Applying Beeswax to Meerschaum

[cortezattic]

This no-name claw has about 1,000 smokes -- I'm guessing...

I just used a Q-tip to brush melted white bee's wax onto the surface, and a hot air blower to keep it runny for a while.

 

[captainprophesy]

WOW Greg... thats coming along nicely... I love how its coloring evenly

 

[gmwolford]

Thanks, Capt. It's going so evenly I didn't even notice till last night the difference! LOL
After a lot of reading and pondering, I think I'm going to go natural with it, no wax or anything. I do make sure my hands are clean and hold it by the stem. Being a square shank and stemmed pipe it's actually very comfortable to hold that way. The thickness of the bit makes it a not very comfortable clencher so it's a good thing it's comfortable to hold. :puffpipe:

 

[gnatjulio]

That's a real nice meer Greg. And I love the eagle claw Cortez. I dig how the color is in the grooves. I'm gonna hold off on the wax for now on the mermaid.

 

[baronsamedi]

Julio, I think the difference may be the beeswax. I wax mine the same way you do, but I use white beeswax. My other big Meer I used Yellow and it colored more darkly. I also have yet another meer that I used no wax on. I need to take a pic so everyone will see the difference with them side by side!
Meers color all sorts of funny ways. Mine and Barkars are typical, coloring from the shank (and you can see how much more he smokes his, by how dark it is) but I've seen some color from the top of the bowl before. Some are splotchy, some smooth and some have wavy lines here and there.

 

[gnatjulio]

@baron- I'm looking forward to seeing your meers. I just checked out the meer in question here and after over 24 hours of rest the color is a little lighter and a little more even.
No joke with the beeswax being the difference. Like I stated, it started darkening as soon as I started applying the wax. And I've been puffing fast to get the bowl hot enough to melt the wax.

 

[baronsamedi]

Here's mine. Hope the pic isn't too big. The top pipe has no wax. The middle is yellow wax and smoked almost every day for a year. The bottom is the Storient with white wax, smoked almost every day since September.

 

[baronsamedi]

Yep. Too big. I'll resize when I get to an actual computer.

 

[topd]

All nice looking pipes...
This link explains how I've done it... it's just another way that works.

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/experimenting-with-a-meerschaum

 

[instymp]

TopD,what color wax

 

[pstlpkr]

Good thread!

I think I'm going to change my reluctance to wax my Sherlock and Holmes.

To be continued....

 

[topd]

I used regular bees wax, not refined or white wax.

 

[mlyvers]

hey guys, my meer is coloring from the shank forward. however the bowl has some color to, my meerschaum is ~ 20 years old. i have also uesd CAO MEERSHAUM ANTIQING COMPOUND as well. i like to apply it to the bowl while smoking. i apply it to the top portion of the bowl and let the wax flow downward. after smoking i hand buff with a soft cloth. i also keep the cake scraped out of the bowl. i like meers because you can smoke them hard over and over with minimum rest in between smokes. i will buy some bees wax when i run out of this compound iam currently using.
take care. oh yeah i like the all the pics here guys. thanks.....
mike.

 

[cortezattic]

Oops! I did some PhotoBucket housecleaning and thoughtlessly moved the pix posted above. Sorry. Here they are again.

 

[gnatjulio]

MI'm suddenly in the mood for an eagle claw meer.
Just an update- I notice that it gets lighter when I give it over a fulldats rest and gets darker when I smoke it again. I'm just gonna smoke the hell out of or for two weeks then give it a rest(I think that's what was suggested). Then I'll just see how it looks over time. Beautiful meers you all gotguys.

 

[frennchy11]

All of these pics are awesome! Can't wait to see some more gnatjulio

 

[saint007]

Have any of you tried using Halcyon II Wax on your Meerchaums? I use it on my briars and it really brings out the luster in the wood with a rich shine. The diretions say that it can be used on meers too.

 

[cortezattic]

That's really interesting! I'll bet someone here has the cojones to try it on their prized meer.
...and btw, welcome to the forums, Saint. :clap:

 

[taerin]

I'd like to know this answer as well!