Great info- about to buy a couple of Falcon meershaum bowls from CPW in Turkey. We’ll see I guess… they say it’s block, but using this test will tell the tale
Block meerschaum is porous and absorbant, pressed meerschaum is not. If you touch you tongue to block meerschaum it will stick slightly as the meerschaum draws the moisture from your tongue. Pressed meerschaum, being much less absorbant, will not cause the sticking sensation as it will not draw the moisture from your tongue. Just my 2 cents, thanks for the great videos.!
Hi Walt! Thanks for the video. The other test I've heard of is the "tongue test" I'm sure you know. The old saw as I heard it is that if you stick your tongue on block meer it'll stick due to the absorbency of the material, but it won't on pressed meer. Could be fiction, as with so much meerschaum myth, but I'll leave it to you to test. As to the pressed meerschaum, which you'll also find in most gourd calabash bowls, the silver will work, but it doesn't mark the meer, it marks the adhesive. So it's not a foolproof test as I understand the scuttlebutt. Oh, and the "pressed meerschaum doesn't exist" saw is a myth. Altinok sells pressed calabash bowls and charges more for the carved block ones, and if you see the inserts for bowl linings uninstalled, they're on eBay now and then, they're all pressed. Thanks again!
Important to know. Does the silver coin test work on a waxed Meerschaum pipe? I think your test may only apply to raw Meerschaum? Did you try it on a waxed pipe?
I just tried it on a cheap meerschaum "taster" pipe. I used a silver, 50's vintage dime and it marked it. It didn't mark it as easily as a pencil, but with gentle rubbing, it cut off some silver, and looked like a pencil mark. This seems to work. Thanks for posting this.
Hi Joe. Meerschaum stones must be kept wet until they are ready to be carved. Many carvers store them in buckets of water. I assure you, natural Meerschaum does not float before being worked. Now, that might change after the stone dries out, and/or the beeswax finish permeates the finished surface. I'll have to test this when I get back in the workshop.
