Tag: using cyanoacrylate to repair fills on a briar pipe

An E. Wilke Squat Apple Restoration

April 1st, 2025

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

I will probably catch grief for calling this a squat apple and be corrected by some saying it is a tomato or an author but to my eye, it looks like an apple and to be specific an Cortland Apple sans the anthocyanins and their red. Sorry, my previous life as a chemistry teacher emerged and demanded recognition. This plump little darling caught my eye along with its long shanked Marxman coconspirator. The eBay listing only had two photos, the below is a screenshot of one of them:

Those adorable chubby cheeks demanded that I buy the pair. There was a little bit of drama but I’ll leave that to the blog about the Marxman but after a few days wait, the E. Wilke and Marxman both arrived.

Below are some photos of the pipe prior to working on it.

Yeah, it had some issues but that shape, that amazingly round bowled shape. I was smitten. The stem looked like a Weber that had been left out in the sun. The pipe had obviously been smoked and showed the signs of moderate use, as shown by the charring and lava on the rim. There was also that strange dark streak of the right shank and that truly dreadful fissure on the bottom of the shank but those chubby cheeks could not be denied. I would reclaim this dilapidated doll and make her mine.

Background

E. Wilke stamped on the shank of this pipe refers to Edwin Wilke. According to pipedia.org,

“Edwin Wilke founded Wilke Tobacco in 1872. As the story goes, according to a 1937 New York World-Telegram article, he had no sons, and so he taught his two daughters, Anna and Louisa Wilke, how to make pipes and blend tobacco, and by his death in 1930 they were well versed in both trades, and adamant about only using quality briar. In 1950, when they were the focus of an article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, they were the only women pipe makers in the United States, and had sold pipes to Herbert Hoover, Lord Halifax, John Steinbeck and others. The sisters also blended pipe tobacco and repaired pipes. They did not, however, smoke pipes.

Wilke prided itself on “unpainted pipes”, and promised that only Macedonian briar was used, without paint, varnish, plug, or putty of any kind. As of 1950, some of their pipes were selling for up to $100.00, or just under $1,000.00 dollars today. By the release of a 1970 New York Magazine highlight of the shop, that claim had risen to $500.00, or over $3,000.00 today.

The Wilke Pipe Shop was located for decades at 400 Madison Avenue and 48th, in New York City, and in the 1970s opened a satellite store in the famed Wanamaker’s department store in Philadelphia, selling Wilke pipes made by Steven Johnson. In 1983, the brand was purchased by pipe maker Elliott Nachwalter and his wife, Carole Burns. They continued to operate the Madison Avenue store until the early 1990’s, at which point the couple moved to Vermont and Pipeworks & Wilke was born as a mail-order business.

Carole Burns^[1] continued blending tobacco in Montpelier, Vermont till July 2017. Now John Brandt looks to continue blending Wilke’s traditional blends and bringing back some of the older blends from the early days to keep the 145 year old brand alive and growing.^[2^]“ (Wilke – Pipedia)

Now, this pipe did seem to fit a couple of the characteristics from the pipes.org article; it was unvarnished and it did not seem to have any putty filling imperfections in the briar. I cannot speak to the “Macedonian briar” as there is no stamp indicating the origin of the briar. I still think that the stem of this pipe reminds me of Weber made pipes from the same era. In researching further I found an old Google Groups discussion of E. Wile pipes from 2002. Here the user “” started a thread with the following,

“Can anyone give me a brief history about this manufacturer or brand? I

am curious about… if this was a NY company that made pipes, still in

business, overall quality…etc. thanks!” (https://groups.google.com/g/alt.smokers.pipes/c/w34OVfPNFfE?pli=1)

The interesting part came from another user named “LDaneman”. LDaneman, states the following”

“As a former employee and pipemaker for Edwin Wilke Company, I can give you a

little history. The little shop on Madison Avenue was purchased by a Stanley Becker, a jewish NY lawyer. Some pipes were left over from Wilke’s hey-day, . . . I forget the name of the Italian pipemaker who did extra-large art deco shapes.

Through the 80’s the old (80+) tobacconist still blended up on the 4th Floor
and I have fond memories of ‘time-traveling’ with him. The 524 blend was better
than Dunhill, and the 400 was pretty good as well. The key was an unflavored
golden Cavendish and a dark fine cut Cavendish in the 524.

I started a new pipemaking workshop in Philadelphia for Wilke’s concession shop
in John Wanamaker’s department store. Our pipes made national news and we
shipped tobaccos to European customers. My pipes sold from $65 to $1000 but our
main pipemaker was Stephen Johnson. Last I heard Steve worked for Zino
Davidoff.

Steve made some sweet smoking pipes and I smoke a few of my own make with the Wilke stamp, but still own a couple by Steve as well.

I was fired under dubious circumstances. The management of Wanamakers hated me since I successfully marketed Eltron razors when they failed, pens, and really
hit the roof when I began blending a men’s fragrance.

Wilke in Philly folded less than a year after my departure into the perfume
business and the New York shop was sold soon after that. I heard Wilke finally
vanished after the buyer was hit with unpaid employee taxes and was bankrupted,
but that is just a rumor to me, . . . I don’t know if that is true or not.

Most the Wilke pipes are not especially good, mass-manufactured by a factory
whose name escapes me. Unless made by the old Italian fellow (an indented tenon
is usually an indication of his make) or by Steve Johnson, . . . well just
forget it.

A grand history in the 20’s through 50’s. The 60’s brought on a slow demise.” (https://groups.google.com/g/alt.smokers.pipes/c/w34OVfPNFfE?pli=1)

In a later post LDaneman writes,

“. . . ., and if anyone is interested, most of the post Wilke sister pipes were

mass-produced by Weber pipe company. I think anyway. Trying to remember the

name of that company. They were crap and that’s why I set up the new pipemaking

shop on the mezzanine level at Wanamakers. It was in the original teak paneled

Tobacco Shop John Wanamaker used to hang his hat and coat in. Was lost when

they enlarged an underground parking garage.” (https://groups.google.com/g/alt.smokers.pipes/c/w34OVfPNFfE?pli=1)

Now, I have no reason to doubt anything that LDanman writes. The pipeda.org information indicates that the location of the Wanamaker’s in Philadelphia occurred in the 1970s and that LDaneman “Set up a new pipe making shop” on Wanamakers mezzanine. This too would likely be during the 1970s. His knowledge of the company is interesting but his jumping around in time, frustrating. The part about the Weber made pipes was particularly interesting as I thought the stem of this pipe looked like a Weber made stem.

The Weber connection is further supported by information again from pipedia.org,

“The firm grew to be one of the giants of the American pipe industry focusing itself in the middle price and quality zone. Trademark: “Weber” in an oval. Beside that Weber – especially in the years after 1950 – was a most important supplier for private label pipes that went to an immense number of pipe shops. Alone in New York, exactly the same pipes were found at Wilke’s, Barclay Rex, Trinity East, Joe Strano’s Northampton Tobacconist in Ridgewood, Queens, Don-Lou in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn… Nearly all pipes for Wilke were unstained and many models, for example the “Wilke Danish Bent”, could hardly deny originating of Weber.” (Weber Pipe Co. – Pipedia)

So, the question remains, “who made this pipe and when?” I honestly do not know. I feel pretty sure of my original thought that this was a Weber made pipe, likely from the 1970 or later. Produced for the E. Wilke company.

The Restoration

As usual the pipe made its way to the workbench and a clean denim piece. I actually undertook the restoration of two pipes during this project. That is not something I really like to do but my schedule has been filled with essential time sucking activities. Okay, I’ve been doing a bit of fishing and have not been at the workbench as much as I should.

The stem required some work before I could put it into the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer solution (deox). This will be called pre-deox and involved; some scraping of calcium/oxidation, filing tooth dents and light sanding with a 400 grit sanding sponge.

The stem was also cleaning out internally with bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

The stem had trouble passing a pipe cleaner through the button so I did work on opening the airway a little bit. I used a tapered piece of an emery board to sand the interior of the airway.

The resulting airway was much better.

The stems of the two project pipes, the E. Wilke and another oval stemmed piece were suspended in deox with pipe cleaners as hangers. They each spent about four hours in the solution.

During this time I continued work on the E. Wilke stummel. The shank was cleaned out using a dental scraper, nylon shank brush, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners with 95% ethyl alcohol.

Once the shank was clean I turned to the tobacco chamber. The PiNet #1 and #2 blades along with the General triangular scraper and the Smokingpipes Low Country Reamer were used.

The below photo shows the results of each tool.

After reaming the chamber was sanded with 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel. The tobacco chamber showed no signs of charring or heat damage.

Next, the stummel went to the sink where it was scrubbed with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon scrub brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

The scrubbing revealed an unsightly charred rim and a dark stain I thought was accumulated grime.

A second scrubbing of the stummel was done with no effect on the supposed grime.

Back at the workbench I got a good look at the two areas of concern. The charred rim would require topping and then some.

The rest of the stummel looked pretty good.

An alcohol wipe confirmed that there was no finish on the stummel.

I took the stummel to the counter where I laid a piece of 320 sandpaper flat on the counter.

Using a figure 8 motion I topped the rim removing the charred wood.

The results of the topping are shown in the photo below.

The charred area below the rim was lightly filed and I attempted to blend the filing to minimize the noticeability of the filing.

The dark streak on the lower right shank was some strange stain on the briar.

I have had good results using a saturated oxalic acid solution to bleach stains from wood and thought it might be useful for both the rim and the shank.

The oxalic acid was applied to the darkened areas with a cotton swab and allowed to sit for 20 minutes.

After the initial 20 minutes I applied more oxalic acid to the entire stummel. This was allowed to sit for another 30 minutes.

After the stummel was scrubbed a third time using Murphy Oil Soap and a copious amount of rinsing the stummel was dried using the cotton hand towel. Once dry the results of the oxalic acid were observed. The stummel looked better but not as good as I had hoped.

The darkened areas had been lightened but they remained darker than the surrounding briar.

I started repairing the blemish on the bottom of the shank. I know E. Wilke was proud of their “no putty” but that pit was unacceptable to me.

I applied brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) to the pit with a fly tying bodkin.

A dental scraper was used as a spoon to scoop a small amount of briar dust and place it on the wet CA.

The back of the dental scraper was used to press the briar dust into the wet CA in the pit.

Additional brown CA was applied to the pit after the dust had been brushed off.

A second application of brown CA was applied once the first had cured.

After the second application had cured and set up, I filed the fill using a small flat file to remove the new fill material and smooth the surface.

The new fill was then sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge.

I sanded the entire stummel with a 400 sanding sponge followed by a sanding with a 600 sponge. I was looking for additional spots which might require CA filling. I found none.

I figured the best way to conceal the darker areas caused by the charring or staining was to give the stummel a contrast dye. I thought a black undercoat of dye might be the perfect camouflage. I covered the stamp with painters tape hoping this would prevent the dye from dying the stamp area. It didn’t.

The stems were removed from deox and allowed to drip excess solution back into the jar.

The E. Wilke stem was vigorously rubbed with a coarse shop rag to remove both remaining solution and oxidized vulcanite.

The stem was then scrubbed with Soft Scrub cleanser applied to make-up pads. This removed more oxidized vulcanite.

Below you can see the E. Wilke and the other restoration victim. Both stems had been oiled with mineral oil after their Soft Scrub ordeals.

The dye kit was gathered. It consisted of Fiebing’s Black Leather Dye, a cork to keep dye from the tobacco chamber, a lighter and a pipe cleaner as an applicator.

The Fiebing’s Dye was applied and flamed, burning away the alcohol solvent of the dye and fixing it to the briar.

The stummel was then rinsed with 99% isopropyl alcohol and wiped with a paper towel.

Back at the workbench the results of the black dye can be seen. The dye penetrated the softer grained briar more than the harder grain. A light sanding removed the outermost layer of briar revealing lighter and darker areas due to penetration depth.

Below is a photo of the sanded stummel.

The stem and stummel were then sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 400-3500 grit. The stummel was wiped with an alcohol dampened make-up pad between each sponge while the stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel between sanding sponges.

The stem and stummel were then worked with micro-mesh pads from 4000-12000. Again stummel wiping with an alcohol make-up pad between micro-mesh pads was done. Between pads the stem was runned with Obsidian Oil and wiped with a paper towel.

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.

Overall, I am very pleased at how well this E. Wilke pipe turned out. Though it is likely not an example of the highest quality E. Wilke pipe of the company’s heyday, still is a lovely little piece. The contrast stain did a good job of concealing the blemishes that the pipe accumulated over the years of use. The stem polished up nicely and the glossy black accentuated the light and dark grain from the contrast dye. The thick walls and the cheekiness that they provide are even more pronounced with the finished pipe than they were when it arrived and I think it is far more attractive now. The dimensions of the Carlyle Oval Shank Dublin are:

Length: 5.00 in./ 127.00 mm.

Weight: 1.08 oz./ 30.62 g.

Bowl Height: 1.42 in./ 36.07 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.06 in./ 26.92 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.72 in./ 18.29 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.58 in./ 40.13 mm.

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

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Below are some photos of the finished E Wilke Squat Apple.

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A Carlyle Oval Shank Dublin (by Comoy’s) Restoration

March 27th, 2025

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

Background

I have good news and bad news: The good news is that this pipe’s provenance is pretty certain – it is a Comoy’s second. As seen here from pipephil.eu:

(Can-Car — Pipes : Logos & Markings)

This brings me to the bad news, the bad news is that it is a Comoy’s. I suppose I should explain, Comoy’s is really a collaboration between the Chapuis and Comoy’s families and centered in two locations, the Saint-Claude region in France and London, England. There are many names involved over a 150 year period. The various people are related and moved between countries over the years. This is why I said, “The bad news”. It is because I find this all confusing.

In a nutshell Henri Comoy was from the Sainte-Claude region. As many folks did, he followed his father as a wood turner. He ends up married and living in London, making pipes from briar. His wife’s sister provides the connection to the Chapuis name. His wife’s sister, Fanny Beausire was married to Charles Pierre Chapuis, a Swiss watchmaker. They had seven children, three of which are important to this story; Charles Chapuis dies leaving the children partially orphaned, Emile (21 years old when Charles dies), Louis (19) and Charles (15). Louis and Charles are adopted by their Aunt Anna, Henri Comoy’s wife, and moved to London. Here they are taught the Comoy family business of pipe making alongside Henri and Anna’s two biological children, Paul and Adrien Comoy. The four boys, Louis Chapuis, Charles Chapuis, Paul Comoy and Adrien Comoy are treated equally regarding inheritance within the business.

This leads to the start of the start of the company. “H. Comoy & Co. Ltd was established in 1914. It was a partnership between Henri, his sons Adrien and Paul and his nephews Louis and Charles.” (Comoy’s – Pipedia) By 1921 the company expands to the United States. Now the adopted brothers remain in contact with the older Emile. He is in the pipe business as well selling pipes wholesale in Paris, according to the pipedia.org article. In the early 1922 Emile, Louis and Charles started another company, Chapuis-Comoy, in Saint-Claude. This company serves the French market for briar pipes. I know, this nutshell is becoming larger and larger. Old man Henri Comoy died in 1924 and within 5 years H. Comoy & Co. Ltd became part of Cardogan Investments Ltd. In 1928 the two pairs of brothers created Chacom in Saint-Claude. Now Chacom can have the French and European market while Comoy’s deals with England and the US. Here is where things get weird, both companies use the same shape charts thus all the overlap in Comoy’s and Chacom shapes.

As pipedia explains, “In 1929, H. Comoy Co. Ltd became part of Cadogan Investments Ltd, created by the Oppenheimer Group, which at that time already owned a number of very important and well-known brands such as Maréchal & Ruchon (GBD), Civic & Co Ltd, BBB de Frankau, Sina, Verguet Frères, Orlik and Loewe.” (Comoy’s – Pipedia). Comoys are apparently allowed to manage their own business affairs and continue with business as usual. Of course there is an “UNTIL” coming. Comoys was left alone until the 1980s when Cardogan took over and quality went downhill.

Chacom had their ups and downs as well, with mergers with La Bruyere in 1932. Then the war, the recovery, the reassertion or market share, the regaining of their own name Chacon from Le Bruyere and eventual integration with Ropp. For the much longer version please see some of the following links:

Chacom – Pipedia

Comoy’s – Pipedia

Comoy — Pipes : Logos & Markings

Document: GBD Comoy Chacom — Pipes: Logos & Markings

Hopefully this all kind of explains why CARLYLE from the pipephil.eu photos is an English maker while the pipe is sporting a country of manufacture (COM) stamp clearly saying FRANCE. I told you it was confusing…

The Restoration

After all that background it’s good to get back to the easy stuff, for me anyway – the restoring. The Carlyle began the procedure with a clean denim piece on the workbench.

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

The stem was then lightly sanded with a 500 grit sanding sponge and a pipe cleaner was inserted into the tenon to act as a hanger for suspending the stem in Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer solution (hereafter called deox).

The stem was immersed in deox for two hours.

The reaming tools were gathered.

The PipNet and the #1 blade was only used to clear the bottom of the tobacco chamber as this chamber was quite conically bored. The #2 blade did most of the work reaming the chamber. The Smoingpipes Low Country Reamer and the General triangular scraper were used for some light clean-up work. The chamber was then sanded with 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel.

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

Another view of the chamber, below.

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

Returning to the workbench the stummel was wiped with 95% ethyl alcohol on a couple of make-up pads. This removed some of the finish and stain.

I then wiped the stummel with acetone on new make-up pads. This removed more of the clear coat finish and more stain.

With the clear coat removed, I started picking the old fill material from the largest of the three fills. Additional acetone was used to soften the old fill material for picking with a fly tying bodkin.

There was one other large fill at the front of the bowl. This too was picked out.

The airway of the shank was cleaned using a dental scraper, bristle pipe cleaners and cotton swabs along with a healthy dose of 95% ethyl alcohol.

The stummel was then lightly sanded to reveal any additional areas where old fills may have been hiding.

The depth of the front fill was minimal and was filled with brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue).

The two pits on the right side were deeper. These were filled with brown CA applied into the pit with a fly tying bodkin.

Briar dust was then scooped with a dental scraper and a small pile placed on top of the wet CA. The back of the dental scraper was used to press the dust into the CA filled depression.

The briar dust cured almost immediately with the briar dust. The resulting fill was then filed with a small flat file.

The front fill received a second coat of brown CA. and was filed after it had cured.

The new fills had slightly lighter areas around them from the filing. I wanted to blend the color to match the existing stain.

I first used a Cherry Furniture Touch-up Marker and allowed the stain to dry. The area was lightly wiped with a make-up pad moistened with 95% ethyl alcohol.

The color was close but not close enough. I used the Mahogany marker over the area, allowed it to dry and re-wiped with the alcohol. I was happy with the results of the second stain.

The stamp was taped with painters tape for protection from the sanding.

After two hours, the stem was allowed out of deox. The drip-dry-o-matic (patent pending) was deployed to allow excess solution to join it’s jarred brethren.

I used a coarse shop rag to vigorously rub the remaining deox solution from the stem. This removes some of the oxidized vulcanite from the surface.

Back at the workbench I used Soft Scrub cleanser on make-up pads. This removed a great deal of the oxidized vulcanite.

And, some more.

The COM stamp and the “maybe” logo were taped with painters tape to protect them from sanding.

Ready for sanding.

The stem and stummel were sanded intact to avoid the rounding of the edges of each part. A series of sanding sponges from 400-3500 grit. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad moistened with alcohol. The stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel.

The painters tape was removed and wiped with alcohol to remove any adhesive remaining. The pipe was worked with micro-mesh pads from 4000-12000. Again, between each pad I wiped the stummel and stem between each pad as with the sanding sponges except in place of mineral oil I used Obsidian Oil.

The stummel received a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm. The balm was allowed to stay on the stummel for 15 minutes.

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

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

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

I am developing a new appreciation for the oval shank. It is a feature that provides a more robust feel in the hand while retaining a more elegant contour in profile. I am sure the extra briar also provides additional strength for those who are a bit more hard on pipes. This oval shank Carlyle Dublin restored in beautiful fashion. The briar grain grain is lovely and the factory staining was preserved. The stem lost the oxidation without losing the FRANCE stamp though I would have liked to see the factory fresh top stem logo but that appears to have been lost years ago to wear and buffing. Overall I am very pleased at how well this pipe turned out. The dimensions of the Carlyle Oval Shank Dublin are:

Length: 5.43 in./ 99.57 mm.

Weight: 1.20 oz./ 18.71 g.

Bowl Height: 1.84 in./ 38.10 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.57 in./ 27.69 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.74 in./ 16.00 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.35 in./ 28.45 mm.

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

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Below are some photos of the finished Carlyle Oval Shank Dublin.
A Lorenzo Spitfire 8497 Restoration

March 4th, 2025
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

As a child of the 1970s I grew up with the series The Six Million Dollar Man. For those who never heard of this, it was a TV series where an astronaut crashes his ship and is badly damaged. He is rebuilt using “bionic” parts allowing him superhuman abilities. During the title sequence a narrator explains, “”We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better . . . stronger . . . faster.” For some reason this line kept going through my head during this restoration. Given the “faster” doesn’t work but the other two, most definitely. The pipe was one of 13 pipes won in an eBay auction from Germany. I was hoping to acquire some lesser known makers or lines of pipes to the US market.

The shape of this pipe is a tough one for me, it is a dainty pipe with a curved bowl. Is it a bent tulip, a chimney, a billiard? Heck, I don’t know, I’ll just use the 8497 stamped on the shank to identify the shape. As for the other stamps there was “Spitfire” in a flowing cursive script and GENUINE over BRIAR as a circle on the underside of the shank. Below is a screenshot of this pipe from the original eBay listing. It shows a repaired stem from a break, a chipped shank end and a good deal of excess glue, perhaps a failed clenching experience while mowing the lawn.

Below are some photos of the Spitfire before work had begun. Well, that is not entirely true. The break was held together by the glue until I tried to remove the stem. The stem was quite stuck. Unaware of my incredible strength, the glue broke while I tried to free the stem. Umm, there may have been a slight exaggeration there about my strength. The stem remained stuck within the shank piece as seen in the photos below.

Ok, you can see there are some issues here that will have to be addressed; the stem stuck in the broken shank and the broken shank being the greatest. The lesser issues include general dirtiness, stem oxidation, excess glue removal, tobacco chamber reaming and other typical restoration stuff. This is going to be a fun project.

Background

The first place that I searched was pipephil.eu for the name “Spitfire”. There I found the following:

(Sn-Ss — Pipes: Logos & Markings). Here you can see the same script style in the “Spitfire” stamping. The GENUINE BRIAR stamp is not represented but the four digit shape number is present. There is also a slight difference in the logo coloration of the bottom image from pipephil.eu. The bullseye shown is more indicative of the colors used by the British Spitfire fighter aircraft in World War Two.

(https://www.history.co.uk/articles/britains-most-heroic-spitfire-pilots-from-world-war-ii)

I assume that the blue coloration of the logo in this Spitfire had merely faded over the years.

The next search site was pipedia.org. There “Spitfire” resulted in:

(Italian Pipe Brands & Makers R – S – Pipedia). The Lorenzo link took me to a nice bit on the history of the predecessors of and the formation of Lorenzo Pipes in 1969. Also, there was the following quote specific to the Spitfire line:

“A somewhat more bargain series was given its own brand name: Spitfire. Spitfires displayed 1:1 transferred Lorenzo models (mainly for 9mm filter) as well as smaller, more classically shaped pipes. These were also extremely popular.” (Lorenzo – Pipedia). The store takes a more tragic turn in 1983,

“In 1983 Lorenzo Tagliabue came to bitter grief: his little daughter, the only child, died of cancer. He lost all interest in the business and retired still in 1983, leaving no heirs who wished to continue the business. Lorenzo Pipes was licensed for and continued for a shorter period by Comoy’s of London (Cadogan / Oppenheimer Group). Then Lorenzo Pipes almost disappeared and Lorenzo Tagliabue passed away in 1987.

But this wasn’t the end. In 1988 Riccardo Aliverti and his wife Gabriella purchased all rights to the Lorenzo trademark from the Tagliabue family and production of the renown Lorenzo Pipes resumed.

The Aliverti family is involved in pipemaking since Romolo Aliverti, the father of the current owners, joined the Lana Brothers in 1920. He later reached the rank of technical director. No wonder that his son Riccardo showed an interest in pipe making. Riccardo began learning the pipemaking trade in 1954 at the age of fourteen under his father’s watchful eyes and succeeded him as technical director upon his father’s retirement in 1973.

Today the third generation of the Aliverti family is working for the company. Massimo Aliverti, Riccardo’s son, has been with the company as sales director since 1991. He works closely with his father and knows all phases of production. Massimo has established a broad customer base for Lorenzo around the world.

As far as the informations are reliable, Lorenzo’s better lines (One Star, Two Star, Three Star, Moscato, Spumante and the Grand Canadian) are made in Italy while the cheaper ones (New Era – Riesling, New Era – Poggio, Angera, Angera Satinato, Cadry, Churchwarden, Filtro, Arena, Cadore, Sport PS and Garden) are made in Albania by Tomori to benefit from the rich deposit of briar in Albania.

The website of Lorenzo’s American distributor SMS Pipes gives a good impression of today’s Lorenzo Pipes. SMS also offers a wide range of Meers.” (Lorenzo – Pipedia).

I think that it is safe to say that this pipe was made in Italy by Lorenzo most likely between the early 1970s-1983.

The Restoration

Breaking a pipe is seldom fun and breaking one while removing a stem is less fun than that. I suppose I could take some consolation in the fact that it had already been broken and the attempted repair was what had actually broken. Regardless, the pipe made it to the workbench. I immediately dropped the shank piece and tenon end into a small medicine cup with 95% ethyl alcohol. Apologies for not photographing that step. The alcohol worked quickly in freeing the stem from the broken piece of shank. The below photo has the broken piece of shank pressed in place though not glued, for the photograph.

I began with reaming the tobacco chamber. I thought the PipNet and the #1 blade would be narrow enough for this petit chamber. It was for the first 1- 1.5 cm then the chamber tapered.

I used a Tsuge reaming tool for this narrow chamber. This was followed up with the General triangular scraper.

I remember picking up the Tsuge tool after my first PipNet set lost the #1 blade to breakage. The chamber was then sanded with 220 and 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel and a Sharpie marker, respectively. There was no damage from heat or charring in the chamber but there were a couple of places where the chamber had experienced small dings, likely from previous clumsy reaming/scraping.

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

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

Back at the workbench the stummel was wiped with 95% ethyl alcohol on a make-up pad. This removed some stain from the briar.

The plan to repair the shank was this:
1. Glue a ¼ inch or 6.5 mm brass tube into the mortise well past the break.
2. Glue the broken shank end into place.
3. Fill the seams with cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust.
4. Recarve the rustication and redye the shank.
The mortise of the Spitfire was drilled at ¼ inch or 6.5 mm. I needed to deepen the mortise to implement my fix. I used a Brad Point Drill Bits 1/4-Inch Hex Shank Stubby Drill Bit in a screwdriver handle to extend the mortise approximately 1.4 inch (6.5 mm) past the furthest edge of the break.

The brass tube was slid into position to test the fit. So far, so good.

The pieces of briar refused to align precisely. Bah! Hmm, there was a layer of glue from the previous fix on the briar which kept the broken pieces from aligning correctly.

I began soaking the broken edges with acetone to soften the old glue.

While the glue was soft I worked it with a nylon brush. This helped peel the edges of the glue from the briar. The acetone would evaporate quickly so I had to soften and scrub quickly. Eventually the glue was removed.

The brass tubing was cut to length using a tubing or pipe cutter.

The brass tube was scratched up with 80 grit emery paper to increase the surface area for the glue to adhere to. The tube was pressed into place without the broken shank piece and Thin CA was allowed to seep into the joint. The broken shank piece was slid over the brass tube and situated correctly. Additional Thin CA was applied to these seams. The two pieces of briar were then clamped and allowed to cure.

As the CA was curing I began cutting the tenon to fit into the brass tube. This required the use of the VermontFreehand Adjustable Tenon Turning Tool. I made several cutts adjusting the cutter very slightly (approximately 1/8th turn of the adjustment screw). I feared taking too much material off and shattering the thin tenon. Once the tenon was close to the right size I began filing the new tenon and smoothing it with 400 grit sandpaper.

When the CA that set, I used a countersink bit to hand bevel the inner edge of the mortise.

The stem was pressed into place and the fit was not too bad. I had to file the top of the stem to fit the shank. This was done by wrapping the shank with a layer of masking tape and filing the stem with a small flat file. The lower edge of the joint would have to wait until I had the chip filled before I could fit it to the stem.

Since the seam where the two shank pieces joined was adjacent to the stamps care had to be taken to keep from damaging the stamp. I applied brown CA with the tip of a fly tying bodkin to the seam. Briar dust was then pressed into the wet CA. The briar dust caused the CA to cure almost immediately. The excess dust was brushed off with a brass brush. This was repeated to fill the seam in very small increments.

The same process was used on the carved surface seams.

To fill the chipped shank end, I applied a bead of brown CA to the area that I wanted filled. This wet CA was then pressed into the box of briar dust. The excess dust was brushed off with a nylon brush and another thin layer of CA was applied. This wet CA was again pressed into the briar dust. Once the chip in the shank end was filled with CA and briar dust the end was filed with a small flat file. The final fill was topped with a coating of Thin CA to seal the layers of brown CA and briar dust.

At this point I was getting impatient to get a look at the finished pipe. I opted to try buffing the stem’s oxidation into submission. In hindsight, this was a mistake. I describe it here so that you can avoid being as dumb as me.

I wrapped the shank with masking tape to protect it from the buffing.

Using a rouge compound I buffed the stem until I thought I’d removed the oxidation.

The problem was, the stem looked shiny but shiny brown. I wanted shiny black. I wetted a few make-up pads with Soft Scrub cleanser and scrubbed the stem. They removed a great deal of oxidation.

“Okay, I’ll quit being in a hurry and do it right,” I said to myself. I suspended the stem into the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer (I refer to this as deox). It was allowed to soak overnight.

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

I like to scrub the remaining deox from the stem with vigorous use of a coarse shop rag.

The coarse texture of the rag absorbs the solution and removes more of the oxidized rubber as can be seen below.

The stem was certainly looking more black this time. There remained brown areas especially on the top side of the stem. I sanded the stem with a series of sanding sponges from 400-1000 grit. The zone immediately (1 cm) below the button was filed using the small flat file and further sanded. Once sanded I returned to the buffer and buffed the stem with white compound.

Pleased with the stem, I turned my attention to recarving the rustications on top of the fills. I used the Dremel rotary tool and a sharp carving bit.

I tried to keep the lines pretty much the same but to carve through the fill material. I very much wanted to eliminate any shiny CA spots.

The newly carved textures looked good but their color was off when compared to the rest of the shank.

I used a Mahogany Furniture Touch-up Marker to re-stain the briar to match the existing color.

Not bad.

Not bad, at all.

The stummel was given a coat of Before and After Restoration Balm, applied with a baby toothbrush and allowed to sit for 20 minutes.

20 Minutes later the Restoration Balm was hand buffed from the stummel using an inside out athletic sock.

The baby toothbrush was cleaned using 95% ethyl alcohol. Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax was applied to the stummel using the baby toothbrush. I applied two coats of wax allowing 10 minutes between coats.

The stummel was taken to the buffer where it was buffed using a clean flannel wheel. While there I applied several coats of carnauba wax to the stem and the stampings on the underside of the shank.

To address those two rough spots from previous reaming/scraping inside the tobacco chamber, I opted to use a maple syrup and charcoal bowl coating. I applied a very thin coating of syrup to the chamber using a cotton swab.

I then used a capsule of Activated Charcoal dumped into the chamber. Oh, note the pipe cleaner in the shank. This keeps the charcoal from getting into the airway. I covered the rim with a piece of masking tape and vigorously shook the stummel for several seconds to distribute the charcoal powder evenly onto the wet syrup.

After removing the tape, dumping the excess charcoal and giving the stem a good blow, don’t draw in, you’ll get a mouthful of charcoal. The final step was a hand buffing done with a microfiber polishing cloth.

This was a long and troublesome restoration. Little things like; not having the ¼ inch brass tubing and waiting for it to arrive, the old glue removal, fitting the brass reinforcement tube, cutting the tenon, and being dumb and skipping steps, made the whole process last for many days. In the end, I think the pipe turned out well. Yeah, like the pipedia.org article says, “A somewhat more bargain series”, it is a cheaper pipe. I enjoy the challenge of returning a pipe like this to working condition. The re-carvings turned out very nicely as did the re-staining. I think you would be hard pressed to notice the break repair if you could not see the seam on the smooth stamp surface. The stem also did polish up fairly well. The brass reinforcement will certainly add strength to the pipe and should keep it from having another break. It is still a dainty little pipe which would probably be a great addition to someone who loves Virginia flake tobacco in a tall narrow bowl. The dimensions of the Lorenzo Spitfire Bent Billiard 849 are as follows:

Length: 5.37 in./ 136.40 mm.

Weight: 0.87 oz./ 24.66 g.

Bowl Height: 2.02 in./ 51.31 mm.

Chamber Depth: 1.75 in./ 44.45 mm.

Chamber Diameter: 0.61 in./ 15.49 mm.

Outside Diameter: 1.24 in./ 31.50 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 Lorenzo Spitfire Bent Billiard 8497.
A Mysterious Peterson Dublin 3 3000 Restoration

January 28th, 2025
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

Christmas is in the rearview mirror and fading away quickly. This pipe made me think of the 1964 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Isle of Misfit Toys or, in this case Misfit Pipes. I couldn’t tell for sure what the model was because it had been, shortened? The size was smaller in shape, more like a Peterson System Standard 314 or 317. Looking at the stampings I was a bit surprised to see a faint PETERSON’s arched over an even more faint DUBLIN with a definitive 3. The opposite side had the real flummoxer: There, a 3000 appeared to be stamped.

Below are some photos of the Peterson 3000 before work was done. There are more than usual to document the poor condition.

“Doctor Young to the ER stat!” Wait a minute, I have no cool title like that and can’t claim one. My dad had a PhD, not me. “Medic!”, okay, I can work with that. This pipe was certainly in need of some kind of intervention. The oxidation on the stem looked terminal. The stummel looked as if it had been shortened with a chainsaw or some other homicidal garden implement. The shank had two cracks under the ferrule that small children could fall into. The cake in the bowl would be enough to serve a medium sized wedding party. The lava flow on the rim made Mount Kilauea look wimpy. Even without all my excessively dramatic exaggeration, the pipe was one hurting unit. This would not be one of those relaxing restorations.

Background

For those who would like more information on Peterson pipes, I’ll start with a bit I have said before:

“For a great history Mark Irwin and Gary Marlburg’s book is a must read for a Pete Geek.

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

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

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

Now for the pipe in hand. PETERSON over Dublin 3 indicates this is an older pipe. According to Irwin,

“3RD Quality or Third Grade (the later Standard System) was issued with a “3” stamped under the Patent stampand a domed-nickel mount. Like the 2nd Quality, it was only available with the AB- or A-molded mouthpieces.

The numbers on the 2nd and 3rd Quality pipes would appear either within a small circle or not, and would continue well into the 1930s.” (Irwin, Mark and Malmberg, Gary (2018). The Peterson Pipe The Story of Kapp & Peterson, First edition, second printing 2021. Briar Books Press, Canada. p. 119).

In a personal email with Mark Irwin concerning this pipe, I sent him these three photos and asked him “What have I got?”

His response was the following: “Doesn’t that 2^nd number look like an “8” to you? But a “3800”? Nothing I can think of. Notice it’s a Grade 3—after the “Peterson’s /over/Dublin3”. That in itself is unusual, along with the nickel-mount marks. Notice also how very long the ferrule is. And the “B” or tapered stem. The Grade 3 in that “Dublin3” with everything else leads me to believe this is a very early pipe—easily IFS or maybe EIRE.” (Irwin, personal communication).

To clarify some of the Pete Geek-speak:

*Mouthpiece or stem staples of Peterson pipes as from the 1937 catalog. I believe Mark meant the AB stem.

(https://petersonpipenotes.org/tag/peterson-system-mouthpiece/)

*IFS stands for Irish Free State. This was a country of manufacture (COM) stamp used from 1922-1937.

*ERIE was a COM stamp used from 1938-1948.

Staying with the stem in an attempt to gain a better grasp of the approximate date of manufacture I focused on the tenon. Notice in the photo from the 1937 catalog, above, that the end of the tenon has a distinct taper. This was a feature of Charles Peterson’s initial design.

(https://petersonpipenotes.org/tag/peterson-system-mouthpiece/)

Irwin states the following in the same Peterson Pipe Notes entry with photos, “The first change in the molded vulcanite System mouthpieces apparently occurred later on in the Éire era, as documented by this unsmoked mouthpiece which can be accurately dated to 1937–45:”

(https://petersonpipenotes.org/tag/peterson-system-mouthpiece/). Notice the distinct step down from the push fit taper to the end of the tenon. The taper is no longer present. This is the same style of tenon as the Peterson Dublin 3 3000 pipe in hand. The below photo is of the 3000’s tenon.

Using the dates from the stem information the pipe could be dated from 1938 to present. Considering the stamping information stating that the Dublin 3 was used “Well into the 30s” that would eliminate from 1940-present. These two pieces together make for an argument that the pip is from the late 1930s. It also would coincide with Mark Irwin’s observation, “easily IFS or maybe EIRE.”

Now for the four digit shape number. This is not unheard of in Peterson pipes. Steve Laug discussed pipes sold in Canada which sported four digit shape numbers in a blog titled: Restoring the second Antique Collectible Find – a GT&Co Peterson’s System Standard 1307. GT&C being the tobacconist Genin, Trudeau and Company, Montreal, Quebec. He states in the blog, “My theory is that GT&C added this to aid them in warranty work, so they’d know the pipe was bought on Canadian soil.” (https://rebornpipes.com/2024/05/05/restoring-the-second-antique-collectible-find-a-gtco-petersons-system-standard-1307/). The Canadian 1307 had the same shape and dimensions as a normal 307, the 1 apparently was used to denote the sale of the pipe by GT&T.

The 3000 worn by this pipe is an anomaly. Even if my interpretation were to be changed to Mark Irwin’s observation of a 3800, it would still not match any pipe in Peterson’s production history. When comparing this pipe to contemporary Petersons in my collection the much narrower shank of the 3000 is obvious.

Above are a COM England 317 (top left), a System 0 (top right)with no shape number but it’s a 317 and the 3000.

Above are a Peterson System 0 and the 3000. Notice the narrow shank of the 3000.

The bowl dimensions are nearly identical to the 317 or a 12 ½ that I have. The shank is narrow to the point that it would be nigh impossible for this pipe to have been drilled as a System pipe at all.

Guess what. It is not drilled as a System pipe. That does explain the absence of the PATENT under the PETERSON’S stamp, doesn’t it?

So, there we have it. An 87 year old Mysterious Peterson Dublin 3000. I wish I could say, “I’m glad that’s settled”. I can’t nor can I explain why the top quarter inch was cut from the stummel. At least that one I can imagine was due to a severely charred top. The shape, however, is a mystery.

The Restoration

The beginning is always so easy. Lay down a freshly laundered piece of denim. That was about the last easy thing that this pipe allowed for.

Okay, another exaggeration, the collar came off pretty easily.

The collar was placed in a medicine cup and covered with 95% ethyl alcohol. The airway of the stem then received numerous tapered bristle pipe cleaners dipped in the alcohol. The photo shows a nice progression from not-so-clean to much better.

The exterior of the stem was then worked over with 0000 steel wool in preparation of the imminent deoxidation bath.

I used Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer (deox) to soften the oxidized exterior of the stem. A Pipe cleaner was inserted into the tenon to act as a hanger to suspend the stem in the solution.

For the condition of this stem, I thought that 4 hours, minimum, would be required.

The collar was removed from the ethyl alcohol. I tried to clean the hardened glue with a cotton swab from the inside of the collar. I think the alcohol just made the glue angry. I then placed it into another cup and covered it with acetone.

The stummel was next up. The reaming tools were assembled. The PipNet, General triangular scraper, Smokingpipes Low Country Reamer and the 220 sandpaper wrapped wood dowel were readied.

The PipNet with #2 blades did the majority of the work.

The bowl, however, was the sizes of the 2 and 3 blades. The #2 blades did great until it couldn’t reach across the bowl. The #3 was just too big.

This required scraping with the General and Smokingpipes blades.

The tobacco chamber was sanded with the 220 sandpaper on a stick. The chamber appeared free of any damage. This surprised me a bit. I thought that surely a pipe used as much as this would have some damage.

It did have plenty of over damage though. I moistened the lava with saliva, Then scraped some of the glue from the shank end while the saliva soaked a bit. The rim was then scraped with a sharp pocket knife.

I tried running the Kleen-Reem shank drill through the draft hole from the shank into the tobacco chamber but it was too large in diameter. Instead I used a 3/32 inch drill bit. This removed some of the accumulated smoking residue. While looking down the mortise I was struck by the complete lack of a reservoir. This was certainly not drilled as a Peterson System pipe.

I used several tapered bristle pipe cleaners to further clean the draft hole first the narrow tips then the thicker ends. The shank itself was not cleaned at this time. All that was just from the draft hole leading to the wider bored shank/mortise.

I took the stummel to the sink for a scrub with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon brush. In the photo below the filthy nature of the stummel came bee gauged. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

A second scrubbing with undiluted Murphy’s and the nylon brush were done and still more grime was removed. The stummel was rinsed and dried a second time. Notice the brush color in the two photos – it is the same brush.

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

The glue on the shank end resisted the alcohol so a second make-up pad was wetted with acetone. The stummel was wiped and additional time spent on cleaning the shank end.

It was time to work on the shank, proper. “Yikes!”, came to mind after the first couple of cotton swabs dipped in alcohol. The shank was scraped with a dental scraper and scrubbed with more cotton swabs. I concluded with, “this shank is going to need a cotton and alcohol treatment” to help soften the smoking residues in there.

I switched gears and started to file the rim top to minimize the cut-off marks where the bowl top had been removed. A large and small file were used to accomplish this. I stopped at about where the below photo shows out of not wanting to remove any more bowl height.

To address the shank cracks, I knew I needed to drill holes at their terminal end to keep the cracks from progressing. I used a 2 mm drill bit for this.

Terminal hole one.

Terminal hole 2.

I needed a medicine cup to set the stummel on while the cotton alcohol treatment was doing its thing so, I removed the collar from its cup. The acetone had softened the remaining glue nicely.

The tobacco chamber, draft hole and shank were stuffed with cotton. I used a disposable pipette to add about 10 ml of 95% ethyl alcohol to the bowl and shank.

Alcohol was added until the cotton was saturated. The alcohol would evaporate overnight and hopefully pull a large amount of the smoking resiue with it depositing it into the cotton.

After about 4 hours the stem was removed from the Before and After deox and allowed to drip excess solution back into the jar.

I used a coarse shop rag to vigorously rub the stem, absorbing the remaining solution and removing some of the oxidized vulcanite.

At the workbench the stem was further scrubbed with several make-up pds sprinkled with Soft Scrub cleanser. The amount of oxidized material they were removing was amazing.

Even after all the scrubbing and cleanser, the stem looked as if little had been done to it. Back into deox. I left the stem in there overnight

The following day, I again removed the stem from deox. Back onto the coarse shop rag.

More vigorous rubbing produced a stained shop rag. Well the oxidized material is coming off, I thought.

At the workbench another round of Soft Scrub drizzled make-up pads did their thing and removed more of the oxidized vulcanite.

The cramping hands needed a break so I removed the cotton from the stummel. It came out stained with tar and yuck.

The cleaning of the shank went much better after the cotton and alcohol treatment.

It was time to reconstruct, fill the cracks and re-glue the collar. I opted to use JB Weld 2 part epoxy for this task. The epoxy was mixed according to product directions. The glue was applied to the crack filling them then additional glue spread around the shank end. The collar was slipped into position. Acetone dipped cotton swabs were used to wipe away any excess epoxy.

To keep the epoxy in the cracks I applied a thin coating of petroleum jelly to the tenon. This was inserted into the mortise and forced the epoxy to stay where I wanted it.

After about 30 minutes of curingI began to work on filling the flaws or pits on the stummel. Along the rim, I used brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) to fill the shallow depressions. This was spritzed with a CA drying accelerator.

The pits on the stummel were deeper and required CA and briar dust. The CA was applied into the pit with a fly tying bodkin and briar dust was pressed into the wet CA. The fills were then filed with a small flat file then sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge.

The stamps on both sides of the stummel were covered with masking tape to protect them from sanding. The stem and stummel were sanded with a sequence of sanding sponges from 400-3500. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad dampened with alcohol. The stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel.

The stem and stummel were then worked with micro-mesh pads in grits of 4000-12000. Again the stummel was wiped with an alcohol wetted make-up pad between micro-mesh pads while the stem was rubbed with Obsidian Oil and wiped with a paper towel.

The stem was then polished with Before and After Fine and Extra Fine Polish on a soft cotton cloth.

The stummel was coated with Before and After Restoration Balm and allowed to sit overnight. This is longer than I would normally allow but it was time for bed.

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

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

After waxing the pipe was hand polished with a microfiber polishing cloth.

I still do not know what to think of this Peterson Dublin 3 3000. I Feel funny calling it a 3000 as that never appears to be something that Peterson made yet, here is it. It is not a System pipe though it’s shaped like one and has a P-lip yet, here it is. It is not intact, as it is missing what I think is about ¼ inch of top yet, here it is. It has a collar like nothing I’ve ever seen yet, here it is. I can say that it is a pretty little pipe and I much prefer the AB taper stem over the saddle. I guess I’ll just have to keep it and take it fishing once global warming eliminates the hard water situation brought on by winter.

The dimensions of the Peterson 3000 (?) are:

Length: 5.33 in./ 135.38 mm.
- Weight: 1.10 oz./ 31.19 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.43 in./ 36.32 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.08 in./ 27.43 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.60 in./ 17.53 mm. (Conically bored diameter is at the top)
- Outside Diameter: 1.32 in./ 33.53 mm.
I do hope that you have found something here useful to your own pipe care, maintenance or restorations. If you like this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. Thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

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Below are some photos of the finished Peterson 3000 (if that is what it really is) pipe.

I was not really pleased with the level of polish on the collar so it went back under the buffer with some white jeweler’s rouge, which is really a silly name as it is white not rouge. Anyway here is what it looked like after the extra buffing:
A Cesare Barontini Sultana Kuttel Selection B6 Restoration

December 5th, 2024
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

The thing that drew me to this pipe for purchase and restoration was the thick briar wall of the Dublin shape. Recently I have become smitten by thick walled pipes. I know that I live by the phrase, “change is evil and must be destroyed” but this is different. I mean, thick walls are just cool, right? Both literally and figuratively. Well, I saw this multinational beauty, an Italian from Dublin, and had to have it. The auction was won and the pipe made the journey from Cedar Park, Texas all the way to the Northern Time Zone of southeast Nebraska. The stamps on this pipe read: Barontini, in a stylized script over SULTANA on the shank to and KUTTEL over SELECTION with a slightly offset B6 on the shank’s bottom. Below are some photos of the pipe as it appeared before any work was done.

The pipe looked to be in good condition with no obvious damage or evidence of mistreatment. There was of course the expected cake within the bowl, some tooth chatter near the button and oxidation of the stem. Other issues that appeared upon closer examination were the numerous fills and the dreaded clear coat.

Background

In researching the Barontini name, I first visited pipephil.eu for an affirmation of what I expected to be of Italian origin. There was what I had expected, an Italian flag.

(Baro-Bd — Pipes : Logos & Markings). There was no exact match to the stampings but this was obviously the same maker. The stylized signature script was an exact match and the fourth photo from the top had a shape number of B8 and was a very close match to this pipe and the B6 that it wears. The fifth photo from the top middle column, alludes to a briar band and an apparent black acrylic band at the stem shank joint. This also matched the pipe in hand. The stem of my pipe was lacking any of the cool logos of the included Barontinis which saddened me. None of the associated links lead to further information or similarities except for the “L’artigiana” link. Here there was a photo of a pipe which had a similar briar band on the stem.

(L-Lab — Pipes : Logos & Markings)

Next, I turned to pipedia.org for a bit more history on the Barontini company. Not much information was there to be had. I include it here in its entirety:

“In 1890 Turildo Barontini opened a factory for the production of briar. In 1925 his son Bruno began to produce the first pipes. Cesare Barontini, son of Bruno, started direction of the factory in 1955, and still runs it together with his daughters Barbara and Silvia.

Sub-brands & Seconds
- Aldo Velani
- Cesare
- L’artigiana
- Stuart
- Cortina”
(Barontini, Cesare – Pipedia). The “Sub-brand” Aldo Velani, did prove quite interesting:

“”Cesare” is a second brand produced by Cesare Barontini of Livorno / Italy. Cesare Barontini headed the company from 1955 on.

Another Barontini 2nd is named “Aldo Velani“. The name is fiction. Cesare Barontini Pipes are still relatively unknown and under appreciated here in the United States. They do however offer a value rarely matched by some of their more recognized Italian counterparts. Barontini makes very fine pipes, particularly his premium lines. They offer a fine smoking experience at quite a bargain. There are a few brands of Italian pipes on the U.S. market that are hardly known in Italy, as they are made in factories dedicated to the export trade. Aldo Velani is a line imported from Italy by Lane Limited, Dunhill’s distributor. Made mostly in Livorno by Cesare Barontini, one of the best known private-label manufacturers, Aldo Velani pipes are classic shapes with an Italian ‘twist,’ according to Frank Blews, a spokesman for Lane. “Billiards with more ‘ball,’ bulldogs with more ‘jaw,”‘ is the way he characterizes the line. A medium to large pipe specifically developed for American tastes, the finishes use the names of Italian wines – Soave, Novello, Barolo, Refosco – to suggest their colors, and there is a lot of ornamental work.” (Cesare – Pipedia). The phrase “Aldo Velani pipes are classic shapes with an Italian ‘twist,’” strikes me as an apt description of this pipe. I referred to it earlier as a “multinational beauty, an Italian from Dublin”. This sounds like exactly what Barontini is making with their Aldo Velani line – a traditional shape with a signature, Italian, twist.

I could not find any information as to Barontini employing P-lip (Peterson style) buttons on their pipes nor were any shape charts discovered. Perhaps some things are better off left as mysteries. This mysterious Dublin from Italy seems to be an excellent illustration of that idea.

The Restoration

I broke from tradition with this one and opted to not use a stained denim piece over the stained green flannel which underlies the denim. I thought you might like a change. Or, I was too darn lazy to get up and get a piece of denim from 6 feet (2 m) away.

The new-to-me PipNet got to go to work with this one along with the rest of the ream team.

PipNet #3 blades started the process of reaming.

The #4 blades continued and were followed up by the Smokingpipes Low Country reamer and the General triangular scraper. All of them were followed by the 220 sandpaper wrapped around the wood dowel.

The sanded tobacco chamber was taken to bare briar and appeared free of any heat damage. A condition the interior rim was not so lucky to avoid as there was some charing around the edge.

Another view of the interior of the tobacco chamber and the unsightly fill of the rim. Oh, you know that has to go.

And go it did. The old putty was picked out using a fly tying bodkin and a dental scraper. The old putty was surprisingly hard.

So hard, in fact, that I could not get all of it out. I’ll get more of it in a few minutes.

I used saliva and light scraping with a sharp pocket knife to scrape away some of the charred briar around the rim. That helped but the dark ring persisted.

Moving on to cleaning out the airway of the shank was the next task. I used a dental scraper to remove some of the tar and smoking residue then scrubbed the airway with cotton swabs and bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

My acetone in the acetone jar was getting pretty depleted due to use and evaporation. I unfortunately did not have more on hand. I tried to use a make-up pad dipped in the acetone to remove the finish on the stummel.

The finish was old, hard and thick. A trifecta of resistance to removal. I lightly sanded the stummel avoiding the stampings and placed the stummel into the jar to soak.

I had to repeat this twice, once for each end of the stummel since I could not completely submerge it into the remaining acetone.

After two soakings in the acetone the finish began to relent and was mostly removed with some rubbing with a make-up pad dipped in acetone. The stampings remained finish covered due to my unwillingness to sand. I needed fresh acetone but didn’t want to drive into town for a $1.25 bottle of the finish removing elixir. Fortunately A buddy and his son were coming down to go fishing and I asked them to pick up a bottle for me.

The shiny spots all indicated places with finish remaining.

The below photo is of the stamp on the bottom of the shank.

My delivery arrived and a quick fishing trip gave the remaining finish a short reprieve. Later that evening armed with a fresh bottle of acetone the finish was removed. Another benefit of the acetone was that it softened up the fills allowing me to pick the material out far more easily.

And there were quite a few fills to remove.

To refill the pits I used brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) by itself or with briar dust. I wanted to see if I could use layers of CA only on the rim hoping to achieve slightly transparent fills. While on the stummel I applied the CA to the pit and pressed briar dust into the wet CA. In both cases the CA was allowed to cure or dry then it was filed using a small flat file and smoothed with a 400 grit sanding sponge. If needed additional applications were done. The photo below shows application #1 to the rim.

The rim was propped to allow the CA to level and cure on its own.

While the CA was curing I turned my attention to the stem. I neglected to photograph the cleaning of the stem’s airway. This was done with several bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol. Those tooth marks had to go. I used the small flat file to filed away material and blend the surface. This stem was rather thick feeling between my teeth and I did not feel the need to fill the dents with black CA. After the filing the stem was sanded with a 320 sanding sponge followed by a 400 sponge.

The CA on the rim contracted as it cured and required a 2nd application to the deepest pit. The two smaller fills can be seen in the photo below at 2:00 and 9:00 positions.

The big rim pit needed a third application.

Below you can see the other fills receiving their final sanding.

Once the fills were done, I taped the stamps and began sanding the entire pipe with a series of sanding sponges from 400-3500. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad moistened with alcohol to remove sanding debris. The stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel.

After the final sanding wipe I removed the painters tape and wiped the shank with alcohol to remove any remaining adhesive from the tape. The pipe was then worked with a series of micro-mesh pads in grits 3600-12000. Between each pad I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad moistened with alcohol to remove debris. The stem was rubbed with Obsidian Oil and wiped with a paper towel.

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

The Restoration Balm was removed with an inside out athletic sock. Sorry, I neglected to photo-document this step. The stem was then hand polished using Before and After Fine Polish followed by the Extra Fine Polish. Both compounds were applied by my fingertip and rubbed with a soft cotton cloth.

Overall this Barnotini Sultana Kuttel Selection B6 turned out very nicely. I love the shape and the thick walls. The pipe retained some of the contrast stain, enough that I did not think additional dying was needed. It did lose some of the deeper reddish hues which it had originally. I think the red and the thick clear coat were only used to hide the numerous fills and their absence added to the attractiveness of the briar. Okay, that is pure conjecture but I still think it looks better with a more natural briar than all the red. The vulcanite of the stem polished up nicely. If you are wondering why I did not use any deoxidation products on the stem it is because the filing and sanding were adequate to remove the oxidation without them. The dimensions of the Barnotini Sultana Kuttel Selection B6 are:
- Length: 6.04 in./ 153.42 mm.
- Weight: 1.81 oz./ 51.31 g.
- Bowl Height: 2.07 in./ 52.58 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.83 in./ 46.48 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.88 in./ 22.35 mm.
- Outside Diameter: 1.72 in./ 43.69 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 Barnotini Sultana Kuttel Selection B6.
A Country Panel Bent Rhodesian Restoration

November 26th, 2024
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

This beaten and battered chubby panel Rhodesian didn’t just speak to me when I first saw it, it yelled. I couldn’t resist the shape and had to bid. The fact that I won such a chunky piece of briar for such a small price made the bidding even more rewarding. The only stamp indicating any maker is the word COUNTRY within a rectangle on the left shank. No country of manufacture, though for some reason it strikes me as French though the stockiness of the shank would make any Peterson a bit jealous. The pipe came from Israel and was apparently shipped via sailing ship to the US or perhaps by row boat as the shipping time allowed my beard to grow significantly longer during its voyage. Below are some photos of the ppe upon arrival.

Definitely some very interesting features here. The sheer number of fills to be picked and refilled was a bit daunting. The removal of the old finish was a must. The corked mortise might be salvageable. The stem was heavily oxidized and would need significant time in an authorized deox facility, Is the Betty Ford Center still operating? This looked to be a fun restoration.

Background

The “go to” sources at the start of researching a pipe are pipephil.eu and pipedia.org. Both sites had no information on the COUNTRY. Disappointed but not defeated, I tried searching through Comoy’s, Chacom and GBD shape charts for a matching shape. Again, disappointment. Still undeterred, I tried a Google search of “Chubby panel Rhodesian pipe”. I scanned through the images which resulted and came across one from a restoration Dal Stanton did “Recommissioning a Classic Pocket Pipe: A Fun Sport Horn Stem Sculpted Stubby Paneled Tomato” (https://rebornpipes.com/2019/07/30/recommissioning-a-classic-pocket-pipe-a-fun-sport-horn-stem-sculpted-stubby-paneled-tomato/). This blog was posted on Steve Laug’s https://rebornpipes.com/ site. Now, the pipe which Dal worked on had a similar shape. It was a far different pipe; in scale, texture, stem material, banding and it was stamped which allowed him some idea of the maker. The one think that caught my eye was the tenon:

(Photo used with permission of the author – personal communication. Originally published at(https://rebornpipes.com/2019/07/30/recommissioning-a-classic-pocket-pipe-a-fun-sport-horn-stem-sculpted-stubby-paneled-tomato/))

The tenon of my Country had the tenon’s stinger intact, Dal’s version was stinger-less. Nonetheless the similarities of the aluminum tenon were undeniable. There was one other significant similarity between these two pipes – the cork mortise. Unfortunately Dal was unable to determine the maker of his pipe and he is a far better and more diligent researcher than I. He did conclude that his pipe was of French origin. This conclusion reaffirmed my feeling about the origin of the Country in hand.

I was now less undeterred (is that deterred or de turd? It is a French pipe after all). I reached out to Steve Laug who is always helpful with his vast experience and encyclopedic memory. I sent him some photos and asked if he could tell me anything about pipes with similar shapes or with tenons like this. Steve mentioned that he too thought the Country looked like a GBD or a Comoy’s product. He then sent me a link to one of his blogs: Reuniting an older Ropp Panel 062 Rhodesian with its original stem

(https://rebornpipes.com/2021/10/16/reuniting-an-older-ropp-panel-062-rhodesian-with-its-original-stem/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGg2JtleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZQRWucpsG3aeTcXahiWJgFm7E_1D4CtWDBYz_F2J_9YlmXg7h6xA0JDKQ_aem_qQs4f3WxgbgUf1LL3z1TCQ).

I will include a photo of Steve’s Ropp Panel 062 Rhodesian.

(https://rebornpipes.com/2021/10/16/reuniting-an-older-ropp-panel-062-rhodesian-with-its-original-stem/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGg2JtleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZQRWucpsG3aeTcXahiWJgFm7E_1D4CtWDBYz_F2J_9YlmXg7h6xA0JDKQ_aem_qQs4f3WxgbgUf1LL3z1TCQ)

Now, if you use your imagination and give that shank a bend it would be a near perfect match for the Country. I’m sure that your inquiring mind wanted to know what the tenon of this Ropp pipe looked like.

(https://rebornpipes.com/2021/10/16/reuniting-an-older-ropp-panel-062-rhodesian-with-its-original-stem/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGg2JtleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZQRWucpsG3aeTcXahiWJgFm7E_1D4CtWDBYz_F2J_9YlmXg7h6xA0JDKQ_aem_qQs4f3WxgbgUf1LL3z1TCQ)

Similar to the Country but not as close of a match as the tenon from the Dal Stanton pipe.

And that, dear reader, is where I left the background for this pipe. It is a chubby panel bent Rhodesian. Likely made in France quite a while ago, judging by the level of oxidation of the stem and the aluminum stinger which pretty much went out of style by the 1970s. Dal Stanton implies that these pipes may be older than what I think, “The presence of the cork could possibly add more weight to this Sport having some vintage to it. Cork was often used on older pipes to grip the tenon” (Stanton, Dal. https://rebornpipes.com/2019/07/30/recommissioning-a-classic-pocket-pipe-a-fun-sport-horn-stem-sculpted-stubby-paneled-tomato/).

The Restoration

The below two photos show the Country intact and with the stem removed on her new temporary denim bed.

You may notice that I obtained a replacement for my PipNet. I finally found an older version with the opaque plastic rather than the newer version with the transparent amber plastic. I once again have all four blade sizes for my PipNet. The PipNet was joined by the Smokingpipes Low Country Reamer, General triangular scraper and wooden dowel wrapped in 220 sandpaper. Also known as the Ream Team.

The PipNet did most of the work in removing the cake as well as removing a bit of briar from the tobacco chamber. I did not examine or feel the inside of the chamber, prior to the reaming, for rough surfaces from a poorly drilled chamber.

After the reaming and sanding the interior of the tobacco chamber was bare briar and free of any heat damage.

I started cleaning the shank airway. As you can see by the very darkly stained cotton swabs in the photo the shank was quite filthy. I used 95% ethyl alcohol and dipped the swabs in the alcohol. I examined the mortise and found the cork “gasket” for lack of a better term had a worn front edge and looked ragged.

I continued trying to clean behind the cork and scrape the tars from the airway using a dental scraper. 3-4 ml of ethyl alcohol were poured into the tobacco chamber and the airway was scrubbed with a nylon shank brush. The excess alcohol was then poured into a medicine cup. The airway was then scrubbed with alcohol dipped cotton swabs.

This cycle of scraping, alcohol scrubbing, cotton swab scrubbing was repeated. I seemed to be making little progress.

Avoiding the cork was making the whole airway cleaning more difficult. I started to experiment with making a new cork gasket. I was thinkin that I could remove the old beat-up cork, clean the airway then insert the new cork. I found a suitable cork from an assortment of corks that I had. I drilled a 3 mm hole through the center of the cork.

I gradually used larger bits to enlarge the hole.

Once it was large enough for the aluminum tenon I started thinking about how to cut the excess cork away.

Razor blades seemed like the best answer. The first couple of slices thinning the cork went well. My fingers were cramping a bit so I decided to remove the old cork and give my fingers a rest from holding the cork and the razor blade.

The old cork was scraped from the shank and the mortise was sanded with 320 sand paper wrapped around a rat tail file.

I returned to cleaning or attempting to clean the airway. It was much easier to do without having to work around the cork.

I thought that a cotton alcohol treatment would do this pipe a world of good. I packed the tobacco chamber and the airway with cotton.

I then added 95% ethyl alcohol via a disposable pipette until the cotton was saturated. The stummel was placed on a medicine cup at an angle which allowed the alcohol level of both ends to be level. The alcohol would evaporate overnight and pull the tars from the briar depositing them in the cotton as it evaporated.

I then began cleaning the stem airway. This too was a filthy tar ridden mess. Numerous bristle pipe cleaners dipped in ethyl alcohol were used.

Once cleaned, I took the stem to the jar full of Before and after Extra Strength Deoxidizer or as I like to call it – deox. The stem had a pipe cleaner inserted into the tenon. I did not want the aluminum to be submerged into the solution and the pipe cleaner acted as a hanger. I planned on leaving the stem in deox overnight.

The next day both the stem and stummel were waiting and ready for more restorative love.

I started with the stummel by removing the cotton then cleaning the airway with alcohol dipped cotton swabs. The results were great, only taking a few swabs to clear the remaining tar.

Next, the stem was removed from deox and allowed to drip off the excess solution.

I placed the still damp stem on a coarse shop rag to absorb and hand buff some of the loosened oxidation from the vulcanite.

The below photo shows the results of the hand buffing with the coarse rag.

The stem was returned to the workbench looking much better without the oxidized rubber.

I then proceeded to scrub the stem with several make-up pads drizzled with Soft Scrub cleanser. This slightly abrasive cleanser removes the oxidized rubber. As the oxidation is removed the color of the pads indicate when the has been removed.

I then took the stummel to the sink for a scrub with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon scrub brush. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

The stummel looked much better but this clean briar showed the large number of fill which would require attention.

I wanted to remove the existing finish from the briar. I first tried 95% ethyl alcohol on a make-up pad to dissolve the finish. It kind of worked but not very well.

Next, I tried acetone on a make-up pad. That worked better but still the results were very slow and elbow grease intensive.

I placed the stummel into a jar filled with acetone and let the solvent work on the finish for 30 minutes.

30 Minutes later the stummel was again wiped with an acetone dipped make-up pad. This time the finish and stain were being removed.

There remained a few shiny spots where the finish was not completely removed. I planned on dealing with them as the stummel was sanded. TO sand the stummel I wanted the stem and stummel to be connected to avoid the rounding of the joints between the two pieces. I had not returned to the cork mortise so instead I wrapped the aluminum tenon with masking tape to thicken it and secure a tight fit of the stem to the stummel.

The area around the stam was very carefully sanded to avoid the stamp. The old fills were made even more obvious as I did the initial sanding. The old fill material was picked out using a fly tying bodkin and a dental scraper.

The plan was to place a drop of brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) into the pit then add briar dust to the pit and press the dust into the CA with the back of the dental scraper. The CA and the dust would compine filling the pit and curing quickly.

In the photo below you can see the new fills looking like scabs. The briar dust that comes in contact with the CA takes on a very dark color while the non-CA-contact dust remains light.

The light spots were filed smooth using a small flat file. The resulting dark spots indicate new fills of the old pits.

I was not happy with the fit of the masking taped tenon and feared that I would round the edges of the joints. It was time to finish the cork work. First I tried to unscrew the aluminum tenon from the stem. I was not sure if it was threaded or if it was glued. I turned without much trouble using a channel lock pliers with the jaws well covered in painters tape. Once freed the filthy threads were cleaned with a rather large number of cotton swabs dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

The next few photos illustrate how reality attacks my well made plans quickly rendering them into refuse.

Plan #1 Use an existing small cork, drill out a hole for the aluminum tenon and trim the sides of the cork leaving a hollow cylinder, tube of cork, which would be inserted into the mortise. This plan met with FAILURE several times as I could not cut the cork thin enough with a razor blade to make the cork tube.

Plan #2 Use a set of cork hole borers (seen below) to cut the cylinder of cork. FAILURE

Plan #3 Use the cork hole borers to cut a cylinder of synthetic “cork”. FAILURE

Finally, I thought to keep things simple. Use the razor blade and carefully slice a thin piece of natural cork, measure the length of the cork rolled into a cylinder and trim it to length. Insert this into the mortise. If it works, glue it in place.

It worked. Below you can see the results before the cork was glued in place or the end trimmed.

Once it was trimmed and glued (and allowed to dry) into place the stem was inserted and tah-da. The tenon compressed the cork and the fit was nice and snug.

Below is a photo of the trimmed and glued cork.

That done, I could finally get to sanding the stem and stummel together. Before I could do that I had a couple of fills which needed a finesse touch around the stamping. This was done with careful application of CA and briar dust. And even more careful filing and sanding.

The pipe was finally sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 320-3500 grit. Between each sponge the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad moistened with alcohol to remove sanding debris. The stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a dry paper towel.

The pipe was then worked with 4000-12000 micro-mesh pads. Between each pad the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad moistened with alcohol while the stem was rubbed with Obsidian Oil and wiped with a paper towel.

The pipe was then given liberal coating of Before and After Restoration Balm. This product is amazing at rejuvenating the briar and makes the vulcanite look great too.

The Restoration Balm was allowed to sit and work its magic for 20 minutes. After the timer beeped, the excess balm was wiped off using an inside out athletic sock.

The pipe was then taken to the buffer for a polishing with Blue Diamond buffing compound. The residual compound was wiped off with a paper towel lightly wetted with 99% Isopropyl alcohol then the pipe received several coats of carnauba wax.

The final steps were to take the pipe to the buffer where the stem and stummel were buffed with Blue Diamond compound. The pipe then received several coats of carnauba wax and a final hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth.

I think this Country Panel Bent Rhodesian restored beautifully. I still love the shape even with all of its fills and blemishes. The pipe clenches well and feels much lighter than the over 2 ounces (62 g) that it actually weighs in at. The stem is still a bit thick feeling in the mouth but filing down would have altered the shape too much, in my opinion. The original stain was preserved and reminds me of an antique gun stock. The vulcanite deoxidized amazingly well and stands out gloriously as a contrast to the briar. Overall, I am very happy with this mysterious beauty.

The dimensions of this Country Panel Bent Rhodesian are:
- Length: 4.96 in./ 125.98 mm.
- Weight: 2.19 oz./ 62.09 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.70 in./ 43.18 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.24 in./ 31.50 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.71 in./ 18.03 mm.
- Outside Diameter: 1.54 in./ 39.12 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 Country Panel Bent Rhodesian.
Masta 45F Patent Standard Bent

November 14th, 2024
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

For the pipe connoisseurs out there the name Dunhill evokes strong feelings, rightfully so, of quality and workmanship. I have yet to have the honor of restoring or smoking a Dunhill pipe so I feel inadequate to describe them. I can say that there are a few brands owned by Dunhill which I have had the pleasure of restoring: These include Hardcastle, Parker and now Masta. Yes, I know this does not make a Masta a Dunhill any more than a Mazda car was a Ford due to Ford’s ownership of a large amount of Mazda’s shares. The fact remains that so far, this is as close as I have gotten to an actual Dunhill. This Masta was purchased via eBay from a seller in Vilnius, Lithuania and thus took considerably longer to ship than a typical State side transport. I think it was worth the wait. The pipe arrived and was photographed as it appeared after the unboxing. It is stamped MASTA over PATENT over STANDARD with 45F left of the stamping on the left shank of the pipe. On the right shank is MADE IN LONDON over ENGLAND.

The pipe appeared to have been cleaned though not restored . This made for what looked like an easy relaxing restoration. The tobacco chamber was mostly clean. The Stem had some oxidation and a single bite mark on the bottom of the button. There were no serious dents or scars on the briar.

Background

As said earlier, I’d not be a good pipe snob, never having laid hands on a Dunhill. When asked what my favorite pipe is, I’ve been known to reply, “The one between my teeth.” When asked about my favorite tobacco, the reply is similarly “The one in my pipe.” I have found that I prefer some pipes, tobaccos and people over others. Generally, the rule is that I favor those which agree with me. Aesthetically this Masta agrees with me. Historically, I find the lack of information about Masta disagreeable. Pipephil.eu has a few photos of stamping which verify this pipe is indeed a Masta but little else.

(Mas — Pipes: Logos & Markings)

Turning to pipedia.org, I found a short blurb followed by a longer blurb. The first is included below:

“Masta was a brand founded around 1900. When Parker Hardcastle Limited was formed in 1967, they also incorporated the Masta Patent Pipe Company. From this point this was a Dunhill / Parker / Hardcastle offshoot, primarily for the scandinavian market. The brand no longer appears to exist. Masta was at the end rarely the equal of a Parker.” (Masta – Pipedia)

Wow, so between 1900 and 1967 Masta apparently did nothing. They were then taken over by Dunhill, along with Parker and Hardcastle, where they produced sub-Parker quality pipes for some “scandanavian”s who couldn’t even afford to capitalize Scandinavia. Hmm, not too impressive thus far.

The second blurb appeared to have been taken from another source and was footnoted in the “References” at the bottom of the pipedia.org page. Wanting the original source so, I followed the link to the below quote:

“Produced in London by Masta ( Dunhill ). Masta Patent Pipes Company was founded around 1900 to London. The firm suffered numerous adversities (the factory was destroyed by a bombardment in 1941, during the second world war). the mark Masta was acquired in 1946 by Parker Pipes Co. (Dunhill) and the production continued in the establishment Parker-Hardcastle, next to St. Andrews Road. What the pipes Masta (how Hardcastle and Parker ) can be considered “second lines” of Dunhill (or exemplary not perfect, with defects that cannot be signed from the mother house) is common and very diffused opinion. To this opinion I habitually conform me. It is necessary to specify however that this hypothesis is controversial and it has never been confirmed. The only certainty seems to be that Parker , Hardcastle and Masta belong to Dunhill and the pipes they are produced in the establishment Parker-Hardcastle . Parker and Masta have in common usually forms and numbers of shape.” (Masta (Dunhill) Patent Standard – Very nice English briar pipe – No Reserve | #292597597)

Well, that was better than the first blurb even with the apparent use of Google translate to convert it to English. There were discrepancies among the dates, 1946 and 1967 for the purchasing of Masta by Parker and or Dunhill. This still was a more objective version of Masta history.

Pipedia.org also has a nice Masta shape chart:

(C_2-1.jpg (3574×2443))

I still had trouble with the whole notion of a company as illustrious as Dunhill having to wage economic warfare on companies producing far lower quality products. I couldn’t imagine many Dunhill aficionados ever hearing the announcement, “Attention K-mart shoppers…” during their pipe shopping excursions.

It was in a blog on Steve Laug’s Rebornpipe.com that I came across Robert M. Boughton’s blog “Identifying, Categorizing and Refurbishing a Masta Diplomat” (Identifying, Categorizing and Refurbishing a Masta Diplomat | rebornpipes). Robert did a wonderful job explaining the history of Mast in a reasonable way which I found enthralling. I highly recommend that blog as a read if you are interested in the history of the Masta Patent Pipe Company. With that I felt like I now had a functional knowledge of the brand and turned to the restoration.

The Restoration

As usual I began with a clean denim piece to protect the work surface.

The team was assembled; the PipNet with #2 blades, Smokingpipes Low Country Reamer, General triangular scraper (with the tip ground round) and 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel (AKA a 20 gauge shotgun magazine plug).

The PipNet was used predominantly for the reaming with the other two scrapers just to clean off stubborn spots.

The completed reaming showed slight damage to the rim.

Once reamed the chamber was sanded with the 220 sandpaper. No damage from heat was observed .

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

Back at the workbench the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol. Very little color, existing finish, came off. The grain patterns could be seen much better at this time and looked very nice. I was very tempted to contrast stain the stummel here but thought that that would not hold true to the nature of this pipe.

The shank airway was filthy and full of accumulated tar. After numerous alcohol dipped cotton swabs, I decided to try a cottom/alcohol soaking to remove the tars. The tobacco chamber and shank were stuffed with cotton and 95% ethyl alcohol was added to the cotton filled passages with a disposable pipette to the point of saturation. The alcohol was allowed to work on dissolving the tars overnight.

The next day the cotton had absorbed much of the tars liberated from the briar by the alcohol as it evaporated.

The cotton was removed and the cleaning resumed and went at a much faster rate.

The surface of the stem was scrubbed with Soft Scrub cleanser on a make-up pad.

This produced very little discoloration on the pad indicating that the stem was not heavily oxidized.

The button needed a little bit of reconstructive work. I used cheap transparent tape to cover the button proper and confine the black cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) to the stem where I wanted to fill the dent. I prefer the cheap tape as the more expensive 3M brand Scotch tape softens and dissolves with exposure to CA drying accelerator.

Black CA was applied to the area to be filled with a wide zone for blending.

The black CA was spritzed with a CA drying accelerator and filed smooth.

The taping was reversed – covering the new patch and leaving the area to be filled uncovered.

The black CA was applied to the dented spot on the button, building up the area. This was then spritzed with a CA drying accelerator. The tape was removed and the fill filed smooth and the button reshaped.

The newly repaired button was sanded smooth and inspected to see if additional CA would be required.

The stummel was very clean and free of any flaws except for one small pit. This was filled with brown CA and allowed to sure on its own. The stamps had been taped with painters tape to preserve them during the upcoming sanding.

The stem and stummel were sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 600-3500 grit. Between each sponge the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol. The stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel between sanding sponges.

After the final wipe downs from sanding the pipe was worked with micro-mesh pads from 4000-12000 grit. Between sponges the stummel was again wiped with the alcohol wetted make-up pads while the stem now received a rubbing with Obsidian Oil and a wipe with a paper towel.

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

With the balm doing the magic that it does for 30 minutes the remaining mysterious elixir was wiped from the pipe with an inside out athletic sock.

The final steps were to take the pipe to the buffer for several coats of carnauba wax and a final hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth.

I have to say that I think this Masta Patent Standard 45F is a beautiful specimen. The graceful curves are well proportioned and elegant. It appears to be a well crafted pipe with only one noticeable pit in the briar. If this is what a Dunhill “second” looks like, I am going to be very impressed if I ever get to work on a Dunhill. I retained the natural finish of the briar and it is quite lovely with attractive bird’s eyes and a nice flame grain on the front. The stem polished up well and the high gloss black is a pretty contrast to the natural briar. I am sure that this pipe will be a grand smoker and bring someone many years of enjoyment.

The dimensions of this Masta 45F Patent Standard Bent Billiard are:
- Length: 5.63 in./ 143.11 mm.
- Weight: 1.49 oz./ 42.40 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.79 in./ 45.47 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.60 in./ 40.64 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.70 in./ 17.78 mm.
- Outside Diameter: 1.42 in./ 36.07 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 Masta Patent Standard 45F.
A Peterson Irish Seconds Restoration

October 31st, 2024
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

It seems fitting to post this pipe today, October 31, 2024, for a few reasons. The first of which is the name, Nebraska Pete Geek. Secondly an Irish Seconds sounds like the pipe is being given a second chance which is exactly what restoring does for these old darlings. Third, today is the one year anniversary of this blog. I really didn’t think that I’d be able to successfully do this for an entire year. As of this writing, 3133 visitors have viewed my blogs 5138 times. I taught secondary school science for 32 years and a rough calculation had me at 3600 students over those years. I have achieved nearly that many viewers in a single year. All I can say is thank you all. Your support, comments, and encouragement have been wonderful. I know, “shut up and get on with the restoration.”

This pipe came to me as part of an estate lot back in early July. This pipe wears the stamp IRISH SECONDS on the left and MADE IN THE over REPUBLIC over OF IRELAND on the right. There is no shape number but the shape corresponds to the Peterson Classic Shape XL90 which is the same shape as the 307 Extra Large Billiard. Below are some photographs of the pipe as it appeared prior to any work.

The Irish Seconds looked like a very straightforward restoration. Reaming, cleaning some scratch mitigation and deoxidizing the stem. The rather blocky button would have to be made more comfortable, I know this is not restoring it to factory new condition but whoever gets this pipe will be quite grateful.

Background

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

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

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

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

According to smokingpipes.eu Irish Seconds,

“If you’ve ever been to any kind of “outlet” store, you’re already more or less familiar with what seconds are. Products that — due to some minor cosmetic flaw — just don’t pass a manufacturer’s quality control process. When these cosmetic flaws don’t affect the function or durability, they generally get sold at a deep discount. Not ideal for the manufacturer, but it’s great news for you, the customer.

And that’s exactly what we have here — pipes produced right here in Ireland, fully functional, eminently smokeable, and heavily discounted due to some superficial blemish. Irish Seconds are graded from 1 to 3, with 1 being the highest quality, and 3 being the deepest discount. If you’re in the market for a shop pipe, just getting into pipes, or are generally more budget minded, these are hard to go past.

(https://www.smokingpipes.eu/pipes/new/irish-seconds/) I have to admit that I am happy not to be geographically closer to Dublin. The reasons for my happiness are that I would most likely be considered furniture at the Nassua Street shop and would convert the entirety of my daughter’s inheritance to Petersons and Irish Seconds. Though neither of these things are terrible, both would become annoying by those involved.

In listening to my own advice I quote from Irwin’s big Peterson Pipe book: “See Seconds” (p. 304). Just kidding, it really does say that though. The real information is 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).

The last line of the Irwin quote above describes this pipe nicely. It is indeed not stamped with a brand, unstained, it is of the Classic Range and matches the dimensions of an XL90 (used from 1980-) and has no band. With this information I can safely say that this pipe is a Peterson product produced between 1982-98 and though deemed unworthy of the Peterson name, it remains a fine briar pipe.

The Restoration

The chubby darling got a clean denim piece to sit on.

The stem was heavily oxidized. I lightly sanded it with a 320 sanding sponge in preparation of the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer (deox) bath.

I inserted a pipe cleaner into the button to act as a hanger, suspending the stem in the deox.

I figured at least 4 hours in deox would be required.

I gathered the reaming gear: The PipNet with #2 blades, the General triangular scraper, Smokingpipes Low Country reaming knife and wood dowel wrapped with 220 sandpaper.

The reaming went smoothly as the cake was not terribly thick. The top of the bowl had some scratches that appeared to be from a previous owner scraping the bowl with a pocket knife. Also the lave on the rim was not bad and did not appear to be hiding any charring of the rim.

The interior of the bowl did not have any heat damage.

The shank was cleaned by scraping with a dental scraper and with cotton swabs dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

Folded bristle pipe cleaners, also dipped in alcohol, were also used to clean the airway.

After 4 hours the stem was removed from the deox and allowed to drip excess solution back into the jar.

The stem was vigorously rubbed with a coarse shop rag to remove the remaining deox solution and abbrade additional oxidized vulcanite.

Below you can see the oxidized rubber removed by the rubbing.

The stem was then scrubbed with several make-up pads drizzled with Soft Scrub cleanser.

The button was reshaped to make it far more comfortable for a smoker. A couple of flat files were used for the reshaping.

The worst of the stummel dents were at the bottom front of the stummel. It looked like it had been dropped on concrete.

The other dents and dings were less severe but were on both sides.

I decided to try raising the dents with steam. I set an iron to high and moistened a washcloth with tap water. Below you can see the set up and the protective tape on the stamps in anticipation of the sanding that would follow.

The steam did raise the dents but they would still require filling with cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue).

Below is a close up of the dents after a couple of steaming episodes.

The area was covered with brown CA applied with a fly tying bodkin and allowed to cure/dry without the use of a CA drying accelerator.

Once dry, the area was filed smooth and sanded with a 400 grit sanding sponge.

The pipe was sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 400-3500 grit. The pipe was sanded intact to avoid the rounding of the shank/stem joint. Between each sponge the stummel was wiped with a make-up pad moistened with ethyl alcohol. The stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a paper towel between sponges.

The pipe was then worked with micro-mesh pads 4000-12000. The wiping after each pad was as above except that the mineral oil was replaced with Obsidian Oil for the stem.

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

20 minutes later the balm had done it’s magic and the excess balm was wiped from the pie using an inside out athletic sock.

The pipe was taken to the buffer where it received several coats of carnauba wax applied by the buffer. The final step was a hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth to raise the shine.

I think this Peterson Irish Seconds turned out very nicely. The reservoir is drilled out in typical Peterson System fashion and though the stem lacks a tenon extension and the P-lip, I am sure that this will be a fine smoking pipe. The briar grain is pretty with the cross-grain at the front and rear. The bird’s eyes are small and very numerous. I can’t help but wonder how the pipe would look with a contrast dye accentuating the briar grain. That would violate the description of the Irish Second though. The stem polished up very nicely revealing the glossy black vulcanite under all that oxidation. The dimensions of the Peterson Irish Seconds are:
- Length: 5.18 in./ 131.57 mm.
- Weight: 1.96 oz./ 54.88 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.91 in./ 48.51 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.46 in./ 37.08 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.79 in./ 20.07 mm.
- Outside Diameter: 1.57 in./ 39.88 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 Irish Seconds.
A Sasieni SL 52G Hurlington Restoration

October 3rd, 2024
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

The term”big” doesn’t do this pipe justice. Giant, gargantuan, enormous all seem more fitting. I remember opening the package when it arrived in the mail. I’m pretty sure I said, “good Lord, that’s big.” Have I mentioned that “big” doesn’t do this pipe justice? For such a large pipe it felt remarkably good in my hand, then again, I am a fan of the apple shape. This pipe wore the stamps: MADE IN over ENGLAND in an oval to the left, SL over LONDON MADE all on the left shank. The right shank sported the stampings 52G while the stem bore an Old English script S on a shield. Below are some photos of the pipe prior to work being done.

Background

The stem logo on this pipe says, “I’m a Sasieni”. Well at least a Sasieni’s second…

That is where I started, with Sasieni. Joel Sasieni began building the company in London, England in 1919. I will let Stephen P. Smith, in his pipedia.com entry explain,

“In his book, “The Ultimate Pipe Book”, Richard Carleton Hacker writes American pipe collectors “seem to be more preoccupied with ’smokable’ brand names, of which the most collectible are Dunhill, Barling, Sasieni, and Charatan.” Theodore Justin Gage, the former publisher of the much missed “The Compleat Smoker”, called Sasieni pipes a “fascinating collectible, …representing all that is good about classic English pipe making.” And for good reason: the pipes made by the Sasieni company between the years 1919 and 1979 rank among the very best the London pipe industry had to offer. They featured superb wood, flawless bowls, outstanding smoking qualities, and a styling that was uniquely theirs.

Yet for all that, Sasieni’s are among the most underrated pipes on the collectible market, usually selling for far below their real worth. In this, they offer the astute collector a genuine opportunity, whether he or she is looking for a pipe with potential for appreciation, or simply a great pipe at a reasonable price.

However, in order for the collector to capitalize on this, it is vitally important to realize the Sasieni company changed hands on two occasions, and each owner had different priorities and agendas. Not surprisingly, this was reflected in the quality of the pipes made during these different times. All bore the Sasieni name, and yet they were very different pipes.

It is possible to divide the Sasieni history into three eras, similar to Barling. In fact, throughout this article, I will be referring to “Pre-Transition, Transition, and Post-Transition” Sasieni’s. While this may raise a few eyebrows, I believe it will become clear these classifications are actually quite appropriate.

Therefore, it will also become clear a collector must be able to distinguish between Sasieni’s of different eras, as it is mainly the family made pieces made between 1919 and 1979 which are truly desirable to collectors. The dual purposes of this article, then, are to trace the history of the Sasieni pipe, and to enable collectors to judge, with a reasonable degree of certainty, when the Sasieni in question was made.

A Brief History of the Sasieni Company

There is a great deal of mystery surrounding the Sasieni pipe, owing largely to the fact there is such a paucity of written information about them, as is the case with many collectible pipes. Even the name of the founder has been subject to debate. One respected source says the founder was named “Joel” Sasieni. Another equally respected source says with equal certainty the name was “Joseph” Sasieni. (A third, rather less reliable source once told me “Joel” and “Joseph” were brothers, but I think we can safely dismiss that.) An old Sasieni catalog which I came maddeningly identifies the founder as “J. Sasieni”. However, some research at the U. S. Patent Office conclusively shows that his first name was Joel.

Joel Sasieni apprenticed at Charatan, and moved on to Dunhill, where he eventually rose the position of factory manager. Many men would have been perfectly satisfied with such a position, but not Mr. Sasieni. He opened up his own factory in 1919, believing he could improve on some of Dunhill’s methods. Mr. Sasieni was, if nothing else, an optimist.

Things did not go smoothly for the new firm. The factory burned down almost immediately. Apparently undaunted, Mr. Sasieni simply rebuilt the factory and carried on.” (Sasieni – Pipedia)

Steven Smith’s writing goes on and is well done and informative. I highly recommend reading it if you are a burgeoning Sasieni fan or just interested.

As for this pipe, I could find no reference to the SL stamping. I assumed the 52G was a shape number and indeed a Sasieni shape chart from pipedia.org lists the 52 as a “Hurlington” and matches the shape of this pipe beautifully. I am assuming that the 52G is the Hurlington in a giant form.

(File:Sasieni Pipe Shapes.jpg – Pipedia)

Another Sasieni shape chart states that Sasieni has “160 SHAPES”.

(File:SasieniShapes.jpg – Pipedia). 160 is a remarkable number of shapes for a manufacturer to keep track of much less the carvers employed making those shapes. Remember, this was all long before a quick google search to remind oneself of the dimensions of a particular shape.

The Restoration

The Sasieni found its way to the workbench and a cleanish denim piece. The stem was a very tight fit after the photo shoot. I did not force it back into place as that’s where I planned to start with this restoration, anyway.

The calcium deposits on the stem were heavy and combined with the also heavy oxidation made for a rather ugly mess. I started by scraping the surface from the stem with a sharp pocket knife.

Once scraped, I buffed the stem with 0000 steel wool.

The airway was cleared of the tars and yuk which had taken up residence there. A good many bristle pipe cleaners and 95% ethyl alcohol were used to clean the airway.

With the inside and outsides cleaned, it was time for the stem to go into deox. That is my term of endearment for Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer. I thought this stem would require at least 4 hours of chemical love.

I turned my attention to the stummel. The reaming tools were assembled with the PipNet’s #2 and #3 blades getting used.

The reaming was done mainly with the PipNet.

The Smokingpipes Low Country reaming knife and the General triangular scraper. When the scraping was done the tobacco chamber was sanded to bare briar with 320 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel.

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

The stummel was then scrubbed with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon scrub brush. You can see the grime in the bristle of the brush, below. The soap was rinsed with warm water and the stummel dried with a cotton hand towel.

The Airway of the shank was equally as dirty as the stem’s. I used the Kleen-Reem shank drill tool to drill out the airway. That seemed to have done a great job at scraping. I still used the dental scraper along with several scrubs with the shank brush, bristle pipe cleaners and cotton swabs but the drill removed a large amount of tar from the airway.

The stamps were covered with painters tape to preserve their detail during the sanding.

The stummel was sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 400-3000 grit. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad moistened with alcohol.

The final sanding sponge was the 3500 grit. This one was allowed to sand under the tape.

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

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

After 20 minutes the remaining balm was wiped with an inside out athletic sock.

After two hours I removed the stem and used the patented Deox Drip-Under-Matic Mechanical irrigation and Egress System (DDUMMIES) to drip dry the stem.

The stem was wiped with a coarse shop rag. This allows for the excess solution to be absorbed and abbrades some of the oxidized vulcanite at the same time.

The stem’s color looked much better but the wear of the stem and the removal of oxidation showed a much reduced stem. The button had been smoothed almost to oblivion. This was going to take some time to rebuild.

I first painted the stem with a butane light hoping to have the vulcanite rebound a little bit and reduce the tooth dents. This provided minimal effect. The stem was then painted with a coat of black cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue from the end of the button to about 1 ½ inches or 4 cm.

The CA was spritzed with a CA drying accelerator. This speeds the curing time to nearly immediate but does leave a roughened surface.

The rough surface was filed. The low spots remained more glossy and would require additional applications of black CA.

The second application still had some low spots but they were becoming smaller and fewer.

Finally I was down to only two spots for reapplication on both the top and bottom.

The final CA spots were smoothed with the small file and 400 sanding sponge.

The button received its final shaping and shaping.

Unfortunately the faint stem logo was lost with the exposure to the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer Strength.

The stem was sanded with a series of sanding sponges with grits of 400-3500. Between each sponge the stem was rubbed with mineral oil and wiped with a dry paper towel.

The stem was further polished with 4000-1200o micro-mesh pads. I neglected to photograph this process but can state that between the pads the stem was rubbed with Obsidian Oil and wiped with a dry paper towel. The final polishing was done at the buffer with White diamond buffing compound and a clean flannel wheel. The pipe received several coats of carnauba wax with the buffer. A hand buffing with a microfiber polishing cloth was done to further raise the shine of the briar and vulcanite.

I have to admit that this Sasieni Hurington looks very impressive just by the nature of its size. The pipe feels great in the hand which is good, because there is no way that it is comfortable to clench for more than a few seconds. Its length and mass prove to be a physical feat of power lighting which would test the most capable jaw musculature. The briar looks beautiful with the rusticated spots concealing flaws in the piece while adding character. The stem turned out very nicely with hardly any sign of the reconstruction which was done to repair the aged and worn vulcanite. Overall it is a remarkable pipe which, the term “big” hardly does it justice, in case you had forgotten. The dimensions of this Sasieni SL 52G Hurlington are:
- Length: 7.36 in./ 186.94 mm.
- Weight: 2.48 oz./ 70.30g.
- Bowl Height: 2.21 in./ 56.13 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.77 in./ 44.96 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.82 in./ 20,82 mm.
- Outside Diameter: 1.80 in./ 46.37 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 Sasieni SL 52G Hurlington.
A Yorkshire Natural Apple Restoration

September 10th, 2024
Photographed and written by

John M. Young

Just when I think I have moved on from my fascination with World War Two pipes I get drawn back in. Though this old pipe is more of a reminiscence of my youth and the semi annual visits to Sears for new school clothes. The candy counter was within the first 20 yards of the entrance and I could usually count on a white paper sack with a dollar’s worth of Swedish fish to help tide me through the horrendous task of trying on new clothes. I do not recall seeing pipes under the glass counter. I do recall that this was the only way I had ever seen Swedish fish though. Why the mention of Sears in this introduction? Well, I guess you will just have to read the “Background” for the answer to that question.

This lovely old Yorkshire Natural appears to live up to it’s name – natural. There seems to be little stain and no finish coating. The stamps on the left shank read; Yorkshire (script style lettering) arched (concave up) over NATURAL over ALGERIAN BRIAR arched (concave down).

This was looking like a straightforward restoration. Yes there were a lot of fills that I wanted to redo but other than that the pipe was in great condition. The stem was not badly oxidized and the bowl was not heavily caked.

Background

OK, you have waited long enough. Here is the reason for my back to school clothes /Swedish fish stroll down memory lane. According to pipedia.org, “Yorkshire Pipes was a brand sold exclusively through Sears Roebuck Catalogs, as seen in this 1941-42 catalog page. They were made in France of Algerian Briar, and some of the model names were: Bond Street, Royal, Aristocrat, Natural and Straight Grain. They were not stained nor finished with laquer, and had a natural honey color.”

Quote and photos fromYorkshire – Pipedia.

Also from the pipedia.org entry is an image of a 1941-42 Sears and Roebuck catalog:

Yorkshire – Pipedia

For a second source confirmation of the heritage of the Yorkshire Natural in hand, I turned to pipephil.eu. Here I found the below images. Again it is confirmed that Sears & Roebuck sold the Yorkshire brand of pipes but here they mention that the pipes were made by Gasparini.

This creates a bit of confusion in my old damaged brain. The pipedia.org entry states a French manufacturer and the pipephil.eu entry states Gasparini. Last time I checked, Gasparini was and is an Italian maker. In examining the stamps the Yorkshire Natural that I have has stamps identical to the image from pipedia.org on the far right. So, I’ll say that this old girl is a French made apple from the 1940’s-1950’s. I know, not very specific with either part of the provenance. That might be the reason this blog is free – lazy Gen-X slacker of an author…

This next part is a little thought that I had and found entertaining. The location of the Sears of my youth was Omaha (yeah, that’s where I grew up). Sears was at a mall called Crossroads Mall. It was opened in 1960. The below photo shows the Sears entrance in 1961 with a crowd of people waiting to get in. I actually remember sitting there like that once.

(https://omaha.com/photos-crossroads-mall-through-the-years/collection_086b8140-a744-5e25-a662-8e2aaba4858b.html#40)

The second photo below, is an image of Sears from 2019 taken from the same side of the building.

(https://omaha.com/photos-crossroads-mall-through-the-years/collection_086b8140-a744-5e25-a662-8e2aaba4858b.html#40). The entire mall lasted a mere 59 years, three generations of people. Now I find the fact that the entire mall was built, utilized and destroyed in about ½ the time that this single little pipe from the same company has been around, amazing. Businesses and buildings come and go but the pursuit of a relaxing smoke and the contemplation that it brings is a human pursuit which has survived for centuries. Enough of me blathering on let’s get to the restoration.

The Restoration

Here is our star taking up position on a clean piece of denim on the workbench.

The reaming crew was gathered; PipNet with #2 and #3 blades, Smokingpipes Low Country reaming knife, General triangular scraper (with the tip ground off) and 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel all atop a plastic coated shipping envelope.

The PipNet with the #2 blades did the lion’s share of the work, again. The #3 blades were too tight of a fit so the Kleen Reem pipe tool was used. It actually was a touch too small when fully extended but I pressed sideways with it around the bowl. The scrapers were used to finish the scraping.

The reamed bowl showed no signs of any damage from excessive heat. The chamber was sanded with 220 sandpaper on the wood dowel and 320 sandpaper with my finger.

The shank was far dirtier than I figured it would be. The initial wetting of the airway with 95% ethyl alcohol on cotton swabs produced a heavily blackened cotton. I then poured 3-4 ml of the alcohol into the bowl and scrubbed with a nylon shank brush. I then poured the alcohol into a medicine cup. This airwar would require a lot of scraping with the dental pick to clear as much of the accumulated tar as possible before further scrubbing.

Several scrapings later, the scrubbing with the nylon shank brush and the cotton swabs started to work their way through the accumulated smoking residue and eventually the airway was cleaned.

The stem proved much easier to clean than the shank. Apparently the previous steward was not averse to using a pipe cleaner on occasion. The airway was cleaned with bristle pipe cleaners dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol.

I then took the stummel to the sink for a scrubbing with undiluted Murphy Oil Soap and a nylon scrub 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 dipped in 95% ethyl alcohol. Very little color came off the briar indicating that surface was bare wood. Most of the color on the pad below was from the rim.

I began picking the old fill from the pits on the surface of the stummel. I counted 14 as I went along. The fills were generally solid and required a bit of force with the fly tying bodkin to get them out. ?Why take them out, then?”, you ask. Because I didn’t like the color.

To refill all 14 of the newly excavated pits, I used brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) and briar dust. I dipped the fly tying bodkin into the CA then applied a small amount to the pit and worked it into the hole. I then used the dental scraper to scoop up a tiny scoop of briar dust and piled that onto the wet CA. The dust was then pressed into the pit with the heel of the scraper. Excess dust was brushed off with a brass brush. I only did about 2-4 holes at a time to avoid the CA curing before I had pressed the briar dust into the pit.

With all 14 pits refilled, I used a small flat file to file the CA/briar dust bump off. Then sanded the area with a 400 grit sanding sponge. After all of the pits had received one application and were sanded, I reapplied CA and additional briar dust. The process was repeated until the pits were smooth and flush with the surrounding briar. The stummel was then sanded with a 600 grit sanding sponge and wiped with a make-up pad dipped in ethyl alcohol.

I lightly topped the rim using 320 and 400 sandpaper laid flat on the countertop.

The stummel was stamped NATURAL. I wanted to keep this color finish true to the stamping. My first reaction to a stummel with this number of pits would normally be to give it a contrast dye of black. That would certainly conceal many of the fills but would also violate my sensibilities of maintaining the natural color of the stummel. To lighten the aged briar I decided to treat the wood with an application of oxalic acid. This “bleaches” the surface of the briar and can significantly lighten stained briar. If you are interested in a more heavily stained project see the W.O. Larsen restoration. The oxalic acid was applied with a cotton swab. I wetted the entire exterior 2-3 times and let it sit for 30 minutes before rinsing with copious amounts of was while scrubbing with a toothbrush.

Once dried the stummel looked a bit lighter and more vibrant than it did prior to the oxalic acid.

The stummel then had painters tape placed over the stamp and was sanded with a series of sanding sponges 1000-3500. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with an alcohol dampened make-up pad.

The stummel was then micro-meshed with 4000-12000 pads. Between the pads I wiped the stummel with make-up pads wetted with ethyl alcohol.

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

After 30 minutes the Restoration Balm was wiped from the stummel using an inside out cotton athletic sock. The grain looked wonderful.

Unfortunately the stem did not look as wonderful. I used a small flat file to smooth the bite zone of the stem. The tooth dents were too deep to file them away without significantly thinning the stem. Filling the depressions with black CA was the chosen repair. I applied a coating of black CA from the button back 1 cm on the top and bottom of the stem. Both sides were then spritzed with a CA drying accelerator. I then shaped the button and smoothed the stem with the flat file. I then started smoothing and blending the patch with 320-600 grit sanding sponges. Between the sanding I rubbed mineral oil onto the stem with my fingertip and wiped away the excess with a dry paper towel.

The shank was taped with painters tape to protect it from the stem sanding. I needed them together to keep from rounding the joint where the stem meets the shank and to provide a handle for the stem.

The stem was sanded with a series of sanding sponges from 600-3500. Between sponges I rubbed the stem with mineral oil and wiped the excess with a dry paper towel.

I then polished the stem with micro-mesh pads 4000-12000. Between each pad I rubbed the stem with Obsidian Oil and wiped the excess with a paper towel.

At this stage I looked at the stem under the bright lights at the photography station. There was still a faint brown visible. I reapplied the painters tape to the shank and took the stem to the buffer. There I buffed the stem with white diamond buffing compound. After wiping the stem with a make-up pad moistened with ethyl alcohol I returned to the bright lights and the brown was gone. I returned to the bench and used Before and After Fine Polish of a soft cotton cloth.

The Before and After Extra Fine Polished was used after the Fine Polish with the same cotton cloth.

The pipe was returned to the buffer where I applied several coats of carnauba wax to both the stem and stummel. The final step was hand buffing the pipe with a microfiber polishing cloth to raise the shine before the final photography session.

I am very pleased with how this Yorkshire Natural Apple turned out. The grain of the briar is beautiful. Yes all the fill detract from the finish but it was an everyman’s mail order pipe from Sears and Roebuck. The stem polished up well and provides a sharp contrast with the light natural briar. Both stem and stummel sport a high gloss finish that complements the other. The shape of the robust apple bowl feels great which is good because the length and mass of the pipe are a bit much for a comfortable clencher. Perhaps one of those rubber cushions would help.. The dimensions of this Yorkshire Natural Apple are:
- Length: 5.61 in./ 142.94 mm.
- Weight: 1.48 oz./ 42.10 g.
- Bowl Height: 1.78 in./ 45.21 mm.
- Chamber Depth: 1.32 in./ 33.53 mm.
- Chamber Diameter: 0.80 in./ 20.32 mm.
- Outside Diameter: 1.59 in./ 40.39 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 Yorkshire Natural Apple.