Show off Your Meerschaum Claws Here!

[didimauw]

Figured we should have a thread grouping them all together...for the sake of the forum.


And maybe I'm itching for one really bad, and this may help prevent me from buying another meer.

 

[isaac]

This is my only claw by H.Cor. I want another one with a chamber diameter of 22mm. Prices are a bit too much for me at the moment

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

I recently picked up a smaller claw meerschaum pipe holding a lattice egg (but not a true lattice since the design is just impressions in the egg).

The egg is meerschaum, but the claw doesn't seem to be (based on the touch test with a wet finger).

It's not the most ideal, but think the pipe was about $25 with shipping and a case. That's my price for entey given the fear of breaking it. I'll try to post a picture later, if I remember.

 

[FurCoat]

Every pipe smoker should have a claw

 

[coming to_falling too]

Here's my claw

An AKB I picked up a couple years ago.

 

[Chasing Embers]

 

[Kingsley]

My Altinay, new -




And now at 31 bowls smoked,






As much of a geek as I am, I never felt the urge to seek out a claw, just saw a meer with the telltale signs that it would color quickly and interestingly, so I picked it up.

 

[Chasing Embers]

And now at 31 bowls smoked

Don't tell cshubhra that.

 

[username]

 

[Kingsley]

Don't tell cshubhra that.

Bah, humbug, he’s got nothing to worry about, his pipe is plenty purdy.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Bah, humbug, he’s got nothing to worry about, his pipe is plenty purdy.

After a few hundred smokes.

 

[Chasing Embers]

@cshubhra

Any claws in your collection?

 

[cshubhra]

@cshubhra

Any claws in your collection?

No… I don’t have a claw yet!

 

[Chasing Embers]

No… I don’t have a claw yet!

Gotta love that word "yet".

 

[Jwebb90]

Dang, now I want one… this forum is trouble.

 

[didimauw]

My Altinay, new -

View attachment 185296
View attachment 185304

And now at 31 bowls smoked,

View attachment 185300
View attachment 185302
View attachment 185303
View attachment 185298

As much of a geek as I am, I never felt the urge to seek out a claw, just saw a meer with the telltale signs that it would color quickly and interestingly, so I picked it up.

That's hard to believe that's only after 31 bowls. But you can see the difference in meer as new, as to where the coloring would start. Interesting!

 

[Kingsley]

That's hard to believe that's only after 31 bowls. But you can see the difference in meer as new, as to where the coloring would start. Interesting!

I understand the disbelief, but believe me, it’s true. I even keep a tally counter app just for it.
You see, I don’t smoke more than a bowl or two per day at best, and after smoking the gamut of meerschaum grades and seeing how mind-bendingly slow it is for most to noticeably color, I’ve developed a keen eye for translucence in any meers I pick up.
If it isn’t translucent, well, it might be decades before I’ve even got the stem fully colored with my piping habits.
Also, of course, pairing meerschaum with aromatic blends is a sure-fire way to expedite coloring, and I have Country Squire to thank for that.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I understand the disbelief, but believe me, it’s true. I even keep a tally counter app just for it.
You see, I don’t smoke more than a bowl or two per day at best, and after smoking the gamut of meerschaum grades and seeing how mind-bendingly slow it is for most to noticeably color, I’ve developed a keen eye for translucence in any meers I pick up.
If it isn’t translucent, well, it might be decades before I’ve even got the stem fully colored with my piping habits.
Also, of course, pairing meerschaum with aromatic blends is a sure-fire way to expedite coloring, and I have Country Squire to thank for that.

Put a washer in the bottom of the chamber to trap moisture in the heel.



After smoking, blow through the stem to send any moisture that accumulated in the stem back into the chamber to be absorbed.

 

[prairiedruid]

Hope that isn't a galvanized washer; smoking zinc isn't good for you.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

These are not Meerschaum, but, they sort of fit this thread—they’re miniature Gutta-percha Egg and Claw pipes from Colossus Pipe Factory (top), and KB&B (bottom) from the early 20th Century, circa 1919—these companies, owned by Kaufmann Brothers and Bondy, would eventually morph into Kaywoodie. Quarter shown for scale.