George’s History of Briar

[Briar Lee]

On the web site of Lepipe.it an Italian pipe seller, is found George’s history of briar, in four parts.

LePipe.it | George‘s Pipe Smoking Pages - History of Briar - part I

George‘s Pipe Smoking Pages: History of Briar - part I | Pipes are most commonly made from a species of heath (Erica arborea), which grows at elevations of 500 to 1,000 meters all around the Mediterranean. The best material for pipes is generally found on remote rocky slopes and hillsides, where...

www.lepipe.it

This is part of a larger archive of knowledge of pipe smoking.

LePipe.it | George‘s Pipe Smoking Pages

Curiosities about the world of pipe…

www.lepipe.it

In a half century of pipe smoking I still learn something new about pipes nearly every day.

George points out that a pipe from plateaux briar is better to wick away moisture than pipes using ebachons because the Plateaux is cut from the outer part of the burl, and has more capillary capacity than the dense, inner area where ebachons are cut.

We are walking in furrows in fields others have plowed a long time before us.

 

[MCJ]

Very interesting read -- enjoyed it! Thanks for posting.

 

[UB 40]

On the web site of Lepipe.it an Italian pipe seller, is found George’s history of briar, in four parts.

LePipe.it | George‘s Pipe Smoking Pages - History of Briar - part I

George‘s Pipe Smoking Pages: History of Briar - part I | Pipes are most commonly made from a species of heath (Erica arborea), which grows at elevations of 500 to 1,000 meters all around the Mediterranean. The best material for pipes is generally found on remote rocky slopes and hillsides, where...

www.lepipe.it

This is part of a larger archive of knowledge of pipe smoking.

LePipe.it | George‘s Pipe Smoking Pages

Curiosities about the world of pipe…

www.lepipe.it

In a half century of pipe smoking I still learn something new about pipes nearly every day.

George points out that a pipe from plateaux briar is better to wick away moisture than pipes using ebachons because the Plateaux is cut from the outer part of the burl, and has more capillary capacity than the dense, inner area where ebachons are cut.

We are walking in furrows in fields others have plowed a long time before us.

Who is George? It seems that he has read the “Pipe Myths”-thread and put a whole bunch of that stuff together to one story. I am missing any, even the slightest reference source in that article. So, don’t take the statements for granted.

Especially that one with the plateau briar that sucks up all the juices like a sponge. No it don’t because it’s not living wood any more, those veins and cells deteriorated by drying up. To transport fluids it requires the living plant.

The juices vanish in the ash left after smoking or wiped off by pipe cleaner.

We discussed those details over and over again in a much more detailed way on this forum. George didn’t create the Holy Bible of pipe smoking and not even a history. It’s just another opinion in the furrows of pipe smokers field, they are beaten paths.

 

[MrHowell]

You ever take a piece of dried out wood and paint it. The wood soaks up the paint pretty quickly. And it’s not living anymore.

 

[BarrelProof]

Capillary action doesn’t require life.

 

[UB 40]

He confounds the terms plateau and ebauchons. And i doubt that Erica Arborea reaches an age of 350 years. Also it is unknown why it builds that ball like thing between stem and root, the author is telling some fairytale about this topic. This article stands for one thing, that we are living in a post-truth age.

 

[UB 40]

You ever take a piece of dried out wood and paint it. The wood soaks up the paint pretty quickly. And it’s not living anymore.

Have you ever stained briar? Do it please, and then cut it, measure the depth and tell me how deep it went into it. We are not talking about spruce.

 

[BarrelProof]

Have you ever stained briar? Do it please, and then cut it, measure the depth and tell me how deep it went into it. We are not talking about spruce.

@Chasing Embers

Time for more Duane Nye!

 

[Chasing Embers]

@Chasing Embers

Time for more Duane Nye!

A couple of members did this not too long ago. Some briar absorbs stain from the outside and seems into the chamber, some don't. My briars are all Weavers and Everetts, none to spare.

 

[Briar Lee]

I’m up late smoking the last of my three brand new $10 Algerian pipes.



These El cheap o pipes were cured in some kind of oil that still seeps out of them.

The cheapest Dr Grabow looks like a Dunhill compared to the aesthetic quality of these pipes, quickly machine made from the absolute best Algerian briar imaginable.

I think George is right.

These small $10 oil cured Algerian briar pipes are extraordinarily good, and amazingly cool smokers.

They were made from the outer part of genuine oil cured and aged Algerian briar.

And if George is wrong, then the Pipe Gods love Algeria, they surely do.

 

[craig61a]

Who is George? It seems that he has read the “Pipe Myths”-thread and put a whole bunch of that stuff together to one story. I am missing any, even the slightest reference source in that article. So, don’t take the statements for granted.

Especially that one with the plateau briar that sucks up all the juices like a sponge. No it don’t because it’s not living wood any more, those veins and cells deteriorated by drying up. To transport fluids it requires the living plant.

The juices vanish in the ash left after smoking or wiped off by pipe cleaner.

We discussed those details over and over again in a much more detailed way on this forum. George didn’t create the Holy Bible of pipe smoking and not even a history. It’s just another opinion in the furrows of pipe smokers field, they are beaten paths.

Opinions are like, you know…

 

[fireground_piper]

Yes some examples were shown in the below thread of how stain can penetrate briar, fairly easily depending on the briar, grain orientation, etc.

I posted some pics regarding stain and cosmic posted a pic of a pipe that leeches tar/oils.

https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/bowl-coatings…-why.92911/page-3#post-36642893

 

[UB 40]

Yes some examples were shown in the below thread of how stain can penetrate briar, fairly easily depending on the briar, grain orientation, etc.

I posted some pics regarding stain and cosmic posted a pic of a pipe that leeches tar/oils.

https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/bowl-coatings…-why.92911/page-3#post-36642893

I just could see some pits opened up by the drill, and surely they are darker than the rest of the bowl. I had some of those pits only a few weeks ago by sanding a piece of briar.

 

[fireground_piper]

I just could see some pits opened up by the drill, and surely they are darker than the rest of the bowl. I had some of those pits only a few weeks ago by sanding a piece of briar.

I have no idea what you are talking about. See, or don’t see, whatever you’d like. Here’s one from yesterday:

 

[Doctor Chopper]

Forgive me if this has been discussed prior, I am relatively new to the forum.

Has anyone studied whether making the bowl irregular rather than smooth improves or changes the smoke? Smooth limits the surface area, rendering the tobacco with the least amount of contact and interaction with the wood. If the bowl were irregular it would allow more breathing and interaction.

This is the same idea as having a rough outside dispersing heat better than a smooth.

 

[BarrelProof]

Especially that one with the plateau briar that sucks up all the juices like a sponge. No it don’t because it’s not living wood any more, those veins and cells deteriorated by drying up. To transport fluids it requires the living plant.

I wanted to take another moment to touch on this. Desiccated xylem and phloem are the backbone of society as we know it. The remaining structure that exists after the plant has died is known colloquially as “wood.”

I think you may be a bit misguided on the process of photosynthesis and water/nutrient transport in plants, but rest assured there’s no heart (or actual pump of any type) present before or after death.

I wish you were right, however. I’d love not buying pressure treated lumber ever again.

 

[BarrelProof]

Forgive me if this has been discussed prior, I am relatively new to the forum.

Has anyone studied whether making the bowl irregular rather than smooth improves or changes the smoke? Smooth limits the surface area, rendering the tobacco with the least amount of contact and interaction with the wood. If the bowl were irregular it would allow more breathing and interaction.

This is the same idea as having a rough outside dispersing heat better than a smooth.

I’m not sure if it’s been discussed, but outwardly it seems like it’d make cleaning a nightmare and eventually be nullified by the cake, anyways?

 

[sablebrush52]

Thanks for the link to George's pages, whoever George might be. Alway interesting to read new things, no matter how flawed or incorrect they are, like this "history" of briar, which is mainly no such thing. The author was too lazy to look up the decade of the Algerian War for Independence and got the decade wrong.
I'll check out some of the other OpEd pages to se if there's any there there.

 

[Doctor Chopper]

I’m not sure if it’s been discussed, but outwardly it seems like it’d make cleaning a nightmare and eventually be nullified by the cake, anyways?

While that is true, with the ingenuity of the group, I would think we could find many ways to clean and keep the irregularity present. I am sure there would be friendships broken over whether the cross or spiral bowl pattern was superior!!

How bad do you want the perfect smoke?

 

[BarrelProof]

While that is true, with the ingenuity of the group, I would think we could find many ways to clean and keep the irregularity present. I am sure there would be friendships broken over whether the cross or spiral bowl pattern was superior!!

How bad do you want the perfect smoke?

I agree 100% on all accounts!

I’m relegated to the very, very infrequent bowl at this point. Therefore, they’re all perfect smokes for me.