Often when we think of family heirloom pipes what comes to mind is Grandpa's collection of Patent-Era Dunhills or a complete set of Peterson Sherlock Holmes pipes, but the truth is that the vast majority of pipes sold during the Golden Age of pipe smoking (roughly the 1950s through to the 1970s) were relatively inexpensive,… Continue reading Rebirth of an Inherited Medico VFQ Foursquare Pot
Sometimes a product doesn't catch on with the public until some time after it has been put to bed - movies that scrape by at the box office but sell millions of copies when released to DVD; books that sit on shelves or in boxes until someone writes a golden review; pipes that don't do… Continue reading A Quick Refresh for a Grabow CDL
After a lot of briar refurbishments, here's one for those "Falcon Friday" metal pipe fans! I bought this pair of Ronson 3-Way pipes off eBay back in the summer of 2019 and decided yesterday that they had sat in limbo long enough. I have to admit at the outset here that I don't have a… Continue reading A Brief Foray into Metal Pipes with a Pair of Ronson 3-Ways
Several recent posts on RebornPipes and PipesRevival about CustomBilt pipes reminded me that I had a very similar pipe in my refurb box waiting for my attention. I found the pipe, but when I looked at the stampings, I discovered that it was not a CustomBilt at all; rather, it was stamped “Yello-Bole” over '“hand made”'… Continue reading Cleaning Up a Yello-Bole Hand Made, With a Bit of Learning Curve Thrown In
I pulled this Medico Double-Dri pipe out of my refurb box the other day. It had been rattling around in there for a while, and I decided it was time to do something about it. There are several well-known brands of pipes designed with removable and interchangeable bowls – the Falcon and Kirsten pipes jump… Continue reading Medico’s Answer to the Falcon – The Double-Dri
Down near the bottom of my box of estate pipes to refurb was this Yello Bole Standard Brylon octagonal billiard. I had noticed the unique shape of the bowl when the auction lot arrived, but I figured I had better do some research before playing with this pipe too much. According to Pipedia, Brylon was… Continue reading What the Heck is Brylon?? – A Yello Bole Standard Panel Billiard
This old Kaywoodie “500” came in a recent auction lot and arrived in fair condition for a pipe that was likely never expected to last as long as it has. On the other hand, the 500 and 600 lines from Kaywoodie were cheap, low-end pipes manufactured between 1959 and 1967, so perhaps my specific 500 wasn't… Continue reading Cleaning Up a Kaywoodie “500” Canted Billiard
This smaller pipe came to me in pretty rough cosmetic condition. Marked “Willard” over “Imported Briar”. Pipedia tells us this: "The Willard pipes were made by Sparta Industries in Sparta, N.C from 1963 to 1975 (about 60,000 pipes per week). Some were distributed by the Post and Base Exchanges that serviced the military during the… Continue reading Investigating a Melting Stem While Refreshing a Willard Imported Briar
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