First Meerschaum - Tips, cleaning etc

[Enemygod]

I've been looking at getting a Meer for quite some time, but I have been waiting on the right pipe and deal. Last night while perusing the *bay, I found a real nice CAO bent billiard at a great price, so I took the plunge.

At some point over the weekend I'll check out some youtube videos on cleaning, waxing and general care, but I would like to get thoughts on general maintenance and enjoyment of these from the community here.

Thanks for all your input!

 

[Enemygod]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Isaac]

Not much help, but wanted to say nice pipe!!

 

[NexlevMM]

Wow what a pipe. That looks classy!

 

[nortac]

Nice looking Meer!
They are fragile but will serve you well if properly handled. An alcohol soaked pipe cleaner is OK, but do not try the "Salt & Alcohol" cleaning treatment, it won't need it anyway. Be very careful in scraping the inside of the bowl, again it shouldn't need much, if any. Just a simple wipe out will usually do after smoking. I'll let the more experienced Meer owners chime in with their recommendations.

 

[Enemygod]

Thanks for the compliments!

Nice looking Meer!
They are fragile but will serve you well if properly handled. An alcohol soaked pipe cleaner is OK, but do not try the "Salt & Alcohol" cleaning treatment, it won't need it anyway. Be very careful in scraping the inside of the bowl, again it shouldn't need much, if any. Just a simple wipe out will usually do after smoking. I'll let the more experienced Meer owners chime in with their recommendations.

Normally with my briars I'll bend a pipe cleaner in the bowl and swap it around to get anything loose out (also helps slow cake build up). Can I do this or should I just use a paper towel? Also, for the first clean, should I put some alcohol in the paper towel and lightly wipe it out?

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

Also, for the first clean, should I put some alcohol in the paper towel and lightly wipe it out?

No. Any alcohol use at all on a meer should be done to dissolve a built up cake in the chamber.

Just be somewhat careful when scraping the ash from the chamber if you decide to use a pipe tool. Using a dry pipe cleaner like you mentioned should be just fine.

 

[nortac]

Looking After Your Meerschaum

 

[Enemygod]

Thanks for the thread link.

 

[Enemygod]

Received my pipe yesterday and I'm really happy with it. Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to get it cleaned out last night. Hopefully I can do that tonight and give it a nice smoke with my Ten Russian friends. I also have some Beeswax coming from Amazon, as it could use a coat.

I'll be cleaning the bowl with water and a paper towel. Just by looking at it, the cake is pretty light (almost none at the bottom of the bowl), so I don't think I'll need to scrape it, but we'll see. I'll use some high proof Vodka that I have and a bristle cleaner on the stem, then wax it up!

 

[Enemygod]

So I took this on it's maiden voyage last night and man this thing gurgled a LOT...like a lot a lot. I smoke mostly bent pipes and rarely have gurgling issues, but I had to run a pipe cleaner through it about 4-5 times during the smoke. I was smoking my trusty Ten Russians, which is pretty dry.

The other thing I noticed is that running a pipe cleaner through it was a real pain and I don't think it has anything to do with the bend. It keeps getting stuck at the tenon on both sides, so I have to fiddle with it and sometimes cant get it to go all the way through at all.

Anybody else have gurgling issues with Meerschaum? Maybe I need to widen the draft and tenon hole or something?

 

[TexLaw]

I don't know what's going on with the gurgling, but I do sometimes have trouble passing a pipe cleaner through some of my meers. Like you, it gets hung up on the tenon. Since I don't have the same gurgling problem, I'm happy to wait until I'm done smoking and it's cooled down to deal with it.

For that gurgling, it could be that you're smoking a bit fast and hot or that your tobacco could still use a bit of drying. However, it also could just be that your pipe isn't drilled just right.

 

[Deacon Frank]

I have the same issue with the tenon on one of my meers. To alleviate the problem, I've used a drill bit sized slightly larger than the opening on the end of the tenon. I just used my fingers to turn the bit and carefully ream out the tenon. This helped, but the pipe cleaner still doesn't want to go through without a fight. I think the tenons they use on these are stepped, and the pipe cleaner tends to get hung up.

 

[Enemygod]

I don't know what's going on with the gurgling, but I do sometimes have trouble passing a pipe cleaner through some of my meers. Like you, it gets hung up on the tenon. Since I don't have the same gurgling problem, I'm happy to wait until I'm done smoking and it's cooled down to deal with it.

For that gurgling, it could be that you're smoking a bit fast and hot or that your tobacco could still use a bit of drying. However, it also could just be that your pipe isn't drilled just right.

Thanks for the info. That is good to know about the tenon.

I smoke the same tobacco the same way in my briar that is just as bent if not more and have no gurgling issues. So I dont think it's that. I think moisture is getting caught around the tenon area. The pipe has a tight draw without tobacco in it anyway.

 

[Enemygod]

I hand twisted a drill bit slightly larger than the tenon opening and this seemed to help immensely with the gurgling. Took it out for a smoke last night and had one instance of gurgle. I was able to get a pipe cleaner through it and that was it. Nice smoke, I enjoyed it much more this time around.

Question regarding keeping the bowl clean on these. The bowl is black, but when I put my finger down it after cleaning it feels smooth, as if there is little or no cake build up. Will the inside of the bowl stay black or do most of you clean it until it's relatively white again?

 

[Kentos]

I think the black is fine. You just don’t want it to build up to any appreciable thickness.

 

[nortac]

I can't imagine that you could completely remove all the black discoloration without risking destroying the bowl or removing meerschaum material. Besides, most meer owners want the outside of the bowl to color, which happens from the inside out.

 

[Hirsute]

Inside of the bowl will never be white again.

 

[Enemygod]

I figured as much, but I wanted to make sure. Thanks for the responses.

On another note, I had another Bowl of Mississippi River in this pipe last night and had no gurgling issues. I think expanding the tenon hole slightly really helped. I'm having a much better smoking experience now.