No clue on how old it but the prior owner/s definitely smoked the hell out it it as you can see they docolor with time. This is a estate I got off eBay needs a new stem as this one is crooked. Smokes great other then that.Meerschaum Coloring: Bogus?
- Thread starter burleybreath
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No clue on how old it but the prior owner/s definitely smoked the hell out it it as you can see they docolor with time. This is a estate I got off eBay needs a new stem as this one is crooked. Smokes great other then that.
The voids accept tobacco residues. So ... the voids carry the color. The mineral might actually stain also. The voids allow the residues to work their way to the surface.
If??the stem is decent and can be realigned, I use these as shims to align the stem. Put them on one by one untill it lines up and trim down. Just a thought...
Yeah it’s in decent shape other then being a bit crooked when tightened down all the way. Will have to give those a shot.
Trust me on this one. It works wonders!
They work! Nothing drives me nuts like a crooked stem...
I love the look of amber stems, but as Simon (@condorlover) said, they can be extremely fragile, and a real pain to maintain if you plan on smoking the pipe regularly.
I have posted pics of the ox-blood stained, amber-stemmed meer I received recently. I very slowly and carefully unscrewed the stem to examine and clean the shank/mortise, and a small shard of the stem flaked off. Thankfully I was able to repair with CA glue and the repair is barely noticeable. I store it either in its case or a darkened cupboard.
How fast do Meers start to develop color and does storing them on the side cause it to color on the side that it’s laying on first? I think I’m starting to see a little yellow in the carved out sections along the shank and mostly on the side I had it laying on in its case. Can anyone tell if that’s the pipe developing a patina or just the wax starting to heat up and turn yellow?
Hard to say. When mine first started coloring, the color was a pale rosy pink before turning more tan.
That's just the wax discoloring from use. The real coloring will start at tge heel and look ashy at first but will darken and spread to the rest of the pipe.
Never do, it can just puddle the color of the discolored wax and looks very unsightly. Repeated smoking causes the coloring. Oh, you may notice some discoloring on the rim as the smoke travels from the chamber as well.
@chasingembers cool thank you, I noticed that happening. It seems to happen to all my pipes and always in the same spot, I guess maybe from clenching it it hanging downwards and slightly tilted to the right.
@Country Bladesmith thank you as well dude!
@Country Bladesmith thank you as well dude!
I too have experienced the "pale rosy pink" on several pipes...