Woods for pipe making

[giospro]

What type of woods is safe for pipe making? just to make sure and what type of wood do you think would be best to start out on making your first pipe out of.

[ToddJohnson]

briar

[ckr]

Good alternate woods are cherry and olive. Both smoke only slightly warmer than briar and the olive is really neutral. I have heard maple is also pretty good.

My observations/assumptions are that woods 1000-1300 on the janka scale are more apt to make decent pipes. Osage orange, mesquite, black locust which are over 1600 hardness hold the heat like a rock.

Of course, gOOgle "toxic wood chart" and realize what you are cutting into. Don't freak out about warnings but check the cause. Most are dust inhalation, dust in eyes while working the wood and many are not a problem once the pipe is finished.

EDIT:as to the second part of the question it has been extensively covered above.

[jeff]

Not Balsa or mdf.

...or brylon.

[KurtHuhn]

Not Balsa or mdf.

...or brylon.

[Sasquatch]

Olive is much easier than briar for the first few. And cheaper.

[Chris Morgan]

I agree with Sasquatch. In addition to being relatively easy to work and fairly inexpensive, olive smokes better(in my opinion) than any other alternative ( excluding meerschaum and briar). I've never tried morta, so I cant speak on that. While osage orange and mesquite are sturdy and look nice, they are tougher to work with and get very hot, so i also agree with ckr on that. Maple, while a good wood for practicing shaping and drilling, does not smoke as well. The sugar content in maple is very high, which leads to burning and a funky taste. Assuming you dont smoke it, pine is great for dialing in equipment, and testing drilling accuracy. Granted, pine is nothing like briar, but its cheap and great for practice. For a smokeable first pipe, olive is the way to go. Good Luck!

[Sasquatch]

I agree with Sasquatch.

This is the first step to a full recovery. Congratulations!

[Olivier]

Rhodesian teak also works like a charm. Very similar to Olive in density and also neutral. No funny tastes and only slightly hotter than briar. Unfortunately also heavier than briar. The grain is also very nice.

[alan]

I smoke a cherry pipe which I am very happy with. Soft and easy to shape, so great for practicing pipe shapes. It is much softer than briar tho, so break it in very slowly. I had one new cherry that was first smoked after what may have been just a tad too much cheap whiskey (mmm Kessler). I was hauling away at it and suddenly found myself choking on wood smoke. I totally burnt that thing out.