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
“It may...be judged indecent in me to come forward on this occasion; but when I see a fellow-creature about to perish through the cowardice of her pretended friends, I wish to be allowed to speak, that I may say what I know of her character.” ― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein With Devil's Night fast upon us,… Continue reading A Hallowe’en Horror Story: Bringing a Brigham Back from the Dead!
Pipe makers and restorers use various types of bowl coatings for a variety of reasons. Some coatings are factory-applied to new pipes in the belief that they help protect the briar wood of the bowl from burnouts and assist in the formation of cake - that even layer of hard ashy stuff that insulates the… Continue reading A Simple & Effective Bowl Coating
I've found most of my estate Brigham pipes on eBay so far. This one caught my eye for two reasons - it was a model/shape that I hadn't seen before and it was a bit of a mystery! The listing pics were not of the best quality, so it was nearly impossible to make out… Continue reading King of the Brighams – Identifying a Presidential Series A Grade Freehand!
Here is another of my Estate Brigham refurbs. This one is a Brigham 4-Dot full bent. There is no shape number stamped in this one, but judging from the Brigham shape charts and size, it's likely a 424 (ie a 400-series/4-dot pipe in the 24 shape). Below is the Classic Shapes chart from the Brigham… Continue reading Refurbishing a Brigham Pat # 4-Dot Bent Estate Pipe
Here is my latest pipe refurb project – a 1970's vintage, Made in Canada, Brigham 3-Dot Acorn I found at a local antiques mall. I paid the princely sum of $14CAD for this poor old pipe. I have a soft spot for Brigham pipes - they were my Dad's pipe of choice – so I… Continue reading Salvaging a Sorely Mistreated Brigham 3-Dot Acorn
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