Blog by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the work table is an interesting and classic looking sandblast Billiard. It is stamped on a smooth flat panel on the underside of the shank and reads BANK [followed by] Made in England [over] the shape number 133. It came from a lot we purchased from a seller on eBay on 03/21/2024 from an estate in Oregon City, Oregon, USA. It is classic shaped Sandblast Billiard with a vulcanite taper stem. The bowl has a thick cake and some lava overflow in the finish on the rim top and inner edge. The finish looked quite good in terms of wear and tear but there was grime and hand oils in the finish. The stem had an upper case “B” stamped on the left side of the taper. It is dirty and has light tooth chatter and marks on both sides ahead of the button. Jeff took photos of the pipe before he started his cleanup. He took photos of the pipe’s bowl and rim top to show the cake in the bowl and the lava coat overflowing onto the top. It is another dirty pipe. He also took photos to capture the tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem near the button. He took photos of the sides and the heel of the bowl to give a sense of the depth of the rugged sandblast around the bowl and shank sides. It really is a stunning blast that reminds of many of the English made sandblast pipes! Jeff took photos of the stamping on the heel of the bowl and it is clear and readable as noted above. The stamped “B” logo on the left side of the stem is in good condition, though lacking colour.I did some digging in my usual sources for the brand “BANK” and it was not listed on either Pipe Phil’s site or Pipedia. I learned nothing more about the BANK pipe. The shape number rang some bells for me. The 133 shaped Billiard sent me on a search of Google for that shape number and to see if I could link it to a brand. I found a lot of entries on the web that linked the 133 Billiard shape to GBD. I have worked on several GBD Billiards and at least one 133 Billiard (https://rebornpipes.com/2022/03/16/restoring-a-newer-gbd-london-made-c133-billiard/). The link takes you to a blog I wrote on a GBD 133 Billiard.

I also found a link to Smokershaven (https://www.smokershaven.com/gbd-estate-pipe-virgin-133-smooth-billiard-1960s/). It had another GBD 133 Billiard.

There were many other links to the same shape number and to GBD made pipes. Now I knew that that pipe was made by GBD and that the shape number 133 was for the GBD Billiard and thus the pipe in my hands was a GBD Made pipe.

I turned to work on the pipe itself. Jeff had done an amazing cleanup of the pipe. He reamed the cake with a PipNet reamer and cleaned up that with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed the internals of the bowl and stem with alcohol, cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and shank brushes. He scrubbed the externals with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and rinsed the bowl off with running water. He soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer and once it had soaked for awhile he rinsed it off with warm water to remove the residual solution. He dried it off and rubbed it down to remove any oxidation that was still on the stem. The pipe looked better when I received it. I took a photo of the rim top to show the condition. It looks good with the tars and oils removed from the rim top. The condition of the bowl and rim top were very good. The stem came out looking quite good with some light tooth marks and chatter on both sides ahead of the button. I took a photo of the underside of the shank to show the stamping. The stamping is very clear and reads as noted above. I also took the pipe apart and took a photo to give a sense of the shape of the Billiard.I started my work on the pipe by cleaning up the rim top with a brass bristle brush. I worked on it to remove the debris in the sandblast. It looked much better once I had finished. It was clean but dried out a bit so I wet it and checked and it looked much better.I rubbed the sandblast bowl and shank down with Before & After Restoration Balm. I worked it into the surface of the briar with my fingertips and a shoe brush to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while 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 touched up the B logo stamp on the left side of the taper stem with white acrylic fingernail polish. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. When it had dried I sanded off the excess with a 320 grit sanding pad. It looked very good.I sanded out the light tooth marks and the remaining oxidation with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding it with 1500-12000 grit pads. I polished it further with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both fine and extra fine. I finished by wiping it down with Obsidian Oil and buffing it to a shine. I always look forward to this part of the restoration when all the pieces are put back together. I put the BANK Made in London 133 Sandblast Billiard back together and carefully buffed the stem with Blue Diamond on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl multiple coats of Conservators Wax and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I hand buffed the pipe with a soft cloth to raise the shine. It is fun to see what the polished bowl looks like with the black vulcanite taper stem almost glowing. This BANK Made in London 133 Billiard is nice looking and feels great in my hand. It is one that could be clenched and smoked while doing other things as it is very light weight and well balanced. It must have been a fine smoking pipe judging from the condition it was when I received it. Have a look at it in the photos below. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ¼ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.13 ounces/32 grams. I will be putting it in the English Pipemakers Section of the rebornpipes store soon. This will make a great addition to someone’s pipe collection. Thanks to each of you who are reading this blog. Remember we are not pipe owners; we are pipemen and women who hold our pipes in trust until they pass on into the trust of the next pipeman or woman.