Use This Instead of Whale Oil or Beeswax

[rottingcorpse]

As many of you know, whale oil used to be used instead of beeswax to aid the patina on a meerschaum. It's also supposedly superior to whale oil. Whaling is obviously immoral and illegal now. I hear cetyl esters or jojoba oil are basically the same thing as whale oil, so I was thinking about buying some:
Anyone try this? Thoughts?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cetyl-Alcohol-NF-USP-High-Quality-for-emulsions-and-various-uses-/261447174684?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item3cdf774a1c
http://www.ebay.com/itm/JOJOBA-OIL-GOLDEN-PURE-ORGANIC-CARRIER-UNREFINED-RAW-VIRGIN-COLD-PRESSED-2-OZ/121428569360?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D58b1c657e03a4c34bef38f717eee323b%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D121428569361

 

[aldecaker]

Disclaimer: I have nothing relevant to add to this thread. But thoughts? I immediately thought of that awesome scene in Moby Dick where Captain Ahab (Gregory Peck) is firing up his pipe while the crew and supplies are coming aboard. I wish I could help with your query, but thank you for rekindling a cool memory from long ago!

 

[rottingcorpse]

Hey, hey, no problem! I've never seen the movie, but I love Gregory Peck. Must see it one of these days.

 

[aldecaker]

Victory sings at sea-Santy Anno. Get on Youtube real quick and put that in the search bar. Not only is it the exact scene I'm thinking of, it's a pretty cool sea shanty as well.

 

[warren]

Not I. No thoughts either. My meerschaums are coloring just fine without adding wax.

 

[zack24]

I've used nose oil, whale oil, virgin goat oil, and even the sweat off my .....(never mind- it's not that important)
I suspect that beeswax is the easiest to obtain and use...

 

[rottingcorpse]

Well, guess I'll just make an opinion of my own and buy some jojoba oil and let you guys know how it works in a few months or so. Thanks anyhow.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I am in the no wax, no oil camp. That is, until someone puts out a good argument based on physics why they actually help, and are not a shibboleth based on factory practices to keep them good looking in the retail shop.

 

[rottingcorpse]

Jpmcwjr, waxing definitely helps. I don't know the science behind it, but check out some of my other topics. Very impressive changes each time I wax. There are different methods of waxing. I described mine in one of my topics.

 

[sajgre]

I have tried mixing it with beeswax but find mixture to soft. Maybe it would work if mixed with harder waxes like carnauba?

 

[rottingcorpse]

Maybe. I was just going to use Fred's method. In one of his videos, he rubs some olive oil onto one of his pipes, no wax. I was planning to do this with only with my African meer and see what happens over time.

 

[warren]

The wax may color the pipe. Which is fine if that is the look you are going for. Me I prefer the look of a fully infused meer, full of tars and the like. To each his own I suppose.

 

[rottingcorpse]

Waxing helps bring out the tars and aids the permanent color but also shows some temporary color that usually disappears after 1-3 smokes. Warren, have you tried any other method than just rubbing solid beeswax on a hot pipe? This method is the least effective and didn't do anything to my meer. I replied to one of your post describing my method, but you didn't reply or must've not seen it.

 

[warren]

I used various techniques when I was new to meers back in the 60s and in a hurry to make my new, gleaming meers look "old". The pipe smokers I knew back then derided the effort and I was never happy with the resulting yellowish color which was, in fact only temporary.
I honestly do not see how a wax coating could improve on the natural infusing of the mineral. I just do not see any logic in doing so. Other than reminding one to keep oily, dirty fingers off the meer until coloring is well under way. I can't see how a top coating encourages the smoking residues to enter the mineral. The residues infuse the mineral because the mineral is porous and the porosity allows for the infusion. The wax is not a magnet for the residues, it's to protect the pipe.
In my opinion, based solely on my experience, the original wax coating simply inhibits the goop transferring to whatever the outer surface of the pipe comes in contact with and makes the pipe shiny and attractive.. The wax keeps oils and dirt off the pipe and the residues in the meer.
If it works for you and you are happy with the look, keep on keeping on. I prefer the natural patina from the long, slow process. Different strokes . . .

 

[rottingcorpse]

Take a look at some of my images. In the images, only some of yellow coloring disappeared, the dark brown remained and continues growing with each smoke. It's all natural. The wax helps protect the meer, so there's one reason to wax, but it also brings out the tars from within the bowl. It helps the tars migrate to areas of the pipe. I think you should give it one more shot using the method I described in that other post.

 

[rottingcorpse]

Sorry if you feel I'm pushing this on you. If you're content with your slow, steady method, just keep doing that.

 

[warren]

Your not pushing anything on me. I'm perfectly content to to it the slow, old fashioned, tried proven way. Too old to care or change.
I'm still curious, how does the wax attract the oils into the meer? This occurs naturally.
Further, I want, deep chocolate brown, almost black when my meers are fully colored and have no interest in any waxy yellow or tan colored intermediate stage.
I will say that, years ago when I waxed my meers, I did get the feel good feeling that I was participating in the process. In reality, I was spending time waxing when I should have been smoking and so was probably slowing the process.

 

[rottingcorpse]

That's fine. But you still haven't seen my images, have you? A lot of the color turned chocolate brown and that color continues to grow with the aid of beeswax and smoking. I also appreciate the dark look the most, but it goes through stages at least in my experience (yellow to orange to brown to almost black). See images on my meerschaum timeline topic.

 

[igloo]

Nyoil ,W.F Nye ,Mobious ,Singer ,telephone dial oil ,train oil all these would be old ,old ,old. I think what you want is pure sperm oil from the head of the whale and it is quite costly . https://books.google.com/books?id=du4JAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22whale+fishery%22+%22whale+oil%22&pg=PA94&hl=en#v=onepage&q=%22whale%20fishery%22%20%22whale%20oil%22&f=false

 

[rottingcorpse]

There's actually some antique bottles with original whale oil contents in them on eBay. Wouldn't dare buy any. It's not outrageously expensive, but no, just no... I bought jojoba oil yesterday though. It's basically the exact same thing.