Restoring and Re-Stemming an Ascorti Business 2004 Pipe of the Year

Pipes of the Year are a relatively new development in the marketing of smoking pipes. In the early 1980s there were just a few manufacturers putting out limited runs of special edition pipes annually. Today, based primarily on demand from collectors, I’d wager that the majority of established pipe brands participate in at least one variation on the theme – a Pipe of the Year, Christmas Pipe, St Patrick’s Day Pipe, etc.

Today’s patient is a 2004 Ascorti Business Pipe of the Year that needed a little TLC to regain its former glory. A Full Bent, very upright Oom Paul shape with an elongated shank, this Italian POTY arrived at the shop in fairly good estate condition, though it was clear at first glance that the stem had been replaced at some point.

The stem was oversized for the shank, creating a break in the smooth flow of lines from shank to button. The replacement stem also did not sit flush against the shank face, leaving a sliver of daylight shining through the gap.

The rim of the bowl was obscured by a crust of carbon deposits, though a worn area at the 7 o’clock position stood out underneath it all. This is the sort of rim damaged caused by lighting the pipe from the same position every time. The action of drawing on the pipe pulls the lighter flame up and over the rim of the bowl towards the tobacco. Over time, this erodes the briar in that spot.

I reamed the old carbon cake from the chamber and tidied up with a bit of sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. The briar of the chamber walls and floor were in excellent condition.

Now I could get to work on cleaning up the stummel. The extreme bend in the pipe’s design made the cleaning somewhat awkward, but the shank and airway were surprisingly clean, only needing a small handful of cotton swabs and pipe cleaners dipped in 99% isopropyl alcohol to remove a small amount of tars and debris.

As this pipe was going to a new steward when it left the shop, I set up the stummel with an alcohol treatment to both ensure that the pipe was as clean as possible and to exorcise any lingering ghosts of tobaccos past. Note the pipe cleaner added to the shank. I do this with all bent pipes. A pipe cleaned, slipped through the airway to the draft hole, acts as a wick to pull alcohol up the shank.

I left the stummel overnight to give the alcohol time to work. When I came back to the shop the following morning, I removed the cotton wool and pipe cleaner from the stummel and ran a few extra pipe cleaners through the shank and airway to remove any stray deposits.

With the internals clean and fresh, I scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a toothbrush, lifting off a few decades of dust, oils and old wax from the mixed smooth and rusticated finish.

Now that the stummel was clean, I could switch gears and work on fitting a new stem. A quick search of the interwebs produced what I was after – an image of the Ascorti Business 2004 POTY in its original, unaltered form. As you can see in the pic below, the pipe was originally fitted with a long round tapered stem, not the step-shouldered round saddle stem it was sporting on its arrival on the bench.

After taking a few measurements, I pulled my largest Vulcanite Round Taper stem from my supplies and mounted it in the mini-lathe for shaping. The lathe makes really quick, accurate cuts in Vulcanite/Ebonite and Acrylic, making it the ideal tool for stem work.

After sizing the tenon to dimensions, I removed the bulk of the excess material from the shoulder area of the stem, leaving it just slightly larger in diameter than the end of the shank.

A test fit of the new stem told me I was good to move on to refining the shape of the new stem. A close look at the pic below shows a bulge in the stem about a half inch above the shank face. I used an assortment of files and sandpapers to rectify the bulge and create a smooth taper along the full length of the stem.

When I was happy with the overall shape of the new stem, I wet sanded the Vulcanite to 2000-grit, then took it over to the heat gun to apply the required bend. A pipe cleaner slipped through the stem provides a bit of insurance against airway collapse during the bending process.

I warmed the stem over the heat gun until it became pliable, then introduced the bend. A quick run under cold water cooled the stem and set the new shape.

Finally, it was time to take the completed pipe to the buffer for a run on both the Red Tripoli and White Diamond wheels to erase any stray sanding marks and bring up the shine. A few light coats of Carnauba Wax added more gloss and a layer of UV protection for this freshly restored Pipe of the Year.

The finished pipe is once again looking every inch the Hand Made, special edition briar it is. While the extreme bend in this Oom Paul may not float every pipe lover’s boat, it’s hard not to admire the craftsmanship involved in its creation. I’m glad I could play some small role in giving this lovely pipe a new lease of life with a properly fitting clone of its original stem.

Thanks for joining me for this estate pipe restoration. Until next time, Happy Piping! Here’s the finished pipe.