Walnut for Pipes

josh_ford · Post by **josh_ford** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:54 pm

I have seen a lot of different woods advised here but I was wondering if there was a reason why Walnut is not mentioned? Is it toxic or something. I have some nice small scrap pieces to make pipes from. Is it an acceptable wood to use? I figure it would be but was just wondering.

Josh

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:39 pm

josh_ford wrote:I have seen a lot of different woods advised here but I was wondering if there was a reason why Walnut is not mentioned? Is it toxic or something. I have some nice small scrap pieces to make pipes from. Is it an acceptable wood to use? I figure it would be but was just wondering.

Josh

I have a walnut pipe. It's a churchwarden with walnut bowl and stem. It's not pretty, it's very porous (mine is anyway) and so it doesn't not have a nice finish either.

that's just my experience.

Sibold · Post by **Sibold** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 4:19 pm

I've was reading somewhere that said that you can make a pipe from walnut, but people tend to stay away from it since it is so porus. I guess after smoking it for a while, the tabacco will start to show through to the outside of the pipe. Other than that I don't see why you couldn't.

josh_ford · Post by **josh_ford** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:21 pm

Thanks for the input.

Is Cherry better? I'm looking for wood that I can access for a good price that I can use to make okay, functional pipes to get better without throwing away $$ on poorly drilled and worked briar.

Josh

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 8:24 pm

I use cherry all the time, though I don't normally sell them to any Tom, Dick, or Harry. Cherry doesn't act the same as briar. It's not as dense, it takes on a very dark color due to being so porous, and heavy, rich, dark flakes don't work to well in them (in my experience). However, Cherry does excell in one area for certain smokers - aromatic tobaccos. You know, the perma-wet blends you get at tobacco shops from giant glass jars, or in packets with names that have initials like CB, BR, or SWR from behind the counter at drug stores. In those cases, pipes made of cherry are perfect because of their porous nature.

Also, there is a narrow range of smokers that like them for English blends, and blakans that have light or bright virginias in them. For some reason, I can only smoke virginias in cherry pipes that aren't completely broken in. I don't know why. After they're broken in, I tend to switch the pipe to something like Autumn Evening or Mississippi Mud.

flix · Post by **flix** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 12:07 am

Walnut advice from a newbie:
I've been collecting black walnut for a while now. Just finished my first "practice" black walnut pipe, made out of a piece of branch.
It's a little knotty and porous, as was described above. But, I really like how I didn't need to stain it. See pics. I recommend you trying to find some cheap black walnut and just play around with it, as I have. Practice pipes on expensive briar seems a little crazy to me (I know, you have me pegged as a cheapskate...you're right!)

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d123/ ... 011441.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d123/ ... 011451.jpg

josh_ford · Post by **josh_ford** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 9:09 am

Thanks for the advice! I am working on a practice pipe out of walnut right now but I won't make any for actual smoking. Some friends want me to make them some cheepo pipes and so I guess I'll use cherry for those. Help me with technique and they get a pretty pipe for the price of a drugstore pipe. Thanks for all the input.

Josh

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