Tinderbox Restoration

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celticbrewer

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 16, 2018
101
17
Hey all,
Had a lot of fun with this one - tinderbox I found on ebay - looked in rough shape but I liked the grain. First time attempting briar dust fills for nicks on the pipe. Let me know what you all think!
Before

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After

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Close up on the fill

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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Those Tinderbox house pipes were excellent; my first pipe, which I still have and smoke, is a Tinderbox St. Ives, smooth bent pot. Still cookin' just fine.

 

celticbrewer

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 16, 2018
101
17
Thanks all! It came together well
mso, just had my first smoke in it -- amazing! Really appreciate this brand now.
All this one says is "london briar" not sure if there is much history to it as far as when it was made etc.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Not to repeat myself too much, but house pipes are most often from tobacconists and pipe shops who want to promote pipe smoking, so they want to sell really good smokers, even while they keep the price pretty low for first-time pipe smokers. So you tend to get a pipe above its price point. Some might have a fill or two, but most are high quality briar with well-drilled airways, and not bad looking. And many house pipes are better than that.

 
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agnosticpipe

Lifer
Nov 3, 2013
3,332
3,412
In the sticks in Mississippi
Nice pipe, and nice restoration too! I have a couple of Tinder Box pipes, both excellent smokers. One is a Verona which was made by Mauro Armellini for Tinder Box stores, and the other is a Unique which was made by Charatan for Tinder Box. Unless you're a brand name junkie, these sub-brands are found on the estate market for very reasonable prices and are hard to beat!

 

bnichols23

Lifer
Mar 13, 2018
4,131
9,554
SC Piedmont
Especially true for the Verona, Orley. :) It was much better quality & higher line than most of the ones like Selected, St. Ives , Unique, etc. At the time I worked for them I had no idea who Mauro was, or would've [probably appreciated his talent if I had. But I knew I liked the Veronas (had 3-4 of them BITD). Last summer I got incredibly lucky on eBay & picked up a couple of unsmoked ones in separate auctions -- still original packaging on both! I've got 6-7 currently & every single one of them is as fine a smoke as any I've ever had, AND they've got my nostalgia factor from my time behind the counter!
Plus after finding out about Armellini on these fora I made a point to start looking up ones he & family made under his own name after striking out, & they've all been stellar as well. Between them & the Veronas I've got 14-15 of his & it doesn't stop me from looking for more. }:)
The TBI house pipes I've seen over the years may have some flaws here & there, but I've only seen one since '74 that I personally wouldn't have had due to pits/fills. The McDonald's of pipes, possibly, but they did give a decent smoking experience to a lot of new smokers, far better than they'd've gotten from cheapo-beepo drugstore crap.
Bill

 

ron44

Lurker
Apr 20, 2019
5
0
A lot to be said for the pleasure & enjoyment of restoring one of those tinderbox pipes. Great smokers and pretty nice house pipes. They also bring back many nice memories of my early years of pipe smoking. Visiting local Pipe shops, the smells of the many tobaccos and eye-balling so many different factory pipes. It all leads to a lifelong enjoyment of the pipe smoking hobby.

Anyway, in a nutshell congratulations on your nice job of reclaiming an older pipe & putting it back on the smoking rack.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,565
27,065
Carmel Valley, CA
Pretty sure it's because they were uploaded to the old site, and those photos are not linked- hoping they will some day.

If the OP would repost a few here on the new site, problem solved.
 
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