Strange Meerschaum Question

[rangerearthpig]

I have never witnessed a meerschaum cob pipe being made, but in my head I imagine that after the corn cobs are cut and drilled, they are coated with a paste or maybe even liquid derived from powered meerschaum. Am I close?
Here's my question...
Catlinite, or pipestone as it's more commonly known, is a pinkish, chalky stone that is quarried in Minnesota. Native Americans carved (and still do carve) wonderful pipes out of this stone. It is an easy medium to carve, file, shape, and sand. When completed the pipes are covered with melted beeswax, then buffed to a glossy shine. The wax turns the stone from pink to a deep blood red color.
I have several chunks of catlinite laying around, and I was considering an attempt at making a "pipestone cob" pipe, using pipestone dust instead of powdered meerschaum. If it would work, I think it has the potential to make a really unique, very beautiful and functional cob pipe.
What do the experts think? Could this work? Is my mental image of the meerschaum cob process oversimplified?

 

[rangerearthpig]

@virginiacob:
Bob, what's your take on this, Sir?

 

[rangerearthpig]

I think you are thinking of Missouri Meerschaum. They do not use real Meerschaum to make cobs. It is a play on words, as in corn cobs are the 'meerschaum' of Missouri. I do not know of any cobs that are actually meerschaum lined, although I guess it would be possible.

I'm certainly not trying to argue, but what is the plaster that is formed into them then? Yes, I was thinking of the Missouri Meerschaums. They have an obvious substance added which makes the bowl more of a solid piece, instead of a completely natural textured cob.

 

[rangerearthpig]

Here is a photo of some raw catlinite, with a finished, waxed pipe in the foreground to show the color difference.

 

[rmbittner]

"They have an obvious substance added which makes the bowl more of a solid piece, instead of a completely natural textured cob."
I've never seen anything like this in any of the cobs I've owned or sold (when I worked in a tobacco shop). Maybe a photo would help?
Bob

 

[lucky695]

Chronicle of the Corn Cob
here is a thread I started a long time ago... there is a video of how they make the MM's. It's pretty interseting. The plaset is to seal the bowl/cob. Some of their pipe they sell without the plaster... you just have to be careful that you don't smoke them too hot or you will have a sidewall blowout...

 

[jfox520]

John Barrett makes pipes out of catlinite. They look like stone cobs. He has a Facebook page and P&C sells his pipes also.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Pipestone can come in a variety of colors. I use it in form work for lapidary, when I am cutting unique shapes in precious stones. I have some that is striated with three different shades of brown. Cool looking stuff. I wish I had some rough large enough to make a Native styled pipe, but all of mine is slabbed to .25". I love those animal styled pipes that I see in the museums.

 

[rangerearthpig]

I copied/pasted this from the Missouri Meerschaum site:

From Cobs To Pipes
Growing the Right Corn
The first step in making corn cob pipes is to grow and harvest corn. When Missouri Meerschaum began production in the 1860s, cobs from any type of field corn were gathered to make corn cob pipes. However, years of hybridization modified corn to produce smaller cobs. As a result, the corn cob pipe industry commissioned the University of Missouri to develop a corn seed that produces a bigger cob. Today, Missouri Meerschaum owns approximately 150 acres of Missouri farmland where we grow our corn, and sometimes we contract additional acreage with local farmers.
Shelling & Aging
After the corn is harvested, it is stored in outdoor bins until it can be shelled. Corn shelling is accomplished with a vintage sheller, since today’s newer equipment is designed to break up cobs. The cobs are then stored in the third floor of the factory for 2 years. This aging process makes the cobs harder and dryer.
Turning Cobs Into Pipes
When ready to become pipes, cobs are first loaded into chutes that carry them to the lowest level of the factory where they are sawed into pipe lengths and sorted by size. The size determines which type of pipe each will become. After each is turned on a lathe, the tobacco hole is bored into the bowl. Some pipes are bored all the way through and a wood plug inserted into the bottom of the bowl. Then cobs go to one of several turning machines. Each machine produces a different shape. A few pipes, such as the MacArthur and the Country Gentleman, are hand turned on a lathe. The next step is "filling," which is applying plaster of Paris to the surface of the bowl. Bowls are then allowed to dry for a day before the next process, which is "white scouring" or sanding of the bowl to make it smooth. Bowls for less expensive pipes are varnished in a concrete mixer and spread out on wire racks to dry. Bowls for higher cost pipes are placed on spindles that rotate through a spray booth where they are coated with lacquer. After the bowls dry, assembly begins. Wood stems are printed with ink so they appear coblike. A metal ferrule is then hammered onto the stem, and the stem is glued and tapped into the bowl. The bowls are patched around the stem, and any small irregularities in the cob are patched. Then the pipes are ready for packaging and shipping to all parts of the world!

I'll admit again that I know nothing about how the Missouri cobs are made. When holding one, it just appears to me that the plaster that is added gives the bowl some density and structure which allows it to be sanded into a fairly smooth piece. The white plaster, at least I assume that's what I am looking at, peeks out around the cob where the corn kernels once were, as well as inside the bowl itself.
If this is at all accurate, it seems reasonable to me that substituting the powder base of the plaster, in order to change the color, wouldn't interfere all that much with the pipe or its durability. But then, I've been wrong 612 times before. :lol:

 

[rangerearthpig]

@cosmic:
I'd be happy to send you a piece. I have several good chunks...not a lot of striations, but some neat light gray specks.

 

[rangerearthpig]

@sam:
I guess we were copying/pasting from their site at the same time. :lol: