In my pipe restoration thread I recently used Miracle Pipe Mud to raise the bottom of the chamber of a Peterson pipe that was drilled too deep from the factory. The product worked perfectly, but when looking for YouTube videos on advice on how to use it I came across a video I thought was very intriguing. People are using the Miracle Pipe Mud to improve their corncob pipes. It looked interesting so I thought I would modify a couple.

This is the chamber of a Missouri Meerschaum pipe. You’ll notice that unlike a briar pipe, the floor of the chamber is not smooth. The shank is wooden and sticks into the chamber leaving an uneven bottom to the chamber that can hold unburned tobacco or moisture.  Here are the two I’m going to work on today.  





First thing is to remove the end of the shank inside the bowl. I went at them carefully with a burr on the dremel and a tiny chisel.



After grinding and chiseling I sanded them fairly smooth.  After smoothing, find a drill bit the same size as the hole in the shank and inset it until it just intrudes into the bowl.



Now it’s time for mud. It comes in a little bag and you mix it with a teaspoon of water, then you clip off the corner of the bag and use it like a piping bag.






Squeeze the mud into the bowl until it comes up to the sides of the drill bit. You can use the tip of your pinky to form it a little right now but it will be to wet to do much.



Save what’s left of the mud in the bag so you can follow the progress as it sets up. When it develops a clay like texture you can start doing your final shaping.  I used a dental pick for this.



Very gently shape the bottom of the bowl and they should come out something like this.




They need to cure for two days before smoking, so I’ll report back in a couple of days.

Interesting.

Is this one of the new ones you posted in the Pipes v Cigars thread?

I’ve never done this, and most of my MM’s smoke really well. But I’m curious about this.......

Neat thread, OP

@fttam

Thanks!  These are both smaller Missouri Pride pipes.  I have a friend that likes the smaller MM pipes and I thought I would do one for him and one for me as an experiment before I did any of the larger, more expensive pipes. I’m headed out to the shop to try a bowl later this evening. I’ll report back when I’m done.

First smoke impressions are great. This thing smoked like a well seasoned pipe right out of the gate. I packed it with a full bowl of Founding Fathers and smoked it while cleaning my workbench. It smoked all the way to the bottom on one light with no extra effort on my part. I knocked out the ash and there was a bit of dottle. I relit the dottle and only got three puffs before it was gone. Might be the best smoke I’ve ever had out of a new pipe.

Lit and going



After a quick clean out with the pipe tool.



I will definitely being doing more of these. BTW, a packet of Miracle Pipe Mud is a dollar and will do two pipes.

ETA, if you look closely at the stem on the lit pipe, you might notice it looks a little nicer than a standard MM. I sanded out the casting lines with 1200 grit sandpaper and buffed the stem with carnauba wax. It gave it a nicer look and feel. Now I’ll have to do all of them.

A bit off topic but when I saw the name Missouri Meerschaum, I looked it up. Ordered the 2 Pipe Let Freedom Ring set as a little starter for me. Nothing too fancy. I just wanted a simple corn cob pipe so I got those 2. Smoked a little years ago and getting back into it due to a lot of time to kill. Looks like they ship fast too.

I was going to pick up an Emerald and a new Dagner cob (after a few years I’ve split it from smoking) and I guess now I’ll be grabbing some mud. I’ve seen Aristocob mention it but never paid any attention to it.

Just the bottom of the cob? Nothing on the walls?
@RobertL

@fttam

The only mud I got on the walls was a little when I smoothed out the pour with the tip of my pinky. I was trying to avoid the walls as I didn’t want to seal the walls and ruin that “cool” cob smoke. I’ve read the cobs smoke cooler because of the the porosity, don’t know if that’s true or not.

ETA, also when I do the bigger pipes like the emerald, I’m going to leave the bottom third or so of the stem in place to try and keep the strength of it.

Did these three tonight.  One packet of Miracle Pipe Mud made plenty of material for all three. I did the initial bowl work on these with the drill press and a Forstner bit, worked great.



The bowls of each when done.







Now I need to order more mud.

I’m doing this,

Good post, OP.......thanks

Thank you! I hope it does well for you. I honestly think the first one I did may be the best smoking pipe I own.  I took it trail riding a couple of nights ago and I smoked four bowls in it one after another (something I never do, but it was the only pipe I had with me). It never made a gurgle and the fourth bowl stayed as well lit as the first. I think the Miracle Mud name might be appropriate.

New victims!



Out of pipe mud.

Smoking the Emerald I mudded a couple days ago!  Smooth as can be, I’m at the bottom of the bowl on one light and not a gurgle to be found.