Hardwood Pipes vs Briar

[12pups]

Friend of mine mentioned he'd made a pipe of hard rock maple. Hmph. Never heard of such a thing before. Had heard about cherry, but the reviews I read were bad.
Today, smoked my first wooden pipe -- a churchwooden (intential misspelling). It might get better as cake builds, but (un-)holy smokes! ... it was like sucking smoke through dimensional lumber. Just like you held a board to your lips and drew smoke through it. I guess ... well, I guess that's exactly what I was doing.
No WONDER briar rules. It doesn't taste like *that*.
Have you smoked any hardwood pipes? What was it like for you -- and did it improve with usage? (Got to, right? It's a pretty pipe. I don't want to just mount it on the wall. I want to smoke it).

 

[12pups]

Oops! I did find a thread that was helpful. Just had to wait longer for the search to finish searching!
Pipesmagazine forum article on pear wood

 

[jgriff]

Those newer Missouri Meerschaum hardwoods are rock maple. The first 5-6 smokes in them are atrocious but after that they smoke pleasantly. It will get better. (My real issue with those MM hardwoods is that since they are heavier than cobs, the balance feels off.)

 

[mso489]

Not many of them available, but the N.C. pipe carver Jerry Perry does tobacco pipes out of

Mountain Laurel as well as briar. Mountain Laurel gives off no taste that I could detect and

breaks in with no problem. He doesn't sell pipes online, so you would have to visit him at

the N.C. State Fair (Village of Yesteryear) or at the TAPS pipe show in April. On a recent visit,

he said it was getting more difficult to obtain ML, so I'm not sure how available these are now.

 

[Perique]

I'm a huge fan of pear wood, myself.

 

[Perique]

I respect everyone's opinion on this and realize I'm in the minority, but for those lurkers and others reading this thread: try a good, properly dried Virginia flake rubbed out in a pear wood.

 

[ejames]

There's a reason briar has been a material of choice for as long as it has. If you can't go briar, go cob. Nothing in between comes close.

Gotta disagree. While I love my briars there are several woods that make a great pipe. Olive,Strawberry wood,Morta and my personal favorite--Mulberry and I'm sure others.

.. it was like sucking smoke through dimensional lumber. Just like you held a board to your lips and drew smoke through it. I guess ... well, I guess that's exactly what I was doing.

Sounds to me like a very poorly made pipe,not necessarily bad wood. It sound as if you are describing a very hard-tight draw.

 

[virginiacob]

I have a Mr. Brog pear wood churchwarden and honestly I haven't noticed any issue with any off taste due to the type of wood. I've been smoking Virginia and burley blends in mind.

 

[Perique]

ejames- I love the look of an olive wood pipe. On my list,,, which is longer than my bank account, sadly. And of course, there's morta - my holy grail of to-try woods. I've heard good things about mulberry but never seen a strawberry wood pipe. Can you post some pics?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Up until Grabow opened the manufacturing plant in the Hills of North Carolina. Briar was seen as a luxury of the bankers and businessmen in town in my neck of the woods, back when men whittled themself up a pipe on the porch to pass the time while smoking. They used these other woods, cherry and pear are the two that I've heard about, but seeing how Mountain laurel is everywhere here, maybe that one too. Of course cobs were the choice of the lower classes, mostly because cobs are so darn small. They have to grow special ones now-a-days to get those large MM pipes.
You mention yuck on your fist bowl, but doesn't briar also have a yuck on the first bowl of an untreated chamber? It takes a few smokes to cake it up and season the wood well. Personally, I love the aroma of good briar. But cherry and pear has its own aromas that are pleasant. However, the stories that I know of pipes were usually tossed into the fireplace when you were done with them. Then you had the pleasure and excuse to make another one, back when men took pride in their handiness with a pocketknife. So, we don't have a lot of examples of these pipes. My grandmother says that she has my great great grandfather's pipe in storage somewhere. It was his last pipe, and it is supposed to have a snake curled around the stem of it. As she is now in assisted living, I will be helping to go through many many boxes the next few months, and hopefully I can get my hands on that pipe.
Anyways, to each his own. Briar is now cheap to the lower classes, however not so cheap that we toss them in the fireplace when finished with them. Ha ha!

 

[12pups]

I guess you could call me a reformed briar snob. I will give the lowly woods a chance yet. Well, entering recovery. Reformation will take a bit.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

You may just find morta and strawberry wood more expensive than briar. I have a fellow making me a starwberry wood pipe, but I've been warned that morta and strawberry have no noticeable aroma. Even olive rivals briar in prices.

Although I am getting one, I am reluctant. The aroma of the briar is a major part of the experience that keeps me smoking them. I'd be smoking them cheap meers if I was not so partial to the aromas.
As a side note, there was a calligrapher interviewed by Brian Levine on the radio show that discussed some of the characteristics of some of these fruit woods. And, there was even an interview with a guy who carves mortas. Check out some of those back podcasts. Good stuff.

 

[ejames]

Michael,I forgot about Mt.Laurel,also Manzanita.Both were used during WW2 by several companies. I have a Morta started on my workbench but it has gotten pushed aside because of work I'm doing for others.Hope to get back to it soon so I can finally smoke a Morta.
Also,I know a gent who has made several pipes from Locust.The guys he made them for say they smoke great.The guy who made them sent me some Locust which I made a pipe from.It was gifted to a friend and I never got to smoke it. I intend to make another.

 

[petes03]

I have a couple of MM Ozark Hardwoods pipes. I've had them for years, and they deliver great smokes! I will say though, that the first few bowls in each pipe did leave a very bad taste, but once broken in they are great smokers!

 

[jah76]

I have my grandfather's Mountain Laurel panel billiard. I haven't smoked it but since it's got cake built up 17 miles thick on it, I'm guessing he liked it.
I second/third the notion of pear wood. I would actually pick up another Mr. Brog but their design isn't my cup of tea.

 

[ejames]

Although there are others using it,I can't remember their names at the moment,Chris Askwith makes strawberry wood pipes.

 

[leacha]

I have a few Maple pipes (A custom Don Warren & a few Missouri Meerschaum) and just purchased a few other wood pipes (sweetgum, olive and cherry). I noticed the fist smokes are bad depending on tobacco. Virginia and Burly need a few bowls before it becomes acceptable. A Latakia blend taste good from the start to me.

 

[Perique]

jah76: for more variety in pear wood shapes, google "fashion pipes". They are on etsy. Yes, strange name. But some good pipes. These are made in Eastern Europe, mostly Ukraine, and I haven't had problems with shipping. Interesting carved and standard pipes. Some of these are carved like meerschaums - claws, etc. Others are standard shapes. Stems are cheap plastic but do the job for the price (and not cheap like cob stems, just cheap compared to your average low-end briar stem). I love these for VA flakes.

 

[jah76]

Thanks Perique. Some of those are pretty nice.
I think I'm going to give one a shot.

 

[bluesmk]

Paulo Becker comes to mind when you mention Strawberry wood.

Dan

Gabrieli Pipes