- Originally posted on Confessions of a Pipe Smoker. “An impeccably structured blend. Featuring a foundation of sweet, tangy Virginias and cool burning Burleys, a dash of Macedonian leaf is added to round out the mixture and add a hint of the exotic. The different leafs are then aged as one, in order to marry… Continue reading Tobacco Review – Savinelli Brunello Flake
Here we go with another bulldog! I don't really know how I managed to acquire yet another example of this classic pipe shape, but there you have it. This one is a BBB 2-Star straight bulldog that arrived in pretty good shape. The rim was tarred and had a few small dings around the edge,… Continue reading Cleaning Up a BBB 2-Star Bulldog
I've worked on quite a few bulldog pipes recently, so it was a refreshing change to reach into the refurb box and pull out this Dr Grabow Golden Duke. It's a larger pipe, measuring 6” long with a 2” tall bowl and a 7/8” bore. The bowl has the classic Dublin inverted-cone shape, flaring gently… Continue reading Stem Repair on a Grabow Golden Duke Wire-Carved Dublin
I bought these two bulldog pipes separately, but as the restorations proceeded almost identically, I thought I'd write them up together. Both pipes are from the late 1970's or early 1980's – the unique rusticated stummels with wave-shaped smooth features are illustrated in this Brigham catalog from 1978. I'm working here on a 316 Straight… Continue reading Cleaning Up a Pair of Brigham Bulldogs
Buying an estate pipe is a lot like buying a box of Cracker Jacks – you never know what surprises you'll find until you open it up! Sometimes you win, finding a rare or special pipe under all the grime; sometimes, though, Fate decrees otherwise and drops a seriously damaged pipe in your lap. That… Continue reading Draft Hole Burnout Repair on an Italian-Made Squat Rhodesian
I acquired this Dutch-made bent bulldog from Steve Laug of RebornPipes in a recent trade. It was in pretty good shape to start, which is a nice change from some of the estate pipes in my refurb box. It is stamped “Big-Ben” over “Grand Seigneur” on the left face of the diamond shank, and “15479S”… Continue reading A New Coat for a Big-Ben Bent Bulldog
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
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