Here is another pipe from my Iqaluit piper’s collection – a striking Blatter Panel Horn. It didn’t need a lot of work, but I though you might enjoy seeing the pipe for its own sake. The pipe arrived on my worktable in very nice estate condition. Even through a layer of dust and grime the… Continue reading Refreshing a 2009 Blatter Select Panel Horn
This refurbishment is in many ways one of the more interesting of my recent pipe projects. First off, it was an eBay purchase made by a client in Taiwan who had the seller in the USA send the pipe directly to me here in Canada. The owner also sent me a wish list of work he… Continue reading A 6mm Filter Conversion and Complete Face Lift for an Indelux Old Root Duncan Series Billiard
This pipe was sent to me for stem work to address some deep tooth dents. The rest of the pipe was in excellent estate condition, and arrived already cleaned (!), which meant I could focus on the work requested. Here are pics of the pipe as I first saw it on arrival. As you can… Continue reading Repairing Deep Tooth Dents in a 1940’s Dunhill Shell LV1 Straight Brandy
Like many collectors, I feel a little jolt of adrenaline every time I add a new pipe shape to my growing array of Brigham pipes. That jolt gets bigger when a new shape comes in a mid to high grade pipe like this Brigham 4 Dot. The pipe arrived on my worktable in decent estate… Continue reading Quick Refresh of a Brigham 454 Smooth Bent Pot
I sometimes get asked why I smoke a pipe. It is, after all, the rarest method of tobacco consumption in Canada these days (only about half of one percent of tobacco users are pipe smokers). If it's nicotine you're after, there are more efficient, though arguably more diabolical, delivery methods than a cantankerous old briar.… Continue reading Some People Meditate. I Smoke a Pipe.
Just before Christmas I received a very generous gift from my pipe friend in Iqaluit who has been sending me his Blatter pipes for refurbishment. Along with a tin of pipe tobacco and an assortment of cigars, the box contained two Blatter pipes – one whole but in poor shape, and one stummel missing its… Continue reading Restemming a Blatter Bros Make Selected Freehand
By far one of the most popular of pipe shapes is the classic diamond-shanked Bulldog, in either straight or bent versions. In the Brigham catalog, these are Shapes 16 and 26, respectively, but they are not the only pipe shapes labelled as Bulldogs by this producer. Also on the list are the Shape 25 Squat… Continue reading Rehabilitating a 1980’s Brigham 217 “Round Bulldog”
This large pipe came to me for refurbishment in the latest lot from a fellow piper living in Iqaluit, Nunavut. I’ve worked on quite a few pipes for him over the last year, and this particular Blatter proved to be quite a challenge. To begin with, as you can see in the pics below, the… Continue reading A Thorough Scouring and a New Tenon for a Robert Blatter Signature Select Dublin Freehand
Happy New Year, everyone! I thought I’d start the 2018 posts with a nice quick cleanup of a 1980’s-vintage Brigham 4-Dot Calabriar. Long a staple shape in the Brigham Pipes catalog, the Calabriar is a briar pipe carved in a full-bent Calabash shape. This example, sporting a bevelled rim, differs slightly from the classic Calabriar… Continue reading An Easy Restoration to Start the New Year: Renewing a Brigham 4-Dot Calabriar
Back in July 2017 I posted the refurbishment of a Brigham 341 Bent Acorn pipe. Here now is its big brother, a Shape 42 Bent Acorn, this time in a 4-Dot grade. The Shape 42 sports a full-on oval shank and a taller bowl than its Shape 41 sibling, and despite the two pipes being… Continue reading Tidying Up a Brigham 442 Oval Shank Bent Acorn
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