A Closer Look at Briar Grain

[Cloozoe]

Here’s a very interesting article by Chuck Stanion dated January 13, 2023:

——

Grain is made up not only of capillaries but of growth rings. Most noticeable on sandblasted pipes, though discernible on smooth pipes with excellent grain as well, growth rings may be envisioned by imagining the spherical burl. As years go by, the sphere grows in annual layers that sheath the root ball, layer after layer, outward from the center and bisecting the capillaries at nearly right angles.

How Pipes Get Their Grain | A Closer Look at the Heath Tree Burl

Learn more about the grain of the heath tree burl and how it affects the look of briar pipes.

www.smokingpipes.com

It has been my experience that a piece of briar with extremely close together growth rings, is the most reliable indicator of smoking quality.

Beautiful grain figure sells pipes.

Denser briar smokes better.

You can have dense briar with growth rings only a razor blade width apart on a stunningly grained piece of briar.

But in my experience the two are usually not compatable. A dense piece of briar is usually plain and a fancy one is not as dense.

BL - How does this relate to your marshmallow briar hypothesis? Can it be both porous and dense? I wonder how ironwood smokes? I wonder if there will ever be a theoretical way one could exceed the speed of light.

 

[OzPiper]

BL - How does this relate to your marshmallow briar hypothesis? Can it be both porous and dense? I wonder how ironwood smokes? I wonder if there will ever be a theoretical way one could exceed the speed of light.

Anything is possible
IF you ruminate on it long enough

 

[Cloozoe]

...Havana seed cigars are different raised in Cuba than other Caribbean locations. I’d not say that’s true, though. It might be.

Alas, it is true.

 

[tobakenist]

I have never cared for where Briar comes from, if a pipe smokes great what does it matter, I have a Dr Grabbow freehand that a American friend sent me as a joke. it has Imported Briar stamped on it and it smokes brilliantly, never fails, I have very early Petersons that have been smoked to death and they still smoke great, I never do deep cleaning on pipes and all of my 300ish pipes smoke great, if a pipe doesn't work for me after a little work it is binned.

 

[Briar Lee]

BL - How does this relate to your marshmallow briar hypothesis? Can it be both porous and dense? I wonder how ironwood smokes? I wonder if there will ever be a theoretical way one could exceed the speed of light.

I admit it’s against expectations.

Algerian briar grew slowly in the mountains, in extremely harsh conditions.

The growth rings, if visible, are very tight, maybe a razor blade apart. It’s dense.

You’d expect dense briar to be hard. It should be heavier, and not porous.

It’s the opposite. It seems soft and light and porous to an extreme. There’s more air in it, and less solids. It’s a poor conductor of heat and an excellent insulator, and nearly fireproof.

Why, you tell me.

It ought to be backwards.

 

[telescopes]

Life is short. Watching grass grow as briar colors makes it wonderous. It’s the little things that matter.

 

[OzPiper]

Life is short. Watching grass grow as briar colors makes it wonderous. It’s the little things that matter.

Imagine if @Briar Lee were to get himself a translucent meerschaum
We’d be inundated with updates after each smoke

 

[telescopes]

Imagine if @Briar Lee were to get himself a translucent meerschaum
We’d be inundated with updates after each smoke

Ha ha. Oh my, once he purchases and smokes a Castello, it will all be over and he will be stuck with 300 cheap dime store pipes. He just has NO IDEA….until he actually does it.

 

[telescopes]

Imagine this thread being posted in the future: Jack Howell Pipes, How He Do That?” By @Briar Lee

 

[Jacob74]

I for one do think briar affects flavors and no I don't know how. Just know every pipe I've had tasted different.

I will say I don't have the same experience, but given all of the things we know change our food and drink, that it would be counterintuitive to think that the material of our pipes doesn't have at least a detectable effect on flavor. In my own experience, (and I'm not a super taster), I can taste the hardwood charring in a new MM cob, and I can taste the warm corn flavor in my old broken in cobs. I can taste when my cast iron skillet needs to be re-seasoned, or when I cook on a propane grill instead of coal. So, even if it's not my experience, I think it's plausible enough not to poop on the idea. On the other hand, there are all sorts of variables at work...and it wouldn't do to let the ol' post hoc ergo us right in the propter hoc, ya know?

 

[Briar Lee]

Ha ha. Oh my, once he purchases and smokes a Castello, it will all be over and he will be stuck with 300 cheap dime store pipes. He just has NO IDEA….until he actually does it.

This Victors Hand Made Algerian Briar Poker just cost me $25 delivered.




Since there’s no nation of origin stamp that’s American made, of fancy Algerian briar. It’s likely older than I am. It’s guaranteed to be a dynamite smoker and it will color a dark oxblood red.

If Castello could buy that briar they would not.

High dollar pipes today must look good above all else,

All good briar smokes very well.

Algerian was difficult to get a beautiful grained specimen and most folks like a new looking pipe.

 

[alaskanpiper]

I don’t grapeseed oil my Marxman pipes

No, my Marxmans will color in a half dozen smokes.

This one was an extreme example.

I refreshed it and it came out white, so I applied grapeseed oil.

I’m so lost….

 

[alaskanpiper]

FWIW my experience with the coloring process seems to be completely random. Some color quicker than others, some color more evenly than others. I haven’t identified any correlation between briar origin, coating, or anything else and the above.

My theory at this point is that the natural consistency inside the wood, regardless of the source, finish, etc. likely has more to do with it than anything else.

But I will casually remind all parties, that I don’t know shit about shit.

 

[telescopes]

But I will casually remind all parties, that I don’t know shit about shit.

Well you aren’t the only one lost.

 

[telescopes]

Comparing these old Algerian pipes to Castello or other higher end pipes is laughable. It is like comparing a Chinese made motorcycle to a Porsche. Yes, both allow you to feel the wind in your hair. That’s where the comparisons end.

 

[Briar Lee]

I’m so lost….

I did that one, to see the grain. I usually don’t.

It came the typical Marxman reddish brown.



Algerian briar is powder soft. I avoid using even 4/0 steel wool to preserve lettering.

I cleaned it using hot water and it was varnished or shellacked (extremely rare for a Marxman) and the wood turned almost white. No grain showed whatsoever.

So I put a drop or two of grapeseed oil on a section of paper towel.



And two smokes later



Four



Five



Here’s a close up of little black spots where something was oozing out.



That is an extreme example of how fast a Marxman colors and I think I know why.

That’s a $15 “Big Boy” size Super Briar (just barely). It was an expensive pipe.

It was butter soft, so soft they quit trying to polish it and put a coat of something on it.

The coloring is because they are so porous.

What the color is, might be tannins, oil used to cure it, or tars from the smoke.

But they color to an oxblood reddish brown.

 

[telescopes]

Van. Castello. Smoke one. You’ll never look back. Oil Cured Radice Rind - much better than ANY of my Marxman pipes. Not even close.

 

[telescopes]

If I were rich enough I’d just send you one and watch the fireworks.

 

[Briar Lee]

Comparing these old Algerian pipes to Castello or other higher end pipes is laughable. It is like comparing a Chinese made motorcycle to a Porsche. Yes, both allow you to feel the wind in your hair. That’s where the comparisons end.

Marx began production in 1934 ended production in 1953.

He made what sold during the time period.

Tracy Mincer also used Algerian and made rustic pipes.



Here’s a 1934 Dunhill sandblast



A forty something Tom Howard Aged Algerian



Now compare a modern Upshall Tishead



The Tishead has no fills, is Big Boy size, the craftsmanship is flawless, and Marx probably never touched a piece of that hard, straight grained briar.

But I think the classic Algerian reddish brown is why so many high end pipes today are stained a reddish brown.

 

[Briar Lee]

Van. Castello. Smoke one. You’ll never look back. Oil Cured Radice Rind - much better than ANY of my Marxman pipes. Not even close.

You’ll get me hooked on pipes that cost ten times what a Marxman does.

I do have a few high end pipes, and they smoke mild and sweet like a Lee.

Algerian briar is like Mad Dog 20/20.

For addicts only.