Coloring Progress Over Time/No of Bowls in one Meerschaum Pipe

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didimauw

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 28, 2013
10,731
37,747
SE WI
Starting to get frustrated with my altinay. I am about 60 bowls in and there is little to no coloring except for finger staining and a slight pink in the crest between the bowl and the shank. Now sure how to get this thing to color or if it is simply the meerschaum saying, "this is all I got chief"
You should start your own color progression thread. It may help to see how its changed over time.
 

DanWil84

Lifer
Mar 8, 2021
1,691
12,666
40
The Netherlands (Europe)
Starting to get frustrated with my altinay. I am about 60 bowls in and there is little to no coloring except for finger staining and a slight pink in the crest between the bowl and the shank. Now sure how to get this thing to color or if it is simply the meerschaum saying, "this is all I got chief"
Your not even at 1 percent of its potential, be patient and smoke the sucker.
 

jhowell

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 25, 2019
669
1,056
71
Phoenix, Arizona
Starting to get frustrated with my altinay. I am about 60 bowls in and there is little to no coloring except for finger staining and a slight pink in the crest between the bowl and the shank. Now sure how to get this thing to color or if it is simply the meerschaum saying, "this is all I got chief"
It has nothing to do with Altinay. Each block of meerschaum will color the way it wants to! It really is the luck of the draw - the only way to find out how a particular block is going to color is to make a pipe out of it and smoke it. It doesn't matter what carver got your particular block - it's gonna color the way it wants...
 
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fishmansf

Can't Leave
Oct 29, 2022
449
1,503
PNW
It has nothing to do with Altinay. Each block of meerschaum will color the way it wants to! It really is the luck of the draw - the only way to find out how a particular block is going to color is to make a pipe out of it and smoke it. It doesn't matter what carver got your particular block - it's gonna color the way it wants...
Oh absolutely, nothing wrong with altinay. Their pipes are amazing smoker and well made. I know it’s all in the block itself
 

LeafErikson

Lifer
Dec 7, 2021
2,285
20,148
Oregon
Oh absolutely, nothing wrong with altinay. Their pipes are amazing smoker and well made. I know it’s all in the block itself
How spaced out are the 60 bowls you've had? 60 bowls in 10 days is MUCH different 60 bowls in 90 days in terms of how much coloring you'll see. Of course, some blocks are just more stubborn than others even with lots of smoking.

IMG_3804.jpeg
The top pipe has had at least 600-650 bowls through it, but, that was over the course of 2 years. Less than one bowl a day on average. The bottom pipe has had around 300 smokes out of it in 3 months, so 3-4 smokes a day.

It’s still down to the block of meerschaum itself but if you smoke a meerschaum pipe multiple times a day it WILL color at some point.
 
Last edited:

fishmansf

Can't Leave
Oct 29, 2022
449
1,503
PNW
How spaced out are the 60 bowls you've had? 60 bowls in 10 days is MUCH different 60 bowls in 90 days in terms of how much coloring you'll see. Of course, some blocks are just more stubborn than others even with lots of smoking.

View attachment 296771
The top pipe has had at least 600-650 bowls through it, but, that was over the course of 2 years. Less than one bowl a day on average. The bottom pipe has had around 300 smokes out of it in 3 months, so 3-4 smokes a day.

It’s still down to the block of meerschaum itself but if you smoke a meerschaum pipe multiple times a day it WILL color at some point.
Id say the total of 60 bowls has been since november (I think that s when got the pipe) though the last 20 bowls have been within the past 2 months
 
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LeafErikson

Lifer
Dec 7, 2021
2,285
20,148
Oregon
Id say the total of 60 bowls has been since november (I think that s when got the pipe) though the last 20 bowls have been within the past 2 months
Yeah I wouldn’t expect much coloring smoking one bowl every other day for 4 months. Same with 20 bowls in 2 months. If you smoked it at that pace for years you would likely see color.

If you smoked 100 bowls in a month I could almost guarantee you it would color at least a little bit. Even then though there are some stubborn blocks out there.
 
Apr 26, 2012
3,629
8,606
Washington State
Last year I had 21 meerschaum pipes that I smoked, along with 11 different briars, and 11 different corn cobs, in addition to my cigars. As I don't smoke that much, and trying not to neglect all my pipes, it makes it hard for me to color my meerschaums. I've got multiple meers that I've had for years and have smoked many bowls through, so they have some decent coloring, but I'm definitely jealous that some of you guys' color your meers so quickly.

Looking back at my makeshift smoking journal from last year, the most I smoked anyone of my meerschaum pipes was 27 bowls for the entire year. The most I smoked that pipe in a given month was 7 bowls. Needless to say, my meers don't color that fast as compared to some of you other guys. Many of you guys smoke your meers more times in one week than I do all year. Which is one of the reasons why I culled multiple pipes from my pipe collection, and still have a few more to sell off, so I can focus more on certain pipes. So far, the most bowls I've put through one of my meers this is year is 12. LOL I've got a lot of years of pipe smoking ahead of me, so I'm not worried about how my pipes look now. With time they'll all get plenty of love.
 

OzPiper

Lifer
Nov 30, 2020
6,879
37,210
72
Sydney, Australia
Last year I had 21 meerschaum pipes that I smoked, along with 11 different briars, and 11 different corn cobs, in addition to my cigars. As I don't smoke that much, and trying not to neglect all my pipes, it makes it hard for me to color my meerschaums. I've got multiple meers that I've had for years and have smoked many bowls through, so they have some decent coloring, but I'm definitely jealous that some of you guys' color your meers so quickly.

Looking back at my makeshift smoking journal from last year, the most I smoked anyone of my meerschaum pipes was 27 bowls for the entire year. The most I smoked that pipe in a given month was 7 bowls. Needless to say, my meers don't color that fast as compared to some of you other guys. Many of you guys smoke your meers more times in one week than I do all year. Which is one of the reasons why I culled multiple pipes from my pipe collection, and still have a few more to sell off, so I can focus more on certain pipes. So far, the most bowls I've put through one of my meers this is year is 12. LOL I've got a lot of years of pipe smoking ahead of me, so I'm not worried about how my pipes look now. With time they'll all get plenty of love.
Just celebrated my 72nd birthday.
I average 4 bowls per week with a rotation of around 200 pipes.
Not going to LOOK at a virgin meer - unless someone can guarantee me a lifespan like Methuselah 😏
 
Jun 23, 2019
1,937
13,238
I smoked (and still smoke ) this pipe about once per day.

I have smoked it about 560 times. However there is almost no progression in coloring lately

Any updates here? I've had my Nate King meer for Y-E-A-R-S now and it's my workhorse beater pipe, so relatively speaking, I smoke it A LOT! Yet, there's no real color on it, except at the shank...

- - -

How spaced out are the 60 bowls you've had? 60 bowls in 10 days is MUCH different 60 bowls in 90 days in terms of how much coloring you'll see. Of course, some blocks are just more stubborn than others even with lots of smoking.

View attachment 296771
The top pipe has had at least 600-650 bowls through it, but, that was over the course of 2 years. Less than one bowl a day on average. The bottom pipe has had around 300 smokes out of it in 3 months, so 3-4 smokes a day.

It’s still down to the block of meerschaum itself but if you smoke a meerschaum pipe multiple times a day it WILL color at some point.

I'm not saying the frequency at which you smoke the pipe won't help, but I think it's more about the block of meerschaum. Something about Tekin's pipes, they just color really quickly and well. I have a squat tomato that's coloring exactly the same as yours right there.
 

LeafErikson

Lifer
Dec 7, 2021
2,285
20,148
Oregon
I'm not saying the frequency at which you smoke the pipe won't help, but I think it's more about the block of meerschaum.
Absolutely true. I also think lots of back to back bowls colors the pipe a whole lot more than 1 daily bowl.

Cool experiment idea: two meers made from the same block and one you smoke once daily for a year and one you smoke 2 days a week, but still total 7 bowls. The first day you have 3 bowls and the second day you have 4 bowls. I bet you that the second meer with back to back bowls would color more than the one smoked once daily.
 
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