An Old Meer' Man Gets A Waxing

[klause]

This pipe beckoned to me, and, even when I'd passed by, kept whispering to me, until I could no longer ignore it - So now he resides at my house.

For a time we sat and stared at each other, and communed. We debated leaving him be, as he was quite happy, or, sprucing him up, at the risk of losing his soul.
We sat, late into the night, night after night. Then, we came to a conclusion, and trust was a large part of the decision.
So, I placed him on two match sticks on top of my wood burning stove, to heat through for 45 minutes or so. Then I removed him and carefully rubbed him all over with a block of wax, which he eagerly absorbed. Then I put him back on the stove.
This was repeated over the course of an evening until he could no longer take anymore, at which point I removed him from the heat and let him cool. Once he was cool to the touch, I very, very carefully rubbed him to a shine with a Terry-Towelling cloth. For his beard I needed a brush, a tooth brush, lightly brushing to a beautiful sheen.

The stem, a beautiful piece of birch, was waxed to a beautiful deep red gloss, and the bit, with its gorgeous Orific draft hole, was polished to a lustrous shine.
When all was done, we sat, and we looked at each other. I smiled, and, I swear, He smiled back.
He is home.

 

[johnnyreb]

Great job, Klause! Now he has a beautiful ginger-red beard!

 

[peteguy]

Amazing! Well done.

 

[voorhees]

Looks great klause. You have inspired me to tackle the a meer I have sitting around. Its been smoked on and off before me for 54 years or so, but has a patina similar to yours in the before pictures. Hopefully, I get the same results.

 

[sajgre]

This is a great transformation! I hope it keeps most of its colour. Gorgeous!

 

[klause]

Thanks, Gents - I appreciate the comments.
Jason, give it a whirl - you will see the colour change right before your eyes - it's almost magical. And, I'd be interested in seeing the results when you're done.

 

[misterlowercase]

Great photos
Wow!
Looks great,

he got the full spa treatment and it did wonders for him!
The grace of age,

that fella looks very wise,

open eyes

smilin' wide.
Another well done job,

you should turn pro!
Most excellent work.
:clap:

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

If you're having debates and discussions with your pipe you might be smoking the wrong stuff ...
Pipe looks beautiful. I'm not a fan of carved meer pipes, but it looks very cool.

 

[voorhees]

And, I'd be interested in seeing the results when you're done.

klause, I did the treatment last night. I was less impressed with the results. Not sure if my Kaywoodie Meer is a good grade of meerschaum or not as it did not change its look much at all. It may have darkened a little, but not as much as my other meers did.

I may give it another treatment later.

 

[billypm]

Well, that is just beautiful! It makes me begin to doubt my habitual "I will only color my meers by smoking them" stance. I know the pipes I have that have nice coloring give me a real sense of pride, of having EARNED that loveliness without artificial aid. But I gotta say smoking a pipe that great looking would be nice, too.

 

[cortezattic]

There's nothing un-EARNED or artificial about using bee's wax to draw out the color of a meer. That's what you're supposed to do.

In earlier times whale spermaceti was used. Check out Slave To The White Goddess.

 

[klause]

Jason, I've had that same problem twice - both times were with African meers. they just took on a slightly darker shade, but buffed up to a nice shine. With the others I have done the colour literally appeared before my eyes as i applied the wax. Still, it can do no harm to wax 'em - it sets them up for the next 100 years ;-)
CmdBragg - thanks. I'm not a fan of figurals myself - they usually look like mannequins or worse - up till now I only had the one (in my avatar), but this is a touch above the average, I think, so couldn't let it pass. The simplicity of the stem and bit only add to its appeal.
Troy, I appreciate you comments, mate - thanks. I think his demeanour has changed alright - for the better - thats my good deed done for the year!
Cortez, you're absolutely right. This pipe has certainly earned it's magnificent colour - I'd say at least a 100+ years of smoking has gone into this beauty, and it wears its new clothes well. But, I think I'll leave the spermaceti to the hard core meer fans ;-)

 

[gregprince]

+1 cortez Beeswax doesn't color the Meer, it just brings out the hard earned color that's already there. Beautiful pipe, by the way.

 

[pepesdad1]

Outstanding job of rewaxing that meer. Has plenty of character.

 

[okiescout]

The artwork on meers is one of those things that separates pipers in a hurry :D Great looking beard and color.

I am not a fan of the arabic designs but I love the really great carving of actual figures. Much like the Old Cajuns Frog Meer. Kind of like getting to have your art and smoke it too! :wink:

 

[jonasclark]

That's a gorgeous pipe, even more so after the treatments. Can you post photos of the stem and bit after polishing?

 

[mrbigglesworth]

Beautiful! Got a meer myself that I'm hoping to patina nicely over time.

 

[jkrug]

An older thread revived. That is a beautiful pipe and the waxing enhanced it beauty. Well done Klause. :clap:

 

[pipinho]

I have had similar experiences. When i buy an old meer of the 'bay,i make sure that I give it a good waxing for 2 reasons. 1) IMHO the wax acts like an epoxy and helps with the strength of the meer (again only my opinion), 2) it definitely (again IMHO) helps with the coloring. BTW, isn't it shocking how much wax a "dry" meer can absorb? You can feel the weight of the wax after several coats. I also found that slowly heating up the pipe and then brushing melted wax on it helps the pipe absorb the wax more readily. Now this is going to be controversial... When i by old estate meers that feel "dry" I make sure i wax them, i have cracked brand new (never smoke) vintage meers when i didn't wax them. Again this goes to my theory about the wax helping with the structural integrity of meer. Just my 2 cents.

 

[klause]

Pipinho, I agree completely.
I've had meer's that are chalky to touch after years and years of use and NO waxing. A bit of wax, and they are almost good as new. The difference is like night and day, as you can see in the before and after pictures, here.