Back when we were awaiting the return of the first-round of the Canadian Box Pass, maral4de and I were speculating on what would be awaiting us. I noted that I hoped to find something to replace both the pipe I had already sent off and the pipe which I was about to send; and went further to say that I would be happy with a dirty Brigham. Well; I got my wish - this little one-dot was sitting in the bottom of the box, awaiting my ministrations.
At first glance, it seemed that it would be a simple task to breathe life back into this smoker - a bit of dirt here, some crud there, and a touch of oxidization for good measure. Of course, that quickly changed when I removed the stem. Much to my dismay, the previous owner seemingly never thought to change his filter; alas, the original maple tube was cemented firmly in the tenon, while the aluminum condenser was no-where to be seen.
Turning my attention to the stem, I tried to loosen the maple filter-tube with alcohol, with no luck. I then tried to grasp it with pliers, however found that it quickly disintegrated between the jaws. Finally, I turned to a drill-bit the same diameter as the filter itself, removing the majority of the wood in a few quick turns. I then turned my attentions to the tenon itself, which was not only pitted and corroded, but actually physically broken! With a quick zip of the hack-saw and a few scrapes of the file, I shortened the offending tenon, leaving a step such as is found in the older English pipes. I then ran sandpaper around the inside-diameter of the tenon, removing all evidence of the former filter while cleaning up corrosion.
I then turned to the button, which despite what appeared at first glance to be cracked, was in reasonable shape; with some minor tooth-dings. I steamed these out to the best of my ability, then attacked the entire surface of the stem with sandpaper, removing all traces of the former owner and his oxidization. A quick reshape of the button (rounded the corners) and the removal of a half-mm from the outside diameter; and it was onto micromesh and some Obsidian.
As for the stummel, I had a sneaking suspicion that the aluminum condenser from the filter was lodged in the mortise, which I was able to visually confirm with the help of a loupe and an LED. I tried to grab this with a dental pick, but failed to budge it. I performed a salt and alcohol treatment with the hopes that it would dissolve the tars, and I was not disappointed - I was able to grab it with a drywall screw, and with a tug it released in a puddle of awful smelling black sludge. A quick ream and another S&A for good measure, and I was ready to attack the finish.
I began by soaking the stummel in 99.9% Isopropyl overnight, then hit the entire surface with a tooth-brush, removing the old stain and dirt, noting three long, thin cracks. I then decided to lightly sand the outer layer of rustication off, with the final goal of creating more flow between the carved and smooth portions of the design. Well, wouldn't you know it - once I started going, birds-eye and striking flame-grain started to appear - and the sand-pits which caused this pipe to be designated a one-dot began to disappear. Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I continued to remove all but the deepest layer of rustication. I then mixed up a batch of superglue and briar-dust, which was applied to the afore mentioned cracks and sanded smooth. I also picked out a couple of small pink-putty fills which I replaced with this glue/briar-dust mixture. This was hit with a coating of thinned out ox-blood shoe dye before moving over to the finishing portion.
However, before I could actually get into finishing, the tobacco chamber required some attention. I suspect the previous owner smoked aromatic tobaccos, using something like a White Phosphorus Grenade for an ignition source, as the draft-hole had grown to around 1.5cms (remember, there is an aluminum condenser that sits against this, restricting draw). So, an hour and five minutes, three fingers of Crown and a Cohiba later and I'm mixing up a batch of pipe-mud to trowel in with my Czech tool. Once I was happy with the rebuilt airway, I attacked the surface with ascending grits of micro-mesh, and finished with a layer of Clapham's Salad Bowl Polish; leaving the natural finish highlighted by the darker relief of the deepest rustication.
Finally, when I assembled the works, I discovered that much to my chagrin, not only was the stem loose to the point of falling out, but it was almost a full mm too large! So, back to the sand-paper I went, this time decreasing the outer diameter of the shank-end a few turns at a time. Once I had a happy size, I went back to the micro-mesh and Obsidian, before coating the tenon in beeswax to assist with the fit.
As marmal4de notes, this pipe is now more mine than the fellow who carved it. And although I didn't expect to put this much effort into this pipe - but I am glad I did, and think it was well worth the sweat-equity.
Photo journal of the process - for some reason, they are not in order; but it's pretty self-explanatory.
Before:
After:
At first glance, it seemed that it would be a simple task to breathe life back into this smoker - a bit of dirt here, some crud there, and a touch of oxidization for good measure. Of course, that quickly changed when I removed the stem. Much to my dismay, the previous owner seemingly never thought to change his filter; alas, the original maple tube was cemented firmly in the tenon, while the aluminum condenser was no-where to be seen.
Turning my attention to the stem, I tried to loosen the maple filter-tube with alcohol, with no luck. I then tried to grasp it with pliers, however found that it quickly disintegrated between the jaws. Finally, I turned to a drill-bit the same diameter as the filter itself, removing the majority of the wood in a few quick turns. I then turned my attentions to the tenon itself, which was not only pitted and corroded, but actually physically broken! With a quick zip of the hack-saw and a few scrapes of the file, I shortened the offending tenon, leaving a step such as is found in the older English pipes. I then ran sandpaper around the inside-diameter of the tenon, removing all evidence of the former filter while cleaning up corrosion.
I then turned to the button, which despite what appeared at first glance to be cracked, was in reasonable shape; with some minor tooth-dings. I steamed these out to the best of my ability, then attacked the entire surface of the stem with sandpaper, removing all traces of the former owner and his oxidization. A quick reshape of the button (rounded the corners) and the removal of a half-mm from the outside diameter; and it was onto micromesh and some Obsidian.
As for the stummel, I had a sneaking suspicion that the aluminum condenser from the filter was lodged in the mortise, which I was able to visually confirm with the help of a loupe and an LED. I tried to grab this with a dental pick, but failed to budge it. I performed a salt and alcohol treatment with the hopes that it would dissolve the tars, and I was not disappointed - I was able to grab it with a drywall screw, and with a tug it released in a puddle of awful smelling black sludge. A quick ream and another S&A for good measure, and I was ready to attack the finish.
I began by soaking the stummel in 99.9% Isopropyl overnight, then hit the entire surface with a tooth-brush, removing the old stain and dirt, noting three long, thin cracks. I then decided to lightly sand the outer layer of rustication off, with the final goal of creating more flow between the carved and smooth portions of the design. Well, wouldn't you know it - once I started going, birds-eye and striking flame-grain started to appear - and the sand-pits which caused this pipe to be designated a one-dot began to disappear. Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I continued to remove all but the deepest layer of rustication. I then mixed up a batch of superglue and briar-dust, which was applied to the afore mentioned cracks and sanded smooth. I also picked out a couple of small pink-putty fills which I replaced with this glue/briar-dust mixture. This was hit with a coating of thinned out ox-blood shoe dye before moving over to the finishing portion.
However, before I could actually get into finishing, the tobacco chamber required some attention. I suspect the previous owner smoked aromatic tobaccos, using something like a White Phosphorus Grenade for an ignition source, as the draft-hole had grown to around 1.5cms (remember, there is an aluminum condenser that sits against this, restricting draw). So, an hour and five minutes, three fingers of Crown and a Cohiba later and I'm mixing up a batch of pipe-mud to trowel in with my Czech tool. Once I was happy with the rebuilt airway, I attacked the surface with ascending grits of micro-mesh, and finished with a layer of Clapham's Salad Bowl Polish; leaving the natural finish highlighted by the darker relief of the deepest rustication.
Finally, when I assembled the works, I discovered that much to my chagrin, not only was the stem loose to the point of falling out, but it was almost a full mm too large! So, back to the sand-paper I went, this time decreasing the outer diameter of the shank-end a few turns at a time. Once I had a happy size, I went back to the micro-mesh and Obsidian, before coating the tenon in beeswax to assist with the fit.
As marmal4de notes, this pipe is now more mine than the fellow who carved it. And although I didn't expect to put this much effort into this pipe - but I am glad I did, and think it was well worth the sweat-equity.
Photo journal of the process - for some reason, they are not in order; but it's pretty self-explanatory.
Before:
After:
