I snagged this Comoy's “The Everyman” pipe in a recent eBay auction. It was listed simply as a “Made in London estate pipe”, so the bids were few and I got it for a good price. In fact, I was the only bidder - my kind of auction! As the listing pics below show, the pipe appeared… Continue reading Quick Refurb of a Comoy’s The Everyman Saddle Pot
I recently had the opportunity to investigate a small collection of vintage Brigham Pipes advertisements that came to me from one of my brothers, along with one of my dad's Brigham pipes that my brother wanted me to clean up for him. I wrote about the pipe refurb itself here; in this post I'd like… Continue reading How a Real Dad’s Pipe and Some Old Phone Numbers Helped Date an Unexpected Trove of Historical Brigham Pipe Info
This squashed bulldog was a very unprepossessing pipe when I pulled it from my refurb box. Dirty, dusty, and coloured a uniform dull grey/brown. I couldn't tell if the lumpy irregular look to the stummel was due to exuberant sandblasting or wretched neglect, the stem was oxidized and had a fair bit of tooth chatter,… Continue reading Freshening a Regis Super Grain Squashed Bulldog
My father died in an accident back in 1975 when my brothers and I were just kids. He was a pipe smoker, with a modest collection started with a humble One-Dot Brigham billiard back in the late 1950's. He must have liked it well enough, because by the early 1970's the bulk of his pipes… Continue reading A Real DadsPipe – Cleaning Up My Father’s Brigham 203 Billiard
A week ago, I published this post about my first “spare parts pipe” build, after which I was challenged by Steve Laug of RebornPipes to up the ante and create a pipe using three or more parts from other pipes. Not one to walk away from a thrown gauntlet, I accepted the challenge and started… Continue reading Challenge Accepted – The Frankenpipe Mark I
Remembrance Day is a special day of reflection for me. My family has a long history of military service - I was a Canadian Forces reservist during my university days in Kingston, Ontario. Both my parents served in the RCAF in the 1950's. My grandfather was a Royal Canadian Corps of Signals despatch rider in… Continue reading A Whiff of Smoke and a Heartfelt Thanks to All Who Serve
I scored this not-so-old estate BBB Luton billiard on eBay last week. It was listed as having been reamed and cleaned on the exterior, and looked pretty good in the listing pics. I took a gamble on an unfamiliar seller, and lo and behold, I won it. In due course, the pipe arrived and I… Continue reading Quick Cleanup of a BBB Luton Billiard
My estate pipe collecting must have hit critical mass this past month. Most of what I get in an average estate lot are complete pipes; of these, about 90% or more are able to be restored to close to factory condition. The other 5-10%, however, are too far gone and I end up salvaging what… Continue reading My First Spare Parts Pipe and a Rustication Experiment
An elegantly simple solution to a potentially thorny problem. Steve makes this look easy!
Several recent posts on RebornPipes and PipesRevival about CustomBilt pipes reminded me that I had a very similar pipe in my refurb box waiting for my attention. I found the pipe, but when I looked at the stampings, I discovered that it was not a CustomBilt at all; rather, it was stamped “Yello-Bole” over '“hand made”'… Continue reading Cleaning Up a Yello-Bole Hand Made, With a Bit of Learning Curve Thrown In
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