Cost is almost always a prime consideration when it comes to estate pipe repairs. As I and other pipe restorers have proven more than once, virtually every estate pipe is repairable if the will to do so exists; whether the repair is worth the cost is a very different question, and the answer is very… Continue reading Worth Repairing? Salvaging a Seriously Cracked Lorenzetti Titus
Smoking pipes have traditionally been made from only a handful of materials - clay and meerschaum originally, then briar and an assortment of fruit woods like cherry and pear. Most recently, Bog Oak, also called Morta, has entered the fray. So what exactly is Bog Oak? Bog Oak/Morta is semi-petrified oak that has lain under… Continue reading Pinning Multiple Cracks in an Otherwise Lovely Rattray’s Bog Oak (Morta) Pipe
Here is another pipe from the box of repairs I've been working through recently. This time I'm working on a lovely Peterson Christmas 2012 B11 with a very unfortunate issue - a long crack running up the bowl. Ouch! Here is the pipe as it looked when I first brought it to the worktable. I… Continue reading Pinning a Cracked Peterson Christmas 2012 B11
This is the second of two dilapidated Blatter pipes gifted to me by a pipe friend before Christmas. I wrote about the first restoration here. This pipe is somewhat larger in size and, as you will see, the restoration turned out to be similarly larger in scope. Unlike the first Blatter pipe, this one arrived… Continue reading Salvaging a Burnt and Cracked Blatter Select Freehand
When it comes to the regular care and feeding of one’s pipes, it seems that pipe smokers can be divided into one of two camps – those who treat their pipes well and those that do not. In the first camp you will find people who clean their briar, meer or cob before it blocks… Continue reading Rescuing a Cracked & Beaten 1960 Dunhill Shell Briar 142 Dublin
I came across this Chacom 296 Canadian pipe at a local antique market, and though it was in rough shape, it had a few things going for it in my mind. First was the unique leather pipe case it came in that featured a snap closure just like Grandma’s change purse. The case is unmarked,… Continue reading Restoring a Cracked Chacom 296 Canadian
Pipe forums and other discussion groups are full of posts asking about crack repairs, especially to pipe bowls. Bowl cracks are generally the result of either accident, abuse or neglect - accidental drops or impacts can crack the wood, as can outright abuse like whacking the pipe against a hard surface to knock dottle out… Continue reading A Crack Pinning Tutorial
Think that pipe in your box is done for? Take a look at this restoration, my second collaboration with Steve Laug of Reborn Pipes. We initially had labelled this pipe as firewood, but somehow managed a Hail Mary.
Blog by Steve Laug and Charles Lemon
My brother sent me a box of pipes and bowls that he had picked up. In it was an old square shank billiard that had seen far better days. The bowl sported a thick cake and was cracked 2/3rds of the way down the bowl on the front and another crack on the back of the bowl that went across the bowl to the left side. The finish was rough but there was some nice grain. Its stem was chewed up and was broken and smelly. I threw the unredeemable stem away. The bowl went into the parts box to be cannibalized for repairs. It was interesting that the pipe was stamped Poor Richard’s over Select over Bozeman, Montana on the left side of the shank. I grew up in Idaho and spent a lot of time in my early years in Bozeman…
View original post 3,541 more words
dadspipes.com 