I just pulled the trigger to buy my first meer. Waiting for it to arrive. It was difficult to swallow the price, most of my previous purchases have been cobs.
I had my eye on two styles:
The Lee Van Cleef style from the Dollars trilogy.
A meerschaum cutty.
I couldn't find any cutty pipes in meerschaum. I suspect a couple of forum members here own ALL of them.
The Van Cleef style looked good. I purchased one copying the shape, not the coloring. In the end, I maybe made the right choice. Color doesn't matter right? No, it does count for something.
Now I'm thinking I may intentionally blacken the rim by intentionally charring occasionally when lighting. I'm not sure it is a good idea, and am extra concerned since the pipe isn't cheap (to me).
As a hobby, I've done some pretty good fine woodworking and gunsmithing. I've got an OK set of skills, tools, and techniques. I could probably fix cosmetic damage myself, but that doesn't mean I want a project.
I've seen a lot of posts discussing how to get rid of char, but no info for intentionally blackening the rim. Anybody with experience have any tips? Anybody without experience want to throw out an opinion anyway?
I had my eye on two styles:
The Lee Van Cleef style from the Dollars trilogy.
A meerschaum cutty.
I couldn't find any cutty pipes in meerschaum. I suspect a couple of forum members here own ALL of them.
The Van Cleef style looked good. I purchased one copying the shape, not the coloring. In the end, I maybe made the right choice. Color doesn't matter right? No, it does count for something.
Now I'm thinking I may intentionally blacken the rim by intentionally charring occasionally when lighting. I'm not sure it is a good idea, and am extra concerned since the pipe isn't cheap (to me).
As a hobby, I've done some pretty good fine woodworking and gunsmithing. I've got an OK set of skills, tools, and techniques. I could probably fix cosmetic damage myself, but that doesn't mean I want a project.
I've seen a lot of posts discussing how to get rid of char, but no info for intentionally blackening the rim. Anybody with experience have any tips? Anybody without experience want to throw out an opinion anyway?