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.