This is a BBB Best Make I bought off a local auction site. I was intrigued by the HAND CUT stamp on the stem. It had the diamond shaped BBB logo over BEST MAKE on the left of the shank and MADE IN ENGLAND with a shape number 121 on the right. It was pretty beat up, but I thought I’d try to get it back into useable condition. At around the equivalent of 11$, I figured I didn’t have much to lose.
My intention here was not to get a NOS look, but just to get it back into service, so although I couldn’t get all the cake and char off the rim, I stopped short of topping the bowl (I’ve had a previous disaster with that) and also left some cake intact. I’ll see how it smokes first.
I managed to fill a very deep bite mark (nearly bitten through) on the underside with a degree of success, and reshaped the button a bit as it was pretty funky. I was also able to save the HAND CUT stamp on the stem and to restore the BBB stem logo. Also, it came with an aluminium inner tube which I didn’t bother with since I don’t care for them.
The question again is about age. Since it does not have the metal insert stem logo which, according to Pipedia commenced in 1950/60, I am guessing (wishful thinking?) that it pre-dates that. I can’t see how a pipe could acquire that sort of patina since 2012, when they apparently discontinued the metal insert.
As always any information from the experts would be most welcome. Before and after pics below.
Before:
After:
My intention here was not to get a NOS look, but just to get it back into service, so although I couldn’t get all the cake and char off the rim, I stopped short of topping the bowl (I’ve had a previous disaster with that) and also left some cake intact. I’ll see how it smokes first.
I managed to fill a very deep bite mark (nearly bitten through) on the underside with a degree of success, and reshaped the button a bit as it was pretty funky. I was also able to save the HAND CUT stamp on the stem and to restore the BBB stem logo. Also, it came with an aluminium inner tube which I didn’t bother with since I don’t care for them.
The question again is about age. Since it does not have the metal insert stem logo which, according to Pipedia commenced in 1950/60, I am guessing (wishful thinking?) that it pre-dates that. I can’t see how a pipe could acquire that sort of patina since 2012, when they apparently discontinued the metal insert.
As always any information from the experts would be most welcome. Before and after pics below.
Before:
After:
