zebrawood/purpleheart wood

[mathias65]

does anyone have any info on zebrawood or purpleheart wood? are they safe to use as a pipe? i seen both at the woodcraft store yesterday and thought they would look awesome as a pipe and now that i have a drill press and can do my own drilling i'm looking to expand my horizons. so to speak.

[KurtHuhn]

I honestly don't know. I think the real problem you may find is how they affect the flavor. Purpleheart, for instance, is loaded - and I mean absolutely *LOADED* - with tannins. I think it would be very foul tasting if I had to guess. I don't know about zebrawood.

[TimGeorge]

I use zebrawood fairly often as a shank extension and do find it beautiful. The dust is irritating and pretty nasty smelling when cutting and shaping, though, so for no reason other than that I don't think I would make a bowl from it.

[mathias65]

I found a "Toxic Woods List" online: http://www.mimf.com/archives/toxic.htm

The weird thing is the list makes Olivewood sound worse than zebrawood.

Olivewood: sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin/great/dust, wood/common
Zebrawood: sensitizer/eye & skin/great/dust/rare

Everyone claims using olivewood is safe and often used. Yet I never hear, or read, of anyone making pipes out of zebrawood (other than shank extensions that is). I also read, in more places than just here, that the zebrawood has a wicked oder when working it. One person claimed it smelled worse than it's namesake and another compared it to a sewer backup. I'm wondering if this is the only reason for not using it. Also wondering if there is a "taste" to accompany the smell.

[KurtHuhn]

Most of those toxic woods lists, in fact maybe all of them, are based on the dust of the wood rather than the solid form itself. They also don't take into account smoking from it.

Also, I just noticed that maple is listed on that page:

Maple: sensitizer/respiratory/great/dust, wood/rare

I can attest to that. Yesterday I made a maple goblet prop for a play at the middle school one of my kids attends, and I had a horrible time with sneezing and running nose all through the process - even with the dust abatement systems going and a paper mask. And I couldn't wear a respirator since it gets in the way while shaping on the lathe. I was a mess for about half an hour there.

And yet, I have a couple pipes made from maple that don't create the same reaction at all.