Sorry for the title, this is really an appeal to anyone out there with any thoughts or opinions on what might be happening to the underside of one of my calabash bowls. I bought the pipe last year as an estate, lightly smoked for $71.00 and it has been a wonderful pipe, really my best pipe preferred when smoking aromatics. A few months ago though I noticed a crack had developed on the underside coming from the hole which quickly stained dark with tar from the tobacco. So, keeping an eye on this, it has not spread any further, but since, two smaller and finer cracks have also appeared, no staining, each about 90° apart! Below are some pictures of the cracks:
Top view with original crack at left:
The other two cracks can be seen:
Better view of the original crack:
What does anyone think is causing this? There was no sign of these when I bought the pipe and I don't think I'm doing anything to cause them. No unusual heat, shock, pressure, etc. Could this be from expansion and contraction? I have not had any issue with my other bash bowls. There is no unusual cake built up on the inside other than the regular black film from the smoking of the tobacco. The bottom fifth of the bowl wall is unstained and I cannot see any signs of these cracks on the inside under bright light. I'd estimate the hole is about a half inch long from the bottom of the bowl to the bottom outside and the average wall thickness about a quarter to a third inch thick and the seat of the bowl about 38mm dia. where it fits to the cork.
Could this be pressed meerschaum? How could I tell? It has not hurt the function of the pipe but I would not want it to progress further or lose the bowl to catastrophic failure. Would you just leave these alone? Superglue them? I'd hate risking ruining the pipe with the odor of superglue unless it eventually goes away, then, maybe these cracks are happening for a reason and if I bond them, it might just transfer the stress elsewhere and make the problem worse than it is. Any opinions greatly appreciated.
Top view with original crack at left:
The other two cracks can be seen:
Better view of the original crack:
What does anyone think is causing this? There was no sign of these when I bought the pipe and I don't think I'm doing anything to cause them. No unusual heat, shock, pressure, etc. Could this be from expansion and contraction? I have not had any issue with my other bash bowls. There is no unusual cake built up on the inside other than the regular black film from the smoking of the tobacco. The bottom fifth of the bowl wall is unstained and I cannot see any signs of these cracks on the inside under bright light. I'd estimate the hole is about a half inch long from the bottom of the bowl to the bottom outside and the average wall thickness about a quarter to a third inch thick and the seat of the bowl about 38mm dia. where it fits to the cork.
Could this be pressed meerschaum? How could I tell? It has not hurt the function of the pipe but I would not want it to progress further or lose the bowl to catastrophic failure. Would you just leave these alone? Superglue them? I'd hate risking ruining the pipe with the odor of superglue unless it eventually goes away, then, maybe these cracks are happening for a reason and if I bond them, it might just transfer the stress elsewhere and make the problem worse than it is. Any opinions greatly appreciated.