Stripping and Refinishing a Patent Era Brigham 302 Billiard

I was recently sent several pipes for refurbishment from a gentleman in Nova Scotia . These were found on an estate pipe hunt through a local antique mall, and while they were in fairly good condition overall, they were all in line for some TLC.

The little Billiard on the bench today was the worst of the lot, having been subjected to some kind of DIY refinishing with a tinted clear coat sometime in its past. Testing revealed that a previous steward had painted a thick coat of some kind of polyurethane over the rusticated briar stummel, perhaps in an attempt to lighten the overall finish. As these pics illustrate, the pipe was in good structural condition, but the poorly applied refinishing had left the details of the rustication smothered under the thick top coat.

This shot from the top shows a fair amount of cake buildup in the bowl. That would need to come out. You can also see that the rim would need some attention. It was quite battered on arrival, and the DIY refinish had begun breaking down on the rim surface. Quite a mess!

The clear coat had filled in quite a bit of the original stamps, but there was enough left to make out the pipe’s provenance. It is stamped “302” then “Can Pat 372982” and finally “Brigham”.

The patent stamp identifies this Brigham as having been made between 1938 and 1955, so the pipe is between 70 and 87 years old. For all but the last two years of Brigham’s Patent era, their pipes were sold in four grades – Standard, Select, Special Grains and Straight Grains, pinned with one to four brass Dots, respectively. So this little 302 is properly identified as a Patent Era Special Grains Shape 02 Small Billiard.

This pic of the stem to shank junction shows a blotch of polyurethane smudged over the leading edge of the stem. Apparently whoever applied the urethane did so while the stem was mounted to the pipe. Sloppy work, and one more thing to clean up.

The original Vulcanite stem was in quite good condition for the age of the pipe. Lightly oxidized, the bite zone showed some light tooth dents.

More importantly, the original aluminum tenon/filter holder was in excellent condition, though a bit grimy. Many Brigham tenons from this era succumb to corrosion or cracking. As these aluminum tenons haven’t been made for 25 years, I was relieved to find this one in great shape.

Now that the pipe had been assessed, I needed to find a way to remove the offending urethane topcoat. Unlike varnish or lacquer, which can be removed relatively easily with solvents, modern urethane finishes are impervious to alcohol or acetone. They must be removed mechanically, which in most cases means sanding and refinishing the stummel.

This rusticated pipe, however, could not be sanded without destroying the rustication. After a bit of research and experimentation, I landed on the use of heat and good old fashioned elbow grease to remove the topcoat and reveal the briar beneath.

These pics show the process of first heating the urethane topcoat just shy of the point of bubbling, then scrubbing the heated area with a brass bristled tire brush to remove the softened urethane from the briar. There is a real risk here of overheating the stummel and scorching the briar, so I had to work carefully and with work gloves on to prevent accidentally burning myself.

These close-up shot shows the original, darker stain and the details of the rustication that had been hiding under the urethane.

It took some time to strip the worst of the urethane finish off the stummel, but eventually the stummel looked like this. As you can see, the nooks and crannies of the rustication were still holding on to a fair amount of the paler tinted urethane.

Removing the remnants of the urethane topcoat was a tedious and time consuming process, done mostly by hand with dental pic and brush. Some of the more stubborn areas needed additional encouragement from my rotary tool and a small diamond burr to vacate the premises.

When I was sure I had all the urethane out of the rustication, I could finally turn my attention to giving this vintage Brigham a good cleaning. I reamed out the old cake from the chamber and tidied things up with a bit of sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. Underneath, the chamber walls and floor were in very good shape.

As mentioned before, the rim of the bowl was in a bit of a state. A gentle topping removed a layer of carbon crust and restored a smooth surface. I didn’t want to erase the pipe’s 80 year history altogether, but a tidy-up was definitely warranted.

After giving the stummel’s shank and airway a good cleaning (which I forgot to photograph), I completed the cleaning by scrubbing the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap. This removed a surprising amount of dirt, dust and grease from the surface of the briar.

After letting the stummel dry completely, I refreshed the original finish with a two-part stain of Dark Brown dye over a base coat of Mahogany. These older Brigham pipes were generally stained darker than those made in subsequent decades, but the red of the Mahogany dye shines through quite nicely on the smooth areas of this stummel.

A wipe of mineral oil helped set the new stain and inject a bit of moisture into the dry briar.

I set the stummel aside at this point to rest while I did a quick clean-up of the stem. Apart from picking off the blob of urethane from the end of the stem, the Vulcanite needed little more than a good cleaning and a light wet sanding with 600 and 2000 grit sandpapers to remove the light oxidation and prep the stem for the buffer.

Reassembling the now restored pipe, I took it to the wheels for a run of Red Tripoli and White Diamond compounds, taking care not to mash any excess compound into the rustication I had just spent hours cleaning. Then the entire pipe was given a few light coats of Carnauba wax to add shine and a modicum of UV protection.

This Patent Era Brigham 302 is looking every inch the vintage Special Grains pipe again. Gone is the horrid urethane topcoat, replaced by a fresh vintage-correct stain and a Carnauba finish. The rim is smooth, though both it and the smooth underside of the shank retain the wear and handling marks accumulated over eight decades.

The Vulcanite stem is once again a lustrous black upon which the three brass Dots shine like little starts in the night sky. I managed to remove all but a ghost of the tooth dents in the bite zone. Any further filing or sanding risked weakening the stem, and again, the pipe has earned a few beauty marks.

Better yet, this Patent Era 302 is once again ready to be put back into useful service in its new steward’s rack and rotation. The gentleman who send in the pipe had some concerns about smoking a pipe of this age, but I am happy to report that there are no issues here that would prevent the continued use of this little Billiard for many more years to come.

There is a lesson here, or at least a bit of advice to readers of this blog. Though many pipe manufacturers apply a glossy topcoat to their pipes, I have stripped and refinished far too many of them over the years to have any faith in the longevity of the finish. They all eventually bubble and peel, and, in my opinion, are best avoided. I certainly cannot recommend adding a DIY topcoat to any pipe.

Thanks for joining me for this interesting estate pipe rehabilitation. I hope you enjoyed watching the pipe emerge from its urethane cocoon as much as I did. Until next time, Happy Piping!

Here’s the finished pipe.