I acquired this pipe as part of a mixed box of estate pipes I picked up a few months ago. The large Billiard now on my worktable stood out from the lot, partly due to its size – the bowl is large, at 1.5” wide and 2” tall, with a 7/8” bore – and partly… Continue reading Reclaiming a Chapuis-Comoy Royal Coachman 182 Billiard
I’ve wanted to add a Brigham Club pipe to my collection for some time, so when I spotted this 4 Dot version on eBay recently, I knew I’d be bidding, despite the pipe’s obvious shortcomings. The auction listing clearly showed one major problem – the lower portion of the stem’s bite/button area was missing a… Continue reading Rebuilding a Stem for a 1960’s Brigham 419 Club
This is pipe #5 from the group of Blatter pipes sent to me from a piper in Iqaluit, Nunavut. This compact Rhodesian stood out to me immediately, the Rhody being one of my favourite pipe shapes. The rustication on this particular pipe is also quite striking – deep, craggy and very tactile. The pipe arrived… Continue reading Tooth Dents and Rim Lava on a Blatter Rustic Bent Rhodesian
Here is the next pipe from the box of Blatter pipes sent to me from a piper in Iqaluit, Nunavut for refurbishment. This one is a nicely shaped rusticated Bent Egg, stamped “Quebec 1989” over “Blatter” on the smooth underside of the shank. The stem is original and carries the Blatter Red Dot. The pipe… Continue reading Refreshing a Blatter 1989 Rustic Bent Egg
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
