Another Meer Coloring Tip/Method

[warren]

I feel like the meerschaum mafia is on their way to my house now that I'm disclosing this.

Fuming a pipe? It just doesn't look right. But, if that's the look you're going for, go for it. Some have been doing that for years. It does maze me though, the amount of work folks will do rather than simply enjoying their meerschaum, enjoying it as it colors from the inside out. As long as a smoker doesn't try to pass off a "falsely" colored meer, who really cares. The difference between a meer colored from proper smoking and one fumed or waxed is readily apparent. So those of you without patience ... have at it.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I have an off white Kiko meer, and have never waxed it.
Thought I'd give it a go, so I then smoked it hot to get the wax to soak in, and it COMPLETELY changed colour instantly!

It still smokes awesome, which is really the only thing I'm worried about.

You can do the same after a smoke. Empty the pipe, and fill it with warm water. You'll see it change in a flash.

As it dries, it'll revert back to whatever color it was.

 

[VDL_Piper]

Just smoke it upside down like the old sailors and the like did if you want the smoke to colour your Meer otherwise put a thousand bowls through it and you might get some progress and all from the comfort of your arm chair.

 

[BriarLinedMeer]

Just smoke it upside down like the old sailors and the like did if you want the smoke to colour your Meer otherwise put a thousand bowls through it and you might get some progress and all from the comfort of your arm chair.

Isn't that how you're supposed to smoke everything?

 

[warren]

I am not particularly crazy about those dirty brown colors..

Looks a bit like what babies manufacture until put on solid food. "Baby shit yellow" in no way resembles the deep, mottled mahogany a "properly" colored meer slowly morphs into.

 

[JackofNone]

So just for the record. the pipe I'm trying this on likely will not color by smoking due to the way I fixed it after it broke. Also, I got some nasty JB weld on it by mistake and the smoke is actually drowning out those colors. I think Beauty is subjective, and I'm getting closer to that with this meer than I was. What was once so displeasurable to look at that I wouldn't smoke it, is on its way to becoming my Lakeland pipe.

 

[Sobrbiker]

So just for the record. the pipe I'm trying this on likely will not color by smoking due to the way I fixed it after it broke. Also, I got some nasty JB weld on it by mistake and the smoke is actually drowning out those colors. I think Beauty is subjective, and I'm getting closer to that with this meer than I was. What was once so displeasurable to look at that I wouldn't smoke it, is on its way to becoming my Lakeland pipe.

The only person whose approval you need is in the mirror!
Carry on!

 

[JackofNone]

The only person whose approval you need is in the mirror!
Carry on!

One would have thought that there's a textbook on pipe smoking by McGraw-Hill

 

[runscott]

Fuming a pipe? It just doesn't look right. But, if that's the look you're going for, go for it. Some have been doing that for years. It does maze me though, the amount of work folks will do rather than simply enjoying their meerschaum, enjoying it as it colors from the inside out. As long as a smoker doesn't try to pass off a "falsely" colored meer, who really cares. The difference between a meer colored from proper smoking and one fumed or waxed is readily apparent. So those of you without patience ... have at it.

It's really interesting how many different ways meers have been colored unnaturally over the years. I have a ~1900-20 meer that has the mottled bowl AND rim fluming, all done by the pipe-maker over 100 years ago. I also have quite a few that were factory-colored maroon over most of the stummel. And the modern Turkish orangish-yellow ones that I think often don't look so great.

At some point I plan on getting out 100 or so meers and grouping them according to such things, post and get some discussion going. The results can be easily grouped, but how they arrived at them may always be a mystery. I much prefer the naturally-colored ones like the two below, which are my oldest pipes.

The top one is one of my favorites, and a great smoker - it has an 1876 band and an 1895 repair band. There is none of the mahogany color - just the oranges.

The bottom pipe is hallmarked 1827 and is also a great smoker - I use a long vulcanite stem when smoking it. It clearly has some of the mahogany color, but the location seems natural.

So is is just the characteristics of a particular block of meerschaum that determine the cherry red or orange, the tobacco used, how they were smoked, or were smokers adding something?

 

[mikethompson]

"If my meerschaum pipe is colored, my wife will love me."

Really?

 

[mikethompson]

Well its a new 'trick' to me - thanks for sharing

 

[warren]

Why not simply grab a brush or spray can and quickly paint the look you are going for? Seems to be the obvious answer for those who lack patience. My question is, why buy a meerschaum if you are not looking for natural coloring? To each his own I suppose is the proper response.

 

[AroEnglish]

Really?

Yes, my wife also only loves me if my pipes have sexy patina as I myself have no sex appeal

 

[runscott]

My question is, why buy a meerschaum if you are not looking for natural coloring? To each his own I suppose is the proper response.

Because meerschaum pipes smoke differently from briars or clay.
As far as coloring pipe stummels, some people prefer 'virgin' wood, letting the oils of their hand color the briar.

 

[warren]

Because meerschaum pipes smoke differently from briars or clay.

Seems a reasonable assumption, which I was remiss in acknowledging. Thanks for your astute observation. I should have focused my question to those who apparently selected meerschaum for it's coloring ability and then seek to short circuit the process so to achieve any sort of color as quickly as possible.

I first turned to meerschaum a half century or so ago because of it's smoking smoking characteristics and the slow coloring process. My first acquisition smoked well and the coloring in the heel cqaptured my interest. I find the process highly fascinating.

 

[runscott]

Seems a reasonable assumption, which I was remiss in acknowledging. Thanks for your astute observation. I should have focused my question to those who apparently selected meerschaum for it's coloring ability and then seek to short circuit the process so to achieve any sort of color as quickly as possible.

I first turned to meerschaum a half century or so ago because of it's smoking smoking characteristics and the slow coloring process. My first acquisition smoked well and the coloring in the heel cqaptured my interest. I find the process highly fascinating.

I think it's a minority who select them for coloring ability - I believe most smokers select them either because of their smoking characteristics, or the carvings and other designs that aren't found so much in briar. But...the coloring process is intriguing to most anyone who owns a meer. The fact that some of my meers that are block, well-smoked, and 125 or more years old, have NOT colored much, makes me not want so much to put a lot of time into any of my newer ones in the belief that someday they will be a beautiful cherry color

I personally find that my meers smoke better than my briars - in general. I like that I can clean them out after every smoke, avoid the cake build-up process that most believe briars require, and smoke the same pipe every day if I feel like it (even though I do that with briars also). I own so many pipes that my meers will never achieve their coloring potential if smoked only by me. I assume that the beauties that I have that are over 100 years old, were members of a very small group of pipes that their original owners smoked, so getting them to color was not near the problem that it will be for me.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

A Couple of Dogs

I just received the top pipe - it's only been smoked once or twice. The bottom one is a well-smoked Peterson. Both probably date to early 1900's.

My personal 'secret' which has only been a forgotten secret for the last ~40 years, is Jojoba oil. Pipe-makers started using it to replace sperm whale oil when it became illegal/hard to get. Rub that into your meer well and it will bring back the color on an old faded meer, or brighten up one that already looks good. I've found that it even works on meers that I had previously used beeswax polish on.

The greatest thing about Jojoba oil is that you don't have to wash your hands after use - just rub it into your wrinkles!

I've heard of using jojoba oil as well as extra virgin olive oil. I tried the extra virgin olive oil on two pipes before, and didn't notice a difference with one, and minimal difference with the other. Definitely makes the pipe shine though.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

It works. I'm disappointed that it was this easy, but it works. I feel like the meerschaum mafia is on their way to my house now that I'm disclosing this.

Put the meer in a glass jar. Smoke another pipe. Blow smoke into the jar, seal the lid. Repeat several times a day. After 2 days my throwaway meer is more colored than the ones I won't use this cheat code to color. I have had my Tekin for a month and smoked it every day, but it has less color than the meer I have colored in this experiment. This is cheating. But I know there are some coloring-freaks out there. Well, this is it. The cheat code to coloring meerschaum. I'm sorry.

I've seen YT video's of that trick. I've tried it and didn't really notice any difference. I would take the stem off the pipe and just put the stummel in the jar. After about 45 minutes or so the smoke will have dissipated out of the jar, and I would blow more smoke in, and did this several times throughout the day before putting the pipe back on the shelf. Over time I didn't see any real change in the color.
Will it work, in theory yes, if you put enough smoke in the jar and do it multiple times, then yes, the pipe will absorb some of the smoke and it will eventually add to the color.


For those that want to color your pipes quickly...
Remember, even if you have two identical pipes, made by the same carver, and you smoked them equally with the same tobacco, both pipes will color differently. The key factor is the quality of the meerschaum the pipe is made from. All meerschaum will color differently. Other factors are the frequency of smoking, and the tobacco that is being smoked in it. The best way to color it is to just smoke it.

I've seen pipes that are smoked like a freight train, and they have some color, and I've seen some that are smoked much less but have more color to them. It comes back to the main factor being the quality of the meerschaum.

 

[JackofNone]

I'm going to have to make a before and after picture of 30+ days. My intended point has been entirely misconstrued.

 

[runscott]

I've heard of using jojoba oil as well as extra virgin olive oil. I tried the extra virgin olive oil on two pipes before, and didn't notice a difference with one, and minimal difference with the other. Definitely makes the pipe shine though.

Nothing is going to work 100% of the time, but applying it to maybe twenty meers in various states, I find Jojoba oil to work the best. The advantage of Jojoba oil is that it has the same chemical make-up as sperm whale oil, which supposedly was used by pipe-makers of old.