The Art of Sandblasting

Sandblasting is the process of propelling fine abrasive particles at a surface with compressed air or suction. In pipe making it's known not to be a simple finishing step: two stummels from the same workshop can look wildly different depending on the machine used, the type of abrasive, the wood's grain, and the habits of the hand at the bench.

From Industry to the Pipe Bench

The method wasn't invented for pipes. Benjamin Chew Tilghman registered sandblasting in the United States on 18 October 1870 under patent No. 108,408; the document covered cutting and etching stone, metal, and glass, with wood not yet on the agenda. He is said to have hit on the idea after watching desert wind-blown sand frost glass surfaces — a story that itself appears in sources with a caveat of legend. Real industrial uptake came only after compressed air was added to the setup in 1904.

Bringing the technique to the pipe took another generation. Dunhill had moved pipe production to its facility at Notting Hill Gate in London in 1916. The first filing for the British patent on the Shell Briar finish (No. 1484/17) was submitted 13 October 1917, completed 12 April 1918, and granted on 14 October of that same year; the American patent followed in 1920, the Canadian in 1921. Documentation of the finish's earliest years consists largely of this patent record; sandblasted pipes are absent from period catalogs and advertisements.