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Having completed my first briar pipe and learned something, I am looking to put a bit more planning and consideration into my next piece ( I hope you're all with me so far ). I'm now trying to acquire a block which will cater to my design, rather than find something in a random block. I'm encountering a number of "grades" of briar, and so I attempted to read up on them, though I haven't found so much about how they are graded. To confuse things a bit more, some describe ebauchon and plateu to be different grades on top of the grade 1, 2 and 3 system. I get that 1 is highest (or at least the more expensive), but is this a matter of personal discretion or is there an actual system to this grading, much like how coins or comic might be graded by collectors? Does a higher grade suggest a more interesting grain, or is it more about quality and perhaps lack of inclusions, etc?

Info and input most welcome, thanks in advance!

~Paul

Grade 1 is typically the best block from that particular briar mill. Grade 2 is typically decent quality grain, but the grain patterns may not be as tight as a grade 1. Grade 3 is typically used for rustication or sandblast.

All briar will have natural flaws and inclusions. There is a general tendency to have fewer fatal flaws in higher grade briar, but that's only a rule of thumb.

Plateaux refers to a block where a live edge is left on. The straight grain typically runs vertical on these blocks. The ebauchons typically have cross grain instead and no live edge. There is not a big difference between a grade 1 ebauchon or grade 1 plateaux in quality or tightness of grain. Some mills will also offer grades better than their grade 1 at a premium price, but you typically need to buy them directly from the mill. I don't have any experience with those. The regular grades meet my current needs just fine.

Thanks, Jeremiah, I appreciate the reply. It sounds like for the most part that's it's largely subjective and mostly a rough guide for quality, not a cut-and-dry system.

Does this loose grading system ever cause for confusion or dispute?

Most of us just buy from the same people over and over again, and we learn what to expect at whatever grade/price. Knowing that one guy grades a certain way as opposed to someone else is one thing... knowing that I get 19/20 pipes without big flaws in the "grade 1" block versus losing 5 or 6 pipes out of 20 with someone else's "grade 1" (or XX or whatever) is more important.

You are thinking in terms of buying a select few blocks and maximizing your return, of course. Most of us graduate from that thinking eventually, and now just buy 50 or 100 at a time and deal with whatever shows up - that's part of the fun!

Or you can be a briar nut like me and buy a few hundred at a time. The more briar you have, the better the chances you have of selecting just the right block for the idea you've got in mind.

That makes plenty of sense, as that way one could carefully inspect each block and get the best possible match. Seeing that I've only made one briar pipe so far I am not quite ready to purchase 50-100 blocks. Talk to me after I've made two.