Blog by Steve Laug

This older BBB Diamond Shank billiard was a pleasure to bring back to life. I love the older BBBs and this one has a place in my collection. It is only stamped BBB in the diamond on both the shank and the stem. There are no shape numbers of other features. I have no idea on what its age is but love the shape. The diamond shank and the way it flows into the bowl make it a unique among my BBB billiards. It is stained in a rich oxblood colour and it is a clean little pipe. When I picked it up off EBay it appeared to be pretty clean other than a bit of oxidation on the stem. Sure enough, when it arrived it was very clean. The bowl only needed a slight ream to be ready to smoke. I wiped down the outside of the bowl with a damp soft cloth dipped in Murphy’s Oil soap lightly so as not to disturb the finish but remove the grime. The top had some darkening and tar that came off easily with the Murphy’s Soap. I coated the bowl with several coats of carnauba wax and set it aside.

To deal with the oxidation on the stem I sanded it with 400 and 600 grit wet dry sandpaper dipped in water to give it a bite. I finished that with micromesh pads – 1500, 1800, 2400, 4000 and then I took it to the buffer for Tripoli and a bit of White Diamond before giving it several coats of carnauba wax. It has a wide open bowl and draw.