Pipes in Woods Other Than Briar

Making pipes from woods other than briar is a branch of pipe smoking born partly of necessity and partly of curiosity. The benchmark material, briar, comes from the burl that forms on the root of tree heath (Erica arborea); the fact that this wood is extremely hard, dense, and heat-resistant sets it apart among bowl woods. Even so, a usable bowl can be obtained from most hardwoods. Cherry, olive, maple, walnut, and oak are, after briar and bog oak, the species most often mentioned among pipe bowl materials.

The Forced Substitute of the War Years

In the United States during World War II, briar burls that could no longer be imported were replaced by the root burls of mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia). This choice was no accident: mountain laurel and the tree heath that yields briar both belong to the heath family (Ericaceae), and both form a hard, tangle-grained burl at the root crown. The same years are said to have seen North European workshops turn to beech. Wooden pipe smoking before briar already rested on a similar logic; Ulm burl-wood pipes were carved from burls of alder, walnut, pear, and maple.

How the Species Behave

The table below ranks the physical behaviors reported in makers' trials from least to most problematic; results can vary even within pieces of the same species.

Species	Reported behavior
Cherry, apple	Low density; a light bowl even with thick walls. No problems reported.
Walnut	Easy to work; no cracking observed.
Maple burl	Bulky in volume but yields a relatively light bowl.
Olive	Dense with a complex grain. Seepage through the pores has been observed in thin-walled examples during break-in.
Hawthorn root	Reported to be harder than briar; cracks are common as the root dries.
Ash	Polishing wears down the soft zones of the growth rings, leaving a pronounced texture on the surface.
Myrtle	At the soft end of hardwoods; the bore mouth doesn't cut cleanly, and the carbon layer forms slowly.
Ebony	Very dense; known to be prone to cracking.
Black palm	Striking fibrous appearance; cracking in the shank under heat has been observed.
Paulownia	Very low density (around 0.28 kg/L). Its softness causes the bore mouths to fray, and the bowl wall can char.

The most concrete advantage of non-briar species is weight. Because most of these woods are lower in density than briar, even a thick-walled, large-bowled pipe can stay light in the hand and mouth. But lightness usually comes bundled with softness: in soft wood the drill and countersink don't cut cleanly, and the bowl wall can char before the carbon layer settles. At the other end of the scale, very dense species see the opposite problem; drying and heat cracks are commonly reported in woods like ebony and hawthorn.

Unsuitable Species and Points of Caution

Softwoods like pine, spruce, and cedar are resinous and soft and are not considered bowl material; they tend to burn before a carbon layer can form. The wood used must also be fully dried; a green or half-dry block inevitably cracks once worked. Correctly identifying the species is a separate matter in its own right: the sap and dust of some trees carry irritant compounds, and mountain laurel, the war years' favored substitute, is considered toxic in every part of the plant. This is why makers place great importance on positively identifying an unfamiliar wood before using it in a bowl.

Finishing and Longevity

Leaving non-briar woods unstained and finishing only with sanding and polish is a common practice among makers; the fine grain detail and pale colors of these species tend to be muted rather than emphasized under stain. The remaining finishing steps are the same as for briar. As for durability, most problems tend to surface within the first few smokes; a bowl that gets through break-in without cracking is reported to hold up well thereafter.