The process was pretty simple. I held up the German clay pipe I had to the meerschaum block and determined where the final shape lived in the block. Made a few pencil marks on the blank block, so I wouldn't forget.
Grabbed a coffee cup full of water and dropped the block in to soak. After about 20 minutes I pulled the block out of the water and was surprised to feel that it was almost slimy, like a wet bar of soap. The knife passed through the material like a bar of soap, so carving was incredibly easy. If at any point the block started to feel "dry" or the knife didn't want to easily remove material I would just drop the block back into the water for 5mins.
After I worked out the general shape I decided to go ahead and make the chamber before refining the final shape. I simply used the rounded tip of the knife and started twisting into the block. It was very quick and easy removing a ¹/16" to an ⅛" of material at a time burrowing into the chamber.
Once I was satisfied with the depth of the chamber I grabbed a small drill bit and going from the center of the end of the shank, slowly twisted it in towards the bowl. This took the longest as the meerschaum quickly clogged the bit and I had to submerge it in the coffee cup and tap it several times to release the clay like meerschaum. Drilling the draft hole took longer than making the chamber.
After I was done with the chamber and the draft hole I continued to refine the shape of the pipe with my knife. Seeing that I lacked material to have the bowl height I wanted And a nice flat top on the bowl I took the knife and gently started tapping the top of the bowl with the edge of the blade. I did this in a variety of directions until I was satisfied with the uniform "ununiform" appearance (lol).
I cut off a piece of brass tubing that was the right diameter to house the MM stem I had and filed it flat on both ends. Then, using a screwing motion, worked the brass onto the end of the meerschaum shank. I also used my knife to assist in gently removing material until the brass was well seated and in line with the shank. I then removed the brass.
This all took about 2-3 hours with frequent breaks to smoke, get coffee, etc.
Then I decided it was at a point that sanding was the next step, so I set the bowl aside on a paper towel to dry overnight. After work I grabbed some 220 grit sandpaper and continued to refine the shape until I was happy. I cut the tenon off the end of the pipe stem and glued it into the brass, rather carelessly because I was eager to finish the project and smoke it, lol.
I put the bowl in an oven safe dish and baked it in the oven at 195°f for about an hour to dry it out. I was surprised upon taking it out of the oven that I could handle it with my bare hands, though I submit that everyone should still use caution, it just didn't feel that hot.
I assembled the bowl with the stem, packed a bowl and smoked!
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