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I was wondering if anyone had ever tried Amizique for a pipe bowl? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

I'm sure someone somewhere has, but I wouldn't suggest it. If you want to make a pipe from it, just make a briar chamber to fit inside the Amazaque shape you like.

Is there an issue using this wood, toxic, etc?

I'll see if I can give you an answer from the perspective of having been a woodworker. The common name for this wood I am most familiar with is shedua. Compared to other equitorial rain forrest woods it is not that toxic, it works well, wont dull your tools and isn't that expensive. Would I make a pipe out of it? No, here's why. All the rain forrest trees produce various amounts of toxic oils as a natural defense. Think of it as botanical bug killer. When your pipe heats up, these oils will vaporize like any other oil. I would think at the least it would negatively affect the taste of your tobacco and at the worst could make you sick. It is nice looking though.

Jim

Jim, thank you so much for the explanation it was much better than just don't use it, use briar.I am a complete novice when it comes to pipe making, saw an interesting piece of wood and someone was kind enough to explain whyi it should not be used, do you know of a list os wood sthat are suitable for pipe making?

Hey I'm sure you've come across this already but if you're looking to use a wood other than briar, the easiest ones are any type of fruit or nut wood or if you want to go exotic olivewood, strawberry wood, african blackwood come up as decent pipe woods. if working with something other than briar i would just reccomend leaving a little more material around the mortise because there's a higher tendancy to split from the heat/moisture. i've made a few pipes out of applewood because i can cut down the trees here. ropp made pipes from cherry for over 100 yrs in france, before briar was the "only" wood to use

Thank you for the information, I will do my best to make good use of it...