The Great Meerschaum Cake Experiment

[Chasing Embers]

After browsing through this thread, I'll add this. I've read several books on meerschaum pipes, I've spoken to several meerschaum carvers at a pipe show, and other pipe smokers with large meerschaum collections and meerschaum experience and they all said this; cake is bad for your pipe.

It's okay to have a thin layer of cake, but building up cake like you would with a briar can cause the meerschaum to crack/break over time. The cake does not add to the color as it doesn't allow for new tars and oils to reach the meerschaum and stops the meerschaum from doing what it naturally does; express the tars and oils. As the meerschaum expresses those tars and oils the beeswax that's on the pipe holds the tars and oils in allowing us to see what we call color. If you have a buildup of cake those tars and oils won't be expressed by the meerschaum properly and your pipe won't color like it should.

Other important "NO's" from the books, and carvers; never use alcohol on your meerschaum. Alcohol will stop the natural abilities of the meerschaum. Alcohol is okay on the stem, but keep it out of the shank and bowl. Do not flush water down your pipe. It can damage the meerschaum over time and not allow it to do what it needs to do naturally. Do not use pipe reamers on the bowl, as it can damage the bowl or even crack the pipe. Using a pipe knife can also cause you to cut into the meerschaum causing damage, so they're also not recommended.

As for the washer coin in the bottom of the bowl; not sure where that idea ever came from, but it's definitely a bad idea in a meerschaum. Please don't do that.

In the past few months we've debunked a lot of the old dogma.

An Observation of the Coloring of Vintage Meerschaum :: Meerschaum Pipes

The modern dogma for meerschaum pipes is to keep the chamber clean as carbon buildup prevents coloring and may lead to cracked bowls. I'm going to give up that practice temporarily after noticing something about these old pieces. They're heavily colored and have quite a bit of buildup. I think...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[didimauw]

After browsing through this thread, I'll add this. I've read several books on meerschaum pipes, I've spoken to several meerschaum carvers at a pipe show, and other pipe smokers with large meerschaum collections and meerschaum experience and they all said this; cake is bad for your pipe.

It's okay to have a thin layer of cake, but building up cake like you would with a briar can cause the meerschaum to crack/break over time. The cake does not add to the color as it doesn't allow for new tars and oils to reach the meerschaum and stops the meerschaum from doing what it naturally does; express the tars and oils. As the meerschaum expresses those tars and oils the beeswax that's on the pipe holds the tars and oils in allowing us to see what we call color. If you have a buildup of cake those tars and oils won't be expressed by the meerschaum properly and your pipe won't color like it should.

Other important "NO's" from the books, and carvers; never use alcohol on your meerschaum. Alcohol will stop the natural abilities of the meerschaum. Alcohol is okay on the stem, but keep it out of the shank and bowl. Do not flush water down your pipe. It can damage the meerschaum over time and not allow it to do what it needs to do naturally. Do not use pipe reamers on the bowl, as it can damage the bowl or even crack the pipe. Using a pipe knife can also cause you to cut into the meerschaum causing damage, so they're also not recommended.

As for the washer coin in the bottom of the bowl; not sure where that idea ever came from, but it's definitely a bad idea in a meerschaum. Please don't do that.

I was on the cake train untill yesterday. I love cake in my briars and cobs, but not in my meers. The coloring stopped where the cake started. I also stopped running hot water through mine. Not because i was afraid it would damage it, but the coloring faded. I have also gouged a meer or two using a pipe knife.

 

[telescopes]

I was on the cake train untill yesterday. I love cake in my briars and cobs, but not in my meers. The coloring stopped where the cake started. I also stopped running hot water through mine. Not because i was afraid it would damage it, but the coloring faded. I have also gouged a meer or two using a pipe knife.

I predict you will be the first of many.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I was on the cake train untill yesterday. I love cake in my briars and cobs, but not in my meers. The coloring stopped where the cake started. I also stopped running hot water through mine. Not because i was afraid it would damage it, but the coloring faded. I have also gouged a meer or two using a pipe knife.

I just sanded mine down for round 2. No loss of coloring though.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I was on the cake train untill yesterday. I love cake in my briars and cobs, but not in my meers. The coloring stopped where the cake started. I also stopped running hot water through mine. Not because i was afraid it would damage it, but the coloring faded. I have also gouged a meer or two using a pipe knife.

My tests and experience on the 6-7meers I have shown that when you wet a Meer it will darken, and when it dries out, the color slowly goes back to the color it was.

 

[AroEnglish]

I was on the cake train untill yesterday. I love cake in my briars and cobs, but not in my meers. The coloring stopped where the cake started. I also stopped running hot water through mine. Not because i was afraid it would damage it, but the coloring faded. I have also gouged a meer or two using a pipe knife.

What do you love about cake? I never learned about it and have wiped down my chamber after each smoke with a paper towel. I don't smoke very often so cake hasn't really built up on any pipe. I'm not against it but haven't tried to build it.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

In the past few months we've debunked a lot of the old dogma.

View attachment 206348
View attachment 206349View attachment 206350

An Observation of the Coloring of Vintage Meerschaum :: Meerschaum Pipes

The modern dogma for meerschaum pipes is to keep the chamber clean as carbon buildup prevents coloring and may lead to cracked bowls. I'm going to give up that practice temporarily after noticing something about these old pieces. They're heavily colored and have quite a bit of buildup. I think...

pipesmagazine.com

I'm not sure who the "we" is that you are referring to, and what specific "dogma" you're referencing, but I'll stick to what the meerschaum carvers say as they're the experts. To each their own though, so if something seems to work for you then carry on.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I'm not sure who the "we" is that you are referring to,

Myself, @didimauw, @condorlover1, @jpmcwjr, @TheWhale13, @weezell R.I.P.

what specific "dogma" you're referencing,

Fear of cake and use of water on meerschaum as well as wax coloring versus the coloring of the material itself and the re-application of wax. It appears that a lot of what fans consider coloring is just the wax darkening.

I'll stick to what the meerschaum carvers say as they're the experts.

Some of them don't smoke themselves and are only repeating what they've been told just as smokers have done. Some examples of heavily colored antique ones have a large amount of carbon buildup and for every briar I've seen split by cake, I've not seen one example of a meerschaum. I've even read of some carvers overlooking flaws as they claim to cause no issue. I'm just looking for facts beyond the hearsay.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

Myself, @didimauw, @condorlover1, @jpmcwjr, @TheWhale13, @weezell R.I.P.



Fear of cake and use of water on meerschaum as well as wax coloring versus the coloring of the material itself and the re-application of wax. It appears that a lot of what fans consider coloring is just the wax darkening.

View attachment 207426View attachment 207427



Some of them don't smoke themselves and are only repeating what they've been told just as smokers have done. Some examples of heavily colored antique ones have a large amount of carbon buildup and for every briar I've seen split by cake, I've not seen one example of a meerschaum. I've even read of some carvers overlooking flaws as they claim to cause no issue. I'm just looking for facts beyond the hearsay.

Like everything you'll find people for or against something and each will have information to back their theory or claims. I'm sure there are some meerschaum carvers out there that will give you information differing from the norm. Put me in the camp that believes the old dogma I guess. With the exception of handling my pipes. No white gloves here. LOL

As for the subject of flaws, many carvers eliminate flaws in the meerschaum by carving them out when designing their pipe. If the flaw can't be carved away and is minor and won't cause an issue with the smoke-ability of the pipe, then most carvers will still make the pipe. Example: my bent apple by Meerschaum Market clearly had a pit in the side, and the carver turned it into a small star as if it was supposed to be there the entire time. The pipe is one of my favorites and smokes great.

As for the pipe coloring, Meerschaum is so porous, and will express the tars and oils of the tobacco so well that if the wax wasn't applied to the pipe the pipe would not hold color like they do. The beeswax that is applied creates a barrier, and locks in the tars and oils that the meerschaum is trying to express, but since it can't penetrate the beeswax we see what we call color. For those that handle there meerschaums a lot and potentially wear away some of the beeswax, reapplying beeswax will sometimes bring more color out. This just depends on the particular pipe though as not all re-waxed meerschaums will show more color. I've rewaxed my pipes a few times, and some show more color afterwards, and others look exactly the same as before.

By the way, what did that pipe do to you that you had to be mean and cut it up? LOL

 

[condorlover1]

Everything in life is down to a matter of personal opinion or belief systems. I have been smoking meerschaum pipes since the mid 1980s. I don't smoke figural meerschaums and I sure as hell don't smoke anything made before 1920. Does that make me an expert? No! Do I think the water flush system is good? I suppose if you want amebas in your pipe then be my guest but I personally would never engage in the practice but hey whatever floats your boat. Would I wax one of my pipes? Never in a million years. Why? New meerschaum is softer whilst the ones I own have had the opportunity to cure over 100+ years and present a harder shell so to speak. The practical effect of applying wax to one of my pipes would be to create a film that attracts crap. I have had the opportunity over the years to speak with one in the last of a line of Parisian meerschaum pipe makers, now long since dead, so somethings I believe in have been picked up from those who were around when these pipes were barely old. As to carvers I can only speak to my friend Ramazan who I have lent pipes to in the past who not only marvels at the quality of the older meerschaum but the ingenuity of the Austrian and French carvers who churned out run of the mill 'cutty' pipes. Finally with regard to 'cake' the view from this side of the table I believe is just trim the stuff off using a flat bladed iron knife by scrapping carefully or use the @Chasing Embers method of sand paper which I have personally never tried but seems to be a genius hack. In closing I would point out that the world is not littered with exploded carved figural pipes from the late 19th century due to carbon build up! Pipe hygiene in the 19th century probably mirrored personal hygiene, you had a nice tin bath full of hot water in front of the fire on Wednesday and Sunday nights with the wash basin for periods in between! Enjoy your pipes and your particular belief system.

 

[condorlover1]

As a small follow up. I have been asked by several people to define and 'Iron Bladed Knife' so believing in the old adage that a picture is worth 1000 words here is a picture. The knife on the left belonged to my late Father, the one in the middle my Mothers Father and the one on the right myself. With the exception of my knife all the others were used for scrapping out pipes, cutting plug and all are made of iron which seems to hold a good edge.

 

[TheWhale13]

Reamed it since the cake was getting a bit too thick and crusty (I don't want to build a cake as impressive as Didi's, but it's big enough to make bowls last shorter than it usually does). But, everything tasted well, and no harm seems to be done to the pipe. It has colored with about the same speed as before too. This makes me confident to build cake in meers and I will continue doing it in the future. I can't say that the experiment is concluded, but at least one round of cake has been completed without injury.


And just listening to carvers without smoking experience and believing dogma is really something that can (and should be) questioned and tried. I'm happy that we have people here that is willing to experiment and share their experiences. People like @Said.ALTINAY are very welcome to share their thoughts too, since they have more experience with this than many.

 

[Sobrbiker]

As a small follow up. I have been asked by several people to define and 'Iron Bladed Knife' so believing in the old adage that a picture is worth 1000 words here is a picture. The knife on the left belonged to my late Father, the one in the middle my Mothers Father and the one on the right myself. With the exception of my knife all the others were used for scrapping out pipes, cutting plug and all are made of iron which seems to hold a good edge.

Are you sure we’re not confusing carbon steel with iron?

 

[condorlover1]

@Sobrbiker: The two from left to right are iron, the one on the right is probably carbon steel. The term 'Iron Blade' is a term used pre-WW1 but I am no expert so I guess YMMV.

 

[brian64]

As for the pipe coloring, Meerschaum is so porous, and will express the tars and oils of the tobacco so well that if the wax wasn't applied to the pipe the pipe would not hold color like they do. The beeswax that is applied creates a barrier, and locks in the tars and oils that the meerschaum is trying to express, but since it can't penetrate the beeswax we see what we call color.

I certainly don't claim to know one way or the other, but I still lean toward this view as well. The interior section of @Chasing Embers dissected pipe seems too inconclusive to me, and open to interpretation with the "carbon pulling through" and the rest of it. Not sure how we can know for certain what's going on there.

Plus it may be as you're describing that it all just penetrated all the way through. The fact that the heel always colors first is probably the primary factor in how I see it.

I suspect this will be one of those things that is never settled.

 

[Jbyrd]

Are you sure we’re not confusing carbon steel with iron?

I believe you are correct

 

[Chasing Embers]

I certainly don't claim to know one way or the other, but I still lean toward this view as well. The interior section of @Chasing Embers dissected pipe seems too inconclusive to me, and open to interpretation with the "carbon pulling through" and the rest of it. Not sure how we can know for certain what's going on there.

Plus it may be as you're describing that it all just penetrated all the way through. The fact that the heel always colors first is probably the primary factor in how I see it.

I suspect this will be one of those things that is never settled.

Another curiosity is that an alcohol wipe or a jeweler's cloth can wipe away the coloring.

 

[TheWhale13]

Another curiosity is that an alcohol wipe or a jeweler's cloth can wipe away the coloring.
View attachment 207520
View attachment 207519

Was that pipe really colored to begin with though?

 

[MikeDub]

Beeswax starts to discolor at 185 degrees but it's melting point is 145 degrees, and both temperatures are above what I think the exterior of the bowl and shank are likely to reach? Beeswax also readily absorbs oils and color so it could be the tars and oils passing through the meerschaum and depositing in the beeswax? I would lean towards the oils getting deposited in the beeswax before the heat discolors the exterior but the cross section of Ember's pipe is definitely interesting.

I'm in the "smoke them hard and let the universe decide how it colors" camp, but I'm interested in following along with the experiments and listening to other theories.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Was that pipe really colored to begin with though?

From the cross sections I've seen, I'm wondering if any of them really are.