Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is another one that I took in on a trade from a fellow in the Netherlands. It is a great looking smooth Billiard. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and read BBB in a Diamond [over] *** [over] Three Star. On the right side it is stamped London England [over] the shape number 602. The pipe is shaped to highlight the grain around the bowl. The finish is quite clean with just a bit of grime and oil in bowl sides. The smooth rim top is worn and shows scratches and lava on the top and the inner edge. The inner edge shows some damage and roughening from previous reaming. The bowl has a moderate cake that I will ream out but otherwise looks very good. The vulcanite taper stem has two turned rings against the shank end. There is the BBB in a diamond logo on the topside of stem. There is light oxidation and calcification on the stem surface and there are tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took photos of the rim top and the stem surfaces to give a sense of the condition of the pipe. You can see the light lava on the rim top and other than that top is in good condition. There is a light cake in the bowl that I will ream to make sure the walls are in good condition. The stem photos show the oxidation, calcification, tooth marks and the chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank, both the left and the right sides. It is faint in spots but still readable. It reads as noted above. There is also a faint BBB diamond logo on the top of the stem. I removed the stem and took a photo to give a sense of the proportions of the pipe.I knew that the pipe was probably a newer one as it did not have the brass logo on the stem and the fancy turned stem was used much later. I am fairly certain that the pipe is a Cadogan made one.

Now, on to the restoration of this pretty BBB *** Three Star Billiard. I began the work by reaming the pipe with a PipNet reamer and cut back the cake back to the bare briar. I scraped out what remained with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. I sanded the walls of the bowl with a piece of dowel wrapped with 220 grit sandpaper to smooth the out. The walls looked to be in excellent condition with no checking or heat damage. I scrubbed the inside of the mortise and shank along with the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. The pipe was looking better than when it arrived. I scrubbed the exterior of the pipe with Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime from the finish. I worked on the rim top and edge to try to remove the grime and was able to remove it. I worked on the finish on the bowl and the rim top removing scratches in the sides of the bowl with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the briar down with a damp cloth after each pad. It is beginning to look very good. I polished the smooth briar rim top with micromesh sanding pads – dry sanding it with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl surface down with a damp cloth to remove the sanding dust. Once I finished the exterior of the briar looked much better and had taken on a shine. I rubbed the bowl down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. Mark Hoover’s Balm is a product that I have come to appreciate and one I use on every pipe I have been working on. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I wiped the stem down with Soft Scrub cleanser to remove the oxidation and the calcification on the stem. It really did a great job removing the oxidation and the stem is starting to look very good.I “painted” the stem surface with the flame of a Bic lighter to lift the tooth marks. I was able to lift some of them and filled in the rest with clear CA glue. I set it side to let the repairs cure. I sanded the repairs flat with a small file to begin to blend them into the surface. I used the sanding pads I purchased recently – 320-3500 grit regular pads to smooth out the finish and remove the light tooth and chatter marks in the stem. I wiped the stem down with Obsidian Oil to finish the preliminary work after the 3500 grit pad. I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I finished polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry.As usual at this point in the restoration process I am excited to be on the homestretch. I look forward to the final look when it is put back together, polished and waxed. I put the BBB *** Three Star London England 602 Billiard back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The grain really pops with the wax and polish. The shiny black vulcanite stem is a beautiful contrast to the reddish, browns of the bowl. This BBB *** Three Star 602 Billiard was a great pipe to spruce up. It is a very comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 27 grams/.95 ounces. This pipe will be going on the British Pipe Maker Section of the rebornpipes store if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This is an interesting estate to bring back to life.