You’re right, not the pipe. Now my meerschaum doesn’t get too hot as well, even with aromatics. I guess I figured out how to control the cadence properly
Problems with Meerschaum
- Thread starter DamienPiper
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Meerschaum liners are usually made from pressed meerschaum and it's quality is inferior to block meerschaum.
I have a cheap Servi pipe. Surprisingly very good draw and smoke but it also suffers from heating up quite a bit if you don't utilize the breath method.
Feel free to send me that naughty meerschaum. I will put it into rotation with other meers that have been undisciplined and work on it with a behavioral correction program until it learns to act respectfully. The Altinay and Imp that I am currently working with have shown great success using this program. They misbehave with substantially less frequency after working with them for a just a few months.
Warning: this program could take several years to be successful, but I believe all meers can be saved and am extraordinarily patient!
Warning: this program could take several years to be successful, but I believe all meers can be saved and am extraordinarily patient!
Chasing Embers: You have it exactly backwards about meerschaum's thermal characteristics. It's actually one of the best thermal insulators of any naturally-occurring substance. On the contrary,; It acts as a near-perfect kiln. The heat of combustion is not conducted away from the mixture by the walls of the pipe, which is why these pipes stay lit so easily and for so long. The mixture remains at combustion temperature for a long time and only needs the introduction of more oxygen to resume burning more vigorously. It's also why the outside of a meerschaum bowl usually remains cool enough to handle. Lattice pipes don't act to cool the mixture at all; they only act to further insulate the outside wall of the bowl from internally-generated hea. Lattices also look pretty and contribute to the airy "feel" of an already light block.
You'd be the first person I've ever heard say that. Like clay and porcelain, unless you're a slow smoker like many of us, a meerschaum can heat up very quickly.
@condorlover1
@weezell
I'll take Mr Embers for 100 on that one! As usual he is bang on the money. Coming to meerschaums from clay pipes 30+ years ago I really didn't have a long stop over in briar world so the way I learned to smoke clays was slow otherwise you got those white patches on your tongue from cooking it by smoking too fast. I would imagine old @halfdan must have a tongue like a hobnailed boot since he does that speed smoking that almost melts a clay pipe!
It is tough to slow down but if you can get there it makes pipe smoking all the more enjoyable.
Yep. I'm with Embers on this one as well. The one meerschaum I've had for a few years definitely conducts heat very well. Even with a proper cadence, the meerschaum gets much warmer to the hand than does briar.
If a lattice pipe cools better than a smooth one, I'd think it might have to do with the increased surface area.
@condorlover1 I don't speed smoke my clay pipes at re-enactments!
Whats your preferred clay pipe? Also what is the deal I heard where the first several smokes out of clay are funny tasting due it curing or something?
@Sharp_tungsten Most of mine are Markus Fohr clays but I've got some Old Dominion and a number of used ones.
I've never had any issues with funny taste with a clay pipe!
@Sharp_tungsten I've broken a few clay pipes but I usually wrap them to well to make sure it doesn't happen again.
A sad note: The OP was in Russia, and hasn't posted since the end of August.
I just broke an approximately 106 year old meerschaum about 10 minutes ago. This seemed like an appropriate thread the cry on ?.
That is definitely a problem with meerschaum?. The stummel or stem or both break?
It just came in the mail today from eBay. Stem was stuck. Gave it a good water flush and got the stem to do a quarter turn with gentle pressure. Because I'm impatient, I gave it a few wiggles back and forth, and then turned a little too hard and broke out a chunk of the shank around the mortise. I just threw it straight in the garbage. Lesson learned.