The Peterson brand is world-renown for both the quality of their pipes and the longevity of the firm. Founded in 1874 by Frederick Kapp, a German immigrant to Dublin, the nascent firm would soon hire another immigrant, a Latvian named Charles Peterson, who was destined to change the company and the pipe world forever.
Kapp died in 1881, passing the business to his two young sons, Alfred and Christian, then aged just 12 and 10 years. The firm’s name was changed to Kapp Bros, for whom Charles Peterson acted as lead craftsman and business manager until the boys came of age, around 1899/1890. This short period in the company’s 150 year history is often overshadowed by Peterson’s 1890 patent for his now famous System Pipe, but examples of the pipes made during the Kapp Bros years are still found on the estate and collectibles market. One such pipe made its way recently onto the bench here at DadsPipes.
The piece in question today is a classic cased Egg & Claw Meerschaum pipe sent in for some TLC by its steward, an ardent Peterson collector based in Connecticut, USA. As this initial series of images illustrates, the pipe was in fairly good condition for its age, though the intricate carvings were hidden under a layer of dust and other grime. Unfortunately, the front claw had been broken off at some point in the pipe’s past, and the original amber stem and shank detail, though present, were also broken, as was the original bone screw tenon.
The only provenance for the pipe was a label inside the well-worn case. It reads “Kapp Bros.” over “Sole Manufacturers in Ireland”. The label dates this pipe to that short 8-year period between 1882 and 1890, after the death of Frederick Kapp and before the firm became Kapp & Peterson.
The original bone tenon had cracked lengthwise down the exposed threads, so it would need to be replaced. After some discussion with the pipe’s steward, the scope of restoration work was set – after a good cleaning, the pipe would get a new Amber Acrylic stem, hand cut to fit the case, and, since the steward would like to be able to smoke the pipe from time to time, the pipe would be converted from a screw tenon to a more user-friendly push tenon.
To get the ball rolling, I used a small amount of 99% isopropyl alcohol and heat from a lighter flame to soften the glue holding the old bone tenon in the shank. With the threads loosened, I could gently unscrew the tenon from the meerschaum.
Acrylic rod is available in several versions of Amber. This pic shows the original genuine amber stem against a Red Amber Acrylic rod and an Orange Amber Acrylic rod. The pipe’s steward elected to go with the Orange Amber Acrylic for this project.
But before I could get started with the new hand cut stem, the stummel needed a good cleaning. I started this process by giving the intricately detailed carving a gently scrub with a toothbrush dampened with clean water. Despite the lack of detergents, this gentle agitation was sufficient to lift away years of accumulated dust and debris from the surface without risk of softening the outer layer of meerschaum. Already a vast improvement!
To remove the crust of old carbon deposits from the rim of the bowl, I first softened the carbon with a bit of good old saliva, applied with a cotton swab, then followed up with a gentle pass with 0000 steel wool.
The pipe’s internals needed a bit more work with pipe cleaners, cotton swabs and shank brushes dipped in 99% isopropyl alcohol to dissolve and remove a relatively light amount of tars and debris from the shank and airway. Here again I made sure not to saturate the meerschaum with an overdose of alcohol.
When I was happy with the state of the stummel, I began the structural work of converting the old threaded mortise to accept a push tenon. These “push-pull sets” are comprised of a female threaded fitting for the shank and a male threaded fitting for the stem. This image shows the female half of the push-pull set installed in the shank. As you can see, I had to tap new threads for this job. I also trimmed the top of the fitting to allow it so seat flush with the end of the shank. A dab of wood glue on the threads help the insert from unscrewing should anyone turn the stem anti-clockwise while dismounting it from the shank.
Fitting a hand cut stem to a vintage pipe case can be a tricky business. My not-so-scientific way of obtaining the correct length for the new stem is shown below. I use a pipe cleaner as a yardstick, then cut a section of rod to the corresponding length, plus a few millimetres for a bit of wiggle room.
The section of acrylic rod was drilled on the lathe to create the airway, then drilled and tapped on stem face to accept the male half of the push-pull set. These pics show the proto-stem after installing the tenon and test fitting to the shank.
I removed the new push tenon from the acrylic rod for the next step – rough sizing of the rod. Here again I used the lathe and a live centre to turn the rod to rough diameter. The original setup for the pipe employed a small amber shank cap in addition to the stem. The new stem would be a one-piece design to make maintenance easier. Here you can see the stem in the lathe after reducing the rod to rough diameter and cutting the stepped faux shank cap detail.
Now to turn this rather inelegant chunk of acrylic into a vintage style orific stem!
After some careful measuring and marking, I removed the bulk of the excess material on my benchtop belt sander. Then it was time to switch to hand tools, starting with a series of files to smooth out the tapered profile and rough in the button.
I was lucky to have both the pipe case and the original stem as references while cutting the new acrylic stem, but even with excellent references, fitting the stem to the case is an exercise in patience. After bending the new stem, it was slightly too long (much better than being too short!). I used some 220-grit sandpaper to reduce the length of the stem until it fit neatly into the case.
Then it was time to begin finish work on the new acrylic bit. I hand sanded the stem from 220 grit through to 2000 grit, smoothing out the scratches and bringing up the shine. Final buffing on the Tripoli and White Diamond wheels would give the Orange Amber acrylic a brilliant glass-like shine.
These close shots highlight the hallmarks of a vintage stem profile – much rounder throughout than a modern fishtail stem, with a fat football-shaped button and a plain round airway.
With the stem complete, all that was left to do was to wax the meerschaum stummel with hot beeswax. This is done at the time of carving to give the meerschaum a gentle lustre, and is recommended to be repeated annually to bring out the sought-after colouration in the meerschaum.
This stummel had not been waxed in many years, so I had been rather eagerly anticipating this part of the restoration process. I love watching the hot wax pull the colour to the surface of the meerschaum. To prep it for its hot wax bath, I corked the bowl and similarly plugged the airway at the shank to prevent hot wax from getting into the chamber or airway.
I use a small electric crock pot to wax meerschaum pipes. All but the largest stummel will fit into the crock, which I keep filled with pure beeswax. Once melted, in goes the stummel for a good soak. I turned the stummel over in the wax pot several times to ensure even coverage. Because meerschaum is a porous mineral, capillary action pulls the hot wax deep into the stummel, where it dissolves the tars absorbed by the pipe during use. The wax then brings the colour to the surface, first in lighter shade of honey before progressing to deep red/amber tones.
The beeswax did not disappoint, but I’ll leave you in suspense for just a moment longer. When I pulled the stummel from the wax pot, I set is aside on a clean towel to cool. When I could handle it without burning my fingers, I removed the cork and shank filler, then hand-buffed the meerschaum with the towel to remove the excess wax and bring up the shine.
And with that, my work on this Kapp Bros Egg & Claw Meerschaum was complete! The pipe is an absolute stunner – cleaned, waxed, and whole again, this late 19th Century pipe has achieved the depth of colour that so many meerschaum lovers crave. It also stands as a testament to the craftsmanship and attention to detail that Charles Peterson ensured went into every pipe coming out of the Kapp Bros shop. The pipe has been returned to its steward, where it should serve for another hundred years or so with a little care and periodic maintenance.
I hope you enjoyed watching this pipe come back to life as much as I did. Until next time, Happy Piping! Here’s the finished pipe.
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