Meerschaum Soaking Experiment

[hyperstar]

I soaked my cracked meerschaum knurl in a glass of tobacco water yesterday.(I collect unburnt cigar butts.)

I remember to put a lid on it.


No visible change through 2 hours.


After 7 hours.

I broke it with a pair of pliers.

I broke off a small piece for comparison.


After 10 hours.
As you can see the cracked side is stained.
The side I broke later isn't stained.



The other half is still in the tobacco water. What do you guys think I should do next?

 

[yanoJL]

So what's going on here? Are you looking for a way to shortcut the meer coloring process? Or just testing the absorbing properties of the stone?


Reminds of those old Colgate commercials

 

[hyperstar]

So what's going on here? Are you looking for a way to shortcut the meer coloring process? Or just testing the absorbing properties of the stone?


Reminds of those old Colgate commercials

I am testing the absorbing properties of the meer. Trying to figure out the color of meer is form by absorbing tars or not.
If the internal color of meer is still white after days of soaking into tobacco water, then it may confirm that the changes of exterior color is just the wax darkening.

 

[condorlover1]

Gentlemen we are off to the races with the once a month does meerschaum color discussion. In the past this has resulted in pipes being sawn in half, people getting 'corn holed' for a week or two and general mayhem. In a round about way I would imagine 12th century discussions of how many angels you could get on a pin head would have been similar in their intensity. Pop corn anyone before the high priest of meerschaum coloring Mr. Embers shows up!

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I wonder if you need some element of heat to more closely replicate the conditions of smoking.

 

[brooklynpiper]

Beat me by one minute, Monkey.

Heat. Give us heat.

 

[brooklynpiper]

I think you also need a hypothesis - hence the first commentor's confusion.

And if you're going to make a hypothesis, you might as well make a projection on what you think will happen and if you're wrong, drink the water

 

[hyperstar]

I wonder if you need some element of heat to more closely replicate the conditions of smoking.

Yes, I have been thinking should I mircowave the tobacco water first.
Do I leave the meer in glass while heating process or not?

 

[brooklynpiper]

30 seconds of hot water may not replicate pipe conditions - maybe very low on the stove in a small sauce pan?

 

[hyperstar]

I think you also need a hypothesis - hence the first commentor's confusion.

And if you're going to make a hypothesis, you might as well make a projection on what you think will happen and if you're wrong, drink the water

This experiment is just for observation.
I am not trying to start a debate. 'Cause I don't know the outcome neither.
I just want your comments, maybe I missed something in this experiment.

 

[hyperstar]

30 seconds of hot water may not replicate pipe conditions - maybe very low on the stove in a small sauce pan?

Humm. What if I take the meer out and heat it directly with a torch lighter for 1 mins. Then put it back into the glass. It can simulate the pipe shank. Expect more like a speedrun!
I can do it twice a day for a week.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

While this is an interesting experiment, I don’t think using the tobacco water and a microwave are matching the conditions of smoking closely enough to provide anything that sheds light on what you’re trying to discover.

@Chasing Embers has already sawn a smoked pipe apart to reveal a cross section of Meerschaum in the past.

I think what might be more interesting would be to smoke a Meerschaum until it colours, then melt the wax away if you wish to “confirm that the changes of exterior color is just the wax darkening.”

 

[timt]

If it's only the wax, then you'll have the ongoing debate on what made it color. Heat, tobacco juice from within, dirt from your hands?

 

[hyperstar]

If it's only the wax, then you'll have the ongoing debate on what made it color. Heat, tobacco juice from within, dirt from your hands?

Yes. I might be wrong about the wax part. That's why I am doing this experiment. I am happy to see if I am wrong. Just shoot all your advices and comments.

Smoke a meers until it colors takes too much time. I would give up halfway.
I thought, if the meer gets its internal colored after re-heated and soaked in tobacco water repeatly for a week. Then I must be wrong.

 

[brooklynpiper]

Re: Wax
Perhaps someone can commission an unwaxed pipe, smoke it 500-1000 times pipe in a year style, and then remark the external coloring and saw it in half for us.

 

[timt]

Yes. I might be wrong about the wax part. That's why I am doing this experiment. I am happy to see if I am wrong. Just shoot all your advices and comments.

Smoke a meers until it colors takes too much time. I would give up halfway.
I thought, if the meer gets its internal colored after re-heated and soaked in tobacco water repeatly for a week. Then I must be wrong.

It's an interesting thing to ponder as you smoke it and see it change in appearance. How/why meers color is something that was discussed ad nauseam in the past, without much consensus in my opinion.

 

[hyperstar]

Sorry for my bad English that might cause cofusions. I will try to describe my thoughts more accurate.

I just read this from an article: "A meerschaum pipe colors by absorbing tar and other volatile organic compounds which are byproducts of tobacco combustion that gets deposited in the pores. It is primarily absorbed from the chamber and the inside of the shank as those surfaces are untreated, but it is also absorbed from the outside, as the wax coating softens when smoked. It gets absorbed better in the shank as the volatile matter condenses at the shank. This is why a Meerschaum pipe would often start coloring at the shank."

I have this crazy idea: As we know that water don't mix with oil right? What if the meer only absorb water and very little bit of tar+oil? That might be the reason why coloring process on meer takes forever.
There is one more meer knurl left on me. I can get some water-based inks and soak the meer in. If the color inside the meer stained by inks, then I must be wrong about the coloring is just wax darkening.

 

[condorlover1]

I think they color due to global warming and excessive flatulence! Thats how they turn that brown color!

 

[brooklynpiper]

@Chasing Embers has already sawn a smoked pipe apart to reveal a cross section of Meerschaum in the past.

And timt made him do it!

 

[timt]

"A meerschaum pipe colors by absorbing tar and other volatile organic compounds which are byproducts of tobacco combustion that gets deposited in the pores. It is primarily absorbed from the chamber and the inside of the shank as those surfaces are untreated, but it is also absorbed from the outside, as the wax coating softens when smoked. It gets absorbed better in the shank as the volatile matter condenses at the shank. This is why a Meerschaum pipe would often start coloring at the shank."

Makes total sense to me.