Some of us don't buy those ideas at all.
I am firmly in the No More Wax school. Too much fuss and muss over something that does nothing for smoking your Meer- except getting your hands waxy.
Meerschaum - Don't Touch?
- Thread starter Manawydan
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I am firmly in the No More Wax school. Too much fuss and muss over something that does nothing for smoking your Meer- except getting your hands waxy.
If you smoke it hot enough to liquefy the wax, you're smoking it too hot and the wax will pick up anything it touches. The wax is only there to prevent scratches on the material and there's a lot of wax soaked into the meerschaum that it needs no reapplication. It doesn't evaporate. Handling with clean hands is a good idea but they can easily be wiped clean with a damp cloth. I've handled all of mine like any other pipe and they color just fine.
Right on, Duane.
And as to coloring, a new application of wax will show the color that's there, but it will fade before long. Water in the chamber will do the same thing, but will disappear much quicker as the meerschaum dries.
And as to coloring, a new application of wax will show the color that's there, but it will fade before long. Water in the chamber will do the same thing, but will disappear much quicker as the meerschaum dries.
I’ve been smoking my tekin meer outside in the summer and sometimes the temp is 95 plus. The wax has liquified a few times while smoking and I’ve tried wiping it away/rubbing it back in as I didn’t really know what to do. Those white patches around the rim are the spots where I wiped away the wax.
I don’t know if the wax will eventually work its way back into those veins of the meerschaum but I thought it was interesting.
Not exteme; I touch mine with cotton gloves on only.
It does not diminish the pleasure of smoking them one bit.
To each his own.
Gentlemen assume your positions for the monthly 'I want to wax my meerschaum as opposed to my wife' debate. As far as I know waxing new pipes will beget you a waxed pipe. As @Chasing Embers has pointed out they tend to come with a wax covering to prevent scratches. I really cannot comment on modern meerschaum since I have not owned a modern meerschaum since the mid 1980s and the one that I did own I sent that down to Eric in Georgia about ten year ago - anyone hear from him on here recently? As to the role of wax and coloring I think that is down to what you smoke in the pipe and how often. A lot of the pipes I own I originally thought were the product of Oxblood coloring by the makers. That being said I have seen the same effect on pipes I have smoked repeatedly which I have posted extensive pictures on here. I have found the older pipes tend to turn a pleasing 'Turd' brown color before going a deep brown and then ultimately dark brown. I tend not to smoke 'hot' so the pipe is never too hot to handle or sweat wax which I have never seen before, and since I never slice any of my tobacco very fine that seems to keep the temperature down as well. I suppose as @warren says it's your pipe so do what makes you happy!
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I saw a guy smoking a Meer while wearing white gloves years ago in a Nashville tobacco Shop. First thing that came to mind was Poser Dickhead. That may have been completely wrong on my part but that's what I thought at the time. With that said, I take no special precautions while smoking my Meers. If I live long enough, they should have been smoked enough to turn a very dark brown anyway.
Absolutely. Most of the white glove stuff comes from decades ago, when meers were too expensive for many pipe smokers to afford. Large meerschaums used to cost a few hundred bucks in the 70s, which in today’s dollars would be much steeper. Adjusted for inflation and buying power, meerschaums are actually cheaper today than they have been historically.
I would do as @Chasing Embers says. I guess I could understand the owners attitude to an extent but he would never sell a meer to me if I can't touch it. I belong to the meers are meant to be smoked not to be worshipped.
Based on the really old meerschaums I have, I’d say no. Most of mine are smooth shapes that came in pretty banged up. Maybe if a fellow payed up for one of the strikingly realistic figural pipes he treated it a lot better. Gloves were also a more common accessory back then. Although one can buy bags of 100 count thin cotton gloves common to cab drivers in Asian countries.
So we're smoking caps and jackets. I do have a smoking cap, with a tassel.
I understand wtyou all are saying about handling an expensive meer pipe. My last meer, a smoothie, I bought for $26, so I needed more perspective to understand.
In the 1800's smoking was usually restricted to the club or at home. Officers had subordinates to smoke their meers. I've never read about any particular habits with regard to handling a warm meer. So, I can only add that it makes sense meers would be specially handled if only because of their relative expense and rarity.
No more so than any other pipe. Other than museum pieces, most I've seen are in banged up cases and the pipes really show their age and treatment.
Still only a few hundred. This one was just shy of $200.
Maybe not to the same extent. Meers were really special in the 19th century because by and large briar wasn't much of thing until the latter half of the 1800s. So if you weren't wealthy your pipe smoking was limited to clays and the crude cob.
Still it'd be a handmade product imported from Turkey or European countries like Austria. So definitely not something your average schmuck would have a collection of.
Look at Altinay’s new pipe postings. He isn’t wearing white gloves and some of those pipes are worth a small fortune.
I was lucky enough to watch Bremen Pipe Smoker’s YouTube video on meerschaum pipes before I owned one.
If I had to wear white gloves and safety goggles while remaining seated in a temperature and humidity controlled environment then buy an additional meerschaum bowl with a cork sticking out of the bottom to place in the tobacco chamber of my pipe and hope the meerschaum pipe did not shatter into a million pieces when I lit it, I would never bother with one.
I would also say the store just doesn’t want too many people handling the meerschaum. I was told the same thing a couple years ago at a shop in Canada.
I was lucky enough to watch Bremen Pipe Smoker’s YouTube video on meerschaum pipes before I owned one.
If I had to wear white gloves and safety goggles while remaining seated in a temperature and humidity controlled environment then buy an additional meerschaum bowl with a cork sticking out of the bottom to place in the tobacco chamber of my pipe and hope the meerschaum pipe did not shatter into a million pieces when I lit it, I would never bother with one.
I would also say the store just doesn’t want too many people handling the meerschaum. I was told the same thing a couple years ago at a shop in Canada.