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Post by That Falls Guy on Nov 27, 2017 22:01:53 GMT -5
I had always thought that the breathability of a briar pipe was a major factor in the quality of the pipe. I've often read that pipes should not be lacquered or otherwise sealed for this reason. However, I just came across this thread in another forum that appeared in 2013. I know that Sparks doesn't mind reference to other forums, and thought this one to be particularly interesting....... Breathability of Briar |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2017 23:01:32 GMT -5
I am thinking almost anything outside of stone, glass, and porcelain breathe.
A side thought might be that as the pipe breathes it collects particles from the smoke (duh on that). Maybe it gets to a point it ceases to breathe. That was sort of addressed as moisture in what I read of the article, though I believe the moisture carries solids.
As to a pipe lasting forever, an old friend of my smoked a hole in the side of his pipe. The rest of the chamber was mighty thin, and not from removing the cake ad nauseam. The cake was holding it together
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2017 23:15:21 GMT -5
Briar doesn't breathe, but it seems like it does when the block is good and the drilling of the airway is spot on.
It is almost indefinable, but you know it when you experience it.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2017 23:24:33 GMT -5
I bow to your wisdom, Oh Truculent One. But please let me have my fantasy about breathing briar a little longer
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Post by Nevadablue on Nov 27, 2017 23:38:58 GMT -5
David, hold a mirror in front of the bowl, if it fogs up, it is breathing.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2017 23:47:30 GMT -5
David, hold a mirror in front of the bowl, if it fogs up, it is breathing. aw, that's a hardcore smackdown! ha! |
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Post by trailboss on Nov 28, 2017 3:07:49 GMT -5
From the thread:
In the audio version of Rick Newcombe’s book in search of pipe dreams he says that a person he knows sliced an old Dunhill with many decades of smoking, and there was no evidence that smoke or moisture permeated any of the Briar, the wood was unblemished throughout.
When I get home I will share Alfred Dunhill’s comments from his book that seem to say the same.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2017 8:58:43 GMT -5
Smoking a briar with a loose stem which tightens after use clearly indicates briar breathes IMHO.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2017 9:13:02 GMT -5
Let me ask you this. As the humidity levels change does the wood in your house swell and shrink?
Look at the finish of the pipe, the out side is finished to protect it over time. Where as the inside is left raw. It might be coated with carbon. This allows the Briar to open and close it poors to accept and move some moisture. IMO yes Riar breath just like other woods.
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sablebrush52
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Post by sablebrush52 on Nov 28, 2017 14:42:27 GMT -5
Briar doesn't breathe. I've seen cross sections of bowls with decades of use and there is almost no absorption of oils into the briar. Woods do swell and contract with changes in temperature and moisture, but we're talking thousands of an inch in the case of a mortise to stem fit. Basically nothing.
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Post by zambini on Nov 28, 2017 16:50:19 GMT -5
David, hold a mirror in front of the bowl, if it fogs up, it is breathing. I've been trying this today with a shaving mirror and unless I hold it up real close and slightly a top of the chamber it hasn't worked with two of my briars. Both are smooth finish for what it's worth. |
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Post by duffer on Nov 28, 2017 17:17:27 GMT -5
From the thread: In the audio version of Rick Newcombe’s book in search of pipe dreams he says that a person he knows sliced an old Dunhill with many decades of smoking, and there was no evidence that smoke or moisture permeated any of the Briar, the wood was unblemished throughout. When I get home I will share Alfred Dunhill’s comments from his book that seem to say the same. I only wish my collection was in a place I could slice a Dunhill |
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Post by Nevadablue on Nov 28, 2017 17:42:29 GMT -5
OK, you guys who say the shank tightens on the stem equals breathing...
Look at your belly and breathe. Yes, your belly may swell, but IT isn't breathing. Dense wood doesn't breathe. Wood swells and contracts from moisture, not breathing.
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Post by GRUMPY on Nov 28, 2017 19:02:50 GMT -5
 I agree with NavadaBlue, dead wood doesn't breathe. Even while alive wood doesn't breathe, it transfers nutrients and water to the leaves, which is where plants breathe. With usage a pipe will absorb liquids, doing so can cause the stem to become tighter in it's mortice. This is a good excuse for pipe rotations. Absorbing liquids isn't what I'd call breathing either.
This may be a good subject for "Myth Busters".
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Post by haebar on Nov 29, 2017 2:51:46 GMT -5
I think briar is permeable to gases and liquids but only at a very, very slow rate. This is the basis for coloration of a bowl. If you smoke a natural "finish" briar pipe long enough, it will darken. My thinking is that this is from the tobacco gases being slowly absorbed by the wood and precipitating out in the grain of the wood. That is my theory, for what its worth.
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Post by peterd-Buffalo Spirit on Nov 29, 2017 11:02:37 GMT -5
...Shellac or any type of varnish is a big "No No" in my book...some of the less expensive pipes seem to use a lot to make the piece look more presentable...and if the wood does breath...any type of coating like this would create a barrior...
...I personally believe briar or any wood does breath...
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sablebrush52
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Post by sablebrush52 on Nov 29, 2017 12:20:59 GMT -5
I think briar is permeable to gases and liquids but only at a very, very slow rate. This is the basis for coloration of a bowl. If you smoke a natural "finish" briar pipe long enough, it will darken. My thinking is that this is from the tobacco gases being slowly absorbed by the wood and precipitating out in the grain of the wood. That is my theory, for what its worth. This is true for meerschaum. For briar the coloring is just an accumulation of skin oil, smoke, and dirt on the outer surface. Bowl cross-sections don't lie. Briar is a barely permeable extremely low absorption wood whose silicate content helps it to resist burning. It doesn't pass gas. It doesn't breath. |
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Post by Darin on Nov 29, 2017 12:24:50 GMT -5
Anyone cut a Cob in half to check the same?
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Post by trailboss on Nov 29, 2017 13:08:29 GMT -5
Anyone cut a Cob in half to check the same? We tried the oldest cob we could find...John R. but the damn guy kept wiggling away. |
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Post by Darin on Nov 29, 2017 13:48:56 GMT -5
Anyone cut a Cob in half to check the same? We tried the oldest cob we could find...John R. but the damn guy kept wiggling away. Lmao  |
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Post by That Falls Guy on Nov 29, 2017 17:06:22 GMT -5
I had always thought that a pipe breathed, and that the breathability was a major contributing factor to the value of the pipe. Moving forward, I believe that there is a great misunderstanding as to the difference in a pipe being able to 'breathe', and the expansion, contraction, and absorption qualities of briar. Because the wood expands with heat, and contracts when cool, is not to be mistaken for 'breathing'. That, IMHO, is what I have concluded.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2017 21:12:40 GMT -5
Exactly
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Post by antb on Dec 1, 2017 1:56:32 GMT -5
And now we know......  |
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I agree with NavadaBlue, dead wood doesn't breathe. Even while alive wood doesn't breathe, it transfers nutrients and water to the leaves, which is where plants breathe. With usage a pipe will absorb liquids, doing so can cause the stem to become tighter in it's mortice. This is a good excuse for pipe rotations. Absorbing liquids isn't what I'd call breathing either. 
