What About This?

[mithridate]

A friend of mine gifted me this pipe. He found it when cleaning us an old house he bought. I guess it's old. The stem is oddly flexible, but can't guess what it's made of. Leather? :O
If someone has any info, guesses or otherwise witty comments (I'm afraid in adwance) they're welcome.

 

[mithridate]

The stem leaks little bit, but otherwise it works fine. Tastes somewhat old, though.

And cleaning up, not us... I never mind m bad English, but that was a honest and horrible writing error!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

How does it smoke?

 

[mithridate]

I think it smokes well. I hope the odd taste will get out eventually by smoking it, though I'm not too sure. :D

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

Turn of the century chip meer Austrian lap pipe. Whats the carving? Stem is cloth or leather covered gutta percha rubber. You can replace it with a modern silicone hookah hose or put a traditional spigot stem on it.

A Big ol’ Spigot for a Meerschaum Kalmach :: Pipe Repair and Maintenance

To quote Sherlock Holmes, “you know my methods” so I’ll spare you all the pictures of stuff chucked up in a lathe, files, and sandpaper and just post a few and cut to the chase. I used a premolded P-Lip stem and cut a rather large aluminum spigot to get this kalmach smoking again. I’m still...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[AJL67]

Just curious, did you clean it out, or did you just decide to fire it up, you know "tastes odd" and all.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

It's definitely an old lap style meerschaum. I'd clean it up a bit and display it as it makes for a great display piece. Not sure I'd smoke it unless I changed out the stem.

 

[mithridate]

I guess I'm just a bad photographer, or I got something wrong. I'm rather certain that the bowl has been made of wood. I didn't know how to scale the photo, so it shows just partially until you click it open.
However, thanks for the answers. The information about the stem made me happy indeed. I have been so curious about that flexibility...

I didn't clean it out, but my friend did - at least he said so. It would be a juicy prank if he hadn't, though. But I still breathe, so propably he did. It smells and tastes just like an old house, in which nobody has lived for a while...

It made me so curious, because I've never seen a pipe alike, and wondered where it is from and how old.

 

[didimauw]

What is up with all of these pipe popping up now? 6 months ago I'd never seen one, or heard of one. Today I've seen 6.

Neat pipe. Pretty sure it's meerschaum.

 

[mithridate]

Good heavens! Maybe it is, then. I need to make it a meerschaum test...

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

Good heavens! Maybe it is, then. I need to make it a meerschaum test...

It is hard to tell from the picture, but the vast majority of those were meerschaum. They were however occasionally made of briar, so it is possible. You can do a salt/alcohol treatment to clean it properly and get rid if the funky taste. But I suspect the rubber stem is going to be a bear to clean if it can be cleaned without destroying it. I would have a new one made for it.

 

[monty55]

@rustiepyles hit the nail. I was going to say German, but Austrian sounds right. I'm guessing the funny taste in part, is from the old rubber stem. If your going to smoke from it, you should probably replace that with something modern.

 

[Streeper541]

That looks like a tube from a douche bag. Even if it's not, I'd change it out.

 

[Navy Chief]

It is hard to tell from the picture, but the vast majority of those were meerschaum. They were however occasionally made of briar, so it is possible. You can do a salt/alcohol treatment to clean it properly and get rid if the funky taste. But I suspect the rubber stem is going to be a bear to clean if it can be cleaned without destroying it. I would have a new one made for it.

If it is a meerschaum bowl DO NOT do a salt alcohol treatment on it.... Soaking meerschaum in anything is going to soften and possibly destroy it.

 

[mithridate]

I contacted a local (at least Finnish) shop. According to their website they insert new stems to pipes, but they quite politely refused to help me. They said something like that they can't get new stems from factories anymore - honestly I didn't quite get it. However, that means I have to give it a try myself or smoke the pipe like it is. Any tips about where to search for a suitable stem?

 

[AJL67]

I dont know if i would even call that a stem, seems to be a hose, so is it a hose .. if so try a hookah hose from amazon.