The classic Gourd Calabash on the table came to me a few days before Christmas in 2018, when my wife and I were in the US from Bulgaria to celebrate the holidays with family. I was anxious to do some ‘pipe picking’ and so the family went on a ‘picking’ day together. One place we …
Continue reading Mending Shank Cracks to Revive a Gourd Calabash – Austria
The next pipe on the work table came out of the box with some obvious issues. The Chap Ecume had tape wrapped around the shank which is a sure sign of a crack or fracture of some sort. It came with the ‘French lot of 50’ I acquired from a seller in Paris, France, in …
Continue reading Rescuing a Chap Ecume of Saint-Claude: A Broken Shank and Meerschaum Lining Repair
The Savinelli Punto Oro on the table has special sentiment attached to it. It came from a friend and colleague in Bulgaria. Jacob is a husband and father and also a pipe man that knows his tobaccos and pipes. Whenever I have a question about trying a particular blend or brand, he’s the one I …
The Big-Ben Commodore came to me in January of 2017 from a seller in Connecticut. The Pear shape is unique, and I liked the oval shank with just a touch of bend for the stem. The bid was sufficient and the Big-Ben made its way to the ‘For “Pipe Dreamers” ONLY!’ collection benefiting the Daughters …
Continue reading A New Button After Amputation for a Big-Ben Commodore 413 A S Made in Holland
This unique pipe came to me in what I have called the French Lot of 50. I acquired it from the French eBay auction block and it has yielded many great collectable pipes for stewards who commissioned them from the For “Pipe Dreamers” Only! collection. The picture below shows the French eBay seller’s presentation – …
Continue reading Fashioning a Replacement Stem for a French Gentleman No. 1 Rusticated Horn Pocket
My wife and I love to travel. Ever since returning from living in Bulgaria for 15 years – and before that in Ukraine and Spain, our 30 years living in Europe has made it difficult to stay in one place for long. This introduction is to serve as the backdrop for the next pipe on …
Continue reading A Utah Camping Trip Restoration of an Unbranded Bent Dublin
The next pipe on the worktable is another interesting pipe that came from what I have called the Lot of 66. These pipes became part of the ‘For “Pipe Dreamers” ONLY!’ online collection back in September of 2017. The huge lot came from a charitable organization in Texas that has thrift stores where they take …
Continue reading Repairing 14 Fills to Revive this 70s/Pre-70s Savinelli 4015 Slim Dublin
This Republic era Kildare came to me in one of my first larger acquisitions in September of 2017 when I landed a lot of 66 pipes on the auction block. The ‘Lot of 66’ came from an NGO in Texas called ‘The Caring Place’ – an organization that takes donations and resells to help the …
Continue reading A Rim Rebuild Resuscitating a Republic Era Peterson’s “Kildare” 86 Apple
It’s fitting that the next pipe on the worktable is another well-known Italian pipe name, Savinelli. Pipe man Gary from North Carolina added this Italian to the Brebbia Portofino, which came out great. In the research drilling down to understand the origins of the Brebbia Portofino line, I discovered that this production line was an …
Continue reading Sprucing Up a Classy Savinelli Silver 111 KS Italy Billiard
After a 1 month and 9-day road trip covering 1400 miles I’m finally back at the worktable. My wife and I visited several churches, family and friends in our trek that went east from Colorado. We pulled our Forest River R-pod and camped along the way. In addition to our visits, we were able to …
The Pipe Steward 