Sapele Wood?

Interested in making clay pipes, meerschaums, olive woods, or some other exotic material? Talk about it here.
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Seitz55
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2017 10:19 pm

Sapele Wood?

Post by Seitz55 »

Has anyone used Sapele wood for a pipe. If not, does anyone know if sapele wood is toxic and can't be use to make a tobacco pipe?
caskwith
Posts: 2196
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:00 am

Re: Sapele Wood?

Post by caskwith »

You don't want to use it for a pipe.
Seitz55
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2017 10:19 pm

Re: Sapele Wood?

Post by Seitz55 »

Ok thanks
DocAitch
Posts: 1109
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 12:44 am
Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Re: Sapele Wood?

Post by DocAitch »

http://www.wood-database.com/wood-artic ... -toxicity/
Doesn't appear to be particularly toxic, but these data bases are mainly for a wood worker who has skin contact and who might inhale or ingest dust.
Firing up tobacco and puffing on the combination of tobacco smoke and Sapele combustion products might be a different story.
My best advice would be to stick with materials that are known to give a good smoke with relative safety (considering that tobacco is chock full of chemicals that can do you harm- nicotine alone is a class 6 {among the most toxic substances known}toxin)
Briar is beautiful, workable, fire resistant and safe (enough) , it is also available.
DocAitch
"Hettinger, if you stamp 'hand made' on a dog turd, some one will buy it."
-Charles Hollyday, pipe maker, reluctant mentor, and curmudgeon
" Never show an idiot an unfinished pipe!"- same guy
Diogenes
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2017 12:05 pm

Re: Sapele Wood?

Post by Diogenes »

I've made one from Sapele Mahogany. Smokes really well.
I have a salvaged two foot square by 1 and 3/4 inch thick piece of discarded bar flap. The pipe i made, only used 3 inch square. I was intending on using the Sapele to make dovetailed boxes and carpentry hand tools such as rebate planes. But I needed another pipe and couldn't afford to buy a new one..... sooo.
I checked out the toxicity of Sapele /Mahogany first and it transpired that the only hazard is associated with breathing in the dust when cutting and sanding.
Having used a converted 20mm flat bit for the bowl, then 9mm and 3mm drill bits for the draw hole and stem, I sanded and fired the bowl and sanded again. The whole pipe needs finishing off properly to be honest but I couldn't wait to try it, so i attached the stem from my briar, filled the bowl and sparked it up. It actually smokes better than my briar straight away and only getting better with every bowl.
I would advise keeping it chunky though mate. As Sapele Mahogany is a hard wood, like Oak, and Bolsa, ash, beech, birch, cherry, elm, iroko, meranti, obeche, and teak, it not root stock like Briar.
Gave the whole thing a good sanding, an outside coat of Mahogany stain and a few coats of beeswax, just to see how it would look when finished. Its comfortable and light in the hand BUT..... After a month of smoking from it daily, there are signs of dry splitting. Hay ho, I ain't bothered though, I've got loads more to make another.
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