Lee Van Cleef Pipes
- Thread starter runscott
- Start date
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Nope! Most of them don't have the correct bend or the correct bowl shape or size. If they do then the coloring is usually off. I've looked at countless LVC pipes on multiple pipe websites, meerschaum sites, and eBay over the past 10 years. I've yet to find one that I would pull the trigger on. That's just me though.This is a screenshot from For a Few Dollars More -
I'd say most of the 'Lee Van Cleef' pipes are very similar no?
Also, Said Altinay is really active on these forums, you can always inquire about some custom details..
Just a guess based on Charlie Bronson who was also a pipe smoker and smoked in all of his movies and smoked his own pipes, that the pipes were Van Cleef's.
"Calciné Meerschaum, pictured above, is beautifully colored by boiling in natural wood oils at 400° for many hours. Combines smoking qualities of Meerschaum with the magnificent color and added strength obtained from the boiling process."
That's actually untrue they're burned with heat guns or heated on a flat grill like the video I posted earlier in the thread after beeswax is applied.
All I know is that I bought this Borkum Riff Meerschaum pipe:
Which came with shipping box and paperwork:
These were imported from Austria. "Home of the world's finest craftsman of Meerschaum pipes." That was a very long time ago.
There's a dozen different ways to cure briar, and you've listed off two different ways of calcining Meerschaum. Why shouldn't there be a third? Or fourth? Or fifth?
Edit: I'll also point out that other people have said earlier in the thread that neither the oven technique, heat gun, or grill achieves the same mottled effect people are trying to reproduce. Either the technique is different, or the Meerschaum is some super special stuff, only available to one pipe manufacturer.
Which is the more believable scenario?
Edit 2: For all I know, these pipes could be made from pressed meer, in which case, a different coloring technique would or could be required.
Looking at the white pipe, it looks to be coloring fairly normally, so I would guess it's block Meerschaum, but I'm no expert on these things.
Last edited:
Soaking the meerschaum in oil that long would break it down and soften it. Once dried even the carvers don't leave the blocks in water very long to soften them when carving and the wax bath only lasts a couple of seconds. Just sounds like a marketing gimmick and not information gleaned from the carvers.
The video and information I posted was sent to me by a carver.
Water dissolves Meerschaum over time. I wouldn't be quick to assume oil would do the same thing, also heat hardens Meerschaum, and 400° oil might very well have a hardening effect.
While it is possible that briar curing instructions were sent by mistake, it's also plausible that this was how they calcined Meerschaum. It will have to be a mystery until someone takes a broken meer and tries it out.
The one person who might actually do that just happens to be who you've been conversing with.
What do say @Chasing Embers ? For SCIENCE!
Not at all. I just posted WHAT THE CARVERS SAY, not just handed down information but the folks that make the calcined pipes. The purchased pipe appears to be uncalcined as well.
This was done with a hair dryer.
Does anyone know who made the LVC's original meerschaum pipe with the yellow lucite stem ? or where he might have purchased it ? I thought I read the WDC was purchased in Oxnard, Ca.
Thoughts On A Meer :: Meerschaum Pipes
Whats your thoughts on this pipe I have just bought/ The colouring surprises me as I would have expected the shank to be darker.It was advertised as Block meerschaum and I think is reasonably old ,didnt pay too much for it
pipesmagazine.com
Another thread where "oil curing" pressed meer is discussed.