I acquired this poker-sitter in a recent estate lot purchase. It arrived on my worktable with a few issues, and I'd find a few more surprises before the refurbishment was complete. A dense, uneven cake lined the bowl and a fairly thick layer of lava covered the rim, but not quite enough to conceal some… Continue reading Reviving a John Redman Ltd Canberra Poker Sitter
This old Brigham is the pipe I used when writing up my previous post on fixing common stem issues. To paraphrase the late Paul Harvey, here is the rest of the story. - Charles I spotted this old Brigham in a mixed lot of mostly basket pipes I bought recently. As many of you know,… Continue reading Restoring a Patent Era Brigham 232 Saddle Billiard
A little while back, I wrote up a blog entry on fixing two stem fit problems that crop up regularly - a too-loose stem, and a too-tight stem. Today I'd like to spotlight another common, and completely avoidable, stem problem that I deal with regularly when restoring estate pipes, namely the issue of a stem… Continue reading Fixing Another Common Stem Fit Issue – Stem to Shank
After working on the sandblasted English Kaywoodie La Roche 729 Dublin written about here, I've been keeping my eyes open for a Comoy's 623 shape to confirm or disprove my theory that the two pipes share more than a passing amount of DNA. When this Comoy's Skipper came up on eBay, I placed my bid… Continue reading A Diamond in the Rough – Restoring a Comoy’s Skipper 623
I picked up this Dr Plumb billiard off eBay for very little money; the pics below of its original condition will tell you why. It was in rough shape to say the least. The rim had been absolutely destroyed by repeated hard dottle-knocking against stone or brick. The scarred remains were layered with lava and… Continue reading New Life for a Beaten Dr Plumb Standard 9132 Billiard
This is another pipe sent to me by a fellow member of the Canadian Cigar Forum. As with the Sabra Apple, the pipe belonged to his grandfather and was in need of a bit of work before the owner could use it. I took this series of pics when the pipe arrived. Overall it appeared… Continue reading Patching a Pinhole Burnout on a Chateau Bruyere Sitter
I had a pair of Brigham pipes sent to me for some work, a 2-Dot Sportsman model bulldog and a 318 billiard. The owner had found the pipes in a local antique shop. The price was right but the pipes had a few issues to contend with, most notably stem fit. The pipe stems were… Continue reading Fixing Two Common Stem Fit Issues
I picked up this old billiard pipe at a local antique market. The stampings were so far gone as to be unreadable, but the pipe seemed to be in decent shape otherwise. The stem was overclocked, and there were a few fills that would need replacing. The pipe was dirty overall, with a cake buildup… Continue reading A New Look for an Unknown Billiard
Before anyone says it, no, there's really no such thing as a “typical” estate pipe cleanup; just like home renovations, you never really know what you're getting into until you open up a wall. That said, I think this particular refurbishment is fairly representative of the type of work required to take a reasonably well-treated,… Continue reading A Typical Estate Pipe Refurb – Cleaning Up a Brigham 384 Bent Brandy
This pipe was sent to me by a fellow member of the Canadian Cigar Forum. It had been his grandfather's, and the owner wanted to be able to use it. The problem, I was told, was that the tenon had been broken at some point in the past. The remaining stem had been cut down… Continue reading Re-Stemming Grandpa’s Sabra Israel Apple
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