Hey, me and some of my friends are looking to make some pipes for ourselves... And I was wondering if we could simply go and get some oak or maple or some other common wood and make a pipe from that. I have read everything here on alternative woods, but nobody seems to have actually done anything (or posted pictures/reviews) with local type woods.
I don't think you can just buy briar in America... right? (Sorry, I have never done this before, and am incredibly new to pipes)
This board is incredibly helpful, and I just wanted to thank everyone (and Kurt Huhn for all the excruciating work getting me registered).
Local wood from a lumberyard?
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KurtHuhn
- Site Admin
- Posts: 5326
- Joined: Thu Nov 23, 2006 8:00 pm
- Location: United States/Rhode Island
You can get briar from sources in the US:
http://www.pimopipecrafte.com
http://www.jhlowe.com
http://www.amsmoke.com
http://www.pipemakers.org
Are the main ones. But, briar is not cheap stuff - at least bought onesy-twosy like that. The per-block price goes down considerably when you buy in bulk, and that's why most pipe makers buy direct from the cutters in various Mediterranean nations.
Also, if you put up a "want ad" in the Buy/Sell/Swap section, I'll bet you'll get several responses from helpful pipe makers.
But, yes, you can make a pipe from darn near any good, dry, hardwood. Maple, cherry, osage orange, apple, and a host of others have all been used. I've made a few pipes out of cherry, but tend to stick to briar for most of them. I'll see if I can dig up a picture or two of some pipes I made from briar. One of them is still in my regular rotation - smokes liek a champ!
http://www.pimopipecrafte.com
http://www.jhlowe.com
http://www.amsmoke.com
http://www.pipemakers.org
Are the main ones. But, briar is not cheap stuff - at least bought onesy-twosy like that. The per-block price goes down considerably when you buy in bulk, and that's why most pipe makers buy direct from the cutters in various Mediterranean nations.
Also, if you put up a "want ad" in the Buy/Sell/Swap section, I'll bet you'll get several responses from helpful pipe makers.
But, yes, you can make a pipe from darn near any good, dry, hardwood. Maple, cherry, osage orange, apple, and a host of others have all been used. I've made a few pipes out of cherry, but tend to stick to briar for most of them. I'll see if I can dig up a picture or two of some pipes I made from briar. One of them is still in my regular rotation - smokes liek a champ!
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monkeyboy_ut
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Thu Nov 23, 2006 8:00 pm
- Location: United States/Utah
Just make sure the wood you're using is dried properly. Green or wet wood can taste nasty and crack easy. Im sure these guys can explain the many other things wrong with it better than I can. Im more of a pipe smoker than a maker myself. But hey we all gotta start somwhere right?
Also if you wanna take your chances there are a few suppliers of briar that ranges from crappy to awesome on ebay and they alot of times cheaper on a "by the block" basis. but if you want bulk definatly go with one of the big time suppliers they cant really be beat in price on a large scale.
also many thanks Kurt for activating my account.
Also if you wanna take your chances there are a few suppliers of briar that ranges from crappy to awesome on ebay and they alot of times cheaper on a "by the block" basis. but if you want bulk definatly go with one of the big time suppliers they cant really be beat in price on a large scale.
also many thanks Kurt for activating my account.
Brandon