Blog by Steve Laug
I think that it is very good for me too acknowledge issues that come up with pipes that I have restored and sold. It has been done before, and I will continue doing it to keep my integrity as well as my humility. My mom used to say confession is good for your soul. This has been proven to be true over and over. This confession is something that I have never had the need to make before. Thankfully, I have had this particular “mess” happen to me only once in 30+ years. I sold a Peterson Irish Second 05 Calabash Calabash to a Michigan resident. It was a substantial piece of briar. The bowl itself was beautiful, despite the imperfections and fills. He was in love with it, and wanted it. It was in perfect condition. I checked it thoroughly before sending it. It was satisfactory so I packed it and sent it off to him. I received an email from him asking me for a call. He wanted to talk about his pipes and it took him several days to receive it.
After exchanging pleasantries, I called him and he told me the details. After smoking the pipe twice, he noticed smoke coming from the back of the bowl through a crack in his thumb. This made him realize that the smoke was also coming from the front and left sides of the bowl. He examined the cracks and found that they had formed during his smoking.
I was stunned. I had thoroughly checked the bowl inside and outside and could not find any cracks. To make sure it was clean, I returned the bowl to its bare briar. Our best guess was that the heat of the burning tobacco had opened cracks in the cake, which we were unable to see before. They seemed quite long and large from his description. I offered to replace the pipe and suggested that it be used for firewood, but he was not interested. He wanted me to fix the pipe so that he could continue smoking it. He was very certain that this was the right course of action. I sent him the replacement and asked that I mark the cracks on the back for me so I knew what was missing. He said that he would send it out the following week.
It seemed like an endless waiting game for the pipe to arrive. After at least 10 days, his package finally arrived. When I opened the package, I was a little shocked. He chose a great box. It had Dr. Sasquatch, smoking a pipe and wearing an excellent smoking jacket printed on it. It was brought to me and I opened it. I took the pipe out of its protective wraps and unpacked it. To his word, he had marked the bowl areas with yellow chalk so that I wouldn’t miss them. When it arrived, I took photos. These photos are included below.
I examined the whole bowl using a bright flashlight and a lens. I also looked inside the bowl for cracks or crevices. I used a black Sharpie to mark the edges of every crack I found on the bowl’s outside. There were 16 marks left on the briar, both inside and outside the yellow chalked areas.
To be sure, I double- and triple-checked my briar. The good news is that I found them all! The good news was that I had! The cracks appeared to have become spidered by the heat. I was trying to stop that from happening. 
I traced the cracks with a dental pick. I filled the cracks with briar dust, clear super glue, and pilot holes. I used a spatula to push the dust into the cracks and holes. The process is simple. First, I spread some CA glue on the surface and then I use the spatula for pushing the dust into any glued areas.
I completely forgot to take photographs at this point. I will tell the story through my words. To smoothen the areas and blend them in with the surrounding briar, I used 220 grit sandpaper. To polish the bowl, I used micromesh sanding plates. I didn’t want to cover them, just smoothen them out. Once I finished I rubbed the bowl down with some Before & After Restoration Balm and let it sit for ten minutes then buffed it off with a soft cloth. The bowl turned out pretty nice.
The inside of the bowl needed to be addressed. JB Weld is the only product that I can use to fill the cracks in my bowl walls. It does not gas out in heat and dries quickly. It is neutral and serves as a heat barrier when smoked. To ensure that the bowl was clean, I used alcohol and cotton pads.
I mixed a batch JB Weld on a piece a paper and used a small toothpick to combine the two parts. 
To keep the product out of the airway and ensure that it didn’t fill it with the product, I used a pipe cleaner to dole out the product. I applied it to the bowl’s walls using a dental spoon.
I then checked the coverage inside the bowl using a bright light. It was evenly spread to the walls as well as the bottom of bowl. It had to cure. It was left in a pipe rest for 2 days to harden. 
After the repair was complete and it was hardened, I sanded it using my Dremel with a sanding drum. I returned it so that the JB Weld was still in the cracks and crevices, and the briar was smooth. I further sanded it with a piece 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. The bowl surface should be smooth but not too rough that it would allow a cake to build on top. Although it is difficult to describe, I can feel what it feels like. I cleaned the bowl with alcohol and a cotton pad.
The bowl was now clean, much cleaner than the photo above. I made a batch of the bowl coating. I mixed sour cream with charcoal powder. I mixed them together to create a black paste. Two teaspoons of sourcream is enough to make a black paste. The coating, which is as odd as it sounds, does not have a strong smell and helps to create natural cakes. I used a pipe cleaner to clean the airway. To paint the walls and bottom of my bowl, I used a folded pipe cleaner. The bowl was placed in a pipe rest to dry the coating.
The beauty of the mixture’s drying process is that it turns black. These photos were taken after it was dry to the touch. It still has light grey streaks, but these will disappear once it’s fully hardened.
To make it shine, I gave it multiple coats with carnauba oil and polished it with a buffing pad. To increase the shine, I used a microfibre cloth. It will sit for a few days more to dry thoroughly before it goes to Michigan to my patient customer, who will enjoy the smoke and enjoyment. 
