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
A quick note to wish everyone the very best of this Holiday Season, however and wherever you are celebrating! This time of year can be very demanding; I hope you get the chance to settle in with a good pipe somewhere along your journey. Personally, I will be packing the bowl of this lovely 1970's… Continue reading Merry Christmas, Everyone, and a New Pipe Made More Special by a Simple Gesture
This is another of the pipes sent to me from Iqaluit for refurbishment. I don’t how the owner sources such consistently interesting Blatter estate pipes, but source them he does! This particular Blatter is a BIG rustic Author pipe, a real fistful of briar with a large chamber and thick walls. The shank looks positively… Continue reading Stem Work on an Oversized Blatter Bros Make Selected Rustic Author
This is an interesting Peterson pipe sent to me for refurbishment by a DadsPipe reader. The pipe is a Shamrock 9BC Chubby Bent Billiard that certainly exemplifies Peterson’s tendency towards stout shapes. According to Mark Irwin’s excellent article on Peterson Pipe Notes, the 9 shape has been in the Peterson catalog since 1896 and has… Continue reading Reviving a Pre-Republic Peterson Shamrock 9BC Chubby Bent Billiard
I was contacted recently by a DadsPipes reader with a request to look at his favourite pipe and determine what could be done to repair a crack running up the shank. I’ve repaired quite a few cracked shanks, but this pipe would prove to be a unique challenge. As you can see in the pics… Continue reading A Tricky Shank Repair on a Design Berlin Shirwitz Volcano Churchwarden
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