I recently wrote about the work done to restore a vintage Frank Bulldog. Today's patient is of a slightly older vintage but where the Frank needed structural work to bring it back to life, this Kaufman Brothers & Bondy pipe arrived in pretty good estate condition. The pipe was in need of a good general… Continue reading Refreshing an Elder Statesman – a KB&B Blueline Bakelite Cased Bulldog
Today's pipe restoration project is a fairly straightforward undertaking - a nice break from the more involved repairs I have been dealing with lately. The patient on the bench today is a handsome Savinelli Punto Oro 616KS Bent Billiard. This description from Smokingpipes.com sums up the shape: One of the most full-bodied examples of Savinelli's… Continue reading Putting the Gold Back Into a Savinelli Punto Oro 616KS
One of the joys of meerschaum is that it is fairly easy to carve and thus meerschaum pipes come in just about every shape imaginable, from basic Billiards to fantastical dragons, castles and more. The carver of today's estate pipe project took this block of meerschaum in a very different direction - folk art. The… Continue reading Reviving a Rather Unsettling Folk Art Carved Meerschaum
One of the fun parts about pipe restoration is not knowing exactly what will show up in the shop. Will the next pipe be a Dunhill ODA, a huge artisan grade "War Club" or something more delicate, like the diminutive Frank Amberloid Bulldog that is the subject of today's post? Here is the pipe as… Continue reading Back From the Brink: A New Lease of Life for a Vintage Frank Amberloid Cased Bulldog
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
As you might guess after reading a few blog posts here, I really like estate pipes. Beautiful and functional in their own right, estate pipes also have a direct connection to the past, an attribute prized by many collectors. On the bench today is a lovely estate Dunhill, which arrived at DadsPipes with a rather… Continue reading A New Stem and a Cleanup for a 1986 Dunhill 5110
The art of estate pipe restoration is constantly evolving as creative restorers come up with inventive techniques and test new products, but sometime the pipe has other plans. The patient on the worktable today is a good example of the pipe leading the restoration. The pipe in question is a Don Carlos "two note" grade… Continue reading When Repair Doesn’t Work, Make a New Stem
Estate pipes have become increasingly popular over the last five or six years, and with that rise in popularity among pipe smokers and collectors has also come an increased interest in estate pipe restoration. Sometimes DIY restorations go very well indeed, but other times even experienced restorers can have things go wrong. When that happens,… Continue reading Repairing the Repairs on an Early 19th Century KB Bent Bulldog
Accidents can happen to anyone, and mishaps seem most likely to strike when you're least expecting them. That was certainly the case for today's pipe restoration project. This 2002 Dunhill Amber Root 3208 Bent Bulldog fell out of its steward's pocket while he made the rounds of his farm north of Kingston, Ontario. Unfortunately, it… Continue reading Salvaging a Hog-Chewed Dunhill Amber Root 3208
One of the perks of doing what I do here at DadsPipes is having the opportunity to work on some very high end artisan-grade pipes that I cannot afford to buy for my own rack and rotation. One example is this lovely Danish hand made S. Bang that was sent to me for repair. As… Continue reading A Hand Cut Eldritch Resin Stem for a Lovely S. Bang Pipe
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