An Old Meer' Man Gets A Waxing

[taazen]

Hi fellow meerschaum smokers. I have a beautiful, 19th century, carved general face meerschaum pipe with glass eyes. I would love to get it in good shape again, cause its verry dry. I have some spermaceti oil and wax that i got from a friend who was in a project with a dead sperm whale that had stranded along the Norwegian fjords. I dont know how to add this on my pipe. Should i use the oil, the wax ore both? Should i also add beeswax? I have 2 kinds of beeswax. One light green and one light yellow. I got it from two bee farmers. If i need to dip the pipe in hot oil or wax, how shall i protect the glass eyes? Or should i just heat up the pipe and oil or wax, then add it on? Hope someone can help me out. Cant find anything about adding spermaceti on meerschaum pipes. Also, did they mix something else with the spermaceti? Please let me know. Any suggestions will be much appreciated. Kindly regards from a humble slave of the white goddesses.)

 

[gnesiohamartolos]

Cortex--I am the "Tetsuji" whose pipes are featured in "Slaves of White Goddess" article by Fred Bass.
Taazen--Since that article was published I have moved on to using a 4 part jojoba oil to 1 part white filtered (not bleached) beeswax mixture that is slowly melted together then stirred until it cools to form an off-white paste. Apply sparingly and repeatedly rather than drowning the stummel in it. The late French pipe carver, Philippe Bargiel, claimed jojoba oil is chemically identical to spermaceti that cannot be transacted even if harvested prior to the international ban. It is a federal offense. The jojoba-beeswax paste causes dramatic coloration on older (50+ year) pipes but coloring is erratic. Colors to a brilliant burnt orange then bleaches out, then returns. Experiment at your own risk.
voorhees--the reason your Kaywoodie doesn't color dramatically is probably because it is relatively new compared to klause's bearded man. The mushroom cap shank end and birch stem are features of a mid to late 19th century pipe. I have three with the mushroom stem, one of which is ca. 1887 by P. J. Kaldenberg of NYC.

 

[randelli]

Oh nice! I thought for a second this was going to be a crazy Zoolander thread!!