Hello!
While I don't smoke myself, my husband does and I have been repairing and restoring antique meerschaum pipes and the occasional cheroot holder for him for about a year now. Mostly I've been fixing stripped or cracked amber stems, replacing broken tenons, and occasionally digging out what feels like half a bottle of superglue to turn a previously broken and semi-repaired display-only pipe back smokeable again or making fills when a piece of the original amber was lost (turns out doing my own acrylic nails many years ago in college is a huge help - knowing how to prep the amber to take the glue properly and what solvents dissolve what glues and such makes things a lot easier!).
I've read a lot of posts here in the repair and maintenance category (and on reborn pipes too) for ideas for months now and am excited to be able to share some of my own projects and talk to fellow hobbyist fixers and appreciators of pipes! Pipe making is a beautiful art form and I love rescuing ones that could be lost and watching my husband bring them back to life to smoke.
I just finished repairing this gorgeous meerschaum and amber cheroot holder, previously broken and held together with toothpicks and so so so much glue. I had to use a drill bit by hand then files to clear the air hole, plus 1/4 of the bead on the base of the amber cup was missing and I had to use acrylic and amber chips to fill in the missing bits then file, sand, and polish back to shape. Now airtight and fully functional again!
Great to meet folks!
- J.C.
While I don't smoke myself, my husband does and I have been repairing and restoring antique meerschaum pipes and the occasional cheroot holder for him for about a year now. Mostly I've been fixing stripped or cracked amber stems, replacing broken tenons, and occasionally digging out what feels like half a bottle of superglue to turn a previously broken and semi-repaired display-only pipe back smokeable again or making fills when a piece of the original amber was lost (turns out doing my own acrylic nails many years ago in college is a huge help - knowing how to prep the amber to take the glue properly and what solvents dissolve what glues and such makes things a lot easier!).
I've read a lot of posts here in the repair and maintenance category (and on reborn pipes too) for ideas for months now and am excited to be able to share some of my own projects and talk to fellow hobbyist fixers and appreciators of pipes! Pipe making is a beautiful art form and I love rescuing ones that could be lost and watching my husband bring them back to life to smoke.
I just finished repairing this gorgeous meerschaum and amber cheroot holder, previously broken and held together with toothpicks and so so so much glue. I had to use a drill bit by hand then files to clear the air hole, plus 1/4 of the bead on the base of the amber cup was missing and I had to use acrylic and amber chips to fill in the missing bits then file, sand, and polish back to shape. Now airtight and fully functional again!
Great to meet folks!
- J.C.
