Calabash Questions

papipeguy · Dec 28, 2010

I have a Pioneer Calabash gourd Sherlock Holmes pipe from the early 1970's that I have not smoked in many years. It has a mershaum bowl. Now the questions.

1) Should the bowl be cleaned with anything?

2) Should the gourd itself be cleaned? If so, how?

3) What type(s) of tobacco are best suited for this type of pipe.
I'd like to give this one a "fresh" start. Thanks in advance for helping.
John

fred · Dec 28, 2010

The Meerschaum bowl cake should be kept to the thickness of a dime and the

draft hole kept open. You can use Beeswax on the bowl's plateau for both

appearance and protection of it's surface. The inside of the gourd should

be kept free of debris and occasionally cleaned with a doubled over Pipe

cleaner and Everclear, to get the goo out. Due to the large cooling chamber

provided by the gourd, these Pipes are excellent for smoking anything, but

especially blends that need a bit of taming. It's also a good idea to let

the gourd dry out from time to time, with both the bit and bowl removed. The

bit is likely Vulcanite and should be kept clean with Everclear, and polished

to remove oxidation, as the oxidation can impart a bitter quality to the smoke.

Gourd Calabash Pipes are rare and expensive, due to the scarcity of the gourds.

They provide a cool and dry smoke simply not found in other Pipe designs.

When you remove the bit, always grasp the ferrel while twisting and pulling

the bit free. This is a military mount, so make sure the bit is firmly in

the ferrel, again grasping the ferrel to do so. The weakest part of these

Pipes is the tapering gourd that the ferrel is bonded to.

papipeguy · Dec 28, 2010

Thanks for the tips. Luckily the stem is not very oxidized at all. I do have a small bottle of Comoy's Pipe Polish that I can use on the gourd. I like the bees was tip for the bowl. Will do.

Appreciate your insight.

fred · Dec 28, 2010

You're welcome. Keep us advised on how the Pipe smokes.

unclearthur · Dec 28, 2010

I have four calabash pipes at the moment. Three meers and one with a china bowl that I am not too sure I like. I have to say though Five Brothers in one is very mellow!

bubbadreier · Dec 28, 2010

I wish I had one of these pipes! They look like fine smokers, let us know how it turns out!

cortezattic · Dec 28, 2010

Lansinoh lanolin cream, an ultra-pure, medical-grade lanolin which is sold in drug stores,

and used by breast feeding women as a nipple conditioner, is excellent for conditioning the cork strip

that secures the meerschaum cup. It'll keep the cork supple, yet won't attack the glue that holds it in the gourd.

It's also a pretty good pipe stem lubricant.

unclearthur · Dec 28, 2010

I use cork grease for clarinets . Had some on hand from when the oldest was in band.

thomc80 · Dec 28, 2010

Ive always wanted a Calabash ill have to try and find one soemwhere.

papipeguy · Dec 28, 2010

As a musician I'm more comfortable with cork grease than nipple cream.

Once i get the pipe looking proper I'll post a picture. Thanks all.

cortezattic · Dec 28, 2010

As a lifelong clarinetist I can assure you that cork gease is bad -- it gets rancid, and it functions as a lubricant and sealer,

but it is not good for the cork. I got the lanolin tip from an instrument repair technician. Perhaps it's just unfortunate that

the best and most available source of 100% pure lanolin is called, and used as, nipple cream. But if the idea makes you

feel uneasy, well, it's your calabash, after all. :roll: End of discussion.

fred · Dec 28, 2010

These days, unless you just stumble up on a gourd calabash at the local

B&M, most people get them as estate Pipes. Currently, Fikri Baki is the

only Carver producing these Pipes, which start out at $300. After years of

work, Deniz Ural has secured a supply of these gourds. It is the gourd scarcity

that is the limiting factor in the production of these Pipes. Restoring an

estate gourd calabash requires a skill set that most non-professionals don't

have. The mahogany calabash Pipes that are available smoke well, but it's not

the same character, as the mahogany flavors the smoke. Briar has also been used,

where it has been carved out to have a cooling chamber, like the mahogany calabash

but I cannot speak to these Pipes as I have no experience with them. Likely the

best book on the calabash is the one written by Gary Schrier of Briar books press.

www.briarbooks.com

papipeguy · Dec 28, 2010

Hmmm, I guess I'll give the lanolin a try. I'm past the point where I get hung up about buying things that many may be embarassed buying. Off to the drug store tomorrow.

searock · Dec 29, 2010

Quick story: Years ago I got a used Pioneer Calabash with a "block" meershaum bowl. The bowl was stuck and would not come out of the pipe no matter how hard I tried. After some thought I decided to loosed it by soaking in water. After a while I went to check on it and found the bowl had disintigrated! Moral: What we think is block meerschaum, sometimes ain't.

papipeguy · Dec 29, 2010

Wow, hard to believe that H2O would disolve a material that is supposed to come from the sea. An anhydrous silicate should be hydrophobic but your experience is noted. No water.

maxpeters · Dec 29, 2010

I bought a Pioneer with a block meerschaum bowl back in the early 90's, and it only cost me $45.00 if I remember correctly.

I always used it to tame strong, but tasty blends. It did a wonderful job at that.

I wanted to smoke some 1792 Flake a couple weeks ago, but couldn't find the thing. I started looking up others on the net, and discovered that there's a long line of people on auction sites willing to spend several hundred dollars for one. That was a shocker!

I guess I'll keep looking for mine.

htmn246 · Dec 29, 2010

my christmass present to myself was a BC marked gourd calabash. great smoke

searock · Dec 30, 2010

Wow, hard to believe that H2O would disolve a material that is supposed to come from the sea. An anhydrous silicate should be hydrophobic but your experience is noted. No water.

Guess I should have explained. It was "pressed" meerschaum, not block. Pressed meerschaum is made by taking meerscham shavings, bits and scraps, grinding them all up and pressing it together with a binder (glue) to make a kind of block, then it is carved. It's cheaper than real block meerchaum.

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