Wood alternatives to briar

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MartinH

MartinH

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I have carved my first briar, with my second briar block waiting. However, I'm curious as to what, if any, alternative woods folks on this forum have tried. I've done some research, and found that there are a variety of woods that are suitable for pipes. Apparently, at one point in history the Danes were using Beechwood because of a trade issue with England and France.

Also, this is probably a very stupid question, but where does one procure said "alternative wood?" I looked at the home improvement stores, and I did not see what I was looking for. But, I'll do some more pocking around. As to the question of why I might want to use a non-briar wood for pipes, I really just want to experiment. :)

Martin
 
You're no doubt aware (but I'll mention it anyway cause I like being a pain in the butt) some woods aren't suitable for pipes due to toxicity,,,there was a chart kicking around somewhere listing various woods and hazzards,,,anyway the site below has some great sections,,click on the "forum" in the upper left of the screen ,,, ,scroll down to "alternate materials",,,then another section you may want to check out is "raw materials",,,I hope this helps,,,





http://www.pipemakersforum.com/
 
MartinH":x2xkzrsu said:
Apparently, at one point in history the Danes were using Beechwood because of a trade issue with England and France. Martin
Click to expand...
I just remembered Stanwell sold a set of two bulldogs , one briar one beech,,,,a few years ago as a commemorative,,,
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. I did read, last night, about the toxicity in the wood. Therefore, I am curious about which wood might be a good alternative. Right now I'm carving my second briar, and I think, to be honest, that the briar is probably easier to purchase than is any suitable alternative wood. LOL

Thanks everyone,

Martin
 
There's an Italian guy who lives and works out of Sardinia who uses Lemon wood and olive wood successfully for pipe making. I don't have one of his pipes so I can't verify how they smoke, but apparently both woods are heat resistant and porous. Have a look at this link: http://www.pipedia.org/index.php?title=Spanu He also uses cork in combination with briar.
 
i made some pipes from olive wood - smokes really beatiful... also, a lemon tree wood is nice for aromatics... very hard and i can reccomend it...
there is also morta - really nice wood for english tobaccoes....
there are other alternative woods but i do not know names on english...
in near future i will make a pipe using "Raseljka" (a local bush in Croatia) - Prunus mahaleb on latin... locals are using it to make pipes.. also there is a material called Corbezzolo on Italian (Arbutus unedo on latin) you can use to make pipes too...
those are only the few ones i have tried or will try very very soon ... :)
what i may suggest as a first alternative to briar is olive wood for sure.... it is a pain in the ass to work with (you will see) but smokes very very nice... :)

to find good olive wood - well, i bought mine at Manno Briar... they might have also some lemon and cobezzolo but i am not sure.... their site is here: Manno Briar
they also have an extremely good quality of briar.... :)
regards
daniel
 
Thanks everyone for your replies. I decided to work with briar a little more. I only just made my second briar pipe from a pre-drilled kit, so I think I need a little more experience before I get into the exotics. :)

Thanks,

Martin
 
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