My underground Workshop - some briar in progress

[jmoss]

These are some photos of my underground workshop (no lathe no bandsaw), no sunlight like batman ...and some more of a project i made by myself , cutting Briar from roots (a lot of digging ) , boiling them and finally letting them rest until they are ready to be worked on (here in chalkidiki we have a lot of briar, i am trying to find the secrets of this procedure, i think i am in the right path as a beginner but if anyone has knowledge about this project i would appreciate it if he shares it ). I cut some olive tree too but i have only one photo (near the olive tree is the Briar), i ll post some more when they are ready..Thank you all Briar lovers for this amazing forum..

[wmolaw]

Wow! Although one can't tell much from the pictures, that briar looks pretty damned good!

[jmoss]

Yes i was a bit lucky with the procedure, i found a lot of information searching the internet and some tips from this forum for Briar and olive wood.. After 6 months resting i have some blocks with a very small cracks (3-5mm) but you can make a pipe and the 80% is clear Briar with some plateaux and ebauchons with nice grain..The dream of a pipemaker . I have now 40 blocks after one morning digging and cutting some olive wood..The olive wood will give more blocks than the Briar, for the olive wood i spent 1 hour and for the Briar wood 5 hours ..This is the price for having your own Briar by your hands...

[Rodneywt1180b]

I don't think I'm alone in wishing I was fortunate enough to be able to harvest my own briar and olive wood for pipes. Who wouldn't want complete control over their wood supply and the ability to cut any size or shape of block they wanted? I wish you the best success with it.
Rodney

[W.Pastuch]

Wow, that is really awesome- the possibility to harvest your own briar is second to nothing.
I would reach out to some other briar cutters to learn the basics, briar cutting isn't easy at all. Luckily you don't really have to deal with the economical aspect, since I guess you won't be selling to factories and you're doing it mostly for your own use. Still, getting to know the wood well enough to get reasonably clean and grained blocks is a skill that takes years to learn, so getting info from someone who does it everyday would probably be the best way.
A briar cutter once told me it was actually more difficult to cut briar than to make pipes...

[jmoss]

Thank you Rodney for your kind words..I was very enthusiastic about this project and as a matter of fact it is a very difficult job to do, not the digging part as much as the cutting so i agree with keilwerth..The digging part seems to be the difficult part but it is not , simply it must be done .For cutting the Briar i spent several hours to have blocks for making pipes, more time than the digging part.We changed the bandsaw twice in my friends furniture factory because of very little stones that are in the root of Briar ( i don not have a bandsaw and a lathe to make my life easier).The disapointment was in my face when i cut a root in two half pieces and realise that i cannot take at least one piece of block for making a pipe because of stones,cracks or rottenness. I looked at the Briar again and again and burnt my brain to find the best way to cut it avoiding cracks and stones, trying to match the best grain .It is like you cut diamonds and you must find the best way to cut it in shapes. And after all this happens comes the boiling part . It is a fact that you will lose some Briar from cracking, in this part i was a bit lucky but i did it after i collected some information about this project.. I learnt a lot of new stuff about this project and i wanted to share the experience..Thank you

[Rodneywt1180b]

Just keep in mind that pieces that are not suitable for pipes may still be useful for other projects. You may be able to salvage some to sell to turners and other woodworkers. Small chunks can also be useful for bands and extensions as well. Same goes for the olive wood.
Rodney

[jmoss]

Thanks for the tip Rodney..I did not think of such a posibility, i ll bare in mind..Whats for sure i ll keep some for stems...

[dogcatcher]

I judge a craftsman by his work, not by his tools, I think you will go far in what you have chosen to do. I also think we will all be pleasantly surprised when you start showing off your finished pipes.

[jmoss]

Thank you so much for your encouraging words, your support and in general all the support in this forum is very important to me as newbie pipe maker, it feels like being a member of a "pipe"-family. But as far as my pipes are concerned, it seems I will have to make a lot of patience and a lot of pipes until I get them really right...

[wisemanpipes]

man, you are one lucky bastard (in the best way). I wish I had briar and olivewood in my backyard. but knowing me id probably put more effort in to selling the blocks than making pipes.
nice work!!!!

[jmoss]

It is under thought in a long term of time...Maybe some day you ll buy for me some Briar or olive blocks ..If some day i ll start doing this for money i promise you that i ll send you some free samples for your support wiseman ..