Spalted Curly Disapointment.

I promised I'd upload some photos of the pipe that I had been working on over the weekend, and I shall. But first I have something else that I would like to address. I only discovered this today, and while it wasn't hard to come by via the internet, it is worth sharing for other novice woodworkers.

I had wanted to pick up some different types of wood to practice making pipes with. There are multiple varieties of wood that can be used safely to make a tobacco pipe. The most common are Briar, of course. As well as Cherry, Maple, Oak and Walnut. For use in a tobacco pipe a tight grain hardwood is recommended. However, beware, as there are many different types of woods. Many of which can cause sever health problems with different people, depending on the type of wood and an individuals allergies.

So when I purchased some beautiful Curly Maple, from an online resource,

I was confident that it could be used as a tobacco pipe. Curly Maple has a beautiful quality to it. As pictured: a perfectly flat, smooth sanded piece appears to have waves or stripes that run through it.
I felt it would make a beautiful pipe, and if my digital weren't giving me hell right now you would see that I was correct.

Unfortunately when the wood arrived, I discovered that it was Spalted Curly Maple. Which can be fairly sought after wood. I didn't think much of it while I was rough shaping and finishing up the pipe. Then out of curiosity, and on a hunch, I decided to research exactly what Spalt was. As I discovered I was correct, spalt is caused by fungus attacking the tree.


As I researched, I discovered that even if the wood is cured, the fungal spores can still be viable. Glad I was wearing my dust mask. The only accepted way to use Spalted wood in food related products, such as bowls or plates, is if it has been dried and sealed. Personally, I don't use anything in the making of my pipes that I can't use for food related items. I figure if it is food safe, it's pipe safe. The real catch is that you really shouldn't be using wood sealer on pipes. The pipe reaches such high temperatures that it can bubble the sealant off of the wood, as well as draw the chemicals through the wood into the bowl and then you are smoking the sealant. Same reason not to use normal wood stains, but I'll get into that in a different post.

The end result is that I turned out a really neat pipe, but will not sell it due to the spalting of the wood. I will try and get some pictures up soon.

I believe that this information could be valuable to other pipe carvers, should they happen to stumble upon my site.

Thanks for stopping by, may your bowl be full and your pipe warm.