I was recently contacted by a DadsPipes client with a unique project - creating a Churchwarden pipe from an orphaned briar bowl. I've made stummels into Churchwarden pipes before, but this bowl was a bit outside the norm as it had once been part of a German Hunter pipe. As you can see from this… Continue reading Creating a Unique 6mm Filtered Churchwarden from a Georg Huber Hunter Pipe Bowl
It's not uncommon in my line of work to come across pipes that show signs of previous repairs. Even well cared for pipes need a bit of work now and then, with tenons and stems being the most commonly damaged parts. The Dunhill Shell Briar on the bench this week is a good example. Overall,… Continue reading Correcting Questionable Past Repairs on a 1957 Dunhill ES F/T Shell Briar Canadian
The Connoisseur Pipe Shop in New York City (purchased by Ed Burak in 1968 and closed in 2009) is famous in the pipe community as the home and gallery for Burak's pipe designs. For more on Burak and the shop, I direct you to this article on Pipedia.org. I've worked on a number of Burak… Continue reading Crafting a Hand Cut Resin Stem for a Burak Connoisseur Oval Shanked Pot
Peterson's 999 shape is a classic of the marque, a stocky Rhodesian available in many finishes and across many Peterson product lines with both P-Lip and Fishtail stems. It is a pipe shape that has stood the test of time, but like many pipes with trim rings cut into the bowl, it is susceptible to… Continue reading Rescuing a Classic Peterson Aran 999
Medico pipes, and their famous paper filters, have been around since their introduction by the S.M. Frank company in 1933. Still in production today, Medico pipes are available in 13 finishes, 5 of Briar and the rest made of Brylon, a synthetic mix of briar dust and resins invented by S.M. Frank in 1966. The… Continue reading Making a New Stem for Grandpa’s Medico
Filtered pipes have been around for a long time. The first rudimentary filters, primarily aimed at preventing bits of tobacco from entering the mouth, were introduced to the pipe smoking community in the middle of the 19th Century but filtered pipes didn't really catch on commercially until the 1930s with the launch of Medico's 6mm… Continue reading Let’s Talk About Filter Conversions
Amber has been prized for its beauty and workability for thousands of years. Used in the creation of jewelry, trade goods and once believed to have magical and medicinal properties, Amber also made its way into the pipe making world as a stem material. Unfortunately, Amber, while beautiful to look at, isn't a really good… Continue reading Crafting an Acrylic Amber Stem for a 1924 K&P Meerschaum
In somewhat startling contrast to today's pipe collecting and preserving mindset, there was a generation of pipe smokers who saw their briars as mere utility objects, tools for capturing and delivering the smoke from all-days blends. Bowls were cleared of dottle and ash by knocking them against the closest convenient surface, chambers were rarely, if… Continue reading Salvaging the Rim of a Very Knocked About Brigham 1-Dot
As any long term reader of this blog can tell you, the stem tenon is the number one weak spot on any pipe. The tenon is the smallest component, and has an airway drilled through it, further compounding its fragility. Add a 6mm or 9mm filter pocket in the tenon and the tenon walls get… Continue reading Remaking a 6mm Faux Spigot Stem for a Savinelli Eleganza 111KS
A client from the Greater Toronto Area sent me a few pipes for work not too long ago. Among them was a very large JM Boswell Jumbo Bent pipe that the client really enjoyed smoking but was a rather imposing pipe visually. As this first series of images illustrates, Jim Boswell wasn't kidding when he… Continue reading Lightening a Heavy Looking JM Boswell Jumbo Bent
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