Jatoba Brazillian Cherry Wood

[WBill]

Hi, I'm new to pipe making but I really want to give it a try. I already have all the necessary equipment, metal lathe, large floor model drill press, sanding and polishing equipment, .........etc.

I love smoking pipes and most all the ones I will make will be for me or my son, who picked up the practice from me. He is on a quest to try every tobacco that is currently available today. For me I will stick to my Burleys and English blends I like so much, but I do try some of his new ones every now and then.

I would like to start with hardwoods and then some good briar when I get more experience. I can't seem to find any good hardwood where I live so I went to EBay and found some Jatoba Brazillian Cherry wood for a decent price and was wondering if it would be good for my first few attempts, or could someone suggest some other wood and where to buy it ?

Thanks Bill

[bscofield]

Bill, welcome to the group! I cannot vouch for jatoba brazilian cherry but I have used just normal cherry wood (normal, I think, means it's just american cherry wood). It has not proved difficult to find, most wood working shops have it. I also just bought a batch of it on ebay in about a 3"x3"x14" dimensions. For about $15 after shipping I'll be able to pull out around 15 pipes from it.

[Nick]

Both Olive wood and Lemonwood work. Ebony and blackwood are supposed to be good smokers. The Brazilian Cherry has been mentioned in some of the stuff I've read, as has Lilac and Rosewood.

Hope that helps.

[kbosi]

I have tried brazilian cherry when I first started out, that stuff is hard as a rock. I gave up on it it took too long to work with.

[Chadd]

I too have tried crafting with brazillian cherry. Hard doesn't do it justice and the dust is just nasty. The finished pipe smoked ok, but it took forever to sand the damn thing smooth. Now with a lathe, you might have better luck. I don't know anyone who has spun the stuff, so if you do, I'd like to hear how it turned out for you.

Chadd