Brigham made a lot of pipes in their Toronto factory over nearly a century of production in Canada, so estate Brigham pipes are fairly common, especially in Ontario. Available in a wide range of quality and price points, there was a Brigham pipe to suit every style and budget and those pipers that loved them… Continue reading New Stem & Dot for a 1960’s Brigham 104 Billiard
This Peterson pipe has been sitting in my refurb box for a while now. Every now and then I'd pull it out, have a look at it, and for one reason or another, I'd put it back in the box and work on a different pipe. Today I thought it was time this pipe got… Continue reading Refurbishing an Underwhelming Peterson System Standard 309
I received an email from Peterson pipe aficionado Mark Irwin of Peterson Pipe Notes recently, with a request for some help restoring the stem on an intricately carved bulldog shaped pipe. The brand is a new one for me. As Mark explained in his note, the fellow who owned the tiny BPL (Briar Pipe Line)… Continue reading Restoring an Irish Made BPL Carved Bent Bulldog
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away. – Philip K. Dick Today's post is a bit of a head-scratcher, not for the intricacies of the refurbishment, which went rather smoothly, but for the mystery surrounding the pipe's provenance. If one handles enough estate pipes, inevitably one comes across a… Continue reading Refurbishing a Peterson Bullcap that Doesn’t Exist
I found this Brigham Bulldog on eBay quite some time ago and decided it was high time I cleaned it up for the collection. The pipe was in rather good estate condition when I brought it to the worktable. The main issues were a deeply oxidized stem, some rim tar and associated darkening and patches… Continue reading Quick Cleanup and Stem Patch for a 1960’s Brigham 316 Straight Saddle Bulldog
I found this Peterson pipe at a local antique mall a few months ago and finally had the chance to pull it from the refurb box and clean it up. As you can see from the attached pics, it had some cosmetic issues to contend with, mainly a heavily oxidized and mineral crusted stem. Made… Continue reading An Easy Yet Remarkable Transformation for a Peterson System Standard 312
Today's pipe is a good example of a high-end pipe revealing a flaw that leads to a repair. This Radice Rind came to me for a cleaning with the Straight Egg meerschaum pipe I wrote up a few weeks ago. At first glance, this pipe looked to be in excellent estate condition. The pipe is… Continue reading An Internal Splint for a Broken Shank on a Radice Rind 29 Rhodesian
This pipe was sent to me by a DadsPipes reader for some much needed R & R - read that as "Rescue and Resuscitation" rather than "Rest and Relaxation". As was explained to me by the owner, this Brigham Bent Acorn, along with a Sportsman model he also sent me, belonged to his late father.… Continue reading Burn, Baby, Burn! Rescuing a Heavily Scorched Brigham VIP 689 Bent Acorn
This pipe belongs to a fellow Ontario piper and DadsPipes reader who wrote to me asking what could be done to get this older meerschaum Egg back into his rotation. At first glance, the pipe looked to be in good shape, but a closer inspection revealed that the stem had been damaged at the button… Continue reading Overhauling an Austrian Meerschaum Straight Egg
It's been a while since my last post on the new workshop build, and I'm thrilled to report that the work is done! As you may recall, at the end of Part III of this series the electricians had finished up and I was busily hanging boards on walls and ceilings. I went with 1/2"… Continue reading The DadsPipes Shedquarters Project Part IV -From Shed to Shedquarters!
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