I've been wanting to learn how to restore pipes so I thought I'd buy a lot of junky looking pipes on Ebay and use them to practice on. That way if I completely destroy them it won't be a valuable antique. I choose the lot I ended up purchasing for 2 reasons. 1)There were no old cobs included and 2) There was a Kirsten metal pipe which I've been wanting to try. There were 12 pipes listed and I ended up paying $60 for the lot.
When I got the box, a few of the pipes were in pretty bad shape, but most of them looked worthy of saving. The tenons were all very sticky, I even broke one off while trying to remove it and I cracked the shank on another, doh! Like I said these were for learning so it didn't make me too mad. I picked some of the nicer looking pipes and Kirsten and started restoring. I used a lot of tips I learned here. Thanks to everyone who has posted up a tip on this site!
So here is the lucky part of this story. After I got some of the pipes cleaned up I started doing some research on them and found that most of the pipes I have are pretty old. I'm guessing the original owner purchased them between 1930 and 1958. The 2 Kaywoodies both have 4 digit shape numbers which puts them pre-1938. The Sachs Honey Briar seems to be a house name for tobacconist Georges Sachs, who was in business 1920's to 1940's. The Kirsten, that lead me to buy the lot in the first place, seems to date between 1938 and 1958.
I thought they were nice pipes when I got them, but now that I know that they are least 50 years old I think they are even cooler. I know they aren't Dunhills or some other high dollars brand but I'm very happy to own them, I just wish they could talk and tell me their stories.
If anyone has anything to add about them I love to hear it. I enjoyed researching these pipes almost as much as I'm enjoying smoking them. :puffpipe:
The Kirsten pipe that started this. It has no O-rings which is what leads me to think it is an early model
Sachs Honey Briar.
Kaywoodie 7798 (The stem is still pretty bad on this one. I may try filling it at some point)
Kaywoodie 7713B Author
When I got the box, a few of the pipes were in pretty bad shape, but most of them looked worthy of saving. The tenons were all very sticky, I even broke one off while trying to remove it and I cracked the shank on another, doh! Like I said these were for learning so it didn't make me too mad. I picked some of the nicer looking pipes and Kirsten and started restoring. I used a lot of tips I learned here. Thanks to everyone who has posted up a tip on this site!
So here is the lucky part of this story. After I got some of the pipes cleaned up I started doing some research on them and found that most of the pipes I have are pretty old. I'm guessing the original owner purchased them between 1930 and 1958. The 2 Kaywoodies both have 4 digit shape numbers which puts them pre-1938. The Sachs Honey Briar seems to be a house name for tobacconist Georges Sachs, who was in business 1920's to 1940's. The Kirsten, that lead me to buy the lot in the first place, seems to date between 1938 and 1958.
I thought they were nice pipes when I got them, but now that I know that they are least 50 years old I think they are even cooler. I know they aren't Dunhills or some other high dollars brand but I'm very happy to own them, I just wish they could talk and tell me their stories.
If anyone has anything to add about them I love to hear it. I enjoyed researching these pipes almost as much as I'm enjoying smoking them. :puffpipe:
The Kirsten pipe that started this. It has no O-rings which is what leads me to think it is an early model
Sachs Honey Briar.
Kaywoodie 7798 (The stem is still pretty bad on this one. I may try filling it at some point)
Kaywoodie 7713B Author
