reading and cutting briar blocks

[Butch_Y]

Hi Everyone.

This is my first post and so would like to say hello to everyone and mention that these boards have been a tremendous help in many areas as I begin my new carreer of pipe making.

Is there anyplace I can go to read about how these briar cutters do what they do? I have a couple whole burls and am looking for the best way to chop them up. What part of the burl do they start with? Just chop it in half and go from there?

Also, I've been looking with little luck on trying to find out more information on the types and species of briar. I have cut blocks from one vendor that are a georgeous sandy beige and some others from another that are more red to pinkish.

Thanks.

[ToddJohnson]

Also, I've been looking with little luck on trying to find out more information on the types and species of briar. I have cut blocks from one vendor that are a georgeous sandy beige and some others from another that are more red to pinkish.

Thanks.

You want the former not the latter. The pink stuff is sap and resin trapped in the wood. It generally tastes pretty foul too.

Todd

[Butch_Y]

Is it possible that I can boil it? If so, any idea on duration per wall thickness? Most of the woods I boil are one hour per every one inch of wall thickness. I'm gonna go try that now on one of the blocks just to try it out. Always up for experimenting!!

[KurtHuhn]

What Todd said. That stuff tastes like poo. In fact, I think I've said it tastes like a grizzly bear's butt.

You could try boiling, but keep in mind that, after boiling, you'll need to let it dry for a couple years. IIRC, most reputable cutters boil for upwards of a couple days.

[Butch_Y]

The pinkish coloring I spoke of looks like the pic I found on Jaume Hom's site. You can see it on his cutter page. http://www.briarblocks.com/pipes/serra/r_oberta2.JPG Not sure if his is a cured block.

I got 4 mid sized pieces boiled last night for 4 hours. They're in paper bags now and will dry nicely i'm sure. No visible cracks appeared. At $2.50 a pound for burl, I wont complain anyway. I find it a great learning experience as I take a whole burl and chop it up into blocks where I actually see the grain all the way around and envision the pipe in that area.

I can also see how alot of the burl is wasted due not to just sand but large rocks that get lodged in the bottom as it grows. My blade took a hit going thru a 2 inch stone. Kinda get an idea on why it's so expensive. Especially if the cutter knows what he is after on the final cut.

Thanks again for the input. I'll post some pics soon as I get my camera going.

[Butch_Y]

Updates on my briar cutting experiences...

Thus far I've gotten 11 burls from one vendor. Below are the latest 8 burls I received a couple days ago. That's a two foot scale laying on top. In weight they are on average 6 pounds each. The first three were very interesting to play with and so I felt I had to get more.



I was a bit unsettled at first as I discovered they held they same pinkish color as the first 3 briar blocks I ever puchased. (These 3 particular blocks almost made me quit pipe crafting on the spot as they all had HUGE pits in the drilled chamber. I paid $75.00 for those 3 small blocks. But I won't speak anymore about those. Too depressing)

Here is a shot of the chops made.



The color came out fairly accurate on these images. What you see here are my first 3 burls cut in half. The next shot shows a few of the blocks cut from these.



I have 7 blocks that were cut out. I'm starting to get the picture on why briar is not cheap. It takes alot of "reading" to find the grain and work around it to get the grain on the block just right. Grain patterns are very unpredictable within the burl. You will have an area of straight to the top grain and then right next to it (even tho the plateau is still level within this area) the grain will shoot to a 45 degree giving a straight grain on one side of the pipe and birdseye on the other side. As you can see on the top left block, a true burl (wildly figured) is also not unlikely, leaving virtually no grain patterns. I believe these pieces will make some wonderful pen blanks.

Boiling was the next step. I've boiled woods for years while making vases and other such boxes to give stability to the wood. It dries faster and leaves it more stable with less shrinking and cracking. It will also remove saps and resins in the wood. (side note: I love the smell of African Blackwood boiling. :thumb: ) So boil I did. Below are two of the blocks and what happened.



The dark colored one boiled for only two hours and is twice the size of the lighter colored one. The latter boiled for four hours and imho turned out much nicer. I believe the dark brown coloring on the larger block is simply stain from the resins as I didn't boil it nearly long enough. The water was blood red on both blocks.

This next image is of the darkened block sliced with both surfaces showing.



and this one is the color comparison of the larger to the smaller...



It's my belief that two boils should take place with briar (or at least a changing of the water during boiling) and while I have not yet boiled any of the pieces twice, I feel more resin will be extracted. I also feel that 4 hours per one cubic inch will suffice but more testing on this is also needed.

None of the blocks boiled so far have cracked. The large crack on the darker block did grow a bit wider but not deeper. I was concerned at first as some woods are very prone to damage.

It's going to take awhile before I can do any more with these as they come out of the water very saturated. I will be drying them for a minimum of a year and most likely (as mentioned in other threads) a couple years or longer. Not a problem for me as I love seeing my display cabinet filled.

It has been a great learning experience for me. I really believe that to get that perfect pipe the crafter needs to cut his own burl. How can you trust it is perfect if you yourself did not cut it? You really need to have a good cutter and to those crafters that have accomplished this, HUGE KUDOS to you. Trust these days is a very valuable commodity and with briar being so unpredictable... You get the idea. I'm sure many of us have had blocks like my first 3. What a let down.

The expense to having purchased these burls is chalked up to learning. Had I taken a college course I believe the text books would have costed just as much. There was no waste here even if I could never get a pipe from these. I would encourage any of you to try this.

My next thought is, where can I purchase quality burls?

[ckr]

Butch,

Thanks for the update, it would seem that even though the briar is very old and dry that once cut the sap and resins can still be exuded from the blocks. Guess I will give it a shot and find out for sure next year.