1948 Dunhill "O" F/T Bulldog --- EXCELLENT Blast (restore & re-stem)

[georged]

An outstanding example of a "deep and pebbly all over" sandblast finish. One that didn't distort the shape, in fact (which makes it double-cool).

The fishtail stem (the F/T designation) was usually found on the longer and thinner models. This is the shortest and chunkiest F/T I've come across, and on a faceted-shank design no less. It's extremely difficult to make faceted stems as a categorical thing (such as the notorious 838 ODA), but to then add concave curves to the mix is borderline insane. I don't know why a pipe company would do that to itself.

Whatever the reason, the end result is distinctive, compact, convenient, and doubtless stable for a clencher.

 

[Scarlet claw]

Incredible work. the only reason for the concave is the briar just ended up that way after the blast.Apart from the 90/100 years of smoking it. Just awesome pipe. Whats the red dot on the broken stem.

 

[weezell]

Beautiful job!!!...

 

[jguss]

So George, where does this Beefeater guy live? Not that I want to use a drone to send in my personal army of militant midgets or anything. Not like they’d have orders to liberate all the pipes and disappear without a trace. No, it’s just innocent idle curiosity, that’s the ticket, curiousity!

 

[verporchting]

Tell the Eater if Dead Cows we hates him, hates him forever for having such freaking awesome pipes.

Lovely pipe, lovely work as usual. Thanks for making me green with envy ... er, I mean sharing.

 

[georged]

So George, where does this Beefeater guy live? Not that I want to use a drone to send in my personal army of militant midgets or anything. Not like they’d have orders to liberate all the pipes and disappear without a trace. No, it’s just innocent idle curiosity, that’s the ticket, curiousity!

 

[danimalia]

Awesome pipe!

 

[BarrelProof]

I love it.

 

[lightmybriar]

One of my favorite shapes. I have a 1939 of this shape. Great pictures for us to enjoy, thanks George!

 

[mingc]

It's extremely difficult to make faceted stems as a categorical thing (such as the notorious 838 ODA), but to then add concave curves to the mix is borderline insane. I don't know why a pipe company would do that to itself.

Insane but looks really good and very distinctive. Just very, very nice, both the pipe and the replacement stem. Bravo.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

I was just saying in another thread about my soft spot for a proper well-done bulldog stem and here is a perfect example. Kudos

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Oh Boy, again one of those mesmerizing,stunning jobs, well done, I real admire George's attention to details,

 

[ssjones]

Smart move, while that original stem could be repaired, in my opinion, it would never hold up to regular use. Now that one definitely can be clenched without worry. I love buttons shaped that way!

Is this a potential issue with the bowl, or just a shadow?

 

[pitchfork]

That button - perfecto!

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Whats the red dot on the broken stem.

I assume the formerly white celluloid material has aged and weathered.

I’ve never been a huge Bulldog/Rhodesian fan mostly because I prefer a slightly deeper bowl. Id make an exception for that guy though.

 

[georged]

I'm glad you guys are enjoying these oldies so much.

Regarding the chamber wall, there are no true problems, but the condition isn't "like new." That, plus the wood's unsmoked-for-decades overall dryness, means it will get the "craze filler" procedure I described in a video last year as a smart money safety thing. As in, after all this, why not? Jesse and some others around here can tell you it affects neither taste nor performance.

As for the original dot turning reddish, it's not unheard of. Pretty much every Earth-tone color has been reported all the way to jet black. Celluloid is weird stuff.

BTW, you can't tell from the pic but the dot is also significantly domed instead of flat. The stem was absolutely blast-smeared with a buffer at some point and shrunken significantly all over. (You eagle-eyed guys who noticed the new stem is a few thousandths larger but didn't say anything, that's why. The replacement is the size of the original in 1948. )

Regarding Mr. Guss's purely hypothetical musings about a black ops heist using drones and midgets, I can assure you he wasn't joking. After decades of work his parents actually did manage to get him to play well with other kids, but when rare English pipes are involved he goes into full Comic Book Villian Mode. Add to the mix his equally excitable Britwood-loving brothers, and, well, let's just say that our Mr. Beefeater is taking no chances. An underground bunker, the WitSec program, etc. All are being considered. One will be chosen soon.

Oh yeah, for the zoomer-inners... As with the others in this batch, larger photos + a couple shots that wouldn't fit here for size & attachment count reasons can be seen on the Pipemakers forum:

1948 Dunhill "O" Bulldog --- restore and re-stem - pipemakersforum.com

www.pipemakersforum.com

 

[ssjones]

That button - perfecto!

Everybody needs a Dibos button!

 

[michail]

Definitely the most iconic squat bulldog shape.

Am I the only one that can see the natural cracks on the stem that made this piece a shell?

Lovely restoration, not only on replacing stem but also on the clean look of the finish

 

[Umberto]

Very nice job. I think the only distinguishing feature of Dunhill is the stems. I just don't see what all the fuss is about these old pipes.

You really did a nice job with the stem. Is the bowl without cracks? These old pipes I think are worth restoring, but often times I see the wonders of epoxy and synthetic filler restoration. I really don't condone that, a dead pipe is not brought back from the dead with cosmetic surgery.

 

[kcghost]

Wow, what a pipe and what a repair job!! I don't care for straight pipes but if that pipe was one year older I might make and exception.