The Bavarian style long pipe is an iconic and historical piece of pipe history, bringing to mind long evenings by the fire, perhaps with a good book. In North America, at least, the style tends to be an outlier of sorts - you just don't see people sitting at a park bench smoking a two-foot-long… Continue reading Repairing an Acrylic Mouthpiece on a Vauen Enzian 4 Bavarian-Style Pipe
It's been a while since I had a really challenging repair on the worktable. Straightforward restorations are great, don't get me wrong, but after the twelfth basic ream & clean job, a more intricate repair can be refreshing and a chance to exercise some muscles not often engaged during less complicated projects. This pair of… Continue reading Rebuilding Shattered Shank Extensions on Two Castello Sea Rock Pipes
As I've mentioned before, a broken tenon is by far the most common pipe repair, and for good reason. The stem tenon is the smallest structural part of a pipe and is subjected to a disproportionate amount of stressors as the pipe smoker removes and reinserts the stem in the shank. An overly-enthusiastic twist with… Continue reading Splinting a Broken Stem for a Castello Sea Rock
I recently wrote about replacing a broken tenon and called it one of the most common pipe repairs. Today's post is about another - a cracked shank. For many pipes, a cracked shank can be easily and permanently repaired by installing a shank band over the damaged briar. An external band like this is essentially… Continue reading Sleeving a Cracked Shank on an Algord Krisson Standard Freehand
Sourcing the correct materials to restore vintage pipes is a constant task, and one made more complicated as the years go by. The youngest of the Canadian-made Brigham pipes are now nearly 20 years old, production having shifted to France and Italy in 2001. At about the same time the original aluminum tenon/filter holders were… Continue reading Tenon Transplant and New Stem for a 1970’s Brigham 113 Prince
Today's restoration is really more of a very good cleaning. This Brigham 321 (which Brigham called a Woodstock shape but other may label a Zulu) was well cared for by its previous owner as evidenced by the lack of dents, dings and scratches in the briar and vulcanite. The pipe had certainly been previously enjoyed… Continue reading Quick Refresh of a 1990’s Era Brigham 321 Woodstock
One fun side effect of cataloging my pipes in support of the Brigham Shape Chart project was that I learned which pipe shapes I owned already, and by extension, which shapes I did not have in the collection. So I was pleased when this Brigham 287 showed up in a recent estate purchase. This 2-Dot… Continue reading “Tip & Tail” Repairs for a 1970’s Brigham 287 Bent Dublin
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