I assume that you would shape it the same way as briar. Morta is often sandblasted too right?
Mark Tinskey sells some good ones. Cut and drilled however you like by Mark himself.I just happened to spot this thread and haven't read any of it, but.... A warning to new wouldbe carvers. Beware those "carve your own pipe" things. You know, the kind that come with a block of briar that's been drilled and includes a stem. I've smoked several, one I made years ago and a few that other guys made, just as a test to see for myself. Without exception they all smoked terrible. Totally worthless, I suspect uncured cheap briar. A word to the wise....
That's interesting. Most of the modern morta pipes I've seen tend to be cruder.
tell me about it! you get what you pay for with these self-portrait artists these days...
There was a trend popularised by Queen Victoria when she was mourning Prince Albert of wearing bog wood jewellery (memento mori).
This actually illustrates my concern. While the surface is mostly smooth, the grainy areas between the smooth sections are what I perceive as being crude, maybe because of the broadness of the lines with tiny voids? These are the areas that seem like they wouldn't hold detail.
I see what you mean but I think that’s just what oak grain looks like- either you like it or you don’t. Blasting or rusticating obscures the grain pattern.
It may as well be stone. Most of my pipes get banged around and they don't lose any detail. That one is one of my desk drawer pipes at work.
This is good to know. Maybe I'll get some and give it a try after I work on others in the queue.
