Ode to My First Meer

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Dyakoff

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 16, 2022
106
341
Ukraine
Also buy you a soft cheap long bristled $1 hobby art paint brush. All those nooks and crannies will catch every flake of tobacco you didn't know escaped from the bowl.
Thank you, I’m the hindsight this was probably the best advice I received.
I would have never thought about a brush and I wouldn’t be able to cope without one. Thank you.
 
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DanWil84

Lifer
Mar 8, 2021
1,689
12,581
39
The Netherlands (Europe)
Like said, nothing to worry about when it is regarding smoking qualities. I wear wedding bands, the first time I scratched my smooth meerschaum with them (you can see it them on the shank side of the pipe) was one of those famous slowmotion "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo" moments, but in hindsight it became a workhorse pipe anyway. Enjoy your pipe, if you smoke it enough it will eventually fill with carbon.
 

Dyakoff

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 16, 2022
106
341
Ukraine
Post some pics in the WAYS (What are you smoking) section, show us some lovely Ukraine out on the town!
at the moment we got no electricity. So I’m sitting near the emergency roof exit and my smoking looks like this.923142C1-9B70-4EF9-9BCD-CB0212852B2D.jpeg
I don’t want to shock guys in the WAYS section, lol
 
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Reactions: simong
Dec 3, 2021
4,792
40,295
Pennsylvania & New York
Egg white + chalk powder could fix the dent but I’m sure as hell not repairing it. Wanted a pipe to pass on as legacy to my descendants, not something that starts falling apart after one smoke.

It is clearly defective material, a double folded pipe cleaner should not have caused such damage.

And I hope they will see logic that I didn’t need to apply any force for cleaning because there is literally no cake to clean and half of the bowl is actually white as snow.
I would be careful using a folded pipe cleaner with Meerschaum—the bent wire can dig/gouge if it has a slight kink you can’t see because it’s covered (it’s less of an issue with briar), but, I would recommend wiping the Meerschaum chamber with a paper towel instead.
 

Chaukisch

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 31, 2021
535
3,568
34
Northern Germany
I agree with the bent wire of the pipe cleaners.
Everybody can go check it right now themselves, some cleaners have a sharp little hook at either end.
I'm sure the most expensive pipe cleaners are no different.
 
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Dyakoff

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 16, 2022
106
341
Ukraine
Ok, so in the end I chose to leave this beauty with me.
After some negotiation with Smokingpipes we have agreed on 30 dollars partial refund which I have already received back, so kudos to them for being the good guys.

Here’s the bowl after 13 smokes.
40DC99E2-9205-4930-B16D-089CDE7D3664.jpeg
Wax coloration on the top of the bowl (heavier on the right side) and some discoloration of wax on the shank (it’s not getting brown but rather a different shade of white. And no, I’m not holding in there :) )

Fun to observe, although I must admit I don’t usually smoke that much as now, so getting to 50-100 bowls would take pretty long.
 

Dyakoff

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 16, 2022
106
341
Ukraine
Would you say the coin made a substantial difference?
I would be able to say anything intelligent about it after at least 20-30 more smokes. I have just started using the coin after getting acquainted with the pipe and so far I only smoked 1 bowl with the coin.

All I see at the moment is losing 5-10 minutes of smoke. Also seems to smoke much hotter in the end, but too early to judge after a single try.
 
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Reactions: The Amish Tyrant
Jul 26, 2021
2,176
8,943
Metro-Detroit
I would be able to say anything about it after at least 20-30 smokes. I have just started using the coin after getting acquainted with the pipe and so far I only smoked 1 bowl with the coin.

All I see at the moment is losing 5-10 minutes of smoke. Also seems to smoke much hotter in the end, but too early to judge after a single try.
Please keep us posted.
 

Dyakoff

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 16, 2022
106
341
Ukraine
Please keep us posted.
Actually after my second bowl with the coin I am almost ready to discard the coin.
The smoking properties of the pipe seem to have reduced drastically:

It is now difficult to keep the tobacco lit (tried two blends both used to smoke perfectly before the coin was inserted)

The pipe started gurgling (never did that before) - but it’s kinda logical that it happened.

Pipe gets too hot too soon

All in all I’m not sure the coin trick is worth it.
 

Chaukisch

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 31, 2021
535
3,568
34
Northern Germany
Glad to hear you got over that little chip in the chamber. But why exactly did you put the coin in it?
I can't seem to figure it out from other posts in this thread.
I've seen other fellow forum members recommend these metal "wads" against gurgling.:

46456.jpg

I'm sure you can just cut a piece out of those stainless steel sponges instead for much less money.

index.jpg
 

Dyakoff

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 16, 2022
106
341
Ukraine
Glad to hear you got over that little chip in the chamber. But why exactly did you put the coin in it?
I can't seem to figure it out from other posts in this thread.
having a coin or a washer in your pipe is an old 19th century trick that supposedly helps speed up meerschaum coloration. The metal allows the oils to condense at the bottom of the bowl and eases their absorbing into the meer (I personally believe that a huge role is played by the fact that this place is not getting cleaned).

This may be a city legend of course, but the fact is that when buying old uncleaned estate meers you will quite often find buttons or coins in the base of the pipe.

I really wanted just to give it a try. For the fun of it.
Although having a coin requires getting used to it. I personally discovered most of my problems I described above actually originated with having to pack the tobacco differently. Bowl size changed drastically so I had to amend my packing technique to accommodate for this change. When I did it, most of the problems were gone.