Refurbishing a 1947 Patent Dunhill Shell Briar

[davidsaulmarshall]

Hey y'all,

I just picked up this lovely Dunhill Shell Briar from 1947 off eBay for 50 pounds. It seems she was someone's favourite smoker because golly this pipe is gunked up! I've refurbished a few estate pipes in the past, so I'm not a total newbie, but I was wondering if any of our old timers (calling @georged) could weigh in on if any damage to the underlying briar on the rim can be seen and how you'd remove all that lava. Other best practices for restoring the pipe in general would also be appreciated!

Original eBay listing here.

 

[georged]

Hey y'all,

I just picked up this lovely Dunhill Shell Briar from 1947 off eBay for 50 pounds. It seems she was someone's favourite smoker because golly this pipe is gunked up! I've refurbished a few estate pipes in the past, so I'm not a total newbie, but I was wondering if any of our old timers (calling @georged) could weigh in on if any damage to the underlying briar on the rim can be seen and how you'd remove all that lava. Other best practices for restoring the pipe in general would also be appreciated!

Original eBay listing here.

I'm afraid you are deep into true restoration territory with that one (meaning cleaning alone won't be enough to get it looking new again).

Short of re-cutting the entire exterior to remove the "buffer smear-polished" look---something that's possible, but takes special tools and lots of practice---there isn't much that can be done EXCEPT clean the pipe, though.

Too bad that the decades of buffer-smear-polishing (many B&M customers were addicted to the buffer in the back room), wiped out most of the nomenclature. There's nothing at all to be done, there.

The stem looks patchable with blackened G-Flex.

Here's a look at re-cutting a Shell's rim that's in the same condition as yours:

 

[davidsaulmarshall]

I'm afraid you are deep into true restoration territory with that one (meaning cleaning alone won't be enough to get it looking new again).

Short of re-cutting the entire exterior to remove the "buffer smear-polished" look---something that's possible, but takes special tools and lots of practice---there isn't much that can be done EXCEPT clean the pipe, though.

Too bad that the decades of buffer-smear-polishing (many B&M customers were addicted to the buffer in the back room), wiped out most of the nomenclature. There's nothing at all to be done, there.

The stem looks patchable with blackened G-Flex.

Here's a look at re-cutting a Shell's rim that's in the same condition as yours:

Thanks for the input! the pipe is arriving tomorrow along with some sandpaper, a multi-head reamer, and some oxi-clean. I think I'm going to keep this restoration fairly minimal. Though I'm interested in getting further into the pipe refurbishment scene, I think I'm a bit too inexperienced (and lacking in tools) to attempt a re-texturing of the rim or a stem-patch. My goal for the time being is a good, clean pipe with an in-round bowl. I'm saving this YouTube channel for my next project!

 

[OverMountain]

Looking forward to seeing results on YouTube!

 

[AJL67]

My first question is 50 pounds of what?


Thank you thank you i'm here all week.

 

[georged]

My first question is 50 pounds of what?

Pssssst... if you think that's weird, they used to have farthings, guineas, pence, coppers, halfpennies (pronounced hayp-knees), and who knows what all else.

They definitely knew what they were doin' when it came to pipes, though.

And women. Can't forget the women.

 

[condorlover1]

Before the days of preferred pronouns and girls with huge crotch rockets!

 

[davidsaulmarshall]

Oxi-clean hasn't arrived yet, but I've managed to ream and clean up the stummel. Sadly some chuncks have been taken out of the rim by someone else's reaming knife

 

[davidsaulmarshall]

How bout it? All done!