exploring the art of tobacco pipe restoration
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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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…
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This pipe belongs to a fellow Ontario piper and DadsPipes reader who wrote to me asking what could be done to get this older meerschaum Egg back into his rotation. At first glance, the pipe looked to be in good shape, but a closer inspection revealed that the stem had been damaged at the button…
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Welcome to Part III of this series about a “lost” line of unfiltered Brigham pipes. This time, I’m working on the second of two Brigham “Canuck” prototype pipes circa 1940s or 1950s. As I wrote about in Part I, the Canuck line was produced until the 1960s. Production pipes were fitted with a non-filtered Vulcanite…
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Today’s pipe is an interesting dive into the history books. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I did! I’ve had this John’s Silver Mount pipe in my refurb box for some time but rediscovered it just before Christmas when I was sorting through things in the shop. The stamps are rather worn,…
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I received this extra large Billiard stummel in a box of pipes sent to me for repair by a pipe friend. I’ve called it a War Club in the post title as it is almost ridiculously oversized. The stemless stummel measures nearly 4 inches long from bowl to shank face, the shank is a whopping…
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Welcome to 2019, everyone! I hope it is a peaceful and prosperous year for all. I’ve been putting off and putting off this particular job, but finally pulled myself together and sat down to get it done! On the worktable today is a Peterson K&P Irish Made X105 Army mount Billiard. It came from a…
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This pipe was sent to me by a friend in Calgary, Alberta for a bit of attention. The owner pointed out that the chamber floor was over-reamed, leaving the draft hole above the bottom of the bowl. I was also asked to look at the stem and give my opinion on what was going on…
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A collector friend recently dropped off a box of pipes for restoration, a real jumble of briar and meerschaum in various states of repair. Some need only a bit of “spit and polish” to bring them back to fighting form, and others need serious overhaul. This Butz-Choquin pipe fell somewhere in the middle of the…
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