I recently acquired a job lot of vintage pipes and some were in better condition than others. One attractive little briar that I put to one side as a possible ‘chuck-out’ was a London - made Masta pipe. It was in a bad way with broken mouthpiece and as yellow as mustard, thanks to years of oxidization. A bleach bath soon restored the original black finish, yet the damage remained.
Nevertheless, not being one to admit defeat lightly, I set
about trying to fix the badly damaged mouthpiece. I used resin and powdered
charcoal to craft a suitable shape. I also used masking tape to build up a lip
at the end of the mouthpiece. Bamboo sticks pasted with Vaseline ensured that the
draw hole would not get clogged up as I worked up the desired shape.
The end result is in no way a great professional refurbish and I may undertake more work on the Masta in future. However, this is now a reasonable looking little briar that will serve well as a tough classic fishing pipe.
I believe that Masta was a brand founded around 1900. When Parker Hardcastle Limited was formed in 1967, they also incorporated the Masta Patent Pipe Company. From then on this was a Dunhill/Parker/Hardcastle offshoot.
Check out the 'Pedalling Piper' on YouTube, for more on pipes, pipe tobaccos, etc...
No comments:
Post a Comment