day or two and check the bowl etc., but I don’t think it’s too bad.”

We agreed on the work to be done and arranged for shipping. A few days later the pipe arrived and was photographed prior to any work.

Though there was no sign of a shape number stamp, I think this is a 307 shape.

“The 307 is an original Patent bent billiard-shape, shown in the 1896 catalog as shape 9. It has retained its original shape number in the De Luxe version, but was issued in the 1937 catalog as the 307 (2nd quality) / 357 (3rd quality). Since then, it has also appeared as the 9S and 9B (De Luxe), Dunmore System 78 (1978-1983), and the Classic Range 9BC (1940s-1950s) / XL90 (1980s-Present). The 9B dating from the 1940s-1960s (the De Luxe System with a tapered rather than saddle bit) is rarely seen on the estate market. There have been changes in the shape since the 1960s, all toward less “cheeking,” making earlier versions, when available, preferable to those wishing to get back to the first, classic iteration of the shape.” (https://petersonpipenotes.org/146-a-guide-to-system-shapes-1896-2019-part-1-the-300-shape-group/). The 1937 issue of the SYSTEM 2 coincides precisely with the provenance of the pipe.

When I first received the pipe I thought that something had gone wrong like the wrong pipe was shipped. There were no dents on the left side of the stummel. Adding further to my confusion, which is pretty easy to do by the way, was the stem. A Peterson System 2 should have a bone tenon extension or “chimney”, as the Peterson factory folks call them. This tenon was smooth, without threads, and looked to be about 9mm. A closer examination of the pipe and comparison to the photos indicated that it was the same pipe pipe from the initial photos based on briar grain patterns. I could make out well done fills where the dents were supposed to be and there were slight bumps in a newly acquired finish. The finish looked like a lacquer and stain combo which had been sprayed on or maybe a lacquer sprayed onto a still damp stain. It also looked like the stem had received some of the lacquer then had been buffed with carnauba wax.

I emailed the owner with my questions. While awaiting a response I began working on the pipe.

The Restoration

As usual the pipe was taken to the workbench where it was placed on a relatively clean denim piece.

Next the tobacco chamber was reamed using the PipNet and #2 blades. The General triangular scraper and Smokingpipes Low Country Reamers also saw limited action. The chamber was then sanded with 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. The sanding resulted in seeing the condition of the briar within the chamber which showed no signs of any damage from excessive heating or charring.

The stummel was then taken to the sink for a scrubbing with Murphy Oil Soap with 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 was wiped with a make-up pad dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol. This removed a good deal of color. Apparently the pipe had received a clear coat of some kind and a recent dye or stain. I could not believe that this was the original stain from the 1930’s or early 1940.

The stem was cleaned out with bristle pipe cleaners and ethyl alcohol and showed that the pipe was being well cared for and cleaned after use.

Oxidation, however, does not care how well a pipe is cared for and attacks at every chance it gets. This stem showed signs of oxidation though not very severe. I decided to remove the oxidation with Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer. The stem had a pipe cleaner inserted into the mouthpiece to act as a hanger and entered the deoxidizer solution.

During the reaming, I noticed an off smell from the removed cake. It was not a foul smell, just a slightly sour hint. I decided to give the stummel an alcohol treatment to remove any traces of old smoking and tobacco residue. I packed the tobacco chamber and shank with cotton and filled the respective volumes with 95% ethyl alcohol. The stummel was propped up to allow the alcohol levels to remain level while filled.

The below photo is after two hours of the alcohol treatment. The shank was discoloring far more than the tobacco chamber.

During this waiting time I was able to check emails. Yeah I know, a phone can be used to check emails but I’m old and stubborn. Phones are for calling, texting and photos. Typing is done on a computer. Anyway, the owner had gotten back to me regarding my questions about the condition of the pipe. He had said that he had sent the pipe to Peterson in Dublin.

“Perhaps the boys at Peterson’s did more than I realized. Good on them.”

“I just checked the box in which the pipe was returned from Peterson’s and the extra stem they sent does not match the curvature of the stem in my pictures. So, the stem you have is likely the original.

As for the 9mm part, perhaps that allowed for a bone extension rather a filter, but it’s just a guess.”

The timeline was making sense to my old brain now:

1) Original photos were taken.

2) The pipe was sent to Peterson’s in Dublin. While there the stummel fills were done and a new finish was applied.

3)The pipe was sent to me.

The tenon still was giving me confusion. There were no threads for a bone extension. I knew that Peterson did have a line of Filter pipes which were described in the 1947 catalog but this pipe pre-dated that by several years. I emailed the owner that I’d like to reachout to Mark Irwin for his thoughts. The owner agreed.

Below is the correspondence between me and Mark Irwin:

Subject: Hate to bother you

Hi Mark,

You know those four words in the subject line are going to be followed by “but…” right?

I got a commission to restore an old Pete for a gentleman whose granduncle picked it up while stationed in northern Ireland around 1940, just prior to his unexpected passing in 1943. I figured the pipe was from 1937-1945. My question is why in the world does it have what appears to be a 9mm (though it is smaller than 9mm) filter type stem? There are no threads for a bone tenon. Any idea or just rack it up to “it’s probably a replacement stem”.

“Hey John,

My best guess is that this pipe was drilled for a “Good Health” K&P 6mm filter. You can see a photo of the filter box in the identification guide at the back of the big Pete book, as these still sometimes appear on eBay. Try measuring it with your micrometer and seeing if you think a 6mm would fit!” (Mark Irwin, personal email)

Another potential piece of the puzzle – The stem appeared to have been drilled for one of the early GOOD HEALTH stems. Since it was already a Peterson System 2, today’s equivalent of a “Deluxe”, it was also not stamped as a GOOD HEALTH though it did receive a GOOD HEALTH stem. I notified the owner and he was pleased with the new information.

Time to get back to work. After 3 hours the stem was removed from deox. That is my term for the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizing solution. Kind of a play on the idea of detoxification or detox used for drug and alcohol abuse patients in rehab. The stem was hung by its pipe cleaner on a tall bottle and allowed to drip excess solution back into the jar.

After dripping, I hand buffed the stem with a coarse shop rag. The coarse material both absorbs the excess solution and helps abbrade some of the oxidized rubber from the stem.

The next step was to scrub the stem with Soft Scrub applied to make-up pads. This mild abrasive cleanser further removes oxidized surface material from the stem.

After the Soft Scrub scrub, that’s just fun to say, the stem was worked with a series of sanding sponges from 400-3500 grits. Between each sponge I rubbed the stem with mineral oils and wiped it with a clean dry paper towel.

The sanding was followed by micro-meshing with pads 4000-12000. Between each of the pads the stem was rubbed with Obsidian Oil and wiped with a paper towel.

At this point the stummel was still having the yuck removed the the ethyl alcohol as it slowly evaporated pulling the yuck from the briar and depositing it in the cotton. That continued overnight. In the morning I removed the cotton. It had done a fine job at removing any trace of smell from the tobacco chamber, reservoir and shank.

The stummel was then worked with micro-mesh pads from 2400-12000. The 2400 pad removed the finish which can be seen wiped onto the denim and on the two alcohol dampened make-up pads in the photo below. Between each pad the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad for removing debris from the micro-meshing.

After the micro-meshing the stummel received a coat of Before and After Restoration Balm and was allowed to sit for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes the balm was wiped from the stummel using an inside out athletic sock.

The briar of the shank was covered with painters tape to protect the wood and the silver ferrule was lightly polished with the micro-mesh pads. After the peds I polished the silver with Before and After Fine and Extra Fine Polish. I failed to photograph the earlier steps of this process but did capture the final step.

The stem and stummel were taken to the buffer where they were buffed with Blue Diamond Polishing compound on a flannel wheel. Reunited with the stummel, both then received several coats of carnauba wax. The pipe was finally hand buffed with a microfiber polishing cloth to further raise the shine.

I can’t say what my favorite part of this restoration was. The pipe was a beautiful example of Irish craftsmanship by Peterson. The family history and the story of the great uncle were the things that I always wish I could know about these old pipes. The mysterious details of the pipe stem and the path that the pipe took, both geographically and through time, to get to me were a fun exploration. The happiness and gratitude of the owner upon receiving the restored piped was also fulfilling. Being honored and trusted to work on a family heirloom is daunting but exciting. All of these were part of this restoration and all of them were unique and unforgettable. The pipe turned out beautifully. I don’t mean to speak disparagingly about the clean-up that the Peterson crew did. Their fills were impressive but a custom hand polishing and finish is something that a manufacturing shop cannot take the time to do. I failed to mention in the above blog that I could not remove the silver ferrule. I tried seeping both ethyl alcohol and acetone into the glue to loosen it. I tried heating with a heat gun and even speaking softly and gently but I could not get the silver to budge. In the end I emailed the owner and admitted failure. He was understanding and we both agreed that the dents added to the history of the pipe.

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 Peterson System 2.
A Sea Dog Calabash Restoration

October 8th, 2024
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

The stereotypic pipe that most people think of when envisioning Sherlock Holmes would most likely be a calabash. The above bent beauty would likely fit that image, with its flowing curves and old fashioned mouthpiece. Once again reality interferes with our perception, according to https://www.visitportsmouth.co.uk/conan-doyle/sherlock-holmes, who states “Our aim is to publicise the Conan Doyle Collection locally and internationally. To do this, we attend and create local events and work with other partners on projects to promote access and to the Collection.”, “It’s common to see Sherlock Holmes with a Calabash Pipe (similar to the one at the bottom), but that was a choice made for the stage. In the books Sherlock Holmes smoked briar, clay and cherrywood pipes but none were specifically explained so it is unclear exactly what he smoked.” (https://www.visitportsmouth.co.uk/conan-doyle/you-dont-know-sherlock-holmes-yet/cabinet-of-curiosities/three-pipes#:~:text=In%20the%20books%20Sherlock%20Holmes,unclear%20exactly%20what%20he%20smoked..). Nevertheless, in the minds of the public Holmes smoked a calabash.

This lovely Holmes stereotype was purchased from a seller in Racine, Wisconsin who was kind enough to accept my offered payment. The pipe bears the following stamps, all on the left shank: SEA-DOG in a flowing arched script over REG^D over MADE IN FRANCE. The Sea-Dog sports an unmarked stem with an orific button. Below are some photos of the pipe as it appeared prior to having any work done.

For its age, the pipe was in great condition. The bowl had moderate cake and the rim had considerable lava deposits. The condition of the rim remained concealed underneath the lava. There were a few fills, dents and dings. The stem looked remarkably free from oxidation. This indicated that the pipe had been stored away from any light. I was expecting a nice break from a rather difficult previous restoration.

Background

I will differ from the description of a Calabash shape to the experts at St. Claude,

“The Calabash pipe shape is one of the most sophisticated and refined shape that exists. Most of the time associated with the image of the detective Sherlock Holmes, the Calabash pipe distinguishes itself by its really pronounced bent silhouette and its imposing bowl. At the beginning, the real “gourd calabash” pipe (also called “Calebasse”), was made from an African squash, with a removable bowl made out of meerschaum (positioned against a cork joint) and an amber stem. Smokers greatly appreciate this kind of conception because the tasting experience is, according to some people, unbeatable. Indeed, the smoke arrives in mouth cooled down and dry thanks to the large settling chamber on the inside of the bowl of the pipe. This empty space allows the smoke to cool down (and therefore to get smoother) before being aspirated by the smoker. Nowadays, pipe makers create Calebass pipes from more traditional materials (like briar for the main part and acrylic for the stem). Therefore, we can find pipes essentially made with briar that copy the iconic calabash silhouette (it is the case for a lot of brands like Peterson, Ser Jacopo, Stanwell, Butz-Choquin…). More rarely, it is possible to find pipes called “reverse Calabash”. On the same principle, a huge cooling chamber will disrupt the smoke on the inside of the pipe to return it to you smooth and cooled!” (https://www.pipeshop-saintclaude.com/calabash-262)

The term “sea-dog” obviously hails from maritime regions far from my local landlocked home of Nebraska.

“sea-dog (n.)

1590s, “harbor seal,” from sea + dog (n.). Also “pirate” (1650s). Meaning “old seaman, sailor who has been long afloat” is attested by 1823. In Middle English sea-hound was used of the walrus and the beaver.” (https://www.etymonline.com/word/sea-dog#:~:text=1590s%2C%20%22harbor%20seal%2C%22,the%20walrus%20and%20the%20beaver.) Beavers on the other hand are a very familiar critter in these parts. Now pertaining to this pipe pipe I am pretty sure that the sea-dog anime refers to the “old seaman or sailor” though I have seen rustications that reminded me of the gnawing habits of beavers.

This particular pipe is very likely from the following, “Sea Dog was one of many brands owned by the Oppenheimer Pipe group, apparently made in France, likely by Marechal Ruchon & Cie. as evidenced on page 34 of the Circa 1950s Oppenheimer Pipes Catalog”. (Sea-Dog – Pipedia). The date 1950 struck me as far too recent of a date for a mouthpiece like that of the Sea-Dof in hand. I am not familiar with orific buttons occurring after about 1920. Further searching of pipedia.org led e to the next entry concerning Marechal Ruchon & Cie.,

“Marechal Ruchon & Cie. was a company owned by Auguste Marechal and Ferdinand Ruchon (“& Cie” is the french equivalent of “& Co”) which owned the GBD brand from the end of the 19th century until 1902 when they sold Marechal, Ruchon & Cie. to Oppenheimer Pipe, which in turn changed the name of the company to Marechal, Ruchon & Co., Ltd.. Upon the creation of Cadogan, however, the brand was no more, remembered only in the name of the GBD Marcee pipes made until just after the Second World War.” (Marechal Ruchon & Cie. – Pipedia)

So to cloud the history a bit further we have GBD owned by Marechal Ruchon & Cie. who then sold it to Oppenheimer in 1903. Pipephil has a truly brain bending flowchart of the mergers and acquisitions of the Oppenheimer group throughout the early 1900s. There appears to be a great deal of motion and changes in ownership of companies at this time.

(http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/infos/connect-en.html)

Again I return to pipedia for a synapses of some of these events,

“Cadogan Investments Limited is a subsidiary of A. Oppenheimer & Co. Limited. It was formed by Oppenheimer Pipe in 1920 as a holding company for its many recent acquisitions, including BBB, Loewe & Co., two pipe factories in Saint-Claude and others. It continued to acquire pipe brands and makers for decades, adding GBD and others to their marquee.

Both companies are currently located at 20 Vanguard Way, Shoeburyness, Essex, SS3 9RA. A storefront operates out of the same location selling pipes and smokers accessories under the name Cadogan Gifts, and also sells a wide variety of other items. Cadogan currently holds, among others, the trademarks for Dr. Plumb’s, Irwin’s, Comoy’s, BBB, GBD, Loewe & Co., Medico, Orlik, and Ropp.” (Cadogan – Pipedia)

That puts this pipe as made in France prior to the demise of Marechal, Ruchon & Co., Ltd. in 1920. This is supported by the button type, orific. I am not familiar with buttons of this type in pipes made after the early 1920s.

The Restoration

I was hoping that the restoration would be far less confusing than the above company lineage.

For some reason I began cleaning out the stem of the Sea-Dog. This was done with 95% ethyl alcohol and bristle pipe cleaners. The stem was remarkably clean inside, a nice surprise.

The reaming gear was gathered.

The PipNet was once again the workhorse of the process. The scrapers were used for the finishing touches then the chamber was sanded with 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. No scorching nor heat damage was observed.

The rim was a mess with lave deposits. This was softened with saliva then scraped using a sharp pocket knife. I realize sharp can be a subjective term so, let me explain. My high school dropout father worked his way through college, after a stint in the Army, a GED (general education diploma) and the G.I. Bill, at a packing plant in Waterloo, Iowa. There, he was a ham cutter. Needless to say, every knife in our house was very sharp. I was taught at an early age how to sharpen and maintain a sharp knife and have not been without one in my pocket since I was 5 years old. By the way, dad ended up with a PhD and not in knife sharpening.

How the rim looked after the scraping.

Next was a scrub with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon scrub brush. The decades of grime and soap were rinsed away with warm water and stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

The shank cleaning was carried out next in hopes that water from the rinse would have slightly softened the yuck (the technical term for smoking residue in an airway) within. Apparently a little Peterson Premiere 51 needed to photobomb this shot or it was used to prop up the Sea-Dog and its crazy bendy shape. The shank of this bent beauty proved to be not too dirty, slightly worse than the stem but still surprisingly clean. The curves made the junction with the tobacco chamber a little challenging with very short scrub strokes with pipe cleaners.

The stummel was wiped off with 95% ethyl alcohol on a make-up pad and the fills, of which there were many, were picked clean of their old fill material.

In the photo below you can see a large flake of the old fill material which was picked from the fill on the shank. .

The photo attempts to show the inner rim damage from doddle knocking or cage fighting medieval armored combatants.

Taking a break from the sitting and picking led me to submerge the stem in a bath of Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer. The pipe cleaner inserted into the tenon acted as a hanger.

Returning to the workbench the process of filling all of those recently excavated fills resumed using brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and in most cases CA and briar dust. The fill on the shank proceeded without any briar dust. When the briar dust combines with the CA it makes for a quality fill that can take years of abuse, it also cures very rapidly and allows one to keep working without the need of excessive drying or curing time. Unfortunately, the subsequent fill is very dark and can be conspicuous. I thought that the fill on the shank of the Sea-Dog was too large and would look awkward. Instead, I filled the depression with brown CA and let it cure on its own. I applied two additional coats of brown CA to fill in the voids. Each of these took approximately 20 minutes of curing time when I was not able to do anything with the pipe.

I thought I made the right call. You could still see the briar grain through the CA and it appeared far more natural than a dark scab of a fill.

The rim was kind of a mess. There was one deep gouge, seen at the 2:00 position below, dents and dings around the inside rim and outside rim. To keep the classic Dublin shape with nice sharp edges and a flat top, I had to do a good deal of reconstruction with CA and briar dust. I laid down a bead of CA with the fly tying bodkin and pressed the still wet CA into the tray of briar dust. The dust would quickly cure the CA and for a hard fill. I would then brush the excess dust back into the tray with a brass brush. The new fill was then topped. The whole process was repeated until the surface was filled and smooth.

For the fills on the sides of the stummel a similar procedure was used. Except rather than pressing the wet CA into briar dust the dust was applied and pressed into the wet CA.

Now comes the issue with CA and briar dust fills – they are dark in color. On the sides they can blend in with the briar grain but on the rim they can appear as scorched charred spots and look less than appealing.

To address this I planned to give the stummel a contrast dye using black Fiebing’s Leather Dye. The black dye would be absorbed more into the soft grained briar and less in the harder grains. When the surface is abraded off, either by buffing with rouge compound or sanding, the softer grains retain more black dye making the grain stand out and concealing the CA fills. To avoid sanding the stamps and losing their detail I covered the stamp with an irregular piece of painters tape. This is not meant to protect the stamp from sanding but to keep it from becoming dyed and then requiring buffing or sanding to remove the dye.

Okay, maybe I felt a little bit apprehensive about dying and wanted to think about it moreso, I stalled and retrieved the stem from the deox. Using the high tech patented Drip-Dry-O-Matic the stem was allowed to drip excess solution back into the jar.

After dripping, the stem was hand buffed with a coarse shop rag to absorb the excess solution and to abbrade some of the loosened oxidation.

Below you can see the oxidized rubber which came off with the rubbing.

The tooth chatter was filed with a small flat file.

Filing on both top and bottom was followed with sanding the 320 and 400 grit sanding sponges. The stem was then coated with mineral oil and allied to sit while I dyed the stummel.

My composure and confidence regained, I gathered the dye kit: The black Fiebing’s Leather Dye, a folded pipe cleaner (applicator), a dust tape wrapped fishing bobber (Plug for keeping dye from the tobacco chamber) and a lighter.

The stummel was dyed with the black Fiebing’s and flamed to set the dye and evaporate the alcohol solvent. The stummel rinsed with 99% isopropyl alcohol over the sink and wiped with a paper towel then returned to the workbench. Below, you can see how the tape kept the black dye from the stamp which kept me from having to sand the stamp area, thus preserving the stamp.

The stummel was wiped with a make-up pad dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol to remove any remaining dye. The stummel was then taken to the buffer and buffed with rouge compound and a flannel wheel to remove the outer layer of dyed briar. Below you can see how the softer grained briar absorbed more black dye while the harder briar did not.

I wanted the stummel to have a lighter shade of brown while keeping some of the darker grain so I sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge. That was the color I was after.

Below you can see how the rim looked after the dye and some of the black removed.

The stem and stummel were reunited with sanding of both pieces done together. The sanding was done with a sequence of sanding sponges from 400-3500 grit. Between sponges the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad moistened with ethyl alcohol while the stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel.

The pipe was worked with micro-mesh pads in grits 4000-12000. Again between each pad the stem and stummel were wiped as above except Obsidian Oil was used in place of mineral oil.

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

After 20 minutes the balm was wiped and hand buffed using an inside out athletic sock.

I’m not sure why I did this next step, maybe because I bought the stuff and have rarely used it. I used a gun cleaning patch to apply a very light layer of Danish Oil to the stummel.The gun cleaning patch was used because it is a lint free material. I followed the label instructions and allowed the oil to “harden” for 9-12 hours.

It may not have served much purpose but it sure was pretty.

The next morning I returned to the Sea-Dog. I took it to the buffer and applied several coats of carnauba wax with a flannel wheel. The pipe was hand buffed with a microfiber polishing cloth and the final photos can speak for themselves.

It is official, I really like the calabash shape. There is just something about it that says, “I am how pipes should look.” Yeah, I know they don’t talk but you know what I mean. This Sea-Dog is a grand old testament to pipe makers’ generations lost. The sweeping curves and graceful flow beckon me to fill the bowl, slow down, relax and enjoy a moment of contemplation. This is called, “sitting on your butt doing nothing” by some people. The best part of their attitude is that there remains far more tobacco for us to enjoy. I think this Sea-Dog restored very nicely. The numerous fills are not too noticeable with the contrast dye. The stem polished up beautifully and provides an excellent contrast while complimenting the briar grain. The old fashioned orific button can interestingly be directed into one’s mouth with subtle changes to the alignment with the shank. A slight twist can send the smoke into a new direction.

The dimensions of this Sea-Dog Calabash are kind of strange to measure but here they are:
- Length: 5.53 in./ 140,46 mm.
- Weight: 1.53 oz./ 43.70g.
- Bowl Height: 2.09 in./ 53.09 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.60 in./ 40.64 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.73 in./ 18.54 mm.
- Outside Diameter: 1.41 in./ 35.81 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 Sea-Dog Calabash.
A Peterson 306 Oom Paul Restoration

August 29th, 2024
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

Yep, it’s another Peterson. What do you expect from a guy that is also known as NebraksaPeteGeek? This pipe only had to cross the Missouri River to get here. The seller was from just east of Council Bluffs Iowa. I didn’t notice until the tracking said I could expect the pipe to arrive in two days. That’s when I looked at the seller’s location. I felt kind of dumb. Well maybe, dumber. I could have picked the pipe up on the way to visit my sister, east of Council Bluffs and finagle a free dinner out of the trip. Oh well, postal workers need posts just like dogs need head pats and I need more pipes to restore. Everybody is a winner.

The 306 was actually a shape which I did not own. The final 300 shape of the series void is no longer a void. The best part is that the pipe is a sitter and doesn’t really require a slot in a pipe rack. It can just sit in the cabinet next to the rack and look majestic and self-sufficient. This 306 bore the following stamps all immediately below the nickel collar on the left shank: Peterson (arched in the traditional script) over OF DUBLIN (also arched) over SYSTEM over STANDARD 306. The nickel ferrule dome was stamped with the expected K&P over PETERSON. Since this is a standard there were no hallmarks. Below are some photos of the 306 prior to it being worked on.

The briar was in great shape. A little bit of cake in the bowl and a smidge of lava overflowed onto the rim. The stem had seen some chomping and wore the scars. Looking at the indentations it appeared the chomper clenched on his right. Either way, those would need repairs. The whole restoration looked like it would be a relaxing endeavor.

Background

If you have been following this blog for a length of time you know I have done a few Peterson restorations in the past. If you are new here, welcome and I’ve done a few Peterson restorations in the past. I’m not going to go on and on about the history of the oldest continually operating pipe manufacturer in the world and arguably the best. I will however lead you to The Peterson Pipe book. Mark Irwin and Gary Marlburg’s book is a must read for a Pete Geek.

(Available at https://www.smokingpipes.com/accessories/books/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=471478) I am also including a couple of free sites as the book is a bit pricey,

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

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

As a summary of the 306,, I am quoting the Peterson.ie site below. I figured that since this pipe is currently in production why not let the makers speak for themselves.

“About the Shape

Combining the sturdy stability of a Poker with convenient jaw-hanging balance, our flat-bottomed Oom Paul is a versatile design, able to sit stably on a desk or be easily clenched in the teeth. Its bold, muscular proportions resonate with our iconic House Style.”

“About the Series

Our flagship line, the System Standard stamp first appeared in 1945, but the entry-level design has been a staple in our catalogues since Charles Peterson secured his final patent in 1898. Designed to provide a cooler, drier smoke, each pipe features a deep reservoir within the shank to collect excess moisture; a graduated bore mouthpiece that funnels the smoke and allows moisture to collect within the reservoir; a sturdy nickel military mount, which allows the pipe to be broken down and cleaned without damage or warping; and our patented P-Lip bit, which draws the smoke upward, thus reducing tongue bite. While the P-Lip bit is the traditional choice, we also offer System Standard pipes with fishtail stems. Available here in the traditional walnut stain of the Smooth finish.”

“About the Range

In 1890, after 15 years of handling and repairing pipes while working for the Kapps, Charles Peterson secured a patent in his own name, titled “A certain new and useful improvement in Tobacco-Pipes,” which introduced a unique system comprised of a higher draft hole and a moisture reservoir bored into the shank and transition of a briar pipe. Over the next eight years, Charles continued to refine his System, applying for and securing patents for a graduated bore mouthpiece (1891), and a unique button design known today as the P-Lip (1894-1898). Designed to wick moisture away from the smoke, reduce tongue bite, and increase the longevity of the pipe, Peterson’s complete System patent sparked a tradition of innovation, one we continue to uphold to this day. The System Pipe is the invisible source behind our unique House Style: our pipes’ muscular shanks and transitions, tubular profile, and generous bends. Our overall shaping style has a distinctly antique form because it has remained largely unchanged for over 120 years.

In our System range, you’ll find a variety of shapes in myriad finishes, each featuring Charles Peterson’s groundbreaking improvements in the realm of tobacco pipes. Whether you’re looking for your first pipe or to enhance a robust collection, here you’ll find numerous options to suit any taste, all backed by our legacy of craftsmanship.”

(https://www.peterson.ie/pipes/system//system-standard-smooth//moreinfo.cfm/moreinfo.cfm?pd_product_Id=174)

Now, I would never think to tell Peterson how to do their business nor how to engage in marketing but the above blurb “About The Shape” is lacking a certain bit which I find necessary. According to Irwin and Marlberg, “System shapes 304/20FB De Luxe and 306/11FB created by Paddy Larrigan and introduced in 1992” (Irwin, Mark and Malmberg, Gary (2018). The Peterson Pipe The Story of Kapp & Peterson, First edition, second printing 2021. Briar Books Press, Canada. p215). Paddy Larrigan was a third generation Peterson factory worker who was also responsible for the Dunmore line of pipes. His footprint in the history of Peterson should be glossed over. For more information on the Peterson Dunmore line check out my last Dunmore blog: https://wordpress.com/post/scimansays1787.com/6410. That means that this pipe’s origin story could have begun as early as 1992. The Standard line of pipes are difficult to date as they do not have any defining characteristics like hallmarks of silver mounted pipes. I did check the current stampings to see if they offered any notable changes and they appear the same today as this pipe’s stamps.

(https://www.peterson.ie/pipes/system//system-standard-smooth//moreinfo.cfm/moreinfo.cfm?pd_product_Id=174). The only notable difference is that the current production pipes come with an acrylic stem and this 306 has a vulcanite stem. The acrylic stem is a very recent change which occurred in the past year or two.

The Restoration

In typical “me” fashion I began with a laundered denim piece. I cannot use the term clean as the stains from previous restorations are taking a toll on that term.

The reaming crew was called forth.

The PipNet with the #2 blades did most of the work clearing the cake from the tobacco chamber. Further scraping was done with both the Smokingpipes Low Country reaming knife and the General triangular scraper. The interior of the chamber was then sanded with 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel.

The interior of the tobacco chamber had some charring and heat damage. This was scraped and sanded as smooth as possible without drastically changing the interior shape. The damage was not severe nor very deep. I thought the best remediation would be a bowl coating and the end of the restoration.

The stem was next on the schedule. I place it into a fresh solution of Oxiclean and water. And allowed it to soak for 2 hours.

I returned attention to the stummel and took it 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 was dried with a cotton hand towel.

Back at the workbench the stummel looked more clean but there remained some areas with more “shine” than others. I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol. This worked at removing the shine and left the stummel looking more like flat unfinished briar.

The stamps were covered with painters tape to protect them from the upcoming sanding.

The shank and reservoir were then cleaned out with many cotton swabs, folded bristle pipe cleaners, a shank british and scrapings with a dental scraper. The Peterson System does work very well but when neglected it is far from an easy thing to clean.

The stummel was then sanded with a series of sanding sponges with grits of 320-3500. Between each sponge the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad wetted with 95% ethyl alcohol.

The stem was removed from the Oxiclean solution and scrubbed with a couple of Soft Scrub cleanser treated make-up pads. A good deal of oxidized material came off but not as much as I was expecting.

The airway was cleaned with cotton swabs and bristle pipe cleaners dipped in ethyl alcohol. I could still see brown oxidized vulcanite on the stem and decided to give it a dip in the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer. I inserted a pipe cleaner into the P-lip to act as a hanger in the Deoxidizer.

Below, the stem entered the Deoxidizer and was left overnight.

The following morning I removed the stem and allowed it to drip excess solution back into the jar.

The stummel had been sanded. Now it was time for the micro-mesh pads. I micro-meshed the stummel with the 4000-12000 pads. Again between each pad I wiped the stummel with a make-up moistened with ethyl alcohol.

The stummel then received a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm and was allowed to sit for as long as it took for the stem repair, sanding and micro-meshing.

Back to the drip dried stem. I used a coarse shop rag to wipe/scrub the remaining Deoxidizer from the stem. The air way had 2 pipe cleaners run through it to remove the solution.

At last the stem was looking brilliantly black. A bit pitted but the pits were black too.

I again used Soft Scrub cleanser on make-up pads on the stem. Much less oxidized rubber came off. The inside of the tenon and airway were again cleaned making sure that any remaining Deoxidizer was removed.

I sanded the Chomped areas with a 600 grit sanding sponge to ensure fresh vulcanite to work with. By “work with”, I mean to fill with black cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue). Below you can see the button top and bottom areas to repair.

The CA I was using has carbon and rubber in the formula making the fills more vulcanite-like. In other words, rubberizing the CA rather than the more hard and brittle black CA I used last winter. Small dabs of CA were placed onto the indentations.

The wet CA was then spritzed with a CA drying accelerator. This cures the CA in seconds as the accelerator evaporates.

The cured CA was then filed level with the surrounding vulcanite. The dark spots in the photo below indicate areas where additional CA needs to accumulate. I use several small applications rather than one large one.

The same for the bottom side of the stem.

Eventually with additional applications and filings the stem was sanded smooth.

With the fills completed the whole stem was sanded with the series of sanding sponges 400-3500. Between each sponge I applied a fingertip of mineral oil to the stem, rubbed it in and wiped the stem with a dry paper towel.

After the sanding the stem was micro-meshed with the 4000-12000 pads. Between each pad I applied a small drop of Obsidian Oil to the stem, rubbed it in and wiped with a paper towel.

The stem was polished using Before and After Fine Polish rubbed with a soft cotton cloth.

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

The stummel was wiped of the Restoration Balm with an inside out athletic sock.

The pipe was then taken to the buffer for several coats of carnauba wax. This is where my forgetfulness comes to light. I photographed the “finished” pipe at this time. Upon completing the photo shoot, I realized that I still needed to coat the bowl. Darn old people… I was out of pure maple syrup but I did have a jar of German organic honey, a gift from a Europe traveling niece. I lightly coated the inside of the bowl with honey. I then plugged the draft hole with a pipe cleaner. I used half a capsule of carbon powder poured into the bowl, covered the rim with my hand and shook the stummel for several seconds. I ended up with a very nice circle of carbon powder on the thick part of my thumb and a well coated tobacco chamber. That is the last photo in the “finished” section below.

That is it, the relaxing restoration of a Peterson System Standard 306. I am very pleased with how well this Pete looks. At least on the outside. As with any damaged interior I will have to smoke it and monitor it closely. I can say that the inaugural smoke was with a lightly packed Five Brothers shag cut Burley. I didn’t want to scrape any of the coating off so a very soft cut tobacco was used. Everything went as planned, the honey baked in nicely with the carbon powder and it appears to be on its way to a solid carbon coating. Back to the restoration. The vulcanite was rid of the oxidation and it looks great. The briar with its bird’s eyes on the left and flame grain on the right are beautiful. I am sure this pipe will continue to be used many times while contemplating my next restoration. The dimensions of this Peterson System Standard 306 are:
- Length: 6.63 in./ 168.28 mm.
- Weight: 2.08 oz./ 59.20 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.91 in./ 48.51 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.61 in./ 40.89 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.77 in./ 19.56 mm.
- Outside Diameter: 1.46 in./ 37.08 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 Peterson System Standard 306.
A Peterson Meerschaum 120 Dublin Restoration

August 27th, 2024
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

Back in the 1990s I worked with a fellow teacher and Nebraska Air Guard F4 pilot who often said, “Better lucky than good, any day.” That phrase has stuck with me over the years and applies to so very many daily occurrences. The acquisition of this pipe for instance. It was part of a lot of 12 pipes. The other 12 were nothing to be too excited about; Yello-Boles, Dr Grabows, a split seam leather Longchamp, etc… and what appeared to be a Peterson Meerschaum hiding in the background ashamed at it’s lot in life. The photos of the lot were as usual, less than perfect yet, I knew what I thought I was seeing. I was sure that someone else would see the same thing and the lot would sell quickly. It didn’t. The auction closed with no sale and was relisted. I cannot remember how many times this relisting occurred. I finally couldn’t take the thought of a Peterson meerschaum going unloved and messaged the seller with an offer. The auction was not set as a “Make Best Offer” but I figured it was worth a shot. The seller messaged me back saying that he reduced the price to my offer. Well, that was easy.

Needless to say, after a few days of waiting the package arrived here in the wilds of southeast Nebraska. The anticipation was palpable as I tore through the packaging. I eventually unwrapped a P-lip stem with the unmistakable P stamped clearly. I knew it! Next the stummel emerged from it’s protective tissue paper. The seller knew how to package and ship pipes and not just for dramatic effect. The stem and stummel were reunited and I saw my latest prize. As typical, the only stamp was the Peterson stem logo but the shape was unmistakable a 120 Dublin. Below are some photos of the pipe prior to doing any work on it.

Background

Earlier this year I restored a Peterson meerschaum 406 Prince. I will use a good deal of the “Background” from that blog here again:

I included a few links concerning the history of Peterson pipes. I will include those here also. “For a great history Mark Irwin and Gary Marlburg’s book is a must read for a Pete Geek.

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

Irwin, Mark and Malmberg, Gary (2018). The Peterson Pipe The Story of Kapp & Peterson, First edition, second printing 2021. Briar Books Press, Canada.

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

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

For the history of Peterson Meerschaums I will mainly be citing Irwin and Marlberg’s The Peterson Pipe book. Peterson has a long history of meerschaum pipe making dating back to the 1870s (Irwin, 2018 p. 15). At the time when Charles Peterson began working for the Kapp brothers in Dublin, meerschaum was the old traditional material while briar was a new innovation destined to become more popular in the next century. It was with briar that Charles Peterson created his original patents for the reservoir in 1890 and for the graduated-bore mouthpiece with what we call the “Patent-Lip” (P-Lip) today, in 1894. 1893 was the year that Charles Peterson and Henry Kapp bought out the shares of Christian Kapp of the Family business, which the brothers had run together. “Christian was evidently not happy with this arrangement and disliked Dublin. He trained to become a doctor, and on 12 June 1893 he sold his share of the business to his brother and Charles Peterson” (Irwin, 2018 p. 48). The Kapp & Peterson company was born and the Peterson System has continued for over 130 years.

Now obviously the lovely Peterson meerschaum pipe in hand is not something made at the turn of the century. According to Irwin and Malmberg, “ In 1968, Peterson returned to making block-meerschaum pipes after forty years. They had made block meerschaums in all Patent Systems and many Classic Range shapes from 1896 until about 1929. The scarcity and rising cost of amber, fragility of meerschaum and popularity of briar all contributed to the end of meerschaum production.” (Irwin, 2018 p. 158). The authors go on to state that, “These Republic-era meerschaums were first made in partnership with Manxman Pipes, Ltd., on the Isle of Man, a company Peterson bought outright in the early 1970’s (Irwin, 2018 p. 158).

I am not quite sure how the purchase of Manxman pipes worked. Manxman was an apparent subsidiary of Laxey Pipes Ltd. According to pipedia.org:

“Laxey Pipes Ltd. resided in a historical 19th century four-storey Man stone building at The Quay, Old Laxey, Isle of Man, which thankfully has been preserved.

The company specialised in the production of meerschaum pipes using the Meerschaum mined by the Tanganyika Meerschaum Corporation in the Amboseli basin in Tanganyika (since 1964 part of the United Republic of Tanzania).

Please note: you may often find names like “Manx Pipes Ltd.”, “Man Pipe Co.” and others more, but there is no indication of another Isle of Man pipe producer other than Laxey Pipe Ltd. at any time!

Laxey Pipes Ltd. marketed own brands like “Manxpipe”, “Manxman”, “Manxland” e.c. Names like “John Bull”, “White Knight” (unwaxed), “Domino” (black, or lined) indicated some shapes / colours of Laxey’s own series. The stems either showed the astronomical sign for “male” or “man” (circle + arrow), or the crest of the Isle of Man, the 3-legged X in a circle. Manxpipes and Laxey’s other brands were available through pipe retailers in general, but also were sold (mainly) to tourists through their own shop in Laxey.

Furthermore Laxey Pipes Ltd. manufactured the meer bowls for Peterson, Barling, Nørding and others from the later 1960’s until 2001. Man Pipe e.g. was a brand distibuted by Comoy’s. The bowls usually showed no nomenclature indicating the orderer. “Genuine Block Meerschaum” was engraved frequently. Often, just the stems were different, while bowls were the same.

Supply of meerschaum from East Africa run out (Kenya / Tanzania exhausted, Somalia inaccessible), and thus the last Laxey meers were supplied to trade in May, 2001. Laxey Pipes Ltd. tried to survive continuing with briar pipes – mainly in the Danish style -, but to no success. It closed down business in July, 2002.”

(Laxey Pipes Ltd. – Pipedia)

As for the age of this 120 Dublin, the first documented 120 shape I found in The Peterson Pipe book was on the 1947 shape chart (Irwin, 2018 pp. 156-157). During the Free State Era ( 1922-1937 the Dublin looking shape had an R413 number. The Patent Pipes from 1890-1921 had a Dublin-esque shape named the “Kaffir” and did not have shape numbers (Irwin, 2018 p. 122, 124).

In the “A New Leaf” meerschaum brochure from 1968 there appear photos of the Peterson meerschaums offered (Irwin, 2018 p. 105). The 120 shape is represented however the stem/shank joint is very flush and smooth with a continuous taper. This 120 has a rounded shank end at the stem shank joint. The 1975 catalog photos show meerschaum pipes with stem/shank joints like this pipe (Irwin, 2018 p. 164, 166). This leads me to believe that this Peterson Meerschaum was made in the mid1970s-early 1980s.

The Restoration

Like I usually do, I began with a clean denim piece to work on.

My old Oxiclean solution was getting discolored and was not smelling very good so a new solution was made. 1 ½ tablespoons of Oxiclean powder in about 500 ml of tap water.

The stem of the Peterson was placed in the solution for a soak in the oxy.

Reaming with a reaming tool like the PipNet is not recommended for meerschaum due to it’s brittle nature and the torque generated with a tool like the PipNet would probably not be a good thing. Instead I used the Smokingpipes Low Country reaming knife and the General triangular scraper. The tip of the General had been ground from the original sharp point to a more rounded tip with a grinding wheel. A wood dowel wrapped in 220 sandpaper joined in.

The scraping did not produce a great deal of removed cake but it did clear the tobacco chamber.

When cleaning the rim I noticed what appeared to be filled cracks. I saw no evidence that these cracks joined together and actually represented a large piece of the pipe that had been broken off and later repaired. Though looking at the outer stummel surface the finish is smoothed (without rustication) between the two cracks. The area between the crack also looked thinner than the rest of the stummel. I think this was evidence of a repair by a previous owner or an attempt by the factory to salvage a flawed stummel. Either way the stummel looked and felt structurally sound.

Scraping the tobacco chamber was difficult as the cake was very hard and held firmly to the walls of the chamber. Sanding was slow and exposed fresh meerschaum at the rim of the chamber.

After the chamber was sanded I scrubbed the stummel with warm water and a medium toothbrush. The traditional Murphy Oil Soap was not used, only warm water. The water and toothbrush did appear to remove some of the accumulated grime making the stummel look a bit more clean than previously.

To unify the staining of the pipe’s rim, I used furniture touch-up stain markers.

I started with black around the rim.

I then used the mahogany immediately below the black. Sorry about the blurriness of the photo.

After the stain had dried a few minutes I used a make-up pad wetted with 95% ethyl alcohol to blend the two lines of stain together. Below you can see the results of my blending.

The stem was removed from the oxi bath after 2 hours and was wiped vigorously with a dry cotton make-up pad. A good deal of oxidized vulcanite was removed.

I cleaned the shank airway with folded over bristle pipe cleaners, a nylon shank brush and cotton swabs dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

The stem was then scrubbed with Soft Scrub cleanser applied to make-up pads. After scrubbing I applied a layer of mineral oil to the stem.

The airway of the stem was cleaned with bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

The pipe sat neglected for a whole day due to the incredibly busy schedule of a retired slacker, I mean teacher. When I returned to work on the stem I wiped the excess mineral oil and lightly sanded with the 320 sanding sponge.

There were a few deep dents in the stem that would require filling with black cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue). Small drops of CA were placed onto each of the dents.

The CA was then spritzed with a CA drying accelerator. This allows the CA to cure almost instantly.

The cured CA was then lightly filed with a small flat file. This removes the top of the CA fill, getting it smooth with the surrounding vulcanite.

The new fill was then sanded with 320 and 400 grit sanding sponges. The logo was covered with a piece of painters tape to protect the logo from further sanding. The stem was then sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 600-3500. Between each sponge the stem was rubbed with a dab of mineral oil by fingertip and wiped with a dry paper towel.

The flaws on the surface of the rim were filled with a different black CA. The product I use for the stem is “rubberized”. I wanted a hader CA fill for the rim so I used a non-rubberized black CA. I placed a drop of the black CA on the bottom of an upside down medicine cup. I dabbed a fly tying bodkin into the drop to get some CA onto the bodkin then applied it to the flaws. This allowed me to have precise placement of the CA limiting the sanding of excess CA fill.

I allowed the CA to cure on its own without any accelerator. This was a slow process with a good deal of waiting between applications. Once cured, I very lightly sanded the rim with a 400 and 600 sanding sponge to remove the excess CA.

Several applications and sandings later I was pleased with the result. You can see that the sanding was very light leaving most of the previously dyed rim black or, mostly so.

The rim was then re-dyed with the black stain touch-up marker. And allowed to dry.

The finished rim has imperfections which I purposely left. I thought that a pristine smooth finish would look out of place with the rustication of the stummel.

Next I cleaned the logo of any Obsidian Oil with a cotton swab dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

Using white acrylic model paint and a fine detail paint brush I applied white paint to the logo. This acrylic paint is water based and dries quickly.

The 4000 grit micro-mesh dam was used to remove the excess white paint.

I worked the stem with micro-mesh pads 4000-12000. Between each pad I applied a small drop of Obsidian Oil, rubbed it onto the stem and wiped with a dry paper towel.

Before and After Fine Polish was used with a soft cotton cloth on the stem to increase the level of polish.

The Fine Polish was followed with Before and After Extra Fine Polish applied and hand buffed with the same soft cotton cloth.

To finish the stummel I needed to prepare for a beeswax coating. I gathered the heat gun, canning jar with beeswax & brush, a catch tin for wax drips and a shallow pan with water. The pan and water help to heat/melt the wax and keep it melted while I work.

The canning jar with beeswax was placed into the water in the pad and the stove lit. The boiling water will melt the wax.

WHile I was waiting for the wax to liquify, I waxed the Peterson stem at the buffer with carnauba wax.

The hot water bath melted the wax. I heated the stummel with the heat gut. I have to admit I was a bit worried about heating the mortise and tenon too much.

With the stummel hot and the beeswax melted I started painting the liquid wax onto the stummel. I painted the top 1.3 and the entirety of the shank. As I painted the accumulating wax was cooling making a lumpy looking mess.

The heat gun was again turned on and the stummel was rotated in all directions in the flow of hot air. The wax remelted and flowed over the surface of the stummel. I herded the wax around with the paint brush to make sure that everything was getting it’s fair share of melted wax. The excess wax drips were accumulating in the catch tin.

With every part of the stummel well coated with hot liquid wax I used a paper towel to absorb the remaining excess wax from the stummel.

The pipe was hot to the touch so I laced it onto the workbench to cool.

There you have it, the restoration of a Peterson Meerschaum 120 Dublin. This old girl turned out pretty well. I still wonder what happened to the Dublin Darling from the Isle of Man regarding the cracks in the bowl. I believe that the whole rear of the bowl was chipped out at some time and repaired with a pretty darn good glue job. The crack seems can kind of be made out in the photo below of the back/shank side of the pipe. Whatever happened she should continue being a grand little pipe for many years. The fresh beeswax looks good and the stem polished up very well. The dimensions of this 120 Dublin are:
- Length: 6.00 in./ 152.40 mm.
- Weight: 1.28 oz./ 36.50 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.71 in./ 43.43 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.47 in./ 37.34 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.74 in./ 18.80 mm.
- Outside Diameter: 1.33 in./ 33.53 mm.
I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

Below are some photos of the finished Peterson Meerschaum 120 Dublin.
A Needham Restoration

August 22nd, 2024
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

This is a pipe I read about in 2023 and have been searching the auctions for since. One showed up in Italy a few months ago and the price was just too steep for my tastes. Finally this one showed up with an estate lot. I didn’t really want any of the other pipes in the lot but they were a package deal. I watched the auction run to the allotted time and still would not pay the asking minimum bid. The seller relisted the lot and my watch began anew. Again no one met the minimum asking price. The item was relisted a third time, with a “Make Best Offer” option. “Okay, now we’re talking”, I thought. I waited a few days then sent an offer with a note that I was only really interested in the Needham. The offer was accepted and I received the lot a few days later.

I was ecstatic when I saw the Needham in the flesh. The condition was much better than I expected or than the photos showed. Actually, a couple of the other pipes were also quite interesting and will most likely be seen in the future. The Needham looked to have only been smoked a few times, if that. The bottom of the tobacco chamber appeared unfired. The stamps on the base of the pipe were clear and well imprinted and read, NEEDHAM over IMPORTED BRIAR over PAT’D. There is no stem logo. The only other distinguishing feature is the red anodized aluminum screw at the front of the stummel base. Below are some photos of the pipe as it appeared upon arrival.

Background

The advertisement which originally sparked my interest in the Needham pipe is the below from the November issue of Pipe Lovers magazine 1946, page 365.

(https://archive.org/details/pipe-lovers-magazine-1946-7/Pipe%20Lovers%20Magazine%201946-11/page/n3/mode/2up)

Now, you would think with an idea this great and a shape this cool and a pipe market that was smoking (pun intended) this would have been a great success with tomes written about and chronicling this wondrous development of human ingenuity. Umm, no. Here is what Pipedia.org has to say about Needham pipes:

(American Pipe Brands & Makers N – Q – Pipedia)

Perhaps pipephil.eu has access to the hoards of documentation for the brand?

Bah, fortunately, dear reader I am not easily dissuaded by failure. I did come across a few interesting reads regarding the original Needham patent and the flush of smoking pipe innovations from the late 1800s-mid1900s. First lets take a look at the original Needham patent submitted September 30, 1942.

(https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/c6/1e/a1/c5a59e50ecc2e6/US2349296.pdf)

This shows almost exactly the pipe in hand.

The second article shows a condensed form of the previous long description:

The final is an essay by Ben Rapaport, with my favorite quote where he is describing fundamental changes to smoking pipes over the past 100 years, “So what’s left? Asked and answered: all the quirky, kitschy, zany-looking concoctions, contraptions, and gimmicks, the Rube Goldbergian attempts at either changing the pipe’s outer appearance or reengineering the interior’s performance. Quite a few offered to the smoking public in the early to mid-20th century were, literally and figuratively, pipe bombs—not the homemade, improvised explosive devices—pipes that never got much consumer traction; their designs were of questionable functionality and of dubious benefits. A few were advertised as delivering a healthier smoke. Others were so butt-ugly that no self-respecting pipe smoker would have been seen puffing one of these in public.” (https://pipedia.org/images/e/e9/Rapaport-Pipe_Bombs.pdf) Ben Rapaport does have a nice description of the Needham and it’s intended improvements:

(https://pipedia.org/images/e/e9/Rapaport-Pipe_Bombs.pdf)

In examining the stummel and measuring drilling depths, I came up with the following diagram (measurements and their corresponding representations are approximate and not to scale):

Do I think that this system would work? Not really. The theory is reasonable but the dimensions don’t seem appropriate. If the condensing chamber were to be tripled in length and the moisture drain would be drilled larger in diameter, then maybe. It would then be a pipe more like a horizontal Cavelier. As built, I think that the small amount of moisture condensed would foul the moisture drain and not accumulate in the Moisture chamber.

(https://pipedia.org/wiki/Cavalier)

Needham pipe advertisements appear in the 1946 November and December issues of Pipe Smokers magazine. The patent for the Needham was applied for in 1942 and issued in 1944. I cannot find anything about the Needham pipe factory or what became of it. I think it is safe to say that this pipe was made around 1946.

The Restoration

As usual the restoration began with a clean piece of denim to work on.

The reaming tools, though hardly necessary, were gathered.

I used the PipNet with the #2 blades to ream the tobacco chamber. I can’t really call the smoking residue that was present cake. It was more like a communion wafer than a cake. I scraped the chamber clean and sanded with the 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel.

Not surprisingly, the walls of the Neeham were nearly pristine.

Next the shank and the lower moisture chamber (as it was called in the advertisement) were cleaned using cotton swabs and bristle pipe cleaners both dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

The below photo shows the two holes drilled in the stummel. The top hole is the draft hole while the bottom is supposedly the hole where the condensation will drain into the moisture chamber.

Here I have run a pipe cleaner through the lower hole and out the front of the moisture chamber.

Here a pipe cleaner is run through the upper hole and into the tobacco chamber.

After the shank was cleaned I turned my attention to the stem.

With the inside clean, I sanded the surface with a 400 grit sanding sponge and prepared the stem for a dip into the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer or, as I like to call it deox.

Into the deox with you.

The pipe cleaner inserted into the tenon acts as a hanger for the stem.

I left the stem in deox for about three hours, it was two episodes of rewatching The Umbrella Academy while working on the stummel and a lunch break. The stummel was taken to the sink for a scrubbing with a nylon scrub brush and undiluted Murphy Oil Soap. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton dish towel.

Upon returning to the workbench the stummel was wiped with 95% ethyl alcohol on a make-up pad. There appeared to be some residual finish on the briar.

The scrub and wipe did reveal several pits which would require filling with cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust.

There remained some kind of finish on the wood. I used acetone on a make-up pad and that seemed to be what was needed to remove the stubborn clear finish.

I sanded the stummel with a 400 grit sanding sponge. At this time I applied thin coats of CA to the grooves seen earlier. The sanding dust provided the briar dust needed to combine with the CA and fill the depressions. The shallow grooves only took one application of the CA while the deeper groove required 3 and subsequent sanding to fill it. The series of sanding sponges then continued from 600 through the 3500 grit. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad moistened with ethyl alcohol.

After lunch the stem was taken from the deox and allowed to drip dry using the pipe cleaner hanger pinched into a bottle lid.

When finished dripping the stem was vigorously rubbed with a coarse shop rag to remove the deox loosened oxidation. This can be seen as the discoloring on the shop rag, below. The stem ‘s surface looked pitted and rough.

I scrubbed the stem with several make-up pads sprinkled with Soft Scrub cleanser to remove more of the surface oxidation. The stem was now black and received a coating of mineral oil before the next step.

Next came the sanding sponges, 320-1000 grit. I first wrapped the shank with painters tape to protect it. I needed to reattach the stem to the stummel to ease holding the stem.Between each sponge I applied mineral oil, rubbed it in with my fingers and wiped the stem with a clean dry paper towel.

The pitting was sanded away and revealed a much more uniform black vulcanite. This was further sanded with the 1500-3500 sanding sponges again with the mineral oil rub and wipe between each sponge.

The tape was removed and the stummel and sem were worked with the 4000-12000 micro-mesh pads. The stummel was again wiped with alcohol on a make-up pad between micro-mesh pads. The stem now received a small drop of Obsidian Oil rubbed in and wiped with a paper towel.

Before and After Restoration Balm was then applied to both the stem and stummel and allowed to sit for an episode of The Umbrella Academy, about 45 minutes.

The Restoration Balm was wiped off using an inside out athletic sock and energetic hand buffing to clear the balm from the carvings.

The pipe looked amazing. I then took it to the buffer for several coats of carnauba wax. The wax was worked into and with the scratch-like rustications. This took considerably longer than a typical wax and buff.

I was very pleased with the restoration of this Needham Not just because I finally found one to restore, although that was pretty cool in itself. The briar grain is pretty and I wonder why the rustication was used. I have not seen any versions of a Needham pipe with a smooth finish. The vulcanite cleaned-up well and looks great. I have yet to smoke the Needham and experience the effectiveness of this system. I do have my doubts about the need for the extra drillings and chamber. Who knows, I will be completely happy with either result – a nice relaxing smoke with a neutral tobacco. I’m thinking Peterso’s Early Morning Pipe blend. If you want to know my impressions of the system let me know in the comments. Also if you have any information about the Needham Pipe Company or Edward F. Needham, I’d love to read that as well. The dimensions of this Needham are:
- Length: 5.67 in./ 144.02 mm.
- Weight: 1.47 oz./ 41.80 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.74 in./ 44.20 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.29 in./ 32.77 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.85 in./ 21.59 mm.
- Outside Diameter: 1.38 in./ 35.05 mm.
I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

Below are some photos of the finished Needham.
A Silverking Synchromatic Billiard Restoration

August 15th, 2024

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

SilverKing a name that everyone has heard of and associates with … Umm, what? Haven’t heard of em, eh? Well neither had I but it is still a darn fine looking piece of briar. And it’s made in France, maybe. Okay, I am reaching for some enthusiasm . This lovely old billiard was one of six pipes that I won from ebay back in June of this year from Hollywood, Florida. The target of my desire was the Peterson meerschaum (2nd from the right) which was hiding amongst these pipes as seen in the photo below. I have restored all but one of the lot. As a matter of fact, the Barclay Rex was sold right after the restoration blog was published. I will add links to the restorations of the others for those who might be interested: Canted Dublin, Barclay Rex, Telford’s Canadian, Peterson meerschaum. The finished pipes look far better than their below photo.

Back to the subject at hand, this lovely Silverking billiard. The pipe was stamped with SILVERKING over SYNCHROMATIC on the left shank and ALGERIAN BRIAR over FRANCE on the right shank. The stem has a crown stamped logo and the silver band is stamped EP within a diamond and three Hallmarks (middle and stem-ward worn to illegible). Below are photos of the Silverking billiard prior to working on it.

This looked to be a straightforward restoration with no glaring difficulties. There were a few deep fills to be made to the briar, a slightly overclocked stem and the missing stinger but other than that a nice relaxing afternoon in the basement avoiding the heat of mid-summer.

Background

I would love to be able to tell a good story about the trials and tribulations of the Silverking pipe factory but alas, there is scant information concerning this maker. If you have any additional information, please feel free to leave it or links in the comments. All I could find is the following from pipephil.eu:

(Si-Siq — Pipes: Logos & Markings (pipephil.eu)). Referring to the “?” at the top right of the screenshot below, I am not sure why there is a question about the country of manufacture (COM) of this pipe as it is clearly stamped MADE IN FRANCE or in the case of my Silverking FRANCE. “Made in France” is also stated in the text above.

I looked at the “Otherline from this factory” links and they are included here:

(Big Ben — Pipes : Logos & Markings (pipephil.eu))

(Go-Gq — Pipes: Logos & Markings (pipephil.eu))

Not much to work with. A quick search on pipdedia.org resulted in the following quote,

“This is probably not a brand but rather the name of a line of an unknown french factory.

Other line from this factory: Big Ben Reputation , Gold King”(Silverking – Pipedia).

It looked like pipedia.org got their information from pipephil.eu as well.

Now we can assume a bit of information about the date of production. Algeria had been a source of briar from the mid to late 1800s and into the early 1900s. During the years of World War Two briar production was severely limited. After the war briar production returned. Algeria was a French colony and like many colonies during the mid 20th Century, experienced a wave of anticolonialism. The French attempted to squelt this anticolonialism leading to the Algerian war of independence from 1954-1962. During this time Briar production from Algeria was greatly reduced. According to the Wikipedia.com article fatalities of the conflict were, “between 400,000 and 1,500,000 Algerians,^[40]^[24]^[22] 25,600 French soldiers,^[15]^: 538 and 6,000 Europeans.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_War).

A more complete story of the military operations is available here: https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/military-review/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20081031_art012.pdf

Well that about sums up all I know about this old pipe. It was made in France of Algerian Briar. Most likely between the second world war and 1954.

The Restoration

As typical this restoration began with a relatively clean denim piece as a work surface.

The reaming tools were gathered and included the Scotte Stainless Steel reamer rather than the traditional PiNet reamer due to the narrow tobacco chamber and the fact that my PiNet #1 blade suffered a catastrophic failure. The Scotte did a fine job and only required a small amount of scraping with the Smokingpipes Low Country Reaming knife and the General triangular scraper.

After the reaming the chamber was sanded with 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. No heat damage was observed in the chamber.

The shank cleaning was done with 95% ethyl alcohol, a nylon shank brush, bristle pipe cleaners and cotton swabs.

After the shank was cleaned I turned my attention to the stem. Here the ethyl alcohol and bristle pipe cleaners were used to clean the airway of the stem.

The rim of this old French billiard had definite lava accumulations. This was softened with saliva and scraped with a sharp pocket knife.

The scraped rim looked better but would require a good scrubbing.

Seque to the scrubbing. The stummel was taken to the sink for a scrubbing with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a medium toothbrush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel was dried with a cotton dish towel.

Back at the workbench the stummel appeared to have most of the finish removed during the scrubbing. The briar looked dull and flat except in a few areas where some finish remained.

An 95% ethyl alcohol wetted make-up pad was used to scrub the stummel. A good deal of color came off the stummel. This indicated that wax, finish and stain were being removed.

A second alcohol wipe yielded more color.

To make sure no coatings remained a wipe with a make-up pad with acetone was used. This time only a little bit of stain was present on the pad.

All of the scrubbing and wiping allowed me to see the pits and damage to the stummel. These would require a fill of brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust.

The gouges received a small drop of CA applied with a fly tying bodkin. While the CA was still wet I scooped a small amount of briar dust with a dental scraper and placed the dust on the wet CA. This was then pressed into the wet CA in the depressions..

The briar dust causes the CA to cure almost instantly so once the dust is placed, pressing had to occur immediately. The excess dust was brushed off with a brass brush.

The new fill was filed with a flat diamond needle file to remove and smooth the fill then was sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge.

In deeper fills this process was repeated until the fill was complete. The completed fills appear much darker than the surrounding briar. The light spots seen below are slight depressions with dry briar dust from sanding in them. A final coat of clear thin CA was applied to the dry spots and they were sanded with a dusty 400 grit sanding sponge. The dust was incorporated into the slight depression with the clear thin CA to fill the last of the low spots.

The above procedure was used to fill pits of the shank.

And the heel of the stummel.

To conceal the fills and to add contrast to the briar grain, I decided to contrast dye this stummel. Black Fiebing’s Leather Dye was chosen for this. The duct tape wrapped fishing bobber acts as a plug to keep dye out of the tobacco chamber and as a handle. The folded pipe cleaner is the applicator for the dye while the lighter provides a flame when burning off the alcohol solvent of the dye fixing it to the briar. Notice that I used painters tape to cover the stamps. This is done to keep the dye from penetrating the briar on the stamp. Were that area to become darkly dyed, extra sanding/buffing would have reduced the stamps.

Below is the black dyed stummel, still wet with Fiebing’s Leather Dye.

I wiped off the remaining damp dye with a paper towel. This also removed my painters tape stamp protectors. Here you can see that the stamped area received less dye thus reducing the amount of sanding/buffing that the stamp will be exposed to.

The blackened stummel was taken to the buffer where rouge buffing compound was used to buff away the router black dyed briar. The results looked good but I wanted the stummel to be lighter overall in color.

To further lighten the briar I lightly sanded the stummel with 320 and 400 grit sanding sponges. This removed more of the black dyed briar. When I was happy with the shade, I sanded the stummel with a series of sanding sponges 600-3500 grits and wiped the stummel with an alcohol dampened make-up pad between each sponge..

I turned my attention to the stem. The slightly over-clocked stem could have been adjusted a couple of different ways; by heating the aluminum threads until the rubber softened and then turning the aluminum slightly or to add a bead of black cyanoacrylate to the end of the stem. I chose the later as the overclocking was so slight. Here I sanded the stem from about its middle to the button with 320 and 400 grit sanding sponges.

I then used Soft Scrub cleanser on make-up pads to scrub the entire stem. The pads became very dark with oxidized stem material. I was uncertain as to the material used with this stem. Normally oxidized vulcanite yields a brown color on the make-up pad. This was nearly black. I coated the stem with mineral oil and allowed it to sit for 30 minutes. After the sitting, the stem looked black with no signs of a brown oxidized stem.

The stem was then sanded with a sequence of sanding sponges from 600-3500 grit. I did cover the stem logo with a small piece of painters tape to protect it from the sanding. Between each sponge I rubbed mineral oil onto the stem with my fingertip and wiped the stem with a paper towel.

After the sanding sponges the stem was polished with 4000-12000 micro-mesh pads. Between each pad I applied a drop of Obsidian Oil to the stem, rubbed it in with a fingertip and wiped the stem with a paper towel.

After micro-meshing the stem, I cleaned the logo area with a cotton swab dipped in alcohol to remove any oil.

I then used Silver Leaf Rub’nBuff on the logo. The silver was worked into the stamped logo, allowed to dry for a couple minutes and buffed with a paper towel to remove the excess. I know, the pipephil.eu information said that the Silverking used white on the logo but I thought that silver would look a touch more classy.

The stummel was micro-meshed in a similar fashion except without the Obsidian oil. Here I wiped the stummel with an alcohol dampened make-up pad between pads.

The stummel was given a coat of Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit for 20 minutes. I failed to photo this step. After 20 minutes the Restoration Balm was wiped off with an inside out athletic sock. I failed to photo that as well. The final step was to take the pipe to the buffer for several coats of carnauba wax.

This pipe turned out very well. I really like how the contrast staining brought out the differences in the grain. It made the bird’s eyes stand out much better than I hoped it would. The stem polished up well. I still do not know exactly what the stem material is but it looks good and didn’t turn my lips black when I sampled the draw of the pipe. I do wish the stinger was intact though the draw is very nice without it. I am sure this will be a nice smoking pipe for someone who loves a long billiards. With it’s relatively tall and narrow tobacco chamber I expect it would make a fine Virginia or Virginia Perique blend pipe. The dimensions of this French beauty are:

Length: 6.34 in./ 161.04 mm.

Weight: 1.38 oz./ 39.30 g.

Bowl Height: 1.83 in./ 46.48 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.53 in./ 38.86 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.69 in./ 17.53 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.46 in./ 37.08 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 Silverking Synchromatic billiard.
A Frank Dublin Horn Stem Restoration

August 13th, 2024

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

This is something that you don’t see everyday: An original unfired early 1900s Frank Dublin pipe with a nickel plated band, horn stem and threaded bone reverse tenon. This pipe was part of an eclectic estate lot which contained a couple of old pipes in unsmoked condition. This was the first of that lot I have tackled. The stamps on this pipe read, Frank (in a cursive script) over ITALIAN BRIAR. There is no shape number. The band is stamped with three five pointed stars over 3 faux hallmarks (an anchor, a star and a walking figure with a bird-like head) over NICKEL PLATED. Judging by the horn stem with an orific style button and the bone tenon, I am guessing this pipe was made prior to 1920.

Below are some photos of the Frank Dublin prior to it receiving any work:

Okay, this is more of a clean-up than a full restoration since the pipe has never been smoked. And, yes, keeping to the original aesthetic is usually paramount to a restoration but, I am pretty sure that there is briar grain under that stain that needs to see the light of day. The finish will be removed. The stem sanded and polished and the whole thing made beautiful. All without having to clear the yuck from a shank – YAY!

Background

The name Frank refers to Sam Frank Sr. who started building a pipe empire in 1900. I will let the article for pipdia.org explain this, “In the year 1900 Sam Frank Sr. started his own business, selling pipes and other tobacco items. His original office was located at 20 W. 17th Street, NYC. He was also closely associated with the sales staff of Wm. DeMuth & Co., selling their line of pipes. It was at this time that Mr. Frank first met Ferdinand Feuerbach and formed what would be a lifelong friendship. Mr. Feuerbach started working for the DeMuth company in 1897 and by 1903 had become the production manager. In 1919, when Mr. Frank needed an experienced pipe man to run his pipe factory, located at 168 Southern Blvd., in the Bronx, he persuaded his old friend Ferdinand to join him. Mr. Feuerbach is credited with developing DeMuth’s popular Royal DeMuth and Hesson Guard Milano pipelines. In 1922, when S. M. Frank purchased the Manhattan Briar Pipe Co. the company incorporated. In 1933, the paper Medico filter was introduced along with the Medico brand line of pipes. The Medico filter is the “original” and most absorbent paper filter on the market that is recognized by pipe smokers world-wide. Filtered pipe smoking, a debatable issue among pipe smokers, reduces tars and nicotine in the smoke stream to make a “safer” smoke.” (S. M. Frank & Co. – Pipedia) (italics are mine)

As for the year that this ppe was produced, I found an article on S.M. Frank which states, “The earliest recorded location of the S. M. Frank pipe factory was 292 Ave. B in Manhattan in 1903. This was their factory until the late 1910s, when they moved to 168 Southern Blvd. in the Bronx.” (https://www.14to42.net/21street.html) The above quote from pipedia.org mentions that Frank, “In 1919, when Mr. Frank needed an experienced pipe man to run his pipe factory” (S. M. Frank & Co. – Pipedia). These two pieces of information indicate that the Frank pipe factory was established in 1903 and produced pipes through 1919 and beyond. Judging by the orific style stem of this pipe, I am assuming that it was made in the Frank factory located in the Bronx of New York City. Steve Laug, of rebornpipes.com, discusses the orific button in depth (https://rebornpipes.com/2013/05/17/whatever-happened-to-the-orific-button/). In this post he notes that pipes with orific buttons in his collection date from 1850s-1912. Personally I do not think that I have ever seen an orific button on any pipe from later than 1920. This reinforces my claim that this Frank Dublin was made prior to 1920. More specifically between 1903 and 1919.

The Restoration

As typical with my restorations, I began with a clean denim piece. No tar stains from this old girl. There would be a bit of black sanding dust though.

The annoying sticker and its old adhesive would have to go.

The sticker was scraped free and the stubborn adhesive removed with 95% ethyl alcohol on a cotton swab.

The stummel was taken to the sink for a scrubbing with Murphy Oil Soap and a medium toothbrush. The Murphy’s removed the century worth of dirt and grime and was rinsed with warm water. The stummel was dried with a cotton dish towel and returned to the workbench.

The stummel looked much better and I could see briar grain peeking through the layers of stain.

I first tried 95% ethyl alcohol on a make-up pad to free the briar.

Next, I tried acetone on a make-up pad.. The chemical solvents made advances on removing the finish and more grain was apparent.

I resorted to physical rather than chemical removal and was rewarded with a lovely contrast stained piece of briar. The stummel was sanded with a 320 grit sanding sponge, removing the outer layer of black stained wood.

Another wipe with acetone on a make-up pad removed yet more stain.

The rim was lightly topped with 400 grit sandpaper laid flat on a countertop. I did not have to sand away dents of ding, just the stained briar.

Next I started sanding the stem. I first wrapped the nickel plated band with painters tape to protect it from the sanding. I then used a series of sanding sponges from 600-3500 grits. Between each sponge I wiped the stem with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol. The stem was looking very good after the sanding.

The stummel sanding revealed an old fill at the front of the stummel. The old fill material was picked out with a fly tying bodkin. The new fill was made with brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust.

I placed a drop of brown CA into the depression then scooped up a small mound of briar dust with a dental scraper. The briar dust was placed onto the wet CA and pressed into the pit. The CA cures very quickly with the dust and allows sanding within seconds. The new fill was brushed off with a brass brush to remove the excess briar dust then the new fill was sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge. This was a large fill and it required repeated applications of CA and briar dust.

The stamps on the shank were covered with painters tape and the band was retaped for their protection. The stummel was then sanded with the series of sanding sponges from 600-3500. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol.

The protective tape was removed and the stem and stummel were micro-meshed with pads 4000-12000. Again, between each pad I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol.

The entire pipe was given a coat of Before and After Restoration Balm. The balm was allowed to soak into the stem and stummel for 20 minutes.

The Restoration Balm was wiped off with an inside out athletic sock, revealing the beautiful old briar.

To raise the shine on the stem I hand polished it using Before and After Fine Polish on a soft cotton cloth.

The Fine Polish was followed by Before and After Extra Fine Polish, again hand polished with a soft cloth.

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

This was a nice relaxing restoration which turned out wonderfully. The previous stain did a fine job of staining the briar and when sanded allowed a beautiful contrast stain. The horn stem has aged very well and was fortunately never attacked by beetles. I have to admit that the feel of a horn stem is not bad on the teeth. I think a non-orific button would make it even more comfortable. The coloring of the horn is a feature that I appreciate the most. I am sure that this pipe will find its way to its next steward who may take it into the next century.

The dimensions of this unfired darling are:

Length: 5.68 in./ 144.27 mm.

Weight: 1.13 oz./ 32.20 g.

Bowl Height: 1.85 in./ 46.99 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.48 in./ 37.59 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.76 in./ 19.30 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.30 in./ 33.02 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 Frank Dublin.
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.
A The Sterling Pipe 530 Canted Dublin Restoration

July 18th, 2024

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

I am a sucker for a Dublin shaped pipe and I love the look of a forward canted bowl. These two features are present with the above The Sterling Pipe. I had never heard of the Brand but the briar looked like it was pretty good quality. The stampings on the pipe read, THE over STERLING over PIPE in an almost bubble-like block font. The logo looked like a cursive L or S, I assumed an S. Handwriting was never a strong point of mine. On the right side the shank is stamped AN EXCLUSIVE IMPORT over ENGLAND with 530 offset further towards the bowl. Only the 530, I assume shape number, is definite. The other stamps are all light and I feared that they would be hard to preserve intact. Below are some photos of how The Sterling Pipe appeared prior to work.

The terms; dirty, dinged, oxidized and pitted all came to mind. Yet with all the work needing to be done the “coolness” of the shape shined through and held promise. And the fact that the briar grain was pretty darn interesting too.

Background

An internet search of “The Sterling Pipe” only produced one result of note. A mention of a The Sterling Pipe” from an earlier auction:

(THE STERLING PIPE LONDON ENGLAND | #3769477577 (worthpoint.com))

That’s darn little to go on.

I then tried the big English makers searching to match the shape number to a known maker’s shape. Again no luck with Charatan, Comoy’s, GBD, Lorenz,e Rossi etc… Next I tried the “Phone a friend” approach. Well, actually it was a message a friend. I reached out to Steve Laug via Facebook private messenger, showed him a few photos and asked what he thought. He replied quickly with the following “According to Who Made that Pipe The Sterling was made by Comoy’s for export” (personal communication). “Who Made That Pipe” refers to the book:

Who made that pipe?: a directory of briar pipe names, their makers/sellers, and countries of origin in the 19th & 20th centuries1997, H. Wilczak

With that piece of the puzzle solved I proceeded on with the project.

The Restoration

Starting with a clean denim piece as a work surface I began work. The reaming was the starting point with this pipe even though I knew that the stem would require more work than the briar.

The reaming tools were assembled.

The reaming went very quickly. I find it interesting how different pipes take to the reaming. In my experience softer briar reams far more easily than harder briar. My favorite pipes to clean are the old Marxman Algerian briars. There is something about that briar that almost seems like the briar sloughs off the cake with a little pressure. This pipe did the same.

The tobacco chamber was sanded with 220 sandpaper on a wooden dowel to bare briar and an inspection of the chamber revealed no damage to the chamber walls.

The airway of the pipe was very constricted and I could barely draw air through the pipe. I used the long drill bit-like tool from the Scotte Stainless Steel reaming tool to hand drill the airway clean.

With the airway open I took the stummel to the sink. Here it was scrubbed with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a medium toothbrush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

Back at the workbench I got a much better look at the numerous pits and their old fills. I took out the dental picks and tried excavating the old fill material. It was very hard, nearly rock-like. The fine sharp points of the picks would not penetrate the fill material.

I thought, maybe a bit of 95% ethyl alcohol would soften the fill and sell as remove any remaining wax and or finish. The alcohol dipped make-up pad did show some color as it removed something from the briar.

I had no more success with the dental picks after the alcohol. I tried using a sharp tipped round needle file, hoping the harder and more stiff steel of the file would be more effective against the fills. Success.

The newly opened pits were filled with brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust. These were filed with a flat needle file and smoothed with 32 then 400 sanding sponges. This did leave several dark fill spots over the surface of the stummel. More on this later.

The rim of The Sterling Pipe had damage from knocking against things other than a palm of cork ashtray knockers. I think the previous owner preferred to knock out a dottle on pieces of broken concrete or lava rocks. To each their own…

I topped the rim using 220 sand paper laid flat on the countertop. A circular motion where I rotated the stummel in my hand was used to evenly sand the rim. Once topped to remove most of the dings I used a 1 ½ in round polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe cap wrapped with 220 sandpaper to give the inner rim it’s bevel.

The worst of the dings were still present. To these I applied a bead of brown CA and pressed the rim into a flat bottomed container of briar dust. This pressed the dust into the CA wetted depressions. The rim was then topped using 400 sandpaper to smooth the new rim fills. I unfortunately did not photograph this step, apologies.

I turned my attention to the stem. It was lightly sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge to remove the outermost oxidation. Then the stem was placed into a solution of OxyClean and water. It soaked in the Oxy for 2 hours.

Below you can kind of see the brownish clouds of oxidized rubber on both sides of the stem.

Upon removal the stem looks quite brown.

Rubbing the stem with a clean dry make-up pad removed a good deal of oxidized rubber.

The stem then got a pipe cleaner run through the airway to remove Oxy solution and was scrubbed with SoftScrub on make-up pads.

The stem was shedding oxidized rubber but looked little different after each pad. The oxidation was worse than I had originally thought. I decided to give the stem an overnight bath in Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer. A pipe cleaner was inserted into the stem to be used as a suspension hook.

This allowed me to hang the stem suspending it in the solution.

I had decided that I was going to give this stummel a black dye base coat and try to achieve a contrast stain look. This would allow all those darker spots from the numerous fills to me slightly hidden and give the grain some added contrast. I did not want the rim to share in this contrast. I had used Vallejo Liquid Mask on a previous project to keep areas free from dye and thought this would be a perfect place to work on my technique with the product.

The mask is a relatively thick liquid that goes on blue-green and dries more clear. One dry it can be peeled off. I applied a coating of the Liquid Mask with a cotton swab. The mask was allowed to dry overnight.

The next day, I removed the stem from the Deoxidizer solution and let it drip off excess solution.

The stem was wiped with a coarse shop rag and a couple of pipe cleaners were run through the airway to remove any remaining solution.

The stem was returned to the workbench and scrubbed with numerous make-up pads with SoftScrub on them. Eventually the stem looked free of oxidation.

Next came the repair of the tooth chatter and hole in the stem. I used black CA for this. A plastic dam was used to stop the CA from penetrating the airway. This is just a piece of a plastic lid cut into a triangle. I wrapped scotch tape around the triangle until it was a tight fit into the airway.

Black CA was then applied to the button edge and the area where the hole was. I find that it is better to use several thin coats as compared to a single thick coat of CA when building up material in an area to be reconstructed.

The filled area was then spritzed with a CA drying accelerator. Photos of the product used are further below.

The new fill was then filed with a flat needle file and smoothed with a 320 grit sanding sponge.

As the fill progressed I applied the black CA to a wider area to allow for a more smooth blending of the flll.

Below is how the fill was progressing and what it looked like with further filing. It was eventually smoothed with 320 and 400 sanding sponges and the button was reshaped.

With the stem reconstruction completed I turned to dying the stummel with black Fiebing’s Leather Dye. The needed kit was gathered; a folded pipe cleaner as the applicator, a disposable lighter for flaming the dye and the duct tape wrapped fishing bobber for a handle and plug eeping dye from the tobacco chamber. Also notice the taped stamps. I did not want to have to sand the black dye from the stamps and further degrade the already faint stamping. I hoped the tape would keep most of the dye from the stamps.

The dye was applied to the briar and flamed with the lighter. This burns off the alcohol solvent of the dye and fixes the dye to the briar.

The tape was removed.

The stummel was then rinsed with 91% Isopropyl alcohol. Why Isopropyl? Because that is what was sitting next to the sink.

The stummel was then wiped with make-up pads dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol to remove excess dye. I must have grabbed a make-up pad from by the sink that had a spot of red dye on it. There was no red dye used for the contrast staining.

The Vallejo Liquid Mask was peeled off the rim. Only a slight seeping or bits where I didn’t apply it well enough remained undyed.

The black dyed stummel was then sanded with 320-600 grit sanding sponges to remove the outermost black dyed briar. This left the softer grained, more deeply black penetrated, wood black and removed the harder grained briar where the black had only slightly penetrated.

The stamps and loge were taped again with painters tape to protect them during the next sanding of the entire pipe. Sanding continued with the series of sponges from 320-3500. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with an alcohol moistened make-up pad. The stem was rubbed with a dab of mineral oil on my fingertip and wiped with a paper towel.

The stem and stummel then were worked on with the 4000-12000 micro-mesh pads. The wiping between each pad was as with the sponges except I used Obsidian Oil rather than mineral oil on the stem.

The pipe was given a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit for 30 minutes.

The balm was wiped off with an inside out athletic sock with extra white German Shepherd hair. These dogs are also known as German Shedders by people who share homes with them.

The logo was repainted with Silver Leaf Rub’nBuff.

The pipe was then given several coats of carnauba wax with the buffer.

There you have it. A real beauty, The Sterling Pipe 530 Canted Dublin restoration. I am very happy with how well this one turned out and not just because I find the shape so intriguing. The pipe cleaned up nicely. The Contrast dye did what I wanted it to do – bring out the grain a bit more and conceal the fill spots. The stem polished up better than I thought it would after seeing how deep the oxidation had gone into the vulcanite. I was afraid that the stamping would be lost completely. They do remain but are so faint that they are hard to read without bright light and magnification. I am sure it will be a great little pipe for someone to enjoy for years to come. The dimensions of the The Sterling Pipe 530 Canted Dublin are:

Length: 5.67 in./ 144.02 mm.

Weight: 0.97 oz./ 27.5 g.

Bowl Height: 1.66 in./ 42.16 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.22 in./ 30.99 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.80 in./ 20.32 mm. (conically bored)

Outside Diameter: 1.35 in./ 34.29 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 The Sterling Pipe 530 Canted Dublin.
A 1939-1941 Ken Pat. Apld. SE Billiard Restoration

July 11th, 2024

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

Just when you thought I had moved on from my fascination with pipes from the 1940s I throw another one at you. I had been watching the auctions for a Ken after reading about them in the 1946-1948 Pipe Lovers Magazines for several months. The difficulty was in finding one that had an intact condenser apparatus and was in the price range I found acceptable. Complicated and delicate are two words that come to mind for the contraption within the stem.

Well, as you can see I found one that fit both of my criterion. This pipe was originally purchased on June 8 of 2024. When the box arrived my excitement was quickly dashed due to the wrong pipe was sent by the seller. eBay messages were exchanged and the incorrect pipe was returned to the seller. At this point I thought my search would have to start all over. Fortunately the recipient of the Ken pipe returned his incorrect shipment quickly. The seller was able to repost the Ken and I was able to purchase it again. I felt a little bad for the seller as he had to pay for the return shipping but was glad he made it right with us buyers. The correct pipe eventually arrived and waited in the queue for it’s spot on the workbench. Here is what the Ken looked like upon arrival.

Background

I’ll start with what drew me to want to restore a Ken in the first place, a full page ad from Pipe Lovers magazine January 1946:

I especially loved the “Smokers’ Guild of America”, rather than the company name. There is a union that I could support.

Here is a larger version of the Ken schematic diagram from Popular Mechanics 1946:

(File:Ken Ad 1946 Pop Mach.jpg – Pipedia). Notice the patent number “Pat. 2242805” and the “A Prim Product”. For comparison, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation calculator shows that a $3.50 pipe in June 1940 would cost you $77.96 in May of 2024 (https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=3.50&year1=194006&year2=202405).

According to Pipedia.org,

“KEN Brand Pipes are made by Prim Associates of America out of Chicago, Ill. The design is unique and somewhat complex and has a patent by Otto Turinsky.^[1] This patent was applied for in Dec. 1939 and granted in May 1941, Pat No 2,242,805. An ad in Popular Mechanics from 1946 shows the pipe costing $3.50 and shows Six Key features of the Ken Pipe along with a Money Back Guarantee! Stem is Lucite and the interior chamber contains various technical features to remove tar, moisture, burnt tongue and remove impurities.” (KEN – Pipedia)

I searched through Google patents, advanced search and found the original patent from Otto Turinsky:

(1498380862798272946-02242805 (storage.googleapis.com)). Perhaps Otto Turinsky was either very attorney averse or so innovatively clever as to make a device that rivals could not or would not try to copy thus freeing himself from all the trouble brought about by patent infringement litigation.

With only the smallest bit of conjecture I can safely say that the Ken in hand is a pipe made in Chicago, Illinois between the dates of December 30 1939, when the patent was applied for, and May 20 1941, when the patent application was granted. That was a tough time to start production of a new line of pipes as World War Two would have nearly eliminated the supply of briar from the Mediterranean.

The Restoration

I broke from usual and began cleaning without a clean denim piece for a work surface. I guess I was just excited to work on this pipe after waiting so many months to finally have one. The stem of the Ken had a scar from a battle with a cigarette, probably from a seedy bar down by the river.

The interior of the stem was truly tar and yuck infested. That should look like yellow acrylic rather than a black painted ceiling.

The patent diagram refers to the rounded cylinder as the “cup”. The cup was a black caked mess and needed into an alcohol bath, stat. Yeah, borrowing terms from hospital emergency room lingo makes me feel cool.

The stem was not accepting of the 95% ethyl alcohol so cleaning had to be done with something else. I used Castille soap diluted with water to soften the old smoking deposits within the stem.

The contraption’s tar was softening with the alcohol. I took it to the sink where I could scrub it with additional alcohol without making a mess of the workbench.

The aluminum was scrubbed with a nylon brush dipped in alcohol. The tar was relinquishing its grip on the old aluminum.

I eventually could see that the cup was just slid onto an aluminum tube coming out of the shank. I carefully slid the cup off and allowed it to soak further. In the 95% ethyl alcohol.

Every few minutes I removed the cup and tried cleaning inside the cup and the exterior. As you can see the alcohol was darkening from the soaking and scrubbing.

The aluminum cup was delicate feeling. I did not want to exert very much pressure on it or it’s flanges. I used pipe cleaners and cotton swabs with about ½ of their cotton removed to scrub the inside of the cum.

The inside of the cup was finally cleaned.

The exterior remained difficul to clean and was stained. This surface required a bit more of an abrasive cleaning. I lightly scrubbed it with 0000 steel wool dipped in the alcohol.

After soakin the stem’s interior was scraped with a dental scraper and scrubbed with various scrubbing tools; bristle pipe cleaners, small tube brushes, cotton swabs, a fy tying bodkin, etc… Actually almost anything I could fit into the stem was used to try to separate the tar from the plastic.

After the interior was looking better I used an emory board to flatten the cigarette burn. I then applied a thin coating of clear Thin Cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) to the depression in the center of the cigarette scar. I was afrain to speed the drying of the CA as the CA drying accelerator that I use reacts less than favorably to acrylic. I allowed the CA to dry at it’s own pace and smoothed the new material. I had to reapply several times to get the depression filled.

The stummel was prepped for reaming and the tools were gathered. The tobacco chamber war a bit too narrow for the PipNet #2 blade and the #1 blade remained broken. Apparently it will not heal itself and return to work.

The reaming was done mainly with the Scotte Stainless Steel Reamer Tool, scraping with both the General Triangular scraper the the Smokingpipes Low Country Knife was also done. The chamber was sanded with 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. The chamber was taken to bare brian and no damage from heat was observed.

The stummel was then taken to the sink. There it was scrubbed with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a medium toothbrush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton dish towel.

Returning to the workbench the stummels was wiped with 95% ethyl alcohol on a make-up pad. Some color came off on the pad indicating that there had remained wax and/or finish remaining on the briar.

The rim was moistened with saliva and scraped with a sharp pocket knife.

I decided to give this stem an alcohol/cotton treatment as it still smelled of old tobacco residue and tar. Cotton was stuffed into the bowl and shank. Alcohol was added by a disposable pipette, approximately 10 ml. The alcohol was allowed to sit overnight to work on removing the remaining residue.

The next day the cotton in the chamber appeared as the photo below shows.

Finally the stem and stummel looked fairly clean.

The stamps were covered with painters tape to protect them during sanding.

The sanding of the stem used sanding sponges 1000-3500. The stem was wiped off with a make-up pad moistened with water between each sponge.

The sanding of the stummel was done with the same sanding sponges only from 600-3500. Between each sponge the stummel was wiped off with a make-up pad moistened with 95% ethyl alcohol.

Th stem and stummel were worked with 4000-12000 micro-mesh pads. The stummel wiped with the alcohol wetted pad while the stem was wiped with a water wetted make-up pad.

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

After 30 minutes the excess Restoration Balm was hand buffed to remove the excess using an inside out athletic sock.

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

I Though the pipe was finished yet there were still two things which bothered me slightly. Number one was the “KEN” stamp on the top of the stem. It needed something. I decided to repaint the stamp with silver Rub’nBuff.

The second thing that I found bothersome was that the stem had a slight looseness that I didn’t like. I thought that it would probably go away after the first smoke but what if I didn’t smoke this pipe? I decided to give the stem a touch of beeswax upon the tenon of the shank. This stem is actually a reverse mortise/tenon with the mortise being the stem and the tenon is the shank.

Molten beeswax was applied with a small paintbrush and allowed to cool.

The wax was then cut away using the Low Country Knife. The tenon was then rubbed with a cotton cloth to smooth and wipe away additional excess.

Here is the stem with new paint and a tight fitting stem. There, I was finally happy with it.

Well, I can mark off another 1940 pipe from the list of pipes that I wanted to restore. In all seriousness this Ken Billiard turned out better than I expected it to. The yellow stem had me worried. I’ve seen photos of red, blue and black stems. I think a red or blue would be easier to restore as the transparency of the stem would be less noticeable and the black would be easy mode. This one looks pretty good with the yellow accenting the yellow tones in the briar quite nicely. The nickel band looks good with the silver Rub’nBuff. The internals cleaned up well and I learned about how this aluminum contraption is designed and how it’s supposed to work. That was something that had really intrigued me about these pipes. I have very mixed feelings about smoking this old pipe. I want to know how the whole thing works but I’m not looking forward to cleaning it all out again. Oh, you know I’ll smoke it. The dimensions of the Ken PAT. APLD. SE areas follows:

Length: 5.72 in./ 145.29 mm.

Weight: 1.05 oz./ 30.00 g.

Bowl Height: 1.66 in./ 42.16 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.34in./ 34.04 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.74 in./ 18.80 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.30 in./ 33.02 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 Ken Pat. Apld. 1350 SE.