mounts: combining hardwoods

[mke_mick]

What advice can you instrument-makers out there give me on suitable materials for mounts?

Disliking plastic, I'm interested in trying out maple or yellowheart, but worry whether it could be a problem if they contract and expand differently with the seasons than the underlying/base material, especially if the latter is a harder wood like ebony, African blackwood, etc.

(Note that here in Minnesota it's extremely dry in winter but very humid the rest of the time, and the weather changes *abruptly*).

Given that boxwood remains a popular mount material despite being notoriously unstable, am I over-thinking this? Does seasoning figure into it?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience and observations!

--Mick

[uillmann]

I was also never fond of plastic, and considered much of it to be rather brittle, and sometimes downright ugly if it was soft enough or reactive to UV light. But I confess to never having explored all of the varieties, and I tended towards natural materials. There is nothing particularly wrong with maple, though I find it aesthetically a tad pedestrian and unless it is extremely fine grained, it is not very long-wearing. Box, on the other hand, is superior, much finer grained, has great shock resistance and a pleasant hue. I believe true boxwood is less reactive to humidity than maple, its reputation notwithstanding. Some horn is good if you like the color, and, unlike most bone, there are some excellent types with little or no inclusions, however, some of it is limiting in its dimensions, and it can be difficult to polish. Unfortunately, elephant is truly outstanding, though many today abhor its use and consider it politically unthinkable, even when recycled from antique billiard balls and the like. Most, though, have no compunctions utilizing mammoth, and although it is slightly more brittle and does not take as fine a polish, it is an excellent alternative, provided you've the means. The truly adventurous might explore other exotics like walrus, whale, narwhal, warthog, and hippo, the latter two being relatively affordable and abundant. A conscientious pipemaker will suitably season all materials, and the small dimensions of most mounts make the contraction/expansion issue less of a concern. Large mounts, however, like 2 3/4 inch mainstock rings, can be particularly susceptible to problems stemming from wild RH swings.

[maze]

hey - right there with the natural yet sustainably harvested materials.

my honorable dmq made the mounts on my pipes out of boxwood for a lighter accent to pick up the traditional lighter tone of the ivory - but since it is a soft wood, used water buffalo horn for the parts of the mounts that would get bumped around... very striking and definitely do not look like anyone else's.

now, benedict hates them... but that's another story

[Uilliam]

Holly.

[bogman]

My Garvie border pipes have boxwood mounts on mopane and my Hamish Moore smallpipes have cocobolo and silver on blackwood. Both look great and neither have shown any sign of problems.