Restored Byford

[craig61a]

I just finished this Byford that I picked up in a lot of old pipes I recently purchased. Looks like it will be a good smoker.

 

[weezell]

Good job on the resto...

 

[addamsruspipe]

Some very nice grain. Nice job on restoring that.

 

[ssjones]

Tell us about Byford, I've not heard of that name.

 

[ssjones]

Ah, I found this thread from last year.

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/byfords-pipe

 

[craig61a]

I hadn't heard of them either, until I got this one. Not a lot of info out there. Originally designed by Colin Byford, the brand was picked up by Orlik. I did find this online: Byford Patent
I would guess the pipe was manufactured in the late 50's, early 60's. This particular one has no fills, some nice wood, and is marked "Byford" in script with two shields below it on left side, "Made in England" on right side. It is a very well made pipe.

 

[fnord]

Great looking pipe. Please let us know how it smokes.
Fnord

 

[mawnansmiff]

If it has a strange looking aluminium tube in the shank and another that slides into it then I have a couple of them in my refurb box.
Weren't they big in South Africa at some point?
Regards,
Jay.

 

[ssjones]

Forum member Jensen sent me these two photos, thanks!

 

[mawnansmiff]

I've just realised it was a thread I had started that Al linked to. My mind must be going
Regards,
Jay.

 

[craig61a]

Let's go...

 

[ssjones]

That's a good looking piece of briar!

 

[craig61a]

So, I opted for Stokkebye English Luxury. Not an overly wet blend as received. Average number of relights, although I would let it sit for awhile as I smoked. Going through a break-in with it although it has some residual cake. As received the pipe had cake filling half the diameter of the bowl. Reamed it back to just under the thickness of a dime.
Overall the pipe smoked very well. The smoke was dry and plentiful. Sometime after I was done, I pulled the stem and gave both piece a light tap on paper towels to remove the condensate. Several drops worth were expelled, mostly from the stem side. A very nice smoking pipe.

 

[jensen]

Craig, what shapenr. is it.
Once, someone described it in our pipe magazine, in translation from Danish to something

like........" a pipe for the smoker who has passed as a small engineer"
Jørgen

 

[jensen]

By the way, you should monthly "The capillaries and stem may be washed in warm soapy water.A pipe

cleaner dipped in mouthwash or spirits and passed through the tubes and smoke holes will bring the

pipe back to a clean, sweet smoking condition"...........from the leaflet

 

[puffermark]

Yes, they are pretty common here in South Africa, and have a similar system to the Keyser pipes which were also marketed here. You can still buy new Keysers, but not Byfords as far as I know. Still quite common on the estate scene though as I say. Limited shapes, mostly straight Billiards (I think I recall seeing one bent). I don't have one, but given Craig's review I should maybe consider picking one up , as they are quite reasonable.

 

[craig61a]

This pipe has no shape number stamped on it. And I am at a loss for what that number would be.
I have smoked it 3-4x now, with English Luxury. It is very efficient at removing moisture, and I get a dry flavorful smoke from it, there is nothing to impede the draft channel, it all gets wicked away.
As for cleaning, I just do my normal procedure. After I have smoked it a few more times, I will use the big fluffy cleaners w/alcohol and just insert them in the channel and let sit overnight. That should pull out most of the gunk. That's what I did when I refurbed it, though it took several days and more cleaners.
I don't use soapy water as it tends to promote oxidation.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

How did I miss this? That is a lovely piece of briar :clap:

 

[stickframer]

That is a sweet lookin pipe! Sounds like a sweet smoking pipe, too. Very nice.

 

[txpiper07]

Beautiful pipe, glad to hear it sounds like it smokes as good as it looks!