New to Pipes - Meerschaum Restoration Project

[Ralph]

I recently helped a good friend recondition his Dad's old desktop humidor and while we were sitting around I mentioned that I wanted to try smoking a pipe.

He said that he inherited his Dad's collection of Meerschaum pipes and took a couple of pictures when he got home. Not sure of brands or ages on any of them, but they haven't been touched in over 15 years. Some really neat stuff there! We are meeting up this weekend and we are going to do some restoration work on them.

I've been lurking around the Pipe Forum for a couple weeks now and I did a lot of YouTube research on restoring Meerschaum pipes and it seems like a delicate scrape of any cake build-up in the bowl followed by some fine grit sanding to get down to the original Meerschaum is what to aim for. Bristled pipe cleaners dipped in grain alcohol to clean out the stem and system chamber, and I also read that it's popular to use Oxyclean to remove oxidation on the stems and then polish with various grades of polishing pads to shine the stems up. We will most likely leave the outside of the pipes alone. Any pitfalls in this process or any tips for a better process?

He ordered some Stokkebye 52 Proper and I'm going to pick up a shop blend at my local. Greatly looking forward to this rabbit hole to yet another vice!

 

[Darin]

Sounds like you've got it to me ... enjoy!

 

[H. Vachon]

I would recommend a pipe/stem specific Anti-oxidant for the stem. They will use much more mild detergents made specifically for vulcanite stems. Not to dismiss people who recommend oxyclean, but when you invest your time and money into a pipe, why risk it. I’ve been happy with Decatur’s line up.

Make sure to post some after photos! Cool collection. Best of luck!

 

[Ralph]

So I got through six of the 10 pipes yesterday. The stems were pretty filthy, but they were in perfect condition. No teeth marks, very little oxidation. Not a lot of cake buildup in the bowls either. I do need to pick up some of the plastic threaded inserts as a few were broken. There was one pipe that had a small brass nameplate that said “CAO” but we didn’t see any identifying marks on any of the others.

As a thank you, my buddy gifted me a pipe of my choice. The Eagle Claw was cool but I chose the hexagonal one. Kind of gave me hobbit vibes! Mixed results with the pack, still a work in progress. Had some trouble with the burn of the dryer tobaccos.

 

[CigarStone]

So I got through six of the 10 pipes yesterday. The stems were pretty filthy, but they were in perfect condition. No teeth marks, very little oxidation. Not a lot of cake buildup in the bowls either. I do need to pick up some of the plastic threaded inserts as a few were broken. There was one pipe that had a small brass nameplate that said “CAO” but we didn’t see any identifying marks on any of the others.

As a thank you, my buddy gifted me a pipe of my choice. The Eagle Claw was cool but I chose the hexagonal one. Kind of gave me hobbit vibes! Mixed results with the pack, still a work in progress. Had some trouble with the burn of the dryer tobaccos.

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I hope you're using that Coor Banquet to wipe the pipes down?

Just kidding ! Nice work!

 

[streetrod]

Enjoy the fruit of your labor.

 

[H. Vachon]

Wow, those turned out great!! Nice work!

 

[Ralph]

It's been a really fun journey so far. The custom blends from my local shop have been great and the Stokkebye 52 Proper is growing on me. My packs still need work. I'm getting 20-30 minutes with one or two relights, but I still feel like they are too loose. I guess I just have to keep practicing.

Looking to add a second block Meer to my rotation and I've been spending a lot of time on Meerschaum Market, Royal Meerschaum and the meerschaum gallery (pipesdepot) on eBay. I'm looking to spend around $150 and I am completely overwhelmed. I have the style narrowed it down to a bent version of either a Dublin, a Rhodesian or a Bulldog. Not big on the ornate carvings and gravitate to the plainer smoother versions. Decisions need to be made