Thoughts on Ash Wood?

[yoru]

I've been looking at a few ashwood pipes (only thing I can find in the sheer length of churchwarden I'm wanting right now) and was wondering if anyone had thoughts on this material.

 

[unclearthur]

Yep. It sucks!

 

[yoru]

Yeah that's what I'm seeing everywhere else. I think I'm going to cough up the patience in a two month wait and settle for 2 pipes instead of three to get the MacQueen Wizard and Mistral (not 100% sure if I'll go with cherry or briar -- prolly briar).
Thanks for weighing in mate.

 

[unclearthur]

I have several cherry pipes. Some I made. They smoke well .They are a wee bit touchier to break in though. Must smoke slow and cool.

 

[yoru]

Half the point of the churchwarden in the offing though now innit?
I'll take it under advisement though heh heh.

 

[papipeguy]

Great wood for guitar bodies; not sure about pipes. Oh yeah, and baseball bats.

 

[collin]

The very best baseball bats.
Cabinets too......oh and I love ash trays! :mrgreen:

 

[collindow]

OH NO A PUN!

 

[winton]

Anybody have a list of woods that are good for making pipes? I know a few other than the obvious briar. I am basically avoiding any wood that smells bad or has known allergy causing issues. Also avoiding softwood. Can I get by with whatever hardwood that is foodsafe and smells good to me?
Winton

 

[unclearthur]

Check out the pipe makers forum Winton. They have discussed this a lot over there.

http://www.pipemakersforum.com/forum/

A lot of the big name guys wander in there off and on.

 

[ejames]

I've made one from Mulberry. Smokes great and is holding up well.

 

[unclearthur]

Nice looking wood as well if I remember correctly ejames. Cherry and apple are excellent. Walnut isn't bad but the dust is toxic. Don't breathe it in. Once some of the plum I have is cured I want to try that.

 

[maxpeters]

I know Becker pipes is making some pipes from strawberry tree wood. It has a lot of properties that brair has, and is about 25% lighter.

They aren't that inexpensive either, but they sandblast with great grain.

 

[ejames]

I really like the Mulberry,nice natural color and grain.

 

[winton]

Don't fall in love with the mulberry color. It quickly turns from a pretty pale yellow to a non-descript brown. Great wood to practice on, but the final product will change appearance with u/v. Not sure how the heat of a pipe will affect it.

Winton

 

[unclearthur]

The same goes for the lovely pink streak in box elder. Not a decent pipe wood . But it makes beautiful bowls.

 

[bjeorn]

lignam vitae is the densest wood there is, they used to use it for police batons and dowels for the old sailing ships i got some blanks and was thinkin of using a dowel of the stuff for the bottom my corn cob lol but its soo tough i blunts my lathe chisels every 5 mins :lol:

 

[yoru]

Got some guitar picks made out of that, damned fine stuff. Even better than African Blackwood or Pink. . .something-rather. Well, for that 'full-bodied' solid pick sound anyway. There's still stuff I play with plastic, both soft and hard (though usually medium to be fair) -- but really if the wood pick isn't suited for it, then it could be played with your fingers (assuming you've got the nails for it, I rarely do).

 

[ejames]

Winton,my Mulberry has darkened some from use but still has quite a lot of the yellow and has started to show some greenish casts.Had it about a year now,don't smoke it very often now. I guess it is like any other wood used in a pipe,darkens with use,handling and age.

 

[winton]

Glad to hear you still like the mulberry. I guess there is a lot of variety between trees. I did not have much luck with the bowls I made of it. Last month I gave all my mulberry bowls left in inventory to the ladies on my team at work. They were thrilled. Did the mulberry give any different flavor to the tobacco while smoking?
Winton