Ebony pipes

[Bob the bear]

I have one. Beaten and battered but it remains one of my favourite pipes. Ebony does tend to crack over time( I just filled in mine with pipe mud) if you smoke them too often in a single day as it’s a short grain hard wood which does not cope all that well with the thermocycle of pipe smoking . Other than that they make fine smoking pipes.

 

[SunriseBoy]

I am worried about strange chemicals in the stain or on the stem.

A few years back there was lead paint on children's toys at dollar tree. Hard to trust the Chinese with safety standards of any sort.

Although everything in the house was made in China.

That kind of duplicity is always in the back of my mind also.

 

[Mike G from CT]

Shows what I know. When I heard "ebony" pipe I thought they were just talking about the color.

Me too!

 

[kcghost]

I know ebony is an African hardwood that is extremely dense. I think it would make for a bad substitute for briar with the health risks that it would have.

 

[Mike G from CT]

Good information to know! No wonder those Muxiang pipes are so cheap!

 

[greysmoke]

In the interest of clarity:

1. Ebony is a very dense, hardwood that may or may not be legal/suitable for pipe making (especially given the risk of toxicity).

2. It's said in this thread that pipe makers may use a material called ebony, which may or may not be wood (likely not).

3. Ebony is the name of a finish used by Peterson for some of its pipes. These pipes are made of conventional briar wood with a unique finish called "ebony" which is described <at this link> (a worthwhile read). Dunhill makes a similar finish called "dress." Other makers use it as well, I gather.

"Ebony" isn't a one-size-fits-all topic.