1903 K&P Meerschaum Cutty

[rajangan]

Kia ora everyone,

Here are some pics of my first meerschaum. I have resisted grabbing one until now as there is already a Kaywoodie (from memory) block meer in the family that I’ll one day restore and get smoking...however a friend found this for me in an antique shop and I well how could I say no?

Despite the chatter around the button and break in the amber stem (still solid and functional) and an overzealous previous attempt at restoration - sanding scratches on silver band and file marks on rim - she appears to be relatively lightly smoked judging from the lack of colouring. Unless anyone feels otherwise?

a bit of carbon to deal to in the chamber, looks like 5mm needs to be removed to discover and dislodge the “butt plug”.

both the stem and shank appear to be blocked in some capacity.

my plan is to get her up and running and then smoke the heck out of it.

Any big no-nos or tips for the dealing to blockage and carbon for a first time restoration job on a meer?

thanks for looking

Chur chur

dave


View attachment 61853View attachment 61854View attachment 61855View attachment 61856View attachment 61857View attachment 61858View attachment 61859View attachment 61860View attachment 61861

Awesome pipe. Great find. I hope you're chuffed as shit.

 

[rajangan]

You have nice standard 6 1/2' 'cutty' pipe. Lets talk about a few basics here starting with what I call the 'Butt Plug' which is the obstruction you are looking at in the bowl. These were often buttons or a silver Three Penny piece that was drilled with air holes. The idea was to keep tobacco crap from jamming up the stem but to also act as a primitive version of a coloring bowl. The cavity created by the disk allowed moisture, tar and other crap to collect in the bottom of the pipe. The heat cause by the action of smoking caused all the moisture to be absorbed into the meerschaum causing the stem and the bowl below the disc to turn yellow and over time deep brown as shown in some of the pipes in the attached picture. Since you have a fairly robust meerschaum you should scrape the bowl so that the edge of the disc becomes visible and then carefully using a cork screw you then pull the disc out of the bowl. Do not force the disc out and if possible use one of those cork screws with arms so that the pressure is evening spread. Once removed scrape and clean the bowl removing all the crud that has built up below the disc. How are the threads in the shank? If the threads in the shank and the bone tenon are in good order then consider yourself very lucky. More to follow regarding the stem in the second post.

View attachment 61914

No wonder I can't find one of these.

 

[Ahi Ka]

So I managed to spend a bit of time this evening playing around with the pipe. Stem and shank are both unblocked with a nice gentle draw. Win.

I have started to scrape the chamber as per the method outlined above by @condorlover1 - thanks again for that bro.

I have called it quits as im starting to get tired, light is fading and I wouldn’t mind some feedback before proceeding.

the butt plug completely disintegrated. It appears to have been about 10mm thick and made of a clay/meer/stone type material. I also can’t tell if it was lodged in place by some form of adhesive as a repair for the chamber beneath it, or whether it’s just my depth perception playing tricks on me.

here are some pics, pretty difficult to get a decent angle but hopefully you fellas get the idea. Had a heart attack @shanez moment and almost dropped the bowl onto concrete ???

 

[mikethompson]

Dave, what a cool find!

Please do not use a heat gun on it ok?

 

[condorlover1]

Looks like a cavity. Has the pipe been repaired? Look at the outside to see if you can see any mismatching colors. Maybe its a trick of the light.

 

[Ahi Ka]

Looks like a cavity. Has the pipe been repaired? Look at the outside to see if you can see any mismatching colors. Maybe its a trick of the light.

Outside looks solid. That’s what is confusing me. I agree that it looks like a cavity. However the remainder of the crap on the side (just above where the butt plug began) actually is on quite an angle so it makes the cavity look deeper than it is. I can only tell this by feel, when I look at it, it appears to be flush with chamber side making the cavity look huge

 

[Ahi Ka]

This shows the crap to still be removed. The section which has been marked out is almost perpendicular to the chamber wall, which has been scraped back.

 

[BROBS]

Outside looks solid. That’s what is confusing me. I agree that it looks like a cavity. However the remainder of the crap on the side (just above where the butt plug began) actually is on quite an angle so it makes the cavity look deeper than it is. I can only tell this by feel, when I look at it, it appears to be flush with chamber side making the cavity look huge

Is it more cake?

 

[kcghost]

Looks like a nice pipe. The stem may be problematic.

 

[Ahi Ka]

Is it more cake?

I want to say yes, but it is different to any cake I have encountered in a briar bowl. It was sitting around the top of that butt plug, and it almost looks twine like in the way it wraps itself around the bowl. It is pretty solid too. Kinda reminds me of terraces formed by tar/sediment. I’ll see if I can get some better pics in daylight.

so far I have been using pen knife. Would a pipnet reamer be appropriate to use here?

 

[condorlover1]

Is it more cake?

Looks that way Brobs doesn't it!

 

[Ahi Ka]

Looks like a nice pipe. The stem may be problematic.

yeah bro, I have a few turn of the century pipes needing resteming at some stage so I’ll wait until I have a decent lot and send overseas to be done. In the meantime I’ll enjoy the amber with its repair charm

 

[condorlover1]

Jack Hammer?

 

[BROBS]

I want to say yes, but it is different to any cake I have encountered in a briar bowl. It was sitting around the top of that butt plug, and it almost looks twine like in the way it wraps itself around the bowl. It is pretty solid too. Kinda reminds me of terraces formed by tar/sediment. I’ll see if I can get some better pics in daylight.

so far I have been using pen knife. Would a pipnet reamer be appropriate to use here?

Is the end of the knife rounded? That would be my only concern.

 

[BROBS]

Jack Hammer?

Must be asphalt then. ?

 

[condorlover1]

I have always used an Iron bladed knife for theses types of jobs.

 

[condorlover1]

Must be asphalt then. ?

Well it is a form of tar right?

 

[BROBS]

 

[Ahi Ka]

Is the end of the knife rounded? That would be my only concern.

Standard blade on a Swiss Army knife. Has a bit of a point, but I’m far enough away from bottom of bowl to feel comfortable using it on this section.

 

[Ahi Ka]

I’ve just had a look at it in the daylight. There’s still some cake on top, but the part was giving me grief is actually the butt plug. This shows how thick it is