By Request, The Restoration Of My Masterson Freehand.

[shawn622]

This was a brutal restoration. First I had to remove a varnish type finish from all the wood. I soaked the bowl and shank in grain alcohol for 48 hours. I then scrubbed the now softened varnish off with alcohol and a soft cloth. I removed the 2mm of old nasty cake from the bowl. The stem was brown and looked like hell. I used polishing compound and a lot of elbow grease to get it back to shiny black. Then I applied 2 coats of Carnuaba wax to the briar and hand buffed it with a soft cloth. No power tools of any kind were used to bring this pipe back from the dead. I should have took close up before pix because the pix I have are from the actual auction I won the pipe from. The after pix do it no justice. I couldn't get the shine from the briar to come through. The lines in the pipe are not cracks. They are in the design of the bowl. Here it is, as request. My now cleaned up Masterson Freehand. Not a bad pipe for a pipe that came free with a tin of Prince Albert tobacco in the 70's-80's.

I will learn to resize pix someday. lol I resized them on photobucket, but they always show up big.

 

[sjpipesmoker]

Nice turnout!!!

 

[wolfie90]

Beautiful pipe and a really good job. The razor in the background scares me lol

 

[ghost]

Great job! Love the shot on the keyboard.

 

[ssjones]

Nice work! I love a free pipe.

 

[vespertillio]

Good save sir!

 

[nightmarejones]

Nice job.

 

[shawn622]

The razor is from the auction pic. I didn't take it. lol I hijacked it. I will take pics in natural sunlight so the shine comes out. I just couldn't get a good shot. Thanks for the kind words...

 

[gwtwdbss]

Nice Shawn!

 

[fnord]

Shawn:
Lovely work breathing life back into this Israeli burner.
I picked up a Masterson several weeks ago and it really looks like hell.
You're reclamation job just prompted me to make mine my very next project. You did a swell job, friend. Unfortunately, I can't come close to the pretty grain you've got in your pipe.
Don't let anybody knock the old coupon/free tobacco pipes. I've got several and they're excellent smokers.
Fnord

 

[shawn622]

I haven't smoked mine yet. I dropped it in a jar of Grain alcohol to remove the coating for 2 days. I am giving it 2 days to dry out. Thanks Fnord!!

 

[shaintiques]

Wow that is a whopper

 

[jah76]

Nice restore. And you have a pipe bearer!
Squire bring me my pipe!

 

[cigrmaster]

Great work Shawn. I am always amazed at how people can restore a pipe. Looks like it will be a great smoker for you. Congrats.

 

[shawn622]

Yea Jah, My boys ghey like to help me fix them up. It is a bigun dave!!! Thanks Cigrmaster!!!

 

[cgrd]

Nice job! I too acquired a beat up dirty Mastersen. It took a soak in oxyclean, a few hours of elbow grease with a cloth & wax, a dozen pipe cleaners and the sacrifice of some Slivovitz to bring it back to life. Well worth it though, a gorgeous pipe that is super light but packs an hour's worth of tobacco.
Here's the before & after.

Chris.

 

[winterland]

Nice job to both.

 

[baronsamedi]

Great saves, guys! Another great pipe saved from the bone yard!

 

[fnord]

Wonderful recovery, Chris. You did well.
I'm curious about your appreciation of slivovitz. That's a pretty unusual drink this side of the Atlantic. How did you develop a taste for it?

 

[cgrd]

Thanks! Our city has a large cultural festival, and many countries set up pavilions around town, showcasing their culture, food and drink. I spent a very good night with many friends in the Slovakian pavilion. The first round of slivovitz was rough, by the third we were hooked.