I picked up a very large old Bertram billiard off ebay a couple weeks ago. It cost $15 shipped. It was dirty with a brown stem, but something about the shape and the grain spoke to me.
I'm somewhat new to pipes (a little over a year since my first smoke) and I know I smoke too fast and haven't quite got it down yet. I've spent some money on new pipes, but I've learned that the older the pipe the more appeal it has to me.
So here are the obligatory before pics (from ebay):
So I did two rounds of the cotton balls with Everclear thing in the bowl. I soaked the stem in Oxyclean. I bought some Micromesh strips from a local woodworking store and a cotton polishing bit from Harbor Freight.
I polished the stem up with from 2000 to 12000 Micromesh. Then I put some fine Quick-Glo on it and took to it with the polishing bit and a cordless drill. It isn't perfect, but it is certainly black and certainly nicer than how I received it.
The Everclear seamed to soften all the black crud inside the bowl. I took to it with paper towels. No reaming seamed to be needed. I used the micromesh on the rim of the bowl and it removed all the crud up top. It left rim appearing bare. I used Denicare briar polish on the rim and it brought the color right back. I then polished a slight amount into the rest of the briar and then took it to the drill polisher. Good grief it turned out beautiful!
Here are some after pictures:
So now that it looked good and felt good in the hand the one thing left to do was seen how it smoked. Well, I had a beautiful old American pipe so only an appropriate American blend would do.
I loaded it up with some Prince Albert and sat out in the morning breeze coming off the bay (yes, I know not ideal for smoking). Mind you this is a very large bowl and I finished it in thirty minutes. I'm not sure if it was the breeze or my fast smoking, but even so the pipe smoked cool and dry, no gurgling. If pipes teach me nothing they will teach me to be patient and to slow down and enjoy something for simply what it is. Sitting on the porch, for just a brief moment, between the feel of the briar, the view of the water past an oak tree and the smell of the tobacco, I felt transported in time, just for a moment.
I'm incredibly happy to have this pipe in my collection. I'm going to have to find some more.
I'm somewhat new to pipes (a little over a year since my first smoke) and I know I smoke too fast and haven't quite got it down yet. I've spent some money on new pipes, but I've learned that the older the pipe the more appeal it has to me.
So here are the obligatory before pics (from ebay):
So I did two rounds of the cotton balls with Everclear thing in the bowl. I soaked the stem in Oxyclean. I bought some Micromesh strips from a local woodworking store and a cotton polishing bit from Harbor Freight.
I polished the stem up with from 2000 to 12000 Micromesh. Then I put some fine Quick-Glo on it and took to it with the polishing bit and a cordless drill. It isn't perfect, but it is certainly black and certainly nicer than how I received it.
The Everclear seamed to soften all the black crud inside the bowl. I took to it with paper towels. No reaming seamed to be needed. I used the micromesh on the rim of the bowl and it removed all the crud up top. It left rim appearing bare. I used Denicare briar polish on the rim and it brought the color right back. I then polished a slight amount into the rest of the briar and then took it to the drill polisher. Good grief it turned out beautiful!
Here are some after pictures:
So now that it looked good and felt good in the hand the one thing left to do was seen how it smoked. Well, I had a beautiful old American pipe so only an appropriate American blend would do.
I loaded it up with some Prince Albert and sat out in the morning breeze coming off the bay (yes, I know not ideal for smoking). Mind you this is a very large bowl and I finished it in thirty minutes. I'm not sure if it was the breeze or my fast smoking, but even so the pipe smoked cool and dry, no gurgling. If pipes teach me nothing they will teach me to be patient and to slow down and enjoy something for simply what it is. Sitting on the porch, for just a brief moment, between the feel of the briar, the view of the water past an oak tree and the smell of the tobacco, I felt transported in time, just for a moment.
I'm incredibly happy to have this pipe in my collection. I'm going to have to find some more.
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