Coastal Live Oak

[pecci]

Hi everyone ... a newby here, as green as the grass you walk on. I suspect I'll do more reading than writing for a while. I'm very impressed with the knowledge, talent and friendliness. Everyone is willing to help, which testifies, to me anyway ... how committed you are & how much you love your craft. I admit, your comments and your work are intimidating to a guy who hasn't carved anything but a Thanksgiving Day turkey ... and as my wife reminds me annually, even that doesn't usually go very well. I haven't quite decided yet, whether my first proto-pipes will be made of pine or turkey!

Seriously though, I do have one question right now as far as alternate materials go.

I live in SoCal, and the trees that line my street are evergreen, native (60 yr. old) Coastal Live Oaks (Quercus agrifolia). It's almost that time of year, when the city does it's trimming, so I can ask for some wood. then.

Anyway, has anyone ever worked with this stuff? I recently saw some pics on the net, and the wood was full of character with lots of figure/grain. I bet it's very hard and probably difficult to work with, but wonder how nice a pipe it would turn-out.

Thanks, guys!

[Dixie_piper]

Hello, and welcome!
If I remember correctly, oak is usally too porous for pipes. Not sure if any certain breed of oak is an exception to that rule, but I haven't heard of any.
Fruit woods usually make a decent pipe, but whatever the wood, it must first be properly cured, dried and basically aged to. When a wood is green per se, it can still twist, crack and split as it dries.
I'm still very green myself, just passing on info I learned here. My initial idea was very similar to your own, just with walnut
Tried my hand at curing it... not worth it at all. General rule of thumb on "curing time" is 1 year per inch. Add that up, and suddenly the price of wood ain't so bad.
I would hazard to assume that it would be suitable for practice, but I wouldn't suggest it for a keeper. Be sure to note though, that briar is a completely different and very distinctive wood, so expect some changes in tendencies when or if you go to briar
Be sure to check out pipedia.com, lot of useful beginner type info in there.
And again, welcome and enjoy! You're in for a fun ride

[baweaverpipes]

Considering 99.9% of tobacco pipes are made of briar, quite possibly that might be the direction you would want to go.
I bet that oak would make a nice pipe stand or tamper, but as for a pipe, nah.

[Leus]

Here's an advice for you: don't bother. Use briar. It's not that expensive. Get a kit for $25 here.

[Tuefish]

Hi pecci!
The short answer is yes, coastal live oak can make an excellent pipe.
The issue is a bit more complicated though, I was only able to obtain good results using wood from very low on in the trunk, and even then the block in question had to be dried for almost two years before it was properly cured. In addition, many of the blocks I attempted to carve developed weird defects due to the inconsistent density.
In closing, if you have the patience, the time and the access, Coastal live oak is a decent pipecrafting material.

[RadDavis]

Hi pecci!
The short answer is yes, coastal live oak can make an excellent pipe.
The issue is a bit more complicated though, I was only able to obtain good results using wood from very low on in the trunk, and even then the block in question had to be dried for almost two years before it was properly cured. In addition, many of the blocks I attempted to carve developed weird defects due to the inconsistent density.
In closing, if you have the patience, the time and the access, Coastal live oak is a decent pipecrafting material.

This is not exactly a ringing endorsement.

I would go with a briar pipe kit.

Rad

[caskwith]

For a change Bruce actually made a post that was useful. Way to go Bruce!

I am afraid I have to agree with the above comments, stick to the classic woods for the actual pipe. By all means grab some of the wood when they are cutting, it will make lovely tampers etc I am sure, and if you wanted to I am also sure it would be great practice material for drilling holes (I often tell people struggling to line up holes with a drill press to pick up some offcuts of 2x4 and use that for practise drilling) but for actually making the pipe I wouldn't bother.