Meerschaum

[aaronc]

Hello gents. I'm an antler carver and was browsing the net looking at carvings an ran into a few pipes carved in meerschaum. After a little more looking it appears that it is very common. However, after searching for some raw material meerschaum to carve I am having trouble finding any on the net for sale. It looks like something I would like to try so any information on a supplier or even methods of carving would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your time

Best Regards,

Aaron C

Leitchfield, KY

 

[frennchy11]

Meerschaum is only found in Turkey I am pretty sure. You can probably find some on Ebay or even some online retailers sell carve your own meerschaum kits. Good luck with your search. They are awesome pipes! (I am smoking mine in my avatar)

 

[ichbinmuede]

I seem to recall that export of the raw material is illegal. I may be wrong but it seems awfully hard to find so in my mind that validates my thought.

 

[aaronc]

Thanks for your responses.

So are all those pipes made out of that stuff imported precarved ??

 

[bigvan]

Yes, I believe all meerschaum pipes are carved in Turkey then exported.
Have you thought about briar?

 

[aaronc]

I have no idea what briar is either, ill do some googling and check it out.
Thanks, Aaron

 

[bigvan]

Briar is the root of the erica arborea bush... the wood used in making the majority of pipes.

 

[aaronc]

Looks great, with a lot of nice grain showing. Thanks for the tip.

 

[irishsmoker]

There are tons of materials that pipes are made from such as, fruit wood, Briar, meerschaum, clay, gourd, and corn cob!

 

[martiniman]

If you can't find meerschaum blanks you can order a meerschaum pipe kit
[/url]meerschaum pipe kits

Ever wanted to express your artistic side and try your hand at pipe carving? Here's a great way to start out!
We've got kits made from reformed meerschaum for those just starting out. Our Reformed Meerschaum uses a special new process using pure 100% Meerschaum pieces. Only water is used in this special process to make the reformed raw piece to be carved. This new process is nothing like old “pressed” Meerschaum that was produced in the past and was of poor quality. You can carve your pipe and be assured of years of smoking pleasure.
More advanced carver? Try your hand with our solid block meerschaum kits. Please note that the solid block meerschaum pipe kits are designed to incorporate the natural elements of the stone into your design. If you are looking for a perfectly smooth, uniformly-shaped piece of meerschaum to carve, please consider instead our traditional carve your own kitst hat are made of our reformed meerschaum.
Unless otherwise specified, all kits come with brush, wax block and our easy to follow instructions. All you need to do is to pick your favorite carving tool and have at it!

 

[fred]

Meerschaum is found in several locations, in different parts of the world, but the high grade Turkish block is prized for it's suitability for pipe making. In 1961, the Turkish government started an embargo on the export of raw meerschaum, but some get around this with exporting kits that have the chamber and draft pre-drilled in raw block. Other avenues exist but they are illegal. This is why the vast majority of meerschaum pipes are now carved in Turkey. Occasionally, sepiolite will show up on e-bay, but generally it is low grade block that would not be suitable for pipe carving. There are kits with pressed or formed meerschaum available, but I have no experience with them, nor do I know anyone who has purchased one.

 

[brian64]

@storient: Very interesting...thanks for the info. I didn't know there was a danger of a meerschaum mining shortage. I hope they are able to continue mining the quality blocks.

 

[ichbinmuede]

It really is unfortunate that they banned the export of the material in the first place. Doing that essentially doomed the art to stagnate. Like allowing all artists to only use two colours. Sure you'd see some innovative uses eventually but then...it would just break down to the same old thing like we unfortunately see in a lot of meerschaum carving. How many gentlemen in turbans have we seen? Cavaliers? Holmes and Watson? I mean sure, they're iconic and they can be done beautifully, but I would sure like to see some new and exciting subjects.

 

[brian64]

@storient: Sorry to hear younger people in Turkey are not interested in the tradition...I hope that changes while they can still learn from the older artisans.
@ichbinmuede: I agree as well...hopefully they will allow it to be exported again as storient suggests. It would really be great to see carvers all over the world creating meers.

 

[photoman13]

do you carve meer the same way you carve wood?

 

[martiniman]

Filmed or photographed it would be fascinating to watch....

 

[aaronc]

@fred and storient, thanks very much for the information.,........very educational. A little dissapointed it's so hard to get but still yet educational.
@martiniman, thank you for your post as well although my original thread starter may have been a bit misleading. I was actually looking for large raw blocks of meerschaum to carve, wasn't really planning on making pipes. That being said I may try one of the kits out just to experiment with the meerschaum in the near future.
In reference to some of the other comments on the quality of carvings on the meerschaum pipes - IMO the average carving on these meerschaum pipes is way above average compared to other general carvings I see with many of them being of extreme high quality. I don't see a whole lot that really turns my head given the amount of carvings that are out in the world but some of these pipes are true works of art. I'm a fan of the old style german carvings I see now and again on the net, many of which are tobacco related. Here is few of examples at the top of this page
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=carved+antler+hunter+pipes&view=detail&id=5DF301A5FBF15D9DC9F296052607845262597154&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR&adlt=strict
and here is another
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=carved+antler+hunter+pipes&view=detail&id=E98BEAB234FD80C79B89CDA07A8361180CFBFD77&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR&adlt=strict
Being from KY I'm very familiar with tobacco, just never been a smoker of any kind so don't know the "plans/skematics" of a proper pipe,.............depth of holes, diameter of hole in pipe etc,...

When I get my current project done I'll take a shot at one and see how it turns out. Till then I can gather up info on pipe building ( I'm sure I'll do much of it right here). You guys have a great forum here, friendly and resourceful. Thanks again.
PS. Just a hobby carver, but you can check out some of my work here if you want
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kentucky-Antler-Worx/263148000409000#

 

[topd]

I got a small block when I was in Turkey just before Desert Storm in 1990. I had the bowl and shank drilled, fitted with

a stem and I did the rest after I got to my destination. In the desert all I had was a small Old Timer pin knife. I didn't have any way to polish it, so I left if 'rough'. I had my wife send some bees wax and a small artists paint brush, heated the bowl in a tin can and melted the wax over some heat tabs (similar to Sterno) and painted on the wax. It isn't pretty but I've been smoking it off and on for over 20 years. It's the only meerschaum that I don't have a custom made case to keep it in so I got this leather one that I traded a Bedouin Nomad a carton of Kool 100's for.

 

[fred]

This is a film that Sinan put together, which should

be of interest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqBD4lCHUJo

 

[aaronc]

@Topd

what an awesome story and piece of personal history. Thanks for posting,.....fantastic job.