In February of 2024 I joined the Facebook (FB) group Real American Pipe Smokers. I found my first post in that group, below:
I have found in this group a unique group of about 1,600 folks that are open to others and even accept pipe smokers who like Captain Black Grape. Yeah, I know, crazy right. Oh, by the way, I have a jar of Captain Black Grape and a dedicated MM cob for that aromatic delight. The members are everything someone like me is looking for in a FB group, a bunch of friendly, funny, knowledgeable, giving individuals who put up with my nonsense.
Anyway, I have been part of a cabal within the group who has been giving away some of the pipes I have restored and various other items like tobacco, tampers, rare bourbon samples, etc… I was recently asked if I would be interested in restoring three pipes, donated by another member, which we could in turn give away to group members. I said, “Sure”. So the next three restorations will be those pipes. Here is a photo taken of the three:
The first pipe I decided to work on was the porcelain apple, thus the title and subject of this posting. Below are some photos of the pipe before I did anything with it.
This restoration looked to be more of a cleaning and stem polishing than a true restoration. Some work would have to be done to improve the fit of the cork tenon. Other than that there was not a lot that the pipe needed.
Background
There really isn’t much I can say about this pipe without a whole bunch of imaginative conjecture. This pipe has no identifying stamps or marks. If I had to venture a guess, I’d say this pipe was made in Europe post WWII to 1980. I have included some links for those interested in porcelain in general and a couple more specific to pipes below.
The pipe began on the workbench with a cleaned denim piece.
An Exacto knife kit was broken out for a little bit of cork trimming.
The cork tenon had a rough and unsightly end. This would need to be trimmed and sanded.
The cork proved to be very dry and brittle leading me to think that it was probably at least 50 years old.
With the cork trimmed and sanded, I cleaned out the stem using bristle pipe cleaners and 99% ethyl alcohol. I had been using 95% ethyl and recently switched to this product.
To address the dryness of the cork I got out the trusty old tea kettle and started some water on the stove.
The cork was steamed for about 5 minutes. This is precisely the amount of time it takes for the kettle’s whistle to become so annoying that you have to stop or become patient at Homicidal Acres Home for the Mentally Unstable.
I then rubbed some petroleum jelly onto the cork to hopefully preserve the now swollen cork. This did greatly improve the fit of the stem to the stummel.
Next came the reaming of the tobacco chamber. Porcelain is a hard material but in my mind, it is also brittle. I’ve never broken a porcelain pipe during cleaning but I have only worked with one other so my experience was rather limited. I chose to treat it more like a meerschaum pipe and only used the Smokingpipes Low Country reaming knife to scrape the chamber.
A small amount of cake had been deposited within the chamber.
Alcohol dipped cotton swabs removed the smaller particles and more soluble cake remnants.
I used 3200 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel and a piece of sandpaper wetted with alcohol to sand the interior of the tobacco chamber.
And some more sanding. The carbon cake seemed to be well on its way to becoming diamond.
I eventually called it quits on the sanding and thought that perhaps a cotton stuffing and alcohol soak treatment might soften the remaining cake and remove any residual “old tobacco” aroma.
The tobacco chamber and shank were stuffed with cotton and then saturated with the 99% ethyl alcohol.
The unglazed porcelain of the shank began to discolor from the alcohol. I did not think this would be permanent with the evaporation of the alcohol.
I compared my other example of a porcelain pipe to this pipe. I was struck by the color difference. My bent pipe has been smoked numerous times and it has taken on a very nice creamed coffee color. It was originally a bright white as well. The apple had obviously been smoked but had not experienced the same coloring.
After allowing the alcohol to work its magic overnight, I removed the now dry cotton. As you can see in the photo below very little smoking residue was absorbed by the cotton. The discoloration on the shank had also disappeared.
I turned my attention to the stem. I filed the tooth chatter with a small flat file and lightly sanded the bite zone with a 320 grit sanding sponge.
The stem was then worked with sanding sponges from 320-3500 grits. Between each sponge I rubbed the stem with mineral oil and wiped it with a paper towel.
The stem was then worked with micro-mesh pads in grits of 4000-12000. Between these pads I rubbed the stem with Obsidian Oil and wiped with a paper towel.
I rubbed a coating of Before and After Hard Rubber Balm onto the stem and let it sit overnight.
The next day the pipe was taken to the buffer where I applied several coats of carnauba wax to the stem and stummel. The final step was to hand buff the pipe with a microfiber polishing cloth.
I think the porcelain pipe is a unique piece of our hobby and history. I only have a single example of my own and I have mixed feelings about it. I do like how mine has colored over time, taking on a creamed coffee color. I do worry about the fragility of the porcelain and my tendency to drop things. This porcelain apple is a wonderful shape and size. The exterior is a brilliant glossy white. The tobacco chamber interior has discolored and I suppose that I could have been more aggressive with the restoration but I did not want to damage the porcelain. My inexperience with this material kept me from “tough love” during the chamber restoration. The expansion of the cork tenon worked well and the stem polished up very nicely. The black and white of the piece is truly eye-catching. The double holes at the bottom of the tobacco chamber provide an exceptionally smooth draw and I am sure that this pipe will treat its new owner with years of contemplative relaxation. The dimensions of the Porcelain apple are:
Length: 5.78 in./ 146.81 mm.
Weight: 1.45 oz./ 41.11 g.
Bowl Height: 1.64 in./ 41.66 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.17 in./ 29.72 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.77 in./ 19.56 mm.
Outside Diameter: 1.62 in./ 41.15 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 Porcelain apple.
This pipe screamed at me when I first saw it on eBay. I have no idea why. I am not a huge fan of billiards but there was just something about the extended shank that said, “Hey you, check this out.” Everything about the pipe said that it was a WWII era pipe. The rustication, the non-briar look about the shank grain and the use of so much aluminum. I had neer heard of “Woodsman” as a maker or line of pipes. More on that in the “Background” section. This pipe demanded that I work on it. I’d have to ship it in from Canada and I doubted that I’d ever even break even if it sold. Still, it beckoned. Well, long story short, I bought it and waited for the arrival of another pipe to entertain me. Upon arrival the pipe looked as described; dirty, used and with faint stamps. The stamps read, Woodsman, in script on the left and GENUINE over BRIAR in a circle on the right shank. The below photos show the Woodsman before any work was done.
The pipe would need a reaming and an assessment of the condition of the tobacco chamber. There appeared to be a crack in the bow; on the right side of the bowl but it did not appear that the crack went all the way to the rim. The stamps were faint but still legible so extra care would have to be taken to preserve these. The stem had some light tooth chatter and minimal oxidation. The aluminum would need some buffing for scratch removal and polishing. A thorough cleaning and general refinishing were also on the menu. Overall it looked like a general restoration of a 75 year old used pipe.
Background
The research of the name, “Woodsman” produced nothing on either pipedia.org or pipephil.eu. A Google search did produce a result on Worthpoint.com and is shown below:
“
WOODSMAN D&P GENUINE BRIAR SMOKING PIPE From the research I gathered this pipe (D&P “Woodsman”) was probably made just after WW2. It has a genuine briar bowl and a Mt. Laurel shank. D&P made pipes mostly from Mt. Laurel from about 1942 until just after WW2. NEEDLESS TO SAY THIS IS AN EXTREMELY HARD TO FIND UNSMOKED PIPETOTAL LENGTH APPROXIMATELY 6″ LENGTH OF MOUTH PIECE IS ABOUT 1-1/2″ HAS A 7/8″ INSIDE ALUMINUM INSERT BETWEEN THE MOUTH PIECE AND THE PIPE STEM SPORTS A NICE SILVER BAND WEIGHS 1 OUNCE EXCELLANT CONDITION LIKE NEW NEVER SMOKED – VERY, VERY NICE” (Vintage smoking Pipe WOODSMAN D & P GENUINE BRIAR NEVER SMOKED | #1903579341)
I was not sure where the author of the above got the D&P but it does seem likely. The “D&P” comes from David and Paul Lavietes originators of Sparta Pipeworks, predecessor of Sparta Industries. I’ll let the pipedia.org site explain that history, below:
“Sparta Industries is based in Sparta, NC. It was created in the 1940s by David and Paul Lavietes, and originally called D&P Pipeworks. It began production in 1943 and at the end of the 1950s. From 1943-1946 D&P made the Spartan Pipe from locally sourced rhododendron a.k.a. “mountain laurel”. These pipes were very utilitarian and blocky, the bits were made of maple and featured a military mount. Pipes made from rhododendron had to be boiled in a boric acid solution to keep them burning when smoked. Both Rhododendron wood and Boric acid are known to be toxic to humans, though there is no evidence that there were any issues with the Spartan pipes. While some Spartan pipes were sold on the domestic market they were mainly produced to be sent to the war effort in Europe and were often included in C-Rations. Once the European briar shortage ended and shipments to the US began again D&P shifted production to traditional pipes made from real briar. Dr. Grabow took it over, at the end of the 1970s Sparta became one of the biggest pipe makers in the USA, and the Dr. Grabow brand was the number one in sales in the country. Today it makes various brands, producing over a million pipes a year, perhaps the largest amount from just one factory.
The Woodsman pipe in hand, has what appears to be an extended shank of non-briar wood. I say this because the grain of the shank looks unlike briar. I’ve restored several pipes made from both Mission Briar and Mountain Laurel. Both of these woods have grains without the birdseye grain. I will link a post by Dave Tabler writing for Appalacianhistory.net for a fascinating read about the use of Mountain laurel and the pipes made from it in North Carolina – This is not a pipe… – Appalachian History –.
As a bonus feature I’ll link to an article on the curing of wood used for pipe making – Curing – Pipedia. Yeah, you can continue down that rabbit hope if you like. And if that were not enough I’ll throw in another restoration I did of a Trapwell pipe made of the “World’s Best Briar” that ain’t briar at all: A Trapwell Large Apple Restoration – NebraskaPeteGeek.
The Restoration
Things started well with the typical denim piece.
The ream-team was assembled.
This pipe needed the #2 and #3 PipNet blades. The Smokingpipes Low Country reamer and the General triangular scraper also got to see some action due to the concave nature of wear and charring.
The below photo is very misleading. The reamed tobacco chamber was not a cylindrical drilling any longer.
The below photo shows the tobacco chamber sanded. The charred areas were sanded to remove as much of the charred briar as I was able. I was not sure how to proceed with repairing the chamber and needed some pondering time.
Shank cleaning usually is a good activity for me to do pondering. This one started out by running the Kleen-Reem tool’s shank drill through the airway.
Below you can see the tip of the drill in the button of the chamber.
Next came the cotton swab dipped in alcohol to soften the remaining smoking residue. Then the scraping with a dental scraper. This produced a great deal of yuck. I tried scrubbing with folded bristle pipe cleaner dipped in alcohol and a shank brush. More yuck. Then moved to a .25 caliber brass bore brush mounted to a wood dowel. The Airway was filled with alcohol during the brushing and drained on the paper towel. Did I mention the amount of yuck removed?
At this point I thought maybe some hot water would help. So I took the stummel to the sink for the undiluted Murphy Oil Soap scrub with a nylon brush.
The stummel remained full of grime so the scrub was repeated with Murphy’s and a brass brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.
Dang! Look at that crack. Well, does it go all the way through the chamber?
Oh man. The water really made the spider webbing show up too. What have I got myself into?
I then wiped the stummel with a cotton ball dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol. This colored the cotton some but not terribly.
I poured some alcohol into the tobacco chamber to see if the crack was all the way through the bowl. Alcohol leaked right through the side.
I was not leaking through just one point but the length of the crack.
What about the other side?, I asked. Yep, that one too was leaking alcohol through the bowl. Not as bad but still not a positive development.
Hmm, more to ponder. Needing additional pondering time, I turned to cleaning up the stem. I soaked the aluminum tube extension in alcohol to soften the residue.
The shank was very dirty so I thought packing the tobacco chamber and airway with cotton then saturating the cotton with 95% ethyl alcohol might help dissolve some of that.
The above 10 ml of alcohol were added to the cotton stuffed chamber and shank.
Some of the alcohol was seeping through the crack on the right side of the bowl. This leaking alcohol was undoubtedly carrying tars and other smoking residues to the outside of the bowl. That would require more cleaning.
A lesser amount of alcohol was seeping through the left side. This just added to the pondering.
Maybe stem cleaning would help the pondering process. The stem was also pretty filthy. Numerous bristle pipe cleaners all dipped in alcohol were used before the stem was cleaned.
I was still pondering tobacco chamber fixes. Hmm, maybe ridding the stem of the tooth chatter would help the pondering. The bite zone was filed with a small flat file.
On one side there remained three dents which would require filling with black cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue).
I applied a layer of black CA to the dents. This was allowed to cure or dry.
The cured black CA was then filed with a small flat file and sanded with a 600 grit sanding sponge.
Maybe the pondering organ would come up with a great solution in the morning. I let the alcohol do what it does in the tobacco chamber and shank overnight. The next morning I removed the now dry cotton. The cotton in the bowl was daily clean but the shank cotton was full of yuck.
I started the shank airway cleaning process again. Many cotton swabs dipped in alcohol and a good deal of scraping later the airway was more clean.
Still, the shank was dirty. I thought, “maybe another cotton alcohol soak would work.” I repacked the shank and chamber with clean cotton then added another 10 ml of 95% ethyl alcohol and let it sit overnight.
Another day later, I returned to the pipe and removed the cotton. I considered this a great success. The cotton was stained but it had removed nearly all of the smoking tars. Subsequent cotton swabs came back much cleaner. Victory!
All my pondering came up with the following plan for the cracked and leaking tobacco chamber: Water Glass, also known as sodium silicate (Na2SiO3). The idea would be to
Coat the interior of the tobacco chamber with a layer of Na2SiO3 allow it to dry or harden
Sand the chamber smooth.
Repeat until the tobacco chamber is smooth and a uniform cylinder.
This sounded very reasonable and like a good solution.
Below is a photo of the warnings from the bottle label.
I applied the Na2SiO3 using a folded pipe cleaner. I vigorously rub the pipe cleaner to remove any loose fibers. The Na2SiO3 is thicker than water, more like a syrup, in consistency.
The Na2SiO3 dried quite quickly and was hard within 30 minutes.
I then used brown CA applied with a fly tying bodkin to carefully fill the crack along the outside of the bowl on the right side.
I used a brass brush to add texture to the CA after it had dried. I had to apply a second coat to fill the void at the outer rim.
I sanded the interior of the tobacco chamber using a ¾ inch wood dowel wrapped in 220 sandpaper. Below is a photo of the first sanding of the first application.
A second application of Na2SiO3 was done, followed by a second sanding. This was followed by a third application and sanding. The ¾ inch dowel wrapped with sandpaper allowed me to re-establish an even cylindrical shape to the tobacco chamber.
With the tobacco chamber situation resolved I wondered if oxalic acid would lighten the color of the wood. I didn’t call the wood briar because I do not think it is briar.
The oxalic acid was worked into the stummel with a cotton swab. Below you can see the discoloration on the cotton.
When working the oxalic acid into the bowl the wood lightened almost immediately on the front and the back of the bowl.
The sides remained darker. I was not sure if this was due to smoking residues seeping through the cracks from previous use, the cotton-alcohol treatments or a combination of the two.
Below is the oxalic acid treated front of the bowl.
Below is the oxalic acid treated rim.
I let the oxalic acid sit for 30 minutes then scrubbed the stummel with copious water and a nylon scrub brush.
Once dry the stummel did indeed appear lighter in color. I call this a success.
The brown CA filled crack appeared worse for wear after the oxalic acid. I touched up the light area of the crack with a Furniture touch-up marker.
The stampings were covered with masking tape for their protection.
I then reattached the stem and took the pipe to the buffer for a buffing with rouge compound. Once buffed the tape was removed and the wood wiped with an alcohol dipped make-up pad to remove and rouge residuals. The wood was coated with Before and After Restoration Balm and set aside for 20 minutes.
An inside out athletic sock was used to remove any remaining Restoration Balm.
To finish the restoration of the tobacco chamber I decided to use a bowl coating. 100% maple syrup and charcoal powder were chosen as the bowl coating. The chamber was coated with a light layer of syrup using a cotton swab.
To keep the charcoal powder out of the airway a pipe cleaner was inserted into the airway. A capsule of charcoal powder was poured into the chamber. The rim was covered with a piece of painters tape. The stummel was then shaken for a couple of minutes. I also tilted and tapped the bowl with the rubber coated handle of a file to make sure the powder was evenly distributed on the entire bowl surface.
The tape was removed and the excess powder was dumped. I reinserted the stem and gave a couple of hard puffs of air through the stem to clear remaining carbon powder. The finished bowl coating is shown in the photo below.
The pipe was taken to the buffer where several coats of carnauba wax were applied to the pipe. The final step was another hand buff with the microfiber polishing cloth then a return to the photography table for the finished pipe photo shoot.
This restoration ended up being much more extensive than I originally thought. The tobacco chamber was in far worse shape and the cracks in the bowl were more severe than I expected. This is probably not a pipe that I would sell to anyone who has not read and understands all of the procedures done to it. I do think that steps taken to restore this pipe will provide many years of use to an otherwise worn-out old pipe. I have not taken it out for a test-smoke yet but I do plan to soon. The pipe remains a very unique historical example of the ingenuity of pipe makers during the drought of briar caused by World War 2. It really is a lovely pipe with great billiard lines. The stem polished very nicely and is a pretty contrast to the aluminum bands. The extended shank is, I believe and attempt to use non-briar in the manufacture of the pipe. I cannot determine if the bowl is actually briar or not and the rustication doesn’t allow a solid identification by the wood’s grain. The dimensions of the are:
Length: 6.02 in./ 141.22 mm.
Weight: 1.02 oz./ 49.33 g.
Bowl Height: 1.69 in./ 45.47 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.60 in./ 39.88 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.80 in./ 21.34 mm.
Outside Diameter: 1.28 in./ 36.57 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 Woodsman Billiard.
I cannot say how many times I had picked up this London Briar apple and appreciated its dimensions and contours. Yet, time and again I set it aside to work on another pipe. The apple shape is a favorite of mine and this pipe has nearly perfect “apple” archetypal lines. Perhaps it fell to the wayside because of its more generic heritage and my snobbish attitude. Then I think back to my list of favorite brands and lines: Peterson, Marxman, Dr Grabow, Yello-Bole. Hmm, that pretty much rules out the snobbery, eh?
This pipe came as part of an estate lot. One of those purchases where it was along for the ride and not the object of my desire of the lot. Below are some photographs I took of the pipe before work was started.
Overall, the pipe was in very good condition. The acrylic stem was pretty much impervious to oxidation, saving me a good deal of work. Another positive was that the stem had not been the victim of chewing. It did have a dark streak from smoking residue though. The stummel had been given a clear coat finish which I do not like and will typically remove. There did not appear to be any significant fill which would require attention. The tobacco chamber was also quite clean and the rim looked nearly pristine. This had all the earmarks of a nice relaxing restoration.
Background
I cannot say that there is a lot of information out there on this pipe. Searches on both pipephil.eu and pipedia.org came up with nothing. Fortunately there is the great Steve Laug who has restored a very similar pipe and chronicled it very well. Here is the link to Steve’s restoration blog:
“I had not seen the stamping London Briars before so I did some hunting on the web for the brand and found that the brand was made by/for Gauntleys of Nottingham. They sold new for £31.95 Here is the link to their site: https://cigars.gauntleys.com/uk/offer/gauntleys-london-briar-pipes
I quote directly from the site: Gauntleys London Briar Pipes – Our London Briar pipes have become very popular since we introduced them just a few months ago. Each is made from selected second briar blocks from one of the country’s largest and most respected pipe makers.
If the briar was flawless these pipes would sell for over £250. These are from briar with small flaws in the grain or needing small amounts of filler so are great value. The briar is some of the finest in the world and can be up to 80 years old.
Each pipe is hand made in a range of classic English shapes and comes in a number of finishes from Smooth Brown to Black (Shell Briar) Sandblasted.
If you are looking for a first pipe or something to use around the house or garden the Gauntleys London Briars are very affordable and smoke like an entry level premium briar. Each pipe comes boxed with a silk bag.” (Didn’t Break a Sweat Cleaning this London Briar Brandy | rebornpipes).
The Restoration
The restoration of this great apple shaped piece began with a cleanish denim piece on the workbench.
The pipe’s tobacco chamber looked pretty clean but I kept getting whiffs that it may have been used for the smoking of non-tobacco. I have had experiences with marijauna smoking residue and it is never easy nor pleasant to deal with. This pipe had a slight aroma of the wacky weed yet there were tobacco fragments in the chamber. If it had been used for non-tobacco it was infrequent. I gathered the “ream team”, which included the PipNet, Smokingpipes Low Country reamer and General triangular scraper.
The number 2 blades of the PipNet made short work of the tobacco chamber with the Low Country reamer used for the bottom part of the chamber.
Below is a photo of the reamed chamber.
The draft hole was constricted so I used the Kleen-Reem draft hole drill to clear it.
Below is a photo of the drill in the airway.
The airway was cleaned with several bristle pipe cleaners, cotton swabs, both dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol, and some scraping with a dental scraper.
This stummel had a clear coat finish that I wanted to remove. I tried ethyl alcohol on a make-up pad and that didn’t touch the finish. I then tried acetone on a make-up pad. This too had little effect. I decided that a bath in acetone for 30 minutes would loosen or dissolve the finish.
While waiting for the acetone to do what it does, I started cleaning the stem. This was done with bristle pipe cleaners and 95% ethyl alcohol. The before photos show a distinctive dark stained airway. Once cleaned out the stem showed no signs of the dark streak.
After 30 minutes in the acetone I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad and some color and finish did come off but not enough for my liking, so I went back into the acetone for another 30 minutes.
After another 30 minutes the clear coat was relinquishing its hold on the briar. A light sanding while the finish was still soft removed it from the bowl. The finish remained on the shank.
The below photos indicate that further sanding and acetone wipes were needed.
Eventually the clear coat was removed. Below, you can see that the stem was reattached to preserve the joint where the stem meets the shank as well as the painters tape protecting the stamps.
WIth the finish removed I sanded the stem and stummel with a series of sanding sponges in grits from 320-3500. Between each sponge I wiped the pipe with a make-up pad wetted with ethyl alcohol.
After the sanding sponges I worked the pipe with micro-mesh pads 4000-12000, again wiping the pipe as above.
I gave the stummel a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed it to sit for 20 minutes.
The Restoration Balm was wiped from the stummel using an inside out athletic sock.
The pipe was then taken to the buffer where the stem was buffed with white buffing compound before the entire pipe was given several coats of carnauba wax. The final step was a hand buffing of the pipe with a microfiber polishing cloth raising the shine to the levels which can be seen below in the “finished” pipe photos.
There is something about the apple shape that just fits for me. Perhaps it is because I share a well rounded shape. This apple caught my eye as a wonderful example of the shape and turned out beautifully. The acrylic stem cleaned up nicely and demanded attention with its bright pearlescent yellow. The briar grain, though not unattractive, is rather muted. I wonder if I should have tried to accent the grain more with a contrast dye. Still the cross grains at the front and rear of the bowl are pretty. The best part of the pipe is the hand feel, this apple just fits in the hand with the perfect plumpness. The dimensions of the London Briar Apple are:
Length: 5.74 in./ 145.80 mm.
Weight: 1.52 oz./ 43.09 g.
Bowl Height: 1.66 in./ 42.16 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.49 in./ 37.85 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.74 in./ 18.80 mm.
Outside Diameter: 1.55 in./ 39.37 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 London Briar Apple.
It seems like I haven’t worked on a Peterson pipe for a while but, that’s not true. I did that Captain Pete commission just a couple of weeks ago. Oh well, I’ll use my newly created meme anyway:
This restoration is on a Peterson I have never worked with a Kapp-Royal bent pot 01. This beauty was spotted on eBay back in April of 2025. I remember when I wouldn’t pay more than $45 dollars for a Peterson pipe. Then Inflatron (the inflation monster) attacked like Godzilla. Sadly this Irish lass was a bit more than the $45 but all things considered it was still reasonable. The stampings are all clear and read as follows: Peterson’s over “KAPP-ROYAL” on the left shank, with MADE IN THE over REPUBLIC over IRELAND, offset 01, on the right shank. Below are some photograph taken prior to work on the pipe.
The Kapp-Royal was in very good condition. The stem had light oxidation and no tooth chater, to speak of. The briar looked very nice with fine birdseye’s on both flanks. The gap where the stem met the stummel was an annoyance which would have to be addressed. Other than a few minor fills and some sanding/polish this beauty would be ready for a new owner in no time.
Background
For the first three pieces of Peterson history I turned to the official Peterson website. Here, I chose quotes from the general history of Peterson, the “Classic” shape range, and the 01 shape in particular:
As the oldest continuously operating briar pipe factory in the world, we at Peterson have a certain tradition to uphold, a legacy of craftsmanship dating back over 150 years. Whether you’re browsing for your very first pipe or are a seasoned collector in search of a rare gem, know that every pipe in our catalogue carries with it that same preservation of tradition. A Peterson pipe isn’t just a utilitarian tool; it’s a piece of history you can carry with you in your travels, a faithful companion to accompany you through all that life offers. (Peterson.ie: Pipes)
One of our most popular shapes, our signature take on the bent Pot enhances the inherently muscular design with a broad, squat bowl and extra-sturdy proportions through the shank and transition, as well as an elegant quarter bend. (Peterson Pipes: Army Filter Heritage (01) Fishtail (9mm))
Since our inception, we’ve offered a range of specific tiers suited to our customers’ tastes and price requirements. Our Classic range represents non-System pipes crafted for the Everyman, unique and timeless designs that capture our House Style and quality craftsmanship at a price any smoker can enjoy. Rather than relegating production to one or two lines, we offer a variety of styles, shapes, and finishes among these entry-level series, including traditional navy mounts (flush-fitting stems), P-Lip mouthpieces, and army mounts. (Peterson.ie: Classic Pipes)
Next I looked into the big The Peterson Pipe book (Irwin, Mark and Malmberg, Gary (2018). The Peterson Pipe The Story of Kapp & Peterson, First edition, second printing 2021. Briar Books Press, Canada.) for a more specific account of the Kapp-Royal line.
“Kapp-Royal (1969. 1976-79, c. 1988, 2004-) First appearance as a line introduced 1969. In 1976-79 Iwan Ries catalog offering identical with non-System Dunmore line. Second appearance the late eighties as a high-grade Italian-market line with briar band inset into mouthpiece. From c. 2004, Italian line available in the US as high grade, orange finish, sterling band, amber-colored acrylic fish-tail stem or sometimes vulcanite, embedded aluminum P.” (Irwin and Malmberg p. 306)
According to the above description by Irwin and Malmberg, this pipe is likely a Kapp-Royal from the “c. 1988” period and made in the Dublin factory.
The Restoration
The Kapp-Royal made its way to the workbench after the “Before” photo shoot. Here it received a cleaned denim piece and a more thorough examination.
Below you can see that gap I was referring to earlier. I couldn’t see an obstruction to a tight fit but there certainly was one.
The original fills had failed and would need fixing. Fortunately they were a distance away from the stamps.
Another old fill was located on the heel.
The reservoir, well not really a reservoir since this is a Classic 01 and not a System pipe, was surprisingly dirty. That could definitely be the culprit for the ill fitting stem.
The tobacco chamber looked very clean. I could even make out the chuck marks from the Peterson factory. How could a chamber this clean have a shank that is fouled so badly?
Below is another shot of the chamber prior to work done. It had obviously received some scraping by the marks at the bottom of the chamber yet the rim looked pristine.
I figured there was no reason to ream this tobacco chamber so proceeded directly to sanding it. I could see no damage to the chamber other than the scraping marks at the bottom of the chember.
The shank cleaning was far more difficult. Here I used the following techniques: Nylon shank brush scrubbing with alcohol present, Folded bristle pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol, cotton swabs dipped in alcohol and dental scraper scraping.
The stem was, like the tobacco chamber, surprisingly clean requiring only a couple bristle pipe cleaners wetted with alcohol. The stem did not need to be treated with either Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer or Briarville Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. I thought sanding/polishing would suffice. I did apply a coating of mineral oil to the stem though.
The stummel made its way to the sink for a scrub with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and dried with a cotton hand towel.
Back at the workbench the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad wetted with 95% ethyl alcohol. Very little color came off indicating that the stummel was clean.
The disturbingly dirty shank bothered me so, I decided to give it an overnight cotton-alcohol treatment. The bowl was stuffed with cotton balls while the airway was stuffed with more cotton.
The cotton was saturated with 95% ethyl alcohol until no additional alcohol could be absorbed with a disposable pipette.
The next day the cotton was removed.
The logo area was de-oiled with alcohol on a cotton swab. Yeah, I tried to mask it without de-oiling at first – unsuccess!
The stamps and logo were masked with painters tape to protect them from the upcoming sanding.
The fills were redone using a dab of brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) applied with a fly tying bodkin. Briar dust was then pressed onto and into the wet CA. A quick dab of additional CA was applied to the top of the new fill.
The new fills were filed with a small flat file and smoothed with a 400 grit sanding sponge.
The pipe was then worked with a series of sanding sponges from 400-3500 grits. The stummel was wiped with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol between each sponge. The stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel between each sponge.
I then worked the pipe with 4000-12000 grit micro-mesh pads. Between each pad I repeated the above wiping except Obsidian Oil was used in place of mineral oil.
The pipe was then buffed with white buffing compound at the buffer.
The remaining buffing compound was removed with hand buffing and a rag then wiped with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol. The stummel then received a coat of Before and After Restoration Balm and was allowed to sit for 15 minutes.
The excess Restoration Balm was wiped from the stummel with an inside out athletic sock.
The stem logo was again cleaned with alcohol and a cotton swab.
To re-do the gold logo, I used Gold Leaf Rub’nBuff applied with a fly tying bodkin.
The excess gold leaf was wiped away with a paper towel.
The stem was then polished with Before and After Fine Polish followed by their Extra Fine Polish. Both were applied and hand buffed using a soft cotton cloth.
The pipe then received several coats of carnauba wax at the buffer.
The final step was another hand buff with the microfiber polishing cloth then off to the final photo shoot.
I don’t think I’ll ever tire of working on Peterson pipes. This pipe started out not needing much but in the end it is absolutely beautiful. The bird’s eyes on both sides are gorgeous. The vulcanite stem polished very nicely and with that briar band looks amazing. I have nothing against the 01 shape, it is just not my favorite but this pipe could change my mind on that. The hand feel and balance while clenching is very comfortable. The dimensions of the Peterson Kapp-Royal 01 Bent Pot are:
Length: 5.56 in./ 141.22 mm.
Weight: 1.74 oz./ 49.33 g.
Bowl Height: 1.79 in./ 45.47 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.57 in./ 39.88 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.84 in./ 21.34 mm.
Outside Diameter: 1.44 in./ 36.57 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 Peterson Kapp-Royal 01 Bent Pot.
I am not sure why but it happens with some frequency, I’ll look at an estate lot and one pipe just jumps out at me as being more attractive than the rest. This singularly attractive pipe turns out to be an EA Carey Magic Inch. Now, I am far from an expert on design or aesthetics but I do know what I like. The strangest part is that I have only ever kept one EA Carey pipe as a companion and that one was “restored” many years ago. I say “restored” because I don’t really remember anything of the restoration other than recognizing the repaired fills. I got the pipe out and smoked it as research for the writing
(above image is the only EA Carey pipe that I’ve kept for use)
of this blog. It performed well though I am still not sure what to think of the Magic Inch system. The pipe had a new papyrus filter and after the smoke the filter appeared nearly as it did before the smoke. The pipe had a very nice draw and the vent along the stem did cool the smoke. I tried covering the vents with my finger and thumb, rather than covering the rim to increase the ember, this worked well. I was just using the vents as more of a carburetor.
Over the years I have accumulated a few EA Carey pipes and they sat in a cardboard box. I guess it was time for one to hit the workbench. The EA Carey that I selected can be seen in the photos below prior to any work done. This pipe is an Italian product as indicated by the stamp of the bottom of the pipe. The stampings read, EA CAREY over MAGIC INCH over PAT. No 3267941 with an ITALY offset to the right.
This pipe appeared to have been smoke but not heavily. There was a light cake built up in the tobacco chamber and a light lava deposit on the rim. The mouthpiece had some teeth chatter indicating that it had been clenched but not mauled. The finish was worn either from handling or from being pushed around in a drawer. The plastic stem was not subject to oxidation. This looked to be a relatively easy restore.
Background
The history search began with pipephil.eu. Here I found a matching set of stamps but a different country of manufacture (COM). This indicated to me that EA Carey was importing pipes to their specifications.
Next I went to pipedia.org for their general history. The entry here suggested it was written by EA Carey advertising folks though no source was mentioned.
“Magic Inch” System has been a Carey’s tradition for over 50 years, with over 1,000,000 sold. The “Magic Inch” is an air chamber inserted between the imported briar bowl and the vented mouthpiece which allows cool outside air to enter and mix with the warm tobacco smoke inside the “Magic Inch” chamber. Tobacco tars, oils and moisture, are squeezed out of the smoke. The residue drops to the bottom of the chamber and is absorbed by the Papyrate sleeve. From its rich tradition and thousands of satisfied customers, this pipe is sure to be your smoking favorite for life.
Carey Magic Inch pipes can be readily identified by a boxed letter C on the stem, along with a distinctive series of three vent slits and the Carey Magic Inch name stamped into the side of the bowl.
Finally I turned to the EA Carey official website. I guess I should have started with looking at the “horse’s mouth” rather than using second party information. Since Ea Carey is still in business and selling their signature tobacco blends, pipes and various sundries their website, EA Carey’s Online Smoke Shop | Best Pipe Tobacco | Briar Pipes is kept relatively current with weekly specials. For a great article on the history of EA Carey
“The “Magic Inch” System has been a Carey’s tradition for over 50 years. Hundreds of thousands of these smoking pipes have been sold, beginning with the very first billiard shape back in 1948. Based on the original “Magic Inch” System, the improved modern design provides the coolest and driest smoke ever found in a pipe.
1. Improved Ventilator Action 2. Papyrate
3. The “Magic Inch” 4. The Carey Mouthpiece
Improved Ventilator
Each Carey “Magic Inch” system begins with a scientifically metered amount of air into each puff of smoke. The Carey “Magic Inch” System, with the new Papyrate, controls air better and more accurately…for improved drawing and smokeability!!
Papyrate
The all new Papyrate…the heart of the “Magic Inch” System, features new and improved 2-ply construction. You get improved rigidity for ease of fit and removal. You get extra absorbency for dryer smoking and longer lasting quality between Papyrate changes…made especially for your new Carey pipe.
The “Magic Inch”
The “Magic Inch”, unmistakably superior for 38 years, now achieves a new and better level of performance. The outer shell of the Papyrate filters and meters air with 50 micron precision. The “Magic Inch” unique “moisture ports” dissipates moisture, tar, and nicotine into the 2-ply Papyrate, protecting the smoker from unwanted materials. And finally, the unique Carey “Magic Inch” evaporation chamber releases moisture through evaporation during resting periods between smokes. Not a filter, not a standard “push bit”…the unique “Magic Inch”…producing an all new level of smoking quality.
The Carey Mouthpiece
Now you can enjoy new mouthpiece construction for added comfort and durability. Made of Zytel 101, this new mouthpiece has depth of color, outstanding durability, and a bit thickness of only .380 inches. The result is added comfort, outstanding durability and a color that never tarnishes and never needs to be polished.”
Okay, I stand corrected. The papyrate is not a filter and my expectation of it absorbing moisture or tars from the smoke was explained in the above quote from EA Carey. A second bowl of EA Carey Gold blend was smoked the next day. This time I checked the Papyrate more frequently. It did appear to be absorbing moisture. As I thought about it, it made sense, the cooler incoming air from the vents would mix with the smoke. This would cause moisture to condense out of the smoke and form along the nylon Magic inch. The ports along the Magic Inch would allow the moisture to flow through and be absorbed by the Papyrate. Definitely not a filter. In my two smoking sessions, I did not note any real discoloration of the papyrate as would be expected from a filtering of the smoke.
As for the dates of the pipe in hand, I have little idea. Other than it being stamped with the patent number. Assuming that the stamping was a marketing strategy and that patents are valid for 20 years from the filing date, I can assume the pipe dates from 1948-1968. I would not expect the company to continue stamping the patent number after the expiration of the patent though I could be very wrong about that..
The Restoration
The EA Carey billiard made its way to the workbench and a laundered denim piece.
The ample bowl of the billiard demand the #3 PipNet blades.
Reaming was completed with the PipNet, Smoking pipes Low Country reamer and General triangular scraper.
The tobacco chamber was sanded with 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel and with 320 sandpaper by hand. The sanded chamber showed no signs of heat damage or charring.
The rim showed only minimal lava in the rustications.
This was cleaned by moistening the rim with saliva and scrubbing with a brass brush.
The rim was wiped with a paper towel and looked a little better.
I took the stummel to the sink for a scrubbing with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and dried with a cotton hand towel.
The plastic stem was also scrubbed with soap and a shank brush and rinsed with warm water.
Returning to the workbench I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol. I was surprised to see a dark purple color on the cotton. The black stain must have actually been a dark purple. There remained some very shiny spots of finish on the briar.
Also more observable were old fills of pits in the briar. Below is one pit on the front of the stummel.
And a second large pit on the left side.
Below you can easily see the shine I was referring to above. There was some kind of clear coat on this pipe.
Below another look at the remaining shine where the shank meets the bowl.
I needed to think about shine removal so I started cleaning the shank, figuring that I could think while doing a repetitive task. The Magic Inch system made shank cleaning more difficult since I could not use any scraper to access the airway. I placed a few milliliters of alcohol in the tobacco chamber and allowed it to flow into the shank but not through. Using the alcohol, I scrubbed the airway with a nylon shank brush. The alcohol was poured into an empty medicine cup. This was repeated a few times. I also ran folded bristle pipe cleaners through the airway. These were also dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.
With the shank cleaned and the ponder still in process, I decided to try removing the clear coat with acetone. I tested the susceptibility to the finish with a cotton swab dipped in acetone. It did remove some of the finish but that clear coat was tough. It also looked like the clear coat itself was dyed purple.
More acetone, this time on a make-up pad did remove more purple but the only way to ensure the total removal was with an acetone bath. I opted against this in fear of the effects of the acetone on the nylon Magic Inch and the acrylic shank extension. I also worried about the acetone affecting the glue holding all of those components in place.
I chose to use a 400 grit sanding sponge to sand the high spots of the rustication. This would allow the briar to peek through in those places at least. It also took a bit of the shine away from the shiny spots.
Next came the restoration of the stem. I have found that this type of plastic can be filed and sanded but that only with very fine abrasives. Coarse grits or files cut deeply into the softer plastic and are a pain to remedy. My small flat file was fine enough to not create an issue. In sticking with this “finer is better” mentality, I opted against sanding sponges altogether. Micro-mesh pads were used andonly from 1800-12000.
I thought that I would have to accept the old fills because I could see no way for me to retexture and match the existing texture. I worked Before and After Restoration Balm into the rustications with a baby toothbrush. The balm was allowed to sit for 15 minutes.
The remaining excess balm was removed using an inside out athletic sock and hand buffing.
The rustications were shallos so I thought that carnauba wax would be acceptable to use as a preservative. I did take my time and buff in the direction of the rustication. The stem was also waxed with carnauba on the buffer.
The final step was another hand buff with the microfiber polishing cloth.
The EA Carey Billiard has very traditional shaping. Traditional in the sense that it is well thought out and very pleasing to the eye and hand. The thickness of the bowl at the rim is 0.27 inches (6.86 mm) and at the swell of the bowl it increases to 0.48 inches (12.19 mm). This gradual thickening of the briar is a nice way to keep the pipe feeling cooler throughout the smoke. As I would expect the thicker briar to absorb additional heat during the smoking of a bowl of tobacco. The rustication allows for a nice grip and good hand feel though it looks rather like a factory mass produced texture. The stem did polish up nicely and looks good. The feel of this plastic is good, softer and more flexible than vulcanite. Overall this is a very nice pipe that will serve its next owner many years of service. The dimensions of the EA Carey Billiard are:
Length: 6.10 in./ 154.94 mm.
Weight: 1.41 oz./ 39.97 g.
Bowl Height: 1.85 in./ 46.99 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.65 in./ 41.91 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.80 in./ 20.32 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.
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Below are some photos of the finished EA Carey Billiard.
I always feel humbled when someone reaches out to me to restore an old pipe. I should say I’m humbled and nervous. It is an honor to be asked but there is always the nagging feeling or insecurity of damaging someone’s favorite pipe or worse a family heirloom. Today’s restoration emphasizes that very well. The pipe was made by Peterson, I think everyone knows my feelings toward Peterson pipes. If not, the handle Nebraska Pete Geek may give you a clue. This example was a Captain Pete, an all time favorite line. The owner reached out to me via email and lives only about 25 miles away. Crazy small world, eh? The Owner, let’s call him William to protect his identity (or less dramatic, privacy) had subjected himself to reading one of my restoration blogs. The poor guy survived the ordeal and still wanted me to take a look at this pipe. Descriptions and photos were sent and I gave an estimate of what I thought I could do for the old Captain Pete. A few weeks later the pip arrived in the mail. Below are some photos I took before starting work on the pipe.
The old Captain had seen some years in the service of a pipe smoker. The most obvious issues were the pits where the old fills had failed. The stem showed signs of oxidation and a bit of chomping. Structurally the pipe was solid and in good shape the restoration would be more aesthetic. William had said that he would like the stamping preserved as much as possible. This would be a challenge due to the faint stamps, in general and specifically for the fills on the left shank amidst the stamps.
Background
I blogged about a Captain Pete back on December 31, 2023. You can see that restoration HERE, if you are interested. That was about the second month of my blogging. Anyway, I wrote the following:
“Peterson pipes have a long and storied history which is rich and fascinating. I highly recommend the book The Peterson Pipe, by authors Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg as well as a reading of pipedia.com’s Peterson pages. According to Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg, the Captain Pete:
“This line’s name was derived from the nickname of Charles Peterson, known affectionately as “Captain Peterson.” The first issue, c. 1940-62, was in a smooth finish produced for Rogers Imports with a white stamped P inside C, or a circled P on the mouthpiece. CAPTAIN over PETE on shank, and a MADE IN IRELAND in a circle. English made versions show CAPTAIN over PETE on shank or “CAPTAIN PETERSON” and A PETERSON PRODUCT over MADE IN ENGLAND or LONDON MADE over ENGLAND. The second issue (1998-), features an XL bowl with Sherlock Holmes shapes and compact stems, in rustic or combination of smooth and rustic, with a nickel band between two narrow brass bands.” (Irwin and Malmberg p.295)”
(A Peterson Captain Pete Restoration – NebraskaPeteGeek) I apparently was not concerned with notating Irwin and Malmberg’s work correctly so I will make amends and do that here, (Irwin, Mark and Malmberg, Gary (2018). The Peterson Pipe The Story of Kapp & Peterson, First edition, second printing 2021. Briar Books Press, Canada.).
This Captain Pete was certainly a first issue dating from 1940-62 made in Ireland.
The Restoration
As usual after the initial photo shoot the pipe made it to the workbench and a clean piece of denim.
The first thing I did was to use a fly tying bodkin too scratch the old wax from the beading around the bowl.
Next the ream team was assembled. There didn’t appear to be a tremendous cake build up but the pipe had obviously been smoked.
The #2 blades of the PipNet did the majority of the reaming with both the Smokingpipes Low Country reamer and the General triangular scraper used for clean-up.
The shank was dirty but considering the amount of cake present I thought the previous owner had used pipe cleaners on a daily regular basis. The dental scraper was used to scrape the airway and did not produce as much tar as I was expecting.
Overall the shank cleaned out well with only alcohol dipped cotton swabs.
The stem also cleaned up fairly quickly with bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.
After a light sanding of the stem with a 320 grit sanding sponge I tried to paint the tooth dents with a flame from a lighter. This helped raise the vulcanite a little bit.
The stem was then placed in a bath of Briarville’s Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover and let sit overnight.
I continued working on the stummel. Below is a photo of the rim with a light lava coating in places.
I moistened the rim with saliva to soften the lava. The rim was then scraped with a sharp pocket knife.
I used a round polyvinyl chloride (PVC) end cap wrapped in 320 sandpaper to re-establish a good bevel on the inner rim.
The stummel was then scrubbed with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.
BAck at the workbench, the stummel was looking clean.
I gave the surface a wipe with a make-up pad dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol . Little color came off the pipe indicating that there was no wax or finish remaining on the stummel. The alcohol also helped soften the old fills allowing me to remove as much of the fill material as possible. With the stem in the oxidation remover and the stummel drying, I called it quits for the night.
The next day I removed the stem from the Briarville solution and wiped it with a coarse shop rag. This absorbed the excess solution and removed some of the oxidized vulcanite.
There remained some brown oxidation on the surface. I could not make out the stem logo that had been stamped 60+ years ago but could see the circle and imagined the P within.
The below photo shows two of the most exasperating details of this restoration: How to preserve the remaining stamps while bringing the stamped material back to life. I needed some serious thinking for this one.
I tried spot cleaning the remnant stem logo with Briarville Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover on a cotton swab. I was not impressed with the results.
Maybe if I do it some more… Still not impressed.
OK, more thinking time while I worked on repairing old fills. This was done by placing a small dab of brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) into the pits using a fly tying bodkin.
More CA in pits.
A small scoop of briar dust was then pressed into the wet CA. This causes the CA to cure nearly immediately.
The rough top of the new fills were filed off with a small flat file. The fills then got another dab of brown CA to top-off the new fills. This was allowed to cure over about an hour.
The cured CA/briar dust fills were then filed smooth with a small flat or ½ round file
When finished I realized that I wasn’t finished and that I’d missed two fills. DOH! Repeating the above process except this time I ran a paper business card through the lower bead groove to remove excess CA before pressing the briar dust in and scraping the groove with a fly tying bodkin before the CA briar dust could cure.
The spot treatment of the logo area with Briarville Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover was less satisfactory than I hoped. Perhaps my solution is losing potency due to the number of stems that I have bathed in the juice? I turned to a tried and true method of removing the oxidation, SOFT Scrub on a make-up pad.
The stem was rubbed with a heavy coat of mineral oil and allowed to sit for a few minutes before I wiped the excess off with a paper towel.
Next would be the sanding. To protect those faint stamps I covered them with painters tape. The pipe was then sanded with a series of sanding sponges from grits 320-3500. Between each sponge the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad wetted with 95% ethyl alcohol. The stem was rubbed with mineral oil then wiped with a paper towel.
After the sanding sponges I worked the pipe with micro-mesh pads 4000-12000. The wiping between pads was repeated as with the sanding sponges but between pads I used Obsidian Oil rather than mineral oil.
The stummel was given a liberal coating of Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit for 30 minutes.
An inside out athletic sock was used to hand buff away the remaining balm.
The pipe was then taken to the buffer for several coats of carnauba wax.
After the waxing I used a fly tying bodkin to clear the beading grooves of excess wax.
The pipe was hand buffed with a microfiber polishing cloth to raise the shine.
I gave this old Pete a bowl coating not because the tobacco chamber had any damage but because the owner had requested it and it gave me a little more time with the old Captain Pete. I used 100% maple syrup and activated charcoal powder.
The airway was plugged with a cotton swab. Another cotton swab was used to paint the chamber with a light coating of syrup. The capsule was dumped into the chamber and sealed off with painters tape over the rim. The stummel was then shaken vigorously for over a minute to evenly distribute the charcoal powder.
The tape was removed and the powder dumped.
The final step was another hand buff with the microfiber polishing cloth then off to the final photo shoot.
It is always fun to work on a Peterson pipe and working on someone else’s Peterson is like catch and release fishing. Although in all honesty, my days of collecting Peterson pipes are pretty much over. I am releasing more than I am catching today. This old pipe was a fun challenge. Yeah, I couldn’t restore it to how it looked when it came out of the factory in Dublin. The stampings and logos were just too worn and those two pits by the stamps were just taunting me to obliterate the Stamps. In the end I am happy with how the pipe turned out. The overall finish is superior to how it would have looked coming out of the factory. I do not want to be critical of Peterson but they typically only sand a pipe to 400 grit. I am pretty certain that the owner will be as happy with the pipe as I am. The dimensions of the Peterson Captain Pete bulldog are:
Length: 5.70 in./ 43.18 mm.
Weight: 1.21 oz./ 34.30 g.
Bowl Height: 1.80 in./ 45.72 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.50 in./ 38.10 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.72 in./ 18.29 mm.
Outside Diameter: 1.51 in./ 38.35 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 Peterson Captain Pete 155 bulldog.
I think this totally counts as a Peterson. Given the poor darling didn’t make the quality assurance cut to the “big leagues” but the 02 shape is more of a rarity for Pete Geeks. I remember three years ago when I started to get more serious about restoring old pipes, that you could pick up a Peterson System Standard on the estate market for around $45. Over the past few years this has increased significantly. Perhaps another indicator of inflation or maybe just a growing interest in our beloved hobby. When I saw this pipe on eBay, I knew I had to try for it. I was surprised that I won the auction and soon had the Irish Lassie in hand. Below are a few photos or the pipe prior to any work done.
From what I could see the issues with this pipe’s briar were only cosmetic and would be dealt with accordingly. The pipe looked like it had only been smoked a few times. I think I could imagine why that button was horrible. It felt thick and chunky, like something made of Legos. Clenching that would be like getting X-rays at the dentist.
Background
I cannot begin to describe the history nor impact of the Peterson pipe company. I can tell you what I think is the best source of information on the subjects and that is Mark Irwin and Gary Malmberg’s book, The Peterson Pipe The Story of Kapp & Peterson. According to the authors,Peterson’s seconds are as follows,
“Seconds Peterson seconds are pipes of all shapes with briar flaws deemed unacceptable for ordinary models and sold at reduced prices, sometimes unstained, fit with fishtail or round button mouthpieces. Since the early 1990s they have only been available in Ireland. Occasionally they are described in Peterson catalogs under different names, and documented specimens have various stampings. In roughly chronological order these include:
Stamped arched KAPP & over straight PETERSON”S over arched DUMMIES An early specimen preserved at the Peterson museum with this stamp has a round-button mouthpiece.
IRISH FREE STATE stamp (1922-37) COM stamp with no brand or model name. Documented with or without nickel bands.
System Reject (1968-) Noted first in the Price List for January 1968 as being available in all six system shapes. Also found in the ‘80 Peterson-Glass Price List.
Erica System Reject (1987-98)Noted in two US distributor catalogs. Fishtail mouthpiece, unstamped nickel band, with COM of MADE IN THE over REP. IRELAND or with no COM.
Irish Seconds (1982-98) Classic Range shapes stamped with no brand name , fishtail mouthpiece, in unstained, black rustic or dark brown finishes, no band. (Irwin, Mark and Malmberg, Gary (2018). The Peterson Pipe The Story of Kapp & Peterson, First edition, second printing 2021. Briar Books Press, Canada. p312).
Mark also writes a weekly blog titled Peterson Pipe Notes. If you have not already subscribed I highly recommend it. It will be one of the best $0 purchases you can make and is a vault of information on all things Peterson and various other topics. I am not just saying that because Mark has posted a few of my restorations either. His blog concerning the Irish Seconds is very well researched, written and can be found here: https://petersonpipenotes.org/tag/irish-seconds/.
Now for the Oom Paul shape. Here I’ll let Mark sing the praises of the history of the shape and the Peterson pipes of note:
So, when was this particular Peterson Oon Paul made? I really didn’t know. The 1976 catalog mention might be useful but it precedes the use of the IRISH SECONDS stamp by 16 years. I reached out to Mark Irwin and provided him with photos. Here is what he had to say, “This appears to me to be the 1988 Dublin Millennium edition. That would fit with the IRISH SECONDS stamp and the shank bend. The IS would have been sold in Ireland, almost entirely, but perhaps some escaped their island prison. We can confirm that with a quick measurement of the chamber diameter and the bowl diameter if you like, but I’m 99% positive.” (Mark Irwin, personal email). I replied to Mark by sending him the dimensions. His reply to those was, “That’s it!” This concltudes the search, in my book. THis is a 1988 Dublin Millennium edition Peterson 02 that didn’t meet the quality standards of Peterson and was thus labeled an Irish Seconds by the good folks in Dublin Ireland.
The Restoration
The restoration began with a clean denim piece for workbench protection.
Augh, the terrible button would be the first issue addressed with this pipe.
Apparently the previous owner tried to customize the button using their teeth and jaw power.
Impressive as their chomping was, I thought a file would be a better tool than my teeth.
I used large and small flat files to reduce the size of the button and soften the edges.
Below are photos of the top and bottom after filing.
An emery board, for filing fingernails was also used for more final shaping.
The shank was then taped using panthers tape to protect it from the stem sanding. The stem was initially sanded with a 320 grit sanding sponge.
Airway cleaning was done with bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.
The stemm was then placed in Briarville Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover (deox) and allowed to sit overnight.
I turned my attention to reaming the stummel. I gathered the ream team: PipNet with #2 blades, General triangular scraper (with the tip ground round) and the Smokingpipes Low Country reaming knife.
This pipe had not been heavily smoked so the reaming was quickly handled.
Below is a photo of the reamed tobacco chamber.
The chamber was sanded with 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. The sanded chamber showed no signs of any damage from heat save the small charred spot on the rim.
A better view of the sanded tobacco chamber can be seen below.
The stummel was taken to the sink for a scrub with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.
I believe this to below photo best describes why this pipe was considered to be an Irish Seconds, the number of flaws leading to fills in the briar. I counted 11 on the left side alone. The old fill was picked from the briar using a fly tying bodkin.
The front only had two spots to pick then fill.
The right side with its birdseyes also had a couple of spots.
The rim had fills and a couple of cosmetic cracks. These were not deep structural cracks.
I used brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) placed into the pits. I then pressed briar dust into the wet CA. This new fill sets up quickly. The excess briar dust was brushed off using a wire brush.
The same process was used on the other fills.
Once cured the new fills were filed with a small flat file to smooth them.
This was repeated on each side.
The fills of the cosmetic cracks on the rim were done with brown CA alone, no briar dust though, briar dust was used in filing the pits. The entire stummel was then lightly sanded with 320 and 400 grit sanding sponges taking care to avoid the stamps on either side of the shank.
The next day I removed the stem from the Briarville deox.
The Briarville solution evaporates quickly. While still wet I vigorously rubbed the stummel with a coarse shop rag to remove some of the softened oxidized vulcanite.
Back at the workbench the oxidized vulcanite was easily seen as a buff colored coating on the stem.
The stem also showed another aspect of Irish Seconds that I’ve not seen in Peterson pipes, poor finish sanding of a stem. I could still see the marks from the molding of the stem.
The fit of the stem to shank was very good with a fine tight fit and no gaps.
I again taped the shank, this time with masking tape. Masking tape is thinner and is less likely to produce a step from the stem to the shank.
The stem was sanded using a series of sanding sponges from 320-3500. Between each sponge the stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel.
I masked the stampings on both sides of the shank with masking tape.
The stummel was then sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 32-3500. Between each sponge the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol to remove sanding debris.
The tasking tape was removed and the adhesive wiped clean with alcohol. The pipe was then worked with micro-mesh pads 4000-12000. Again the stummel was wiped with an alcoholic make-up pad (I think that’s funny).
The stem was rubbed with Obsidian Oil and wiped with a paper towel between micro-mesh pads.
I coated the stummel with Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed it to do what it does for 20 minutes. The excess balm was wiped from the stummel using an inside out athletic sock.
The pipe was then taken to the buffer where it received several coats of carnauba wax.
The final step was a hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth further deepening the shine.
This not so typical Peterson shape, I mean, Irish Second, turned out very nicely. The fills are far less noticeable and the stem far more comfortable than when I started. Weight of the pipe is inconsequential hanging from the lower jaw and it would be an exceptional clencher. I was very happy with how well the stem turned out. The high gloss black looks outstanding with the more natural Briar and the briar grain, though not fantastic, is quite lovely. This old pipe may never win a beauty contest but it will serve very well as a useful pipe in someone’s rotation. The dimensions of the Irish Seconds Oom Paul are:
Length: 6.00 in./ 152.40 mm.
Weight: 2.39 oz./ 67.76 g.
Bowl Height: 2.25 in./ 57.15 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.95 in./ 49.53 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.74 in./ 18.80 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.
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Below are some photos of the finished Irish Seconds Oom Paul.
You know when you see something and the little voice in your head says, “Wait! There’s something peculiar about that”? That is exactly what happened when I was perusing eBay and saw this pipe. I can’t recall if it was the photo or the header, “James J Fox Made in Dublin Ireland Pipe” that caught my eye but one of them gave me a temporary case of whiplash. Now, we all know what a pipe made in Dublin actually means but what is this James J Fox stamp? A distant relative of Wileward Ethelbert Coyote, perhaps? (Wile E. Coyote for those non-cartoon-culture savvy). Even with less than stellar photographs, I knew I had to lay hands on this lass. The button was clicked, money sent and the pipe arrived. Well, it was a bit slower than that but you get the idea. Upon arrival, I got a good look at the stampings. Top left, Fox over Special in a flowing script. This one was faint, not worn, just faint. The top right shank had MADE IN DUBLIN over IRELAND. Again the stamp was faint but only in the middle top portion. Almost as if the stamp was not flat. The final stamp was on the lower left face of the shank and it read, JAMES J FOX over DUBLIN LONDON. The photos below show the pipe as it appeared before any work was done.
This looked like it would be a straightforward restoration with no real obstacles. Yeah, the stem was oxidized and there was some weird stain on the front left of the bowl but the stem fit was great and the rim indicated that the previous owner took care of this pipe or hadn’t used it extensively.
Background
I went directly to the James J. Fox website as the start of the background search. Here it states the following:
“We have been trading in fine tobacco and smokers’ accessories from 19 St James’s Street since 1787 and our customers have included discriminating smokers from all walks of life – from commoners to kings. Among them have been Sir Winston Churchill, Oscar Wilde, British and Foreign Royalty, the officer’s mess of famous British regiments, and the leading lights of the stage, film, sport, tv, radio, music and literature.
Our world famous tobacco business started with Robert Lewis, who began trading fine tobacco in St James’s Street in 1787. James J Fox was formed in Dublin in 1881 and opened its first tobacco shop in London in 1947. Fox acquired the business of Robert Lewis on 14 September 1992, uniting two of the most respected names in the cigar world. Both companies now trade as JJ Fox (St James’s) Ltd and run the cigar departments of Harrods and Selfridges.” and about their founder,Frederic James Fox (1913-1990) “Born in 1913, Frederic (Freddie) was the fourth of five children and the youngest of James Fox’s three sons.He found himself in charge of the family business, a single cigar shop on Dublin’s Grafton Street, after the untimely death of his two brothers. Stanley Fox was shot dead by armed thieves thought to be members of the IRA in 1926, while Ronald (Biffy) was missing in action over the Dutch coast in 1942 during an RAF mine laying mission. Freddie, not content with just one shop, took the business from strength to strength. He established a successful import and wholesale business in Ireland alongside the world’s first Duty Free outlet which expanded the retail cigar business into London. He developed numerous brands including Punch Nectares, Bolivar Amado, Hoyo Royal Hunt and La Corona Policromia, and established the Astor Tobacco Company. His enterprising nature also saw Freddie acquire and develop a successful import and wholesale business in the Channel Islands; and he oversaw the origin of the business’s entry into the property markets, developing several high profile office buildings in St Helier, Jersey including Sir Walter Raleigh House on the Esplanade. Freddie Fox died in 1990. He is still sorely missed by his family, friends and colleagues from the cigar industry. Were he to be asked to comment on his career achievements, he might say :
For a far more complete history of the James J, Fox shops and their history I will refer to Mark Irwi’s Peterson Pipe Notes blog, 157. The James Fox – Peterson Small Batch Lines: An Interview with Yiorgos Manesis (157. The James Fox – Peterson Small Batch Lines: An Interview with Yiorgos Manesis – Peterson Pipe Notes). Yiorgos Manesis says in Irwins blog, “They used to make their own pipes here, a small factory for a few years. It didn’t last long, and only two or three people worked there. I don’t know if they were turning bowls, or just getting bowls and finishing them here. They were involved in all parts of the tobacco business—they were making pipes, hand-blending their own pipe tobaccos. And Freddie Fox, who was Robert and Stuart Fox’s [the 5th generation owners] grandfather, was a very intelligent, savvy man.” (157. The James Fox – Peterson Small Batch Lines: An Interview with Yiorgos Manesis – Peterson Pipe Notes). Now is this pipe one of those made by Fox?
I sent some photos to Mark Irwin asking him what he thought of this pipe soon after it arrived. His response was, “Boy oh boy! Isn’t this COOL? Does it look like the Peterson 493 shape to you? It pretty much does to me. These James Fox / Peterson pipes are really scarce. Yes, please let me know when you run the blog post, as I want to point everyone out to it as well as include at least one of these photos to help them get to your blog.” (Mark Irwin, personal email). I cannot say that I was terribly familiar with the 493 shape so that is where I went hunting.
Mark’s Peterson Pipe Notes provided me with two wonderful posts describing the development of Peterson’s bulldog shapes. Blogs 388 (1891-1919) and 390 (1920-1947) detail the development of shaps during the years in parentheses.
“Two years after hostilities ended and bringing our survey of the IFS and Éire eras to its conclusion is the fullest flowering of bulldogs in K&P’s history, before or since: the distributor’s catalog c. 1947. Three squat bulldogs, the 493, 494 and 495, all reintroducing the “Cad” name. The 170 / 175 and 150 /155 don’t appear to be different shapes, but merely different stems—one saddle, one bent.”
(https://petersonpipenotes.org/390-a-visual-history-of-petersons-bulldog-shapes-part-2-from-the-end-of-the-patent-through-the-irish-free-state-and-eire-eras/ highlight added by me). In examining the James J. Fox and comparing it to the 493 from the diagram above the shape looked very similar. Mark appeared correct but one thing which struck me was the saddle stem. The 493 looks to have a saddle that tapers slightly from the shank towards the button.This narrowing is completely absent in the Fox Special, if anything the Fos pipe has a reverse taper. Using my micrometer I checked the width at the shank, 0.72 (18.4 mm) inches and at the opposite end of the saddle, .74 inches (18.8 mm). This is far from definitive proof that the pipe was made in the short lived James J. Fox shop but it does make me say, “Hmmm.”
Though lacking a shape number, the Fox Special must be regarded with some suspicion. Mark thought it looked like a Peterson 493, and I concur with estimated measurements from the shape charts the dimensions do fit nicely. The 493 shape existed through the 1970s as evidenced in a chart and description, “This shape chart from Associated Imports point-of-sale brochure leUS pipe smokers know what shapes they might expect in non-System pipes. Note several rare, currently sought-after shapes by collectors: the XL02, XL999, XL493s, 124 and 120F.” on page 170 of The Peterson Pipe The Story of Kapp Peterson (Irwin, Mark and Malmberg, Gary. Briar Works Press. 2018, First Edition, second printing 2021. Printed in Canada).
So, we are left with little but supposition, assumptions and conjecture, three great words, but hardly a definitive date of birth nor maker for this lovely pipe. Ath the end of this blog I show the measured dimensions of the Fox Special. If you compare the dimensions of this pipe to the listing of a Peterson 493 from smokingpipes.com there remains little doubt of this pipe’s heritage.
The Restoration
As usual the pipe was introduced to the workbench with a cleaned denim piece. I say cleaned because though laundered, stains aplenty remained.
I began with a quick prep of the stem for a bath in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover. This product was sent to me by Richard Messineo of Briarville to try. Again I wish to thank Richard for the chance to test this product. The stem was lightly sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge.
I then cleaned the airway with bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.
The stem was submerged in the Briarville solution. The label instructions say 2-24 hours. I allowed this stem 13 hours of exposure.
In the meantime I began reaming the tobacco chamber.The tools of choice were the PipNet, Smoingpipes Low Country Reamer and the General triangular scraper (with the tip ground round).
The number 3 blades of the PipNet did the lion’s share of the work with the General coming in for clean-up.
The tobacco chamber was sanded with 220 sandpaper scraped around a wood dowel. The chamber appeared free of any heat damage or charring.
Next came the cleaning of the airway. This was done with numerous cotton swabs and bristle pipe cleaners both dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol as well as some scraping with a dental scraper.
The stummel was taken to the sink for a scrubbing with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.
Back at the workbench the stummel looked better but the stain at the front right remained.
A wipe with 95% ethyl alcohol on amake-up pad removed a bit of color, probably old wax and stain.
The stain persisted.
As a remede, I thought maybe oxalic acid would bleach the stain.
I used a saturated solution of oxalic acid applied with a cotton swab on the stain. The swab assumed an orangish color.
After the oxalic acid had sat for 30 minutes I returned the stummel to the sink for another scrub with Murphy Oil Soap. I figured the basic nature of the soap and copious rinsing would neutralize the acid and rinse any remnants. Once dry the stummel appeared as below. The stain was vanquished.
The next day I returned to the stem. The Briarville Pipe Stem Oxidation Remover is getting darker in color. I am not sure how many stems this product is able to treat. I think this was number 3 or 4.
The stem was removed and was vigorously rubbed with a coarse shop rag. Below you can see that some of the oxidized vulcanite was removed onto the rag.
The stem looked much better.
I scrubbed the stem with Soft Scrub cleanser on make-up pads to remove more of the oxidized vulcanite.
The stem was then coated with another product, Before and After Hard Rubber Balm. This product was sent to me from Mark Hoover to try. Thank you, Mark. I really like this balm for treating vulcanite stems after they have been restored. It is more viscous than Obsidian Oil and I think it lasts longer than Obsidian Oil in protecting polished stems.
In preparing the stummel for sanding, I covered the stampings with masking tape. I prefer to cut slightly irregular pieces of tape for this as they do not give as blocky a look to the unsanded areas under the tape.
The stummel and stem were united during the sanding to avoid rounding the joint between the two materials at their seam. The sanding was done with a series of sanding sponges in grits of 400-3500. Between each sponge the briar was wiped with a make-up pad dipped in alcohol to remove sanding debris. The stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a dry paper towel between sponges.
The tape was removed and the pipe micro-meshed with pads 4000-12000. The above between pad wiping was done as with the sanding except I used Obsidian Oil rather than mineral oil.
The stem was polished with Before and After Fine followed by Extra Fine Polish.
Each was applied by finger then hand buffed using a soft cotton cloth.
The stummel was then covered with a liberal coat of Before and After Restoration Balm. I let the balm work its magic for 20 minutes.
The excess balm was hand buffed with an inside out athletic sock to remove it and reveal the revived briar grain.
The pipe was then taken to the buffer for several coats of carnauba wax. I used a fly tying bodkin to remove the xa deposits from the beading around the rim. The final step was a hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth further deepening the shine.
I think this Fox Special turned out very well. This stained spot and stem were the two areas I was most concerned about, both turned out exceptionally well. The high gloss black vulcanite really accentuates and contrasts the briar grain. The condition of the rim makes the pipe look like it is a brand new specimen rather than a restored old beauty. The stampings, though faint, can all be made out and add to the mystery of this pipe provenance. Peterson product or not, it is a beautiful Irish Lass.
The dimensions of the James J. Fox, Fox Special are:
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 Royal Guard 522.
Expecting perfection from a new corn cob pipe is kind of like expecting a perfect first date. Sure it can happen but more often than not the pipe will have flaws typical of cobs like a first date will undoubtedly have awkward, “damn, I should never have said that” moments. I recently bought three brand new Missouri Meerschaum Riverboat Gamblers with very pale complections, brass collars and white stems.
My thought was to dye the stummels black and make some very sharp looking custom cobs. Well the thought worked out well for two of the three pipes. The third pipe had a stem that was cracked at the base of the tenon. This crack led to a break while trying to remove the stem. This is not something that I have had occur with a new pipe but I wasn’t too upset by it thinking that this was an excuse to purchase a Forever Stem from Vermont Freehand for the pipe.
A drywall screw was used to pull the broken tenon from the shank.
“To the Internet!” was the battle cry. I chose and ordered a replacement stem from the great options from Vermont Freehand. The shipping was quick and I soon had a replacement stem. I still wanted to dye the cob and stem black as I was very happy with how the other two Riverboat Gamblers turned out.
I wanted to maintain the Missouri Meerschaum logo sticker so I covered it with Vallejo Liquid Mask. This is a quick drying latex that is used to keep paint from areas where it is not wanted. Once dried it can be easily peeled off.
The cob and stem were sanded with 320 and 400 grit sanding sponges. I do not like to go finer than that before dying briar due to my thoughts that finer sanding does not allow the dye to penetrate as well into the wood. I was not concerned with masking the band at the end of the shank since the brass collar would completely cover it.
Once the sanding was completed I prepared the dye gear. This included a cork to plug the tobacco chamber and act as a handle, a lighter for flaming the wet dye, a bend pipe cleaner as an applicator, a paper towel surface cover and the Fiebing’s Leather Dye in black. I also had a heat gun to heat the cob before applying the dye.
The cob was briefly heated then painted with the black Fiebing’s Leather Dye. The first coating was applied and quickly absorbed into the cob and stem. I tried to flame the stummel but there was just nothing to burn.
I applied a second coating of Fiebing’s this time the flaming attempt did work but very briefly. The pipe was taken to a vise where I clamped it and allowed it to dry overnight.
The next day I applied a third coating of black dye and set the pipe to dry for two hours. Once completely dry I wiped/rubbed the cob and stem with a paper towel to remove any of the dye that might come off on a person’s hands while handling it. I then proceeded to apply a coating of Danish Oil to the cob and stem. I used a fluffy pipe cleaner to apply the Danish Oil.
I allowed the Danish oil to dry for about an hour and applied a second coat. This one was allowed to dry for another hour.
I peeled the Liquid Mask latex from the logo sticker.
The mask did exactly what it was supposed to do and kept the dye from coloring the sticker.
The last steps included giving the pipe a couple of coats of carnauba wax with the buffer followed by a hand buffing with a microfiber cloth.
I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance, restorations or customizations.If you are interested the two Riverboat Gamblers from the earlier customizations are available. Feel free to message me in the comments if you would like one of them. 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 RIverboat Gambler 2.
How it looks after one bowl of Prince Albert. The light interior of the tobacco chamber is now properly colored, as well.
I am stepping a bit away from a restoration with this blog. These are brand new Missouri Meerschaums that I saw on sale from The Pipe Nook a while back. I was not terribly impressed with the color scheme but I thought that they would look lovely if dyed with black. The gold (brass) collar and the white stem looked amazing in my vivid mental image. Well, I ordered three of them and completely forgot about them until the day they arrived. Below are a couple of photos of the pipes upon arrival.
Background
The three pipes in my vivid mental image reminded me of the Three Amigos movie. Perhaps due to the color scheme of because I found both to be funny.
Corn cob pipes by their very nature make me think of down home utilitarian goodness. Nebraska, my home state, is known as the home of the University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL) Cornhuskers. Immediately to our southeast is the state of Missouri, home of the Missouri Meerschaum Pipe Company. According to pipedia.org,
“Washington, Missouri has long been known as the “Corn Cob Pipe Capital of the World.” It was the Missouri Meerschaum Company, still the world’s oldest and largest manufacturer of the cool, sweet-smelling corn cob pipes, that began the tradition for which Washington became famous.
In 1869 Henry Tibbe, a Dutch immigrant woodworker, first began production of the corn cob pipe. Legend has it that a local farmer whittled a pipe out of corn cob and liked it so much he asked Henry Tibbe to try turning some on his lathe. The farmer was well-pleased with his pipes so Henry made a few more and put them for sale in his shop. They proved to be such a fast selling item that soon Tibbe spent more time making pipes for his customers than working with wood. Soon Tibbe went into full time production of corn cob pipes. In 1907, the H. Tibbe & Son Co. became the Missouri Meerschaum Company
The word Meerschaum is taken from a German word that means “sea foam”. It is a Turkish clay used in high grade pipes. Tibbe likened his light, porous pipes and their cool smoke to that of the more expensive meerschaum pipes and coined the name “Missouri Meerschaum” for his pipes. Tibbe and a chemist friend devised an innovative system of applying a plaster-based substance to the outside of the corn cob bowls. In 1878, Tibbe patented this process.
A nationwide distribution system was established for the sale of his pipes. Other pipe firms also developed; by 1925 there were as many as a dozen corn cob pipe companies in Franklin County, most of them in Washington. Today, Missouri Meerschaum stands alone as the first and only surviving piece of the living history. These gentle pipes are smoked and loved all over the world as well as being used as souvenirs, often imprinted with the name of the city, business or event.” (Missouri Meerschaum – Pipedia)
These three lovelies are brand new products of Missouri Meerschaum.
The Customization
The three amigos made their way to the workbench and nestled in with a clean denim piece.
I thought the natural rim of these pipes would look interesting if I kept it in it’s natural state. TO do this I planned on applying a coating of Vallejo Liquid Mask to the rim. This product is a liquid latex which dries quickly and will seal off the surface. It is used by model painters to keep paint off surfaces where paint is unwanted. Once dry it can be easily peeled off. I planned on pouring a small amount onto a try and dipping the rim into the Liquid Mask.
Well, the plan came to a quick detour. The liquid was thicker than I remembered it being so a fly tying bodkin was used to stir it and apply a layer to the rim.
As the mask dries it loses the pastel color and becomes more clear.
Below you can see the mask clearing. I sanded the stummel and shank with a 320 sanding sponge and followed that with a 400 grit sponge. The bare wood/cob was wiped with a make-up pad moistened with alcohol to remove sanding debris.
The dye of choice was Fiebing’s Leather Dye in black. I wanted to heat the surfaces to be dyed with a heat gun prior to the dyeing to help the dye penetrate.
The dye was applied with a folded pipe cleaner. I applied two coats and tried to flame the wet dye but most of the alcohol had evaporated. Instead I used the heat gun to apply heat to the stummel.
A third coat of dye was applied. This time it did flame but not much so the heat gun was used again.
Back at the workbench the stummel was allowed to dry for over an hour.
I was happy with how the cob and wood had taken the dye.
I peeled the Liquid Mask from the rim.
The mask worked brilliantly but I Was not sure if I liked the natural rim or not.
Tha base and the logo looked okay.
For pipe number two, I sanded as with number 1.
This time I applied the Vallejo Liquid Mask to the logo on the bottom of the pipe.
Below is the dye kit used for the second pipe.
Number two was dyed black.
A second coat of black on number two.
A third coat of black on number 2.
Both pipe 1 and 2 were set aside for an hour to completely dry. As I looked at the two side by side, I decided that I did not like the natural rim. I used a cotton swab to carefully apply Fiebing’s Leather Dye to the rim of pipe number 1.
I liked that better. Some dye made it past the cork plug and into the tobacco chamber with both pipes. I do not think this will be noticeable when smoked or if it is I’m sure it will be very temporary.
As the first two were dying st started on the third pipe. As I was twisting the stem loseI noticed it was cracking. As I continued it broke completely leaving the broken tenon in the mortise.
I used a drywall screw to remove the broken tenon piece. Hmm, not happy but this will be an excuse to buy a Forever Stem from Vermont Freehand. I think one of the light bone sems would look amazing. Stay tuned for that blog.
The natural and the black backgrounds for the logos both looked good to me so, I left it weil enough.
The next day I applied a coating of Nordicare Danish Oil to the black dyed surfaces. This was allowed to dry for an hour.
A second coating was added and allowed to dry for several hours.
I wrapped the shanks of both pipes with masking tape to protect them while I buffed the collars.
White buffing compound was used on the dedicated white wheel. This did put some smudges on the white stems but wiped clean with a cotton cloth.
The pipes were then lightly waxed using carnauba wax on the buffer.
The final step was a hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth.
I think these two corn cob pipes turned out very nicely. They match the vivid mental image I formed in my imagination when I first saw them. The whole process went pretty much as planned. I think the slightly matte finish goes with the whole cob character as does the slightly rough finish of the shank. The white stems are a beautiful contrast to the black dyed stummels and those polished brass collars add a touch of class few expect from a corn cob pipe. These pipes are ready for a classy night at the opera or at least Grand Ole Opry.
These dimensions of these two Missouri Meerschaums should be very similar, being lazy, I only measured one:
Length: 6.30 in./ 160.02 mm.
Weight: 1.31 oz./ 37.13 g.
Bowl Height: 1.80 in./ 45.72 mm.
Chamber Depth: 1.67 in./ 42.42 mm.
Chamber Diameter: 0.69 in./ 17.53 mm.
Outside Diameter: 1.48 in./ 37.59mm.
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 Missouri Meerschaum Riverboat Gamblers.
NebraskaPeteGeek 