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I'm finding that it is a fairly regular occurrence to find cracks, pits and holes in the briar I have purchased. Most of these defects don't show up until I've got the pipe shaped. It is not expensive briar and I'm not making these pipes for customers or to sell so its not a big deal. I've given a few to people who don't care and might not even notice such defects. None of these defects, until my most recent pipe, communicate with the bowl or draft hole of the shank.

The pipe I just finished has a crack that communicates with the draft hole in the shank.

I'm assuming pros and serious craftsmen just toss these in the trash.

But in my case, I wouldn't mind knowing how to fill and/or repair these defects. I know that the low end pipe manufacturers do this because I've seen it on some of my cheap pipes.....okay, all of my pipes are cheap pipes.

Anyway, any tips on how to do such repairs would be much appreciated. Thanks,

George

I always repair these defects (anything in the chamber or that could indicate structural weakness) by tossing the worthless chunks of wood into a box. When I get enough, they become fuel for the grill.

I recommend not spending a whole lot of time doing repair work, unless you want to do repairs. If you want to make pipes, make pipes.


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If you want a half-ass repair, you can mix up glue and wood dust and pack the thing in. Then rusticate the pipe. It won't stain quite like briar, but will offer a "solid" surface to work with, but in general I agree with Mr Sandahl that it is not a skill worth pursuing because it has no use in the pipe world. No one wants to buy such a piece.

I hit a major flaw only occassionally, and I hit minor flaws, little pits or cracks about 1/2 the time and work around them or sandblast or rusticate the piece. But then I buy pretty good briar too, and that's a factor - although all briar has flaws and sometimes you get a box of crummy stuff just by bad luck, some mills are certainly better than others in terms of what they ship. There are cutters where I can buy 12 blocks, inspect them at home, throw out 2 for cracks or worms, make pipes and throw out 2 more, lucky to save 8/12 or worse. And maybe no smooths. And there are cutters where I might get 8 smooths and 4 blasts out of 12 blocks and throw out nothing.

Thanks guys. Just to be clear, I'm not selling pipes. This is just for fun. I'm still very early in the learning stages. That being the case, if I'd thrown out each of the only four ebauchons I've ever bought that had a serious defect then I would have thrown away two, maybe three of them. The point being, I have no return on my investment in briar and I'm trying to learn how to complete a pipe. So if I can make a repair or two that allows me to finish a pipe or two when I'm learning then it will save me money in briar.

This may not be as much of a problem in the future. I'm not going to buy from my previous source and I've got some better stuff on the way from Vermont Freehand so hopefully the ratio of good to bad will be better.....but of course the better stuff is twice as expensive......

Just mix some glue and briar dust and then ignore it so you can continue to practice.

n80 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2019 10:37 pm .....but of course the better stuff is twice as expensive......

Yup, but if you buy two mediocre blocks and throw one away, you're left with one crappy block for the price of one good one. Of course it's not a problem if you just want something to learn and practice with. When you get to the point where the amount of briar you throw away because nature screwed it up exceeds the amount you throw away because you screwed it up, I think that's when buying the cheap stuff becomes a false economy.

Yes, a guy has to balance out how much am I wrecking, how much is no good, how much do these cost... I'm not sure there's a particular equation. I do know that when I had a bag of 100 really nice select quality plateaus, how I made pipes and my expectations of briar both radically changed.

Thanks guys. Recently got a couple of blocks from a well known and reputable dealer. They are heavier. They have fewer notches and chunks taken out of them. There are no outward cracks, pits or checking. The grain looks nice.

So I'm looking forward to working with these.

One weird thing. One of the ebauchons is cut down pretty much the exact size and shape of a straight billiard pipe or a Canadian. I thought that was kind of odd. No big deal for me, I'll just make that type of pipe but you couldn't make much else from it. On the good side is that the grain looks gorgeous.

George

There's lots of types of ebauchon, notably R vs M designation (Reveille vs Marseilles if I remember right). R type are sort of squared off for bent pipes or whatever, M type are essentially cut for taking straight pipes out of.

It is very possible that I ordered the "m" type without being aware of the distinction.

George

They are usually cheapest that way is the good news, but obviously it limits what you can get out of any particular block.

Some cutters are super generous, some not so much, some knock all kinds of saw cuts into pieces trying to save them, some don't, some send out nice square stuff easy to work, some send out amorphous blobs. You just have to learn who has what you want and how to order from them successfully.

Just finished a pipe from the block I mentioned above. No pits. No cracks. No inclusions. Grain is beautiful. Cost twice as much as my first few blocks but well worth it. Will continue to buy from this seller.

Bad wood is money wasted. Good wood at least you stand a chance of recovering the cash.