Project Log: Unknown Briar - Birdseye Wonderland

pruss · Oct 16, 2013

Hey gang. I just picked up this wonderful little pipe in a small estate lot. It came with an Israeli pot with a broken shank, and a pretty little apple with a mis-matched stem. This really is a pretty piece though, and will clean up really well. It's light, and fair, and has great lines. I'll share it with you as I clean it up.

Cheers,
-- Pat

papipeguy · Oct 16, 2013

There's some nice bird's eye on that. I like the shape as well. Please share the photos when you get done with it. I'll bet it will be a stunner.

petes03 · Oct 16, 2013

The grain is phenomenal on that pipe! I really like the shape as well. I can't wait to see the resto pics!

anthonyrosenthal74 · Oct 16, 2013

I bet that one's gonna be a beauty

pruss · Oct 16, 2013

Yep, this one's a keeper for sure. I think we have a new addition to the Virginia rotation.
I'm looking forward to getting into this one.
-- Pat

ejames · Oct 17, 2013

Love birdseye !! The shape looks familiar.

pruss · Oct 17, 2013

Ed, if you have any thoughts as to origins I'd love to hear 'em. I'll post some better profile pics, as well as weight and dimensions as I get into the clean up. It is a light, little, thing. Does it look like it comes out of the Danish school to anyone else?
-- Pat

easygoer · Oct 17, 2013

Great stuff Pat. Good luck

easygoer · Oct 17, 2013

The bowl definitely reminds me of a Karl Erik pipe I was looking at.

timely · Oct 17, 2013

It looks similar to an older Amphora pipe that I have.

ejames · Oct 17, 2013

Ed, if you have any thoughts as to origins I'd love to hear 'em. I'll post some better profile pics, as well as weight and dimensions as I get into the clean up. It is a light, little, thing. Does it look like it comes out of the Danish school to anyone else?
-- Pat

Pat,I finally realized why the shape of your pipe was familiar to me. Back in the 60's,Grabow developed a series of pipes called "Continentals". They were made to resemble the Danish pipes being produced then. Your looks like one of those.

pruss · Oct 17, 2013

Ed!
I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that this is EXACTLY what I'm looking at. The pipe came up in a lot from Texas. If it is indeed a Continental, then that spade is either long buffed and gone from the stem, or it's a replacement stem. I'm guessing it's been buffed to hell and gone, as there are literally NO pipe marks on the shank.
Thanks for that, Ed.
-- Pat

ejames · Oct 17, 2013

If it is Grabow made,it either has a replacement stem, or it is an unstamped "basket pipe". The spades on most all Grabows is inlaid,not stamped,can't buff them off although they will sometimes fall out. They did make some unstamped basket pipes. Easiest way to tell is the tenon. If it screws in it's most likely a Grabow. Never saw a Continental with a push stem.

pruss · Oct 17, 2013

Hmmm... Did Grabow's basket pipes come with a threaded or push stem? This pipe is definitely a push stem, there are no threads in the shank. Good to know that Grabow only used inlaid spades. Perhaps this is an Amphora similar to Timely's or an Erik like the one Easygoer was looking at.
What was the quality of the briar on the Continentals Ed? I've never seen a Grabow with grain popping like this pipe, but then my experience with vintage Grabows is limited.
Cheers,
-- Pat

ejames · Oct 17, 2013

Pat,the quality of the briar depended on the line. The Emperors and Eldorados got the best stuff,followed by the Viscounts,Westbrooks etc. I have seen grain like that on a Grabow,but not very often. Some of the best grained Grabows I've seen were the Starfires,which were a mid range pipe. My impression is that Grabow didn't judge briar quality so much by grain but by the absence of flaws in the wood.

Grabow made basket pipes with both push and screw stems,especially when Lane owned the company. They usually were stamped only with "Imported Briar". Since yours is a push stem I don't think it is a Grabow made pipe.

Richard,does your pipe look like one of these on the bottom of this chart?

Grabow may be able to re-stem your pipe. If not I may have a stem in my stem box.I recently obtained a few NOS stems from them.

pruss · Oct 17, 2013

If/when I do find it (in storage along with a bunch of other pipes ATM)

Roth, this hidden treasure trove of yours is taking on mythic status. I've heard about your "pipes in storage" since my first moments on the forum. If no one has done so yet, let me be the first to volunteer to aid in operation "Hidden Gold" wherein we do the deep dive into your basement/barn/attic/bomb-shelter/root-cellar to find your missing pipes. I'll bring the belaying rope, ice axe, and lots of coffee. :D
Ed, thanks for sharing the shape chart. That's really handy. My pipe is almost circular at the shank/stem connection, and is definitely a push stem. Looks like it'll remain a mystery pipe. But that's okay, it's pretty enough to get by without branding. ;-)
-- Pat

pruss · Oct 27, 2013

Tragedy... ok, that's me being melodramatic.
Truly, this pipe has been reamed poorly. It is both out of round, as well as reamed much deeper than the draught hole. In fact, after soaking in isopropyl alcohol to clean the pipe and pull out the cake/gunk from the bowl and shank, a small hole in the bottom of the bowl was evident.
So I finally found a silica based high temperature stove and fireplace cement, and used it to build up the bottom of the bowl. I then topped the bowl slightly (I may go a little further) before sanding the bowl lightly with 1000 grit sandpaper. I then hit the bowl with tripoli on the buffer, and applied white diamond to the bowl and stem.
I'm going to pause for a day, and then come back to look at it with fresh eyes. I may top the bowl a little more, or consider a slight reapplication of light brown stain to level the colour of the bowl a bit.
Here are the pics:
Hole in the bucket...

Badly reamed/bored...

The flashlight in the bowl doesn't lie...

Topped and "false bottom" of cement added...

Surface cleaning started...

I am going to fill the whole in the bottom of the bucket with superglue and briar dust, and see how that nets out now that I have the fireplace cement providing a true bottom to the bowl.
As always, I look forward to your advice.
-- Pat

pruss · Oct 27, 2013

I've brought the bottom of the bowl up by an 1/8 of an inch, in order to place the "bottom" of the bowl just about level with the draught hole. I don't think that the rim will ever approach even again. It looks to me like someone cleaned out cake with a very sharp knife at some point in this little pipe's life.
I think I'm going to take the rim down a little further.
This pipe is going to be a beautiful "tackle box" pipe. : puffy

:
-- Pat

flakyjakey · Oct 27, 2013

@Pat, this is embarrassing but luckily I'm thick skinned! You know how hopeless I am at posting pics but I have an early 1950s Stanwell with a very similar, but not identical, shape. I posted in the "My Smoking Spot For Today, Sept 26th Sept 2013" thread which was initiated by 'numbersix'. Reborn kindly posted the pic further down the same thread !! LOL
I don't know if this is of any help, but it may support continental/Danish origins?

pruss · Oct 27, 2013

I don't know if this is of any help, but it may support continental/Danish origins?

Thanks flaky. That was my first inclination too. The shape certainly doesn't scream "American" or "English", but when I saw those continentals posted above, they seemed like a good fit.
I don't think we'll ever know for sure. Especially since I just took sandpaper to the shank! :D
-- Pat

Project Log: Unknown Briar - Birdseye Wonderland

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