Barlings Guinea Grain Restoration.

[ssjones]

I finished this 1940's era, pre-Transition Barlings Guinea Grain, for a member of another pipe forum. I have to thank forum member Jesse Silver (sablebrush52) for information regarding the pipe and brand. This was my first Barling's restoration and I enjoyed as much learning about the brand as I did doing the work. I include more details about the restoration process on Steve Laug's "Reborn Pipes" blog.
http://rebornpipes.wordpress.com/2014/03/02/barlings-guinea-grain-restoration/
A few before and after shots below.

 

[shaintiques]

Nice pipe, it is hard to clean off that much rim burn without topping the bowl, good job! Love the grain.

 

[bluesmk]

Great job! Marvelous piece of pipe history!

Dan

Gabrieli Pipes ::

 

[sablebrush52]

Even though I'm mentioned in dispatches, the process and results are all Al's. He did a smart job of restoration by cleaning all of the functional elements, while not being overly invasive regarding the exterior. The stampings have been left alone and I got a lesson in dent removal that I plan to use in the future. Just a smart, smart job! Congratulations to Al and to the owner.

 

[ssjones]

Thanks guy and particularly Jesse. The goal was to get the pipe usable but not damage any of the stamping, so it's a bit of a compromise. The owner must have carried this around in a box of bolts, it had so many dings.
The owner offered that I could smoke the pipe before sending it back to him. I've never smoked a pipe belonging to someone else, but this one tempted me! That stem material is quite different than the other British stems I've encountered to date and I can now see where the source of the mystique.

 

[rockymtnsmoker]

Great job! That stem does look interesting. Think I'd call it elegantly understated. I might have a hard time not smoking it.

 

[petes03]

Nice job! That's a good looking pipe!

 

[tuold]

Classic. My kind of pipe.

 

[sablebrush52]

Barling stems are amongst the most comfortable in my experience. Not only do they provide a very stable flat surface but they also were made with a slightly more pliant vulcanite than some of the other makes. All Barling materials during the family era were of the highest grade.

 

[lightmyfire]

That's a nice one too

 

[flakyjakey]

Pre-transition Barlings are probably my favourite pipes. That is a stunning restoration of a pipe in much need of TLC. I agree with Jesse; one of the reasons I love Barlings of that era is the comfort of their stems (which don't seem to oxidise easlly, either)