Wishing you all the very best of the Holiday Season and a healthy and happy New Year! I was going to try to write something witty but I think this poem, posted to YouTube by SmokingPipes.com a few year ago says it all. May your pipe always be full and your matched dry!
I have to say at the outset here that I am very happy with the results of this restoration. Though I had to contend with multiple issues - a tenon replacement, scorch marks, tooth damage and dented briar among them - the end results speak for themselves. This pipe caught my eye the minute it… Continue reading A Marathon Restoration of a 1990’s Acrylic-Stemmed Brigham 576 Bent Tulip
I spotted today's estate pipe on eBay a few weeks ago. I've worked on several John's pipes over the last year or two and have been impressed with their overall quality, so I threw in a bid, which turned out to be sufficient to add the pipe to my refurb box. Looking at the auction… Continue reading Reviving Another Comoy’s Made John’s Pipe Shop 433 Dublin
Like many other pipe makers, Brigham started its lineup with the most popular pipe shapes. Shapes 01 through 04 in the Brigham Shape Chart are Billiards, from small to large, and the next three shapes, 05, 06 & 07 are Dublins. This pipe on the worktable today is the smallest Dublin offered in the classic… Continue reading Refreshing a Petite Brigham 605 Dublin
Most often when I am sent a pipe to work on there are physical issues to deal with - a damaged stem, cracked shank, heat fissures, etc. This Bertram pipe is one of the exceptions to this rule. This time I was asked to make changes to the pipe to better suit the preferences of… Continue reading Fitting a New Stem to a Striking Bertram 105 Pot
This older Brigham pipe came to me in a mixed eBay estate lot, and at first glance I took it for a basic Billiard. Closer examination and a shape number unrelated to Brigham's Billiard pipes changed my mind. Ultimately, I've labelled this pipe a Straight Brandy Sitter as the bowl walls taper inwards from base… Continue reading Restoring a 1960’s Brigham 127 Straight Brandy
Twice a year there is a large antiques and collectibles show in my area. I love digging through the stalls at events like this, and though I've noticed a decided turn away from actual antiques towards "upcycled" or "gentrified old stuff" at this particular show, I still managed to come away with a few interesting… Continue reading A Good Cleaning & Stem Repair for a Peterson Kapmeer 24S
A pipeman from Canada's Far North sent me a few pipes from Iqaluit, Nunavut to clean up for him. One of those pipes was, he said, was his favourite old Blatter Bros briar. After years of restorations and repairs, I've seen quite a few favourite pipes and enjoy what they can tell me about the… Continue reading Cleaning Up a Favourite, and Slightly Unorthodox, Blatter Bros Author
When I first published an article back in December of 2016 entitled "Brigham Pipes - A Closer Look at Dots, Dates and Markings" , I had no idea that it would become one of my most widely read posts. It has been viewed over 1300 times on DadsPipes and was reprinted in full on the great… Continue reading Announcing the Brigham Book Project
I am continually impressed by the seemingly endless array of pipe shapes out there - Billiards, Pots, Bulldogs, Apples, Rhodesians, Canadians, Blowfish, Ramses, Cavaliers and so many more! "Pure", or easily classifiable, pipe shapes are fascinating enough; then there are the many crossover or hybrid shapes that seem to encompass characteristics of several classic pipe… Continue reading Another New Shape – Freshening a 1990s Vintage Brigham 360
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