I'm familiar with the areas of the world that have briar growing naturally, my question is more towards sellers and dealers, who tends to have the best grades, largest blocks, most attractive grain briar out there.
I suppose this would be a good time to ask how to spot different grade qualities of briar, assuming you only have a picture of the blocks to examine. I know when I see grain that looks good, and looks consistent, I'm wondering if coloration can indicate quality. Can the condition or appearance of the plateau surface (if any) tell you something?
Feel free to shameless plug which vendors you like (under the assumption that it isn't a breaking of forum policy)
I use only http://www.romeobriar.com/ . I've never been disappointed with his blocks, where as I have had a lot of trouble with others. Romeo is VERY good to deal with and you'll get your briar extremely fast....but it'll cost ya.
Pipemaker's Emp have good blocks, not a bad place to start.
Buying on eBay can be fine, just you have to learn who is selling what. Samantha0296 has pretty good blocks.
Coloration is no indicator as far as I can tell, with the exception being that if blocks ooze pinkish when you cut 'em then they weren't boiled well. But I've had white, yellow, pinky, brown... everything.
It's really, really, really not a situation where one vendor is selling "better" blocks - "better" is entirely relative. But... some cutters are more consistent than others (Mimmo is probably the best for this), some cutters offer bigger sizes or more selection, some guys have older stock..... it really depends on what you are trying to accomplish.
I've had awesome blocks and total failures from absolutely every vendor. The ratio of awesome/fail is where you start to see some separation, and when you combine look at that ratio compared to dollars spent, certain vendors start to look better than others.
If you are newish at making pipes, worry less about where you are getting briar and more about learning how to cut pipes. You'll soon enough source out briar that you like - there's lots of good stuff out there.
Last edited by Sasquatch on Wed Dec 26, 2012 12:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
If you are still learning then I wouldn't worry so much about the quality of the wood, just find someone that can supply block so a reasonable price in the quantities you require. As Todd has said concern your self with the pipe making, once you are proficient at shaping and drilling then you can worry about using more expensive wood.
I recently got some very nice eaubchons from jhlowe. Also some nice ones from PME. I am not concerned about who has best plateaus as I am a long way away from having the skills to do one justice.
