Missouri Meerschaum Dagner Poker Mod

[Emperor Zurg]

Bought a couple of MM Dagner pokers to mod.

I like Missouri Meerschaum cobs but the quality is not exactly high precision. On these, the shanks weren't pushed in all the way, one pipe was bored too deep with lots of empty space under the shank, the bits were loose and would fall out and the silver bands would fall off. On the upside, the cob itself is very nice on both of them - solid and thick with no flaws and a generous woody ring, the acrylic bits are good and sturdy and I liked the nickel band as well. So that's what I bought them for: the cob and the acrylic bit - and I got a nickel band to boot.

Here's a stock image of a Dagner poker



So here's my MM cob fixture all trammed in concentric with the Bridgeport spindle



First step was to hack off the old shank and bore the remainder of it out of the cob. Forgot to take a pic of that.
Here one sits, ready for the next step: bottom removal



Bottom removal complete - original hardwood plug is history



I turned a couple new shanks out of oak. Hopefully oak makes a good pipe making material, we shall see. (Probably not if you suffer from an oak allergy but I don't so I'll carry on.) The bands press on tightly now but I put a daub of JB weld on the inside just to make sure. These have just been stained and varnished. They don't smoke well at this point - the draw is a bit too open but on the plus side, they don't gather moisture in the heel either.



Have to let the varnish dry before I can work on them any more. Updates tomorrow or whenever I get a chance to fool with them again...