Sorry, guys. I got busy and dropped the ball on presenting this restoration quadrilogy. This Comoy’s Extraordinaire 235 is the third of the lot. The previous two can be seen here…
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/1938-bbb-silver-mounted-poker-restoration-pic-heavy
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/comoy%e2%80%99s-specimen-straight-grain-229-restoration-pic-heavy
Like the others, the 235 stummel was severely bleached from UV exposure. I also suspect that the pipe may have been wiped down with something with an alcohol base (possibly an attempt to clean it) because the areas that weren’t faded to near-natural had the blotchy, uneven appearance that I associate with that sort of thing. The end of the shank almost always tells the tale though and if you look closely you can see the remains of the original color peeking out from beneath the grime.
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/1938-bbb-silver-mounted-poker-restoration-pic-heavy
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/comoy%e2%80%99s-specimen-straight-grain-229-restoration-pic-heavy
Like the others, the 235 stummel was severely bleached from UV exposure. I also suspect that the pipe may have been wiped down with something with an alcohol base (possibly an attempt to clean it) because the areas that weren’t faded to near-natural had the blotchy, uneven appearance that I associate with that sort of thing. The end of the shank almost always tells the tale though and if you look closely you can see the remains of the original color peeking out from beneath the grime.