A Little Quickie Cleanup for Ole #53

Grabbed this ole boy out of the box that holds misc pipes, one that had a nice looking grain at first glance, saw the No 53 on it which has special meaning to me, and it was off to the restoration table. Two hours later it's grain sure stands out. I didn't do any filling but there are one or two very small places I saw, but I was impressed with what must have been a lot of pre-thought by the maker in choosing the carving out process. Its almost a straight grain pipe! A lot of pride went into what was not that much appreciated back then as it is today I think. Anyway, thought I'd share some pics of the first go around with it. Its gonna need some more time on the retort stand and maybe even some salt treatment after that. Then smooth out the carnauba a bit more. That's cake was right nasty looking when I got it. I bet that's why I threw it in the box thinking, that's gonna take some work...

That's not stained btw, raw briar brushed off with a fine grit dremel wheel. The color on my hand is from the retorted alcohol out of the stem. Nice draw, even with the odd looking stinger in. I pipe cleaner wouldn't go thru at first but the retorting thru stem only loosened things up. another no-name for my rotation rack.

Well, bowl 1 into ashes. My own mixture I call "Arabian Fire". Something with a Latakia content to help un-ghost Ole #53. A gurgle jumped up right at the end so I ran a pipe cleaner thru which didn't work so I took the stinger out and that was the culprit. I can see it will stay out.
Its a keeper! Wonder who the maker was?

Sweet Dunhill! I'm actually a 56 version. 53 is just special for personal reasons...long story.

Thx PAman. Rush job.