These Pipe Stummels are imported from Poland.
Alcohol based leather dye. Like Fiebings. Rub the stain on
the outside of the bowl and light it on fire to burn off the alcohol and set
the stain.
While you might think that all tobacco pipes are made out of
briar wood, you'd be mistaken! Wooden tobacco pipes can be made from a variety
of different materials. These are most used!
Briar, Cherry, Olive, Pear, Elder, Maple, White Ash
Each of these woods has a different hardness, scent, flavor,
and more. Some burn hot while others burn cooler.
Let's go over the different types of wood used for tobacco
pipes!
Briar;
Briar is the ultimate tobacco pipe material. It comes from
the white heath tree which grows in Europe. The whole tree used to be harvested
to get the wood, but now there are different methods that let the tree keep
growing after harvest.
Briar is hard and heat resistant with a neutral smell. It
also has a gorgeous grain. The wood fibers grow from one point out towards the
outer bark. A flame grain is when the grain looks like it's flaring because of
how it lies. There are also straight grains and bird's eye grains.
Briar sometimes has bits of debris or air pockets in it
because it grows underground. That's partially why a hand-carved briar pipe is
so expensive.
Cherry;
Cherry wood is similar to briar wood in density and color.
Cherry wood was originally known for imparting a great flavor on smoked meats.
At first, it was the favorite material to make pipes out of.
Briar wood took its place over the years. At first, you won't
notice a difference between a cherry pipe and a Briar pipe. Over time, you'll
notice that the Briar pipe creates a slightly better flavor than the cherry
pipe.
This is because the Briar wood is able to soak up the
tobacco's moisture. While cherry also soaks up moisture and flavor, it's not to
the same extent.
Olive;
Olive is cheaper than Briar and is usually used for
elaborately carved tobacco pipes. To illustrate, olive runs for about half of
what Briar runs for per block. Olive is easy to carve out of.
Some people say that olive smokes hot, while others report a
cool bowl with no heating problems. That can be said of most types of wood
because everyone's smoking style is different!
Olive has a wonderful grain that is beautiful when carved.
The olive wood gives off a beautiful olive smell and adds a sweet flavor to
your smoke.
Pear;
Pear is a decent wood to make pipes out of. If you want to
enjoy smoking out of a pear pipe, you need to build up a good cake to create a
cooler and more flavorful smoke.
Pear can add a slight sweetness to your smoke, although some
people don't like that. They smoke hotter than Briar pipes do and can crack or
char easily if not properly cared for.
They heat up quickly and are good at retaining that heat.
Some people like smoking hot, while others hate it. It also depends on the kind
of tobacco you're smoking.
Elder;
Let's start with some folklore. In Harry Potter, Elder wood
made up the most powerful wand, "the deathstick." Judas was believed
to have hanged himself from an Elder tree in the Biblical era. In the Middle
Ages, the tree was believed to house witches and it was thought that cutting it
down brought bad luck.
Elder has a soft pith that can be drilled out, making it
perfect for shafts. It's soft and difficult to work with. Since it's a shrub,
you'll be hard-pressed to find anything besides shafts made of elder wood.
Maple;
Maple is decently heat resistant, but not super stable when
it comes to moisture. The soaking and drying cycle isn't great for maple and
makes it crack easily.
You can enjoy maple pipes, but they won't last you decades
the way other woods will. If you have some maple lying around and enjoy making
pipes, it's a good wood to practice on. It's a very hard wood.
White Ash;
Surprisingly, plenty of pipes are made out of ash.
Churchwardens particularly tend to be made out of White Ash. And some claim
they can't tell the difference between smoking out of a Briar pipe and a White
Ash pipe!
White Ash is an extremely hard wood. Smoke it slowly and
build up a good cake. It's a very flammable wood so it's vital to stay slow and
cool while smoking.