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Is there any thing i should know about making a pipe out of olive wood? Problems with drilling, cutting, smoking etc;
I have 5 big blocks that i have and want to make a pipe or pipes out of them.

Thanks

I have worked with Olive wood extensively and find it to be my second favorite wood next to briar. It drills, sands and carves wonderfully but can be brittle when carving against the grain so be carefull to go with the grain as much as possible. As with briar you want to orientate your design to get the maximun benefit from the grain pattern which is almost always plentiful. When gluing any extensions or rings be sure to groove the surfaces on both pieces to insure a permanent joint because of the high oil content in some pieces. The wood I use has been air dried for several years so the oil content is next to none yet I still rough up the surfaces to be on the safe side. As far as smoking goes most English and Balken mixtures taste great and impart very little flavor of the wood. Virginias, Burleys and aromatics are not quite as tasty and you will have some olive taste until the cake builds up on the bowl walls. Have fun and good luck!

Regards,
Kevin

Olive works very nicely. I find it stinks a bit if you burn it on a dull tool, but really, it's easier to work than many woods, including briar. I stained up an otherwise nice looking pipe with some dark brown tripoli polish - it didn't work well. So I have taken to sanding to 600, lightly oiling the pipe, and polishing the stem.