Question About a Button.

[teknohippie]

Hello fellow enthusiasts!

So I recently decided that I was going to color up this IMP meerschaum and as such it has become my everyday pipe. I'm excited about the process of coloring it and have been smoking everything from Aros to straight VAs.

It's coming along nice and slowly and I'm enjoying the process overall. Today however I encountered a thread about people putting buttons in the bottom creating a "well" of sorts for the juices which supposedly quickens the coloring.

Well I just so happen to have a metallic button which leads me to my question. Should I be concerned with the type of metal this button is? Are there any quick tests for determining whether it would be a safe addition to my pipe? It's silver in appearance and I believe it is considerably old (it was dug out of a family heirloom sewing box). It scratches fairly easily and appears to have some small amount of white patina/oxidation around the rim of it.

Here's the pipe and button in question, thanks in advance!

 

[OzPiper]

Calling @condorlover1, @weezell and @ashdigger

 

[ashdigger]

That button looks perfectly fine to my eye. I’ll dig one out of a pipe I just smoked. Kinda a show and tell.

 

[warren]

I'm not a believer in such. The porosity (veins for want of a better word) can only transport so much of the residues and frequency of use is the deciding factor in the speed of coloring. But, whatever you believe in is your reality. So, do as logic tells you. Meerschaum coloring speed and appearance (splotchy, even) depends entirely on the internal structure of the mineral. All of the above is simply anecdotal.

 

[Chasing Embers]

You're going to get more coloring out of it smoking it 5-10 times per day for a month than using gimmicky techniques. At worst your going to score up the chamber with both the button and the jaws of that wind cap.

 

[ashdigger]

Use a button or not, some old draft holes are big enough for a horse to walk through.

Here’s an old GBD with the original, well, an old actual shirt button

 

[teknohippie]

@warren the plan is to smoke the bejeezus outta it so I'm on the right path there! As for the button, I suppose if it doesnt hurt me or the pipe, I might as well give it a whirl!

@Chasing Embers meh, I cant forsee the button causing too much damage to the pipe itself, as for the windcap that is an unfortunate necessity at the moment but it's not on there 100% of the time either.

@ashdigger holy beauty! I love meerschaum cuttys (atleast I think that's a cutty)! I think I may give it a go, not much to lose in my eyes!

 

[verporchting]

I totally get the question, and the reasoning behind it, but I just gotta say it: you’re smoking a known carcinogen in a mineral dug out of a Turkish well - how bad could some old button juice be? ?

Not mocking, just chuckling about the irony of our shared pursuit my friend.

PS: I’d still avoid Soviet era metal buttons with a made in Chernobyl markings…. ?

 

[jpmcwjr]

<< Snipped bits out >>

@Chasing Embers meh, I cant forsee the button causing too much damage to the pipe itself, as for the windcap that is an unfortunate necessity at the moment but it's not on there 100% of the time either.
<< Snipped bits out >>

In lieu of a windcap, just clap a small bit of wood or thick paper over the chamber. You'll find you can draw just by not pressing down on it. It also provides more protection than any perforated wind cap.

I no longer use wind-caps, esp not on meers.

 

[teknohippie]

I totally get the question, and the reasoning behind it, but I just gotta say it: you’re smoking a known carcinogen in a mineral dug out of a Turkish well - how bad could some old button juice be? ?

Not mocking, just chuckling about the irony of our shared pursuit my friend.

PS: I’d still avoid Soviet era metal buttons with a made in Chernobyl markings…. ?

Oh I totally had a moment before posting where I went, "does it even really matter?" :D
Just wanting to make sure I'm not heating up lead fumes in tandem with my carcinogenic tobacco smoke.

@jpmcwjr the only time I really use my windcap is when I'm out doing yard work and the convenience factor is too much to pass up. Otherwise a couple fingers over the bowl tends to keep stuff from flying out!

 

[Ahi Ka]

I look forward to seeing your pipe in a hundred years time. It should have some stunning colour on it by then

 

[teknohippie]

I look forward to seeing your pipe in a hundred years time. It should have some stunning colour on it by then

I'll be sure to have my grandkids tag you ?

 

[Ahi Ka]

I'll be sure to have my grandkids tag you ?

The forum will be long since overrun by whatever group looks at hipsters as codgers.

 

[condorlover1]

The 'button' thing has been around since the 19th century.

 

[verporchting]

The 'button' thing has been around since the 19th century.

… when a button from his waistcoat accidentally fell into the bowl as he was reaching for his trusty pipe. Being an inpatient sod, and desperately wanting his afternoon puff, with nothing handy nearby to prise the button out (damn thing was well and truly wedged; is this what the esteemed “button hook” was actually made for??), our intrepid pipe smoker shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to load up his meerschaum cutty with Old Toby and puff away, content with his lot in life, never suspecting he had just become the stuff of future fame and coloring lore.

Or something like that perhaps? ?

 

[condorlover1]

If you follow the page down you will find an interesting article about "Crap Your Find in Old Pipes" along with some interesting pictures of some of these 'Rube Goldberg' home coloring bowl devices....

All Things Cutty

allthingscutty.blogspot.com

 

[AJL67]

I look forward to seeing your pipe in a hundred years time. It should have some stunning colour on it by then

99 if he uses the button.