Hi from a keen carver & new tobaco grower from NZ

Age : 32 Location : Helensville, New Zealand Registration date : 2012-11-17

Hi guys and Gals,

I lucked onto your site via howtogrowtobacco.com and thought that it would complement nicely!

I'm from New Zealand and enjoy learning new skills - love home distilling and home fermentation of tea and vegetables, i'm not a smoker but love the smell of tobacco and think i might like the odd pipe or cigar now and again (love dark chocolate and black coffee!)

I've got golden Virginia growing - seed from trade me originally, and saved and grown out again this year.

I would love some other varieties of seeds to grow if any local members have seeds of other varieties to give away - i'm happy to pay postage Very Happy

I've been picking the dirt leaves at the bottom to practice drying - got them turning a loverly buff/tan brown and crispy.
I'm going to use them to experiment with fermenting the leaves to get more cigar/pipe type tobacco.

I'm also a woodcarver and love the idea of making myself a long 'Gandalf' style pipe to smoke.

Any suggestions of good alternatives to briar's (which I now realize are not made of bits of rose! This sucks as i had some nice thick bits of rose pruning drying out Rolling Eyes

)

I hope to finish my preliminary reading on the other forum this weekend and be able to start vacuuming up your accumulated knowledge here next weekend.

Many thanks in advance for you wisdom, time and patience.

Jed.

Age : 45 Location : Oregon Registration date : 2011-12-07

Welcome!

Age : 64 Location : Piedmont, North Carolina Registration date : 2007-12-17

Welcome!

Age : 52 Location : Oak View CA Registration date : 2012-10-08

welcome

Briar is by far the best wood for pipes, but you can also use cherry wood, olive wood, or apparently african blackwood. you can also get some meerschaum online probably which might make a great gandalf pipe

rev

Age : 41 Location : Idaho Registration date : 2012-10-24

Welcome to BoB Smile

Age : 32 Location : Helensville, New Zealand Registration date : 2012-11-17

the rev wrote:: welcome

Briar is by far the best wood for pipes, but you can also use cherry wood, olive wood, or apparently african blackwood. you can also get some meerschaum online probably which might make a great gandalf pipe

rev

Thanks Rev!

That make my day - i have nearly unlimited amounts of 3 year old olive wood to choose from - i've turned some and love the character it has.

get my lathe running again and we're in business - might have to buy some better quality hand tools (awesome - an excuse cheers

) in order to carve it though - it is both very hard and has a tendency to tear if your chisels are not very sharp.

To make a long curved stem I would assume that i would bore it and then steam bend it, then shape it appropriately?

Age : 53 Location : On the road....... Registration date : 2010-11-06

Welcome to the BoB forums brother! Very Happy

Age : 52 Location : Oak View CA Registration date : 2012-10-08

Frozenthunderbolt wrote:

the rev wrote:: welcome

Briar is by far the best wood for pipes, but you can also use cherry wood, olive wood, or apparently african blackwood. you can also get some meerschaum online probably which might make a great gandalf pipe

rev

Thanks Rev!

That make my day - i have nearly unlimited amounts of 3 year old olive wood to choose from - i've turned some and love the character it has.

get my lathe running again and we're in business - might have to buy some better quality hand tools (awesome - an excuse cheers

) in order to carve it though - it is both very hard and has a tendency to tear if your chisels are not very sharp.

To make a long curved stem I would assume that i would bore it and then steam bend it, then shape it appropriately?

I would guess that is how to do it, not sure how well it would hold the bend when smoking though, possibly fine. I only work with lucite and vulcanite stems so those are much different.

please post what you come up with

rev

Age : 37 Location : Middle Peninsula, Virginia Registration date : 2012-09-09

Welcome to the BoB!

Age : 57 Location : South Suburbs of Chicago Registration date : 2012-10-28

Welcome!

Age : 68 Location : foothills of the Ozarks Registration date : 2007-12-21

Welcome, Jed. Lovely country you come from. A few on this forum have grown their own, but mostly we're at the "consuming" end of the production line. Laughing

Which Island you on? My roommate in graduate school is in Wellington, and I may take a few students there this summer.

Natch

Age : 32 Location : Helensville, New Zealand Registration date : 2012-11-17

Natch wrote:: Welcome, Jed. Lovely country you come from. A few on this forum have grown their own, but mostly we're at the "consuming" end of the production line. Which Island you on? My roommate in graduate school is in Wellington, and I may take a few students there this summer.

Natch

Hi Natch,

I'm in the north island nw of Auckland.

What do you teach - i'm a primary teacher 10-13 year olds pirat

Age : 49 Location : Kalamazoo, MI Registration date : 2012-01-07

Welcome aboard, Jed.

Age : 69 Location : Southern Appalachia Registration date : 2011-01-17

Welcome Jed. I worked with some of your SAS mates in Afghanistan. Great guys.
Good luck with the olivewood, should be a beauty.

Bill