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Some blocks of briar have a remnant of some kind of mould or lichens or something on them.... what do you guys do to kill/decontaminate, etc. I am not too thrilled about cutting it off and spreading it around as dust either....

Any thoughts?

Briar somestimes grows a little mold on it while it's drying in an environment that's kept very damp, so it won't crack while drying.

I just sand it off when I'm squaring the block to make a pipe. It's nothing to worry about. It's just on the outside.

You could soak your pipe in bleach just before staining. That would kill it.

Rad

Rad, are you volunteering to test-smoke a pipe I bleach?

I was wondering if there was an approach that would do no harm to the briar, and bleach is of course the first thing a guy reaches for to kill that kind of growth, but a pipe tinged with bleach would be horrid. Maybe some of that bright green anti-rot toxic dip for the stain too. It's a nice color, anyway!

I just cut it off, but I don't like the idea of that kind of thing floating around in the shop, so I hooked a filtered vac up to the saw and wore a mask.

C'est la vie.

Sasquatch wrote:I just cut it off, but I don't like the idea of that kind of thing floating around in the shop, so I hooked a filtered vac up to the saw and wore a mask.

Good man! Protect the lungs, the hands and the eyes.

Todd