NebraskaPeteGeek

Tag: using cyanoacrylate to tighten a stem

An Executive Restoration

February 27th, 2024

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

I have to admit to being smitten by this little darling when she arrived. She was not the target of my acquisition, more like an innocent bystander. The pipes I was after in that estate lot were the Senlars. If you are new to the blog I did three Senlar pipes in January. I’ll link them for you if you are interested: Senlar Canadian, another Senlar Canadian and a Senlar billiard. Anyway, this little bent sweetheart was so cute and had been smoked quite a bit. That indicates to me that she was a good smoking little pipe.

The stamping was crisp and clear and read, EXECUTIVE over IMPORTED BRIAR and she had an L stamped and painted on the saddle stem. My mind was eagerly thinking, “How difficult could it possibly be to research a pipe with that distinctive set of stamps?” Well mind, you got me into another situation with high hopes only to be dashed by reality.

Here is all I could find on the information highway.

Notice even the little flag symbol in the upper right corner is empty. My father frequently said, “when all else fails, read the instructions.” That old quote made me think to check Steve Laug’s rebornpipes.com blogs. His instructions on restoring pipes are amazing as are the vast number of pipes he has restored over the past dozen years. I searched his restorations for “Executive”. Well, heck, if he hasn’t done one then they are indeed a rarity. Any speculative nonsense that I could come up with would be just that – speculative nonsense. If you have any information regarding this brand please feel free, no feel obligated to share it in the comments (wink).

On to the restoration. The pipe looked to be in quite good condition. Below are the photos I took prior to doing any work.

Other than the stem fitting very tightly, there were only normal issues: The rim was lava encrusted, the bowl was caked and the stem was oxidized. There were no severe bite marks or tooth chatter on the stem and the cake only seemed to be in the middle section of the bowl with little at the top or bottom. The previous owner must have come up with a unique way of smoking a pipe and only smoked the tobacco in the middle of the bowl. Okay, I thought that was funny.

I started with a clean piece of denim on the work surface. I figured that I would need to have this stem in the Before and After Extra Strength Deoxidizer solution for a minimum of 4 hours. So, I started prepping the stem for the deox (that’s my play on detoxification – detox).

The preparation included rubbing the stem with 0000 steel wool to clear off the worst of the surface oxidation and the calcium deposits around the button.

Next I wanted to clean out the air way to keep that tar and yuck (the technical term for smoking residue) from the deoxidizing solution. I first tried an alcohol dipped bristle pipe cleaner. I could only get it about ½ inch or 1cm into the tenon end of the stem. I tried a non-bristle pipe cleaner with about the same result.

I retrieved the Falcon Extra Thin pipe cleaners. I dipped one into the 95% ethyl alcohol and worked it through the airway. Success!

Several Extra Thin cleaners later the stem was ready for deox.

I inserted a pipe cleaner into the tenon end of the stem to act as a hanger for suspending the stem in the deoxidizing. I was hopeful that the stamped logo would survive the process.

Time of entry was 13:00. I had a funeral visitation at 17:00 and some errands so by my return in the evening it should be ready.

In the meantime, I prepped the work surface for the reaming. I placed the white plastic surface, PipNet with the #2 & #3 blades, General triangular scraper (with the tip ground round), Smokingpipes Low Country knife, 220 sandpaper wrapped wood dowel and the 320 sandpaper wrapped Sharpie marker.

The PipNet with the #2 blade was a bit too small but it did a fine job at breaking up the cake and removing most of it.

The #3 blade was just a bit too large for the chamber so the knife and scraper were used to clean the chamber walls.

This was followed by the 220 sandpaper wrapped around the wood dowel and finally the 320 sandpaper. The photo below is after the 220 and shows there is still some sanding work to be done on the lower and bottom of the tobacco chamber.

With the tobacco chamber reamed, I turned to the rim. I moistened the lava with saliva and scraped it with a sharp pocket knife. This is a slow process that requires care and patience.

After the scraping I took the stummel to the sink for a scrub with Murphy’s Oil Soap. The soap was used undiluted and scrubbed with a medium bristle toothbrush. When finished the stummel was rinsed with warm water and dried with a cotton dish towel. At this point I poured approximately 3 ml of 95% ethyl alcohol into the bowl and holding my thumb over the rim and finger over the mortise, I let the alcohol flow through the interior of the pipe. The hydrophilic nature of 95% ethyl alcohol will pull water from the briar putting it in solution with the alcohol as well as soften the yuck in the shank. I used a nylon shank brush to scrub the airway. I poured the alcohol into a medicine cup. By looking at the color of the alcohol I could gauge how dirty the airway was – not too bad.

Returning to the workbench I wetted a make-up pad with 95% ethyl alcohol and wiped off the stummel. The pad came back with some color. I wasn’t sure if this was from a clear coat or just old wax. The pipe did appear to have a varnish-like coating originally but the dull/flat briar indicated that it had been mostly removed.

I decided to err on the side of certainty and scrubbed the carved areas with a brass brush dipped in the 95% ethyl alcohol. This removed a bit more color from the briar and cleaned up the rusticated areas better.

Once again I neglected to photo the cleaning of the shank. I think this is a subconscious effort by my damaged brain to avoid remembering the tasks which I do not enjoy as much. I assure you that the shank airway was cleaned and the world now has fewer clean cotton swabs and pipe cleaners.

With the stummel exterior and interior cleaned, it was now ready for some sanding. I taped the stamp with painters tape for its protection and began with a light sanding with the 600 sanding sponge followed by an alcohol wipe. I was looking for pits that would need to be filled. I did find a couple but in looking at them and thinking about it, I decided to leave them alone. I thought they actually added to the rustic look of the pipe.

I sanded the smooth areas of the stummel with the sanding sponges in sequence from the 1000-3500 sponges. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad moistened with alcohol.

Once finished with the sanding sponges, I used the micro-mesh pads 4000-12000 in sequence again, wiping the stummel with an alcohol dipped make-up pad between micro-mesh pads.

The stummel then received a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm applied by finger then rubbed into the rustications with a baby toothbrush.

It was time to head into town and allow the Restoration Balm and the Deoxidizing solution to do what they do. It was 21:00 when I finally returned to the patiently waiting pipe parts. I removed the stem from the deox solution, letting most of the solution drip off. I like to use a coarse shop rag for the initial wiping off of the excess deoxidizing solution. It helps absorb and abrade the oxidized material from the stem.

Here is the stem freshly wiped off. Notice the white German Shepherd hair, she photobombs me even when she is upstairs.

YAY! The logo survived intact.

I used a couple more Falcon Extra This pipe cleaners to clear out the airway of any remaining deox solution then a third to apply mineral oil to the airway. I applied a liberal coat of mineral oil to the stem as well. The oil was allowed to sit and soak in overnight.

The next morning I returned to the workbench and started to finish the Executive. I wiped the oil from the stem and scrubbed it with Soft Scrub on make-up pads. The pads came back with oxidized vulcanite. Most of the color that you can see on the photo below was from the step-up of the saddle. The stem itself was pretty oxidation free. Once finished I reapplied mineral oil.

I then wiped the remaining Restoration Balm from the stummel. Normally, I do not let the balm sit overnight. It had dried to a consistency of refrigerated butter and took a bit more effort to rub off. I used the inside of an athletic sock for the hand-buffing and wiping of the stummel. It looked very nice.

I reinserted the stem and taped the shank stamps and stem logo with painters tape in preparation of the stem sanding.

I worked on the stem with the sanding sponges from 600-3500 in sequence. Between each sponges I applied mineral oil from my finger and wiped the stem with a paper towel.

To repaint the stem logo, I removed the tape and used a cotton swab dipped in alcohol to remove any oil. I used Pure White acrylic model paint on a detail paint brush to apply the paint to the stamped logo. This paint dries quickly. Once dried I used the 2600 micro-mesh pad to lightly scrub the white paint from the area above the logo.

The stem was then micro-meshed with the 4000-12000 micro-mesh pads. In between each pad I applied a drop of Obsidian Oil with my finger tip and wiped the stem with a paper towel.

The stem was then polished with Before and After Fine Polish applied by fingertip and hand buffed with a soft cotton cloth.

This was then followed by polishing the stem with Before and After Extra Fine Polish applied by finger tip and hand buffed with a soft cotton cloth.

The final steps were to use the buffer to apply several coats of carnauba wax to the pipe. I tried to avoid the rustications while applying the wax and just focus on the smooth areas.

Overall this pipe turned out very nicely. I love the shape. I think if I had to give it a name, I’d call it a bent pot or maybe a bent squat tomato. Either way, it feels great in the hand. I am sure it will be a fine smoking pipe especially for English blends with it’s nice wide bowl. The greatest disappointment is that the “BRIAR” from the IMPORTED BRIAR stamp, which was very light from the start, has seemed to evaporate. The briar grain is lovely and set off nicely by the rustications and the black vulcanite. The surviving stem logo with new paint looks great and will hopefully lead to additional information on the maker of this old darling. Again, if anyone has any thoughts or ideas of the provenance of this pipe, please leave it in the comments. I do hope that you have found something here useful. If you enjoy this sort of thing, please like and subscribe. I thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

Below are some photos of the finished Executive (whatever it is).
A Vox Pop Superb Briar Air Conditioned Zulu Restoration

February 22nd, 2024

Photographed and written by

John M. Young

It is time for the final addition to the Penn Tobacco Company coupon pipe collection. Let’s start with the name of the pipe from the stapings. This is a VOX POP over SUPERB BRIAR on the left and AIR CONDITIONED on the right. There is no shape number. I turned to the internet for the definition of Vox Pop. According to the Cambridge Dictionary; “the opinions of people recorded talking informally in public places” and, “a broadcast for radio or television in which people going past in a public place are asked their opinion on a particular subject”. (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/vox-pop)

In other words, the person on the street interview. When this pipe was made, I’m guessing late 1940s-50s, radio was a much more important media for information. Don’t tell the Librarian but, I used Wikipedia for this next quote: “Vox Pop was a popular radio program of interviews, quizzes and human-interest features, sometimes titled Sidewalk Interviews (1936) and Voice of the People (the name is from the Latin “Vox Populi”, meaning “Voice of the People”). It was heard from the early 1930s to the late 1940s.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vox_Pop_%28radio%29). That actually helps confirm the date of this pipe and provides more meaning of the name. The Air Conditioned stamp refers to the carburetor feature of this pipe.

I am not certain of the name of this pipe shape. Henry Leonard and Thomas Inc. actually manufactured this pipe and the three other pipe lines for Penn Tobacco Company’s promotional pipes. The pipes were available to customers of Penn Pipe tobaccos such as

one of their largest selling brands, Kentucky Club pipe tobacco. According to https: //www.tobaccoreviews.com/:

“Original Kentucky Club pipe mixture. The label on the tin reads as follows: “White Burley – recognized as a better tobacco since 1867 – makes Kentucky Club the smooth, mild, satisfying pipe smoking brand with the grand aroma. An aromatic that you, and the family too, will enjoy. “Kentucky Club’s White Burley blend never tires your taste. Its delightful flavor, enjoyable taste, satisfying mildness, and grand aroma give you the greatest enjoyment in pipe smoking.”

Notes: Kentucky Club was introduced in 1934 by Penn Tobacco Company of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. In 1943 The Bloch Bros. Tobacco Co. of Wheeling, West Virginia bought the company. In 1969 it was purchased by general cigar. In the late 80’s it was purchased by John Middleton Inc. of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, where it was last blended.” (https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/1171/john-middleton-inc-kentucky-club/?pagenumber=2&orderBy=tr.UpVotes)

The association of Penn Tobacco Company and Henry Leonard and Thomas Inc. (HLT) was a marketing venture where both companies benefited; pipe smokers needed both tobacco and pipes. Vox Pop was a brand of pipes only available as a pipe from Penn via the coupons included in packages of pipe tobacco. Penn produced the tobacco while HTL produced the pipes for Penn. Pilehil.eu explains this and three other lines of pipes below.

Brand of the Penn Tobacco Company formed in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania in 1901 by Russell Uhl († 1914) and Henry Weigand († 1942). Bruce Peters was a Treasurer of the company.

There were four pipes in the line offered by the company: the Bruce Peters (top of the line), the Silver Mac Duff, the Vox Pop, and the Broadcaster. The pipes were manufactured for Penn by Henry Leonard & Thomas, manufacturers of Dr. Grabow pre-smoked pipes.

(http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-b8.html#brucepeters)

Back to the shape of this pipe, I originally wanted to call it a Dublin but it did not have the flared rim characteristic of a Dublin. Then I thought to call it a Zulu, which fits the forward cant of the bowl but this stem is straight and the shank is round, not oval. I then looked at the Dr Grabow shapes from 1960 flyers. I wanted to find a match and give this pipe shape a name. Nope, it couldn’t be that easy. Below are two shape charts from pipedia.org. The Dublin shapes, from the chart on the right, have a slight forward cant but it is slight.

That is a cant of less than 10 degrees. The Dr Grabow 65 Quarter Bent Oval Shank from the left chart has an angle of about 12.5 degrees. My computer protractor skills are still in development.

The Vox Pop has angles that match very close to the Dr Grabow 65 shape without the oval shank of the quarter bent stem. Now, this could be explained as this pipe does not have its original stem but I do not feel that I can refer to it as a Quarter Bent with no bend.

Here is the Executive decision: This is a Vox Pop Superb Briar Air Conditioned Zulu. Or, if you want to be crazy, you can call it a Zublin. I won’t tell anyone.

The blogs of the previously restored Broadcaster, Bruce Peters and Silver Mac Duff also have historical information and commentary. I added links with the names to their respective restorations. Feel free to peruse them all.

This Vox Pop was purchased as a lone pipe from an eBay seller. Upon arrival I photographed the pipe before doing any work to it.

The Vox Pop was a wonderfully dirty, well used pipe that appeared to have some very pretty briar hiding beneath 70 years worth of grime. I interpret a well used pipe as a good smoking pipe.

The first step was to prep the work surface with a clean piece of denim. Next was to call forth the plastic reaming surface and the reaming tools.

That included the Scotte stainless steel reamer, Smokingpipes Low Country knife, General triangular scraper, 220 sandpaper wrapped wood dowel and the 320 sandpaper wrapped Sharpie marker. If you are wondering why there was no PipNet its because my #1 blade broke. Apparently the translucent plastic PipNets are not nearly as tough as their older opaque versions.

The reaming liberated the cake from the briar. Scraping with the knife and scraper got down closer to the briar then the sanding exposed the briar. There was no sign of any heat damage to the interior of the tobacco chamber.

There was a thick deposit of lava on the rim from years of use and/or many bowls of tobacco. I moistened this with saliva.and scraped it with a sharp pocket knife.

Here you can see the rim ½ scraped with the scrapings wiped on the paper towel. Ew, gross.

Below the rim is all scraped.

After the rim was scraped I took the stummel to the sink. Here I scrubbed the stummel with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a medium stiff toothbrush. After the scrub the stummel was rinsed with warm water and dried with a cotton dish towel.

I returned to the workbench and examined the stummel for the finish that survived the scrub. There were several shiney areas. You can see the shank-bowl junction was shiney.

The front of the bowl had some shine as evident in the next two photos.

I rubbed the stummel with a make-up pad moistened with 95% ethyl alcohol to see if that would remove the finish. It did but there remained some stubborn areas.

I then tried acetone on a make-up pad. That removed the remaining finish revealing the briar grain and a couple spots to fill.

I do not know what happened during the airway cleaning of the shank and the stem. I can tell you that I did clean them but I failed to take any photos of the process. The only thing I can think happened was that I was pretty engrossed with watching the final couple of episodes of the Netflix Medici series. I know that is no excuse. One other thing, if you have watched Medici and Yellowstone, do you agree with me that they are really the same show? I mean, Lorenzo Medici saves the bank & family from nefarious villains in nearly every episode just as John Dutton saves the ranch & family from nefarious villains. I guess it is just a story telling formula that works.

To protect the stamps from the ravashes of sanding I cut strips of painters tape and covered the stampings.

Next I lightly sanded the area to be filled with the 400 sanding sponge. I let the sponge retain the dust from the sanding. The pits received a small drop of brown cyanoacrylate (CA, super glue) applied with a fly tying bodkin. Before the CA set-up I sanded the area with the dusty sanding sponge. THe dust on the sponge combined with the CA to fill the pitted areas. This technique works best for small fills and will require a second application if the pit is larger or deeper.

The stummel was then sanded with the series of sanding sponges from 400-3500. Between each sponge I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad wetted with alcohol to remove any sanding debris. The tape was removed after the final sanding sponge.

After the sanding I used the 4000-12000 micro-mesh pads in sequence. In between each pad I wiped the stummel with a make-up pad moistened with alcohol, as with the sanding sponges.

The last treatment for the stummel was to receive a coating of Before and After Restoration Balm. This was allowed to do the magic that it does for about 20 minutes.

I turned my attention to the stem. It was in pretty good shape and appeared to only have surface oxidation and calcium deposits. I opted to sand the vulcanite with the 600 sanding sponge to see if the oxidation was deeper than it first appeared.

The stem looked pretty good but I wanted to make sure there was no oxidation present so I applied Soft Scrub to a make-up pad and started scrubbing the stem. The Soft Scrub removed a good deal of additional oxidation. After the Soft Scrub scrubbing the stem was given a coating of mineral oil and allowed to soak for 30 minutes.

In the meantime I used an inside-out athletic sock to wipe away the remaining Restoration Balm, revealing some very pretty grained briar.

I then wrapped the shank in painters tape and inserted the stem. I did not want to round the edges of the stem at the stem-shank joint.

The stem was sanded with the series of sanding sponges from 1000-3500 grit. Between each sponge I applied mineral oil to the stem with my fingertip and wiped off the stem with a paper towel.

After the sanding sponges, I used the micro-mesh pads in sequence from 4000-12000. In between each pad I applied a drop of Obsidian Oil, rubbed that in with my finger tip and wiped the stem with a paper towel.

The stem looked good but all of the airway cleaning had a stem loosening effect that I was not happy with. Yeah, I know – the undocumented airway cleaning. I said I was sorry. Jeez. Anyway, it might have been tightened up by just smoking it but then I would have to clean it all again, probably without documenting it. If this were a pipe I was planning to keep I would be inclined to apply a little bit of molten beeswax to the tenon and tighten it that way. Since this pipe will hopefully find a new steward I wanted a more permanent solution. I used a short bristle paint brush known as a “dry brush” in figurine painting to apply a thin coating of black CA to the tenon. This is done carefully and allowed to dry without accelerant spritzing. Once dry the CA is micro-meshed smooth. The stem is inserted and checked for fit. If too loose another light coat of black CA can be applied. If the stem is too tight additional micro-meshing evenly around the tenon will adjust the fit. In this case a single light coat was all that was required. By the way, the CA will harden and make you think that you have destroyed your brush. Don’t worry, a soak in acetone dissolved the CA and returns the brush to near normal.

With the stem well fit I hand polished the stem with Before and After Fine Polish followed by their Extra Fine Polish. Both polishes were applied and buffed with a soft cotton cloth. Again no photos but here are the products in question:

I have to say that this pipe is probably my favorite of the four-pipe set from HT&L via the Penn Tobacco Company. The Zulu shape is just one of my all time favorites. The briar grain is pretty, the vulcanite polished up nicely and the aluminum spacer gives the pipe a little accent that I find endearing. I am glad that my compulsive personality led me to collecting and restoring each of the Penn pipes but seeing all four together is just a piece of history that can now be passed along to their next steward. I do hope that you found something here useful in restorations of your own or had some fun reading this. If you enjoy this sort of thing, please click the like and subscribe buttons. I thank you for reading the ramblings of an old pipe lover.

Below are some photos of the finished Vox Pop Superb Briar Air COnditioned Zulu( that is a mouthful) and photos of the four Penn Tobacco co. crew.

If you are interested in acquiring the set of four pipes please, feel free to mention it in the comments or contact me at scimansays1787@gmail.com.