In somewhat startling contrast to today's pipe collecting and preserving mindset, there was a generation of pipe smokers who saw their briars as mere utility objects, tools for capturing and delivering the smoke from all-days blends. Bowls were cleared of dottle and ash by knocking them against the closest convenient surface, chambers were rarely, if… Continue reading Salvaging the Rim of a Very Knocked About Brigham 1-Dot
Toronto's Brigham Pipes Limited was a company in flux in the 1970s. After enjoying decades of growth and increased sales, the pipe industry suffered a global drop in demand, and by the middle of the 1970s, Brigham had truncated its main line of production pipes from seven quality levels to only five. Apart from the… Continue reading A New System Stem for a 1970s Vintage Brigham 424 Bent Billiard
The pipe on the bench today is a bit of a Canadian classic - a Brigham Shape 29 Author. Part of the Brigham lineup almost from the very beginning, the 29 shape is, in this age of larger pipes, rather a small version of the shape, especially when compared to contemporary cousins like the Savinelli… Continue reading Crack Repair and Restoration of a Vintage Brigham 629 Author
I was recently sent several pipes for refurbishment from a gentleman in Nova Scotia . These were found on an estate pipe hunt through a local antique mall, and while they were in fairly good condition overall, they were all in line for some TLC. The little Billiard on the bench today was the worst… Continue reading Stripping and Refinishing a Patent Era Brigham 302 Billiard
A broken pipe is always a tragedy to a pipe smoker, and all the more so when the pipe is out of production. Such was the case of this Patent Era Brigham 105, the smallest of the marque's classic Dublin shapes. A touch of misadventure on a backpacking trip had snapped the shank off just… Continue reading Repairing a Broken Shank and Crafting a New System Stem for a Patent Era Brigham 105 Dublin
I was contacted recently by a gent who had acquired a Brigham Valhalla stummel some time ago and was looking to have a new stem fitted to it to make the pipe useable again. After a bit of discussion, the pipe was sent in to DadsPipes for the work, where I took the following initial… Continue reading Reviving an Early Brigham Valhalla
The Brigham Norseman (rusticated) and Valhalla (smooth) pipes were first introduced in the 1960s and were produced until the early 1980s when the two lines were folded into the President series. The pipe on the bench today was made in Brigham's Toronto factory right at the end of the series' run. The pipe was sent… Continue reading A New System Stem for an Early 1980s Brigham Norseman
Hot on the heels of the launch of Brigham Pipes - A Century of Canadian Briar, it seems appropriate that today's pipe is a Brigham Klondike Bent Billiard sent in as part of a group lot by the Edmonton Pipe Club. For those unfamiliar with the current Brigham lineup, the Klondike is the successor to… Continue reading Replacing a Composite Tenon on a Brigham Klondike
The Brigham System has been on the market since 1938 when it was patented by Roy Brigham in Toronto, Canada. The original system consisted of a long aluminum tenon/filter holder into which fit a tube of untreated Rock Maple, which absorbed moisture from the smoke stream as it passed through the stem. Pipes from this… Continue reading A New System Stem for a Patent Era Brigham 229 Author
A fellow pipe lover here in Ontario sent me a couple of old friends for a bit of TLC. One of those pipes is this 1980's vintage Brigham 384 Squire. This round-bottomed bent brandy shape was introduced to the Brigham lineup in the 1970s and quickly became a fan favourite. This particular example was certainly… Continue reading Reviving and Re-Stemming a Vintage Brigham 384 Squire
dadspipes.com 