Reshaping a Meerschaum Pipe

[condorlover1]

OK. It's not even 2024 and we have two meerschaum threads on coloring going at once and I haven't even had my first mug of coffee yet! I'll take @Chasing Embers for $100 that this is going to turn into an amazing discussion of how and what you do to color your pipe. I thought we had settled the 'Coloring Bowl' stuff ages ago when both of us went to extreme lengths to demonstrate and recreate the 19th century approach with a silver washer and a tobacco plug as a substitute for the silver 'three penny' piece. Coloring bowls work but sort of turn your pipe into a calabash, whatever you do, unless you wallop the pipe with a heat gun you are going to wind up with a pipe that colors down the stem first. The trick is to even out the stem color and that's down to the moisture level in the pipe. If you are a wet smoker like me then you will get that very predictable 'Turd Brown' color, if you dry your tobacco then you will in all probability wind up with a lighter shade of coloring but the hypothesis seems to be proven by the less savage colors @Chasing Embers gets on his pipes verses my results. I have seen other results on here that are awesome and are just down to smoking the pipe. As they say YMMV!

 

[renfield]

Most of my meers have done the usual stem first coloring. That's why I did the coloring bowl experiment, to see if I could even out the coloring.

A side benefit to go with the even coloring is the calabash effect.

A coloring bowl definitely does what it's supposed to. It doesn't speed up the coloring, it evens it out. The best way to speed up coloring is to smoke the pipe more often.

 

[Piping Abe]

If someone knows how to keep a Meerschaum pure white while still smoking it, i’m all ears.

 

[condorlover1]

The earth is flat!

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

If someone knows how to keep a Meerschaum pure white while still smoking it, i’m all ears.

As you know, all meerschaum pipes will color. At what rate depends on the pipe itself, how often you smoke it, and the type of tobacco you smoke in it.

I have found by accident, when re-waxing some of my meerschaums, that you can basically bleach the colors out of your pipe by over-heating it. After applying a new coat of wax, I used a heat gun to melt the excess wax before wiping it down. On one particular pipe I got it to hot, and it removed a lot of the color unfortunately. It wasn't completely white like new, but it did remove a lot of the color, and it took a lot of bowls to regain that previous color. I don't recommend this process though.

 

[Chasing Embers]

As you know, all meerschaum pipes will color. At what rate depends on the pipe itself, how often you smoke it, and the type of tobacco you smoke in it.

I have found by accident, when re-waxing some of my meerschaums, that you can basically bleach the colors out of your pipe by over-heating it. After applying a new coat of wax, I used a heat gun to melt the excess wax before wiping it down. On one particular pipe I got it to hot, and it removed a lot of the color unfortunately. It wasn't completely white like new, but it did remove a lot of the color, and it took a lot of bowls to regain that previous color. I don't recommend this process though.

Smoking one with natural brown wax will turn them white.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

Smoking one with natural brown wax will turn them white.

View attachment 275141View attachment 275142View attachment 275143

That's true. My Yanik has a yellow wax and it has lightened up in area's and you can see the natural white starting to come through. If you live long enough to be able to smoke that pipe enough. it will color back to those golden browns and darker. That would be a cool progression to see over time for sure.

 

[Chasing Embers]

@pipenschmoeker123

?

 

[pipenschmoeker123]

@pipenschmoeker123

?

Sorry, false reaction. It is corrected.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Sorry, false reaction. It is corrected.

I do that all the time.

 

[didimauw]

I do that all the time.

I do it only as an annoyance. Especially if people get alerts to reactions. Happy, laughing, like, happy, like, happy. They get an alert every time it changes

 

[Brhumbus]

OK. It's not even 2024 and we have two meerschaum threads on coloring going at once and I haven't even had my first mug of coffee yet! I'll take @Chasing Embers for $100 that this is going to turn into an amazing discussion of how and what you do to color your pipe. I thought we had settled the 'Coloring Bowl' stuff ages ago when both of us went to extreme lengths to demonstrate and recreate the 19th century approach with a silver washer and a tobacco plug as a substitute for the silver 'three penny' piece. Coloring bowls work but sort of turn your pipe into a calabash, whatever you do, unless you wallop the pipe with a heat gun you are going to wind up with a pipe that colors down the stem first. The trick is to even out the stem color and that's down to the moisture level in the pipe. If you are a wet smoker like me then you will get that very predictable 'Turd Brown' color, if you dry your tobacco then you will in all probability wind up with a lighter shade of coloring but the hypothesis seems to be proven by the less savage colors @Chasing Embers gets on his pipes verses my results. I have seen other results on here that are awesome and are just down to smoking the pipe. As they say YMMV!

I originally posted, not because I was interested in the process of coloring or it's speed, but because I was afraid I had inadvertently damaged my pipe.

On that note, I tried the Hot water trick (I'm not sure where I read about it) and that brought the color to the surface of the pipe and the color has yet to recede. So, like a lot of you kind folks pointed out, the pipe is not damaged from my sanding treatment but will likely take longer to color because of the reduced thickness of the walls, which I'm fine with.