Missouri Meerschaum Corn Cob Cracking ???

homeguard95 · Jun 9, 2014

Hey all I'm a little worried about my corn cob pipe,I've started noticing cracks in the seams between where the kernels were connected to the cob. I've fiddled with the pipe and it still feels sturdy but the cracks are still a little disconcerting.My pipe is the Missouri Meerschaum Eaton I believe. I noticed the cracks after smoking it a little while back and they seem to just be in the plaster of paris. So is this normal,or am I smoking to hot or doing something else that would be detrimental to the cob. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

settersbrace · Jun 9, 2014

I've not seen any noticeable cracks in any of the six I have but I wouldn't worry too much if I did. If you think you are smoking it a bit hot then most likely you are so there's that. With an empty bowl, plug the chamber with your thumb and draw on it to see if any leakage can be detected and if yes, feel around to try and find it. If no, your good to go. If it's leaking, pitch it. You don't want a burn out especially if your driving or riding a mower or something, could be dangerous, embarrassing even. ;-)

homeguard95 · Jun 10, 2014

Well I tried what you told me settersbrace and I found a leak,the leak seems to be in the area where the shank connects to the bowl so I guess thats it for this pipe.Thanks for the help and replies,and rsuninv that is one hell of a pipe smoking story you have there. :clap:

mso489 · Jun 10, 2014

Is it a defect or just hard use? I remember my dad chain smoked Granger mostly in briar pipes, but in

the occasional MM cob as well. He did not rotate his pipe, really only had one useable pipe at a time,

and smoked from just after breakfast nearly until he went to bed at night. He burnt out a few cobs in

his time, and that's the way they ended, with big fissures between the places where the kernels attached,

almost like a crack in a brick wall. I think your pipe is burning out, but it could go for a while, depending

on how much you smoke it. Good advice on not smoking this one while driving or otherwise not needing

a pipe burnout. As I recall, my dad usually got four to six months out of his hard-used MM cobs. But it's

a guess. Stay outside or near an ashtray where you can dump the hot pieces and ash if necessary. None of

my five or six cobs show any sign of burn-out, but I don't smoke them daily either. Dad died at 89 and

six months, licensed to drive without glasses; I took him to his last driver's license eye exam. He was ...

something.

homeguard95 · Jun 10, 2014

mso489 it sounds like your dad was really something else,as for the pipe it looks exactly how you described your father's pipes. A crack in a brick wall was the first thing that come to mind when I first seen it, other than the occasional moment of worry I get when smoking the pipe it still performs fine, like I said in the post above, there is a small leak in the shank hole but other than that its still feels solid. So I guess I'll revert my previous statements and continue to smoke it till it burns out. Thanks for the insight mso489 and the story about your father, seems like he was a pretty good fellow. Thanks.

gmwolford · Jun 10, 2014

Leakage around the shank aren't that uncommon really: you can patch that with a bit if super glue. I've had a coupe MM cobs crack like you mention after smoking them several times in a day - and probably a bit hot. So far none have burned out or broken, they just look less "nice".
Something I didn't learn until a year or so ago is that you can extend the cobs life by applying some aloe gel or cocoa butter lotion to them once a week or so. I don't recall the reason this works but read it in an article somewhere called "Care and Feesing of Your Cobs".

homeguard95 · Jun 10, 2014

Aloe gel, really? I've never heard that before, and that works on the cobs with plaster on them? I'll have to try that, and I've heard so much about how you shouldn't use any kind of synthetic glue so I was a little hesitant to seal a leak you some, is this something you've done and had success with? Thanks.

homeguard95 · Jun 10, 2014

I need to correct myself, my pipe is the Missouri Meerschaum straight Pony Express not the Eaton. Just wanted to clarify. :D Thanks.

spartan · Jun 10, 2014

It's a cob.
It will crack, burn, crumble, swell/shrink if left out in the rain, etc. Smoke it until you can't anymore.
I wouldn't worry about repairing it unless it's your only one.
I've been smoking my cracked cob for 6 months. Still holding up just fine. Great smoker.

gmwolford · Jun 11, 2014

Aloe gel, really? I've never heard that before, and that works on the cobs with plaster on them? I'll have to try that, and I've heard so much about how you shouldn't use any kind of synthetic glue so I was a little hesitant to seal a leak you some, is this something you've done and had success with? Thanks.

Yes it is. I've also used fireplace mortar to level out the bottom of the bowls (in cobs and briars); Bradley gave me that little tip. : puffy

:

owen · Jun 11, 2014

mine is cracking also after 3 months as my only pipe smoked about 3 times a day. stills smokes great and i still love it

fishnbanjo · Jun 11, 2014

Natural Wood Putty is your friend, I've smoked cobs for many years some lasting 15 years. They can, and will, cake up and once you start trimming the cake and it rebuilds several more times the cake can actually stress the outside bowl as it expands, I just repaired 3 of my favorite cobs the other day right after the cake was reamed. Sanded smooth and in a few smokes you wouldn't know they had been redone. The glue can also be used to ensure the shank stays in place as well, regards and fix that pipe, you'll be glad you did.

michiganlover · Jun 11, 2014

You can fix that shank leak with some good old Elmer's white glue. Its non-toxic and the same thing MM used to originally glue in the stem.

The cracks in the cob are normal in my experience, and the cob could continue to provide great sdmokes for a good long time.

homeguard95 · Jun 11, 2014

I appreciate y'all easing my worries . I've had one cob before this one and it burnt through before it cracked, of course it was a china cob and I smoked like an Alabama wildfire, so that probably didn't help either. :mrgreen:

sailorjeremy · Jun 11, 2014

Natural Wood Putty is your friend

I've heard of many remedies before but this one was a first and perhaps the most practical. I put my cobs through hell and this seems like a good, simple solution to keep them going a bit longer. Thanks banjo!

pipejunky · Jun 13, 2014

I've had 3MM Generals crack from the rim down 3/4 and up to an inch. This happen after about a 4 bowl fulls. I took them down to the work shop and put them onto the band saw to make them smoke-able .

Missouri Meerschaum Corn Cob Cracking ???

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