Public Service Announcements:
THE PETE GEEK NEW ERA MLB BALL CAP EVENT
and–THE NATE LYNN PIPE RESTS are almost here!
(see end of post)
Nate Lynn’s Pete Geek pipe rests are on their way to me and should be shipping out to you late next week. I’m also crazy excited for a 10th Anniversary Pete Geek Event our own “Abba” Mark Hunt suggested at the Chicago Pipe Show–an MLB New Era 59FIFTY LOW PRO Pete Geek ball cap. These are the pinnacle as far as ball caps go, as New Era has been the hat maker for Major League Baseball since the beginning. More about this at the end of the post. But now, something amazing that I’ve never seen in the Pete Multiverse before–
A 305 Dublin System Transformation
by Nate Lynn CPG
After 2024’s dismal St Patrick’s day release I started thinking about taking an estate pipe and adding some St Patty’s day flair to it. I found this 305a (the dublin version made from c. 1979-84) on eBay for a great price and other than the oxidized stem and a slight bit of rim darkening it was in amazing shape.
I polished up the band first then removed it and started the process of stripping the finish. I did this by an alcohol soak, rubbed it down with some steel wool then did an acetone soak. I also wet sanded with acetone and 1200 grit to get the old stain out.
Finally ready for stain. I used Fiebing’s green and soaked it thoroughly.
I buffed the stain off with a cloth while it was wet as I didn’t want it to dry almost black.
Then I buffed it with polishing compound and carnauba wax and glued the band back on.
Then came the really fun part, could I mold, and cast a resin stem? I used a pipe cleaner to suspend in the middle of my the mold box.
After the mold cured I removed the stem to find a bunch of air bubbles, but I was not discouraged as I was knew there would be some clean up and polishing that had to happen anyway, what I most excited about was the Peterson “P” emblem showed so my future stem would have that as well. I mixed up some small amounts of orange and white resin, ran a scotch taped covered pipe cleaner in the middle of the mold to hopefully keep my future airway clean, poured it in and said a prayer to the Almighty God. When I opened the mold I was decently happy as I had a stem with an airway. What I wasn’t happy about was the amount of air bubbles that got trapped even though I vibrated mold for quite some time. So will be recasting the mold and the stem at my friends house who owns a vacuum chamber. That will remove the bubbles from it.
THE NEW DO-IT-YOURSELF MERIT BADGE
NATE LYNN’S PETE GEEK PIPE RESTS
WILL BE SHIPPING LATE THIS WEEK!
ELIJAH ROBERTS CPG is now companioning this incrredible Apple 132 System. When he wrote me asking if I could help with dating, I was stymied. It certainly isn’t the 86 Apple System from the 1950s! And I thought and thought, then finally put the matter on the back burner to let it come to boil on its own. And–it did! This shape number is originally from the Irish Free State-era, as seen in the mid-1920s brochure by Phillip Weiss & Sohns. How the shape survived into the Early Republic beats me, but there it is. Also, quite curious, notice the K&P in shields Maker’s Mark. As I’ve remarked in the Nickel Hallmarks blog post, during the IFS K&P was still using this second set of Maker’s Marks–the ones in shields as above–on nickel. They would soon reserve these for sterling only. So what gives here? I have no idea. Anyway, it’s certainly a rare Pete, and however it came to Elijah, to find it with that incredible tenon extension unbroken and intact–truly special.
THE NEW ERA 59FIFTY LOW PROFILE
PETE GEEK 10th ANNIVERSARY BALL CAP EVENT
There is nothing under the sun like a day at the ball park. Whenever I go, it’s like time stretches out while we’re sitting in the bleachers, a zen kind of experience. When Mark Hunt CPG suggested a ball cap for the Pete Geeks, all of us at the Chicago Show got excited. But which one? As we did our research, it became obvious that there is really only ONE ball cap–that made by New Era. And as far as the fasionista are concerned, the 59FIFTY Low Pro is THE hat for style, quality, and durability.
Above are the two options in digital pre-mockups I’ve made using New Era’s designs. New Era will provide a final digital preview that I’ll post when we place the order.
COST:
Price is $49.95 each including US Shipping for orders in the US
Price is $69.95 each including International Shipping overseas (this does NOT include any customs/import fees)
Fill out the GOOGLE FORM if you’re interested.
TIME: About 12 weeks from the time we place the final order.
MEASURING: It’s really, really important that you get a good measurement because these are FITTED caps. There’s a New Era measuring video below. Don’t rely on hats you already have; please take a fresh measurement. We had really good luck with the Dubliner Flat Caps last time.
Official New Era Sizing Chart–reference top line:
Watch this MEASURING VIDEO for more information.
Well done, Nate, a nicely transformed pipe, a far better St Patrick pipe than the 2024 official pipe in my humble opinion…
Thanks. I own a few of the 2024 St Pattys pipes as I’m a collector, but I was very disappointed by the green acrylic band. I cant wait to recast my stem again so I can smoke it.
I love that new SPD stem👍🏻. Well done sir.
That 132 is a beaut, very nice. Great find👍🏻
Good to see ya back here brother! 👍🏽
I agree.. WHAT A PIPE! 😍
Nice Cap´s I think I take two.
Elijah’s 132 is a beauty in its own right. That bone extension takes it over the top! In looking at the article, it reminded me of a 1909 straight billiard (?) that I have begun to steward. I cleaned it up only to find that the stem was threaded for an extension. Alas there was none. I have made a vulcanite one and am in the process of fitting it now. It would be interesting to identify all these similar straight pipes with extensions that lead up to the 31. Glad to share pictures with anyone who is interested.
Mark, Thanks for letting Nate tell his story of his resurrected St. Patick’s Day pipe. My 2019 St. Patick’s was actually painted green! The paint quickly bubbled up and flaked off. I really liked how it smoked, just not how it looked. I sanded off all of the paint and identification and stained it with the same green stain that Nate used. However, mine came out more brown than green, even after many coats of stain. You can see the green in the right light, and I know it’s there, but it looks brown to the casual viewer. I don’t… Read more »
Welcome It’s tricky getting rid of all that brown stain. A wet sand with acetone certainly did the trick as Peterson burns their stain in. I was worried that it might be a Frankenstein of a color. Luckily it turned out a beautiful green.
What an amazing old pipe Elijah has.
Can’t wait for the ball caps. It is too freaking hot for the flat cap right now. I will be happy to have a new Pete Geek hat for the hot months.
Nate I have to ask: how did you get the green stain to actually stay on the briar? Any time time I’ve tried to dye a pipe anything other than a shade of brown or black (and I also use Fiebings), the color wants to buff right off the bowl.
A good soak in acetone did the trick for me. Then I wet sanded it with 1200 grit paper but instead of using water I used acetone.
Hello Nate, and quite an intriguing transformation of that 305 into your own SPD creation. I like the concept of capturing the tri-color flag from the bowl and on through the stem. I’m a bit perplexed on the stem casting and mold making process though. But it looks like you have it all figured out, especially if you can eliminate the air bubbles. By the way, I wasn’t a big fan either of this year’s Peterson SPD pipe offering. What a fantastic pipe that Elijah has, truly remarkable with the bone tenon extension remaining intact and still with the pipe.… Read more »
When I do the new mold I’ll make a video of the whole process and ask Mark to post the link.
Nate- fantastic mods! Thank you for sharing them. Elijah- the 132 Apple- what a pipe. It is incredible! 😃 Mark, thanks for bringing this together every week for us to learn & be inspired! The hats look great! I remember you looking at one I was wearing in Chicago & saying you wanted a Peter Geek one like it where the back can be embroidered & show it while the hat bill is worn like ⚾️ catchers did when wearing a mask. Ya did it! Well done Bishop!🧢 They look great, & Nate, I agree it is far too hot… Read more »
Well done, Nate. The 2024 St Patrick’s day offering was/is hideous! Not about to buy one of them!
My 2024 St Pats are about to hit my smoking rotation and become my travel pipes.
When do we pay for the pipe rests?
Howard you’ll receive a PayPal invoice later this week. Gigi will start on them Wednesday or Thursday. They just arrived from Nate.
Sitting on my patio right now breaking in a new barley spigot with some nice sun bear reread the blog and thinking wow very nice result. I didn´t own a single green Pipe.
Which iteration of Sunbear? Personally I like the “Mountain Flower” it’s the best….so far…..for me🙂
Ah I see there are different versions out here. We have here, because Cornell&Diehl is new in Germany the TUPELO Sun Bear.
I own two tins, one to smoke the other I hope has great aging potential.
Please consider another run of Pete Geek coffee mugs!
Howard, I wish. We’d have to have 48 mugs to order. Same problem with the ball cap event. I don’t think we’re going to make the minimum.
I love the color scheme of the orange and green but the front is too busy for me. I’d be more interested if it were just the CPG clover logo on the front in white.
Hey Tim! thanks for your input. It doesn’t look like we’ve got sufficient interest to go ahead with the ball caps.
Fair enough! If you do another round looking for interest I’d suggest checking out Ebbets Field Flannels. They make vintage baseball caps that are made of wool and I think would capture CPG look better. They also sell them with the adjustable strap so you don’t have to worry about getting the sizing right when you order. I’ve got one of their hats with the strap and it’s easily my favorite ballcap.