Wellington Churchwarden Refurb

Posted on December 11, 2017 by thecashkeepers

This was a nifty pipe that came to me in a lot that I purchased from an estate sale. It looked like it had been smoked once or twice but it still had a sale price sticker on the bottom of the stem near the button. I thought it was odd that it wasn’t removed when it was smoked. I’m not sure if it was the original sale price sticker or a second hand sale price sticker but it’s cool either way!

Here are the before pictures!

Stem
This pipe had quite a bit of oxidation. It looks like it had some water/liquid spots on it from long ago. Luckily I didn’t have to fight with tooth marks! A quick wet-sanding with 500 grit, 1000 grit, and 1200 grit. It was finished with a quick buffing of red tripoli and a buffing of carnauba wax. I did remove the sticker to gain uniformity in the vulcanite.

Bowl
Since the bowl only seemed to be smoked once or twice, there wasn’t a lot to clean out. I did a very light reaming and cleaned/sanitized it with q-tips and vodka. There were a couple spots on the outside that needed a quick buff, so they were also buffed with red tripoli and carnauba wax.

Here is the finished product!

The pipe turned out perfect! It’s hard to tell from the lights and reflections but the button end on each side of the stem turned out awesome! I can’t wait for this pipe to find a new home!

Thanks for taking a look!

Celius Root Pipe Refurb

Posted on November 20, 2017 by thecashkeepers

I must admit that I had never heard of the Celius Root pipes before I found this one in a large group of pipes I had purchased. When I first held it, I could tell that it was a nice pipe and it felt good in the hand. After doing some research, it turns out that I was right, it is a nice pipe line. This one says “Celius Root Denmark Pawn 19”. The stem was the main part that needed love but the bowl was already pretty good. Here are the before pics:

Stem
To get rid of the oxidation and the tooth marks, I wet-sanded the stem with 500 grit, 1000 grit, and 1200 grit. I then cleaned the inside of the stem with pipe cleaners and high proof vodka. The stem is finished up with a buffing of red tripoli and a buffing of carnauba wax.

Bowl
The bowl really didn’t have a lot of cake build up so I just did a light reaming. The reaming revealed a couple of crags inside the bowl and those drive me crazy. To get rid of the crags, I used a professional grade bowl coating on the inside to make it all even. Then I used some q-tips and brushes with vodka on the inside of the shank to clean it up. The crags on the rim all seamed pretty good without any burns or cake so I left it the way that it was. The bowl received a very light buffing of carnauba wax on the bottom side of the shank where it was smooth.

Here is the finished product:

Thank you for looking and feel free to let me know what you think of the finished product!

Savinelli Ed’s 506 Italy Pipe Refurb

Posted on October 30, 2017 by thecashkeepers

I found this “Ed’s” pipe in one of the lots that I purchased recently. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out who “Ed” was or why he had his own pipe line. But I noticed that it also had “506 Italy” next to the “Ed’s”. The more I looked at it, the more I thought that print looked like the Savinelli print. Sure enough, upon VERY close inspection, I found one of the Savinelli logos on the stem. It’s the logo that they used on some of their seconds lines that included a line and a star.

After thorough research on Pipedia and PipePhil, I was unable to turn up an definitive information. So in the end, I am not sure if this pipe was made for a specific shop or if it was made as a seconds line. In either case, it’s a pretty cool Savinelli. Check out the transformation below!

Before Pics:

The Stem
I used my usual method of wet sanding the stem with 500 grit, 1000 grit, and 1200 grit. This part of the pipe takes me the most time so I do that first. I was very careful to leave what was left of the line/star logo on the side of the stem. I finished by buffing with red tripoli and then carnauba wax.

The Bowl
The first thing I went to on the bowl was getting out the nasty buildup by reaming the bowl. After that, I sanded the top of the bowl. I started with a low grit of about 200 because the buildup was bad. I then went to 500 grit, 1000 grit, and 1200 grit to top it off. It looked as if the previous owner had took out a couple chunk of the inside of the rim when reaming long ago. To help even those out a bit, I took some 500 grit sandpaper and used my finger to help round it out a bit. I didn’t completely smooth it out because I hate leaving a chamber more oval than round. That’s all personal preference of course! I finished up by re-staining the top of the bowl. The bowl also got a quick buff of red tripoli and carnauba wax.

Here is the finished product:

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you liked the way the pipe turned out or if you have any information regarding “Ed’s” pipes from Italy!

Dr. Grabow Belvedere Refurb

Posted on September 29, 2017 by thecashkeepers

I received this pipe in a large lot that I purchased online. It turned out really beautiful and I hope that it finds a loving home. Check out the before pictures!

So here is what I did to make it all pretty again!

Stem
I wet-sanded the stem with 500 grit, 1000 grit, and 1200 grit. This process removes any grime and the oxidation off of the stem. Use an LED light and/or a magnifying glass to make sure you get rid of all of the brown (which is oxidation) on the stem. I then used steel wool to clean the metal tenon. The inside of the stem is cleaned with pipe cleaners and a high proof vodka.

Bowl
Oh man! This bowl had some major cake. I started cleaning the cake off by scraping it with a specially designed knife I have. After that I used a pipe reamer to remove the rest of the cake and carbon build up. The bowl was then sanitized with q-tips and vodka. The shank was cleaned with q-tips and vodka. The metal fitting in the shank was cleaned with steel wool.

Here is the finished product!

I hope you enjoyed seeing the finish product!

LHS Superfine Pipe Refurb

Posted on September 27, 2017 by thecashkeepers

LHS Pipes were never an expensive line of pipes but they have a pretty cool history. You can check out the info here: Piped

Here are the “before” pictures!

Here is what I did to spiffy this pipe back up!

Stem
As per my usual, I wet-sanded the stem with 500 grit, 1000 grit, then 1200 grit. This sanding removes grime and oxidation. It also shined up the stem logo. The steel tenon got a scrub down with steel wool. The inside of the stem is then cleaned and sanitized with high proof vodka. The stem is then buffed with red tripoli and a finishing buff of carnauba wax.

Bowl
The lacquer/stain had started to wear off a couple parts of the bowl, so I decided to strip it down to bare wood. I used the same sanding process that I used on the stem. I then reamed the carbon/charcoal out of the bowl. I left a thin layer of carbon, so the smoker wouldn’t have to start with bare wood on the inside. The bowl was then sanitized and cleaned with q-tips and vodka. The cleaning/sanitizing included the shank. The metal insert at the end of the shank also received some quick steel wool to shine it up. The bowl is finished with the same buffing process as the stem.

Here is the finished product!

I hope you enjoyed seeing the transformation! Please feel free to leave any comments or questions!

Kaywoodie Regent 04 Refurb (PC)

Posted on September 18, 2017 by thecashkeepers

This is a Kaywoodie Regent that I was able to trade for. I’m currently working on trying to collect every shape that Kaywoodie made in the Regent line. They are the only Kaywoodie pipes to ever carry a cumberland stem and I love ’em! This wasn’t too big of a refurb job. I left a little bit of blackening on the rim because I didn’t want to shorten the bowl too much.

Check out the “before” and “after” pics!

If you ever get a lead on any Kaywoodie Regents, please let me know! Thanks!

Wellington Pipe Refurb

Posted on September 13, 2017 by thecashkeepers

This pipe came to me from a friend who had purchased it online. He asked that I make it clean and beautiful again. It was a pleasure to work on this one. I did ask his permission to remove the stain because I could tell it had some beautiful grain underneath. Here are the “before” pics:

Stem
I used my usual method of wet sanding the stem with 500 grit, 1000 grit, and 1200 grit. This part of the pipe takes me the most time so I do that first. I was very careful to leave the logo and the “Wellington” name on the top of the stem. I finished by buffing with red tripoli and then carnauba wax.

Bowl
The first thing I tackled was removing the stain from the bowl. This take a little while but I follow the same process that I do for the stem to remove the stain and leave a smooth, silky finish. I topped the bowl with the same sanding grits. Then the bowl was reamed and sanitized with vodka to remove cake and carbon. I also went ahead and cleaned/sanitized the shank at that time. The metal cap on the shank has a couple small hairline cracks which made it loose on the shank. I cleaned the inside of the metal cap and reattached in to the shank. Once the debris was removed from the bowl I used a professional grade bowl coating to take care of a couple of imperfections on the inside. The bowl is finished the same way that the stem is, a buffing with red tripoli and a buffing with carnauba wax.

Here is the finished product:

Thanks for reading!

W.O. Larsen Rustica Super Refurb

Posted on September 6, 2017 by thecashkeepers

This pipe wasn’t a tough cookie. It really just needed the oxidation removed from the stem, quick ream, and an overall buff. This puppy is on eBay here: W.O. Larsen.

Here are the before and after pics!

Before:

Kaywoodie “500” Pipe Refurb

Posted on September 3, 2017 by thecashkeepers

I finished up this Kaywoodie “500” yesterday and wanted to share the process! This pipe didn’t have a ton wrong with it. The bowl was in good shape, the rim had a little blackening/char, and the stem had some oxidation that had to be removed. So here are the “before” pics!

First thing I like to do is remove the oxidation from the stem. Every pipe refurbisher has their own style/way. I prefer to wet sand my stems with 500 grit (removes oxidation), 1000 grit (to smooth), and 1200 (to smooth). Here is what it looks like after that!

Then I steel wool the metal tenon to get off grime and run vodka/pipe cleaners through the stem.

I also steel wool the metal part in the shank of the bowl. These parts can get corroded or grimy. Steel wool shines it up quickly.

Next step is to tackle the rim. It always depends on the severity of the damage to the rim but this one just needed some light sanding with 1200 grit. Also, ream the charcoal/buildup out of the bowl to make it nice and smooth. Clean with q-tips and vodka.

Depending on how much sanding has to be done on the rim, sometimes it has to be stained/re-finished. So, I made sure that the rim matches bowl in color and shine.