My Cobs Tend To Develop Exterior Cracks

[newbroom]

I've got several cobs in my rotation. I've got a couple of estate Beuscher's, my original Legend, a Freehand, an MI Pride, and another legend.

Even my Freehand has started to show a tendency to bulge at the latitude of its stem. This too, is typical of the MM's, but these old Beuscher's haven't shown any signs of that sort of degradation.

The pipes with bulges and cracks still have bowl integrity and still smoke just fine.

I probably heat them up too much, but I wonder if anyone else has seen this phenomenon on any regular basis?

 

[jmill208]

I smoke MM Legends mostly and have never really cracked a bowl or had one bulge on me. I have however, had issues with poking a tool through a weakened bowl bottom.
I don't blame MM, I'm just a ham-handed meathead and I tend to abuse the cobs by smoking them too hot and wet and charring the hell out of them. That's what they are for, right? Don't sweat the cracks if they smoke just fine. ::

 

[cobguy]

Cracks develop when a cob is not properly broken in and smoked like a freight train.
I have not done this in quite a while but definitely recall the days!
Them cobs just can't stand up to Big Mike! :D

 

[newbroom]

Break in a cob? Who knew? I guess there must be moisture remaining in a new cob?

I suppose I've got to improve my techniques some, too.

 

[gunslinger]

I have found that four or five bowls of Carter Hall or Prince Albert smoked slowly and to the bottom does a nice job of breaking in a cob. I own a lot of MM cobs and have never seen the cracks you speak of. However, the stems are another story. Being a heavy clencher, I have cracked several. But they are cheap to replace.

 

[cobguy]

four or five bowls of Carter Hall or Prince Albert smoked slowly and to the bottom does a nice job of breaking in a cob.

Agreed! ::

 

[jitterbugdude]

How old are your cobs that are cracking? I'm thinking that if you bought them about 4-5 years ago when the great cob shortage at MM occurred that they might have been selling cobs that were not up to snuff. I've never had a MM cob crack on me, nor have I had the bottom get soft.

 

[newbroom]

I smoke lots of PA, CH and SWR. They are dependable smokes, and go hand in glove with the dependable cob.

I guess I enjoy mine a tad too energetically.

 

[Waning Embers]

My freehand also swelled. I have seen cracks develop on MM's that have that clear sealant on them, but have never had one of their unsealed pipes crack. Think someone said that it was some kind of plaster that they are sealed with. Sealed the cracks in mine with Elmer's wood glue. :wink:

 

[newbroom]

jitterbugdude: some of the cobs I'm talking about were brand new out of the bag (of seconds)I got a few weeks ago.

I dedicated a MM Morgan natural to lat blends and even that shows the beginnings of kernel spread.

 

[phred]

I haven't seen exterior cracks in any of my cobs, but I did have one (from a seconds bag) that turned out to have a large void in the chamber - not visible when new, but after smoking a couple of bowls, the thin layer of cob over the hole burned away. It's a natural product, and there will be some variation. I did also run a pick through the bottom of a Legend after smoking a couple of bowls back-to-back, so any damage I've done to them remains my own fault rather than any sort of complaint about MM's quality control - with seconds, you have no guarantees aside from "smokable", IMHO.
I've had absolutely no problems with any of the cobs I've bought or been given that were not seconds - and 2 out of 10 in a seconds grab bag isn't bad, either!

 

[momeerphil]

Newbroom, sorry to hear that you are having a bulging issue with some of our corn cob pipes. To be honest with you, I occasionally have that problem with our pipes, also, although like your pipes, it hasn't affected the way the pipes smoke. Moisture is definitely the culprit, whether from the tobacco, from a cob that has retained some moisture or from the "mechanics" of the act of smoking itself. The reason(s) could be different for each pipe. I have tried to make sure that the tobacco I smoke is dry enough, so I think that in my case, it is because I tend to smoke quickly, especially here at work. Regardless of the reason, if this happens to one of our pipes within a reasonable time after getting it, we will gladly replace it. I will say, however, that I have seen some VERY old corn cob pipes, both ours and others, that this happened to, but were still great smokers. Hope this helps, and thanks to you and everyone for smoking our pipes. We value your comments, both good and bad!

Phil Morgan (momeerphil)

General Manager (and an every day smoker of MM pipes)

 

[buroak]

Mr. Morgan, That kind of honesty is much appreciated. I am not really surprised by it, though. I have always received top notch, honest service from MM. Granted I have never had to return a defective pipe, but an order mix-up once occurred and the right pipes were sent with instructions to keep the pipes that were mistakenly sent in the original shipment.
So ends my love letter to MM. Back to newbroom...
newbroom, I have never had those kinds of problems, but I have had some of my thin-walled MM cobs "bell out" toward the bottom of the bowl interior as a result of burning the cob away. That we have experienced rather different problems likely arising from smoking too hot is interesting and probably down to natural variations in the cobs. Meanwhile my brother-in-law smokes his MM cobs like a heavily-laden steam locomotive starting off on a steep grade, and has had neither of the problems encountered by us.

 

[minfarshaw]

That happened to two of my country gents. I didnt really worry about as I feel I still got my money's worth. I was smoking really fast back then. I haven't had the problem since I got better at packing and sipping. I guess my bowls stay cooler now.

 

[newbroom]

momeerphil,

I wasn't trying to disparage Missouri Meerschaum in any way whatsoever. I love them. I was just really curious to know if my experience was shared. I have yet to have one fail, including my first Legend which I smoked exclusively for my first month of pipe smoking, last May.

Believe me, I put it through its paces.

I appreciate the response and apologize if my convo thread caused you concern. I see why it might.

 

[pipebaum81]

momeerphil for member of the week! MM cobs are great and very affordable. My expectations for a under $10 pipe are ALWAYS exceeded by their product. Flawed at times, they can smoke hot easily, and are tough to clean the chamber, but again a top notch value. I have 5!
newbroom,I feel for you. Any chance of getting some photos posted?

 

[cobguy]

Phil ... what is your opinion on breaking in a cob?
Do you like a little cake or no cake?
Do you choose Cob over Briar 1/2 the time? More?
Just some curiosities ... Thanks! ::

 

[wilson]

Newbroom,
Yes, I have a crack in my Country Gentleman. It's been there a while (a year, maybe more?), doesn't affect the smoke and doesn't seem to be getting worse. I've had it for several years and for $10 if the crack gets worse and I have to ditch it, I'll buy another and not complain.

 

[momeerphil]

newbroom, your post was not and would never be taken as disparaging. We appreciate all comments about our pipes, both complimentary and critical. It helps us to know problems that smokers are having with our pipes.
pipebaum81, thanks for your comments. And thanks for having 5 of our pipes!
cobguy, honestly, and maybe because I'm a little lazy, I don't worry about breaking in a corn cob pipe. The only thing I make sure I do on the first smoke is to smoke a full bowl down to the point where the shank enters the bowl. (For some reason, I think the first bowl in a corn cob pipe is something to be savored.) After smoking a bowl, I try to remember to swab out the bowl with a paper towel to absorb as much moisture as possible. As for the cake, I just let it develop. Most of my pipes do not have a lot of cake, but then again I have an almost infinite supply of pipes!

As for choosing a cob over a briar, I readily admit that I occasionally smoke a briar, maybe 1 in 20 bowls. I smoke a cob often because I want to be able to experience what our customers do and be able to respond to issues and questions. AND because I truly do prefer them over briars or any other type of pipe because of the way they smoke and because of their place in American history.

 

[mso489]

I own six or eight cobs, and report no bulges, cracks, nor burnouts. Maybe I don't smoke them enough.