Estate Pipe Acquisitions

[OwlTellYa]

I recently purchased a walnut pipe rack from a guy locally, and the sale included his dad's old pipes. There were several old cob pipes, some from Irvin S. Cobb (H&B). Others need restoration and/or a deep cleaning, but my favorite piece was a Celius Bishop (12) Freehand pipe, images below. The stem has a hole in it where the fellow chewed it, and so I'm going to have to figure out how to get that repaired.




There were about 14 pipes in all. Others include a couple of Dr. Grabow pipes and a Medico pipe. There are a few I haven't been able to identify with the markings so far. Several seem to be in decent shape, but a couple have cracks in the wood.

At any rate, I think the one pipe is worth the whole purchase if I can get it repaired.

 

[FLDRD]

That looks nice. You will get great advice here on repair; you may want to search and peruse to see what you find.
Also internet search for : reborn pipes. I've seen great advice (as a non-restorer) there.
And you'll also likely get references to professionals if you wish to have it done for you.

 

[kcghost]

Go look in the Pipe Repair sticky and click on the first post in there titled "Calling All Pipe Restorers". It will list some of the folks who do pipe rework and stem making.

 

[PaulRVA]

Awesome purchase.

 

[mikethompson]

You may wish to tackle the repair yourself. It's very rewarding to repair an old pipe and bring it back to life.

 

[DeerparkDays]

Nice haul man, and half the fun will be finding out what each pipe is and hopefully restoring them back to life!

 

[OwlTellYa]

You may wish to tackle the repair yourself. It's very rewarding to repair an old pipe and bring it back to life.

I might. My main concern is that, never having done this before, I would ruin the pipe. I might do one of the others in the box before tackling this one. Or, since I really like this one I may ask a pro to do it and take my time learning on the others.

 

[mikethompson]

I might. My main concern is that, never having done this before, I would ruin the pipe. I might do one of the others in the box before tackling this one. Or, since I really like this one I may ask a pro to do it and take my time learning on the others.

If you are really concerned, head to ebay or etsy and grab a cheap estate or two to try your hand at it first.

 

[OzPiper]

I might. My main concern is that, never having done this before, I would ruin the pipe. I might do one of the others in the box before tackling this one. Or, since I really like this one I may ask a pro to do it and take my time learning on the others.

Lots of good tips on Rebornpipes
Steve Laug documents each step with before and after photos
Al (moderator @ssjones) posts on that site too

 

[ssjones]

You can super-glue fill stem holes, but I'm not a big fan and skeptical on their longevity.
See Steve's articles on the Reborn Pipes blog, he goes into great detail on this type of repair (you'll need Black Superglue, Stew-Mac a guitar build place sells this, and get the accelerator).
George D has recommended a different type of rubber glue, from Amazon, he says is more like vulcanite. I cannot recall the product.
I would perhaps cut the stem, and fashion a new button, versus a hole repair. Those freehands aren't terribly valuable or sought after these days, so no harm is likely done!

Celius pipes were highly regarded in the 1990's and early 2000's, when Freehands ranged. From memory, a Bishop was mid-grade

 

[Doctor Chopper]

Some of the restoration ideas I see on the forum concern me. I am not referring to anything in particular to be clear and not necessarily in this posting. My concern: I see so many chemicals and products being suggested without any knowledge of the safety. We put the damn thing in our mouth and heat it up!

Also, we go into nuance about how minor factors change the taste, and then some are willing to completely change the substance and character of a pipe with no regard.

I guess I should not be surprised after so many people stated they would smoke an asbestos pipe.

Don't mistake this for a complaint, I am just shining the light on this fact. I actually love it, as it makes this hobby and forum so much fun! Disregard me and carry on...

 

[Sobrbiker]

I can say from my limited experience, do not start learning on the pipe you most want to turn out well.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

one can turn stem behind the repair in no time.usually rounding the stem shoulder via sanding.

 

[Lucashly]

But the pipe is a beaut.

 

[proteus]

Doc chopper is right. My free suggestion is to use two part clear FDA certified medium set time 30 min epoxy mixed with very fine powdered vulcanite. I have a box of old vulcanite stems. Sand down a donor stem with 220 3M wetordry paper and make dust. Blend with epoxy. Fill hole over a few times to build up. The remachine the airway and shape with fine files. Polish with FDA wax. I blend my own but there are commercial food service waxes.

 

[RudyG]

Great post from Doc Chopper.

I don't use any chemicals ever. Everclear for the inside and olive oil for exterior shine when needed.

 

[pepperandjack]

pics or it didn't happen

 

[sablebrush52]

I might. My main concern is that, never having done this before, I would ruin the pipe. I might do one of the others in the box before tackling this one. Or, since I really like this one I may ask a pro to do it and take my time learning on the others.

You're not going to ruin the pipe. At most you'll ruin the stem, which is already compromised. Depending on where, and how big, the hole is, you can fit a rubber stem protector over the bit and seal off the stem that way. Or you can try patching with Cyanoacrylate, otherwise known as super, glue, or epoxy, for a temporary fix that could last years or minutes. They don't make a great bond with vulcanite, but with a bit of judicious shaping of the walls around the hole so that enough of the walls form an inward facing wedge, it may stay in place. Just make sure that you have something inserted in the airway so that the fix doesn't fill it.
Otherwise, just replace it. Since the stem is compromised, the value of the pipe won't be lowered by replacing it.

 

[tobakenist]

I don't know if you can get Black Milliput in the USA, I have had excellent results with it, if not, Black Superglue is also a good filler, lovely pipe you have there, good luck with it.