Meer Liner Is In - Now What?

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LikeDadDid

Can't Leave
Apr 27, 2021
426
976
Virginia Beach
This no-name Canadian has been a good opportunity for skills development. It had a regular height bowl when I bought it, but the rim was cracked through in several places, so I tried to get past them with the belt sander. I had to stop once I'd achieved a pot profile. But there were still cracks. 20210613_061622.jpg

So I decided it was time to use the meerschaum inserts I bought from Vermont Freehand. My previous efforts to use the wet were pitiful failures, so I decided to do everything with my dremel. I hogged out the bowl with a metal rasp because that's what I had, and it worked fine but not as quickly as a burr would have done. I kept trial fitting the meer plug, twisting it to make witness marks that would show me where to cut next. When the last mark was just at the bottom of the bowl, I knew the plug fit properly. A spoon would have been faster but would more likely have split the bowl, I think.
20210614_171308.jpg
I glued the plug with lots of CA, then used the dremel and a pocket knife to open up the bowl, and.....now I don't know what to do next.

I've read about meer getting beeswaxed, but don't know whether the bowl gets that treatment. Is it ready to smoke?
20210614_195759.jpg20210614_195819.jpg20210614_195831.jpg

I left the rim unstained because it tells the pipe's story. You can see that it'd been smoked so hot that I never reached undamaged briar, despite how closely I cut toward the outer wall.

This pipe has no monetary value but I'm sure proud of it, and assuming it will smoke well and last a few more years, I now know how to rescue other more collectible pipes.
 

brian64

Lifer
Jan 31, 2011
9,602
14,666
Looks good...but what's the black "smear" in the bottom of the chamber in the third photo?
 

DangerStranger

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jul 10, 2020
176
729
This no-name Canadian has been a good opportunity for skills development. It had a regular height bowl when I bought it, but the rim was cracked through in several places, so I tried to get past them with the belt sander. I had to stop once I'd achieved a pot profile. But there were still cracks. View attachment 84559

So I decided it was time to use the meerschaum inserts I bought from Vermont Freehand. My previous efforts to use the wet were pitiful failures, so I decided to do everything with my dremel. I hogged out the bowl with a metal rasp because that's what I had, and it worked fine but not as quickly as a burr would have done. I kept trial fitting the meer plug, twisting it to make witness marks that would show me where to cut next. When the last mark was just at the bottom of the bowl, I knew the plug fit properly. A spoon would have been faster but would more likely have split the bowl, I think.
View attachment 84560
I glued the plug with lots of CA, then used the dremel and a pocket knife to open up the bowl, and.....now I don't know what to do next.

I've read about meer getting beeswaxed, but don't know whether the bowl gets that treatment. Is it ready to smoke?
View attachment 84561View attachment 84562View attachment 84563

I left the rim unstained because it tells the pipe's story. You can see that it'd been smoked so hot that I never reached undamaged briar, despite how closely I cut toward the outer wall.

This pipe has no monetary value but I'm sure proud of it, and assuming it will smoke well and last a few more years, I now know how to rescue other more collectible pipes.
That really turned out well! Looks ready to smoke to me. Please let us know how the inaugural bowl goes!
 

LikeDadDid

Can't Leave
Apr 27, 2021
426
976
Virginia Beach
Ok, I see. I've never looked at those things before and I guess I just assumed they were a complete bowl rather than only a sleeve.
I assumed the same, but I don't think it could be a complete bowl because you've got to meet the airway, unless you more greatly risked breaking through the bottom. A drill press would solve that problem but I still think a paddle style bit might break apart an already fragile bowl, even in a press. And if it wasn't cracked and fragile, you'd probably not do this anyway.

Here's my inaugural bowl. Stokkebye English Oriental. The draw is wide open, the way I like. Smoked straight to ash with 2 relights, as I'm more prone to these days, and no gurgle. It's my first smoke from a screw type stem also, though I'd never know. And I may be wrong calling it a no name: when I dug the stem back out of my parts box, I remembered it has a B pressed into the vulcanite. But I dunno yet who that might be. After this smoke I will clean up the rim a bit, polish the stem, wax the stummel, and call it a big success.

20210615_173943.jpg
 

LotusEater

Lifer
Apr 16, 2021
4,083
55,925
Kansas City Missouri
I assumed the same, but I don't think it could be a complete bowl because you've got to meet the airway, unless you more greatly risked breaking through the bottom. A drill press would solve that problem but I still think a paddle style bit might break apart an already fragile bowl, even in a press. And if it wasn't cracked and fragile, you'd probably not do this anyway.

Here's my inaugural bowl. Stokkebye English Oriental. The draw is wide open, the way I like. Smoked straight to ash with 2 relights, as I'm more prone to these days, and no gurgle. It's my first smoke from a screw type stem also, though I'd never know. And I may be wrong calling it a no name: when I dug the stem back out of my parts box, I remembered it has a B pressed into the vulcanite. But I dunno yet who that might be. After this smoke I will clean up the rim a bit, polish the stem, wax the stummel, and call it a big success.

View attachment 84665
Nice job! Very cool.
 
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