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…
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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…
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This old meerschaum stummel came to me in a lot of bowls I purchased from a pipe friend in the Netherlands. It caught my eye immediately due to its obvious age and deep amber coloration, though it had a few issues that would need to be sorted out before it found its next pipe steward.…
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I have been kept busy this summer with repairs and restorations for other pipe smokers and collectors, so when I finally had a bit of free shop time, I decided to work on one of my own. This Peterson-esque full bent stummel came to me in a lot of about a dozen loose bowls. My…
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Over the years, I have developed a generally good sense of the age of a pipe based on its size, shape and finish, among other details. This Peterson Sherlock Holmes meerschaum, however, surprised me. When it arrived on the work table, the pipe was looking far from its best. The stem was heavily oxidized with…
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Lockdowns, closures and other by-products of the COVID pandemic have revived (for some) or reintroduced (for others) the “Mend and Make Do” attitude prevalent among the British during World War II. Purchases of new things – cars, clothing, home improvement projects, etc – have been delayed or given up altogether as people tighten their proverbial…
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It’s been a while since I had a really challenging repair on the worktable. Straightforward restorations are great, don’t get me wrong, but after the twelfth basic ream & clean job, a more intricate repair can be refreshing and a chance to exercise some muscles not often engaged during less complicated projects. This pair of…
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Last week I wrote about a Meerschaum Canted Billiard stummel that had been lost in the back of a drawer for decades. Hidden away with that pipe was another stummel, the Orlik P9 Bent Apple that is the subject of this week’s post. The stummel was in above average estate condition, with the most notable…
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The pipe on the bench today was sent to me by a gentleman who has become a regular client of mine over the last year or so. We have been restoring the pipes in his extensive collection batch by batch and just when he thought he was finished, a few loose stummels were discovered at…
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As some of you may be aware, I have recently started doing repairs and restorations for a Toronto-based pipe seller. Some of these jobs are more involved but many are straightforward projects like this Ashton Pebble Grain, which really just needed a bit of sprucing up. As you can see in this series of shots,…
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