Cleaning out the bowl

The "Bonus" 313 Pete (see below) was rather yucky on the inside, so I had to ream it down a bit, but that still didn't help so I decided to try the old salt-and-liquor trick.

It is done by filling the bowl with salt and wetting it with the strongest neutral liquor you got available. Well, I had bought a small flask of 60% (120 proof) Explorer Vodka on the boat from Norway for just this kind of stuff!

I balanced the bowl without the stem in a small Alessi ashtray that was just made for the purpose, it seemed. I then filled the bowl with rough salt and topped it with finer salt that I vibrated down in between the coarser grains until both the sump and the tobacco chamber both were packed with salt.

I used a shot glass and a straw to dispense just about the right amount to thoroughly moisten the salt so as to not let the bowl run over.

I then sat it to the side for about five hours. I had a bit of a chore getting all the salt out as some of it had staled and hardened in the smoke channel between the chamber and the sump (after all, the 313 IS a system pipe, right?).

I had to pour some more vodka down into it and splosh it a round a bit as I poked into the black mess with a pipe cleaner. Finally it broke lose and I could rinse the bowl once more with vodka which came out looking more like rum...

Attempt to refurb

In an eBay strike of gold the other week I purchased a pipe rack. As a bonus, I received all the six pipes that were in it. They were all fairly worn and dirty, but one shape caught my eye. Could it be...? Yes, indeed a Peterson System 313!

It was smooth and bleached with lots of paled bird's eye to one side and a metal ring reading "K&P PETERSON'S" and three hallmarks that are kinda vague but could resemble a pentagram or a shamrock, a cat or fox lying down and a lighthouse or a mushroom on it.
On the wood there is "Peterson" in an arch over "...YSTEM" in an arch over "...ANDARD". Parts of the text are gone.

On the other side it says "MADE IN THE" over "REPUBLIC" over "OF IRELAND" over "313".

The P-lip stem is heavily oxidised and a cafe-au-lait light brown color, and has some indentations close to the button.

I'll make an attempt to bring this pipe back to life as soon as possible - keep an eye out for a report...

Bornholm pipemaker

Went to Bornholm, Denmark, for a late winter/early spring sea trout fishing trip with my brother and two friends. Had a great time though the conditions were tricky. Windy and cold weather made casting and fishing a chore. Water held only 4,6 C which means the fish were sluggish to say the least.
We got along pretty well anyway in our rented cottage cooking food, drinking beer and having a good time in the evenings, accompanied by many pipes. three out of four smokes a pipe so we decided to try and find time to see the famous pipe maker on the island, and check out his lovely little combined workshop/shop in Svaneke on the NE of Bornholm.

The days passed by as we fished blank, and suddenly it was Saturday lunch. Let's go to Thurmann's! It was closed. We left on Sunday.

The pipes looked great though, and I got to see Björn's famous Fly Fisherman's Pipe which includes a stem made of a piece of a split-cane (bamboo) fly rod and some feathers from the famous (but now very rare and therefore protected as wild, the feathers can be gotten at a high price from farms specialising in) jungle cock.
Just my cup of tea! but a tad pricey for my budget...