Granddad's pipes

Welcome. Some of those are nice and well maintained. If you look at previous threads and read sections for new smokers above general forum you will find a start. Shel

First off, welcome to the forums. There are many Threads here that will help you to learn how to smoke a pipe. #1 looks like it has a crack in it, but it may still smoke. Although, it may damage it further, and I doubt you want to lose the pipe you remember most. the rest look smokable. I would clean them first. The recommended method is putting a cotton ball in the bowl of the pipe and putting Everclear in. Just be careful not to get it on the outside of the bowl, it may remove stain. let it sit overnight. Then clean the stems and shanks (Connects bowl to stem) with pipe cleaners first with everclear, then just the pipe cleaners. Let them dry. they are ready to smoke. So, check out threads for beginners and keep us posted on your journey into the world of pipes. Thanks, best of luck.

Great looking pipes, BTW. Also, sorry to hear of your grandfather passing.

Take a stroll through Pipe Smoking Basics and Beginner Questions. That will fill in a lot of blanks for you right off the bat. If something in there doesn't make any sense to you, or there is unfamiliar terminology you may need an explanation of, give us a shout. Pretty much everyone on the forum likes to help and encourage new pipers as much as they can.

Your Granddad had some nice pipes. I would send the whole lot to a restorer for a good cleaning and refurbish. If you want to do some minor work yourself you'll probably need to do a gentle reaming of the bowls and then get about 100 pipe cleaners and some high proof alcohol like Everclear and pass the pipe cleaners through the stems until they come out clear.

For the bowls, after reaming, fill them with Kosher salt and add some alcohol (again, Everclear). Just enough to wet the salt but not saturate it. Let the bowls sit over night and then scrape out the salt, wipe the bowl with a paper towel and then wet a pipe cleaner with alcohol and swab the inside of the bowl and let dry. Take care not to get the alcohol on the pipe's finish as it will take it off.

Good luck and enjoy Gandpa's legacy to you.

All of your questions about pipe maintenance can be answered with a simple Google search. Type in pipes magazine followed by the topic. For example here's the result for "pipes magazine cleaning":
http://pipesmagazine.com/python/general-pipe-section/routine-tobacco-pipe-cleaning-with-videos/

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/cleaning-a-briar-pipe-when-and-how

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/how-you-clean-your-pipe-after-smoking

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/how-you-clean-your-pipe-after-smoking

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/rubbing-alcohol-to-clean-pipes

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/cleaning-an-estate-pipe

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/suitable-solvents-for-pipe-cleaning

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/cleaning-pipe-bands
which also brings up other related material:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YRyamTLLYo
pipes magazine stem cleaning:

http://pipesmagazine.com/matchstickman/pipe-smoking/from-stem-to-stern-pipe-stem-restoration-with-no-buffing-wheel-or-power-tools/

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/pipe-stem-cleaning

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/cleaning-pipe-stems

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/cleaning-the-stem

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/oxidation-removal-on-stems

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/cleaning-lucite-stems
The old pipes.org site maintains an archive which has about 12 years of pipe maintenance postings that you can search.
For background information on you pipes try these two sites:
http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/index-en.html

http://pipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

I replied to your duplicate post... oops

these are your heirlooms now, please send them to a Professional Pipe Restorer. I would suggest Ric Farrh of Briarville.com Condor Lover and I can attest to his genius. He recently restored approximately 95-100 year old pipes for me.
Chris

ThePipeMonk.com

I second the motion: Use a professional restorer on the most worn two or three, but possibly not the one with a cracked bowl; I think that one may just be a keeper for sentimental reasons, but it certainly shows your granddad's devotion to a good-smoking pipe. The newer ones look to be in good shape and just need cleaning and maybe a professional touch-up. Refrain from the temptation to use a reamer on these. Using a reamer takes some know-how, so I'd leave that to the pros, for now. Take it slow and easy learning to smoke a pipe. Start out with mild tobacco. These pipes are a nice legacy, whether you take up pipe smoking or not. Congratulations.

Those are very nice pipes...find a professional and let them bring new life those these great pipes

A beautiful collection of keepsake pipes from your grandfather. Good to hear you found someone to freshen them up for you. Please post some more pics for us when you get them back. ::

Great compilation, Brush. Good review for everyone. Thanks for the effort.