Lots of info in double time. Thanks. When I put this query out I was thinking more of tonal qualities then the workability of the wood due to the fact that I have very little woodworking experience other than wooden boats. Does anyone have any experience with beech? I have access to two mature trees if I can find a use for them and apparently beech has very low rot resistance so the boat application is out.
I’ve used beech for a solid stock but otherwise I don’t think it very promising.
O’ Grady has made pipes in Maple. I’m thinking it’s Rock (hard) Maple and not the more common soft Maple.
Has anybody ever used, or come across the use of, Cherry wood as stock or other parts?
Kirk Lynch springs to mind.
Cocobolo with cherry mainstock.
A clean chunk of cherry should be OK for a main stock. I woud NOT suggest a hollow mainstock though. I’ve heard about a few chanters in the US made from Cherry. My experience with cherry is the high yield of defects. Mineral streaks and voids filled with sap are really common. A commercial millwork shop I used to work for did a few hundred door jambs in solid cherry for a financial group and many of them became severly warped. They had to be replaced. I started calling it ‘red bananawood’ after that.
Joe Kennedy has been making his hollow mainstocks from cherry for quite a while. I’m sure he must be aware of the concerns that Tony points out, but I don’t know what steps he takes to avoid these problems.
djm
I’ve tried on a set of those as well as the “apple-wood C sharp set” he recently made last year…quite a nice sounding set. 
upiper71
Nick Whitmer makes main stocks from cherry.
I have a 14" diameter stump of pearwood that I took from my yard a while back. It’ll need to sit while yet before it’s ready to use I expect. I’m using walnut harvested from around my boyhood home for mainstocks. Nice material…it’s been aging longer than me. k
As far as Cherry stocks moving and becoming warped… I know for a fact that the cherry Mr. Lynch uses for his mainstocks should not move in any way. It all comes from a century old barn that was recently razed (the whole barn was made of cherry - can you imagine what it would cost to make that today?). This wood is very well seasoned.
Kirk has even been known to use parts of his home for his pipes. He lives in a 150 year old house (former tavern/brothel), he once used part of the original supporting framework (that he removed while pouring a new foundation) for a mainstock - again, a very well seasoned piece of wood with an interesting history behind it.
Jeff
PJ, Is that what you have?, and if it is you should post some pics..
upiper71
Here’s a photo of Whitmer drones with the cherrywood stock.
… can’t… quite… bring myself to comment on this, but you can bet your bottom dollar it would’ve been in very poor taste. 
… sorry, back to you guys.
Any opinion on the fruitwoods lemon or apricot? 
I snagged some from a neighbors curbside pruning woodpile yesterday morning.
John:
Apricot is truly beautiful wood. I haven’t had enough to judge its tonal/bore properties, but I reckon it would be maybe as good as pear or apple. Well worth snagging it IMO.
Bill
Just a small change in subject… What local woods in Ireland are good for pipemaking??? 
Whoo hoo! 
I’ll cut it up this weekend, rough it into cylinders, and let it start seasoning. Thanks, Bill! 
I wouldn’t rough it into cylinders at such an early stage; just cut it into oversized billets (or maybe just half-logs or quarter logs), coat the ends, store it in a suitable not-too-dry place, and wait.
Roughing green or nearly green wood into cylinders is asking for trouble IMO.
Bill
Ok…I’ll leave the bark on. I was just going to skim it off. They’re fairly straight, 2.5"-3" dia. round sections, about 3’ long.