Simon, I’m definitely down. I don’t own any cuttys as of yet. But, I’m sure you starting an entry here will very likely change that. I very much enjoy both your & Dave’s picture postings of well-loved, ancient Meers.?
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️Cutty Pipe Thread Anyone?
- Thread starter condorlover1
- Start date
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@condorlover1Hello Simon, recently, after a medical procedure, I was perusing eBay while taking some meds unfamiliar to me. I woke up to find I had acquired this older cased cutty meerschaum. The price was only $42.00 U.S., so all’s well.
The pipe was represented as having a genuine amber stem and being made by F. Webb Ltd., in Birmingham, 1911.
Although I have not tested it, the stem seems to be amber with bone tenon, it does thread to the shank but doesn’t clock straight, about 1/8 turn over. In all other aspects it seems well.
I would like to smoke this pipe and am thinking that a acrylic replacement stem would be a good idea.
Who would you recommend to make a stem and do any necessary tweaks?
Any thoughts or advice you may have are appreciated.
Thank you,
Ray
The amber stem looks to be in sound condition. Why would you want a replacement ?
I use silicon bits with all my amber stems so I don't chomp on them, and have had no problems to date.
apologies for the extremely late reply @condorlover1 ,only just seen this.
I dont know about the original stem material as I have not actually seen the pipe yet.I had it sent directly to my restorer as the pipe was in England and so is he.
I should get it at the end of September when I have a friend visiting me.
This is the result after repair,new acrylic stem original bone tenon
Very nice job. Just remember to try and keep your fingers off the bowl whilst smoking it and add a 'butt plug' to the bottom to speed up coloring. That is a wonderful pipe. Thank you for posting it.
As commented elsewhere if the amber stem is sound and the threads in the meerschaum shank are in good order then don't f*ck with it! In terms of the stem lining up I use paper shims. These can be purchased at any reasonable 'Stationary' store and are the circular things you stick on paper sheets after you have used a hole punch. It reinforces the page so that the binder does not tear the paper. Just add as many as necessary for the stem to align and then gently tighten the stem. You can then trim the surplus over hang with a razor blade. Remember use a soft modeling pipe cleaner to clean the pipe and don't take it apart to avoid stressing the meerschaum threads in the shank, its a pipe and not a folding rifle! Beautiful pipe. Thank you for showing it on the forum.
I’ve no experience with amber stems and I am concerned that given the age it may be too fragile.
It sounds like you’ve have good luck and so perhaps I am overly concerned.
I am inspired by your recommendation to give it a go!
I know exactly what you mean.
Brilliant.
I will get some and give this a go.
I am not familiar with these cleaners but assume they may be thinner and less bulky than a standard cleaners. I can see the hole in the stem and bone tenon look to be smaller than my current production meer.
Would I find these at hobby shops or perhaps on Amazon?
Thank you for your help and advice.
@peregrinus: I use these pipe cleaners available from Amazon in ultra long lengths that are used in art projects. They are thinner and perfect for cleaning out the older Victorian/Edwardian pipe stems especially for those who don't want to go 'full on' traditional and use bird feathers. You will thank me for this advice since more amber stems have been broken by people trying to jam modern pipe cleaners into the them then by any other means. Also a bunch of wire 'keys' are useful which are different gauges of straight wire held on a key ring for dealing with any other unforeseen blockages caused by smoking the pipe without a 'Philt Pad' or other form of restrictor at the base of the bowl.
Here are my set of 'Pipe Keys' which are only deployed in the case of severe blockages. These were made by my dear friend 'Woodsroad' several years ago and are a 'must have' for any recreational antique meerschaum pipe smoker.
As you suggested I found these on Amazon.
I have experience working with metal so I can fabricate one of these.
In an earlier meerschaum thread I took your suggestion and ordered some of the meerschaum style “pads” that @weezell recommended and have been using these in a contemporary cutty style with great success. I’ll drop one in this pipe.
Thank you for the advice.
My only cutty is a short (about 5") Jeantet briar. Nice heel, slightly bulbous bowl is tilted forward at about 45 degrees. Its shank has visibly been broken and glued once, very neatly. It has a very short vulcanite stem. It's next on my list to get a new stem, and I'd like about 4-5" of amber-colored acrylic, maybe with a round button. It and a well-colored-from-smoking (was like that when I got it) Goede Waagen porcelain pipe (kind of a Dublin shape, no heel) are my rainy-day walk pipes, both smoked upside-down.