I received this stubby poker made by Brian Doran for Christmas its a shape I’ve wanted for some time. I couldn’t find much information on the pipe maker, other then his EBAY actions. He’s from West Virginia and makes affordable pipes for the working man. My wife purchased the pipe as an estate from a separate seller it was listed as clean and ready to smoke. The pipe it self seemed it had more to offer.

The facelift

The pipe was pretty clean but the chamber had cracks/pits that would need mud, the rim had a strange rustication done with a dremal tool. It had more potential it just had to be uncovered.

I started by topping the bowl with 150, 220, 400 grit sandpaper then 1000 to finish the rim off. I uncovered imperfections in the wood, it seemed insects may have made there home here first. I was able to remove all but one on the rim, I’ll say it adds character.

After topping the bowl I decided to sand the stummel with 1000 grit sandpaper to add a little depth in color. I restained the rim and stummel with a light brown touch up marker, allowing it to dry and removing the excess with a alcohol dampened makeup pad. The stummel and stem were now ready for a buff.

Before hitting the wheel I wanted to address the chamber, I mix a batch of pipe mud to fill in the pits, using cigar ash and a little water and smoothing it around the chamber with my finger.

Complete

Finished her up on the wheel with white diamond,  a few coats of carnauba and a microfiber hand buffing.