I was recently sent a box of six pipes for refurbishment from a gentleman in Iqaluit, Nunavut. All six pipes were made by Blatter & Blatter, Inc of Montreal, known at one point in the firm’s 100 year history as Blatter Bros. Established in Montreal in 1907, Blatter & Blatter has remained, by choice, a… Continue reading Freshening a Blatter One Dot Zulu
I picked up this Hardcastle’s Royal Windsor pipe in a small lot of estates sometime last year and it has been waiting patiently in my refurb box since then; in fact, I’d forgotten it was even there! When I rediscovered it, I brought it to the worktable for a good look. I’ve called this shape… Continue reading Reviving a Hardcastle’s Royal Windsor 36 Liverpool
This larger Ardor pipe belongs to a fellow pipe club member who asked me to clean it up for him. It is the first Ardor I’ve worked on, so I did a bit of research to bring myself up to speed on the brand. The company that would become Ardor Pipes was founded in 1911… Continue reading Repairing a Near Burn-Out in an Ardor Giove Fantasy
I could not pass up the opportunity to add this Brigham Statesman to my collection. Despite its flaws, including a battered rim and a large bite-through in the lower bit, the pipe was in decent vintage shape and was certainly restorable. Besides, I didn’t have the “bent stacked billiard” Statesman shape in the collection, so… Continue reading Restoring a Patent Era Brigham Executive Statesman
After 16 days my doctors finally tired of me haunting the hospital hallways and sent me home to convalesce in the relative comfort of my own four walls. I’ve still got a ways to go before I am declared fit, but I’m moving in the right direction. Today I was feeling relatively energetic, so I… Continue reading Restoring a Pre-Republic K&P Dublin Sterling 207 Pot
One of the many benefits of belonging to a pipe club is the access membership provides to other pipe collections and tobacco cellars; this was demonstrated for me last November when the Briars & Bull Pipe Club here in Kitchener, ON held a Swap Meet during our monthly Smoker. Folks brought in pipes and tobacco… Continue reading Refreshing a Pioneer Block Meerschaum Bent Dublin
I stumbled across this Dunhill Tanshell on eBay near the end of the auction period. The (relatively) low bid price told me that there was probably something significantly wrong with the pipe, the auction listing, or both. Curious, I read through the auction description, which was almost ridiculously brief, but accurate as far as it went:… Continue reading Reclaiming a Hard-Smoked 1969 Dunhill Tanshell “K” Apple
I found this somewhat battered meerschaum billiard at a local antique sale recently. It’s unmarked, so I can’t even begin to guess at who made it, but the Bakelite stem with orifice style opening puts the year of production somewhere between 1907 (the year Bakelite was invented) and the late 1920’s when orific stems were… Continue reading Undue Haste Leads to Shank Repair on an Old Meerschaum Billiard
I spotted this Dunhill Dublin pipe on eBay. It was one of those listings that somehow flew almost completely under the radar, collecting just a few bids along the way. The eBay listing was chock full of superlatives extolling the many virtues of the product on offer, but I have learned to downplay or disregard… Continue reading Reworking a “Restored” 1948 Dunhill Patent A Dublin
I picked up this Danish pipe on a recent pipe foraging trip to a local antique fair. It was jumbled in with a few other pipes, but it looked to be in decent shape so I added it to my bag. I had my first opportunity to examine the pipe closely when I got it… Continue reading Checkmate – a Celius Chess Series Root Bishop 22
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