Restorations, Uncategorized

Bowl and Stem Repairs for a Brigham 489 Bent Acorn

This Brigham 4-Dot was a surprise gift from my daughter, who came across it at a local antique fair. She got a good price on it due to its rather rough condition, which she figured I could remedy without too much trouble. I brought the pipe to the worktable to assess the scope of the… Continue reading Bowl and Stem Repairs for a Brigham 489 Bent Acorn

Restorations, Uncategorized

Repairing Deep Tooth Dents in a 1940’s Dunhill Shell LV1 Straight Brandy

This pipe was sent to me for stem work to address some deep tooth dents. The rest of the pipe was in excellent estate condition, and arrived already  cleaned (!), which meant I could focus on the work requested. Here are pics of the pipe as I first saw it on arrival. As you can… Continue reading Repairing Deep Tooth Dents in a 1940’s Dunhill Shell LV1 Straight Brandy

Restorations, Uncategorized

Rehabilitating a 1980’s Brigham 217 “Round Bulldog”

By far one of the most popular of pipe shapes is the classic diamond-shanked Bulldog, in either straight or bent versions. In the Brigham catalog, these are Shapes 16 and 26, respectively, but they are not the only pipe shapes labelled as Bulldogs by this producer. Also on the list are the Shape 25 Squat… Continue reading Rehabilitating a 1980’s Brigham 217 “Round Bulldog”

Restorations, Uncategorized

Reviving a Kaywoodie Super Grain 98B Straight Bulldog

The diamond-shanked Bulldog is one of the most ubiquitous and most recognized of the classic pipe shapes. Every maker had one, and it seems that just about every pipe smoker had at least one example in their rack at one point. This Kaywoodie Super Grain 98B is as classic as they come. Coming to me… Continue reading Reviving a Kaywoodie Super Grain 98B Straight Bulldog

Restorations, Uncategorized

Scorched Briar and Unique Stamping Reveal a Part of Brigham Pipe History

A DadsPipes reader contacted me a little while ago to ask about a Brigham pipe he’d picked up at a local antique shop. Initially he had planned to clean up the pipe himself, but after running into possible burnout problems, he decided to send the pipe my way for an opinion. I was sent these… Continue reading Scorched Briar and Unique Stamping Reveal a Part of Brigham Pipe History

Restorations, Uncategorized

Tidying Up a Brigham 382 Bent Tankard

Here is another new addition to my collection of Brigham pipes - a 3-Dot Shape 82 Bent Tankard. The pipe was in fine estate condition when I received it – it needed a good overall cleaning, of course, but it had been taken care of. The rim was the “biggest” minor issue. As you can… Continue reading Tidying Up a Brigham 382 Bent Tankard

Restorations, Uncategorized

“Tip & Tail” Repairs for a 1970’s Brigham 287 Bent Dublin

One fun side effect of cataloging my pipes in support of the Brigham Shape Chart project was that I learned which pipe shapes I owned already, and by extension, which shapes I did not have in the collection. So I was pleased when this Brigham 287 showed up in a recent estate purchase. This 2-Dot… Continue reading “Tip & Tail” Repairs for a 1970’s Brigham 287 Bent Dublin

Restorations, Uncategorized

Cleaning up an Interesting 1960’s Brigham 122L Twin-Bore Poker

Before I came across this pipe, the only Poker in my Brigham collection was one that I had inherited from my father. I prefer to view those pipes as keepsakes rather than smokers, so I was happy to come across this Standard grade 1-Dot poker in a lot of pipes I purchased from a local… Continue reading Cleaning up an Interesting 1960’s Brigham 122L Twin-Bore Poker

Restorations, Uncategorized

Tenon and Shank Repair on a 1972 Dunhill Shell 6475 F/T Poker Sitter

The bisected Dunhill 6475 Poker Sitter on my worktable today was sent to me by a fellow Ontario pipe collector to have the broken tenon replaced in order to make the pipe ready for sale. Judging by the pictures the owner sent me, the break looked clean and the rest of the pipe appeared to… Continue reading Tenon and Shank Repair on a 1972 Dunhill Shell 6475 F/T Poker Sitter