Estate Pipes Reclaimed = Diamonds from Coal

[Mister Moo]

These two pipes came from ebay with a combined (pre-freight) cost of about $9.00. They were two of the rattiest, nastiest, sorriest looking pipes I ever saw. The Vauen, bottom, actually has a spiders web in the bowl; the Amphora bulldog had so much (stinky) cake in it there was barely room for tobacco - amazing it wasn't cracked; I don't imagine it had ever been reamed. Them stems on both were sorry too. The Amphora was a rich greenish brown and the Vauen was also badly oxidized.

A Sr. Reamer, kosher salt and some Everclear made the bowls clean and sweet. The stems on these cheap pipes were for experimentation. I've settled rubbing gently with steel wool (#0000) to take off the worst of the oxidation/discoloration (or a soak in bleach if there's no nomenclature on the stem)) and a rub with gritty toothpaste. If that doesn't do the trick I have complete success with jewelers rouge and a low speed flannel buffing wheel to finish things off. Olive oil or a little pipe wax finishes them off to a shine.

The wood on these two is muddled and a little dinged up but they're both excellent smoking pipes and I enjoy them regularly. I appreciate them for the recovery they made and, in the end, they make good travel pipes because I don't have anything invested to cry over if one is gifted, broken or left behind.

What have you salvaged?

[dmkerr]

My best save was one of my dad's old pipes. In with the usual drug store pipes was a crusty old beat up Castello business finish. A 6 month old baby could not have stuck a pinky down to the bottom of the bowl. The lucite "spot" was gone. The stem looked like it had parked itself up the ass of a 600 pound gorilla for about 15 years. The outside bowl was dank and dirty.

I had to be extremely careful with the reaming and I did not take it down to the bare wood. It took a few ounces of Everclear to get the years of tar out of the shank and stem. I never did get the outside of the bowl to look like new, thanks to the carved finish. But it looked much better once I was done. It smoked wonderfully!

Then I lost it.

[DSturg369]

Very Nicely Done Moo!!!

[Mad Hatter]

I've gotten several pipes from Ebay this year, most of which were in pretty sorry shape (dust, dirt, mold, old tobacco, thick cake etc) so far as general appearance. Most of these pipes cleaned up nicely and are now the core of my favorite smokers. Sorry no pics but many of them I posted in the finds and wins thread.

[Phil The Thrill]

I've been lucky so far, all of my estate pipes came in excellent condition. My Peterson System was probably only smoked 2 times, my others were cleaned regularly. A bit too much/uneven cake on one, but a bit of sandpaper cleared that up.

[Big D KC]

Well, I thought I would put up my first ever estate pipe restore which is also my first ever ebay purchase.

I got this for just a hare under $25 shipped. It came in actually pretty decent condition. Doesn't seem like it was smoked much, barely any cake at all, and only in the top half of the bowl. I would say it couldn't have been smoked but a couple dozen times tops. And appearently never much more then a half bowl each time!

The damage to it was the worst by far on the bit. Lots of scratches and bite marks, some pretty good oxidization also. The rim was darkened with scorch marks pretty good.

I got the scorch completely out, and did a pretty decent job on the stem, it could still use a better polish job though. I did the Salt/Alcohol on it and got the nastiness out. All in all I think I did pretty well on my first!

This little number also seems to have sparked quite a fancy for this perticular style of pipe in me! I now have been window shopping for other nosewarmer style pipes and found some amazing examples!!

Anyway here it is!

Peterson
"Sports" 3

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Big D KC

Well, I thought I would put up my first ever estate pipe restore which is also my first ever ebay purchase.

I got this for just a hare under $25 shipped... ...I got the scorch completely out, and did a pretty decent job on the stem, it could still use a better polish job though. I did the Salt/Alcohol on it and got the nastiness out. All in all I think I did pretty well on my first!

That's what I'm talking about!. Good fotos - good save - VERY cool pipe.

[Mad Hatter]

Ok Moo, you goaded me into it. These pipes were reclaimed from forgotten yesteryear over the course of this year by me, Mad Hatter (except for the Ben Wade canadian that couldn't pass on a photo-op), all Ebay acquisitions.




Outer ring by pair: Parker/Whitehall, Hardcastle/Hardcastle, Parker/Capitol, Sasieni/London Made, Parker/Parker

Inner ring starting top center: Tanganyika African Meer, Hilson, Aldo Velani, West German ???, Hardcastle, Peterson Irish Second, Mastercraft, Butz-Choquin, Ben Wade, Peterson, London Made, Sasieni, Savinelli, Ben Wade, and Peterson.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Mad Hatter

Ok Moo, you goaded me into it. These pipes were reclaimed from forgotten yesteryear over the course of this year by me, Mad Hatter (except for the Ben Wade canadian...

Go, Joe! Diamonds from coal! Is that Tanganyikan meer described alsewhere at CS? Is it made from the heavier brownish block that seems to characterize the African genre? Was it clean when it came to you or did you have to do anything to it? How is it marked? Do you have any "before" pics of some of the worst? Must admit, I rarely have a "before" pic. I guess I don't want to remember how bad some looked. Particulary, the Amphora in post #1 above - I never took a pic of it but it was the nastiest looking thing I'd ever seen. That can be a good-news/bad news deal, though - the grime covered up all the fills.

We all know there is no trick to laying down a few C-notes and buying a fantastic pipe, new or clean, from a trusted retailer or pipe maker. In fact, I wish I could give everyone a big fat free coupon for Iwan Ries or Smokers Haven or the S. Bang store, but, no can do. Sometimes we need to scrap and scrounge and come up with a pipe that shines to us thru the grunge.

Personally, I've had a few minor disappointments with badly described ebay pipes (cracked, filled, mismatched stem/pipe) but I've had some great finds, too. The search is slow, the price is low and the clean-up can be a little messy but, all-in-all, it's great to find something that fits your taste and work it back to "nice" once more.

If you are buying some coal, be sure to take a pic before you start scrubbing.

[Mad Hatter]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

Go, Joe! Diamonds from coal! Is that Tanganyikan meer described alsewhere at CS? Is it made from the heavier brownish block that seems to characterize the African genre? Was it clean when it came to you or did you have to do anything to it? How is it marked? Do you have any "before" pics of some of the worst? Must admit, I rarely have a "before" pic. I guess I don't want to remember how bad some looked. Particulary, the Amphora in post #1 above - I never took a pic of it but it was the nastiest looking thing I'd ever seen. That can be a good-news/bad news deal, though - the grime covered up all the fills.

We all know there is no trick to laying down a few C-notes and buying a fantastic pipe, new or clean, from a trusted retailer or pipe maker. In fact, I wish I could give everyone a big fat free coupon for Iwan Ries or Smokers Haven or the S. Bang store, but, no can do. Sometimes we need to scrap and scrounge and come up with a pipe that shines to us thru the grunge.

Personally, I've had a few minor disappointments with badly described ebay pipes (cracked, filled, mismatched stem/pipe) but I've had some great finds, too. The search is slow, the price is low and the clean-up can be a little messy but, all-in-all, it's great to find something that fits your taste and work it back to "nice" once more.

If you are buying some coal, be sure to take a pic before you start scrubbing.

Here's the link to the photo of the Meer that was posted by the seller http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthr...74#post1873674
Its 7" long with a 1 1/32" bore. Its made of a heavy dry brownish meer and marked on the bowl as "genuine block meerschaum" and on the stem with an elephant and "tanganyika". This particular one was too dirty except inside the shank and the stem was oxidized not too heavily but it was set in pretty deep. It was mailed to me with another pipe in a manilla envelope big enough to hold a half dozen magazines and was wrapped loosely in tissue paper.

Of the other pipes I only remember two, the Butz-Choquin and the Irish Second, had been cleaned well or refurbed and only one being an absolutely horrendous mess that I should have in retrospect just soaked on a bowl of alcohol. Most had a layer of gunk on the rim and a shank full of tar and some still had tobacco in the bowl. Most of the stems were badly oxidized. A few had imperfections and most had toothmarks.

Probably 75% of these came from sellers who normally don't deal in pipes and were listed with a single photo or a couple poor quality photos (so I can't offer before and afters). Some of them were listed with shipping from $8 - $13. $13 shipping with a $2 bid is still a $15 pipe. (Know what I mean Vern?) For all those pipes (and the Barling I forgot to put in the photo) I have something under $400 and some elbow grease invested and all but a one or two provide a great smoke. On top of that I have to say I really enjoyed the whole process: from shopping to smoking its been fun.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Mad Hatter

...listed with a single photo or a couple poor quality photos (so I can't offer before and afters). Some of them were listed with shipping from $8 - $13. $13 shipping with a $2 bid is still a $15 pipe....

Except for my Brakner searches this is where I shop, too. It's always a surprise, isn't it?

...some elbow grease invested and all but a one or two provide a great smoke. On top of that I have to say I really enjoyed the whole process: from shopping to smoking its been fun.

Yes - it is as much the journey as it is the destination.

[Mad Hatter]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

Yes - it is as much the journey as it is the destination.

Exactly. How many things in today's world offer that?

[Smarvy]

I just won two auctions today that I'm excited about:

Master Craft

Bertram, Stanwell and others

I posted these in the finds and wins thread, but this seemed like an appropriate place to share my excitement too.

I'll definitely post some pics when they come in, and I'll get some good before and afters, though hopefully they won't need too much lovin'.

Finding these diamonds in the rough is a large part of the enjoyment I have with pipes, and you can really get some amazing deals if you work at it.

Mister Moo, what did you mean by Brakner?

Aloha!
Justin

[Mad Hatter]

Richard (tzaddi) should post here. He was doing some refurbs a few months ago.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Smarvy

Mister Moo, what did you mean by Brakner?
Justin

Peter Braker was an early popularizer of commercially produced Danish pipes is the US market; he is deceased. His pipes are characterized by a peculiar dark "micro-rusticated" finish in briar sold as the Antique series. A Brakner stem usually has a single green dot. Example, also a diamond from coal: