The only thing left was the bend on the new stem. It's about 3/4" shorter and thinner than the previous stem. IMHO, a much better look. Here's the final:
Note: These were limited edition pipes, so there were/are no replacements, so for me, a return was not an option. Soooo…..I had to do something about this huge divot in my brand new Peterson Iora 53 that I found lurking under their nasty bowl coating/concealer😖😖😖😖😖😡😡😡😡😡🤬🤬🤬🤬. I decided to remove the soft material and smooth out any sharp edges (sharp edges catch fire easier) around/in the divot. Luckily the hole does not go straight through to the outside…but it was damn close. There are several cracks also, but they may have been filled? with some putty? from the inside? They seem to be solid, as does the bowl’s exterior.
I could have used “pipe mud” (a paste of fine cigar ash and water) but I didn’t think it would be resilient enough to stay in place to keep a burnout from happening. A fellow pipe brother/pipe repairman gave me an old recipe for fixing cracked meerschaum pipes, a mixture of chalk and egg whites. I used the it on a briar estate pipe that had the whole front of the bowl crack out when I reamed it. I coated the full interior of the bowl of that pipe, it now has a solid bowl, but it basically ended up having a ceramic/porcelain lining. It smokes hotter than a two dollar pistol. Interesting, the crack pattern was eerily similar to what I see in this new pipe. Oh Oh😖. I decided to use a combination of the two repair methods on this new Peterson, a mixture of fine cigar ash and egg whites. I slightly “roughed up” the divot by poking the point of my dental pick around in it to hopefully give the paste something to hold onto. I only used the paste in the divot and a light coat over the cracked looking area. I did not need to reinforce the entire bowl. The other pipe that I repaired had very thin sidewalls…it was old and had been smoked back in the day when people smoked the hell out of their pipes. I think the chalk/egg white coating negated the benefits of a briar pipe and turned it effectively into a porcelain pipe…not the best for smoking tobacco. A hot wet smoking pipe to this day (I have only smoked it twice, and really only bought it because it is a rare pipe with a rare stem logo inlay that I like. I have been looking for another to replace it, but after looking through ten’s of thousands of estate pipes over the last ten years or so, I have not seen another. Back to the current pipe, here is the results.
Had a young guy call me yesterday with a broken stem/tenon. The local Tinder Box gave him my # and, long story short, he dropped it off at my place. I drilled out the broken tenon, turned a new one and it's like it was before. He said he wanted to pick it up at the STL Pipe Show. That way he has an excuse for his wife to go...😏
Well, you know how I always give a crappy looking pipe the benefit of the doubt and try to make it useful. I received this stummel from RNA Treasures for next to nothing. I bought a box of 12 for, we'll anyway, CHEAP! 3 I had to immediately throw away (split and cracked bowls). So I grabbed a stummel. Noticed it was badly scratched and gouged up, and no air hole or mortise had been drilled. I decided to see if I could make it into something useful... Notice the chip on the shank? I thought I could work around that...
Solid black, sanded the high points. Added ox blood, blah blah blah. Waxed, buffed and here's the final. It's a very light pipe, and if it smokes ok, 'll use it for a garage/yard work pipe...
@RockyMountainBriar Forgot to tell you. The above stem was rather dull and lifeless after years of just lying in a box. I used the stem polishing cream the same as the other stem. It greatly improved its appearance but again, didn't really "pop" until I used my buffing wheel. Also, this time I used a micro cloth to hand polish and it did a better job than the pad that came with it, IMHO. But again, it's the wheel that takes it up another notch...
Well this weather has me looking for stuff to do, so I grabbed another stummel from RNA Treasures. This one was knocked around a bit, but not too bad for about a buck and a half. It also was totally drilled, but the mortise was screwed up. Kinda like it slipped in the chuck while drilling. Plus on closer inspection, there was about a 1/4" long crack at the end of the shank. I'm guessing it occurred when the stummel slipped in the chuck.?.? Anyway, I had to cut the shank so I added a 1/4" ring to make up the difference. Selected a stem I've had over 10 years (didn't like the color) and turned it to fancy it up. I figure I'll be keeping it, or give it to one of my buddies here in the area. So that makes 2 finished and ready to go...
Grabbed another stummel. This one also was predrilled. Rummaged through my stems and found a used stem about the right size for the stummel. I had to remove the screw-lock tenon, then drill out the stem for a new tenon.
@opipemam Tnx buddy. Initially I could have been classified that stummel as a cutty (bowl angled out, higher rim in front than back, etc.), but since I had to cut 1/2" off the shank... not sure. Still, it turned out better than anticipated. I guess the the best thing to call these last 3 pipes, since I used piecemeal parts, are "Frankenpipes"?.?.🤔
I received my next project pipe in the mail today, an EBay win. It’s nice to get a nasty old used pipe in the winter here. Since it has been in the mailbox outside for a few hours, it’s like keeping it in the freezer. I pulled the stem as soon as I got inside and unboxed it….good thing, now that the pipe has warmed up, the stem won’t even try to go back into the mortise. A good scrub with Everclear should fix it right up, I hope🤞🏼. The bowl has a bit of cake and rim lava that needs to go as well. There is a slight darkening on the rear outside of the bowl right above the airway/shank that wasn’t really visible in the auction pics…damn, I hope it’s grime and not the start of a burnout. Oh well, $20 shipped. Oh, by the way, it’s a SUNRISE Amber Grain by Comoy’s, a shape #30 liverpool. Let’s get this party started🎉
Tools of the trade. All reamed and cleaned, ready for the buffer. I am not even going to need to re-stain it. I think the dark spot on the rear of the bowl was mostly grime. There may be a tint of darkening from heat, but the inside of the bowl looks solid, no spiderweb or charring👍🏻. The shank was tarred up and nasty, the alcohol did the trick, the stem fits perfectly. I did give the tenon a shot of dry graphite, just in case.
After a chilly trip to the buffer in my garage, she spiffed right up. I was looking, trying to find why this went to one of Comoy’s “second” lines. It does not have spectacular grain, but not terrible either. I did find the culprit though, there is a fill just inside the rim at the 9 O’Clock position in the photo with the rim top view, otherwise no other fills. I’m kinda bummed, the stem’s logo was really light before I even started the refurb, I buffed over it lightly, it is about the same as it was before I started….just visible. I highlighted it with a gold sharpie and wiped it. It’s supposed to be white, but I don’t have white, I would normally use a silver sharpie, but it was at work, so gold it is.
Reached into the box of crappy stummels and came out with a huge chunk of briar. Whoever was turning it just stopped and discarded it. After looking it over, I'm guessing I know why. They put too much space between the bowl and the shank. Consequently they knew an air hole couldn't be drilled (at least not the standard way). I graphed it out to scale and this was the idea I came up with...
I never attempted this type of drilling before but decided to give it a try. Managed to hit near the bottom of the bowl, so I then proceeded to drill the mortise and then drill the connecting airhole... It worked!
I then took a beefy oval-shaped stem and, after a good fit in the mortise, sanded and resized it to match the shank. You can see the plugged drill hole on the shank...
Comments
Here's the final:
Soooo…..I had to do something about this huge divot in my brand new Peterson Iora 53 that I found lurking under their nasty bowl coating/concealer😖😖😖😖😖😡😡😡😡😡🤬🤬🤬🤬. I decided to remove the soft material and smooth out any sharp edges (sharp edges catch fire easier) around/in the divot. Luckily the hole does not go straight through to the outside…but it was damn close. There are several cracks also, but they may have been filled? with some putty? from the inside? They seem to be solid, as does the bowl’s exterior.
I decided to use a combination of the two repair methods on this new Peterson, a mixture of fine cigar ash and egg whites. I slightly “roughed up” the divot by poking the point of my dental pick around in it to hopefully give the paste something to hold onto. I only used the paste in the divot and a light coat over the cracked looking area. I did not need to reinforce the entire bowl. The other pipe that I repaired had very thin sidewalls…it was old and had been smoked back in the day when people smoked the hell out of their pipes. I think the chalk/egg white coating negated the benefits of a briar pipe and turned it effectively into a porcelain pipe…not the best for smoking tobacco. A hot wet smoking pipe to this day (I have only smoked it twice, and really only bought it because it is a rare pipe with a rare stem logo inlay that I like. I have been looking for another to replace it, but after looking through ten’s of thousands of estate pipes over the last ten years or so, I have not seen another.
Back to the current pipe, here is the results.
I drilled out the broken tenon, turned a new one and it's like it was before.
He said he wanted to pick it up at the STL Pipe Show. That way he has an excuse for his wife to go...😏
I received this stummel from RNA Treasures for next to nothing. I bought a box of 12 for, we'll anyway, CHEAP!
3 I had to immediately throw away (split and cracked bowls).
So I grabbed a stummel. Noticed it was badly scratched and gouged up, and no air hole or mortise had been drilled.
I decided to see if I could make it into something useful...
Notice the chip on the shank? I thought I could work around that...
Waxed, buffed and here's the final.
It's a very light pipe, and if it smokes ok, 'll use it for a garage/yard work pipe...
Nice work👍🏻
Forgot to tell you. The above stem was rather dull and lifeless after years of just lying in a box.
I used the stem polishing cream the same as the other stem. It greatly improved its appearance but again, didn't really "pop" until I used my buffing wheel.
Also, this time I used a micro cloth to hand polish and it did a better job than the pad that came with it, IMHO.
But again, it's the wheel that takes it up another notch...
This one was knocked around a bit, but not too bad for about a buck and a half.
It also was totally drilled, but the mortise was screwed up. Kinda like it slipped in the chuck while drilling. Plus on closer inspection, there was about a 1/4" long crack at the end of the shank. I'm guessing it occurred when the stummel slipped in the chuck.?.?
Anyway, I had to cut the shank so I added a 1/4" ring to make up the difference.
Selected a stem I've had over 10 years (didn't like the color) and turned it to fancy it up.
I figure I'll be keeping it, or give it to one of my buddies here in the area.
So that makes 2 finished and ready to go...
Another excellent save.
Rummaged through my stems and found a used stem about the right size for the stummel. I had to remove the screw-lock tenon, then drill out the stem for a new tenon.
Well the shank is oblong and the stem is round, so I knew I was going to have to do some reshaping...
That's outstanding. Beautiful pipe.
Tnx buddy.
Initially I could have been classified that stummel as a cutty (bowl angled out, higher rim in front than back, etc.), but since I had to cut 1/2" off the shank... not sure.
Still, it turned out better than anticipated.
I guess the the best thing to call these last 3 pipes, since I used piecemeal parts, are "Frankenpipes"?.?.🤔
Well if they are Frankenpipes, you be the doctor.
Great refurb. I really like that shape.
Whoever was turning it just stopped and discarded it. After looking it over, I'm guessing I know why. They put too much space between the bowl and the shank. Consequently they knew an air hole couldn't be drilled (at least not the standard way).
I graphed it out to scale and this was the idea I came up with...
I never attempted this type of drilling before but decided to give it a try.
Managed to hit near the bottom of the bowl, so I then proceeded to drill the mortise and then drill the connecting airhole...
It worked!
You can see the plugged drill hole on the shank...