Meerschaum Pipe Wet and Gurgling. . .

[Joel Walker]

Hiya,

This is my first post to the newsgroup. I am a fairly new pipe smoker.
Went from cobs to Meerschaum and Briar. Nice transition.

Okay, been smoking a nifty meerschaum pipe lately. I have not
encountered any problems until the last few days. Lately, I have not
been able to finish a pipe because the tobacco begins to gurgle and
it's wet, not able to take a match. So, I clean the tobacco out and
it's like a small wad of mud. The inside of the bowl is wet and some
fluid is actually on the bottom of the bowl.

Nothing has changed while I smoke the pipe. I always have something to
drink while I am smoking. But, I smoke outside and the last couple
days it's been cold - like 20 degrees colder than I usually smoke it so
it's about 30 degrees outside. Do you think the cold weather is
effecting the gurgling?

I'm an amateur-amateur at this, so please be easy . . . and gentle!
But I will appreciate any response!

J.P. Walker

[Jonathan Wolgamuth]

In message news:1103166634.4...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com on
15 Dec 2004, Joel Walker said to all at alt.smokers.pipes

I seem to have a gurgly pipe more in colder weather, and I guess that
stands to reason. I find that a pipe cleaner run through the pipe as
soon as you hear the gurgling will cure it at least temporarily. There
are many explanations as to why pipes gurgle--the ASP FAQ has a nice
primer.

http://www.aspipes.org/faq/faq/official.html

--

Jonathan Wolgamuth <jonwolgamuth(at)gmail(dot)com>

"Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
'God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.'"

[Gpturn4]

Welcome. It makes sense that the temperature might be causing some type of
extra condensation. If you can keep a cleaner handy and run it asap after the
first gurgle, it can certainly help control the problem. You haven't mentioned
if you have somehow let some cake build up in the meer--that might be
inhibiting the natural absorption of the pipe. If that is the case, remove
said cake and see if that helps. Everything I've read says cake in meers is a
no-no for a variety of reasons. Again, welcome and enjoy.

Greg T
>

[Johnny O.]

only time I experienced this was when smoking in the fog, was nice, except
for the wet smoke...sucking the cool moisture out of the air I suspect....a
pipe cleaner helps clear it up...

--

~Johnny
http://www.xanga.com/pipesmokindaddy

In Loving Memory,
JP Anderson 3/21/84 - 2/18/02

remove -monkey- to reply!

[Joel Walker]

Okay, so I think there is some "cake" in the meerschaum pipe's bowl.
I've smoked this thing about 30 times. I've hit it hard in the past
month since I've had it! So, how would I clean the cake . . .if that's
what it's called. Basically, theres a grainy texture of this cakey
stuff in the bowl. But it's spotty, at best. Do you think that could
be it? If so, how should I get rid of it? Not a reamer knife, right???

[Phlytire]

I've use a sharp pipe knife with the rounded end on occasion to get rid of
cake in meers. Just make sure the pipe is really dry before doing it, so
there are no soft areas.

Meerschaum is really pretty hard when dry. It's not really a delicate
operation.

Hope this helps,

Rad

--
The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something
right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.
"Joel Walker" <joel_w...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1103171687....@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...

[J.P. Walker]

Rad,

A knife? How long should it be dried out before I attempt to do this?
J.P. Walker