Another refurb - a Dunhill Shell Briar that met a sad fate.

[ontariopiper]

Here's another refurb I recently completed. This Dunhill Shell Briar billiard came to me in an estate lot, and suffering from a poorly-executed past repair. At some point in the past the bowl had been broken off the shank and glued back on out of alignment.  It was also missing its White Dot stem, coming instead with a black replacement stem. The stem, however, was well executed and fit well.

The stummel as received:




And then this happened. The old glue gave out during cleaning.



I've written the entire restoration up on my blog for those who want the full story.

Dunhill Shell Briar Restoration on DadsPipes

As a teaser, here are a few pics of the finished pipe.




Thanks for looking!

- Charles

 

[eklektos44]

Great job! It really looks nice and it's wonderful to see a poor abused pipe brought back to life. Congrats! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

 

[ontariopiper]

Great job! It really looks nice and it's wonderful to see a poor abused pipe brought back to life. Congrats! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

Thanks! This one was a bit of a head-scratcher for me, as I'd never done a "re-heading" before. Working on an old Dunhill was also a bit psychologically daunting. This was one refurb I didn't want to take a step too far and end up with a mockery of a once-fine pipe. I took it slow, one step at a time.

 

[Richard Burley]

Wow. You've got way more patience--and skill--than I.

 

[ontariopiper]

Wow. You've got way more patience--and skill--than I.

More patience than skill, I think, Richard! I call myself a hobbyist at best. My wife calls me a "professional tinkerer" when she's not calling me other things! :lol: :lol:

 

[monbla256]

Man, THAT'S one FINE piece of work ya did guy !! Any idea as to it's age?

 

[ontariopiper]

Man, THAT'S one FINE piece of work ya did guy !! Any idea as to it's age?

Thanks monbla!

IF my deciphering of the remnants of the Dunhill stampings on the pipe are correct, I've nartowed the pipe's year to one of 1928, 1950 or 1969. Unfortunately the stamp that would tell us for sure has been obliterated by time and wear.

 

[riff raff]

nice work, seamless!

 

[ontariopiper]

nice work, seamless!

Thanks riff raff. The repair stands out to me, but I know where it is, I guess! My wife couldn't find it until she looked at the bottom of the pipe where I sanded less to protect the stampings.

So I'm happy with it. Any time I can fool the Mrs!! :lol:

 

[tslots]

Wow, great job on an abused Dunhill! Looks ready for a few more decades of use.

 

[AJ]

You took what looked to be a piece of crap and turned it into a rather nice looking Dunnie. I'm impressed.

AJ

 

[RobJ]

Very nice work, it looks like you've gotten pretty good at refurbs my friend

:cheers:

 

[ontariopiper]

Very nice work, it looks like you've gotten pretty good at refurbs my friend

:cheers:

Thanks RJ! I feel pretty good about this one but still consider myself a novice restorer. Thank goodness for the Internet and those smarter & more experienced than me who are gracious & generous enough to share their knowledge with the likes of me.

 

[juanmedusa]

The first time I snap a shank off like that it's going to be an emotional blow!

 

[ontariopiper]

The first time I snap a shank off like that it's going to be an emotional blow!

Ain't that the truth! I'm glad I was working on a pipe somebody ELSE broke!