Meer blotches?

[HawkeyeLinus]

I wouldn’t call them fingerprints, but a couple of white-ish spots where fingers have been have shown up. Are these what people mean by prints? I handle with clean hands, but really not babying the new IMP and don’t intend to! I’m assuming it’s a heat/beeswax thing?

Does this mean that area now won’t color with use or will but not uniform? Just curious, and don’t really plan on handling it any differently.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

Pics?

 

[Chasing Embers]

Does this mean that area now won’t color with use or will but not uniform?

No, the real coloring comes from the inside. Most of the coloring you see in photos is just discolored wax and can be moved around if you heat the pipe with a hair dryer. For all the coloring you see here :





the only internal coloring is here.


We're I to hit that pipe with a hair dryer or a heat gun, it would blow the discolored wax all over the place and leave white blotches. Just keep smoking it, the real color will come through.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Pics?

Can’t really get a good one, just a couple areas where some fingertips have landed. Like I said, just going to treat it like a normal pipe and see what happens!

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I wonder if the wax coating was thin there and the heat from your fingers removed the wax, leaving nothing to (dis)colour?

 

[Chasing Embers]

I wonder if the wax coating was thin there and the heat from your fingers removed the wax, leaving nothing to (dis)colour?

Even if you were to remove the outer layer, wax is soaked so deep into the material that the warmth of a few smokes will make it rise to the surface.

 

[unadoptedlamp]

Embers is right, I think. If it really annoys you, just apply more wax.

I've used a hair dryer and the end of a natural beeswax candle (darker the better for immediate results).

Also boiled a couple in wax. Cork from a wine bottle in shank and chamber. Just be 100% sure to leave a small gap for air to get out, otherwise it will likely pop a cork and send hot wax in a random direction. If it's small enough, air will come out, but wax will not go in.

Can't say boiling in wax is worth the hassle, but it does darken a meer quickly from my experience doing it. However, the internal darkening is what is most interesting to people, I think.

After 3-4 months of smoking a meer, if you apply a small bit of wax and then some heat, the colour seems to 'pop' significantly. Varies with type of carving, size, quality, etc., no doubt.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Embers is right, I think. If it really annoys you, just apply more wax.

I've used a hair dryer and the end of a natural beeswax candle (darker the better for immediate results).

Also boiled a couple in wax. Cork from a wine bottle in shank and chamber. Just be 100% sure to leave a small gap for air to get out, otherwise it will likely pop a cork and send hot wax in a random direction. If it's small enough, air will come out, but wax will not go in.

Can't say boiling in wax is worth the hassle, but it does darken a meer quickly from my experience doing it. However, the internal darkening is what is most interesting to people, I think.

After 3-4 months of smoking a meer, if you apply a small bit of wax and then some heat, the colour seems to 'pop' significantly. Varies with type of carving, size, quality, etc., no doubt.

Doesn’t bother me a bit! Was just understanding it.