thoughts on grain direction

[abbeypipes]

while making a stummel with hawthorn wood I gave thought to which was the best way to utilise the grain direction, in the past I have let the grain run in the direction of the stem, with doing this the bowl does not have the best opportunity of showing a nice grain, the stummel also has the disadvantage of splitting if the tenon is too tight when fittting ,a way around this would be to make the mortise in the pipe stem.,To utilise the grain pattern on both the stem and stummel would be to add a piece between stem and stumel.With the grain running along the bowl then the grain is displayed and there would be no chance of the stem splitting as the tenon enters the mortise against the grain,how do others use the grain direction when making pipes not made of briar and is there a prefered method? regards

[abbeypipes]

my thoughts entirely on grain across the stem- too fragile, never thought of using the grain diagonally, great idea many thanks, -----forums can be good places! regards

[abbeypipes]

my mind has been on overtime regarding grain diection,I've thought that a hollow rod through the stem would strenghthen it ,now to find a supplier of hollow rod
regards