I don't think there's a bad choice! I like the open draw from their regular offerings but tend to spend time cleaning up the rough edges. The bent plastic stems are bent to sharply for my taste so I clean up a new Danish stem and bend it to my liking. My wife gave me a few cobs with straight acrylic stems for my birthday, I'm experimenting with opening the draw on those and a Forever stem to decide if plastic or acrylic is the way to go. I personally like the less than $10.00 offerings with a .75 inch diameter and 1.25 inch depth for ribbon cuts and 1.00 inch depth for flakes, plugs and coins.
I really like the look of the shorter nosewarmer-style pipes, including the Morgan and the Eaton, but find the slightly larger pipes are better smokers. That includes the Missouri Pride and the polished Washington. The various Legend pipes are also reliable. The best improvement I made is to add pipe mud at the bottom of the bowl using cigar ash and water. It takes some work, but it's a fun project. Many of these pipes are less than $10, so I bought a couple of each, and as one would expect, some are better than others. They are grown in fields and hand-made. Since they don't come out of a mold, they all are unique. MM makes some beautiful specialty corn cob pipes that cost a little more. They look like fun, but I'd rather spend the money on owning more corn cob pipes and on good tobacco blends.
@ashawley I pipe mud all of my cobs first thing👍🏻 I too like nose-warmers, they smoke fine for me. The original Country Gentlemen is a favorite, hence my C&D Carolina Gent is my favorite, I like the ~Lovat shape and the color red, so it suits me🙂. The Dagner Poker nose-warmer is a close second, the sturdy sitter comes in handy sometimes. I really want a Freehand, but dang they are expensive for a cob.
I purchased an Emerald MM at the St. Louis pipe show 2 years ago. A nice looking pipe and I loved the green lucite stem. I did some experimental staining on it as I have other MMs in the past. Didn't care for how it came out, but still a good smoking pipe. After about 10 bowls, I noticed a crack starting to appear at the base of the bowl that only got bigger with each use...
I contacted MM about the issue. They were very nice and courteous, and wanted me to send a picture of the crack. I did. The next day they contacted me and said they determined it to be their fault during the plug insertion process. After almost 2 years of ownership, they could not reimburse the entire pipe, but they would send me a new bowl, and to simply use the original stem with the new bowl they were going to ship to me...
So I broke out the Loctite gel and filled the crack of the old pipe as best I could. Then fitted a stem I already had to the old bowl. We'll see how long it lasts. After 2 bowls, so far so good...
Meanwhile, MM sent me a new bowl. The stem didn't want to insert all the way, so I had to reduce it. But now it has a good snug fit... I did some light sanding on a few rough patches, and now it's ready to go...
Bottom line. MM is a classy operation with people that are willing to help when possible. I did not expect reparation and was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. If there is anyone here at TPL that is connected with MM, pleased let them know their reputation precedes their products. I will gladly continue to purchase and support MM pipes and accessories in the future... (I would have anyway)😊
I have been pondering the rectangular hole in the tenon of some MM pipes🤔. I wonder why they are rectangles? I think it has to be something to do with their manufacturing process, or maybe to hold those paper filters from slipping up the stem? Either way, they seem to smoke very well.
Comparing my MM Marcus to the MM Mark Twain I just received….the chamber diameter is quite a bit smaller on the Mark Twain. I wonder if it was bored incorrectly? Does anyone have a MM Mark Twain? If so, does the chamber diameter look similar, or is it more akin to the Marcus diameter?
I didn't like the Marcus or Mark Twain and gave the Mark Twain to a tobacconist. I believe the diameters were the same but the Twain was much deeper. My Marcus has a broken in diameter of 0.73" and depth 1.15" the Twain was an inch and a half or more in depth.
Well, my Mark Twain now has a larger bore…it went into the mill and it is a full 3/4” now. So far, I like it a lot, along with the Marcus. The only problem, the stem has a serious indentation on the bottom of the bit, the stem material is so soft and thin….no hole yet, but it only has 3-4 bowls through it😳. As I have mentioned before, I’m hell on stems. The combination of (apparently) sharp teeth and a strong jaw. I think my jaw muscles are strengthened from eating😉. I actually prefer tough steaks, soft steaks creep me out a little, they don’t seem natural. I know, I’m weird, especially since I have been born, raised, work, and live in cow country.
@RockyMountainBriar Replacement stems are only 80 cents. I buy only straight and smooth out the side seams and buttons with a dremel. For bending I put the stem into the cob and immerse about 3/4 of the stem into water just off a boil for 15 or 20 seconds, bend it to my liking and run it under cold water. The Danish bits might tolerate your abuse better. You can get acrylic stems from vermontfreehand.com.
@Balisong Thanks for the info. I just purchased about 5 of each color of the mini and shirt non-filtered stems from MM recently, sadly, this Mark Twain has a filter, so none of them fit..oh well, I bought the stems for other pipes anyway. I have been thinking of making my own replacement stems for some of my MM pipes, I have the skills, tools and stem material, I just have not done it yet.
The longer I live and the more I smoke, I find myself buying and smoking Missouri Meerschaum pipes. Where is the downside? Low cost, great smoke, and if one breaks, I just buy another for $10 or so. Don't get me wrong, I still smoke the briars, but I only buy 1 or 2 a year and there has to be a uniqueness to it to catch my eye. I have a new Diplomat Straight Poker on the way
This particular size of the German imported filter has been available for a few years and have been known to fit corn cob pipes, but this officially confirms they're fit for use by Missouri Meerschaum. The 6mm carbon filter would be an alternative to USA-made Grabow and Medico paper filters. At about $0.25 per filter, these are double the price of a traditional paper filter. The charcoal in the filter would suggest it would actively absorb odor and flavor of the tobacco a lot more than a traditional paper filter.
@ashawley Savinelli makes 6mm Charcoal filters too. SPC had some in stock awhile back. I have not looked recently. I bought a 100 count tin each of 9mm and 6mm, although I rarely use a filter.
A new entry from Missouri Meerschaum, the Honeypot , is a different take on the traditional corn cob pipe. The bowl is hand-turned by a single artisan into an apple shape, but with a pronounced rim so it looks like, well, a honeypot. The bowl has a touch or warm color added, and it’s paired up with a warm brown hardwood shank with a metal cap. The stem is a freehand-style variegated acrylic model. Due to the heft of the stem, this pipe will be a nice clencher, since a lot of the weight is on the stem end, and you’ll get a long life from this attractive mouthpiece.
As a bonus, if you purchase one of these outstanding new cobs, we’re going to include a leather pipe rest that will hold your pipe securely and can easily fit in your pocket when you’re on the go.
This offer will expire on March 18th, 2023 @ 11:59 PM EST. This offer cannot be combined with other offers.
Editorial comment: Sweeeeeet! But, alas, too expensive for one such as I.
Comments
I don't think there's a bad choice! I like the open draw from their regular offerings but tend to spend time cleaning up the rough edges. The bent plastic stems are bent to sharply for my taste so I clean up a new Danish stem and bend it to my liking. My wife gave me a few cobs with straight acrylic stems for my birthday, I'm experimenting with opening the draw on those and a Forever stem to decide if plastic or acrylic is the way to go. I personally like the less than $10.00 offerings with a .75 inch diameter and 1.25 inch depth for ribbon cuts and 1.00 inch depth for flakes, plugs and coins.
I just picked one up. You're going to love it
I pipe mud all of my cobs first thing👍🏻 I too like nose-warmers, they smoke fine for me. The original Country Gentlemen is a favorite, hence my C&D Carolina Gent is my favorite, I like the ~Lovat shape and the color red, so it suits me🙂. The Dagner Poker nose-warmer is a close second, the sturdy sitter comes in handy sometimes. I really want a Freehand, but dang they are expensive for a cob.
I did some experimental staining on it as I have other MMs in the past. Didn't care for how it came out, but still a good smoking pipe.
After about 10 bowls, I noticed a crack starting to appear at the base of the bowl that only got bigger with each use...
The next day they contacted me and said they determined it to be their fault during the plug insertion process. After almost 2 years of ownership, they could not reimburse the entire pipe, but they would send me a new bowl, and to simply use the original stem with the new bowl they were going to ship to me...
I did some light sanding on a few rough patches, and now it's ready to go...
If there is anyone here at TPL that is connected with MM, pleased let them know their reputation precedes their products. I will gladly continue to purchase and support MM pipes and accessories in the future... (I would have anyway)😊
https://www.tobaccopipes.com/blog/corn-cob-pipes-7-reasons-to-try-one/
Website activates Friday at Noon
I've never noticed that...interesting.
The go-to guy on cobs is @Balisong ... he'll know.
Replacement stems are only 80 cents. I buy only straight and smooth out the side seams and buttons with a dremel. For bending I put the stem into the cob and immerse about 3/4 of the stem into water just off a boil for 15 or 20 seconds, bend it to my liking and run it under cold water. The Danish bits might tolerate your abuse better. You can get acrylic stems from vermontfreehand.com.
Thanks for the info. I just purchased about 5 of each color of the mini and shirt non-filtered stems from MM recently, sadly, this Mark Twain has a filter, so none of them fit..oh well, I bought the stems for other pipes anyway. I have been thinking of making my own replacement stems for some of my MM pipes, I have the skills, tools and stem material, I just have not done it yet.
https://corncobpipe.com/product/white-elephant-charcoal-filters/
This particular size of the German imported filter has been available for a few years and have been known to fit corn cob pipes, but this officially confirms they're fit for use by Missouri Meerschaum. The 6mm carbon filter would be an alternative to USA-made Grabow and Medico paper filters. At about $0.25 per filter, these are double the price of a traditional paper filter. The charcoal in the filter would suggest it would actively absorb odor and flavor of the tobacco a lot more than a traditional paper filter.
Savinelli makes 6mm Charcoal filters too. SPC had some in stock awhile back. I have not looked recently. I bought a 100 count tin each of 9mm and 6mm, although I rarely use a filter.
As a bonus, if you purchase one of these outstanding new cobs, we’re going to include a leather pipe rest that will hold your pipe securely and can easily fit in your pocket when you’re on the go.
This offer cannot be combined with other offers.
Editorial comment: Sweeeeeet! But, alas, too expensive for one such as I.