Pipe Wood

Mesquite, Osage Orange, Cherry.

Mesquite can tame a harsh blend at first and the Osage Orange adds quite a fowl taste so stronger tobacco are best for breaking it in. Once broken in and with very little cake any taste imparted from the wood is gone or pretty much unoticable. I think they can smoke alright and the biggest issue I found is both woods are denser than briar, get hot and hold the heat longer.

I agree with Bob about cherrywood. Although, I think his might be a round branch rather than from a cut block. Without any bark mine smokes a bit warmer than briar but nowhere near as hot as the denser woods. One of my favorite smokers is a full bent cherrywood, I absolutely love it, recently cleaned, I promised myself I would not smoke the clean ones until I went all the way through the herd. *sniffle* *tear*.

Other woods that I have not yet gotten around to are Locust and Black Walnut I expect them to smoke as hot as the Mesquite and Osage. Also Olive and maple which I think will handle the heat better.

You can make a pipe from almost any wood, check the wood toxicity charts on line and avoid woods that are sappy or high in resin. Low boil the fresh cut wood blocks to remove any sap and resins. I go all weekend with 3 or 4 water changes. Then 6 months dry time before cutting into it. I think Cherrywood can get too dry to work on a lathe, not quite sure yet.

Rick also has a cherrywood, he might weigh in.

I've been experimenting with some wood but it seems that olive cracks too easily and Knobthorn too. African blackwood and pink ivory seems ok but apparently contains a huge amount of silica and is not good for humans. Wood is only good for making trees. I'm beginning to think that there's a reason that most pipes are made of Briar.

that pipes are made from briar. Aside from the fact that it is a burl and has absolutely beautiful grain that may be brought into pipe making in ways that is not possible for running grained woods is the mere fact that it is the most heat resistant wood I know of.

Just bought a 2x2x12 at Woodcraft. Still have to boil and dry right?

Is it possible to use rosewood for pipecrafting?

I like Cherrywood w/ the bark left on, a chunky large 1/4 bent. The cherrywood dissipates the heat nicely while imparting a pleasant slightly cherry taste. Once charred, the cherrywoods just smoke so nicely and cool. I have had pipes made of hickory, of an African blackwood, and of manzinita. Only the briar and cherrywood seem to work for me.

I have been making pipes about 2.5 years.One thing I found out is briar is not really that hard on the scale of things. wood with 4 or 5 hundred Jenka over briar gets hot. It does not smoke hot the bowl is just hot to the touch,

Cherry does not scorch your fingers, and IMO smokes very well.

My Bullfrog pipe that ckr made for me is my only experience with materials other than Briar or Meerschaum. I don't know if I'm imagining things but I thought it smoked warmer (not hotter, just a bit warmer) than briar ... Maybe I'm nutzo. Either way, its a mighty good smoker.