Old Dominion Stack Billiard Refurb (huge post w/lots o' pics)

[piffyr]

As I understand it, Old Dominion was a private label pipe brand of a chain of Tinderbox-like tobacco stores of the same name located here in Virginia. This particular Old Dominion billiard is a bit special. It belongs to a friend of mine and it was the first pipe that his wife ever gave him. An unfortunate fall snapped the stem off at the tenon and also took a chunk of briar out of the shank.
Even before the fall, the pipe had some issues. There were several large fills in the bowl, especially near the front foot where a few had shrunk significantly. When the rim was cleaned up, it revealed some charring at the back of the bowl.
Here's the pipe on arrival:

 

[piffyr]

I topped the bowl by about 2mm and softened the inner bevel to take care of the charring on the rim. Then, I picked out the shrinking putty fills and refilled them to smooth the surface and better match the final stain.
Since there was a good amount of wood around the shank and the chip at the end barely penetrated into the mortise, I was confident in it's structural integrity. So, rather than filling the chip and banding the shank, I made a briar replacement instead. The process I used was very similar to what georged wrote about several weeks ago in this post.
I began by cutting a small block of briar that was slightly larger than the chip (about 8x4x4mm). I tried to match the grain as best I could, but at this small scale it can be difficult to read.
Next, I made a mold of the chip to use as a guide while shaping the briar block to fit. It's a lot easier for me to try to match the shape of the mold rather than working from the negative space inside the chip.
I shaped the block until it would fit firmly into the chipped area without any gaps on the sides or rocking at the bottom. Then, I epoxied it into place and let it cure before moving on to the next step.

After giving the briar block a few stress tests to make sure the adhesion was good, I used a Dremel to take off most of the excess wood. Once I was close to the surface, I sanded the new briar down until the entire surface was smooth to the touch without any bumps, dips, or snags along the joint. Then, I shaped the mortise chamfer and lightly faced the shank to finish up the repair.
It's not a seamless repair, but the grain turned out to be a good match and with a bit of new stain it's not at all obvious.

 

[piffyr]

I was given the freedom to restem and refinish the pipe as I saw fit. I wanted to class it up a bit as a nod to its sentimental significance. The new stem is a thinner and slightly wider version of the original. The staining technique was an experiment and I think it was fairly successful. The color of the pipe shifts from deep red-orange to bright yellow-orange depending upon the angle and intensity of the light. It's a very cool effect that doesn't really show up in the photos.
Here's the finished pipe:

 

[agnosticpipe]

Wow! What a great repair job! The pipe almost looks new again, and I'm sure your friend will be happy with the results. :worship:

 

[stvalentine]

Looks better than new to me! :clap:

 

[jpmcwjr]

Good work!
Did you sand down the surface of the shank that's concealed when the stem is inserted?

 

[georged]

Anthony,
Hardcore pipe fixing---and by extension, hardcore pipe fixers---are getting scarcer by the day. Please stick with it. The deeper you go, the more rewards you'll find.
I'll PM you my phone number if you'd care to discuss this latest project of yours in greater detail.

 

[bpftc]

Beautiful refurbish job

 

[brian64]

Great work...stunning transformation! :clap:

 

[mso489]

Most impressive. Is the maker of this pipe the same group that has developed the line of reed stem corn cob pipes? I didn't know they were ever in the briar pipe business. The cob pipes are made from heritage corn and are great smokers in the historical style. I have two of them. This restoration is remarkable.

 

[danielplainview]

Oustanding work. Your attention to detail is impeccable. :worship:

 

[piffyr]

Thanks for the kind words, gentlemen.

Did you sand down the surface of the shank that's concealed when the stem is inserted?

Yep, jpmcwjr, I faced the shank face slightly. Not much. Just a small fraction of a millimeter. It's easy to leave a very slight pit or bump from sanding down the replacement briar, which would create a gap between the shank and stem. So, I just wanted to make sure that everything was even all the way around.

Hardcore pipe fixing---and by extension, hardcore pipe fixers---are getting scarcer by the day. Please stick with it. The deeper you go, the more rewards you'll find.

Couldn't stop if I wanted to, George. I think repairs give me the most satisfaction.

Is the maker of this pipe the same group that has developed the line of reed stem corn cob pipes?

I don't think so, mso489. I was told that they were in business until the late-80s/early-90s and may still have stores open in Virginia, though I can't find any evidence of them.

 

[beefeater33]

Well Done!!

It takes a special person to commit to that level of detail, and pull it off!! Hats off to you Sir! :worship:

 

[brian64]

Please pardon this brief thread interruption, but I must say that I find the above confluence of Dr. Frankenstein and Willy Wonka to be somewhat disconcerting.

 

[gtrhtr]

A great piece of craftsmanship.

 

[ericusrex]

How do you hardcore guys go about replacing the broken tenon?

 

[papipeguy]

Outstanding work. The pipe you cited that was done by George was my grandfather's Dunhill. These types of repairs are high art and you clearly have that gift. Thanks for giving hope to those of us in need of this service.

 

[piffyr]

How do you hardcore guys go about replacing the broken tenon?

In this case of this particular pipe, the original stem had a crack radiating from the airway at the break point. That made it unusable. So, the pipe got a completely new stem. If things had been otherwise, it would be possible to drill out the airway a bit at the stem face to open it up and epoxy in a new tenon.

 

[ejames]

Nice work Tony !!!

 

[mrmotoyoshi]

Excellent work Tony!