While browsing around ebay one day I came across a listing for an old wood pipe for $4.99. The pictures were terrible, but I decided to take a gamble on it, because I was pretty darn sure it wasn't wood, and that it was very old.
What I got was in fact a well-used and colored antique meerschaum cutty with an amber stem . The bowl was really rough. I assumed years of use had just worn it bare.
I gave the stem shank and bowl a good cleaning and decide to rewax the thing to smooth out the bowl. When I was done, the bowl was still very rough and I realized it was some sort of tape residue. There is a slight surface crack on the bowl and someone apparently decide at some point that tape was the answer! I took some 0000 steel wool and got the residue off and gave rewaxing another shot.
This is what I wound up with
The coloring on the stem and bottom of the bowl lightened up quite a bit, but I like the way it looks. I'm hoping I can get it to even out more over time.
The back band has a crack that is a bit worrisome. I'd like to find a good metalsmith or jeweler to solder it, since it pretty much is what keeps the stem in place.
I don't know that I'd call this a full restoration, but I'm pretty happy with it. I can also say that , after a couple bowls, the old thing may be the coolest, driest smoking pipe I have.
Hope you like it.
What I got was in fact a well-used and colored antique meerschaum cutty with an amber stem . The bowl was really rough. I assumed years of use had just worn it bare.
I gave the stem shank and bowl a good cleaning and decide to rewax the thing to smooth out the bowl. When I was done, the bowl was still very rough and I realized it was some sort of tape residue. There is a slight surface crack on the bowl and someone apparently decide at some point that tape was the answer! I took some 0000 steel wool and got the residue off and gave rewaxing another shot.
This is what I wound up with
The coloring on the stem and bottom of the bowl lightened up quite a bit, but I like the way it looks. I'm hoping I can get it to even out more over time.
The back band has a crack that is a bit worrisome. I'd like to find a good metalsmith or jeweler to solder it, since it pretty much is what keeps the stem in place.
I don't know that I'd call this a full restoration, but I'm pretty happy with it. I can also say that , after a couple bowls, the old thing may be the coolest, driest smoking pipe I have.
Hope you like it.
