Help... Coloring My New Meerschaum

[hawke]

Well I happened upon a good deal maybe. Nothing fantastic but for $25 incl shipping it should be a good chance to try my hand at coloring a meerschaum. It hasn't arrived yet so I hope its from Block Meerschaum at least. I have damaged two other small ones I had and really have no experience of how to proceed successfully.
What's that pencil test for checking pressed vs block?
Next, I would like to hear your recommendations and pictures if you will please, of your meers and how you handled the coloring. Beeswax or other applications verses just smoking.
Thx in advance and hopefully I can update this thread with my progress.

 

[jvnshr]

Warren always has good advice about meerschaums. It is better to wait for him

 

[hawke]

Saw some of his posts and looking forward to his pictures. Thx

Good Link here at PipeMagazine I read.

 

[cortezattic]

This claw didn't see too much use over the 40 years that I owned it, and the coloring wasn't very impressive. Then I read Fred Bass's article and I began to coat it with white bee's wax using a camel's hair brush -- and the color popped! It was hiding within the meerschaum block all that time, and the wax brought it to the surface.

 

[anarchisthermit]

Fill it with tobacco and smoke it. Very often. That is how to color a meer. You're welcome.

 

[warren]

My advice is to smoke the pipe, often. Based only on my observations, waxing over the original wax surface gives the pipe a gleaming surface the color of wax. I firmly believe natural color is the process of the residues of the tobacco filtering through the pores of mineral only. If the meerschaum is pure and very porous it will color faster, usually starting in the stem and bottom of the bowl.
I think the process of waxing over the wax gives the smoker a sense of participating in the process more than just smoking the pipe but, does nothing to speed the internal process.
Wiping the inside of the bowl, or a gentle scraping keeps the pores from clogging. It is the porosity of the mineral which determines the amount and speed of coloring. I've never experienced an "African" meer nor has one of my pipes ever had a pink hue as it colored. I suspect the variations in color are caused by a combination of impurities in the mineral, perhaps different blends and how the pipe is handled and maintained.
I have only seen a couple of fully colored meers. The were a dark, deep brown, nearly black from the rim of the bowl to the end of the stem. They were old pipes, smaller bowls, dating from the 1800s I believe. If I wanted such a pipe, and I do but I missed my chance, I would have one meer which I would smoke every evening, at least two bowls. And, I would hope the pipe was made from a very porous hunk of very pure meerschaum. I think such is a rare combination.
I keep in mind that many meer owners in the past hired underlings to smoke their pipes. Purely speculating, a meer might get smoked three or four times a day over a period of months (years?). My wee collection of a half dozen are smoked one to four or five times a week.
Properly coloring a meer requires smoking and time.
Again, my observations are based on 50 years of meers, reading and observing, an adolescent period of waxing, caring for meers (one is 50 years in my possession, purchased new, a very chaste white) and never having achieved a perfectly colored pipe.
In the final analyses I suggest the smoker do what they wish as long as such leads to enjoying the pipe.
Hawke's link is inspiring.
Edit: I missed my chance for a fully colored meer by having too many to smoke. I enjoy the meer smoking experience and accumulated a couple too many. One pipe, treated well and smoked often might have been the way to go I suppose.

 

[daveinlax]

I used a Butera Coloring Bowl with good results. I posted photo's in this old thread. 8O

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/butera-coloring-bowl-for-meerschaum-pipes

 

[hawke]

Great guidance Warren and Daveinlax. I cant see myself doing the Butera method as I am not that fussy about the results and lend to more natural way and just be patient, but great info there. I do like the way that would even the color. I don't like the look of pipes with that sharp contrast in color on the stem and lower bowl as I see in some. A more even blending is what I'd like to achieve. Love your pipe color Cortez! I'm thinking that I'll do the Beeswax like you eventually but as Fred's article stated and you it seems that the pipe is just smoked for a while first right? Warren, does the initial waxing last long?
Researching I think my pipe should weigh around 12 oz if its Block and more if pressed. Seller said he purchased it in 1983/84 while in Izmir, Turkey.

 

[hawke]

daveinlax, I sure do like the effect you got as shown in Your Post Here

 

[warren]

With proper handling I do not think it ever goes away. If you buff or overly handle when the wax is soft I presume it will. But, mine, except for the two I experimented with waxing on, still look and feel as if they have the shell. I have nothing but my personal experience for reference.
I firmly believe that the internal condition of the meer, clean bowl and porosity are the two items which really effect coloring. Handling, when warm with the bare hand, clean or not, may impart oils into the meer if the wax shell is not in tact. Many meer smokers do not give this a thought and are happy with their experience.
Remember, it is a mineral, imperfect and the final result is completely at the mercy of the mineral. I think we smokers sometimes impart too much mystery to the process. We think we can alter the process, improve the process, speed the process or what not. It's the internals of the block which will, in the end determine the final look.

 

[condorlover1]

Following on from my previous monologue and since I have been asked this question so many times I thought I would deal with the topic of coloring old meerschaum pipes. Most pipes in the 100+ year old category are pretty well colored by the time the hobby/enthusiast has got their hands on the pipe due to the fact that they have been aggressively smoked by the pipes previous owner.
As we have learnt from my previous article the average Victorian put some form of obstruction at bottom of his pipe bowl in the form of a silver coin or button or even an engineering nut to create a space. This space acted like a miniature calabash and allowed tars and moisture to condense and collect at the bottom of the bowl. At the same time the pipe heated up from the burning tobacco which assisted in the absorption of this smoking by product leading to the bottom of the bowl and stem going a pleasing brown color as shown in the pipe below.

Some people are ardent believers in waxing your pipe with bees wax by heating it up with a hair dryer and slathering large amounts of bees wax onto the meerschaum. I find that if the pipe is new then you can indeed engage in this sort of thing but I have also found it adds a fascinating flavor to your tobacco and will turn the pipe a dark brown color as opposed to the preferred golden brown or mahogany colored achieved by patient and persistent smoking of the pipe.
Another item that has proved very popular is the device known as the 'Coloring Bowl' which is a modern incarnation of the Victorian button or coin trick. This works again in a similar fashion to a calabash creating a chamber in the pipe for tars and moisture to collect, I am told they are very effective but they have always looked so cumbersome to me but again as they say you mileage may vary and it is a matter of personal preference.
I have found that the one of the most effective methods for coloring a meerschaum is to take a trip to your local 'Head Shop' which sells a wonderful selection of bongs and water pipes. For a modest $2 you should purchase a packet of screens that are small circle wire meshes that fit in the base of the glass pipes used for smoking marijuana. See the picture below for guidance.

You should then form this using your index finger into a cup shape and insert into the bottom of the pipes bowl. This will create a space below the burning tobacco but also prevent the stem getting blocked up with unwanted tobacco tar and fragments which usually necessitate the need to clear the stem with a long wire before cleaning. If done properly the result can be seen on the before and after pictures of this small cutty pipe.

After:

 

[hawke]

Great stuff! That coin trick is new to me. The principle is intriguing. I'll consider the screen deal. Its not something one can start over once begun. I'm thinking how cool it would be to say that's the real deal in coloring there, no fancy speed trick, simple smoking and letting mother nature do her thing.

 

[condorlover1]

Thats what I do with all of my pipes but then again its really a matter of personal preference.

 

[saint007]

In my opinion, most of the coloring is caused by moisture.
I have over a dozen meers and have always read that oily tobaccos like Latakia are best for coloring. If that were true, the coloring would begin at the bottom of the bowl and not the stem. With quality block meers, the coloring starts at the stem and works its way to the heel of the pipe gradually working its way up the pipe.
I also find that aros hasten the coloring more than traditional English blends.
I use organic bees wax every 40-60 bowls to draw the color from the pipe.
Just my .02 ::

 

[dutch65]

I've had good luck coloring meerschaum using cigar smoke. I simply put the pipe inside a small piece of Tupperware style container, with a piece of paper towel in the bottom. Every morning for 6 months, I would smoke a premium cigar, and crack the lid on the plastic container slightly, while exhaling the smoke into the container, and quickly snapping the lid shut. If you perform the technique correctly, most of the smoke will land inside the container.
Periodically, you will want to turn the pipe over inside the container, in order to achieve even coloring. You can also remove the pipe from time to time, in order to let the smoke residue dry, before placing it back into the container. Once you have colored the pipe satisfactorily, you can start smoking, and it will continue to color in the standard fashion. This technique seems to work best on carved meers, because there is more exposed surface for the residue to cling to.

 

[easterntraveler]

Best advice I have read was, smoke it once a day for 2 weeks then let it sit for 1 to 2 weeks. Rinse and repeat. Once I started doing that my meet started coloring quite quickly.

 

[disinformatique]

The Late Jason The Meerschaum King did a video on coloring bowls and he deducted the bowls slowed down the coloring of meerschaums.
Chris

 

[hawke]

Here's one I bought but I didn't color it. PAD got me.

 

[sjfine]

I can't afford another pipe right now, so this thread has me depressed.
I am so ready to start coloring a meer (with patience). And, I might have already splurged for an "affordable" at the sponsor's site, but I am not feeling the stemwork. Of course, the one pipe that I do like there is out of my range at the moment. So I remain depressed about the whole thing.
--

Meerless in Mattituck

 

[shutterbugg]

I have 3 meers, one of them was my father's, a bulldog in a velvet-lined leather violin-type case. Another is a carved bent I bought in 1973. And the last is a calabash I got used about 10 years ago. Nobody told my dad or me about not touching it while warm, etc. so although both pipes have been smoked thousands of times, none of them is particularly well-colored. Honestly Idgaf. I have them to smoke, not to look at. In fact the calabash bowl has a crack through it but the cork has held the halves together all these years.