pipemakersforum.com

Hi all,

Just a quick question from a newbie here. Would it be wise to practice drilling on cheaper blocks of wood (say a piece from a spruce 2x4) rather than potentially wasting a good piece of briar.

I haven't tried drilling one myself yet...but the thought of wasting a $10 block of briar (and that's a cheap one) scares me.

Question: Is drilling on briar different than on a softwood?

I don't see what it would hurt, depending on how you're going to drill. Seems to me like a soft wood like spruce might have a greater tendency to grab if you're going to use the Danish method of handholding. If you're drilling blocks in a vise, you'll be able to check your alignment. I didn't have that kind of patience -- I started with briar that cost quite a bit less, and liked the idea of having a pipe if I got lucky. : ) While my drilling when I started wasn't always perfect, it was actually pretty rare that one was drilled so badly that it wouldn't smoke.

Jack

Absolutely. But instead of spruce, I would suggest using a piece of wood you might actually want to smoke when you get done with it.

In alphabetical order, you might try a pipe out of: apple, cherry, ebony, madrone, maple ("hard", rather than "soft"), mulberry, mesquite, olive, osage orange, pear, persimmon, plum, strawberry wood, and a whole bunch of others.

See:
* the "Alternative Materials" section here at the Pipemakers' Forum
* "Alternative Woods Used For Pipemaking" at Pipedia
* "Pipes in Other Woods" at Pipedia

All the woods mentioned by Robert are good for practice, and can be had at any decent woodworking store. If you're looking something that approximates the feeling of briar, I'd look at mesquite, osage orange, manzanita root, and possibly hickory.

Briar is very hard, and incredibly dense, but it drills and turns well because of this. The reason is that it is a very closed grain. Even a hard wood like cherry is a major pain to turn and drill due to it's open grain if you work it dry like briar.

Welcome to the forum, and to the craft!

I would recommend getting some cheap ebauchons. I started with small blocks and had a great time. First pipe was smokable, and real fun too!

Tim West (J.H. Lowe) has small blocks from $2.50 each, or you can get a great deal on his seconds (6 small to medium blocks is $18 or 6 medium to large is $36). That way you have the feel of briar, and like Jack says, you might get lucky! At Tim's prices on these seconds I kind of doubt you'll beat the price with alternative hardwoods: http://www.jhlowe.com/briar.htm

I use scrap 2x4 pine to test new set ups from time to time for alignment issues, or when checking the shape of a new chamber bit, but it's tough to tell much with it, and it sure does feel different!

Thanks for the tips and advice, guys! I appreciate it!