1901 Kinnear Restoration

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

Watch for Updates Twice a Week

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.

zack24

Lifer
May 11, 2013
1,726
2
Picked up a 1901 Silver Mounted Kinnear stummel a couple of weeks ago missing a stem. When this came in, I figured it would be a good chance to stretch my comfort zone on repairs a bit. The original plan called for converting the screw thread to a push tenon, but I got lucky- not only were the threads in good shape, but it was a 1/4 20 thread...so I bought a 1/4 tap and die, ordered some tortoise amber rod from Steve Norse and some 1/4" white delrin for the tenon. I'm pretty happy with it- the faceted stems are a big challenge and I learned a lot about working down the edges of the stem to a fairly irregular silver mounted diamond shank- here are a few pics...

34do5tt.jpg


os9v21.jpg


v74kd3.jpg


4sjk14.jpg


keuiqr.jpg


24wyf7p.jpg


t6ed5i.jpg


 

huntertrw

Lifer
Jul 23, 2014
5,219
5,338
The Lower Forty of Hill Country
zack24:
That pipe is beautiful, and made all the more so by your tender ministrations with regard to the replacement stem. I do have a question, though: Wouldn't a pipe manufactured in 1901 have had an orific bit? Just curious. Regardless, I hope that it proves to be a good smoker.
My guess is that the maker was the British firm of Kinnear & Whitwham, the same company that manufactured the Bingley and Bingo brands, and which was also a distributor of the Dr. Plumb brand of pipes. Perhaps jguss will see this thread, as I am certain that he could confirm this (or not) and provide additional information.

 

huntertrw

Lifer
Jul 23, 2014
5,219
5,338
The Lower Forty of Hill Country
Jguss was kind enough to point out to me that he had already addressed the probable provenance of this pipe in his post to a Forums thread started some three weeks ago by zack24 and titled "1901 Kirwan - Need Some Information." Mr. Guss stated:
Zack,
Great looking pipe; I'm excited to see what you do with it. And with an unusually obscure pedigree!
For what it's worth I'm skeptical that the silverwork is by Kirwan & Co. The key photo is much too blurry (even on the original eBay listing) for me to really see the details of the hallmarks, but I believe the seller's assumption is off. If you're really interested about Kirwan I can tell you a fair bit about its founder, John William Kirwan (~1844-1919), and his business. But as far as I can find out despite a background as a jeweler/silversmith/goldsmith, Kirwan was never involved in the tobacco trade. Moreover his shops and his hallmark registries were in Birmingham and London, not Chester.
I think a much better candidate is Charles Maxwell Kinnear (b. Edinburgh 1872, d. Liverpool 1939), who's involvement in the tobacco trade was a) documented, b) encompassing exactly the right time period (all his hallmarks were registered in 1901-1902), and c) at the right place (his hallmarks were registered in Chester). See: http://www.silvercollection.it/DICTIONARYTOBACCONISTK.html.
The Wikipedia entry for Kinnear's father (a famous architect; see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Kinnear) states that his son Charles became a tobacco manufacturer, and this was clearly true for at least 14 years. As a young man in 1891 the census lists him as apprenticed to his maternal uncle, an "american produce merchant". What exactly that means is unclear. But by 1896 Kinnear pops up in Manchester trading as Leon Marcus & Co, a cigarette and tobacco manufacturer. He bought the business about that time from its founders, Leon Marcus Sogolowitch (1860-1919; a man who was a travelling salesman in the cigar and cigarette business both before and after his brief foray as a manufacturer), and Joseph V Lester. By 1900 Kinnear had relocated to Liverpool and was doing business under his own name as Kinnear Ltd at 49-57 Park Lane West.
About a decade later Kinnear left the tobacco business to enter into partnership in an enterprise called Dorn, Harding & Co, effective January 1, 1911. They were rubber brokers and merchants. This evidently failed since by the end of that same year the partnership was dissolved. What happened to Kinnear over the next 28 years before dying outside Liverpool at the age of 66 in 1939 is unknown to me.
Jon

 

zack24

Lifer
May 11, 2013
1,726
2
Wouldn't a pipe manufactured in 1901 have had an orific bit?
I'm sure it would...I definitely made some adaptations in the interests of smokability- the bite zone is 4.5mm- less than the original amber would have been and a little thicker than the 4mm I use on cumberland. Draft is wide open in the stem- I didn't touch the stummel...and I thought about threading a bone rod, but delrin is so much more durable....
A fun exercise for sure....I have a couple of other oldies coming in over the next couple of days- figuring on a nice cleanup and will use one of them as a design inspiration for a pipe I've been thinking about...

 

zack24

Lifer
May 11, 2013
1,726
2
Nice work Zack, that stem looks like it was always there. I really love it when these old soldiers are brought back into smoking rotations!
Probably won't be smoking these...I'll have maybe 10 that I've restored at Chicago along with maybe 20 pipes I'll have made by then...I do have a really old meer that's arriving this weekend I may keep for myself...

 

piffyr

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 24, 2015
782
80
Great looking pipe, Zack! Working with facets is always a challenge because you can't make adjustments to one face without affecting the others, which comes back around 360 degrees to affect the face that you originally modified. I've noticed that most factory pipes with faceted features almost always have one face where all the errors from the others are collected. On stummels, it's usually the back of the bowl.

 

zack24

Lifer
May 11, 2013
1,726
2
What kind of tape is the you use to protect the shank

It’s a vinyl tape- very blast resistant and doesn’t leave a residue. I use it for lots of stuff in the shop. It’s on the shelf at Ace Hardware...

 

weezell

Lifer
Oct 12, 2011
13,653
49,163
I do have a really old meer that's arriving this weekend I may keep for myself...
Oh really....wouldn't happen to be a Meer Cutty would it! (cue the scary music)Well would IT!!!! BUUUWAAaaaaa :twisted:

 
Status
Not open for further replies.