On-going Restoration Projects

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George Kaplan

George Kaplan

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Woodworking has been an off-and-on hobby of mine ever since my dad gave me a set of scaled-down carpenter's tools for my fourth birthday. It's only natural, then, that I'd find some overlap with pipe collecting. Although I've never crafted a pipe from the block up, I've refurbished quite a few. Before joining this forum I didn't photograph any, so when I posted THIS thread some time ago:
https://www.brothersofbriar.com/t17291p15-can-this-one-be-salvaged
it was no surprise that everyone said it was impossible. (Everyone but Riff Raff. Thanks, bro. ;) ) While I didn't wind up with that particular Pete, I've managed to bring some life back to some pretty hopeless briars. I like a challenge, and nothing's more satisfying than finding something for five or ten dollars on Ebay that no one else wants, and seeing what I can do with it.

I thought I'd start this thread to share some of these pieces as I get to them. I've got one really nasty one (pics at the bottom of the thread linked above) that I'll post step-by-step photos of, but that one will have to wait. There are a few in line before it.


To start things off, here's one I just finished this week.
It's a Chippendale, which I am given to understand is a Ben Wade second, although I've had some trouble verifying that claim. For the pittance I paid, I don't really care.

Before...




And after




More pics coming soon!
 
From--

old-man-hates-justin-bieber.jpg


Becomes--

0831_ben_chippendale-1.jpg


:lol:

Nice one, GK

8)
 
More pics of "Chip".


Gunked up bowl, but luckily no real damage:




Most of the larger fills were around the center of the bowl, so the rustication pattern was decided for me:




There were more dents and scratches than visible here, but you can get an idea of how beat up this pipe was:




But you'd never know it now:












Here's some detail of the rustication I added:






Also, just to make my life more difficult, I thought I'd reshape the stem. Now, instead of of slightly tapering from the saddle to the bit, the taper runs the other way, suggesting an army mount. Also, the "saddle" portion has been "faceted" to taper from square to octagonal:



 
Absolutely beautiful work George! You sir are very talented. How did you do the eye catching rustication?
 
George,
That isone really great peice of work you have done with that one :p I really like the faceting you did with the stem. It all looks as if it was originally designed to be that way ! Keep it up :cheers:
 
Wow! You did a really nice job.

As long as you are on a roll, can you spin straw into gold Rumpelstiltskin?
 
I especially dig the re-worked stem. Bold move, but you pulled it off. 8)
 
Wow George I am fascinated by your restoration and ideas on how to overcome several obstacles. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

I have always favored rustication for flaws in briar, and can't stand putty fills unless they are covered by a nice piece of leather.

I am tempted to send you 3 or 4 pipes for restoration, cheating myself out of the pleasure in the process. lol
 
Wow, George. That really is nice work. And now it is a beautiful pipe. :cheers: Congratulations!!
 
George, I expected to see the same old cleaned up and buffed refurb pics, you redesigned a better pipe altogether very nice work.
 
Thank you for the compliments, gentlemen. It may interest you to know that I smoked some Marlin Flake in this last night and it's never tasted better. Probably my imagination, but so much of pipe smoking is just that, isn't it? ;)
 
I think it looked better before the resto. I'm kidding, it looks awesome George, darn fine job you did on it. Quite the talent you have there my friend.
 
George that's a pipe I'd buy! Beautifully redesigned. And this is a real compliment because I usually don't like pipes which are a mix of smooth and rusticated. Stunning!
 
Irish Mike":pepmqh0w said:
...How did you do the eye catching rustication?
Click to expand...
Dremel, dremel, and dremel. Several passes with gradually smaller bits. I think I used 7 in all.
 
Dutch":oqgh8djm said:
I have always favored rustication for flaws in briar, and can't stand putty fills unless they are covered by a nice piece of leather.
Click to expand...
I couldn't agree more. Although I favor a nice sand blast over most rustication, I'm not equipped to do that myself.
 
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