exploring the art of tobacco pipe restoration
Happy New Year, everyone! This post is deliberately going live after the holidays to avoid spoiling the Christmas surprise for one lucky piper. I was contacted by a lady who was on the hunt for a few vintage Brigham estate pipes to present to her partner as a Christmas gift. Fortuitously, I had a few…
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Back in early September of this year, I picked up a cased pair of pipes at a local antique sale. The first pipe found inside the nicely fitted case (marked “Special” over Barling’s” over “London Make”) was a Peterson Kapmeer 24S, about which I wrote in November. Today’s post will look at the work done…
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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!
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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