Meerschaum, a soft whitish mineral, has been used to make smoking pipes since the early 1700s. It is easy to carve, will not burn, and, with time and use, turns from white to a rich, dark red/brown. On the down side, meerschaum is fragile - easily chipped, cracked or otherwise damaged - and due to… Continue reading Vintage Meerschaum Shank Rebuild and Re-Stem
Pipe smokers can usually be sorted into one of two camps when it comes to pipe maintenance. On one side are the pipe stewards who go out of their way not to damage their pipes in any way. These folks may clean the pipe after each and every smoke, never ream carbon cake with a… Continue reading Stem Repair and a General Freshening of a Carlo Scotti Castello Old Sea Rock Chimney
A loose tenon is a fairly common occurrence in the pipe world. Many little things can alter the fit of the tenon over time. For example, removing the stem while the pipe is still hot can compress the tenon, wear and tear can erode the surface of the tenon or the mortise or both, or,… Continue reading Replacing a Loose 9mm Filter Tenon on a Dunhill Cumberland 4102F
A broken pipe is always a tragedy to a pipe smoker, and all the more so when the pipe is out of production. Such was the case of this Patent Era Brigham 105, the smallest of the marque's classic Dublin shapes. A touch of misadventure on a backpacking trip had snapped the shank off just… Continue reading Repairing a Broken Shank and Crafting a New System Stem for a Patent Era Brigham 105 Dublin
Shank obstructions are a fact of life for many smoking pipes, so much so that a long, thin shank reamer is part of just about every pipe tool on the market. Typically not much more than a length of stiff steel wire, shank reamers are designed to push through a blockage in the pipe's airway… Continue reading Clearing a Tough Shank Obstruction & Re-Stemming an Astley’s Straight Apple
I was contacted recently by a gent who had acquired a Brigham Valhalla stummel some time ago and was looking to have a new stem fitted to it to make the pipe useable again. After a bit of discussion, the pipe was sent in to DadsPipes for the work, where I took the following initial… Continue reading Reviving an Early Brigham Valhalla
Over the years, I have had the pleasure of working on some truly vintage, museum-quality pipes, but never one is as good starting condition as the subject of today's post, an early Peterson Patent System pipe that predates the now famous Peterson P-Lip by three years. As you can see from this initial series of… Continue reading Crafting a Replica Stem for an 1895 Peterson Patent System Pipe
There is an old adage that tiny problems become large problems if left unattended, and the pipe on the bench this week is a prime example of this truism. This Savinelli Freehand Dublin was clearly a favourite of its steward but maintenance and repairs were put off, allowing hairline cracks down both sides of the… Continue reading Reviving a Hard Ridden Savinelli Freehand Bent Dublin
One hundred years of operation is a milestone for any company and pipe makers are no exception. Blatter Pipes was established by brothers Ernest and Henri-Georges in Montreal, Canada in 1907 as an artisanal hand-crafted pipe house and remains a family-run business today. In 2007, Blatter released a special pipe to mark their 100th year.… Continue reading Going The Extra Mile for a Blatter Centenary Pipe
I have often said that any pipe is restorable if the will to do so exists. This project put that statement to the test as I faced down some significant challenges on this Patent Dunhill Lovat's road to redemption. Sent to me by a Canadian college professor teaching in Massachusetts, the pipe had belonged to… Continue reading Restoration or Necromancy? Reviving a Well Loved Dunhill Patent Lovat
