Spots in briar and what to do about them?

[PipeHäbēəst]

I have a pipe that has the spots, seen before and see what others have also done with them.

 

[anotherbob]

I have a pipe that has the spots, seen before and see what others have also done with them.

you can try to cover them up. Anything more then that would be at a skill level that would include having the answer to that.
But the best thing to do is just enjoy the fills which is what that looks like. Fun fact about briar it's actually a root burl which is the plants version of a scar. Which means something damaged or irritated the root. The type of plant they get briar from grows in sandy soil which will damage the root and increase certain minerals in the root (which is why in part it doesn't catch fire easily). So the big ball that our pipes are carved from will have damage and holes as part and parcel of what it is by nature. Why would I say all that, because you could appreciate the fills as part of the magic and wonder of pipe smoking and pipe making.

 

[Briarcutter]

As mentioned, its just an imperfection. Nothing you can do about it now but enjoy it. Most briar will have some imperfections. Some so tiny you can barely see them others so huge you can hardly use the wood for a tamper. Many methods of covering them up, some can be hid by stain,sandblasting,rustication and yours, a putty fill. Staining it won't help as the putty will take the stain differently than the wood. It may look good for a short while but over time, the wood will color differently than the putty.

 

[ssjones]

Yep, fills. You can pick them out, fill with briar sawdust and glue, sand smooth and restain to hide them, somewhat.

 

[xrundog]

You have to cover fills. I generally put a drop of undiluted stain on a fill. When waxed and buffed it just looks like a dark spot.
I recently cleaned up a 4 panel that had a couple big ones on one side. I sanded them smooth, MicroMesh polished the whole thing and used a dark cordovan dye. It worked really well.