I've got 3 vintage Dunhill's (1960, 1965, late '70s) that I would like to have restored.

My question is does it matter where you send the pipes out to, or should I just take em to my local reputable pipe dealer (L J Perretti for me, they sell Dunhills). I'll experiment with restoring the cheap ones I have, but not the Dunhilsl!!!

If it does matter, does anyone know a restorer that they recommend?
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i learned my lesson about my local shop... NEVER again. and i'm still pissed.
of course, it's not a shop as world renowned as LJ Perretti is.

i'd ask some locals who have used the local place if they'd recommend it first. could save you tons of time and shipping.
if you can't do that, then maybe someone with some helpful info will respond.
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http://lewispipe.com/index.htm

Rich repaired a pipe for me probably two years ago now, the results were great but the wait was a little long.
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hmmm, I'll keep that one in mind.....
According to his site the wait is even longer right now :-)
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Yeah, that's what I was worried about.... but hell, its Perretti.... surely it can't be that bad... I hope.....
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Yeah - me that too.

Yeah, that.

Consider http://www.norwoodspiperepair.com/
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mmmmm, their prices seem very reasonable.

I wonder if "Ream and Clean" includes de-oxidizing the stem as well. $10.50 would be a damned good price. For that kind of money I would send out more than just the Dunhills!
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Dave Wolff at walkerbriarworks.com is fantastic at restorations...
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I've used George at Precision Pipe Repair and can't say enough good things about him. Incredible work. You might want to check and see how long of a wait. After the great write-ups on Greg Pease's website it might be longer of a wait than you can stand.

http://precisionpiperepair.com
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I didn't ask about de-oxidizing, but here is a response I just got from Floyd. His prices seem to be very fair.

"HI Ken,
The ream and clean get the pipes looking as new as possible, inside and outside.A lucite stem for the pipe would be $18.75. Bending is $1.00 extra.
Thanks
Floyd"

I think I'll be packing up a bunch of pipes sometime this week.

Take care.
Ken
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I would use Peretti's - I am sure that you will get good work. Some pipe repair shops have a long wait - talking 8+ weeks the last two times I have sent out pipes. I will say that precision pipe repair and night owl pipeworks do good work but the results take a long time to see.
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mmm, some great options there. All told I've got about 50 pipes to restore. The nicer looking ones that I really want to smoke will get sent out to precision or lewis probably, once I save up the funds to pay for it :-).
Might send a dozen or so mid quality ones out to norwood for a cheaper cleanup....
And I'll take the remaining 30+, order some walker briar works stem polish, and work on em myself a bit at a time.
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exactly what needs to be done rich is here in town and he is great
our shop uses someone else for difficult stuff for ream and cleans we do it ourselves but the shop in st paul has a guy who is great at deoxidations and restoration. and I think its like five bucks a pipe. like I said though we have other people make our stems for now.
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All my stems are intact I think, just in need of a SERIOUS de-oxidation (not used or cleaned in 15+ years). Some heavy bite marks on a few of them, but I think most will polish out. My grandpa rode em hard and put em away wet I think, so everything needs a clean up... but no "damage" per se to the pipes that I know if, just years of built of crap.
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I have two pipes at Walkers now should be back in a couple weeks. My first dealings with Dave, I will let you know how the pipes look when I get them.
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looks like he's pretty backed up according to his website - no new work till mid July!
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I second that. He will always get my business.

However, if Peretti was my local shop I would take it there. I visited the shop last year and the staff seemed more than competant and would probably do a great job.

I would be more worried about them getting lost in the mail than anything.
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you might want to try a guy named Tim Harlan at the Golden Leaf in St. Paul
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Ronni Bicakson does outstanding work. Among the very best.

http://www.nightowlpipeworks.com/

Mark Tinsky also does pipe repairs. Personally, I would not give a pipe to a shop to repair. In all likelihood they don't do it themselves, but farm it out to someone who you don't know. I'd prefer to send it to a pro that I know, or have strong recommendations of from other pipe smokers.
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Yes, excellent work but patience is a must....he has had my pipe since March 5th and it is finally on its way back to me. In the past two years, I am not sure what has happened with the repair guys - because what was once a wait of a few weeks has become a few months. Not sure if it is because there are less repair guys - unlikely....or if more people are buying estates and opting to send them for repair rather than buy new because of economic conditions - more likely.....or some other reason.
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