Is This Worth Restoring?

[Byrd]

This old bison pipe was given to me by a friend. I've seen them around but know nothing about them.
I've reamed the bowl, cleaned the stem but wonder if it's worth going any further?

 

[TheIronMonkey]

Is it missing both horns? How about the other eye? It might be a fun project to fabricate/recreate the missing parts. That will depend on how much research and effort you want to put into it being accurate and if you think you’ll enjoy doing any of that. These kinds of pipes are not usually expensive; some are collectable to completists. I would say smoke it and see how well it performs for you. It’s already a functioning pipe. The rest will be about cosmetics. Do you think it’s worth going further?

 

[Chris T]

I have no idea what that is, and don't know what you mean by "worth it," but it looks pretty cool, and you've already got a start on it, so why not keep going? Might be a good pipe, and if you're not trying to regain money spent on it or something, it would be an opportunity to try different options with the restoration, or modification even.

 

[ashdigger]

Anything is worth restoring if you try hard enough.

 

[Byrd]

LoL! Thanks for the replies! It's got both eyes but both horns are missing. I'm smoking it right now and it's a doing well!
I'm not going to try and resell it. It'll be a fun project.

 

[agnosticpipe]

As long as it smokes good for you, I say keep it and smoke it as is. It looks fine to me but you could modify it a little by drilling through the missing horn holes to give you a place to keep a pipe cleaner.

 

[Pypkė]

What an unusual pipe. Seems that you really like this pipe, so any effort you put into it will certainly be worth it.

 

[xrundog]

If you’re going to smoke it you should expend some effort on it. Why not?

 

[Hillcrest]

It looks to be in good condition and you said it smokes good. Maybe make it a rainy day or snowy day project over the winter: "What are you doing ?" "I'm workin' on something !"

 

[Chris T]

OP, I'd like to see a picture of it a few weeks from now!

 

[Byrd]

Ok, you've convinced me to give it a shot.

 

[GKChesterton]

Yes.

Ok, you've convinced me to give it a shot.

good man.