Working on estate pipes can present a unique series of challenges at the best of times, but when presented with a very old pipe the restorer needs as many tools in the repair arsenal as possible. I really had to consider all the options when this vintage meerschaum Devil Anse (ish) pipe arrived at the… Continue reading Saving a Vintage Meerschaum Devil Anse
Over the years, I have worked on many older pipes passed down from one generation to the next. For their stewards, these pipes are tangible links to the past, evoking memories of significant people, places and events in their lives. The pipe on the bench today is just such a pipe, this time in the… Continue reading Treading the Line Between Restoration & Preservation of a Family Heirloom Pipe
A little while ago I was contacted by a pipe smoker in California inquiring about repairs to a vintage Dunhill Captain Warren style pipe. For those unfamiliar, a "Captain Warren: is essentially a calabash with a removable bowl insert that sits above a condensing chamber at the bottom of the stummel. In the case of… Continue reading Restoring a 1932 Dunhill Patent Innertube Captain Warren
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
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
An estate pipe can be a lovely and thoughtful gift for new and experienced pipe smokers alike, but sometimes estate pieces need a bit of TLC before they can be added to a pipe lover's rack and rotation. Such is the case with this Peterson's Kapruf, which, as you can see in this initial series… Continue reading Revitalizing a Well Used Peterson’s Kapruf 56 Chubby Bent Billiard
This smaller Comoy's Sandblast Army Billiard arrived at the workshop recently as part of a larger lot of estate pipes sent in by an Ontario pipe shop for repairs and restoration. As this first series of pics shows, the stummel was in quite good condition, needing only a good cleaning and buffing to prepare it… Continue reading Stem Repair on a Pre-Cadogan Comoy’s Sandblast 24 Army Billiard
The Dr Plumb's brand has been around since 1925 when it was introduced by GBD as a budget line aimed primarily at the North American export market. First produced in France, Dr Plumb's pipes are now made in the UK and stamped accordingly. This Dr Plumb Bent Billiard arrived on the worktable for a basic… Continue reading Freshening a Dr Plumb’s 5091 Bent Billiard
A fellow pipe lover here in Ontario sent me a couple of old friends for a bit of TLC. One of those pipes is this 1980's vintage Brigham 384 Squire. This round-bottomed bent brandy shape was introduced to the Brigham lineup in the 1970s and quickly became a fan favourite. This particular example was certainly… Continue reading Reviving and Re-Stemming a Vintage Brigham 384 Squire
This pipe arrived at the workshop recently, sent in from a pipe smoker in the Prairies for a bit of TLC. The subject is a figural meerschaum in the shape of a Sultan's head. The obvious issue was the broken Bakelite stem, which had snapped off near the shank. Less obvious before a closer examination… Continue reading Rehabilitating a Modified Sultan Figural Meerschaum
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