Sourcing Corn Cobs

sunriseboy · Sep 28, 2017

Gents will you tell me, from where would I buy some good sized cured corn cobs for pipe making?
I live in Oz and there's really nothing here. I spoke with Marilyn at MM, but she demurred saying they didn't sell them.
You're assistance would be appreciated.

zack24 · Sep 28, 2017

Welcome to the Forum! Here's a link for dried Indian Corn- word out to about $2 per cob if you order 50- that should be enough for 150 pipes. The corn cob pipe manufacturers grow their own typically. Hope that helps! Dried Indian Corn
(And by the way- please capitalize your thread titles)

sumusfumus · Sep 28, 2017

Interesting.....I always assumed that the cobs used in making pipes was a specialized variety, a variety that was grown for cob density, strength, larger diameter cobs with thick walls, etc. Now I see pipes are made from just plain old, "Indian Corn" cobs....sold by the millions, each Autumn, and especially around Halloween.
BTW, I wonder if some of the decorative gourds, having the desirable shape, and also sold every Autumn, can be used to fashion "Calabash"-style pipes?
Some interesting possibilities for some of the adventurous pipe-makers.....
Frank

nevadablue · Sep 28, 2017

Yes, the gourd will work.
It is said that the MM pipes and I am sure others, ARE made from specially bred corn. Popcorn and sweet corn are grown for the kernel, as is grain corn. The smaller the ear, for a given amount of corn, the better for the farmer. For pipes, the corn is bred for the cob... strength, size, etc. They do sell the kernels if you want to grow your own.

I am still hunting a source of popcorn ears that is reasonably priced for a reasonable number of cobs.

jitterbugdude · Sep 28, 2017

I grew about a dozen plants this year from MM corn seed. The cobs are still on the stalks so it'll be awhile until I try to make some pipes from them.

sumusfumus · Sep 28, 2017

navada....thanks for the clarification and added info.
Frank

nevadablue · Sep 28, 2017

Interesting thread. I have saved some sweet corn cobs and they seem like they will work, but the pipes will be tiny. It will be fun to experiment with. I just bought ordinary sweet corn, ate the good part and dried the cobs. :D

brendhain · Apr 14, 2018

Thanks for the link! Zack24!

mso489 · Apr 14, 2018

I understood that corn cobs for pipes are grown for the purpose. As the experience with MM illustrates, the cob pipe makers are jealous of their sources. A member of Forums and his brother make Old Dominion corn cob pipes which are made from a special strain of Indian corn, plus they have historically authentic reed stems. I believe Old Dominion would prefer you buy their pipes rather than sell you the cobs, but they may speak for themselves. There was stretch of several seasons about eight years ago when the pipe corn cob crop grew really small, because of drought, I believe. So most of the pipes were smallish to tiny. Now we're back in business and there are some really large cobs used to make MM freehands and such. Good luck in getting cobs. i think the sources would tend to be loyal to their major customers who make the pipes in volume.

huntertrw · Apr 14, 2018

Interesting.....I always assumed that the cobs used in making pipes was a specialized variety, a variety that was grown for cob density, strength, larger diameter cobs with thick walls, etc.

According to Richard Carleton Hacker in his The Ultimate Pipe Book the corn hybrid currently used my Missouri Meerschaum was developed in 1946 by Dr. Marcus S. Zuber in conjunction with the University of Missouri. "The hybrid cob is larger, longer and stronger than your standard garden variety vegetable, and its fibers are so high in wood content that it takes a carbide-tipped saw to cut through them. The hybrid cob is grown by selected farmers in the rich, fertile lowlands that surround the town of Washington. The corn is grown strictly for the cobs they will produce and the small white kernels of the hybrids are regarded as a by-product (they are routinely sold off to companies who grind them up into cornmeal for tortillas)."
He further mentions that once the corn is harvested, "...the cobs are 'dekerneld' and piled in a ventilated storage area, where they are aged for about two years, a curing process that gradually gives them the density of fine grained hardwood. At the end of this period, the cobs are taken from the storage bins and sliced into various lengths for pipe bowls. An average cob will yield two standard sized pipes..."

davek · Apr 15, 2018

I grew about a dozen plants this year from MM corn seed. The cobs are still on the stalks so it'll be awhile until I try to make some pipes from them.

Where did I see that pipe kit which had the MM seed? Can't find it now. Are you growing more next year? Is cob size affected by amount of cross pollination?
I've got some Indian corncobs from the craft store and they are pretty small.

jitterbugdude · Apr 15, 2018

My seeds came from Aristocob via MM. I've made a few pipes from them already. They are definitely different than a "regular" corn cob. They are very dense and very hard.

huntertrw · Apr 15, 2018

Here is a link (See "Sidelights") to a news item published in the February 27, 1964 edition of the The Winthrop News concerning the corn hybrid developed by Dr. Zuber, and to which Mr. Hacker referred in his The Ultimate Pipe Book as noted in the post above.

davek · Apr 15, 2018

My seeds came from Aristocob via MM. I've made a few pipes from them already. They are definitely different than a "regular" corn cob. They are very dense and very hard.

They don't have that kit anymore. You should breed that corn and preserve that stock.

jitterbugdude · Apr 15, 2018

You should breed that corn and preserve that stock.

I did...PM me if you want some seeds.

mso489 · Apr 15, 2018

Growing your own cobs and making pipes is a great project, but of course, much more expensive than a whole rotation of even premium MM pipes with acrylic stems.

jitterbugdude · Apr 16, 2018

Growing your own cobs and making pipes is a great project, but of course, much more expensive than a whole rotation of even premium MM pipes with acrylic stems.

Why would you say that?
I bought a pack of 20 MM seeds last year. I harvested 30 good cobs. So as a minimum I have 60 cob bowls. Wooden dowels are dirt cheap and so are ebonite stems. I use cherry wood for a plug and for the shank. Each cob I make costs me about $3.00 and its better than a MM.

cosmicfolklore · Apr 16, 2018

I had a friend from pipe club give me a jar of seeds. Actually, when he first handed them to me, I thought it was a jar of teeth, and I was perplexed, ha. But, he said that he got them from MM also. I am supposed to plant them for him. This year, I am actually growing soy beans at the farm, but I don't guess one small patch of corn cob pipes would make a difference. But, i don't think he is going to make his own pipes, or at least that is my assumption. I think that he just wants to have some of the cobs, just for his own amusement.
Corn is one of those plants that need to be grown in patches, or else it doesn't pollinate, nor does it produces anything. It doesn't even do well in single or double rows. It likes to be surrounded. Funny, after years of growing the crap, my only aversion to any food is corn. I can't even enjoy going to a movie theater because of the smell of that crap popping in the poppers. No other plant in the garden affects me that way, except, I could see not liking tomatoes or peppers if I had to smell them rotting in a silo, with rats and birds crapping all over it while I just sat there.

Sourcing Corn Cobs

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