Blog by Greg Wolford

Recently I’d read a comment someplace about using wood filler to repair cracks and leaks in corn cob pipes. Being an avid fan and user of Missouri Meerschaum pipes, and needing a quick and fun project for me and my five year-old grandson to do, I decided to try it out on one of my cobs yesterday afternoon.

Legends are one of my favorites: they are cheap, of decent size, and readily available locally. I use them for potentially “rough” times, like outside or on the pontoon, and also to test new blends and smoke the occasional aromatic. I had one that had seem better days (I didn’t get a before picture since I was sort of occupied with Connor, my grandson) that had some cracking in the plaster and some blackened “kernels” in the middle; this would be our project!

We used a minimal amount of tools for this project: wood filler, 220-grit sandpaper, and a light brown furniture repair marker.We applied a nice, thin coat of the wood filler all over the cob bowl and let it dry, about 10 minutes I’d guess.  Then we took turns sanding the cob smooth with the sandpaper. I then topped the bowl a bit to remove most of the char and “gunk” that had built up. After it was nice and smooth we, again, took turns staining it with the furniture marker. It then needed a few minutes to dry.

Connor had such a good time he convinced me to do a second, almost new, pipe that really didn’t need any thing done to it. But since the little guy was having such a good time and is on the mend from a broken arm and surgery to set it, how could I not do it? You are right: There was no way not to!

The middle pipe is the one I set out to make repairs on, compared to a new in the package one and the almost new one. This project took us probably 20 minutes, maybe less, from start to finish and it was so simple, well, a five year-old can do it!