The Wally Frank cavalier — from basket estate to centerpiece
2nd November, 2007 by gmdibos in Refurbishing
Pipe repairmen perform many tasks for their customers, but few match the satisfaction of saving a fine old pipe that’s been so neglected that many smokers would discard it. The key is knowing the difference between abuse and neglect. While there is some crossover—some types of neglect can indeed cause damage—often a pipe is structurally fine “underneath” its rough appearance.
The owner of the Wally Frank cavalier that’s the subject of this refurb project knew the difference. He picked it up on the estate market for a song, emailed to see if I agreed with his assessment, and dropped it in the mail.
The Patient
That’s it, pictured to the right. Items of note are that the stem is not salvageable, and must be replaced…
…and the rim has a number of smallish chips Also, the side of the bowl appears to have been marked by a felt tip pen:
Finally, the interior of the bowl is massively caked with carbon. The photo doesn’t show it well, but the chamber’s usable diameter is about the same as the flat end of an aluminum pipe nail. It’s a good bet that the full-length channel of the tubular shank was badly caked as well. (It was)
The good news is that few people would smoke a pipe this hard if it wasn’t a good smoker. The biggest risk in buying a pipe in this condition is that the bowl might be deeply charred or have some splitting that can’t be seen until it is reamed.
The Procedure
The first order of business is to simply clean the pipe. The quarter-inch cake is extremely hard, and the shank so blocked with tar that ordinary cleaning tools will have little if any effect. The best way to deal with such a situation is to not think of it as cleaning at all, but simply as an unfinished block of briar that needs further carving. Treated that way—using maker’s tools instead of cleaning tools—the pipe is quickly and easily rid of all excess material. Then, the dents and chips on the rim are expanded with techniques that use heat and steam so what’s “missing” re-occupies its original space.
In short, remove what isn’t wanted, and put back what is.
Here’s the result:
NOTE: Dents that actually cut the wood’s fibers, and/or chips where the wood is completely gone will never be 100% recoverable. What the wood decides to give back is all you get. (Shortening the bowl—a procedure known as “topping”—will leave a smooth, chip-free rim, but in the case of an English classic, is like burning down a barn to get rid of the rats. The change in proportion spoils the pipe’s line and visual balance.)
Next is to clean the bowl “back to wood” with the least amount of sanding possible. First, the deeply encrusted grime must be removed. Simple warm running water and a proper brush that won’t scratch but will remove the dirt is all it takes. The permanent marker stripe requires stronger measures. A complete immersion of the stummel—the wooden half of any briar pipe—in full strength denatured alcohol for 24 hours will usually do the trick, and in this case worked perfectly. Following that, a light, all-over sanding with 1000 grit paper to cut whatever glaze might be present, so the stain will be absorbed evenly.
When those steps are finished, it looks like this:
Making a high quality stem is too complicated to describe in detail, and requires specialized tools, but the concept is straightforward. True “hand cut” stems CAN be made from molded blanks, if a blank that is oversize in all dimensions can be found. If not, rod stock must be used. Here is the untouched blank next to the original:
The first step is to cut the tenon to the same dimensions as the old one:
And after joining to the stummel, carve it to the desired shape.
(In this case, the owner asked that the new stem be made as slender as possible through the bite zone for comfort, and less “wedge-y” than the original in profile.)
All that remains is to stain and wax the wood, polish the new stem and removable drain cap, and bend the stem to match the original.
The Result
The comments option for this blog is turned off for the time being—things are still new at Casa Precision, and there’s too much going on to make tending that particular garden appealing at the moment—but feel free to use the Contact page’s email form if you have any comments or questions.
Until the next workbench adventure, then.
All the best, and Great Smoking,
George