Ref: questons on briar...Help!

Patrick · Post by **Patrick** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 11:54 am

I know the differences between Ebauchon and Plateaux briar.

What is the differences between Cirta and Tassili ? Is it Plateaux briar?

Any further infomation on this would help as I have not heard about cirta or tassili briar.

Thanks, Patrick

tritrek · Post by **tritrek** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 12:28 pm

Thinking about Cirta is a town in northern Algeria and Tassili (n'Ajjer) is a mountain range in south Algeria it maybe indicates the origin of the burls.
It took 3 seconds and 2 Wikipedia searches

Just my 2 Euro cents

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Tue Nov 25, 2008 12:58 pm

Cirta and Tasilli are grades of plateaux cut briar used by one particular briar cutter in Algeria - nobody else really uses the grading system. Pipemakers' Emporium resells briar from this cutter. Cirta is the lower grade, and Tasilli is the higher grade.

Note that neither grade will perfectly free from larger pits and splits. There's no guarantee about that. The difference is in the apparent tightness and direction of the grain as visible from the outside of the block, as well as the cut of the block.