drying briar??

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 7:51 pm

Have you all been to http://www.associatedpipemakers.com yet?? Interesting concept and I hope it pans out for all of you who sell via other people's sites!

Back to the topic: On the site Jorgen says that pipe makers get their wood while it's still green (please if we've avoided "wood" jokes on here up till now, we can do it through this post

) and subsequently dry it for anywhere from months to years. Are they getting green wood because of their suppliers and heavy demand? I know some people like to age their wood after they have purchased it but I thought that was sort of optional. When you refer to the, *ahem*, wood as green it makes it sound like I shouldn't be working with it yet. Thoughts/explanations/comments/wood jokes?

Post by **Tyler** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:06 pm

IMO, aging wood is mostly myth. I think the key is well boiled, not well dried.

Anyone?

Tyler

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:59 pm

Tyler wrote:IMO, aging wood is mostly myth. I think the key is well boiled, not well dried.

I agree completely. I've got about 75 blocks of potential knife scales here instead of pipes. They *are* dry - a borrowed moisture meter proves this. However, they still taste like grizzly butt.

The color of the block, as well as the taste/smell indicate to me that they were not properly processed. Ah, well. Live and learn.

ToddJohnson · Post by **ToddJohnson** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:04 pm

Tyler wrote:IMO, aging wood is mostly myth. I think the key is well boiled, not well dried.

Anyone?

Tyler

Don't agree. Sixty+ year old stummells are in the mail so that you can test your theory.

Todd

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:04 pm

KurtHuhn wrote:
Tyler wrote:IMO, aging wood is mostly myth. I think the key is well boiled, not well dried.
I agree completely. I've got about 75 blocks of potential knife scales here instead of pipes. They *are* dry - a borrowed moisture meter proves this. However, they still taste like grizzly butt.

The color of the block, as well as the taste/smell indicate to me that they were not properly processed. Ah, well. Live and learn.

Hmmm... you have this constant reference to Grizzly Butt... My theory is that you got the taste stuck in your mouth! Perhaps from your last woodland adventure?

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:01 am

ToddJohnson wrote:
Tyler wrote:IMO, aging wood is mostly myth. I think the key is well boiled, not well dried.

Anyone?

Tyler
Don't agree. Sixty+ year old stummells are in the mail so that you can test your theory.

Todd

YEAH! Aging wood is a myth!! Todd my mailing address for you to prove me wrong is:

7 Potomac Dr.
Fairview Heights, MO 62208

RadDavis · Post by **RadDavis** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:09 am

I think it's maybe a little of both, but well boiled is the more important of the two.

I can't wait around for a multi-year aging of my briar. What I'm using seems to work just fine. Well boiled and dry. I get no complaints.

Rad

RadDavis · Post by **RadDavis** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:10 am

I think it's maybe a little of both, but well boiled is the more important of the two.

I can't wait around for a multi-year aging of my briar. What I'm using seems to work just fine. Well boiled and dry. I get no complaints.

Rad

geigerpipes · Post by **geigerpipes** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 5:48 am

Problem with not aging briar long enough is that the wood expands after smoking some making all kinda trouble for the tennon mortise situation ,that and of cource the weight and taste of the first 30 smokes

Best

Love
www.geigerpipes.com

ToddJohnson · Post by **ToddJohnson** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:02 pm

RadDavis wrote:I think it's maybe a little of both, but well boiled is the more important of the two.

I can't wait around for a multi-year aging of my briar. What I'm using seems to work just fine. Well boiled and dry. I get no complaints.

Rad

FWIW, I didn't mean to imply that briar needs to be 50 years old to be dry enough to make a nice smoking pipe. It certainly does not. Briar that has been well boiled and sufficiently seasoned will, speaking generally, produce fine smoking nice tasting pipes. However, I've recently been convinced that age--age after a block is out of the ground that is--does favorably impact flavor, weight, and smoking properties. With several hundred stummells (from three different sources) lying around now, I've been able to do a fair bit of expiramenting, and have found a number of benefits to this very old very dry briar. There are perhaps myriad other factors to consider, but I am at least convinced by my own results . . . but then aren't we all convinced of our own results?

Todd

RadDavis · Post by **RadDavis** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 4:12 pm

. . . but then aren't we all convinced of our own results?

Yes we are.

I didn't take your comment to mean that aged briar was the only way to go.

Todd, what do you think happens, via aging, to the wood once it's been boiled and is dry. I mean, once it's dry, it can't get any drier, and its moisture content will actually fluctuate somewhat with changes in humidity.

Is it these fluctuations that contribute to making the wood better? Any theories?

And do you think that 50 - 60 year old unsmoked pipes go through the same improvements?

Rad

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 4:15 pm

Well, what happens to wood in general as it ages?

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 4:24 pm

It get's lots ear & nose hair, many things begin to sag, it could even lose control of it's bladder and/or bowels. I find old briar sad.... Just sad

Post by **Tyler** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 5:04 pm

ToddJohnson wrote:
Tyler wrote:IMO, aging wood is mostly myth. I think the key is well boiled, not well dried.

Anyone?

Tyler
Don't agree. Sixty+ year old stummells are in the mail so that you can test your theory.

Todd

Cool!

Post by **Tyler** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 5:06 pm

Being convinced of my own data, like the rest of us, I would like to point out one issue. If we do run across incredible wood that is 40+ years old, how can we know that it is because it is 40+ years old?

Tyler

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 5:20 pm

I'd also pose that question. Unless we have a referenceable history of the block and can compare it to more current blocks, we may never know....

Or perhaps that's the engineer in me speaking, and I should squash him and just listen.

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 5:20 pm

Only one way to know:

Get a massive block of briar, cut it in two. Set one to dry for 40 years and make a pipe from the other right now. Smoke the pipe you just made and evaluate it. Set the written evaluation next to the drying piece of wood. In 40 years get one of your grandchildren to push your wheelchair out into your workshop and teach them to make a pipe. Then, once complete, find someone to smoke the pipe for you (you'll be too old, the second hand smoke is liable to take out your 80-90 year old lungs) and then have them write an evaluation. Compare it to your evaluation that you wrote 40 years prior and then come onto Tylerlanepipes.com and post your findings. Of course by then you will have to post using the holographic scanner and scan a mini-holograph of yourself explaining the two pipes and their evaluations.

And I for one would be thankful for your testing! It could save me some time in figuring this all out!

DOH!

ToddJohnson · Post by **ToddJohnson** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 8:11 pm

Tyler wrote:Being convinced of my own data, like the rest of us, I would like to point out one issue. If we do run across incredible wood that is 40+ years old, how can we know that it is because it is 40+ years old?

Tyler

Well, it depends entirely on what the bird's entrails say. It is particularly important to discern what the spots on the liver might indicate. It is also wise to consult the oracles when possible. Do not forget however that the third Tuesday of the month--especially under a full moon--is likely to yield the most accurate results.

Good luck,

Todd