Grubs in my briar

[mightysmurf8201]

So I've had a few blocks recently with soft powdery spots in them, and I've been able to work around them, but today while shaping on the sanding wheel, I was trying to sand through one of these spots, when I noticed some pink fluid leak out. I stopped, wiped it away, and this little critter was chillin in my block of briar. I took a closer look, and then it moved. It was alive! I've had this block for over a year, and I'm pretty sure he's been in there since before I acquired the block. Had to chuck the stummel because of the maze this critter carved into it. I've only got a couple blocks left from that batch, and most of them from that batch had at least some powdery tunnels burrowed through them. Should I chuck the rest, or risk making pipes with grubs in the walls if I don't catch them? Anyone else ever run into this?

[Sasquatch]

I've seen evidence of critters like that, never seen the critter.

I would segregate all my blocks, put them in Ziploc bags in groups of 4 for example. If you are certain of the mill, maybe contact them.

At any rate that shows something horribly wrong with the process of whoever you got that wood from. Pink = bad and worms = bad, so that's just... bad.

[wdteipen]

Teach them to make curved airways and you'll be heralded as a genius pipamakker.

[JMG]

Bag up the grubs and I'll take them back to New Guinea with me. I'm sure my boys there would love 'em.

[caskwith]

Who sold you the briar?

[pipedreamer]

I second that . Who sold you the briar!!!

[sandahlpipe]

I've never seen that before. I don't know about cross-infestation, but I wouldn't want to keep blocks from that batch anywhere near my other briar. I would think proper boiling would get rid of any living organisms, so I suspect your supplier or mill of having failed to properly boil the blocks.

[The Smoking Yeti]

Yeah, where the fuck did this block come from?! Quarantine it!!

[Jos]

Last year, I had a block in which the very same dust pits showed up, just more of that.
I poked out the dust, and this is what turned out:

In one of the holes I found dryed remainders of the critter, must've been pretty much the same kind as shown above.
The wood was from Greece.

Jens

[JMG]

Last year, I had a block in which the very same dust pits showed up, just more of that.
I poked out the dust, and this is what turned out:

In one of the holes I found dryed remainders of the critter, must've been pretty much the same kind as shown above.
The wood was from Greece.

Jens

Holy crap! David is this one of your moon rock pipes?

[mightysmurf8201]

I know it would be neighborly of me to reveal the source of this briar so others don't run into the same thing, but would it be bad form to do so if the person I bought it from is probably not at fault for this? After all, I have bought several batches from this person and this is the only batch that had this problem. I purchased this batch over a year ago. Advice?

[JMG]

I wouldn't out it publicly...especially if, other than this, you have had a good experience with them. If anyone is really that interested they could contact you via PM. My two cents.

[Sasquatch]

Briar cutters know EXACTLY what they are selling. The guy selling wormy wood out of Greece knows it's wormy cuz I fuckin told him ages ago.

[LatakiaLover]

Briar cutters know EXACTLY what they are selling. The guy selling wormy wood out of Greece knows it's wormy cuz I fuckin told him ages ago.

He must have not been at Chicago last year, then, or you woulda squished him like the bugs he sells.

You know, cuz you're a... Sas-squish.

[scotties22]

Briar cutters know EXACTLY what they are selling. The guy selling wormy wood out of Greece knows it's wormy cuz I fuckin told him ages ago.

Me too....about 2 1/2 years ago.

[wdteipen]

It seems multiple people have had the same problem and have attempted to reconcile with the supplier. Sounds like they aren't one of the major suppliers so I say post it up. They had the opportunity to fix this quality control issue 2 1/2 years ago. Someone selling wood like this needs to not get business, IMHO. Sounds harsh but the same rules apply to us pipemakers. You sell shotty work, your customers talk, you lose business.

It makes no difference to me. I buy from reputable suppliers who buy from reputable sources but it may save the hobbyist who's more apt to search for cheaper briar some heartache. I've been there and I would not be happy to spend my money on this briar.

[JMG]

Briar cutters know EXACTLY what they are selling. The guy selling wormy wood out of Greece knows it's wormy cuz I fuckin told him ages ago.

Me too....about 2 1/2 years ago.

Well, in this case...

[mightysmurf8201]

Ok, so I've decided that this is what I'm gonna do. Not sure what mill this briar was sourced from, but if you need to know the supplier on this side of the pond who I got it from, PM me. I remember being too poor to buy more than 2 or 3 blocks at a time, and I would have been pissed to receive blocks like this. Wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else. Thanks for the perspective guys, and Scottie.

[d.huber]

Last year, I had a block in which the very same dust pits showed up, just more of that.
I poked out the dust, and this is what turned out:

In one of the holes I found dryed remainders of the critter, must've been pretty much the same kind as shown above.
The wood was from Greece.

Jens

Holy crap! David is this one of your moon rock pipes?

Dude! I told you my methods in confidence!

[Tyler]

Have you discussed this with the supplier?

The fact that you bought it from a third party makes this sticky, IMO. Maybe he knows he has wormy wood and is unethically selling it anyway, maybe he doesn't. The mill, on the other hand, seems blatantly unethical.

I'd give the supplier the chance to make this right before outing him. No innocent parties should be harmed by this.

If you knew the mill, I'd encourage you to out them. In this case, I'd encourage you to contact the supplier.