Meerschaum: Cake Prevention, Coloring, and General Maintenance?

[matchstickman]

So I nabbed myself a couple of estate Meerschaums off smokingpipes.com along with a hell of a gift from a very generous brother on this forum, and I now have a nice Meer collection going. Now I have read that it is not advisable to build cake inside a meerschaum bowl, and I was wondering: How does one go about doing this? Is there anything you can do to avoid cake completely, like a special cleaning ritual, or will cake eventually formed and just have to be reamed back? To me, the idea of trying to ream a meerschaum terrifies the hell out of me, but if that's what needs to be done then so be it. Also, I have heard of people waxing a meer with beeswax on occasion to help the coloring process (I guess?), and was wondering how one would go about waxing a meer? Do you have to have a buffer setup or is there another way that it can be done? I was also curious of any other tips and tricks to maintaining a meer that I should know about. The gift from the forum member is a meer that is absolutely GARGANTUAN, and she's a great smoker, took a little bit of getting used to, but I've been smoking English and Balkans in it and the flavors are just so clean, I especially like Billy Budd in my meer. Thanks in advance!

 

[renfield]

As far as removing the cake I use some 180-220grit sandpaper wrapped around a large dowel which is almost the diameter of the tobacco chamber. Just go slow and don't apply large forces and it works like a charm. I wouldn't use a pipe reamer in a meer, too aggressive in my mind.
Ren

 

[redbeard]

If anything is left behind after a doubled over pipe cleaner swab after the pipe cools, I dull pipe knife doesn't seem to hurt if you are very careful. You shouldn't have too stubborn of cake built up anyways if you follow the guidelines layer out by many here. I would provide a link if I had one, a quick search will prove informational though.

 

[saint007]

I use a paper towel and wipe the bowl after each smoke to prevent caking.
You will find that new pipes dipped in yellow bees wax will color quicker than those dipped in white bees wax.
I like on occasion playing with my meers by dipping them in white bee wax and blowing off the wax with a hair drier. I'm not convinced that is quickens the coloring process as much as smoking aros is a meer. Up until my recent injury, I've been smoking less aros. Yet, I prefer smoking a meer. So, I'll see if there is a difference with my newest meer as my daughter surprise me this week by giving me a new Baki Horn to cheer me up. She went through my "bookmarks" on my puter and picked the pipe out all by herself.

 

[topd]

Pipe Novelist, there isn't a way to avoid cake build-up completely, but the suggestions above are good ones. After smoking and cleaning, I also use a "bristled" pipe cleaner bent in half/doubled up to rub up and down in the bowl to get some of the carbon. It's more abrasive and will get a good bit of it, but you'll have to ream the bowl once in a while. I'm not saying that my suggestions are the best, but it's what's been working for me for years. The photo below is the knife I use. It's sharp and the point is rounded to keep from gouging the bottom of the smoking chamber. Here is how I treat my meerschaums:

I choose a pipe and smoke it several times a day for a week or so. You'll get to re-familiarize yourself with that pipe and will know/feel it's weight. I run a couple pipe cleaners through the stem after each smoke, but don't disassemble it. The more you do that the more chance you have of messing it up. I stop smoking it when it starts to feel heavy from the moisture it retains. Set it aside in it's case (open to the air) to dry for a week or so. After I'm sure it's dry is when I take it apart, clean it and ream it if necessary. It's tougher than you might think, but don't ream a warm or wet pipe. It's more delicate then.

On older pipes (40 years or so) with horn or bone tenons, I almost never take them apart. Just use pipe cleaners.
I have over 100 meers but have only experimented with waxing a couple of them, and it does speed up the coloring process somewhat. The second photo is a pipe that was pure white three years ago that I wax treated. Here is how I did it:

Take the stem off and remove the plastic tenon. Cut a green stick (fresh off a tree or bush) about 8" long and the diameter of a pencil, sharpen one end. Screw the sharpened end into the shank, very lightly so as not to damage the threads, but just enough to hold it, so you have a handle. (I did the rest over a pillow in-case it came off, so it didn't hit the floor!) Heat your wax and paint it on the outside only with a throw-away paintbrush. Don't boil the wax, just heat it to a liquid. Then use a heat gun to blow off the excess wax (which will also cause a good bit of it to sink into the pores of the pipe. DON'T get the heat gun to close and burn the wax. I first tried it with a hair drier, but it didn't seam to get hot enough, but try it if that's all you have).

I hope this helps, Good Luck with your pipes....!

 

[wcannoy]

I get questions about this all the time, so I decided it was time to make a video. There are a few extra things thrown in at the beginning, but being that this is by far the corniest video I have ever made, I think you'll find it entertaining and helpful to watch it on through...

How to Wax, Color, and Care for Your Meerschaum Pipe

 

[topd]

Walt... You may really have some good information to pass on about waxing a meerschaum pipe, but if I were a film critic, I'd have to say that I lost internist after the first 12 minuets of Umms, Aaas and Errrs. Gosh, I'm sure I sound like a complete ass, but..... Dang!
Can I suggest a bit shorter clip and get to the point!

 

[wcannoy]

but if I were a film critic

and if I were an actor, public speaker, and film producer... :lol:
I am merely a pipemaker. I do what I can.

 

[sajgre]

I scrap "cake" with corona's tamper after every few smokes.

For waxing I use the same method as topD (amazing color on that pipe!) if pipe had not been waxed before. The only difference is that my hair dryer is hot enough. For pipes that were waxed before I just use "wax stick" and gently apply it during a smoke. Pipe would simply sweat excess wax during next smokes. In my experience wax greatly protects pipe from scratches and stains.

Coloring is very unpredictable. This Battal is from best block, is very thin and colors very fast. This is how it looks like after 120 smokes in 4 months

(have some problems posting photo since I'm on cell phone, I'll just post link)
http://www.zarocena.si/razno/battal32.jpg

 

[sajgre]

Walt I'm a HUUUUUGE fan of your meerschaum work but can't watch wideo on my cell, if you posted it on YouTube, please share a link.

 

[condorlover1]

There is a very long piece by yours truly on care and maintenance of meerschaum pipes. It is slanted towards the antique ones I smoke but if you dig around its on the forum somewhere. I tend to use an iron bladed pen knife to knock the clinker and crud out of pipes. I also have a very natty set of steel rods for cleaning crud out of pipe stems made for me by 'woods road' which are a life saver on amber stems. The wiping out the pipe with a paper towel is rather new to me, but then I am rather set in my ways!

 

[phxrock]

because I don't know. why wouldn't you want cake to build in a meershaum? I have a Peterson Meershaum that had a small amount of cake in it when I bought it.

 

[antbauers]

Cake is detrimental to the meerschaum because it can't do its job by absorbing moisture to provide a drier smoke. It can also cause the meer to crack and slow the coloring process. I've seen some estate meer with cake and they seemed ok but it's just best not to have it.

 

[phxrock]

Should all the cake be removed down to the meershaum?

 

[warren]

I'm not a fan of cake in a meerschaum unless it is fully colored. I can tolerate a bit of cake at that point. I clean pipes on Sunday and the three meers I regularly smoke get a gentle reaming or scraping. The difference to me is that I ream the briars with a reamer and a fair amount of pressure. The meers are gently scraped with a pipe knife, the blunt end of which has a bit of an edge that I put on. The bowl is then given a blast of air and wiped with a minimally damp paper towel.

 

[masspiper]

I use a bent over fluffy pipe cleaner moist and twist it around the inside of the bowl. I clean the stems after every smoke with a pipe cleaner dipped in 151 and then run water through it. I let it dry and I get a great smoke every time!

 

[condorlover1]

For mega crude build up I use a small dental drill. I have had a few over the years were after de-cruding the pipe bowl doubles in size!

 

[phxrock]

Just got done removing as much of the cake I dare to. I'm close to the mershaum I took out about a dimes thickness. I used the edge of the poker on my pipe tool along with a folded bristled pipe cleaner. I took quite sometime I used light pressure while doing the scraping. Hoping this worked.

Thanks to all of you for your advice

 

[warren]

Now, just keep your nose pickers off the meer when it's warm, wear a cotton glove or use a clean handkerchief when required if you want a nice even coloring. It's not something I'm anal about, although I do try to keep my fingers confined to the stem when I relight or tamp.

 

[meerschaummatt]

I have a bottle of Castleford pipe freshener for my briars, but would this be safe to use on my meerschaum or would it damage it? Also, for the people that wipe out the bowl with a damp paper towel or damp pipe cleaner, should distilled water be used or is tap water fine? I know for my humidor for my cigars I use strictly distilled water for the humidifiers, and wasn't sure if the particulate minerals and chlorine in tap water could damage the meerschaum.