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.
Ode to My First Meer
- Thread starter Dyakoff
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I would have never thought about a brush and I wouldn’t be able to cope without one. Thank you.
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.
at the moment we got no electricity. So I’m sitting near the emergency roof exit and my smoking looks like this.
I don’t want to shock guys in the WAYS section, lol
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.
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.
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.
I've started using Q-tips on all my pipe chambers with really good results.
By the way, how many smokes did it take to color like this?
And what kind of tenon does it have? I would have thought thought plastic fittings would be usual, but can they really hold well, when the pipe is several times larger than the stem? Or do you have another tenon type?
Not long just to discolor the wax but the actual internal color starting to show through was hundreds of smokes.
Inserts
Yep
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.:
I'm sure you can just cut a piece out of those stainless steel sponges instead for much less money.
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.:
I'm sure you can just cut a piece out of those stainless steel sponges instead for much less money.
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.