To restore or not to restore… that is the question.

[Wesley pipes]

Only these two remain. Hopefully not too many surprises!

 

[Wesley pipes]

That’s interesting looks like this maybe a replacement stem that someone stuck a stinger into… more like forced. lots of oxidation from the aluminum, kinda stained the briar, also it’s screwed directly into the wood… WTF. I could just clean and line It up but that doesn’t sit right with me. I’m gonna tinker with it A little and come up with a plan/solution. Then maybe get some Nair hair remover for the inside of that bowl… she lookin a little fuzzy and unkempt.

 

[Wesley pipes]

That’s interesting looks like this maybe a replacement stem that someone stuck a stinger into… more like forced. lots of oxidation from the aluminum, kinda stained the briar, also it’s screwed directly into the wood… WTF. I could just clean and line It up but that doesn’t sit right with me. I’m gonna tinker with it A little and come up with a plan/solution. Then maybe get some Nair hair remover for the inside of that bowl… she lookin a little fuzzy and unkempt.View attachment 438647View attachment 438641View attachment 438642View attachment 438643View attachment 438644

Y’all think them hairs turned white from old age?

 

[Alanon]

here She is! The stem will need to be shaped just a little. I added that copper ring to help taper it a bit more. Just like the rest of the “eBay special lot” after I finish the rough restoration on all of them, I’ll go into more detail work.View attachment 438632View attachment 438633View attachment 438634

Now that ring looks really lovely on the pipe! And the stem will fit nicely too once you shape it. I don’t know why but this one might be my favourite yet.

I’m glad you were able to salvage the liner. One thing I noticed only after you’d cleared the cake out it is that not only are the walls of the pipe very thin, but the liner is quite thin also.

So one more reason for leaving it as is. It’s better to leave a layer of cake than to break the meerschaum trying to get rid of it all.

 

[Alanon]

That’s interesting looks like this maybe a replacement stem that someone stuck a stinger into… more like forced. lots of oxidation from the aluminum, kinda stained the briar, also it’s screwed directly into the wood… WTF. I could just clean and line It up but that doesn’t sit right with me. I’m gonna tinker with it A little and come up with a plan/solution. Then maybe get some Nair hair remover for the inside of that bowl… she lookin a little fuzzy and unkempt.View attachment 438647View attachment 438641View attachment 438642View attachment 438643View attachment 438644

So you think someone actually fitted a screw-in tenon replacement stem on there? Interesting. Does the stem fit OK? From those early images it looks like it was formed for the neck? Would you risk trying to replace the whole thing or just remove the stinger and maybe leave the tenon?

Oh, and what you have there in that bowl is what I call aged fluff. It’ sa combo of dust, spider-webs, debris that’s been wrapped and stored in a static environment until it all congealed into... that. I see it a lot on pipes when thrifting, the worst part about it is how gross it looks.

Though I must confess these days I mostly move on and leave those pipes for younger smokers to restore. They have a more pressing need to get a pipe, and I’ve got too many already so it’s best to leave something on the table.

 

[Wesley pipes]

You’re not gonna believe this! Although it’s so obvious after it was taken apart. I tried to yank that stinger out and gently wiggled it a little herd/felt a tiny crack sound, and noticed it came loos! the female end had come out years ago, stuck to the stinger and was just used that way. Wow no matter how many pipes I restore, new surprises keep coming.

 

[Wesley pipes]

All that oxidation definitely made it hard to see, isn’t it so obvious now? I almost threw that stem in the stem box for future projects, tried to re-sleeve that shank and replace that stem. Honestly I could not be happier with this result.

 

[Wesley pipes]

Only these two remain. Hopefully not too many surprises!View attachment 438639

Maybe I jinxed myself with that last comment, makes me wonder what dark things that aluminum stem pipe holds.

 

[Wesley pipes]

So you think someone actually fitted a screw-in tenon replacement stem on there? Interesting. Does the stem fit OK? From those early images it looks like it was formed for the neck? Would you risk trying to replace the whole thing or just remove the stinger and maybe leave the tenon?

Oh, and what you have there in that bowl is what I call aged fluff. It’ sa combo of dust, spider-webs, debris that’s been wrapped and stored in a static environment until it all congealed into... that. I see it a lot on pipes when thrifting, the worst part about it is how gross it looks.

Though I must confess these days I mostly move on and leave those pipes for younger smokers to restore. They have a more pressing need to get a pipe, and I’ve got too many already so it’s best to leave something on the table.

I’d like to see more of them “young green horn pipe smokers” take on projects like this one. Would give them a more personal connection with them pipes they smokin. All of my favorite pipes of more than 170 in my collection are “ rescues” that I restored myself, some belonged to long lost relatives and friends, others so far gone they would otherwise go in the trash.

 

[Wesley pipes]

You’re not gonna believe this! Although it’s so obvious after it was taken apart. I tried to yank that stinger out and gently wiggled it a little herd/felt a tiny crack sound, and noticed it came loos! the female end had come out years ago, stuck to the stinger and was just used that way. Wow no matter how many pipes I restore, new surprises keep coming.View attachment 438653View attachment 438655View attachment 438656

when I looked inside the shank after I wiped it out I could clearly see it had bin like that for a long time.

 

[Wesley pipes]

So you think someone actually fitted a screw-in tenon replacement stem on there? Interesting. Does the stem fit OK? From those early images it looks like it was formed for the neck? Would you risk trying to replace the whole thing or just remove the stinger and maybe leave the tenon?

Oh, and what you have there in that bowl is what I call aged fluff. It’ sa combo of dust, spider-webs, debris that’s been wrapped and stored in a static environment until it all congealed into... that. I see it a lot on pipes when thrifting, the worst part about it is how gross it looks.

Though I must confess these days I mostly move on and leave those pipes for younger smokers to restore. They have a more pressing need to get a pipe, and I’ve got too many already so it’s best to leave something on the table.

I new something weird was going with that stem.

 

[Alanon]

All that oxidation definitely made it hard to see, isn’t it so obvious now? I almost threw that stem in the stem box for future projects, tried to re-sleeve that shank and replace that stem. Honestly I could not be happier with this result.

Yeah, it does make perfect sense now. I’ve seen those screw-in stingers before but mostly going directly into the wood, I really thought this time it was the right thread for the neck and wondered why someone would shove that stinger in...

The stem did look very well-fitted and original to me, but the rest of it felt quite strange. It’s amazing how old tars stick things together, like some glue.

What are you planning to do with it? Keep it and just glue in the metal ring and thread to the neck?

 

[Wesley pipes]

Right now I’m thinking, clean everything up really good. Put that thread and stinger back the way it was in the early pictures. Add a good amount of superglue to those threads, then use the stem,stinger,tenon and all, to thread it back into the shank of the briar. The way I see it, all the original parts are there and the stem is only unaligned just slightly so I’ll fix everything in one go… hopefully it goes as smooth as all that.

 

[Wesley pipes]

Yeah, it does make perfect sense now. I’ve seen those screw-in stingers before but mostly going directly into the wood, I really thought this time it was the right thread for the neck and wondered why someone would shove that stinger in...

The stem did look very well-fitted and original to me, but the rest of it felt quite strange. It’s amazing how old tars stick things together, like some glue.

What are you planning to do with it? Keep it and just glue in the metal ring and thread to the neck?

Personally im Usually not a fan of stingers, although a few have made it into my collection. In this case I’m going to try to get it back as factory as possible for the next owner.

 

[Wesley pipes]

 

[Wesley pipes]

View attachment 438879View attachment 438880View attachment 438881View attachment 438882View attachment 438883View attachment 438885

As you can see, the surgery was a complete success.

 

[Alanon]

Right now I’m thinking, clean everything up really good. Put that thread and stinger back the way it was in the early pictures. Add a good amount of superglue to those threads, then use the stem,stinger,tenon and all, to thread it back into the shank of the briar. The way I see it, all the original parts are there and the stem is only unaligned just slightly so I’ll fix everything in one go… hopefully it goes as smooth as all that.

Nice idea! She does look factory now.

I’m also not a fan of stingers, but this one has an added function... I guess it makes much more sense to salvage it instead of replacing the whole stem, removing the threads in the neck etc... it would be a huge pain.

One thing I’m worried about is that dark spot on the briar? Whenever I see that I fear some sort of burn-through.

 

[Wesley pipes]

That burn mark is probably from spending time in an ashtray. The inside of the bowl is in Excellent condition. The briar itself has no flaws other that that external burn and a few dings

Nice idea! She does look factory now.

I’m also not a fan of stingers, but this one has an added function... I guess it makes much more sense to salvage it instead of replacing the whole stem, removing the threads in the neck etc... it would be a huge pain.

One thing I’m worried about is that dark spot on the briar? Whenever I see that I fear some sort of burn-through.

The burn mark is likely from spend time in an ashtray. The inside of the bowl is in excellent shape. In general the briar has no visible flaws other that that external burn and some dings and scuffs, also looks like a bit of white paint Here and there. probably not a very expensive pipe but is actually a nice piece of briar. If it wasn’t for the carving on the bowl I would consider keeping this one and maybe adding it to my collection but as a personal preference I usually don’t like carved bowls like that, I think it looks tacky, reminds me of those cheap bottles of vodka with the textured glass, so you don’t drop it when you get to drunk. This one should polish up nice.

 

[Wesley pipes]

That burn mark is probably from spending time in an ashtray. The inside of the bowl is in Excellent condition. The briar itself has no flaws other that that external burn and a few dings

The burn mark is likely from spend time in an ashtray. The inside of the bowl is in excellent shape. In general the briar has no visible flaws other that that external burn and some dings and scuffs, also looks like a bit of white paint Here and there. probably not a very expensive pipe but is actually a nice piece of briar. If it wasn’t for the carving on the bowl I would consider keeping this one and maybe adding it to my collection but as a personal preference I usually don’t like carved bowls like that, I think it looks tacky, reminds me of those cheap bottles of vodka with the textured glass, so you don’t drop it when you get to drunk. This one should polish up nice.View attachment 438898View attachment 438899View attachment 438900

I do sometimes like carving On briar bowls, like this one. I restored about 7 years ago, I think the pattern looks nice. This pipe had about a half inch of cake all the way around the bowl, No stem, Was covered in gunk, and had huge Crack in the shank.

 

[Alanon]

I do sometimes like carving On briar bowls, like this one. I restored about 7 years ago, I think the pattern looks nice. This pipe had about a half inch of cake all the way around the bowl, No stem, Was covered in gunk, and had huge Crack in the shank. View attachment 438902View attachment 438903View attachment 438904

That’s some nice work! I’m quite impressed with how you can replace stems and find enough good ones that fit in so well.