Need Info on Wood

Hi Dan is correct , I did some pro wood courses & read the books & mags between college, so agree, but can I add the Poles & Ukrainians & Russians do excellent folk work in pear, but just get  a log of whatever has fallen off a local tree practise makes perfect, but stick to friends and family, is my suggestion,I have MissourI Meerschaum in maple & cherry, & if you cannot get Med Olive wood, try African but almost any  wood can get used in my humble opinion, some woods do give off toxic fumes & toxic dust, so take care, but with a meerschaum inlay or metal inlay, think about it, for example you have bought Chinese pipes with metal inlays, well use a steel whisky cup, with holes in for starters, even plastic made in 3rd printers, with metal whisky cups, would sell locally for folksy arty local wood craft. Most fruit woods are non toxic , perhaps walnut or Oak traditional pipe woods, a folksy approach would be a good start , rather than compete with Dunhill briars, a hobbit churchwarden style, Mr Brogs church warden stems are cheap ebay, look at some Dagner YouTube videos for example and this site of the Dagners, dagnerpipes.com
But another route is customising pipes used estates, budget cobs & basket pipes, look at sidstavros videos for example. How about customising pipes with glass gems & stones and pyrography & inlays & relief carving for the young & hippy types etc, also horn & brass & copper & aluminium extension stems to the shank. Is it worth trying to compete with the big artisans, most started young with apprenticeship to the big names. But ask the experts on here but we all have our twopenneth worth . Imagination , novelty and efficiency can compete with China, little high tech meister home family  workers. With good networks online bro's & sissies. If you want a college degree the do a distance learning degree, I would not waste money on campus, & I have been to five quality Universities for my sins....why do you think I appear crazy to regular guys...on here on a bad day, it is just words guys...as they say my bark us bigger than my bite...PS , I whittle knotty pine wood a basic hard cutting softwood, but it forms your hands and eyes, with a good quality flex cut jack knife & my Sheffield whittling blades, remember modern & traditional gives the balance.

 But do not get stuck on getting expensive gear, you can do it with a whittling knife, & a basic variable speed drill with attachments , get a feel for the wood & shapes before going high tech, do not fall for the dremel sell, but  I like the arbortech gear good  luck, bye.

By the way: As an aside avocation, I am a purveyer/supplier of some of the finest Exotic Woods on Earth, many already kiln-dried, to include Olive, Afzelia, etc... Some samples that may be in stock (Afzelia Burl)...

Will PM with pics of current selections later this week. :-)

Not only are the woods that I provide seasoned (air dried) for several years, they are also professionally kiln-dried prior for stability. Good info, poppasmurfjr .

Hi Poppa, good point  sir, home cured wood takes time but to practise shaping in green woods is free, but you can buy partly cured wood which can be stored & cut into blanks & with some skill can be cured in an oven or microwave with practise , cheap green wood from the local woods can  be experimented on & if you have a supply for free think of selling cured blanks, I growing market for townies, also their are relatively inexpensive electronic devices to measure moisture content with high accuracy, , your hubby sounds experienced with wood Lady M, more so than myself probably in his own way but I am just sharing ideas for general use of allcomers, as your hubby knows but newbies do not perhaps start simple &use ingenuity before buying expensive gear, as you know you have to buy cheap or free & work with efficient semi production line, with time & motion efficiently to be able to make even a living, it is a sharks market for gear, so excuse the space guys & gal bye for now, I was retreating hours ago..

Hi thanks for your comment , I hope you may share your research with us on the open forum or whatever,  I try to share for all comers , the waters of life are  for free , byel

Yes, you can make a pipe from most American hardwoods, though most tend to burn out over time.  PLEASE, everyone, take a look at this website about wood toxicity before venturing into alternate woods.  Wood Allerigies and Toxicity  Please note that there are quite a few woods that are not on this list.  Also remember, just because you don't have a problem working a wood doesn't mean that the person on the other end won't.  I cannot work Olive at all, or even be around it while it is worked.  I have a severe respiratory reaction to it. There is no way I would ever try to smoke an Olive pipe.

Briar burl IS NOT what a woodworker thinks of as a burl.  It is actually a lump between the roots and trunk of the briar tree itself (just below or at the surface).  After the burl is harvested it is cut into blocks and boiled for days to remove all the resins and saps in the wood.  Then it takes months to dry properly.  There is a very good reason briar has been the wood of choice for pipes for well over 100 years.  It really isn't that expensive, though one can drop some serious coin on larger and more tightly grained blocks.  Briar is also very resistant to heat and burning when cured properly.      



Get a pipe kit from Vermont Freehand as suggested.  You will be happy with the kit you get and Steve's customer service is second to none.

I bought the book on pipe making from Vermont Freehand last night for hubby to research. Thanks for the link, that will be very helpful!