Briar Supplier Reviews

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Thu Aug 26, 2004 12:58 pm

Hey everyone,

I just placed a few orders for briar from several companies and thought that it would behoove the site to have a thread dedicated to reviews of the qualities provided by various suppliers as well as misc. stuff like speed of shipment, customer service, ease of transaction, etc. I should receive my orders from Briargrains and Calabria Briars in the next month and will post my reviews soon thereafter with some pictures of the blocks in the raw as well as finished pipes. For what it is worth, the briar that I ordered was the highest quality that they offered (Tassili for Briar grains and XX for Calabria). If anyone else has purchased from these suppliers or any others feel free to post some pics and reviews here.

Of course, it should go without saying that many of us here have our little "secrets" when it comes to suppliers and these reviews will undoubtedly be withheld for obvious reasons. But for the more public suppliers like Romeo, Briar Grains, Jaume Hom, Calabria, et. al. this could be a good thread to trade information.

One more sidenote. While many of us have used or still use Grecian briar from Tinsky, PIMO, and West, I don't think that the quality and service provided by them is any mystery to most people here, so I would suggest that any domestic supplier providing this quality of wood should be withheld to protect us from redundancy and generally unhelpful information.

Jeff

Pipercats · Post by **Pipercats** » Thu Aug 26, 2004 3:41 pm

Just placed an order for 125 blocks of briar from Yazid at Briargrains. Tassili quality plateau in large size and some jumbo blocks .. as well as some ebauchon.

We were previously ordering from Tom.

Who else has ordered from Yazid and what were your thoughts on quality?

Bill and Terri

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 7:58 am

I generally order from Mark, but am interested in ordering from one of the big guys. Trouble is explaining it to my dear wife. "Really honey, I thought you ordered this briar for me. I've no idea where it came from." Hehehehehehehe

jthpipes · Post by **jthpipes** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 9:31 am

I just recieved a small order from JH (extra Ebouchon) looks pretty good. The first block I used I found a small crack at the bottom of the bowl but did not look to go through to the inside. I proceeded with the pipe and on the first stain I saw a dark spot on the inside of the bowl which means it did go through.

I will let you know how the rest of the blocks work out.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 10:49 am

Not necessarily. Tyler has talked about Stain seeping al the way though a bowl befor. It culd be thst the briar was just porus at that spot.

Don't give up.

ArtGuy · Post by **ArtGuy** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 11:34 am

Pipercats wrote:Just placed an order for 125 blocks of briar from Yazid at Briargrains. Tassili quality plateau in large size and some jumbo blocks .. as well as some ebauchon.

We were previously ordering from Tom.

Who else has ordered from Yazid and what were your thoughts on quality?

Bill and Terri

I ordered 30 blocks from Yazid last Dec. They came pretty quickly, the quality of the wood was pretty good but I got the small blocks. They are really small. I plan to use them for bamboo shank pipes. I would suggest going with the large blocks.

They had quick shipping (3weeks or so), low prices, and responded to email in a timely manner. I also did not get hit with any customs charges and did not have to pay until the wood was in hand.

I do get more pits with them than the Italian wood that I currently have been buying.

Post by **Tyler** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 12:06 pm

Nick wrote:Not necessarily. Tyler has talked about Stain seeping al the way though a bowl befor. It culd be thst the briar was just porus at that spot.

Don't give up.

This is true, but let me hasten to add that if I noticed this occurring in a spot with a relatively large fissure on the exterior of the bowl I would be very concerned.

Tyler

jthpipes · Post by **jthpipes** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 1:48 pm

it was right over where the crack was so I'm guessing it goes all the way through it was just hard to see untill the stain came through. I might just finish it and use it around the shop. I could get a couple years out of it who knows.

geigerpipes · Post by **geigerpipes** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 3:05 pm

Hi
I have some limited experience of briargrains stuff from the 10 medium tassili blocks I got about half a year ago, and they where all really nice, only dryed for a year I do belive but these guys are good at cutting so that the front of the blocks have good vertical grain wich is a must, and nice grain not super tight but beutifull and att a low price for the quality...

I have not made a pipe for myself so I can not say how it smokes but heres a picture of a finished pipe from their wood:

http://www.geigerpipes.com/pipe.php?id=58

Best
Love
www.geigerpipes.com

ToddJohnson · Post by **ToddJohnson** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 11:07 am

In relation to "green wood" mentioned several times, it's worth noting that when you buy briar from the mill it is usually sold after a year or a year and a half's curing time. You generally have to allow the briar to cure for another year or so. You can usually ask for wood that's ready to work, and if it's available, the mill will likely send it to you. The drawback to this is that the wood has already been picked over by carvers who "put up" briar like you would peaches. The fact that someone might have recieved wood from a cutter and it is still "wet" should not prompt them to criticize that cutter. This is just the way wood is bought and sold from the mills. If you want briar that is absolutely positively bone-dry and ready to go, it's best to buy it from someone who's had it drying for a while--like another pipemaker or pipe factory.

Best,

Todd

StephenDownie · Post by **StephenDownie** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 10:02 pm

I've got about 20 blocks left from my orders from Mark Tinsky, but have recently begun shipping briar in from a supplier in Italy with Michael Parks. Nice well-grained stuff.

Mark's stuff isn't too bad though the grain isn't what I'm getting now. On the upside Mark's stuff is always very well-cured. Montana seems to suck most of the moisture out of the blocks. The blocks I brough in with Michael needed a good couple months in a south facing window to bring the moisture content down a bit.

kbosi · Post by **kbosi** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:59 pm

One way to quicken the drying time is drill out the tobacco chamber in a few blocks. that will dry them a little faster.

hiway · Post by **hiway** » Wed Sep 01, 2004 11:36 pm

I ordered 10 medium Tassili blocks from Briar Grains in April. They came a bit on the small side although Yazid warned me about that before I ordered. I got to practice a lot of stem extensions. The grain was very nice, the blocks were dry. There were a few problems with pits, one pipe was lost totally due to a rash of sandpits. The briar has excellent smoking qualities.

I tried to order more but after several months of criss-crossed emails I finally gave up and ordered 50 extra quality, medium plateaux from JH. Compared to what I am used to working with, these blocks are huge. Some of them don't seem to be as dry as I would like but I can put them aside and work with the rest. I'm working on the third pipe from that batch. The grain is chancy, some good parts and some not so good. I expect a lot of rusticated pipes from this batch. I haven't run across any serious pits yet. There are very few visible on the outside of the blocks and since the blocks are so large I have plenty of room to work around them if I find some.

I really like the Briar Grains blocks because of their smoking quality. I have a couple of orders for pipes especially made from Yazid's briar. I'll probably order some more in the future if I can establish more regular communicatins with Yazid.

Maybe those of us north of the 49th can pool together for a large order?

Dave

StephenDownie · Post by **StephenDownie** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 2:17 am

kbosi wrote:One way to quicken the drying time is drill out the tobacco chamber in a few blocks. that will dry them a little faster.

Kirk,

I couldn't agree more. I usually drill out my blocks and leave them to cure for a couple of months before final shaping.

Dave,

I'd be interested in getting in on that order. I'm always on the lookout for good briar.

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Sat Sep 04, 2004 7:48 pm

Well, I just received my shipment of 10 sample pieces from Calabria. I must say, I am impressed with the shipping time. 8 days from Italy isn't bad...and it shouldn't be for $53 in shipping for 10 pieces.

My first impression is positive. All of the blocks have pretty good grain, there's not a single bald one among them (although I wouldn't expect that). They do range in quality from tight to less dense grain that is somewhat irregular in places. The blocks are cut pretty well too. Only one or two pieces were cut off the axis of the grain. Consequently, most pieces have similar graining patterns on both sides.

My only negative impression is that the blocks really do vary considerably in size. I requested their highest quality plateaux in medium size, but found that medium did not really guarantee a consistent size. It has since been explained to me that many cutters sell by weight instead of cut, so 10 medium pieces could mean any ten blocks with a net weight of 2.5 kg. They range in size from about 1.75" x 2.5" x 3.25" to 2.25" x 3.5" x 4.25" so all are definitely useable.

Having not yet worked with the blocks, I can give no evaluation of its characteristics within, but imagine (and hope!) that the flaws are few and far between as evidenced by the exteriors. After I work with one I'll also be able to determine how well cured the blocks are as well. They appear to be very dry on the outside, but I'll see when I open it up how thoroughly cured they are truly.

Happy carving.

Jeff

P.S. The Briar Grains shipment should be arriving very soon as well. The report on their wood is forthcoming.

RocheleauPipes · Post by **RocheleauPipes** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 8:59 pm

hiway wrote:I really like the Briar Grains blocks because of their smoking quality. I have a couple of orders for pipes especially made from Yazid's briar. I'll probably order some more in the future if I can establish more regular communicatins with Yazid.

Maybe those of us north of the 49th can pool together for a large order?

Dave

Hi Dave,

After finally getting Yazid to answer my email regardinhg a bulk order, he ignored my question on pricing. His web site says he offers better pricing on large aroders, and then there is the matter of those new prices of his that someone posted before. I expected a volume price somewhere below those new prices. I emailed again to ask him to address the pricing issue. I can't order without knowg the price. He still hasn't responded to that. Perhaps he doesn't need the business, but it's somewhat irritating at this end when I am trying to get an order together. I'll likely go with someone else. Perhaps I'll remain with my current source.

John

RocheleauPipes · Post by **RocheleauPipes** » Mon Sep 06, 2004 9:10 pm

jeff wrote:Well, I just received my shipment of 10 sample pieces from Calabria. I must say, I am impressed with the shipping time. 8 days from Italy isn't bad...and it shouldn't be for $53 in shipping for 10 pieces.

P.S. The Briar Grains shipment should be arriving very soon as well. The report on their wood is forthcoming.

Hello Jeff,

That shipping is a little steep. My last order of 75 blocks from Spain only cost me $110 or so in U.S funds for shipping, and that was airmail, though it did take three weeks, which seemed long for airmail. I'll look forward to your comments on Briar Grains, though as I state in the above post, it seems like a lost cause for me to get an order going with him.

John