Alternative Woods Used For Pipe making

While briar root pipes are by far the most common wooden pipes, a wide range
of other woods have been used. Times in which briar is scarce or completely
unavailable (war, economic depression, etc.) have prompted curious carvers to
explore the properties of alternative and more abundant materials. While
softer, less porous or more susceptible to burning than briar, a temporary
solution is often better than not smoking at all. The following woods have been
used for smoking pipes to various extents:

• Maple Arce (Acer rubrum)

• Cherry Cerezo (Prunus avium)
• Black Walnut Nogal negro (Juglans nigra)
• Oak Roble (Quercus robur)
• Olive Olivo (Olea europaea)
• Rosewood Palo de rosa - VARIOS:
- Aspidosperma polyneuron (Peroba rosa)
- Dalbergia latifolia (Palo rosa de la India)
- Jacarandá mimosifolia (Jacarandá ó Tarco)
- Pterocarpus erinaceus (Palo rosa africano)
- Pterocarpus indicus (Palo rosa de Amboina)
- Tipuana tipu (Tipa)
• Manzanita Manzanita (Género: Arctostaphylos, Familia: Ericaceae)
• Mesquite-wood Mezquite (Prosopis - Algarrobo)
• Beech Haya (Fagus sylvatica)
• Hickory Nuez dura (Pecán – Carya illinoinensis)
• Mountain Laurel Laurel de montaña (Kalmia latifolia)
• Mahogany Caoba (Swietenia mahagoni – S.macrophylla – S.humilis)
• Ebony Ébano (Diospyros ebenum)
• Jujube Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba)
• Buxuse Boj (Buxus sempervirens)
• Jichi-mu Jichi-mu (Milletia leucanthia Kurz - Fabaceae)
• Wenge Wengué (Milletia laurentii – M.stuhlmannii)
Of all the woods listed, only Cherry remains common as a substitute for briar. Large-
scale makers of cherry wood pipes are fewer in number, but include Ropp which has
an extensive line of natural cherry wood carved from the wood and showing the actual
bark, and the Missouri Meerschaum Co. which is better known for their corn-cob
pipes. Ozark Mountain series, Maple and Cherrywood pipes

While now known for manufacturing Briar pipes, major Danish marque Stanwell began
in 1942 as a producer of danish beechwood pipes. The political circumstances of the
time made the importation of briar from standard sources such as the U.K. and France
impossible. At the end of the war, normal trade resumed and imported briar became
Poul Nielsen's wood of choice. Despite this, the company has not forgotten its humble
roots and currently offers a commemorative beechwood pipe in its original bulldog
design. The pipe is small, which was also a product of hard times. Tobacco, in addition
to briar, was made scarce by the World Wars.

Morta

Another material of particular interest may actually be considered a stone rather than
an 'alternative wood.' Morta, or partially fossilized wood, has been used to a limited
extent in the making of tobacco pipes. The substance is formed when timber
submerged in an anaerobic environment such as a peat bog is unable to decompose
along normal lines. Instead, the wood begins the long process of petrification. In
addition to his briar pipes, carver Trevor Talbert produces a line of pipes that uses
4,500 year-old oak morta from the marshy regions of north-western France. In
comparison to briar, morta presents its own set of challenges; first and foremost of
which is the process of acquisition. Morta must first be located and extracted from the
partially submerged soft ground in which it lies. The process of "poling" uses long iron
rods to probe the earth for the hard logs. Once identified, the material is arduously
extracted in great quantity. As with briar, a great deal of raw morta must be gathered
due to the fact that after removing damaged or flawed material, little usable wood
remains. The morta is then carved into pipes by a process described in great
detail here on Trevor Talbert's website.