Taking the next step...

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 11:07 pm

I recently made my first two pipes this past christmas using pimo briar and a preformed stem. While I still lack a lathe (and being in school, I probably will lack one for some time) I want to be able to take the next step in pipemaking. Here are some questions I have:

Briar related:
Have you noticed a difference in briars from
different areas? I just bought grecian briar from Tim
West this week, but his prices are high and I can get
some really tight grained Spanish briar cheaper and
directly from the cutter. Which would you suggest for
the future (Tim West's (jhlowe.com) or spanish), or
would you go a completely different route?

Acquiring a high gloss finish:
What finishing techniques do you suggest? I
currently sand to 600 grit, buff with brown tripoli,
white rouge, and carnauba before a final buffing. Is
this sufficient? What do you do to get that extra
shine?

I'm posting a stem/tenon related question in that section.

I could use some expert advice in this area, thanks in advance for the help Tyler and crew.,

Post by **Tyler** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 11:20 am

Jeff,

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for the good questions!

As for the briar, I can't really give a good answer. I have noticed differences in the quality of briar that I have bought, but sometimes these differences in quality are in briar that is from the same source and same country as the previous batch. Based on my minimal experience, and comments from more experienced carvers I respect, I would say that it doesn't matter which country the briar is from. Good briar can come from myriad countries, you just need to buy the best you can. JHLowe does look a little high. Normally I would just point you to Tom Eltang and tell you not to wrry with anything else until you were REALLY serious, but Tom is currently out of stock with no date given for restocking.
I haven't tried the Spanish sources, but I do know there are some relatively inexpensive Italian choices that I haver heard good things about. Check my "Materials" link on the left margin for links.

For the finish, I would recommend going to 800 grit. Also for a GREAT shine, shellac is the answer. (I could go more into this if you are interested in learning more. See the 'rustication' thread for more in the meantime.)

Again, welcome to the forum!

Best,
Tyler

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 2:18 pm

Tyler,

Thanks for the quick answer on the briar sources. The reason I ask is that www.briargrains.com has some pretty good looking briar for sale at relatively inexpensive prices. Also, the owners distinguish between straight-tight grain plateaux (tassili quality) and loose-straight grain plateaux (cirta quality). It might be worth checking out, as their shipping rates are pretty low (around a dollar per block).

Regarding the shellac finish, I did read the rustication threads earlier today and found them interesting. It would help though to hear some more detail on this method of finishing. Such as, is it necessary to tripoli prior to shellacking? I know that tripoli is a buffing compound that continues to smooth the surface, but it also leaves a coating on the stummel. Does this provide an adequate base for shellac? Also, do you shellac the stem as well? Is shellac toxic? (I hope not). And also, a detailed walk-through of the shellacking process would be very helpful.

e.g.
What is the suggested mixing ratio?
How much should be applied?
How does one apply the shellac?
How does one buff it out?
How thorough should the buffing be?
Et cetera.

marks · Post by **marks** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 7:33 pm

Hi Jeff, I can answer one of your questions regarding finishing. The rest I will leave to the pros, as I am still learning and experimenting myself, and don't want to take a chance on steering you astray.

Don't shellac the stem. Just buff till shiny.

Good luck on your pipe making.

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 7:59 pm

Jeff,

I get all my briar from JH Lowe. No good reason, I just happen to like Tim, and he's only about 30 miles from me. Like Tyler, I've found that some briar can be very hit-or-miss even when coming from the same country and supplier. It's not something that can be easily controlled - briar is a product of a rather hostile growing environment.

I just took a look through Tyler's materials links for briar suppliers, and I'm impressed by a couple of those guys (briargrains, and Jaume Hom). I'm considering ordering some ebauchons from either one of these guys. Has anyone ordered briar from them in the past?

Kurt

Post by **Tyler** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 12:01 am

Of all the briar links on my materials page, I have only purchased from Eltang.

As for shellac, you do not do the stem. I do buff the pipe to white before shellac'ing, and then I buff it with white again after shellac. Then I wax with carnauba and finish with a dry buff.

As for mixing ratios, I am still experimenting myself. As for application amount and amount of buffing afterwards, I'd say...go until you like the look.

Tyler

Jeffery_Suter · Post by **Jeffery_Suter** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 2:12 pm

I have carved about 16 of Jaume Hom's extra-plateaux briar, and most of it has been crack and major pit free... however, I've had a few that just could not be saved (I put them in the paper weight pile).

I'll save those pics for a separate thread...

But, that's the way it goes with briar, there are no guaranties, you just have to cross your fingers... I will say though, I've gotten some spectacular flame grain from many, many chunks of Jaume's briar!

I must like Jaume's product enough though, because I have 8 more blocks on the shelf and 12 more on the way... I dry it for a bit in a controlled enviroment, so I need several days with it before I start working with it (or drilling at the very least). I will be starting a thread about briar prepping, so I'll discuss that there...

This is a more recent pipe I made from some of Jaume Hom's briar:

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jeffer ... m=ea01.jpg

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jeffer ... m=a667.jpg

Post by **Tyler** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 3:57 pm

I haven't ordered from Eltang in quite a while. His site currently states that he does not have any briar for sale. So I guess he is not a choice for a while.

Tyler

Jeffery_Suter · Post by **Jeffery_Suter** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 4:48 pm

I'd love to take a trip to Europe to find some briar... you know pick it out, have it shipped, move on to the next briar guy...

And let me tell you, until I started carving, I never once thought or suggested anything to anyone about traveling to Europe... my wife almost fell off the chair when I came out with that one!

Old dog, new tricks...

Tyler, how was the quality of the Eltang briar?

Post by **Tyler** » Tue Apr 27, 2004 4:54 pm

Eltang's briar was very good. The best I had found through "normal" channels.

I too have plans to visit Europe in the near future.

Tyler