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Does anyone know if a pipe made from this wood is safe to smoke? I know that people have made pipes from American Osage Orange but is the Argentine version any different? I picked some up at the local Rockler that had been sitting for 3+ years. Here is a link:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page ... e%20orange

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Nobody?

I don't know. If you search hard enough you may be able to find a wood toxicity chart that lists this type. If I knew where to look I'd post you a link, but I'm afraid I don't.

Dunno about the Argentine version, but I have heard that Osage Orange tastes extremely bitter and foul.

Well I went ahead and smoked the pipe and I still have my vission. This wood is nice to work with and is similar to briar. The pipe smoked nicely and had a faint hint of orange. I plan on making more pipes from this wood and will continue to research its toxicity.

Without a latin name, hard to tell exactly what the Argentine osage orange is..I have worked with alot of osage orange over the years( cutting it and making things from it after seasoning) It is a beautiful, hard ring porous hardwood.It is bright yello when fresh and oxidizes over time even if finished to a dark amber color.Maclura Pomifera..

With rare excepotions, the taste of any green wood, esp when heavy with sap as many are, is quite bad to the tongue..
Even the Vermont sugar maple sap is vile until cooked ..:)and wild cherry is very bitter.

Now, FWIW, wood toxicity and the hazards are primarily concerning the wood dust, powder, oils when breathed or ingested or for very prolonged contact with skin and mucous membranes such as in the nose...or eating green foliage and bark for livestock.
( three pounds of green yew foliage will kill a full grown mule)

Proper protection during working with any wood for your lungs and eyes makes even the most toxic woods such as yew(TAXUS) quite acceptable for crafting.
Even the most toxic woods will have their toxicity greatly reduced with drying-seasoning-age as well.

Properly broken in and packed-smoked, one is NOT inhaling fumes from the burning wood used in the pipe...and if seasoned properly, such a small crosssection of wood should be about done off-gassing..

The charring cake is primarily residue from the tobacco, not the burning of the bowl's interior with the exception of a few microns of wood which are heat treated with proper smoking and time.
This is IF the pipe is designed properly and packed and smoked arightly.

The pipe's wood/material add to the smoking pleasure as the vessel for the tobacco, taking on the flavors of the tobacco, cooling to some degree as heat sink and of course with the feel and look of wood's beauty.

So, as with any good hardwood suitable for pipemaking, get the block/ebauchon-plateau-stummel dry-seasoned well( Down to 7-10% moisture content) and take good normal precautions when cutting, sanding etc for your eyes, nose-lungs and you should have no problems.

A good guideline is woods which have been historically used for the use by humans for other than fuel..

We are not making salad bowls, eating utensils, nor containers for food storage.....
IF you are doubtful and/or cannot find definitive info on toxicity of a wood for pipemaking, then be conservative and cautious.

I suspect that the pipesmoker is at greater risk ( if any) from contact with the tobacco smoke than from the wooden vessel the tobacco is smoked in..
All our lives are filled with risks...Driving to work is probably 1000's of times riskier than enjoying one's pipe for a good smoke..:)Jim

My 3rd pipe was made of Osage Orange with a purpleheart extension. I have heard that osage orange smokes hot, but that is not the case here. That may have to do with the amount of wood around the bottom of the chamber.

I love the look of osage orange and it was a pleasure to work with.



pardon the shank to stem as that stem was my first handmade stem and it gave me fits...