Over the past few months I've received several emails from readers asking about the specific products I use for my repairs and restorations, so I thought I'd write up a quick post on the subject. Most of the questions deal with adhesives, so I'll start there. Happily, all of these products can be found at… Continue reading Which Products and Why – Adhesives & Abrasives for Pipe Restoration
This week's post sees another pipe shape added to my collection of Brigham pipes and deals with a fairly common estate pipe problem, a seized stem. I found this pipe in a lot of estates on eBay, and was keen to start working on it as soon as it arrived. It's a handsome straight Apple… Continue reading Freeing a Stuck Stem While Restoring This 1960’s Era Brigham 3100 Oversized Apple
A while back I wrote about a Comoy's-made John's Pipe Shop briar to which I fit a new stem. Dating from between 1910 and 1940, I was quite taken with the quality of that pipe, so I was keen to work on another. When I pulled this John's sibling from the refurb box, I knew… Continue reading Restoration of a John’s Natural 532 by Comoy’s
I acquired this Bent Prince from the same vendor that sold me the Brigham Saddle Bulldog I wrote up back in July. They share the same honey-gold stain that really shows off the grain in this old briar. As this series of pics illustrates, the pipe was in overall good shape when I brought it… Continue reading Cleaning Up a 1960’s Era Brigham Prince for the Collection
I found this Danish Sovereign pipe, a Stanwell seconds brand, during one of my periodic wanders through the local antique shops. As you can see from this series of pictures, the pipe was rather tired looking, with a crust of lava on the crowned rim, a dirty and faded finish, and a fair bit of… Continue reading Refreshing a Sixten Ivarsson Designed Danish Sovereign 86M
Sourcing the correct materials to restore vintage pipes is a constant task, and one made more complicated as the years go by. The youngest of the Canadian-made Brigham pipes are now nearly 20 years old, production having shifted to France and Italy in 2001. At about the same time the original aluminum tenon/filter holders were… Continue reading Tenon Transplant and New Stem for a 1970’s Brigham 113 Prince
PLEASE NOTE: The latest, most complete version (v3.0) of the Brigham Shape Chart can be found in my book, Brigham Pipes - A Century of Canadian Briar , and includes more pipe shapes and images than ever before. ***** It's been almost a year since my last update to the Brigham Shape Chart, and I'm… Continue reading The Official Unofficial Brigham Shape Chart v2.0 is Live!
Although some pipe retailers out there carry estate pipes, many of us find our vintage briars at antique shops, garage sales or similar places. Sometime, however, a new pipe smoker will inherit a cherished pipe from a family member. Such is the case with this Chacom Auteuil Bent Billiard, which belonged to the current owner's… Continue reading Saving a Burned Out Heirloom Chacom Auteuil 115 Oval Shank Bent Billiard
Today's restoration is really more of a very good cleaning. This Brigham 321 (which Brigham called a Woodstock shape but other may label a Zulu) was well cared for by its previous owner as evidenced by the lack of dents, dings and scratches in the briar and vulcanite. The pipe had certainly been previously enjoyed… Continue reading Quick Refresh of a 1990’s Era Brigham 321 Woodstock
I dug this old Bewlay Reject out of my refurb box recently, and puzzled over it a bit as I couldn't quite recall where or how I acquired it. I think it must have come to me in an eBay lot, but the details have completely escaped me. According to Pipedia's page on Bewlay, the… Continue reading Revitalizing a Bewlay Reject 23 Billiard
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