I purchased this knowing it needed help and gambling on the structural integrity of the meerschaum cup. I knew I could fix the hole in the stem. The rest was a Wild Card.
The bowl was carefully cleaned after extremely careful reeming. I ran a lot of hot water heater through this in addition to alcohol.
Since the cap is in place via extremely small nails. I had a plan in place if I noticed issues with the cup. After a good cleaning the cup checked out.
Next came the stem. I was more interested in making it smokable than perfect. I chose not to even attempt a color match. I carefully prepped the hole with needle files, then placed a pipe cleaner covered in bees wax into the stem to keep the airway clean. I then mixed the G/Flex Epoxy (thank you GeorgeD) and filled the hole.
I let it hardened for three days and then went to work with files and wet sanding. I stopped before absolute perfection, because the hole was significant and I wanted as much material available for the “bridge”
Also I didn’t photograph the gun up pipe cleaners or the remains the removed cake. We’ve all seen that.
After it was all finished I smoked it and then polished the silver enough for my preferences.
So here it is.
The bowl was carefully cleaned after extremely careful reeming. I ran a lot of hot water heater through this in addition to alcohol.
Since the cap is in place via extremely small nails. I had a plan in place if I noticed issues with the cup. After a good cleaning the cup checked out.
Next came the stem. I was more interested in making it smokable than perfect. I chose not to even attempt a color match. I carefully prepped the hole with needle files, then placed a pipe cleaner covered in bees wax into the stem to keep the airway clean. I then mixed the G/Flex Epoxy (thank you GeorgeD) and filled the hole.
I let it hardened for three days and then went to work with files and wet sanding. I stopped before absolute perfection, because the hole was significant and I wanted as much material available for the “bridge”
Also I didn’t photograph the gun up pipe cleaners or the remains the removed cake. We’ve all seen that.
After it was all finished I smoked it and then polished the silver enough for my preferences.
So here it is.